The Cold Equations Part 33

The latter order was not without sound reasons of caution; some creatures could see excellently in the dark and no Slistian could use its hypnotic powers on an animal it could not see.

Sesnar waited until dawn, then he reached out with the two small arms that were the only interruption of the snake-like form of his body and picked up his menta-blaster, to snap it down on the four metal studs set in the tough scales of the top of his head. He took no other weapon with him as he crawled forth from the s.h.i.+p; he needed no other weapon and only the most unexpected circ.u.mstances could cause him to need it, the hypnotic power of its mind serving very well to force other creatures to do as he willed.

The s.h.i.+p had landed in the bottom of a small canyon. There had been something in the canyon very recently, he saw, something that had dug some narrow trenches across what he presumed to be the deposit of uranium ore. He reported the fact to Eska.

"The work of the natives, obviously," Eska commented. "It would not be advisable to lift the s.h.i.+p at present. Reconnoiter-there should be some kind of a path the natives have made and it will lead to the dwelling. Follow the path for a short distance and report what you find."

The thoughts of Eska, broadcast by the sphere inside the s.h.i.+p, came clearly to Sesnar and he obeyed the orders, pausing only long enough to try the menta-blaster on a small bush beside the path. It vanished in a puff of dust.

The menta-blaster was a Slistian achievement and one that could be used only by Slistians. It was operated by certain thought patterns, the type and intensity of the beam regulated at will. Since the thought pattern that operated it had to be very precise, it was useless to any warm-blooded animal; only a Slistian could produce the necessary pattern with the necessary machine-like precision. It was a characteristic of warm-blooded animals to be emotional to a certain extent and no emotional animal, no matter how intelligent, could be sure of suppressing its emotions sufficiently to always duplicate the rigid, precise thought pattern. Although it might seem to the warm-blooded, intelligent animal that its emotions were completely in check and its mind free of all influence from them, the emotional influence over the pure, cold logic would still be there to some slight extent, enough to prevent exact duplication of the thought pattern built into the menta- blaster.

The menta-blaster was, to the Slistians, quite unnecessary proof that cold-blooded and logical life forms were superior to warm-blooded and emotional life forms.

The path was easily found and he followed it. He had gone only a short distance when the canyon emptied into a much larger one; a canyon that led in the general direction of the native's dwelling. The path followed the creek bank down the larger canyon and there, feeding on the green vegetation beside the path, he saw the first specimen of the planet's life. It was a small quadruped with long ears and its sensitive ears detected the whisper in the sand of Sesnar's coming at almost the same moment he saw it. It sat up high on its hind legs to stare at him, its nose twitching, then it wheeled to bound away. He brought it under hypnotic control and it fell limply to the ground.

It was, of course, still alive and conscious; merely held helpless. Sesnar crawled to it and searched its mind. Its mind held no information of any value, its intelligence was of a very low order. Obviously, it was not a member of the planet's intelligent form of life.

He touched the rabbit with his small, lizard-like hands, feeling the fast flutter of its heart, then ripping a sharp claw down its belly. The entrails spilled out on the ground and he observed with interest that the animal was strictly herbivorous. He reported the fact to Eska who then ordered him to release the rabbit from hypnotic control so that its reaction to pain might be observed.

At the release of hypnotic control it leaped high in the air with a thin, shrill scream, then fell back to lay flopping and kicking in the sand, its b.l.o.o.d.y entrails trailing behind it.

Its efforts to escape quickly weakened and soon it could do no more than lie and watch Sesnar with intense fear in its eyes.

"A high degree of sensitivity to pain, with no desire to destroy the inflictor of the pain," Eska remarked. "No revenge instincts whatever. Should this characteristic of complete non-aggressiveness apply to the intelligent creatures, our colonization program should need relatively little aid from the Extermination Force."

Sesnar waited until the rabbit died, reporting its resistance to death. It took a remarkably long time for it to die-that is, for a warm-blooded animal. The characteristic sensitivity to pain of warm-blooded animals was usually one of the factors that hastened their death when badly injured. When it finally stopped panting he crawled on, both he and Eska feeling well satisfied on the whole, though the high resistance to death was not to be desired.

He had not crawled very far down the canyon when he encountered the next quadruped, coming upon it suddenly where the trail swung around a sharp bend in the canyon. It was trotting up the trail toward him, unable to scent him with the breeze momentarily blowing up the canyon and he brought it under control the moment he saw it. He left it standing on its four legs and went down to it. It was considerably larger than the quadruped he had killed, shorter of ear and a different species altogether. He probed into its mind and found its intelligence to be of the third order; very high for a non- reasoning animal.

"Does its mind contain any information concerning the dominant form of life?" Eska asked.

"The dominant form is biped and this animal lives with two of them," Sesnar replied.

"It exhibits an odd regard for them; an illogical emotional regard."

He went on to explain the affection of the dog for its masters and their affection for it as best he could. It was not a new thing to either Sesnar or Eska-they had observed similar attachments among other warm-blooded species-but it was impossible for them to comprehend the desire of two creatures of different species to be near each other and find pleasure in each other's company.

Eska dismissed it as of no importance. "Apparently the same as the attachment between the natives of Venda and the small animals they used to keep around before our arrival. It might be termed a symbiosis of the emotions-utterly illogical and no more than another example of their mental inferiority. What other information does the quadruped's mind contain?"

"It isn't a mature specimen but its thoughts are quite clear. It lives with two of these bipeds-a male and a female-in the dwelling near here. The male biped is to pa.s.s this way very soon and the quadruped has a strong desire for the biped to make its appearance. It's afraid of me but it seems confident the biped will either kill me or frighten me away."

"It has no doubt of the biped's ability to destroy you?" Eska asked.

"None whatever. Although it possesses no technical knowledge, of course, and is unable to supply me with any information concerning the biped's weapons."

"I think you will find the animal's confidence in the invincibility of the biped is due to the regard of the weaker for the stronger," Eska said. "Since the actions and abilities of the biped are beyond the quadruped's intelligence to comprehend it a.s.sumes, having no experience to the contrary, that nothing can be superior to the biped it depends upon for protection.

"Now, if you have extracted all the information of value in the animal's mind, kill it and conceal yourself near the path the biped is to use. A search of the biped's mind will reveal if there are any other bipeds in the vicinity, other than the biped's mate. If not, you will capture her, too, and return with both of them to your s.h.i.+p. You will then throw a force field around that area and lift s.h.i.+p to complete your mapping of the opposite hemisphere. The minds and bodies of the biped and its mate can be studied enroute."

"The path goes through a dense thicket of small trees a very short distance ahead of me," Sesnar said. "They would afford perfect concealment-"

He stopped as he caught the crunching of footsteps from within the trees. He reported to Eska, then watched the spot where the trail emerged from the trees. In a few moments the maker of the sounds appeared.

"It is the biped."

"If it shows no hostility toward you, do not bring it under full and immediate control,"

Eska ordered. "Let it remain in a hypnotic semi-trance until you have questioned it. It will eventually realize you are searching its mind, of course, and when that happens you will bring it under full control and proceed in the usual manner. But, until it is aware of your purpose, you can extract information from it with little difficulty."

Hart thought at first that the thing must be a boa constrictor that had escaped from a circus. Then he saw the hands. The two arms sprouted from tiny shoulders like two thick bullsnakes and terminated in pale green lizard-like hands, the size of a woman's hands.

The forward portion of the body was erect with the belly a glazed yellow. The head was broad and slightly domed, swaying in the air nearly six feet above the ground. There was something mounted on the snake's head; a flat object with a short tube projecting a little in front of it. He noticed it only vaguely, his attention caught by the snake's eyes.

They seemed to possess an intelligence, even at a distance, and they fascinated him.

He walked forward to see them better, remembering the pistol in his pocket as something of casual importance. The eyes were quite large, dead black in color with thin orange rims. There was an intelligence behind them, an intelligence as great as his own, and he could feel it studying him. Some instinct within him was trying to warn him-danger- but it was not until he had stopped before the snake and breathed the heavy, nauseating odor of it that the spell broke.

Snake! Men did not walk up to snakes as a hypnotized sparrow might do-but he had just done so.

He saw the intelligence in the snake's eyes for what it was, then; a cold, alien appraisal of him with the same objective detachment with which an entomologist might inspect an insect. It had not moved and there was no threat in its manner, other than the alienness of it and the way it had drawn him so irresistibly to it, but that was warning enough. He let his hand slide to his hip pocket and grasp the hard b.u.t.t of the pistol, not drawing it but wanting it ready should he need it. Until, and if, the snake made a threatening move, he would try to question it. It very obviously was not of Earth and to kill it first then ask questions later would be both uninformative and stupid. It might intend him no harm; he would wait and see and keep his hand on the pistol.

It would most likely be from another planet of the solar system. He could draw a diagram of the solar system in the sand-there were no humans near but for Gwen at the cabin-and find out which planet it came from. Venus should be the one, the second from the sun-she should be along in a few minutes- He stopped, suddenly aware of the random thoughts. His mind spoke another one: She would be after watercress and would not be armed as he was- He cut the thought off with the chilling realization that the snake was questioning him. It could be nothing else. As the source of a motor nerve, when touched in an exposed brain, will make the corresponding muscle twitch, so the snake was questioning him; touching with its mind at the proper memory cells, exciting the desired memory responses.

The snake-thing wanted both him and Gwen. Why?

The implications of the question broke the hypnosis and the warning instinct screamed frantically: Kill it-while you can!

His arm jerked to whip the pistol from his pocket-and froze. His entire body was abruptly as motionless and powerless as though locked in a vice. He could not move-he had heeded the warning too late.

"The biped has an intelligence of the first order," Sesnar reported. "It became aware of my control before I had completed the questioning and attempted to kill me the moment it realized my intentions. I put it under full control before it could harm me, of course."

"Determine its full resistance to questioning while under muscular control," Eska ordered.

His entire body from the neck down was separated from the control of his brain. He was standing before the snake and could see it watching him, smell the odor of it; he was normal and the sensory nerves were functioning as always. He could feel the weight of the pistol in his pocket and his fingers could feel the b.u.t.t of it as they held it half drawn from the pocket. The sensory nerves were functioning normally but his commands to his muscles were being cut off. His mind could formulate the commands and try to send them with all its power but nothing happened. Somewhere in his brain where the pure thought was transformed into a neural impulse, the snake had seized control. At that relay station his own commands were being cut off and the snake's commands subst.i.tuted.

He had made a grave mistake; he had underestimated his opponent. He had reached for the pistol with his mind wide open, with his intention plain there for the snake to read.

He should have kept the thought subdued, should have covered it over with other, stronger, thoughts. He had learned a lesson-perhaps it would not be too late. Physically he was helpless but his mind was still his own. His only resistance to the snake would have to be mental for the time being. In the end, if he made no more mistakes, he might win the game of wits and kill it before it killed him and Gwen.

A question came from the snake's mind, not the touching at the memory cells as before but a direct question.

"What is the percentage of uranium in the ore samples at your dwelling?"

It was, he realized, a test of his ability to withstand questioning. The snake would not care what the percentage might be-it was a test, the first won.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked.

The snake's answer was to touch quickly at the memory cells where the information lay and to repeat over and over: The percentage-the percentage- Three point one four one five nine, he thought rapidly, and multiply by the diameter and you have the circ.u.mference. The circ.u.mference is-the percentage-the percentage- The thought was insistent, demanding an answer- The circ.u.mference is pi times the diameter and how do you like those onions?

The reply from the snake was a greater insistence upon an answer. The percentage- the percentage-the percentage- It hammered at his mind and the answer was there, eager to respond to the snake's touch and make itself heard. It was there, just below the level of expression, and he fought to keep it there, submerged, while he covered it over with other thoughts.

According to the semanticists, a thought cannot be conceived clearly without its conversion to words. Not necessarily spoken, but the thought conceived with the aid of the semantic expressions to outline it, to detail and clarify it. Forty-one percent, expressed in words, is a very definite part of the whole. Forty-one percent as a thought unaccompanied by the proper semantic equivalent is an indefinite minor proportion. He could not block the snake from probing at his memory cells but he could let the answer the probing evoked remain a wordless thought, an impression in his mind that was not clear even to himself, by keeping the answer below the level of semantic expression and covering it up with other thoughts of his own making and spoken aloud.

The percentage-the percentage- It was coming harder, with the full force of the snake's mind behind it, and he met it with every evasion he could contrive. He recited mathematical formulae to it, he told it an Aesop fable, he gave it portions of the federal mining laws. The question flicked relentlessly at his mind-the percentage-the percentage-and his words that kept the answer submerged came more swiftly and louder as the moments went by, his concentration became more intense.

He was telling it of the crystallographic structure of tourmaline when it was abruptly out of his mind, to stand silently before him as though meditating.

"Well," he asked, his voice dropping to normal pitch, "did you find out anything?"

It gave no indication that it heard him.

"Its resistance to questioning is unexpectedly high," Sesnar reported. "As with all warm-blooded animals, its means of communication is vocal and I left its vocal organs uncontrolled that it might accompany its answer with the semantic expressions that would give the answer the greatest clarity. It exhibited considerable cunning by taking advantage of the freedom of its vocal organs to use them to speak other thoughts and keep the answer I desired submerged."

"Pain will break its resistance," Eska replied. "The combination of pain plus control will quickly destroy its ability to keep the answer submerged. Use your menta-blaster with care, however-the biped must not be so severely injured that it will be unfit for complete questioning and physical study when you take it and its mate to the s.h.i.+p. Use the Type 4 beam."

He had won! The power of the snake's mind, great as it was, had not been great enough to force him to answer. It was only the first victory-he was still held as powerless as before-but it had been a victory. There would be other tests but he knew, now, that the snake-thing was incapable of hypnotizing a human. It could only a.s.sume control of the body, not of the mind.

Flopper was standing fifteen feet to one side of him, held by the same control. Or even more so-Flopper could not turn his head. He could move his eyes but that was all.

Flopper was watching him now, fear in his eyes and a look of hopeful expectancy; a faith that his master would destroy the thing before them. It was pathetically humorous; he was the pup's G.o.d and a pup knows that its G.o.d can do anything.

Then the snake was speaking to his mind again, very concisely, very menacingly.

"You will tell me the percentage of uranium in the ore samples. You will tell me at once and with no attempts to submerge the answer."

Well, here we go again, he thought. He had an unpleasant premonition that this time it would not be so easy-but he would soon find out.

"Go to h.e.l.l," he said.

The tube on the snake's head glowed a deep violet and something like the blades of incandescent knives stabbed into his chest and began to cut slowly across it. It was a searing, burning pain that ripped down his stomach and up his neck, to explode like a white light in his brain. The question was coming again-the percentage-the percentage-las.h.i.+ng at his mind like a whip through the glare of pain. The percentage- the percentage- The pain intensified and tore at every nerve in his body while the question goaded incessantly: The percentage-the percentage- He fought against it and the white glare engulfed his brain until the question was no longer a question but a knife thrusting again and again into his mind while he was an ent.i.ty composed of pain and spinning in a h.e.l.l-fire of agony, writhing blind and mindless in the white glare while the question stabbed at him-the percentage-the percentage- It was meaningless, as meaningless as his own thought in return: thirty-five percent- thirty-five percent- Meaningless. He had been going to fight something-he couldn't remember what it was. His mind was blinded by the pain and he couldn't remember- nothing existed but pain, unbearable pain . . .

The chaos faded slowly and the white glare melted away. The knife was no longer in his brain and the tube on the snake's head was crystal white again. He knew, then, that he had lost.

His heart was pounding violently and his chest was an intolerable aching and burning.

He looked down at it. Something like a row of sharp knives had cut halfway across it.

The cuts were not bleeding-the knives had cauterized as they cut . . .

"The biped's resistance was greater than expected," Sesnar said. "I was forced to cut and burn it rather severely, but it will still be able to serve our purpose."

"Proceed to the place where the biped's mate is to come," Eska ordered. "If she is there, return with both of them to your s.h.i.+p. If not, continue on to the dwelling and get her. Nothing is to be gained by waiting and there is always the slight possibility that other bipeds might make an unexpected appearance. The sooner you can return to the s.h.i.+p with the two natives and erect the force field, the better."

There was a command from the snake to turn and step forward. He started to turn, then, even as the movement was begun, there came another command from the snake: Stop.

He stopped and stood motionless. The snake was looking beyond him, at something in the junipers behind him. Its full attention, but for its control over him, seemed to be on whatever it saw. The seconds went silently by as the snake stared and as they pa.s.sed he felt an almost imperceptible lessening of the control; a faint tremor to his arm and hand as he tried to force them to obey his will. Something in the junipers was loosening the snake's control over him.

A brief glow of dim red came from the tube on the snake's head, existing barely long enough to be seen and then vanis.h.i.+ng. With its vanis.h.i.+ng the control weakened to the point where he could move his arm. It was like fighting against the drag of quicksand, but he could move it. He dropped his eyes to the target, the glistening yellow belly where he could bring the pistol up with the minimum amount of movement.

The pistol was almost free of his pocket when the snake abruptly returned its attention to him; seizing control with a savagery that ripped at his muscles like an electric shock.

His fingers flew open and the pistol dropped back into his pocket. His hand was jerked around and slammed against his side. The snake permitted his knotted muscles to relax, then, but the tightening of his chest muscles had torn at the wounds and for what seemed a long time a sickness and a blackness swirled around him, the bulging eyes of the snake seemed to advance and retreat through it.

The blackness dispersed, though the sickness remained, and the dizziness left him.

The snake was not moving and he could, for the first time, sense vague thoughts impinging upon its mind. Apparently the thing in the junipers had so disturbed the snake that it was unconsciously letting some of its own thoughts come through with the control.

There was a distinct impression that it was communicating with another of its kind but there was no clue as to the ident.i.ty of the thing in the junipers.

"A small animal suddenly appeared in the trees behind the biped," Sesnar said. "That is, I think it was an animal."

"You think it was an animal?" Eska's thought was a cold hiss. "What is the meaning of this? You were not sent on this mission to indulge in guessing-determine if it's an animal."

"I tried to-and I couldn't!"

"Explain yourself. I sense an agitation in your mind. Explain!"

"This animal is different to any we've ever encountered-if it is an animal," Sesnar said, his agitation becoming more evident as he spoke. "I cannot determine what it is because I not only cannot control it-I cannot enter its mind!"

Eska was silent for a while. "This is incredible," he said at last. "It cannot be! The mathematics of Kal, as well as our own centuries of colonization of alien worlds, have irrefutably proven that no warm-blooded creature can resist the power of the Slistian mind!"

"This one did."

"Perhaps," suggested Eska, "it is such a low form of life that it has no mind to enter, existing solely by instinct as the mollusks do."

"It is physically far too high on the evolutionary scale to not possess an intelligence,"

Sesnar said. "It has the appearance of an animal but that is all I can learn about it. I cannot control it, I cannot enter its mind, and-" Sesnar paused, as though dreading to reveal the rest. "It disturbs my mind!"

"Impossible!" Eska stated flatly. "No creature can disturb the mind of a Slistian."

"This one did," Sesnar repeated. "It disturbs me so that I cannot project the thought pattern into my menta-blaster. I tried to kill it, but despite my efforts to produce a full- force blast I was able to activate the menta-blaster for but a moment and then at such low intensity that the creature never felt it."

"Your menta-blaster must have developed a defect," Eska said. "I refuse to believe that any creature could so affect a Slistian. Is the creature still in view?"