The Robot Brains.

by Sidney J. Bounds

  He didn't notice how his eyes closed. He heard some movement and opened his eyes. The Brains were standing before him - but he was sure that the door had not opened. For a long moment the Brains and Christian looked at each other.

  Christian pointed his gun at them.

  "You know why I am here," he said. "Speak - and remember that I can shoot you."

  Suddenly Victor, the leader of the Brains, raised his hand. He was holding his murder weapon in it..

  Christian jumped to his feet, quick as lightning, caught Victor by his hand and pressed it hard. The weapon fell to the floor, and Christian kicked it under the bed. He pointed his automatic at the Brains again.

  "All right-speak!"

  The Brains were standing and looking at him. Then Victor said quietly: "We must leave."

  "You are not going to leave…"

  Christian did not finish. Each Brain touched the black crystal at his waist - and disappeared. The captain was alone in the trailer, not believing his eyes. It was impossible…

  Fox was right. They could not be human.

  He put his hand under the bed and took out the weapon of the Brains. It was made of some hard metal

  It was very important to send the weapon to Miller's chief as quickly as possible. Military Intelligence must understand who their enemies were: beings who could disappear into nothing. But he did not know if the people in Military Intelligence would believe him…

  Christian walked up and down the trailer, thinking. Then he sat down at the table and wrote an account of what had happened at the Cross Keys, how he had got the Brains' weapon, and how the three Brains had disappeared before his eyes.

  He smoked one of his black cigars while he was reading what he had written. Then he put his account and the weapon into a cardboard box and left the trailer. In the darkness of the night he walked noiselessly to Jo's trailer. He knocked, and Jo opened the door.

  "Can you take this package to Fox?" he asked in a low voice. "Tell him to send it to Miller's chief. Tell him also that I shall be hiding at Girton: he knows that I have friends there

  "I'll go now," said Jo. "Good luck, Sailor."

  Christian went to the place where he had left his bicycle and rode off. Early in the morning, when it was still dark, he arrived at the village of Girton.

  He got into his friends' house through the back door. It was quiet in the house, and breakfast was prepared on the table. Christian ate, then lay down on the bed which had been prepared for him.

  It was late when he woke. Bright sun was shining in through the window.

  On the table there was a newspaper. He read:

  DECAPITATION AT CAMBRIDGE

  The headless corpse of Professor Duval was found early this morning in his private study. Duval, one of the world's famous mathematicians and a lecturer at the University of Cambridge, was working on a new theory of the space-time continuum. His papers have been lost…

  - 16 -

  "Come in," the Old Man said. "Please sit down, Doctor Fox."

  Fox looked with interest at the chief of Military Intelligence. The Old Man pushed a box of cigarettes towards him.

  "Help yourself, Doctor. First of all I must thank you for bringing us the weapon -»

  Fox interrupted:

  "Christian got that weapon for you. Don't you think it is time to clear him of the suspicion of the murder?"

  "That is really a matter for the police, but I believe his story. I think I will be able to help." The Old Man looked through some papers. "I have here a report on this weapon. It is a decapitator; and a new kind of energy is used in it. I have no details, but a group of scientists are working on it. The fingerprints on the weapon show that it has been used by somebody with very small hands."

  "The Brains!" exclaimed Fox.

  "Probably. As you know, the Brains have disappeared completely - my men are watching the Fair, and they haven't seen them. I don't think they will come to the Fair again."

  "We must get one of those crystals," said Fox. "Lawrence worked with rockets. Duval worked out a new theory for the space-time continuum. Do you see what we are up against? These murders aren't going to stop - you can be sure that the Brains have more than one decapitator. It is an interplanetary affair. The earth is fighting for the right to go out into space…"

  The Old Man looked grim.

  "If you are right," he said, "the position is serious. What have we got? An invasion by beings from another world who can disappear at will and who have a deadly weapon - deadlier than ours. We must find them. If only we knew where to start looking -»

  "They have a spaceship which is hidden somewhere," said Fox. "Find the ship and you will find the Brains. I advise you to check all unidentified flying objects which appear in the sky."

  "I'll do that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must see the Prime Minister immediately."

  Fox said quickly: "And Christian? Will you clear him?"

  "Yes. I'll speak with the Home Secretary. Later, I should like to meet the captain personally."

  Fox walked along the corridor and left the building of Military Intelligence. He heard the voice of a newsboy:

  "Another decapitation! The maniac strikes again! Special!"

  Fox bought a newspaper. It told of an Italian scientist who had been found dead in his laboratory. Fox had a feeling that the real trouble was only just starting. First Britain, now Italy…

  Where next? He wondered.

  - 17 -

  From the window of his office on the sixty-fourth floor Michael Brant had a very good view of downtown Manhattan. But he was not looking through the window. He was sitting with his back to the window. He was a fat man with rings on his fingers and a big cigar between his teeth.

  "It is interesting," he said slowly. "Of course, it is interesting, but where is money in it? You agree that it will take a lot of money to make something practical out of this model of yours, don't you?"

  He was looking at the inventor who was standing in front of him.

  "I haven't the money to do it myself," said the inventor. "That's why I came to you. I need a research laboratory. But I am sure that you will get your money back in the end."

  "In the end!" Brant smiled cynically. "Listen, Marten, I am a financier, not a philanthropist. I want results - now. All right," he went on, "I'll give you five thousand."

  "Ten," said Marten.

  At this moment, though the door was locked, a dwarf-like figure, dressed in grey, suddenly appeared in the room. The man raised his hand and pointed a strange-looking gun at Marten. A bright ray appeared from the gun

  The next moment Marten's headless corpse fell on the floor. The weapon turned to Brant…

  Afterwards the man in grey turned the ray on Marten's invention, and then disappeared.

  - 18 -

  In South America five men died.

  In Africa and Mexico, in Sweden and Madagascar, the decapitations continued. Reports from behind the Iron Curtain said that this process was now world-wide. Brains were seen in Berlin, Hawaii, and other places. More and more people were murdered, and all of them were scientists - until the incident in Caribou City.

  Caribou City was a small town on the banks of the Peace River in Canada. Uranium had been discovered there, and a group of scientists were doing some research work. One night a scientist was decapitated there in the presence of a large group of people, but this time the Brain who had decapitated him did not escape.

  The scientist's assistant had a gun and shot the Brain through his heart.

  There was a full hour of triumph in Caribou City. Then the revenge came. There appeared a lot of Brains in the town. They used the weapons which were of the same type as the decapitators, but much bigger and more powerful. Whole buildings were burned to the ground. In a short while Caribou City was completely destroyed…

  After that the Brains returned to their practice of killing
the world's scientists. Every day reports of new decapitations came from different parts of the world: from Athens and Tokyo, Lisbon and Vienna. Newspapers attacked the governments for doing nothing.

  The British Prime Minister declared a state of emergency.

  The police and Military Intelligence were looking for the Brains' base, but could not find anything. The Brains simply appeared, killed, and disappeared again.

  - 19 -

  Sitting in an armchair in the cabin of his yacht, Captain Christian raised his glass.

  "It's nice to be a free man again. Thanks, Doc."

  Doctor Fox, sitting opposite him, opened a fresh bottle of beer.

  "You did it yourself, Chris," he said. "You got the decapitator."

  "And you took it to Miller's chief. I could not do it without you."

  They sat a few minutes in silence.

  "The important thing now," said Christian, "is to find the Brains. We must get one of those crystals."

  "I don't see, how you can do that," said Fox. "You can't catch people who disappear into thin air."

  "We must try. We must catch one of them before he has time to use his decapitator or touch his crystal. If we work fast, we can do it. And then we'll separate. I'll take the prisoner to a hiding-place which will be prepared - and you will take the crystal somewhere else."

  Fox laughed: "First catch your Brain."

  Christian smiled.

  "We'll make a trap," he said. "We can publish an article in the newspapers that some scientist has found out the mystery of the Brains. The newspaper article will mention the place where this scientist works - and it will be our hiding-place! I am sure the Brains will come to that place at once!"

  The doctor thought.

  "Maybe it will work," he said.

  "I am sure it will work," said Christian. "One of them will come and we'll catch him. And I'll make him talk."

  "Shall we ask the Old Man to help?"

  "No! This is my show. Afterwards, if we do it, we'll tell him the good news. But I want to do it myself."

  He took a note-book and began to write a plan.

  "We shall need two fast cars and an empty house in some isolated place. Then two separate hiding places."

  Christian worked out the details of his plan.

  "Where do they come from?" he asked suddenly. "I don't agree with your theory that they come from interplanetary space. A spaceship large enough to carry fifty Brains cannot be hidden. The astronomers have searched the sky with their telescopes and found nothing. There must be some other explanation. But what?"

  - 20 -

  The house stood on a high hill. There were no houses or trees around. In a large room on the ground floor Fox and Christian sat in opposite corners; both were armed. Fox held one end of a nylon cord in his left hand. The cord was connected with a net which was hanging from the ceiling. One pull - and the net would fall.

  If only one Brain appeared, they were planning to try to take him alive; more than one - and they would open fire immediately.

  They were sitting and waiting. They were sure that the Brains would learn of the supposed threat to their safety. Not only newspapers published the story, but radio and television had broadcast it, too; and people were talking in the streets…

  Outside the house, in the garage, two cars stood ready. Two hiding-places were prepared. One was an underground laboratory - Fox was going to use it to investigate the crystal. The other was the cellar of an empty house - and Christian was going to take the prisoner there and question him.

  Suddenly a Brain appeared in the room. Christian recognized him by the scar on his nose: it was Waldo. He was alone and armed with a decapitation. He saw Christian and raised his hand with the weapon at the moment when Fox pulled the cord.

  The net fell. Waldo tried to touch the black crystal on his belt, but could not do it because of the net. Christian jumped at Waldo and hit him heavily with his automatic gun. The Brain fell on the floor. Christian unfastened the Brain's belt with the crystal and gave it to Fox.

  "Go!" he said. "I'll take care of Waldo."

  Doctor Fox put the belt with its black crystal into a metal box and locked the box. Then he quickly left the room.

  Christian lit a cigar. Then he lifted Waldo from the floor, threw him over his shoulder and went out. He saw Fox's car in the distance. Reaching the garage, he put Waldo into the other car, got in himself, started the engine and drove off.

  Waldo spat.

  All the way to the hiding-place he spat and cursed Christian - and there were some words in his speech Which Christian did not understand. These words sounded English, but he did not know them.

  The cellar of the house where Christian brought Waldo was empty. In the middle was a big barrel filled with water. It was very heavy, and Christian tied Waldo to it. In one corner of the cellar there were stone steps which led to a massive door. Christian had locked this door, and the key was in his pocket.

  The Brain's decapitator was pushed under Christian's belt. He looked at his prisoner, holding his automatic in his hand.

  "Listen," he said. "You are going to answer my questions. We are quite alone, and I shall make you talk."

  Waldo spat again.

  Christian lit a cigar and held it close to Waldo's face.

  "You will be sorry, Christian," said Waldo. "You will answer for it."

  "Answer me!" said the captain. "I'm losing patience… Where do you come from? How many of you are there? How do your crystals work?"

  He received no answer. He raised his hand and struck Waldo a heavy blow on his face.

  "Talk, I tell you!"

  He took the Brain's weapon from under his belt and pointed it at him.

  "I am giving you three minutes," he said. "If you don't speak and answer my questions, I'll use your weapon on you. I'll decapitate you."

  The telephone began to ring.

  Christian was surprised. Only Fox knew that he was there. He took the receiver.

  "Chris? Fox here. The crystal has disappeared. I kept looking at the box all the way here, and when I unlocked the box just now, it was empty. There was nobody near me. But the belt with the crystal has disappeared!"

  - 21 -

  Somewhere in the south of England a conference was taking place. A group of scientists were sitting and standing round the laboratory table. On the table there were parts of the weapon which Christian had seized from the Brains and sent to Military Intelligence.

  The Minister of War was looking at the parts of the weapon attentively.

  "The weapon worked on quite a new principle," said the leader of the research group. "By some method - we don't understand it - power is taken directly from the atmosphere and changed into heat energy. This heat energy is emitted in a concentrated ray, which annihilates any material form."

  The Minister of War thought.

  "Can we make such a weapon?" he asked.

  Outside the laboratory there was a strong guard of soldiers. They were ready for a possible attack of the Brains.

  Suddenly the guard commander saw a great cloud of flame and smoke rising over the laboratory. A few minutes later nothing remained of the laboratory and the people who were inside it.

  The guard commander sent a telephone message to Downing Street.

  - 22 -

  The Prime Minister looked tired. There were dark circles round his eyes, and his face was pale.

  "It's a bad business," he said, "and I can't see the end of it."

  The Old Man was sitting at the table opposite the Prime Minister.

  "Our only hope is Captain Christian, sir," he said. "If his plan works, we may get useful information."

  "True," sighed the Prime Minister. "And meanwhile the decapitations continue. We are losing the best men every day, and it's the same all over the world."

  The Old Man said nothing, because he did not know what t
o say.

  "And now the Minister of War," continued the Prime Minister. "It seems impossible! Only yesterday I spoke to him -»

  "I am sorry," said the Old Man. "I know he was a personal friend of yours."

  There was a short silence.

  "I am waiting for news from New York," said the Prime Minister. "As you know, the United Nations are holding an emergency meeting now…"

  - 23 -

  The Secretary-General called again for order. "Gentlemen, please, the delegate from Great Britain has the floor."

  It was noisy in the great hall. Delegates jumped from their seats and cried. Everybody accused everybody. The Asian Federacy accused Britain. The United States accused Russia. It seemed that the delegates would begin fighting any moment.

  At last the British delegate was able to speak.

  "This is no time for quarrelling among ourselves," he said. "An invasion from space is threatening us-"

  There was a great noise again.

  "- an invasion from space," continued the British delegate. "Our civilization is in danger. We must co-operate-"

  It was useless. All the delegates were shouting again, and the Secretary-General declared the meeting closed.

  - 24 -

  A man was decapitated in New South Wales, three in Yucatan, four in Quebec. The murders continued in Africa, Pakistan and Denmark. Scientists who did original research were murdered all over the world.

  And only one man had a contract with the enemy.

  Christian put down the receiver, walked up to the Brain, stopped in front of him and raised the decapitator.

  "Wait," said Waldo.

  "No, I won't wait," said the captain. "Speak, or I'll shoot."

  "Don't shoot! I'll answer your questions. We come from-"

  Suddenly they were not alone. About ten Brains were standing around Christian, grey, dwarf-like figures, each armed with a decapitator.