He dropped the file into his brief-case, the back of which was no more than ten centimetres from the dark rectangle of the screen. From time to nine his fingers played across the locks in a half-conscious nervous reaction, but he had no intention of pressing the concealed switch until the meeting was over. There was a chance that something might go wrong: though Duval had sworn that Karellen would detect nothing, one could never be sure.
“Now, you said you’d some news for me,” Stormgren continued, with scarcely concealed eagerness. “Is it about-”
“Yes,” said Karellen. “I received a decision a few hours ago.”
What did he mean by that? wondered Storingren. Surely it was not possible for the Supervisor to have communicated with his distant home, across the unknown numbers of light years that separated him from his base. Or perhaps-this was van Ryberg’s theory-he had merely been consulting some vast computing machine which could predict the outcome of any political action.
“I don’t think,” continued Karellen, “that the Freedom League and its associates will be very satisfied, but it should help to reduce the tension. We won’t record this, by the way.
“You’ve often told me, Rikki, that no matter how unlike you we are physically, the human race would soon grow accustomed to us. That shows a lack of imagination on your part. It would probably be true in your case, but you must remember that most of the world is still uneducated by any reasonable
45
standards, and is riddled with prejudices and superstitions that may take decades to eradicate.
“You will grant that we know something of human psychology. We know rather accurately what would happen if we revealed ourselves to the world in its present state of develop-merit. I can’t go into details, even with you, so you must accept my analysis on trust. We can, however, make this definite promise, which should give you some satisfaction. In fifty years-two generations from now-we will come down from our ships and humanity will at last see us as we are.”
Stormgren was silent for a while, absorbing the Supervisor’s words. He felt little of the satisfaction that Karellen’s statement would once have given him. Indeed, he was somewhat confused by his partial success, and for a moment his resolution faltered. The truth would come with the passage of time:
all his plotting was unnecessary and perhaps unwise. If he still went ahead, it would be only for the selfish reason that he would not be alive in fifty years.
Karellen must have seen his irresolution, for he continued:
“I’m sorry if this disappoints you, but at least the political problems of the near future won’t be your responsibility. Perhaps you will think that our fears are unfounded, but believe me we’ve had convincing proofs of the danger of any other course.”
Stormgren leaned forward, breathing heavily.
“So you have been seen by Man!”
“I didn’t say that,” Karellen answered promptly. “Your world isn’t the only planet we’ve supervised.”
Stormgren was not to be shaken off so easily.
“There have been many legends suggesting that E5L’th has been visited in the past by other races.”
“I know: I’ve read the }Iistorical Research Section’s report. It makes Earth look like the crossroads of the Universe.”
“There may have been visits about which you know nothing,” said Stormgren, still angling hopefully. “Though since you must have been observing us for thousands of years, I suppose that’s rather unlikely.”
“I suppose it is,” replied Karellen, in his most unhelpful manner. And at that moment Stormgren made up his mind.
“Karellen,” he said abruptly, “I’ll draft out the statement and send it up to you for approval. But I reserve the right to continue pestering you, and if I see any opportunity, I’ll do my best to learn your secret.”
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“I’m perfectly well aware of that,” replied the Supervisor, with a slight chuckle.
“And you don’t mind?”
“Not in the least-though I draw the line at nuclear weapons, poison gas, or anything else that might strain our friendship.”
Stormgren wondered what, if anything, Karellen had guessed. Behind the Supervisor’s banter he had recognized the note of understanding, perhaps-who could tell?-even of encouragement.
“I’m glad to know it,” Stormgrcn replied in as level a voice as he could manage. He rose to his feet, bringing down the cover of his case as he did so. His thumb slid along the catch.
“I’ll draft that statement at once,” he repeated, “and send It up on the teletype later today.”
While he was speaking, he pressed the button-and knew that all his fears had been groundless. Karellen’s senses were no subtler than Man’s. The Supervisor could have detected nothing, for there was no change in his voice as he said goodbye and spoke the fRnlili2r code-words that opened the door of the chamber.
Yet Stormgren still felt like a shoplifter leaving a department store under the eyes of the house-detective, and breathed a sigh of relief when the smooth wall had sealed itself behind
“I admit,” said van Ryberg, “that some of my theories haven’t been very successful. But tell me what you think of this one.”
“Must I?” sighed Stormgren.
Pieter didn’t seem to notice.
“It isn’t really my idea,” he said modestly. “I got it from a story of Chesterton’s. Suppose the Overlords are hiding the fact that they’ve got nothing to hide?”
“That sounds just a little complicated to me,” said Stormgren, beginning to take slight interest.
‘What I mean is this,” van Ryberg continued eagerly. “I think that physically they’re human beings like us. They realize that we’ll tolerate being ruled by creatures we imagine to be-well, alien and super-intelligent. But the human race being what it is, it just won’t be bossed around by creatures of the same species.”
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“Very ingenious, like all your theories,” said Stormgren.
“I wish you’d give them opus numbers so that I could keep up with them. The objections to this one–-” But at that moment Alexander Wainwright was ushered in.
Storzngren wondered what he was thinking. He wondered)
too, if Wainwright had made any contact with the men who had kidnapped him. He doubted it, for he believed Wainwright’s disapproval of violence to be perfectly genuine. The extremists in his movement had. discredited themselves thoroughly, and it would be a long time before the world heard of them again.
The head of the Freedom League listened carefully while the draft was read to him. Stormgren hoped he appreciated this gesture, which had been Karellen’s idea. Not for another twelve hours would the rest of the world know of the promise that had been made to its grandchildren.
“Fifty years,” said Wainwright thoughtfully. “That is a long time to wait.”
“For mankind, perhaps, but not for Karellen,” Stormgren answered. Only now was he beginning to realize the nearness of the Overlords’ solution. It had given them the breathing space they believed they needed, and it had cut the ground from beneath the Freedom League’s feet. He did not imagine that the League would capitulate, but its position would be seriously weakened. Certainly Wainwright realized this as well.
“In fifty years,” he said bitterly, “the damage will be done. Those who remembered our independence will be dead:
humanity will have forgotten its heritage.”
Words-empty words, thought Stormgren. The words for which men had once fought and died, and for which they would never die or fight again. And the world would be better for it.
As he watched Wainwright leave, Stormgren wondered how much trouble the Freedom League would still cause .in the years that lay ahead. Yet that, he thought with a lifting of his spirits, was a problem for his successor.
There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.
“Here’s your case,” said Duval. “It’s as good as new.”
“Thanks,” Storrugren answered, inspecting it carefully none
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the less. “Now perhaps you’ll tell me what it was all about, and what we are going to do next.”
The physicist seemed more interested in his own thoughts.
“What I can’t understand,” he said, “is the ease with which we’ve got away with it. Now if I’d been Kar-”
“But you’re not. Get to the point, man. What did we discover?”
“Ah me, these excitable, highly-strung Nordic races!” sighed Duval. “What we did was to make a type of low-powered radar set. Besides radio waves of very high frequency, it used far infra-red-all waves, in fact, which we were sure no creature could possibly see, however weird an eye it had.”
“How could you be. sure of that?” asked Stormgren, becoming intrigued by the technical problem in spite of himself.
“Well-we couldn’t be quite sure,” admitted Duval reluctsntly. “But Karellen views you under normal lighting, doesn’t he? So his eyes must be approximately similar to ours in spectral range. Anyway, it worked. We’ve proved that there is a large room behind that screen of yours. The screen is about three centimetres thick, and the space behind it is at least ten metres across. We couldn’t detect any echo from the far wall, but we hardly expected to with the low power which was all we dared use. However, we did get this.”