it against the wall as hard as he could. It made a satisfying sound as it shattered.
Soon after that his telephone rang. Murphy answered it. “Blaise? Yes, I’m fine. Yeah, that was me firing the .44 earlier. And breaking the bottle now. I was having a little celebration. Yeah, sure, all by myself. Me and my bats. The bats in my belfry, I mean. Sure, I’m fine, see you in the morning.”
He hung up the phone and said to Batman, “Suppose I make us some coffee. We’ve got a lot of talking to do, and not much time to do it in.”
“What do you mean?” Batman asked.
“The Joint Chiefs are about to sign a contract with ARDC for a new computerized weapons system.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Batman asked.
“Let’s get that coffee and I’ll tell you.”
In the morning, Red Murphy surprised his staff by announcing that he was going to Lake Sarmatian, the manmade lake that had been created by the recent damming of the North Pecos River. He had his staff pack the new Carlino-Gar Wood monohull, still in its packing case, onto the back of his heavy-duty pickup. The gates opened and Murphy sped through, waving to his guards.
Twenty miles down the road there was a grove of cottonwood trees used by the local high school and bible college for barbecues and song fests. It was deserted now. Murphy negotiated the steep dirt road and pulled out of sight of the highway. He got out and went back, pry bar in hand, to open the packing case.
Batman, who had been secreted within the packing case, had already worked his way out and was sitting under a tarpaulin, reading a plane schedule with a little penlight.
“Hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable for you,” Murphy said.
“I’ve been in worse,” Batman said. “It was easier than breaking out of your factory again.”
“What do you want me to do now?” Murphy asked.
“I’d like to leave you here for a while,” Batman said. “I’ll drive your truck to the airport alone, and arrange to have someone drive it back here.”
“That’s fine with me,” Murphy said. “Lucky I brought along a newspaper. But why can’t I drive you to the airport myself?”
“When I reach the airport,” Batman said, “I will have changed clothes and become someone else.”
“And you don’t want me to know who that someone else is?”
“That’s it. Please understand, it’s not that I don’t trust you. But it should be obvious that there’s no sense being an anonymous figure if everyone knows who you are in real life.”
“Makes sense,” Murphy said.
“Sometimes,” Batman said, “the costume changes are more difficult to arrange than solving the case.”
“I can imagine,” Murphy said. “Here, Batman.” He handed the masked man the car keys. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Just a final point or two. You said that the Joint Chiefs are about to sign the contract with ARDC?”
“I got confirmation of that only yesterday. It ought to be signed into law by tonight.”
Batman nodded. “I think there’s still time to do something. I’m glad you let me have the facsimile plans for your production models. I’ll have a chance to study them on the plane to Washington.”
“My competition would do a lot to get their hands on those blueprints.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll destroy them when I’m finished with them. Now, these people who took over your company. You really have no idea who is in control of them?”
“None at all. Whoever it is, they seem to have some friends in high places. I’ve never seen a contract go through so smoothly.”
“One more question. Do any of your weapons systems make use of hallucinogens?”
Murphy looked surprised. “How did you know? That’s the tightest secret of the century.”
“I learned it from a man with green hair,” Batman said.
“Come again?”
“Forget I said it. Goodbye, Murphy.”
“Good luck, Batman.”
“Thanks,” Batman said. “I suspect I’m going to need it.”
Batman
Soon after that his telephone rang. Murphy answered it. “Blaise? Yes, I’m fine. Yeah, that was me firing the .44 earlier. And breaking the bottle now. I was having a little celebration. Yeah, sure, all by myself. Me and my bats. The bats in my belfry, I mean. Sure, I’m fine, see you in the morning.”
He hung up the phone and said to Batman, “Suppose I make us some coffee. We’ve got a lot of talking to do, and not much time to do it in.”
“What do you mean?” Batman asked.
“The Joint Chiefs are about to sign a contract with ARDC for a new computerized weapons system.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Batman asked.
“Let’s get that coffee and I’ll tell you.”
In the morning, Red Murphy surprised his staff by announcing that he was going to Lake Sarmatian, the manmade lake that had been created by the recent damming of the North Pecos River. He had his staff pack the new Carlino-Gar Wood monohull, still in its packing case, onto the back of his heavy-duty pickup. The gates opened and Murphy sped through, waving to his guards.
Twenty miles down the road there was a grove of cottonwood trees used by the local high school and bible college for barbecues and song fests. It was deserted now. Murphy negotiated the steep dirt road and pulled out of sight of the highway. He got out and went back, pry bar in hand, to open the packing case.
Batman, who had been secreted within the packing case, had already worked his way out and was sitting under a tarpaulin, reading a plane schedule with a little penlight.
“Hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable for you,” Murphy said.
“I’ve been in worse,” Batman said. “It was easier than breaking out of your factory again.”
“What do you want me to do now?” Murphy asked.
“I’d like to leave you here for a while,” Batman said. “I’ll drive your truck to the airport alone, and arrange to have someone drive it back here.”
“That’s fine with me,” Murphy said. “Lucky I brought along a newspaper. But why can’t I drive you to the airport myself?”
“When I reach the airport,” Batman said, “I will have changed clothes and become someone else.”
“And you don’t want me to know who that someone else is?”
“That’s it. Please understand, it’s not that I don’t trust you. But it should be obvious that there’s no sense being an anonymous figure if everyone knows who you are in real life.”
“Makes sense,” Murphy said.
“Sometimes,” Batman said, “the costume changes are more difficult to arrange than solving the case.”
“I can imagine,” Murphy said. “Here, Batman.” He handed the masked man the car keys. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Just a final point or two. You said that the Joint Chiefs are about to sign the contract with ARDC?”
“I got confirmation of that only yesterday. It ought to be signed into law by tonight.”
Batman nodded. “I think there’s still time to do something. I’m glad you let me have the facsimile plans for your production models. I’ll have a chance to study them on the plane to Washington.”
“My competition would do a lot to get their hands on those blueprints.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll destroy them when I’m finished with them. Now, these people who took over your company. You really have no idea who is in control of them?”
“None at all. Whoever it is, they seem to have some friends in high places. I’ve never seen a contract go through so smoothly.”
“One more question. Do any of your weapons systems make use of hallucinogens?”
Murphy looked surprised. “How did you know? That’s the tightest secret of the century.”
“I learned it from a man with green hair,” Batman said.
“Come again?”
“Forget I said it. Goodbye, Murphy.”
“Good luck, Batman.”
“Thanks,” Batman said. “I suspect I’m going to need it.”
Batman
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