The Old Martians Read online

three thousand:that copper can't be tempered, but pure copper becomes tempered ofitself in a thousand years.

  That immense dome was a honeycomb of passageways and rooms, some ofwhich were not open to tourists. It would be a natural for Herb.

  The bus stopped. The people were piling out and staring curiously at thesmooth surface of the dome. Especially at places where the reinforcementrods were protruding and glittering like tarnished gold.

  Two of the permanent guards had come out to take charge of the tour. Icaught the eye of one of them and nodded toward Herb. The guard caughtmy meaning, edged over to his partner, and soon both men were warnedthat Herb was to be closely watched.

  I felt better, knowing that a couple of others knew about him. Maybe itwould have been smarter to have taken him in custody right then. But itwould have meant a scene.

  The procedure of the tour was for the guide to do all the talking,leading the procession through the roped off parts of the dome, whilethe two guards followed along behind to make sure no stragglers gotleft.

  I let three or four people move in front of me so Herb wouldn't getsuspicious. Dotty was sticking close to him, plainly worried. And he wasmore excited than he had been at any of the other spots. He fairlyquivered, his eyes caressing the walls with a fevered look.

  Dotty didn't miss his increased agitation. Especially after he whisperedin her ear a couple of times.

  The guide took the usual path. Straight into the dome, pausing at half adozen small rooms with carved walls, to arrive at a bank of elevatorsinstalled in the exact center; then straight up to the roof and theobservation platform from which miles and miles of desert and ruinscould be seen. Then back down to the second level, a zig-zag coursethrough other rooms, and finally down a flight of steps to where thetour started.

  I kept my eyes on the back of Herb's head. You can tell a lot by doingthat. At first his head turned this way and that, indicating he was fullof curiosity. I was waiting for that telltale sudden tensing, with thehead directed at some spot, that would tell of a sudden "memory"stirring in the man's mind.

  I almost missed it when it came, because it was between two passages--ablank wall. The briefest pause, then Herb was going on again as thoughnothing had happened.

  But now his head had stopped its curiosity-motivated pivotings. It wasthe head of a man who was no longer curious--who has made up his mindabout something. I didn't like it.

  And when the group emerged into open air once more without Herb havingtried anything I knew as certainly as I had ever known anything that heintended coming back here, and soon.

  In the comfort station before boarding the bus I scrawled a hasty noteto the guards to investigate the spot halfway between passageways 14 and15 on the first level, and slipped it to one of them as I passed him toget on the bus.

  We visited four other spots on the tour. When Herb showed no realinterest in them it only clinched what I was already sure of, that heplanned on returning.

  * * * * *

  At the Ancient City Hotel once again, I gave the high sign, and shortlyHerb and Dotty were being watched by capable men, leaving me free to goto my room.

  Once there, I called the dome. They were just getting the X-ray setup inplace to explore that wall and promised to call me as soon as they werefinished. Next I called C.I. and made my report. I was still making itwhen the operator broke in.

  "Steve Merrit wants to talk to you," she said crisply.

  "Make the circuit three way," I said.

  Steve's voice came in. "I had to get to you, Joe. This guy Herb and hiswife just left the hotel."

  "C.I.'s listening too," I said. "Did they say anything that would pointto where they're going?"

  "To the cemetery first. He swiped a couple of knives and forks when theyfinished eating their dinner. Maybe for weapons."

  "I doubt that," I said. "But I think it's time to pick him up. He's gotto be committed."

  "Wait a minute," C.I. said. "Joe, you catch up with them. Join them andplay along. Tell this guy Herb you overheard him and guessed what wasgoing on. Gain his confidence if you can."

  "That's pretty dangerous!" I replied. "That guy's--"

  "It's orders," C.I. said. "Steve, you lay the net so that whateverhappens we can contain it."

  That was that. Orders. But I still didn't like it.

  I went to the desk and took out my compact paralysis tube. Then,reluctantly, I put it back. I would have to play the part. The paralysistube would give me away as an agent. It would have to be up to Steve andthe others to contain the threat.

  Down in the lobby I saw Steve waiting impatiently. He was uneasy, too."What's come over C.I.? They're toying with dynamite on this."

  "I think I know what they want, they want to let him go far enough so wecan see more of the nature of the danger. And I hope nobody gets killed.They should have spotted this Herb guy and not let him come here at all.I suspect they did spot him, and let him come to conduct another oftheir damned experiments. They don't want to leave well enough alone."

  We were outside now. No one was around. The sun was just beginning toset, and the instant it disappeared the night would be pitch-black. Evenif one of the moons was out.

  "We'll be watching on the standard C.I. band," Steve assured me."They're at the temple right now, waiting for it to get dark." Hegrinned. "Good luck." There was a mixture of genuineness, half mockery,and worry in his voice.

  At the temple ruins I found them easily enough and took the simplestcourse. I walked right up to them.

  "Hello," I said. "I thought I'd find you here. I want to go along withyou. I'm interested."

  "What do you mean?" Herb was hostile and suspicious.

  "You remember me. I was on the tour this afternoon. I accidentallyoverheard you. It would _be_ something if reincarnation could beproven."

  "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

  I frowned as though being cautious. "I don't know." Then I put adisarming grin on my lips. "Since believing in it is legally classifiedas insanity, for the records, no." It was a nice statement. It couldimply that I did, and Herb took that implication. He accepted me. Dottywas different.

  "How do you know he isn't an agent?" she asked Herb uneasily.

  "If I am, the fat's in the fire," I told her. "But wouldn't I be lockinghim up?" This quieted, but didn't satisfy her. "Anyway," I said, "if youcan dig up something that you remember burying, an extra witness won'tdo any harm. That's what you're after, isn't it? Proof that will end thelast bit of doubt?"

  "That's right," Herb said. "And you can help me dig."

  "Okay then," I said. And it was settled. We introduced ourselves, thenlapsed into silence while we waited for the sun to set. It wasn't long.

  * * * * *

  The place looked more like a cemetery than ever in the eerie glow ofblack light pencils as we made our way along a row of stone markers.Herb strode purposefully. Dotty stuck close to him, still a littlesuspicious of me. I trailed half a step behind.

  Finally Herb stopped beside one of the markers. "This is it," he saidsoftly. I blinked at the marker, then at Herb. It wasn't the one he hadsingled out in the afternoon. Was he mixed up?

  If he wasn't he was a good actor. He took out one of the dinner knivesand squatted down and started to probe the soil, loosening it so that itcould be scraped out by hand.

  I watched him dig. Part of the time I helped him. We found nothing.After a reasonable amount of this Herb stood up with a resigned sigh."Guess I was wrong," he said.

  "Poor Herby," Dotty said.

  "Yeah, poor Herby," Herb said with every appearance of tiredness anddefeat. "But--that's that. Sorry to have gotten you all excited aboutnothing, Joe. Guess it was too much to expect anything." He turned toDotty. "As long as we're out here, let's take a walk by ourselves. Huh?"

  That was as obvious a cue as I had ever been handed. Neat. I wasconfronted with the alternatives of scramming or calling him a liar.

  "Guess
I might as well go back to the hotel," I said cheerfully. "Seeyou in the morning."

  I headed back the way we had come until I was sure they couldn't hear meor see me with their black light pencils. Then, ducking down next to amarker I waited. After a couple of minutes I heard cautious footsteps.

  "It's me, Joe--Steve."

  "Good," I grunted. "What are they doing now? They gave me thebrush-off."

  "I got the play," Steve said. "Slick. Should we close in now, or wait?"

  "I think I'll play my part a little further. Don't want C.I. to thinkwe're