Stanislaw Lem: The Invincible

Rohan heard the commander’s voice as from a great distance.

“I’m going to explain my plan now. You can think about it. You may reject it — the whole thing is still simply between the two of us. This is the way I envision it: an oxygen container made of silicone. No metal. I’ll send two unmanned cross-country vehicles. They will act as a decoy for the black insects and will be destroyed by the cloud. At the same time a third vehicle will start out with one man. This is the most dangerous part, because he must keep as close as possible so as not to waste any time for the march through the desert. The oxygen supply will hold out eighteen hours. Here are some photograms of the entire ravine and its surroundings. I think it would be advisable to follow a different route than on the previous expeditions. Drive as close as possible to the northern rim of the high plateau and then descend on foot over the rocks into the upper part of the ravine. If they’re any place, that’s where they would be. They could have made it there. The terrain is difficult, full of caves and crevices. In case you should find all of them or even just one…”

“That’s it. How shall I transport them?” asked Rohan and he experienced a fleeting smugness. This is where the plan would fall apart. How ready Horpach was to sacrifice him…

“You’ll carry along some suitable narcotic. Something to stun them. Of course, you’ll use it only if they refuse to walk. Fortunately, they all can walk in that condition.

Fortunately, thought Rohan. He clenched his fists underneath the table so that Horpach would not notice it. He was not afraid, not yet. Everything seemed too unreal.

“Should the cloud become interested in you, then you must lie on the ground and remain rigid. I have thought of some medication for such an eventuality, but it would take too long to take effect. That leaves only the protective head gear, the current simulator that Sax mentioned.”

“Have they built one already?” asked Rohan. Horpach understood what his question implied, but he remained calm. “No, not yet. But we can make one within an hour. Just a network you can hide in your hair. A small instrument that will produce minute electric currents. It can be sewn inside the collar of your spacesuit. I’ll give you one more hour now. I would give you more, but with each additional hour their chances of rescue grow less. They’re small enough to begin with. When will you reach a decision?”

“I have already made up my mind.”

“Don’t be foolish, son. Didn’t you hear what I just said? What I told you earlier was only to make you understand that we must not yet take off from this planet.”

“You know I’m going to go.”

“You won’t go if I don’t permit it. Don’t forget that I am still commander of this ship. We are facing a problem here and any personal ambitions must take second place to it.”

“I see,” said Rohan. “You don’t want me to feel that I have been pressured into this. All right. Is our first agreement still valid for what we are discussing now?”

“Yes.”

“Then I would like to know what you would do in my place. Let’s change roles now…”

Horpach remained silent for a while.

“And if I said that I wouldn’t go?”

“Then I won’t go either. But I know that you will speak the truth.”

“Then you wouldn’t go either? Word of honor? No, no… I know that won’t be necessary.”

The astrogator rose from his chair.

Rohan, too, stood up. “You haven’t answered my question.”

The astrogator looked at him. He was taller, more powerfully built, broader across the shoulders. His eyes had the same tired expression they had held at the beginning of the conversation.

“You can go,” he said.

Rohan automatically pulled himself up and turned toward the door. At this moment the astrogator made a movement, as if he wanted to hold him back, seize his arm, but Rohan did not notice it. He left the room, and Horpach remained motionless at the door. He stood this way for a long time.

Before daybreak the first two cross-country vehicles rolled down the ramp. The slopes of the dunes toward the sunny side were still black, lying in the shadow of nocturnal darkness. The force field opened up, letting the machines pass through, and closed once more with blue lights twinkling in the night. On the posterior running board of the third vehicle, directly beneath the tail end of the space cruiser, sat Rohan, wearing a spacesuit, but without his helmet and goggles, only with the small oxygen mask before his mouth. He clasped his knees with his hands, for this way it was easier to observe the jumping second hand of his watch.

In the left breast pocket of his protective suit he had stashed away four vials, in the right pocket thin wafers of concentrated food, and the pockets of his knee protectors held small instruments: a radiation counter, a small magnetic watch, a compass, and a microphotogram map of the terrain, smaller than a postcard, which could be read only with a strong magnifying lens. Wound around his waist was a six-ply roll of the finest nylon rope. All metal parts had been removed from his clothing. He could not feel the wire netting hidden in his hair, unless he moved his scalp on purpose. Neither could he feel the current flowing through the net, but he was able to control the micro-sender, sewn inside his collar, by placing his finger on that spot. The small, hard cylinder kept ticking evenly, and he could feel it throb clearly when he touched it.

There was a red streak in the eastern sky. A strong breeze had sprung up. The wind whipped the sandy crests of the dunes. The low-lying, jagged crater rims on the horizon seemed gradually to dissolve in a flood of red. Rohan lifted his head. There was to be no two-way communication between him and the spaceship, since a sender would have given away his presence at once. However, inside, in his ear, was a tiny receiver, no larger than a cherry stone. The Invincible could send him signals, at least for a while. Now words came from the receiver; it was almost as if he were hearing a voice inside his head.

“Rohan, this is Horpach speaking. Our instruments on the ship’s nose have noted increasing magnetic activity. The two vehicles are probably already under attack by the cloud… I am dispatching a probe.”

Rohan looked up into the brightening sky. He failed to see the start of the rocket which suddenly rose vertically like a flare, leaving in its wake a thin, white streak of smoke, which fogged in the spaceship’s nose. The teleprobe raced off with tremendous speed in a northeasterly direction. Minutes went by. By now half the disk of the bloated old sun sat astride the crater wall.

“A small cloud is attacking the first car,” said the voice inside Rohan’s head. “So far, the second vehicle is advancing undisturbed. The first car is approaching the rock gate… attention! We have lost control over the first car. No visual contact — it is covered by the cloud. The second vehicle is approaching the turn near the sixth narrowing of the road. No attack yet. Now it’s got it too! We have lost control over the second car. They have surrounded it already… Rohan! Your car will leave in fifteen seconds. From now on you’re on your own. I’m activating the automatic starter. Good luck!”

Horpach’s voice was suddenly gone. In its stead came a mechanical clicking, ticking off the seconds. Rohan settled in a more comfortable position, planted his feet firmly on the running board and slipped his arm through the elastic loop that had been fastened to the railing of the car. The light machine began to vibrate and drove off.

Horpach had given orders for all men to stay inside the Invincible… Rohan was almost grateful; a farewell scene would have been unbearable. Clinging to the bouncing running board of the vehicle, he saw only the giant pillar of the spaceship which gradually grew smaller. At first, the blue glow that flickered over the slopes of the dunes told him the car was just crossing the border of the protective energy field. Soon after, the speed increased, and the reddish dust cloud whirled up by the huge tires obstructed his view. Only dimly could he see the gray skies above. How unfortunate, he thought. He might be attacked without even realizing it. Instead of remaining seated, as planned, he turned around and stood up on the running board, holding tight onto the railing. Now he could direct his glance over the flat back of the unmanned vehicle toward the desert, which kept rushing toward him. The car drove at top speed, jolting, bouncing and lurching, forcing Rohan frequently to press himself with all his might against the body of the car. He could hardly hear the engine; the wind whistled past his ears, fine grains of sand bit into his eyes. On either side of the car fountains of sand sprayed into the air, forming a high and impenetrable wall. He did not even notice when he left the circle of the crater. Apparently the vehicle had wiggled out of it over a flat indentation on the sandy north rim.