Alfred van Vogt - The Players of Null-A

So it was five miles that the trailers were supposed to go. It seemed to Gosseyn that the two volunteers he had observed earlier had been admitted before anything like that distance had been covered by the ships that had brought them.

It was the same way with Leej. Gosseyn, who had similarized himself to the rear control room, watched her pause at the small structure beside the lower end of the gangplank. After little more than a second she started up the gangplank.

He glanced at the speedometer. The trailer had gone one and one-eighth Yalertan miles.

It could mean one of two things. First, this was a trap, and he was being lured. Or second, the space veterans had become bored, and were no longer adhering to the rules.

Of course, it could be a combination. A trap by the Follower, of which the ship's crew knew nothing. Or perhaps they had even been warned, and didn't take the threat seriously.

One by one Gosseyn ticked off the possibilities in his mind, and each time came back to the same reality. It made no difference. He had to make the attempt.

As he watched, Leej disappeared through the lock. He waited patiently. He had set himself four minutes after she got inside. In a way it was a long time to leave her alone.

He waited, and he felt strangely without regrets. For a moment, when she had protested her inclusion, he had wondered if he was not pushing her too hard. That wonder was past. It had seemed to him then, and still did, that the ship's crew would have been warned against a man, not a woman. Therefore, hers must be the risk of making the initial entry.

If she got inside, then so would he. There were other methods, but that was the fastest. He had plans for Leej, but first of all she must acquire the feeling that her fate was bound up with his.

He glanced at the clock, and experienced a thrill. The four minutes were up.

He hesitated a moment longer, and then similarized himself to the open porthole beside the air lock. It was touch and go for a second as he clawed for a hold. And then his arm was straddling the metal seat of the porthole.

It had seemed like a good place to enter, and so he had photographed it through the telescope while the trailer was still on the ground. He drew himself into the tunnel-like porthole.

For the sake of sanity, INDEX: Do not say, 'Two little girls . , .' unless you mean, 'Mary and Jane, two little girls, different from each other, and from all the other people in the world ...'

From where he lay straddling the porthole, Gosseyn could hear the murmur of conversation. It was subdued, so that no word came through. But the talking was between a woman and a man.

Cautiously, Gosseyn peered around the inner rim of the porthole. He looked down into a broad corridor. About thirty feet to his left was the open air lock through which Leej had come. To his right he could see Leej herself standing in a doorway and beyond her, with only his shoulder and arm visible, was a man in the uniform of an officer of the Greatest Empire.

Except for the three of them, the corridor was deserted.

Gosseyn lowered himself to the floor, and keeping to the far wall, approached the couple.

As Gosseyn came up, Leej was saying: '. . . I think I'm entitled to the details. What arrangements have been made for women?'

Her tone was calm, with just the right note of demand in it. The officer's voice, when he answered, held a resigned patience.

‘Madam, I assure you, a six-room apartment, servants, every convenience, and authority second only to that of the captain and his first officer. You are ——— ’

He stopped, as Gosseyn stepped into the doorway beside Leej. His surprise lasted only a few seconds.

‘I beg your pardon,’ he said. ‘I didn’t see you come aboard.

The admission officer outside must have forgotten to- '

He stopped again. He seemed to realize the improbability of the admission officer having forgotten anything of the kind. His eyes widened. His jaw sagged slightly. His plump hand moved perkily toward the blaster at his side.

Gosseyn hit him once on the jaw. And caught him as he fell.

He carried the unconscious body to a couch. He searched the man quickly, but found only the blaster in the holster. He straightened, and looked around. He had already noticed that in addition to the ordinary furnishings, the room contained a number of Distorter type elevators. Now, he counted them. One dozen, and not elevators, really. He'd called them that ever since he had mistaken them for elevators when he was in Enro's secret Venusian base.

One dozen. The sight of them in a row against the wall farthest from the door clarified his mental picture. This was the room from which Yalerta's Predictors were sent to their assigned posts. The process was even simpler than he had thought. There seemed to be no preliminaries. The admission officer allowed a volunteer into the gangplank. And then this plump man led them into this room, and shipped them to their destination.

The rest of the ship was apparently unaffected. The officers and men lived their routine existence, apart from the purposes for which their ship had come to Yalerta. And since it was after midnight, they might possibly be asleep.

Gosseyn felt stimulated at the mere idea.

He stepped back to the door. As before, the corridor was deserted.

Behind him, Leej said, 'He's awakening.'

Gosseyn returned to the couch, and stood waiting.

The man stirred, and sat up, nursing his jaw. He glanced swiftly from Leej to Gosseyn and back again. Finally, he said in a querulous tone, 'Are you two crazy?'

Gosseyn said: 'How many men are there aboard this ship?'

The other stared at him, then he started to laugh. 'Why you fool,' he said. For a moment he seemed to be overcome with renewed amusement. 'How many men,' he mimicked. His voice rose. There are five hundred. Just think that over, and get out of this ship as fast as you can.'

The crew complement was about what Gosseyn had expected. Spaceships were never crowded in the same fashion as ground vehicles. It was a matter of air and food supply. Still, five hundred men.

'Do the men live in dormitories?' he asked. . There are eight dormitories,' replied the officer. 'Sixty men in each one.' He rubbed his hands together. 'Sixty,' he repeated, and his voice relished the figure. 'Would you like me to take you down and introduce you?'

Gosseyn allowed the humor to pass him by. 'Yes,' he said, 'yes, I would.'

Leej's fingers plucked at his arm nervously. 'There's a continuous blur,' she said.

Gosseyn nodded. 'I've got to do it,' he said. 'Otherwise he would know what I'm doing.'

She nodded doubtfully. 'So many men. Doesn't that make it complicated?'

Her words were like a spur to the officer. He climbed to his feet. 'Let's go,' he said jovially.

Gosseyn said, 'What's your name?'

'Oreldon.'

Silently, Gosseyn motioned him toward the .corridor. When they came to the open outer lock,. Gosseyn stopped.

'Can you close these doors?' he asked.

The man's plumpish face glowed with conscious good humor. 'You're right,' he said. 'We wouldn't want any visitors while I was off duty.' He stepped briskly forward, and he was about to press the button when Gosseyn stopped him.

'A moment, please,' he said. I'd like to check those connections. Wouldn't want you setting off an alarm, you know.'

He unfastened the plate and swung it open. By count, there were four wires too many. 'Where do they go?' he asked Oreldon.

To the control room. Two for opening, two for shutting.'

Gosseyn nodded, and closed the panel. It was a chance he had to take. There would always be a connection with the control board.