Part 5

Hardwick said uncomfortably: "Two inches of rain would be a heavy fall, Sandringham tells me. It's the lack of heavy rains that made the civilians start irrigating. When you figure the energy-content of ship-fuel, Werner--an appreciable fraction of the energy in atomic explosive--it's sort of deceptive. Turn it into thermal units and it gets to be enlightening. We turned loose, underground, enough heat to boil away two feet of soil-water under the island's whole surface."

Werner said sharply:

"What'll happen when that heat passes up through the soil? It'll kill the vegetation, won't it?"

"No," said Hardwick mildly. "Because there _was_ two feet of water to be turned to steam. The bottom layer of the soil was raised to the temperature of steam at a few pounds pressure. No more. The heat's already escaped. In the steam."

The phone-plate lighted. Sandringham snapped it on. A voice made a report in a highly official voice.

"Right!" said Sandringham. The highly official voice spoke again. "Right!" said Sandringham again. "You may tell the ships in orbit that they can come down now, if they don't mind getting wet." He turned. "Did you hear that, Hardwick? They have bored new cores. There are a few soggy spots, but the ground's as firm, all over the island, as it was when the Survey first came here. A very good job, Hardwick! A very good job!"

Hardwick flushed. He reached down and patted the head of the brown dog.

"Look!" said the Sector Chief. "My dog, there, has taken a liking to you. Will you accept him as a present, Hardwick?"

Hardwick grinned.

* * * * *

Young Barnes made ready to rejoin his ship. He was very strictly Service, very stiffly at attention. Hardwick shook hands with him.

"Nice to have had you around, lieutenant," he said warmly. "You're a very promising young officer. Sandringham knows it and has made a note of the fact. Which I suspect is going to put you to a lot of trouble. There's a devilish shortage of promising young officers. He'll give you hellish jobs to do, because he has an idea you'll do them."

"I'll try, sir," said young Barnes formally. Then he said awkwardly, "May I say something, sir? I'm very proud, sir, to have worked with you. But dammit, sir, it seems to me that something more than just saying thank you was due you! The Service, sir, ought to--"

Hardwick regarded the young man approvingly.

"When I was your age," he said, "I'd the very same attitude. But I had the only reward the Service or anything else could give me. The job got done. It's the only reward you can expect in the Service, Barnes. You'll never get any other."

Young Barnes looked rebellious. He shook hands again.

"Besides," said Hardwick, "there is no better."

Young Barnes marched back toward his ship in the great metal crisscross of girders which was the landing-grid.

Hardwick absently patted his dog. He headed back toward Sandringham's office for his orders to return to his own work.

THE END