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Doomsday Eve

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<h2>VII</h2> Instantly, as the click sounded, he was outside his body, looking down at it. The pain was gone. The conflicting muscle pulls were gone. Or he was no longer aware of them. He understood that the latter was the true explanation. "Stand up," he said, to his body. His body obeyed this order. It rose from its hands and knees and stood upon its feet. This fact did not surprise Kurt Zen. He had known it would happen. This was the way things were. The essence of him, the consciousness that was above the body, was never surprised. "Stop trembling," he said, silently, to his body. Instantly the tremors vanished. The body knew its master. Kurt Zen also knew that he now had a choice. He could go back into that body. Or he could go—elsewhere. But he knew where he was needed most. Click! The way he went back into his body was like turning a switch. One instant, he was inside, looking through his eyes, hearing through his ears. He moved quickly, snatching the gun from the lieutenant's grasp. Another instant and he had the weapons of the soldiers. He flung these into the corner. Then he grabbed Cal's gun from the floor where the ragged man had dropped it. At this point, he saw that Nedra was sitting up and was watching him. The expression on her face was that of a sleepy small girl awakening in the morning. Only this small girl did not quite succeed in looking as if she had been asleep. Her eyes were too wide open and she looked much too alert. "Hello," Zen said. "So you decided to call off the sham." The thought popped into his mind and the words out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Did you know?" she gasped. "Of course I did," Zen stoutly insisted. "When you went to sleep, I knew it was a trick designed to lure me by suggestion into the belief that I was sleepy, too." "Then why did you let me do it?" "I wanted to see how far you would go," he answered. "Come on. Let's get out of here." "What about them? Are they shamming too?" She pointed to the bodies on the floor. "They're up there, watching," he said, gesturing toward the ceiling. He laughed. Owlishly, she stared at him. "I do believe you are out of your mind, colonel." "It helps," he said. "Come on. Let's make tracks." "That's a splendid idea, colonel. Except for one thing." "What's that?" She pointed to the sleeping lieutenant. "He said he had left some men with a machine gun." "Damn! I had forgotten that. However, that is a problem that can be solved." "How?" "This way." He moved to the heavy machine gun mounted at the window so that its muzzle covered the street. He had his finger on the trigger and was searching the street when he realized that she was pulling at his arm and speaking to him. "What?" he said. "No," she answered. Her voice was very firm. "Are you out of your mind?" he demanded. "We don't have to shoot them," she replied. "Why not?" "Because they are already taken care of." "Eh? How do you know?" "I know." "Then you also know how these men here were put to sleep?" His voice had the sound of steel on stone. She faced him without fear. "Yes." "You did it?" "No." "Then who did?" "Come and I will show you." "Hunh!" Zen grunted. He made up his mind without hesitation. Starting toward the back door, he discovered that she was going out the front. "But that door is probably covered," he protested. She opened it without answering his protest. Going through it, Zen thought the night outside was far colder than it had any right to be. Nedra moved without hesitation. Fifty yards away from the house a machine gun mounted on a tripod was set up in the street. Two men were lying on the ground beside it. In the quiet night, Zen could hear them snoring. "All right," he said. "I have to admit you knew what you were talking about. But if you didn't do this, who did?" "Just a minute and you will have an answer to your question," she replied. A block beyond the machine gun, a tall figure lounged in the doorway of a ruined building. "Hi, kids," he said. At the first sound of the deep bass voice Zen knew that this was West. The craggy man nodded to him. West did not seem in the least surprised to see Zen. "What the hell are you doing here?" Zen said. "I had business here," West said, in a tone of voice that made Zen feel like an errant schoolboy being reproved by a kind, but firm, teacher. "Did you make those people go to sleep?" Zen continued. "Has somebody been sleeping?" West answered. "Hmm." "Yes," Zen said. "Did you run into some difficulty?" West asked Nedra. He ignored Zen. "Sort of," the girl answered. "The fact is, I almost got raped. I was afraid I wasn't going to reach you." "I was busy and didn't pick you up at first," the craggy man said. His voice was a rumble of sound in the darkness. He did not seem surprised when she mentioned what had almost happened. "The colonel followed you, eh?" "Yes. I told you he would." "How did you know I would follow you?" Zen demanded. With the lieutenant's gun in his hands, he felt very secure. "Any woman would know that," Nedra answered. Her laugh tinkled in the darkness. Finding Zen's arm, she squeezed it. "He is one of the new people," she said, to West. Zen wished he could have sunk into the ground. The craggy man did not seem surprised. "Hmm," he said again. "That is nice." Reserve seemed to have appeared in the bass tones. "Let's get inside," Nedra suggested. "It's been a hard day and I'm so tired I feel as if I'm walking on my leg bones instead of my feet." "Sorry," West said, without moving. "What's wrong?" Nedra asked. Alarm suddenly appeared in her voice. "Don't you believe he is actually one of us? I told you he was." "I did not say I disbelieved you. But what if you are mistaken?" "I can't be mistaken. He followed me, didn't he? That proves I'm right." "Men have been following women since Bhumi started turning," West replied. "What if you are wrong?" "Oh," the nurse said, a falling inflection in her voice. "In that case, who would shoot him?" West continued. "Oh," the nurse said. Her voice fell lower still. "You know the rules. We cannot have anyone except true mutants." "Yes." "In case someone brings in a person who is not a true mutant, it is the duty of the person who introduced the interloper to dispose of him." "I know," Nedra said. "In this case, it would be up to you to shoot the colonel," West continued. "Could you do it?" "Well, I wouldn't want to—" The reluctance in her voice was very strong. "But I would do it." "I hope I don't have to hold you to your promise," West said. "But in that case, come on, both of you. That is, if the colonel wishes." "You can't kid me," Zen said. "Neither of you are capable of shooting anybody." He spoke fearlessly but he felt a trace of doubt. Not one of the new people had ever betrayed their group. This indicated something. "Lead on. I'm following." Nedra found Zen's arm. "Would you cry, after you had shot me?" Zen asked. "Y—yes." "But that wouldn't keep you from shooting me?" "No." "Well, that would be nice, anyhow, though I do not see what good it would do me." "You sound as if you wouldn't care," the girl said. "There are times when I am sure death would be a blessed relief." Zen meant every word he said. "That life down there," he jerked his thumb to indicate the lower ranges and the plains so far below, "gets tiresome. That's an understatement, if I ever made one." The nurse was silent. "Yes, I understand," she said at last. "It was that way with me, once." "How much farther before we get to—Hell, where are we going anyhow?" Zen blurted out. "To the center here," Nedra answered. "Um," Zen said. He wanted to say something else but he decided he'd better be careful. West led them into an old tunnel which bored straight into the side of the mountain. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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