have the mirrors and cameras ready by morning. I got that much taken care of. We’ll also have all the North American operations moved downstairs by morning, which won’t make your problem any simpler.”
“Or any harder,” Darzek said. “See you later.”
Outside he found a long line of passengers waiting at the taxi stand. “So I might as well travel ‘conventionally,’ “ he told himself, and set off on foot.
As soon as he turned off Eighth Avenue he knew that he was being followed—doubly followed, for there was a car and at least one foot operative. He slowed his pace to think the situation over.
Someone rated a capital E in efficiency. If he, or they, were half as effective in other things, Darzek was inclined to believe that Arnold had enjoyed more sabotage than he realized.
Someone also had contacts. Darzek ticked off on his fingers the individuals who knew that Universal Trans had hired Jan Darzek: the six directors, Ted Arnold, and the engineer Perrin.
And someone had blundered badly. Darzek strolled along leisurely, feeling inordinately pleased with himself as he examined the ways in which he might turn this development to his advantage. The foot-snooper matched his stride and kept a half-block behind him—too far back for Darzek to get a look at his face. The car passed him at intervals, its driver carefully looking the other way.
A block from his office Darzek met a patrolman who was an old acquaintance. He stopped to talk with him. The foot-snooper also stopped, and made a production of tying a shoelace.
“I’ve got a tail, Mike,” Darzek said. “See if you recognize him.”
“Will do,” the patrolman said cheerfully.
“I’ll be in my office.”
He turned the corner, and walked quickly. There were no pedestrians about, and the only moving vehicle was the car tailing him. It approached slowly. Darzek glanced back again as he reached the entrance of the building where his office was located, just in time to see the foot-snooper hurry around the corner.
That turn of his head proved to be a tactical error. He never saw what hit him.
He regained consciousness looking up into the patrolman’s large, ruddy face. With an intense effort he managed to superimpose a grin on his headache. Mike grinned back, a bit anxiously.
“I don’t think they busted anything,” he said. “I guess you got a rap on the head, but I couldn’t find any lump. How do you feel?”
“Very odd. Woozy.”
Darzek tried to get up. His legs buckled under him, and his hands and feet tingled strangely. He stayed on his knees, shaking his head, until Mike got an arm around him and hauled him to his feet.
“Better get to a doctor,” the patrolman said. “You may have a concussion.”
“You saved me from being carted off—didn’t you?”
Mike nodded. “They were dragging you to the car when I came around the corner. I blew my whistle, and they dropped you and cut out of here. I didn’t even get the dratted license number.”
“I have the license number,” Darzek said. “That is, I had it. My memory is woozy, too. But—yes, I have it.”
“Good. They must have wanted you alive. If they didn’t, they had plenty of time to smash your head. You made any enemies lately?”
“Several, but this doesn’t make sense at all. Did you get a look at my tail?”
“Never saw the guy before. This is my fault, really. There was a guy standing here in the entrance when I came by. Never saw him before, either. He looked respectable, and we spoke to each other. I thought he was waiting for a cab, or something. Didn’t connect him with your being tailed until I was a block up the street. I could have saved you a rap on the head.”
“Think nothing of it, m’lad. By scaring them off you probably saved me from something worse.”
Darzek shook off the patrolman’s arm, and leaned against the side of the building. The strange tingling persisted, but his head seemed to be clearing up. He took a cautious step.
“Better get to a doctor,” Mike said again.
“I’ll be all right. I have to make a phone call, and then I’ll go home. My next-door neighbor is a doctor. He’s patched me up so often that I pay him a retainer. Grab a cab for me, will you?”
“Sure. That license number?”
“I’d rather you didn’t report this, Mike. I’ll see that the number is checked out.”
“If you say so. They’ve ditched the car anyway, by now, or changed the plates. You make your call, and I’ll have a cab waiting for you.”
Darzek unsteadily made his way up a flight of stairs to his office, and telephoned the Universal Trans terminal. It took the switchboard operator five minutes to locate Arnold.
“It’s me,” Darzek said. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to work at home. How reliable is your man Perrin?”
“Absolutely reliable.”
“In that case I didn’t make the insult to your directors strong enough. One of them is selling you out.”
Arnold said slowly, “How certain are you?”
“Certain enough to give you a written guarantee.”
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