Henry Kuttner - The Creature from Beyond Infinity

"Well?"

Somehow, though, she could find no words. In her mind was the picture of Court at the window, challenging the Universe. A champion of mankind, he had made a magnificent gesture.

But then Marion saw his cold, grim eyes. Reading the expression in them, her face whitened as she realized suddenly that Court cared nothing at all for mankind. His motives were passionlessly selfish.

He was not a champion. He was a scientist, cold, calculating, egocentric, challenging an opponent that threatened his existence.

Whatever she had meant to say died in her throat, just as something died in her heart. She went out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.

It was dark in the forest, though sunlight filtered down wanly through the branches. Truly the Earth had changed since Ardath had first set foot upon it.

He was not entirely pleased as he strode along, matching step with the gigantic Thordred. It did not seem to him that this world would be a suitable dwelling place. Thousands of years had passed since Ardath had taken Thordred from his home. Weary centuries had passed in ageless slumber, and a new civilization had risen. But somehow Ardath did not feel at home in this time. He sensed a subtle strangeness in the very air about him.

He sighed a little wearily. His plans had gone amiss. The death of Zana, the Amazon queen, had taken him by surprise. He had hoped to retain her as a mate for Thordred, but without apparent cause, the woman's sleep had changed to death.

A fleeting suspicion of Thordred had "passed through Ardath's mind, but he dismissed it. Though he had several poisons which might have caused such symptoms, Thordred could not possibly know of their existence nor how to use them. Not by a word or a thought had Thordred revealed that his brain held all the knowledge that had been Ardath's alone.

The two of them had set out to examine this new civilization, leaving the space ship safely hidden in the forest. They had captured two natives, learned their language by means of the thought-transference machine, and taken their clothing. With all memory of the encounter wiped from their minds by means of Ardath's strange science, the natives were released.

"They are puny folk today," Thordred said, his savage face twisting into a grin as he shifted the toga about his broad shoulders. "These garments scarcely cover me."

Our own garments might have caused comment," Ardath explained. "Let us hope that your size won't mark you for an alien."

Thordred spat in vicious contempt.

"I don't fear these weaklings. Why can I not carry a weapon, Lord?"

"I am armed," Ardath said quietly.

The huge Earthling did not answer. He had not wished to accompany Ardath on this expedition. If Thordred could have remained in the ship, he would have had free access to the laboratory. After that, there would be no need to fear Ardath or anyone else. But he had not dared to object when his captor ordered him to follow.

The forest thinned and the two men came out into blinding sunlight. Starting at their feet, the ground sloped down to a broad, shallow basin, a valley where a city lay. To the north was the serrated horizon of mountain peaks. Apparently they were volcanoes, for smoke plumed up lazily from one and spread in a dark blot against the blue sky.

"This is their chief city," Ardath stated. "Remember, if anyone asks, we are farmers from the outer provinces."

Thordred nodded, grinning more broadly than before. A farmer! His mighty hands were accustomed to sword-hilts, not the handles of plows. But he had good reason not to argue.

The metropolis was unwalled. Several unpaved but well trodden roads led into it, along which wains and wagons were creaking in and out. Most of the houses were of wood, some of stone, and a few of marble. Those built of marble were mostly temples.

Crowds filled the streets. There seemed to be two types of beings here. The roughly clad, bronzed peasant class, walked or drove their wagons. The aristocracy were carried in palanquins. There were soldiers, too, armed horsemen who nevertheless seemed slight compared with Thordred's giant frame.

"Here," Ardath said, nodding toward a low doorway. "Taverns are good places to hear gossip."

They entered the inn, found themselves in a large room, broad and long, but low-raftered. The stench of wine and beer was choking. Lamps illuminated the darker corners. Crude tables were set here and there, at which men lounged, drinking, cursing and laughing. Two bearded seamen were throwing dice on the floor.

"We are thirsty," Ardath said to the waiter who appeared.

He did not drink from the wine-cup that was set before him. Thordred, however, drained his at a gulp, and shouted for more.

"You are strangers here?" the innkeeper asked.

He took the coins Ardath gave him—curious bronze disks engraved with a cross within a circle. They had come from the pockets of the two natives Ardath had captured.

"Yes. It is our first visit."

"You come to trade?"

"No," Ardath replied. "We are here to catch a glimpse of the woman whose fame has traveled even to the outer provinces. Men say that her beauty is blinding."

"So?" The landlord asked, his eyebrows lifting. "What is her name?"

"That I do not know," Ardath said. "But I can draw her features."

He took from his garments a stylus of his own devising and hastily sketched a face on the boards of the table. The likeness was so nearly photographic that the innkeeper instantly recognized it.

"By the Mountain, you are an artist. That's Jansaiya, the priestess. She's beautiful enough, or so men say, only you can't see her. The priestesses of Dagon never leave their temple, and men can worship only during the Sea Festival. Once a year, men gaze on Jansaiya as she serves the god. You have ten months to wait."

"I see," Ardath said, his face falling unhappily. "And where is this temple?"

Having learned the directions, they left the inn.

"Why do you wish to see this wench?" Thordred grunted.

"She is the wisest in this time," Ardath said. "I learned that before we landed here."

Hovering high over the land in his space ship, he had located Jansaiya with his ray device, and noted her high intelligence. The unexpected death of Zana the Amazon still rankled in him. He had determined to secure a substitute, and Jansaiya was the logical one. She would accompany Ardath and Thordred into time, for he had decided not to remain in this civilization. It did not fulfill his requirements.

The two men reached the outskirts of the temple. As yet Ardath had not decided on any definite plan, knowing that first he must find the priestess.

"Wait here," he said. "Do not move away till I return."

The giant drew back in the shelter of a tree, watching Ardath cross the thoroughfare toward a gate where a soldier lounged on his spear.

The guard straightened, ready to challenge the Kyrian's entry into the city. Suddenly his eyes went blank and blind as they met Ardath's. Ordinary hypnotism worked well on these superstitious folk.

Ardath went through the gate. The bulk of a temple rose before him. Built of porphyry and onyx and rose marble, it seemed to rest on the sward as lightly as gossamer. Despite its hugeness, it had been constructed with an eye for proportion, so that it. was utterly lovely, a symphony in stone. A curving stairway rose toward bronze gates that stood ajar, with a soldier on guard at each side.

Quietly Ardath went on. The guards did not move, once they had felt the impact of his gaze.

He entered the temple, found it vast, with a high-arched dome, and smoky with incense. The floor was green as the sea. Jade-green, too, was the flat-topped altar that loomed before him.

Behind the altar the sacred trident reared, and smoke coiled lazily about its prongs. A shaven-headed, soft-faced priest turned to face Ardath.