New Lensman Part 2

'The goggles and binoculars form part of the traditional uniform,' Larry answered. 'The goggles come from the First Jovian War when they were used as eye protection from atomic explosion and laser radiation. The originals had a semi-opaque liquid driven between the lenses by an explosive charge, when a certain intensity or type of light hit a sensor on them. The modern ones use a high speed, reversible, light intensity limiting effect; phototropism it's called. Of course neither item is required unless you're using direct viewports. You still haven't mentioned a large part of the stuff I'm carrying.'

Hanovich looked even more pained, if that was possible.

'At least you have a record of their possessions, even if we aren't sure what those possessions really are,' Larry said. 'If we can account for everything, that's a good start.'

'I'll put a team to work on that point.'

'You might put one team to work just watching these people. Warn them that we're not playing polite parlor games. This one is for keeps. An error, and they will know we are onto them. That could be fatal to us all! Handle them with care, and remember that we may not have all of them spotted. Matter of fact, keep looking for other connections and other groups. We need information desperately!' Larry said, getting up. 'I've got to go now. I'll check with you later.'

'All right. I hope we'll have something for you the next time we meet. You're staying at the New Frontier Hotel?'

'Yes.'

'We'll contact you there if we find out anything important. Or better yet,' Hanovich reached into his desk and brought out what appeared to be a coin, 'carry this and we'll be able to trace and contact you wherever you are in Copernicus.'

'Thanks, but they may be aware of your finder. If they are, I'd rather they weren't able to follow me so easily. Thanks anyway.'

Bidding the Director of Security goodbye, Lt. McQueen left the City Hall and started through the Dome toward his hotel.

Wherever the men of Tellus go, they try to take part of their planet with them. Be it the farthest point of the universe man has explored, a wilderness of timeless rock soaking in endless vacuum or the midst of magma and ash of a planet not quite born - there is always a cave or bubble or dome to which the men there could point and say, 'There! That's like home! That's the way it was !'

Nowhere is this more evident than on the moon. The Dome had been carved from lifeless rock in the heart of a crater wall. Even after its half mile hemisphere had been cut and laboriously carted out of the crater wall, there was no life there. Nothing could live in the airless, rock-bound darkness. Air and water were wrung from the rock of the moon. Some of the pulverized remains of the yet dark dome were mixed with micro-organisms from Tellus brought there to create a nutrient soil. There was air and water and soil.

Now. Let there be light! Man created, out of his own need, a miniature sun to hang in the center of the Dome. It had been changed many times before Lt. Larry McQueen's eyes first saw it. The 1011

first suns were cold and gave out only light. Even now part of the heat was produced by power generators underneath the Dome. The sun that hung in the sky of the Dome now was the right size, shape and color. It gave out heat and light and that special something called 'friendliness'. It was part of a single, almost endless spring day, in an Eden created by man, with night coming only once a year just before Founder's Day. Underneath that friendly sun grew a park, with walkways bordered in gra.s.s. Trees grew from what was once sterility. Each green thing carefully watched, cherished and nurtured into life. The heart of the wall of the crater named Copernicus was alive and it was hoped would remain that way.

Now the Dome was a commonplace thing to its in habitants. It was part of the accepted order of things. Only the tourists came, looked and wondered. The walkways were filled with people, many on important business, not sensing the beauty around them. Some annoyed that they had to walk through the park. Yet here and there, there were a few. Walking for the enjoyment of it. Enjoying the beauty of something that was not Earth but of Earth. To some an Earth they had never visited. An Earth so close, yet an eternity of night away.

Lt. McQueen entered the Dome, walking as rapidly as possible across it toward the New Frontier Hotel. He was considering the conversation he had just had with Col. Hanovich. He was trying to decide whether he had said or implied too much. Whether he should leave Griffin and company in the local Security Division's hands or go to work on the problem himself. He needed information on who was represented by the black s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. Where did it come from? What was its purpose? Did Griffin have this information? How to get it out of him? The Mayor he liked and respected. If the Mayor were still working on the problem, he wouldn't worry. Hanovich ... hmm. Perhaps it was just a conflict of interest. He'd give him a day and see what Security came up with. He had a feeling that Hanovich was the type of individual too busy playing games with words to do anything.

Something was wrong!

The impression intruded itself on Larry's thoughts and brought him out of them into the world around him. He had walked almost halfway to his destination while trying to decide on the proper manner of handling Hanovich. The walkway bent in a long curve toward the hotel. A lot of trees here. Around him were several men, all apparently going in the same direction. Ahead was a four- wheeled, electric cargo hauler and beyond that a policeman. What was wrong? He didn't recognize any of the people around him. Larry slowed a little. A couple of the men moved on past but some of the rest slowed too. Larry reached for his belt communicator.

'Pardon me, but ...' A voice came from in back of him. A hand touched his shoulder and everything faded into blackness.

The man who had touched him watched as the lieutenant crumpled to the sidewalk. He pretended surprise and pointed at Larry with one hand, while the other one, which had touched McQueen, dropped an instrument into his side pocket.

'What happened?' he asked the man next to him.

Several other people came up to join those around the unconscious Solarian Patrolman. The policeman came running up. Larry would have recognized him as the man whose picture Hanovich had pointed out. He knelt over Larry for a moment, then stood up, pulled a communicator from his belt and said into it in a loud voice, 'Ambulance.'

As if by magic, right on cue, down the pathway came an enclosed white ambulance hauler with two men in white jackets on board. Lt. McQueen was put inside. The doors closed. The policeman stepped on the back platform and the ambulance left.

The first person to miss Lt. McQueen was Mayor Love. He had been considering Griffin's reaction to the word Icarus, and it bothered him. He wanted to discuss the matter with the lieutenant. Larry had given him the channel and selective call number of his belt communicator. Ron called it through the Copernicus communication system. There was no answer. Puzzled, the Mayor waited a few minutes and tried again. No answer. He asked the system to send a coded 'pulse back' command, which would make McQueen's communicator send back a pulse if it was within receiving range. No answer.

Still puzzled, the Mayor considered what to do next. Lt McQueen was going to see Col. Hanovich.

The Mayor called the Director of Security, who told him that Larry had left a little while earlier for his hotel. The Mayor called the hotel and discovered that Lt. McQueen had checked out. No messages had been left and no destination had been given.

Now the Mayor was really puzzled. Where was he? The Central File computer indicated that Larry was still in the city. What set of circ.u.mstances could occur that he would check out of the hotel and disappear? The Mayor looked at his watch. An hour, and the 'day' would be over. He decided to allow that much time before alerting anyone that something might have happened to Lt. McQueen.

An hour later the Mayor again tried to contact Larry. He tried the local office of the Solarian 1112

Patrol. Larry had cautioned him about it because it was suspected of being 'porous'. The field office didn't even know who Lt. McQueen was.

That left Security. Mayor Love called Hanovich and explained what had happened. Hanovich listened without comment, requested that the Mayor not spread the news, and promised to check.

When Col. Hanovich broke the connection, he swore to himself softly. 'And he told me to be careful! I hope there's something to rescue when we find him.' he said, and then added as an afterthought, 'if we ever do...'

Hanovich checked the team of 'watchers' and discovered that they had not yet found everyone they were to watch. Disappointed, he settled back to wait.

CHAPTER FOUR.

IN THE SANCTUARY.

It was cold. Bitterly cold. Lt. Larry McQueen's first sensation as he woke up was that he was freezing. He was lying on a hard surface and there was cloth under his face. He tried to move his hands to roll over, and couldn't: they were bound behind him. Awake now, he tried to see, and couldn't. He blinked his eyes. He felt them blink. Darkness. He lay quietly awhile longer, trying to breathe normally. Listening. Silence. It was cold and no sound penetrated the darkness.

He pulled his feet up. They were bound together. He rolled over and worked himself into a sitting position. He tried to move his fingers. Stuck. He must be bound with some sort of adhesive tape.

If he could just get his fingers loose or slip his .s.h.i.+rt ... No such luck. It was a workman-like job done by a professional. Larry struggled with it for a while and then gave up.

'h.e.l.lo,' he said. The sound of his voice reverberated from the walls. He spoke several times trying to determine from the sound the size of the room. Small. Noisy. Metal walls? A s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p maybe? But why so dark, so silent and so cold?

Larry was considering trying to explore the room when he heard the sound of footsteps. They were coming closer. He had time to resume his former position when there was the sound of a bar being removed and a door opening. Larry's dark-adapted eyes hurt when the light was turned on, even though he kept them closed, feigning unconsciousness.

'Our s.p.a.cehound is still Out, I see,' a sneering voice said. Then apparently turning to someone else the man said, 'Get in there! Over in the corner! Dump the food. You can turn on the heater when we leave. Durk, you watch her. I want to take a closer look at our other guest.'

The footsteps came closer. A boot wacked into Larry's ribs. He was able to keep his eyes closed and only let Out a little groan. The boot hooked under his shoulder and he was rolled over.

'Pretty, isn't he?' came the voice again. The man stood over Larry for a moment and then Larry heard him turn.

'Ah, yes. One thing more before we leave.' The footsteps moved to another part of the room. 'Give me your blouse.' There was a shocked silence. The voice repeated the demand. There was another silence and then the sound of scuffling and the ripping of cloth. A choked protest. The sound of someone being slapped and falling down. More cloth ripping.

The men left. There were the sounds of a bar being dropped into place and of footsteps dying away.

Now there was only the soft sound of a woman crying.

Larry opened his eyes. They had adjusted to the bright light now. In the corner of what appeared to be a public washroom was a girl huddled in a little heap, crying. Larry must have made some kind of noise because she suddenly looked up at him. She was beautiful in spite of the tear- stained cheeks. She had red hair, young; about 20 or so, Larry guessed. She wore slacks, a bra and the remnants of a blouse. The red mark where she had been slapped was beginning to show on her face.

'h.e.l.lo,' Larry said.

She looked at Larry for a moment and then went back to crying. Her hands covering her face.

Larry waited. The tiles were cold and he could see his breath. He sat up again. The room was a tiled rest-room. That explained the echo. Larry's boots were gone, as were his belt, money belt, helmet and goggles, his dress jacket and, so far as he could tell, the contents of his pockets.

His s.h.i.+rt b.u.t.tons and collar stays were still present, he noted. That would help.

A few moments later the sobbing had abated to almost nothing. The girl was beginning to s.h.i.+ver a little.

'Could you get the heater going?' Larry asked. 'It's awful cold in here.'

There was a moment's pause. Then the girl got up and stumbled over to the heater. She turned on the switch. Nothing happened.

'You have to plug it in,' Larry said, trying to keep his voice as sympathetic as possible. 'The outlet is in the wall over there.' Larry nodded in the direction of the outlet.

The girl moved the heater and plugged it in. Almost immediately Larry could feel the radiant heat.

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'Better?' Larry asked.

The girl nodded.

'Anything I can do to help?'

The girl shook her head.

'Name?'

She didn't answer but just looked at him. It was as if she couldn't remember, or wouldn't remember, or couldn't believe that she was really here.

'What's your name?' Larry prompted again.

'Pamela,' she said in a very small voice.

'All right, Pamela,' Larry said. 'I'd like you to do something special for me.'

She nodded.

'Go over and touch the wall.' She obeyed him.

'Now the sink ... a faucet ... the wall again ... now stomp on the floor. Look around the room. Do you see anything you like?'

She nodded, 'The heater.'

'Good. Go over to it. Look at it. Touch it. Feel its warmth. Try to sense it as much as possible.

OK?'.

Pamela followed his directions.

'All right, now how do you feel?'

'Better.'

'Good!' Larry said. 'That was an exercise in being right here, right now. A schoolmate of mine taught it to me.'

'You're tied up.'

'Let's say that I get wrapped up in my work,' Larry said with a broad smile. 'I'd offer you my s.h.i.+rt except that, looks to the contrary, this is a one-piece jumper.'

'Oh!' Pamela looked down and then tried to cover herself with her arms. 'I'm sorry, I ...'

'It's all right. I'm sure that you have at least one bathing suit that's more revealing. Besides, a beautiful girl should show off her charms.'

She looked at Larry and smiled. A startling effect on a beautiful, tear-stained face.

'You're right, of course,' she said, and hesitatingly dropped her arms. 'I can't very well go around all the time like this. Can I unwrap you?'

'If you're sure I won't r-r-r-ravish you,' he said with a broad smile. It was a quote from a recent hit comedy show. She laughed.

'Silly,' she called him.

It didn't take long to unwrap the tape from around Larry's arms. He winced as the last of it came off and his arms dropped to his side.

Pamela noticed and asked what was wrong. Larry explained through gritted teeth that his arms were numb and the shoulder muscles cramped from the long period he had been bound. Pamela stripped the tape from his legs and then made him lie down on the blanket while she ma.s.saged his back. Before long the needles of pain had left his arms and the soreness was gone from his back. He stopped her, rolled over and looked up at her kneeling next to him. He squelched the little thought that said 'D cup' and tried to think of something encouraging to say to her. Whether it was that he was distracted by her beauty or because there was nothing encouraging to be said, Larry couldn't tell, but the words didn't come. So he just looked at her for a while.

'What's your name?' she asked, finally breaking the silence.

'Larry McQueen, Lieutenant, Solarian Patrol,' he answered. 'I could give you my serial number but that wouldn't mean much. Where are we?'

'I don't know for sure but by the looks of things we're in the Sanctuary,' she said. Seeing the blank look on Larry's face, she explained. 'The Sanctuary's a meteor shelter built about a mile underneath the Dome. I was 9 the last time I was down here. It was sealed off after the last war.

I'm sure that's where we are.'

'How did we get down here?'

'There are elevators at the south end of the Dome.'

'Any idea why you're here?' Larry asked.