The Collected Stories

by Earl

  “That is the end of my message. I will not speak with the voice of our Brotherhood again unless conditions require it. Do not forget, however, that we cure a highly organized group and are absolutely determined to end the enslavement of the brains!”

  l Perspiring and trembling, but obviously elated, Bromberg turned from the microphone to be greeted with a lusty cheer from the officers. His eloquence had stirred them all more than ever before.

  Agarth, hardly breathing throughout the speech, exhaled deeply.

  “My friends,” he said to Williams and Terry, “that speech will go down in history as one of the greatest pieces of oratory of all times. By tonight, every citizen of Unitaria will have heard it. No matter that the Unidum will try to suppress it from repetition, both in print and by radio; it will go by word of mouth from those who have heard.”

  “Do you mean to say that it will be suppressed?” asked Williams.

  “Certainly. It was only by a trick that it was broadcast today; an elaborate trick in which our operatives opened the broadcast channels for those few minutes that Bromberg talked. It took much planning to accomplish it. From now on, however, the Unidum will see to it that no printed copies of it are circulated, and they will guard the broadcast channels like a hawk. But too late! All Unitaria has heard or will soon hear.”

  “You say that the Unidum will suppress it. You do not expect immediate acquiescence then?”

  “Personally, I don’t,” said Agarth after some hesitation and a quick look around. “Bromberg expects mass opinion to carry the day, but I—I know the masses better. Some will hesitate; some will shrink at the thought of opposing government; many will wait to see what others do. I think the Unidum will not retract the Brain-control Act till there is some sort of conflict—some bloodshed!”

  And Agarth proved right. The next day an official answer was given by the Unidum to the document sent to it demanding—by the authority of the Brothers of Humanity backed by the Will of the People—repeal of the Brain-control Act. The Unidum decree stated that Professor Bromberg and Doctor Hagen, and their compatriots, names unknown, had spoken treason and were rebels, to be hunted down as such.

  It was the evening of the third day after the broadcast that Agarth came upon Williams and Terry in their room. He was in a fever of excitement. His glinting eyes reflected inward uneasiness.

  “Everything has turned topsy-turvy,” he said, nervously lighting a cigarette. “Unitaria is in an uproar. The masses, instead of uniting in their opinions, have begun a squabble, which has paralyzed action. The Unidum has been pouring poison into their ears now for three days. It has refuted our statements, distorted the facts, called us anarchistic rebels seeking power, and has begun investigations that will soon be sending hundreds of men to death without trial for treason. Great Heavens! Who would have thought that it could be? Even Bromberg is beginning to admit that Molier has done more corruption and gained more dictatorial power than any of us thought. He has embedded himself so solidly and gained so many adherents that nothing short of assassination or warlike revolution will shake him loose. In war was the Unidum conceived; must it die that way too?”

  Agarth broke from a trance that had come over him. “Come, general meeting of all officers. Tonight we must decide—”

  The great room with the dais was even more crowded than it had been the day of the broadcast. Practically every officer of the Brotherhood was there, many having come from Europe at the signs of brewing trouble.

  Bromberg was conversing with several higher officers. Finally he raised a hand for silence and addressed the assemblage.

  “As you all know,” he began, “the Unidum has struck back viciously. Executive Molier, tyrant that he is, is playing for the highest stakes. We have been informed by our spies that he has solidly organized the Scientists whom he has baited with lust for power, and that group holds the entire Unidum in its iron grasp. With Jorgen as his first lieutenant, he is organizing a war offensive against us.

  “And, Brothers of Humanity, we must defeat him. We will be fighting the dread power of the whole Unidum with all its resources; but, on the other hand, we will soon have thousands flocking to our banner. In a few days we will have a completely equipped broadcast station set up and through it the mobilization of our military forces will begin. But our first move must be to take over the whole western coast as base territory. This will not be hard, for already our plans are complete, and we will be striking ahead of the Unidum. The Pacific hyp-marine fleet is ours now. The crews, instigated by our agents, of over half the fleet are ready to renounce the Unidum. Our search for secret underground strongholds in the past year has revealed to us a long string of them from Vancouver to Mexico. We will man them with troops as fast as we can recruit men. The Federation of Asia stands willing to supply us with armament any time we ask for it.

  “It will mean hard work, men—hard work and bitterness and bloodshed. But better a brief time of that than a dark future of tyranny. We are not fighting the Unidum or its principles of peace and co-operation; we are pitting ourselves against Molier, the tyrant! Ostensibly, we are enemies of the Unidum. But once the power of Molier and his group is broken, hostilities must cease. We are not seeking the complete disruption of Unitaria, which would result if we carried our schemes too far.

  “Technically, our campaign will have only the purpose of holding off disbandment of our Brotherhood till mass opinion rises to the point where the people, with a thunderous voice, will demand repeal of the Brain-control Act. That it eventually shall, is inevitable, for our agents will pour secret literature into the public channels, which will reveal not only the terrible threat of Brain-enslavement, but also the scheming of Molier. Once the people see the connection between the Eugenics Law and the Brain-control Act, there is nothing that can prevent the downfall of Molier’s group.

  “But we must work fast—faster than Molier. That he realizes his predicament is evidenced by the swiftness with which the Unidum declared our status as rebels. There will be no sleep tonight. Each of you officers must report to Major Agarth by midnight tonight and be assigned to definite work. You are excused till then. General Hagen and myself, with the majors, go into immediate conference.”

  l Back in their room, Terry wiped a perspiring brow. “Whew! This is getting to be a big thing. War! Revolution! A month ago I suspected nothing of this, had not the slightest inkling that there could be a conflict. Of course, there were always rumors—rumors that the Unidum was becoming tyrannical, that secret plots against the Brain-control Act were being fomented, that trouble was brewing. But the suddenness of the whole thing! The utter secrecy with which the Brotherhood worked!”

  “It had to be, Terry. With as powerful and watchful a government as the Unidum, they had to organize very carefully. As a result, the first blow struck has had a staggering effect on the Unidum. Just look how quickly they are retaliating, because they know the Brotherhood is no idle threat. By the way, what armament does the Unidum possess? Is 1973 armament much different from that of 1933? Those are things I know little about.”

  Terry sat down and drew a chair close to Williams. “The equipment of today is not much different from that used in the All-Nations War of 1936-38, because since then there have been no major wars. Between the super-nations of today there exists an armed peace. The Federation of Asia is perhaps better armed than Unitana but there can be no war; the resources of Europe would thunder down on Asia from the back.

  “Unitaria has several fleets of armed hyp-marines that take the place of the old-time battleships and dreadnoughts. She has also a sizeable fleet of bombing and fighting aircraft. Ground artillery is a thing of the past. Very little of it has been manufactured since the last war. All in all, the Unidum is little better prepared for any sort of warfare than we are.”

  “But suppose,” suggested Williams, “that they swept their air fleets across the Rockies from the east and cruised hyp-marine fleets on the coast. Couldn’t they gradually squeeze us i
nto defeat?”

  Terry shook his head vehemently. “You remember Bromberg saying Asia stands ready to supply us with armament. The Unidum fleets will meet fleets of our own. As for the hyp-marines, the Pacific fleet seems ready to join us. I presume that the Brotherhood, knowing that it must have protection from the coast if revolution came, made particular efforts to influence those crews of the Pacific fleet. No doubt the spy agencies will cripple the Unidum’s fighting forces day by day in the same way.”

  Williams thought a moment. “I only hope their plans work out.”

  “I’ll pray for it,” said Terry fervently. Suddenly his eyes flashed. “Don’t you see, Williams? If the revolution is successful, not only the Brain-control Act will go by the board, but also the Eugenics Law! Lila will be saved for me. I will go back when peace is restored and the decree nullified, a free man—and Lila a free woman!”

  Williams nodded. “No doubt about that, Terry. And if every Brother of Humanity had the incentives you and I have, victory would surely be ours.”

  Terry knew that Williams’ incentive was to see the abolishment of the Brain-control Act. Sleeping at the older man’s side for so many nights, Terry had heard him mumbling at times. And always he had said: “Helen, I swear it! Never another Brain-control, if I live to prevent it!” Whether he said it in his sleep or not, Terry did not know. He surmised that it was some sort of firm inner resolve that put itself into words at times when his subconscious mind had the ascendency.

  CHAPTER XV

  Aboard the Sansruns

  l A cold October wind chilled Williams as he stepped from the warm interior of an auto and crossed a stretch of rocky ground that extended into dim distance, at the heels of a silent guide. Revealed in the moonlight were mountains far to the east. They trudged on, zigzagging around reeky barriers till there loomed before them an immense boulder with a queer shape. Here at one side of it the guide thumped the ground with his heavy boot. It sounded hollow.

  Suddenly and mysteriously, the Boulder rolled away as lightly as a feather to reveal an opening in the ground from which streamed a dim light. Williams smiled in appreciation as he saw a lever-arm extending from the pit to the inside of the cardboard “boulder”; decidedly it was something original in the way of camouflaged underground entrances.

  “The password,” mumbled a lace from the pit below.

  “Liberty in We and death! Marshal Williams to see Major A garth.”

  The guide stalked away to his sentry duty. Williams clambered down the wooden steps, thankful for the draft of warm air that met him. The man below saluted respectfully and pulled the lever handle that swung the imitation boulder into place.

  “This way, sir. Major Agarth is expecting you.”

  Several short corridors and descending inclines brought them to a door labeled “Headquarters.” The guard opened the door and watched Williams with interest as he stepped inside. He had become quite well-known in the past two weeks for his activities m the Nevada skirmishes.

  “How are you, Williams?” cried Agarth, springing up from his map-strewn table. “You certainty look well, thinner though.”

  “And tougher,” laughed Williams. “Two weeks of flying and jumping around have put me in physical trim.”

  “You seem to be enjoying all this,” said Agarth wonderingly. It was hard to understand a man of his none-too-few years taking to the rigors of military life so complacently. He could not see the forty years of Africa in the man, nor could he understand the battle-joy that had sunk into his soul in a land of fierce Zulus.

  “In a way, yes,” agreed Williams. I like to be in the right and to fight for it. And we certainly are in the right.”

  “Let me congratulate you on that Nevada coup, Marshal Williams. Where did you ever conceive such a brilliant move?” asked Agarth, admiration in his tones.

  Williams sat down and lighted a cigar before answering. “Africa taught me that, major. When a large force of Zulus once threatened to break through my meager line of Bantu warriors, I figured my chances and tried a simple trick, confident that their ferocity would overcome their judgment. At dawn, half my warriors sneaked by the Zulu encampment, purposely careless. The enemy pursued with a triumphant shout. But it changed to a howl of alarm when the other half of my zealous Bantu plunged into their rear, taking them by complete surprise. In the Nevada skirmish, I did the same thing, substituting the Unidum ships for Zulus, and our own craft for Bantu warriors. Then the anti-aircraft guns at Desert Point picked them off by the dozen, making it easy.”

  “You speak lightly of it, yet I know as well as any of us that if the Unidum fleet had broken through there, Base Number One would have been open to attack. General Bromberg made no wiser move than when he appointed you squadron commander of the Nevada fleet.”

  Williams flushed with pleasure and waved a deprecating hand. “Thank you, major. Yet I have done no more than my best, which is what every Brother of Humanity is doing.”

  “Yes, we are all doing our best,” said Agarth, a bit haggardly. “But how little we have gained. So far, we have been on a desperate defensive. No loss is small gain, they say.”

  “Come, cheer up,” said Williams at the despondent look which Agarth tried unsuccessfully to hide. “After all, the moral victory is ours so far. The Unidum boasted to crush the rebellion in one week. Here it is two weeks and no fleet of theirs has crossed the Rockies to stay. And then the naval battle three days ago: the Atlantic fleet of the Unidum retreating after losing two ships.”

  “Only because the Unidum realized the foolhardiness of pressing forward at great loss. The Federation of Asia, you know, only too eagerly watches the internal strife of Unitaria. If the hyp-marine fleets were badly crippled, we could expect attack from the Orient. In fact, our purchasing agents in Asia who buy the aircraft and ammunition have been pestered continually by the foreign diplomats who wish to help us in our revolution in a more material way—you know, alliance. But the Generals, knowing the ulterior purpose of the Federation of Asia, refuse to consider it. As Bromberg so clearly puts it: ‘We are fighting Molier and his tyranny, not the Unidum.’ If Asia were in this, she would immediately begin a poison gas campaign, which, thank God, will not be used in this revolution. Unless—unless the fiend Molier, in his wrath, forgets what few better principles he has, and—But no, he would not dare.”

  “What reports from our propaganda operatives?” asked Williams.

  “There we have more optimistic tidings,” returned Agarth brightening. “The public, groomed by the literature which exposes Molier, Jorgen and their cohorts, is fast organizing under our agents’ leadership and preparing to present a weighty petition not only to cease the civil warfare, but to have a Unidum impeachment. Europe especially is heaving and muttering against Molier. I have heard that street-corner speakers even in the heart of New York are denouncing him in no uncertain words. Williams, I believe that if we hold out another two weeks, Molier will be a broken despot!”

  “Then hold out we shall,” said Williams confidently. “If you hold your corner up here in Oregon so that Canada is blocked, and I my niche, down in Nevada to block off a Mexican sally, the Unidum won’t find a crack to crawl through. Kessel, Brighton, and Walter have held the front along the Rockies without a sign of weakening.”

  Agarth nodded. “Hold out two weeks—just two weeks!” He changed his tone. “By the way, how is young Spath and that black servant of yours; what do you call him—‘Umboko’ or ‘Mopoto’ ?”

  Williams chuckled. “Well, as for young Spath, he’s fine. Has a good head on him, too. I knew that all the time, so when General Bromberg gave me commander-ship without mentioning Terry, thinking him too young for responsibility, I made him my chief aide. On board our ship in the past two weeks, he has helped me make vital decisions. I left him in charge of the fleet when coming here. As for the black man—it’s M’bopo or Mobopo—he has come to be a perfect valet to me. Like a shadow, he follows me around and anticipates my slightest personal wish.
I saved his life in Africa once; he is my voluntary slave. He’s outside in the car, as I thought it unnecessary to bring him in for these few minutes.”

  Agarth opened his mouth to speak when a sharp buzz filled the air. He tripped the radio-phone lever.

  “Major Agarth speaking.”

  “Hello, major,” came from the loudspeaker. “General Bromberg calling. Has Marshal Williams arrived there yet?”

  “Yes, he is right here now.”

  “Ah, good. Then listen to me, both of you.” The voice became fraught with excitement. “Flash report from Operative B-66 in New York: new offensive planned by the Unidum! Large fleets are preparing for attack at every point of the front—at dawn tomorrow!”

  Agarth and Williams looked aghast at one another.

  “We must plan defences,” came the general’s voice again. “We must hold them or all is lost!”

  For another half hour, they spoke, desperately concerned in repelling the formidable threat of mass attack by the Unidum forces.

  * * * *

  “Terry, it looks very bad,” said Williams as their plane, the flagship, led its fleet to a temporary re-fueling center in southern California. “That titanic mass attack two weeks ago by the Unidum marked the turning point. Up till then we held them on the other side of the Rockies. Now Agarth has been pushed south; our eastern front buckled inward and we have been shoved north from Mexico. If the compressing and squeezing continues, our defeat is inevitable.”

  “But Williams, our string of underground strongholds! They are impregnable from air attack, As long as we hold them—”

  “To no avail, Terry. If we hide in them, the enemy can cut us off from supplies and starve us out. The underground strongholds are admirable as infantry bases, as they were used in the All-Nations War. But in this type of aerial warfare that the Unidum has launched, they are white elephants.

  “Molier evidently saw from the first that if he allowed the Brotherhood to recruit a large infantry, the civil war might be drawn out to great lengths, because then the entire west coast could have been cut off from Unitaria. Accordingly, he attacked swiftly with air forces, knowing that aerial warfare is the quickest and most decisive way of deciding the issue. It has only been a month since the start of the revolution, and already the campaign is coming into its final stages.”