supper in the officers' mess was a glittering affair in the military tradition. their conversation developed some new revelations. third sarge elfor was commander of the whole area that surrounded pebbro for hundreds of miles, including the abandoned spaceport. the topkick was ruler of the nation, and the nation was the top echelon in a co-operating hierarchy of countries of the world. for some reason, the simplified terms for enlisted men's grades had replaced higher ranks in earth's military systems: such titles as "sarge" and "topkick." inquiry developed that none of the officers was familiar with such designations as "captain" and "commander."
"but why is the spaceport deserted?" asked phil. "is space travel at such a low ebb on earth now?"
"you are mistaken in thinking the port deserted," replied elfor. "the big guns in the pillboxes are zeroed on your ship. if it tries to blast off, it will be destroyed."
there was no enmity in his tone, no threat. it was a simple statement of fact. he didn't elaborate, and the four from the starship discreetly asked no more about it.
after the meal, they retired with elfor and several members of his staff to a quiet lounge. like every other place they had seen in the building, it was lit with candelabra. they relaxed in comfortable, leather-covered chairs and the men enjoyed the long-forgotten luxury of good cigars. white-aproned servitors brought them wine in fragile, long-stemmed glasses.
"you asked about space travel from earth," said elfor. "yes, you might call it at a low ebb. yours is the first ship to blast down in fifty years, except the scout ships in the jupiter sector.
"it is such an unusual occurrence that the topkick is being informed daily of developments. when the men of your starship have been assured of our peaceful intentions, it will be hangared underground and the personnel quartered here until further orders from the topkick. meanwhile, you are the deevs of the hour and we shall drink to your return to earth."
he stood and raised his glass. they all arose. the glasses clinked together.
"conserve!" shouted the third sarge and gulped his wine.
it was a warm moment. for the first time, john felt the genuine glow, the thrill of homecoming, as he and phil drained their glasses and performed the ancient rite of the spacemen when he sets foot on earth once more. as in one motion, they hurled the empty glasses through the open door, to smash to pieces against the farther wall of the adjoining corridor. there was a second crashing tinkle on the heels of the first as the glasses of the women followed them closely.
it was only when he turned back to elfor, his face alight, that john realized something was wrong. the third sarge stood with his mouth open in astonishment. there was something of horror on the faces of the other earthmen. dead silence hung in the room.
"sleep in peace," said elfor at last, in a strained voice. he turned on his heel and left the room. the staff members followed, coldly.
"well, what do you make of that?" asked john, turning to the others with outspread hands. "do you suppose those glasses were valuable heirlooms or something?"
"they looked like ordinary wine-glasses to me," said fran. "i don't get it, but it looks like we slipped up somewhere."
the orderly who escorted them to their room cast an occasional side-long glance, full of awe, at them. their heat-guns had been taken from their room.
"i don't know what we're in for, tom," john said gravely into his pocket transmitter when he had tuned in to the ship. "this place is the biggest mess of contradictions i ever ran into. you'd think from the way they live that it's a decadent society living on the ruins of a former civilization.
"the perplexing thing is that they obviously have power and know how to use it, but don't."
"your job is to find the motivation, john," replied the commander. "remember, we couldn't understand the underground living habits of the deneb iv natives until we lost half a search party in one of their semi-annual meteor showers. do you have any recommendations for the ship?"
"i'd advise you blasting off and taking an orbit," answered john, "but every gun at the spaceport is trained on the ship. i wouldn't take any chances that they don't have atomic weapons. despite these swords and spears, we've seen several regulation heat-guns around here."
"it might interest you to know that they're keeping us awake aboard with a battery of spotlights on us all night," said tom drily.
"spotlights." john swore softly. "and all we have to see by are candles!"
they didn't sleep well that night. they had the distinct impression that armed guards clanked by occasionally outside in the corridor.
