Charles V. De Vet

“ This would always remain enemy territory to him.
"If we don't stop the Plague before it spreads to our own men, I'll be forced to use the Weapon," Koski growled. His great bony features had lost all power of expression except their habitual scowl, but his voice was still deep and vibrant. "I'll kill every man, woman, and child in the country!"
Wagner had to admire the will to destruction that still rode the old man. He may have weakened in his mind but he had never softened. And the Weapon? It was the one secret that Wagner had not been able to learn. ”

“ Gamoll said, a trifle uneasily. "You have to act in self-defense. If you don't kill him, he will probably be able to kill many more of your men before he dies. But try to see his side. He is the representative of a Cause that is just—to his way of reasoning; so right and so just that he will do anything to advance it. Whatever we may think of him, his conscience is clear. I only ask you this: If you can see your way clear to attain your ends without killing him, will you let him live?"
For another nine days Buckmaster stayed with Gamoll. ”

“ Tell me, were your creatures aware that they were figments of your mind?"
"Some grasped inklings of it, though none were certain. One, a Baruch Spinoza, came as close to the truth as it was possible, for their finite minds. He wrote: We are the flitting forms of a being greater than ourselves, and endless while we die. Our bodies are cells in the body of the race, our race is an incident in the drama of life; our minds are the fitful flashes of an eternal light. ”

“ Reason is the substance of the universe.
Leibniz: Although the whole of this life were said to be nothing but a dream, and the visible world nothing but a phantasm, I should call this dream or phantasm real enough, if, using reason well, we were never deceived by it.
For a time Buckmaster left the philosophers and read poetry. He found germs of what he sought in some of them, as Goethe's, The force which draws the lover, and the force which draws the planets are one. ”

“ Buckmaster perceived that these men were catching glimpses of something which they called Will, Order, Thing, Absolute, and other names but which were all very probably the same thing—and also that which he sought. Eagerly he read on.
His next clue came from Bergson: Thought may begin with its object, and at last, in consistency, be driven, by the apparent necessities of logic, to conceive all things as forms and creatures of mind.
Quickly he passed on to Spinoza where he found a wealth of food for thought. Is the body merely an idea? ”

“ Buckmaster answered cynically. "But if it's true, are your ideals strong enough to help us kill him?"
For the first time Gamoll seemed uncertain of himself. "Why is it necessary to kill him, especially now that Wagner is dead? We both know that Wagner did the actual ruling. And the General is an old man, without much longer to live. We'll win if we do no more than stand by."
"He must die—and soon!" Buckmaster exclaimed, surprised at the vehemence of the words. So vital had been the command, that he knew what he had said was true: Koski must die, in the very near future. ”

“ His body was alive and vital. He walked on, through a doorway and out into a courtyard before he realized what had happened. The Force had turned time backward! He was once more on his way to shoot Koski. He was exactly the same as he had been the last time but with the addition of his memories of having been shot. And the silent warning that came to him never to expect another second chance. That could not be repeated.
This time when he came to the fatal door there was no surge of rebellion and he did not hesitate. He walked around the house until he came to the basement entrance. ”

“ Koski, in his city, held all authority in his own tight grip, administered by his former officers and backed by the undeviating loyalty of his soldiers. His rule was stern and when necessary, bloody. It might have been bloodier except for the threat of intervention by Olson.
There are always men who fret under the hand of tyranny and the Underground had gradually risen until it grew into a powerful organization. Its demands were for a representative government chosen by vote of the people. This, of course, Koski refused. ”

“ He was silent for so long that it seemed he must be sleeping. But Buckmaster knew that Oliver's brain worked with lightning speed while his body reposed. Oliver was the most intelligent man he had ever known. He was head of the Underground solely because he was the fittest man for the job.
Finally Oliver spoke. "We'll come back to it later," he said. "Did you learn anything that might help us, Clifford?"
"I learned that the Plague is spread by contact—only after the first symptoms show themselves. I read that in Wagner's mind before he realized that I was reading his thoughts." ”

“ This was the first indication that the material universe is not the substantial, objective thing we had always taken it to be. Matter began to thin away into the completely spectral thing it has now become. ”

“ Oliver interrupted. "As things stand right now, we're a lost cause. The Plague has killed many of our best men. The only thing that keeps Koski from staging a blood-bath is his fear of Governor Olson in Duluth. And pretty soon he won't have to fear that. We have only to lose another key dozen and Olson will have no friends here to aid."
"May I offer a compromise?" Buckmaster asked. "As matters stand now, our only chance of winning freedom from Koski's savage rule is to kill him. And to do that we will have to kill Wagner first. ”

“ They won't stop us if you aren't along. You're the man they're after. If there were any way I could help you by staying, I'd never leave. But I'd only be captured with you, and nothing gained."
"Of course I understand." Buckmaster rested his hand for a moment on the old leader's shoulder. "Don't feel badly about it, Lester. The men need you. You owe it to them to get out if you can."
Oliver gripped his hand. "Before I go I want you to know how grateful we are for the help you've given us. Without Wagner the General won't be nearly as hard to handle. ”

“ Buckmaster had reasoned well, considering his natural limitations. But the truth he had discovered was, like most truths, only part of a greater truth.
In the far reaches of infinity, beyond the outermost boundaries of space, a thought-voice spoke. "Am I going to die?" it asked.
"Not now," a second entity answered. "The crisis is past." ”

“ We expect, and hope, that it will dissipate itself as it spreads too far from its initial explosion point, but we cannot be certain. It is possible that, once released, it will devastate the entire world. You see now why it must be used only as a last resort?"
Many times since Koski had gone over that conversation in his mind. Had the war been lost? Neither side had come through with functioning governments. Therefore, what course should he take? Perhaps the invaders even now ruled the homeland. Would he gain, or would he lose the last chance for ultimate victory by setting off the explosive? ”

“ Oliver raised his head. "What do you have to suggest?"
"Let me try to kill Wagner. If I succeed our cause will have taken a big step. If he kills me first, then you've lost nothing more than if you'd killed me yourselves."
After a barely perceptible hesitation Oliver nodded in agreement.
For the rest of the day Buckmaster improvised a simulated course of action to let seep through to Wagner whenever he felt a probe. He kept his mind blank otherwise and was quite certain that he carried on the deception well. He caught nothing from Wagner in return that was not deliberately let through. ”

“ I will never believe that even the simplest chemical combination will ever admit of mechanical explanation; much less the properties of light, heat, and electricity. These will always require a dynamical explanation.
If we can ferret out the ultimate nature of our own minds we shall perhaps have the key to the external world. ”

“ However, Duluth, Koski found, was governed by Earl Olson, an ex-brigadier and a man equally as strong as himself. The city was fortified, and garrisoned by a force of well trained civilians who would fight to their death to defend their city and families. And they were well led by Olson.
Koski knew he could capture the city if he decided to, but the price would be too dear. He moved on along the lakeshore and took over the city of Superior. Here he entrenched himself solidly and set up an efficient military government. ”

“ The secret now rests with the dead."
"Is there any chance of a similar recurrence?"
"That chance will always exist as long as you persist in allowing your creatures to have free will. I would advise you to destroy it."
For a time the patient was silent. "No," it said finally, "without that free will their existence and my entire project would be futile. I will let the free will remain and bear any consequences." ”

“ Substance is insubstantial, that it is form and not matter, that it had nothing to do with that mongrel and neuter composite of matter.
Bruno said: All reality is one in substance, one in cause, one in origin; mind and matter are one. ”

“ Suddenly he found the explanation in a book of essays by, the incongruity of it struck him as ironical, an anonymous writer. He read:
For a time, during the middle ages, the theory that all the world, and even the universe, were figments of one giant imagination, swayed the thinkers of the world. ”

“ I don't like his methods, or his government, any more than you do. Oliver knew that when he sent his message to me asking for help."
"Do you mean to say that you'd help us kill your own father?"
"As to that," Gamoll said, "if you'll notice, my hair and eyes are brown.
"So?"
"Koski's eyes and my mother's are blue. You probably know that it is genetically impossible for two-blue-eyed people to have a brown-eyed son."
"Then you're not his son?" Buckmaster was silent for a minute. "That's why you took the name of your mother's other husband," he mused. ”

“ Wagner's relations with women. Sex occupied many of his thoughts. The fear of Olson was there, in spite of Wagner's brave words earlier.
Then Buckmaster read about himself in Wagner's mind and was certain something was wrong here. He saw that Wagner had no intention of ever letting him live, no matter how useful he might be. There was death for himself as soon as that usefulness was over.
"Damn it," Wagner cursed, "relax. Let your mind open up to me. Are you deliberately trying to get yourself back in trouble by being stubborn?"
Then he knew. The contact had been one-way. ”

“ Learned men, acquiring wisdom, come to the brink of the great discovery, and then deftly skirt it, blinding themselves to its evidentness. However, on second thought the reason is obvious. The theory is anarchistic; it carries the seeds of its own futility. ”

“ Before long Buckmaster's idle browsing turned to an intent search. For the first time he began finding clues to the mystery that rode within him.
His first clue, he thought, was a passage he read in a physics book entitled, "The Limitations of Science," by Sullivan: Research has changed our whole conception of matter. The first step was the experimental demonstration that there exist little electrified bodies, very much smaller than a hydrogen atom, called electrons. Measurement was made with the result that the "whole" mass of the electron was found to be due to its electric charge. ”

“ If you remember, when the law was passed that each woman must have two husbands, the General set the example by marrying a woman who already had a husband. He knows that I am not his son biologically, but I am legally, and I have full inheritance rights. ”

“ At that instant in his reflections Gamoll jerked open the library door and walked in.
"The worst has happened," he exclaimed. "The security police have caught Oliver."
"What can we do?" Buckmaster still could not regard Gamoll, or Oliver and his friends, as nonentities.
"I hate to say this," Gamoll said, "but you'll have to get out. I may be able to help Oliver escape, but I'll be powerless if they learn that I'm connected with the Underground."
"They probably wouldn't hesitate to kill you also," Buckmaster said. ”

“ Because of your relatively smaller numbers, the Plague has caused havoc in your Underground."
"Yes," Buckmaster answered. "But we will have a vaccine before long." He knew this was purely bluff.
"Possibly." Wagner pulled his cheeks up but his eyes remained chilled and cold. He had the trick of smiling mirthlessly. "But even if I were to grant you that, we estimate that already nearly half of your organization is dead from the Plague. There will be more before you can do anything. The rest we can hunt down at our leisure. ”

“ He sprinted across the dirt of the alley and jerked open a door of the carriage. He threw himself inside and hugged the floor.
Soon the carriage began to roll. When they had travelled about a half block it stopped. Buckmaster drew in his breath. This was the critical point. If Gamoll could bluff his way through now the rest would be comparatively easy.
"Give me an escort, Captain," he heard Gamoll say. "I don't want to get tied up here. I understand there's going to be some shooting soon."
"That's right, sir," a crisp military voice answered. "It's best that you get out fast. ”

“ Two of the guards held Buckmaster's arms.
"A couple of fine birds," Wagner said as he stood in front of them.
Cuff straightened with an effort of will and shook his head until his vision cleared. He leveled his glance at Wagner. "You're a mongrel cur," he said unemotionally, "licking at the General's boots. ”