Brink of Madness

by Walter J. Sheldon

  Chapter V

  He was late for his date with Ciel, of course. He glanced at his chronoas he entered the Stardust Cafe by the front door and saw that he wastwenty minutes late. However, this time he was certain Ciel wouldn'tcomplain too vigorously.

  Again the askarins were playing, and once more the green-skinnedVenusian girls were doing their writhing, spasmodic, aphrodisiacaldance. It was remarkable how they could achieve such an effect of utterabandon and yet keep their faces blank and frozen. He looked around therest of the room swiftly. Not so crowded tonight, and people weregenerally quieter. There were no oversexed spacemen clawing after thedancers on the floor.

  Ciel was again in a rear booth, in the same corner of the room she hadchosen before. She had spotted him now; she was looking his way. Shelifted a white-gloved hand and waved.

  He smiled and headed for her. He forced his smile, and made himselfforget the prickling of his wrists and the feeling of bristling furalong his spine. And he held his smile all the way across the room._Why, hello, darling, fancy seeing you here; no, nothing's wrong,nothing at all, why on earth would you think anything was wrong?_

  "Hi, baby," was all he actually said.

  "I'm--I'm glad you're here, Dick." Her eyes didn't show much. They rovedover his face a little too much perhaps, but otherwise they seemedsimply as large and dark as ever. He noticed that the meth glass infront of her was empty.

  Grinning, he sat down. "This is a big moment. This is almost too muchfor me to handle. Maybe that's what I need--a good slug of meth."

  "No."

  "No?"

  "Let's not waste time. Let's go out on the terrace. I want you to kissme."

  "Best offer I've had all evening." He rose again. "Where's the terrace?"

  "Through that door. There's a dining room there that's closed at night.You go through the dining room and out to the terrace."

  "Okay."

  He took her arm and led her in and out of tables, across the room. Theymoved swiftly through the quiet, nearly dark dining room, and after thatthrough a pair of window-doors. They were on the terrace then, aflagstoned space with a low wall. It overlooked the scattered lights ofWorld City's topside area and some distance beyond they could see theriver, a blue-silver ribbon in the moonlight.

  They stopped at the wall. She turned toward him. He looked down at her,at her pale face and deep, dark eyes. He smelled her perfume and he felther live warmth near him and coming nearer. He saw her eyes close, herlips part just slightly, and each lip glistening, faintly moist....

  He was wondering when it would happen. He was wondering when he would bestruck.

  As he wondered that he suddenly discovered he wasn't on the terrace anymore.

  * * * * *

  He looked about him in some surprise. It was nearly dark. He was in aroom; he could sense the walls about him. He heard a curious,high-pitched metallic voice--and recognized it.

  "_Pell? Are you awake now?_"

  It had happened then, just as he had expected. Someone had thrown afreezer on him there in the patio, and during his completeunconsciousness he'd been taken here, wherever this was. He sighed. Theleast they could have done would have been to let him finish kissingCiel.

  As calmly as he could he said to the four blank walls, "I'm awake."

  Soft glowlights came on gradually and he saw that the room about him wasfairly small--twenty by fifteen, roughly--and very plain. It contained abed and a few odd pieces of furniture, all apparently of good quality.There was a door in one wall. He tried the door. Locked. He went back tothe middle of the room.

  "Chief," he said to the blank walls, "what's this all about? Is it somekind of a joke?"

  The metallic voice chuckled. It belonged to Eustace J. Larkin, Chief,Central Investigation Bureau, and even filtered like this it wassomewhat prim and precise. "No, Dick, it's not a joke, I'm afraid. I'msurprised you haven't guessed what it's all about. Or at least had oneof your brilliant hunches." There was sarcasm in this last.

  "Where's Ciel?" Pell asked.

  "Right here with me. In the next room. Here--listen."

  Ciel's voice said, "Don't worry, darling, we'll explain everything. Andwhen it's all over it will be for the best. You'll see that it will."

  "All right, everybody," said Pell, half-belligerently, "what's the bigidea?"

  "Big idea is right," Larkin's voice came back. "The biggest that everhit the human race. And as Ciel says we'll explain it all in a moment.But first I'd like your word that you won't be foolish and make any kindof a struggle. If you'll promise that you can come in the other roomhere and we can all talk face to face."

  Pell frowned. "I don't know--I'm not so sure I can honestly promisethat."

  "Suit yourself, then. A few minutes from now it won't make anydifference anyway."

  "Will you stop being so damned mysterious and tell me what it's allabout?"

  Larkin's voice laughed. "Very well. I haven't had much chance to tellabout it, frankly. And I think you'll agree we've rather neatly kept ourparts under cover--until you got dangerously close to the answer,anyway."

  "Until I got close?"

  "Certainly. Doc Wilcox's office on the moon was perhaps our one weaknessin the whole set-up. How you managed to stumble on to that, I'll neverknow--your luck must have been with you."

  "It wasn't luck, Larkin, it was a hunch."

  "Still believe in hunches, eh? Well, we won't argue the point. At anyrate you wouldn't have found the enzyme any place else but there."

  "Oh, so the enzyme does have something to do with it."

  "Everything. Here--suppose I let Doctor Nebel explain it to you. Hedeveloped it, after all."

  Pell lifted his eyebrows in surprise and Dr. Walter Nebel's sibilantvoice came through the hidden speakers. "I think you should know how itworks, Mr. Pell. You may know that a certain part of the brain calledRossi's area is, to put it figuratively, the hypnotic center. Thecut-off of the adrenal cortex, so to speak. In ordinary hypnosis thefunction of that area is dulled by overexercising the motor senses. Bythat method the intensity of hypnosis is widely variable and neverreally one hundred per cent effective. My compound, however, bringsabout complete and absolute cut-off. Any post-hypnotic suggestion givenunder those circumstances takes permanently and deeply. It can only beremoved by further post-hypnosis under the same treatment, negating theoriginal command."

  Pell stared at the blank walls. "Go on," he said in a soft, tense voice."What's the rest?"

  Larkin spoke again. "Suppose we briefly examine a little history as akind of introduction to this matter. The human race, since the beginningof recorded time, has failed to achieve real peace and stability, right?Every time there has been a chance for cooperative effort--for totalagreement--certain selfish interests have spoiled it. There have beentimes, however, when certain groups--states or combinations ofstates--came close to permanent peace and prosperity. The Napoleonic erawas one. Hitler two hundred years ago almost brought it about. The onlyreason they failed was that they didn't achieve their goal--_complete_conquest."

  _Did Pell hear correctly? Was there a faint simmering of madness in thatmetallic voice now?_ In the words there was madness, surely....

  * * * * *

  It went on: "The fact is, Pell, people simply don't know what's good forthem. Look at the blunderers and even downright crooks who are electedto World Government. Never the best brains, never the best talents. Whena really able man gets into a position of leadership it's an accident--afluke."

  "I still don't see what all this has got to do with it," said Pell.

  There was a shrug in the metallic voice. "For once the ablest men aregoing to take over. There are a number of us. You know already aboutmyself and Doctor Nebel. Rysland will be with us, too, as soon as we canget him conditioned."

  "By conditioned, you mean this enzyme of yours?"

  "Exactly. We started out in a small way, using force or trickery wherenecessary, and mana
ged to condition a number of doctors and nurses.Conditioning simply means injecting Nebel's compound and then giving thepost-hypnotic command to be unquestioningly loyal to the Supremists. Wecreated the Supremists, of course. In order for us to take over it willbe necessary to have another war, and to conquer Venus. That can be doneif Earth strikes quickly. Within the next few days I think there'll beenough Supremist influence to get this war started."

  Pell stared back, open-mouthed. To hear it coldly and calmly like thiswas shock, cold-water shock. "Let me get this straight now. Your groupmade Supremists of doctors and nurses and they in turn made new membersby installing this hypnosis stuff whenever anybody came for a hypodermicinjection of any kind, is that it?"

  "That's it."

  "But how does this stuff work? Does it knock you out, or what?"

  "You'll be finding that out at first hand very shortly."

  Pell stiffened, made fists and unconsciously lifted them and lookedaround him, warily.

  Larkin laughed. "It won't do you much good to put up a fight. I'msending a couple of my assistants in there. They specialize in peoplewho want to make a struggle. And there's no reason to feel unhappy aboutit, Pell: once you're conditioned you'll simply be unable to do anythingagainst the Supremist cause. You'll be happier, in fact, having such acause. Ask your wife if that isn't so."

  Pell trembled with anger. "How did you get to her? How did you make herdo what she did?"

  "You mean luring you into our little trap on the terrace, so to speak?You mustn't blame Ciel for that. She couldn't help herself; she had toobey, after all. You see she was conditioned in Augea on the moon by Dr.Wilcox, one of our very loyal men. He simply dropped in when you were atthe Post Office, pretended that Ciel needed a routine injection and she,not at all suspicious, allowed him to do it. He gave her the command ofloyalty, and also cautioned her not to say anything about it. So yousee, Ciel's been one of us for several days. It was just a littleprecaution of mine, in case you should become troublesome. I had toassign somebody to the investigation, of course, because Rysland and hiscrowd would have been too suspicious if I hadn't complied with theirrequest."

  "You're stark crazy, Larkin! You ought to be in a mental hospital!"

  "You'll be over that idea in a minute or so. Meanwhile, we're wastingtime. I'm sending the boys in now. You'll make it easier for yourself ifyou submit without giving them any trouble."

  The door opened, then. Pell caught a quick glimpse of the other room andsaw that it was a tastefully furnished living room. He recognized it,and knew where he was. This was a country house of Larkin's, topside,not far from the outskirts of World City. Whoever turned the freezer onhim must have set the control at high intensity because it would take atleast an hour to get to this place from the Stardust Cafe and he hadbeen unconscious at least that long.

  He had the momentary impulse to rush that partly opened door--and thenthe boys, as Larkin had called them, appeared.

  * * * * *

  They were specialists, little doubt of that. They regarded Pell withflat, almost disinterested looks as the door closed behind them. Oneheld a hypodermic needle. He was the shorter of the two, but he hadshoulders like ox-yokes. His face had been kneaded in the prize ring,and his bare arms were muscular and hairy but the top of his head wasbald. The other had red hair, close-cropped. He was big andwell-proportioned; Pell might have taken him for a professional footballplayer.

  Red did the talking. He spoke quietly, almost pleasantly. "Gonnacooperate?" he asked Pell.

  Pell said, "You touch me, brother, and I'll make your face look likeBaldy's."

  Red glanced at Baldy and seemed to sigh. Abruptly he whirled, jumped atPell and brought a sizzling right hand punch through the air. Pellducked it. He saw Baldy move in as he did so, and a painful blow struckthe back of his neck. His teeth rattled when it struck. Something caughthim under the chin, straightened him. When he was straight a pile driverstruck him in the midsection.

  It was all over within a matter of seconds. Under differentcircumstances Pell might have found time to admire their technique.

  As it was, he was now face down on the floor and Red was straddling him,holding him there. The pain in his stomach made him gasp. His face andthe back of his neck ached terribly.

  Red had his arm in the small of his back. Pell tried to struggle.

  "I can break the arm if you move," said Red cheerfully.

  And then Pell felt the bite of the needle just below his shoulder.

  A misty feeling came. He felt as though he were in a red whirlpool,spinning, going down--down.... He fought to rise. He could still hear.He could hear footsteps and the slam of the door when somebody else cameinto the room. And then he seemed abruptly to be detached from his ownbody and floating in a huge gray void....

  Words hammered at his brain. Larkin's voice, at his ear now and nolonger metallic. "_You will be loyal to the Supremist cause. You will donothing against the Supremist doctrine. You will believe that Earthmenare meant to rule the Universe--_"

  He felt an overpowering impulse to nod, to agree, to believe that it wasright to do this. He fought this impulse, straining his mind and hisvery being until it seemed that something might burst with the effort.

  "_You will work for the cause; you will give your life for it ifnecessary._"

  Yes, perhaps it was better to succumb. The words were too strong. Hecouldn't fight them. Larkin was right, Earthmen were supreme, and theywere destined to rule....

  Somewhere in the depths a tiny spot of resistance still glowed. He trieddesperately to evoke it. It seemed then that it became brighter. He_could_ resist--he _would_.... He kept thinking over and over again:"_No, no, no!_"

  Larkin's voice said, "Carry him in the other room. He'll come to in amoment."

  * * * * *

  He came to slowly, and he saw that he was lying on a couch and thatseveral people were gathered around him smiling down at him. Somethingdetached itself from the group, knelt by his side. He blinked. It wasCiel. Her golden hair shone and her dark eyes searched his face and shewas smiling. "Hello, darling," she said.

  "Hello, Ciel." He kissed her, and then sat up on the couch and lookedaround.

  Larkin and Dr. Nebel were standing together, and Red and Baldy were afew steps behind them, still looking indifferent.

  "Now you're one of us, Dick," said Larkin, flashing his professionalsmile, dimples and everything. Pell rose. Nebel held his hands behindhis back and beamed, blinking his heavy reptilian eyelids and Larkinstepped forward and held out his hand.

  "Yes," said Pell, shaking the hand, "I guess we're all working for thesame thing now. What do you want me to do?"

  Larkin laughed. "Nothing right away. We'll give you instructions whenthe time comes. I think you might as well go home with Ciel now; I havea copter and a chauffeur outside that'll take you to the station nearyour apartment."

  "Okay, Chief, whatever you say." He smiled and took Ciel's arm. Hestarted toward the door. Then he stopped, patted his chest and said,"Oh--my freezer. I guess the boys took it away...."

  Larkin turned to Baldy. "Give him his weapon."

  Baldy took the freezer from his pocket and casually tossed it to Pell.

  A sudden change came over Pell, then. His smile disappeared. He steppedquickly away from Ciel, whirled and faced all of them. He pointed thefreezer. "All right, everybody stay perfectly still--you, too, Ciel.This is where we break up your little Supremist nightmare."

  Larkin stared in utter amazement. Nebel's turtle lids opened wide. Cielbrought her hand to her throat.

  Red's hand blurred suddenly, going for his own weapon. Pell squeezed thetrigger, the violet sparks danced for an instant, and then Red stoodfrozen with his hand almost to his chest.

  "I'd advise nobody else to try that," said Pell, and then in an ironicaltone to Larkin: "C.I.B. agents are trained to be pretty quick with afreezer, right, Chief?"

  Larkin seemed to find his voice now. "Bu
t--how--what happened? You wereinjected. How can you...."

  "I just took a little precaution, that's all," said Pell. "There'll beplenty of time to explain it all later. You'll probably hear the wholething in court, Larkin, when I testify at your trial for treason.Meanwhile, all of you just stay nice and calm while I use the viewer."

  He stepped to the viewer and dialed with his free hand. The plateglowed, shimmered and a moment later the pale, grave face of TheodorRysland came into view. His eyebrows rose as he saw the weapon in Pell'shand and glimpsed the people beyond Pell. "Hello--what's this allabout?"

  "Haven't time to explain fully now," said Pell, "but I want you to getto Larkin's country house as soon as you can. I'll call agent Kronski ina moment and have him bring some others, and together we'll take Larkinand Nebel into custody. They're behind the Supremist movement--adeliberate attempt to take over the government. They did it with a drug;that's how Supremist's are made."

  "What's this? A drug?"

  "Think about it later," said Pell. "Just grab the facts right now. Thedrug makes a person subject to post-hypnotic commands--that's why yourSupremists are blindly, unthinkingly loyal. However, the command can beerased by a second treatment. That'll be tough and take a lot offerreting out, but it won't be impossible." He glanced at Ciel, and sawthat she was staring at him with horror--with enmity. It sickened him,but he steadied himself with the realization that Ciel would be one ofthe first to be re-treated.

  * * * * *

  Several minutes later he had completed his calls. Rysland, Kronski andthe others were on the way. He kept the freezer pointed, and watched hiscaptives carefully. Ciel had gone over to the couch and was sittingthere, her face in her hands, weeping softly.

  "I don't know how you did it," said Larkin. "I don't understand it. Theinjection should have worked. It always did before."

  "Well, it almost worked," said Pell. "I must admit I had quite a timefighting off your commands. But, you see, I knew you'd gotten to Cielsomehow when she called me up to make the date this evening. She spokeof going out to the terrace at the Stardust Cafe. It was a little oddthat she should speak of the terrace like that, out of a clear sky--andI wondered why it should be on her mind. Then it struck me that neitherof us had ever noticed a terrace there, and Ciel must have some specialreason for knowing about it.

  "She did, of course--she'd been instructed to get me out there whereyour boys could slap a freezer on me. So I started guessing with thathunch to work on. Everything more or less fell into place after that. Itwas pretty certain that they'd try to make a loyal Supremist out of me,too, and that's when I took that little precaution I mentioned to you."

  "What precaution?"

  Pell smiled. "I had Marco the mentalist hypnotize me and give me arather special post-hypnotic command. He ordered me not to believe any_subsequent_ post-hypnotic commands. That's why your conditioning didn'twork on me."

  Larkin could find no words; he just stared.

  "Think about it, Larkin," said Pell. "Think hard. Maybe you'd convincedyourself you were doing good, but your purpose was still tyranny. Andlike any tyranny it contained the means of its own destruction. Italways works out that way, Larkin--maybe it's a law, or something."

  It had been a long speech for Pell, practically an oration. He was,after all, a cop, not a philosopher. Just a guy trying to get along.Just an ordinary citizen whose name was legion, looking at his wife nowand waiting with what patience he could find for the time when she wouldbe cleared of the poisonous doctrine that any one race or group or evenspecies was supreme.

  He was thinking, too, that the trial would keep him busy as the verydevil and that they _still_ wouldn't get to that vacation and secondhoneymoon for a long time....

  That, considering everything, was not too much to put up with.