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Read Ebook: Tar Heel Tales by Bryant H E C Henry Edward Cowan
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Ebook has 57 lines and 2455 words, and 2 pages
CIRCLE
Illustrated by Ed Emsh
It seemed they had argued for years as they were arguing tonight. The man paced back and forth chain-smoking cigarettes; the woman sat motionless, watching him. They glanced at their watches with fearful eyes. They heard, with acutely alert ears, the goings and comings of people in the hall; heard the shattering blast of rockets in the sky above the city. And they argued.
"So you're going through with it tonight," he said heavily, "in your own way."
"Yes."
"Perhaps I should stop you." He crushed out his cigarette. "If the police were to hear--"
He stood over her, his lips tight. There was something of the fragile, finely made puppet about her, he thought, as though she had been refashioned a hundred times by some artisan seeking after perfect delicacy and precision. He softened momentarily.
"Come with me then," he said.
"No."
"Why? Why?"
"We're the last two leaders of the opposition alive." His voice came swiftly and low. "The authority's beaten us. Their setup for killing, imprisonment, bribery and blackmail functions too well. Our whole organization's been scattered like matchsticks. The police are closing in on us. We're finished here on earth. We'll be lucky if we're killed quickly." He waited a moment for his words to take effect. "We go along together that far."
She stood, clasping her hands. "Of course. Of course."
"Look. I know you've finished that damned contraption of yours that'll take you into the atoms. I know you've been working on it for years. But I've been working too. My ship's been ready to take off into super-space for two days. But I haven't gone. I've been waiting for you. To wait at a time like this is to ask for death or worse. Now I demand you give up this insane idea of going into the atoms. You've got to come with me."
"Yes. You'll destroy. You'll ruin everything, you'll break the innocent as well as the guilty."
"I'll have to take that chance," he said grimly. "But I'll destroy the Authority and everything that goes with it."
She pulled from his grasp. "Violence and destruction are not my way. They never have been." Slowly now she sank into the chair, looked past him as she spoke. "You've always worshipped spaces and vacuums and voids. I've always been happy working with flowers and trees, the life of the meadow and valley, the rain and the new, small buds in springtime. We have always gone in opposite directions."
For a moment sadness rose and softened his face. "There's nothing more to say, is there."
"I'm afraid not."
"We'll make the goodbys quick." He came to her. "At least we're being honest with each other. No lies. No pettiness. We've developed pretty powerful ideals. And they just won't fit together. It's that simple--and that good."
She looked up at him and smiled. "At least I haven't lost you to another woman."
He returned her smile. "We're getting sentimental. This isn't good. It's weakening." He bent and lightly kissed her hair. For an instant her breathing stopped.
"Goodby."
"Goodby," she whispered.
He strode to the door and opened it. His body snapped taut.
Confronting him with a drawn blaster, stood a man in the shining red garb of the police command. He resembled Mephisto with his flowing cape and snug trousers. His face was dark, his nose thin, his eyes black and very bright.
"You seem surprised," said the man in red.
Aria had half risen from the chair. As the eyes of the policeman turned on her, she sank back.
"How opportune," the policeman continued. "The eve of your departures." The smile set on his mouth. His gun snapped up on a line with Thorus' heart. "No sudden moves, or you'll be burnt to a cinder. But no. That's what you want--a quick death. So let me threaten you with merely burning your legs off." The blaster lowered. "It may interest you to know we have a recording of your whole conversation. But there's something else."
His eyes holding Thorus, he gave a sharp command to two burly, bullnecked policemen. They stepped from the shadows and stood behind the commander. One held a small, black box.
"I see," the commander said, "You've had experience before with the truth clamps. You're frightened."
Thorus motioned the commander inside. "A little fear trickles through my hate."
The door swung shut behind the three policemen. Thorus glanced at Aria. Her fingers clutched the arms of the chair. He knew she was thinking of the blocks that had recently been installed in their minds by X-ray hypnosis. Would the blocks hold after three days? Three days, they both knew was the limit.
"It's your methods of escape we must have," said the commander. He motioned to one of the policemen.
Thorus watched the man step in front of him and raise the clamps to his forehead. He saw features that were thick and heavy, as though they had been roughly moulded out of too wet clay.
"You can see," the commander went on, "the tremendous advantage to us of being able to go into the macrocosm and toss meteors around like bits of corn, as you say." He glanced at Aria, who sat huddled in the chair, like a porcelain doll. "And then into the microcosm. Unlimited power. A whole new universe to conquer and colonize."
Aria did not move or speak.
Thorus felt the clamps tight on his temples, like two steel fingers. Sitting stiffly on a chair, he felt sweat on his back and chest, felt it seep from his forehead down into his eyes, felt the burn of salt. There was tightness all through him as he waited for the first shock. His fingernails cut his palms. His breath stopped. His shoulders and arms hardened, stretched tight his tunic.
The commander flicked his finger at the one kneeling before the little black box. This one tripped a lever. A soft hum seemed to rise from the box and fill the room.
Thorus listened to the hum grow until it was a soft, high pitched scream. He closed his eyes. The next instant a shattering blow ripped through every inch of his body. Fire ran along his nerves. He felt his lips grimacing away from his teeth, felt the corners of his mouth stretching back to his ears. Oh God, oh God, he cried out in silent agony. Hold back my screams. Then he heard himself groan. He cut off the sound of it. Choked. Heard a growl deep in his chest. Lights flashed in his eyes and there was a tearing apart through his whole body. A squeezing together rushed all around him and an insane pounding and pulling as though his flesh were being beaten and clawed from his bones. Time dropped away from him until it seemed he had never been aware of anything but this agony. Then he was empty of sensation. He felt himself fall forward, felt heavy hands catch him roughly and set him upright. The soft voice of the commander flowed into his mind like a voice from outer space:
"You will tell us your method of going into the macrocosm. The equations, the type ship, its propellent, where the ship is hidden."
Thorus felt enveloped in a void.
The voice of the commander droned on. "All we need is a clue. We'll work out the rest."
Life and feeling and thought were surging back into Thorus now. Strength filled his muscles again. Sight came into his eyes. Again he sat straight and stiff on the chair. The block held, he thought. It held and they cannot know now!
"Speak!" The commander's voice rose. "Damn you!" He seized Thorus by the hair. "You've blocked off the information. I'll see both of you tortured until you'll wish to kill each other. Then we'll try the clamps again." He smashed his fist into Thorus' face.
On the instant the commander pulled back his fist, Thorus reached out and jerked the blaster from his belt. His foot came up hard against the man's groin. There was a grunting cry of pain. Thorus fell backward off the stool, pressing the blaster trigger as he hit the floor. He saw blood gush from the commander's middle, saw him pitch sideways, like a broken statue, heard Aria's scream. The clamps pulled from his head. He swung the gun's muzzle to the two policemen, clawing at their holsters. The blaster struck out, a long coughing hiss, a spray of flame. There were cries and gasps and jerking and clutching and the scrambling fall of the two bodies.
Then silence.
Thorus crawled unsteadily to his feet, stood swaying. The gun hung loosely in his hand. Now he felt Aria close to him, heard her voice trembling and breathy.
"Thorus! Are you all right?"
"Yes."
"The blocks held! They held!"
Steadying himself, he saw Aria glance at the bodies on the floor.
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