by Paul Corey
My excitement grew as I saw the puzzlement on the judge’s face. The other two judges took turns staring at me with the glasses. My own vision was clouded by the plastic, but I could see well enough to tell from their expressions that I had them completely baffled.
When Ello’s lawyer cross-examined Zinzer, he tried to make the scientist admit that he had seen the defendant and the alien animal struggling. Zinzer denied it.
The defense insisted that in fact, Zinzer had seen the defendant being ruthlessly attacked and had failed to come to her aid. Zinzer denied any such thing.
Then Ello buzzed that her lawyer’s position was a lie.
Zinzer looked startled. The judges conferred. Then the presiding judge directed a buzz at the defense attorney.
Mun translated, “The judges want to know the meaning of the difference between the defendant and her counsel.”
Ello buzzed. She wants to speak out, Mun translated.
Again the judges buzzed. Fatso seemed to object but the other two seemed in agreement. Over the protest of both defense and prosecution they let Ello speak.
Ello buzzed eloquently. Mun mumbled a translation: “This alien is humanoid in every respect like Grendans except for eyes. He is not an animal in any way we Grendans mean it. His low-score record made at the tests happened simply because the tests did not take into account this sensory factor of vision upon which he and all Terrans, she had come to understand, depended.
“Although he has eyes like our animal species he has not used them to invade privacy. He has used his eyes for the purpose of understanding the planet of Grenda and the people of Grenda.
“Also, this alien, Doctor Stone, did not attack her as her lawyer had stated. She had accepted him on the same level as any Grendan. Any Grendan, say, with a malformation like certain freak Grendans living in the wild lands.”
This statement brought a buzz through the courtroom which the presiding judge gavelled into silence.
“This device for seeing which they had just examined was made by Doctor Stone. Could any Grendan animal devise anything to equal it? He had made it for her so that she could increase her understanding and appreciation of the world around.
“I love Doctor Stone. I wish to marry him. I appeal to the indulgence of the court to order these absurd charges against me dropped. I ask permission of the court to be allowed to accept this humanoid alien as my husband.”
I expected all manner of buzzing when she finished. Instead, the courtroom was hushed—not one buzz even.
The judges conferred, then the presiding judge spoke, and Mun translated: “We are at a loss to understand the meaning of this trial. An alien creature has been defined to the court as having orbs of vision such as animals have. With a rather remarkable device, we somehow observe this alien creature. We, and all on the bench are in agreement, perceived no difference between this alien creature, so designated, and any fine-dimensioned Grendan. Does the prosecution mock the court? Does the prosecution consider that the court is completely blind? Will the prosecution immediately show cause why the court should not hold it in contempt?”
Again the courtroom hush. Both sides in the case seemed stunned.
The imperfect transparency of the bandage hampered my vision but I was well warned of Zinzer’s move. He sprang across the courtroom and snatched up the glasses on the item table. He fumbled a little fitting them on. Then he stared at me.
He buzzed at the judges. Mun didn’t get a chance to translate but I knew he had told the court of my trick.
Vaguely I saw him pass the glasses to the presiding judge. Then he came towards me, hands waving. Before I realised what he was about, his deft fingers pinched the edge of the bandage and ripped it off my eyes. A premature dusk had settled over the courtroom, but I could see well enough to clip Zinzer with a right hook full on his nose. He would have had two of the finest shiners on record, if he had had eyes.
As it was, he landed on his shoulder blades in front of the bench. All the while the presiding judge tried to restore order and fix the glasses on his head at the same time. No one had tried to tie me in a knot with a restrainer. That surprised me a little. Finally Zinzer struggled to his feet and buzzed at the judge.
Mun had collected himself enough to translate this: “If it pleases the court. Will the judges now observe this alien animal from Earth?”
I was led in front of the bench. Each judge took a turn with the glasses. It was a strange feeling to stand there with those lenses pointed at me, knowing that they saw me, yet did not have eyes.
I don’t know how long this examination continued. The judges buzzed together, sometimes gently, sometimes violently. The courtroom was alternately bedlam and a tomb. At last the presiding judge rapped for attention and spoke.
Mun told me what he said. “This is an historic case. With the help of this device the court has experienced sight. It is the opinion of the court that we are better off blind. If—” (Mun struggled for a word here.) “If the Deity had wanted us to see He would have given us eyes.
“It is our opinion that, except for orbs of vision, the alien humanoid from Earth is not an animal in the Grendan sense. Therefore the court finds the defendant, Miss Ello Rhoa, not guilty of consorting with an animal.
“We further find that if Miss Rhoa wishes to marry this alien, she is within her legal right to do so. However, this alien, a Doctor Thur Stone, must have his orbs of vision removed at the earliest possible moment such an operation can be performed.
“Court adjourned.”
Buzzing broke out all around. It swelled until it overwhelmed me. It was not so much the sound but the slow realisation of what the verdict meant to me. I wanted to scream but my throat would not make words or sounds.
Ello fought her way through the crowd to me. She hung around my neck, dry sobs shaking her, whispering ecstatically, “Darling, darling. We can get married.”
Then I found words. “They’re going to take away my sight!” I screamed. “I’ll be helpless! I’ll be blind!”
“But darling,” Ello said. “I will be your eyes.”
I could have killed her at that moment.
THIRTY-SIX
The dusk I had thought caused by the bandage and was still aware of after the bandage had been ripped off, suddenly had meaning. Clouds. That pile of dirty grey cloths I had observed before lunch hung over Lonwolt now like layers of oily green rags.
A storm? But there hadn’t been a sound. Not a mutter.
I was distracted by the approach of Zinzer. He came across the emptying courtroom, swinging the glasses by their bows. Maybe it wasn’t sporting, but I felt well satisfied with the swollen look of his nose and the dark shadows of dried blood at the nostrils.
He addressed Ello, “These belong to you, I believe.”
At least he had the courtesy to use Terranese in my presence.
“Thank you, Tye.”
I was shocked by her forgiving tone.
“I humbly apologise for my behaviour. It was inexcusable, I realise now. I hope you aren’t too angry with me.”
“No, Tye. I’m so happy at this moment. Actually you have made it possible for Thur and me to get married.”
At the cost of my sight, I thought, bitterly. But I still had my eyes and I wouldn’t give them up easily.
Zinzer turned to me. “No hard feelings, Doctor Stone. Your trick with the bandage was very clever. And you pack a hefty wallop.” A stiff smile hurt his swollen nose. “I'm afraid I lost my powers of reason when I saw you and Ello embracing.”
“On Earth,” I said, “I guess I would have behaved much the same way.”
“Where is my father?” Ello asked. “I did not sense him in the court this afternoon.”
“At home,” Zinzer said. “He was too distraught by the morning session to come again.”
An official approached and buzzed something. Mun translated: “Doctor Stone, the court orders you to return to your room in my custody and under guard until such a time as th
e operation on your orbs of vision have been performed.”
I shrugged. I had to find time to plan something.
“Good luck to you,” Zinzer said. “It will be quite painless.” He moved away.
Ello tightened her arms around me. “Darling. I must go to Father. I must make him understand. I will come to you later. All right?” She kissed me.
“All right,” I said. Our fingers clung together to the last instant of parting.
On the way across town in the bubble I watched the lowering greenish clouds. Was there any hope for me in them? I couldn’t believe there was.
“Looks like quite a storm making up,” I said.
“Storm?” Mun seemed surprised.
“Yes. Aren’t you aware of it?”
“I’ve felt falling pressure, but I haven’t been conscious of any disturbance of storm proportions.”
“It does seem like a quiet one,” I said. “No thunder yet. But I have observed occasional lightning.”
“I was just then aware of a force discharge.” His manner became twitchy. “It’s those—what you just called—quiet ones, that are really the worst.”
The bubble floated to the ground by the Annex. As we split into the building the first crash of thunder came.
Cat waited just inside my room. He murffed, rubbed me, purred, scratched the wall. I asked Mun to take him to the flower bed.
He did what I asked, but I could see him pacing while Cat did what he had to do. And he didn’t wait for Cat to cover. He hurried him back into the Annex. I don’t think that Cat was reluctant to get under cover either.
It thundered loudly, closer this time. I saw Mun. tremble.
While I watched Mun and Cat, I wondered about this approaching storm. Would it really be violent?
After the other time, I was told that interruption of energy happened quite often with these seasonal storms. The explanation was simple to me. Although bolts of lightning couldn’t penetrate Grendan plastic walls and roofs, they could hit hard enough to jolt out of kilter the sensitive mechanism of the converter. Suppose that happened this time. What were my chances of getting out of this room, the Annex and to my ship? I didn’t even know where my ship was.
The crashing and flashing of thunder and lightning grew. Darkness between flashes was so deep that I snapped on my sun-torch to see what was going on in the room. Mun’s agitation increased with every detonation of thunder.
I considered the possibility this time that the full signal from my ship would get through and give Earth the fix they needed. A rescue ship would come then. Yes, but not before the Grendans had plucked out my eyes.
It was obvious that I must fight to keep my eyes as long as possible. Maybe Ello could appeal the decision and that would stall for time. I hoped this storm wouldn’t keep her from coming here. I had to make it quite clear to her that I would not part with my eyes willingly even for her love. It didn’t matter how painless they made the operation.
With a terrific whoosh, wind joined the storm now. The Annex shook from gusts of it. Still no rain.
“It hasn’t rained a drop,” I said.
“Could be a dry storm,” Mun said. I could see that it took effort for him to speak calmly. “They are terrible.”
“You know,” I said, “that converter could be kept from being knocked out if you had some steel to draw off the lightning.”
“Steel? Yes, that material in that tool of yours called a knife.” He seemed to lose some of his fear in considering this problem. “How? Besides we have no steel.”
“Four steel towers standing close to the converter would draw off those bolts.” I watched him. He was a true scientist. A problem could ride down his fear. “Earth,” I said, “has plenty of steel.”
“I must discuss that with one of our physicists,” he said. Then he seemed to realise that the storm was threatening.
Lal brought our dinner. It was a hot meal, indicating that the converter still functioned. We ate. I did. Cat did. Mun didn’t seem very hungry. I felt sorry for him, he was so obviously frightened of the storm.
“What has been done with my ship?” I asked.
He struggled to be calm. “There was mention made of bringing it to Lonwolt.”
My heart almost popped its rib case. What if they had? What if my ship was right here in Lonwolt? I hadn’t seen it though, going to and from the trial. But I hadn’t looked and they might not have put it in plain view.
Mun continued: “When you escaped from the refuge, it was decided to leave it where it came down. The assumption was that you would try to reach it.”
“And since then?”
“I’ve been with you most of the time. It may have been moved. Really, I don’t know. Things have happened pretty fast with the trial and all that. It is equally possible that nothing’s been done about moving your ship.”
This uncertainty disturbed me.
“Could you contact anyone and find out?”
“Are you thinking of escape again?” he asked.
“I suppose this is hard for you to understand, but I don’t intend to be deprived of my sight willingly.”
“Yes, I understand. After all, I had a go with those lenses you fixed for Ello. However, if you get out of this room, how are you going to get to your ship? I am on your side, but I’m terribly afraid of storms. I’d be too scared to lead you to it. Besides, it’s completely restrained.”
I didn’t tell him I knew that if the converter was knocked out all holds on my ship were off. Maybe he knew that and didn’t mention it. Maybe he didn’t know.
Cat got up on the bed beside me and curled for a nap. I petted him. He didn’t seem frightened of the storm. I leaned down and buried my face in the soft fur of his neck. It will be as black as this when they blind me, I thought, self-pityingly. Cat turned his head and tongue-swiped the back of my neck once. He let his purr make a circuit and a half.
I raised my head. The pink walls gently radiating warmth indicated that the converter still worked. Outside the gusting wind and fists of thunder beat the Annex. Then it began to rain. Water sloshed down like a reservoir spilling.
In the light from the sun-torch I saw Mun’s pale lips trembling. He wasn’t kidding about being scared.
My light couldn’t penetrate the transparent walls thickened by the rain. But it went well beyond the room. I saw someone split in from outside, wearing a rain cape and the glasses. I didn’t recognise her immediately. But it was Ello.
I sprang up to meet her as she split into the room and rushed into my arms.
“Oh, Thur. Oh, my darling. It’s so horrible.”
She clung to me hysterically. Were all Grendans scared of these storms?
“There, there, baby. It’ll blow itself out soon.”
That calmed her. “I don’t mean the storm. I mean my father—what he’s doing to us. He refuses to forgive me. He refuses any help at all. What can you do here on Grenda without your main sensory contact? With a low-score like yours, you’ll only be able to find work on an animal refuge. We couldn’t live like that.”
“Without my eyes I couldn’t even work on the farm.”
“But that’s not the horrible part. I think he’s planning to have the doctors murder you when they perform the operation on your vision. It will look like an accident.”
That really shocked me. I had never considered murder in my dealing with Talcott Jones. In the recognition of this terrible idea I hardly noticed the lightning and thunder around. Then I noticed the pink fading from the walls. The converter had been knocked out again.
“Where is my ship?”
“Where it landed.”
“Are you certain?”
“As certain as I can be. No more.”
“Then we must go to it. We must escape from Grenda.”
Ello was silent. The glasses, where eyes should be, pointed at me. I knew she was seeing me. I didn’t know what was going through her thoughts.
Mun sat huddled by the table in terror of the s
torm. Outside shivered a watery blackness. The elements had reached maximum fury and were levelling off.
THIRTY-SEVEN
But the storm was not abating. Ello spoke quite calmly. “I will take you to your ship. It’s a long way, and a bubble will be dangerous in this storm.”
“No bubble,” I said. “The converter’s out.”
She hesitated but her calm was unshaken. “We walk then.”
“All right. Let’s get moving.”
Mun managed to whisper a hoarse appeal. “Tie me up. I don’t want it to seem like I was a party to your escape.”
We bound him and put a plastic bandage over his mouth. I clipped on my cape and grabbed my sun-torch. As we started toward the wall, I said, “Cat, come with us.”
He gave us a puzzled look. Ello murffed and he came.
He’ll probably turn back when we hit the rain, I thought, but I wanted him to come. The wall cracked limply and we went through. Ello shrilled at the guard. They didn’t try to stop us. Cat bounded ahead. As we pushed through the outer wall to the portico, Cat came last.
“Stick close, Cat,” I said.
Again Ello murffed and we started out. I flashed the light back. Cat just crouched forlornly in the portico. He can’t force himself into this deluge, I thought. I was sorry.
We ran a little at the beginning. Then we settled down to a steady walk, acknowledging the distance ahead. I used my torch to light our way. Ello still wore the glasses but in that downpour they couldn’t have been of much use to her. I’m sure she was travelling as Grendans travel, using the built-in radar of their bodies.
There was no evidence of life in Lonwolt. At the edge of town we found a road and followed it. Occasionally my light covered Ello. She was drenched. I offered her my cape but she refused it. It wouldn’t have been much protection anyhow. The wind had whipped it off me and I was drenched too.