Final Weapon Read online

"Yeah," hemuttered. "Yeah, I noticed that, too, come to think of it. Feedbackeffect of some sort, I suppose. Have to experiment with that, too, Iexpect." He turned back to his work.

  * * * * *

  Elaine put the headband back on and watched him. She felt a completefamiliarity with everything he was working on. For the first time, shefelt she fully understood this man with whom she had lived for so manyyears. And the understanding was pleasant. She could comprehend themysteries of the circuits he was working on. She had always feltslightly neglected when he worked with his equipment, especially sincethe bureaucracy, who took his results without recompense. Now, she couldfeel his interest in his work for its own sake. She could sympathizewith it. And, with a little study, she felt she could join with him.

  Graham straightened again. "It's done," he said. He picked the secondheadband from the desk and put it on. Abruptly, both he and his wifewere aware of a fuzziness in their thoughts and senses. The walls, thefloor, and the furniture seemed to blur and waver, like the fantasyworld of delirium. He put his hand up and adjusted the controls. Theroom returned to normal, and their senses were abruptly sharp and clearagain. He dropped his hand.

  "_Outside. See if it'll work when we can't see each other._"

  "_Almost curfew time._"

  "_Only a couple of minutes. Then lights out and sleep._"

  Elaine walked to the door. She stepped out into the corridor and walkeddown the steps.

  "_All right?_"

  "_Perfect! Try the parking lot. Close the door._"

  She went out of the quarters, crossed the areaway, and stood under thelanding slot. Far overhead, a segment of sky appeared between the openbomb shutters. Stars shone coldly. She was conscious of a movement andlooked down, toward a shadow which moved among the parked helicopters.

  "What's that?"

  She looked more closely at the shadow, then shuddered a little.

  "_Never mind._" The thought was urgent. "_Come inside. I got him, too._"

  * * * * *

  Quickly, Elaine walked back into the apartment. She closed the door andwalked to the desk, removing the headband as she approached. Her husbandput his headband beside it.

  "We'd better get to bed," he said quietly. "I'll notify them tomorrow."

  "No, Paul. It would be harder then. And there would be so manyquestions. Call the sector leader tonight. We'll have to get it over."Elaine shivered.

  "But what _will_ they do with it?" She asked the question almostdespairingly.

  Graham shook his head. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I started with theidea of simply building a really effective communicator. But this ismore than that. To you and I, it meant full understanding. But to thatperson out there ... I don't know."

  "His thoughts were flat--almost lifeless. And he made my skin crawl.Paul, do you remember how you used to feel when you came close to asnake? There's something wrong with that man."

  "I know. I felt it, too. And it made the blood rush into my ears."Graham moved toward the communicator, placing his hand on the switch."And you're right. I'll have to report immediately. They don't reallyneed telepathy. And certainly, they never required real evidence. Asuspicion is sufficient, and they'd be very suspicious if I didn'tnotify the sector leader tonight."

  He depressed the switch deliberately, like a man firing a weapon. Then,he dialed a number, and waited.

  The sphere lit, to show the face of Harold Bond.

  "Oh, Graham." Bond frowned a little. "It's late. Do you have somethingto report?"

  "Yes, sir." Graham's face was expressionless. "The mental communicatoris finished. Do you wish to test it, sir?"

  Bond opened his eyes a little more and nodded. "It's really done,then?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "I'll be there in a few minutes." The sphere darkened.

  Graham looked at it. De-energized, the communicator seemed to be merelya large ball of clear material. It stood on its low pedestal, againstits black background, reflecting a distorted picture of the chiaroscuroof the room. He leaned toward it, and saw a faint, deformed reflectionof his own head and shoulders.

  He spread his hands a little, and turned around. Elaine had crossed tothe divan, where she sat, looking apathetically at the door, her handsfolded in her lap. He smiled apprehensively, coughed, and held up ahand, two fingers crossed.

  Elaine glanced at him, nodded, and resumed her watch of the door. Grahamshrugged and walked over to his desk, where he stood, aimlessly lookingdown at the two headbands.

  * * * * *

  They both jumped convulsively when the buzzer sounded. Graham stroderapidly to the door, opened it, and stood back as the sector leader camein. Elaine had come to her feet, and stood rigidly, facing the door.

  Sector Leader Bond closed the door, then looked from one of them to theother. He shook his head a little sadly, and waved a hand gently backand forth.

  "Relax, you two," he said. "I'm alone this time." He turned to Graham."Let's see what we've got."

  Graham walked to his desk and picked up the two headbands.

  "They're a little rough-looking, sir," he apologized. "But they work."

  Bond tossed his head back with a little laugh. "They do look a littlerugged, don't they?" he chuckled. "Well, we'll worry about appearancelater. Right now, I'm curious. I want to see what these things do."

  Graham handed over one of the bands and slowly adjusted the other to hishead. For a moment, he looked searchingly at the sector leader, then hisface relaxed into a relieved expression.

  "_Hear me?_"

  Bond had been examining the device in his hands. He looked up, puzzled.

  "Of course I hear you," he said. "I'm not deaf."

  Graham smiled a little, then placed a hand tightly over his mouth.

  "_Still get me?_"

  Bond cocked his head to one side, looked down at the device in hishands, then looked up again. "Well," he commented. "So that's the waythey work. I thought you spoke."

  Graham shook his head. "_Didn't have to. Try it on._"

  Bond shrugged. "Well, here we go." He pulled off his cap, tossed it to achair, and replaced it with the headband. For a moment, he looked aroundthe apartment, then he glanced at Mrs. Graham. He blinked, ducked hishead, and looked more closely at her.

  "_Ow! Nobody could be as bad as that!_" He looked at Graham. "_What doyou think?_"

  "_There's one outside._" Graham inclined his head a little.

  Elaine Graham sprang to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry," she apologizedcontritely. "It's just that I--"

  Bond took off the headband abruptly. "I'm sorry, too," he said. "I wasprying." He looked down at the device. "I'm not too sure about thisthing," he added. "It works. I can see that much. But I'm almost afraidit works too well. What's it going to cause?"

  Graham pulled off his own headband and extended his hand for the other."I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm not sure of anything at all." Hefrowned. "Wish I hadn't--" He looked at the sector leader quickly.

  "I'm sorry, sir," he apologized. "Forgot my training, I guess."

  Bond waved a hand. "Look," he said, "there are times, and there areplaces. Right now, I'm in your home, and I'm just as worried about thisas you are. I'm just another person." He looked down at his neatuniform.

  "Once," he mused, "we were all just people. Now--" He shrugged. "Andthen, these things come along." He looked at the two headbands, then atthe man holding them.

  "Wonder how many people feel like that?"

  Graham held out the headbands. "I know one way to find out."

  Bond nodded. "I see what you mean," he admitted. "But it could be prettybad." He walked over to the chair and picked up his cap.

  "Well," he added with a sigh, "I suppose I'd better grab these thingsand take them over to Research. Have to find out all we can about them.I've still got to report on them." Again, he looked at Graham. "You'dbetter come along, too. Research people might have a lot of questi
ons,and I could never answer them."

  * * * * *

  Graham nodded and went to the hall closet. He took his coat from thehanger, put it on, and reached for his hat, then hesitated.

  "You know," he said, "we might try one experiment, right here."

  "Oh?" Bond raised his eyebrows.

  "There's a man out in