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

by Various

  The flyer shook his head. "I don't know. No man is born with an understanding of women--"

  "But she is angered with you. What has happened?"

  For a moment Garin was tempted to tell the truth: that he dared not break any barrier she chose to raise, lest he seize what in honor was none of his. But he shook his head mutely. Neither of them saw Thrala again until Death entered the Caverns.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Battle and Victory

  Garin stood with Dandtan looking out into the plain of Tav. Some distance away were two slender, steel-tipped towers, which were, in reality, but hollow tubes filled with the Black Fire. Before these dark-clad figures were busy.

  "They seem to believe us already defeated. Let them think so," commented Dandtan, touching the screen they had erected before the Cavern entrance.

  As he spoke Kepta swaggered through the tall grass to call a greeting:

  "Ho, rock dweller, I would speak with you--"

  Dandtan edged around the screen, Garin a pace behind.

  "I see you, Kepta."

  "Good. I trust that your ears will serve you as well as your eyes. These are my terms: Give Thrala to me to dwell in my chamber and the outlander to provide sport for my captains. Make no resistance but throw open the Caverns so that I may take my rightful place in the Hall of Thrones. Do this and we shall be at peace...."

  "And this is our reply:"--Dandtan stood unmovingly before the screen--"Return to the Caves; break down the bridge between your land and ours. Let no Black One come hither again, ever...."

  Kepta laughed. "So, that be the way of it! Then this shall we do: take Thrala, to be mine for a space, and then to go to my captains--"

  Garin hurled himself forward, felt Kepta's lips mash beneath his fist; his fingers were closing about the other's throat as Dandtan, who was trying to pull him away from his prey, shouted a warning: "Watch out!"

  A morgel had leaped from the grass, its teeth snapping about Garin's wrist, forcing him to drop Kepta. Then Dandtan laid it senseless by a sharp blow with his belt.

  On hands and knees Kepta crawled back to his men. The lower part of his face was a red and dripping smear. He screamed an order with savage fury.

  Dandtan drew the still raging flyer behind the screen. "Be a little prudent," he panted. "Kepta can be dealt with in other ways than with bare hands."

  The towers were swinging their tips toward the entrance. Dandtan ordered the screen wedged tightly into place.

  Outside, the morgel Dandtan had stunned got groggily to its feet. When it had limped half the distance back to its master, Kepta gave the order to fire. The broad beam of black light from the tip of the nearest tower caught the beast head on. There was a chilling scream of agony, and where the morgel had stood gray ashes drifted on the wind.

  A hideous crackling arose as the black beam struck the screen. Green grass beneath seared away, leaving only parched earth and naked blue soil. Those within the Cavern crouched behind their frail protection, half blinded by the light from the seared grass, coughing from the chemical-ridden fumes which curled about the cracks of the rock.

  Then the beam faded out. Thin smoke plumed from the tips of the towers, steam arose from the blackened ground. Dandtan drew a deep breath.

  "It held!" he cried, betraying at last the fear which had ridden him.

  Men of the Folk dragged engines of tubing before the screen, while others brought forth the globes of green liquid. Dandtan stood aside, as if this matter were the business of the Folk alone, and Garin recalled that the Ancient Ones were opposed to the taking of life.

  Trar was in command now. At his orders the globes were posed on spoon-shaped holders. Loopholes in the screen clicked open. Trar brought down his hand in signal. The globes arose lazily, sliding through the loopholes and floating out toward the towers.

  One, aimed short, struck the ground where the fire had burned it bare, and broke. The liquid came forth, sluggishly, forming a gray-green gas as the air struck it. Another spiral of gas arose almost at the foot of one of the towers--and then another ... and another.

  There quickly followed a tortured screaming, which soon dwindled to a weak yammering. They could see shapes, no longer human or animal, staggering about in the fog.

  Dandtan turned away, his face white with horror. Garin's hands were over his ears to shut out that crying.

  At last it was quiet; there was no more movement by the towers. Urg placed a sphere of rosy light upon the nearest machine and flipped it out into the camp of the enemy. As if it were a magnet it drew the green tendrils of gas, to leave the air clear. Here and there lay shrunken, livid shapes, the towers brooding over them.

  One of the Folk burst into their midst, a woman of Thrala's following.

  "Haste!" She clawed at Garin. "Kepta takes Thrala!"

  She ran wildly back the way she had come, with the American pounding at her heels. They burst into the Hall of Thrones and saw a struggling group before the dais.

  Garin heard someone howl like an animal, became aware the sound came from his own throat. For the second time his fist found its mark on Kepta's face. With a shriek of rage the Black One threw Thrala from him and sprang at Garin, his nails tearing gashes in the flyer's face. Twice the American twisted free and sent bone-crushing blows into the other's ribs. Then he got the grip he wanted, and his fingers closed around Kepta's throat. In spite of the Black One's struggles he held on until a limp body rolled beneath him.

  Panting, the American pulled himself up from the blood-stained floor and grabbed the arm of the Jade Throne for support.

  "Garin!" Thrala's arms were about him, her pitying fingers on his wounds. And in that moment he forgot Dandtan, forgot everything he had steeled himself to remember. She was in his arms and his mouth sought hers possessively. Nor was she unresponsive, but yielded, as a flower yields to the wind.

  "Garin!" she whispered softly. Then, almost shyly, she broke from his hold.

  Beyond her stood Dandtan, his face white, his mouth tight. Garin remembered. And, a little mad with pain and longing, he dropped his eyes, trying not to see the loveliness which was Thrala.

  "So, Outlander, Thrala flies to your arms--"

  Garin whirled about. Kepta was hunched on the broad seat of the jet throne.

  "No, I am not dead, Outlander--nor shall you kill me, as you think to do. I go now, but I shall return. We have met and hated, fought and died before--you and I. You were a certain Garan, Marshall of the air fleet of Yu-Lac on a vanished world, and I was Lord of Koom. That was in the days before the Ancient Ones pioneered space. You and I and Thrala, we are bound together and even fate can not break those bonds. Farewell, Garin. And do you, Thrala, remember the ending of that other Garan. It was not an easy one."

  With a last malicious chuckle, he leaned back in the throne. His battered body slumped. Then the sharp lines of the throne blurred; it shimmered in the light. Abruptly then both it and its occupant were gone. They were staring at empty space, above which loomed the rose throne of the Ancient Ones.

  "He spoke true," murmured Thrala. "We have had other lives, other meetings--so will we meet again. But for the present he returns to the darkness which sent him forth. It is finished."

  Without warning, a low rumbling filled the Cavern; the walls rocked and swayed. Lizard and human, they huddled together until the swaying stopped. Finally a runner appeared with news that one of the Gibi had ventured forth and discovered that the Caves of Darkness had been sealed by an underground quake. The menace of the Black Ones was definitely at an end.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Thrala's Mate

  Although there were falls of rock within the Caverns and some of the passages were closed, few of the Folk suffered injury. Gibi scouts reported that the land about the entrance to the Caves had sunk, and that the River of Gold, thrown out of its bed, was fast filling this basin to form a lake.

  As far as they could discover, none of the Black Ones had survived the battle and the sealing of the Ca
ves. But they could not be sure that there was not a handful of outlaws somewhere within the confines of Tav.

  The Crater itself was changed. A series of raw hills had appeared in the central plain. The pool of boiling mud had vanished and trees in the forest lay flat, as if cut by a giant scythe.

  Upon their return to the cliff city, the Gibi found most of their wax skyscrapers in ruins, but they set about rebuilding without complaint. The squirrel farmers emerged from their burrows and were again busy in the fields.

  Garin felt out of place in all the activity that filled the Caverns. More than ever he was the outlander with no true roots in Tav. Restlessly, he explored the Caverns, spending many hours in the Place of Ancestors, where he studied those men of the outer world who had preceded him into this weird land.

  One night when he came back to his chamber he found Dandtan and Trar awaiting him there. There was a curious hardness in Dandtan's attitude, a somber sobriety in Trar's carriage.

  "Have you sought the Hall of Women since the battle?" demanded the son of the Ancient Ones abruptly.

  "No," retorted Garin shortly. Did Dandtan accuse him of double dealing?

  "Have you sent a message to Thrala?"

  Garin held back his rising temper. "I have not ventured where I can not."

  Dandtan nodded to Trar as if his suspicions had been confirmed. "You see how it stands, Trar."

  Trar shook his head slowly. "But never has the summoning been at fault--"

  "You forget," Dandtan reminded him sharply. "It was once--and the penalty was exacted. So shall it be again."

  Garin looked from one to the other, confused. Dandtan seemed possessed of a certain ruthless anger, but Trar was manifestly unhappy.

  "It must come after council, the Daughter willing," the Lord of the Folk said.

  Dandtan strode toward the door. "Thrala is not to know. Assemble the Council tonight. Meanwhile, see that he," he jerked his thumb toward Garin, "does not leave this room."

  Thus Garin became a prisoner under the guard of the Folk, unable to discover of what Dandtan accused him, or how he had aroused the hatred of the Cavern ruler. Unless Dandtan's jealousy had been aroused and he was determined to rid himself of a rival.

  Believing this, the flyer went willingly to the chamber where the judges waited. Dandtan sat at the head of a long table, Trar at his right hand and lesser nobles of the Folk beyond.

  "You know the charge," Dandtan's words were tipped with venom as Garin came to stand before him. "Out of his own mouth has this outlander condemned himself. Therefore I ask that you decree for him the fate of that outlander of the second calling who rebelled against the summoning."

  "The outlander has admitted his fault?" questioned one of the Folk.

  Trar inclined his head sadly. "He did."

  As Garin opened his mouth to demand a stating of the charge against him, Dandtan spoke again:

  "What say you, Lords?"

  For a long moment they sat in silence and then they bobbed their lizard heads in assent. "Do as you desire, Dweller in the Light."

  Dandtan smiled without mirth. "Look, outlander." He passed his hand over the glass of the seeing mirror set in the table top. "This is the fate of him who rebels--"

  In the shining surface Garin saw pictured a break in Tav's wall. At its foot stood a group of men of the Ancient Ones, and in their midst struggled a prisoner. They were forcing him to climb the crater wall. Garin watched him reach the lip and crawl over, to stagger across the steaming rock, dodging the scalding vapor of hot springs, until he pitched face down in the slimy mud.

  "Such was his ending, and so will you end--"

  The calm brutality of that statement aroused Garin's anger. "Rather would I die that way than linger in this den," he cried hotly. "You, who owe your life to me, would send me to such a death without even telling me of what I am accused. Little is there to choose between you and Kepta, after all--except that he was an open enemy!"

  Dandtan sprang to his feet, but Trar caught his arm.

  "He speaks fairly. Ask him why he will not fulfill the summoning."

  While Dandtan hesitated, Garin leaned across the table, flinging his words, weapon-like, straight into that cold face.

  "I'll admit that I love Thrala--have loved her since that moment when I saw her on the steps of the morgel pit in the caves. Since when has it become a crime to love that which may not be yours--if you do not try to take it?"

  Trar released Dandtan, his golden eyes gleaming.

  "If you love her, claim her. It is your right."

  "Do I not know," Garin turned to him, "that she is Dandtan's. Thran had no idea of Dandtan's survival when he laid his will upon her. Shall I stoop to holding her to an unwelcome bargain? Let her go to the one she loves...."

  Dandtan's face was livid, and his hands, resting on the table, trembled. One by one the lords of the Folk slipped away, leaving the two face-to-face.

  "And I thought to order you to your death." Dandtan's whisper was husky as it emerged between dry lips. "Garin, we thought you knew--and, knowing, had refused her."

  "Knew what?"

  * * * * *

  "That I am Thran's son--and Thrala's brother."

  The floor swung beneath Garin's unsteady feet. Dandtan's hands were warm on his shoulders.

  "I am a fool," said the American slowly.

  Dandtan smiled. "A very honorable fool! Now get you to Thrala, who deserves to hear the full of this tangle."

  So it was that, with Dandtan by his side, Garin walked for the second time down that hallway, to pass the golden curtains and stand in the presence of the Daughter. She came straight from her cushions into his arms when she read what was in his face. They needed no words.

  And in that hour began Garin's life in Tav.

  * * *

  Contents

  AN OUNCE OF CURE

  By Alan Nourse

  The doctor's office was shiny and modern. Behind the desk the doctor smiled down at James Wheatley through thick glasses. "Now, then! What seems to be the trouble?"

  Wheatley had been palpitating for five days straight at the prospect of coming here. "I know it's silly," he said. "But I've been having a pain in my toe."

  "Indeed!" said the doctor. "Well, now! How long have you had this pain, my man?"

  "About six months now, I'd say. Just now and then, you know. It's never really been bad. Until last week. You see--"

  "I see," said the doctor. "Getting worse all the time, you say."

  Wheatley wiggled the painful toe reflectively. "Well--you might say that. You see, when I first--"

  "How old did you say you were, Mr. Wheatley?"

  "Fifty-five."

  "Fifty-five!" The doctor leafed through the medical record on his desk. "But this is incredible. You haven't had a checkup in almost ten years!"

  "I guess I haven't," said Wheatley, apologetically. "I'd been feeling pretty well until--"

  "Feeling well!" The doctor stared in horror. "But my dear fellow, no checkup since January 1963! We aren't in the Middle Ages, you know. This is 1972."

  "Well, of course--"

  "Of course you may be feeling well enough, but that doesn't mean everything is just the way it should be. And now, you see, you're having pains in your toes!"

  "One toe," said Wheatley. "The little one on the right. It seemed to me--"

  "One toe today, perhaps," said the doctor heavily. "But tomorrow--" He heaved a sigh. "How about your breathing lately? Been growing short of breath when you hurry upstairs?"

  "Well--I have been bothered a little."

  "I thought so! Heart pound when you run for the subway? Feel tired all day? Pains in your calves when you walk fast?"

  "Uh--yes, occasionally, I--" Wheatley looked worried and rubbed his toe on the chair leg.

  "You know that fifty-five is a dangerous age," said the doctor gravely. "Do you have a cough? Heartburn after dinner? Prop up on pillows at night? Just as I thought! And no checkup for ten years!" He sighed ag
ain.

  "I suppose I should have seen to it," Wheatley admitted. "But you see, it's just that my toe--"

  "My dear fellow! Your toe is part of you. It doesn't just exist down there all by itself. If your toe hurts, there must be a reason."

  Wheatley looked more worried than ever. "There must? I thought--perhaps you could just give me a little something--"

  "To stop the pain?" The doctor looked shocked. "Well, of course I could do that, but that's not getting at the root of the trouble, is it? That's just treating symptoms. Medieval quackery. Medicine has advanced a long way since your last checkup, my friend. And even treatment has its dangers. Did you know that more people died last year of aspirin poisoning than of cyanide poisoning?"

  Wheatley wiped his forehead. "I--dear me! I never realized--"

  "We have to think about those things," said the doctor. "Now, the problem here is to find out why you have the pain in your toe. It could be inflammatory. Maybe a tumor. Perhaps it could be, uh, functional ... or maybe vascular!"

  "Perhaps you could take my blood pressure, or something," Wheatley offered.

  "Well, of course I could. But that isn't really my field, you know. It wouldn't really mean anything, if I did it. But there's nothing to worry about. We have a fine Hypertensive man at the Diagnostic Clinic." The doctor checked the appointment book on his desk. "Now, if we could see you there next Monday morning at nine--"

  * * * * *

  "Very interesting X rays," said the young doctor with the red hair. "Very interesting. See this shadow in the duodenal cap? See the prolonged emptying time? And I've never seen such beautiful pylorospasm!"

  "This is my toe?" asked Wheatley, edging toward the doctors. It seemed he had been waiting for a very long time.

  "Toe! Oh, no," said the red-headed doctor. "No, that's the Orthopedic Radiologist's job. I'm a Gastro-Intestinal man, myself. Upper. Dr. Schultz here is Lower." The red-headed doctor turned back to his consultation with Dr. Schultz. Mr. Wheatley rubbed his toe and waited.

  Presently another doctor came by. He looked very grave as he sat down beside Wheatley. "Tell me, Mr. Wheatley, have you had an orthodiagram recently?"