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job, I think that they'll know who can. What's more, I have the feeling that
they'll be on our side, no matter what, and that's something I'm not sure I can
say about all the Smoothies," I said.
"Unfortunately, after this morning I agree with you. I didn't like the way all
of our managers were down there backing up Hasenpfeffer. Not to mention Ming Po
and Barbara."
"Yeah. Something stinketh mightily around here, and I intend to dig it up before
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we bury it again."
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Sabotage?
Still in my eighteenth-centuary getup, with my steel sword at my side and my
plumed hat hanging on a convenient peg behind my desk, I filled the officers in
on the problems we experienced on our first attempted time trip, with Ian
sitting in.
" . . . so what we need to know is what went wrong, and how do we fix it, if it
was some sort of technical problem, or who did it and why, if we're looking at
sabotage. You can call in any help you think you may need, and spend as much
time and money as you want, just as long as you all show up here again in an
hour with some answers. Are you three up to the task?"
Leftenant Fitzsimmon had turned out to be the senior man in the group, so he
answered, in his almost accurate upper class English accent, "Yes, sir. You will
be seeing us back here shortly, I expect."
They snapped to and saluted. It felt strange to be returning a salute to a bunch
of officers, but I saluted them back, rather than make them hold that silly
posture. Then they did an about-face and left. I guessed that they must figure
that I was their Comander-in-Chief.
Maybe I was.
"They'll be doubling back, of course." Ian said, "Why wasLieutenant Fitzsimmon
acting as if he was superior toCaptain Stepanski?"
"Because by their rules, he is. Not having had the benefit of a proper military
education, you never learned that a navy lieutenant is equal in rank to an army
captain, for some strange historical reason. After that, Fitzsimmon had more
time in grade. Also, a navy captain is equal to an army colonel, but why should
I tell you this when you're the one with the exalted history major?"
"Oh. Someday, I'll look it up. For now, I think our next step should be
interviewing our subordinates."
"Right," I said, pushing a button on my desk. "Kowalski, come in here."
She walked in immediately, and stood before my desk, looking worried. I didn't
feel like setting her at ease.
"Kowalski, a while ago, you were down in the time canister area, standing behind
Hasenpfeffer and apparently supporting his demands that our trip be aborted. Why
did you do that?"
"But, I didn't! I mean, I was there because Dr. Hasenpfeffer had invited me, but
I never took anyone's side on anything! I never said a word!"
"You didn't have to. You stood there behind him, literally backing him up. Also,
you heard me order you and the rest of the crowd out, and you didn't obey me.
Why was that?"
"But, you wanted one thing, and Dr. Hasenpfeffer wanted another, and I didn't
know what to do, so I didn't do anything!"
"For future reference, this outfit is owned by three equal partners. If we ever
have the bad taste to disagree in public again, remember that any two of us can
outvote the third."
"Yes, sir."
"Now, did you know of any reason why we should not have taken that trip?"
"Well, when you got back, you were all sent to the hospital! Isn't that reason
enough?"
"Yes, but did you know about that before we left?"
"No, sir. But Dr. Hasenpfeffer did say that your trip was 'ill advised,' and
that was hint enough for me."
"Huh. Well, go, for now. Send in the rest of my senior staff, one at a time, and
don't tell them what all this is about."
"Yes, sir."
The rest of my people came in one at a time, and they all said about the same
thing as Kowalski. They were there because Hasenpfeffer had invited them, and
they didn't do anything because they didn't know what to do.
We went to Ian's office and he repeated the procedure with his people.
We got the same results.
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"Maybe we're reading more into this thing than we should," I said.
"Maybe. Let's see what those military types of yours have come up with. We've
kept them waiting for over an hour."
"Oops! I forgot about them."
We went back to my office and had Kowalski send in the three officers.
"I'm sorry to keep you gentlemen waiting for so long, but we got involved in
something else, and I lost track of time."
"No problem, sir," Fitzsimmon said in his best phony British accent. "With any
appointment, it's common to make a TARR that's a Time Actually Required
Request to a bloke's secretary. It saves all sorts of time that would otherwise [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]