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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..657a3b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65350 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65350) diff --git a/old/65350-0.txt b/old/65350-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d1bc91b..0000000 --- a/old/65350-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1045 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of John Holder's Weapon, by Robert Moore -Williams - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: John Holder's Weapon - -Author: Robert Moore Williams - -Release Date: May 15, 2021 [eBook #65350] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON *** - - - - - JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON - - By Robert Moore Williams - - Holder hated his Communist captors so much - he wished them out of existence. Impossible, of - course--and yet they vanished before his eyes.... - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - October 1957 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -"Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!" Holder shouted. - -The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive. -This had set up such a condition of strain within him that even in -his dreams, he had seen himself destroying Reds. He had blown them up -with hydrogen bombs, he had destroyed them with death rays, he had -disintegrated them with weapons that no other mind had ever imagined. -Most of all, he had hated the poking, prying political commissars, who -had breathed down his neck in every experiment he had ever attempted, -or had watched from the TV camera installed in every laboratory of the -vast installation, to make certain that any discovery that was made -went to the right place. - -But even Holder's most fantastic dreams were nothing in comparison to -what actually happened. - -Nocher was a big man, standing six foot two inches tall. There was -Cossack blood in him, which gave him a vast feeling of superiority for -all men not of his race. This was particularly true of the captive -scientists being held prisoner in this secret Ural stronghold. In spite -of the fact that every one of them had a better brain than he had, the -political commissar looked down upon them as being creatures of an -inferior race. - -As Holder shouted at the Commissar, Nocher lost his expression of -superiority. His face turned a dim shade of blue, then a thin shade of -white. - -Then, clothes and all, he vanished. - -Nocher went like smoke before the wind, roiling and turning. When he -vanished, he left a vague outline of a human body behind him which -looked like a hole in space, like a ghost outlined against a gray sky. -Then this vanished too. Of Nocher's bulk, not even a wisp was left. - -John Holder was aware of thundering elation somewhere deep down inside -of him. There was horror too, but the elation was greater. He stared at -the empty spot where the commissar had been standing a moment before. - -Sounds came from his lips but he had no conscious knowledge that he was -uttering them. They were noises that had existed long before language -had come into being. Their meaning was pure horror. As they came from -his lips, Holder felt every muscle in his stomach begin to tighten into -a knot. - -There was absolutely no question in his mind that he was responsible -for Nocher's disappearance. Out of his dreams, out of his hate for the -commissars and all they represented, this ability had been created. -A million to one chance had come true! This ability was something he -did inside himself. It needed no outside equipment to function, no -generators to feed energy to it, no crystals to control its frequency. -It was its own generator and its own frequency control! And it was all -in his own mind! It was new, it was totally different from anything any -scientist had ever envisioned before. - -In this moment, staring at the spot where Nocher had been, John Holder -felt as if the concrete floor on which he was standing had no more real -substance to it than empty space. All that existed was mind, energy, -and the dance of the atoms. He also knew that everything he had thought -he had known about science was drivel, the mouthings of an idiot. The -string of degrees after his name, which had so impressed the Red and -had led to his capture by a nation hungry for scientists and willing -to go to any lengths to get them, became meaningless, fodder for the -amazement of fools. - -The only important reality in the Universe was mind. Everything else -was subservient to this reality. Mind was flooding through him now as -glowing shafts of light. - -"Nocher?" the loudspeaker in the ceiling rasped. - -The sound jarred John Holder back to his surroundings. He turned -startled eyes upward. From the ceiling, the bland eye of the television -camera regarded him in silent accusation. He swore beneath his breath. -How much had they seen? - -The television system, which spied in every nook and corner of the huge -installation, had been Nocher's idea, his way of making absolutely -certain that he knew everything that was going on among the captive -scientists working here. - -The security police had felt that the TV system was a fine idea. There -was no way of predicting what a scientist might discover, or when he -would find it out. Perhaps it would be a new weapon that would enable -them to conquer the world. This was what scientists were for. This was -the reason the whole vast institute existed here in secret. - -"Nocher?" the loudspeaker inquired again. - -"He went--that way." Holder said quickly, pointing toward an open door. - - * * * * * - -The loudspeaker went silent. Holder hastily turned his attention back -to the lab table, where an experiment was in progress. His head was a -whirl. It seemed to him that the whole center of his cranium was a ball -of light. He knew beyond a doubt that this correlated with his ability -to disintegrate Nocher. The next problem would be to test the process, -in secret, and discover its limits, if any. Did it have any limits? A -body, flesh, bone, blood, had gone--like that. He went from the table -to his desk. With a knowledge that the TV camera was watching every -move he made, he pretended to be busy studying a sheaf of reports on -the experiment in progress. From the back of his desk, a photograph -with three smiling faces looked at him--Marie and Johnny and Teresa. -His wife and their two kids. They were here too, in his apartment, -hostages for his good behavior and for his efficient performance. - -The three faces in the photograph were the biggest reason why he hated -Nocher, and all of Nocher's kind and all that Nocher had stood for. - -They had been vacationing in the Swiss Alps two years before when all -four had been kidnapped. It had been as simple as that. An American -scientist and his family had vanished from Switzerland. Presumably they -had been taken behind the Iron Curtain but no one in America knew this -for certain. Nor would anyone in the western world have been able to do -anything about it if they had known the facts. Holder assumed that a -search had been made for him. Possibly a protest had been lodged with -the Russian government. If so, like so many other protests, it had come -to nothing. Power was all that was respected in this part of the world. - -He grinned to himself. Since power was all they respected, he would -show them some! - -He looked up. An armed guard, one of the hated security police, had -entered the room. - -"The commandant orders your presence," the guard said. - -"Tell the commandant to go to--" Holder caught his tongue in the nick -of time. He forced a polite smile to his face. "I will be glad to call -on the commandant." - -"At once," the guard said. - -"Certainly," Holder said, rising. With a farewell glance at the -framed photograph on his desk, the scientist left the lab. Why was he -breathing so heavily? - -The commandant was a big man with a bald head and arm muscles that -made bulges in the sleeves of his uniform. An ex-spy, to a man the -scientists here in this installation hated him. He sat behind a -plain oak desk and played with a Turkish dagger that he used as a -paper knife. Rumor had it that in the days when he had acted as an -executioner, he had used this knife to slit the throats of his victims. -He did not bother to be polite to a mere scientist. They were dogs to -be used for the benefit of the state. - -"You were the last one to see Nocher," the commandant said. - -"The _last one_ to see him?" Holder questioned. "I do not understand. -Is he dead?" - -"I will ask the questions, you will answer them," the commandant -stated. "What happened to Nocher?" He was so sure of his power that he -did not bother to play his usual game of cat and mouse. - -"I do not know that anything happened to him." Holder answered quickly. -"He was in my lab, talking, then he went away." - -"How did he go away?" - -The scientist shrugged. "I didn't really notice. We chatted for a few -moments, then I turned my attention again to my work. When I looked up, -he was gone. I get the impression from your questions that something is -wrong. May I ask--" - -"You may not. I will do the asking. What did you do to Nocher?" - - * * * * * - -"Nothing," Holder promptly answered. - -"I saw you do it." The commandant pointed to the television screen on -his desk. - -"You saw me do what?" Holder said. Anger was rising in him. Again he -had the impression that the inside of his head was filling with light. - -"I saw you destroy him, with the new discovery you have made!" A -wolfish grin appeared on the Commandant's face and he looked like a Red -who has just found a way to achieve his heart's desire of swallowing -the world. - -Holder saw what was happening. The commandant harbored a secret desire -to be a ruler. Another Mussolini, another Stalin! If the commandant -could win possession of the discovery he thought Holder had made, he -might become another Genghis Khan, to scourge the world with flame and -death. - -"You're utterly crazy!" Holder shouted. - -"You have discovered a disintegrating ray and I want it." The -commandant continued as if he had not heard a word the scientist had -said. "I'm also going to get it." He flicked a button and motioned -Holder to look at the TV screen. Revealed there were Marie and Johnny -and Teresa. The kids were playing their eternal game of hide and seek -and were waiting for him to return home to play it with them. At the -sight, Holder felt his heart turn over inside him. - -"You wouldn't harm them," he whispered. "You wouldn't dare." - -The commandant now looked like a Red who had just swallowed the whole -solar system. "Wouldn't I?" he answered. The wolf grin on his face had -spread from ear to ear. - -"Get the hell out of my sight!" Holder shouted. - - * * * * * - -The last he saw of the commandant as the latter went away was the -wolfish grin. There was a startled expression on the grin as the man -vanished like something had happened that was not on schedule. - -Holder walked quietly out of the room and down the corridor. Behind -him, he heard an alarm bell go off. The pound of heavy boots answering -the alarm bell followed. He moved faster. A shout to halt followed. He -dodged around a corner in the corridor and began to run. - -He knew now that he would be followed to the ends of the earth. For -him, and those dear to him, there was no hiding place. His conversation -with the commandant had been monitored. Now that the commandant was -gone, the next in command automatically stepped into his shoes. He -knew what he was going to do, what he _had_ to do. Perhaps--the vague -hope was in his mind--if he could disintegrate bodies, he could also -re-integrate them. He did not know if he could do this and there was no -time to find out. There was only time to act, and hope. - -Feet pounded behind him along the corridor. On the roof of the -building, a siren began to wail. All security forces were being called -out. - -He slipped from the building, dodged around a concrete statue, and -ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward the living quarters -provided here. This was a three-story concrete structure. As he slid -into the entrance of this building, whistles were shrilling behind -him and armored car motors were beginning to roar. The air was still -vibrating with the shrill screaming of the alarm siren. A guard had -sighted him and was in hot chase behind. - -With the feet of the guard clumping behind him, John Holder ran down -the third floor hall toward his apartment. A shot rang out behind -him and the bullet chipped plaster from the wall at the end of the -corridor. A hoarse shout to halt sounded. He snatched open the door -and was inside. His wife, her face a question mark, came toward him. -Panting, he leaned against the wall. With one hand, he shot the latch -on the door. - -"I thought I heard a shot," Marie said. - -He nodded. - -Her face lost all its color. "Then--it's come?" Each had secretly -wondered what would happen when the inevitable hour came when Holder's -work was no longer satisfactory. They could not be returned to -Switzerland. They knew too much. Would it be Siberia? Or a quick death? -What would happen to the children? - -Again Holder nodded. - -"Daddy! Daddy's home!" This was six year old Johnny shouting the good -news to Teresa. The boy came running to throw himself toward his -father. Holder stooped and picked him up. - -"You're going to play games with us tonight?" Johnny demanded. "You're -going to play hide and seek?" - -"Your father is very tired right now dear." Marie said quickly. "Later -he will play with you." - -"Sure," Holder said. "Sure. Later." He made no effort to release the -boy. Four year old Teresa, carrying her teddy bear, was also making a -bee-line for him. She did not intend to be left out of the fun. Holder -caught her up in his free arm. - -Hob-nailed boots pounded to a halt outside the door. A heavy knock -sounded. Marie turned toward the door. Holder shook his head. Down -the corridor a command rasped out. Abruptly the knocking ceased. "Let -'em break it down." Holder said. "That will give me enough time." He -ignored the questions on his wife's face. - -"Somebody want in, daddy?" Johnny inquired. "Who is it?" - -"The big bad bear," Holder answered. "But don't worry. He won't get -you. I won't let him." To Marie, he said, "Look out the window and tell -me what you see." - -"An armored car has just pulled up in front," she said. "They have set -up machine guns on each corner of the b-block." - -"Thorough devils," Holder commented. - -"What's a devil, daddy?" Johnny asked. - -"It's just a word," Holder answered. - -Marie moved across the room to him. "John," she said. Then again, -"John--" - -"Don't be alarmed, darling," Holder said. "It's only death." - -"It's only--" She sat down so quickly that he thought her legs had -given way beneath her. - -"That's only a word too," Holder said quickly. - -"It--it--" Her lips twisted and a choking movement started in her -throat. "How can you say it's only a word when it's the most real fact -in our existence right now?" - -"Is death a fact, or is it another human delusion?" the scientist asked. - -"John!" Her eyes were fixed on him with terrible intensity. - -"I'm not nuts," he said. "The men outside setting up the machine guns -are the ones who are crazy, not me." Deep inside he was quite sure he -meant what he had said. - -"What are they going to do with the guns, daddy?" Johnny asked. - -"Guns, daddy," Teresa echoed. - -"They're going to use them to make loud noises," Holder answered. "If I -try to run, they will point them at me and make loud noises and I will -fall down." - -"And go boom?" Teresa asked. She thought this was amusing. - - * * * * * - -Johnny suddenly sensed the seriousness of the situation. "I don't want -you to fall down, daddy," he said. - -"That's the kind of world we live in," Holder answered. "Sooner or -later, everybody has to fall down. There's a law--" - -"John!" Marie spoke. - -"Which do you want?" Holder answered. "If I fall down, I'll never get -up. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in this kind of a world, -where you will become the plaything of barracks soldiers. Do you want--" - -"_John!_" - -"Do you want the kids to be raised as wards of the state, where they -will be conditioned into accepting the idea that this world is right?" -Holder gestured toward the windows. - -Marie's face revealed mute agony. "N-no. But--isn't there some other -way?" - -"Sure," the scientist said. He set the kids on the floor. - -Marie's face gleamed with sudden hope like a rainbow seen at the -world's end. - -A knock sounded on the door. - -The rainbow vanished from her face. She looked toward the door. - -"Get the hell out of my sight!" Holder said to her. - -She went as Nocher and the commandant had gone. Except that she went -smiling. Her smile seemed to linger in the air, like a bright gleam -from some far-off heaven, after she had gone. - -"Where mommy go?" Teresa inquired. - -"Yeah where'd she go?" Johnny added. "She was sitting right there just -a minute ago--" - -"We will break down the door if you don't open up," a voice said -outside. - -"Just a minute," Holder yelled. He looked at his son. Why was it so -difficult to concentrate now? "Johnny," he said. His voice was a hoarse -gasp. - -"Yes, dad." - -"Get the hell out of my sight." - -The boy went easily and rapidly. Johnny did not seem to mind. It was -as if to him there was nothing bad about this experience. And possibly -nothing new. - -Holder wiped sweat from his face. Was he sure? Did he really know what -he was doing? Was he certain? There had been no time for testing. - -Teresa, staring around the room, was searching for her idol. "Johnny!" -she called. When there was no answer, she looked up at her father and -announced, "Johnny is hiding." This was the beginning of a game. - -Holder forced a smile to his face. "Do you want to go find him?" - -She clapped her hands in joy. "Sure. Find Johnny." - -Why was this tic in his right cheek and this sudden tremor in his -hands? Did this child with the bright blue eyes mean so much to him -that he could not send her after her mother and brother, that he could -not protect her from the men on the other side of the door? Why this -sudden sweat all over his body? - -"Get--" His voice faltered into silence. A knot as big as his fist was -in his throat. - -"Find Johnny, daddy," Teresa urged. - -_Bang!_ The butt of a rifle crashed against the door, giving Holder the -strength that he needed. "Get the hell out of my sight," he said. - -She went even easier than Johnny had gone as if the younger they were, -the easier this process was. She went laughing and giggling. She was -going to find Johnny. This was a game of hide and seek, which she had -always enjoyed. - -Holder tried to swallow the knot in his throat. He moved to the -mirror, stood regarding himself in it. Why was his heart pounding so -heavily. He, of all men on earth, knew and could prove, that the human -body was only a mental construction, that the very atoms in it were -held together by the force of a patterned idea, and by nothing else. -The pattern on which the body was constructed, the blue-print for the -bones, flesh, and organs, this was an idea, and nothing more. The flesh -and bones, the blood and sinew, that gave reality to the idea, were in -reality only the bricks and mortar, the lumber and metal, that gave -reality to an architect's blue-print of a house. When the house burned -down, or was otherwise destroyed, the _idea_ still remained. It, and it -alone, had life. It, and it alone, had immortality. - -Why was sweat spurting from every pore in his body? - -_Crash!_ Behind him, the door fell inward. - -"Get the hell out of my sight!" he said staring at his reflection in -the mirror. - -Nothing happened. The mirror clearly revealed the puzzled frown on his -face and the look of bewilderment in his eyes. It also revealed three -men approaching from behind. - -Holder knew he had failed. He had thought that all he would need to -do would be to look at himself in a mirror--and go with the others. -Something had gone wrong. - -"I was only sending them ahead of me," he whispered. "I meant to go -too." The agony inside him was as deep as space. He made no effort to -resist the men when they grabbed him. - - * * * * * - -They took him directly to the deepest underground cell in the -headquarters building. He had heard whispered rumors of this place from -the other scientists here but he had never really believed it existed. -They chained him to the wall so that his feet did not touch the floor. -He looked at the chains, and wondered if they would go away when he -told them to. - -A little man with the face of a rat entered the cell and the others -withdrew. Rat-face was the interrogator. Obviously Rat-face had had -vast experience with political prisoners. He knew all the questions to -ask and all the torture methods. Holder dimly wondered what tales the -walls of this tiny, barren cell could tell if they had the ability to -speak. - -"Where is Nocher?" - -"In hell, I hope." - -"Ah!" - -"I did it," Holder said. "I confess everything. I destroyed Nocher. I -eliminated the commandant. All I ask is that you shoot me, at once." - -The rat face revealed mixed pleasure and chagrin. Prisoners were -supposed to confess. But not so quickly. Rat-face felt cheated. He -enjoyed torturing the helpless. - -"What about your wife? Did you destroy her too?" - -"Yes." - -"And your children?" - -"Yes." - -Rat-face counted on nicotine-stained fingers. "That makes you five -times a killer." - -"Yes. Shoot me," Holder begged. The agony inside him was growing -deeper. Visions of Teresa going away danced before his eyes. What had -he actually done to her? - -"What did you do with the bodies?" - -"I--" - -"You have admitted you killed them. You must have hid the bodies some -place." - -Rat-face had not been properly briefed by the new commandant. He -thought he was dealing with murder! Holder glanced up at the ceiling. -The TV camera and the microphone were there. Probably the new -commandant was watching this scene from some safe place. - -"Where did you hide the bodies?" Rat-face continued. - -"Try and find them!" The laughter that followed was wild and Holder -knew it. This fact didn't matter. The political commissars thought all -scientists were crazy anyhow. Except when they made atom bombs. To a -political commissar, atom bombs made sense. They could be dropped on -the heads of people who didn't agree with them. - -"How did you do it?" Rat-face demanded. His little beady eyes bored -into Holder as he asked this question. - -"Like this," Holder answered. "Get the hell out of my sight." - -His laughter continued for minutes, at the funny expression on the -little political commissar's face as Rat-face had gone away. No one -else came into the cell. Holder concentrated his attention on his -chains. He repeated the magic formula. The chains remained as firm as -ever. He stared at them in growing fear. Here was one thing that did -not obey his command to vanish. - -"If I had only had time to test!" he muttered. He tried to pull himself -free from the chains. They had been designed and built to prevent -exactly this. He exhausted himself with no result then left off his -efforts when he realized he was hearing the sound of running water. - -His feet were wet. - -He looked down and saw that the bottom of his cell was covered by -water. "A pipe broke somewhere," he thought. Looking up toward the TV -camera on the ceiling, he yelled, "Hey! You had better repair that pipe -before you drown one of your prisoners." - -There was no question in his mind as to what lay ahead for him. He -would be questioned for days, for weeks, if necessary, until they had -gotten his secret from him. The new commandant, and the powers above -him, would use up any number of political commissars to achieve their -goal. Political commissars were cheap. Secrets such as the one John -Holder possessed were very important. - -The water was up to his ankles. He saw, then, the purpose of this cell. -It had been constructed so that water could be turned into it. The -helpless wretch who had been left chained to the wall here could either -confess or he could drown. The cell was actually a death trap. - -Now he understood why no one else had taken the place of Rat-face! - -In dazed horror, he watched the water rise to his knees. The sound was -now that of a roaring torrent. He knew that his unseen watchers had -opened the valve still wider. - -The water rose to his chest, constricted a cold band there, then surged -upward to his throat. - -"Help!" he screamed involuntarily. - -Instantly he heard the valve close. The sound of the torrent stopped. - -"Do you talk now?" the speaker on the ceiling asked. - -"I--" In this moment of terrible threat, he knew he would talk, not to -save his life, but because he could not help himself, because he could -not keep from talking. He knew, also, that there was nothing he could -put into words which would reveal what he knew to be true. "I--I can't." - - * * * * * - -Again the valve was opened, again the water came into the narrow cell. -It reached Holder's chin. He knew now that they fully intended to -drown him if he didn't reveal what he knew. From the viewpoint of the -watchers, it was better that he should die than that they should take a -chance on letting him escape to tell what he knew to someone else! - -"I can't tell you," he screamed. "It won't go into words. It's -something I do inside my mind." - -"Talk!" the loudspeaker answered. - -"But I'm telling you that I can't--" His voice took on the sound of -a gargle as water poured into his mouth. He spat it out and tried to -scream. The water, rising higher, poured into his mouth. He twisted -his head upward, shoving against the chains that held him to the wall. -The water reached his nose and flowed downward into his lungs. - -Within a minute, at most, the level of the water would be hastily -lowered. After he was revived he would be given a chance to tell what -he knew. If he still proved obstinate, the process would be repeated. -But Holder did not know this. - -Some prisoners had withstood repeated duckings only to be drowned in -the end. Most told everything they knew after the first treatment. - -Inside him, John Holder knew that the human body was only a mental -construction. Only the strength of an idea held flesh and bones and -blood together. He also knew there was no way on earth for him to -reveal this secret to another person, in words. Perhaps long and -careful study of the nature and the kinds of energies involved would -enable him to give a mathematical description of what he knew he could -do inside of him. The Reds would never wait for such a study to be -made. They were looking for something as simple and as dramatic as _E -is equal to MC squared_, the basic equation that had served for the -mathematical springboard for the atom bomb. - -As the water poured into his nose and down into his lungs, he made one -last furious effort. The process had worked on other people. How could -he make it work on him? An answer popped into his mind. All he had to -do was to think of himself as another person. - -He did this. Light exploded through his brain and flooded through his -whole body. - -When the water level was lowered, the bewildered Reds found empty -chains dangling from the walls of the cell. The body they had placed in -the chains was no longer there. - -Three days later, the driver of an American jeep, on border patrol at -night with a squad of men, was astonished to find four bodies suddenly -appear within his headlights. To him, they seemed to come out of -nowhere. Brakes screaming, the driver jerked the jeep to a halt. The -sergeant in charge of the squad hastily dismounted. - -"I am John Holder and this is my wife and our two children," the man in -the glare of the headlights said. - -"Holder?" the sergeant said. "Say, we've got a search order out for -you. You vanished behind the iron curtain." - -"We have come back through it," Holder answered. "Take us to your -commanding officer, at once." - -They were put into the jeep. "Johnny, go hide again," the smallest -child kept saying. "So we can find him in that place where the light -is. Johnny go hide--" - -"Shhh, Teresa," her father answered, indulgently. "No more game until -we get back to America." He thought longingly of that land across the -sea that to them was home. "Besides it is too hard to find you on the -other side, and re-integrate a body for you--" - -"John," the woman spoke reprovingly. "Why explain it to them? You know -they can't understand what you're talking about." - -Holder grinned and was silent. Sometimes he wondered if he understood -it all himself. All he knew was that a body could be disintegrated, by -pure mental force. - -The jeep shifted into high gear. At the end of this journey, a plane -would be waiting. This would take them to America.... Home.... There a -whole new world of exploration waited for him. The very best research -teams the country possessed would be at his disposal, the keenest -brains, the sharpest minds. Hugging the kids to him, he smiled quietly -to himself. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: John Holder's Weapon</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Robert Moore Williams</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 15, 2021 [eBook #65350]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON</h1> - -<h2>By Robert Moore Williams</h2> - -<p>Holder hated his Communist captors so much<br /> -he wished them out of existence. Impossible, of<br /> -course—and yet they vanished before his eyes....</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -October 1957<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>"Get the hell out of my sight, Nocher!" Holder shouted.</p> - -<p>The scientist had held his temper ever since he had been taken captive. -This had set up such a condition of strain within him that even in -his dreams, he had seen himself destroying Reds. He had blown them up -with hydrogen bombs, he had destroyed them with death rays, he had -disintegrated them with weapons that no other mind had ever imagined. -Most of all, he had hated the poking, prying political commissars, who -had breathed down his neck in every experiment he had ever attempted, -or had watched from the TV camera installed in every laboratory of the -vast installation, to make certain that any discovery that was made -went to the right place.</p> - -<p>But even Holder's most fantastic dreams were nothing in comparison to -what actually happened.</p> - -<p>Nocher was a big man, standing six foot two inches tall. There was -Cossack blood in him, which gave him a vast feeling of superiority for -all men not of his race. This was particularly true of the captive -scientists being held prisoner in this secret Ural stronghold. In spite -of the fact that every one of them had a better brain than he had, the -political commissar looked down upon them as being creatures of an -inferior race.</p> - -<p>As Holder shouted at the Commissar, Nocher lost his expression of -superiority. His face turned a dim shade of blue, then a thin shade of -white.</p> - -<p>Then, clothes and all, he vanished.</p> - -<p>Nocher went like smoke before the wind, roiling and turning. When he -vanished, he left a vague outline of a human body behind him which -looked like a hole in space, like a ghost outlined against a gray sky. -Then this vanished too. Of Nocher's bulk, not even a wisp was left.</p> - -<p>John Holder was aware of thundering elation somewhere deep down inside -of him. There was horror too, but the elation was greater. He stared at -the empty spot where the commissar had been standing a moment before.</p> - -<p>Sounds came from his lips but he had no conscious knowledge that he was -uttering them. They were noises that had existed long before language -had come into being. Their meaning was pure horror. As they came from -his lips, Holder felt every muscle in his stomach begin to tighten into -a knot.</p> - -<p>There was absolutely no question in his mind that he was responsible -for Nocher's disappearance. Out of his dreams, out of his hate for the -commissars and all they represented, this ability had been created. -A million to one chance had come true! This ability was something he -did inside himself. It needed no outside equipment to function, no -generators to feed energy to it, no crystals to control its frequency. -It was its own generator and its own frequency control! And it was all -in his own mind! It was new, it was totally different from anything any -scientist had ever envisioned before.</p> - -<p>In this moment, staring at the spot where Nocher had been, John Holder -felt as if the concrete floor on which he was standing had no more real -substance to it than empty space. All that existed was mind, energy, -and the dance of the atoms. He also knew that everything he had thought -he had known about science was drivel, the mouthings of an idiot. The -string of degrees after his name, which had so impressed the Red and -had led to his capture by a nation hungry for scientists and willing -to go to any lengths to get them, became meaningless, fodder for the -amazement of fools.</p> - -<p>The only important reality in the Universe was mind. Everything else -was subservient to this reality. Mind was flooding through him now as -glowing shafts of light.</p> - -<p>"Nocher?" the loudspeaker in the ceiling rasped.</p> - -<p>The sound jarred John Holder back to his surroundings. He turned -startled eyes upward. From the ceiling, the bland eye of the television -camera regarded him in silent accusation. He swore beneath his breath. -How much had they seen?</p> - -<p>The television system, which spied in every nook and corner of the huge -installation, had been Nocher's idea, his way of making absolutely -certain that he knew everything that was going on among the captive -scientists working here.</p> - -<p>The security police had felt that the TV system was a fine idea. There -was no way of predicting what a scientist might discover, or when he -would find it out. Perhaps it would be a new weapon that would enable -them to conquer the world. This was what scientists were for. This was -the reason the whole vast institute existed here in secret.</p> - -<p>"Nocher?" the loudspeaker inquired again.</p> - -<p>"He went—that way." Holder said quickly, pointing toward an open door.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The loudspeaker went silent. Holder hastily turned his attention back -to the lab table, where an experiment was in progress. His head was a -whirl. It seemed to him that the whole center of his cranium was a ball -of light. He knew beyond a doubt that this correlated with his ability -to disintegrate Nocher. The next problem would be to test the process, -in secret, and discover its limits, if any. Did it have any limits? A -body, flesh, bone, blood, had gone—like that. He went from the table -to his desk. With a knowledge that the TV camera was watching every -move he made, he pretended to be busy studying a sheaf of reports on -the experiment in progress. From the back of his desk, a photograph -with three smiling faces looked at him—Marie and Johnny and Teresa. -His wife and their two kids. They were here too, in his apartment, -hostages for his good behavior and for his efficient performance.</p> - -<p>The three faces in the photograph were the biggest reason why he hated -Nocher, and all of Nocher's kind and all that Nocher had stood for.</p> - -<p>They had been vacationing in the Swiss Alps two years before when all -four had been kidnapped. It had been as simple as that. An American -scientist and his family had vanished from Switzerland. Presumably they -had been taken behind the Iron Curtain but no one in America knew this -for certain. Nor would anyone in the western world have been able to do -anything about it if they had known the facts. Holder assumed that a -search had been made for him. Possibly a protest had been lodged with -the Russian government. If so, like so many other protests, it had come -to nothing. Power was all that was respected in this part of the world.</p> - -<p>He grinned to himself. Since power was all they respected, he would -show them some!</p> - -<p>He looked up. An armed guard, one of the hated security police, had -entered the room.</p> - -<p>"The commandant orders your presence," the guard said.</p> - -<p>"Tell the commandant to go to—" Holder caught his tongue in the nick -of time. He forced a polite smile to his face. "I will be glad to call -on the commandant."</p> - -<p>"At once," the guard said.</p> - -<p>"Certainly," Holder said, rising. With a farewell glance at the -framed photograph on his desk, the scientist left the lab. Why was he -breathing so heavily?</p> - -<p>The commandant was a big man with a bald head and arm muscles that -made bulges in the sleeves of his uniform. An ex-spy, to a man the -scientists here in this installation hated him. He sat behind a -plain oak desk and played with a Turkish dagger that he used as a -paper knife. Rumor had it that in the days when he had acted as an -executioner, he had used this knife to slit the throats of his victims. -He did not bother to be polite to a mere scientist. They were dogs to -be used for the benefit of the state.</p> - -<p>"You were the last one to see Nocher," the commandant said.</p> - -<p>"The <i>last one</i> to see him?" Holder questioned. "I do not understand. -Is he dead?"</p> - -<p>"I will ask the questions, you will answer them," the commandant -stated. "What happened to Nocher?" He was so sure of his power that he -did not bother to play his usual game of cat and mouse.</p> - -<p>"I do not know that anything happened to him." Holder answered quickly. -"He was in my lab, talking, then he went away."</p> - -<p>"How did he go away?"</p> - -<p>The scientist shrugged. "I didn't really notice. We chatted for a few -moments, then I turned my attention again to my work. When I looked up, -he was gone. I get the impression from your questions that something is -wrong. May I ask—"</p> - -<p>"You may not. I will do the asking. What did you do to Nocher?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Nothing," Holder promptly answered.</p> - -<p>"I saw you do it." The commandant pointed to the television screen on -his desk.</p> - -<p>"You saw me do what?" Holder said. Anger was rising in him. Again he -had the impression that the inside of his head was filling with light.</p> - -<p>"I saw you destroy him, with the new discovery you have made!" A -wolfish grin appeared on the Commandant's face and he looked like a Red -who has just found a way to achieve his heart's desire of swallowing -the world.</p> - -<p>Holder saw what was happening. The commandant harbored a secret desire -to be a ruler. Another Mussolini, another Stalin! If the commandant -could win possession of the discovery he thought Holder had made, he -might become another Genghis Khan, to scourge the world with flame and -death.</p> - -<p>"You're utterly crazy!" Holder shouted.</p> - -<p>"You have discovered a disintegrating ray and I want it." The -commandant continued as if he had not heard a word the scientist had -said. "I'm also going to get it." He flicked a button and motioned -Holder to look at the TV screen. Revealed there were Marie and Johnny -and Teresa. The kids were playing their eternal game of hide and seek -and were waiting for him to return home to play it with them. At the -sight, Holder felt his heart turn over inside him.</p> - -<p>"You wouldn't harm them," he whispered. "You wouldn't dare."</p> - -<p>The commandant now looked like a Red who had just swallowed the whole -solar system. "Wouldn't I?" he answered. The wolf grin on his face had -spread from ear to ear.</p> - -<p>"Get the hell out of my sight!" Holder shouted.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The last he saw of the commandant as the latter went away was the -wolfish grin. There was a startled expression on the grin as the man -vanished like something had happened that was not on schedule.</p> - -<p>Holder walked quietly out of the room and down the corridor. Behind -him, he heard an alarm bell go off. The pound of heavy boots answering -the alarm bell followed. He moved faster. A shout to halt followed. He -dodged around a corner in the corridor and began to run.</p> - -<p>He knew now that he would be followed to the ends of the earth. For -him, and those dear to him, there was no hiding place. His conversation -with the commandant had been monitored. Now that the commandant was -gone, the next in command automatically stepped into his shoes. He -knew what he was going to do, what he <i>had</i> to do. Perhaps—the vague -hope was in his mind—if he could disintegrate bodies, he could also -re-integrate them. He did not know if he could do this and there was no -time to find out. There was only time to act, and hope.</p> - -<p>Feet pounded behind him along the corridor. On the roof of the -building, a siren began to wail. All security forces were being called -out.</p> - -<p>He slipped from the building, dodged around a concrete statue, and -ran as fast as his legs could carry him toward the living quarters -provided here. This was a three-story concrete structure. As he slid -into the entrance of this building, whistles were shrilling behind -him and armored car motors were beginning to roar. The air was still -vibrating with the shrill screaming of the alarm siren. A guard had -sighted him and was in hot chase behind.</p> - -<p>With the feet of the guard clumping behind him, John Holder ran down -the third floor hall toward his apartment. A shot rang out behind -him and the bullet chipped plaster from the wall at the end of the -corridor. A hoarse shout to halt sounded. He snatched open the door -and was inside. His wife, her face a question mark, came toward him. -Panting, he leaned against the wall. With one hand, he shot the latch -on the door.</p> - -<p>"I thought I heard a shot," Marie said.</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>Her face lost all its color. "Then—it's come?" Each had secretly -wondered what would happen when the inevitable hour came when Holder's -work was no longer satisfactory. They could not be returned to -Switzerland. They knew too much. Would it be Siberia? Or a quick death? -What would happen to the children?</p> - -<p>Again Holder nodded.</p> - -<p>"Daddy! Daddy's home!" This was six year old Johnny shouting the good -news to Teresa. The boy came running to throw himself toward his -father. Holder stooped and picked him up.</p> - -<p>"You're going to play games with us tonight?" Johnny demanded. "You're -going to play hide and seek?"</p> - -<p>"Your father is very tired right now dear." Marie said quickly. "Later -he will play with you."</p> - -<p>"Sure," Holder said. "Sure. Later." He made no effort to release the -boy. Four year old Teresa, carrying her teddy bear, was also making a -bee-line for him. She did not intend to be left out of the fun. Holder -caught her up in his free arm.</p> - -<p>Hob-nailed boots pounded to a halt outside the door. A heavy knock -sounded. Marie turned toward the door. Holder shook his head. Down -the corridor a command rasped out. Abruptly the knocking ceased. "Let -'em break it down." Holder said. "That will give me enough time." He -ignored the questions on his wife's face.</p> - -<p>"Somebody want in, daddy?" Johnny inquired. "Who is it?"</p> - -<p>"The big bad bear," Holder answered. "But don't worry. He won't get -you. I won't let him." To Marie, he said, "Look out the window and tell -me what you see."</p> - -<p>"An armored car has just pulled up in front," she said. "They have set -up machine guns on each corner of the b-block."</p> - -<p>"Thorough devils," Holder commented.</p> - -<p>"What's a devil, daddy?" Johnny asked.</p> - -<p>"It's just a word," Holder answered.</p> - -<p>Marie moved across the room to him. "John," she said. Then again, -"John—"</p> - -<p>"Don't be alarmed, darling," Holder said. "It's only death."</p> - -<p>"It's only—" She sat down so quickly that he thought her legs had -given way beneath her.</p> - -<p>"That's only a word too," Holder said quickly.</p> - -<p>"It—it—" Her lips twisted and a choking movement started in her -throat. "How can you say it's only a word when it's the most real fact -in our existence right now?"</p> - -<p>"Is death a fact, or is it another human delusion?" the scientist asked.</p> - -<p>"John!" Her eyes were fixed on him with terrible intensity.</p> - -<p>"I'm not nuts," he said. "The men outside setting up the machine guns -are the ones who are crazy, not me." Deep inside he was quite sure he -meant what he had said.</p> - -<p>"What are they going to do with the guns, daddy?" Johnny asked.</p> - -<p>"Guns, daddy," Teresa echoed.</p> - -<p>"They're going to use them to make loud noises," Holder answered. "If I -try to run, they will point them at me and make loud noises and I will -fall down."</p> - -<p>"And go boom?" Teresa asked. She thought this was amusing.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Johnny suddenly sensed the seriousness of the situation. "I don't want -you to fall down, daddy," he said.</p> - -<p>"That's the kind of world we live in," Holder answered. "Sooner or -later, everybody has to fall down. There's a law—"</p> - -<p>"John!" Marie spoke.</p> - -<p>"Which do you want?" Holder answered. "If I fall down, I'll never get -up. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in this kind of a world, -where you will become the plaything of barracks soldiers. Do you want—"</p> - -<p>"<i>John!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Do you want the kids to be raised as wards of the state, where they -will be conditioned into accepting the idea that this world is right?" -Holder gestured toward the windows.</p> - -<p>Marie's face revealed mute agony. "N-no. But—isn't there some other -way?"</p> - -<p>"Sure," the scientist said. He set the kids on the floor.</p> - -<p>Marie's face gleamed with sudden hope like a rainbow seen at the -world's end.</p> - -<p>A knock sounded on the door.</p> - -<p>The rainbow vanished from her face. She looked toward the door.</p> - -<p>"Get the hell out of my sight!" Holder said to her.</p> - -<p>She went as Nocher and the commandant had gone. Except that she went -smiling. Her smile seemed to linger in the air, like a bright gleam -from some far-off heaven, after she had gone.</p> - -<p>"Where mommy go?" Teresa inquired.</p> - -<p>"Yeah where'd she go?" Johnny added. "She was sitting right there just -a minute ago—"</p> - -<p>"We will break down the door if you don't open up," a voice said -outside.</p> - -<p>"Just a minute," Holder yelled. He looked at his son. Why was it so -difficult to concentrate now? "Johnny," he said. His voice was a hoarse -gasp.</p> - -<p>"Yes, dad."</p> - -<p>"Get the hell out of my sight."</p> - -<p>The boy went easily and rapidly. Johnny did not seem to mind. It was -as if to him there was nothing bad about this experience. And possibly -nothing new.</p> - -<p>Holder wiped sweat from his face. Was he sure? Did he really know what -he was doing? Was he certain? There had been no time for testing.</p> - -<p>Teresa, staring around the room, was searching for her idol. "Johnny!" -she called. When there was no answer, she looked up at her father and -announced, "Johnny is hiding." This was the beginning of a game.</p> - -<p>Holder forced a smile to his face. "Do you want to go find him?"</p> - -<p>She clapped her hands in joy. "Sure. Find Johnny."</p> - -<p>Why was this tic in his right cheek and this sudden tremor in his -hands? Did this child with the bright blue eyes mean so much to him -that he could not send her after her mother and brother, that he could -not protect her from the men on the other side of the door? Why this -sudden sweat all over his body?</p> - -<p>"Get—" His voice faltered into silence. A knot as big as his fist was -in his throat.</p> - -<p>"Find Johnny, daddy," Teresa urged.</p> - -<p><i>Bang!</i> The butt of a rifle crashed against the door, giving Holder the -strength that he needed. "Get the hell out of my sight," he said.</p> - -<p>She went even easier than Johnny had gone as if the younger they were, -the easier this process was. She went laughing and giggling. She was -going to find Johnny. This was a game of hide and seek, which she had -always enjoyed.</p> - -<p>Holder tried to swallow the knot in his throat. He moved to the -mirror, stood regarding himself in it. Why was his heart pounding so -heavily. He, of all men on earth, knew and could prove, that the human -body was only a mental construction, that the very atoms in it were -held together by the force of a patterned idea, and by nothing else. -The pattern on which the body was constructed, the blue-print for the -bones, flesh, and organs, this was an idea, and nothing more. The flesh -and bones, the blood and sinew, that gave reality to the idea, were in -reality only the bricks and mortar, the lumber and metal, that gave -reality to an architect's blue-print of a house. When the house burned -down, or was otherwise destroyed, the <i>idea</i> still remained. It, and it -alone, had life. It, and it alone, had immortality.</p> - -<p>Why was sweat spurting from every pore in his body?</p> - -<p><i>Crash!</i> Behind him, the door fell inward.</p> - -<p>"Get the hell out of my sight!" he said staring at his reflection in -the mirror.</p> - -<p>Nothing happened. The mirror clearly revealed the puzzled frown on his -face and the look of bewilderment in his eyes. It also revealed three -men approaching from behind.</p> - -<p>Holder knew he had failed. He had thought that all he would need to -do would be to look at himself in a mirror—and go with the others. -Something had gone wrong.</p> - -<p>"I was only sending them ahead of me," he whispered. "I meant to go -too." The agony inside him was as deep as space. He made no effort to -resist the men when they grabbed him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They took him directly to the deepest underground cell in the -headquarters building. He had heard whispered rumors of this place from -the other scientists here but he had never really believed it existed. -They chained him to the wall so that his feet did not touch the floor. -He looked at the chains, and wondered if they would go away when he -told them to.</p> - -<p>A little man with the face of a rat entered the cell and the others -withdrew. Rat-face was the interrogator. Obviously Rat-face had had -vast experience with political prisoners. He knew all the questions to -ask and all the torture methods. Holder dimly wondered what tales the -walls of this tiny, barren cell could tell if they had the ability to -speak.</p> - -<p>"Where is Nocher?"</p> - -<p>"In hell, I hope."</p> - -<p>"Ah!"</p> - -<p>"I did it," Holder said. "I confess everything. I destroyed Nocher. I -eliminated the commandant. All I ask is that you shoot me, at once."</p> - -<p>The rat face revealed mixed pleasure and chagrin. Prisoners were -supposed to confess. But not so quickly. Rat-face felt cheated. He -enjoyed torturing the helpless.</p> - -<p>"What about your wife? Did you destroy her too?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"And your children?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>Rat-face counted on nicotine-stained fingers. "That makes you five -times a killer."</p> - -<p>"Yes. Shoot me," Holder begged. The agony inside him was growing -deeper. Visions of Teresa going away danced before his eyes. What had -he actually done to her?</p> - -<p>"What did you do with the bodies?"</p> - -<p>"I—"</p> - -<p>"You have admitted you killed them. You must have hid the bodies some -place."</p> - -<p>Rat-face had not been properly briefed by the new commandant. He -thought he was dealing with murder! Holder glanced up at the ceiling. -The TV camera and the microphone were there. Probably the new -commandant was watching this scene from some safe place.</p> - -<p>"Where did you hide the bodies?" Rat-face continued.</p> - -<p>"Try and find them!" The laughter that followed was wild and Holder -knew it. This fact didn't matter. The political commissars thought all -scientists were crazy anyhow. Except when they made atom bombs. To a -political commissar, atom bombs made sense. They could be dropped on -the heads of people who didn't agree with them.</p> - -<p>"How did you do it?" Rat-face demanded. His little beady eyes bored -into Holder as he asked this question.</p> - -<p>"Like this," Holder answered. "Get the hell out of my sight."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>His laughter continued for minutes, at the funny expression on the -little political commissar's face as Rat-face had gone away. No one -else came into the cell. Holder concentrated his attention on his -chains. He repeated the magic formula. The chains remained as firm as -ever. He stared at them in growing fear. Here was one thing that did -not obey his command to vanish.</p> - -<p>"If I had only had time to test!" he muttered. He tried to pull himself -free from the chains. They had been designed and built to prevent -exactly this. He exhausted himself with no result then left off his -efforts when he realized he was hearing the sound of running water.</p> - -<p>His feet were wet.</p> - -<p>He looked down and saw that the bottom of his cell was covered by -water. "A pipe broke somewhere," he thought. Looking up toward the TV -camera on the ceiling, he yelled, "Hey! You had better repair that pipe -before you drown one of your prisoners."</p> - -<p>There was no question in his mind as to what lay ahead for him. He -would be questioned for days, for weeks, if necessary, until they had -gotten his secret from him. The new commandant, and the powers above -him, would use up any number of political commissars to achieve their -goal. Political commissars were cheap. Secrets such as the one John -Holder possessed were very important.</p> - -<p>The water was up to his ankles. He saw, then, the purpose of this cell. -It had been constructed so that water could be turned into it. The -helpless wretch who had been left chained to the wall here could either -confess or he could drown. The cell was actually a death trap.</p> - -<p>Now he understood why no one else had taken the place of Rat-face!</p> - -<p>In dazed horror, he watched the water rise to his knees. The sound was -now that of a roaring torrent. He knew that his unseen watchers had -opened the valve still wider.</p> - -<p>The water rose to his chest, constricted a cold band there, then surged -upward to his throat.</p> - -<p>"Help!" he screamed involuntarily.</p> - -<p>Instantly he heard the valve close. The sound of the torrent stopped.</p> - -<p>"Do you talk now?" the speaker on the ceiling asked.</p> - -<p>"I—" In this moment of terrible threat, he knew he would talk, not to -save his life, but because he could not help himself, because he could -not keep from talking. He knew, also, that there was nothing he could -put into words which would reveal what he knew to be true. "I—I can't."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Again the valve was opened, again the water came into the narrow cell. -It reached Holder's chin. He knew now that they fully intended to -drown him if he didn't reveal what he knew. From the viewpoint of the -watchers, it was better that he should die than that they should take a -chance on letting him escape to tell what he knew to someone else!</p> - -<p>"I can't tell you," he screamed. "It won't go into words. It's -something I do inside my mind."</p> - -<p>"Talk!" the loudspeaker answered.</p> - -<p>"But I'm telling you that I can't—" His voice took on the sound of -a gargle as water poured into his mouth. He spat it out and tried to -scream. The water, rising higher, poured into his mouth. He twisted -his head upward, shoving against the chains that held him to the wall. -The water reached his nose and flowed downward into his lungs.</p> - -<p>Within a minute, at most, the level of the water would be hastily -lowered. After he was revived he would be given a chance to tell what -he knew. If he still proved obstinate, the process would be repeated. -But Holder did not know this.</p> - -<p>Some prisoners had withstood repeated duckings only to be drowned in -the end. Most told everything they knew after the first treatment.</p> - -<p>Inside him, John Holder knew that the human body was only a mental -construction. Only the strength of an idea held flesh and bones and -blood together. He also knew there was no way on earth for him to -reveal this secret to another person, in words. Perhaps long and -careful study of the nature and the kinds of energies involved would -enable him to give a mathematical description of what he knew he could -do inside of him. The Reds would never wait for such a study to be -made. They were looking for something as simple and as dramatic as <i>E -is equal to MC squared</i>, the basic equation that had served for the -mathematical springboard for the atom bomb.</p> - -<p>As the water poured into his nose and down into his lungs, he made one -last furious effort. The process had worked on other people. How could -he make it work on him? An answer popped into his mind. All he had to -do was to think of himself as another person.</p> - -<p>He did this. Light exploded through his brain and flooded through his -whole body.</p> - -<p>When the water level was lowered, the bewildered Reds found empty -chains dangling from the walls of the cell. The body they had placed in -the chains was no longer there.</p> - -<p>Three days later, the driver of an American jeep, on border patrol at -night with a squad of men, was astonished to find four bodies suddenly -appear within his headlights. To him, they seemed to come out of -nowhere. Brakes screaming, the driver jerked the jeep to a halt. The -sergeant in charge of the squad hastily dismounted.</p> - -<p>"I am John Holder and this is my wife and our two children," the man in -the glare of the headlights said.</p> - -<p>"Holder?" the sergeant said. "Say, we've got a search order out for -you. You vanished behind the iron curtain."</p> - -<p>"We have come back through it," Holder answered. "Take us to your -commanding officer, at once."</p> - -<p>They were put into the jeep. "Johnny, go hide again," the smallest -child kept saying. "So we can find him in that place where the light -is. Johnny go hide—"</p> - -<p>"Shhh, Teresa," her father answered, indulgently. "No more game until -we get back to America." He thought longingly of that land across the -sea that to them was home. "Besides it is too hard to find you on the -other side, and re-integrate a body for you—"</p> - -<p>"John," the woman spoke reprovingly. "Why explain it to them? You know -they can't understand what you're talking about."</p> - -<p>Holder grinned and was silent. Sometimes he wondered if he understood -it all himself. All he knew was that a body could be disintegrated, by -pure mental force.</p> - -<p>The jeep shifted into high gear. At the end of this journey, a plane -would be waiting. This would take them to America.... Home.... There a -whole new world of exploration waited for him. The very best research -teams the country possessed would be at his disposal, the keenest -brains, the sharpest minds. Hugging the kids to him, he smiled quietly -to himself.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN HOLDER'S WEAPON ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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