Anthology of Speculative Fiction, Volume One

by Short Story Anthology

  "We've seen enough," Franks said, raising his voice. "All this is very serious. It must be reported below and a study made to determine our policy."

  The leady said nothing.

  Franks waved to the soldiers. "Let's go." He started toward the warehouse.

  Most of the soldiers had removed their helmets. Some of them had taken their lead suits off, too, and were relaxing comfortably in their cotton uniforms. They stared around them, down the hillside at the trees and bushes, the vast expanse of green, the mountains and the sky.

  "Look at the Sun," one of them murmured.

  "It sure is bright as hell," another said.

  "We're going back down," Franks said. "Fall in by twos and follow us."

  Reluctantly, the soldiers regrouped. The leadys watched without emotion as the men marched slowly back toward the warehouse. Franks and Moss and Taylor led them across the ground, glancing alertly at the leadys as they walked.

  They entered the warehouse. D-class leadys were loading material and weapons on surface carts. Cranes and derricks were working busily everywhere. The work was done with efficiency, but without hurry or excitement.

  The men stopped, watching. Leadys operating the little carts moved past them, signaling silently to each other. Guns and parts were being hoisted by magnetic cranes and lowered gently onto waiting carts.

  "Come on," Franks said.

  He turned toward the lip of the Tube. A row of D-class leadys was standing in front of it, immobile and silent. Franks stopped, moving back. He looked around. An A-class leady was coming toward him.

  "Tell them to get out of the way," Franks said. He touched his gun. "You had better move them."

  Time passed, an endless moment, without measure. The men stood, nervous and alert, watching the row of leadys in front of them.

  "As you wish," the A-class leady said.

  It signaled and the D-class leadys moved into life. They stepped slowly aside.

  Moss breathed a sigh of relief.

  "I'm glad that's over," he said to Franks. "Look at them all. Why don't they try to stop us? They must know what we're going to do."

  Franks laughed. "Stop us? You saw what happened when they tried to stop us before. They can't; they're only machines. We built them so they can't lay hands on us, and they know that."

  His voice trailed off.

  The men stared at the Tube entrance. Around them the leadys watched, silent and impassive, their metal faces expressionless.

  For a long time the men stood without moving. At last Taylor turned away.

  "Good God," he said. He was numb, without feeling of any kind.

  The Tube was gone. It was sealed shut, fused over. Only a dull surface of cooling metal greeted them.

  The Tube had been closed.

  Franks turned, his face pale and vacant.

  The A-class leady shifted. "As you can see, the Tube has been shut. We were prepared for this. As soon as all of you were on the surface, the order was given. If you had gone back when we asked you, you would now be safely down below. We had to work quickly because it was such an immense operation."

  "But why?" Moss demanded angrily.

  "Because it is unthinkable that you should be allowed to resume the war. With all the Tubes sealed, it will be many months before forces from below can reach the surface, let alone organize a military program. By that time the cycle will have entered its last stages. You will not be so perturbed to find your world intact.

  "We had hoped that you would be undersurface when the sealing occurred. Your presence here is a nuisance. When the Soviets broke through, we were able to accomplish their sealing without—"

  "The Soviets? They broke through?"

  "Several months ago, they came up unexpectedly to see why the war had not been won. We were forced to act with speed. At this moment they are desperately attempting to cut new Tubes to the surface, to resume the war. We have, however, been able to seal each new one as it appears."

  The leady regarded the three men calmly.

  "We're cut off," Moss said, trembling. "We can't get back. What'll we do?"

  "How did you manage to seal the Tube so quickly?" Franks asked the leady. "We've been up here only two hours."

  "Bombs are placed just above the first stage of each Tube for such emergencies. They are heat bombs. They fuse lead and rock."

  Gripping the handle of his gun, Franks turned to Moss and Taylor.

  "What do you say? We can't go back, but we can do a lot of damage, the fifteen of us. We have Bender guns. How about it?"

  He looked around. The soldiers had wandered away again, back toward the exit of the building. They were standing outside, looking at the valley and the sky. A few of them were carefully climbing down the slope.

  "Would you care to turn over your suits and guns?" the A-class leady asked politely. "The suits are uncomfortable and you'll have no need for weapons. The Russians have given up theirs, as you can see."

  Fingers tensed on triggers. Four men in Russian uniforms were coming toward them from an aircraft that they suddenly realized had landed silently some distance away.

  "Let them have it!" Franks shouted.

  "They are unarmed," said the leady. "We brought them here so you could begin peace talks."

  "We have no authority to speak for our country," Moss said stiffly.

  "We do not mean diplomatic discussions," the leady explained. "There will be no more. The working out of daily problems of existence will teach you how to get along in the same world. It will not be easy, but it will be done."

  The Russians halted and they faced each other with raw hostility.

  "I am Colonel Borodoy and I regret giving up our guns," the senior Russian said. "You could have been the first Americans to be killed in almost eight years."

  "Or the first Americans to kill," Franks corrected.

  "No one would know of it except yourselves," the leady pointed out. "It would be useless heroism. Your real concern should be surviving on the surface. We have no food for you, you know."

  Taylor put his gun in its holster. "They've done a neat job of neutralizing us, damn them. I propose we move into a city, start raising crops with the help of some leadys, and generally make ourselves comfortable." Drawing his lips tight over his teeth, he glared at the A-class leady. "Until our families can come up from undersurface, it's going to be pretty lonesome, but we'll have to manage."

  "If I may make a suggestion," said another Russian uneasily. "We tried living in a city. It is too empty. It is also too hard to maintain for so few people. We finally settled in the most modern village we could find."

  "Here in this country," a third Russian blurted. "We have much to learn from you."

  The Americans abruptly found themselves laughing.

  "You probably have a thing or two to teach us yourselves," said Taylor generously, "though I can't imagine what."

  The Russian colonel grinned. "Would you join us in our village? It would make our work easier and give us company."

  "Your village?" snapped Franks. "It's American, isn't it? It's ours!"

  The leady stepped between them. "When our plans are completed, the term will be interchangeable. 'Ours' will eventually mean mankind's." It pointed at the aircraft, which was warming up. "The ship is waiting. Will you join each other in making a new home?"

  The Russians waited while the Americans made up their minds.

  "I see what the leadys mean about diplomacy becoming outmoded," Franks said at last. "People who work together don't need diplomats. They solve their problems on the operational level instead of at a conference table."

  The leady led them toward the ship. "It is the goal of history, unifying the world. From family to tribe to city-state to nation to hemisphere, the direction has been toward unification. Now the hemispheres will be joined and—"

  Taylor stopped listening and glanced back at the location of the Tube. Mary was undersurface there. He hated to leave her, even though he couldn't see her
again until the Tube was unsealed. But then he shrugged and followed the others.

  If this tiny amalgam of former enemies was a good example, it wouldn't be too long before he and Mary and the rest of humanity would be living on the surface like rational human beings instead of blindly hating moles.

  "It has taken thousands of generations to achieve," the A-class leady concluded. "Hundreds of centuries of bloodshed and destruction. But each war was a step toward uniting mankind. And now the end is in sight: a world without war. But even that is only the beginning of a new stage of history."

  "The conquest of space," breathed Colonel Borodoy.

  "The meaning of life," Moss added.

  "Eliminating hunger and poverty," said Taylor.

  The leady opened the door of the ship. "All that and more. How much more? We cannot foresee it any more than the first men who formed a tribe could foresee this day. But it will be unimaginably great."

  The door closed and the ship took off toward their new home.

  The Crystal Crypt, by Philip K. Dick

  Stark terror ruled the Inner-Flight ship on that last Mars-Terra run. For the black-clad Leiters were on the prowl ... and the grim red planet was not far behind.

  "Attention, Inner-Flight ship! Attention! You are ordered to land at the Control Station on Deimos for inspection. Attention! You are to land at once!"

  The metallic rasp of the speaker echoed through the corridors of the great ship. The passengers glanced at each other uneasily, murmuring and peering out the port windows at the small speck below, the dot of rock that was the Martian checkpoint, Deimos.

  "What's up?" an anxious passenger asked one of the pilots, hurrying through the ship to check the escape lock.

  "We have to land. Keep seated." The pilot went on.

  "Land? But why?" They all looked at each other. Hovering above the bulging Inner-Flight ship were three slender Martian pursuit craft, poised and alert for any emergency. As the Inner-Flight ship prepared to land the pursuit ships dropped lower, carefully maintaining themselves a short distance away.

  "There's something going on," a woman passenger said nervously. "Lord, I thought we were finally through with those Martians. Now what?"

  "I don't blame them for giving us one last going over," a heavy-set business man said to his companion. "After all, we're the last ship leaving Mars for Terra. We're damn lucky they let us go at all."

  "You think there really will be war?" A young man said to the girl sitting in the seat next to him. "Those Martians won't dare fight, not with our weapons and ability to produce. We could take care of Mars in a month. It's all talk."

  The girl glanced at him. "Don't be so sure. Mars is desperate. They'll fight tooth and nail. I've been on Mars three years." She shuddered. "Thank goodness I'm getting away. If—"

  "Prepare to land!" the pilot's voice came. The ship began to settle slowly, dropping down toward the tiny emergency field on the seldom visited moon. Down, down the ship dropped. There was a grinding sound, a sickening jolt. Then silence.

  "We've landed," the heavy-set business man said. "They better not do anything to us! Terra will rip them apart if they violate one Space Article."

  "Please keep your seats," the pilot's voice came. "No one is to leave the ship, according to the Martian authorities. We are to remain here."

  A restless stir filled the ship. Some of the passengers began to read uneasily, others stared out at the deserted field, nervous and on edge, watching the three Martian pursuit ships land and disgorge groups of armed men.

  The Martian soldiers were crossing the field quickly, moving toward them, running double time.

  This Inner-Flight spaceship was the last passenger vessel to leave Mars for Terra. All other ships had long since left, returning to safety before the outbreak of hostilities. The passengers were the very last to go, the final group of Terrans to leave the grim red planet, business men, expatriates, tourists, any and all Terrans who had not already gone home.

  "What do you suppose they want?" the young man said to the girl. "It's hard to figure Martians out, isn't it? First they give the ship clearance, let us take off, and now they radio us to set down again. By the way, my name's Thacher, Bob Thacher. Since we're going to be here awhile—"

  The port lock opened. Talking ceased abruptly, as everyone turned. A black-clad Martian official, a Province Leiter, stood framed against the bleak sunlight, staring around the ship. Behind him a handful of Martian soldiers stood waiting, their guns ready.

  "This will not take long," the Leiter said, stepping into the ship, the soldiers following him. "You will be allowed to continue your trip shortly."

  An audible sigh of relief went through the passengers.

  "Look at him," the girl whispered to Thacher. "How I hate those black uniforms!"

  "He's just a Provincial Leiter," Thacher said. "Don't worry."

  The Leiter stood for a moment, his hands on his hips, looking around at them without expression. "I have ordered your ship grounded so that an inspection can be made of all persons aboard," he said. "You Terrans are the last to leave our planet. Most of you are ordinary and harmless— I am not interested in you. I am interested in finding three saboteurs, three Terrans, two men and a woman, who have committed an incredible act of destruction and violence. They are said to have fled to this ship."

  Murmurs of surprise and indignation broke out on all sides. The Leiter motioned the soldiers to follow him up the aisle.

  "Two hours ago a Martian city was destroyed. Nothing remains, only a depression in the sand where the city was. The city and all its people have completely vanished. An entire city destroyed in a second! Mars will never rest until the saboteurs are captured. And we know they are aboard this ship."

  "It's impossible," the heavy-set business man said. "There aren't any saboteurs here."

  "We'll begin with you," the Leiter said to him, stepping up beside the man's seat. One of the soldiers passed the Leiter a square metal box. "This will soon tell us if you're speaking the truth. Stand up. Get on your feet."

  The man rose slowly, flushing. "See here—"

  "Are you involved in the destruction of the city? Answer!"

  The man swallowed angrily. "I know nothing about any destruction of any city. And furthermore—"

  "He is telling the truth," the metal box said tonelessly.

  "Next person." The Leiter moved down the aisle.

  A thin, bald-headed man stood up nervously. "No, sir," he said. "I don't know a thing about it."

  "He is telling the truth," the box affirmed.

  "Next person! Stand up!"

  One person after another stood, answered, and sat down again in relief. At last there were only a few people left who had not been questioned. The Leiter paused, studying them intently.

  "Only five left. The three must be among you. We have narrowed it down." His hand moved to his belt. Something flashed, a rod of pale fire. He raised the rod, pointing it steadily at the five people. "All right, the first one of you. What do you know about this destruction? Are you involved with the destruction of our city?"

  "No, not at all," the man murmured.

  "Yes, he's telling the truth," the box intoned.

  "Next!"

  "Nothing— I know nothing. I had nothing to do with it."

  "True," the box said.

  The ship was silent. Three people remained, a middle-aged man and his wife and their son, a boy of about twelve. They stood in the corner, staring white-faced at the Leiter, at the rod in his dark fingers.

  "It must be you," the Leiter grated, moving toward them. The Martian soldiers raised their guns. "It must be you. You there, the boy. What do you know about the destruction of our city? Answer!"

  The boy shook his head. "Nothing," he whispered.

  The box was silent for a moment. "He is telling the truth," it said reluctantly.

  "Next!"

  "Nothing," the woman muttered. "Nothing."

  "The truth."

&nb
sp; "Next!"

  "I had nothing to do with blowing up your city," the man said. "You're wasting your time."

  "It is the truth," the box said.

  For a long time the Leiter stood, toying with his rod. At last he pushed it back in his belt and signalled the soldiers toward the exit lock.

  "You may proceed on your trip," he said. He walked after the soldiers. At the hatch he stopped, looking back at the passengers, his face grim. "You may go— But Mars will not allow her enemies to escape. The three saboteurs will be caught, I promise you." He rubbed his dark jaw thoughtfully. "It is strange. I was certain they were on this ship."

  Again he looked coldly around at the Terrans.

  "Perhaps I was wrong. All right, proceed! But remember: the three will be caught, even if it takes endless years. Mars will catch them and punish them! I swear it!"

  For a long time no one spoke. The ship lumbered through space again, its jets firing evenly, calmly, moving the passengers toward their own planet, toward home. Behind them Deimos and the red ball that was Mars dropped farther and farther away each moment, disappearing and fading into the distance.

  A sigh of relief passed through the passengers. "What a lot of hot air that was," one grumbled.

  "Barbarians!" a woman said.

  A few of them stood up, moving out into the aisle, toward the lounge and the cocktail bar. Beside Thacher the girl got to her feet, pulling her jacket around her shoulders.

  "Pardon me," she said, stepping past him.

  "Going to the bar?" Thacher said. "Mind if I come along?"

  "I suppose not."

  They followed the others into the lounge, walking together up the aisle. "You know," Thacher said, "I don't even know your name, yet."

  "My name is Mara Gordon."

  "Mara? That's a nice name. What part of Terra are you from? North America? New York?"

  "I've been in New York," Mara said. "New York is very lovely." She was slender and pretty, with a cloud of dark hair tumbling down her neck, against her leather jacket.

  They entered the lounge and stood undecided.

  "Let's sit at a table," Mara said, looking around at the people at the bar, mostly men. "Perhaps that table over there."