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Authors: David Fisher
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equipment,' Stimson had said.
'Just give them something to get their teeth into for now. Something to believe in. A successful rejuvenator.'
'I'm not ready for that yet!' Hardin had protested.
But Stimson had been persuasive. 'By the time they get round to putting up any money you'll have solved your technical problems.'
Perhaps it was the result of all those years of struggle and failure, but at the time Stimson's proposition had sounded unorthodox. But not actually criminal. In any case once Hardin had met the beautiful and elegant Mena he had been ready to agree to anything-even Stimson's suggestion that they fake an experiment - in order to keep her beside him for as long as possible.
And the plan had worked. Until now.
Now Mena was dying, and his work-which she still believed might save her-was a fraud and a fake. She would die because he was unable to save her.
Stimson understood Hardin only too well. A brilliant fool, he thought, emotionally unstable-and if he's not handled carefully, he'll destroy everything.
'Hardin,' he said, 'Mena still thinks you are the greatest scientist since Albert Einstein. Don't disappoint her, there's a good fellow. Leave her with some hope.'
But Hardin was adamant. 'No! There have been too many lies. I must tell Mena the truth.'
'Don't be a fool!'
'I will not be party to fraud.'
Stimson lost his temper. 'It's a bit late to think of that now!' he snapped. 'And it's no time to get an attack of the scruples. Remember where we are. On Argolis. Their planet. What do you think the Argolin would do if they discovered we had been leading them up the garden path? Do you really think they'd just slap our wrists and let us go?'
'Vlena would never hurt anyone.'
'She's an Argolin, isn't she? They're all a bunch of savages at heart. Always have been. I bet they only took up tachyonics because they thought it would make a better weapon than a radon missile.'
But at that point their argument was interrupted by the arrival of Romana.
'How is Mena?' demanded Hardm.
'The Doctor's with her. He is doing everything he can.
'I must go to her.'
'No ' said Stimson. 'You'd only be in the way. Best thing we can do is to get this experiment working. He turned to Romana for support. 'Right miss?
'Right. Whatever you do, get the experiment working.'
Stimson shot her a suspicious glance. He detected a satirical note in Romana's voice. What the devil did she know? And who was this self-assured young woman he wondered? He didn't like the professional way she was inspecting the equipment they had assembled.
'I see you feed the tachyon drive straight into the wafer wave inducer,' she remarked. Bit unusual, isn't it? How do you achieve inversion?
Ouch, thought Stimson, that's all we needed-an expert in tachyonics. Well, time to bale out. Cut your losses. No one would ever accuse him of not knowmg when to make a swift exit. He began to edge his way towards the door. 'Well?' asked Romana.
Hardin looked blank for a moment, then with an effort of will he brought his mind back to ner Question. He mumbled something about the divider circuit automatically dephasing. But in the end the thought of what was happening in the boardroom was too much for him. 'Mena's dying!' he suddenly blurted out. 'There's no way to stop cellular degeneration.' K
'First things first,' Romana replied. She was still studying the apparatus. 'Come on now. Tell me how you lock the phase.'
'I don't!' cried Hardin, 'Don't you understand, I can't! The whole contraption doesn't work.'
'Oh, I know that,' said Romana calmly. 'But what I don't understand is why it doesn't. You see, I think it ought to work.'
Stimson stopped an Argolin Holiday guide in the corridor to enquire about shuttles from the planet.
'All fully booked I'm afraid,' said the Argolin, once he had consulted his wrist computer which carried a permanent update on all shuttle flights and bookings.
'But I must get off Argolis now,' insisted the Terran. 'I have urgent
'Just give them something to get their teeth into for now. Something to believe in. A successful rejuvenator.'
'I'm not ready for that yet!' Hardin had protested.
But Stimson had been persuasive. 'By the time they get round to putting up any money you'll have solved your technical problems.'
Perhaps it was the result of all those years of struggle and failure, but at the time Stimson's proposition had sounded unorthodox. But not actually criminal. In any case once Hardin had met the beautiful and elegant Mena he had been ready to agree to anything-even Stimson's suggestion that they fake an experiment - in order to keep her beside him for as long as possible.
And the plan had worked. Until now.
Now Mena was dying, and his work-which she still believed might save her-was a fraud and a fake. She would die because he was unable to save her.
Stimson understood Hardin only too well. A brilliant fool, he thought, emotionally unstable-and if he's not handled carefully, he'll destroy everything.
'Hardin,' he said, 'Mena still thinks you are the greatest scientist since Albert Einstein. Don't disappoint her, there's a good fellow. Leave her with some hope.'
But Hardin was adamant. 'No! There have been too many lies. I must tell Mena the truth.'
'Don't be a fool!'
'I will not be party to fraud.'
Stimson lost his temper. 'It's a bit late to think of that now!' he snapped. 'And it's no time to get an attack of the scruples. Remember where we are. On Argolis. Their planet. What do you think the Argolin would do if they discovered we had been leading them up the garden path? Do you really think they'd just slap our wrists and let us go?'
'Vlena would never hurt anyone.'
'She's an Argolin, isn't she? They're all a bunch of savages at heart. Always have been. I bet they only took up tachyonics because they thought it would make a better weapon than a radon missile.'
But at that point their argument was interrupted by the arrival of Romana.
'How is Mena?' demanded Hardm.
'The Doctor's with her. He is doing everything he can.
'I must go to her.'
'No ' said Stimson. 'You'd only be in the way. Best thing we can do is to get this experiment working. He turned to Romana for support. 'Right miss?
'Right. Whatever you do, get the experiment working.'
Stimson shot her a suspicious glance. He detected a satirical note in Romana's voice. What the devil did she know? And who was this self-assured young woman he wondered? He didn't like the professional way she was inspecting the equipment they had assembled.
'I see you feed the tachyon drive straight into the wafer wave inducer,' she remarked. Bit unusual, isn't it? How do you achieve inversion?
Ouch, thought Stimson, that's all we needed-an expert in tachyonics. Well, time to bale out. Cut your losses. No one would ever accuse him of not knowmg when to make a swift exit. He began to edge his way towards the door. 'Well?' asked Romana.
Hardin looked blank for a moment, then with an effort of will he brought his mind back to ner Question. He mumbled something about the divider circuit automatically dephasing. But in the end the thought of what was happening in the boardroom was too much for him. 'Mena's dying!' he suddenly blurted out. 'There's no way to stop cellular degeneration.' K
'First things first,' Romana replied. She was still studying the apparatus. 'Come on now. Tell me how you lock the phase.'
'I don't!' cried Hardin, 'Don't you understand, I can't! The whole contraption doesn't work.'
'Oh, I know that,' said Romana calmly. 'But what I don't understand is why it doesn't. You see, I think it ought to work.'
Stimson stopped an Argolin Holiday guide in the corridor to enquire about shuttles from the planet.
'All fully booked I'm afraid,' said the Argolin, once he had consulted his wrist computer which carried a permanent update on all shuttle flights and bookings.
'But I must get off Argolis now,' insisted the Terran. 'I have urgent
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