Star Trek - Blish, James - 08 Page 15

  Sybo's words were coming in a frightened wail. "De-vouring evil-eating life, light-hunger that preys- redjac-redjac..."

  The altar flame winked out. In the darkness flooding the room, Kirk heard a rushing sound like the flapping of great wings. Then Sybo gave a wild scream.

  "Get the lights!" he shouted.

  They blazed up. Hengist was over at the light panel, his hand still on it.

  But all Kirk had eyes for was Sybo. She was slumped in Scott's arms. Very slowly her body twisted in them. From her back the haft of a long knife protruded. Scott's nerveless arms relaxed-and the body fell to the floor. Scott looked down at it. Then Kirk saw him look away from it to stare at his bloody hands.

  Jaris's face was gaunt with grief. And Kirk, listening to Hengist's tirade, thought-and not for the first time- Mr. City Administrator, you are an insensitive man.

  "Three murders!" Hengist was yelling. "And this man on the scene each time! What do you require, Captain? That he stab another woman in the back before your very eyes?"

  "Mr. Hengist, please-not now," Jaris said. "My poor wife-her body has just been removed..."

  Hengist persisted. "Prefect, I am perfectly satisfied that this Enterprise crewman is guilty!"

  "But not responsible," Kirk said. "These acts have been acts of insanity. If Mr. Scott is guilty, he is a madman. On our ship we have instruments able to determine his mental state."

  "And save his life?" There was a sneer in Hengist's voice.

  "Insanity cannot be held responsible under any-body's laws," Kirk said. "It is unaware of what it does to others."

  "Gentlemen, please-" Jaris said.

  "I am sorry, Prefect," Hengist said. "My heart grieves for you-but I can stand by no longer! This man has killed three times! Even Captain Kirk admits it! But this last-minute attempt to help Scott evade punishment...."

  Kirk kept his voice level. "No, Mr. Hengist. To see that justice is done."

  "I-don't know," Jaris, said.

  "How many other murders will occur unless we take prompt action, sir?" Hengist asked him. "The old laws still exist. I can get the truth from this killer."

  "By torture?" Kirk said. He turned to Jaris. "Prefect, I told you before, we'll stand by your laws. If Mr. Scott is mentally responsible, he is yours to punish. But I must insist that everything possible be done to establish his mental condition."

  Jaris's mouth trembled. Shock had visibly aged him. "How could any man do these monstrous things?"

  "That is what I hope to find out, sir," Kirk said gently.

  With an effort Jaris looked at Scott. "And you, Mr. Scott, what do you have to say?"

  Scott stood up. "Sir, I swear before God that I did not kill your wife. I have not killed anyone."

  "By your own admission you don't know whether you did or not," Hengist said. "Your so-called failure of memory..."

  "Mr. Hengist," McCoy interrupted him, "aboard our ship it is possible to record all registrations that have been made on Mr. Scott's conscious or subconscious mind. We can recover all that has occurred to him. The recordings are factual. They will tell us exactly what has happened to him in the recent past."

  Kirk pressed McCoy's point. "There would be no room for doubt," he said. "We would know. Isn't that what we want, Prefect? To know?" He looked at Hen-gist. "The investigation and disposition of the case would still remain in your jurisdiction. What we're after is the removal of doubts."

  Hengist's face hardened. "Your suggestion would be illegal. If this man is taken back into your ship with you, what legal assurance do we have you'd return him to Argelius even if your instruments prove him guilty? I have the authority to..."

  Jaris had recovered control of himself. "Mr. Hengist, the authority is mine," he said firmly. "And this decision, too, is mine." He looked at Kirk. "Captain, as you know, Mr. Scott has claimed to remember nothing about the murders. He may have killed without know-ing he killed. Can your machines penetrate to the truth of his actions?"

  "They will so correlate the facts that a positive con-clusion is reached," Kirk said. "No doubts will re-main."

  Jaris rose. "Very well. We shall go to your ship."

  He walked over to Scott, his step steady. "If you are guilty," he said, "you will face the ancient penalties, barbaric though they may be. I warn you that the ancient penalty for murder was death by slow torture. That law has never been changed. Do you understand, Mr. Scott?".

  Scott moistened his dry lips. But he faced Jaris unflinchingly. "Aye, sir. I understand."

  The Briefing Room of the Enterprise was crowded. The Argelian guests, including Tark and Morla, had been seated on one side of its table. On the other side, a pretty yeoman, Tancris, sat between Scott and McCoy, prepared to record the proceedings. Kirk with Spock stood near the computer controls.

  Kirk addressed his guests. "Deep in the heart of this ship are our computer banks. They operate the entire ship. They also contain the whole of human and hu-manoid knowledge. They are indisputably reliable. Our lives depend on them."

  He turned to Spock. "Anything to add, Mr. Spock?"

  "In a matter of a few seconds," Spock said, "we can obtain an answer to any factual question, regardless of its complexity."

  "You don't solve a murder with columns of figures!" Hengist said.

  "No, sir. But we do determine the truth."

  "How?" asked Morla. "That machine can't tell what goes on in a man's mind!"

  Kirk pointed to the computer's verifier. "No. But this piece of equipment can-to an extent." He pulled out a chair. "Each testifier will sit here, his hand on this plate. Any deviation from factual truth will be immedi-ately detected. It will then be relayed to the computer which will notify us."

  Hengist stirred in his chair. Kirk continued. "Doctor McCoy has already fed his medical reports into the computer. Our laboratory experts are now examining the murder weapon. They will give their findings to the computer for its analysis. Mr. Scott, will you please take the stand?"

  Scott rose, moved to the verifier, sat down and laid his hand on the plate. Kirk activated the computer control.

  "Computer," he said. "Identify and verify."

  The mechanism clicked. And the computer voice spoke. "Working. Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, serial number SE 197-547-230T. Verified."

  "Subject's present physical condition?" Kirk said.

  "Working. Subject recently subjected to severe blow on skull. Damage healing. Some peripheral abnormali-ties."

  "Sufficient abnormalities to cause periods of func-tional amnesia?"

  "Working," responded the computer. "Negative."

  Puzzled, McCoy intervened. "I don't see how that can be, Jim."

  "It can be if Scotty is lying about his loss of memo-ry," Kirk said.

  "I'm not lying, Captain!" Scott cried. "I don't remember a thing about the first two murders!"

  "Computer. Accuracy scan," said Kirk.

  "Subject relaying accurate account. No physiological changes."

  Scott, his hand still on the plate, half-rose from the chair. "Captain, I never said I blacked out when the Prefect's wife was killed!"

  "All right, Scott. Go ahead. What do you remember about it?"

  "We were all holding hands. The room was dark, the light from the altar was so dim. I heard the poor lady scream. I tried to reach her-but something was be-tween us."

  "Something?" Kirk questioned. "You mean some-one?"

  "No, sir. Some-thing. Cold-it was cold like a stinking draft out of a slaughterhouse. But-it wasn't really there like-" He stopped, adding lamely, "If you get what I mean."

  "Computer?" Kirk said.

  "Subject relaying accurate account. No physiological changes."

  "All right," said Kirk. "I'm putting it straight. Scott, did you kill Sybo?"

  "No," sir. That I'm sure of."

  Hengist grunted. "He's been saying that all along. It means no more now than it did before."

  Kirk eyed him. "Scotty!" he said. "Lie to me! How old are
you?"

  "Twenty-two, Captain."

  A buzzer sounded. The touch panel blinked a light on and off. And the computer voice said, "Inaccurate. Inaccurate. Data in error."

  "Scott, when the lights went out, who was holding your hand?"

  "Morla on the one side, sir-you on the other."

  Morla, his face pale, got to his feet. "But that doesn't mean anything, Captain. A small room like that-it was dark-anyone of us would have had time to kill the lady."

  Hengist was quick to object. "I remind everyone we found Mr. Scott holding her in his arms. The knife was still in her back. And there was blood on his hands."

  "That is so," Kirk said. "But the verifier has shown it will accept no lie."

  "Two other women were murdered," Hengist chal-lenged.

  "Mr. Scott," Kirk said, "did you kill Kara?"

  "I don't remember."

  "Did you kill Lieutenant Tracy?"

  "I can't remember."

  "Computer," Kirk said. "Accuracy scan."

  "Subject relaying accurate account. No physiological changes."

  "All this proves," Jaris said, "is that he's telling the truth about the memory lapses."

  "It's a waste of our time!" Hengist exclaimed.

  Kirk said, "Mr. Hengist, after this testimony is tak-en, we will run a psychotricorder analysis of Mr. Scott's memory. That's what Lieutenant Tracy was trying to do. This time we'll do it. We shall have a complete record of the action he took, remembered or forgotten. Will that satisfy you?"

  "If you can convince me that the machine is incap-able of error. If it shows that he did not kill the women."

  "The machine does not err. As to the rest of it, the readings will reveal that. I think you can stand down, Mr. Scott-if there are no objections."

  "I object to this entire procedure!" Hengist shouted.

  Mildly, Jaris turned to him. "Mr. Hengist, we are here on my authority."

  "Prefect, I know you mean well-but I have had past experience in matters of this kind while you..."

  "Enough, sir," Jaris stopped him short. "For the present we will accept Captain Kirk's trust of the ma-chine's accuracy. At the same time we'll reserve the right to make the final determination ourselves."

  "That's all we ask, Prefect," Kirk said. "Mr. Morla, will you take the stand?"

  Morla took it, placing his hand nervously on the touch plate, and Kirk said, "Where were you at the time Kara was murdered?"

  "I-I'm not sure. Walking home, I think. I was disturbed." He looked at Kirk. "I told you I felt an-ger."

  "Anger is a relative state, Mr. Morla," interposed Spock. "Were you angry enough to do violence?"

  "I have never done violence in my life. I am an Argelian. I do not believe I am capable of violence." His voice shook. "Believe me, I couldn't kill her! She loved me!"

  Tark jumped to his feet. "That is not true! She did not love him! She told me. He was jealous! They fought constantly!" Tears in his eyes, he turned to Jaris. "My daughter was a true Argelian. A child of joy..."

  "Yes, I was jealous!" Morla was on his feet, too. "I admit it! But I did not kill her! I wanted to leave Argelius with her-go somewhere to have her all to myself. I loved her!"

  "Did you kill Lieutenant Tracy?" Kirk asked.

  "No!"

  "Did you kill Sybo?"

  "No!"

  "Computer-verification scan," Kirk said.

  "Subject relaying accurate account. Some statements subjective. No physiological changes."

  "That would seem to be it," Kirk said. "You can stand down, Mr. Morla."

  "He glanced around the faces at the table. After a long moment, he said slowly, "Sybo spoke of a con-suming hunger that never dies-of something that thrives on terror, on death." He looked at Spock. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Let's assume that Sybo was a sensitive-that she did sense something evil in that room..."

  "The sensitivity of certain Argelian women is a documented fact, Captain," Spock said.

  "My-dear wife's talent," said Jaris, "was genuine, gentlemen. The things she said were true."

  "All right, then," said Kirk. "Exactly what was it she said? A monstrous evil-out of the past-hatred of life, of woman..."

  "A lust for death," supplemented McCoy.

  "She made some other references that didn't make sense," Kirk said.

  "I remember them," McCoy told him. "Redjac. Boratis. Kesla."

  Kirk shook his head. "Obscure. Meaningless."

  "To us, perhaps, Captain," Spock said. "But to the computer banks..."

  "Check them out, Mr. Spock."

  "Computer, linguistic banks," Spock said. "Defini-tion of following word-redjac."

  The computer buzzed. "Working. Negative finding."

  "There's no such word in the linguistic bank?"

  "Affirmative."

  "Scan all other banks," Spock said.

  "Working. Affirmative. A proper name."

  "Define," Spock said.

  "Working. Red Jack. Source: Earth, nineteenth cen-tury. Language: English. Nickname applied to mass murderer of women. Other Earth synonym: Jack the Ripper."

  A silence composed of shock, hope and incredulity fell over the listeners.

  "That's ridiculous!" Hengist yelled. He leaped to his feet. "Jack the Ripper lived hundreds of years ago!"

  Kirk said, "Computer. Factual data and capsuliza-tion on Jack the Ripper."

  "Working. Jack the Ripper: First appearance, Lon-don, ancient British Empire, Earth, year 1888, old calendar. Brutal killer of at least six women by knife or surgical instrument; no witnesses to crimes; no identifi-cation or arrest. Crimes remain unsolved. No known motive."

  "Senseless crimes," McCoy said reflectively.

  "As senseless as the murder of Kara-or Lieutenant Tracy," said Kirk.

  Tark looked from one to the other. "It can't be. A man could not survive all these centuries."

  "My wife," Jaris said. "My wife-before she died- it is a deathless hunger, she said."

  "But all men die!" protested Tark.

  "All men die, sir," Spock said. "But humans and humanoids comprise only, a small percent of the life forms we know of. There exist entities possessed of ex-tremely long life-spans, virtually immortal."

  "But-a being which feeds on death?" McCoy shook his head.

  "In the strict scientific sense, Doctor, we all live on death-even vegetarians."

  "But Sybo said it feeds on terror!"

  "Deriving sustenance from emotion is not unknown- and fear is among the strongest and most intense of the emotions."

  Hengist's eyes lingered on Spock's quiet face. Then he swung around to Jaris. "Prefect, this has gone far enough! Someone, some man has killed three women. We have the prime suspect in our hands! Are we going to let him go to chase down ghosts?"

  "Not ghosts, Mr. Hengist," Kirk said. "Possibly not human-but not a ghost. Mr. Spock, run a check on the possibilities."

  "Computer. Digest log recordings of past five solar minutes. Correlate hypotheses. Compare with life forms register. Question: could such an entity within discussed limits, exist in this galaxy?"

  "Affirmative. Examples exist. The Drella of Alpha Carinae V derives its sustenance from the emotion of love. There exists sufficient precedent for existence of creature, nature unknown, which could exist on emo-tion of terror."

  "Extrapolate most likely composition of such entity," Spock said.

  "Working. To meet specified requirements, entity would exist without form in conventional sense. Most probable: mass of energy, highly cohesive."

  Kirk took over. "Computer, in such form, could the entity kill with a knife?"

  "Negative."

  "Could the entity described assume physical form?"

  "Affirmative. Precedent: the Mellitus, cloud creature of Alpha Majoris 1."

  "Fairy tales!" Hengist was acid with scorn. "Ghosts and goblins!"

  Kirk was getting his fill of Hengist. "No, sir," he said. "I've seen the Mellitus myself. Its normal sta
te is gaseous but at rest it becomes solid." He turned back to Spock. "Let's assume the existence of this creature able to take on form or reject it at will. That could explain Scotty's failure to remember anything about the first two murders."