Alfred Van Vogt - Null–A Three

They had come down to a wide ledge. There they stopped. And stood on the ice, slapping themselves in the manner of freezing individuals trying to force circulation back into their fingers and hands.

The view remained absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately, the fact that they could still see ice and snow in a thousand beautiful formations in the distances below and to either side, meant that they still had a long way to go. Gosseyn unhappily estimated that they were still four hundred yards above the river level.

Standing there, not quite sure what came next, he remembered—a Gosseyn Two involvement—when the group was preparing for the Big Journey, they had made three preliminary tests.

First, Leej predicted a location on earth; whereupon Gosseyn Two made his mental “photograph” of what his extra-brain “saw” at the particle level in the involved cells inside her head.

Two other tests, one to an unknown planet—the existence of which she predicted—and one to her home planet, Yalerta. And only when that preliminary had been evaluated as being satisfactory did Leej aim her prediction at a location in the other galaxy.

… This planet, where Enin and I landed so automatically, could be one of those preliminary test locations that no one ever actually went to—Was it earth? Was it Yalerta? Was it the unknown planet?

Obviously, it would not be possible to find out immediately. But if this was earth—What? There seemed to be several possibilities, all of them vague.

He kept stamping his feet, and rubbing his hands. And he was reluctantly realizing that, if the boy and he were this cold already, there was no chance that they could walk a whole mile to the dark area where the river made its turn. Even getting down to the shore of the river seemed as if it would be too much for their freezing bodies.

Yet he was feeling better about the mis-transmission that had brought him here… Have to learn to control that, of course; such accidents would need to be analyzed, and something positive done, but—The kid had been in this icy world at least twenty minutes longer than he had. And evidently two things had saved him until now. During all those first minutes the sun had been shining. Also, a young boy’s better circulation and overall warmer condition had had its good result.

Unfortunately, those special advantages had run out of time. And so—for both of them—the moment had come for one of those vague possibilities.

Gosseyn reached over, caught the boy’s cold, right hand, and squeezed it. Holding the hand firmly, and having gained the other’s attention, he said earnestly, “Listen, Enin, you and I have special abilities. And what might be the most advisable special thing for us to do right now is to find some way to trigger one of those electrical charges that you can do.”

Gloomily, the boy shook his head. “But it has to come from an energy source that already exists. A cloud with lightning in it, or a live wire somewhere.”

Gosseyn nodded. “That bunch of clouds up there—” he pointed with his thumb—“and this tree right here, set it on fire!”

The tree he pointed at was a twisted, twenty-foot-long, winter-denuded object. With its leafless, spread-out branches, it poked out of the side of the cliff just above the ledge, and seemed to hang there at a downward angle.

He waited while the boy looked at it; then glanced up at the cloud; and then: “Is there lightning in the winter?” Enin asked dubiously.

“Oh!” said Gosseyn.

It was a question which—he had to admit it—had never crossed his, or any Gosseyn’s mind. Ruefully, he realized that lightning on earth was connected with summer thunderstorms.

“I guess you’re right,” he agreed. But he was bracing himself with another possibility. He pointed with his free hand. “If that dark spot is actually a building, and it has electric wires in it, what could you do at this distance?”

Silently, the boy stared in the indicated direction. There was a pause; not long.

Abruptly a crackling sound, and the tree burst into flame!

Minutes later, they were still warming themselves as near the flames as they dared to go. The tree burned with a satisfying intensity; and even when it presently became a blackened ruin, it still gave off heat.

But getting warm ceased to be a principal preoccupation. Gosseyn grew aware that his companion was gazing off to one side, a troubled expression on his face. “Look!” the boy pointed, and added, “I was afraid that might happen.”

What Gosseyn saw, when his gaze followed the pointing finger, was a column of smoke a mile away, where the dark spot had, indeed, turned out to be a habitation.

“The electricity I brought over here,” said Enin, “set their place on fire when I forced it out of the wires.”

He seemed concerned; and it occurred to the man that the imperial child seemed to have acquired, or was automatically—now that he was away from his lifetime environment—showing moral qualities of a well-brought-up twelve-year-old who knew right from wrong.

As he had that thought, the boy spoke again: “So now if we go there, we may not find any place where we can stay.”

Gosseyn stared silently at the pall of black smoke that reared up into the sky, thinking ruefully:… Well, maybe not that moral, after all—Aloud, he said, “I hope no one was injured.”

The visible damage that was being done to the distant structure abruptly brought his mind back once more to the question: what planet was this? What kind of people were out there in that burning building? What level of technology?

… Obviously not possible to find out immediately.

Gosseyn had the conscious, dismissing thought. And saw that the boy had ducked under the smoldering tree and was restlessly walking along the ledge beyond it, peering over the edge as he did so.

Abruptly, Enin called, “I think we can get down better from here.” He pointed where the snowy slope seemed to be less steep.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Gosseyn called back.

First, his own, next purpose needed to be tested out.

Gingerly, he reached down, and took hold of the thickest of the blackened tree branches. Flinched. And let go again immediately. It was more than just warm.

It took a few minutes then. He threw snow on the sections he wanted to grab until they cooled; rather quickly, it turned out. As soon as he could comfortably take hold, he used his feet as a brace, and tore the entire branch loose from the tree.

Carrying the branch, he joined the boy. Moments later, they were heading down the slope again. But now they had with them something which, while it held its warmth, would be the equivalent of a portable heater.

The downward journey had its darker aspects. Both his and the boy’s hands were soon black from the need to touch the warm spots. Also, they each, several times, stood on the warmer, thicker part of the branch to warm their feet. So there was presently a trail of black ashes in the snow behind, and above, them. And their footgear showed the consequent smears of black.

Gosseyn tried to avoid touching the loose suit he wore; but in those moments that they slid down steep embankments, there were accidents.

They came down, presently, to the shore line of the river; and it was encouraging to feel that the tree branch still had some heat in it. Gosseyn was suddenly hopeful that, by walking swiftly on this relatively level ground, they would be able to make it to the inhabited area a mile away.

It was Enin who pointed out the price of the descent. “We sure look like a couple of dirty bums,” he said. “You got black on your chin and your right cheek, and I can feel stuff on me, too.”

“It’s principally on your forehead and neck,” said Gosseyn, and added, “And, of course, our hands are doomed till we get to some warm water.”