LAST PREPARATIONS
Committed thus by my own quiet words, involuntarily spoken as though by
a volition apart from me, I strove for calmness. A confusion of mind
possessed me. But Bee was quite calm; and presently, though within me
the surge of apprehension continued, outwardly I believed I did not
show it.
Three of us going into the shadows. And Will said, not to linger this
time in the Borderland, but to go on--to penetrate into the depths
of the Unknown realm beyond. The very thought of it brought a score
of anxious questions to my mind; but when I tried to voice them Will
crisply checked me.
I realized now, with an emotion tinged by a faint whimsicality, that
Will and Bee had summoned me here this evening with an anticipation of
just this outcome. They had foreseen that we all three would make the
trip together. They were prepared for it; and Will's first trial had
been experimental wholly.
Thus, I found them ready. Two others of the knitted suits were at
hand. Two other batteries. But we--Bee and I--had been seemingly
indispensable in aiding Will. His departure--Bee had been by his side
to remove the battery wires. And far more important, when he returned,
his solidifying shadow had lain beneath the mattress. We had been there
to raise him up, to hold him until the substance of his body was great
enough for the mattress to sustain it. Suppose we had not raised him?
Suppose while yet within the mattress space--or within the space the
floor of the room itself was occupying--the growing solidity of him
had demanded empty space of its own? The thought brought a shudder--a
thought too horrible to be dwelt upon.
During our brief preparations--which Will hurried with a grim haste--he
did not once volunteer to explain his experience. And only once did Bee
question him.
"You'll tell us exactly what we are to do?"
"Yes. Presently--before we start."
"You said there was need of haste? A real danger to our world
here--from those--other beings?"
He was arranging the batteries. "Yes, Bee. A real danger."
"You think we can repulse them? Just three of us going in there?
Strangers--"
Strangers indeed. No adventurers into other lands in all the dim pages
of history could have felt, or been, such strangers.
He interrupted her. "We will do our best. It is necessary--our
efforts.... We will have plenty of time for consultation, Bee. You will
understand, when we are there.... Pour three glasses of water, Rob."
My fingers were trembling; it seemed strange that Bee could maintain
such calmness. But it was simulated for she said:
"Will, is it--is it very horrible--the changing, I mean?"
He stopped before her, put his hands on her shoulders. His face, so set
with its purpose he had forgotten the human feelings of her, softened
momentarily with affection.
"No--it is strange--frightening at first. But not horrible. And you
forget it soon. Then it's merely strange, awesome--you'll see--"
He broke off, turned away, and as momentarily his gaze touched me, he
smiled. "Awesome, Rob. But for me, this second time, it will be no
great ordeal. Even exhilarating--strangely so. You'll see.... We're
about ready, Bee."
She took her woven suit and retired. I was soon undressed and into
mine. Its fabric was queerly light of weight, and for all its metallic
quality it stretched readily, almost like rubber as I put it on.
Somehow donning that garment made me shudder. It seemed unnaturally
chill as it touched my skin.
Bee presently returned, garbed as we were. In spite of my perturbation,
my fear of the dread experience which lay before me, I felt a thrill
of admiration as I beheld her. So slim of figure, straight of limb,
graceful; and with her grave, intelligent face full of one set
purpose--to aid us in every way she could.
"We're ready," said Will briefly. "Here are your belts."
We fastened the broad belts about our waists. The pouches each
contained some small object.
"Don't bother them now," Will objected, as I would have examined them.
"Later, when we get--in there, will be time enough.... We're ready.
What we are to do now is simple--I think there will be no mishap. We
will seat ourselves on the mattress. You two may lie down; I shall sit
up this time."
"Why?" I demanded.
* * * * *
He smiled. "It is only the first time one feels the sensations that
they are disturbing. I'm confident of that. We will have the batteries
beside us--" Bee was already placing them on the mattress. "At my
signal, we will each disconnect our own. Should either of you be
unable--be overcome--I will do it for you."
"But the coming back," I suggested. "We raised you up--"
His smile held a faint ironic amusement. "Don't you think, Rob, we can
leave that to its proper time?" He saw my look and added, with the
ready apology which made him so lovable:
"Naturally you are apprehensive. But I've planned for that, of course.
There are many places where the level of this Borderland--as I call
it--coincides exactly with the surface of our own realm. The back
corner of the garden outside, for instance. I have remarked it--I can
find it--when the time comes for us to return."
Bee said, "Will, I've been wondering--you were gone five or six hours.
Were you in there very long?"
His smile was enigmatic. "You can have no conception of this
experience--I cannot answer that, Bee--that's why I haven't told you
anything--you are so soon to feel and see it for yourself." He was
impatient for the start. "I think we're ready. There is so little to
do--no chance to forget anything."
With sudden irrelevant thought my heart leaped. That hostile watching
spectre.... My anxious glance traveled the room. Bee said, "It's not
here--I've been expecting--I'm so thankful it's not here."
It was not to be seen. I was relieved for that, at least. With a last
deliberation we all three seated ourselves on the mattress. Will was
between Bee and me. We connected the batteries; I held mine at my
side, my nerve-shaken fingers trembling, though inwardly I cursed them,
fumbled at the switch to make sure I could control it. The pellets were
in the palm of my other hand; the glass of water was within reach.
Will said earnestly, "One last thing--and this is important--more
important than you realize. Whatever comes, we must keep together.
Remember that. You two--strive always to keep with me--close beside me.
Whatever impulse you feel--fight it--do not yield to it. Remember you
must stay by me."
The words themselves were simple to grasp. Yet beneath them lay a vague
import, a suggestion of what was to come, which seemed unutterably
sinister. I heard Bee murmuring.
"Yes, I understand."
I said, and marveled at the steadiness of my voice, "Very well,
Will--I'll remember."
He said, "Now." I saw his hand go to his mouth. Now I must take the
pellets. Within me a torrent of revulsion surged. I must take the
pellets--at once. Bee was raising her glass of water. My hand went
up; I felt the pellets in my mouth. Acrid. A faint acrid taste spread
on my tongue. And then with a gulp of the water I had swallowed them.
Breathless I waited, with heart thumping like a hammer, my head
reeling, not from the pellets but from this excitement, fright, which
swept me uncontrolled.
Will's voice said, "Rob. Your battery--switch it on."
My fingers found the little switch; pushed it. I felt a faint tingling
of my limbs; a sudden nausea possessed me; my senses whirled; the room,
which all at once had grown very sharp of outline, turned nearly black.