monument which Iris had become and, through the flaw, I heard again, briefly, the voice of the girl I had met on the bank of the Hudson in the spring of a lost year.
'I never knew it would be like this,' she said, almost whispering, her eyes on Cave while she spoke to me. 'I never thought my life would be as alone as this, all work.'
'Yet you wanted it: you do want it. Direction, meaning, you wanted all that and now you have it. The magic worked, Iris. Your magician was real.'
'But I sometimes wonder if I am real anymore.' The words, though softly spoken, fell upon my ear like rounded stones, smooth and hard.
'It's too late,' I said, mercilessly. 'You are what you wanted to be. Live it out, Iris. There is nothing else.'
'You're dead too,' she said at last, her voice regaining its usual authority.
'Speaking of dead,' said Cave suddenly turning toward us (I hoped he had not heard all our conversation), 'Stokharin here has come up with a wonderful scheme.'
Even Clarissa fell silent. We all did whenever Cave spoke which was seldom on social occasions. Cave looked cheerfully about the table for a moment. Stokharin beamed with pleasure at the accolade.
'You've probably all heard about the suicides as a result of Cavesword.' Cave had very early got into the habit of speaking of himself in the third person whenever a point of doctrine was involved. 'Paul's been collecting the monthly figures and each month they double. Of course they're not accurate since there are a good many deaths due to Cavesword which we don't hear about. Anyway, Stokharin has perfected a painless death by poison, a new compound which kills within an hour and is delightful to take.'
'I have combined certain narcotics which together insure a highly exhilarated state before the end, as well as most pleasant fantasies.' Stokharin smiled complacently.
Cave nodded and continued. 'I've already worked out some of the practical details for putting this into action. There are still a lot of wrinkles, but we can iron them out in time. One of the big problems of present-day
'Our plan is simple. We will provide at each Center full facilities for those who have listened to Cavesword and have responded to it by taking the better way. There will be a number of comfortable rooms where the suicidalist may receive his friends for a last visit. We'll provide legal assistance to put his affairs in order. Not everyone of course will be worthy of us. Those who choose death merely to evade responsibility will be censured and restrained. But the deserving, those whose lives have been devoted and orderly, may come to us and receive the gift.'
I was appalled; before I could control myself I had said: 'But the law! You just can't let people kill themselves…'
'Why not?' Cave looked at me coldly and I saw, in the eyes of the others, concern and hostility. I had anticipated something like this ever since my talk with Paul but I had not thought it would come so swiftly or so boldly.
Paul spoke for Cave. 'We've got the Congress and the Congress will make a law for us. For the time being, though, it is against the present statutes; however, we've been assured by our lawyers that there isn't much chance of their being invoked except perhaps in the remaining pockets of Christianity where we'll go slow until we do have the necessary laws to protect us.'
At that moment the line which had, from the very beginning, been visibly drawn between me and them, became a wall apparent to everyone. Even Clarissa, my usual ally, fearless and sharp, did not speak out. They looked at me, all of them awaiting a sign; even Cave regarded me with curiosity. My hand shook and I was forced to seize the edge of the table to steady myself. The sensation of cold glass and iron gave me a sudden courage. I brought Cave's life to its end. I turned to him and said, quietly, with all the firmness I could summon: 'Then you'll have to die as well as they, and soon.'
There was a shocked silence. Iris shut her eyes. Paul gasped and sat back abruptly in his chair. Cave turned white but he did not flinch. His eyes did not waver. They seized on mine, terrible and remote, full of power; with an effort, I looked past him. I still feared his gaze.
'What did you say?' The voice was curiously mild yet it increased rather than diminished the tension. We had reached the crisis, without a plan.
'You have removed the fear of death for which future generations will thank you, as I do. But you have gone too far… all of you.' I looked about me at the pale faces; a faint wisp of new moon curled in the pale sky above. 'Life is to be lived until the flesh no longer supports the life within. The meaning of life, Cave, is more life, not death. The enemy of life is death, an enemy not to be feared but no less hostile for all that, no less dangerous, no less wrong when the living choose it instead of life, either for themselves or for others. You've been able to dispel our fear of the common adversary; that was your great work in the world… now you want to go further, to make love to this enemy we no longer fear, to mate with death… and it is here that you, all of you, become the enemies of life.'
'Stop it!' Iris's voice was high and clear. I did not look at her. All that I could do now was to force the climax.
'But sooner or later every act of human folly creates its own opposition. This will too, more soon than late, for if one can make any generality about human beings it is that they want not to die. You cannot stampede them into death for long. They are enthusiastic now. They may not be soon… unless of course there is some supreme example before them, one which you, Cave, can alone supply. You will have to die by your own hand to show the virtue and the truth of all that you have said.'
I had gone as far as I could. I glanced at Iris while I spoke; she had grown white and old-looking and, while I watched her, I realized whom it was she resembled, the obscure nagging memory which had disturbed me all through dinner: she was like my mother, a woman long dead, one whose gentle blurred features had been strikingly similar to that frightened face which now stared at me as though I were a murderer.
Paul was the one who answered me. 'You're out of your mind, Gene,' he said, when my meaning had at least penetrated to them all. 'It doesn't follow in the least that Cave must die because others want to. The main work is still ahead of him. This country is only a corner of the world. There's some of Europe and most of Asia and Africa still ahead of us. How can you even suggest he quit now and die?'
'The work will be done whether he lives or not, as you certainly know. He's given it the first impetus. The rest is up to the others, to the ambitious, the inspired… we've met enough of
'But it's nothing without Cave.'
I shrugged. I was suddenly relieved as the restraint of three furious years went in a rush. 'I am as devoted to Cave as anyone,' I said (and I was, I think, honest). 'I don't want him to die but all of you in your madness have made it impossible for him to live. He's gone now to the limit, to the last boundary: he is the son of death and each of you supports him. I don't, for it was only my wish to make life better, not death desirable. I never really believed it would come to this: that you, Cave, would speak out for death, against life.' I raised my eyes to his. To my astonishment he had lowered his lids as though to hide from me, to shut me out. His head was shaking oddly from left to right and his lips were pressed tight together.
I struck again, without mercy. 'But don't stop now. You've got your wish. By all means, build palaces if you like for those who choose to die in your name. But remember that you will be their victim, too. The victim of their passionate trust. They will force you to lead the way and you must be death's lover, Cave.'
He opened his eyes and I was shocked to see them full of tears. 'I'm not afraid,' he said.
Nine
1
