Unearthly Neighbors by Chad Oliver Page B

the last one.
    “Well, Monte?”
    “You’ve read it. It’s all there. There isn’t anything else to say.”
    York leaned back in his chair, staring at his cigarette as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. “You realize, of course, that the safety of this expedition is my responsibility. I have to take most of the blame for what happened down there.”
    Monte sighed. “You’re not a fool, Bill, so don’t act like one. I made all the decisions with the natives. I was careful to make that clear in my report, in case there should be any question about it later. It wasn’t your fault.”
    “Perhaps. But it will be if anything else happens, so nothing else is going to happen. We know what we’re up against now.”
    “Do we? I wish you’d let me in on it.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “That’s what you keep telling me. But I don’t .”
    York shrugged. “Look, Monte, I’m not trying to be difficult. I know that you’ve had a terrible shock; please believe me when I say that if there were anything I could do to help I would do it.”
    “I know that, Bill. Sorry.”
    “The fact remains, however, that I am not a free agent. I have the responsibilities of command here; I must do what I think best.”
    “And?”
    “And I’m taking this ship back to Earth, Monte. I can’t risk any further bloodshed. The decisions from now on will have to be made by higher authorities.”
    “You mean Heidelman?”
    “I mean the Secretary-General. Surely you realize the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into here? You do understand, don’t you?”
    Monte puffed on his pipe. He felt his hands begin to tremble and it made him mad. “You mean that we’ve failed. That it was all for nothing. That we’re just going to turn tail and run.”
    York looked away. “Isn’t that about the size of it? Think, man! You can’t go back there. You must be able to see that. It was bad enough the first time. Now the natives have attacked us and killed some of our people. Worse than that, maybe, you’ve killed one of the natives. I’m not blaming you; I might have done the same. But we’ve got to draw the line somewhere. We didn’t come here to start a war.”
    “What did we come here for?”
    “That’s your department, not mine. My job was to get you here and get you back. That’s what I intend to do.”
    “Very fine, very noble. Maybe you’ll get a medal out of it, huh?”
    “There’s no call to get sarcastic. I’m trying to be reasonable with you. You’re being bull-headed, not me. It’s always easy to blame the brass.”
    Monte got to his feet, his pipe clamped between his teeth. “Hell, I know I’m taking it out on you.” He looked at York with weary eyes. “How do you think I feel? My wife is dead. Ralph is dead. Helen is dead. And I’ve flopped in the biggest job I ever had. Ever think of yourself as a failure? I never had. I always thought I could do anything. Maybe things came too easy for me; I don’t know. I’ve had my nose rubbed in the dirt, but good. But I’m no quitter. I’m not through yet.”
    “But what can you do? I’m all for this hands-across-space stuff; I believe in it. But it’s absurd to sacrifice yourself for the glories of anthropology. You’re not thinking straight—”
    “To hell with anthropology! What kind of a jerk do you take me for? It’s bigger than that and you know it. If we foul it up now there may never be another chance. The next outfit that comes out here—if there is a next outfit—will be a military expedition. Do you want that?”
    “No. No, I don’t.”
    “Okay. I loused up the first try. It’s up to me to set it straight. It’s my job. I want to do it, that’s all.”
    “I can’t let you risk the others.”
    “No, of course not. But who are we risking? There is no threat to the ship—they can’t get at you here. Janice must certainly stay here, and I wouldn’t want Tom to go back. I don’t think Don would go anyhow. I don’t know