The Essential Keith Laumer by Keith Laumer & Christopher Broschell

Author:Keith Laumer & Christopher Broschell [Laumer, Keith & Broschell, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-25T00:00:00+00:00

“You folks are the delusion,” Case boomed. “Get us to a transmitter and we’ll dissolve this whole fantasy back into the computer banks it came out of!”

“Even though I’m a confirmed Randomist,” Vasawalie said blandly, “I can’t imagine a fine old coincidence going back for thousands of years as having an explanation as mundane as you suggest.”

“Chester,” said Genie, “you see what’s occurred, don’t you?”

Chester said wildly, “Perhaps in a moment I’ll wake up and find I’m merely insane, like normal people.”

“The Monument, where we arrived,” said Genie; “remember the plate? And they call this the Plain of the Taking. Doubtless that refers to the capture, long ago, of the wise man their legend tells of. And the towns are called Tricennia — because there are exactly three hundred inhabitants in each.” Genie looked at Devant. “Was the Hero accompanied when he left the people?”

Devant nodded, looking perplexed. “Yes, legend states that he was carried off by a male and a female demon.”

Genie interrupted Case and Chester’s outbursts of consternation: “What were the names of the Hero and his two demons?” she asked.

“Why…” Norgo looked confused. “Like your own. That is, you must have been named for them. The Hero was called Case and the demons were Chester and Genie. But what —”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “It all fits, don’t you see? You’re the wise man, Mr. Mulvihill. This is your village – many thousands of years later. All these cults have grown up to explain your visit.”

“No wonder they speak English,” said Chester. “You taught it to them. Case.”

VII

“Of all the lousy, miserable, double-crossing fakes I ever ran into, that computer of your grand-pop’s is the all-time prizewinner!” Case rumbled, stretching his legs comfortably in a padded reclining chair in the shade of a willow tree. “We tell it to fake us up some quiet little views of the past, and it sneaks around and substitutes the real thing.”

“Still, it’s our fault in a way.” Chester gazed at the swimming pool rippling in the afternoon sun. “We told it to prepare the view in the simplest possible way — and apparently actual travel through time was simpler than creating the kind of complicated image we described.”

A pretty brunette in a diaper came up and offered frosted glasses to the two with a smile. “Shall we go for a swim?” she said.

“No thanks, honey,” said Case. “I’m enjoying sitting here being mad.”

“Would you like to take a nap? I’ll rub your back.”

“After a while. Right now we’re waiting for Genie to come back. What did they want to talk to her about, anyway?”

The girl looked troubled. “It’s the Overage they’re worried about, because you apparently are not members of any of our Tricennium —”

“Listen, sugar, we keep telling you how we got here. Naturally it figures that we are not part of a Tricennium —”

The girl grinned mischievously. “You should have invented a more reasonable story to explain yourselves. Still, it has the virtue of novelty.”

“You might as well give up, Case,” sighed Chester.

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