He stood. “I hope so.”
“They will. I'm sure of it. Perfect pieces of work — even if I say so myself.”
While the others strapped in, Tohm left and found the hypno-teacher. He was belted down before the blast came.
The tapes were very good.
He walked above the universes, looking down at each. He did not question where his vantage point may have been, but watched that which was shown with a singleness of purpose that could only have been hypno-suggestion. He understood that each universe (and there were countless trillions of them) was an all-encompassing and endless thing, yet each universe was separated from the others by a wall, a very definite barrier dubbed the Fringe. One layer of molecules separated each universe from its neighbors. In fact, that layer was one molecule stretching in all directions until eternity, though never bisecting another shell molecule.
He saw that the Muties were able to distinguish this area, to view it naturally in much the same way he was seeing it now. They could locate their own universe in this endless procession. The Mutie mind could distort the shell molecule, stretch it thin and rent it, making a portal into the neighboring universe. They could encompass their own universe with the fields of their minds, wrench it from its niche, and start it moving through the rent. If they studiously concentrated on not encompassing the Romaghin and Setessin worlds, those areas would be left behind.
The Muties' universe would not, however, collide with the neighboring universe on the other side of the rent molecule when it pushed through, for that neighboring universe would push against the shell molecule on its opposite end and force itself through into a third universal plane. The third would push into a fourth almost simultaneously; the fourth into a fifth, fifth into sixth. An endless chain would be started. The process of natural transfer of universes would never end. There would be no negative repercussions, for the process was not a circle that would eventually close itself.
The Muties wanted to encompass all of their own universe except the warlike worlds, thus pushing ninety-nine point nine percent through the rent. The gaps where the peaceful worlds had been would be (?) empty in the old universe, and the spots where the warlike worlds had been would be gaps in the new universe. It was quite like a cancer operation, cutting out the malignant growths — in this case, worlds — and leaving them behind. What happened to the Romaghins and Setessins in that great empty universe was not their worry. Cruel, perhaps, but wasn't it worth it to all those neutral peoples who had been caught up in an eight hundred year war?
All of this was shown him, not in words, but in mind pictures, in thought-image concepts that he could grasp with all senses.
At last, he understood.
“Well?” Triggy Gop said, when he came out of hypno-teach.
“It's clear now.”
“Are you with us?”
He grinned at the walls where the cameras would be watching him. “Of course.”
“I'm glad. I was intrigued by you that first time we met. When I learned you were with Corgi's group, I wasn't surprised. Not really. In fact, I was so intrigued with you that I began writing an opus about your exploits. I expect to get a full account from you so that I may work on the verse once we get through to the new universe and this great labor is over.”
“An heroic epic?”
“Something like that.”
“You know that my search never reached fruition.”
“Well, we shall see.”
“It didn't. A bust.”
“Time heals all wounds. Meanwhile, stay strapped in. We're landing on Columbiad in a few minutes. I have to attend to that now.”
Tohm leaned back in the chair. The entire concept was staggering. The Muties had been trying to transfer the capital of Basa II into another universe. But they had discovered that it was simpler to transfer everything but the Romaghins and Setessins! He still could not grasp it all. But it meant something now. He had seen how war and the war-makers had held back an entire people — the Muties — and had disrupted the entire lives of billions more. To end war was certainly a noble gesture. He wanted to be in on it. It was something to continue living for. And the hissing in the bushes … The filling in of a blank face …
The retro-rockets fired, jarring the library…
The time was coming swiftly…
XVI
“You sir over there,” Corgi said, pointing across the room full of Muties to an empty chair next to Mayna.
“Next to her?”
“Why not?”
“She hates my every cell.”
Corgi smiled sarcastically. “Sure.”
“She does. Please seat me elsewhere.”
“You really believe—”
“Listen, Corgi, she will claw me to pieces if I go near her.”
“You fool.”
“Look, don't call me that. Everyone has had a turn now, so shut up.”
Corgi grabbed his arm. “No. You are a fool. You are a fool not to see when someone is in love with you. Surely, your Tarnilee never looked at you the way Mayna does.”
Tohm wrinkled his brow in uncertainty. “I—”
“You're a fool. I'll say it again: you're a fool.”
“No. Look, she said I didn't understand—”
“And you didn't. You didn't understand that she had been taught to fight normals, to consider herself better, and she fell, instead, in love with one. All of her values and mores were upset. She fought you to bolster herself, her own beliefs that were being shattered by your presence. She fell in love — well, on first sight. But all you could think of was finding Tarnilee. Did you ever tell Mayna you loved her?”
“No!”
“But you do, don't you?”
He tried to deny it, but he could not find the words.
“She wanted to be sure that you understood us, for, if you really did, it would justify her love. Now go sit next to her. The time has come.”
He hesitated a moment, then struck off across the room. There were Muties in every chamber of Triggy Gop's belly. Two thousand of them. The remainder of their numbers were hooked electronically to the Old Man. The moment had come. He slumped into the chair, looked at her. “Good luck,” he said at last.
“Thank you, Hero Tohm.”
“For God's sake—”
But he was interrupted by Triggy. “Okay, let us prepare ourselves. We may not have time, but we can try. And if we succeed today, let us not forget that it was Hunk, a brave and intelligent man, who died for us and gave us this plan. Now, first stage.”
Tohm looked about at the weird conglomeration, the two-headed men, the graceful nymphets with eyes that constantly changed colors, the winged people. They were a wonderful phantasmagoria. As a single entity, they slipped into a trance.
The last word Mayna spoke was this: “Tohm.”
He looked to her full lips as they closed into sleep. Perhaps Corgi had been right. Perhaps he was the greatest fool to come down the space lanes in a thousand years. He put a hand on her shoulder, though she could not feel it, and waited. “Stage two,” Triggy Gop said. There was no noticeable outward change in the Muties, but Tohm thought he sensed a spiritual drawing away.
“Tohm!” Triggy snapped through his wire mouth.
He sat erect. “What?”
“The Romaghins. Good heavens, ten of their Jumbos are closing in on Columbiad. They'll find us before we can act.”
“I could lead them on a wild goose chase with Jumbo Ten.”
“Take her with you,” Triggy said.
“But—”
“She wouldn't want you to go without her. She didn't have to save you back on Basa II. The others were leaving early. They would have been gone before you were tortured, before you could have spilled their location to the police.”