Alter Ego
Steve's first thought as he stood stock-still and staring with horror
fascinated eyes at the crumpled figure beside him was that there had
been some terrible mistake.
What he might have said or done is hard to guess. Probably nothing, for
one of Duane's virtues was that of knowing when and where to keep his
mouth shut. Moreover, any tendency toward speech he might have felt was
thwarted when he lifted startled eyes to the Overlord Okuno to find the
executioner's intense gaze unmistakably warning him to silence!
So silent he remained while his fellows of the Brotherhood filed from
the amphitheatre, and Venusian guards removed the remains of Rodrik of
Mish-kin.
It was then that Okuno turned to him and, obviously speaking for the
benefit of those Daans who still lingered in the chamber, said, "And
now, Brother Steve of Emmeity, we shall go to my privy chamber, where I
shall justly reward your valor in apprehending this traitor. Come!"
But in Okuno's private room, with the door closed and locked behind
them, Steve turned to the Overlord questioningly.
"And now, Okuno, what--?"
But the strangest sight of all climaxed the whole mad episode. For the
purple-gowned Okuno, haughty Overlord of Daan, Chief Executor of the
invading master race, had slipped to his knees--and was bowing before
Steve in humble supplication.
"Thy forgiveness, O my Lord!" he prayed, "if for a moment I caused thee
trepidation or alarm. It was the only means whereby I could beguile the
cunning Rodrik into silence until his lips could be sealed forever."
Steve gasped, "Then _those_ were the preparations you made! You
substituted his brain-pattern cylinder for mine?"
"Even so, O mighty Slumberer."
"And--" It was all beginning to make sense now--"though a Daan, you are
on our side?"
Okuno's head lifted proudly. "At thy side, aye, Master! And a humble
follower of the Slumberers. But no Daan am I. I am an earthman, even as
thyself."
"You are--_what_!" Steve stared at the man in stunned bewilderment.
Then, impatiently, "Get up, man! We are humans together. No earthman
needs bow before another. Get up and tell me what this is all about!"
* * * * *
So Okuno spoke, and what he told Steve was the most heartening news
Duane had heard since his wakening in this strange world of slave
humans.
"I am an earthman," repeated Okuno proudly. "My real name is Wiam. Wiam
of Kleevlun. The true Okuno lives no more. He made the error which,
praise Jarg, many sons of the marsh planet have made: that of riding
alone through human settlements too arrogantly and too often. His last
such outing cost him his life. The worms have long since stripped his
carcass. But this the Daans know not. For an Okuno set forth upon a
journey, and an Okuno returned. Nor does any Venusian suspect I am not
the true Okuno."
"But," stammered Stephen Duane, "your hair ... your eyes ... the
webbings between your fingers...."
"Are all," smiled Okuno, "artificial. I know, O Slumberer, that thou
who wakened in a matriarch's camp have cause to believe all humans
are crude and uncultured. But, believe me, this is not so. We number
amongst us a handful who remember somewhat of the skill and artifice of
the Ancient Ones. The art of masquerade we know and practice mightily.
"Rejoice to learn, O Slumberer, that I am not the only earthman who
treads the soil of Terra in the guise of a Venusian. Throughout broad
Tizathy there are scores, hundreds, like myself. Altered earthmen with
bleached hair and chemically treated pupils, artificial webbing secured
to their phalanges, who have wormed their way into the confidence of
the so-called 'master race,' and but wait for that moment to come when
earthmen may strike for their lost liberty.
"Changelings like myself are Daan guards, captains of Daan troops,
space navigators, and even as I, Councillors of Daan citadels. It is
a vast and secret movement we have prepared for generations, awaiting
only--a leader. And now--" The masquerader's pale eyes gleamed with
fanatic zeal--"the leaders have come! The legend has been fulfilled,
and the Slumberers have awakened!"
Stephen Duane felt a vast resurgence well within him. There had been
moments when, despite his own courage and determination, his spirit
had shrunk appalled before the magnitude of the task confronting him,
so helpless had been those upon whom he had been forced to depend for
aid, so engulfed in barbarism and superstition. But here were men of
richer stuff conceived. Men not only of purpose, but of wit and wisdom.
Men who had wormed their way into the very heart of the invaders'
organization.
"Great guns, Okuno!" he cried excitedly. "This is the best news yet! A
counteroffensive set up within the Daan organization! More than I dared
dream of!"
"We stand ready," said Okuno simply, "to do your bidding. What are your
orders, O Duane?"
Stephen Duane said feverishly, "I don't exactly know--yet. We'll have
to call a council of war. We have already struck the first blow against
the enemy, you know. Three days ago our forces occupied Loovil--"
Okuno lifted a trembling hand. His voice shook.
"Pardon, O Duane. But do you mean to say you have not heard of the
retaking of Loovil?"
* * * * *
"Loovil retaken!" choked Steve. "You mean--?"
Okuno nodded slowly. "Yes, O Slumberer. Before that garrison fell, its
commander got off a message to this headquarters. Even as you pursued
Rodrik of Mish-kin hither, a punitive expedition flew from Sinnaty
to Loovil. Your companions, though they defended the Tucki fortress
bravely, were unable to match the superior might of the well-armed Daan
fighting craft. Loovil is again a Daan outpost."
Steve Duane licked suddenly parched lips. "And--" he faltered--"and
those who defended the garrison? They were--destroyed?"
Okuno nodded somberly. "Many were slain in the battle. Those who died
so, swiftly and nobly, were fortunate. To the others has been meted a
punishment more dreadful than clean and sudden death. By rockets they
have been transferred to the planet of Daan, there to waste away the
wretched remaining hours of their lives slaving in the Venusian swamps."
* * * * *
It was revelatory, though at the time it did not occur to Duane, that
his first tense query should have coupled with the name of a friend
held dear for years than of a maid he had known scarce a fortnight.
Eyes clouded with anxiety, he gripped Okuno's arm in fingers of steel.
"The priestess Beth?" he cried. "And my fellow Slumberer, the one known
as Chuck? Where are they? Were they among those--?"
He dared not say the word, dared not think of Lafferty's laughing vigor
stilled by the Daan's ray-weapons, nor the dust-gold vibrancy of Beth
charred and blackened by that weapon's spiteful flame.
But Okuno said, "Let us see," and moved to a cabinet upon one wall of
his private chamber, drew therefrom a list of the exiled earthlings.
"These are they," he told Steve, "who survived the battle and have been
exiled to Daan. You will find here--"
Steve had already snatched the sheets, was scanning them eagerly. The
listing of those slaughtered was like a series of sword thrusts in his
heart. Brave Jain had fallen, and Mairlee, Mother of the Lextun Clan;
Ralf, chieftain of a tribe of Wild Ones from Clina territory, and Alis,
his newfound mate; hosts of others had died defending the all too
briefly held salient.
But on another list, naming those who had survived the conflict only to
be transported to Earth's evil sister planet, he found those names for
which he sought most eagerly. Those of Beth and the Mother Maatha and a
male who designated himself as "Shuk of Bruklin."
On still a third sheet, Steve found a name which brought a snarl of
anger to his lips. That name was Ay-rik. To it was appended a strange
curlique unfamiliar to Steve. Guessing at its meaning, a sudden fear
wakened within him. He turned to his friend.
"This Ay-rik---what means that symbol after his name?"
Okuno glanced and shrugged. "That means he was wounded but will
survive. But what troubles you, my Lord?"
* * * * *
"Plenty!" gritted Steve. "It's bad enough we've lost Loovil; that some
of my friends are dead and others captive. But this--" He tapped the
sheet--"Eric von Rath being alive is the worst thing which could have
happened to us. He is that Slumberer whom the legends tell is evil from
the core. He betrayed me once, and will do it again if he gets the
chance. So long as he lives neither you nor I nor any of our comrades
is safe, Okuno."
The masquerader stared at him haggardly. "I see what you mean, O Duane.
Let him but report that you are one of the Slumberers and then not
only will _you_ be apprehended, but investigation will disclose that I
aided you by exchanging the cylinders--"
"--and there," ground Steve curtly, "goes our whole plan before it gets
well under way. Okuno, there is only one thing to do. I must somehow
get to Venus."
Okuno nodded slowly. "Yes, that is so. Much more can you do there than
here. Not only can you liberate our fellows in exile, and silence
the tongue of this treacherous Ay-rik, but there you can perchance
accomplish that which is vitally essential if ever earthmen are to
reestablish control of their own planet."
"And that is--?" demanded Steve.
"Find a way," Okuno told him, "of immobilizing the Daan spacefleet.
Time and again have there been opportunities for our organization to
strike a blow at the Overlords' mastery ... and this was even before
we could count on the assistance of the Women and Wild Ones you
have converted to our cause. But never have we dared take that last
important step, for we have realized that whatever small successes
might crown our uprising at the beginning would be nullified as soon
as the Daans' mighty armada of space-vessels could hurtle the distance
between their planet and ours.
"They garrison here but a scattered handful of spacecraft. These it is
well within our power to capture and subdue, the more so because there
is not one of these vessels but numbers amongst its crew masqueraders
like myself.
"But on Daan is cradled the full majesty of the Venusian space-navy.
Somehow this fleet must be crippled, so it cannot be turned against us
until we have time to consolidate our positions. This, O Slumberer,
is the major important task you can accomplish for us on Daan. You
have powers greater than those allotted humble, commonplace mortals, O
Duane. Can your powers encompass this deed?"
Steve said grimly, "I don't know, Okuno. But this much is certain: I
must go to Daan, and while there, do what I can. Meanwhile, can it be
arranged for me to visit the other planet?"
"Can and will, O Wise One. A ship leaves Sinnaty on the morrow for
Daan. Tonight, our craftsmen will perform upon you the artistry which
altered my lineaments. Meanwhile, false credentials will be forged. You
will go to Daan as the noble Captain Huumo, secure beneath the seal and
sanctuary of a Council messenger."
"Huumo?" frowned Steve. "But is there now a Daan captain named Huumo?
Won't he--?"
Okuno smiled grimly. "When you leave in the morning," he promised,
"there _will have been_ another Huumo."
"And when I get to Daan--?"
"Then," said Okuno simply, "may the gods of 'Kota guide you. You must
act for yourself, and upon your deeds may rest the hopes of a thousand
generations. But fear not. Even on Daan you will find allies in the
highest and most unexpected places.
"Mark well this interchange, O Slumberer. Should one say to you,
'Have you kinsmen on distant Terra?', answer that questioner, 'Aye, I
have many brothers.' And if he then says, 'The brave never lack for
brethren', you will know you have found a friend and ally. And now--"
Okuno bestirred himself brusquely--"already have we lingered too long
together in this room. Let us separate and meet again in the dark hours
of night, that the change may be wrought in you."
He spoke no more.
* * * * *
So they parted to meet again when midnight darkened the corridors of
Nedlunplaza. And this time Steve, stripped to the buff, placed himself
at the disposition of those disguise artists who had altered Okuno and
others.
They worked swiftly and effectively. A chemical rinse bleached his
tawny hair to Venusian silver. Brief exposure to the radiance of a
floodlamp dulled the healthy color of his flesh, paling it to the
more sallow hue of the Daans. Then swift technicians went to work on
his hands and feet and face. With a gummy, flesh-colored plastic they
lengthened the membranes between his digits, simulating the vestigial
webbing of the squamous Venusians. With paddings here, and subcutaneous
injections of a waxy substance elsewhere, the make-up artists subtly
changed Steve's features until, staring at himself in a mirror, he
could scarcely recognize his own face beneath the mask which had been
superimposed upon it.
Okuno smiled his satisfaction when the job was done.
"You look more like Huumo than did Huumo himself. It will do, O Duane.
Only a mother or sweetheart would recognize you beneath that mask. Here
are Huumo's trappings and credentials. Henceforth, they are yours,
and you are Huumo. Rest, now, a short while. For when the eastern sky
lights, it will be time to board the _Oalumuo_."