(2/15) The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume II: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories

by Various

  Spencer snorted. "I know that a barbarian named Kanus has established himself as a dictator. He's a troublemaker. I've been talking to the Commonwealth Council about the advisability of quashing him before he causes grief, but you know the Council ... first wait until the flames have sprung up, then thrash about and demand that the Star Watch do something!"

  Leoh grinned. "You're as irascible as ever."

  "My personality is not the subject of this rather expensive discussion. What about Kanus? And what are you doing, getting yourself involved in politics? About to change your profession again?"

  "No, not at all," Leoh answered, laughing. Then, more seriously. "It seems as though Kanus has discovered some method of using the dueling machines to achieve political advantages over his neighbors."

  "What?"

  Leoh explained the circumstances of Odal's duels with the Acquatainian prime minister and Szarno Industrialist.

  "Dulaq is completely incapacitated and the other poor fellow is dead?" Spencer's face darkened into a thundercloud. "You were right to call me. This is a situation that could easily become intolerable."

  "I agree," Leoh said. "But evidently Kanus has not broken any laws or interstellar agreements. All that meets the eye is a disturbing pair of accidents, both of them accruing to Kanus' benefit."

  "Do you believe that they were accidents?"

  "Certainly not. The dueling machine cannot cause physical or mental harm ... unless someone has tampered with it in some way."

  "That is my thought, too." Spencer was silent for a moment, weighing the matter in his mind. "Very well. The Star Watch cannot act officially, but there is nothing to prevent me from dispatching an officer to the Acquataine Cluster, on detached duty, to serve as liaison between us."

  "Good. I think that will be the most effective method of handling the situation, at present."

  "It will be done." Sir Harold pronounced. His aide made a mental note of it.

  "Thank you very much," Leoh said. "Now, go back to enjoying your vacation."

  "Vacation? This is no vacation," Spencer rumbled. "I happen to be celebrating my birthday."

  "So? Well, congratulations. I try not to remember mine," Leoh said.

  "Then you must be older than I," Spencer replied, allowing only the faintest hint of a smile to appear.

  "I suppose it's possible."

  "But not very likely, eh?"

  They laughed together and said good-by. The Star Watch commander tramped through the hills until sunset, enjoying the sight of the grasslands and distant purple mountains he had known in his childhood. As dusk closed in, he told his aide he was ready to leave.

  The aide pressed a stud on his belt and a two-place aircar skimmed silently from the far side of the hills and hovered beside them. Spencer climbed in laboriously while the aide remained discreetly at his side. While the commander settled his bulk into his seat the aide hurried around the car and hopped into his place. The car glided off toward Spencer's personal planetship, waiting for him at a nearby field.

  "Don't forget to assign an officer to Dr. Leoh," the commander muttered to his aide. Then he turned and watched the unmatchable beauty of an Earthly sunset.

  * * * * *

  The aide did not forget the assignment. That night, as Sir Harold's ship spiraled out to a rendezvous with a starship, the aide dictated the necessary order into a autodispatcher that immediately beamed it to the Star Watch's nearest communications center, on Mars.

  The order was scanned and routed automatically and finally beamed to the Star Watch unit commandant in charge of the area closest to the Acquataine Cluster, on the sixth planet circling the star Perseus Alpha. Here again, the order was processed automatically and routed through the local headquarters to the personnel files. The automated files selected three microcard dossiers that matched the requirements of the order.

  The three microcards and the order itself appeared simultaneously on the desktop viewer of the Star Watch personnel officer. He looked at the order, then read the dossiers. He flicked a button that gave him an updated status report on each of the three men in question. One was due for leave after an extensive period of duty. The second was the son of a personal friend of the local commandant. The third had just arrived a few weeks ago, fresh from the Star Watch Academy on Mars.

  The personnel officer selected the third man, routed his dossier and Sir Harold's order back into the automatic processing system, and returned to the film of primitive dancing girls he had been watching before this matter of decision had arrived at his desk.

  VI

  The space station orbiting around Acquatainia--the capital planet of the Acquataine Cluster--served simultaneously as a transfer point from starships to planetships, a tourist resort, meteorological station, communications center, scientific laboratory, astronomical observatory, medical haven for allergy and cardiac patients, and military base. It was, in reality, a good-sized city with its own markets, its own local government, and its own way of life.

  Dr. Leoh had just stepped off the debarking ramp of the starship from Szarno. The trip there had been pointless and fruitless. But he had gone anyway, in the slim hope that he might find something wrong with the dueling machine that had been used to murder a man.

  A shudder went through him as he edged along the automated customs scanners and paper-checkers. What kind of people could these men of Kerak be? To actually kill a human being in cold blood; to plot and plan the death of a fellow man. Worse than barbaric. Savage.

  He felt tired as he left customs and took the slideway to the planetary shuttle ships. Halfway there, he decided to check at the communications desk for messages. That Star Watch officer that Sir Harold had promised him a week ago should have arrived by now.

  The communications desk consisted of a small booth that contained the output printer of a communications computer and an attractive young dark-haired girl. Automation or not, Leoh thought smilingly, there were certain human values that transcended mere efficiency.

  A lanky, thin-faced youth was half-leaning on the booth's counter, trying to talk to the girl. He had curly blond hair and crystal blue eyes; his clothes consisted of an ill-fitting pair of slacks and tunic. A small traveler's kit rested on the floor at his feet.

  "So, I was sort of, well, thinking ... maybe somebody might, uh, show me around ... a little," he was stammering to the girl. "I've never been, uh, here ..."

  "It's the most beautiful planet in the galaxy," the girl was saying. "Its cities are the finest."

  "Yes ... well, I was sort of thinking ... that is, I know we just, uh, met a few minutes ago ... but, well, maybe ... if you have a free day or so coming up ... maybe we could, uh, sort of--".

  She smiled coolly. "I have two days off at the end of the week, but I'll be staying here at the station. There's so much to see and do here, I very seldom leave."

  "Oh--"

  "You're making a mistake," Leoh interjected dogmatically, "If you have such a beautiful planet for your homeworld, why in the name of the gods of intellect don't you go down there and enjoy it? I'll wager you haven't been out in the natural beauty and fine cities you spoke of since you started working here on the station."

  "Why, you're right," she said, surprised.

  "You see? You youngsters are all alike. You never think further than the ends of your noses. You should return to the planet, young lady, and see the sunshine again. Why don't you visit the University at the capital city? Plenty of open space and greenery, lots of sunshine and available young men!"

  Leoh was grinning broadly, and the girl smiled back at him. "Perhaps I will," she said.

  "Ask for me when you get to the University. I'm Dr. Leoh. I'll see to it that you're introduced to some of the girls and gentlemen of your own age."

  "Why ... thank you, doctor. I'll do it this week end."

  "Good. Now then, any messages for me? Anyone aboard the station looking for me?"

  The girl turned and tapped a few keys on the computer's cons
ole. A row of lights flicked briefly across the console's face. She turned back to Leoh:

  "No, sir, I'm sorry. No message and no one has asked for you."

  "Hm-m-m. That's strange. Well, thank you ... and I'll expect to see you at the end of this week."

  The girl smiled a farewell. Leoh started to walk away from the booth, back toward the slideway. The young man took a step toward him, stumbled on his own traveling kit, and staggered across the floor for a half-dozen steps before regaining his balance. Leoh turned and saw that the youth's face bore a somewhat ridiculous expression of mixed indecision and curiosity.

  "Can I help you?" Leoh asked, stopping at the edge of the moving slideway.

  "How ... how did you do that, sir?"

  "Do what?"

  "Get that girl to agree to visit the university. I've been talking to her for half an hour, and, well, she wouldn't even look straight at me."

  Leoh broke into a chuckle. "Well, young man, to begin with, you were much too flustered. It made you appear overanxious. On the other hand, I am at an age where I can be strictly platonic. She was on guard against you, but she knows she has very little to fear from me."

  "I see ... I think."

  "Well," Leoh said, gesturing toward the slideway, "I suppose this is where we go our separate ways."

  "Oh, no, sir. I'm going with you. That is, I mean, you are Dr. Leoh, aren't you?"

  "Yes, I am. And you must be--" Leoh hesitated. Can this be a Star Watch officer? he wondered.

  The youth stiffened to attention and for an absurd flash of a second, Leoh thought he was going to salute. "I am Junior Lieutenant Hector, sir; on special detached duty from the cruiser SW4-J188, home base Perseus Alpha VI."

  "I see," Leoh replied. "Um-m-m ... is Hector your first name or your last?"

  "Both, sir."

  I should have guessed, Leoh told himself. Aloud, he said, "Well, lieutenant, we'd better get to the shuttle before it leaves without us."

  * * * * *

  They took to the slideway. Half a second later, Hector jumped off and dashed back to the communications desk for his traveling kit. He hurried back to Leoh bumping into seven bewildered citizens of various descriptions and nearly breaking both his legs when he tripped as he ran back onto the moving slideway. He went down on his face, sprawled across two lanes moving at different speeds, and needed the assistance of several persons before he was again on his feet and standing beside Leoh.

  "I ... I'm sorry to cause all that, uh, commotion, sir."

  "That's all right. You weren't hurt, were you?"

  "Uh, no ... I don't think so. Just embarrassed."

  Leoh said nothing. They rode the slideway in silence through the busy station and out to the enclosed berths where the planetary shuttles were docked. They boarded one of the ships and found a pair of seats.

  "Just how long have you been with Star Watch, lieutenant?"

  "Six weeks, sir. Three weeks aboard a starship bringing me out to Perseus Alpha VI, a week at the planetary base there, and two weeks aboard the cruiser SW4-J188. That is, it's been six weeks since I received my commission. I've been at the Academy ... the Star Watch Academy on Mars ... for four years."

  "You got through the Academy in four years?"

  "That's the regulation time, sir."

  "Yes, I know."

  The ship eased out of its berth. There was a moment of free-fall, then the drive engine came on and the grav-field equilibrated.

  "Tell me, lieutenant, how did you get picked for this assignment?"

  "I wish I knew, sir," Hector said, his lean face twisting into a puzzled frown. "I was working out a program for the navigation officer ... aboard the cruiser. I'm pretty good at that ... I can work out computer programs in my head, mostly. Mathematics was my best subject at the Academy--"

  "Interesting."

  "Yes, well, anyway, I was working out this program when the captain himself came on deck and started shaking my hand telling me that I was being sent on special duty on Acquatainia by direct orders of the Commander-in-Chief. He seemed very happy ... the captain, that is."

  "He was no doubt pleased to see you get such an unusual assignment," Leoh said tactfully.

  "I'm not sure," Hector said truthfully. "I think he regarded me as some sort of a problem, sir. He had me on a different duty-berth practically every day I was on board the ship."

  "Well now," Leoh changed the subject, "what do you know about psychonics?"

  "About what, sir?"

  "Eh ... electroencephalography?"

  Hector looked blank.

  "Psychology, perhaps?" Leoh suggested, hopefully, "Physiology? Computer molectronics?"

  "I'm pretty good at mathematics!"

  "Yes, I know. Did you, by any chance, receive any training in diplomatic affairs?"

  "At the Star Watch Academy? No, sir."

  Leah ran a hand through his thinning hair. "Then why did the Star Watch select you for this job? I must confess, lieutenant, that I can't understand the workings of a military organization."

  Hector shook his head ruefully, "Neither do I, sir."

  VII

  The next week was an enervatingly slow one for Leoh, evenly divided between tedious checking of each component of the dueling machine, and shameless rouses to keep Hector as far away from the machine as possible.

  The Star Watchman certainly wanted to help, and he actually was little short of brilliant in doing intricate mathematics completely in his head. But he was, Leoh found, a clumsy, chattering, whistling, scatterbrained, inexperienced bundle of noise and nerves. It was impossible to do constructive work with him nearby.

  Perhaps you're judging him too harshly, Leoh warned himself. You just might be letting your frustrations with the dueling machine get the better of your sense of balance.

  The professor was sitting in the office that the Acquatainians had given him in one end of the former lecture hall that held the dueling machine. Leoh could see its impassive metal hulk through the open office door.

  The room he was sitting in had been one of a suite of offices used by the permanent staff of the machine. But they had moved out of the building completely, in deference to Leoh, and the Acquatainian government had turned the other cubbyhole offices into sleeping rooms for the professor and the Star Watchman, and an auto-kitchen. A combination cook-valet-handyman appeared twice each day--morning and evening--to handle any special chores that the cleaning machines and auto-kitchen might miss.

  Leoh slouched back in his desk chair and cast a weary eye on the stack of papers that recorded the latest performances of the machine. Earlier that day he had taken the electroencephalographic records of clinical cases of catatonia and run them through the machine's input unit. The machine immediately rejected them, refused to process them through the amplification units and association circuits.

  In other words, the machine had recognized the EEG traces as something harmful to a human being.

  Then how did it happen to Dulaq? Leoh asked himself for the thousandth time. It couldn't have been the machine's fault; it must have been something in Odal's mind that simply overpowered Dulaq's.

  "Overpowered?" That's a terribly unscientific term, Leoh argued against himself.

  Before he could carry the debate any further, he heard the main door of the big chamber slide open and then bang shut, and Hector's off-key whistle shrilled and echoed through the high-vaulted room.

  Leoh sighed and put his self-contained argument off to the back of his mind. Trying to think logically near Hector was a hopeless prospect.

  "Are you in, doctor?" Hector's voice rang out.

  "In here."

  Hector ducked in through the doorway and plopped his rangy frame on the office's couch.

  "Everything going well, sir?"

  Leoh shrugged. "Not very well, I'm afraid. I can't find anything wrong with the dueling machine. I can't even force it to malfunction."

  "Well, that's good, isn't it?" Hector chirped happily.

&nb
sp; "In a sense," Leoh admitted, feeling slightly nettled at the youth's boundless, pointless optimism. "But, you see, it means that Kanus' people can do things with the machine that I can't."

  Hector frowned, considering the problem. "Hm-m-m ... yes, I guess that's right, too, isn't it?"

  "Did you see the girl back to her ship safely?" Leoh asked.

  "Yes, sir," Hector replied, bobbing his head vigorously. "She's on her way back to the communications booth at the space station. She said to tell you she enjoyed her visit very much."

  "Good. It was, eh, very good of you to escort her about the campus. It kept her out of my hair ... what's left of it, that is."

  Hector grinned. "Oh, I liked showing her around, and all that--And, well, it sort of kept me out of your hair, too, didn't it?"

  Leoh's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  Hector laughed. "Doctor, I may be clumsy, and I'm certainly no scientist ... but I'm not completely brainless."

  "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression--"

  "Oh no ... don't be sorry. I didn't mean that to sound so ... well, the way it sounded ... that is. I know I'm just in your way--" He started to get up.

  * * * * *

  Leoh waved him back to the couch. "Relax, my boy, relax. You know, I've been sitting here all afternoon wondering what to do next. Somehow, just now, I came to a conclusion."

  "Yes?"

  "I'm going to leave the Acquataine Cluster and return to Carinae."

  "What? But you can't! I mean--"

  "Why not? I'm not accomplishing anything here. Whatever it is that this Odal and Kanus have been doing, it's basically a political problem, and not a scientific one. The professional staff of the machine here will catch up to their tricks sooner or later."

  "But, sir, if you can't find the answer, how can they?"

  "Frankly, I don't know. But, as I said, this is a political problem more than a scientific one. I'm tired and frustrated and I'm feeling my years. I want to return to Carinae and spend the next few months considering beautifully abstract problems about instantaneous transportation devices. Let Massan and the Star Watch worry about Kanus."

  "Oh! That's what I came to tell you. Massan has been challenged to a duel by Odal!"