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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..406a28f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64157 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64157) diff --git a/old/64157-0.txt b/old/64157-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2f9aabf..0000000 --- a/old/64157-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,878 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Atavism, by Erik Fennel - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Atavism - -Author: Erik Fennel - -Release Date: December 28, 2020 [eBook #64157] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATAVISM *** - - - - - ATAVISM - - By ERIK FENNEL - - Bombs crashed. Ack-ack hammered. Gunnar - and Martha crouched in a cave, slowly - starving, grimly preferring death to capture. - What a time for a Martian to visit Earth! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Spring 1947. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The amphibious force moved in with big guns ready, with rockets -and flame throwers and LCI's and LCT's and planes and thousands -of combat-hardened men, expecting to shoot the works against the -fog-shrouded little island that might have held the northern key to -invasion. - -The men were all tensely expectant. All, that is, except the nurse and -the Air Force radioman whom one of the LCT's had picked up en route, -drifting in a rubber life raft. But their apparent indifference to the -impending battle aroused little comment. The task force had its own -problems to consider, and that pair had already had it rugged. Their -plane, they said, had been shot down weeks before and they'd been -dodging Japs ever since. - -When the ramp of the first landing craft grated on the gravel and word -went back to the waiting ships that the battle was off, that the -Japs for some unknown reason of their own had pulled out without even -pausing to destroy their equipment, the nurse and the radioman seemed -as calm as though it were what they had expected all along. But in the -excitement over the startling new development their peculiar behavior -was overlooked. They didn't complain, for they had no desire to do any -more lying than necessary.... - - * * * * * - -... Yark was a Great Brain. Even the more advanced embryos were -conscious of his revered status. But his three eyes blinked in -rotation--a sure sign of pleasure in a Martian--and in the pleasure of -addressing the most distinguished Martians from every field of endeavor -his outlines wavered and grew dim. For seconds at a time he _thinned -out_ almost to transparency. - -He addressed the gathering orally, though of course all present were -sufficiently advanced for direct brain-to-brain communication. Yark -fancied himself as an orator--the one atavistic trait he consciously -allowed himself--and mental contact did not allow the little frills of -speech-making. - -"The outer hull of the spaceship is made of oxides," he declared, -"because the planet selected for initial exploration has an -unconscionable amount of oxygen in its atmosphere, and oxides will not -oxidize." - -Mental applause resounded through the great Hall. This was excellent -Martian logic. - -"Construction of the vessel was relatively simple. The great problem -lay in developing a life form which could withstand the rigors of the -journey. - -"What sets us apart from the lower forms of life?" - -The question was purely rhetorical. Every Martian knew it was the -ability to change form at will. - -"This trait is of course due to superior mental ability and training. -But even for us there has been a definite limitation, caused of course -by residual atavisms ... atavisms which we must, and some day will, -extirpate completely from our glorious race." - -Excitement overcame his mental control and for a moment he became -completely invisible. He frowned mentally as he caught a tittering -reaction from some individual in the audience. Invisibility, too, -was an aspect of shape adaptation, of superiority, though because it -no longer served a useful purpose it had come to be regarded with -suspicion as an atavistic trait. This was particularly true of the -involuntary invisibility which sometimes accompanied high emotional -tension. A powerful and growing school of thought even considered -emotions themselves as atavisms. - -A human audience would have fidgeted as Yark recounted in minutest -detail the processes by which Erg, to whom had been granted the honor -of becoming the first Martian to visit another planet, had been reduced -to the lowest common denominator of Martian consciousness, a mass of -specialized but undifferentiated cells. And Yark, Yark of the Council -of Great Brains, had been in charge since the very earliest stages of -Erg's embryohood. - -"This reduction," Yark declared, "has been possible only by complete -elimination of all atavistic traits. Even latent ones." He told with -obvious satisfaction of Erg's unprecedented perfect zero score on the -famous Yark Anti-Atavism Test. - -"Erg will remain in full telepathic contact with me," the Great -Brain continued. "Immediately following the landing there will be a -period of quiescence, necessary to allow Erg to adjust himself to -his new environment. During this period he will be able to gather -and retransmit mental impressions from any intelligent creatures -nearby--providing of course any such creatures exist upon this -barbarously un-Martian planet--but his individuality will remain -passive. - -"Following the period of quiescence, differentiation of cells will take -place. Erg will then be a full-fledged Martian and will explore the -entire planet. After that, who knows what vistas of greatness lie ahead? - -"In his present form only I, his mentor and creator, can retain -contact. But you honored Martians will be allowed to become attuned to -my brain and thus receive Erg's reports." - -He paused and held aloft a transparent cylinder. The Martians stirred -with interest. They were all greatly impressed, although Erg resembled -nothing so much as a pot roast in a jar. They had never heard of a pot -roast. - -"We shall now dispatch Erg upon his epochal journey." - - * * * * * - -Gunnar Viborg paced restlessly to keep warm, kicking irritably at the -pile of mouldy straw in the back of the cave and the deflated life raft -from which they had sneaked ashore the night after their plane had been -shot down at sea. - -"Martha," he said, "this is no good. If we don't get food now, tonight, -we'll be too weak if we ever do get a chance for a getaway. I say, -let's make a grab now and take our chances afterward. How about it?" - -The nurse, her attractive face now pinched with cold and hunger, -nodded. Both were well aware that a raid on a Jap supply cache would -start an intensive search, but hunger and desperation are companions. - -They checked their pistols, their only weapons except Gunnar's trench -knife, and started out. They had already chosen their objective, but -were only halfway there when the raid began. Probing searchlight beams -broke futilely against the hovering clouds and the night rocked with -falling bombs and the insane yammer of anti-aircraft fire. - -One raid more or less meant little in their situation and, even while -they crouched between two huge boulders, Gunnar kept remembering that -wonderful restaurant in his Minnesota home town, its strong black -coffee and thick steaks and beautiful apple pie. - -"Quit that, stomach!" he told himself. - -The raid seemed to have ended and they were moving on again when, -without warning, the night was shattered by a blue flash somewhere -above. The glare penetrated even the blanketing fog and for an instant -left the island starkly outlined in a brilliance exceeding daylight. -Instantly the ack-ack resumed its uproar, firing blindly. A thousand -freight trains seemed to rumble by overhead. - -Then a ball-shaped object, emitting a dying trail of flame, whistled -out of the overcast like a gigantic bomb. Sparks flashed from a rock as -it struck and rebounded. It bounced again and came tumbling down the -hill, clanging against boulders, hissing and steaming with its own heat -as it encountered patches of snow. - -"What--what the hell is it?" Martha whispered. - -"Some sort of rocket plane. I didn't know we had anything like that." - -Gunnar ran forward to investigate as it came to rest near them. It -was metal, but battered completely beyond recognition. Part of it was -ripped and torn as though by a shell. - -"Let's get out of here," Martha urged as Gunnar probed the wreckage. -"The Japs are coming." - -Gunnar prodded once more at a loosened section, which swung aside to -disclose a padded compartment. The transparent cylindrical container he -hauled out was scorched but unbroken. - -"Let's _go_!" Martha pleaded. - -They had to endure an eternity of anxious waiting, huddled in a -snowbank while a Nip patrol went by. Gunnar held on to his loot. He had -gotten one glimpse of the contents, and it looked like food. - -Their clothing was soaked with melted snow and sweat when at last they -regained the comparative safety of their cave. - -Gunnar had trouble with the container. The fastenings refused to -unfasten. - -"Quit stalling," Martha complained. "I'm hungry." - -Finally Gunnar smashed the thing open with a chunk of rock and hacked -off a couple of pieces with his trench knife. The meat resembled an -outstandingly low grade of Spam, interspersed with bits of gristle that -made tough chewing, and it had a strong gamey taste. - -"Not American," Gunnar remarked. - -"Some kind of _ersatz_, probably Jap," Martha commented between bites. -They were too hungry to be choosey. - -A sound from the cave's mouth interrupted their meal. Gunnar gripped -his trench knife and pistol as he moved stealthily forward. Then he -laughed. - -"What is it?" Martha inquired, her gun ready, too. - -The half-breed husky growled again, sniffed hungrily and entered the -cave snarling. Old scars and new gashes in his flea-bitten hide showed -his familiarity with the ways of Jap soldiery. - -"One of the dogs the Aleuts left behind when the Japs drove them out," -Gunnar said. - -He threw a small chunk of gristle. The dog cowered at the motion but -darted forward as the piece fell and wolfed it down without chewing. - -"Here you are, pooch," Gunnar called. - -"Why, he's starved," Martha observed. - -Gunnar held more meat in his hand and backed into the cave. The dog -followed, wagging his stumpy tail, all growling and menace forgotten as -he found the humans friendly. - -"We can't let him live," he said reluctantly as the dog accepted the -food from his hand. "He'd run in and out and lead the Japs here." - -"I guess you're right," the nurse agreed, "But--" - -Gunnar picked up his knife, but the dog chose that moment to lick his -wrist with a rough, wet tongue, place one paw on his knee and look up -inquiringly. Gunnar extended it toward Martha. "Here, you do it. I -can't." - -She made no move to take the weapon. "I can't, either. He trusts us." - -She yawned. A few seconds later he did likewise. Then the dog yawned, -too. Gunnar fought another yawn. - -"Something--aangh--wrong--aangh--with that meat!" he cried, sudden -alarm struggling with drowsiness. "I feel doped!" - - * * * * * - -Drowsiness won. He leaned back against the straw in the darkness and -closed his eyes. - -Martha's eyelids were heavy but she was still a nurse. She shook -him violently. "Sleep in those wet clothes and you'll wake up with -pneumonia. Get them off!" she ordered. - -Dizzily they undressed in the blackness, wringing out their sopping -clothing and hanging it on projecting points of rock in the cave. -Before they finished the dog was snoring loudly in the straw. - -Martha felt silly and lightheaded. "Gunnar," she said. "Let's call him -Frankie. He sings." She giggled. - -Then she yawned once more, burrowed into the straw and was sound asleep. - -Gunnar had just time to place the two guns and his knife nearby before -he too lost consciousness.... - -... Heat. Cold. Heat again. Violent motion. A ripping shock. The -sensations would have been excruciatingly painful to any Martian still -possessed of anything so atavistic as a pain sense. - -Motion impulses were replaced by vague manifestations of the presence -of alien life forms nearby. Two units of alien life. Sensations of -Erg becoming the center of some unintelligible, barbaric scene of -jubilation, as though he were being received with great joy. - -Yark was mildly surprised. Life on this distant planet had evolved -further than he had anticipated. The ceremony was confusing, but at -least those organisms had developed sufficiently to recognize Erg's -inherent superiority and to receive him accordingly. - -Rapidly the jubilation died away. Erg was entering the stage of total -quiescence, and evidently these alien creatures had quiescent periods -too. - -The flow of thought impulses ceased and the assembly waited, members -gossiping mentally while Yark kept his brain receptive. - -Time passed, and suddenly an inaudible scream of mental anguish was -ripped from Yark's brain before he could repress it. The assembly came -to instant attention, all mental small talk forgotten. - -Yark writhed. Differentiation had begun--but what differentiation! Erg, -the incomparable Erg, the most carefully normalized of all Martian -personalities--had suddenly developed advanced multiple schizophrenia. -He had split into three personalities, two disgustingly atavistic, -while the third--_ugh_! That one was indescribably horrid. Yark had -just time to distinguish between the three when their thought trains -impinged on his brain, all three at once. - -Yark's brain was shaken to its very foundations by the intensity of -their un-Martian confusion. Fear and anger and snarling hatred and -despair and the nearness of deadly peril and the desire to do something -to protect something else, emotions which Yark had never encountered in -the entire span of his existence, all swirled through his mind at once -in sickening profusion. - -Erg, pure, beautiful, perfect, non-atavistic Erg, thinking such black -and unenlightened emotion-thoughts! - -Yark was outraged, nonplussed and confounded by Erg's incontrovertible -symptoms of atavistic schizophrenia. Once more his mind registered a -mental titter, this time from more than one member of the audience.... - - * * * * * - -... Gunnar reached out to quiet the growling dog, but Frankie was gone. -Instead his hand encountered Martha's and he gave it a reassuring -squeeze. He listened, hardly breathing. - -From just outside the cave came the peculiar faint sound made only by -split-toed Japanese shoes. - -"This is it," he whispered as he pressed Martha's pistol into her hand. -"They've found us. Better save one shot for yourself." - -Flashlights glimmered around the bend of the cave and the clothing -hanging from the rocks shuddered and fell as a burst of Nambu fire -roared. A Jap ran toward the huddled garments, chattering wildly. - -Gunnar knew they could hope only to take as many Nips as possible with -them. Even as he opened fire he could hear Martha's pistol start up -beside him. The first Japs went down. - -Then his pistol clicked empty. - -"Just one more," Gunnar prayed as he threw the useless weapon into the -nearest yellow face and drew his knife for a final charge. - - * * * * * - -He expected to be met by a burst of fire as he stepped out, but the -bullets did not come. Instead a Jap tripped and kicked at something -near his feet, then tumbled violently backward with his hands coming up -as though to protect his face. The Jap started to scream but stopped -abruptly as blood spurted from a throat suddenly raw and mangled. A -snarling growl echoed through the cave. - -[Illustration: _A snarling growl echoed through the cave._] - -Another Nip went down, struggling with something invisible. - -Panic gripped the Jap patrol. Two surviving soldiers broke and ran, -but the lieutenant in charge snatched up a gun. Bullets whined off the -rocks as he fired wildly, without a target. - -All at once Frankie lay in the middle of the floor, his spine shattered -by a chance bullet but his fangs still bared in a snarl of defiance. -The Jap kicked at the dog, then jumped aside and stared unbelievingly -as his outlines blurred momentarily. He kicked again with deliberate -brutality, and the dog gave one convulsive shudder and lay still. - -Without conscious volition Gunnar raised his arm. Twenty feet away -bones crunched under the brass handle-studs of the trench knife. Gunnar -felt the impact up his arm, and then the snick as the double-edged -blade plunged between two ribs. - -Then he and Martha were alone with several dead Japanese and the body -of a dog. - -Gunnar felt a pulling sensation in his shoulder. The bloody knife -surged toward him through the air. He looked down. - -And he wasn't there at all! - -"M--Martha!" he called unsteadily. - -"Yes, Gunnar," her voice answered from nearby. - -"Where are you?" - -"Here." - -"Where?" - -He glanced wildly around. Her pistol was floating in the air beside -him, and then by the light of a flash the Japs had dropped he could -just discern the tenuous, transparent outlines of her figure. He stared. - -She must have seen him too, for instantly she was completely invisible -again. - -"What the hell--?" he asked. - -"I--I don't know." Her voice was shaky now. Her coveralls lifted -themselves from the floor and fastened themselves. - -"Get them off," he begged after one look. "I can see you that way, sort -of." - -Bullets had ripped through the garments and the rents disclosed large -patches of _nothingness_ inside. The result was both indecent and -terrifying. Hurriedly she slipped them off. - -"I can't see myself and I don't feel cold at all," she mused. "Are we -dead?" - -Gunnar had a practical mind. - -"I don't think so," he decided. "I don't know what's happened to us, -but if we can't see ourselves or each other they sure as hell can't see -us either. And we're going to damn well take advantage of it. Their -radar station, first." - -They floundered out into a snowstorm, keeping together by the sound of -their voices and an occasional touch of hands. - -"I wish we had feet like snowshoes," he remarked, trying to break the -spell of spookiness with conversation. - -He felt a tug, a spreading, and found himself stepping lightly over the -drifts. - -"Judas!" he said in awe. "If we're dead, which place is this?" - - * * * * * - -The confidential agent from Imperial Headquarters confronted the -garrison's commandant. "You are a disgrace to the Imperial Army," he -snorted. "You have the mentality of an Ainu." - -"But Excellency--" - -"Radar station destroyed. Coastal guns useless. Ammunition set afire. -Supplies stolen. Sentries killed. But, instead of taking proper -measures against these Yankee saboteurs who have very evidently sneaked -ashore--due to more of your incompetence--you send us fables to cover -your own deficiencies. Ghost hands. Ghost Yankees. All fables. Bah! - -"That is as absurd as the idea of my own pistol rising from its holster -by itself and turning upon me." - -"Excellency," shrieked the overwrought officer. "Don't say such things -on this island!" - -The agent stared in horror-struck rigidity as his gun jerked itself -clear, rose, and pointed. The gun spat twice, then floated rapidly -across the room and placed itself gently in the commandant's trembling -hand. - -The headquarters bodyguard rushed in and jumped at conclusions as -they saw their superior's body. Their crossfire cut the unfortunate -commandant almost in half. - -The major who was second in command stuck his head in the doorway for -one horrified look. But when something unseen in that room of death -laughed harshly in triumph he dashed hastily out again, screaming -frantic orders.... - - * * * * * - -... Yark was unhappy. The majority reaction was profound shock at the -realization that the great Yark was not infallible. - -"What shall we do?" a mental voice asked. - -"Destroy him!" The response was overwhelming. - -Yark recoiled. Erg was his masterpiece, and to destroy him would be to -acknowledge utter failure. But his very status as a Great Brain was now -in jeopardy. - -"It will be difficult to reach the real, the actual Erg, submerged as -he is beneath his false schizophrenic personalities, but through me it -can be accomplished...." - - * * * * * - -"... We'd better get some clothes on," Martha said bashfully. She could -feel her outlines showing again. For the past couple of days it had -become increasingly difficult to maintain complete invisibility. She -and Gunnar were both beginning to _flicker_, to appear dimly and then -vanish again. - -"That's right. I'm beginning to feel the cold again, too." Gunnar was a -gentleman and spared her modesty. "Whatever it is, it's wearing off." - -The island lay several hours behind them when Martha glanced around -once more at Gunnar's apparently empty clothing and the dent the -weight of his body made in the rubber boat. She gave a little squeal -of surprise this time, for the dent and the clothes were occupied--by -Gunnar, solid and in the flesh. - -He looked, and saw her, too. For a minute, neither said a word.... - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATAVISM *** - -***** This file should be named 64157-0.txt or 64157-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/5/64157/ - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. 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If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Atavism</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Erik Fennel</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 28, 2020 [eBook #64157]</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATAVISM ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>ATAVISM</h1> - -<h2>By ERIK FENNEL</h2> - -<p>Bombs crashed. Ack-ack hammered. Gunnar<br /> -and Martha crouched in a cave, slowly<br /> -starving, grimly preferring death to capture.<br /> -What a time for a Martian to visit Earth!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Spring 1947.<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 amphibious force moved in with big guns ready, with rockets -and flame throwers and LCI's and LCT's and planes and thousands -of combat-hardened men, expecting to shoot the works against the -fog-shrouded little island that might have held the northern key to -invasion.</p> - -<p>The men were all tensely expectant. All, that is, except the nurse and -the Air Force radioman whom one of the LCT's had picked up en route, -drifting in a rubber life raft. But their apparent indifference to the -impending battle aroused little comment. The task force had its own -problems to consider, and that pair had already had it rugged. Their -plane, they said, had been shot down weeks before and they'd been -dodging Japs ever since.</p> - -<p>When the ramp of the first landing craft grated on the gravel and word -went back to the waiting ships that the battle was off, that the -Japs for some unknown reason of their own had pulled out without even -pausing to destroy their equipment, the nurse and the radioman seemed -as calm as though it were what they had expected all along. But in the -excitement over the startling new development their peculiar behavior -was overlooked. They didn't complain, for they had no desire to do any -more lying than necessary....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>... Yark was a Great Brain. Even the more advanced embryos were -conscious of his revered status. But his three eyes blinked in -rotation—a sure sign of pleasure in a Martian—and in the pleasure of -addressing the most distinguished Martians from every field of endeavor -his outlines wavered and grew dim. For seconds at a time he <i>thinned -out</i> almost to transparency.</p> - -<p>He addressed the gathering orally, though of course all present were -sufficiently advanced for direct brain-to-brain communication. Yark -fancied himself as an orator—the one atavistic trait he consciously -allowed himself—and mental contact did not allow the little frills of -speech-making.</p> - -<p>"The outer hull of the spaceship is made of oxides," he declared, -"because the planet selected for initial exploration has an -unconscionable amount of oxygen in its atmosphere, and oxides will not -oxidize."</p> - -<p>Mental applause resounded through the great Hall. This was excellent -Martian logic.</p> - -<p>"Construction of the vessel was relatively simple. The great problem -lay in developing a life form which could withstand the rigors of the -journey.</p> - -<p>"What sets us apart from the lower forms of life?"</p> - -<p>The question was purely rhetorical. Every Martian knew it was the -ability to change form at will.</p> - -<p>"This trait is of course due to superior mental ability and training. -But even for us there has been a definite limitation, caused of course -by residual atavisms ... atavisms which we must, and some day will, -extirpate completely from our glorious race."</p> - -<p>Excitement overcame his mental control and for a moment he became -completely invisible. He frowned mentally as he caught a tittering -reaction from some individual in the audience. Invisibility, too, -was an aspect of shape adaptation, of superiority, though because it -no longer served a useful purpose it had come to be regarded with -suspicion as an atavistic trait. This was particularly true of the -involuntary invisibility which sometimes accompanied high emotional -tension. A powerful and growing school of thought even considered -emotions themselves as atavisms.</p> - -<p>A human audience would have fidgeted as Yark recounted in minutest -detail the processes by which Erg, to whom had been granted the honor -of becoming the first Martian to visit another planet, had been reduced -to the lowest common denominator of Martian consciousness, a mass of -specialized but undifferentiated cells. And Yark, Yark of the Council -of Great Brains, had been in charge since the very earliest stages of -Erg's embryohood.</p> - -<p>"This reduction," Yark declared, "has been possible only by complete -elimination of all atavistic traits. Even latent ones." He told with -obvious satisfaction of Erg's unprecedented perfect zero score on the -famous Yark Anti-Atavism Test.</p> - -<p>"Erg will remain in full telepathic contact with me," the Great -Brain continued. "Immediately following the landing there will be a -period of quiescence, necessary to allow Erg to adjust himself to -his new environment. During this period he will be able to gather -and retransmit mental impressions from any intelligent creatures -nearby—providing of course any such creatures exist upon this -barbarously un-Martian planet—but his individuality will remain -passive.</p> - -<p>"Following the period of quiescence, differentiation of cells will take -place. Erg will then be a full-fledged Martian and will explore the -entire planet. After that, who knows what vistas of greatness lie ahead?</p> - -<p>"In his present form only I, his mentor and creator, can retain -contact. But you honored Martians will be allowed to become attuned to -my brain and thus receive Erg's reports."</p> - -<p>He paused and held aloft a transparent cylinder. The Martians stirred -with interest. They were all greatly impressed, although Erg resembled -nothing so much as a pot roast in a jar. They had never heard of a pot -roast.</p> - -<p>"We shall now dispatch Erg upon his epochal journey."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Gunnar Viborg paced restlessly to keep warm, kicking irritably at the -pile of mouldy straw in the back of the cave and the deflated life raft -from which they had sneaked ashore the night after their plane had been -shot down at sea.</p> - -<p>"Martha," he said, "this is no good. If we don't get food now, tonight, -we'll be too weak if we ever do get a chance for a getaway. I say, -let's make a grab now and take our chances afterward. How about it?"</p> - -<p>The nurse, her attractive face now pinched with cold and hunger, -nodded. Both were well aware that a raid on a Jap supply cache would -start an intensive search, but hunger and desperation are companions.</p> - -<p>They checked their pistols, their only weapons except Gunnar's trench -knife, and started out. They had already chosen their objective, but -were only halfway there when the raid began. Probing searchlight beams -broke futilely against the hovering clouds and the night rocked with -falling bombs and the insane yammer of anti-aircraft fire.</p> - -<p>One raid more or less meant little in their situation and, even while -they crouched between two huge boulders, Gunnar kept remembering that -wonderful restaurant in his Minnesota home town, its strong black -coffee and thick steaks and beautiful apple pie.</p> - -<p>"Quit that, stomach!" he told himself.</p> - -<p>The raid seemed to have ended and they were moving on again when, -without warning, the night was shattered by a blue flash somewhere -above. The glare penetrated even the blanketing fog and for an instant -left the island starkly outlined in a brilliance exceeding daylight. -Instantly the ack-ack resumed its uproar, firing blindly. A thousand -freight trains seemed to rumble by overhead.</p> - -<p>Then a ball-shaped object, emitting a dying trail of flame, whistled -out of the overcast like a gigantic bomb. Sparks flashed from a rock as -it struck and rebounded. It bounced again and came tumbling down the -hill, clanging against boulders, hissing and steaming with its own heat -as it encountered patches of snow.</p> - -<p>"What—what the hell is it?" Martha whispered.</p> - -<p>"Some sort of rocket plane. I didn't know we had anything like that."</p> - -<p>Gunnar ran forward to investigate as it came to rest near them. It -was metal, but battered completely beyond recognition. Part of it was -ripped and torn as though by a shell.</p> - -<p>"Let's get out of here," Martha urged as Gunnar probed the wreckage. -"The Japs are coming."</p> - -<p>Gunnar prodded once more at a loosened section, which swung aside to -disclose a padded compartment. The transparent cylindrical container he -hauled out was scorched but unbroken.</p> - -<p>"Let's <i>go</i>!" Martha pleaded.</p> - -<p>They had to endure an eternity of anxious waiting, huddled in a -snowbank while a Nip patrol went by. Gunnar held on to his loot. He had -gotten one glimpse of the contents, and it looked like food.</p> - -<p>Their clothing was soaked with melted snow and sweat when at last they -regained the comparative safety of their cave.</p> - -<p>Gunnar had trouble with the container. The fastenings refused to -unfasten.</p> - -<p>"Quit stalling," Martha complained. "I'm hungry."</p> - -<p>Finally Gunnar smashed the thing open with a chunk of rock and hacked -off a couple of pieces with his trench knife. The meat resembled an -outstandingly low grade of Spam, interspersed with bits of gristle that -made tough chewing, and it had a strong gamey taste.</p> - -<p>"Not American," Gunnar remarked.</p> - -<p>"Some kind of <i>ersatz</i>, probably Jap," Martha commented between bites. -They were too hungry to be choosey.</p> - -<p>A sound from the cave's mouth interrupted their meal. Gunnar gripped -his trench knife and pistol as he moved stealthily forward. Then he -laughed.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" Martha inquired, her gun ready, too.</p> - -<p>The half-breed husky growled again, sniffed hungrily and entered the -cave snarling. Old scars and new gashes in his flea-bitten hide showed -his familiarity with the ways of Jap soldiery.</p> - -<p>"One of the dogs the Aleuts left behind when the Japs drove them out," -Gunnar said.</p> - -<p>He threw a small chunk of gristle. The dog cowered at the motion but -darted forward as the piece fell and wolfed it down without chewing.</p> - -<p>"Here you are, pooch," Gunnar called.</p> - -<p>"Why, he's starved," Martha observed.</p> - -<p>Gunnar held more meat in his hand and backed into the cave. The dog -followed, wagging his stumpy tail, all growling and menace forgotten as -he found the humans friendly.</p> - -<p>"We can't let him live," he said reluctantly as the dog accepted the -food from his hand. "He'd run in and out and lead the Japs here."</p> - -<p>"I guess you're right," the nurse agreed, "But—"</p> - -<p>Gunnar picked up his knife, but the dog chose that moment to lick his -wrist with a rough, wet tongue, place one paw on his knee and look up -inquiringly. Gunnar extended it toward Martha. "Here, you do it. I -can't."</p> - -<p>She made no move to take the weapon. "I can't, either. He trusts us."</p> - -<p>She yawned. A few seconds later he did likewise. Then the dog yawned, -too. Gunnar fought another yawn.</p> - -<p>"Something—aangh—wrong—aangh—with that meat!" he cried, sudden -alarm struggling with drowsiness. "I feel doped!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Drowsiness won. He leaned back against the straw in the darkness and -closed his eyes.</p> - -<p>Martha's eyelids were heavy but she was still a nurse. She shook -him violently. "Sleep in those wet clothes and you'll wake up with -pneumonia. Get them off!" she ordered.</p> - -<p>Dizzily they undressed in the blackness, wringing out their sopping -clothing and hanging it on projecting points of rock in the cave. -Before they finished the dog was snoring loudly in the straw.</p> - -<p>Martha felt silly and lightheaded. "Gunnar," she said. "Let's call him -Frankie. He sings." She giggled.</p> - -<p>Then she yawned once more, burrowed into the straw and was sound asleep.</p> - -<p>Gunnar had just time to place the two guns and his knife nearby before -he too lost consciousness....</p> - -<p>... Heat. Cold. Heat again. Violent motion. A ripping shock. The -sensations would have been excruciatingly painful to any Martian still -possessed of anything so atavistic as a pain sense.</p> - -<p>Motion impulses were replaced by vague manifestations of the presence -of alien life forms nearby. Two units of alien life. Sensations of -Erg becoming the center of some unintelligible, barbaric scene of -jubilation, as though he were being received with great joy.</p> - -<p>Yark was mildly surprised. Life on this distant planet had evolved -further than he had anticipated. The ceremony was confusing, but at -least those organisms had developed sufficiently to recognize Erg's -inherent superiority and to receive him accordingly.</p> - -<p>Rapidly the jubilation died away. Erg was entering the stage of total -quiescence, and evidently these alien creatures had quiescent periods -too.</p> - -<p>The flow of thought impulses ceased and the assembly waited, members -gossiping mentally while Yark kept his brain receptive.</p> - -<p>Time passed, and suddenly an inaudible scream of mental anguish was -ripped from Yark's brain before he could repress it. The assembly came -to instant attention, all mental small talk forgotten.</p> - -<p>Yark writhed. Differentiation had begun—but what differentiation! Erg, -the incomparable Erg, the most carefully normalized of all Martian -personalities—had suddenly developed advanced multiple schizophrenia. -He had split into three personalities, two disgustingly atavistic, -while the third—<i>ugh</i>! That one was indescribably horrid. Yark had -just time to distinguish between the three when their thought trains -impinged on his brain, all three at once.</p> - -<p>Yark's brain was shaken to its very foundations by the intensity of -their un-Martian confusion. Fear and anger and snarling hatred and -despair and the nearness of deadly peril and the desire to do something -to protect something else, emotions which Yark had never encountered in -the entire span of his existence, all swirled through his mind at once -in sickening profusion.</p> - -<p>Erg, pure, beautiful, perfect, non-atavistic Erg, thinking such black -and unenlightened emotion-thoughts!</p> - -<p>Yark was outraged, nonplussed and confounded by Erg's incontrovertible -symptoms of atavistic schizophrenia. Once more his mind registered a -mental titter, this time from more than one member of the audience....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>... Gunnar reached out to quiet the growling dog, but Frankie was gone. -Instead his hand encountered Martha's and he gave it a reassuring -squeeze. He listened, hardly breathing.</p> - -<p>From just outside the cave came the peculiar faint sound made only by -split-toed Japanese shoes.</p> - -<p>"This is it," he whispered as he pressed Martha's pistol into her hand. -"They've found us. Better save one shot for yourself."</p> - -<p>Flashlights glimmered around the bend of the cave and the clothing -hanging from the rocks shuddered and fell as a burst of Nambu fire -roared. A Jap ran toward the huddled garments, chattering wildly.</p> - -<p>Gunnar knew they could hope only to take as many Nips as possible with -them. Even as he opened fire he could hear Martha's pistol start up -beside him. The first Japs went down.</p> - -<p>Then his pistol clicked empty.</p> - -<p>"Just one more," Gunnar prayed as he threw the useless weapon into the -nearest yellow face and drew his knife for a final charge.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He expected to be met by a burst of fire as he stepped out, but the -bullets did not come. Instead a Jap tripped and kicked at something -near his feet, then tumbled violently backward with his hands coming up -as though to protect his face. The Jap started to scream but stopped -abruptly as blood spurted from a throat suddenly raw and mangled. A -snarling growl echoed through the cave.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>A snarling growl echoed through the cave.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Another Nip went down, struggling with something invisible.</p> - -<p>Panic gripped the Jap patrol. Two surviving soldiers broke and ran, -but the lieutenant in charge snatched up a gun. Bullets whined off the -rocks as he fired wildly, without a target.</p> - -<p>All at once Frankie lay in the middle of the floor, his spine shattered -by a chance bullet but his fangs still bared in a snarl of defiance. -The Jap kicked at the dog, then jumped aside and stared unbelievingly -as his outlines blurred momentarily. He kicked again with deliberate -brutality, and the dog gave one convulsive shudder and lay still.</p> - -<p>Without conscious volition Gunnar raised his arm. Twenty feet away -bones crunched under the brass handle-studs of the trench knife. Gunnar -felt the impact up his arm, and then the snick as the double-edged -blade plunged between two ribs.</p> - -<p>Then he and Martha were alone with several dead Japanese and the body -of a dog.</p> - -<p>Gunnar felt a pulling sensation in his shoulder. The bloody knife -surged toward him through the air. He looked down.</p> - -<p>And he wasn't there at all!</p> - -<p>"M—Martha!" he called unsteadily.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Gunnar," her voice answered from nearby.</p> - -<p>"Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Here."</p> - -<p>"Where?"</p> - -<p>He glanced wildly around. Her pistol was floating in the air beside -him, and then by the light of a flash the Japs had dropped he could -just discern the tenuous, transparent outlines of her figure. He stared.</p> - -<p>She must have seen him too, for instantly she was completely invisible -again.</p> - -<p>"What the hell—?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I—I don't know." Her voice was shaky now. Her coveralls lifted -themselves from the floor and fastened themselves.</p> - -<p>"Get them off," he begged after one look. "I can see you that way, sort -of."</p> - -<p>Bullets had ripped through the garments and the rents disclosed large -patches of <i>nothingness</i> inside. The result was both indecent and -terrifying. Hurriedly she slipped them off.</p> - -<p>"I can't see myself and I don't feel cold at all," she mused. "Are we -dead?"</p> - -<p>Gunnar had a practical mind.</p> - -<p>"I don't think so," he decided. "I don't know what's happened to us, -but if we can't see ourselves or each other they sure as hell can't see -us either. And we're going to damn well take advantage of it. Their -radar station, first."</p> - -<p>They floundered out into a snowstorm, keeping together by the sound of -their voices and an occasional touch of hands.</p> - -<p>"I wish we had feet like snowshoes," he remarked, trying to break the -spell of spookiness with conversation.</p> - -<p>He felt a tug, a spreading, and found himself stepping lightly over the -drifts.</p> - -<p>"Judas!" he said in awe. "If we're dead, which place is this?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The confidential agent from Imperial Headquarters confronted the -garrison's commandant. "You are a disgrace to the Imperial Army," he -snorted. "You have the mentality of an Ainu."</p> - -<p>"But Excellency—"</p> - -<p>"Radar station destroyed. Coastal guns useless. Ammunition set afire. -Supplies stolen. Sentries killed. But, instead of taking proper -measures against these Yankee saboteurs who have very evidently sneaked -ashore—due to more of your incompetence—you send us fables to cover -your own deficiencies. Ghost hands. Ghost Yankees. All fables. Bah!</p> - -<p>"That is as absurd as the idea of my own pistol rising from its holster -by itself and turning upon me."</p> - -<p>"Excellency," shrieked the overwrought officer. "Don't say such things -on this island!"</p> - -<p>The agent stared in horror-struck rigidity as his gun jerked itself -clear, rose, and pointed. The gun spat twice, then floated rapidly -across the room and placed itself gently in the commandant's trembling -hand.</p> - -<p>The headquarters bodyguard rushed in and jumped at conclusions as -they saw their superior's body. Their crossfire cut the unfortunate -commandant almost in half.</p> - -<p>The major who was second in command stuck his head in the doorway for -one horrified look. But when something unseen in that room of death -laughed harshly in triumph he dashed hastily out again, screaming -frantic orders....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>... Yark was unhappy. The majority reaction was profound shock at the -realization that the great Yark was not infallible.</p> - -<p>"What shall we do?" a mental voice asked.</p> - -<p>"Destroy him!" The response was overwhelming.</p> - -<p>Yark recoiled. Erg was his masterpiece, and to destroy him would be to -acknowledge utter failure. But his very status as a Great Brain was now -in jeopardy.</p> - -<p>"It will be difficult to reach the real, the actual Erg, submerged as -he is beneath his false schizophrenic personalities, but through me it -can be accomplished...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"... We'd better get some clothes on," Martha said bashfully. She could -feel her outlines showing again. For the past couple of days it had -become increasingly difficult to maintain complete invisibility. She -and Gunnar were both beginning to <i>flicker</i>, to appear dimly and then -vanish again.</p> - -<p>"That's right. I'm beginning to feel the cold again, too." Gunnar was a -gentleman and spared her modesty. "Whatever it is, it's wearing off."</p> - -<p>The island lay several hours behind them when Martha glanced around -once more at Gunnar's apparently empty clothing and the dent the -weight of his body made in the rubber boat. She gave a little squeal -of surprise this time, for the dent and the clothes were occupied—by -Gunnar, solid and in the flesh.</p> - -<p>He looked, and saw her, too. 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