Part 3

She leaned over and kissed him until he thought he'd be forced down through the bed.

He added, "But first I've got to get back in the good graces of the settlers." When she smiled incredulously, he said with confidence, "It should be easy."

And besides, it was necessary.

* * * * *

As soon as Fayette left, he leaped out of bed and grabbed an encyclopaedia out of the bookcase. He looked up _Unterzuyder_, tracing down until he found the expected paragraph:

_The fabulous cartels of the Unterzuyders were built up through their amazing instinct on the stock market. When the market was bullish, they seemed to know when the crest was reached. Selling short in heavy amount at this point, they reaped millions in profit as the market fell, then caught the market again on the upswing. Invariably, the bulls were caught short by the Unterzuyder bears. The Unterzuyders seemed to draw some special inspiration from one famous interpretation of their name, i. e._, undersiders, _those who work from the underside_....

Unterzuyder sent the book scurrying into a corner. His hunch had been right. But now was not the time to work out the rest of the puzzle. He dressed quickly.

When he walked into the dining room, where dinner was in progress, he was wearing the white bandage pinned around his forehead. He was also limping very slightly. Sympathy was nonetheless lacking. Complete quiet reigned in the dining room. The settlers kept their faces turned away, or looked fixedly at their plates.

Fayette's expression alone showed sympathy. He knew his own face was fiery red.

Nonetheless, he told the settlers everything he thought necessary. (They knew it anyway.) He apologized. He pointed out deviously that, after all, they _were_ on the way to a new world. That much he had done for them.

"What you do not realize is that it was I, your leader, who diverted Bigger Bailes from looting the ship.

"Quite deliberately, I built up the feeling that the new course was the course to X, the hibernaculum of my criminal ancestors. All of you were convinced. Therefore Bailes became convinced.

"Had he known the Unterzuyder map was a fake, he would have taken it out on you by looting the ship. I sent him off on a wild goose chase!"

Some of the settlers were looking at him with cautious interest. Beecher rose at this point.

"I can say something in favor of Mr. Unterzuyder," he said. "His intentions were good. Mr. Unterzuyder was only after the reward money. He did _not_ intend to free the Unterzuyders, even though he is an Unterzuyder himself. And half of the reward money was to go into the treasury of Titan Settlers!"

Unterzuyder looked pop-eyed at Beecher. But now the settlers were frankly staring at him. After a moment, they began eating again. In several minutes more, the hall was full of chatter again.

After the most uncomfortable meal of his life, Unterzuyder headed for the door. Beecher caught up with him, grinning companionably.

"We did a good job, mister," he said. "I had my own reasons for backing you up. This thing'll blow over. Then I've got some ideas. You and I are sharpies, Unterzuyder. We could set up in business on Titan and build up one of the biggest fortunes in the System, eventually. What do you say?"

Unterzuyder smiled wanly and said he would think it over. Then he went to his cabin. In two hours, he had plotted X's location to the dot.

Then he leaned back, nibbling nervously at the pencil eraser.

In five days, with good fortune, the infamous Unterzuyders would be awake and free....

* * * * *

It took him two days of cautious footwork before the settlers completely dropped their hostility toward him. Then one evening he told them simply that they still had Bigger Bailes to worry about.

"When he discovers he's been fooled, it's possible he might head for Titan and try to loot the settlement. We have to be ready. For several weeks we'll have to be on guard. The space ship will be camouflaged. For awhile we'll suspend building operations.

"We'll be ready for offense and defense. We have three life boats which are maneuverable in empty space or in an atmosphere. These life boats must be equipped with food, with water, with weapons. I'm calling for volunteers to help me with that job."

It was a rude shock to Unterzuyder when Fayette became the first volunteer.

By the fourth day, the life boats were deadly offensive craft.

Unterzuyder paid particular attention to one of the life boats himself. Quite accidentally, it became loaded down with extra weapons and supplies.

Only one thing bothered him. Fayette was underfoot all the time.

As the time of leaving approached, his nerves began to get the better of him. The time, however, _did_ come. At 22:04 on the fifth day, in the middle of the sleeping period, he dialed open the airlock door to the blister in which the stout little life boat nestled. He closed it behind him, turned around. Fayette was standing at the hatch of the little ship, slickly dressed in shiny boots, smart beige jodphurs, and a blouse open at the throat.

She was holding her pet neutron gun with the snout pointed toward him. She was smiling confidently.

"Ralph," she said, "in my hand I hold a weapon. It is not indirect. It is not subtle. It does not practice deceit. It does not give half-answers. It says 'yes,' and it says 'no'. That's all it says.

"It also _gets_ yes and no answers.

"But don't be afraid of me, Ralph. I'm here to help you!"

He found his voice. "Help me? I need no help! I work alone!"

"Nobody works alone, Ralph. Ask Captain Foshag. Most people run on compulsive commands given them by people who might even be dead. Parents mostly. Positive suggestion. The mind works that way.

"Sometimes people are made to feel they're unhealthy, only they aren't really. Or they're told their eyes are bad. Or that they're superior to other people.

"It's just as if--" she frowned hard as if looking for an example "--as if _your_ parents were sitting inside that smart blonde head of yours, Ralph, and telling you to free the Unterzuyders from their sleep. It's something you feel you _have_ to do.

"But you _don't_ have to, Ralph. I'm here to help you."

He stared at her, stunned.

He drew himself up arrogantly. "Put down that gun, Fayette."

If anything, she held the gun more firmly, and moved it three inches toward him.

"Don't mistake me, Ralph," she said, her eyes cold. "This is a yes and no game. No maybes or ifs. If you say yes when the gun says no, that's too bad. If you say no when the gun wants yes, _that's_ too bad. You see how straightforward the three of us are?

"But I and my pet neutron gun will give you time to think.

"Tell me how you found X."

* * * * *

He slumped weakly against the bulkhead, wiping at his forehead with the back of a shaking hand.

"There were enough clues," he said hoarsely.

And there had been, at that. _Tertium Organum_, A Key To The Enigmas Of The World, _was_ a key. Its author, Ouspensky, looked at the universe from a _different_ viewpoint.

The small _u_ in unterzuyder meant that it was to be taken as a common noun.

And certainly the conclusion that the map was made 50,000 years ago was itself an obvious clue!

"We made our calculations on the assumption that the map had been made looking at the Solar System from the north--from the star Polaris, that is. It hadn't been. My ancestors drew the map from the unorthodox reference point of the Southern Cross.

"From the underside. I turned the negative upside down and made a new map. Then I got right answers."

"Very good," said Fayette. "The tricky Unterzuyders did live up to their name. _Didn't_ they, Ralph?"

"Yes," he said shakily.

The gun wavered. Fayette was blinking. "Ralph, do you love me?"

"Yes...."

"Are you being truthful? Will you always tell me the truth, the whole truth?"

"Yes...."

"That's a good boy. Please keep on giving my pet the right answers. Ralph, don't you know that if you freed the Unterzuyders I couldn't ever look at you again?"

There were angry tears in her eyes. Unterzuyder suddenly remembered the time at the dance, when he had wiped away her tears. He should wipe them away now. He was weakening. He was an Unterzuyder. He should be strong. There was his duty....

"Fayette," he said hoarsely.

"Stand back." Her chin came up. "Answer the question! Yes or no."

"Yes."

"Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes, Fayette."

Her mouth opened and closed. Suddenly her shoulders heaved and she shook her head blindly. The gun dropped to her side. "Oh, Ralph. I can't do it. I was going to ask you if you still wanted to go ahead with it. But I can't. I can't force you. You'll have to make up your own mind!" She turned away, hiding her face with one arm. Instantly, he leaped for her, tearing the gun from her hand.

He looked at it where it lay black and ugly in his hands. He was seeing it very well, with his excellent Unterzuyder eyes. It slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. He let it lie, and took Fayette into his arms.