The Canopy Of Time Part 7

"That will not be possible, Mr. Dael, I regret to say. The medical council have agreed that the patient will be happier in isolation, away from disturbing external influences."

"But I must see him," Davi said. He could not believe what Shansfor was saying; for an insane moment he thought the man must be talking about someone other than Ishrail. "I've got to see him-I'm his friend, Ishrail's friend! You can't keep him here!"

Shansfor stood up. His face, like Davi's, was pale. He said nothing, merely waiting for Davi to finish.

That was more ominous than words.

"Look here," Davi said, unable to resist argument, although guessing already how useless it might be.

"This tale Ishrail has told us about the great civilization of the galaxy-the stress-fields of s.p.a.ce-the interpenetratprs- all the details of life on other planets-strange animals and flowers-you can't believe he made it all up in his head? Some of these planets he talks about-Droxy, Owlenj-you surely don't think they're just fict.i.tious?"

"Mr. Dael," Shansfor said in a brittle voice, "please credit us with knowing our business here. The"

patient has a fertile imagination; it has finally collapsed under the stress of too much reading-omnivorous reading, I may add, which has encompa.s.sed both learned works and cheap trash."

"But his story of this galactic war" Davi protested, "Tell me," Shansfor said with dangerous calm. "Do you believe a galactic war is now raging, Mr. Dael?"

Pause. The engine yards outside were floating away on a tide of darkness in which isolated lights strove to act as buoys. The sky was one big cloud, cozy over New Union. Supposing I do believe, Davi thought, supposing I do believe the whole fantastic business, how can I prove I'm sane any more easily than Ishrail can? How can I prove to myself I'm sane? Two months ago, I would have laughed at this galactic rigmarole. It's just that the way Ishrail told it, it had the ring of truth. Unmistakable! And yet-why, it is all frighteningly far-fetched. But that's why I believe it: it's too tall not to be true. Believe?

So I do believe, hey? But I'm not sure. If, I were really sure, they'd lock me up too. Oh, Ishrail.... No, better play safe; after all, I'm no use to Ishrail once they have doubts about me. Before the c.o.c.k crows twice. . . .

"Uh. . . . Oh, I don't know what to believe. ..." he faltered miserably, ashamed of remaining uncommitted, looking away from Shansfor. The yellow b.u.t.tercup mocked his downcast eyes.

"I actually came to tell you that the medical council is still in session," Shansfor said, his voice a shade warmer than urbane. "The Arch-Brother Inald Uatt, our director, is there, if you would care to speak to him."

"I suppose I'd better."

Stop shaking, you old fool, Davi told himself. But he could not stop; directly he had denied Ishrail, he knew he believed in him and in all he stood for. He knew further that n.o.body else believed. So it was up to him, Davi Dael, whether Ishrail was released from what might be a life's confinement. Larger issues, too, might depend on his efforts, for through Ishrail lay the way to bright, friendly worlds far beyond the Sun's unwelcoming cl.u.s.ter of planets. All he had to do was to convince a board of experts, who had apparently already made up their minds on the subject of Ishrail's sanity, that they were wrong. That was all: but it would not be easy.

"Can I see Ishrail first?" Davi asked.

"You force me to answer that question as I answered it before-with a negative," Shansfor replied.

"Now if you'll come with me, I think the council will see you. ..."

They walked down the corridor to a lift, went up one deck to a more grandly appointed part of the ship, and so into a fur-lined board room. Thick curtains had been drawn here, a fire burned, and on one wall hung an original Wadifango, an anatomical drawing of a tiger.

A long table stood in the middle of the room, soft chairs ranged its walls, but the four men present stood stretching their legs by the fire. As the round of intro-ductions disclosed, Arch-Brother Inald Uatt was a small, stocky man with a bald head, clothed from neck to foot in tight blue flannel, his manner reserved, his voice dry.

He shook hands with Davi, crossing to the table to get a bundle of notes secured by a plain silver clasp.

"This is a very interesting case for us, Mr. Dael," he remarked conversationally.

"It's more than a case to me, sir," Davi said.

"Er-yes. Of course; you and he became very friendly in the brief time you were together, I understand.

Be warned, though, against letting the matter become an obsession."

"It's not becoming an obsession," Davi said. "I take Ishrail's part, sir, because there is n.o.body else to take it. I feel it would be easy for him to be victimized. The whole thing seemed pretty simple once, but since he's been up here at New Union in your hands it seems to have got more and more complicated."

He was aware as he spoke of sounding less courteous than he had intended. He was confused. The board room confused him, the rather restrained members of the council confused him; they differed so greatly from the people of his home hills. Although in his own sphere of dairy farming and stock-breeding Davi was well known and respected, here he felt out of his depth, too conscious of seeming the simple countryman among the experts, aware his tunic colour was not theirs. A horrible feeling seized him that he was about to make an a.s.s of himself, and from then on it never left him; it got between him and his reason, forcing him into saying always the wrong thing.

"I mean-this business is just a question of common sense," he added, making things worse instead of better.

Inald Uatt smiled kindly as if covering his own em-barra.s.sment.

"There are problems, unfortunately," he said, "where common sense is too blunt a tool to work with, Mr. Dael, and Ishrail's problem is one such. Indeed, we have achieved results only by trying several oblique approaches, as you shall hear."

"I was just offering my opinion," Davi said. He in-tended it to sound penitent, humble even, but it sounded defiant in the befurred room.

"Quite so," Inald Uatt said quietly, inspecting his fingers as if for the first time. "Believe me, we do realize what a fascinating and gaudy specimen Ishrail must have seemed in Bergharra, but here on the Cyberqueen we may be rather more inured to odd fish, alas."

"We aren't all simpletons in Bergharra," Davi ex-claimed, nettled by what he interpreted as a slur on his native country.

Uatt inclined his head sadly, acknowledging the truth of the remark.

Realizing he was again on the verge of making an a.s.s of himself, Davi tugged at his tunic and said in explana-tory fashion, "In fact, I'm sorry to have to come all this way to bother you, sir, but I felt I had to see what you were doing about Ishrail. I mean, if you were doing anything."

"We have been doing quite a lot," Uatt said lightly. "It is good of you to come. All of us here will be delighted to a.s.sure you that Ishrail has occupied much of our attention in the past weeks."

He shook his head and smiled; the other men also smiled. They had had a long, trying meeting-and now this! Uatt attempted to give Davi a chance, but Davi caught the note of reproach in the director's voice and flushed heavily, feeling like a small boy brought before a teacher.

"How should I know what you were doing here?" he muttered. "I felt it was my duty to come and see."

A gleam of irritation showed in Uatt's eye and dis-appeared. Brother Shansfor, knowing his superior, feared for the worst: the director was not a forgiving man once he conceived a dislike for someone. From then on, Davi was at a disadvantage; instead of becoming a discussion, their meeting crystallized into a muted clash of personali-ties, its outcome already predictable. Sensing something of this, Davi tried to wrench the conversation back into another channel.

"I believe Ishrail to be sane!" he exclaimed. He could see immediately that his bluntness made them more with-drawn. For them, he was now the stupid layman, unable to evaluate evidence.

"I am just going to run through a few notes for your benefit," Uatt said, rustling the papers. "They will explain our finds on the-er, patient and, I sincerely hope, clear your mind of any anxieties or uncertainties you may have."

"Tell him about the specialists, Inald," Shansfor said in an aside.

"Yes, yes," the Arch-Brother said. "These notes are extracts from the reports of specialists from this and other health ships who have examined er, Ishrail, as he calls himself, during the course of the last month.

Sit down, Mr. Dael, sit down and unb.u.t.ton."

Davi hesitated, then sat, formally unb.u.t.toning his tunic. The three members of the council who had not spoken seemed to take this as a cue to disappear. They nodded to Inald Uatt and Shansfor and sailed out of the cabin like three dancers in a dull ballet.

"Now," Uatt said, clearing his throat. He put on a pair of silver-rimmed eyegla.s.ses and peered at the papers before him. "First let's get our facts straight, may we? Ishrail was discovered sheltering in a barn on the even-ing of Fi Month 31stlast by one George Fanzi, a bond-man on Major Brundell's farm in the province of Bergharra. He was naked and dazed and seemed at that time unable to speak at all. Fanzi wrapped sacks round him and took him to his own caravan. By morning Ishrail was better, although his memory seemed clouded; He then spoke our tongue perfectly-an important point, Mr. Dael, which alone throws grave doubts on his, hm, galactic origins."

"But he explained" Davi began.

"Oh yes, he explained everything, Mr. Dael. But let us continue the summary. Ishrail stayed in Fanzi's cara-van till the next morning, the 33rdof Fi, when Fanzi decided to take him to Major Brundell. Major Brundell kept him for three days, in which time he got you and Ostrachan, the local tributary doctor to question him. The province police were also brought in to try and trace Ishrail's whereabouts before Fanzi found him, but so far nothing has come to light."

"A point for Ishrail," Davi said.

"A small point for Ishrail," Uatt conceded. "And that's about it; you alone seem to have placed much credence in the man's tale, Dael, and knowing of my friend Shansfor here through mutual acquaintances you decided to bring Ishrail up to us. A wise step, if I may be permitted to say so."

"I did it for Ishrail's sake," Davi said. "He was deeply disturbed to find that n.o.body believed him. I could see he would soon begin to question his own sanity; he had just gone through a period of great strain, as you know. When I heard that the Cyberqueen was off the coast, naturally I got in touch. I wanted you to prove to him he was sane. You would have been powerful allies for him!"

With a little dry crumb of sound, Inald Uatt cleared his throat, continuing his account as if he had not heard Davi.

"For the past thirty-two days," he said, "Ishrail has been here on shipboard; he has been thoroughly examined from every possible viewpoint. The first thing was naturally a physiological check. It revealed nothing at all abnormal in the patient's make-up. No bones out of place, not a spare ounce of cartilage, no extra lungs, not even"-he allowed himself a modic.u.m of amus.e.m.e.nt -"a concealed tentacle. In every respect, Ishrail is a physically normal man, born here on earth, destined to die here on earth. I think we might have indeed expected some trifling irregularity if he had been as he claims to be, a hm, specimen of galactic life."

"Why?" Davi asked hotly. "Can't evolution run the same course on two planets?"

"He has a point there, Inald, you know," Shansfor murmured.

"A point we did not overlook," the Arch-Brother agreed. "Which brings me to the next step in our investi-gation. We were, you see, impressed enough with the lack of logical flaws in Ishrail's arguments to take a good deal of trouble in checking them. I personally called up the Astronomer Extraordinary and asked him about life on other planets."

He paused impressively. Davi just waited.

"The Astronomer Extraordinary," Uatt said, "told me that the possibility of life on other worlds-apart per-haps from a few lowly fungi on Mars-is entirely un-proven. Furthermore, he cautioned me that direct evidence of the existence of planetary systems other than our own is not yet forthcoming. He said that according to various ancient records, s.p.a.ce ships have been launched from Earth for other systems from time to time; there is no record of any of them having returned. And he finished by a.s.suring me that s.p.a.ce travel has no future."

Davi could restrain himself no longer. He jumped up.

"Yea call that taking trouble?" he exclaimed. "Heavens above, who am I to argue with the Astrono-mer Extraordinary, but what's he know about it? He's no expert on s.p.a.ce travel!"

"Agreed," said Uatt, removing his silver eyegla.s.ses and making his voice a few degrees cooler. "There are no experts on s.p.a.ce travel, just a few speculative com-panies who have set their paltry igloos on the moon, hoping to find minerals or such. Speculation! 'There, I suggest, you have the whole business in one word. Do please sit down again, Mr. Dael."

Sitting was the last thing Davi felt like doing. He tried to appeal silently for help to Shansfor, but the latter was gazing into the fire. With a bad grace, Davi plonked himself down on to the chair.

"Go on," he said testily. "What's your next point?"

Before speaking again, Uatt clearly speculated upon whether the effort would be worth while. "We now came to Ishrail with the next tests," he said at last. "I refer to the psychological ones; and that is a field in which I give you my word there are experts. We-if I may say so without transgressing the bounds of modesty-we are the experts in this ship.

"For our consideration, we had an unlikely doc.u.ment, the statement of Ishrail, elicited from him in numerous interviews. In brief, it relates the facts of Ishrail's life, how he grew up, became what we would call an admiral in the interpenetrator fleets (to use his own extra-ordinary phrase), was defeated in some sort of battle and finally landed on earth stark naked and without a goatra to bless himself with.

"I'm not going to waste your time, Mr. Dael, or my own, in embarking on a detailed description of that fantastic farrago of autobiography. Transcribed from jell and divided into subjects, it fills five fat volumes; you will see we have been thorough. It contains, however, one or two cardinal points on which our diagnosis of Ishrail rests, and these I will bring to your attention. You may find their perfervid inventiveness more attrac-tive than I do."

"Just a minute," Davi said. "You're telling me this, and I can see from every word you say your mind's tighter shut than a Horby oyster. Was it like that before Ishrail came to you? Because if so the poor devil didn't stand a candle's chance in h.e.l.l of proving his case."

"You're talking with your tunic b.u.t.toned," Shansfor protested sharply. "That sort of stuff will get you no- where. Try and -"

"We're getting nowhere as it is," Davi snapped. "I'm a countryman, and I like plain speaking."

"Shansfor," Uatt said, folding his hands and turning wearily to his colleague, "I suspect I may be unable to talk plainly enough for our country friend. Perhaps you will take over the, explanations for a little while?"

"Certainly," Shansfor said. "Perhaps you'd like to pour us all some drinks first?"

"Capital idea," the director said, softening. "I believe they are concealed in that surely rather ornate cupboard over there."

As Shansfor crossed the room, Inald Uatt said to Davi more humanly, "You know, Dael, we believe our-selves to be in effect doing you a favour in explaining all this to you; we are by no means obliged to explain. By the law, Ishrail is now a subject of Medical Hierarchy. You are not in any way related to Ishrail; we merely were somewhat touched by your loyalty to a very un-fortunate case."

"I'll endeavour to feel obliged to you when I've heard the rest of what you have to say," Davi said grimly. "What are these cardinal points you mentioned?"

A distilled vintage was handed round, and scented sweets. Shansfor sat down by the fire, putting his thin hands out to the flames.

"You'll probably know," he began quietly, "that how-ever elaborate and circ.u.mstantial the imaginings of a neurotic person are, they reveal certain basic emotions such as fear, love, l.u.s.t for power. Looking beyond the symbols that a disordered mind uses to camouflage these emotions from itself, we can generally see the emotive impulses quite clearly. In this respect, Ishrail differs not at all from any case we have ever handled, except that his imaginings reach the peak of inventiveness.

"Note several points. This impressive civilization to which Ishrail claims to belong spreads across ten thousand planets and five times as many light years-or it may be fifteen thousand planets and ten times as many light years: Ishrail doesn't remember."

"Would you remember?" Davi asked. "Tell me how many towns there are on earth!"

"That is not the point I'm making," Shansfor said. "I'm trying to show you how Ishrail strove to build up a pattern of complexity in his make-believe world. The war that he claims is being waged is also amazingly complicated, like enlarged 3-D chess with obscure moti-vations and strict rules of chivalry.

Ishrail seeks refuge behind this confusion, endeavouring to lose himself."

"But a galactic civilization would be complicated!" Davi wailed. "Why can't you just take it that he's telling the truth? He's got no motive for lying!'

"His motive is the usual one in such cases," Shansfor said. "That is, as complete an escape from reality as pos-sible. He cannot be telling the truth because what he says is top fantastic for a sane man to believe; and also you will notice that he has cleverly picked on a story which does not involve him in the awkward necessity of pro-ducing one shred of tangible proof!"

Davi sunk his head into his hands.

"You go round in circles," he said. "He told you why he arrived naked without any possessions."

"That's just what I'm complaining about," Shansfor said. "Ishrail can explain everything! The interpenetrators that brought him here came silently and left silently, and were invisible. We've not got a thing: no sight of ships, no tell-tale landing marks in a field, no sc.r.a.ps of cloth of an alien weave, no rings made of strange alloys, not even an Aldebaran corn plaster on his foot. Nothing. Only his wild and unsupported story. Not a shred of external evidence anywhere."

"And if you had anything, you'd explain it away," Davi said.

"We'll continue with the next point," Shansfor said, raising an aggrieved eyebrow at the Arch-Brother, who nodded sympathetically. "Notice that Ishrail joined the interpenetration fleets and worked his way up to the rank of admiral."

"Well?"

"Megalomania-and we shall find it recurs over and over again. Here it masquerades under the flaring suns of an admiral's insignia. Yes, he even drew the insignia for us. He couldn't be a ranker, could he, or a bondman, or whatever they have? He had to be an admiral, an admiral in a mighty s.p.a.ce fleet. Such self aggrandise-ment is a common feature of insanity."

Davi was silent, avoiding the challenge in the other's voice. He felt his a.s.surance fading and longed to speak to Ishrail again, to feel reinvigorated by that unquench-able nature. If these devils would only see it, a man like Ishrail could be nothing less than admiral.

"The next point," Shansfor continued, "is even more d.a.m.ning. You will remember that Ishrail claims to have been captured during this preposterous war by the enemy. They vanquished him. And did Ishrail happen to tell you what the name of the race was which van-quished him? It was Ishrail! Ishrail was conquered by Ishrail!"

"What of it?" Davi asked stupidly.

This was too much for Inald Uatt. He leant forward, gla.s.s in hand, his jaws almost snapping.

"What of it, you dare ask?" he said. "If you are attempting to insult us with stupidity we may as well consider this talk closed. Ishrail is. suffering-to couch the matter in terms you might comprehend-from split personality. He is 'himself; he is also his own worst enemy. Ishrail against Ishrail-a man divided against himself. It's obvious even to a layman."

"Not at all," Davi said, trying to check his anger.

"Well it confounded well should be!"

"Not at all!" Davi bellowed. "Good G.o.d, Bergharra fought the Goraggs in the last war. One of our bravest men was a Field-Captain Goragg, but we didn't lock him in the nearest b.u.t.ton biter's barge just because of his unfortunate name!"

There was an icy silence.

"I believe," Uatt said, "that the disgusting term for mental health ships that you employed has ceased to be polite usage even in the low comedy halls."

"You cannot dismiss everything as coincidence, Mr. Dael," Shansfor said hurriedly, waving his hands as if to hush his superior. "You must try to regard this from the viewpoint of mind-healing. We do not believe in coincidence. Let me proceed to the next and last point, on which the crux of the matter may be said to rest.