Alton's Unguessable

by Jeff Sutton

  It was, he felt, a good beginning for the conquest of the galaxy.

  SIX

  Roger Keim glanced at the sky; a few patches of white cloud sailed toward the rising sun. Otherwise it was clear, the morning warm—a climate that Robin Martel, the meteorologist, had predicted would prevail at this latitude throughout the greater part of the year. In that, at least, he couldn't fault the planet.

  He transferred his gaze to the birds wheeling above the grasslands. Yozell's description of them as "gulls" seemed exactly right. He'd seen tens of thousands just like them on Klasner and Tarth and Jondell, on a score of planets he'd known. The graceful way they soared, the slow rise and fall of their wings, made them appear born more to the sky than to the land.

  But were they just gulls? The question returned, nibbling uneasily at his mind as he squinted to bring them into sharper focus. Gulls that could sense force fields. And why did they tend to congregate in the vicinity of the Alpha Tauri when no food was available? Neither could he forget the gull that hovered inches from Weber's face just seconds before the crewman's death, nor the single gull in the sky when the temple had collapsed. Coincidence? If so, it was the kind of coincidence which throughout history had given rise to a million superstitions.

  But there were other questions. What was the thunder that filled his mind by day and vanished by late evening? Why the ominous sense of foreboding that seldom deserted him? Weber's broken neck and the temple crash were more unanswerable "whys." Small wonder that panic was building in the ship. First Burl Ashford, now a dozen others wanted to leave. Even Sam Gossett. It was worse among the crewmen; he could see in their faces and sense in their actions a restlessness which but thinly veiled their fears.

  Perhaps Lara was right. Perhaps they should sift through the temple's debris, to ascertain something of the nature of its builders and why they had vanished. A civilization at the plastic level simply didn't disappear without a trace unless the cause was cataclysmic. War? Then there should be ruins of cities, roads, a scattering of artifacts. But there weren't, and that struck him as the most damning of all; yet he wasn't exactly certain why.

  An alien intelligence? He let his mind play with the term. If so, what was its nature? He couldn't associate the gulls with such intelligence by any stretch of the. imagination. Yet what did that leave? Demons, harpies, ghouls, ghosts—he grimaced at the things his mind conjured. But such supernatural beings didn't cause ancient temples to crash. He had to look elsewhere. Return to the temple? It could do no harm. At least it couldn't fall on him, he thought wryly. And now was as good a time as any. He realized he had been edging toward that decision all morning.

  As a precaution, he returned inside to exchange his bolt gun for a more accurate laser weapon. Debating whether or not to enlist Kimbrough's sanction, he decided against it; he would face the wrath of Woon and Kimbrough later.

  When he returned outside, he noticed that one of the skimmers had departed in the few moments that he'd been gone. Entering another vehicle, he pointed it toward the site where the temple had stood. Although he had no beam to guide him, he was certain he could find it.

  The golden-hued grasses, a stream sparkling in the morning sun, the purplish blur in the distance that marked the forested hills—his eyes drank in the emptiness of the scene. With the patches of ragged cloud now behind him, there was only the sapphire blue of the sky, a sense of immensity, of desolation. Silence. Nothing moved.

  He did not see the bird that followed far behind.

  Despite the crackling thunder and pressure in his mind, he felt momentarily at peace. For most of his life, it seemed, he'd dwelt in solitude. Not solitude in a physical sense, but in the invisible barrier that separated him from his fellow men, but not from other telepaths. But the T-men were few' and widely scattered. As for the world of non-telepaths, he was not their kind; their attitude seldom failed to convey that. Scientists were more liberal, more understanding, but… It was the but that he always sensed. He was a T-man. Period. As such, he lay beyond the social pale.

  But the solitude of the moment was different; it came from the emptiness, the stillness, the utter peace. With regret, he realized that one day tall buildings would pierce these serene skies; freight and passenger vehicles would fill the air; the planet would throb and hum as a hive of humanity. He was thankful that it wouldn't come in his day.

  Lifting the skimmer to clear the first trees, he saw a light-colored object in the sky far ahead. He studied it, puzzled for a moment until he realized it was the missing skimmer. Lara! The identity of its occupant came intuitively. He realized that her mission probably was the same as his. She was alone; he knew that also. As he reached toward the communicator to call her on the Q band, her skimmer dropped lower. Concluding that she was approaching the clearing, he hesitantly withdrew his hand. Seconds later her vehicle dropped below the treetops.

  Would she believe he had followed her on purpose? Probably, but he had no intention of turning back. He dropped lower, watching the forest giants wheel past beneath him. Movement in the periphery of his eye brought his head up sharply. A gull! Its wings motionless, it seemed pinned against the blue of the sky.

  His heart began to pound. All at once he had to tear his eyes away as the clearing rushed toward him. Abruptly decelerating, he felt the small vehicle buck. Even so he overshot the landing area and had to circle back. Hovering, he peered down. Emerging from her skimmer, Lara was turning toward the jungle trail first blazed by Bascomb. A crackling roar filled his brain.

  Motion! The realization struck him before he saw its source—a huge tree that inexplicably had begun to sway. Its top whipped violently. He was trying to discern the cause when the gigantic trunk snapped and toppled toward her.

  "Watch out!" The shout of alarm leaped involuntarily from his lips. Horror-struck, he saw her jerk her face toward the sky. She seemed rooted to the spot forever before she made a frantic dash to one side. An instant later the forest giant crashed and splintered over the spot where she had stood.

  Another treetop whipped. Her frightened face turned upward, she saw the huge trunk arcing toward her. Again she bolted to safety with just a split second to spare. Keim dropped his skimmer straight down, striking the ground so violently that it bounced.

  "Lara," he shouted frantically. Leaping from the vehicle, he raced toward her. She whirled, saw him, screamed a shrill warning as another tree came crashing down. He reached her, grasped her hand and yanked her to safety. One branch smashed her skimmer to a mass of wreckage.

  "What's happening?" she cried wildly.

  "Temples are toppling."

  "What?"

  "Into the forest, quick!" He pulled her toward the sanctuary among the thick trunks.

  "They'll fall on us," she screamed.

  "They'll protect us," he shouted, wondering if they really would. One small part of his mind screamed that there was no safety anywhere. Not on Krado 1! Halting between two gigantic trunks, he glanced back.

  The tree that had struck the skimmer rose from the ground. Hanging parallel as if floating, it began to rotate about its long axis until the massive trunk was pointed directly toward them. Keim sensed the danger and jerked her to safety behind the forest giant next to them. With the suddenness of an arrow unleashed from a bow, the suspended trunk hurtled toward them. A splintering roar told him that the big tree had been stopped, at least momentarily.

  His mind spun. A devastating fear flamed inside him. With a terrible awareness he knew that the entire forest-every tree, shrub, and vine—was a potential killer. He wanted to race wildly away, regardless of direction. Only the iron discipline of his will told him he had to think clearly; the panic could come later. Could they reach the remaining skimmer, get it into the air? Or was that also disaster?

  Her hand clasped tightly in his, he threaded his way toward the clearing. The trees around them whipped, crackled, fell. The roaring that assailed his ears gave the impression that a tremendous gale had struck the forest. Twice
he managed to pull her to safety as trees whistled past like feathers in a high wind. They reached the edge of the clearing just as the remaining skimmer was torn to shreds—ripped asunder by monstrous invisible hands.

  "What's happening?" she cried hysterically.

  "The alien!" His eyes darted around, seeking an avenue of escape.

  "Alien?"

  "Whoever or whatever it is." The corner of his eye caught the violent whipping of another treetop; he jerked his gaze upward to judge its fall. As he did, he saw the gull, then a second one, circling the clearing intent on the scene below.

  His hand streaked to a pocket, came out with a laser. Automatically setting the beam to maximum coverage, he swung it toward them; his finger came back on the firing key. A small flare in the sky, and then another, told him the gulls were no more. Almost instantly the roaring ceased, the swaying trees grew still, the silence swept back.

  Lara started to totter and would have fallen had he not caught her. "It's all over," he consoled.

  "I'm frightened." She raised her eyes. "How could the gulls do that?" she whispered.

  "Psychokinesis."

  "The mind power? It's not supposed to exist," she protested.

  "So they tell us."

  "But gulls…"

  He shook his head. "I can't believe it was the gulls. They were the lookouts, if I can use that term; but the intelligence behind them is something else." ^ "But how?" she asked perplexedly.

  "I can't answer, but I'm certain the gulls are only agents, that the alien—or aliens—can exert the mind power through them."

  "That's unbelievable!"

  "Not the way those trees were whipping around." He scanned the sky, relieved to find it clear. "But we're safe, at least for the moment. Whatever the power is, we've blinded its eyes."

  "If it could do that…" She watched him, the fear flooding her face anew.

  "It could destroy the Alpha Tauri just as easily, if that's what you're thinking." He caught the dilemma posed by his own words and continued, "But why hasn't it? And why, of the entire crew, did it just now try to kill us?"

  "Because we came here?" she asked faintly.

  "No, it's something more. Why didn't it kill us when it destroyed the temple? Why did it exert its power against the building rather than us? It could have killed the six of us then." His head jerked up. "I just remembered…"

  "What?" she cut in edgily.

  "Yozell caught one of the birds, took it aboard."

  "Oh God!" Her face turned ashen.

  "That's why it hasn't destroyed the ship. It needs it!" He caught her hand. "We've got to get back." He jerked erect as a low whooshing filled the sky. The sound grew, seemingly rolling toward them like the approach of a thousand thunderstorms. The trees edging one side of the clearing trembled. Almost instantly they began moving skyward, dissipating, vanishing.

  Lara screamed.

  "Follow me," shouted Keim. He plunged through the forest, half pulling, half dragging her along with him. Jerking up the laser, he blazed a path ahead. The whooshing behind grew louder. A swift backward glance revealed an entire area of trees, bushes and clinging vines streaming upward, vanishing into nothingness. The clearing in which they had landed was growing bigger and bigger. Racing toward the distant grasslands, he felt the terror sear his mind.

  Lara regained her control, ran swiftly at his side. He slashed their way through thickets, across small knolls, fled along the edge of a gully. Once, when she commenced to falter, he pulled her ruthlessly ahead.

  The mind power! The mind power! The knowledge flared in his consciousness. My God, what had they stumbled on-to? Where did man go from here? They had to reach the ship, escape the planet. And a bird was in the ship!

  "I can't go on," Lara gasped. She stumbled, her breath a harsh whistle in her throat. He caught her arm, stooped, flung her over his shoulder and plunged ahead. The gully intersected a deep gorge that appeared all but uncrossable. Scrambling along its edge, he twisted through the thicker growth to preserve the power of the laser. The whoosh behind had grown to an ear-splitting howl.

  The gorge veered and he glimpsed the plain, a shimmering band of yellow slashing the horizon. My God, how far was it? He must have been running in circles, he thought dully. He tried to fix a point to guide him as he staggered ahead. Conscious of the growing ache in his legs, he wondered how much longer he could go on.

  "The forest! Everything is vanishing!" Lara's scream rang in his ears. Now he knew what had happened to the temple, to the cities and towns that must have existed long ago. The mind power! What frightening thing had been loosed in the universe? But it wasn't a native of this planet; it had come! How? When? Why? He sobbed with the agony in his chest.

  It had come to kill, to denude a planet… this "something" from the stars that man couldn't see, hear, feel. What if it reached the Empire? Oh God, oh God, oh God____

  His lungs aflame, he finally burst from the forest and out onto the plain. His aching muscles and tortured breathing told him he had to stop; the terror in his mind told him he couldn't. He had to run, run, run…

  Behind him, suddenly, came a vast stillness. He knew what it meant; the entire forest had been consumed. A world had died! The thought was like a crazy wind in his mind. He managed to run another few hundred yards before his legs buckled, sent them sprawling into the tall grass. Scrambling to Lara's side,' he realized she'd passed out. He rolled her into a more comfortable position before staggering to his feet.

  Beyond the border of the grasslands he saw nothing but barren ground that appeared to have been forever devoid of life. No stump, no rock, no rise broke its surface. It looked exactly as if it had been leveled by a gigantic blade—leveled and melted and fused into the smoothness of glass. His mind shouted the impossibility of such a thing even as his eyes beheld its truth. But the grass remained! Apparently whatever had destroyed the forest hadn't believed it necessary to destroy the plain. He gave silent thanks for that.

  He gazed down at the girl. Breathing heavily, soft moans escaped her lips. He knelt and gently touched her shoulder, then mopped her brow and pulled the grass closer to shield her face from the hot sun. She jerked convulsively, and all at once her eyelids snapped open. As she started to struggle to a sitting position, he restrained her. "Rest," he counseled, "we're safe."

  "The trees!" She blanched at the memory.

  "Our alien friend."

  "Everything… just vanished," she exclaimed in a hushed voice. Fear and awe filled her face.

  "He couldn't see us," he explained. "That's why he destroyed the forest… to kill us. I said he but perhaps it's a she or an it. The pronoun makes small difference. Or there might be a thousand of them, or a million; I don't know."

  "What difference do numbers make, with that kind of power?" She propped herself up on an elbow, gazing at him. "But the gulls, I can't believe it."

  "I'm certain they were merely its eyes."

  "But for one mind to take over another, control it from the inside—what kind of a monster could it be?"

  "A terrifying one." He anxiously scanned the sky. "Or perhaps it's not a monster. Alien, yes, but it might be acting in harmony with its own nature, its own values. Perhaps to it we are the monsters. Are we monsters to the germs that we kill?"

  "That's not the same thing," she protested.

  "How do we know?"

  "Aliens." She shivered.

  "We always knew there would come a time," he observed. "It's a specter that's haunted us since first we reached the stars."

  "Yes, but here…" She glanced around. "It seems such a peaceful world/'

  "Aliens have to live somewhere."

  "Please."

  "We have to face it, have to get used to the idea," he replied soberly.

  "Can we ever?"

  "After the initial shock, yes." He regarded her thought-fully. "When I flew over the clearing and saw the tree begin to topple, I shouted. You looked up, saw it, ran."

  "Yes." She eyed hi
m steadily, a faint flush coming to her cheeks.

  "You couldn't have heard my voice from the distance."

  "I____But I did."

  He smiled faintly. "Telepathically?"

  "Ridiculous," she blazed.

  "What's the matter, ashamed of it?"

  "You're, you're…"

  "Don't bother to deny it," he cut in. "I know better."

  "Please…"

  He asked gently, "Has it been a burden?"

  For a long moment she looked away before she forced her eyes to meet his. "More than you could know," she said. '

  "F,eel better now that it's out?"

  "I… don't know. I'm not certain how much of a tele-path I really am. I've never consciously used the talent since I first suspected I might have it."

  "Why not?" he asked harshly. "Did you believe it might make you less than human?"

  "I didn't say…"

  "No, but you've felt that way," he interrupted. "Well, get it out of your head. A telepath is just a human with an extra sense. Is that bad? I'm a T-man and I've never denied it, never wanted to. Neither do I think that I'm less than human. Or more," he added.

  "No one said that," she flared.

  "No?" His eyes mocked her. "Lots of people believe so."

  "Why are you doing this to me?" she cried.

  "I'm trying to make you realize that you are what you are, that all the hiding in the world won't change it. And really, it's not that bad."

  "I didn't say that it was," she denied heatedly. She dug her nails into her palm. "I could hate you!"

  "Why? We're of a kind."

  "Please." Sobbing brokenly, she turned away again.

  "Get it out of your system," he advised. "You'll feel better.