Read Online Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Arthur C. Clarke
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fiction - Science Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Opera
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heritage."
Words-empty words, thought Stormgren. The words for which men had once fought and died, and for which they would never die or fight again. And the world would be better for it.
As he watched Wainwright leave, Stormgren wondered how much trouble the Freedom League would still cause .in the years that lay ahead. Yet that, he thought with a lifting of his spirits, was a problem for his successor.
There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.
"Here's your case," said Duval. "It's as good as new."
"Thanks," Storrugren answered, inspecting it carefully none
48
the less. "Now perhaps you'll tell me what it was all about, and what we are going to do next."
The physicist seemed more interested in his own thoughts.
"What I can't understand," he said, "is the ease with which we've got away with it. Now if I'd been Kar-"
"But you're not. Get to the point, man. What did we discover?"
"Ah me, these excitable, highly-strung Nordic races!" sighed Duval. "What we did was to make a type of low-powered radar set. Besides radio waves of very high frequency, it used far infra-red-all waves, in fact, which we were sure no creature could possibly see, however weird an eye it had."
"How could you be. sure of that?" asked Stormgren, becoming intrigued by the technical problem in spite of himself.
"Well-we couldn't be quite sure," admitted Duval reluctsntly. "But Karellen views you under normal lighting, doesn't he? So his eyes must be approximately similar to ours in spectral range. Anyway, it worked. We've proved that there is a large room behind that screen of yours. The screen is about three centimetres thick, and the space behind it is at least ten metres across. We couldn't detect any echo from the far wall, but we hardly expected to with the low power which was all we dared use. However, we did get this."
He pushed across a piece of photographic paper on which was a single wavy line. In one spot was a kink like the autograph of a mild earthquake.
"See that little kink?"
"Yes: what is it?"
"Only Karellen."
"Good Lord! Are you sure?"
"It's a pretty safe guess. He's sitting, or standing, or whatever it is he does, about two metres on the other side of the screen. If the resolution had been a bit better, we might even have calculated his size."
Stormgren's feelings were very mixed as he stared at that scarcely visible inflexion of the trace. Until now, there had been no proof that Karellen even had a material body. The evidence was still indirect, but he accepted it without question.
"The other thing we had to do," said Duval, "was to calculate the transmission of the screen to ordinary light. We think we've got a reasonable idea of that-anyway it doesn't matter If we're out even by a factor often. You'll realize, of course,
49
that there's no such thing as a truly one-way glass. It's simply
a matter of arranging the lights. Karellen sits in a darkened room: you are illuminated-that's all." Duval chuckled.
"Well, we're going to change that!"
With the air of a conjurer producing a whole litter of white
rabbits, he reached into his desk and pulled out an overgrown
nash-lamp. The'end flared out into a wide nozzle, so that the whole device looked rather like a blunderbuss.
Duval grinned.
"It's not as dangerous as it looks. All you have to do is to tam the nozzle against the screen and press the trigger. It gives out a very powerful beam lasting ten seconds, and in that
dine you'll be able to swing it round the room and get a good view. All the light will go through the screen and it will floodlight your friend beautifully."
"It won't hurt Karellen?"
"Not if you aim low and sweep upwards. That will give his eyes time to adapt-I suppose he has reflexes like ours, and we don't want to blind him."
Stormgren looked at the weapon doubtfully and hefted it in his hand. For the last few weeks his conscience had been
Words-empty words, thought Stormgren. The words for which men had once fought and died, and for which they would never die or fight again. And the world would be better for it.
As he watched Wainwright leave, Stormgren wondered how much trouble the Freedom League would still cause .in the years that lay ahead. Yet that, he thought with a lifting of his spirits, was a problem for his successor.
There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.
"Here's your case," said Duval. "It's as good as new."
"Thanks," Storrugren answered, inspecting it carefully none
48
the less. "Now perhaps you'll tell me what it was all about, and what we are going to do next."
The physicist seemed more interested in his own thoughts.
"What I can't understand," he said, "is the ease with which we've got away with it. Now if I'd been Kar-"
"But you're not. Get to the point, man. What did we discover?"
"Ah me, these excitable, highly-strung Nordic races!" sighed Duval. "What we did was to make a type of low-powered radar set. Besides radio waves of very high frequency, it used far infra-red-all waves, in fact, which we were sure no creature could possibly see, however weird an eye it had."
"How could you be. sure of that?" asked Stormgren, becoming intrigued by the technical problem in spite of himself.
"Well-we couldn't be quite sure," admitted Duval reluctsntly. "But Karellen views you under normal lighting, doesn't he? So his eyes must be approximately similar to ours in spectral range. Anyway, it worked. We've proved that there is a large room behind that screen of yours. The screen is about three centimetres thick, and the space behind it is at least ten metres across. We couldn't detect any echo from the far wall, but we hardly expected to with the low power which was all we dared use. However, we did get this."
He pushed across a piece of photographic paper on which was a single wavy line. In one spot was a kink like the autograph of a mild earthquake.
"See that little kink?"
"Yes: what is it?"
"Only Karellen."
"Good Lord! Are you sure?"
"It's a pretty safe guess. He's sitting, or standing, or whatever it is he does, about two metres on the other side of the screen. If the resolution had been a bit better, we might even have calculated his size."
Stormgren's feelings were very mixed as he stared at that scarcely visible inflexion of the trace. Until now, there had been no proof that Karellen even had a material body. The evidence was still indirect, but he accepted it without question.
"The other thing we had to do," said Duval, "was to calculate the transmission of the screen to ordinary light. We think we've got a reasonable idea of that-anyway it doesn't matter If we're out even by a factor often. You'll realize, of course,
49
that there's no such thing as a truly one-way glass. It's simply
a matter of arranging the lights. Karellen sits in a darkened room: you are illuminated-that's all." Duval chuckled.
"Well, we're going to change that!"
With the air of a conjurer producing a whole litter of white
rabbits, he reached into his desk and pulled out an overgrown
nash-lamp. The'end flared out into a wide nozzle, so that the whole device looked rather like a blunderbuss.
Duval grinned.
"It's not as dangerous as it looks. All you have to do is to tam the nozzle against the screen and press the trigger. It gives out a very powerful beam lasting ten seconds, and in that
dine you'll be able to swing it round the room and get a good view. All the light will go through the screen and it will floodlight your friend beautifully."
"It won't hurt Karellen?"
"Not if you aim low and sweep upwards. That will give his eyes time to adapt-I suppose he has reflexes like ours, and we don't want to blind him."
Stormgren looked at the weapon doubtfully and hefted it in his hand. For the last few weeks his conscience had been
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