The Impossibles Page 32

Kenneth J.Malone, and more and more like Sir Kenneth Malone. "I can see why hefelt trapped," he said. "If a guy's been unhampered by four walls allthe time, even only for a year or so, he's certainly going to feelpenned in when he loses the ability to get through them. It might bejust a little claustrophobic." He grinned, proud of himself."Claustrophobic," he said again. "My tongue and palate are inexcellent condition."

  "The main thing is," Dorothea said, "that everybody's so happy.Commissioner Fernack, even--with Mr. Burris promising to give him amedal."

  "And Lynch," Malone said reflectively. "He'll get a promotion out ofthis for sure. And good old Kettleman."

  "Kettleman?" Dorothea said. "Oh, the funny fat man. He's some kind ofsocial worker or something."

  "And now he's getting a scroll from the FBI," Malone said. "A citationfor coming up with the essential clue in this case. Even though hedidn't know it _was_ the essential clue. You know," he addedreflectively, "one thing puzzles me about that man."

  "Yes?"

  "Well," Malone said, "he worked in your neighborhood. You knew him."

  "Of course I did," Dorothea said. "We all knew Kettleman."

  "He said he had a lot of success as a social worker," Malone said."Now, I've met him. And talked with him. And I just can't picture--"

  "Oh," Dorothea said. "We keep him around--kept him around, I mean--asa sort of joke. A pet, or a mascot. Of course, he never did catch on.I don't suppose he has yet."

  Malone laughed. "Nope," he said. "He hasn't."

  "And even your friend is happy," Dorothea said.

  "Boyd?" Malone said. "Sure. He called his blonde and she was justthrilled at the adventures of an FBI agent, and he's with her now."

  "You sound jealous," Dorothea said.

  "The hell I am," Malone said, and proceeded to prove his point. Someminutes later they relaxed.

  "Mike," Dorothea said. "What?"

  "Mike," she said. "He's probably the happiest of all. After Mom and Italked to him for a while, anyhow, and he began to lose that--that_trapped_ feeling. Now he's all excited about being an FBI man." Shelooked worriedly at Malone for a second. "You weren't kidding aboutthat, were you?" she said.

  She looked very pretty when she was worried. Malone leaned over andkissed her with great care. After a second, the kiss seemed to gainmomentum on its own, and all restraint went by the wayside. A longtime passed.

  Then, as Malone pulled away and began to recover his breath, he saidweakly, "You were saying?"

  "Was I?" Dorothea said. "Oh, yes. I was. About Mike being an FBI man."

  "Oh," Malone said. "Well, normally you've got to be a lawyer or anaccountant, but there are a few special cases. And maybe Mike wouldfit into the special-case bracket. If he doesn't--well, he'll be doingsome sort of official work for the Government. You can be sure ofthat."

  "That woman in the costume--the one you call Your Majesty--certainlythrew a scare into the boys," Dorothea said.

  "Well," Malone said, "we had to prove one thing to them. We can pickthem up at any time. You see, they've got to think about where they'reteleporting, and as soon as they do that one of our telepaths--likethe Queen--will know where they're going to be. And we can crackdown."

  "That's what she said," Dorothea said.

  "Right," Malone said. "After all, we did them quite a favor--gettingthem out of all the trouble they'd gotten themselves into. If they tryto--"

  "That reminds me, Ken," Dorothea said. "All the things that werestolen. The liquor and all of that, Money. What's going to happen tothat?"

  "Well," Malone said, "everything that can be returned--and thatincludes most of the liquor, because they hadn't had a chance to getrid of it to the bootleggers around this area--will be returned. Whatcan't be returned--money, stuff that they've used, broken, orsold--well, I don't exactly know about that. It might take a specialact of Congress," he said brightly.

  "All for the boys?" Dorothea said.

  "Well, they'll be at Yucca Flats, and they'll be pretty useful,"Malone said. "And, as I was saying, if they try to run away from YuccaFlats, we'll just have to keep them drugged all the time, little as wewant to. They can be of some use that way, too. The Government isn'tdoing all this for nothing."

  "But keeping them drugged--"

  "I said we didn't want to do it. And I don't think we'll have to.They'll be well taken care of, don't worry. Some of the bestpsychiatrists and doctors are out there. And Mike and the others--ifthey can show they're trustworthy--can come home every weekend, oreven every night if they can teleport that far." Malone paused. "Butit isn't charity," he added. "We need people with specialized psionicabilities--and, for a variety of reasons, they're pretty hard tofind."

  "You know," Dorothea said, "you're pretty wonderful, Mr. Malone."

  Malone didn't answer her. He just kissed her again, not caringparticularly whether or not the kiss went wild.

  Dorothea pushed him gently away. "I'm envious," she announced."Everybody gets a reward but me. Do I get left out just because Iswiped your notebook?"

  Malone kissed her again. "What kind of a reward do you want?" heasked.

  She sighed. "Oh, well," she said. "I suppose this is good enough."

  "Good enough?" Malone said. "Just good enough?"

  His lips met hers for the fifth time. She reached one hand gently outto the light switch and pushed it.

  The lights went out.