Edmond Hamilton

“ Kara started to get to her feet and the man with the fluted metal cylinder said, "Sit down."
Birrel looked at the clock. Two minutes to midnight. A cuckoo-clock and a spy from the stars. Unreal. But a wild notion began to grow in his mind....
A shriek, a fading, choking death-cry, came down the stairs. And then Vannevan's voice came down, loud with anger.
"Damn him, he's dead."
"Sit down," said the armed Irrian, again. ”

“ Some quiet force—compressed air, Birrel thought, remembering experimental aerodyne models he had seen—lifted the hopper high and took it away, and the last red coals of a smouldering farmhouse winked in the black countryside and were gone.
By dawn they were far north and rifling with incredible speed through the sky, at a fantastic altitude. Any radarman who chanced to catch them on his screen would lose them so fast he would never believe he had seen anything. And Birrel now knew a lot more about Kara and her people than he had. ”

“ Kara's voice reached him. "Rett, you can't be—" Her voice trailed away, and then it came on a different note. "But you're not Rett. He's right, you're an Earthman. Where's Rett?"
Birrel got his eyes open, and now he could see her face, and Holmer's, and the pallor of shocked surprise on both.
He felt a queer guilt. There was no reason for it, they were spies and he was a counter-spy defending his country, defending Earth, but he couldn't rid himself of the feeling.
"Yes," said Vannevan fiercely, "where is Rett? Where's the man you've been impersonating?" ”

“ Holmer said, "We'll go back to the house. We've got to decide fast, what to do—now that Vannevan knows we're on Earth. We can stay here, and keep watching them. Or we can go home, with what we already know."
With a queer icy feeling, Birrel realized that "home" meant the world from which they had come somewhere across the abyss of space. There must be a ship, hidden somewhere, waiting for these people. If he could keep up his imposture till he reached that ship, and then get word to Connor.
"Rett, you're going wrong, the other road is the way to the house!" Kara said suddenly. ”

“ The ship swept in toward the night side of Earth in a great curve, and first of all Earthmen that had ever lived, Birrel felt the sharp, nostalgic emotion of coming back to the world that would always be "the" world.
He was in the bridge with Thile and Kara. Kara was very silent, looking at the shadowed planet-face ahead, not looking at Birrel at all. But Thile was busy, and vocal about it.
"It's hard enough to make a landing on a strange planet," he said. ”

“ Then the world of Ir and the world of Ruun—wherever those far worlds might be—were enemies? Then the Irrians, at least, had come to Earth secretly for something they needed for conquest?
It didn't make sense! These star-strangers had already used weapons far subtler and more complex than any weapon of Earth. Why would they need to filch the arms of a less scientifically advanced planet?
"You can wait," said Vannevan to Birrel, with a certain contempt. He turned and looked at Holmer and Kara. "But you two are important. No word is going back to Ruun of our plans! Where is your ship hidden?" ”

“ Impossible that it was just another July night in New Jersey, when beside him stood a man and woman not of Earth.
He looked up at the summer sky, decked with chains and hives of stars. From which dot in the sky had these two come? From where had those others come, those who pursued, the Irrians? "The sky is full of worlds," Connor had said. And the sky was full of mystery and menace....
"Yes," said Holmer. "We've lost them. But we'd better not linger here."
They got back into the car, and Birrel drove on again. ”

“ He fell upward against the straps as the gravitational axis of the ship was brutally reversed. The lights dimmed to an eerie blue and there was a horrible tortured howling of overtaxed generators. The ship rammed through into normal space with much the same effort as of a speeding car hitting a stone wall, only greatly magnified. Birrel heard the warning-horn start. He clapped his helmet shut, and then inertia flung him into the recoil couch as into a slab of granite and the joints of the ship began to spring around him. Then everything was dead, generators, horn, everything. ”

“ The ship swung on in its landing-pattern and now, below, Birrel saw a planet coming up toward them.
It was a scarred world of black-and-green. He thought at first that these were land-and-water divisions, but as they went lower he saw that they were not—that the green were fertile plains but that the ominous black areas were utterly lifeless lands, black and blasted and barren.
"That's what the oligarchs of Ir have made of their world," said Kara. "Those burned-out regions are the scars of their wars between themselves. ”

“ For Holmer turned into the dark side road without slowing down at all, and the sedan careened on screaming tires and threatened to go over.
Birrel, slammed into a corner of the back seat, felt Kara bump against him. He held her with one arm and groped frantically for something to hold onto when they rolled over.
They didn't roll over. By scared reaction, Holmer spun the wheel at the right second. The sedan tottered, then thumped back onto all four wheels, its motor stalled.
Out on the main highway, a car flashed by fast.
"These cursed Earth vehicles!" said Holmer, in a shaky voice. ”

“ Birrel and Kara spoke of things so strange and far away that they were doubly unbelievable in this setting.
Birrel was stubborn. "I've got to take you back to Connor." He had explained to her who Connor was. "He'll study the facts and decide what to do. After all, you've got to remember that Earth is our world. It's more important to us than any other."
Kara was stubborn, too. "The threat is not against your Earth! It's against Ruun, my world. I told you—"
"But your man Rett, the real Rett—he had that probe-ray record of our most secret atomic installations on him." ”

“ Would you enjoy living under Vannevan?"
He had to admit he would not. "But are the Irrians all like him?"
"Of course not," said Kara. "But Ir, the fifth world, is ruled by oligarchs, of whom Vannevan is one. The people of Ir may not like it—indeed, we've heard some of them don't—but they're pretty well held down."
But still, Birrel thought, both parties to this interstellar quarrel were strangers to him. And anyway, the decision was not his to make.
He said so, and she said, "But it is yours to make. Nobody else can make it. There isn't time." ”

“ The very life of our planet depends on it. You understand that?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Now the decision that faces you is this. Will you be doing your world a greater service by denying us the information we want and thereby forcing us to take possible violent measures in carrying out our mission—or by helping us do it quietly and thus saving a great number of lives?"
"Think of the weapons we have," Vannevan said. "Think how your Earthmen are armed. You know how much chance they have of fighting us off."
Birrel thought they would have a very good chance, but he didn't say so. ”

“ That was so obvious that there was no use denying it. "They did," said Birrel.
"And they disguised you as Rett, and published that report of a captured spy, to draw the others," Vannevan said, "Of course. Which means—they know there are strangers on their world."
Holmer said, with a taunt in his voice, "You don't like it, do you, Vannevan? It spoils the plans of Ir, doesn't it?"
Vannevan looked at him. "No. There will be no check at all in the plans of Ir. And when we've got what we need from Earth, our plans for your world will go right ahead. Be sure of that." ”

“ Birrel gathered that she had liked Rett, not romantically but as a good comrade in arms. She had taken the news of his death rather hard. "Why do you think he was there at all? He took that record from the Irrian. It was the proof we needed of the Irrians' activities here, so that our government back home will act before it's too late. If your people hadn't shot him, everything would have been arranged by now. As it is, it's worse than ever."
"Look," said Birrel. "I want to believe you, Kara. I do believe you. But it's just too big a responsibility for me to take on my own shoulders. ”

“ Catch us, I mean?"
"The Irrians are good spacemen, and their ships are about as fast as ours. But Thile is a wizard. He can outfly anything in space."
Thile heard her and looked up. He said sourly, "Thanks. But you might as well tell him the truth. Vannevan is not going to rely on speed and skill alone, but on weapons. And we're not carrying any atomic armaments. The government brains didn't think it was wise, considering that we were trespassing on a strange world and might conceivably have an accident, such as falling into a city. They're thoughtful that way." ”

“ They had had it figured out, they thought. The dead man was a spy from another world. He would have colleagues, a group who had come here to search out Earth's most potent defense secrets, with some deadly purpose surely. Birrel's job, his imposture, was to lead to the others.
But—it seemed now that these secret ones, this Kara and Holmer, themselves had enemies. The dead man, Rett, had been trailing one. An Irrian. Who were the Irrians? Who was Vannevan, and what was he up to?
A sense of nightmare unreality suddenly swept Birrel. Their car was crossing lower Times Square. ”

“ He said to Kara,
"Why haven't people done more star-travelling? You obviously have a workable drive."
"We haven't had the time until recently," Kara said. "The Irrians kept us too busy. Then the few exploratory trips we did make to neighboring systems were discouraging. In most cases the planets were uninhabitable, and the ones that did have life forms were pretty awful. Our government hasn't encouraged star flight. I think they're afraid of what might come flying back our way."
The ship quivered and trembled. Birrel thought he could almost feel the atoms crawling in the metal under his hand. ”

“ Vannevan smiled grimly. "Where you couldn't find it. And you've tried long enough, haven't you? This planet has a lot of wild places. Which one is your ship hidden in?"
Holmer merely laughed.
"You'll tell, one of you," promised Vannevan. He spoke to the Irrian beside him. "The man, first. Take him upstairs. He'll talk more freely and readily if she can't hear him."
The other man pointed his weapon at Holmer. Holmer, without a look at Kara or Birrel, started up the old stairway in the hall, with the Irrian close behind him. ”

“ Kara said, "It gets you, doesn't it?"
He indicated that it did, beyond words. She nodded.
"It's no different with us. We look up at our summer skies just as you have, and dream about what it's like. We read books and we see pictures. But you can't know until you actually get out into space and see it for yourself. And I don't think you ever get over being awed. I never have."
Birrel opened his eyes again, but kept them firmly fixed on the inside of the bridge. Thile and Vray were still hanging over their instruments, looking grim.
"That ship," said Birrel. "It'll try and catch us, I suppose. ”

“ Garlock interrupted, saying heatedly to Connor, "Look at his face! I tell you, you're giving this to him too fast, you can't throw it at him like this."
Connor ignored the protest. He sat down again at the desk, and his bleak eyes held on Birrel's face.
"This is how it stands. Where they came from, what that place is like, we haven't a glimmering. How many of them there are on Earth, we don't know either. But one man couldn't come alone. So there are others. All right."
He bent forward, his harsh voice beating at Birrel. "We make you look like that dead man. ”

“ He didn't try to reach the Irrian himself. He was too far off. He went for the table with the kerosene lamp on it, which was quite near. He hooked his fingers under the edge of the table and heaved it over as hard as he could. The lamp went flying. It hit the floor, splashing hot oil and flame, and the Irrian screamed. The carpet was suddenly burning around his feet and little flames blossomed like magic where the oil spattered his clothes. There was no need for Birrel to tackle him. He fled screaming into the hall, tearing off his coat and beating in panic at his legs. ”

“ Except that the man he impersonated had been a spy. Secret agent of an unguessable, distant world, ferreting out Earth's defense secrets.
A wave of cold disbelief swept Birrel. It was still too fantastic, too incredible. The scientists were wrong about that body, they must be wrong. Connor was wrong.
But Connor remained grimly convinced. Before his men took Birrel to the prison, he had said,
"They've lost an agent, those people from outside. A valuable man with valuable information. They'll contact you, somehow when our newspaper story appears." ”