The Players of Null-A

XII NULL-ABSTRACTS

For the sake of sanity, use ET CETERA: When you say, 'Mary is a good girl!' be aware that Mary is much more than 'good.' Mary is 'good,' nice, kind, et cetera, meaning she also has other characteristics. It is worth remembering, also, that modern psychology—1956—does not consider the placidly 'good' individual a healthy personality.

He had held himself tense, half expecting that an attempt would be made to use the momentary blackout against him.

Now, he turned, and said, ‘That was certainly fast enough. We ——— ’

His voice faltered—because he was no longer in the control room of the destroyer.

Five hundred feet away was a control board on a vaster plane than the one which he had left only an instant before. The transparent dome that curved up from it was of such noble proportions that for a moment his brain refused to grasp the size.

With a sickening comprehension, he stared down at his hands and body: his hands were thin, bony; his body slim, and dressed in the uniform of a staff officer of the Greatest Empire.

Ashargin!

The recognition was so sharp that Gosseyn felt the body that he again occupied, tremble and start to cringe. With an effort he fought off the weakness, but there was despair in him as he thought of his own body far away in the control room of the Y-381907.

It must be lying unconscious on the floor. At this very minute, Oreldon and Captain Free would be overpowering Leej, preparatory to capturing the two interlopers. Or rather—-Gosseyn made the distinction bleakly—approximately eighteen thousand light-years away, several days before so far as the destroyer was concerned, Leej and Gilbert Gosseyn's body had been seized.

He must never forget that a time difference resulted from similarity transport.

He grew abruptly aware that his thoughts were too violent for the fragile Ashargin in whose body he was once more trapped. With blurred eyes he looked around him, and slowly he began to adjust. Slowly, because this was not his own highly trained nervous system which he was trying to control,

Nevertheless, presently, his brain cleared, and he stopped trembling. After a minute, though the waves of weakness made a rhythm inside him, he was able to realize what Ashargin had been doing at the moment that he was possessed.

He had been walking along with a group of fleet admirals. He saw them now ahead of him. Two had stopped, and were looking back at him where he stood. One of these said, 'Your excellency, you look ill.'

Before Gosseyn-Ashargin could reply, the other man, a tall, gaunt, old admiral, whose uniform sparkled with the jeweled medals and insignia that he wore, said sardonically, The prince has not been well since he arrived. We must commend him for his devotion to duty at such a time.'

As the second man finished speaking, Gosseyn recognized him as Grand Admiral Paleol. The identification brought him even further back to normalcy. For it was something only Ashargin would know.

Clearly, the two minds, his and Ashargin's, were starting to integrate on the unconscious level.

The realization stiffened him. Here he was. Once more he had been picked up by an unseen player, and the essence that was his mind similarized into a brain not his own. The quicker he adjusted, the better off he would be.

This time he had to try to dominate his situation. Not a trace of weakness must show. Ashargin would have to be driven to the limit of his physical capacity.

As he hurried forward, to join the other officers, all of whom had stopped now, the memory of Ashargin's last week was beginning to well up. Week? The realization that seven days had passed for Ashargin, while he had had less than a full day and night of conscious existence, briefly startled Gosseyn. But the pause it gave him was only momentary.

The picture of the previous week was surprisingly good. Ashargin had not fainted once. He had successfully bridged the initial introductions. He had even tried to put over the idea that he would be an observer until further notice. For a man who had collapsed twice in the presence of Enro, it was an achievement of the first order.

It was one more evidence that even so unintegrated a personality as Ashargin responded quickly, and that only a few hours of control by a Null-A trained mind could cause definite improvement.

'Ah,' said a staff officer just ahead of Gosseyn-Ashargin, 'here we are.'

Gosseyn looked up. They had come to the entrance of a small council room. It was evident—and Ashargin's memory backed him up—that a meeting of high officers was about to take place.

Here he would be able to make his new, determined personality of Ashargin felt.

There were officers already in the room. Others were bearing down from various points. As he watched, still others emerged from Distorter cages a hundred feet farther along the wall. Introductions came thick and fast.

Several of the officers looked at him sharply when his name was given. But Gosseyn was uniformly polite to the newcomers. His moment would come later.

Actually, his attention had been distracted.

He had suddenly realized that the great room behind him was the control room of a super-battleship. And more. It was the control room of a ship that was at this very moment engaged in the fantastic battle of the Sixth Decant.

The excitement of the thought was like a flame in his mind. During a lull in the introductions, he felt compelled to turn and look, this time with comprehending eyes. The dome towered a good five hundred feet above his head. It curved up and over him, limpidly transparent, and beyond were the jewel-bright stars of the central mass of the galaxy.

The Milky Way, close-up. Millions of the hottest and most dazzling suns of the galaxy. Here, amid beauty that could never be surpassed, Enro had launched his great fleets. He must believe that it was the area of final decision.

Faster, now, came Ashargin's memories of the week he had watched the great battle. Pictures took form of thousands of ships simultaneously similarized to the base of an enemy planetary stronghold. Each time, the similarization was cut off just before the ships reached their objective.

Out of the shadowless darkness, then, they darted toward the doomed planet. More ships attacking than all the surrounding sun systems could muster. Distances that would have taken many months, even years, by ordinary flight were bridged almost instantly. And always the attacking fleet gave the victim the same alternative. Surrender, or be destroyed.

If the leaders of any planet, or group of planets, refused to credit the danger, the ruthless rain of bombs that poured from the sky literally consumed their civilization. So violent and so concentrated were the explosions that chain reactions were set up in the planet's crust.

The majority of systems were more reasonable. The segment of fleet which had paused to capture or destroy merely left an occupying force, and then flashed on to the next League base.

There was no real defense. It was impossible to concentrate sizable fleets to oppose the attackers, since it was impossible to know which planetary system was next in line. With uncanny ability, the invading forces fought those fleets that were brought against them. The attacking forces seemed always to know the nature of the defense, and wherever the defense was fiercest there appeared a dozen Enro ships for every one that was available to the League power.

To Ashargin that was almost magical, but not to Gosseyn. The Predictors of Yalerta were fighting with the fleets of the Greatest Empire, and the defenders literally had no chance.

The flood of memory ended as the Grand Admiral's voice said ironically from behind him: 'Prince, the meeting is about to begin.'

It was a relief to be able to sit down at the long council table.

He saw that his chair was next to and at the right of the admiral. Swiftly, his eyes took in the rest of the room.

It was larger than he had first thought. He realized what had given him the impression of smallness. Three walls were veritable maps of space. Each was sprinkled with uncountable lights, and on each wall about ten feet up from the floor there were series of squares on which numbers flickered and whirled. One square had red numbers on it, and the figure shown was 91308. It changed as Gosseyn watched and jumped to 91749. That was the largest change he observed as he glanced around.

He waited for some explanation of the numbers to well up from Ashargin's memory. Nothing came except the information that Ashargin had not before been in this room.

There were squares with numbers in blue, and squares with yellow, green, orange and gray numbers, pink numbers, purple and violet numbers. And than there were squares in which alternate figures were different colors. It was obviously a method of distinguishing facts at a glance, but the facts themselves were unstable.

They changed from moment to moment. The figures went through violent gyrations. They seemed to dance as they shifted and altered. And there was no question but that they told a story. It seemed to Gosseyn that in square after square of cryptic numbers the ever changing pattern of the battle of the Sixth Decant was revealed.

It cost him a tremendous effort to withdraw his fascinated gaze from the squares, and to realize that Admiral Paleol had been speaking for several moments.

'. . . Our problems,' the gaunt and grim old man was saying, 'will scarcely be more difficult in the future than they have already been. But I called you here today to warn you that incidents have already occurred which will probably become more numerous as time goes on. For instance, on seventeen different occasions now, we have been unable to similarize our ships to bases, the Distorter patterns of which were secured for our great leader by the most highly organized spy system ever conceived.

'It is clear that some of the planetary governors have become suspicious and in their panic have altered the patterns. In every case so far brought to my attention, the planets involved were approached by our ships similarizing to a base

beyond them, and then breaking. In every case, the offending planet was given no opportunity to surrender, but was mercilessly destroyed.

'These eventualities, you will be happy to know, were foreseen by our great leader, Enro the Red. History has no previous record of one man gifted with such foresight, sagacity and with so great a will to peace.'

The final remark was an aside. Gosseyn looked quickly at some of the other men, but their faces were intent. If they saw anything odd in the description of Enro as a man of peace they held their counsel.

He had several thoughts of his own. So an involved spy system had procured for Enro the Distorter patterns of thousands of league bases. It seemed to Gosseyn that there was a fateful combination of forces now working in Enro's favor. In the period of a few short years he had risen from the hereditary rulership of a small planetary group to the height of galactic power. And as if to prove that destiny itself was on his side, during that same period a planet of Predictors had been discovered, and those gifted minds were now working for him.

True, the Follower who supplied them had plans of his own. But that would not stop the war.

'. . . Of course,' Grand Admiral Paleol was saying, 'the main league centers in this area are not rubbing out their Distorter patterns. It takes time to build up similarity connections, and their own ships would be cut off from any bases in which the patterns were altered. However, in the future we must reckon with the possibility that more and more groups will try to break away into isolation. And some of them will succeed.

'You see'—his long face creased into a cold smile—'there are systems which cannot be approached by similarizing to bases beyond them. In planning our campaign we made a point of launching all our initial attacks against planets that could so be approached. Now, gradually, our position will become more flexible. We must improvise. Fleets will find themselves in a position to attack objectives that were not formerly considered to be within our reach. To know when such opportunities exist will require the highest degree of alertness on the part of officers and crew members of all ranks.'

Unsmiling now, the old man looked around the table. 'Gentlemen, that about concludes my report. I must tell you that our casualties are heavy. We are losing ships at the average rate of two battleships, eleven cruisers, seventy-four destroyers and sixty-two miscellaneous craft every hour of operations. Of course, these are actuarial figures, and vary greatly from day to day. But, nevertheless, they are very real, as you can see by glancing at the wall estimators in this room.

'But basically our position is excellent. Our great obstacle is the vastness of space and the fact that it takes the time of a portion of our fleet to handle each separate conquest. However, it is now possible to estimate mathematically the length of the campaign. So many more planets to conquer, so much time for each—altogether ninety-four sidereal days. Any questions?'

There was silence. Then at the far end of the table, an admiral climbed to his feet.

'Sir,' he said, 'I wonder if we could have the views of the Prince Ashargin.'

The grand admiral arose slowly. The smile was back on his long, usually dour face. The prince,' he said dryly, ‘is with us as a personal emissary of Enro. He has asked me to say that he has no comments to make at this time.'

Gosseyn climbed to his feet. His purpose was to have Ashargin sent back to Gorgzid, to Enro's headquarters, and it seemed to him the best way to do that was to start talking out of turn.

That,' he said, 'is what I said to the grand admiral yesterday.'

He paused to wince at the high tenor of Ashargin's voice, and to relax the tenseness that swept Ashargin's body. In doing so he glanced at the old man beside him. The grand admiral was gazing up at the ceiling, but with such an expression that Gosseyn had an insight into the truth. He said quickly:

'I am momentarily expecting a call from Enro to return to make my report, but if I have time I should like to discuss some of the philosophical implications of the war we are waging.'

He got no further. The ceiling grew bright, and the face that took form on it was the face of Enro. Every man in the room sprang to his feet, and stood at attention.

The red-haired dictator stared down at them, a faint, ironic smile on his face. 'Gentlemen,' he said at last, 'because of previous business, I have just now tuned into this council meeting. I am sorry to have interrupted it, particularly sorry because I see that I came on the scene just as the Prince Ashargin was about to speak to you. The prince and I are in accord on all major aspects of the conduct of the war, but right now I desire him to return to Gorgzid. Gentlemen, you have my respects.'

'Your excellency,' said Grand Admiral Paleol, 'we salute you.'

He turned to Gosseyn-Ashargin. 'Prince,' he said, 'I shall be happy to accompany you to the transport section.'

Gosseyn said, 'Before I leave I wish to send a message to Y-381907.'

Gosseyn planned his message in the belief that he would shortly be back in his own body. He wrote:

SHOW EVERY COURTESY TO THE TWO PRISONERS YOU HAVE ABOARD YOUR SHIP. THEY ARE NOT TO BE TIED OR HANDCUFFED OR CONFINED. BRING THE PREDICTOR WOMAN AND THE MAN, WHETHER HE IS UNCONSCIOUS OR CONSCIOUS, TO GORGZID.

He slipped the message sheet into the slot of the roboperator. 'Send that immediately to Captain Free on Y-381907. I'll wait here for an acknowledgment.'

He turned and saw that Grand Admiral Paleol was watching him curiously. The old man smiled, and said with a tolerant sneer, 'Prince, you're something of an enigma. Am I right in believing you think Enro and myself will some day be called to account for what we are doing?'

Gosseyn-Ashargin shook his head. 'It could happen,' he said. 'You might overreach yourself. But actually it wouldn't be a bringing to account. It would be a vengeance, and immediately there would be a new power group as venal, though perhaps more cautious for a while, as the old. The childish individuals who think in terms of overthrowing a power group have failed to analyze the character that binds such a group. One of the first steps is the inculcation of the belief that they are all prepared to die at any moment. So long as the group holds together, no individual member of it dares to hold a contrary opinion on that basic point. Having convinced themselves that they are unafraid, they can then justify all crimes against others. It's extremely simple and emotional and childlike on the most destructive level.'

The admiral's sneer was broader. 'Well, well,' he said, 'quite a philosopher, aren't you?' His keen eyes grew curious. 'Very interesting though. I had never thought of the bravery factor being so fundamental.'

He seemed about to speak again, but the roboperator interrupted. 'I am unable to get through to the destroyer Y-381907.'

Gosseyn-Ashargin hesitated. He was startled. He said, 'No contact at all?'

'None.'

He was recovering now. 'Very well, keep trying until the message is delivered, and advise me on Gorgzid.'

He turned, and shook hands with Paleol. A few minutes after that he pulled the lever of the Distorter cage which was supposed to take Ashargin back to Enro's palace.