A. Van Vogt - Rogue Ship

A blast from a shotgun also struck him head on. The noise of it was momentarily stunning.

But it was an undamaged Hewitt that drove forward. As he came within yards of the entrance, he heard Gourdy's voice from beyond the door: 'Damn you, Hewitt, what do you want?'

'I want to talk.'

'You can talk on the intercom.'

'Face to face is better.'

There was a pause. 'All right, come on in!'

Once more, Hewitt moved forward, keenly aware that his advisers and he had analyzed that Gourdy's strong-arm men would try to tip the tank suit the moment he drove it into the room. It would not be easy to do. The suit itself weighed nearly 450 pounds at one g, and he himself added 190 to that. Yet three or four men could undoubtedly knock it over.

So he stopped in the doorway, where they would not be able to get at him. And because he had the simple purpose of saving the women, he ignored the men and his gaze flashed toward the bedroom doors.

Miraculously, after a moment, the door of one bedroom opened slightly. Through the slit, a bright eye peered at him. Who it was he could not make out.

Hewitt didn't wait to find out any more. He started forward with a jerk. At its top speed of ten miles an hour, his vehicle moved across the room. He was vaguely aware of men jumping at him with reaching hands. Their yells of dismay as they touched the suit's electrical field was not an unpleasant sound in his ears.

As he approached the door of the bedroom, Hewitt spoke through his speaker: 'Ladies, get out of the way!'

Moments later, the nose of the vehicle struck the door with enough impact to have smashed it if it had been closed. But it was ajar. And so the door bounced open with a bang. Hewitt rolled through. The instant he was inside, he saw that all four women were there.

He felt greatly relieved, for he had two signals for this moment.

He spoke into his mike: 'Fire!'

That was the word that indicated that he was in a position to protect all the women.

The response from the scientists was immediate. Jagged lightning arced from a concentration point in the wall, struck the suit, and discharged from its rear into the main room behind him.

From that room came a screaming of men in agony. Then Hewitt heard the thud of one body after another falling to the floor like deadweights.

Hewitt called into his mike, 'You'd better get up here quick!'

'No hurry,' was the cool reply. 'They won't be bothering anybody again.'

The voice was that of William Lawrence, and his tone was so suggestive that Hewitt was startled. Without another word, suddenly uneasy, he backed up, turned around, and drove out into the main room.

A dozen men lay sprawled in various positions on the floor.

There was something about the way the bodies lay – so still – that chilled Hewitt. 'Lawrence,' Hewitt said into his mike, and his voice had a high-pitched quality, 'the agreement was -'

Lawrence's voice in his earphones had a grim chuckle in it. 'I'm afraid, Mr. Hewitt, that quite accidentally we gave them a lethal dosage. Too bad.'

Rage surged through Hewitt, as much at the tone of voice as at the meaning. He yelled, 'You're just another murderer!'

Lawrence was cool. 'You're overexcited, Mr. Hewitt. But it's all right. We won't hold anything you say right now against you.'

Hewitt fought for self-control. But his next words still had bitterness in them. 'I suppose what you've done has its good side,' he said. 'Just as you unthinkingly conformed to the old system, so now you're unthinkingly responding to the new one.'

'You don't think we were going to let him get away!' said Lawrence, suddenly angry, his voice high-pitched.

'All right, all right,' Hewitt soothed. 'Let's clean up and go to sleep. I'm exhausted.'

He had caught a glimpse of a woman in the doorway behind him. He activated his speaker. 'Ladies,' he commanded, 'stay in that bedroom and close the door, please!'

A moment later, the door shut softly, but not before he heard someone start to sob.

Hewitt was awakened by the ringing of his door buzzer. Hastily, he slipped into his robe and opened the door. The visitor who stood outside in the corridor was Roscoe, the young scientist.

'We're gathering in the main assembly room, sir,' Roscoe said, 'and we want you there. Men only.'

Hewitt stared at him, his smile fading. But all he said was, 'I'll be there in ten minutes.'

He shaved and dressed hurriedly, partly resigned to the implications of Roscoe's words. It was possible that what could be done swiftly on the ship was done. The rest would require education over a period of time, and the interaction of many people, who had yet to become aware of all of the potentialities of the new system.

...He had set up a self-perpetuating program. In such a framework, each person was motivated in a strict, selfish way to maintain the frame. Such a system had flexibility. It didn't, for instance, need a particular moral code or a particular leader. That was what he now faced, a people who were free to do as they wanted.

As Hewitt appeared in the doorway of the assembly hall, several people saw him. A man leaped to his feet, yelled: 'Here he is!'

It was an unexpected greeting. On hearing the words, Hewitt stopped.

As he stood there, uncertain, the several hundred men in the hall rose to their feet and, to his amazement, cheered him wildly. He grew aware that William Lawrence, a broad grin on his face, was on the stage... waving for him to come forward.

Hewitt walked forward gingerly. He sensed that he was by no means out of trouble, but he was beginning to feel a lot better.

As soon as Hewitt was on the stage, Lawrence held up a hand for silence. When he had it, he addressed Hewitt in a loud, clear voice.

'Mr. Hewitt, as you may have gathered, you have only friends here. The way you came aboard, the system you set up, your motives for all that you have done, have convinced us that you operate from the highest ethical considerations. For these and other reasons, this assembly wishes to go on record as saying that it believes you to be the natural leader of this expedition.'

He had to pause, to wave down an audience that began to clap and yell. When he had silence once more, he continued.

'However, there are special problems in running this ship, and before we accept you as captain, we want to make certain that you don't interfere in areas that are no concern of yours. Mr. Hewitt, this assembly would like to inquire, what are you going to do with the captain's wives?'

The switch from the general to the particular came so swiftly that Hewitt stood blank for a moment. It took a few moments longer for him to grasp that he was actually being asked a direct question on such a matter.

Slowly, he walked forward, and it was evident to him that a great deal depended on his answer. He wondered if he could back down from truth. He could not.

'Gentlemen,' he said, 'I don't know how long we shall continue out here in space. But I'm assuming that considerable time will go by while we do experiment, research, and correlation of data in the vast laboratory of the space-time continuum. Naturally, the human life aboard must and will go on in human terms during that period. There will be marriages, the births of children, educational programs, and other important matters.'

He stopped, suddenly embarrassed. What he had to say was not for a roomful of men in an auditorium. Nonetheless, after a moment, he went on firmly.

'I feel a strong attraction for the oldest of the four women you refer to, and I hope she feels the same for me. It is my intention to ask her to marry me.'

Something of his profound sincerity must have penetrated to his listeners as he spoke the simple words. For, after he had finished, there was dead silence. On the platform, William Lawrence stroked his jaw and looked at the floor.