Mission to Horatius

by Mack Reynolds

  "One minute of rest?" Kirk said in disgust "If you think any one of those three men is going to come back into this arena in one minute, you've got a surprise coming."

  He turned back to where Dr. McCoy was giving both Grang and Spock a quick once-over. "You seem all right," McCoy said. "That was quick work, Jim. Now what happens?"

  What happened came as a shock to the spacemen. The trumpets sounded, as before. Nummer Ein smiled down. "And now we have round two." And the three recently defeated Doppelgängers marched back into the ring, seemingly as fit and aggressive as ever.

  Kirk, Spock, and young Grang could only stare as the three Bavaryan champions came in at a lumbering run, each heading for the Enterprise man who had sent him to the sands but one minute earlier.

  There was no time to plan the battle. Captain Kirk fell into the ninth kata position.

  His opponent threw a vicious right punch, and Kirk grabbed his wrist with his left hand. It was the same man, all right. For a brief moment the captain had suspected that Nummer Ein was ringing in a new fighter on him; but he was sure it was the same one.

  Kirk walked in and grabbed the man's right shoulder with his right hand, slugging him at the same time in the chin with an elbow punch. Simultaneously he moved in quickly with his right foot Coming around to the Bavaryan's right leg and kicking forward against the man's leg, he toppled him expertly onto the sand.

  The other grunted in pain and attempted to roll out, but Kirk didn't release the Bavaryan's wrist Instead he held him and gave him a heel stamp straight to the solar plexus.

  Somewhere in the background he could hear Grang making his doglike war cry, but there was no time to see how the youngster was doing.

  Still holding the wristlock, Kirk came down on the fallen Doppelgänger, chopping the man's Adam's apple as he struggled to rise.

  He came to his feet, breathing deeply. "All right," he panted. "That's the end of round two. Let's see you come out for round three, mister." The other merely looked up at him.

  Kirk whirled and headed in the direction of the youthful Neolithian.

  This time young Grang wasn't doing so well. In spite of Grang's youthful agility, the Bavaryan had managed to get a strong hold and was slowly bending the boy backward.

  Kirk gritted his teeth and muttered, "We have stopped being gentlemen," and came up behind the Doppelgänger and kicked him sharply behind the left kneecap. The man screamed and went down and stayed there.

  Kirk and Grang, both panting now, turned to hurry in the direction of Spock. However, as before, the Vulcan dominated his opponent with his faster reflexes. It was simply a matter of avoiding the other's bull-like rushes, slowly chopping him down with rights and lefts to the man's face, and giving judo blows wherever opportunity presented. By the time Captain Kirk and Grang reached the scene, the Bavaryan had once again sunk, unconscious, to the sands.

  But even Spock was puffing now.

  The ring attendants filed in once more, this time with stretchers, and began gathering up their champions.

  Nummer Ein laughed down at them. "Very well done, Herren, but we will see how you fare in round three. Or perhaps you will last until round four."

  Dr. McCoy came hurrying up, his face worried. This time his charges were not untouched, although they had suffered no serious injuries.

  Janice Rand had acquired water for them somewhere. She fussed over the boy, who was in worse shape than either Kirk or Spock.

  Grang panted, "Captain... Captain of the Kirks...."

  Kirk looked at him worriedly.

  Grang said, "It was ... it was not... the same ... man."

  Kirk scowled. "Are you sure? Mine was the same."

  Grang tried to catch his breath. "He looked the same, Captain of the Kirks, but he was not. He was perhaps a twin of the first one. But in the first fight I counted coup on the enemy by striking him across the face with my hand. It caused a slight cut beneath the eye. But this man now.... He had no cut"

  McCoy said, "Perhaps they applied an astringent back in the arena sick bay or wherever they cart those brutes."

  But Kirk was scowling. "They didn't have time to give them much in the way of medical treatment," he muttered.

  The trumpets sounded, and the three Bavaryans trotted back into the ring and headed for the Enterprise team.

  The eyes of the group from space bugged.

  Kirk blurted, "But I was certain he wouldn't be able to come back!"

  "Most interesting," Spock said. He looked at his commander. "I, also, was of the opinion that my foe would be unable to return. But that is he, unless I am mistaken, charging toward us. He has a mole on the side of his nose."

  The teams clashed again, but this time the Enterprise group moved more slowly. The pace was beginning to tell.

  Captain Kirk circled his opponent, who was seemingly as fresh as ever, certainly as fresh as he had been fifteen minutes before, when he had entered the ring the first time.

  Nummer Ein shouted down jovially, "You seem to have lost some of your lan, you of the Federation."

  Kirk didn't bother to look up. He attempted the fifth kata, but the other avoided the karate position and managed to land a shocking punch to Kirk's right shoulder. Kirk shuffled backward in the sand to collect himself. There was no question in his mind but that his opponent was the Bavaryan he had faced only moments before.

  There was no longer time or energy for niceties. Nor could James Kirk take the chance of having the other close with him. The Bavaryan was a bear of a man, and if once the Earthman allowed himself to be taken into the other's grip, he doubted if he had the strength remaining to triumph.

  He had to do something quickly and finally.

  The opponent attempted another slugging punch, which, had it landed, would have brought the starship's captain to the ground. However, Kirk, moving as quickly as he could, stepped in and executed a kenpo left inside block to the other's punch. Then he moved in quickly with a right forward kick to the opponent's middle. The man grunted in pain, and simultaneously Kirk's right arm shot straight out and he swept the right hand, edge-of-hand style, in a whipping manner to the other's larnyx.

  Kirk whirled and shouted up to Nummer Ein as loudly as he could, considering his breathlessness, "Unless this man has immediate surgery he will die!"

  His All Highest seemed to find some amus ement in that statement, and various others in his group even laughed.

  Kirk had no more time for them or his fallen enemy. He began plowing in the direction of Grang, who was on the ground trying to cover up as his heavier opponent rained blows and kicks upon him. Once again the captain came up behind the Bavaryan and slugged him with a quick rabbit blow across the back of the neck.

  When the other had fallen, Kirk helped the Neolithian to his feet The marks of the strife were obvious on the youngster's face, and he was breathing so deeply that his breath came in gasps. However, he puffed, "Mister of the Spocks," and headed, stumbling, to the assistance of the Vulcan, who was slugging it out, falling back step by step before the onslaught of his seemingly tireless Bavaryan opponent

  It took the combined efforts of all three to bring the single remaining Doppelgänger to the sands.

  Once again the ring attendants came hurrying out to retrieve the fallen Bavaryans.

  Grang sank to the sand, exhausted. Kirk and Spock stood above him, their chests heaving. McCoy, Scott, and Yeoman Rand hurried up, their faces showing dismay.

  Nummer Ein called down, his voice still jovial, "You seem to lack stamina. Prepare yourselves for round four."

  McCoy, his face suffused with anger, stalked over to the area immediately below the box occupied by His All Highest and called, "Captain Kirk and his companions are in no condition to continue this barbaric nonsense!"

  The Bavaryan dictator asked in a mocking tone, "You wish to concede?"

  Kirk took a deep breath and managed an emphatic "No!"

  Spock shook his head. "Never!"

  Even Grang, still sitting
on the sand, looked up defiantly and gasped, "Members of the Wolf clan never surrender."

  "Very well." Nummer Ein chuckled. "We will grant a slight recess of, say, one hour. At that time the game will proceed, unless, of course, Captain Kirk, you are now willing to communicate with your ship and turn over your library banks to my technicians."

  A group of four armed Doppelgängers marched from an entry and escorted the Enterprise group back in the direction of their cells. The three combatants were so exhausted that the others each gave them an arm in help.

  "One hour recess," Kirk ground out from between his teeth. "Hardly a breather."

  They preceded their four guards down the corridor in the direction of the cells. The cell doors were open and the five men began to file into the one they had been assigned. Suddenly they stopped.

  Anna Shickle, daughter of Nummer Ein, emerged from the cell of Janice Rand. In her right hand was a phaser, one of those taken from the Enterprise officers by the Feldherr's men. Her face was expressionless as she brought the weapon up.

  "Look out!" Scotty yelled, misunderstanding.

  Coolly and calmly she leveled the phaser and beamed the four guards down.

  The Federation group stood for a moment in shock. Then McCoy gasped, "But you've just killed those four men-your own people."

  She looked at him strangely. "They were only Doppelgängers."

  Kirk said, appalled in spite of the situation, "Despite your class differences here on Bavarya, those were men you cut down. You murdered them."

  She shook her head. "You don't understand. Don't you know the meaning of the word Doppelgänger?"

  " Doppelgänger," Spock said. "Of course I know the meaning of the word, a Teutonic term signifying 'duplicate,' or 'copy.' But it had not occurred to me...."

  Anna said, extending the phaser toward Captain Kirk, "On Bavarya we have two classifications, the Herr-Elite, who are real people, and the Doppelgängers, who are duplicated over and over again. We chose, long years past, those most suited to be soldiers, then made them over and over. The same with servants and factory or field hands. Actually there are only a few tens of thousands of the Herr-Elite on all the planet"

  McCoy was aghast. "The technique is not unknown back on the Federation worlds, but it is certainly not utilized on human beings. Certainly our sensors can completely analyze the composition of any human body, but long ago we discovered that in attempting to duplicate the body a prime ingredient is missing- that which is called the psyche, or, if you wish, the soul. That spark of something which differentiates man from the animal."

  Kirk said, "These Doppelgängers of yours-in short, they're zombies." He had taken the weapon away from her. Now she produced a communicator from her clothing and handed it over, as well.

  Spock murmured, "Most interesting. Now I see why our Nummer Ein thinks in terms of ultimately challenging even the Federation. He has at his disposal literally unlimited numbers of soldiers."

  Kirk said to the girl, "And you've revolted against this situation. It was you who sent the call for help. Why?"

  "Why?" she asked, a sad, somewhat wistful quality in her voice. "Possibly because once I loved my father."

  "Your father," Grang growled contemptuously.

  She looked at the boy. "My real father. You see, Nummer Ein is not my father. He is a Doppelgänger of my father, who I am sure is now dead. I am the only one who knows it among the Herr-Elite, but Nummer Ein himself is a soulless copy of a real man. And now, if you will all follow me...."

  She led the way down the corridor in the opposite direction from that from which they had just come.

  Kirk said, a question in his voice, "And out there in the arena-those three, ah ... Doppelgängers we just fought?"

  "You didn't fight three, of course, but nine copies of three men, which is the reason why Nummer Ein was so amused. You see, Captain, he could have sent in ninety, or even nine thousand, for that matter. Perfect duplicates."

  They hurried after her.

  "Where are you going? What is your plan?" Kirk demanded.

  She said over her shoulder, "We are going to the duplicating banks. There is but one set. Long ago our technicians lost the ability to build new ones."

  That meant nothing to the men from the Enterprise, but they saved their short breath. They soon lost their sense of direction in the maze of halls and corridors. The total area of the palace of Nummer Ein was even greater than they had previously estimated. At long last they came to a bank of early-type elevators and hustled into one. Anna spoke into a tube, and the chamber began to rise.

  A robot voice said, "You are entering the Forbidden Rooms. Identify yourselves immediately or you will be destroyed."

  This was evidently no problem. Anna held up her hand to a small viewing screen so that the fingerprints could be read. The voice was heard no more. She was, after all, Anna Shickle.

  They emerged into a gigantic hall of electronic equipment and long banks of files. "Here you are," she said.

  Kirk looked at her, puzzled. "What is your plan?"

  She shook her head. "I have none. I was forced into immediate action by your situation, and I had no time. Nummer Ein planned to have Doppelgängers made of all of you and return them to your starship. Your shipmates would never have known the difference, and your replicas would have been in his power."

  Kirk frowned at her. "Why? How does your Herr-Elite keep the Doppelgängers under control? I'd think they'd revolt"

  She shook her head. "They dare not. Here in this room are the records for each Doppelgänger on Bavarya. Any sign of revolt from one of them, or any group of them, and the Herr-Elite technicians simply come up here, take out that individual's record, and destroy him."

  "Destroy him how?" Scott asked.

  "I don't know, but he simply disappears."

  Spock looked up and down the long banks of equipment, some of it recognizable, some not. "Most interesting," he said.

  "That's a great contribution," Kirk muttered. His own eyes were darting over the endless machinery. "Scotty, comments?"

  The engineer was scowling. His voice, as always when under pressure, had the heavy Scottish burr of his youth. "I don't know," he said. "Mon, it would take me forever to trace out the beastie circuits and figure out the workings of all this."

  Kirk darted a look at Anna. "Where is everybody? How long will it be before somebody comes?"

  She shook her head. "Only a selected few of the Herr-Elite technicians and scientists are allowed in here. They know how to operate and repair the equipment, but they could never rebuild it. Right now they are all undoubtedly at the viewing screens watching the arena show. When it is discovered you have escaped, undoubtedly some will rush here."

  Kirk snapped, "Scotty, Spock-get at it. Bones, any comments?"

  McCoy's eyes were narrow in thought "Jim, as I remember, in the experiments that took place in this field long ago, the person duplicated had a matrix- a mold or impression. Wipe clean the matrix and the duplicate simply reverted to the molecules of which it was composed." He made a motion toward the banks of files. "Undoubtedly those contain the matrixes of every Doppelgänger on Bavarya. But beyond that, I know nothing."

  Kirk drew the communicator Anna had given him from the small pouch in his gladiator kilts and raised the antenna grid. "Captain Kirk to the Enterprise."

  When Uhura's answer came, there was relief in the communications officer's voice. "Lieutenant Uhura here, Captain. We've been worried about you."

  "Is the ship still under fire, Lieutenant?"

  "Yes, sir. Not always, but intermittently. We don't dare lower the deflector shields."

  "Mr. Sulu, please."

  Sum's voice came through. "Aye, aye, Captain."

  "Mr. Sulu, get a fix on us. I want the ship's sensors and computers, the full efforts of the electronic brain of the Enterprise, concentrated on this hall. The problem is to determine the workings of the equipment the hall contains. At once, Mr. Sulu. I'll keep in touch."r />
  "Aye, aye, Captain. How much time do we have?"

  "None. Over and out"

  Kirk turned back to the others. "Scotty?"

  Scott and Spock had both been going from one piece of equipment to another, shaking their heads in bafflement. "Time, Captain," Scott said. "If I only had time I could easily figure out every machine in the place."

  "We need inspiration now. We don't have time. The most we can expect is one hour from the time we left the arena. Our absence will be discovered then, if not sooner. And we've already used the greater part of it getting here."

  Yeoman Janice Rand said in sudden excitement, "Captain! That bank of dials and switches over there. The one with the impressive chair before it"

  Kirk looked at her and then where she was pointing. "What of it? There are a score of what are obviously some sort of control panels in this hall."

  "But none with a chair that... that fancy. It must be the seat of someone particularly important."

  Kirk looked at Anna. "Comments?"

  She said slowly, "I have been in here only once before. When I was a little girl my father brought me. I... I think he sat there."

  "Scott!" Kirk snapped. "See what you can find."

  The engineer hurried in the direction of the control banks in question. Behind them they could hear the elevator begin to hum.

  The whole group hurried over to where Scott was staring down in despair at the electronic control board. "Whoosh, mon, I haven't time!" he protested. He stared at dials, switches, buttons, and levers and shook his head.

  Kirk activated his communicator. "Kirk to the Enterprise. Nothing?"

  "Uhura here," the voice came back urgently. "No, sir. We've got the fix on your group, but so far, nothing."

  "Put the computer voice directly on."

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  Scott had plumped himself down in the elaborate chair, his hands racing over the various controls, but he restrained himself from actually attempting to manipulate devices he didn't understand.

  'This red switch," he muttered. "There's a wee control lock on it-to prevent it from being accidentally activated, undoubtedly. But what's it for? What does it do?" He threw off the lock. "I don't dare move it"