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diff --git a/old/51605-h/51605-h.htm b/old/51605-h/51605-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index d82386f..0000000 --- a/old/51605-h/51605-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1161 +0,0 @@ -<!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=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jamieson, by Bill Doede. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jamieson, by William R. Doede - -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/license - - -Title: Jamieson - -Author: William R. Doede - -Release Date: March 30, 2016 [EBook #51605] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAMIESON *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="397" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>JAMIESON</h1> - -<p>By BILL DOEDE</p> - -<p>Illustrated by GRAY</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Magazine December 1960.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3"><i>A Konv cylinder was the key to space—but<br /> -there was one power it could not match!</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>They lived in a small house beside the little Wolf river in Wisconsin. -Once it had been a summer cottage owned by a rich man from Chicago. -The rich man died. His heirs sold it. Now it was well insulated and -Mrs. Jamieson and her son were very comfortable, even in the coldest -winter. During the summer they rented a few row boats to vacationing -fishermen, and she had built a few overnight cabins beside the road. -They were able to make ends meet.</p> - -<p>Her neighbors knew nothing of the money she had brought with her to -Wisconsin. They didn't even know that she was not a native. She never -spoke of it, except at first, when Earl was a boy of seven and they had -just come there to live. Then she only said that she came from the -East. She knew the names of eastern Wisconsin towns, and small facts -about them; it lent an air of authenticity to her claim of being a -native. Actually her previous residence was Bangkok, Siam, where the -Agents had killed her husband.</p> - -<p>That was back in '07, on the eve of his departure for Alpha Centaurus; -but she never spoke of this; and she was very careful not to move from -place to place except by the conventional methods of travel.</p> - -<p>Also, she wore her hair long, almost to the shoulders. People said, -"There goes one of the old-fashioned ones. That hair-do was popular -back in the sixties." They did not suspect that she did this only to -cover the thin, pencil-line scar, evidence that a small cylinder lay -under her skin behind the ear.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>For Mrs. Jamieson was one of the Konvs.</p> - -<p>Her husband had been one of the small group who developed this tiny -instrument. Not the inventor—<i>his</i> name was Stinson, and the effects -produced by it were known as the Stinson Effect. In appearance -it resembled a small semi-conductor device. Analysis by the best -scientific minds proved it to be a semi-conductor.</p> - -<p>Yet it held the power to move a body instantly from one point in space -to any other point. Each unit was custom built, keyed to operate only -by the thought pattern of the particular individual.</p> - -<p>Several times in the past seven years Mrs. Jamieson had seen other -Konvs, and had been tempted to identify herself and say, "Here I am. -You are one of them; so am I. Come, and we'll talk. We'll talk about -Stinson and Benjamin, who helped them all get away. And Doctor Straus. -And my husband, E. Mason Jamieson, who never got away because those -filthy, unspeakable Agents shot him in the back, there in that coffee -shop in Bangkok, Siam."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once, in the second year after her husband's death, an Agent came and -stayed in one of her cabins.</p> - -<p>She learned that he was an Agent completely by accident. While cleaning -the cabin one morning his badge fell out of a shirt pocket. She stood -still, staring at the horror of it there on the floor, the shirt in -her hands, all the loneliness returning in a black wave of hate and -frustration.</p> - -<p>That night she soundlessly lifted the screen from the window over his -bed and shot him with a .22 rifle.</p> - -<p>She threw the weapon into the river. It helped very little. He was one -Agent, only one out of all the thousands of Agents all over Earth; -while her husband had been one of twenty-eight persons. She decided -then that her efforts would be too ineffective. The odds were wrong. -She would wait until her son, Earl, was grown.</p> - -<p>Together they would seek revenge. He did not have the cylinder—not -yet. But he would. The Konvs took care of their own.</p> - -<p>Her husband had been one of the first, and they would not forget. One -day the boy would disappear for a few hours. When he returned the small -patch of gauze would be behind his ear. She would shield him until the -opening healed. Then no one would ever know, because now they could do -it without leaving the tell-tale scar. Then they would seek revenge.</p> - -<p>Later they would go to Alpha Centaurus, where a life free from Agents -could be lived.</p> - -<p>It happened to Earl one hot summer day when he was fourteen. Mrs. -Jamieson was working in her kitchen; Earl supposedly was swimming with -his friends in the river. Suddenly he appeared before her, completely -nude. At sight of his mother his face paled and he began to shake -violently, so that she was forced to slap him to prevent hysteria. She -looked behind his ear.</p> - -<p>It was there.</p> - -<p>"Mom!" he cried. "Mom!"</p> - -<p>He went to the window and looked out toward the river, where his -friends were still swimming in the river, with great noise and delight. -Apparently they did not miss him. Mrs. Jamieson handed him a pair of -trousers. "Here, get yourself dressed. Then we'll talk."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He started for his room, but she stopped him. "No, do it right here. -You may as well get used to it now."</p> - -<p>"Get used to what?"</p> - -<p>"To people seeing you nude."</p> - -<p>"What?"</p> - -<p>"Never mind. What happened just now?"</p> - -<p>"I was swimming in the river, and a man came down to the river. His -hair was all white, and his eyes looked like ... well, I never saw eyes -like his before. He asked who was Earl Jamieson, and I said I was. Then -he said, 'Come with me.' I went with him. I don't know why. It seemed -the right thing. He took me to a car and there was another man in it, -that looked like the first one only he was bigger. We went to a house, -not far away and went inside. And that's all I can remember until I -woke up. I was on a table, sort of. A high table. There was a light -over it. It was all strange, and the two men stood there talking in -some language I don't know."</p> - -<p>Earl ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I don't remember -clearly, I guess. I was looking around the room and I remember thinking -how scared I was, and how nice it would be to be here with you. And -then I was here."</p> - -<p>Earl faced the window, looking out, then turned quickly back. "What is -it?" he asked, desperately. "What happened to me?"</p> - -<p>"Better put your trousers on," Mrs. Jamieson said. "It's something very -unusual and terrible to think of at first, but really wonderful."</p> - -<p>"But what happened? What is this patch behind my ear?"</p> - -<p>Suddenly his face paled and he stopped in the act of getting into his -trousers. "Guess I know now. They made me a Konv."</p> - -<p>"Well, don't take on so. You'll get used to it."</p> - -<p>"But they shouldn't have! They didn't even ask me!"</p> - -<p>He started for the door, but she called him back. "No, don't run away -from it now. This is the time to face it. There are two sides to every -story, you know. You hear only one side in school—their side. There is -also <i>our</i> side."</p> - -<p>He turned back, a dawning comprehension showing in his eyes. "That's -right, you're one, too. That is why you killed that Agent in the third -cabin."</p> - -<p>It was her turn to be surprised. "You knew about that?"</p> - -<p>"I saw you. I wasn't sleeping. I was afraid to stay inside alone, so I -followed you. I never told anyone."</p> - -<p>"But you were only nine!"</p> - -<p>"They would have taken you away if I'd said anything."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson held out her hand. "Come here, son. It's time I told you -about us."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>So he sat across the kitchen table from her, and she told the whole -history, beginning with Stinson sitting in the laboratory in New -Jersey, holding in his hand a small cylinder moulded from silicon -with controlled impurities. He had made it, looking for a better -micro-circuit structure. He was holding this cylinder ... and it was a -cold day outside ... and he was dreaming of a sunny Florida beach—</p> - -<p>And suddenly he was there, on the beach. He could not believe it at -first. He felt the sand and water, and felt of himself; there was no -mistake.</p> - -<p>On the plane back to New Jersey he came to certain conclusions -regarding the strange power of his device. He tried it again, secretly. -Then he made more cylinders. He was the only man in the world who -knew how to construct it, and he kept the secret, giving cylinders -to selected people. He worked out the basic principle, calling it a -kinetic ordinate of negative vortices, which was very undefinitive.</p> - -<p>It was a subject of wonder and much speculation, but no one took -serious notice of them until one night a federal Agent arrested one man -for indecency. It was a valid charge. One disadvantage of this method -of travel was that, while a body could travel instantaneously to any -chosen spot, it arrived without clothes.</p> - -<p>The arrested man disappeared from his jail cell, and the next morning -the Agent was found strangled to death in his bed. This set off a -campaign against Konvs. One base act led to another, until the original -reason for noticing them at all was lost. Normal men no longer thought -of them as human.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson told how Stinson, knowing he had made too many cylinders -and given them unwisely, left Earth for Alpha Centaurus.</p> - -<p>He went alone, not knowing if he could go so far, or what he would find -when he arrived. But he did arrive, and it was what he had sought.</p> - -<p>He returned for the others. They gathered one night in a dirty, -broken-down farmhouse in Missouri—and disappeared in a body, leaving -the Agents standing helplessly on Earth, shaking their fists at the sky.</p> - -<p>"You have asked many times," Mrs. Jamieson said, "how your father -died. Now I will tell you the truth. Your father was one of the great -ones, along with Stinson and Benjamin and Dr. Straus. He helped plan -the escape; but the Agents found him in Bangkok fifteen minutes before -the group left. They shot him in the back, and the others had to go on -without him. Now do you know why I killed the Agent in the third cabin? -I had to. Your father was a great man, and I loved him."</p> - -<p>"I don't blame you, mother," Earl said simply. "But we are freaks. -Everybody says, 'Konv' as if it is something dirty. They write it on -the walls in rest rooms."</p> - -<p>"Of course they do—because they don't understand! They are afraid of -us. Wouldn't you be afraid of someone who could do the things we do, if -you <i>couldn't</i> do them?"</p> - -<p>Just like that, it was over.</p> - -<p>That is, the first shock was over. Mrs. Jamieson watched Earl leave the -house, walking slowly along the river, a boy with a man's problems. -His friends called to him from the river, but he chose not to hear. -He wanted to be alone. He needed to think, to feel the newness of the -thing.</p> - -<p>Perhaps he would cross the river and enter the deep forest there. When -the initial shock wore off he might experiment with his new power. He -would not travel far, in these first attempts. Probably he would stay -within walking distance of his clothes, because he still lacked the -tricks others had learned.</p> - -<p>It was a hot, mucky afternoon with storm clouds pushing out of the -west. Mrs. Jamieson put on her swimming suit and wandered down to the -river to cool herself.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For the remainder of that summer they worked together. They practiced -at night mostly, taking longer and longer jumps, until Earl's -confidence allowed him to reach any part of the Earth he chose. She -knew the habits of Agents. She knew how to avoid them.</p> - -<p>They would select a spot sufficiently remote to insure detection, she -would devise some prank to irritate the Agents; then they would quickly -return to Wisconsin. The Agents would rush to the calculated spot, but -would find only the bare footprints of a woman and a boy. They would -swear and drive back to their offices to dig through files, searching -for some clue to their identity.</p> - -<p>It was inevitable that they should identify Mrs. Jamieson as one of -the offenders, since they had discovered, even before Stinson took his -group to Centaurus, that individuals had thought patterns peculiar to -themselves. These could be identified, if caught on their detectors, -and even recorded for the files. But the files proved confusing, for -they said that Mrs. Jamieson had gone to Centaurus with the others.</p> - -<p>Had she returned to Earth? The question did not trouble them long. They -had more serious problems. Stinson had selected only the best of the -Konvs when he left Earth, leaving all those with criminal tendencies -behind. They could have followed if they chose—what could stop them? -But it was more lucrative to stay. On Earth they could rob, loot, even -murder—without fear of the law.</p> - -<p>Earl changed.</p> - -<p>Even before the summer was over, he matured. The childish antics of his -friends began to bore him. "Be careful, Earl," his mother would say. -"Remember who you are. Play with them sometimes, even if you don't like -it. You have a long way to go before you will be ready."</p> - -<p>During the long winter evenings, after they had watched their favorite -video programs, they would sit by the fireplace. "Tell me about the -great ones," he would say, and she would repeat all the things she -remembered about Stinson and Benjamin and Straus. She never tired of -discussing them. She would tell about Benjamin's wife, Lisa, and try to -describe the horror in Lisa's young mind when the news went out that -E. Mason Jamieson had been killed. She wanted him to learn as much as -possible about his father's death, knowing that soon the Agents would -be after Earl. They were so clever, so persistent. She wanted him to be -ready, not only in ways of avoiding their traps ... but ready with a -heart full of hate.</p> - -<p>Sometimes when she talked about her husband, Mrs. Jamieson wanted to -stand up and scream at her son, "Hate, hate! Hate! You must learn to -hate!" But she clenched her hands over her knitting, knowing that he -would learn it faster if she avoided the word.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The winter passed, and the next summer, and two more summers.</p> - -<p>Earl was ready for college. They had successfully kept their secret. -They had been vigilant in every detail. Earl referred to the "damn -Agents" now with a curl of his lip. They had been successful in -contacting other Konvs, and sometimes visited them at a remote -rendezvous.</p> - -<p>"When you have finished college," Mrs. Jamieson told her son, "we will -go to Centaurus."</p> - -<p>"Why not now?"</p> - -<p>"Because when you get there they will need men who can contribute to -the development of the planet. Stinson is a physicist, Benjamin a -metallurgist, Straus a doctor. But Straus is an old man by this time. A -young doctor will be needed. Study hard, Earl. Learn all you can. Even -the great ones get sick."</p> - -<p>She did not mention her secret hope, that before they left Earth -he would have fully avenged his father's death. He was clever and -intelligent.</p> - -<p>He could kill many Agents.</p> - -<p>So she exhumed the money she had hidden more than ten years before. -The house beside the Little Wolf river was sold. They found a modest -bungalow within walking distance of the University's medical school. -Mrs. Jamieson furnished it carefully but, oddly, rather lavishly.</p> - -<p>This was her husband's money she was spending now. It needed to last -only a few years. Then they would leave Earth forever.</p> - -<p>A room was built on the east side of the bungalow, with its own private -entrance. This was Earl's room. Ostensibly the private entrance was for -convenience due to the irregular hours of college students.</p> - -<p>It was also convenient for coming home late at night after Agent -hunting.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson was becoming obvious.</p> - -<p>Excitement brought color to her cheeks when she thought of Earl facing -one of them—a lean, cunning jaguar facing a fat, lazy bear. It was her -notion that federal Agents were evil creatures, tools of a decadent, -bloodthirsty society, living off the fat of the land.</p> - -<p>She painted the room herself, in soft, pastel colors. When it was -finished she showed Earl regally into the room, making a big joke of it.</p> - -<p>"Here you can study and relax, and have those bull sessions students -are always having," she said.</p> - -<p>"There will be no friends," he answered, "not here. No Konvs will be at -the university."</p> - -<p>"Why not? Stinson selected only educated, intelligent people. When -one dies the cylinder is taken and adjusted to a new thought -pattern—usually a person from the same family. I would say it is very -likely that Konvs will be found here."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He shook his head. "No. They knew we were coming, and no one said a -word about others being here. I'm afraid we are alone."</p> - -<p>"Well, I think not," she said firmly. "Anyway, the room will be -comfortable."</p> - -<p>He shook his head again. "Why can't I be in the house with you? There -are two bedrooms."</p> - -<p>She said quickly, "You can if you wish. I just thought you'd like being -alone, at your age. Most boys do."</p> - -<p>"I'm not like most boys, mother. The Konvs saw to that. Sometimes I'm -sorry. Back in high school I used to wish I was like the others. Do you -remember Lorane Peters?" His mother nodded. "Well, when we were seniors -last year she liked me quite a lot. She didn't say so, but I knew it. -She would sit across the aisle from me, and sometimes when I saw how -her hair fell over her face when she read, I wanted to lean over and -whisper to her, 'Hey, Lorrie—' just as if I was human—'can I take you -to the basketball game?'"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson turned to leave the room, but he stopped her. "You -understand what I'm saying, don't you?"</p> - -<p>"No, I don't!" she said sharply. "You're old enough to face realities. -You are a Konv. You always will be a Konv. <i>Have you forgotten your own -father?</i>"</p> - -<p>She turned her back and slammed the door. Earl stood very still for -a long time in the room that was to have been happy for him. She was -crying just beyond the wall.</p> - -<p>Earl did not use the room that first year. He slept in the second -bedroom. He did not mention his frustrated desires to be normal, not -after the first attempt, but he persisted in his efforts to be so. Use -of the cylinder was out of the question for them now, anyway.</p> - -<p>In the spring Mrs. Jamieson caught a virus cold which resulted in a -long convalescence. Earl moved into the new bedroom. At first she -thought he moved in an effort to please her because of the illness, but -she soon grew aware of her mistake.</p> - -<p>One day he disappeared.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson was alarmed. Had the Agents found him? She watched the -papers daily for some word of Konvs being killed.</p> - -<p>The second day after his disappearance she found a small item. A Konv -had raided the Agent's office in Stockholm, killing three, and getting -killed himself. Mrs. Jamieson dropped the paper immediately and went -to Stockholm. She did not consider the risk. In Stockholm she found -clothes and made discreet inquiries. The slain man had been a Finnish -Konv, one of those left behind by Stinson as an undesirable. His wife -had been killed by the Agents the week before. He had gone completely -insane and made the raid singlehanded. Mrs. Jamieson read the account -of crimes committed by the man and his wife, and determined to prevent -Earl from making the mistake of taking on more than he could handle.</p> - -<p>When she arrived at her own home, Earl was in his room.</p> - -<p>"Where have you been?" she asked petulantly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, here and there."</p> - -<p>"I thought you were involved in that fight in Stockholm."</p> - -<p>He shook his head.</p> - -<p>She stood in the doorway and watched him leaning over his desk, -attempting to write something on a sheet of paper. She was proud of his -profile, tow-headed as a boy, handsome in a masculine way. He cracked -his knuckles nervously.</p> - -<p>"What did you do?" she asked.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he flung the pencil down, jumped from his chair and paced the -floor. "I talked to an Agent last night," he said.</p> - -<p>"Where?"</p> - -<p>"Bangkok."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson had to sit down. Finally she was able to ask, "How did it -happen?"</p> - -<p>"I broke into the office there to get at the records. He caught me."</p> - -<p>"What were you looking for?"</p> - -<p>"I wanted to learn the names of the men who killed Father." He said the -word strangely. He was unaccustomed to it.</p> - -<p>"Did you find them?"</p> - -<p>He pointed to the paper on his desk. Mrs. Jamieson, trembling, picked -it up and read the names. Seeing them there, written like any other -names would be written, made her furious. How could they? How could the -names of murderers look like ordinary names? When she thought them in -her mind, they even sounded like ordinary names—and they shouldn't! -She had always thought that those names, if she ever saw them, would -be filthy, unholy scratches on paper, evil sounds, like the rustle of -bedclothes to a jealous lover listening at a keyhole. "Tom Palieu" -didn't sound evil; neither did "Al Jonson." She was shaken by this more -than she would permit Earl to see.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Why did you want the names?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," he said. "Curiosity, maybe, or a subconscious desire -for revenge. I just wanted to see them."</p> - -<p>"Tell me what happened! If an Agent saw you ... well, either he killed -you or you killed him. But you're here alive."</p> - -<p>"I didn't kill him. That's what seems so strange. And he didn't try to -kill me. We didn't even fight. He didn't ask why I broke in without -breaking the lock or even a window. He seemed to know. He did ask what -I was doing there, and who I was. I told him, and ... he helped me get -the names. He asked where I lived. 'None of your damn business,' I told -him. Then he said he didn't blame me for not telling, that Konvs must -fear Agents, and hate them. Then he said, 'Do you know why we kill -Konvs? We kill them because there is no prison cell in the world that -will hold a Konv. When they break the law, we have no choice. It is a -terrible thing, but must be done. We don't want your secret; we only -want law and order. There is room enough in the world for both of us.'"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson was furious. "And you believed him?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. I just know what he said—and that he let me go without -trying to shoot me."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson stopped on her way out of the room and laid a hand on his -arm. "Your father would have been proud of you," she said. "Soon you -will learn the truth about the Agents."</p> - -<p>Beyond the closed door, out of sight of her son, Mrs. Jamieson gave -rein to the excitement that ran through her. He had wanted the names! -He didn't know why—not yet—but he would. "He'll do it yet!" she -whispered to the flowered wallpaper. She didn't care that no one heard -her.</p> - -<p>She didn't know where the men were now, those who had killed her -husband. They could be anywhere. Agents moved from post to post; in ten -years they might be scattered all over Earth. In the killing of Konvs, -some cylinders might even be taken by Agents—and used by them, for -the power and freedom the cylinders gave must be coveted even by them. -And they were in the best position to gain them. She was consumed by -fear that one or more of the men on Earl's list might have acquired a -cylinder and were now Konvs themselves.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two weeks later she read a news item saying that Tom Palieu had been -killed by a Konv. The assassin's identity was unknown, but agents were -working on the case.</p> - -<p>She knew. She had found a gun in Earl's desk.</p> - -<p>She took the paper into Earl's room. "Did you do this?"</p> - -<p>He turned away from her. "It doesn't matter whether I did or not. They -will suspect me. His name was on the list."</p> - -<p>"They will," she agreed. "It doesn't matter who the Konv is, now that -an Agent has been killed. The one in Bangkok will tell them about you -and the list of names, and it's all they need."</p> - -<p>"Well, what else can he do?" Earl asked. "After all, he is an Agent. -If one of them is killed, he will have to tell what he knows."</p> - -<p>"You're defending him? Why?" she cried. "Tell me why!"</p> - -<p>He removed her hand from his arm. Her nails were digging into his -flesh. "I don't know why. Mother, I'm sorry, but Agents are just people -to me. I can't hate them the way you do."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson's face colored, then drained white.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, with a wide, furious sweep of her hand, she slapped his face. -So much strength and rage was in her arm that the blow almost sent him -spinning. They faced each other, she breathing hard from the exertion, -Earl stunned immobile—not by the blow, but from the knowledge that she -could hate so suddenly, viciously.</p> - -<p>She controlled herself. "We must find a way to leave here," she said, -calmly.</p> - -<p>"They won't find us."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes they will," she said. "Don't underestimate them. Agents are -picked from the most intelligent people on Earth. It will be a small -job for them. Don't forget they know who you are. Even if you hadn't -been so stupid as to tell them, they'd know. They knew my pattern from -the time your father was alive. They got yours when we were together -years ago, teasing them. They linked your pattern with mine. They know -that your father and I had a son. Your birth was recorded. The only -difficult aspect of their job now is to find where you live, and it -won't be impossible. They will drive their cars through every city on -Earth with those new detectors, until they pick up your pattern or -mine. I'm afraid it's time to leave Earth."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Earl sat down suddenly, "It's just as well. I thought maybe some day I -might hate them too, or learn to like them. But I can do neither, so I -am halfway between, and no man can live this way."</p> - -<p>She did not answer him. Finally he said, "It doesn't make sense to you, -does it?"</p> - -<p>"No, it doesn't. This is not the time for such discussions, anyway. The -Agents have their machines working at top speed, while we sit here and -talk."</p> - -<p>Suddenly they were not alone.</p> - -<p>No sound was generated by the man's coming. One instant they were -talking alone, the next he was here. Earl saw him first. He was a -middle-aged man whose hair was completely white. He stood near the -desk, easily, as if standing there were the most natural way to relax. -He was entirely nude ... but it seemed natural and right.</p> - -<p>Then Mrs. Jamieson saw him.</p> - -<p>"Benjamin!" she cried. "I knew someone would come."</p> - -<p>He smiled. "This is your son?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said. "We are ready."</p> - -<p>"I remember when you were born," he said, and smiled in reminiscence. -"Your father was afraid you would be twins."</p> - -<p>Earl said, "Why was my father killed?"</p> - -<p>"By mistake. Back in those days, like now, there were good Konvs and -bad. One of those not selected by Stinson to join us was enraged, half -crazy with envy. He killed two women there in Bangkok. The Agents -thought Jamieson—I mean, your father—did it. Jamieson was the -greatest man among us. It was he who first conceived the theory that -there was a basic, underlying law in the operation of the cylinders. -Even now, no one knows how the idea of love ties in with the Stinson -Effect; but we do know that hate and greed as motivating forces can -greatly minimize the cylinders' power. That is why the undesirables -with cylinders have never reached Centaurus."</p> - -<p>Heavy steps sounded on the porch outside.</p> - -<p>"We'd better hurry," Mrs. Jamieson said.</p> - -<p>Benjamin held out his hands. They took them, to increase the power of -the cylinders. As the Agents pounded on the door, Mrs. Jamieson flicked -one thought of hatred at them, but of course they did not hear her. -Benjamin's hands gripped tightly.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson slowly opened her eyes....</p> - -<p>She no longer felt the hands. <i>She was still in the room!</i> Benjamin and -her son were gone. Her outstretched hands touched nothing.</p> - -<p>Her power was gone!</p> - -<p>The Agents stepped into the room over the broken door. She stared at -them, then ran to Earl's desk, fumbling for the gun.</p> - -<p>The Agents' guns rattled.</p> - -<p>Love, Benjamin said, the greatest of these is love. Or did someone -else say that? Someone, somewhere, perhaps in another time, in some -misty, forgotten chip of time long gone, in another frame of reference -perhaps....</p> - -<p>Mrs. Jamieson could not remember, before she died.</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jamieson, by William R. 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