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Mary Sedlack passed plates of hot biscuits.
 You were there, said Mary to the boys.  Tell them about the message
on the radio. They think I ve been eating magic mushrooms or something.
Jupe sat down next to Hank Detweiler. John Aleman and Rafael Banales
were already seated. Konrad was opposite Detweiler, carefully not looking
at him.
 The message was for Mr and Mrs Barron, said Jupe.  It was from a
spaceship that is now orbiting the Earth.
Pete and Bob sat down, and Elsie put plates of soup in front of them.  If
I were you, I wouldn t tell that to any of the ranch hands, she said.  Most
of them are scared enough already.
 They aren t children, Elsie, said Hank Detweiler.  They ve got a right
to know what s going on.
The foreman picked up his spoon, scowled at it, then put it down again.
 Mr Barron made me take the guards off the meadow, he said.  He doesn t
want anyone up there.
When no one commented on this, Detweiler went on.  Crazy! he said.
 I just talked to him about taking a bunch of men up over the cliffs into the
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Getting Ready for the End
hills behind the ranch, and he wouldn t hear of it. He doesn t want anyone
up there. Now Mary says that s because the world is going to end and the
aliens are coming to take the Barrons away. Well, if we have to go through
the end of the world, I think we all deserve a little notice.
 Hank, everybody would panic if they knew about the message on the
radio, said Elsie.
 They re in a panic now, said Detweiler.  The only thing that s keeping
them from trampling each other is the fact that nobody s running. And
nobody s running because there s no place to run to. Why should the people
here run when they re already in the last safe place there is?
Detweiler looked searchingly at Jupe.  Mary says Mr and Mrs Barron
are supposed to go to the meadow tonight and the spaceship will take them
away.
Jupiter nodded.  They re to rendezvous with the rescue ship at 2200
hours tonight. That s at ten o clock. The spaceship is returning for them
and also some people from the planet Omega. I guess those would be the ones
who attacked us this morning. Perhaps they re here to keep the people of
Rancho Valverde from leaving and carrying the word to the outside world.
Jupe took a spoonful of his soup.  They wouldn t want to be met by a
mob when they landed, would they? he said.
 Just want the Barrons, huh? said Detweiler.
 No one else was mentioned, said Jupe.
Detweiler snorted.  That s a laugh! Why should they want Barron? He s
no genius. He s rich, that s all. Do the rich go first class even on doomsday?
 It s some kind of gag, said John Aleman.  Somebody s playing a joke
on us. The radios  it isn t such a trick to put radios out of commission,
or to broadcast special messages. Elsie, I ll bet if your brother was here he
could tell us exactly how it s being done.
Elsie didn t respond to this, but the hand with the deformity went to her
throat.
 I ll bet I could do it myself if I had the right equipment, said Aleman.
 Probably you could, said Mary Sedlack,  but if someone s playing a
joke, why are they doing it? They ve gone to tons of trouble for that joke!
 Is it possible that Mr Barron has enemies? said Rafael Banales. His
voice was low and quiet.  He is a rich man and the rich are not always liked.
But is it also not possible that a ship has come here from some faraway
planet? Could it not happen? The disasters you speak of could happen,
too. The climate of Earth has changed in the past. We know that. It could
change again. The ice age could come again, or there could be the melting of
the polar icecaps. Why not? But even if these things are going to happen,
what can we do? Get aboard a spaceship? Even if I could, I don t think I
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Getting Ready for the End
would do it. I don t want to go to some place where the sun is not the same
and the sky is not blue and perhaps the grass is not green. I will stay here
and take my chances.
 And if nothing happens? said Detweiler.  If there is no spaceship?
Banales shrugged.  Then it is indeed a joke  a joke which I do not
understand.
The meal went on in silence. The boys ate heartily, but the men only
picked at their food. Elsie and Mary ate nothing at all.
After supper the Three Investigators went out and looked up at the Bar-
ron house. Immediately a window in the big house went up and Mrs Barron
put her head out.
 Go around to the front of the house, she said softly.
The boys did as she asked. They found Charles Barron sitting on one of
the cast-iron chairs on the veranda.
 Good evening, Mr Barron, said Jupiter.
Barron scowled.
Jupiter went up the steps, followed by his friend.  Mr Barron, I have a
theory about today s events, he said.
 Young man, said Barron,  I thought I made it clear this afternoon that
I m not interested in your theories.
Barron got up and went into the house.
Mrs Barron came out a moment later and took a chair on the veranda.
 I m sorry, she said.  I guess my husband simply doesn t want to hear the
truth. He s planning to leave with the spaceship. He says I must come with
him. She looked down at her green sweater and skirt.  He says I m to go in
and change soon. I m not supposed to wear a skirt to travel to a new planet.
Charles believes that slacks would be more appropriate.
Jupiter grinned and sat down.  What about your other preparations?
Has Mr Barron started to gather the things he wants to take with him?
What does he want to save when the Earth is destroyed?
 He says he ll pack his things after dark, said Mrs Barron.
 I see. Jupiter leaned to one side on his seat and put his arm along the
back of the chair. His fingers found a flaw in the metal work. It was a small
opening like a slot. He touched it, then turned and looked curiously at it.
 Irritating, isn t it? said Mrs Barron when she saw him examining the
chair.  All the furniture has holes like that. It s something the ironworkers
did when they cast the things.
Jupe nodded.  I see. Mrs Barron, does your husband realize that what
he s doing may be dangerous? He s allowing himself to be manipulated. He s
seeing events that conspirators want him to see, and he s hearing what they
want him to hear. He s doing exactly what the plotters want him to do.
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Getting Ready for the End
 Jupe, are you so sure there is a plot? she said. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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