"It seems to me that you"re building an awfully involved theory out of pretty flimsy stuff," Stanton said.
Yoritomo shook his head. "Not at all. All evidence points to it. Why, do you suppose, does the Nipe conscientiously devour his victims, often risking his own safety to do so? Why do you suppose he never uses any weapons but his own hands to kill with?
"Why? To tell the Real People that he is a gentleman!"
It made perfect sense, Stanton thought. It fitted every known fact, as far as he knew. Still--
"I would think," he said, "that the Nipe would have realized, after ten years, that there is no such race of Real People. He"s had access to all our records, and such things. Or does he reject them as lies?"
"Possibly he would, if he could read them. Did I not say he was illiterate?"
"You mean he"s learned to speak our languages, but not to read them?"
The scientist smiled broadly. "Your statement is accurate, my friend, but incomplete. It is my opinion that the Nipe is incapable of reading any written language whatever. The concept does not exist in his mind, except vaguely."
"A technological race without a written language? That"s impossible!"
"Ah, no. Ask yourself: What need has a race with a perfect memory for written records--at least, in the sense we know them. Certainly not to remember things. All their history and all their technology exists in the collective mind of the race--or, at least, most of it. I dare say that the less important parts of their history has been glossed over and forgotten.
One important event in every ten centuries would still give a historian ten thousand events to remember--and history is only a late development in our own society."
"How about communications?" Stanton said, "What did they use before they invented radio?"
"Ah. That is why I hedged when I said he was _almost_ illiterate. There is a possibility that a written symbology did at one time exist, for just that purpose. If so, it has probably survived as a ritualistic form--when an officer is appointed to a post, let"s say, he may get a formal paper that says so. They may use symbols to signify rank and so on. They certainly must have a symbology for the calibration of scientific instruments.
"But none of these requires the complexity of a written language. I dare say our use of it is quite baffling to him. And if he thinks of symbols as being unable to convey much information, then he might not be able to learn to read at all. You see?"
"Where"s your evidence for that?"
"It is sketchy, I will admit," said Yoritomo. "It is not as solidly based as our other reconstructions of his background. The pattern of his raids indicates, however, that his knowledge of the materials he wants and their locations comes from vocal sources--television advertising, eaves-dropping, and so on. In other words, he cases the joint by ear. If he could understand written information, his job would have been much easier. He could have found the materials more quickly and easily. From this evidence, we are fairly certain that he can"t read any Terrestrial writing.
"Add to that the fact that he has never been observed writing down anything himself, and the suspicion dawns that perhaps he _knows_ that symbols can only convey a very small amount of specialized information.
Eh?
"As I said, it is not proof."
"No. But the whole thing makes for some very interesting speculation, doesn"t it?"
"Very interesting indeed." Yoritomo folded his hands in his lap, smiled seraphically, and looked at the ceiling. "In fact, my friend, we are now so positive of our knowledge of the Nipe"s mind that we are prepared to enter into the next phase of our program. Within a very short while, if we are correct, we shall, with your help, arrest the most feared arch-criminal that Earth has ever known." He chuckled, but there was little mirth in it. "I dare say that the public will be extremely happy to hear of his death, and I know that Colonel Mannheim and the rest of us will be glad to know that he will never kill again."
Stanton saw that the fateful day was looming suddenly large in the future. "How soon?"
"Within days." He lowered his eyes from the ceiling and looked into Stanton"s face with a mildly bland expression.
"By the way," he said, "did you know that your brother is returning to Earth tomorrow?"
XV
INTERLUDE
"Is this our young man, Dr. Farnsworth?" asked the man in uniform.
"Yes, it is. Colonel Mannheim, I"d like you to meet Mr. Bartholomew Stanton."
"How are you, Mr. Stanton?"
"Fine, Colonel. A little nervous."
The colonel chuckled softly. "I can"t say that I blame you. It"s not an easy decision to make." He looked at Dr. Farnsworth. "Has Dr. Yoritomo any more information for us?"
Farnsworth shook his head. "No. He admits that his idea is nothing more than a wild hunch. He seems to think that five years of observing the Nipe won"t be too much time at all. We may have to act before then."
"I hope not. It would be a terrible waste," said Mannheim. "Mr. Stanton, I know that Dr. Farnsworth has outlined the entire plan to you, and I"m sure you"re aware that many things can change in five years. We may have to play by ear long before that. Do you understand what we are doing, and why it must be done this way?"
"Yes, sir."
"You know that you"re not to say anything."
"Yes, sir. Don"t worry; I can keep my mouth shut."
"We"re pretty sure of that," the colonel said with a smile. "Your psychometric tests showed that we were right in picking you. Otherwise, we couldn"t have told you. You understand your part in this, eh?"
"Yes, sir."
"Any questions?"
"Yes, sir. What about my brother, Martin? I mean, well, I know what"s the matter with him. Aside from the radiation, I mean. Do you think he"ll be able to handle his part of the job after--after the operations?"
"If the operations turn out as well as Dr. Farnsworth thinks they will, yes. And, with the therapy we"ll give him afterwards, he"ll be in fine shape."
"Well." He looked thoughtful. "Five more years. And then I"ll have the twin brother that I never really had at all. Somehow, it doesn"t really register, I guess."
"Don"t worry about it, Mr. Stanton," said Dr. Farnsworth. "We"ve got a complex enough job ahead of us without your worrying in the bargain. By the way, we"ll need your signature here." He handed him a pen and spread the paper on the desk. "In triplicate."
The young man read quickly through the release form. "All nice and legal, huh? Well...." He hesitated for a moment, then bent over and wrote: _Bartholomew Stanton_ in a firm, clear hand.
XVI
The tunnel was long and black and the air was stale and thick with the stench of rodents. Stanton stood still, trying to probe the luminescent gloom that the goggles he wore brought to his eyes. The tunnel stretched out before him--on and on. Around him was the smell of viciousness and death. Ahead ...
_It goes on to infinity_, Stanton thought, _ending at last at zero_.
"Barbell," said a voice near his ear, "Barhop here. Do you read?" It was the barest whisper, picked up by the antennae in his shoes from the steel rail that ran along the tunnel.
"Read you, Barhop."