The Lonely Ones, Page 2
Edward W. Ludwig
good years. They say that you can havesomething if you pay enough for it. Well, we've paid for this. There hasto be a--a sort of universal justice. That's why I know there's lifehere, life that moves and thinks--maybe even life we can talk to."
"You need a drink," said Fong.
"It's getting bigger," murmured Lieutenant Gunderson.
"The Centaurians," mused Doyle, half to himself. "What'll they be like?Monsters or men? If Parker's right about universal justice, they'll bemen."
"Hey, where there's men, there's women!" yelled Parker. "A Centaurianwoman! Say!"
"Look at those clouds!" exclaimed Doyle. "Damn it, we can't see thesurface."
"Hey, there! Look there, to the right! See it? It's silver, down in ahole in the clouds. It's like a city!"
"Maybe it's just water."
"No, it's a city!"
"Bring 'er down, Captain. God, Captain, bring 'er down fast!"
"Drag Brown in here! He ought to see this!"
"Can't you bring 'er down faster, Captain?"
"Damn it, it _is_ a city!"
"Why doesn't someone get Brown?"
"Take to your couches, men," said Captain Wiley. "Landing's apt to be abit bumpy. Better strap yourselves in."
----
Down went the rocket, more slowly now, great plumes of scarletthundering from its forward braking jets. Down, down into soft,cotton-like clouds, the whiteness sliding silently past the ports.
Suddenly, a droning voice:
"To those in the ship from the planet called Earth: Please refrain fromlanding at this moment. You will await landing instructions."
Parker leaped off his couch, grasping a stanchion for support. "Thatvoice! It was human!"
Captain Wiley's trembling hand moved over the jet-control panel. Theship slowed in its descent. The clouds outside the portholes becamemotionless, a milky whiteness pressed against the ship.
"The voice!" Parker cried again. "Am I crazy? Did everyone hear it?"
Captain Wiley turned away from the panel. "We heard it, Parker. It wasin our minds. Telepathy."
He smiled. "Yes, the planet is inhabited. There are intelligent beingson it. Perhaps they're more intelligent than we are."
It was strange. The men had hoped, dreamed, prayed for this moment. Nowthey sat stunned, unable to comprehend, their tongues frozen.
"We'll see them very soon," said Captain Wiley, his voice quivering."We'll wait for their directions."
Breathlessly, they waited.
Captain Wiley's fingers drummed nervously on the base of the controlpanel. Lieutenant Gunderson rose from his couch, stood in the center ofthe cabin, then returned to his couch.
Silence, save for the constant, rumbling roar of the jets which held theship aloft.
"I wonder how long it'll be," murmured Fong at last.
"It seems like a long time!" burst Parker.
"We've waited nine years," said Captain Wiley. "We can wait a few moreminutes."
They waited.
"Good Lord!" said Parker. "How long is it going to be? What time is it?We've been waiting an hour! What kind of people are they down there?"
"Maybe they've forgotten about us," said Fong.
"That's it!" cried Parker. "They've forgotten about us! Hey, you! Downthere--you that talked to us! We're still here, damn it! We want toland!"
"Parker," said Captain Wiley, sternly.
Parker sat down on his couch, his lips quivering.
Then came the voice:
"We regret that a landing is impossible at this moment. Our field isovercrowded, and your vessel is without priority. You must wait yourturn."
Captain Wiley stared forward at nothing. "Whoever you are," hewhispered, "please understand that we have come a long way to reach yourplanet. Our trip...."
"We do not wish to discuss your trip. You will be notified when landingspace is available."
Captain Wiley's body shook. "Wait, tell us who you are. What do you looklike? Tell us...."
"Talking to you is quite difficult. We must form our thoughts so as toform word-patterns in your minds. You will be notified."
"Wait a minute!" called Captain Wiley.
No answer.
Captain Wiley straightened in an effort to maintain dignity.
They waited....
----
It was night.
The darkness was an impenetrable blanket, a solid thing, like thickblack velvet glued over the ports. It was worse than the darkness ofspace.
Captain Wiley sat before the control panel, slowly beating his fistsagainst the arms of his chair, a human metronome ticking off the slowseconds.
Parker stood before a porthole.
"Hey, look, Captain! There's a streak of red, like a meteor. And there'sanother!"
Captain Wiley rose, looked out. "They're rockets. They're going to land.These people are highly advanced."
His face became grim. Below them lay a planet, an intelligent racehidden beneath clouds and darkness. What manner of creatures were they?How great was their civilization? What marvelous secrets had theirscientists discovered? What was their food like, their women, theirwhiskey?
The questions darted endlessly through his mind like teasingneedle-points. All these wondrous things lay below them, and here theysat, like starving men, their hands tied, gazing upon a steaming butunobtainable dinner. So near and yet so far.
He trembled. The emotion grew within him until it burst out as waterbursts through the cracked wall of a dam. He became like Parker.
"Why should we wait?" he yelled. "Why must we land in their field?Parker! Prepare to release flares! We're going down! We'll landanywhere--in a street, in the country. We don't have to wait fororders!"
Parker bounced off his couch. Someone called, "Brown, we're going toland!"
A scurrying of feet, the rush of taut-muscled bodies, the babble ofexcited voices.
"We're going down!"
"_We're going down!_"
The grumble of the _Wanderer's_ jets loudened, softened, spluttered,loudened again. Vibration filled the ship as it sank downward.
Suddenly it lurched upward, like a child's ball caught in a stream ofrising water. The jolt staggered the men. They seized stanchions andbulkhead railings to keep their balance.
"What the hell?"
Abruptly, the strange movement ceased. The ship seemed motionless. Therewas no vibration.
"Captain," said Lieutenant Gunderson. "There's no change in altitude.We're still at 35,000 feet, no more, no less."
"We _must_ be going down," said Captain Wiley, puzzled. "Kill jets 4 and6."
The Lieutenant's hands flicked off two switches. A moment later:"There's no change, Captain."
Then came the voice:
"To those in the vessel from the planet Earth: Please do not opposeorders of the Landing Council. You are the first visitors in the historyof our world whom we have had to restrain with physical force. You willbe notified when landing space is available."
----
Morning.
The warm sunlight streamed into the clouds, washing away the lastshadows and filtering through the portholes.
The men breakfasted, bathed, shaved, smoked, sat, twisted their fingers,looked out the ports. They were silent men, with dark shadows abouttheir eyes and with tight, white-lipped mouths.
Frequently, the clouds near them were cut by swift, dark shapes swoopingdownward. The shapes were indistinct in the cotton-like whiteness, butobviously they were huge, like a dozen _Wanderers_ made into one.
"Those ships are big," someone murmured, without enthusiasm.
"It's a busy spaceport," grumbled Captain Wiley.
Thoughts, words, movements came so slowly it was like walking underwater. Enthusiasm was dead. The men were automatons, sitting, waiting,eating, sitting, waiting.
A day passed, and a night.
"Maybe they've forgotten us," said Fong.
Then, at last, the droning words:
"To those in the vessel from the planet Earth: You will now land. Wewill carry you directly over the field. Then you will descend straightdown. The atmosphere is suitable to your type of life and is free ofgerms. You will not need protection."
The men stared at one another.
"Hey," Doyle said, "did you hear that? He says we can go down."
The men blinked. Captain Wiley swallowed hard. He rose with a stiff,slow, nervous
