Dr. Futurity by Philip K. Dick

Author:Philip K. Dick
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Science-Fiction
ISBN: 9781400030095
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2005-08-09T08:54:38+00:00

ELEVEN

Standing beside Parsons, Helmar muttered, "It's not your fault." Together, they watched the cube lifted upright. "We have enemies," Helmar said. "This happened before, when we went back into time and tried to recreate the situation. But we thought it was a natural force, a phenomenon of time. Now we know better. Our worst fears are justified. This did not happen through an impersonal force."

"Perhaps not," Parsons said. "But don't see motive where there is none." They are a little paranoid, he decided. Possibly rightly so. "As Loris told me," he continued, "none of you fully comprehend the principles that lie behind time. Isn't it still possible that--"

"No," Helmar said flatly. "I know. We all know." He started to speak further, and then, seeing something, he stopped.

Parsons turned. He, too, had meant to go on. But his words choked off.

For the first time he had noticed her.

She had entered silently, a few moments ago. Two armed guards stood on each side of her. A stir went through the room, among the people present.

She was old. The first old person that Parsons had seen in this world.

Approaching the old woman, Loris said, "He is dead again. They managed to destroy him once again."

The old woman advanced silently toward the cube, toward the dead man who lay within. She was, even at her age, strikingly handsome. Tall and dignified. A mane of white hair down the back of her neck . . . the same broad forehead. Heavy brows. Strong nose and chin. Stern, powerful face.

The same as the others. This old woman, the man in the cube, everybody at the Lodge--all partook of the same physical characteristics.

The stately old woman had reached the rim of the cube. She gazed at it, unspeaking.

Loris took her arm. "Mother--"

There it was. The old woman was Loris' mother. The wife of the man in the cube.

It fitted. He had been in the cube thirty-five years. The old woman was probably seventy. His wife! This pair, this couple, had spawned the powerful, full-breasted creature who ruled the Wolf Tribe, the most potent human being alive.

"Mother," Loris said. "We'll try once more. I promise."

Now the old woman had noticed Parsons. Instantly, her face became fierce. "Who are you?" she asked in a deep, vibrant voice.

Loris said, "He's the doctor who tried to bring Corith back."

The old woman was still looking frigidly at Parsons. Gradually her features softened. "It's not your fault," she said at last. For a moment she lingered by the cube. "Later," she said. "Once more." She turned for a last look at Parsons, then at the man in the cube. And then the old woman and her attendants moved away, back toward the lift from which they had emerged. She had come up from the subsurface levels that honeycombed the ground beneath their feet--unguessed regions that he had never seen and probably would never see. The guarded, secret core of the Lodge.

All the men and women stood silently as the old woman passed among them.

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