The Enormous Room
Page 4
IV
Adam Pierce had an idea. It had begun to grow in his mind while thewoman was running the miniature spaceship, but he had thought it overuntil he was certain it wasn't so silly as to make them laugh at him.Now he felt sure he'd hit on the truth; too many evidences for it, andnothing much that he could see against it.
"I have an idea," he said.
"To get out?" asked the woman.
"No, ma'am. I think I know where we are."
"Where?" asked everyone, except the big man, Summersby, who was sittingon the tire looking away from them.
"In a lab! This is a laboratory, and those big things are some kind ofscientists!"
"You could be right," said Watkins reluctantly. "My God, what a spot, ifyou're right!"
"Sure. That's why we were snatched off the coaster, however it happened.They wanted to experiment on us, and study us. They got this labsomeplace where it's secret, and they make tests--"
"There was a contrivance like a milking machine," said Full.
"You don't know _what_ it's used for," said Adam darkly. He imagined itmight be an especially nasty way of picking over a man's brains or body."Look, it all fits. That stool, that's a funny way to punish a person,but all their stuff is a little cockeyed."
"By our standards," added Watkins.
"That's what I meant. Look, you punish a guinea pig when it doessomething wrong, if you're trying to teach it some trick or other; Imean, suppose you want to determine its intelligence, you give it aproblem, and if it does the thing wrong it gets a shock, maybe, or a baton the nose. That stool was punishment. If you hadn't crashed therocket," he said to Mrs. Full, "it might have given you a reward."
"Maybe some food," said Villa.
"Here's another angle," said Watkins, who obviously knew something aboutlab work. "They may be trying to give us neuroses. Scientists induceneuroses in all kinds of critters, by punishment and complex problemsand--"
"What is that?" asked Villa.
"Neuroses?" Watkins rubbed his chin. "Well, say they want to make ananimal nervous, anxious, worried." Villa nodded.
"You mean they might be trying to drive us mad?" said the woman in ahigh scared voice.
"I doubt it," said Calvin Full.
"They might be," said Watkins.
"Then let's get out of here," said his wife. She went trotting to thewall. "Didn't anyone shove a barrier into this?"
"I forgot," said Full. She gave him a dirty look.
"Anyway," Adam went on, "that could explain why we were fixed up beforethey woke us--it was like quarantine. They wouldn't want sick animals."
"Who was fixed up how?" asked the Mexican suspiciously.
"My astigmatism," he said to Villa, "and this gentleman's sinus trouble,and his wife's headache."
"And they pulled a rotten wisdom tooth for me," said Watkins. "I justdiscovered it a minute ago. Hole's healed up neatly."
Villa was peeling away the bandage on his hand. Now he gave a gladshout. "_Madre de Dios!_ Look, the burn has gone!" He showed them hishand. "Tuesday, a terrible scorched place; today, behold, it is well!"
The woman said, "You know, this _might_ be a laboratory. When I taughtkindergarten we had simple tests for the children that were somewhatlike that remote control apparatus."
* * * * *
Watkins pushed the big man, Summersby, on the shoulder. "I wish you'dget into this," he said irritably. "We need all the brains we have toget out."
Summersby looked at him. "You think we'll get out?" he asked.
"Why not?"
"Why?" Summersby sounded tired, and as if his mind was a long way off."If these are scientists, they'll keep a fairly close watch on their labanimals."
"You're a forest ranger, man. Don't you have to meet emergencies all thetime?" Watkins was exasperated. Adam thought, I wouldn't talk to the bigfellow that way; he looks as wild as a panther.
"I'm sorry," said Summersby, turning away again. "I don't think we canescape, or plan to, until we have more information."
"You needn't inflict your morbidity on us," said Full. "Because you're adefeatist is no reason for us to be."
Summersby stood up. He looked as tall to Adam as one of the monsters."If we're guinea pigs, we'll end up as guinea pigs," he said. "And whatdo experimenters do with guinea pigs, finally? They infect or dissectthem. Now leave me alone!" He walked to the farthest corner and sat downon the straw, staring at his feet.
Adam reached up automatically to push at his glasses, found themmissing, and was confused for an instant. Then he said, "There's athought. We better bust out as quick as we can."
"Summersby won't help," said Watkins. "Anybody else feel fatalisticabout this mess?"
"I must get back to my chili stand," said Villa. "And my wife," headded.
"Adam, you're nearer to college courses than I am," said Watkins. Adamnodded. "How many places in the world are there, big enough andunexplored enough to hide a race of giants like these?"
"I guess parts of Africa and South America, maybe the Arctic, someislands. I don't really know."
"Neither do I."
"Perhaps we aren't on the earth at all," said Mrs. Full. They all lookedat her. "I read a book once in which a party of people discovered a landbeneath the earth's surface," she went on, actually blushing a little."It was a trashy sort of book, but--but I thought possibly there mightbe something in the idea."
"There might," said her husband.
"Wherever we are, we've got to get out of this box before we do anythingelse," said Adam. He felt panicky, as the realization sank into him ofwhat they might be in for, in this alien lab, under the care ofscientists that looked more like apes than anything.
"Look!" shouted Villa. Adam whirled and saw the small panel, thatWatkins had discovered earlier, just sliding open. A large platter camethrough, heaped with what looked like a collection of junk. The hugehand which had pushed it in withdrew, the panel slipping shut after it.Villa was the first to reach the platter. "_Santos_," he muttered."_Santos y santas!_"
* * * * *
The platter was two feet square, of sky-blue plastic, and on it layseven pies, several dozen cupcakes, a double handful of macarooncookies, and a quantity of glass shards. Some of the pies were upsidedown.
"What on earth...." said Mrs. Full.
"Looks like the contents of a bakery window," said Watkins, leaning overwith his briefcase clamped to his thin chest. "Window and all, I mightadd."
Villa picked up a custard pie. It had been smeared up by rough handlingbut it looked good to Adam. He chose one for himself, and Watkins handedMrs. Full an apple pie. She thanked him. They all took tentative bites.
"What do you make of this?" Watkins asked Summersby, still trying todrag him into their group. The big man shrugged. "The glass," went onthe blond fellow, "that doesn't make sense. Do they think we eat glass?"
"Possibly," said Calvin Full.
Among the six of them, they consumed all the eatable contents of thetray. Almost immediately Adam felt his eyelids drooping. "I'm sleepy,"he said, yawning.
"So am I," said Villa. He lay prone and closed his eyes at once.
Adam sat down, more heavily than he had meant to. He was vaguelydisturbed by the sudden tiredness.
"Someone ought to stand guard," said Mrs. Full.
"I will," said Summersby unexpectedly.
"I'll do it," said Watkins. He started to pace up and down. "I'm alittle groggy myself, but I'll take first trick."