A Gift From Earth

by Larry Niven

  He'd doubled the guard at the Alpha-Beta Bridge. Knowing that the bridge was the only way off the cliff and across the Long Fall River at the bottom, he had nonetheless set guards along the cliff edge. No normal colonist could leave Alpha Plateau without a car. (But could something abnormal walk unseen past the guards?)

  And no fugitive would leave in a police car. Jesus Pietro had ordered all police cars to fly in pairs for the duration. The fugitives would be flying alone.

  As part colonist, Jesus Pietro had not been allowed to hear Millard Parlette's speech, but he knew it was over. Crew cars were flying again. If the fugitives stole a crew car, they might have a chance. But the Hospital would be informed immediately if a crew car was stolen. (Really? A police car had been stolen, and he'd had to find out for himself.)

  Nobody and nothing had been found in the abandoned coral houses. (But would anything important have been seen?)

  Most of the escaped prisoners were safe in the vivarium. (From which they had escaped before, without bothering to turnoff their sleeper helmets.)

  Jesus Pietro wasn't used to dealing with ghosts.

  It would require brand new techniques.

  Grimly he set out to evolve them.

  The arguments began during dinner.

  Dinner took place at the unconventional hour of three o'clock. It was good, very good. Lydia Hancock still looked like a sour old harridan, but to Matt, anyone who could cook like her deserved the benefit of the doubt. They had finished the mutton chops when Harry Kane turned to business.

  "There are five of us left," he said. "What can we do to get the rest of us loose?"

  "We could blow the pumping station," Hood suggested. It developed that the pumping station, which supplied Alpha Plateau with water from the Long Fall was the crew's only source of water. It was located at the base of the Alpha-Beta cliff. The Sons of Earth had long ago planted mines to blow it apart. "It would give us a diversion."

  "And cut off the power, too," said Matt, remembering that hydrogen for fusion can be taken from water.

  "Oh, no. The power plants only use a few buckets of water in a year, Keller. A diversion for what, Jay? Any suggestions?"

  "Matt. He got us out once. He can do it again, now that he knows — "

  "Oh no you don't. I am not a revolutionary. I told you why I went to the Hospital, and I won't go there again."

  Thus, the arguments.

  On Matt's side there was little said. He wasn't going back to the Hospital. If he could, he would return to Gamma and live out his life there, trusting his psi power to protect him. If he had to live elsewhere — even if he had to spend the rest of his life in hiding on Alpha Plateau — so be it. His life might be disrupted now, but it was not worthless enough to throw away.

  He got no sympathy from anyone, not even from Laney. On their part the arguments ranged from appeals to his patriotism or to his love of admiration, to attacks on his personality, to threats of bodily harm to himself and his family. Jay Hood was the most vituperative. You would have thought he had invented "the luck of Matt Keller," that Matt had stolen it. He seemed genuinely convinced that he held a patent on psi power on the Plateau.

  In a way it was ludicrous. They begged him, they browbeat him, they threatened him — and with never a chance of succeeding. Once they actually succeeded in frightening him, and once their personal comments annoyed him beyond the limits of patience. Both times the arguments ended abruptly, and Matt was left alone in his irritation while the Sons of Earth discussed whatever came to mind, their pupils contracting to pinpoints whenever they looked at him.

  After the second such episode Harry Kane realized what was happening and ordered the others to lay off. It was interfering with their ability to make plans, he said.

  "Go somewhere else," he told Matt. "If you're not going to help us, at least don't listen to our plans. Feeble though they'll probably be, there's no reason we should risk your hearing them. You might use the information to buy your way back into Castro's good graces."

  "You're an ungrateful son of a bitch," said Matt, "and I demand an apology."

  "Okay, I apologize. Now go somewhere else."

  Matt went out into the garden.

  The mist was back, but it was an overhanging mist now, turning the sky steel gray, bleaching colors out of the garden, turning the void from a fuzzy flat plain into a dome around the universe. Matt found a stone bench and sat down and put his head in his hands.

  He was shaking. A mass verbal attack can do that to a man, can smash his self-respect and set up doubts which remain for hours or days or forever. There are well-developed verbal techniques for many to use against one. You never let the victim speak without interruption; never let him finish a sentence. You interrupt each other so that he can't quite catch the drift of your arguments, and then he can't find the flaws. He forgets his rebuttal points because he's not allowed to put them into words. His only defense is to walk out. If, instead, you throw him out...

  Gradually his confusion gave way to a kind of sick, curdled anger. The ungrateful...! He'd saved their worthless lives twice, and where was their thanks? Well, he didn't need them. He'd never needed them for a moment.

  He knew what he was now. Hood had given him that much. He knew, and he could take advantage of it.

  He could become the world's first invulnerable thief. If Implementation would not let him resume his mining career, he would do just that. Weaponless, he could rob storehouses in broad daylight. He could pass guarded bridges unnoticed, be at work on Gamma while they were searching him out in every corner of Eta. Eta, now... a nice place to rob if he couldn't return to his old life. The crew gambling-resort must see half the wealth of the Plateau at one time or another.

  He'd have a long walk to the Alpha-Beta Bridge, and a longer walk afterward. A car would be useful. Serve the Sons of Earth right if he took their car — but he'd have to wait till midnight. Did he want to do that?

  His daydreams had calmed him still further. His shaking had stopped, and he wasn't as angry now. He could begin to see what had moved the four inside to attack him so, though he saw no justice in it for there was none. Laney, Hood, Harry Kane, Lydia — they must be fanatics, or why would they sell their lives for a hopeless revolution? Being fanatics, they would have only one ethic: to do anything in their power to advance their cause, no matter whom it might hurt.

  He still didn't know where he went from here. One thing he knew: It would not involve the Sons of Earth. Otherwise he had plenty of time for decisions.

  A chill thin breeze blew from the north. Gradually the fog was thickening.

  The electric fire inside would be welcome.

  But the thick hostility would not. He stayed where he was, hunching his back to the wind.

  Why in blazes would Hood assume he drove away women? Did Hood think he was crazy? Or deficient? No; he'd have used that during the arguments. Why, then?

  He hadn't driven away Laney.

  That memory warmed him. She was lost for good now; their paths would diverge, and someday she'd end in the organ banks. But Friday night had happened; Friday night was permanent ....

  Polly's eyes. Her pupils had contracted, sure enough. Like the gatekeeper's eyes, like Harry's and Hood's and Laney's eyes when Matt had tired of their verbal onslaughts. Why?

  Matt nibbled gently at his lower lip.

  And if he'd driven Polly away (never mind why; there was no answer), then it was not her fault that she had gone.

  But Laney had stayed.

  Matt jumped to his feet. They'd have to tell him. He had a lever on them; they couldn't know how sure he was that he'd have nothing to do with their cause. And he had to know.

  He turned toward the house and saw the cars — three of them, way up there in the gray sky, disappearing and reappearing around the mist. Dropping.

  He stood perfectly still. He wasn't really convinced that they were landing here, though they grew bigger and closer every second. Finally they were just overhead
and settling. And still he stood. For by then there was no place to run to, and he knew that only "the luck of Matt Keller" could protect him. It should work. He was certainly scared enough.

  One of the cars almost landed on him. He was invisible, all right.

  A tall, spare man got out of the car, moved his hands briefly inside the dashboard, and stepped back to avoid the wind as the car rose again and settled on the roof. The other cars had landed, and they were Implementation. A man disembarked and moved toward the tall civilian. They spoke briefly. The tall man's voice was high, almost squeaky, and it had the crew lilt. He was thanking the policeman for his escort. The policeman got back into the car, and both Implementation cars rose into the fog.

  The tall man sighed and let himself slump. Matt's fear ebbed. This crew was no danger; he was a tired old man, worn out with years and with some recent toil. But what a fool Harry Kane had been to think nobody would come!

  The man moved toward the house. Tired he might have been, but he walked straight, like a policeman on parade. Matt cursed softly and moved in behind him.

  When the oldster saw the living room, he'd know someone had been there. He'd call for help unless Matt stopped him.

  The old man opened the big wooden door and walked in. Matt was right behind him.

  He saw the old man go rigid.

  The ancient didn't try to scream. If he had a handphone, he didn't reach for it. His head turned from side to side, studying the living room from where he stood, taking in the abandoned glasses and pitcher and the glowing false fire. When his profile turned to Matt, he looked thoughtful. Not frightened, not angry. Thoughtful.

  And when the old man smiled, it was a slow, tense smile, the smile of a chess player who sees victory almost within his grasp — or defeat, for his opponent might have set an unsuspected trap. The old man smiled, but the muscles of his face stood out iron-hard under the loose, wrinkled skin, and his fists tightened at his sides. He cocked his head to one side, listening.

  He turned abruptly toward the dining room, and was face to face with Matt.

  Matt said, "What are you grinning at?"

  The crew batted an eyelash; he was discomposed for just that long. Speaking low, he asked, "Are you one of the Sons of Earth?"

  Matt shook his head.

  Consternation! And why that reaction? Matt held up a hand. "Don't do anything rash," he said. He'd wrapped a handcuff chain around that hand to make it a better weapon. The old man settled back on his heels. Three of him would have been no physical match for Matt.

  "I'm going to search you," said Matt. "Raise your hands." He moved behind the old man and ran his hands over various pockets. He found some bulky objects, but no handphone.

  He stood back, considering. He had never searched anyone; there might be tricks a man could use to fool him.

  "What do you want with the Sons of Earth?"

  "I'll tell them when I see them." The baritone lilt was not hard to understand, though Matt could never have imitated it.

  "That won't do."

  "Something very important has happened." The old man seemed to make a difficult decision. "I want to tell them about the ramrobot package."

  "All right. Go ahead of me. That way."

  They moved toward the dining room with Matt trailing.

  Matt was about to yell when the door suddenly opened. Lydia Hancock had her nose and a sonic showing around the edge. It took her a second to realize that the man in the lead was not Matt, and then she fired.

  Matt caught the old man as he fell. "Stupid," he said. "He wanted to talk to you."

  "He can talk to us when he wakes up," said Lydia.

  Harry Kane emerged warily, holding the other stolen sonic ready in his hand. "Any others?"

  "Just him. He had a police escort but they left. Better search him; there might be a radio on him somewhere."

  "Mist Demons! It's Millard Parlette!"

  "Oh!" Matt knew the name, but he hadn't recognized the man. "I think he really wanted to see you. When he realized someone was here, he acted sneaky. He didn't panic until I told him I wasn't one of you. He said he wanted to talk about the ramrobot."

  Harry Kane grunted. "He won't wake up for hours. Lydia, you're on guard duty. I'm going for a shower; I'll relieve you when I come down."

  He went upstairs. Lydia and Hood picked up Millard Parlette, moved him into the front entrance; and sat him up against a wall. The old man had gone loose, like, a puppet without strings.

  "A shower sounds wonderful," said Laney.

  Matt said, "May I talk to you first? Hood too."

  They got Jay Hood and went into the living room. Hood and Laney flopped in front of the fire, but Matt was, too restless to sit. "Hood, I've got to know. What makes you think I've been using my psi power to drive away women?"

  "You'll recall it was Laney's idea first. But the evidence seems good. Do you doubt that Polly left because you contracted her irises?"

  Of course he doubted it. But he couldn't back it up. He looked at Laney, waiting.

  "It's important, isn't it, Matt?"

  "Yah."

  "You remember, just before the raid, when you asked me if everyone was as nervous as you were?"

  "Mmm ... Yah, I remember. You said, 'Not that nervous, but still nervous.'

  "What are you two talking about?"

  "Jay, do you remember your first — mmm. Do you remember when you stopped being a virgin?"

  Hood threw back his head and laughed. "What a question, Laney! Nobody ever forgets the first time! It was — "

  "Right. Were you nervous?"

  Hood sobered. "At one point, I was. There was so much I didn't know. I was afraid I'd make a fool of myself."

  Laney nodded. "I'll bet everyone's nervous the first time. Including you, Matt. You suddenly realize, This Is It, and you get all tensed up. Then your girl's eyes go funny."

  Matt said a bad word. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to hear. "But what about us? Laney, why didn't I defend myself against you?"

  "I don't know."

  Hood snapped, "What difference does it make? Whatever you've got, you're not going to use it."

  "I have to know!"

  Hood shrugged and went to stand before the fire.

  "You were pretty sloshed," said Laney. "Could that have had anything to do with it?"

  "Maybe.

  She couldn't have known why it was important, but she was trying to help. "Maybe its because I'm older than you. Maybe you decided I knew what I was doing."

  "I didn't decide anything. I was too drunk. And too bitter."

  She turned restlessly, her wrinkled party dress swirling out around her. She stopped. "Matt! I remember! It was pitch dark in there!"

  Matt closed his eyes. Why, so it was. He'd stumbled unseeing across the bed; he'd had to turn on a light to see Laney at all ... "That's it. I didn't even realize what was going on until the door was closed. Oookay," he sighed, letting all his breath rush out with the word, leaving him an empty man.

  Hood said, "That's great. Are you finished with us?"

  "Yah."

  Hood left without looking back. Laney, on the verge of leaving, hesitated. Matt looked half dead, as if every erg of energy had been drained out of him.

  She touched his arm. "What's wrong, Matt?"

  "I drove her away! It wasn't her fault!"

  "Polly?" She grinned into his eyes. "Why let it bother you? You got me the same night!"

  "Oh, Laney, Laney. She could be in the organ banks! She could be in the coffin cure, whatever the hell that is."

  "It's not your fault. If you'd found her in the vivarium — "

  "Is it my fault that I was glad? She dropped me like a sick housecleaner, and an hour later Implementation took her away! And when I found out, I was glad! I had revenge!" His hands were on her upper arms, squeezing, almost hard enough to hurt.

  "It wasn't your fault," she repeated. "You'd have saved her if you could."

  "Sure." But he wasn't hear
ing her. He let go of her arms. "I've got to go after her," he muttered, saying the words aloud, trying the taste of them. "Yah. I've got to go after her."

  He turned and made for the entrance.

  9: The Way Back

  "Come back here, you idiot!"

  Matt stopped halfway to the door. "Huh? Isn't this what you all want?"

  "Come back here! How are you going to get over the wall? You can't pound on the gate again!"

  Matt turned back. He felt feverish, unable to think. "Castro'd be ready for that, wouldn't he? He may not know what happened last night, but he must know something's wrong."

  "We tried hard enough to tell him! Come here, sit down... Don't underestimate that man, Matt. We've got to think this through."

  "That wall. How am I going to get over? Oh, damn, damn!"

  "You're tired. Why not wait 'til Harry comes down? Then we can get things organized."

  "Oh, no. I'm not taking help from the Sons of Earth. This has nothing to do with them."

  "How about me? Will you take my help?"

  "Sure, Laney."

  She decided not to question the illogic of this. "All right, let's start at the beginning, How are you going to reach the Hospital?"

  "Yah. Too far to walk. Mmm ... Parlette's car. It's on the roof."

  "But if Castro gets it, it'll lead him straight here."

  "I'd have to wait 'til midnight to get the other car."

  "That may be the only way." Laney wasn't tired; she'd had twice as much sleep as she needed in the vivarium. But she felt used, ready for the laundry. A hot bath would help .... She put it out of her mind. "Maybe we can raid a crew house for another car. Then we set the autopilot to take Parlette's car back here."

  "That'll take time."

  "We'll have to take it. We'll also have to wait 'til after sunset before we start."

  "Will we need darkness that early?"

  "It would help. And suppose the fog cleared while we were over the void?"

  "Oh." Colonist and crew alike, the people of the Plateau loved to watch the sun setting over the void mist. The colors were never the same twice. Land along the void edge always cost three times as much as land anywhere else.