"You remember what you told me this afternoon?" asked Enoch.
"I told you a lot of things."
"You told me that I had the devil in me. Raise your hand against that girl once more and I promise you I'll show you just how much devil there is in me."
"You can't bluff me," Hank blustered.
But the man was frightened. It showed in the limpness of his face, the tightness of his body.
"I mean it," Enoch said. "just try me out and see." The two men stood for a moment, facing one another, then Hank sat down.
"Would you join us in some victuals?" he inquired.
Enoch shook his head.
He looked at the stranger. "Are you the ginseng man?" he asked.
The man nodded. "That is what they call me."
"I want to talk with you. Outside."
Claude Lewis stood up.
"You don't have to go," said Hank. "He can't make you go. He can talk to you right here."
"I don't mind," said Lewis. "In fact, I want to talk with him. You're Enoch Wallace, aren't you?"
"That's who he is," said Hank. "Should of died of old age fifty years ago. But look at him. He's got the devil in him. I tell you, him and the devil has a deal."
"Hank," Lewis said, "shut up."
Lewis came around the table and went out the door. "Good night," Enoch said to the rest of them. "Mr. Wallace," said Ma Fisher, "thanks for bringing back my girl. Hank won't hit her again. I can promise you. I'll see to that."
Enoch went outside and shut the door. He picked up the lantern. Lewis was out in the yard. Enoch went to him.
"Let's walk off a ways," he said.
They stopped at the edge of the garden and turned to face one another.
"You been watching me," said Enoch.
Lewis nodded.
"Official? Or just snooping?"
"Official, I'm afraid. My name is Claude Lewis. There is no reason I shouldn't tell you-I'm C.I.A."
"I'm not a traitor or a spy," Enoch said.
"No one thinks you are. We're just watching you."
"You know about the cemetery?"
Lewis nodded.
"You took something from a grave."
"Yes," said Lewis. "The one with the funny headstone."
"Where is it?"
"You mean the body. It's in Washington."
"You shouldn't have taken it," Enoch said, grimly. "You've caused a lot of trouble. You have to get it back. As quickly as you can."
"It will take a little time," said Lewis. "They'll have to fly it out. Twenty-four hours, maybe."
"That's the fastest you can make it?"
"I might do a little better."
"Do the very best you can. It's important that you get that body back."
"I will, Wallace. I didn't know…"
"And, Lewis."
"Yes."
"Don't try to play it smart. Don't add any frills. Just do what I tell you. I'm trying to be reasonable because that's the only thing to be. But you try one smart move…"
He reached out a hand and grabbed Lewis's shirt front, twisting the fabric tight.
"You understand me, Lewis?"
Lewis was unmoved. He did not try to pull away. "Yes," he said. "I understand."
"What the hell ever made you do it?"
"I had a job."
"Yeah, a job. Watching me. Not robbing graves." He let loose of the shirt.
"Tell me," said Lewis, "that thing in the grave. What was it?"
"That's none of your damn business," Enoch told him, bitterly. "Getting back that body is. You're sure that you can do it? Nothing standing in your way?"
Lewis shook his head. "Nothing at all. I'll phone as soon as I can reach a phone. I'll tell them that it's imperative."
"It's all of that," said Enoch. "Getting that body back is the most important thing you've ever done. Don't forget that for a minute. It affects everyone on Earth. You and me and everyone. And if you fail, you'll answer to me for it."
"With that gun?"
"Maybe," Enoch said. "Don't fool around. Don't imagine that I'd hesitate to kill you. In this situation, I'd kill anyone-anyone at all."
"Wallace, is there something you can tell me?"
"Not a thing," said Enoch. He picked up the lantern. "You're going home?"
Enoch nodded.
"You don't seem to mind us watching you."
"No," Enoch told him. "Not your watching. Just your interference. Bring back that body and go on watching if you want to. But don't push me any. Don't lean on me. Keep your hands off. Don't touch anything."
"But good God, man, there's something going on. You can tell me something."
Enoch hesitated.
"Some idea," said Lewis, "of what this is all about. Not the details, just…"
"You bring the body back," Enoch told him, slowly, "and maybe we can talk again."
"It will be back," said Lewis.
"If it's not," said Enoch, "you're as good as dead right now."
Turning, he went across the garden and started up the hill.
In the yard, Lewis stood for a long time, watching the lantern bobbing out of sight.
22
Ulysses was alone in the station when Enoch returned. He had sent the Tuban on his way and the Hazer back to Vega.
A fresh pot of coffee was brewing and Ulysses was sprawled out on the sofa, doing nothing.
Enoch hung up the rifle and blew out the lantern. Taking off his jacket, he threw it on the desk. He sat down in a chair across from the sofa.
"The body will be back," he said, "by this time tomorrow."
"I sincerely hope," Ulysses said, "that it will do some good. But I'm inclined to doubt it."
"Maybe," said Enoch bitterly, "I should not have bothered."
"It will show good faith," Ulysses said. "It might have some mitigating effect in the final weighing."
"The Hazer could have told me," Enoch said, "where the body was. If he knew it had been taken from the grave, then he must have known where it could be found."
"I would suspect he did," Ulysses said, "but, you see, he couldn't tell you. All that he could do was to make his protest. The rest was up to you. He could not lay aside his dignity by suggesting what you should do about it. For the record, he must remain the injured party."
"Sometimes," said Enoch, "this business is enough to drive one crazy. Despite the briefings from Galactic Central, there are always some surprises, always yawning traps for you to tumble into."
"There may come a day," Ulysses said, "when it won't be like that. I can look ahead and see, in some thousands of years, the knitting of the galaxy together into one great culture, one huge area of understanding. The local and the racial variations still will exist, of course, and that is as it should be, but overriding all of these will be a tolerance that will make for what one might be tempted to call a brotherhood."
"You sound," said Enoch, "almost like a human. That is the sort of hope that many of our thinkers have held out."
"Perhaps," Ulysses said. "You know that a lot of Earth seems to have rubbed off on-me. You can't spend as long as I did on your planet without picking up at least a bit of it. And by the way, you made a good impression on the Vegan."
"I hadn't noticed it," Enoch told him. "He was kind and correct, of course, but little more."
"That inscription on the gravestone. He was impressed by that."
"I didn't put it there to impress anyone. I wrote it out because it was the way I felt. And because I like the Hazers. I was only trying to make it right for them."
"If it were not for the pressure from the galactic factions," Ulysses said, "I am convinced the Vegans would be willing to forget the incident and that is a greater concession than you can realize. It may be that, even so, they may line up with us when the showdown comes."
"You mean they might save the station?"
Ulysses shook his head. "I doubt anyone can do that. But it will be easier for all of us at Galactic Central if they threw their weight with us."