The Forever Man

Free The Forever Man by Gordon R. Dickson

Book: The Forever Man by Gordon R. Dickson Read Free Book Online
Authors: Gordon R. Dickson
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    â€œI’ll have a bourbon. A single-mash bourbon, no ice, no water, no soda, no anything,” said the general.
    â€œYes sir,” said the mess attendant and went off, to return with the drink himself in a few minutes. A waiter was at his heels.
    â€œWe don’t want dinner just yet,” Mollen said. He looked over the attendant’s shoulder at the waiter. “Come back in about twenty minutes.”
    Attendant and waiter departed.
    â€œWell, here’s to the hope the fishing was good,” said Mollen, lifting his glass. Jim drank with him, politely.
    They talked fishing until they were halfway through the general’s second bourbon; and by the time the first one had been finished, Jim was beginning to be pretty sure that for some reason Mollen was stalling. However, there was nothing much he could do about that but wait for his superior to get to the point.
    â€œâ€”There’s Mary Gallegher,” the general interrupted himself midway through the second drink. He nodded across the dance floor, which the dining area surrounded.
    Jim looked and saw her, just as Mollen had said. She was with some major Jim did not know who was wearing the aiguillette, or dress shoulder cord looped through one epaulet, that marked him as an aide to some high-ranking officer; and the two of them were just sitting down at a table at the dance floor’s edge, in plain view.
    â€œShe’s got a working area of her own on Base here, with La Chasse Gallerie and a staff of her own,” said Mollen.
    â€œYes sir,” said Jim. They looked away from Mary and her companion and back across the table at each other.
    â€œThere’s a lot of politics involved in it,” said Mollen. He drank from his glass. “Ever have much to do with politicians, Jim?”
    â€œHappily, sir, they’re above my range,” said Jim.
    â€œDon’t be so sure,” said Mollen. Below the still-dark hair on his round head, his bulldog face was somber. “Dealing with them’s supposed to be above my range, too. But the fact is every one of us is affected by what they do to the Service, generally. In this case, the fact we’ve got Mary and her lab, as it’s called, here on Base is all a matter of politics.”
    â€œIs that so, sir?” He had not known anything about Mary and a lab. He was being more polite than anything. It seemed to him the general was still just making conversation.
    â€œYes, that’s so. And it’s something that concerns you and me, particularly,” said Mollen. “They raised hell with me when they discovered I’d let you go off on leave. Luckily, they were ready to listen when I said that it might attract more attention to call you back, suddenly, than it would be to let you come back in your own time. I didn’t think you’d stay much longer than you did, anyway, knowing you.”
    â€œYes sir,” said Jim, not understanding this at all.
    â€œWell, I was right. You’re back safely and now you’re here, I’m afraid you’re going to stay here. If you go off Base from now on, it’ll be with a couple of Secret Service types riding shotgun on you.”
    Jim stared.
    â€œCan I ask the general why?”
    â€œI told you. Politics. It just happened that the Chasse Gallerie came home through the North American Sector of the Frontier. That makes Raoul Penard and all the potentially valuable scientific possibilities of his existence in the metal of his ship a piece of property belonging to this continent. It also makes him, it, Mary Gallegher—and you—items of considerable potential value to our partners who guard the other Sections of the Frontier. That is, if they know about him yet—but the general feeling is that if any of them don’t by now, they will shortly. Also, the general feeling among those few who know about this is that there’s too much at stake to take any chances at all.

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