V03 - The Pursuit of Diana

by Allen L. Wold

  "You two make sure nobody causes any trouble in here,"

  Sancho told them. Then he unlocked the door and went in. William and the two male guards followed him.

  Inside, William called out names, and those who answered he directed to stand to one side. When he finished, there were seventeen technicians out of the fifty or so Visitors present.

  "Put those others in a back room," Sancho told the guards. The prisoners, not wanting any trouble, began to comply. The fifth columnist Tim closed the door on them while Ralph stood watch at the corridor.

  "It's like this," Sancho said. "You're all highly trained; you all know about the conversion process. What we need is to know how to deconvert people, make them normal again. Can that be done?"

  "No real problem," one of the technicians said, "provided the convertee hasn't been damaged in the process."

  "We're not going to worry about that," Sancho said. "Not now anyway. But you know that when we get back to Earth, you're not going to be very popular." The technicians, about half men, half women, shuffled uneasily. "But anyone who helps us, well, we'll try to treat you like friends instead of enemies."

  "How can you ask us to collaborate with you?" one of the men, a technician named Philip, asked. "Our world is dying. We were only trying to survive."

  "Okay," Sancho said, "so you can stay here. But don't you see, we can help you if we can just get on our feet again."

  "You'd give us your water?"

  "Man, we've got ice caps we don't know what to do with. We've got lots of water, that's no problem. If you had been straight with us instead of trying to cheat us, we could have helped you. So okay, we still can, but we've got to make sure our mayors and presidents are okay first. Can you understand it?"

  "You accuse us of betrayal," a woman named Lucy said, "but how do we know you won't betray us in return?"

  "And you," Sancho Gomez said, "asked us to take you on faith. So now I'm asking you to take us on faith."

  "I think we owe it to them, Kyle," a second man told his companion. "They don't want their world to die any more than we want ours to die, and we tried to kill them all."

  "No way," Kyle said. "They may look like people—sort of—but they're just relavish. Count me out."

  "Hey, you lizard," Sancho said. "I know what that word means. What it really means is that your mind is small. You're afraid of me. You think you're something special. Well, maybe you are, but it's you who's locked up in this room, not me. You want out? Then try being a little more friendly."

  The technician turned away.

  "I'll help," someone said from the back of the group.

  "Okay," Sancho said as the man came forward. "Who are you?"

  "Arnold," the technician said.

  William looked at his list. "He's a specialist in feedback and deep-mind probing," he told the rebel.

  "Sounds like just the guy we need," Sancho said. "Okay, Arnold, let's go talk to Martin. If you behave yourself, we could become good friends."

  With Arnold between them, Sancho and William left the compartment. The two fifth columnists backed out and closed the door behind them.

  "How about some lunch, Tim," one said. "Come along?"

  "Not right now, Ralph," Tim said. "I'm going to get some shut-eye. Haven't slept in twenty hours."

  "Okay, I'll see you later." Ralph went off in one direction, and Tim started in the other, but when Ralph was out of sight, Tim came back to the compartment door and stepped inside.

  The technicians, and a few of the others who'd come back from the other room, looked up apprehensively. "Kyle," Tim said. "Philip, Lucy, come with me." He drew his pistol and stepped aside to let them precede him out the door. When the door closed behind him, he holstered his gun.

  "I liked the way you talked in there," he said. "You sound just like the kind of people we need."

  "There's an underground?" Philip asked.

  "You've got it. Our race against theirs. We'll work out a story later, so you can go back in there and find more supporters. Right now I want to take you to Gretchen. We're working on a plan to free Diana."

  Chapter 7

  "The telepathic effect was an unexpected by-product," Arnold was explaining to Martin. They were sitting to one side of the command center William and Sancho had returned to their quarters for some much needed rest, but Caleb Taylor, Maggie Blodgett, and the medical assistant Aaron were sitting in on the interview. "We discovered it," Arnold went on, "only a month or so ago. Diana was extremely interested, to say the least, and had set up a series of experiments, but we had time to run only a few of them."

  "Can anybody do that?" Caleb asked. "Give telepathic commands to a convertee?"

  "Anybody with a strong enough personality," Arnold said, "which Diana certainly has. As far as we can tell, it works only one way, and only across racial lines. That is, one of us can send to a human convertee, and a human can send to one of us. Convertees can only receive, as far as we know."

  "People have been trying to prove the existance of psi powers for years," Maggie Blodgett said. "Just think of what we could do with it if we could induce the ability without actually converting people's minds."

  "I don't know that I want anybody reading my mind," Caleb said.

  "it really doesn't work that way," Arnold said. "You can't

  'read' somebody, only pick up their sending. At least as far as we know. And we really don't know much at all about it."

  "A most promising line of investigation nonetheless," - Aaron agreed. "But we'll have to save that for later. Right now we need to be able to reverse the conversion process. I take it that's possible?"

  "It's not often done," Arnold said, "and certainly the deconversion won't be perfect, but, yes, we can reverse most of the effects."

  "That's all we need to know," Caleb said. "And you'll teach us how to use the equipment?"

  "It's the least I can do. The ecological disaster that's destroying our planet was our own doing. We have no right to destroy your world too."

  "I'm glad you see it that way," Martin said. "I hope that we'll be able to save our world anyway once we—"

  "Martin!" Peter called from the command center's entrance. "We've got trouble. A group of trustees have turned and are attacking Diana's prison. They're trying to set her free."

  The side corridor off which Diana's prison was located joined at right angles a larger corridor down which Caleb Taylor Maggie Blodgett, and Peter were now running. Arnold and Aaron had stayed behind to call other fifth columnists and rebels to help thwart the escape attempt.

  As the entrance to the side corridor came in sight, the group slowed, drew their sidearms, and approached with hasty caution. They could hear the whining sound of a power drill. Hoping the noise would cover their approach, they turned into the corridor entrance to see a number of turncoats, several working the large device at Diana's door the rest facing them with drawn weapons.

  Wild and explosive shots flashed from both sides. Peter received a small wound, but the others were able to duck back around the corner. Their own fire had been ineffective.

  Caleb and Martin tried to maneuver into a position from which they could see down the corridor but the turncoats' fire kept them ducking. Even Martin's crack marksmanship was ineffective here.

  Aaron came up from behind them with word that other rebels and fifth columnists would soon be joining them, even as the support party appeared at the other end of the main corridor.

  The turncoats must have heard them, because a sudden fusillade of fire blazed out from the corridor entrance.

  "We've got to get to them from the other side," Caleb cried.

  "Then we'll be shooting at each other," Martin said. He gestured to the reinforcements at the other side of the corridor entrance. Meanwhile, the sound of the drill went on, now changing in pitch as it began to bite into the material of Diana's prison door.

  When Martin had everybody's attention, he signaled for a cease-fire. The turncoats continued to s
hoot, making enough noise to obscure most of his words, but he relied on gestures to convey his plan. He set Peter facedown on the deck, close to the corner, with Maggie Blodgett kneeling beside him, then Aaron standing next to her; and indicated that the rebels and fifth columnists on the other side of the entrance arrange themselves similarly. Using his hands, he showed them just what he wanted them to do when he gave the signal. Then they waited.

  The turncoats stopped firing after a moment. After all, no target had presented itself for some time. The whine of the drill continued. It was now the only noise in the corridor. When Martin felt he had let the turncoats stew long enough, he gave his signal. The six fighters lying, kneeling, or standing by either corner moved in unison, having completely clear lines of fire as they turned their respective corners. Then he and Caleb, and two rebels from the other side, stepped full into the entrance.

  Their timing was perfect, their volley decimating. Tense and unnerved at the long silence, the turncoats were taken unprepared, though they faced Martin and his people with drawn guns. Four turncoats went down, the drill was struck and rendered inoperative, and four others, who had been behind the bulky device, managed to escape but not without wounds.

  The battle was over as quickly as that. Three of the fallen turncoats were dead, but the fourth, Tim, who had been in the fifth column almost since the beginning, was still alive, though mortally wounded.

  Aaron knelt beside the dying Visitor. "Why did you do it?" he asked while Maggie Blodgett and Martin looked on.

  "We are the people," Tim said. "These others," he waved a weak but disparaging hand, "they are just cattle."

  "You know that's not true," Aaron said. "Mammal or reptile, we share a common intelligence."

  "No," Tim insisted, though his voice was weak. "Our two races can never find a common ground. And we'll win, Aaron. The eight of us were not the only ones who have seen the truth. There are others—among the trustees, locked in compartments, even among the fifth column, as I was."

  "How can you hope to win?" Maggie asked. "There are so few of you, and you're not soldiers."

  "You were few," Tim said. "You were not soldiers, yet you drove us away. You defeated a force of fifty ships. The odds are about the same now, only it is we, the truly loyal, who will prevail this time."

  "No," Aaron said. "We won't let it happen." But his words were wasted. A thin stream of green blood trickled out of Tim's mouth as the Visitor died.

  "But it could happen," Martin said. He squatted down on his heels, and then sat on the deck. "We don't know who to trust, they can get to us any time."

  "Lock everybody up," Maggie suggested.

  "Then who would run the ship?" Martin asked.

  "Well, not you, for one," Aaron said. "You haven't slept since long before we came on board."

  "I'll be all right," Martin insisted, though his resonant voice was oddly hoarse and ragged.

  "Two hours' sleep," Aaron insisted. He stood and Maggie helped him bring Martin to his feet. The fifth column leader was too weak to resist. He was already half asleep as it was. Maggie and Aaron half carried, half walked him along the corridors till they came to a medical lab.

  "Put him on that cot," Aaron said. "I'll get a sedative."

  Martin sat on the edge of the hospital cot, but when Maggie tried to get him to lie down, he pushed her away. He was staring at a strange chair set into an alcove in the far wall.

  "Why didn't I think of it before?" he said, and forced himself to his feet.

  "Martin," Maggie said, "please, you're going to kill yourself."

  "But don't you see?" Martin said. "This is where Diana gave Mike Donovan the truth serum that made him reveal that I was his contact to the fifth column."

  "Truth serum?" Aaron asked. He was carrying a flat device with a pistol-grip handle, a hypodermic that needed no needle.

  "Yes," Martin said. "Truth serum. It took a lot to work on Mike, but it should be a lot more effective on us."

  Martin lay on the hospital cot, sound asleep, completely oblivious to the activity going on around him. Mike Donovan and Juliet Parrish had been summoned and had come to witness the experiment. Caleb and Elias Taylor had brought in three trustees without having told them the purpose of this experiment, and Barbara joined them as Maggie Blodgett and Aaron put the first of them, a woman named Jennifer, into the alcove chair.

  "Do you have any idea how much Diana used on you?" Aaron asked Mike. He was holding the syringe device that held the truth serum.

  "All I know is that she shot me with it twice."

  "It's set for twenty, but then she'd have to compensate for your differing metabolism and body chemistry." He turned the knob on the syringe. "I'll try it at five first."

  Under questioning, the trustee admitted some reservation but seemed to be sympathetic to the humans' cause.

  "That's not conclusive," Julie said. "She could be agreeing with us just to throw us off."

  "I know," Aaron said. "Maybe we ought to test one of us, like Barbara or myself."

  "Let's go ahead and run these other two through first," Elias suggested. He pushed the male Visitor he was holding over to the chair while Maggie helped Jennifer to a cot.

  "What is your name?" Aaron asked the Visitor after giving the injection.

  "Kyle," the Visitor said.

  "Are you human or Visitor?" Mike asked.

  "I'm a Visitor," Kyle answered.

  "How do you feel about humans?"

  "I hate them," Kyle said. He showed no signs of resistance, simply stated his feelings.

  "You're a trustee," Aaron said. "You said you'd obey Martin's orders, isn't that right?"

  "That's right," Kyle said. His voice was becoming slurred, and his head was shaking slightly.

  "That's not a good question," Caleb said. "He's been telling the truth about what he told Martin, but he could have been lying then."

  "All right," Aaron said. He paused a moment, then asked Kyle one more question. "Whose side are you on, Martin's or Diana's?"

  "Diana's," Kyle said.

  "He's going to pass out in a minute," Aaron said.

  "Jennifer already has," Maggie told them. "You'd better use less next time."

  "I'll set it for three."

  Caleb Taylor brought the third trustee forward. "No," Aaron said. "I'm next." And he shot the dose into his own neck.

  "Why did you do that?" Donovan asked, alarmed.

  "To prove myself," Aaron said, moving to sit in the alcove chain

  "But surely you don't think we doubt you?" Julie asked.

  "No, I don't think that." His eyes got a bit out of focus.

  "Hey, come on," Elias said. "This is a good test, he'll cooperate. Say Aaron, what color is your skin?"

  "Green," Aaron said.

  "Have you ever eaten a human?"

  "No."

  "What do you think of your Leader?"

  "He's a tyrant and a monster."

  "Have you been keeping a secret from us?"

  "Yes."

  "What is it?"

  "I was Diana's lover for a while."

  The plan was actually quite simple. After Aaron recovered from his injection and Martin awoke, they all discussed how to proceed. It was decided that all the fifth columnists without exception would be tested first. That would encourage the cooperation of the trustees and the other Visitors who were now being kept prisoner. In each case, someone who knew the subject would ask a question the answer to which the subject would rather not be known. If they passed that test, then the rest of their answers could probably be trusted. After that, the trustees would be tested, and those who didn't pass would be weeded out. Any who refused would be assumed to be enemies.

  That agreed upon, Barbara volunteered to be the next to undergo the ordeal. She passed with flying colors, as did Martin and Petei; much to everyone's relief. Caleb Taylor was just bringing in the first group of fifth columnists when Sancho Gomez came bursting in.

  "Those damn bastards somehow g
ot guns," he said.

  "Who?" Mike Donovan demanded.

  "I don't know, but they're shooting at us. William's been hurt."

  "We can't fight," Robert Maxwell said, pacing up and down the conference room. "We can't go home." Though it was still some hours before dawn, all the rebels were awake and present. "And we can't sit still any longer. What are we going to do?"

  "I got a message from Linda at the lighthouse, just a few minutes ago," Claire Bryant said. "They're having the same problem, only worse, because of the Visitor technicians with them. At least they all have the antitoxin now, so they don't have to wear their respirators, but there's a problem with providing them with live food."

  "Pet stores," Robert said. "Haven't they thought of that?"

  "Well, yes," Claire said, "but they've bought out all the rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, parakeets, and even kittens and rabbits in the stores in their area."

  "Not kittens too," Paul Overbloom cried.

  "Well, that was what was left."

  "How about snakes and lizards?" came a voice from the door. It was Ham Tyler, with Chris Faber right behind him.

  "Thank God you're back," Robert said, rushing over to pump his hand and pound his shoulder. "We still haven't heard any word from the ship."

  "I think we can write them off," Ham said. "We're going to have plenty enough problems as it is."

  "You've talked with the network. What do they have to say?"

  "Nothing very good." He came into the room. All the rebels gave him their attention. "From one source or another, I've learned that the President, Vice President, the entire cabinet, and the most influential members of both houses of Congress have probably been converted. Federal government is at a standstill. Local government isn't much better. Dammit, there were an awful lot of official visits to the Mother Ship over the last year. Every one of them is suspect. And the real problem is that two hundred fifty million people out there, almost the entire population of this country, aren't even aware of it."

  "It's the most bizarre situation in the world," Chris put in. "You go out on the street, and if you don't know what's going on, it looks like business as usual. Prices are coming down, products are available again. Ask anybody and they'll tell you that we'll be back to normal within a month."