boucher book oct28.pdf - Index of

Sanctuary 341
Commando. One little glimmer of hope shone in von Schwarzenau’s eyes. He stepped
forward and tugged at the beard.
The stranger said, “Ouch!”
Dr. Palgrave smiled. “I could not resist the joke, my dear colonel. I happened to
have another American guest whom you had not yet met. The temptation to build
a dramatic introduction was too much for me. But now if you wish to search the
house personally for your mythical Commandoman, I shall be glad to be of any
assistance that I can. You know my loyalty to you and your friends.”
The stranger and I sat silent under the watchful eyes of the corporal while von
Schwarzenau searched the house. He returned glowering. “Pigs!” he snorted. “Weakling
offspring of impure dogs! You bring me information and what is the result! You
allow that one makes a fool of me!”
Not until the footsteps were dead in the distance did anyone speak. Then the stranger
burst out, “What goes here, brothers? Where have I been and how did I get back
here and— I thought I was dead and was that a heaven for you!”
I began to understand. “Then you—”
“Yes, Holding,” Dr. Palgrave explained. “Our friend here is indeed the ghost.
I realized that the exact description could not be coincidental. And if he was the
ghost, then my time machine must be successful with a human traveler. It must be
I who sent him back to Uptonleigh’s classic party. And the ghost changed in those
six weeks, you will recall, cleaned up and grew a beard. If I could bring him back,
he would be completely unrecognizable to von Schwarzenau. So I sent him into
my traveling cabinet.”
“But how— You didn’t go near it.”
“I explained to you that it operated by remote control. I sent him on his journey
and fetched him back under von Schwarzenau’s very eyes, while he thought I was
indulging in mere nervous twiddling.”
“Brother,” the Commandoman said, “I had you tagged all wrong. You’re a right
guy, after all, and I’m sorry I waved Betsy at you. You’ve done a good deed today
for the United Nations.”
“The United Nations?” Dr. Palgrave blinked. “Oh, yes. Yes— But what is important
is that I have proved that my time machine is a practical device capable of
carrying human life.”
The Commandoman gulped. “You mean I was a guinea pig?” His hand sneaked
toward Betsy, but he dropped it again. “Who cares? You saved me, that’s the main
thing.”
“That colonel,” Dr. Palgrave spoke reflectively, “he meant what he said—”
“They mostly do, them boys.”
“He really meant that he would wantonly destroy all my invaluable apparatus
merely to— And I thought he had a respect for science, an understanding of
my—”
It was my chance to strike. “You get it now, Dr. Palgrave? You’ve been his dupe,
his court jester. And when amusement palled, neither you nor your work meant
a thing to him. All your research would have been wiped out without a moment’s
compunction.”