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diff --git a/23612.txt b/23612.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..491b79f --- /dev/null +++ b/23612.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1360 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Leader, by +William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Leader + +Author: William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster) + +Illustrator: van Dongen + +Release Date: November 24, 2007 [EBook #23612] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEADER *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Stephen Blundell +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + THE + LEADER + + By + MURRAY + LEINSTER + + _The trouble with being a Superman, + with Super powers, and knowing it, is + it's so easy to overlook the unpleasant + possibility of a super-superman!_ + + Illustrated by van Dongen + + + ... The career of The Leader remains one of the mysteries of + history. This man, illegitimate and uneducated, hysterical and + superstitious, gathered about him a crowded following of those who + had been discontented, but whom he turned into fanatics. Apparently + by pure force of personality he seized without resistance the + government of one of the world's great nations. So much is unlikely + enough. But as the ruler of a civilized country he imposed upon its + people the absolute despotism of a primitive sultanate. He + honeycombed its society with spies. He imprisoned, tortured, and + executed without trial or check. And while all this went on he + received the most impassioned loyalty of his subjects! Morality was + abandoned at his command with as much alacrity as common sense. He + himself was subject to the grossest superstitions. He listened to + astrologers and fortunetellers--and executed them when they foretold + disaster. But it is not enough to be amazed at the man himself. The + great mystery is that people of the Twentieth Century, trained in + science and technically advanced, should join in this orgy of what + seems mere madness ... + + _Concise History of Europe._ Blaisdell. + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen, University of Brunn, to the Herr +General Johann von Steppberg, retired. + +My dear General von Steppberg: + +It is with reluctance that I intrude upon your retirement, but at the +request of the Government I have undertaken a scientific examination of +the causes which brought about The Leader's rise to power, the +extraordinary popularity of his regime, the impassioned loyalty he was +able to evoke, and the astounding final developments. + +If you can communicate to me any memories of The Leader which may aid in +understanding this most bewildering period of our history, I assure you +that it will be appreciated by myself, by the authorities who wish the +investigation made, and I dare to hope by posterity. + + I am, my dear general, (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from General Johann von Steppberg (Retired) to Professor Albrecht +Aigen, University of Brunn. + +Herr Professor: + +The official yearbooks of the army contain the record of my military +career. I have nothing to add to that information. You say the +authorities wish more. I refuse it. If they threaten my pension, I will +renounce it. If they propose other pressures, I will leave the country. +In short, I refuse to discuss in any manner the subject of your recent +communication. + + I am, Herr Professor, (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen to Dr. Karl Thurn, Professor of +Psychology at University of Laibach. + +My dear Karl: + +I hope your psionic research goes better than my official project! My +business goes nowhere! I have written to generals, ministers, and all +kinds of persons who held high office under The Leader. Each and every +one refuses to discuss The Leader or his own experiences under him. Why? +Surely no one would blame them now! We have had to agree to pretend that +no one did anything improper under The Leader, or else that what anyone +did was proper at the time. So why should the nabobs of that incredible +period refuse to discuss what they should know better than anyone else? +I am almost reduced to asking the aid of the astrologers and soothsayers +The Leader listened to. Actually, I must make a note to do so in sober +earnest. At least they had their own viewpoint of events. + +Speaking of viewpoints, I have had some hope of clarifying The Leader's +career by comparing it with that of Prime Minister Winston, in power in +his country when The Leader ruled ours. His career is splendidly +documented. There is astonishingly little documentation about The Leader +as a person, however. That is one of the difficulties of my task. Even +worse, those who should know him best lock their lips while those-- + +Here is an unsolicited letter from the janitor of a building in which a +former Minister of Education now has his law offices. I have many +letters equally preposterous.... + + * * * * * + +Enclosure in letter to Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +Herr Professor: + +I am the janitor of the building in which Herr Former Minister of +Education Werfen has his offices. In cleaning there I saw a letter +crumpled into a ball and thrown into a corner. I learned in the time of +The Leader that angry actions often mean evil intentions, so I read the +letter to see if the police should be notified. It was a letter from you +in which you asked Herr Former Minister of Education Werfen for his +memories of The Leader. + +I remember The Leader, Herr Professor. He was the most holy man who ever +lived, if indeed he was only a man. Once I passed the open door of an +office in the building I then worked in. I looked in the door--it was +the office of the then-struggling Party The Leader had founded--and I +saw The Leader sitting in a chair, thinking. There was golden light +about his head, Herr Professor. I have told this to other people and +they do not believe me. There were shadowy other beings in the room. I +saw, very faintly, great white wings. But the other beings were still +because The Leader was thinking and did not wish to be disturbed. I +assure you that this is true, Herr Professor. The Leader was the holiest +of men--if he was only a man. + + I am most respectfully, Herr Professor, (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Fraulein Lise Grauer, nurse, in the city of Bludenz, to +Professor Aigen at Brunn University. + +Most respected Herr Professor: + +I write this at the request of the Herr Former Police Inspector Grieg, +to whom you directed a letter shortly before his death. The Herr Former +Police Inspector had been ill for some time. I was his nurse. I had +cared for him for months and did many small services for him, such as +writing letters at his direction. + +When your letter came he read it and went into a black mood of deep and +bitter recollection. He would not speak for hours, and I had great +difficulty in getting him to take his medicines. Just before his bedtime +he called me and said sardonically; + +"Lise, write to this Herr Professor for me. Say to him that I was once a +decent man. When The Leader took power, I received orders that I would +not accept. I submitted my resignation. Then I received orders to come +to The Leader. I obeyed these orders because my resignation was not yet +accepted. I was received in his office. I entered it with respect and +defiance--respect because he was admitted to be the ruler of our nation; +defiance because I would not obey such orders as had been sent me in his +name. + +"The Leader spoke to me, kindly, and as he spoke all my views changed. +It suddenly seemed that I had been absurd to refuse the orders sent me. +They seemed right and reasonable and even more lenient than would have +been justified.... I left The Leader in a state in which I could not +possibly fail to do anything he wished. From that moment I obeyed his +orders. I was promoted. Eventually, as you know, I was in command of the +Neusatz prison camp. And you know what orders I carried out there!" + +I wept, Herr Professor, because the Herr Grieg's eyes were terrible to +look at. He was a gentle and kindly man, Herr Professor! I was his +nurse, and he was a good patient and a good man in every way. I had +heard of the things that were done at Neusatz, but I could not believe +that my patient had commanded them. Now, in his eyes I saw that he +remembered them and that the memory was intolerable. He said very +bitterly: + +"Tell the Herr Professor that I can tell him nothing more. I have no +other memories that would be of service to him. I have resolved, anyhow, +to get rid even of these. I have kept them too long. Say to him that his +letter has decided me." + +I did not understand what he meant, Herr Professor. I helped him prepare +for the night, and when he seemed to be resting quietly I retired, +myself. I was wakened by a very loud noise. I went to see what was the +matter. The Herr Former Police Inspector Grieg had managed to get out of +his bed and across the room to a bureau. He opened a drawer and took out +a revolver. He made his way back to his bed. He blew out his brains. + +I called the police, and after investigation they instructed me to carry +out his request, which I do. + +Herr Professor, I do not myself remember the times of The Leader, but +they must have been very terrible. If the Herr Former Police Inspector +Grieg was actually in command of the Neusatz prison camp, and did +actually order the things done there,--I cannot understand it, Herr +Professor! Because he was a good and kindly man! If you write of him, I +beg that you will mention that he was a most amiable man. I was only his +nurse, but I assure you--(Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach, to Professor Albrecht +Aigen, University of Brunn. + +My dear friend: + +I could have predicted your failure to secure co-operation from eminent +figures in The Leader's regime. So long as they keep silent, together, +they can pretend to be respectable. And nobody longs so passionately to +be respectable as a man who has prospered by being a swine, while he +awaits an opportunity to prosper again by more swinishness. I would +advise you to expect your best information from little people who +suffered most and most helplessly looked on or helped while enormities +were committed. Such little people will either yearn over the past like +your janitor, or want most passionately to understand so that nothing of +the sort can ever happen again. + +Winston as a parallel to The Leader? Or as a contrast? Which? I can name +one marked contrast. I doubt that anybody really and passionately wishes +that Winston had never been born. + +You mention my researches. You should see some of our results! I have +found a rat with undeniable psychokinetic power. I have seen him move a +gram-weight of cheese nearly three centimeters to where he could reach +it through the cage bars. I begin to suspect a certain female dog of +abilities I would prefer not to name just yet. If you can find any +excuse to come to Laibach, I promise you amazing demonstrations of psi +phenomena. (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Quotations from, "_Recollections of the Earl of Humber, formerly Prime +Minister Winston_," by the Hon. Charles Wilberforce. + +Page 231; "... This incredible event took place even while it seemed +most impossible. The Prime Minister took it with his usual aplomb. I +asked him what he thought of the matter a week later, at a house party +in Hertfordshire. He said, 'I consider it most unfortunate. This Leader +of theirs is an inherently nasty individual. Therefore he'll make +nastiness the avenue to distinction so long as he's in power. The +results will be tragic, because when you bottle up decency men seem to +go mad. What a pity one can't bottle up nastiness! The world might +become a fit place to live in!'" + +Page 247; "The Prime Minister disagreed. 'There was Napoleon,' he +observed. 'You might despise him, but after he talked to you you served +him. He seemed to throw a spell over people. Alexander probably had the +same sort of magic personality. When his personality ceased to operate, +as a result of too much wine too continuously, his empire fell +immediately to pieces. I've known others personally; an Afghan whom I've +always thought did us a favor by getting killed by a sniper. He could +have caused a great deal of trouble. I'd guess at the Khalifa. Most of +the people who have this incredible persuasiveness, however, seem to set +up as successful swindlers. What a pity The Leader had no taste for +simple crime, and had to go in for crimes of such elaboration!'" + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen, University of Brunn, to Dr. Karl +Thurn, University of Laibach. + +My dear Karl: + +You make me curious with your talk of a rat which levitates crumbs of +cheese and a she-dog who displays other psi abilities. I assume that you +have found the experimental conditions which let psi powers operate +without hindrance. I shall hope some day to see and conceivably to +understand. + +My own affairs are in hopeless confusion. At the moment I am overwhelmed +with material about The Leader, the value of which I cannot estimate. +Strange! I ask people who should know what I am commissioned to +discover, and they refuse to answer. But it becomes known that I ask, +and thousands of little people write me to volunteer impassioned details +of their experiences while The Leader ruled. Some are bitter because +they did what they did and felt as they felt. These seem to believe in +magic or demoniac possession as the reason they behaved with such +conspicuous insanity. Others gloat over their deeds, which they recount +with gusto--and then express pious regret with no great convincingness. +Some of these accounts nauseate me. But something utterly abnormal was +in operation, somehow, to cause The Leader's ascendancy! + +I wish I could select the important data with certainty. Almost +anything, followed up, might reveal the key. But I do not know what to +follow! I plan to go to Bozen, where the new monstrous computer has been +set up, and see if there is any way in which it could categorize my data +and detect a pattern of more than bewildered and resentful frenzy. + +On the way back to Brunn I shall stop by to talk to you. There is so +much to say! I anticipate much of value from your detached and analytic +mind. I confess, also, that I am curious about your research. This +she-dog with psi powers, of which you give no account ... I am +intrigued. + + As always, I am, (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen, written from The Mathematical +Institute at Bozen, to Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +My dear Karl: + +This is in haste. There is much agitation among the computer staff at +the Institute. An assistant technician has been discovered to be able to +predict the answer the computer will give to problems set up at random. +He is one Hans Schweeringen and it is unbelievable. + +Various numerals are impressed on the feed-in tape of the computer. +Sections of the tape are chosen at random by someone who is blindfolded. +They are fed unread into the computer, together with instructions to +multiply, subtract, extract roots, et cetera, which are similarly chosen +at random and not known to anyone. Once in twenty times or so, +Schweeringen predicts the result of this meaningless computation before +the computer has made it. This is incredible! The odds are trillions to +one against it! Since nobody knows the sums or instructions given to the +computer, it cannot be mind-reading in any form. It must be pure +precognition. Do you wish to talk to him? + +He is uneasy at the attention he attracts, perhaps because his father +was one of The Leader's secretaries and was executed, it is presumed, +for knowing too much. Telegraph me if you wish me to try to bring him to +you. + + Your friend-- + + * * * * * + +Telegram from Dr. Karl Thurn, Professor of Psychology at Laibach +University, to Professor Albrecht Aigen, in care of The Mathematical +Institute at Bozen: + +Take tapes which produced answers Schweeringen predicted. Run them +through computer when he knows nothing of it. Wire result. + + Thurn. + + * * * * * + +Telegram. Professor Albrecht Aigen, at The Mathematical Institute in +Bozen, to Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +How did you know? The tapes do not give the same answers when run +through the computer without Schweeringen's knowledge. The only possible +answer is that the computer sometimes errs to match his predictions. But +this is more impossible than precognition. This is beyond the +conceivable. It cannot be! What now? + + Aigen. + + * * * * * + +Telegram from Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach, to Professor +Albrecht Aigen, care Mathematical Institute, Bozen. + +Naturally I suspect psi. He belongs with my rat and she-dog. Try to +arrange it. + + Thurn. + + * * * * * + +Telegram from Professor Albrecht Aigen, Mathematical Institute, Bozen, +to Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +Schweeringen refuses further tests. Fears proof he causes malfunctioning +of computer will cause unemployment here and may destroy all hope of +hoped-for career in mathematics. + + Aigen. + + * * * * * + +Telegram from Professor Albrecht Aigen, at Mathematical Institute, to +Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +Terrible news. Riding bus to Institute this morning, Schweeringen was +killed when bus was involved in accident. + + Aigen. + + * * * * * + +Telegram from Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach, to Professor +Albrecht Aigen, care Mathematical Institute, Bozen. + +Deeply regret death Schweeringen. When you come here please try to bring +all known family history. Psi ability sometimes inherited. Could be +tie-in his father's execution and use of psi ability. + + Thurn. + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen, at Brunn University, to Dr. Karl +Thurn, University of Laibach. + +My dear Karl: + +I have first to thank you for your warm welcome and to express my +gratitude for your attention while I was your guest. Since my return I +have written many inquiries about Schweeringen's father. There are so +far no replies, but I have some hope that people who will not tell of +their own experiences may tell about someone else--especially someone +now dead. This may be a useful device to get at least some information +from people who so far have refused any. Naturally I will pass on to you +anything I learn. + +I try to work again upon the task assigned me--to investigate the rise +and power of The Leader. I find it hard to concentrate. My mind goes +back to your laboratory. I am deeply shaken by my experience there. I +had thought nothing could be more bewildering than my own work. +Consider: Today I received a letter in which a man tells me amazedly of +the life he led in a slave-labor camp during the time of The Leader's +rule. He describes the attempt of another prisoner to organize a revolt +of the prisoners. While he spoke of the brutality of the guards and the +intolerably hard labor and the deliberately insufficient food, they +cheered him. But when he accused The Leader of having ordered these +things--the prisoners fell upon him with cries of fury. They killed him. +I had this information verified. It was true. + +I cannot hope for a sane explanation of such things. But a sane +explanation for my experience seems even less probable. I am impressed +by your rat who levitates crumbs of cheese. But I am appalled; I am +horrified; I am stupefied by what I did! You asked me to wait for you in +a certain laboratory beyond a door. I entered. I saw a small, fat, mangy +she-dog in a dog-run. She looked at me and wagged her tail. I thereupon +went to the other end of the laboratory, opened a box, and took out a +handful of strange objects you later told me are sweetmeats to a dog. I +gave them to the animal. + +Why did I do it? How was it that I went directly to a box of which I +knew nothing, opened it as a matter of course, and took out objects I +did not even recognize, to give them to that unpleasant small beast? How +did I know where to go? Why did I go? Why should I give those +then-meaningless objects to the dog? It is as if I were enchanted! + +You say that it is a psi phenomenon. The rat causes small objects to +move. The dog, you say, causes persons to give it canine candy. I revolt +against the conclusion, which I cannot reason away. If you are right, we +are at the mercy of our domestic animals! Dog-lovers are not people who +love dogs, but people who are enslaved by dogs. Cat-lovers are merely +people who have been seized upon by cats to support and pet and cater +to them. This is intolerable! I shall fear all pets from now on! I throw +myself back into my own work to avoid thinking of it. I-- + + * * * + +Later. I did not mail this letter because an appalling idea occurred to +me. This could bear upon my investigation! Do you think The Leader--No! +It could not be! It would be madness.... + + * * * * * + +Extract from a letter from Dr. Karl Thurn to Professor Albrecht Aigen. + +... I deplore your reaction. It has the emotional quality of a reaction +to witchcraft or magic, but psi is not witchcraft. It is a natural +force. No natural force is either nonexistent or irresistible. No +natural force is invariably effective. Psi is not irresistible under all +circumstances. It is not always effective. My rat cannot levitate +cheese-crumbs weighing more than 1.7 grams. My she-dog could not make +you give her dog-candy once you were on guard. When you went again into +the laboratory she looked at you and wagged her tail as before. You say +that you thought of the box and of opening it, but you did not. It was +not even an effort of will to refrain. + +A lesser will or a lower grade of personality cannot overwhelm a greater +one. Not ever! Lesser beings can only urge. The astrologers used to say +that the stars incline, but they do not compel. The same can be said of +psi--or of magnetism or gravitation or what you will. Schweeringen could +not make the computer err when it had to err too egregiously. A greater +psi ability was needed than he had. A greater psi power than was +available would have been needed to make you give the dog candy, once +you were warned. + +I do not apply these statements to your so-called appalling idea. I +carefully refrain from doing so. It is your research, not mine.... + + * * * * * + +Extract from letter to Professor Albrecht Aigen from the Herr Friedrich +Holm, supervisor of electrical maintenance, municipal electrical +service, Untersberg. + +Herr Professor: + +You have written to ask if I knew a certain Herr Schweeringen, attached +to The Leader's personal staff during his regime. I did know such a +person. I was then in charge of electrical maintenance in The Leader's +various residences. Herr Schweeringen was officially one of The Leader's +secretaries, but his actual task was to make predictions for The Leader, +like a soothsayer or a medium. He had a very remarkable gift. There were +times when it was especially needful that there be no electrical +failures--when The Leader was to be in residence, for example. On such +occasions it was my custom to ask Herr Schweeringen if there was apt to +be any failure of apparatus under my care. At least three times he told +me yes. In one case it was an elevator, in another refrigeration, in a +third a fuse would blow during a State dinner. + +I overhauled the elevator, but it failed nevertheless. I replaced the +refrigeration motor, and the new motor failed. In the third case I +changed the fuse to a new and tested one, and then placed a new, fused +line around the fuse Herr Schweeringen had said would blow, and placed a +workman beside it. When the fuse did blow as predicted, my workman +instantly closed the extra-line switch, so that the lights of the State +dinner barely flickered. But I shudder when I think of the result if +Herr Schweeringen had not warned me. + +He was executed a few days before the period of confusion began, which +ended as everyone knows. I do not know the reason for his execution. It +was said, however, that The Leader executed him personally. This, Herr +Professor, is all that I know of the matter. + + Very respectfully, (Et cetera.) + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +Letter from Herr Theophrastus Paracelsus Bosche, astrologer, to +Professor Albrecht Aigen, Brunn University. + +Most respected Herr Professor: + +I am amused that a so-eminent scientist like yourself should ask +information from a so-despised former astrologer to The Leader. It is +even more amusing that you ask about a mere soothsayer--a man who +displayed an occult gift of prophecy--whom you should consider merely +one of the charlatans like myself whom The Leader consulted, and who +are unworthy of consideration by a scientific historian. We have no +effect upon history, most respected Herr Professor! None at all. Oh, +none! I am much diverted. + +You ask about the Herr Schweeringen. He was a predictor, using his +occult gift of second sight to foreknow events and tell The Leader about +them. You will remember that The Leader considered himself to have +occult powers of leadership and decision, and that all occult powers +should contribute to his greatness. At times of great stress, such as +when The Leader demanded ever-increasing concessions from other nations +on threat of war, he was especially concerned that occult predictions +promise him success. + +At a certain time the international tension was greater than ever +before. If The Leader could doubt the rightness of any of his actions, +he doubted it then. There was great danger of war. Prime Minister +Winston had said flatly that The Leader must withdraw his demands or +fight. The Leader was greatly agitated. He demanded my prediction. I +considered the stars and predicted discreetly that war would be +prevented by some magnificent achievement by The Leader. Truly, if he +got out of his then situation it would be a magnificent achievement. But +astrology, of course, could only indicate it but not describe what it +would be. + +The Leader was confident that he could achieve anything he could +imagine, because he had convinced even himself that only treason or +disloyalty could cause him to fail in any matter. He demanded of his +generals what achievement would prevent the war. They were not +encouraging. He demanded of his civilian political advisers. They dared +not advise him to retreat. They offered nothing. He demanded of his +occult advisers. + +The Herr Schweeringen demanded of me that I tell him my exact +prediction. His nerves were bad, then, and he twitched with the strain. +Someone had to describe the great achievement The Leader would make. It +would be dangerous not to do so. I told him the prediction, I found his +predicament diverting. He left me, still twitching and desperately sunk +in thought. + +I now tell you exact, objective facts, Herr Professor, with no +interpretation of my own upon them. The Herr Schweeringen was closeted +with The Leader. I am told that his face was shining with confidence +when he went to speak to The Leader. It was believed among us charlatans +that he considered that he foreknew what The Leader would do to prevent +war at this time. + +Two hours later there were shots in The Leader's private quarters. The +Leader came out, his eyes glaring, and ordered Herr Schweeringen's body +removed. He ordered the execution of the four senior generals of the +General Staff, of the Minister of Police, and several other persons. He +then went into seclusion, from which he emerged only briefly to give +orders making the unthinkable retreat that Prime Minister Winston had +demanded. No one spoke to him for a week. Confusion began. These are +objective facts. I now add one small boast. + +My discreet prediction had come true, and it is extremely diverting to +think about it. The Leader had achieved magnificently. The war was +prevented not only for the moment but for later times, too. The Leader's +achievement was the destruction of his regime by destroying the brains +that had made it operate! + +It is quite possible that you will consider this information a lie. That +will be quite droll. However, I am, most respected Herr Professor, (Et +cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach, to Professor Albrecht +Aigen, Brunn University. + +My dear friend: + +Your information about the elder Schweeringen received. The information +about his prediction is interesting. I could wish that it were complete, +but that would seem to be hopeless. Your question, asked in a manner +suggesting great disturbance, is another matter. I will answer it as +well as I can, my friend, but please remember that you asked. I +volunteer nothing. The question of the rise and power of The Leader is +your research, not mine. + +Here is my answer. Years back an American researcher named Rhine +obtained seemingly conclusive proof that telepathy took place. Tonight +he would have a "sender," here, attempt to transmit some item +telepathically to a "receiver," there. Tomorrow morning he would compare +the record of what the "sender" had attempted to transmit, with the +record of what the "receiver" considered he had received. The +correspondence was far greater than chance. He considered that telepathy +was proven. + +But then Rhine made tests for precognition. He secured proof that some +persons could predict with greater-than-probability frequency that some +particular event, to be determined by chance, would take place tomorrow. +He secured excellent evidence for precognition. + +Then it was realized that if one could foresee what dice would read +tomorrow--dice not yet thrown--one should be able to read what a report +would read tomorrow--a report not yet written. In short, if one can +foreknow what a comparison will reveal, telepathy before the comparison +is unproven. In proving precognition, he had destroyed his evidence for +telepathy. + +It appears that something similar has happened, which our correspondence +has brought out. Young Schweeringen predicted what a computer would +report from unknown numerals and instructions. In order for the computer +to match his predictions, it had to err. It did. Therefore one reasons +that he did not predict what the computer would produce. The computer +produced what he predicted. In effect, what appeared to be foreknowledge +was psychokinesis--the same phenomenon as the movement of crumbs of +cheese by my rat. One may strongly suspect that when young Herr +Schweeringen knew in advance what the computer would say, he actually +knew in advance what he could make it say. It is possible that one can +consciously know in advance only what one can unconsciously bring about. +If one can bring about only minor happenings, one can never predict +great ones. + +This is my answer to your question. I would like very much to know what +the elder Schweeringen predicted that The Leader would accomplish! + +My she-dog has died. We had a new attendant in the laboratory. He fed +her to excess. She died of it. (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen to Dr. Thurn. + +My dear Karl: + +I have resolved to dismiss psionic ability from my investigation into +The Leader's rise to power. This much I will concede: The Leader could +enslave--englamour--enchant anyone who met him personally. He did. To a +lesser degree, this irresistible persuasiveness is a characteristic of +many successful swindlers. But he could not have englamoured the whole +nation. He did not meet enough persons personally to make his regime +possible, unless he could cause other persons to apply their own +magnetism to further his ambitions, and they others and others and so +on--like an endless series of magnets magnetized originally from one. +This is not possible. I restrict myself to normal, plausible +hypotheses--of which so far I have no faintest trace. + +You agree with me, do you not--that it was impossible for The Leader to +weave a web of enchantment over the whole nation by his own psi energies +controlling the psi energies of others? I would welcome your assurance +that it could not be. + + * * * * * + +Letter from Professor Albrecht Aigen to Dr. Karl Thurn. + +My dear Karl: + +Did you receive my last letter? I am anxious to have your assurance that +it was impossible that The Leader could englamour the whole nation by +his psionic gifts. + + * * * * * + +Telegram, Dr. Albrecht Aigen to Dr. Karl Thurn. + +Karl, as you are my friend, answer me! + + * * * * * + +Letter, Dr. Karl Thurn to Professor Albrecht Aigen. + +... But what have you discovered, my friend, that you are afraid to +face? + + * * * * * + +Letter. Professor Albrecht Aigen to Dr. Karl Thurn. + +My dear Karl: + +I appeal to you because I have discovered how nearly our nation and the +whole world escaped horrors beside which those of The Leader's actual +regime would seem trivial. Give me reasons, arguments, proofs beyond +question, which I can put into my report on his career! I must +demonstrate beyond question that psi ability did not cause his +ascendancy! Help me to contrive a lie which will keep anyone, ever, from +dreaming that psi ability can be used to seize a government and a +nation. It could seize the world more terribly.... + +I cannot express the urgency of this need! There are others who possess +The Leader's powers in a lesser degree. They must remain only swindlers +and such, without ambitions to rule, or they might study The Leader's +career as Napoleon studied Alexander's. There must be no hint, anywhere, +of the secret I have discovered. There must be nothing to lead to the +least thought of it! The Leader could have multiplied his power +ten-thousand-fold! Another like him must never learn how it could be +done! + +I beg your help, Karl! I am shaken. I am terrified. I wish that I had +not undertaken this research. I wish it almost as desperately as I wish +that The Leader had never been born! + + * * * * * + +Letter from Colonel Sigmund Knoeller, retired, to Professor Albrecht +Aigen, Brunn University. + +Herr Professor: + +In response to your authorized request for information about certain +events; I have the honor to inform you that at the time you mention I +was Major in command of the Second Battalion of the 161st Infantry +Regiment, assigned to guard duty about the residence of The Leader. +Actual guard duty was performed by the secret police. My battalion +merely provided sentries around the perimeter of the residence, and at +certain places within. + +On August 19th I received a command to march three companies of my men +into the residence, to receive orders from The Leader in person. This +command was issued by the Herr General Breyer, attached to The Leader as +a military aide. + +I led my men inside according to the orders, guided by the orderly who +had brought them. I entered an inner courtyard. There was disturbance. +People moved about in a disorderly fashion and chattered agitatedly. +This was astonishing in The Leader's residence. I marched up to General +Breyer, who stood outside a group biting his nails. I saluted and said: +"Major Knoeller reporting for orders, Herr General." + +There was then confusion in the nearby squabbling group. A man burst out +of it and waved his arms at me. He looked like The Leader. He cried +shrilly: + +"Arrest these men! All of them! Then shoot them!" + +I looked at the Herr General Breyer. He bit his nails. The man who +looked so much like The Leader foamed at the mouth. But he was not The +Leader. That is, in every respect he resembled The Leader to whom I owed +loyalty as did everyone. But no one who was ever in The Leader's +presence failed to know it. There was a feeling. One knew to the inmost +part of one's soul that he was The Leader who must be reverenced and +obeyed. But one did not feel that way about this man, though he +resembled The Leader so strongly. + +"Arrest them!" shrilled the man ferociously. "I command it! I am The +Leader! Shoot them!" + +When I still waited for General Breyer to give me orders, the man +shrieked at the troopers. He commanded them to kill General Breyer and +all the rest, including me. And if he had been The Leader they would +have obeyed. But he was not. So my men stood stiffly at attention, +waiting for my orders or General Breyer's. + +There was now complete silence in the courtyard. The formerly squabbling +men watched as if astonished. As if they did not believe their eyes. But +I waited for General Breyer to give his commands. + +The man screamed in a terrible, frustrated rage. He waved his arms +wildly. He foamed at the mouth and shrieked at me. I waited for orders +from General Breyer. After a long time he ceased to bite his nails and +said in a strange voice: + +"You had better have this man placed in confinement, Major Knoeller. See +that he is not injured. Double all guards and mount machine guns in case +of rioting outside. Dismiss!" + +I obeyed my commands. My men took the struggling, still-shrieking man +and put him in a cell in the guardhouse. There was a drunken private +there, awaiting court-martial. He was roused and annoyed when his new +companion shrieked and screamed and shook the bars of the door. He +kicked the man who looked so much like The Leader. I then had the +civilian placed in a separate cell, but he continued to rave +incoherently until I had the regimental surgeon give him an injection to +quiet him. He sank into drugged sleep with foam about his lips. + +He looked remarkably like The Leader. I have never seen such a +resemblance! But he was not The Leader or we would have known him. + +There was no disturbance outside the residence. The doubled guards and +the mounted machine guns were not needed. + + I am, Herr Professor, (Et cetera.) + + * * * * * + +Letter, with enclosure, from Professor Albrecht Aigen, Brunn University, +to Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach. + +My dear Karl: + +Because of past sharing in my research, you will realize what the +enclosed means. It is part of the report of the physicians who examined +The Leader three days after his confinement in a military prison. He had +recovered much of his self-control. He spoke with precision. He appeared +even calm, though he was confused in some matters. The doctors addressed +him as "My Leader" because he refused to reply otherwise. + +(Enclosure) + +_Dr. Kundmann_: But, My Leader, we do not understand what has happened! +You were terribly disturbed. You were even ... even confused in your +behavior! Can you tell us what took place? + +_The Leader_: I suffered a great danger and a temporary damage. That +villain Schweeringen--I shot him. It was a mistake. I should have had +him worked over--at length! + +_Dr. Messner_: My Leader, will you be so good as to tell us the nature +of the danger and the damage? + +_The Leader_: Schweeringen probably told someone what he would propose +to me. It was his conviction that because of my special gifts I could +cause anyone, not only to obey me, but to pour out to me, directly, his +inmost thoughts and memories. Of course this is true. The danger was +that of the contact of my mind with an inferior one. But I allowed +Schweeringen to persuade me that I should risk even this for the service +of my people. Therefore I contacted the mind of Prime Minister Winston, +so I could know every scheme and every plan he might have or know to +exist to injure my people. I intended, however, to cause him to become +loyal to me--though I would later have had him shot. Schweeringen had +betrayed me, though. When I made contact with Winston's mind, it was not +only inferior, but diseased! There was a contagion which temporarily +affected the delicate balance of my intuition. For a short time I could +not know, as ordinarily, what was best for my people. + +(End of Enclosure) + +You will see, my dear Karl, what took place. To you and to me this +explains everything. In the background of my research and your +information it is clear. Fortunately, The Leader's mind was unstable. +The strain and shock of so unparalleled experience as complete knowledge +of another brain's contents destroyed his rationality. He became insane. +Insane, he no longer had the psi gifts by which he had seized and +degraded our nation. He ceased to be The Leader. + +But you will see that this must be hidden! Another monster like The +Leader, or Napoleon--perhaps even lesser monsters--could attempt the +same feat. But they might be less unstable! They might be able to invade +the mind of any human being, anywhere, and drain it of any secret or +impress upon it any desire or command, however revolting. You see, Karl, +why this must never become known! It must be hidden forever. + + * * * * * + +Letter from Dr. Karl Thurn, University of Laibach, to Professor Albrecht +Aigen, Brunn University. + +My dear friend: + +I am relieved! I feared for your judgment. I thought that perhaps +overwork and frustration had set up an anxiety-block to make you cease +your work. But you are quite right. Your analysis is brilliant. And now +that you have pointed it out, unquestionably a man with The Leader's psi +powers could force another man's brain to transmit all its contents to +him. + +But consider the consequences! Consider the conditions of such an event. +One's brain is designed to work within one's own skull, dealing with +sensory messages and the like. Very occasionally it acts outside, +shifting crumbs of cheese and confusing computers--and securing candy. +But even when one's will controls outside actions, it does not fuse with +the outside brain or thing. It molds or moves the recipient mind, but +there is never a sharing of memory. You have explained why. + +Consider what must happen if a brain of limited power and essentially +emotional operation is linked to another and more powerful one. Assume +for a moment that my she-dog had linked her brain to yours, even +momentarily. Do you realize that she would not have gotten your +memories, much less your power to reason? She would not even have +acquired your knowledge of the meaning of words! When a bright light +shines in your eyes, you see nothing else. When thunder rolls in your +ears, you do not hear the ticking of a clock. When you suffer pain, you +do not notice a feather's tickle. If my she-dog had linked her mind to +yours, she would have experienced something which is knowledge more +firmly fixed and more continuously known than anything else in your +conscious life. This overwhelmingly strong conviction would have been so +powerful and so positive that it would be imprinted--branded--burned +into every cell of her brain. She could never get it out. + +But in receiving this overwhelming experience she would not get your +memories or power to reason or even your personality. She would have +experienced only your identity. She would have received only the +conviction that she was yourself! She would have been like those poor +lunatics who believe that they are Napoleon, though they have nothing of +Napoleon in them but the conviction of identity. They do not know when +he was born or have more than the vaguest notion of what he did, but +they try to act as who he was--according to their own ideas of how +Napoleon would act in their situation. This is how my she-dog would have +behaved. + +I am relieved. You have explained everything. Your letter gave me the +suspicion. I secured a transcript of the Herr Doctor's report for +myself. My suspicion became a certainty. You will find the clue in the +report. Consider: The Leader had had the experience I imagined for my +she-dog. He had linked his mind with a stronger one and a greater +personality--if it must be said, a greater man. For a moment The Leader +knew what that man knew most certainly, with most profound conviction, +with most positive knowledge. It was burned into his brain. He could +never get it out. He did not secure that other man's memories or +knowledge or ability. He was blinded, deafened, dazed by the +overwhelming conviction that, the other man had of his own identity. It +would not be possible for him to get anything else from a stronger mind +and a greater person. Nor could anyone else succeed where he failed, my +friend! There is no danger of any man seizing the world by seizing the +minds of all his fellows! One who tries will meet the fate of The +Leader. + +You realize what that fate was, of course. He suddenly ceased to be the +monster who could cast a spell of blind adoration for himself. He ceased +to be The Leader! So the doctors gave him truth-serum so he would not +try to conceal anything from them. The result is in the transcript on +the third page beyond the place you quoted to me. There the doctors +asked The Leader who he was. Read his answer, my friend! It proves +everything! He said: + +"I am Prime Minister Winston." + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Astounding Science Fiction_ February + 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Leader, by +William Fitzgerald Jenkins (AKA Murray Leinster) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEADER *** + +***** This file should be named 23612.txt or 23612.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/6/1/23612/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Stephen Blundell +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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