The Walking Shadow. Brian Stableford

THIRTEEN

      “They’ve taken him,” said the silvery voice. “He’s been taken to the state prison, to the hospital wing. There was no way to get to him—not without the risk of hurting him.”

      “I know,” said Adam Wishart. “But thanks for calling. Would you like to tell me who you are now?”

      “Do you have men inside the prison? Is there any possibility of your getting him out?”

      Wishart scowled at the telephone receiver as though it were a repulsive insect of some kind. “Who are you?” he demanded.

      “I’m the one who warned you to get out when he came out of stasis. I tried to get him away from the stadium.”

      “That doesn’t answer the question. Nor does it prove that you’re on our side in this affair. You could have told us in advance if you knew when he was due to come out. We could have got him out of the cage and away from the stadium. You weren’t trying to get him out for our benefit. You wanted him yourself. Why? Who are you?”

      “There is no time to tell you, nor time to make you believe me. Within a week, an alien spacefleet will arrive in Earth orbit. It has come a long way, and its journey has been a long one. I am talking in terms of hundreds of years. Their intention is to colonize your world. I will try to defend it. I do not know what will happen should I fail, but if I should succeed, you will need Paul Heisenberg. We will need him.”

      Wishart looked up at the man who was sitting on the other side of the desk, whose name was Max Gray. Gray was listening in on an extension, and he silently mouthed the word “crazy”.

      “It all sounds rather unlikely,” said Wishart.

      “It is true. The presence of the ships can be established if you can pick up the radio signals they arc using for communication. I have informed President Lindenbaum of the appropriate frequencies. The information is being checked. You will not act until you are sure of the truth, I know, but what I am saying is true.”

      “And how do you know all this?”

      “I detected the spacefleet more than a year ago. At that time I did not have the means to communicate with you, and you would not have been able to pick up the signals. During that year I have been preparing for the confrontation. I do not know whether I can destroy the invaders, but I will try.”

      “You’re not human,” said Wishart, following the implication of the words. “You’re from somewhere else—not Earth.”

      “That is true. But I want to help you. I do not know exactly what the aliens intend, but I do not want them to take control of your world. Neither do you, I think. I am concerned for the future of your race. That is why I am concerned for Paul Heisenberg. It is important that he should be safe. That is why I want to know what you intend to do. It might be to our mutual advantage to co-operate.”

      Wishart looked again at Gray, who simply shook his head in bewilderment.

      “I don’t know,” said Wishart. “I don’t know what to believe, or what to think.”

      “You must decide,” said the mellifluous voice. “There is not much time. I will speak to you again.”

      There was a click as the connection was broken, and Wishart lowered the phone quickly, as if it were suddenly too hot to hold.

      “It’s a hoax,” said Gray, who was still holding his own receiver. He didn’t seem to be very confident of what he said.

      “It’s too absurd to be a hoax,” replied Wishart. “It’s either some weird kind of performance, or true. You’d better try to find out what Lindenbaum is doing to have the story checked. Make enquiries at the University. In the meantime, we go ahead as if nothing had happened, except....”

      “Except what?”

      “Spread the word that we’d better be careful about using phones. Diehl hasn’t got a tap on this line, but I wouldn’t bet that he hasn’t.”

      “Up on the street,” said Gray, softly, “there are crazies running around trying to persuade everybody that the end of the world is nigh. They think Heisenberg’s return is the signal for the day of judgment.”

      Wishart didn’t smile when he said: “I don’t think God and his archangels would need a fleet of spaceships.”