At Priscilla’s house they’ve got an honest-to-goodness nursery. There’s a little window on the door that they uncover after the first month. It’s awful dark inside but if you look real hard you can see the soon-babies crawling around inside. Priscilla let me look in once when her mother was downtown. They had big ugly mouths and teeth.
The sound came again so I opened the door. It was so dark inside that I couldn’t see a thing so I went back and got the lamp. The noise seemed to be coming from the birthing-box so I went over and looked in. The year-father was hunched up in the bottom of it. He didn’t have any wings.
He blinked up at me in the lantern light. He’d been crying and his face was all swollen. He motioned to me to go away but I couldn’t. I’d never seen a father without his clothes on before and I kept staring and staring.
I knew that I should run and get Mother but somehow I couldn’t move. Something terrible was happening to the year-father. His stomach was all swollen up and angry red, and every once in a while it would knot up and twist as if there were something inside that didn’t like it there. When that would happen he’d roll his head back and bite down on his lower lip real hard. He seemed to want to yell but he’d choke it back until nothing came out but a little whimper.
There was a nasty half-healed place on his stomach that looked as if he’d fallen on a sharp stick and hurt himself real bad. He kept pushing his hands against it as if he was trying to hold back something that was inside trying to get out.
I heard Mother’s voice calling from the kitchen and then Aunt Hester’s voice saying something real sharp but I couldn’t look up or answer. Blood was trickling out through the year-father’s locked fingers. Suddenly he emptied out in a raw scream and fell back so limp that it looked as if all his bones were gone. His hands dropped away and from inside his stomach something tore at the half-healed place until it split and opened like a big mouth. Then I could see the something. I knew it for what it was and I felt sick and scared in a different sort of way. It inched its way out and wiggled around kind of lost like until it finally lost its balance and fell to the bottom of the box. It didn’t move for a minute and I thought maybe it was dead but then the feelers around its mouth began to reach out as if they were trying to find something. And then all of a sudden it started a fast wabbly crawl as if it knew just where it was going. I saw teeth as it found the year-father and nuzzled up to him. It was hungry.
Aunt Hester slammed and locked the pantry door. Then she made me a glass of hot milk and sent me up to bed. Mother came into my room a little later and stood by my bed looking down at me to see if I was asleep. I pretended I was because I didn’t want to talk to her and she finally left. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t because if I did she’d hear me and come back up again. I pulled the pillow down over my face real tight until I could hardly breathe and there were little red flashes of light in the back of my eyes and a humming hive sound in my head. I knew what my stinger was for and I didn’t want to think about it.
When I did get to sleep I didn’t dream about the year-father, I dreamed about the wasps and the meem.
LIMITING FACTOR
The beautiful girl slammed the door shut behind her and for a moment there was silence in the apartment. The blond young man in baggy tweeds looked at the closed door uncertainly, made a motion as if to follow her, and then stopped himself.
“Good boy,” said a voice from the open window.
“Who’s there?” The young man turned and squinted out into the darkness.
“It’s me. Ferdie.”
“You didn’t have to spy on me. I told Karl I’d break off.”
“I wasn’t spying, Jan. Karl sent me over. Mind if I come in?”
Jan grunted indifferently and a short stocky man drifted in through the window. As his feet touched the floor, he gave a little sigh of relief. He went back to the window, leaned out, and looked down the full eighty stories to the street below.
“It’s a long way down there,” he said. “Levitation’s fine, but I don’t think it will ever take the place of the old-fashioned elevator. The way I look at it is that if Man was intended to fly, he’d have been born with wings.”
“Man, maybe,” said Jan, “but not superman. Want a drink? I do.”
Ferdie nodded. “Maybe our kids will take it as a matter of course, but I just can’t relax when I’m floating. I’m always afraid I’ll blow a neuron or something and go spinning down.” He gave a shudder and swallowed the drink in one gulp. “How did it go? Did she take it pretty hard?”
“Tomorrow will be worse. She’s angry now and that acts as a sort of emotional anesthetic. When that wears off, it’s really going to hurt. I don’t feel so good myself. We were going to be married in March.”
“I know,” said Ferdie sympathetically, “but if it’s any consolation, you’re going to be so busy from now on that you won’t have much time to think about it. Karl sent me over to pick you up because we’re pulling out tonight. Which reminds me, I’d better call old Kleinholtz and tell him he’ll have to find himself a new lab technician. Mind if I use your phone?”
Jan shook his head mutely and gestured toward the hallway.
Two minutes later, Ferdie was back. “The old boy gave me a rough time,” he said. “Wanted to know why I was walking out on him just when the apparatus was about ready for testing. I told him I had a sudden attack of itchy feet and there wasn’t much I could do about it.” He shrugged. “Well, the rough work’s done, anyway. About all that’s left is running the computations and I couldn’t handle that if I wanted to. It’s strange, Jan—I’ve spent a whole year helping him put that gadget together, and I still don’t know what it’s for. I asked him again just now and the tight-mouthed old son of a gun just laughed at me and said that if I knew which side my bread was buttered on, I’d get back to work in a hurry. I guess it’s pretty big. It’s a shame I won’t be around to see it.” He moved toward the window. “We’d better be on our way, Jan. The rest will be waiting for us.”
Jan stood irresolute and then slowly shook his head. “I’m not going.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’m not going.”
Ferdie went over to him and took him gently by the arm. “Come on now, boy. I know it’s hard, but you’ve made your decision and you’ve got to stick to it. You can’t pull back now.”
Jan turned away sullenly. “You can all go to hell! I’m going after her.”
“Don’t be a fool. No woman is worth that much.”
“She is to me. I have been a fool, but I’m not going to be any longer. I was a pretty happy guy before you people came along. I had a job I liked and a girl I loved and the future looked good. If I backtrack fast enough, maybe I’ll be able to salvage something. Tell the rest I’ve changed my mind and I’m pulling out.”
The short stocky man went over and poured himself another drink. “No, you’re not, Jan. You aren’t enough of a superman to be able to forget those poor devils down there.” He gestured at the peaceful city that spread out below them.
“There won’t be any trouble in our time,” Jan said.
“Or in our children’s,” agreed Ferdie, “but there will be in our grandchildren’s and then it will be too late. Once the row starts, you know how it will come out. You’ve got an extra something in your brain—use it!”
Jan looked out into the night and finally turned to answer. Before he could, an angry voice suddenly boomed inside his head.
“What’s holding you up over there? We haven’t got all night!’’
“Come on,” said Ferdie. “We ‘can argue later. If Karl is wound up enough about something to telepath, it must be important. Me, I’ll stick to the telephone. What’s the point to having a built-in transceiver, if you have to put up with a splitting headache every time you use it?” He stepped to the window and climbed up on the sill. “Ready?”
Jan hesitated and slowly climbed up beside him.
“I’ll go talk to Karl, anyway,”
he said. “Maybe you’re right, but it still hurts like hell.”
“The head?”
“No, the heart. All set?”
Ferdie nodded. They both closed their eyes, tensed, and drifted slowly up into the night.
* * * *
Karl was stretched out on the couch with his head in Miranda’s lap and a look of suffering on his face. She was gently massaging his temples.
“Next time use a telephone,” said Ferdie as he and Jan came in.
Karl sat up suddenly. “What took you so long?”
“What do you mean, so long? An aircab would have got us here a lot quicker, but we’re supermen—we’ve got to Levitate.”
“I’m not amused,” said Karl. “Are you all set?”
Ferdie nodded. “All ties broken and everything prepared for a neat and tidy disappearance.”
“And him?” Karl looked narrowly at Jan.
“He’s all right.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Jan. “Girl and job dumped down the drain. Do you want the details? Ferdie’s boss figured he’d be back. He said Ferdie knew which side his bread was buttered on. My girl didn’t say anything; she just slammed the door in my face. And now that that’s over, if you’ll just detail me a female I’ll start breeding little supermen for you. How about Miranda? She’s one of the elect.”
“Climb off it, Jan,” Karl said sharply. “We know it wasn’t easy, but dramatics won’t help.”
Jan threw himself sullenly into an overstuffed chair and stared morosely at the ceiling.
Karl pulled himself to his feet and made a quick survey of the room. “…thirty-seven, thirty-eight—I guess we’re all here. Go ahead, Henry. You’ve got the floor.”
A tall, prematurely gray man began to speak quietly. “It’s got to be tonight. There is heavy cloud cover over Alta Pass that goes up to twenty thousand feet. If we’re careful, we should be able to take off without detection. I suggest we leave at once. It’ll take some time to move the ship out of the cave and we want to be on our way before the weather clears.”
“Check,” said Karl. He turned to Miranda. “You know your job. The ship will be back to pick up the new crop in ten months or so.”
“I still think you should leave somebody else behind,” she objected. “I can’t listen twenty-four hours a day.”
“You’re just looking for company,” Karl said impatiently. “The unconscious mental signals that mark the change go on for a week or more before the individual knows anything is happening. You’ll have plenty of time to make contact.”
“Oh, all right, but don’t forget to send a relief back for me. It’s going to be lonely with all of you gone.”
Karl gave her a short but affectionate kiss. “O.K., gang, let’s go.”
* * * *
The engine room of the ship consisted simply of an oval table with ten bucket seats spaced equidistantly around it. At the moment, only one of them was occupied. Ferdie sat there, his eyes closed and his face pale and tense. As a hand touched his shoulder, he jumped, and for a moment the ship quivered slightly until the new mind took over.
Ferdie ran his hands through his hair and then pressed them against his aching temples. Then he stood up. There was a slight stagger to his walk as he pulled himself up the ladder into the forward observation room.
“Rough shift?” said Jan.
Ferdie groaned. “They’re all rough. If I’d known how much work was going to be involved in this superman stuff, I’d have arranged to be born to different parents. You may think there is something romantic about dragging this tin ark through hyperspace by sheer mental pressure, but to me it feels like the old horse and buggy days with me as the horse. Mental muscle, physical muscle—what’s the difference? It’s still plain hard work. Give me an old-fashioned machine where I can sit back and push buttons.”
“Maybe this was your last turn at the table.” Jan looked out at the gray nothingness on the other side of the observation port. “Karl says we’re due to pull out of warp this evening.”
“And by the time we look around and find that Alpha Centauri has no suitable planets, it’ll be my turn to pull us back in again.”
* * * *
Late that evening, a bell clanged through the ship. A moment later, all ten seats in the engine room were occupied.
“Brace yourself and grab hold,” snapped Karl. “This is going to take a heap of twisting.”
It did. Three times, figures collapsed and were quickly replaced by those waiting behind them, but at last they broke through into normal space. With a sigh of relief, they all relaxed. Karl reached over and switched on the ship intercom.
“How does she look up there, Ferdie?”
“Alpha Centauri blazing dead ahead.” There was a slight pause. “Also there’s a small man in a derby hat directly off the starboard bow.”
Those in the engine room deserted their posts and made a mad dash for the forward observation compartment. Ferdie was standing as if transfixed, staring raptly out into space. As Karl came up and grabbed his arm, he pointed with a shaking finger.
“Look!”
Karl looked. A plump little figure wearing a severely cut business suit, high-buttoned shoes, spats, and a derby hat was floating a scant five yards from the observation port. He waved cheerily at them and then opening the briefcase he carried, removed a large sheet of paper. He held it up and pointed to the words lettered on it in large black print.
“What does it say?” demanded Karl. “My eyes don’t seem to be working.”
Ferdie squinted. “This is insanity.”
“It says that?”
“No, I do. It says, ‘May I come on board’? ”
“What do you think?”
“I think we’re both crazy, but if he wants to, I say let him.”
Karl made a gesture of assent to the figure floating outside and pointed aft to the airlock. The little man shook his head, unbuttoned his vest, and reached inside it. He twiddled with something for a moment and then disappeared. A split second later, he was standing in the middle of the observation compartment. He took off his hat and bowed politely to the jaw-dropped group.
“Your servant, gentlemen. My name is Thwiskumb—Ferzial Thwiskumb. I’m with Gliterslie, Quimbat and Swench, Exporters. I was on my way to Fomalhaut on a customer service call when I noted an odd disturbance in sub-ether, so I stopped for a moment to see what would come out. You’re from Sol, aren’t you?”
Karl nodded dumbly.
“Thought so,” said the little man. “Do you mind if I ask your destination?”
He had to repeat the question before he was able to get a coherent answer. Ferdie was the first to recover enough from shock to say anything.
“We were hoping to find a habitable planet in the Alpha Centauri system.”
Mr. Thwiskumb pursed his lips. “There is one, but there are difficulties. It’s reserved for the Primitives, you see. I don’t know how the Galactic Council would view settlement. Of course, the population has been shrinking of late and there’s practically nobody left on the southern continent.” He stopped and thought. “Tell you what I’ll do. When I get to Fomalhaut, I’ll give the Sector Administrator a call and see what he has to say. And now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to be late for my appointment. Gliterslie, Quimbat and Swench pride themselves on their punctuality.”
He was reaching inside his vest again when Karl grabbed his arm. The flesh felt reassuringly solid.
“Have we gone insane?” begged the leader.
“Oh, dear me, of course not,” said Mr. Thwiskumb, disengaging himself gently. “You’re just a few thousand years behind on the development cycle. The migration of the Superiors from our home planet took place when your people were still in the process of discovering the use of fire.”
“Migration?” repeated Karl blankly.
“The same thing you’re off on,” said the little man. He removed his glasses and polished them carefully. “The mutations that follow the rel
ease of atomic power almost always end up in the evolution of a group with some sort of control over the terska force. Then the problem of future relations with the Normals comes up, and the Superiors quite often decide on a secret migration to avoid future conflict. It’s a mistake, though. When you take a look at Centauri III, you’ll see what I mean. I’m afraid you’ll find it a depressing place.”
Placing his derby firmly on his head, he gave a genial wave of farewell and disappeared.
A wild look was in Karl’s eyes as he held up his arms for silence.
“There’s just one thing I want to know,” he said. “Have I or have I not been talking to a small man in a derby hat for the past five minutes?”
* * * *
Forty-eight hours later, they pulled away from Centauri III and parked in free space until they could decide what they wanted to do. It was a depressed and confused group that gathered in the forward observation compartment to discuss their future.
“There’s no use wasting time now talking about what we saw down there.” said Karl. “What we’ve got to decide is whether we’re going to push on to other solar systems until we find a planet that will suit our needs, or whether we are going to return to Earth.”
A little red-headed girl waved her hand.
“Yes, Martha?” Karl said.
“I think we are going to have to talk about what we saw down there. If our leaving Earth means that we are condemning it to a future like that, we’re going to have to go back.”
There was an immediate objection from a tense young man in horn-rimmed glasses.
“Whether we go back or ahead will make little difference in our lifetimes, so we can’t be accused of personal selfishness if we don’t return to Earth. The people it will make a difference to are our descendants. That strange little man who materialized among us two days ago and then vanished is a concrete demonstration of what they can be—if we stay apart and develop the new powers that have been given us. I say the welfare of the new super-race is more important than that of the Ordinaries we left behind!”
The First Theodore R. Cogswell Megapack Page 6