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Gone Fishing - James H. Schmitz · The New Science of Controlled Breathing

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  Speaker 1: Section one of Gone Fishing. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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  Speaker 1: by Cinda J. M. Gone Fishing by James H. Schmidts,
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  Speaker 1: Section one. There is no predictable correlation between intelligence and ethics,
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  Speaker 1: nor is ruthlessness necessarily an evil thing, And there is
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  Speaker 1: nothing like enforced, uninterrupted contemplation to learn to distinguish one
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  Speaker 1: from another. Barney Schard, thirty seven, financier, entrepreneur, occasional blackmailer,
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  Speaker 1: occasional con man, and very competent in all of these activities,
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  Speaker 1: stood on a rickety wooden lake dock, squinting against the
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  Speaker 1: late afternoon sun, and waiting for his current business prospect
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  Speaker 1: to give up the pretense of being interested in trying
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  Speaker 1: to catch fish. The prospect, who stood a few yards
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  Speaker 1: farther up the dock, broad in one hand, was named
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  Speaker 1: doctor Oliver B. McAllen. He was a retired physicist, though
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  Speaker 1: less retired than was generally assumed. A dozen years ago
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  Speaker 1: he had rated as one of the country's top men
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  Speaker 1: in his line, and while dressed like an aging tramp
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  Speaker 1: in what he had referred to as his fishing dogs.
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  Speaker 1: He was, at the moment potentially the country's wealthiest citizen.
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  Speaker 1: There was a clandestine invention he'd fathered, which he called
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  Speaker 1: the McAllen Tube. The tube was the reason Barney Shard
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  Speaker 1: had come to see McAllen gently raising and lowering the
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  Speaker 1: fishing rod and blinking out over the quiet water. Doctor
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  Speaker 1: McAllan looked preoccupied with disturbing speculations not connected with his sport.
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  Speaker 1: The man had his secrecy bug, the invention Barney thought
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  Speaker 1: had turned out to be bigger than the inventor. McAllan
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  Speaker 1: was afraid of the tube, and in the forefront of
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  Speaker 1: his reflections must be the inescapable fact that the secret
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  Speaker 1: of the McAllen tube could no longer be kept without
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  Speaker 1: Barney Shard's cooperation. Barney had evidence of its existence, and
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  Speaker 1: didn't really need the evidence. A few hints dropped here
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  Speaker 1: and there would have made Mcallen's twelve years of elaborate
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  Speaker 1: precaution quite meaningless ergo. McAllan must be pondering, now how
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  Speaker 1: could one persuade mister Shard to remain silent? But there
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  Speaker 1: was a second consideration. Barney had planted in the old
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  Speaker 1: scientist's mind. Mister Shard, that knowledgeable man of the world,
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  Speaker 1: exuded not at all by chance, the impression of great
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  Speaker 1: quantities of available cash. His manner, the conservatively tailored business suit,
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  Speaker 1: the priceless chip of a platinum watch, and McAllan needed
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  Speaker 1: cash badly. He'd been barely wealthy himself at one time,
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  Speaker 1: but since he had refrained from exploiting the tube's commercial possibilities,
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  Speaker 1: his continuing work with it was exhausting his capital. At
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  Speaker 1: least that could be assumed to be the reason for
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  Speaker 1: Mcallan's impoverishment, which was a matter Barney had established in months.
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  Speaker 1: The old man would be living on beans ergo again.
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  Speaker 1: Mcallan's thoughts must be running. How might one not merely
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  Speaker 1: coax mister Shard into silence, but actually get him to
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  Speaker 1: come through with some much needed financial support. What inducement
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  Speaker 1: aside from the Tube could be offered someone in his position?
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  Speaker 1: Barney grinned inwardly as he snapped the end of a
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  Speaker 1: cigarette out on the amber tinted water. The mark always
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  Speaker 1: sells himself, and McAllan was well alone in the process.
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  Speaker 1: Polite silence was all that was necessary at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: He lit a fresh cigarette, feeling a mild curiosity about
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  Speaker 1: the little lake's location, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan seemed equally probable gusses.
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  Speaker 1: What mattered was that half an hour ago, Mcallan's tube
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  Speaker 1: had brought them both here in a wink of time
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  Speaker 1: from his home in California. Doctor McAllan thoughtfully cleared his throat.
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  Speaker 1: Ever do any fishing, mister Shard, he asked, after getting
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  Speaker 1: over his first shock at Barney's revelations. He'd begun speaking
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  Speaker 1: again in the brisk, abrupt manner Barney remembered from the
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  Speaker 1: last times he'd heard Mcallan's voice. No, Barney admitted, smiling.
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  Speaker 1: Never quite got around to it. Always been too busy,
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  Speaker 1: eh with this and that? Barney agreed. McAllan cleared his
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  Speaker 1: throat again. He was a roly poly little man over
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  Speaker 1: seventy now, but still healthy looking, with an apple cheeked,
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  Speaker 1: sunburned face over a pair of steel rimmed glasses. His
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  Speaker 1: faded blue eyes peered musingly at Barney around thirty five,
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  Speaker 1: aren't you thirty seven? Married, divorced? Any particular hobbies? Barney laughed,
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  Speaker 1: I play a little golf, not very seriously. McAllan clicked
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  Speaker 1: his tongue. Well, what do you do for fun? Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I'd say I enjoy almost anything I get involved in. Barney,
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  Speaker 1: still smiling, felt a touch of weariness. He'd been expecting
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  Speaker 1: questions from McAllen, but not quite this kind. Mainly making money? Eh, Well,
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  Speaker 1: McAllan conceded, that's not a bad hobby, practical too, I
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  Speaker 1: whoop just a minute. The tip of the slender rod
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  Speaker 1: in his left hand dipped slightly, and sixty feet out
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  Speaker 1: beyond the end of the old doc, a green and
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  Speaker 1: white bobber began twitching about. Then the bobber suddenly disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Mc gowan lifted the rod tip a foot or two
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  Speaker 1: with a smooth, swift motion and paused. Hooked, he announced,
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  Speaker 1: looking almost childishly pleased. The fish on the far end
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  Speaker 1: of the line did and seemed to put up much
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  Speaker 1: of a struggle, but the old man reeled it in
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  Speaker 1: slowly and carefully, giving out line from time to time,
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  Speaker 1: then taking it back. He seemed completely absorbed. Not until
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  Speaker 1: the fish had been worked close to the dock was
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  Speaker 1: there a brief, minor commotion near the surface. Then mc
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  Speaker 1: collan was down on one knee, holding the rod high
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  Speaker 1: with one hand reached out for his catch. With the other,
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  Speaker 1: Barney had a glimpse of an unimpressive green and silver disk, reddish,
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  Speaker 1: froggy eyes. Very nice crappy, McAllan informed him with a
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  Speaker 1: broad smile. Now he placed the rod on the deck,
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  Speaker 1: reached down with his other hand. The fish's tail slapped
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  Speaker 1: the water. It turned sideways. Was gone, lost it? Barney commented, surprise, huh,
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  Speaker 1: McAllan looked around. Well, no, young man, I turned him loose.
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  Speaker 1: He wasn't hooked bad. Crappy's have delicate lips, but I'd
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  Speaker 1: use a barblous hook. Gives him a better than fighting chance.
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  Speaker 1: He stood up with the rod, dusting the knees of
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  Speaker 1: his baggy slacks. Get all the eaten fish I want anyway,
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  Speaker 1: he added. You really enjoy that sport, don't you, Barney
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  Speaker 1: said curiously. McAllan advised him, with the seriousness of a
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  Speaker 1: true devotee, to try it sometime. It gets to you.
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  Speaker 1: It can get to be a way of living. I've
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  Speaker 1: been fishing since I was knee high. Three years ago,
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  Speaker 1: I figured i'd become good enough to write a book
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  Speaker 1: on the subject. I got more arguments over that book.
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  Speaker 1: Sounder arguments too. I'd say that about any paper I've
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  Speaker 1: published in physics. He looked at Barney a moment still seriously,
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  Speaker 1: and went on, I told you wedding a line would
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  Speaker 1: call me down after that upset you gave me. Well,
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  Speaker 1: it has. Fishing is as good a form of therapy
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  Speaker 1: as I know about. Now. I've been doing some thinking.
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  Speaker 1: I'd be interested. Well, i'd like to talk some more
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  Speaker 1: about the tube with you, mister Shard, and perhaps some
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  Speaker 1: other things. Too very gratifying to hear that, doctor Barney
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  Speaker 1: said gravely. I did regret having to upset you, you know.
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  Speaker 1: Mc allan shrugged. No harm done. It's given me some ideas.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk right here, He indicated the weather beaten little
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  Speaker 1: cabin on the bank behind Barney. I'm not entirely sure
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  Speaker 1: about the California place. That's one reason I suggested this trip.
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  Speaker 1: You feel your houseman there mightn't be entirely reliable. Frederick's unreliable. O.
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  Speaker 1: Heavens know. He knows about the tube, of course, but
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  Speaker 1: Fredericks expects me to invent things. It wouldn't occur to
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  Speaker 1: him to talk to an outsider. He's been with me
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  Speaker 1: for almost forty years. He was remarked Barney, listening in
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  Speaker 1: on the early part of our conversation today. Well, he'll
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  Speaker 1: do that. McAllan agreed. He's very curious about anyone who
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  Speaker 1: comes to see me. But otherwise, no, it's just in
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  Speaker 1: these days of sophisticated listening devices, one shouldn't ever feel
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  Speaker 1: too sure of not being overheard. True enough, Barney glanced
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  Speaker 1: up at the cabin. What makes you so sure of it? Here? Doctor,
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  Speaker 1: no reason why anyone would go to the trouble. McAllan said.
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  Speaker 1: The property isn't in my name, and the nearest neighbor
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  Speaker 1: lives across the lake. I never come here except by tubes,
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  Speaker 1: so I don't attract any attention. He led the way
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  Speaker 1: along the dock. Barney Shard followed, eyes reflectively on the
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  Speaker 1: back of mcallan's sunburned neck and the wisps of unclipped
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  Speaker 1: white hair sticking out beneath his beaked fishing cap. Barney
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  Speaker 1: had learned to estimate accurately the capacity for physical violence
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  Speaker 1: in the people he dealt with. He would have offered
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  Speaker 1: long odds that neither doctor McCallan nor Frederick's the elderly
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  Speaker 1: colored Man of all Work, had the capacity, but Barney's
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  Speaker 1: right hand slid idly into the pocket of his well
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  Speaker 1: tailored coat, was resting on a twenty five caliber revolver.
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  Speaker 1: This was, after all, a very unusual situation. The human
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  Speaker 1: factors in themselves were predictable. Human factors were Barney's specialty,
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  Speaker 1: but they were involved with something unknown, the macallan tube.
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  Speaker 1: When it was a question of his personal safety, Barney
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  Speaker 1: Shard preferred to take no chances at all. From the
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  Speaker 1: top of the worn wooden steps leading up to the cabin,
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  Speaker 1: he glanced back at the lake. It occurred to him
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  Speaker 1: there should have been at least a suggestion of unreality
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  Speaker 1: about that placid body of water, and the sun low
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  Speaker 1: and red in the west beyond it. Not that he
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  Speaker 1: felt anything of the kind. But less than an hour
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  Speaker 1: ago they had been sitting in McCallan's home in southern California,
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  Speaker 1: and beyond the olive green window shades it had been
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  Speaker 1: bright daylight. But I can't, I really can't imagine. Doctor
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  Speaker 1: McAllan had just finished bumbling his round face a study
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  Speaker 1: of controlled dismay on the other side of the desk.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever could have brought you to these, to these extraordinary conclusions,
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  Speaker 1: young man Barney had smiled reassuringly leaned back in his chair.
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  Speaker 1: Well indirectly, sir, as the pictures indicate, we might say
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  Speaker 1: that it was your interest in fishing. You see, I
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  Speaker 1: happened to notice you on Mayorka last month. By itself,
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  Speaker 1: the chance encounter on the island had seemed only moderately interesting.
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  Speaker 1: Barney was sitting behind the wheel of an ancient automobile
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  Speaker 1: near a private home in which a business negotiation of
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  Speaker 1: some consequence was being conducted. The business under discussion happened
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  Speaker 1: to be Barney's, but it would have been inexpedient for
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  Speaker 1: him to attend the meeting in person. Waiting for his
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  Speaker 1: associates to wind up the matter, he was passing time
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  Speaker 1: by studying an old man who was fishing from a
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  Speaker 1: small boat offshore a hundred yards or so below the road.
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  Speaker 1: After a while, the old fellow brought the boat in,
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  Speaker 1: appeared a few minutes later along the empty lane, carrying
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  Speaker 1: his tackle and an apparently empty gunnysack, and trudged unheedingly
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  Speaker 1: past the automobile and its occupant. As he went by,
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  Speaker 1: Barney had a sudden sense of recognition. Then, in a flash,
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  Speaker 1: his mind jumped back twelve years Doctor Oliver B. McAllen
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  Speaker 1: twelve years ago. The name had been an important one
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  Speaker 1: in mcallan's field. Then it was not so much forgotten
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  Speaker 1: as deliberately buried. Working under government contract at one of
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  Speaker 1: the big universities, McAllen had been suddenly and quietly retired. Barney,
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  Speaker 1: who had a financial interest in one of the contracts,
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  Speaker 1: had made inquiries. He was likely to be out of
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  Speaker 1: money if McAllen had been taken from the job. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: he was informed in strict confidence that doctor McCallan had flipped.
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  Speaker 1: Under the delusion of having made a discovery of tremendous importance.
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  Speaker 1: He had persuaded the authorities to arrange a demonstration. When
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  Speaker 1: the demonstration ended in complete failure, macallan angrily accused some
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  Speaker 1: of his most eminent colleagues of having sabotaged his invention,
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  Speaker 1: and withdrew from the university to protect a once great
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  Speaker 1: scientist's name. The matter was being hushed up, so Majorca
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  Speaker 1: was where the adult old physicist had elected to end
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  Speaker 1: his days. Not a bad choice either, Barney had thought.
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  Speaker 1: Gazing after the retreating figure, pleasant Island in a beautiful sea.
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  Speaker 1: He remember having heard about mcallan's passion for angling. A
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  Speaker 1: day later, the Mayorca business profitably concluded. Barney flew back
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  Speaker 1: to Los Angeles that evening. He entertained a pair of
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  Speaker 1: tanned and shapely ladies whose idea of high fun was
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  Speaker 1: to drink all night and go deep sea fishing at dawn.
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  Speaker 1: Barney shuddered induridly at the latter notion, but promised to
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  Speaker 1: see the sporting characters to the sweet Water Beach Municipal
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  Speaker 1: Pier in time to catch a party boat. Anne did so.
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  Speaker 1: One of the girls, he noticed, not without satisfaction he
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  Speaker 1: had become a little tired of the two before morning,
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  Speaker 1: appeared to turn a delicate green as she settled herself
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  Speaker 1: into the gently swaying half day boat beside the wharf.
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  Speaker 1: Barney waved them an amiable farewell and was about to
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  Speaker 1: go when he noticed a plump old man sitting in
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  Speaker 1: the stern of the boat among other anglers, rigging up
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  Speaker 1: his tackle. Barney checked sharply and blinked. He was looking
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  Speaker 1: at Oliver B. McAllan again. It was almost a minute
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  Speaker 1: before he felt sure of it, this time not that
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  Speaker 1: it was impossible for mc gollan to be sitting in
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  Speaker 1: that boat, but it did seem extremely unlikely. McAllan didn't
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  Speaker 1: look the least like a man who could afford nowadays
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  Speaker 1: to commute by air between the Mediterranean and California, and
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Barney felt something else trouble him. Obscurely, as he stared
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  Speaker 1: down at the old scientist, a notion of some kind
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  Speaker 1: was stirring about in the back quarters of his mind,
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  Speaker 1: but refused to be drawn to view. Just then he
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  Speaker 1: grew aware of what it was while he watched the
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  Speaker 1: party boat head out to see a few minutes later,
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  Speaker 1: smiled at what seemed an impossibly fanciful concoction of his
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  Speaker 1: unconscious and started towards the peer's parking lot. But when
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  Speaker 1: he had reached his car, climbed in, turned on the ignition,
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  Speaker 1: and lit a cigarette. The notion was still with him,
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  Speaker 1: and Barney was no longer smiling fanciful. It was extremely
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  Speaker 1: so impossible in the strictest sense, it was not. The
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  Speaker 1: longer he played it around, the more he began to
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: wonder whether his notion mightn't hold water after all. If
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: there was anything to it, he had run into one
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  Speaker 1: of the biggest deals in history. Later, Barney realized He
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  Speaker 1: would still have let the matter drop there if it
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: hadn't been for other things having nothing to do with
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: doctor mc collan. He was between operations at present, his
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: time wasn't occupied. Furthermore, he'd been aware lately that ordinary
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  Speaker 1: operations had begun to feel flat. The kick of pulling
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: over a deal, even on some other hard bright character
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: of his own class, unaccountably, was fading. Barney Shard was
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: somewhat frightened because the operator game was the only one
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  Speaker 1: he'd ever found interesting. The other role of well healed
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: playboy wasn't much more than a manner of killing time.
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  Speaker 1: At thirty seven, he was realizing he was bored with life.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't like the prospect now here was something which
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: might again provide him with some genuine excitement. It could
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: be simply his imagination working over time, but it wasn't
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: going to do any harm to find out. Mind humming
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: with pleased, though still highly skeptical speculations, Barney went back
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  Speaker 1: to the boat station and inquired when the party boat
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: was due to return. He was waiting for it well
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: out of sight as it came chugging up to the
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  Speaker 1: wharf some hours later. He had never had anything to
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  Speaker 1: do directly with doctor McCallan, so the old man wouldn't
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: recognize him, But he didn't want to be spotted by
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: his two amazons, who might feel refreshed enough by now
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: to be ready for another tour of the town. He
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: needn't have worried the ladies. Barely minute to the top
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  Speaker 1: of the stairs, they phoned for a cabb and were
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  Speaker 1: presently whisked away. Doctor McCallan meanwhile, also had made of
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: telephone call and settled down not far from Barney to wait.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: A small gray car, five or six years old but
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: of polished and well tended appearance, trundled presently up to
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the pier, came into the turnabout at the boat station,
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  Speaker 1: and stopped. A thin old Negro with hair as white
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: as the doctor's held the door open for McAllen. The
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: car moved unhurriedly off with them. The automobile's license number
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: produced doctor McCallan's California address for Barney. A short while later.
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  Speaker 1: The physicist lived in Sweetwater Beach, fifteen minutes drive from
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  Speaker 1: the pier, in an old Spanish type house back in
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  Speaker 1: the hills. The chauffeur's name was John Emmanuel Frederick's. He'd
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: been working for McAllen for an unknown length of time.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: No one else lived there. Barney didn't bother with further
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: details about the Sweetwater Beach establishment. At the moment. The
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: agents sees he usually employed to dig up background information
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: were reasonably trustworthy, and he wanted to attract no more
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: attention than was necessary to his interest in doctor McCallan.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: That evening, he took a plane to New York. End
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: of section one, Section two of Gone Fishing by James H. Schmitts.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Cinda J. M. Gone Fishing by James H. Smitch, Section two.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Physicist Frank Elby was a few years older than Barney,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: an acquaintance since their university days. Elby was ambitious, capable,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: slightly dishonest. On occasion he provided Barney with contraband information
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: for which he was generously paid. Over lunch, Barney broached
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: a business matter which would be fin financially rewarding to
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: both of them and should not burden Elby's conscience unduly.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Elby reflected and agreed. The talk became more general. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: Barney remarked ran into an old acquaintance of ours the
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  Speaker 1: other day. Remember doctor mc gallan, Oliver B. McAllen, naturally
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: haven't heard about him in years. What's he doing? Barney
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: said he'd only seen the old man, hadn't spoken to him,
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  Speaker 1: but he was sure it was McAllan. Where was this,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Elby asked, Sweetwater Beach, small town down the coast. Elby nodded,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: it must have been McAllan. That's where he had his home.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: He was looking hale and hearty. They didn't actually institutionalize
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: him at the end of his retirement, did they? Oh, No,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: no reason for it, except on the one subject of
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: that cock eyed invention of his He behaved perfectly normally. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: he would have hired a lawyer and fought any such move.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: He had plenty of money, and nobody wanted publicity. McAllan
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: was a pretty likable old boy. The university never considered
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: taking him back. Elbe laughed, well hardly, after all, man
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: a matter transmitter. Barney felt almost an electric thrill of
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: pleasure right on the nose, Brother shard right on the nose,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: he smiled. Was that what it was supposed to be?
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: I was never told all the details. Elb said that
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: for the few who were informed of the details. It
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: had been a seven day circus. McCallan's reputation was such
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: that more people, particularly on his staff, had been ready
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: to believe him that were ready to admit it later
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: when he'd left. You know, he never even bothered to
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: take that transmitter along. The thing was taken apart and
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: checked over as carefully as if somebody thought it might
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: still suddenly start working. But it was an absolute goldberg.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Of course, the old men had simply gone off his rocker.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Hadn't there been any indication of it before, not that
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: I know of, except that he'd been dropping hints about
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: his gadget for several months before he showed it to anyone,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Elbie said indifferently. The talk turned to other things. The
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: rest was routine, not difficult to carry out. A small
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: cottage on Majorca near the waterfront was found to be
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: in McCallan's name. McCallan's liquid assets were established to have
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: dwindled to something less than those of John Emmanuel Fredericks,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: who patronized the same local bank as his employer. There
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: had been frequent withdrawals of large irregular sums throughout the
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: past years. The withdrawals were not explained by McCallan's frugal
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: personal habits. Even his fishing excursions showed an obvious concern
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: for expense. The retention of the Mediterranean retreat, modest, though
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: it was, must have a reason beyond simple self indulgence.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Barney arranged for the rental of a bungalow in the
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: outskirts of Sweetwater Beach, which lay uphill from the old
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: house in which McAllan and Fredericks lived and provided a
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: good view of the residence and its street entry. He
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: didn't go near the place himself. Operatives of a Los
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Angeles detective agency went on constant watch in the bungalow,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: with orders to photograph the two old men in the
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: other house and any visitors at every appearance, and to
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: record the exact times the picture was taken. At the
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: end of each day, the photographs were delivered to an
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: address from where they promptly reached Barney's hands. A European
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: agency was independently covering the Majorca cottage in the same manner.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Nearly four weeks passed before Bonnie obtained the exact results
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: he wanted. He called off the watch at both points
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: and the next day, came up the walk to McCallan's
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: home and rang the doorbell. John Frederick's appeared, studied Barney's
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: card and Barney with an air of mild disapproval, and
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: informed him that doctor McAllan did not receive visitors, so
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: I've been told, Barney acknowledged, pleasantly, please be so good
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: as to give the doctor this. Frederick's white eyebrows lifted
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the barest trifle as he looked at the sealed envelope
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Barney was holding out. After a moment's hesitation, he took it,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: instructed Barney to wait, and closed the door firmly, listening
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: to Frederick's footsteps receding into the house. Barney lit a
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: cigarette and was pleased to find that his hands were
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: as steady as if he had been on the most
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: ordinary of calls. The envelope contained two sets of photographs,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: dated and indicating the time of day. The date was
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the same for both sets. The recorded time showed the
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: pictures had been taken within fifteen minutes of one another.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: The central subject in each case was doctor McAllan, sometimes
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: accompanied by Frederick's One said of photographs had been obtained
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: on majorca the other in Sweetwater Beach at McCallan's home.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Barring rocket assists, the two old men had been documented
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: as fastest moving human beings in all history. Several minutes
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: passed before Frederick's reappeared, with a face which was now
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: completely without expression. He invited Barney to enter and conducted
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: him to McCallan's study. The scientist had the photographs spread
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: out on a desk before him. He gestured at them.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Just what, if anything, is this supposed to mean, sir,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: he demanded in an unsteady voice. Barney hesitated, aware that
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Fredericks had remained in the hall just beyond the study.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: But Frederick's obviously was in McCallan's confidence. His eavesdropping could
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: do no harm. It means this, doctor Barney began. Amiably enough,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Annie proceeded to tell McCallen precisely what the photographs meant.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Mc collan broke in protestingly two or three times, then
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: let Barney conclude his account of the steps he had
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: taken to verify his far fetched punch on the pier
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: without further comment. After a few minutes, Barney heard Frederick's
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: steps moving away, and then a door closing softly somewhere,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: and he shifted his position a trifle so that his
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: right side was now toward the hall door. The little
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: revolver was in the right hand coat pocket. Even then,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Barney had no real concern that McAllen or Frederick's would
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: attempt to resort to violence. But when people were acutely
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: disturbed and McAllen at least was, almost anything can happen.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: When Barney finished, mc collan stared down at the photographs again,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: shook his head and looked over at Barney. If you
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: don't mind, he said, blinking hard behind his glasses, I
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: should like to think about this for a minute or two,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: of course, doctor Barney said politely. McAllan settled back in
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: the chair, removed his glasses, and half closed his eyes.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Barney let his gaze rove. The furnishings of the house
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: were what he had expected, well tended, old, declining here
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: and there to the downright shabby. The only reasonably new
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: piece in the study was a radio phonograph. The walls
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: of the study and of the section of the living
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: room he could see through the small archway were lined
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: with cramped bookshelves. At the far end of the living
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: room was a curious collection of clocks in various types
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: and sizes, mainly antiques, but also some odd metallic pieces
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: with modernistic faces. Vacancies in the rows indicated Fredericks might
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: have begun to dispose discreetly of the more valuable items
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: on his employer's behalf. McCallan cleared his throat, finally opened
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: his eyes and settled the spectacles back on his nose.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Mister Shard, he inquired, have you had scientific training? No,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: and then said McAllan, the questionary means of what your
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: interest in the matter is. Perhaps you'd like to explain
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: just why you put yourself to such considerable expense to
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: intrude on my personal affairs. Barney hesitated perceptibly. Doctor, He said,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: there is something tantalizing about an enigma. I am fortunate
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: in having the financial means to gratify my curiosity when
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: it's excited to the extent it was here. McAllan nodded,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: I can understand curiosity. Was that your only motive? Barney
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: gave him his most disarming grin. Frankly, No, I've mentioned
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: I'm a business man, ah McAllan said, frowning. Don't misunderstand me.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: One of my first thoughts, admittedly, was that there were
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: millions waiting to be picked up. But the investigation soon
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: made a number of things clear to me. What were they? Essentially,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: that you had so sound a reason for keeping your
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: invention a secret, that to do it you were willing
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: to ruin yourself financially and to efface yourself as a
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: human being and as a scientist. I don't feel macallan
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: observed mildly that I really have effaced myself, either as
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: a human being or as a scientist. No, but as
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: far as the public was concerned, you did both. Macallan
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: smiled briefly that stratagem was very effective. Until now, very well,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: mister sharp, you understand clearly that under no circumstance would
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: I agree to the commercialization of well of my matter
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: transmitter Barney nodded, of course, and you're still interested, very
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: much so. Mcallum was silent for a few seconds, biting
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: reflectively at his lower lip. Very well, he said again,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: you were speaking of my predilection for fishing. Perhaps you'd
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: care to accompany me on a brief fishing trip. Now,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Barney asked, yes, Now I believe you understand what I mean,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: I see you do. Then, if you'll excuse me for
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: a few minutes, Barney couldn't have said exactly what he
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: expected to be shown. His imaginings had run in the
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: direction of a camouflaged vault beneath McCallan's house, some massively
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: walled place, with machinery that powered the matter transmitter purring
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: along the walls, and perhaps something in the style of
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: a plastic diving bell is the specific instrument of transportation.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: The actual experience was quite different. McCallan returned shortly, having
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: changed into the familiar outdoor clothing. Apparently he had been
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: literal about going on a fishing trip. Barney accompanied the
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: old physicist into the living room and watched him open
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: a small but very sturdy wall safe. Immediately behind the
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: safe door and instrument panel had been built in the opening.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Peering over the spectacles, McCallan made careful adjustments on two
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: sets of small dials and closed and locked the safe again. Now,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: if you'll follow me, mister sharp, He crossed the room
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: to a door, opened it, and went out. Barney followed
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: him into a small room with rustic furnishings and painted
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: wooden walls. There was a single heavily curtained window. The
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: room was rather dim. Well, McAllan announced, here we are.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: It took a moment for that to sink in. Then
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: a scout prickling eerily, Barney realized he was standing farther
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: from the wall than he had thought. He looked around
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: and discovered there was no door behind him now either
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: open or closed. He managed a shaky grin. So that's
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: how your matter transmitter works, well, McCallan said, thoughtfully. Of course,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: it isn't really a matter transmitter. I call it the
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: macallan tube. Even an educated layman must realize that one
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: can't simply disassemble a living body at one point, reassemble
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: it at another, and expect life to resume. And there
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: are other considerations. Where are we, Barney asked on majorca. No,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: we haven't left the continent, just the state. Look out
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the window and see for yourself. Mc collan turned to
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: a built in closet and Barney drew back the window hangings.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Outside was a grassy slope, uncut and yellowed by the
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: summer sun. The slope dropped sharply to a quiet lake
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: front framed by dark pines. There was no one in sight,
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: but a small wooden dock ran out into the lake.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: At the far end of the dock, an old row
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: boat lay tethered, and quite obviously it was no longer
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: the middle of a bright afternoon. The air was beginning
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: to dim to shift toward evening. Barney turned to find
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: McCallan's mild speculative eyes on him, and saw the old
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: man had put a tackle box and fishing rod on
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the table. Your disclosures disturbed me more than you may
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: have realized, mc allan remarked, by way of explanation, his
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: lips twitched in the shadow of a smile. At such times,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: I find nothing quite so soothing as to drop a
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: line into water for a while. I've got some thinking
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: to do, too, so let's get down to the dock.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: There ought to be a little bait left in the
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: minnow pail. When they returned to the cabin some time later,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: mc collan was in a pensive mood. He started a
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: pot of coffee in the small kitchen, then quickly cleaned
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: the tackle and put it away. Barney sat at the table,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: smoking and watching him, but made no attempt at conversation.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: McAllan poured the coffee, produced sugar and powdered milk, and
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: settled down opposite Barney. He said, abruptly, have you had
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: any suspicions about the reason for the secret of Mumbo Jumbo? Yes, yes,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Barney said, I've had suspicions, but it wasn't until that happened.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: He waved his hand at the wall out of which
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: they had appeared to have stepped, that I came to
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: a definite conclusion. Eh Mcallan's eyes narrowed suddenly. What was
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the conclusion that you've invented something that's really a little
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: too good? Too good? Said McAllan. Hmmm, go on, it
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: doesn't take much power to operate the thing, does it not,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: said McAllan dryly. If you're talking about the kind of
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: power one pays for, I am can the McAllen too
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: be extended to any point on Earth? I should think so?
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: And you find us the building of this model yourself
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: not very expensive. If the secret leaked out, I'd never
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: know who was going to materialize in my home at
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: any time, would I? Or with what intentions? That mcllan
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: nodded is about the size of it. Barney crushed out
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: his cigarette lit a fresh one blew out a thin
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: streamer of smoke. Under the circumstances, he remarked, it's unfortunate
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: you can't get the thing shut off again, isn't it.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: McCallum was silent for some seconds. So you've guessed that too,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: he said. Finally, what mistake did I make? None that
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: I know of. Barney said, but you're doing everything you
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: can to keep the world from learning about the McAllen Tube.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: At the same time, you've kept it in operation, which
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: made it just a question of time before somebody else
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: noticed something was going on as I did. Your plans
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: for the thing appear to have gone wrong. McCallum was
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: nodding glumly. They have, he said, they have, mister Shard,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: not irreparably wrong, but still he paused. The first time
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: I activated the apparatus, he said, I directed it only
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: at two points, both of them within structures which were
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: and are my property. It was fortunate I did so.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: That was this cabin and the place on MAJORCA. Yes,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: the main operational sections of the tube are concealed about
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: my California home, but certain controls have to be installed
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: at any exit point to make it possible to return it.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Wouldn't be easy to keep those hidden in any public place.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: It wasn't until I compared the actual performance of the
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: tube with my theoretical calculations that I discovered there was
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: an unforeseen factor involved. To make it short, I could not,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: to use your phrasing shut the tube off again, But
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: that would certainly involve some extremely disastrous phenomenon at three
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: different points of our globe. Explosions, Barney asked, well, McAllan said, judiciously,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: implosions might come a little closer to describing the effect.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: The exact term isn't contained in our vocabulary, and I'd
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: prefer it not to show up there, at least in
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: my lifetime. But you see my dilemma, don't you. If
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: if I asked for help, I revealed the existence of
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: the tube, once its existence was known, the research that
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: produced it could be duplicated. As you've concluded, it isn't
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: really too difficult to device to construct, and even with
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the present problem solved, the McAllen tube is just a
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: little too dangerous a thing to be at large in
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: our world today, you feel the problem can be solved.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, McCallan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: That part is only a matter of time. At first
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: I thought I'd have everything worked out within three or
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: four years. Unfortunately, I badly underestimated the expense of some
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: of the required experimentation. That's what's delayed everything. I see.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: I had been wondering, Barney admitted, why a man with
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: something like this on his mind would be putting in
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: quite so much time fishing enforced idleness. It's been very irritating, really,
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: mister Shard. I've been obliged to proceed in the most
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: inexpensive manner possible, and that meant very slowly. Barney said.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: If it weren't for that question of funds, how long
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: would it take to wind up the operation? A year?
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Perhaps two years? McAllan shrugged. It's difficult to be too exact,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: but it certainly wouldn't be longer than two. And what
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: would be the financial tab? McAllen hesitated a million as
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: the bottom figure. I'm afraid it should run closer to
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: a million and a half, doctor Barney said, let me
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: make you a proposition. McAllan looked at him. Are you
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: thinking of financing the experiments? Mister sharp? In return, Barney said,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: for a consideration. What's that. Mcallan's expression grew weary. When
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: you retired, Barney told him, I dropped a nice piece
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: of money as a consequence. Was the first beating I'd taken,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: and it hurt. I'd like to pick that money up again.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: All right, we're agreed. It can't be done on the
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: McCallen tube. The tube wouldn't help make the world a
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: safer place for Barney Shard. But the tube isn't any
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: more remarkable than the mind that created it. Now I
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: know company which could be top of the heap, and
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: electronics precision work one shot specialties is what they go
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: in for. If it had your mind as technical advisor,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: I can buy a controlling interest in that company tomorrow, doctor,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: and you can have the million and a half paid
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: off in not much more time than you expect to
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: take to get your monster back under control and shut
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: down three years of your technical assistance. And we're clear.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: McCallan's face red and slowly. I've considered hiring out, of course,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: he said many times. I need the money very badly.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: But aren't you overlooking something? What I went to considerable pains,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: said McCallan to establish myself as a lunatic. It was distasteful,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: but it seemed necessary to discourage anyone for making too
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: close an investigation of some of my more recent lines
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: of research. If it became known now that I was
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: again in charge of a responsible project, Barney shook his head.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: No problem, doctor, we'd be drawing on outside talent for
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: help in specific matters. Very easy to cover up any
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: leads to you personally. I've handled that general sort of
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: thing before. McAllan frowned thoughtfully. I see, but i'd have
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: there wouldn't be so much work that no, Barney said,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: I guarantee that you'll have all the time you want
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: for your own problem. He smiled, considering what you told me.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: I'd like to hear that one's been solved myself. McAllen
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: grinned briefly. I can imagine very well. Uh, when can
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: you let me have the money, mister sharp. The sun
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: was setting beyond the little lake as Barney drew the
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: shades over the cabin window again. Doctor mc collan was
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: half inside the built in closet at the moment, fitting
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: a pair of toggle switches to the concealed return device
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: in there. Here we go, he said, Suddenly, three feet
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: from the wall of the room, the shadowy suggestion of
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: another wall and of an open door became visible. Barney said, dubiously,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: we came out of that. Mc collan looked at him, sad.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: The appearance is different on the exit side, but the
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: tubes opened now here. I'll show you. He went up
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: to the apparition of a door abruptly seemed to melt
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: into it. Barney held his breath and followed again. There
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: was no sensory reaction to passing through the tube as
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: his foot came down on something solid in the shadowiness
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: into which he stepped, the living room and Sweetwater Beach
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: sprang into a sudden existence around him. Seems a little
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: odd from that end the first time through, doesn't it,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: mc callan remarked. Barney let out his breath. If I'd
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: been the one who'd invented the tube, he said, honestly,
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: I'd have never had the nerve to try it. McAllan
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: grinned tell you the truth. I did need a drink
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: or two the first time, but it's dead safe if
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: you know what you're doing, which was not Barney felt
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: too reassuring. He looked back the door through which they
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: had come was the one by which they had left,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: but beyond it now lay a section of the entrance
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: hall of the Sweetwater Beach House. Don't let that fool you,
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: said mc collan, following his gaze. If you try to
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: go out to the hall at the moment, you'd find
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: yourself right back in the cabin. Light rays passing through
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: the tube can be shunted off and on. He went
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: over to the door, closed and locked it, dropping the
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: key in his pocket. I keep it locked. I don't
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: often have visitors, but if I had one while the
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: door was open, it could be embarrassing. What about the
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: other end, Barney asked. The door appeared in the cabin
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: when you turned those switches. Happens now suppose someone breaks
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: into the cabin and starts prowling around. Is the door
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: still there? McCowan shook his head. Not unless that someone
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: happened to break in within the next half minute. He considered,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: Let's put it this way. The tubes permanently centered on
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: its two exit points, but the effect ordinarily is dissipated
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: over half a mile of the neighborhood at the other end.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: For practical purposes, there is no useful effect. When I'm
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: going to go through, I bring the exit down to
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: a focus point. Does that make sense very well? It
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: remains focused for around sixty or ninety seconds, depending on
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: how I set it. Then it expands again. He nodded
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: at the locked door in the cabin that's disappeared by
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: now walk through the space where it's been and you'll
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: notice nothing unusual. Clear Barney hesitated. And if that door
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: we're still open here and somebody attempted to step through
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: after the exit end had expanded. Well, McAllan said, moving
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: over to a wall buzzer and pressing it. That's what
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: I meant when I said it could be embarrassing. He
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: could get expanded too disastrously. Could you use some drink,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: mister sharp, I know I want one. The drinks served
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: by Frederick's were based on a rather rough grade of bourbon,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: but Barney welcomed them. There was an almost sick fascination
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: in what was a certainty. Now he was going to
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: get the tube. That tremendous device was his for the taking.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: He was well inside Mcallan's guard. Only carelessness could arouse
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: the old man's suspicions again, and Barney was not going
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: to be careless, no need to hurry anything. He would
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: play the reserved role he had selected for himself, leave
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: developments up to the fact that macallan had carried the
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: burden of his secret for twelve years with no more
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: satisfy factory confidant than Frederick's to trust with it. Having
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: told Barney so much, McAllen wanted to tell more. He
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: would have needed very little encouragement to go on talking
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: about it now. Barney offered no encouragement. Instead, he gave
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: McAllen a cautiously worded reminder that it was not inconceivable.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: They had an audience here at which McCallan reluctantly subsided.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: There was, however, one fairly important question Barney still wanted
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: answered today. The nature of the answer would tell him
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: the manner in which McAllan should now be handled. He
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: waited until he was on his feet and ready to
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: leave before presenting it. McCallan's plump cheeks were flushed from
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: the two high balls he'd put away. In somewhat awkward phrases,
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: he'd been expressing his gratitude for Bonnie's generous help and
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: his relief that because of it, the work on the
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: tube could now be brought to an end. Just one
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: thing about that still bothers me, a little doctor, he
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: said candidly. McCallan looked concerned. What's that, mister shard. Well,
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: you're in good health, i'd say, Barney smiled. But suppose
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: something did happen to you before you succeeded in shutting
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: McCallen tube down. He inclined his head toward the locked door.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: That thing would still be around, waiting for somebody to
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: open it and step through. Mccallen's expression of concern vanished.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: He dug a forefinger cheerfully into Barney's rubs. Young man,
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: you needn't worry. I've been aware of the possibility, of course,
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: and believe me, I'm keeping very careful notes and instructions
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: safe to bassit boxes. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Eh
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: somewhere else had a man in mind as a matter
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: of fact. But we can make better arrangements now, you see,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: it's really so ridiculously easy. At this stage, Barney cleared
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: his throat. Some other physicist, any capable physicist, McCallen said, decidedly,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: just a map you see of how reliable he is.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: He winked at Barney, talk about that tomorrow too, or
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: one of these days. Barney stood looking down with a
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: kind of detached surprise at a man who had just
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: pronounced sentence of death casually on himself and an old friend.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: For the first time in Barney's career, the question of
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: deliberate murder not only entered an operation, but had become
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: in an instant an unavoidable part of it. Frank Elby,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: ambitious and money hungry, could take over where McCallan left off.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Elby was highly capable, and Elby could be controlled. McCallan
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: could not. He could only be tricked and if necessary killed.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: It was necessary, of course, if McCallan lived until he
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: knew how to shut the tube down safely, he simply
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: would shut it down, destroy the device and his notes.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: A man who had gone to such extreme links to
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: safeguard the secret was not going to be taught out
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: of his conviction that the McCallen tube was a menace
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: to the world. Fredericks, the morose eavesdropper, had to be
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: silenced with his employer to assure Barney of his undisputed
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: possession of the tube. Could he still let the thing
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: go let McCallan live. He couldn't, Barney decided he dealt
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: himself a hand in a new game, and a big one,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: a fantastic, staggering game. When one considered the possibilities in
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: the tube, it meant new interest, It meant life. For him,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: it wasn't in his nature to pull out. The part
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: about McCallan was cold necessity, a very ugly necessity. But
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: McCallen pleasantly burbling something as they walked down the short
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: hall to the front door already seemed a little unreal.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: A roly poly, muttering, fading, small ghost in the doorway.
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: Barney exchanged a few words he couldn't have repeated them
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: an instant later, with the ghost becoming briefly aware of
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: a remarkably firm hand clasp, and started down the cement
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: walk to the street. Evening had come to California at last.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: A few houses across the street made dim silhouettes against
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: the hills, some of the windows lit. He felt, Barney realized,
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: curiously tired and depressed. A few steps behind him, he
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: heard McCallan quietly closing the door to his home. The walk,
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: the garden, the street, the houses and hills beyond vanished
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: in a soundlessly violent explosion of white light around Barney
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Shard end of section two Section three of Gone Fishing
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: by James H. Schmitts. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: public domain. Read by Cindy J. M. Gone Fishing by
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: James H. Schmitt's Section three. His eyes might have been
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: open for several sons seconds before he became entirely aware
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: of that fact. He was on his back, looking up
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: at the low, raftered ceiling of a room. The light
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: was artificial, subdued. It gave the impression of nighttime outdoors.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: Memory suddenly blazed up, tricked, came the first thought, outsmarted,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: out foxed, and by then that went lost. In a brief,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: intense burst of relief at the realization he was still alive,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: apparently unhurt, Barney turned sharply over on his side bed
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: underneath he discovered and stared around the room was low, wide,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: something undefinably odd. He catalogged it quickly. Redwood walls, navajo
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: rugs on the floor, bookcases, unlit fireplace chairs, table desk
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: with a typewriter and reading lamp. Across the room, A tall,
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: dark grandfather clock with a bright metal disk instead of
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: a clock face, stood against the wall. From it came
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: a soft, low thudding, as deliberate as the heartbeat of
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: some big animal. It was the twin of one of
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: the clocks he had seen in McCallan's living room. The
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: room was mcallen's, of course, almost luxurious by comparison with
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: its home, but wholly typical of the man, and now
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: Barney became aware of its unusual feature. There were no windows.
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: There was one door so far to his right he
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: had to twist his head around to see it. It
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: stood half open. Beyond it, a few feet of narrow
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: passage lay within his range of vision, lighted in the
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: same soft manner as the room. No sound came from there.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Had he been left alone, and what had happened? He
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: wasn't in mccallen's home or in that fishing shack at
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: the lake. The two might have picked him up somehow
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: in front of McCallan's house, transported him to the majorca place.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: Or he might be in a locked hideaway McCallen had
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: built beneath the Sweetwater Beach house. Two things were unpleasantly obvious.
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: His investigations hadn't revealed all of McCallan's secrets, and the
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: old man hadn't really been fooled by Barney Shard's smooth approach,
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: not at any rate to the extent of deciding to
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: trust him. Hot chagrin at the manner in which McCallan
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: had handed the roll of dupe back to him flooded
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: Barney for a moment. He swung his legs over the
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: side of the bed and stood up. His coat had
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: been hung neatly over the back of a chair a
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: few feet away. His shoes stood next to the bed.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Otherwise he was fully clothed. Nothing in the pockets of
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: the coat appeared to have been touched. Bill fold, cigarette case, lighter,
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: even the gun were in place. The gun, almost startlingly,
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: was still loaded. Barney thrust the revolver thoughtfully into his
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: trousers pocket. His wrist watch seemed to be the only
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: item missing. He glanced about the room again, then at
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: the half open door and the stretch of narrow hallway beyond.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: Macallan must have noticed the gun. The fact that he
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: hadn't bothered to take it away, or at least to
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: unload it, might have been reassuring under different circumstances. Here
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: it could have been very disagreeable. Meaning Barney went quietly
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: to the door, stood listening a few seconds, became convinced
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: there was no one within hearing range, and moved on
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: down the hall. In less than two minutes, he returned
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: to the room with the first slow welling of panic
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: inside him. He had found a bathroom, a small kitchen,
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: a pantry, a storage room twice as wide and long
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: as the rest of the place combined, crammed with packaged
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: and craded articles, and with an attached freezer. If it
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: was mainly stored food, as Barney thought, and if there
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: was adequate ventilation and independent power, as seemed to be
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: the case, then McAllan had constructed a superbly self sufficient
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: hideout a man might live comfortably enough for years without
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: emerging from it. There was only one thing wrong with
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: the set up, from Barney's point of view, the thing
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: he'd been afraid of. Nowhere was there an indication of
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: a window or of an exit door. The McAllen tube,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: of course, might make such ordinary conveniences unnecessary, and if
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: the tube was the only way in or out, then
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: McAllan incidentally had provided himself with an escape proof jail
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: for any one he preferred to keep confined. The place
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: might very well have been built several hundred feet underground,
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: a rather expensive proposition, but aside from that, quite feasible.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: Barney felt his breath begin to quicken and told himself relax.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Wherever he was, he shouldn't be here long. McAllan presently
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: would be getting in contact with him. And then his
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: glance touched the desk across the room, and now he
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: noticed his missing wristwatch on it. He went over, picked
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: it up and discovered that the long white envelope on
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: which the watch had been placed was addressed to him.
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: For a moment he stared at the envelope. Then, his
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: fingers shaking a little, he tore open the envelope and
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: pulled out the typewritten sheets. Within the letter head he saw,
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: without surprise was Oliver B. McAllan. The letter read, Dear
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: mister shard, an unfortunate series of circumstances, combined with certain
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: character traits in yourself, make it necessary to inconvenience you,
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: in a rather serious manner to explain the information I
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: gave you regarding that Macallan too and my own position
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: was not entirely correct. It is, this is not the
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: intractable instrument I presented it as being. It can be
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: shut off again quite readily and without any attendant difficulties. Further,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: the decision to conceal its existence was not reached by
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: myself alone. For years we that is, mister Fredericks, who
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: holds a degree in engineering and was largely responsible for
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: the actual construction of the tube, and I have been
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: members of an association of which I cannot tell you
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: too much, but I may say that it acts, among
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: other things, as the present custodian of some of the
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: more dangerous products of human science, and will continue to
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: do so until a more stable period permits their safe release.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: To keep developments such as the McAllen tube out of
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: irresponsible hands is no easy task these days, but a
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: variety of effective devices are employed to that end. In
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: this instance, you happened upon a rigged situation which have
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: been when designed to draw action from another man, an
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: intelligent and unscrupulous individual who lately had indicated a disturbing
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: interest in the events connected with the semi public fiasco
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: of my matter transmitter some years ago. The chances of
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: another person becoming aware of the temporal incongruities which were
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: being brought to this man's attention were regarded as so
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: remote that they need be given no practical consideration. Nevertheless,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: the unexpected happened. You became interested. The promptness with which
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: you acted on your chance observations shows a bold and
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: imaginative manner of thinking, on which you may be genuinely congratulated. However,
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: a perhaps less commendable motivation was also indicated. While I
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: appeared to be stalling on coming to decisions you may
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: have regarded as inevitable, your background was being investigated by
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: the association. The investigation confirmed that you fall with any
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: personality category of which we have the greatest reason to
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: be wary, considering the extent of what you had surmised
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: and learned falsified. Though the picture was this presented a
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: serious problem, it was made more acute by the fact
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: that this association is embarking on a five year plan
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: of some importance. Publicity during this period would be more
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: than ordinarily undesirable. It will therefore be necessary to see
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: to it that you have no opportunity to tell what
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: you know before the plan is concluded, I am sure
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: you can see that it would be most unwise to
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: accept your simple word on the matter. Your freedom of
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: movement and of communication must remain drastically restricted until this
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: five year period is over. Within the next two weeks,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: as shown by the clock in your quarters, it will
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: have become impossible for me or for any member of
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: the Association to contact you again before the day of
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: your release. I tell you this so that you will
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: not nourish vain hopes of changing the situation in your favor,
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: but will adjust as rapidly as you can to the
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: fact that you must spend the next five years by yourself.
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: What ameliorations of this basic condition appeared possible have been provided.
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: It is likely that you will already have tried to
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: find a way out of the cabin in which you
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: were left. The manner of doing this will become apparent
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: to you exactly twenty four hours after I conclude and
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: seal this letter. It seemed best to advise you of
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: some details of your confinement before letting you discover that
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: you have been given as much limited freedom as circumstances allowed. Sincerely, Yours,
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: Oliver B. Mc callan, Barney dropped the letter on the desk,
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: stared down at it, his mouth open. His face had
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: flushed red. Why he's crazy, he said it aloud. At last,
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: he's crazier. Then he straightened, looked uneasily about the room again.
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: Whether a maniac McAllan made more desirable jailer than a
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: secret association engaged in keeping dangerous scientific developments under cover
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: could be considered an open question. The most hopeful thought
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: was that doctor mc collan was indulging in unsuspected and
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: nasty sense of humor. Unfortunately, there wasn't the slightest reason
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: to believe it. Mc collan was wise to him. The
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: situation was no gag, and neither was it necessarily what
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: mc collan wanted him to think. Unless his watch had
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: been reset, he had been knocked out by whatever hit
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: him for roughly five hours or seventeen, he amended, But
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: he would have been hungry if it had been the
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: longer period, and he wasn't five hours. Then five hours
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have given them time to prepare the cabin, as
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: it was prepared for some one's indefinite stay at a guess.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: Mcallennie constructed it as a secure personal retreat in the
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: event of something like a nuclear holocaust. But in that case,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: why vacate it now? For Barney shard too many questions,
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: He thought better just keep looking around. The blank metal
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: face on the Grandfather clock swung back to reveal a
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: group of four dials, each graduated in a different manner.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: Only one of them immediately familiar. Barney studied the other
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: three for some seconds. Then their meetings suddenly came clear.
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: The big clock had just finished softly talking away the
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: fourth hour of the first day of the first month
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: of year one. There were five figures on the year dial.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: He stared at it, a five year period of something
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: seemed to be the key to the entire setup. Barney
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: shook his head. Key it might be, but not one
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: he could read without additional data. He snapped the cover
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: disc shut on the unpleasantly suggestive dials and began to
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: go mentally over McCallan's letter the business in that twenty
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: four hours twenty now the manner of leaving the cabin
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: would become apparent to him. That seemed to dispose of
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: the possibility of being buried underground. Here McCallan would hardly
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: have provided him with a personal model of the tube.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: He must be speaking of an ordinary door opening on
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: the immediate environment, equipped with a time lock. In that case,
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: where was the door? Barney made a second and far
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: more careful search. Three hours later he concluded it he'd
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: still found no trace of an exit, But the paneling
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: in any of the rooms might slide aside to reveal
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: one at the indicated time, or section of the floor
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: might swing back above a trap door. There was no
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: point in attempting to press the search any further. After all,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: he had only to wait on the side he made
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: other discoveries. After opening a number of crates in the
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: storage room and checking contents of the freezer, he could
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: assume that there was in fact more than enough food
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: here to sustain one man for five years, assuming the
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: water supply held out. There was no way of checking
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: on it. The source of the water, like that of
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: the power and the ventilation, lay outside the area which
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: was accessible to him. But if the water could be
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: depended on, he wouldn't go hungry or thirsty. Even tobacco
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: and liquor were present in comparably liberal quantities. The liquor
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: he'd seen was all good, Almost at random. He had
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: selected a bottle of cognac and brought it in a
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: glass to the main room with him. The thought of
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: food wasn't attractive at the moment, but he could use
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: a drink. He half filled the glass, emptied it with
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: a few swallows, refilled it, and took it over to
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: one of the arm chairs. He began to feel more relaxed,
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: almost at once. But the truth was, he acknowledged, settling
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: back in the chair, that the situation was threatening to
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: unnerve him completely. Everything he'd seen, implied Mcallan's letter came
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: close to stating the facts. What wasn't said became more
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: alarming by a suggestion of deliberate vagueness until that melodramatically
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: camouflaged door was disclosed seventeen hours from now. He'd be
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: better off if he didn't try to ponder the thing out,
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: and the best way to do that might be to
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: take a solid load on rapidly and then sleep away
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: as much of the intervening time as possible. He wasn't
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: ordinarily a hard drinker, but he'd started on the second
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: bottle before the cabin began to blur on him. Afterwards,
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: he didn't remember making it over to the bed, Barney
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: woke up ravenous and without a trace of a hangover.
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: Making a mental adjustment to his surroundings took no more
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: time than opening his eyes. He'd been dreaming doctor McCallan
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: had dropped him into a snake pit and was sadistically
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: dangling a rope twelve feet above his head, inviting him
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: to climb out. To find himself still in the softly
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: lit cabin was, for a few seconds, at any rate,
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: a relief. The relief faded as he sat up and
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: looked at his watch, still over an hour ago. Before
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: McCallan's idiotic door became apparent, Barney swore and headed for
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: the bathroom to freshen up. There was an electric shaver there,
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: the end of its cord vanishing into the wall. Barney
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: used it as meticulously as if he were embarking on
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: a day of normal activities, prepared a breakfast in the
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: kitchen and took it to the main room. He ate unhurriedly,
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: absorbed in his thoughts now and then glancing about the room.
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: After a few minutes, he uneasily pushed back the plate
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: and stood up. If mcallan's twenty four hours began with
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: the moment the big clock in the room had been
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: st started. The door should be in evidence by now.
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: Another tour of the place revealed nothing and left him
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: nervous enough to start biting his nails. He moved about
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: the room, looking over things he'd already investigated. A music cabinet.
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: He thought it was a radio at first, but it
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: was only an elaborate Hi Fi record player. Two enclosed
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: racks of records went with it, mainly classical stuff apparently,
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: and a narrow built in closet with three polished fishing
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: rods and related gear, which would have allowed for speculation
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: on the nature of the cabin's surroundings, except that McAllan
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: might feel compelled to have a sample of his toys
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: around him wherever he was. Barney closed the closet door
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: morosely stood regarding the two crowded bookcases next to it,
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: plenny of books reflecting the McCallan taste again technical tomes,
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: great literature, Dickens Melville, The Life of Gandhy. Barney grunted
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: and was turning away. There another title caught his eye.
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: He glanced back at it hauled out the book fresh
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: Water Gamefish Tested in Methods of their pursuit the author O. B.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: McCallan bright light. Daylight filled the room with so sudden
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: a gush that Barney's breath caught in his throat. The
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: book seemed to leap out of his hands. With the
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: same glance. He saw then the low, wide picture window,
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: which abruptly had appeared in the opposite wall, occupying almost
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: half its space, and in the other wall, on the
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: far left, a big door which was still swinging slowly
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: open into the room. Daylight poured in through the window
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: and door and beyond them. For seconds he stared at
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: the scene outside, barely aware of what he was looking at,
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: while his mind raced on. He had searched every inch
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: of the walls, and those thick wooden panels hadn't simply
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: slid aside. The surfaces of door, frame and window were
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: flushed with the adjoining wall sections. So the McAllen tube
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: was involved in these changes in the room, and he
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: might have guessed. Barney thought that McAllan would have found
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: more than one manner of putting the space twisting properties
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: of his device to use. And then finally he realized
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: what he was seeing through the window and behind the door.
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: He walked slowly up to the window, still breathing unevenly.
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: The scene was unfamiliar, but not at all extraordinary. The
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: cabin appeared to be part way up one side of
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: a heavily forested, rather narrow valley. It couldn't be more
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: than half a mile to the valley's far slope, which
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: rose very steeply, almost like a great cresting green wave,
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: filling the entire window. Coming closer, Barney saw the sky
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: line above it, hazy, summary, brilliantly luminous. This cabin McCallan's,
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: might be in one of the wilder sections of the
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: Canadian Rockies, or, and this was a considerably less happy thought,
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: it probably could have been set up just as well
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: in some area like the Himalayas. But a more immediate
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: question was whether the cabin was actually in the valley
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: or only appearing to be there. The use of the
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: tube made it possible that this room and its seeming
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: surroundings were very far apart in fact, and just what
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: would happen to him if he decided to step outside.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: There were scattered sounds beyond the open door, bird chirpings
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: and whistles, the continuous burring calls of what Barney decided
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: would be a wild pigeon. Then a swirl of wind
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: stirred the nearer branches. He could feel the wash of
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: the breeze in the room. It looked and sounded and
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: felt all right. Barney scowled undecidedly, clearing his throat, then
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: discovered that a third item had appeared in the room,
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: along with the door and the window. In the wall
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: just this side of the door, at shoulder height was
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: a small ivory plate with two black switches on it,
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: presumably the controls for the door and window. Barney went
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: over gingerly touched the one on the right, watching the window,
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: then flicked up the switch. Instantly, the window vanished, the
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: wood paneling again covered the wall. Barney turned the switch down,
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: the window was back. The door refused to disappear until
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: he pushed it shut. Then it obeyed its switch with
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: the same promptness. He went back across the room, returned
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 1: with one of McCallan's fishing poles, and edged its tip
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: tentatively out through the door. He wouldn't have been surprised
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: if the tip had disintegrated in that instant, but nothing
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: at all occurred. He dug about with the pole in
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: the loose earth beyond the door sill, then drew it back.
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: The breeze was flowing freely past him. A few grains
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: of soil blew over the sill and into the room.
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: The door seemed to be concealing no grisly tricks, and
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: looked to be safe enough. Barney stepped out on the sill,
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: moved on a few hesitant steps, stood looking around. He
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: had a better view of the valley here, and the
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: better view told him immediately that he was not in
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: the Canadian Rockies, at least Canada, to his knowledge, had
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: no desert. And on the left, this valley came to
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: an end, perhaps a little more than a mile away
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: from the cabin, its wooded slopes flowing steeply down to
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: a landscape which was dull, rust red flat sand stretches
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: alternating with worn rock escarpments, until the desert's rim rose
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: toward and touched the hazy, white sky not so very
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: different from Barney's eyes widened suddenly. Could he be in
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: the Sierras? Perhaps not more than three or four hours
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: drive from Los Angeles, Three or four hours drive if
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: he had a car, of course, But Even so, he
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: stared around, puzzled. There were no signs of a human being,
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: of human habitation, but somebody else must be here, somebody
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: to keep guard on him. Otherwise, there was nothing to
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: stop him from walking away from this place, though it
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: might very well be a long, uncomfortable hike to any
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: civilized spot. Even if this did turn out to be
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: the Himalayas or some equally remote area, there must be
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: hill tribes about if one went far enough. There should
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: even be an occasional airplane bassing overhead. Barney stood just
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: outside the door, frowning, pondering the situation again, searching for
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: the catch in it. McAllan and his friends, whatever else
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: they might be, weren't stupid. There was something involved here
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: that he hadn't become aware of yet. Almost without thought,
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: then he turned up his head, squinting at the bright,
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: hazy sky above him, and saw it. His breath sucked
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 1: in and burst from his lungs in a half strangled,
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: terrified squawk as he staggered backward into the cabin, slammed
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: the door shut, then spun around and began slapping frantically
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: at the switches on the wallplate until door and window
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: were gone, and only the cabin's soft illumination was around
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: him again. Then he crouched on the floor, his back
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: against the wall, shaking with a terror he could have
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: hardly imagined before he knew what the catch was. Now
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: he had understood it completely in the instant of glancing
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: up and seeing that tiny, brilliant blue white point of
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: light glared down at him through the incandescent cloud layers above,
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: like a blazing, incredibly horrible insect eye this world's sun.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: End of section three Section four of Gone Fishing by
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: James H. Schmitz. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: Read by Cindy J. M. Gone Fishing by James H.
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: Schmidt's Section four. The end of year one, Barney Schard
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: came up out of an uneasy sleep to the sudden,
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: sharp awareness that something was wrong. For some seconds he
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: lay staring about the unlit cabin, mouth dry heart, hammering
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: with apprehension. Then he discovered it was only that he
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: had left the exit door and the window switched on.
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: Only this was the first time since they had left
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: him here that he had gone to sleep without sealing
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: the cabin first, even when blind drunk, really embalmed. He
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: thought of climbing out of bed and taking care of
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: it now, but decided to let the thing ride. After all,
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: he knew there was nothing in the valley, nothing in fact,
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: on this world of which he had a realistic reason
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: to be afraid, and he felt dead, tired, weak, and sick.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: Feeling like that no longer alarmed him as it had
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: done at first. It was simply a physical fact. The
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: sheet under him was wet with sweat, though it was
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: no more than comfortably warm in the room, the cabin
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: never became more than comfortably warm. Barney lay back again,
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: trying to figure out how it had happened. He had
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: forgotten about the window and the door. It had been
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: night for quite a while when he went to sleep,
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: but regardless of how long he'd slept, it was going
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: to go on being night a good deal longer. Last
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: time he had bothered to check, which, Barney decided on reflection,
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: might be several months ago. Now the sunless period had
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: continued for better than fifty six hours. Not long before
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: dropping on the bed, he was standing in front of
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: the big clock while the minute hand on the hour
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: dial slid up to the point which marked the end
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: of the first year in earth time he had spent
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: in the cabin watching it happen. He was suddenly overwhelmed
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: again by the enormity of his solitude, and it looked
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: as if it were going to turn into another of
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: those periods when he sat with a gun in his hand,
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: sobbing and swearing in a violent muddle of self pity
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: and helpless fury. He decided to knock off the lamenting
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: and get good and drunk instead. Annie would make it
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: a drunk to top all trunks on this happy anniversary night.
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: But he hadn't done that either. He had everything set
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: up downright, festively, glasses, crushed eyes, formidable, little squad of
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: fresh bottles. But when he looked at the array, he
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: suddenly felt sick in advance. Then there was a wave
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: of leaden heaviness, of complete fatigue. He hadn't had time
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: to think of sealing the cabin. He had simply fallen
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: into the bed then and there, and for all practical purposes,
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: passed out on the spot. Barney Shard lay wondering about that.
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: It had been one might say, a rough year. Through
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: the long days. In particular, he had been doing his
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: level best to obliterate his surroundings behind sustained fogs of alcoholism.
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: The thought of the hellishly brilliant, far off star around
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: which this world circled, the awareness that only the roof
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: and walls of the cabin were between himself and that
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: blazing alien watcher seemed entirely unbearable. The nights, after a while,
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: were easier to take. They had their strangeness, too, but
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: the difference wasn't so great. He grew accustomed to the
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: big green moon and developed almost an affection for a
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: smaller one, which was butter yellow and on an orbit
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: that made it a comparatively infrequent visitor in the sky
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: over the valley. By night. He began to leave the
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: view window in operation, and finally even the door opened
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: for hours at a time, but he had never done
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: it before. When he wanted to go to sleep alcoholism,
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: Barney decided stirring uneasily on the sweat soiled, wrinkled sheet
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: hadn't been much of a success. His body, or perhaps
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: some resistant factor in his mind, let him go so
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: far and no farther. When he exceeded the limit, he
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: became suddenly and violently ill, and remembering the drunk periods
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: wasn't pleasant. Barney shard that steel, the old tough lad
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: breaking up going to pieces did not make a pretty picture.
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: It was when he couldn't keep that picture from his
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: mind that he most frequently had sat there with the gun,
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: turning it slowly around in his hand. It had been
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: rather close thing at times. Perhaps he simply hated McAllan
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: and the Association too much to use the gun. Drunk
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: or sober, He brooded endlessly over methods of destroying them.
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: He had to be alive when they came back. Some
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: while ago, there had been a space of several days
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: when he was hallucinating the event, when McAllan and the
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: Association seemed to be present, and he was arguing with them,
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: threatening them, even pleading with them. He came out of
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: that period deeply frightened by what he was doing. Since then,
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: he hadn't been drinking as heavily, but this was the
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: first time he'd gone to sleep without drinking at all.
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: He sat up on the edge of the b found
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: himself shaking a little again after that minor effort, but
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: climbed to his feet anyway and walked unsteadily over to
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: the door. He stood there looking out. The cloud layers
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: always faded away during the night, gathered again at dawn.
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: By now the sky was almost clear. A green glow
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: over the desert to the left meant the larger moon
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: was just below the horizon, the little yellow moon rode
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: high in the sky above it. If they came up together,
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: this would be the very bright part of the night,
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: during which the birds and other animal life in the
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: valley went about their pursuits as if it were daytime.
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: He could hear bird chirpings now against the rustless mutter
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: of the little stream, which came down the center of
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: the valley, starting at the lake at the right end,
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: and running out into the stagnant and drying pools a
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: short distance after it entered the desert. He discovered suddenly
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: that he'd brought the gun along from the bed with
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: him and was holding it without having been in the
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: least aware of that fact. Grinning twistedly at the old
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: and pointless precaution, he shoved the gun into his trouser pocket,
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: brought out matches, a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and began
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: to smoke, very considered of them, to see to it
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: that he wouldn't run out of minor conveniences, like leaving
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: him liquor enough to drink himself to death on any
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: time he felt like it during the five years leaving
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: him the gun. From the association's standpoint, those things were
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: up to him, of course, Barney thought bitterly. In either
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: unfortunate event, he wouldn't be on their consciences. He felt
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: a momentary spasm of the old hate, but a feeble one,
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: hardly more than a brief wash of the early torrents
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: of rage. Something had burned out of him these months,
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: and increasing dullness was moving into its place. And just what,
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: he thought startled was he doing outside the cabin door now?
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: He hadn't consciously decided to go that far. It must
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: have been months, actually, since he had walked beyond the
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: doorway at all. During the first few weeks, he'd made
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: half a dozen attempts to explore his surroundings by night,
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: and learned quickly that he was confined to as much
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: of the valley as he could see from the cabin.
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: Beyond the ridges lay naked desert and naked mountain ranges,
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: silent and terrifying in the moonlight. Barney glanced up and
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: down the valley, undecided, but not knowing quite what he
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: was undecided about. He didn't feel like going back into
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: the cabin, and to just stand here was boring. Well,
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: he said aloud, sardonically, it's a nice night for a walk,
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: brother Shard. Well, why not? It was bright enough to
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: see by now if he kept away from the thickest
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: growth of trees, and getting steadily brighter as the big
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: moon moved up behind the distant desert rim, he'd walked
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: till he got tired, then rest. By the time he
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: got back to the cabin, he'd be ready to lie
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: down and sleep off the curious mood that had taken
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: hold of him. Barney started off up the valley, stepping
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: carefully and uncertainly along the sloping, uneven ground. During the
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: early weeks, he had found a thick, loose leaf binder
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: in the back of one of the desk drawers. He
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: thought it might have been left there intentionally. Its heading
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: was Notes on the Terrestrial Ecological Base of the Eighteenth System,
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 1: Volume three. After leaving through them once, it had been
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: a while before Barney could bring himself to study the
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: notes in more detail. He didn't at the time want
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: to know too much about the situation he was in.
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: He was still numbed by it, but eventually he went
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: over the binder carefully. The various reports were unsigned, but
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: appeared to have been compiled by at least four or
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: five persons, McAllan among them. His writing style was not
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: difficult to recognize. Leaving out much that was incomprehensible or
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: nearly so, Barney could still construe a fairly specific picture
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: of the Association project of which he was now an
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: unscheduled and unwilling part. Selected plants and animals had been
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: moved from Earth through the McCallen tube to a world
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: consisting of sand, rock and water, without detecting traces of
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: indigenous life of any form. At present, the ecological base
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: was only in its ninth year, which meant that the
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: larger trees in the valley had been nearly full grown
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: when brought here with a soil that was to nourish them.
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: From any viewpoint, the planting of an oasis of life
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: on the barren world had been a gigantic undertaking, but
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: there were numerous indications that the McAllen tube was only
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: one of the array of improbable devices. The Association had
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 1: at its disposal for such tasks. A few cryptic paragraphs
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: expressed the writer's satisfaction with the undetailed methods by which
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: the bases localized climatic conditions were maintained. So far, even
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: the equipment which kept the cabin in uninterrupted operation had
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: eluded Barney's search. It and the other required machinery might
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: be buried somewhere in the valley, where it might, he thought,
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: had been set up just as easily some distance away
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: in the desert or among the remotely towering mountain ranges.
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 1: One thing he had learned from the binder was that
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: McAllan had told the truth in saying no one could
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: contact him from Earth before the full period of his
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: exile was over. The reason had seemed appalling enough in itself.
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: This world had moved to a point in its orbit
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: where the radiance of its distant sun was thickening between
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: it and Earth, growing too intense to be penetrated by
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: the forces of the McAllen tube. Another four years would
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: pass before the planet and the valley emerged gradually from
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: behind that barrier. Again. He walked, rested, walked again. Now
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: and then when he was troubled by a burst of
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: violent sweating, followed by shivering fits, until his clothes began
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: to dry again. The big moon edged presently over the
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: ridge above him, and in the first flood of its light,
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: the opposite slope of the valley took on the appearance
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: of a fanciful sub oceanic reef. The activity of the
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: animal life about Barney increased promptly. It was no darker
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: now than an evening hour on Earth, and his fellow
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: occupants of the ecological base seemed well adjusted to the
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: strange shifts of day and night to which they had
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: been consigned. He pushed through a final thicket of shrubbery
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: and found himself at the edge of the lake. Beyond
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: the almost circular body of water, a towering wall of
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: cliffs sealed the upper end of the valley. He had
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: come almost a mile, and while a mile a city
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: mile at least, wouldn't have met much to Barney Shard
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: at one time, he felt quite exhausted. Now he sat
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 1: down at the edge of the water, and after a
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: minute or two, bent forward in drank from it. It
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: had the same cold, clear flavor as the water in
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: the cabin. The surface of the water was unquiet, soft flying.
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: Large insects of some kind were swarming about, stippling the
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: nearby stretch of the lake with their touch, and there
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: were frequent soft swirls as fish rose from beneath to
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: take down the flyers. Presently, one of them broke clear
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: in the air, a big fish, thick bodied and shining,
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: looking as long as Barney's arm, in the moonlight, and
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: dropped back with a splash. Barney grinned twistedly. The notes
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: indicated doctor McCallan had taken some part in stocking the valley,
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: and one could trust McCallan to see to it that
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: the presence of his beloved gamefish wasn't overlooked, even in
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: so outlandish a project. He shifted position, became aware of
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: the revolver in his pocket, and brought it out. A
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 1: wave of dull anger surged slowly through him again. What
• 1:27:59
  Speaker 1: they did with the trees and animals was their own business,
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: but what they had done to a human being. He
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: scrambled suddenly to his feet, drew his arm back, and
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: sent the gun flying far out over the lake. It
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: spun through the moonlight, dipped struck the surface with less
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: of a splash than the fish had made and was gone.
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: Now why, Barney asked himself in amazement, did I do that?
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: He considered it a moment, and then, for the first
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: time in over a year, felt a brief touch of
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: something not far from elation. He wasn't going to die here,
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 1: no matter how politely the various invitations to do himself
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: in had been extended by McAllan or the Association. He
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: was going to embarrass them by being alive and healthy
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: when they came back to the valley four years from now.
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: They wouldn't kill him. Then, they'd already shown they didn't
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: have the guts to commit murder directly. They would have
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: to take him back to Earth, and once he was
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: there it was going to be too bad for them.
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter how closely they watched him. In the end,
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: he would find or make the opportunity to expose them,
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: pulled down the whole lousy, conceited crew, see them buried
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: under the shambles. An outraged world would make of the
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 1: Secret Association the end of year two. The end of
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: year two on the ecological base in the eighteenth system
• 1:29:37
  Speaker 1: arrived and went by without Barney being immediately aware of
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 1: the fact. Some two hours later, he glanced at his wristwatch,
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: pushed back the chair, got up from the desk, and
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: went over to the big Grandfather clock to confirm his surmise. Well, well,
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: brother Shard, he said aloud, Another anniversary, and three of
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: them to go. We're almost at the half. He snapped
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 1: the cover plate over the multiple clock faces and turned away.
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: Three more years on the ecological base was a gruesome
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: stretch of time when you thought about it as a whole,
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: which was precisely why he rarely let himself think of
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: it as a whole nowadays. This last year, at any rate, Barty,
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: conceded to himself, had to be regarded as an improvement
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: on the first. Well, he added, irritably, what wouldn't be
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: It hadn't been delightful. He'd frequently felt almost stupefied with boredom,
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: but physically, at least he was fit, considerably fitter, as
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, than he'd ever been in his life.
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: Not very surprising when he got too restless to be
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: able to settle down to anything else. He was walking
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: about the valley, moving along at his best clip, regardless
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: of obstacles, until he was ready to drop to the
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: ground wherever he was exertion ate up the restlessness eventually
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: for a while. Selecting another tree to chop into firewood
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: took the edge off the spasms of rage that tanned
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: Dick did come up if he started thinking too long
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: about that association of jerk. Somewhere beyond the sun, brother
• 1:31:10
  Speaker 1: Shard was putting on muscle all over, and after convincing
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: himself at last, after all the animals weren't getting hurt,
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: that the glaring diamond of fire in the daytime sky
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: couldn't really be harmful, he had also rapidly put on
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: a palm beach tan. When his carefully ration sleep periods
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: eventually came around, he was more than ready for them
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: and slept like a log. Otherwise, projects, projects to beat boredom,
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: and never mind how much sense they made in themselves.
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: None of them did. But after the first month or
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: two he had so much going that there was no
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: question any more of not having something to do. Two
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: hours allotted to work out on the typewriter a critical
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: evaluation of a chapter from one of McCallan's Truce technical texts.
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: If Barney's mood was sufficiently sour, the evaluation would be unprintable,
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: but it wasn't being printed, and two hours had been
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: disposed of a day and a half Earth standard time
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: to construct an operating dam across the stream. He was
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: turning into an experienced landscape architect. The swimming pool in
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: the floor of the valley beneath the cabin might not
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: have been approved by car Stairs of California, but it
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 1: was one project out of which he had even drawn
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: some realistic benefits. Then half an hour to improve his
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: knife throwing technique, fifteen minutes to get the blade of
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: the kitchen knife straightened out. Afterwards, two hours to design
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: a box trap for the capture of one of the
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: fat gray squirrels that always hung about the cabin. Fifteen
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: minutes on a new chess problem chess Barney had discovered
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: wasn't as hairy as it looked. Five hours to devise
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: one more completely fool proof method of bringing about the
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 1: eventual ruin of the association that made no more practical
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: sense than anything else he was doing, and couldn't until
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 1: he knew a great deal more about mccowan's friends than
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: he did now. But it was considerably more absorbing to
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: say than even chess brother Shard could beat boredom. He
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: could probably beat another three years of boredom. He hadn't
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: forgiven anyone for making him do it. End of section
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: four Section five of Gone Fishing by James H. Schmitts.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: Cinda J. M. Gone Fishing by James H. Schmitt's Section five.
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: The end of year five, for some hours, the association's
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: Antiplano station had been dark and almost deserted. Only the
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: IMT transit lock beneath one of the sprawling ranch houses
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: showed in the vague light, spreading out of the big
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: scanning plate in an upper wall section. The plate framed
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: an unimpressive section of the galaxy, a blurred scattering of
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: stars condensing toward the right and somewhat left of center,
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: a large, misty red globe. John Emmanuel Fredericks, seated by
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: himself and one of the two tube operator chairs, ignored
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: the plate. He was stooped slightly forwards, peering absorbedly through
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: the eye pieces of the operator's scanner. Before him, Melvin
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: Simms psychologists strolled in presently through the transit lock's door,
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: stopped behind Fredericks, remarking, mildly good evening. Doctor Frederick started
• 1:34:51
  Speaker 1: and looked around. Never heard you arrive, mel. Where's Allie?
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: He and Spalding dropped in at Spawling's place in Vermont.
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: They should be along in a few minutes. Spalding Fredericks repeated, inquiringly,
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 1: our revered President intends to observe the results of Ollie's
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: experiment in person. He'll represent the board here, sim said,
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: whereas I, as you may have guessed, represent the outraged
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: psychology department. He nodded at the plate. Is that the place?
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: That's it? Et base eighteen? Not very sharp in the tube?
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 1: Is it? No? Still plenty of interfering radiation, but it's
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: thinned out enough for contact reading? Is zero point nineteen
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: as of thirty minutes ago. Fredericks indicated the chair beside him,
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 1: sit down if you want a better look. Thanks. The
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: psychologist settled himself in the chair, leaned forward and peered
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 1: into the scanner. After a few seconds, he remarked, not
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: the most hospitable looking place, Fredericks grunted. Any of the
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: ecologists will tell you eighteen's an unspoiled beauty. No problems
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: there except the ones we bring along ourselves, Sims grinned faintly. Well,
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: we're good at doing that, aren't we. Have you looked
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: around for a for Mcallan's subject, yet, no felt all
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: he should be present when we find out what's happened. Incidentally,
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: how did the meeting go? You weren't tuned in, Sims asked, surprised. No,
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: too busy setting things up for contact. Well, Sims sat
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: back in his chair. I may say it was a
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: regular bear garden for a while. Doctor Psychology expressed itself
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: as being astounded, indignant, offended. In a word, they were
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: hoppin' mad. I kept out of it, though I admit
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 1: I was startled when mc collan informed me privately this
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: morning of the five year project he'd been conducting on
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 1: the quiet. He was accused of crimes ranging, oh from
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: the clandestine to the inhumane, and of course all he
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: was given it back as good as he got. Of course,
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: his arguments, Sims went on, pursing his lips reflexively, were
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: not without merit. That was recognized. Nobody enjoys the idea
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: of euthanasia as a security device. Many of us feel,
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: I do that it's still preferable to the degree of
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: brainwashing required to produce significant alterations in a personality type
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 1: of Shard's class all he feels that too, Frederick said.
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 1: The upshot of the original situation, as he saw it,
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: was that Barney Shard had been a dead man from
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: the moment he got on the association's trail, or a
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: permanently deformed personality. Sims shook his head. Not the last.
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: We wouldn't have considered attempting personality alteration in his case euthanasia. Then,
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: Frederick said, Shard was too intelligent to be thrown off
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 1: the track, much too and scrupulous to be trusted under
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: any circumstances. So Ollie reported him dead. The psychologist was
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: silent for some seconds. The point might be this, he said, suddenly,
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: after my talk with mcllan this morning, I ran an
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: extrapolation on the personality pattern to find for Shard five
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: years ago on the basis of his background. Results indicate
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 1: he went insane and suicided within a year. How reliable
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: are those results, Frederick inquired, absently, no more so than
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: any other indication in individual psychology. But they present a
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: reasonable probability, and not a very pleasant one. Frederick said,
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 1: Oliver wasn't unaware of that as a possible outcome. One
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: reason he selected Base eighteen for the experiment was to
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: make sure he couldn't interfere with the process once it
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 1: had begun. His feeling after talking with Shard for some
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: hours was that Shard was an over condensed man. That
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: is Oliver's own term. You understand, Shard obviously was intelligent,
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: had a very strong survival drive. He had selected a
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: good personal survival line to follow, good but very narrow. Actually,
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: of course, he was a frightened man. He had been running,
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: scared all his life. He couldn't stop. Sims nodded. Base
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 1: eighteen stopped him. The things he'd been running from simply
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 1: no longer existed. Ali believed Shard would go into a
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: panic when he realized it. The question was what he'd
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 1: do then. Survival now had a very different aspect. The
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: only dangers threatening him were the ones inherent in the
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: rigid personality structure he had maintained throughout his adult existence.
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: Would he be intelligent enough to understand that? And would
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: his survival urge, with every alternative absolutely barred to him
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: for five years, be strong enough to overcome those dangers?
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 1: And there Sims said, drily, we have two rather large questions.
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 1: He cleared his throat. The fact remains, however, that Oliver B.
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: McAllen is a good practical psychologist, as he demonstrated at
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: the meeting. I expected Ollywood's score on the motions, Frederick said,
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: how did that part of it come off? Not too badly?
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: The first motion was passed unanimously, a vote of censure
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: against doctor mcnallan. Frederick's looked thoughtful. His seventeenth I believe yes,
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: that fact was mentioned. McCallan admitted that he could do
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: no lesson vote for this one himself. However, the next
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: motion to receive a majority was in effect a generalized
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: agreement that min with such highly specialized skills as Barney
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 1: Shard's and with comparable intelligence actually would be of great
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: value as members of the Association if it turned out
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: that they could be efficiently relieved of their more flagrant
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: antisocial tendencies. Considering the qualification, the Psychology Department could hardly
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: avoid backing that motion. The same with the third one,
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: in effect, again that psychology is to make an unprejudiced
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: study of the results of doctor McCallan's experiment on Base
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: eighteen and report on the desirability of similar experiments when
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: the personality of future subjects appears to warrant them well,
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: Frederick said, after a pause, as far as the association
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: goes all he got what he wanted as usual, he hesitated.
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: The other matter will know that. Shortly, Simms turned his
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 1: head to listen, added in a lowered voice. They're coming now,
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 1: Doctor Stephen Spalding said to Sims and Fredericks. Doctor McCallan
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: agrees with me that the man we shall be looking
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: for on Base eighteen may be dead. If this is indicated,
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: we'll attempt to find some evidence of his death before
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: normal ecological operations on eighteen are resumed. Next we may
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: find him alive but no longer seen. Doctor Simms and
• 1:42:13
  Speaker 1: I are both equipped with drug guns, which will then
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 1: be used to render him insensible. The charge is sufficient
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: to ensure he will not wake up again. In this circumstance,
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: caution will be required, since he was left on the
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: base with a loaded gun. Third, he may be alive
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: and technically sane, but openly or covertly hostile to us.
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: Spalding glanced briefly each of the others, and then went on,
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 1: it is because of this particular possibility that our contact
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: group here has been very carefully selected. If such has
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: been the result of doctor McCallan's experiment, it will be
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: our disagreeable duty to act as Shard's executioners. To add
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: lifelong confinement or further psychological manipulation to the fire of
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: solitary years Shard has already spent would be inexcusable. Doctor
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: McCallan has told us he did not inform Shard of
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: the actual reason he was being marooned. On the very
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: good grounds, McCallan interrupted that if Shard had been told
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: at the onset what the purpose was, he would have
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: preferred killing himself to allowing the purpose to be achieved.
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: Any other human being was Shard's antagonist, it would have
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: been impossible for him to comply with another man's announced intentions.
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: Simms nodded, I'll go along with that point. Doctor Spalding
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 1: resumed it might be a rather immaterial point by now.
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: In any event, Shard's information was that an important five
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: year plan of the Association made it necessary to restrict
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: him for that length of time. We shall observe him closely.
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: If the indications are that he would act against the
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: association whenever he has given the opportunity. Our line will
• 1:44:04
  Speaker 1: be that the five year plan has been concluded, and
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: that he is therefore now to be released and will
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: receive adequate compensation for his enforced seclusion. As soon as
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: he is asleep, he will of course receive euthanasia, but
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: up to that time everything must be done to reassure him.
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 1: He paused again, concluded, there is the final possibility that
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 1: doctor mccowan's action has had the results he was attempting
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: to bring about Ollie. You might speak on that yourself,
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: McCallan shrugged. I've already presented my views. Essentially, it is
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 1: a question of whether Barney Schard was capable of learning
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: that he could live without competing destructively with other human beings.
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: If he has grasped that, he should also be aware
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 1: by now that Base eighteen is presently one of the
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: most interesting spots in the known universe. Simms asked, do
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 1: you ac he'll be grateful for what has occurred? Well,
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 1: mc callan said, judiciously, turning a little pale, That, of
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 1: course depends on whether he is still alive and sane.
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 1: But if he has survived the five years. I do
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: believe that he will not be dissatisfied with what has
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: happened to him. However, he shrugged again, Let's get ahead
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: with it. Five years has been a long time to
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: find out whether or not I've murdered a man. In
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: the momentary silence that followed, he set it himself and
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: the chair. Fredericks had vacated and glanced over at Sims.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: You stay seated, mel, he said, you represent psychology here,
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 1: use your chair scanner the plate still showing no indications
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 1: of clearing John No, said Fredericks. In another two hours
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: we might have a good picture there. Hardly before, mc
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: callan said, we won't wait for it. Sims and I
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 1: can determine through the scanners approximately what has been going on.
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: He was silent for a few seconds. Then the blurred
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: red globe in the plate expanded, swiftly filled two thirds
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: of the view space, checked for a moment, then grew
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: once more, finally stopped. Mc allan said, irritably, Chaun, I'm
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 1: afraid you're going to have to take over My hands
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 1: don't seem steady enough to handle this properly. A minute
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: or two passed, the big plate grew increasingly indistinct, all
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: details lost in a muddy wash of orange brown shades.
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: Green entrated Suddenly, then McAllan muttered, picking up the cabin.
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: Now there was a moment of silence. Then Frederick's cleared
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: his throat. So far, so good, Oliver. We're looking into
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: the cabin. Can't see your man yet, but some one's
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: living there asims obviously, psychologist acknowledged. He hesitated an at
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: a guess it's no maniac. The place is in reasonably
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: good order. You say, Shard isn't in the cabin, Spalding demanded.
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: Frederick said not unless he's deliberately concealing himself. The exit
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: door is open. Hum Well, the place isn't entirely deserted
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: after all, What do you mean, asked Maalding. Couple of
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: squirrels sitting in the window, simsy explained in the window
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 1: inside the cabin, Yes, said Fredericks. Either they strayed in
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: while he was gone, or he's keeping them as pets. Now,
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: should we start looking around outside for Shard, No, Spalding decided,
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: the base is too big to attempt to cover. At
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: pin point focus If he's living in the cabin and
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: has simply gone out. He'll return within a few hours
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 1: at most. We'll wait and see what we can deduce
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: from the way he behaves when he shows up. He
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 1: turned to mc collan Ollie. He said, I think you
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: might allow yourself to relax just a little. This doesn't
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: seem bad at all. Mcllan grunted. I dunno, he said,
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 1: you're overlooking one thing. What's that? I told Shardwin to
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: expect us unless he smashed the clock. He knows we're
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: due to day. If nothing's wrong, wouldn't he be waiting
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: in the cabin for us. Spalding hesitated. That is a
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 1: point he seems to be hiding out. May have prepared
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: an ambush for that matter. John, Yes, Frederick said, step
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: the tube scope down as fine as it will go,
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: and scan that cabin as if you were vacuuming it.
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: There may be some indication he's already doing that. Simms interrupted.
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 1: There was silence again for almost two minutes. Forefinger and
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: thumb of Frederick's right hand moved with infinite care on
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: a set of dials on the side of the scanner. Otherwise,
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 1: neither he nor Sims stirred. Oh ah, Doctor John Frederick
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: suddenly cried, Oh, a message, allie, Your mister Shard has
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: left you of message. For a moment McCallan couldn't see
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: clearly through the scanner. Frederick's was still laughing. Sims was saying,
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: in a rapid voice, it's quite all right, doctor, quite
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: all right. Your man's sane, quite sane. In fact, you've
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: made one might guess a one hundred percent convert to
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: the McAllen approach to life. Can't you see it? No,
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: gasped McKellen. He had a vague impression at the top
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: of the desk in the mean room of the cabin
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 1: of something white, a white card taped to it, of
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: blurred printing on the card. Nothing's getting that boy unduly
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 1: excited anymore, Sims's voice went on beside him, not even
• 1:49:58
  Speaker 1: the prospect of seeing visits from Earth for the first
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: time in five years. But he's letting you know it's
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: perfectly all right to make yourself at home in his
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: cabin until he gets back here. Let me. He reached
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: past mc clellan, adjusted the scanner. The printing on the
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 1: card swam suddenly into focus before mc collan's eyes. The
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: message was terse, self explanatory, to the point Gone fishing
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 1: regards be shard the end end of section five. End
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: of Gone Fishing by James H. Schmidt's