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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8cf2f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63134 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63134) diff --git a/old/63134-8.txt b/old/63134-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b5377e6..0000000 --- a/old/63134-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2763 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Minions of the Crystal Sphere, by Albert de Pina - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Minions of the Crystal Sphere - -Author: Albert de Pina - -Release Date: September 6, 2020 [EBook #63134] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINIONS OF THE CRYSTAL SPHERE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Minions of the Crystal Sphere - - By ALBERT DE PINA - - Like a monster flashing jewel, Plastica hovered over - Neptune. And burning at its heart like the malignant - sparkle of a gem was the blazing hate of millions of - slaves, ready to flare into raging battle at the ringing - tocsin of Vyrl Guerlan, the man without a country. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Summer 1944. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The vast globe of transparent plastic, infinitely stronger than the -most powerful columbium steel, hung suspended in space, ablaze in -brilliant pyrotechnics of light. And as cold and impersonal as the laws -of the empire it ruled. - -Within it was the City of the Inner Circle. Patterned after the City -of Plastica itself, it rose within the globe in graduated tiers, but -unlike Plastica, there were no graduations of caste--they were all -Protectors, these scientists of the Inner Circle, and above them ruled -the legendary figure of _His Benevolence_, the "Protector in Chief." - -Six thousand feet below, the turbulent ocean tossed restlessly as -if resentful of the awful pressure of the stupendous anti-gravity -beams that kept the glittering sphere in space--sacred, inviolate, -invulnerable. Above the ocean's shoreline, set amidst low hills, rose -Plastica, entirely enclosed in a shell of the same transparent plastic, -and rising tier on tier--each one a small world unto itself, and each -barred from communication with other tiers. Here the millions toiled -and loved and died ... and entered the portals of Blessed Sleep. - -In the vast reaches of Neptune, only this continent--Adamic, was -livable, thanks to immense volcanic valleys where constant volcanic -activity of titanic proportions maintained a temperate atmosphere in -contrast to the frigid, desolate continents to the north and west. And -dotting the valley of Plastica like transparent beehives, the twelve -jewels of the diadem--twelve cities where five million human beings -dwelt in each, formed the empire of sixty million descendants of the -original immigrants who chose to follow the Council in their flight -from Venus. - -There was no other sign of man, except among the virgin forests of the -volcanic valleys, where the Irreconcilables who fled the rigid laws of -the Protectors, carried on a precarious existence, assailed by fierce -wild beasts of prey, and hunted for sport with lances and long-swords -by the members of the Inner Circle, and the Scientists of the first -order. Burdened by the awful gravity of the great planet, and without -adequate arms to defend themselves, they were doomed quarry. - -Within the capital, Plastica, and in each of the twelve cities, each -individual life had a definite pattern known only to the members of -the Inner Circle. Any deviation from that pattern brought instant -retribution. There was no appeal, for each judgment was based on -cold, inexorable law. Ever since the great exodus from Earth, when -the original Council had fled Terra, and forced colonies on Mars and -Venus, and later after their disastrous war with Europa, the Council -itself had been given the alternative of leaving the inner planets -or being executed, the members of the Council had colonized Neptune -with millions who unable to live without the "controls" had chosen to -accompany them into space. As the centuries passed and a new ruler of -the Council had been elected, changes had occurred in the laws, methods -had been perfected, until now, all Neptune was ruled by the City in the -Flaming Sphere, and to the millions in Plastica and the other great -cities, the Protectors (as they now styled themselves), had become -legendary figures. The Law was supreme. And behind the Law, was the -"Blessed Sleep." - - * * * * * - -In the fabulous hall of the palace, where the reeling torches in relief -threw faces of ink and of gold, there was a sudden silence as an -unearthly voice rose limpid, supernally lovely, in a single ululating -note. It was as if a gargoyle were singing with the voice of an angel. - -But the bizarre assemblage of jaded, pleasure-sated "Protectors" of -the _Inner Circle_ had no eyes for the cadaverous Minister of Justice, -whose distorted features seemed uglier as he directed a stream of -modulated notes upward toward the gigantic doors at the top of jewelled -stairs. All eyes peering through the slits of black and golden masks -that completely hid their faces, were directed at the great red doors, -shining like gigantic, square cut rubies under the primitive light of -resinous torches. Every detail of the masquerade was perfection itself, -copying faithfully the conditions of primitive ages thousands of years -past. The magnificent costumes of the guests harked back to pirates and -slave-dealers, to vanished kings and oriental potentates. Back to an -era when humanity was young, as if these scientists who had the command -of miracles at their finger-tips, had wearied of their scientific -perfection. - -Bejamel, Minister of Justice, had conceived the idea, and His -Benevolence had approved. From the current "favorite" of His -Benevolence, to the newest neophyte of the Inner Circle, the Masquerade -had immediately become a command performance. - -Only one thing they had no need to imitate, one thing that harked back -to the darkest annals of Terra and surpassed anything that Planet had -ever known--their utterly ruthless intrigues for the favor of His -Benevolence. Assassinations were a commonplace, besides it provided a -constant incentive to the Scientists of the First Order, for from them -were chosen the fortunate ones who filled the vacancies of the Inner -Circle. - -The audience gave a vast sigh, like a susurrating breeze, as the -ponderous doors began to open under the exact tonal vibration of -Bejamel's voice, for Bejamel, Minister of State, was the only one -who could open those doors, aside from the "Protector in Chief" -himself. Within the inner chamber nothing was discernible as the doors -opened--nothing but a vast radiance intolerable to their eyes. As if -a command had been given, all of them kneeled with bowed heads. At -last, Bejamel's ululating chant ceased and when they looked again, the -jewelled door had closed, but on the dais at the top of the stairs -immediately above them reclined a figure--a monstrous figure of man, -whose sharp, pale-yellow eyes gazed at them with bored contempt from -amid folds of bulging flesh. - -"Benevolence!" The roar of thousands of voices rose in servile tribute, -and left hands were flung upwards, fingers extended in salute. His -Benevolence looked them over with cold, cruel eyes that seemed to miss -no detail, and a little smile extended the bulbous lips. Languidly he -waved a massive hand to the masqueraders, noting that none had achieved -the bejewelled opulence of his Mandarin's costume, and instantly -the revelry burst into tumult. The corps of exquisite dancers until -now frozen in motionless attitudes, began a series of provocative -movements, while barbaric drums and percussion instruments wove a theme -of madness and desire. Over all, the shrill _passionata_ of the reeds -and strings winged insistently to combine in a diabolic pattern that -plucked at raw nerves and bared hidden jealousies and hates and bared -the instincts of the jungle, red in tooth and claw. - -A group of dancers weaving and undulating in the suggestive rhythms -of the Venusian "_Vuda_" passed like an uncoiling serpent before the -august dais and burst into bacchanalian frenzy before the sardonic -yellow eyes of His Benevolence. The fantastic splendor of the scene -was heightened by the young, supple bodies of the most beautiful girls -in the empire, the Virgins of the Sacred Flame, chosen yearly for that -sacred trust. - - * * * * * - -"Well," an impassive voice inquired of a tall, dark-haired _guest_ who -stood in the side-lines, stiff and uncertain, his conventional black -mask too small to hide the firm, square-cut mouth, his blue-black mane -of shoulder-length hair betraying him as a newcomer lacking as it did -the curled and perfumed artistry of the other guests. - -"I suppose it's superfluous to ask your reactions to your first visit -to the mysteries of our City." The faint laughter that accompanied -the words brought a flush to the cheeks of the newcomer, fortunately -covered by the mask. - -"How did you know I was a newcomer?" The youth inquired in turn. - -"Simple," the cold, impassive voice replied. "You have no jewels save -that ring of a scientist of the First Order you're trying to conceal. -Your costume's far too simple.... When do you begin your probationary -period for the Inner Circle?" The speaker was below medium height, -slender as a sheathed rapier, and dressed in a single garment of -tight-fitting silk literally emblazoned in diamonds of the first water. -His square-cut mane of red-gold hair was starred with myriad blue and -red and yellow flashing stones, but the face was thoroughly hidden by -the golden mask. - -"Tomorrow!" The words were spoken with a vast regret. "I'm afraid I -don't quite understand.... I hadn't expected this. Why I thought Sacred -City was a heaven of achievement of ..." he stopped as if words failed -him. - -"Go on!" The sexless voice had a hint of mockery in its depths now. -"This is merely a preamble." He waved a marvelously slender hand in the -direction of the revellers. "Later ... but then, I always manage to -slip away before the real feast commences. If you wish, you may come -with me." - -"But who are you? I might as well tell you who am I," the youth began, -but his unknown acquaintance waved his words aside with a gesture. - -"I know who you are--scientist of the First Order Guerlan, as for me, -it does not matter who I am--you will see me again ... soon." He turned -to leave. - -"Wait!" Guerlan exclaimed. "Take me with you out of this ... this -welter of vice and ..." words failed him in his disgust. - -"Traitor ... Blasphemer!" A hoarse cry of rage rose above the music -and tumult. The swirling dancers split asunder as if a giant's hand -had flung them back. In the center of the cleared space, Guerlan found -himself facing a stocky, powerful figure of a man, costumed in the -ancient garments of a Pirate, eyes gleaming through the slits of -his golden mask. In his hand he hefted a long columbium sword with -bejewelled hilt. "Draw, vermin!" He taunted the dazed youth. "Draw -before I spit you on my sword like a spider!" - -On the dais, still reclining as he gulped superb white grapes, His -Benevolence had begun to show signs of interest for the first time. The -veil of boredom had left his yellow eyes, an expectant grin split his -lips hungrily. Here was an unscheduled diversion of the first order. - -Guerlan wore a long, thin rapier for a weapon, it had come with the -costume, or he'd never have thought of wearing it--nothing like this -fantastic nightmare could possibly have occurred to him. "Why did they -have to choose me!" He groaned inwardly. But with a swift movement -he drew the blade and stood _en garde_. He sensed dimly that it was -a true weapon, flexible and needle-sharp, not a costume-toy. And -once he had it in his hand, all his relentless, austere training in -fencing and sword-play came flooding in his mind. It was not considered -sportsmanlike to hunt Irreconcilables with atmo-pistols, only swords -and spears were used--but the end was the same for the defenseless -rebels. - -Dimly Guerlan was aware of the dispassionate voice whispering in his -ear, "Watch out for tricks ... and win! The penalty will be far less -severe." - -Guerlan wondered if his unknown acquaintance of the frigid voice meant -that his rebellious words had reached the awesome figure on the dais, -and that by winning he might be shown mercy. But he had no more time to -think irrelevant thoughts, for with a cry of drunken fury, his accuser -struck without preamble, slashing downward in a mighty blow calculated -to have cloven anything in two. But Guerlan smiled contemptuously at -the transparent maneuver; he merely shifted sideways and flicked his -rapier, and the sword slid harmlessly along the shining columbium -steel rapier. But the pseudo-pirate had no intentions of giving up -the initiative, he whirled the saber over his head and again brought -it down in a glancing blow that would have sheared through Guerlan, -and the young scientist again parried it with such precision that the -razor-sharp blade slid off singing to one side. - - * * * * * - -It was a superb struggle, and His Benevolence had directed his palace -minions to clear space for his unobstructed view. He now held a -gigantic uncut, but polished diamond to one eye, which he alternated -with an emerald and then a ruby, watching the battle through various -colors. An immense golden platter of viands and fruits slowly -disappeared down his capable maw. - -Suddenly Guerlan closed in. His rapier flashed with vertiginous speed, -flicking in and out, so rapidly that it barely seemed to touch the -brawny forearm of his attacker, but when it came away it left a flowing -gash from elbow to wrist. With a bellow of humiliation and rage, the -pirate-costumed scientist lunged with a tremendous slash, but his -sword-point speared the air and before he could recover his balance, -Guerlan drove his rapier deep into the fleshy shoulder. - -His attacker was silent now, an ominous rage contorted the brutal face -from which he'd torn the golden mask. He had but one single idea, to -kill and kill quickly. Laughter and jeering shouts rose around him. -As did the acrid odor of blood mingling with the exotic fragrances -that cloyed the atmosphere ... his own blood! His reaction to the -audible scorn of the other inner circle scientists was instantaneous. -He came in whirling his saber until it was like a silver vortex, then -he brought it down in a savage slash to shear Guerlan's head off his -shoulders. But the youth leaped back, engaging the Pirate's sword at -the same time and with a strange flicking motion accomplished faster -than the eye could catch, he twisted suddenly at a precise instant and -sent his attacker's sword flying through the silent hall. - -It was an all but forgotten, ancient Italian trick whose origins were -lost. But the Scientist of the Inner Circle, sweating under his gaudy -pirate's costume knew nothing about Italian fencing tricks--he only -knew that one moment he'd thought to shear his opponent's head off his -shoulders and the next he was disarmed. A look of sheer horror came -into his blood-flecked eyes and next an uncontrollable scream escaped -his lips. That sealed his doom. Guerlan saluted and made no motion to -finish him. But from the fabulous dais where the jeweled stairs were -like a flowing stream of fire, a mocking, infinitely sardonic laugh -chilled every scientist present in that room. - -"Our unfortunate brother is afraid, he is tired, is he not Bejamel? -After such an ordeal he deserves sleep ... soothing 'Blessed Sleep!'" -Again that demoniac, perversely cruel cachinnation that travestied -laughter, while the scientist, grovelling now, babbled in a frenzy of -appeals for a mercy that didn't exist. He was led screaming to a side -door and then once more there was silence in the hall. - -"Bring the rebel!" Once more it was the voice of His Benevolence, -purring now, silky, filled with anticipatory pleasure. But Guerlan -needed no one to bring him before the dreaded presence. He walked calm -and erect to what he sensed would be his death. He knew that from -this soulless being he could expect no justice--nothing but death. -But there was to be a surprise in store for him. His Benevolence was -an adept at ringing the changes of torture on a human soul, and this -was a magnificent occasion. "We have heard you disapprove of us?" His -Benevolence's voice was light, cheerful, there was no hint of danger in -the silky tones. But Guerlan knew. That partly developed extra-sensory -perception that was a part of his heritage was prenaturally alert now. -He was not fooled. - -"I expressed a misunderstanding, Your Benevolence," Guerlan bowed -and slowly took off his mask. Above the wide-spaced deep-green eyes, -flashing like tourmalines, a tiny tattooed six-pointed star seemed to -tremble with the pulsing of a vein. - -"You see, Bejamel? I told you that 'Perceptives' would never do, yet -you so persuasively sold me the idea of how useful they could be if -their extra-sensory perceptive powers were developed." He sighed. "It's -that genius of yours for intrigue.... But it has failed. We can allow -no dissidents to enter the mysteries of the inner circle, Bejamel!" - -"I kneel before your Benevolence," Bejamel's gargoyle features were -painfully contorted as he tried to grovel. "In my zeal for service to -your Magnificence, I have failed, but there's always the Blessed Sleep -for this blasphemer, O Symbol of Charity!" He finished ominously and -pondered what a jewel of a victim he would make. - - * * * * * - -But His Benevolence gave Bejamel a look of such cold, devastating evil, -that _he_ should dare to offer a solution, that the cadaverous Minister -of Justice seemed to shrink, pale and desperate, against the wall of -scientists who watched avidly the _miseen scène_. - -"No mercy, no finesse." His Benevolence again was wearing the mask of -merciful forgiveness. "No Bejamel--not the Chamber of Blessed Sleep, -just ..." and he held up two fingers weighted with jewels. Then he -turned to Guerlan. - -"My son!" Guerlan flinched. "Having been offered the sacred honor of -entering the Inner Circle, you failed to understand your first test -of the lesser mysteries ... all this ... this pitiful show of human -frailty and weakness, this odious travesty on the sins of the flesh, -was staged to test you. And you." A world of sadness seemed to darken -His Benevolence's voice, "and you condemned us! Instead of seeing it as -a mere test, and valuing it for what it was worth, you believed that -we were such monsters of hypocrisy as to entertain such lives." He -wagged his head from side to side in inexpressible disappointment and -grief. "I would pardon you from the depths of my heart, but The Law is -inexorable--I can but soften the harshness of your retribution. - -"And so, my son," he held up two fingers again, "you not only are -barred from entering the sacred inner circle, but are demoted from -scientist of the first, to that of the second order. There is one -plastic center where a problem has not been solved. Achieve its -solution and you will be promoted to your original place, and -perhaps ... perhaps as you grow older, you may again be considered for -the priceless boon, the blessed destiny you have lost tonight." - -A brooding sadness mantled the obese face, lending it dignity and a -transitory greatness. The soft echoes of the august voice ceased, and -Guerlan found himself being led by members of the Inner Circle Guard -back to the atomo-plane that had brought him here from Plastica. He -was too dazed to think, a vast, anguished feeling of defeat and shame -filled his mind, the words of His Benevolence whom he had dared to -doubt, were etched in acid in his brain. But, deep in the recesses of -his consciousness, something mocking, something not quite articulate, -struggled to plant in his chaotic thoughts, the swiftly growing seeds -of doubt. - -Behind him, had he only been there to see and hear, a cataract of -laughter had engulfed the great Hall, and His Benevolence, surrounded -by his favorites and the most magnificently beautiful girls of the -empire, shook in paroxysms of mocking laughter. - -But Guerlan knew nothing of this. His muscles ached from the battle and -his brain was awhirl. Once out in space again, he noted that a great -storm was in progress. - -Hurtling under guard through the stormy reaches of space, he idly -watched through the plane's transparent dome how lightning danced -a drunken saraband. But although Guerlan strove to re-direct his -thoughts, the echoes of His Benevolence's voice were like a sunset gun -in his brain--final, incontestable, a sentence to the obscurity of the -Second Order, and problems ... he had mentioned a specific problem. And -Guerlan remembered with chill apprehension the sentence for failure to -solve problems in the second order. Three failures brought a warning, -five a probation and the sixth ... final judgment. - -The upper air of the First Level, reserved for the Scientists of the -First Order, had the exhilarating quality of Burgundy. As far as -Guerlan's eyes could reach, the opaline and prismatic domes of the -First Level's exquisite structures extended in every direction. The -light was soft and caressing, thanks to the illumination and climate -conditioning of the mammoth Weather Stations. A soft, lilting melody -reminiscent of the ancient ballets of another age of centuries past, -was like a ripple of melodic laughter, enhancing a background of -ineffable peace. But Guerlan knew how illusory all this was for him. -Only enough time--a few hours to arrange his affairs and move to the -Second Level had been granted him. A profound pang of regret was like a -dull ache in his heart. - -He had been trained from childhood to be a scientist of the First -Order, his mental coordinates had warranted it. So he had never seen -any other level but the First. Vaguely he had heard of that Second -level where spartan simplicity was a virtue, luxury-less, where -toil was constant, and thinking--a dangerous luxury, except where -work-problems were concerned. And the columbium steel band around his -young heart seemed to constrict more and more. Quickly he finished -packing his personal possessions. Nothing else was allowed him--a -sentence of demotion entailed complete personal loss. - - - II - -"In twenty-seven seconds," an impassive voice vaguely reminiscent, -predicted from the inter-connecting catwalk above, "the vat will burst, -flooding the safety moat with acid." - -The marvelous tonal quality was startling, for in its depths there was -no emotional content--almost as if it were a sexless voice prophesying -the most natural thing in the world. - -With a swift movement that sent the muscles rippling along a -Leander-like torso, Vyrl Guerlan abandoned the precision tool with -which he had tackled a gigantic refractory coupling. Gleaming with -perspiration, his square-cut mouth compressed into a line of fury, -he gazed up at the speaker and wondered where he'd heard that voice -before. Above him rose the titanic vat of processing acid, that treated -the materials and converted them into gelatinous masses in the first -process. - -"I was a First Order Scientist, I'm now an Analyst," Guerlan said -brusquely. "Nothing in my tests indicates such an accident." But the -whining crescendo of the vat's machinery was threnody in major and -minor warning of sudden, devastating trouble, as its originally smooth -purr changed to a cacophony of sound. - -"Twelve seconds!" Came the placid voice in reply. "Care to test _my_ -prediction?" - -For an answer Guerlan scrambled up the hetero-plastic ladder to the -upper catwalk with the agility of dread, his mane of blue-black hair -tangled and dishevelled, his face white and strained. - -Guerlan towered beside the fragile figure of the scientist, whose -wasp-like waist and marvelously slender hands gave him an elfin -quality in comparison with Vyrl's streamlined strength. For an instant -Guerlan felt an overpowering desire to seize the delicate body in his -own great hands and break it in two. But the luminous violet eyes -on the abnormally lovely face, appraising him now as if he were a -particularly obnoxious specimen, held him in check with their utterly -calm detachment. It was then he remembered where he'd last heard those -impersonal tones, that sexless voice that seemed devoid of all emotion. - -"Why ... you're the scientist of the golden mask when I was at -the ..." but a cool hand was suddenly pressed against his lips. A vague -fragrance as of Venusian jasmines was in Guerlan's nostrils and before -he could say any more, a livid crack appeared down the length of the -vat, growing swiftly until the vat where Guerlan had been working on -the defective coupling, split into two halves with a prodigious hiss, -like an apple cloven in two. - -A cataract of spuming acid flooded into the safety moat, while -hundreds of analysts and technicians came scrambling up the opaque -hetero-plastic ladders that surpassed columbium steel in tensile -strength and cycle-endurance for unlike metal, there was no fatigue -factor. A babel of voices rose above the broken hum of the machinery -and the swirling hiss of the released acid. Intolerable fumes taxing -the conditioners in the safety towers, burned the membranes of their -nostrils and mouths as they gasped for air. - -And, above the hum of the machinery, the growing turmoil of -panic-stricken technicians and tumult of excited voices, rose the -crystalline tones of the slender scientist once more: - -"_Vat 66 explodes in twelve minutes!_" - -A desperate look--the look of a trapped animal glazed Guerlan's green -eyes. If this was true, it was the end for him. - -"The organic acid vat!... But, it's impossible!" He gasped. -Yet, inwardly, even as he denied the possibility, he knew with -soul-wrenching dread, and the certitude of a _perceptive_ that it was -true. - -But he didn't have time to think, to plan a solution of the problem, -for already the outpouring technicians were sweeping him onward in -a desperate exodus toward the multiple conveyors that reached every -section and floor of the titanic structure that was known as Plastic -No. 15. Once as he was being pushed forward by the press of horrified -analysts, synthetizers, selectors, graders and all the technical -complement of the Second Order who actually transformed all foods, -materials, minerals and in fact everything produced in Neptune, he -glimpsed the calm features of the scientist he had first seen at the -Feast of the Jewels in the City of the Sphere, and it seemed to him -there was a hint of pity in the violet eyes. - -Guerlan's face was white as _Jadite_ as he roared orders in an effort -to stem the maddened flood of men. He exhorted them to don their masks -of crysto-plast and try to hold back the expected explosion, but no -one paid any attention; it was doubtful if they even understood him -in their growing horror of the dread, corrosive acid that converted -organic matter into a secret formula that none but the Scientists of -the Inner Circle were permitted to know anything about. They never saw -the final product under the penalty of death. - - * * * * * - -At last they debouched into the conveyors, and Guerlan, among a -group of others, was taken to the Dispersors--platforms where the -ultra-sensitive dispersal machines sensitized to the vibrations of -their individual plastic wrist-band of rank, unerringly sent them to -their proper levels. - -Guerlan's generous mouth was compressed into a pale scimitar. His odd, -slanting green eyes with long dark lashes, were almost black with -rebellious fury. Suddenly he was shunted into a special conveyor and a -platform where the conveyors to the inner corridors revolved. - -"They already know!" He exclaimed bitterly. And he was not wrong. -For presently a plastic arm the color and texture of aluminum, but -incredibly stronger gathered him in and gently pushed him into an -alcove that immediately became hermetically sealed the very moment he -had entered. Guerlan saw that he was in an Efficiency Cubicle where -technicians were periodically tested. Before him stood a towering -Neuro-graph entirely fashioned of several types of plastics including -crystallite, as transparent as its namesake. It was an invention so -complicated that it resembled nothing so much as a multiplication -of tesseracts. Presently it became activated by Guerlan's mental -frequency, and one of its slender rods moved forward silently. - -A magnetic current went through the analyst and held him rigid, while -another rod clamped a plastic helmet over the young man's head. For -several seconds the almost inaudible sighing of the complex machinery -was the only thing that disturbed the silence. Then, in precise, -clipped tones an uncannily human voice began in sonorous tones to -summarize his mental and physical coordinates: - -"Efficiency totally neutralized by intense mental stress. Subject -suffering from psycho-atavistic retrogression. Paranoiac tendencies -with delusions of persecution. Immediate fear of death ... intense." - - * * * * * - -There was a pause in which Guerlan had time to remember how many times -he had attended councils with other Scientists of the First Order, when -the readings of the Master Neuro-graph on the First Level from which -he'd been ejected, had been tabulated from the readings of the various -neuro-graphs in the Plastic Centers and transmitted to the Council of -the Inner Circle in the City of the Sphere. Guerlan, his eyes flaming, -his face mutinous, awaited for the recommendation. It was not long in -coming. - -"Report to Psychiatry III for amnesiac treatment for removal of -_superfluous_ knowledge. Recommendation: _Reclassify for Level III_." - -"Damn them!" The desperate rebellion of a man condemned to worse than -death rose from his heart as the magnetic rod freed him and the helmet -was removed from his head. - -He began to circle the cubicle like a trapped animal. "Level III!" -He wailed inwardly. The Level of the Automatons conditioned to -slave-labor, dwelling in semi-darkness and squalor, on a diet -restricted to barest essentials of energy units, until finally the -Blessed Sleep claimed him--whatever that was, he shuddered. He'd -had six failures in his section--Plastic No. 15, and six meant the -ultimate sentence. There was no trial, no jury, no opportunity even of -explaining or seeking in a rational manner the reason for those ghastly -explosions. Inexorably, the Law was final. But who was _The Law_? -From the high Level of a First Order Scientist engaged in scientific -work that had resulted in the miraculous array of plastics that had -made their civilization a thing of undreamed-of power and wealth, -he was cast without recourse to the Level of Darkness--memory-less, -reflex-conditioned, practically mindless except for slavish toil and -animal needs. - -Little had he dreamed, even when a Scientist of the First Order, that -there existed such stupendous extremes as the fantastic splendor of -the City of the Sphere, and the hellish misery of Level III. The -Neuro-graph was speaking again in the sonorous, purple period that made -his hackles rise. - -"Analyst Guerlan," it intoned and paused impressively. "You have failed -in your _Allotment_. Six accidents have destroyed enormous wealth -and caused inexcusable damage. You had not less than five previous -repetitions of the same type of accident to study and find a solution -to the problem ... a problem given you because of your blasphemous -attitude toward the Inner Circle. The sixth explosion was your epitaph. -Retribution _is_ The Law. - -"You will be immediately conditioned for Level III. Amnesiac Treatment -will be administered to save needless suffering--we are merciful--a -robot-proctor will guide you henceforth through the various stages. A -Protector has spoken." The icy voice was silent. - -Guerlan wondered which Protector had passed sentence. The hum of the -machine told of coordinators falling into place as his mental and -psychic state was recorded, the amount of energy of his metabolism -checked and the time potential of his servitude unerringly estimated. A -livid glow enveloped the strange instrument, and then, silently, a part -of the seemingly blank wall behind him slid aside for a robot-proctor's -entrance. - -Guerlan knew that the inexorable sentence had been transmitted by -remote control through incredibly delicate processes to the machine -before him. But who'd decided on the sentence, or why the reason -for its harsh cruelty, he had no way of knowing. He doubted if the -elephantine Protector in Chief had bothered to pass it. But Guerlan had -no time to dwell on this question, for the bery-plastic robot-proctor, -its non-abradable crystallite eyes gleaming, had grasped him firmly by -the elbow to lead him away. - -It was then that Guerlan acted without preconceived plan. His -magnificent chest arched as he sucked in air; then with a sinuous -movement of vertiginous speed, he twisted free and swooping downwards -at the same time he grasped the robot by its legs and then heaved with -a muscle-wrenching effort, flinging the plastic man with shattering -impact into the Neuro-graph. A dry, staccato rattle followed the -rending crash. Part of the robot-proctor protruded from what had been -the machine's crystallite dome and fragments of delicate mechanism and -scintillating shards of priceless _Jadite_ showered on the plastic -floor. - -Instantly the cubicle was illuminated by a vivid, crimson fluorescence, -while the opening in the wall began rapidly to close. But Vyrl Guerlan -was already speeding toward the closing aperture. Instantly he was -through, seconds later only a blank wall showed where an opening had -been. A series of alarms in coordinated prismatic flashes flared in -every direction, activating the Safety Machines. Long, crane-like -alumi-plastic arms extended from ramps and conveyor-heads to trap -him; all efficiency cubicles became hermetically sealed cells, and -over all, a shrill maddening whine rose in fiendish wail, insistent, -nerve-shattering. - -Guerlan knew death was at his heels. He dodged the gasping arms and -magnetic traps, straining his extra-sensory perception to its fullest -power without slowing down the killing pace he maintained. Still he -wondered how long he could last against the diabolical ingenuity of -the Inner Circle. If he only had some human to go up against, with -atomo-pistols, or the more devastating supernal fire of the electronic -flash, forbidden to all but the Inner Circle Scientist--or even the -primitive swords and rapiers used to hunt Irreconcilables in Neptune's -vast forests. But machines! Soulless, cold plastic machines! His -capable hands clenched and unclenched as he flung himself toward the -ascending conveyor before him, his breath labored, his chest heaving. - -"No, idiot ... not that one!" There was an intense urgency in the -crystalline voice that speared into his consciousness. Even before he -turned to locate the speaker, he recognized the voice. Twice before in -a moment of crisis he'd heard it. - -"You!" Guerlan breathed explosively. He tensed himself to leap upon the -fragile figure at the least movement. But once more the preternaturally -calm gaze from the violet eyes held him in thrall. - -"That conveyor was purposely set in motion to trap you ... it leads to -Psychiatry III where you would have been neutralized, Guerlan. Take the -blue, lapiz-lazuli conveyor behind you to the right. Hurry! We've only -seconds before the chamber is gassed!" - -Suiting action to his words, the slender scientist dashed to the -gleaming plastic conveyor that imitated in all its sapphirine -perfection the blue glory of lapiz-lazuli. In an instant Guerlan was -beside the scientist in a leap. He grasped the fragile shoulder with -fingers that dug into rounded flesh. - -"If this is a trap, you die with me," he said briefly. - -"Your fingers," the scientist remarked impassively, "are like columbium -steel. Suppose you await developments before indulging in atavistic -impulses--besides, a real man offers no violence to a woman!" - -"A woman ... you?" Guerlan's dazed expression was ludicrous. "I thought -you were one of those repugnantly beautiful 'Intermediates' the Inner -Circle uses for intricate mental synthesis." - -"Am I repugnantly beautiful?" the scientist asked in cold detachment, -luminous violet eyes gazing inscrutably into the reddening features of -the young analyst. - - * * * * * - -Guerlan gazed at the exquisite face before him, and said laconically, -"On the contrary." He was too confused for words just now. - -"My name is Perlac," the girl scientist said without preamble. "Listen -carefully. This conveyor happens to be the only one that leads to the -aero-dome. All the rest have no exit, for although you do not know -it, every rest period you are directed to exit-conveyors by magnetic -coordinators that act on impulses sent by Selectors. These selectors -are attuned to the mental wave-length of the individual. No scientist, -analyst or technician may leave a plastic center without being tested -and their fitness for even limited temporary freedom established ... -_not even to rest_! That is why the direction of the conveyors is -changed for every allotment period and no one is permitted to know -which is the exit conveyor! Had you remained in City of the Sphere and -joined the Inner Circle, you would have learned all this." - -Guerlan stared at Perlac in incredulity. "But ... where are the -Selectors? I've never seen them!" - -"Is that strange? They're in the walls, imbedded in the flooring -beneath your feet ... oh, in a thousand places! But we've no time for -involved explanations just now. We're nearing the Aero-dome. Prepare -for the worst; but if we can get to my plane, we'll be beyond capture." - -"In a slow, propulsion type craft?" Guerlan asked unbelievingly. "We'll -be captured in minutes, if not blasted out of the Second Level by -Robot-Proctors!" - - * * * * * - -Perlac turned and gazed into the young analyst's eyes; a gentle, slow -smile illumined her features like a tardy dawn. - -Suddenly they were at the vast platform that exited into the Aero-dome, -but where the great section of wall should have slid aside, it remained -blank and hermetically closed. It was a definite dead end. - -Far below them a greenish opalescence began to rise in tenuous, -billowing clouds, and the faint odor of new-mown hay came almost -imperceptibly to their nostrils. From the bowels of the gigantic -plant, robot-proctors began to debouch onto the blue conveyor in -serried ranks, impervious to death. Guerlan gazed curiously at the -girl scientist. "Looks like your plan has failed, Perlac. What I can't -understand is why you've thrown your lot in with me. I'm condemned ... -first it was to Level II, then for six failures to the living death of -Level III, and now that I have rebelled, I have no end but death. You -must have known there were _six failures_!" - -"Yes, I knew ... that's why I'm here." The unearthly voice was barely -a whisper. "Ever since the night you were at the Feast of the Jewels -and you were appalled at the debauchery of the Inner Circle, you -have been chosen. And my plan has not failed!" There was a world of -conviction in the exquisite voice, yet she said it softly, very softly -indeed. - -Slowly Perlac raised her hand, and Guerlan saw it held a tiny, slender -instrument the butt of which was a round ball concealed in the palm of -her hand. It was the dreadful electronic-flash, and she calmly aimed -it at the blank wall, playing it up and down its length. The seemingly -impenetrable wall of toughest bery-plastic parted from top to bottom -under the supernal fire of the electronic-flash, as the electronic -balance of the plastic's atomic structure was disrupted and literally -dispersed into space. There was no flash, no explosion, nothing but -a silent widening of the breach, until it was wide enough to permit -Guerlan's herculean shoulders to squeeze through. - -Nothing seemed to have issued from the instrument in Perlac's hand, no -beam of force, no light--literally nothing, yet, the strongest material -known to their civilization, surpassing even the heaviest columbium -steel armor, had been riven in seconds. - -[Illustration: _Guerlan followed Perlac through the gaping hole._] - -Once out in the immense Aero-dome, the platform was filled with -ships of every description under robot-proctor guard, from tiny -electro-copters with retractible vanes, to a large, powerful cruiser -reserved for Inspectors of the First Order. The moment Perlac and -Guerlan came into view, the robot-proctors aimed their electro-pistols -and atomo-pistols, but Perlac already had covered them with her -electronic-flash and their plastic bodies disintegrated in seconds. - -"The Cruiser!" Guerlan was exultant. "That's what we need, it has the -speed and endurance, and perhaps we can get by the robot-guard at the -outer gates of the shell, and reach the forests!" - -"No," Perlac shook her gold-red mane, "we'll take my ship, no time -to argue now ... you'll see!" She was already running toward a -blunt-looking four-seater of the electro-type usually reserved for -scientists of the First Order who were not inspectors. - -Guerlan hesitated, exasperation written in his face. To disdain a -powerful cruiser for this slow-going, vulnerable craft was beyond -his comprehension. But Perlac without slackening her stride made a -peremptory motion with her slender hand and shouted: "Follow me! I've -been right thus far; trust me, you fool!" - -Behind them, through the breach in the wall a phalanx of robot-proctors -was emerging, and wisps of green gas were beginning to reach the -Aero-dome. - -In giant strides Guerlan covered the distance to Perlac's plane and -entered its cabin. The die was cast, after all he owed her his life in -a way. But for her he would be in Psychiatry III right now. - - * * * * * - -He had scarcely strapped himself, when the ordinary-looking craft shot -forward in a dazzling burst of acceleration that pressed Guerlan back -against the mullioned seat with almost paralyzing force. But even then -his trained faculties noted the sheath of columbium with which the -plane was completely lined, and his ears detected the unmistakable hum -of powerful atomic engines. One glance at the complex instrument panel -told him that here was a craft that was far more than it seemed to be. - -But he'd scarcely time to begin to think order out of chaos, when a -growing nausea born of the steadily increasing acceleration cleaved his -tongue to his palate, and his lower jaw slowly twisted to one side. - -Perlac, an immobile figurine of alabaster, eyes closed, seemed crushed -against her seat. On and on the plane sped slanting upwards as if -determined to crash the transparent barrier that separated them from -the next level. And then as suddenly as it began, their terrific speed -slackened and the plane levelled off. The intense agony Guerlan had -momentarily felt dwindled and disappeared. He saw the girl manipulate -what was evidently a robot control, setting it for a new direction and -rate of speed, then lock it in place. - -"Look downwards, Guerlan, there to our right," Perlac whispered. - -An umbrella of atomo-planes in all the sleek glory of deadly -interceptors, spread below them in battle formation; behind them the -immense plastic pylons that supported the next tier, and the crenelated -superstructure of Level II, combined with distance to dwarf them -into toy-like dimensions. The semi-transparent roof of Level II was -dangerously near, Guerlan saw, and the forest of pylons dead ahead that -marked the center of their level was another fatal hazard. But Perlac -manipulated the intricate controls with casual ease, leaving the rate -of speed and general direction to the robot-control, she merely made -minute adjustments. - -"We outdistanced them!" Guerlan was awed. That anything in the -possession of even an Inner Circle scientist could outdistance the -Pursuit Fleet of the Protector in Chief was unimaginable. - -"This spacer's something His Benevolence would give the Diadem Jewel -for--or rather for the secret of its construction!" The girl laughed -softly. "It's atomic, of course, but a variation based on a principle -that goes beyond Terran equations." - -Guerlan gazed wonderingly at the exquisite features of the fragile -girl-scientist, marveling at the incredible courage of this puzzling -being who unaccountably had chosen to throw in her lot with his own. - -"Perlac," Guerlan spoke thoughtfully. "I'm afraid today has been -something of a mystery. From what I've seen you do to that Aero-dome -wall, the inexplicable accidents of the acid vats were undoubtedly your -doing. Yet, you've saved my life and in so doing forfeited your own. -Why? What interest can you possibly have in a doomed life such as mine?" - -The girl smiled slowly, ineffably, in a mixture of melancholy sweetness -and inexpressable sadness. She turned her golden head slightly and when -she spoke her voice had sombre overtones rich with emotion. - -"Do you know what is piped into the so-called organic vats, Guerlan? -No, you wouldn't know. Plants, you thought, beasts and cattle and dead -flesh.... Dead, yes. The murdered bodies of human beings, such as _you_ -would have been!" - -All Guerlan's rigid training rose in protest at the charge against -the Protector in Chief. It could not be! There could be no murder in -Plastica, duels yes, honorable combat between men ... but murder! -He acknowledged that the Laws of Plastic, Inc., were ruthless and -harsh, and the Inner Circle had become lax in their supervision, -until Plastics, Inc., had become an octopus. But to imply that His -Benevolence would countenance cold-blooded murder ... every fiber of -his being revolted from such a charge. - -And then he remembered the Feast of the Jewels, and the travesty of -justice in his case, and he was silenced. - -"His Benevolence and the Inner Circle _are_ Plastics, Inc." Perlac -continued imperturbably as if reading his thoughts. "Don't argue now, -strap yourself in and prepare for an orbital fall, we'll wheel in -direct ratio with the rotation of the planet then dive in a concentric -spiral that will become tighter and tighter until we reach our -objective. It is the only way we can elude the robot-proctor patrol.... -Look, they are climbing already. The plane's robot control is set -and timed--it will take us there. No human being can possibly retain -consciousness to guide the plane in such a maneuver," she explained, -pale as alabaster. - - * * * * * - -Before Vyrl Guerlan had time to do else but tighten the broad straps -and lean back against the mullioned seat, the girl had touched a series -of knobs. Suddenly the craft began to wheel with meteoric speed, then -dived with a violence that sent the landscape spinning into a fantastic -pattern that quickly blurred. Guerlan felt as if the very marrow in -his bones had liquefied, an intolerable pain lanced at the back of -his brain like an atomic needle, and his face was contorted into a -spasmodic grimace he was unable to control. He tried to close his eyes -but couldn't, tried to shout and suddenly plummeted into an abyss. - -They were diving downward into the outskirts of the immense city, down -a secret inter-communicating passage that connected the various levels, -past the third, fourth and finally into a yawning chasm where all -was darkness. The hurtling craft sped on unerringly as if drawn by a -magnetic beam. - -When Guerlan finally awoke, he found himself in intense darkness. Only -his labored breath disturbed the silence. Motionless, his body a living -pain, he tried to adjust his thoughts and piece together the jig-saw -puzzle of the last few hours. Groping into his tunic he brought out an -atomo-torch. By its discreet illumination, he saw that the girl was -quivering like a being in torture. Gently he massaged her temples and -the base of her neck then her soft, white throat; with infinite care he -opened her mouth and inserted a pellet of _alphaline_ to stimulate her -heart, then stroked the gleaming red-gold hair back from her forehead -until the girl showed signs of coming to. - -"Have you any stimulants aboard?" he asked her, when Perlac opened -her eyes. "I feel drained, but that's nothing to what you must feel, -Perlac!" - -She gave him a pallid smile. "There," she pointed weakly, "to the left -of the instrument panel." - -Guerlan pressed the combination lock and found in the compartment a -full kit of surgical instruments and bandages in a superb _Jadite_ -case. A priceless flask of _Sapphirac_ filled with sterile water, and, -to his intense surprise, a Platino-plastic bottle, encrusted with -tourmalines more brilliant than emeralds and filled with the utterly -proscribed _Sulfalixir_! - -"That ... that's it," Perlac gasped and reached for the bottle in -Guerlan's hand. - -"But, it's deadly!" Guerlan was aghast. "How can you risk addiction to -that dreadful drug?" - -"You're a victim of conditioning." Even as weak as she felt, Perlac -managed a low laugh, "_Sulfalixir_ is a miracle drug--not what you've -been taught to believe." She drank sparingly and offered him the -bottle, but Guerlan drew back in categorical refusal. "As you wish. Now -we must leave the plane." - -"But where in ten thousand Hellacoriums are we?" Guerlan's voice was -mutinous. "I've been a pawn in a game ever since I went to the sphere -and blasphemed, since you burst the acid vat and exploded Organic 66! -By Neptune's Moon I'll be dissolved if I stir another step without -knowing what this is all about!" His green eyes were wide and gleaming, -his handsome face set in rigid lines. - -"All right, atavism! You're on Level Five, and you're going to a -meeting. I want you to appraise what the Amnesiac treatment does to -human beings, and how the condemned live on this level. The third -level is sheer luxury compared to this. You Scientists of the First -Level have no conception of what happens on the third, fourth and -fifth levels, where life ceases to be even existence and becomes...." -But words failed her, and she fell back against her mullioned seat -breathing heavily. After a pause she asked: "Will you come now?" - -"No," Guerlan grinned. "I'll lead the way. It was an experience seeing -you in a fury; blessed if I thought anything could disturb you!" He -stood up and pressed the plane's dome release and the stale, fetid air -of the nether regions of the city swept in. Only the conditioners broke -the silence with their constantly iterated and reiterated subconscious -homily of simple, child-like thought-patterns for the amnesiacs. It -was an eternal reiteration of the "Conditioning Controls" which no -amnesiac could ever escape, except at intervals when the amnesiac -counter-reaction set in as their metabolism building up a resistance -to the administered drug rendered them impervious and they regained a -measure of their former memories as consciousness returned. That was -the period of danger, when they were at the verge of any madness, in -their utter hopelessness. Deliberately they invited death. But here in -these vast catacombs, their end was but a detail, and the organic vats -eventually received them. - -"Listen!" It was Perlac's voice indistinct with indignation, "listen to -the 'conditioners,' Guerlan!" - -"Sleep ... sleep now. Deep, dreamless sleep ... for the conservation -of your energy is your noblest effort ... so you may conserve your -strength for work ... work ... you must, you absolutely must -_Achieve_ ... so that you may fulfill your maximum allotment ... -maximum ... and be rewarded.... Sleep ... sleep...." - -Endlessly the fiendish mosaic of lies and psychological half-truths -went on and on, imbedding itself in the violated minds that slept in -the stupor of the utterly exhausted. - -Guerlan shivered. A malefic aura of death and torture seemed woven into -the matrix of darkness that surrounded them. The very odor of death -was in their nostrils as they left the atomo-plane by the light of his -torch and faced the narrow, tortuous thoroughfare that wended its way -from the wide circle where the plane had come to rest. - -Perlac pressed close to him and her slender hand gripped his arm. -There were no robot-proctors in sight, none were needed here where -no amnesiac ever left alive. No victims were in sight, for the day -workers rested and the nocturnal shift toiled in their prisoning -workrooms. Behind them, in front of them, from every side, the -Conditioners continued their endless chant: "Loyalty ... obedience ... -unquestioningly you must achieve ... for our glorious State." - - - III - -In the abysmal darkness their atomo-torch was a pool of light that -advanced before them. But Perlac unerringly went directly to a building -whose front seemed to be an impenetrable, blank wall. She pressed a -hidden mechanism near the far corner of the structure, and presently -a door slid aside, revealing a passageway to the beam of the torch. -Once within, Guerlan became aware it was some sort of dormitory, for -stretched on rows of cots made of cheap plastic, the amnesiacs slept in -their leaden tunics. These were the pitchblende workers who had but a -brief life-period, due to the radiations. - -In another corridor slept the brown-tunics, the organic-matter workers, -blood-stained from their gruesome labors, their stertorous breathing -witness to their exhaustion. Perlac kept on rapidly going from corridor -to corridor until she stopped at a door leading to the cellar, opening -it, she scrambled down a plastic ladder, followed by Guerlan, and -finally into a sub-cellar gallery that wound tortuously into the very -bowels of Neptune. - -Here were the sightless wrecks who lived in eternal darkness and whose -task was to tend the machinery that air-conditioned and kept reasonably -warm the dreadful Fifth Level. Some seemed strangely twisted and had -the loathsome whiteness of fungi, others mindlessly tottered by like -automatons. Guerlan drew aside in a mixture of nausea and profound -pity. A welling, terrible anger strove to rise within him at the sight -of these horrors that went by like Dantesque shadows of the damned. - -At last Perlac stopped and made six curious rasping sounds at a heavy -rocky section of the dripping wall. - -As if in a nightmare, Guerlan saw part of the stone surface pivot -silently inward, and before them was another passageway. But this -one was immaculately clean, completely sheathed in neutral grey -hetero-plastic, and the aura-lumes diffused a gentle light that was -soft and yet perfectly measured. The murmur of voices reached them, and -the air was fresh and exhilarating after the fetid, miasmic air of the -Fifth Level and the sub-cellars. - -"We have arrived, Guerlan!" Perlac gazed at the young scientist, as -if essaying to appraise his reactions to what he'd seen en route. -"You're going to meet the leaders of the Irreconcilables ... not those -poor creatures of the forests and jungles, but the real 'underground' -that has but one purpose--Freedom from the Protectors. Now, do you -understand why you were brought here?" - -Guerlan nodded in silence. His face was impassive, but the odd, -slanting green eyes were burning with lambent fires and his powerful -hands were knotted. - - * * * * * - -Within seconds the passageway led them to an immense cavern--on Terra -it would have been unthinkable, but in keeping with Neptune's bulk, -the cavern was a gargantuan retreat. Stupendous stalactites pending -from the ceiling defied adjectives, their bases lost in darkness. -The walls as far as the eye could reach were sheathed in a gleaming -plastic new to Guerlan. The floor, too, was resilient plastic, smooth -and perfectly laid, as if an army of workmen and machines had labored -on its perfection, which indeed they had. Buildings clustered at the -far distant end, like a miniature city; and in the very center of the -vast grotto, surrounded by an army of scientists and technicians, an -atomo-Spacer, super-armored and longer than any Guerlan had ever seen, -rested in its cradle in all its sleek, shining glory. - -Testing and repair machines were scattered around the great -subterranean chamber, driven by technicians and coordinators who worked -feverishly, silently, as if engaged in a life-and-death race with time. - -Toward the left, where the cavern extended into another vast grotto, -an ordine-plastic building caught Guerlan's eye because of the -fact that it was ordine. That plastic was used only where need -for the staunchest material existed. Ordine, an adaptation of the -plastic mineral principle, could withstand a siege--was practically -indestructible, and Guerlan wondered what it housed. Perlac sensed his -curiosity and gazed in turn at the great structure. Her eyes brooding -and dark with an emotion he could not fathom slowly filled with tears. - -"That's the psycho-clinic," she told him. "We try to neutralize the -amnesiac treatment, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Under -certain conditions, it can be neutralized, but remember the amnesiac -treatment here on Level Five is an intensification of the treatment -applied on Levels Three and Four.... They're practically lost when they -come here, but our work in the higher levels is too dangerous to be -carried out in large numbers. Care to go in and watch the therapy used?" - -"Yes." Guerlan's laconic reply was an index of his mental state. -Words came with difficulty in the face of this ghastly drama that had -suddenly unfolded before his eyes. - -He wondered about the other cities, Perdura, and Telluria and -semi-tropical Columbia, with its warm springs and teeming soil where -the most exquisite delicacies for the Inner Council, and to a lesser -extent the First Order were grown. Wondered if they, too, were -condemned to this inhuman rule of death and oppression. - -Perlac made a signal to one of the technicians, and a two-seater -"Treader" with its revolving belt instead of wheels moved out from -among the parked vehicles. But before Guerlan and Perlac could enter -the swift surface car, a dull roar that seemed to shake the very -foundations of the cavern paralyzed all movement, as if in a slow -motion-picture of ancient days, a tremendous section of the cavern wall -fell in a shower of rock and plastic, and through the gaping breach, -rank upon serried rank of "Intermediates" poured through. They wore -the Inner Council's conventional plastic armor, vividly scarlet, with -tight-fitting helmets of crysto-plast. Silently they deployed with grim -precision and aimed their atomo-rifles. - -But if they had expected to wreak havoc aided by the element of -surprise, they were mistaken. Technicians and scientists working on the -super-spacer, instantly entered the armored ship, while the army of -mechanics, graders, coordinators and workmen, who labored on treaders -and tended the mechanical appliances and repair machines, took cover in -and behind their charges. - -For a second Guerlan had been frozen in his tracks. The thought that -flashed into his mind was one of exultation instead of despair. Here -was an enemy he could really fight. All the pent-up fury, the terrible -anger of a decent man who has had all his beliefs swept away in a -matter of hours, who had seen depths of human degradation he had never -dreamed possible, was like a bath of cold fire that left him calm, -determined and with one desire ... to exterminate. - -As if she were a doll, Guerlan swept Perlac beside the armored -"Treader" and without preamble snatched the Electro-Flash the girl -wore at her waist. "Keep covered. Let me do the fighting!" He -exclaimed, impervious to her outraged stare. Carefully he aimed at the -foremost leader of the Intermediates, and the obscenely beautiful, -sexless warrior, crumpled as part of him instantly dissolved. A vast, -coruscating sheet of blue, atomic fire swept forward from the deadly -atomo-rifles of the invaders, and vehicles, technicians, and several -machines, became a welter of smoking flesh and melting metal. - -It was then the super-spacer went into action with its two frontal -atomo-guns, the thunderous echoes vibrated with tympani-shattering -force, and Guerlan saw a phalanx of Intermediates vanish as if they -were leaves in a wind. - - * * * * * - -Unaware of doing so, Guerlan was bellowing exultantly, as he played the -Electro-Flash horizontally across another phalanx that had succeeded -in gaining the proximity of the Spacer. They had seen him now, and -the survivors aimed their atomo-rifles at the treader that sheltered -them from the blue fire. But before they could bring their fire into -focus, the supernal fire of the electro-flash had decimated them. A few -managed to direct the stream of atomic fire on the treader, however, -and half of it was a molten mass while the rest was already cherry red -and the heat becoming unendurable. - -Electro-rifles, atomo-pistols, the guns from the giant spacer and a few -electro-flash weapons were concentrated on the Intermediates who by -sheer force of numbers had gained the center of the Cave. - -And then they were met by a wall of flesh. From the buildings at the -further end and from every vehicle and machine a wall of humanity -surged forward, firing ceaselessly, hacking with long-swords and -poniards; and the carnage under the brilliant plastilumes was without -quarter ... to the death. Slowly, inch by inch, the Intermediates were -driven back. Scores had died, and the losses among the defenders were -appalling; it seemed as if a Pyrrhic victory was to be the end. And -then, like creatures from a nightmare, released from depths of living -hell, a motley, ragged, maddened multitude came shrieking, shouting -and hurling imprecations from the chaste building Perlac had called -the Psycho-clinic. Like avenging furies, they flung themselves at the -hard-pressed Intermediates. Wounds did not stop them; atomic-fire left -gaping holes in their ranks, around which the survivors raced on. -Impervious to pain, and welcoming death, these travesties of human -beings fought with the savagery of madness. - -They were the Amnesiacs. Deprived of the hypnotic drug, partly in -possession of their faculties and their memories, they remembered! And -remembering, they paid back for the torture of a lifetime! - -Assailed from every side, the crack Inner Circle battalion of -Intermediates split into two halves and strove to meet both fronts. But -Guerlan with a cry that would have done credit to a Venusian _Calamar_, -snatched the sword from a fallen technician and raced to where the -Amnesiacs were tangled in a death struggle. With the electro-flash -in his left hand, he stabbed and hacked at exposed limbs and through -shattered crysto-plast. And the battle turned slowly, increasing in -tempo until it was a rout that pressed the remaining Intermediates -into a demoralized race of life. But they were not to escape. Out of -all control, all semblance of humanity now, the remaining Amnesiacs -were a screaming horror that pursued the quarry and pulled it down -like the giant _Calamar_ of Venus pulls down its prey in the virgin -forests, until only the moaning wounded and the dead remained on the -blood-drenched plastic flooring of the titanic grotto. - -Guerlan never knew when the battle was finally over. His tunic was a -crimson stain from top to bottom; a long slash across his ribs to the -center of his powerful chest, had left a shallow gash that dripped a -slow gout of blood. His shoulder was seared by a slanting atomic-blast -that would have taken half of him had it come any nearer. He became -aware of the ghastly silence only when Perlac's marvelously slender -hand was pressed to his cheek, and her melodious voice was repeating: -"Guerlan, Guerlan, my dear!" He turned and saw her eyes were aswim with -unshed tears. - -He took her hand in his powerful ones without a word, and held it -caressingly, while all about them was a shambles of death and wreckage. - -"My initiation," he said slowly, huskily, with a hint of a smile in his -long, green eyes. - -"I knew I was not wrong in choosing you," Perlac replied and bravely -essayed a smile, too; but she had reached the end of her physical -resources and with a whispered, "Oh, my dear," she wilted unconscious -in his arms. - -Guerlan lifted her fragile form as if she were a precious doll and -walked toward the super-spacer; a group of scientists who had emerged -from its interior, watched his approach with a hint of anxiety as they -motioned for him to hurry. Among them, a tall, elderly scientist of -the second order, whose white mane was like an aureole about the pale, -sharp-featured face, hurried forward as if unable to contain himself. - -"Is Perlac wounded?" He inquired with a world of worry in his voice. -"Tell me, man! Hurry!" - -"Peace," Guerlan answered wearily. "She's not harmed, just fainted ... -the miracle is that she's been able to stand as much as she has. Have -you restoratives?" - -"Bring her into the plane, we have everything needed, stranger. Praised -be the Ultimate Power she has not been harmed!" Then he drew himself -erect as he and Guerlan came abreast of each other, and said with -quiet dignity: - -"I am Paulan, ex-scientist of the first order, now Leader of the -Underground. I saw you fight with us. Welcome, my son." His eyes -were as clear and as blue as a child's, but the fires of a profound -intellect shone from their depths. - - * * * * * - -"The time," Guerlan was speaking, "is now, not at some supposedly -psychological moment logically thought by the Board. I'm a new member, -true, but it is evident the Inner Circle has been aware of your -activities for some time, or they wouldn't have sent such a well-armed, -ultra-trained battalion of Intermediates. The time to strike is now! -Unless you want to await an attack in such force that this cavern will -become a hecatomb." - -"We are already harassing them in every city," Paulan said -thoughtfully. "Vats are exploding regularly, amnesiacs are being -restored to usefulness and our forces are increasing day by day. What -more would you propose, my son, an attack on the city of the sphere?" - -All eyes in the heavily guarded and armed Board meeting room were upon -the young scientist. At the head of the long, exquisite Platino-plastic -table sat Paulan, the leader, and at his right sat Perlac. All down the -length of the great table, scientists of the first and second orders, -analysts, technicians, and even members of the lower strata chosen -for their value to the movement, sat to consider the crisis. Their -underground movement was in the open now, and they could expect nothing -but extermination at the hands of the Inner Circle. - -"That would be madness at present," spoke a tiny Venusian, not more -than four and a half feet tall, wrapped in his long, scarlet wings that -joined to the sides of his fragile body, reached from wrists to his -ankles. "Although," he grinned impishly, "I would like to take a crack -at them in their holy of holies!" - -Morluc, the Martian, snorted. - -"Mars will help, but we must have a share of the machinery and plastics -of Neptune ... a _preferred_ share," he emphasized gazing disdainfully -at the Venusian member. - -"Equal shares!" the latter snapped dryly. "Mars' help is still to be -seen, as your excellence is aware!" The Venusian drove his point home -with emphatic gestures. - -"We've offered our fleet!" Morluc, the Martian member, said stiffly. -"Can any more be asked?" - -Carladin, the Venusian, shrugged his shoulders. "We don't offer, -Morluc, we've _delivered_ one hundred electro-flash pistols, and -it took genius to analyze and copy the design and manufacture them -secretly, not to speak of smuggling them here!" - -"Peace!" Paulan thundered. "Scientist Guerlan is unable to reply to my -question!" - -Both the Martian and the Venusian members were silent, although they -still glared at each other across the table. The rivalry of Venus and -Mars was legendary and had endured for centuries. Little eddies of -whispers and conversation, came to a standstill, and once more their -eyes were turned expectantly toward Guerlan who stood up from his seat -toward the foot of the table. - -"I have a plan," he stated quietly. His bandaged shoulder and chest -were living aches, and breathing was difficult, but a great enthusiasm -transfigured his features until with eyes alight with the fire of a -great purpose, he seemed boyish for all his magnificent height and -musculature. - -"Unless we divert the power of the Inner Circle.... I say _divert_, but -decisively, we're doomed. Any army we can muster would be met by the -legions of fanatical Intermediates who from pre-birth are conditioned -and scientifically bred for battle. An Intermediate's glandular -structure has been modified to heighten unbelievably the combative -instinct. If atomo-rifles and atomic fire don't crush us, they'll start -using electro-flash. Their fleet is legion, and they have at their -command the Scientists of the First Order, as deluded as I was, not to -speak of the Neophytes of the Inner Circle. Don't forget that the City -of the Sphere has two million scientists, not counting the women. - -"But, if we divert their Intermediates, cut off their sources of -supply, and breed revolt _on every tier, in every city_, their forces -will be divided, and we will have a chance to win. When I was a child, -I had access to the ancient records which were translated by my father -for the Inner Circle. Among them I came upon a parchment so ancient -that it was ready to crumble into dust. After it had been treated for -preservation, I read the translation made from that forgotten language -by my father; it was about a great city that once ruled most of Terra, -and their motto was--Divide and Rule. And that," Guerlan paused, "is my -plan." - -He sat down a little abashed when he realized the vehemence with which -he had been talking. His eyes sought Perlac's, and a wave of color -suffused his face as he saw the open admiration in the girl's eyes. - -"Magnificent, if it works," Carladin said with a satirical smile in -that husky voice of his that seemed too big for so small a body. "But, -my friend, who is going to 'Muzzle the Calamar'? In other words, who is -going to breed revolt in every city and tier ... and, above all, just -how?" - -"My son, you can't rouse emotions in amnesiacs--they haven't any, even -in the higher levels where the treatment is mild. As for the scientists -of the Second Order--they'd consider revolt blasphemy, not to speak -of the First Order. Unless you have a complete, thought-out plan, I'm -afraid you've been carried away by your own enthusiasm," Paulan said -very gently. - -"My plan _is_ complete, Paulan. And I have work for both Venus and -Mars. I'm sure they would like to share in our victory. Listen!" - - - IV - -It was not only a garden of vast dimensions, it was an Eden riotous -with the most exquisite blooms of Venus, and myriad bright-plumaged -birds that sang with a complete abandon that bespoke no instinct of -fear, for they were sacred. In the near distance, the rose and white -crysto-plast temple of the Virgins of the Sacred Flame was a triumph in -architecture, for here within the inviolate garden of His Benevolence -was the sacred shrine. - -A muted orchestra was playing, hidden in the foliage, and the -incredible re-creation of sunlight drew an iridescent aureole from the -alabaster fountain that constantly renewed a miniature lake in the -center of the garden. - -Rose-colored _Garzas_ and sparkling, blue azurines searched for -tid-bits in the shallows, while a flight of _Albas_, the snowy-white -nightingales of the Volcanic Valley, swept overhead in an ecstasy of -song. It was idyllic, a spot instinct with peace under the soft hand of -beauty. - -But near the shore of the small lake, idly moving his hand in the cool -waters, while with the other he stuffed roasted doves into the red, -cruel mouth, His Benevolence listened in ominous silence as the Chief -of the Intermediates made his report. Standing behind the gargantuan -corpulence of the 'Protector in Chief,' Bejamel listened, too, and his -gargoyle's features slowly registered a rising fear that whitened his -repulsive face. It was incredible! Had anyone else dared to make such -a report, he would have instantly banished him or her to the 'Blessed -Sleep.' But the Intermediates, be they either of the warrior class, -and trained to fight to the death, or of the scientist category, were -cold, unemotional beings whose precision could not be questioned. As -for their loyalty--that was under control, for their only _imperative_ -was Vanadol, reacting on them curiously instead of drugging them to -sleep--compensating them for their sexlessness with an unearthly -ecstasy. And Vanadol was under absolute Inner Circle control ... under -Bejamel! - -"Only three Intermediates escaped alive from the caverns under the -fifth level?" Bejamel inquired incredulously in that magnificent voice -that was a melody in itself. - -"Silence!" There was nothing lovely in the harsh command of His -Benevolence. "Bunglers! Should condemn you and your strategists to -the Blessed Sleep, but the quota of jewels is filled.... What do you -plan doing now? Or are you going to let those Irreconcilables become a -cancer on the side of the empire?" His voice became indistinct as he -stuffed golden nectarines into his mouth. - -"Magnificence! If your Benevolence permits...." Bejamel's attempt at a -smile was a ludicrous failure. But the sulphuric stare he received for -his pains, left him wordless and pale. - -"Proceed!" His Benevolence nodded at the Intermediate. The pale yellow -eyes were blazing. - -"Our plans are to destroy the cavern immediately, and utilize our -Intermediate Scientists to ferret out the dissenters for disposal -at your Effulgence's orders." The Chief of the Intermediates replied -calmly, evenly, as if his life were not hanging by the thinnest thread. -He bowed profoundly, and then stood erect, in all the glory of his -golden tunic and platino-plastic helmet. - -"Also, a flight of pursuit atomo-planes awaits disorders in every tier -of every city, Your Benevolence!" - -"Like over-fed blackbirds," His Benevolence observed scornfully. "They -didn't prevent Guerlan and that unidentified companion of his from -escaping! And that reminds me, Bejamel," his voice changed to a silken -purr. "I thought you had checked the safety coordination of the plastic -centers. Surely, with all the safeguards you reported installed, the -machines supplied you by scientists, and the robot-proctor guard, not -to speak of the selector-controlled tests of the workmen, I still fail -to understand how Guerlan escaped retribution." His lips parted in a -smile of sadistic pleasure, as Bejamel went green. - - * * * * * - -"And," His Benevolence held up a hand that flashed with a vortex of -prismatic fire from the many jewels, "what has become of your daughter, -Perlac? I seldom see her any more." - -"Since Your Benevolence said that her hips were too narrow and her face -too sharp, I banished her from your presence, Effulgence!" - -"Well, bring her back!" He snapped in fury. "Sometimes I think you -usurp my authority, Bejamel." His eyes narrowed speculatively, and the -enmity he felt for the Minister of Justice because of the latter's -silent opposition to allowing his daughter to become a Virgin of the -Sacred Flame, smouldered within him. - -Bejamel bowed profoundly, but a glint of savage rage shone in his eyes. - -"Send the Virgins ... let them sing!" His Benevolence commanded, "and -convey my forgiveness to Estrella; she may enter the presence!" - -"Your Benevolence's favorite will rejoice at the magnanimous decision!" -Bejamel replied in a soft murmur that was sheer music. But the -expression on his averted face belied his words. - -He hurried away through the foliage of the Venusian Jasmine trees and -the tangles of fragrant Maravillas, until he came to the pavillion of -white _Jadite_, so exquisitely planned that in its white simplicity it -might have been an idealized Greek temple. - -"Estrella," he called the moment that he entered. "Hurry, child!" And -seeing her curled on a couch worth a respectable fortune, "_He_ will -see you ... mind you, he's in a vile temper--as capricious as I've ever -seen him. But evidently he has need of you. Soothe him from this evil -mood, or we'll all suffer!" He paused out of breath. - -Estrella uncoiled languorously from the Sapphirine couch and stood -lightly swathed in filmiest draperies of spider silk, that revealed -the distracting beauty of her limbs and full, firm breast. The large, -brilliant dark eyes, shadowed by curling lashes were rebellious -and scornful, and the flower-like red mouth mutinous. A cascade of -pale gold hair tumbled curling about the marble shoulders, and sent -gleaming tendrils to the satiny throat, encircled by a necklace -of star-sapphires, rarest of all jewels because of the tremendous -difficulties in creating the star in the depths of the jewel. - -"Let _him_ wait ... I have had to wait too long!" she blazed. - -"Sheesh! ... even the walls have ears, Star of the Evening! And -remember his saying: 'A favorite in disfavor is a jewel that has -crystallized'. He means that literally; I couldn't bear to see you as a -ruby in his finger ring." - -Estrella paled, shrugged her shoulders and dashed out of the pavillion. -Out in the garden, she was like a butterfly in the sunlight, a gorgeous -creature that came to rest at His Benevolence's feet. A choir of -Virgins sang softly and undulated with the rhythm of the music, while -His Benevolence fondled Estrella with one hand and with the other ate. - -Meanwhile, in the sumptuous Audience Chamber, a multitude of Protectors -of the Inner Circle, Scientists of the First Order, the Directors of -various cities, and even Intermediate Scientists moved restlessly, -pacing up and down the imposing length of the chamber. Their faces were -pale and anxious; some seemed distraught, rehearsing silently, over and -over in their minds what they had to say. - -But among themselves they barely spoke. A careless word, flung in a -moment of anxiety, might be the beginning of a fatal intrigue. They -were taking no chances. - -The dour, ascetic visaged Marvalli, Scientist of the Inner Circle and -Chief of Columbia, seemed on the verge of nervous prostration. He -wondered in anguish what would His Benevolence say when he learned -that the warehouses filled with exquisite tropical and semi-tropical -delicacies for his table and that of the Inner Circle, had been -destroyed by a raging holocaust that had left nothing but blackened -cinders, and that the priceless machinery for the Vibroponic farms, -which speeded up the growth and maturity of exotic plants and fruits, -and a multitude of legumes and vegetables, was a twisted, molten -mass--he quaked inwardly and a cold sweat oozed out of his pores. - -Vidal, Chief of Plastica had a harrowing report too. Vat after vat of -processing acid had split in halves and flooded moats and safety levels -until the acrid fumes made the Plastic Centers of his city untenable. -Conveyors had been disrupted and even robot-proctors dissolved as if -they'd been made of _papier-mache_. All his efforts at locating the -source of these depredations were in vain. Meanwhile, the plastic -industry in Plastica was paralyzed. That as bad as it was, however, -could be remedied temporarily by the installation of more vats, but an -amazing thing was that even the replacement vats had been found damaged -beyond repair. - - * * * * * - -But of them all, Weiman, "The Butcher", as he was called, was the most -distraught of all. Never in all the history of Perdura, his beloved -Perdura, where the Neptunian _Bagazo_ plant was processed into the drug -for the amnesiac treatment, had such depredations been committed. A -veritable nightmare of explosions had shattered the intricate machinery -of the processors; the receiving vats of staunchest plastic had been -found in shards and slivers, while the stores of the sacred drug had -disappeared. An emergency order sent to the nurseries where the plants -were grown obtained no response and investigation disclosed that the -nurseries had been destroyed. - -It was then he had ordered a search party to go into the semi-tropical -forests far up the valley in search of wild plants and they were met -by a savage mob of Irreconcilables! But not the gravity-burdened, -frightened Irreconcilables he had been used to hunt with lances -and swords, but a grim, determined company of fighters armed with -atomo-pistols and atomo-rifles who exterminated the searching party -except one member, whom they sent back with the insolent warning: "Stay -out of our land!" - -The atmosphere of the Audience Chamber was electric. A wave of -rebellion seemed to be sweeping the Empire. - -When Bejamel, Minister of Justice, entered the Chamber, there was a -concerted rush to meet him. - -"Excellency, I request an audience!" And from another Chief of a City. -"Nay, Excellency.... Mine cannot wait, it's a catastrophe!" "I crave -a hearing...! Your Excellency!" Pandemonium had broken loose in the -chaste precincts of the Audience Hall. - -"Peace!" Bejamel shouted above the tumult, and strove to present a -calm exterior. But an icy fear constricted his throat, and his usually -commanding tones of unearthly beauty failed him. Nevertheless he -stemmed somewhat the rising confusion. - -"You, Vidal!" Bejamel singled out the Inner Circle Scientist in charge -of Plastica. "Your report." - -"I demand Martial Rule, and sufficient troops to insure order," Vidal -gasped. "Plastica's paralyzed. Most of the plastic-acid vats have been -destroyed; conveyors in shambles and robot-proctors disintegrated. -I know of only one weapon capable of shattering Columbium-Plastic -and Bery-Plastic--and do it without a sound. These weapons are -electro-flash, and assigned to the Inner Circle. When an Inner Circle -Scientist loses the one assigned to him, he is under penalty to report -it immediately. I can't conceive how these weapons could have fallen -into the hands of whoever these depredators are, and in sufficient -numbers to wreak such havoc in such a short time!" - -"I didn't ask for a diagnosis, and least of all for a cure!" Bejamel -said frigidly. "I asked for symptoms. Your report, Vidal!" - -And Vidal gave it, freed from the fear His Benevolence's presence -always inspired, he gave it bitterly, in complete detail. - -"And you Marvalli?" Bejamel's voice shook a little despite his efforts -to control it. From Marvalli's expression he feared the worst. - -"Columbia has been unable to provide its quota of special foods for -forty-eight hours, and all its reserves have been destroyed." In a -voice filled with foreboding, he told his story, wringing his hands -from time to time, unconscious of doing it. - -Weiman was next. He gave a minute account of depredations in Perdura. -"And so," he finished in an anguished voice, "we not only have no -Bagazo for the amnesiac treatment ... we are unable to procure any, and -even if we had it, the machinery is a shambles, Excellency!" His voice -ended in a wail. - -On and on the audience continued, each account adding to the -seriousness of the situation. At last Bejamel rose. His face was -inscrutable. "What a gargantuan indigestion His Benevolence is going to -have today," he thought grimly. - -"Remain!" He exclaimed peremptorily, and strode in the direction of the -enchanted garden. - - * * * * * - -He didn't even pause to watch the gyrations and posturings of Virgins -of the Sacred Flame. Brushing aside the tall Intermediates that stood -guard over the recumbent form of His Benevolence, he bowed slightly, -and in a cold, tight voice explained his mission. - -"Your Benevolence," his voice never had been lovelier, "the empire is -in open revolt. We are not facing isolated cases of vandalism. Nor the -underground opposition of the Irreconcilables. This is a fiendishly -planned and perfectly executed strategy of destruction. Unless we meet -it with overwhelming force, we lose control of the empire!" - -"Don't exaggerate, Bejamel!" His Benevolence snorted disdainfully. -"A few vats have been shattered--others can be made. Bagazo has been -destroyed ... we'll get all we need from the forests, and later have -our chemists synthesize the drug. Just issue the necessary orders, I -can't be bothered now." - -Bejamel's smile was feline, and feral lights gleamed in the eyes that -gave him such a gargoylish expression amidst his twisted features. - -"No, Effulgence. This calls for a meeting of the Inner Circle. You may -not know it, but hundreds of thousands of amnesiacs, now deprived of -the drug, _remember_! Death to them is a boon, and before they die they -will be sure to take as many of us as possible. And _they are being -armed_!" - -"Let a few thousand die!" He exclaimed heartlessly. "They'll pave my -new Hall of Rubies!" But he knew now that Bejamel was not exaggerating. -The great intellect of the evil ruler, had grasped the disastrous -consequences of such a revolt, and instantly he acted. - -"Very well, Bejamel. Call the Council. Hold all witnesses for the -session. Meanwhile, mobilize all the Intermediates of the warrior -order, and the Scientists of the first and second orders. Every Inner -Circle Scientist who is still worthy of his rank, and all Inner Circle -Neophytes to be in readiness. Make a survey of robot-proctors, and -coordinate all available defenses. We can at least be ready at a -moment's notice. And, find out how long our present stores of food will -last ... we should have enough for months! Think you can remember all -this?" He purred mockingly. - -"To hear your Benevolence is to obey!" Bejamel replied imperturbably. -And left to carry out the orders. A little smile was at the corners of -his mouth, and the feral light was still lambent in his strange green -eyes. - -He could hear His Benevolence's harsh tones as the latter told His -Virgins: "Get out!" Only Estrella remained by the side of the obscene -bulk. Bejamel pitied her. - - * * * * * - -Once back in the Audience Chamber, pandemonium broke loose, but with -a peremptory wave of his hand and the words: "You will remain as -witnesses for a full meeting of the Council tonight," Bejamel quelled -them. He watched them file out with a speculative gaze. "When the sea's -disturbed," he murmured softly, "creatures from the bottom rise to the -top." Then he walked slowly to his own chambers, singing softly to -himself, and it was as if the voice of an angel were issuing from the -throat of a Gargoyle. - -Only one thought worried him, and that was the protracted absence of -Perlac. She had been gone for days. Perhaps he had missed her in -his preoccupation with duties of State, he thought. Bejamel shrugged -his thin shoulders and sat down at a jewel-encrusted desk worthy of -an Inner Circle Scientist ransom. Silently he began to write with an -electro-stylus on a sheet of transparent plastic. Nothing showed. - -It was to Gualdamar, whom to give the full plenitude of his titles was -Chief Guardian of the City of the Flaming Sphere, The Leader of the -Intermediate Warriors, Chief Strategist, and Scientist of the Inner -Circle. - -As Bejamel wrote, he thought with part of his mind of the many minor -revolts that had occurred when the amnesiac treatment failed because of -the defense against the drug that human metabolism built periodically, -but nothing like this had ever happened in the annals of the Empire. -Plastic Inc., as the Inner Circle taught the people to believe, was -part of them, and they rose and fell together. It occurred to Bejamel -that he was very old, it was indecent to thrust such a crisis on his -fading intellect. The thought made his smile acidly. There was nothing -decadent about that Machiavellian mind that enabled him to remain in -power through decades of intrigues, pitfalls and traps, and lately, the -growing enmity of his Benevolence because he would not allow Perlac to -become a chattel of his Obese Effulgence in the Temple of the Sacred -Flame. - -He wondered if he would be able to weather this crisis. Still he wrote -swiftly, invisibly on the transparent plastic, and as he did so, the -thought of Venus, great in its first bloom of advanced civilization, of -Europa, transmuted into an Eden by the courage of its Terrans and the -strange unearthly science of the Panadurs. If all else failed, he could -seek sanctuary on either one of these two planets. Mars repelled him, -none of that grim land for his weary bones. But if he had to flee, he -meant to flee along with Perlac, and he had a score to settle before he -went. - -When he had finished, he pressed a button, and a robot-proctor entered -noiselessly, received instruction and as quietly disappeared. Bejamel -knew that his robot would deliver the message in person, nothing could -take that plastic message from him short of destruction. - - - V - -"Tonight we attack!" Guerlan persisted uncompromisingly, but his eyes -sought Perlac's and found confirmation in her swift smile. "I offer -the counsel of daring--all or nothing!" A roar of approval greeted his -words, the echoes dwindling down the series of subterranean caverns -that formed a continental link in the bowels of Neptune and was used to -shelter the army of scientists, technicians, analysts, coordinators, -mechanics and workmen. They were now under Columbia's Fifth Level, and -rising to the crysto-plast dome, each tier was now under the domination -of the Irreconcilables. - -But Paulan, the Commander in Chief, arose in all the dignity of his -great age. He frowned in disapproval, sighing before he spoke. - -"I fear too great an army has been assembled against us, Plastica, -Telluria, Perdura, the eleven remaining cities will have to be -conquered, and remember, since we captured Columbia with comparative -ease while the Inner Circle's Army was engaged in destroying the -caverns beneath Plastica, all the other cities swarm with Intermediates -and the Scientists of the First and Second Circle, not to speak of -those fiends of the Inner Circle themselves. We have converted millions -through the use of the Ethero-Magnum, thanks to our loyal Perlac, -who taught us to use it as the Inner Circle used it to condition the -amnesiacs; we have paralyzed the Plastic Industry; destroyed the -machinery for processing _Bagazo_ into the amnesiac drug, and we -control all the stores of _Bagazo_. We have achieved the arming of -thousands of our followers. Surely, that is a great victory. I feel -that should be enough for the present; besides, the Inner Circle will -want to come to terms with us." - -And it was true. Hunger and privation stalked the tiers of the -great cities; chaos reigned. Even the great Plastic centers now had -become a shambles of exploding acid vats; conveyors bore a welter of -half-asphyxiated humanity, gaunt with hunger and the spasms lack of the -amnesiac brought on; transportation was paralyzed, and everywhere the -amnesiacs flared into madness as the effects of the drug wore off; and -in a frenzy of remembrance and need of the drug, they attacked all in -the ranks of scientists, destroying everything they could lay hands on. -Thousands died under the trained precision of the Intermediates, and -Scientists of the First Order, but the casualties they inflicted in the -serried ranks of the Chief Protector were appalling. - -"A compromise is not enough!" Guerlan was pitiless. "We have but one -Ether Magnum here in Columbia with which to carry our message to the -Second Level of each city and the workmen of the Third Level. True -we have close to a quarter of a million warriors, but in a war of -attrition, they have the greater resources. Besides," his voice was -acid with scorn, "who wants a compromise? Not I!" His great green eyes -under the long dark lashes flashed fire and the generous, square-cut -mouth was bitter. He pointed an accusing finger at the legion of men -and women that filled to overflowing the immense central cavern. - -"You have asked for enough food to insure health in your children -and have been told that synthetic-parturition will take care of your -offspring, as indeed it does, and you never see them again! You who -have asked but a measure of happiness and have been giving all you -possess in energy, loyalty and obedience, and are given in return a -brutalizing drug that robs you of the will to live! You who through -the intrigues and machinations of the Inner Circle have been brutally -thrust into the Second, the Third and even the Fourth Levels without a -trial, without a hearing merely to satisfy the sadistic minds that rule -us from the City of the Sphere.... YOU, would you want a compromise?" - -The negative roar that rose in response, shook the lofty ceiling of the -cavern and was like a whirlwind. When it had died down, Paulan stood up -again. - -"I resign," he said simply. "Younger hands than mine will have to lead -you. Perhaps you're right, Guerlan, if so, take my place as Commander -in Chief, my son." - -For a moment there was silence, and then another multi-throated roar of -approval. - -Guerlan was silent before the majestic dignity of the old man, and -something akin to pity welled out of his heart for the great patriarch; -but Perlac was on her feet, her sculptured arms flung above her head -demanding attention from the great multitude. - -"I second the nomination!" Her limpid tones carried far. - -"And I ... and I ... and I!" Thousands of voices strove to be heard, -down into the farthest reaches of the linked caverns, as those who -could not see, heard through the inter-connecting teleradio. - -"Then," Guerlan spoke firmly, almost coldly, "the Council of War is -called to session, we will meet in the Venusian spacer. All troops -stand by for orders." - -"Lead, Commander!" exclaimed a rich baritone voice. - -It was Carladin, winged, diminutive, proud that the first session of -the Council of War should be held in his magnificent atomo-plane, -the one that had been repaired in the cavern beneath Plastica. He -was proud, too, of Venus' inventive genius in converting the secret -electronic formula of the electro-flash into a magnification of that -weapon, to the size of a cannon, and raised to the sixth power, enough -to practically blast an atomo-plane out of space. As for his special -gift to the cause, that was an ironic touch that only a Venusian mind -was capable of conceiving, for although unbelievably kind, they never -forgave. "Poetic Justice," Carladin had called it, and insisted on the -use of his special gift, even bringing a battalion of Venusians to -handle it. - - * * * * * - -"Telluria reporting ... Telluria ... Fourth Level cleared. Entrance to -Third Level forced.... Fighting intense ... Telluria...." The voice of -the announcer faded and the magnified face in the telecast dissolved -before their gaze. - -Guerlan, Perlac and Carladin listened intently in the control cabin of -the Venusian spacer which hovered like a great bird in the darkness -above Columbia. - -The enormous ethero-magnum that occupied a large section of the control -room, came to life again as an ascending whine warned them, it was -Perdura calling: - -"Perdura calling ... Perdura ... Commander Guerlan!" - -"Come in, Perdura!" Guerlan exclaimed impatiently, his nerves taut from -inaction, but plans had to be observed. "Come in!" - -The shifting swirls of light on the telecast became steady and a young, -pale-featured youth could be seen speaking with great intensity. - -"We're on the second level, Commander. The defense has been terrific, -they're bringing robots into the battle. One electro-flash cannon -destroyed thus far, but we're pushing forward. No further news." - -It was disappointing. In a concerted attack in eleven cities, thousands -of Irreconcilables had emerged from the bowels of Neptune, striking -upwards from the fifth levels of the cities, aided by crazed amnesiacs -who fought with tooth and nail when no weapons were available. But it -was Plastica that worried him most, for here was the strategic city -they must capture at all costs. Unable to control his impatience any -longer, he asked Perlac to contact Plastica. The girl's slender fingers -played over the banked keys, adjusting tiny levers and driving home the -activating selectors. Swirls of magnificent colors flooded the Telecast -screen, while the ascending whine of the complex instrument went beyond -the auditory limits of the human ear; and presently scene after scene -of ghastly destruction showed on the telecast, the fifth level came and -went a shattered welter; the fourth where destruction was appalling -showed great rents in the crysto-plast dome that separated it from -the third. There was fighting still in the second level, as isolated -parties strove to decimate the remaining, fleeing Intermediates; -the fallen forms of robot-proctors littered the conveyors and -inter-connecting avenues, the carnage was incredible. - -But it was in the first level itself where the battle without quarter -was now taking place. Divisions of ordine-plastic robots charged -great masses of Irreconcilables, only to be shattered in great waves -as the electro-flash cannon, gift of Venus, disintegrated their -electronic balance. Thousands of lurid flashes from atomo-rifles and -atomo-cannons, laboriously hauled to the first level by the attackers, -belched destruction at buildings laden with Intermediates and Second -Level Scientists; aero-tanks with treads instead of landing gear, -were attempting to settle on the vast first level, their atomo-cannon -slashing at the attackers with great scimitars of lurid blue light. -It was a titanic holocaust that would long live in the annals of the -Universe, for Venus, Mars, Mercury and Europa had their Tele-Magnums -trained on the fantastic struggle. - -And then the face of the Commander of the Irreconcilables attacking -Plastica, showed on the Telecast, a great gash over an eye still -oozing a gout of blood that trickled down the left side of his face. -Grim, with an awful determination in his young eyes, the Commander -spoke hoarsely. "Commander Guerlan, we need aircraft to engage the -aero-tanks. Plastica is surrounded without the crysto-plast dome, and -thousands of Inner Circle Scientists await the precise moment to enter -in their Treaders and annihilate us. In reaching the first level, -our losses have been too great, Commander!" He saluted and the face -withdrew, as if having delivered his message there were nothing more to -be said. - -"Carladin," Guerlan's voice was vibrant with pent-up emotion, "you've -brought with you eight-hundred atomo-spacers better than anything the -Inner Circle has, if the speed and strength of Perlac's atomo-spacer is -a sample. There is _your_ task!" - - * * * * * - -"Not mine, Commander!" There was an edge of keen delight in the superb -baritone voice of the tiny, winged figure. "I also brought with me a -great warrior of space to lead my fleet. I have another task I shall -relish even more! In one of my spacers, the flag-ship, are the hounds -of Mother Venus, with which we hunt in the great virgin forests. One to -each member of a battalion of my people ... on a fragile leash! I shall -communicate with my fleet immediately, may I take one of the emergency -planes?" And as Guerlan nodded assent, Carladin was gone. - -Guerlan wondered what the Venusian had meant by the hounds of Venus, -but he was too preoccupied with the battle to care, all that mattered -was that he was willing to use his fleet in accordance with the plan. - -"Gloriana calling.... Gloriana calling Commander Guerlan...." The -monotonous iteration and reiteration of the announcer demanded -attention. Perlac touched a bank of jet black keys as Guerlan said: - -"Come in Gloriana, report, we're listening!" - -"Gloriana reports a stalemate. We have gained second level, almost -took the first, but the fleet is above the first level, we can't combat -it. All levels cleared but the first. Gloriana sounding off." - -Other reports came in, but still Guerlan waited for the one thing -that was imperative. And at last, through an eternity of waiting, -Columbia came on the Ethero-Magnum, then like bursting flowers of fire, -the atomic flashes from the emerging atomo-spacers of Venus as they -launched themselves straight up into the heavens through the vertical -funnel-like channel that rose from the caverns, straight up into the -upper reaches of the first level. Spacer after spacer soared aloft and -disappeared in the direction of Plastica. All but the last. It rose -majestically upward and then, describing a parabola in midair, began to -lose altitude, its atomic flashes like falling stars. - -And then began the most bizarre attack in the history of six planets, -for as the fleet attacked the swarm of atomo-fighters and aero-tanks of -the Inner Circle, the last Venusian spacer had landed outside Plastica, -and a multitude of Venusians each one leading a gigantic _Calamar_, the -dreaded, armored tiger of Venus, launched themselves upon the besieging -Scientists of the Inner Circle that awaited the propitious moment to -enter Plastica during the battle and destroy the Irreconcilables by an -attack from their rear. - -The roar of the ravenous beasts was a crescendo that drowned the wild, -agonized screams of the scientists as mammoth claws ripped through -plastic-breast plates and Venusian silks, and fangs found fat throats -and steaming blood. Overhead the clash of the two air armadas was a -holocaust of fire, as the two armies beneath fought also for supremacy -on the first level. - -What the outcome would be, was beyond prediction, for neither -side entertained any doubt now but that it was a struggle to the -death--there could be no quarter. If Plastica fell, most of the -Empire went with it, for within it was the very life-blood of the -nation--Plastics, the beginning, the reason and the end of their -existence. For plastics were clothing and shelter, and weapons -and furniture, and even medicines and synthetic concentrates that -went under the name of food. Besides, they had Columbia, where the -sustenance of the City of the Sphere and the first levels was grown -and manufactured. - -Slowly at first, imperceptibly, the battle turned in their -favor, objectives that seemed unattainable were reached by the -Irreconcilables, and the defenders fell back. The invulnerable fleet, -the much touted and dreaded air armada, as being decimated by the -unearthly speed of the Venusian spacers; and Intermediates and robots -alike fell before the supernal fire of the electro-flash cannon -and electro-rifles. Still, the battle wore on and on, with such an -intensity that it was incredible that anything that lived could endure -it. Without Plastica itself, a horror of carnage, blasted Calamars -and torn bodies, marked where the Inner Circle Reserves had been, but -Caladin's spacer was nowhere in view. - -"The time," Perlac said softly, "has come, my dear." - - * * * * * - -Guerlan gazed at the exquisite features of Perlac in misery. He was -silent. But the girl laid a hand on his shoulder caressingly, and -forced him to look into her eyes. "We must face it, Guerlan, unless we -do, this war may last for years, and oceans of blood will flow. It is -the better way." - -"I know, I know Perlac. But let me do it alone. I can't ... I just -can't bear to have you risk your life, my dear." Impulsively he crushed -her to him in a fierce embrace and kissed the flower-like mouth. Then -he released her. - -"I will be in less danger than you; after all I am Bejamel's daughter. -And don't you think that I, too, could not bear to have you go alone? -No, dear, we are in this together, for life or for death." - -As if the gods of war relished the appalling daring of their plan, -suddenly the way was opened to them, for on the immense Tele-Magnum, -the heavenly tones of Bejamel's voice could be heard, as slowly, his -gargoyle face came into view. Hurriedly Perlac threw the switch which -prevented him at the Palace on the Sphere from seeing them. - -"Commander Guerlan! Bejamel, Minister of Justice, speaks." There were -rich undertones of irony, and bitterness, too, in the superlative voice -of the speaker. - -"I have learned that my daughter is your prisoner. We have captured -important prisoners, too. Paulan, your ex-leader, and that misguided -Martian who has chosen to espouse your cause. But all this is of -no moment, I am willing to ransom my daughter on your own terms, -barbarian!" Even in his grief, Bejamel was unable to suppress the -insulting epithet. - -"What do you offer, Bejamel?" Guerlan spoke calmly, although a seething -maelstrom swirled within him. "But make your offer worth listening to, -I have no time for barter." - -"A thousand prisoners of war, and a coffer of jewels, Guerlan!" - -Guerlan laughed shortly. "Your fame for sagacity has been overrated, -Bejamel, the jewels ... we shall shortly make our own--The Ultimate -Presence knows there will be enough dead when this is over. As for the -prisoners," his voice became indifferent, "we'll take them, of course, -but we have more men than we need, Scientist. Offer me something beyond -my means and I'll send your daughter to you, unharmed!" - -"Speak, Dissenter, I am a man of reason!" Bejamel's voice was filled -with cunning. "Speak!" - -"Since you are the only one who can open His Benevolence's doors, -outside of the mechanism he can activate from within, destroy the -mechanism. Take away his invulnerable robe of force, and then ... then -forget to sing! Let him starve slowly in his enchanted garden, after he -has devoured all his birds and pets." Guerlan's laughter was mocking. -But within he was tense with anxiety. Would his strategy win, he -wondered? One could not deal in a normal manner with Bejamel. - -"Agreed!" The celestial voice had risen to limpid heights. - -The fleets of atomo-spacers and aero-tanks stood poised, withdrawn, -marking an invisible, aerial lane through which hurtled the slim, -silver flash of an atomo-plane. The most powerful Tele-Magnum in the -palace of His Benevolence was focused on that ship, without pause, -until every detail of its interior was exposed on the great tele-screen -at the palace. But its interior revealed only the pale, haggard face of -Perlac, inexpressibly lovely in its sadness, and motionless beside her, -the gigantic robot-proctor of bery-plastic, embossed with the insignia -of the House of Justice and Bejamel's own intricate emblem. It had -been sent to act as a guard and bring her unharmed to the palace. - -Forming a perfect target, a trio of transports carrying a thousand -Irreconcilables, prisoners of war, came from the opposite direction, -released from the City of the Sphere, as per agreement. The vessels -neared each other, crossed and passed en-route to their opposite -destinations. At last, Perlac's plane reached the outer air-locks of -the Sphere, where pressure was adjusted, and entering ships were guided -to their berths at the base of the immense globe, where the machinery -of the anti-gravity repulsor beams was housed also, and where the -glittering tiers rose upward to end at the great Hanging Gardens of His -Benevolence, where the palace stood. - -And then the armistice was broken. Hundreds of swift, deadly -interceptor planes, atomo-powered, dived after the retreating -transport; tremendous aero-tanks rushed in for the kill spewing a blaze -of livid radiations. One of the transports managed to dive into the -inter-connecting, ascending and descending chamber of the city, but the -others, trapped, rather than be rayed like sheep, courageously turned -and fought. But to no avail. Outside the tropical city of Columbia, -they crashed in great flaming gouts, like miniature volcanoes. - - * * * * * - -Ahead of Perlac and her robot-proctor was the City of the -Sphere. Majestically it blazed like a cosmic jewel against the -impenetrably-black backdrop of space. It grew immense, fantastic, like -a minor planet glowing in space, but suddenly, their speed slackened -as the robot-control began to decelerate; and presently they slid with -a vast hiss into the first airlock, where the synchronized magnetic -fields instantly checked their speed. A terrific force jarred them -until their bones seem to melt, then doors were opening, voices could -be heard shouting orders, and the official pilot entered the ship and -with an obsequious salute to the girl, he took seat at the controls and -guided the ship into the second lock. - -The entire length of both the first and second locks were lined -with the titanic coils of the synchronized, magnetic degravitation -fields, which stopped the vessels in a graduating net of force. But -the transparent sides of the sphere gave a curious sensation of lack -of solidity, of fragility even, as if they had entered a vast hall -of glass. Only those who really knew the secret composition of the -Sphere, were aware of its near-invulnerability, even beyond that of the -strongest known metal-alloys. - -At last the long, slim atomo-plane was berthed, and the tall, -cadaverous figure of Bejamel hove into view. He waited for Perlac -closely followed by her robot guard to approach him, in accordance with -the etiquette of Plastica. Then, unable to suppress any longer the -profound emotions that stirred his complex being, he opened his arms -wide and rushed forward to enfold the only being he had ever loved, -in the fragile embrace of his skeletal arms. A suspicious brilliance -swam in the long green eyes, and the ordinarily limpid voice was husky, -uncertain, as he exclaimed: "Perlac, O my dear!" He could say no more. -Perlac was touched. She brushed her lips against his cheek, then she -gently pushed him back, to gaze into the inscrutable green eyes of the -Minister of Justice, who was also her father. - -Behind her, looming unnoticed, as a piece of activated mechanism, was -the Robot-Proctor, both servant and guard. - -"Father," she said impulsively, "Don't take me to the Palace! I -couldn't bear to enter the temple as one of the Virgins ... rather -would I prefer to be a prisoner of the Irreconcilables." - -Father and daughter gazed at each other in silence, surrounded by the -deep, far-away hum of the throbbing generators as the incredible stream -of atomic power fought the gravity of Neptune. Great opaque doors at -the far end of the second lock led into the inner chambers where the -robot-tended machinery never faltered for a second. Bejamel smiled -slowly, ironically, and shook his head. "We're not going there!" - -He waved an emaciated hand at the guard of honor that awaited his -pleasure at a respectful distance, and instantly the Intermediate -Officer in charge came forward. "Command!" he said laconically. It -was the same officer that had reported the defeat of the Intermediate -battalion in the caverns beneath Plastica. His superbly beautiful -face was impassive, but the brilliant eyes were restless, as if the -creature's nerves were overwrought. - -"My atomocopter!" Bejamel said as laconically, and then passed a small -package to the Intermediate. "For you and the entire Palace Guard," he -said softly. "There will be no need of you and your men tonight. We -have all but won ... celebrate." - -The light of hunger, of delight, of the nearest feeling akin to -gratitude he could possibly feel, flashed like a flame into the -Intermediate's eyes. "I bow in thanks, O Lord of Justice," he replied -formally. - -Within seconds, they were speeding upwards in Bejamel's private -atomocopter, past tier after tier of the fabulous City of the Sphere. - - - VI - -Every tier was a beehive of activity, as scientists of the Inner -Circle, scurried in every direction engaged in a multitude of tasks. -Atomo-planes flashed through the inter-connecting levels on their way -to the titanic battle below. Thousands of the Neophytes, aided by -robots, supplied arms and concentrates to the departing vessels, while -other thousands boarded them on their way to swell the ranks of the -defenders, and take the place of their countless dead. - -At last they reached Bejamel's private dwelling. He never called it -a palace. In the tenebrous depths of his involved soul, there were -flashes of genius, and one of them was to have and to rule without ever -mentioning the fact. His dwelling was exquisite in proportions, the -simplicity of its white _Jadite_ facade, depending on the artistry of -its composition and carved decors, not on opulence of mosaic-jewelling -as was the case with the palace of His Benevolence. A repugnance of -rococco display was enough to deter him from bad taste. - -They went immediately into his private chambers, and here Perlac had a -great surprise, for reclining on a dais covered with silvery Venusian -furs and the priceless plumage of the Martian Kra, was the one person -she would never have expected to see--Estrella, favorite of His -Benevolence! - -Once over her shock, Perlac turned and favored her ancient father with -a sly smile. - -"Incredible!" she murmured. "Can it be possible?" Bejamel bridled. - -"Why not?" He rose to his full, cadaverous height. "Estrella and I -are going to Venus, child, I have yet many more years of life, and -loneliness is not good for an active mind like mine. That's why I -ransomed you from that barbarian Guerlan, so that you may go with us. -I am going to the palace now, I have one final errand to accomplish -well, before we leave!" He smiled slowly, satirically, as if the most -delicious thought in the universe had taken shape in his mind. - -"Did you take care of His Exalted Benevolence's power-screen belt, my -dear?" he inquired of Estrella. - -"Yes," the girl nodded, her eyes filling with hatred at the mention of -the dreaded name. "It will never function again!" - -"Then," Bejamel said emphatically, in the tones he used when he had -delivered the final word, "meet me at the emergency outer lock. My -ship is there waiting, robot-manned, provisioned, containing fortunes -in jewels and priceless things. We will go to Venus, and to a new ... -a greater life!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining on the reclining form -of Estrella. "I shall expect to see you, Perlac, with Estrella aboard -my ship within one hour!" And to the silent robot-proctor. "Guard the -women," he said directing a tiny beam of force from the microscopic -mechanism concealed in his ring of office at the forehead of the robot, -which instantly sealed the order within the synthetic brain of the -metal-plastic man. "Guard them and bring them to my ship within one -hour." - -The metalo-plastic robot seemed to stiffen, his great non-abradable -crystal eyes gleamed and a powerful arm went up in acknowledgment of -the peremptory order. Satisfied, Bejamel turned and left. - -It was then that Perlac turned to the towering robot and said softly, -"Now!" And to Estrella, who watched uncomprehendingly, "Are you ready? -Throw something about you, and veil your face, Estrella, we're going to -the space ship!" - -"But we've still got a lot of time!" the favorite protested. "It's true -that most of my things are on the spacer, but I want to arrange some -personal matters before we go; wait a while!" - -A tremendous power was in Perlac's voice as she replied: - -"We're leaving now!" Yet she said it very softly. "You're dripping with -jewels, are you taking those things with you?" - -"But of course! Such a question, have you gone mad?" - -"You know what they are? Each one represents a life ... they're made -from organic-plastic, human beings executed by greed!" Perlac reminded -her. - - * * * * * - -But Estrella shrugged her divine shoulders as she arose. "My not -wearing them wouldn't help those slain ones now. Besides, they're -nearer to me in death, than they could ever have been in life!" She -smiled with incredible vanity. She threw a robe of Kra plumes about -her, and allowed herself to be led to the atomocopter. - -Within seconds they were speeding to the outer lock and Bejamel's ship. -It was there that the robot-proctor left them, and hurried to the -lower chamber where the pulsing generators sang their eternal threnody -of unlimited power. Unnoticed he gained the great metalo-plastic -doors that divided the vast chambers from the anti-gravity repulsor -machinery. Unhesitatingly, it directed a thin pencil of force at an -orifice slightly above the center of the great doors, just as Perlac -had explained over and over, and the massive portals parted slowly, -remaining open. - -Robots of the lower grades worked among the maze of towering machinery, -oiling, testing, doing a multitude of tasks. But the robot-proctor, -without paying them any attention, seemed to suddenly open at the side -and an electro-flash gun, of large size, magnified by the Venusian -scientists and raised to many times its normal power, came into view -from the aperture. Without making a sound, without even a beam of -light, the fatal weapon was aimed at the very heart of the colossal -motors and generators, wheel and pistons seemed to warp, shrink and -disappear uncannily; the steady throbbing hum of the degravitator, -lost its smooth rhythm and thereafter large sections of machinery -disappeared under the relentless action of the supernal fire being -directed at them. - -Instantly the robots came to life, for a moment they milled wildly, -as if this supreme emergency were something they were not able to -cope with, and then they saw the new robot in their midst. Their -synthetic brains activated only to the repair and maintenance of the -machines, and to their safeguard, focused on the attacker, and its -removal was instantly their immediate task. They attacked _en masse_, -but the robot-proctor eluded them among the mazes of metalo-plastic, -of bery-plastic rods and generators, and the tremendous motors which -were being eaten by an invisible leprosy. With a swift slash of the -electro-flash gun, the robot-proctor caused havoc among the robots that -pursued him, legs, arms, even heads wavered and disappeared as the -electronic balance was completely disrupted by the flash. - -A tremor seemed to shake the gigantic Sphere. By now, the great -degravitator chamber was in shambles, and the remaining motors were -unable to cope with the awful pressure of the gravity of the giant -planet. - -With one final murderous sweep of the electro-flash, that seemed -to shear like an invisible scimitar through machinery, robots and -everything in its path, retreated as it had come, racing upwards -towards the Sphere's emergency locks. There was no apparent pursuit. -Only the vivid scarlet lights of imperative emergency, flooding what -had been the degravitator chamber were witnesses to the destruction. - -In the coordinating offices of the Maintenance Scientists, the -telesolidographs gave three-dimensional accounts of the wreckage. -But even there, confusion, bred by a growing panic, caused a delay, -losing them their chance of effecting repairs. Suddenly, panic brooked -no obstacles. The light of intelligence and logic was flung aside as -men and women becoming aware of the ghastly fate that awaited them, -poured out on the various levels in a frenzy to escape. The news of -the destruction of vital machinery in the anti-gravity repulsor beam -chamber was being relayed everywhere. - -Already the colossal Sphere was swaying gently and settling lower, -dislocating the delicate balances that held it poised in space. The -stresses on the plastic structures and pylons was tremendous. - - * * * * * - -As the robot arrived at Bejamel's spacer, a dramatic scene unfolded -before his huge non-abradable eyes. Holding an electro-flash in her -slender hand, her eyes brimming with tears, Perlac seemed to have for -the moment at least, control of the superb ship. She was saying: - -"We don't leave here until Guerlan returns!" Her lips were white, but -the sheer determination written in her lovely face, held even Bejamel -who was taken aback. - -"Guerlan! Are you mad, Perlac? That barbarian's below on the planet's -surface!" - -"On the contrary," the robot-proctor spoke in a voice leaden with -fatigue, "I'm here, Bejamel." Slowly he emerged from the enclosing -plastic shell of what had been a robot, then let the huge, hollow -plastic man fall clattering to the spacer's floor. Silently he searched -the ex-Minister of Justice, who seemed transfixed by a vast surprise. -From under Bejamel's arm-pit, Guerlan took a hidden electro-flash, and -a venom-tipped dagger concealed in a fold of his tunic. Having drawn -his fangs, he smiled. "We can blast off now ... but not for Venus!" - -Majestically, Bejamel turned to Perlac with an inscrutable smile. He -gazed at the girl in a mixture of bitterness and admiration: - -"You're indeed _my_ daughter!" he said at last. Then to Guerlan: "What -do you propose to do with me?" - -"Keep you on Neptune," Guerlan replied bluntly. "Utilize your vast -knowledge of jurisprudence, and your personal and intimate knowledge -of the thousands of scientists who are certain to surrender sooner or -later. Human beings have inalienable rights, rights that we propose -to return to them. But unfortunately, it will not be easy to give -freedom to those who have never known what freedom is. We will need -all the science and power of mind available. So, Bejamel, we must use -you--under our supervision, of course. You see, even the venom of a -cobra is eminently useful, if handled right!" - -They eyed each other, these two. Both powerful, dominating intellects, -both capable of profound emotions. It was the older man, who used to -the devious ways of the Sphere and His Benevolence's court, yielded -gracefully. Bejamel glanced at Estrella, and it occurred to him that -whatever years of life remained to him would be sweet if she were at -his side. At that instant, a vast tremor shook the gigantic city of the -Sphere, and Bejamel's eyes went wide. - -Seated at the controls, Guerlan turned slightly to Bejamel. "Give your -Intermediates orders to open the lock and activate the catapult--we -have minutes, perhaps only seconds, before the Sphere gives under the -gravity pull. Make your choice, or I give the ship full power and crash -through the airlock, Bejamel!" Guerlan's voice was cold, impassive. - -"I shall give the order," Bejamel assented in a brittle voice. - - * * * * * - -From a vantage point in space, the scene that met their eyes had the -memorable quality of those stupendous spectacles of nature that human -eyes rarely if ever are privileged to see. - -The vast sphere was aflame with color, dazzling in the vivid -coruscations of blue and orange and mauve and yellow lights. Spinning -slowly, it was a thing of unearthly beauty, a floating, starry globe -that might have been a toy of the gods. It was being deserted by every -type of craft imaginable; hundreds of planes, 'copters, electros ... -every available type of ship that could evacuate the jostling, crying, -screaming thousands who had jammed the outer air-locks and emergency -exits. - -Inexorably, the Sphere sank lower and lower, as the remaining -generators fought the awful gravity of Neptune that held the doomed -globe in its gigantic grip. Enough power still remained to the -incredible sphere to keep it from crashing headlong into the furious -waters of the vast ocean below. But at last, as if the ultimate ounce -of power were gone, the Globe seemed to lurch in a glory of prismatic -lights, then with terrific momentum it began the dizzy plunge through -space, whirling like a falling meteor. - -Perlac, Bejamel, Estrella--even Guerlan himself, could not take their -eyes from the tragic glory that was the sphere. Suddenly they saw it -illuminate the ocean for miles as it neared the surface of the waters, -then with a vast splash that sent a tidal wave licking the shore's -hills hungrily, it sank into the cold, green waters. - -"And there it will remain for all eternity!" Guerlan said -thoughtfully. "A tomb of evil, that men might live!" - -Bejamel was silent. The gargoyle's face was softened by a profound -sadness. He sighed like a man who has lived too much, and at last seeks -rest. He turned his back to the scene below as if unable to bear it any -more. "An epoch has passed," he said softly in the magnificent voice. - -But Guerlan was at the Tele-Magnum, broadcasting offer of an armistice -to the warring armadas below. - -"Scientists of the Inner Circle and the First Level," he said with -infinite assurance. "Your City of the Sphere has plunged to its doom, -and, with it went His Infamous Benevolence and hundreds of thousands of -your henchmen. You no longer have a haven of refuge, no base in which -to refuel or obtain supplies. When your present ammunition is gone, -when repairs and food are necessary, and when the men who die must be -replaced, there is no spot where you can return. Yours is a certain -doom--unless you unconditionally surrender. We offer a pardon to all -who are willing to join our cause; lay down your arms and aid in the -reconstruction--a far more glorious future is before us!" - -An immense weariness had etched lines about his mouth and eyes, and -his shoulders slumped as if a great reaction had set in. But his eyes -could still flame with joy, as he saw the deadly fleet of the Inner -Circle abandon the struggle, as he saw the embattled armies cease their -carnage. As he turned from the Tele-Magnum to go to the controls and -guide the ship to their base in Columbia, he suddenly felt soft arms -entwine around his neck and a soft face that pressed close to his. He -didn't even need to look, the fragrance of Venusian jasmines was in his -nostrils and a warm, flower-like mouth pressed close to his. - -It was then that Bejamel turned to Estrella and was eyeing him with -critical eyes and said sardonically: - -"Shall we make it unanimous?" - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Minions of the Crystal Sphere, by Albert de Pina - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINIONS OF THE CRYSTAL SPHERE *** - -***** This file should be named 63134-8.txt or 63134-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/3/63134/ - -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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Minions of the Crystal Sphere - -Author: Albert de Pina - -Release Date: September 6, 2020 [EBook #63134] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINIONS OF THE CRYSTAL SPHERE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Minions of the Crystal Sphere</h1> - -<h2>By ALBERT DE PINA</h2> - -<p>Like a monster flashing jewel, Plastica hovered over<br /> -Neptune. And burning at its heart like the malignant<br /> -sparkle of a gem was the blazing hate of millions of<br /> -slaves, ready to flare into raging battle at the ringing<br /> -tocsin of Vyrl Guerlan, the man without a country.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Summer 1944.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The vast globe of transparent plastic, infinitely stronger than the -most powerful columbium steel, hung suspended in space, ablaze in -brilliant pyrotechnics of light. And as cold and impersonal as the laws -of the empire it ruled.</p> - -<p>Within it was the City of the Inner Circle. Patterned after the City -of Plastica itself, it rose within the globe in graduated tiers, but -unlike Plastica, there were no graduations of caste—they were all -Protectors, these scientists of the Inner Circle, and above them ruled -the legendary figure of <i>His Benevolence</i>, the "Protector in Chief."</p> - -<p>Six thousand feet below, the turbulent ocean tossed restlessly as -if resentful of the awful pressure of the stupendous anti-gravity -beams that kept the glittering sphere in space—sacred, inviolate, -invulnerable. Above the ocean's shoreline, set amidst low hills, rose -Plastica, entirely enclosed in a shell of the same transparent plastic, -and rising tier on tier—each one a small world unto itself, and each -barred from communication with other tiers. Here the millions toiled -and loved and died ... and entered the portals of Blessed Sleep.</p> - -<p>In the vast reaches of Neptune, only this continent—Adamic, was -livable, thanks to immense volcanic valleys where constant volcanic -activity of titanic proportions maintained a temperate atmosphere in -contrast to the frigid, desolate continents to the north and west. And -dotting the valley of Plastica like transparent beehives, the twelve -jewels of the diadem—twelve cities where five million human beings -dwelt in each, formed the empire of sixty million descendants of the -original immigrants who chose to follow the Council in their flight -from Venus.</p> - -<p>There was no other sign of man, except among the virgin forests of the -volcanic valleys, where the Irreconcilables who fled the rigid laws of -the Protectors, carried on a precarious existence, assailed by fierce -wild beasts of prey, and hunted for sport with lances and long-swords -by the members of the Inner Circle, and the Scientists of the first -order. Burdened by the awful gravity of the great planet, and without -adequate arms to defend themselves, they were doomed quarry.</p> - -<p>Within the capital, Plastica, and in each of the twelve cities, each -individual life had a definite pattern known only to the members of -the Inner Circle. Any deviation from that pattern brought instant -retribution. There was no appeal, for each judgment was based on -cold, inexorable law. Ever since the great exodus from Earth, when -the original Council had fled Terra, and forced colonies on Mars and -Venus, and later after their disastrous war with Europa, the Council -itself had been given the alternative of leaving the inner planets -or being executed, the members of the Council had colonized Neptune -with millions who unable to live without the "controls" had chosen to -accompany them into space. As the centuries passed and a new ruler of -the Council had been elected, changes had occurred in the laws, methods -had been perfected, until now, all Neptune was ruled by the City in the -Flaming Sphere, and to the millions in Plastica and the other great -cities, the Protectors (as they now styled themselves), had become -legendary figures. The Law was supreme. And behind the Law, was the -"Blessed Sleep."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the fabulous hall of the palace, where the reeling torches in relief -threw faces of ink and of gold, there was a sudden silence as an -unearthly voice rose limpid, supernally lovely, in a single ululating -note. It was as if a gargoyle were singing with the voice of an angel.</p> - -<p>But the bizarre assemblage of jaded, pleasure-sated "Protectors" of -the <i>Inner Circle</i> had no eyes for the cadaverous Minister of Justice, -whose distorted features seemed uglier as he directed a stream of -modulated notes upward toward the gigantic doors at the top of jewelled -stairs. All eyes peering through the slits of black and golden masks -that completely hid their faces, were directed at the great red doors, -shining like gigantic, square cut rubies under the primitive light of -resinous torches. Every detail of the masquerade was perfection itself, -copying faithfully the conditions of primitive ages thousands of years -past. The magnificent costumes of the guests harked back to pirates and -slave-dealers, to vanished kings and oriental potentates. Back to an -era when humanity was young, as if these scientists who had the command -of miracles at their finger-tips, had wearied of their scientific -perfection.</p> - -<p>Bejamel, Minister of Justice, had conceived the idea, and His -Benevolence had approved. From the current "favorite" of His -Benevolence, to the newest neophyte of the Inner Circle, the Masquerade -had immediately become a command performance.</p> - -<p>Only one thing they had no need to imitate, one thing that harked back -to the darkest annals of Terra and surpassed anything that Planet had -ever known—their utterly ruthless intrigues for the favor of His -Benevolence. Assassinations were a commonplace, besides it provided a -constant incentive to the Scientists of the First Order, for from them -were chosen the fortunate ones who filled the vacancies of the Inner -Circle.</p> - -<p>The audience gave a vast sigh, like a susurrating breeze, as the -ponderous doors began to open under the exact tonal vibration of -Bejamel's voice, for Bejamel, Minister of State, was the only one -who could open those doors, aside from the "Protector in Chief" -himself. Within the inner chamber nothing was discernible as the doors -opened—nothing but a vast radiance intolerable to their eyes. As if -a command had been given, all of them kneeled with bowed heads. At -last, Bejamel's ululating chant ceased and when they looked again, the -jewelled door had closed, but on the dais at the top of the stairs -immediately above them reclined a figure—a monstrous figure of man, -whose sharp, pale-yellow eyes gazed at them with bored contempt from -amid folds of bulging flesh.</p> - -<p>"Benevolence!" The roar of thousands of voices rose in servile tribute, -and left hands were flung upwards, fingers extended in salute. His -Benevolence looked them over with cold, cruel eyes that seemed to miss -no detail, and a little smile extended the bulbous lips. Languidly he -waved a massive hand to the masqueraders, noting that none had achieved -the bejewelled opulence of his Mandarin's costume, and instantly -the revelry burst into tumult. The corps of exquisite dancers until -now frozen in motionless attitudes, began a series of provocative -movements, while barbaric drums and percussion instruments wove a theme -of madness and desire. Over all, the shrill <i>passionata</i> of the reeds -and strings winged insistently to combine in a diabolic pattern that -plucked at raw nerves and bared hidden jealousies and hates and bared -the instincts of the jungle, red in tooth and claw.</p> - -<p>A group of dancers weaving and undulating in the suggestive rhythms -of the Venusian "<i>Vuda</i>" passed like an uncoiling serpent before the -august dais and burst into bacchanalian frenzy before the sardonic -yellow eyes of His Benevolence. The fantastic splendor of the scene -was heightened by the young, supple bodies of the most beautiful girls -in the empire, the Virgins of the Sacred Flame, chosen yearly for that -sacred trust.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Well," an impassive voice inquired of a tall, dark-haired <i>guest</i> who -stood in the side-lines, stiff and uncertain, his conventional black -mask too small to hide the firm, square-cut mouth, his blue-black mane -of shoulder-length hair betraying him as a newcomer lacking as it did -the curled and perfumed artistry of the other guests.</p> - -<p>"I suppose it's superfluous to ask your reactions to your first visit -to the mysteries of our City." The faint laughter that accompanied -the words brought a flush to the cheeks of the newcomer, fortunately -covered by the mask.</p> - -<p>"How did you know I was a newcomer?" The youth inquired in turn.</p> - -<p>"Simple," the cold, impassive voice replied. "You have no jewels save -that ring of a scientist of the First Order you're trying to conceal. -Your costume's far too simple.... When do you begin your probationary -period for the Inner Circle?" The speaker was below medium height, -slender as a sheathed rapier, and dressed in a single garment of -tight-fitting silk literally emblazoned in diamonds of the first water. -His square-cut mane of red-gold hair was starred with myriad blue and -red and yellow flashing stones, but the face was thoroughly hidden by -the golden mask.</p> - -<p>"Tomorrow!" The words were spoken with a vast regret. "I'm afraid I -don't quite understand.... I hadn't expected this. Why I thought Sacred -City was a heaven of achievement of ..." he stopped as if words failed -him.</p> - -<p>"Go on!" The sexless voice had a hint of mockery in its depths now. -"This is merely a preamble." He waved a marvelously slender hand in the -direction of the revellers. "Later ... but then, I always manage to -slip away before the real feast commences. If you wish, you may come -with me."</p> - -<p>"But who are you? I might as well tell you who am I," the youth began, -but his unknown acquaintance waved his words aside with a gesture.</p> - -<p>"I know who you are—scientist of the First Order Guerlan, as for me, -it does not matter who I am—you will see me again ... soon." He turned -to leave.</p> - -<p>"Wait!" Guerlan exclaimed. "Take me with you out of this ... this -welter of vice and ..." words failed him in his disgust.</p> - -<p>"Traitor ... Blasphemer!" A hoarse cry of rage rose above the music -and tumult. The swirling dancers split asunder as if a giant's hand -had flung them back. In the center of the cleared space, Guerlan found -himself facing a stocky, powerful figure of a man, costumed in the -ancient garments of a Pirate, eyes gleaming through the slits of -his golden mask. In his hand he hefted a long columbium sword with -bejewelled hilt. "Draw, vermin!" He taunted the dazed youth. "Draw -before I spit you on my sword like a spider!"</p> - -<p>On the dais, still reclining as he gulped superb white grapes, His -Benevolence had begun to show signs of interest for the first time. The -veil of boredom had left his yellow eyes, an expectant grin split his -lips hungrily. Here was an unscheduled diversion of the first order.</p> - -<p>Guerlan wore a long, thin rapier for a weapon, it had come with the -costume, or he'd never have thought of wearing it—nothing like this -fantastic nightmare could possibly have occurred to him. "Why did they -have to choose me!" He groaned inwardly. But with a swift movement -he drew the blade and stood <i>en garde</i>. He sensed dimly that it was -a true weapon, flexible and needle-sharp, not a costume-toy. And -once he had it in his hand, all his relentless, austere training in -fencing and sword-play came flooding in his mind. It was not considered -sportsmanlike to hunt Irreconcilables with atmo-pistols, only swords -and spears were used—but the end was the same for the defenseless -rebels.</p> - -<p>Dimly Guerlan was aware of the dispassionate voice whispering in his -ear, "Watch out for tricks ... and win! The penalty will be far less -severe."</p> - -<p>Guerlan wondered if his unknown acquaintance of the frigid voice meant -that his rebellious words had reached the awesome figure on the dais, -and that by winning he might be shown mercy. But he had no more time to -think irrelevant thoughts, for with a cry of drunken fury, his accuser -struck without preamble, slashing downward in a mighty blow calculated -to have cloven anything in two. But Guerlan smiled contemptuously at -the transparent maneuver; he merely shifted sideways and flicked his -rapier, and the sword slid harmlessly along the shining columbium -steel rapier. But the pseudo-pirate had no intentions of giving up -the initiative, he whirled the saber over his head and again brought -it down in a glancing blow that would have sheared through Guerlan, -and the young scientist again parried it with such precision that the -razor-sharp blade slid off singing to one side.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was a superb struggle, and His Benevolence had directed his palace -minions to clear space for his unobstructed view. He now held a -gigantic uncut, but polished diamond to one eye, which he alternated -with an emerald and then a ruby, watching the battle through various -colors. An immense golden platter of viands and fruits slowly -disappeared down his capable maw.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Guerlan closed in. His rapier flashed with vertiginous speed, -flicking in and out, so rapidly that it barely seemed to touch the -brawny forearm of his attacker, but when it came away it left a flowing -gash from elbow to wrist. With a bellow of humiliation and rage, the -pirate-costumed scientist lunged with a tremendous slash, but his -sword-point speared the air and before he could recover his balance, -Guerlan drove his rapier deep into the fleshy shoulder.</p> - -<p>His attacker was silent now, an ominous rage contorted the brutal face -from which he'd torn the golden mask. He had but one single idea, to -kill and kill quickly. Laughter and jeering shouts rose around him. -As did the acrid odor of blood mingling with the exotic fragrances -that cloyed the atmosphere ... his own blood! His reaction to the -audible scorn of the other inner circle scientists was instantaneous. -He came in whirling his saber until it was like a silver vortex, then -he brought it down in a savage slash to shear Guerlan's head off his -shoulders. But the youth leaped back, engaging the Pirate's sword at -the same time and with a strange flicking motion accomplished faster -than the eye could catch, he twisted suddenly at a precise instant and -sent his attacker's sword flying through the silent hall.</p> - -<p>It was an all but forgotten, ancient Italian trick whose origins were -lost. But the Scientist of the Inner Circle, sweating under his gaudy -pirate's costume knew nothing about Italian fencing tricks—he only -knew that one moment he'd thought to shear his opponent's head off his -shoulders and the next he was disarmed. A look of sheer horror came -into his blood-flecked eyes and next an uncontrollable scream escaped -his lips. That sealed his doom. Guerlan saluted and made no motion to -finish him. But from the fabulous dais where the jeweled stairs were -like a flowing stream of fire, a mocking, infinitely sardonic laugh -chilled every scientist present in that room.</p> - -<p>"Our unfortunate brother is afraid, he is tired, is he not Bejamel? -After such an ordeal he deserves sleep ... soothing 'Blessed Sleep!'" -Again that demoniac, perversely cruel cachinnation that travestied -laughter, while the scientist, grovelling now, babbled in a frenzy of -appeals for a mercy that didn't exist. He was led screaming to a side -door and then once more there was silence in the hall.</p> - -<p>"Bring the rebel!" Once more it was the voice of His Benevolence, -purring now, silky, filled with anticipatory pleasure. But Guerlan -needed no one to bring him before the dreaded presence. He walked calm -and erect to what he sensed would be his death. He knew that from -this soulless being he could expect no justice—nothing but death. -But there was to be a surprise in store for him. His Benevolence was -an adept at ringing the changes of torture on a human soul, and this -was a magnificent occasion. "We have heard you disapprove of us?" His -Benevolence's voice was light, cheerful, there was no hint of danger in -the silky tones. But Guerlan knew. That partly developed extra-sensory -perception that was a part of his heritage was prenaturally alert now. -He was not fooled.</p> - -<p>"I expressed a misunderstanding, Your Benevolence," Guerlan bowed -and slowly took off his mask. Above the wide-spaced deep-green eyes, -flashing like tourmalines, a tiny tattooed six-pointed star seemed to -tremble with the pulsing of a vein.</p> - -<p>"You see, Bejamel? I told you that 'Perceptives' would never do, yet -you so persuasively sold me the idea of how useful they could be if -their extra-sensory perceptive powers were developed." He sighed. "It's -that genius of yours for intrigue.... But it has failed. We can allow -no dissidents to enter the mysteries of the inner circle, Bejamel!"</p> - -<p>"I kneel before your Benevolence," Bejamel's gargoyle features were -painfully contorted as he tried to grovel. "In my zeal for service to -your Magnificence, I have failed, but there's always the Blessed Sleep -for this blasphemer, O Symbol of Charity!" He finished ominously and -pondered what a jewel of a victim he would make.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But His Benevolence gave Bejamel a look of such cold, devastating evil, -that <i>he</i> should dare to offer a solution, that the cadaverous Minister -of Justice seemed to shrink, pale and desperate, against the wall of -scientists who watched avidly the <i>miseen scène</i>.</p> - -<p>"No mercy, no finesse." His Benevolence again was wearing the mask of -merciful forgiveness. "No Bejamel—not the Chamber of Blessed Sleep, -just ..." and he held up two fingers weighted with jewels. Then he -turned to Guerlan.</p> - -<p>"My son!" Guerlan flinched. "Having been offered the sacred honor of -entering the Inner Circle, you failed to understand your first test -of the lesser mysteries ... all this ... this pitiful show of human -frailty and weakness, this odious travesty on the sins of the flesh, -was staged to test you. And you." A world of sadness seemed to darken -His Benevolence's voice, "and you condemned us! Instead of seeing it as -a mere test, and valuing it for what it was worth, you believed that -we were such monsters of hypocrisy as to entertain such lives." He -wagged his head from side to side in inexpressible disappointment and -grief. "I would pardon you from the depths of my heart, but The Law is -inexorable—I can but soften the harshness of your retribution.</p> - -<p>"And so, my son," he held up two fingers again, "you not only are -barred from entering the sacred inner circle, but are demoted from -scientist of the first, to that of the second order. There is one -plastic center where a problem has not been solved. Achieve its -solution and you will be promoted to your original place, and -perhaps ... perhaps as you grow older, you may again be considered for -the priceless boon, the blessed destiny you have lost tonight."</p> - -<p>A brooding sadness mantled the obese face, lending it dignity and a -transitory greatness. The soft echoes of the august voice ceased, and -Guerlan found himself being led by members of the Inner Circle Guard -back to the atomo-plane that had brought him here from Plastica. He -was too dazed to think, a vast, anguished feeling of defeat and shame -filled his mind, the words of His Benevolence whom he had dared to -doubt, were etched in acid in his brain. But, deep in the recesses of -his consciousness, something mocking, something not quite articulate, -struggled to plant in his chaotic thoughts, the swiftly growing seeds -of doubt.</p> - -<p>Behind him, had he only been there to see and hear, a cataract of -laughter had engulfed the great Hall, and His Benevolence, surrounded -by his favorites and the most magnificently beautiful girls of the -empire, shook in paroxysms of mocking laughter.</p> - -<p>But Guerlan knew nothing of this. His muscles ached from the battle and -his brain was awhirl. Once out in space again, he noted that a great -storm was in progress.</p> - -<p>Hurtling under guard through the stormy reaches of space, he idly -watched through the plane's transparent dome how lightning danced -a drunken saraband. But although Guerlan strove to re-direct his -thoughts, the echoes of His Benevolence's voice were like a sunset gun -in his brain—final, incontestable, a sentence to the obscurity of the -Second Order, and problems ... he had mentioned a specific problem. And -Guerlan remembered with chill apprehension the sentence for failure to -solve problems in the second order. Three failures brought a warning, -five a probation and the sixth ... final judgment.</p> - -<p>The upper air of the First Level, reserved for the Scientists of the -First Order, had the exhilarating quality of Burgundy. As far as -Guerlan's eyes could reach, the opaline and prismatic domes of the -First Level's exquisite structures extended in every direction. The -light was soft and caressing, thanks to the illumination and climate -conditioning of the mammoth Weather Stations. A soft, lilting melody -reminiscent of the ancient ballets of another age of centuries past, -was like a ripple of melodic laughter, enhancing a background of -ineffable peace. But Guerlan knew how illusory all this was for him. -Only enough time—a few hours to arrange his affairs and move to the -Second Level had been granted him. A profound pang of regret was like a -dull ache in his heart.</p> - -<p>He had been trained from childhood to be a scientist of the First -Order, his mental coordinates had warranted it. So he had never seen -any other level but the First. Vaguely he had heard of that Second -level where spartan simplicity was a virtue, luxury-less, where -toil was constant, and thinking—a dangerous luxury, except where -work-problems were concerned. And the columbium steel band around his -young heart seemed to constrict more and more. Quickly he finished -packing his personal possessions. Nothing else was allowed him—a -sentence of demotion entailed complete personal loss.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>"In twenty-seven seconds," an impassive voice vaguely reminiscent, -predicted from the inter-connecting catwalk above, "the vat will burst, -flooding the safety moat with acid."</p> - -<p>The marvelous tonal quality was startling, for in its depths there was -no emotional content—almost as if it were a sexless voice prophesying -the most natural thing in the world.</p> - -<p>With a swift movement that sent the muscles rippling along a -Leander-like torso, Vyrl Guerlan abandoned the precision tool with -which he had tackled a gigantic refractory coupling. Gleaming with -perspiration, his square-cut mouth compressed into a line of fury, -he gazed up at the speaker and wondered where he'd heard that voice -before. Above him rose the titanic vat of processing acid, that treated -the materials and converted them into gelatinous masses in the first -process.</p> - -<p>"I was a First Order Scientist, I'm now an Analyst," Guerlan said -brusquely. "Nothing in my tests indicates such an accident." But the -whining crescendo of the vat's machinery was threnody in major and -minor warning of sudden, devastating trouble, as its originally smooth -purr changed to a cacophony of sound.</p> - -<p>"Twelve seconds!" Came the placid voice in reply. "Care to test <i>my</i> -prediction?"</p> - -<p>For an answer Guerlan scrambled up the hetero-plastic ladder to the -upper catwalk with the agility of dread, his mane of blue-black hair -tangled and dishevelled, his face white and strained.</p> - -<p>Guerlan towered beside the fragile figure of the scientist, whose -wasp-like waist and marvelously slender hands gave him an elfin -quality in comparison with Vyrl's streamlined strength. For an instant -Guerlan felt an overpowering desire to seize the delicate body in his -own great hands and break it in two. But the luminous violet eyes -on the abnormally lovely face, appraising him now as if he were a -particularly obnoxious specimen, held him in check with their utterly -calm detachment. It was then he remembered where he'd last heard those -impersonal tones, that sexless voice that seemed devoid of all emotion.</p> - -<p>"Why ... you're the scientist of the golden mask when I was at -the ..." but a cool hand was suddenly pressed against his lips. A vague -fragrance as of Venusian jasmines was in Guerlan's nostrils and before -he could say any more, a livid crack appeared down the length of the -vat, growing swiftly until the vat where Guerlan had been working on -the defective coupling, split into two halves with a prodigious hiss, -like an apple cloven in two.</p> - -<p>A cataract of spuming acid flooded into the safety moat, while -hundreds of analysts and technicians came scrambling up the opaque -hetero-plastic ladders that surpassed columbium steel in tensile -strength and cycle-endurance for unlike metal, there was no fatigue -factor. A babel of voices rose above the broken hum of the machinery -and the swirling hiss of the released acid. Intolerable fumes taxing -the conditioners in the safety towers, burned the membranes of their -nostrils and mouths as they gasped for air.</p> - -<p>And, above the hum of the machinery, the growing turmoil of -panic-stricken technicians and tumult of excited voices, rose the -crystalline tones of the slender scientist once more:</p> - -<p>"<i>Vat 66 explodes in twelve minutes!</i>"</p> - -<p>A desperate look—the look of a trapped animal glazed Guerlan's green -eyes. If this was true, it was the end for him.</p> - -<p>"The organic acid vat!... But, it's impossible!" He gasped. -Yet, inwardly, even as he denied the possibility, he knew with -soul-wrenching dread, and the certitude of a <i>perceptive</i> that it was -true.</p> - -<p>But he didn't have time to think, to plan a solution of the problem, -for already the outpouring technicians were sweeping him onward in -a desperate exodus toward the multiple conveyors that reached every -section and floor of the titanic structure that was known as Plastic -No. 15. Once as he was being pushed forward by the press of horrified -analysts, synthetizers, selectors, graders and all the technical -complement of the Second Order who actually transformed all foods, -materials, minerals and in fact everything produced in Neptune, he -glimpsed the calm features of the scientist he had first seen at the -Feast of the Jewels in the City of the Sphere, and it seemed to him -there was a hint of pity in the violet eyes.</p> - -<p>Guerlan's face was white as <i>Jadite</i> as he roared orders in an effort -to stem the maddened flood of men. He exhorted them to don their masks -of crysto-plast and try to hold back the expected explosion, but no -one paid any attention; it was doubtful if they even understood him -in their growing horror of the dread, corrosive acid that converted -organic matter into a secret formula that none but the Scientists of -the Inner Circle were permitted to know anything about. They never saw -the final product under the penalty of death.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At last they debouched into the conveyors, and Guerlan, among a -group of others, was taken to the Dispersors—platforms where the -ultra-sensitive dispersal machines sensitized to the vibrations of -their individual plastic wrist-band of rank, unerringly sent them to -their proper levels.</p> - -<p>Guerlan's generous mouth was compressed into a pale scimitar. His odd, -slanting green eyes with long dark lashes, were almost black with -rebellious fury. Suddenly he was shunted into a special conveyor and a -platform where the conveyors to the inner corridors revolved.</p> - -<p>"They already know!" He exclaimed bitterly. And he was not wrong. -For presently a plastic arm the color and texture of aluminum, but -incredibly stronger gathered him in and gently pushed him into an -alcove that immediately became hermetically sealed the very moment he -had entered. Guerlan saw that he was in an Efficiency Cubicle where -technicians were periodically tested. Before him stood a towering -Neuro-graph entirely fashioned of several types of plastics including -crystallite, as transparent as its namesake. It was an invention so -complicated that it resembled nothing so much as a multiplication -of tesseracts. Presently it became activated by Guerlan's mental -frequency, and one of its slender rods moved forward silently.</p> - -<p>A magnetic current went through the analyst and held him rigid, while -another rod clamped a plastic helmet over the young man's head. For -several seconds the almost inaudible sighing of the complex machinery -was the only thing that disturbed the silence. Then, in precise, -clipped tones an uncannily human voice began in sonorous tones to -summarize his mental and physical coordinates:</p> - -<p>"Efficiency totally neutralized by intense mental stress. Subject -suffering from psycho-atavistic retrogression. Paranoiac tendencies -with delusions of persecution. Immediate fear of death ... intense."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was a pause in which Guerlan had time to remember how many times -he had attended councils with other Scientists of the First Order, when -the readings of the Master Neuro-graph on the First Level from which -he'd been ejected, had been tabulated from the readings of the various -neuro-graphs in the Plastic Centers and transmitted to the Council of -the Inner Circle in the City of the Sphere. Guerlan, his eyes flaming, -his face mutinous, awaited for the recommendation. It was not long in -coming.</p> - -<p>"Report to Psychiatry III for amnesiac treatment for removal of -<i>superfluous</i> knowledge. Recommendation: <i>Reclassify for Level III</i>."</p> - -<p>"Damn them!" The desperate rebellion of a man condemned to worse than -death rose from his heart as the magnetic rod freed him and the helmet -was removed from his head.</p> - -<p>He began to circle the cubicle like a trapped animal. "Level III!" -He wailed inwardly. The Level of the Automatons conditioned to -slave-labor, dwelling in semi-darkness and squalor, on a diet -restricted to barest essentials of energy units, until finally the -Blessed Sleep claimed him—whatever that was, he shuddered. He'd -had six failures in his section—Plastic No. 15, and six meant the -ultimate sentence. There was no trial, no jury, no opportunity even of -explaining or seeking in a rational manner the reason for those ghastly -explosions. Inexorably, the Law was final. But who was <i>The Law</i>? -From the high Level of a First Order Scientist engaged in scientific -work that had resulted in the miraculous array of plastics that had -made their civilization a thing of undreamed-of power and wealth, -he was cast without recourse to the Level of Darkness—memory-less, -reflex-conditioned, practically mindless except for slavish toil and -animal needs.</p> - -<p>Little had he dreamed, even when a Scientist of the First Order, that -there existed such stupendous extremes as the fantastic splendor of -the City of the Sphere, and the hellish misery of Level III. The -Neuro-graph was speaking again in the sonorous, purple period that made -his hackles rise.</p> - -<p>"Analyst Guerlan," it intoned and paused impressively. "You have failed -in your <i>Allotment</i>. Six accidents have destroyed enormous wealth -and caused inexcusable damage. You had not less than five previous -repetitions of the same type of accident to study and find a solution -to the problem ... a problem given you because of your blasphemous -attitude toward the Inner Circle. The sixth explosion was your epitaph. -Retribution <i>is</i> The Law.</p> - -<p>"You will be immediately conditioned for Level III. Amnesiac Treatment -will be administered to save needless suffering—we are merciful—a -robot-proctor will guide you henceforth through the various stages. A -Protector has spoken." The icy voice was silent.</p> - -<p>Guerlan wondered which Protector had passed sentence. The hum of the -machine told of coordinators falling into place as his mental and -psychic state was recorded, the amount of energy of his metabolism -checked and the time potential of his servitude unerringly estimated. A -livid glow enveloped the strange instrument, and then, silently, a part -of the seemingly blank wall behind him slid aside for a robot-proctor's -entrance.</p> - -<p>Guerlan knew that the inexorable sentence had been transmitted by -remote control through incredibly delicate processes to the machine -before him. But who'd decided on the sentence, or why the reason -for its harsh cruelty, he had no way of knowing. He doubted if the -elephantine Protector in Chief had bothered to pass it. But Guerlan had -no time to dwell on this question, for the bery-plastic robot-proctor, -its non-abradable crystallite eyes gleaming, had grasped him firmly by -the elbow to lead him away.</p> - -<p>It was then that Guerlan acted without preconceived plan. His -magnificent chest arched as he sucked in air; then with a sinuous -movement of vertiginous speed, he twisted free and swooping downwards -at the same time he grasped the robot by its legs and then heaved with -a muscle-wrenching effort, flinging the plastic man with shattering -impact into the Neuro-graph. A dry, staccato rattle followed the -rending crash. Part of the robot-proctor protruded from what had been -the machine's crystallite dome and fragments of delicate mechanism and -scintillating shards of priceless <i>Jadite</i> showered on the plastic -floor.</p> - -<p>Instantly the cubicle was illuminated by a vivid, crimson fluorescence, -while the opening in the wall began rapidly to close. But Vyrl Guerlan -was already speeding toward the closing aperture. Instantly he was -through, seconds later only a blank wall showed where an opening had -been. A series of alarms in coordinated prismatic flashes flared in -every direction, activating the Safety Machines. Long, crane-like -alumi-plastic arms extended from ramps and conveyor-heads to trap -him; all efficiency cubicles became hermetically sealed cells, and -over all, a shrill maddening whine rose in fiendish wail, insistent, -nerve-shattering.</p> - -<p>Guerlan knew death was at his heels. He dodged the gasping arms and -magnetic traps, straining his extra-sensory perception to its fullest -power without slowing down the killing pace he maintained. Still he -wondered how long he could last against the diabolical ingenuity of -the Inner Circle. If he only had some human to go up against, with -atomo-pistols, or the more devastating supernal fire of the electronic -flash, forbidden to all but the Inner Circle Scientist—or even the -primitive swords and rapiers used to hunt Irreconcilables in Neptune's -vast forests. But machines! Soulless, cold plastic machines! His -capable hands clenched and unclenched as he flung himself toward the -ascending conveyor before him, his breath labored, his chest heaving.</p> - -<p>"No, idiot ... not that one!" There was an intense urgency in the -crystalline voice that speared into his consciousness. Even before he -turned to locate the speaker, he recognized the voice. Twice before in -a moment of crisis he'd heard it.</p> - -<p>"You!" Guerlan breathed explosively. He tensed himself to leap upon the -fragile figure at the least movement. But once more the preternaturally -calm gaze from the violet eyes held him in thrall.</p> - -<p>"That conveyor was purposely set in motion to trap you ... it leads to -Psychiatry III where you would have been neutralized, Guerlan. Take the -blue, lapiz-lazuli conveyor behind you to the right. Hurry! We've only -seconds before the chamber is gassed!"</p> - -<p>Suiting action to his words, the slender scientist dashed to the -gleaming plastic conveyor that imitated in all its sapphirine -perfection the blue glory of lapiz-lazuli. In an instant Guerlan was -beside the scientist in a leap. He grasped the fragile shoulder with -fingers that dug into rounded flesh.</p> - -<p>"If this is a trap, you die with me," he said briefly.</p> - -<p>"Your fingers," the scientist remarked impassively, "are like columbium -steel. Suppose you await developments before indulging in atavistic -impulses—besides, a real man offers no violence to a woman!"</p> - -<p>"A woman ... you?" Guerlan's dazed expression was ludicrous. "I thought -you were one of those repugnantly beautiful 'Intermediates' the Inner -Circle uses for intricate mental synthesis."</p> - -<p>"Am I repugnantly beautiful?" the scientist asked in cold detachment, -luminous violet eyes gazing inscrutably into the reddening features of -the young analyst.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Guerlan gazed at the exquisite face before him, and said laconically, -"On the contrary." He was too confused for words just now.</p> - -<p>"My name is Perlac," the girl scientist said without preamble. "Listen -carefully. This conveyor happens to be the only one that leads to the -aero-dome. All the rest have no exit, for although you do not know -it, every rest period you are directed to exit-conveyors by magnetic -coordinators that act on impulses sent by Selectors. These selectors -are attuned to the mental wave-length of the individual. No scientist, -analyst or technician may leave a plastic center without being tested -and their fitness for even limited temporary freedom established ... -<i>not even to rest</i>! That is why the direction of the conveyors is -changed for every allotment period and no one is permitted to know -which is the exit conveyor! Had you remained in City of the Sphere and -joined the Inner Circle, you would have learned all this."</p> - -<p>Guerlan stared at Perlac in incredulity. "But ... where are the -Selectors? I've never seen them!"</p> - -<p>"Is that strange? They're in the walls, imbedded in the flooring -beneath your feet ... oh, in a thousand places! But we've no time for -involved explanations just now. We're nearing the Aero-dome. Prepare -for the worst; but if we can get to my plane, we'll be beyond capture."</p> - -<p>"In a slow, propulsion type craft?" Guerlan asked unbelievingly. "We'll -be captured in minutes, if not blasted out of the Second Level by -Robot-Proctors!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Perlac turned and gazed into the young analyst's eyes; a gentle, slow -smile illumined her features like a tardy dawn.</p> - -<p>Suddenly they were at the vast platform that exited into the Aero-dome, -but where the great section of wall should have slid aside, it remained -blank and hermetically closed. It was a definite dead end.</p> - -<p>Far below them a greenish opalescence began to rise in tenuous, -billowing clouds, and the faint odor of new-mown hay came almost -imperceptibly to their nostrils. From the bowels of the gigantic -plant, robot-proctors began to debouch onto the blue conveyor in -serried ranks, impervious to death. Guerlan gazed curiously at the -girl scientist. "Looks like your plan has failed, Perlac. What I can't -understand is why you've thrown your lot in with me. I'm condemned ... -first it was to Level II, then for six failures to the living death of -Level III, and now that I have rebelled, I have no end but death. You -must have known there were <i>six failures</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I knew ... that's why I'm here." The unearthly voice was barely -a whisper. "Ever since the night you were at the Feast of the Jewels -and you were appalled at the debauchery of the Inner Circle, you -have been chosen. And my plan has not failed!" There was a world of -conviction in the exquisite voice, yet she said it softly, very softly -indeed.</p> - -<p>Slowly Perlac raised her hand, and Guerlan saw it held a tiny, slender -instrument the butt of which was a round ball concealed in the palm of -her hand. It was the dreadful electronic-flash, and she calmly aimed -it at the blank wall, playing it up and down its length. The seemingly -impenetrable wall of toughest bery-plastic parted from top to bottom -under the supernal fire of the electronic-flash, as the electronic -balance of the plastic's atomic structure was disrupted and literally -dispersed into space. There was no flash, no explosion, nothing but -a silent widening of the breach, until it was wide enough to permit -Guerlan's herculean shoulders to squeeze through.</p> - -<p>Nothing seemed to have issued from the instrument in Perlac's hand, no -beam of force, no light—literally nothing, yet, the strongest material -known to their civilization, surpassing even the heaviest columbium -steel armor, had been riven in seconds.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Guerlan followed Perlac through the gaping hole.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Once out in the immense Aero-dome, the platform was filled with -ships of every description under robot-proctor guard, from tiny -electro-copters with retractible vanes, to a large, powerful cruiser -reserved for Inspectors of the First Order. The moment Perlac and -Guerlan came into view, the robot-proctors aimed their electro-pistols -and atomo-pistols, but Perlac already had covered them with her -electronic-flash and their plastic bodies disintegrated in seconds.</p> - -<p>"The Cruiser!" Guerlan was exultant. "That's what we need, it has the -speed and endurance, and perhaps we can get by the robot-guard at the -outer gates of the shell, and reach the forests!"</p> - -<p>"No," Perlac shook her gold-red mane, "we'll take my ship, no time -to argue now ... you'll see!" She was already running toward a -blunt-looking four-seater of the electro-type usually reserved for -scientists of the First Order who were not inspectors.</p> - -<p>Guerlan hesitated, exasperation written in his face. To disdain a -powerful cruiser for this slow-going, vulnerable craft was beyond -his comprehension. But Perlac without slackening her stride made a -peremptory motion with her slender hand and shouted: "Follow me! I've -been right thus far; trust me, you fool!"</p> - -<p>Behind them, through the breach in the wall a phalanx of robot-proctors -was emerging, and wisps of green gas were beginning to reach the -Aero-dome.</p> - -<p>In giant strides Guerlan covered the distance to Perlac's plane and -entered its cabin. The die was cast, after all he owed her his life in -a way. But for her he would be in Psychiatry III right now.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He had scarcely strapped himself, when the ordinary-looking craft shot -forward in a dazzling burst of acceleration that pressed Guerlan back -against the mullioned seat with almost paralyzing force. But even then -his trained faculties noted the sheath of columbium with which the -plane was completely lined, and his ears detected the unmistakable hum -of powerful atomic engines. One glance at the complex instrument panel -told him that here was a craft that was far more than it seemed to be.</p> - -<p>But he'd scarcely time to begin to think order out of chaos, when a -growing nausea born of the steadily increasing acceleration cleaved his -tongue to his palate, and his lower jaw slowly twisted to one side.</p> - -<p>Perlac, an immobile figurine of alabaster, eyes closed, seemed crushed -against her seat. On and on the plane sped slanting upwards as if -determined to crash the transparent barrier that separated them from -the next level. And then as suddenly as it began, their terrific speed -slackened and the plane levelled off. The intense agony Guerlan had -momentarily felt dwindled and disappeared. He saw the girl manipulate -what was evidently a robot control, setting it for a new direction and -rate of speed, then lock it in place.</p> - -<p>"Look downwards, Guerlan, there to our right," Perlac whispered.</p> - -<p>An umbrella of atomo-planes in all the sleek glory of deadly -interceptors, spread below them in battle formation; behind them the -immense plastic pylons that supported the next tier, and the crenelated -superstructure of Level II, combined with distance to dwarf them -into toy-like dimensions. The semi-transparent roof of Level II was -dangerously near, Guerlan saw, and the forest of pylons dead ahead that -marked the center of their level was another fatal hazard. But Perlac -manipulated the intricate controls with casual ease, leaving the rate -of speed and general direction to the robot-control, she merely made -minute adjustments.</p> - -<p>"We outdistanced them!" Guerlan was awed. That anything in the -possession of even an Inner Circle scientist could outdistance the -Pursuit Fleet of the Protector in Chief was unimaginable.</p> - -<p>"This spacer's something His Benevolence would give the Diadem Jewel -for—or rather for the secret of its construction!" The girl laughed -softly. "It's atomic, of course, but a variation based on a principle -that goes beyond Terran equations."</p> - -<p>Guerlan gazed wonderingly at the exquisite features of the fragile -girl-scientist, marveling at the incredible courage of this puzzling -being who unaccountably had chosen to throw in her lot with his own.</p> - -<p>"Perlac," Guerlan spoke thoughtfully. "I'm afraid today has been -something of a mystery. From what I've seen you do to that Aero-dome -wall, the inexplicable accidents of the acid vats were undoubtedly your -doing. Yet, you've saved my life and in so doing forfeited your own. -Why? What interest can you possibly have in a doomed life such as mine?"</p> - -<p>The girl smiled slowly, ineffably, in a mixture of melancholy sweetness -and inexpressable sadness. She turned her golden head slightly and when -she spoke her voice had sombre overtones rich with emotion.</p> - -<p>"Do you know what is piped into the so-called organic vats, Guerlan? -No, you wouldn't know. Plants, you thought, beasts and cattle and dead -flesh.... Dead, yes. The murdered bodies of human beings, such as <i>you</i> -would have been!"</p> - -<p>All Guerlan's rigid training rose in protest at the charge against -the Protector in Chief. It could not be! There could be no murder in -Plastica, duels yes, honorable combat between men ... but murder! -He acknowledged that the Laws of Plastic, Inc., were ruthless and -harsh, and the Inner Circle had become lax in their supervision, -until Plastics, Inc., had become an octopus. But to imply that His -Benevolence would countenance cold-blooded murder ... every fiber of -his being revolted from such a charge.</p> - -<p>And then he remembered the Feast of the Jewels, and the travesty of -justice in his case, and he was silenced.</p> - -<p>"His Benevolence and the Inner Circle <i>are</i> Plastics, Inc." Perlac -continued imperturbably as if reading his thoughts. "Don't argue now, -strap yourself in and prepare for an orbital fall, we'll wheel in -direct ratio with the rotation of the planet then dive in a concentric -spiral that will become tighter and tighter until we reach our -objective. It is the only way we can elude the robot-proctor patrol.... -Look, they are climbing already. The plane's robot control is set -and timed—it will take us there. No human being can possibly retain -consciousness to guide the plane in such a maneuver," she explained, -pale as alabaster.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before Vyrl Guerlan had time to do else but tighten the broad straps -and lean back against the mullioned seat, the girl had touched a series -of knobs. Suddenly the craft began to wheel with meteoric speed, then -dived with a violence that sent the landscape spinning into a fantastic -pattern that quickly blurred. Guerlan felt as if the very marrow in -his bones had liquefied, an intolerable pain lanced at the back of -his brain like an atomic needle, and his face was contorted into a -spasmodic grimace he was unable to control. He tried to close his eyes -but couldn't, tried to shout and suddenly plummeted into an abyss.</p> - -<p>They were diving downward into the outskirts of the immense city, down -a secret inter-communicating passage that connected the various levels, -past the third, fourth and finally into a yawning chasm where all -was darkness. The hurtling craft sped on unerringly as if drawn by a -magnetic beam.</p> - -<p>When Guerlan finally awoke, he found himself in intense darkness. Only -his labored breath disturbed the silence. Motionless, his body a living -pain, he tried to adjust his thoughts and piece together the jig-saw -puzzle of the last few hours. Groping into his tunic he brought out an -atomo-torch. By its discreet illumination, he saw that the girl was -quivering like a being in torture. Gently he massaged her temples and -the base of her neck then her soft, white throat; with infinite care he -opened her mouth and inserted a pellet of <i>alphaline</i> to stimulate her -heart, then stroked the gleaming red-gold hair back from her forehead -until the girl showed signs of coming to.</p> - -<p>"Have you any stimulants aboard?" he asked her, when Perlac opened -her eyes. "I feel drained, but that's nothing to what you must feel, -Perlac!"</p> - -<p>She gave him a pallid smile. "There," she pointed weakly, "to the left -of the instrument panel."</p> - -<p>Guerlan pressed the combination lock and found in the compartment a -full kit of surgical instruments and bandages in a superb <i>Jadite</i> -case. A priceless flask of <i>Sapphirac</i> filled with sterile water, and, -to his intense surprise, a Platino-plastic bottle, encrusted with -tourmalines more brilliant than emeralds and filled with the utterly -proscribed <i>Sulfalixir</i>!</p> - -<p>"That ... that's it," Perlac gasped and reached for the bottle in -Guerlan's hand.</p> - -<p>"But, it's deadly!" Guerlan was aghast. "How can you risk addiction to -that dreadful drug?"</p> - -<p>"You're a victim of conditioning." Even as weak as she felt, Perlac -managed a low laugh, "<i>Sulfalixir</i> is a miracle drug—not what you've -been taught to believe." She drank sparingly and offered him the -bottle, but Guerlan drew back in categorical refusal. "As you wish. Now -we must leave the plane."</p> - -<p>"But where in ten thousand Hellacoriums are we?" Guerlan's voice was -mutinous. "I've been a pawn in a game ever since I went to the sphere -and blasphemed, since you burst the acid vat and exploded Organic 66! -By Neptune's Moon I'll be dissolved if I stir another step without -knowing what this is all about!" His green eyes were wide and gleaming, -his handsome face set in rigid lines.</p> - -<p>"All right, atavism! You're on Level Five, and you're going to a -meeting. I want you to appraise what the Amnesiac treatment does to -human beings, and how the condemned live on this level. The third -level is sheer luxury compared to this. You Scientists of the First -Level have no conception of what happens on the third, fourth and -fifth levels, where life ceases to be even existence and becomes...." -But words failed her, and she fell back against her mullioned seat -breathing heavily. After a pause she asked: "Will you come now?"</p> - -<p>"No," Guerlan grinned. "I'll lead the way. It was an experience seeing -you in a fury; blessed if I thought anything could disturb you!" He -stood up and pressed the plane's dome release and the stale, fetid air -of the nether regions of the city swept in. Only the conditioners broke -the silence with their constantly iterated and reiterated subconscious -homily of simple, child-like thought-patterns for the amnesiacs. It -was an eternal reiteration of the "Conditioning Controls" which no -amnesiac could ever escape, except at intervals when the amnesiac -counter-reaction set in as their metabolism building up a resistance -to the administered drug rendered them impervious and they regained a -measure of their former memories as consciousness returned. That was -the period of danger, when they were at the verge of any madness, in -their utter hopelessness. Deliberately they invited death. But here in -these vast catacombs, their end was but a detail, and the organic vats -eventually received them.</p> - -<p>"Listen!" It was Perlac's voice indistinct with indignation, "listen to -the 'conditioners,' Guerlan!"</p> - -<p>"Sleep ... sleep now. Deep, dreamless sleep ... for the conservation -of your energy is your noblest effort ... so you may conserve your -strength for work ... work ... you must, you absolutely must -<i>Achieve</i> ... so that you may fulfill your maximum allotment ... -maximum ... and be rewarded.... Sleep ... sleep...."</p> - -<p>Endlessly the fiendish mosaic of lies and psychological half-truths -went on and on, imbedding itself in the violated minds that slept in -the stupor of the utterly exhausted.</p> - -<p>Guerlan shivered. A malefic aura of death and torture seemed woven into -the matrix of darkness that surrounded them. The very odor of death -was in their nostrils as they left the atomo-plane by the light of his -torch and faced the narrow, tortuous thoroughfare that wended its way -from the wide circle where the plane had come to rest.</p> - -<p>Perlac pressed close to him and her slender hand gripped his arm. -There were no robot-proctors in sight, none were needed here where -no amnesiac ever left alive. No victims were in sight, for the day -workers rested and the nocturnal shift toiled in their prisoning -workrooms. Behind them, in front of them, from every side, the -Conditioners continued their endless chant: "Loyalty ... obedience ... -unquestioningly you must achieve ... for our glorious State."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>In the abysmal darkness their atomo-torch was a pool of light that -advanced before them. But Perlac unerringly went directly to a building -whose front seemed to be an impenetrable, blank wall. She pressed a -hidden mechanism near the far corner of the structure, and presently -a door slid aside, revealing a passageway to the beam of the torch. -Once within, Guerlan became aware it was some sort of dormitory, for -stretched on rows of cots made of cheap plastic, the amnesiacs slept in -their leaden tunics. These were the pitchblende workers who had but a -brief life-period, due to the radiations.</p> - -<p>In another corridor slept the brown-tunics, the organic-matter workers, -blood-stained from their gruesome labors, their stertorous breathing -witness to their exhaustion. Perlac kept on rapidly going from corridor -to corridor until she stopped at a door leading to the cellar, opening -it, she scrambled down a plastic ladder, followed by Guerlan, and -finally into a sub-cellar gallery that wound tortuously into the very -bowels of Neptune.</p> - -<p>Here were the sightless wrecks who lived in eternal darkness and whose -task was to tend the machinery that air-conditioned and kept reasonably -warm the dreadful Fifth Level. Some seemed strangely twisted and had -the loathsome whiteness of fungi, others mindlessly tottered by like -automatons. Guerlan drew aside in a mixture of nausea and profound -pity. A welling, terrible anger strove to rise within him at the sight -of these horrors that went by like Dantesque shadows of the damned.</p> - -<p>At last Perlac stopped and made six curious rasping sounds at a heavy -rocky section of the dripping wall.</p> - -<p>As if in a nightmare, Guerlan saw part of the stone surface pivot -silently inward, and before them was another passageway. But this -one was immaculately clean, completely sheathed in neutral grey -hetero-plastic, and the aura-lumes diffused a gentle light that was -soft and yet perfectly measured. The murmur of voices reached them, and -the air was fresh and exhilarating after the fetid, miasmic air of the -Fifth Level and the sub-cellars.</p> - -<p>"We have arrived, Guerlan!" Perlac gazed at the young scientist, as -if essaying to appraise his reactions to what he'd seen en route. -"You're going to meet the leaders of the Irreconcilables ... not those -poor creatures of the forests and jungles, but the real 'underground' -that has but one purpose—Freedom from the Protectors. Now, do you -understand why you were brought here?"</p> - -<p>Guerlan nodded in silence. His face was impassive, but the odd, -slanting green eyes were burning with lambent fires and his powerful -hands were knotted.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Within seconds the passageway led them to an immense cavern—on Terra -it would have been unthinkable, but in keeping with Neptune's bulk, -the cavern was a gargantuan retreat. Stupendous stalactites pending -from the ceiling defied adjectives, their bases lost in darkness. -The walls as far as the eye could reach were sheathed in a gleaming -plastic new to Guerlan. The floor, too, was resilient plastic, smooth -and perfectly laid, as if an army of workmen and machines had labored -on its perfection, which indeed they had. Buildings clustered at the -far distant end, like a miniature city; and in the very center of the -vast grotto, surrounded by an army of scientists and technicians, an -atomo-Spacer, super-armored and longer than any Guerlan had ever seen, -rested in its cradle in all its sleek, shining glory.</p> - -<p>Testing and repair machines were scattered around the great -subterranean chamber, driven by technicians and coordinators who worked -feverishly, silently, as if engaged in a life-and-death race with time.</p> - -<p>Toward the left, where the cavern extended into another vast grotto, -an ordine-plastic building caught Guerlan's eye because of the -fact that it was ordine. That plastic was used only where need -for the staunchest material existed. Ordine, an adaptation of the -plastic mineral principle, could withstand a siege—was practically -indestructible, and Guerlan wondered what it housed. Perlac sensed his -curiosity and gazed in turn at the great structure. Her eyes brooding -and dark with an emotion he could not fathom slowly filled with tears.</p> - -<p>"That's the psycho-clinic," she told him. "We try to neutralize the -amnesiac treatment, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Under -certain conditions, it can be neutralized, but remember the amnesiac -treatment here on Level Five is an intensification of the treatment -applied on Levels Three and Four.... They're practically lost when they -come here, but our work in the higher levels is too dangerous to be -carried out in large numbers. Care to go in and watch the therapy used?"</p> - -<p>"Yes." Guerlan's laconic reply was an index of his mental state. -Words came with difficulty in the face of this ghastly drama that had -suddenly unfolded before his eyes.</p> - -<p>He wondered about the other cities, Perdura, and Telluria and -semi-tropical Columbia, with its warm springs and teeming soil where -the most exquisite delicacies for the Inner Council, and to a lesser -extent the First Order were grown. Wondered if they, too, were -condemned to this inhuman rule of death and oppression.</p> - -<p>Perlac made a signal to one of the technicians, and a two-seater -"Treader" with its revolving belt instead of wheels moved out from -among the parked vehicles. But before Guerlan and Perlac could enter -the swift surface car, a dull roar that seemed to shake the very -foundations of the cavern paralyzed all movement, as if in a slow -motion-picture of ancient days, a tremendous section of the cavern wall -fell in a shower of rock and plastic, and through the gaping breach, -rank upon serried rank of "Intermediates" poured through. They wore -the Inner Council's conventional plastic armor, vividly scarlet, with -tight-fitting helmets of crysto-plast. Silently they deployed with grim -precision and aimed their atomo-rifles.</p> - -<p>But if they had expected to wreak havoc aided by the element of -surprise, they were mistaken. Technicians and scientists working on the -super-spacer, instantly entered the armored ship, while the army of -mechanics, graders, coordinators and workmen, who labored on treaders -and tended the mechanical appliances and repair machines, took cover in -and behind their charges.</p> - -<p>For a second Guerlan had been frozen in his tracks. The thought that -flashed into his mind was one of exultation instead of despair. Here -was an enemy he could really fight. All the pent-up fury, the terrible -anger of a decent man who has had all his beliefs swept away in a -matter of hours, who had seen depths of human degradation he had never -dreamed possible, was like a bath of cold fire that left him calm, -determined and with one desire ... to exterminate.</p> - -<p>As if she were a doll, Guerlan swept Perlac beside the armored -"Treader" and without preamble snatched the Electro-Flash the girl -wore at her waist. "Keep covered. Let me do the fighting!" He -exclaimed, impervious to her outraged stare. Carefully he aimed at the -foremost leader of the Intermediates, and the obscenely beautiful, -sexless warrior, crumpled as part of him instantly dissolved. A vast, -coruscating sheet of blue, atomic fire swept forward from the deadly -atomo-rifles of the invaders, and vehicles, technicians, and several -machines, became a welter of smoking flesh and melting metal.</p> - -<p>It was then the super-spacer went into action with its two frontal -atomo-guns, the thunderous echoes vibrated with tympani-shattering -force, and Guerlan saw a phalanx of Intermediates vanish as if they -were leaves in a wind.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Unaware of doing so, Guerlan was bellowing exultantly, as he played the -Electro-Flash horizontally across another phalanx that had succeeded -in gaining the proximity of the Spacer. They had seen him now, and -the survivors aimed their atomo-rifles at the treader that sheltered -them from the blue fire. But before they could bring their fire into -focus, the supernal fire of the electro-flash had decimated them. A few -managed to direct the stream of atomic fire on the treader, however, -and half of it was a molten mass while the rest was already cherry red -and the heat becoming unendurable.</p> - -<p>Electro-rifles, atomo-pistols, the guns from the giant spacer and a few -electro-flash weapons were concentrated on the Intermediates who by -sheer force of numbers had gained the center of the Cave.</p> - -<p>And then they were met by a wall of flesh. From the buildings at the -further end and from every vehicle and machine a wall of humanity -surged forward, firing ceaselessly, hacking with long-swords and -poniards; and the carnage under the brilliant plastilumes was without -quarter ... to the death. Slowly, inch by inch, the Intermediates were -driven back. Scores had died, and the losses among the defenders were -appalling; it seemed as if a Pyrrhic victory was to be the end. And -then, like creatures from a nightmare, released from depths of living -hell, a motley, ragged, maddened multitude came shrieking, shouting -and hurling imprecations from the chaste building Perlac had called -the Psycho-clinic. Like avenging furies, they flung themselves at the -hard-pressed Intermediates. Wounds did not stop them; atomic-fire left -gaping holes in their ranks, around which the survivors raced on. -Impervious to pain, and welcoming death, these travesties of human -beings fought with the savagery of madness.</p> - -<p>They were the Amnesiacs. Deprived of the hypnotic drug, partly in -possession of their faculties and their memories, they remembered! And -remembering, they paid back for the torture of a lifetime!</p> - -<p>Assailed from every side, the crack Inner Circle battalion of -Intermediates split into two halves and strove to meet both fronts. But -Guerlan with a cry that would have done credit to a Venusian <i>Calamar</i>, -snatched the sword from a fallen technician and raced to where the -Amnesiacs were tangled in a death struggle. With the electro-flash -in his left hand, he stabbed and hacked at exposed limbs and through -shattered crysto-plast. And the battle turned slowly, increasing in -tempo until it was a rout that pressed the remaining Intermediates -into a demoralized race of life. But they were not to escape. Out of -all control, all semblance of humanity now, the remaining Amnesiacs -were a screaming horror that pursued the quarry and pulled it down -like the giant <i>Calamar</i> of Venus pulls down its prey in the virgin -forests, until only the moaning wounded and the dead remained on the -blood-drenched plastic flooring of the titanic grotto.</p> - -<p>Guerlan never knew when the battle was finally over. His tunic was a -crimson stain from top to bottom; a long slash across his ribs to the -center of his powerful chest, had left a shallow gash that dripped a -slow gout of blood. His shoulder was seared by a slanting atomic-blast -that would have taken half of him had it come any nearer. He became -aware of the ghastly silence only when Perlac's marvelously slender -hand was pressed to his cheek, and her melodious voice was repeating: -"Guerlan, Guerlan, my dear!" He turned and saw her eyes were aswim with -unshed tears.</p> - -<p>He took her hand in his powerful ones without a word, and held it -caressingly, while all about them was a shambles of death and wreckage.</p> - -<p>"My initiation," he said slowly, huskily, with a hint of a smile in his -long, green eyes.</p> - -<p>"I knew I was not wrong in choosing you," Perlac replied and bravely -essayed a smile, too; but she had reached the end of her physical -resources and with a whispered, "Oh, my dear," she wilted unconscious -in his arms.</p> - -<p>Guerlan lifted her fragile form as if she were a precious doll and -walked toward the super-spacer; a group of scientists who had emerged -from its interior, watched his approach with a hint of anxiety as they -motioned for him to hurry. Among them, a tall, elderly scientist of -the second order, whose white mane was like an aureole about the pale, -sharp-featured face, hurried forward as if unable to contain himself.</p> - -<p>"Is Perlac wounded?" He inquired with a world of worry in his voice. -"Tell me, man! Hurry!"</p> - -<p>"Peace," Guerlan answered wearily. "She's not harmed, just fainted ... -the miracle is that she's been able to stand as much as she has. Have -you restoratives?"</p> - -<p>"Bring her into the plane, we have everything needed, stranger. Praised -be the Ultimate Power she has not been harmed!" Then he drew himself -erect as he and Guerlan came abreast of each other, and said with -quiet dignity:</p> - -<p>"I am Paulan, ex-scientist of the first order, now Leader of the -Underground. I saw you fight with us. Welcome, my son." His eyes -were as clear and as blue as a child's, but the fires of a profound -intellect shone from their depths.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"The time," Guerlan was speaking, "is now, not at some supposedly -psychological moment logically thought by the Board. I'm a new member, -true, but it is evident the Inner Circle has been aware of your -activities for some time, or they wouldn't have sent such a well-armed, -ultra-trained battalion of Intermediates. The time to strike is now! -Unless you want to await an attack in such force that this cavern will -become a hecatomb."</p> - -<p>"We are already harassing them in every city," Paulan said -thoughtfully. "Vats are exploding regularly, amnesiacs are being -restored to usefulness and our forces are increasing day by day. What -more would you propose, my son, an attack on the city of the sphere?"</p> - -<p>All eyes in the heavily guarded and armed Board meeting room were upon -the young scientist. At the head of the long, exquisite Platino-plastic -table sat Paulan, the leader, and at his right sat Perlac. All down the -length of the great table, scientists of the first and second orders, -analysts, technicians, and even members of the lower strata chosen -for their value to the movement, sat to consider the crisis. Their -underground movement was in the open now, and they could expect nothing -but extermination at the hands of the Inner Circle.</p> - -<p>"That would be madness at present," spoke a tiny Venusian, not more -than four and a half feet tall, wrapped in his long, scarlet wings that -joined to the sides of his fragile body, reached from wrists to his -ankles. "Although," he grinned impishly, "I would like to take a crack -at them in their holy of holies!"</p> - -<p>Morluc, the Martian, snorted.</p> - -<p>"Mars will help, but we must have a share of the machinery and plastics -of Neptune ... a <i>preferred</i> share," he emphasized gazing disdainfully -at the Venusian member.</p> - -<p>"Equal shares!" the latter snapped dryly. "Mars' help is still to be -seen, as your excellence is aware!" The Venusian drove his point home -with emphatic gestures.</p> - -<p>"We've offered our fleet!" Morluc, the Martian member, said stiffly. -"Can any more be asked?"</p> - -<p>Carladin, the Venusian, shrugged his shoulders. "We don't offer, -Morluc, we've <i>delivered</i> one hundred electro-flash pistols, and -it took genius to analyze and copy the design and manufacture them -secretly, not to speak of smuggling them here!"</p> - -<p>"Peace!" Paulan thundered. "Scientist Guerlan is unable to reply to my -question!"</p> - -<p>Both the Martian and the Venusian members were silent, although they -still glared at each other across the table. The rivalry of Venus and -Mars was legendary and had endured for centuries. Little eddies of -whispers and conversation, came to a standstill, and once more their -eyes were turned expectantly toward Guerlan who stood up from his seat -toward the foot of the table.</p> - -<p>"I have a plan," he stated quietly. His bandaged shoulder and chest -were living aches, and breathing was difficult, but a great enthusiasm -transfigured his features until with eyes alight with the fire of a -great purpose, he seemed boyish for all his magnificent height and -musculature.</p> - -<p>"Unless we divert the power of the Inner Circle.... I say <i>divert</i>, but -decisively, we're doomed. Any army we can muster would be met by the -legions of fanatical Intermediates who from pre-birth are conditioned -and scientifically bred for battle. An Intermediate's glandular -structure has been modified to heighten unbelievably the combative -instinct. If atomo-rifles and atomic fire don't crush us, they'll start -using electro-flash. Their fleet is legion, and they have at their -command the Scientists of the First Order, as deluded as I was, not to -speak of the Neophytes of the Inner Circle. Don't forget that the City -of the Sphere has two million scientists, not counting the women.</p> - -<p>"But, if we divert their Intermediates, cut off their sources of -supply, and breed revolt <i>on every tier, in every city</i>, their forces -will be divided, and we will have a chance to win. When I was a child, -I had access to the ancient records which were translated by my father -for the Inner Circle. Among them I came upon a parchment so ancient -that it was ready to crumble into dust. After it had been treated for -preservation, I read the translation made from that forgotten language -by my father; it was about a great city that once ruled most of Terra, -and their motto was—Divide and Rule. And that," Guerlan paused, "is my -plan."</p> - -<p>He sat down a little abashed when he realized the vehemence with which -he had been talking. His eyes sought Perlac's, and a wave of color -suffused his face as he saw the open admiration in the girl's eyes.</p> - -<p>"Magnificent, if it works," Carladin said with a satirical smile in -that husky voice of his that seemed too big for so small a body. "But, -my friend, who is going to 'Muzzle the Calamar'? In other words, who is -going to breed revolt in every city and tier ... and, above all, just -how?"</p> - -<p>"My son, you can't rouse emotions in amnesiacs—they haven't any, even -in the higher levels where the treatment is mild. As for the scientists -of the Second Order—they'd consider revolt blasphemy, not to speak -of the First Order. Unless you have a complete, thought-out plan, I'm -afraid you've been carried away by your own enthusiasm," Paulan said -very gently.</p> - -<p>"My plan <i>is</i> complete, Paulan. And I have work for both Venus and -Mars. I'm sure they would like to share in our victory. Listen!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>It was not only a garden of vast dimensions, it was an Eden riotous -with the most exquisite blooms of Venus, and myriad bright-plumaged -birds that sang with a complete abandon that bespoke no instinct of -fear, for they were sacred. In the near distance, the rose and white -crysto-plast temple of the Virgins of the Sacred Flame was a triumph in -architecture, for here within the inviolate garden of His Benevolence -was the sacred shrine.</p> - -<p>A muted orchestra was playing, hidden in the foliage, and the -incredible re-creation of sunlight drew an iridescent aureole from the -alabaster fountain that constantly renewed a miniature lake in the -center of the garden.</p> - -<p>Rose-colored <i>Garzas</i> and sparkling, blue azurines searched for -tid-bits in the shallows, while a flight of <i>Albas</i>, the snowy-white -nightingales of the Volcanic Valley, swept overhead in an ecstasy of -song. It was idyllic, a spot instinct with peace under the soft hand of -beauty.</p> - -<p>But near the shore of the small lake, idly moving his hand in the cool -waters, while with the other he stuffed roasted doves into the red, -cruel mouth, His Benevolence listened in ominous silence as the Chief -of the Intermediates made his report. Standing behind the gargantuan -corpulence of the 'Protector in Chief,' Bejamel listened, too, and his -gargoyle's features slowly registered a rising fear that whitened his -repulsive face. It was incredible! Had anyone else dared to make such -a report, he would have instantly banished him or her to the 'Blessed -Sleep.' But the Intermediates, be they either of the warrior class, -and trained to fight to the death, or of the scientist category, were -cold, unemotional beings whose precision could not be questioned. As -for their loyalty—that was under control, for their only <i>imperative</i> -was Vanadol, reacting on them curiously instead of drugging them to -sleep—compensating them for their sexlessness with an unearthly -ecstasy. And Vanadol was under absolute Inner Circle control ... under -Bejamel!</p> - -<p>"Only three Intermediates escaped alive from the caverns under the -fifth level?" Bejamel inquired incredulously in that magnificent voice -that was a melody in itself.</p> - -<p>"Silence!" There was nothing lovely in the harsh command of His -Benevolence. "Bunglers! Should condemn you and your strategists to -the Blessed Sleep, but the quota of jewels is filled.... What do you -plan doing now? Or are you going to let those Irreconcilables become a -cancer on the side of the empire?" His voice became indistinct as he -stuffed golden nectarines into his mouth.</p> - -<p>"Magnificence! If your Benevolence permits...." Bejamel's attempt at a -smile was a ludicrous failure. But the sulphuric stare he received for -his pains, left him wordless and pale.</p> - -<p>"Proceed!" His Benevolence nodded at the Intermediate. The pale yellow -eyes were blazing.</p> - -<p>"Our plans are to destroy the cavern immediately, and utilize our -Intermediate Scientists to ferret out the dissenters for disposal -at your Effulgence's orders." The Chief of the Intermediates replied -calmly, evenly, as if his life were not hanging by the thinnest thread. -He bowed profoundly, and then stood erect, in all the glory of his -golden tunic and platino-plastic helmet.</p> - -<p>"Also, a flight of pursuit atomo-planes awaits disorders in every tier -of every city, Your Benevolence!"</p> - -<p>"Like over-fed blackbirds," His Benevolence observed scornfully. "They -didn't prevent Guerlan and that unidentified companion of his from -escaping! And that reminds me, Bejamel," his voice changed to a silken -purr. "I thought you had checked the safety coordination of the plastic -centers. Surely, with all the safeguards you reported installed, the -machines supplied you by scientists, and the robot-proctor guard, not -to speak of the selector-controlled tests of the workmen, I still fail -to understand how Guerlan escaped retribution." His lips parted in a -smile of sadistic pleasure, as Bejamel went green.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"And," His Benevolence held up a hand that flashed with a vortex of -prismatic fire from the many jewels, "what has become of your daughter, -Perlac? I seldom see her any more."</p> - -<p>"Since Your Benevolence said that her hips were too narrow and her face -too sharp, I banished her from your presence, Effulgence!"</p> - -<p>"Well, bring her back!" He snapped in fury. "Sometimes I think you -usurp my authority, Bejamel." His eyes narrowed speculatively, and the -enmity he felt for the Minister of Justice because of the latter's -silent opposition to allowing his daughter to become a Virgin of the -Sacred Flame, smouldered within him.</p> - -<p>Bejamel bowed profoundly, but a glint of savage rage shone in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Send the Virgins ... let them sing!" His Benevolence commanded, "and -convey my forgiveness to Estrella; she may enter the presence!"</p> - -<p>"Your Benevolence's favorite will rejoice at the magnanimous decision!" -Bejamel replied in a soft murmur that was sheer music. But the -expression on his averted face belied his words.</p> - -<p>He hurried away through the foliage of the Venusian Jasmine trees and -the tangles of fragrant Maravillas, until he came to the pavillion of -white <i>Jadite</i>, so exquisitely planned that in its white simplicity it -might have been an idealized Greek temple.</p> - -<p>"Estrella," he called the moment that he entered. "Hurry, child!" And -seeing her curled on a couch worth a respectable fortune, "<i>He</i> will -see you ... mind you, he's in a vile temper—as capricious as I've ever -seen him. But evidently he has need of you. Soothe him from this evil -mood, or we'll all suffer!" He paused out of breath.</p> - -<p>Estrella uncoiled languorously from the Sapphirine couch and stood -lightly swathed in filmiest draperies of spider silk, that revealed -the distracting beauty of her limbs and full, firm breast. The large, -brilliant dark eyes, shadowed by curling lashes were rebellious -and scornful, and the flower-like red mouth mutinous. A cascade of -pale gold hair tumbled curling about the marble shoulders, and sent -gleaming tendrils to the satiny throat, encircled by a necklace -of star-sapphires, rarest of all jewels because of the tremendous -difficulties in creating the star in the depths of the jewel.</p> - -<p>"Let <i>him</i> wait ... I have had to wait too long!" she blazed.</p> - -<p>"Sheesh! ... even the walls have ears, Star of the Evening! And -remember his saying: 'A favorite in disfavor is a jewel that has -crystallized'. He means that literally; I couldn't bear to see you as a -ruby in his finger ring."</p> - -<p>Estrella paled, shrugged her shoulders and dashed out of the pavillion. -Out in the garden, she was like a butterfly in the sunlight, a gorgeous -creature that came to rest at His Benevolence's feet. A choir of -Virgins sang softly and undulated with the rhythm of the music, while -His Benevolence fondled Estrella with one hand and with the other ate.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, in the sumptuous Audience Chamber, a multitude of Protectors -of the Inner Circle, Scientists of the First Order, the Directors of -various cities, and even Intermediate Scientists moved restlessly, -pacing up and down the imposing length of the chamber. Their faces were -pale and anxious; some seemed distraught, rehearsing silently, over and -over in their minds what they had to say.</p> - -<p>But among themselves they barely spoke. A careless word, flung in a -moment of anxiety, might be the beginning of a fatal intrigue. They -were taking no chances.</p> - -<p>The dour, ascetic visaged Marvalli, Scientist of the Inner Circle and -Chief of Columbia, seemed on the verge of nervous prostration. He -wondered in anguish what would His Benevolence say when he learned -that the warehouses filled with exquisite tropical and semi-tropical -delicacies for his table and that of the Inner Circle, had been -destroyed by a raging holocaust that had left nothing but blackened -cinders, and that the priceless machinery for the Vibroponic farms, -which speeded up the growth and maturity of exotic plants and fruits, -and a multitude of legumes and vegetables, was a twisted, molten -mass—he quaked inwardly and a cold sweat oozed out of his pores.</p> - -<p>Vidal, Chief of Plastica had a harrowing report too. Vat after vat of -processing acid had split in halves and flooded moats and safety levels -until the acrid fumes made the Plastic Centers of his city untenable. -Conveyors had been disrupted and even robot-proctors dissolved as if -they'd been made of <i>papier-mache</i>. All his efforts at locating the -source of these depredations were in vain. Meanwhile, the plastic -industry in Plastica was paralyzed. That as bad as it was, however, -could be remedied temporarily by the installation of more vats, but an -amazing thing was that even the replacement vats had been found damaged -beyond repair.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But of them all, Weiman, "The Butcher", as he was called, was the most -distraught of all. Never in all the history of Perdura, his beloved -Perdura, where the Neptunian <i>Bagazo</i> plant was processed into the drug -for the amnesiac treatment, had such depredations been committed. A -veritable nightmare of explosions had shattered the intricate machinery -of the processors; the receiving vats of staunchest plastic had been -found in shards and slivers, while the stores of the sacred drug had -disappeared. An emergency order sent to the nurseries where the plants -were grown obtained no response and investigation disclosed that the -nurseries had been destroyed.</p> - -<p>It was then he had ordered a search party to go into the semi-tropical -forests far up the valley in search of wild plants and they were met -by a savage mob of Irreconcilables! But not the gravity-burdened, -frightened Irreconcilables he had been used to hunt with lances -and swords, but a grim, determined company of fighters armed with -atomo-pistols and atomo-rifles who exterminated the searching party -except one member, whom they sent back with the insolent warning: "Stay -out of our land!"</p> - -<p>The atmosphere of the Audience Chamber was electric. A wave of -rebellion seemed to be sweeping the Empire.</p> - -<p>When Bejamel, Minister of Justice, entered the Chamber, there was a -concerted rush to meet him.</p> - -<p>"Excellency, I request an audience!" And from another Chief of a City. -"Nay, Excellency.... Mine cannot wait, it's a catastrophe!" "I crave -a hearing...! Your Excellency!" Pandemonium had broken loose in the -chaste precincts of the Audience Hall.</p> - -<p>"Peace!" Bejamel shouted above the tumult, and strove to present a -calm exterior. But an icy fear constricted his throat, and his usually -commanding tones of unearthly beauty failed him. Nevertheless he -stemmed somewhat the rising confusion.</p> - -<p>"You, Vidal!" Bejamel singled out the Inner Circle Scientist in charge -of Plastica. "Your report."</p> - -<p>"I demand Martial Rule, and sufficient troops to insure order," Vidal -gasped. "Plastica's paralyzed. Most of the plastic-acid vats have been -destroyed; conveyors in shambles and robot-proctors disintegrated. -I know of only one weapon capable of shattering Columbium-Plastic -and Bery-Plastic—and do it without a sound. These weapons are -electro-flash, and assigned to the Inner Circle. When an Inner Circle -Scientist loses the one assigned to him, he is under penalty to report -it immediately. I can't conceive how these weapons could have fallen -into the hands of whoever these depredators are, and in sufficient -numbers to wreak such havoc in such a short time!"</p> - -<p>"I didn't ask for a diagnosis, and least of all for a cure!" Bejamel -said frigidly. "I asked for symptoms. Your report, Vidal!"</p> - -<p>And Vidal gave it, freed from the fear His Benevolence's presence -always inspired, he gave it bitterly, in complete detail.</p> - -<p>"And you Marvalli?" Bejamel's voice shook a little despite his efforts -to control it. From Marvalli's expression he feared the worst.</p> - -<p>"Columbia has been unable to provide its quota of special foods for -forty-eight hours, and all its reserves have been destroyed." In a -voice filled with foreboding, he told his story, wringing his hands -from time to time, unconscious of doing it.</p> - -<p>Weiman was next. He gave a minute account of depredations in Perdura. -"And so," he finished in an anguished voice, "we not only have no -Bagazo for the amnesiac treatment ... we are unable to procure any, and -even if we had it, the machinery is a shambles, Excellency!" His voice -ended in a wail.</p> - -<p>On and on the audience continued, each account adding to the -seriousness of the situation. At last Bejamel rose. His face was -inscrutable. "What a gargantuan indigestion His Benevolence is going to -have today," he thought grimly.</p> - -<p>"Remain!" He exclaimed peremptorily, and strode in the direction of the -enchanted garden.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He didn't even pause to watch the gyrations and posturings of Virgins -of the Sacred Flame. Brushing aside the tall Intermediates that stood -guard over the recumbent form of His Benevolence, he bowed slightly, -and in a cold, tight voice explained his mission.</p> - -<p>"Your Benevolence," his voice never had been lovelier, "the empire is -in open revolt. We are not facing isolated cases of vandalism. Nor the -underground opposition of the Irreconcilables. This is a fiendishly -planned and perfectly executed strategy of destruction. Unless we meet -it with overwhelming force, we lose control of the empire!"</p> - -<p>"Don't exaggerate, Bejamel!" His Benevolence snorted disdainfully. -"A few vats have been shattered—others can be made. Bagazo has been -destroyed ... we'll get all we need from the forests, and later have -our chemists synthesize the drug. Just issue the necessary orders, I -can't be bothered now."</p> - -<p>Bejamel's smile was feline, and feral lights gleamed in the eyes that -gave him such a gargoylish expression amidst his twisted features.</p> - -<p>"No, Effulgence. This calls for a meeting of the Inner Circle. You may -not know it, but hundreds of thousands of amnesiacs, now deprived of -the drug, <i>remember</i>! Death to them is a boon, and before they die they -will be sure to take as many of us as possible. And <i>they are being -armed</i>!"</p> - -<p>"Let a few thousand die!" He exclaimed heartlessly. "They'll pave my -new Hall of Rubies!" But he knew now that Bejamel was not exaggerating. -The great intellect of the evil ruler, had grasped the disastrous -consequences of such a revolt, and instantly he acted.</p> - -<p>"Very well, Bejamel. Call the Council. Hold all witnesses for the -session. Meanwhile, mobilize all the Intermediates of the warrior -order, and the Scientists of the first and second orders. Every Inner -Circle Scientist who is still worthy of his rank, and all Inner Circle -Neophytes to be in readiness. Make a survey of robot-proctors, and -coordinate all available defenses. We can at least be ready at a -moment's notice. And, find out how long our present stores of food will -last ... we should have enough for months! Think you can remember all -this?" He purred mockingly.</p> - -<p>"To hear your Benevolence is to obey!" Bejamel replied imperturbably. -And left to carry out the orders. A little smile was at the corners of -his mouth, and the feral light was still lambent in his strange green -eyes.</p> - -<p>He could hear His Benevolence's harsh tones as the latter told His -Virgins: "Get out!" Only Estrella remained by the side of the obscene -bulk. Bejamel pitied her.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once back in the Audience Chamber, pandemonium broke loose, but with -a peremptory wave of his hand and the words: "You will remain as -witnesses for a full meeting of the Council tonight," Bejamel quelled -them. He watched them file out with a speculative gaze. "When the sea's -disturbed," he murmured softly, "creatures from the bottom rise to the -top." Then he walked slowly to his own chambers, singing softly to -himself, and it was as if the voice of an angel were issuing from the -throat of a Gargoyle.</p> - -<p>Only one thought worried him, and that was the protracted absence of -Perlac. She had been gone for days. Perhaps he had missed her in -his preoccupation with duties of State, he thought. Bejamel shrugged -his thin shoulders and sat down at a jewel-encrusted desk worthy of -an Inner Circle Scientist ransom. Silently he began to write with an -electro-stylus on a sheet of transparent plastic. Nothing showed.</p> - -<p>It was to Gualdamar, whom to give the full plenitude of his titles was -Chief Guardian of the City of the Flaming Sphere, The Leader of the -Intermediate Warriors, Chief Strategist, and Scientist of the Inner -Circle.</p> - -<p>As Bejamel wrote, he thought with part of his mind of the many minor -revolts that had occurred when the amnesiac treatment failed because of -the defense against the drug that human metabolism built periodically, -but nothing like this had ever happened in the annals of the Empire. -Plastic Inc., as the Inner Circle taught the people to believe, was -part of them, and they rose and fell together. It occurred to Bejamel -that he was very old, it was indecent to thrust such a crisis on his -fading intellect. The thought made his smile acidly. There was nothing -decadent about that Machiavellian mind that enabled him to remain in -power through decades of intrigues, pitfalls and traps, and lately, the -growing enmity of his Benevolence because he would not allow Perlac to -become a chattel of his Obese Effulgence in the Temple of the Sacred -Flame.</p> - -<p>He wondered if he would be able to weather this crisis. Still he wrote -swiftly, invisibly on the transparent plastic, and as he did so, the -thought of Venus, great in its first bloom of advanced civilization, of -Europa, transmuted into an Eden by the courage of its Terrans and the -strange unearthly science of the Panadurs. If all else failed, he could -seek sanctuary on either one of these two planets. Mars repelled him, -none of that grim land for his weary bones. But if he had to flee, he -meant to flee along with Perlac, and he had a score to settle before he -went.</p> - -<p>When he had finished, he pressed a button, and a robot-proctor entered -noiselessly, received instruction and as quietly disappeared. Bejamel -knew that his robot would deliver the message in person, nothing could -take that plastic message from him short of destruction.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>"Tonight we attack!" Guerlan persisted uncompromisingly, but his eyes -sought Perlac's and found confirmation in her swift smile. "I offer -the counsel of daring—all or nothing!" A roar of approval greeted his -words, the echoes dwindling down the series of subterranean caverns -that formed a continental link in the bowels of Neptune and was used to -shelter the army of scientists, technicians, analysts, coordinators, -mechanics and workmen. They were now under Columbia's Fifth Level, and -rising to the crysto-plast dome, each tier was now under the domination -of the Irreconcilables.</p> - -<p>But Paulan, the Commander in Chief, arose in all the dignity of his -great age. He frowned in disapproval, sighing before he spoke.</p> - -<p>"I fear too great an army has been assembled against us, Plastica, -Telluria, Perdura, the eleven remaining cities will have to be -conquered, and remember, since we captured Columbia with comparative -ease while the Inner Circle's Army was engaged in destroying the -caverns beneath Plastica, all the other cities swarm with Intermediates -and the Scientists of the First and Second Circle, not to speak of -those fiends of the Inner Circle themselves. We have converted millions -through the use of the Ethero-Magnum, thanks to our loyal Perlac, -who taught us to use it as the Inner Circle used it to condition the -amnesiacs; we have paralyzed the Plastic Industry; destroyed the -machinery for processing <i>Bagazo</i> into the amnesiac drug, and we -control all the stores of <i>Bagazo</i>. We have achieved the arming of -thousands of our followers. Surely, that is a great victory. I feel -that should be enough for the present; besides, the Inner Circle will -want to come to terms with us."</p> - -<p>And it was true. Hunger and privation stalked the tiers of the -great cities; chaos reigned. Even the great Plastic centers now had -become a shambles of exploding acid vats; conveyors bore a welter of -half-asphyxiated humanity, gaunt with hunger and the spasms lack of the -amnesiac brought on; transportation was paralyzed, and everywhere the -amnesiacs flared into madness as the effects of the drug wore off; and -in a frenzy of remembrance and need of the drug, they attacked all in -the ranks of scientists, destroying everything they could lay hands on. -Thousands died under the trained precision of the Intermediates, and -Scientists of the First Order, but the casualties they inflicted in the -serried ranks of the Chief Protector were appalling.</p> - -<p>"A compromise is not enough!" Guerlan was pitiless. "We have but one -Ether Magnum here in Columbia with which to carry our message to the -Second Level of each city and the workmen of the Third Level. True -we have close to a quarter of a million warriors, but in a war of -attrition, they have the greater resources. Besides," his voice was -acid with scorn, "who wants a compromise? Not I!" His great green eyes -under the long dark lashes flashed fire and the generous, square-cut -mouth was bitter. He pointed an accusing finger at the legion of men -and women that filled to overflowing the immense central cavern.</p> - -<p>"You have asked for enough food to insure health in your children -and have been told that synthetic-parturition will take care of your -offspring, as indeed it does, and you never see them again! You who -have asked but a measure of happiness and have been giving all you -possess in energy, loyalty and obedience, and are given in return a -brutalizing drug that robs you of the will to live! You who through -the intrigues and machinations of the Inner Circle have been brutally -thrust into the Second, the Third and even the Fourth Levels without a -trial, without a hearing merely to satisfy the sadistic minds that rule -us from the City of the Sphere.... YOU, would you want a compromise?"</p> - -<p>The negative roar that rose in response, shook the lofty ceiling of the -cavern and was like a whirlwind. When it had died down, Paulan stood up -again.</p> - -<p>"I resign," he said simply. "Younger hands than mine will have to lead -you. Perhaps you're right, Guerlan, if so, take my place as Commander -in Chief, my son."</p> - -<p>For a moment there was silence, and then another multi-throated roar of -approval.</p> - -<p>Guerlan was silent before the majestic dignity of the old man, and -something akin to pity welled out of his heart for the great patriarch; -but Perlac was on her feet, her sculptured arms flung above her head -demanding attention from the great multitude.</p> - -<p>"I second the nomination!" Her limpid tones carried far.</p> - -<p>"And I ... and I ... and I!" Thousands of voices strove to be heard, -down into the farthest reaches of the linked caverns, as those who -could not see, heard through the inter-connecting teleradio.</p> - -<p>"Then," Guerlan spoke firmly, almost coldly, "the Council of War is -called to session, we will meet in the Venusian spacer. All troops -stand by for orders."</p> - -<p>"Lead, Commander!" exclaimed a rich baritone voice.</p> - -<p>It was Carladin, winged, diminutive, proud that the first session of -the Council of War should be held in his magnificent atomo-plane, -the one that had been repaired in the cavern beneath Plastica. He -was proud, too, of Venus' inventive genius in converting the secret -electronic formula of the electro-flash into a magnification of that -weapon, to the size of a cannon, and raised to the sixth power, enough -to practically blast an atomo-plane out of space. As for his special -gift to the cause, that was an ironic touch that only a Venusian mind -was capable of conceiving, for although unbelievably kind, they never -forgave. "Poetic Justice," Carladin had called it, and insisted on the -use of his special gift, even bringing a battalion of Venusians to -handle it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Telluria reporting ... Telluria ... Fourth Level cleared. Entrance to -Third Level forced.... Fighting intense ... Telluria...." The voice of -the announcer faded and the magnified face in the telecast dissolved -before their gaze.</p> - -<p>Guerlan, Perlac and Carladin listened intently in the control cabin of -the Venusian spacer which hovered like a great bird in the darkness -above Columbia.</p> - -<p>The enormous ethero-magnum that occupied a large section of the control -room, came to life again as an ascending whine warned them, it was -Perdura calling:</p> - -<p>"Perdura calling ... Perdura ... Commander Guerlan!"</p> - -<p>"Come in, Perdura!" Guerlan exclaimed impatiently, his nerves taut from -inaction, but plans had to be observed. "Come in!"</p> - -<p>The shifting swirls of light on the telecast became steady and a young, -pale-featured youth could be seen speaking with great intensity.</p> - -<p>"We're on the second level, Commander. The defense has been terrific, -they're bringing robots into the battle. One electro-flash cannon -destroyed thus far, but we're pushing forward. No further news."</p> - -<p>It was disappointing. In a concerted attack in eleven cities, thousands -of Irreconcilables had emerged from the bowels of Neptune, striking -upwards from the fifth levels of the cities, aided by crazed amnesiacs -who fought with tooth and nail when no weapons were available. But it -was Plastica that worried him most, for here was the strategic city -they must capture at all costs. Unable to control his impatience any -longer, he asked Perlac to contact Plastica. The girl's slender fingers -played over the banked keys, adjusting tiny levers and driving home the -activating selectors. Swirls of magnificent colors flooded the Telecast -screen, while the ascending whine of the complex instrument went beyond -the auditory limits of the human ear; and presently scene after scene -of ghastly destruction showed on the telecast, the fifth level came and -went a shattered welter; the fourth where destruction was appalling -showed great rents in the crysto-plast dome that separated it from -the third. There was fighting still in the second level, as isolated -parties strove to decimate the remaining, fleeing Intermediates; -the fallen forms of robot-proctors littered the conveyors and -inter-connecting avenues, the carnage was incredible.</p> - -<p>But it was in the first level itself where the battle without quarter -was now taking place. Divisions of ordine-plastic robots charged -great masses of Irreconcilables, only to be shattered in great waves -as the electro-flash cannon, gift of Venus, disintegrated their -electronic balance. Thousands of lurid flashes from atomo-rifles and -atomo-cannons, laboriously hauled to the first level by the attackers, -belched destruction at buildings laden with Intermediates and Second -Level Scientists; aero-tanks with treads instead of landing gear, -were attempting to settle on the vast first level, their atomo-cannon -slashing at the attackers with great scimitars of lurid blue light. -It was a titanic holocaust that would long live in the annals of the -Universe, for Venus, Mars, Mercury and Europa had their Tele-Magnums -trained on the fantastic struggle.</p> - -<p>And then the face of the Commander of the Irreconcilables attacking -Plastica, showed on the Telecast, a great gash over an eye still -oozing a gout of blood that trickled down the left side of his face. -Grim, with an awful determination in his young eyes, the Commander -spoke hoarsely. "Commander Guerlan, we need aircraft to engage the -aero-tanks. Plastica is surrounded without the crysto-plast dome, and -thousands of Inner Circle Scientists await the precise moment to enter -in their Treaders and annihilate us. In reaching the first level, -our losses have been too great, Commander!" He saluted and the face -withdrew, as if having delivered his message there were nothing more to -be said.</p> - -<p>"Carladin," Guerlan's voice was vibrant with pent-up emotion, "you've -brought with you eight-hundred atomo-spacers better than anything the -Inner Circle has, if the speed and strength of Perlac's atomo-spacer is -a sample. There is <i>your</i> task!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Not mine, Commander!" There was an edge of keen delight in the superb -baritone voice of the tiny, winged figure. "I also brought with me a -great warrior of space to lead my fleet. I have another task I shall -relish even more! In one of my spacers, the flag-ship, are the hounds -of Mother Venus, with which we hunt in the great virgin forests. One to -each member of a battalion of my people ... on a fragile leash! I shall -communicate with my fleet immediately, may I take one of the emergency -planes?" And as Guerlan nodded assent, Carladin was gone.</p> - -<p>Guerlan wondered what the Venusian had meant by the hounds of Venus, -but he was too preoccupied with the battle to care, all that mattered -was that he was willing to use his fleet in accordance with the plan.</p> - -<p>"Gloriana calling.... Gloriana calling Commander Guerlan...." The -monotonous iteration and reiteration of the announcer demanded -attention. Perlac touched a bank of jet black keys as Guerlan said:</p> - -<p>"Come in Gloriana, report, we're listening!"</p> - -<p>"Gloriana reports a stalemate. We have gained second level, almost -took the first, but the fleet is above the first level, we can't combat -it. All levels cleared but the first. Gloriana sounding off."</p> - -<p>Other reports came in, but still Guerlan waited for the one thing -that was imperative. And at last, through an eternity of waiting, -Columbia came on the Ethero-Magnum, then like bursting flowers of fire, -the atomic flashes from the emerging atomo-spacers of Venus as they -launched themselves straight up into the heavens through the vertical -funnel-like channel that rose from the caverns, straight up into the -upper reaches of the first level. Spacer after spacer soared aloft and -disappeared in the direction of Plastica. All but the last. It rose -majestically upward and then, describing a parabola in midair, began to -lose altitude, its atomic flashes like falling stars.</p> - -<p>And then began the most bizarre attack in the history of six planets, -for as the fleet attacked the swarm of atomo-fighters and aero-tanks of -the Inner Circle, the last Venusian spacer had landed outside Plastica, -and a multitude of Venusians each one leading a gigantic <i>Calamar</i>, the -dreaded, armored tiger of Venus, launched themselves upon the besieging -Scientists of the Inner Circle that awaited the propitious moment to -enter Plastica during the battle and destroy the Irreconcilables by an -attack from their rear.</p> - -<p>The roar of the ravenous beasts was a crescendo that drowned the wild, -agonized screams of the scientists as mammoth claws ripped through -plastic-breast plates and Venusian silks, and fangs found fat throats -and steaming blood. Overhead the clash of the two air armadas was a -holocaust of fire, as the two armies beneath fought also for supremacy -on the first level.</p> - -<p>What the outcome would be, was beyond prediction, for neither -side entertained any doubt now but that it was a struggle to the -death—there could be no quarter. If Plastica fell, most of the -Empire went with it, for within it was the very life-blood of the -nation—Plastics, the beginning, the reason and the end of their -existence. For plastics were clothing and shelter, and weapons -and furniture, and even medicines and synthetic concentrates that -went under the name of food. Besides, they had Columbia, where the -sustenance of the City of the Sphere and the first levels was grown -and manufactured.</p> - -<p>Slowly at first, imperceptibly, the battle turned in their -favor, objectives that seemed unattainable were reached by the -Irreconcilables, and the defenders fell back. The invulnerable fleet, -the much touted and dreaded air armada, as being decimated by the -unearthly speed of the Venusian spacers; and Intermediates and robots -alike fell before the supernal fire of the electro-flash cannon -and electro-rifles. Still, the battle wore on and on, with such an -intensity that it was incredible that anything that lived could endure -it. Without Plastica itself, a horror of carnage, blasted Calamars -and torn bodies, marked where the Inner Circle Reserves had been, but -Caladin's spacer was nowhere in view.</p> - -<p>"The time," Perlac said softly, "has come, my dear."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Guerlan gazed at the exquisite features of Perlac in misery. He was -silent. But the girl laid a hand on his shoulder caressingly, and -forced him to look into her eyes. "We must face it, Guerlan, unless we -do, this war may last for years, and oceans of blood will flow. It is -the better way."</p> - -<p>"I know, I know Perlac. But let me do it alone. I can't ... I just -can't bear to have you risk your life, my dear." Impulsively he crushed -her to him in a fierce embrace and kissed the flower-like mouth. Then -he released her.</p> - -<p>"I will be in less danger than you; after all I am Bejamel's daughter. -And don't you think that I, too, could not bear to have you go alone? -No, dear, we are in this together, for life or for death."</p> - -<p>As if the gods of war relished the appalling daring of their plan, -suddenly the way was opened to them, for on the immense Tele-Magnum, -the heavenly tones of Bejamel's voice could be heard, as slowly, his -gargoyle face came into view. Hurriedly Perlac threw the switch which -prevented him at the Palace on the Sphere from seeing them.</p> - -<p>"Commander Guerlan! Bejamel, Minister of Justice, speaks." There were -rich undertones of irony, and bitterness, too, in the superlative voice -of the speaker.</p> - -<p>"I have learned that my daughter is your prisoner. We have captured -important prisoners, too. Paulan, your ex-leader, and that misguided -Martian who has chosen to espouse your cause. But all this is of -no moment, I am willing to ransom my daughter on your own terms, -barbarian!" Even in his grief, Bejamel was unable to suppress the -insulting epithet.</p> - -<p>"What do you offer, Bejamel?" Guerlan spoke calmly, although a seething -maelstrom swirled within him. "But make your offer worth listening to, -I have no time for barter."</p> - -<p>"A thousand prisoners of war, and a coffer of jewels, Guerlan!"</p> - -<p>Guerlan laughed shortly. "Your fame for sagacity has been overrated, -Bejamel, the jewels ... we shall shortly make our own—The Ultimate -Presence knows there will be enough dead when this is over. As for the -prisoners," his voice became indifferent, "we'll take them, of course, -but we have more men than we need, Scientist. Offer me something beyond -my means and I'll send your daughter to you, unharmed!"</p> - -<p>"Speak, Dissenter, I am a man of reason!" Bejamel's voice was filled -with cunning. "Speak!"</p> - -<p>"Since you are the only one who can open His Benevolence's doors, -outside of the mechanism he can activate from within, destroy the -mechanism. Take away his invulnerable robe of force, and then ... then -forget to sing! Let him starve slowly in his enchanted garden, after he -has devoured all his birds and pets." Guerlan's laughter was mocking. -But within he was tense with anxiety. Would his strategy win, he -wondered? One could not deal in a normal manner with Bejamel.</p> - -<p>"Agreed!" The celestial voice had risen to limpid heights.</p> - -<p>The fleets of atomo-spacers and aero-tanks stood poised, withdrawn, -marking an invisible, aerial lane through which hurtled the slim, -silver flash of an atomo-plane. The most powerful Tele-Magnum in the -palace of His Benevolence was focused on that ship, without pause, -until every detail of its interior was exposed on the great tele-screen -at the palace. But its interior revealed only the pale, haggard face of -Perlac, inexpressibly lovely in its sadness, and motionless beside her, -the gigantic robot-proctor of bery-plastic, embossed with the insignia -of the House of Justice and Bejamel's own intricate emblem. It had -been sent to act as a guard and bring her unharmed to the palace.</p> - -<p>Forming a perfect target, a trio of transports carrying a thousand -Irreconcilables, prisoners of war, came from the opposite direction, -released from the City of the Sphere, as per agreement. The vessels -neared each other, crossed and passed en-route to their opposite -destinations. At last, Perlac's plane reached the outer air-locks of -the Sphere, where pressure was adjusted, and entering ships were guided -to their berths at the base of the immense globe, where the machinery -of the anti-gravity repulsor beams was housed also, and where the -glittering tiers rose upward to end at the great Hanging Gardens of His -Benevolence, where the palace stood.</p> - -<p>And then the armistice was broken. Hundreds of swift, deadly -interceptor planes, atomo-powered, dived after the retreating -transport; tremendous aero-tanks rushed in for the kill spewing a blaze -of livid radiations. One of the transports managed to dive into the -inter-connecting, ascending and descending chamber of the city, but the -others, trapped, rather than be rayed like sheep, courageously turned -and fought. But to no avail. Outside the tropical city of Columbia, -they crashed in great flaming gouts, like miniature volcanoes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ahead of Perlac and her robot-proctor was the City of the -Sphere. Majestically it blazed like a cosmic jewel against the -impenetrably-black backdrop of space. It grew immense, fantastic, like -a minor planet glowing in space, but suddenly, their speed slackened -as the robot-control began to decelerate; and presently they slid with -a vast hiss into the first airlock, where the synchronized magnetic -fields instantly checked their speed. A terrific force jarred them -until their bones seem to melt, then doors were opening, voices could -be heard shouting orders, and the official pilot entered the ship and -with an obsequious salute to the girl, he took seat at the controls and -guided the ship into the second lock.</p> - -<p>The entire length of both the first and second locks were lined -with the titanic coils of the synchronized, magnetic degravitation -fields, which stopped the vessels in a graduating net of force. But -the transparent sides of the sphere gave a curious sensation of lack -of solidity, of fragility even, as if they had entered a vast hall -of glass. Only those who really knew the secret composition of the -Sphere, were aware of its near-invulnerability, even beyond that of the -strongest known metal-alloys.</p> - -<p>At last the long, slim atomo-plane was berthed, and the tall, -cadaverous figure of Bejamel hove into view. He waited for Perlac -closely followed by her robot guard to approach him, in accordance with -the etiquette of Plastica. Then, unable to suppress any longer the -profound emotions that stirred his complex being, he opened his arms -wide and rushed forward to enfold the only being he had ever loved, -in the fragile embrace of his skeletal arms. A suspicious brilliance -swam in the long green eyes, and the ordinarily limpid voice was husky, -uncertain, as he exclaimed: "Perlac, O my dear!" He could say no more. -Perlac was touched. She brushed her lips against his cheek, then she -gently pushed him back, to gaze into the inscrutable green eyes of the -Minister of Justice, who was also her father.</p> - -<p>Behind her, looming unnoticed, as a piece of activated mechanism, was -the Robot-Proctor, both servant and guard.</p> - -<p>"Father," she said impulsively, "Don't take me to the Palace! I -couldn't bear to enter the temple as one of the Virgins ... rather -would I prefer to be a prisoner of the Irreconcilables."</p> - -<p>Father and daughter gazed at each other in silence, surrounded by the -deep, far-away hum of the throbbing generators as the incredible stream -of atomic power fought the gravity of Neptune. Great opaque doors at -the far end of the second lock led into the inner chambers where the -robot-tended machinery never faltered for a second. Bejamel smiled -slowly, ironically, and shook his head. "We're not going there!"</p> - -<p>He waved an emaciated hand at the guard of honor that awaited his -pleasure at a respectful distance, and instantly the Intermediate -Officer in charge came forward. "Command!" he said laconically. It -was the same officer that had reported the defeat of the Intermediate -battalion in the caverns beneath Plastica. His superbly beautiful -face was impassive, but the brilliant eyes were restless, as if the -creature's nerves were overwrought.</p> - -<p>"My atomocopter!" Bejamel said as laconically, and then passed a small -package to the Intermediate. "For you and the entire Palace Guard," he -said softly. "There will be no need of you and your men tonight. We -have all but won ... celebrate."</p> - -<p>The light of hunger, of delight, of the nearest feeling akin to -gratitude he could possibly feel, flashed like a flame into the -Intermediate's eyes. "I bow in thanks, O Lord of Justice," he replied -formally.</p> - -<p>Within seconds, they were speeding upwards in Bejamel's private -atomocopter, past tier after tier of the fabulous City of the Sphere.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VI</p> - -<p>Every tier was a beehive of activity, as scientists of the Inner -Circle, scurried in every direction engaged in a multitude of tasks. -Atomo-planes flashed through the inter-connecting levels on their way -to the titanic battle below. Thousands of the Neophytes, aided by -robots, supplied arms and concentrates to the departing vessels, while -other thousands boarded them on their way to swell the ranks of the -defenders, and take the place of their countless dead.</p> - -<p>At last they reached Bejamel's private dwelling. He never called it -a palace. In the tenebrous depths of his involved soul, there were -flashes of genius, and one of them was to have and to rule without ever -mentioning the fact. His dwelling was exquisite in proportions, the -simplicity of its white <i>Jadite</i> facade, depending on the artistry of -its composition and carved decors, not on opulence of mosaic-jewelling -as was the case with the palace of His Benevolence. A repugnance of -rococco display was enough to deter him from bad taste.</p> - -<p>They went immediately into his private chambers, and here Perlac had a -great surprise, for reclining on a dais covered with silvery Venusian -furs and the priceless plumage of the Martian Kra, was the one person -she would never have expected to see—Estrella, favorite of His -Benevolence!</p> - -<p>Once over her shock, Perlac turned and favored her ancient father with -a sly smile.</p> - -<p>"Incredible!" she murmured. "Can it be possible?" Bejamel bridled.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" He rose to his full, cadaverous height. "Estrella and I -are going to Venus, child, I have yet many more years of life, and -loneliness is not good for an active mind like mine. That's why I -ransomed you from that barbarian Guerlan, so that you may go with us. -I am going to the palace now, I have one final errand to accomplish -well, before we leave!" He smiled slowly, satirically, as if the most -delicious thought in the universe had taken shape in his mind.</p> - -<p>"Did you take care of His Exalted Benevolence's power-screen belt, my -dear?" he inquired of Estrella.</p> - -<p>"Yes," the girl nodded, her eyes filling with hatred at the mention of -the dreaded name. "It will never function again!"</p> - -<p>"Then," Bejamel said emphatically, in the tones he used when he had -delivered the final word, "meet me at the emergency outer lock. My -ship is there waiting, robot-manned, provisioned, containing fortunes -in jewels and priceless things. We will go to Venus, and to a new ... -a greater life!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining on the reclining form -of Estrella. "I shall expect to see you, Perlac, with Estrella aboard -my ship within one hour!" And to the silent robot-proctor. "Guard the -women," he said directing a tiny beam of force from the microscopic -mechanism concealed in his ring of office at the forehead of the robot, -which instantly sealed the order within the synthetic brain of the -metal-plastic man. "Guard them and bring them to my ship within one -hour."</p> - -<p>The metalo-plastic robot seemed to stiffen, his great non-abradable -crystal eyes gleamed and a powerful arm went up in acknowledgment of -the peremptory order. Satisfied, Bejamel turned and left.</p> - -<p>It was then that Perlac turned to the towering robot and said softly, -"Now!" And to Estrella, who watched uncomprehendingly, "Are you ready? -Throw something about you, and veil your face, Estrella, we're going to -the space ship!"</p> - -<p>"But we've still got a lot of time!" the favorite protested. "It's true -that most of my things are on the spacer, but I want to arrange some -personal matters before we go; wait a while!"</p> - -<p>A tremendous power was in Perlac's voice as she replied:</p> - -<p>"We're leaving now!" Yet she said it very softly. "You're dripping with -jewels, are you taking those things with you?"</p> - -<p>"But of course! Such a question, have you gone mad?"</p> - -<p>"You know what they are? Each one represents a life ... they're made -from organic-plastic, human beings executed by greed!" Perlac reminded -her.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But Estrella shrugged her divine shoulders as she arose. "My not -wearing them wouldn't help those slain ones now. Besides, they're -nearer to me in death, than they could ever have been in life!" She -smiled with incredible vanity. She threw a robe of Kra plumes about -her, and allowed herself to be led to the atomocopter.</p> - -<p>Within seconds they were speeding to the outer lock and Bejamel's ship. -It was there that the robot-proctor left them, and hurried to the -lower chamber where the pulsing generators sang their eternal threnody -of unlimited power. Unnoticed he gained the great metalo-plastic -doors that divided the vast chambers from the anti-gravity repulsor -machinery. Unhesitatingly, it directed a thin pencil of force at an -orifice slightly above the center of the great doors, just as Perlac -had explained over and over, and the massive portals parted slowly, -remaining open.</p> - -<p>Robots of the lower grades worked among the maze of towering machinery, -oiling, testing, doing a multitude of tasks. But the robot-proctor, -without paying them any attention, seemed to suddenly open at the side -and an electro-flash gun, of large size, magnified by the Venusian -scientists and raised to many times its normal power, came into view -from the aperture. Without making a sound, without even a beam of -light, the fatal weapon was aimed at the very heart of the colossal -motors and generators, wheel and pistons seemed to warp, shrink and -disappear uncannily; the steady throbbing hum of the degravitator, -lost its smooth rhythm and thereafter large sections of machinery -disappeared under the relentless action of the supernal fire being -directed at them.</p> - -<p>Instantly the robots came to life, for a moment they milled wildly, -as if this supreme emergency were something they were not able to -cope with, and then they saw the new robot in their midst. Their -synthetic brains activated only to the repair and maintenance of the -machines, and to their safeguard, focused on the attacker, and its -removal was instantly their immediate task. They attacked <i>en masse</i>, -but the robot-proctor eluded them among the mazes of metalo-plastic, -of bery-plastic rods and generators, and the tremendous motors which -were being eaten by an invisible leprosy. With a swift slash of the -electro-flash gun, the robot-proctor caused havoc among the robots that -pursued him, legs, arms, even heads wavered and disappeared as the -electronic balance was completely disrupted by the flash.</p> - -<p>A tremor seemed to shake the gigantic Sphere. By now, the great -degravitator chamber was in shambles, and the remaining motors were -unable to cope with the awful pressure of the gravity of the giant -planet.</p> - -<p>With one final murderous sweep of the electro-flash, that seemed -to shear like an invisible scimitar through machinery, robots and -everything in its path, retreated as it had come, racing upwards -towards the Sphere's emergency locks. There was no apparent pursuit. -Only the vivid scarlet lights of imperative emergency, flooding what -had been the degravitator chamber were witnesses to the destruction.</p> - -<p>In the coordinating offices of the Maintenance Scientists, the -telesolidographs gave three-dimensional accounts of the wreckage. -But even there, confusion, bred by a growing panic, caused a delay, -losing them their chance of effecting repairs. Suddenly, panic brooked -no obstacles. The light of intelligence and logic was flung aside as -men and women becoming aware of the ghastly fate that awaited them, -poured out on the various levels in a frenzy to escape. The news of -the destruction of vital machinery in the anti-gravity repulsor beam -chamber was being relayed everywhere.</p> - -<p>Already the colossal Sphere was swaying gently and settling lower, -dislocating the delicate balances that held it poised in space. The -stresses on the plastic structures and pylons was tremendous.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As the robot arrived at Bejamel's spacer, a dramatic scene unfolded -before his huge non-abradable eyes. Holding an electro-flash in her -slender hand, her eyes brimming with tears, Perlac seemed to have for -the moment at least, control of the superb ship. She was saying:</p> - -<p>"We don't leave here until Guerlan returns!" Her lips were white, but -the sheer determination written in her lovely face, held even Bejamel -who was taken aback.</p> - -<p>"Guerlan! Are you mad, Perlac? That barbarian's below on the planet's -surface!"</p> - -<p>"On the contrary," the robot-proctor spoke in a voice leaden with -fatigue, "I'm here, Bejamel." Slowly he emerged from the enclosing -plastic shell of what had been a robot, then let the huge, hollow -plastic man fall clattering to the spacer's floor. Silently he searched -the ex-Minister of Justice, who seemed transfixed by a vast surprise. -From under Bejamel's arm-pit, Guerlan took a hidden electro-flash, and -a venom-tipped dagger concealed in a fold of his tunic. Having drawn -his fangs, he smiled. "We can blast off now ... but not for Venus!"</p> - -<p>Majestically, Bejamel turned to Perlac with an inscrutable smile. He -gazed at the girl in a mixture of bitterness and admiration:</p> - -<p>"You're indeed <i>my</i> daughter!" he said at last. Then to Guerlan: "What -do you propose to do with me?"</p> - -<p>"Keep you on Neptune," Guerlan replied bluntly. "Utilize your vast -knowledge of jurisprudence, and your personal and intimate knowledge -of the thousands of scientists who are certain to surrender sooner or -later. Human beings have inalienable rights, rights that we propose -to return to them. But unfortunately, it will not be easy to give -freedom to those who have never known what freedom is. We will need -all the science and power of mind available. So, Bejamel, we must use -you—under our supervision, of course. You see, even the venom of a -cobra is eminently useful, if handled right!"</p> - -<p>They eyed each other, these two. Both powerful, dominating intellects, -both capable of profound emotions. It was the older man, who used to -the devious ways of the Sphere and His Benevolence's court, yielded -gracefully. Bejamel glanced at Estrella, and it occurred to him that -whatever years of life remained to him would be sweet if she were at -his side. At that instant, a vast tremor shook the gigantic city of the -Sphere, and Bejamel's eyes went wide.</p> - -<p>Seated at the controls, Guerlan turned slightly to Bejamel. "Give your -Intermediates orders to open the lock and activate the catapult—we -have minutes, perhaps only seconds, before the Sphere gives under the -gravity pull. Make your choice, or I give the ship full power and crash -through the airlock, Bejamel!" Guerlan's voice was cold, impassive.</p> - -<p>"I shall give the order," Bejamel assented in a brittle voice.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>From a vantage point in space, the scene that met their eyes had the -memorable quality of those stupendous spectacles of nature that human -eyes rarely if ever are privileged to see.</p> - -<p>The vast sphere was aflame with color, dazzling in the vivid -coruscations of blue and orange and mauve and yellow lights. Spinning -slowly, it was a thing of unearthly beauty, a floating, starry globe -that might have been a toy of the gods. It was being deserted by every -type of craft imaginable; hundreds of planes, 'copters, electros ... -every available type of ship that could evacuate the jostling, crying, -screaming thousands who had jammed the outer air-locks and emergency -exits.</p> - -<p>Inexorably, the Sphere sank lower and lower, as the remaining -generators fought the awful gravity of Neptune that held the doomed -globe in its gigantic grip. Enough power still remained to the -incredible sphere to keep it from crashing headlong into the furious -waters of the vast ocean below. But at last, as if the ultimate ounce -of power were gone, the Globe seemed to lurch in a glory of prismatic -lights, then with terrific momentum it began the dizzy plunge through -space, whirling like a falling meteor.</p> - -<p>Perlac, Bejamel, Estrella—even Guerlan himself, could not take their -eyes from the tragic glory that was the sphere. Suddenly they saw it -illuminate the ocean for miles as it neared the surface of the waters, -then with a vast splash that sent a tidal wave licking the shore's -hills hungrily, it sank into the cold, green waters.</p> - -<p>"And there it will remain for all eternity!" Guerlan said -thoughtfully. "A tomb of evil, that men might live!"</p> - -<p>Bejamel was silent. The gargoyle's face was softened by a profound -sadness. He sighed like a man who has lived too much, and at last seeks -rest. He turned his back to the scene below as if unable to bear it any -more. "An epoch has passed," he said softly in the magnificent voice.</p> - -<p>But Guerlan was at the Tele-Magnum, broadcasting offer of an armistice -to the warring armadas below.</p> - -<p>"Scientists of the Inner Circle and the First Level," he said with -infinite assurance. "Your City of the Sphere has plunged to its doom, -and, with it went His Infamous Benevolence and hundreds of thousands of -your henchmen. You no longer have a haven of refuge, no base in which -to refuel or obtain supplies. When your present ammunition is gone, -when repairs and food are necessary, and when the men who die must be -replaced, there is no spot where you can return. Yours is a certain -doom—unless you unconditionally surrender. We offer a pardon to all -who are willing to join our cause; lay down your arms and aid in the -reconstruction—a far more glorious future is before us!"</p> - -<p>An immense weariness had etched lines about his mouth and eyes, and -his shoulders slumped as if a great reaction had set in. But his eyes -could still flame with joy, as he saw the deadly fleet of the Inner -Circle abandon the struggle, as he saw the embattled armies cease their -carnage. As he turned from the Tele-Magnum to go to the controls and -guide the ship to their base in Columbia, he suddenly felt soft arms -entwine around his neck and a soft face that pressed close to his. He -didn't even need to look, the fragrance of Venusian jasmines was in his -nostrils and a warm, flower-like mouth pressed close to his.</p> - -<p>It was then that Bejamel turned to Estrella and was eyeing him with -critical eyes and said sardonically:</p> - -<p>"Shall we make it unanimous?"</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Minions of the Crystal Sphere, by Albert de Pina - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MINIONS OF THE CRYSTAL SPHERE *** - -***** This file should be named 63134-h.htm or 63134-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/3/63134/ - -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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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