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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..bd20102 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65526 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65526) diff --git a/old/65526-0.txt b/old/65526-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 081bd39..0000000 --- a/old/65526-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3312 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Bring Back My Brain!, by Dwight V. Swain - -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: Bring Back My Brain! - -Author: Dwight V. Swain - -Release Date: June 6, 2021 [eBook #65526] - -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 BRING BACK MY BRAIN! *** - - - - - From the depths of infinity came a menace - so dreadful Clark Dane could not comprehend the - danger. Yet his subconscious knew, crying out: - - Bring Back My Brain! - - By Dwight V. Swain - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - April 1957 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It was a world without a past or future; a shining shadow-world borne -of sheer madness, a thousand echoing eternities beyond all space and -time. - -Now the pulsing radiance grew brighter--so bright it sent pain-tipped -needles stabbing through Clark Dane's brain. He writhed under its -relentless, throbbing pressure; tried to draw back, to cry out. - -But the strange lethargy still clung to him, all-encumbering as a -leaden pall. As in a nightmare, he lay prostrate, paralyzed, unable to -move or speak. - -Numbly, he wondered if he were dead. - -Only then the silent laughter rose again--taunting; chilling--and he -knew that life still stirred within him. - -The face came with the laughter, floating through the swirling radiance -as a shadow drifts through fog. Hollow-cheeked, hollow-eyed, hairless -as a sand-scoured, tide-washed skull, it hovered before Dane like a -living death's-head, closer than ever before. - -Where previously had he known this Being-Without-A-Name, Dane wondered? -What malicious trick of circumstance had brought the two of them -together? - -Only those were things somehow beyond his powers of recall at the -moment; questions that, strangely, seemed to find no answers within his -aching brain. - -Shuddering, he squeezed the eyes of his mind tight shut against the -spectre. - -But the face would not go away. Smirking, sardonic, evil, deep-lined -with old sins, it hung motionless now, as if mocking Dane in his -torment while it reiterated its eternal theme: "I am your master, -slave! Bow down! Bow down to your creator! Acknowledge your serfdom -here and now!" - -In spite of himself, Dane cringed. - -"Say it, you fool! Say you are my slave!" - -"No, damn you! Never; not ever...." - -"You dare not deny me! You know it!" The malevolent eyes in the -death's-head skull gleamed hot and bright as fire-jewels--probing, -penetrating, skewering to the core of Dane's very brain. "Say it, I -tell you! Say you are my slave!" - -Dane's jaws ached with pressure. Desperately, he tried to fight the -nightmare image from his mind. - -"Acknowledge me, slave! I am your master!" - -Dane's senses reeled. He was panting now. "I--I--" - -"Say it!" - -"I--am--your slave...." - -Thin, cruel lips peeled back from stained teeth in a grimace of -sadistic triumph. The soundless, soulless laughter rang forth louder -than ever. - -Dane sobbed aloud. - -As if his reaction were a signal, the mocking face began to fade, back -into the eddying radiance from whence it came. Where it had hung, a -new shape rose. - -Inanimate, this one; yet clean-cut and graceful as any living thing. -Slim, silvery, needle-sharp, it poised like a gigantic lance flung -skyward from its squat, buttressed base. - -Dane's raw nerves calmed a fraction. The dream-pain ebbed away. -Fascinated, he studied the shining shaft. - -For even as he first glimpsed it, he knew in a rush that his life, -his fate, his very being, somehow were linked tight to it. Completely -strange to him, it yet held intangible elements of familiarity beyond -all ordinary knowledge. - -Now the shaft seemed to drift closer, just as had the face before it, -and Dane saw that a vertical slot ran almost its full length, from top -to bottom, like a vastly-elongated needle-eye. - -Slowly, while Dane watched, the shaft turned above its base. A second -slot appeared, precisely like the first. Then a third. Through the -openings, Dane glimpsed a maze of coils and wiring. - -Frowning in spite of himself, he glanced down at the base, then -stiffened. - -For the shaft hung completely free in the air as if invisibly suspended -from above, well clear of the metal-rimmed socket in its bed-plate! - -A chill ran through Dane. Yet he could not tear his eyes away from the -shining needle. It was almost as if another unheard voice, soundless -as that of the vanished face, were hammering thoughts into his brain: -"Heed well, Clark Dane! Let no detail escape you, lest the lack of it -shall speed you to your doom! This shaft--it stands as symbol of all -your dreams and hopes, your destiny...." - -Then thought and image alike were fading; the face and its mind-voice -back once more: "Remember, slave, I am your master, now and always! -Dare to challenge me again and instant death shall be your doom!" - -Never had the hollow eyes gleamed with such menace. Never had the -bony, hairless face been etched more deeply with lines that spoke of -ruthlessness and iniquity. - -Slowly, reluctantly, Dane bowed his head. "I am your slave. You are my -master." - -But deep within him another voice was speaking in a savage, sullen -whisper, so low as not even to reach the frontal lobes of his brain: -"No! I'm not your slave! No man's my master! And some day, no matter -what you threaten--some day, we'll see who dies!" - - - CHAPTER II - -At first it seemed to Dane that he was racing through space, hurtling -out in a whirling, swirling arc that left the whole solar system far -behind. The stars, the galaxies, fell into chaos in his wake. New -nebulae spread out before him, unseen by living eye until his advent. - -Awe-struck, unable even to breathe, he could only stare at it all in -unnerved wonder. - -Then, slowly, that stage passed. Little by little, the void about him -took on substance, until at last he found himself swimming somewhere -far beneath the surface of a viscid sea ... fighting his way upward -through the horror of dark, chimera-teeming depths inches at a time -in that agonizing, snail-slow progression known only in the world of -dreams. - -But there came a moment when even swimming demanded too much effort. He -floated, limp, rising slowly towards the daylight miles above him, free -to the whim of every changing eddy of a foam-flecked, pale-green sea. - -As from afar, then, a voice reached him dimly--a real voice, this time; -one that spoke words aloud and face to face instead of only in the mind. - -A woman's voice, surprisingly. - -"I want him at the Record Center as fast as I can get him here," the -voice said firmly. "That's why I'm coming out from Mars to make the -pickup. There hasn't been a genuine case of amnesia reported from any -of the inner planets in over a hundred years, and I've no intention of -letting this one slip by me." - -Of a sudden the pale-green sea seemed to separate beneath Dane. It left -him stranded on a smooth, level surface, resilient and not too hard. - -Cautiously, he moved his fingers over it, recognized the texture of -heavy synthetic kalor. - -A bed, then. - -The woman's voice went on, brisk and businesslike yet somehow intense: -"I can't impress all of you too much with how important it is not -to upset this man. Any shock prior to the complete celloscopic -and hypnoanalytic examination we'll give him here might do untold -damage--both to him, and to our chance of successfully working through -his case." - -Very carefully, Dane opened his eyes. - -He looked out upon a dully glittering expanse of green telonium -spaceship bulkhead. The viewing plate of a built-in visiscreen occupied -a spot directly before him at eye level. - -Centered on the plate was the image of the woman who was speaking. - -Narrow-eyed, Dane studied her. - -She had turned now to a concise discussion of technical details -regarding amnesia--and that made the contrast between her words and her -appearance all the more marked. For even over the visiscreen there was -no denying her lithe, slender loveliness; and as Dane gazed up at the -smooth oval of her face ... stared into her cool grey eyes ... he could -visualize her in almost any role more easily than that of scientist or -savant. - -If he ever met her, perhaps he could persuade her to play a more -feminine part. - -It was a pleasant thought. But even as it struck Dane, the woman broke -off. Her soft lips parted in a sudden, half-rueful smile. "I'm talking -too much. You've better things to do than listen to my lectures, and--" - - * * * * * - -The click of a switch cut her off in mid-sentence. A harsh male voice -snarled, "I'll say she talks too much! And for my part, I'm all through -listening." - -Dane shifted quickly; discovered for the first time that he shared -the telonium chamber with three men grouped about a table: two in -space-fleet uniform and one--the speaker--without. - -The ununiformed man, squat and heavy-bodied, still gripped the -visiscreen's remote control switch, his piggish, close-set eyes glazed -hard with anger, his broad, lumpy face working. - -The pig-eyes flicked to Dane as he turned. The lumpy face split in an -ugly grin. "Well! Sleeping beauty's awake! Maybe we can come up with -some answers of our own after all, before her royal highness from the -Record Center gets here." - -The man surged up as he spoke, flexing corded arms thick with coarse -black hair. To Dane, he looked to be in his late twenties. His body -bulged so heavy with muscle that his half-bald bullet-head seemed to -grow directly from his shoulders. - -But one of the space-fleet officers rose too. "Hold it, Pfaff!" he -rapped. "Nelva Guthrie's given us our orders--and whether you like -it or not, she's supervisor of the whole Mars Record Center. In a -situation like this that gives her the rank to make what she says -stick." - -"Oh, does it, now?" sneered the man called Pfaff. "Personally, I always -thought that where the Kalquoi were concerned, Security outranked -anyone." - -"The Kalquoi--?" The second space-fleet officer was on his feet now, -gesturing. "Slow down a minute on that, Pfaff. What have the Kalquoi -got to do with this poor devil?" - -"We picked him off an asteroid, didn't we?" the bullet-headed Pfaff -slashed back belligerently. "If that doesn't tie him to the Kalquoi, -what would it take? They've infiltrated the whole damn' belt, and you -know it!" - -"But just because he was marooned there--" - -"Marooned, hell!" Pfaff hammered the butt of a rock-like fist against -the doloid table. "Who marooned him, that's what I want to know! No man -just pops up on an asteroid, naked as the day he was born, without even -a breather mask for company!" - -The two officers exchanged helpless glances. - -"Answer me, you chitzas!" Pfaff bellowed. Again he smashed his great -fist down upon the table. "I want to know who marooned him! And after -you've told me that, I want to know who sent out the distress signal on -him that we picked up. And who pumped that cave full of air and then -slapped an energy seal on it so he'd have something to breathe till we -got there. And finally, who"--a momentary pause while he snatched up -an object from the table--"who left him this Kalquoi yat-stick to play -with?" - -"Well--" The first space-fleet officer groped futilely for words. - -The second looked away, not speaking. - -For a long moment Pfaff watched them--pig-eyes aglitter, bullet-head -drawn far between the massive shoulders. - -Then, slowly, his snarl changed to a smirk. He straightened; made a -show of smoothing his rumpled short-sleeved, civilian tunic. - -"For my money," he announced in a suddenly bland and unctuous voice -"we've got no evidence whatever that this starbo"--a gesture to -Dane--"is even human!" - -In spite of himself, Dane went rigid. The officers' heads snapped round -as if on springs. "What--?" - -"You heard me." Pfaff was almost purring now. "The Kalquoi are -shape-shifters; you know that. That's what makes them so dangerous. One -minute, they'll be obviously alien--crystals floating in mid-air and -radiating colored light like so many prisms. The next, one's a rock, -another's a tal-string, and the third's bouncing around pretending to -be the ball in a byul-game." - - * * * * * - -A thin thread of irritation began to creep through Dane. Unsteadily, he -pulled himself to a sitting position and swung his legs over the edge -of his cot. "Wait a minute, there--" - -"Shut up, you stabat!" Pfaff threw out the command in the manner of a -huecco-trainer addressing a particularly doltish pupil. And then, to -the officers once more: "Don't you see? The brain-drain's stopped the -Kalquoi cold. But supposing they could masquerade as humans, the way -they do inanimate objects! Before we knew it, they'd take over the -inner planets, the way they have the outer!" - -Dane drew a deep, careful breath. "The only trouble is, I'm not a -Kalquoi," he announced firmly. - -"Oh." This time Pfaff turned to face him. "Then who are you, may I ask?" - -"My name's Clark Dane." - -"Clark Dane. Very good." Pfaff licked thick lips, as if enjoying the -whole situation. "Now, tell us some other things: where you were born; -who your parents were; your work assignment number; occupational -classification; residence registration; how and why you came to be on -the asteroid where we found you." - -"Why, I--" Dane started to speak, then stopped short, groping. -"I--I...." - -"Yes, yes. Go on." Pfaff was grinning openly now, head thrust forward -as he prodded. - -A numbness crept through Dane. Desperately, he searched the farthest -corners of his brain for answers to the other's questions. - -Answers that just weren't there. - -Pfaff chuckled; goaded: "It couldn't be you don't know, could it? Nor -that you can't remember anything about the past except your name?" - -Dane didn't answer. Bewilderment; confusion; sheer, stark panic--they -roiled within him; put knots in the pit of his stomach and made his -head reel till he had to cling to the edge of the cot for fear of -falling. - -Again Pfaff chuckled. "Maybe I'm being too hard on you, Dane." His -mockery seared like acid. "If so, I'll apologize. Just prove to me -you're not a Kalquoi; that's all I ask." - -"Damn it, Pfaff!" the officer nearest to Dane exploded. "You heard what -Nelva Guthrie said: any shock's liable to tie this man up permanently. -Quit plaguing him!" - -Pfaff's air of mock-cordiality fell away like a discarded mask. "Is -that an order, lieutenant?" he demanded belligerently. "Are you telling -me what I can and can't do?" - -The other's lips drew tight. "Now wait a minute, Pfaff--" - -"No! You wait!" Pfaff thrust his bullet-head forward, close to the -officer's face. "This is a matter of principle, mister. We'll settle -it right now. I'm Security rep on this ship, and I say this Clark Dane -pickup's a Security matter. Are you going to contradict me?" - -"If need be." The lieutenant's cheeks flamed. "It so happens, Mr. -Pfaff, that you've pushed your luck a little too far. Security rep or -not, you're overstepping your authority, and I'm not about to stand for -it. If need be, I'll take it clear to the captain." - -"Well! So it's out in the open at last!" Pig-eyes glittering, thick -lips twisted in an ugly grin, Pfaff moved in even closer. "You've got a -good idea there, too--that business of taking all this to the captain. -We'll do it. And then, after that, we'll carry it another step, to a -friend of mine. You may have heard of him. His name's Thorburg Jessup." - -"Thorburg Jessup--!" The lieutenant's nostrils flared. His eyes -distended. - -Then, of a sudden, the angry color was draining from his face. -Uncertainly, he fell back a step. "Now wait a minute, Pfaff--" - - * * * * * - -It was as if the other hadn't even heard him. "Did you think you were -going to get away with it, lieutenant? Did you really?" The Security -rep exploded in a roar of contemptuous, scorn-ringing laughter. "Let me -tell you something, mister. The blocked-promotion stations are full of -brass-braided jackasses who thought they could lock horns with Security -reps. Because the minute an officer talks back or pokes his nose into -Security business, the rep calls Jessup--and that's the end of the -trouble _and_ the officer." - -For a long, taut moment, then, the silence echoed; a leaden silence, -heavy with tension. - -"Well, lieutenant?" Pfaff cocked his head. "Which is it going to be? Do -you shut up--or do I call Thorburg Jessup?" - -The spaceship officer seemed to stop breathing. Then, abruptly, he -pivoted and, wordless, stalked from the room. - -Not speaking, Pfaff turned his cold, unblinking stare upon the second -officer. - -The man's gaze faltered; fell. He followed his fellow from the chamber. - -Now Pfaff swung round to face Dane, lumpy features aglow with unholy -triumph. Slowly, contemplatively, he scrubbed a meaty palm back and -forth through the coarse black hair that matted the opposite forearm. - -It made a whispering, scratching sort of sound that rasped Dane's -nerves worse than all the earlier verbal pyrotechnics. Uneasily, he -shifted; swallowed. - -Because strive as he might, he still couldn't remember. Not anything. - -The realization brought with it a feeling more frightening than -anything he'd ever known. It was as if the world--his private -world--had vanished, leaving him cast adrift in space blindfolded, -without landmarks or triangulation points, all orientation lost. - -The sense of helplessness that came with it was almost more than he -could bear. Sheer lack of knowledge half-paralyzed him. Desperately, he -wondered what he should do; how his role and true identity called for -him to react. - -Still gloating, Pfaff leaned back; rested his heavy hams against the -doloid table. "Well, bucko?" he prodded. - -With an effort, Dane held his voice steady. "I can't tell you what I -don't know. All those questions--I simply don't remember." - -"Nor this thing? You don't remember it, either?" - -As he spoke, the Security rep picked up the Kalquoi yat-stick from the -table and held it out for Dane's inspection. - -Frowning, Dane studied it. A good foot long, Earth measurement, and -purplish in hue, it was formed of some heavy alien metal. The basic -outline was that of a slingshot crotch--a sort of handle that forked -into two prongs to form a Y. But a bar across the top closed the fork, -and a continuation of the handle came up to meet the bar at right -angles, making a T. Bracing members from the point where the stem of -the T met the crosspiece ran to the middle of each arm of the Y, then -in their turn were joined into a triangle by another crosspiece. - -With a little imagination, Dane saw, it would be easy enough to vision -the unit in its entirety as forming a word or syllable, YAT. - -"It's a funny thing," Pfaff observed with an emphasis anything but -mirthful. "No one knows just what these gadgets are for. The best the -extraterrestial ethnologists can come up with is a lot of thes-gas -about symbolism and religious significance. That stuff I wouldn't know -about. But one thing's for sure: where you find yat-sticks, you find -Kalquoi." - -Dane made no comment. - -"This one," Pfaff pressed, extending the yat-stick, "was lying half -under you in that cave where we picked you up." - -Dane shrugged. - -"That's all you've got to say? You won't tell me any more about it?" - -"What can I tell you?" Dane came back wearily. "Don't you understand? I -don't know. I can't remember." - -The Security rep's broad face drew into a chill, expressionless mask. -His bullet-head sank deeper between his shoulders. - -"All right," he clipped harshly, flinging the yat-stick back down upon -the table. "You want it hard, I'll give it to you that way. This is a -survey ship. Start talking, or I'll have 'em throw you in the bem-tank." - -"The bem-tank--?" Dane stared. - -"Don't give me that! You know what I mean! Survey ships bring in -samples of extraterrestial life--the kind of bug-eyed monsters that -give a man nightmares even to think about. What they do to you if they -get the chance shouldn't happen to a quontab." - -A chill ran through Dane. "But I don't know--" - -"Tell it to the bems!" Already, Pfaff was jamming his thumb down on a -buzzer button. "You had your chance, you stabat! Now we'll play it my -way. You and the narcoanalyst and that vidal Nelva Guthrie--you'll see -who's got the answers!" - -Dane's panic was like a light-lance beam twisting in his midriff. -"Please--!" he choked. "Please...." - -Pfaff laughed aloud. - - * * * * * - -Dane stopped short in mid-breath. The goading, the mockery, the -pig-eyes, the harsh voice, the badgering--all these he'd taken. - -But the laugh went one step beyond his limit of endurance. - -In the fraction of a second his panic turned to roiling, boiling rage. - -What did it matter if he didn't know who he was or from whence he came? -Why should he care if his past was a blank, his future a question-mark? - -Why indeed--so long as for this one moment he had a course to follow! - -Such a course as erasing the grin from Pfaff's thick lips, for example. - -And after that--well, he'd play the other moments as they came along, -without regard for past or future. - -Savagely, then, he lunged up from the cot, straight at the -still-laughing Pfaff. - -For the barest instant the Security rep stood frozen, eyes blank with -startlement. Then, with surprising agility for his heavy-bodied bulk, -the man tried to twist aside, out of the way of Dane's rush. - -His hip hit the doloid table. He stumbled. - -Before he could recover, Dane smashed a fist home to the blubbery lips; -felt them spurt blood as they crushed against Pfaff's teeth. - -The Security rep reeled. Heart surging with fierce elation, Dane -followed up, hammering home a rain of blows to head and body alike. - -For an instant the other fell back--head down, hairy arms hugged close -to protect the bulging belly. - -But only for an instant. Then, with a harsh roar, the bullet-head came -up again. A fist like a maul swept out in a wide arc, bruising Dane's -rib-cage. Another blow caught his shoulders; rocked him back on his -heels. - -Desperately, Dane threw himself sidewise, barely clear of the other's -lunge, and let fly a rabbit-punch. - -It landed solidly, but it was still a waste of effort. Pfaff spun about -with no sign that he had even been hit, and once again, lunged for Dane. - -Taking advantage of his longer reach, Dane drove in a quick one-two to -Pfaff's face, then started to leap back, away from the other's charge. - -But this time it was he who forgot the doloid table. Careening against -it, he staggered for a moment off balance. - -The next instant Pfaff buried a fist in the pit of Dane's belly. -Retching, half-paralyzed, Dane lurched backward; slumped to the floor. - -A roar of triumph from Pfaff. He launched a kick powered to break a -man's back. - -With a tremendous heave, Dane writhed clear just in time. - -But already the Security man was kicking again--a bruising, -thigh-grazing blow that tore a choked cry from Dane's throat. In -desperation he rolled back and under the table, hoping against hope to -avoid the other's murderous feet. - -Cursing, Pfaff heaved at the table, wrenching the nearest leg clear of -its anchor bracket. "You chitza!" he panted, "I'll kill you! D'you hear -me? I'll kill you!" - -He meant it. It showed in every line and corded, bulging muscle. Stark -murder gleamed in his tiny, close-set pig-eyes ... glistened in the -flecks of bloody foam at the mouth-corners and in the sweat-greased -folds of the contorted face. - -Spasmodically, Dane dragged himself to his feet on the far side of the -wrenched, warped table. - -Panting, Pfaff tried to reach him; then, failing, clawed for the heavy -Kalquoi yat-stick that still lay on the slab between them. - -With all his might, Dane heaved at the already-sagging table. The -yat-stick slid to the floor on his side. - -Pfaff hurled himself after it bodily. Jamming him aside, Dane snatched -up the stick and swung it in a tight arc, straight for the base of the -Security rep's skull. - -Pfaff twisted and it hit--snapped--a collarbone instead. - -In the same instant the chamber's door swung open. Two space-fleet -guards gaped across the threshold. - -Face twisted with pain, clutching at his shattered clavicle, Pfaff -roared, "Get this stabat!" - - * * * * * - -Dane lunged for the doorway, swinging the yat-stick. It clipped -the first guard alongside the jaw; dropped him in his tracks. Dane -stiff-armed the second and sprinted off down the passageway. - -But as he ran, alarm bells all about began to jangle. Ahead, a spaceman -appeared as if from nowhere, paralyzer at the ready. - -Dane veered into the first cross-passage; dropped down a pneumolift to -the next level. - -More green telonium walls. More bells and guards and paralyzers. - -Lurching now, staggering, Dane stumbled onward. It was as if his -body were acting independently, without his mind's volition, for -intelligence told him flatly that there would be, could be, no escape. -Not in a closed unit like a spaceship. - -Yet here he was, still fleeing. - -Why? Why? - -Laughing, he downed another guard with the yat-stick; and even in his -own ears his mirth rang a drunken note. - -Another pneumolift. Another. And after that, a long, dim-lighted -passage. - -Dead end. - -So this was where they'd trap him. - -Only then, as he slumped to the floor, he stubbed his toe on a heavy -screw-lock; saw at last the scarlet-lidded hatch on which he squatted. - -One more barrier to put behind him. - -Wearily, he wrenched the screw-locks open; pried up the spring catch; -lifted the hatch-lid; peered down into the space beneath it. - -An unpleasant, faintly musty odor. A wall-ladder leading down into pale -grey emptiness. - -Yat-stick still in hand, Dane lowered himself gingerly through the -hatchway and let the heavy scarlet lid fall to above him, wondering as -he did so why it was painted so bright a red. - -The spring catch clicked into place. No going back now. - -Down the ladder, a rung at a time. Ten feet. Fifteen. Twenty. - -Solid decking again. Solid ... yet strangely slippery. And the -unpleasant musty smell was stronger now, too. - -Something brushed Dane's hand. Something gelatinous and clammy. - -Instinctively, he jerked back. - -His eyes were adjusting to the pale grey light now. He could see better. - -He wished he couldn't. - -Because the thing that had brushed his hand ... the slimy, gelatinous -thing that now was making the flesh crawl over every inch of his -body ... was a monstrous, many-eyed, pseudopodal horror he couldn't -even classify. - -But it could classify him, apparently; for already its amoeboid -protrusions were eddying in close to his feet with tiny, obscene -sucking noises. - -Heart pounding, blood chilling, Dane gripped the yat-stick till his -knuckles ached. At last--at last he knew why that hatch-lid overhead -had been painted such a vivid scarlet. - -It led into the spaceship's bem-tank! - - - CHAPTER III - -Even as the realization of where he stood at last burst upon Dane -with full, nerve-shattering force, the creature confronting him moved -forward, closing in about him in a half-moon arc that reached from wall -to wall. How large it was, Dane could only guess, for it extended -farther into the dimness than he could see, piling up in great, -semi-transparent folds almost as high as his head in places, like some -monstrous, shapeless jellyfish speckled with eye-spots. - -Now, while Dane watched, rigid, the creature put forth another -pseudopod. Stickily, the protuberance crept along the metal tank-wall, -closer and closer. - -A trickle of icy sweat rilled down Dane's spine. Numb, -shallow-breathed, he drew back from the advancing tentacle of -protoplasm. - -In the same instant a chill, moist, odorous Something spewed onto the -back of Dane's neck and shoulders; another pseudopod, moving in while -the first held his attention. - -With a wild yell, Dane lunged for the ladder; tried to claw his way up -it. - -But the pseudopod clung to him like some loathesome growth, part of -him. Before he could tear free of it, the living wall about him swept -in, a tide of protoplasm that in seconds mired him to the ankles ... -the knees ... the waist.... - -Dane shrieked aloud. New strength flooded through him, born of sheer -terror. Frantically, he lashed out with the yat-stick, flailing this -way and that at the encroaching extraterrestial horror that any moment -now might swallow him completely. - -But to no avail. Here and there where he struck, the monster's -jelly-like tissue quivered a little under impact. That was all. - -And still it oozed higher about him. It was to his chest now. His -armpits. - -Abruptly, Dane stopped flailing. What was the point of it, as things -stood now? The best he could hope for was a quick and easy death. - -Yet what a place to die, after all his efforts! Here, sealed away in a -spaceship's bem-tank! Chances were no one would ever so much as find -his body, nor any clue as to what had happened to him. - -Which would be a joke of sorts on Pfaff ... something to try to account -for to Nelva Guthrie and his own superiors. - -No doubt it would baffle the other man too, Dane decided--the -Being-Without-A-Name, the mind-talker who'd spent so much time and -effort trying to force subservience upon him. - -Or did that strange hairless, hollow-eyed, fiend-faced man even exist? -Thinking back over everything, Dane couldn't help but wonder. In -retrospect, a nightmare quality clung to the whole incident, as if -perhaps it were delusion, hallucination, rather than reality. - -In any case, it didn't matter, because now, dying here, he'd never -know. - -And that was too bad, in a way, because there were so many things Dane -knew in his heart he'd like to have uncovered. Things like the secret -of his own identity, his past and future ... the meaning of the shining -shaft he'd seen and that he knew was somehow bound close to his own -destiny ... the business of the Kalquoi yat-stick, and how it came to -be in the bleak asteroidal cave where the survey ship had found him. - -The gelatinous mass had reached his neck now. It wouldn't be much -longer. - -Dane laughed harshly. "Come on, damn it! Get it over with!" He wrenched -his right arm free; hurled the yat-stick out into the center of the -viscid mass attacking him. - -The ooze crept to his chin. Time stood still, every second dragging out -to an eternity. - -Dane closed his eyes. - -As if it were a signal, a rhythm seemed to start up in his brain: -_Dane ... Dane ... Dane...._ - -His own name, endlessly repeated. The beginning of a death-throe -madness, perhaps, Dane decided with a queer sense of abstraction. - -Like magic, the pattern changed: _John Dane ... John Dane ... John -Dane...._ - -In spite of himself, Dane felt a quick-glowing spark of interest. -Almost without volition, he spoke aloud: "Not John Dane. Clark Dane." - -The rhythm in his brain faltered; broke. In its place came a vague -uneasiness, a restless groping: _Clark Dane--? Clark Dane? No, no. John -Dane. JOHN Dane!_ - -"CLARK Dane," Dane reiterated firmly. - - * * * * * - -Instantly, the previous uneasiness returned, but multiplied a -hundred-fold. Needles of pain shot through his brain. The pale grey -emptiness of his prison vanished in a blaze of purple light. Even the -gelatinous sea of protoplasm enveloping Dane seemed to transmit a -sudden shiver. - -Dane opened his eyes. - -But the purple light was no pain-born illusion. Rather, it glinted even -brighter now than before. - -Its source was a crystal ... a strange, radiant crystal that floated -before Dane in mid-air. - -Now, while he watched, the purple light changed to green; then red; -then yellow. - -The crystal, too, was changing. Before his eyes, it writhed and -stretched until it was a glowing aquamarine ladder, modeled after the -one down which Dane had come into the bem-tank. - -A moment later it was a bright blue bottle; then a cerise cube; then -once again a crystal, orange and golden. - -And all the time, the turmoil in Dane's brain continued ... a chaotic, -inarticulate fumbling, based on some point of confusion between the two -names, _John_ and _Clark_. - -But despite the pain, Dane hardly noticed the groping and the -searching. He had mind only for the colored light and changing shape of -the weird crystal that hovered before him. - -For there was only one thing it could be: a Kalquoi, one of those -dreaded alien invaders who'd long since usurped the outer planets, -beyond the asteroid belt. - -Now it was here, on this ship, headed straight for Mars! - -And there was nothing he could do about it. - -As if to emphasize the point, the amoeboid monster in whose grip he -lay pushed a new pseudopod down upon Dane's head and face. Oozing, -enveloping, smothering, it pressed into every pore and orifice. - -Dane gasped for breath that would not come. Choking, jerking, -convulsing, he struggled against the mucilaginous mass that held him. - -It was like fighting quicksand. The creature would not let him -go. Fire raced through Dane's lungs. Black fog rose, clouding his -consciousness. He forgot who he was, and where he was, and even the -pulsing pain of the Kalquoi's sentient probings. - -Slowly, then faster and faster, he began to fall ... to fall.... - -Only then, of a sudden, his mouth and nose, his face, were clear again. -Spasmodically, Dane sucked air into his lungs in great, anguished gasps. - -When his knees gave way, he slumped to the slime-slick floor. - -It dawned on him dimly, then, that the monster had left him ... that he -was free and safe once more. - -Why? - -Still not quite steady, he looked out across the bem-tank; saw the -protoplasmic horror huddled in a quaking, quivering mass against the -chamber's far wall. The Kalquoi hovered above it; and when the giant -amoeba-thing made a tentative effort to ooze back in Dane's direction, -the alien assailed it with sudden, darting light-beams that seared deep -into the pseudopodal creature's tissue. - -The demonstration was enough for Dane: the Kalquoi had saved him. - -But again, why? - -It was a question without an answer--or, at least, with no answer Dane -himself could fathom. Besides, for now, it was enough that he remained -alive. Puzzles could come later. - -Meanwhile-- - -But before he could organize the thought, sound came into the tank's -stillness: the creak of screw-locks turning; the clink of a spring -catch released. - -For the barest instant the Kalquoi hovered as if listening. Then, like -a candle snuffed out, it vanished. - -Dane surged to his feet. Darting across the slippery decking, he found -the yat-stick and, snatching it up, stuffed it out of sight beneath his -tunic. - -Simultaneously, a sudden draft told him the hatch was open. Light -blazed--a brilliant beam that pinned Dane, half-blinded, to the tank's -wall. - -Yet in spite of his situation, he could not repress a momentary grin. -It would be worth a good deal of discomfort just to watch Pfaff's -reaction when he found victim alive and monster cowed! - -Then a guard called down to Dane, ordering him up the ladder and out of -the tank. Brief minutes later, two other spacemen escorted him to the -threshold of a room ornate enough for Dane to assume that it must be -the captain's office. - - * * * * * - -The door-guard ordered a halt. Beyond him, Dane could glimpse Pfaff, -standing inside the office. But the Security rep's whole manner proved -a disappointment. Far from ranting, he wore an air of sullen, savage, -inadequately-repressed fury. The thick, bruised lips were drawn tight, -the bullet-head tilted forward a fraction as if to avoid someone's gaze. - -Then the guard pushed Dane forward again, and he saw the reason for the -Security man's manner. - -For Nelva Guthrie and the spaceship's captain stood side by side across -from Pfaff. The officer, bland-faced, stared toward the far corner of -the ceiling, and Dane interpreted the way the man's mouth twisted to -mean that this was a moment long anticipated and thoroughly savored. - -But no trace of amusement showed in Nelva Guthrie's pale, lovely face. -Eyes blazing, she lanced barbed words straight at Pfaff: "--and so, in -spite of the protests of this ship's officers, you intentionally and -maliciously violated my orders, Mr. Pfaff?" - -Muttered incoherence. - -"Answer me, Mr. Pfaff!" - -"Not maliciously, I said." - -"Oh, really, Mr. Pfaff?" Nelva Guthrie's grey eyes sparked. The ash -blonde hair rippled as she tossed her head in a quick, impatient -movement. "What would you call it, then, when you abuse a man to the -point that he takes refuge in a bem-tank, after I've particularly -emphasized it's vital not to upset him?" - -A mumble. - -"Speak up, Mr. Pfaff!" - -"All right, I will!" All at once the other seemed to have lost all -control over his temper. The massive shoulders hunched forward; the -lumpy face thrust out, bold and belligerent, in the manner of the -Pfaff whom Dane remembered. "I wanted to know how come this chitza got -stranded on that asteroid. I still do, and I'm going to find out, even -with you here." - -"Indeed?" - -"You bet indeed! You think Security moves over for every little -bobtailed slazot out of Records? I'm rep on this ship, and I'm labeling -this whole business as Security jurisdiction! You don't like it, you -can state your case to Thorburg Jessup!" - -Color came to the girl's cheeks. Her voice, icy calm, dropped even -lower than before. "How old do you think I am, Mr. Pfaff?" - -"How old--?" The Security rep stared; stumbled. "How should I know? -What's that got to do with this?" - -"You'll see. Meanwhile, please make an estimate." - -"Well ... maybe twenty-five." - -"You're quite close. I'm twenty-six." - -"So?" - -"So how many twenty-six-year-old women do you know who are supervisors -of planetary record centers?" - -Pfaff's mouth opened, then closed again with no word uttered. - -Nelva Guthrie said, "Some men, Mr. Pfaff, might deduce from this that -such a woman has certain--contacts." - -The Security agent still held his silence. - -"In my case," the girl went on, "the contacts are more than adequate." -A slight tightening of the lips. "Mr. Jessup no doubt will tell you all -about it when he calls you." - -Pfaff's broad face went suddenly slack. The close-set eyes drew down to -gimlets. "What do you mean, damn you?" - -"I mean you've finally over-reached yourself, Mr. Pfaff," Nelva Guthrie -retorted icily. "Devotion to duty's one thing, self-glorification -another. Not even Security will back a man who's so eager for -advancement as to endanger a vital project in the remote hope he can -bully his way through to personal credit." - -"But--Jessup--" - -"Why would he call you, you mean?" Nelva Guthrie looked the image -of wide-eyed innocence. "Why, to relieve you, of course, Mr. Pfaff. -Orders are already cleared for your suspension as Security rep for an -indefinite period. You unload as soon as the ship ramps down on Mars." - -Finality on a level that forbade dispute or question was in the girl's -voice and manner. She turned from Pfaff; faced Dane for the first time. - -It was a strange moment for him. For as he looked into her eyes, -in that first fraction of a second, he saw things paradoxical, -things wholly unexpected ... discernment, warmth, concern, a tender -questioning. - -It rocked Dane back, almost unbelieving. - -Then the moment faded, as if a blind had snapped shut somewhere behind -the clear grey eyes. Smiling, yet brisk and businesslike, Nelva crossed -to him and extended a slim, firm hand. "Mr. Dane, I can't tell you how -happy I am to see you. The Mars Record Center definitely considers -itself fortunate to have the opportunity to study your case at first -hand." - -Wryly, Dane matched her smile. "I'm hardly uninterested myself." - -"The sooner we get to it, the better, then. My carrier's waiting." - -Nelva's smile was ever so bright. Yet looking from her to the -bland-faced spaceship captain and sullen-eyed, hate-glowering Pfaff, -Dane felt a sudden, swift wave of uneasiness. - -This business--somehow, it was all too neatly organized, too smooth. - -But there was nothing he could do about it. Not now; not till he knew -more. - -"All right with me," he shrugged. "Let's go." - -Did the blind behind Nelva's eyes flicker for the barest instant? He -wondered. - -"Good!" Impulsively, it seemed, she caught his hand. "This way--" - -Wordless, taut-nerved, looking neither to right nor left, Dane walked -with her from the room. - - - CHAPTER IV - -It was quiet, here in Nelva Guthrie's office in the Record Center. She -said, "It takes a few minutes for the cell-sheets to come through, Mr. -Dane, and I know you must be tired. Why don't you lie down on the couch -while we're waiting?" - -"Thanks. I will." Gratefully, Dane stretched out; drank in the cool -greens and soft blues of the decor. The climatizer's rhythmic whisper -lulled him. - -Yet restful though it all was, complete relaxation somehow would not -come. In spite of all his efforts, Dane found himself heir to twitching -muscles, sudden tensings. Half a dozen times, he caught himself -watching Nelva sidewise as she checked through a pile of papers, as if -he were afraid to leave her unobserved. - -Why? Because he felt drawn to her as a woman? Because he feared that -she might slip away? - -Or, because the contrast between the mask of distance she now wore, -as compared to the things he'd seen when their eyes first met, was so -marked as to make him permanently wary, unwilling to trust her? - -The thought set irritation pricking at him. Abruptly, he sat up. "It's -no use." - -"To try to rest, you mean, when you don't know who you are or where you -come from?" - -"That's right." Dane spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Why -should I be the first man in more than a hundred years to have this -happen to him? You said yourself amnesia's been wiped out." - -"True enough," the woman nodded, ash-blonde hair shimmering. "In your -case, however, some rather unusual factors complicate the picture." - -Dane frowned. "What kind of factors?" - -For a long moment Nelva studied him, as if debating. Then, at last, -she said, "I guess there's no real harm in telling you. The reason we -know you're a victim of amnesia is because the survey ship's psychman -ran a narcoanalysis on you. And what you thought was a perception test, -downstairs here, was really a hypnoanalysis to check the psychman's -findings." - -"So?" - -"The results were most interesting. For one thing, you didn't respond -to treatment. Amnesia's an adaptive reaction to inner conflict, a -sort of hysterical inhibition. When the inhibition's released by the -Egrisanto technique, under deep analysis, ordinarily the block to -memory goes with it, and recall returns." Nelva ran a slim forefinger -along the edge of her papers; eyed Dane. "Do you follow me?" - -Dane nodded slowly. "I think so." - -"Then you'll understand how it startled me when I found no trace of -any real inhibition, no sensitive areas you were trying to protect." -Nelva spread her hands. "As a matter of fact you reacted freely on -every subject covered by the standard tests. And you showed a rather -remarkable fund of information on virtually every topic." - -Dane groped. "Then what--?" - -"Don't you see? You're holding back nothing--yet there's not even the -slightest hint as to where that knowledge came from! It's almost as if -you were a robot, with built-in reaction patterns and knowledge tapes -instead of a human brain." - -A chill ran through Dane. He sat very still. - -What was it the fiend-faced man, the Being-Without-A-Name, had said to -him in those first delirious moments of his awareness that now seemed -so long ago?--"Bow down to your creator?" - -Involuntarily, Dane shuddered. - -Nelva said, "You're thinking about your dream, aren't you? About how -the man said he'd created you?" Her voice was warm with sympathy. - -Dane looked up sharply. "How did you know--?" - -"Simple logic. The analysis gave me all the things in your mind--about -the man with the hairless skull who was your master, and the silver -needle, and the Kalquoi. When I mentioned robots, it was almost certain -to make you think about--the man." - -"Oh." - -"You don't need to worry, either. You're not a robot. Robots don't have -feelings. Besides, the celloscope would have shown it if you were. As -for the rest--the shaft--the Kalquoi--I imagine they're some sort of -delusion. Tied in with your amnesia, perhaps--specialized situations -the standard tests weren't geared to touch." - -"I see." Dane studied his knuckles. - -Yet what did he see? What, really? He wondered. - -Certainly not that the fiend-faced man and the silver needle and the -Kalquoi were delusions! - -For as Nelva talked, her words had come faster and faster. A new note -had crept into her voice--a note of tension. And now, as he watched her -obliquely, he became acutely aware that her fingers were all at once -ever so restless. Her lips showed a minute tendency to tremble, also, -and the grey eyes stayed clear of him, as if the things she said were -creating some under-current of conflict in her that she feared to let -him see. - - * * * * * - -Dane's jaw tightened. Breathing carefully, evenly, he thought back once -again to the way the girl had first looked at him--and then, how the -blinds had come down, shutting him out. - -How could he trust this woman, while that hidden barrier in her eyes -still stood between them? How dared he throw aside all suspicion, all -caution, so long as she held back secrets? - -No; at root the dilemma still was his, and always would be. Not even -Nelva Guthrie could share it with him. He had no choice but to go his -own road, fight through to his private destiny. - -And what better time to start than now? - -Tight-lipped, he said, "All this is fine. But it looks to me like it's -going in a circle." - -Nelva's hands moved nervously. Her eyes opened a trifle wider than -seemed normal. "A circle--?" - -"You claim I've got amnesia, don't you? Only then you tell me I don't -react right for it." Dane laughed, harsh and curt. "To me, that says -we're getting nowhere." - -A knock broke off the conversation. Quickly, as if relieved at the -interruption, Nelva crossed the room and opened the door. - -A uniformed tech held out a plastic cylinder. "Here's that cell-sheet, -Miss Guthrie." - -"Good!" There was an air of relief in the way Nelva said it. She turned -to Dane; gestured triumphantly with the cylinder. "This is the answer -to your problems, Clark! Your cellemental analysis sheet! Come on!" - -Shrugging, Dane fell in beside her. He wondered wryly how he had so -suddenly been promoted to first-name status. - -Nelva was still talking: "A cell-sheet's proof positive of identity, -Clark. By Federation law, one's made for every human at birth, -everywhere among the inner planets. All records on that person then are -filed under the cell-sheet's pattern. So you won't be a lost soul much -longer. Two minutes after we put this cylinder into the interplanetary -index system, we'll know everything there is to know about you...." - -They were in another room now--a long, narrow room through which busy -techs hurried. The walls on either side were banked solid, floor to -ceiling, with varicolored index flashers. A black, box-like unit, -shoulder-high, occupied the center of the floor. Beyond it, at the -room's far end, double doors like those through which Dane and Nelva -had just entered provided a second exit. - -"This way," Nelva commanded briskly. Leading Dane to the box-like unit, -she flipped open one of a row of hinged cases lining each edge, fitted -Dane's cell-sheet onto a spool, closed the lid once more, and pressed a -button. - -She kept up a running fire of small-talk as she worked. It came out -just a trifle too animated. Dane decided her primary purpose was to -forestall embarrassing questions rather than to convey data. - -Now she pointed to a slot below the cylinder-spool. "This is the -place, Clark. And in just two minutes!" - -In spite of himself, Dane couldn't tear his eyes from the slot. - -Seconds, ticking by ... dragging out to what seemed eons.... - -Then a bell rang, a single sharp, imperative note. A card spilled from -the slot. - -It seemed to Dane for an instant as if Nelva had stiffened. A nearby -tech looked up sharply. - -But already Nelva's hand was darting out. Deftly, she caught the -card before it reached the tray and, turning, studied it. Whether by -accident or design, her body shielded the record so Dane couldn't see -it. When he would have stepped round her, she flipped the card over and -stood scrutinizing the punch-marks and code-symbols on the reverse side. - -With an effort, Dane held his voice level. "Well? What does it say?" - -"Say--? Oh, it--it tells the file we have to send to for your records." - -But Nelva's voice shook. Her face had paled. Tight-lipped, Dane -body-blocked her against the machine and snatched the card from her; -turned it over. - -The legend's top line was printed in red letters a good inch tall: - - NO RECORD - -And then, smaller, beneath it: - - HOLD SUBJECT IN TOP SECURITY ISOLATION PENDING INTENSIVE - INVESTIGATION AND APPROPRIATE TESTS FOR PSYCHOPATHY, CRIMINALITY, - AND/OR POSSIBLE KALQUOI CONNECTIONS. - - - CHAPTER V - -Words on a card. That was all they were. But they spelled an end to -hope. - -Numbly, Dane looked at Nelva. - -White to the lips, she dodged his gaze. - -But beyond her, over by the door through which they'd entered, a man -who wore a guard's uniform had suddenly appeared and now stood to one -side, scanning the index-chamber. - -While Dane watched, two more guards joined the first. - -Dane crowded close to Nelva. His words came out a raw whisper: "Those -guards--are they after me?" - -She didn't answer. - -Dane's belly knotted. His hands shook. - -But he couldn't afford the luxury of cracking. Not now, of all times. - -No. The only course open now was to follow desperation's dictates. - -Psychopath? Criminal? Kalquoi agent? - -If those were his labels, he might as well live up to them! - -Grimly, he let his hand brush the heavy yat-stick still concealed -beneath his tunic; forced his face into the caricature of a grin as he -gazed at Nelva. - -The girl seemed scarcely to be breathing. - -Dane said softly, "We're getting out of this place. You and me, -together. We're going to walk through the entry door at the far end of -this room. Understand?" - -Nelva's eyes distended, wide with sudden panic. Her mouth started to -open. - -Dane caught her wrist in a savage grip; twisted so sharply she came -forward on tiptoe, face drawn with pain. "Scream and I'll break your -arm!" - -Only the faintest flicker of Nelva's lids indicated that she'd heard -him. But she turned as he did under the pressure on her wrist and moved -with him in the direction of the doorway. - -Behind them, a loud voice cried, "Hey, there!" - -Dane flung a quick glance back; glimpsed the guards starting towards -him. - -With a curse, he shoved Nelva forward, ahead of him, in a frantic dash -for the door. - -They made it in a rush. Heeling the panel shut in the faces of his -pursuers, Dane wheeled right down the corridor. - -But even as he turned, he came face to face with yet another guard, -charging up the hall straight at him. - -Savagely, Dane flung Nelva aside. Clawing out the yat-stick, he smashed -its heavy head to the pit of the man's stomach. - -The guard bent double. Bowling him out of the way, Dane pivoted, braced -for attack or flight alike. - -Yet to what end? In his heart, he knew it would be the same here as on -the spaceship. Sooner or later, his adversaries would hunt him down; -trap him.... - -Then, off to his left, a voice cried, "Clark! This way--!" - -Nelva's voice. - -Dane whirled; glimpsed the girl beckoning frantically from an alcove. -Sprinting to her, he crowded past a door that she held open, and into a -cramped, shadowy chamber beyond. - -"Now, here...." Nelva's hand caught his, leading him onward. - -Another door. Another. A room piled high with stored furniture and -equipment. - -Nelva said, "You can hide here for a little while. After that...." Her -voice trailed off. She was breathing hard. - -Dane said, "I'm tired of hiding. It gets me nowhere." - -The girl's grey eyes widened. "But--what--?" - -"Which way to your analytical computer?" - -"Analytical computer--?" Nelva looked bewildered. "What computer? What -are you talking about?" - -"You know what I mean!" Dane bared his teeth. "Every planetary record -center's built around one. It's the gadget that organizes your -information, sorts out your data, makes your decisions when you've got -too many complicating factors for a human mind to handle." He laughed -harshly. "That's me, right now. I'm up against too many complicating -factors. So I'm going to ask your computer for some answers." - - * * * * * - -Nelva stared at him incredulously. "Are you mad, Clark? At best, we've -a few minutes' freedom for you. No more. Any moment, Security may send -someone in here--" - -"That's why I won't wait for them!" Dane came back fiercely. "Sure, -you saved my neck, dragging me in here. I'm grateful for it. But not -so grateful I'm willing to stand waiting till someone hunts me down." -He hammered a clenched fist into his palm. "No, damn it! I'll do some -of the hunting this time. And that starts with some questions for your -computer!" - -"But what--?" - -"What questions?" Dane laughed again. "Can't you guess? I want to -know that man who claimed I was his slave. About the silver needle. -The Kalquoi. Who I am; why I can't remember anything; how it is I've -no record in your files. Maybe even about you and what you're up to. -Things like that, a lot of them." - -New lines etched Nelva's lovely face. "Clark, you can't!" - -"Can't I?" Dane paced the floor. "Take me there and we'll see whether I -can or not!" - -"No, no! You don't understand." Nelva's hands moved in a gesture of -frustration. "It's just not that easy to use an analytical computer." - -Dane stopped his pacing. He frowned. "How's that?" - -"For one thing, the machine's self-limiting. It covers only certain -areas of information, likely to be needed here on Mars. But your -questions aren't localized." - -"Give me an example." - -"The Kalquoi. They're a menace to all the inner planets, not just Mars. -So when you ask about them, the only answer our machine will give you -is a referral to the big System Computer on Luna." - -"Go on." - -"Even setting up a question properly can take weeks. You have to be -sure it's framed within the machine's limitations. Take this man you -talk about. I wouldn't begin to know how to key a query on him, with -nothing to start from but your verbal description of an emotionalized -visual image." - -"I see." - -"It's the same with the silver needle. How do you classify it--as art, -armament, or industrial equipment?" - -Dane nodded slowly. "You make a good case, Nelva." And then: "But I'll -still have a try at it. Let's go!" - -The girl stared at him, and before his eyes the shreds of her earlier -composure vanished. "Clark, I won't let you do it!" - -Wordless, Dane reached for her arm. - -She didn't even try to jerk back. Her words came in a rush: "Clark, you -don't understand! Security keeps guards on all computers--a special -unit of Thorburg Jessup's private zombies. They'd capture you or kill -you before you even got close to the question boards--" - -"That would make a difference to you?" - -"Can I say it any plainer?" The girl's lips trembled. She caught -Dane's hand between hers. "I won't let them get you, Clark! I won't! -That's why I'm telling you these things; why I've tried to help you. -We'll find some place to hide you, somehow, where even Security can't -find you--" - -"Sorry, Nelva." Dane shook his head. "I'm not fool enough to think I -can hide from Security, even if I wanted to. And as for what you say -about the computer--well, this is my day to see things for myself." - -Nelva drew back. Her nostrils were flaring, yet she seemed closer to -tears than anger. "You don't trust me!" - -"That's right. I don't." Dane made it flat and brutal. - -"But I--I've helped you...." - -"Right again. But the way things stack up, I'm not sure why. So till -I know for sure, I'll play it my way." Dane bit down hard, fighting -down all impulses to warmth and tenderness. "We'll have a look at that -computer now." - -"Clark, wait--!" - -"Well?" - -"You won't have to go to the computer. I--I'll tell you--" - -Nelva broke off raggedly. She was breathing too fast, and her eyes held -a strange, wild look. - -Dane stared. "You'll tell me what?" - -"About the silver shaft, the needle. That's the only one of your -questions I know anything about." The girl came up against him; -clung to him, her face an anguished mask. "I wasn't lying about the -computer, either, Clark. It is guarded by those awful creatures -Jessup's biochemists have bred in the Mercury labs. You wouldn't stand -a chance against them. That's why I couldn't let you go there. They're -completely ruthless--all duty conditioning, not a trace of human -feeling in any of them--" - -"Forget about that!" Dane gripped her arms. "Tell me about the shaft. -That's what I want to know!" - -"It's--it's on Callisto...." - -"Callisto--?" Dane stared. "That's Kalquoi territory, isn't it?" - -"Yes, of course. They occupied it when they took over the outer planets -thirty years ago." - -"Then the shaft--" - -"--is a relic of the days just before the occupation," Nelva finished -for Dane. "It was a weapon, Clark--a weapon set up at Sandoz, the chief -human city on Callisto. The Sandoz Shaft, they called it. Only then it -didn't work, so people ended up saying it was the Sandoz Tombstone. -It's mentioned in all the Kalquoi Invasion knowledge tapes. That's how -I know about it." - - * * * * * - -Prickles of excitement ran up and down Dane's spine. For the first time -he began to feel as if he were making progress, coming to grips with -the mysteries which seemed ever to surround him. - -"Do you know any more about the thing?" he demanded of Nelva. "How was -it supposed to work? What went wrong?" - -The girl's smooth brow furrowed in concentration. "As I recall, the -shaft was nothing but a gigantic Udellian transmitter." - -"A Udellian transmitter--?" - -"Yes. Back when the Kalquoi first came to our system, someone -discovered that high-frequency Udellian waves kept them from changing -shape or swallowing up things. And if the amplification was strong -enough, the waves would even shatter the crystals, the Kalquoi bodies. -That was the whole idea behind the shaft: to destroy the Kalquoi if -they tried to attack Sandoz." - -"And what happened?" - -Nelva shrugged slim shoulders. "I'm not enough of a tech in that field -to tell you, really. But as I understand it, it turned out that the -shaft was one of those things that works fine when you hold the size -down to a laboratory model." - -"But when they increased the size it wouldn't work?" - -"That's right," Nelva nodded. "It seems that when the transmitter got -beyond a certain size, the amount of power it took climbed way out of -proportion--so much so the available broadcast relay equipment couldn't -even activate the shaft, let alone make it effective against the -Kalquoi." - -"So?" - -"So the Kalquoi came, and Sandoz--all Callisto--was abandoned." Nelva -lifted her hands in a small, sad gesture. "That's all I know, Clark. -Every bit." - -Dane nodded slowly. - -Nelva said, "I'm afraid that's the way it may turn out with all your -questions. There won't be any answers--not real answers; not the kind -that can help you. That's why I'm so anxious to see to it Security -doesn't find you." - -Dane pondered her words for a long, dragging moment. Finally he asked, -"Where's that carrier you picked me up in?" - -The girl shot him a quick glance. "The carrier--?" And then: "Why, on -the roof here, I guess. But of course it's just short-range--" - -"Do you think we could get to it?" - -"Perhaps." Nelva studied him thoughtfully. "Surely you're not really -thinking of trying to get away from Security in a carrier, are you?" - -Dane grinned, a trifle thinly. "You never can quite tell about me, can -you?" He let the grin develop into a chuckle. "How do we get up there, -anyhow?" - -"There's a pneumolift. Right through this door...." But though Nelva -led the way, a shadow lay across her face that might have been -irritation, or bafflement, or both. - -It was strangely quiet in the building, it seemed to Dane. Especially -considering there was a full-scale Security search for him in progress. - -He tried not to think about it. He was tense enough as it was, without -letting his imagination run riot. - -Obliquely, he stole a glance at Nelva Guthrie, beside him in the lift. - -The shadow across her face had vanished. Now the girl seemed almost -placid. It was as if, in her eyes, everything was going precisely -according to plan. - - * * * * * - -Dane smiled to himself a little at the thought ... wondered how long -she'd be able to hold to her complacency. - -The pneumolift eased to a halt. Warily, Dane followed Nelva out ... -moved after her through the shadows to the carrier station. - -Still no guards, no interruption. - -A carrier, poised in its launching-rack, sleek-lined and graceful. - -"There it is," Nelva whispered, gesturing. "Just be careful. It can't -carry you much beyond the gravitational pull. You may end up playing -tag with Phobos and Deimos!" - -Dane noted that she stood well back, deep in the cover of the -platform-beams. - -Brooding, again he studied the carrier, so notably unguarded. - -The silence echoed so loud it was making the skin along the back of his -neck prickle. - -Quite deliberately, then, he crossed to the cargo ramp, making it a -point to follow the shadows, close in to the platform-beams. - -A stack of loading-cases stood beside the ramp. Pausing briefly, Dane -glanced back to where Nelva still stood craning to watch him. - -Then, with no warning, he whirled and threw his whole weight against -the high-stacked cases. - -For a moment they tottered on the ramp's edge. Then, with a crash like -cataclysm incarnate, they tumbled down in an avalanche of ringing metal. - -But even as they fell, Dane leaped back into the shadows once again. In -a rush, he spanned the distance between him and Nelva. - -She stared at him wide-eyed, mouth agape. - -But only for a moment. For then, as water spews from a geyser, the -carrier erupted guards--three of them. - -From the level below, too, came the sound of running feet, converging -on the cargo ramp. - -Beside Dane, Nelva whispered, "What is it? What's happening?" - -"A trap." Dane laughed harshly. "But of course you wouldn't know -anything about that." - -The girl's nostrils flared. "Are you trying to say something?" - -For a moment Dane leaned forward, not answering. - -Then, as the last of the guards disappeared down the cargo ramp, he -spun about, swept the girl up bodily over his shoulder, and headed for -the carrier at a dead run. - -He was already on the loading ladder before the first shout of -discovery arose behind him. - -Inside, now. The hatch slammed shut. The launching lever pulled. - -A sudden, swift sense of acceleration. Then the easing off as equalizer -pressure rose to match it. In the viewer, Mars fell away beneath them. - -Dane glanced at Nelva Guthrie. - -She stood beside him, the lovely oval of her face a study in pallor. -Her fingers trembled as she smoothed the ash-blonde hair, and fear -flickered in the grey eyes. - -"Clark, where are we going?" Her voice came out a ragged whisper. -"Don't you realize they're sure to catch us?" - -"Are they?" Dane chuckled grimly. - -"Of course. They'll have every landing-platform covered." - -Dane laughed again. It was incredible, how well he suddenly felt, all -things considered. "Not ours they won't cover!" And then: "Because damn -it, we're going straight to Callisto!" - - - CHAPTER VI - -Dane stretched the little carrier's resources to the limit, pushing it -as far out from Mars as he could coax it. - -Then, at last, when the craft was well established in a satellite -orbit, between Phobos and Deimos and beyond all peril from the mother -planet's gravitational pull, he cut the power, turned to the emergency -distress-call communicator unit, and switched it on. - -He knew Nelva's eyes were on him, even before he swung round to face -her once again. It pleased him, how baffled she looked. But her lips -stayed set in a thin, straight line--a memento of some of the things -he'd said after the take-off--so he knew she wouldn't speak till he -did. - -"All right," he grinned, "what do you give me for our chances now, my -dear Miss Mars Record Center Supervisor Guthrie?" - -The line of her mouth drew even tighter. So, after a moment, he let -drive with another needle: "Or maybe, as an expert on problems and -solutions, you don't want to give a dangerous Kalquoi agent like me the -benefit of your professional opinion?" - -That did it. Dane could see the girl's knuckles whiten. Her eyes -flashed, more ice-blue now than grey. - -"You're a fool, Clark Dane!" she burst out furiously. "Once that -signal's picked up, Security's sure to have patrol ships here within an -hour!" - -"Maybe." Dane permitted himself the luxury of grim humor. - -"No maybe! You know it's true!" - -"Or, maybe not," Dane went on, with no heed to Nelva's interruption. -"It might even be Security won't pay the first bit of attention to it." -He shot a sidelong glance at the girl. "Would you like to ask me why?" - -A moment of obvious, barely-repressed fury. Then: "Why?" - -"Because not even a Kalquoi agent would be fool enough to try to get -clear of Mars in a four-place carrier." Dane leaned back; stretched. -"No; Security's not going to be looking up here for us. Not when -they've got all those landing-platforms down below to cover." - -It did him good to see the way Nelva's jaw slackened. - -"Of course," he observed wryly, "that opens up another question, too, -doesn't it?" - -"Another question--?" - -"Yes, you know: the question about how you and I are going to get to -Callisto." - -The last of the anger-lines vanished from Nelva's lovely face. Her lips -parted, breathless with interest. "Tell me, Clark! Have you really -devised a way to do it?" - -"I think so." Dane paused, letting the moment's tension build up. And -then: "Only of course that's no sign I'll tell you about it and give -you a chance to sour it." - -As knife-twisting, it came off very satisfactorily. Nelva's face went -white as if he'd slapped it. Her eyes turned blank, hurt-emptied. - -Inside, Dane cringed a little. Of a sudden he felt cheap, ashamed he'd -resorted to such pettiness even in anger. Miserably, he turned to the -viewer and rotated its field, searching the void about him. - -But before he could so much as complete the circuit, the proximity -magnetron's gong tolled brassily. Whipping round the viewer's field -in the indicated direction, Dane discovered the cylindrical bulk of a -cargo ship wheeling towards the carrier. While he watched, the pickup -bay's gate slid back. Receiver racks swung out and clamped onto the -smaller craft, then retracted once more, lifting the carrier into the -yawning bay as the gate slid closed. - -Dane ran his tongue along lips gone suddenly dry. - -But now it was too late to turn back. Pushing up from his seat, he -stepped quickly across to Nelva. - -Something in his gaze must have warned her. Eyes wide with panic, she -tried to jump up and scramble clear. - -Timing his blow with cool deliberation, Dane drove a hard right to the -point of her jaw. - -The girl's head snapped back. She crumpled with an unhinged limpness -that almost made Dane ill. - -But com-box blared in the same instant: "Carrier! What's your trouble? -Can you open your hatches or shall we cut our way in?" - -It broke Dane's spell. Snapping on the carrier's box, he bent close: -"I've got a girl aboard here. She's hurt pretty bad. You'd better -come prepared to take her off. As to the how and why of it all--well, -probably the best thing would be to have your captain come in first -and look it over." - -"The captain--!" The spaceship's amplifier squawked protestingly. -"Listen, mister--" - -"To hell with that! You listen!" Dane tried to match the harsh -belligerence of the performance Pfaff, the Security rep, had given -aboard the survey ship. "I've got the kind of trouble here it's going -to take top rank to handle, and I'm not going to waste time talking -about it, either. Just see that your captain's the first man to come -aboard this carrier. If he's not, I won't take responsibility for -anything that happens--and plenty will, believe me!" - - * * * * * - -Dane snapped off the carrier's com-box as he finished. Wryly, he -wondered what the spaceship's officers would conjure up as being the -situation aboard the carrier. Certainly he'd given them no grounds for -peace of mind! - -But now it was time for him to prepare to receive the captain. Taking -the yat-stick from beneath his tunic, he wrapped it hastily in loose -plastic strips torn from the carrier's sleeper sheaths till it made a -bundle about the same size and shape as his own head. - -Then a knocking at the hatch told him his visitor had arrived. -Gripping the bundle containing the yat-stick firmly beneath his arm, -Dane levered open the hatch-cover and looked out gravely at the little -knot of men who stood waiting on the spaceship's transfer platform. -"Which one of you's the captain?" - -A tall, thin, horse-faced officer with coarse grey hair, protruding -eyes and an uncertain manner gestured diffidently. "Well, I am. Einar -Helstrom. Captain Helstrom, that is...." - -"Good." Dane tried to look even more solemn than before. "Captain, this -is the kind of emergency that's for your eyes alone. I wouldn't want to -expose anyone else to it till you've passed judgment." - -He stepped aside as he spoke. After a moment's uncertainty and nervous -shifting from foot to foot, Captain Helstrom in his turn swung aboard -and uneasily stepped down into the carrier's passenger compartment. - -As he did so, Nelva Guthrie moaned. - -The captain tripped over his own feet getting to one side. Eyes seeming -to protrude even more than usual, he peered down at the prostrate girl, -then turned to Dane. "What--what is it? What's the matter?" - -Dane shrugged. "A little fainting spell. She'll be all right in a -few minutes. But this"--a brief pause while he held out the package -containing the yat-stick ... "is something else again." - -Captain Helstrom eyed the package fearfully. "What's in it?" - -Dane returned the bundle to its place tight-clamped beneath his arm -before answering. Then, quite deliberately and with an almost academic -manner, he asked, "Captain, do you know what a proton grenade is?" - -"A proton grenade--!" The captain's jaw dropped, lengthening his face -so that he looked more like a horse than ever. "Not those things they -tried out against the Kalquoi once, you don't mean? Not the ones that -could tear a whole ship apart from just a little hand-bomb?" - -He backed away with little teetering steps as he spoke, halting only -when he bumped against the wall of the carrier's cabin. - -"That's right," Dane nodded. "Have you ever seen one?" And then, -shoving forward the yat-stick package and stripping away the outer -layer of plastic till the T's crossbar was revealed: "See, here's the -trigger-release mechanism--" - -"Please, mister!" Helstrom croaked, bony hands spread as -he tried to push Dane back. "Please, I don't want to see nothing. -Nothing!" - -"Well, if you don't want to...." Scowling irritably, as if -disappointed, Dane wadded the plastic back over the end of the -yat-stick. "You know who I am, captain?" - -"N-no." - -"Clark Dane, that's what they call me. Security's after me." - -The captain's eyes bugged even further, and his Adam's apple moved up -and down. He didn't speak. - -Dane went on: "They thought they had me, down on Mars. I got away, -though. Dug this"--he patted his bundle grimly--"out of a Security -arsenal to bring with me." - -The horse-face worked. The coarse grey hair appeared close to standing -on end. - -Dane scowled more ferociously than ever--as much to keep from laughing -himself as to impress the captain. There was something so intrinsically -absurd about the whole situation that he knew that one misstep would -carry him over into gails of wild, hysterical mirth. - -"Captain," he clipped tightly, "how'd you like to have me blow up this -ship?" - -Whatever it was the captain answered, Dane couldn't understand it. He -pressed on: "There's just one way to save yourself, captain. That's -to take me where I want to go. Because even if you hit me from -behind--stun me, kill me--this grenade will still go off. The trigger's -already free. This wrapping's the only thing that's holding it." - -The captain gulped--a hollow, dyseptic sound. "Wh-where do you want to -go?" he asked finally. - -Dane grinned. "Callisto." - -"Callisto!" The grey hair was certainly sticking straight out now. -"Mister, why don't you talk about Alpha Centauri or the Coalsack? -They'd be every bit as easy!" - -"Oh?" - -"Security's got the Belt guarded like a vault. They'd brain-drain us -before we were half-way through." - -"You could set the guides for Callisto before we hit the Belt, couldn't -you?" - -"A computer-guide ramping on a satellite clear on the other side of -the Asteroid Belt, with Jupiter's gravity pull to figure for?" Captain -Helstrom shuddered. "Mister, you don't know what you're asking me for. -Better to blow up your bomb now and be done with it!" - -"Fair enough, if that's the way you feel about it," Dane agreed. He -started to unwrap the yat-stick. - -As if on springs, Helstrom sprang at him. "No, no, mister! I didn't -mean it! We'll go; we'll go!" - -Bleakly, Dane nodded. "I thought you might see it that way. So let's -get started. And just for safety's sake, to make sure you don't change -your mind--I'll stay right in your astrogation chamber with you!" - - - CHAPTER VII - -Ahead, the belt began to take form on the visiscreen--a patternless, -ever-shifting array of hundreds of asteroids of every size and shape, -all gleaming bright against the black-velvet backdrop of the void as -they wheeled slowly through their far-flung orbits. - -The vastness of it brought a sense of awe to Clark Dane. - -Awe, mixed with despondency and depression. - -What chance did one man stand, trying to pick up the thin, tenuous -thread of his destiny in this trackless chasm that was outer space? -How could he hope to find identity, in a gulf so boundless that whole -worlds were forever lost? - -He'd been mad even to think--to dream--of choosing such a course. - -Yet had he really chosen it? Was it truly his own will that had brought -him to this moment? - -Bleakly, he wondered; and as he did so, the old, infuriating sense of -being a pawn in all he did ... driven by another, larger will ... -swept over him once more. - -Was he really a slave, thrall to the hairless man, the -Being-Without-A-Name? Was it some darkly subtle conditioning, rather -than his own impulses, that drove him? - -Again--always; forever--Dane wondered.... - -But now, abruptly, the ship's com-box came to life to interrupt him: -"Cargo Vessel 214XB7! Cargo Vessel 214XB7!" - -It brought Dane back to the here-and-now--the cramped, -instrument-banked, astrogation chamber of the spaceship. Gripping the -yat-stick package tighter than ever, he tore his eyes from the wonders -spread on the visiscreen and once again looked on horse-faced Captain -Helstrom and pale, silent, tight-lipped Nelva Guthrie. - -The com-box blared again: "Cargo Vessel 214XB7! Acknowledge, Cargo -Vessel 214XB7!" - -"That's us," the grey-haired captain grunted. He started to reach for -the switch to the ship's own communicator unit. - -Dane caught his arm. "No." - -"What--?" The captain's protruding eyes fixed on Dane uneasily. "You -can't just ignore that call, mister. That's a Security blockade -station. Stall 'em and they'll throw their brain-drain on you!" - -Dane laughed harshly. "They'll do it anyhow, won't they, when they -find we're heading through the Belt?" - -The captain's Adam's apple bobbed. His narrow horse-face drew longer -than ever. "Well ... yes, I guess so." - -"Get ready for it, then. Set your guides." - -"On Callisto...?" - -"On Callisto." - -A shudder ran through the captain. "You ever been brain-drained, -mister?" - -"No." - -"Well, I have, and it ain't fun. You're out of control. Completely." - -A tiny chill touched the nape of Dane's neck. Out of the corner of his -eye he could see Nelva watching him--the first hint she'd given that -she knew he existed since they'd reached the astrogation chamber. - -Once more, the com-box: "What the devil's the matter with you, 214? -This is Security talking! We want an acknowledgment right now! You're -already into blockade area. Wheel around fast, back away from the Belt, -or we'll slap a drain on you!" - -Another voice--this one from the amplifier of the ship's own -communications network: "Captain Helstrom! Security's trying to get -you! They say you're headed into the Belt! Is something wrong? Your -door's locked. We can't get in to you...." - -Dane ran his tongue along his lips. He could feel his companions' eyes -upon him. The tension in the astrogation chamber was soaring higher -every second. - -"Cargo Vessel 214XB7, this is a last warning! Acknowledge this call and -turn back at once! Failure to comply within thirty seconds will result -in disabling dynamoencephalolytic action! Repeat, failure to comply -within thirty seconds will result in disabling dynamoencephalolytic -action...." - -The captain and Nelva Guthrie, staring ... gleaming pinpoints on a -darkened visiscreen ... a silver shaft and a hairless ghoul who laughed -and laughed.... - -Dane sucked in air. "Are your guides set, Captain?" - -"Computer guides set." Resignation and despair mixed in the greying -officer's voice. - -"For Callisto?" - -"For Callisto." - -Seconds, ticking by. Dane counted them as they passed. - -Fifteen to go. Ten. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.... - -Nothing happened. Frowning, Dane started to turn to Helstrom. - - * * * * * - -It hit him, then--a sudden blazing bolt of power that surged and -seethed through his brain. Dimly, as from afar, he was aware that the -yat-stick package had slipped from his grasp and fallen to the floor, -the truth as to its contents revealed as the plastic covering fell -away. For his own part, a strange paralysis seemed to grip him. He -stood upright, erect as before; yet it was beyond his power to move a -single muscle. Sight and hearing--he still had them, but with vastly -limited acuity. And while his brain still functioned, it seemed to work -slowly, painfully, as if laboring under almost more of a burden than it -could bear. - -The captain and Nelva remained within the far periphery of his vision. -Like him, both stayed motionless, frozen in the stance in which the -brain-drain had trapped them. - -Now Dane focussed on the visiscreen. Moment by moment, it gave him the -record of the course the robot-directed spaceship followed. Asteroids -loomed, big and small; then disappeared once more. - -How long that phase went on, Dane never knew. His sense of time was far -too warped to allow for even a reasonably intelligent estimate. - -But finally, the last of the asteroids fell away. Slowly, almost -imperceptibly at first, the great globe of giant Jupiter moved in from -the lower left corner of the screen. - -Numbly, Dane watched and wondered. What, if anything, would he find at -Sandoz? Or would the city even be there? No one could say for sure, for -no human had set foot on Callisto in the thirty years since it had been -abandoned to the Kalquoi. - -Only then, before he could even glimpse any of the satellites that -swept around Jupiter, a new object flashed onto the visiscreen. - -It was close, this one--so close that if he'd had the power, Dane would -have covered his eyes out of sheer panic. Ball-round, the thing at -first looked for all the world like a wandering asteroid or, perhaps, a -giant meteor. - -Yet there was a strange sheen about it; a too-perfect symmetry. - -For a long moment, it hovered so close that it occupied almost half of -the visiscreen. Then, suddenly, a light blazed from a point close to -its perimeter: a tight cone of blinding radiance that turned the whole -viewing plate white. - -The next instant, the visiscreen went dead. - -The lights died, too--all save the self-contained, dimly-luminous -emergency radiation lamps. The rhythmic throbbing of the ventilating -system halted also. So did the force drive's heavier beat. A sudden, -incredible feeling of lightness came over Dane. Then his angle of -view changed, and he realized that--unaware--he'd drifted clear of the -floor; was now floating in mid-air. So the artificial gravity was off -too. - -A numb horror crept through him in the same instant. In his mind he -cursed himself for a blind, imperceptive fool. - -The thing he'd seen on the now-blank screen was no asteroid or meteor, -but a globe-ship, a Kalquoi globe-ship! And the light was some sort -of energy-diverting ray that had the power to incapacitate spaceship -equipment. - -So this was the end of his mad venture: not at Sandoz, not on Callisto, -but here, aboard this crippled craft, destined perhaps to drift forever -in blackness on the void-tides between the Asteroid Belt and the Outer -Worlds. - -Dane would have killed himself in that moment, if he could. - -But he couldn't even do that. No; he could only hang here in the -dimness, paralyzed, somewhere between floor and ceiling, waiting ... -waiting ... waiting.... - -But now light crept through the gloom--a pale, purplish radiance Dane -found somehow vaguely familiar. - -Then a slight movement of the ship changed his position. His eyes, -searching, found the source of light. - -It came from the unforked end of the Kalquoi yat-stick Dane had wrapped -in plastic to simulate a proton bomb. While he watched, it grew -brighter ... brighter ... as if the metal bar were oozing energy the -way a fresh-cut spring twig oozes sap. - -Now the radiance grew to an eddying, pulsing ball, so intense it -lighted up the entire astrogation chamber. - - * * * * * - -The next instant there was a sort of soundless snap. Before Dane's -eyes, the radiance transformed itself into a glowing crystal that rose -and floated in mid-air. - -_A Kalquoi--!_ - -There seemed to be no pattern nor rhyme nor reason to the alien's -actions. Now it hovered; now it darted. One moment it drifted close to -the floor; the next, explored the ceiling. - -And all the time it radiated changing shapes and colors: a glistening -silver corkscrew ... the dull grey of a microreel case ... pale blue -ovals that resembled nothing Dane had ever seen. - -Then sound came--the muffled clang of heavy hatch-lids. At once, the -Kalquoi moved to the astrogation chamber's door and poised there, -apparently waiting. - -A moment later the door swung open. Two other aliens joined the first. - -The three pulsed and glowed together briefly. Then one detached itself -from its fellows and moved in close to Dane. - -Immediately, he felt himself permeated by a strange, slightly prickling -sensation, as if a slight electric current were being sent through him. -Warmth enveloped him. The idea of sleep took on unique appeal. - -Now the alien moved towards the door once more; and to Dane's intense -surprise, he found himself following, drawn along bodily through -the gravitationless ship like a towed target. In a sort of roseate -haze--for fear, as of the moment, seemed to have lost its meaning for -him--he wondered what would happen when he was transferred to the -Kalquoi globe-craft. So far as he knew, the aliens themselves had no -necessity for breathing, so the odds were against there being any air -supply adequate to enable a human to survive. - -But instead of moving him to the globe, the alien took him to the -carrier in which he'd escaped from Mars; loaded him into it. - -A moment later the second Kalquoi appeared, Nelva in tow. In seconds, -she was installed in the carrier alongside Dane. Then, as if by magic, -the hatch swung shut, and they were left alone. - -Minutes dragged by, a dreary procession. - -Then, so abruptly the shock rocked Dane, the paralysis that gripped him -vanished. Feeling, the power of movement, flooded back into his body. -His brain clicked into high gear, no longer dim nor foggy. - -A moment later the carrier's gravity unit came to coughing life. Dane -found that once again he had weight and could move about at will. - -It brought him a quick surge of relief from inner tension; a sense of -control over his situation. - -He was glad. He had a feeling he was going to need all such he could -get. - -Beside him, Nelva Guthrie whispered incredulously, "Clark--! I can -move! The brain-drain--it's off!" - -"Could be," Dane nodded. He felt weak in the knees, just hearing the -girl's voice--partly out of relief to know that she'd survived the -ordeal of the brain-drain, partly because she seemed to have forgotten -or be overlooking their earlier hostilities. - -"Then we must be almost to Callisto!" New excitement crept into Nelva's -voice. "That's the only way to explain it, Clark. We must be so far -beyond the blockade stations that their relays are too weak to maintain -catatonia!" - -"Maybe." - -"Maybe? What kind of talk is that?" Nelva's tone suddenly was tinged -with irritation. "Can you offer any better explanation?" - -"Yes, I think I can," Dane answered thoughtfully. "Especially if you -stop to consider that the Kalquoi took over back while the brain-drain -still had us stiff as boards." - -"Still stiff--?" Nelva broke off sharply. Her lips trembled as she drew -a quick, shallow breath. "Clark, you can't mean it!" - -In spite of their plight, Dane couldn't help but smile wryly. "I can't -mean what?" - -"You know!" The girl's ash-blonde hair rippled as if a chill were -passing through her. "You can't mean--that--the Kalquoi--" - -"--that the Kalquoi have come up with an answer to the brain-drain?" -Dane finished to her. "As a matter of fact, that's just exactly what I -think. The way it looks to me, they've licked the thing, a hundred per -cent." - -Nelva's face was white, her breathing too fast. "But--Clark--" - -"What's going to happen, you mean?" Dane shook his head. "I don't -know, any more than you do. But one thing's certain: if I'm right, -as of this moment all Thorburg Jessup's Security blockade stations -on the inner-planet side of the Asteroid Belt are just so much scrap -equipment." - -The girl stared at him. He couldn't read the things in her grey eyes, -and when her lips moved the words came out an incoherent whisper. She -covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook with soundless, -racking sobs. - - * * * * * - -A wave of tenderness swept over Dane, so poignant it made his whole -throat ache. Taking the girl in his arms, he held her to him, smoothing -the soft hair, bracing her shoulders against the sobs. - -The tears stopped, after a moment. Nelva raised her head; looked up at -him, trying to smile even while her lips still trembled. - -Gently, Dane said, "Don't worry, Nelva. We'll make it somehow." - -"Don't lie to me, Clark. I know what's going to happen, and it really -doesn't matter." The girl's lips still smiled, but a shadow lay across -the grey eyes. "Just one thing, though, Clark: I've got to tell you, -and you've got to believe me. I've never betrayed you, not ever, even -for a moment." A pause. The grey eyes, falling again. "You see, -I've--I've always loved you, ever since the first, so long ago--long -before you remember. Only I couldn't help you, didn't dare to tell you, -even a little...." - -Dane stood very still. "You ... didn't dare tell me?" - -"No. Because I didn't know enough--about you; your potential...." - -"But _what_ didn't you dare to tell me?" - -Nelva buried her face against his shoulder. Her words came muffled now. -"About the things you wanted to know--who you are, where you came from, -the hairless man." - -Dane's heart pounded. Silently, savagely, he fought against letting his -voice soar with his tension; against drawing his arms too tight about -the girl's slim shoulders. - -"About the silver needle, too?" he pressed gently. - -"No. Not that. I never knew too much about the overall picture; only -the one part." - -The tension was too great. Dane could stand it no longer. -Spasmodically, he gripped Nelva's shoulders. "Then tell me what you do -know, damn it! Who am I? How did I get on that asteroid? Why weren't my -records in your files?" - -"Please, Clark!" Nelva twisted. "I'm going to tell you. I want to. -There's no need to hurt me--" - -"Sorry, Nelva." Dane let go of her; turned away, ashamed. "It drives -me, Nelva. I've got to know. Everything, everything...." He drove his -clenched fist savagely into the palm of the other hand. - -"I understand, Clark." The girl's hand was on his shoulder now. "You -see--" - -The carrier hit something, with an impact that threw them both, -sprawling, to the floor. - -Dane braced himself for further shocks. When they didn't come, he -scrambled up; helped Nelva to her feet. - -Before they could more than right themselves, however, the entrance -hatch opened. An unfamiliar atmosphere rushed in, strangely scented yet -breathable. - -Raw-nerved, Dane stumbled to the open door and looked out. - -The carrier lay on solid ground, in the shadow of the great Kalquoi -globe-ship. An open port indicated that the smaller craft had been -dumped unceremoniously from the larger. - -Arm about Nelva, Dane turned now and looked off beyond the Kalquoi -vessel. - -Then, involuntarily, he stiffened. A chill of excitement ran through -him. Instantly--instinctively, almost--he recognized the scene before -him; knew the truth. - -They stood upon Callisto! - - - CHAPTER VIII - -This was Sandoz, man's last stronghold among all the outer satellites -and planets ... fallen citadel, thirty years abandoned now. - -Ruin's hand lay heavy upon it. Crumbling walls and shattered structures -sprawled everywhere, and great saw-leaved, turquoise-blue plants half -concealed long stretches of the cracked, disintegrating pavement. -Scarcely a building stood staunch and whole. - -Yet there was no mistaking the place. For though the last edifice might -fall, the city's shining silver shaft still thrust up stark and proud -into the sky. - -Dane stared at it, fascinated, hardly able to tear his eyes away. It -was compulsive, the inner drive he felt to draw still closer to it. Yet -even though he recognized it as such, he could not fight it down. - -Why did it pull him so--this strange, sky-spiking needle? Why, in spite -of all logic, did the feeling surge so strong in him that his destiny -was bound tight to his half-forgotten hope-gone-dead men called the -Sandoz Shaft? - -But only one segment of his brain kept up the wondering. For in his -heart he knew the answer didn't matter. Not when the tie that linked -him to the needle was strong enough to lure him across a million miles -and more of void to certain death, here on this alien-fettered world. - -Bleakly, he looked across to Nelva, and wished he could be with her -in this hour. But the Kalquoi seemed to have rather definite ideas of -protocol at this stage, and one of them involved his separation from -the girl. - -Now, parallel but on opposite sides of what once had been the city's -central thoroughfare, Dane and Nelva trudged from the carrier towards -the distant shaft. A sort of honor guard of Kalquoi surrounded each of -them, directing them in the way they were to go by means of sudden, -small, darting beams of light that stung like so many angry insects. - -The shaft grew larger as they approached, till Dane was staring up at -it in awe. With every step, the compulsive drive he felt to reach the -needle grew stronger in him. Nothing else could hold his interest or -attention. Once, briefly, he even caught himself wondering why it had -seemed so important to him to hear Nelva's answers to his questions; to -know his own identity, and that of the fiend-faced man without a name. - -As if such could ever matter, when destiny lay at the foot of the -Sandoz Shaft! - -They reached what must once have been a small park, now. The street -they'd followed ended in it. But mere lack of pavement seemed to mean -nothing to the Kalquoi. Unhesitating, they herded their charges on -across the open green. - -And now, on the far side, Dane caught his breath. Before and below him, -a broad natural bowl had been developed into an amphitheatre, back in -the days of Callisto's human occupation. The metal-rimmed base of the -silver shaft stood in the center of the arena at the bottom. - -But even the shaft was as nothing in this moment. For never had Dane -looked down on a stranger sight. - -For Kalquoi crowded the dish-like hollow, hovering like fireflies -among the fallen pillars and shrub-masked seats. Hundreds of them; -thousands--they pulsed and glowed and changed shape amid the ruins, -till the amphitheatre itself was transformed into a fantastic fairyland -of energy and light. - -But his escorts gave him no time for pause or contemplation. Already -they were urging him down the nearest aisle to the arena below. - -Then, at last, there was an end to his scrambling and stumbling -through the debris. His guards halted him, close by the base of the -Sandoz Shaft. - -The drive to reach the giant needle boiled in Dane, almost -overwhelming. But when he would have tried, a quick flick of light -from one of his captors turned him back. He could only stare greedily, -drinking the strangeness of the towering monument with his eyes. - -And it was weird enough to hold any man's attention. Just as Dane -remembered from his vision, the needle stood unsupported, a silver -lance suspended in mid-air, completely clear of base, socket, bed-plate. - -Studying it here at close range, Dane could see how delicate was its -balance. The point quivered visibly where it hung above the socket, -dancing like a plastic ball atop an airstream. Vibrations ran the -slim length of the needle, till it seemed to turn into a flickering -razor-edge of light. - -How could it be? A beam of some sort--? - - * * * * * - -Something stung Dane's flank, then. The pain stabbed so sharp he -whirled by reflex, questions and shaft alike momentarily forgotten. - -As he did so, a light-beam flicked at his elbow, flame-hot. His guards -were urging him to movement again, prodding him diagonally ahead till -he stood directly in front of the shaft, but with his back to it. - -Now he saw that Nelva Guthrie, too, had reached the arena. Surrounded -by her captors, she stood to the left of the shining needle, just as a -moment before he himself had stood to its right. - -But the Kalquoi gave him little time for such observation. While he -watched, a small group of them moved out into the arena and took places -in a semicircle close before him. - -Dane's guards fell back before the newcomers. In the seating area up -along the amphitheatre's sloping sides, the assembled crystalline, -light-emitting aliens eddied closer, glowed brighter. A hush seemed -to fall over the hollow. Tension climbed like a spaceship at escape -velocity. - -Dane stood very still. There was nothing he could do but wait. - -Then, suddenly, one of the Kalquoi in the tight arc close before him -pulsed vivid scarlet. A familiar impulse leaped into Dane's brain ... a -patterned, rhythmic groping: _John Dane ... John Dane ... John Dane...._ - -Dane sighed; tried to concentrate upon his answer: "Not John Dane. -Clark Dane. Clark, not John...." - -From then on, there was tumult and fumbling and confusion. Wordless and -incoherent, alien intelligences probed every fold and convolution of -Dane's brain. - -Out of it all, for Dane, came not words, but feelings; not -intelligibility, but insight. Slowly, deep within him, there began to -grow the weird panorama of a race so alien man could never hope fully -to understand it. A concept took form--the concept of a life-type -composed wholly of radiant energy, without permanent shape or -body ... beings that found their only reason for existence in the acts -of shape-building and light emission. In his mind's eye, Dane saw how -they replenished their life-force, transmuting into energy whatever -convenient objects came to hand. - -And because these aliens, these Kalquoi, themselves had no need for -bodies or possessions, they'd been unable to conceive that other -species might require such things ... might even be harmed if bodies -and possessions were transmuted. - -But now, at last, glimmerings of this truth had reached them. They'd -begun to see the harm they'd done; were sorry for it. - -Would man, in his turn, meet them half-way? If they'd stay clear of -him and his possessions and allow him to return to the outer planets, -would he abandon the disconcerting brain-drain that prevented their -shape-changing and transmuting? True, the magnetic shield they'd -developed protected them from it, after a fashion. But it was a -nuisance. If possible they'd prefer to operate without it.... - -Numbly, Dane tried to force his aching brain to function. If only he -could find the concepts--! - -He verbalized it, spoke aloud in hope that meaning would somehow come -through: "Yes, yes. Man wants peace as you do. He'll go half-way and -more--" - -The arc of Kalquoi pulsed approval. All but one. - -The others' glow slowly faded. - -Instantly, like a bomb bursting, the lone dissenter flared emerald and -purple, a radiance so brilliant that Dane reeled back, near-blinded. - -His brain reeled, too. For such was the burst of energy the Kalquoi -spewed into it that flame seemed to sear at every cell. Dane screamed -aloud, writhing in torment. - -The flame snuffed out. The pain ebbed slowly. But a message stayed, -fire-written: _If all men want peace as you say, why have the others -scorned us? Why are you the only one to open your brain to us?_ - -Dane groped. "The others--? What others?" - -But no coherent answer reached him; only a jumble of fragments and -half-impressions. He sensed that the Kalquoi were arguing among -themselves while he stood by, forgotten. - -As if to prove him correct, his guards now goaded him back to his -earlier post to the right of the Sandoz Shaft. Simultaneously, the -other group of guards moved Nelva forward to the spot in front of the -shining needle where Dane himself had stood. - -Swaying a little from the aftermath of pain and mind-fatigue, Dane -tried to watch her. - -But now, all at once, his compulsion to reach the shaft was again upon -him. It was stronger, this time; stronger than ever before. It was all -Dane could do to resist it. - -Yet resist it he must, for his captors still stood close by, and he had -no taste for the sting of the light-beams they flung at him. - - * * * * * - -Grimly, he concentrated on Nelva Guthrie, trying to force himself to -think of her instead of the sky-thrust lance so close beside him. - -Strain-lines marred the girl's blonde beauty now. Her hair was tangled, -her cheeks pale, her lips trembling. - -And yet, for all of that, she was still the loveliest thing Clark Dane -had ever seen. The yearning for her gnawed at him like a physical -hunger. - -Now the interplay of form and color from the line of Kalquoi indicated -they were probing her mind. Dane could see her straighten, just a -little ... breathe a fraction faster. Her hands moved, rubbing at the -side-melds of her garment as if to scrub sweat from her palms. - -More shapes, more colors from the Kalquoi. More signs of tension -from Nelva Guthrie. Dane could catch only fragments of the projected -thoughts and feelings. - -Yet something was wrong. Instinctively, he sensed it. A knot drew -tight, deep in his belly. He breathed harder. - -To what purpose? No matter what happened, there was nothing he could -do. He knew that. - -Only--Nelva-- - -He never finished the thought. For abruptly, without warning, the -same Kalquoi who minutes before had sent the searing charge through -Dane's dazed brain blazed again--a great flash, orange and white -and turquoise. The thought smashed in, so violent that even at this -distance--even though it was directed at Nelva--the impact made Dane's -head reel: _She-creature, you close your brain to us! You hold back -like the others! You want no peace--_ - -Nelva's scream came like an agonized, overriding echo. Blindly, she -staggered forward, clutching her head between her hands. - -But the Kalquoi gave no heed. As if the girl were not there, he deluged -the whole area with a raging, searing, tidal wave of energy. - -Nelva sagged to her knees. Her cry was the keening of a soul in torment. - -It was a trigger to turn a man to utter madness. Spasmodically, Dane -started forward. - -But there was no way to reach the girl, and in his heart he knew it. -Too many Kalquoi, too many light-beams, stood ranged between him and -her. - -But the shining needle, the Sandoz Shaft--it was relatively unprotected -for the moment-- - -Spinning, Dane dived towards it--low, beneath the level at which his -captors hovered. - -His shoulder crashed against the heavy, buttressed base. His hands -closed on a corroded telonium bar. Tearing it from the litter, he -surged up, heedless to the light-beams that stung at his back and sides. - -The bar had weight to it. Dane swung it with all his might, straight -at the seemingly empty space between socket and needle-tip. - -If only he could upset the delicate balance of forces that held the -shaft upright, and bring it crashing down, almost anything might happen! - -The blow hit square and true. But to Dane, it was as if he'd struck -the bar against a daggad column. Pain shot up his arms, clear to the -shoulders. The telonium strip tore from his hands and sailed through -the air nearly fifty feet. - -Before the bar even hit the ground, a bolt of energy struck Dane. -Helpless, hopeless, sobbing with fury at his own inadequacy, he found -himself slammed back bodily against the metal rim that girded the -shaft's base. His hands clamped to the alloy. - -It was a moment completely incredible; a moment beyond all possibility -of belief. For as Dane's hands touched the rim, sparks leaped from -flesh to metal. His whole body convulsed. Blue flame crackled in a -tight sheath round him. Power pulsed through every bone and muscle in a -surging tide. - -Then sound came--a high, thin skirl, louder and louder, till Dane -thought his eardrums must surely burst. - -But the sound still welled and swelled and echoed; and now numbly, -it dawned on Dane that something was happening to the Kalquoi. Even -blurred as his eyes were, and in spite of the spasms of his body, he -could see that, one and all, the aliens had reverted to crystal form. -No light gleamed in them. They moved jerkily, as if having trouble even -rising from the ground. - -The sound in Dane's ears reached a new high note--a note so clear and -pure it ceased to be sound at all, to human ears. In its place came -silence--a taut, thin-strung, nerve-fraying silence that somehow was -almost more than flesh and blood could bear. - -Now, while Dane watched in the eerie silence, a Kalquoi crystal -suddenly cracked wide open in mid-air. - -Its shards cracked, too; and its shards' shards. It was dust before it -hit the ground. - -On all sides, it was the same. Everywhere in the amphitheatre the -aliens were shattering to atoms. In seconds, not one of them remained. - -Convulsively, Dane twisted; managed to throw one anguished glance -upward to the silver needle that was the Sandoz Shaft. - -But so fast was the shaft vibrating that it now looked less like a -needle than a flash of silver light. - -Dane sagged back. Dully, he wondered how long it would take a man to -die this way. Certainly there must be a limit to the amount of such -maltreatment the human form could stand. - -Yet he knew strength was not in him to break loose, tear away. - -Was this, then, his destiny? Must he die here, a living conduit for the -power now activating the Sandoz Shaft? - -What a goal for a compulsion! What an end to a dream! He couldn't even -see the spot where Nelva Guthrie lay.... - -Time blurred, after that. There were moments when he was conscious; -more when he was not. - -When he first heard the drone of the carrier's landing beam, he thought -he was delirious. - -Then he opened his eyes, and the craft hung there before him, less than -fifty feet away. While he watched, it ramped down. The hatch opened. - -It was then he _knew_ he was delirious, for sure. - -Because the first of the two men who climbed out was thick-bodied, -bullet-headed, lump-faced, scowling Pfaff, the Security rep with whom -he'd clashed. - -And the gaunt figure behind Pfaff was that of the hollow-cheeked, -hollow-eyed, hairless man, master of slaves, whom Dane knew only as -the Being-Without-A-Name! - - - CHAPTER IX - -"Well, Dane, how does it feel to be the savior of your race?" - -Slowly, painfully, Dane forced his eyes to focus and search for the -speaker. - -It turned out to be the hairless man. He sat on a crumbling stone -bench, hunched forward slightly and with his teeth bared in a cold, -knife-edged smile. Glowering Pfaff stood to his right, scrubbing a palm -over a hairy forearm. To his left, a uniformed, strangely blank-faced -stranger stood too stiffly at attention. - -Dane moved his head a fraction, seeking Nelva. - -She sat off away from the three men, still farther left. Her face wore -a stiff, strained look, and she kept her eyes on a spot distant from -the group, as if to avoid involvement with them. - -Dane shifted his gaze back to the hairless man. He still said nothing. - -"I do make a striking picture, don't I, Dane?" the other observed as -if answering a question. His smile twisted mirthlessly. "If you'd like -to try the effect yourself, a proper dose of some types of radiation -poisoning will do it. In my own case, the hair follicles were killed -completely--scalp, eyebrows, facial and body hair, everything. I felt -rather bad about it at first, for I was vain enough in my younger days. -But then I found that even the loveliest of women is more apt to be -impressed by the unique, the different, than run-of-sex handsomeness; -and no man ever forgets me. So there are adequate compensations. -Personally, I'm quite satisfied." - -The voice held the same twist as the smile--a twist of bitterness, of -irony, of lurking menace. It was the voice of a man who enjoyed playing -cat-and-mouse ... or forcing those in his power to confess their -thralldom. - -The very sound of it made Dane's hackles rise, in spite of all he'd -been through. "Who are you?" he asked tightly. - -"That's right; you don't know, do you?" The man leaned back a fraction. -The lids of the deep-set eyes flickered. "We might make a sort of game -of it, even--let you guess--" - -"He's Thorburg Jessup." This, quite unexpectedly, from Nelva. Hate -rasped in her words. Her eyes were smoldering. - -"Thorburg Jessup--!" Involuntarily, Dane's eyes widened. He pulled -himself round; sat up. - -"Oh! You're feeling better!" Jessup chuckled. "That pleases me. It -would have been a pity to lose you, after all the effort I put into -your creation." - -Dane breathed in sharply. Then, catching himself, he counted off three -deeper breaths before speaking: "And ... what did you have to do with -my creation?" - -The Security chief lifted a long-fingered hand. "It was my idea. All of -it, from the beginning." - -"Your ... idea--?" - -"Precisely. My biochemical staff in the Mercury laboratories is -superlative technically, but they need a broader, more incisive mind to -shape their concepts. I gave them that--outlined the exact requirements -they'd have to meet in developing the type of creature we'd need to -send against the Kalquoi." - -"The type of _creature_?" - -"Of course. You didn't think you were human, surely?" - -Dane's throat drew so tight he couldn't answer. Numbly, he dug his -fingers into the dirt of the arena, trying to hide their trembling. - -Jessup watched him for a moment, then threw back his head and -laughed--jubilant, sadistic; the self-same laugh Dane had heard that -other time, so many worlds away. - -Only then, suddenly, Nelva Guthrie was on her feet--fists clenched, -eyes blazing. "Stop it, you fiend!" she screamed. "Stop it! Stop it!" - -Jessup's laugh cut off as if severed by a knife. "Oh, my dear! Have -I disturbed you?" Mock solicitude flowed from him like oily vapor. -"Really, I _did_ have to handle it this way, though. I simply couldn't -use a human. There was the matter of subconscious memory, inadverent -knowledge. You have to consider those things when you're dealing with -telepaths like the Kalquoi, you know." - -Beside the Security chief, pig-eyed, smirking Pfaff moved smoothly into -the conversation: "You didn't have much time, either, Mr. Jessup." - -"A vital factor," the hairless man nodded. And then, to Dane again: -"As you may have guessed, the Kalquoi already had perfected a shield -against the brain-drain. It was urgent for us to strike a strong -blow at them before they seized the initiative. I decided the Sandoz -Shaft, here, offered us our best opportunity. We'd already worked out -a new-type catalytic relay that would activate it on practically no -power. The only problem lay in coupling the relay to the shaft. To do -it by normal procedure, with a task force, would have destroyed its -whole value, because it would have driven the Kalquoi from Callisto." - -From Pfaff: "Brilliant analysis, Mr. Jessup!" - -"So, I conceived the idea of an artificial man with the relay built in, -made part of his tissue structure--a creature something on the order -of my guard, here"--a gesture to the blank-faced man in uniform--"but -of a higher order. He'd be physically strong, well endowed with -initiative. His mind would be good, too, and properly pre-stocked with -all necessary information, as well as conditioned to a compulsive drive -to reach Callisto and the Sandoz Shaft." - - * * * * * - -Dane shuddered. Were these the things that dreams were made -of--conditioning, packaged data, concepts born in someone else's brain? -Was he really one with the blank-faced guard--"but of a higher order"? - -He wished he'd died at the shaft's base. - -Jessup was still talking: "... and as a special twist, we named you -Clark Dane, after a John Dane who stayed on at Sandoz, long after -everyone else had left, trying to learn more about Kalquoi culture. -Because he'd established some slight communication with them, I thought -his name might help you...." - -Another piece of the puzzle, clicking into place. Another of Dane's -questions answered. - -"... like every life-form, the Kalquoi needs periods of quiescence. -The yat-stick provides a closed circuit where a Kalquoi can rest with -no escape of energy. So, you were left by a yat-stick experts assured -me contained a Kalquoi in repose. I knew your name would arouse the -creature's interest. Tie that to your drive to reach Callisto, and the -odds were good you'd live to activate the shaft. If you didn't"--a -shrug--"it didn't matter too much, because you lacked any knowledge -detrimental to us." - -Of a sudden, Dane was tired of words and explanations. He no longer -cared about questions or their answers. Lurching to his feet, he -stumbled past the Security chief, out of the arena. - -Jessup eyed him curiously. "Where are you going?" - -Dane continued his unsteady march. He didn't bother to answer. - -Thick-bodied Pfaff moved round to block him. "Hey, you! Mr. Jessup -asked you a question!" - -Dane veered to pass him. - -Belligerent, bullet-head down, Pfaff thrust a foot between Dane's. Dane -tripped and fell. - -Now Nelva Guthrie was running to him; kneeling beside him. Her -fingers were cool upon his face. "Let him alone, can't you?" she -cried fiercely. "Haven't you done enough to him, without more of this -torture?" - -Jessup's smile faded just a little. "You've been a favorite of mine a -long time, Nelva," he said in a too-quiet voice. "Don't jeopardize that -status now." - -The girl stared up at him, face tear-streaked. "Do you think I care -about status at a time like this?" - -"A dangerous question, my dear." The Security chief studied her for -a long, long moment. "Now I find myself wondering if I can trust you -further--and no matter how I phrase it, the answer comes back, 'No'." - -Dane felt Nelva's fingers stiffen on his cheek. A tremor ran through -her. - -Abruptly, his desire to leave the arena ebbed. He sat up. "What happens -when you get no for an answer, Jessup?" - -"_Mister_ Jessup, you chitza!" Pfaff snarled. But the hairless man -himself only smiled faintly. - -"A wise man knows when not to talk, Dane," he observed. "For you, this -is one of those times. You've done well. I like you. So human or not, -I'll look after you so long as you behave." - -"And Nelva?" - -"She's no concern of yours, Dane. And as I said once, a wise man knows -when not to talk." A pause. "I may not repeat that again." - -And from Nelva: "Please, Clark. Let it go." - -Dane eyed her soberly. "Why?" - -The panic flaring in her eyes was more than enough answer. - -To no one in particular Dane said, "Everything that can happen to -me has already happened. That gives me leeway to take care of a few -things." - -He started to rise. - -Jessup's twisted smile was gone now. All gone. Sharp and hard, he -rapped, "Get him, Pfaff!" - -The squat Security rep whipped out a pelgun. - -Dane went flat on the ground in the same instant. Clawing out, he -caught Pfaff's ankle and jerked the leg from under the thick body. - -Pfaff crashed to the ground. Twisting, he fired a pellet. - -It went wild. Before the Security rep could trigger off a second shot, -Dane swung up a ten-pound chunk of broken masonry in both hands and -brained him with it. - -Jessup's voice echoed, shouting to the guard. The man-creature raced -towards Dane and Nelva. - - * * * * * - -Wrenching the pelgun from Pfaff's dead hand, Dane shot for his new -attacker's knees. - -The guard spilled headlong; lay moaning. - -Pelgun at the ready, Dane swung to Jessup. - -But the Security chief's voice stayed calm, even though his hairless -skull was glistening. "You can't shoot, Dane. You can't." And then, -forceful and vibrant: "Remember? I'm your master. You're my slave!" - -Dane stopped in his tracks. - -Deftly, while Dane stood as if paralyzed, Jessup took the pelgun. "You -see, I'm still master, Dane. I created you. That's why you're going to -stay here. You and Nelva Guthrie. Together. Dead." - -Sweat came to Dane's forehead. In an agony of desperate tension, he -tried to drag up his hand. - -But it was like being thrown back through time into a nightmare. Once -again, it was as on that other, dark-remembered day. The control, the -conditioning--they gripped him in spite of all his efforts; bound him -tight. - -"Can you guess why you two will die, Dane?" Jessup taunted. "Is there -any reason you can see?" - -Mumbling, Dane said, "Because ... we know ... too much?" - -"That's right. But what about?" - -"About the Kalquoi wanting peace? About the way you sent me to activate -the shaft, so they'd think men were all against them?" - -"Very good, Dane. Now tell me why." - -"Because you ... run things ... so long as there's trouble ... with the -Kalquoi. But if peace comes ... you'll be just another man." - -"Correct." Jessup's hairless face set in a death's-head grin. "And now, -to get on to the business at hand...." - -He moved towards Nelva. Face chalky with fear, she stumbled backward, -behind Dane, out of his view. - -Again Dane strained. Again he failed. - -Was it true, then? Was he really Jessup's slave? - -Numb, aching, he prayed for some power to break the deep-conditioned -trance into which Jessup's cue-words had thrown him. - -Behind him, then, Jessup said something too low to catch. A blow -thudded. - -Like an echo, Nelva screamed. - -Dane never knew what happened in that moment. - -Yet within him, it was as if some tight-confining band had snapped. The -new stimulus overrode the old. Whirling, leaping over Nelva's crumpled -form, Dane threw himself bodily at Jessup. - -The Security chief's voice, half-choked, gasping the cue-words: "Dane! -Remember! I'm your mas--" - -The voice cut off as Dane wrenched the hairless head back and jammed a -hand down the yawning throat. - -Jessup, arms flailing. Jessup, eyes bulging. Jessup, face purpling. - -A final jerk, with every ounce of strength left in Dane's sagging -muscles. The _crack_ of bone snapping. - -Jessup limp. Jessup dead. - -Dane knelt beside Nelva. Hands shaking, he felt for her pulse. - -Her eyes opened; grew tender. Slowly, she smiled. Her slim hand clasped -his big one. - -A shudder ran through him. Face averted, he pulled his hand from hers -and drew back. - -"Clark--!" She caught at his elbow. "Dane, it's all right. I'm not -hurt, not badly...." - -Wordless, again he tried to pull away. - -Nelva came close now; clung to him. "Clark, what is it? What's wrong? -What have I done?" - -Dane choked. "It's not you. It's me; what I am." - -"What you are--?" She tugged him around and stared at him, grey eyes -ever so wide. "What are you, Clark?" - -"You heard Jessup say it: I'm ... not human." Miserably, Dane forced -himself to meet her gaze. "Don't you understand, Nelva? I don't even -dare to think about--you and me. I'm--different. Like no one, not even -Jessup's Zombie guards." - -A moment of silence. A long, echoing moment, while the girl sat with -eyes downcast. - -Then, slowly, she looked up at Dane once more. "I know, Clark. Better -than you. Because I've had longer to be lonely." - -"To be lonely--?" - -"Yes, Clark." Nelva's grey eyes suddenly were tear-filled, her voice a -whisper. "You see, I was the first--the very first the lab made with a -real mind, and free will. That was why I had to find you, even though -I didn't dare tell you anything for fear I'd distort your reaction -pattern, put you in danger." A smile, slow and shy, tremulous through -the tears. "That's over now, Clark. We ... don't have to be lonely any -more...." - -The pickup ship came much too soon. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING BACK MY BRAIN! *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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Swain</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <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: Bring Back My Brain!</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Dwight V. Swain</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 6, 2021 [eBook #65526]</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 BRING BACK MY BRAIN! ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<p>From the depths of infinity came a menace<br /> -so dreadful Clark Dane could not comprehend the<br /> -danger. Yet his subconscious knew, crying out:</p> - -<h1>Bring Back My Brain!</h1> - -<h2>By Dwight V. Swain</h2> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -April 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>It was a world without a past or future; a shining shadow-world borne -of sheer madness, a thousand echoing eternities beyond all space and -time.</p> - -<p>Now the pulsing radiance grew brighter—so bright it sent pain-tipped -needles stabbing through Clark Dane's brain. He writhed under its -relentless, throbbing pressure; tried to draw back, to cry out.</p> - -<p>But the strange lethargy still clung to him, all-encumbering as a -leaden pall. As in a nightmare, he lay prostrate, paralyzed, unable to -move or speak.</p> - -<p>Numbly, he wondered if he were dead.</p> - -<p>Only then the silent laughter rose again—taunting; chilling—and he -knew that life still stirred within him.</p> - -<p>The face came with the laughter, floating through the swirling radiance -as a shadow drifts through fog. Hollow-cheeked, hollow-eyed, hairless -as a sand-scoured, tide-washed skull, it hovered before Dane like a -living death's-head, closer than ever before.</p> - -<p>Where previously had he known this Being-Without-A-Name, Dane wondered? -What malicious trick of circumstance had brought the two of them -together?</p> - -<p>Only those were things somehow beyond his powers of recall at the -moment; questions that, strangely, seemed to find no answers within his -aching brain.</p> - -<p>Shuddering, he squeezed the eyes of his mind tight shut against the -spectre.</p> - -<p>But the face would not go away. Smirking, sardonic, evil, deep-lined -with old sins, it hung motionless now, as if mocking Dane in his -torment while it reiterated its eternal theme: "I am your master, -slave! Bow down! Bow down to your creator! Acknowledge your serfdom -here and now!"</p> - -<p>In spite of himself, Dane cringed.</p> - -<p>"Say it, you fool! Say you are my slave!"</p> - -<p>"No, damn you! Never; not ever...."</p> - -<p>"You dare not deny me! You know it!" The malevolent eyes in the -death's-head skull gleamed hot and bright as fire-jewels—probing, -penetrating, skewering to the core of Dane's very brain. "Say it, I -tell you! Say you are my slave!"</p> - -<p>Dane's jaws ached with pressure. Desperately, he tried to fight the -nightmare image from his mind.</p> - -<p>"Acknowledge me, slave! I am your master!"</p> - -<p>Dane's senses reeled. He was panting now. "I—I—"</p> - -<p>"Say it!"</p> - -<p>"I—am—your slave...."</p> - -<p>Thin, cruel lips peeled back from stained teeth in a grimace of -sadistic triumph. The soundless, soulless laughter rang forth louder -than ever.</p> - -<p>Dane sobbed aloud.</p> - -<p>As if his reaction were a signal, the mocking face began to fade, back -into the eddying radiance from whence it came. Where it had hung, a -new shape rose.</p> - -<p>Inanimate, this one; yet clean-cut and graceful as any living thing. -Slim, silvery, needle-sharp, it poised like a gigantic lance flung -skyward from its squat, buttressed base.</p> - -<p>Dane's raw nerves calmed a fraction. The dream-pain ebbed away. -Fascinated, he studied the shining shaft.</p> - -<p>For even as he first glimpsed it, he knew in a rush that his life, -his fate, his very being, somehow were linked tight to it. Completely -strange to him, it yet held intangible elements of familiarity beyond -all ordinary knowledge.</p> - -<p>Now the shaft seemed to drift closer, just as had the face before it, -and Dane saw that a vertical slot ran almost its full length, from top -to bottom, like a vastly-elongated needle-eye.</p> - -<p>Slowly, while Dane watched, the shaft turned above its base. A second -slot appeared, precisely like the first. Then a third. Through the -openings, Dane glimpsed a maze of coils and wiring.</p> - -<p>Frowning in spite of himself, he glanced down at the base, then -stiffened.</p> - -<p>For the shaft hung completely free in the air as if invisibly suspended -from above, well clear of the metal-rimmed socket in its bed-plate!</p> - -<p>A chill ran through Dane. Yet he could not tear his eyes away from the -shining needle. It was almost as if another unheard voice, soundless -as that of the vanished face, were hammering thoughts into his brain: -"Heed well, Clark Dane! Let no detail escape you, lest the lack of it -shall speed you to your doom! This shaft—it stands as symbol of all -your dreams and hopes, your destiny...."</p> - -<p>Then thought and image alike were fading; the face and its mind-voice -back once more: "Remember, slave, I am your master, now and always! -Dare to challenge me again and instant death shall be your doom!"</p> - -<p>Never had the hollow eyes gleamed with such menace. Never had the -bony, hairless face been etched more deeply with lines that spoke of -ruthlessness and iniquity.</p> - -<p>Slowly, reluctantly, Dane bowed his head. "I am your slave. You are my -master."</p> - -<p>But deep within him another voice was speaking in a savage, sullen -whisper, so low as not even to reach the frontal lobes of his brain: -"No! I'm not your slave! No man's my master! And some day, no matter -what you threaten—some day, we'll see who dies!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER II</p> - - -<p>At first it seemed to Dane that he was racing through space, hurtling -out in a whirling, swirling arc that left the whole solar system far -behind. The stars, the galaxies, fell into chaos in his wake. New -nebulae spread out before him, unseen by living eye until his advent.</p> - -<p>Awe-struck, unable even to breathe, he could only stare at it all in -unnerved wonder.</p> - -<p>Then, slowly, that stage passed. Little by little, the void about him -took on substance, until at last he found himself swimming somewhere -far beneath the surface of a viscid sea ... fighting his way upward -through the horror of dark, chimera-teeming depths inches at a time -in that agonizing, snail-slow progression known only in the world of -dreams.</p> - -<p>But there came a moment when even swimming demanded too much effort. He -floated, limp, rising slowly towards the daylight miles above him, free -to the whim of every changing eddy of a foam-flecked, pale-green sea.</p> - -<p>As from afar, then, a voice reached him dimly—a real voice, this time; -one that spoke words aloud and face to face instead of only in the mind.</p> - -<p>A woman's voice, surprisingly.</p> - -<p>"I want him at the Record Center as fast as I can get him here," the -voice said firmly. "That's why I'm coming out from Mars to make the -pickup. There hasn't been a genuine case of amnesia reported from any -of the inner planets in over a hundred years, and I've no intention of -letting this one slip by me."</p> - -<p>Of a sudden the pale-green sea seemed to separate beneath Dane. It left -him stranded on a smooth, level surface, resilient and not too hard.</p> - -<p>Cautiously, he moved his fingers over it, recognized the texture of -heavy synthetic kalor.</p> - -<p>A bed, then.</p> - -<p>The woman's voice went on, brisk and businesslike yet somehow intense: -"I can't impress all of you too much with how important it is not -to upset this man. Any shock prior to the complete celloscopic -and hypnoanalytic examination we'll give him here might do untold -damage—both to him, and to our chance of successfully working through -his case."</p> - -<p>Very carefully, Dane opened his eyes.</p> - -<p>He looked out upon a dully glittering expanse of green telonium -spaceship bulkhead. The viewing plate of a built-in visiscreen occupied -a spot directly before him at eye level.</p> - -<p>Centered on the plate was the image of the woman who was speaking.</p> - -<p>Narrow-eyed, Dane studied her.</p> - -<p>She had turned now to a concise discussion of technical details -regarding amnesia—and that made the contrast between her words and her -appearance all the more marked. For even over the visiscreen there was -no denying her lithe, slender loveliness; and as Dane gazed up at the -smooth oval of her face ... stared into her cool grey eyes ... he could -visualize her in almost any role more easily than that of scientist or -savant.</p> - -<p>If he ever met her, perhaps he could persuade her to play a more -feminine part.</p> - -<p>It was a pleasant thought. But even as it struck Dane, the woman broke -off. Her soft lips parted in a sudden, half-rueful smile. "I'm talking -too much. You've better things to do than listen to my lectures, and—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The click of a switch cut her off in mid-sentence. A harsh male voice -snarled, "I'll say she talks too much! And for my part, I'm all through -listening."</p> - -<p>Dane shifted quickly; discovered for the first time that he shared -the telonium chamber with three men grouped about a table: two in -space-fleet uniform and one—the speaker—without.</p> - -<p>The ununiformed man, squat and heavy-bodied, still gripped the -visiscreen's remote control switch, his piggish, close-set eyes glazed -hard with anger, his broad, lumpy face working.</p> - -<p>The pig-eyes flicked to Dane as he turned. The lumpy face split in an -ugly grin. "Well! Sleeping beauty's awake! Maybe we can come up with -some answers of our own after all, before her royal highness from the -Record Center gets here."</p> - -<p>The man surged up as he spoke, flexing corded arms thick with coarse -black hair. To Dane, he looked to be in his late twenties. His body -bulged so heavy with muscle that his half-bald bullet-head seemed to -grow directly from his shoulders.</p> - -<p>But one of the space-fleet officers rose too. "Hold it, Pfaff!" he -rapped. "Nelva Guthrie's given us our orders—and whether you like -it or not, she's supervisor of the whole Mars Record Center. In a -situation like this that gives her the rank to make what she says -stick."</p> - -<p>"Oh, does it, now?" sneered the man called Pfaff. "Personally, I always -thought that where the Kalquoi were concerned, Security outranked -anyone."</p> - -<p>"The Kalquoi—?" The second space-fleet officer was on his feet now, -gesturing. "Slow down a minute on that, Pfaff. What have the Kalquoi -got to do with this poor devil?"</p> - -<p>"We picked him off an asteroid, didn't we?" the bullet-headed Pfaff -slashed back belligerently. "If that doesn't tie him to the Kalquoi, -what would it take? They've infiltrated the whole damn' belt, and you -know it!"</p> - -<p>"But just because he was marooned there—"</p> - -<p>"Marooned, hell!" Pfaff hammered the butt of a rock-like fist against -the doloid table. "Who marooned him, that's what I want to know! No man -just pops up on an asteroid, naked as the day he was born, without even -a breather mask for company!"</p> - -<p>The two officers exchanged helpless glances.</p> - -<p>"Answer me, you chitzas!" Pfaff bellowed. Again he smashed his great -fist down upon the table. "I want to know who marooned him! And after -you've told me that, I want to know who sent out the distress signal on -him that we picked up. And who pumped that cave full of air and then -slapped an energy seal on it so he'd have something to breathe till we -got there. And finally, who"—a momentary pause while he snatched up -an object from the table—"who left him this Kalquoi yat-stick to play -with?"</p> - -<p>"Well—" The first space-fleet officer groped futilely for words.</p> - -<p>The second looked away, not speaking.</p> - -<p>For a long moment Pfaff watched them—pig-eyes aglitter, bullet-head -drawn far between the massive shoulders.</p> - -<p>Then, slowly, his snarl changed to a smirk. He straightened; made a -show of smoothing his rumpled short-sleeved, civilian tunic.</p> - -<p>"For my money," he announced in a suddenly bland and unctuous voice -"we've got no evidence whatever that this starbo"—a gesture to -Dane—"is even human!"</p> - -<p>In spite of himself, Dane went rigid. The officers' heads snapped round -as if on springs. "What—?"</p> - -<p>"You heard me." Pfaff was almost purring now. "The Kalquoi are -shape-shifters; you know that. That's what makes them so dangerous. One -minute, they'll be obviously alien—crystals floating in mid-air and -radiating colored light like so many prisms. The next, one's a rock, -another's a tal-string, and the third's bouncing around pretending to -be the ball in a byul-game."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A thin thread of irritation began to creep through Dane. Unsteadily, he -pulled himself to a sitting position and swung his legs over the edge -of his cot. "Wait a minute, there—"</p> - -<p>"Shut up, you stabat!" Pfaff threw out the command in the manner of a -huecco-trainer addressing a particularly doltish pupil. And then, to -the officers once more: "Don't you see? The brain-drain's stopped the -Kalquoi cold. But supposing they could masquerade as humans, the way -they do inanimate objects! Before we knew it, they'd take over the -inner planets, the way they have the outer!"</p> - -<p>Dane drew a deep, careful breath. "The only trouble is, I'm not a -Kalquoi," he announced firmly.</p> - -<p>"Oh." This time Pfaff turned to face him. "Then who are you, may I ask?"</p> - -<p>"My name's Clark Dane."</p> - -<p>"Clark Dane. Very good." Pfaff licked thick lips, as if enjoying the -whole situation. "Now, tell us some other things: where you were born; -who your parents were; your work assignment number; occupational -classification; residence registration; how and why you came to be on -the asteroid where we found you."</p> - -<p>"Why, I—" Dane started to speak, then stopped short, groping. -"I—I...."</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes. Go on." Pfaff was grinning openly now, head thrust forward -as he prodded.</p> - -<p>A numbness crept through Dane. Desperately, he searched the farthest -corners of his brain for answers to the other's questions.</p> - -<p>Answers that just weren't there.</p> - -<p>Pfaff chuckled; goaded: "It couldn't be you don't know, could it? Nor -that you can't remember anything about the past except your name?"</p> - -<p>Dane didn't answer. Bewilderment; confusion; sheer, stark panic—they -roiled within him; put knots in the pit of his stomach and made his -head reel till he had to cling to the edge of the cot for fear of -falling.</p> - -<p>Again Pfaff chuckled. "Maybe I'm being too hard on you, Dane." His -mockery seared like acid. "If so, I'll apologize. Just prove to me -you're not a Kalquoi; that's all I ask."</p> - -<p>"Damn it, Pfaff!" the officer nearest to Dane exploded. "You heard what -Nelva Guthrie said: any shock's liable to tie this man up permanently. -Quit plaguing him!"</p> - -<p>Pfaff's air of mock-cordiality fell away like a discarded mask. "Is -that an order, lieutenant?" he demanded belligerently. "Are you telling -me what I can and can't do?"</p> - -<p>The other's lips drew tight. "Now wait a minute, Pfaff—"</p> - -<p>"No! You wait!" Pfaff thrust his bullet-head forward, close to the -officer's face. "This is a matter of principle, mister. We'll settle -it right now. I'm Security rep on this ship, and I say this Clark Dane -pickup's a Security matter. Are you going to contradict me?"</p> - -<p>"If need be." The lieutenant's cheeks flamed. "It so happens, Mr. -Pfaff, that you've pushed your luck a little too far. Security rep or -not, you're overstepping your authority, and I'm not about to stand for -it. If need be, I'll take it clear to the captain."</p> - -<p>"Well! So it's out in the open at last!" Pig-eyes glittering, thick -lips twisted in an ugly grin, Pfaff moved in even closer. "You've got a -good idea there, too—that business of taking all this to the captain. -We'll do it. And then, after that, we'll carry it another step, to a -friend of mine. You may have heard of him. His name's Thorburg Jessup."</p> - -<p>"Thorburg Jessup—!" The lieutenant's nostrils flared. His eyes -distended.</p> - -<p>Then, of a sudden, the angry color was draining from his face. -Uncertainly, he fell back a step. "Now wait a minute, Pfaff—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was as if the other hadn't even heard him. "Did you think you were -going to get away with it, lieutenant? Did you really?" The Security -rep exploded in a roar of contemptuous, scorn-ringing laughter. "Let me -tell you something, mister. The blocked-promotion stations are full of -brass-braided jackasses who thought they could lock horns with Security -reps. Because the minute an officer talks back or pokes his nose into -Security business, the rep calls Jessup—and that's the end of the -trouble <i>and</i> the officer."</p> - -<p>For a long, taut moment, then, the silence echoed; a leaden silence, -heavy with tension.</p> - -<p>"Well, lieutenant?" Pfaff cocked his head. "Which is it going to be? Do -you shut up—or do I call Thorburg Jessup?"</p> - -<p>The spaceship officer seemed to stop breathing. Then, abruptly, he -pivoted and, wordless, stalked from the room.</p> - -<p>Not speaking, Pfaff turned his cold, unblinking stare upon the second -officer.</p> - -<p>The man's gaze faltered; fell. He followed his fellow from the chamber.</p> - -<p>Now Pfaff swung round to face Dane, lumpy features aglow with unholy -triumph. Slowly, contemplatively, he scrubbed a meaty palm back and -forth through the coarse black hair that matted the opposite forearm.</p> - -<p>It made a whispering, scratching sort of sound that rasped Dane's -nerves worse than all the earlier verbal pyrotechnics. Uneasily, he -shifted; swallowed.</p> - -<p>Because strive as he might, he still couldn't remember. Not anything.</p> - -<p>The realization brought with it a feeling more frightening than -anything he'd ever known. It was as if the world—his private -world—had vanished, leaving him cast adrift in space blindfolded, -without landmarks or triangulation points, all orientation lost.</p> - -<p>The sense of helplessness that came with it was almost more than he -could bear. Sheer lack of knowledge half-paralyzed him. Desperately, he -wondered what he should do; how his role and true identity called for -him to react.</p> - -<p>Still gloating, Pfaff leaned back; rested his heavy hams against the -doloid table. "Well, bucko?" he prodded.</p> - -<p>With an effort, Dane held his voice steady. "I can't tell you what I -don't know. All those questions—I simply don't remember."</p> - -<p>"Nor this thing? You don't remember it, either?"</p> - -<p>As he spoke, the Security rep picked up the Kalquoi yat-stick from the -table and held it out for Dane's inspection.</p> - -<p>Frowning, Dane studied it. A good foot long, Earth measurement, and -purplish in hue, it was formed of some heavy alien metal. The basic -outline was that of a slingshot crotch—a sort of handle that forked -into two prongs to form a Y. But a bar across the top closed the fork, -and a continuation of the handle came up to meet the bar at right -angles, making a T. Bracing members from the point where the stem of -the T met the crosspiece ran to the middle of each arm of the Y, then -in their turn were joined into a triangle by another crosspiece.</p> - -<p>With a little imagination, Dane saw, it would be easy enough to vision -the unit in its entirety as forming a word or syllable, YAT.</p> - -<p>"It's a funny thing," Pfaff observed with an emphasis anything but -mirthful. "No one knows just what these gadgets are for. The best the -extraterrestial ethnologists can come up with is a lot of thes-gas -about symbolism and religious significance. That stuff I wouldn't know -about. But one thing's for sure: where you find yat-sticks, you find -Kalquoi."</p> - -<p>Dane made no comment.</p> - -<p>"This one," Pfaff pressed, extending the yat-stick, "was lying half -under you in that cave where we picked you up."</p> - -<p>Dane shrugged.</p> - -<p>"That's all you've got to say? You won't tell me any more about it?"</p> - -<p>"What can I tell you?" Dane came back wearily. "Don't you understand? I -don't know. I can't remember."</p> - -<p>The Security rep's broad face drew into a chill, expressionless mask. -His bullet-head sank deeper between his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"All right," he clipped harshly, flinging the yat-stick back down upon -the table. "You want it hard, I'll give it to you that way. This is a -survey ship. Start talking, or I'll have 'em throw you in the bem-tank."</p> - -<p>"The bem-tank—?" Dane stared.</p> - -<p>"Don't give me that! You know what I mean! Survey ships bring in -samples of extraterrestial life—the kind of bug-eyed monsters that -give a man nightmares even to think about. What they do to you if they -get the chance shouldn't happen to a quontab."</p> - -<p>A chill ran through Dane. "But I don't know—"</p> - -<p>"Tell it to the bems!" Already, Pfaff was jamming his thumb down on a -buzzer button. "You had your chance, you stabat! Now we'll play it my -way. You and the narcoanalyst and that vidal Nelva Guthrie—you'll see -who's got the answers!"</p> - -<p>Dane's panic was like a light-lance beam twisting in his midriff. -"Please—!" he choked. "Please...."</p> - -<p>Pfaff laughed aloud.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane stopped short in mid-breath. The goading, the mockery, the -pig-eyes, the harsh voice, the badgering—all these he'd taken.</p> - -<p>But the laugh went one step beyond his limit of endurance.</p> - -<p>In the fraction of a second his panic turned to roiling, boiling rage.</p> - -<p>What did it matter if he didn't know who he was or from whence he came? -Why should he care if his past was a blank, his future a question-mark?</p> - -<p>Why indeed—so long as for this one moment he had a course to follow!</p> - -<p>Such a course as erasing the grin from Pfaff's thick lips, for example.</p> - -<p>And after that—well, he'd play the other moments as they came along, -without regard for past or future.</p> - -<p>Savagely, then, he lunged up from the cot, straight at the -still-laughing Pfaff.</p> - -<p>For the barest instant the Security rep stood frozen, eyes blank with -startlement. Then, with surprising agility for his heavy-bodied bulk, -the man tried to twist aside, out of the way of Dane's rush.</p> - -<p>His hip hit the doloid table. He stumbled.</p> - -<p>Before he could recover, Dane smashed a fist home to the blubbery lips; -felt them spurt blood as they crushed against Pfaff's teeth.</p> - -<p>The Security rep reeled. Heart surging with fierce elation, Dane -followed up, hammering home a rain of blows to head and body alike.</p> - -<p>For an instant the other fell back—head down, hairy arms hugged close -to protect the bulging belly.</p> - -<p>But only for an instant. Then, with a harsh roar, the bullet-head came -up again. A fist like a maul swept out in a wide arc, bruising Dane's -rib-cage. Another blow caught his shoulders; rocked him back on his -heels.</p> - -<p>Desperately, Dane threw himself sidewise, barely clear of the other's -lunge, and let fly a rabbit-punch.</p> - -<p>It landed solidly, but it was still a waste of effort. Pfaff spun about -with no sign that he had even been hit, and once again, lunged for Dane.</p> - -<p>Taking advantage of his longer reach, Dane drove in a quick one-two to -Pfaff's face, then started to leap back, away from the other's charge.</p> - -<p>But this time it was he who forgot the doloid table. Careening against -it, he staggered for a moment off balance.</p> - -<p>The next instant Pfaff buried a fist in the pit of Dane's belly. -Retching, half-paralyzed, Dane lurched backward; slumped to the floor.</p> - -<p>A roar of triumph from Pfaff. He launched a kick powered to break a -man's back.</p> - -<p>With a tremendous heave, Dane writhed clear just in time.</p> - -<p>But already the Security man was kicking again—a bruising, -thigh-grazing blow that tore a choked cry from Dane's throat. In -desperation he rolled back and under the table, hoping against hope to -avoid the other's murderous feet.</p> - -<p>Cursing, Pfaff heaved at the table, wrenching the nearest leg clear of -its anchor bracket. "You chitza!" he panted, "I'll kill you! D'you hear -me? I'll kill you!"</p> - -<p>He meant it. It showed in every line and corded, bulging muscle. Stark -murder gleamed in his tiny, close-set pig-eyes ... glistened in the -flecks of bloody foam at the mouth-corners and in the sweat-greased -folds of the contorted face.</p> - -<p>Spasmodically, Dane dragged himself to his feet on the far side of the -wrenched, warped table.</p> - -<p>Panting, Pfaff tried to reach him; then, failing, clawed for the heavy -Kalquoi yat-stick that still lay on the slab between them.</p> - -<p>With all his might, Dane heaved at the already-sagging table. The -yat-stick slid to the floor on his side.</p> - -<p>Pfaff hurled himself after it bodily. Jamming him aside, Dane snatched -up the stick and swung it in a tight arc, straight for the base of the -Security rep's skull.</p> - -<p>Pfaff twisted and it hit—snapped—a collarbone instead.</p> - -<p>In the same instant the chamber's door swung open. Two space-fleet -guards gaped across the threshold.</p> - -<p>Face twisted with pain, clutching at his shattered clavicle, Pfaff -roared, "Get this stabat!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane lunged for the doorway, swinging the yat-stick. It clipped -the first guard alongside the jaw; dropped him in his tracks. Dane -stiff-armed the second and sprinted off down the passageway.</p> - -<p>But as he ran, alarm bells all about began to jangle. Ahead, a spaceman -appeared as if from nowhere, paralyzer at the ready.</p> - -<p>Dane veered into the first cross-passage; dropped down a pneumolift to -the next level.</p> - -<p>More green telonium walls. More bells and guards and paralyzers.</p> - -<p>Lurching now, staggering, Dane stumbled onward. It was as if his -body were acting independently, without his mind's volition, for -intelligence told him flatly that there would be, could be, no escape. -Not in a closed unit like a spaceship.</p> - -<p>Yet here he was, still fleeing.</p> - -<p>Why? Why?</p> - -<p>Laughing, he downed another guard with the yat-stick; and even in his -own ears his mirth rang a drunken note.</p> - -<p>Another pneumolift. Another. And after that, a long, dim-lighted -passage.</p> - -<p>Dead end.</p> - -<p>So this was where they'd trap him.</p> - -<p>Only then, as he slumped to the floor, he stubbed his toe on a heavy -screw-lock; saw at last the scarlet-lidded hatch on which he squatted.</p> - -<p>One more barrier to put behind him.</p> - -<p>Wearily, he wrenched the screw-locks open; pried up the spring catch; -lifted the hatch-lid; peered down into the space beneath it.</p> - -<p>An unpleasant, faintly musty odor. A wall-ladder leading down into pale -grey emptiness.</p> - -<p>Yat-stick still in hand, Dane lowered himself gingerly through the -hatchway and let the heavy scarlet lid fall to above him, wondering as -he did so why it was painted so bright a red.</p> - -<p>The spring catch clicked into place. No going back now.</p> - -<p>Down the ladder, a rung at a time. Ten feet. Fifteen. Twenty.</p> - -<p>Solid decking again. Solid ... yet strangely slippery. And the -unpleasant musty smell was stronger now, too.</p> - -<p>Something brushed Dane's hand. Something gelatinous and clammy.</p> - -<p>Instinctively, he jerked back.</p> - -<p>His eyes were adjusting to the pale grey light now. He could see better.</p> - -<p>He wished he couldn't.</p> - -<p>Because the thing that had brushed his hand ... the slimy, gelatinous -thing that now was making the flesh crawl over every inch of his -body ... was a monstrous, many-eyed, pseudopodal horror he couldn't -even classify.</p> - -<p>But it could classify him, apparently; for already its amoeboid -protrusions were eddying in close to his feet with tiny, obscene -sucking noises.</p> - -<p>Heart pounding, blood chilling, Dane gripped the yat-stick till his -knuckles ached. At last—at last he knew why that hatch-lid overhead -had been painted such a vivid scarlet.</p> - -<p>It led into the spaceship's bem-tank!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER III</p> - - -<p>Even as the realization of where he stood at last burst upon Dane -with full, nerve-shattering force, the creature confronting him moved -forward, closing in about him in a half-moon arc that reached from wall -to wall. How large it was, Dane could only guess, for it extended -farther into the dimness than he could see, piling up in great, -semi-transparent folds almost as high as his head in places, like some -monstrous, shapeless jellyfish speckled with eye-spots.</p> - -<p>Now, while Dane watched, rigid, the creature put forth another -pseudopod. Stickily, the protuberance crept along the metal tank-wall, -closer and closer.</p> - -<p>A trickle of icy sweat rilled down Dane's spine. Numb, -shallow-breathed, he drew back from the advancing tentacle of -protoplasm.</p> - -<p>In the same instant a chill, moist, odorous Something spewed onto the -back of Dane's neck and shoulders; another pseudopod, moving in while -the first held his attention.</p> - -<p>With a wild yell, Dane lunged for the ladder; tried to claw his way up -it.</p> - -<p>But the pseudopod clung to him like some loathesome growth, part of -him. Before he could tear free of it, the living wall about him swept -in, a tide of protoplasm that in seconds mired him to the ankles ... -the knees ... the waist....</p> - -<p>Dane shrieked aloud. New strength flooded through him, born of sheer -terror. Frantically, he lashed out with the yat-stick, flailing this -way and that at the encroaching extraterrestial horror that any moment -now might swallow him completely.</p> - -<p>But to no avail. Here and there where he struck, the monster's -jelly-like tissue quivered a little under impact. That was all.</p> - -<p>And still it oozed higher about him. It was to his chest now. His -armpits.</p> - -<p>Abruptly, Dane stopped flailing. What was the point of it, as things -stood now? The best he could hope for was a quick and easy death.</p> - -<p>Yet what a place to die, after all his efforts! Here, sealed away in a -spaceship's bem-tank! Chances were no one would ever so much as find -his body, nor any clue as to what had happened to him.</p> - -<p>Which would be a joke of sorts on Pfaff ... something to try to account -for to Nelva Guthrie and his own superiors.</p> - -<p>No doubt it would baffle the other man too, Dane decided—the -Being-Without-A-Name, the mind-talker who'd spent so much time and -effort trying to force subservience upon him.</p> - -<p>Or did that strange hairless, hollow-eyed, fiend-faced man even exist? -Thinking back over everything, Dane couldn't help but wonder. In -retrospect, a nightmare quality clung to the whole incident, as if -perhaps it were delusion, hallucination, rather than reality.</p> - -<p>In any case, it didn't matter, because now, dying here, he'd never -know.</p> - -<p>And that was too bad, in a way, because there were so many things Dane -knew in his heart he'd like to have uncovered. Things like the secret -of his own identity, his past and future ... the meaning of the shining -shaft he'd seen and that he knew was somehow bound close to his own -destiny ... the business of the Kalquoi yat-stick, and how it came to -be in the bleak asteroidal cave where the survey ship had found him.</p> - -<p>The gelatinous mass had reached his neck now. It wouldn't be much -longer.</p> - -<p>Dane laughed harshly. "Come on, damn it! Get it over with!" He wrenched -his right arm free; hurled the yat-stick out into the center of the -viscid mass attacking him.</p> - -<p>The ooze crept to his chin. Time stood still, every second dragging out -to an eternity.</p> - -<p>Dane closed his eyes.</p> - -<p>As if it were a signal, a rhythm seemed to start up in his brain: -<i>Dane ... Dane ... Dane....</i></p> - -<p>His own name, endlessly repeated. The beginning of a death-throe -madness, perhaps, Dane decided with a queer sense of abstraction.</p> - -<p>Like magic, the pattern changed: <i>John Dane ... John Dane ... John -Dane....</i></p> - -<p>In spite of himself, Dane felt a quick-glowing spark of interest. -Almost without volition, he spoke aloud: "Not John Dane. Clark Dane."</p> - -<p>The rhythm in his brain faltered; broke. In its place came a vague -uneasiness, a restless groping: <i>Clark Dane—? Clark Dane? No, no. John -Dane. JOHN Dane!</i></p> - -<p>"CLARK Dane," Dane reiterated firmly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Instantly, the previous uneasiness returned, but multiplied a -hundred-fold. Needles of pain shot through his brain. The pale grey -emptiness of his prison vanished in a blaze of purple light. Even the -gelatinous sea of protoplasm enveloping Dane seemed to transmit a -sudden shiver.</p> - -<p>Dane opened his eyes.</p> - -<p>But the purple light was no pain-born illusion. Rather, it glinted even -brighter now than before.</p> - -<p>Its source was a crystal ... a strange, radiant crystal that floated -before Dane in mid-air.</p> - -<p>Now, while he watched, the purple light changed to green; then red; -then yellow.</p> - -<p>The crystal, too, was changing. Before his eyes, it writhed and -stretched until it was a glowing aquamarine ladder, modeled after the -one down which Dane had come into the bem-tank.</p> - -<p>A moment later it was a bright blue bottle; then a cerise cube; then -once again a crystal, orange and golden.</p> - -<p>And all the time, the turmoil in Dane's brain continued ... a chaotic, -inarticulate fumbling, based on some point of confusion between the two -names, <i>John</i> and <i>Clark</i>.</p> - -<p>But despite the pain, Dane hardly noticed the groping and the -searching. He had mind only for the colored light and changing shape of -the weird crystal that hovered before him.</p> - -<p>For there was only one thing it could be: a Kalquoi, one of those -dreaded alien invaders who'd long since usurped the outer planets, -beyond the asteroid belt.</p> - -<p>Now it was here, on this ship, headed straight for Mars!</p> - -<p>And there was nothing he could do about it.</p> - -<p>As if to emphasize the point, the amoeboid monster in whose grip he -lay pushed a new pseudopod down upon Dane's head and face. Oozing, -enveloping, smothering, it pressed into every pore and orifice.</p> - -<p>Dane gasped for breath that would not come. Choking, jerking, -convulsing, he struggled against the mucilaginous mass that held him.</p> - -<p>It was like fighting quicksand. The creature would not let him -go. Fire raced through Dane's lungs. Black fog rose, clouding his -consciousness. He forgot who he was, and where he was, and even the -pulsing pain of the Kalquoi's sentient probings.</p> - -<p>Slowly, then faster and faster, he began to fall ... to fall....</p> - -<p>Only then, of a sudden, his mouth and nose, his face, were clear again. -Spasmodically, Dane sucked air into his lungs in great, anguished gasps.</p> - -<p>When his knees gave way, he slumped to the slime-slick floor.</p> - -<p>It dawned on him dimly, then, that the monster had left him ... that he -was free and safe once more.</p> - -<p>Why?</p> - -<p>Still not quite steady, he looked out across the bem-tank; saw the -protoplasmic horror huddled in a quaking, quivering mass against the -chamber's far wall. The Kalquoi hovered above it; and when the giant -amoeba-thing made a tentative effort to ooze back in Dane's direction, -the alien assailed it with sudden, darting light-beams that seared deep -into the pseudopodal creature's tissue.</p> - -<p>The demonstration was enough for Dane: the Kalquoi had saved him.</p> - -<p>But again, why?</p> - -<p>It was a question without an answer—or, at least, with no answer Dane -himself could fathom. Besides, for now, it was enough that he remained -alive. Puzzles could come later.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile—</p> - -<p>But before he could organize the thought, sound came into the tank's -stillness: the creak of screw-locks turning; the clink of a spring -catch released.</p> - -<p>For the barest instant the Kalquoi hovered as if listening. Then, like -a candle snuffed out, it vanished.</p> - -<p>Dane surged to his feet. Darting across the slippery decking, he found -the yat-stick and, snatching it up, stuffed it out of sight beneath his -tunic.</p> - -<p>Simultaneously, a sudden draft told him the hatch was open. Light -blazed—a brilliant beam that pinned Dane, half-blinded, to the tank's -wall.</p> - -<p>Yet in spite of his situation, he could not repress a momentary grin. -It would be worth a good deal of discomfort just to watch Pfaff's -reaction when he found victim alive and monster cowed!</p> - -<p>Then a guard called down to Dane, ordering him up the ladder and out of -the tank. Brief minutes later, two other spacemen escorted him to the -threshold of a room ornate enough for Dane to assume that it must be -the captain's office.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The door-guard ordered a halt. Beyond him, Dane could glimpse Pfaff, -standing inside the office. But the Security rep's whole manner proved -a disappointment. Far from ranting, he wore an air of sullen, savage, -inadequately-repressed fury. The thick, bruised lips were drawn tight, -the bullet-head tilted forward a fraction as if to avoid someone's gaze.</p> - -<p>Then the guard pushed Dane forward again, and he saw the reason for the -Security man's manner.</p> - -<p>For Nelva Guthrie and the spaceship's captain stood side by side across -from Pfaff. The officer, bland-faced, stared toward the far corner of -the ceiling, and Dane interpreted the way the man's mouth twisted to -mean that this was a moment long anticipated and thoroughly savored.</p> - -<p>But no trace of amusement showed in Nelva Guthrie's pale, lovely face. -Eyes blazing, she lanced barbed words straight at Pfaff: "—and so, in -spite of the protests of this ship's officers, you intentionally and -maliciously violated my orders, Mr. Pfaff?"</p> - -<p>Muttered incoherence.</p> - -<p>"Answer me, Mr. Pfaff!"</p> - -<p>"Not maliciously, I said."</p> - -<p>"Oh, really, Mr. Pfaff?" Nelva Guthrie's grey eyes sparked. The ash -blonde hair rippled as she tossed her head in a quick, impatient -movement. "What would you call it, then, when you abuse a man to the -point that he takes refuge in a bem-tank, after I've particularly -emphasized it's vital not to upset him?"</p> - -<p>A mumble.</p> - -<p>"Speak up, Mr. Pfaff!"</p> - -<p>"All right, I will!" All at once the other seemed to have lost all -control over his temper. The massive shoulders hunched forward; the -lumpy face thrust out, bold and belligerent, in the manner of the -Pfaff whom Dane remembered. "I wanted to know how come this chitza got -stranded on that asteroid. I still do, and I'm going to find out, even -with you here."</p> - -<p>"Indeed?"</p> - -<p>"You bet indeed! You think Security moves over for every little -bobtailed slazot out of Records? I'm rep on this ship, and I'm labeling -this whole business as Security jurisdiction! You don't like it, you -can state your case to Thorburg Jessup!"</p> - -<p>Color came to the girl's cheeks. Her voice, icy calm, dropped even -lower than before. "How old do you think I am, Mr. Pfaff?"</p> - -<p>"How old—?" The Security rep stared; stumbled. "How should I know? -What's that got to do with this?"</p> - -<p>"You'll see. Meanwhile, please make an estimate."</p> - -<p>"Well ... maybe twenty-five."</p> - -<p>"You're quite close. I'm twenty-six."</p> - -<p>"So?"</p> - -<p>"So how many twenty-six-year-old women do you know who are supervisors -of planetary record centers?"</p> - -<p>Pfaff's mouth opened, then closed again with no word uttered.</p> - -<p>Nelva Guthrie said, "Some men, Mr. Pfaff, might deduce from this that -such a woman has certain—contacts."</p> - -<p>The Security agent still held his silence.</p> - -<p>"In my case," the girl went on, "the contacts are more than adequate." -A slight tightening of the lips. "Mr. Jessup no doubt will tell you all -about it when he calls you."</p> - -<p>Pfaff's broad face went suddenly slack. The close-set eyes drew down to -gimlets. "What do you mean, damn you?"</p> - -<p>"I mean you've finally over-reached yourself, Mr. Pfaff," Nelva Guthrie -retorted icily. "Devotion to duty's one thing, self-glorification -another. Not even Security will back a man who's so eager for -advancement as to endanger a vital project in the remote hope he can -bully his way through to personal credit."</p> - -<p>"But—Jessup—"</p> - -<p>"Why would he call you, you mean?" Nelva Guthrie looked the image -of wide-eyed innocence. "Why, to relieve you, of course, Mr. Pfaff. -Orders are already cleared for your suspension as Security rep for an -indefinite period. You unload as soon as the ship ramps down on Mars."</p> - -<p>Finality on a level that forbade dispute or question was in the girl's -voice and manner. She turned from Pfaff; faced Dane for the first time.</p> - -<p>It was a strange moment for him. For as he looked into her eyes, -in that first fraction of a second, he saw things paradoxical, -things wholly unexpected ... discernment, warmth, concern, a tender -questioning.</p> - -<p>It rocked Dane back, almost unbelieving.</p> - -<p>Then the moment faded, as if a blind had snapped shut somewhere behind -the clear grey eyes. Smiling, yet brisk and businesslike, Nelva crossed -to him and extended a slim, firm hand. "Mr. Dane, I can't tell you how -happy I am to see you. The Mars Record Center definitely considers -itself fortunate to have the opportunity to study your case at first -hand."</p> - -<p>Wryly, Dane matched her smile. "I'm hardly uninterested myself."</p> - -<p>"The sooner we get to it, the better, then. My carrier's waiting."</p> - -<p>Nelva's smile was ever so bright. Yet looking from her to the -bland-faced spaceship captain and sullen-eyed, hate-glowering Pfaff, -Dane felt a sudden, swift wave of uneasiness.</p> - -<p>This business—somehow, it was all too neatly organized, too smooth.</p> - -<p>But there was nothing he could do about it. Not now; not till he knew -more.</p> - -<p>"All right with me," he shrugged. "Let's go."</p> - -<p>Did the blind behind Nelva's eyes flicker for the barest instant? He -wondered.</p> - -<p>"Good!" Impulsively, it seemed, she caught his hand. "This way—"</p> - -<p>Wordless, taut-nerved, looking neither to right nor left, Dane walked -with her from the room.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER IV</p> - - -<p>It was quiet, here in Nelva Guthrie's office in the Record Center. She -said, "It takes a few minutes for the cell-sheets to come through, Mr. -Dane, and I know you must be tired. Why don't you lie down on the couch -while we're waiting?"</p> - -<p>"Thanks. I will." Gratefully, Dane stretched out; drank in the cool -greens and soft blues of the decor. The climatizer's rhythmic whisper -lulled him.</p> - -<p>Yet restful though it all was, complete relaxation somehow would not -come. In spite of all his efforts, Dane found himself heir to twitching -muscles, sudden tensings. Half a dozen times, he caught himself -watching Nelva sidewise as she checked through a pile of papers, as if -he were afraid to leave her unobserved.</p> - -<p>Why? Because he felt drawn to her as a woman? Because he feared that -she might slip away?</p> - -<p>Or, because the contrast between the mask of distance she now wore, -as compared to the things he'd seen when their eyes first met, was so -marked as to make him permanently wary, unwilling to trust her?</p> - -<p>The thought set irritation pricking at him. Abruptly, he sat up. "It's -no use."</p> - -<p>"To try to rest, you mean, when you don't know who you are or where you -come from?"</p> - -<p>"That's right." Dane spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Why -should I be the first man in more than a hundred years to have this -happen to him? You said yourself amnesia's been wiped out."</p> - -<p>"True enough," the woman nodded, ash-blonde hair shimmering. "In your -case, however, some rather unusual factors complicate the picture."</p> - -<p>Dane frowned. "What kind of factors?"</p> - -<p>For a long moment Nelva studied him, as if debating. Then, at last, -she said, "I guess there's no real harm in telling you. The reason we -know you're a victim of amnesia is because the survey ship's psychman -ran a narcoanalysis on you. And what you thought was a perception test, -downstairs here, was really a hypnoanalysis to check the psychman's -findings."</p> - -<p>"So?"</p> - -<p>"The results were most interesting. For one thing, you didn't respond -to treatment. Amnesia's an adaptive reaction to inner conflict, a -sort of hysterical inhibition. When the inhibition's released by the -Egrisanto technique, under deep analysis, ordinarily the block to -memory goes with it, and recall returns." Nelva ran a slim forefinger -along the edge of her papers; eyed Dane. "Do you follow me?"</p> - -<p>Dane nodded slowly. "I think so."</p> - -<p>"Then you'll understand how it startled me when I found no trace of -any real inhibition, no sensitive areas you were trying to protect." -Nelva spread her hands. "As a matter of fact you reacted freely on -every subject covered by the standard tests. And you showed a rather -remarkable fund of information on virtually every topic."</p> - -<p>Dane groped. "Then what—?"</p> - -<p>"Don't you see? You're holding back nothing—yet there's not even the -slightest hint as to where that knowledge came from! It's almost as if -you were a robot, with built-in reaction patterns and knowledge tapes -instead of a human brain."</p> - -<p>A chill ran through Dane. He sat very still.</p> - -<p>What was it the fiend-faced man, the Being-Without-A-Name, had said to -him in those first delirious moments of his awareness that now seemed -so long ago?—"Bow down to your creator?"</p> - -<p>Involuntarily, Dane shuddered.</p> - -<p>Nelva said, "You're thinking about your dream, aren't you? About how -the man said he'd created you?" Her voice was warm with sympathy.</p> - -<p>Dane looked up sharply. "How did you know—?"</p> - -<p>"Simple logic. The analysis gave me all the things in your mind—about -the man with the hairless skull who was your master, and the silver -needle, and the Kalquoi. When I mentioned robots, it was almost certain -to make you think about—the man."</p> - -<p>"Oh."</p> - -<p>"You don't need to worry, either. You're not a robot. Robots don't have -feelings. Besides, the celloscope would have shown it if you were. As -for the rest—the shaft—the Kalquoi—I imagine they're some sort of -delusion. Tied in with your amnesia, perhaps—specialized situations -the standard tests weren't geared to touch."</p> - -<p>"I see." Dane studied his knuckles.</p> - -<p>Yet what did he see? What, really? He wondered.</p> - -<p>Certainly not that the fiend-faced man and the silver needle and the -Kalquoi were delusions!</p> - -<p>For as Nelva talked, her words had come faster and faster. A new note -had crept into her voice—a note of tension. And now, as he watched her -obliquely, he became acutely aware that her fingers were all at once -ever so restless. Her lips showed a minute tendency to tremble, also, -and the grey eyes stayed clear of him, as if the things she said were -creating some under-current of conflict in her that she feared to let -him see.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane's jaw tightened. Breathing carefully, evenly, he thought back once -again to the way the girl had first looked at him—and then, how the -blinds had come down, shutting him out.</p> - -<p>How could he trust this woman, while that hidden barrier in her eyes -still stood between them? How dared he throw aside all suspicion, all -caution, so long as she held back secrets?</p> - -<p>No; at root the dilemma still was his, and always would be. Not even -Nelva Guthrie could share it with him. He had no choice but to go his -own road, fight through to his private destiny.</p> - -<p>And what better time to start than now?</p> - -<p>Tight-lipped, he said, "All this is fine. But it looks to me like it's -going in a circle."</p> - -<p>Nelva's hands moved nervously. Her eyes opened a trifle wider than -seemed normal. "A circle—?"</p> - -<p>"You claim I've got amnesia, don't you? Only then you tell me I don't -react right for it." Dane laughed, harsh and curt. "To me, that says -we're getting nowhere."</p> - -<p>A knock broke off the conversation. Quickly, as if relieved at the -interruption, Nelva crossed the room and opened the door.</p> - -<p>A uniformed tech held out a plastic cylinder. "Here's that cell-sheet, -Miss Guthrie."</p> - -<p>"Good!" There was an air of relief in the way Nelva said it. She turned -to Dane; gestured triumphantly with the cylinder. "This is the answer -to your problems, Clark! Your cellemental analysis sheet! Come on!"</p> - -<p>Shrugging, Dane fell in beside her. He wondered wryly how he had so -suddenly been promoted to first-name status.</p> - -<p>Nelva was still talking: "A cell-sheet's proof positive of identity, -Clark. By Federation law, one's made for every human at birth, -everywhere among the inner planets. All records on that person then are -filed under the cell-sheet's pattern. So you won't be a lost soul much -longer. Two minutes after we put this cylinder into the interplanetary -index system, we'll know everything there is to know about you...."</p> - -<p>They were in another room now—a long, narrow room through which busy -techs hurried. The walls on either side were banked solid, floor to -ceiling, with varicolored index flashers. A black, box-like unit, -shoulder-high, occupied the center of the floor. Beyond it, at the -room's far end, double doors like those through which Dane and Nelva -had just entered provided a second exit.</p> - -<p>"This way," Nelva commanded briskly. Leading Dane to the box-like unit, -she flipped open one of a row of hinged cases lining each edge, fitted -Dane's cell-sheet onto a spool, closed the lid once more, and pressed a -button.</p> - -<p>She kept up a running fire of small-talk as she worked. It came out -just a trifle too animated. Dane decided her primary purpose was to -forestall embarrassing questions rather than to convey data.</p> - -<p>Now she pointed to a slot below the cylinder-spool. "This is the -place, Clark. And in just two minutes!"</p> - -<p>In spite of himself, Dane couldn't tear his eyes from the slot.</p> - -<p>Seconds, ticking by ... dragging out to what seemed eons....</p> - -<p>Then a bell rang, a single sharp, imperative note. A card spilled from -the slot.</p> - -<p>It seemed to Dane for an instant as if Nelva had stiffened. A nearby -tech looked up sharply.</p> - -<p>But already Nelva's hand was darting out. Deftly, she caught the -card before it reached the tray and, turning, studied it. Whether by -accident or design, her body shielded the record so Dane couldn't see -it. When he would have stepped round her, she flipped the card over and -stood scrutinizing the punch-marks and code-symbols on the reverse side.</p> - -<p>With an effort, Dane held his voice level. "Well? What does it say?"</p> - -<p>"Say—? Oh, it—it tells the file we have to send to for your records."</p> - -<p>But Nelva's voice shook. Her face had paled. Tight-lipped, Dane -body-blocked her against the machine and snatched the card from her; -turned it over.</p> - -<p>The legend's top line was printed in red letters a good inch tall:</p> - -<p class="ph1">NO RECORD</p> - -<p>And then, smaller, beneath it:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOLD SUBJECT IN TOP SECURITY ISOLATION PENDING INTENSIVE INVESTIGATION -AND APPROPRIATE TESTS FOR PSYCHOPATHY, CRIMINALITY, AND/OR POSSIBLE -KALQUOI CONNECTIONS.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER V</p> - - -<p>Words on a card. That was all they were. But they spelled an end to -hope.</p> - -<p>Numbly, Dane looked at Nelva.</p> - -<p>White to the lips, she dodged his gaze.</p> - -<p>But beyond her, over by the door through which they'd entered, a man -who wore a guard's uniform had suddenly appeared and now stood to one -side, scanning the index-chamber.</p> - -<p>While Dane watched, two more guards joined the first.</p> - -<p>Dane crowded close to Nelva. His words came out a raw whisper: "Those -guards—are they after me?"</p> - -<p>She didn't answer.</p> - -<p>Dane's belly knotted. His hands shook.</p> - -<p>But he couldn't afford the luxury of cracking. Not now, of all times.</p> - -<p>No. The only course open now was to follow desperation's dictates.</p> - -<p>Psychopath? Criminal? Kalquoi agent?</p> - -<p>If those were his labels, he might as well live up to them!</p> - -<p>Grimly, he let his hand brush the heavy yat-stick still concealed -beneath his tunic; forced his face into the caricature of a grin as he -gazed at Nelva.</p> - -<p>The girl seemed scarcely to be breathing.</p> - -<p>Dane said softly, "We're getting out of this place. You and me, -together. We're going to walk through the entry door at the far end of -this room. Understand?"</p> - -<p>Nelva's eyes distended, wide with sudden panic. Her mouth started to -open.</p> - -<p>Dane caught her wrist in a savage grip; twisted so sharply she came -forward on tiptoe, face drawn with pain. "Scream and I'll break your -arm!"</p> - -<p>Only the faintest flicker of Nelva's lids indicated that she'd heard -him. But she turned as he did under the pressure on her wrist and moved -with him in the direction of the doorway.</p> - -<p>Behind them, a loud voice cried, "Hey, there!"</p> - -<p>Dane flung a quick glance back; glimpsed the guards starting towards -him.</p> - -<p>With a curse, he shoved Nelva forward, ahead of him, in a frantic dash -for the door.</p> - -<p>They made it in a rush. Heeling the panel shut in the faces of his -pursuers, Dane wheeled right down the corridor.</p> - -<p>But even as he turned, he came face to face with yet another guard, -charging up the hall straight at him.</p> - -<p>Savagely, Dane flung Nelva aside. Clawing out the yat-stick, he smashed -its heavy head to the pit of the man's stomach.</p> - -<p>The guard bent double. Bowling him out of the way, Dane pivoted, braced -for attack or flight alike.</p> - -<p>Yet to what end? In his heart, he knew it would be the same here as on -the spaceship. Sooner or later, his adversaries would hunt him down; -trap him....</p> - -<p>Then, off to his left, a voice cried, "Clark! This way—!"</p> - -<p>Nelva's voice.</p> - -<p>Dane whirled; glimpsed the girl beckoning frantically from an alcove. -Sprinting to her, he crowded past a door that she held open, and into a -cramped, shadowy chamber beyond.</p> - -<p>"Now, here...." Nelva's hand caught his, leading him onward.</p> - -<p>Another door. Another. A room piled high with stored furniture and -equipment.</p> - -<p>Nelva said, "You can hide here for a little while. After that...." Her -voice trailed off. She was breathing hard.</p> - -<p>Dane said, "I'm tired of hiding. It gets me nowhere."</p> - -<p>The girl's grey eyes widened. "But—what—?"</p> - -<p>"Which way to your analytical computer?"</p> - -<p>"Analytical computer—?" Nelva looked bewildered. "What computer? What -are you talking about?"</p> - -<p>"You know what I mean!" Dane bared his teeth. "Every planetary record -center's built around one. It's the gadget that organizes your -information, sorts out your data, makes your decisions when you've got -too many complicating factors for a human mind to handle." He laughed -harshly. "That's me, right now. I'm up against too many complicating -factors. So I'm going to ask your computer for some answers."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nelva stared at him incredulously. "Are you mad, Clark? At best, we've -a few minutes' freedom for you. No more. Any moment, Security may send -someone in here—"</p> - -<p>"That's why I won't wait for them!" Dane came back fiercely. "Sure, -you saved my neck, dragging me in here. I'm grateful for it. But not -so grateful I'm willing to stand waiting till someone hunts me down." -He hammered a clenched fist into his palm. "No, damn it! I'll do some -of the hunting this time. And that starts with some questions for your -computer!"</p> - -<p>"But what—?"</p> - -<p>"What questions?" Dane laughed again. "Can't you guess? I want to -know that man who claimed I was his slave. About the silver needle. -The Kalquoi. Who I am; why I can't remember anything; how it is I've -no record in your files. Maybe even about you and what you're up to. -Things like that, a lot of them."</p> - -<p>New lines etched Nelva's lovely face. "Clark, you can't!"</p> - -<p>"Can't I?" Dane paced the floor. "Take me there and we'll see whether I -can or not!"</p> - -<p>"No, no! You don't understand." Nelva's hands moved in a gesture of -frustration. "It's just not that easy to use an analytical computer."</p> - -<p>Dane stopped his pacing. He frowned. "How's that?"</p> - -<p>"For one thing, the machine's self-limiting. It covers only certain -areas of information, likely to be needed here on Mars. But your -questions aren't localized."</p> - -<p>"Give me an example."</p> - -<p>"The Kalquoi. They're a menace to all the inner planets, not just Mars. -So when you ask about them, the only answer our machine will give you -is a referral to the big System Computer on Luna."</p> - -<p>"Go on."</p> - -<p>"Even setting up a question properly can take weeks. You have to be -sure it's framed within the machine's limitations. Take this man you -talk about. I wouldn't begin to know how to key a query on him, with -nothing to start from but your verbal description of an emotionalized -visual image."</p> - -<p>"I see."</p> - -<p>"It's the same with the silver needle. How do you classify it—as art, -armament, or industrial equipment?"</p> - -<p>Dane nodded slowly. "You make a good case, Nelva." And then: "But I'll -still have a try at it. Let's go!"</p> - -<p>The girl stared at him, and before his eyes the shreds of her earlier -composure vanished. "Clark, I won't let you do it!"</p> - -<p>Wordless, Dane reached for her arm.</p> - -<p>She didn't even try to jerk back. Her words came in a rush: "Clark, you -don't understand! Security keeps guards on all computers—a special -unit of Thorburg Jessup's private zombies. They'd capture you or kill -you before you even got close to the question boards—"</p> - -<p>"That would make a difference to you?"</p> - -<p>"Can I say it any plainer?" The girl's lips trembled. She caught -Dane's hand between hers. "I won't let them get you, Clark! I won't! -That's why I'm telling you these things; why I've tried to help you. -We'll find some place to hide you, somehow, where even Security can't -find you—"</p> - -<p>"Sorry, Nelva." Dane shook his head. "I'm not fool enough to think I -can hide from Security, even if I wanted to. And as for what you say -about the computer—well, this is my day to see things for myself."</p> - -<p>Nelva drew back. Her nostrils were flaring, yet she seemed closer to -tears than anger. "You don't trust me!"</p> - -<p>"That's right. I don't." Dane made it flat and brutal.</p> - -<p>"But I—I've helped you...."</p> - -<p>"Right again. But the way things stack up, I'm not sure why. So till -I know for sure, I'll play it my way." Dane bit down hard, fighting -down all impulses to warmth and tenderness. "We'll have a look at that -computer now."</p> - -<p>"Clark, wait—!"</p> - -<p>"Well?"</p> - -<p>"You won't have to go to the computer. I—I'll tell you—"</p> - -<p>Nelva broke off raggedly. She was breathing too fast, and her eyes held -a strange, wild look.</p> - -<p>Dane stared. "You'll tell me what?"</p> - -<p>"About the silver shaft, the needle. That's the only one of your -questions I know anything about." The girl came up against him; -clung to him, her face an anguished mask. "I wasn't lying about the -computer, either, Clark. It is guarded by those awful creatures -Jessup's biochemists have bred in the Mercury labs. You wouldn't stand -a chance against them. That's why I couldn't let you go there. They're -completely ruthless—all duty conditioning, not a trace of human -feeling in any of them—"</p> - -<p>"Forget about that!" Dane gripped her arms. "Tell me about the shaft. -That's what I want to know!"</p> - -<p>"It's—it's on Callisto...."</p> - -<p>"Callisto—?" Dane stared. "That's Kalquoi territory, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, of course. They occupied it when they took over the outer planets -thirty years ago."</p> - -<p>"Then the shaft—"</p> - -<p>"—is a relic of the days just before the occupation," Nelva finished -for Dane. "It was a weapon, Clark—a weapon set up at Sandoz, the chief -human city on Callisto. The Sandoz Shaft, they called it. Only then it -didn't work, so people ended up saying it was the Sandoz Tombstone. -It's mentioned in all the Kalquoi Invasion knowledge tapes. That's how -I know about it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Prickles of excitement ran up and down Dane's spine. For the first time -he began to feel as if he were making progress, coming to grips with -the mysteries which seemed ever to surround him.</p> - -<p>"Do you know any more about the thing?" he demanded of Nelva. "How was -it supposed to work? What went wrong?"</p> - -<p>The girl's smooth brow furrowed in concentration. "As I recall, the -shaft was nothing but a gigantic Udellian transmitter."</p> - -<p>"A Udellian transmitter—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Back when the Kalquoi first came to our system, someone -discovered that high-frequency Udellian waves kept them from changing -shape or swallowing up things. And if the amplification was strong -enough, the waves would even shatter the crystals, the Kalquoi bodies. -That was the whole idea behind the shaft: to destroy the Kalquoi if -they tried to attack Sandoz."</p> - -<p>"And what happened?"</p> - -<p>Nelva shrugged slim shoulders. "I'm not enough of a tech in that field -to tell you, really. But as I understand it, it turned out that the -shaft was one of those things that works fine when you hold the size -down to a laboratory model."</p> - -<p>"But when they increased the size it wouldn't work?"</p> - -<p>"That's right," Nelva nodded. "It seems that when the transmitter got -beyond a certain size, the amount of power it took climbed way out of -proportion—so much so the available broadcast relay equipment couldn't -even activate the shaft, let alone make it effective against the -Kalquoi."</p> - -<p>"So?"</p> - -<p>"So the Kalquoi came, and Sandoz—all Callisto—was abandoned." Nelva -lifted her hands in a small, sad gesture. "That's all I know, Clark. -Every bit."</p> - -<p>Dane nodded slowly.</p> - -<p>Nelva said, "I'm afraid that's the way it may turn out with all your -questions. There won't be any answers—not real answers; not the kind -that can help you. That's why I'm so anxious to see to it Security -doesn't find you."</p> - -<p>Dane pondered her words for a long, dragging moment. Finally he asked, -"Where's that carrier you picked me up in?"</p> - -<p>The girl shot him a quick glance. "The carrier—?" And then: "Why, on -the roof here, I guess. But of course it's just short-range—"</p> - -<p>"Do you think we could get to it?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps." Nelva studied him thoughtfully. "Surely you're not really -thinking of trying to get away from Security in a carrier, are you?"</p> - -<p>Dane grinned, a trifle thinly. "You never can quite tell about me, can -you?" He let the grin develop into a chuckle. "How do we get up there, -anyhow?"</p> - -<p>"There's a pneumolift. Right through this door...." But though Nelva -led the way, a shadow lay across her face that might have been -irritation, or bafflement, or both.</p> - -<p>It was strangely quiet in the building, it seemed to Dane. Especially -considering there was a full-scale Security search for him in progress.</p> - -<p>He tried not to think about it. He was tense enough as it was, without -letting his imagination run riot.</p> - -<p>Obliquely, he stole a glance at Nelva Guthrie, beside him in the lift.</p> - -<p>The shadow across her face had vanished. Now the girl seemed almost -placid. It was as if, in her eyes, everything was going precisely -according to plan.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane smiled to himself a little at the thought ... wondered how long -she'd be able to hold to her complacency.</p> - -<p>The pneumolift eased to a halt. Warily, Dane followed Nelva out ... -moved after her through the shadows to the carrier station.</p> - -<p>Still no guards, no interruption.</p> - -<p>A carrier, poised in its launching-rack, sleek-lined and graceful.</p> - -<p>"There it is," Nelva whispered, gesturing. "Just be careful. It can't -carry you much beyond the gravitational pull. You may end up playing -tag with Phobos and Deimos!"</p> - -<p>Dane noted that she stood well back, deep in the cover of the -platform-beams.</p> - -<p>Brooding, again he studied the carrier, so notably unguarded.</p> - -<p>The silence echoed so loud it was making the skin along the back of his -neck prickle.</p> - -<p>Quite deliberately, then, he crossed to the cargo ramp, making it a -point to follow the shadows, close in to the platform-beams.</p> - -<p>A stack of loading-cases stood beside the ramp. Pausing briefly, Dane -glanced back to where Nelva still stood craning to watch him.</p> - -<p>Then, with no warning, he whirled and threw his whole weight against -the high-stacked cases.</p> - -<p>For a moment they tottered on the ramp's edge. Then, with a crash like -cataclysm incarnate, they tumbled down in an avalanche of ringing metal.</p> - -<p>But even as they fell, Dane leaped back into the shadows once again. In -a rush, he spanned the distance between him and Nelva.</p> - -<p>She stared at him wide-eyed, mouth agape.</p> - -<p>But only for a moment. For then, as water spews from a geyser, the -carrier erupted guards—three of them.</p> - -<p>From the level below, too, came the sound of running feet, converging -on the cargo ramp.</p> - -<p>Beside Dane, Nelva whispered, "What is it? What's happening?"</p> - -<p>"A trap." Dane laughed harshly. "But of course you wouldn't know -anything about that."</p> - -<p>The girl's nostrils flared. "Are you trying to say something?"</p> - -<p>For a moment Dane leaned forward, not answering.</p> - -<p>Then, as the last of the guards disappeared down the cargo ramp, he -spun about, swept the girl up bodily over his shoulder, and headed for -the carrier at a dead run.</p> - -<p>He was already on the loading ladder before the first shout of -discovery arose behind him.</p> - -<p>Inside, now. The hatch slammed shut. The launching lever pulled.</p> - -<p>A sudden, swift sense of acceleration. Then the easing off as equalizer -pressure rose to match it. In the viewer, Mars fell away beneath them.</p> - -<p>Dane glanced at Nelva Guthrie.</p> - -<p>She stood beside him, the lovely oval of her face a study in pallor. -Her fingers trembled as she smoothed the ash-blonde hair, and fear -flickered in the grey eyes.</p> - -<p>"Clark, where are we going?" Her voice came out a ragged whisper. -"Don't you realize they're sure to catch us?"</p> - -<p>"Are they?" Dane chuckled grimly.</p> - -<p>"Of course. They'll have every landing-platform covered."</p> - -<p>Dane laughed again. It was incredible, how well he suddenly felt, all -things considered. "Not ours they won't cover!" And then: "Because damn -it, we're going straight to Callisto!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VI</p> - - -<p>Dane stretched the little carrier's resources to the limit, pushing it -as far out from Mars as he could coax it.</p> - -<p>Then, at last, when the craft was well established in a satellite -orbit, between Phobos and Deimos and beyond all peril from the mother -planet's gravitational pull, he cut the power, turned to the emergency -distress-call communicator unit, and switched it on.</p> - -<p>He knew Nelva's eyes were on him, even before he swung round to face -her once again. It pleased him, how baffled she looked. But her lips -stayed set in a thin, straight line—a memento of some of the things -he'd said after the take-off—so he knew she wouldn't speak till he -did.</p> - -<p>"All right," he grinned, "what do you give me for our chances now, my -dear Miss Mars Record Center Supervisor Guthrie?"</p> - -<p>The line of her mouth drew even tighter. So, after a moment, he let -drive with another needle: "Or maybe, as an expert on problems and -solutions, you don't want to give a dangerous Kalquoi agent like me the -benefit of your professional opinion?"</p> - -<p>That did it. Dane could see the girl's knuckles whiten. Her eyes -flashed, more ice-blue now than grey.</p> - -<p>"You're a fool, Clark Dane!" she burst out furiously. "Once that -signal's picked up, Security's sure to have patrol ships here within an -hour!"</p> - -<p>"Maybe." Dane permitted himself the luxury of grim humor.</p> - -<p>"No maybe! You know it's true!"</p> - -<p>"Or, maybe not," Dane went on, with no heed to Nelva's interruption. -"It might even be Security won't pay the first bit of attention to it." -He shot a sidelong glance at the girl. "Would you like to ask me why?"</p> - -<p>A moment of obvious, barely-repressed fury. Then: "Why?"</p> - -<p>"Because not even a Kalquoi agent would be fool enough to try to get -clear of Mars in a four-place carrier." Dane leaned back; stretched. -"No; Security's not going to be looking up here for us. Not when -they've got all those landing-platforms down below to cover."</p> - -<p>It did him good to see the way Nelva's jaw slackened.</p> - -<p>"Of course," he observed wryly, "that opens up another question, too, -doesn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Another question—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, you know: the question about how you and I are going to get to -Callisto."</p> - -<p>The last of the anger-lines vanished from Nelva's lovely face. Her lips -parted, breathless with interest. "Tell me, Clark! Have you really -devised a way to do it?"</p> - -<p>"I think so." Dane paused, letting the moment's tension build up. And -then: "Only of course that's no sign I'll tell you about it and give -you a chance to sour it."</p> - -<p>As knife-twisting, it came off very satisfactorily. Nelva's face went -white as if he'd slapped it. Her eyes turned blank, hurt-emptied.</p> - -<p>Inside, Dane cringed a little. Of a sudden he felt cheap, ashamed he'd -resorted to such pettiness even in anger. Miserably, he turned to the -viewer and rotated its field, searching the void about him.</p> - -<p>But before he could so much as complete the circuit, the proximity -magnetron's gong tolled brassily. Whipping round the viewer's field -in the indicated direction, Dane discovered the cylindrical bulk of a -cargo ship wheeling towards the carrier. While he watched, the pickup -bay's gate slid back. Receiver racks swung out and clamped onto the -smaller craft, then retracted once more, lifting the carrier into the -yawning bay as the gate slid closed.</p> - -<p>Dane ran his tongue along lips gone suddenly dry.</p> - -<p>But now it was too late to turn back. Pushing up from his seat, he -stepped quickly across to Nelva.</p> - -<p>Something in his gaze must have warned her. Eyes wide with panic, she -tried to jump up and scramble clear.</p> - -<p>Timing his blow with cool deliberation, Dane drove a hard right to the -point of her jaw.</p> - -<p>The girl's head snapped back. She crumpled with an unhinged limpness -that almost made Dane ill.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>But com-box blared in the same instant: "Carrier! What's your trouble? -Can you open your hatches or shall we cut our way in?"</p> - -<p>It broke Dane's spell. Snapping on the carrier's box, he bent close: -"I've got a girl aboard here. She's hurt pretty bad. You'd better -come prepared to take her off. As to the how and why of it all—well, -probably the best thing would be to have your captain come in first -and look it over."</p> - -<p>"The captain—!" The spaceship's amplifier squawked protestingly. -"Listen, mister—"</p> - -<p>"To hell with that! You listen!" Dane tried to match the harsh -belligerence of the performance Pfaff, the Security rep, had given -aboard the survey ship. "I've got the kind of trouble here it's going -to take top rank to handle, and I'm not going to waste time talking -about it, either. Just see that your captain's the first man to come -aboard this carrier. If he's not, I won't take responsibility for -anything that happens—and plenty will, believe me!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane snapped off the carrier's com-box as he finished. Wryly, he -wondered what the spaceship's officers would conjure up as being the -situation aboard the carrier. Certainly he'd given them no grounds for -peace of mind!</p> - -<p>But now it was time for him to prepare to receive the captain. Taking -the yat-stick from beneath his tunic, he wrapped it hastily in loose -plastic strips torn from the carrier's sleeper sheaths till it made a -bundle about the same size and shape as his own head.</p> - -<p>Then a knocking at the hatch told him his visitor had arrived. -Gripping the bundle containing the yat-stick firmly beneath his arm, -Dane levered open the hatch-cover and looked out gravely at the little -knot of men who stood waiting on the spaceship's transfer platform. -"Which one of you's the captain?"</p> - -<p>A tall, thin, horse-faced officer with coarse grey hair, protruding -eyes and an uncertain manner gestured diffidently. "Well, I am. Einar -Helstrom. Captain Helstrom, that is...."</p> - -<p>"Good." Dane tried to look even more solemn than before. "Captain, this -is the kind of emergency that's for your eyes alone. I wouldn't want to -expose anyone else to it till you've passed judgment."</p> - -<p>He stepped aside as he spoke. After a moment's uncertainty and nervous -shifting from foot to foot, Captain Helstrom in his turn swung aboard -and uneasily stepped down into the carrier's passenger compartment.</p> - -<p>As he did so, Nelva Guthrie moaned.</p> - -<p>The captain tripped over his own feet getting to one side. Eyes seeming -to protrude even more than usual, he peered down at the prostrate girl, -then turned to Dane. "What—what is it? What's the matter?"</p> - -<p>Dane shrugged. "A little fainting spell. She'll be all right in a -few minutes. But this"—a brief pause while he held out the package -containing the yat-stick ... "is something else again."</p> - -<p>Captain Helstrom eyed the package fearfully. "What's in it?"</p> - -<p>Dane returned the bundle to its place tight-clamped beneath his arm -before answering. Then, quite deliberately and with an almost academic -manner, he asked, "Captain, do you know what a proton grenade is?"</p> - -<p>"A proton grenade—!" The captain's jaw dropped, lengthening his face -so that he looked more like a horse than ever. "Not those things they -tried out against the Kalquoi once, you don't mean? Not the ones that -could tear a whole ship apart from just a little hand-bomb?"</p> - -<p>He backed away with little teetering steps as he spoke, halting only -when he bumped against the wall of the carrier's cabin.</p> - -<p>"That's right," Dane nodded. "Have you ever seen one?" And then, -shoving forward the yat-stick package and stripping away the outer -layer of plastic till the T's crossbar was revealed: "See, here's the -trigger-release mechanism—"</p> - -<p>"Please, mister!" Helstrom croaked, bony hands spread as -he tried to push Dane back. "Please, I don't want to see nothing. -Nothing!"</p> - -<p>"Well, if you don't want to...." Scowling irritably, as if -disappointed, Dane wadded the plastic back over the end of the -yat-stick. "You know who I am, captain?"</p> - -<p>"N-no."</p> - -<p>"Clark Dane, that's what they call me. Security's after me."</p> - -<p>The captain's eyes bugged even further, and his Adam's apple moved up -and down. He didn't speak.</p> - -<p>Dane went on: "They thought they had me, down on Mars. I got away, -though. Dug this"—he patted his bundle grimly—"out of a Security -arsenal to bring with me."</p> - -<p>The horse-face worked. The coarse grey hair appeared close to standing -on end.</p> - -<p>Dane scowled more ferociously than ever—as much to keep from laughing -himself as to impress the captain. There was something so intrinsically -absurd about the whole situation that he knew that one misstep would -carry him over into gails of wild, hysterical mirth.</p> - -<p>"Captain," he clipped tightly, "how'd you like to have me blow up this -ship?"</p> - -<p>Whatever it was the captain answered, Dane couldn't understand it. He -pressed on: "There's just one way to save yourself, captain. That's -to take me where I want to go. Because even if you hit me from -behind—stun me, kill me—this grenade will still go off. The trigger's -already free. This wrapping's the only thing that's holding it."</p> - -<p>The captain gulped—a hollow, dyseptic sound. "Wh-where do you want to -go?" he asked finally.</p> - -<p>Dane grinned. "Callisto."</p> - -<p>"Callisto!" The grey hair was certainly sticking straight out now. -"Mister, why don't you talk about Alpha Centauri or the Coalsack? -They'd be every bit as easy!"</p> - -<p>"Oh?"</p> - -<p>"Security's got the Belt guarded like a vault. They'd brain-drain us -before we were half-way through."</p> - -<p>"You could set the guides for Callisto before we hit the Belt, couldn't -you?"</p> - -<p>"A computer-guide ramping on a satellite clear on the other side of -the Asteroid Belt, with Jupiter's gravity pull to figure for?" Captain -Helstrom shuddered. "Mister, you don't know what you're asking me for. -Better to blow up your bomb now and be done with it!"</p> - -<p>"Fair enough, if that's the way you feel about it," Dane agreed. He -started to unwrap the yat-stick.</p> - -<p>As if on springs, Helstrom sprang at him. "No, no, mister! I didn't -mean it! We'll go; we'll go!"</p> - -<p>Bleakly, Dane nodded. "I thought you might see it that way. So let's -get started. And just for safety's sake, to make sure you don't change -your mind—I'll stay right in your astrogation chamber with you!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VII</p> - - -<p>Ahead, the belt began to take form on the visiscreen—a patternless, -ever-shifting array of hundreds of asteroids of every size and shape, -all gleaming bright against the black-velvet backdrop of the void as -they wheeled slowly through their far-flung orbits.</p> - -<p>The vastness of it brought a sense of awe to Clark Dane.</p> - -<p>Awe, mixed with despondency and depression.</p> - -<p>What chance did one man stand, trying to pick up the thin, tenuous -thread of his destiny in this trackless chasm that was outer space? -How could he hope to find identity, in a gulf so boundless that whole -worlds were forever lost?</p> - -<p>He'd been mad even to think—to dream—of choosing such a course.</p> - -<p>Yet had he really chosen it? Was it truly his own will that had brought -him to this moment?</p> - -<p>Bleakly, he wondered; and as he did so, the old, infuriating sense of -being a pawn in all he did ... driven by another, larger will ... -swept over him once more.</p> - -<p>Was he really a slave, thrall to the hairless man, the -Being-Without-A-Name? Was it some darkly subtle conditioning, rather -than his own impulses, that drove him?</p> - -<p>Again—always; forever—Dane wondered....</p> - -<p>But now, abruptly, the ship's com-box came to life to interrupt him: -"Cargo Vessel 214XB7! Cargo Vessel 214XB7!"</p> - -<p>It brought Dane back to the here-and-now—the cramped, -instrument-banked, astrogation chamber of the spaceship. Gripping the -yat-stick package tighter than ever, he tore his eyes from the wonders -spread on the visiscreen and once again looked on horse-faced Captain -Helstrom and pale, silent, tight-lipped Nelva Guthrie.</p> - -<p>The com-box blared again: "Cargo Vessel 214XB7! Acknowledge, Cargo -Vessel 214XB7!"</p> - -<p>"That's us," the grey-haired captain grunted. He started to reach for -the switch to the ship's own communicator unit.</p> - -<p>Dane caught his arm. "No."</p> - -<p>"What—?" The captain's protruding eyes fixed on Dane uneasily. "You -can't just ignore that call, mister. That's a Security blockade -station. Stall 'em and they'll throw their brain-drain on you!"</p> - -<p>Dane laughed harshly. "They'll do it anyhow, won't they, when they -find we're heading through the Belt?"</p> - -<p>The captain's Adam's apple bobbed. His narrow horse-face drew longer -than ever. "Well ... yes, I guess so."</p> - -<p>"Get ready for it, then. Set your guides."</p> - -<p>"On Callisto...?"</p> - -<p>"On Callisto."</p> - -<p>A shudder ran through the captain. "You ever been brain-drained, -mister?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Well, I have, and it ain't fun. You're out of control. Completely."</p> - -<p>A tiny chill touched the nape of Dane's neck. Out of the corner of his -eye he could see Nelva watching him—the first hint she'd given that -she knew he existed since they'd reached the astrogation chamber.</p> - -<p>Once more, the com-box: "What the devil's the matter with you, 214? -This is Security talking! We want an acknowledgment right now! You're -already into blockade area. Wheel around fast, back away from the Belt, -or we'll slap a drain on you!"</p> - -<p>Another voice—this one from the amplifier of the ship's own -communications network: "Captain Helstrom! Security's trying to get -you! They say you're headed into the Belt! Is something wrong? Your -door's locked. We can't get in to you...."</p> - -<p>Dane ran his tongue along his lips. He could feel his companions' eyes -upon him. The tension in the astrogation chamber was soaring higher -every second.</p> - -<p>"Cargo Vessel 214XB7, this is a last warning! Acknowledge this call and -turn back at once! Failure to comply within thirty seconds will result -in disabling dynamoencephalolytic action! Repeat, failure to comply -within thirty seconds will result in disabling dynamoencephalolytic -action...."</p> - -<p>The captain and Nelva Guthrie, staring ... gleaming pinpoints on a -darkened visiscreen ... a silver shaft and a hairless ghoul who laughed -and laughed....</p> - -<p>Dane sucked in air. "Are your guides set, Captain?"</p> - -<p>"Computer guides set." Resignation and despair mixed in the greying -officer's voice.</p> - -<p>"For Callisto?"</p> - -<p>"For Callisto."</p> - -<p>Seconds, ticking by. Dane counted them as they passed.</p> - -<p>Fifteen to go. Ten. Five. Four. Three. Two. One....</p> - -<p>Nothing happened. Frowning, Dane started to turn to Helstrom.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It hit him, then—a sudden blazing bolt of power that surged and -seethed through his brain. Dimly, as from afar, he was aware that the -yat-stick package had slipped from his grasp and fallen to the floor, -the truth as to its contents revealed as the plastic covering fell -away. For his own part, a strange paralysis seemed to grip him. He -stood upright, erect as before; yet it was beyond his power to move a -single muscle. Sight and hearing—he still had them, but with vastly -limited acuity. And while his brain still functioned, it seemed to work -slowly, painfully, as if laboring under almost more of a burden than it -could bear.</p> - -<p>The captain and Nelva remained within the far periphery of his vision. -Like him, both stayed motionless, frozen in the stance in which the -brain-drain had trapped them.</p> - -<p>Now Dane focussed on the visiscreen. Moment by moment, it gave him the -record of the course the robot-directed spaceship followed. Asteroids -loomed, big and small; then disappeared once more.</p> - -<p>How long that phase went on, Dane never knew. His sense of time was far -too warped to allow for even a reasonably intelligent estimate.</p> - -<p>But finally, the last of the asteroids fell away. Slowly, almost -imperceptibly at first, the great globe of giant Jupiter moved in from -the lower left corner of the screen.</p> - -<p>Numbly, Dane watched and wondered. What, if anything, would he find at -Sandoz? Or would the city even be there? No one could say for sure, for -no human had set foot on Callisto in the thirty years since it had been -abandoned to the Kalquoi.</p> - -<p>Only then, before he could even glimpse any of the satellites that -swept around Jupiter, a new object flashed onto the visiscreen.</p> - -<p>It was close, this one—so close that if he'd had the power, Dane would -have covered his eyes out of sheer panic. Ball-round, the thing at -first looked for all the world like a wandering asteroid or, perhaps, a -giant meteor.</p> - -<p>Yet there was a strange sheen about it; a too-perfect symmetry.</p> - -<p>For a long moment, it hovered so close that it occupied almost half of -the visiscreen. Then, suddenly, a light blazed from a point close to -its perimeter: a tight cone of blinding radiance that turned the whole -viewing plate white.</p> - -<p>The next instant, the visiscreen went dead.</p> - -<p>The lights died, too—all save the self-contained, dimly-luminous -emergency radiation lamps. The rhythmic throbbing of the ventilating -system halted also. So did the force drive's heavier beat. A sudden, -incredible feeling of lightness came over Dane. Then his angle of -view changed, and he realized that—unaware—he'd drifted clear of the -floor; was now floating in mid-air. So the artificial gravity was off -too.</p> - -<p>A numb horror crept through him in the same instant. In his mind he -cursed himself for a blind, imperceptive fool.</p> - -<p>The thing he'd seen on the now-blank screen was no asteroid or meteor, -but a globe-ship, a Kalquoi globe-ship! And the light was some sort -of energy-diverting ray that had the power to incapacitate spaceship -equipment.</p> - -<p>So this was the end of his mad venture: not at Sandoz, not on Callisto, -but here, aboard this crippled craft, destined perhaps to drift forever -in blackness on the void-tides between the Asteroid Belt and the Outer -Worlds.</p> - -<p>Dane would have killed himself in that moment, if he could.</p> - -<p>But he couldn't even do that. No; he could only hang here in the -dimness, paralyzed, somewhere between floor and ceiling, waiting ... -waiting ... waiting....</p> - -<p>But now light crept through the gloom—a pale, purplish radiance Dane -found somehow vaguely familiar.</p> - -<p>Then a slight movement of the ship changed his position. His eyes, -searching, found the source of light.</p> - -<p>It came from the unforked end of the Kalquoi yat-stick Dane had wrapped -in plastic to simulate a proton bomb. While he watched, it grew -brighter ... brighter ... as if the metal bar were oozing energy the -way a fresh-cut spring twig oozes sap.</p> - -<p>Now the radiance grew to an eddying, pulsing ball, so intense it -lighted up the entire astrogation chamber.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next instant there was a sort of soundless snap. Before Dane's -eyes, the radiance transformed itself into a glowing crystal that rose -and floated in mid-air.</p> - -<p><i>A Kalquoi—!</i></p> - -<p>There seemed to be no pattern nor rhyme nor reason to the alien's -actions. Now it hovered; now it darted. One moment it drifted close to -the floor; the next, explored the ceiling.</p> - -<p>And all the time it radiated changing shapes and colors: a glistening -silver corkscrew ... the dull grey of a microreel case ... pale blue -ovals that resembled nothing Dane had ever seen.</p> - -<p>Then sound came—the muffled clang of heavy hatch-lids. At once, the -Kalquoi moved to the astrogation chamber's door and poised there, -apparently waiting.</p> - -<p>A moment later the door swung open. Two other aliens joined the first.</p> - -<p>The three pulsed and glowed together briefly. Then one detached itself -from its fellows and moved in close to Dane.</p> - -<p>Immediately, he felt himself permeated by a strange, slightly prickling -sensation, as if a slight electric current were being sent through him. -Warmth enveloped him. The idea of sleep took on unique appeal.</p> - -<p>Now the alien moved towards the door once more; and to Dane's intense -surprise, he found himself following, drawn along bodily through -the gravitationless ship like a towed target. In a sort of roseate -haze—for fear, as of the moment, seemed to have lost its meaning for -him—he wondered what would happen when he was transferred to the -Kalquoi globe-craft. So far as he knew, the aliens themselves had no -necessity for breathing, so the odds were against there being any air -supply adequate to enable a human to survive.</p> - -<p>But instead of moving him to the globe, the alien took him to the -carrier in which he'd escaped from Mars; loaded him into it.</p> - -<p>A moment later the second Kalquoi appeared, Nelva in tow. In seconds, -she was installed in the carrier alongside Dane. Then, as if by magic, -the hatch swung shut, and they were left alone.</p> - -<p>Minutes dragged by, a dreary procession.</p> - -<p>Then, so abruptly the shock rocked Dane, the paralysis that gripped him -vanished. Feeling, the power of movement, flooded back into his body. -His brain clicked into high gear, no longer dim nor foggy.</p> - -<p>A moment later the carrier's gravity unit came to coughing life. Dane -found that once again he had weight and could move about at will.</p> - -<p>It brought him a quick surge of relief from inner tension; a sense of -control over his situation.</p> - -<p>He was glad. He had a feeling he was going to need all such he could -get.</p> - -<p>Beside him, Nelva Guthrie whispered incredulously, "Clark—! I can -move! The brain-drain—it's off!"</p> - -<p>"Could be," Dane nodded. He felt weak in the knees, just hearing the -girl's voice—partly out of relief to know that she'd survived the -ordeal of the brain-drain, partly because she seemed to have forgotten -or be overlooking their earlier hostilities.</p> - -<p>"Then we must be almost to Callisto!" New excitement crept into Nelva's -voice. "That's the only way to explain it, Clark. We must be so far -beyond the blockade stations that their relays are too weak to maintain -catatonia!"</p> - -<p>"Maybe."</p> - -<p>"Maybe? What kind of talk is that?" Nelva's tone suddenly was tinged -with irritation. "Can you offer any better explanation?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think I can," Dane answered thoughtfully. "Especially if you -stop to consider that the Kalquoi took over back while the brain-drain -still had us stiff as boards."</p> - -<p>"Still stiff—?" Nelva broke off sharply. Her lips trembled as she drew -a quick, shallow breath. "Clark, you can't mean it!"</p> - -<p>In spite of their plight, Dane couldn't help but smile wryly. "I can't -mean what?"</p> - -<p>"You know!" The girl's ash-blonde hair rippled as if a chill were -passing through her. "You can't mean—that—the Kalquoi—"</p> - -<p>"—that the Kalquoi have come up with an answer to the brain-drain?" -Dane finished to her. "As a matter of fact, that's just exactly what I -think. The way it looks to me, they've licked the thing, a hundred per -cent."</p> - -<p>Nelva's face was white, her breathing too fast. "But—Clark—"</p> - -<p>"What's going to happen, you mean?" Dane shook his head. "I don't -know, any more than you do. But one thing's certain: if I'm right, -as of this moment all Thorburg Jessup's Security blockade stations -on the inner-planet side of the Asteroid Belt are just so much scrap -equipment."</p> - -<p>The girl stared at him. He couldn't read the things in her grey eyes, -and when her lips moved the words came out an incoherent whisper. She -covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook with soundless, -racking sobs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A wave of tenderness swept over Dane, so poignant it made his whole -throat ache. Taking the girl in his arms, he held her to him, smoothing -the soft hair, bracing her shoulders against the sobs.</p> - -<p>The tears stopped, after a moment. Nelva raised her head; looked up at -him, trying to smile even while her lips still trembled.</p> - -<p>Gently, Dane said, "Don't worry, Nelva. We'll make it somehow."</p> - -<p>"Don't lie to me, Clark. I know what's going to happen, and it really -doesn't matter." The girl's lips still smiled, but a shadow lay across -the grey eyes. "Just one thing, though, Clark: I've got to tell you, -and you've got to believe me. I've never betrayed you, not ever, even -for a moment." A pause. The grey eyes, falling again. "You see, -I've—I've always loved you, ever since the first, so long ago—long -before you remember. Only I couldn't help you, didn't dare to tell you, -even a little...."</p> - -<p>Dane stood very still. "You ... didn't dare tell me?"</p> - -<p>"No. Because I didn't know enough—about you; your potential...."</p> - -<p>"But <i>what</i> didn't you dare to tell me?"</p> - -<p>Nelva buried her face against his shoulder. Her words came muffled now. -"About the things you wanted to know—who you are, where you came from, -the hairless man."</p> - -<p>Dane's heart pounded. Silently, savagely, he fought against letting his -voice soar with his tension; against drawing his arms too tight about -the girl's slim shoulders.</p> - -<p>"About the silver needle, too?" he pressed gently.</p> - -<p>"No. Not that. I never knew too much about the overall picture; only -the one part."</p> - -<p>The tension was too great. Dane could stand it no longer. -Spasmodically, he gripped Nelva's shoulders. "Then tell me what you do -know, damn it! Who am I? How did I get on that asteroid? Why weren't my -records in your files?"</p> - -<p>"Please, Clark!" Nelva twisted. "I'm going to tell you. I want to. -There's no need to hurt me—"</p> - -<p>"Sorry, Nelva." Dane let go of her; turned away, ashamed. "It drives -me, Nelva. I've got to know. Everything, everything...." He drove his -clenched fist savagely into the palm of the other hand.</p> - -<p>"I understand, Clark." The girl's hand was on his shoulder now. "You -see—"</p> - -<p>The carrier hit something, with an impact that threw them both, -sprawling, to the floor.</p> - -<p>Dane braced himself for further shocks. When they didn't come, he -scrambled up; helped Nelva to her feet.</p> - -<p>Before they could more than right themselves, however, the entrance -hatch opened. An unfamiliar atmosphere rushed in, strangely scented yet -breathable.</p> - -<p>Raw-nerved, Dane stumbled to the open door and looked out.</p> - -<p>The carrier lay on solid ground, in the shadow of the great Kalquoi -globe-ship. An open port indicated that the smaller craft had been -dumped unceremoniously from the larger.</p> - -<p>Arm about Nelva, Dane turned now and looked off beyond the Kalquoi -vessel.</p> - -<p>Then, involuntarily, he stiffened. A chill of excitement ran through -him. Instantly—instinctively, almost—he recognized the scene before -him; knew the truth.</p> - -<p>They stood upon Callisto!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VIII</p> - - -<p>This was Sandoz, man's last stronghold among all the outer satellites -and planets ... fallen citadel, thirty years abandoned now.</p> - -<p>Ruin's hand lay heavy upon it. Crumbling walls and shattered structures -sprawled everywhere, and great saw-leaved, turquoise-blue plants half -concealed long stretches of the cracked, disintegrating pavement. -Scarcely a building stood staunch and whole.</p> - -<p>Yet there was no mistaking the place. For though the last edifice might -fall, the city's shining silver shaft still thrust up stark and proud -into the sky.</p> - -<p>Dane stared at it, fascinated, hardly able to tear his eyes away. It -was compulsive, the inner drive he felt to draw still closer to it. Yet -even though he recognized it as such, he could not fight it down.</p> - -<p>Why did it pull him so—this strange, sky-spiking needle? Why, in spite -of all logic, did the feeling surge so strong in him that his destiny -was bound tight to his half-forgotten hope-gone-dead men called the -Sandoz Shaft?</p> - -<p>But only one segment of his brain kept up the wondering. For in his -heart he knew the answer didn't matter. Not when the tie that linked -him to the needle was strong enough to lure him across a million miles -and more of void to certain death, here on this alien-fettered world.</p> - -<p>Bleakly, he looked across to Nelva, and wished he could be with her -in this hour. But the Kalquoi seemed to have rather definite ideas of -protocol at this stage, and one of them involved his separation from -the girl.</p> - -<p>Now, parallel but on opposite sides of what once had been the city's -central thoroughfare, Dane and Nelva trudged from the carrier towards -the distant shaft. A sort of honor guard of Kalquoi surrounded each of -them, directing them in the way they were to go by means of sudden, -small, darting beams of light that stung like so many angry insects.</p> - -<p>The shaft grew larger as they approached, till Dane was staring up at -it in awe. With every step, the compulsive drive he felt to reach the -needle grew stronger in him. Nothing else could hold his interest or -attention. Once, briefly, he even caught himself wondering why it had -seemed so important to him to hear Nelva's answers to his questions; to -know his own identity, and that of the fiend-faced man without a name.</p> - -<p>As if such could ever matter, when destiny lay at the foot of the -Sandoz Shaft!</p> - -<p>They reached what must once have been a small park, now. The street -they'd followed ended in it. But mere lack of pavement seemed to mean -nothing to the Kalquoi. Unhesitating, they herded their charges on -across the open green.</p> - -<p>And now, on the far side, Dane caught his breath. Before and below him, -a broad natural bowl had been developed into an amphitheatre, back in -the days of Callisto's human occupation. The metal-rimmed base of the -silver shaft stood in the center of the arena at the bottom.</p> - -<p>But even the shaft was as nothing in this moment. For never had Dane -looked down on a stranger sight.</p> - -<p>For Kalquoi crowded the dish-like hollow, hovering like fireflies -among the fallen pillars and shrub-masked seats. Hundreds of them; -thousands—they pulsed and glowed and changed shape amid the ruins, -till the amphitheatre itself was transformed into a fantastic fairyland -of energy and light.</p> - -<p>But his escorts gave him no time for pause or contemplation. Already -they were urging him down the nearest aisle to the arena below.</p> - -<p>Then, at last, there was an end to his scrambling and stumbling -through the debris. His guards halted him, close by the base of the -Sandoz Shaft.</p> - -<p>The drive to reach the giant needle boiled in Dane, almost -overwhelming. But when he would have tried, a quick flick of light -from one of his captors turned him back. He could only stare greedily, -drinking the strangeness of the towering monument with his eyes.</p> - -<p>And it was weird enough to hold any man's attention. Just as Dane -remembered from his vision, the needle stood unsupported, a silver -lance suspended in mid-air, completely clear of base, socket, bed-plate.</p> - -<p>Studying it here at close range, Dane could see how delicate was its -balance. The point quivered visibly where it hung above the socket, -dancing like a plastic ball atop an airstream. Vibrations ran the -slim length of the needle, till it seemed to turn into a flickering -razor-edge of light.</p> - -<p>How could it be? A beam of some sort—?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Something stung Dane's flank, then. The pain stabbed so sharp he -whirled by reflex, questions and shaft alike momentarily forgotten.</p> - -<p>As he did so, a light-beam flicked at his elbow, flame-hot. His guards -were urging him to movement again, prodding him diagonally ahead till -he stood directly in front of the shaft, but with his back to it.</p> - -<p>Now he saw that Nelva Guthrie, too, had reached the arena. Surrounded -by her captors, she stood to the left of the shining needle, just as a -moment before he himself had stood to its right.</p> - -<p>But the Kalquoi gave him little time for such observation. While he -watched, a small group of them moved out into the arena and took places -in a semicircle close before him.</p> - -<p>Dane's guards fell back before the newcomers. In the seating area up -along the amphitheatre's sloping sides, the assembled crystalline, -light-emitting aliens eddied closer, glowed brighter. A hush seemed -to fall over the hollow. Tension climbed like a spaceship at escape -velocity.</p> - -<p>Dane stood very still. There was nothing he could do but wait.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, one of the Kalquoi in the tight arc close before him -pulsed vivid scarlet. A familiar impulse leaped into Dane's brain ... a -patterned, rhythmic groping: <i>John Dane ... John Dane ... John Dane....</i></p> - -<p>Dane sighed; tried to concentrate upon his answer: "Not John Dane. -Clark Dane. Clark, not John...."</p> - -<p>From then on, there was tumult and fumbling and confusion. Wordless and -incoherent, alien intelligences probed every fold and convolution of -Dane's brain.</p> - -<p>Out of it all, for Dane, came not words, but feelings; not -intelligibility, but insight. Slowly, deep within him, there began to -grow the weird panorama of a race so alien man could never hope fully -to understand it. A concept took form—the concept of a life-type -composed wholly of radiant energy, without permanent shape or -body ... beings that found their only reason for existence in the acts -of shape-building and light emission. In his mind's eye, Dane saw how -they replenished their life-force, transmuting into energy whatever -convenient objects came to hand.</p> - -<p>And because these aliens, these Kalquoi, themselves had no need for -bodies or possessions, they'd been unable to conceive that other -species might require such things ... might even be harmed if bodies -and possessions were transmuted.</p> - -<p>But now, at last, glimmerings of this truth had reached them. They'd -begun to see the harm they'd done; were sorry for it.</p> - -<p>Would man, in his turn, meet them half-way? If they'd stay clear of -him and his possessions and allow him to return to the outer planets, -would he abandon the disconcerting brain-drain that prevented their -shape-changing and transmuting? True, the magnetic shield they'd -developed protected them from it, after a fashion. But it was a -nuisance. If possible they'd prefer to operate without it....</p> - -<p>Numbly, Dane tried to force his aching brain to function. If only he -could find the concepts—!</p> - -<p>He verbalized it, spoke aloud in hope that meaning would somehow come -through: "Yes, yes. Man wants peace as you do. He'll go half-way and -more—"</p> - -<p>The arc of Kalquoi pulsed approval. All but one.</p> - -<p>The others' glow slowly faded.</p> - -<p>Instantly, like a bomb bursting, the lone dissenter flared emerald and -purple, a radiance so brilliant that Dane reeled back, near-blinded.</p> - -<p>His brain reeled, too. For such was the burst of energy the Kalquoi -spewed into it that flame seemed to sear at every cell. Dane screamed -aloud, writhing in torment.</p> - -<p>The flame snuffed out. The pain ebbed slowly. But a message stayed, -fire-written: <i>If all men want peace as you say, why have the others -scorned us? Why are you the only one to open your brain to us?</i></p> - -<p>Dane groped. "The others—? What others?"</p> - -<p>But no coherent answer reached him; only a jumble of fragments and -half-impressions. He sensed that the Kalquoi were arguing among -themselves while he stood by, forgotten.</p> - -<p>As if to prove him correct, his guards now goaded him back to his -earlier post to the right of the Sandoz Shaft. Simultaneously, the -other group of guards moved Nelva forward to the spot in front of the -shining needle where Dane himself had stood.</p> - -<p>Swaying a little from the aftermath of pain and mind-fatigue, Dane -tried to watch her.</p> - -<p>But now, all at once, his compulsion to reach the shaft was again upon -him. It was stronger, this time; stronger than ever before. It was all -Dane could do to resist it.</p> - -<p>Yet resist it he must, for his captors still stood close by, and he had -no taste for the sting of the light-beams they flung at him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Grimly, he concentrated on Nelva Guthrie, trying to force himself to -think of her instead of the sky-thrust lance so close beside him.</p> - -<p>Strain-lines marred the girl's blonde beauty now. Her hair was tangled, -her cheeks pale, her lips trembling.</p> - -<p>And yet, for all of that, she was still the loveliest thing Clark Dane -had ever seen. The yearning for her gnawed at him like a physical -hunger.</p> - -<p>Now the interplay of form and color from the line of Kalquoi indicated -they were probing her mind. Dane could see her straighten, just a -little ... breathe a fraction faster. Her hands moved, rubbing at the -side-melds of her garment as if to scrub sweat from her palms.</p> - -<p>More shapes, more colors from the Kalquoi. More signs of tension -from Nelva Guthrie. Dane could catch only fragments of the projected -thoughts and feelings.</p> - -<p>Yet something was wrong. Instinctively, he sensed it. A knot drew -tight, deep in his belly. He breathed harder.</p> - -<p>To what purpose? No matter what happened, there was nothing he could -do. He knew that.</p> - -<p>Only—Nelva—</p> - -<p>He never finished the thought. For abruptly, without warning, the -same Kalquoi who minutes before had sent the searing charge through -Dane's dazed brain blazed again—a great flash, orange and white -and turquoise. The thought smashed in, so violent that even at this -distance—even though it was directed at Nelva—the impact made Dane's -head reel: <i>She-creature, you close your brain to us! You hold back -like the others! You want no peace—</i></p> - -<p>Nelva's scream came like an agonized, overriding echo. Blindly, she -staggered forward, clutching her head between her hands.</p> - -<p>But the Kalquoi gave no heed. As if the girl were not there, he deluged -the whole area with a raging, searing, tidal wave of energy.</p> - -<p>Nelva sagged to her knees. Her cry was the keening of a soul in torment.</p> - -<p>It was a trigger to turn a man to utter madness. Spasmodically, Dane -started forward.</p> - -<p>But there was no way to reach the girl, and in his heart he knew it. -Too many Kalquoi, too many light-beams, stood ranged between him and -her.</p> - -<p>But the shining needle, the Sandoz Shaft—it was relatively unprotected -for the moment—</p> - -<p>Spinning, Dane dived towards it—low, beneath the level at which his -captors hovered.</p> - -<p>His shoulder crashed against the heavy, buttressed base. His hands -closed on a corroded telonium bar. Tearing it from the litter, he -surged up, heedless to the light-beams that stung at his back and sides.</p> - -<p>The bar had weight to it. Dane swung it with all his might, straight -at the seemingly empty space between socket and needle-tip.</p> - -<p>If only he could upset the delicate balance of forces that held the -shaft upright, and bring it crashing down, almost anything might happen!</p> - -<p>The blow hit square and true. But to Dane, it was as if he'd struck -the bar against a daggad column. Pain shot up his arms, clear to the -shoulders. The telonium strip tore from his hands and sailed through -the air nearly fifty feet.</p> - -<p>Before the bar even hit the ground, a bolt of energy struck Dane. -Helpless, hopeless, sobbing with fury at his own inadequacy, he found -himself slammed back bodily against the metal rim that girded the -shaft's base. His hands clamped to the alloy.</p> - -<p>It was a moment completely incredible; a moment beyond all possibility -of belief. For as Dane's hands touched the rim, sparks leaped from -flesh to metal. His whole body convulsed. Blue flame crackled in a -tight sheath round him. Power pulsed through every bone and muscle in a -surging tide.</p> - -<p>Then sound came—a high, thin skirl, louder and louder, till Dane -thought his eardrums must surely burst.</p> - -<p>But the sound still welled and swelled and echoed; and now numbly, -it dawned on Dane that something was happening to the Kalquoi. Even -blurred as his eyes were, and in spite of the spasms of his body, he -could see that, one and all, the aliens had reverted to crystal form. -No light gleamed in them. They moved jerkily, as if having trouble even -rising from the ground.</p> - -<p>The sound in Dane's ears reached a new high note—a note so clear and -pure it ceased to be sound at all, to human ears. In its place came -silence—a taut, thin-strung, nerve-fraying silence that somehow was -almost more than flesh and blood could bear.</p> - -<p>Now, while Dane watched in the eerie silence, a Kalquoi crystal -suddenly cracked wide open in mid-air.</p> - -<p>Its shards cracked, too; and its shards' shards. It was dust before it -hit the ground.</p> - -<p>On all sides, it was the same. Everywhere in the amphitheatre the -aliens were shattering to atoms. In seconds, not one of them remained.</p> - -<p>Convulsively, Dane twisted; managed to throw one anguished glance -upward to the silver needle that was the Sandoz Shaft.</p> - -<p>But so fast was the shaft vibrating that it now looked less like a -needle than a flash of silver light.</p> - -<p>Dane sagged back. Dully, he wondered how long it would take a man to -die this way. Certainly there must be a limit to the amount of such -maltreatment the human form could stand.</p> - -<p>Yet he knew strength was not in him to break loose, tear away.</p> - -<p>Was this, then, his destiny? Must he die here, a living conduit for the -power now activating the Sandoz Shaft?</p> - -<p>What a goal for a compulsion! What an end to a dream! He couldn't even -see the spot where Nelva Guthrie lay....</p> - -<p>Time blurred, after that. There were moments when he was conscious; -more when he was not.</p> - -<p>When he first heard the drone of the carrier's landing beam, he thought -he was delirious.</p> - -<p>Then he opened his eyes, and the craft hung there before him, less than -fifty feet away. While he watched, it ramped down. The hatch opened.</p> - -<p>It was then he <i>knew</i> he was delirious, for sure.</p> - -<p>Because the first of the two men who climbed out was thick-bodied, -bullet-headed, lump-faced, scowling Pfaff, the Security rep with whom -he'd clashed.</p> - -<p>And the gaunt figure behind Pfaff was that of the hollow-cheeked, -hollow-eyed, hairless man, master of slaves, whom Dane knew only as -the Being-Without-A-Name!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER IX</p> - - -<p>"Well, Dane, how does it feel to be the savior of your race?"</p> - -<p>Slowly, painfully, Dane forced his eyes to focus and search for the -speaker.</p> - -<p>It turned out to be the hairless man. He sat on a crumbling stone -bench, hunched forward slightly and with his teeth bared in a cold, -knife-edged smile. Glowering Pfaff stood to his right, scrubbing a palm -over a hairy forearm. To his left, a uniformed, strangely blank-faced -stranger stood too stiffly at attention.</p> - -<p>Dane moved his head a fraction, seeking Nelva.</p> - -<p>She sat off away from the three men, still farther left. Her face wore -a stiff, strained look, and she kept her eyes on a spot distant from -the group, as if to avoid involvement with them.</p> - -<p>Dane shifted his gaze back to the hairless man. He still said nothing.</p> - -<p>"I do make a striking picture, don't I, Dane?" the other observed as -if answering a question. His smile twisted mirthlessly. "If you'd like -to try the effect yourself, a proper dose of some types of radiation -poisoning will do it. In my own case, the hair follicles were killed -completely—scalp, eyebrows, facial and body hair, everything. I felt -rather bad about it at first, for I was vain enough in my younger days. -But then I found that even the loveliest of women is more apt to be -impressed by the unique, the different, than run-of-sex handsomeness; -and no man ever forgets me. So there are adequate compensations. -Personally, I'm quite satisfied."</p> - -<p>The voice held the same twist as the smile—a twist of bitterness, of -irony, of lurking menace. It was the voice of a man who enjoyed playing -cat-and-mouse ... or forcing those in his power to confess their -thralldom.</p> - -<p>The very sound of it made Dane's hackles rise, in spite of all he'd -been through. "Who are you?" he asked tightly.</p> - -<p>"That's right; you don't know, do you?" The man leaned back a fraction. -The lids of the deep-set eyes flickered. "We might make a sort of game -of it, even—let you guess—"</p> - -<p>"He's Thorburg Jessup." This, quite unexpectedly, from Nelva. Hate -rasped in her words. Her eyes were smoldering.</p> - -<p>"Thorburg Jessup—!" Involuntarily, Dane's eyes widened. He pulled -himself round; sat up.</p> - -<p>"Oh! You're feeling better!" Jessup chuckled. "That pleases me. It -would have been a pity to lose you, after all the effort I put into -your creation."</p> - -<p>Dane breathed in sharply. Then, catching himself, he counted off three -deeper breaths before speaking: "And ... what did you have to do with -my creation?"</p> - -<p>The Security chief lifted a long-fingered hand. "It was my idea. All of -it, from the beginning."</p> - -<p>"Your ... idea—?"</p> - -<p>"Precisely. My biochemical staff in the Mercury laboratories is -superlative technically, but they need a broader, more incisive mind to -shape their concepts. I gave them that—outlined the exact requirements -they'd have to meet in developing the type of creature we'd need to -send against the Kalquoi."</p> - -<p>"The type of <i>creature</i>?"</p> - -<p>"Of course. You didn't think you were human, surely?"</p> - -<p>Dane's throat drew so tight he couldn't answer. Numbly, he dug his -fingers into the dirt of the arena, trying to hide their trembling.</p> - -<p>Jessup watched him for a moment, then threw back his head and -laughed—jubilant, sadistic; the self-same laugh Dane had heard that -other time, so many worlds away.</p> - -<p>Only then, suddenly, Nelva Guthrie was on her feet—fists clenched, -eyes blazing. "Stop it, you fiend!" she screamed. "Stop it! Stop it!"</p> - -<p>Jessup's laugh cut off as if severed by a knife. "Oh, my dear! Have -I disturbed you?" Mock solicitude flowed from him like oily vapor. -"Really, I <i>did</i> have to handle it this way, though. I simply couldn't -use a human. There was the matter of subconscious memory, inadverent -knowledge. You have to consider those things when you're dealing with -telepaths like the Kalquoi, you know."</p> - -<p>Beside the Security chief, pig-eyed, smirking Pfaff moved smoothly into -the conversation: "You didn't have much time, either, Mr. Jessup."</p> - -<p>"A vital factor," the hairless man nodded. And then, to Dane again: -"As you may have guessed, the Kalquoi already had perfected a shield -against the brain-drain. It was urgent for us to strike a strong -blow at them before they seized the initiative. I decided the Sandoz -Shaft, here, offered us our best opportunity. We'd already worked out -a new-type catalytic relay that would activate it on practically no -power. The only problem lay in coupling the relay to the shaft. To do -it by normal procedure, with a task force, would have destroyed its -whole value, because it would have driven the Kalquoi from Callisto."</p> - -<p>From Pfaff: "Brilliant analysis, Mr. Jessup!"</p> - -<p>"So, I conceived the idea of an artificial man with the relay built in, -made part of his tissue structure—a creature something on the order -of my guard, here"—a gesture to the blank-faced man in uniform—"but -of a higher order. He'd be physically strong, well endowed with -initiative. His mind would be good, too, and properly pre-stocked with -all necessary information, as well as conditioned to a compulsive drive -to reach Callisto and the Sandoz Shaft."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dane shuddered. Were these the things that dreams were made -of—conditioning, packaged data, concepts born in someone else's brain? -Was he really one with the blank-faced guard—"but of a higher order"?</p> - -<p>He wished he'd died at the shaft's base.</p> - -<p>Jessup was still talking: "... and as a special twist, we named you -Clark Dane, after a John Dane who stayed on at Sandoz, long after -everyone else had left, trying to learn more about Kalquoi culture. -Because he'd established some slight communication with them, I thought -his name might help you...."</p> - -<p>Another piece of the puzzle, clicking into place. Another of Dane's -questions answered.</p> - -<p>"... like every life-form, the Kalquoi needs periods of quiescence. -The yat-stick provides a closed circuit where a Kalquoi can rest with -no escape of energy. So, you were left by a yat-stick experts assured -me contained a Kalquoi in repose. I knew your name would arouse the -creature's interest. Tie that to your drive to reach Callisto, and the -odds were good you'd live to activate the shaft. If you didn't"—a -shrug—"it didn't matter too much, because you lacked any knowledge -detrimental to us."</p> - -<p>Of a sudden, Dane was tired of words and explanations. He no longer -cared about questions or their answers. Lurching to his feet, he -stumbled past the Security chief, out of the arena.</p> - -<p>Jessup eyed him curiously. "Where are you going?"</p> - -<p>Dane continued his unsteady march. He didn't bother to answer.</p> - -<p>Thick-bodied Pfaff moved round to block him. "Hey, you! Mr. Jessup -asked you a question!"</p> - -<p>Dane veered to pass him.</p> - -<p>Belligerent, bullet-head down, Pfaff thrust a foot between Dane's. Dane -tripped and fell.</p> - -<p>Now Nelva Guthrie was running to him; kneeling beside him. Her -fingers were cool upon his face. "Let him alone, can't you?" she -cried fiercely. "Haven't you done enough to him, without more of this -torture?"</p> - -<p>Jessup's smile faded just a little. "You've been a favorite of mine a -long time, Nelva," he said in a too-quiet voice. "Don't jeopardize that -status now."</p> - -<p>The girl stared up at him, face tear-streaked. "Do you think I care -about status at a time like this?"</p> - -<p>"A dangerous question, my dear." The Security chief studied her for -a long, long moment. "Now I find myself wondering if I can trust you -further—and no matter how I phrase it, the answer comes back, 'No'."</p> - -<p>Dane felt Nelva's fingers stiffen on his cheek. A tremor ran through -her.</p> - -<p>Abruptly, his desire to leave the arena ebbed. He sat up. "What happens -when you get no for an answer, Jessup?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Mister</i> Jessup, you chitza!" Pfaff snarled. But the hairless man -himself only smiled faintly.</p> - -<p>"A wise man knows when not to talk, Dane," he observed. "For you, this -is one of those times. You've done well. I like you. So human or not, -I'll look after you so long as you behave."</p> - -<p>"And Nelva?"</p> - -<p>"She's no concern of yours, Dane. And as I said once, a wise man knows -when not to talk." A pause. "I may not repeat that again."</p> - -<p>And from Nelva: "Please, Clark. Let it go."</p> - -<p>Dane eyed her soberly. "Why?"</p> - -<p>The panic flaring in her eyes was more than enough answer.</p> - -<p>To no one in particular Dane said, "Everything that can happen to -me has already happened. That gives me leeway to take care of a few -things."</p> - -<p>He started to rise.</p> - -<p>Jessup's twisted smile was gone now. All gone. Sharp and hard, he -rapped, "Get him, Pfaff!"</p> - -<p>The squat Security rep whipped out a pelgun.</p> - -<p>Dane went flat on the ground in the same instant. Clawing out, he -caught Pfaff's ankle and jerked the leg from under the thick body.</p> - -<p>Pfaff crashed to the ground. Twisting, he fired a pellet.</p> - -<p>It went wild. Before the Security rep could trigger off a second shot, -Dane swung up a ten-pound chunk of broken masonry in both hands and -brained him with it.</p> - -<p>Jessup's voice echoed, shouting to the guard. The man-creature raced -towards Dane and Nelva.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wrenching the pelgun from Pfaff's dead hand, Dane shot for his new -attacker's knees.</p> - -<p>The guard spilled headlong; lay moaning.</p> - -<p>Pelgun at the ready, Dane swung to Jessup.</p> - -<p>But the Security chief's voice stayed calm, even though his hairless -skull was glistening. "You can't shoot, Dane. You can't." And then, -forceful and vibrant: "Remember? I'm your master. You're my slave!"</p> - -<p>Dane stopped in his tracks.</p> - -<p>Deftly, while Dane stood as if paralyzed, Jessup took the pelgun. "You -see, I'm still master, Dane. I created you. That's why you're going to -stay here. You and Nelva Guthrie. Together. Dead."</p> - -<p>Sweat came to Dane's forehead. In an agony of desperate tension, he -tried to drag up his hand.</p> - -<p>But it was like being thrown back through time into a nightmare. Once -again, it was as on that other, dark-remembered day. The control, the -conditioning—they gripped him in spite of all his efforts; bound him -tight.</p> - -<p>"Can you guess why you two will die, Dane?" Jessup taunted. "Is there -any reason you can see?"</p> - -<p>Mumbling, Dane said, "Because ... we know ... too much?"</p> - -<p>"That's right. But what about?"</p> - -<p>"About the Kalquoi wanting peace? About the way you sent me to activate -the shaft, so they'd think men were all against them?"</p> - -<p>"Very good, Dane. Now tell me why."</p> - -<p>"Because you ... run things ... so long as there's trouble ... with the -Kalquoi. But if peace comes ... you'll be just another man."</p> - -<p>"Correct." Jessup's hairless face set in a death's-head grin. "And now, -to get on to the business at hand...."</p> - -<p>He moved towards Nelva. Face chalky with fear, she stumbled backward, -behind Dane, out of his view.</p> - -<p>Again Dane strained. Again he failed.</p> - -<p>Was it true, then? Was he really Jessup's slave?</p> - -<p>Numb, aching, he prayed for some power to break the deep-conditioned -trance into which Jessup's cue-words had thrown him.</p> - -<p>Behind him, then, Jessup said something too low to catch. A blow -thudded.</p> - -<p>Like an echo, Nelva screamed.</p> - -<p>Dane never knew what happened in that moment.</p> - -<p>Yet within him, it was as if some tight-confining band had snapped. The -new stimulus overrode the old. Whirling, leaping over Nelva's crumpled -form, Dane threw himself bodily at Jessup.</p> - -<p>The Security chief's voice, half-choked, gasping the cue-words: "Dane! -Remember! I'm your mas—"</p> - -<p>The voice cut off as Dane wrenched the hairless head back and jammed a -hand down the yawning throat.</p> - -<p>Jessup, arms flailing. Jessup, eyes bulging. Jessup, face purpling.</p> - -<p>A final jerk, with every ounce of strength left in Dane's sagging -muscles. The <i>crack</i> of bone snapping.</p> - -<p>Jessup limp. Jessup dead.</p> - -<p>Dane knelt beside Nelva. Hands shaking, he felt for her pulse.</p> - -<p>Her eyes opened; grew tender. Slowly, she smiled. Her slim hand clasped -his big one.</p> - -<p>A shudder ran through him. Face averted, he pulled his hand from hers -and drew back.</p> - -<p>"Clark—!" She caught at his elbow. "Dane, it's all right. I'm not -hurt, not badly...."</p> - -<p>Wordless, again he tried to pull away.</p> - -<p>Nelva came close now; clung to him. "Clark, what is it? What's wrong? -What have I done?"</p> - -<p>Dane choked. "It's not you. It's me; what I am."</p> - -<p>"What you are—?" She tugged him around and stared at him, grey eyes -ever so wide. "What are you, Clark?"</p> - -<p>"You heard Jessup say it: I'm ... not human." Miserably, Dane forced -himself to meet her gaze. "Don't you understand, Nelva? I don't even -dare to think about—you and me. I'm—different. Like no one, not even -Jessup's Zombie guards."</p> - -<p>A moment of silence. A long, echoing moment, while the girl sat with -eyes downcast.</p> - -<p>Then, slowly, she looked up at Dane once more. "I know, Clark. Better -than you. Because I've had longer to be lonely."</p> - -<p>"To be lonely—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Clark." Nelva's grey eyes suddenly were tear-filled, her voice a -whisper. "You see, I was the first—the very first the lab made with a -real mind, and free will. That was why I had to find you, even though -I didn't dare tell you anything for fear I'd distort your reaction -pattern, put you in danger." A smile, slow and shy, tremulous through -the tears. "That's over now, Clark. We ... don't have to be lonely any -more...."</p> - -<p>The pickup ship came much too soon.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRING BACK MY BRAIN! ***</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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