Alfred van Vogt - The Players of Null-A

He looked up bleakly, and said, 'I shall have to see to it that of the children of my sister and myself—yet to be born—the girls are not educated in schools and on planets where the dynastic principle of brother-sister marriages is derided.'

No reply. Enro hesitated, staring hard at Secoh. He seemed unaware for the moment that others were witnessing the interchange. Abruptly, he changed the subject.

'I can still stop the war,' he said. The members of the Galactic League are nerving themselves now, but they'll almost fall over themselves to give me my way if I showed any willingness to stop the battle of the Sixth Decant.'

The priest was quiet, calm, steady. ‘The principle of universal order,' he said, 'and of a universal State transcends the emotions of the individual. You can shirk none of the cruel necessities.' His voice was rocklike. 'None,' he said.

Enro did not meet those pale eyes. 'I am undecided,' he repeated. 'I feel unfulfilled, incomplete. If my sister were here, doing her duty ...'

Gosseyn scarcely heard. He was thinking gloomily. So that's what they're telling themselves; a Universal State, centrally controlled, and held together by military force.

It was an old dream of man, and many times destiny had decreed a temporary illusion of success. There had been a number of empires on Earth that had achieved virtual control of all the civilized areas of their day. For a few generations then, the vast domains maintained their unnatural bonds—unnatural because the verdict of history always seemed to narrow down to a few meaningful sentences: 'The new ruler lacked

the wisdom of his father ——— ‘ 'Uprisings of the masses ——— '

‘The conquered states, long held down, rose in successful rebellion against the weakened empire ——— ' There were

even reasons given as to why a particular state had grown weak.

The details didn't matter. There was nothing basically wrong with the idea of a universal state, but men who thought thalamically would never create anything but the outward appearance of such a state. On Earth Null-A had won when approximately five percent of the population was trained in its tenets. In the galaxy three percent should be sufficient. At that point, but not till then, the universal state would be a feasible idea.

Accordingly, this war was a fraud. It had no meaning. If successful, the resultant universal state would last possibly a generation, possibly two. And then, the emotional drives of other unsane men would impel them to plotting and to rebellion. Meanwhile, billions would die so that a neurotic could have the pleasure of forcing a few more high-born ladies to bathe him every morning.

The man was only unsane, but the war he had started was maniacal. It must be prevented from development. . . . There was a stir at one of the doors, and Gosseyn's thought ended. A woman's angry voice sounded:

'Of course I can go in. Do you dare to stop me from seeing my own brother?'

The voice, in spite of its fury, had a familiar ring in it. Gosseyn whirled, and saw that Enro was racing for the door at the far end, opposite the great window.

'Reesha!' he shouted, and there was jubilance in his voice.

Through the watering eyes of Ashargin, Gosseyn watched the reunion. There was a slim man with the girl, and as they came forward, Enro carrying the girl in his arms and hugging her fast against his dressing gown, it was that slim man who drew Gosseyn's fascinated gaze.

For it was Eldred Crang. Crang? Then the girl must be

must be He turned and stared, as Patricia Hardie said

peevishly, 'Enro, put me down. I want you to meet my husband.'

The dictator's body grew rigid. Slowly then, he set the girl down, and slowly turned to look at Crang. His baleful gaze met the yellowy eyes of the Null-A detective. Crang smiled, as if unaware of the other's immense hostility. Something of his tremendous personality was in that smile and in his manner. Enro's expression changed ever so slightly. For a moment he looked puzzled, even startled, then he parted his lips and he seemed on the point of speaking when out of the corner of his eyes, he must have caught a glimpse of Ashargin.

‘Oh.’ he said. His manner altered radically. His self-possession returned. He beckoned Gosseyn with a brusque gesture. ‘Come along, my friend. I want you to act as my liaison officer with Grand Admiral Paleol. Tell the admiral—-

————- ’ He began to walk toward a nearby door. Gosseyn trailed him, and found himself presently in what he had

previously identified as Enro’s military control room. Enro paused before one of the Distorter cages. He faced Gosseyn.

'Tell the admiral,' he repeated, 'that you are my representative. Here is your authority.' He held out a thin, glittering plaque. 'Now,' he said, 'in here.' He motioned to the cage.

An attendant was opening the door of what Gosseyn had already recognized as a transport Distorter. Gosseyn walked forward, nonplussed. He had no desire to leave Enro's court just now. He hadn't yet learned enough. It seemed important that he remain and learn more. He paused at the cage door.

'What shall I tell the admiral?'

The other's faint smile had broadened. 'Just who you are,' Enro said suavely. 'Introduce yourself. Get acquainted with the staff officers.'

‘I see,' said Gosseyn.

He did see. The Ashargin heir was being exhibited to the military men. Enro must expect opposition from high-ranking officers, and so they were to have a look at Prince Ashargin —and realize how hopeless it would be for them ever to build up resistance around the only person who would have any legal or popular position. He hesitated once more.

This transport will take me straight to the admiral?'

'It has only one control direction either way. It will go there, and it will come back here. Good luck.'

Gosseyn stepped into the cage without another word. The door clanged behind him. He sat down in the control chair, hesitated for a moment—after all, Ashargin wouldn't be expected to act swiftly—and then pulled the lever.

Instantly, he realized that he was free.

Children, immature adults and animals 'identify'. Whenever a person reacts to a new or changing situation as if it were an old and unchanging one, he or she is said to be identifying. Such an approach to life is Aristotelian.

Free. That was the tremendous fact. Free of Ashargin. Himself again. Odd how he knew that. It seemed to grow out of the very elements of his being. His own transport experience with his extra brain made the transition feel familiar. Almost, he was aware of the movement. Even the blackness seemed incomplete, as if his brain did not quite stop working.

Even as he came out of the darkness, he sensed the presence of a powerful electric dynamo and of an atomic pile. And simultaneously, with intense disappointment, he realized that they were not near enough for him to make use of them, or control them, in any way.

Quickly, then, he came to consciousness. As vision returned, he saw that he was neither in the Venusian apartments of Janasen, nor in any place to which Enro would have sent Ashargin.

He was lying on his back on a hard bed staring up at a high, concrete ceiling. His eyes and his mind absorbed the scene in one continuous glance that followed through. The room he was in was snail. A needle-studded grille came down from the ceiling. Beyond it, sitting on a bunk watching him, was a distinguished-looking young woman. Gosseyn's eyes would have paused, would have stared, but there was another metal grille on the other side of her cell. In it, sprawled on a bunk, seemingly asleep, was a very large man who was naked except for a pair of discolored sport shorts. Beyond the giant was concrete wall.