Authors: Brian Lumley
The Source (37 page)
The beach was deserted. Harry looked down at Luchov and nodded. Then he stripped down to his underpants, went for a swim. When he came out of the sea, Luchov was ready to talk â¦
Â
When Luchov was finished (which is to say when Harry had run out of questions) it was getting dark. A handful of cars had come roaring down to the beach a quarter of a mile away, spilled young people with blankets and barbecue gear. Laughter and rock music came wafting on a crosswind.
“Back at Perchorsk it'll be morning, daylight,” said Harry. “But they'll still be running around in circles looking for you. If Khuv has a locator, they'll know
approximately where you are. To be absolutely sure, though, they'll go over the Projekt with a fine-toothed comb. And by now everyone involved will be very tired. One thing is certain: Khuv now knows something of what he's up against.
approximately where you are. To be absolutely sure, though, they'll go over the Projekt with a fine-toothed comb. And by now everyone involved will be very tired. One thing is certain: Khuv now knows something of what he's up against.
“Now listen: you've co-operated with me and so I'll give you fair warning. It may be that I have to destroy Perchorsk. Not for my sake or in the interest of any nation or specific group of people, but for the sake of the world. But in any case, even if anything should happen to me, eventually Perchorsk
will
be destroyed. The USA won't sit still for any more monsters coming out of that place.”
will
be destroyed. The USA won't sit still for any more monsters coming out of that place.”
“Of course,” Luchov answered. “I had foreseen that eventuality. Some months ago I passed on my warning to people in authority, made my recommendations. The warning was heeded and the recommendations accepted. Within the week, possibly as soon as tomorrowâtodayâtrucks will start to arrive at Perchorsk from Sverdlovsk. They will deliver a new failsafe. So you see, on this one point if on no other, we are in agreement. Nothingâalienâmust ever again get out of Perchorsk ⦔
Harry nodded. “Before I take you back there,” he said, “I'd like to ask you one more thing. With that space-time Gate down there in Perchorsk's guts, how come you found me so incredible? I mean, surely the two principles come pretty close? In Perchorsk you have ⦠a grey hole? And I make use of a dimension or space-time place other than my own.”
Luchov stood up, stiffly brushed sand from his clothes. “The difference is this,” he said. “I know how the Perchorsk Gate came into being. I've worked out most of the mathematics. The Gate is a physical reality, with nothing transient or insubstantial about it. It
is
physical, not metaphysical. The result of an accident, yes, but at least I know how that accident happened. You, on the other handâyou're just a man! I
can't
understand how you could ever possibly have happened.”
is
physical, not metaphysical. The result of an accident, yes, but at least I know how that accident happened. You, on the other handâyou're just a man! I
can't
understand how you could ever possibly have happened.”
Harry thought about his answer, eventually nodded. “Actually, I believe I was an accident, too,” he said. “The product of a one-in-a-million combination of events. Anyway, I've warned you about Perchorsk. You risk your life staying there.”
“Do you think I don't know that?” Luchov shrugged. “Still, it's my job. I'll see it through. And you. What will you do now?”
“After I've taken you back? I have to know what's on the other side of that Gate. There has to be more there than the nightmares you've described.” There
had
to be, for how else could little Harry and his mother exist there?
If they exist there. But what if there are other dimensions beyond that one? What if Harry Jr. has taken his mother even further afield?
had
to be, for how else could little Harry and his mother exist there?
If they exist there. But what if there are other dimensions beyond that one? What if Harry Jr. has taken his mother even further afield?
Harry dropped Luchov off outside the great sliding doors of the service bays, left him in the grey morning light and the sullen snow, hammering at the wicket-gate and bellowing to be let in. Then Harry went to Luchov's quarters, (which he found empty and locked from the outside) where he donned a white smock which on his last visit he'd seen hanging there. The smock was the insignia of a Projekt scientist or technician. In the garment's pocket he found tinted spectacles and put them on.
And without more ado he went straight to the magmass heart of the place, materializing on the Saturn's-rings circumference midway between two sets of manned Katushev cannons. He stayed perfectly still, held a Möbius door fixed in his mind, ready to take coverâbut all seemed well. A soldier lounging against the smooth magmass wall saw him, looked a little startled, straightened up and gave a half-hearted salute. Harry stared hard at him, much to the man's discomfort, then turned and scanned the great unnatural cavern in which he found himself. Especially he stared at the blinding white sphere which was the Gate â¦
Â
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There were other technicians about. Everyone looked tired following their night-shift, even the gunners in their padded bucket-seats where they sighted their weapons on the Gate. Two scientists walked past Harry, talking, moving in the direction of the walkway to the sphere. One of them glanced his way as they passed, smiled and nodded in a familiar manner. Harry wondered who the man thought he was. He nodded back, began to follow the pair, and as he drew level with the walkway turned off and moved toward the centre, heading directly for the sphere of light.
Behind him a soldier shouted: “Hey!ânot in our line of fire, sir! Regulations!”
Harry glanced back casually over his shoulder and kept going. He left the outer platform and moved onto the walkway. Even as the gate in the electrified fence began to close, he passed through it, reached the spot where the boards were scorched. Behind him the gates opened again; footsteps came hurrying; Harry was aware of a low, angry muttering. But he was more aware of the Katushevs aimed directly at him; or rather not trained on him but on the Gate, which amounted to the same thing.
“Sir!”
a voice shouted in his ear, from directly behind him.
“Sir!”
a voice shouted in his ear, from directly behind him.
Harry conjured a Möbius doorâ
and with a tremor of unaccustomed panic saw that it was all wrong!
and with a tremor of unaccustomed panic saw that it was all wrong!
The outline of the door wasn't clear-cut in Harry's mind. Its edges shimmered like a heat-haze mirage. It floated up alongside him, drifted toward the sphere as if attracted by it, and was held there, gradually fading where it trembled above the wooden walkway. Harry had seen nothing like this before. He conjured a second door with the same result: the sphere both attracted and repelled the doors; it made them less substantial, pinned them down and broke them up. It
cancelled
them!
cancelled
them!
A hand fell on Harry's shoulder, and at the same time he heard shouts from the wide wooden staircase where it emerged from the magmass shaft. Someone
with a high-pitched voice was screaming: “He's here! He's here!” As the Sergeant who'd grabbed Harry's shoulder turned him about face, he glanced toward the stairs, saw Chingiz Khuv and a second man coming down from the shaft. Harry thought;
God! Doesn't that bastard ever sleep?
with a high-pitched voice was screaming: “He's here! He's here!” As the Sergeant who'd grabbed Harry's shoulder turned him about face, he glanced toward the stairs, saw Chingiz Khuv and a second man coming down from the shaft. Harry thought;
God! Doesn't that bastard ever sleep?
Khuv seemed to be holding his companion up, keeping him from toppling headlong. The man he helped was one of the espers Harry had struck while he was laying his smoke screen. And he was the one who was doing all the shouting. Then he pointed directly at Harryâscreamed one last time, “That's him!”âand Khuv's dark gaze followed his shaking hand.
Khuv's eyes blazed in a moment. “Open fire!” he shouted at once. He too pointed at Harry, shouting, “Shoot him! Kill him! He's an intruder!”
The Sergeant who had taken hold of Harry let go of him, stepped back, went to draw the pistol at his hip. Harry moved quickly after him, drop-kicked him and sent him flying off the walkway. Falling to the boards, Harry stayed low, out of the line of fire of the Katushevs. He conjured a Mobius door level with the walkway, hanging over empty space. It was his notion to dive headlong through itâ
but the door shimmered and warped, was drawn up and toward the sphere of light!
but the door shimmered and warped, was drawn up and toward the sphere of light!
Harry could hear the Katushev commander yelling: “Target to the frontâtake aimâ” and knew that the next command would be “fire!” He mustn't be here when that order was given. Before the shimmering, disintegrating door could disappear entirely, he sprang for it. Even though it appeared printed on the very face of the sphere itself, still it was his one chance.
He passed through the door
âinto a hell of physical and mental agony!
âinto a hell of physical and mental agony!
Â
When Harry regained consciousness he was adrift in the Möbius Continuum, apparently in motion through a region of the Continuum which was new to him. His
body and his psyche both felt badly battered, and that sixth sense of Harry's which was usually sharp as a razor felt tarnished and dull. Not without a deal of effort, he formed the mental equations and conjured a door; it opened on deep voids of space shot with stars in alien constellations. He closed the door at once and groped for others.
body and his psyche both felt badly battered, and that sixth sense of Harry's which was usually sharp as a razor felt tarnished and dull. Not without a deal of effort, he formed the mental equations and conjured a door; it opened on deep voids of space shot with stars in alien constellations. He closed the door at once and groped for others.
He found a door on future-time and peered through it. No blue life-threads raced into the future here, only his own, which bent violently aside beyond the door to disappear at right-angles to Harry's viewpoint. The past was equally hostile: indeed there seemed to be no past in this place, just an ocean of interminable, impersonal stars. The lack of human activity, of even traces of activity, reinforced Harry's opinion that he had been blown off-track and had left the mundane world of men far behind.
Beginning to panic, he tried one last doorâand gazed out on the surface of a roaring furnace star! He closed that door, too, then forced himself into a state of calm, a condition in which he might at least apply a little reason to the problem. He was lost, yes, but what is lost can be found again. He didn't know where he was or how he had got here, true, but, since he
had
come here there must be a way back. Except ⦠space is a big place and Harry Keogh felt like an exceedingly tiny mote in the eye of the infinite.
had
come here there must be a way back. Except ⦠space is a big place and Harry Keogh felt like an exceedingly tiny mote in the eye of the infinite.
Then â¦
Harry?
whispered a familiar, distant voice in his mind.
I thought
I
recognized you!
The voice sped closer, rapidly grew stronger.
But what's this? Are you trespassing?
whispered a familiar, distant voice in his mind.
I thought
I
recognized you!
The voice sped closer, rapidly grew stronger.
But what's this? Are you trespassing?
“Möbius! Thank God!” said Harry.
God? That's outside my line of research, Harry,
Möbius told him.
I prefer to thank my equations, if it's all the same to you. Though I suppose it could be argued that they are one and the same!
Möbius told him.
I prefer to thank my equations, if it's all the same to you. Though I suppose it could be argued that they are one and the same!
“How come you're out here?” Harry was calmer now. “Wherever âhere' is.”
Here is in the constellation of Orion,
Möbius answered.
And the point is, what are you doing out here?
Möbius answered.
And the point is, what are you doing out here?
Harry explained.
Hmm!
Mobius mused.
Well, first let's get you home again, and then we'll see if we can find an explanation for what's happened. If you'll just follow me
â¦
Mobius mused.
Well, first let's get you home again, and then we'll see if we can find an explanation for what's happened. If you'll just follow me
â¦
Harry stayed with Möbius, sped with him homeward, materialized in the Leipzig graveyard. It was evening, which told him he'd spent an entire day (or possibly two?) in the Mobius Continuum. In the grey, wintry light of the graveyard, Harry blinked, staggered; his legs wouldn't hold him up, so he sat down on the gravel beside Möbius's marker.
You could do with a good long rest, my boy!
Möbius told him.
Möbius told him.
“You're right,” Harry agreed. “But first I'd like to know if you can explain what happened to me.”
I think I can, yes,
said the mathematician.
You yourself have likened my strip dimension to a parallel plane, and this gate at Perchorsk leads to another; they are both gates between planes of existence. Both are negative conditions, blemishes on the perfect surface of normal space-time. Now: take two magnets and push their negative poles together, and what happens?
said the mathematician.
You yourself have likened my strip dimension to a parallel plane, and this gate at Perchorsk leads to another; they are both gates between planes of existence. Both are negative conditions, blemishes on the perfect surface of normal space-time. Now: take two magnets and push their negative poles together, and what happens?
“They repel one another,” Harry shrugged.
Exactly. And so does the gate and the doors which you create in your mind. But the Perchorsk Gate is stronger, and so the repulsion is that much more fierce.
When you used that door close to this sphere gateway, you were hurled across the Möbius Continuum like a shot from a gun! Your equations were warped out of focus; your body underwent stresses it could never hope to survive in the physical world; in three-dimensioned space you would have died instantly! The Continuum itself saved you, because it is infinitely resilient. Lesson: you may not impose your metaphysical self upon
the Gate. Go through it as a man, by all means, if you must; but never again attempt entry using the Möbius Continuum.
When you used that door close to this sphere gateway, you were hurled across the Möbius Continuum like a shot from a gun! Your equations were warped out of focus; your body underwent stresses it could never hope to survive in the physical world; in three-dimensioned space you would have died instantly! The Continuum itself saved you, because it is infinitely resilient. Lesson: you may not impose your metaphysical self upon
the Gate. Go through it as a man, by all means, if you must; but never again attempt entry using the Möbius Continuum.
Harry frowned, then slowly nodded. “You're right,” he said. “And I've been foolishâbut that wasn't entirely my fault. I hadn't intended to use the Continuum in conjunction with the Gate, it just worked out that way. But my curiosity has worked against me. I
had
to see what this Gate looked tikeâsee it with my own eyes. And by now there won't be a man in the entire Perchorsk Projekt who doesn't know what
I
look like! The next time I stick my nose in there, be sure someone will blow it right off my face.”
had
to see what this Gate looked tikeâsee it with my own eyes. And by now there won't be a man in the entire Perchorsk Projekt who doesn't know what
I
look like! The next time I stick my nose in there, be sure someone will blow it right off my face.”
What will you do?
Harry leaned back against the headstone and sighed. “I don't know. But I know I'm tired.”
Go home,
said Möbius.
Sleep, rest. Things will be that much clearer in your mind when you wake up.
said Möbius.
Sleep, rest. Things will be that much clearer in your mind when you wake up.
Harry said his thanks, his farewells, did as Mobius advised. He emerged back in Jazz Simmons's flat in a prone position two inches over his bed, gently fell onto it. Almost before his head hit the pillows he was asleep â¦
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