Alton's Unguessable

by Jeff Sutton

  "It's tried." She attempted a smile.

  "Yes, in the forest and through Yozell, but it's had other opportunities. Why didn't it kill us when we ran out from the grass, before we entered the ship? It would have taken only a twist, or two twists." He saw her shudder and continued, "It could have killed us with the mind power easily enough, but didn't. Perhaps that gives us an edge."

  "I don't follow you," she admitted.

  "Perhaps it's afraid to use the mind power close to the ship, or inside it, for fear of wrecking it. That makes it all but certain that its prime objective is to escape from this planet."

  "I still don't see why it didn't kill you like…" She faltered.

  "Weber? Why it didn't snap my neck? It could have, I suppose, but a laser's just as thorough; or perhaps it wasn't ready for another baffling death. A laser spells murder; there would be no questions, and the assumption would be murder by another human. Who would ever suspect an alien of using such a weapon." He had to grin. "I'll have to hand it to whatever it is, it's getting to think just like a human."

  "That's grisly," she declared.

  "I believe our best chance is to wait, see what happens."

  "You think… ?" She eyed him expectantly.

  "The alien will certainly react to Yozell's death. Having failed to kill me won't keep it from trying again. I seem to be a special target, or perhaps I should say we'' A startling idea struck him. "Could it be because we're telepaths?"

  "Would it know that?"

  "If it's had a chance to read our minds, yes." He paused, caught by an idea. "Remember how I blinded it by killing the birds? That's why it had to destroy the entire forest in the attempt to kill us."

  "You're ahead of me," she confessed.

  "Just toying with ideas. Perhaps it has to see us to use the mind power selectively. That would account for it sending Yozell—to see me through Yozell's eyes."

  "That's logical." She nodded.

  "Our aim is to keep out of sight, and out of the sight of its victims, or perhaps I should call them hosts. I'm also certain that another emissary will stop by to dicker with us."

  "Dicker?"

  "A euphemism for murder."

  "I'm frightened," she confessed.

  "We both are." He held her glance, tried not to read her mind but the thought came anyway—the desire to hide in his arms.

  "Yes, that's the way I feel," she said tremulously. She buried her face in his shoulder. Holding her, he realized the awesome stakes they faced. If he failed—they failed— the whole human race could be wiped from the universe as neatly as one eliminated an ant nest. The Third Empire could go the way of the temple builders. The Imperator and Council of Overlords, for all the fleets they commanded, would be as impotent as the mice in the fields. A million nuclear weapons couldn't alter that. The end of man! Inconceivable, but it could happen. In the scale of time, the probability would become certainty. But not now; not while the human race was still reaching out, still in the bloom of its youth. But it could happen.

  If they failed!

  But they wouldn't, he vowed grimly. He could take the laser, slice through the outer bulkheads,, hold it downward at the proper angle and destroy the giant energy converters. Oh, there were ways, That's why the big interstellar ships carried psychmedics—rather than just the garden variety medic—to detect instability. One man with a laser could…

  His reflections were jolted as the room around him stirred with a gentle, bobbing motion. Lara jerked her face from his shoulder. "We're lifting off," she cried. He released her, sensing the slight forces of acceleration acting against his body.

  "Yes, lifting." He stared at her.

  "With the alien on board," she whispered.

  "Still on the passenger list." He tried a smile.

  EIGHT

  Keim sensed movement in the outer corridor.

  "The other room, quick!" He jerked his head toward the small cubicle where he had hidden Yozell's body. Lara rose hurriedly.

  "Be careful," she warned anxiously. When the door closed behind her, Keim riveted his attention on the passageway. He had the subtle sense of presence, nothing more, yet felt certain this would be another emissary from the alien.

  A rap came at the door.

  "Roger, I have to speak to you!" Myron Kimbrough's voice, although flat and lifeless, held the certainty that the telepath was inside. Keim's mind spun. Kimbrough couldn't possibly have known that except through Yozell. While it was possible that Yozell previously had passed the information to Kimbrough, it wasn't likely. The implication was that Yozell and Kimbrough had been linked telepathically, either directly or through the mind of the alien. Keim considered the latter more probable.

  "Roger!" The call came again. Keim reached a decision. Gripping the laser, he opened the door and stepped behind it. To his surprise, Kimbrough entered with Ivor Bascomb, the botanist. Both paused, scanning the seemingly empty room. ,

  "I'm behind you with a laser," warned Keim. "Don't look around."

  "Laser?" asked Kimbrough.

  "A precaution," he explained. A quick touching of their minds told him they were deep wells of nothingness. If he could see their eyes, he knew they would be blank, lacking in luster. But their movements were less mechanical than Yozell's had been. Was the alien learning to manipulate his humans? He asked, "What do you want?"

  "We were worried about you—you and Lara."

  "We lost the skimmers, had to walk back."

  "Lost them?"

  "A tree fell, smashed them."

  "That was quite unusual, Roger."

  "Highly unusual," he agreed.

  Kimbrough moved his head slowly. "Where's Lara?"

  "Probably sleeping. She was tired."

  "Ah, yes." He moved his head farther to speak over his shoulder. "Frankly, Roger, we have something to discuss with you. Is it all right if we sit?"

  "If you face away from me," he assented. ^ "That's foolish," chided Bascomb.

  "Is it? I'm not that certain." He directed them to turn the couch and sit with their backs to him. As they did, he again noticed that they moved more freely than had Yozell. When they were seated, he asked, "How did you know I was here?"

  "We knew," replied Kimbrough. "The alien?"

  "No life form is alien once you know it, Roger."

  "It sent you?"

  "To make you see reason. You're being very foolish."

  "Suppose you tell me about it."

  "Killing Yozell—"

  "It wasn't Yozell," he grated harshly. "Wearing Yozell's body, perhaps, but not Yozell."

  "Murder is murder, Roger."

  "Whatever was speaking through Yozell now is speaking through you, is that correct?"

  "Essentially." Kimbrough nodded.

  "You're a scientist, Myron. Either it's speaking or you're speaking. Which is it?"

  "You can't make that kind of a distinction, Roger; but I'm still myself, as you very well can see. Correct, Ivor?"

  "Correct," answered Bascomb.

  "And what's left of you?" demanded Keim. "Blank eyes, a blank mind."

  "Blank mind? No, Roger." Kimbrough shook his head gravely. "I can see back through, oh, I don't know how many billions of years. I've watched madly spinning galaxies so distant they resembled fireflies in a pitch-black night. I've seen the dust of cities at the dead end of the universe —have seen through time and space beyond the ability of the human mind to calculate. I know now what primitives we are."

  "Scarcely convincing, Myron."

  "The alien, as you think of him—his name is Uli, by the way—is the most advanced form of life in the universe. Not just this galaxy, Roger, but all galaxies. The former inhabitants of this planet worshipped him as a god."

  "And died," snapped Keim.

  "And died." Kimbrough nodded. "They were of scant use."

  "Scarcely a reason for genocide, I would say."

  "A primitive view. Compared to Uli, we are less than savages."

  "I like my
savage state, Myron."

  "He's immortal, Roger.*'

  "No Life is immortal." Even as Keim spoke he remembered the alien's awesome powers and had a moment of doubt. Immortal? Such a creature would be invincible. "Did it tell you that?"

  "We know it, Roger."

  "You share its mind?"

  "Glimpses here and there. We will shard it more fully as we learn and grow, mature sufficiently to take our rightful place in the universe. Think of the tremendous advantage that will be to the human race, Roger."

  "You're crazy," he exclaimed. "Can't you see what this means?"

  "We've thought it through very carefully."

  "With the alien's guidance, no doubt. Did you have an option, or did you just suddenly find yourself a mouthpiece for God-alone-knows-what?"

  "We can already count our benefits."

  "Name one."

  "He's made us telepathic. That's a gift all humans will enjoy." ,

  "Telepathic?" Keim stared at him.

  "Assuredly, and it's a magnificent insight. I never realized the added dimensions it can give to life. You have been quite fortunate, Roger. Now all humans will enjoy that fortune."

  "Read me," he commanded.

  "If you will allow me to turn."

  "Is sight necessary?"

  "To read your mind?" In the sudden stillness, Keim knew his suspicion was right—Kimbrough, the gulls, perhaps the alien itself, were telepathically limited to the visual field. Yet the alien communicated with birds far beyond its visual field; that almost certainly was true in the case of the lone gulls above the temple. But if the alien actually projected fragments of its mind into its hosts, it undoubtedly could contact those fragments wherever they might be. In that case the mind and all its far-flung fragments could function as a unity, yet telepathically be limited to the visual field when it came to nonhosts. Did that make sense? Keim thought it did. But that didn't hold for the mind power, if he were to judge by the way the alien had destroyed the forest following the deaths of the gulls. Still, the alien had its limitations.

  "Well…" Kimbrough paused again.

  "It is, isn't it?" He spoke quickly, hoping to keep the chief scientist off balance. Only he wasn't speaking to the scientist; he was speaking directly to the being called Uli. He knew that now. All the rest was just a charade, a crazy game. A pretense.

  "No," Kimbrough replied.

  "Then read my mind! You can't, not without seeing me!"

  "That's a minor consideration, Roger."

  Keim laughed harshly. "Who's the telepath, you or the alien?"

  "It's somewhat like a partnership. Right, Ivor?"

  "Well stated," answered Bascomb. "You'd be far happier if you joined us, Roger."

  "Why should I?"

  "For your own good."

  "And if I refuse?"

  "I can't answer for what might happen."

  "I take it that your alien friend doesn't like options."

  "Talk sense, Roger."

  "How many of you does he control?"

  "It's a partnership." Kimbrough's voice was measured, mechanical,* devoid of emotion.

  "Captain Woon?"

  "He's a sensible man."

  "How many others?"

  "You'll know when you join us, Roger."

  Keim hesitated. The more information he got, the better. Or would the alien perceive his intent. "What would be the advantage?" he asked finally.

  "Remember how many times we discussed the possibility that one day humanity might encounter a superior form of life?" Kimbrough turned his head farther to the side.

  "Careful," snapped Keim.

  As if he hadn't heard, Kimbrough continued, "We used to wonder, if that day came, how man would react. Now that the time has come, I'm glad to say that we're acting sensibly and logically. The human race will progress a. million years within the space of several months. Isn't that sufficient incentive?"

  "Who is this Uli? I'd like to know more about him first."

  "He's invisible. You might call him pure thought."

  "Nonsense, Myron."

  "Why should you doubt it?"

  "Because I know what it wants."

  "You do?"

  "It wants this ship; it wants to get a foothold in the galaxy. It was locked to this planet until we came, now it sees a way out."

  "It is the pronoun for inanimate objects, or for reference to lower animals," Kimbrough said. "The correct term is he."

  "You're evading the issue."

  "I am? But he is leaving, Roger. We're enroute to the Empire, now, and all mankind will be grateful to us. He's a superior being."

  "He is? Then why was he locked to this planet? Where is his civilization? Good God, Myron, do you know what you're doing? You're courting the destruction of the human race."

  "He's pure thought," rebuked Kimbrough.

  "No, he's something else." Staring at their backs, Keim wondered why he bothered to argue. Certainly none of it registered in their minds. Besides, he wasn't speaking to Kimbrough and Bascomb; he was speaking to the alien. And the alien was on his way to the Empire! The knowledge brought a quiet desperation. How could he fight a being that he couldn't see? Invisible? Pure thought? No, that was a blind. Uli, whoever or whatever he was, existed in physical form, was hidden somewhere on the ship. There were thousands of compartments, any number of places where he might be concealed. But he had to find him, find him and kill him. Or destroy the ship! The resolve burned fiercely in his mind.

  Bascomb said, "You'll have to decide, Roger."

  "Is that a threat?"

  "Take it any way you want."

  Kimbrough snapped his fingers. "Uli could kill you like that."

  "I don't doubt but that he could rip the planet apart," Keim conceded. "I've seen a few examples. But could he risk unleashing such power on the ship? He'd destroy it. He'd have to know exactly where I was, and he can't know that because he can't see me."

  "How little you know." Kimbrough sighed.

  "One thing I do know, Myron. He'll never reach an Empire planet."

  "How can you say that?"

  "I'll destroy the ship first. One small laser can do that."

  "You'd kill yourself?"

  "The price is small considering the stakes."

  "You're being emotional, Roger."

  "I am? Don't try to trick me, Myron. There are two of us, both armed. If the alien kills me, Lara will destroy the ship immediately, and vice versa. You can put that in your daily report."

  "You'd rob humanity of this great opportunity?" asked Bascomb. Keim fancied the flat voice held a note of incredulity.

  "Opportunity?" Keim gazed at him. "How many of you see it that way?"

  "Uli controls the ship, Roger. It makes small difference what others think." He paused. "They'll die, of course."

  Keim shook his head slowly. "You're not human, neither of you. You're empty shells, mindless shadow-voices for whatever it is that inhabits you. Do you believe I'll let a thing like that get a foothold in the Empire? I'll destroy the ship first." He raised his voice. "Do you hear that, Uli? You're going to die!"

  In the silence that followed, his visitors sat silently, as if in contemplation of some peaceful scene. They weren't human, he thought. In form, yes, but in no other way. Zombies made to walk and talk and act as if alive, but they were soulless. Did any spark of human awareness still crouch somewhere deep in their brains? He hoped not. Gazing at them, he wondered why the alien didn't strike back.

  Finally Kimbrough said, "You're not thinking straight, Roger. You've had a hard night. Better catch some sleep."

  "I'm thinking straight, Myron."

  "We'll talk again after you've rested." He and Bascomb rose simultaneously. His laser ready, Keim was careful to remain outside their visual fields as they retreated from the room. He locked the door behind them, his thoughts in tumult. To what end had the alien sent them? To kill him, just as Yozell had tried to kill him! He had scant doubt of that. But to kill him, the alien ha
d to see him! Either that or unleash the mind force as blindly as he had in the forest. That scarcely was possible without risking the destruction of the ship. The ship was the important thing. Not life, but the ship. The ship and the zombies to run it.

  "Uli." He tested the name, speculating what its possessor was like. Certainly not invisible as Kimbrough had claimed, or as Uli had claimed through Kimbrough's voice. He felt certain that claim had been projected to discourage any search. Yet how had the alien gotten aboard unobserved? Night was out; the force field took care of that. Yozell's bird? No, the bird was but another host. How then? It seemed all but impossible. Unless…

  Keim felt his nerves tingle. Subconsciously he'd thought of Uli as large, perhaps human-sized, but nothing in the rules said he had to be large. Perhaps he was small—so small he could have been carried aboard in someone's pocket! The possibility rocketed through his mind.

  "Roger?" Lara's call came as a whisper inside him.

  "They're gone" he answered tiredly.

  Uli's terror had flared anew when, in the dawn hour, the two telepaths suddenly had emerged from the grass to mingle with the crewmen. He could have killed them instantly through the mind force, for they were in perfect view through the eyes of a score of birds, but to have done so in the presence of others not yet under control might have been disastrous.

  On entering the ship they'd vanished from view, only to have the male telepath contact Yozell. For a while then, his death had seemed certain. Because use of the mind force might have caused a -new wave of fear, he'd decided to have Yozell kill him. But the male telepath somehow had anticipated such a possibility; it had been Yozell who had died.

  Why hadn't he seen the intent in the telepath's mind? There was a curious blockage there, a something that defied probing. His surface thoughts were mere fragments, his deeper thoughts came through scarcely at all. Yet he communicated telepathically with the female! What was there in Roger Keim's mind?

  Worse, upon the death of Yozell, the male telepath again had been lost to sight. Hurriedly, he'd dispatched Kim-brough and Bascomb to the telepath's quarters, but with no better results.