David Starr Space Ranger (ls) Read online

  Quickly he caught up the lower knob of the ladder, set it as far out in the direction of the patch as he could reach, gathered in the other knob as it fell, and set it still farther out in the same direction. He alternated them as rapidly as he could, hoping savagely that the sun would hold out, that the patch itself was not, somehow, an illusion.

  The sun had crossed the fissure and now touched the lip of the wall from which he dangled. The rock he faced, which had been yellow-red, turned gray again. But there was still light upon the other wall, and he could see well enough. He was less than a hundred feet away, and each alternation of ladder knobs brought him a yard closer.

  Glimmering, the sunlight traveled up the opposite wall, and the dusk was closing in when he reached the edge of the patch. His gloved ringers closed upon the edge of a cavity set into the rock. It was smooth, The line had neither fault nor flaw. It had to be made by intelligence.

  He needed sunlight no longer. The small beam of the flashlight would be enough. He swung his ladder into the inset, and when he dropped a knob he felt it clunk sharply on rock beneath. A horizontal ledge!

  He descended quickly, and in a few minutes found himself standing on rock. For the first time in more than six hours he was standing on something solid. He found the inactive bulb, thrust it into rock at waist level, brought down the ladder, then adjusted the safety latch and pulled out the bulb. For the first time in more than six hours both ends of the ladder were free.

  David looped the ladder around his waist and arm and looked about. The cavity in the face of the cliff was about ten feet high and six across. With his flashlight pointing the way, he walked inward and came face to face with a smooth and quite solid stone slab that barred farther progress.

  It, too, was the work of intelligence. It had to be. But it remained an effective barrier to further exploration just the same.

  There was a sudden pain in his ears, and he spun sharply. There could be only one explanation. Somehow the air pressure about himself was increasing.

  He moved back toward the face of the cliff and was not surprised to find that the opening through which he had come was barred by rock which had not previously been there. It had slid into place without a sound.

  His heart beat quickly. He was obviously in an air lock of some sort. Carefully he removed his nose-piece and sampled the new air. It felt good in his lungs, and it was warm.

  He advanced to the inner slab of rock and waited confidently for it to lift up and away.

  It did exactly that, but a full minute before it did so David felt his arms compressed suddenly against his body as though a steel lasso had been thrown about him and tightened. He had time for one startled cry, and then his legs pushed one against the other under similar pressure.

  And so it was that when the inner door opened and the way to enter the cavern was clear before Mm, David Starr could move neither hand nor foot.

  10. Birth of the Space Ranger

  David waited. There was no use in speaking to empty air. Presumably the entities who had built the caverns and who could so immobilize him in so immaterial a fashion would be perfectly capable of playing all the cards.

  He felt himself lift from the ground and slowly tip backward until the line of his body was parallel with the floor. He tried to crane his head upward but found it to be nearly immovable. The bonds were not so strong as those which had tightened about his limbs. It was rather like a harness of velvety rubber that gave, but only so far.

  He moved inward smoothly. It was like entering warm, fragrant, breathable water. As his head left the air lock, the last portion of his body to do so, a dreamless sleep closed over him.

  David Starr opened his eyes with no sensation of any passage of time but, with the sensation of life near by. Exactly what form that sensation took he could not say. He was first conscious of the heat. It was that of a hot summer day on Earth. Second, there was the dim red light that surrounded him and that scarcely sufficed for vision. By it he could barely make out the walls of a small room as he turned his head. Nowhere was there motion; nowhere life.

  And yet somewhere near there must be the working of a powerful intelligence. David felt that in a way he could not explain.

  Cautiously he tried to move a hand, and it lifted without hindrance. Wonderingly he sat upright and found himself on a surface that yielded and gave but whose nature he could not make out in the dimness.

  The voice came suddenly. "The creature is aware of its surroundings…" The last part of the statement was a jumble of meaningless sound. David could not identify the direction from which the voice came. It was from all directions and no direction.

  A second voice sounded. It was different, though the difference was a subtle one. It was gentler, smoother, more feminine, somehow. "Are you well, creature?"

  David said, "I cannot see you."

  The first voice (David thought of it as a man's) sounded again. "It is then as I told…" Again the jumble. "You are not equipped to see mind."

  The last phrase was blurred, but to David it sounded like "see mind."

  "I can see matter," he said, "but there is scarcely light to see by."

  There was a silence, as though the two were conferring apart, and then there was the gentle thrusting of an object into David's hand. It was his flashlight.

  "Has this," came the masculine voice, "any significance to you with regard to light?"

  "Why, certainly. Don't you see?" He flashed it on and quickly splashed the light beam about himself.

  The room was empty of life, and quite bare. The surface he rested upon was transparent to light and some four feet off the floor.

  "It is as I said," said the feminine voice excitedly. "The creature's sight sense is activated by short-wave radiation."

  "But most of the radiation of the instrument is in the infrared. It was that I judged by," protested the other. The light was brightening even as the voice sounded, turning first orange, then yellow, and finally white.

  David said, "Can you cool the room too?"

  "But it has been carefully adjusted to the temperature of your body."

  "Nevertheless, I would have it cooler."

  They were co-operative, at least. A cool wind swept over David, welcome and refreshing. He let the temperature drop to seventy before he stopped them.

  David thought, "I think you are communicating directly with my mind. Presumably that is why I seem to hear you speaking International English."

  The masculine voice said, "The last phrase is a jumble, but certainly we are communicating. How else would that be done?"

  David nodded to himself. That accounted for the occasional noisy blur. When a proper name was used that had no accompanying picture for his own mind to interpret, it could only be received as a blur. Mental static.

  The feminine voice said, "In the early history of our race there are legends that our minds were closed to one another and that we communicated by means of symbols for the eye and ear. From your question I cannot help but wonder if this is the case with your own people, creature."

  David said, "That is so. How long is it since I was brought into the cavern?"

  The masculine voice said, "Not quite a planetary rotation. We apologize for any inconvenience we caused you, but it was our first opportunity to study one of the new surface creatures alive. We have salvaged several before this, one only a short while ago, but none were functional, and the amount of information obtained from such is, of necessity, limited."

  David wondered if Griswold had been the recently salvaged corpse. He said cautiously, "Is your examination of myself over?"

  The feminine voice responded quickly. "You fear harm. There is a distinct impression in your mind that we may be so savage as to interfere with your life functions in order to gain knowledge. How horrible!"

  "I'm sorry if I have offended you. It is merely that I am unacquainted with your methods."

  The masculine voice said, "We know all we need. We are quite capable of making a mol
ecule-by-molecule investigation of your body without the need of physical contact at all. The evidence of our psycho-mechanisms is quite sufficient."

  "What are these psycho-mechanisms you mention?"

  "Are you acquainted with matter-mind transformations?"

  "I am afraid not"

  There was a pause, and then the masculine voice said curtly, "I have just investigated your mind. I am afraid, judging by its texture, that your grasp of scientific principles is insufficient for you to understand my explanations."

  David felt put in his place. He said, "My apologies."

  The masculine voice went on. "I would ask you some questions."

  "Proceed, sir."

  "What was the last part of your statement?"

  "It was merely a manner of honorable address."

  A pause. "Oh yes, I see. You complicate your communication symbols in accordance with the person you address. An odd custom. But I delay. Tell me, creature, you radiate an enormous heat. Are you ill or can this be normal?"

  "It is quite normal. The dead bodies you examined were undoubtedly at the temperature of their environment, whatever it was. But while functioning, our bodies maintain a constant temperature that best suits us."

  "Then you are not natives of this planet?"

  David said, "Before I answer this question, may I ask you what your attitude would be toward creatures like myself if we originated from another planet?"

  "I assure you that you and your fellow creatures are a matter of indifference to us except in so far as you arouse our curiosity. I see from your mind that you are uneasy with regard to our motives. I see that you fear our hostility. Remove such thoughts."

  "Can you not read in my mind, then, the answer to your questions? Why do you question me specifically?"

  "I can only read emotions and general attitudes in absence of precise communication. But, then, you are a creature and would not understand. For precise information, communication must involve an effort of will. If it will help to ease your mind, I will inform you that we have every reason to believe you to be a member of a race not native to this planet. For one thing, the composition of your tissues is utterly different from that of any living thing ever known to have existed on the face of the world. Your body heat indicates also that you come from another world, a warmer one."

  "You are correct. We come from Earth."

  "I do not understand the last word."

  "From the planet next nearer the sun than this one."

  "So! That is most interesting. At the time our race retired to the caverns some half a million revolutions ago we knew your planet to possess life, though probably not intelligence. Was your race intelligent then?"

  "Scarcely," said David. One million Earth-years had passed since the Martians had left the surface of their planet.

  "It is indeed interesting. I must carry this report to the Central Mind directly. Come,____________________."

  "Let me remain behind, ____________________ -. I would like to communicate further with this creature."

  "As you please."

  The feminine voice said, "Tell me of your world." David spoke freely. He felt a pleasant, almost delicious, languor. Suspicion departed and there was no reason he could not answer truthfully and in full.

  These beings were kind and friendly. He bubbled with information.

  And then she released her hold on Ms mind and he stopped abruptly. Angrily he said, "What have I been saying?"

  "Nothing of harm," the feminine voice assured him. "I have merely repressed the inhibitions of your mind. It is unlawful to do so, and I would not have dared do it if____________________ were here. But you are only a

  creature and I am so curious. I knew that your suspicion was too deep to let you talk without a little help from me and your suspicion is so misplaced. We would never harm you creatures as long as you do not intrude upon us."

  "We have already done so, have we not?" asked David. "We occupy your planet from end to end."

  "You are still testing me. You mistrust me. The surface of the planet is of no interest to us. This is home. And yet," the feminine voice seemed almost wistful, "there must be a certain thrill in traveling from world to world. We are well aware that there are many planets in space and many suns. To think that creatures like yourself are inheriting all that. It is all so interesting that I am thankful again and again that we sensed you making your clumsy way down toward us in time to make an opening for you."

  "What!" David could not help but shout, although he knew that the sound waves his vocal cords created went unheeded and that only the thoughts of his mind were sensed. "You made that opening?"

  "Not I alone.____________________ helped. That is why we were given the chance to investigate you."

  "But how did you do it?"

  "Why, by willing it."

  "I don't understand."

  "But it is simple. Can you not see it in my mind? But I forget. You are a creature. You see, when we retired to the caverns we were forced to destroy many thousands of cubic miles of matter to make space for ourselves under the surface. There was nowhere to store the matter as such, so we converted it to energy and____________________ ____________________."

  "No, no, I don't follow you."

  "You don't understand? In that case, all I can say Is that the energy was stored in such a way that it could be tapped by an effort of the mind."

  "But if all the matter that was once in these vast caverns were converted into energy____________________ "

  "There would be a great deal. Certainly. We have lived on that energy for half a million revolutions, and it is calculated that we have enough for twenty million more revolutions. Even before we left the surface we had studied the relation of mind and matter and since we have come to the caverns we have perfected the science to such a degree that we have abandoned matter entirely as far as our personal use is concerned. We are creatures of pure mind and energy, who never die and are no longer born. I am here with you, but since you cannot sense mind, you are not aware of me except with your mind."

  "But surely people such as yourselves can make themselves heir to all the universe."

  "You fear that we shall contest the universe with poor material creatures such as yourself? That we shall fight for a place among the stars? That is silly.

  All the universe is here with us. We are sufficient to ourselves."

  David was silent. Then slowly he put his hands to Ms head as he had the sensation of fine, very fine tendrils gently touching his mind. It was the first time the feeling had come, and he shrank from its intimacy.

  She said, "My apologies again. But you are such an interesting creature. Your mind tells me that your fellow creatures are in great danger and you suspect that we might be the cause. I assure you, creature, it is not so."

  She said it simply. David had no course but to be-Eeve.

  He said, "Your companion said my tissue chemistry was entirely different from that of any life on Mars. May I ask how?"

  "It is composed of a nitrogenous material."

  "Protein," explained David.

  "I do not understand that word."

  "What are your tissues composed of?"

  "Of____________________. It is entirely different.

  There is practically no nitrogen in it."

  "You could offer me no food, then?"

  "I am afraid not.____________________ says any organic matter of our planet would be quickly poisonous to you. We could manufacture simple compounds of your life type that you might feed on, but the complex nitrogenous material that forms the bulk of your tissue is quite beyond us without much study. Are you hungry, creature?" There was no mistaking the sympathy and concern in her thoughts. (David persisted in thinking of it as a voice.)

  He said, "For the moment I have still my own food."

  The feminine voice said, "It seems unpleasant for me to think of you simply as a creature. What is your name?" Then, as though she feared she might not be understood, "How d
o your fellow creatures identify you?"

  "I am called David Starr."

  "I do not understand that except that there seems a reference to the suns of the universe. Do they call you that because you are a traveler through space?"

  "No. Many of my people travel through space. 'Starr' has no particular meaning at present. It is simply a sound to identify me, as your names are simply sounds. At least they make no picture; I cannot understand them."

  "What a pity. You should have a name which would indicate your travels through space; the way in which you range from one end of the universe to the other. If I were a creature such as yourself, it seems to me that it would be fitting I should be called 'Space Ranger.'"

  And so it was that from the lips of a living creature he did not see and could never see in its true form David Starr heard, for the first time, the name by which, eventually, all the Galaxy would know him.

  11. The Storm

  A deeper, slower voice now took form in David's mind. It said gravely, "I greet you, creature. It is a good name____________________ has just given you."

  The feminine voice said, "I make way for you

  By the loss of a faint touch upon Ms mind David became unmistakably aware that the owner of the feminine voice was no longer in mental contact. He turned warily, laboring once more under the illusion that there was direction to these voices and finding his untried mind still attempting to interpret in the old inadequate ways something with which it had never before come in contact. The voice came from no direction, of course. It was within his mind.

  The creature of the deep voice gauged the difficulty. It said, "You are disturbed by the failure of your sense equipment to detect me and I do not wish you to be disturbed. I could adopt the outward physical appearance of a creature such as yourself but that would be a poor and undignified imposture. Will this suffice?"

  David Starr watched the glimmer appear in the air before him. It was a soft streak of blue-green light about seven feet high and a foot wide.

  He said calmly, "That is quite sufficient."