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diff --git a/old/58673-8.txt b/old/58673-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5c105d0..0000000 --- a/old/58673-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1446 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of It Takes a Thief, by Walter Miller - -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/license - - -Title: It Takes a Thief - -Author: Walter Miller - -Release Date: January 11, 2019 [EBook #58673] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT TAKES A THIEF *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - It Takes a Thief - - By Walter Miller, Jr. - - _Strange gods were worshipped on Mars. - But were they so clever? They'd lost their own world._ - -[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science -Fiction, May 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - _"The ancient gods, our Fathers, rode down from the heavens in the - Firebirds of the Sun. Coming into the world, they found no air for - the breath of their souls. "How shall we breathe?" they asked of - the Sun. And Sun gave them of His fire and beneath the earth they - kindled the Blaze of the Great Wind. Good air roared from the womb - of Mars our Mother, the ice burned with a great thunder, and there - was air for the breath of Man._" - - --FROM AN OLD MARTIAN LEGEND - - * * * * * - -A thief, he was about to die like a thief. - -He hung from the post by his wrists. The wan sunlight glistened faintly -on his naked back as he waited, eyes tightly closed, lips moving slowly -as he pressed his face against the rough wood and stood on tiptoe to -relieve the growing ache in his shoulders. When his ankles ached, he -hung by the nails that pierced his forearms just above the wrists. - -He was young, perhaps in his tenth Marsyear, and his crisp black hair -was close-cropped in the fashion of the bachelor who had not yet sired -a pup, or not yet admitted that he had. Lithe and sleek, with the quick -knotty muscles and slender rawhide limbs of a wild thing, half-fed and -hungry with a quick furious hunger that crouched in ambush. His face, -though twisted with pain and fright, remained that of a cocky pup. - -When he opened his eyes he could see the low hills of Mars, sun-washed -and gray-green with trees, trees brought down from the heavens by -the Ancient Fathers. But he could also see the executioner in the -foreground, sitting spraddle-legged and calm while he chewed a blade -of grass and waited. A squat man with a thick face, he occasionally -peered at the thief with empty blue eyes--while he casually played -mumblety-peg with the bleeding-blade. His stare was blank. - -[Illustration: "_Are you ready for me, Asir?_"] - -"Ready for me yet, Asir?" he grumbled, not unpleasantly. - -The knifeman sat beyond spitting range, but Asir spat, and tried to -wipe his chin on the post. "Your dirty mother!" he mumbled. - -The executioner chuckled and played mumblety-peg. - -After three hours of dangling from the spikes that pierced his arms, -Asir was weakening, and the blood throbbed hard in his temples, with -each jolt of his heart a separate pulse of pain. The red stickiness had -stopped oozing down his arms; they knew how to drive the spike just -right. But the heartbeats labored in his head like a hammer beating at -red-hot iron. - -_How many heartbeats in a life-time--and how many left to him now?_ - -He whimpered and writhed, beginning to lose all hope. Mara had gone to -see the Chief Commoner, to plead with him for the pilferer's life--but -Mara was about as trustworthy as a wild hüffen, and he had visions of -them chuckling together in Tokra's villa over a glass of amber wine, -while life drained slowly from a young thief. - -Asir regretted nothing. His father had been a renegade before him, had -squandered his last ritual formula to buy a wife, then impoverished, -had taken her away to the hills. Asir was born in the hills, but he -came back to the village of his ancestors to work as a servant and -steal the rituals of his masters. No thief could last for long. A -ritual-thief caused havoc in the community. The owner of a holy phrase, -not knowing that it had been stolen, tried to spend it--and eventually -counter-claims would come to light, and a general accounting had to be -called. The thief was always found out. - -Asir had stolen more than wealth, he had stolen the strength of their -souls. For this they hung him by his wrists and waited for him to beg -for the bleeding-blade. - - _Woman thirsts for husband, - Man thirsts for wife, - Baby thirsts for breast-milk - Thief thirsts for knife...._ - -A rhyme from his childhood, a childish chant, an eenie-meenie-miney for -determining who should drink first from a nectar-cactus. He groaned and -tried to shift his weight more comfortably. Where was Mara? - - * * * * * - -"Ready for me yet, Asir?" the squat man asked. - -Asir hated him with narrowed eyes. The executioner was bound by law to -wait until his victim requested his fate. But Asir remained ignorant -of what the fate would be. The Council of Senior Kinsmen judged him -in secret, and passed sentence as to what the executioner would do -with the knife. But Asir was not informed of their judgment. He knew -only that when he asked for it, the executioner would advance with the -bleeding-blade and exact the punishment--his life, or an amputation, -depending on the judgment. He might lose only an eye or an ear or a -finger. But on the other hand, he might lose his life, both arms, or -his masculinity. - -There was no way to find out until he asked for the punishment. If he -refused to ask, they would leave him hanging there. In theory, a thief -could escape by hanging four days, after which the executioner would -pull out the nails. Sometimes a culprit managed it, but when the nails -were pulled, the thing that toppled was already a corpse. - -The sun was sinking in the west, and it blinded him. Asir knew about -the sun--knew things the stupid council failed to know. A thief, if -successful, frequently became endowed with wisdom, for he memorized -more wealth than a score of honest men. Quotations from the ancient -gods--Fermi, Einstein, Elgermann, Hanser and the rest--most men owned -scattered phrases, and scattered phrases remained meaningless. But a -thief memorized all transactions that he overheard, and the countless -phrases could be fitted together into meaningful ideas. - -He knew now that Mars, once dead, was dying again, its air leaking -away once more into space. And Man would die with it, unless something -were done, and done quickly. The Blaze of the Great Wind needed to be -rekindled under the earth, but it would not be done. The tribes had -fallen into ignorance, even as the holy books had warned: - -_It is realized that the colonists will be unable to maintain a -technology without basic tools, and that a rebuilding will require -several generations of intelligently directed effort. Given the -knowledge, the colonists may be able to restore a machine culture if -the knowledge continues to be bolstered by desire. But if the third, -fourth, and Nth generations fail to further the gradual retooling -process, the knowledge will become worthless._ - -The quotation was from the god Roggins, _Progress of the Mars-Culture_, -and he had stolen bits of it from various sources. The books themselves -were no longer in existence, remembered only in memorized ritual -chants, the possession of which meant wealth. - -Asir was sick. Pain and slow loss of blood made him weak, and his -vision blurred. He failed to see her coming until he heard her feet -rustling in the dry grass. - -"Mara----" - -She smirked and spat contemptuously at the foot of the post. The -daughter of a Senior Kinsman, she was a tall, slender girl with an -arrogant strut and mocking eyes. She stood for a moment with folded -arms, eyeing him with amusement. Then, slowly, one eye closed in a -solemn wink. She turned her back on him and spoke to the executioner. - -"May I taunt the prisoner, Slubil?" she asked. - -"It is forbidden to speak to the thief," growled the knifeman. - -"Is he ready to beg for justice, Slubil?" - -The knifeman grinned and looked at Asir. "Are you ready for me yet, -thief?" - -Asir hissed an insult. The girl had betrayed him. - -"Evidently a coward," she said. "Perhaps he means to hang four days." - -"Let him then." - -"No--I think that I should _like_ to see him beg." - -She gave Asir a long searching glance, then turned to walk away. The -thief cursed her quietly and followed her with his eyes. A dozen steps -away she stopped again, looked back over her shoulder, and repeated the -slow wink. Then she marched on toward her father's house. The wink made -his scalp crawl for a moment, but then.... - -_Suppose she hasn't betrayed me?_ Suppose she had wheedled the sentence -out of Tokra, and knew what his punishment would be. _I think that I -should like to see him beg._ - -But on the other hand, the fickle she-devil might be tricking -him into asking for a sentence that she _knew_ would be death or -dismemberment--just to amuse herself. - -He cursed inwardly and trembled as he peered at the bored executioner. -He licked his lips and fought against dizzyness as he groped for words. -Slubil heard him muttering and looked up. - -"Are you ready for me yet?" - - * * * * * - -Asir closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Give it to me!" he yelped -suddenly, and braced himself against the post. - -Why not? The short time gained couldn't be classed as living. Have it -done with. Eternity would be sweet in comparison to this ignomy. A -knife could be a blessing. - -He heard the executioner chuckle and stand up. He heard the man's -footsteps approaching slowly, and the singing hiss of the knife as -Slubil swung it in quick arcs. The executioner moved about him slowly, -teasing him with the whistle of steel fanning the air about him. He was -expected to beg. Slubil occasionally laid the knife against his skin -and took it away again. Then Asir heard the rustle of the executioner's -cloak as his arm went back. Asir opened his eyes. - -The executioner grinned as he held the blade high--aimed at Asir's -head! The girl had tricked him. He groaned and closed his eyes again, -muttering a half-forgotten prayer. - -The stroke fell--and the blade chopped into the post above his head. -Asir fainted. - -When he awoke he lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. The executioner -rolled him over with his foot. - -"In view of your extreme youth, thief," the knifeman growled, "the -council has ordered you perpetually banished. The sun is setting. Let -dawn find you in the hills. If you return to the plains, you will be -chained to a wild hüffen and dragged to death." - -Panting weakly, Asir groped at his forehead, and found a fresh wound, -raw and rubbed with rust to make a scar. Slubil had marked him as an -outcast. But except for the nail-holes through his forearms, he was -still in one piece. His hands were numb, and he could scarcely move -his fingers. Slubil had bound the spike-wounds, but the bandages were -bloody and leaking. - -When the knifeman had gone, Asir climbed weakly to his feet. Several -of the townspeople stood nearby, snickering at him. He ignored their -catcalls and staggered toward the outskirts of the village, ten minutes -away. He had to speak to Mara, and to her father if the crusty oldster -would listen. His thief's knowledge weighed upon him and brought -desperate fear. - -Darkness had fallen by the time he came to Welkir's house. The people -spat at him in the streets, and some of them flung handfuls of loose -dirt after him as he passed. A light flickered feebly through Welkir's -door. Asir rattled it and waited. - -Welkir came with a lamp. He set the lamp on the floor and stood with -feet spread apart, arms folded, glaring haughtily at the thief. His -face was stiff as weathered stone. He said nothing, but only stared -contemptuously. - -Asir bowed his head. "I have come to plead with you, Senior Kinsman." - -Welkir snorted disgust. "Against the mercy we have shown you?" - -He looked up quickly, shaking his head. "No! For that I am grateful." - -"What then?" - -"As a thief, I acquired much wisdom. I know that the world is dying, -and the air is boiling out of it into the sky. I wish to be heard by -the council. We must study the words of the ancients and perform their -magic, lest our children's children be born to strangle in a dead -world." - -Welkir snorted again. He picked up the lamp. "He who listens to a -thief's wisdom is cursed. He who acts upon it is doubly cursed and a -party to the crime." - -"The vaults," Asir insisted. "The key to the Blaze of the Winds is in -the vaults. The god Roggins tells us in the words--" - -"Stop! I will not hear!" - -"Very well, but the blaze can be rekindled, and the air renewed. The -vaults--" He stammered and shook his head. "The council must hear me." - -"The council will hear nothing, and you shall be gone before dawn. And -the vaults are guarded by the sleeper called Big Joe. To enter is to -die. Now go away." - - * * * * * - -Welkir stepped back and slammed the door. Asir sagged in defeat. He -sank down on the doorstep to rest a moment. The night was black, except -for lamp-flickers from an occasional window. - -"Ssssst!" - -A sound from the shadows. He looked around quickly, searching for the -source. - -"Ssssst! Asir!" - -It was the girl Mara, Welkir's daughter. She had slipped out the back -of the house and was peering at him around the corner. He arose quietly -and went to her. - -"What did Slubil do to you?" she whispered. - -Asir gasped and caught her shoulders angrily. "Don't you _know_?" - -"No! Stop! You're hurting me. Tokra wouldn't tell me. I made love to -him, but he wouldn't tell." - -He released her with an angry curse. - -"You _had_ to take it sometime," she hissed. "I knew if you waited you -would be too weak from hanging to even run away." - -He called her a foul name. - -"Ingrate!" she snapped. "And I bought you a hüffen!" - -"You _what_?" - -"Tokra gave me a ritual phrase and I bought you a hüffen with it. You -can't _walk_ to the hills, you know." - -Asir burned with dull rage. "You slept with Tokra!" he snapped. - -"You're jealous!" she tittered. - -"How can I be jealous! I hate the sight of you!" - -"Very well then, I'll keep the hüffen." - -"_Do!_" he growled. "I won't need it, since I'm not going to the hills!" - -She gasped. "You've got to go, you fool! They'll kill you!" - -He turned away, feeling sick. She caught at his arm and tried to pull -him back. "Asir! Take the hüffen and _go_!" - -"I'll go," he growled. "But not to the hills. I'm going out to the -vault." - -He stalked away, but she trotted along beside him, trying to tug him -back. "Fool! The vaults are sacred! The priests guard the entrance, and -the Sleeper guards the inner door. They'll kill you if you try it, and -if you linger, the council will kill you tomorrow." - -"Let them!" he snarled. "I am no sniveling townsman! I am of the hills, -and my father was a renegade. Your council had no right to judge me. -Now _I_ shall judge _them_." - -The words were spoken hotly, and he realized their folly. He expected a -scornful rebuke from Mara, but she hung onto his arm and pleaded with -him. He had dragged her a dozen doorways from the house of her father. -Her voice had lost its arrogance and became pleading. - -"Please, Asir! Go away. Listen! I will even go with you--if you want -me." - -He laughed harshly. "Tokra's leavings." - -She slapped him hard across the mouth. "Tokra is an impotent old -dodderer. He can scarcely move for arthritis. You're an idiot! I sat on -his lap and kissed his bald pate for you." - -"Then why did he give you a ritual phrase?" he asked stiffly. - -"Because he likes me." - -"You lie." He stalked angrily on. - -"Very well! Go to the vaults. I'll tell my father, and they'll hunt you -down before you get there." - -She released his arm and stopped. Asir hesitated. She meant it. He came -back to her slowly, then slipped his swollen hands to her throat. She -did not back away. - -"Why don't I just choke you and leave you lying here?" he hissed. - -Her face was only a shadow in darkness, but he could see her cool smirk. - -"Because you love me, Asir of Franic." - -He dropped his hands and grunted a low curse. She laughed low and took -his arm. - -"Come on. We'll go get the hüffen," she said. - -_Why not?_ he thought. _Take her hüffen, and take her too._ He could -dump her a few miles from the village, then circle back to the vaults. -She leaned against him as they moved back toward her father's -house, then skirted it and stole back to the field behind the row of -dwellings. Phobos hung low in the west, its tiny disk lending only a -faint glow to the darkness. - -He heard the hüffen's breathing as they approached a hulking shadow -in the gloom. Its great wings snaked out slowly as it sensed their -approach, and it made a low piping sound. A native Martian species, -it bore no resemblance to the beasts that the ancients had brought -with them from the sky. Its back was covered with a thin shell like -a beetle's, but its belly was porous and soft. It digested food by -sitting on it, and absorbing it. The wings were bony--parchment -stretched across a fragile frame. It was headless, and lacked a -centralized brain, the nervous functions being distributed. - - * * * * * - -The great creature made no protest as they climbed up the broad flat -back and strapped themselves down with the belts that had been threaded -through holes cut in the hüffen's thin, tough shell. It's lungs slowly -gathered a tremendous breath of air, causing the riders to rise up as -the huge air-sacs became distended. The girth of an inflated hüffen -was nearly four times as great as when deflated. When the air was -gathered, the creature began to shrink again as its muscles tightened, -compressing the breath until a faint leakage-hiss came from behind. It -waited, wings taut. - -The girl tugged at a ring set through the flesh of its flank. There -was a blast of sound and a jerk. Nature's experiment in jet propulsion -soared ahead and turned into the wind. Its first breath exhausted, it -gathered another and blew itself ahead again. The ride was jerky. Each -tailward belch was a rough lurch. They let the hüffen choose its own -heading as it gained altitude. Then Mara tugged at the wing-straps, and -the creature wheeled to soar toward the dark hills in the distance. - -Asir sat behind her, a sardonic smirk on his face, as the wind whipped -about them. He waited until they had flown beyond screaming distance of -the village. Then he took her shoulders lightly in his hands. Mistaking -it for affection, she leaned back against him easily and rested her -dark head on his shoulder. He kissed her--while his hand felt gingerly -for the knife at her belt. His fingers were numb, but he managed to -clutch it, and press the blade lightly against her throat. She gasped. -With his other hand, he caught her hair. - -"Now guide the hüffen down!" he ordered. - -"_Asir!_" - -"Quickly!" he barked. - -"What are you going to do?" - -"Leave you here and circle back to the vaults." - -"No! Not out here at night!" - -He hesitated. There were slinking prowlers on the Cimmerian plain, -beasts who would regard the marooned daughter of Welkir a delicious bit -of good fortune, a gustatory delight of a sort they seldom were able -to enjoy. Even above the moan of the wind, he could hear an occasional -howl-cry from the fanged welcoming committee that waited for its dinner -beneath them. - -"Very well," he growled reluctantly. "Turn toward the vaults. But one -scream and I'll slice you." He took the blade from her throat but kept -the point touching her back. - -"Please, Asir, _no_!" she pleaded. "Let me go on to the hills. Why do -you want to go to the vaults? Because of Tokra?" - -He gouged her with the point until she yelped. "Tokra be damned, and -you with him!" he snarled. "Turn back." - -"_Why?_" - -"I'm going down to kindle the Blaze of the Winds." - -"You're _mad_! The spirits of the ancients live in the vaults." - -"I am going to kindle the Blaze of the Winds," he insisted stubbornly. -"Now either turn back, or go down and I'll turn back alone." - - * * * * * - -After a hesitant moment, she tugged at a wing-rein and the hüffen -banked majestically. They flew a mile to the south of the village, then -beyond it toward the cloister where the priests of Big Joe guarded the -entrance to the vaults. The cloister was marked by a patch of faint -light on the ground ahead. - -"Circle around it once," he ordered. - -"You can't get in. They'll kill you." - -He doubted it. No one ever tried to enter, except the priests who -carried small animals down as sacrifices to the great Sleeper. Since no -outsider ever dared go near the shaft, the guards expected no one. He -doubted that they would be alert. - -The cloister was a hollow square with a small stone tower rising in -the center of the courtyard. The tower contained the entrance to the -shaft. In the dim light of Phobos, assisted by yellow flickers from the -cloister windows, he peered at the courtyard as they circled closer. It -seemed to be empty. - -"Land beside the tower!" he ordered. - -"Asir--please--" - -"Do it!" - -The hüffen plunged rapidly, soared across the outer walls, and burst -into the courtyard. It landed with a rough jolt and began squeaking -plaintively. - -"Hurry!" he hissed. "Get your straps off and let's go." - -"I'm not going." - -A prick of the knife point changed her mind. They slid quickly to the -ground, and Asir kicked the hüffen in the flanks. The beast sucked in -air and burst aloft. - -Startled faces were trying to peer through the lighted cloister windows -into the courtyard. Someone cried a challenge. Asir darted to the door -of the tower and dragged it open. Now forced to share the danger, the -girl came with him without urging. They stepped into a stair-landing. -A candle flickered from a wall bracket. A guard, sitting on the floor -beneath the candle, glanced up in complete surprise. Then he reached -for a short barbed pike. Asir kicked him hard in the temple, then -rolled his limp form outside. Men with torches were running across the -courtyard. He slammed the heavy metal door and bolted it. - -Fists began beating on the door. They paused for a moment to rest, and -Mara stared at him in fright. He expected her to burst into angry -speech, but she only leaned against the wall and panted. The dark mouth -of the stairway yawned at them--a stone throat that led into the bowels -of Mars and the realm of the monster, Big Joe. He glanced at Mara -thoughtfully, and felt sorry for her. - -"I can leave you here," he offered, "but I'll have to tie you." - -She moistened her lips, glanced first at the stairs, then at the door -where the guards were raising a frantic howl. She shook her head. - -"I'll go with you." - -"The priests won't bother you, if they see that you were a prisoner." - -"I'll go with you." - -He was pleased, but angry with himself for the pleasure. An arrogant, -spiteful, conniving wench, he told himself. She'd lied about Tokra. He -grunted gruffly, seized the candle, and started down the stairs. When -she started after him, he stiffened and glanced back, remembering the -barbed pike. - -As he had suspected, she had picked it up. The point was a foot from -the small of his back. They stared at each other, and she wore her -self-assured smirk. - -"Here," she said, and handed it casually. "You might need this." - - * * * * * - -They stared at each other again, but it was different this time. -Bewildered, he shook his head and resumed the descent toward the -vaults. The guards were battering at the door behind them. - -The stairwell was damp and cold. Blackness folded about them like a -shroud. They moved in silence, and after five thousand steps, Asir -stopped counting. - -Somewhere in the depths, Big Joe slept his restless sleep. Asir -wondered grimly how long it would take the guards to tear down the -metal door. Somehow they had to get past Big Joe before the guards came -thundering after them. There was a way to get around the monster: of -that he was certain. A series of twenty-four numbers was involved, and -he had memorized them with a stolen bit of ritual. How to use them was -a different matter. He imagined vaguely that one must call them out in -a loud voice before the inner entrance. - -The girl walked beside him now, and he could feel her shivering. His -eyes were quick and nervous as he scanned each pool of darkness, each -nook and cranny along the stairway wall. The well was silent except for -the mutter of their footsteps, and the gloom was full of musty odors. -The candle afforded little light. - -"I told you the truth about Tokra," she blurted suddenly. - -Asir glowered straight ahead and said nothing, embarrassed by his -previous jealousy. They moved on in silence. - -Suddenly she stopped. "Look," she hissed, pointing down ahead. - -He shielded the candle with his hand and peered downward toward a small -square of dim light. "The bottom of the stairs," he muttered. - -The light seemed faint and diffuse, with a slight greenish cast. Asir -blew out the candle, and the girl quickly protested. - -"How will we see to climb again?" - -He laughed humorlessly. "What makes you think we will?" - -She moaned and clutched at his arm, but came with him as he descended -slowly toward the light. The stairway opened into a long corridor -whose ceiling was faintly luminous. White-faced and frightened, they -paused on the bottom step and looked down the corridor. Mara gasped and -covered her eyes. - -"Big Joe!" she whispered in awe. - -He stared through the stairwell door and down the corridor through -another door into a large room. Big Joe sat in the center of the -room, sleeping his sleep of ages amid a heap of broken and whitening -bones. A creature of metal, twice the height of Asir, he had obviously -been designed to kill. Tri-fingered hands with gleaming talons, and -a monstrous head shaped like a Marswolf, with long silver fangs. Why -should a metal-creature have fangs, unless he had been built to kill? - -The behemoth slept in a crouch, waiting for the intruders. - -He tugged the girl through the stairwell door. A voice droned out of -nowhere: "_If you have come to plunder, go back!_" - -He stiffened, looking around. The girl whimpered. - -"Stay here by the stairs," he told her, and pushed her firmly back -through the door. - -Asir started slowly toward the room where Big Joe waited. Beyond the -room he could see another door, and the monster's job was apparently -to keep intruders back from the inner vaults where, according to the -ritual chants, the Blaze of the Winds could be kindled. - -Halfway along the corridor, the voice called out again, beginning a -kind of sing-song chant: "_Big Joe will kill you, Big Joe will kill -you, Big Joe will kill you----_" - -He turned slowly, searching for the speaker. But the voice seemed to -come from a black disk on the wall. The talking-machines perhaps, as -mentioned somewhere in the ritual. - -A few paces from the entrance to the room, the voice fell silent. -He stopped at the door, staring in at the monster. Then he took a -deep breath and began chanting the twenty-four numbers in a loud but -quavering voice. Big Joe remained in his motionless crouch. Nothing -happened. He stepped through the doorway. - - * * * * * - -Big Joe emitted a deafening roar, straightened with a metallic groan, -and lumbered toward him, taloned hands extended and eyes blazing -furiously. Asir shrieked and ran for his life. - -Then he saw Mara lying sprawled in the stairway entrance. She had -fainted. Blocking an impulse to leap over her and flee alone, he -stopped to lift her. - -But suddenly he realized that there was no pursuit. He looked back. Big -Joe had returned to his former position, and he appeared to be asleep -again. Puzzled, Asir stepped back into the corridor. - -"_If you have come to plunder, go back!_" - -He moved gingerly ahead again. - -"_Big Joe will kill you, Big Joe will kill you, Big Joe will kill----_" - -He recovered the barbed pike from the floor and stole into the zone -of silence. This time he stopped to look around. Slowly he reached the -pike-staff through the doorway. Nothing happened. He stepped closer and -waved it around inside. Big Joe remained motionless. - -Then he dropped the point of the pike to the floor. The monster -bellowed and started to rise. Asir leaped back, scalp crawling. But Big -Joe settled back in his crouch. - -Fighting a desire to flee, Asir reached the pike through the door and -rapped it on the floor again. This time nothing happened. He glanced -down. The pike's point rested in the center of a gray floor-tile, just -to the left of the entrance. The floor was a checkerboard pattern -of gray and white. He tapped another gray square, and this time the -monster started out of his drowse again. - -After a moment's thought, he began touching each tile within reach of -the door. Most of them brought a response from Big Joe. He found four -that did not. He knelt down before the door to peer at them closely. -The first was unmarked. The second bore a dot in the center. The third -bore two, and the fourth three--in order of their distance from the -door. - -He stood up and stepped inside again, standing on the first tile. -Big Joe remained motionless. He stepped diagonally left to the -second--straight ahead to the third--then diagonally right to the -fourth. He stood there for a moment, trembling and staring at the -Sleeper. He was four feet past the door! - -Having assured himself that the monster was still asleep, he crouched -to peer at the next tiles. He stared for a long time, but found no -similar markings. Were the dots coincidence? - -He reached out with the pike, then drew it back. He was too close to -the Sleeper to risk a mistake. He stood up and looked around carefully, -noting each detail of the room--and of the floor in particular. He -counted the rows and columns of tiles--twenty-four each way. - -Twenty-four--and there were twenty-four numbers in the series that was -somehow connected with safe passage through the room. He frowned and -muttered through the series to himself--0,1,2,3,3,3,2,2, 1.... - -The first four numbers--0,1,2,3. And the tiles--the first with no dots, -the second with one, the third with two, the fourth with three. But the -four tiles were not in a straight line, and there were no marked ones -beyond the fourth. He backed out of the room and studied them from the -end of the corridor again. - -Mara had come dizzily awake and was calling for him weakly. He replied -reassuringly and turned to his task again. "First tile, then diagonally -left, then straight, then diagonally right--" - -0, 1, 2, 3, 3. - -A hunch came. He advanced as far as the second tile, then reached as -far ahead as he could and touched the square diagonally right from the -fourth one. Big Joe remained motionless but began to speak. His scalp -bristled at the growling voice. - -"_If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill._" - -Standing tense, ready to leap back to the corridor, he touched the -square again. The motionless behemoth repeated the grim warning. - -Asir tried to reach the square diagonally right from the fifth, but -could not without stepping up to the third. Taking a deep breath, he -stepped up and extended the pike cautiously, keeping his eyes on Big -Joe. The pike rapped the floor. - -"_If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill._" - -But the huge figure remained in his place. - - * * * * * - -Starting from the first square, the path went left, straight, right, -right, right. And after zero, the numbers went 1, 2, 3, 3, 3. -Apparently he had found the key. One meant a square to the southeast; -two meant south; and three southwest. Shivering, he moved up to the -fifth square upon which the monster growled his first warning. He -looked back at the door, then at Big Joe. The taloned hands could grab -him before he could dive back into the corridor. - -He hesitated. He could either turn back now, or gamble his life on the -accuracy of the tentative belief. The girl was calling to him again. - -"Come to the end of the corridor!" he replied. - -She came hurriedly, to his surprise. - -"_No!_" he bellowed. "Stay back of the entrance! Not on the tile! _No!_" - -Slowly she withdrew the foot that hung poised over a trigger-tile. - -"You can't come in unless you know how," he gasped. - -She blinked at him and glanced nervously back over her shoulder. "But I -hear them. They're coming down the stairs." - -Asir cursed softly. Now he _had_ to go ahead. - -"Wait just a minute," he said. "Then I'll show you how to come through." - -He advanced to the last tile that he had tested and stopped. The next -two numbers were two--for straight ahead. And they would take him -within easy reach of the long taloned arms of the murderous sentinel. -He glanced around in fright at the crushed bones scattered across the -floor. Some were human. Others were animal-sacrifices tossed in by the -priests. - -He had tested only one two--back near the door. If he made a mistake, -he would never escape; no need bothering with the pike. - -He stepped to the next tile and closed his eyes. - -"_If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill._" - -He opened his eyes again and heaved a breath of relief. - -"Asir! They're getting closer! I can hear them!" - -He listened for a moment. A faint murmur of angry voices in the -distance. "All right," he said calmly. "Step only on the tiles I tell -you. See the gray one at the left of the door?" - -She pointed. "This one?" - -"Yes, step on it." - -The girl moved up and stared fearfully at the monstrous sentinel. He -guided her up toward him. "Diagonally left--one ahead--diagonally -right. Now don't be frightened when he speaks--" - -The girl came on until she stood one square behind him. Her quick -frightened breathing blended with the growing sounds of shouting from -the stairway. He glanced up at Big Joe, noticing for the first time -that the steel jaws were stained with a red-brown crust. He shuddered. - -The grim chess-game continued a cautious step at a time, with the girl -following one square behind him. What if she fainted again? And fell -across a triggered tile? They passed within a foot of Big Joe's arm. - -Looking up, he saw the monster's eyes move--following them, -scrutinizing them as they passed. He froze. - -"We want no plunder," he said to the machine. - -The gaze was steady and unwinking. - -"The air is leaking away from the world." - -The monster remained silent. - -"Hurry!" whimpered the girl. Their pursuers were gaining rapidly and -they had crossed only half the distance to the opposing doorway. -Progress was slower now, for Asir needed occasionally to repeat through -the whole series of numbers, looking back to count squares and make -certain that the next step was not a fatal one. - -"They won't dare to come in after us," he said hopefully. - -"And if they do?" - -"_If the intruder makes an error, Big Joe will kill_," announced the -machine as Asir took another step. - -"Eight squares to go!" he muttered, and stopped to count again. - -"Asir! They're in the corridor!" - -Hearing the rumble of voices, he looked back to see blue-robed men -spilling out of the stairway and milling down the corridor toward -the room. But halfway down the hall, the priests paused--seeing the -unbelievable: two intruders walking safely past their devil-god. They -growled excitedly among themselves. Asir took another step. Again the -machine voiced the monotonous warning. - -"_If the intruder makes an error...._" - - * * * * * - -Hearing their deity speak, the priests of Big Joe babbled wildly -and withdrew a little. But one, more impulsive than the rest, began -shrieking. - -"_Kill the intruders! Cut them down with your spears!_" - -Asir glanced back to see two of them racing toward the room, lances -cocked for the throw. If a spear struck a trigger-tile---- - -"Stop!" he bellowed, facing around. - -The two priests paused. Wondering if it would result in his sudden -death, he rested a hand lightly against the huge steel arm of the -robot, then leaned against it. The huge eyes were staring down at him, -but Big Joe did not move. - -The spearmen stood frozen, gaping at the thief's familiarity with the -horrendous hulk. Then, slowly they backed away. - -Continuing his bluff, he looked up at Big Joe and spoke in a loud -voice. "If they throw their spears or try to enter, kill them." - -He turned his back on the throng in the hall and continued the cautious -advance. Five to go, four, three, two---- - -He paused to stare into the room beyond. Gleaming machinery--all -silent--and great panels, covered with a multitude of white circles and -dials. His heart sank. If here lay the magic that controlled the Blaze -of the Great Wind, he could never hope to rekindle it. - -He stepped through the doorway, and the girl followed. Immediately the -robot spoke like low thunder. - -"_The identity of the two technologists is recognized. Hereafter they -may pass with impunity. Big Joe is charged to ask the following: why do -the technologists come, when it is not yet time?_" - -Staring back, Asir saw that the robot's head had turned so that he was -looking directly back at the thief and the girl. Asir also saw that -someone had approached the door again. Not priests, but townspeople. - -He stared, recognizing the Chief Commoner, and the girl's father -Welkir, three other Senior Kinsmen, and--Slubil, the executioner who -had nailed him to the post. - -"Father! Stay back." - -Welkir remained silent, glaring at them. He turned and whispered to the -Chief Commoner. The Chief Commoner whispered to Slubil. The executioner -nodded grimly and took a short-axe from his belt thong. He stepped -through the entrance, his left foot striking the zero-tile. He peered -at Big Joe and saw that the monster remained motionless. He grinned at -the ones behind him, then snarled in Asir's direction. - -"Your sentence has been changed, thief." - -"Don't try to cross, Slubil!" Asir barked. - -Slubil spat, brandished the axe, and stalked forward. Big Joe came -up like a resurrection of fury, and his bellow was explosive in the -vaults. Slubil froze, then stupidly drew back his axe. - -Asir gasped as the talons closed. He turned away quickly. Slubil's -scream was cut off abruptly by a ripping sound, then a series of dull -cracks and snaps. The girl shrieked and closed her eyes. There were two -distinct thuds as Big Joe tossed Slubil aside. - -The priests and the townspeople--all except Welkir--had fled from -the corridor and up the stairway. Welkir was on his knees, his hands -covering his face. - -"Mara!" he moaned. "My daughter." - -"Go back, Father," she called. - -Dazed, the old man picked himself up weakly and staggered down the -corridor toward the stairway. When he passed the place of the first -warning voice, the robot moved again--arose slowly and turned toward -Asir and Mara who backed quickly away, deeper into the room of strange -machines. Big Joe came lumbering slowly after them. - -Asir looked around for a place to flee, but the monster stopped in the -doorway. He spoke again, a mechanical drone like memorised ritual. - -"_Big Joe is charged with announcing his function for the intelligence -of the technologists. His primary function is to prevent the entrance -of possibly destructive organisms into the vaults containing the -control equipment for the fusion reaction which must periodically -renew atmospheric oxygen. His secondary function is to direct the -technologists to records containing such information as they may need. -His tertiary function is to carry out simple directions given by the -technologists if such directions are possible to his limited design._" - -Asir stared at the lumbering creature and realized for the first time -that it was not alive, but only a machine built by the ancients to -perform specific tasks. Despite the fresh redness about his hands and -jaws, Big Joe was no more guilty of Slubil's death than a grinding mill -would be if the squat sadist had climbed into it while the Marsoxen -were yoked to the crushing roller. - -Perhaps the ancients had been unnecessarily brutal in building such -a guard--but at least they had built him to _look_ like a destroyer, -and to give ample warning to the intruder. Glancing around at the -machinery, he vaguely understood the reason for Big Joe. Such metals as -these would mean riches for swordmakers and smiths and plunderers of -all kinds. - - * * * * * - -Asir straightened his shoulders and addressed the machine. - -"Teach us how to kindle the Blaze of the Great Wind." - -"_Teaching is not within the designed functions of Big Joe. I am -charged to say: the renewal reaction should not be begun before the -Marsyear 6,000, as the builders reckoned time._" - -Asir frowned. The years were no longer numbered, but only named in -honor of the Chief Commoners who ruled the villages. "How long until -the year 6,000?" he asked. - -Big Joe clucked like an adding machine. "Twelve Marsyears, -technologist." - -Asir stared at the complicated machinery. Could they learn to operate -it in twelve years? It seemed impossible. - -"How can we begin to learn?" he asked the robot. - -"_This is an instruction room, where you may examine records. The -control mechanisms are installed in the deepest vault._" - -Asir frowned and walked to the far end of the hall where another door -opened into--_another anteroom, with another Big Joe_! As he approached -the second robot spoke: - -"_If the intruder has not acquired the proper knowledge, Big Oswald -will kill._" - -Thunderstruck, he leaped back from the entrance and swayed heavily -against an instrument panel. The panel lit up and a polite recorded -voice began reading something about "President Snell's role in the -Eighth World War". He lurched away from the panel and stumbled back -toward Mara who sat glumly on the foundation slab of a weighty machine. - -"What are you laughing about?" she muttered. - -"We're still in the first grade!" he groaned, envisioning a sequence of -rooms. "We'll have to learn the magic of the ancients before we pass -to the next." - -"The ancients weren't so great," she grumbled. "Look at the mural on -the wall." - -Asir looked, and saw only a strange design of circles about a bright -splash of yellow that might have been the sun. "What about it?" he -asked. - -"My father taught me about the planets," she said. "That is supposed to -be the way they go around the sun." - -"What's wrong with it?" - -"One planet too many," she said. "Everyone knows that there is only an -asteroid belt between Mars and Venus. The picture shows a planet there." - -Asir shrugged indifferently, being interested only in the machinery. -"Can't you allow them one small mistake?" - -"I suppose." She paused, gazing miserably in the direction in which her -father had gone. "What do we do now?" - -Asir considered it for a long time. Then he spoke to Big Joe. "You will -come with us to the village." - -The machine was silent for a moment, then: "_There is an apparent -contradiction between primary and tertiary functions. Request priority -decision by technologist._" - -Asir failed to understand. He repeated his request. The robot turned -slowly and stepped through the doorway. He waited. - -Asir grinned. "Let's go back up," he said to the girl. - -She arose eagerly. They crossed the anteroom to the corridor and began -the long climb toward the surface, with Big Joe lumbering along behind. - -"What about your banishment, Asir?" she asked gravely. - -"Wait and see." He envisioned the pandemonium that would reign when -girl, man, and robot marched through the village to the council house, -and he chuckled. "I think that I shall be the next Chief Commoner," he -said. "And my councilmen will all be thieves." - -"Thieves!" she gasped. "Why?" - -"Thieves who are not afraid to steal the knowledge of the gods--and -become technologists, to kindle the Blaze of the Winds." - -"What is a 'technologist', Asir?" she asked worshipfully. - -Asir glowered at himself for blundering with words he did not -understand, but could not admit ignorance to Mara who clung tightly to -his arm. "I think," he said, "that a technologist is a thief who tells -the gods what to do." - -"Kiss me, Technologist," she told him in a small voice. - -Big Joe clanked to a stop to wait for them to move on. He waited a long -time. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of It Takes a Thief, by Walter Miller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT TAKES A THIEF *** - -***** This file should be named 58673-8.txt or 58673-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/8/6/7/58673/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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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