Free Selected Stories by Theodore Sturgeon Page A

rewound them,” said Teague, irritated.
    “Maybe they wanted us to know that they’d read them,” said Moira.
    “Maybe they did,” Teague murmured. He picked up a reel, looked at it, picked up another and another. “Music. A play. And here’s our personal stuff—behavior film, training records, everything.”
    Carl said, “Whoever read through all this knows a lot about us.”
    Teague frowned. “Just us?”
    “Who else?”
    “Earth,” said Teague. “All of it.”
    “You mean we were captured and analyzed so that whoever they are could get a line on Earth? You think they’re going to attack Earth?”
    “‘You mean … You think …’” Teague mimicked coldly. “I mean nothing and I think nothing! Tod, would you be good enough to explain to this impulsive young man what you learned from me earlier? That we need concern ourselves only with evidence?”
    Tod shuffled his feet, wishing not to be made an example for anyone, especially Carl, to follow. Carl flushed and tried to smile. Moira took his hand secretly and squeezed it. Tod heard a slight exhalation beside him and looked quickly at April. She was angry. There were times when he wished she would not be angry.
    She pointed. “Would you call that evidence, Teague?”
    They followed her gesture. One of the tape-readers stood open. On its reelshelf stood the counterpart of the strange object they had seen twice before—once, in miniature, found in Alma’s Coffin; once again, huge in the sky. This was another of the miniatures.
    Teague stared at it, then put out his hand. As his fingers touched it, the pilot-jewel on the tape-reader flashed on, and a soft, clear voice filled the room.
    Tod’s eyes stung. He had thought he would never hear that voice again. As he listened, he held to the lifeline of April’s presence, and felt his lifeline tremble.
    Alma’s voice said:
    “They made some adjustments yesterday with the needle-clusters i n my Coffin, so I think they will put me back into it … Teague, oh, Teague, I’m going to die!
    “They brought me the recorder just now. I don’t know whether it’s for their records or for you. If it’s for you, then I must tell you … how can I tell you?
    “I’ve watched them all this time … how long? Months … I don’t know. I conceived when I awoke, and the babies are coming very soon now; it’s been long enough for that; and yet—how can I tell you?
    “They boarded us, I don’t know how, I don’t know why, nor where … outside, space is strange, wrong. It’s all misty, without stars, crawling with blurs and patches of light.
    “They understand me; I’m sure of that—what I say, what I think. I can’t understand them at all. They radiate feelings—sorrow, curiosity, confidence, respect. When I began to realize I would die, they gave me a kind of regret. When I broke and cried and said I wanted to be with you, Teague, they reassured me, they said I would. I’m sure that’s what they said. But how could that be?
    “They are completely dedicated in what they are doing. Their work is a religion to them, and we are part of it. They … value us, Teague. They didn’t just find us. They chose us. It’s as if we were the best part of something even they consider great.
    “The best …! Among them I feel like an amoeba. They’re beautiful, Teague. Important. Very sure of what they are doing. It’s that certainty that makes me believe what I have to believe; I am going to die, and you will live, and you and I will be together. How can that be? How can that be?
    “Yet it is true, so believe it with me, Teague. But—find out how!
    “Teague, every day they have put a machine on me, radiating. It has to do with the babies. It isn’t done to harm them. I’m sure of that. I’m their mother and I’m sure of it. They won’t die.
    “I will. I can feel their sorrow.
    “And I will be with you, and they are joyous about that. …
    “Teague—find out how!”
    Tod closed his eyes so that he would