1,000-Year Voyage (6 page)

The men and women said nothing. With their various children in their arms they stood looking at Merva and she gazed back at them. She was still maintaining her act, her heavy bosom rising and falling emotionally as though she were struggling to get a grip of herself.

“I notice,” one of the men remarked, glancing about him, “that your son Exodus is not here, Merva. Why was he not to be included in the telling of the story? As far as I can remember he has always been present when the other children have been. What was the merciful providence that saved him on this particular occasion?”

“He is busy studying,” Merva replied. “It was just chance that he happened to be away, and needless to say I thank the Cosmos that he was. You must realise that the whole thing was an accident,” she insisted. “What possible reason could Rigilus have had for wanting to kill these children of yours? Even more important, what possible reason could he have had for wanting to kill himself? The very nature of the tragedy shows that it was nothing else but mischance.”

“I would like to believe that,” one of the women said, holding her dead child close to her, “but for some reason I cannot. I have never felt particularly sanguine about you Merva. I have always felt that it was not Rigilus who ruled you but
you
who ruled
Rigilus
, and most certainly I cannot overlook the most extraordinary coincidence that saved your son Exodus from destruction when our children have perished.”

The artificial look of terror suddenly vanished from Merva's face and she stood erect, coldly challenging.

“Do you dare to accuse me of having
arranged
this?” she demanded. “Have you the effrontery to accuse me?”

“I am not accusing anybody.” the woman retorted, “I am merely remarking the coincidence. At the moment there is nothing that we can do but accept your word for it but I am sure you will not mind if we question Exodus as to why he was not among these children of ours when the disaster happened?”

“I'll permit you to do no such thing,” Merva snapped. “I have given you my word and it is for you to accept it. I do not intend to stand here and be accused as the perpetrator of the tragedy that was brought about entirely by an unhappy accident. Naturally my condolences are with you—and don't forget that there is a considerable amount of bereavement attached to me also. Observe my husband lying there as dead as your children.”

One of the other women, the limp form of her child in her arms, smiled bitterly. “I do not observe Merva, that your bereavement has touched you very deeply,” she commented. “At first I was inclined to believe that your grief was genuine: now I have my doubts.”

Merva waited for the next, her face set in hard lines, but none of the men and women in the assembly said anything further. Instead they looked at each other and then with a silent exchange of nods they went silently from the laboratory bearing their young dead with them.

Merva watched the door close silently behind them and afterwards stood for several moments in deep thought. Finally she looked down at the sprawled body of Rigilus and then she came to her decision. Certainly there was no room for a corpse aboard the space liner so inevitably the body of Rigilus would have to be treated to the same fate as had the body of Randos—but on this occasion Merva would have to do the task herself. Accordingly she crossed quickly to the laboratory door, opened it, then returned to where Rigilus was lying and began to drag him across the floor, a task which required considerable effort, for he was a big, heavy man. Knowing she could not call on any help from the others she continued with her task by easy stages until at last she had brought Rigilus' corpse to the every edge of the emergency trap which lay in the floor of the central corridor.

After that the rest was comparatively simple. Pressure on a button shot the trap in the floor to one side and a little manoeuvring dropped Rigilus' body into the cavity beneath. The moving of a second button closed the upper trap and opened the lower one, dropping the corpse into the frigid deeps of interstellar space.

Inevitably the corpse would constantly trail in the wake of the ship, chained by its mass gravity, nor was there any guarantee as to which exact position it would take up. Merva did not know, or care, whether the corpse would follow in the rear of the vessel, a constant accusing ghost, or whether it would follow beneath the machine and thereby be out of sight unless specially looked for. Whatever the possibilities, Rigilus was out of the way and she had gained all the potential energy she needed to produce an approach to near eternal life. Certainly enough energy to last a thousand years.

Smiling tautly to herself she continued along the corridor until she reached the chamber where she had left Exodus. She half expected to find him being questioned by other members of the party but this did not prove to be the case. He was seated on the ledge beneath the big porthole gazing out with a child's wonder on to the everlasting deeps.

In a moment or two his mother had crossed the room and seated herself at his side. She caught his hands possessively.

“Now you listen to me, Exodus,” she said deliberately fixing her eyes upon him, “no matter what anybody else in the ship may say to you, no matter what questions they may ask you, you are to say that I told you to remain in here and study your books—until I returned to you. You understand me?”

“Yes, mother,” Exodus answered simply. A child already well ahead of normal development, thanks to the high-pressure education which had been given to him almost since the first moment he had been able to comprehend his surroundings.

“If you do not do exactly as I have told you, you will make me very angry,” Merva added, “and you know already, Exodus, what I am like when my anger is aroused.”

“Yes mother,” the child answered, again in the same voice, then turned his somewhat sad green eyes back to the void and contemplated the stars.

Merva looked at him searchingly for a moment, and then finally, satisfied that he would do exactly as she had ordered, she turned and left him, going back to the laboratory. Once here she made a careful examination of the life-energy apparatus and her original high hopes were more than confirmed as she came to study the input meters. There was no doubt that the absorption of energy from the six young children had produced a one hundred per cent current upon which she could draw as and when she wished, thereby giving unto herself a tide of almost ever-lasting life.

“And,” she mused, surveying the instrument, “there is no better time to start than now. Fortunately for me none of these other fools are clever enough to understand the meaning of this apparatus, otherwise they would begin to realise as the years pass and I grow no older, the real purpose of this machine and the cause of the death of their children.”

Wasting no more time she connected the wrist electrodes to herself and then switched on the output meter at its lowest current. She could feel her body throbbing and trembling in every nerve and fibre as the stored up energy passed into her. It produced almost instantly a feeling of extreme elation, of exhilaration, and of vast well being.

It was like a heady wine yet possessing none of the after effects. The current she was absorbing now would mingle with her own energy and restore to her much of the vigour and freshness of youth of which the years had inevitably robbed her. In no way could this energy make her appear again as a girl in her teens—but it did mean that she would apparently remain at her present age for as many years as she chose.

At length she was satisfied with the amount of current that she had given herself and switched the machine off.

Before leaving it, however, she removed from it one of the most vital connecting bars so that by no possible means could any of the other members of the ship, if their suspicions carried them that far, cause the energy to be lost.

This done, she left the laboratory and quietly made her way to the control room. She entered amid a sombre silence to find the men and women gathered about their silent dead children who were now on the main table covered with one enormous sheet. There seemed to be some kind of religious service in progress, one of the men with an open Bible on his outspread palm. At Merva's entry there was a general glance in her direction. She withstood the scrutiny of the eyes with complete calm and came forward, her raven-haired head held high.

“For the purposes of Christian burial,” the man with the Bible said, glancing in Merva's direction, “do you desire that Rigilus shall be included in this ceremony?”

“I have already attended to that,” Merva answered. “What I would like is to be present at the actual ejection of these unfortunate offspring of yours into space.”

“We are not inclined to regard that request with any favour,” the man with the Bible answered.

Merva hesitated, feeling at last that she was unable to withstand the cold stares that were fixed upon her. She set her lips, turned and left the lounge without another word.

CHAPTER FOUR

PLAN FOR REVENGE

MERVA was deeply asleep when something suddenly awakened her. Immediately she sat up in the bed, her hand feeling quickly for the ray gun she always left on the table beside her. Just for the moment she wondered if it was Exodus who had awakened her by some movement or other, for he slept in a bed not very far away from her in the same compartment, but almost instantly she realised that this was not the case.

Around her bed, their grim faces illumined by the everlasting stars, were four women. Despite the dimness of the light Merva knew them well enough to almost instantly recognize their features. They were four of the women whose children had died.

“Well,” Merva demanded, her emotions as usual held under admirable control, “what is it that you want?”

“The truth,” one of the women answered grimly. “Get out of that bed, Merva, immediately!”

“I will do nothing of the sort!”

The four women did not waste any more time. Before she had the chance to grasp what was happening Merva found herself seized by arms and legs and dragged out onto the floor. Swift movements, obviously planned beforehand, made it that before she could put up any kind of trouble to save herself she was bound hand and foot and then dragged to her feet. Breathing hard, her black hair tumbling over her face, she struggled desperately to free herself.

“I shouldn't waste your time if I were you,” said the woman who had first spoken. “We know how to tie knots and we know how to get at the truth when we want it, and what is more, we're going to. Aboard this ship there is no form of accepted law or justice—therefore it becomes essential that we take the law into our own hands.

“You're going to be asked quite a few questions, Merva, and if you don't answer them the way we think you should you will be made to.”

“Questions,” Merva exclaimed, furiously, tossing her hair from her eyes. “What kind of questions? I have nothing to say!”

“That is a matter of opinion.”

Again before she could do anything about it Merva was seized between the four women and, struggling frantically, was carried from the room and along to the lounge. None of the men were present: evidently this was a move decided upon by the women alone so it was quite possible that the men knew exactly what was happening. Possibly, too, they felt that a better effect could be gained if they kept out of it.

“We are not satisfied,” the spokeswoman said, “that the death of our children was brought about in the way you suggested, therefore we mean to find out the truth. It is possible that, cold and hard natured though you are, you still have enough motherly instinct to protect your own. At any rate that remains to be seen. Fetch Exodus,” the woman added briefly, and immediately two of her colleagues left the lounge.

Merva, lying upon the floor and still struggling uselessly to break the cords around her wrists and ankles, glared up in fury. She knew she could expect no mercy whatever from her own sex, that the wiles that she might use upon a man and perhaps melt the most ruthless of his intentions were utterly useless here. For this reason she felt fear though she struggled desperately not to show it.

“What do you want with Exodus?” she demanded.

“You'll see,” said the spokeswoman, dispassionately. Presently Exodus was led into the room, still in his sleeping clothes, and he looked at his mother in vague wonder as she lay upon the floor and then he glanced at the faces around him.

“The issue, Merva,” said the spokeswoman, “is perfectly simple. We believe our children died through some machination of yours. Whether they were killed deliberately from sheer hatred or whether you had some particular reason for using them before they died we have no means of knowing. But we do intend to find out if you were the instigator of the tragedy. At the moment Exodus is the only child left aboard the ship. Unless you tell us the truth, there will be no children left aboard the ship five minutes from now.”

“What!”

Merva jerked herself up on to one elbow and looked around her fearfully. “You can't mean that you're going to kill Exodus for absolutely no reason at all!”

“We shall kill Exodus unless you tell us the truth,” the spokeswoman replied. “We realise that it is not exactly fair to Exodus—but it is a case of the sins of the fathers, or mothers, in this case—being visited upon the children, but we mean to get at the truth even if we have to commit murder to do so. You can prevent that by telling us what we wish to know.”

“I have already told you the truth,” Merva declared desperately.

“First,” the spokeswoman said, “before the ultimate necessity of destroying Exodus, we can perhaps make you talk by a little gentle persuasion. It all depends on whether you are strong enough to resist our methods.”

“There is nothing you fools can do that will intimidate me,” Merva retorted.

None of the women answered that, instead, the one who I had been doing all the talking took a sharply pointed instrument from her pocket. At first glance it looked rather like a carpenter's awl or else an extremely sharp darning needle driven into a big handle. Holding it significantly in front of her the woman gave an icy smile.

“You have a very beautiful face, Merva—at least I will say that for you—but after a little treatment with this instrument your beauty will be there no more. This is not the simple needle-like instrument that it appears to be: it is a surgical probe, the point covered with an indelible dye.

“The dye is non-poisonous but it nevertheless enters into the pigment of the skin. It will be quite possible to mottle your face in such a way that every man in the ship will turn from you with loathing, and you yourself will finally destroy every mirror into which you happen to gaze. Which do you prefer? That I use this instrument upon you, or destroy your son?”

Merva writhed desperately upon the floor. A fine glaze of perspiration had appeared upon her face, and seeing it, the other women looked at each other and nodded significantly. At last, for the first time, Merva was afraid.

“Very well,” the spokeswoman said at last, shrugging, “since you do not see fit to talk, you compel me to act.”

With that she seized Merva's black hair in a relentless grip and forced her head back savagely. Merva gave a little gasp of pain but the spokeswoman took no notice. She was by far the strongest of the four women and since Merva was so tightly bound she could do nothing to prevent the iron grip on her hair exposing her face to the needlepoint of the weapon of torture.

“You have one more chance,” the spokeswoman said.

To Merva the entire view was limited to the intense thinness of the instrument's point poised directly in front of her face. She breathed hard and struggled in vain.

“Wait,” she panted breathlessly, “wait a moment. There is no need for this descent into barbarism. I will tell you what you want to know.”

The spokeswoman hesitated as though uncertain whether to accept Merva's word or not. Finally she relaxed and stood up looking down on the sprawling Merva, the rest of the women standing with their arms folded, waiting.

“The death of your children was the work of Rigilus, although the original idea was mine,” Merva lied. “What I was endeavouring to do, and which would also have been a surprise to you, was to give them eternal life so that they would be better able to withstand this awful journey and even survive at the end of it. Something went wrong with the apparatus and Rigilus and your children were all killed. That is the truth: I swear it is!”

The women looked at one another and finally the spokeswoman seemed to make up her mind and, stooping, she began to undo the cords fastened about Merva's wrists and ankles. Merva made no move while this activity was in progress and when she finally struggled to her feet she looked across towards her son.

“I take it then,” she asked, glancing about her, “that you have decided to accept my word?”

“The situation is far from satisfactory,” the spokeswoman answered curtly, “but for the moment we are compelled to accept your word for there is no other evidence to the contrary. That does not mean, however, that we have decided to accept the situation as it is. Since we have little else to occupy us for the rest of our lives we shall spend a great deal of time determining what did happen with that apparatus in the laboratory. Fortunately we know which one it is and we shall also take the necessary steps to prevent you doing anything to destroy it.”

“Which is as good as saying that you do
not
accept my word?” Merva demanded.

“That is correct,” the spokeswoman answered coldly.

Merva gave a bitter glance, adjusted the zip fasteners on her disarranged and exceedingly ornate pyjama suit and then turned to leave the lounge, catching at Exodus' shoulder as she went. The child gave her a bewildered glance as he found himself impelled roughly into the corridor. Without pause Merva hurried along to the laboratory instead of her bedroom, bundling the child along beside her. Only when she had reached the laboratory and dosed the door did she release him.

“Stand over there,” she ordered, “I have an important job to do.”

The child obeyed, wandering sleepily into a distant corner Merva's eyes following him, then she turned and picked up a curiously fashioned instrument from a bench nearby.

In appearance it was not unlike an old-fashioned blowlamp except that the nozzle was over a foot long. Here was yet another of the devices which she had completed during the recent months.

Operating a control switch she directed the nozzle at the nearby tube chair that was screwed down to the floor. The moment she pressed the switch on her instrument the chair became mysteriously hazed with a lavender glow, after which it swiftly turned green and then with a sudden back draught of evil smelling vapours it entirely disappeared leaving behind nothing but a slowly dispersing haze of acrid smoke. Exodus from his comer stared blankly, realizing, albeit dimly, that he had just witnessed something of staggering power. His mother, for her part, with a twisted smile, came across to him carrying the deadly weapon in her hand.

“Your mother has a lot of enemies, Exodus,” she said slowly, laying her free hand on his shoulder, “and because it is never healthy to have enemies I intend to destroy them. I have taught you a good deal about electronics even at your young age and you may have understood something of what I have told you. See therefore if you can understand this: heat produces an accelerated vibration of the fabric of space, which is interpreted by the physical senses as heat. All that this instrument does is to electrically agitate the space around a particular object with the result that a stupendous heat is produced, resulting finally in complete collapse of the object concerned, by reason of the fact that its atomic constitution is so agitated it can no longer pull together and finally dissipates.... Now that is a very big worded explanation for a child as young as you but you may be able to grasp part of it. As you grow older I will explain it to you again and again until you finally understand every detail. Now you stay here; your mother has work to do.”

Turning, Merva left the laboratory swiftly and then went silently down the corridor outside. As she had expected when she came to peer into the lounge the womenfolk were still there, but now they were augmented by their particular husbands. All of them were standing in a ragged circle conversing, and from their grim faces Merva judged that they were probably discussing her. She gave again that insolently confident smile to herself and levelled her weapon steadily. Without making a sound she entered the big room and the group turned in some surprise. The moment they saw the weapon she was carrying and the expression of diabolical hatred on her marble white face they stepped back very slightly.

“You do well to retreat,” Merva remarked, bitterly, “and remember that
I
am confronting you single handed. When you attacked me there were four of you against which I had no chance: now the positions are reversed.

“So you think,” she continued, moving forward deliberately with her weapon still at the ready, “that you'll spend all your time hereon investigating the mysteries of the laboratories, do you? Studying how the life energy equipment operates, and if it doesn't do exactly as you think it should you intend to confront me once again with the charge of murdering your children. What kind of a fool do you think I am?”

“We never did think you were a fool,” one of the men answered; “indeed, quite the opposite. That's just the trouble.”

“A little while ago,” Merva said, still advancing steadily, “you asked me to tell the truth as to what happened to your children. I did not tell the truth but I am doing so now. Each and every one of them gave his or her life energy and it was stored in that scientific equipment in the laboratory. They gave their life energy because I have decided to live a thousand years and still be as young when this colossal journey has ended as I am now—young enough to be able to fashion the great scheme of vengeance that Rigilus originally conceived. So you see, whether you like it or not, your children have given everything to the plan of revenge whilst you, their parents, have given nothing. You refused to fall in with Rigilus's commands and he was compelled to bow to your wishes because of your superior numbers. I do not intend to bow to your wishes under any circumstances nor do I intend to allow you to pry and probe with the final intention of accusing me of murder. What I do intend to do is eliminate each and every one of you, even as your children and Rigilus himself were eliminated.

“There are only two people who matter in the Universe to me. Myself and my son. Into him I shall inject the poison of revenge for the day when he and I shall stand side by side, a thousand years hence, mistress and master of a plan which not only will overwhelm the Earth but the whole Solar System.”

“Madness,” one of the men muttered, “that's what it is, madness!”