The La Paz Bar is extremely dark, and when I entered I could not see her anywhere. At last I made out her small figure; she sat alone at a small table in the rear, her purse in front of her beside an empty drink glass and a dish of corn chips.
Seating myself, I said, “I’m sorry I said those things.”
“It’s all right,” Sadassa said. “You were supposed to say them. I just didn’t know how to react—I had to get out of that restaurant. Too many people, too crowded. I had no instructions then as to what to say; you took me by surprise.”
“Was it true, then? What I said? About your mother?”
“Basically, yes. I’ve received instructions since I saw you; I know what I’m supposed to say. You are to sit here until I’ve finished talking.”
“Okay,” I said.
Sadassa said, “What you told me came from the satellite. There is no other way you could have known it.”
“That’s right,” I said.
“The information you told me introduced you to me as a member of our organization, a new one; that information is an initial step in understanding the situation, but it is not the full story. I’m to further initiate you into the organization by—”
“What organization?” I said.
“Aramchek,” Sadassa said.
“Then Aramchek exists.”
“Certainly it does. Why should Ferris Fremont spend half his time trying to stamp out a group that’s imaginary? Aramchek includes hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, here and in the Soviet Union. I don’t really know how many. The satellite reaches each of us directly and on an individual basis, so only the satellite knows who, how many, where, and what we are to do.”
“What is Aramchek?” I said.
“I just told you. People here and there contacted and informed by the satellite. The satellite itself is called Aramchek; we get our name from it. You’re a member of Aramchek, brought into it on the initiative of the satellite. It is always by the volition of the satellite that someone is brought in—exactly as you were: picked out, selected. We, you and I and the others, are the Aramchek people, exponents of a composite mind emanating from the satellite, which in turn receives its instructions by web from the planets of the Albemuth system.
“Albemuth is the correct name for the star we call Fomalhaut. We came from there originally, but the mind controlling the satellite is not like ours; rather, it is”—she paused—“much superior. The dominant life form on the planets of Albemuth. Whereas we were a less-evolved life form. We were given our freedom tens of thousands of years ago, and we migrated here to set up our own colony. When we fell into overwhelming difficulties, the satellite was dispatched to help us, to serve as a link back to the Albemuth system.”
“I knew most of this already,” I said.
Sadassa continued, “There is one thing you do not know, or rather do not realize. What has been happening is a transfer of plasmatic, highly evolved life forms from the Albemuth planets via the communications network to the satellite, and from there to the surface of this planet. Technically speaking, Earth is being invaded. That is what is really happening.
“The satellite has done it before—two thousand years ago, to be exact. It didn’t work out that time. The receivers were eventually destroyed and the plasmatic life forms escaped into the atmosphere, taking the receivers’ energy with them.
“You yourself personally were invaded by a plasmatic life form sent in energy form to take control of you and direct your actions. We, the members of the organization, are receptor sites for these plasmatic life forms from the home planets, a sort of collective brain—that’s what we now consist of, to our own advantage. They are coming in a very small number, however, for the purpose of helping us; this is not a mass invasion but rather a small, highly selective one. It was with great deliberation that you were picked out as a receptor site; I was, too. Without this possession we could not succeed. We may not succeed anyhow.”
“Succeed at what?”
“Dislodging Ferris Fremont.”
“Then that is a major goal.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “A major goal here, in the limited terms of this planet. You have become a composite entity, part human and part—well, they have no name. Being energy, they merge together, split apart, and re-form into their composite form, as a band in the atmospheres of their home planets. They are highly evolved atmospheric spirits who once had material bodies. They are very old; this is why, when your theoleptic-like experience began, you had the impression of a very ancient person seizing possession of you, with ancient memories.”
“Yes,” I said.
“You thought it was a human being who had died,” Sadassa said. “Didn’t you? I thought so too when it happened to me. I imagined all sorts of things—I tried out every theory in the book. Valis let us—”
“I made up that word,” I broke in.
“You were given that word; it was placed in your head. It is how we all refer to him. Of course it isn’t his name; it is merely a label, an analysis of his properties. Valis allows us an interval in which to formulate theories acceptable to our own minds in order to minimize the shock. Eventually, when we are ready, we are given the truth. It is a hard blow to take, Nick, to discover that Earth is in the process of being selectively invaded; it conjures up horrific scenes of Martian insects, tall as buildings, landing and kicking over the Golden Gate Bridge. But this is not like that; this is for our benefit. It is selective, cautious, and considerate, and its only antagonist is our own antagonist.”
“Will these plasmatic life forms leave after Fremont is destroyed?” I asked.
“Yes. They’ve come several times before in the past, given help and knowledge—medical knowledge in particular—and departed. They are our protectors, Nick; they come when we
