"Encode to Washington." "No signal from XRM since last reported at 0118." " No further contact from XRM." " That means trouble?" " Not necessarily." " They cut off in the middle of a message." " Could be radio trouble." " What do people at White Sands say?" " No comment." " Do you think they've crashed?" "We don't think anything." "We just don't know." " Excuse me." " But, major..." "Excuse me." "I'm sorry, Mrs. Jaffe." "Would you care to wait in my office?" " You'll be more comfortable there." " No, thank you." "I'd better take the children home." "I want Daddy to come home with us." "He can't, Ginny." "He's very far away." "Yes, very far." "Will you call me, please, if you hear any news?" "Yes, of course I will." "The moment we hear anything." "Thank you." "Why would a guy with a wife and a couple of kids wanna go on a crazy expedition like that?" "Has man's first flight into space ended in disaster?" "Dr. Eldon Galbraithe and his crew of adventurers are unreported for many hours and grave fears are felt for their safety." "Henry Jaffe, navigator of the spaceship XRM last reported that the ship was approaching the planet Mars." "In the midst of a transmission in which he described the fabulous ice-capped poles of the red planet, contact was suddenly lost." "All over the world, radio operators are trying to reestablish contact." "Dr. Galbraithe, I still can't get anything." " Are you sure it's not the equipment?" "No, no, that's okay." "We lost contact when we entered Mars' magnetic field." "Probably regain it as soon as we leave." "If we don't get it soon, people will be worried about us." "We'll head for home as soon as we complete the orbit, Henry." "John, look at this." "Ten degrees right, 15 degrees depress." "If only we knew what that green stuff is." "Perhaps it's a sort of moss or lichen." "If it's grass or a type of grass there's no reason why there can't be life on Mars." "So near and yet so far away." " I wish we could land." " So do I, John." "But our mission is reconnaissance, exploration." "If we try to land now and crash all the information we've gathered crashes with us." "We'll be back." "And next time, we will land." "Henry, lay out a return flight plan for 0200 departure." "Check." " Herb." "Soon as your radio starts working again, tell them we made two orbits of Mars." "Equator at 30,000 feet, pole to pole at 20,000." "Complete photomapping all the way." "Tell them we've completed all assignments and we're coming home." "Right." "Here's your initial heading, John." "Good." "Prepare for standard acceleration." " Home and mother." "We're heading for the barn." "What a reception we'll get." "My creditors will be deliriously happy." "All rockets forward." "Rockets forward, check." "Cut off at 15 miles per second." "Cut off at 15 miles per second, check." " All set?" "Right." "Here we go." "Speed, 15 miles per second." " Acceleration leveling off." "Good." "You all right, doc?" "Okay here." "There it goes, the planet Mars." " Sliding into the distance." " It'll be there when we come back." "I'll drink to that." "Who's for a slug of coffee?" "Hull temperature going up." "Acceleration increasing." "We've lost flying attitude." "We're spinning!" "Reverse rockets." "Reverse rockets!" "I can't." "I can't make it." "Our speed has reached 30 miles per second." "Hull temperature above danger point." "Seventy-eight miles per second." "Hey." "Hey, we've landed." "My head." "I have a terrible headache." "Oh, I've never been knocked out like this before." "The acceleration must have been fantastic." "It was." "Look here." " What?" "Over a hundred miles per second." "Over a hundred miles per second?" "The indicator is knocked completely off the scale." "What do you make of it, doc?" " Where are we?" "I don't know." "Mars was closest to us." "This could be one of Mars' polar snowcaps." "We can be grateful that we landed on snow." "It would have been a rougher landing without it." "Will we be able to take off again?" "We won't know that until we get outside and check for damage." "I'll break out the oxygen helmets and pressure suits." "Wait a minute, we may not need them." "It feels to me as though we have plus-gravity." "Hank, will you turn off the magnetic gravity?" "Check." "You're right." "It's normal now." "So is the atmospheric pressure." "There seems to be plenty of oxygen out there." " Well, this isn't Mars." " No." "If it were Mars, the atmospheric density would be one-tenth of normal." "Well, there's one way to find out." "Wonderful." "Let's get some warm clothes on, it's cold out there." "Yes, sir." "Thank you." "Hey, doc." "Doc, look at this." "A high background radiation count, about 0.5 milliroentgens per hour." "About three times greater than that of Earth." "Still not enough to be dangerous, though." "Some damage to control surfaces." "Not bad, but we'll need help to repair it." "Help?" "How are we gonna get any help on this godforsaken planet?" "Doc, do you have any idea where we are?" "No, Hank, I'm afraid not." "At the speed we attained, we could be almost anywhere." "For the moment, let's say we're on a planet similar to Earth." "I suggest we do some exploring down below the snow line." "Herb, while we're packing some gear, suppose you try the radio again." "Mm-hm." "Right you are, skipper." " We're ready to shove off." " Right you are, John." "You know, it's uncanny." "I've swept every radio band." "There's nothing." "It's as if radio waves had never been created." "Yeah, that is strange." "You know, if this is Venus or some other strange planet we're liable to run into high-domed characters with green blood in their veins, who'll blast us with death-ray guns." "And there we'll be with these." "These poor old-fashioned shooting irons." " Let's rest a bit." " Uh..." "I can use it." "Uh..." "I can still see the ship up there, above the snow line." "I'd say we've come about 12 miles." "Twelve miles in about four hours." "That's a dazzling speed of three miles an hour." "How fast were we traveling yesterday at this time?" "Oh, we were only cruising, 38,000 miles an hour." "This is tougher, believe me." "See anything?" "Forest, brush." "No sign of life anywhere." " He's taking it hard, doc." " Yes, I'm afraid you're right." "If Jaffe hadn't been the one man, the man we had to have I never would have taken anybody with a wife and children." "Hey, John, doc." "Come here, will you?" "I found something." " Think we ought to explore it?" " By all means." "Nature keeps most of her ancient secrets in caves." "Hey." "Hey, doc, will you look at that?" "The creature that made this must have been gigantic." "Look out." "Doc." "Come on, Hank." "I should have known the moment I saw that web." "But spiders as big as dogs?" "Poisonous, probably." "We should be grateful none of us was stung." "Come on, let's get out of here, huh?" "There's a clearing of some kind below." "Let's have a look." "Yes, I think you're right." "It's several miles away." "It'll be dark by the time we get there." "Let's bed down here for the night." "Jaffe, look out!" "Doc, keep down." "Let me get a shot at him." "Hank." "Hank, you all right?" " Yeah, I guess so." " Come on, up." "Such inhuman strength." "I was as helpless as a baby." " Were they men or animals?" " I don't know." " God help us, this is Earth." "How can it be?" "I don't know." "Look." "What have we got ourselves into?" "Am I insane?" "Are we all insane?" "No, Hank." "I refused to face the reality, but now I know." "What are you getting at, doc?" "About a week before we took off, I visited Dr. Ellender." "You're all familiar with his theory." " Of time as a fourth dimension." "Yes." "It's an outgrowth of Einstein's theory." "Ellender says in effect that if you go fast enough time slows down." "There's no doubt about this dilation of time with speed." "It has actually been proven experimentally." "Our instruments jammed at a hundred miles per second." " We may have gone 10 times that fast." "Or a hundred times." "Man has unlocked the secrets of nature one after the other." "We've pierced the sound barrier with our jets." "We've unleashed the power of the atom." "And now this." "I recall the newspaper lads had a lot of fun with Ellender's phrase:" "Breaking the time barrier." "Well, obviously, we've gone and done it." "While we were blacked out for what seemed like minutes to us the slow centuries were passing on Earth." "My wife and children grew old and died." "Years ago." "Let's see what we can find out from the dates on those other monuments." "The latest date I found was 2188." "Even that marker looked very old." "I found several 2188s." "Probably the year of a great catastrophe." "Such as an atomic world war?" "Yes, of course." "The high radiation count." "Let's say that 2188 was the fatal year." "The year in which mankind destroyed itself and poisoned the air and the soil of the Earth with radioactivity." "In, say, 200 years the radiation might die down to the level at which we found it." "But those brutes who attacked us last night..." "Do you mean to say that's all that's left of the human race?" "I don't know." "Undoubtedly, they are mutates." "Descendants of civilized humans who survived the atomic blasts but whose reproductive cells were damaged by radiation." "You mean that monster we buried back at the camp is the heir to 10,000 years of human progress?" "Well, the spiders were mutates too." "Who knows what other monsters exist on Earth?" "Who knows?" "But perhaps some normal humans do survive." "We've got to find out." "I think that answers the question of where we are." "Take a look up there." "Those can only be the Rockies." "And this could be Montana or Idaho." "Not so far north." "Too arid." "More likely Colorado or northern New Mexico." "But if this is Colorado or New Mexico, where are the cities, the towns?" "Denver, Albuquerque?" " What is it, John?" " Take a look up there." "That's not a brush fire." "It's too thin a column of smoke for that." "Look, it's good military procedure to send out a scout." " Cover me." " Now, wait a minute." "I'll be all right." "Just cover me, that's all." "Wonder why a fellow like that isn't married." "He was." "Met a girl when he was a young ensign at Pensacola." "Married her." "They had a couple of fine children." "He was stationed in Japan after the war and his wife and children flew out to join him." "Their plane went down in mid-Pacific." "No trace of it was ever found." "I'll take him, skipper." "Don't waste ammunition." "We haven't got much." " They're getting behind us, doc." " Come on, let's get out of here." "Hold up." "We're cut off this way." "Up there, a tunnel or a cave." "Well, I guess they aren't going to storm us after all." "I hope this tunnel isn't occupied." " All clear in there?" "All clear as far as I can see." "He's coming to." " Everybody all right?" " Huh..." " Everybody but you." " I'm okay." "No bones broken, I guess." " You all right, John?" " Yeah, I'm all right." "They're still down there." "At least we're safe here for the time being." "There's an optimist for you." "A pessimist would have said we were trapped here for the time being." "Well, the pessimist might have a point there." "It's a cinch they're not just gonna go away." "Did you save the food?" "Yes, and the water." "Enough for a few days." " What about guns and ammunition?" " We couldn't recover your gun." "I'd say we have maybe 30, 40 rounds of ammunition." "Doc, John, come in here." "Hank?" "Yeah, doc, I got it." " Look at this." " Stainless steel, apparently." "No, it's some new kind of metal." "Terrific hardness." "Doc, John." "Doc, the door!" "John." "I couldn't stop it, doc." "I couldn't stop it." "Take it easy, Hank." "There's an invitation, boys, if ever I saw one." "A command performance." "They're not even giving us a chance to say, "No, thanks. "" "Put your guns away." "Anyone who could box us in like this could kill us just as easily." "Come on." "Receptionist stepped out for a cup of coffee." "Hey, look at this." "It's a lens of some kind." "We're being spied upon." "Yes, there's probably a microphone planted here somewhere." "Do not touch that." " Can you hear us?" "Yes, I can hear you." "You speak our language." " Why don't you greet us face-to-face?" "In good time." "You bear weapons?" " Yes." "Put them on the table." "Go through that door." "You may leave your burdens." "They will be sent for." "You will wait here, please." " Which of you is the leader?" " I am Dr. Galbraithe." "I am Timmek." "It was my voice you heard." "This is Mr. Ellis, Mr. Borden, Mr. Jaffe." "Why did you come here?" "We took refuge in your tunnel because we were attacked by savages." " Mutates, we took them to be." " Mutates?" "I do not know the word." "It is from the Latin, a very ancient language." " It means, "The changed ones. "" " Changed ones indeed." "We call them the beasts." "Your manner of speaking, your appearance, is strange to us." "Who are you?" "We left Earth on an exploratory flight into space on the 17th of March, 1957." "And in space, you encountered an exponential time displacement." "Yes." "You are familiar with Dr. Ellender's theory?" "His is one of the great names of our scientific past." "The world was on the verge of proving his theories when the great blow fell." "You speak of a great blow." "In our travels, we have seen nothing but desolation." "Where are the cities, the roads, the bridges, the great works of man?" "What happened to them?" "Armageddon." "The slaughter of humanity." "An atomic war no one wanted but which no one had the wisdom to avoid." "And this is all that's left of the human race?" "Your people here and the beasts, as you call them, above?" "Yes, so far as we know." "They have the same heritage as ours." "But the scourge of radiation poisoning distorting their minds and their bodies, generation after generation set them back to the dark ages of man's history." "They speak a strange, primitive tongue." "Such as the Stone Age man must have invented in the dim beginnings of the human race." "If you are convinced of our peaceful intentions may we have our weapons back?" "Why do you want weapons?" "Do you think you will need them here?" " No." " Then against whom would you use them?" "Against no one here." "We come in peace, I assure you." "Then you'll need no weapons." "I suggest we take no risks and keep them." "We hope you feel no offense, Dr. Galbraithe but Mories is right." "If you come in peace, you'll have no need of weapons." "Should you leave, we will discuss returning them." "Father, these men are our guests." "They must be tired and hungry." "Of course." "You've had a most difficult time." "Garnet will see to it that you are made comfortable." "We are honored to meet your daughter." " Will you come with me?" " Excuse me." "We have guessed, from what we have seen that we are at least four centuries from the world we knew." "It is more than five centuries." "By your ancient timekeeping method this is the year 2508 A.D." " Delicious, simply delicious." " All produced underground." " Even these fruits and vegetables?" " Yes." "We have lamps that give the exact equivalent of sunlight." " Remarkable." " It was the only way to survive." "Many people took refuge underground during the great war but starvation forced them to eat food produced on the surface." " And they were poisoned by radioactivity?" " Yes." "But the radioactive count is safe now." "Please don't get up." "Where would you like your belongings?" "Oh, put them down anywhere." "Elaine, this is Dr. Galbraithe." " How do you do?" " Hello." " John Borden." " How do you do?" " Henry Jaffe and Herbert Ellis." " How do you do?" "Elaine is Elda's assistant in the scientific section." "Elda sends his greetings." "At your convenience he would be pleased to show you our power plants, our laboratories." "Anything else you wish to see." "Is she as beautiful as the women in your world?" "Hmm?" "Uh, oh..." "Yes." "Yes, indeed, she is." "Radioactivity is below the danger level now." "Your people can return to the surface if they want to." "It is hard to discard centuries of tradition." "The beasts are there." "They've killed many of our people." "But you can defeat them, they're savages." "In any fight, a civilized man should win." "My people are sick of war." "We are safe here and comfortable." "But the surface of the Earth was meant for man." "He wasn't meant to live in a hole in the ground." "Oh, I'm sorry." "We're guests here." "A long, long way from home." "We have no right to criticize your way of life." "You will rest." "When you see more of our world here perhaps you will agree it is not such a bad one." "Something's been puzzling me." " May I ask you a question?" " Of course." "That little servant girl." "She's very pretty but she seems different than the people we've seen here." "Deena comes from the world outside." "But I thought all the people on the surface were deformed." " Beasts, as you call them." " No, not all of them." "I have heard that the beast kill the ones who are not deformed or drive them away." "Deena wandered into one of our tunnels half-dead of starvation, and we took her in." "I see." "Well, thank you very much." "I hope you rest well." "My word." "Do you think all the women here are as beautiful as the ones we've met?" "I don't know." "We'll find out tomorrow." "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep." " It's been a fairly busy day." " Fairly busy." "Well..." "Home was never like this." "John, these people seem to have a high order of intelligence." "That's right." "Did you notice how they grasped the significance of what happened?" "They seemed to know Ellender's time displacement theory." " Yes, they did." " Well, isn't it reasonable to think they may have discovered a way to reverse the time displacement?" "No, Hank, it's not." "I get the impression that their science is turned inward." "Concerned only with their immediate comfort and safety." "That nothing abstract or experimental interests them." "But assuming they did have the knowledge to reverse the time displacement you still have the problem of repairing the ship and getting it ready to take off." "With their help, that ought not to be difficult." "Hank, I know you're eating your heart out to get back to your wife and kids." "But it's no good trying to find hope where none exists." "Face the fact that these people probably won't help us." "Why not?" "They're friendly enough." "They've got the skill to help us and the materials." "You'll find they're short of one important ingredient." " What's that?" " Guts." "The courage to get out of their holes and fight." " Good morning, gentlemen." "Good morning." "Dr. Galbraithe, the president of the council would like to see you at your earliest convenience." "Very well, I'll be there directly." "These are very comfortable quarters." "Thank you." "There's a cold fish if I ever saw one." "Hank." "No use antagonizing anyone." "She might repeat what we say." "Ah." "How do you like that crazy shower?" "You step in, nothing to turn on." "The water sprays out automatically in just the right temperature." " What's this you're doing?" " Well, we have a plan." " That is..." " Good morning, did you sleep well?" "Yes, thank you." "My, you are so much more muscular than our men." "Uh..." "The results of a misspent youth." "Got chucked out of school, had to go to work." "Strong back, weak mind, you know." "I like it." "I just wanted to remind you to visit us." "Just ask for the Scientific Section." "Anyone will direct you." "Well, the female of the species hasn't changed much." "Still goes for a good pair of shoulders." "If women vote here, Body Beautiful can campaign without his shirt and get himself elected president." " Aw, now, cut it out." "How do you figure these people?" "Why are the women so vital, so full of life, and the men so different?" "I'm having a talk with the head man." "If I find out anything, I'll let you know." "John, all the men we've seen look as if they didn't have a pint of blood between them." "What?" "What?" "Oh, she can't understand English." "Can you, honey?" "Pretty little thing, isn't she?" "Lovely eyes, nice figure." "Oh, but look now, isn't that too bad?" "She's got bow legs." "I have not." "Well, I'm a low-down cad, but I found out." " Good morning." " Good morning." " Have you been well taken care of?" " Yes, very well, thank you." "We will have much to talk about." "It's a wonderful thing, our being able to bridge the gap between the centuries." "We will study the old books together." "Books that are ancient to us, but which were the life of your time." "May I speak of one thing, please, before we begin?" "Our ship is only slightly damaged, but we need help to repair it." "Repair it?" "You think you can reverse the time displacement that brought you here?" "No, no, that is beyond us, I'm afraid." "It was a one-in-a-million encounter in space that brought us here." "We're not foolish enough to expect another such miracle." "It occurred to me that we might use the ship to explore the Earth." "To see if other communities like yours exist." "Why?" "Because I'm a man of science." "Because I have an obligation to humanity to you, to other humans, if any survive." "It is a dangerous journey to your ship." "The beasts would have killed you if we had not taken you in." "But we were few, and we were not well-armed." "There are many of you and you have the ability to make powerful weapons." "We are a peaceful people." "We are sick of weapons and war." "If enough of your men go with us, the mutates won't dare to attack." "I will have to consult the council." " Good morning." " Good morning." "Where are your friends?" "They've gone to see the sights." "Why aren't you with them?" "To tell you the truth, I was hoping you'd show them to me." "To tell you the truth, I was hoping I could." "Our power and light are derived from the heat of the Earth's core." "But we get almost everything else we need from nature's treasure chest, petroleum." "It is our basic raw material." "How about metals?" "In the past, we had to send expeditions to the surface to salvage metals from the ruins." "Our men underwent great hardships." "They were attacked by the mutates, as you call them and suffered from extremes of cold and heat." "Now, in a community that is growing smaller, we have enough." "We use our metals over and over again." "Did you say your community was growing smaller?" "An unfortunate choice of words on my part." "I should have said our community is becoming more compact." "Shall we go on?" "Hello, Henry." "Enjoying the tour?" "It's all very interesting, John." "We're going to visit the machine shops." "Would you care to join us?" "No, thank you, we'll see them later." "Excuse us." "This way, please." "See you later, Hank." "Your friend has an air of sadness." " Well, he left a wife and children behind." " Oh." "Why did he go on the flight?" "Well, he had a sense of duty." "He's an exceptionally fine navigator." "As matter of fact, he's a mathematical genius." "He knew he couldn't be replaced." "You didn't leave anyone behind?" "No." "I had someone once." "I'm sorry." "Would you get in touch with the message center?" "I believe they have several calls for you." "Dr. Galbraithe is viewing the historical records of the years just after your flight." "You may see them, if you wish." "Thank you." "You know, I think our friend's a little jealous." "Yes, he is." "You see, he takes it for granted that..." "That you belong to him." "Do you?" "Oh, no." "Well, I mean, I don't know." "Mories is very able." "He's a good administrator." "He'll probably succeed father as president of the council." "I see." "Aren't you going to look at the historical records?" "No." "Aren't you gonna call the message center?" "No." "Oh, honey, I didn't mean it." "They're beautiful, I swear it." " Dinner, boss?" " No, I ate with Timmek and the council." "Any luck?" "Will they help us with the ship?" "I don't know yet." "Where's Borden?" "Cleaning up." " I think he has a date tonight." " Oh." "You know, the people here are wonderful." "All except that young troublemaker, Mories." "He seems to be playing on their fears all the time." "They're scared of going out on the surface." "I called the turn on that one, didn't I?" "Underground life seems to have drained all the courage out of these people." "They keep telling me we'll be safe and comfortable if we stay here." "Safe and comfortable, that seems to be all that life means to them." "I'm not so sure it isn't a tendency that existed even in our time." "Look, here are the pioneers:" "Hardy, self-reliant, rugged." "Here we are a hundred years later, not so hardy nor self-reliant nor rugged." "And here they are, 500 years later." "No strength, no guts, no nothing." "I say that man was not meant to live in a hole in the ground." "Well, I've got to go." "Uh-huh." "Don't tell me you've got a date to see the power plant." "No, but I thought I might be able to line up a way out of here." "Garnet's promised to show me an old tunnel that'll take us out to the hillside." "Fine night for it." "Full moon, if I remember." " Lay off, Herb." "It's all right, Hank." "I don't mind." "I'll see you later." "Well, it's nice to see the old boy feeling so chipper." "The women are wonderful, aren't they?" "So much more vital than the men." "You know, I'm a widower and a grandfather and I'll never see 50 again." "But this afternoon, I had the unique experience of being flattered sought after and catered to by several beautiful women who competed for my attention." "Gentlemen, I can only describe the experience as being well, exhilarating." " Ha, ha, ha." "The moon, it's so beautiful." "Have you never seen the moon before?" "No, not like this." "Never out in the open before." "I'm afraid the books are wrong." "What books?" "Romances that tell about your time." "The men were always strong and fierce and reckless." "Whenever they were alone in the moonlight with a girl, they made love to her." "What kind of books have you been reading, anyway?" "You like me, I know you do." "I think you're beautiful." "More beautiful than..." "I like you very much." " I love you." " No, don't say that." "I'm a stranger, an outsider here, and I must leave someday." "No, no." "You'll stay here with me." "You're like the great men we read about." "Strong, brave, unselfish." "You're pacing like a caged tiger, old boy." "Got problems?" "After last night, I think we've all..." "Now, honey, don't look at me like that." "Wait a minute, Deena." "We want to help you." "We want to help your people if we can." "All your people are not beasts, are they?" "You're pretty, Deena." "You are, Deena, I swear it." " But he said that my legs were..." " Aw..." "Forgive me, honey." "So help me, I didn't mean it." "I've been told that the beasts hate children that are not ugly." "That they kill them, drive them away." " Is that true?" " Yes." "I was very young, but my mother told me..." " Well, did you talk to the council again?" " Yes." "They won't cooperate." "They refused to equip a party to help salvage the supplies and instruments from the ship." "We're trying to help them and they just won't be helped." "We'll have to take one thing at a time." "Forget the ship for now." "The first thing to do is to get to surface." "Fight our way out and establish a base." "Right, get a foothold and turn it over to these people." "Show them how to live on the face of the Earth." "I'm not so sure they'll go up, even if we make it perfectly safe for them." "I think they may, because if they don't, their race is doomed." "Hasn't it struck you as odd that we haven't seen any children?" "Sixteen and 17-year-olds, yes, but no children." "I did some snooping around yesterday, and not just the guided tour." "I found a sort of combination nursery-hospital." "There were 14 kids in it." "Fourteen kids in a population of 2000." "And they weren't strong healthy kids." "They were poor, bloodless little things." "I would say one more generation and this branch of Homo sapiens will be extinct." "The world's a big place." "There may be other pockets of survival." "Australia, Greenland, who knows?" "But if this is the human race, the human race dies too." "Yes." "Yes, we need these people." "We have to save them in spite of themselves." "All right, we'll go to the council, ask for weapons, nothing more." "I've seen the shops, they can build anything." "We'll go it alone." "There's one obstacle." "Mories." "Time after time, it looked as though we might talk them into something." "But he always jumped in and turned the council the other way." "Well, that's my fault, I'm afraid." "He's insanely jealous." "He wants Garnet, and she..." "Well, go ahead, old man, say it." "She wants you." "Garnet's a wonderful girl, John." "Why shouldn't she prefer you?" "You're three times the man he is." "Oh, let's not worry about Mories." "We can do business with Timmek if we catch him alone." "And they will say they are doing it for us, for the future of our people." "But among themselves, they have conspired to get weapons by deceit and cajolery to enslave us, to throw our lives away in a war of conquest." "How can they repay our kindness with such treachery?" "We see in them all the ills of the 20th-century man." "Greed, aggressiveness, brutality." "The passion to dominate that made a shambles of the Earth." "I am stunned." "Are you sure?" "Nihka and Jule listened with me." "Garnet assures me they are kindly, unselfish." "Our women seem to have lagged behind in their evolution into reasonable creatures." "They actually admire these reckless and brutal men." "We shall see." "If they try their deceit and cajolery on me, I will know how to deal with them." "You must see to it that they do not recover their firearms." "I make you personally responsible for them." "Deena, try to remember, what else did your mother tell you?" "She said that the beasts did not drive all the children away." "There were so many of them." " Normal children you mean?" " Yes." "They needed them to work." "They were very cruel to them, but they did not drive them away." " I see." "John?" "John." "Johnny, town meeting." "We're gonna get a chance to sell our bill of goods." "Coming, Herb." "I love him." "Herb?" "Oh, now, listen, Deena..." "Hi, honey." "You ready, Johnny?" "They're waiting for us." "Sure." "All we ask are weapons, food and water, and building materials." "Your workmen can make the weapons for us." "With them, we will repel any attacks and establish a safe base of operations." "With the material, we'll build a change of blockhouses linking them with electric fences such as you use to protect your ventilator intakes." "We will gradually encircle an area of land in the valley below." "Fighting no more than is necessary to keep from being interfered with." "We propose to do this ourselves." "If your men care to join us, we will welcome their help but we do not ask for it." "When a suitable area has been secured you will have the option of living there or not as you wish." "But we are safe here." "Why should we subject ourselves to the heat, the cold the discomforts of the surface?" "Because if you remain here, burrowing in the ground like moles your children will die." "How many children do you have here?" "In each generation, fewer are born." "And of those, fewer live." "Your children need the sun." "Do you condemn them to death?" "Do you condemn your people to extinction?" "We are well aware of the problem." "Our scientists have a solution within their grasp." "These people seize upon it as a pretext." "They lie when they say they want to help us." "They want to enslave us to use us for fighting their senseless wars of conquest." " But they say..." " They say they want the weapons." "And with the weapons, they will be the masters and we will be the slaves." "That's not true." "I'm sorry, but Mories is right." "We must solve our own problems." "Weapons have been the curse of mankind." "We have never made weapons here, and we will make none now." "Father, Mories is wrong." "Those men are kind and sincere." "This bickering, this conflict, is new to me." "I don't know." "You must face it, Father." "We are a dying people and they want to help us." "But Mories heard them plotting." "Mories is jealous." "It's poisoned his mind." "Perhaps he misinterpreted what he heard." "Father, I love John Borden." "Could I be wrong about him?" "I don't know." "With your permission." "Yes, James, thank you." " Garnet is with Timmek?" " Yes." "What is she telling him?" "She believes Dr. Galbraithe and his men are sincere." "I suppose Timmek is wavering." "He is considering her arguments." "These are violent men, James." "You and I know that." "They will try to get their weapons." " They must not get them." " I know, Mories." "I have them safely hidden in my own sleeping quarters." "Who is that?" "Get away from there." "Why can't they see that Mories is lying?" "It sticks out like a sore thumb." "Garnet will speak to her father." "Timmek, Timmek, Timmek." "James is dead." "Killed by a blow on the head." "No." "No!" "The weapons." "The accursed weapons." "Good afternoon, sir." "Search." "Can I help you?" "What are you looking for?" "I don't understand." "What is this?" "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "The others are coming." "John." "Don't..." "Get off me." "Let go of me." "What do you mean by this?" "Let go of me." "The other one." "Jaffe!" "What does this mean?" "We found these here." "I'm sorry, but surely there's no great harm done." "No harm?" "Is that all a human life means to you?" "A human life?" "The man who took the weapons killed James." "No, that's impossible." "What is all this blasted nonsense?" "Are they playing games or something?" "No games, Herb." "They found the guns here." "What?" "The guns?" "Someone killed James to get them." "Killed James?" "Oh, now, doc, I had nothing to do with it." "Violence, lies, murder." "They all go together." "I am an old man." "I wish I had died before I saw a day such as this." "Bring them to the council chamber." "We have decided what is to be one with you." "Decided?" "Without a trial?" "Without giving us a chance to defend ourselves?" "What defense can there be?" "You wanted the weapons and you took them." "The facts speak for themselves." "This is our decision." "You will be put out of our tunnel exactly as you entered it." "You will be given food and water." "Your weapons will be returned to you." "You will have neither more nor less than you had when you came." "That's the equivalent of a death sentence." "We will try to shut you out of our minds as if you had never been here." "You will be sent out two hours after the sun sets." "That is all." "Garnet, we had nothing to do with it." "I must see Timmek." "I'm sorry, he is not to be disturbed." "This has been an ordeal to him." "He must see me." "I know who hid the weapons." "The weapons?" "I will tell him." "Will you wait here?" "Mories did it." "I saw him hide the weapons." "Find him." "See that she is taken care of." "We mourn for Mories, who was our friend but whose fatal weakness of character led to hatred, treachery, death." "But we must be thankful that a terrible injustice was avoided." "We all join in asking forgiveness of these brave men who are willing to risk their lives to help us." "Now we, in turn, must help then." "I direct our artisans and craftsmen in particular to give Dr. Galbraithe and his men their complete cooperation." "Hello, Deena, how do you feel?" "Fine, thank you." "You all right, darling?" "Another day or so and you'll be good as new, Deena." "Hi, Deena, how are you?" "Fine." "Counted your fingers lately?" "I had a hunch about that, so I fired it from a vice." "Powder too strong or barrel too weak?" "A little of each, I guess." "It's not easy for lads who never made a gun to come up with a good one." " That's quite evident." "How's the recruiting, doc?" "Timmek thinks he's persuaded about 20 of his young men to join us." "What does it matter whether you have 20 or a hundred?" "They will fail you just as that weapon did." "They'll not stand fast when danger threatens." "Not one of them has ever fought before." "Then we'll go it alone." "But you'll be killed." "The beasts watch our tunnels day and night." "You may kill 20, 50 of them, but there are hundreds." "Can you kill them all?" "No." "You don't need to." "We don't need to, Deena?" "Only the ugly ones fight." "They are the masters." "The mutates would be the only ones we'd have to contend with." "And they may not be as numerous as we think." "Well, even they might be too much for us." "How do we fight several hundred savages with pistols that burst?" "With ammunition that misfires?" "If only we had something more powerful than pistols to fight with." "Against those monsters, a battery of field artillery wouldn't be too..." "Hey, wait a minute." "I think I've got it." "What's the simplest, hardest-hitting piece of artillery you know of?" "A hunk of pipe with the wallop of a field gun." "Of course, a rocket launcher." "The good old bazooka." "Henry, I think you've hit it." "We'd have to give up the firearms, but I think it's worth it." "I certainly agree." "Hank, it's your baby." " Get started on it, will you?" " Right, doc." " Are things about ready?" " About as ready as they'll ever be." "Good." "We just had another talk with Deena." "It seems that the mutates' selection of a leader is straight from the Stone Ages." "The brute who kills all his rivals becomes leader." "And he holds the office until someone kills him." "For a long time now, the leader has been a charming fellow called Naga who seems to have all the sweetness and lovability of a mad dog." "If we could get him, it would simplify everything." "Well, maybe we'll get lucky." "Maybe we will." "Well, we'll find that out tomorrow." "I regret we are unable to give you more active assistance." "Your workmen have given us the assistance we need." "Good luck." "I wish I could go with you." "Whatever happens, our thanks." "Open the door." "That passage there." "It's got ambush written all over it." "Let's find out." "Right you are, my boy." "See if this little old gadget works, huh?" "I guess that did it." "Look out." "Ammunition, Hank." "Watch it, John." " He's not a mutate." " Eh." "Deena said they wouldn't fight." "Reinforcements coming." " Hank." " Yes, sir." "Good shot, Herb." "Suppose you take our prisoner back, have Deena question him." "Find out what they're likely to do." "Then load up with ammo and come on back." "All right." " Mm-hmm." " Come on, handsome." "Come on." "Go." "They seem to be gathering in that thicket down there." "Wanna try a long shot?" "Check, skipper." "Okay, John." "Hit the jackpot, skipper." "Here they come." "Deena." "What did you wanna go and bring Deena for?" "Bring her?" "She popped out before anybody could stop her." "She brought me." "Well, what about the prisoner?" "Did you get his story?" "We got his story all right." "He thinks Naga is going to order the people back to the caves." " That's not good." " What about Deena?" " Don't you think we ought to send her back?" " No." "I can help." "You probably can." "If they are holed up in caves we'll have a lot of palavering to do." "We can use her." "All clear down there?" "All clear." "After that last shot they took the hint and kept going." " Come on." "Well, are they in there or not?" "Look." "This boy probably tried to make a break for it." "Oh, he's just a kid." "Murdering swine." "Question is, where are the rest of the people?" "Herded into a couple of the big caves, probably." "Well, there's one way to find out." "Wait a minute, Hank." "Good military procedure to send out a scout." "You said so yourself." " Cover me." " Now, Hank." " This isn't your kind of racket." "I'll go." " No." " I'm grabbing the check on this one." " Hank." "Let him go, John." "Well, it's pretty bad, but it could be worse." "A little lower and it might have punctured a lung." "Naga says he has killed many of my people." "He says he will kill all of them." "That settles it." "We've got to get them out." "But how?" "If we blast them out, we'll kill every man, woman and child in the cave." "Deena, tell Naga he's a coward, a killer of children." " Tell him to come out and fight me." " No." "Wait a minute." "Are you out of your mind?" "Go tell him, Deena." "Naga." "Naga." "Naga says you do not fight like a man." "He says you use thunder and lightning on your side." "Tell Naga I'll leave my lightning and thunder behind me." "Tell him I'll fight him with this and this." "Naga." " He says he will fight you." " You haven't a chance against those animals." " Yes I have, Herb." "I'm supposed to be a civilized man." "I'm supposed to have an advantage up here." "You have no advantage." "This is nothing but a matter of strength and reflexes." "The savage has the advantage." "I'll plug him as soon as he shows his ugly face." "Don't do it, Hank." "They'd kill every human in the cave." "Well, he's got only one eye." "No depth perception." "Take it easy, Hank." "Keep on his blind side, John." "Tell them I'm the chief now." "Tell them to go." "Chief is dead." "Long live the chief." "You see, the water lines must go in first." "Then there will be no delay in other operations." "Yes, it's quite clear." "Thank you." "Sir." "I would hardly have dared hope for this." "You have accomplished so much in a few short months." "Everywhere I look, I see new marvels." "I am." "You are." "He, she or it is." "We are." "You are." "They are." "That's good." "That's very good." "Now, let's try the verb to go." "Ready?" "I go." "You go." "He, she or it goes." "There is one of your marvels." "The children of the men we once hated learning our language so that they may work with us." "Marvel in more ways than one." "Jaffe will never forget the loss of his family." "But so long as he has children who need him, he won't be too unhappy." "A few months ago, some of those children were listless, puny little things." "Which are the puny ones now?" "What we're looking at may well be the rebirth of the human race."