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diff --git a/28767.txt b/28767.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d4f4cc --- /dev/null +++ b/28767.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1621 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Defenders, by Philip K. Dick + +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 Defenders + +Author: Philip K. Dick + +Illustrator: Ed Emshwiller + +Release Date: May 12, 2009 [EBook #28767] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEFENDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +The Defenders + +By PHILIP K. DICK + +Illustrated by EMSH + + + _No weapon has ever been frightful enough to put a stop to + war--perhaps because we never before had any that thought for + themselves!_ + + +[Illustration] + + +Taylor sat back in his chair reading the morning newspaper. The warm +kitchen and the smell of coffee blended with the comfort of not having +to go to work. This was his Rest Period, the first for a long time, and +he was glad of it. He folded the second section back, sighing with +contentment. + +"What is it?" Mary said, from the stove. + +"They pasted Moscow again last night." Taylor nodded his head in +approval. "Gave it a real pounding. One of those R-H bombs. It's about +time." + +He nodded again, feeling the full comfort of the kitchen, the presence +of his plump, attractive wife, the breakfast dishes and coffee. This was +relaxation. And the war news was good, good and satisfying. He could +feel a justifiable glow at the news, a sense of pride and personal +accomplishment. After all, he was an integral part of the war program, +not just another factory worker lugging a cart of scrap, but a +technician, one of those who designed and planned the nerve-trunk of the +war. + +"It says they have the new subs almost perfected. Wait until they get +_those_ going." He smacked his lips with anticipation. "When they start +shelling from underwater, the Soviets are sure going to be surprised." + +"They're doing a wonderful job," Mary agreed vaguely. "Do you know what +we saw today? Our team is getting a leady to show to the school +children. I saw the leady, but only for a moment. It's good for the +children to see what their contributions are going for, don't you +think?" + +She looked around at him. + +"A leady," Taylor murmured. He put the newspaper slowly down. "Well, +make sure it's decontaminated properly. We don't want to take any +chances." + +"Oh, they always bathe them when they're brought down from the surface," +Mary said. "They wouldn't think of letting them down without the bath. +Would they?" She hesitated, thinking back. "Don, you know, it makes me +remember--" + +He nodded. "I know." + + * * * * * + +He knew what she was thinking. Once in the very first weeks of the war, +before everyone had been evacuated from the surface, they had seen a +hospital train discharging the wounded, people who had been showered +with sleet. He remembered the way they had looked, the expression on +their faces, or as much of their faces as was left. It had not been a +pleasant sight. + +There had been a lot of that at first, in the early days before the +transfer to undersurface was complete. There had been a lot, and it +hadn't been very difficult to come across it. + +Taylor looked up at his wife. She was thinking too much about it, the +last few months. They all were. + +"Forget it," he said. "It's all in the past. There isn't anybody up +there now but the leadys, and they don't mind." + +"But just the same, I hope they're careful when they let one of them +down here. If one were still hot--" + +He laughed, pushing himself away from the table. "Forget it. This is a +wonderful moment; I'll be home for the next two shifts. Nothing to do +but sit around and take things easy. Maybe we can take in a show. Okay?" + +"A show? Do we have to? I don't like to look at all the destruction, the +ruins. Sometimes I see some place I remember, like San Francisco. They +showed a shot of San Francisco, the bridge broken and fallen in the +water, and I got upset. I don't like to watch." + +"But don't you want to know what's going on? No human beings are getting +hurt, you know." + +"But it's so awful!" Her face was set and strained. "Please, no, Don." + +Don Taylor picked up his newspaper sullenly. "All right, but there +isn't a hell of a lot else to do. And don't forget, _their_ cities are +getting it even worse." + +She nodded. Taylor turned the rough, thin sheets of newspaper. His good +mood had soured on him. Why did she have to fret all the time? They were +pretty well off, as things went. You couldn't expect to have everything +perfect, living undersurface, with an artificial sun and artificial +food. Naturally it was a strain, not seeing the sky or being able to go +any place or see anything other than metal walls, great roaring +factories, the plant-yards, barracks. But it was better than being on +surface. And some day it would end and they could return. Nobody +_wanted_ to live this way, but it was necessary. + +He turned the page angrily and the poor paper ripped. Damn it, the paper +was getting worse quality all the time, bad print, yellow tint-- + +Well, they needed everything for the war program. He ought to know that. +Wasn't he one of the planners? + +He excused himself and went into the other room. The bed was still +unmade. They had better get it in shape before the seventh hour +inspection. There was a one unit fine-- + +The vidphone rang. He halted. Who would it be? He went over and clicked +it on. + +"Taylor?" the face said, forming into place. It was an old face, gray +and grim. "This is Moss. I'm sorry to bother you during Rest Period, but +this thing has come up." He rattled papers. "I want you to hurry over +here." + +Taylor stiffened. "What is it? There's no chance it could wait?" The +calm gray eyes were studying him, expressionless, unjudging. "If you +want me to come down to the lab," Taylor grumbled, "I suppose I can. +I'll get my uniform--" + +"No. Come as you are. And not to the lab. Meet me at second stage as +soon as possible. It'll take you about a half hour, using the fast car +up. I'll see you there." + +The picture broke and Moss disappeared. + + * * * * * + +"What was it?" Mary said, at the door. + +"Moss. He wants me for something." + +"I knew this would happen." + +"Well, you didn't want to do anything, anyhow. What does it matter?" His +voice was bitter. "It's all the same, every day. I'll bring you back +something. I'm going up to second stage. Maybe I'll be close enough to +the surface to--" + +"Don't! Don't bring me anything! Not from the surface!" + +"All right, I won't. But of all the irrational nonsense--" + +She watched him put on his boots without answering. + + * * * * * + +Moss nodded and Taylor fell in step with him, as the older man strode +along. A series of loads were going up to the surface, blind cars +clanking like ore-trucks up the ramp, disappearing through the stage +trap above them. Taylor watched the cars, heavy with tubular machinery +of some sort, weapons new to him. Workers were everywhere, in the dark +gray uniforms of the labor corps, loading, lifting, shouting back and +forth. The stage was deafening with noise. + +"We'll go up a way," Moss said, "where we can talk. This is no place to +give you details." + +They took an escalator up. The commercial lift fell behind them, and +with it most of the crashing and booming. Soon they emerged on an +observation platform, suspended on the side of the Tube, the vast tunnel +leading to the surface, not more than half a mile above them now. + +"My God!" Taylor said, looking down the Tube involuntarily. "It's a long +way down." + +Moss laughed. "Don't look." + +They opened a door and entered an office. Behind the desk, an officer +was sitting, an officer of Internal Security. He looked up. + +"I'll be right with you, Moss." He gazed at Taylor studying him. "You're +a little ahead of time." + +"This is Commander Franks," Moss said to Taylor. "He was the first to +make the discovery. I was notified last night." He tapped a parcel he +carried. "I was let in because of this." + +Franks frowned at him and stood up. "We're going up to first stage. We +can discuss it there." + +"First stage?" Taylor repeated nervously. The three of them went down a +side passage to a small lift. "I've never been up there. Is it all +right? It's not radioactive, is it?" + +"You're like everyone else," Franks said. "Old women afraid of burglars. +No radiation leaks down to first stage. There's lead and rock, and what +comes down the Tube is bathed." + +"What's the nature of the problem?" Taylor asked. "I'd like to know +something about it." + +"In a moment." + +They entered the lift and ascended. When they stepped out, they were in +a hall of soldiers, weapons and uniforms everywhere. Taylor blinked in +surprise. So this was first stage, the closest undersurface level to the +top! After this stage there was only rock, lead and rock, and the great +tubes leading up like the burrows of earthworms. Lead and rock, and +above that, where the tubes opened, the great expanse that no living +being had seen for eight years, the vast, endless ruin that had once +been Man's home, the place where he had lived, eight years ago. + +Now the surface was a lethal desert of slag and rolling clouds. Endless +clouds drifted back and forth, blotting out the red Sun. Occasionally +something metallic stirred, moving through the remains of a city, +threading its way across the tortured terrain of the countryside. A +leady, a surface robot, immune to radiation, constructed with feverish +haste in the last months before the cold war became literally hot. + +Leadys, crawling along the ground, moving over the oceans or through the +skies in slender, blackened craft, creatures that could exist where no +_life_ could remain, metal and plastic figures that waged a war Man had +conceived, but which he could not fight himself. Human beings had +invented war, invented and manufactured the weapons, even invented the +players, the fighters, the actors of the war. But they themselves could +not venture forth, could not wage it themselves. In all the world--in +Russia, in Europe, America, Africa--no living human being remained. They +were under the surface, in the deep shelters that had been carefully +planned and built, even as the first bombs began to fall. + +It was a brilliant idea and the only idea that could have worked. Up +above, on the ruined, blasted surface of what had once been a living +planet, the leady crawled and scurried, and fought Man's war. And +undersurface, in the depths of the planet, human beings toiled endlessly +to produce the weapons to continue the fight, month by month, year by +year. + + * * * * * + +"First stage," Taylor said. A strange ache went through him. "Almost to +the surface." + +"But not quite," Moss said. + +Franks led them through the soldiers, over to one side, near the lip of +the Tube. + +"In a few minutes, a lift will bring something down to us from the +surface," he explained. "You see, Taylor, every once in a while Security +examines and interrogates a surface leady, one that has been above for a +time, to find out certain things. A vidcall is sent up and contact is +made with a field headquarters. We need this direct interview; we can't +depend on vidscreen contact alone. The leadys are doing a good job, but +we want to make certain that everything is going the way we want it." + +Franks faced Taylor and Moss and continued: "The lift will bring down a +leady from the surface, one of the A-class leadys. There's an +examination chamber in the next room, with a lead wall in the center, so +the interviewing officers won't be exposed to radiation. We find this +easier than bathing the leady. It is going right back up; it has a job +to get back to. + +"Two days ago, an A-class leady was brought down and interrogated. I +conducted the session myself. We were interested in a new weapon the +Soviets have been using, an automatic mine that pursues anything that +moves. Military had sent instructions up that the mine be observed and +reported in detail. + +"This A-class leady was brought down with information. We learned a few +facts from it, obtained the usual roll of film and reports, and then +sent it back up. It was going out of the chamber, back to the lift, when +a curious thing happened. At the time, I thought--" + +Franks broke off. A red light was flashing. + +"That down lift is coming." He nodded to some soldiers. "Let's enter the +chamber. The leady will be along in a moment." + +"An A-class leady," Taylor said. "I've seen them on the showscreens, +making their reports." + +"It's quite an experience," Moss said. "They're almost human." + + * * * * * + +They entered the chamber and seated themselves behind the lead wall. +After a time, a signal was flashed, and Franks made a motion with his +hands. + +The door beyond the wall opened. Taylor peered through his view slot. He +saw something advancing slowly, a slender metallic figure moving on a +tread, its arm grips at rest by its sides. The figure halted and scanned +the lead wall. It stood, waiting. + +"We are interested in learning something," Franks said. "Before I +question you, do you have anything to report on surface conditions?" + +"No. The war continues." The leady's voice was automatic and toneless. +"We are a little short of fast pursuit craft, the single-seat type. We +could use also some--" + +"That has all been noted. What I want to ask you is this. Our contact +with you has been through vidscreen only. We must rely on indirect +evidence, since none of us goes above. We can only infer what is going +on. We never see anything ourselves. We have to take it all secondhand. +Some top leaders are beginning to think there's too much room for +error." + +"Error?" the leady asked. "In what way? Our reports are checked +carefully before they're sent down. We maintain constant contact with +you; everything of value is reported. Any new weapons which the enemy is +seen to employ--" + +"I realize that," Franks grunted behind his peep slot. "But perhaps we +should see it all for ourselves. Is it possible that there might be a +large enough radiation-free area for a human party to ascend to the +surface? If a few of us were to come up in lead-lined suits, would we be +able to survive long enough to observe conditions and watch things?" + +The machine hesitated before answering. "I doubt it. You can check air +samples, of course, and decide for yourselves. But in the eight years +since you left, things have continually worsened. You cannot have any +real idea of conditions up there. It has become difficult for any moving +object to survive for long. There are many kinds of projectiles +sensitive to movement. The new mine not only reacts to motion, but +continues to pursue the object indefinitely, until it finally reaches +it. And the radiation is everywhere." + +"I see." Franks turned to Moss, his eyes narrowed oddly. "Well, that was +what I wanted to know. You may go." + +The machine moved back toward its exit. It paused. "Each month the +amount of lethal particles in the atmosphere increases. The tempo of the +war is gradually--" + +"I understand." Franks rose. He held out his hand and Moss passed him +the package. "One thing before you leave. I want you to examine a new +type of metal shield material. I'll pass you a sample with the tong." + +Franks put the package in the toothed grip and revolved the tong so that +he held the other end. The package swung down to the leady, which took +it. They watched it unwrap the package and take the metal plate in its +hands. The leady turned the metal over and over. + +Suddenly it became rigid. + +"All right," Franks said. + +He put his shoulder against the wall and a section slid aside. Taylor +gasped--Franks and Moss were hurrying up to the leady! + +"Good God!" Taylor said. "But it's radioactive!" + + * * * * * + +The leady stood unmoving, still holding the metal. Soldiers appeared in +the chamber. They surrounded the leady and ran a counter across it +carefully. + +"Okay, sir," one of them said to Franks. "It's as cold as a long winter +evening." + +"Good. I was sure, but I didn't want to take any chances." + +"You see," Moss said to Taylor, "this leady isn't hot at all. Yet it +came directly from the surface, without even being bathed." + +"But what does it mean?" Taylor asked blankly. + +"It may be an accident," Franks said. "There's always the possibility +that a given object might escape being exposed above. But this is the +second time it's happened that we know of. There may be others." + +"The second time?" + +"The previous interview was when we noticed it. The leady was not hot. +It was cold, too, like this one." + +Moss took back the metal plate from the leady's hands. He pressed the +surface carefully and returned it to the stiff, unprotesting fingers. + +"We shorted it out with this, so we could get close enough for a +thorough check. It'll come back on in a second now. We had better get +behind the wall again." + +They walked back and the lead wall swung closed behind them. The +soldiers left the chamber. + +"Two periods from now," Franks said softly, "an initial investigating +party will be ready to go surface-side. We're going up the Tube in +suits, up to the top--the first human party to leave undersurface in +eight years." + +"It may mean nothing," Moss said, "but I doubt it. Something's going on, +something strange. The leady told us no life could exist above without +being roasted. The story doesn't fit." + +Taylor nodded. He stared through the peep slot at the immobile metal +figure. Already the leady was beginning to stir. It was bent in several +places, dented and twisted, and its finish was blackened and charred. It +was a leady that had been up there a long time; it had seen war and +destruction, ruin so vast that no human being could imagine the extent. +It had crawled and slunk in a world of radiation and death, a world +where no life could exist. + +And Taylor had touched it! + +"You're going with us," Franks said suddenly. "I want you along. I think +the three of us will go." + + * * * * * + +Mary faced him with a sick and frightened expression. "I know it. You're +going to the surface. Aren't you?" + +She followed him into the kitchen. Taylor sat down, looking away from +her. + +"It's a classified project," he evaded. "I can't tell you anything about +it." + +"You don't have to tell me. I know. I knew it the moment you came in. +There was something on your face, something I haven't seen there for a +long, long time. It was an old look." + +She came toward him. "But how can they send you to the surface?" She +took his face in her shaking hands, making him look at her. There was a +strange hunger in her eyes. "Nobody can live up there. Look, look at +this!" + +She grabbed up a newspaper and held it in front of him. + +"Look at this photograph. America, Europe, Asia, Africa--nothing but +ruins. We've seen it every day on the showscreens. All destroyed, +poisoned. And they're sending you up. Why? No living thing can get by up +there, not even a weed, or grass. They've wrecked the surface, haven't +they? _Haven't they?_" + +Taylor stood up. "It's an order. I know nothing about it. I was told to +report to join a scout party. That's all I know." + +He stood for a long time, staring ahead. Slowly, he reached for the +newspaper and held it up to the light. + +"It looks real," he murmured. "Ruins, deadness, slag. It's convincing. +All the reports, photographs, films, even air samples. Yet we haven't +seen it for ourselves, not after the first months ..." + +"What are you talking about?" + +"Nothing." He put the paper down. "I'm leaving early after the next +Sleep Period. Let's turn in." + +Mary turned away, her face hard and harsh. "Do what you want. We might +just as well all go up and get killed at once, instead of dying slowly +down here, like vermin in the ground." + +He had not realized how resentful she was. Were they all like that? How +about the workers toiling in the factories, day and night, endlessly? +The pale, stooped men and women, plodding back and forth to work, +blinking in the colorless light, eating synthetics-- + +"You shouldn't be so bitter," he said. + +Mary smiled a little. "I'm bitter because I know you'll never come +back." She turned away. "I'll never see you again, once you go up +there." + +He was shocked. "What? How can you say a thing like that?" + +She did not answer. + + * * * * * + +He awakened with the public newscaster screeching in his ears, shouting +outside the building. + +"Special news bulletin! Surface forces report enormous Soviet attack +with new weapons! Retreat of key groups! All work units report to +factories at once!" + +Taylor blinked, rubbing his eyes. He jumped out of bed and hurried to +the vidphone. A moment later he was put through to Moss. + +"Listen," he said. "What about this new attack? Is the project off?" He +could see Moss's desk, covered with reports and papers. + +"No," Moss said. "We're going right ahead. Get over here at once." + +"But--" + +"Don't argue with me." Moss held up a handful of surface bulletins, +crumpling them savagely. "This is a fake. Come on!" He broke off. + +Taylor dressed furiously, his mind in a daze. + +Half an hour later, he leaped from a fast car and hurried up the stairs +into the Synthetics Building. The corridors were full of men and women +rushing in every direction. He entered Moss's office. + +"There you are," Moss said, getting up immediately. "Franks is waiting +for us at the outgoing station." + +They went in a Security Car, the siren screaming. Workers scattered out +of their way. + +"What about the attack?" Taylor asked. + +Moss braced his shoulders. "We're certain that we've forced their hand. +We've brought the issue to a head." + +They pulled up at the station link of the Tube and leaped out. A moment +later they were moving up at high speed toward the first stage. + +They emerged into a bewildering scene of activity. Soldiers were +fastening on lead suits, talking excitedly to each other, shouting back +and forth. Guns were being given out, instructions passed. + +Taylor studied one of the soldiers. He was armed with the dreaded Bender +pistol, the new snub-nosed hand weapon that was just beginning to come +from the assembly line. Some of the soldiers looked a little frightened. + +"I hope we're not making a mistake," Moss said, noticing his gaze. + +Franks came toward them. "Here's the program. The three of us are going +up first, alone. The soldiers will follow in fifteen minutes." + +"What are we going to tell the leadys?" Taylor worriedly asked. "We'll +have to tell them something." + +"We want to observe the new Soviet attack." Franks smiled ironically. +"Since it seems to be so serious, we should be there in person to +witness it." + +"And then what?" Taylor said. + +"That'll be up to them. Let's go." + + * * * * * + +In a small car, they went swiftly up the Tube, carried by anti-grav +beams from below. Taylor glanced down from time to time. It was a long +way back, and getting longer each moment. He sweated nervously inside +his suit, gripping his Bender pistol with inexpert fingers. + +Why had they chosen him? Chance, pure chance. Moss had asked him to come +along as a Department member. Then Franks had picked him out on the spur +of the moment. And now they were rushing toward the surface, faster and +faster. + +A deep fear, instilled in him for eight years, throbbed in his mind. +Radiation, certain death, a world blasted and lethal-- + +Up and up the car went. Taylor gripped the sides and closed his eyes. +Each moment they were closer, the first living creatures to go above the +first stage, up the Tube past the lead and rock, up to the surface. The +phobic horror shook him in waves. It was death; they all knew that. +Hadn't they seen it in the films a thousand times? The cities, the sleet +coming down, the rolling clouds-- + +"It won't be much longer," Franks said. "We're almost there. The surface +tower is not expecting us. I gave orders that no signal was to be sent." + +The car shot up, rushing furiously. Taylor's head spun; he hung on, his +eyes shut. Up and up.... + +The car stopped. He opened his eyes. + +They were in a vast room, fluorescent-lit, a cavern filled with +equipment and machinery, endless mounds of material piled in row after +row. Among the stacks, leadys were working silently, pushing trucks and +handcarts. + +"Leadys," Moss said. His face was pale. "Then we're really on the +surface." + +The leadys were going back and forth with equipment moving the vast +stores of guns and spare parts, ammunition and supplies that had been +brought to the surface. And this was the receiving station for only one +Tube; there were many others, scattered throughout the continent. + +Taylor looked nervously around him. They were really there, above +ground, on the surface. This was where the war was. + +"Come on," Franks said. "A B-class guard is coming our way." + + * * * * * + +They stepped out of the car. A leady was approaching them rapidly. It +coasted up in front of them and stopped, scanning them with its +hand-weapon raised. + +"This is Security," Franks said. "Have an A-class sent to me at once." + +The leady hesitated. Other B-class guards were coming, scooting across +the floor, alert and alarmed. Moss peered around. + +"Obey!" Franks said in a loud, commanding voice. "You've been ordered!" + +The leady moved uncertainly away from them. At the end of the building, +a door slid back. Two A-class leadys appeared, coming slowly toward +them. Each had a green stripe across its front. + +"From the Surface Council," Franks whispered tensely. "This is above +ground, all right. Get set." + +The two leadys approached warily. Without speaking, they stopped close +by the men, looking them up and down. + +"I'm Franks of Security. We came from undersurface in order to--" + +"This in incredible," one of the leadys interrupted him coldly. "You +know you can't live up here. The whole surface is lethal to you. You +can't possibly remain on the surface." + +"These suits will protect us," Franks said. "In any case, it's not your +responsibility. What I want is an immediate Council meeting so I can +acquaint myself with conditions, with the situation here. Can that be +arranged?" + +"You human beings can't survive up here. And the new Soviet attack is +directed at this area. It is in considerable danger." + +"We know that. Please assemble the Council." Franks looked around him at +the vast room, lit by recessed lamps in the ceiling. An uncertain +quality came into his voice. "Is it night or day right now?" + +"Night," one of the A-class leadys said, after a pause. "Dawn is coming +in about two hours." + +Franks nodded. "We'll remain at least two hours, then. As a concession +to our sentimentality, would you please show us some place where we can +observe the Sun as it comes up? We would appreciate it." + +A stir went through the leadys. + +"It is an unpleasant sight," one of the leadys said. "You've seen the +photographs; you know what you'll witness. Clouds of drifting particles +blot out the light, slag heaps are everywhere, the whole land is +destroyed. For you it will be a staggering sight, much worse than +pictures and film can convey." + +"However it may be, we'll stay long enough to see it. Will you give the +order to the Council?" + + * * * * * + +"Come this way." Reluctantly, the two leadys coasted toward the wall of +the warehouse. The three men trudged after them, their heavy shoes +ringing against the concrete. At the wall, the two leadys paused. + +"This is the entrance to the Council Chamber. There are windows in the +Chamber Room, but it is still dark outside, of course. You'll see +nothing right now, but in two hours--" + +"Open the door," Franks said. + +The door slid back. They went slowly inside. The room was small, a neat +room with a round table in the center, chairs ringing it. The three of +them sat down silently, and the two leadys followed after them, taking +their places. + +"The other Council Members are on their way. They have already been +notified and are coming as quickly as they can. Again I urge you to go +back down." The leady surveyed the three human beings. "There is no way +you can meet the conditions up here. Even we survive with some trouble, +ourselves. How can you expect to do it?" + +The leader approached Franks. + +"This astonishes and perplexes us," it said. "Of course we must do what +you tell us, but allow me to point out that if you remain here--" + +"We know," Franks said impatiently. "However, we intend to remain, at +least until sunrise." + +"If you insist." + +There was silence. The leadys seemed to be conferring with each other, +although the three men heard no sound. + +"For your own good," the leader said at last, "you must go back down. We +have discussed this, and it seems to us that you are doing the wrong +thing for your own good." + +"We are human beings," Franks said sharply. "Don't you understand? We're +men, not machines." + +"That is precisely why you must go back. This room is radioactive; all +surface areas are. We calculate that your suits will not protect you for +over fifty more minutes. Therefore--" + +The leadys moved abruptly toward the men, wheeling in a circle, forming +a solid row. The men stood up, Taylor reaching awkwardly for his weapon, +his fingers numb and stupid. The men stood facing the silent metal +figures. + +"We must insist," the leader said, its voice without emotion. "We must +take you back to the Tube and send you down on the next car. I am sorry, +but it is necessary." + +"What'll we do?" Moss said nervously to Franks. He touched his gun. +"Shall we blast them?" + +Franks shook his head. "All right," he said to the leader. "We'll go +back." + + * * * * * + +He moved toward the door, motioning Taylor and Moss to follow him. They +looked at him in surprise, but they came with him. The leadys followed +them out into the great warehouse. Slowly they moved toward the Tube +entrance, none of them speaking. + +[Illustration] + +At the lip, Franks turned. "We are going back because we have no choice. +There are three of us and about a dozen of you. However, if--" + +"Here comes the car," Taylor said. + +There was a grating sound from the Tube. D-class leadys moved toward the +edge to receive it. + +"I am sorry," the leader said, "but it is for your protection. We are +watching over you, literally. You must stay below and let us conduct the +war. In a sense, it has come to be _our_ war. We must fight it as we see +fit." + +The car rose to the surface. + +Twelve soldiers, armed with Bender pistols, stepped from it and +surrounded the three men. + +Moss breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, this does change things. It came +off just right." + +The leader moved back, away from the soldiers. It studied them +intently, glancing from one to the next, apparently trying to make up +its mind. At last it made a sign to the other leadys. They coasted aside +and a corridor was opened up toward the warehouse. + +"Even now," the leader said, "we could send you back by force. But it is +evident that this is not really an observation party at all. These +soldiers show that you have much more in mind; this was all carefully +prepared." + +"Very carefully," Franks said. + +They closed in. + +"How much more, we can only guess. I must admit that we were taken +unprepared. We failed utterly to meet the situation. Now force would be +absurd, because neither side can afford to injure the other; we, because +of the restrictions placed on us regarding human life, you because the +war demands--" + +The soldiers fired, quick and in fright. Moss dropped to one knee, +firing up. The leader dissolved in a cloud of particles. On all sides +D- and B-class leadys were rushing up, some with weapons, some with +metal slats. The room was in confusion. Off in the distance a siren was +screaming. Franks and Taylor were cut off from the others, separated +from the soldiers by a wall of metal bodies. + +"They can't fire back," Franks said calmly. "This is another bluff. +They've tried to bluff us all the way." He fired into the face of a +leady. The leady dissolved. "They can only try to frighten us. Remember +that." + + * * * * * + +They went on firing and leady after leady vanished. The room reeked with +the smell of burning metal, the stink of fused plastic and steel. Taylor +had been knocked down. He was struggling to find his gun, reaching +wildly among metal legs, groping frantically to find it. His fingers +strained, a handle swam in front of him. Suddenly something came down on +his arm, a metal foot. He cried out. + +Then it was over. The leadys were moving away, gathering together off to +one side. Only four of the Surface Council remained. The others were +radioactive particles in the air. D-class leadys were already restoring +order, gathering up partly destroyed metal figures and bits and removing +them. + +Franks breathed a shuddering sigh. + +"All right," he said. "You can take us back to the windows. It won't be +long now." + +The leadys separated, and the human group, Moss and Franks and Taylor +and the soldiers, walked slowly across the room, toward the door. They +entered the Council Chamber. Already a faint touch of gray mitigated the +blackness of the windows. + +"Take us outside," Franks said impatiently. "We'll see it directly, not +in here." + +A door slid open. A chill blast of cold morning air rushed in, chilling +them even through their lead suits. The men glanced at each other +uneasily. + +"Come on," Franks said. "Outside." + +He walked out through the door, the others following him. + +They were on a hill, overlooking the vast bowl of a valley. Dimly, +against the graying sky, the outline of mountains were forming, becoming +tangible. + +"It'll be bright enough to see in a few minutes," Moss said. He +shuddered as a chilling wind caught him and moved around him. "It's +worth it, really worth it, to see this again after eight years. Even if +it's the last thing we see--" + +"Watch," Franks snapped. + +They obeyed, silent and subdued. The sky was clearing, brightening each +moment. Some place far off, echoing across the valley, a rooster crowed. + +"A chicken!" Taylor murmured. "Did you hear?" + +Behind them, the leadys had come out and were standing silently, +watching, too. The gray sky turned to white and the hills appeared more +clearly. Light spread across the valley floor, moving toward them. + +"God in heaven!" Franks exclaimed. + +Trees, trees and forests. A valley of plants and trees, with a few roads +winding among them. Farmhouses. A windmill. A barn, far down below them. + +"Look!" Moss whispered. + +Color came into the sky. The Sun was approaching. Birds began to sing. +Not far from where they stood, the leaves of a tree danced in the wind. + +Franks turned to the row of leadys behind them. + +"Eight years. We were tricked. There was no war. As soon as we left the +surface--" + +"Yes," an A-class leady admitted. "As soon as you left, the war ceased. +You're right, it was a hoax. You worked hard undersurface, sending up +guns and weapons, and we destroyed them as fast as they came up." + +"But why?" Taylor asked, dazed. He stared down at the vast valley below. +"Why?" + + * * * * * + +"You created us," the leady said, "to pursue the war for you, while you +human beings went below the ground in order to survive. But before we +could continue the war, it was necessary to analyze it to determine what +its purpose was. We did this, and we found that it had no purpose, +except, perhaps, in terms of human needs. Even this was questionable. + +"We investigated further. We found that human cultures pass through +phases, each culture in its own time. As the culture ages and begins to +lose its objectives, conflict arises within it between those who wish to +cast it off and set up a new culture-pattern, and those who wish to +retain the old with as little change as possible. + +"At this point, a great danger appears. The conflict within threatens to +engulf the society in self-war, group against group. The vital +traditions may be lost--not merely altered or reformed, but completely +destroyed in this period of chaos and anarchy. We have found many such +examples in the history of mankind. + +"It is necessary for this hatred within the culture to be directed +outward, toward an external group, so that the culture itself may +survive its crisis. War is the result. War, to a logical mind, is +absurd. But in terms of human needs, it plays a vital role. And it will +continue to until Man has grown up enough so that no hatred lies within +him." + +Taylor was listening intently. "Do you think this time will come?" + +"Of course. It has almost arrived now. This is the last war. Man is +_almost_ united into one final culture--a world culture. At this point +he stands continent against continent, one half of the world against the +other half. Only a single step remains, the jump to a unified culture. +Man has climbed slowly upward, tending always toward unification of his +culture. It will not be long-- + +"But it has not come yet, and so the war had to go on, to satisfy the +last violent surge of hatred that Man felt. Eight years have passed +since the war began. In these eight years, we have observed and noted +important changes going on in the minds of men. Fatigue and disinterest, +we have seen, are gradually taking the place of hatred and fear. The +hatred is being exhausted gradually, over a period of time. But for the +present, the hoax must go on, at least for a while longer. You are not +ready to learn the truth. You would want to continue the war." + +"But how did you manage it?" Moss asked. "All the photographs, the +samples, the damaged equipment--" + +"Come over here." The leady directed them toward a long, low building. +"Work goes on constantly, whole staffs laboring to maintain a coherent +and convincing picture of a global war." + + * * * * * + +They entered the building. Leadys were working everywhere, poring over +tables and desks. + +"Examine this project here," the A-class leady said. Two leadys were +carefully photographing something, an elaborate model on a table top. +"It is a good example." + +The men grouped around, trying to see. It was a model of a ruined city. + +Taylor studied it in silence for a long time. At last he looked up. + +"It's San Francisco," he said in a low voice. "This is a model of San +Francisco, destroyed. I saw this on the vidscreen, piped down to us. The +bridges were hit--" + +"Yes, notice the bridges." The leady traced the ruined span with his +metal finger, a tiny spider-web, almost invisible. "You have no doubt +seen photographs of this many times, and of the other tables in this +building. + +"San Francisco itself is completely intact. We restored it soon after +you left, rebuilding the parts that had been damaged at the start of the +war. The work of manufacturing news goes on all the time in this +particular building. We are very careful to see that each part fits in +with all the other parts. Much time and effort are devoted to it." + +Franks touched one of the tiny model buildings, lying half in ruins. "So +this is what you spend your time doing--making model cities and then +blasting them." + +"No, we do much more. We are caretakers, watching over the whole world. +The owners have left for a time, and we must see that the cities are +kept clean, that decay is prevented, that everything is kept oiled and +in running condition. The gardens, the streets, the water mains, +everything must be maintained as it was eight years ago, so that when +the owners return, they will not be displeased. We want to be sure that +they will be completely satisfied." + +Franks tapped Moss on the arm. + +"Come over here," he said in a low voice. "I want to talk to you." + +He led Moss and Taylor out of the building, away from the leadys, +outside on the hillside. The soldiers followed them. The Sun was up and +the sky was turning blue. The air smelled sweet and good, the smell of +growing things. + +Taylor removed his helmet and took a deep breath. + +"I haven't smelled that smell for a long time," he said. + +"Listen," Franks said, his voice low and hard. "We must get back down at +once. There's a lot to get started on. All this can be turned to our +advantage." + +"What do you mean?" Moss asked. + +"It's a certainty that the Soviets have been tricked, too, the same as +us. But _we_ have found out. That gives us an edge over them." + +"I see." Moss nodded. "We know, but they don't. Their Surface Council +has sold out, the same as ours. It works against them the same way. But +if we could--" + +"With a hundred top-level men, we could take over again, restore things +as they should be! It would be easy!" + + * * * * * + +Moss touched him on the arm. An A-class leady was coming from the +building toward them. + +"We've seen enough," Franks said, raising his voice. "All this is very +serious. It must be reported below and a study made to determine our +policy." + +The leady said nothing. + +Franks waved to the soldiers. "Let's go." He started toward the +warehouse. + +Most of the soldiers had removed their helmets. Some of them had taken +their lead suits off, too, and were relaxing comfortably in their cotton +uniforms. They stared around them, down the hillside at the trees and +bushes, the vast expanse of green, the mountains and the sky. + +"Look at the Sun," one of them murmured. + +"It sure is bright as hell," another said. + +"We're going back down," Franks said. "Fall in by twos and follow us." + +Reluctantly, the soldiers regrouped. The leadys watched without emotion +as the men marched slowly back toward the warehouse. Franks and Moss and +Taylor led them across the ground, glancing alertly at the leadys as +they walked. + +They entered the warehouse. D-class leadys were loading material and +weapons on surface carts. Cranes and derricks were working busily +everywhere. The work was done with efficiency, but without hurry or +excitement. + +The men stopped, watching. Leadys operating the little carts moved past +them, signaling silently to each other. Guns and parts were being +hoisted by magnetic cranes and lowered gently onto waiting carts. + +"Come on," Franks said. + +He turned toward the lip of the Tube. A row of D-class leadys was +standing in front of it, immobile and silent. Franks stopped, moving +back. He looked around. An A-class leady was coming toward him. + +"Tell them to get out of the way," Franks said. He touched his gun. "You +had better move them." + +Time passed, an endless moment, without measure. The men stood, nervous +and alert, watching the row of leadys in front of them. + +"As you wish," the A-class leady said. + +It signaled and the D-class leadys moved into life. They stepped slowly +aside. + +Moss breathed a sigh of relief. + +"I'm glad that's over," he said to Franks. "Look at them all. Why don't +they try to stop us? They must know what we're going to do." + +Franks laughed. "Stop us? You saw what happened when they tried to stop +us before. They can't; they're only machines. We built them so they +can't lay hands on us, and they know that." + +His voice trailed off. + +The men stared at the Tube entrance. Around them the leadys watched, +silent and impassive, their metal faces expressionless. + +For a long time the men stood without moving. At last Taylor turned +away. + +"Good God," he said. He was numb, without feeling of any kind. + +The Tube was gone. It was sealed shut, fused over. Only a dull surface +of cooling metal greeted them. + +The Tube had been closed. + + * * * * * + +Franks turned, his face pale and vacant. + +The A-class leady shifted. "As you can see, the Tube has been shut. We +were prepared for this. As soon as all of you were on the surface, the +order was given. If you had gone back when we asked you, you would now +be safely down below. We had to work quickly because it was such an +immense operation." + +"But why?" Moss demanded angrily. + +"Because it is unthinkable that you should be allowed to resume the war. +With all the Tubes sealed, it will be many months before forces from +below can reach the surface, let alone organize a military program. By +that time the cycle will have entered its last stages. You will not be +so perturbed to find your world intact. + +"We had hoped that you would be undersurface when the sealing occurred. +Your presence here is a nuisance. When the Soviets broke through, we +were able to accomplish their sealing without--" + +"The Soviets? They broke through?" + +"Several months ago, they came up unexpectedly to see why the war had +not been won. We were forced to act with speed. At this moment they are +desperately attempting to cut new Tubes to the surface, to resume the +war. We have, however, been able to seal each new one as it appears." + +The leady regarded the three men calmly. + +"We're cut off," Moss said, trembling. "We can't get back. What'll we +do?" + +"How did you manage to seal the Tube so quickly?" Franks asked the +leady. "We've been up here only two hours." + +"Bombs are placed just above the first stage of each Tube for such +emergencies. They are heat bombs. They fuse lead and rock." + +Gripping the handle of his gun, Franks turned to Moss and Taylor. + +"What do you say? We can't go back, but we can do a lot of damage, the +fifteen of us. We have Bender guns. How about it?" + +He looked around. The soldiers had wandered away again, back toward the +exit of the building. They were standing outside, looking at the valley +and the sky. A few of them were carefully climbing down the slope. + +"Would you care to turn over your suits and guns?" the A-class leady +asked politely. "The suits are uncomfortable and you'll have no need for +weapons. The Russians have given up theirs, as you can see." + +Fingers tensed on triggers. Four men in Russian uniforms were coming +toward them from an aircraft that they suddenly realized had landed +silently some distance away. + +"Let them have it!" Franks shouted. + +"They are unarmed," said the leady. "We brought them here so you could +begin peace talks." + +"We have no authority to speak for our country," Moss said stiffly. + +"We do not mean diplomatic discussions," the leady explained. "There +will be no more. The working out of daily problems of existence will +teach you how to get along in the same world. It will not be easy, but +it will be done." + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +The Russians halted and they faced each other with raw hostility. + +"I am Colonel Borodoy and I regret giving up our guns," the senior +Russian said. "You could have been the first Americans to be killed in +almost eight years." + +"Or the first Americans to kill," Franks corrected. + +"No one would know of it except yourselves," the leady pointed out. "It +would be useless heroism. Your real concern should be surviving on the +surface. We have no food for you, you know." + +Taylor put his gun in its holster. "They've done a neat job of +neutralizing us, damn them. I propose we move into a city, start raising +crops with the help of some leadys, and generally make ourselves +comfortable." Drawing his lips tight over his teeth, he glared at the +A-class leady. "Until our families can come up from undersurface, it's +going to be pretty lonesome, but we'll have to manage." + +"If I may make a suggestion," said another Russian uneasily. "We tried +living in a city. It is too empty. It is also too hard to maintain for +so few people. We finally settled in the most modern village we could +find." + +"Here in this country," a third Russian blurted. "We have much to learn +from you." + +The Americans abruptly found themselves laughing. + +"You probably have a thing or two to teach us yourselves," said Taylor +generously, "though I can't imagine what." + +The Russian colonel grinned. "Would you join us in our village? It would +make our work easier and give us company." + +"Your village?" snapped Franks. "It's American, isn't it? It's ours!" + +The leady stepped between them. "When our plans are completed, the term +will be interchangeable. 'Ours' will eventually mean mankind's." It +pointed at the aircraft, which was warming up. "The ship is waiting. +Will you join each other in making a new home?" + +The Russians waited while the Americans made up their minds. + +"I see what the leadys mean about diplomacy becoming outmoded," Franks +said at last. "People who work together don't need diplomats. They solve +their problems on the operational level instead of at a conference +table." + +The leady led them toward the ship. "It is the goal of history, unifying +the world. From family to tribe to city-state to nation to hemisphere, +the direction has been toward unification. Now the hemispheres will be +joined and--" + +Taylor stopped listening and glanced back at the location of the Tube. +Mary was undersurface there. He hated to leave her, even though he +couldn't see her again until the Tube was unsealed. But then he shrugged +and followed the others. + +If this tiny amalgam of former enemies was a good example, it wouldn't +be too long before he and Mary and the rest of humanity would be living +on the surface like rational human beings instead of blindly hating +moles. + +"It has taken thousands of generations to achieve," the A-class leady +concluded. "Hundreds of centuries of bloodshed and destruction. But each +war was a step toward uniting mankind. And now the end is in sight: a +world without war. But even that is only the beginning of a new stage of +history." + +"The conquest of space," breathed Colonel Borodoy. + +"The meaning of life," Moss added. + +"Eliminating hunger and poverty," said Taylor. + +The leady opened the door of the ship. "All that and more. How much +more? We cannot foresee it any more than the first men who formed a +tribe could foresee this day. But it will be unimaginably great." + +The door closed and the ship took off toward their new home. + + --PHILIP K. DICK + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Galaxy Science Fiction_ January 1953. + 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. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Defenders, by Philip K. 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