He had been blind, stupid—Tully could see that now. He had made a gross tactical blunder. The broken threads between the dugout and Hardware department indicated the passage of someone between the fourth floor and the basement, but they could just as well have shown movement in the opposite direction. There were two aliens and the other one was coming back. Tully could hear it working at the locked Dugout door . . .
His first thought was that he had to keep the two aliens apart, until he could make the one he was chasing understand that he meant no harm. If the second alien came on the scene it might misunderstand and Tully would not be able to stop it going to its ship for a weapon—always supposing it wasn’t already carrying one. He must close the door in the corridor. He had already taken a step in that direction when he remembered that it was a simple bolt fastening, and locks and bolts did not a prison make for these aliens—he remembered the way his keys had stuck to the Dugout lock. The aliens could open locks magnetically. He would have to wedge it shut.
A set of kiddies building blocks gave him what he wanted and he ran back to the dividing door. By that time the second alien was on the way down the ramp and Tully used his torch briefly to have a look at it.
It was bigger, thicker and somehow meaner-looking than the one behind him. The male of the species, he thought. When it saw him it began to hurry, humping and lurching down the corridor and making high-pitched gobbling sounds. Behind him the other one began gobbling, too. Tully slammed the door and began kicking in the wedges just as a large, soft, heavy weight made its hinges creak.
A few seconds later one of the wedges was pushed from under the door . . .
Tully had just decided that he had made another blunder. That the second alien, with the devices in its ship available, could probably blast through the door in nothing flat and probably blast through Tully as well. But now it seemed that it was not going to be as quick and dramatic as that The second alien did not want to destroy the door because that would leave unmistakable evidence of its presence in the store, but no doubt Tully could be made to disappear tracelessly. He kicked the wedge in again, just as the one beside it popped out.
The smaller alien behind him had amused itself by pulling the arms off dolls. The second one . . . Tully wondered sickly what it would feel like to have his arms and leg pulled off, his nose mutilated and his eye . . . He tried desperately not to think about it tried to think about good, civilized aliens, but his mind kept turning back to the other sort. The sort that Lovecraft used to write about.
According to Lovecraft, the whole of Time and Space was peopled with cruel, debased, unspeakably foul entities, beings as cold and malignant and uncaring as the interstellar wastes in which they dwelt Humanity with its concern over Right and Wrong inhabited a single dust-mote, unknown and unknowing, in a continuum that was one vast, blasphemous obscenity. Tully had not liked Lovecraft’s ideas, but they had been written up so well that they had stuck in his mind despite this. And Lovecraft’s aliens were the type who would pull another living, intelligent creature apart with less feeling than an unthinking boy would pull the legs off a fly . . .
Two more wedges jerked from under the door, and Tully couldn’t move to replace them. All he could do was shake. His mind seemed to be a tight hard ball of panic. He was beginning to realize that it was an alien at the other side of the door, a being whose civilization and philosophy and thought processes were such that there might be no common ground between them. And even if understanding was possible, he had spoiled any chance he had ever had of gaining it by closing the door.
Judging by its reactions his attempt to contact the first alien had simply driven it into a panic, and then, when the second one had come rushing to its aid, he had barred the way. So far as the e-t outside was concerned he might be doing anything to its mate, and the longer he kept them apart the less likely the larger alien would be to stop and think. And he couldn’t run himself because the Toy door was bolted on the outside.
It occurred to him suddenly that he had met this situation before also—the bug-eyed monster, the girl and the hero dashing to the rescue. Only this time he was the bugeyed monster . . .!
Somehow that thought brought him out of his panic state. Basically his problem was to show that he was a kindly disposed bug-eyed monster and not the other sort, and to show it unmistakably and fast Tully was getting the glimmering of an idea, based on an assumption that might be all wrong, but he needed time to try it out At least ten minutes. Abruptly he started kicking in the wedges again, kicking them in so hard and far that he ruined the toe-caps of his shoes and nearly broke a couple of toes. Then he sprinted back to the Toy basement and started tearing open a box of modeling clay.
Pulling and kneading at the stuff, Tully tried to work it into a shape that was shapeless. The clay was an improbable green color, but this did not worry him because the modelling set included a sprayer which, as well as giving the finished model a thin, hard skin within seconds, allowed it to be painted any desired color. While he worked Tully tried not to think of the gamble he was taking, or the scraping as wedge after wedge was pushed away, or of the gobbling which came from the other side of the door.
His theory, he told himself desperately, was supported by all the facts. It explained why one alien was careful to hide all traces of itself and its work, by plugging its bolt-hole and probably doing some sort of self-welding job on the metal strapping around the packing cases it had pilfered, while the other one left mutilated dolls lying around . . .
He finished it just as the last wedge shot out and the door banged against the wall. Tully tried to ignore the heavy, slapping sounds of the second alien coming along the corridor and moved instead towards the other alien—slowly, so as to frighten it as little as possible. It was in a corner, still making agitated gobbling noises. It occurred to Tully that his height might frighten it so he got onto his knees, then flat on his stomach, and crawled towards it holding out the thing he had made in one hand. Behind him the slapping grew louder and the smell of something that wasn’t peppermint grew stronger.
He was gambling everything on his theory’s being right; lying flat on his stomach, defenseless, not even looking at his potential attacker. And his main reason for taking such a suicidal risk, Tully thought wildly, was that he did not want to think of die Galaxy’s being peopled with Lovecraft aliens . . .
He was only a few feet away from the smaller alien when the big one lurched to a halt beside Tully. It didn’t look at him, but shot its five, whiplike tentacles out at the other e-t. Five smaller tentacles came out to meet them, touched, and almost tied themselves in five separate knots. Tully held his breath, afraid even to hope. It was not until the smaller e-t had left for the ship carrying the doll which Tully had made for it, and its parent began drawing a solar system with seventeen planets in it on the blackboard, that Tully knew he had guessed right.
Later that morning, as he tidied up the corridor and Toy department after aliens had gone underground for the day, Tully thought that it had been obvious from the very start that a child had been responsible for the doll business. While its parent had been up in Hardware searching for the proper tools, Junior had grown bored. It had wanted to play with a dolly, but all the dollies in the Toy Department were the wrong shape. So it had chosen one that was the nearest in color and pulled off the arms, and a leg to give it a more “human” shape. Twisting out its nose and hair to resemble the five tentacles and conelike proboscis and removing the surplus eye had been further attempts toward that end. Looked at objectively, the mutilated dolls did look a little like the aliens. But not much, because the small alien had never thought enough of them to bring them back into the ship.
It had kept, and had seemed delighted with, the doll which Tully had made for it. Which meant that the Toy department reign of terror was over. As for the spitting on the staircase, well, the aliens were not built for climbing stairs and they sometimes lost small amounts of body fluid when forced to do so. That, too, woul
d stop in a few days’ time when the repairs to the ship were complete. And the tools borrowed from Hardware would be returned to their former shape and replaced. No doubt this would cause widespread consternation, Tully thought wryly, but Tyson could not very well complain. All in all everybody should be happy.
Tully yawned and looked at his watch. It was six-thirty. He had just time to remove all his thread and chewing gum from the doors and stairway, make some coffee and finish the last story in his magazine before he unlocked the staff entrance for the cleaners arriving at seven-thirty. It had looked like being a very good story, he thought as he walked slowly up the Dugout ramp, which had been his reason for saving it until last.
He hoped it wouldn’t be an anticlimax.
THE DREISTEIN CASE
J. Lincoln Paine
This little chiller only goes to prove that FDR was very smart indeed in not trusting the military alone to handle a Certain Famous Inquiry presented to him in the summer of 1939, but made the war agencies share with civilians the evaluation of that Inquiry’s potentialities.[*]
Advanced Research Institute
Cambridge, Massachusetts
2 August 1971
The President of the United States
The White House Washington, D.C.
Esteemed Sir:
Some recent work by my colleague, Prof. Hauck of Pretoria, has been communicated to me in manuscript His findings lead me to believe that scientists may be able to counteract the forces of gravity in the near future. Undoubtedly, if Hauck’s new discoveries are further developed and applied, a vast new area of space exploration and missile development will open.
The situation which has arisen seems to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. My colleagues here have urged me to bring this obviously significant development to the attention of the appropriate government authorities. I believe, therefore, that it is my duty to bring to your attention some of the scientific facts which are attached in a separate memorandum.
Of course, my colleagues and I offer our full services toward the further development of this discovery.
Very truly yours,
Egbert Dreistein
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Special Assistant
to the President
16 August 1971
To: The Secretary of Defense
Attached is copy of letter from Prof. Egbert Dreistein. Draft reply for my signature. Be polite. Incidentally, is there anything to this?
Grant Quincey
INTEROFFICE
MEMORANDUM
Date: 2 September 1971
Ref.: CPT-201/1
To: Col. T. Lee, OPS
From: The Secretary
Prepare reply to attachment. Is the Institute under contract to the DOD? Quote me their budget figures for the last three fiscal years.
Official Use Only
INTEROFFICE
MEMORANDUM
Date: 29 June 1972
Ref.: CPT-201/179
To: The Secretary
From: Col. T. Lee, OPS
The matter referred to in your memorandum CPT-201/1 of 2 September 1971 has been referred to an Inter-
Service Ad Hoc Committee of staff-rank representatives. The committee concurred that there was no consensus on the problem.
Individual views were as follows:
I. The Army feels that ordinary gravity is not fully understood yet and sees little purpose in extending studies into the field of antigravity.
II. The Air Force has been conducting small-scale research on antigravity at the TOP SECRET level. However, since it is impossible to extend the concept to fit existing weapons systems, a low priority has been assigned.
III. The Navy has recommended a high priority to antiantigravity investigations under the code name of PLOP.
There is no record in DOD files of a facility clearance for the Advanced Research Institute. Prof. Dreistein has never applied for a “Q” clearance. Given the sensitive nature of the antigravity question and the extenuating circumstances, the attached draft reply to Prof. Dreistein has been made as clear as classification permits.
The committee reached agreement on a single point: Prof. Dreistein should not be encouraged. A permanent subcommittee has been set up to provide similar assistance in expediting the handling of any future suggestions from members of the scientific community.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
2 July 1972
To: Special Assistant to the President
In reference to your request of 16 August 1971, attached is draft reply to Prof. Egbert Dreistein.
The receipt of Prof. Dreistein’s letter has stimulated reexamination of the status of antigravity research in the Department of Defense. Estimated future budgetary allocations for that type of research do not warrant continuation of the projects which have been under way. Accordingly, I have issued an order that they be curtailed.
Frank Watt
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Special Assistant
to the President
5 July 1972
Prof. Egbert Dreistein
The Advanced Research Institute
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dear Prof. Dreistein:
The President has directed me to reply to your letter of 2 August 1971. We thank you for your interest and assure you that the matter has been investigated by appropriate government agencies.
Your patriotic interest is very much appreciated and the President is always interested in receiving stimulating ideas of that nature.
Yours very truly,
Grant Quincey
MOSCOW, Aug. 5 [1974].—A Soviet spokesman announced today that a manned space station has been established as a satellite around Mars and is now observing landing conditions on that planet
The achievement was credited to the revolutionary discoveries of Prof. Otto Hauck, formerly of South Africa and now in the Soviet Union. He has been awarded three Lenin prizes for his work.
THE WHITE HOUSE
6 August 1974
Prof. Egbert Dreistein
The Advanced Research Institute
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dear Prof. Dreistein:
My advisers report to me that you have been interested in the subject of antigravity research. Because of the grave circumstances in which our Government finds itself as a result of the announcement from Moscow yesterday, I am asking you to lead a new high-priority project in that direction.
If you will come to Washington the early part of next week, a briefing will be arranged by representatives of the military services and the Central Intelligence Agency who will be able to give you a little of the historical development of Prof. Hauck’s work.
I, as President, personally hope that you and your colleagues will rise to the challenge of this new emergency.
Yours very truly,
Horatio Calvin
[*] It is also interesting to note that about four months before the Certain Famous Inquiry of 1939, a direct attempt to interest the Navy in the subject took place. The only result of that effort was that the Navy “expressed interest.” See Paragraph 3.4 of the Smyth Report.
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