Pursuit Page 9

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  "You should have killed me," he told them. But he knew that theycouldn't have done it.

  "We had to let you sweat it out. You made us promise not to tell youanything, and we thought you might be right," Ellen told him. "Wethought that it might adjust after awhile. All we did was to try topick you up, until we knew it was impossible."

  "Until Sis tipped off the Government men," Dan added. Hawkes couldimagine what their reaction had been to having a man with his powerrunning wild. He was surprised that they had bothered to make even anattempt to see that he wasn't harmed.

  He shrugged helplessly. "And where does it leave us now--beyond thishole in the ground?"

  "The Government's put about fifty specialists on the notes you andMeinzer left," Dan answered, but there was no assurance in his voice."They're trying to find some way to bring the psi factor under thecontrol of your logical, rational mind."

  He got to his knees and began crawling out of the little cave, whileHawkes tried to help Ellen follow him. Outside, Dan knocked off thedirt from his clothes and headed for the sedan he'd, somehow gottenoff the roof.

  Hawkes followed, for want of anything better to do.

  He knew the answers now--and he was worse off than ever. Instead of ahorde of outside aliens, he had one single monster in his own skull,where he could never fight it, or even hope to escape it.

  The power had been meant as a hope for the world. A man who could worksuch seeming miracles might have ended the threat of war; he'd havebeen the perfect spy, or better at attack than a hundred hydrogenbombs that had to smash whole cities to remove a few men and weapons.But now the world was better off without him. So long as he stilllived, there would be nothing but danger from the alien monster in hishead. He had no idea of his limits--but he was sure that it couldtrigger the energies of the universe to move the whole world out ofits orbit, if that seemed necessary for his personal survival!

  VIII

  Hawkes leaned forward cautiously as the gray sedan moved up TenthAvenue. His finger found the gun in Dan's coat pocket; and he pulledit out stealthily.

  He knew that the only answer for him was suicide. He had to destroyhimself, since no one else could!

  He propped it up, pointing at his head, and his thumb pressed back onthe trigger, further and further, until he felt sure the smallestchange would set it off. Then he waited for the rough spot in thestreet or the sudden stop at a light that would do the trick before hecould stop it.

  The car lurched--and the gun suddenly vanished, leaving his handempty.

  His responses were too quick--and his mind wasn't waiting, once itknew there was danger. He slumped back on the rear seat, trying tothink. Drugs were out--he knew his system could throw them off.

  But he couldn't remove himself!

  He lifted his wrist--to his teeth, and bit down savagely. If he couldsever an artery.... Pain shot through him, and he stared down at theblood.

  Then the blood was gone, and the wound was closing before his eyes,until only smooth flesh remained. His mind could juggle the cells backinto their original form.

  It would have to be sudden, complete death.

  And no death was that sudden! For a fraction of a second, there'd belife left--and during that split second, the damage would be repaired,or he would be shifted from danger.

  There was no way out--unless he could pull himself to another planet,or throw himself back into the dim past. But that would take voluntarycontrol, and he knew now that hours of effort had shown him howimpossible that was. He hadn't been able to lift a crumb of bread fromthe table deliberately, in his original tests after he had treatedhimself.

  He was faced with a problem that had to be solved--and there was nopossible solution that he could find.

  No man could face that dilemma forever without going insane. Hawkesshuddered, trying to picture what would happen if he went mad, and thewild talents began operating at every whim of his crazed mind!

  * * * * *

  Ellen shouted suddenly, grabbing for the wheel. Hawkes felt himselftense, and began lifting from the seat of the car. But there was novisible danger, and Dan was slowing to a halt at the curb, Hawkes'body dropped back slowly.

  "Dan," Ellen was whispering hoarsely. "Dan, we can't. If we take himback, they'll find him, and they'll know what he can do. They'll killhim. Eventually, they'll kill Will!"

  Hawkes started to protest, but Dan's words cut him short.

  "You're right, Sis. They'll wait their time, until he won't know whento expect it--and then they'll drop an H-bomb on him, if they have to.That's faster than any nerve impulse!"

  He swung back to face Hawkes, reaching for the door of the car. "Getout, Will--and get as far away as you can. I'm not going to drive youto your death. They'll get you eventually, but I won't be the one tomake it easier for them!"

  Hawkes jerked. The old fear came back suddenly.

  _You can't escape! They'll get you. Run! GO!_

  He screamed, as the golden haze flickered again. He could wipe out theEarth, but he couldn't survive, then. He could move back in time, butit would only mean other dangers--no man could stay awake forever, andhe was used to civilized living.

  The haze hesitated, while the sense of danger mounted. Then it wasgone, as if the beast in his head had found no answer.

  Suddenly the gray sedan lifted again, to a height of fifty feet abovethe tallest building. It shot forward, hesitated, and came down softlyon a deserted side-road in Central Park.

  His mind felt as if it were going to split. Dan and Ellen stared athim speechlessly.

  _You can't survive alone! No power is enough by itself! They'll getyou! You are your own death-sentence! RUN! DON'T RUN!_

  Hawkes put his hand to his splitting skull, trying to force wordsthrough the agonies of pain, while slow understanding began to reachhim.

  "Dan! The scientists ... get me there!"

  Then his mind seemed to clamp down on itself, and he was unconscious.He could protect himself from almost anything--except his own brain!

  * * * * *

  He was conscious of no pain, but only of irritation. There was aneedle in his arm, and he removed it!

  He opened his eyes slowly, to find himself the center of a group ofmen, while a white-clothed doctor stood staring at an empty hand thatmust have held a hypodermic.

  Ellen cried out suddenly, and ran to him, cradling his head in herhands. He found her arm with his own hand, and stroked it slowly.

  "You've found the answer?" he asked. Then he nodded, while the weightthat had lain on him so long began to lift. His voice was suddenlypositive. "You found it!"

  One of the men pushed forward, but Dan shook his head, and came overto stand beside the cot where Hawkes lay. "No, Will. They didn't findit--you did! You found what we should have known--your unconsciousmind may be a wild beast, but it isn't insane. When it was shockedinto realizing that it couldn't save you by itself, it looked for helpfrom your consciousness. And then it knocked you out--knocked itselfout--until we could work on you."

  "I guessed it," Hawkes said slowly. "But in that case, a psychoticwith his id out in the driver's seat should become normal when theylock him up. Or wait--maybe his unconsciousness is a bit insane.Maybe. But you still have to communicate with that unconscious part ofthe brain, to make it understand that it has to surrender. And all thepsychiatrists have been driving themselves crazy trying to solvethat!"

  "_Touche_," an older man said, and there was a faint sound ofamusement from some of the others. "But this psi factor is the meansof communication! You told us that yourself, while you were undergoingour hastily improvised hypnotic education of your brain. It always hasbeen. The minute a girl bothered with poltergeists finds she is thecause of them, they stop. It's a faint, weak channel betweenconsciousness and unconsciousness--or subconsciousness, if you prefer.And yours was widened by the treatment, even if it wasn't ready towork yet. We simply used your own technique to improve ther
elationship. All you ever needed was a longer, harder treatment thanyou and Meinzer had given yourselves. You just stopped too soon."

  * * * * *

  Hawkes dropped back comfortably onto the cot. He reached out for aglass of water, lifted it to his lips, and put it back--without usinghis hands. He thought of his clothes, and they were suddenly on him,over the single white garment he had been wearing. Another thoughttook that away, to leave him normally dressed.

  Whether they were entirely correct or not in their theories, the psifactor was no longer wild. He had it under full control!

  He sat up, just as three men entered the crowded room. One wore theuniform of a four-star general, but the familiar faces of the twocivilians told Hawkes at once that they were more important than anygeneral could be.

  He was about to become officially the National Arsenal and replacementfor all the armies, navies, and air-corps they had ever dreamed ofhaving. He'd also become their bridge into space, their means ofsolving the secrets of the planets, and probably their chiefhistorical tool, since nothing could ever be secret from him.

  It was going to be a busy life for him and for the others like him whowould now be carefully selected and treated!

  He grinned faintly, as he realized that they didn't know yet just howimportant he was. He wasn't going to be a National Resource--he'd be aWorld Resource. This power was too great for any local political use,and no man who had it along with the full correlation of his consciousand subconscious mind could ever see it any other way.

  But right now, he had other pressing business. He grinned at Ellen."You don't mind a small wedding, do you?" he asked.

  She shook her head, beginning to smile. He reached for her hand. Thispsi factor was going to be a handy thing to have around, with itscomplete control of space and time.

  "I'm taking a two-week honeymoon before we talk business," he told theapproaching three men. "But don't go away. We'll be back in tenminutes!"

  Honolulu looked lovely in the moonlight, and June was the perfectmonth for a wedding.

  * * * * *

  EDITORIAL NOTE: Actually, _Pursuit_ ends where the real story is just beginning! Disregarding other powers, when men can move instantly over any distance by simple desire, it's the beginning of a life and culture totally unrelated to anything we know. What will it be like? Where should houses be built--and will they be built? A housewife can have her dining-room in the mountains and her kitchen in a community (to simplify and cheapen plumbing, etc.) 10,000 miles away, or on another planet! There can be no national boundaries, of course. What happens to the multiplicity of languages? What happens to government? How do you catch a criminal? How do you hold him?

  There are endless possibilities, naturally. We're tossing it open to the readers. You tell us what you think that world will be like--if you can! We'll print the best letters--and if the authors want to use this background, we'll buy the best stories based on it.

  We will not be responsible for mental break-downs, however!

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