"Aaah !" he rumbled , as the bottle and glass were placed beside him . " Been staying alive for hours hoping for this ."
"Well , don't let any of the kids get at it . Little Fuzzy trying to smoke pipes is bad enough ; I don't want any dipsos inthe family, too ."
Gus filled the glass . To be on the safe side , he promptly emptied it into himself .
"You got a nice family , Jack . Make a wonderful impression in court -as long as Baby doesn't try to sit on the judge's head . Any jury that sees them and hears that Ortheris girl's story will acquit you from the box, with a vote of censure for not shooting Kellogg , too."
"I'm not worried about that . What I want is Kellogg convicted . "
"You better worry , Jack , " Rainsford said . " You saw the combination against us at the hearing."
Leslie Coombes , the Company's top attorney , had come out from Mallorysport in a yacht rated at Mach 6, and he must have crowded it to the limit all the way . With him, almost on a leash , had come Mohammed Ali O'Brien , the Colonial Attorney General , who doubled as Chief Prosecutor . They had both tried to get the whole thing dismissed - self- defense for Holloway , and killing an unprotected wild animal for Kellogg . When that had failed , they had teamed in flagrant collusion to fight the inclusion of any evidence about the Fuzzies . After all , it was only a complaint court ; Lieu- tenant Lunt , as a police magistrate , had only the most limited powers .
"You saw how far they got , didn't you ?"
"I hope we don't wish they'd succeeded , " Rainsford said gloomily .
"What do you mean , Ben ?" Brannhard asked . "What do you think they'll do ?"
"I don't know . That's what worries me . We're threaten- ing the Zarathustra Company , and the Company's too big to be threatened safely , " Rainsford replied . " They'll try to frame something on Jack . "
"With veridication ? That's ridiculous , Ben ."
"Don't you think we can prove sapience ?" Gerd van Rie- beek demanded .
"Who's going to define sapience ? And how ?" Rainsford asked . " Why , between them , Coombes and O'Brien can even agree to accept the talk-and -build -a -fire rule .”
81
