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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/22876-h.zip b/22876-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cdd8f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/22876-h.zip diff --git a/22876-h/22876-h.htm b/22876-h/22876-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..800a946 --- /dev/null +++ b/22876-h/22876-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1204 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Link, by Alan E. Nourse + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + h1 {text-align: left; clear: both; margin-bottom: 2em;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin: 2em auto; clear: both;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .trans1 {border: solid 1px; margin: 2em 15% 4em; padding: 1em; text-align: justify;} + + p.cap:first-letter {float: left; margin-right: .05em; padding-top: .05em; + font-size: 300%; line-height: .8em;} + .dcap {text-transform: uppercase;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Link, by Alan Edward Nourse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Link + +Author: Alan Edward Nourse + +Release Date: October 3, 2007 [EBook #22876] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LINK *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="trans1"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br /> +This etext was produced from <i>The Counterfeit Man More Science Fiction +Stories by Alan E. Nourse</i> published in 1963. Extensive research did +not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected +without note.</div> + + + + +<h1>The<br /> +Link</h1> + + + + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">It</span> was nearly sundown when Ravdin eased the ship down +into the last slow arc toward the Earth's surface. Stretching +his arms and legs, he tried to relax and ease the tension in +his tired muscles. Carefully, he tightened the seat belt for +landing; below him he could see the vast, tangled expanse of +Jungle-land spreading out to the horizon. Miles ahead was the +bright circle of the landing field and the sparkling glow of the +city beyond. Ravdin peered to the north of the city, hoping to +catch a glimpse of the concert before his ship was swallowed +by the brilliant landing lights.</p> + +<p>A bell chimed softly in his ear. Ravdin forced his attention +back to the landing operation. He was still numb and shaken +from the Warp-passage, his mind still muddled by the abrupt +and incredible change. Moments before, the sky had been a +vast, starry blanket of black velvet; then, abruptly, he had +been hovering over the city, sliding down toward warm +friendly lights and music. He checked the proper switches, and +felt the throbbing purr of the anti-grav motors as the ship slid +in toward the landing slot. Tall spires of other ships rose to +meet him, circle upon circle of silver needles pointing skyward. +A little later they were blotted out as the ship was grappled +into the berth from which it had risen days before.</p> + +<p>With a sigh, Ravdin eased himself out of the seat, his heart +pounding with excitement. Perhaps, he thought, he was too +excited, too eager to be home, for his mind was still reeling +from the fearful discovery of his journey.</p> + +<p>The station was completely empty as Ravdin walked down +the ramp to the shuttles. At the desk he checked in with the +shiny punch-card robot, and walked swiftly across the polished +floor. The wall panels pulsed a somber blue-green, +broken sharply by brilliant flashes and overtones of scarlet, +reflecting with subtle accuracy the tumult in his own mind. +Not a sound was in the air, not a whisper nor sign of human +habitation. Vaguely, uneasiness grew in his mind as he entered +the shuttle station. Suddenly, the music caught him, a long, +low chord of indescribable beauty, rising and falling in the +wind, a distant whisper of life....</p> + +<p>The concert, of course. Everyone would be at the concert +tonight, and even from two miles away, the beauty of +four hundred perfectly harmonized voices was carried on +the breeze. Ravdin's uneasiness disappeared; he was eager to +discharge his horrible news, get it off his mind and join the +others in the great amphitheater set deep in the hillside outside +the city. But he knew instinctively that Lord Nehmon, +anticipating his return, would not be at the concert.</p> + +<p>Riding the shuttle over the edges of Jungle-land toward the +shining bright beauty of the city, Ravdin settled back, trying +to clear his mind of the shock and horror he had encountered +on his journey. The curves and spires of glowing plastic passed +him, lighted with a million hues. He realized that his whole +life was entangled in the very beauty of this wonderful city. +Everything he had ever hoped or dreamed lay sheltered here +in the ever-changing rhythm of colors and shapes and sounds. +And now, he knew, he would soon see his beloved city burning +once again, turning to flames and ashes in a heart-breaking +memorial to the age-old fear of his people.</p> + +<p>The little shuttle-car settled down softly on the green terrace +near the center of the city. The building was a masterpiece +of smoothly curving walls and tasteful lines, opening a +full side to the south to catch the soft sunlight and warm +breezes. Ravdin strode across the deep carpeting of the terrace. +There was other music here, different music, a wilder, +more intimate fantasy of whirling sound. An oval door opened +for him, and he stopped short, staggered for a moment by the +overpowering beauty in the vaulted room.</p> + +<p>A girl with red hair the color of new flame was dancing +with enthralling beauty and abandon, her body moving like +ripples of wind to the music which filled the room with its +throbbing cry. Her beauty was exquisite, every motion, every +flowing turn a symphony of flawless perfection as she danced +to the wild music.</p> + +<p>"Lord Nehmon!"</p> + +<p>The dancer threw back her head sharply, eyes wide, her +body frozen in mid-air, and then, abruptly, she was gone, leaving +only the barest flickering image of her fiery hair. The +music slowed, singing softly, and Ravdin could see the old +man waiting in the room. Nehmon rose, his gaunt face and +graying hair belying the youthful movement of his body. Smiling, +he came forward, clapped Ravdin on the shoulder, and +took his hand warmly. "You're too late for the concert—it's +a shame. Mischana is the master tonight, and the whole city +is there."</p> + +<p>Ravdin's throat tightened as he tried to smile. "I had to +let you know," he said. "<i>They're coming</i>, Nehmon! I saw +them, hours ago."</p> + +<p>The last overtones of the music broke abruptly, like a glass +shattered on stone. The room was deathly still. Lord Nehmon +searched the young man's face. Then he turned away, not quite +concealing the sadness and pain in his eyes. "You're certain? +You couldn't be mistaken?"</p> + +<p>"No chance. I found signs of their passing in a dozen places. +Then I saw <i>them</i>, their whole fleet. There were hundreds. +They're coming, I saw them."</p> + +<p>"Did they see you?" Nehmon's voice was sharp.</p> + +<p>"No, no. The Warp is a wonderful thing. With it I could +come and go in the twinkling of an eye. But I could see them +in the twinkling of an eye."</p> + +<p>"And it couldn't have been anyone else?"</p> + +<p>"Could anyone else build ships like the Hunters?"</p> + +<p>Nehmon sighed wearily. "No one that we know." He +glanced up at the young man. "Sit down, son, sit down. I—I'll +just have to rearrange my thinking a little. Where were +they? How far?"</p> + +<p>"Seven light years," Ravdin said. "Can you imagine it? +Just seven, and moving straight this way. <i>They know where +we are</i>, and they are coming quickly." His eyes filled with +fear. "They <i>couldn't</i> have found us so soon, unless they too +have discovered the Warp and how to use it to travel."</p> + +<p>The older man's breath cut off sharply, and there was real +alarm in his eyes. "You're right," he said softly. "Six months +ago it was eight hundred light years away, in an area completely +remote from us. Now just <i>seven</i>. In six months they +have come so close."</p> + +<p>The scout looked up at Nehmon in desperation. "But what +can we do? We have only weeks, maybe days, before they're +here. We have no time to plan, no time to prepare for them. +What can we do?"</p> + +<p>The room was silent. Finally the aged leader stood up, +wearily, some fraction of his six hundred years of life showing +in his face for the first time in centuries. "We can do once +again what we always have done before when the Hunters +came," he said sadly. "We can run away."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The bright street below the oval window was empty and +quiet. Not a breath of air stirred in the city. Ravdin stared out +in bitter silence. "Yes, we can run away. Just as we always +have before. After we have worked so hard, accomplished so +much here, we must burn the city and flee again." His voice +trailed off to silence. He stared at Nehmon, seeking in the old +man's face some answer, some reassurance. But he found no +answer there, only sadness. "Think of the concerts. It's taken +so long, but at last we've come so close to the ultimate goal." +He gestured toward the thought-sensitive sounding boards lining +the walls, the panels which had made the dancer-illusion +possible. "Think of the beauty and peace we've found here."</p> + +<p>"I know. How well I know."</p> + +<p>"Yet now the Hunters come again, and again we must run +away." Ravdin stared at the old man, his eyes suddenly bright. +"Nehmon, when I saw those ships I began thinking."</p> + +<p>"I've spent many years thinking, my son."</p> + +<p>"Not what I've been thinking." Ravdin sat down, clasping +his hands in excitement. "The Hunters come and we run away, +Nehmon. Think about that for a moment. We run, and we run, +and we run. From what? We run from the Hunters. They're +hunting <i>us</i>, these Hunters. They've never quite found us, because +we've always already run. We're clever, we're fortunate, +and we have a way of life that they do not, so whenever they +have come close to finding us, we have run."</p> + +<p>Nehmon nodded slowly. "For thousands of years."</p> + +<p>Ravdin's eyes were bright. "Yes, we flee, we cringe, we hide +under stones, we break up our lives and uproot our families, +running like frightened animals in the shadows of night and +secrecy." He gulped a breath, and his eyes sought Nehmon's +angrily. "<i>Why do we run, my lord?</i>"</p> + +<p>Nehmon's eyes widened. "Because we have no choice," he +said. "We must run or be killed. You know that. You've seen +the records, you've been taught."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know what I've been taught. I've been taught +that eons ago our remote ancestors fought the Hunters, and +lost, and fled, and were pursued. But why do we keep running? +Time after time we've been cornered, and we've turned and +fled. <i>Why?</i> Even animals know that when they're cornered +they must turn and fight."</p> + +<p>"We are not animals." Nehmon's voice cut the air like a +whiplash.</p> + +<p>"But we could fight."</p> + +<p>"Animals fight. We do not. We fought once, like animals, +and now we must run from the Hunters who continue to fight +like animals. So be it. Let the Hunters fight."</p> + +<p>Ravdin shook his head. "Do you mean that the Hunters are +not men like us?" he said. "That's what you're saying, that +they are animals. All right. We kill animals for our food, isn't +that true? We kill the tiger-beasts in the Jungle to protect +ourselves, why not kill the Hunters to protect ourselves?"</p> + +<p>Nehmon sighed, and reached out a hand to the young man. +"I'm sorry," he said gently. "It seems logical, but it's false +logic. The Hunters are men just like you and me. Their lives +are different, their culture is different, but they are men. And +human life is sacred, to us, above all else. This is the fundamental +basis of our very existence. Without it we would be +Hunters, too. If we fight, we are dead even if we live. That's +why we must run away now, and always. Because we know +that we must not kill men."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On the street below, the night air was suddenly full of +voices, chattering, intermingled with whispers of song and occasional +brief harmonic flutterings. The footfalls were muted +on the polished pavement as the people passed slowly, their +voices carrying a hint of puzzled uneasiness.</p> + +<p>"The concert's over!" Ravdin walked to the window, feeling +a chill pass through him. "So soon, I wonder why?" Eagerly +he searched the faces passing in the street for Dana's face, +sensing the lurking discord in the quiet talk of the crowd. Suddenly +the sound-boards in the room tinkled a carillon of ruby +tones in his ear, and she was in the room, rushing into his arms +with a happy cry, pressing her soft cheek to his rough chin. +"You're back! Oh, I'm so glad, so very glad!" She turned to +the old man. "Nehmon, what has happened? The concert was +ruined tonight. There was something in the air, everybody felt +it. For some reason the people seemed <i>afraid</i>."</p> + +<p>Ravdin turned away from his bride. "Tell her," he said to +the old man.</p> + +<p>Dana looked at them, her gray eyes widening in horror. +"The Hunters! They've found us?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin nodded wordlessly.</p> + +<p>Her hands trembled as she sat down, and there were tears +in her eyes. "We came so close tonight, so very close. I <i>felt</i> +the music before it was sung, do you realize that? I <i>felt</i> the +fear around me, even though no one said a word. It wasn't +vague or fuzzy, it was <i>clear</i>! The transference was perfect." +She turned to face the old man. "It's taken so long to come +this far, Nehmon. So much work, so much training to reach a +perfect communal concert. We've had only two hundred years +here, only <i>two hundred</i>! I was just a little girl when we came, +I can't even remember before that. Before we came here we +were undisturbed for a thousand years, and before that, four +thousand. But <i>two hundred</i>—we <i>can't</i> leave now. Not when +we've come so far."</p> + +<p>Ravdin nodded. "That's the trouble. They come closer every +time. This time they will catch us. Or the next time, or the +next. And that will be the end of everything for us, unless we +fight them." He paused, watching the last groups dispersing on +the street below. "If we only knew, for certain, what we were +running from."</p> + +<p>There was a startled silence. The girl's breath came in a +gasp and her eyes widened as his words sank home. "Ravdin," +she said softly, "<i>have you ever seen a Hunter</i>?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin stared at her, and felt a chill of excitement. Music +burst from the sounding-board, odd, wild music, suddenly +hopeful. "No," he said, "no, of course not. You know that."</p> + +<p>The girl rose from her seat. "Nor have I. Never, not once." +She turned to Lord Nehmon. "Have <i>you</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Never." The old man's voice was harsh.</p> + +<p>"Has <i>anyone</i> ever seen a Hunter?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin's hand trembled. "I—I don't know. None of us living +now, no. It's been too long since they last actually found +us. I've read—oh, I can't remember. I think my grandfather +saw them, or my great-grandfather, somewhere back there. +It's been thousands of years."</p> + +<p>"Yet we've been tearing ourselves up by the roots, fleeing +from planet to planet, running and dying and still running. +But suppose we don't need to run anymore?"</p> + +<p>He stared at her. "They keep coming. They keep searching +for us. What more proof do you need?"</p> + +<p>Dana's face glowed with excitement, alive with new vitality, +new hope. "Ravdin, can't you see? <i>They might have changed.</i> +They might not be the same. Things can happen. Look at us, +how we've grown since the wars with the Hunters. Think how +our philosophy and culture have matured! Oh, Ravdin, you +were to be master at a concert next month. Think how the concerts +have changed! Even my grandmother can remember +when the concerts were just a few performers playing, and +everyone else just sitting and <i>listening</i>! Can you imagine anything +more silly? They hadn't even thought of transference +then, they never dreamed what a <i>real</i> concert could be! Why, +those people had never begun to understand music until they +themselves became a part of it. Even we can see these changes, +why couldn't the Hunters have grown and changed just as +we have?"</p> + +<p>Nehmon's voice broke in, almost harshly, as he faced the +excited pair. "The Hunters don't have concerts," he said +grimly. "You're deluding yourself, Dana. They laugh at our +music, they scoff at our arts and twist them into obscene +mockeries. They have no concept of beauty in their language. +The Hunters are incapable of change."</p> + +<p>"And you can be certain of that when <i>nobody has seen +them for thousands of years</i>?"</p> + +<p>Nehmon met her steady eyes, read the strength and determination +there. He knew, despairingly, what she was thinking—that +he was old, that he couldn't understand, that his +mind was channeled now beyond the approach of wisdom. +"You mustn't think what you're thinking," he said weakly. +"You'd be blind. You wouldn't know, you couldn't have any +idea what you would find. If you tried to contact them, you +could be lost completely, tortured, killed. If they haven't +changed, you wouldn't stand a chance. You'd never come +back, Dana."</p> + +<p>"But she's right all the same," Ravdin said softly. "You're +wrong, my lord. We can't continue this way if we're to survive. +Sometime our people must contact them, find the link that +was once between us, and forge it strong again. We could do +it, Dana and I."</p> + +<p>"I could forbid you to go."</p> + +<p>Dana looked at her husband, and her eyes were proud. +"You could forbid us," she said, facing the old man. "But +you could never stop us."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At the edge of the Jungle-land a great beast stood with +green-gleaming eyes, licking his fanged jaws as he watched the +glowing city, sensing somehow that the mystifying circle of +light and motion was soon to become his Jungle-land again. +In the city the turmoil bubbled over, as wave after wave of +the people made the short safari across the intervening jungle +to the circles of their ships. Husbands, wives, fathers, mothers—all +carried their small, frail remembrances out to the ships. +There was music among them still, but it was a different sort +of music, now, an eerie, hopeless music that drifted out of the +city in the wind. It caused all but the bravest of the beasts, +their hair prickling on their backs, to run in panic through +the jungle darkness. It was a melancholy music, carried from +thought to thought, from voice to voice as the people of the +city wearily prepared themselves once again for the long +journey.</p> + +<p>To run away. In the darkness of secrecy, to be gone, without +a trace, without symbol or vestige of their presence, leaving +only the scorched circle of land for the jungle to reclaim, +so that no eyes, not even the sharpest, would ever know how +long they had stayed, nor where they might have gone.</p> + +<p>In the rounded room of his house, Lord Nehmon dispatched +the last of his belongings, a few remembrances, nothing more, +because the space on the ships must take people, not remembrances, +and he knew that the remembrances would bring only +pain. All day Nehmon had supervised the loading, the intricate +preparation, following plans laid down millennia before. +He saw the libraries and records transported, mile upon endless +mile of microfilm, carted to the ships prepared to carry +them, stored until a new resting place was found. The history +of a people was recorded on that film, a people once proud and +strong, now equally proud, but dwindling in numbers as toll +for the constant roving. A proud people, yet a people who +would turn and run without thought, in a panic of age-old +fear. They <i>had</i> to run, Nehmon knew, if they were to survive.</p> + +<p>And with a blaze of anger in his heart, he almost hated the +two young people waiting here with him for the last ship to be +filled. For these two would not go.</p> + +<p>It had been a long and painful night. He had pleaded and +begged, tried to persuade them that there was no hope, that +the very idea of remaining behind or trying to contact the +Hunters was insane. Yet he knew <i>they</i> were sane, perhaps unwise, +naive, but their decision had been reached, and they +would not be shaken.</p> + +<p>The day was almost gone as the last ships began to fill. +Nehmon turned to Ravdin and Dana, his face lined and tired. +"You'll have to go soon," he said. "The city will be burned, +of course, as always. You'll be left with food, and with weapons +against the jungle. The Hunters will know that we've been +here, but they'll not know when, nor where we have gone." +He paused. "It will be up to you to see that they don't learn."</p> + +<p>Dana shook her head. "We'll tell them nothing, unless it's +safe for them to know."</p> + +<p>"They'll question you, even torture you."</p> + +<p>She smiled calmly. "Perhaps they won't. But as a last resort, +we can blank out."</p> + +<p>Nehmon's face went white. "You know there is no coming +back, once you do that. You would never regain your memory. +You must save it for a last resort."</p> + +<p>Down below on the street the last groups of people were +passing; the last sweet, eerie tones of the concert were rising +in the gathering twilight. Soon the last families would have +taken their refuge in the ships, waiting for Nehmon to trigger +the fire bombs to ignite the beautiful city after the ships +started on their voyage. The concerts were over; there would +be long years of aimless wandering before another home could +be found, another planet safe from the Hunters and their ships. +Even then it would be more years before the concerts could +again rise from their hearts and throats and minds, generations +before they could begin work again toward the climactic expression +of their heritage.</p> + +<p>Ravdin felt the desolation in the people's minds, saw the +utter hopelessness in the old man's face, and suddenly felt the +pressure of despair. It was such a slender hope, so frail and +so dangerous. He knew of the terrible fight, the war of his +people against the Hunters, so many thousand years before. +They had risen together, a common people, their home a single +planet. And then, the gradual splitting of the nations, his own +people living in peace, seeking the growth and beauty of the +arts, despising the bitterness and barrenness of hatred and killing—and +the Hunters, under an iron heel of militarism, of +government for the perpetuation of government, split farther +and farther from them. It was an ever-widening split as the +Hunters sneered and ridiculed, and then grew to hate Ravdin's +people for all the things the Hunters were losing: peace, love, +happiness. Ravdin knew of his people's slowly dawning awareness +of the sanctity of life, shattered abruptly by the horrible +wars, and then the centuries of fear and flight, hiding from the +wrath of the Hunters' vengeance. His people had learned much +in those long years. They had conquered disease. They had +grown in strength as they dwindled in numbers. But now the +end could be seen, crystal clear, the end of his people and a +ghastly grave.</p> + +<p>Nehmon's voice broke the silence. "If you must stay behind, +then go now. The city will burn an hour after the +count-down."</p> + +<p>"We will be safe, outside the city." Dana gripped her husband's +hand, trying to transmit to him some part of her +strength and confidence. "Wish us the best, Nehmon. If a link +can be forged, we will forge it."</p> + +<p>"I wish you the best in everything." There were tears in the +old man's eyes as he turned and left the room.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>They stood in the Jungle-land, listening to the scurry of +frightened animals, and shivering in the cool night air as the +bright sparks of the ships' exhausts faded into the black starry +sky. A man and a woman alone, speechless, watching, staring +with awful longing into the skies as the bright rocket jets +dwindled to specks and flickered out.</p> + +<p>The city burned. Purple spumes of flame shot high into the +air, throwing a ghastly light on the frightened Jungle-land. +Spires of flame seemed to be seeking the stars with their fingers +as the plastic walls and streets of the city hissed and shriveled, +blackening, bubbling into a vanishing memory before +their eyes. The flames shot high, carrying with them the last +remnants of the city which had stood proud and tall an hour +before. Then a silence fell, deathly, like the lifeless silence of +a grave. Out of the silence, little whispering sounds of the +Jungle-land crept to their ears, first frightened, then curious, +then bolder and bolder as the wisps of grass and little animals +ventured out and out toward the clearing where the city had +stood. Bit by bit the Jungle-land gathered courage, and the +clearing slowly, silently, began to disappear.</p> + +<p>Days later new sparks of light appeared in the black sky. +They grew to larger specks, then to flares, and finally settled +to the earth as powerful, flaming jets.</p> + +<p>They were squat, misshapen vessels, circling down like vultures, +hissing, screeching, landing with a grinding crash in the +tall thicket near the place where the city had stood. Ravdin's +signal had guided them in, and the Hunters had seen them, +standing on a hilltop above the demolished amphitheater. +Men had come out of the ships, large men with cold faces and +dull eyes, weapons strapped to their trim uniforms. The Hunters +had blinked at them, unbelieving, with their weapons held +at ready. Ravdin and Dana were seized and led to the +flagship.</p> + +<p>As they approached it, their hearts sank and they clasped +hands to bolster their failing hope.</p> + +<p>The leader of the Hunters looked up from his desk as they +were thrust into his cabin. Frankle's face was a graven mask +as he searched their faces dispassionately. The captives were +pale and seemed to cringe from the pale interrogation light. +"Chickens!" the Hunter snorted. "We have been hunting down +chickens." His eyes turned to one of the guards. "They have +been searched?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, master."</p> + +<p>"And questioned?"</p> + +<p>The guard frowned. "Yes, sir. But their language is almost +unintelligible."</p> + +<p>"You've studied the basic tongues, haven't you?" Frankle's +voice was as cold as his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Of course, sir, but this is so different."</p> + +<p>Frankle stared in contempt at the fair-skinned captives, fixing +his eyes on them for a long moment. Finally he said, +"Well?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin glanced briefly at Dana's white face. His voice +seemed weak and high-pitched in comparison to the Hunter's +baritone. "You are the leader of the Hunters?"</p> + +<p>Frankle regarded him sourly, without replying. His thin +face was swarthy, his short-cut gray hair matching the cold +gray of his eyes. It was an odd face, completely blank of any +thought or emotion, yet capable of shifting to a strange biting +slyness in the briefest instant. It was a rich face, a face of +inscrutable depth. He pushed his chair back, his eyes watchful. +"We know your people were here," he said suddenly. "Now +they've gone, and yet you remain behind. There must be a +reason for such rashness. Are you sick? Crippled?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin shook his head. "We are not sick."</p> + +<p>"Then criminals, perhaps? Being punished for rebellious +plots?"</p> + +<p>"We are not criminals."</p> + +<p>The Hunter's fist crashed on the desk. "Then why are you +here? <i>Why?</i> Are you going to tell me now, or do you propose +to waste a few hours of my time first?"</p> + +<p>"There is no mystery," Ravdin said softly. "We stayed behind +to plead for peace."</p> + +<p>"For peace?" Frankle stared in disbelief. Then he shrugged, +his face tired. "I might have known. Peace! Where have your +people gone?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin met him eye for eye. "I can't say."</p> + +<p>The Hunter laughed. "Let's be precise, you don't <i>choose</i> to +say, just now. But perhaps very soon you will wish with all +your heart to tell me."</p> + +<p>Dana's voice was sharp. "We're telling you the truth. We +want peace, nothing more. This constant hunting and running +is senseless, exhausting to both of us. We want to make peace +with you, to bring our people together again."</p> + +<p>Frankle snorted. "You came to us in war, once, long ago. +Now you want peace. What would you do, clasp us to your +bosom, smother us in your idiotic music? Or have you gone on +to greater things?"</p> + +<p>Ravdin's face flushed hotly. "Much greater things," he +snapped.</p> + +<p>Frankle sat down slowly. "No doubt," he said. "Now understand +me clearly. Very soon you will be killed. How quickly +or slowly you die will depend largely upon the civility of your +tongues. A civil tongue answers questions with the right answers. +That is my definition of a civil tongue." He sat back +coldly. "Now, shall we commence asking questions?"</p> + +<p>Dana stepped forward suddenly, her cheeks flushed. "We +don't have the words to express ourselves," she said softly. +"We can't tell you in words what we have to say, but music +is a language even you can understand. We can tell you what +we want in music."</p> + +<p>Frankle scowled. He knew about the magic of this music, +he had heard of the witchcraft these weak chicken-people +could weave, of their strange, magic power to steal strong +men's minds from them and make them like children before +wolves. But he had never heard this music with his own ears. +He looked at them, his eyes strangely bright. "You know I +cannot listen to your music. It is forbidden, even you should +know that. How dare you propose—"</p> + +<p>"But this is different music." Dana's eyes widened, and she +threw an excited glance at her husband. "Our music is beautiful, +wonderful to hear. If you could only hear it—"</p> + +<p>"Never." The man hesitated. "Your music is forbidden, +poisonous."</p> + +<p>Her smile was like sweet wine, a smile that worked into the +Hunter's mind like a gentle, lazy drug. "But who is to permit +or forbid? After all, you are the leader here, and forbidden +pleasures are all the sweeter."</p> + +<p>Frankle's eyes were on hers, fascinated. Slowly, with a +graceful movement, she drew the gleaming thought-sensitive +stone from her clothing. It glowed in the room with a pearly +luminescence, and she saw the man's eyes turning to it, drawn +as if by magic. Then he looked away, and a cruel smile curled +his lips. He motioned toward the stone. "All right," he said +mockingly. "Do your worst. Show me your precious music."</p> + +<p>Like a tinkle of glass breaking in a well, the stone flashed +its fiery light in the room. Little swirls of music seemed to swell +from it, blossoming in the silence. Frankle tensed, a chill running +up his spine, his eyes drawn back to the gleaming jewel. +Suddenly, the music filled the room, rising sweetly like an +overpowering wave, filling his mind with strange and wonderful +images. The stone shimmered and changed, taking the +form of dancing clouds of light, swirling with the music as it +rose. Frankle felt his mind groping toward the music, trying +desperately to reach into the heart of it, to become part of it.</p> + +<p>Ravdin and Dana stood there, trancelike, staring transfixed +at the gleaming center of light, forcing their joined minds to +create the crashing, majestic chords as the song lifted from the +depths of oblivion to the heights of glory in the old, old song +of their people.</p> + +<p>A song of majesty, and strength, and dignity. A song of +love, of aspiration, a song of achievement. A song of peoples +driven by ancient fears across the eons of space, seeking only +peace, even peace with those who drove them.</p> + +<p>Frankle heard the music, and could not comprehend, for +his mind could not grasp the meaning, the true overtones of +those glorious chords, but he felt the strangeness in the pangs +of fear which groped through his mind, cringing from the wonderful +strains, dazzled by the dancing light. He stared wide-eyed +and trembling at the couple across the room, and for an +instant it seemed that he was stripped naked. For a fleeting moment +the authority was gone from his face; gone too was the +cruelty, the avarice, the sardonic mockery. For the briefest moment +his cold gray eyes grew incredibly tender with a sudden +ancient, long-forgotten longing, crying at last to be heard.</p> + +<p>And then, with a scream of rage he was stumbling into the +midst of the light, lashing out wildly at the heart of its shimmering +brilliance. His huge hand caught the hypnotic stone +and swept it into crashing, ear-splitting cacophony against the +cold steel bulkhead. He stood rigid, his whole body shaking, +eyes blazing with fear and anger and hatred as he turned on +Ravdin and Dana. His voice was a raging storm of bitterness +drowning out the dying strains of the music.</p> + +<p>"Spies! You thought you could steal my mind away, make +me forget my duty and listen to your rotten, poisonous noise! +Well, you failed, do you hear? I didn't hear it, I didn't listen, +<i>I didn't</i>! I'll hunt you down as my fathers hunted you down, +I'll bring my people their vengeance and glory, and your foul +music will be dead!"</p> + +<p>He turned to the guards, wildly, his hands still trembling. +"Take them out! Whip them, burn them, do anything! But +find out where their people have gone. Find out! Music! We'll +take the music out of them, once and for all."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The inquisition had been horrible. Their minds had had no +concept of such horror, such relentless, racking pain. The +blazing lights, the questions screaming in their ears, Frankle's +vicious eyes burning in frustration, and their own screams, +rising with each question they would not answer until their +throats were scorched and they could no longer scream. Finally +they reached the limit they could endure, and muttered +together the hoarse words that could deliver them. Not words +that Frankle could hear, but words to bring deliverance, to +blank out their minds like a wet sponge over slate. The hypnotic +key clicked into the lock of their minds; their screams +died in their brains. Frankle stared at them, and knew instantly +what they had done, a technique of memory obliteration +known and dreaded for so many thousands of years that +history could not remember. As his captives stood mindless +before him, he let out one hoarse, agonized scream of frustration +and defeat.</p> + +<p>But strangely enough he did not kill them. He left them +on a cold stone ledge, blinking dumbly at each other as the +ships of his fleet rose one by one and vanished like fireflies in +the dark night sky. Naked, they sat alone on the planet of the +Jungle-land. They knew no words, no music, nothing. And they +did not even know that in the departing ships a seed had been +planted. For Frankle <i>had</i> heard the music. He had grasped the +beauty of his enemies for that brief instant, and in that instant +they had become less his enemies. A tiny seed of doubt had +been planted. The seed would grow.</p> + +<p>The two sat dumbly, shivering. Far in the distance, a beast +roared against the heavy night, and a light rain began to fall. +They sat naked, the rain soaking their skin and hair. Then one +of them grunted, and moved into the dry darkness of the cave. +Deep within him some instinct spoke, warning him to fear +the roar of the animal.</p> + +<p>Blinking dully, the woman crept into the cave after him. +Three thoughts alone filled their empty minds. Not thoughts of +Nehmon and his people; to them, Nehmon had never existed, +forgotten as completely as if he had never been. No thoughts +of the Hunters, either, nor of their unheard-of mercy in leaving +them their lives—lives of memoryless oblivion, like animals +in this green Jungle-land, but lives nonetheless.</p> + +<p>Only three thoughts filled their minds:</p> + +<p>It was raining.</p> + +<p>They were hungry.</p> + +<p>The Saber-tooth was prowling tonight.</p> + +<p>They never knew that the link had been forged.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Link, by Alan Edward Nourse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LINK *** + +***** This file should be named 22876-h.htm or 22876-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/7/22876/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Link + +Author: Alan Edward Nourse + +Release Date: October 3, 2007 [EBook #22876] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LINK *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _The Counterfeit Man More Science + Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse_ published in 1963. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + The + Link + + + + +It was nearly sundown when Ravdin eased the ship down into the last slow +arc toward the Earth's surface. Stretching his arms and legs, he tried +to relax and ease the tension in his tired muscles. Carefully, he +tightened the seat belt for landing; below him he could see the vast, +tangled expanse of Jungle-land spreading out to the horizon. Miles ahead +was the bright circle of the landing field and the sparkling glow of the +city beyond. Ravdin peered to the north of the city, hoping to catch a +glimpse of the concert before his ship was swallowed by the brilliant +landing lights. + +A bell chimed softly in his ear. Ravdin forced his attention back to the +landing operation. He was still numb and shaken from the Warp-passage, +his mind still muddled by the abrupt and incredible change. Moments +before, the sky had been a vast, starry blanket of black velvet; then, +abruptly, he had been hovering over the city, sliding down toward warm +friendly lights and music. He checked the proper switches, and felt the +throbbing purr of the anti-grav motors as the ship slid in toward the +landing slot. Tall spires of other ships rose to meet him, circle upon +circle of silver needles pointing skyward. A little later they were +blotted out as the ship was grappled into the berth from which it had +risen days before. + +With a sigh, Ravdin eased himself out of the seat, his heart pounding +with excitement. Perhaps, he thought, he was too excited, too eager to +be home, for his mind was still reeling from the fearful discovery of +his journey. + +The station was completely empty as Ravdin walked down the ramp to the +shuttles. At the desk he checked in with the shiny punch-card robot, and +walked swiftly across the polished floor. The wall panels pulsed a +somber blue-green, broken sharply by brilliant flashes and overtones of +scarlet, reflecting with subtle accuracy the tumult in his own mind. Not +a sound was in the air, not a whisper nor sign of human habitation. +Vaguely, uneasiness grew in his mind as he entered the shuttle station. +Suddenly, the music caught him, a long, low chord of indescribable +beauty, rising and falling in the wind, a distant whisper of life.... + +The concert, of course. Everyone would be at the concert tonight, and +even from two miles away, the beauty of four hundred perfectly +harmonized voices was carried on the breeze. Ravdin's uneasiness +disappeared; he was eager to discharge his horrible news, get it off his +mind and join the others in the great amphitheater set deep in the +hillside outside the city. But he knew instinctively that Lord Nehmon, +anticipating his return, would not be at the concert. + +Riding the shuttle over the edges of Jungle-land toward the shining +bright beauty of the city, Ravdin settled back, trying to clear his mind +of the shock and horror he had encountered on his journey. The curves +and spires of glowing plastic passed him, lighted with a million hues. +He realized that his whole life was entangled in the very beauty of this +wonderful city. Everything he had ever hoped or dreamed lay sheltered +here in the ever-changing rhythm of colors and shapes and sounds. And +now, he knew, he would soon see his beloved city burning once again, +turning to flames and ashes in a heart-breaking memorial to the age-old +fear of his people. + +The little shuttle-car settled down softly on the green terrace near +the center of the city. The building was a masterpiece of smoothly +curving walls and tasteful lines, opening a full side to the south to +catch the soft sunlight and warm breezes. Ravdin strode across the deep +carpeting of the terrace. There was other music here, different music, a +wilder, more intimate fantasy of whirling sound. An oval door opened for +him, and he stopped short, staggered for a moment by the overpowering +beauty in the vaulted room. + +A girl with red hair the color of new flame was dancing with enthralling +beauty and abandon, her body moving like ripples of wind to the music +which filled the room with its throbbing cry. Her beauty was exquisite, +every motion, every flowing turn a symphony of flawless perfection as +she danced to the wild music. + +"Lord Nehmon!" + +The dancer threw back her head sharply, eyes wide, her body frozen in +mid-air, and then, abruptly, she was gone, leaving only the barest +flickering image of her fiery hair. The music slowed, singing softly, +and Ravdin could see the old man waiting in the room. Nehmon rose, his +gaunt face and graying hair belying the youthful movement of his body. +Smiling, he came forward, clapped Ravdin on the shoulder, and took his +hand warmly. "You're too late for the concert--it's a shame. Mischana is +the master tonight, and the whole city is there." + +Ravdin's throat tightened as he tried to smile. "I had to let you know," +he said. "_They're coming_, Nehmon! I saw them, hours ago." + +The last overtones of the music broke abruptly, like a glass shattered +on stone. The room was deathly still. Lord Nehmon searched the young +man's face. Then he turned away, not quite concealing the sadness and +pain in his eyes. "You're certain? You couldn't be mistaken?" + +"No chance. I found signs of their passing in a dozen places. Then I +saw _them_, their whole fleet. There were hundreds. They're coming, I +saw them." + +"Did they see you?" Nehmon's voice was sharp. + +"No, no. The Warp is a wonderful thing. With it I could come and go in +the twinkling of an eye. But I could see them in the twinkling of an +eye." + +"And it couldn't have been anyone else?" + +"Could anyone else build ships like the Hunters?" + +Nehmon sighed wearily. "No one that we know." He glanced up at the young +man. "Sit down, son, sit down. I--I'll just have to rearrange my +thinking a little. Where were they? How far?" + +"Seven light years," Ravdin said. "Can you imagine it? Just seven, and +moving straight this way. _They know where we are_, and they are coming +quickly." His eyes filled with fear. "They _couldn't_ have found us so +soon, unless they too have discovered the Warp and how to use it to +travel." + +The older man's breath cut off sharply, and there was real alarm in his +eyes. "You're right," he said softly. "Six months ago it was eight +hundred light years away, in an area completely remote from us. Now just +_seven_. In six months they have come so close." + +The scout looked up at Nehmon in desperation. "But what can we do? We +have only weeks, maybe days, before they're here. We have no time to +plan, no time to prepare for them. What can we do?" + +The room was silent. Finally the aged leader stood up, wearily, some +fraction of his six hundred years of life showing in his face for the +first time in centuries. "We can do once again what we always have done +before when the Hunters came," he said sadly. "We can run away." + + * * * * * + +The bright street below the oval window was empty and quiet. Not a +breath of air stirred in the city. Ravdin stared out in bitter silence. +"Yes, we can run away. Just as we always have before. After we have +worked so hard, accomplished so much here, we must burn the city and +flee again." His voice trailed off to silence. He stared at Nehmon, +seeking in the old man's face some answer, some reassurance. But he +found no answer there, only sadness. "Think of the concerts. It's taken +so long, but at last we've come so close to the ultimate goal." He +gestured toward the thought-sensitive sounding boards lining the walls, +the panels which had made the dancer-illusion possible. "Think of the +beauty and peace we've found here." + +"I know. How well I know." + +"Yet now the Hunters come again, and again we must run away." Ravdin +stared at the old man, his eyes suddenly bright. "Nehmon, when I saw +those ships I began thinking." + +"I've spent many years thinking, my son." + +"Not what I've been thinking." Ravdin sat down, clasping his hands in +excitement. "The Hunters come and we run away, Nehmon. Think about that +for a moment. We run, and we run, and we run. From what? We run from the +Hunters. They're hunting _us_, these Hunters. They've never quite found +us, because we've always already run. We're clever, we're fortunate, and +we have a way of life that they do not, so whenever they have come close +to finding us, we have run." + +Nehmon nodded slowly. "For thousands of years." + +Ravdin's eyes were bright. "Yes, we flee, we cringe, we hide under +stones, we break up our lives and uproot our families, running like +frightened animals in the shadows of night and secrecy." He gulped a +breath, and his eyes sought Nehmon's angrily. "_Why do we run, my +lord?_" + +Nehmon's eyes widened. "Because we have no choice," he said. "We must +run or be killed. You know that. You've seen the records, you've been +taught." + +"Oh, yes, I know what I've been taught. I've been taught that eons ago +our remote ancestors fought the Hunters, and lost, and fled, and were +pursued. But why do we keep running? Time after time we've been +cornered, and we've turned and fled. _Why?_ Even animals know that when +they're cornered they must turn and fight." + +"We are not animals." Nehmon's voice cut the air like a whiplash. + +"But we could fight." + +"Animals fight. We do not. We fought once, like animals, and now we must +run from the Hunters who continue to fight like animals. So be it. Let +the Hunters fight." + +Ravdin shook his head. "Do you mean that the Hunters are not men like +us?" he said. "That's what you're saying, that they are animals. All +right. We kill animals for our food, isn't that true? We kill the +tiger-beasts in the Jungle to protect ourselves, why not kill the +Hunters to protect ourselves?" + +Nehmon sighed, and reached out a hand to the young man. "I'm sorry," he +said gently. "It seems logical, but it's false logic. The Hunters are +men just like you and me. Their lives are different, their culture is +different, but they are men. And human life is sacred, to us, above all +else. This is the fundamental basis of our very existence. Without it we +would be Hunters, too. If we fight, we are dead even if we live. That's +why we must run away now, and always. Because we know that we must not +kill men." + + * * * * * + +On the street below, the night air was suddenly full of voices, +chattering, intermingled with whispers of song and occasional brief +harmonic flutterings. The footfalls were muted on the polished pavement +as the people passed slowly, their voices carrying a hint of puzzled +uneasiness. + +"The concert's over!" Ravdin walked to the window, feeling a chill pass +through him. "So soon, I wonder why?" Eagerly he searched the faces +passing in the street for Dana's face, sensing the lurking discord in +the quiet talk of the crowd. Suddenly the sound-boards in the room +tinkled a carillon of ruby tones in his ear, and she was in the room, +rushing into his arms with a happy cry, pressing her soft cheek to his +rough chin. "You're back! Oh, I'm so glad, so very glad!" She turned to +the old man. "Nehmon, what has happened? The concert was ruined tonight. +There was something in the air, everybody felt it. For some reason the +people seemed _afraid_." + +Ravdin turned away from his bride. "Tell her," he said to the old man. + +Dana looked at them, her gray eyes widening in horror. "The Hunters! +They've found us?" + +Ravdin nodded wordlessly. + +Her hands trembled as she sat down, and there were tears in her eyes. +"We came so close tonight, so very close. I _felt_ the music before it +was sung, do you realize that? I _felt_ the fear around me, even though +no one said a word. It wasn't vague or fuzzy, it was _clear_! The +transference was perfect." She turned to face the old man. "It's taken +so long to come this far, Nehmon. So much work, so much training to +reach a perfect communal concert. We've had only two hundred years here, +only _two hundred_! I was just a little girl when we came, I can't even +remember before that. Before we came here we were undisturbed for a +thousand years, and before that, four thousand. But _two hundred_--we +_can't_ leave now. Not when we've come so far." + +Ravdin nodded. "That's the trouble. They come closer every time. This +time they will catch us. Or the next time, or the next. And that will be +the end of everything for us, unless we fight them." He paused, watching +the last groups dispersing on the street below. "If we only knew, for +certain, what we were running from." + +There was a startled silence. The girl's breath came in a gasp and her +eyes widened as his words sank home. "Ravdin," she said softly, "_have +you ever seen a Hunter_?" + +Ravdin stared at her, and felt a chill of excitement. Music burst from +the sounding-board, odd, wild music, suddenly hopeful. "No," he said, +"no, of course not. You know that." + +The girl rose from her seat. "Nor have I. Never, not once." She turned +to Lord Nehmon. "Have _you_?" + +"Never." The old man's voice was harsh. + +"Has _anyone_ ever seen a Hunter?" + +Ravdin's hand trembled. "I--I don't know. None of us living now, no. +It's been too long since they last actually found us. I've read--oh, I +can't remember. I think my grandfather saw them, or my great-grandfather, +somewhere back there. It's been thousands of years." + +"Yet we've been tearing ourselves up by the roots, fleeing from planet +to planet, running and dying and still running. But suppose we don't +need to run anymore?" + +He stared at her. "They keep coming. They keep searching for us. What +more proof do you need?" + +Dana's face glowed with excitement, alive with new vitality, new hope. +"Ravdin, can't you see? _They might have changed._ They might not be the +same. Things can happen. Look at us, how we've grown since the wars with +the Hunters. Think how our philosophy and culture have matured! Oh, +Ravdin, you were to be master at a concert next month. Think how the +concerts have changed! Even my grandmother can remember when the +concerts were just a few performers playing, and everyone else just +sitting and _listening_! Can you imagine anything more silly? They +hadn't even thought of transference then, they never dreamed what a +_real_ concert could be! Why, those people had never begun to understand +music until they themselves became a part of it. Even we can see these +changes, why couldn't the Hunters have grown and changed just as we +have?" + +Nehmon's voice broke in, almost harshly, as he faced the excited pair. +"The Hunters don't have concerts," he said grimly. "You're deluding +yourself, Dana. They laugh at our music, they scoff at our arts and +twist them into obscene mockeries. They have no concept of beauty in +their language. The Hunters are incapable of change." + +"And you can be certain of that when _nobody has seen them for thousands +of years_?" + +Nehmon met her steady eyes, read the strength and determination there. +He knew, despairingly, what she was thinking--that he was old, that he +couldn't understand, that his mind was channeled now beyond the approach +of wisdom. "You mustn't think what you're thinking," he said weakly. +"You'd be blind. You wouldn't know, you couldn't have any idea what you +would find. If you tried to contact them, you could be lost completely, +tortured, killed. If they haven't changed, you wouldn't stand a chance. +You'd never come back, Dana." + +"But she's right all the same," Ravdin said softly. "You're wrong, my +lord. We can't continue this way if we're to survive. Sometime our +people must contact them, find the link that was once between us, and +forge it strong again. We could do it, Dana and I." + +"I could forbid you to go." + +Dana looked at her husband, and her eyes were proud. "You could forbid +us," she said, facing the old man. "But you could never stop us." + + * * * * * + +At the edge of the Jungle-land a great beast stood with green-gleaming +eyes, licking his fanged jaws as he watched the glowing city, sensing +somehow that the mystifying circle of light and motion was soon to +become his Jungle-land again. In the city the turmoil bubbled over, as +wave after wave of the people made the short safari across the +intervening jungle to the circles of their ships. Husbands, wives, +fathers, mothers--all carried their small, frail remembrances out to the +ships. There was music among them still, but it was a different sort of +music, now, an eerie, hopeless music that drifted out of the city in the +wind. It caused all but the bravest of the beasts, their hair prickling +on their backs, to run in panic through the jungle darkness. It was a +melancholy music, carried from thought to thought, from voice to voice +as the people of the city wearily prepared themselves once again for the +long journey. + +To run away. In the darkness of secrecy, to be gone, without a trace, +without symbol or vestige of their presence, leaving only the scorched +circle of land for the jungle to reclaim, so that no eyes, not even the +sharpest, would ever know how long they had stayed, nor where they might +have gone. + +In the rounded room of his house, Lord Nehmon dispatched the last of his +belongings, a few remembrances, nothing more, because the space on the +ships must take people, not remembrances, and he knew that the +remembrances would bring only pain. All day Nehmon had supervised the +loading, the intricate preparation, following plans laid down millennia +before. He saw the libraries and records transported, mile upon endless +mile of microfilm, carted to the ships prepared to carry them, stored +until a new resting place was found. The history of a people was +recorded on that film, a people once proud and strong, now equally +proud, but dwindling in numbers as toll for the constant roving. A proud +people, yet a people who would turn and run without thought, in a panic +of age-old fear. They _had_ to run, Nehmon knew, if they were to +survive. + +And with a blaze of anger in his heart, he almost hated the two young +people waiting here with him for the last ship to be filled. For these +two would not go. + +It had been a long and painful night. He had pleaded and begged, tried +to persuade them that there was no hope, that the very idea of remaining +behind or trying to contact the Hunters was insane. Yet he knew _they_ +were sane, perhaps unwise, naive, but their decision had been reached, +and they would not be shaken. + +The day was almost gone as the last ships began to fill. Nehmon turned +to Ravdin and Dana, his face lined and tired. "You'll have to go soon," +he said. "The city will be burned, of course, as always. You'll be left +with food, and with weapons against the jungle. The Hunters will know +that we've been here, but they'll not know when, nor where we have +gone." He paused. "It will be up to you to see that they don't learn." + +Dana shook her head. "We'll tell them nothing, unless it's safe for them +to know." + +"They'll question you, even torture you." + +She smiled calmly. "Perhaps they won't. But as a last resort, we can +blank out." + +Nehmon's face went white. "You know there is no coming back, once you do +that. You would never regain your memory. You must save it for a last +resort." + +Down below on the street the last groups of people were passing; the +last sweet, eerie tones of the concert were rising in the gathering +twilight. Soon the last families would have taken their refuge in the +ships, waiting for Nehmon to trigger the fire bombs to ignite the +beautiful city after the ships started on their voyage. The concerts +were over; there would be long years of aimless wandering before another +home could be found, another planet safe from the Hunters and their +ships. Even then it would be more years before the concerts could again +rise from their hearts and throats and minds, generations before they +could begin work again toward the climactic expression of their +heritage. + +Ravdin felt the desolation in the people's minds, saw the utter +hopelessness in the old man's face, and suddenly felt the pressure of +despair. It was such a slender hope, so frail and so dangerous. He knew +of the terrible fight, the war of his people against the Hunters, so +many thousand years before. They had risen together, a common people, +their home a single planet. And then, the gradual splitting of the +nations, his own people living in peace, seeking the growth and beauty +of the arts, despising the bitterness and barrenness of hatred and +killing--and the Hunters, under an iron heel of militarism, of +government for the perpetuation of government, split farther and farther +from them. It was an ever-widening split as the Hunters sneered and +ridiculed, and then grew to hate Ravdin's people for all the things the +Hunters were losing: peace, love, happiness. Ravdin knew of his people's +slowly dawning awareness of the sanctity of life, shattered abruptly by +the horrible wars, and then the centuries of fear and flight, hiding +from the wrath of the Hunters' vengeance. His people had learned much in +those long years. They had conquered disease. They had grown in strength +as they dwindled in numbers. But now the end could be seen, crystal +clear, the end of his people and a ghastly grave. + +Nehmon's voice broke the silence. "If you must stay behind, then go now. +The city will burn an hour after the count-down." + +"We will be safe, outside the city." Dana gripped her husband's hand, +trying to transmit to him some part of her strength and confidence. +"Wish us the best, Nehmon. If a link can be forged, we will forge it." + +"I wish you the best in everything." There were tears in the old man's +eyes as he turned and left the room. + + * * * * * + +They stood in the Jungle-land, listening to the scurry of frightened +animals, and shivering in the cool night air as the bright sparks of the +ships' exhausts faded into the black starry sky. A man and a woman +alone, speechless, watching, staring with awful longing into the skies +as the bright rocket jets dwindled to specks and flickered out. + +The city burned. Purple spumes of flame shot high into the air, throwing +a ghastly light on the frightened Jungle-land. Spires of flame seemed to +be seeking the stars with their fingers as the plastic walls and streets +of the city hissed and shriveled, blackening, bubbling into a vanishing +memory before their eyes. The flames shot high, carrying with them the +last remnants of the city which had stood proud and tall an hour before. +Then a silence fell, deathly, like the lifeless silence of a grave. Out +of the silence, little whispering sounds of the Jungle-land crept to +their ears, first frightened, then curious, then bolder and bolder as +the wisps of grass and little animals ventured out and out toward the +clearing where the city had stood. Bit by bit the Jungle-land gathered +courage, and the clearing slowly, silently, began to disappear. + +Days later new sparks of light appeared in the black sky. They grew to +larger specks, then to flares, and finally settled to the earth as +powerful, flaming jets. + +They were squat, misshapen vessels, circling down like vultures, +hissing, screeching, landing with a grinding crash in the tall thicket +near the place where the city had stood. Ravdin's signal had guided them +in, and the Hunters had seen them, standing on a hilltop above the +demolished amphitheater. Men had come out of the ships, large men with +cold faces and dull eyes, weapons strapped to their trim uniforms. The +Hunters had blinked at them, unbelieving, with their weapons held at +ready. Ravdin and Dana were seized and led to the flagship. + +As they approached it, their hearts sank and they clasped hands to +bolster their failing hope. + +The leader of the Hunters looked up from his desk as they were thrust +into his cabin. Frankle's face was a graven mask as he searched their +faces dispassionately. The captives were pale and seemed to cringe from +the pale interrogation light. "Chickens!" the Hunter snorted. "We have +been hunting down chickens." His eyes turned to one of the guards. "They +have been searched?" + +"Of course, master." + +"And questioned?" + +The guard frowned. "Yes, sir. But their language is almost +unintelligible." + +"You've studied the basic tongues, haven't you?" Frankle's voice was as +cold as his eyes. + +"Of course, sir, but this is so different." + +Frankle stared in contempt at the fair-skinned captives, fixing his +eyes on them for a long moment. Finally he said, "Well?" + +Ravdin glanced briefly at Dana's white face. His voice seemed weak and +high-pitched in comparison to the Hunter's baritone. "You are the leader +of the Hunters?" + +Frankle regarded him sourly, without replying. His thin face was +swarthy, his short-cut gray hair matching the cold gray of his eyes. It +was an odd face, completely blank of any thought or emotion, yet capable +of shifting to a strange biting slyness in the briefest instant. It was +a rich face, a face of inscrutable depth. He pushed his chair back, his +eyes watchful. "We know your people were here," he said suddenly. "Now +they've gone, and yet you remain behind. There must be a reason for such +rashness. Are you sick? Crippled?" + +Ravdin shook his head. "We are not sick." + +"Then criminals, perhaps? Being punished for rebellious plots?" + +"We are not criminals." + +The Hunter's fist crashed on the desk. "Then why are you here? _Why?_ +Are you going to tell me now, or do you propose to waste a few hours of +my time first?" + +"There is no mystery," Ravdin said softly. "We stayed behind to plead +for peace." + +"For peace?" Frankle stared in disbelief. Then he shrugged, his face +tired. "I might have known. Peace! Where have your people gone?" + +Ravdin met him eye for eye. "I can't say." + +The Hunter laughed. "Let's be precise, you don't _choose_ to say, just +now. But perhaps very soon you will wish with all your heart to tell +me." + +Dana's voice was sharp. "We're telling you the truth. We want peace, +nothing more. This constant hunting and running is senseless, exhausting +to both of us. We want to make peace with you, to bring our people +together again." + +Frankle snorted. "You came to us in war, once, long ago. Now you want +peace. What would you do, clasp us to your bosom, smother us in your +idiotic music? Or have you gone on to greater things?" + +Ravdin's face flushed hotly. "Much greater things," he snapped. + +Frankle sat down slowly. "No doubt," he said. "Now understand me +clearly. Very soon you will be killed. How quickly or slowly you die +will depend largely upon the civility of your tongues. A civil tongue +answers questions with the right answers. That is my definition of a +civil tongue." He sat back coldly. "Now, shall we commence asking +questions?" + +Dana stepped forward suddenly, her cheeks flushed. "We don't have the +words to express ourselves," she said softly. "We can't tell you in +words what we have to say, but music is a language even you can +understand. We can tell you what we want in music." + +Frankle scowled. He knew about the magic of this music, he had heard of +the witchcraft these weak chicken-people could weave, of their strange, +magic power to steal strong men's minds from them and make them like +children before wolves. But he had never heard this music with his own +ears. He looked at them, his eyes strangely bright. "You know I cannot +listen to your music. It is forbidden, even you should know that. How +dare you propose--" + +"But this is different music." Dana's eyes widened, and she threw an +excited glance at her husband. "Our music is beautiful, wonderful to +hear. If you could only hear it--" + +"Never." The man hesitated. "Your music is forbidden, poisonous." + +Her smile was like sweet wine, a smile that worked into the Hunter's +mind like a gentle, lazy drug. "But who is to permit or forbid? After +all, you are the leader here, and forbidden pleasures are all the +sweeter." + +Frankle's eyes were on hers, fascinated. Slowly, with a graceful +movement, she drew the gleaming thought-sensitive stone from her +clothing. It glowed in the room with a pearly luminescence, and she saw +the man's eyes turning to it, drawn as if by magic. Then he looked away, +and a cruel smile curled his lips. He motioned toward the stone. "All +right," he said mockingly. "Do your worst. Show me your precious music." + +Like a tinkle of glass breaking in a well, the stone flashed its fiery +light in the room. Little swirls of music seemed to swell from it, +blossoming in the silence. Frankle tensed, a chill running up his spine, +his eyes drawn back to the gleaming jewel. Suddenly, the music filled +the room, rising sweetly like an overpowering wave, filling his mind +with strange and wonderful images. The stone shimmered and changed, +taking the form of dancing clouds of light, swirling with the music as +it rose. Frankle felt his mind groping toward the music, trying +desperately to reach into the heart of it, to become part of it. + +Ravdin and Dana stood there, trancelike, staring transfixed at the +gleaming center of light, forcing their joined minds to create the +crashing, majestic chords as the song lifted from the depths of oblivion +to the heights of glory in the old, old song of their people. + +A song of majesty, and strength, and dignity. A song of love, of +aspiration, a song of achievement. A song of peoples driven by ancient +fears across the eons of space, seeking only peace, even peace with +those who drove them. + +Frankle heard the music, and could not comprehend, for his mind could +not grasp the meaning, the true overtones of those glorious chords, but +he felt the strangeness in the pangs of fear which groped through his +mind, cringing from the wonderful strains, dazzled by the dancing light. +He stared wide-eyed and trembling at the couple across the room, and for +an instant it seemed that he was stripped naked. For a fleeting moment +the authority was gone from his face; gone too was the cruelty, the +avarice, the sardonic mockery. For the briefest moment his cold gray +eyes grew incredibly tender with a sudden ancient, long-forgotten +longing, crying at last to be heard. + +And then, with a scream of rage he was stumbling into the midst of the +light, lashing out wildly at the heart of its shimmering brilliance. His +huge hand caught the hypnotic stone and swept it into crashing, +ear-splitting cacophony against the cold steel bulkhead. He stood rigid, +his whole body shaking, eyes blazing with fear and anger and hatred as +he turned on Ravdin and Dana. His voice was a raging storm of bitterness +drowning out the dying strains of the music. + +"Spies! You thought you could steal my mind away, make me forget my duty +and listen to your rotten, poisonous noise! Well, you failed, do you +hear? I didn't hear it, I didn't listen, _I didn't_! I'll hunt you down +as my fathers hunted you down, I'll bring my people their vengeance and +glory, and your foul music will be dead!" + +He turned to the guards, wildly, his hands still trembling. "Take them +out! Whip them, burn them, do anything! But find out where their people +have gone. Find out! Music! We'll take the music out of them, once and +for all." + + * * * * * + +The inquisition had been horrible. Their minds had had no concept of +such horror, such relentless, racking pain. The blazing lights, the +questions screaming in their ears, Frankle's vicious eyes burning in +frustration, and their own screams, rising with each question they would +not answer until their throats were scorched and they could no longer +scream. Finally they reached the limit they could endure, and muttered +together the hoarse words that could deliver them. Not words that +Frankle could hear, but words to bring deliverance, to blank out their +minds like a wet sponge over slate. The hypnotic key clicked into the +lock of their minds; their screams died in their brains. Frankle stared +at them, and knew instantly what they had done, a technique of memory +obliteration known and dreaded for so many thousands of years that +history could not remember. As his captives stood mindless before him, +he let out one hoarse, agonized scream of frustration and defeat. + +But strangely enough he did not kill them. He left them on a cold stone +ledge, blinking dumbly at each other as the ships of his fleet rose one +by one and vanished like fireflies in the dark night sky. Naked, they +sat alone on the planet of the Jungle-land. They knew no words, no +music, nothing. And they did not even know that in the departing ships a +seed had been planted. For Frankle _had_ heard the music. He had grasped +the beauty of his enemies for that brief instant, and in that instant +they had become less his enemies. A tiny seed of doubt had been planted. +The seed would grow. + +The two sat dumbly, shivering. Far in the distance, a beast roared +against the heavy night, and a light rain began to fall. They sat naked, +the rain soaking their skin and hair. Then one of them grunted, and +moved into the dry darkness of the cave. Deep within him some instinct +spoke, warning him to fear the roar of the animal. + +Blinking dully, the woman crept into the cave after him. Three thoughts +alone filled their empty minds. Not thoughts of Nehmon and his people; +to them, Nehmon had never existed, forgotten as completely as if he had +never been. No thoughts of the Hunters, either, nor of their unheard-of +mercy in leaving them their lives--lives of memoryless oblivion, like +animals in this green Jungle-land, but lives nonetheless. + +Only three thoughts filled their minds: + +It was raining. + +They were hungry. + +The Saber-tooth was prowling tonight. + +They never knew that the link had been forged. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Link, by Alan Edward Nourse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LINK *** + +***** This file should be named 22876.txt or 22876.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/7/22876/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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