John and Ann had been back from a very routine conference with Elfor for more than an hour, and were enjoying the informality of the officers' cocktail lounge in their building. They were aroused by a commotion in the street outside and, along with several off-duty officers in the lounge, ran to the window to see what was up. Phil and Fran, seated in a military jeep, were surrounded by excited soldiers. Some sort of argument was in progress, and John and Ann heard the word "credentials" mentioned.
Just as several of the soldiers, with drawn swords, dragged the couple from the jeep, one of the officers from the lounge hurried to the scene. The soldiers stood aside and saluted. There was a heated discussion, with much gesticulating, then Phil and Fran were released and headed for the lounge.
The officer got into the jeep and shifted gears. All the soldiers whipped out their swords and stood rigid, presenting arms, as he drove it to the curb at the opposite side of the street. Then he turned off the engine and got out. A guard was posted around it, and a little later a team of horses arrived to pull it away.
"How did you people get into such a predicament?" asked John when the show was over and the four of them were enjoying drinks.
"Oh, I don't think it was as serious as it looked," said Phil lightly. "We ran across a whole garage full of jeeps. We drove that one all over town before this gang stopped us and wanted to see our written authority for driving it. Everybody else saluted us. That's the military mind for you."
"Didn't it occur to you that their objections might be something other than mere military regulations?" asked John in some asperity.
"Phil has a theory—" began Fran, but Phil silenced her with a shake of the head.
"My theory can wait until I have proof for it, and I expect that in short order," said Phil, winking at Fran. "We've made good use of our time while you and Ann were in conference."
Phil and Fran were eager to know what John and Ann had learned from their conference with Elfor.
"Not much," he confessed. "Elfor is pretty close-mouthed. He's more anxious to learn about us than to give us information about their set-up.
"We did find out, though, that they've located the records of the Discovery's departure in the archives of Kansity. There seems to be something irregular about it, but I couldn't get Elfor to go into detail."
The first hint John and Ann had of Phil's method of proving his theory was when he quietly stripped and went into the bathroom as they were preparing for supper that evening. Ann was about to remind him he had forgotten to get the orderly to bring his bath water, when they heard the sound of a shower roaring. All three crowded to the door, to find Phil luxuriating under a steaming downpour.
"What goes on here?" demanded John. "Phil, how did you know they'd started the water pumps?"
Phil smiled triumphantly.
"Try the lights," he suggested.
The others trooped back into the bedroom and Ann flicked the switches. White light blazed in the room, overpowering the feeble gleam of the candles.
"What is this, Fran?" asked John. "You were with Phil."
"We found proof of Phil's theory that these people just don't know how to operate their own machinery," replied Fran happily. "We found their main pumping station. It was in good shape, and it didn't take us long to get the engines started and the main switches thrown."
The electric lights suddenly faded and died, leaving them in candle-light again. At the same time, the sound of the shower gurgled to a stop in the bathroom. Phil appeared at the door with a towel, dripping.
"Don't tell me their machinery's given out so soon," he growled.
"Phil, this is no time to talk about discipline," snapped John angrily, "but you and Fran probably have pulled something a lot worse than the jeep this time. Neither of you is qualified in social psychology, but even so you should have been able to read the signs that they do know how to operate their machines. For some reason, they just don't operate them."
In less than five minutes, Third Sarge Elfor appeared at their door with a squad of armed men. All of these soldiers carried heat-guns.
"Two of you were observed in the vicinity of the power station today," said Elfor. "You are warned that you are suspected of having activated the power supply of the military city of Pebbro."
"We don't deny that," admitted John carefully. "We are ignorant of your customs, and hope no harm has been done."
"Your claim to ignorance will be determined at a formal hearing," retorted Elfor sternly. "We have given you the benefit of every doubt and treated you as honored deevs. I regret that this makes it necessary that all of you be placed under arrest. Your meal will be served to you in your quarters."
As soon as Elfor had gone, leaving armed guards outside their door, John tuned in the starship on his pocket transmitter.
"I would have advised against Phil's action, in view of our lack of understanding of the situation," he reported to Commander Wallace. "But I confess I wouldn't have anticipated that the result would be so extreme.
"I can't fathom their reactions, Tom. In a crazy sort of way, I suppose they fit in with all the other contradictions of their social set-up. Have you had any luck with the ship's calculator?"
"Not enough data," answered Tom. "Maybe this new stuff will help, and you might scrape for everything else you can transmit. I'd hate to try a rescue operation, because that might force us to head back for Deneb III. But if they don't decide to blast the ship in the next hour or so, there's a chance we can pull out of this trap at our end."
John did not ask for details, for he knew their conversation probably was monitored.