28. SOMEWHERE IN UTAH

The sergeant said to the colonel, "If these pissants of scientists don't get their cameras and them other damn fool instruments set up to their liking pretty soon, the sun will be down and we'll have to scrub this exercise."

"They want everything just right," the colonel told him. "It's got to be right the first time. We don't want to have to make a second try at it. You may not think so, sergeant, but this mission has the highest possible priority. It comes straight from Washington and we can't afford to goof."

"But, Christ, sir, they sight in those cameras and then look through them and then sight them again. They been doing that for hours. They're a pack of fumbling old maids, I tell you. They got that chalk mark on the visitor's tail side and the rifle's sighted in on it. I sighted it myself and I know where it is pointing. The visitor hasn't moved and it still is pointing at the chalk mark. And that's another thing, why for Christ's sake, a rifle? Why not something a little heavier? You're not going to tell much bouncing a.3o-caliber bullet off that big a mass. It won't do more than fickle it."

"Frankly, sergeant," said the colonel, "I've wondered about that myself. But that's what the orders say. They are most specific — a.30 caliber from a hundred yards. That and nothing else. It's got to be a.30 caliber from a hundred yards and the cameras and the other instruments must be positioned to the satisfaction of these gentlemen.

The colonel broke off what he was saying when he saw that one of the scientists who had been fiddling with the cameras was walking toward them.

"Colonel," said the man, when he came up to them, "you may proceed with the firing. Before you fire, however, be sure that personnel is at a distance of at least two hundred yards. We suspect that there may be considerable back blast."

"I hope," the sergeant said, "that the electronic gadget fixed up to fire the piece will work."

The man said, unperturbed, "I am sure it will."

"Now, sergeant," the colonel said, sharply, "if you will the men out. We want to wrap this up as soon as possible."

The sergeant moved off, started shouting orders.

The scientist asked a technician, "The cameras are ready?"

"They'll start running with the signal that fires the rifle," said the technician. "There's so damn much film involved. Those cameras eat it up."

"Colonel," said the scientist, "it's time for us to move out with the rest of them."

The visitor stood as it had stood for hours, motionless in the midst of the sandy waste. The cross made in chalk shone dully against the blackness of its hide.

"What beats the hell out of me," said the colonel, "is how it has stood there all this time with us fooling around to set up the shoot. Doesn't it know we're here?"

"I'm sure it does," said the scientist. "My feeling is that it simply doesn't care. I would suspect it has some contempt of us."

Finally, the scientist halted his walking and turned about, the colonel turning with him.

"Sergeant," yelled the colonel, "is the area cleared?" The sergeant bawled back. "It's all cleared, sir."

The sergeant nodded to the man from Washington, who raised the tiny instrument he had been carrying in his hand and made a pressing motion with his thumb.

The rifle spat and the visitor spat back with a flood of raging energy that engulfed the mounted rifle. The colonel threw up an arm to shield his eyes against the brilliance of the flare. When he took it down, he saw that the rifle and the mount on which it had been positioned had turned into a shimmering whiteness from the heat. The whole assembly was slowly sagging to the ground. A clump of nearby sagebrush flared to floating ash.

The colonel glanced at the visitor. It was still where it had stood, as if nothing had happened, but the white chalk mark had vanished.

29. WASHINGTON, D.C

Drink clutched in his hand, Senator Davenport paced up and down the room.

"Goddammit, Dave," he said to Porter, "you people down at l6oo have to take some action. You can't just let these things keep on taking over."

"But, Daddy," said Alice, "they're not taking over. They've not really done anything at all."

The senator paused in his striding, stood glaring at his daugh" Not done anything!" he brayed. "They are using up our forests, they're eating lumberyards. They made away with those cars…

"Old cars," said Alice. "Second-hand cars that some dealer was waiting to foist on an unsuspecting public."

"The dealer paid good money for those ears," her father said. "He took them in on trade-ins. He gave them room on his parking lot. He probably fixed them up. He was entitled to his profit. He had earned a profit."

"You say the administration should be doing something," said Porter. "Just what kind of action do you think that we should take?"

"How the hell should I know?" roared the senator. "I'm not the President, I'm not an advisor of his. If I did have some advice, he wouldn't listen to me. I don't know what is going on. Neither does anyone else. You're the press secretary; why don't you tell me what is going on? How much information do you have that you are holding back?"

"Offhand," said Porter, "I'd say scarcely anything."

"That milksop of a scientific advisor you have down there has been working on it," said Davenport. "He has a large force in the field, he's spending millions on his investigation. How come he's not come up with something? I heard today the army had made some sort of firing test against one of the visitors. Can you tell me what came out of it?"

"I don't know," said Porter.

"Dave, if you did know—let's just say you do know—would you tell me?"

"Probably not," said Porter.

The senator turned to Alice. "There you see," he said. "That's the kind of arrogance we can expect from the XVhite House gang.

"Dave has said he doesn't know," said Alice.

"Also he said that if he did know he probably wouldn't tell me.

"You have to give him credit for being honest with you, Daddy."

"Honest, hell! It's arrogance, I tell you."

"Senator, I'm sorry if I seemed arrogant," said Porter. "Also, I am sorry there's nothing I can tell you. The fact is that you probably know as much as I do. And as for taking action of any kind at all, Alice is quite right. These things have done nothing that is actionable. Even if they had, what is there we could do about it. They're too big to hassle. I have a feeling it might be dangerous to try to push them around, even if we had reason to push."

"They're disrupting the country," said the senator. "The visitors are consuming some of our best timber stands and the building industry will suffer. A lot of lumberyards have been destroyed and the chances are that others will be. Lumber is already expensive and this will make it more expensive. New homes will cost more than they are costing now and the prices of new homes even now are so high that they are beyond the reach of most families.

"If the visitors don't cut out riding herd on planes, the airlines will cut back their schedules. Some of them already are talking about it. There's just too much chance of accidents and the insurance companies, realizing this, are about to boost their rates. The airlines already are screaming that insurance costs are prohibitive and that they can't stand another raise."

"More than likely," said Porter, "the entire situation is in a shakedown period. It may soon begin to straighten out. We are being hit right now with the worst of the impact. The public is a little nervous and upset and is inclined to exaggerate all consequences. Give it a little time.