Cybernetic Controller by A. V. Clarke & H. K. Bulmer

Author:A. V. Clarke & H. K. Bulmer [Clarke, A. V. & Bulmer, H. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi, Science Fiction
Publisher: Panther
Published: 1952-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

A space had been cleared in the largest hangar, stools and benches scattered round in a rough semi-circle. Scientists, technicians and workmen occupied the seats, all gazing at a long table, where sat Merryl, Lin, Wray and Syme.

‘“Now you have seen our installations, Lin, what do you think of the project?” Merryl was intent and serious, her fingers nervously playing with a pencil.

“It’s rather—overpowering,” Lin replied, uncertainly.

“Do you think we can span the void to Mars? Have you the same faith that we have?”

Lin had walked round the buildings in a daze. He had seen strange machines, instruments salvaged from the wreck of the ancient civilisation, books that he had never dreamed existed. The spaceship itself had been the last great achievement of man, before he had engulfed himself in the final war. Naked and grand, it had stood through the years, defying corrosion and decay, protected by its cosmic-ray sheathing. Lin had gazed up at its shining flanks and felt himself a part of that ancient, flaunting drive of man’s ambition to reach and conquer the stars.

“Yes,” he said, slowly. “Yes, I have the faith.”

“Then you are with us?” Merryl broke in, eagerly.

“No.”

A gasp came from the assembled scientists. They had the knowledge that Lin was not just some wandering Fifth. Lin was aware that they appreciated that he represented a young and growing force, capable of destroying the whole idea of spaceflight.

“No,” went on Lin, his voice rising above the murmurs. “No, I am not with you in this desire to escape from Earth. Oh, I know you can do it. This spaceship is wonderful, past belief. The ancients built well and you have reconstructed and remodelled so that she can fly to Mars carrying sufficient crew to set up the first colony there. But I will not go.”

Syme half rose from his chair, fists clenched, then dropped back as Merryl’s clear voice dominated the noise in the hangar.

“Why? Why, if you believe in the ship, will you not go along with us?”

Lin knew why. Deep down inside himself he saw the basic fallacy of this urge to run and escape the dangers and trials of life on Earth. The idea of setting up a new world on Mars, of planting a new Garden of Eden, and, through science, control any re-emergence of the snake. This idea took the fancy, caught the imagination, fired the spirit. Then he remembered the thousands of Fifths, like himself, chained to the drudgery of toil to keep in luxurious idleness the Firsts. The lack of life’s finest offerings, the cabbage-like living in the burrows of Earth, the complete lack of any hope in the future.

“Co-operate with Victor,” he said, abruptly. “Help him to fashion this world aright, straighten out the injustice, put all men on an equal footing, give each man his chance within the framework of the Cybernetic Controller. Some must always work and some must direct, but help us make the workers’ lot a human one. Help us bring dignity into their lives.

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