The Weapon Makers Read online

  “Oh, come now, Innelda,” said a man. “You’re not going to pull a miserable stunt like that.”

  “You watch out, mister,” the woman flared, “or you’ll join him on the scaffold.”

  The men at the table exchanged significant glances. Some of them shook their heads disapprovingly, and then all of them fell to talking among themselves, ignoring the Empress.

  Hedrock waited. This was what he had been working for, but now that it was here, it seemed inadequate. In the past, ostracism by the men whose companionship she valued had had a great emotional effect on the ruler. Twice since his arrival he had seen it influence her decisively. But not this time. The realization penetrated to Hedrock with finality as he watched the woman sink back into her chair, and sit there, her long, handsome face twisted satirically. Her smile faded. She said gravely: “I’m sorry, gentlemen, that you feel as you do. I regret any outburst which would seem to indicate that my decision against Captain Hedrock was a personal one. But I have been greatly upset by my discovery that he is a spy.”

  It was impressive. It had a convincing ring to it, and the men’s private conversations, which had died while she was speaking, did not resume. Hedrock leaned back in his chair, his sense of defeat stronger with each passing second. Quite clearly, whatever was behind the execution was too big, too important, for mere cleverness to overbalance.

  Drastic, dangerous, deadly action was in order.

  For a while, then, he was intent on his own thoughts. The long table with its satin-smooth white linen covering, its golden dishes, its two dozen fine-looking young men, yielded before that intensity, became a background to his ever grimmer purpose. He needed words that would change the whole design of the situation, plus action that would clinch it. He grew aware that Prince del Curtin had been speaking for some moments:

  “—You can’t just make a statement that a man is a spy, and expect us to believe it. We know you’re the biggest and best liar this side of creation when it suits you. If I’d suspected this was coming up, I’d have attended the cabinet meeting this morning. How about a little fact?”

  Hedrock felt impatient. The men had already accepted the sentence, though they didn’t seem to realize it. The quicker they were cut out of the conversation the better. But careful now. Wait until the Empress had committed herself, regardless of how well she did it. She was, he saw, sitting stiffly, her expression grave, unsmiling. She said quietly: “I’m afraid I shall have to ask you all to trust me. A very serious situation has arisen; it was the sole subject of our council meeting today, and I assure you the decision to execute Captain Hedrock was unanimous, and I am personally distressed by the necessity.”

  Hedrock said, “I really thought better of your intelligence than this, Innelda. Are you planning another of your futile forays against the Weapon Shops, and think that I might find out about it and report it to the Weapon Shop council?”

  Her green eyes blazed at him. Her voice was like chipped steel as she snapped, “I shall say nothing that might give you a clue. I don’t know just what kind of a communications system you have with your superiors, but I know that one exists. My physicists have frequently registered on their instruments powerful wave lengths of extremely high range.”

  “Originating in my room?” asked Hedrock softly.

  She stared at him, her lips drawn into an angry frown. She said reluctantly, “You would never have dared come here if you had had to be as obvious as that. I will inform you, sir, that I am not interested in continuing this conversation.”

  “Though you do not realize it,” said Hedrock in his steadiest tone, “I have said all that was necessary to prove my innocence when I disclosed to you that I knew that, at the age of sixteen, you slept one night with a live snake.”

  “Ah!” said the Empress. Her body shook with triumph. “Now the confession begins. So you expected to have to put up a defense, and you prepared that little speech.”

  Hedrock shrugged. “I knew something was being prepared for me. My apartment has been searched every day for a week. I’ve been subjected to the most boring sustained monologues by the prize dunderheads in the Army office. Wouldn’t I be a simpleton if I hadn’t thought of every angle?”

  “What I don’t understand,” chimed in a young man, “is the snake business. Why do you think your knowledge of that proves you not guilty? That’s too deep for me.”

  “Don’t be such an ass, Maddern,” said Prince del Curtin. “It simply means that the Weapon Shops knew intimate details of Innelda’s palace life long before Captain Hedrock ever came. It shows the existence of a spy system more dangerous than anything we ever suspected, and the real charge against Captain Hedrock is that he has been remiss in not telling us that such a system existed.’”

  Hedrock was thinking: Not yet, not yet. Somewhere along here the crisis would come suddenly, and then his action must be swift, perfectly timed, decisive. Aloud, he said coolly, “Why should you worry? Three thousand years have proven that the Weapon Shops have no intention of overthrowing the Imperial government. I know for a fact that the spy ray is used with great discretion, and has never been employed at night except on the occasion that Her Majesty had the snake smuggled in from the palace zoo. Curiosity made the two women scientists in charge of the machine on that occasion continue their watch. The story was, of course, too good to keep in a file. And you may be interested, Your Majesty, to know that two psychological articles were written about it, one by our greatest living No-man, Edward Gonish.”

  From the corners of his eyes Hedrock saw that the slim, lithe body of the woman was leaning forward, her lips were slightly parted, her eyes wide with an intense interest. Her whole being seemed to move according to his words. “What,” she half whispered, “did he say about me?”

  With a shock, Hedrock recognized his moment. Now, he thought, now

  He was trembling. But he couldn’t help his physical condition, nor did he care. A man threatened with death was expected to show agitation, or else he was considered unhuman, cold—and received no sympathy. His voice rose against the pattern of babble from distant tables, a little wildly and passionately. But that, too, was good, for a woman was staring at him with Wide eyes, a woman who was half child, half genius, and who hungered with all her intense emotional nature for the strange and exotic. She sat with shining eyes, as Hedrock said:

  “You must be mad, all of you, or you would not constantly underestimate the Weapon Shops and their lineally-developed science. What a petty idea it is that I have come here as a spy, that I am curious about some simple little government secret. I am here for one purpose only, and Her Majesty is perfectly aware of what it is. If she kills me she is deliberately destroying her better, greater self; and if I know anything about the Isher line in the final issue they draw back from suicide.”

  The Empress was straightening, frowning. “The presumption of your purpose,” she snapped, “is only equaled by your cleverness.”

  Hedrock paid no attention to the interruption. He refused to give up the initiative. He rushed on, “It is apparent that you have ail forgotten your history, or are blinding yourself to the reality. The Weapon Shops were founded several thousand years ago by a man Who decided that the incessant struggle for power of different groups was insane, and that civil and other wars must stop forever. It was a time when the world had just emerged from a war in which more than a billion people had died, and he found thousands of individuals who agreed to follow him to the death. His idea was nothing less than that whatever government was in power should not be overthrown. But that an organization should be set up which would have one principal purpose: to ensure that no government ever again obtained complete power over its people.

  “A man who felt himself wronged should be able to go somewhere to buy a defensive gun. What made this possible was the invention of an electronic and atomic system of control which made it possible to build indestructible weapon shops, and to manufacture weapons that could only be used for defense.
That last ended all possibility of Weapon Shop guns being teed by gangsters and criminals, and morally justified placing dangerous instruments in the hands of anyone who needed protection.

  “At first people thought that the Shops were a sort of underground anti-government organization that would itself protect them from harm. But gradually they realized that the Shops did not interfere in Isher life. It was up to each individual or group of individuals to save their own lives. The idea was that the individual Would learn to stand up for himself, and that in the long run the forces which would normally try to enslave him would be restrained by the knowledge that a man or a group could be pressed only so far. And so a great balance was struck between those who govern and those who are governed.

  “It turned out that a further step was necessary, not as a protection against the government, but against rapacious private enterprise. Civilization became so intricate that the average person could not protect himself against the cunning devices of those who competed for his money. Accordingly, a system of Weapon Shop courts was set up, to which people could turn when they felt themselves aggrieved in this fashion.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Hedrock saw that the Empress was becoming restive. She was not a Weapon Shop admirer, and since his purpose was to impress with the absurdity of her suspicions, and not to change her basic attitude, he came to his point:

  “What is not clearly realized by the government forces is mat the Weapon Shops are, because of their scientific achievements, more powerful than the government itself. They understand of course that if they should be foolish enough to overthrow the Empress they would not necessarily have the support of the population, and that in fact they would upset the stability which their presence has made possible. Nevertheless, the superiority is a fact. For that reason alone, the Empress’ accusation against me is meaningless, and must have some other motivation than the one she has stated.”

  Hedrock had too sharp a sense of dramatic values to pause there. His main point was made, but the reality was so harsh that he instantly needed a distraction, something on a different level entirely; and which, yet, would appear to be part of the whole. He rushed on: “To give you some idea of the great scientific attainments of the Weapon Shops, I can tell you that they have an instrument which can predict the moment of death of any person. Before I came to the palace six months ago, for my own amusement I secured readings as to the death moments of almost every person at this table and of the members of the Imperial Council.”

  He had them now. He could see it in the strained faces that looked at him with a feverish fascination. But still he could not afford to lose control of the conversation. With an effort, he forced himself to bow at the white-faced ruler. Then hastily he said, “I am happy to announce, Your Majesty, that you have a long and increasingly honorable life ahead of you. Unfortunately—” His voice took on a darker tone, as he raced on: “Unfortunately, there is a gentleman present who is destined to die—within minutes.”

  He did not wait to see the effect of that, but turned in his chair, a tigerishly swift movement. For there was no time to waste. Any instant his bluff might be called; and his show end in a ludicrous failure. His voice bawled across the space that separated him from a table where sat a dozen men in uniform:

  “General Grail!”

  “Eh!” The officer who was to carry out the hanging order whipped around. He looked startled when he saw who it was.

  It struck Hedrock that his bellow had brought complete silence to the room. People at every table had stopped eating, stopped their private conversations, and were watching the royal table, and him. Conscious of his greater audience, Hedrock pushed his voice forward in his mouth, tightened his diaphragm, and brought forth the ringing question, “General Grail, if you were to die this minute, what would be the cause?”

  The heavy-faced man two tables away stood up slowly. “I’m in perfect health,” he growled. “What the devil are you talking about?”

  “Nothing wrong with your heart?” Hedrock urged.

  “Not a thing.”

  Hedrock thrust his chair back and climbed to his feet. He couldn’t afford errors due to awkward positions. With a jerk, he raised his arm and pointed at the general with his finger, rudely.

  “You’re General Lister Grail, are you not?”

  “That’s right. And now, Captain Hedrock, I resent most violently this—”

  Hedrock cut him off, “General, I regret to announce that, according to the records of the Weapon Shops, you are due to die at exactly one fifteen o’clock today from heart failure. That’s this minute, this—second.”

  There was no stopping now. With a single, synchronized motion, Hedrock bent his finger, shaped his hand to receive the gun materialized on an invisible plane by the gun ring on his finger.

  It was no ordinary, retail-type gun, that unseen, wizard’s product, but a special Unlimited never sold across counters, never displayed, never used except in extreme crises. It fired instantly on a vibration plane beyond human vision; and, as the general’s heart muscles were caught by the paralyzing force, Hedrock unclenched his hand. The invisible gun de-materialized.

  In the pandemonium that followed, Hedrock walked to the throne chair at the head of the royal table and bent over the Empress. He could not suppress a tingle of admiration, for she was completely, abnormally calm. Emotional, erotic woman she might be, but in actual moments of excitement, during the hour of vital decision, all the great, basic stability that was her Isher inheritance came to the fore. It was that quality of utter sanity in her that he had appealed to; and here it was, like a precious jewel, shining at him from the quiet viridescence of her eyes. She said finally: “I suppose you realize you have, by implication, confessed everything by your killing of General Grail.”

  He knew better than to deny anything to the supernal being she had for that sustained moment become. He said, “I was advised of the sentence of death, and by whom it was to be carried out.”

  “Then you admit it?”

  “I’ll admit anything you wish so long as you understand that I have your best interests at heart.”

  She looked incredulous. “A Weapon Shop man, whose organization fights me at every turn, talking about my interests?”

  “I am not, never have been, never will be, a Weapon Shop man.” Hedrock spoke deliberately.

  A startled look came into her face, then, “I almost believe that. There’s something strange, and alien, about you, something I must discover—”

  “Some day, I’ll tell you. I promise.”

  “You seem very sure that I shall not have somebody else hang you.”

  “As I said before, the Ishers do not commit suicide.”

  “Now you’re on your old theme, your impossible ambition. But never mind that. I’m going to let you live, but for the time being you must leave the palace. You can’t convince me that an all-purpose spy ray exists.”

  “Can’t I?”

  “You may have had such a machine prying into the palace when I was sixteen, but since then the whole palace has been fitted with defense screens. Those can be pierced only by a two-way communication machine. In other words, there must be a machine inside as well as out.”

  “You’re very clever.”

  “As for the pretense,” the Empress went on, “that the Weapon Shops can see into the future, let me inform you that we know as much about time travel, and its impossible limitations, as the Weapon Shops. The see-saw principle involved is only too clearly recognized, with all its ever-fatal end results. But again, never mind that. I want you to leave for two months. I may call you back before then, but it all depends. Meantime, you may transmit this message to the Weapon Shop council: What I am doing is not in the faintest degree harmful to the Weapon Shops. I swear that on my honor.”

  For a long moment, Hedrock gazed at her steadily. He said at last, softly, “I am going to make a very profound statement. I haven’t the faintest idea of what you are doing, or going to do, b
ut in your adult life I have noticed one thing. In all your major political and economic moves, you are actuated by conservative impulses. Don’t do it. Change is coming. Let it come. Don’t fight it, but lead it, direct it. Add new laurels of prestige to the famous name of Isher.”

  “Thank you for your advice,” she said coldly.

  Hedrock bowed, and said, “I shall expect to hear from you in two months. Goodbye.”

  The hum of renewed conversation was mounting behind him as he reached the series of ornate doors on the far side of the room. He passed through, and then, out of sight, quickened his pace. He reached the elevators, stepped into one hurriedly, and pressed the express button for the roof. It was a long trip, and his nerves grew jumpy. Any minute, any second, that mood of the Empress could wear off.

  The elevator stopped, the door opened. He was stepping out before he noticed the body of men. They came forward at the double march and instantly hemmed him in. They were in plain clothes, but there was no mistaking that here were police.

  The next instant one of the men said, “Captain Hedrock, you are under arrest.”

  Three

  AS HE STOOD THERE ON THE PALACE ROOF FACING THAT score of men, his mind, adjusted to victory, could not accept the threatening defeat. Here were enough men to handle any resistance he might attempt. But that did not slow his purpose.

  The Empress must have known when she gave the order to intercept him that he could only draw the worst conclusions, and fight with every power that he could muster. The time for subtlety, injured innocence and cleverness was past. His deep baritone clashed across the silence:

  “What do you want?”

  There were great moments in the history of the world when that bellow of his had produced a startled lull in the will to action of better men than any that stood here before him. It had no such effect now.