you don't hear from me for a while. I'll be working, that's all.' He hated to tell his father like this, but there was no way of telling him directly. He would not have understood.
In all of Spence's growing-up years his parents had never understood. They did not comprehend his work, nor could they follow his explanations when he tried to describe it to them. He was simply too far beyond them. He had eventually given up trying to make them understand; he stopped trying to bridge the gap.
The image on the vidphone screen licked its lips nervously and leaned into the picture. 'You'll call when you get back?'
'Yes, it's the first thing I'll do.'
'I miss you, Spencer.'
'I miss you, too, Dad. Good-bye.'
'Good-bye, Son. Take care of yourself.' The screen went blank.
Spence sat staring at the blank, flickering screen for several moments, then pushed the unit away. It retracted back into a nook in a panel beside the bed. He looked up just in time to see his physician approaching.
'Feeling better, Dr. Reston?' The medic came to stand at the head of his bed. He entered a code on the data screen above the bed and read Spence's chart.
'Feeling fine, Dr. Williams. With a good word from you I'll be on my way,' said Spence as cheerfully as he could. 'I'm taking up too much of your time.'
'Not at all. We're having a special this week. Free tune-ups for all first-time customers. You're a lucky guy.'
'Thanks, but if it's all the same to you, I'll take you up on that some other time.' He made a move to get up, but a troubled look from the doctor stopped him. 'What's the matter?'
'I was hoping you would tell me. '
'I-I don't understand. Have you found something?'
'No, you're perfectly healthy as far as we can determine. But I think we should have a talk.'
Spence had a sinking feeling. 'There is something wrong.'
'I think so, yes.' The doctor drew up a stool and sat down beside Spence, who chewed his lip nervously. 'Not physically,' continued Williams, 'that is, at least not in any of the areas we have checked out.'
He gazed at his patient intently and Spence got the idea he was being measured for his tensile strength, like a spring being stretched to see how much it could take before snapping. He waited for the tension to break.
'Spence…' The doctor started, then hesitated.
Bad sign, thought Spence. Whenever they use your first name it means trouble.
'Do you have any idea why you're here?' The calm physician's eyes watched him carefully, his face a mask of impassive interest which gave away nothing.
'Yes,' Spence laughed. 'I tripped over a stool in the lab. I bumped my head, that's all.'
'You weren't in your lab, Spence.'
Spence had had another blackout-that much he knew. He thought his story about bumping his head had been accepted without question. He cringed at the thought of-what? His memory was blank, and that scared him more than anything.
'No?' Spence asked, more timidly than he would have liked. 'Where was I, then?'
'You were in the cargo bay air lock.' 'Impossible! Who told you that?'
'The workers who found you. They brought you in. And I see no reason to doubt their story; it's on videotape. All air locks are monitored for security.'
Spence was dumbfounded. He could not believe what he was hearing.
'There's something else.'
He didn't like the doctor's tone of voice. 'What's that?' 'The air lock was depressurizing. You were bleeding off air preparatory to opening the outer doors.'
'That's absurd! Why would I do a thing like that?'
'I don't know, but I'd like to find out.' The doctor pulled a thin metallic object out of his pocket and began fingering it.
'Look, if you think I wandered into an air lock and then depressurized it on purpose… you're crazy. That would be suicide!'
The doctor shrugged. 'Sometimes people can't take it. They want so badly to get out they don't wait for a shuttle. You were lucky. A cadet saw you heading for the air lock and reported it to the crew chief. There were some workmen in pressure suits nearby. Another few seconds and you'd have been… beyond repair.'
'No. I'm not buying it. I'll have to see the tapes before I believe it.'
'That can be arranged, of course. But I was hoping you'd level with me. If there is something bothering you I could help.'
'You don't understand. I don't know what you're talking about. I tripped and bumped my head. That is all!'
'That's all you remember? Nothing else? No unusual feelings lately, nothing uncomfortable? Other blackouts, perhaps?'
Spence winced at the word 'blackouts.' Did the doctor know something more? 'No, there is nothing else.'
The physician sighed heavily.
'What are you going to do now? I mean, what will happen to me?'
'Nothing. You're free to go.'
'But-you won't… I mean, have to…'
'Report this? No, I don't think so. You don't seem to me to be in any immediate danger. You are stable, in other words.'
'Thanks,' Spence said darkly. 'Then I can go?'
'Yes, but I hope you will remember that my door is openif you think of anything else, or want to talk about it further.'
'I'll remember.'
Spence swung himself down from the high bed and followed Dr. Williams out of the room. In the small reception office he turned aside and pressed the access plate. As the partition slid open he turned to nod to the physician who still watched him closely.
'Thank you, Dr. Williams. Good-bye.'
'One other thing, Dr. Reston.' With a sideways glance the medic stepped close and whispered, 'You don't have any enemies… do you?'
8
… THAT WAS A STUPID, foolish thing to do! What were you I thinking of? You imbeciles! Do you think this is some kind of game? We're not dealing with peasants this time, gentlemen. Reston is a very intelligent, sensitive man. Another mistake like the last one and he will smell the rat. Oh yes, he will. Reston is smart, and he is strong-willed. We must handle him very carefully.' Hocking glared at the two quaking before him.
'Maybe it would be better to get someone else,' suggested the younger of the two men.
'Are you questioning my decision? Do you doubt me? Look at me, you two!' Hocking's eyes started from his skull and veins stood out on his forehead. His lips drew back in a savage sneer.
'It was only a suggestion,' muttered the offender. 'Anyway, you said he wouldn't remember a thing.'
'Shut up!' Hocking's chair rose in the air with a faint whir of its internal mechanism. It swiveled away momentarily and when he turned again to face his henchmen his features had relaxed somewhat.
'Do either of you have any idea how close we are to our goal? We are on the very threshold of a new epoch in human history. Think of it, gentlemen! The wealth of the universe will soon be ours-and that is only the beginning. Our power will be limitless. All mankind will bow before us. We'll be gods, gentlemen. We will control the minds of the entire human race.' Hocking's voice was a whisper. His eyes shone like hard, black beads as the chair inched closer.
A sudden flash arced across the gap from Hocking's chair to his assistants and a tremendous cracking sound
