Then the light faded, the sense of power diminished until it became merely a sense of pleasure, and he felt as if he was being lowered gently onto a beach by some powerful receding wave. Yet the insight remained. He knew now that the power came from inside himself.
The pads that pressed against his skin were no longer tingling. The whole room seemed transformed. He was looking at it as if he had created it. Nothing in it seemed strange or alien.
He remained perfectly still for several minutes, listening to a diminishing echo of the sound that had carried him outside his personality. Then he sighed deeply and removed the device from his head, replacing it on the table. He felt very languid and tired, but totally serene.
The old man was no longer there but the voice inside his chest said: “Now you understand.”
There was no point in replying. For the first time, he grasped clearly that the voice was merely the voice of a machine, programmed to respond to his own questions. He had known this before, yet because the machine behaved and sounded like a person, some deeper level of his mind had refused to accept it. Now he knew it was true.
For the moment, he wanted to lie still and absorb what he had just learned.
The prime fact was power.
Yet although this was so simple and obvious, it was also bewildering. The source of power was inside him. He used it every time he raised his hand or lowered his eyelids. Yet it was also strong enough to change the universe. Why did men know so little about their inner power? Why did they make so little use of it? The answer was now clear. Because in order to make use of this power, man has to summon it. And to do this, he has to descend inside himself, and contract his mind to a point. But the process of falling asleep begins in the same way, with that withdrawal from the physical world and descent into the mind. So man seldom becomes aware of the power because he usually falls asleep before he reaches it. . .
Niall contracted his forehead, summoning all his energy in an act of concentration. He immediately experienced a brief flash of power. It was pale and feeble compared to the intensity of a few moments ago; but this was unimportant. What was important was that he could induce it — no matter how dimly — by an act of will.
And now he could understand why the spiders had never progressed beyond a certain point. Throughout millions of years of their evolution, they had remained passive. This had enabled them to grasp an important secret — a secret unknown to men: that will-power is a physical force. Man had never discovered this because he was too busy using his brain and muscles — the instruments of his will. When a spider lured a fly into its web by the force of its will, it knew that force can be exerted without the use of any physical intermediary. So when the spiders became giants, they developed a giant will-power.
Yet even this was a step in the wrong direction. They learned to use the will as men learned to use their muscles; to make reality do their bidding. They directed it outward, towards other creatures. But because they had never learned to make active use of their brains, they failed to ask themselves about the source of this power. So they remained unaware of the immense power that lay hidden deep inside themselves. That was why they would be superseded by men. That was why they knew they would be superseded. That was why the Spider Lord was afraid of men.
He crossed to the transparent wall that faced north. On the other side of the lawn that surrounded the tower, the broad avenue continued in a straight line for perhaps another half mile. Beyond that, between half-ruined buildings, he could glimpse the river. Since the avenue appeared to continue without a break, it was clear there must be a bridge.
He asked: “Do you have a plan of the spider city?”
The room was immediately plunged into darkness as its walls became opaque. On the wall facing Niall, projected as if by a beam of light, there appeared an enormous map whose buildings were drawn in perspective, as if photographed at an angle from the air. The city, he could now see, had been designed in the form of a circle, with the great main avenue running from north to south, and the river serving as its east-west diameter. The women’s quarters occupied the south-western segment, with the central dividing wall running far beyond the city’s southern limit.
By far the largest section was the semicircle to the north of the river. This was labelled “slave quarter”, and the foreshortened drawings revealed that many of its buildings were ruins. Like the southern section, this also contained a large central square, occupied by a domed building surrounded by lawns.
Niall asked: “What is this?”
“It was once the city’s administrative centre — the City Hall. Now it is used as a silk factory.”
“For spider balloons?”
“For that and other purposes.”
“Are the balloons made here?”
“No. The silk is transported to the city of the bombardier beetles, five miles to the north.”
“Why not here?”
“Because the servants of the spiders lack the manual dexterity. Balloon making is a highly skilled job, and the servants of the beetles are more intelligent and more skilful.”
“If the spiders are afraid of human intelligence, why do they allow the beetles to keep intelligent servants?”
“They have no choice. The beetles are immune from spider poison, and they can be dangerous when aroused.”
“But why do the beetles want intelligent servants?”
“Because, unlike the spiders, they are fascinated by human achievement. They are also fascinated by human destructiveness. It is, you see, an evolutionary heritage. They have always defended themselves by producing explosions — therefore, to them, explosions are beautiful. The chief business of their servants is to devise tremendous explosions. To do this, they need a fairly high degree of intelligence.”
“That must worry the spiders.”
“It did before the beetles and spiders reached an agreement. Now they operate a slave-exchange system. Intelligent beetle menservants are exchanged for attractive females from the spider city.”
“Doesn’t that anger the servants of the beetles — to see their men sold into slavery?”
“No. They are glad to have a choice of beautiful women. Besides, the servants of the beetles regard it is an enviable job — they are used for breeding.”
Niall studied the map for a long time.
“Where would be the best place for me to hide?”
“Anywhere in the slave quarter. They would accept your presence without question.”
“But are there no spiders there?”
“Many. But to them, one human being looks exactly like another. You only need to observe a reasonable degree of caution.”
Niall suddenly experienced a pang of dread. Inside this tower, he was comfortable and safe. Now he was about to venture into unknown dangers, he experienced a child’s overwhelming craving for peace and security. All the knowledge and insight he had acquired during the past two days seemed unimportant. For a moment, he felt something like despair.
The Steegmaster seemed unaware of this inner conflict. The voice said: “Before you leave, it would be advisable to commit the plan to memory.”
“That would take a long time.” He tried to keep the weariness out of his voice.
“Not as long as you think. Look in the cabinet beside the Steegmaster.”
Niall opened the door of the grey metal cabinet and found himself looking at his own face. Its rear wall consisted of a mirror. Meeting his own eyes, he could see the misery and uncertainty reflected in them.
Hanging over the mirror, suspended on a tiny gold hook, there was a fine metal chain on the end of which was a small circular disc slightly more than an inch in diameter.
The voice said: Take it and hang it around your neck. It is a thought mirror.”
Niall unhooked it and looked at it carefully. The disc was slightly concave, and of a browny-gold colour. Now he looked more closely, he could see that it was not an exact circle; the shape was closer to a diamond with curved sides. The surface looked too dull to be a mirror; his face, golden and distorted, looked back at him as if through a cloud of mist.
As he hung it round his neck, the voice said: “No, the other way.”
He turned it round so that the concave surface lay against his chest, resting slightly above the solar plexus. He immediately experienced a peculiar and indescribable sensation, as if some shock had caused his heart to contract. His eyes once again met his reflection in the mirror and he saw that the uncertainty had vanished.