Kincaid frowned. "It looks like it. But no gas hose or any other weapon will work against the brutes. The time-lag makes it impossible to use weapons. Our only chance is to seal and ray-proof the Proxies' control-boxes against them. That'll take time. But it's our only chance to get uranium out of there, and it's got to be done before Hurriman's clique gets the Council on our tail. I'll have the boys bring the Proxies all back to Base at once."
Norris followed his chief back to his office. Winters, the office clerk, was waiting there for them, and looking anxious.
"A bulletin just came over the news tape, Chief," he told Kincaid. "Here it is."
Mart Kincaid read the tape, and his square shoulders seemed to sag a little. He looked at them heavily.
"We won't need to worry any more about your Raddies, Doug. World Council has just passed Hurriman's motion requesting an immediate investigation of Proxy Project. It will begin tomorrow." He added tonelessly, "You know what that means. When they find we've lost nine valuable Proxies out there on Mercury without getting any uranium at all yet, we'll be thrown out."
"Blast Hurriman!" Doug Norris raged. "The Proxy Project has been your work from the start! You sweated to develop the things. Now because there's a hitch, a bunch of bumbling politicians take it over!"
"It's all in a lifetime," Kincaid shrugged. "Winters, you tell the boys. Have them pull their Proxies back to Base, and go home." He sat down slowly in his chair then, and stared at the wall. "So it's over. Well, right now I'm too tired to care."
Norris felt heartsick. "Isn't there any chance of stalling them long enough to try our idea of rayproofing the Proxies?"
"You know there isn't," said his superior. "It'd take days to do that job. Even if it worked against the Raddies, it'd take weeks more to get out uranium. And Hurriman's bunch won't wait weeks."
He looked at the sick face of the younger man, then opened a desk drawer and took out a bottle of Scotch and glasses.