Armstrong was saying: “Her name’s Ellen, not Helen. Ellen Donaldson. She’s been in charge of the female staff for the past two years.”
Heseltine asked: “Isn’t it dangerous for women to work here?”
“Not as dangerous as you might think. Besides, women are rather good for the male patients. They’re a soothing influence.”
Carlsen said: “Could I see her?” They all looked at him in surprise.
Armstrong said: “Of course. I don’t suppose she’s in bed yet. I’ll ask her to come over.”
Carlsen said: “No. I mean alone.”
There was a silence. Fallada said: “Is that a good idea?”
“I’ll be safe enough. I’ve met her before and survived.”
“You’ve met her?” Armstrong was surprised.
Heseltine said: “He means the alien.”
“Ah, of course.” Carlsen could read his thoughts. Armstrong thought they were all slightly mad, or at least thoroughly confused. His certainty gave him a sense of superiority. His total absorption in his own desires and emotions made him incredulous of anything beyond his own limited understanding.
Fallada said: “Why do you want to see her now? Why not wait until morning?”
Carlsen shook his head. “They’re most active in the night. It’s better now.”
Heseltine nodded. “Yes. You could be right. But listen. Take this.” He handed Carlsen a small plastic box, two inches square. He pressed the button in the centre; immediately, a high-pitched buzz sounded from the pocket of his jacket. “If you need us, press this. We’ll be with you in seconds.” He released the button, and the noise stopped.
Carlsen asked: “Where is she?”
Armstrong heaved himself to his feet. “I’ll take you.” He led Carlsen out of the main door, along a gravel path by the edge of the lawn, through a walled garden with a lily pond, to a closed gate. He took a key from his pocket and unlocked the gate. Carlsen could see a long, low building with outside lights over each front door. “That’s the nurses’ quarters. Nurse Donaldson is in the one at the end, number one.”
“Thank you.”
“Hadn’t I better come and introduce you?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Very well. The gate opens from the other side without a key. If you’re not back in half an hour, we’ll come and look for you.” His voice indicated he was joking, but there was an undertone of seriousness.
The gate closed behind him. Carlsen walked to the porch of the first chalet and rang the bell. A woman’s voice answered through the loudspeaker: “Who is it?”
He leaned and spoke into it. “My name is Carlsen. I’d like to speak to you.”
He expected more questions, but the speaker went dead. A moment later, the door was opened. The woman who stood there looked at him with curiosity and without fear. “What is it you want?”
“Can I come in and speak to you?”
“How did you get in?”
“Dr Armstrong brought me.”
“Come in.” She stood aside and let him past. She closed the door behind him, then went to an inter-communicating screen.
A moment later, Armstrong’s voice said: “Hello?”
“I have a Mr Carlsen here. Did you know?”
“Yes. I brought him. That is Commander Carlsen.”
“I see.” She switched off. While she had been speaking, he had been standing near the door, looking at her. He was disappointed. For some reason he had expected her to be beautiful. The reality was oddly commonplace. She was a woman of about thirty-five, and the skin of her face was coarse. The figure had been shapely but was now beginning to spread. He noted that the hem of the green woollen dress was lopsided.
“What did you want to see me about?” Her voice had a ring of mechanical efficiency, like a telephone operator. For a moment he wondered if he had made a mistake.
“May I sit down?” She shrugged and indicated the armchair. He wanted an excuse to touch her, but she was too far away. He said: “I wanted to ask you about the man you spent the afternoon with — Mr Pryce.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do. Show me your hand.”
She looked at him in surprise. “I beg your pardon?”
“Show me your hand.”
She was standing, pressed back against the edge of a small table by the wall. Then, suddenly, there was contact. They were playing a game, and both knew the rules. She stood staring at him, then came forward very slowly. He reached out and took both her hands. The energy flow was like an electric spark. She swayed, and he stood up to steady her. The energy was flowing out of her, into him.
He looked down at her face; her stare was glassy. As clearly as if she had spoken, he felt the unformulated comment. He gripped her tightly by her bare arms. “What’s his name?”
She was leaning against him. “I don’t know.”
“Tell me?”
She shook her head.
“I’ll hurt you.”
He squeezed her arms. She shook her head again. Deliberately, as if making a move in chess, he held her away from him and slapped her face. She shook her head again.
There was a knock at the door. It made him start, but she seemed to hear nothing. He said: “Who is it?” There was another knock. He lowered the woman into a chair, then went to the door. It was Fallada.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course. Come in.”
Fallada came into the room and saw the woman. He said: “Good evening.” Then he looked at Carlsen. “What’s wrong with her?”
Carlsen sat on the arm of her chair. Her face was red where he had slapped it, and tears were running down her face.
“Nothing wrong.” He sensed Fallada’s question. “She’s quite harmless.”
“Can she hear us?”
“Probably. But she’s not interested. She’s like a hungry child.”
“Hungry?”
“She wants me to hurt her.”
Fallada said: “Are you serious?”
“Quite. You see, when she’s possessed by the alien, she sucks energy from her victims. But she gives it all away again. She’s like a woman who steals for her lover. Now, if I take energy from her” — he placed his hand on her arm — “she responds automatically. She’s conditioned to giving.”
“Are you taking energy now?”
“A little, enough to keep her semiconscious. If I stop, she’ll wake up.”
“Like the girl last night — Miss Bengtsson?”
“Yes. But with her, it was just a normal desire for surrender. This one is far worse. She’d like to be completely destroyed.”
“Totally masochistic?”
“Quite.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave her alone?”
“When I’ve found out what I want to know: the name of the prisoner who’s taking her energy.”
Fallada knelt in front of the woman and raised her eyelid. She looked at him indifferently; she was interested only in Carlsen.
“Can’t you read her mind?”
“She’s resisting. She doesn’t want to tell me.”
“Why?”
“I’ve told you. She wants me to force her to tell me.”
Fallada stood up. “Would you like me to leave?”
“There’s no need — if you don’t mind waiting. This gives me no pleasure.” He said to the woman: “Stand up.”
She stood up slowly, a smile flickering at the corners of her mouth. Carlsen put his arms round her. He noticed that she winced as his left hand pressed her back. He said: “Tell me his name?” She shook her head, smiling. He pressed her back again. She gasped and writhed against him, then shook her head again.
Fallada said: “What’s hurting her?”
“I don’t know.” Carlsen took hold of the zipper and pulled it down to the waist. The dress parted. The flesh of her back was scored with scratches.
Fallada looked more closely. “They’re fresh. A souvenir of her lover today.”
Carlsen could feel the energy flowing through the bare flesh where his hands touched. He started to pull the dress forward off her shoulders. Fallada said: “What are you doing?”
“If you don’t want to watch, go into the other room.”
Fallada said: “Not at all. I am a natural voyeur.”
Carlsen pulled the dress downwards, and allowed it to fall around her feet. She was wearing a bra and panties that were held at the waist by a small safety pin. Her arms now moved around Carlsen’s neck. He held her close against him, feeling the warmth of naked flesh radiating through his clothes. He wanted to remove his own clothes for closer contact, but was inhibited by Fallada’s presence. With one hand against her buttocks, the other on the torn skin between her shoulder blades, he pressed her tightly against him. She winced; then, as he pressed his mouth against hers, she suddenly abandoned herself. The vitality flowed into him through her lips, the tips of her breasts, and the pubic region.
Fallada cleared his throat. “It’s incredible. Her back is becoming paler. . .”
She freed her mouth to say: “Now. Now.”