"Holden--. But he wouldn't be the best one to try."
"He definitely wouldn't be the best one to try," said Alicia very
quietly.
Cochrane turned away. She knew how Bill Holden felt. Which might or
might not be comforting to him.
The communicator again. The pictures of foot-high furry bipeds on the
glacier planet had made a sensation on television. A toy-manufacturer
wanted the right to make toys like them. The pictures were copyrighted.
Cochrane matter-of-factly made the deal. There would be miniature
extra-terrestrial animals on sale in all toy-shops within days.
Spaceways, Inc., would collect a royalty on each toy sold.
The rockets boomed, and lessened their noise, and wavered up and down
again. Then there was that deliberate, crunching feel of the great
landing-fins pressing into soil with all the ship's weight bearing down.
The rockets ran on, drumming ever-so-faintly, for a little longer. Then
they cut off.
"We're landed again! Let's see where we are!"
They went up to the control-room. Johnny Simms stood against the wall,
sulking. He had managed his life very successfully by acting like a
spoiled little boy.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252