Invaders from Nowhere

Chapter V. Too Dangerous to Live

ONE day Butland propounded to Ngat the question that had so upset Ngat's assistant. Ngat sat motionless for a long while. Then he said: "You must excuse me for the rest of the day. I do not feel well. I will take you back to your room."

Back in their room they found Rex Piper awaiting them. They threw themselves upon him; Kitty hugged him and Butland wrung his hand. Then they saw that he looked very serious.

"What's happened in our world?" asked Butland.

"Plenty." Piper told them how the religion of Ng was advancing by giant strides."These Alans have got every earthly preacher, salesman, advertising man, or what have you licked in matters of mass psychology. They give away tons of junk to get worshippers to come around. They hold a kind of bingo game. They use colored lights and smells and music."

"Aren't they under any sort of control?"

"No; we don't dare say boo, after that little military demonstration they put on. Already they've got a tenth of the people of New York City converted. They've installed a kind of siren in the tower of the Empire State Building, in charge of one of their priests of Ng. Every time the priest gets inspired he yanks the cord, and the siren goes off, and all the converts in the city drop what they're doing and do pushups."

"That must be tough on the rest of you," said Kitty Blake.

"It is, especially when the convert is the motorman on a train, for instance. And—you know five is their sacred number? They won't let us sell anything for five cents or five dollars or any multiple thereof. Nickels are holy, and the priests of Ng wander down Fifth Avenue collecting them with those little gadgets that motormen on the Fifth Avenue busses used to snatch our dimes with." He turned to Butland."You really ought to be there, Will. You'd know what your poor heathen feel like when you get to work on them."

"What else is there?" asked Butland.

"Oh, they think our marriage-customs are most immoral. They haven't figured out new ones for us yet, but they will. The trouble is that we have only two sexes, while they have three."

Kitty Blake said: "You mean like ants, male, female, and neuter?"

"No; three honest-to-God sexes. I'll tell you about it when Will's not around; I don't want to shock him. How's he been behaving?"

"So good it hurts," said Kitty Blake."Not one little pass has he made."

"Okay. Your father will be waiting at the portal with a shotgun on your return, but I'll go ahead and explain things. By the bye, do you mind if I speak to Will alone?"

THE girl went through the wall at the point marked by the green rectangle. Rex Piper pulled out an automatic pistol. His face got very tense and serious, and he said: "I'm sorry, Will, damned sorry, but I've got to kill you."

"What?" yelped Butland, jumping up.

"Kill you, I said. I hate to do it, but—"

"You're crazy!"

"Not at all. The President of the United States himself ordered me to. We feel that—"

"Then he's crazy too!"

"—you're too conscientious. With your profound convictions you'll make trouble with the Alans; try to interfere with their damned Ng or something, and they'll take it out on the poor earth. You're too dangerous to be left in their hands. And since we can't rescue you..." Piper raised the pistol.

Butland, backing away from the menacing muzzle, tripped on the nearest couch and fell backward. The shot missed him and flattened itself against the yellow wall. Butland scrambled to hands and knees. The couch hid him from Piper temporarily. He tugged at it. It was light. He picked it up and ran at his cousin, holding the couch for a shield. The pistol roared again, but as Piper was unable to see the upper part of Butland's body the shot went through the couch and missed Butland. Butland slammed the couch down on top of Piper, crushing his lanky cousin to the floor.

A fist holding the pistol stuck out from under the couch. Butland grabbed at the pistol. It went off; the slide scorched and bruised his hand. He shifted his position to kick the hand. He kicked the pistol out of it, but in shifting he took enough weight off Piper for the latter to get his knees under him. Piper heaved both Butland and the couch off himself.

They both got to their feet and swung. Butland landed the first real punch, on Piper's nose. Piper staggered and ran into a clinch. That was an error; Butland picked him up and slammed him down on the floor with terrific force.

When Rex Piper came to, Will Butland was standing over him with the pistol in his hand."Get up, damn your soul," said the missionary.

Piper shook his head."What did you say?"

"I said get up, damn your soul."

"Did you say damn, Will?"

"You're damn right."

Piper shook his head some more."I still don't believe it. You must have dropped me on my head when you threw me." Piper mopped his nosebleed with his handkerchief."I think you loosened one of my teeth. But it was worth it, if I've lived to hear you say 'damn'. What's come over you?"

"I've decided that you're right about this being out of the Lord's territory. Or maybe I'm just mad about the treatment the world hands out to those who try to save it. Anyway, from now on I'll do what I think best, whether it agrees with the books or not. Get up."

Kitty Blake stuck her head through the door."Have you boys finished—Rex! Your nose! What's going on?"

Will Butland told her. He finished: "Are you on my side?"

"I—I suppose so—though I can't believe Rex would hurt a fly, let alone shoot—"

"I wouldn't hurt a fly, but Will's not a fly," said Piper.

Butland snapped: "Do you want to stay here till they mount you in the museum, Kitty?"

"Of course not. But how—"

"I have an idea of how these Alans' minds work, even if they are cleverer than we. For one thing, having no crime to speak of, they won't know how to defend themselves against it. Kitty, you take this gun and cover Rex while I catch some sleep. Shoot him if he moves toward you."

WHEN Ngat appeared for the next interrogation, Butland was twirling the pistol on his forefinger. He asked if Rex Piper might go along. Ngat said certainly, Piper was an honored guest of the Senator, who was sorry to have had to lodge him in the old jail while a new room was being blown—"

"This is the jail?" burst out Kitty Blake.

"Why yes; or it was before we got rid of crime."

"Most comfortable jail I was ever in," said Piper.

"Is that so?" said Ngat."Strange; an Alan would find it horribly uncomfortable. Of course non-Alans are different. Let us proceed to the interrogation. By the way, Mr. Butland, what is that black object you are carrying?"

"A perfume sprayer," said Will Butland. It was the first deliberate lie he had told in fifteen years.

"Ah, I understand. Now let us resume our questioning. This should be the last day thereof."

"But," cried Kitty Blake, "there's lots of things about the earth that we haven't told you yet!"

"True, but those things either are not important or can be inferred from what you have told us. Let us—"

Butland interrupted: "What's going to happen to us starting tomorrow?"

"You will be turned over to another examiner, who will undertake the study of your somatic characteristics. But do not be afraid; everything will be done to make your last hours painless. Now let us proceed—"

Butland shouted: "You can't do that! I'm a servant of the Lord, not of your imaginary Ng either, and if you kill me you'll roast forever in Hell—"

"I insist, Mr. Butland, that you contain yourself. Otherwise I shall send you to the museum again."

"—with devils dancing around and poking you with red-hot pitchforks, along with the other unrepentant sinners—"