Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke [73]
The Inspector came through the symphony concert with flying colours, which was a good deal more than could be said for many human members of the audience. The only concession to popular taste had been Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms"; the rest of the programme was aggressively modernistic. Whatever one's views on its merits, the performance was superb, for the colony's boast that it possessed some of the finest musicians in the world was no idle one. There had been much wrangling among the various rival composers for the honour of being included in the programme, though a few cynics wondered if it would be an honour at all. For all that anyone knew to the contrary, the Overlords might be tone deaf.
It was observed, however, that after the concert Thanthalteresco sought out the three composers who had been present, and complimented them all on what he called their "great ingenuity". This caused them to retire with pleased but vaguely baffled expressions.
It was not until the third day that George Greggson had a chance of meeting the Inspector. The theatre had arranged a kind of mixed grill rather than a single dish-two one-act plays, a sketch by a world-famous impersonator, and a ballet sequence. Once again all these items were superbly executed and one critic's prediction-"Now at least we'll discover if the Overlords can yawn"-was falsified. Indeed, the Inspector laughed several times, and in the correct places.
And yet-no one could be sure. He might himself be putting on a superb act, following the performance by logic alone and with his own strange emotions completely untouched, as an anthropologist might take part in some primitive rite. The fact that he uttered the appropriate sounds, and made the expected responses, really proved nothing at all.
Though George had been determined to have a talk with the Inspector, he failed utterly. After the performance they exchanged a few words of introduction, then the visitor was swept away. It was completely impossible to isolate him from his entourage, and George went home in a state of extreme frustration. He was by no means certain what he wished to say even if he had had the chance, but somehow, he felt sure, he could have turned the conversation round to Jeff. And now the opportunity had gone.
His bad temper lasted two days. The Inspector's flyer had departed, amid many protestations of mutual regard, before the sequel emerged. No one had thought of questioning Jeff, and the boy must have been thinking it over for a long time before he approached George.
"Daddy," he said, just prior to bedtime. "You know the Overlord who came to see us?"
"Yes," replied George grimly.
"Well, he came to our school, and I heard him talk to some of the teachers. I didn't really understand what he said-but I think I recognized his voice. That's who told me to run when the big wave came."
"You are quite sure?"
Jeff hesitated for a moment.
"Not quite -but if it wasn't him, it was another Overlord. I wondered if I ought to thank him. But he's gone now, hasn't he?"
"Yes," said George. "I'm afraid he has. Still, perhaps we'll have another chance. Now go to bed like a good boy and don't worry about it any more."
When Jeff was safely out of the way, and Jenny had been attended to, Jean came back and sat on the rug beside George's chair, leaning against his legs. It was a habit that struck him as annoyingly sentimental, but not worth creating a fuss about.
He merely made his knees as nobbly as possible.
"What do you think about it now?" asked Jean in a tired, flat voice. "Do you believe it really happened?"
"It happened," George replied, "but perhaps we're foolish to worry. After all, most parents would be grateful-and of course, I am grateful. The explanation may be perfectly simple. We know that the Overlords have got interested in the colony, so they've undoubtedly been observing it with their instruments-despite that promise they made. Suppose one was just prowling round with that viewing gadget of theirs, and saw the wave coming. It would be natural enough