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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..4e437be --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66572 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66572) diff --git a/old/66572-0.txt b/old/66572-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f476a04..0000000 --- a/old/66572-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1137 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Voyage of Vanishing Men, by Stanley -Mullen - -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 Voyage of Vanishing Men - -Author: Stanley Mullen - -Release Date: October 19, 2021 [eBook #66572] - -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 VOYAGE OF VANISHING MEN *** - - - - - Earthmen had never ventured into the vast - unknown beyond the galaxy. But now a survey was - ordered and a ship sent out. So Braun went on-- - - The Voyage Of Vanishing Men - - By Stanley Mullen - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - April 1955 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -They still talk of Braun, and the Fourth Intergalactic Survey. - -Other men before him had gone out into the far, dark places. Three -previous expeditions had gone out and vanished completely. Then the -_Venture IV_ went out and out and out countless miles and light-years -and whatever else it is--and out there in the lonely darkness something -happened. Nobody knew exactly what happened, but there was a lot of -guessing. Only one man came back. Braun. And there was talk.... - -Tending bar anywhere is better, they say, than an academic degree in -psychology. Tending bar on one of the way stations to the stars you -see people--most of them human--as they really are, and in all stages -of emotion. You see them coming and going, and a few already gone. By -little signs, you can tell a lot about them, and make a guess at what -is wrong with the wrong ones. - -There was Braun. - -Angular as a stick-bug, he stood at the bar, elbows digging into the -polished mahogany, one foot cocked on the rail. He was drinking alone -as if it had become a habit, and the customers edged away from him as -if not wanting to make it too obvious. As usual, his go-to-hell face -looked past you into the backbar mirror and out again to cover the -whole place. He was older and changed, though, as he would be. Deep -lines furrowed the tight, tanned, leathery features, and his eyes still -held some of that awful emptiness of space between the star-packs. - -Nobody said anything, at first. - -Braun watched them, a humorous half-defiant glint in his eye. But there -was pain in him, in his voice as he spoke. - -"What's the matter? Am I poison, or something?" - -Somebody said it, then. In a stage whisper. "I had friends on the -_Venture IV_." - -"So did I," Braun answered quickly. "A lot of friends. So before -somebody works up nerve to ask, I don't know." - -"Don't know?" a man named Cutter pursued the point coldly. "You were -there!..." - -"I was there," admitted Braun. "I still say it. I don't know what -happened to anybody. I've told the authorities that over and over. I've -told anybody who'd listen. You don't have to believe me. I don't give -a--" - -"Nobody's told us anything," Cutter insisted. "We haven't heard a -whisper about it. And, speaking for all of us, we'd like to be sure -about you ... before we go on drinking at the same bar...." - -It was going to be like that as long as Braun lived. People will talk, -and if there's a choice, they'll guess the ugly thing, every time. -Wherever he went, there would be people to ask that question, and -somebody to smirk if he answered it. - -You could see trouble coming. Whatever Braun answered.... - -Braun was never a man to talk much about himself. It was always -the places he had been and seen, or wanted to go. Like all old-time -spacemen, he was a bird of passage. Between trips, he came in a few -times, got to be a fixture. But he was always coming or going somewhere -never lighting or staying put. - -You don't learn too much about a man in a bar, casually. Little things -add up and hint at the bigger ones. You can call him by his first name -casually, and hash over mutual acquaintances, that's all. - -Maybe you talk about the things men talk about. Life and death. Men -and spaceships. Life on distant worlds. Braun had knocked around the -galaxy like a lot of people since the DuMont space-time drive came -into general use. He had seen more than the ordinary man even dreams -about, but there was always a restless and curious wondering about more -distant stars and their planets. On one classic occasion, you even -helped him wonder about other galaxies, and if the new drive would ever -take men out into the far, dark spaces where ships never ventured. - -When Braun's big break came, you heard about it from someone else, -since Braun was far away, at a planet-base circling a star that was -just a number in a catalog. There were no formal goodbyes out there, -just technical admonitions. Then a speck diminished into nowhere, with -no instruments to track an object accelerating into speeds so many -times greater than light that mathematics became weird paradoxes, and -nothing existing in normal dimensions even makes sense. - - * * * * * - -Eventually the ship came back, and Braun with it. Nobody knew much more -than that. No official announcements were made, no actual denials or -accusations. Rumor hinted at ugliness, and an investigation going on. -People made the usual wild and extravagant guesses, and there were the -formless whispers that start nowhere and end nowhere. - -Braun put his back to the bar and looked over the crowd soberly, one by -one. This must have happened to him many times before, as it probably -would again. Braun had his own way of dealing with such situations, and -maybe he was right. - -"I don't know what happened," he said slowly. "I'll say it again, just -once. I don't know. If you don't like it, I'm here, waiting. One at a -time, or the whole ratpack of you. How do you want it?" - -In any real, deadly brawl, voices are rarely raised. There is no loud -and explosive discussion. Instead, all movement jells, crystallizes in -utter silence. Something breaks it. Something like a flung beermug. -Then comes a five-ring circus of action. - -Braun ducked. The beermug struck in foaming, splintering destruction. -The backbar mirror dissolved in a chiming avalanche of glass. - -Cutter led the rush. Braun's back was braced to the bar. He seemed -oddly relaxed, almost happy. Somebody heaved another beermug. It -missed, but most of the beer splashed into Braun's face and trickled -slowly down him. - -"I like beer," he said, "but not that well." - -Like a spring letting go, Braun snapped out to meet them. His long arms -caught Cutter and hoisted him high, then hurled him bodily over the -stick and into the stacked glassware. - -By then, if not before, you eased toward the light switch and cut -it. Darkness slammed down like a solid barrier. But other solids -moved through it, colliding, grunting, swearing, shouting, sometimes -groaning. Gradually, the tumult died out of itself. - -When the lights came on again, Braun still stood at the bar, though -several places further down. The darkness had been kind to him. With -everyone against him, he could work freely. And at saloon brawling, he -was a master craftsman. Casualties held to a minimum, but there were -plenty of cotton and catgut, splint and plaster cases. Cutter was still -out, cold, and went to the hospital with the others. Not everyone joins -in a rough-house, and enough clear-headed witnesses remained to spare -Braun any risk of charges. His fists were red and raw, but he seemed -unhurt, bodily. - -Somebody offered him a drink. But Braun just stood and looked at it, -then raised his head to glance up where the backbar mirror had been. - -"Someday, they'll use stainless steel for that," he said. "Then half -the fun will be gone." - -Slowly his face screwed up tight, the leathery skin wrinkling like a -withered apple. Eyes closed, he hammered a raw fist on the bar till -blood spurted. He was like a hurt child trying to hurt himself more to -get even with fate. - -"I had friends on the _Venture IV_," he cried wildly. "A lot of good -friends. What happened to them? Where are they?..." - -Calming down, he started talking. His voice was oddly detached, and so -low you could hardly hear him. - -"I was the ninth man," he said. "The rest were all techs, of one kind -or another. I was the only spacetramp aboard. I've often wondered -why they picked me, but somebody must have had a good reason. Maybe I -was the catalyst. Each of the others could do one job extremely well. -I could take over and do anything in an emergency--not as well, but -a scratch job to keep the show on the road. And when the 'ologies' -developed friction, I was the lubricant--the guy with no axe to grind -who kept the other's axes sharpened and tempered." - - * * * * * - -Braun stopped and flung himself at the drink. He seemed to need it. But -he was under control again, almost too much under control. - -"We were way out--somewhere," he continued. "About as far as the others -ever got. You can't express it in miles or in time, because neither of -them have the right meaning. Not out there." - -He stopped again. His eyes seemed to be staring beyond the outer -limits of darkness, beyond the mystical barrier of the speed of light -itself.... - -"The ship came out of warp automatically. Robot machinery was set for -that, to bring us out at intervals--though nobody could be sure just -how it would function. Ordinary time-intervals do not exist, and time -itself is a random factor--out there. They tell me we were gone more -than five years, here. For us, it was weeks. Most of the time we were -in suspended animation, of course, with automatic controls to handle -the ship and rouse one or more of us at intervals. Usually the ship was -out of the warp and stopped when we were awakened. Twice, both in the -early stages, it was not like that. - -"Those times we were awake and in motion together. It was weird. Space -was like black, transparent cellophane, wrinkled and bunched together -with the ship leaping from one wrinkle to another. We could not see it, -but that was the way we imagined it. We could see, though. - -"Stars thinned out and drew together. Stars, like luminous lice -crawling on the black body of eternity...." - - * * * * * - -... Velocity and acceleration needles met in the center of the gauge. -No change in the relation of the ship to anything was apparent, and -none would be. Out of the warp, the ship hung, unmoving, in a vastness -of dark. Even the galaxies showed but faintly in the visiplates. -Destination was the spiral M31 in Andromeda, but the rest of Andromeda -lay far behind, and a faint smudge ahead seemed as far away as the home -galaxy, which was exactly the case. - -_Venture IV_ had reached the halfway point, with three quarters of -a million light-years of loneliness in either direction. Poets and -writers have called it the point of no return, when a ship has reached -a point in its voyage where the distance back is as far as that still -ahead. - -"Well, this is it," said Charters wearily. "We'll have to decide now -whether to go back ... or, if we think we can make it, push on ahead." - -Charters was captain pro tem, though, on a technical ship, space -formalities and titles were phantoms. - -Braun was unimpressed. "All right, it's the raw end of nowhere. And -we're here. What does it prove?" - -Charters gave him a friendly slap. - -"It proves one thing. That we can make it--next time. We could have -made it this time if we'd known what to expect. We'll go back with our -report, and the next ship will get there. And make it back to tell -about it. We could get there, this time--but not back. Sure, we're all -disappointed. But don't take it so hard. We haven't really failed. -We've made it easier to get the job done. Next time." - -"Yes," agreed Braun bitterly. "The job will be done. But not by us. -We'll be too old before another ship is ready. And by the time the -analysts are through with this one, it will be junk. Just like us." - -Charters laughed. - -The two were alone in the control room. The other techs, for once all -awake at the same time, were busily checking their instruments, each in -his own department. - -Braun was suffering from reaction. In an emergency, he could function -superbly. But with nothing to do, he brooded. - -It was definitely the raw end of nowhere, though the instruments -and record tapes called it by a variety of mathematical equations. -According to the figures, the _Venture IV_ had made an interesting -voyage, turning itself completely inside out several times at -irregular intervals, smashing all existing speed and distance records -and extending the tenuous boundaries of man's interstellar and -intergalactic survey by a quarter million light-years. Other ships -might have gone further, but if they had, no one knew about it. They -had vanished into some limbo of space-- - - * * * * * - -Mass proximity alarms blared through the corridors and cubicles of the -_Venture IV_. - -Nerves, already tensed, vibrated like thin glass, ready to disintegrate -from resonance. - -There should have been no mass anywhere near. Not even a grain of -cosmic dust. - -Blackness stretched in all directions, relieved only by the distant, -dimly glowing smudges of galaxies. Assembled in the control room, -_Venture IV's_ company discussed the mystery. No conclusion was -possible. Whatever was affecting the mass detectors lay dead ahead, -still out of vision range, and not even showing in the telescopic -relays. - -By vote, it was decided to investigate. The _Venture IV_ operated on -democratic principles. Responsibility like risk was shared equally, and -"Captain" Charters had one vote. - -Atomic jets, still useful for short range runs and for close -maneuvering, nudged the ship gently into motion, which is a relative -thing in deep space. In this case, relative to-- - -What?... - -By instrument only, the _Venture IV_ groped blindly toward the unknown -object. By instrument only was it possible to gauge the approach. -Proximity needles wavered wildly, then settled down to indicate swiftly -diminishing distance, as if the alien object were matching velocity -with the _Venture IV_ on a collision course. - -At such speeds, collision was possible. Charters began to worry -silently. Dubiously he eyed his crew, picked men, all volunteers eager -to challenge the unknown. But the unknown was still unknown, and -responding almost too eagerly. - -"Could it be another spaceship?" asked Braun, voicing the thought in -every mind. - -Charters just looked at him. "From--_there_?" - -"From anywhere?" Braun persisted. "Who knows about curves or orbits out -here?" - -Topping, the astrophysicist, smiled grimly. "Who knows about anything -here? It wasn't till the mid-Twentieth Century that we even knew M31 -was as big as our own galaxy and twice as far away as had been thought. -Or guessed at the truth behind the Doppler shift." - -"But a spaceship ... out here!" scoffed Charters. - -Topping shrugged. "It could be. It could even be one of ours. From the -future, perhaps. We've done some weird doubling about in the space-time -continuum, remember." - -"It could be anything, then," said Braun. - -"Anything," echoed Topping. - -"Start deceleration," ordered Charters, concerned with the more -practical aspects of a possible encounter in alien space. "Swing the -controls over to manual. I'll feel better about the ship if it comes -to dodging a collision. You have the practical piloting experience, -Braun. Take over." - -Grinning, Braun seated himself at the manual keyboard and started -pressing studs. Lights blinked off and on in patterns on the screen at -vision level. He switched over to the visiplates mounted on the blunt -bow. A sector of blackness dead ahead was projected onto the screen. - -There was nothing to see. Light in interstellar space is too feeble to -reveal anything not self luminous. - -"Try a radilume beam," suggested Charters. - - * * * * * - -The screen flickered, then resumed its blackness. With no dust, no -anything, to reflect light back to the ship, the beam lost itself in -the immensity. - -Braun worked with the studs. - -"We're slowing," he announced. "Now what?" - -"Try a dead stop, but be ready to move out fast in case the alien -continues a collision course." - -Braun nodded. In the artificial gravity field, no effect of -deceleration was perceptible. The ship slowed and stopped as dead as a -ship stops with no reference point to anything. What actually happened -was a delicate balancing upon a number of mathematical equations, -themselves unstable. - -Mass proximity needles, showing the expected increase by squares, -indicated that the stranger also had come to a full stop by matching -exactly at zero. It was an interesting fact that so far from home the -familiar laws of gravity seemed to hold their familiar relations. More -interesting was the fact that the alien object or ship had stopped. - -"See anything?" asked Charters. - -"Not a thing," admitted Topping. - -"How about the telescopes?" - -McClure, the astrogator, reported then. Under the circumstances, his -voice sounded curiously matter of fact. - -"A faint point of light. Not enough disk to tell much of anything about -it. We'll try with--" - -"Can't be more than a mile away, I'd guess," said Braun. "What do we do -now? Just sit here and wait?" - -Topping grunted. "Reminds me of a pair of strange dogs meeting away -from home and sniffing at each other with mutual curiosity and -mistrust." - -"That's about the way it would be," Charters agreed weakly. "If that is -an alien ship out there, what else could we do?" - -"We could try for contact. Communicate with them, somehow." - -"Morse code?" asked Braun bitterly. - -"There were humans in other parts of our own galaxy. Some of them -intelligent and highly civilized. We set up communications with them." - -"There was a common basis with them," argued Braun. "And we found some -non-human intelligent races. Communications didn't do so well with -them, and the _Venture IV_ is no warship. We came here to windowshop, -not to buy, and not to take over anything by force. We're not equipped -for a row." - -Charters broke in. "Topping is right. We'll try to set up -communication. With a modulated light beam." - -"Go ahead and try," said Braun. "I'll stand by, just in case of -trouble. And when your idea fails, we can start talking sense." - -Charters and Topping left him at the controls and joined Tal Roberts in -the communications office. Braun waited. - -When they returned, he could tell by the faces that their plan had -fallen through. - -"Struck a snag?" he asked amiably. - -Charters' smile was weak. "We tried two messages. After a short wait, -they repeated them. You might say we've established communications. But -we're not getting anywhere." - -"The same messages? Nothing else?" - -"Nothing." - -"Maybe they have no imagination. I have an idea if you're ready to -listen." - -Charters nodded. "Go ahead ... if it's nothing that will endanger the -ship." - -"The ship isn't involved. We have two space-lifeboats--though I can't -figure where we'd escape to if anything went sour out here. I'll take -one and slip away from the ship. With luck, I can sneak up on our -friends. Without lights. Keep your beam turned on, aimed right at the -alien. I'll stay out of the beam, but it should give enough light to -see by. If the thing looks like a real spaceship, and there's a chance -the occupants are human, I'll try to make actual contact. If not, I'll -scurry on back. How about it?" - -"It could be dangerous. If anything happens--" - -"You won't be any worse off. Probably, if it's another ship, the people -are just as scared and curious as we are. As the show stands, you don't -even dare try to run for it. I'm expendable." - -"That's a matter of opinion. I won't rule on this, Braun. We'll call -the gang together and decide by vote." - - * * * * * - -Half an hour later, the lifeboat was ready. Serviced with air, food -and water for an indefinite time, the tiny craft lay in its cradle. - -"Keep a light in the window for me," said Braun. - -He climbed aboard through the miniature airlock, which closed behind -him. Solenoid magnets conveyed the lifeboat through chutes into the -valve of the main airlock. Doors opened and closed with automatic -finality. Air hissed back into the ship as pumps emptied the valve. -With pressure equalized, the outer door opened into space. - -Braun eased his tiny craft free, then turned and ran forward alongside -the _Venture IV_. From outside, the explorer ship seemed tremendous. -It was a small world in itself, complete, self-sustaining. But -mass-conversion was necessary to power the velocities far beyond the -speed of light, and already the voyage had eaten away too much of the -ship's mass. - -A phantom glow hovered about the forward compartments as if the -metallic shell caught and reflected faint light from a distant source. -Braun wondered about that subconsciously, but in the midst of so many -wonders, one more mystery meant little. - -There was no light beam to be seen. His instruments found a course -parallel to the invisible beam and followed it for him, with the robot -pilot in charge. - -But for the ship dwindling behind him, the vault of space seemed empty. -In the blackness ahead, though he could not see it, was a single small -luminous speck. Behind him, the light of the ship diminished slowly to -infinity. It vanished. Braun was alone with his mission. - -With no visible reference point, Braun's senses became unreliable. -Unlighted, the lifeboat seemed a mote of darkness lost in the greater -immensities. Even on the brink of the last unknown, the man grew -restless and depressed. With nothing to see, nothing to occupy the -senses of his brain, he was bored. - -Braun groped blindly and gave himself the luxury of a cigarette. While -it lasted, the red glow of the cigarette's coal gave comfort to his -loneliness. It gave him something on which to concentrate. - -There was no up, no down, no sideways, only ahead and behind, with -invisible dots of light to identify each. He felt oddly trapped, at -the mercy of automatic instruments. Curious and unpleasant illusions -crowded upon him. - -For a time, he thought that all matter had vanished from the universe, -that only he and his lifeboat existed in all the great void. Later, -he thought that light itself had vanished. Telescopically, in any -direction, he could have found light, but to his unaided eyes all -darkness was the same. Then came the weirder illusions of other senses, -that his course followed no straight line or sane curves, but moved -endlessly upon some infinite spiral. - -Time passed, and his eyes grew so accustomed to darkness that they -did not see the light when it appeared. Ahead, just a faint point, -steady, steel-hard, unwinking, it emerged from the blackness. Slowly it -increased in radiance rather than in size. Then at last it was a disk, -like a beacon set out to guide him in. - -There was a beam, invisible with nothing to reflect its tight radiance -or diffuse it. But as before, when leaving his own ship, he avoided the -beam. - -Cruising closer, Braun began to make out details. - -It was a ship, no doubt about that. A phantom glow hovered about its -forward compartments as if the metallic shell caught and reflected -faint light from a distant source. It was a ship, all right. A ship -painfully like the _Venture IV_. A philosopher might have meditated -upon parallel evolutions, but Braun was too deeply shocked for delvings -into the deeper relations between man and his environments. - - * * * * * - -The alien ship was identical. Braun satisfied himself of that by -circling, studying every aspect of the stranger. There was the same -indefinable quality which stamped it as man-made. - -Almost hysterical with his discovery, Braun nerved himself to switch -off the automatic pilot and take over manual controls. Then he eased -in quickly beside an air lock which might have been the same one he -had left. Magnetic grapnels reached out from the lifeboat, caught and -dragged the lesser mass to the greater. At the controls, Braun guided -his tiny craft to the airlock valve, and the outer doors slid shut and -locked hermetically behind him. - -Some kind of atmosphere would be hissing into the valve now, building -up pressure. It had to work like that. - -Almost beside himself, Braun crawled into a spacesuit, then settled -back to wait impatiently. - -Light flooded the valve as the inner doors slid smoothly open. Braun -made routine tests, then opened his cockleshell lifeboat hatch. Blinded -by light, he climbed out. On rubbery legs, encased in the bulging suit -of space armor, he walked to the gaping doorway and entered the alien -ship. - -If a trap, it was a good one. - -Braun staggered backward. As his eyes became accustomed to the light, -he stared. Disbelief in his senses and doubt of his sanity showed on -his face. - -Opening the vent in his space helmet, he took a deep breath. Then he -stared curiously at-- - -Charters and Topping. - -"You weren't gone long," observed Charters. The pair studied Braun, -their expressions puzzled. - -"I guess I didn't get very far," admitted Braun uneasily. "Am I crazy -or is it everything else?" - -"That's anyone's guess," said Topping. "What happened?" - -"I'm not sure I know." - -They waited for explanations while Braun took a stiff slug of coffee -laced with brandy. - -"Somehow I must have got turned around," admitted Braun ruefully. "I -can understand that, but the lifeboat was set on automatic pilot. I -thought I came straight across, and with the robot pilot I should have. -What do you think happened?" - -Topping was sober. "There are several possible explanations. I don't -like any of them. Maybe there's a flaw in space here. It could act like -a mirror, reflecting back our own mass and the beam of our own light. -Who knows? There may not even be an alien ship out there." - -"But there's nothing material out there," objected Braun. "I was there, -and our instruments would show anything above the size of a speck of -dust. For that matter, we can see the thing in our telescopes, and -there's nothing we know that can distort the gravity-effect of mass let -alone turn it around like light reflected from a mirror. Who ever heard -of--" - -"Who ever heard of nine men sealed in an oversized can and set down -halfway between home galaxy and M31?" reproved Topping. "Light and -gravity may not be functions only of our space-time continuum but of -others adjacent too and even overlapping ours. We know very little -about the nature of either, and some of our unexplained phenomena may -be the result of actions and reactions outside our continuum." - -"That's getting too deep for me," said Braun. "I'm willing to try -again ... if only to prove I didn't funk out the first time. And this -time I'll go across with the lights blazing. I want you to use radar -and visual scanners on me all the way." - -Charters shook his head. "We're up against something we don't -understand. I'm not sure I should permit--" - -"What's the harm?" pleaded Braun. "I came through without a scratch -before. The worst that can happen is a repeat of the same farce. -Besides, I've just had a brainstorm. Suppose this is not the same -ship I left. Suppose there really are two ships exactly alike, even -to the people on board. Suppose that there are two civilizations that -developed identically--" - -"Maybe you'd better go," laughed Charters. "If you keep on in that -vein, you'll give us all nightmares." - -Braun's second try followed the same routine as the first. The -difference was in Braun himself. Before, he had been mildly excited, -calm but overstrained, expecting almost anything. There was a grimness -about his second venture. He felt moody and more depressed than before. -This time, there was no boredom. - -Before leaving, he took a good look around, fixing the faces of his -companions into his memory, engraving the ship and endless details of -its structure and decoration into his brain. He felt as if he were -leaving all of it behind him forever. - -The worst that can happen, he thought, is the same thing. - -He was wrong about that.... - - * * * * * - -Approaching the alien ship, he braced himself. There was the light. -Then the ship, with its metallic shimmer of reflected light dimmed by -distance. - -Again he circled, studying the contours of the immense fabrication. -He remembered an old French proverb about the more a thing changes the -more it remains the same. The ship was the same. It was the _Venture -IV_. He would stake his life and his sanity on it. - -No matter. In a way he was relieved. Once inside the ship, he would let -the experts explain it to him. At least he had tried. Nobody could say -this time that he funked the job. They would have had the scanners on -him all the way. And this time he knew--somehow--that he had not turned -around from any confusion. Also, with the lights on, he had watched -the automatic pilot. There had been no trick turns. He had it on the -flight-record tapes. - -If the lifeboat had returned to its point of departure, the only -possible explanation was that a space-warp or a flaw in the space-time -continuum had turned it inside out. - -"End of the line," Braun murmured contentedly. "End of the line again." - -Skilfully he maneuvered the lifeboat up to the bulk of the _Venture -IV_. He grappled it to the airlock valve and slipped it inside on the -skids. - -The outer doors closed. This time he was so sure of where he was that -he did not bother with the spacesuit. He waited till the inner doors -opened to matched pressures, then scuttled out of the lifeboat. The -air was breathable, the usual hydroponic cycle stuff, just what he was -used to. It smelled oddly of pumps as it always does, pump-packing and -growing things. Air in the lifeboat had been too rich in ozone, and -Braun was giddy with the sharp tang of it. - -Braun strode confidently into the ship. - -No one was around to greet him. It was a gag they had worked up, he -figured. All right, he'd play along. - -Through the ship he went, calling out names. Echoes rang hollowly in -the vast interior, but they were the only answer. He kept wandering -and calling, wandering and crying out. Finally, he was screaming -hysterically. - -It was a long time before the fact got through solidly to him. He was -alone on the ship. - -So far as he could tell, it was the _Venture IV_. Everything about the -ship was the same. It was _his_ ship. Wherever he had been, he was -back on _his_ ship. He had to keep on assuring himself of that. It -was either the _Venture IV_ ... or an exact duplicate. But the other -duplicate had duplicated the people, too. - -"Where is everybody?" he screamed. - -He went on screaming for a long time. A very long time.... - - * * * * * - -Smoke curled up from Braun's cigarette to join the dense layers near -the bar's ceiling. Light shone through the blued stratifications in -blurred blobs as through fog. - -"That's the story," said Braun huskily. - -"Not all of it," somebody murmured. - -"Not quite. The ship was mostly automatic. I knew then why I had been -picked. As I said, in an emergency, I could handle any job or even all -jobs, for as long as necessary. We had all the flight tapes from the -long voyage out. Mainly it was a job for the computers. You couldn't -just run the tapes through backward because nothing ever stands quite -still in the universe. All I know is that we did it, the ship and I. -The _Venture IV_ is the real hero, I guess. It brought me back." - -"What about the others?" somebody persisted. - -"I don't know," Braun answered irritably. "All I know is what I've told -you. What happened to me. About the rest of the bunch, even the experts -are still guessing. There are several theories. There were things about -the ship. Odd differences. Nothing I could catch, but the experts found -curiosities. They think I was tricked, that it's not really the same -ship, but a clever and almost miraculous duplicate." - -"But why, and how?" - -Braun laughed bitterly. "Your guess is as good as anybody's. Mine -is--that I wasn't wanted. The rest of the crew were all specialists, -trained technicians, each one the best in his field. If _somebody_ out -there wanted some samples of the best brains in the human race, he -really got the top quality. They were all educated to the hilt, trained -for a particular job. Maybe they were picked because they were ready -for something else. They had the entrance qualifications. I hadn't. -That may not be the only explanation. It's probably the best one." - -Braun poured himself another drink and drank it. His eyes stared -blankly, as if the essential part of him was back out on the raw -frontiers of the dark unknown. - -Somebody dragged him back to the bar with a final question. - -"But surely you must have some ideas of your own. What do you think -happened to the others?" - -Braun smiled soberly. His voice was tired, and it sounded as empty as -those black spaces where no sun ever shines. - -"What I think doesn't matter. There may be another world out -there ... or something in hyperspace. That may be a point of contact, -or it may be a barrier against all man's dreams of further expansion -and exploration into the unknown. You've asked what I think happened to -the others, and it's a good question. People are going to keep asking -me that. I don't know the true answer. Maybe I'll never know--" - -Braun hesitated, glanced round him at the ring of strained and -questioning faces. He saw the disbelief registered on them--the thinly -veiled anger that seemed to shout out at him _why don't you tell us -what really happened! Tell us the truth!_ - -Braun sighed resignedly. It was always the same. It would always be the -same. Wherever he went. And he would have to keep moving ... alone, -apart from other men. - -He walked past the silent questioning faces and through the door. And -down the street to the next bar.... - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VOYAGE OF VANISHING MEN *** - -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 <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> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Voyage of Vanishing Men</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Stanley Mullen</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 19, 2021 [eBook #66572]</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 VOYAGE OF VANISHING MEN ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<p>Earthmen had never ventured into the vast<br /> -unknown beyond the galaxy. But now a survey was<br /> -ordered and a ship sent out. So Braun went on—</p> - -<h1>The Voyage Of Vanishing Men</h1> - -<h2>By Stanley Mullen</h2> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -April 1955<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>They still talk of Braun, and the Fourth Intergalactic Survey.</p> - -<p>Other men before him had gone out into the far, dark places. Three -previous expeditions had gone out and vanished completely. Then the -<i>Venture IV</i> went out and out and out countless miles and light-years -and whatever else it is—and out there in the lonely darkness something -happened. Nobody knew exactly what happened, but there was a lot of -guessing. Only one man came back. Braun. And there was talk....</p> - -<p>Tending bar anywhere is better, they say, than an academic degree in -psychology. Tending bar on one of the way stations to the stars you -see people—most of them human—as they really are, and in all stages -of emotion. You see them coming and going, and a few already gone. By -little signs, you can tell a lot about them, and make a guess at what -is wrong with the wrong ones.</p> - -<p>There was Braun.</p> - -<p>Angular as a stick-bug, he stood at the bar, elbows digging into the -polished mahogany, one foot cocked on the rail. He was drinking alone -as if it had become a habit, and the customers edged away from him as -if not wanting to make it too obvious. As usual, his go-to-hell face -looked past you into the backbar mirror and out again to cover the -whole place. He was older and changed, though, as he would be. Deep -lines furrowed the tight, tanned, leathery features, and his eyes still -held some of that awful emptiness of space between the star-packs.</p> - -<p>Nobody said anything, at first.</p> - -<p>Braun watched them, a humorous half-defiant glint in his eye. But there -was pain in him, in his voice as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter? Am I poison, or something?"</p> - -<p>Somebody said it, then. In a stage whisper. "I had friends on the -<i>Venture IV</i>."</p> - -<p>"So did I," Braun answered quickly. "A lot of friends. So before -somebody works up nerve to ask, I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Don't know?" a man named Cutter pursued the point coldly. "You were -there!..."</p> - -<p>"I was there," admitted Braun. "I still say it. I don't know what -happened to anybody. I've told the authorities that over and over. I've -told anybody who'd listen. You don't have to believe me. I don't give -a—"</p> - -<p>"Nobody's told us anything," Cutter insisted. "We haven't heard a -whisper about it. And, speaking for all of us, we'd like to be sure -about you ... before we go on drinking at the same bar...."</p> - -<p>It was going to be like that as long as Braun lived. People will talk, -and if there's a choice, they'll guess the ugly thing, every time. -Wherever he went, there would be people to ask that question, and -somebody to smirk if he answered it.</p> - -<p>You could see trouble coming. Whatever Braun answered....</p> - -<p>Braun was never a man to talk much about himself. It was always -the places he had been and seen, or wanted to go. Like all old-time -spacemen, he was a bird of passage. Between trips, he came in a few -times, got to be a fixture. But he was always coming or going somewhere -never lighting or staying put.</p> - -<p>You don't learn too much about a man in a bar, casually. Little things -add up and hint at the bigger ones. You can call him by his first name -casually, and hash over mutual acquaintances, that's all.</p> - -<p>Maybe you talk about the things men talk about. Life and death. Men -and spaceships. Life on distant worlds. Braun had knocked around the -galaxy like a lot of people since the DuMont space-time drive came -into general use. He had seen more than the ordinary man even dreams -about, but there was always a restless and curious wondering about more -distant stars and their planets. On one classic occasion, you even -helped him wonder about other galaxies, and if the new drive would ever -take men out into the far, dark spaces where ships never ventured.</p> - -<p>When Braun's big break came, you heard about it from someone else, -since Braun was far away, at a planet-base circling a star that was -just a number in a catalog. There were no formal goodbyes out there, -just technical admonitions. Then a speck diminished into nowhere, with -no instruments to track an object accelerating into speeds so many -times greater than light that mathematics became weird paradoxes, and -nothing existing in normal dimensions even makes sense.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Eventually the ship came back, and Braun with it. Nobody knew much more -than that. No official announcements were made, no actual denials or -accusations. Rumor hinted at ugliness, and an investigation going on. -People made the usual wild and extravagant guesses, and there were the -formless whispers that start nowhere and end nowhere.</p> - -<p>Braun put his back to the bar and looked over the crowd soberly, one by -one. This must have happened to him many times before, as it probably -would again. Braun had his own way of dealing with such situations, and -maybe he was right.</p> - -<p>"I don't know what happened," he said slowly. "I'll say it again, just -once. I don't know. If you don't like it, I'm here, waiting. One at a -time, or the whole ratpack of you. How do you want it?"</p> - -<p>In any real, deadly brawl, voices are rarely raised. There is no loud -and explosive discussion. Instead, all movement jells, crystallizes in -utter silence. Something breaks it. Something like a flung beermug. -Then comes a five-ring circus of action.</p> - -<p>Braun ducked. The beermug struck in foaming, splintering destruction. -The backbar mirror dissolved in a chiming avalanche of glass.</p> - -<p>Cutter led the rush. Braun's back was braced to the bar. He seemed -oddly relaxed, almost happy. Somebody heaved another beermug. It -missed, but most of the beer splashed into Braun's face and trickled -slowly down him.</p> - -<p>"I like beer," he said, "but not that well."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Like a spring letting go, Braun snapped out to meet them. His long arms -caught Cutter and hoisted him high, then hurled him bodily over the -stick and into the stacked glassware.</p> - -<p>By then, if not before, you eased toward the light switch and cut -it. Darkness slammed down like a solid barrier. But other solids -moved through it, colliding, grunting, swearing, shouting, sometimes -groaning. Gradually, the tumult died out of itself.</p> - -<p>When the lights came on again, Braun still stood at the bar, though -several places further down. The darkness had been kind to him. With -everyone against him, he could work freely. And at saloon brawling, he -was a master craftsman. Casualties held to a minimum, but there were -plenty of cotton and catgut, splint and plaster cases. Cutter was still -out, cold, and went to the hospital with the others. Not everyone joins -in a rough-house, and enough clear-headed witnesses remained to spare -Braun any risk of charges. His fists were red and raw, but he seemed -unhurt, bodily.</p> - -<p>Somebody offered him a drink. But Braun just stood and looked at it, -then raised his head to glance up where the backbar mirror had been.</p> - -<p>"Someday, they'll use stainless steel for that," he said. "Then half -the fun will be gone."</p> - -<p>Slowly his face screwed up tight, the leathery skin wrinkling like a -withered apple. Eyes closed, he hammered a raw fist on the bar till -blood spurted. He was like a hurt child trying to hurt himself more to -get even with fate.</p> - -<p>"I had friends on the <i>Venture IV</i>," he cried wildly. "A lot of good -friends. What happened to them? Where are they?..."</p> - -<p>Calming down, he started talking. His voice was oddly detached, and so -low you could hardly hear him.</p> - -<p>"I was the ninth man," he said. "The rest were all techs, of one kind -or another. I was the only spacetramp aboard. I've often wondered -why they picked me, but somebody must have had a good reason. Maybe I -was the catalyst. Each of the others could do one job extremely well. -I could take over and do anything in an emergency—not as well, but -a scratch job to keep the show on the road. And when the 'ologies' -developed friction, I was the lubricant—the guy with no axe to grind -who kept the other's axes sharpened and tempered."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Braun stopped and flung himself at the drink. He seemed to need it. But -he was under control again, almost too much under control.</p> - -<p>"We were way out—somewhere," he continued. "About as far as the others -ever got. You can't express it in miles or in time, because neither of -them have the right meaning. Not out there."</p> - -<p>He stopped again. His eyes seemed to be staring beyond the outer -limits of darkness, beyond the mystical barrier of the speed of light -itself....</p> - -<p>"The ship came out of warp automatically. Robot machinery was set for -that, to bring us out at intervals—though nobody could be sure just -how it would function. Ordinary time-intervals do not exist, and time -itself is a random factor—out there. They tell me we were gone more -than five years, here. For us, it was weeks. Most of the time we were -in suspended animation, of course, with automatic controls to handle -the ship and rouse one or more of us at intervals. Usually the ship was -out of the warp and stopped when we were awakened. Twice, both in the -early stages, it was not like that.</p> - -<p>"Those times we were awake and in motion together. It was weird. Space -was like black, transparent cellophane, wrinkled and bunched together -with the ship leaping from one wrinkle to another. We could not see it, -but that was the way we imagined it. We could see, though.</p> - -<p>"Stars thinned out and drew together. Stars, like luminous lice -crawling on the black body of eternity...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>... Velocity and acceleration needles met in the center of the gauge. -No change in the relation of the ship to anything was apparent, and -none would be. Out of the warp, the ship hung, unmoving, in a vastness -of dark. Even the galaxies showed but faintly in the visiplates. -Destination was the spiral M31 in Andromeda, but the rest of Andromeda -lay far behind, and a faint smudge ahead seemed as far away as the home -galaxy, which was exactly the case.</p> - -<p><i>Venture IV</i> had reached the halfway point, with three quarters of -a million light-years of loneliness in either direction. Poets and -writers have called it the point of no return, when a ship has reached -a point in its voyage where the distance back is as far as that still -ahead.</p> - -<p>"Well, this is it," said Charters wearily. "We'll have to decide now -whether to go back ... or, if we think we can make it, push on ahead."</p> - -<p>Charters was captain pro tem, though, on a technical ship, space -formalities and titles were phantoms.</p> - -<p>Braun was unimpressed. "All right, it's the raw end of nowhere. And -we're here. What does it prove?"</p> - -<p>Charters gave him a friendly slap.</p> - -<p>"It proves one thing. That we can make it—next time. We could have -made it this time if we'd known what to expect. We'll go back with our -report, and the next ship will get there. And make it back to tell -about it. We could get there, this time—but not back. Sure, we're all -disappointed. But don't take it so hard. We haven't really failed. -We've made it easier to get the job done. Next time."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Braun bitterly. "The job will be done. But not by us. -We'll be too old before another ship is ready. And by the time the -analysts are through with this one, it will be junk. Just like us."</p> - -<p>Charters laughed.</p> - -<p>The two were alone in the control room. The other techs, for once all -awake at the same time, were busily checking their instruments, each in -his own department.</p> - -<p>Braun was suffering from reaction. In an emergency, he could function -superbly. But with nothing to do, he brooded.</p> - -<p>It was definitely the raw end of nowhere, though the instruments -and record tapes called it by a variety of mathematical equations. -According to the figures, the <i>Venture IV</i> had made an interesting -voyage, turning itself completely inside out several times at -irregular intervals, smashing all existing speed and distance records -and extending the tenuous boundaries of man's interstellar and -intergalactic survey by a quarter million light-years. Other ships -might have gone further, but if they had, no one knew about it. They -had vanished into some limbo of space—</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mass proximity alarms blared through the corridors and cubicles of the -<i>Venture IV</i>.</p> - -<p>Nerves, already tensed, vibrated like thin glass, ready to disintegrate -from resonance.</p> - -<p>There should have been no mass anywhere near. Not even a grain of -cosmic dust.</p> - -<p>Blackness stretched in all directions, relieved only by the distant, -dimly glowing smudges of galaxies. Assembled in the control room, -<i>Venture IV's</i> company discussed the mystery. No conclusion was -possible. Whatever was affecting the mass detectors lay dead ahead, -still out of vision range, and not even showing in the telescopic -relays.</p> - -<p>By vote, it was decided to investigate. The <i>Venture IV</i> operated on -democratic principles. Responsibility like risk was shared equally, and -"Captain" Charters had one vote.</p> - -<p>Atomic jets, still useful for short range runs and for close -maneuvering, nudged the ship gently into motion, which is a relative -thing in deep space. In this case, relative to—</p> - -<p>What?...</p> - -<p>By instrument only, the <i>Venture IV</i> groped blindly toward the unknown -object. By instrument only was it possible to gauge the approach. -Proximity needles wavered wildly, then settled down to indicate swiftly -diminishing distance, as if the alien object were matching velocity -with the <i>Venture IV</i> on a collision course.</p> - -<p>At such speeds, collision was possible. Charters began to worry -silently. Dubiously he eyed his crew, picked men, all volunteers eager -to challenge the unknown. But the unknown was still unknown, and -responding almost too eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Could it be another spaceship?" asked Braun, voicing the thought in -every mind.</p> - -<p>Charters just looked at him. "From—<i>there</i>?"</p> - -<p>"From anywhere?" Braun persisted. "Who knows about curves or orbits out -here?"</p> - -<p>Topping, the astrophysicist, smiled grimly. "Who knows about anything -here? It wasn't till the mid-Twentieth Century that we even knew M31 -was as big as our own galaxy and twice as far away as had been thought. -Or guessed at the truth behind the Doppler shift."</p> - -<p>"But a spaceship ... out here!" scoffed Charters.</p> - -<p>Topping shrugged. "It could be. It could even be one of ours. From the -future, perhaps. We've done some weird doubling about in the space-time -continuum, remember."</p> - -<p>"It could be anything, then," said Braun.</p> - -<p>"Anything," echoed Topping.</p> - -<p>"Start deceleration," ordered Charters, concerned with the more -practical aspects of a possible encounter in alien space. "Swing the -controls over to manual. I'll feel better about the ship if it comes -to dodging a collision. You have the practical piloting experience, -Braun. Take over."</p> - -<p>Grinning, Braun seated himself at the manual keyboard and started -pressing studs. Lights blinked off and on in patterns on the screen at -vision level. He switched over to the visiplates mounted on the blunt -bow. A sector of blackness dead ahead was projected onto the screen.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to see. Light in interstellar space is too feeble to -reveal anything not self luminous.</p> - -<p>"Try a radilume beam," suggested Charters.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The screen flickered, then resumed its blackness. With no dust, no -anything, to reflect light back to the ship, the beam lost itself in -the immensity.</p> - -<p>Braun worked with the studs.</p> - -<p>"We're slowing," he announced. "Now what?"</p> - -<p>"Try a dead stop, but be ready to move out fast in case the alien -continues a collision course."</p> - -<p>Braun nodded. In the artificial gravity field, no effect of -deceleration was perceptible. The ship slowed and stopped as dead as a -ship stops with no reference point to anything. What actually happened -was a delicate balancing upon a number of mathematical equations, -themselves unstable.</p> - -<p>Mass proximity needles, showing the expected increase by squares, -indicated that the stranger also had come to a full stop by matching -exactly at zero. It was an interesting fact that so far from home the -familiar laws of gravity seemed to hold their familiar relations. More -interesting was the fact that the alien object or ship had stopped.</p> - -<p>"See anything?" asked Charters.</p> - -<p>"Not a thing," admitted Topping.</p> - -<p>"How about the telescopes?"</p> - -<p>McClure, the astrogator, reported then. Under the circumstances, his -voice sounded curiously matter of fact.</p> - -<p>"A faint point of light. Not enough disk to tell much of anything about -it. We'll try with—"</p> - -<p>"Can't be more than a mile away, I'd guess," said Braun. "What do we do -now? Just sit here and wait?"</p> - -<p>Topping grunted. "Reminds me of a pair of strange dogs meeting away -from home and sniffing at each other with mutual curiosity and -mistrust."</p> - -<p>"That's about the way it would be," Charters agreed weakly. "If that is -an alien ship out there, what else could we do?"</p> - -<p>"We could try for contact. Communicate with them, somehow."</p> - -<p>"Morse code?" asked Braun bitterly.</p> - -<p>"There were humans in other parts of our own galaxy. Some of them -intelligent and highly civilized. We set up communications with them."</p> - -<p>"There was a common basis with them," argued Braun. "And we found some -non-human intelligent races. Communications didn't do so well with -them, and the <i>Venture IV</i> is no warship. We came here to windowshop, -not to buy, and not to take over anything by force. We're not equipped -for a row."</p> - -<p>Charters broke in. "Topping is right. We'll try to set up -communication. With a modulated light beam."</p> - -<p>"Go ahead and try," said Braun. "I'll stand by, just in case of -trouble. And when your idea fails, we can start talking sense."</p> - -<p>Charters and Topping left him at the controls and joined Tal Roberts in -the communications office. Braun waited.</p> - -<p>When they returned, he could tell by the faces that their plan had -fallen through.</p> - -<p>"Struck a snag?" he asked amiably.</p> - -<p>Charters' smile was weak. "We tried two messages. After a short wait, -they repeated them. You might say we've established communications. But -we're not getting anywhere."</p> - -<p>"The same messages? Nothing else?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing."</p> - -<p>"Maybe they have no imagination. I have an idea if you're ready to -listen."</p> - -<p>Charters nodded. "Go ahead ... if it's nothing that will endanger the -ship."</p> - -<p>"The ship isn't involved. We have two space-lifeboats—though I can't -figure where we'd escape to if anything went sour out here. I'll take -one and slip away from the ship. With luck, I can sneak up on our -friends. Without lights. Keep your beam turned on, aimed right at the -alien. I'll stay out of the beam, but it should give enough light to -see by. If the thing looks like a real spaceship, and there's a chance -the occupants are human, I'll try to make actual contact. If not, I'll -scurry on back. How about it?"</p> - -<p>"It could be dangerous. If anything happens—"</p> - -<p>"You won't be any worse off. Probably, if it's another ship, the people -are just as scared and curious as we are. As the show stands, you don't -even dare try to run for it. I'm expendable."</p> - -<p>"That's a matter of opinion. I won't rule on this, Braun. We'll call -the gang together and decide by vote."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Half an hour later, the lifeboat was ready. Serviced with air, food -and water for an indefinite time, the tiny craft lay in its cradle.</p> - -<p>"Keep a light in the window for me," said Braun.</p> - -<p>He climbed aboard through the miniature airlock, which closed behind -him. Solenoid magnets conveyed the lifeboat through chutes into the -valve of the main airlock. Doors opened and closed with automatic -finality. Air hissed back into the ship as pumps emptied the valve. -With pressure equalized, the outer door opened into space.</p> - -<p>Braun eased his tiny craft free, then turned and ran forward alongside -the <i>Venture IV</i>. From outside, the explorer ship seemed tremendous. -It was a small world in itself, complete, self-sustaining. But -mass-conversion was necessary to power the velocities far beyond the -speed of light, and already the voyage had eaten away too much of the -ship's mass.</p> - -<p>A phantom glow hovered about the forward compartments as if the -metallic shell caught and reflected faint light from a distant source. -Braun wondered about that subconsciously, but in the midst of so many -wonders, one more mystery meant little.</p> - -<p>There was no light beam to be seen. His instruments found a course -parallel to the invisible beam and followed it for him, with the robot -pilot in charge.</p> - -<p>But for the ship dwindling behind him, the vault of space seemed empty. -In the blackness ahead, though he could not see it, was a single small -luminous speck. Behind him, the light of the ship diminished slowly to -infinity. It vanished. Braun was alone with his mission.</p> - -<p>With no visible reference point, Braun's senses became unreliable. -Unlighted, the lifeboat seemed a mote of darkness lost in the greater -immensities. Even on the brink of the last unknown, the man grew -restless and depressed. With nothing to see, nothing to occupy the -senses of his brain, he was bored.</p> - -<p>Braun groped blindly and gave himself the luxury of a cigarette. While -it lasted, the red glow of the cigarette's coal gave comfort to his -loneliness. It gave him something on which to concentrate.</p> - -<p>There was no up, no down, no sideways, only ahead and behind, with -invisible dots of light to identify each. He felt oddly trapped, at -the mercy of automatic instruments. Curious and unpleasant illusions -crowded upon him.</p> - -<p>For a time, he thought that all matter had vanished from the universe, -that only he and his lifeboat existed in all the great void. Later, -he thought that light itself had vanished. Telescopically, in any -direction, he could have found light, but to his unaided eyes all -darkness was the same. Then came the weirder illusions of other senses, -that his course followed no straight line or sane curves, but moved -endlessly upon some infinite spiral.</p> - -<p>Time passed, and his eyes grew so accustomed to darkness that they -did not see the light when it appeared. Ahead, just a faint point, -steady, steel-hard, unwinking, it emerged from the blackness. Slowly it -increased in radiance rather than in size. Then at last it was a disk, -like a beacon set out to guide him in.</p> - -<p>There was a beam, invisible with nothing to reflect its tight radiance -or diffuse it. But as before, when leaving his own ship, he avoided the -beam.</p> - -<p>Cruising closer, Braun began to make out details.</p> - -<p>It was a ship, no doubt about that. A phantom glow hovered about its -forward compartments as if the metallic shell caught and reflected -faint light from a distant source. It was a ship, all right. A ship -painfully like the <i>Venture IV</i>. A philosopher might have meditated -upon parallel evolutions, but Braun was too deeply shocked for delvings -into the deeper relations between man and his environments.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The alien ship was identical. Braun satisfied himself of that by -circling, studying every aspect of the stranger. There was the same -indefinable quality which stamped it as man-made.</p> - -<p>Almost hysterical with his discovery, Braun nerved himself to switch -off the automatic pilot and take over manual controls. Then he eased -in quickly beside an air lock which might have been the same one he -had left. Magnetic grapnels reached out from the lifeboat, caught and -dragged the lesser mass to the greater. At the controls, Braun guided -his tiny craft to the airlock valve, and the outer doors slid shut and -locked hermetically behind him.</p> - -<p>Some kind of atmosphere would be hissing into the valve now, building -up pressure. It had to work like that.</p> - -<p>Almost beside himself, Braun crawled into a spacesuit, then settled -back to wait impatiently.</p> - -<p>Light flooded the valve as the inner doors slid smoothly open. Braun -made routine tests, then opened his cockleshell lifeboat hatch. Blinded -by light, he climbed out. On rubbery legs, encased in the bulging suit -of space armor, he walked to the gaping doorway and entered the alien -ship.</p> - -<p>If a trap, it was a good one.</p> - -<p>Braun staggered backward. As his eyes became accustomed to the light, -he stared. Disbelief in his senses and doubt of his sanity showed on -his face.</p> - -<p>Opening the vent in his space helmet, he took a deep breath. Then he -stared curiously at—</p> - -<p>Charters and Topping.</p> - -<p>"You weren't gone long," observed Charters. The pair studied Braun, -their expressions puzzled.</p> - -<p>"I guess I didn't get very far," admitted Braun uneasily. "Am I crazy -or is it everything else?"</p> - -<p>"That's anyone's guess," said Topping. "What happened?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not sure I know."</p> - -<p>They waited for explanations while Braun took a stiff slug of coffee -laced with brandy.</p> - -<p>"Somehow I must have got turned around," admitted Braun ruefully. "I -can understand that, but the lifeboat was set on automatic pilot. I -thought I came straight across, and with the robot pilot I should have. -What do you think happened?"</p> - -<p>Topping was sober. "There are several possible explanations. I don't -like any of them. Maybe there's a flaw in space here. It could act like -a mirror, reflecting back our own mass and the beam of our own light. -Who knows? There may not even be an alien ship out there."</p> - -<p>"But there's nothing material out there," objected Braun. "I was there, -and our instruments would show anything above the size of a speck of -dust. For that matter, we can see the thing in our telescopes, and -there's nothing we know that can distort the gravity-effect of mass let -alone turn it around like light reflected from a mirror. Who ever heard -of—"</p> - -<p>"Who ever heard of nine men sealed in an oversized can and set down -halfway between home galaxy and M31?" reproved Topping. "Light and -gravity may not be functions only of our space-time continuum but of -others adjacent too and even overlapping ours. We know very little -about the nature of either, and some of our unexplained phenomena may -be the result of actions and reactions outside our continuum."</p> - -<p>"That's getting too deep for me," said Braun. "I'm willing to try -again ... if only to prove I didn't funk out the first time. And this -time I'll go across with the lights blazing. I want you to use radar -and visual scanners on me all the way."</p> - -<p>Charters shook his head. "We're up against something we don't -understand. I'm not sure I should permit—"</p> - -<p>"What's the harm?" pleaded Braun. "I came through without a scratch -before. The worst that can happen is a repeat of the same farce. -Besides, I've just had a brainstorm. Suppose this is not the same -ship I left. Suppose there really are two ships exactly alike, even -to the people on board. Suppose that there are two civilizations that -developed identically—"</p> - -<p>"Maybe you'd better go," laughed Charters. "If you keep on in that -vein, you'll give us all nightmares."</p> - -<p>Braun's second try followed the same routine as the first. The -difference was in Braun himself. Before, he had been mildly excited, -calm but overstrained, expecting almost anything. There was a grimness -about his second venture. He felt moody and more depressed than before. -This time, there was no boredom.</p> - -<p>Before leaving, he took a good look around, fixing the faces of his -companions into his memory, engraving the ship and endless details of -its structure and decoration into his brain. He felt as if he were -leaving all of it behind him forever.</p> - -<p>The worst that can happen, he thought, is the same thing.</p> - -<p>He was wrong about that....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Approaching the alien ship, he braced himself. There was the light. -Then the ship, with its metallic shimmer of reflected light dimmed by -distance.</p> - -<p>Again he circled, studying the contours of the immense fabrication. -He remembered an old French proverb about the more a thing changes the -more it remains the same. The ship was the same. It was the <i>Venture -IV</i>. He would stake his life and his sanity on it.</p> - -<p>No matter. In a way he was relieved. Once inside the ship, he would let -the experts explain it to him. At least he had tried. Nobody could say -this time that he funked the job. They would have had the scanners on -him all the way. And this time he knew—somehow—that he had not turned -around from any confusion. Also, with the lights on, he had watched -the automatic pilot. There had been no trick turns. He had it on the -flight-record tapes.</p> - -<p>If the lifeboat had returned to its point of departure, the only -possible explanation was that a space-warp or a flaw in the space-time -continuum had turned it inside out.</p> - -<p>"End of the line," Braun murmured contentedly. "End of the line again."</p> - -<p>Skilfully he maneuvered the lifeboat up to the bulk of the <i>Venture -IV</i>. He grappled it to the airlock valve and slipped it inside on the -skids.</p> - -<p>The outer doors closed. This time he was so sure of where he was that -he did not bother with the spacesuit. He waited till the inner doors -opened to matched pressures, then scuttled out of the lifeboat. The -air was breathable, the usual hydroponic cycle stuff, just what he was -used to. It smelled oddly of pumps as it always does, pump-packing and -growing things. Air in the lifeboat had been too rich in ozone, and -Braun was giddy with the sharp tang of it.</p> - -<p>Braun strode confidently into the ship.</p> - -<p>No one was around to greet him. It was a gag they had worked up, he -figured. All right, he'd play along.</p> - -<p>Through the ship he went, calling out names. Echoes rang hollowly in -the vast interior, but they were the only answer. He kept wandering -and calling, wandering and crying out. Finally, he was screaming -hysterically.</p> - -<p>It was a long time before the fact got through solidly to him. He was -alone on the ship.</p> - -<p>So far as he could tell, it was the <i>Venture IV</i>. Everything about the -ship was the same. It was <i>his</i> ship. Wherever he had been, he was -back on <i>his</i> ship. He had to keep on assuring himself of that. It -was either the <i>Venture IV</i> ... or an exact duplicate. But the other -duplicate had duplicated the people, too.</p> - -<p>"Where is everybody?" he screamed.</p> - -<p>He went on screaming for a long time. A very long time....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Smoke curled up from Braun's cigarette to join the dense layers near -the bar's ceiling. Light shone through the blued stratifications in -blurred blobs as through fog.</p> - -<p>"That's the story," said Braun huskily.</p> - -<p>"Not all of it," somebody murmured.</p> - -<p>"Not quite. The ship was mostly automatic. I knew then why I had been -picked. As I said, in an emergency, I could handle any job or even all -jobs, for as long as necessary. We had all the flight tapes from the -long voyage out. Mainly it was a job for the computers. You couldn't -just run the tapes through backward because nothing ever stands quite -still in the universe. All I know is that we did it, the ship and I. -The <i>Venture IV</i> is the real hero, I guess. It brought me back."</p> - -<p>"What about the others?" somebody persisted.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Braun answered irritably. "All I know is what I've told -you. What happened to me. About the rest of the bunch, even the experts -are still guessing. There are several theories. There were things about -the ship. Odd differences. Nothing I could catch, but the experts found -curiosities. They think I was tricked, that it's not really the same -ship, but a clever and almost miraculous duplicate."</p> - -<p>"But why, and how?"</p> - -<p>Braun laughed bitterly. "Your guess is as good as anybody's. Mine -is—that I wasn't wanted. The rest of the crew were all specialists, -trained technicians, each one the best in his field. If <i>somebody</i> out -there wanted some samples of the best brains in the human race, he -really got the top quality. They were all educated to the hilt, trained -for a particular job. Maybe they were picked because they were ready -for something else. They had the entrance qualifications. I hadn't. -That may not be the only explanation. It's probably the best one."</p> - -<p>Braun poured himself another drink and drank it. His eyes stared -blankly, as if the essential part of him was back out on the raw -frontiers of the dark unknown.</p> - -<p>Somebody dragged him back to the bar with a final question.</p> - -<p>"But surely you must have some ideas of your own. What do you think -happened to the others?"</p> - -<p>Braun smiled soberly. His voice was tired, and it sounded as empty as -those black spaces where no sun ever shines.</p> - -<p>"What I think doesn't matter. There may be another world out -there ... or something in hyperspace. That may be a point of contact, -or it may be a barrier against all man's dreams of further expansion -and exploration into the unknown. You've asked what I think happened to -the others, and it's a good question. People are going to keep asking -me that. I don't know the true answer. Maybe I'll never know—"</p> - -<p>Braun hesitated, glanced round him at the ring of strained and -questioning faces. He saw the disbelief registered on them—the thinly -veiled anger that seemed to shout out at him <i>why don't you tell us -what really happened! Tell us the truth!</i></p> - -<p>Braun sighed resignedly. It was always the same. It would always be the -same. Wherever he went. And he would have to keep moving ... alone, -apart from other men.</p> - -<p>He walked past the silent questioning faces and through the door. 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