Page:Fantastic Universe (1956-10; vol. 8, no. 3).djvu/33

50 present uselessness of their overconcern for their brains!"

"What will happen if they don't?"

George regarded him without expression. "We won't sell a hundred 62's that are beginning to pile up in the yard. That's what'll happen!"

"Then I'm afraid they'll just have to pile up. You aren't going to sell them to Sleth Forander—or any other Ragalian. I can promise you that!"

"I'll cover anything you want to let talk for you. We've gone too far now—"

"I think we have," said Hugh. "You are forgetting the doctor's report is that Sleth Forander is in critical condition. Supposing he survives, what will have to be done with him, Nat?"

"Ship him back home as soon as possible," said the psychologist. "If they've got the equipment, they can wipe out all memory of his visit to Earth. He'll likely be as good as new then. I wouldn't worry too much about his dying. I think he'll pull through the shock. I'm sorry things turned out this way on your deal, though. That wipes out Wilkinson Spacecraft, doesn't it?"

Hugh nodded. "It was a good gamble. I knew what I was doing. There's only one thing left—" He looked meaningly at George Mahoney.

"We're not through," said George quietly. "You don't give up an engineering problem just because your computer jams. You feed it new data until it unjams. Keep that production line rolling, Mark. The Ragalians are going to buy your 62's."

"Wait! Where are you going?" Hugh demanded.

"To unjam a computer!"

They were reluctant to admit him at the hospital for extra-terrestrials, to which Sleth Forander had been taken. "Absolutely no visitors," the nurse told him.

"I'm the only friend he's got," George protested. "He's here on a one-man purchasing mission. His nearest embassy is a dozen light years away. How would you like to be dying so far from home and not even allowed to see your one friend?"

"I don't know—" The nurse looked him over dubiously. "You'll have to talk with the doctor—"

He went through the same story again with the physician, and then with the director of the hospital. They checked with the government personnel division handling foreign visas. He was finally given approval for a ten minute visit when Sleth Forander was able to speak.

That was not until the next morning. George spent the night in the hospital waiting room. He was groggy for sleep when they at last told him he could go in.

He hoped no one was looking as he stepped through the lock in his protective suit and greeted the Ragalian. Sleth Forander turned his