Black Easter by James Blish Read Free Book Online

tell us he affects thousands of other people. Nobody ever cast any votes for him that I know of.’
    ‘Shut up, Jack.’
    ‘No, wait, it’s a reasonable question,’ Ware said. ‘Dr Stockhausen does have a large family, which I have to take intoaccount. And, as I’ve told you, I’ve taken some pleasure in his company on a few occasions – not enough to balk at having him sent for, but enough to help run up the price.’
    ‘But that’s not the major impediment. The fact is that Dr Stockhausen, like a good many theoretical physicists these days, is a devout man – and furthermore, he has only a few venial sins to account for, nothing in the least meriting the attention of Hell. I’ll check that again with someone who knows, but it was accurate as of six months ago and I’d be astonished if there’s been any change. He’s not a member of any formal congregation, but even so he’s nobody a demon could reasonably have come for him – and there’s a chance that he might be defended against any direct assault.’
    ‘Successfully?’
    ‘It depends on the forces involved. Do you want to risk a pitched battle that would tear up half of Düsseldorf? It might be cheaper just to mail him a bomb.’
    ‘No, no. And I don’t want anything that might look like some kind of laboratory accident – that’d be just the kind of clue that would set everybody else in his field haring after what we want to keep hidden. The whole secret lies in the fact that once Stockhausen knows what we know, he could create a major explosion with – well, with the equivalent of a blackboard and two pieces of chalk. Isn’t there any other way?’
    ‘Men being men, there’s always another way. In this instance, though, I’d have to have him tempted. I know at least one promising avenue. But he might not fall. And even if he did, as I think he would, it would take several months and a lot of close monitoring. Which wouldn’t be altogether intolerable either, since it would greatly help to mislead Father Domenico.’
    ‘What would it cost?’ Jack Ginsberg said.
    ‘Oh – say about eight million. Entirely a contingent fee this time, since I can’t see that there’d be any important out-of-pocket money needed. If there is, I’ll absorb it.’
    That’s nice,’ Jack said. Ware took no notice of the feeble sarcasm.
    Baines put on his adjudicative face but inwardly he was well satisfied. As a further test, the death of Dr Stockhausen was not as critical as that of Governor Rogan, but it did have the meritof being in an entirely different social sphere; the benefits to Consolidated Warfare Service would be real enough, so that Baines had not had to counterfeit a motive, which might have been detected by Ware and led to premature further questions; and finally, the objections Ware had raised, while in part unexpected, had been entirely consistent with everything the magician had said before, everything that he appeared to be, everything that his style proclaimed, despite the fact that he was obviously a complex man.
    Good. Baines liked consistent intellectuals, and wished that he had more of them in his organization. They were always fanatics of some sort when the chips were down, and hence presented him with some large and easily grasped handle precisely when he had most need of it. Ware hadn’t exhibited his handle yet, but he would; he would.
    ‘It’s worth it,’ Baines said, without more than a decorous two seconds of apparent hesitation. ‘I do want to remind you, though, Dr Ware, that Dr Hess here is one of my conditions. I want you to allow him to watch while you operate.’
    ‘Oh, very gladly,’ Ware said, with another smile that, this time, Baines found disquieting; it seemed false, even unctuous, and Ware was too much in command of himself to have meant the falsity not to be noticed. ‘I’m sure he’ll enjoy it. You can all watch, if you like. I may even invite Father Domenico.’

Dr Hess arrived punctually the next