Against the Fall of Night: The Original 1948 Novel by Arthur C. Clarke

Author:Arthur C. Clarke [Clarke, Arthur C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-13T16:00:00+00:00

ALVIN was glad to see that Seranis was leading him in the direction he wished to go. She did not look back to see if he was following. Her every movement told him, “Try and run away if you like—my mind is more powerful than yours.” And he knew that it was perfectly true.

They were clear of the houses when he stopped and turned to his friend.

“Good-by, Theon,” he said, holding out his hands. “Thank you for all you’ve done. One day I’ll be back.”

Seranis had stopped and was watching him intently. He smiled at her even while he measured the twenty feet of ground between them.

“I know that you’re doing this against your will,” he said, “and I don’t blame you for it. I don’t like what I’m doing, either.” That was not true, he thought. Already he was beginning to enjoy himself.

He glanced quickly around. No one was approaching and Seranis had not moved. She was still watching him, probably trying to probe his mind. He talked quickly to prevent even the outlines of his plan from shaping among his thoughts.

“I do not believe you are right,” he said, so unconscious of his intellectual arrogance that Seranis could not resist a smile. “It’s wrong for Lys and Diaspar to remain apart forever. One day they may need each other desperately. So I am going home with all that I have learned—and I do not think that you can stop me.”

He waited no longer and it was just as well. Seranis never moved, but instantly he felt his body slipping from his control. The power that had brushed aside his own will was even greater than he had expected and be realized that many hidden minds must be aiding Seranis. Helplessely he began to walk back towards the center of the village and for an awful moment he thought his plans had failed.

Then there came a flash of steel and crystal and the metal aims closed swiftly around him. His body fought against them, as he had known it must do, but his struggles were useless. The ground fell away beneath him and he caught a glimpse of Theon, frozen by surprise with a foolish smile upon his face.

The robot was carrying him a dozen feet above the ground, much faster than a man could run. It took Seranis only a moment to understand his ruse and his struggles died away as she relaxed her control. But she was not defeated yet, and presently there happened that which Alvin had feared and done his best to counteract.

There were now two separate entities fighting inside his mind and one of them was pleading with the robot, begging it to set him down again. The real Alvin waited, breathlessly. resisting only a little against forces he knew he could not hope to fight.

He had gambled—there was no way of telling beforehand if the machine could understand orders as complex as those he had given it. Under no circumstances, he had told the robot, must it obey any further commands of his until he was safely inside Diaspar.

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