"Well, it's your neck." I turned to the native. "Don't be too hard on him," I said. "He's quite an important man."
The Niobian nodded and grinned. "Don't worry, sir. He won't feel a thing. But I really wish to apologize for our rudeness. If conditions were different—"
He paused and turned toward Bergdorf who was climbing into the 'copter with the oysters still in his hand.
I wasn't surprised that he didn't make it. In fact, I'd have been more surprised if he had. Heinz crumpled to the ground beside the ship. One of the natives came forward, took the oysters from his limp hand and threw them back into the lagoon.
"All right," I said to the spokesman. "You fellows clobbered him, so now you can get him into the ship."
"That is only fair," the native said. "We do not want to cause you any extra inconvenience." He gestured to his companions. Between them they got Bergdorf's limp body into the ship and strapped into one of the seats. They got out, I got in, and in a minute the two of us got out of there, going straight up through to overcast to get a celestial bearing for home.
I kept looking at Bergdorf's limp body and grinning.
It was nearly an hour later before Bergdorf woke up. "What hit me?" he asked fuzzily.
"Subsonics," I said. "They should have scared you to death."