“It appears,” he said at last, curtly2, “that it’s up to you and me for powwow quick. I hope you’re not sleepy.”
“I am not,” I answered as curtly; the edge of nerves in his manner of questioning doing nothing to soothe3 my own, “and even if I were I would hardly expect to put all the burden of the present problem upon you by going to sleep.”
“For God’s sake don’t be a prima donna,” he flared4 up. “I meant no offense5.”
“I’m sorry, Dick,” I said. “We’re both a little jumpy, I guess.” He nodded; gripped my hand.
“It wouldn’t be so bad,” he muttered, “if all four of us were all right. But Ventnor’s down and out, and God alone knows for how long. And Ruth — has all the trouble we have and some special ones of her own. I’ve an idea”— he hesitated —“an idea that there was no exaggeration in that story she told — an idea that if anything she underplayed it.”
“I, too,” I replied somberly. “And to me it is the most hideous6 phase of this whole situation — and for reasons not all connected with Ruth,” I added.
“Hideous!” he repeated. “Unthinkable — yet all this is unthinkable. And still — it is! And Ventnor — coming back — that way. Like a lost soul finding voice.
“Was it raving7, Goodwin? Or could he have been — how was it he put it — in touch with these Things and their purpose? Was that message — truth?”
“Ask yourself that question,” I said. “Man — you know it was truth. Had not inklings of it come to you even before he spoke8? They had to me. His message was but an interpretation9, a synthesis of facts I, for one, lacked the courage to admit.”
“I, too,” he nodded. “But he went further than that. What did he mean by the Keeper of the Cones10 — and that the Things — were vulnerable under the same law that orders us? And why did he command us to go back to the city? How could he know — how could he?”
“There’s nothing inexplicable12 in that, at any rate,” I answered. “Abnormal sensitivity of perception due to the cutting off of all sensual impressions. There’s nothing uncommon13 in that. You have its most familiar form in the sensitivity of the blind. You’ve watched the same thing at work in certain forms of hypnotic experimentation14, haven’t you?
“Through the operation of entirely15 understandable causes the mind gains the power to react to vibrations16 that normally pass unperceived; is able to project itself through this keying up of perception into a wider area of consciousness than the normal. Just as in certain diseases of the ear the sufferer, though deaf to sounds within the average range of hearing, is fully17 aware of sound vibrations far above and far below those the healthy ear registers.”
“I know,” he said. “I don’t need to be convinced. But we accept these things in theory — and when we get up against them for ourselves we doubt.
“How many people are there in Christendom, do you think, who believe that the Saviour18 ascended19 from the dead, but who if they saw it today would insist upon medical inspection20, doctor’s certificates, a clinic, and even after that render a Scotch21 verdict? I’m not speaking irreverently — I’m just stating a fact.”
Suddenly he moved away from me, strode over to the curtained oval through which Norhala had gone.
“Dick,” I cried, following him hastily, “where are you going? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going after Norhala,” he answered. “I’m going to have a showdown with her or know the reason why.”
“Drake,” I cried again, aghast, “don’t make the mistake Ventnor did. That’s not the way to win through. Don’t — I beg you, don’t.”
“You’re wrong,” he answered stubbornly. “I’m going to get her. She’s got to talk.”
He thrust out a hand to the curtains. Before he could touch them, they were parted. Out from between them slithered the black eunuch. He stood motionless, regarding us; in the ink-black eyes a red flame of hatred22. I pushed myself between him and Drake.
“Where is your mistress, Yuruk?” I asked.
“The goddess has gone,” he replied sullenly23.
“Gone?” I said suspiciously, for certainly Norhala had not passed us. “Where?”
“Who shall question the goddess?” he asked. “She comes and she goes as she pleases.”
I translated this for Drake.
“He’s got to show me,” he said. “Don’t think I’m going to spill any beans, Goodwin. But I want to talk to her. I think I’m right, honestly I do.”
After all, I reflected, there was much in his determination to recommend it. It was the obvious thing to do — unless we admitted that Norhala was superhuman; and that I would not admit. In command of forces we did not yet know, en rapport24 with these People of Metal, sealed with that alien consciousness Ruth had described — all these, yes. But still a woman — of that I was certain. And surely Drake could be trusted not to repeat Ventnor’s error.
“Yuruk,” I said, “we think you lie. We would speak to your mistress. Take us to her.”
“I have told you that the goddess is not here,” he said. “If you do not believe it is nothing to me. I cannot take you to her for I do not know where she is. Is it your wish that I take you through her house?”
“It is,” I said.
“The goddess has commanded me to serve you in all things.” He bowed, sardonically25. “Follow.”
Our search was short. We stepped out into what for want of better words I can describe only as a central hall. It was circular, and strewn with thick piled small rugs whose hues26 had been softened27 by the alchemy of time into exquisite28, shadowy echoes of color.
The walls of this hall were of the same moonstone substance that had enclosed the chamber29 upon whose inner threshold we were. They whirled straight up to the dome30 in a crystalline, cylindrical31 cone11. Four doorways33 like that in which we stood pierced them. Through each of their curtainings in turn we peered.
All were precisely34 similar in shape and proportions, radiating in a lunetted, curved base triangle from the middle chamber; the curvature of the enclosing globe forming back wall and roof; the translucent35 slicings the sides; the circle of floor of the inner hall the truncating36 lunette.
The first of these chambers37 was utterly38 bare. The one opposite held a half-dozen suits of the lacquered armor, as many wicked looking, short and double-edged swords and long javelins39. The third I judged to be the lair40 of Yuruk; within it was a copper41 brazier, a stand of spears and a gigantic bow, a quiver full of arrows leaning beside it. The fourth room was littered with coffers great and small, of wood and of bronze, and all tightly closed.
The fifth room was beyond question Norhala’s bedchamber. Upon its floor the ancient rugs were thick. A low couch of carven ivory inset with gold rested a few feet from the doorway32. A dozen or more of the chests were scattered42 about and flowing over with silken stuffs.
Upon the back of four golden lions stood a high mirror of polished silver. And close to it, in curiously43 incongruous domestic array stood a stiffly marshaled row of sandals. Upon one of the chests were heaped combs and fillets of shell and gold and ivory studded with jewels blue and yellow and crimson44.
To all of these we gave but a passing glance. We sought for Norhala. And of her we found no shadow. She had gone even as the black eunuch had said; flitting unseen past Ruth, perhaps, absorbed in her watch over her brother; perhaps through some hidden opening in this room of hers.
Yuruk let drop the curtains, sidled back to the first room, we after him. The two there had not moved. We drew the saddlebags close, propped45 ourselves against them.
The black eunuch squatted46 a dozen feet away, facing us, chin upon his knees, taking us in with unblinking eyes blank of any emotion. Then he began to move slowly his tremendously long arms in easy, soothing47 motion, the hands running along the floor upon their talons48 in arcs and circles. It was curious how these hands seemed to be endowed with a volition49 of their own, independent of the arms upon which they swung.
And now I could see only the hands, shuttling so smoothly50, so rhythmically51 back and forth52 — weaving so sleepily, so sleepily back and forth — black hands that dripped sleep — hypnotic.
Hypnotic! I sprang from the lethargy closing upon me. In one quick side glance I saw Drake’s head nodding — nodding in time to the movement of the black hands. I jumped to my feet, shaking with an intensity53 of rage unfamiliar54 to me; thrust my pistol into the wrinkled face.
“Damn you!” I cried. “Stop that. Stop it and turn your back.”
The corded muscles of the arms contracted, the claws of the slithering paws drew in as though he were about to clutch me; the ebon pools of eyes were covered with a frozen film of hate.
He could not have known what was this tube with which I menaced him, but its threat he certainly sensed and was afraid to meet. He squattered about, wrapped his arms around his knees, crouched55 with back toward us.
“What’s the matter?” asked Drake drowsily56.
“He tried to hypnotize us,” I answered shortly. “And pretty nearly did.”
“So that’s what it was.” He was now wide awake. “I watched those hands of his and got sleepier and sleepier — I guess we’d better tie Mr. Yuruk up.” He jumped to his feet.
“No,” I said, restraining him. “No. He’s safe enough as long as we’re on the alert. I don’t want to use any force on him yet. Wait until we know we can get something worth while by doing it.”
“All right,” he nodded, grimly. “But when the time comes I’m telling you straight, Doc, I’m going the limit. There’s something about that human spider that makes me itch57 to squash him — slowly.”
“I’ll have no compunction — when it’s worth while,” I answered as grimly.
We sank down again against the saddlebags; Drake brought out a black pipe, looked at it sorrowfully; at me appealingly.
“All mine was on that pony58 that bolted,” I answered his wistfulness.
“All mine was on my beast, too,” he sighed. “And I lost my pouch59 in that spurt60 from the ruins.”
He sighed again, clamped white teeth down upon the stem.
“Of course,” he said at last, “if Ventnor was right in that — that disembodied analysis of his, it’s rather — well, terrifying, isn’t it?”
“It’s all of that,” I replied, “and considerably61 more.”
“Metal, he said,” Drake mused62. “Things of metal with brains of thinking crystal and their blood the lightnings. You accept that?”
“So far as my own observation has gone — yes,” I said. “Metallic63 yet mobile. Inorganic64 but with all the quantities we have hitherto thought only those of the organic and with others added. Crystalline, of course, in structure and highly complex. Activated65 by magnetic-electric forces consciously exerted and as much a part of their life as brain energy and nerve currents are of our human life. Animate66, moving, sentient67 combinations of metal and electric energy.”
He said:
“The opening of the Disk from the globe and of the two blasting stars from the pyramids show the flexibility68 of the outer — plate would you call it? I couldn’t help thinking of the armadillo after I had time to think at all.”
“It may be”— I struggled against the conviction now strong upon me —“it may be that within that metallic shell is an organic body, something soft — animal, as there is within the horny carapace69 of the turtle, the nacreous valves of the oyster70, the shells of the crustaceans71 — it may be that even their inner surface is organic —”
“No,” he interrupted, “if there is a body — as we know a body — it must be between the outer surface and the inner, for the latter is crystal, jewel hard, impenetrable.
“Goodwin — Ventnor’s bullets hit fair. I saw them strike. They did not ricochet — they dropped dead. Like flies dashed up against a rock — and the Thing was no more conscious of their striking than a rock would have been of those flies.”
“Drake,” I said, “my own conviction is that these creatures are absolutely metallic, entirely inorganic — incredible, unknown forms. Let us go on that basis.”
“I think so, too,” he nodded; “but I wanted you to say it first. And yet — is it so incredible, Goodwin? What is the definition of vital intelligence — sentience72?
“Haeckel’s is the accepted one. Anything which can receive a stimulus73, that can react to a stimulus and retains memory of a stimulus must be called an intelligent, conscious entity74. The gap between what we have long called the organic and the inorganic is steadily75 decreasing. Do you know of the remarkable76 experiments of Lillie upon various metals?”
“Vaguely,” I said.
“Lillie,” he went on, “proved that under the electric current and other exciting mediums metals exhibited practically every reaction of the human nerve and muscle. It grew weary, rested, and after resting was perceptibly stronger than before; it got what was practically indigestion, and it exhibited a peculiar77 but unmistakable memory. Also, he found, it could acquire disease and die.
“Lillie concluded that there existed a real metallic consciousness. It was Le Bon who first proved also that metal is more sensitive than man, and that its immobility is only apparent. (Le Bon in “Evolution of Matter,” Chapter eleven.)
“Take the block of magnetic iron that stands so gray and apparently78 lifeless, subject it to a magnetic current lifeless, what happens? The iron block is composed of molecules79 which under ordinary conditions are disposed in all possible directions indifferently. But when the current passes through there is tremendous movement in that apparently inert80 mass. All of the tiny particles of which it is composed turn and shift until their north poles all point more or less approximately in the direction of the magnetic force.
“When that happens the block itself becomes a magnet, filled with and surrounded by a field of magnetic energy; instinct with it. Outwardly it has not moved; actually there has been prodigious81 motion.”
“But it is not conscious motion,” I objected.
“Ah, but how do you know?” he asked. “If Jacques Loeb is right, that action of the iron molecules is every bit as conscious a movement as the least and the greatest of our own. There is absolutely no difference between them.
“Your and my and its every movement is nothing but an involuntary and inevitable82 reaction to a certain stimulus. If he’s right, then I’m a buttercup — but that’s neither here nor there. Loeb — all he did was to restate destiny, one of humanity’s oldest ideas, in the terms of tropisms, infusoria and light. Omar Khayyam chemically reincarnated83 in the Rockefeller Institute. Nevertheless those who accept his theories have to admit that there is essentially84 no difference between their impulses and the rush of filings toward a magnet.
“Equally nevertheless, Goodwin, the iron does meet Haeckel’s three tests — it can receive a stimulus, it does react to that stimulus and it retains memory of it; for even after the current has ceased it remains85 changed in tensile strength, conductivity and other qualities that were modified by the passage of that current; and as time passes this memory fades. Precisely as some human experience increases wariness86, caution, which keying up of qualities remains with us after the experience has passed, and fades away in the ratio of our sensitivity plus retentiveness87 divided by the time elapsing from the original experience — exactly as it is in the iron.”
* Professor Jacques Loeb, of the Rockefeller Institute, New York, “The Mechanistic Conception of Life.”
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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experimentation
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| n.实验，试验，实验法 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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rapport
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| n.和睦，意见一致 | |
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sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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truncating
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| v.截面的( truncate的现在分词 )；截头的；缩短了的；截去顶端或末端 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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45
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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48
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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49
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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rhythmically
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| adv.有节奏地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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54
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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57
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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60
spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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61
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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62
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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63
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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64
inorganic
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| adj.无生物的；无机的 | |
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activated
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| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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carapace
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| n.（蟹或龟的）甲壳 | |
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oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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71
crustaceans
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| n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 ) | |
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sentience
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| n.感觉性；感觉能力；知觉 | |
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73
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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molecules
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| 分子( molecule的名词复数 ) | |
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80
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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82
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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83
reincarnated
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| v.赋予新形体，使转世化身( reincarnate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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85
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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86
wariness
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| n. 注意,小心 | |
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87
retentiveness
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| n.有记性；记性强；保持力；好记性 | |
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