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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32316-h.zip b/32316-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..61fac86 --- /dev/null +++ b/32316-h.zip diff --git a/32316-h/32316-h.htm b/32316-h/32316-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4901843 --- /dev/null +++ b/32316-h/32316-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,870 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Honored Prophet, by William E. Bentley + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + +.img1 {border:solid 1px; } + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.f1 { font-size: 36px; font-weight:bold; } +.center {text-align: center;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Honored Prophet, by William E. Bentley + +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 Honored Prophet + +Author: William E. Bentley + +Illustrator: Virgil Finlay + +Release Date: May 10, 2010 [EBook #32316] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HONORED PROPHET *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction November 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img class="img1" src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="537" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<h1>THE HONORED PROPHET</h1> +<p> </p> + +<h2>BY WILLIAM E. BENTLEY</h2> +<p> </p> + +<h3><i>Illustrated by Virgil Finlay</i></h3> +<p> </p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The black dwarf sun sent its assassin on a mission which +was calculated to erase the threat to its existence. But +prophesies run in strange patterns and, sometimes, an act of +evasion becomes an act of fulfillment....</i></p></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/image_001.jpg" width="600" height="396" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="36" height="40" /></div> + +<p>he ruler of a planet with a black dwarf sun had called a meeting of +the council. It was some time before they were assembled, and he +waited patiently without thought.</p> + +<p>When the patchwork of mentalities was complete he allowed the +conclusions of the prognosticator to occupy his mind. A wall of +unanimous incredulity sprang up. The statement was that when the +inhabitants of a distant planet achieved space flight they would come +to this planet, and use a weapon invented by an individual to destroy +it. The prognosticator could not lie, and soon the facade dissolved +into individual reactions as acceptance became general. Anger, fear, +resignation, and greedy little thoughts of self-aggrandizement. Those +thoughts were replaced by a quiescent, questioning receptivity. The +questioning grew out of proportion, became hysterical, assumed the +panic shape. Self-preservation demanding that there be a solution. +Minor prophecies had been evaded before. Details of the individual had +been supplied, could not something be done?</p> + +<p>The Assassin was summoned.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="300" height="950" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>The pattern of Dr. Simon Cartwright's encephalic emanations, and the +approximate position of the center of these emanations were impressed +on its mind. And in a strangely bulbous ship it plunged outward from +that eternally dark and silent planet towards Earth.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="f1">A</span> man was walking along a road. A high road. A silent, dark road. +Below him on both sides of the road flat marshland swept away, and a +little wind caressed him with chill fingers. His tiny world of road +beneath him, darkness around him, sky above him, contained only the +sound of his footsteps—and one other. A regular, liquid sound. He +thought it was a sound from the marsh. He listened to it, and wondered +how long it had been with him. It was close behind him on the road. He +stopped, turned round in small curiosity, and bellowed in great +horror. He threw up his hands against an immense bulk, a frog-like +shape, a lurching, flowing movement. Then it was upon him, and stilled +his futile writhings, and passed over him, and left him dead.</p> + +<p>The Assassin continued along the road. It was aware that it had +killed, but it could not contemplate the fact. It possessed all the +mental powers of its race, but its conditioning had focused them in +one direction, the assassination of Dr. Cartwright. It could consider +only those factors which had a direct relation to that purpose.</p> + +<p>Daylight was one of those factors.</p> + +<p>It was not aware of the passage of time, but when the sensitive patch +on its back began to contract it left the road and went to the marsh. +There it burrowed into the slime until green-flecked water closed over +it. And deeper until a depth of mud protected it from the sun.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>Dr. Cartwright groaned and sat up in bed. He silenced the ringing +telephone by putting the receiver to his ear.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what time it is?" he asked, aggrieved.</p> + +<p>"Hello? Doctor Cartwright? This is the police."</p> + +<p>"It is half-past seven," continued Simon. "For me, the middle of the +night. I am in no fit state to measure a drunk's reactions."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, sir, but there's been an accident. On the Waverton +Highway. A man is dead, Inspector Andrews is in charge of the case."</p> + +<p>"Inspector Andrews? Is mayhem suspected? Never mind, I'll get down +there, right away."</p> + +<p>He put the receiver down and got out of bed. His wife muttered +something unintelligible and wrapped his share of the blankets round +her. Simon went downstairs. He made a cup of coffee and drank it while +he dressed. The engine of his car was cold, but his house was on a +hill and he was able to coast down to the Highway.</p> + +<p>The road was level and straight, and after a few minutes driving a +little tableau came into sight—two cars, a group of uniforms. +Inspector Andrews, tall, thin, dyspeptic, greeted him with a limp +handshake. "Something funny about this," he said. "See what you +think."</p> + +<p>Simon went down on one knee beside the body and began to undo the +clothing. After a time he looked up into the sky. "This is very +strange," he murmured.</p> + +<p>"I know," grunted Andrews. "Can they take the body now?"</p> + +<p>Simon stood up and nodded. He remained staring out across the marsh +until the body had been removed, and the ambulance a distant object. +Then he went and sat in his car. Andrews finished giving instructions +to his Sergeant, and joined him. "I'll let you give me breakfast," he +said.</p> + +<p>"You're very kind," said Simon absently, and released the brake.</p> + +<p>"Any use asking for the cause of death?" asked Andrews.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the cause of death was crushing, but the cause of the cause of +death—" Simon shook his head. "There wasn't an unbroken bone in his +body. Could he have been dropped from an airplane?"</p> + +<p>Andrews shook a ponderous head. "He was a bus driver on his way to +work without an enemy in the world. And I've a feeling his death is +going to keep me awake at nights. Anyway, Sergeant Bennet is going +over the area with a magnifying glass. We'll put up a pretty good +show. Can you suggest anything?"</p> + +<p>"It wasn't a car," said Simon carefully. "The skin was unbroken, +except from the inside. I can only imagine something like a +rubber-covered steam-roller."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="36" height="40" /></div> + +<p>hat night the Assassin killed two people.</p> + +<p>When it grew dark it heaved itself up out of the slime. A long +business of bodily expansion and contraction. Two men were on the road +and heard the noise it made.</p> + +<p>"Somethin' out there."</p> + +<p>"Stray cow, maybe."</p> + +<p>They stood and peered into the dark, trying to see a familiar shape. +The Assassin approached them, and was too big for them to see. They +stood in its path and looked for a familiar object in the blackness of +its body. So the instant of apprehension was small, the panic and +exertion soon over. Without pausing the Assassin moved over them and +continued on its way.</p> + +<p>A little later Inspector Andrews found them. He was in a radio patrol +car, and he was moving in the same direction as the Assassin. With him +in the car were three large men carrying automatic rifles. Andrews +stopped the car, and one of the men got out and knelt by the bodies. +Andrews watched him somberly for a moment then reached for the +microphone. He spoke to the station sergeant.</p> + +<p>"Inspector Andrews here. Send an ambulance out here, will you, and +phone Doctor Cartwright. Tell him the steam-roller's loose again. It +may be on the road heading his way. Yes, steam-roller. He'll +understand."</p> + +<p>He put the microphone down, called to the man on the road. "I'm +leaving you here, Roberts. There's an ambulance on its way. Go back +with it. Get in Sergeant Bennet's car and both of you join us up +ahead."</p> + +<p>He closed the car window and released the brake. The empty road began +to unwind slowly into the area of light ahead.</p> + +<p> </p> + + +<p>Simon put the receiver down and looked at his wife. She was +concentrating on a sock by the fire. He went over and kissed the top +of her head. "Goodbye," she said.</p> + +<p>"Listen," he said quietly. "When I'm gone lock the door behind me and +don't go out. If you hear any funny noises go down to the cellar. +Understand?"</p> + +<p>She was a little frightened. "Honey, what is it?"</p> + +<p>He smiled. "It's nothing. Long John Andrews is out hunting. I'm going +along in case he shoots himself."</p> + +<p>He took his shot-gun off the mantle and stuffed his pockets with +cartridges.</p> + +<p>"I'll bring you back a rabbit," he said. "So long."</p> + +<p>He drove down slowly. He was scared, but he was still young enough to +find it exhilarating. The loaded shot-gun was a great help.</p> + +<p>He turned on to the highway, and slowed to walking pace. He stared +into the darkness ahead until his eyes burned, and imagination peopled +his surroundings with writhing shapes.</p> + +<p>Then he saw it, and the muscles across his chest trembled +convulsively. Fear clutched his stomach. He slammed his foot down on +the brake and gaped up at it. It was standing still in the middle of +the road, a giant, pear shaped body, looking something like a man +kneeling upright. At the front, turned inwards, were a number of +arm-like appendages.</p> + +<p>The shot-gun was ridiculous now, the car made of paper. To get out and +run was impossible, and he longed to be able to sit still and do +nothing. And the seconds dragged by. Time for contemplation built up, +and a strange realization dropped into his seething mind. He sensed +something about its attitude. A cringing, a withdrawal. "God," he +whispered. "It doesn't like the light."</p> + +<p>He might have relaxed then, but it moved. One of its arms unfolded, +swung outward holding something metallic. Simon yelled. He grabbed the +shot-gun, shoved the door catch down, threw his weight sideways. He +landed on his shoulder and kept on rolling. He reached the other side +of the road, straightened up, and saw the roof of the car fly off with +a roar. He fired then, from a crouching position and without taking +aim. A lucky shot that hit the end of the weapon arm and shattered it. +Then he ran, and the Assassin followed.</p> + +<p>He ran in the direction he'd been heading, and gave himself up to +terror. He was primaeval man fleeing from sabre-tooth. He was living a +nightmare. His brain reeled, air burnt his lungs, and his pounding +heart echoed in his temples. Then he was running into a blaze of +light, between headlights that enfolded him like a mother's arms, and +he was clinging to a radiator cap. Dimly he heard the crash of high +powered rifles about him. A black figure came into his haven of light, +began to loosen his tie.</p> + +<p>"Get out of the light," he gasped. "It doesn't like the light."</p> + +<p>"Who invited you?" grunted Andrews. He put Simon's arm round his neck, +and half carried him round to the side of the car, pushed him into the +front seat.</p> + +<p>"I'll be all right in a minute," said Simon.</p> + +<p>"Yeah," said Andrews, and left him.</p> + +<p>After a little while the trembling in his limbs began to subside, +breathing became easier. He leaned forward and watched a strange +battle. The Assassin was about seventy yards ahead, moving slowly +nearer. Two men stood on the right hand side of the car, pumping +bullets into the grey, indistinct mass. Andrews stood watching with +his hands in his jacket pockets. Suddenly he said, "All right, let go. +You're only wasting bullets."</p> + +<p>Simon looked at him in alarm. "Hey, you're not just going to stand +there. It doesn't like the light, but light can't kill it."</p> + +<p>"Lie down on the floor," said Andrews dourly, without looking at him.</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>Andrews ignored him, stepped two paces forward. The Assassin was about +twenty yards away now, seeming to have to fight against the stream of +light. Andrews took his hands from his pockets. Simon saw what he was +holding, and dived for the floor. He clasped his hands over the back +of his neck as the night exploded with a gigantic crash.</p> + +<p>When his ears had stopped screaming he got up. Andrews, an elbow on +the window ledge, was watching him expressionlessly.</p> + +<p>"You might have left me something to dissect," complained Simon. +"Somebody's got to, you know."</p> + +<p>"I'll mop you up a sponge full," said Andrews.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, you won't. You and your men stay back here. It's probably +crawling with alien bacteria."</p> + +<p>Actually, quite a lot of the Assassin was left, but decomposition was +very rapid. Simon did the best he could with a magnifying glass and a +penknife. He found that the body was almost entirely composed of bone +and flesh in a honey-comb like structure. The bone being highly +flexible, and the cavities filled with grey flesh. Flesh which quickly +liquified and drained away from the bone. There was no blood, and +Simon could find no trace of internal organs.</p> + +<p>While he worked two more cars drove up, and gave him a little more +light, but soon he had to give up. As he walked slowly back a +spotlight sprang suddenly to life, and a pleasant authoritative voice +spoke.</p> + +<p>"Will you stay where you are, please, Doctor Cartwright."</p> + +<p>Simon obeyed. Hell, he thought wearily. Officialdom has arrived. He +shaded his eyes against the light, but he could see nothing.</p> + +<p>"Who's that?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Commanding officer in charge of operations in this emergency. You've +made an examination?"</p> + +<p>"As far as I could. There's complete decomposition now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see." A slight pause, then; "Perhaps I'd better put you in the +picture. This is armed aggression, Doctor Cartwright. In any language +it says war. Do you understand? We're at war, now.</p> + +<p>"We found the vessel your friend came in several days ago. It was in +the sea, twenty miles from here. Its discovery was kept secret because +we weren't sure of its point of origin. Our people are engaged in +finding the method of propulsion. They say it will give us the ability +to travel in space. They also say that they can find the approximate +position of its home planet. All that is top priority, of course, but +in the meanwhile we must have an emergency line of defence against +these things. We want to know how to find them and how to destroy them +with the least possible expenditure of life and material. You +understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I've got an idea about light waves. I fired a shot at it back +there. The bone structure—"</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me," interrupted the voice sharply. "Remember it. You +realize, Doctor Cartwright, that you are just about the most important +man alive. You know how fast it can move. You have fought it, you +have examined it. So you can be sure that very good care will be taken +of you."</p> + +<p>"What are you saying?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, but you must see that you have to go into strict +quarantine now. We dare not risk a plague. After quarantine you will +go to work with our people. Now will you please get into the car at +the extreme right, and follow the police."</p> + +<p>"Where am I going?"</p> + +<p>"Please hurry. There is a team of incendiaries waiting to clear the +area."</p> + +<p>"Oh, damnation," sighed The Most Important Man Alive, and walked +towards the waiting car.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="51" height="40" /></div> + +<p>hen the ruler consulted the prognosticator again, after the +Assassin's failure had been recorded, he found that a qualification +had been added. The prophecy was now being fulfilled. He considered +this dispassionately. He visualised the complex pattern of implication +almost with pleasure. Was the machine alive? Certainly it could +contemplate itself. It had calculated the effect of its existence, and +had used the knowledge to destroy them. Or had they condemned +themselves? By losing the ability to question. For the information on +which the prophecy was based could have been available to them. Or was +the machine only obeying a greater Fate? A Decree, stating that any +life-form that surrendered itself to the dictates of a machine was +doomed.</p> + +<p>One thing alone was left to him. A choice. Without haste he began the +preliminaries to thinking himself to death.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Honored Prophet, by William E. 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Bentley + +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 Honored Prophet + +Author: William E. Bentley + +Illustrator: Virgil Finlay + +Release Date: May 10, 2010 [EBook #32316] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HONORED PROPHET *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction November + 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + THE HONORED PROPHET + + + BY WILLIAM E. BENTLEY + + + _Illustrated by Virgil Finlay_ + + + _The black dwarf sun sent its assassin on a mission which + was calculated to erase the threat to its existence. But + prophesies run in strange patterns and, sometimes, an act of + evasion becomes an act of fulfillment...._ + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration] + + +The ruler of a planet with a black dwarf sun had called a meeting of +the council. It was some time before they were assembled, and he +waited patiently without thought. + +When the patchwork of mentalities was complete he allowed the +conclusions of the prognosticator to occupy his mind. A wall of +unanimous incredulity sprang up. The statement was that when the +inhabitants of a distant planet achieved space flight they would come +to this planet, and use a weapon invented by an individual to destroy +it. The prognosticator could not lie, and soon the facade dissolved +into individual reactions as acceptance became general. Anger, fear, +resignation, and greedy little thoughts of self-aggrandizement. Those +thoughts were replaced by a quiescent, questioning receptivity. The +questioning grew out of proportion, became hysterical, assumed the +panic shape. Self-preservation demanding that there be a solution. +Minor prophecies had been evaded before. Details of the individual had +been supplied, could not something be done? + +The Assassin was summoned. + +The pattern of Dr. Simon Cartwright's encephalic emanations, and the +approximate position of the center of these emanations were impressed +on its mind. And in a strangely bulbous ship it plunged outward from +that eternally dark and silent planet towards Earth. + + * * * * * + +A man was walking along a road. A high road. A silent, dark road. +Below him on both sides of the road flat marshland swept away, and a +little wind caressed him with chill fingers. His tiny world of road +beneath him, darkness around him, sky above him, contained only the +sound of his footsteps--and one other. A regular, liquid sound. He +thought it was a sound from the marsh. He listened to it, and wondered +how long it had been with him. It was close behind him on the road. He +stopped, turned round in small curiosity, and bellowed in great +horror. He threw up his hands against an immense bulk, a frog-like +shape, a lurching, flowing movement. Then it was upon him, and stilled +his futile writhings, and passed over him, and left him dead. + +The Assassin continued along the road. It was aware that it had +killed, but it could not contemplate the fact. It possessed all the +mental powers of its race, but its conditioning had focused them in +one direction, the assassination of Dr. Cartwright. It could consider +only those factors which had a direct relation to that purpose. + +Daylight was one of those factors. + +It was not aware of the passage of time, but when the sensitive patch +on its back began to contract it left the road and went to the marsh. +There it burrowed into the slime until green-flecked water closed over +it. And deeper until a depth of mud protected it from the sun. + + +Dr. Cartwright groaned and sat up in bed. He silenced the ringing +telephone by putting the receiver to his ear. + +"Do you know what time it is?" he asked, aggrieved. + +"Hello? Doctor Cartwright? This is the police." + +"It is half-past seven," continued Simon. "For me, the middle of the +night. I am in no fit state to measure a drunk's reactions." + +"I'm sorry, sir, but there's been an accident. On the Waverton +Highway. A man is dead, Inspector Andrews is in charge of the case." + +"Inspector Andrews? Is mayhem suspected? Never mind, I'll get down +there, right away." + +He put the receiver down and got out of bed. His wife muttered +something unintelligible and wrapped his share of the blankets round +her. Simon went downstairs. He made a cup of coffee and drank it while +he dressed. The engine of his car was cold, but his house was on a +hill and he was able to coast down to the Highway. + +The road was level and straight, and after a few minutes driving a +little tableau came into sight--two cars, a group of uniforms. +Inspector Andrews, tall, thin, dyspeptic, greeted him with a limp +handshake. "Something funny about this," he said. "See what you +think." + +Simon went down on one knee beside the body and began to undo the +clothing. After a time he looked up into the sky. "This is very +strange," he murmured. + +"I know," grunted Andrews. "Can they take the body now?" + +Simon stood up and nodded. He remained staring out across the marsh +until the body had been removed, and the ambulance a distant object. +Then he went and sat in his car. Andrews finished giving instructions +to his Sergeant, and joined him. "I'll let you give me breakfast," he +said. + +"You're very kind," said Simon absently, and released the brake. + +"Any use asking for the cause of death?" asked Andrews. + +"Oh, the cause of death was crushing, but the cause of the cause of +death--" Simon shook his head. "There wasn't an unbroken bone in his +body. Could he have been dropped from an airplane?" + +Andrews shook a ponderous head. "He was a bus driver on his way to +work without an enemy in the world. And I've a feeling his death is +going to keep me awake at nights. Anyway, Sergeant Bennet is going +over the area with a magnifying glass. We'll put up a pretty good +show. Can you suggest anything?" + +"It wasn't a car," said Simon carefully. "The skin was unbroken, +except from the inside. I can only imagine something like a +rubber-covered steam-roller." + + * * * * * + +That night the Assassin killed two people. + +When it grew dark it heaved itself up out of the slime. A long +business of bodily expansion and contraction. Two men were on the road +and heard the noise it made. + +"Somethin' out there." + +"Stray cow, maybe." + +They stood and peered into the dark, trying to see a familiar shape. +The Assassin approached them, and was too big for them to see. They +stood in its path and looked for a familiar object in the blackness of +its body. So the instant of apprehension was small, the panic and +exertion soon over. Without pausing the Assassin moved over them and +continued on its way. + +A little later Inspector Andrews found them. He was in a radio patrol +car, and he was moving in the same direction as the Assassin. With him +in the car were three large men carrying automatic rifles. Andrews +stopped the car, and one of the men got out and knelt by the bodies. +Andrews watched him somberly for a moment then reached for the +microphone. He spoke to the station sergeant. + +"Inspector Andrews here. Send an ambulance out here, will you, and +phone Doctor Cartwright. Tell him the steam-roller's loose again. It +may be on the road heading his way. Yes, steam-roller. He'll +understand." + +He put the microphone down, called to the man on the road. "I'm +leaving you here, Roberts. There's an ambulance on its way. Go back +with it. Get in Sergeant Bennet's car and both of you join us up +ahead." + +He closed the car window and released the brake. The empty road began +to unwind slowly into the area of light ahead. + + +Simon put the receiver down and looked at his wife. She was +concentrating on a sock by the fire. He went over and kissed the top +of her head. "Goodbye," she said. + +"Listen," he said quietly. "When I'm gone lock the door behind me and +don't go out. If you hear any funny noises go down to the cellar. +Understand?" + +She was a little frightened. "Honey, what is it?" + +He smiled. "It's nothing. Long John Andrews is out hunting. I'm going +along in case he shoots himself." + +He took his shot-gun off the mantle and stuffed his pockets with +cartridges. + +"I'll bring you back a rabbit," he said. "So long." + +He drove down slowly. He was scared, but he was still young enough to +find it exhilarating. The loaded shot-gun was a great help. + +He turned on to the highway, and slowed to walking pace. He stared +into the darkness ahead until his eyes burned, and imagination peopled +his surroundings with writhing shapes. + +Then he saw it, and the muscles across his chest trembled +convulsively. Fear clutched his stomach. He slammed his foot down on +the brake and gaped up at it. It was standing still in the middle of +the road, a giant, pear shaped body, looking something like a man +kneeling upright. At the front, turned inwards, were a number of +arm-like appendages. + +The shot-gun was ridiculous now, the car made of paper. To get out and +run was impossible, and he longed to be able to sit still and do +nothing. And the seconds dragged by. Time for contemplation built up, +and a strange realization dropped into his seething mind. He sensed +something about its attitude. A cringing, a withdrawal. "God," he +whispered. "It doesn't like the light." + +He might have relaxed then, but it moved. One of its arms unfolded, +swung outward holding something metallic. Simon yelled. He grabbed the +shot-gun, shoved the door catch down, threw his weight sideways. He +landed on his shoulder and kept on rolling. He reached the other side +of the road, straightened up, and saw the roof of the car fly off with +a roar. He fired then, from a crouching position and without taking +aim. A lucky shot that hit the end of the weapon arm and shattered it. +Then he ran, and the Assassin followed. + +He ran in the direction he'd been heading, and gave himself up to +terror. He was primaeval man fleeing from sabre-tooth. He was living a +nightmare. His brain reeled, air burnt his lungs, and his pounding +heart echoed in his temples. Then he was running into a blaze of +light, between headlights that enfolded him like a mother's arms, and +he was clinging to a radiator cap. Dimly he heard the crash of high +powered rifles about him. A black figure came into his haven of light, +began to loosen his tie. + +"Get out of the light," he gasped. "It doesn't like the light." + +"Who invited you?" grunted Andrews. He put Simon's arm round his neck, +and half carried him round to the side of the car, pushed him into the +front seat. + +"I'll be all right in a minute," said Simon. + +"Yeah," said Andrews, and left him. + +After a little while the trembling in his limbs began to subside, +breathing became easier. He leaned forward and watched a strange +battle. The Assassin was about seventy yards ahead, moving slowly +nearer. Two men stood on the right hand side of the car, pumping +bullets into the grey, indistinct mass. Andrews stood watching with +his hands in his jacket pockets. Suddenly he said, "All right, let go. +You're only wasting bullets." + +Simon looked at him in alarm. "Hey, you're not just going to stand +there. It doesn't like the light, but light can't kill it." + +"Lie down on the floor," said Andrews dourly, without looking at him. + +"Eh?" + +Andrews ignored him, stepped two paces forward. The Assassin was about +twenty yards away now, seeming to have to fight against the stream of +light. Andrews took his hands from his pockets. Simon saw what he was +holding, and dived for the floor. He clasped his hands over the back +of his neck as the night exploded with a gigantic crash. + +When his ears had stopped screaming he got up. Andrews, an elbow on +the window ledge, was watching him expressionlessly. + +"You might have left me something to dissect," complained Simon. +"Somebody's got to, you know." + +"I'll mop you up a sponge full," said Andrews. + +"Oh, no, you won't. You and your men stay back here. It's probably +crawling with alien bacteria." + +Actually, quite a lot of the Assassin was left, but decomposition was +very rapid. Simon did the best he could with a magnifying glass and a +penknife. He found that the body was almost entirely composed of bone +and flesh in a honey-comb like structure. The bone being highly +flexible, and the cavities filled with grey flesh. Flesh which quickly +liquified and drained away from the bone. There was no blood, and +Simon could find no trace of internal organs. + +While he worked two more cars drove up, and gave him a little more +light, but soon he had to give up. As he walked slowly back a +spotlight sprang suddenly to life, and a pleasant authoritative voice +spoke. + +"Will you stay where you are, please, Doctor Cartwright." + +Simon obeyed. Hell, he thought wearily. Officialdom has arrived. He +shaded his eyes against the light, but he could see nothing. + +"Who's that?" he asked. + +"Commanding officer in charge of operations in this emergency. You've +made an examination?" + +"As far as I could. There's complete decomposition now." + +"Oh, I see." A slight pause, then; "Perhaps I'd better put you in the +picture. This is armed aggression, Doctor Cartwright. In any language +it says war. Do you understand? We're at war, now. + +"We found the vessel your friend came in several days ago. It was in +the sea, twenty miles from here. Its discovery was kept secret because +we weren't sure of its point of origin. Our people are engaged in +finding the method of propulsion. They say it will give us the ability +to travel in space. They also say that they can find the approximate +position of its home planet. All that is top priority, of course, but +in the meanwhile we must have an emergency line of defence against +these things. We want to know how to find them and how to destroy them +with the least possible expenditure of life and material. You +understand?" + +"Yes. I've got an idea about light waves. I fired a shot at it back +there. The bone structure--" + +"Don't tell me," interrupted the voice sharply. "Remember it. You +realize, Doctor Cartwright, that you are just about the most important +man alive. You know how fast it can move. You have fought it, you +have examined it. So you can be sure that very good care will be taken +of you." + +"What are you saying?" + +"I'm sorry, but you must see that you have to go into strict +quarantine now. We dare not risk a plague. After quarantine you will +go to work with our people. Now will you please get into the car at +the extreme right, and follow the police." + +"Where am I going?" + +"Please hurry. There is a team of incendiaries waiting to clear the +area." + +"Oh, damnation," sighed The Most Important Man Alive, and walked +towards the waiting car. + + * * * * * + +When the ruler consulted the prognosticator again, after the +Assassin's failure had been recorded, he found that a qualification +had been added. The prophecy was now being fulfilled. He considered +this dispassionately. He visualised the complex pattern of implication +almost with pleasure. Was the machine alive? Certainly it could +contemplate itself. It had calculated the effect of its existence, and +had used the knowledge to destroy them. Or had they condemned +themselves? By losing the ability to question. For the information on +which the prophecy was based could have been available to them. Or was +the machine only obeying a greater Fate? A Decree, stating that any +life-form that surrendered itself to the dictates of a machine was +doomed. + +One thing alone was left to him. A choice. Without haste he began the +preliminaries to thinking himself to death. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Honored Prophet, by William E. 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