Rick knew the kind of events the physicist meant. Only a few dozen yards from this very room, in the ancient walled city across the street, he and Scotty had been under rifle fire for a reason they couldn't have guessed at the time.
"Listen to this," Scotty said suddenly. He read from the newspaper. "'The American consulate reported today that three members of the Spindrift Foundation staff have arrived in Manila to begin a search for the American scientists reported missing a short time ago. The scientists disappeared north of Davao.' End of item."
"That's short and to the point," Rick commented a little bitterly. "They certainly don't make much fuss over two missing Americans, do they?"
"And it's on page seventeen," Scotty added. He folded the paper back to the front page. "Look at this headline."
Across the top of the front page was emblazoned: WHERE IS ELPIDIO TORRES?
"Who's he?" Rick asked.
"A Filipino kid. He ran away, got lost, or got kidnaped. No one knows which. His father is a big sugar operator and politician. The kid has been gone for weeks, but the paper is still playing it up at the top of page one."
Rick snorted. "Headlines for one Filipino boy and page seventeen for two American scientists. Some contrast!"
Hobart Zircon fixed a stamp to his letter and walked over to the boys. "You're not thinking straight, Rick. Suppose two Filipino scientists were lost in the Rocky Mountains, and the son of a leading American citizen was missing. How would our own papers play it?"
Rick had to grin. "Emphasis on the local boy, I suppose. You're right, Professor. I'm just upset. I'd hoped for more from the consul this morning."