Everyone drank, while Carlsen smiled with embarrassment. Jamieson said: “I should add, Commander, that this is only one of several maps found on the Stranger. I want Professor Schliermacher to take charge of the examination of this material.”
Schliermacher, his face red, said huskily: “I am deeply honoured.”
Jamieson smiled at Fallada. “Doctor, do you remember the story of the Piri Reis maps?” Fallada shook his head sullenly. “Then let me tell it to you. If I remember correctly, Piri Reis was a Turkish pirate who was born at about the time Columbus discovered America. In 1513 and 1528, he drew two maps of the world. Now, the amazing thing is that these maps not only showed North America — which Columbus had discovered — but South America as far as Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. And these countries had not been discovered at that time. Even the Vikings, who discovered North America five centuries before Columbus, never got beyond North America. But that isn’t all. Piri Reis’s maps also showed Greenland. That was easy enough to explain — the Vikings were familiar with Greenland. But in one place, Piri showed two bays where modern maps showed land. That seemed worth investigating, so a team of scientists made seismographic measurements in Greenland. They discovered that Piri Reis was right, and the modern maps were wrong. It wasn’t land — it was a thick sheet of ice that now covered the bays. In other words, Piri Reis’s map showed Greenland as it was before the ice covered it — thousands of years ago.” He looked around the table; everyone was listening intently, even Fallada. Jamieson said: “We now believe that Piri Reis based his maps on much older maps — maps perhaps as old as this one, or even older.” He tapped the map on the table. “And these maps could not have been made by human beings on earth. They were not advanced enough.” He turned to Fallada, and his gaze was almost hypnotic. “Would you not agree that it is possible that those old maps were made by these same alien creatures that you call vampires?”
Fallada hesitated, then said: “Yes, I suppose it is.”
“So it is possible that these creatures have visited earth on at least one, and possibly two previous occasions, without doing any harm?”
Fallada, Carlsen and Bukovsky all began to speak at once. It was Bukovsky who made his voice heard. “. . .what I find so difficult to understand. Surely there can be no justification in taking such risks? Even if it was only a million to one chance that these creatures are dangerous, it wouldn’t be worth the risk. It would be like bringing a deadly unknown germ back to earth.”
Rawlinson said: “I’m inclined to agree with that.”
Jamieson smiled at them, unperturbed. “So are we all, my dear fellow. That’s why we’re discussing it now.”
Bukovsky said: “Would it be possible to hear what Dr Fallada has to say?”
“Of course!” The Prime Minister turned to Fallada. “Please, Doctor.”
Fallada, finding all eyes on him, removed his glasses and polished them. He said: “Well, briefly, I have established beyond all doubt that these creatures are vampires — energy vampires.”
Jamieson interrupted smoothly: “If you’ll excuse my saying so, you don’t have to establish that. We all know what happened to that young journalist.”
Fallada’s temper was visibly wearing thin. He made an obvious effort to control his irritation. “I don’t think you quite see what I mean. I have developed a method for testing whether someone has been killed by a vampire. Quite simply, I have developed a method for inducing an artificial life field in the body of a creature that has recently died. Now, when a body has been drained by a vampire, it won’t hold a life field. It’s like a burst tire — it runs out as fast as it runs in. You see. . .
He hesitated for a moment, giving Jamieson a chance to interject: “And when did you make this discovery?”
“Oh. . . er. . . two years ago.”
“Two years! You’ve been working on vampirism for two years?”
Fallada nodded. “In fact, I’ve written a book on it.”
It was M’Kay who interrupted this time. “But how could you write about vampires before this happened? Where did you get your material?”
Fallada said earnestly: “Vampirism is commoner than you think. It plays a basic part in nature, as well as in human relations. There are many predators that drain the life field of ther prey, as well as eating their bodies. And even human beings know this instinctively. Why do we eat oysters alive? Why do we boil lobster alive? It’s true even when we eat vegetables — we prefer a fresh cabbage to a cabbage that is a week old –”
M’Kay said: “Oh come, that sounds total nonsense. We eat fresh cabbage because it tastes better, not because it’s alive.”
Rawlinson said: “And personally, I prefer my grouse when it’s been hung for at least a week.”
Carlsen saw that Fallada’s irritation was making him damage his own case. He said: “Could I perhaps explain a little?”
Jamieson said courteously: “Please do, Commander.”
“I’ve been in Dr Fallada’s lab this afternoon, and I saw the body of the girl who was found on the line at Putney yesterday. There was no doubt whatever that she’d been killed by a vampire.”
Jamieson shook his head. He was obviously impressed. “How do you know?”
“By Dr Fallada’s test. Her body won’t hold a life field.”
“I know nothing about this girl. How did she die?”
Heseltine said: “She was strangled then her body was thrown onto the railway line from a bridge.”
Jamieson turned to Fallada. “And would not such violence have a similar effect on the life field?”
“To a minor extent. Not nearly to the same degree.”
“And when did this take place?”
Heseltine said: “In the early hours of yesterday morning.”
“I. . . don’t understand. Surely by that time, all three of these creatures were dead?”
Fallada said: “I don’t believe they were dead. I believe they’re still at large.”
“But how –”
Fallada interrupted: “I think they can take over other people’s bodies. The female alien didn’t really die in Hyde Park. She lured a man into the park, took over his body, then made it look like a sex crime. I also believe the other two are at large. They simply left their bodies in the Space Research building and took over other bodies.”
There was a silence. Both Rawlinson and M’Kay were looking down at the table, as if unwilling to comment. Jamieson said reasonably: “You must admit that what you say sounds unbelievable. What evidence is there for these. . . assertions?”
Fallada said: “It’s not a matter of evidence. It’s a matter of simple logic. These creatures are supposed to be dead. Yet we find bodies that seem to have been drained of life energy. That suggests they’re not dead after all.”
Jamieson said: “How many bodies?”
“Two, so far — the girl on the railway line, and the man who killed her.”
“The man who killed her?” Jamieson looked at Heseltine as if appealing for help.
Heseltine said: “She was strangled by a man called Clapperton — the racing driver. Dr Fallada thinks he was possessed by one of these creatures.”
“I see. And I gather that he is now also dead?”
“Yes.”
“And his body. . . is it also in. . . this condition?”
“We don’t know yet. It’s being sent to my laboratory for testing.”
“And when shall we know the result?”
Heseltine said: “It was sent two hours ago. It may have been tested by now.”
Jamieson said: “In that case, please find out. Here is a telescreen.” He turned and lifted a portable telescreen from the desk behind him. Rawlinson pushed it down the table to Fallada.
Fallada said: “Very well.” There was total silence as he pushed the dialling buttons. When a girl’s voice answered, Fallada said: “Would you get Norman on the phone, please?” Half a minute went by. M’Kay helped himself to another drink. Then Grey’s voice said: “Hello, sir?”
“Norman! Did Wandsworth mortuary send a body?”
“Oh, yes, sir. The man who drowned. I’ve finished testing it now.”
“What result?”
“Well, as far as I can tell, sir, it’s a normal case of drowning. He may have taken knock-out pills.”
“But what about the lambda reading?”
“Perfectly normal, sir.”
“No difference whatever?”
“None, sir.”
Fallada said: “All right. Thank you, Norman.” He rang off.
Jamieson said quickly: “Of course, I agree that proves nothing. You could still be right, generally speaking, even though you are wrong in this particular case. But as I understand it, your theory now rests on a single body — the girl on the railway line?”
Before Fallada could answer, M’Kay interrupted quietly: “I don’t wish to be offensive, Doctor, but isn’t it possible you’ve allowed your interest in vampires to. . . well, outweigh your judgement?”