The Creature from Beyond Infinity

CHAPTER X The Living Death

Stephen Court was in his Wisconsin laboratory-home. With Marion and Sammy, he had returned from Canada and plunged immediately into a desperate succession of experiments. Slowly, painfully, he made progress.

"We have two goals," he told Marion, his dark eyes gleaming behind lids that were red with lack of sleep. "First—"

"First you've got to eat something," the girl interrupted.

She brought a tray to Court's desk and set it down. Silently he nodded his thanks. Wolfing a sandwich without tasting it, he kept on talking.

"Remember what I told you about seeing a golden space ship on an orbit around the Earth? I've been checking that. I have a hunch there's some clue connected with that ship."

"How do you figure that out?"

Marion perched on a corner of the desk, her trim legs swinging under the lab smock she wore.

"The ship was obviously created by some civilization far in advance of ours. That means their science was also in advance of today's. Perhaps in that vessel I can find some weapon—some method unknown to modern science—that will help me fight the plague. The very least it can do is set me on the right track."

Marion patted her dark hair into place, though she boasted that she had lost all the silly feminine habits.

How can you reach the ship? Space travel is impossible."

Court smiled. "It was impossible. Rockets are useless as yet, because the fuel problem's insurmountable. Balloons weren't practical. But there is a way of overcoming gravitation.

"Good Lord!" The girl slid down from the desk and stood staring. "You don't mean—"

"Hold on. I haven't done anything yet, except make some spectroscopic analyses. Marion, that space ship isn't made of gold! It's a yellow metal, an unknown alloy. I haven't finished analyzing it, but I know there's magnesium there, tungsten, and other elements. The virtue of that alloy is that, properly magnetized, it becomes resistant to gravitation."

"How?" she asked, amazed.

Court tapped idly on the tray as he replied.

"I'm just theorizing, though I feel pretty certain. Earth is a gigantic magnet. You know that. Well, like poles repel, opposite poles attract. If we could set up a magnetic force absolutely identical to Earth's, we could utilize that principle. So far it hasn't been done, except by the unknowns who built that golden ship. If I can duplicate the alloy—which I think I can do—and shoot the right sort of energy into it, we'll have a space ship."

"Whew!" Marion breathed, and she blinked. "Then you'll go out after—"

"The golden vessel? Yes. It may be a wild goose chase, for all I know, but the chance is worth taking. I may find scientific knowledge that will be just what I need."

The girl turned away with such haste that Court looked at her sharply.

"What is it?" he demanded.

She shook her head speechlessly. Court got up swiftly and swung her around to face him. There were tears in her lovely brown eyes.

"Tell me what it is!" he commanded. "What's wrong?"

She bit her lip. "You'll think I'm foolish."

"I said, tell me what it is!"

"I'm just superstitious," Marion burst out. "It isn't scientific at all. But for a minute I had the queerest feeling that— that—"

"Well?" he said impatiently, frowning and gripping her shoulders.

"That there's danger in that ship," she whispered. "Danger to you, Stephen. As though that golden ship had been waiting for ages, perhaps—just for the moment when you'd enter it."

He grinned ironically and sat down again. Gulping milk, he watched Marion laughingly over the rim of the glass.

"A sort of ancient rendezvous," he teased. "You're under a nervous tension, Marion. We all are," he admitted, sobering. "And there's reason enough, I'm afraid."

They fell painfully silent. Both were thinking of the man who lay alone in a lead-plated room upstairs. Sammy was already being ravaged by the frightful plague from outer space. Court got up, squaring his shoulders with decision.

"He didn't back down, you know, and I certainly won't run from a shadow. Get my suit, Marion. It's time to check up on Sammy again."

Nervously she helped Court don the armor.

"There's something going on at the village," she said. "Not a—a shadow, either. Since the plague has hit the newspapers, the villagers are frightened."

"Why?" Court asked, slipping on his gloves. "There's been only one case in this country as yet, and that was in Georgia. Europe, Africa, China? Sure. But—"

"Somebody's been talking. They know about Sammy. They claim that you're exposing the whole village to deadly danger by keeping Sammy here."

"Damned idiots!" He made an impatient gesture with his lead-gauntleted hand. "Sammy's completely isolated. There's no danger at all."

"They're not scientists," she argued. "Just ordinary people, most of them fairly uneducated. But they've got families and—Well, I'm afraid."

"The police can't touch me."

"It's not that." Marion bit her lip and paused. Then she shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I suppose. But I hope nothing happens."

"Nothing will," he assured her.

He went out, hurrying through a long corridor to a lead-plated door. When he knocked, there was no response. Making sure there were no gaps in his armor, Court entered the experimental room.

It was large, yet amazingly cluttered with apparatus. The lead walls dully reflected the dim light. On white-topped tables by the hospital bed lay gauges, indicators, and enigmatic looking devices.

The figure on the bed was completely unrecognizable. The metamorphosis had come so swiftly that Sammy was horribly inhuman in appearance. His skin emitted a silvery radiance. His face was a mere bag of loosely wrinkled skin, hanging repulsively about the jutting nose. His mouth was invisible below eyes that were gleaming but blind.

Court fought down the sick horror that tore at his stomach. He dared not give way to sentiment, nor even admit its existence. Before him was a test case, a laboratory subject. That was all. He must forget that he had ever known the old man, that the faithful regenerated tramp has been his only friend, his entire family…

"Hello, Sammy," he said in a voice that would not lose its choked quality. "How do you feel?"

There was no motion perceptible in the shrunken body on the bed. But a remarkably clear voice murmured a reply.

"Hello, Stevie."

"Any change?"

"None. I'm just hungry."

Court took a rabbit from a lead-lined box beside the bed, and placed it gently in the malformed talons that once had been Sammy's hand. Instantly there was a change. The small beast kicked convulsively and was still. The glow emanating from Sammy's skin brightened slightly.

"That better?"

"Yes. Thanks, Stevie."

Court drew up a chair and clumsily sat down in it. Through the lead-infiltrated goggles, his eyes probed. With gloved fingers he made adjustments on the apparatus, and carefully checked the readings on certain gauges.

"The change is progressive," he muttered under his breath.

Drawing a microscope toward him, he took a sample of the patient's skin cells and prepared a slide.

"Yes, entropy. . Incredible! I still can't understand—"

"What is it, Steve?" Sammy asked weakly.

"Nothing new. But I'll find a cure yet. You can depend on me, Sammy."

The hideous folds of wrinkles twitched in a ghastly semblance of amusement.

'Tour cure won't help me. I'm hungry again."

Court gave the old man another rabbit. Then he took pencil and paper, set a stop-watch on the table, and began the usual word-association test. Though simple, it had proved surprisingly effective in checking on the patient's mental metamorphosis.

But now Court was due for a surprise. The test proceeded normally, Sammy responding without much hesitation, though over two words—"man" and "We"—he paused perceptibly. Then Court said, "Food," and immediately Sammy responded, "Human."

Court made a great effort to control himself. He read the next word, and the next, but he did not even hear Sammy's responses. He was battling down the gorge that rose in his throat, yet this should have been expected. Sammy was absorbing life-energy from living beings, and the human brain contained the highest form of such energy. But what would be the result?

Sammy's replies lagged as he seemed to grow weaker. Court left him at last, with a few encouraging words. But when he hurried out, he was feeling worried and depressed.

It was past sunset, and he switched on the light in his lab. Removing the lead-armor, he sat down to think matters over. Sammy was no longer entirely human, for the change was progressing rapidly. His basal metabolism was tremendously increased. As Court had discovered, the very matter of his body was changed.

"Entropy," he whispered, nervously folding and unfolding his hands. "That's the answer, of course. But what it means—"

Entropy, the rate of the Universe's running down. A human body is composed of atoms and electrons, like a universe. If the entropic value of a life-organism is increased, what is the result?

Court was angry with himself because he did not know. He should have been grateful for not being able to see the future…

"Sammy's changing into another form of life, that's certain. And he absorbs energy directly through contact. I must take more precautions. He may be dangerous later."

Abruptly there was an interruption. The door flew open, and Marion burst in. Her brown hair was in disorder under her white cap.

"Stephen!" she cried through pallid lips. "There are men coming up the road!"

"What about it?" he asked, without interest.

"From the village. With torches. I'm afraid—"

"Those damned fools!" he snapped angrily. "Rouse out the men. Give them rifles. Tell them to spread through the house and keep its front covered from inside. When I give the word, they can fire."

Marion stared at him in horror.

"You'd—murder those men?"

Court's eyes were icy as he returned her stricken gaze.

"Why not? They're afraid I have a contagious case here.

But they're afraid for their own precious skins. They'd be willing to burn down the house and kill Sammy. Well, it's lucky I've taken precautions. Do what I say!"

His tone sent Marion racing out.

Growling an oath, Court went to the front door. He opened it and stepped out on the front porch. A bright moon revealed the scene. Before him the road sloped steeply down to the village, with a few trees that were blots of shadow on either side.

Torches flamed along the road. Twenty-five or thirty men —possibly more—were advancing in ominous silence.

Court put his back against the door and waited. The ignorant fools! He was trying to save their lives.

Quickly the mob formed a crescent about the porch. They were mostly villagers and farmers. Under other circumstances, they-would have dreamed and worked away their lives without ever embarking on such a hazardous venture as this. But now their work-worn faces were grim, and their sharp eyes narrowed with deadly purpose.

Court unfolded his arms. Though he held no weapon, the mob drew back slightly. Then one man, a lean, grizzle-haired oldster in overalls, stepped forward.

"What do you want?" Court asked quietly.

The old man scowled.

"We want some questions answered, Mr. Court. Are you harborin' a case of the Plague?"

"Yes."

The word was flatly emotionless, yet a mutter went up from the crowd.

"I s'pose you know that's contagious. There can't nothin' stop it."

There is no danger of contagion," Court replied. "I have taken care of that." He gestured at the flickering flames of the torches. "What do you wish to do—kill my patient?"

"Nope," the spokesman stated. "We want you to send him away from here, to a hospital. The papers say there ain't no way of stopping the Plague. I got two kids myself, Mr. Court. The rest of us, we're family men. How'd you like it if—"

"I tell you, there's no danger," Court snapped. His nerves, already tense with overwork and sleeplessness, were frayed beyond endurance. "Get outе" all of you, or you'll regret it!"

An ominous low roar went up from the mob. They surged forward, paused only when Court lifted his hand.

"Wait! I have a dozen men in the house, stationed at the windows, with guns aimed at you right now. Submachine-guns, some of them, and rifles. We can protect ourselves from lynch law."

The crowd wavered uncertainly. The oldster yelled a shrill protest. "We ain't lynchers, Mr. Court We're just aimin' to protect our folks. We got a car down the road a bit, and we aim to take your Plague victim to a hospital." Court laughed ironically.

"You poor idiot! You just said the Plague is contagious."

"Sure it is. But we got rubber gloves, and cotton pads soaked in antiseptic to tie over our mouths, and we'll wash in carbolic afterward. We just don't want our folks to run any risks."

"Rubber gloves!" Court snorted. "Only thick lead can protect you from the Plague. If you won't leave instantly, we'll use guns to convince you. And I warn you, I won't hesitate to do that if it's necessary."

"He ain't bluffing," one of the mob said nervously. "I saw a muzzle up there in that winder."

"Don't worry about it," the spokesman said. "We're comin' in, Mr. Court, unless you bring the man out to us."

As the crowd surged forward, Court raised his pistol and took steady aim at the leader.

"You set foot on the first step," he gritted, "and I'll put a bullet through your head."

The old man walked slowly, quietly, up the steps. Behind him came the others. Court's finger tightened on the trigger, yet he did not fire.

His face grew terrible at the conflict that raged within him. Stephen Court—man of ice and iron—torn by puerile emotion? Shoot! That was the logical thing to do. Shoot, to save Sammy, to save the experiment from these ignorant fools.

But the mob did not want to kill. Court knew that they were honest, hard-working men, who loved their families and wanted to protect them from danger.

The nearest was only a few steps from him. But Court did not fire, nor give the word that would have brought a searing blast from the upper windows. His lips twisted in agonized indecision.

From within the house came a scream. The door flung open and Marion Barton fled out, her face chalk-white. "Stephen! Quick!"

Court whirled, ignoring the besiegers. "What is it?"

"Sammy came into the lab! He was—"

A startled gasp came from the old man. He drew back, staring. A rippling wave of fear shook the crowd that had shuffled to the porch. With one arm around Marion, Court dragged her back. Just then, something came out of the door.

He knew it was Sammy. But the metamorphosis had been incredibly accelerated. Sammy was not even as human as he had been half an hour before.

His body could not be seen. A white shadow, with flickering nimbus edges, paused on the threshold. The pallid glow emanating from Sammy's flesh had become so brilliant that its lambent light entirely hid the frightful body.

Staring at him was like looking into the heart of an electric-light bulb, though the illumination was not strong enough to be blinding.

A shining, roughly man-shaped shadow, it stood on the threshold. And it whispered! A vague, wordless susurrus murmured out. Like the hum emitted by some electric contrivance, it was enigmatic and unhuman.

The shadow lurched forward. Its shimmering arms went around the old man in overalls. The spokesman shrieked as though the soul had been wrenched from his body. Then he fell, his body oddly shrunken, pale and lifeless.

Panic struck the mob. In all directions they fled back. The thing that had been Sammy seemed to glide down the steps in pursuit.

"Oh, my God!" Court whispered. His face was drawn with pain as he slowly took aim with his pistol. "Sammy—"

He did not finish. The shot snarled out in the night.

The glowing bulk was unharmed. With his breath catching in his throat, Court pumped bullet after bullet at it. It stumbled down the lawn, while the mob vanished along the slope.

"No use!" Court gritted between his teeth. "It absorbs every kind of energy, including kinetic."

He let out a shout. Glancing up, he pointed. From the windows above him came a burst of sound. Submachine-guns and rifles rattled lethally, concentrating their fire on the shining horror that moved into the night.

It vanished behind a tree and was gone. Marion gripped Court's arm.

"Poor Sammy! Can't we go after him?"

"That isn't Sammy," Court said grimly. "Not now. It—it's a horror, an alien thing out of another universe, perhaps. Yes, I'm going after it, Marion, but not till I've put on my lead suit. I'm not sure I can capture it, even then." He blew across the smoking muzzle of his gun. "A creature whose touch means instant death is loose in the countryside. And I don't even know if it can be killed!"