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Sebastian MacMaine let out his breath slowly, and only then realized that he had been holding it. "I am grateful, my sibling-by-choice," he said. General Tallis tapped his cigarette ash into a large blue ceramic ashtray. MacMaine could smell the acrid smoke from the alien plant matter that burned in the Kerothi cigarette a chopped-up inner bark from a Kerothi tree.
It had taken careful preparation to get the Manila ready to go just exactly when MacMaine needed it. Papers had to be forged and put into the chain of command communication at precisely the right times; others had had to be taken out and replaced with harmless near-duplicates so that the Commanding Staff wouldn't discover the deception.
But MacMaine had told them that there was another way a way which, if it succeeded, would save time, lives, and money for the Kerothi. And, if it failed, MacMaine said, they would be no worse off, they would simply have to resume the original plan. Now, the first of the big colony planets was to be taken.
"It's no smoke screen," MacMaine said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I assure you that I have no intention of returning to Earth. If Keroth loses this war, then I will die either fighting for the Kerothi or by execution at the hands of Earthmen if I am captured.
The bright green eyes remained closed. "That may be so. Yes, Sepastian, I honestly think you believe that." "I do," said MacMaine, and shot him carefully through the head. The End and Epilogue. "Hold it!" The voice bellowed thunderingly from the loud-speakers of the six Earth ships that had boxed in the derelict. "Hold it! Don't bomb that ship!
The Kerothi's face shone dully orange in the dim light, his bright green eyes looked steadily at the Earthman, and his voice was oddly gentle. "I'm talking about treason," said MacMaine. "Do you want to listen?" "I don't have much choice, do I?" Tallis said. "Tell me one thing first: Are we going to die?" "You are, Tallis. But I won't. I'm going to be immortal."
The last planet we captured, before this invisibility thing came up to stop us, was plastered all over with notices that the Earth fleet was concentrating on the capture of the arch-traitor MacMaine. "The price on his head, as a corpse, is enough to allow an Earthman to retire in luxury for life. The man who brings him back alive gets ten times that amount.
MacMaine tossed the stinking ampoule out into the corridor as Tallis tried to focus his eyes. "How do you feel?" MacMaine asked. His voice sounded oddly thick in his own ears. "All right. I'm all right. What happened?" He looked wonderingly around. "Near miss? Must be. Anyone hurt?" "They're all dead but you and me," MacMaine said. "Dead?
"I want you two men to come with me. Something odd has happened, and General Quinby and I want two witnesses as to what went on." "What happened, sir?" one of them asked. "Don't know for sure," MacMaine said in a puzzled voice. "The general and I were talking to the prisoner, when all of a sudden he fell over. I think he's dead. I couldn't find a heartbeat.
"Almost time." MacMaine looked the alien over once more. Tallis was dressed in the uniform of Earth's Space Force, and the insignia of a full general gleamed on his collar. His face and hands had been sprayed with an opaque, pink-tan film, and his hairless head was covered with a black wig. He wouldn't pass a close inspection, but MacMaine fervently hoped that he wouldn't need to.
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