The Players of Null-A n-2
Page 15
It was Nirene who once more broke the silence. 'What are you going to do now?'
Gosseyn had been asking himself the question, aware that it was greatly complicated by the possibility that at any moment he might be back in his own body.
But suppose he wasn't? Suppose he remained here for several days longer. What then? Was there anything he could do that would be of value now or later to either Ashargin or Gosseyn?
There was Venus. Were any Venusians out in space yet? Did they even know what was going on?
And he really ought to have a look at the Sleeping God. That involved obtaining permission from Secoh.
His mind paused as he came to item number three on his list Train Ashargin. He looked at Nirene.
'I've been driving the prince rather hard,' he said, 'and I think I'd better let him have a rest for about an hour.'
'I'll call you when the time is up,' said Nirene, and her voice was so gentle that Gosseyn glanced at her, startled.
In the bedroom Gosseyn rigged up a wall recorder to repeat a three-minute relaxation, pattern. Then he lay down. During the hour that followed he never quite went to sleep. There was always the voice in the background, the monotone of Ashargin's voice repeating the few phrases over and over.
Lying there, he allowed his mind to idle around the harsher memories of Ashargin's prison years. Each time he came to an incident that had made a profound impression, he talked silently to the younger Ashargin. He made it as real as that, as if the fifteen, sixteen or twenty year old Ashargin heir was in each case a living entity inside him. The older Ashargin talked to the younger at a moment when the latter was undergoing a traumatic experience.
From his greater height of understanding, he assured the younger individual that the affective incident must be looked at from a different angle than that of a frightened youth. Assured him that fear of pain and fear of death were emotions that could be overcome, and that in short the shock incident which bad once affected him so profoundly no longer had any meaning for him. More than that, in future he would have better understanding of such moments, and he would never again be affected in an adverse fashion
It was one more Null-A training make-shift, as had been all the others. But it was a system of self-therapy that was scientifically sound, and which would bring definite benefits.
'Relax,' the voice soothed on. And because of what he was doing, every word meant, 'Relax the tensions of a life time. Let all those past fears and doubts and uncertainties be discharged from the nervous system.'
The effect did not depend on any belief that something would happen, though conviction made it more powerful. But it would take time. There were many suppressed memories that would have to be skillfully brought out in the open, before the therapy could be used on them.
Prince Ashargin was not going to be relaxed in one day.
Nevertheless, by the time Nirene knocked softly on the door, he had had not only the equivalent of an hour's sleep, but a psychoanalytic reorientation that under the circumstances he could have secured in no other way.
He stood up refreshed, feeling himself ready for the evening and the night.
The days stepped by, and the question was, how was he going to find out about Venus?
He had several possibilities. All of them required a hint as to what he wanted to know. Enro might be as quick at seeing the meaning in such a hint as the person to whom it was directed.
That was a risk he could not take until he had exhausted every other means.
At the end of four days, Gosseyn was a badly worried man. He saw himself isolated here in the body of the Ashargin heir, in spite of his so-called freedom of action, prevented from doing the only things that mattered.
Venusian Null-A's alone could stop Enro and the Predictors. That was his assumption, based on his observations and his knowledge of things as they were. But as far as he knew, they were cut off, unable to act. They could be easily destroyed by a dictator who had already ordered hundreds of planets pulverized.
Each day he hoped to be returned to his own body. He tried to help. He used Distorter elevators whenever possible to move from one building to another. Four times in four days he took trips to distant planets and back. But his mind remained in the body of Prince Ashargin.
He waited for a call informing him that the Y-381907 had been contacted. No call came.
What could be happening?
On the fourth day he went personally to the Interplanetary Communications Department. It occupied a building ninety stories high and ten blocks wide. The building information section had one hundred roboperators redirecting calls to the proper sector centers. He identified himself to one of them.
'Oh, yes,' it said. 'Prince Ashargin. We have received instructions about you.'
Gosseyn made his inquiry, turned away and then came back. He was curious about small things. 'What kind of instructions?' he asked.
The answer had the frankness of Enro behind it. The roboperator said, 'You can call anywhere but transcriptions of every conversation must be sent to the Intelligence Center.'
Gosseyn nodded. He could expect no more than that. He took a Distorter cage to the sector center he wanted, and seated himself at the videophone. Presently, he was saying, 'I want to speak to Captain Free, or anyone aboard the Y-381907.'
He could have made the call from Nirene's apartment, but here he could see the Distorter that carried the message. He could watch the contact attempt being made, as the roboperator dialed the pattern which, according to the foot-thick transparent plate that listed destroyers, belonged to the Y-381907.
All this he could see with his own eyes. If it was possible for him to prevent interference in the attempt to contact the destroyer, then this was one of the methods.
Another was to call from a planet visited at random. He had done that twice, without result.
Now, a minute passed. Then two minutes. Still there was no answer. After about four minutes the roboperator said, 'One moment, please.' At the end of ten minutes, the operator's voice came again. 'The following situation exists. When Similarity was raised to the known mechanical limit of twenty-three decimal places, a faint response was achieved. This was, however, an automatic process. It is evident that the pattern at the other end is still partly similarized, but that deterioration is continuous. Clearly, no attempt is being made by those on the ship to hold to the pattern.'
Thank you,' said Gosseyn-Ashargin.
It was hard to imagine that his body was out there somewhere while his reasoning self was here attached to the nervous system of the Ashargin heir.
What could be happening?
On the sixth day, Enro went on the public videophone with a message. He was visibly jubilant, and his voice rang with triumph as he reported:
'I have just been informed by Grand Admiral Paleol, commander of our forces in the Sixth Decant area that the capital city of Tuul was destroyed a few hours ago by our invincible fleet. This is but one of an unending series of victories won by our men and our weapons against a fiercely resisting enemy.
'Fight on, admiral. The hearts of the people and the confidence of your government are with you.'
Tuul? Gosseyn remembered the name with Ashargin's memory. Tuul was the stronghold of the most powerful State of the League group. It was one more planet out of thousands, but the fact that it was labeled 'capital' would be symbolic to the unintegrated minds to whom a map, in a semantic sense, was the territory, and the word the event itself.
Even for Gilbert Gosseyn, the destruction of Tuul was a turning point He dared not wait any longer.
After dinner he invited Nirene to go with him to see Crang and Patricia. 'I hope,' he said pointedly, 'that the Gorgzin and you can find a great deal to talk about.'
She looked at him in momentary surprise, but he did not enlarge on his words. His idea for partially overcoming Enro's gift of clairvoyance could not be openly stated.
Nirene did her best. Gosseyn had no idea what she suspected was
going to happen. But at the beginning her voice hardly stopped.
Patricia's answers were halting at first. She looked distinctly taken aback by the machine-gunlike voice that fired at her so steadily. And then suddenly, she must have caught on. She walked over and sat on the edge of Crang's chair, and began to talk back.
Nirene, ten feet away, hesitated, and then came over and sat on Ashargin's lap. The conversation that followed was the most active that Gosseyn had ever heard between two women. There was scarcely a moment during the rest of that evening when his own cautious words were not spoken against the background trill of wifely chatter.
Gosseyn first stated one of his lesser purposes. 'Know anything about training extra brains?' he asked. It was the first time he had mentioned the word to Crang.
The slim man's fine, yellow-tinged eyes studied him thoughtfully. Then he smiled. 'A little. What is it you want to know?'
'It's a problem of time, I think,' said Gosseyn. The first photograph is too slow, somehow. Slower than a chemical photographic plate, and the most complex of electronic tubes are chain lightning compared to it.'
Crang nodded, and said, 'It's notorious that specialized machines can perform any particular function much faster and frequently better than a given human appendage or organ. That is the price of our virtually unlimited adaptability.'
Gosseyn said quickly, 'You think the problem unsolvable?' The other shook his head. 'It's a matter of degree. It's possible the original training followed a wrong pattern, and that a different approach might bring better results.'
Gosseyn knew what Crang meant. A pianist who learned the wrong system of fingering could not become a virtuoso until he laboriously taught himself the proper method. The human brain and body as a whole could be educated to achieve results in many different ways. Some of those ways were heartbreaking in the results they achieved, and some were so remarkable that the ordinary individual who had been properly conditioned came to be regarded as a genius.
The question was, how could his understanding of that general truth be utilized to re-train his extra brain when he returned to his own body?
I would say,' said Crang, 'that it's a matter of setting up correct ideas.'
They talked around that for a while. For the moment Gosseyn was not worried about what Enro might hear. Even if the dictator could tune out the almost upending vibration of sound from Nirene and Patricia, this part of the conversation would not mean anything to him.
He lost none of his caution, but he was preoccupied with a desire to find out what the nature of such an idea would be. Crang made several suggestions, but it seemed to Gosseyn that the non-Aristotelian detective was still striving to estimate the extent of Ashargin's knowledge.
That decided him finally. He turned the conversation to the problem of possession of one mind by another. He pointed out that it might be done by an extra brain, and that the similarization process involved could be a contact on a high level between a full grown extra brain and the vestigial of such a brain present in all human beings. Thus the greater would still come to the lesser.
Crang was watchful. 'What puzzles me,' he said, 'is what would the extra brain be doing while it was in possession of the vestigial? Would it dominate both bodies at the same time, or would the greater be in a state of relaxation?' 'Relaxation, definitely,' said Gosseyn. It was a point he had been wanting to put over, and he was pleased. In spite of handicaps, he had managed to inform Crang that the Gosseyn body was unconscious.
Since Crang already knew that Gosseyn was aboard the Y-381907, his picture of the situation must be clearing up considerably.
'There was a time,' Gosseyn went on, 'when I took it for granted that such a position could only be maintained by some third party enforcing the interchange. It seems hard to believe'—he hesitated—'that the Sleeping God would leave his mind in a body so circumscribed as that of Ashargin if he had a way of preventing it.'
He hoped Crang got the point that Gilbert Gosseyn was not actually in control of his own destiny.
'And, of course,' he went on, 'Ashargin is only a puppet who has now done about as much as he can.' 'I wouldn't say that,' said Crang, deliberately. So abruptly did they arrive at the main purpose of their intent and cautious interchange.
At least, Gosseyn reflected as he eyed the other, it was his main purpose. Crang's position in all this frankly puzzled him. The man seemed to be doing nothing. He had taken the risk—the terrific risk in view of what he had done on Venus—of coming to Enro's headquarters. And now here he sat day after day, doing nothing.
His plan, if he had any, would have to be important indeed to justify his inaction while the battle of the Sixth Decant moved relentlessly to a final decision.
Crang resumed briskly: 'As I see it, Prince, these mystical discussions can only lead so far. There comes a time when men act. Now, Enro is an outstanding example of a man of action. A military genius of the first order. His like will not be seen again in the galaxy for centuries.'
It was strange praise, coming from the lips of Eldred Crang. And since it was false to facts—any Venusian Null-A trained in military tactics could equal Enro's 'genius' —it obviously had a purpose.
He shifted Nirene to a more comfortable position on his lap, and started to settle back.
At that moment he saw the opportunity for himself in what Crang had said. He interposed quickly:
'It seems to me that men like yourself will leave their mark on the military history of the galaxy. It should be interesting to follow the developments, and to know something about them.'
Crang laughed. 'Time will tell,' he said, and changed the subject. He went on, 'It's unfortunate that Enro is not yet recognized as the greatest military genius who ever lived.'
Gosseyn nodded glumly. He recognized that something was coming. But his own question had been evaded. He was positive that Crang had understood what he had tried to say.
And he won't answer, he thought grimly. Well, if he's really got a plan, it had better be good.
'I feel sure,' said Crang, 'that after his death even the people of the League group will recognize and acclaim the consummate skill of the attack that is being launched against the central powers.'
And now Gosseyn saw the plan. 'Greatest ... who had lived.' 'After his death——'
Crang was proposing that an attempt be made to kill Enro.
After a moment Gosseyn was amazed. There was a time when the idea of using Ashargin to kill Enro had seemed the only possible use to which so powerless an individual could be put. All that was changed. The Ashargin heir had already been used to influence billions of people. He was known to be alive. At the proper moment his influence might be decisive.
To sacrifice him now in an attempt to assassinate the dictator was comparable to throwing away a queen in a game of chess. Even at that moment he had thought of it as a sacrifice. Now, with what he knew of Enro, he felt convinced that Ashargin would give up his life futilely.
Besides, the death of Enro would not stop the fleet. Paleol was there, gaunt and grim and determined. Paleol, and his thousands of officers who had put themselves beyond the laws of the League, would seize control of the Government against any group that tried to take over the Greatest Empire.
Of course, if Ashargin were killed while trying to murder Enro, presumably Gilbert Gosseyn would be back in control of his own body. For him, who was still convinced that he would be able to return normally, that was something to consider a week hence. And—just in case—-the plan could be started now. Preparations ought to be made.
Grudgingly, with many reservations, Gosseyn nodded his acceptance of the plot.
That ended the evening. He had expected that details would be discussed, but Crang stood up and said, 'We've had a pleasant and amiable talk. I'm glad you were able to drop in.'
At the door the Null-A detective added, 'You might try to imitate the reflex that makes for good vision.'
It was a possible method of training that had already o
ccurred to Gosseyn. He nodded. 'Good night,' he said curtly.
His impression of the visit as he walked with a silent Nirene back to her apartment was one of intense disappointment
He waited till Nirene was out of the apartment, and then called Madrisol of the League on the videophone.
He waited tensely while the call was put through. For this could be interpreted as treason. He had asked Enro for the right to phone anyone he pleased, but unauthorized individuals did not contact the enemy in time of war. He was wondering how close a watch the Intelligence Department kept on him, when the operator's voice came:
The League secretary agrees to speak to the Prince Ashargin, but only under the condition that it is clearly understood that he is a legal authority speaking to an outlaw.'
Gosseyn saw instantly the legal implications for Ashargin if he accepted such a ruling. He intended to do everything in his power to help the League win this war. If victory did result, then Ashargin would be in a dangerous position.
He felt annoyed, but after a moment he thought of a way out. 'The Prince Ashargin,' he said, 'has imperative reasons for speaking to Madrisol, and therefore accepts the condition but without prejudice.'
He had not long to wait after that. The lean ascetic looking face of Madrisol came into the screen. The man's face seemed even thinner than when he had last seen it with the eyes of Gilbert Gosseyn's body. The League secretary snapped, 'Is this a surrender offer?'
The question was so unrealistic that Gosseyn was pulled from his own purposes. Madrisol continued in a sharp tone, 'You understand there can be no compromise with principle. All individuals in the ruling hierarchy of the Greatest Empire must submit themselves to trial by the League Tribunal.'
A fanatic. In spite of his own complete opposition to Enro, Gosseyn's voice held a note of irony as he said, 'Sir, don't you think you are making a hasty assumption? This is not, nor am I in a position to make, a surrender offer.'