“Yes,” said Jonnie, controlling his anger, “we don't have quite enough gold yet.” That was an understatement. All the gold they had he was carrying in a bag right this minute.
“Fine, fine,” said Terl. “Need any equipment? Any supplies? Just say the word. Got a list with you?” Jonnie didn't. “No, well all you have to do is put a list in those bundles you keep leaving outside the cage and I’ll just have them run right over to you. Label it 'training supplies,' of course.”
“Fine,” said Jonnie.
“And if you want to talk to me, just flash a light through the glass at my quarters, three short flashes and I’ll come out and we can talk. Right?”
Jonnie said that was fine. There were some mining points that came up every now and then.
“Well, you just ask the right party,” said Terl, patting himself on the chest.
“What I don't know about mining has never been written up!” He laughed loudly.
Indeed this was a different Terl, thought Jonnie. Something had taken the pressure off him.
They were still out in a field and hidden from view by a knoll.
“Now to business,” said Terl. “On Day 89 you are to deliver my gold to this building in the old city up there.” He took a picture out of his pocket and showed it to Jonnie.
It said on the building: “United States Mint.” Jonnie started to take it but Terl pulled it back and showed him three other views: the street, the building from two sides.
“Day 89,” said Terl. “Two hours after sunset. Don't be seen. There's a room I’ve fixed up. Put it in there.”
Jonnie studied the views. Obviously Terl was not going to give him physical possession of them. There were some mounds he knew were old cars, and back of the building was a bigger mound, probably a truck. The doors of the place were sound and closed, but undoubtedly Terl had them unlocked.
“Have you got a flatbed ground truck?” asked Terl. “No? I’ll give you one.” He became impressive, commanding. “Now listen carefully: you and two other animals, no more, are to arrive at that exact time. You, personal. Tell the others you won't return until Day 93 and you'll bring them their pay. From Day 89 to 93 I have some other things for you to do. Understand? You personally and two animals, no more; the rest stay at the mine. Right?”
Jonnie said that was understood. They were standing well screened from any view behind some bushes. “Do you want to see a sample of what was hauled up?”
Yes, Terl certainly did. So Jonnie threw down a piece of heavy cloth and spilled wire gold onto it. It glowed softly in the sunlight.
Terl glanced up to be sure there was no overhead surveillance and then hunkered down. He fondled the nets of gold, some of the quartz still sticking to it. He spent some time at it and then stood up with a paw signal to put it away. Jonnie did so. Carefully. It was all they had.
Gazing at the bag, Terl let out a long sigh into his breathe-mask. “Beautiful,” he said. “Beautiful.”
He came out of it. “So on Day 89, I get a ton of gold, right?” He patted his pocket where the remote control lay. “And then on Day 93 you get your payoff!"
“Why the delay?” said Jonnie. “That's four days.”
“Oh, you've got a few things to do,” said Terl. “But never fear, animal. Come Day 93 you will be paid off. With interest. Compounded. I promise you very faithfully!” He laughed a huge guffaw into his mask, and Jonnie knew that Terl might be feeling high today but he was not entirely sane.
“You'll get everything that's coming to you, animal!” said Terl. “Let's walk back to the car.”
Never in his whole life had Terl felt so good. He recalled from the Scotland trip how eager they were for pay. This animal was going to get paid on Day 89! Then he could kill the females. With no fear of “psychic powers.” Delicious!
“Goodbye, animal,” he said, and drove off in great spirits.
Chapter 6
The next weeks were filled with tension. They were driving along the vein in hopes of a second pocket but as yet saw only white quartz, no gold. And without gold, nothing else was going to work.
The incident of the horse herd caused an uproar among them. They had trained those horses and they had become pets, left at the Academy where there was grazing, waiting for better days. The Scots were outraged, not only because of the loss but because of the sickening way it had been done. It brought home to all of them the nature of the enemy. Were all Psychlos like that? Yes, unfortunately. Lookouts had spotted other crippled animals around the compound. Didn't this put the girls in great danger? Yes, but one had to grit one's teeth and make sure their plan came off on schedule. By all that was holy, they mustn't muff a single thing! It was like playing a violent kind of chess with maniacs.
In other areas than the gold they were making progress.
Angus had made keys to everything in sight. It was very risky: heat-shielded bodies, silent feet in the snow of night, impressions in wax, dusted-over tracks. There was double jeopardy in this, for any discovery might not only cost the man his life but also alert the Psychlos that something was intended.
They had a good break in studying the old battle of a thousand years ago. The records were all in order now, all satellite overviews of it in sequence.
Jonnie and Doctor MacDermott had been going over them, looking for something that might help. There were numerous reports on the battle planes in that one-sided struggle.
An oddity was that a Psychlo battle plane had dive-bombed a tank in downtown Denver, but there was no tank detailed to downtown Denver according to U.S. Army statements on it. This attracted Jonnie's attention and led him to discover a second report on the same plane.
After bombing the tank that the report said was not there, the battle plane took off at high speed to the northwest and was sighted colliding with a snow-covered mountainside. It didn't explode. The spotting gave the exact position.
They looked it up on their maps. It was only about three hundred miles to the north of them.
Dunneldeen verified it with an overfly and metal detector, and the battle plane was still there, buried– all but a tip of its tail– in perpetual snows.
Using two flying ore platforms, they dug it out and airlifted it at night, to avoid detection, to the old base, and there in the heliport, subjected it to minute study.
The battle plane was unserviceable but it contained a host of information that could not be gained by a stealthy scout to the compound. The two Psychlo pilots had been killed on impact but their equipment, though decayed, was intact.
They went over every detail of the breathe-masks. They found there was a compartment that contained jet-driven backpacks as a form of parachute in case of necessary bailout. The security belts were no different from those used in the mine vehicles. The pilots also wore belt guns.
The controls of the plane were identical to the passenger mining ships. The only additions were the gun triggers and switches for a magnetic "grappler."
Examining the skids on which the plane stood, they found, indeed, that they were electromagnetic. The plane could be fixed with this to any metal surface and obviated the necessity of tying it down.
They also located the key slots and determined the type of keys.
They cleaned it up as best they could and used it for drilling their pilots.
The dead, mummified Psychlos were dissected by the parson to ascertain where their vital organs were located. Their hearts were in back of their belt buckles and their lungs were high in their shoulders. Their brains were very low in the back of the head and the rest of the head was bone. The parson then buried them with proper solemnity.