"You mean here is no one head officer of the planet? Then we will see the one who is head of this political unit."
Kitty said: "I'll have to leave; the next floor-show goes on pretty soon."
"No," said Zrap softly."You will not leave, madame." And the Alan looked at the girl. Kitty sat where she was. An expression of horror came over her face.
"Say," said Piper belligerently, "You can't—" The eyes were turned on him and on Butland. Willard Butland felt a fearful terror steal over him: a deadly, choking, nauseating fear that was all the worse for not being fear of any particular thing. After a few agonizing eras it left him.
Piper said feebly: "The government's in Washington."
"Then," purred the Alan, "you will take us to Washington."
Chapter II. The Great God Ng
THEY rose and paraded out, all six.
The Alans attracted much attention. Willard Butland mentally went over several theories to account for his experiences. The most promising one seemed to be that there was a personal devil after all, and these were-his agents.
Near Antonio's stood the Megapolitan Theater. Along the nearest wall of the theater was a row of bronze frames containing advertisements of current and coming attractions.
From one of these beamed the face of Mickey Mouse, who had entertained the old and young of five continents for nearly a century.
The Alans saw Mickey and stopped, chattering among themselves and saying "Ng! Ng!" Zrap told their escorts: "This must be the temple of Ng that one of our intra-universal explorers reported! We must go in at once to pay our respects, and see how nearly correct his worship is."
In they went. Butland fumbled for ticket-money, but the Alans urged him on. They walked up to the ticket-taker, who looked horrified but did not demand tickets, and in.
The Alans did not seem to mind being stared at. One of those who stared remarked:
"Say, ain't that a wonderful piece of makeup? You'd think they really was Mickey Mice!"
When they had been seated for some minutes, Sfong the missionary said: "It is not seemly to use a temple of Ng for frivolous entertainment. I see where you poor creatures will afford a fertile field for our activities."
The Alans were silent until the animated cartoon appeared. Then they bounced out of their seats crying "Ng! Ng! Ng!" They pushed out to the aisle, threw themselves prone, and went through that diabolical exercise which the U. S. Army misleadingly calls the "leaning rest"; in other words, a series of pushups.
When they had completed these they rose. Sfong said loudly: "What is the matter, people? Why do you not do obeisance to the great lord Ng?" People shushed them, and ushers came in to eject them. The first ushers went cringing away under the impact of their unexplained power to inspire fear. But the power would not, apparently, work on many ushers at a time. And there were plenty of ushers...
The picture went off and the lights on. Zrap said something in his own language to the other Alans, and they ceased their resistance.
The ticket-taker pointed out Kitty Blake, Piper, and Butland, who tried to look inconspicuous. They were ordered to come along.
It was Willard Butland's first ride in a paddy wagon. He sat on the hard, narrow seat with his head in his hands. Piper told him to cheer up. Butland moaned: "But me—of all people—"
The Alans were quite composed. Sfong said in a kindly tone: "Do not fear, it was not your fault. It was the will of Ng. All will be well. But still I do not understand the customs of your people, to display such heathenish indifference to a cinematic representation of Ng."
Piper tried to explain that Mickey Mouse had been invented many decades before by a man named Disney, and that the character had no theological connotations.
This seemed to perplex the Alan missionary more than ever.
THE desk sergeant at the police station showed incredulity when confronted by the Alans, and more when they gave their names and origin. He looked them over carefully and called the zoo. The director of the zoo arrived, saw, and refused to take any responsibility for the Alans. The desk sergeant then called the commissioner. The commissioner called the mayor. The mayor called the President of the United States. The President dispatched an undersecretary of state named Wilmington Stroud to New York by airplane to look into the matter of the alleged visitors from another planet.
By the time Wilmington Stroud arrived it was morning. Kitty Blake, Piper, and Butland were asleep on each others' shoulders.
The undersecretary of state was a tall, baldish man with pince-nez. He faced the Alans with a sang-froid equalling their own."How do you do," he said."Am I to understand that you wish to communicate with the government of the United States?"
The Alan named Vlik replied: "That is right. My Senator, the Great Black Father of the world of Ala, sends greetings to your Senator." Vlik opened a pocket in his skin and took out a small black disk, which he handed to Stroud. "This is for you. You adjust for distance with that knob, and hold the device against your ear."
Stroud did so, then jumped."My word! I seem to be hearing things out in the street!"
The Alan smiled."That is precisely what you are doing. That receiver, being set for fifty feet and aimed toward the street, hears what you would hear were you fifty feet away in that direction."
"Amusing," said Stroud, and dropped the object in his pocket."And now, my dear sirs, what other evidence have you to substantiate your story?"
The Alans looked at one another. Vlik said: "That is easy. We will take you back to Ala with us."
"Oh, now really—"
"It will not take long. Me need merely go back to the eating-place where we broke through into this universe."
Wilmington Stroud smiled a superior smile."If it's as simple as all that, I'll give you chaps a chance to demonstrate."
The police-sergeant said: "Better take those three along, Mr. Stroud. If it's a put-up job they're in on it. They was with the Mickey Mice foist."
Back they went to Antonio's, Stroud in a luxurious State Department car and the rest in the paddy-wagon.
A man in an apron opened the door. Two other men were cleaning the floor of Antonio's. The chairs were stacked, the tables were bare, and the restaurant— or sink of iniquity—had a cheerless air.
The Alans found the alcove in which they had appeared. They arid the undersecretary slid themselves around the red-leather seat. The cops pushed Kitty Blake, Willard Butland, and Rex Piper toward the seat. These three protested that they did not want to go to Ala. They were forced into their places nevertheless.
"Now," said Zrap, "we go to Ala."
WHICH they did, just like that. The Alans gave no visible signal, and manipulated no visible gadgetry. There was no sound, no jar, no anything. Yet the sink of iniquity disappeared and was instantly replaced by an entirely different room, as quickly as a shift of scene in the movies. One second they had been in Antonio's; the next second they were in a circular room whose yellow walls bulged outward spherically. The room contained a table, a couple of chairs, and two more Mickey Mice.
Butland abandoned the theory that the Alans were genuine devils. This place did not look at all like Hell. It had no visible doors or windows. It was well lighted, but no lamps or other sources of illumination were visible.
The young missionary observed with rising alarm that his companion's color-schemes had changed in bizarre fashion. Kitty Blake's reddish-brown hair was an unpleasant olive-green, and her skin was lemon-colored.
He said: "Miss Blake, your hair is green."
Kitty Blake squeaked with dismay, then recovered herself. She said: "So's yours. And your eyes are purple."