The Beast by A. E. van Vogt

Author:A. E. van Vogt
Language: eng
Format: epub

16

Pendrake ate and slept, then ate and slept again.

He awakened from his third sleep with the realization that he must not delay any longer his visit to Big Oaf.

But he lay there for a few minutes. It was not that his bedroom was particularly comfortable. The sparkling light from the walls was too sustained for human eyes that needed darkness when resting. The bed, while soft, was concave. So were the two long, backless chairs. The door that led to the adjoining room was two feet high, like an igloo entrance.

There was a scraping sound. A head poked through the doorway, and a lean, long man crawled inside and stood up. It took a moment for Pendrake to recognize Chris Devlin, the man who had objected to his being killed. Devlin said, “I’m being watched. So my coming here puts you under suspicion.”

“Good,” said Pendrake.

“Eh!” The man stared at him, and Pendrake returned his gaze coolly. Devlin went on slowly: “You’ve been thinking things over, I see!”

“Plenty,” said Pendrake.

Devlin seated himself in one of the concave chairs. “Say-y-y,” he said, “you’re a man after my own heart. I’d like to ask you a question: The way you handled Troger—was that an accident?”

“I could do that,” said Pendrake flatly, “to Big Oaf.”

He saw that Devlin was impressed, and he smiled wryly at the effectiveness of the psychology he had used—the psychology of deliberate positivity.

“It’s too bad,” said Devlin, “that a man of your spirit is a little dumb. No one man can take on Big Oaf. Besides, he’ll avoid a direct attack.”

Pendrake said quickly, “The important thing is, how many men can you count on?”

“About a hundred. Two hundred more would shift over if they

dared, but they’ll wait till the tide has turned. That leaves two hundred solidly against us, and they can probably dragoon another hundred into fighting for them."

“A hundred’s enough,” said Pendrake. “The world is run by small groups of men. Five hundred determined men and two hundred thousand dupes overthrew the Czarist regime in a Russia of a hundred and fifty million people. Hitler took control of Germany with a comparatively small body of active followers. But here’s some advice, Devlin.”

“Yes?”

“Take the water source. Take the places that are guarded, and hold them at all costs. Get the cattle!” Pendrake paused; then, “How many wives have you got, Devlin?”

The man started, changed color. He said at last, violently, “We’d better leave the women out of this, Pendrake. Our men have been so long without women that—we’d lose all our followers.”

“How many wives?” said Pendrake steadily.

Devlin stared at him. He was pale now, his voice harsher. “Big Oafs been clever,” he admitted. “When we captured those German women he gave every one of his hundred most determined enemies two wives.”

“Tell your men,” Pendrake said, “to choose the one they prefer and leave the other alone. Do you understand?”

Devlin was on his feet. “Pendrake,” he said in a thick voice, “I’m warning you, leave this subject be. It’s dynamite.”

“You fool!” Pendrake snapped at him.

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