Second Variety and Other Stories (13 page)

Ryan studied the sky. "Watch out."

"Air craft?"

"I'm not sure where we are. I don't know the location of the sides in this part of the war. We may
be over UN territory, or Soviet territory." Ryan held on tight to the switch.

From the blue sky two dots appeared. The dots grew. Ryan watched them intently. Beside him
Kastner gave a nervous grunt. "Ryan, we better --"

The dots separated. Ryan's hand closed over the power switch. He yanked it closed. As the
scene dissolved the dots swept past. Then there was nothing but grayness outside.

In their ears the roar of the two planes still echoed.

"That was close," Kastner said.

"Very. They didn't waste any time."

"I hope you don't want to stop any more."

"No. No more observation stops. The Project itself comes next. We're close to Schonerman's
time area. I can begin to slow down the velocity of the ship. This is going to be critical."

"Critical?"

"There are going to be problems getting to Schonerman. We must hit his continuum exactly, both
in space as well as time. He may be guarded. In any case they won't give us much time to explain who
we are." Ryan tapped the time map. "And there's always the chance the information given here is
incorrect."

"How long before we rephase with a continuum? Schonerman's continuum?"

Ryan looked at his wristwatch. "About five or ten minutes. Get ready to leave the ship. Part of
this is going to be on foot."

It was night. There was no sound, only unending silence. Kastner strained to hear, his ear against
the hull of the ship. "Nothing."

"No. I don't hear anything either." Carefully, Ryan unbolted the hatch, sliding the locks back. He
pushed the hatch open, his gun gripped tight. He peered out into the darkness.

The air was fresh and cold. Full of smells of growing things. Trees and flowers. He took a deep
breath. He could see nothing. It was pitch black. Far off, a long way off, a cricket chirruped.

"Hear that?" Ryan said.

"What is it?"

"A beetle." Ryan stepped gingerly down. The ground was soft underfoot. He was beginning to
adjust to the darkness. Above him a few stars glinted. He could make out trees, a field of trees. And
beyond the trees a high fence.

Kastner stepped down beside him. "What now?"

"Keep your voice down." Ryan indicated the fence. "We're going that way. Some kind of
building."

They crossed the field to the fence. At the fence Ryan aimed his gun, setting the charge at
minimum. The fence charred and sank, the wire glowed red.

Ryan and Kastner stepped over the fence. The side of the building rose, concrete and iron. Ryan
nodded to Kastner. "We'll have to move quickly. And low."

nodded to Kastner. "We'll have to move quickly. And low."

The door opened. Ryan fell inside, staggering. He caught a quick glimpse of startled faces, men
leaping to their feet.

Ryan fired, sweeping the interior of the room with his gun. Flame rushed out, crackling around
him. Kastner fired past his shoulder. Shapes moved in the flame, dim outlines falling and rolling.

The flames died. Ryan advanced, stepping over charred heaps on the floor. A barracks. Bunks,
remains of a table. An overturned lamp and radio.

By the rays of the lamp Ryan studied a battle map pinned on the wall. He traced the map with his
fingers, deep in thought.

"Are we far?" Kastner asked, standing by the door with his gun ready.

"No. Only a few miles."

"How do we get there?"

"We'll move the time ship. It's safer. We're lucky. It might have been on the other side of the
world."

"Will there be many guards?"

"I'll tell you the facts when we get there." Ryan moved to the door. "Come on. Someone may
have seen us."

Kastner grabbed up a handful of newspapers from the remains of the table. "I'll bring these.
Maybe they'll tell us something."

"Good idea."

Ryan set the ship down in a hollow between two hills. He spread the newspapers out, studying
them intently. "We're earlier than I thought. By a few months. Assuming these are new." He fingered the
newsprint. "Not turned yellow. Probably only a day or so old."

"What is the date?"

"Autumn, 2030. September 21."

Kastner peered out the port. "The sun is going to be coming up soon. The sky is beginning to turn
gray."

"We'll have to work fast."

"I'm a little uncertain. What am I supposed to do?"

"Schonerman is in a small village beyond this hill. We're in the United States. In Kansas. This
area is surrounded by troops, a circle of pillboxes and dugouts. We're inside the periphery. Schonerman
is virtually unknown at this continuum. His research has never been published. At this time he's working
as part of a large Government research project."

"Then he's not especially protected."

"Only later on, when his work has been turned over to the Government will he be protected day
and night. Kept in an underground laboratory and never let up to the surface. The Government's most
valuable research worker. But right now --"

"How will we know him?"

Ryan handed Kastner a sheaf of photographs. "This is Schonerman. All the pictures that survived
up to our own time."

Kastner studied the pictures. Schonerman was a small man with horn-rimmed glasses. He smiled
feebly at the camera, a thin nervous man with a prominent forehead. His hands were slender, the fingers
long and tapered. In one photograph he sat at his desk, a pipe beside him, his thin chest covered by a
sleeveless wool sweater. In another he sat with his legs crossed, a tabby cat in his lap, a mug of beer in
front of him. An old German enamel mug with hunting scenes and Gothic letters.

"So that's the man who invented the claws. Or did the research work."

"That's the man who worked out the principles for the first workable artificial brain."

"Did he know they were going to use his work to make the claws?"

"Did he know they were going to use his work to make the claws?"

"And then --"

"And then the claws began to manufacture their own varieties and attack Soviets and Westerners
alike. The only humans that survived were those at the UN base on Luna. A few dozen million."

"It was a good thing the claws finally turned on each other."

"Schonerman saw the whole development of his work to the last stages. They say he became
greatly embittered."

Kastner passed the pictures back. "And you say he's not especially well guarded?"

"Not at this continuum. No more than any other research worker. He's young. In this continuum
he's only twenty-five. Remember that."

"Where'll we find him?"

"The Government Project is located in what was once a school house. Most of the work is done
on the surface. No big underground development has begun yet. The research workers have barracks
about a quarter mile from their labs." Ryan glanced at his watch. "Our best chance is to nab him as he
begins work at his bench in the lab."

"Not in the barracks?" .

"The papers are all in the lab. The Government doesn't allow any written work to be taken out.
Each worker is searched as he leaves." Ryan touched his coat gingerly. "We have to be careful.
Schonerman must not be harmed. We only want his papers."

"We won't use our blasters?"

"No. We don't dare take the chance of injuring him."

"His papers will definitely be at his bench?"

"He's not allowed to remove them for any reason. We know exactly where we'll find what we
want. There's only one place the papers can be."

"Their security precautions play right into our hands."

"Exactly," Ryan murmured.

Ryan and Kastner slipped down the hillside, running between the trees. The ground was hard and
cold underfoot. They emerged at the edge of the town. A few people were already up, moving slowly
along the street. The town had not been bombed. There was no damage, as yet. The windows of the
stores had been boarded up and huge arrows pointed to the underground shelters.

"What do they have on?" Kastner said. "Some of them have something on their faces."

"Bacteria masks. Come on." Ryan gripped his blast pistol as he and Kastner made their way
through the town. None of the people paid any attention to them.

"Just two more uniformed people," Kastner said.

"Our main hope is surprise. We're inside the wall of defense. The sky is patrolled against Soviet
craft. No Soviet agents could be landed here. And in any case, this is a minor research lab, in the center
of the United States. There would be no reason for Soviet agents to come here."

"But there will be guards."

"Everything is guarded. All science. All kinds of research work."

The school house loomed up ahead of them. A few men were milling around the doorway.
Ryan's heart constricted. Was Schonerman one of them?

The men were going inside, one by one. A guard in helmet and uniform was checking their
badges. A few of the men wore bacteria masks, only their eyes visible. Would he recognize
Schonerman? What if he wore a mask? Fear gripped Ryan suddenly. In a mask Schonerman would look
like anyone else.

Ryan slipped his blast pistol away, motioning Kastner to do the same. His fingers closed over the
lining of his coat pocket.

lining of his coat pocket.

"I'm ready," Kastner murmured.

"Wait. We have to wait for him."

They waited. The sun rose, warming the cold sky. More research workers appeared, filing up the
path and inside the building. They puffed white clouds of frozen moisture and slapped their hands
together. Ryan began to become nervous. One of the guards was watching him and Kastner. If they
became suspicious -

A small man in a heavy overcoat and horn-rimmed glasses came up the path, hurrying toward the
building.

Ryan tensed. Schonerman! Schonerman flashed his badge to the guard. He stamped his feet and
went inside the building, stripping off his mittens. It was over in a second. A brisk young man, hurrying to
get to his work. To his papers.

"Come on," Ryan said.

He and Kastner moved forward. Ryan pulled the gas crystals loose from the lining of his pocket.
The crystals were cold and hard in his hand. Like diamonds. The guard was watching them coming, his
gun alert. His face was set. Studying them. He had never seen them before. Ryan, watching the guard's
face, could read his thoughts without trouble.

Ryan and Kastner halted at the doorway. "We're from the FBI," Ryan said calmly.

"Identify yourselves." The guard did not move.

"Here are our credentials," Ryan said. He drew his hand out from his coat pocket. And crushed
the gas crystals in his fist.

The guard sagged. His face relaxed. Limply, his body slid to the ground. The gas spread.
Kastner stepped through the door, peering around, his eyes bright.

The building was small. Lab benches and equipment stretched out on all sides of them. The
workers lay where they had been standing, inert heaps on the floor, their arms and legs out, their mouths
open.

"Quick." Ryan passed Kastner, hurrying across the lab. At the far fend of the room Schonerman
lay slumped over his bench, his head resting against the metal surface. His glasses had fallen off. His eyes
were open, staring. He had taken his papers out of the drawer. The padlock and key were still on the
bench. The papers were under his head and between his hands.

Kastner ran to Schonerman and snatched the papers up, stuffing them into his briefcase.

"Get them all!"

"I have them all." Kastner pulled open the drawer. He grabbed the remaining papers in the
drawer. "Every one of them."

"Let's go. The gas will dissipate rapidly."

They ran back outside. A few sprawled bodies lay across the entrance, workers who had come
into the area.

"Hurry."

They ran through the town, along the single main street. People gaped at them in astonishment.
Kastner gasped for breath, holding on tight to his briefcase as he ran. "I'm -- winded."

"Don't stop."

They reached the edge of the town and started up the hillside. Ryan ran between the trees, his
body bent forward, not looking back. Some of the workers would be reviving. And other guards would
be coming into the area. It would not be long before the alarm would be out.

Behind them a siren whirred into life.

"Here they come." Ryan paused at the top of the hill, waiting for Kastner. Behind them men were
swelling rapidly into the street, coming up out of the underground bunkers. More sirens wailed, a dismal
echoing sound.

"Down!" Ryan ran down the hillside toward the time ship, sliding and slipping on the dry earth.
Kastner hurried after him, sobbing for breath. They could hear orders being shouted. Soldiers swarming
up the hillside after them.

"Down!" Ryan ran down the hillside toward the time ship, sliding and slipping on the dry earth.
Kastner hurried after him, sobbing for breath. They could hear orders being shouted. Soldiers swarming
up the hillside after them.

Ryan ran to the control board. Kastner dropped his briefcase and tugged at the rim of the hatch.
At the top of the hill a line of soldiers appeared. They made their way down the hillside, aiming and firing
as they ran.

"Get down," Ryan barked. Shells crashed against the hull of the ship. "Down!"

Kastner fired back with his blast pistol. A wave of flame rolled up the hillside at the soldiers. The
hatch came shut with a bang. Kastner spun the bolts and slid the inner lock into place. "Ready. All
ready."