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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..062796a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65085 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65085) diff --git a/old/65085-0.txt b/old/65085-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a13b8a3..0000000 --- a/old/65085-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,801 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Barrier, by Bryce Walton - -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: The Barrier - -Author: Bryce Walton - -Release Date: April 14, 2021 [eBook #65085] - -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 THE BARRIER *** - - - - - The Barrier - - By Bryce Walton - - If Stevens could cross the high velocity - barrier at the edge of space he would receive a - pardon on Earth. But would he live to claim it? - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - February 1951 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - -[Illustration: His features were twisted by the acceleration, and his -sanity seemed to have gone.] - -There were maybe ten or fifteen people to see him off. They weren't -cheering. They stood in the gray curtain of rain, hunched over with -their hands in their storm-coat pockets. Behind them was the vague bulk -of the Experimental Station. And beyond that, invisible in the night, -were the mountains he would never see again. - -"O.K., Stevens. This is it." - -So what? Stevens clanked as he turned toward the "Coffin." He was -encased in a bulging metal pressure suit and his head was a big alloy -bubble. No one smiled. No one raised a hand to say goodbye. - -Doris would, of course, say goodbye, if she were here. She wasn't here. -She didn't even know about his volunteering. - -Major Kanin nodded stiffly. His gray eyes wrinkled. "Good luck, -Stevens," he said dutifully. It was meaningless. Kanin had sent too -many poor guys out on a one-way trip. He knew Stevens wouldn't come -down. Not in any recognizable form. - -A couple of gray-suited mechanics moved around behind Stevens. Stevens -leaned over and thrust his head into the tubular opening of the -torpedo-like plane. The two mechanics lifted his legs, shoved him in -headfirst like he was ammunition being crammed into an ancient cannon. -The metal hatch slid down past his feet. He was bound tightly by the -cockpit which was only an air-conditioned tube but slightly larger than -his body. When the canopy over his head closed, he had only two inches -between the plate in his helmet and the control and instrument panel. - -For one agonizing moment, long and terrifying, Stevens felt an awful -compressing suffocation and entrapment. The claustrophobia went away, -in part, and left the plexglas plate in his helmet dewed with his -sweat. - -He tried to relax. He stared at the controls. He twisted his head -carefully then so as not to bump his helmet against the side--the noise -was numbing inside when he did bump anything--and looked through the -tiny peep-hole in the tubular wall which would soon close too, leaving -him completely sealed. He looked out and waited for the signal. Major -Kanin had turned his back and was discussing something with a Doctor -and a Lieutenant. The mechanics were around preparing the kick-off -rockets. - -The "Coffin" was light, and it was new. A slight improvement over the -last one. But the so-called improvement was a farce, Stevens knew, -because no one had any idea why none of the others had ever come back. -None of them expected him to come back either, and they showed it -plainly. Also, none of them cared particularly, from any human point of -view. The Military cared of course, from another view-point. - -This was another velocity test run. Once around the Earth to this -take-off spot on the desert. The Military wanted to get to the Moon -if they had to walk there over a suspension bridge of human dead. -The first Sovereign State to get a military base on the Moon would, -in theory, be the all-time victor in what certain kinds of humorists -called the "game" of war. So far, no one had been able to stand the -velocity. - -Stevens felt his skin stretch in a dry, tight grin. He carefully and -slowly moistened his lips and watched the light that would blink -yellow. A minute after that the job would kick-off before rockets -delivering a 3000-pound thrust for twelve seconds. - - * * * * * - -Stevens guessed that the brain-boys up in some hidden bureau had an -idea that sooner or later they would find somebody who could stand it, -then they could make tests, find out why. Stevens had no idea how many -had already been sacrificed. The boys upstairs knew but they weren't -giving out statistics these days. Stevens would increase the unknown -number by one more. - -So it meant nothing, he thought. He wasn't one of the superboys, the -jet-jyrenes, the hero lads who never came back and had statues and -plaques stuck all over the place for being permanently en absentia. Not -anymore, he wasn't. - -He was one of the new volunteers from the West Coast branch of the -Military Prison. Big-hearted Kanin had even promised him a pardon if he -brought the ship back. It was a new high in irony, but that was about -all. - -He wouldn't come back, and he knew it. But he would be free, and Doris -would be free to live her own life. He had been stupid, hot-headed, -once--and this was a preferable way, he had decided, to pay up the debt. - -Doris had resigned herself to waiting for him. It was a manslaughter -charge, and he would have gotten out maybe in fifteen years. They -didn't parole anybody from a Military Prison, at least not on anything -as heavy as manslaughter. It wasn't fair to Doris, nor to himself. - -All right. He was in a shiny "Coffin" and he would soon be on his way -to wherever the others had gone--into nowhere. Where was nowhere? That -was a question. It was way up, higher than anyone had returned from to -answer--still within the bounds of gravity but--_high_. A lot of guys -had found it, but they weren't sending back any ESP messages from the -Beyond. - -It was up there where the Earth lost its face behind thick vapor veils -and began to look like a fancy balloon, that was where you found out -the location of nowhere. Inside a beautifully stream-lined "Coffin" -you found out--hurtling way beyond the speed of sound, shattering the -supersonic barriers, and faster and faster still.... - -What happened to them? Nobody had figured it out. All the best brains -in the world working on it might figure it out. But the brains were -split up, divided into little camps here and there, getting a lot of -atomic spitballs ready to throw at one another, when teacher's back -was turned. - -So it wasn't figured out, what happened to them. They had come a -long way since they first broke the barrier. Faster and faster and -faster--but they'd hit a limit somewhere up there. And until they wiped -out that limitation, the Moon was as far away as it had ever been back -when man thought the canoe was a great discovery. - -They just went faster and faster and faster--and then they disappeared. -A curtain parted. A curtain closed. And wherever man wanted to get to -so fast--he got there. - -The yellow light blinked at Stevens like a jaundiced eye. Stevens -winked back with a mock gesture that was hardly genuine. The world -rocked, and his head seemed to drain suddenly as though by a suction -pump. - - * * * * * - -His task was simple enough. The controls were automatic until the -signal came for bringing the ship in, and then manual controls would be -used. Until then, he served as only a slightly necessary human element. -A voice. There was the radio, and his voice. He was to keep them -informed down there. Keep talking right up to the point when whatever -happened--happened. - -Stevens talked. He reported the altitude, the velocity, the -temperature. He kept reporting as the three of them increased. His -eyes watched the light that might blink red. The "panic-light." When -that blinked, it meant curtains. It meant fire in the "Coffin." It -meant that if you were in a position to do it, you could use the -automatic pilot ejector and get hurled into the screaming currents by a -37 mm cartridge that shot the pilot and cockpit straight up at 60 ft. -per second. - -At this altitude and this velocity, the ejector was useless. - -He whispered, "Velocity--five thousand--" He spoke again. -"Velocity--fifteen thousand--" - -It was frightening. He flicked on the observation screen. It was a -blur. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't hear anything. If he could -only lift his legs, bend his knees. If he could only turn over on his -side-- - -He opened his mouth to scream, and somehow prevented the burst that -frothed to soundless bubbles on his lips. His body seemed to swell, -seeking to burst the Coffin's walls like a swelling mummy. The terror -remained in him, icy and deep. - -He watched the gauges creeping up and up. He was speaking. He knew he -was reporting but he couldn't hear himself saying anything. He watched -the "panic-light" that would glow red and that would be curtain time. -There was no sound. No sound at all. There was no vision. No awareness -of motion. At this incredible height, at this frightening velocity, -there was no awareness of anything at all. - -He was in a Coffin all right, and he was buried--as certainly as though -he were six feet under and as stationary as only the dead can be when -they are buried and forgotten down under the clean Earth where they -belong when they're tired. - -They didn't belong up here, not this way. - -"The cooling system's clogging," he heard himself whisper. "Crystals of -ice ... cockpit's like a miniature snow storm...." - -He heard the unemotional voice come clearly to him. "The emergency -trigger--" - -He used it. He felt a freezing grin rip across his face as he reached -out and used it. The icy spray died away and he heard himself saying -something else. - -"It's the velocity. I don't have any reason for saying it--I just feel -it--you could feel it up here too--I can't explain it, but it's the -velocity. I know it. Maybe they crashed on the Earth somewhere. There's -lots of places on Earth a ship could crash and no one would know it, -especially when it would be taken for a meteor. But this feels like -it's the velocity that does it up here. Listen, what about this? Anyone -thought of this--what if the velocity breaks a man through into another -dimension?" - -No one commented on that. It happened to him right then, and he felt -it coming. Reflexes tried to move his body, and his head and feet -drummed on the restricting tubular walls. There was a wrenching blur -and a slipping spinning vertigo. - - * * * * * - -... there was darkness and he floated in it, but he was conscious. It -wasn't any familiar kind of consciousness. Lights began glimmering -here and there like fireflies. But it was no dream, he knew that. -He didn't know what it was. The music that was something far and -incomprehensively beyond music sounded, and he seemed to float on -a broad tape of sound to float on a road, a path, a curvature that -broadened into unlimited vistas. - -It was brief. It was like peeking through a tiny hole and seeing -something beautiful, unworldly, very nearly incomprehensible, drift by. -He heard a voice that had no body, but he knew it was real, very real. -More real than anything he had called real before. - -"Another is coming through. Check the matrix." - - * * * * * - -He tried to understand. Vaporous curtains seemed to draw back one by -one and a kind of clarity flowed over his mind like cool ocean up a -white beach. A first faint tingling thrill moved in his blood, and -became pleasure that mounted through ecstasy and then became something -else for which he had no name. - -He had called it--nowhere. This wasn't anything like that. This was -really _some_where. Soft lights bathed him like water. Shadows seemed -to shift and sway and there was silver in the light, dusted with golden -motes. - -He thought desperately. "Where is this? What has happened?" - -"This is Death," the voice that had no face or form answered. "That is -what you term it, in the lower stage reality from which you have come. -There are other ways of going through the barrier, but death is the -sure and the ordinary one. Many come through, in many ways--" - -Stevens tried to understand, and he knew that he could not. He tried to -see his present form, his present meaning. There was nothing tangible. -He drifted. He was light and sound perhaps, movement perhaps. He was -part of something greater and far more complex than his undeveloped -powers of perception could absorb. - -Stevens thought. "You mean--I'm--Dead. I mean--that I'm not living now?" - -The thought answered him. It wasn't a sequence of words, phrases, -forming meaning. The entire answer was a part of him, immediately. "You -call it death. Actually you are more alive, you have come through the -barrier into what you call the fourth dimension. It is really but a -broader awareness of a higher reality--" - -It didn't mean much to Stevens. The unknown, the intangible--it sent a -chill through his consciousness. Pain hit him. He winced. Light roiled, -irritation eddied like muddy streaks in a clear stream. A bluish haze -spread like staining ink through the clouds of brilliance. Dark cracks -spread like lines through colored glass. - -Stevens felt an icy wind. He seemed to swirl inchoate through a forest -of wildly irritated leaves and branches. - -The thought came to him, weakly, through distance that was more than -mere distance, through barriers of space and realms of time. It came to -him weakly, and it began to fade. - -"Everything that was, that is, or will be, we are conscious of here in -this higher stage of reality. All must come through, and there is never -again contact with the lower stage, the third dimension of perception. -The matrix is universal, eternal, and it is set and unchanging." - -Stevens' mind screamed. "But I'm returning--help me, I don't want to go -back. I want to stay, to stay--" - -"You are John Stevens--" the voice, the thought, drifted to him from -what seemed infinite spaces. - -"Yes, yes--" - -"There is a distortion, you do not understand. Someday you will. You -are premature. The pattern is rigid, and everything has its set moment -of alteration. This distortion, I cannot explain. We are not perfect -here. There is yet a higher reality, and a higher one still, and the -stages are infinite. But you will be back, John Stevens. Soon. Very -soon." - -"When--when?" - -A column of sound arose and shattered in glittering spray. "The matrix -has the answer. John Stevens--no this is not your time. You call it -a week. Seven days. Such terms are meaningless here. To us, it is -happening now. We can see it happening. We can see you coming through -the barrier--to stay--to learn--to live as we live--" - -"When?" he screamed at the fading thought. - -"Soon. A week. Seven days. It is here. The Matrix has the answer...." - -"Now. Let me stay," Stevens screamed. "I don't want to go back." - -"You are not really here, or you could not go back. This is a glimpse. -Many have had it. Someday you will understand. But in seven days--" - - * * * * * - -The radio voice was shrill. "Can you hear? Can you hear? There has been -five seconds of unexplainable static! Can you hear?" - -"Sure, I can hear," he said hoarsely. He blinked, stared at the blurred -instruments against his eyes. Suddenly he shouted. "I'm still alive, -you get that? I've passed the velocity apex, and I'm still alive!" - -He heard Major Kanin's voice. Some of the fatuousness was lost in the -emotion of triumph. "Great! Great, you've done it! Now you've got to -bring her in! That pardon--" - -All right. He would do that. He had been a super-boy, a jet-gyrene -himself, once. A big-shot, a wonder boy jet-hero, before he got that -jealous quirk that had turned out to be baseless. A feud that had gone -on for years and culminated in a fight, and Bill Carson had died from -concussion. There had been nothing between Doris and Carson, but it was -too late to think about that now. - -The Military had been harsh, and he'd known he couldn't bear the -confinement. And he hadn't wanted Doris to suffer for his psychological -blowup either. He had volunteered for what should have been -suicide--but he still lived. He couldn't understand that. He should be -Dead. He knew that. But he wasn't, and he knew he would bring her in. A -pardon-- - -The world was small for Stevens. A coffin, a cannon-barrel. And he was -stuffed in it. His hands alone could move over the simple controls, -and his eyes could move over the gauges. A jet-pilot had to learn -a special feel to bring in a jet-ship. And Stevens had learned that -"feel" rapidly, years ago. It seemed a long time ago when he had taken -that harsh training: a few hours in a conventional flyer, a few more -in a Mustang 60. Then that rending day when he had "checked out" in a -jet-trainer. - -Stevens' eyes bulged in sudden terror. Sweat blurred his vision. The -red light was glowing. The _Panic-Light_. It meant bad trouble at this -speed. Fire-- - -"But I'll bring it in," he whispered. Smoke curled through the Coffin. -The heat expanded around him rapidly. He thought of the ejector, but he -was too low now, coming in. He tried to scream. The crackling wavering -heat inside his helmet was intolerable. The controls were jammed. -His hands fell away and he dropped his head helplessly and the world -exploded.... - - * * * * * - -This time there was a crowd, and they acted differently. They were -enthusiastic. There were doctors and nurses. Their faces were twisted -with admiration. Stronger than the admiration was a fearful kind of -disbelief. The Doctor touched his lips with his tongue and coughed -uneasily as he stared at Stevens. - -Major Kanin was beaming. "Man," his voice boomed through the hospital -room. "Man! You're alive. No one knows how you can be alive, but you -are! We've licked it. It's a miracle!" - -Voices agreed with that in a chorus of incredulous whispers. Miracle.... - -The Major said, "I've already got that pardon coming through, Stevens. -It'll be probational of course, but that will all be forgotten now, -Stevens. You're something special." - -The doctors and nurses stared at him with unbelieving eyes. - -"You've been examined thoroughly, Stevens, and you're all right, not -a scratch! It's impossible, but it's true. Every doctor here, every -mechanic, says it's impossible. Your ship's just a pile of melting -metal, Stevens, but you crawled out of it absolutely uninjured. Nobody -understands it, but everybody's glad!" - -The Doctor whispered. "Miracles like this sometimes happen, but no one -can explain them. His body should be torn to pieces, burned. Well, he -certainly had to have had some unique physical quality to have gotten -through the high velocity peak." - -"Yes, you hear that, Stevens?" the Major boomed. - -Stevens was staring at the ceiling. He was trying to think, to remember. - -"Now listen to this, Stevens. You went up a convict, and now you're a -hero. You're in perfect physical condition, so we're going right ahead -with Project Ultimo. And you'll handle the rocket, Stevens! If anyone -can get to the Moon, you can, from this exhibition today!" - -"What's that," Stevens said. He looked at their faces. - -"It'll take a week to get the rocket ready," the Major said. "It's the -Moon now, Stevens! The Moon!" - -"The Moon," Stevens repeated. - -"This will be no secret, Stevens!" Major Kanin stood up, his chest out, -his heavy-jowled face glowing with triumph. "The world will know about -it when you take off, this time. This won't be secret. The Enemy will -know then that they've lost! Lost, utterly and unquestionably. With -military bases on the Moon, they'll be helpless and they'll know it -when you make that successful flight! One week, Stevens!" - -Stevens looked out the window at the gray curtain of rain. "What was -that? One week--" Something stirred in his memory. He grappled for it, -lost it. He closed his eyes. - -"Seven days, Stevens, that's all!" - -He didn't answer. For an instant, behind the bottomless darkness of his -closed lids, he saw something--something intangible and shimmering, -beyond the grayness and rain. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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: The Barrier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Bryce Walton</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 14, 2021 [eBook #65085]</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 THE BARRIER ***</div> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>The Barrier</h1> - -<h2>By Bryce Walton</h2> - -<p>If Stevens could cross the high velocity<br /> -barrier at the edge of space he would receive a<br /> -pardon on Earth. But would he live to claim it?</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -February 1951<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>His features were twisted by the acceleration, and his sanity seemed to have gone.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>There were maybe ten or fifteen people to see him off. They weren't -cheering. They stood in the gray curtain of rain, hunched over with -their hands in their storm-coat pockets. Behind them was the vague bulk -of the Experimental Station. And beyond that, invisible in the night, -were the mountains he would never see again.</p> - -<p>"O.K., Stevens. This is it."</p> - -<p>So what? Stevens clanked as he turned toward the "Coffin." He was -encased in a bulging metal pressure suit and his head was a big alloy -bubble. No one smiled. No one raised a hand to say goodbye.</p> - -<p>Doris would, of course, say goodbye, if she were here. She wasn't here. -She didn't even know about his volunteering.</p> - -<p>Major Kanin nodded stiffly. His gray eyes wrinkled. "Good luck, -Stevens," he said dutifully. It was meaningless. Kanin had sent too -many poor guys out on a one-way trip. He knew Stevens wouldn't come -down. Not in any recognizable form.</p> - -<p>A couple of gray-suited mechanics moved around behind Stevens. Stevens -leaned over and thrust his head into the tubular opening of the -torpedo-like plane. The two mechanics lifted his legs, shoved him in -headfirst like he was ammunition being crammed into an ancient cannon. -The metal hatch slid down past his feet. He was bound tightly by the -cockpit which was only an air-conditioned tube but slightly larger than -his body. When the canopy over his head closed, he had only two inches -between the plate in his helmet and the control and instrument panel.</p> - -<p>For one agonizing moment, long and terrifying, Stevens felt an awful -compressing suffocation and entrapment. The claustrophobia went away, -in part, and left the plexglas plate in his helmet dewed with his -sweat.</p> - -<p>He tried to relax. He stared at the controls. He twisted his head -carefully then so as not to bump his helmet against the side—the noise -was numbing inside when he did bump anything—and looked through the -tiny peep-hole in the tubular wall which would soon close too, leaving -him completely sealed. He looked out and waited for the signal. Major -Kanin had turned his back and was discussing something with a Doctor -and a Lieutenant. The mechanics were around preparing the kick-off -rockets.</p> - -<p>The "Coffin" was light, and it was new. A slight improvement over the -last one. But the so-called improvement was a farce, Stevens knew, -because no one had any idea why none of the others had ever come back. -None of them expected him to come back either, and they showed it -plainly. Also, none of them cared particularly, from any human point of -view. The Military cared of course, from another view-point.</p> - -<p>This was another velocity test run. Once around the Earth to this -take-off spot on the desert. The Military wanted to get to the Moon -if they had to walk there over a suspension bridge of human dead. -The first Sovereign State to get a military base on the Moon would, -in theory, be the all-time victor in what certain kinds of humorists -called the "game" of war. So far, no one had been able to stand the -velocity.</p> - -<p>Stevens felt his skin stretch in a dry, tight grin. He carefully and -slowly moistened his lips and watched the light that would blink -yellow. A minute after that the job would kick-off before rockets -delivering a 3000-pound thrust for twelve seconds.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Stevens guessed that the brain-boys up in some hidden bureau had an -idea that sooner or later they would find somebody who could stand it, -then they could make tests, find out why. Stevens had no idea how many -had already been sacrificed. The boys upstairs knew but they weren't -giving out statistics these days. Stevens would increase the unknown -number by one more.</p> - -<p>So it meant nothing, he thought. He wasn't one of the superboys, the -jet-jyrenes, the hero lads who never came back and had statues and -plaques stuck all over the place for being permanently en absentia. Not -anymore, he wasn't.</p> - -<p>He was one of the new volunteers from the West Coast branch of the -Military Prison. Big-hearted Kanin had even promised him a pardon if he -brought the ship back. It was a new high in irony, but that was about -all.</p> - -<p>He wouldn't come back, and he knew it. But he would be free, and Doris -would be free to live her own life. He had been stupid, hot-headed, -once—and this was a preferable way, he had decided, to pay up the debt.</p> - -<p>Doris had resigned herself to waiting for him. It was a manslaughter -charge, and he would have gotten out maybe in fifteen years. They -didn't parole anybody from a Military Prison, at least not on anything -as heavy as manslaughter. It wasn't fair to Doris, nor to himself.</p> - -<p>All right. He was in a shiny "Coffin" and he would soon be on his way -to wherever the others had gone—into nowhere. Where was nowhere? That -was a question. It was way up, higher than anyone had returned from to -answer—still within the bounds of gravity but—<i>high</i>. A lot of guys -had found it, but they weren't sending back any ESP messages from the -Beyond.</p> - -<p>It was up there where the Earth lost its face behind thick vapor veils -and began to look like a fancy balloon, that was where you found out -the location of nowhere. Inside a beautifully stream-lined "Coffin" -you found out—hurtling way beyond the speed of sound, shattering the -supersonic barriers, and faster and faster still....</p> - -<p>What happened to them? Nobody had figured it out. All the best brains -in the world working on it might figure it out. But the brains were -split up, divided into little camps here and there, getting a lot of -atomic spitballs ready to throw at one another, when teacher's back -was turned.</p> - -<p>So it wasn't figured out, what happened to them. They had come a -long way since they first broke the barrier. Faster and faster and -faster—but they'd hit a limit somewhere up there. And until they wiped -out that limitation, the Moon was as far away as it had ever been back -when man thought the canoe was a great discovery.</p> - -<p>They just went faster and faster and faster—and then they disappeared. -A curtain parted. A curtain closed. And wherever man wanted to get to -so fast—he got there.</p> - -<p>The yellow light blinked at Stevens like a jaundiced eye. Stevens -winked back with a mock gesture that was hardly genuine. The world -rocked, and his head seemed to drain suddenly as though by a suction -pump.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His task was simple enough. The controls were automatic until the -signal came for bringing the ship in, and then manual controls would be -used. Until then, he served as only a slightly necessary human element. -A voice. There was the radio, and his voice. He was to keep them -informed down there. Keep talking right up to the point when whatever -happened—happened.</p> - -<p>Stevens talked. He reported the altitude, the velocity, the -temperature. He kept reporting as the three of them increased. His -eyes watched the light that might blink red. The "panic-light." When -that blinked, it meant curtains. It meant fire in the "Coffin." It -meant that if you were in a position to do it, you could use the -automatic pilot ejector and get hurled into the screaming currents by a -37 mm cartridge that shot the pilot and cockpit straight up at 60 ft. -per second.</p> - -<p>At this altitude and this velocity, the ejector was useless.</p> - -<p>He whispered, "Velocity—five thousand—" He spoke again. -"Velocity—fifteen thousand—"</p> - -<p>It was frightening. He flicked on the observation screen. It was a -blur. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't hear anything. If he could -only lift his legs, bend his knees. If he could only turn over on his -side—</p> - -<p>He opened his mouth to scream, and somehow prevented the burst that -frothed to soundless bubbles on his lips. His body seemed to swell, -seeking to burst the Coffin's walls like a swelling mummy. The terror -remained in him, icy and deep.</p> - -<p>He watched the gauges creeping up and up. He was speaking. He knew he -was reporting but he couldn't hear himself saying anything. He watched -the "panic-light" that would glow red and that would be curtain time. -There was no sound. No sound at all. There was no vision. No awareness -of motion. At this incredible height, at this frightening velocity, -there was no awareness of anything at all.</p> - -<p>He was in a Coffin all right, and he was buried—as certainly as though -he were six feet under and as stationary as only the dead can be when -they are buried and forgotten down under the clean Earth where they -belong when they're tired.</p> - -<p>They didn't belong up here, not this way.</p> - -<p>"The cooling system's clogging," he heard himself whisper. "Crystals of -ice ... cockpit's like a miniature snow storm...."</p> - -<p>He heard the unemotional voice come clearly to him. "The emergency -trigger—"</p> - -<p>He used it. He felt a freezing grin rip across his face as he reached -out and used it. The icy spray died away and he heard himself saying -something else.</p> - -<p>"It's the velocity. I don't have any reason for saying it—I just feel -it—you could feel it up here too—I can't explain it, but it's the -velocity. I know it. Maybe they crashed on the Earth somewhere. There's -lots of places on Earth a ship could crash and no one would know it, -especially when it would be taken for a meteor. But this feels like -it's the velocity that does it up here. Listen, what about this? Anyone -thought of this—what if the velocity breaks a man through into another -dimension?"</p> - -<p>No one commented on that. It happened to him right then, and he felt -it coming. Reflexes tried to move his body, and his head and feet -drummed on the restricting tubular walls. There was a wrenching blur -and a slipping spinning vertigo.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>... there was darkness and he floated in it, but he was conscious. It -wasn't any familiar kind of consciousness. Lights began glimmering -here and there like fireflies. But it was no dream, he knew that. -He didn't know what it was. The music that was something far and -incomprehensively beyond music sounded, and he seemed to float on -a broad tape of sound to float on a road, a path, a curvature that -broadened into unlimited vistas.</p> - -<p>It was brief. It was like peeking through a tiny hole and seeing -something beautiful, unworldly, very nearly incomprehensible, drift by. -He heard a voice that had no body, but he knew it was real, very real. -More real than anything he had called real before.</p> - -<p>"Another is coming through. Check the matrix."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He tried to understand. Vaporous curtains seemed to draw back one by -one and a kind of clarity flowed over his mind like cool ocean up a -white beach. A first faint tingling thrill moved in his blood, and -became pleasure that mounted through ecstasy and then became something -else for which he had no name.</p> - -<p>He had called it—nowhere. This wasn't anything like that. This was -really <i>some</i>where. Soft lights bathed him like water. Shadows seemed -to shift and sway and there was silver in the light, dusted with golden -motes.</p> - -<p>He thought desperately. "Where is this? What has happened?"</p> - -<p>"This is Death," the voice that had no face or form answered. "That is -what you term it, in the lower stage reality from which you have come. -There are other ways of going through the barrier, but death is the -sure and the ordinary one. Many come through, in many ways—"</p> - -<p>Stevens tried to understand, and he knew that he could not. He tried to -see his present form, his present meaning. There was nothing tangible. -He drifted. He was light and sound perhaps, movement perhaps. He was -part of something greater and far more complex than his undeveloped -powers of perception could absorb.</p> - -<p>Stevens thought. "You mean—I'm—Dead. I mean—that I'm not living now?"</p> - -<p>The thought answered him. It wasn't a sequence of words, phrases, -forming meaning. The entire answer was a part of him, immediately. "You -call it death. Actually you are more alive, you have come through the -barrier into what you call the fourth dimension. It is really but a -broader awareness of a higher reality—"</p> - -<p>It didn't mean much to Stevens. The unknown, the intangible—it sent a -chill through his consciousness. Pain hit him. He winced. Light roiled, -irritation eddied like muddy streaks in a clear stream. A bluish haze -spread like staining ink through the clouds of brilliance. Dark cracks -spread like lines through colored glass.</p> - -<p>Stevens felt an icy wind. He seemed to swirl inchoate through a forest -of wildly irritated leaves and branches.</p> - -<p>The thought came to him, weakly, through distance that was more than -mere distance, through barriers of space and realms of time. It came to -him weakly, and it began to fade.</p> - -<p>"Everything that was, that is, or will be, we are conscious of here in -this higher stage of reality. All must come through, and there is never -again contact with the lower stage, the third dimension of perception. -The matrix is universal, eternal, and it is set and unchanging."</p> - -<p>Stevens' mind screamed. "But I'm returning—help me, I don't want to go -back. I want to stay, to stay—"</p> - -<p>"You are John Stevens—" the voice, the thought, drifted to him from -what seemed infinite spaces.</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes—"</p> - -<p>"There is a distortion, you do not understand. Someday you will. You -are premature. The pattern is rigid, and everything has its set moment -of alteration. This distortion, I cannot explain. We are not perfect -here. There is yet a higher reality, and a higher one still, and the -stages are infinite. But you will be back, John Stevens. Soon. Very -soon."</p> - -<p>"When—when?"</p> - -<p>A column of sound arose and shattered in glittering spray. "The matrix -has the answer. John Stevens—no this is not your time. You call it -a week. Seven days. Such terms are meaningless here. To us, it is -happening now. We can see it happening. We can see you coming through -the barrier—to stay—to learn—to live as we live—"</p> - -<p>"When?" he screamed at the fading thought.</p> - -<p>"Soon. A week. Seven days. It is here. The Matrix has the answer...."</p> - -<p>"Now. Let me stay," Stevens screamed. "I don't want to go back."</p> - -<p>"You are not really here, or you could not go back. This is a glimpse. -Many have had it. Someday you will understand. But in seven days—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The radio voice was shrill. "Can you hear? Can you hear? There has been -five seconds of unexplainable static! Can you hear?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, I can hear," he said hoarsely. He blinked, stared at the blurred -instruments against his eyes. Suddenly he shouted. "I'm still alive, -you get that? I've passed the velocity apex, and I'm still alive!"</p> - -<p>He heard Major Kanin's voice. Some of the fatuousness was lost in the -emotion of triumph. "Great! Great, you've done it! Now you've got to -bring her in! That pardon—"</p> - -<p>All right. He would do that. He had been a super-boy, a jet-gyrene -himself, once. A big-shot, a wonder boy jet-hero, before he got that -jealous quirk that had turned out to be baseless. A feud that had gone -on for years and culminated in a fight, and Bill Carson had died from -concussion. There had been nothing between Doris and Carson, but it was -too late to think about that now.</p> - -<p>The Military had been harsh, and he'd known he couldn't bear the -confinement. And he hadn't wanted Doris to suffer for his psychological -blowup either. He had volunteered for what should have been -suicide—but he still lived. He couldn't understand that. He should be -Dead. He knew that. But he wasn't, and he knew he would bring her in. A -pardon—</p> - -<p>The world was small for Stevens. A coffin, a cannon-barrel. And he was -stuffed in it. His hands alone could move over the simple controls, -and his eyes could move over the gauges. A jet-pilot had to learn -a special feel to bring in a jet-ship. And Stevens had learned that -"feel" rapidly, years ago. It seemed a long time ago when he had taken -that harsh training: a few hours in a conventional flyer, a few more -in a Mustang 60. Then that rending day when he had "checked out" in a -jet-trainer.</p> - -<p>Stevens' eyes bulged in sudden terror. Sweat blurred his vision. The -red light was glowing. The <i>Panic-Light</i>. It meant bad trouble at this -speed. Fire—</p> - -<p>"But I'll bring it in," he whispered. Smoke curled through the Coffin. -The heat expanded around him rapidly. He thought of the ejector, but he -was too low now, coming in. He tried to scream. The crackling wavering -heat inside his helmet was intolerable. The controls were jammed. -His hands fell away and he dropped his head helplessly and the world -exploded....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This time there was a crowd, and they acted differently. They were -enthusiastic. There were doctors and nurses. Their faces were twisted -with admiration. Stronger than the admiration was a fearful kind of -disbelief. The Doctor touched his lips with his tongue and coughed -uneasily as he stared at Stevens.</p> - -<p>Major Kanin was beaming. "Man," his voice boomed through the hospital -room. "Man! You're alive. No one knows how you can be alive, but you -are! We've licked it. It's a miracle!"</p> - -<p>Voices agreed with that in a chorus of incredulous whispers. Miracle....</p> - -<p>The Major said, "I've already got that pardon coming through, Stevens. -It'll be probational of course, but that will all be forgotten now, -Stevens. You're something special."</p> - -<p>The doctors and nurses stared at him with unbelieving eyes.</p> - -<p>"You've been examined thoroughly, Stevens, and you're all right, not -a scratch! It's impossible, but it's true. Every doctor here, every -mechanic, says it's impossible. Your ship's just a pile of melting -metal, Stevens, but you crawled out of it absolutely uninjured. Nobody -understands it, but everybody's glad!"</p> - -<p>The Doctor whispered. "Miracles like this sometimes happen, but no one -can explain them. His body should be torn to pieces, burned. Well, he -certainly had to have had some unique physical quality to have gotten -through the high velocity peak."</p> - -<p>"Yes, you hear that, Stevens?" the Major boomed.</p> - -<p>Stevens was staring at the ceiling. He was trying to think, to remember.</p> - -<p>"Now listen to this, Stevens. You went up a convict, and now you're a -hero. You're in perfect physical condition, so we're going right ahead -with Project Ultimo. And you'll handle the rocket, Stevens! If anyone -can get to the Moon, you can, from this exhibition today!"</p> - -<p>"What's that," Stevens said. He looked at their faces.</p> - -<p>"It'll take a week to get the rocket ready," the Major said. "It's the -Moon now, Stevens! The Moon!"</p> - -<p>"The Moon," Stevens repeated.</p> - -<p>"This will be no secret, Stevens!" Major Kanin stood up, his chest out, -his heavy-jowled face glowing with triumph. "The world will know about -it when you take off, this time. This won't be secret. The Enemy will -know then that they've lost! Lost, utterly and unquestionably. With -military bases on the Moon, they'll be helpless and they'll know it -when you make that successful flight! One week, Stevens!"</p> - -<p>Stevens looked out the window at the gray curtain of rain. "What was -that? One week—" Something stirred in his memory. He grappled for it, -lost it. He closed his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Seven days, Stevens, that's all!"</p> - -<p>He didn't answer. For an instant, behind the bottomless darkness of his -closed lids, he saw something—something intangible and shimmering, -beyond the grayness and rain. 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