The Blue Dwarfs Page 7

  being propelled by the same mysterious force and followed close behind. The speed of travel accelerated rapidly until Mullon could hear the wind whistling loudly through his hair. He had to admire the abilities of the little blue creatures slipping through the jungle below and transporting their former captives through the air.

  How were they able to do it? Mullon had his suspicions. Besides those in the subterranean chamber, he had not seen any machines, and those had not appeared to him as designed for producing artificial gravity fields. So he felt justified in believing that the gravity field was not produced by any machinery but came from the bodies of the blues themselves. They seemed able to alter the structure of the very material they were composed of and not only to give off electrical and gravitational fields at will but also to project them anywhere they chose. The whole matter could be understood only as a telekinetic ability and not as technological aptitude.

  About half an hour later, Mullon and his companions reached the shore of the jungle river. Judging from the river's width, it had to be the same one in which their island lay, although the island itself was nowhere in sight.

  At the same time the Terrans reached the riverbank, the swarm of blue dwarfs burst out of the foliage below. They had moved with the same speed through the jungle as Mullon and his party had over it.

  From there on the way led along the riverbank to the southeast. Mullon figured the distance from the blues' hill to the island where the helicopter stood was at least 60 miles.

  His estimate proved to be right. After just two hours a welter of small and large islands appeared along the right bank. On the largest of them stood the helicopter, still and peaceful in the sun.

  The water was no barrier to the blue dwarfs. In a few moments Mullon and friends landed on the island just as softly as they had been picked up two hours before.

  Meanwhile, the blues formed a ring around the helicopter as though they knew it was the single interest of the Terrans. The alligator Freddy had had dissected on the previous day lay nearby.

  Mullon climbed into the helicopter—fevering with tension for what awaited him.

  Had the blues already recharged the batteries? No, that they had not. When Mullon tried to switch on the engines, it was all as before: no needles moving on the dials, no control lights, no humming of the radio.

  Mullon was disappointed. He bent over and opened the lid of the battery compartment. He disconnected one of the small boxes from its contact wires, pulled it out and took it with him as he climbed down from the cabin.

  "Nothing," he told his companions unhappily. "Now let's see what the blues have to say about it."

  He laid the battery down in front of one of the blue beings dancing in a broad circle around the helicopter. He had doubts if the blues would understand what was meant but hardly had he set the battery down then a number of blue dwarfs sped towards it as though they wanted to take it apart.

  Mullon did not once see them touch it, although they floated within an inch or two of the small box. Nevertheless they seemed to come to a conclusion in a short time. They pulled back from the battery, hummed and chirped excitedly and convinced their fellows to form up into the same pattern as they had coming over the river. Before the Terrans could offer any objections, they were picked up again and set in motion towards the right-hand riverbank. As Mullon looked around, he saw that the battery was being taken along. It floated along just a few yards behind him.

  They returned to the hill of the Blue Dwarfs in a rushing, whistling flight. After setting their passengers softly down, the blue dwarfs disappeared into one of their' hallways. Mullon and friends followed them. He carried the battery under his arm.

  The way led back into the room where they had awakened long hours before. By this time the blues had already assembled before something that had roughly box-shaped outlines and a volume of about 20 cubic yards, and reached almost to the ceiling.

  The box was made of metal. A door about half a man's height opened up—apparently automatically—as Mullon stood in front of it.

  Mullon crawled through the low door. Milligan followed him. Inside they saw a circular disc about 10 feet in diameter, made of a transparent plastic material. The disc rested on an axis whose both ends were fastened in the walls of the metal box. In two places on the edges the disc was touched by objects that resembled nothing so much as sliding contacts. From the contacts and from the disc itself hung a row of wires whose ends rested on the ground.

  Mullon examined the strange device: "It's an induction machine," he decided, "and a big one!"

  Milligan knew nothing of the subject and Mullon began to explain.

  "It's a device that produces voltage by dividing the charge. The first electrical experiments on Earth were carried out using induction machines. An induction machine can even be used as a generator. The voltage created is often several if not 10 thousand volts but the current is rather weak. I think we might be able to get up to half an ampere with this monster here."

  "And so charge the batteries?"

  "Yes. Now I only want to know who is going to get the machine going."

  As though they had understood the thought, the blue dwarfs waiting outside set the transparent disc into sudden motion. Within moments it reached a speed of two revolutions per second. Mullon carefully picked up two insulated wires lying on the ground and touched their bare ends together. A large crackling spark leaped out.

  "Fantastic!" exclaimed Milligan.

  Mullon nodded, let the two wires drop back to the floor and looked thoughtfully up at the machine. "That also means," he said half to himself, "that alternating current generators are unknown here. They can radiate gravitational and electrical fields from their own bodies and perform the most amazing tricks but they produce their current with machinery my grandfather would have thought old-fashioned.—What strange creatures they must be!"

  • • •

  Five hours later the battery was recharged.

  "We can install it now," said Mullon, "and come back here so that the other batteries can be recharged. Now if we can only let the blue dwarfs know we have to go back to the island again."

  The words were hardly out of his mouth than the blues started to move, floating towards the exit. Just like before, they all followed the corridor out to the hillside.

  "We don't all have to go," said Mullon. "Freddy and Milligan can stay here. Pashen will come with me and help put the battery back in."

  "Fine," said Pashen, "but what will you do when they take all four of us again?"

  At that point something very odd took place: the group of blue dwarfs split up. About half of the small creatures—a hundred or so—disappeared into the various openings cut into the hillside. The others remained behind.

  Mullon felt himself grasped and lifted into the air and Pashen followed close behind. For one or two minutes they floated motionless 15 feet above the ground, then the blues glided down the hill and disappeared into the jungle, drawing Pashen and Mullon through the air behind them.

  Freddy and Milligan stayed behind.

  Mullon felt fear clear to the bottom of his heart. What he had just experienced confirmed the suspicion he had already felt a few times—namely whenever he was wondering how to get across to the blues what he wanted them to do and they went ahead and did it precisely before he even said a word or made a gesture.

  The blue dwarfs were telepaths!

  The blues began to seem uncanny to him. They were not only incredibly alien but with all their para-abilities, a single blue dwarf was far superior to a single man.

  This was a different problem than with the Mungos.

  The Mungos were a primitive and half-intelligent species whose single advantage over men was a sixth sense that warned of danger before the five human senses were able to perceive it.

  But here, a strange but decided intelligence was involved. Mullon realized that the most important effort of the colony in the future would be directed towards keeping the pea
ce with the blue dwarfs and inducing them in a friendly manner to cooperate with the Terrans.

  These thoughts went through his mind while he, Pashen and the recharged battery sped together over the treetops.

  • • •

  After two hours of flying time, they reached the island. Pashen and Mullon were set down and they immediately began to install the battery again. Mullon sat in the pilot's seat to test the equipment and in front of him Pashen knelt on the floor, pushing the battery into place and closing the contacts.

  Mullon saw the control lights blaze into life and heard the radio hum. "What a wonderful sound!"

  Pashen murmured up from below: "And to think we believed we were going to have to spend the rest of our lives wearing leaves and eating alligator meat."

  He shut the lid of the battery box and stood up but it seemed that his feet had gone to sleep while he was at work on his knees. He moaned as he stood, staggered and in trying to avoid Mullon fell to the side. "Oh!" he groaned through clenched teeth.

  He held a pair of small pliers in his right hand and it was with his right hand that he reached out to catch himself as he fell. As he attempted to avoid falling on Mullon, he turned somewhat to the rear and the pliers jammed into the radio control panel.

  Mullon leaped up. With his first glance he saw what damage the pliers had caused. Several knobs had been ripped away, the glass cover of a dial had been smashed in—and the main control light gaped dead, like a devilish black eye instead of glowing green. The radio humming had ceased.

  "What the...?" Mullon exclaimed. Then he saw Pashen staggering. "What's wrong?"

  Pashen clutched his head and groaned. "Hit my head. Hurts like the dickens!"

  "Sit down and wait until you feet better!" Mullon told him.

  He was rather angry but he realized that he could hardly reproach Pashen. The man had stood up and slipped, that was all. Although with the result that the helicopter no longer possessed a functioning radio. Well, it doesn't matter, Mullon thought. We'll be home in a few hours anyway and then we can replace the radio.

  "I'm so sorry, sir," Pashen stammered after awhile.

  Mullon waved it away. "We won't speak of it. You couldn't help yourself."

  "Thank you, sir," murmured Pashen.

  Mullon sat back in the pilot's seat, then called out of the cabin: "We can now move under our own power! We're flying back to the hill!"

  Pashen stared at him wonderingly but his wonder turned into fear as he saw the blue dwarfs resume their formation obediently and fly across the river on their way home. Mullon activated the engine and let the helicopter rise into the air. It raced over the river and then, 60 feet above the trees, struck to the northwest.

  "You talk to the blues?" asked Pashen once he had overcome his fear. "And think they understand you?"

  "Well, apparently they do, don't they?" answered Mullon "Didn't you see how they immediately took off?"

  "Yes... but how... do you think they've learned English since they met us?"

  Mullon shrugged. He didn't intend to reveal what he knew until he could make it evident to everyone by a series of tests that the blue dwarfs were parapsychologically gifted. So he answered: "Who knows? All I can say is—they understand me."

  • • •

  Mullon landed the helicopter on a small patch of level ground just above the hill entrance that led to the machine room. The batteries were unloaded and taken down into the room. As that was accomplished, the 100 blue dwarfs which had accompanied Pashen and Mullon to the island returned. Judging from their wild dancing and chirping, they seemed quite excited that someone had been able to move faster than they. But it was by no means an unfriendly excitement: the excitement of the blues seemed to be from sheer joy.

  Mullon gave Freddy the job of recharging the batteries one after the other. He himself undertook yet another flight back to the island with Pashen and Milligan to take down the tents and bring them back to the hill. Mullon wanted to spend at least the coming night in the vicinity of the blues.

  The dwarfs seemed to have nothing against Mullon setting up the tents on the hill slope. Quite the contrary: without being asked, they were helpful in utilizing their telekinetic abilities to drive in the tent stakes and erect the poles.

  With the coming of darkness, however, they disappeared into the entrances to their hill and from that moment on were not seen until the next morning.

  After the evening meal Mullon assigned the watches and since there had been virtually no pauses for rest that day, the three who were spared the first watch went to bed immediately.

  Mullon had voluntarily taken the first watch—and with good reason. He wanted to take a close look at the helicopter radio and try to repair it. He had remembered with some alarm that Greenwich had heard nothing from the expedition for more than 60 hours.

  Anyone knowing Hollander as well as Mullon did would not find it difficult to assume Hollander might have used the long period of uncertainty for his own purposes. Although the People's Assembly was nominally a democratic organization, it unfortunately existed on the strength of its president's will. O'Bannon and Wolley were certainly capable men and could have led the People's Assembly according to Mullon's wishes if they had to but they were no match for Hollander.

  Mullon left the rifle where he had been standing watch and climbed up the hill to the helicopter. He opened the cabin door, climbed in and switched on the interior lights so he could take a look at the damage caused by Pashen's pliers.

  Then he carefully removed the knobs that had been spared damage and slid the front cover off the radio. At first glance it seemed that he could never find his way through the confusion of wires, especially since he understood little of high frequency technology. But after an hour of determined effort he had obtained a good idea of how the radio worked and even believed that he could repair it.

  He rested for a bit, then set to work once more. He took the necessary tools out of the box on the floor by the pilot's seat and began to reattach the disconnected wires so that they could again come in touch with the knob contacts. Then he heard a slight noise behind him and turned around. On the other side of the cabin Pashen's face looked in from the darkness outside. He stood on the ladder leading up to the cabin and stared calmly at Mullon

  "You gave me one good fright!" Mullon exclaimed. "What do you want here?"

  "I'm looking for the man who leaves his post in the middle of the night!" answered Pashen.

  Mullon gave a start. "Don't be ridiculous: I have more important things to do than counting the gnats flying around the tent!"

  Pashen shook his head. "You aren't going to need the radio anymore, Mullon," he said hollowly.

  Mullon suddenly had a suspicion—so terrifying that he needed a few seconds to find his speech again. "Why not?"

  Pashen's face twisted into a mocking grin. "Haven't you guessed yet?"

  Try to win time, Mullon thought, just try to win time. Maybe someone will hear us and come over.

  Pashen probably has a pistol on him.

  "I think I have," he answered grimly. "I should have guessed a long time ago, right?"

  Pashen did not seem unwilling to talk. "You think so? What would have given me away?"

  "Back in the mountains. The capillary tube started to leak. Even under the greatest stress, capillary tubes will only break. They can never get a hole in them."

  Pashen nodded coolly. "You're a good observer," he said, "but a little late."

  "Yes," sighed Mullon, "you're right there. Hollander wanted to be certain Harper and his buddies found me in the mountains. So you sabotaged the helicopter, making sure we couldn't fly. But when you felt Harper had gotten close enough to need a sign, you just happened to discover the leak in the capillary tube so we could get the helicopter going again. Am I right?"

  "Exactly," said Pashen. "And the radio wasn't damaged by accident," continued Mullon, almost easy-going and relaxed. "You of course had to stop me from sending news to Greenwich. But w
hy? If I had been able to report back, what would that have changed in your plans?"

  "Nothing in my plans," admitted Pashen, "but it would have changed Hollander's. Only Hollander will hear about the existence of the blue dwarfs. No one else."

  "Aha," said Mullon. "You think he'll want to make use of the blues."

  "When he learns of them, certainly."

  "And what will you get out of all this treason you're taking part in?"

  Pashen raised his shoulders. "Hollander rewards his men. You must know that it will be all over for democracy when Hollander comes to power."

  "That wasn't hard to guess," answered Mullon sarcastically. "But how is he going to reward you? He can't give you money. What, then?"

  "Perhaps he'll make me a governor. I've been promised I'll be the first one Hollander rewards."

  Mullon nodded. "And one day you'll be inconvenient for him because you know too much and he'll send a man to kill you, just as he sent you to kill me."

  "That's the risk I'll have to take," answered Pashen calmly. "Anyway, it was a pleasure chatting with you, Mr. Mullon. But now I'm afraid we'll have to bring the conversation to an end. Duty calls, you know. You understand, of course?"

  Mullon had not expected him to raise his right hand so quickly over the bottom edge of the doorway—and with it his pistol.

  Mullon sprang up and tried to throw himself to the side but Pashen followed every movement with steady aim. Mullon saw a pale tongue of fire leap out at him, felt a painful jolt in his chest and lost consciousness.

  Pashen needed four seconds to drag the inert body out of the cabin and let it drop on the ground. From Mullon's wide-open eyes and limpness, Pashen had all the proof he needed that Mullon was dead.

  As Pashen closed the cabin door, the first agitated cries resounded from the tents below. He started the engine and took off. The helicopter shot into the air like an arrow, climbed to 1500 feet, and then turned west.