Triplanetary - E. E. Smith (phonics reader TXT) 📗

I’ll never know⁠—just one more measure of your stupidity, I suppose.”

“Those shell are perfect!” Keller shouted. “Tell Drake here to pass them, right now. If you don’t, by God I’ll.⁠ ⁠…”

“Shut up!” Kinnison’s voice cut. “I’ll do the talking⁠—you listen. The spec says quote shall be free from objectionable cavitation unquote. The Line Inspectors, who know their stuff, say that those cavitations are objectionable. So do the Chemical Engineers. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, they are objectionable. Those shell are rejected, and they will stay rejected.”

“That’s what you think,” Keller raged. “But there’ll be a new Head of Inspection, who will pass them, tomorrow morning!”

“In that you may be half right. When you get done licking Black’s boots, tell him that I am in my office.”

Kinnison re-entered his suite. Keller, swearing, strode away with Piddy. Doors clicked shut.

“I am going to quit, Uncle Ralph, law or no law!” Tugwell stormed. “They’ll run that bunch of crap through, and then.⁠ ⁠…”

“Will you promise not to quit until they do?” Kinnison asked, quietly.

“Huh?” “What?” Tugwell’s eyes⁠—and Celeste’s⁠—were pools of astonishment. Celeste, being on the inside, understood first.

“Oh⁠—to keep his nose clean⁠—I see!” she exclaimed.

“Exactly. Those shell will not be accepted, nor any like them. On the surface, we got licked. I will get fired. You will find, however, that we won this particular battle. And if you boys stay here and hang together and keep on slugging you can win a lot more.”

“Maybe, if we raise enough hell, we can make them fire us, too?” Drake suggested.

“I doubt it. But unless I’m wrong, you can just about write your own ticket from now on, if you play it straight.” Kinnison grinned to himself, at something which the young people could not see.

“You told me what Stoner and Black would do to us,” Tugwell said, intensely. “What I’m afraid of is that they’ll do it to you.”

“They can’t. Not a chance in the world,” Kinnison assured him. “You fellows are young⁠—not established. But I’m well-enough known in my own field so that if they tried to blackball me they’d just get themselves laughed at, and they know it. So beat it back to the Nine, you kids, and hang red tickets on everything that doesn’t cross-section up to standard. Tell the gang goodbye for me⁠—I’ll keep you posted.”

In less than an hour Kinnison was called into the Office of the President. He was completely at ease; Black was not.

“It has been decided to⁠ ⁠… uh⁠ ⁠… ask for your resignation,” the President announced at last.

“Save your breath,” Kinnison advised. “I came down here to do a job, and the only way you can keep me from doing that job is to fire me.”

“That was not⁠ ⁠… uh⁠ ⁠… entirely unexpected. A difficulty arose, however, in deciding what reason to put on your termination papers.”

“I can well believe that. You can put down anything you like,” Kinnison shrugged, “with one exception. Any implication of incompetence and you’ll have to prove it in court.”

“Incompatibility, say?”

“OK.”

“Miss Briggs⁠—‘Incompatibility with the highest echelon of Stoner and Black, Inc.,’ please. You may as well wait, Dr. Kinnison; it will take only a moment.”

“Fine. I’ve got a couple of things to say. First, I know as well as you do that you’re between Scylla and Charybdis⁠—damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

“Certainly not! Ridiculous!” Black blustered, but his eyes wavered. “Where did you get such a preposterous idea? What do you mean?”

“If you ram those substandard HEAT shell through, you are going to have some more prematures. Not many⁠—the stuff is actually almost good enough⁠—one in ten thousand, say: perhaps one in fifty thousand. But you know damned well that you can’t afford any. What my Siberians and Inspectors know about you and Keller and Piddy and the Nine Line would be enough; but to cap the climax that brainless jackal of yours let the cat completely out of the bag this afternoon, and everybody in Building One was listening. One more premature would blow Entwhistle wide open⁠—would start something that not all the politicians in Washington could stop. On the other hand, if you scrap those lots and go back to pouring good loads, your Mr. Stoner, of New York and Washington, will be very unhappy and will scream bloody murder. I’m sure, however, that you won’t offer any Plate D loads to Ordnance⁠—in view of the temper of my boys and girls, and the number of people who heard your dumb stooge give you away, you won’t dare to. In fact, I told some of my people that you wouldn’t; that you are a smart enough operator to keep your nose clean.”

“You told them!” Black shouted, in anger and dismay.

“Yes? Why not?” The words were innocent enough, but Kinnison’s expression was full of meaning. “I don’t want to seem trite, but you are just beginning to find out that honesty and loyalty are a hell of a hard team to beat.”

“Get out! Take these termination papers and get out!”

And Doctor Ralph K. Kinnison, head high, strode out of President Black’s office and out of Entwhistle Ordnance Plant.

VI 19⁠—?

“Theodore K. Kinnison!” a crisp, clear voice snapped from the speaker of an apparently cold, ordinary-enough-looking radio-television set.

A burly young man caught his breath sharply as he leaped to the instrument and pressed an inconspicuous button.

“Theodore K. Kinnison acknowledging!” The plate remained dark, but he knew that he was being scanned.

“Operation Bullfinch!” the speaker blatted.

Kinnison gulped. “Operation Bullfinch⁠—Off!” he managed to say.

“Off!”

He pushed the button again and turned to face the tall, trim honey-blonde who stood tensely poised in the archway. Her eyes were wide and protesting; both hands clutched at her throat.

“Uh-huh, sweets, they’re coming⁠—over the Pole,” he gritted. “Two hours, more or less.”

“Oh, Ted!” She threw herself into his arms. They kissed, then broke away.

The man picked up two large suitcases, already packed⁠—everything else, including food and water, had been in the car for weeks⁠—and made strides. The girl rushed after him, not bothering even