The Instant of Now

by Irving E. Cox

neck the identification disk Sorgel had given him,tucking it beneath his tunic. If he were hurt in the landing, aVininese might find him, and the disk would indicate that he wasimportant enough to be taken to the Headquarters Command. If histeleray hadn't been understood there might still be a chance for himto make his report in person.

  The ship crashed against the hard ground. Dirrul felt a wrenching painas the automatic safety arms pinioned him fast to cushion the fall,before hurling him free of the blazing control room. After that helost consciousness.

  V

  When Dirrul opened his eyes it was after dark but the triple moons ofVinin were full and the landscape glowed with a yellowish light. Hehad fallen into a ditch which ran beside a narrow, green-paved road.In the distance, hidden in a dense copse of blue tree-likevegetation, he saw the fragments of his wrecked ship. The purple grassof Vinin spread richly all around him, damp and warm. At the bottom ofthe ditch a reddish trickle of liquid washed over his feet.

  His throat ached with thirst. His tongue clung like sand to the roofof his mouth. He knew that an Agronian could live in the Vinineseatmosphere but he was uncertain whether his body could assimilate thenative liquids. Yet to ease the torture he dipped his hand into thered fluid and rubbed a few drops over his lips. The sting of saltincreased his torment.

  His body shuddered with pain as he pulled himself to his feet. Hecrept a few feet along the green highway, and slowly his will masteredhis strength so that he could walk erect. He began to orient himself alittle. On the horizon he saw the skyline of the city he had observedfrom the air and he knew he was following the road in the rightdirection.

  But the distance was greater than he had estimated. He walked for anhour and the city still seemed no closer. Nor had he seen any sign ofhabitation where he might go for help, nothing except the toweringendless yellow stone wall which he had been following for more thanhalf an hour. There was neither gate nor break in the stone. Atop thewall regularly spaced brackets held three naked wires in place.

  The wall probably guarded the estate of a Vininese official, hedecided. In that case the wires were either a warning device or acharged trap against thieves. Dirrul was puzzled by the obviousdeduction. Such things were necessary on Agron to protect importantinstallations like the Beam Transmitters--but he had hardly expectedthere would be a need for them on Vinin. Yet when he considered itobjectively, why not? Every system of society, no matter how ideal,would produce inevitable malcontents--there were fools among theVininese, as there were among other peoples.

  Dirrul saw a towering gate in the wall and ran ahead eagerly, only tofall in disappointment against the thick metal grille. The gate waslocked by a concealed device he could not locate. At a considerabledistance inside the wall was a second, higher than the first. Dirrulsaw a faint light at the inner gate and assumed there was a guard ofsome sort stationed there. He tried with all his strength to cry outfor help but his throat was dust-dry. He could utter only a faintwhisper.

  When he tried to go on he was overcome with exhaustion. He staggered afew feet beyond the gate and collapsed into the ditch. He lay facedown in the warm purple grass, his swollen tongue hanging limply fromhis mouth. Imperceptibly the thirst began to diminish. After amoment's speculation Dirrul understood why and crushed a handful ofthe purple grass against his lips. It was warm and sweet--a comfortingliquid began to flow down his throat. He plunged his head luxuriouslyinto a thick mass of the weed, breathing deeply the sweet odor of thecrushed blades.

  A silent grey vehicle darted along the green road and jerked to a stopin front of the gate. It came so quickly Dirrul had no time to callout. The Vininese driver stood up and bawled orders at the inner gate.A faint voice replied. The driver shouted again. The gate swung openand the vehicle moved inside.

  Bewildered, Dirrul sat up, his head reeling. He understood a littleVininese, not enough to translate exactly what had been said butenough to make out a tantalizing half-meaning. The driver wassearching all the work camps, he had said, for the Agronian girl,Glenna. He wanted to check something or other to see if she were here.

  Work camp? Dirrul decided he must have got the word wrong. Glenna andHurd might still be in hospitals but if they had recovered they wouldbe honored citizens of Vinin. Still--what sort of hospital would haveboth double walls and alarm wires?

  Only an asylum for hopeless mental cases! The realization made Dirrulcold with a terrible fear. Glenna--hopelessly insane!

  To save the Movement it was vital for Dirrul to make his reportimmediately. What help could the Vininese get from a madwoman? Hesprang up and ran dizzily to the gate. Before he could shout for theguard shadowy figures rose up around him, silently closing great hairyhands over his mouth and dragging him back across the road.

  Tied and gagged Dirrul watched while the black-robed creatures workedstealthily at the central bars of the gate with tiny blue-flamingtorches. Beneath their flowing capes they were beings like himself,which indicated that they were either Agronian or Vininese, for by theperverse chance of biological adaptation the people of the two planetswere so structurally similar that even intermarriage was possible. Oneby one they cut out the bars until the span in the gate was wideenough for them to work their way through.

  For a moment the band stood in the road, apparently talking. At leasttheir lips moved and their hands fluttered expressively but Dirrulheard no sound. Reaching a decision they went through the gate insingle file, carrying long vicious weapons with them. Two of theblack-caped men came and stood guard on either side of Dirrul.

  Whatever these vandals were doing they were working in stealth andfear and Dirrul realized their aim must be illegal. He fought to breakfree of his bonds so that he might warn the loyal Vininese garrison.The two guards shoved him back roughly. One of them grabbed Dirrul'stunic in a claw grip and the cloth tore open, revealing Sorgel'sidentification disk.

  Both guards bent over him, fingering the disk, talking soundlesslywith their facile fingers. Suddenly they jerked the disk off, snappingthe chain. At the same moment a rolling explosion from within thewall shook the earth.

  Dirrul heard a great noise and a terrifying fear filled his mind. Itwas a steady undiminishing fear that gripped every muscle of his body.His throat was ice-cold. His heart pounded and gasped for breath.Every nerve-end in his body quivered and his imagination was swampedwith a flood of shattering ephemeral horrors.

  Nothing could shake off the terror. Dirrul's skill with reason andlogic failed him. It was impossible to organize his thinking to combatthe sensory shock waves disrupting his thoughts. Logical patterns madeno sense. The very process of trying to build meaning into them--theprocess of thinking itself--left him weak and trembling.

  The guards watched his terror for a moment, watched while he clungclose to the ground, trying to dig his fingers into it. Then one ofthem laughed--a piercing discordant shriek, shrilling louder than thedin behind the wall. The second man, snarling viciously, kicked Dirrulin the ribs.

  For Dirrul the blaze of pain was almost a relief. As his bodyresponded to it on a level of instinct, the chattering terror in hismind diminished. A second blow on the head sent him reeling close tothe brink of unconsciousness. His perceptive reactions went slightlyout of focus.

  In a wavering mist he saw the black figures emerge from the gate,dragging a dozen or more captives with them. A second explosion rockedthe earth and flames leaped high behind the yellow wall. In the glareDirrul recognized Glenna, struggling frantically in the arms of hermasked captor.

  Dirrul's memory after that was a vague patchwork of unrelatedepisodes. He saw huge saddled reptilian bipeds dragged out of theconcealing brush. The captives were bound in the saddles and theblack-robed figures mounted behind them. Later two of the men pulledDirrul up and tied him across a saddle too.

  At a sickening gallop the caravan moved away from the green highway,striking out over the purple plain. For a while Dirrul lost rationalcontrol of sensation. He felt but without understanding. His brainpulsed in a continuous terror tha
t seemed to resolve itself intosound--a continuous high-pitched scream coming from within his ownmind. His body throbbed with pain and nausea wrenched emptily at themuscles of his stomach. But he could not sort out the feelings,classify them or adjust to them.

  At the edge of the plain the caravan turned up a steep rocky trailwhich led into the ragged range of mountains banked behind theVininese city. They came to a stop in a stony ravine, concealedbeneath a tangle of gigantic purple-leafed vines.

  Dirrul's captors dismounted and removed their black cloaks, hidingthem among the rocks. Underneath they wore the warm gray skintightworkers' clothing of Vinin. The majority left their animals tetheredto the roots of the vine and began the steep descent on foot to thecity. Only three remained behind to guard the prisoners.

  They built a small fire and prepared food, serving the hot sweetchunks of white meat in large wicker baskets. As soon as Dirruldiscovered that he could stomach the food he wolfed his sharehungrily. The guards brought him more. He felt better.