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10 - Five Stories by Alan Nourse by Alan E. Nourse · Five Stories by Alan Nourse

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Speaker 1: Martyr, Part three of five stories by Alan Norse. This
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Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by kerk Ziggler,
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Speaker 1: early evening as the plane dropped him off in New
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Speaker 1: York Crater and picked up another charter. Two cold eggs
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Speaker 1: and some scalding coffee, eat and standing at the airport counter.
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Speaker 1: Great for the stomach, but there wasn't time to stop anyway.
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Speaker 1: Dan's stomach wasn't in the mood for dim lights and
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Speaker 1: pale wine. Not just this minute. Questions howling through his mind.
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Speaker 1: The knowledge that he had made the one class a
0:36
Speaker 1: blunder of his thirty years in politics, this last half day,
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Speaker 1: a miscalculation of man. He should have known about Mackenzie,
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Speaker 1: at least suspected Mackenzie was getting old. He wanted a retread,
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Speaker 1: and wanted it badly before he had planned to get
0:52
Speaker 1: it through Dan. Then something changed his mind, and he
0:56
Speaker 1: decided Rhinehart would end up on top. Why Armstrong suicide,
1:01
Speaker 1: of course, pretty good proof that even Rhinehart hadn't known
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Speaker 1: it was a suicide. If Karl had brought back evidence
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Speaker 1: of murder, Dan would win, Mackenzie thought, But evidence of
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Speaker 1: suicide it was shaky. Walt Rhinehardt had his hooks in
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Speaker 1: too deep. They piped down the fifteen minute warning for
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Speaker 1: the Washington Jet. Dan gulped down the last of his
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Speaker 1: coffee and found a visaphone booth with a scrambler in
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Speaker 1: working order. Two calls, the first one to Jean to
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Speaker 1: line up round the clock guards for Peter Goldwin's widow
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Speaker 1: on Long Island. Jean couldn't keep surprise out of her voice.
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Speaker 1: Dan grunted and didn't elaborate, Just get them out of there.
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Speaker 1: Then a call to locate Carl. He chewed his cigar nervously.
1:44
Speaker 1: Two minutes of waiting while they called Karl from wherever
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Speaker 1: he was. Then I just saw mac Kenzie. I found
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Speaker 1: him hiding in Rhinehart's hip pocket. Jesus, Dan, we've got
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Speaker 1: to have time. We've got it, but the price was
1:58
Speaker 1: very steep. Son silence. Then, as Karl peered at him, finally,
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Speaker 1: I see if I hadn't been in such a hurry,
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Speaker 1: if I'd only thought it out, Dan said, miserably. It
2:10
Speaker 1: was an awful air, and all mine too. Well, don't
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Speaker 1: go out and shoot yourself yet, I suppose it had
2:17
Speaker 1: to happen sooner or later. What about mother. She'll be
2:21
Speaker 1: perfectly safe. They won't get within a mile of her.
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Speaker 1: Look son as Fisher doing all right? Karl nodded. I
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Speaker 1: talked to him an hour ago. He'll be ready for
2:31
Speaker 1: you tomorrow night. He thinks, sober, sober and mad. He's
2:36
Speaker 1: the right guy for the job. Worried lines deepened on
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Speaker 1: Golden's forehead. Everything's okay, Rhinehart won't dare. I scared him.
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Speaker 1: He'd almost forgotten. Everything's fine. Dan rang off, scowling. He
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Speaker 1: wished he was as sure as he sounded. Rhinehardt's back
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Speaker 1: was to the wall now. Dan wasn't too sure. He
2:57
Speaker 1: liked it that way. An hour he was in Washington
3:01
Speaker 1: and Jean was dragging him into the BOLTA. If you
3:04
Speaker 1: don't sleep now, I'll have to put you to sleep.
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Speaker 1: Now shut up while I drive you home. A soft bed, darkness,
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Speaker 1: escape When hit he slept last, it was heaven. He
3:17
Speaker 1: slept the clock around which he had not intended, and
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Speaker 1: caught the next night jet to Las Vegas, which he
3:23
Speaker 1: had intended. There was some delay with the passenger list
3:27
Speaker 1: after he had gone aboard a flight of some sort,
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Speaker 1: and the jet took off four minutes late. Dan slept
3:33
Speaker 1: again fitfully. Somebody slid into the adjoining seat. Well get
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Speaker 1: old Dan Fowler, a gaunt, frantic looking man with skin
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Speaker 1: like cracked parchment across his high cheek bones and a
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Speaker 1: pair of carrotine eyes looking down at Dan. If death
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Speaker 1: should walk in human flesh, Dan thought it would look
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Speaker 1: like John Tyndall. What do you want, Moses, just drop
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Speaker 1: by to chat, said Tindall. You're heading for Las Vegas. Why?
4:02
Speaker 1: Dan jerked, fumbled for the upright button. I like the
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Speaker 1: climate out there. If you want to talk, talk and
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Speaker 1: get it over with. Tindall lifted a narrow foot and
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Speaker 1: gave the reclined button a sharp jab, dumping the senator
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Speaker 1: back against the seat. You're onto something. I can smell
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Speaker 1: a cooking, and I want my share right now. Dan
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Speaker 1: stared into the gaunt face and burst out laughing. He
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Speaker 1: had never actually been so close to John Tindall before,
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Speaker 1: and he did not like the smell which had brought
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Speaker 1: on the laugh. But he knew all about Tyndall, more
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Speaker 1: than Tindall himself knew. Probably he could even remember the
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Speaker 1: early rallies tindal had led, feeding on the fears and
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Speaker 1: suspicions and nasty rumors grown up in the early days.
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Speaker 1: It was evil. They had said. This was not God's way.
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Speaker 1: This was man's way, as evil as man was evil.
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Speaker 1: If God had wanted man to live a thousand years,
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Speaker 1: he would have given him such a body. Or they'll
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Speaker 1: use it for a tool political football. They'll buy it
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Speaker 1: and sell with it. They'll make a call of it.
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Speaker 1: They're doing it right now. Look at Walder Rhinehardt. Did
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Speaker 1: you hear about his scheme to keep it down to
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Speaker 1: five hundred a year? They'll make themselves a ruling class
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Speaker 1: and a mortal elite with Rhinehart for their black pope.
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Speaker 1: Better that nobody should have it, or immortality. Eh, but
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Speaker 1: what kind you hear? What happened to Harvey Tatum? That's right,
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Speaker 1: the jet car man, big business. He was one of
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Speaker 1: their noble ten. They're always bragging about. But they say
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Speaker 1: he had to have special drugs every night, that he
5:39
Speaker 1: had changed. That's right. If he didn't get these drugs,
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Speaker 1: sea he go mad and try to suck blood and
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Speaker 1: butcher up children. Oh, they didn't dare publish it. Had
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Speaker 1: to put him out of the way quietly. But my
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Speaker 1: brother in law was down in Lancaster one night when
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Speaker 1: all he really needed was the man. And one day
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Speaker 1: there was Moses Tindall, the leader of the new crusade
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Speaker 1: for God. Small at first, but the ADMIN began supporting him,
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Speaker 1: broadcasting his rallies, playing him up big abolished rejuvenation. It's
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Speaker 1: a plot against man's im mortal soul. Amen. Then the
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Speaker 1: insurance people came along with money. The ADMIN and the
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Speaker 1: insurance people weren't too concerned about man's immortal soul. They'd
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Speaker 1: take their share now, thanks. But this didn't bother Tindall
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Speaker 1: too much. Misguided, but they were on God's side. He
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Speaker 1: prayed for them, so they gave Tendall the first abolitionist
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Speaker 1: seat in the Senate in twenty one twenty four, just
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Speaker 1: nine years ago, and the fight between Rheinhardt and Dan
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Speaker 1: Fowler that was brewing even then had turned into a
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Speaker 1: three cornered fight. Dan grinned up at Tindall and said,
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Speaker 1: go away, John, don't bother me. You've got something. Tindall snarled,
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Speaker 1: what is this damn shadow of yours? Nosing around tennors? For?
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Speaker 1: Why the sudden leaping interest in Nevada? Two trips in
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Speaker 1: three days? What are you tracking down? Why? On Earth?
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Speaker 1: Should I tell you anything, holy man, The parchment face
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Speaker 1: wrinkled unpleasantly, because it would be very smart. That's why
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Speaker 1: Rhinehart's out of it now, washed up, finished, thanks to you.
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Speaker 1: But now it's just you or me, one or the other.
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Speaker 1: You're in the way, and you're going to be gotten
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Speaker 1: out of the way when you've finished up with Rhinehart,
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Speaker 1: because I'm going to start rolling them. Go along with
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Speaker 1: me now and you won't get smashed. Dan, get out
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Speaker 1: of here, Dan snarled, sitting bolt upright. You gave it
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Speaker 1: to Carl Golden a long time ago when he was
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Speaker 1: with you. Remember, Carl's my boy. Now do you think
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Speaker 1: I'll swallow the same bait? You'd be smart if you did.
7:43
Speaker 1: The man leaned forward. I'll let you in on a secret.
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Speaker 1: I've just recently had a vision. You might say, they're
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Speaker 1: going to be riots and fires and shouting all around
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Speaker 1: the time of the hearings. People will be killed, lots
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Speaker 1: of people, spontaneous outbursts of passion, of course, the great
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Speaker 1: voice of the people against the abomination and against you, Dan.
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Speaker 1: A few repeaters may be taken out and hanged. And
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Speaker 1: then when you've won against Reinhardt, you'll find people thinking
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Speaker 1: that you're really a trader. Nobody will swallow that. Dan snapped,
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Speaker 1: Just watch and see. I can still call it off
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Speaker 1: if you say so. He stood up quickly as Dan's
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Speaker 1: face went purple New Chicago. He said, smoothly, have to
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Speaker 1: see a man here and then get back to the Capitol.
8:31
Speaker 1: Happy hunting, Dan, you know where to reach me. He
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Speaker 1: strode down the aisle of the ship, leaving Dan staring
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Speaker 1: bleakly at an empty seat. Paul Paul. He met Terry
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Speaker 1: Fisher at the landing field in Las Vegas. A firm handshake,
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Speaker 1: clear brown eyes, looking at him the way a four
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Speaker 1: year old looks at Santa Claus. Glad you could come
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Speaker 1: to night, Senator, I've had a busy couple days. I
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Speaker 1: think you'll be interested. Remarkable restraint in the man's world.
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Speaker 1: His face was full of things unsaid. Dan caught it.
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Speaker 1: He knew faces, read them like typescript. What is it, son,
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Speaker 1: wait until you see Fisher laughed nervously. I thought for
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Speaker 1: a while I was back on Mars cigar. No thanks,
9:17
Speaker 1: I never used them. The car broke through the darkness
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Speaker 1: across bumpy pavement. The men sat silently, then a barbed
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Speaker 1: wire enclosure loomed up, and a guard walked over, peering
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Speaker 1: at their credentials and waved them through. Ahead lay a long,
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Speaker 1: low row of buildings and a tall something spearing up
9:35
Speaker 1: into the clear desert night. They stopped at the first
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Speaker 1: building and hurried up the steps. Small, red faced Lejinski
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Speaker 1: greeted them all warm, handshaken enthusiasm and unmistakable happiness and surprise.
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Speaker 1: A real pleasure, Senator. We haven't had a direct governmental
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Speaker 1: look see in quite a while. I'm glad I'm here
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Speaker 1: to show you around. Everything's going along, okay, eh, oh, yeah,
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Speaker 1: she'll be a ship to be proud of. Now. I
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Speaker 1: think we can arrange some quarters for you for the night,
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Speaker 1: and in the morning we can sit down and have
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Speaker 1: a nice long talk. Terry Fisher was shaking his head.
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Speaker 1: I think the Senator would like to see the ship now,
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Speaker 1: Isn't that right? Senator Leczinsky's eyes opened wide, his head
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Speaker 1: bobbed in surprise. Young old Creesu's on his face flickered tonight, Oh,
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Speaker 1: you can't really be serious. Why it's almost two in
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Speaker 1: the morning. We only have a skeleton crew working at night.
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Speaker 1: Tomorrow you can see tonight, if you don't mind. Dan
10:34
Speaker 1: tried to keep a sharp edge out of his voice.
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Speaker 1: Unless you have some specific objection, of course, objection none whatsoever.
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Speaker 1: Lezinsky seemed puzzled and a little hurt. He bounced back, tonight,
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Speaker 1: it is, then, let's go. There was no doubting the
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Speaker 1: little man's honesty. He wasn't hiding anything, just surprised. But
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Speaker 1: a moment later there was concern on his face as
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Speaker 1: he led them out toward the factory compounds. There's no
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Speaker 1: question of appropriations, I hope, senator. No, no, nothing of
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Speaker 1: the sort. Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that sometimes
11:12
Speaker 1: our contacts from Washington are a little disappointed in the ship.
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Speaker 1: Of course. Dan's throat tightened. Why no reason, Really, we're
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Speaker 1: making fine progress. It isn't that. Yes, things really buzz
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Speaker 1: around here. Just ask mister Fisher about that. He was
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Speaker 1: here all day watching the workers. But there are always
11:31
Speaker 1: minor changes in plans, of course, as we recognize more
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Speaker 1: of the problems. Terry Fisher grimaced silently, and then followed
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Speaker 1: them into a small, wiral wind ground car. The little
11:42
Speaker 1: gyro car bumped down the road on a single wheel,
11:45
Speaker 1: down into a gorge then out onto the flats. Dan
11:48
Speaker 1: strained his eyes, peering ahead at the spare of the starship,
11:51
Speaker 1: gleaming in the distant night lights. Pictures from the last
11:54
Speaker 1: Starship progress report flickered through his mind, and a frown
11:58
Speaker 1: gathered as they came closer to the sho Then the
12:01
Speaker 1: car haulted on the edge of the building pit, and
12:04
Speaker 1: they blinked down and up at the scaffolded monster. Dan
12:08
Speaker 1: didn't even move from the car, He just stared. The
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Speaker 1: report had featured photos, projected testing dates, even ventured a
12:16
Speaker 1: possible date for launching, with the building of the starship
12:19
Speaker 1: so near to completion. That had been a month ago.
12:24
Speaker 1: Now Dan stared at the ship and shook his head, uncomprehending.
12:29
Speaker 1: The hull plates were off again, lying in heaps on
12:32
Speaker 1: the ground in a mammoth circle. The ship was a skeleton,
12:36
Speaker 1: a long, gawky structure of naked metal beams. Even now,
12:40
Speaker 1: a dozen men were scampering around the scaffolding before Dan's
12:43
Speaker 1: incredulous eyes, and he saw some of the beaming coming
12:47
Speaker 1: off of the body of the ship being dropped onto
12:50
Speaker 1: the crane, moving slowly to the ground. Ten years ago,
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Speaker 1: the ship had looked the same. As he watched, he
12:57
Speaker 1: felt a wave of hopelesness sweep through him, a sense
13:00
Speaker 1: of desolate, empty bitterness. Ten years his eyes met Terry
13:06
Speaker 1: Fisher's in the gloom of the car, begging to be
13:08
Speaker 1: told it wasn't so. Fisher shook his head. Then Dan said,
13:14
Speaker 1: I think I've seen enough. Take me back to the airfield.
13:18
Speaker 1: It was the same thing on Mars, Fisher was telling
13:21
Speaker 1: him as the return jet speared east into the dawn,
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Speaker 1: the refining and super refining, the slowing down, the changes
13:29
Speaker 1: in viewpoint and planning. I went up there ready to
13:32
Speaker 1: beat the world bare handed, to work on the frontier,
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Speaker 1: to build that colony and maybe even lead another one.
13:40
Speaker 1: I even worked out plans for a breakaway colony. We
13:43
Speaker 1: would need colony builders when we went to the stars,
13:46
Speaker 1: I thought, He shrugged sadly. Carl told you, I guess
13:51
Speaker 1: they considered the breakaway colony carefully, and then Barnest decided
13:54
Speaker 1: it was really too early, too much work already with
13:58
Speaker 1: just one colony. And there it was in a sense,
14:01
Speaker 1: frantic activity, noise, hubbub, hard work, fancy plans, all going nowhere,
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Speaker 1: no drive, no real direction. He shrugged again. I did
14:12
Speaker 1: a lot of drinking before they threw me off Mars.
14:15
Speaker 1: Nobody saw it happening. It wasn't the sort of thing
14:19
Speaker 1: you see. You could only feel it. It started when
14:22
Speaker 1: Armstrong came to the colony rejuvenated to take over its development.
14:26
Speaker 1: And eventually I think Armstrong did see it. That's why
14:30
Speaker 1: he suicided. But the starship Dan cried, it was almost
14:35
Speaker 1: built and they were tearing it down. I saw it
14:38
Speaker 1: with my own eyes. Ah, yes, for the twenty seventh time.
14:43
Speaker 1: I think a change in the engineering thinking. That's all.
14:47
Speaker 1: Keller and Lejinsky came to the same conclusion that the
14:49
Speaker 1: whole thing might fall apart in mid air at the launching.
14:52
Speaker 1: Can you imagine it when the rockets have been built
14:55
Speaker 1: for years, running to Mars every two months. But they
14:58
Speaker 1: could prove it on paper, and by the time they
15:01
Speaker 1: got through explaining it, every damn soul on the project
15:04
Speaker 1: was saying, yes, it might fall apart at the launching. Why.
15:08
Speaker 1: It's a standing joke with the workers. They call Keller
15:11
Speaker 1: old jet propulsion and always have a good laugh. But
15:15
Speaker 1: then Keller and Stark and Leczinsky should know what's what.
15:18
Speaker 1: They've all been rejuvenated and working on the ship for years.
15:23
Speaker 1: Fisher's voice was heavy with anger. Dan didn't answer. There
15:27
Speaker 1: didn't seem to be much to answer, and he just
15:30
Speaker 1: couldn't tell Fisher how it felt to have a cold
15:33
Speaker 1: blanket of fear wrapping around his heart, so dreadful and
15:36
Speaker 1: cold that he hardly dared look five minutes ahead. Right now,
15:40
Speaker 1: we have a monster on our hands. He was sick
15:45
Speaker 1: when they reached Washington. The pain in his chest became
15:48
Speaker 1: acute as he walked down the gangway, and by the
15:51
Speaker 1: time he found a seat in the terminal and popped
15:53
Speaker 1: a nitro tablet under his tongue, he was breathing in deep,
15:56
Speaker 1: ragged gasps. He sat very still, trying to lean back
16:01
Speaker 1: against the seat, and quite suddenly he realized that he
16:04
Speaker 1: was very, very ill. The good red headed doctor Moss
16:08
Speaker 1: would smile in satisfaction, he thought bitterly. There was sweat
16:12
Speaker 1: on his forehead. It had never seemed very probable to
16:16
Speaker 1: him that he might one day die. He didn't have
16:19
Speaker 1: to die in this great, wonderful world of new bodies
16:22
Speaker 1: for old. He could live on and on and on.
16:26
Speaker 1: He could live to see the golden centuries of Man.
16:29
Speaker 1: A solar system teeming with life ships to challenge the stars,
16:34
Speaker 1: the barriers breaking, crumbling before their very eyes. Other changes,
16:39
Speaker 1: as short lived man became long lived man. Changes in teaching,
16:44
Speaker 1: in thinking, in feeling, disease, the enemy was crushed, famine,
16:51
Speaker 1: the enemy slinking back into the dim memory of history, war,
16:55
Speaker 1: the enemy pointless to extinction, All based on one principle.
17:00
Speaker 1: Man must live. He need not die. If a man
17:04
Speaker 1: could live forty years instead of twenty, had it been
17:06
Speaker 1: wrong to fight the plagues that struck him down in
17:09
Speaker 1: his youth? If he could live sixty years instead of forty,
17:13
Speaker 1: Had the great researchers of the nineteen forties and fifties
17:16
Speaker 1: and sixties been wrong? Was it any more wrong to
17:20
Speaker 1: want to live a thousand years? Who could say that
17:23
Speaker 1: it was? He took a shuddering breath, and then nodded
17:26
Speaker 1: to Terry Fisher and walked unsteadily to the cabstand. He
17:30
Speaker 1: would not believe what he had seen at Starship Project.
17:34
Speaker 1: It was not enough collect the evidence then conclude. He
17:38
Speaker 1: gave Fisher an ash and smile. It's nothing. The ticker
17:42
Speaker 1: kicks up once in a while, that's all. Let's go
17:45
Speaker 1: see what Karl and Jane and the boys have dug up.
17:48
Speaker 1: Fisher smiled grimly, an eager gleam in his eye. Karl
17:53
Speaker 1: and Jean and the boys had dug up plenty. The
17:55
Speaker 1: floor of offices Dan had readen for work of his
17:58
Speaker 1: organization was going like a Whington terminal at rush hour.
18:02
Speaker 1: A dozen people were here and there, working with tapes, papers,
18:06
Speaker 1: program cards. Jean met them at the door, hustled them
18:10
Speaker 1: into the private offices in the back. Carl just got
18:13
Speaker 1: here too. He's down eating The boys outside are trying
18:16
Speaker 1: to make sense out of his insurance and advertising figures.
18:20
Speaker 1: He got next to them. Okay, sure, but you were right.
18:24
Speaker 1: They didn't like it. What sort of reports, the girl sighed,
18:29
Speaker 1: only prelimbs. Almost all the stuff is up in the air,
18:32
Speaker 1: which makes it hard to evaluate. The admin have been
18:35
Speaker 1: figuring what they're going to do the next half century
18:38
Speaker 1: so that they'll be there with the right thing when
18:40
Speaker 1: the time comes. But it seems they don't like what
18:43
Speaker 1: they see. People have to buy what they ad men
18:45
Speaker 1: are selling, or the admin shrivel up, and already the
18:49
Speaker 1: trend seems to be showing up. People aren't in such
18:52
Speaker 1: a rush to buy. They don't have the same sense
18:54
Speaker 1: of urgency that they used to Her hands fluttered well,
18:59
Speaker 1: as I said, it's all up in the air. Let
19:01
Speaker 1: the boys analyze for a while. The suicide business is
19:05
Speaker 1: a little more tangible. The rates are up all over,
19:08
Speaker 1: but break it into first generation and repeaters, and it's
19:11
Speaker 1: pretty clear who's pushing it up like armstrong, Dan said slowly.
19:16
Speaker 1: Gene nodded. Oh, here's Carl now. He came in, rubbing
19:21
Speaker 1: his hands and gave Dan a queer look. Everything under control, dnne.
19:26
Speaker 1: Dan nodded. He told Carl about Tyndall's position. Carl gave
19:30
Speaker 1: her ry grimm. He hasn't changed a bit, has he? Yes,
19:34
Speaker 1: he has, He's gotten lots stronger. Carl scowled and slapped
19:39
Speaker 1: the desk with his palm. You should have stopped him, Dan,
19:42
Speaker 1: I told you that a long time ago, back when
19:45
Speaker 1: I first came with you. He was aiming for your throat,
19:48
Speaker 1: even then, trying to use me in what I knew
19:51
Speaker 1: about Dad to sell the country a pack of lies
19:53
Speaker 1: about you. He almost did too. I hated your guts
19:57
Speaker 1: back then. I thought you were the rottenness man that
20:00
Speaker 1: ever came up in politics, until you got hold of
20:03
Speaker 1: me and pounded sense into my head. And Tyndall's never
20:06
Speaker 1: forgiven you that either. All right, we're still ahead of him.
20:10
Speaker 1: Have you just finished with the admin? Oh no, I
20:14
Speaker 1: just got back from a trip south. My nose is
20:16
Speaker 1: still cold. Dan's eyebrows went up. And how was doctor Aviato.
20:21
Speaker 1: I haven't seen a report from Antarctica project for five years. Yes,
20:26
Speaker 1: you have, you just couldn't read them. Aviato is quite
20:29
Speaker 1: a theoretician. That's how he got his money and his
20:32
Speaker 1: project down there, with plenty of room to build his
20:35
Speaker 1: reflectors and nobody around to get hurt if something goes
20:38
Speaker 1: wrong except a few penguins. And he's done a real
20:41
Speaker 1: job of development down there since his rejuvenation. Ah Dan
20:46
Speaker 1: glanced up. Hopefully, now there, said Carl is a real
20:51
Speaker 1: lively project solar energy into power on a utilitarian level.
20:56
Speaker 1: The man is fantastic, of course, but with his plans
20:59
Speaker 1: he could actually be producing it in another five years.
21:03
Speaker 1: He lit a cigarette and drew on it as though
21:05
Speaker 1: it were bitter. Could seems he's gotten sidetracked a bit,
21:10
Speaker 1: said Carl. Dan glanced at Terry Fisher. How well his
21:14
Speaker 1: equipment is working fine, and he can concentrate solar heat
21:18
Speaker 1: from ten square miles onto a spot the size of
21:21
Speaker 1: a manhole cover. But he hasn't gone too far converting
21:24
Speaker 1: it to useful power yet. Carl suddenly burst out laughing, Dan,
21:29
Speaker 1: this'll kill you. Billions and billions of calories of solar
21:33
Speaker 1: heat concentrated down there, and what do you think he's
21:35
Speaker 1: going to do with it. He's digging a hole in
21:38
Speaker 1: the ice two thousand feet deep and a mile wide.
21:41
Speaker 1: That's what a hole in the ice exactly. Conversion, certainly,
21:47
Speaker 1: but we want to be sure we're right. So right now,
21:50
Speaker 1: this whole crew is very busy trying to melt down Antarctica.
21:54
Speaker 1: If you give him another ten years, he'll have it done.
21:57
Speaker 1: By God, this was the last and most pain trip
22:00
Speaker 1: of all. Dan didn't even know why he was going,
22:03
Speaker 1: except Paul had told him that he should go, and
22:06
Speaker 1: no stone should be left unturned. The landing in New
22:09
Speaker 1: York Crater had been rough, and Dan had cracked his
22:12
Speaker 1: elbow on the bulkhead. He nursed it now as he
22:15
Speaker 1: left the volta on the deserted street of Crater City
22:18
Speaker 1: and entered the low one story lobby of the ground scraper.
22:22
Speaker 1: The clerk took his name impassively, and he sat down
22:25
Speaker 1: to wait. An hour passed, then another, then mister Devlin,
22:30
Speaker 1: will see you now, Senator. Down in the elevator four five,
22:35
Speaker 1: six stories above him was the world here deep below,
22:40
Speaker 1: with subtly efficient ventilators and shafts and exotic cubby holes
22:45
Speaker 1: for retreat. A man could forget that a world existed
22:48
Speaker 1: above soft lighting in the corridor a golden plastic door.
22:53
Speaker 1: The door swung open, and a tiny old man blinked out,
22:57
Speaker 1: mister Chauncey Devlin, Senator. The little old man beamed, come in,
23:03
Speaker 1: Come in, my dear fellow. If I'd realized it was you,
23:06
Speaker 1: I'd never have dreamed of keeping you so long, he smiled.
23:10
Speaker 1: Obviously distressed. Retreat has its disadvantages too. You see, nothing
23:15
Speaker 1: is perfect but life. As they say, when you've lived
23:18
Speaker 1: for one hundred and ninety years, you'll be glad to
23:20
Speaker 1: get away from people and to be able to keep
23:22
Speaker 1: them out from time to time. In bitter light, Dan
23:25
Speaker 1: stared openly at the man. One hundred and ninety years.
23:29
Speaker 1: It was incredible, he told the man, So isn't it, though,
23:33
Speaker 1: Chauncey Devlin chirp, Well, I was a wuzbaby can you
23:38
Speaker 1: imagine born in London in nineteen forty five? But I
23:41
Speaker 1: don't even think about those horrid years anymore. Imagine people
23:46
Speaker 1: dropping bombs on each other. A tiny bird of a
23:49
Speaker 1: man three times rejuvenated, and still the mind was sharp,
23:53
Speaker 1: the eyes were sharp. The face was a strange mixture
23:56
Speaker 1: of recent youth and very great age. It stirred some
24:00
Speaker 1: deep inside Dan, almost a feeling of loathing and uncanny feeling.
24:07
Speaker 1: We've always known your music, he said, We've always loved it.
24:11
Speaker 1: Just a week ago we heard the Washington Philharmonic doing
24:15
Speaker 1: the eighth. Chauncey Devlin cut him off disdainfully. They always
24:20
Speaker 1: do the eighth. It's a great symphony, Dan protested. Devlin
24:25
Speaker 1: chuckled and bounced about the room like a little boy.
24:28
Speaker 1: It was only half finished when they chose me for
24:30
Speaker 1: the big plunge, he said. Of course. I was doing
24:34
Speaker 1: a lot of conducting then too. Now I'd much rather
24:37
Speaker 1: just write. He hurried across the long, softly lit room
24:41
Speaker 1: to the piano, came back with a sheaf of papers.
24:45
Speaker 1: Do you read music? This is just what I've been
24:47
Speaker 1: doing recently. Can't get it quite right, but it'll come.
24:52
Speaker 1: It'll come, Which will this be asked Dan the tenth.
24:57
Speaker 1: The ninth was under contract, of course, strictly a pot boiler.
25:01
Speaker 1: I'm afraid thought it was pretty good at the time.
25:04
Speaker 1: But this one, ah, he fondled the smooth sheets of paper.
25:09
Speaker 1: In this one, I could say something always before it
25:12
Speaker 1: was hit and run, make a stab at it, and
25:15
Speaker 1: then rush on to stab at something else. Not this one.
25:19
Speaker 1: He patted the manuscript happily. With this one, there'll be
25:23
Speaker 1: nothing wrong. It's almost finished. Oh no, oh my goodness. No,
25:29
Speaker 1: a fairly acceptable first movement, but not what I will
25:32
Speaker 1: do on it as I go along. I see, I understand.
25:37
Speaker 1: How long have you worked on it now? Oh I
25:40
Speaker 1: don't know. I must have been down here somewhere. Oh yes,
25:44
Speaker 1: it started in April twenty fifty seven, seventy seven years.
25:49
Speaker 1: They talked on until became too painful. Then Dan rose
25:52
Speaker 1: and thanked his host and started back for the corridor
25:55
Speaker 1: and life again. He had never even mentioned his excuse
25:59
Speaker 1: for coming, and nobody had missed it. Chauncey Devlin perfect
26:03
Speaker 1: wax image of a man so old, so wise, so excited,
26:08
Speaker 1: and full of enthusiasm and energy and carefulness, working eagerly
26:13
Speaker 1: happily accomplishing nothing seventy seven years, the picture of a
26:18
Speaker 1: man who had been great, and who had slowly ground
26:21
Speaker 1: to a standstill. And now Dan knew that he hadn't
26:25
Speaker 1: really been looking at Chauncey Devlin at all. He had
26:29
Speaker 1: been looking at the whole human race. February fifteenth, twenty
26:33
Speaker 1: one thirty five, the day of the hearings to consider
26:37
Speaker 1: the charges and petition formerly placed by the Honorable Daniel Fowler,
26:41
Speaker 1: Independent Senator from the Great State of Illinois. The Long
26:45
Speaker 1: Oval hearing room was filling early. The gallery above was
26:49
Speaker 1: packed by nine o five in the morning. TV boys
26:52
Speaker 1: all over the place, the Criterion Committee members taking their
26:56
Speaker 1: places in twos and threes, some old, some young, some rejuvenated,
27:01
Speaker 1: some not taking their places in the oval. Then the
27:05
Speaker 1: other senators. Not the President, of course, but he'll be
27:08
Speaker 1: well represented by Senator Reinhardt himself. Why yes, don't worry
27:13
Speaker 1: about the president. Bad news in the papers, Trouble in Chicago,
27:17
Speaker 1: where so much trouble seems to start these days. Bomb
27:21
Speaker 1: thrown in the medical center out there, a bomb of
27:24
Speaker 1: all things, shades of linen. Couple of people killed, and
27:29
Speaker 1: one of the doctors nearly beaten to death on the
27:31
Speaker 1: street before the police arrived to clear the mob away.
27:35
Speaker 1: Dan Feller's name popping up here and there, not pleasantly,
27:39
Speaker 1: whispers accusations, Soto Voce and Moses Tyndall's network hook up
27:45
Speaker 1: last night. Of course, nobody with any sense listens to him.
27:49
Speaker 1: But did you hear that Hall go wild Reinhardt, Yes,
27:53
Speaker 1: that's him. Well, he's got to look worried if Dan
27:56
Speaker 1: can unseat him here now he's washed up. According to
28:00
Speaker 1: the rules of government, you know, Fowler can legally petition
28:03
Speaker 1: for rhine Hart's chairmanship without risking it as a platform
28:07
Speaker 1: plank for the next election, and get a hearing here,
28:10
Speaker 1: and then if the Senate votes him in, he's got
28:13
Speaker 1: the election. Made Dan smart. They're scared to throw old
28:17
Speaker 1: dryin hard out of course, after all, he's let them
28:20
Speaker 1: keep their thumbs on rejuvenation all these years with his criteria,
28:24
Speaker 1: and if they supported him, they got named, and if
28:28
Speaker 1: they didn't, they didn't get named. Not quite as crude
28:31
Speaker 1: as that, of course, but that's what it boiled down to,
28:35
Speaker 1: let me tell you. But now if they reject Dan's
28:38
Speaker 1: petition and the people give him the election, over their
28:41
Speaker 1: heads they're really in a spot out on the ice,
28:44
Speaker 1: on the rosy red How's that can't be too long? Now?
28:49
Speaker 1: I see Tindal has just come in Bible and all
28:52
Speaker 1: see if he's got any tomatoes in his pockets. Old
28:56
Speaker 1: Moses really gets you going, ever listen to him talk.
29:00
Speaker 1: It's just as well, damn, but it's hot in here
29:04
Speaker 1: in the rear chamber. Dam mopped his brow, popped a
29:07
Speaker 1: pill under his tongue, dragged savagely on the long black cigar.
29:11
Speaker 1: You with me, son, Karl nodded, you know what it means.
29:16
Speaker 1: Of course, there's your buzzer. Better get in there. Karl
29:20
Speaker 1: went back to Jean and the others around the eighty
29:22
Speaker 1: inch screen set deep in the wall. Dan put his
29:25
Speaker 1: cigar down gently, as though he planned to be back
29:28
Speaker 1: to smoke it again before it went out, and walked
29:31
Speaker 1: through the tall oak doors. The hubbub caught up for
29:34
Speaker 1: a few moments, then dropped away. Dan took his seat,
29:38
Speaker 1: grinned across at libby, leaned his head over to drop
29:41
Speaker 1: and aside into Parker's ear. Rheinhardt staring at the ceiling
29:45
Speaker 1: as the charges were read off in a droning voice,
29:48
Speaker 1: whereas the criterion for selection of Canadas for subtotal prosthesis,
29:53
Speaker 1: first written by the Honorable Walder Reinhardt of the Great
29:56
Speaker 1: State of Alaska, have been found to be inadequate, out
30:00
Speaker 1: and utterly inappropriate to the use of subtotal prosthesis that
30:04
Speaker 1: is now possible. And whereas that same Honorable Walder Reinhardt
30:08
Speaker 1: has repeatedly used the criteria, not in the just, honorable
30:13
Speaker 1: and humble way in which it was such criteria must
30:15
Speaker 1: be regarded, but rather as a tool and weapon for
30:18
Speaker 1: his own furtherance, and that for that of his friends
30:22
Speaker 1: and associates. Dan waited patiently. Was Rehinhardt's face whiter than
30:26
Speaker 1: it had been? Was the whole quieter? Now? Maybe not?
30:30
Speaker 1: But wait for the petition. The Senate of the United
30:33
Speaker 1: States of North America is formerly petitioned that the Honorable
30:37
Speaker 1: Walter Reinhardt should be displaced from his seat as Chairman
30:40
Speaker 1: in the Criterion Committee, and that his seat as Chairman
30:44
Speaker 1: of that committee should be resumed by the Honorable Daniel Fowler,
30:48
Speaker 1: author of this petition, who has hereby pledged himself before
30:51
Speaker 1: God to seek, through this Committee, in any and every
30:55
Speaker 1: way possible, the extension of the benefits of subtotal prosthesischniques
31:00
Speaker 1: to all people of this land, and not to a
31:03
Speaker 1: chosen few. Screams, hoots, cat calls, applause, all from the gallery,
31:09
Speaker 1: none below Senatorial dignity forbade, and the anti sound glass
31:13
Speaker 1: kept the noise out of the chamber below. Then Dan
31:16
Speaker 1: Fowler stood up, an older Dan Fowler than most of them,
31:19
Speaker 1: seemed to remember. You have heard the charges which have
31:22
Speaker 1: been read. I stand before you now formally to withdraw them.
31:26
Speaker 1: What jaws, sagging eyes, wide TV camera frozen on the
31:31
Speaker 1: Senator's face, then jerking wildly around the room to catch
31:34
Speaker 1: the reaction. You have also heard the petition which has
31:38
Speaker 1: been read. I stand before you now formally to withdraw it.
31:42
Speaker 1: Slowly measuring each word, he told them. He knew that
31:46
Speaker 1: words were not enough, But he told them. Only seventy
31:50
Speaker 1: five thousand men and women have undergone the process at
31:53
Speaker 1: this date, out of almost two hundred million people on
31:56
Speaker 1: this continent. Yet it has already begun to sap our strength.
32:01
Speaker 1: We were told that no change was involved, and indeed
32:04
Speaker 1: we saw no change. But it was there, my friends.
32:08
Speaker 1: The suicides of men like Kenneth Armstrong did not just occur.
32:12
Speaker 1: There may be many reasons that might lead a man
32:14
Speaker 1: to take his life in this world of ours selfishness,
32:18
Speaker 1: self pity, hatred of the world or of himself, bitterness, resentment.
32:24
Speaker 1: But it was none of these that motivated Kenneth Armstrong.
32:27
Speaker 1: His death was the act of a bewildered, defeated mind.
32:30
Speaker 1: For he saw what I am telling you now and
32:33
Speaker 1: knew that it was true. He saw starships built and
32:37
Speaker 1: rebuilt and never launched, colonies dying of lethargy because there
32:41
Speaker 1: was no longer any drive behind them, Brilliant minds losing
32:46
Speaker 1: sight of goals and drifting into endless inconsequential digressions, lifetimes
32:51
Speaker 1: wasted in repetition, in redoing and rewriting and reliving. He
32:56
Speaker 1: saw it the downward spiral which could only lead to
33:00
Speaker 1: death for us all in the last days. This is
33:03
Speaker 1: why I withdraw the charges and petition of this hearing.
33:06
Speaker 1: This is why I reject rejuvenation and declare that it
33:10
Speaker 1: is a monstrous thing which we must not allow to continue.
33:14
Speaker 1: This is why I now announced that I personally will
33:16
Speaker 1: nominate the Honorable John Tindall for president in the elections
33:20
Speaker 1: next spring, and I will promise him my pledged support
33:24
Speaker 1: my political organization and experience, and my every personal effort
33:29
Speaker 1: to see that he is elected. There seemed that there
33:31
Speaker 1: would be no end to it. When Dan Fowler had finished,
33:34
Speaker 1: Moses Tindall had sat staring as the blood drained out
33:37
Speaker 1: of his sallow face. His jaw gaped, and he half
33:41
Speaker 1: rose from his chair, then sank back with a ragged cough,
33:44
Speaker 1: staring at the senator as if he had been transformed
33:47
Speaker 1: into a snake. Carl and Terry were beside Dan in
33:51
Speaker 1: a moment, clearing away back to the rear chambers, then
33:54
Speaker 1: down the steps of the building to a cab. Senator
33:57
Speaker 1: Libby intercepted them there, purple with rage, and Mackenzie bristling
34:03
Speaker 1: and indignant. You've lost your mind, Dan, I have not.
34:07
Speaker 1: I'm perfectly sane. But Tyndall, he'll turn Washington into a
34:12
Speaker 1: grand Revival meeting. Then we'll cut him down to size.
34:16
Speaker 1: He's my candidate, remember, not his own. He'll play my
34:19
Speaker 1: game if it pays him well enough. But I want
34:21
Speaker 1: an abolitionist administration, and I'm going to get one. In
34:26
Speaker 1: the cab, he stared gloomily out the window, his heart racing,
34:29
Speaker 1: his whole body shaking in reaction. Now you know what
34:33
Speaker 1: it means, he said to Carl for the tenth time. Yes, Dan,
34:37
Speaker 1: I know. It means no rejuvenation for you or any
34:41
Speaker 1: of us. It means providing something to people that they
34:45
Speaker 1: just don't want to believe and cramming it down their
34:47
Speaker 1: throats if we have to. It means taking away the
34:50
Speaker 1: right to keep on living. I know all that, Carl.
34:55
Speaker 1: If you want out, yesterday was the time. Okay, then
34:59
Speaker 1: we've got work to do up in the offices again.
35:03
Speaker 1: Dan was on the phone immediately. He knew politics and people,
35:06
Speaker 1: like the jungle cat knows the whimpering creatures he stalks.
35:10
Speaker 1: He knew that it was the first impact, the first
35:13
Speaker 1: jolding blow that would win for them or loose for them.
35:17
Speaker 1: Everything had to hit right. He had spent his life
35:20
Speaker 1: working with people, building friends, building power, banking his resources,
35:26
Speaker 1: investing himself. Now the time had come to cash in.
35:31
Speaker 1: Carl and Jean and the others worked with him a
35:34
Speaker 1: dreadful afternoon and evening, fighting off newsmen, blocking phone calls,
35:38
Speaker 1: trying to concentrate in the midst of bedlam. The campaign
35:42
Speaker 1: to elect Tyndall had to start now. They labored to
35:46
Speaker 1: record a work schedule listing names, outlining telegrams, drinking coffee
35:51
Speaker 1: as Dan swore at his dead cigar like old times
35:54
Speaker 1: once again, and grinned like a madman. As the plan
35:57
Speaker 1: slowly developed and blossomed out. Then the phone jangled and
36:01
Speaker 1: Dan reached out for it. It was that last small
36:04
Speaker 1: effort that did it, a sledge hammer blow from deep
36:08
Speaker 1: within him, sharp, agonizing pain, a driving hunger for the
36:12
Speaker 1: air that he just couldn't drag into his lungs. He
36:15
Speaker 1: let out a small cry and double over with pain.
36:18
Speaker 1: They found him seconds later, still clinging to the phone,
36:22
Speaker 1: his breath so faint as to be no breath at all.
36:26
Speaker 1: He regained consciousness hours later. He stared about him at
36:29
Speaker 1: the straight lines of the ceiling, at the hospital bed.
36:32
Speaker 1: In the hospital window, dimly he saw Carl golden Head
36:37
Speaker 1: drooping on his chest, dozing at the side of the bed.
36:41
Speaker 1: There was a hissing sound, and he raised a hand,
36:44
Speaker 1: felt the tiny oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.
36:47
Speaker 1: But even with that help, every breath was an agony
36:50
Speaker 1: of pain and weariness. He was so very tired. But
36:54
Speaker 1: slowly through the fog he remembered cold sweat broke out
36:59
Speaker 1: on his forehead, drenched his body. He was alive. He
37:04
Speaker 1: remembered crystal clear, the thought that had exploded in his
37:07
Speaker 1: mind the instant the blow had come. I'm dying, this
37:12
Speaker 1: is the end. It's too late now, And then, cruelly,
37:16
Speaker 1: why did I wait so long? He struggled against the mask,
37:20
Speaker 1: sat bolt upright in bed. I'm going to die? He whispered,
37:25
Speaker 1: then caught his breath. Carl sat up and smiled at him.
37:28
Speaker 1: Lie back, Dan, get some rest. Had he heard? Had
37:32
Speaker 1: Karl heard the fear he had whispered? Perhaps not? He
37:36
Speaker 1: lay back, panting as Karl watched. Do you know what
37:40
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, Karl, I'm thinking how much I want to live.
37:44
Speaker 1: People don't need to die. Wasn't that what doctor Moss
37:47
Speaker 1: had said? It's such a terrible waste, he had said,
37:51
Speaker 1: too late now, Dan Hans trembled. He remembered the senators
37:55
Speaker 1: in the Oval Hall, hearing him speak his brave words.
37:59
Speaker 1: He remembered Rhinehart's face, and Tindall's and Libby's. He was
38:03
Speaker 1: committed now, yesterday, no, now, yes, Paul had been right,
38:09
Speaker 1: and Dan had proved it. His eyes moved across to
38:13
Speaker 1: the bedside table, a telephone. He was still alive. Moss
38:18
Speaker 1: had said that sometimes it was possible even when you
38:20
Speaker 1: were dying. That's what they did with your father, wasn't it.
38:24
Speaker 1: Carl Brave Peter Golden, who had fought Rhinehart so hard,
38:29
Speaker 1: who had begged and pleaded for universal rejuvenation, waited and
38:33
Speaker 1: watched and finally caught Rhinehart red handed, to prove that
38:37
Speaker 1: he was corrupting the law and expose him. Simple, honest
38:41
Speaker 1: Peter Golden, applying so navely for his rightful place on
38:45
Speaker 1: the list. When his cancer was diagnosed, Peter Golden had
38:49
Speaker 1: been all but dead when he had finally whispered defeat
38:52
Speaker 1: and given Rhinehart his perpetual silence in return for life.
38:56
Speaker 1: They had snatched him from death, indeed, but he had
38:59
Speaker 1: been crucified fight all the same. They had torn away
39:02
Speaker 1: everything and found a coward underneath a coward? Why was
39:08
Speaker 1: it wrong to want to live? Dan Fowler was dying.
39:12
Speaker 1: Why must it be him? He had committed himself to
39:16
Speaker 1: a fight. Yes, but there were others, young men who
39:19
Speaker 1: could fight, men like Peter Golden's son. But you are
39:24
Speaker 1: their leader. Dan. If you fail them, you will never win.
39:28
Speaker 1: Carl was watching him silently, his lean, dark, face expressionless.
39:33
Speaker 1: Could the boy read his mind? Was it possible that
39:36
Speaker 1: he knew what Dan Fowler was thinking? Carl had always
39:40
Speaker 1: understood before. It had seemed that sometimes Carl had understood
39:44
Speaker 1: Dan far better than Dan did. He wanted to cry
39:47
Speaker 1: out to Carl now, spill over his dreadful thoughts. There
39:52
Speaker 1: was no one to run to. He was facing himself now,
39:56
Speaker 1: No more cover up, no deceit. Life or day. That
40:01
Speaker 1: was the choice, no compromise, life or death. But decide now,
40:07
Speaker 1: not tomorrow, not next week, not in five minutes. He
40:12
Speaker 1: knew the answer, then the flaw, the one thing that
40:15
Speaker 1: even Paul hadn't known. That life is too dear, That
40:19
Speaker 1: a man loves life, not what he can do with life,
40:23
Speaker 1: but every life itself, for its own sake, too much
40:26
Speaker 1: to die. It was no choice, not really. A man
40:30
Speaker 1: will always choose life, as long as the choice is
40:32
Speaker 1: really his. Dan Fowler knew that now it would be
40:37
Speaker 1: selling himself like Peter Golden did. It would betray Carl
40:42
Speaker 1: and Jean and all the rest. It would mean derision
40:45
Speaker 1: and scorn and oblivion for Dan Fowler. Carl Golden was
40:50
Speaker 1: standing by the bed when he reached out his arm
40:52
Speaker 1: for the telephone, the squeaking of a valve. What Carl's
40:57
Speaker 1: hand infinitely gentle on his chest, up the soft blankets
41:01
Speaker 1: and his good clean oxygen dwindling, dwindling, Carl, how did
41:06
Speaker 1: you know? She came into the room as he was
41:09
Speaker 1: reopening the valve on the oxygen tank. She stared at
41:12
Speaker 1: Dan Gray on the bed, and then at Carl. One
41:16
Speaker 1: look at Karl's face, and she knew too. Carl nodded slowly,
41:21
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Jane. She shook her head, tears welling up.
41:25
Speaker 1: But you loved him so more than my own father.
41:29
Speaker 1: Then why he wanted to be a mortal? Always? That
41:34
Speaker 1: drove him greatness, power all the same. Now he will
41:38
Speaker 1: be a mortal because we need a martyr in order
41:41
Speaker 1: to win. Now we will win. The other way we
41:44
Speaker 1: would surely lose, and he would live on and on
41:47
Speaker 1: and die every day. He slowly turned to the bed
41:51
Speaker 1: and brought the sheet up gently. This is better. This way,
41:55
Speaker 1: he will never die. They left the quiet room. End
42:00
Speaker 1: of Martyr, Part three recording by Kirk Ziegler Ogden Utah
42:05
Speaker 1: voice overs by Kirk dot Com. End of Martyr by
42:10
Speaker 1: Alan Norse