The Secret Galactics

by A. E. van Vogt

  ‘Takeover.’

  ‘Where was I?’

  ‘In this room on the first day of the journey.’

  ‘Where will the next shadow take me?’

  ‘It’ll be related, so don’t worry.’

  ‘For God’s sake,’ said Marie, ‘what is this?’

  ‘Shadows of a jump-ship.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It’s a series of momentary alignments with basic reality, which is that there is essentially nothing. I’m told that the timing on a transition involving that underlying emptiness and non-existence, is the decisive factor.’

  ‘Where are we going on this ship?’

  ‘This is not a ship. It’s the shadow of a ship, and shadows don’t go anywhere. Shadows don’t go anywhere. They just sort of float.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ said Marie, ‘I don’t understand. I—’

  That was as far as she got.

  Were they angry? Did they feel degraded? It didn’t show. All these furry little beings seemed to be in a cheerful, friendly condition, and very cooperative.

  Marie and Nicer spent their first night on Deea as guests of the government in a room which overlooked a large garden, beyond which was a wide river. From their vantage point they could see shipping on the glinting night water, and, on the far shore, long lines of lights going back into the remote distance. At night—it turned out—any inhabited area with electricity looked like a city on earth.

  Inside, also … Rooms are rooms, thought Marie, as she glanced around the bedroom. Apparently, no matter where you went, the moment an artificial structure was created, it was divided into sections which had a shape. Presumably, a square or a rectangle width and length of varying proportions plus a limited height, had to be the norm.

  The Deeans, being small and short, had built low ceilings. So the bedroom was just barely high enough for Nicer’s five ten; and even she didn’t stand up suddenly. The bed was circular, which, according to Nicer, reflected the Deean cosmology: that the universe was curved, and began and ended on purpose at Deea.

  It turned out—Marie noticed—to be a typical night for her. They spent a few minutes in conversation after they retired. Nicer explained, among other things, why the Deeans were not disturbed by the arrival of a Luind spokesman who demanded of them the immediate recall of their ship, Takeover.

  The reason was their belief that God had made the universe large so that Deeans could expand into it without anyone, statistically speaking, ever knowing what they were up to. Or, if somebody did find out, it would presently be too large a task for interference to be meaningful.

  ‘But,’ Marie protested, ‘why would they regard that condition as having been created for the benefit of the Deeans?’

  ‘Because they’re the ones that are motivated to take advantage of the consequent secrecy potential. And, of course Nicer shrugged—‘they know they don’t have to pay any attention to my demand that they not conquer earth.’

  Shock!

  The utterly unexpected!

  After a while she was able to say, ‘But what are we doing here—if there’s nothing you can do? I thought you Luinds were a superior—’

  She couldn’t go on. She sagged there.

  The man was silent for a while. Then: ‘As a human being,’ he said, ‘I feel apologetic. As a Luind—well—we’re simply not an aggressive race, and the Sleeles tell that to all these less advanced planets. Accordingly, what we can do in situations like this conquest of earth is all uphill. What we have to do is outwit everybody.’

  ‘And are you succeeding? With earth?’

  ‘Not yet.’ A vague smile.

  ‘But wailed Marie—‘if the Deeans won’t do what you want, what’s the point of coming all this distance?’

  ‘Well He was suddenly not that happy; the faint smile faded—‘I thought you might like to see the people who are at this moment in process of conquering earth.’

  Marie said blankly, ‘Whatever for?’ She had half sat up; now she lay back again. ‘And here I thought you were a superman.’ It was almost a moan.

  She grew aware after a little that he was smiling again. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘we have to use up about six days of shadows. In selecting which ones, I included Deea. I thought of it as sort of our honeymoon—’

  The conversation suffered a pause at that point. Because the human body of Philip Nicer had been busy while these words were spoken, doing all those preliminary actions which precede earth-style lovemaking.

  And so here she was on far Deea in a typical human-woman position—lying on her back with a man on top of her making love to her. And his attention predominantly on that and only incidentally on what he was saying … Here on a planet nearly fifty light-years from earth, Marie thought, the man-woman thing goes on exactly as if we were still in an ancient cave on earth, or in my bed at home, and exactly as if basic reality was something instead of nothing—

  Amazing how she, a married woman who had spent most of her adult life hidden away from men, had been spotted in the Hazzard Laboratories, a location where she had not only worked but lived as well. How hidden could a woman be? She seldom went anywhere. Yet spotted she was. Her situation with Carl was taken advantage of on an exact transactional basis by Dr. MacKerrie. And then, that situation was observed further. And analyzed again.

  All of the consequences of that were, of course, not yet visible. But one was unmistakable. Currently, she was being made love to at the rate of twice a day. And she dared not make a single move of resistance. For all she knew if she became difficult Nicer would leave her on Deea. She didn’t really believe that, of course. But—

  Her train of thought suspended. She grew aware that Nicer was ungluing from her. He said, as he did so, ‘Every species in space seems to have a philosophy which satisfies its racial ego.’

  ‘What’s the Luind philosophy?’ asked Marie.

  ‘How would I know?’ he smiled. ‘I’m predominantly a human being.’ He went on after a moment, ‘The Deeans know that Luind philosophy does not include conquest. Their realism rejects abstractions like hurt pride. So they accept reversals as God’s will. And of course they know we won’t stay, so our being here doesn’t disturb them.’

  ‘What I don’t understand,’ said Marie, ‘is how I got to Deea,’

  Nicer said patiently, ‘When a jump-ship makes its jump it creates on its arrival a number of time confusions, called shadows because there they are after that. Altogether, the three jump-ships that have come to earth created one hundred and twenty-eight shadows. There are, of course, numerous, other shadows in various parts of space. These simply drift around. Naturally, Deea has its quota. Each one of these shadows can be used once; and the jump-ships know where they are in space and time. Thus, I with my connection to one of the ships can use them all. Since there are a limited number, there’s a general agreement among people like myself—who have such a direct connection—that we’ll use them only in an emergency. In your case …’

  Something inside Marie trembled.

  But not with fear. With awe.

  From the comers of her eyes, she glanced at the man. The sex act completed, he lay on his back. He seemed relaxed. The beautiful profile held steady. His grey eyes were closed. His tanned face had the look of a man of thirty, except for the way he held his mouth.

  The mouth reflected—she couldn’t decide: Power? Not exactly, but in a way. Knowledge? Some of that. Determination? A lot. Decisiveness? Absolutely.

  It added up to—suddenly she had the right of it—

  Certainty.

  As she came to that evaluation, the man’s eyes opened and looked at her. Saw her look. Whereupon, he turned slightly, and glanced at her quizzically.

  ‘I’m having a hard time,’ said Marie, ‘trying to grasp that a person who has the appearance of a human being is doing all this—’ She gestured vaguely, taking in the immediate vicinity—‘with his mind.’

  The quizzical expression crinkled into a smile. �
�It’s not me. I’m simply an equivalent of an authorized signature. That jump-ship out there nearly a thousand light-years away stays tuned to me and lets me act within the frame of its programming.’

  Marie, the scientist, and Marie, the woman, fought a silent battle over that. She had an odd reluctance to accept a mere technological explanation. The words he had used tumbled through her mind: field, basic nature of space, time distortion… All right, she thought finally, wearily, so it’s all very prosaic on some high scientific level. But my being connected to that field, and programmed, made it possible for my body to be repaired instant by instant as it was being killed. And that will be true in future accidents, so long as I remain in the hookup—

  With that thought, the awe came back suddenly. ‘Yes,’ said the woman, Marie, ‘but you can communicate with it by mental telepathy.’

  ‘You’re not using an operational term,’ Nicer replied. He turned as he spoke; and as he did so touched her body with his. ‘It’s a field phenomenon also—’ His voice ceased.

  They stared at each other, and both changed color, visibly. Nicer said huskily, ‘These human bodies are incorrigible. You’ve been praising my Luind connection, and my body responds.’

  Marie was equally amazed at herself. Inside her there seemed to be erotic stimulation at the mere thought that she had a man who could wield such colossal power.

  Their bodies, figuratively, flowed toward each other, and combined in an almost liquid inter-mixing—

  It was later.

  Marie had been asking questions.

  Nicer said, ‘Why did I regard you being trapped in your apartment as a Luind emergency? Because—’ he smiled his most engaging smile—‘because my human body early, due to certain stress situations, went into the Real Man reversal. So until you do one of those female things that release a Real Man from his compulsion toward one woman, I’m in a have-to-have-you state.’

  ‘What female things?’ said Marie, astounded.

  ‘Oh, some automatic stuff.’ His tone was dismissing.

  Marie considered that blankly. Tm only interested in true feeling,’ she said finally.

  ‘Of course,’ said Nicer hastily.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  DOUBLED IN TIME

  ‘—And now,’ said Nicer, ‘I have to give you two warnings. This is your last shadow, and it’s also the earliest one. This one is very short, about sixteen minutes. Altogether, on earth, approximately eighteen hours will have gone by, though it seemed to take us just under six days—’

  Marie stood in the center of the room, turning slowly, warily, thinking:—Really, if he can be calm enough to start talking the moment we arrive, I suppose I can …

  The thought stopped. ‘It’s my own office at work,’ she said startled.

  The Hazzard Laboratories!

  She was immediately alarmed. ‘Somebody could come in!’ she gasped.

  A belated second awareness touched her. ‘Earliest!’ she echoed. ‘When?’

  Nicer walked over and sank down in the chair she used when she talked to visitors. He looked up at her. There was a serious, no-smile expression on that lean face. ‘Marie,’ he said, ‘we’ve now got he glanced at his watch—‘a little over fourteen minutes. Take hold!’

  Marie tensed, swallowed. And was some semblance of herself. She walked over and climbed onto the high stool in front of the blueprint table. Leaned back against its edge. And gazed uneasily at the slender, wiry man who was watching her with his eyes that suddenly had a steel grey look to them.

  ‘Warnings about what?’ Marie asked, remembering that at last.

  This time, when she spoke, she noticed that the music was gone from her voice. What was left was a huskiness that was still not entirely the old Marie. But enough.

  Nicer said, ‘Metnov will probably be waiting in your house to have a talk with you.’

  ‘Talk?’ Marie echoed, blank.

  Time passed. ‘Is that where I’ll be—back in my apartment?’

  The man nodded. ‘And I,’ he said, ‘will be outside on the street. Exactly where I was when I connected you to our delightful first meeting, which, of course, I knew about in advance.’

  Momentary distraction. A startled awareness of how fantastic her behavior had been. Nicer must have divined her thought. ‘That was special programming,’ he said. ‘I thought you might like to see what a no-choice situation for a woman can be like. I’ll ask your permission before I do that again.’

  Marie, her color high, still had no idea what she ought to think about that. Incredibly, by the time she met Nicer at the Non-Pareil board meeting, he had already made love to her. No wonder there had been that peculiar smile on his face. And no wonder he had come forward boldly, and acted as if he had rights.

  Boy! she thought grimly.

  Just imagine. Taking advantage of such a situation right away.

  Men!

  ‘And what,’ she asked stiffly, ‘is your second warning?’

  ‘Sssshhh, here he comes.’

  Pause. A sense of total lack of understanding. Then: ‘Who?’ asked Marie. Confusion, fear, blankness.

  Nicer was straightening in his chair. He said in an oddly formal voice, ‘The precautions we want to take to protect the security of the Hazzard Laboratories—’

  That was as far as he got. The door opened, and Carl walked in.

  Carl walked in.

  Carl of the gaunt body, and restless, haunted black eyes. Carl as he had been until his accident. Dr. Carl Hazzard, co-winner with his wife, Dr. Marie, of the Nobel prize for physics, came in. And stopped just inside the door.

  And stood there, a living human body.

  He was visibly adjusting to the presence of a visitor. Abruptly, his eyes lighted with recognition. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘you’re the late George Nicer’s son?’

  Colonel Philip Nicer climbed to his feet. ‘I’m with Military Liaison now, Dr. Carl,’ he said in that same formal tone. ‘I was discussing with your wife additional security measures for this laboratory complex

  As he reached that point, Marie grew aware that a woman’s high-pitched voice was sobbing.

  And it took at least a minute before it penetrated through the enormous shock feeling in her that the sobbing voice was hers.

  ‘Oh, my God, Carl!—’

  She would never remember all the words that spilled out of her. But what was there, in its disconnected fashion, bypassed the barriers of reason, bypassed fourteen years of memory, and gave forth with the anguish of a girl who had twice been in love with the same male human; and each time had got lost in a labyrinth of automatic reactions to the madness of that male—Carl.

  She was conscious in a remote part of her that the two men in the room were staring at her, Nicer in dismay, and Carl disgustedly.

  ‘I want to apologize for my wife’s behavior, Colonel,’ the world famous physicist said. ‘However, in all fairness, I should mention that I’ve never seen her like this before.’

  Nicer had leaped forward. He caught Dr. Carl’s arm. Before he could realize what was up, the surprised physicist had been led back through the door, and outside.

  Nicer said, urgently, ‘We have a way of handling these kinds of reactions in the army. Excuse me, sir.’

  And he closed the door in Carl’s face.

  After the silence inside had lengthened for at least a minute, the gaunt man opened the door tentatively, and peered in. His lips were parted to make a sardonic comment to the other man.

  The remark remained unspoken.

  The room was empty.

  Frowning, Carl walked through to the other door, opened it, and peered along the immediately visible aisle.

  Only the sounds and sights of the laboratory greeted him. Hissings. Buzzings. Flashing lights. People walking, bending, busy.

  An hour later, he ran into Marie, noticed that she had changed her clothes, and said, ‘How are you feeling now?’

  Her attention seemed to be elsewhere. ‘How would I be feeling?
’ she asked curtly.

  Okay, okay, he thought, if that’s the way she’s going to be.

  He walked on.

  … Marie was lying on a carpet, still sobbing. But her throat was beginning to hurt and feel dry.

  Face down on a soft, rug, and with what might well be her first genuine thought:—Am I back in my own apartment? …

  From behind her and above her, Metnov’s voice said suavely, ‘Well, well—the moment of return has come. And I really can’t imagine a single thing that Nicer can do. We’ll force him to use up all the rest of the shadows, and call a jump-ship—’

  Chapter Twenty Six

  THE FOUR-PLY BRAIN

  There was a place at the left rear of Carl where there was a hand-hold high on the dome. And a flat place down beside the back wheel large enough for two feet to stand comfortably.

  MacKerrie stood on the flat place with his feet, and clutched the hand-hold with the fingers of his right hand.

  Thus weighted down with an extra passenger, the six-wheeled vehicle with its guiding brain drove along first one corridor, and then others of the Deean ship. It paused at doorways, and in effect peered inside with them. Several times MacKerrie jumped off, and manipulated the latch of a closed door.

  Nothing was locked. The faraway Deeans, in launching their great vessel with its huge armaments so long ago, had either been very trusting, or had not anticipated that there would be passengers on the return voyage.

  Carl had his own theory about that by this time. And so he favored the latter possibility. His action in plugging a jack into that earth computer—so it seemed to him—had not been foreseen. Thus, a human brain which perceived and acted by way of electronic circuits, had made direct connection with the command core of the big ship.

  Had he, in doing that, created a confusion? Both men believed, yes. How and how useful they didn’t know. But they were hopeful. And they were both eagerly searching for the control center of the giant vessel. Both the living man and the living brain analyzed that the controlling machine-mind would be somewhere near the ship’s middle. Deep inside. With layers of hard, resisting metal and plastic between it and any surface. And, of course, either or both a wireless or wired communication system must extend in awesome complexity in every direction from that central core.