"I mean this man's name is not 'Paul Moran'--"
"Names," murmured Moran gently. "What difference does a name make? When
one has had thousands of names."
"His name," I continued, "is John Cartaphilus!"
Bartlett said, "Cartaphilus!" In a leap he was at our strange guest's
side, his voice eager. "Then he will--he _must_--help us!
"Cartaphilus, listen to me! Of all men, only you have the genius to
devise some way of escaping this peril! You've been mad, sir! Insane
from your privations! But now I beg that you cast aside this madness,
come to our rescue!"
Moran--or Cartaphilus--brushed his hand aside. A dreamy look was in his
eyes.
"Death at last!" he whispered. "Oh, sweet boon of mankind--death! I who
have suffered so long, waited such a long time--"
"Can't you hear me, man? Snap out of it! Time is growing short. In a
half hour, maybe less, we'll nose into the H-layer. And then--Please,
sir!"
But there was no reply. Captain McNeally looked at me uncertainly. "Are
you sure, Brait?"
"Positive. I forwarded a description to Bender at L.I. He said
Cartaphilus has been missing for a year and a half. He fled Earth
because of a scandal. It seems--"
"Never mind that now." McNeally confronted the insane scientist. "Mr.
Cartaphilus, you must help us out of this jam! We're not thinking only
of ourselves, but of the mothers and children waiting for us on Earth.
And of the future of space-travel. If the _Antigone_, the finest ship
ever built, blows out in the H-layer, it will strike a heavy blow at
all astronavigation. Help us, sir! For Heaven's sake--"
Cartaphilus spoke suddenly, sharply.
"Don't say that!"
"Only Heaven can save us now," said McNeally simply, "if you won't.
It's our only hope. May the Lord help us if you--"
"Don't!" The strange, thin man screamed the word. Suddenly he buried
his face in his hands, and his words were an incoherent babble of
torment. "Don't you see what you're doing? Man, have you no pity?"
He raised wide, tortured eyes. "The endlessness of time--" he
whispered. "But I thought that, free of Earth, lost in the depths of
space, I might at last find peace. But now you call upon me to save you
in His name.
"I won't do it! I won't! The power cannot force me, here in the void.
Two thousand years.... No! No!"
* * * * *
McNeally stepped back, torn between dread and doubt. He shook his head
at us. "It's no use. He's completely mad."