The car was ordinary enough; it was one of those scaled-down vehicles which less fuel and offer less than the so-called models. For fuel economy too, its speed had been lowered. But Lockley sent it up the brand-new as fast as it would go.
Now the a with a meadow-like floor. Now it to its way cliffs, and on occasion it ran over a some stream. At least once it through a cut which might as well have been a tunnel, and the noise of its from on either side.
He did not see another vehicle for a long way. Deer, he saw twice. Over and over again of small up from the road and to after he had passed. Once he saw movement out of the of his and looked to see what it was, but saw nothing. Which meant that it was a lion, perfectly with its as it the car. At the end of five miles he saw a truck, empty, away from Boulder Lake and the toward the world.
The two vehicles passed, to make a noise at their nearest. The was not in a hurry. It along with objects in its space and loudly. Its driver and his nothing of events them. They'd stopped to have a snack, with the waiting for them at the roadside.
Lockley on ten miles more. He the added by in the road. He to when his car up on grades, and the long ones. He saw a up a pause in its of a to watch the car go by it. He saw more deer. Once a smaller animal, a coyote, into a of and as long as the car in sight.
More miles of empty highway. And then a long, of road, and he saw vehicles around the at the end of it. They were not in line, singlelane, as traffic is on a curve. Both were filled. The road was by motor-driven traffic away from the lake, and not at a pace, but in flight.
It on toward Lockley. Big trucks and little ones; in them; a up from the by on the road's shoulders. They were closely packed, as if by some the lead had been taken by great trucks of the road speed of those them, yet with the unable to pass. There was a and of that the air. They toward Lockley's roadster. Truck blared.
Lockley got off the and onto the right-hand shoulder. He stopped. The of vehicles up to him and past. They were more than he'd believed. There were trucks. There were truck-and-trailer combinations. There were and trucks and a or two, and then more trucks—even trucks—and more and half-tonners—a complete and of every of gasoline-driven vehicle that be on a and used on a project.
And every one was with men. Trailer-trucks had their doors open, and they were packed with the of the near Boulder Lake. The were with passengers. Dirt trucks had men fast to handholds, and there were men in the of the trucks. The traffic the from to edge. It past, off a and clouds of fumes.
They were gone, the solid of them at any rate. But now there came older cars, no less crowded, and then more cars, not so much and less pushing at those ahead. But these passed each other recklessly. There to be an almost of being last.
One car off to its left. There were five men in it. It and stopped on the close to Lockley's car. The driver above the of motors, "You don't want to go up there. Everybody's ordered out. Everybody away from Boulder Lake! When you the chance, turn around and the away."
He for a to on the road, having delivered his warning. Lockley got out of his car and over, "You're talking about the thing that came from the sky," he said grimly. "There was a girl up at the camp. Jill Holmes. Writing a piece about a national park. Getting about the job. Did her away?"
The man who'd him to watch for a in the of cars. They weren't now as they had been, but it was still to start in low and in the of vehicles without an almost crash. Then he his back, at Lockley.
"Hell! Somebody told me to check on her. I was men out and 'em on came by. I forgot!"
A man in the of the said, "She hadn't left when we did. I saw her. But I she had a all set."
The man at the wheel said furiously, "She hasn't passed us! Unless she's in one of these...."
Lockley set his teeth. He each car intently. A girl among these would have been put with the driver in the of a truck, and he'd have a woman in any of the private cars.
"If I don't see her go by," he said grimly, "I'll go up to the and see if she's still there."
The man in the driver's seat looked relieved.
"If she's left behind, it's her fault. If you for her, make it fast and be careful. Keep to the and away from the lake. There was a of an over there this morning. Three men to see what'd happened. They didn't come back. Two more after 'em, and something them on the way. They something than skunk. Then they were paralyzed, like they had of a high-tension line. They saw colors and and they couldn't move a finger. Their car ditched. In a while they came out of it and they came back—fast! They'd just got when we got orders for to out. If you look for that girl, be careful. If she's still there, you her out quick!" Then he said sharply, "Here's a for us to going. Move out of the way!"
There was a in the now of cars. The driver of the stopped car onto the highway. He and at the top of his car's power. Another car him and a crash while its furiously. Then the traffic on. But it was now. It was mostly private cars, owned by the workmen.
Suddenly there were no the long of road. Lockley got on the and his toward the spot the others from. He him the and of the motors. He his own to the and on.
There'd been an by the lake, the man who'd him said. That checked. Three men to see what had happened. That was reasonable. They didn't come back. Considering what Vale had reported, it was almost inevitable. Then two other men to out what to the three and—that was news! A that was than skunk. Paralysis in a moving car, which ditched. Remaining while colors and sounds.... Lockley not at an explanation. But the men had for some time, and then the lifted. They had to the camp, that the might return. Their must have been hair-raising, when orders had come for the of the camp, they had been with a panic. But nothing else had happened.
The three men were still missing—or at least there'd been no mention of their return. They'd either been killed or taken captive, by Vale's account and experience. He was either killed or captured, too, but it still that Lockley had so much of that a tight that needed to be aimed. Vale had been or killed. The three other men missing had the same fate. The two others had been but not or taken prisoner. They'd been until when they were they'd flee.
The car over a and a curve. Here a cut had been and the road ran through it. It came out upon ground where many were necessary.
Another car came, after the others. In the next ten miles there were, a dozen more. They'd been hard to start, perhaps, and so left later than the rest. Jill wasn't in any of them. There was one car traveling slowly, making noises. Its driver the best time he could, the others.
Sober common pointed out that Vale's account was verified. There'd been a landing of non-human in a ship from space. The killing or of the three men to a was natural enough—the of a space ship would want to study the of the world they'd on. The and of two others be on the that the who'd come to earth were satisfied with three of the local to study. They had Vale, too. They weren't trying to their arrival, though it would have been anyhow. But it was that they'd take to about the world they'd on, and when they that they enough, they'd take the action they was desirable.
All of which was perfectly rational, but there was another possibility. The other possible was—considering everything—more probable. And it to offer more prospects.
He on. Jill Holmes. He'd her four times; she was to Vale. It likely that she hadn't left the with the workmen. If Lockley hadn't been with her, he'd have to make sure she was left he to her. If she was still at the camp, she was in a situation.
There'd been no other car from the for a long way now. But there came a ahead. Lockley into it. There was a roar, and a car came from the opposite direction, away from the road's edge. It the little car Lockley drove. The smaller car and around. It into a of and came to a stop with a and fenders, but the was still running. Lockley had by instinct.
The other car away without pausing.
Lockley sat still for a moment, by the of the mishap. Then he raged. He got out of the car. Because of its small size, he he might be able to it on the road with for levers. But the job would take hours, and he was that Jill had been left in the camp.
He was five miles from Boulder Lake itself and about the same from the camp. It would take less time to go to the on than to try to the car on the road. Time was of the essence, and or the of the ship might be, they'd know what a road was for. They'd an in a car on a road long they'd a man on who was not on a and was taking some pains to pass unseen.
He started out, and on foot. He was for the near neighborhood of the thing Vale had as from the sky. He was by for Jill. It to him that his best was only a and he needed all the speed he muster.
He directly across country for the camp. All the world that anything out of the ordinary was in progress. Birds sang and and and languidly. Now and again a out of of the moving of the man. But there were no sounds, or or of anything where Lockley moved. He that he was on his way to search for a girl he knew, and he couldn't be sure needed his help anyway.
Outside in the world, there were places where were not so tranquil. By this time there were already in motion in long of personnel-carrying trucks. There were moving at top speed across lines and along the systems. Every plane in the area was aloft, by to be for any of or action that might be called for. The to the had known, and all the world that Boulder Lake National Park had been to avoid with non-human aliens. The were reported to have men and killed them for sport. They were reported to have beams, death and gas. They were as indescribable, and in "artist's conceptions" on television and in the newspapers. They appeared—according to circumstances—to or slugs. They were as and octopods. The took full of their than cameramen. They pictured these in their one action of Vale and him away. This was said to be for vivisection. None of the artists' ideas were plausible, biologically. The were as upon humans, who into steam as the them. Obviously, there were also artist's of being by the from space. There was only one woman to be in the camp, but that didn't the artists.
The United States into a mild panic. But most people on their jobs, and their normal routine, and the ran on time.
The public in the United States had used to newspaper and scares. They were to the same category as movies, which some day might come true, but not yet. This particular news more than most, but still it was taken more or less as entertainment. So most of the United States with a amount of as new and more appeared the landing of monsters, and waited to see if it was true. The truth was that most of America didn't actually it. It was like a Russian threat. It and it might happen, but it hadn't so to the United States.
An official helped to public opinion in this safe channel. The Defense Department a bulletin: An object had from space into Boulder Lake, Colorado. It was a large meteorite. When reported by its landing, defense had the opportunity to use it for a test of response to a alarm. They had used it to a program and test of against other possible enemies. After the landed, the defense were as a more complete test of the nation's forces' ability. The object and its landing, however, were being investigated.
Lockley up and with many here and there. He moved through a in which nothing to from the normal. The sun shone. The cloud cover, some time since, was and now a good two-thirds of the sky was clear. The of the on all around him.
But presently he came to a partly-graded new road, across his way. A on it, brand-new and in perfect order, with the of and oil about it. He the in the it had begun. It toward the camp. He came to a place where had been in progress. The for remained. But there was nobody in sight.
Half a mile from this spot, Lockley looked upon the camp. There were Quonset and structures. There were of and from one to another. There was a long, low, open with long tables under its roof. A shed. Next to it metal pipes another roof, and of air rose from those pipes. There was a which would be a commissary. There was every of needed for a small city, though all were temporary. And there was no movement, no sound, no of life the air from the stovepipes.
Lockley into the camp. All was silence. All was lifeless. He looked about him. There would be no point, of course, in looking into the dormitories, but he his way to the shed. Some plates and coffee cups, soiled, on the table. There were a flies. Not many. In the there was and the of and food. The still burned. Lockley saw the of gas. He on. The door of the was open. Everything men might want to in such a place waited for purchasers, but there was no one to or sell.
The and of the place resulted from less than an hour's abandonment. But somehow it was to call out for Jill. Lockley was by the of in such sunshine. It was shocking. Men hadn't moved out of the camp. They'd left it, with every article of use and abandoned; nothing at all had been removed. And there was no of Jill. It to Lockley that she'd have waited for Vale at the camp, his should have been for her safety. Yes. She'd have waited for Vale to her. But Vale was either or a of the that had been in the object from the sky. He wouldn't be looking after Jill.
Lockley himself his at the from Vale had been prepared to measure the line his post and Lockley's. That point not be from here, but Lockley looked for a small that might be Jill, to Vale of the events he'd else.
Then Lockley a very small sound. It was faint, with an in it. It had the of speech. His suddenly. There was the for the set by which the had in touch with the world. Lockley for the under it. His in the camp, and they out the he was for.
He stopped at the open door. He Jill's voice saying anxiously, "But I'm sure he'd have come to make I was safe!" A pause. "There's no one else left, and I want...." Another pause. "But he was up on the mountainside! At least a could—"
Lockley called, "Jill!"
He a gasp. Then she said unsteadily, "Someone just called. Wait a moment."
She came to the door. At of Lockley her fell.
"I came to make sure you were all right," he said awkwardly. "Are you talking to outside?"
"Yes. Do you know anything about—"
"I'm I do," said Lockley. "Right now the thing is to you out of here. I'll tell them we're starting. All right?"
She aside. He up to the set which looked much like an ordinary telephone, but was to a box with and switches. There was a pocket radio—a radio—on top of the cabinet. Lockley up the microphone. He himself. He said he'd come to make sure of Jill's safety, and that he'd been passed by the of and trucks that had else. Then he said, "I've got a car about four miles away. It's in a ditch, but I can it out. It'll be a for Miss Holmes if you send a there to her up."
The reply was somehow in tone. It like a being about something he nothing about. Lockley said, "Over" in a and put the microphone. He up the pocket radio and put it in his pocket. It might be useful.
"They say to try to make it out in my car," he told Jill wryly. "As civilians, I they haven't any they can give orders to. But it makes sense. If there are some around, there's no point in them up with a around near their landing place. Not we're to take action. Come along. I've got to you away from here."
"But I'm waiting...." She looked distressed. "He wanted me to yesterday. We almost about it. He'll surely come to make sure I'm safe...."
"I'm I have news," said Lockley. Then he described, as as he could, his last talk with Vale. It was the one which ended with and by the communicator, and then the of the itself. He didn't mention the that the had perfectly while it was up and at and destroyed. He had no for it. What he did have to tell was enough. She pale, his as he told her.
"But—but—" She swallowed. "He might have been and—not killed. He might be alive and in need of help. If there are from else, they might not that he be and not dead! He'd make sure about me! I—I'll go up and make sure about him...."
Lockley hesitated. "It's not likely," he said carefully, "that he was left there injured. But if you that somebody has to make sure, I'll do it. For one thing, I can climb faster. My car is yonder. You go and wait by it. At least it's from the and you should be there. I'll make sure about Vale."
He in detail how she the car. Up this to a through the for a highway. Due south from an bulldozer. Keep out of sight. Never against a skyline.
She again. Then she said, "If he needs help, you could—do more than I can. But I'll wait there where the begin. I can if I need to, and I—might be of some use."
He that she herself with the that he, Lockley, might an Vale the and that she be useful then. He let her. He through the with her to put her on the right track. He gave her the pocket radio, so she for news. When she on out of in brushwood, he toward the on which Vale had an post. It was actually a million-year-old that he presently. And he took a chance. As he climbed, for some time he moved in plain view. If the of the ship in Boulder Lake were watching, they'd see him than Jill. If they took action, it would be against him and not Jill. Somehow he to himself than Jill would be.
He climbed. Again the world was normal, commonplace. There were on every hand. Some had been originally, some had not. With each five hundred of climbing, he see still more mountains. The sky was now. He a thousand feet. Two. Three. He see for a full thirty miles to the spot where he'd been at daybreak. But he was making his on the of this particular mountain. He not see Boulder Lake from there. On the other hand, no at Boulder Lake should be able to see him. Only an party which might otherwise Jill would be to him, a slowly moving against a mountainside.
He the level at which Vale's post had been assigned. He moved and around of stone. The wind past him, making in his ears. Once he a small and it and the he'd climbed.
He saw where Vale have been as he something come from the sky. He Vale's sleeping bag, and the of his campfire. Here too was the communicator. It had been by a and upon it, but that it had been moved. It was not in place on the bench mark from which it measure in a of of miles.
There was no other of what had here. The of the fire were undisturbed. Vale's sleeping looked as if it had not been slept in, as if it had only been spread out for the night before. Lockley over the by inch. No red which might be blood. Nothing....
No. In a of soft earth two there was a hoofprint. It was not a footprint. A had it, but not a horse's hoof, a burro's. It wasn't a sheep track. It was not the of any animal on earth. But it was here. Lockley himself if the that had it would squeak, or if it would roar. They unlikely.
He looked at the which was almost a mile him. The water was blue. It only the and the the area where the had fallen. Nothing moved. There was no visible set up on the shore, as Vale had said. But something had in the lake. Trees by the water's were and broken. Masses of had been and away. Limbs were of yards from the water, and there were to be there was soft earth. An had itself against the nearly of the lake. It had like a of high in an of water. It was that something and had from the sky.
But Lockley saw no movement any other in this wilderness. He nothing that was not an normal sound.
But then he something.
It was a horrible, somehow odor. It was the of jungle, and rotting. It was much, much than the of a skunk.
He moved to himself into flight. Then light him. Closing his did not it out. There were all colors, vivid, and they in and which succeeded each other in of seconds. He see nothing but this light. Then there came sound. It was raucous. It was cacophonic. It was an in which notes and and and were so as to be unbearable. And then came pure as he that he not move. Every of his had as it with anguish. He felt, all over, as if he were a wire.
He that he where he stood. He was by light and by and his were with the of and decay. These for what years.
Then all the ended abruptly. But he still not see; his were still by the lights that his had not changed. He still not hear. He'd been by the that had and him. He moved, and he it, but he not anything. His hands and numb.
Then he that the positions of his arms and were changed. He struggled, and and without anywhere. He that he was confined. His arms were somehow so that he not move them.
And then gradually—very gradually—his returned. He squeakings. At they were as the nerve ends in his ears only to their function. He to the of touch, though he only everywhere.
He was up. It to him that than him. He erect, swaying. His of had been without his it. It came back, very slowly. But he saw nothing. Clawlike hands—or claws—pulled at him. He himself and pushed. He staggered. He took steps out of the need to erect. The and continued. He himself somewhere. He that his arms were they were with something like or rope.
Stumbling, he to the urging. There was nothing else to do. He himself descending. He was being which only be downward. He was guided, not gently, but not either.
He waited for to return to him. It did not come.
It was then he that he not see he was blindfolded.
There were very near him. He to the mountain, and and sometimes by creatures.
