Speaker 1: Section four of Second Variety by Philip kay Dick. This
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Tasso did not answer.
Speaker 1: She glanced up at him, her eyes bright in the firelight.
Speaker 1: Hendrix examined his arm. He could not move his fingers.
Speaker 1: His whole side seemed numb down inside him was a dull,
Speaker 1: steady ache. How do you feel, Tasso asked, My arm
Speaker 1: is damaged? Anything else internal injuries? You didn't get down
Speaker 1: with the bomb with off? Hendrix said nothing. He watched
Speaker 1: Tasso pour the coffee from the cup into a flat
Speaker 1: metal pan. She brought it over to him thanks. He
Speaker 1: struggled up enough to drink. It was hard to swallow,
Speaker 1: his insides turned over, and he pushed the pan away.
Speaker 1: That's all I could drink. Tasso drank the rest. Time passed,
Speaker 1: the clouds of ash moved across the dark sky above them.
Speaker 1: Hendrix rested his mind blank. After a while, he became
Speaker 1: aware that Tasso was standing over him, gazing down at him.
Speaker 1: What is it? He murmured? Do you feel any better?
Speaker 1: Some you know major? If I hadn't dragged you away,
Speaker 1: they would have got you. You would be dead like Rudy.
Speaker 1: I know, do you want to know why I brought
Speaker 1: you out. I could have left you. I could have
Speaker 1: left you there. Why did you bring me out? Because
Speaker 1: we have to get away from here? Tasso stirred the
Speaker 1: fire with a stick, peering calmly down into it. No
Speaker 1: human being can live here. When their reinforcements come, we
Speaker 1: won't have a chance. I have pondered about it while
Speaker 1: you are unconscious. We have perhaps three hours before they come,
Speaker 1: and you expect me to get us away. That's right.
Speaker 1: I expect you to get us out of here. Why me?
Speaker 1: Because I don't know anyway. Her eyes showed at him
Speaker 1: in the half light, bright and steady. If you can't
Speaker 1: get us out of here, they'll kill us within three hours.
Speaker 1: I see nothing else ahead. Well, Major, what are you
Speaker 1: going to do? I've been waiting all night while you
Speaker 1: were unconscious. I sat here waiting and listening. It's almost dawn.
Speaker 1: The night is over. Hendrix considered. It's curious, he said,
Speaker 1: at last, curious that you should think I can get
Speaker 1: us out of here. I wonder which you think I
Speaker 1: can do? Can you get us to the boon base,
Speaker 1: the moon base? How that must be some way? Hendrix
Speaker 1: shook his head. No, there's no way that I know of.
Speaker 1: Tasso said nothing. For a moment, her steady gaze wavered.
Speaker 1: She ducked her head, turning abruptly away. She scrambled to
Speaker 1: her feet. More coffee, No, sooot yourself, Tasso drank silently.
Speaker 1: He cannot see her face. He lay back against the ground,
Speaker 1: deep in thought, trying to concentrate. It was hard to think,
Speaker 1: his head still hurt, and the numbing days still hung
Speaker 1: over him. There might be one way, he said, suddenly. Oh,
Speaker 1: how soon is dawn? Two hours? The sun will be
Speaker 1: coming up shortly. There's supposed to be a ship near here.
Speaker 1: I've never seen it, but I know it exists. What
Speaker 1: k of a ship? Her voice was sharp, A rocket cruiser?
Speaker 1: Will it take us off to the moon base it's
Speaker 1: supposed to in case of emergency? He rubbed his forehead.
Speaker 1: What's wrong my head? It's hard to think. I can hardly,
Speaker 1: hardly concentrate the bomb? Is the ship near here? Tasso
Speaker 1: slid over beside him, settling down on her haunches. How
Speaker 1: far is it? Where is it? I'm trying to think.
Speaker 1: Her fingers dug into his arm near by. Her voice
Speaker 1: was like iron. Where would it be? Would they store
Speaker 1: it underground, hidden underground, Yes, in a storage locker. How
Speaker 1: do we find it? Is it marked? Is it a
Speaker 1: code marker? To identify it? Hendrix concentrated. No, no markings,
Speaker 1: no code symbol. What then, a sign? What sort of sign?
Speaker 1: Hendrix did not answer In the flickering light, his eyes
Speaker 1: were glazed two sightless orbs. Tasso's fingers dug into his arm.
Speaker 1: What sort of sign? What is it? I I can't think?
Speaker 1: Let me rest, all right? She let go and stood up.
Speaker 1: Hendrix lay back against the ground, his eyes closed. Tosso
Speaker 1: walked away from him, her hands in her pockets. She
Speaker 1: kicked a rock out of her way and stood staring
Speaker 1: up at the sky. The night blackness was already beginning
Speaker 1: to fade into gray. Morning was coming. Tasso gripped her
Speaker 1: pistol and walked around the fire in a circle, back
Speaker 1: and forth on the ground. Major Hendrix lay his eyes closed, unmoving.
Speaker 1: The grayness rose in the sky, higher and higher. The
Speaker 1: landscape became visible. Fields of ash stretching out in all directions,
Speaker 1: Ash and ruins of buildings, a wall here and there,
Speaker 1: heaps of concrete, the naked trunk of a tree. The
Speaker 1: air was cold and sharp. Somewhere a long way off,
Speaker 1: A bird made a few bleak sounds. Hendrick stirred. He
Speaker 1: opened his eyes. Is it dawn already? Yes? Hendrick sat
Speaker 1: up a little. You wanted to know something, you were
Speaker 1: asking me. Do you remember now? Yes? What is it?
Speaker 1: She tensed? What she repeated sharply, A well, A ruined well.
Speaker 1: It's in a storage locker, under a well a well.
Speaker 1: Tussl relaxed. Then we'll find a well. He looked at
Speaker 1: her watch. We have about an hour, major. Do you
Speaker 1: think we can find it in an hour? Give me
Speaker 1: a hand up, Hendrick said. Tasso put her pistol away
Speaker 1: and helped him to his feet. This is going to
Speaker 1: be difficult, Yes, it is. Hendrick set his lips tightly.
Speaker 1: I don't think we're going to go very far. They
Speaker 1: began to walk. The early sun cast a little warmth
Speaker 1: down on them. The land was flat and barren, stretching
Speaker 1: out gray and lifeless as far as they could see,
Speaker 1: a few birds sails silently far above them, circling slowly.
Speaker 1: See anything, Hendrick said, any claws? No, not yet. They
Speaker 1: passed through some ruins upright, concrete and bricks, a cement
Speaker 1: foundation rats scuttled away. Tasso jumped back, warily. This to
Speaker 1: be a town, Heindrix said, a village, a provincial village.
Speaker 1: This was all grape country once where we are now
Speaker 1: they came on to a ruined street, weeds and cracks
Speaker 1: crisscrossing it. Over to the right, a stone chimney stuck up.
Speaker 1: Be careful, he warned her. A pit yawned, an open basement,
Speaker 1: ragged ends of pipes jutted up, twisted and bent. They
Speaker 1: passed part of a house, sa bathtub turned on its side,
Speaker 1: a broken chair, a few spoons, and bits of china dishes.
Speaker 1: In the center of the street, the ground had sunk away.
Speaker 1: The depression was filled with weeds and debris and bones.
Speaker 1: Over here, Hendrix murmured. This way to the right, they
Speaker 1: passed the remains of a heavy duty tank. Hendrix's belt
Speaker 1: counter clicked ominously. The tank had been radiation blasted. A
Speaker 1: few feet from the tank, a mummified body lay sprawled
Speaker 1: out mouth open. Beyond the road was a flat field,
Speaker 1: stones and weeds and bits of broken glass. There, Hendrix said,
Speaker 1: a stone well jutted up, sagging and broken. A few
Speaker 1: boards lay across it. Most of the well had sunk
Speaker 1: into rubble. Hendrix walked unsteadily toward it. Tasso beside him.
Speaker 1: Are you certain about this? Tasso said, this doesn't look
Speaker 1: like anything. I'm sure. Hendrix sat down at the edge
Speaker 1: of the well, his teeth locked. His breath came quickly.
Speaker 1: He wiped perspiration from his face. This was arranged so
Speaker 1: the senior command officer could get away if anything happened.
Speaker 1: If the bunker fell, that was you. Yes, where is
Speaker 1: the ship? Is it sure? We're standing on it? Hendrix
Speaker 1: ran his hands over the surface of the wellstones. The
Speaker 1: eye lock responds to me, not to anybody else. It's
Speaker 1: my ship, or it was supposed to be. There was
Speaker 1: a sharp click. Presently they heard a low grating sound
Speaker 1: from below them. Step back, Hendrix said. He and Tasso
Speaker 1: moved away from the well. A section of the ground
Speaker 1: slid back. A metal frame pushed slowly up through the ash,
Speaker 1: shoving bricks and weeds out of the way. The action
Speaker 1: ceased as the ship nosed into view. There it is,
Speaker 1: Hendrix said. The ship was small. It rested quietly, suspended
Speaker 1: in its mesh frame like a blunt needle. A rain
Speaker 1: of ash sifted down into the dark cavity from which
Speaker 1: the ship had been raised. Hendrix made his way over
Speaker 1: to it. He mounted the mesh and unscrewed the hatch,
Speaker 1: pulling it back inside the ship. The control banks and
Speaker 1: the pressure seat were visible. Tasso came and stood beside him,
Speaker 1: gazing into the ship. I'm not accustomed to rocket piloting,
Speaker 1: she said. After a while Heindrick's glanced at her. I'll
Speaker 1: do the piloting, will you. There's only one seat, Major,
Speaker 1: I can see it's built to carry only a single person.
Speaker 1: Hendrix's breathing changed. He studied the interior of the ship intently.
Speaker 1: Tasso was right. There was only one seat. The ship
Speaker 1: was built to carry only one person. I see, he
Speaker 1: said slowly. And the one person is you. She nodded.
Speaker 1: Of course. Why you can't go. You might not live
Speaker 1: through the trip. You're injured, You probably wouldn't get there.
Speaker 1: An interesting point, but you see, I know where the
Speaker 1: moon base is and you don't. You might fly around
Speaker 1: for months and not find it. It's well hidden. Without
Speaker 1: knowing what to look for, I'll have to take my chances.
Speaker 1: Maybe I won't find it, not by myself, but I
Speaker 1: think you'll give me all the information I need. Your
Speaker 1: life depends on it. How If I find the moon
Speaker 1: basin time, perhaps I can get them to send the
Speaker 1: ship back to pick you up if I find the
Speaker 1: basin time. If not, then you haven't a chance. I imagine
Speaker 1: that our supplies on the ship they will last me
Speaker 1: long enough. Hendrix moved quickly, but his injured arm betrayed him.
Speaker 1: Tasso ducked, sliding littley aside. Her hand came up lightening fast.
Speaker 1: Hendrix saw the gun butt coming. He tried to ward
Speaker 1: off the blow, but she was too fast. The metal
Speaker 1: butt struck against the side of his head, just above
Speaker 1: his ear. Numbing pain rushed through him, pain and rolling
Speaker 1: clouds of blackness. He sank down, sliding to the ground. Dimly,
Speaker 1: he was aware that Tasso was standing over him, kicking
Speaker 1: with her toe. Major wake up. He opened his eyes, groaning,
Speaker 1: listen to me. She bent down the gun pointed at
Speaker 1: his face. I have to hurry. There isn't much time left.
Speaker 1: The ship is ready to go, but you must tell
Speaker 1: me the information I need before I leave. Hendrix shook
Speaker 1: his head, trying to clear it. Hurry up. Where is
Speaker 1: the moon base? How do you find it? What do
Speaker 1: I look for? Hendrix said nothing, answer me, Sorry, Major,
Speaker 1: The ship is loaded with provisions. I can coast for weeks.
Speaker 1: I'll find the base eventually, and then a half hour
Speaker 1: you'll be dead. Your only chance of survival. She broke
Speaker 1: off along the slope by some crumbling ruins. Something mood
Speaker 1: something in the ash. Tasso turned quickly, aiming. She fired
Speaker 1: a puff of flame, leaped, something scuttled away, rolling across
Speaker 1: the ash. She fired again. The claw burst apart, wheels
Speaker 1: flying see. Tasso said, a scalt. It won't be long.
Speaker 1: You'll bring them back here to get me, Yes, as
Speaker 1: soon as possible. Hendrix looked up at her. He studied
Speaker 1: her intently. You're telling the truth. A strange expression had
Speaker 1: come over his face, an avid hunger. You'll come back
Speaker 1: for me. You'll get me to the moon base. I'll
Speaker 1: get you to the moon base. But tell me where
Speaker 1: it is. There's only a little time left, all right.
Speaker 1: Hendrick picked up a piece of rock, pulling himself to
Speaker 1: a sitting position. Watch. Hendrix began to scratch in the ash.
Speaker 1: Tasso stood by him, watching the motion of the rock.
Speaker 1: Hendrix was sketching a crude lunar map. This is the
Speaker 1: Apennine range. Here is the crater of Archimedies. The moon
Speaker 1: base is beyond the end of the Apennine, about two
Speaker 1: hundred miles. I don't know exactly where. No one on
Speaker 1: Terror knows. But when you're over the Apennine, signal with
Speaker 1: one red flare and a green flare followed by two
Speaker 1: red flares in quick succession. The base monitor will record
Speaker 1: your signal. The base is under the surface, of course,
Speaker 1: They'll guide you down with magnetic grapples, and the controls
Speaker 1: can I operate them. The controls are virtually automatic. All
Speaker 1: you have to do is give the right signal at
Speaker 1: the right time. I win. The seat absorbs most of
Speaker 1: the take off shock, hair and temperature are automatically controlled.
Speaker 1: The ship will leave Terra and pass out into free space.
Speaker 1: It'll lined itself up with the Moon, falling into an
Speaker 1: orbit around it about a hundred miles above the surface.
Speaker 1: The orbit will carry you over the base. When you're
Speaker 1: in the region of the Apennine, release the signal rockets.
Speaker 1: Tasso slid into the ship and lowered herself into the
Speaker 1: pressure seat. The armlocks folded automatically around her. She fingered
Speaker 1: the controls. Too bad, You're not going Major, all this
Speaker 1: put here for you, and you can't make the trip.
Speaker 1: Leave me the pistol. Tasso pulled the pistol from her belt.
Speaker 1: She held it in her hand, weighing it thoughtfully. Don't
Speaker 1: go too far from this location. It'll be harder to
Speaker 1: find you as it is. No, I'll stay here by
Speaker 1: the well. Tasso gripped the take off switch, running her
Speaker 1: fingers over the smooth metal. A beautiful ship, Major, well built.
Speaker 1: I admire your workmanship. You people have always done good work.
Speaker 1: You build fine things. Your work, your creations are your
Speaker 1: greatest achievement. Give me the pistol, Hendrix said, impatiently, holding
Speaker 1: out his hand. He struggled to his feet. Good bye. Major.
Speaker 1: Tasso tossed the pistol past Hendrix. The pistol clattered against
Speaker 1: the ground, bouncing and rolling away. Hendrix hurried after it.
Speaker 1: He bent down, snatching it up. The hatch of the
Speaker 1: ship clanged shut, the bolts fell into place. Hendrix made
Speaker 1: his way back. The inner door was being sealed. He
Speaker 1: raised the pistol unsteadily. There was a shattering roar. The
Speaker 1: ship burst up from its metal cage, fusing the mesh
Speaker 1: behind it. HENDRICKX cringed, pulling back. The ship shot up
Speaker 1: into the rolling clouds of ash, disappearing into the sky.
Speaker 1: Hendrick stood watching a long time until even the streamer
Speaker 1: had dissipated. Nothing stirred. The morning air was chill and silent.
Speaker 1: He began to walk aimlessly back the way they had come.
Speaker 1: Better to keep moving around. It would be a long
Speaker 1: time before help came, if it came at all. He
Speaker 1: searched his pockets until he found a package of cigarettes.
Speaker 1: He lit one grimly. They had all wanted cigarettes from him,
Speaker 1: but cigarettes were scarce. A lizard slithered by him through
Speaker 1: the ash. He halted rigid. The lizard disappeared above. The
Speaker 1: sun rose higher in the sky. Some flies landed on
Speaker 1: a flat rocked to one side of him. Hendrix kicked
Speaker 1: at them with his foot. It was getting hot. Sweat
Speaker 1: trickled down his face into his collar. His mouth was stry. Presently,
Speaker 1: he stopped walking and sat down on some debris. He
Speaker 1: unfastened his medicine kit and swallowed a few narcotic capsules.
Speaker 1: He looked around him, where was he? Something lay ahead,
Speaker 1: stretched out on the ground, silent and unmoving. Hendrix drew
Speaker 1: his gun quickly. It looked like a man. Then he
Speaker 1: remembered it was the remains of Klaus, the second variety,
Speaker 1: where Tasso had lasted him. He could see wheels and
Speaker 1: relays and metal parts strewn around on the ash, glittering
Speaker 1: and sparkling in the sunlight. Hendrix got to his feet
Speaker 1: and walked over. He nudged the inert form with his foot,
Speaker 1: turning it over a lit He could see the metal hull,
Speaker 1: the aluminum ribs and struts. More wiring fell out like visherra,
Speaker 1: heaps of wiring, switches and relays, endless motors and rods.
Speaker 1: He bent down. The brain cage had been smashed by
Speaker 1: the fall. The artificial brain was visible. He gazed at it,
Speaker 1: a maze of circuits, miniature tubes, wires as fine as hair.
Speaker 1: He touched the brain cage, It swung aside. The type
Speaker 1: plate was visible. Hendrix studied the plate and blanched IVV
Speaker 1: dash I V. For a long time he stared at
Speaker 1: the plate. Fourth variety, not the second. They had been wrong.
Speaker 1: There were more types, not just three, many more, or
Speaker 1: perhaps at least four, And Klaus wasn't the second variety.
Speaker 1: But if Klaus wasn't the second variety, Suddenly he tensed
Speaker 1: something was coming walking through the ash beyond the hill.
Speaker 1: What was it? He strained to see figures, figures coming
Speaker 1: slowly along, making their way through the ash, coming toward him.
Speaker 1: Hendrix crouched quickly, raising his gun. Sweat dripped down into
Speaker 1: his eyes. He fought down, rising panic as the figures neared.
Speaker 1: The first was a David. The David saw him and
Speaker 1: increased its pace. The others hurried behind it, A second David,
Speaker 1: a third, Three Davids, all alike, coming toward him silently
Speaker 1: without expression, their thin legs rising and falling, clutching their
Speaker 1: teddy bears. He aimed and fired. The first two Davids
Speaker 1: dissolved into particles. The third came on and the figure
Speaker 1: behind it climbing silently toward him. Across the gray ash
Speaker 1: a wounded soldier towering over the David, and and behind
Speaker 1: the wounded soldier came two Tassos walking side by side,
Speaker 1: heavy built, Russian army pants, shirt, long hair, the familiar
Speaker 1: figure as he had seen her only a little while before,
Speaker 1: sitting in the pressure seat of the ship. Two slim,
Speaker 1: silent figures, both identical. They were very near the David.
Speaker 1: Bent down suddenly dropping its teddy bear. The bear raced
Speaker 1: across the ground automatically, Hendryx's fingers tightened around the trigger.
Speaker 1: The bear was gone, dissolved into mist. The two Tasso
Speaker 1: types moved on, expressionless, walking side by side through the
Speaker 1: gray ash. When they were almost to him, Hendrix raised
Speaker 1: the pistol waist high and fired. The two Tassos dissolved,
Speaker 1: but already a new group was starting up the rise.
Speaker 1: Five or six tasos, all identical, a line of them
Speaker 1: coming rapidly toward him, And he had given her the
Speaker 1: ship and the signal code. Because of him, she was
Speaker 1: on her way to the moon, to the moon base.
Speaker 1: He had made it possible. He had been right about
Speaker 1: the bomb. After all, it had been designed with knowledge
Speaker 1: of the other types, the David type and the wounded
Speaker 1: soldier type, and the Klause type. Not designed by human beings.
Speaker 1: It had been designed by one of the underground factories,
Speaker 1: apart from all human contact. The line of Tassos came
Speaker 1: up to him. Hendrix braced himself, watching them calmly, the
Speaker 1: familiar face, the belt, the heavy shirt, the bomb carefully
Speaker 1: in place, the bomb as the Tassos reached for him,
Speaker 1: a last ironic thought drifted through Hendrix's mind. He felt
Speaker 1: a little better thinking of it. The bomb made by
Speaker 1: the Second Variety to destroy the other varieties made for
Speaker 1: that end alone. They were already beginning to design weapons
Speaker 1: to use against each other. End of Section four. End
Speaker 1: of Second Variety by Philip K. Dick. The story recorded
Speaker 1: by phil Schever in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in January of
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen.