Free The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem Page B

sleeping. Rohan searched the body for evidence of some mysterious epidemic, some kind of poisoning or insect bites, but he could find nothing. Two fingers of the left hand spread apart and a small, gaping wound became visible. A few drops of blood began to ooze out of the torn flesh, and began to drip on the white foam rubber cover of the table. That was more than Rohan could stand. He did not even bother to pull the sheet back over the corpse; he ran out of the cabin, pushed aside the men who stood in his way and rushed toward the main exit as if he were being pursued. He was stopped by Jarg in the airlock, who helped him strap on the oxygen gear and pushed the mouthpiece between Rohan’s lips.
    “You didn’t find anything, Navigator?”
    “No, Jarge. Nothing, nothing at all.”
    He was unaware of the others beside him as he descended in the elevator. Outside the motors howled. The storm had grown stronger; sand clouds whizzed past and pelted the rough surface of the Condor’s hull.
    Suddenly Rohan remembered something. He walked over to the stem, raised himself on his toes and palpated the thick metal. The armored plate felt like rock, old weathered rock, dotted with hard nodules. Over near the transporters he noticed the tall figure of engineer Ganong, but he did not even try to ask him what he might think of that strange phenomenon. The engineer would know no more than he did himself: namely, nothing. Absolutely nothing.
    He rode back in the largest vehicle, together with a dozen other men. From his seat in the far corner of the cabin, he heard their voices as if from a great distance. Terner brought up the question of poisoning, but he was shouted down.
    “Poisoned? With what? All the filters are in top shape, the water supply untouched, oxygen tanks all full, an abundance of food…”
    “Did you see what the man looked like that we found in the navigation room?” asked Blank. “I used to know him. But I would never have recognized him if I hadn’t seen his signet ring.”
    Nobody answered. Back at the Invincible Rohan went directly to Horpach, who had been kept up to date on everything via television and the oral reports of the group that had returned earlier. They had also brought along with them several hundred photos. Unconsciously, Rohan was relieved that he did not have to describe to the commander what he had seen.
    The astrogator gave him a piercing glance and rose from the table where a large map of the area was spread out and partially covered by stacks of photographs. They were alone in the large command center.
    “Pull yourself together, Rohan,” he said. “I can sympathize with the way you feel right now, but we need cold reason, a clear head, no emotions. We’ll get to the bottom of this damned story.”
    “But they had every imaginable safety device: energo-robots, laser beam protectors and particle throwers. The big antimatter mortar is right there in front of the ship. They had all the same things to protect themselves that we do,” said Rohan in a toneless voice. He slumped down into a chair. “Forgive me.”
    The astrogator took a bottle of cognac from a small cupboard.
    “An old home remedy. Sometimes it does a lot of good. Drink that, Rohan. A long time ago people used this on battle fields.”
    Rohan took the drink and swallowed it in one gulp.
    “I checked the counters of all the energy aggregates,” he said in a reproachful tone. “The crew was never attacked. They never fired a single shot. They simply, simply—”
    “Went stark raving mad,” completed the unruffled commander.
    “If only we could be sure of that! But how could that happen?”
    “Did you see the log book?”
    “No. Gaarb took it along with him. Do you have it here now?”
    “Yes, I do. There’s the date of landing and only four entries, concerning the ruins, the same ones you men examined, and—the flies.”
    “What flies?”
    “I don’t know. This is the exact text here…”
    He picked up the