To the Stars Trilogy Part 42

Jan put the metal box on the table.

"It has a combination lock," he said. 'And explosives that will be detonated by the wrong combination.

At least that is what a very slippery cab driver told me."

"I am sure that you are informed correctly. I have a seven-digit number given me by Ca.s.sius when this affair began. Could that be the combination?"

"I don't know." Jan stared at the smooth case. "I have no idea what the combination is.

"Then we will have to try mine." Ben-Haim reached for the box, but Dvora leaned over and took it first.

"I don't feel it is wise for all of us to sit here while the lock is tried. We want a volunteer. Me. Could I have the number please, Amri Ben-Haim?"

"Get someone else," Jan said, quickly. "I'll do it."

"There is already a volunteer," Ben-Haim said as he pa.s.sed a slip of paper over to the girl. She took this and the case and went down the steps into the garden, walking to the far end by the wall. When she reached it she turned to wave to them, then turned back and bent over the sealed metal box.

Twelve.

Jan felt the tension drain from him when she straightened up and held the box over her head.

"There was litfie danger," Ben-Haim said. "Or I wouldn't have sent her-and you wouldn't have let her go."

Dvora ran up the stairs, smiling and breathless, and laid the open case on the table. Ben-Haim reached in and took out a flat rectangle of black plastic.

~'A Mark fourteen hard disc memory," Jan said. "Where ~ is your terminal?"

~"Inside. I will take you there," Ben-Haim said, leading the way Dvora stood aside to let Jan by and on sudden impulse he took her hands in his.

That was a foolish thing to do..."

No it wasn't, and you knew that. And besides, it will look good on my service record."

L' She was laughing, only half serious, and Jan's laugh echoed hers. Only then did he realize that he was still holding her hands; he tried to pull away but Dvora held them firmly. The same impulse had seized her and before she released her grip she leaned out and kissed him. Her eyes were open, dark, her lips moist and warm. He returned ~the kiss and this time it was she who dropped his hands. She stepped back, and after a long and expressive look she turned and led the way into the house.

Ben Haim was standing in front of the compute~ terminal tapping the b.u.t.tons.

No success," he said. "It keeps asking for a code reference before it will run. I have no idea what it means.

Jan leaned over and looked at the letters on the screen ENTER CORRECT ACCESS CODE.

NOW-ENTERING INCORRECT.

CODE WILL WIPE THE MEMORY.

And you have no idea what the code is?" Jan said, mostly to himself. "Then if you don't have it-I must.

And I can think of only one thing." He took out his new ID card and looked at the number.

"Thurgood~Smythe told me that this number was Ca.s.sius's identification code when divided by the day of the month. But you never asked me for an identifying code?"

We had no reason t(~r instructions."

Then this must be it."

Jan fed the number into his calculator, divided it by 27 then read off the twelve digits to the left of the decimal point He entered them into the terminal and hit RETURN. "1'he screen came to life with Thurgood-Smythe's nodding image.

"Very glad to see that you have arrived safely, Jan, and are now with my old a.s.sociate Amri Ben-Haim.

As you must realize, this recording is far too important to have risked accidental disclosure. Ben-Haim had half the key to it, you Jan, the other, as you have now discovered. Now please make yourself comfortable while I explain what I have in mind."

Jan touched the STOP b.u.t.ton and Thurgood-Smythe's image froze on the screen: "Don't you think we ought to record this?" he asked. "This disc is liable to self-destruct for all we know, so a copy is very much in order."

"Of course," Ben-Haim said. "Please do that."

Jan slipped a blank disc into one of the drives then started the recording again.

..... I want the present war of rebellion to end as soon as possible. Ben-Haim, Jan will tell you my personal rea-sons behind this decision. I suppose you will not believe them any more than he does, which is a pity. I am most sincere in this matter. But that is beside the point. The arrangements I suggest to end the war will appeal to you on completely pragmatic grounds. I count upon self-interest to secure your aid, not sympathy for any cause I might espouse.

"Firstly I shall outline the grand design of my plan so you will understand it and realize that circ.u.mstance will force you to join me in implementing it. I'm sure that we share a mutual goal in believing that the coming conflict must end with victory for the human race.

"Details. My intelligence sources reveal that a large force of s.h.i.+ps is on the way toward Earth. This has been hastily a.s.sembled and is made up of every deep s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p in serviceable condition. The planets are gambling their future, their very existence on this single try. Of course they have no other choice. Earth policy has always been to keep the manufacturing of all industrial and s.p.a.ce drive components safely here on Earth. As key control equip~ ment breaks down it will not be replaced. The same applied to the fuel and basic circuitry for the Foscolo s.p.a.ce drive. Now that all of the Earth forces have withdrawn, the only thing the rebel forces can do is attack. It must be done sooner or later-and soonest is best before the attrition of time begins to take its toll of the machinery. I do not know the details of the rebels' plans, but I do know that there is one thing that they must do if they hope to win. They must attack and capture the Mojave base of s.p.a.ceconcent. Any other course would be suicidal. All supplies essential for the existence of the s.p.a.ce forces go through here. If it is captured or destroyed that is the end of the defensive forces.

"This will be accomplished in the following manner. Firstly attacks must be made in s.p.a.ce to divide the strength of the defending fleet. Then the Moj ave complex must be captured. This will have to be done from the ground since the missile defenses are too strong to penetrate from s.p.a.ce. After capture the victory will be secured by the landing of the attackers. Surrender and final victory will follow.

"Now for details. Jan, 1 will arrange for you to contact the rebel fleet in order to coordinate the operation. When this is done the Israeli forces will attack and capture s.p.a.ceconcent, and will hold it until relieved. Before they make a decision on whether to take part, I wish to remind them of the raid on Entebbe and the rising in the Warsaw ghetto. It is time to leave the ghetto again ...

Jan stopped the replay and turned to Ben-Haim. "1 think the man's mad. What were those last things he was talking abQut?"

"Not mad-but criminally sane. He tempts us with salvation knowing that it could mean destruction. And in order to help us decide, he quotes from our own history. His thinking is as convoluted as that of a Talmudic scholar."

"The Warsaw rising was during the Second World War," bvora said. "Jews were being slaughtered there by the n.a.z.is, were dying of starvation and disease as well. They rose up and fought their attackers, bare hands against guns, until they were all killed. They knew they would die-but they would not submit."

'And equally important," Ben~Haim added. "They fought to break out of the ghetto. And still, today, the Jews are forced to live in a ghetto. It may be an entire country but comfortable as it is-it is still a ghetto.

Thurgood Smythe knows that we want to leave."

And Entebbe," Jan asked. "What was that?"

A commando raid half way around the world that should not have stood a chance of succeeding. But it did. Thurgood-Smythe puts Satan to shame with his temptations!"

"I don't quite understand these temptations," Jan said. "You're not threatened or at war with anyone.

You can just sit this one out and see what happens."

"Basically, this is quite true. But in a very real sense our freedom is but an illusion of freedom. We are free to stay in our nation-wide jail. There is also an ironical sense of justice and injustice that appeals to us. We in our little free prison are surrounded by a world of economically and physically enslaved g~em.

Shouldn't we help them? We who were in bondage for millennia know well what it is. Should we not aid others to achieve what we always prayed for for ourselves? I said, this is a riddle for Talmudic scholars.

I'm old so perhaps I doubt too much. I like my security. But hear the voice of young Israel. Dvora-what do you think?"

"I don't think-I know!" she said fiercely. "Fight! There is no other course possible."

"My response is equally simple," Jan said. "If there is any chance at all of this thing succeeding I must go along with it. Thurgood-Smythe says that he will put me in contact with the attacking fleet. Very good, for not only will I tell them about his plan, but I can tell them also about our reservations and what kind of twister Thurgood Smythe really is. Then the responsibility for a final deci-sion will not rest with me. So my response is clearcut. I do what he says."

"Yes, in your position I would do the same," Ben-Haim said. "You have nothing to lose-but the world to gain. Yet it all sounds too good. I have the feeling that the man must be playing a devious game.

"That doesn't matter," Dvora said. "His personal fate should not concern us. If this is all a trap then the attackers must be warned and turn the knowledge to their advantage. If it is not a trap Israel must fight in this final battle, this war to end all wars."

Ben-Haim sighed deeply and rocked back and forth in his chair. "How many times have those words been spoken? The war to end all wars. Have they ever been true?"

"No. But they could be now," Dvora insisted. "Turn it on again, Jan. Let's hear the end of it."

It made a lot of sense~r nonsense. Jan felt himself as entrapped as the Israelis. Basically the one thing he wanted to do with Thurgood-Smythe was kill him. Instead he found himself working for him. He shook his head in wonderment and reached out and touched the b.u.t.ton.

time to leave the ghetto again. So think carefully about what I have said. Weigh your decisions. Take the Knesset into your confidence and ask them for a decision. There are no separate parts to this proposal.

You must accept it or reject it. It is all or nothing. This is the only argument from me that you will hear.

There is time, but not very much, to reach your decision. The attacking fleet will be here in approximately ten days. Your attack will take place just before dawn on the date that you will be given. You have four days to decide. On next Friday night your radio station will be broadcasting the usual weekly memorial service to honor those who have pa.s.sed on. If you wish to take part simply list Jan Kulozik's name among the n.o.ble dead. He is not a superst.i.tious man so I am sure he will not mind. However, if you decide not to partic.i.p.ate in the salvation of mankind simply do nothing-since you will be doing nothing.

You will not hear from me ~gain Such guilt he gives us," Ben-Haim said as the screen went dark. 'Are you sure he was never trained in theology?"

I am sure of nothing about my brother4n-law. Though I am sure now that all of his earlier background is his own invention. Perhaps he is the father of lies, just as you said. What will you do next?"

Just as he commanded. Take the proposal to the Knesset our parliament. Let a little of the responsibility and guilt slip off onto their shoulders."

Dvora and Jan left the room when Ben-Haim turned to the telephone. They had not noticed, because of the automatic lighting, that darkness had fallen while they had been listening to Thurgood-Smythe. They went out onto the balcony, not speaking, each of them wrapped in private thought. Jan leaned against a pillar and looked out at the ascending lights of the town, where it climbed up the side of the darkened valley across from him. It was a moonless night and the stars burned clear and sharp, filling the sky as far down as the black cutout of the horizon A world at peace, comfortable and secure. And Thurgood-Smythe wanted them to give it all up, to go to war for an ideal. Jan did not envy them their decision; his had been easy enough to make. Turning around he saw that Dvora was sitting on the couch, quietly, her hands folded in her lap.

"You must be hungry," she said. "Let me fix you something."

"In a moment. What do you think the Knesset will do?"

"Talk. They are very good at that. Just a bunch of old men who prefer talk to action. Thurgood-Smythe should have given them four months to make their minds up instead of four days."

"Then you don't think they will decide?"

"They'll decide all right. Against the idea. Play it safe, they always want to play it safe."

"Perhaps that's how they got to be old men."

'Are you laughing at me? Let me see your face."

Dvora pulled him down next to her on the couch and saw that, indeed, he was smiling. She could not help smiling back.

'All right, so I am getting angry over nothing. It hasn't happened yet. But it will, just as I said it would.

Then I'll get angry. But if that happens what will you do? In case they say no."

"I haven't begun to even think about that possibility. Go back and get in touch with Thurgood-Smythe again, I imagine. I just can't stay safely here when the fate of everyone in the world-all of the world~is being decided. Perhaps I can still contact the attacking fleet, tell them what I know. There's no point in trying to decide before I have to."

While he was talking Jan realized that they still had their hands clasped together; neither would pull away from the bond. What am I thinking of, Jan worried, then became aware that he wasn't thinking at all. But feeling, reacting physically. And he knew, without asking, that Dvora felt the same way. He wanted to question the sensation but did not, was afraid to. When he turned toward her she was already fadng him.

Then, without conscious effort, she was in his arms.

An unmeasurable s.p.a.ce of time pa.s.sed before she drew her mouth away from his, but still held him tightly in her arms. Her words were only a whisper.

"Co me to my room. This place is far too public."

He stood up when she did but tried hard to express the tiny niggle of doubt that tapped at him.

"I'm married, Dvora. My wife, light-years away...

She touched her finger to his lips.

"Shh. It's chemistry, not matrimony I have in mind. Just follow me.

He did. Quite willingly.

Thirteen.

"We never did get anything to eat," Jan said.

"You are a very greedy person," Dvora answered. "For most men this would be enough."

She kicked the covering sheet from her and stretched the brown length of her naked body in the morning sunlight that streamed through the window. Jan ran his fingertips down her side and across the tight rise of her stomach. She s.h.i.+vered at his touch.

"I'm so glad that I'm alive," she said. "Being dead must be very gray and boring. This is so much more fun."

Jan smiled and reached for her, but she pulled away and stood up, a splendid, warm-fleshed sculpture as she arched her back and ran her fingers through her hair. Then reached for a dressing gown.

"You're the one who mentioned food, not me," she said. "But now that you have raised the subject I realize that I'm starving. Come along and I'll fix us some breakfast."

"I better get to my own room first."

She laughed at this, pulling the comb through her knotted hair. "Why? We're not children here. We're adults. We come and go as we please, do as we please. What sort of a world do you come from?"