VULCAN'S HAMMER

CHAPTER NINE

The police raid on the Bond Hotel, although carried out expertly and thoroughly, netted nothing.

Jason Dill was not surprised.

In his office by himself he faced a legal dictation machine. Clearing his throat he said into it hurriedly, "This is to act as a formal statement in the event of my death, explaining the circumstances and reasons why I saw fit as Unity Managing Director to conduct sub rosa relations with North American Director William Barris. I entered into these relations knowing full well  that Director Barris was under heavy suspicion concerning his position vis-a-vis the Healers' Movement, a treasonable band of  murderers and --" He could not think of the word so he cut off  the machine temporarily.

He glanced at his watch. In five minutes he had an appointment with Barris; he would not have time to complete his protective statement anyway. So he erased the tape. Better to start  over later on, he decided. If he survived into the later on.

I'll go meet him, Jason Dill decided, and go on the assumption that he is being honest with me. I'll cooperate with him  fully; I'll hold nothing back.

But just to be on the safe side, he opened the drawer of his  desk and lifted out a small container. From it he took an object  wrapped up and sealed; he opened it, and there was the smallest  heat beam that the police had been able to manufacture. No  larger than a kidney bean.

Using the adhesive agent provided, he carefully affixed the  weapon inside his right ear. Its color blended with his own;  examining himself in a wall mirror he felt satisfied that the heat  beam would not be noticed.

Now he was ready for his appointment. Taking his overcoat, he left his office, walking briskly.

***

He stood by while Barris laid the tapes out on the surface of a table, spreading them flat with his hands.

"And no more came after these," Barris said.

"No more," Dill said. "Vulcan 2 ceased to exist at that point." He indicated the first of the two tapes. "Start reading  there."

This Movement may be of more significance than first appears. It is evident that the Movement is directed against Vulcan 3 rather  than the series of computers as a whole. Until I have had time to  consider the greater aspects, I suggest Vulcan 3 not be informed of  the matter.

"I asked why," Dill said. "Look at the next tape."

Consider the basic difference between Vulcan 3 and preceding  computer. Its decisions are more than strictly factual evaluations  of objective data; essentially it is creating policy at a value level.  Vulcan 3 deals with teleological problems ... the significance of  this cannot be immediately inferred. I must consider it at greater  length.

"And that's it," Dill said. "The end. Presumably Vulcan 2 did consider it at greater length. Anyhow, it's a metaphysical problem; we'll never know either way."

"These tapes look old," Barris said. Examining the first one  he said, "This is older than the other. By some months."

Jason Dill said, "The first tape is fifteen months old. The second --" He shrugged. "Four or five. I forget."

"This first tape was put out by Vulcan 2 over a year ago, " Barris said, "and from that time on, Vulcan 3 gave out no directives concerning the Healers."

Dill nodded.

"You followed Vulcan 2's advice," Barris said. "From the  moment you read this tape you ceased informing Vulcan 3 about  the growth of the Movement." Studying the older man he said,  "You've been withholding information from Vulcan 3 without knowing why." The disbelief on his face grew; his lips twisted with outrage. "And all these months, all this time, you went on  carrying out what Vulcan 2 told you to do! Good God, which is  the machine and which is the man? And you clasp these two reels of tape to your bosom --" Unable to go on, Barris clamped his  jaws shut, his eyes furious with accusation.

Feeling his own face redden, Dill said, "You must understand the relationship that existed between me and Vulcan 2. We had  always worked together, back in the old days. Vulcan 2 was limited, of course, compared with Vulcan 3; it was obsolete-it  couldn't have held the authoritative position Vulcan 3 now holds,  determining ultimate policy, All it could do was assist ..." He  heard his voice trail off miserably. And then resentment clouded  up inside him; here he was, defending himself guiltily to his inferior officer. This was absurd!

Barris said, "Once a bureaucrat, always a bureaucrat. No matter how highly placed." His voice had an icy, deadly quality;  in it there was no compassion for the older man. Dill felt his flesh  wince at the impact. He turned, then, and walked away, his back to Barris. Not facing him, he said:

"I admit I was partial to Vulcan 2. Perhaps I did tend to trust it too much, "

"So you did find something you could trust. Maybe the Healers are right. About all of us."

"You detest me because I put my faith in a machine? My God, every time you read a gauge or a dial or a meter, every time you  ride in a car or a ship, aren't you putting your faith in a machine?"

Barris nodded reluctantly. "But it's not the same," he said.

"You don't know," Dill said. "You never had my job. There's  no difference between my faith in what these tapes tell me to do, and the faith the water-meter reader has when he reads the meter and writes down the reading. Vulcan 3 was dangerous and Vulcan 2 knew it. Am I supposed to cringe with shame because I  shared Vulcan 2's intuition? I felt the same thing, the first time I  watched those goddamn letters flowing across that surface."

"Would you be willing to let me look at the remains of Vulcan 2?" Barris said.

"It could be arranged," Dill said. "All we need are papers that certify you as a maintenance repairman with top clearance.  I would advise you not to wear your Director's stripe, in that  case."

"Fine," Barris said. "Let's get started on that, then."

***

At the entrance of the gloomy, deserted chamber, he stood gazing at the heaps of ruin that had been the old computer. The  silent metal and twisted parts, fused together in a useless, shapeless mass. Too bad to see it like this, he thought, and never to  have seen it the way it was. Or maybe not. Beside him, Jason Dill  seemed overcome; his body slumped and he scratched compulsively at his right ear, evidently barely aware of the man whom he  had brought.

Barris said, "Not much left."

"They knew what they were doing." Dill spoke almost to  himself; then, with great effort, he roused himself. "I heard one of them in the corridor. I even saw it. The eyes gleaming. It was hanging around. I thought it was only a bat or an owl. I went  on out."

Squatting down, Barris picked up a handful of smashed wiring and relays. "Has an attempt been made to reconstruct any  of this?"

"Vulcan 2?" Dill murmured. "As I've said, destruction was so complete and on such a scale --"

"The components," Barris said, He lifted a complex plastic tube carefully. "This, for instance. This wheeling valve. The  envelope is gone, of course, but the elements look intact."

Dill eyed him doubtfully. "You're advancing the idea that  there might be parts of it still alive? "

"Mechanically intact," Barris said. "Portions which can be made to function within some other frame. It seems to me we  can't really proceed until we can establish what Vulcan 2 had  determined about Vulcan 3. We can make good guesses on our  own, but that might not be the same."

"I'll have a repair crew make a survey on the basis which you  propose," Dill said. "We'll see what can be done. It would take  time, of course. What do you suggest in the meanwhile? In your opinion, should I continue the policy already laid down? "

Barris said, "Feed Vulcan 3 some data that you've been holding back. I'd like to see its reaction to a couple of pieces of news."

"Such as?"

"The news about Vulcan 2's destruction."

Floundering, Dill said, "That would be too risky. We're not sure enough of our ground, Suppose we were wrong."

I doubt if we are, Barris thought. There seems less doubt of it all time. But maybe we should at least wait until we've tried to  rebuild the destroyed computer. "There's a good deal of risk," he said aloud. "To us, to Unity." To everyone, he realized.

Nodding, Jason Dill again reached up and plucked at his ear.

"What do you have there?" Barris said. Now that the man had stopped carrying his two tape-reels he had evidently found something else to fall back on, some replacement symbol of security.

"N-nothing," Dill stammered, flushing. "A nervous tic, I  suppose. From the tension." He held out his hand. "Give me  those parts you picked up, We'll need them for the reconstruction. I'll see that you're notified as soon as there's anything to look at."

"No," Barris said. He decided on the spot, and, having done so, pushed on with as much force as he could muster, "I'd prefer not to have the work done here. I want it done in North  America."

Dill stared at him in bewilderment. Then, gradually, his face darkened. "In your region, By your crews."

"That's right," Barris said, "What you've told me may all be a fraud. These reels of tape could easily be fakes. All I can be sure of is this: my original notion about you is correct, the notion that  brought me here." He made his voice unyielding, without any  doubt in it. "Your withholding of information from Vulcan 3 constitutes a crime against Unity. I'd be willing to fight you in the  Unity courts any time, as an act of duty on my part. Possibly the  rationalizations you've given are true, but until I can get some verification from these bits and pieces ..." He swept up a handful of relays, switches, wiring.

For a long, long time Dill was silent. He stood, as before, with his hand pressed against his right ear. Then at last he sighed.  "Okay, Director. I'm just too tired to fight with you. Take the  stuff. Bring your crew in here and load it, if you want; cart it out and take it to New York. Play around with it until you're satisfied." Turning, he walked away, out of the chamber and up the  dim, echoing corridor.

Barris, his hands full of the pieces of Vulcan 2, watched him go. When the man had disappeared out of sight, Barris once  more began to breathe, It's over, he realized. I've won. There  won't be any charge against me; I came to Geneva and confronted him -- and I got away with it.

His hands shaking with relief, he began sorting among the  ruins, taking his time, beginning a thorough, methodical job.

By eight o'clock the next morning the remains of Vulcan 2 had been crated and loaded onto a commercial transport. By eight-thirty Barris' engineers had been able to get the last of the  original wiring diagrams pertaining to Vulcan 2. And at nine,  when transport finally took off for New York, Barris breathed a sigh of relief. Once the ship was off the ground, Jason Dill ceased to have authority over it.

Barris himself followed in the ten o'clock passenger flight, the swift little luxurious ship provided for tourists and businessmen traveling between New York and Geneva, It gave him a  chance to bathe and shave and change his clothes; he had been  hard at work all night. 

In the first-class lounge he relaxed in one of the deep chairs, enjoying himself for the first time in weeks. The buzz of voices  around him lulled him into a semidoze; he lay back, passively  watching the smartly dressed women going up the aisles, listening  to snatches of conversation, mostly social, going on around him.

"A drink, sir?" the robot attendant asked, coming up by him.

He ordered a good dark German beer and with it the cheese hors d'oeuvres for which the flight was famous.

While he sat eating a wedge of port de salut, he caught sight of the headlines of the London Times which the man across from  him was reading. At once he was on his feet, searching for the  newspaper-vending robot; he found it, bought his own copy of  the paper, and hurried back to his seat.

DIRECTORS TAUBMANN AND HENDERSON CHARGE AUTHORITY IN ILLINOIS HEALERS  VICTORY. DEMAND INVESTIGATION

Stunned, he read on to discover that a carefully planned mass uprising of the Movement in Illinois rural towns had been coordinated with a revolt of the Chicago working class; together,  the two groups had put an end -- at least temporarily -- to Unity control of most of the state.

One further item, very small, also chilled him.

NORTH AMERICAN DIRECTOR BARRIS UNAVAILABLE, NOT IN NEW YORK

They had been active during his absence; they had made good use of it. And not just the Movement, he realized grimly, Taubmann, also. And Henderson, the Director of Asia Minor.  The two had teamed up more than once in the past.

The investigation, of course, would be a function of Jason Dill's office. Barris thought, I barely managed to handle Dill  before this; all he needs is a little support from Taubmann, and  the ground will be cut from under my feet. Even now, while  I'm stuck here in mid-flight ... Possibly Dill himself instigated this; they may already have joined forces, Dill and Taubmann -- ganging up on me.

His mind spun on, and then he managed to get hold of him- self. I am in a good position, he decided. I have the remains of Vulcan 2 in my possession, and, most important of all, I forced  Dill to admit to me what he has been doing. No one else knows!  He would never dare take action against me, now that I have that  knowledge. If I made it public ...

I still hold the winning hand, he decided. In spite of this cleverly timed demand for an investigation of my handling of the  Movement in my area.

That damn Fields, he thought. Sitting there in the hotel  room, complimenting me as the "one decent Director," and then doing his best to discredit me while I was away from my region.

Hailing one of the robot attendants, he ordered, "Bring me a  vidsender. One on a closed-circuit line to New York Unity."

He had the soundproof curtains of his chair drawn, and a few moments later he was facing the image of his sub Director, Peter  Allison, on the vidscreen.

"I wouldn't be alarmed," Allison said, after Barris had made  his concern clear. "This Illinois uprising is being put down by our  police crews. And in addition it's part of a worldwide pattern.  They seem to be active almost everywhere, now. When you get  back here I'll show you the classified reports; most of the Directors have been keeping the activity out of the newspapers. If it  weren't for Taubmann and Henderson, this business in Illinois  might have been kept quiet. As I get it, there've been similar  strikes in Lisbon and Berlin and Stalingrad. If we could get some  kind of decision from Vulcan 3 --"

"Maybe we will, fairly soon," Barris said.

"You made out satisfactorily in Geneva? You're coming back with definite word from it?"

"I'll discuss it with you later," Barris said, and broke the connection.

Later, as the ship flew low over New York, he saw the familiar signs of hyperactivity there, too. A procession of brown-clad  Healers moved along a side street in the Bo\very, solemn and  dignified in their coarse garments. Crowds watched in respectful admiration. There was a demolished Unity auto-destroyed  by a mob, not more than a mile from his offices. When the  ship began its landing maneuver, he managed to catch sight  of chalked slogans on building walls. Posters. So much more  in the open, he realized. Blatant. They had progressively less  to fear.

He had beaten the commercial transport carrying the remains  of Vulcan 2 by almost an hour. After he had checked in at his  offices and signed the formal papers regaining administrative  authority from Allison, he asked about Rachel.

Allison said, "You're referring to the widow of that Unity man slain in South America?" Leafing through an armload of papers  and reports and forms, the man at last came up with one. "So  much has been going on since you were last here," he explained.  "It seems as if everything broke over us at once." He turned  a page, "Here it is. Mrs. Arthur Pitt arrived here yesterday at  2:30 A.M. New York time and was signed over to us by the personnel responsible for her safe transit from Europe. We then  arranged to have her taken at once to the mental health institute  in Denver."

Human lives, Barris thought. Marks on forms.

"I think I'll go to Denver," he said. "For a few hours. A big transport will be coming in here from Unity Control any time now; make sure it's fully guarded at all times and don't let any-  one pry into it or start uncrating the stuff inside. I want to be  present during most of the process."

"Shall I continue to deal with the Illinois situation?" Allison  asked, following after him. "It's my impression that I've been relatively successful there; if you have time to examine the --"

Barris said, "You keep on with that. But keep me informed."

Ten minutes later he was aboard a small emergency ship that  belonged to his office, speeding across the United States toward  Colorado. I wonder if she will be there, he asked himself. He had  a fatalistic dread. They'll have sent her on. Probably to New  Mexico, to some health farm there. And when I get there, they'll  have transferred her to New Orleans, the rim-city of Taubmann's domain. And from there, an easy, effortless bureaucratic step to Atlanta.

But at the Denver hospital the doctor who met him said, "Yes, Director. We have Mrs. Pitt with us. At present she's out  on the solarium," He pointed that way. "Taking things easy," the  doctor said, accompanying him part way. "She's responded quite  well to our techniques. I think she'll be up and on her feet, back  to normal, in a few days."

Out on the glass-walled balcony, Barris found her. She was lying curled up on a redwood lawn bench, her knees pulled up  tightly against her, her arms wrapped around her calves, her  head resting to one side. She wore a short blue outfit which he  recognized as hospital convalescent issue. Her feet were bare.

"Looks like you're getting along fine," he said awkwardly.

For a time she said nothing. Then she stirred and said, "Hi. When did you get here?"

"Just now," he said, regarding her with apprehension; he felt himself stiffen. Something was still wrong.

Rachel said, "Look over there," She pointed, and he saw a plastic shipping carton lying open, its top off. "It was addressed  to both of us," she said, "but they gave it to me. Someone put it  on the ship at a stop somewhere. Probably one of those men who  clean up. A lot of them are Healers."

Grabbing at the carton, he saw inside it the charred metal  cylinder, the half-destroyed gleaming eyes. As he gazed down he  saw the eyes respond; they recorded his presence.

"He repaired it," Rachel said in a flat, emotionless voice.  "I've been sitting here listening to it."

"Listening to it?"

"It talks," Rachel said. "That's all it does; that's all he could fix. It never stops talking. But I can't understand anything it says.  You try. It isn't talking to us." She added, "Father fixed it so it  isn't harmful. It won't go anywhere or do anything."

Now he heard it. A high-pitched blearing, constant and yet altering each second. A continual signal emitted by the thing.  And Rachel was right. It was not directed at them.

"Father thought you would know what it is," she said.  "There's a note with it. He says he can't figure it out. He can't  figure out who it's talking to." She picked up a piece of paper  and held it out. Curiously, she said, "Do you know who it's  talking to?"

"Yes," Barris said, staring down at the crippled, blighted metal thing deliberately imprisoned in its carton; Father Fields  had taken care to hobble it thoroughly. "I guess I do."

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