"Do you mean what you said, about giving up?" Lea asked. Brion realized
that she had stopped talking to Ulv some time ago, and had been
listening to his conversation with Krafft. He shrugged, trying to put
his feeling into words.
"We've tried--and almost succeeded. But if they won't listen what can we
do? What can one man possibly do against a fleet loaded with H-bombs?"
As if in answer to his question Ulv's voice drowned him out. The harsh
Disan words slashing the silence of the room.
"Kill you, the enemy!" he said. "Kill you _umedvirk_!"
He shouted the last word and his hand flashed to his belt. In a single
swift motion he lifted his blowgun and placed it to his lips. A tiny
dart quivered in the already dead flesh of the creature in the magter's
skull. The action had all the symbolism of a broken lance, the
declaration of war.
"Ulv understands it a lot better than you might think," Lea said. "He
knows things about symbiosis and mutualism that would get him a job as a
lecturer in any university on Earth. He knows just what the
brain-symbiote is and what it does. They even have a word for it, one
that never appeared in our Disan language lessons. A life form that you
can live with or co-operate with is called _medvirk_. One that works to
destroy you is _umedvirk_. He also understands that life forms can
change, and be _medvirk_ or _umedvirk_ at different times. He has just
decided that the brain symbiote is _umedvirk_ and is out to kill it. So
will the rest of the Disans as soon as he can show them the evidence and
explain."
"You're sure of this," Brion asked, interested in spite of himself.
"Positive. The Disans have a very absolute attitude towards survival,
you should realize that. Not the same as the magter, but not much
different in the results. They will kill the brain-symbiote, even if it
means killing every magter who harbors one."
"If that is the case, we can't leave now," Brion said. With these words
it suddenly became very clear what he had to do. "The ship is coming
down now from the fleet. Get in it and take the body of the magter. I
won't go."
"Where will you be?" she asked.
"Fighting the magter. My presence on the planet means that Krafft won't
keep his threat to drop the bombs any earlier than the midnight
deadline. That would be deliberately murdering me. I doubt if my
presence past midnight will stop him, but it should keep the bombs away
at least until then."
"What will you accomplish besides committing suicide?" Lea pleaded. "You
just told me how a single man can't stop the bombs. What will happen to
you at midnight?"
"I'll be dead--but in spite of that I can't run away. Not now. I must do
everything possible right up until the last instant. Ulv and I will go
to the magter tower, try to find out if the bombs are there. He will
fight on our side now. He may even know more about the bombs, things
that he didn't want to tell me before. We can get help from his people.
Some of them must know where the bombs are, being native to this
planet." Lea started to say something, but he rushed on, drowning out
her words.
"You have just as big a job. Show the magter to Krafft, explain the
significance of the brain-parasite to him. Try and get him to talk to
Hys about the last raid. Try to get him to hold off the attack. I'll
keep the radio with me and as soon as I know anything I'll call in. This
is all last resort, finger in the dike kind of stuff, but it is all we
can do."
"Because if we do nothing it means the end of Dis."
Lea tried to argue with him, but he wouldn't listen to her. He only
kissed her, and with a lightness he did not feel tried to convince her
that everything would be all right. In their hearts they both knew it
wasn't, yet they left it that way because it was the least painful
solution.
* * * * *
A sudden rumbling shook the building and the windows darkened as a ship
settled in the street outside. The Nyjord crew came in with guns
pointed, alert for anything. With a little convincing they took the
cadaver, as well as Lea, when they lifted ship. Brion watched the
spacer become a pinpoint in the sky and vanish. He shrugged his
shoulders, trying to shake off the feeling that this was the last time
he would see any of them.
"Let's get out of here fast," he told Ulv, picking up the radio. "Before
anyone comes around to see why the ship landed."
"What will you do," Ulv asked, as they went down the street towards the
desert. "What can we do in the few hours we have left?" He pointed at
the sun, nearing the horizon. Brion shifted the weight of the radio to
his other hand before replying.
"Get to the magter tower we raided last night, that's the best chance.
The bombs might be there. Unless you know where the bombs are?"
Ulv shook his head. "I do not know, but some of my people may. We will
capture a magter then kill him so they can all see the _umedvirk_. Then
they will tell us everything they know."
"The tower first then, for bombs or a sample magter. What's the fastest
way we can get there?"
Ulv frowned in thought. "If you can drive one of the cars the
offworlders use, I know where there are some locked in buildings in this
city. None of my people know how they are made to move."
"I can work them--let's go."
Chance was with them this time. The first sandcar they found still had
the keys in the lock. It was battery powered, but contained a full
charge. Much quieter than the heavy atomic cars it sped smoothly out of
the city and across the sand. Ahead of them the sun sank in a red wave
of color and it was six o'clock. By the time they reached the tower it
was seven and Brion's nerves felt as if they were writhing under his
skin.
Even though it looked like suicide, attacking the tower brought blessed
relief. It was movement and action, and for moments at a time he forgot
the bombs hanging over his head.
The attack was nerve-wrackingly anticlimactic. They used the main
entrance, Ulv ranging soundlessly ahead. There was no one in sight. Once
inside they crept down towards the lower rooms where the radiation had
been detected. Only gradually did they realize that the magter tower was
completely empty.
"Everyone gone," Ulv grunted, sniffing the air in every room that they
passed. "Many magter were here earlier, they are gone now."
"Do they often desert their towers?" Brion asked.
"Never. I have never heard of it happening before. I can think of no
reason why they should do a thing like this."
"Well I can," Brion told him. "They would leave their home if they took
something with them of greater value. The bombs. If the bombs were
hidden here, they might move them after the attack." Sudden fear hit
him. "Or they might move them because it is time to take them--to the
launcher! Let's get out of here, the quickest way we can."
"I smell air from outside," Ulv said, "coming from down there. This
cannot be, because the magter have no entrances this low in their
towers."
"We blasted one in earlier--that could be it. Can you find it?"
Moonlight shone ahead as they turned an angle of the corridor, and stars
were visible through the gaping opening in the wall.
"It looks bigger than it was," Brion said, "as if the magter enlarged
it." He looked through and saw the tracks on the sand outside. "As if
they enlarged it to bring something bulky up from below--and carried it
away in whatever made those tracks!"
* * * * *
Using the opening themselves they ran back to the sandcar. Brion ground
it fiercely around and turned the headlights on the tracks. There were
the marks of a sandcar's treads, half obscured by thin, unmarked wheel
tracks. He turned off the lights and forced himself to move slowly and
to do an accurate job. A quick glimpse of his watch showed him there
were four hours left to go. The moonlight was bright enough to
illuminate the tracks. Driving with one hand he turned on the radio
transmitter, already set for Krafft's wave length.
When the operator acknowledged his signal Brion reported what they had
discovered and his conclusions. "Get that message to Commander Krafft
now. I can't wait to talk to him--I'm following the tracks." He killed
the transmission and stamped on the accelerator. The sandcar churned
and bounced down the track.
"They are going to the mountains," Ulv said half an hour later, as the
tracks still pointed straight ahead. "There are caves here and many
magter have been seen near them, that is what I have heard."
The guess was correct. Before nine o'clock the ground humped into a
range of foothills and the darker masses of mountains could be seen
behind them, rising up to obscure the stars.
"Stop the car here," Ulv said, "The caves begin not too far ahead. There
may be magter watching or listening, so we must go quietly."
Brion followed the deep-cut grooves, carrying the radio. Ulv came and
went on both sides, silently as a shadow, scouting for hidden watchers.
As far as he could discover there were none.
By nine-thirty Brion realized they had deserted the sandcar too soon.
The tracks wound on and on, and seemed to have no end. They passed some
caves, Ulv pointed them out to him, but the tracks never stopped. Time
was running out and the nightmare stumbling through the darkness
continued.
"More caves ahead," Ulv said. "Go quietly."
They came cautiously to the crest of the hill, as they had done so many
times before, and looked into the shallow valley beyond. Sand covered
the valley floor, and the light of the setting moon shone over the
tracks at a flat angle, setting them off sharply as lines of shadow.
They ran straight across the sandy valley and disappeared into the dark
mouth of a cave on the far side.
Sinking back behind the hilltop, Brion covered the pilot light with his
hand and turned on the transmitter. Ulv stayed above him, staring at the
opening of the cave.
"This is an important message," Brion whispered into the mike, "Please
record." He repeated this for thirty seconds, glancing at his watch to
make sure of the time, since the seconds of waiting stretched to minutes
in his brain. Then, clearly as possible without raising his voice above
a whisper, he told of the discovery of the tracks and the cave.
"... The bombs may or may not be in here, but we are going in to find
out. I'll leave my personal transmitter here with the broadcast power
turned on, so you can home on its signal. That will give you a
directional beacon to find the cave. I'm taking the other radio in, it
has more power. If we can't get back to the entrance, I'll try a signal
from inside. I doubt if you will hear it because of the rock, but I'll
try. End of transmission. Don't try to answer me because I have the
receiver turned off. There are no earphones on this set and the speaker
would be too loud here."
He switched off, held his thumb on the button for an instant, then
flicked it back on.
"Good-by, Lea," he said, and killed the power for good.
* * * * *
They circled and reached the rocky wall of the cliff. Creeping silently
in the shadows here they slipped up on the dark entrance of the cave.
Nothing moved ahead and there was no sound from the entrance of the
cave. Brion glanced at his watch and was instantly sorry.
Ten-thirty.
The last shelter concealing them was five meters from the cave. They
started to rise, to rush the final distance when Ulv suddenly waved
Brion down. He pointed to his nose, then to the cave. He could smell the
magter there.
A dark figure separated itself from the greater darkness of the cave
mouth. Ulv acted instantly. He stood up and his hand went to his mouth;
air hissed faintly through the tube in his hand. Without a noise the
magter folded and fell to the ground. Before the body hit Ulv crouched
low and rushed in. There was the sudden scuffling of feet on the floor,
then silence.
Brion walked in, gun ready and alert, not knowing what he would find.
His toe pushed against a body on the ground and from the darkness Ulv
whispered. "There were only two. We can go on now."
Finding their way through the cave was a maddening torture. They had no
light, nor could they dare use one if they had. There were no wheel
marks to follow on the stone floor. Without Ulv's sensitive nose they
would have been completely lost. The caves branched and rejoined and
they soon lost all sense of direction.
Walking was maddening and almost impossible. They had to grope with
their hands before them like blind men. Stumbling and falling against
the rock, their fingers were soon throbbing and raw from brushing
against the rough walls. Ulv followed the scent of the magter that hung
in the air where they had passed. When it grew thin he knew they had
left the frequently used tunnels and entered deserted ones. They could
only retrace their steps and start again in a different direction.
More maddening than the walking was the time. Inexorably the glowing
hands crept around the face of Brion's watch until they stood at fifteen
minutes before twelve.
"There is a light ahead," Ulv whispered, and Brion almost gasped with
relief. They moved slowly and silently until they stood, concealed by
the darkness, looking out into a domed chamber brightly lit by glowing
tubes.
"What is it," Ulv asked, blinking in the painful wash of illumination
after the long darkness.
Brion had to fight to control his voice, to stop from shouting.
"The cage with the metal webbing is a jump-space generator. The pointed,
sliver shapes next to it are bombs of some kind, probably the cobalt
bombs. We've found it!"
His first impulse was to instantly send the radio call that would stop
the waiting fleet of H-bombers. But an unconvincing message would be
worse than no message at all. He had to describe exactly what he saw
here so the Nyjorders would know he wasn't lying. What he told them had
to fit exactly with the information they already had about the launcher
and the bombs.
* * * * *
The launcher had been jury-rigged from a ship's jump-space generator,
that was obvious. The generator and its controls were neatly cased and
mounted. Cables ran from them to a roughly constructed cage of woven
metal straps, hammered and bent into shape by hand. Three technicians
were working on the equipment. Brion wondered what sort of bloodthirsty
war-lovers the magter had found to handle the bombing for them. Then he
saw the chains around their necks and the bloody wounds on their backs.
He still found it difficult to have any pity for them. They had been
obviously willing to accept money to destroy another planet--or they
wouldn't have been working here. They had probably rebelled only when
they had discovered how suicidal the attack would be.
Thirteen minutes to midnight.
Cradling the radio against his chest, Brion rose to his feet. He had a
better view of the bombs now. There were twelve of them, alike as eggs
from the same deadly clutch. Pointed like the bow of a spacer, each one
swept smoothly back for its two meters of length, to a sharply chopped
off end. They were obviously incomplete, the war heads of rockets. One
had its base turned towards him and he saw six projecting studs that
could be used to attach it to the missing rocket. A circular inspection
port was open in the flat base of the bomb.
This was enough. With this description the Nyjorders would know he
couldn't be lying about finding the bombs. Once they realized this they
couldn't destroy Dis without first trying to neutralize them.
Brion carefully counted fifty paces before he stopped. He was far enough
from the cavern so he couldn't be heard, and an angle of the cave cut
off all light from behind him. With carefully controlled movements he
turned on the power, switched the set to transmit and checked the
broadcast frequency. All correct. Then, slowly and clearly, he described
what he had seen in the cavern behind him. He kept his voice
emotionless, recounting facts, leaving out anything that might be
considered an opinion.
It was six minutes before midnight when he finished. He thumbed the
switch to receive and waited.
There was only silence.
Slowly, the empty quality of the silence penetrated his numbed mind.
There were no crackling atmospherics nor hiss of static, even when he
turned the power full on. The mass of rock and earth of the mountain
above was acting as a perfect grounding screen, absorbing his signal
even at maximum output.
They hadn't heard him. The Nyjord fleet didn't know that the cobalt
bombs had been discovered before their launching. The attack would go
ahead as planned. Even now the bomb-bay doors were opening, armed
H-bombs hung above the planet, held in place only by their shackles. In
a few minutes the signal would be given and the shackles would spring
open, the bombs drop clear....
* * * * *
"Killers!" Brion shouted into the microphone. "You wouldn't listen to
reason, you wouldn't listen to Hys, or me, or to any voice that
suggested an alternative to complete destruction. You are going to
destroy Dis and _it's not necessary_! There were a lot of ways you could
have stopped it. You didn't do any of them and now it's too late. You'll
destroy Dis and in turn this will destroy Nyjord. Ihjel said that and
now I believe him. You're just another failure in a galaxy full of
failures!"
He raised the radio above his head and sent it crashing into the rock
floor. Then he was running back to Ulv, trying to run away from the
realization that he, too, had tried and failed. The people on the
surface of Dis had less than two minutes left to live.
"They didn't get my message," Brion said to Ulv. "The radio won't work
this far underground."
"Then the bombs will fall?" Ulv asked, looking searchingly at Brion's
face in the dim reflected light from the cavern.
"Unless something happens that we know nothing about, the bombs will
fall."
They said nothing after that, they simply waited. The three technicians
in the cavern were also aware of the time. They were calling to each
other and trying to talk to the magter. The emotionless, parasite-ridden
brains of the magter saw no reason to stop work, so the men were beaten
back to their tasks. In spite of the blows they didn't go, just gaped in
horror as the clock hands moved remorselessly towards twelve. Even the
magter dimly felt some of the significance of the occasion. They
stopped, too, and waited.
The hour hand touched twelve on Brion's watch, then the minute hand. The
second hand closed the gap and for a tenth of a second the three black
hands were one. Then the second hand moved on.
Brion's immediate sensation of relief was washed away by the chilling
realization that he was deep underground. Sound and seismic waves were
slow and the flare of atomic explosions couldn't be seen here. If the
bombs had been dropped at twelve, they wouldn't know it at once.
A distant rumble filled the air. A moment later the ground heaved under
them and the lights in the cavern flickered. Fine dust drifted down from
the roof above.
Ulv turned to him, but Brion looked away. He could not face the
accusation in the Disan's eyes.