looking for me?"
"I was. But they told me you weren't due to show up here for another couple of hours. And then, just as I was- leaving, there you were anyway. Talk about serendipity!"
Beenay trotted up the last few steps, and they gave each other a quick hug. He had known the newspaperman some three or four years, ever since the time Theremon had come to the Observatory to interview some scientist, any scientist, about the latest manifesto of the crackpot Apostles of Flame group. Gradually he and Theremon had become close friends, even though Theremon was some five years older and came out of a rougher, worldlier background. Beenay liked the idea of having a friend who had no involvement whatsoever in university politics; and Theremon was delighted to know someone who wasn't at all interested in exploiting him for his considerable journalistic influence.
"Is something wrong?" Beenay asked.
"Not in the least. But I need to get you to do the Voice of Science routine again. Mondior's made another of his famous 'Repent, repent, doom is coming' speeches. Now he says he's ready to reveal the exact hour when the world will be destroyed. In case you're interested, it's going to happen next year on the nineteenth of Theptar, as a matter of fact."
"That madman! It's a waste of space printing anything about him. Why does anyone pay the slightest bit of attention to the Apostles, anyway?"
Theremon shrugged. "The fact is that people do. A lot of people, Beenay. And~ if Mondior says the end is nigh, I need to get someone like you to stand up and say, 'Not so, brothers and sisters! Have no fear! All is well!' Or words to that effect. I can count on you, can't I, Beenay?"
"You know you can."
"This evening?"
"This evening? Oh, lord, Theremon, this evening's a real mess. How much of my time do you think you'd have to have?"
"Half an hour? Forty-five minutes?"
"Look," Beenay said, "I've got an urgent appointment right now-that's why I'm here ahead of schedule. After that, I've sworn to Raissta that I'll hustle back home and devote, well, an hour or two to her. We've been on such different tracks lately that we've hardly seen each other at all. And then later in the evening I'm supposed to be here at the Observatory again to supervise taking of a bunch of photographs of-"
"All right," said Theremon. "I see I've picked the wrong time for this. Well, listen, no problem, Beenay. I've got until tomorrow afternoon to turn in my story. What if we talk in the morning?"
"The morning?" Beenay said doubtfully.
"I know morning's an unthinkable concept for you. But what I mean is, I can get back up here at Onos-rise, just as you're finishing up your evening's work. If you could simply manage a little interview with me before you go home to go to sleep-"
"For a friend, Beenay."
Beenay gave the journalist a weary look. "Of course I will. That's not the issue. It's just that I may be so groggy after a whole evening of work that I may not be of any use to you."
Theremon grinned. "That doesn't worry me. I've noticed that you're capable of degroggifying pretty damned quickly when there's anti-scientific nonsense for you to refute. Tomorrow at Onos-rise, then? In your office upstairs?"
"Right."
"A million thanks, pal. I'll owe you one for this."
"Don't mention it."
Theremon saluted and began to head down the steps. "Give my best to that beautiful lady of yours," he called. "And I'll see you in the morning."
"See you in the morning, yes," Beenay echoed.
How odd that sounded. He never saw anybody-or anything-in the morning. But he'd make an exception for Theremon. That was what friendship was all about, wasn't it?
Beenay turned and entered the Observatory.
Inside, all was dimly lit and calm, the familiar hush of the great hall of science where he had spent most of his time since his early university days. But the calm was, he knew, a deceptive one. This mighty building, like the more mundane places of the world, was constantly aswirl with conflicts of all sorts, ranging from the loftiest of philosophical disputes down to the pettiest of trivial feuds, spats, and backbiting intrigues. Astronomers, as a group, were no more virtuous than anyone else.
All the same, the Observatory was a sanctuary for Beenay and for most of the others who worked there-a place where they could leave most of the world's problems behind and devote themselves more or less peacefully to the