Psychological fiction; Science fiction; Short stories; Space travelers -- Fiction
Harvey jerked back, shuddered to fight back a yell, and ran madly
down the hill toward Dana, but she was no longer in sight. For one
wild second Harvey thought she had disappeared over the Edge. A look
confirmed the fallacy of the notion. But behind him, the three floating
red eyes stared impassively. Angrily, he wrenched them from the air and
flung the glowing coals out into Infinity, and had the satisfaction of
watching them dwindle into nothing. He had no idea what they were; all
he knew was he hadn't liked them.
Disappointed at having lost Dana, he started back up the hill toward
the Castle.
_Thud!_
* * * * *
Harvey picked himself up off the ground and explored the night air in
front of him with wary hands. He encountered solid surface and felt
his way around it, astonished. It was the ship! Dana had done nothing
but render it invisible yesterday! He located the rocket tubes and
the heavy arches of the landing fins, and looked up when he judged he
should be under the airlock. A sudden, frightful flood of memory poured
over him.
My God! _Earth! The Universe! Me!_
"Harvey?"
Silence. He squatted down under the rocket's firing flange, hidden from
view of the airlock.
"Harvey dear, is that you?" A light sprang out of the air twenty
feet above the ground. Dana stood in breath-taking silhouette in a
rectangular frame of familiar white. Harvey realized it was the first
time since ... since _the crash_! ... since the crash that he had seen
_white_ light. White, the symbol of truth. He straightened, still
under the flange, and waited while Dana decided to come down and look
around. He would soon get the truth.
"Har_vey_?"
He tensed as her shapely legs appeared, carefully feeling for the rungs
of an invisible ladder. When she reached the ground, Harvey stepped
around the exhaust flange and flung himself on her. They landed in the
yellow turf, and Harvey found without surprise he faced a formidable
opponent. Whatever the force that had enabled her to lift the ship
yesterday proved equally useful against flesh; but Harvey found he also
possessed new strength. His eyes fell on the tiny metal case strapped
to her waist.
A Matter Disorganizer!
"_Harvey!_ Stop it, Harvey! _You don't know what you're doing!_" she
screamed. He laughed harshly and finally succeeded in wrenching the
little metal box away from her.
"You were going to destroy the ship," he shouted incredulously. "In
God's name, _why_?"
She stepped back from him, tears glistening in her eyes. "To keep ...
this from happening," she panted. She turned and yelled something at
the Castle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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