us will ever be able to visit Mercury again, and I’m wondering if we’re going to be treated as heroes or villains when we get back to Earth. But my conscience is clear; I’m sure we did the right thing. I wonder if the Ramans will ever say ‘thank you.’
“We can stay here only two more days. Unlike Rama, we don’t have a kilometer-thick skin to protect us from the Sun. The hull’s already developing dangerous hot spots and we’ve had to put out some local screening. I’m sorry—I didn’t want to bore you with my problems.
“So there’s time for just one more trip into Rama, and I intend to make the most of it. But don’t worry, I’m not taking any chances.”
He stopped the recording. That, to say the least, was stretching the truth. There was danger and uncertainty about every moment inside Rama; no man could ever feel really at home there, in the presence of forces beyond his understanding. And on this final trip, now that he knew they would never return and that no future operations would be jeopardized, he intended to press his luck just a little further.
“In forty-eight hours, then, we’ll have completed this mission. What happens after that is uncertain; as you know, we’ve used virtually all our fuel getting into this orbit. I’m still waiting to hear if a tanker can rendezvous with us in time to get back to Earth, or whether we’ll have to make planet-fall on Mars. Anyway, I should be home by Christmas. Tell Junior I’m sorry I can’t bring a baby biot; there’s no such animal.
“We’re all fine, but we’re very tired. I’ve earned a long leave after all this, and we’ll make up for lost time. Whatever they say about me, you can claim you’re married to a hero. How many wives have a husband who saved a world?”
As always, he listened carefully to the tape before duping it, to make sure that it was applicable to both his families. It was strange to think that he did not know which of them he would see first. Usually his schedule was determined at least a year in advance, by the inexorable movements of the planets themselves.
But that was in the days before Rama. Now nothing would ever be the same again.
CHAPTER 42
TEMPLE OF GLASS
“If we try it,” said Karl Mercer, “do you think the biots will stop us?”
“They may; that’s one of the things I want to find out. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Mercer gave his slow, secret grin, which was liable to be set off at any moment by a private joke he might or might not share with his shipmates.
“I was wondering, Skipper, if you think you own Rama. Until now, you’ve vetoed any attempt to cut into buildings. Why the switch? Have the Hermians given you ideas?”
Norton laughed, then suddenly checked himself. It was a shrewd question, and he was not sure if the obvious answers were the right ones.
“Perhaps I have been ultracautious—I’ve tried to avoid trouble. But this is our last chance. If we’re forced to retreat, we won’t have lost much.”
“Assuming that we retreat in good order.”
“Of course. But the biots have never shown hostility. And except for the spiders, I don’t believe there’s anything here that can catch us if we do have to run for it.”
“You may run, Skipper, but I intend to leave with dignity. And incidentally, I’ve decided why the biots are so polite to us.”
“It’s a little late for a new theory.”
“Here it is, anyway. They think we’re Ramans. They can’t tell the difference between one oxy-eater and another.”
“I don’t believe they’re that stupid.”
“It’s not a matter of stupidity. They’ve been programmed for their particular jobs, and we simply don’t come into their frame of reference.”
“Perhaps you’re right. We may find out—as soon as we start work on London.”
Joe Calvert had always enjoyed those old bank-robbery movies, but he had never expected to be involved in one. Yet this was, essentially, what he was doing now.
The deserted streets of London seemed full of menace, though he knew that was only his guilty conscience. He did not really believe that the sealed and windowless structures ranged all around them were full of watchful inhabitants, waiting to emerge in angry hordes as soon as the invaders laid a hand on their property. In fact, he was quite certain that this whole complex, like all the other towns, was merely some kind of storage area.