In a matter of minutes they had pushed the raft up against the grass-covered shore. They moored it firmly—by shoving it deep into the gray mud—and then crawled up onto the bank.
The cube of gelatinous mass towered over them as they approached it. The sunlight danced in a multitude of flecks, as if caught within it. The interior of the organism glowed with activity.
It’s bigger than I expected, Seth Morley said to himself. It looks—ageless. How long do they live? he wondered.
“You put articles in front of it,” Ignatz Thugg said, “and it pushes a hunk of itself out, and then that hunk forms into a duplicate. Here, I’ll show you.” He tossed his wet wristwatch onto the ground before the tench. “Duplicate that, you jello,” he said.
The gelatin undulated, and presently, as Thugg had predicted, a section of it oozed out to come to rest beside the watch. The color of the production altered; it became silver-like. And then it flattened. Design appeared in the silver substance. Several more minutes passed, as if the tench were resting, and then all at once the excreted product sank into the shape of a leather-bound disk. It looked exactly like the true watch beside it… or rather almost exactly, Seth Morley noted. It was not as bright; it had a dulled quality. But—it was still basically a success.
Russell seated himself in the grass and began to search through his pockets. “I need a dry piece of paper,” he said.
“I have some in my purse that’re still dry,” Maggie Walsh said. She rummaged in her purse, handed him a small tablet. “Do you need a pen?”
“I’ve got a pen.” He wrote darkly on the top sheet of paper. “I’m asking it questions.” He finished writing, held the sheet of paper up, and read from it. “‘How many of us will die here at Delmak-O?’” He folded the paper and placed it before the tench, next to the two wristwatches.
More of the tench’s gelatin burbled out, to come to rest in a mound beside Russell’s piece of paper.
“Won’t it simply duplicate the question?” Seth Morley asked.
“I don’t know,” Russell asked. “We’ll see.” Thugg said, “I think you’re barmy.” Eyeing him, Russell said, “You have a strange idea, Thugg, of what’s ‘barmy’ and what isn’t.”
“Is that meant to be an insult?” Thugg flushed an angry red.
Maggie Walsh said, “Look. The duplicate piece of paper is forming.”
Two folded sheets of tablet paper rested directly in front of the tench. Russell waited a moment, then, evidently deciding that the duplicating process had finished, took the two sheets, unfolded both of them, studied them for a long time.
“Did it answer?” Seth Morley said. “Or did it repeat the question?”
“It answered,” Russell handed him one of the sheets of paper.
The note was short and simple. And impossible to misinterpret. You will go out onto your compound and not see your people.
“Ask it who our enemy is,” Seth Morley said. “Okay.” Russell wrote again, placed the sheet of paper, folded, before the tench. “‘Who is our enemy?’” he said. “That’s so to speak the ultimate question.”
The tench fashioned an answering slip, which Russell at once grabbed. He studied it intently, then read it aloud. “Influential circles.”
“That doesn’t tell us much,” Maggie Walsh said.
Russell said, “Evidently that’s all it knows.”
“Ask it, ‘What should we do?’” Seth Morley said. Russell wrote that, again placing the question before the tench. Presently he had the answer; again he prepared to read aloud. “This is a long one,” he said apologetically.
“Good,” Wade Frazer said. “Considering the nature of the question.”
Russell read, “There are secret forces at work, leading together those who belong together. We must yield to this attraction; then we make no mistakes.” He pondered. “We shouldn’t have split up; the seven of us shouldn’t have left the settlement. If we had stayed there Miss Berm would still be alive. It’s obvious that from now on we must keep one another in visual sight all the—” He broke off. An additional glob of gelatin was extruding from the tench. Like those before, it formed into a folded slip of paper. Russell took it, opened and read it. “Addressed to you,” he said, and handed it to Seth Morley.
“Often a man feels an urge to unite with others, but the individuals around him have already formed themselves into a group, so that he remains isolated. He should then ally himself with a man who stands nearer to the center of the group and can help him gain admission to the closed circle.” Seth Morley crumpled up the slip of paper and dropped it onto the ground. “That would be Belsnor,” he said. “The man who stands nearer to the center.” It’s true, he thought; I am outside and isolated. But in a sense all of us are. Even Belsnor.
“Maybe it means me,” Russell said.
“No,” Seth Morley said. “It’s Glen Belsnor.”
Wade Frazer said, “I have a question.” He held out his hand and Russell passed him the pen and paper. Frazer wrote rapidly, then, finished, read them his question. “‘Who or what is the man calling himself Ned Russell?’” He placed that question in front of the tench.
When the answer appeared, Russell took it. Smoothly and without effort; one moment it lay there and the next he had it in his hand. Calmly, he read it to himself. Then, at last, he passed it to Seth Morley and said, “You read it aloud.”
Seth Morley did so. “Every step, forward or backward, leads into danger. Escape is out of the question. The danger comes because one is too ambitious.” He handed the slip over to Wade Frazer.
“It doesn’t tell us a damn thing,” Ignatz Thugg said.
“It tells us that Russell is creating a situation in which every move is a losing move,” Wade Frazer said. “Danger is everywhere and we can’t escape. And the cause is Russell’s ambition.” He eyed Russell long and searchingly. “What’s your ambition all about? And why are you deliberately leading us into danger?”
Russell said, “It doesn’t say I’m leading you into danger, it just says that the danger exists.”
“What about your ambition? It’s plainly referring to you.”
“The only ambition I have,” Russell said, “is to be a competent economist, doing useful work. That’s why I asked for a work-transfer; the job I was doing—through no fault of my own—was insipid and worthless. That’s why I was so glad to be transferred here to Delmak-O.” He added, “My opinion has somewhat changed since I arrived here.”
“So has ours,” Seth Morley said.
“Okay,” Frazer said fussily. “We’ve learned a little from the tench but not much. All of us will be killed.” He smiled a mirthless, bitter smile. “Our enemy is ‘influential circles.’ We must stay in close proximity to one another, otherwise they’ll knock us off one by one.” He pondered. “And we’re in danger, from every direction; nothing we can do will change that. And Russell is a hazard to us, due to his ambition.” He turned toward Seth Morley and said, “Have you noticed how he’s already taken over as leader of the six of us? As if it’s natural to him.”
“It is natural to me,” Russell said.
“So the tench is right,” Frazer said.
After a pause, Russell nodded. “I suppose so, yes. But someone has to lead.”
“When we get back,” Seth Morley said, “will you resign and accept Glen Belsnor as the group’s leader?”
“If he’s competent.”
Frazer said. “We elected Glen Belsnor. He’s our leader whether you like it or not.”
“But,” Russell said, “I didn’t get a chance to vote.” He smiled. “So I don’t consider myself bound by it.”
“I’d like to ask the tench a couple of questions,” Maggie Walsh said. She took the pen and paper and wrote painstakingly. “I’m asking. ‘Why are we alive?’” She placed the paper before the tench and waited.
The answer, when they had obtained it, read: