He looked startled. "You mustn't think about them. That's why we are
fighting, so our women won't ever have to see one."
"But I have to know."
He understood her thoughts, as he had in the past, and finally said,
"I shan't describe them because there is nothing on Earth to compare
them with, and a picture of one would give you nightmares. They have
remarkable minds but no emotions. They can concentrate on a single
objective and persevere toward it with unbelievable endurance. They are
almost incapable of suffering pain and as a result are cruel beyond
imagining. They hardly know fear and are terrible fighters. Because
they lack a faculty for caution we can trick them, and often we pick up
their thoughts and know their plans in advance. Those are the things
that have enabled us to survive, for they seem to number as the stars."
"Where did they come from?"
"Andromeda, originally. We know that they spread through the Milky
Way millions of years ago. They wiped out life in their paths and
colonized. There is evidence to indicate they struck the Solar System
at that time. There are things to show they denuded Mars and attenuated
its atmosphere. Earth may not have been sufficiently developed then to
interest them. We don't know. We know that when Earth began colonizing
the planets of other suns in our own galaxy the Andromedians didn't
take much notice at first. But as our strength grew they decided
we were a threat. More than a quarter of a century ago they struck
suddenly and wiped out hundreds of colonies.
"We were weak at first and our expeditionary forces were annihilated.
But we were fast building strength and when they turned toward the
Solar System we met them well out. They had not expected so much
strength and were turned back.
"Then the race began to build up, and the struggle has been going
on since. The tide has turned first one way and then the other, but
the populace of Earth has slaved and starved itself to produce ships
and man them, and to make better weapons, and the time is drawing
near--Sue, I'm not supposed to talk to you like this."
"But, Al, I've heard all those things before: that all we need is just
more time, more work and sacrifices."
"Sue, there are forces at work--"
"I know. You've told me that, too, that there are forces at work I
don't know about."
The lines of pain showed in his features. Suddenly she realized she was
on the verge of tears. She put her arms around him and murmured, "Al,
I'll never say anything like that again. I promise."
"No, Sue, don't promise that. Just promise you'll never volunteer to go
out, and try not to think of the Zeehites."
"I promise."
When his orders came and she moved back to the dormitory and went back
to the twenty-hour shift, she cried again. It was the third time since
the big strike and she began to wonder if she was weaker than others.
* * * * *
The Fourth Sector established headquarters on Earth and by the middle
of April she began to see more men, black, red, yellow, white. All
spoke the same language, but their dialects and intonations varied
extensively.
She learned to distinguish the guttural of the Teutons, the clipped
speech of the Norsemen, the rolling, laughing talk of the Eskimos, the
singsong of the Chinese, the jerky tongued-tied speech of the Japanese,
the soft tones of the Latins, the softer still of the Africans, all in
some way differing from the even, forthright but restrained, speech of
the North Americans.
She was particularly fascinated by the Indians. Many were taller and
broader than the Americans and were said to be good spacemen and
courageous fighters.
They were free to go anywhere when on leave, and nearly a hundred
were assigned to the factory-Center dining hall. They were friendly,
didn't mind the crowding, and told strange stories of their homelands.
Sometimes they spoke of space battles, but generally were as reticent
on this subject as the Americans.
As time went on Sue lost weight. The curves of her willowy figure
became less noticeable, and toward June she became more introspective.
One day she came out of a reverie to realize she had been staring at
a boy across the table. He was small, dark and had noticeably bright
brown eyes. His lower features, his slender neck, his undeveloped arms
and shoulders told her that he couldn't possibly be over fourteen.
This was not what held her attention. She was staring at the two
ribbons tied at his throat and the two stars on the breast of his
uniform. As she studied his eyes again she was suddenly shocked into
the realization that, however many years he had lived, he was a man
full grown, aged by experience out in the void. What his eyes had seen
had burned into his soul.
She was ashamed of her own weakness, and determined henceforth to keep
her hands from trembling, to remain more alert and to make her machine
produce more.
Soon after she went back to work a man came and handed her two ribbons.
She stared unbelievingly, murmured, "Al," and then it seemed that the
floor came up to meet her.
She awoke in her own bed in the dormitory and remained there. The dorm
mother came to talk, told her she must rest for another day.
"Al," she breathed, dry-eyed and feverishly. "Al."
The woman explained that the ribbons were not for Al, but for her
father who had died somewhere out near Pluto.
She rolled over on her face, but couldn't cry. There were no tears left
in her.
A doctor came and gave her an injection and the following day she went
back to work.
She got word indirectly that Al was back. A girl told her that she had
heard it from one of the boys from the Center. "They carried him out of
the ship," she said.
Sue refused to believe it. She set her jaw firmly and determined to
wait. Late in the afternoon a man with a groundcar came and told her
she was wanted at Recovery Seven Oh Six.
She still couldn't believe it, but went with him calmly.
They told her at Recovery that Al would someday walk again and that
they would give him a new left arm, if not of flesh, then mechanical.
His lungs had been crushed by pressure, but such was the fire of life
in him that he would live and maybe fight again.
* * * * *
She went forty-eight hours without sleep in order to be with him all of
the time she wasn't working. On the third day his lone good arm came
round her and drew her down on the bed, and she slept on his shoulder.
From time to time she overheard nurses and doctors talking. The talk
was usually about a subject that would always stir a woman.
"If no babies are born," one said, "for fifty years--"
"That's the length of time it's calculated to work," a doctor
explained. "It's devilship. We've prepared surprises for them, but
they've given us the worst. It doesn't kill the sperm, it paralyzes
it or puts it in a sort of suspended state. Think of it! A boy two
years old now will be infertile until he's about fifty-two. Then, if
he's healthy, the sperm will revive. Our studies indicate he will be
perfectly able to become a father. But by that time hardly a woman on
Earth will be able to produce the ovum. Some rare cases, but mankind
will vanish anyway."
"The women are fertile now?"
"Yes. And will be until they reach the menopause. But all of them will
have passed it before men become fertile again."
"Isn't there some way to delay the menopause?"
"Everything will be tried, of course. But the cellular breakdown
and many other factors have to be taken into account. It's well-nigh
hopeless. But somebody might eventually hit on something to revive the
sperm earlier, though it's likely the Zeehites made certain it can't be
done."
Sue asked the doctor if Alfred was suffering. He shook his head. "No
pain whatever. We've taken care of that. And he'll soon be up. Has a
fierce determination to live, and, looking at you, I understand why."
She asked other questions. His replies were abrupt and reflected his
exhaustion and preoccupation with matters of broader import.
Commuting between the factory and Recovery was time-consuming and
tiring and she was forbidden to visit Al more than once a week. She
told him about it. Strangely, he made no protest, begged her to get
every moment of rest she could.
She asked for audience with the Council. Days passed and no word came.
She tried again, and when they received her she understood the delay.
They were hardly able to keep themselves awake.
"Babies," one mumbled. "Everybody has some answer to the problem.
Worthless. But say what you have to say and if it has any merit we'll
pass it to the Upper Council."
"I don't have the answer to babies," she said, "but I think I
understand why people die."
They showed interest.
"They get tired," she said. "That's all. They just get tired. That's
what breaks down the cells and makes them die."
They looked at one another, back at her. "We know all of you girls are
exhausted. It can't be helped. We have to work on. We need time. Just a
little while longer."
She tried again, explaining over and over, trying to make them
understand why people die, and why they might remain young longer if
things were different. They shook their heads. Finally she flared,
"Send it on to the Upper Council as I've explained it."
That brought an inkling of a smile. "That's the spirit," they agreed.
"We can never lose while we have that spirit."
They agreed to send her idea, however worthless, up the line.
* * * * *
Early in the fall Alfred was up and able to come to the factory dining
hall. He hadn't got his new arm yet, but his leg worked fine and he
seemed to have no trouble at all with his breathing. His hair was iron
gray, but he was still handsome, his features unwrinkled. He wore two
ribbons, was shown deference by high ranking officers, and at times
went away on mysterious errands.
Three men came while he was away and handed her a paper. It read
merely: "Presence required at Nether Polaris."
She asked questions, but the men shook their heads, seemed impatient,
urged her to hurry.
She went with them in a groundcar to a blackened plain. Memories rushed
back and brought terror, but they paid no attention, led her to an
atmosphere craft. They flew high above the clouds for hours, and when
they came down and broke into the clear she could see nothing but
endless reaches of gleaming white. The positions of the stars told her
she was somewhere near the North Pole.
The craft landed near a dome which gleamed like the remainder of the
expanse. They bundled her in thick heavy furs, hurried her across the
snow to the dome, then removed the wraps.
It was like summer inside the dome, and she went with the men to a
shaft and got into a car which carried them miles down through the
frozen ocean and into the earth. When the car stopped and they came out
she held her breath. The place looked like a beautiful painting of a
sparkling city that had never known war.
The final surprise sent tremors through her. They told her she was
going before the Supreme Council.
In a large plastic hall she stood before the twelve and an array of
advisers. Not a one looked more than forty, but the hair of most was
white and in their eyes was that look that told her they had been out
in the void.
"Wilson Wildress Rover Alfred?" a man inquired.
Sue admitted that was her name.
"An idea you have suggested may be of great value. We have brought you
here to discuss it further."
She was dumbfounded.
"It seems that you may have found an answer to cellular breakdown which
brings on age. Will you give us your impression of why men die?"
She groped for words. "They just grow tired," she said. "I asked the
doctor at Recovery why men die. He said that medical science had not
found the answer. He said that the body was able to reproduce every
cell of itself and did that many times during one lifetime. But
eventually men grow tired and die."
"And what was it that you concluded made them tired?"
"Gravity," Sue said simply. "That constant pull we fight against. It--"
"Wait!"
There were hurried movements. A comfortable couch was pushed forward.
"Will you please relax, Mrs. Wilson? We have your complete record. We
know exactly how you've worked."
Sue shook her head. "I'll still be tired, no matter how much I relax.
Gravity still goes on, pulling us down. One day I'll die, not because
I'm old, but because I'm tired."
"One of you gentlemen please place another pillow behind her," said a
Councilman. "Now, Mrs. Wilson, we are going to place this matter in the
hands of our scientists. We want you to remain here."
"But I have to go back. I'm needed in the factory."
"They'll make out, Mrs. Wilson."
"But I know those machines, just as our men know their ships. I can
make them produce. I'm valuable in the factory."
"You are indeed, but we have another task for you."
"But Alfred? He'll--"
"Your husband is waiting for you in a ship which is almost ready to go
out."
"Out? But Alfred? He mustn't ever fight again. You can't make him do
that. Send me instead. I promised him, but--send me in his place."
"We are sending you both, Mrs. Wilson. And I think it is proper to
assure you that the tide has turned."
"Oh!"
"Just a little more time. Just a little more work."
"Oh!"
"For nearly two years the balance of strength has been swinging in
our favor. We have purposely let ships through in the later years,
but those that got inside the orbit of Uranus never got out again.
The attrition has at last given us overwhelming strength, for we have
produced."
The man paused. Sue sat numb.
Another spoke: "We have been building up a Fifth Sector, part of it on
Earth and part near Polaris. It has been the best kept secret of the
age. But the Earthside part of it has been in action. It can no longer
remain a secret. We are going to strike. We are going to lure the enemy
in close and then envelope him. It will be much like the big strike
which occurred nearly two years ago. But this time we will crush him.
We have finally produced the new weapons."
"Oh!"
"And now, if you are ready, the men will take you to the ship."
* * * * *
Sue moved in a daze. Somewhere up the shaft toward the surface they
changed to a car that ran horizontally on a rail. They came out, miles
away, in a huge dome in the center of which was a converted warship.
In the ship she found Albert. He had his new arm and held her close for
a long moment.
"I know the machines in the factories," she said. "I've lived with them
most of my life, but I won't know how to operate the weapons. You'll
have to show me."
"Huh?"
"You'll have to show me how to fight, Al. I've thought about it, but I
just can't understand it."
"Fight? Sue, the fighting is almost over. I couldn't tell you. It's
been a secret. The last battle is in the making now. You can't even
dream of the forces we've assembled. They can jolt planets out of their
orbits, burst suns. This is the beginning of the future I've wanted to
tell you about."
"I'll do my best, Al. I'll try--"
"Sue, look at me. You're not going to fight. Neither am I. This ship is
going into an orbit about the planet."
"The lower ring, the last one before the ground defenses?"
"No, Sue. Open your mind just a moment and let me see inside you."
"Hold me."
Finally he understood and explained: "This ship is to go into an orbit
to nullify gravity. Science doesn't have to depend on trial and error.
They can calculate a thing mathematically and predict the results. They
worked out your idea that gravity is what breaks down the cells. The
answer is that the body will not age so long as it replaces its cells
and gets rid of its old ones. To free the body of gravity will slow
down the cellular breakdown. In ten years you won't age as much as you
would in one in a field of gravity. Is it clear?"
"Will that postpone the change of life?"
"Medical science is certain that it will. It devolves upon aging."
"Does that mean that I'll--"
"It does, Sue. It means that about fifty years from now when the sperm
revives in men, you women will have children again."
"But Al, we'll be--"
"No, Sue. We'll feel and look about as we ordinarily would in our
twenties. And thousands, millions of ships, will soon be released to be
converted. A whole populace will live in ships--at least until children
begin being born."
"Will we--"
"Yes, Sue. We'll have a few ounces of weight in the orbit. Our cells
will more than replace themselves. We'll adjust to it, carry along
hydroponic plants and everything we need. We'll be strong and vigorous,
with nothing much to do but study, work out new things in the arts and
sciences, and--"
"And what, Al?"
"Make love."
"Oh!" she said. "Deep inside me I've always believed in that bright
future. I was trying to remember that each tomorrow would bring it
closer."
"The big job is almost done, Sue. Let's keep on remembering tomorrow."
"Hold me close, Al."