E.E. 'Doc' Smith SF Gateway Omnibus: The Skylark of Space, Skylark Three, Skylark of Valeron, Skylark DuQuesne by E. E. (Doc) Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

afternoon. Please have the party call me at my home, Lincoln six four six two oh … Thank you.’
    He left the building and got his car out of the parking lot. In less than half an hour he reached his house on Park Road, overlooking beautiful Rock Creek Park, in which he lived alone save for an elderly colored couple who were his servants.
    In the busiest part of the afternoon Chambers rushedunannounced into Brookings’ private office, his face white, a newspaper in his hand.
    ‘Read that, Mr Brookings!’ he gasped.
    Brookings read, his face turning gray. ‘Ours, of course.’
    ‘Ours,’ Chambers agreed, dully.
    ‘The fool! Didn’t you tell him to work with very small quantities?’
    ‘I did. He said not to worry, he was taking no chances he wouldn’t have more than one gram of copper on hand at once in the whole laboratory.’
    ‘Well … I’ll … be … jiggered!’ Turning slowly to the telephone, Brookings called a number and asked for Dr DuQuesne, then he called another.
    ‘Brookings. I would like to see you as soon as possible … I’ll be there in about an hour … Goodbye.’
    Brookings arrived and was shown into DuQuesne’s study. The two shook hands perfunctorily and sat down. The scientist waited for the other to speak.
    ‘You were right, doctor,’ Brookings said. ‘Our man couldn’t handle it. I have contracts here …’
    ‘At twenty and ten?’ DuQuesne’s lips smiled, a cold, hard smile.
    ‘Twenty and ten. The Company expects to pay for its mistakes. Here they are.’
    DuQuesne glanced over the documents and thrust them into a pocket. ‘I’ll go over them with my attorney tonight and mail one copy back to you if he says to. In the meantime we may as well get started.’
    ‘What do you suggest?’
    ‘First, the solution. You stole it, I—’
    ‘Don’t use such language, doctor!’
    ‘Why not? I’m for direct action, first, last, and all the time. This thing is too important to mince words. Have you got it with you?’
    ‘Yes. Here it is.’
    ‘Where’s the rest of it?’
    ‘All that we found is here, except for half a teaspoonful our expert had in his laboratory. We didn’t get it all; only half of it. The rest was diluted with water, so it wouldn’t be missed. We can get the rest of it later. That will cause a disturbance, but it may become …
    ‘Half of it! You haven’t a twentieth of it here. Seaton had about four hundred milliliters – almost a pint – of it. I wonder … who’s holding out on – or double-crossing – whom?
    ‘No, not you,’ he went on, as Brookings protested innocence. ‘That wouldn’t make sense. Your thief turned in only this much. Could he be holding out on us … no, that doesn’t make sense, either.’
    ‘No. You know Perkins.’
    ‘His crook missed the main bottle, then. That’s where your methods give me an acute bellyache. When I want anything done I do it myself.But it isn’t too late yet. I’ll take a couple of your goons tonight and go out there.’
    ‘And do exactly what?’
    ‘Shoot Seaton, open the safe, take their solution, plans, and notes. Loose cash, too, of course – I’ll give that to the goons.’
    ‘No, no, doctor. That’s too crude altogether. I could permit that only as the last possible resort.’
    ‘I say do it first. I’m afraid of pussyfooting and gumshoeing around Seaton and Crane. Seaton has developed a lot of late, and Crane never was anybody’s fool. They’re a hard combination to beat, and we’ve done plenty worse and got away with it.’
    ‘Why not work it out from the solution we have, and then get the rest of it? Then, if Seaton had an accident, we could prove that we discovered the stuff long ago.’
    ‘Because development work on that stuff is risky, as you found out. Also, it’d take too much time. Why should we go to all that trouble and expense when they’ve got the worst of it done? The police may stir around for a few days, but they won’t know anything or find out anything.