—And Devious
the Line of Duty
Sometimes the most diligent and loyal thing
an old man can do is fumble,
drink beer, and let a young man get into trouble....
by Tom Godwin
Illustrated by Schelling
"We're almost there, my boy."The big, gray-haired man whowould be Lieutenant Dale Hunter'ssuperior—Strategic Service's SpecialAgent, George Rockford—openedanother can of beer, hisfifth. "There will be intrigue alreadyunder way when this helicoptersets down with us. Attemptedhomicide will soon follow.The former will be meat for me.You will be meat for the latter."
Rockford was smiling as hespoke; the genial, engaging smileof a fond old father. But the eyes,surrounded by laughter crinkles,were as unreadable as two disks ofgray slate. They were the eyes ofa poker player—or master con man.
"I don't understand, sir,"Hunter said.
"Of course not," Rockfordagreed. "It's a hundred light-yearsback to Earth. Here on Vesta, tomake sure there is an Earth in thefuture, you're going to do thingsnever dreamed of by your TerranSpace Patrol instructors there.You'll be amazed, my boy."
Hunter said nothing but he felta growing dislike for the condescendingRockford. Only a fewweeks ago President Diskar, himself,had said: For more than a centurythese truly valiant men of the Space Patrolhave been our unwavering outerguard; have fought and died by legions,that Earth and the other worlds ofthe Terran Republic might remainfree—
"I suppose you know," Rockfordsaid, "that there will be no morethan four days in which to stopthe Verdam oligarchy from achievingits long-time ambition of becomingbig enough to swallow theTerran Republic."
"I know," Hunter answered.
Jardeen, Vesta's companionworld, was the key. Jardeen waslarge and powerful, with a spacenavy unsurpassed by that of anyother single world. A large group ofnow-neutral worlds would followJardeen's lead and Jardeen's alliancewith the Verdam People's Worldswould mean the quick end for theTerran Republic. But, if Jardeencould be persuaded to ally with theTerran Republic, the spreading,grasping arms of the Verdam octopuswould begin to wither away—
Rockford spoke again:
"Val Boran, Jardeen's Secretaryof Foreign Relations, is the manwho will really make Jardeen'sdecision. I know him slightly.Since my public role is that ofActing Ambassador, he agreed—reluctantly—tocome to Vesta sothat the talks could be on a neutralworld. With him will be Verdam'sSpecial Envoy Sonig; a wily littleman who has been working onBoran for several weeks. He seemsto be succeeding quite well—here'sa message I received from Earthearly this morning."
Rockford handed him a sheet ofthe green Hyperspace Communicationspaper. The message was incode, with Rockford's scribbledtranslation beneath:
Intelligence reports Verdam forcesalready massed for attack in Sector A-13,in full expectation of Jardeen's alliance.Anti-Terran propaganda, stressing theNew Jardeen Incident, being used inpreparation for what will be their claimof "defensive action to protect innocentworlds from Terran aggression." Terranforces will be outnumbered five to one.The urgent necessity of immediate andconclusive counter measures by you onVesta is obvious.
Hunter handed the paper back,thinking, It's worse than any of usthought, and wondering how SupremeCommand could ever haveentrusted such an important taskto a beer-guzzling old man fromStrategic Service—a branch