Highway of Eternity (32 page)

“Simmer down,” said Boone. “Everything's all right. You remember Enid, don't you?”

Corcoran looked at the woman standing by Boone's side. “Why, of course, I do.”

Enid held out her hand to him. “It's good to see you, Mr. Corcoran. This is a far cry, isn't it, from Hopkins Acre?”

“It surely is,” Corcoran agreed.

“And here is Wolf,” said Boone. “I guess you don't know Wolf.”

Corcoran looked where Boone was pointing and saw the gray wolf grinning at him.

“Not Wolf, perhaps,” he said. “But I saw some of his kinsmen back in that place where you killed the monster.”

“I did not kill the monster,” Boone told him. “It was the bull that killed the monster; then I shot the bull.”

Corcoran shook his head. “It seems I don't know what is going on.”

“Neither do we,” Enid told him. “We're still trying to get it ciphered out.”

“Let's sit down at this table here,” said Boone. “From all the banging and the clatter that is coming from the cube, it would seem that the robot who runs this wayside rest is busy with a meal.”

As the three headed for the table, Horseface came bumbling out of the fogginess of the galactic chart and made his way toward them.

“The chart,” he told Boone, “is making its way back into the chest with no help from me. Which is a thing of luck, for I am sure, had I essayed the chore, I would have bungled it. And who, may I inquire, is this personage who has joined our party?”

Boone said to Corcoran, “Meet our friend Horseface.”

Horseface rumbled at him, “I am pleased to meet you, sir.”

“My name is Jay Corcoran,” Corcoran told him. “I'm a longtime friend of Boone.”

“Well,” said Horseface, “we are all together and safely back at base. I don't mind saying I am glad our force is augmented by this friend of Boone. And here is Wolf. And The Hat.”

The Hat was sitting at the table, erect in his chair, no longer slumped over. His hat was still pulled across his face, if he had a face.

Looking more closely at him, Boone observed that he was somewhat rumpled, apparently from Wolf's play. Here and there, toothmarks showed.

The robot came up to the table with a tray balanced on its head. “I have naught to offer you,” he said, “but pig hocks and sauerkraut. I trust you can get along with that. For the carnivore, I have a plate of hocks without the kraut. I mistrust that he would relish the kraut.”

“He'll eat anything that is of animal origin,” said Boone. “But I am sure you are correct about the kraut.”

Enid, sitting next to Boone, put her hand on his arm.

“Do you like kraut?” she asked.

“I like it well enough,” he answered. “I have learned to eat almost anything.”

“Horace was the one who really liked his hocks and kraut,” said Enid. “He always made a pig of himself when we had them. He got grease up to his elbows.”

Corcoran changed the subject. “Can anyone tell me where we are? What is this place?”

“The Hat said it's the Highway of Eternity,” said Boone.

“He must have been kidding you.”

“I don't think so. He seems to know. If he says it's the Highway of Eternity, I'll go along with him.”

“You stepped around one of your corners to get here?”

“That I did—when my subconscious worked up a dream to scare me enough. Wolf came along with me. And what about you? You didn't step around a corner.”

“No. I climbed a tree—a big tree with a staircase winding around it. What happened then, I'm not quite sure.”

“That's ridiculous,” said Boone.

“No more ridiculous than your corner stepping.”

They ate in silence for a time and finally pushed aside their plates. Wolf had finished more quickly and was curled comfortably at Boone's feet.

Enid asked Corcoran, “Will David be coming soon? He was with you in the traveler, wasn't he?”

Corcoran squirmed uncomfortably. “I have sad news, Miss Enid. David is dead. I'm sorry. I … I'm very sorry.”

For a moment, she sat stricken, saying nothing. She sobbed, then fought to regain control. “Tell me what happened.”

“Henry came to us. He'd found where you and Boone landed, but you were both gone. He tracked your traveler into the future and found that you had been there, but had left. So the three of us went back to the prehistoric period, hoping that we …”

“But how …?”

“A sabertooth,” said Corcoran. “David had his shotgun and he killed it when it attacked us. But it reached him before it died.”

“David killed by a sabertooth?”

Corcoran nodded dumbly.

“He never would fire a gun,” she said. “He went hunting, but always with an empty gun. He took the shells out.”

“Back there,” said Corcoran, “I insisted he keep it loaded. When the cat came at us, he acted to protect both of us. If he hadn't, the cat would have killed us both.”

“You were with him when he died?”

“Just for a moment. He was almost dead when I reached him.”

“Did he say anything?”

Corcoran shook his head. “He didn't have the time. I buried him as best I could. A rock-lined grave with stones on top. I said some words over him. I'm not sure the right ones. I'm not good at that.”

“And Henry?”

“Henry left before it happened. He went to track down the third traveler.”

Enid rose from the chair. She said to Boone, “Will you walk with me?”

“Certainly,” said Boone. “Whatever you may wish.”

They moved out from the area, Enid clinging to Boone's arm. Wolf trailed along behind them.

At the table, when they were out of hearing, Horseface said to Corcoran, “I have a feeling that what you told was not the entire truth. You embroidered it.”

“Of course I embroidered it. What would you have done? I was asleep when the cat killed him. It carried him off to eat. Would you tell that to his sister?”

“I would not. You have a kind soul.”

“I'm a stupid coward,” said Corcoran.

Down the road, Enid said to Boone, “I don't want to cry. David would not have wanted me to dissolve in tears.”

“Go ahead and cry,” said Boone. “Crying sometimes helps. I feel like crying myself. I liked David. During the short time I was with him, I liked him very much.”

“In the family,” she said, “he was my favorite person. We could talk together and we had our private jokes. David seemed happy-go-lucky, but he was never silly. He was an expert with the traveler and ran errands for us to other times. He brought books and the guns for Timothy, liquor for Horace, other stuff for Emma. I never asked him to get anything for me, but he always brought me gifts—jewelry, a book of poetry, perfume.

“And now he's dead. Buried in the prehistoric past. And he fired a gun. I never thought he could. He was too civilized, too much the gentleman. But when it came to life or death, he did.

“Now I'm going to cry. I don't want to, I shouldn't—but I am. Please hold me, Tom, while I cry.”

The crying lasted for a time, but finally lessened and came to an end. When it was all done, she lifted a tear-streaked face, and Boone kissed her gently.

“Let's go back,” she said.

When they reached the table again, Horseface and Corcoran were sitting where they had been before, talking to each other.

“We've been discussing further moves,” Corcoran said. “What should we do next? Neither of us has any sound ideas.”

“Going is no problem,” Horseface told them. “The net will take us wherever we may list.”

“We could return to Hopkins Acre,” Boone suggested. He looked At Enid. “Would you like that?”

She shook her head emphatically. “There's nothing there.”

“There was that star we found,” said Boone. “The one with the X painted on it. It has an inhabited planet. Enid's television showed that.”

Horseface rumbled doubtfully. “You think that it's important because it has the X. So did I at first, but I'm not so sure now. The X could be meant to warn us to stay away.”

“I hadn't thought of that,” Boone admitted. “It could well be. Like the signs of a cross marked on the doors of plague-stricken houses in the Middle Ages.”

“I would much like to visit the center of the galaxy,” Horseface suggested. “We could go in the net …”

Boone had leaped to his feet. Behind Horseface and Corcoran, a faint flicker glimmered in the air, and there was a thump. A traveler came to rest just beyond the table.

The rest of them, except for The Hat, jumped up. The Hat continued sitting, saying nothing.

“That's my traveler!” Enid shouted. “It is the one I lost, the one I left behind.”

“The one that was stolen from you,” said Corcoran. “Henry told me that he found the traveler had been hauled away.”

“But if it was stolen,” Enid asked, “why should it be here?”

The port came open and a man stepped out, staring about and then looking at them. Corcoran moved toward him. “Martin,” he said. “Fancy meeting you here. Is Stella with you?”

“No, she has other interests now,” Martin answered. He seemed uncertain, as if confused at what he saw.

Enid asked quietly, “Is this the Martin who held the outpost for us in New York?”

“None other,” Corcoran answered. “He ran away when I told him someone was inquiring about a place called Hopkins Acre.”

“And now he has stolen my machine.”

“You are Enid, aren't you?” Martin asked. “Yes, you must be. I did not steal your traveler. I purchased it from the man who stole it. An ignorant man. Scared as well. The key was still in it, but he was afraid to turn it on. He had no idea what might happen and was glad to sell the traveler for a pittance. Since I then had two machines, I took this one, and Stella kept the other.”

“You found Enid's machine and now you come to us,” said Boone. “Tell us how you did it.”

Martin glanced around again, then shrugged. “There are ways,” he said vaguely.

“I'll bet there are,” said Corcoran. “And you'd be the one to know them. For whom are you working now?”

“For no one. For myself. I'm working on my own,” Martin answered.

“And doing well, I suppose?”

“Not too badly. Corcoran, I can't understand your hostility. I always paid you well, gave you a lot of business.”

“You conned me,” said Corcoran. “You conned everyone.”

A face peeped out of the traveler.

“An Infinite!” cried Enid. “You have an Infinite in there!”

Martin turned and yelled at the peeping Infinite. “All right! I told you not to show yourselves until I called you. But you couldn't wait, you had to look. Now you might as well come out.”

Three Infinites tumbled out of the traveler and stood in an awkward line. They were crazy-looking creatures, not more than four feet tall and rigged out in what appeared to be black robes and cowls. From under the cowls, pinched features peered out.

“So you're working for them now,” said Boone.

“At the moment. They are all refugees. The Infinites are held in some kind of quarantine by a group called the Galactic Center, which has taken it upon itself, with no authority, to imprison them on their planet. These three managed to get loose. I heard of their plight and agreed to help them.”

One of the Infinites stepped forward and spoke in a liquid voice. “We plead your understanding. You are members of a race to whom we gave our services. We made most of your race immortal, free of any threat. We are a highly moral people, doing good for others and asking nothing in return. Now we are victims of injustice, seeking friends who will stand with us and speak on our behalf against the cruel and unjust quarantine …”

“You feel you are ill-treated?” Enid asked, too gently.

“Yes, we do, milady.”

“And you want us to help you?”

“That is our earnest wish.”

“You drove us into exile,” said Enid, “and when we fled, you sent killer monsters to hunt us down …”

“We three, the most of us, had nothing to do with killer monsters. There was a certain faction among us, bloated by arrogance …”

“Those of bloated arrogance are still with you?”

“We suppose they are. But we had nothing to do with them. They are a separate problem. We three are refugee ambassadors who seek understanding and help.”

Boone asked Martin, “How much do you have to do with this?”

“Almost nothing,” Martin said. “I only hire conveyance.”

Enough of this, a voice said in their minds.

“Who was that?” asked Martin, startled.

“It's The Hat,” Boone said. “That's the way he talks, directly to you without bothering with spoken words.”

“Just a moment,” said Enid. “Before we go further, I want this Martin to hand me back the keys to the traveler.”

“I think that's a reasonable request,” said Corcoran. He looked at Martin, who fidgeted, uncertain, then fumbled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to Corcoran. Corcoran took them to Enid and gave them to her.

“I would not have tried to get away,” said Martin, trying to restore his ruffled dignity.

“Of course you wouldn't,” said Boone. He turned to The Hat. “I'm sorry for the interruption. You were about to say?”

I was about to say, said The Hat, that there is only one logical destination for us. Not the core of the galaxy, nor any star with an X upon it, whatever that is. Who ever heard of a star with X painted on it?

“It was on the chart,” said Horseface. “One star had an X marked on it.”

“So what place would you suggest?” asked Boone.

“If you are going anywhere,” announced the robot, coming out of his cubicle, “I am going, too. For too long I have stayed here with no one showing up except this Hat, who never so much as passes the time of day with me. I'll take my stove and the mechanism that supplies the food I cook. You'll need me along, or you might starve. There's no telling where this crazy Hat will take you. He never eats and knows nothing of comforts or necessities. He is …”