Speaker 1: Section three of Second Variety by Philip Kadik. This LibriVox
Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Klausliked up quickly. You
Speaker 1: can see what she's trying to say. She thinks I'm
Speaker 1: the second Variety, don't you see? Major? Now, she wants
Speaker 1: you to believe I killed him on purpose, that I'm
Speaker 1: Why did you kill him? Then, Tasso said, I told you.
Speaker 1: Klaus shook his head wearily. I thought he was a claw.
Speaker 1: I thought I knew why I had been watching him.
Speaker 1: I was suspicious why. I thought I had seen something,
Speaker 1: heard something. I thought I he stopped. Go on. We
Speaker 1: were sitting at the table playing cards. You two were
Speaker 1: in the other room. It was silent. I thought I
Speaker 1: heard him were there was silence. Do you believe that?
Speaker 1: Tasso said to Hendrix. Yes, I believe what he says.
Speaker 1: I don't. I think he killed Rudy for a good purpose.
Speaker 1: Tasso touched the rifle resting in the corner of the room. Major, No,
Speaker 1: Heindrix shook his head. Let's stop it right now. One
Speaker 1: is enough. We're afraid the way he was. If we
Speaker 1: kill him, we'll be doing what he did to Rudy.
Speaker 1: Klaus looked gratefully up at him. Thanks. I was afraid,
Speaker 1: you understand, don't you Now She's afraid the way I was.
Speaker 1: She wants to kill me. No more killing. Hendrix moved
Speaker 1: toward the end of the ladder. I'm going above and
Speaker 1: try the transmitter once more. If I can't get them,
Speaker 1: we're moving back toward my lines tomorrow morning. Klaus rose quickly.
Speaker 1: I'll come up with you and give you a hand.
Speaker 1: The night air was cold, the earth was cooling off.
Speaker 1: Klaus took a deep breath, filling his lungs. He and
Speaker 1: Hendrix stepped on to the ground out of the tunnel.
Speaker 1: Klaus planted his feet wide apart, the rifle up, watching
Speaker 1: and listening. Hendrix crouched by the tunnel mouth, tuning the
Speaker 1: small transmitter. Any look, Klaus asked, presently, not yet, keep
Speaker 1: trying tell them what happened. Hendrix kept trying without success.
Speaker 1: Finally he lowered the antenna. It's useless. They can't hear me.
Speaker 1: Are they hear me and won't answer, or or they
Speaker 1: don't exist. I'll try once more. Hendrix raised the antenna. Scott,
Speaker 1: can you hear me? Come in? He listened. There was
Speaker 1: only static, then still very faintly. This is Scott. His
Speaker 1: fingers tightened. Scott, is it you? This is Scott? Klaus
Speaker 1: squatted down. Is it your command? Scott? Listen? Do you
Speaker 1: understand about them the claws? Did you get my message?
Speaker 1: Did you hear me? Yes? Fatally, almost inaudible. He could
Speaker 1: hardly make out the word you got my message? Is
Speaker 1: everything all right at the bunker? None of them have
Speaker 1: got in? Everything is all right? Have they tried to
Speaker 1: get in? The voice was weaker? No? Hendrix turned to Klaus.
Speaker 1: They're all right? Have they been attucked? No? Hendrix pressed
Speaker 1: the phone tighter to his ear. Scott, I can hardly
Speaker 1: hear you. Have you notified the moon base? Do they know?
Speaker 1: Are they alerted? No answer, Scott, can you hear me? Silence?
Speaker 1: Hendrix relaxed, sagging faded out. Must be radiation pools. Hendrix
Speaker 1: and Klaus looked at each other. Neither of them said anything.
Speaker 1: After a time, Klaus said, did its own like any
Speaker 1: of your men? Could you identify the voice? It was
Speaker 1: too faint. You couldn't be certain. No, then it could
Speaker 1: have been I don't know. Now I'm not sure. Let's
Speaker 1: go back down and get the lid closed. They climbed
Speaker 1: back down the ladder slowly into the warm cellar. Klaus
Speaker 1: spoke to the lid behind them. Tasso waited for them,
Speaker 1: her face expressionless, any look, she asked. Neither of them answered, well,
Speaker 1: Klaus said, at last, what do you think, Major, Was
Speaker 1: it your officer or was it one of them? I
Speaker 1: don't know. Then we're just where we were before. Hendrix
Speaker 1: stared down at the floor, his jaw set. We'll have
Speaker 1: to go to be sure. Anyhow, we have food here
Speaker 1: for only a few weeks. We'd have to go up
Speaker 1: after that in any case, apparently, So what's wrong? Tasso demanded,
Speaker 1: Did you get across to your bunker? What's the matter?
Speaker 1: It may have been one of my men. Hendrix said slowly, Ah,
Speaker 1: it may have been one of them, but we'll never know.
Speaker 1: Standing here, he examined his watch. Let's turn in and
Speaker 1: get some sleep. We want to be up early tomorrow early.
Speaker 1: Our best chance to get through the claws would be
Speaker 1: early in the morning, Hendrix said. The morning was crisp
Speaker 1: and clear. Major Hendrix studied the country side through his
Speaker 1: field glasses. See anything, Klaus said, No, can you make
Speaker 1: out our bunkers? Which way here? Klaus took the glasses
Speaker 1: and adjusted them. I know where to look. He looked
Speaker 1: a long time, silently. Tasso came to the top of
Speaker 1: the tunnel and stepped up on to the ground. Anything. No,
Speaker 1: Klaus passed the glasses back to Hendrix. They're out of sight.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's not stay here. The three of them
Speaker 1: made their way down the side of the ridge, sliding
Speaker 1: in the soft ash. Across a flat rock, A lizard scuttled.
Speaker 1: They stopped instantly, rigid. What was that, Klaus muttered, A lizard.
Speaker 1: The lizard ran on, hurrying through the ash. It was
Speaker 1: exactly the same color as the ash. Perfect adaptation. Klaus said, Pruse,
Speaker 1: we were right, Lesenko. I mean. They reached the bottom
Speaker 1: of the ridge and stopped, standing close together looking around them.
Speaker 1: Let's go, Hendrix started off. It's a good long trip
Speaker 1: on foot. Klaus fell in beside him. Tasso walked behind her,
Speaker 1: pistol held alertly. Major. I've been meaning to ask you something,
Speaker 1: Klaus said. How did you run across the David, the
Speaker 1: one that was taking you. I met it along the
Speaker 1: way in some ruins. What did it say? Not much?
Speaker 1: It said, It was all alone by itself. You couldn't
Speaker 1: tell it was a machine. It talked like a living person.
Speaker 1: You never suspected it didn't say much. I noticed nothing unusual.
Speaker 1: It's strange. Machines are so much like people that you
Speaker 1: can be fooled almost alive. I wonder where it'll end.
Speaker 1: They're going to do what you Yanks designed them to do.
Speaker 1: Tasso said, you designed them to hunt out life and
Speaker 1: destroy human life wherever they find it. Hendrix was watching
Speaker 1: Klaus intently. Why did you ask me? What's on your mind? Nothing,
Speaker 1: Klaus answered. Klaus thinks you're the second variety, Tasso said
Speaker 1: calmly from behind him. Now he's got his eye on you.
Speaker 1: Las flushed. Why not we sent their runner to the
Speaker 1: Yank lines and he comes back. Maybe he thought he'd
Speaker 1: find some good game here, Hendrix laughed harshly. I came
Speaker 1: from the un bunkers. There were human beings all around me.
Speaker 1: Maybe you saw an opportunity to get into the Soviet lines.
Speaker 1: Maybe you saw your chance. Maybe you the Soviet lines
Speaker 1: had already been taken over, Your lines had been invaded
Speaker 1: before I left my command bunker. Don't forget that, Tasso
Speaker 1: came up beside him. That proves nothing at all major?
Speaker 1: Why not? There appears to be little communication between the varieties.
Speaker 1: Each is made in a different factory. They don't seem
Speaker 1: to work together. You might have started for the Soviet
Speaker 1: lines without knowing anything about the work of the other varieties,
Speaker 1: or even what the other varieties were like. How do
Speaker 1: you know so much about the claws, Hendrick said, I've
Speaker 1: seen them, I've observed them. I observed them take over
Speaker 1: the Soviet bunkers. You know quite a lot, Klaus said, Actually,
Speaker 1: you saw very little, strange that you should have been
Speaker 1: such an acute observer. Tasso laughed. Do you suspect me? Now?
Speaker 1: Forget it, Hendrix said. They walked on in silence. Are
Speaker 1: we going the whole way on foot? Tasso said, after
Speaker 1: a while, I'm not used to walking. She gazed around
Speaker 1: at the plain of ash stretching out on all sides
Speaker 1: of them as far as they could see. How dreary
Speaker 1: it's like this all the way, Klaus said, in a way,
Speaker 1: I wish you had been in your bunker when the
Speaker 1: attack came. Some one else would have been with you,
Speaker 1: if not me, Klaus muttered. Tasso laughed, putting her hands
Speaker 1: in her pocket. I suppose so They walked on, keeping
Speaker 1: their eyes on the vast plain of silent ash around them.
Speaker 1: The sun was setting. Hendrix made his way forward, slowly,
Speaker 1: waving Tusso and Klaus back. Klaus squatted down, resting his
Speaker 1: gun butt against the ground. Tusso found a concrete slab
Speaker 1: and sat down with a sigh. It's good to rest,
Speaker 1: be quiet, Klaus said, sharply. Hendrix pushed up to the
Speaker 1: top of the rise ahead of them, the same rise
Speaker 1: the Russian runner had come up the day before. Hendrix
Speaker 1: dropped down, stretching himself out, peering through his glasses at
Speaker 1: what lay beyond. Nothing was visible, only ash and occasional trees.
Speaker 1: But there, not more than fifty yards ahead was the
Speaker 1: entrance of the forward command bunker. The bunker from which
Speaker 1: he had come watched silently, no motion, no sign of life.
Speaker 1: Nothing stirred. Klaus slithered up beside him. Where is it
Speaker 1: down there? Hendrix passed him the glasses. Clouds of ash
Speaker 1: rolled across the evening sky. The world was darkening. They
Speaker 1: had a couple of hours of light left at the most,
Speaker 1: Probably not that much. I don't see anything, Klaus said.
Speaker 1: That tree there, the stump by the pile of bricks.
Speaker 1: The entrance is to the right of the bricks. I'll
Speaker 1: have to take your word for it. You and Tasso
Speaker 1: cover me from here. You'll be able to sight all
Speaker 1: the way to the bunker entrance. You're going down the
Speaker 1: lone with my wrist tab, I'll be safe. The ground
Speaker 1: around the bunker is a living field of claws. They
Speaker 1: collect down in the ash like crabs. Without tabs, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't have a chance. Maybe you're right. I'll walk slowly
Speaker 1: all the way as soon as I know for certain.
Speaker 1: If they're down inside the bunker, you won't be able
Speaker 1: to get back up here. They go fast. You don't realize.
Speaker 1: What do you suggest, Klaus considered, I don't know. Get
Speaker 1: them to come up to the surface so you can see.
Speaker 1: Hendrix brought his transmitter from his belt, raising the antenna.
Speaker 1: Let's get started, Klaus signaled to Tasso. She crawled expertly
Speaker 1: up the side of the rise to where they were sitting.
Speaker 1: He's going down alone, Klaus said. We'll cover him from here.
Speaker 1: As soon as you see him, start back fire past
Speaker 1: him at once. They come quick. You're not very optimistic,
Speaker 1: Tasso said, no, I'm not. Hendrix opened the breach of
Speaker 1: his gun, checking it carefully. Maybe things are all right.
Speaker 1: You didn't see the hundreds of them, all the same,
Speaker 1: pouring out like ants. I should be able to find
Speaker 1: out without going down all the way. Hendrix locked his gun,
Speaker 1: gripped it in one hand, the transmitter in the other. Well,
Speaker 1: wish me luck, Klaus put out his hand. Don't go
Speaker 1: down until you're sure. Talk to them from up here,
Speaker 1: make them show themselves. Hendrix stood up. He stepped down
Speaker 1: the side of the rise. A moment later he was
Speaker 1: walking slowly toward the pile of bricks and debris beside
Speaker 1: the dead tree stump, toward the entrance of the forward
Speaker 1: command bunker. Nothing stirred. He raised the transmitter, clicking it on. Scott,
Speaker 1: can you hear me? Silence, Scott, this is Hendrix. Can
Speaker 1: you hear me. I'm standing outside the monker. You should
Speaker 1: be able to see me in the view site. He listened,
Speaker 1: transmitter gripped tightly. No sound, only static. He walked forward.
Speaker 1: A claw burrowed out of the ash and raced toward him.
Speaker 1: It halted a few feet away and then slunk off.
Speaker 1: A second claw appeared, one of the big ones with feelers.
Speaker 1: It moved toward him, studied him intently, and then fell
Speaker 1: in behind him, dogging respectfully after him a few paces away.
Speaker 1: A moment later, a second big claw joined it silently.
Speaker 1: The claws trailed him as he walked slowly toward the bunker.
Speaker 1: Hendrick stopped and behind him, the claws came to a halt.
Speaker 1: He was close, now, almost to the bunker's steps. Scott,
Speaker 1: can you hear me? I'm standing right above you, outside
Speaker 1: on the surface. Are you picking me up? He waited,
Speaker 1: holding his gun against his side, the transmitter tightly to ear.
Speaker 1: Time passed. He strained to hear, but there was only silence, silence,
Speaker 1: and faint static, then distantly metallically. This is Scott. The
Speaker 1: voice was neutral, cold, He could not identify it, but
Speaker 1: the earphone was minute. Scott, listen, I'm standing right above you.
Speaker 1: I'm on the surface, looking down into the bunker entrance. Yes.
Speaker 1: Can you see me? Yes? Through the view sight? You
Speaker 1: have the sight trained on me? Yes, Hendrix pondered. A
Speaker 1: circle of claws waited quietly around him, gray metal bodies
Speaker 1: on all sides of him. Is everything all right in
Speaker 1: the bunker. Nothing unusual has happened. Everything is all right.
Speaker 1: Will you come up to the surface. I want to
Speaker 1: see you. For a moment, Hendrix took a deep breath.
Speaker 1: Come up here. I want to talk to you. Calm down.
Speaker 1: I'm giving you an order. Silence. Are you coming? Hendrix listened.
Speaker 1: There was no response. I order you to come to
Speaker 1: the surface. Calm down. Hendrix set his jaw. Let me
Speaker 1: talk to leone. There was a long pause. He listened
Speaker 1: to the static. Then a voice came, hard, thin, metallic,
Speaker 1: the same as the other. This is Leone Hendrix. I'm
Speaker 1: on the surface at the bunker entrance. I want one
Speaker 1: of you to come up here. Com down. Why come down?
Speaker 1: I'm giving you an order. Silence. Hendrix lowered the transmitter.
Speaker 1: He looked carefully around him. The entrance was just ahead,
Speaker 1: almost at his feet. He lowered the antennae and fastened
Speaker 1: the transmitter to his belt. Carefully, he gripped his gun
Speaker 1: with both hands. He moved forward, a step at a time.
Speaker 1: If they could see him, they knew he was starting
Speaker 1: toward the entrance. He closed his eyes a moment, then
Speaker 1: he put his foot on the first step that led downward.
Speaker 1: Two Davids came up at him, their faces identical and expressionless.
Speaker 1: He blasted them into porticles. More came, rushing silently up,
Speaker 1: a whole pack of them, all exactly the same. Hendrix
Speaker 1: turned and raced back away from the bunker, back toward
Speaker 1: the rise. At the top of the rise, Tasso and
Speaker 1: Klaus were firing down. The small claws were already streaking
Speaker 1: up toward them, shining metal spheres, going fast, racing frantically
Speaker 1: through the ash. But he had no no time to
Speaker 1: think about that. He knelt down, aiming at the bunker entrance,
Speaker 1: gun against his cheek. The Davids were coming out in groups,
Speaker 1: clutching their teddy bears, their thin knobby legs pumping as
Speaker 1: they ran up the steps to the surface. Hendrix fired
Speaker 1: into the main body of them. They burst apart, wheels
Speaker 1: and springs flying in all directions. He fired again. Through
Speaker 1: the mist of particles. A giant, lumbering figure rose up
Speaker 1: in the bunker entrance, tall and swaying. Hendrix paused, amazed.
Speaker 1: A man, a soldier with one leg, supporting himself with
Speaker 1: a crutch. Major Tusso's voice came more firing. The huge
Speaker 1: figure moved forward. Davids swarmed around it. Hendrix broke out
Speaker 1: of his frieze the first variety, the wounded Soldier. He
Speaker 1: aimed and fired. The soldier burst into bits, parts and
Speaker 1: relays flying. Now many Davids were out on the flat
Speaker 1: ground away from the bunker. He fired again and again,
Speaker 1: moving slowly back, half crouching and aiming from the rise.
Speaker 1: Klaus fired down. The side of the rise was alive,
Speaker 1: with claws making their way up. Hendrix retreated toward the rise,
Speaker 1: running and crouching. Tusso had left Klaus and was circling
Speaker 1: slowly to the right, moving away from the rise. Hey
Speaker 1: David slipped up toward him, its small white face expressionless,
Speaker 1: brown hair hanging down in its eyes. It bent over,
Speaker 1: suddenly opening its arms. Its teddy bear hurtled down and
Speaker 1: leaped across the ground, bounding toward him. Hendrix fired. The
Speaker 1: bear and the David both dissolved. He grinned, blinking. It
Speaker 1: was like a dream up here, Tasso's voice. Hendrix made
Speaker 1: his way toward her. She was over by some columns
Speaker 1: of concrete walls of a ruined building. She was firing
Speaker 1: past him with the hand pistol. Claus had given her thanks.
Speaker 1: He joined her, gasping for breath. She pulled him back
Speaker 1: behind the concrete, Fumbling at her belt. Close your eyes,
Speaker 1: she unfastened a globe from her waist. Rapidly she unscrewed
Speaker 1: the cap, locking it into place. Close your eyes and
Speaker 1: get down. She threw the bomb. It sailed in an
Speaker 1: arc an expert rolling and bouncing to the entrance of
Speaker 1: the bunker. Two wounded soldiers stood uncertainly by the brick pile.
Speaker 1: More Davids poured from behind them out onto the plain.
Speaker 1: One of the wounded soldiers moved toward the bomb, stooping
Speaker 1: awkwardly down to pick it up. The bomb went off.
Speaker 1: The concussion world Hendrix around, throwing him on his face.
Speaker 1: A hot wind rolled over him. Dimly, he saw Tasso
Speaker 1: standing behind the columns, firing slowly and methodically at the
Speaker 1: David's Coming out of the raging clouds of white fire.
Speaker 1: Back along the rise, Klaus struggled with a ring of
Speaker 1: claws circling around him. He retreated, blasting at them and
Speaker 1: moving back, trying to break through the ring. Hendrix struggled
Speaker 1: to his feet, his head ached. He could hardly see.
Speaker 1: Everything was licking at him, raging and whirling. His right
Speaker 1: arm would not move. Tasso pulled back toward him. Come on,
Speaker 1: let's go, Klaus, he's still up there. Come on. Tusso
Speaker 1: dragged Hendrix back away from the columns. Hendrix shook his head,
Speaker 1: trying to clear it. Tasso led him rapidly away, her
Speaker 1: eyes intense and bright, watching for claws that had escaped
Speaker 1: the blast. One David came out of the rolling clouds
Speaker 1: of flame. Tasso blasted it. No more appeared, but Klaus,
Speaker 1: what about him? Hendrick stopped standing unsteadily. He come on.
Speaker 1: They retreated, moving farther and farther away from the bunker.
Speaker 1: A few small claws followed them for a little while,
Speaker 1: and then gave up, turning back and going off. At last,
Speaker 1: Tasso stopped, We can stop here and get our breasts.
Speaker 1: Hendrick sat down on some heaps of debris. He wiped
Speaker 1: his neck, gasping, we left Klaus back there. Tasso said nothing.
Speaker 1: She opened her gun, sliding a fresh round of blast
Speaker 1: cartridges into place. Hendrix stared at her, dazed, You left
Speaker 1: him back there on purpose? Tasso snapped the gun together.
Speaker 1: She studied the heaps of rubble around them, her face expressionless,
Speaker 1: as if she were watching for something. What is it?
Speaker 1: Hendrix demanded? What are you looking for? Is something coming?
Speaker 1: He shook his head, trying to understand what was she doing?
Speaker 1: What was she waiting for? He could see nothing. Ash
Speaker 1: lay all around them, ash and ruins, occasional stark tree
Speaker 1: trunks without leaves or branches. What Tasso cut him off
Speaker 1: bestill Her eyes narrowed. Suddenly, her gun came up. Hendrix turned,
Speaker 1: following her gaze back the way they had come. A
Speaker 1: figure appeared. The figure walked unsteadily toward them. Its clothes
Speaker 1: were torn. It limped as it made its way along,
Speaker 1: going very slowly and carefully, slopping now and then resting
Speaker 1: and getting its strength. Once it almost fell. It stood
Speaker 1: for a moment, trying to steady itself. Then it came
Speaker 1: on Klaus. Hendrix stood up. Klaus, he started toward him.
Speaker 1: How the hell did you? Tasso fired. Hendrix swung back.
Speaker 1: She fired again, the blast passing him a searing line
Speaker 1: of heat. The beam caught Klaus in the chest. He exploded,
Speaker 1: gears and wheels flying. For a moment, he continued to walk,
Speaker 1: Then he swayed back and forth. He crashed to the ground,
Speaker 1: his arms flung out. A few more wheels rolled away silence.
Speaker 1: Tasso turned to Hendrix. Now you understand why he killed Rudy.
Speaker 1: Hendrix sat down again. Slowly. He shook his head. He
Speaker 1: was numb. He could not think. Do you see, Tasso said,
Speaker 1: do you understand? Hendrix said nothing. Everything was slipping away
Speaker 1: from him, faster and faster, darkness rolling and plucking at him.
Speaker 1: He closed his eyes. Hendrix opened his eyes slowly. His
Speaker 1: body ached all over. He tried to sit up, but
Speaker 1: needles of pain shot through his arm and shoulder. He gasped,
Speaker 1: don't try to get up, Tusso said. She bent down,
Speaker 1: putting her cold hand against his forehead. It was night.
Speaker 1: A few stars glinted above, shining through the drifting clouds
Speaker 1: of ash. Hendrix lay back, his teeth locked. Tusso watched
Speaker 1: him impassively. She had built a fire with some wood
Speaker 1: and weeds. The fire licked feebly, hissing at a metal
Speaker 1: cup suspended over it. Everything was silent, uning darkness beyond
Speaker 1: the fire. So he was the second variety, Hendrix murmured.
Speaker 1: I had always thought, so, why didn't you destroy him sooner?
Speaker 1: He wanted to know you held me back. Tasso crossed
Speaker 1: to the fire to look into the metal cup. Coffee
Speaker 1: it'll be already to drink in a while. She came
Speaker 1: back and sat down beside him. Presently, she opened her
Speaker 1: pistol and began to disassemble the firing mechanism, studying it intently.
Speaker 1: This is a beautiful gun, Tasso said, half aloud. The
Speaker 1: construction is superb. What about them the claws? The concussion
Speaker 1: from the bomb put most of them out of action.
Speaker 1: They're delicate, highly organized. I suppose the Davids too. Yes,
Speaker 1: how did you happen to have a bomb like that?
Speaker 1: Tasso shrugged. We designed it. You shouldn't underestimate our technology. Major.
Speaker 1: Without such a bomb, you and I would no longer exist.
Speaker 1: Very useful, Tasso stretched out her legs, warming her feet
Speaker 1: in the heat of the fire. It surprised me that
Speaker 1: you did not seem to understand after he killed Rudy,
Speaker 1: why did you think he I told you. I thought
Speaker 1: he was afraid. Really, you know, Major, For a little while,
Speaker 1: I suspected you because you wouldn't let me kill him.
Speaker 1: I thought you might be protecting him, she laughed. Are
Speaker 1: we safe here, Hendrix asked, presently, for a while, until
Speaker 1: they get reinforcements from some other area. Tasso began to
Speaker 1: clean the interior of the gun with a bit of rag.
Speaker 1: She finished and pushed the mechanism back into place. She
Speaker 1: closed the gun, running her finger along the barrel. We
Speaker 1: were lucky, Hendrix murmured, Yes, very lucky, and thanks for
Speaker 1: pulling me away. End of Section three.