by James Blish
"Right. Mr. Spock, you heard her. She called out that they were here. Your guess?"
"Notice, Captain," Spock said. "Rags stuffed under the door. Pieces of board jammed across the windows. As if they were in a state of siege."
"But by what? There are no harmful life-forms on this planet. And our sensors didn't pick up anything that didn't belong here."
"I am baffled, Captain."
"Bones, beam up with those two people and bring them around. I'm going to have to ask some questions. Mr. Spock, we'll go outside and resume looking around. Zahara, are you recording all of this?"
"Of course, Captain."
As they emerged from the communications center, Kirk saw one of the security men standing near a sheltered, shadowy alleyway. He moved toward the party as it appeared.
"Anything, Abrams?"
"Yes sir, but don't ask me what. Something moving back in there. Making a buzzing sound."
Kirk looked around, and then up. All the windows above him seemed to be empty, but in one there was the face of a man. His expression was a terrible combination of agony, fear and desperate hope.
"You!" Kirk shouted at him. "I want to talk to you!"
The face contorted and vanished. Kirk grunted with annoyance. "All right, Spock, Abrams, let's go see what's back in there."
Phasers ready, they moved cautiously into the darkened alley. Almost at once the buzzing noise got louder, and something about the size of a football flew through the air over their heads. Then another.
"Phasers on kill!" Kirk shouted. But for a moment there were no more. Then suddenly Spock pointed. Another such object clung to a wall. Kirk fired.
The beam hit the thing squarely. But it refused to vanish. It simply clung to the wall for a long moment, even under the full force of the beam, and finally slipped off and fell to the earth.
They closed in warily, but there seemed to be no more of the creatures back here. Spock took tricorder readings on the downed object, which seemed to be no more than a gelatinous mass, amorphous, colorless, as though somebody had dumped a jellyfish out of a bucket. Kirk stared at it incredulously.
"What is that?"
"It isn't anything," Spock said promptly. "Not only should it have been destroyed by the phaser blast, but it does not register on the tricorder."
"It's real enough all the same," Kirk said. "And it acted alive. Can we take it along, Spock?"
"I advise against it. We have no proper equipment, and it may well be toxic, corrosive—there are a dozen possibilities."
"Whatever they are, they seem to like these shadows," Kirk said. "Let's get out back into the light. We know where we can find them if we want them, anyhow."
As they retreated, the buzzing noise began again. The next instant, one of the objects shot past Kirk and hit Spock squarely in the back, knocking him off his feet. The thing clung to him. His hands tore uselessly at his back. Then, somehow, it was gone, and Spock was lying face down in the alley.
Kirk knelt beside him. "Spock! Are you all right? The thing's gone. Can you stand?"
Spock's hands were still clutching his back. As Kirk spoke, he rolled over, his entire face working with the effort to control himself. He got slowly to his knees. Then his mouth opened, and pitching forward, he began to scream.
Spock was in sick bay under heavy sedation; thus far, McCoy had been unable to think of anything else to do for him. In the interim, however, he had managed to revive the elderly man and the girl the landing party had found in the signal room on Deneva. The girl's name was Aurelan, the man's Menen. They did their best to answer Kirk's questions, but he found their answers difficult to comprehend.
"I know it must sound insane, Captain," Aurelan said, "but it's quite true."
Kirk shot a look at Zahara, who was recording. "You mean these things, whatever they are, have taken over the entire planet?"
"Except for ourselves," Menen said.
"There are over a million inhabitants of Deneva."
"There are millions of them," Menen said.
"When did they get to Deneva? How?"
"About four months ago," Menen said with some difficulty, "in a spaceship. We don't know any more than that. They didn't give us the time."
"It's a nightmare, Captain," Aurelan said. "Worse than a nightmare."
"The things don't communicate with you?"
"Oh, they communicate all right," Aurelan said bitterly. "Through pain. Once they attack you, something happens inside. We're not doctors, we don't know the details. But life is agony from then on."
Menen added, "My son told me—before he died—that they need bodies the way we need tools. Arms and legs—human beings. And once they take over, they can't be resisted. The people who tried to kill you in the street didn't want to hurt you. They wanted your help. But the things ordered them to attack you, and they had no choice."
"But why didn't they take you two over too?"
"We think they spared us so that we could maintain normal contacts with other planets and ships. They want ships, Captain. They need them. They're forcing our people to build ships right now."
"My brother, Noban . . ." Aurelan began.
"He's the man who flew his ship into the sun?"
Aurelan nodded sadly. "The creatures had him. He almost went mad from the pain. But he told us that Deneva is just a way-station for them. They mean to spread out. You see . . ." She paused and swallowed. "Their hosts become useless after a while. They go mad. And then the things need new hosts. More people. Planet after planet. They come, and they leave madness, and they go to the next . . ."
"In the name of God, Captain," Menen said, "you've got to do something!"
"I'll do what I can," Kirk said. "What about my first officer, Mr. Spock?"
"Is he important to your ship?" Aurelan said.
"Extremely," Kirk said. "And to me personally. He's one of my closest friends."
"In that case," Menen said, "kill him."
"What!"
"Kill him. Now. Quickly. Because only endless agony lies ahead for him, agony that will end in madness. If you are his friend, be merciful."
"Security calling Captain Kirk," said the bridge speaker.
"Kirk here."
"Captain, this is Ames. Mr. Spock has attacked his nurse and fled. He seems deranged."
"All decks security alert. He may be dangerous. Aurelan, Menen, you'd better get to your quarters and stay there."
They went quietly. Only seconds later, it seemed, the elevator door opened again and Spock charged out.
"Get away from the controls!" he screamed. "I have to take her down!"
Before anyone could move, he bad reached the helm and had knocked Sulu down and away with one sweeping blow. The navigator and Scott leapt on him, but Spock was a powerful man; he sent them reeling.
"Security to the bridge!" Uhura was calling into her mike. "Alert! General alert to the bridge!"
Kirk joined in the melee, but they were all handicapped by the desire not to hurt Spock; the first officer had no such compunctions. They only barely managed to keep him away from the controls.
Then three security men appeared, and in a few moments Spock was held fast. "I have to take the ship down!" he panted. "I don't want to! Help me! Help me!"
Somehow McCoy was on the scene now, and elbowing his way through the crowd, he gave the first officer a shot. Spock collapsed at once.
"Get him back to sick bay," Kirk said, "and this time, strap him down."
The security men carried him out, with Kirk and McCoy following. It was a grim procession.
"Well, Menen warned me," Kirk said. "He told me that if Spock meant anything to me, I should kill him."
"Now there's a tomfool notion."
"Don't worry, Bones, the idea doesn't appeal to me either. But we've got to do something to help him."
"Well, I've at least gotten a start on it," McCoy said. "Come on in and I'll show you."
In McCoy's office, the surgeon showed Kirk a jar
full of transparent liquid. In the fluid, a long, almost-transparent tendril drifted and twisted.
"It's a piece of living tissue of some sort," McCoy said. "Call it a tentacle. I took it out of Spock's spinal column an hour ago."
"Is that what causes the pain?"
McCoy nodded. "His entire nervous system has been infiltrated by this stuff. And far too thoroughly for conventional surgery to remove. I don't know how to get it out."
"Then if the old man is right," Kirk said, "this tissue is responsive to directives sent out by the other creatures."
"Or is it the creature?"
"Explain."
"By itself," McCoy said, "this stuff is just undifferentiated tissue. No organs. And I'd guess the same for the individual creatures we saw on the surface. They didn't look like things, but parts of things. Put them all together and—well, I'm sure they wouldn't spell 'Mother.' But that's about all I'm sure of."
"Do you know why it resists a phaser blast?"
"It's mostly energy itself—nonprotoplasmic. That's why it can fly too. A phaser blast affects it about like a stream from a fire hose would us: knocks it down, stuns it, but that's all. Now let's go look at Spock and I'll show you something else."
Spock was lying strapped down and under sedation, under the diagnostic panel.
"Watch the left indicator," McCoy said. "It's a dolorimeter—registers the level of pain. Right now it's preset at the maximum tolerance level. But if I open a channel to Spock . . ."
He moved a knob. At once, the indicator rose nearly to the top of the scale and froze there.
"That's what he's going through," McCoy said softly. "It's as though he were being consumed by fire, from the inside out. No wonder the poor devils go mad."
"And no wonder," Kirk said, "that they come to think killing each other is an act of mercy."
As he spoke, the indicator began to drop, very slowly. McCoy stared at it. "What the . . ."
Spock opened his eyes. "Hello, Doctor," he said weakly. "Hello, Captain."
"Mr. Spock! How do you feel?"
"Unwell. But these restraints will no longer be necessary. Nor will your sedations, Doctor. I will be able to return to duty."
"That's impossible," McCoy said.
"Spock, we've just seen what that pain can do to you," Kirk added.
"I regret my behavior," Spock said. "The pain greatly slowed my thinking. I did not even remember that we cannot set the ship down, on any planet. But I can control the pain now."
"How?" McCoy demanded.
"I am a Vulcan; we are trained to use our minds. Pain is only another kind of sensory input, which a trained mind ought to be able to handle."
"You're only half Vulcan," Kirk said. "What about the human half"?"
"It is an inconvenience, but it is manageable. The creature—all of its thousands of parts—is pressing upon me even now. It wants this ship. But I can resist. It is not especially pleasant, but I assure you there will be no danger if you release me."
"The strongest mind in the world has to relax after a while," McCoy said. "If I put you on mild sedation.. "
"No drugs, Doctor. My mind must be clear."
"Mr. Spock, I need you," Kirk said. "But I can't take any chances. You stay here. Sweat it out for a while. If you can maintain control, then come back. Until then, do what the doctor says. That's an order."
Spock nodded. Then his face twitched and the dolorimeter shot up again. Closing his eyes, Spock whispered: "The mind rules. There is no pain. There . . . is . . . no . . . pain . . ."
On the bridge, Uhura had a call waiting from Starfleet.
"Enterprise standing by, Commodore Anhalt," Kirk said.
"We've studied your reports of the situation on Geneva, Captain," Anhalt said. "We agree that the creatures, whatever they are, pose a clear and immediate threat to the area. It is our conclusion that, left alone, they would spread rapidly throughout that quadrant and perhaps farther. Can you tell us anything of the nature of the creatures?"
"Not yet. We're preparing to capture a specimen for analysis."
"Fine. But you are not on a specimen-collecting expedition, Captain. Regardless of the nature of the creatures, they must be destroyed—whatever the cost."
"Commodore," Kirk said, "there are more than a million innocent people on that planet. I may not be able to destroy the creatures without . . ."
"We are aware of that, Captain," Anhalt said evenly. "Your orders stand. We will expect your progress reports. Starfleet out."
The image faded. Kirk turned away from the screen to discover his first officer standing behind him.
"Spock, I gave you a direct order to stay in bed!"
"Until I was satisfied that I could maintain control," Spock said. "I am satisfied. So is Dr. McCoy."
"You're certain?"
"Absolutely."
"All right, then put your mind to work on this: How do I capture one of those creatures? They don't respond to the transporter any better than they do to phaser fire—and I'm not about to beam a man down there. I'd just beam back another casualty."
"Not necessarily," Spock said. "If the man's nervous system were already inhabited, there would be little or nothing further the creatures could do to him."
Kirk stared at him. "I see what you're getting at," he said, "and I don't like it."
"Captain, in the same circumstances, I do not think you would hesitate for a moment. I simply claim the right to do as you would do, if our positions were reversed. I am the logical man for the job."
After a long silence, Kirk said: "It is so ordered. Be careful, and stay in constant touch with us."
"Of course, Captain."
Spock came back with two specimens—one of the creatures and a raving man. "I thought we would need somebody else who was already infected too," he said. "After all, the main problem is how to get the creature out of the body."
Aurelan reacted with shock and despair. "That is Kartan," she said. "We were to be married, before the creatures came."
She would not stay to watch McCoy testing, and Kirk could hardly blame her.
"It's the same picture, only more advanced," McCoy said. "In effect, he hardly has a nervous system of his own any more. The tissue has taken it over."
"It seems that at least we did find out what happened on Ingraham B and the other planets," Kirk said.
"No doubt about it. But what do we do?"
Spock came in, carrying the transparent case with the creature in it.
"Here it is," he said. "At first glance, a unicellular creature of sorts—but actually part of a creature. Its own level of activity is so low it doesn't even affect instruments. Its tremendous power is the result of participation in the whole. What it resembles more than anything else is a huge individual brain cell."
"How do you know?" McCoy said.
"You forget, Doctor, the creature has infiltrated my own system. I am in constant contact with it. I find it most annoying."
"I don't doubt that," Kirk said. "But how do we destroy it?"
"I think we have a clue. You will recall Noban, the Denevan who flew into his sun. Just before his death, he cried out that he was free—that he had won. Apparently the proximity to the sun destroyed the creature controlling him."
"We already know they don't like light," Kirk said slowly. "But how do we expose them to light of that intensity? And what good would it do anyhow? A million of the creatures are inside human bodies."
"One was inside Noban's," Spock pointed out. "Something drove it out. But we need take no chances. The Enterprise has the capacity to turn Deneva into a miniature sun—a ball of nuclear energy. They would not survive that."
"Surely not," Kirk said thoughtfully.
"Now hold on," McCoy said. "Are you seriously considering this? Destroying a million people whose only crime was being victimized by these filthy things?"
"Our mission," Spock said somberly, "is to destroy the aliens—at whatever cost."
"Not at that cost!
Jim, this idea is insane."
"These creatures are trying to spread out in the galaxy," Kirk said. "And the Denevans are already building ships for them. Aside from the fact that I have been given an order, we do not have much time."
"I have an alternative," Spock said.
"Great God, man," McCoy said, "spit it out!"
"Clearly any radiation intense enough to destroy the creatures would also destroy the people. But I think the hint we took from the fact that the creatures like shadows is a false lead. Light is a medium to them, like water is to a fish; they may simply prefer certain frequencies or levels, as some fish prefer saltwater to fresh. But consider this: If you have a free energy flow that for some reason you cannot conduct through a wire, a wave-guide or anything else of that sort, how do you direct it? Or, if you wish, disrupt it? The agency must be something that is both common and intense near a sun, yet completely harmless to human beings; remember, Noban's parasite was destroyed before he was."
"I'm no physicist," McCoy said. "Is there such an agency, or are we just playing games?"
"Certainly there is," Kirk exclaimed. "Magnetism!"
"That is what I had in mind," Spock said. "Of course, we cannot generate a magnetic field as intense as a sun's, but it may not be necessary." He paused as Aurelan and Menen came in, explained his idea again quickly, and went on: "We have your son to thank for this, Menen. But what particularly interests me is that his parasite was not forced out gradually by the gradually increasing intensity of the general magnetic field. Instead, insofar as we can tell, it was wrenched out quite suddenly. This leads me to suspect that motion is the key—that what happened was that his ship passed through the rapidly whirling magnetic field of a sunspot. That is an effect we can duplicate. If I am right, it will pull the creature out like pulling a tooth."
"But probably a lot more painful," McCoy said. "Maybe even fatally so."
"It did not kill Menen's son. The heat did that. In any event, we have no course available but to try. Since I am already infected, the logical thing to do is to try it on me."
