Man of Two Worlds Read online

  “Regardless of the relative states of Wisdom between Igon’s day and my own, the creatures of Dark Land are still looked upon with holy revulsion and are not fit subjects for Seeking.”

  “Rightfully so,” agreed Anot. “Seeking should be reserved for the higher things of life.”

  Ketan stared at the semicircle of faces about him. Respected Seekers! Why, they were little more than aged children in their confused and turbid thinking.

  He ignored the illogical interruption. “I spent most of a tara in Dark Land some time ago. There, I encountered the Bors in their natural environment. And I discovered that what is true of the plants of Dark Land is also true of. the animal creatures.”

  He waited a minute, a long pause while this sank into the minds of his judges. Then a bedlam erupted. Half the staid Councilors were on their feet shouting imprecations at him.

  Hoult was forced to act. “Enough of this! Is it possible that the wild imaginings of a mere boy should arouse the Council to such indignity?”

  To Ketan he turned. “A moment ago you roused our interest in your work. Now, you move me to put the judgment to the Council at once. You are not capable of pursuing a career of Seeking further—stating that the animals of Dark Land are grown from seeds that are embedded in the ground.” “I did not say that. I stated that the same principle that applies to plants applies also to animals. In this instance the ovule that grows into a new creation does not require embedding in the ground. Rather, it remains inside the body of one of the animals—the woman animal ‘.if we may so term it—and grows to a certain degree of maturity there before separating itself.”

  Anot rose dramatically. “From the days of the great Igon down to the present, men have gone into Dark Land, studied minutely the tilings which the God has placed there, and hundreds of pictures of Bors have been brought back. All of them showed animals of a uniform size. Yet now we are asked to believe that Bors exist so small as to be able to be contained in the body of another Bors. I, for one, have had enough of this drivel. It appears that Leader Hoult is correct in calling for judgment of the Council.”

  He sat down amid nods of approval. Ketan looked about the semicircle with pity in his glance. Then without a sound he turned and went to the huge air-conditioned cage of the Bors, which had been rolled in behind him.

  He adjusted the controls that caused it to roll slowly towards the space in the center of the Council and put a plane of three-quarters polarized vibration in front of the animals.

  There was no sound for a moment until the largest Bors emitted a bellow that echoed like thunder in the great hall.

  “Servicemen!” Leader Hoult shrieked.

  Varano and his companion came running from out of nowhere. They seized him by the arms and held him stiffly.

  “Before you order me out,” advised Ketan, “look within— closely.”

  Involuntarily, the group let their fearful glances stray into the depths of the cage. One by one they saw it, and were transfixed.

  The baby Bors nosed out from under the larger animal and sniffed at the front of the cage, blind to the gaping Seekers who were nearly invisible behind the polarized shield.

  Leader Hoult sank back in his seat with almost real amazement on his face. “This is an astounding thing you have shown us—but of course it does not prove your contention regarding the origin of the animal.”

  “Can you wait any longer for proof that he is worthy of declassing?” shouted Nabah. “He has violated the ban of Kronweld against bringing creatures of Dark Land here.”

  “Yes, there is that, too—” Leader Hoult murmured. Ketan looked into his eyes and sensed that the man was turning over in his mind the possibilities offered now by this new outrage against society.

  Ketan shrugged free of the grip of the Servicemen. “Leave me alone for half a tara with the two larger Bors and I will prove my discovery to you. At the end of that time I will show you three Bors.”

  Cries of “No!” arose. It started with Nabah, who cried out, “This man is too dangerous to remain in Kronweld.”

  Deep within them, four or five of the Councilors felt a tug of the ancient spirit of Seeking which had moved genius in past ages to defy barriers of the God and of man to ‘probe the secrets of Kronweld and Fire Land and Dark Land.

  But the surge was weak and these remained silent under the smothering weight of decades of tradition.

  “We cannot permit such an experiment, Ketan,” Hoult spoke almost benevolently now. “The very presence of the Bors is in defiance of our holy bans. This alone is more than enough to declass you. It is unthinkable that we could countenance your further Seeking along these lines, however, in consideration of your work on plants I am moved to suggest mercy to the extent of—”

  “I’m not asking for your mercy!” Ketan flared. “I’m asking for the application of Wisdom, which appears to be a rare occurrence in this hall.”

  He halted, awed by his own foolish rashness, then rushed on. “If the Bors are a defiance of the whimsies of the old men of Kronweld, then away with the Bors. I challenge you to let me prove what I have found in a way that no man can deny.”

  “And how is that?” Leader Hoult asked coldly.

  “Human beings can demonstrate the truth of my findings as well as can Bors.”

  There was a terrible silence in the hall. The only sound was the muffled snorting of the small Bors. Then Leader Hoult spoke softly — softly with acid menace.

  “What was that you said, Ketan ?”

  “Allow me to complete my work and become a Seeker. It has been agreed that I and the Seeker Elta will make our companionship at that time.

  “We will show you then the origin of human life and wipe away the fog and blind superstition that clouds this Mystery—we will point the way to the destruction of the Temple of Birth and make common its Mysteries among all men of Kronweld.”

  “I think you had better say more.” Leader Hoult’s words were deliberately carved of ice and chipped off one at a time.

  “The interior of the bodies of men and women contain mechanisms similar to those I have shown you in the plants—and similar to those of the Bors. As with the Bors, the ovules which create human life are carried within the interior of the woman being until the young creation is separated from her. That is how you and I, respected Seekers, came into being!”

  There was no outcry, no shouts of condemnation, no shrinking from blasphemy.

  The feelings of the men and women on the Seekers Council went to infinite depths below such expression. They merely sat and stared in dumb horror at Ketan.

  “How do you know what is in the interior of the human body?” Leader Hoult inquired in level tones.

  Then Nabah was on his feet, shouting again. “He has dared desecrate a human form by cutting into it. Our only obligation is death for this man!”

  “I have no need to cut,” replied Ketan. “I have a machine with which I can see into the depths of flesh and bone. I have mapped and drawn the entire mechanisms of the human body. They are intricate beyond belief.”

  Suddenly one of the Councilors was very sick. He left his seat and hurried away. A Serviceman approached to clean up.

  Those adjacent moved away, but one of them stared straight in front of him and spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Who in all Kronweld since the God first placed man here has conceived a more monstrous thought ?

  “Imagine walking along the streets of the city and encountering another human being—and knowing that you had once been inside that body?”

  He, too, became sick and hurried away.

  VIII.

  The Seekers Council confiscated the plants and the Bors and all the evidence and exhibits Ketan had brought with him, the result of long tara of work.

  Serviceman Varano was detailed to accompany Ketan back to his house. The place seemed as empty as his heart. The two of them entered silently.

  The Council had refused to return judgment in his presence,

  which in itsel
f was a strange aberration of their normal procedure. Ketan wondered what reason lay behind this. Elta’s pleading warning came back to him, “Hoult will not let you live!”

  The desire to live, to fight again, was dimmed. He had failed. He had failed miserably. He had tried to blast ages of untruth with a single explosion. Elta had been right. He should have done it slowly, a factor at a time. He saw that now. If he had stopped with his description of the plant reproduction, they would have accepted that much of his claims. He had been a blind, impetuous fool.

  He wondered what was left now. He didn’t have to wonder. There was only one thing. He didn’t intend to spend the rest of his life as a Serviceman in Kronweld, even if the Council should be content with mere declassing. If Hoult should try to kill him, he would not die without fighting, even if the impulse was low at this time.

  He would carry out the plan that Elta had urged upon him, the plan they had dreamed over and worked out long ago, when it seemed a pleasantly wild and romantic thing to exile themselves in Dark Land and there work out thei’r forbidden Mysteries, to build up a renegade community of free Seekers in Dark Land.

  This was all that was left.

  He turned to Varano as they entered the house. “You heard the proceedings, what do you think?”

  “I am not permitted to speak of the matter.”

  “Come,” Ketan snorted irritably. “Last night we spoke, as equals and co-operators. Has anything changed since then?”

  Varano hesitated, gazing into Ketan’s eyes with wistful admiration. “All right then—you’re a genius and a fool. That’s what I think.”

  “I doubt the first, but I’m beginning to agree with you about the second. Yet—how is this revolution going to be brought about?”

  He turned towards the distant Temple of Birth lying at the base of the curtain of night that spread to infinity. “The symbol of all that impedes Seeking. And it will destroy Kronweld if it is not first destroyed. How can it be done? Women go blindly into that unholy place. Then spend their lives there as breeding vessels. That’s where the inhabitants of Kronweld come from. Why do they try to hide it from us? Who is it in there that controls Kronweld in this manner? Is there no one among all our Seekers who knows the truth?”

  “If I recall your statements,” said Varano, “you said it required both the man animal and the woman animal among the Bors to produce a new creation, and that this was true also of human beings. If so, why is it that only women go into the Temple of Birth?”

  “I don’t know,” Ketan admitted. “In all our history there is no record of a man ever entering into it. Perhaps some Seeker in there has found a way to make that unnecessary. It is not inconceivable that this could be done. It is one of the unknown mysteries of the matter.

  “But I’ll prove it to them yet! Varano, if you believe what you said, then help me.”

  “What can I do?”

  “I’m going to leave Kronweld. I’m going to take Elta and we’ll exile ourselves in Dark Land. We’ll produce a new creation of human life and bring it back to show the ignorant fools on the Seekers Council.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “Yes—I would. Elta wanted to do it before the hearing. I should have listened to her then. We will dare to do it, all right. Which is better: To live in the freedom of exile, or to live a mere existence barren of Wisdom and Seeking as —

  “— as I do,” Varano finished for him.

  “I didn’t say that, but—”

  “It’s the only thing you could mean. But I’ll answer you. It was right for me to become a Serviceman. I never had the imagination or gift for Seeking that you have. In your case—well, sometimes I wish that we had met long ago, before I was declassed. Things might have been different—for both of us. For me, it is over. For you, I would say go ahead. Prove to all Kronweld, if you can, that the Council is wrong. They will kill you for it, probably, but in the tara to come, men may hail you as they now hail Igon.”

  “I don’t want to be hailed. I only want to prove I’m right and find the secrets behind all these great Mysteries. But, if we escape to Dark Land, I will need your help to get past the barrier that blocks the city from Fire Land, If you accompany us, that can be done. Later, you can testify that you were overpowered and forced to accompany us. Will you do it?” “Yes,” Varano said. “And perhaps when history records your achievements my name will not be forgotten as one who aided you in your work.”

  “Forget history,” Ketan snapped. “It makes no difference if no one but the Bors of Dark Land remember us, as long as we accomplish our purpose. Now, there is much to be done.”

  “You have shields?”

  “Only body. I’ll need a shielded car in order to pass through Fire Land. Seeker Janu has one. I’ll obtain his.”

  “He’s not likely to grant permission.”

  “I’m not likely to ask for it,” Ketan said grimly. “You must help me there, too. It won’t be easy to steal such a car and get away quickly before an alarm is raised. Fortunately, such things don’t happen often enough for the Council to plan for them.”

  Varano paled. “It’s too dangerous. Theft is a terrible crime.”

  “Not half as terrible as some crimes that are being committed in Kronweld. Let’s eat and refresh ourselves now. We’ll detail our plans later.

  The first globe was disappearing below the horizon. The half-light had .begun to set in, and all the landscape took on the eerie, dimly lit aspect of a dream.

  The inhabitants over the city were shedding their day cloaks at this time and going into the most active period of their day, unhampered by the heavy garments.

  Ketan and Varano shed theirs as they stepped into the interior room. They washed and changed their brief harness wear and sat before the refreshment panel.

  “Might as well have a last one,” Ketan smiled grimly as he pressed the secret combination that produced a thick Bors steak. “The Director of Food Center would collapse if he knew this came out of one of his newest regulation panels.”

  “How do you do it?”

  “Tapped the regular channels and put a lead from my own automatic kitchen.”

  After the meal Ketan began his extensive preparations for the trip to exile. He gathered the equipment and materials it would be possible to take with him. These were meager. The remainder of the pile he gathered was provisions and supplies for personal needs. All his notes and Seeking materials that he did not take he stored in proper places where Branen would find them easily.

  “I must go to Elta now,” he announced to Varano. “You will grant permission?”

  “Yes—but be careful. I think it would be best if I remained here in case some communication should come for me. Do not let yourself be detected while you’re out. I would have to join you in exile if they found I had let you out.” “That might not be a bad idea at that.”

  Varano looked serious, but said nothing.

  Ketan stepped to the plate and ordered a connection with Elta’s house. He waited long and impatiently while the signal sounded and the response indicated endlessly that she was not there. She had left no indication of her whereabouts for prospective callers.

  Ketan cut off. She was always there at this time. He wondered where she could have gone.

  He tried the headquarters of the Seekers Group, a social organization. She was not there. Nor was she at the House of Wisdom or any of its units. He then had her called at the entertainment centers and there was still no response.

  Worry began to edge into his mind and displace rationality. “Something must have happened. A person just doesn’t totally disappear from all her usual locations.”

  “She could be working with some other Seeker at his house until this time,” offered Varano.

  “She would have left some word for callers.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “But I’ve got to find her. The time is growing short. I’ll take the car and go look.”

  “You can’t
do more than you have already. Besides, you’re liable to be caught if you just cruise around purposelessly.”

  “I’ll go to her house and keep you in touch with every place I go. If anyone calls for me here, tell them I’m not able to see anyone— after today’s ordeal.”

  He went out into the night and Varano heard the soft whine of the atomic powered car fade in the distance.

  As Ketan drove away, new fears began to froth within him. He remembered Elta’s previous words: “I must go away for a little while.” And: “This will be the end of the life we’ve known— Go into Dark Land—Wait for me there—”

  What had she meant? Had she actually conceived some mad plan and already carried it out?

  There was little danger of encountering anyone who would report him. Only the Seekers Council and the First Group and the two Servicemen knew he was confined to his house. Even the presence of the Serviceman was a mere’ formality. For him to attempt escape was an unthinkable breach of custom.

  Yet there was the vague possibility that Leader Hoult might not consider him above making such a breach after the hearing that had taken place.

  He cruised along the streets boldly. The fading twilight was enhanced by the lines of activators above the streets that energized and made luminous a thin sheet of air itself. The city was day bright.

  He passed into the more luxurious part of town where the full Seekers lived.

  Elta disliked living alone in a house of her own and had moved into one of the four unit combines where quarters were shared with three other Seekers.

  Ketan stopped before the beautifully gardened plot and raced to the opening between the marble colonnades. The pale-green walls were restful to his eyes as he sought the third compartment which was Elta’s.

  He pressed the signal expecting as always, an instant response. A cold numbness flooded over him as he stared at the response which came. A flashing card lighted momentarily.

  “Uninhabited,” it read.

  Ketan pushed wildly on the signal. Again came the response as before. He pushed the door open and stared within. He could not believe the emptiness he beheld. He opened drawers and cabinets and examined the shelves. Not an item of Elta’s possessions remained. She had vanished utterly from the place.