by Ray Cummings
2
Colonel Halsey sat at his desk, with a few papers before him and abank of instrument controls at his elbow. He pushed his audiphone andmirror-grid to one side.
"Sit down, please." He gave us each the benefit of a welcoming smile,and his gaze finished upon Anita.
"I came because you sent for Venza," Anita said quickly. "Please,Colonel Halsey, let me stay. I thought, whatever you want her for, youmight need me, too."
"Quite so, Miss Prince. Perhaps I shall." It seemed that in his mindwere many of the thoughts thronging my own, for he added: "Haljan, Irecall I sent for you like this once before. I hope this may be a moreauspicious occasion."
"So do I, sir."
Snap said, "We've been afraid hardly to do more than a whisper. Butyou're insulated here, and we're mighty curious."
Halsey nodded. "I can talk freely to you, and yet I cannot." His gazewent to Venza. "It is you in whom I am most interested."
"Me? You flatter me, Colonel Halsey." She sat gracefully reclining inthe metal chair before his desk, seeming small as a child between itsbig, broad arms. Her long gray skirt had parted to display hershapely, gray-satined legs. She had thrown off the hood of her cloak.Her thick black hair was coiled in a knot low at the back of her neck;her carmine lips bore an alluring smile. It was all instinctive. Tothis girl from Venus it came as naturally as she breathed.
Halsey's gray eyes twinkled. "Do not look at me quite like that, MissVenza, or I shall forget what I have to say. You would get the betterof me; I'm glad you're not a criminal."
"So am I," she declared. "What can I do for you, Colonel Halsey?"
His smile faded at once. His glance included us all. "Just this. Thereis a man here in Greater New York, a Martian whom they call _Set_Molo. He has a younger sister, _Setta_ Meka. Have any of you heard ofthem?"
We had not. Halsey went on, slowly now, apparently choosing his wordswith the greatest care. "There are things that I can tell you andthere are things that I cannot."
"Why not?" asked Venza.
"My dear, for one thing, if you are going to help me you can do itbest by not knowing too much. For another, I have my orders; thisthing concerns the very highest authorities, not only of the U.S.W.,but in Ferrok-Shahn and Grebhar too."
He paused, but none of us spoke. Then Halsey said quietly, "Well, thisMartian and his sister are here now in Greater New York. They havesome secret. They are engaged in some activity, and I want to findout what it is. I have picked up only little parts of it."
He stopped; and out of the silence Snap said, "If you don't mind,Colonel Halsey, it seems to me you are mostly talking in code."
"I'm not, but I'm trying to tell you as little as possible. You, MissVenza, need only understand this: the Martian, Molo, must be inducedto give you some idea of what he is doing here."
"And I am to induce him?" Venza asked calmly.
"That is my idea." The faint shadow of a smile swept Halsey's thin,intent face. "My dear, you are a girl of Venus. More than that, youhave far more than your normal share of wits and brains."
It did not make Venza smile. She sat tense now, with her dark-eyedgaze fastened on Halsey's face. Anita, equally breathless, reachedover and gripped her hand.
Then Venza said slowly, "I realize, Colonel Halsey, that this issomething vital."
"As vital, my child, as it could be." He drew a long breath. "I wantyou to understand I am doing my duty. Doing, what seems the bestthing, not for you, perhaps, but for the world."
I seemed to see into his mind at that moment. He might have been afather, sending a daughter into danger.
"I need not disguise the danger. I have lost a dozen men." He lighteda cigarette. "I don't seem to be able to frighten you?"
"No," she said. And I heard Anita murmur, "Oh, Venza!"
"But you frighten me," said Snap. "Colonel, look here; you know I'mgoing to marry this girl very soon."
"Yes, I know. You'll have to consider this a sacrifice, a voluntarydescent into danger, for a great cause in a great crisis. You fourhave just come out of a very considerable danger. We know of whatstuff you are made, all of you."
He smiled again. "Perhaps that prominence is unfortunate for you, butlet me settle it now. Is there any one of you who will not take myorders and trust my judgement of what is best? And do it, if need be,blindly? Will you offer yourselves to me?"
We gazed at each other. Both the girls instantly murmured, "Yes."
"Yes," I said at last. It was not too hard for me, for I thought I wasyielding him Venza, not Anita.
Snap was very pale. He stared from one to the other of us.
"Yes," he said finally. "But Colonel, surely you can tell us more."
Halsey tossed his cigarette away. "I will tell you as much as I thinkbest. These Martians, Molo and his sister, do not know of Venza; atleast, I think that they do not. They apparently have not been herevery long. How they got here, we don't know. There was no passenger orfreight ship. In Ferrok-Shahn, they have a dubious reputation at best;but I won't go into that.
"Venza, I will show you these Martians and the rest depends upon you.There is a mystery; you will find out what it is."
He reached for his inter-office audiphone. "I want to locate theMartian _Set_ Molo. Francis, Staff X2, has it in charge."
The audible connection came in a moment. "Francis?"
We could hear the answering microphonic voice, "Yes Colonel."
"Is the fellow in a public place by any chance?"
"In the Red Spark Cafe, Colonel. With his sister and a party."
"Good enough. The Red Spark has an image-finder. Have you visualconnection?"
"Yes, the whole room; they have a dozen finders."
"Use a magnifier. Get me the closest view you can."
"It's done, Colonel. I did it just in case you called."
"Connect it."
In a moment our mirror-grid was glowing with the two-foot square imageof the interior of the Red Spark Cafe. I knew the place by reputation:a fashionable, more or less disreputable eating, drinking and dancingrestaurant, where money and alcholite flowed freely. The patrons weresuccessful criminals of the three worlds, intermingled with thrilled,respectable tourists who hoped they would see something really evil.
The Red Spark was not far from Halsey's office; it was perched high ina break of the city roof, almost directly over Park-Circle 29.
"There he is," said Halsey.
We crowded around his desk. The image showed the interior of a largeoval room, balconied and terraced; a dais dance-floor, raised high inthe center with three professional couples gyrating there; and beneaththem the public dance-grid, slowly rotating on its central axis. Ahundred or so couples were dancing. The lower floor was crowded withdining tables; others were upon the little catwalk balconies, andstill others in the terraced nooks and side niches, half-enshrouded,half-revealed by colored draperies.
The image now was silent, for Halsey was not bothering with audioconnection. But it was a riot of color, flashing colored floodlightsbathing the dancers in vivid tints; and there were twinkling spots ofcolored tube-lights on all the tables. I saw, too, the blankrectangles of darkness against the walls which marked the privatedining rooms, insulated against sight and sound. Here one might go forfrivolous indiscretion, or for conspiracy, perhaps, and be as securefrom interruption as we were, here in Halsey's office.
Venza asked eagerly, "Which is he?"
"Over there on the third terrace to the left. That table. There seemto be six of them in the party."
We heard Francis' voice; he was in Halsey's lower Manhattan office,with this same image before him. "We'll get a closer view."
The table in question was no more than a square inch on our image. Wecould see an apparently gay party of men and women. One of the coupleswas gigantic, a Martian man and woman, obviously. The others seemed tobe Earth or Venus people.
Francis' voice added: "I've got an audio magnifier on them. Foley'sbeen listening for an hour. Nice, clear E
nglish. Much good it does us;this fellow is as cautious as a director of the lower air-lane. Here'syour near-look."
Our image shifted to another view. The lens-eye with which we wereconnected now gave us a view directly over the Martian's table. Wewere looking down diagonally upon the table, at a distance of no morethan ten feet.
There were three Earthwomen in the party. There was nothing peculiarabout them. They were rather handsome, dissolute in appearance, all ofthem obviously befuddled by alcholite. There was a man who could havebeen Anglo-Saxon. A wastrel, probably, with more money than wit; hewore a black dinner suit edged with white.
Our attention focussed upon the other two. They were tall, as are allMartians. The young woman, _Setta_ Meka, seemed perhaps twenty ortwenty-five years of age, by Earth reckoning, in stature perhaps verynearly my own height, which is six feet two. It is difficult to tell aMartian's age, but she was very handsome, even by Earth standards; andin Ferrok-Shahn she would be considered a beauty. Her gray-black hairwas parted and tied at the back with a plaited metal rope. Her shortdark cloak, so luminous a fabric that it caught and reflected thesheen of all the gaudy restaurant lights, was parted, its ends thrownback over her shoulders. Beneath it she wore the characteristicMartian leather jacket, and short, wide leather trousers ornamentedwith spun metal fringes and tassels. Most Martian women have anamazonian aspect, but I saw now that _Setta_ Meka was an exception.
Her brother, who sat beside her, was a full seven feet or more. Ahulking sort of fellow, far less spindly than most of his race, hemight have come from the polar outposts beyond the Martian Union. Hewas bare-headed, his gray-black hair clipped close upon a round bullethead, with the familiar Martian round eyes.
I gazed into the face of Molo, as momentarily he turned his head. Itwas a rough-hewn, strongly masculine face with a hawk-like nose, bushyblack brows frowning above deepset round eyes. The face of a keenscoundrel, I could not doubt, though the smooth-plucked gray skin wasflushed now with alcholite, and the wide, thin-lipped mouth wasleering at the woman across the table from him.
Like his sister, he had thrown back his cloak, disclosing a brawny,powerful figure, leather clad, with a wide belt of dangling ornaments,some of which probably were weapons.
How long we gazed at this silent colored image of the restaurant tableI do not know. I was aware of Halsey's quiet voice: "Look him over,Miss Venza. It depends on you."
Another interval passed. It seemed, as we watched, that Molo'sinterest in his party was very slight. I got the impression, too, thatthough at first he had seemed to be intoxicated, actually he was not.Nor was his sister. Anxiety seemed upon her; the smile she had forjests seemed forced; and at intervals she would cast a swift, furtiveglance across the gay restaurant scene.
More drinks arrived. The Earthpeople at the table here seemed upon theverge of stupor; and suddenly it appeared that Molo had completelylost interest in them. With a gesture to his sister, he abruptly rosefrom his seat. She joined him. They left the table, and a red-cladfloor manager of the restaurant came at their call. Then in a momentthey were moving across the room.
Halsey called sharply into his audiphone: "Francis! Hold us to them ifyou can."
They were standing now by the opened door of one of the Red Spark'sprivate insulated rooms. We caught a glimpse of its interior, a gailyset table with a bank of colored lights over it.
The figure of a man was in there. He was on his feet, as though he hadjust arrived to meet the Martians here, and a hooded long cloakenveloped him. It may have been a magnetic "invisible" cloak, with thecurrent now off.
We caught only the fleetest of impressions before the insulated doorclosed and barred our vision. The glimpse was an accident. Molo, takenby surprise at this appearance of his visitor, could hardly haveguarded against it. The waiting figure was very tall, some ten feet,and very thin. The hood shrouded his face and head. In his hand heheld a large circular box of black shiny leather, of the sort in whichwomen carry wide-brimmed hats. As Molo joined him he put the boxgently on the floor. He handled it as though it were extraordinarilyheavy; and as he took a step or two, he seemed weighted down. Just asthe room door was hastily closing, Meka sliding it from the inside, wecaught a fleeting glimpse of horror.
The lid of the hat box had lifted up. Inside was a great round thingof gray-white, a living thing; a distended ball of membrane, with anetwork of veins and blood-vessels showing beneath the transparentskin.
For the instant we gazed, stricken. The ball was palpitating,breathing! I saw convolutions of inner tissue under the transparentskin of membrane; a little tentacle, like an arm with a flat-webbedhand, was holding up the lid of the box. The lid rose a triflehigher; the colored lights overhead gave us a brief but clear view ofit.
The thing in the box was a huge living brain. I saw goggling,protruding eyes; an orifice that could have been a nose, and a gashupended for a vertical mouth. It was a face. And the little tentaclearm holding up the box-lid was joined to where the ear should havebeen.
Was this something human? A huge distended human brain, with the bodywithered to that tiny arm?
The palpitating thing sank down in the box and the lid dropped. Andupon our horrified gaze the insulated door of the room slid too.
"By the gods!" exclaimed Halsey. "One of them dares come to the RedSpark. Here, almost in public."
So Halsey knew what this meant. His eyes were blazing now; his facewas white, with an intensity of emotion that transfigured it.
"Francis, tell Foley I'll be in the manager's office in five minutes."
He snapped off; our image connection with the Red Spark went dead.
"We're going to the Red Spark," he announced. "This changeseverything, yet I don't know. Venza, I may need you more than ever,now."
Halsey herded us to the office door. From his desk he had snatched upa few portable instruments, and he flung on a cloak.
It was a brief trip to the Red Spark, on foot through the sub-cellararcade to where, under Park Circle 29, we went up in a vertical liftto the roof. We were in the side entrance oval of the restaurant infive minutes.
In the dim metal room of Orentino, the Red Spark's manager, a barragewas up and Foley was waiting for us. We could hear it faintly humming.Now we could talk.
Halsey slammed the door down. He said swiftly, "My men caught one ofthese things this morning. They have it now and I think Molo does notyet know we captured it. A brain; we're convinced it understandsEnglish and can talk, but no one has been able to make it talk yet.Foley, order that damned Orentino to de-insulate the room Molo is in.Now, by the gods, we may see and hear something."
The frightened manager of the Red Spark was in the control room.Halsey killed our barrage to let the outside connections get throughto us. We all crowded around the mirror-grid which stood on Orentino'sdesk. Foley gave us connection with the control room. We sawOrentino's face, his eyes nearly popping with fright. "Colonel Halsey,I will do whatever you tell me."
"What room is that Martian occupying?"
"Insulated 39."
"Break off the insulation. Do it slowly and he may not notice. Thengive us connection, audio and vision."
"But I have no image-finders in the insulated rooms."
"Cut off the barrage. I'll get connection there."
Foley was already setting up his eavesdropper on the desk. The mirrorblurred a little; then it clarified. We had the interior of the secretroom, and voices were coming out of Foley's tiny receiver.
The image showed the box on the floor, with its lid down. The tallhooded shape of the stranger stood with Molo and his sister by thetable. They were talking in swift, vehement undertones. The languagewas Martian, a dialect principally used in Ferrok-Shahn. Our equipmentbrought it in and I could understand it.
Molo was saying: "But you are the fool to have dared to come here!"
"The master knows that there is danger. Something is wrong." Thehooded stranger spoke like a foreigner, but not a Martian, nor anEarthman, and not like any person o
f Venus I had ever heard. It was astrange, indescribable intonation, a flat, hollow voice.
"I say the master is concerned."
"Let him be."
"And he demanded I bring him here to find you. He is displeased thatyou are here."
What gruesome thing was this? Their glances seemed to go to the box onthe floor at their feet, as though the master were in there. But thelid of the box did not rise.
"Well, you have found me," Molo declared impatiently. "When you knowme better, always you will find I have my wits. The thing is fortomorrow night, not tonight."
"But that, my master is not sure." The hollow voice was deferentialbut insistent. "He fears danger; something has gone wrong. He isworking on it now, striving to receive the message! There is amessage. He knows that much. Perhaps from our world, Wandl, itself."
For a moment Molo had no answer. His sister had not spoken. I noticedthat her gaze seemed roving the room.
"What is it I should do?" Molo asked at last.
"Come with us to your home-room."
"But I have everything ready there. The contact is ready for tomorrownight. Your world will control Earth."
"But if it be tonight?"
Again Molo was silent. My breath stopped. On our mirror I saw thestranger's hood part just a little. There seemed to be no face; justthe blur of something brownish.
"But if it be tonight?" the voice insisted.
"I will go," Molo said abruptly, "but your coming here was dangerous.Suppose we cannot get out undetected? You know I will never go towhere all our instruments are set up and have some damnable spy followme. Is all going well on Venus and Mars?"
"Yes. My master feels so. He seems to get messages. The contacts willbe made simultaneously." A gruesome chuckle. "The capture of thesethree worlds. We shall have all three enchained at once. Helpless."
The lid of the black box seemed again about to rise when there came asharp cry from Meka. "This room is not insulated!"
Our eavesdropping was discovered. Beside me, I heard Halsey give a lowcurse. On our mirror we saw sudden action. The ten-foot, cloakedfigure laboriously lifted the black box, and swung with it toward theouter wall of the room. I saw now clearly with what a dragging, heavytread that giant shape moved, as though it weighed, here on Earth, farmore than the normal weight to which it was accustomed.
"Over there!" Molo gasped. "The escape-port; this room has one. Meka,go with him. I will join you. You know where."
Foley cried, "Colonel, I may be able to stop them!"
But Halsey saw on our image that Molo was staying. "Wait. Let them go.If we have the Martian here, that's better."
I saw the room's escape-port swing open as Meka and the hooded shapecarrying the box moved for it. The moonlit darkness of the outercatwalk enveloped the disappearing figures.
Molo was left alone. He closed the port swiftly. His detector now wasin his hand, but Halsey anticipated him by a second or two. Ourlistener went dead; our mirror darkened. Doubtless Molo was never surewhether he had been spied on or not.
Halsey was on his feet. "Foley, get out into the main room. Stay withhim."
But there was no need to follow Molo. He had sent his visitor andsister out by the escape-port, which was usual enough; now he was backin the main room as though nothing of importance had happened, with anappearance of intoxication about him. He wavered jovially across theroom, threading his way through the gay diners, and reached the tablewhere his party still sat carousing.
Again Halsey shut us off.
"He's got a base somewhere in the city; you heard what they said aboutit. We've got to trick him into going there, unsuspecting."
Halsey seized the audiphone. "Your chance, Venza. It's the only way.Foley, keep away from that Martian. Shut off all contacts. I'll meetyou out there in a moment. I'm sending a girl; she'll go after him."
"Now?" Venza asked.
"Yes. It's the only way. Perhaps you can get him drinking. Venza, useall the wiles you possess now."
"No!" gasped Snap. "It's too dangerous!"
Anita was clinging to Venza. "Colonel Halsey, I'm going too."
Halsey stared, then made a swift decision. "Right. That is stillbetter."
I jumped to my feet. "Colonel, I should prefer that one of us men...."
He gripped me by the shoulders. "Gregg Haljan, I take no suggestionsfrom you!" His blazing eyes bored into me. "There isn't a second tolose. Don't you realize this means destruction of our three inhabitedplanets? I'll sacrifice myself, you, or these girls! Venza, take Anitaoutside. I'll join you immediately, give you last instructions. Take aportable audiphone with you."
He turned to Snap. "This is the only way. These demons can't beforced. You know that."
The girls were moving toward the door. I met Snap's anguished gaze.
"Gregg, don't let them go!"
"No! No, I won't!"
I made a lunge past Halsey, with Snap after me. Halsey did not move,but one of his rays struck us. With all senses numbed, I felt myselffalling.
"Gregg--don't--let them...."
Snap had tumbled upon me. My senses did not quite fade. I was aware ofAnita's and Venza's horrified cries, but Halsey pushed them toward thedoor. It slid up. I vaguely saw the two girls going out with Halseyafter them; and the door coming down.