Kris Neville

“ Brionimar must never learn.
But Brionimar would learn. Earth was on the verge of space flight. Within a generation they would be listening for radio and television extension-waves in hyperspace that would indicate the existence of another civilization. In two generations they would be in the skies of Brionimar. And then the subjects would see salvation: here (they would reason) is another race capable of preserving the Universe. And there would be no appeasing their blind and mindless wrath until the last Oligarch was dismembered and bloodless. ”

“ Herb was silent for a moment. The microphones listened. Then: "Imagine how awful it would be to live down there, with no one to do your thinking for you."
"The natural leaders aren't even recognized. You can't tell an Oligarch from a Subject."
"I'd never like to live in a place like that," Herb said. I dreamed of it, he wanted to say, and I dreamed that Brionimar had been changed into Earth, and there was no Oligarchy, and a man was free. "It's like a nightmare," he said. ”

“ Herb could not account for the intensity of emotional strain he seemed to be under. Herb imagined they would talk briefly—and plan vaguely—about ways to carry some of the idea and the feel of freedom back to Brionimar. They would bear a message of hope, they would tell that Earth had not been destroyed in vain, that a civilization could function in freedom without chaos. And perhaps, someday, not in their time, but someday....
"It's not perfect," Herb said. "We dream of perfection, do you understand, but even Earth is not perfect. ”

“ Norma turned to the Oligarch. "What did you make him do to Frank?"
"Not here," Bud said softly. "Don't kill her yet. She knows where Herb is."
Norma wanted to scream. She only half opened her mouth when the Oligarch's hand slapped sharply against her neck. Her knees buckled and she dropped unconscious to the heavy carpet.
"She knows where Herb is," Bud said again. "We've got to find him before he tells someone—tells someone else about Frank."
"She was telling the truth," the Oligarch said. "We are going to blow up the world. That's what I came back to Washington to tell you." ”

“ He took Herb's arm and gestured with his head that Herb should follow. Herb arose; his heart stood wildly beating in the cage of his chest; his blood ran with conspiracy and excitement.
They walked down the corridor until they were in a section free of microphones. It was, although they did not know it, intentionally unwired. It provided the crew a harmless escape valve for their emotions. It was not (as any Oligarch could have told you) necessary to watch a Subject all the time. Most of the spy tapes, as a matter of fact, were never even inspected. ”

“ George rolled to his feet. If Norma were not already dead, he must recapture her.
The C.I.D. man arrived in time to see the fantastic sight of a red and silver, tri-legged Leviathan from space stumbling after a surplus jeep. He slammed his car to a halt before the army guard station and cried, "Shoot him! Shoot him!" Demonstrating, he fired wildly in the direction of the jeep. "C.I.D.!" he cried. "Shoot, damn it!"
Herb heard the sinister pop of the hand gun and, glancing out of the corner of his eye, saw the rifles aligning themselves in his direction. ”

“ Norma's lips were trembling uncontrollably. "Bud!" she gasped. "Bud, they're planning to blow up the world!"
"What are you talking about?" he demanded angrily. "What do you mean?"
"The starmen! I saw Herb. He told me. I had to come to you, Bud. You've got to make them stop it!"
"Nonsense," Bud said. "You're out of your mind. You're crazy." He surged to his feet. "Where is Herb? I told you to come see me if you found him. Where is he?"
"It's true!" Norma cried. "I know it's true! They've been lying to us. They spy on each other. They have hidden microphones everywhere. ”

“ It was frightening to have Senator Stilson call you a Socialist.
Bud tried not to think about Frank's face ... Frank's threats had nothing to do with him changing his mind. A man can change his mind. That he had changed his mind seemed to Bud a measure of his honesty and fairness. It was nothing less than that.
One of the other starmen whispered to Herb: "That one's changed sides."
Herb nodded. The Senators were beginning to respond to pressure from their constituents. But even as the tension was sinking, even as elation rose, a second emotion swept through him. ”

“ Herb believed.
Unless the planet Earth were exploded, the ever-unstable Universe, itself, would collapse. Already the binding force was dangerously diminished. If new energy were not released within a month, disintegration would begin. The Universe would alter and flow and contract and after the collapse, slowly build itself into a new form—that form itself containing the inherent stresses of change and mutability. Only the arrival of starmen to space flight at the critical time—only their continued vigilance—prevented disaster beyond accounting for. ”

“ He heard the stumble of the Oligarch's fleeing feet, heard the office door open and slam.
Herb waited, listening: a feint?
No. There was no sound.
Again he stepped into the messhall. It was empty.
"Herb!" Norma called. "Herb! Are you all right?" She was running down the corridor toward him.
"Get back!" Herb called, but she came on, and then she was beside him.
"He's in the office. I'm going after him. You stay here."
"No. Leave him there. Prop the door. Keep him in. Take the ship...."
"I'm going in after him," Herb said. "I've got to. It's more than him, more than killing or getting killed. ”

“ Nothing in the natural Universe goes faster than light."
"I couldn't say, sir, I really don't know. At an extremely high speed our space ship makes a, a transition, but ... I guess, sir, yes, sir." The answers weren't coming now. The Oligarch had not dared permit him scientific knowledge. There was a little vacuum where there should be information.
"You'll pardon me, but aren't you unusually ignorant, for a technician, about physical theory: about the action of gases that we were talking about a moment ago—in fact, even about astronomy?" ”

“ The remote and inaccessible Scientists were beyond accounting. Perhaps only this planet would serve. Perhaps there was insufficient time to locate another of suitable mass. Perhaps.... But one could not know. One could only submit to authority. The storm died away, and Herb acknowledged bitter reality with helplessness. There even seemed a nightmare inevitability about the selection.
"It would be dangerous to try to work secretly," the Oligarch said. "If they were to discover us in the midst of planting the explosive, it would be fatal. ”

“ The Oligarch felt his detachment shatter. Hurriedly he left his table and went to Leslie and killed him.
Breathing with difficulty, he arose and addressed the crew. "This is what happens to a man who lies on his dream form." They rustled uneasily. "Go back to your meal."
One by one they resumed eating. Slowly conversation grew and expanded from whispers to abnormal loudness and then back to whispers again. The ubiquitous microphones peered up eagerly from the tables, and the hungry record tapes consumed the sounds.
The food lodged in Herb's throat. ”

“ Norma started to protest.
"I tell you, they are. If the Secret Service weren't out there to protect me, I'd be dead right now. But God has given me a job to do. I can't let them kill me until I have done His will."
"Bud, you're just overworked. Nobody's trying to do a thing like that. Frank says it's just publicity, and I thought...."
"Ahhhhh," Bud said darkly. "Would the President have assigned me a body guard if it weren't true? Would he? There are extremists in this country—Communists and Socialists—who stop at nothing to prevent the starmen from coming back. Even Frank...." ”

“ One would expect opposition from a radical like Rawlins. But from a Council...! He had always felt that Bud was one of his. The insult was compounded by heresy.
"I feel," Senator Rawlins said, "that two questions require further exploration: how is it that the starmen are so ignorant of basic scientific principles; and for what reason do they insist that we reach such a momentous decision in such a limited time? To ask the Senate to vote now would force an honest man to perhaps a hasty decision. ”

“ Herb did not say that such pursuits were the exclusive prerogatives of the Oligarchs. He did not say: I am inferior in mental capacity to an Oligarch; I can never become a Scientist. That was not to be mentioned. "I am a technician, sir."
Senator Rawlins shook his head and made a few notes.
There was fear somewhere inside of him. What more could he say? Suppose ... suppose.... Had he answered wrong? It was as if his knowledge were a river rushing his ego toward the great waterfall of defeat, and he was powerless to control anything. He must not fail. Must not, must not, must not fail. ”

“ But now, thinking the destruction of Earth a certainty, his resentment rechanneled, he was able to strike—even kill, if necessary—the Oligarch in order to revenge himself upon the Earth girl who had struck him.
He snapped on the scanner and searched the airport. He saw Norma climb into the jeep. He sent the spider ship lumbering toward her. The jeep began to run.
The spider legs moved faster, and the ship, like a drunk, lurched awkwardly across the runway in pursuit. He was no pilot, but his hands jerked levers and twisted wheels and the ship moved. He sighted the underbelly heat ray. ”

“ Herb did not know that Norma had seen him and was now trying to fight her way free of humanity to follow him.
The Oligarch continued his speech. His grim and gloomy reflections vanished. He peered out at the Earth faces with genuine benevolence. It's not in my hands any longer, he wanted to tell them. One of your Senators will make the ultimate decision, unless one of my starmen kills him first. ”

“ He turned from his labors and handed the drinks around.
"Norma, Herb. I wonder if you'd mind if George and I stepped in there?"
"It's all right with us," Norma said.
Bud and the Oligarch went into the study. Bud closed the door.
"Now," he said. Ambition was a sickness in him. This is the boy I've got to sell, he thought. That's all I've got to do: sell him. Once he's sold, the rest will follow. Ambition was like a hunger, and success hung in the air like smoke. "We can have a nice, private talk. ”

“ Dimly, persistently, doggedly, stubbornly the ego, the self—that small spark of assertiveness and awareness—struggled to arrange and order, to reason and make sense of—to unify and master—the knowledge it possessed. ”

“ They had awakened him to certain possibilities. His changed vote on television had brought him unprecedented publicity, even from normally hostile newspapers. He realized that the longer the hearings continued the more familiar his name would become.
He was convinced by now that the majority of the people (even as himself) were inclined to approve an agreement with the starmen.
Surely they weren't thinking of ending the hearings and taking the matter to the full Senate? They wouldn't dare flush headlines down the drain like that. ”

“ He slammed the door back and cried, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" The outer ladder fell away at the touch of his hand, and a second later his feet were hurrying down it.
Once on the ground, he was at the jeep in a heart beat. There was no blood, but both figures were very still. "Help me!" he cried to the arriving soldiers.
Two came forward, laid aside their guns, and together, with gentle hands, lifted Norma and then Herb free of the wreckage.
When they were stretched out on the ground, George knelt. Perspiration wetted his upper lip. ”

“ Tension accumulated between Bud and the starman. Norma realized that her brother was no longer sane.
The car slowed and stopped. Still Norma did not move. She was too terrified. They came to her door and opened it.
George pulled her roughly from the seat. She moaned but she did not open her eyes. His hard muscles against her were deadly and threatening, and her knees were so weak that, had she wanted to, she could not have supported herself.
She heard a starman's feet on the steel ladder that descended from the spider ship. She felt herself scooped up and dropped over his shoulder. ”

“ Norma was tense and uncomfortable and, Bud thought, a little over-awed to be sitting across the desk from her own brother in the rebuilt Senate Office Building.
She blinked nervously. "Frank will be in this afternoon."
"Yes. Yes?" A trace of petulance haunted Bud's voice. "Terribly busy just now, but...." Hollow enthusiasm conquered. "That's just fine. I can always find time to see Frank."
"He thinks it's important that he see you," Norma said.
"Has something happened?" Bud always sought ways to escape from the anticipated responsibility of sharing a family crisis. ”

“ I've got to get this girl back to our big ship out there in space for medical attention."
"We've sent for a doctor," the major said stiffly.
"We have doctors. For God's sake, man, help me get them aboard. There's no time to stand here talking. We have advanced techniques, if I can only get there in time, that may mean the difference between life and death...."
The major hesitated. "All right. You two soldiers—take the girl up the ladder."
"Herb, too," the Oligarch said. "If he survives, he will be tried."
The major grunted at two more soldiers.
George followed them up the ladder. ”

“ Why was Frank, his own brother, out to get him? What sinister motive—?
"You underestimate them, though," Frank said. "There's a little trickle of maturity in this country. For every aberration like you it gains a drop of experience and knowledge. The war is over. We've had our emotional jag. We're about to go into one of our rational periods. We're about to wake up to our responsibilities. Your day is passing. I don't know if there's enough of you left to keep out the starmen. The people are coming around. But—I—do—know—this. I know...."
"Stop!" Norma cried. "You don't understand Bud! ”

“ Well inside the solar system the huge space ship plunged on, released from the warp drive and slowly braking to establish an orbit around the third planet.
Herb came up from the deep stupor of the drugs. He had been under their influence for the last twenty hours while the sleep tapes hammered information into his unconscious brain.
"All right," said Wezen, their private custodian, "time for exercise. Two hours of work-outs, and then you eat."
Herb sat up and felt his head. It ached dully. "Give me a minute. Time to think, Wezen. I'm—"
The other two starmen were also recovering. ”

“ Psychology was a science on Brionimar; and he was a scientist. There was only one man he could be sure of out of all the crew. There were several fanatics, but he distrusted them. There was one idealist who would, of a psychological certainty, pull that lever and blow himself up along with Earth in the belief that his action was necessary to preserve the Universe.
Herb.
CHAPTER III
When the starmen came, they made headlines in the newspapers all over the world.
They sat down on the east-west runway of the Washington National Airport.
MEN FROM STARS LAND! ”