And if she couldn’t, would they be able to leave her here?
They were not pleasant thoughts. It was a relief to be distracted from them when the helmet began its plaintive beeping cry once more.
By the time it was Dannerman’s turn all four of the women had already heard the message, and in each case their expressions ranged from shock to incredulity. Pat, who went first, ordered everyone who followed to hold all comments until they’d all seen it; they grumbled, but they obeyed.
Then Rosaleen handed it to Dannerman, her face bleak, and when he put it on the colonel appeared at once.
“Mesdames et messieurs, “ Colonel duValier began, and once again the voice-over took up the message in unaccented American English:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most important message you will ever hear. Some of it will startle you even more than what you know already. Some of it you will find very difficult to believe. I found it so myself; but I was given proof that I could not deny, and our friends from space stand ready to give those same proofs to you.
“What it concerns is Heaven.
“That startles you at once, doesn’t it? I’m sure that many of you believe in God and His Heaven, just as I do; and I’m equally sure that, like me, you consider that that sort of thing is a religious matter, not a scientific one. But what I now know is that it is both.
“What our friends from space have discovered in their scientific investigations-which are far more advanced than our own-is that at a time in the far future, a very long time from now, something very strange will happen. At that time every intelligent being who ever existed in the universe will come to life again, and then will live forever. In scientific terms that is called the ‘eschaton.’
“There is also another name for it. It is what we ordinary people have been used to calling ‘Heaven.’ “
He paused, staring seriously at Dannerman. “Yes,” he said, “you heard me correctly. We are talking about Heaven. The very Heaven that priests and religious leaders of all kinds have told us about. You see, it’s real, and our new allies have discovered definite scientific proof of this fact.
“I cannot explain all this to you now. I am not qualified, and there is no time. For our eternal life in Heaven is threatened, and the people who are threatening it are the ones I told you about earlier, the Horch. I warned that they intended to conquer the Earth. I did not say that their reason for doing so- just as it has been their reason for conquering, and often for wiping out, countless other intelligent races in the past-is so that when the eschaton arrives they, and they alone, can be the dominant race, who will be able to rule everyone else . . . forever.”
The colonel smiled sorrowfully, then waved a hand. A screen appeared, showing the second message from space: the expanding and contracting universe, with the scarecrow and the Seven Ugly Dwarfs. “Do you remember this picture?” he asked. “Probably you didn’t understand it when you first saw it. Neither did I, but now it has been explained to me. The diagram shows the universe expanding, then contracting again as it reaches its maximum growth and then falls back. It is at that point at the end of the final contraction, when the Big Bang has been replaced by the Big Crunch, that the eschaton will occur.
“You see, the message that picture tried to convey is true- that part of it, at least. But one part of it was a lie. It was sent to you by the Horch, in order to deceive you. It is the Horch, not our friends from space, who want to dominate the eschaton. And they are ruthless enough to subjugate or destroy every living thing that stands in their way.
“That is all I have to say to you at this time, except for one thing. It is now up to you, the people of Earth, to decide whether you want to invite our friends to come to Earth. If you do, they will display for you all the proofs I have mentioned. They will do more than that for you if you wish; they will give you freely of their immense store of knowledge.
“However, first you must, of course, have time to think all this over. Then I will speak to you again, and tell you what they propose. Until then, au revoir.”
The figure went to black. Slowly Dannerman removed the helmet. “Wow,” he said, and handed the helmet to Delasquez. Obviously everyone who had already seen the new message was burning to have something to say about it, but they managed to keep quiet until Jimmy Lin, at the bottom of the list, had his turn.
Then they all began to talk at once. “What a load of bullshit,” Jimmy Lin said scornfully. “Heaven, for Christ’s sake!” And Martin complained:
“It is blasphemous to talk of Heaven in that way!” And Patsy began:
“Yes, sure, but-listen, Dan-Dan, ever since I heard it there’s something I’ve been trying to remember. Pat? Patrice? Didn’t we have something in college about-“
But by then Dannerman knew what he had to do. “Hold it!” he ordered. “All of you! Don’t say another word.”
That was more than Martin Delasquez could stand. He said angrily, “Who are you to be giving us orders, Dannerman? I have had enough of being bossed around by you!”
But Rosaleen put her hand placatingly on his arm. He was fuming, but he listened to her. “Please, Martin,” she said. “I’m sure Dan has a reason for this. Let’s listen to what he has to say.”
Martin looked darkly suspicious, Jimmy Lin looked only hostile, but both of them kept quiet. So did the Pats, waiting while Dannerman thought out what to do.
After a moment he nodded, satisfied. “Here’s the point,” he said. “Evidently Dopey wants information again. He must think we have some, or he wouldn’t go to this trouble, and I guess we do. But let’s not give it away.”
He raised a hand to prevent questions, then turned and faced the mirror wall, just as Jimmy Lin had done earlier. “Dopey,” he called. “You hear us. None of us is going to say or write another word about that message until you agree to our terms. If you want us to tell you everything we know or think-I mean tell you out loud; no more secrets; we’ll talk it over in your presence, and you can ask as many questions as you like-if that’s what you want, then come here and let’s talk. But it’s going to cost you, because this time we aren’t going to do it for nothing!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Patsy
The Dr. Patrice Adcock they were calling “Patsy” (she was willing to answer to that name, because she didn’t have any choice about it, but she never ever thought of herself that way) was angry. She sat Buddha-like, her legs tucked into the lotus position, glowering at the world. She knew she shouldn’t be angry. She conceded to herself that Dan-Dan had some reason for ordering them to be quiet, and she supposed those orders might make sense. Why should you give away what you might be able to sell? All the same, she wasn’t used to being told what she could or could not talk about.
What she was bursting to talk about was that whole “eschaton” business. It was right on the tip of her tongue, if only she could compare notes with Pat and Patrice to goose her memory along. That ancient and ill-recalled episode had been a very minor item in her education, no more than a grace note in some course she had taken for easy credits. She could almost see the face of the professor who had talked about it. It was the young dark one with the bedroom eyes-what was his name?- and he hadn’t called it the eschaton. Something like-oh, yes. The “Omega Point.” Whatever that was supposed to be. But she was pretty sure that it was precisely the thing that Colonel du-Valier had been blathering about in the message on the helmet.
Farther than that, however, her unaided memory would not take her.
It was perfectly obvious to her that everybody else was dying to talk it out, too. Well, of course they were. Was it even remotely possible that this notion of eternal life ten-to-the-zillionth years in the future could be real? Or that some hideous creatures from outer space might be doing their best to turn that eternal heaven into some kind of perpetual hell?
The whole thing was ridiculous.
The other thing about it was that it was also, just possibly, quite true.
In any case, she couldn’t help thinking about it, and neither could any of the other six captives. It put a damper on all other subjects for conversation. The seven of them did their chores, completing Rosaleen’s inventory, cooking and eating their meals, using the “latrine” when there was no way to avoid it; but what they were thinking about was this eschaton thing. If only Dopey would show up! Then maybe Dan could work out some kind of deal with him and then they could all talk freely, and maybe scratch that burning itch to hash the subject out.