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pandemonium in the upper echelons here, and I understand that Heathstone is
going to take the possibility up with Tosygen, if he has not already.'
'If this is true, it changes quite a lot, doesn't it, Rastabi?'
'I'd say so. The present balance of power is totally negated.'
'Well, do you think we have any chance of getting to him before the
governments do?'
'I think we should certainly try.'
303
'AU right, Rastabi. I'll get my staff working on it right away.'
'Good. I already dispatched some of my operatives. I suggest we keep each
other informed. We should work together on this and not go into competition.'
'Naturally, Rastabi, as usual,' Sandmuller agreed.
4.30 P.M.
Heathstone sat patiently, once again awaiting the appearance of the Soviet
Premier on the huge televideo screen in the White House briefing room. 'If he
postpones this conference once again, I'll have to actually start a war to get
them off their asses.'
'Apparently,' said Seth Mead, 'Tosygen does not have the complete support of
his ministers that he indicated, or they would have made their move long
before now.'
Pacing up and down the conference chamber, Allan Provost, chairman of the
National Security Council, gritted his teeth in suppressed anger. 'Frankly,
Mr. President,' he said, 'everyone will think you've lost your mind if you
follow through on what you have suggested.'
'Thank you, Allan,' Heathstone responded, 'but I just can't think of any other
way to deal with the nervousness and uncertainty that our Russian colleagues
are bound to feel.'
'There has to be another way, Thomas,' said Provost, deliberately changing to
the personal form of address.
'Possibly. But we don't have time to discuss the matter or ferret out
alternative suggestions.'
The videoscreen came to life, and after a few seconds of black and white
scatter, the face of Tosygen appeared in -muted colour.
'Mr. Premier,' began Heathstone immediately, 'I am informed that our Joint
Committee established to monitor the withdrawal of our mutual satellites has
chosen Arecibo Observatory as their conference site. I understand that from
there the observatory equipment will confirm the reentry orbits of the
satellites, and that the Joint Commit-
304
tee has opted to allow for their destruction as they hit the upper atmospheres
rather than try to reclaim them from hard or soft landings on the Earth's
surface.'
'Thank you, Mr. President. We have agreed to this measure since your nation
has agreed to it. We note, however, that the United States, after withdrawal
of the indicated satellites, will yet maintain several tons of satellites in
orbit over Earth.'
'As will the Soviet Union,' responded Heathstone immediately.
'Are we to assume, Mr. President, that the contents and missions of those
satellites are peaceful and non-aggressive in nature?'
'I do not think, Mr. Premier, that I should go beyond the scope of the
communication indicating the particular satellites to be withdrawn. Nor would
I expect the Soviet Union to inform us of the contents and missions of their
remaining satellites.'
'Agreed, Mr. President.'
'Now, Mr. Premier, I should like to turn our discussion in the direction of
examining who or what has interfered with the mutual progress of relations
between our two nations, an interference that, indeed, threatens the safety of
all nations on Earth.'
'I should be delighted, Mr. President, to have the benefit of your
speculations on this matter, since you deny the existence in your nation of an
espionage system.'
'Investigations here in the United States, although far from exhaustive,
suggest that standard espionage enterprises of the magnitude necessary for
penetration of the several systems required to manipulate the satellites
probably do not exist. It seems advisable, therefore, to entertain a novel
hypothesis.' Heathstone looked cautiously at the members of his staff, all of
whom seemed to have fallen into wooden trances. 'It is my understanding,' he
continued, 'that speculation has existed for some decades concerning the
development, the possible development, of psychic abilities.'
305
As he said the word, a visible shudder passed through not only the members of
his own staff but also through those gathered at the other end of the
international video system. Heathstone waited a moment for some reply. But
none was forthcoming, either from the videoscreen or from among his staff. He
continued, 'I should like to suggest, as a possible contribution to the
impasse in which we find ourselves, that there exists a ~person or persons
unknown who has, somehow, gained the requisite telepathic abilities and, in so
doing, has accessibility to the deepest, most closely guarded secrets of our
two nations.'
Heathstone paused, determined not to speak further without a reply from his
Soviet opposite number. A dead silence occupied the international
communications system. The face of Tosygen remained impassive. Heathstone
wondered if it had turned to stone. The whiteness developing around Tosygen's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]