{"id":8871,"date":"2023-09-11T10:23:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T14:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lecturia.org\/?p=8871"},"modified":"2023-09-11T10:23:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T14:23:28","slug":"isaac-asimov-nightfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/short-stories\/isaac-asimov-nightfall\/8871\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaac Asimov: Nightfall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIf the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!\u201d\u2014Emerson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton 77, director of Saro University, thrust out a belligerent lower lip and glared at the young newspaperman in a hot fury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon 762 took that fury in his stride. In his earlier days, when his now widely syndicated column was only a mad idea in a cub reporter\u2019s mind, he had specialized in \u201cimpossible\u201d interviews. It had cost him bruises, black eyes, and broken bones; but it had given him an ample supply of coolness and self-confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So he lowered the outthrust hand that had been so pointedly ignored and calmly waited for the aged director to get over the worst. Astronomers were queer ducks, anyway, and if Aton\u2019s actions of the last two months meant anything, this same Aton was the queer-duckiest of the lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton 77 found his voice, and though it trembled with restrained emotion, the careful, somewhat pedantic, phraseology, for which the famous astronomer was noted, did not abandon him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSir,\u201d he said, \u201cyou display an infernal gall in coming to me with that impudent proposition of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The husky telephotographer of the Observatory, Beenay 25, thrust a tongue\u2019s tip across dry lips and interposed nervously, \u201cNow, sir, after all\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director turned to him and lifted a white eyebrow. \u201cDo not interfere, Beenay. I will credit you with good intentions in bringing this man here; but I will tolerate no insubordination now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon decided it was time to take a part. \u201cDirector Aton, if you\u2019ll let me finish what I started saying I think\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe, young man,\u201d retorted Aton, \u201cthat anything you could say now would count much as compared with your daily columns of these last two months. You have led a vast newspaper campaign against the efforts of myself and my colleagues to organize the world against the menace which it is now too late to avert. You have done your best with your highly personal attacks to make the staff of this Observatory objects of ridicule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director lifted the copy of the Saro City Chronicle<\/em> on the table and shook it at Theremon furiously. \u201cEven a person of your well-known impudence should have hesitated before coming to me with a request that he be allowed to cover today\u2019s events for his paper. Of all newsmen, you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton dashed the newspaper to the floor, strode to the window and clasped his arms behind his back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou may leave,\u201d he snapped over his shoulder. He stared moodily out at the skyline where Gamma, the brightest of the planet\u2019s six suns, was setting. It had already faded and yellowed into the horizon mists, and Aton knew he would never see it again as a sane man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He whirled. \u201cNo, wait, come here!\u201d He gestured peremptorily. \u201cI\u2019ll give you your story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman had made no motion to leave, and now he approached the old man slowly. Aton gestured outward, \u201cOf the six suns, only Beta is left in the sky. Do you see it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question was rather unnecessary. Beta was almost at zenith; its ruddy light flooding the landscape to an unusual orange as the brilliant rays of setting Gamma died. Beta was at aphelion. It was small; smaller than Theremon had ever seen it before, and for the moment it was undisputed ruler of Lagash\u2019s sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lagash\u2019s own sun, Alpha, the one about which it revolved, was at the antipodes; as were the two distant companion pairs. The red dwarf Beta\u2014Alpha\u2019s immediate companion\u2014was alone, grimly alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton\u2019s upturned face flushed redly in the sunlight. \u201cIn just under four hours,\u201d he said, \u201ccivilization, as we know it, comes to an end. It will do so because, as you see, Beta is the only sun in the sky.\u201d He smiled grimly. \u201cPrint that! There\u2019ll be no one to read it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut if it turns out that four hours pass\u2014and another four\u2014and nothing happens?\u201d asked Theremon softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let that worry you. Enough will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGranted! And still<\/em>\u2014if nothing happens?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a second time, Beenay 25 spoke, \u201cSir, I think you ought to listen to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon said, \u201cPut it to a vote, Director Aton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a stir among the remaining five members of the Observatory staff, who till now had maintained an attitude of wary neutrality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat,\u201d stated Aton flatly, \u201cis not necessary.\u201d He drew out his pocket watch. \u201cSince your good friend, Beenay, insists so urgently, I will give you five minutes. Talk away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cGood! Now, just what difference would it make if you allowed me to take down an eyewitness account of what\u2019s to come? If your prediction comes true, my presence won\u2019t hurt; for in that case my column would never be written. On the other hand, if nothing comes of it, you will just have to expect ridicule or worse. It would be wise to leave that ridicule to friendly hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton snorted. \u201cDo you mean yours when you speak of friendly hands?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly!\u201d Theremon sat down and crossed his legs. \u201cMy column may have been a little rough at times, but I gave you people the benefit of the doubt every time. After all, this is not the century to preach \u2018the end of the world is at hand\u2019 to Lagash. You have to understand that people don\u2019t believe the \u2018Book of Revelations\u2019 any more, and it annoys them to have scientists turn about face and tell us the Cultists are right after all\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo such thing, young man,\u201d interrupted Aton. \u201cWhile a great deal of our data has been supplied us by the Cult, our results contain none of the Cult\u2019s mysticism. Facts are facts, and the Cult\u2019s so-called \u2018mythology\u2019 has<\/em> certain facts behind it. We\u2019ve exposed them and ripped away their mystery. I assure you that the Cult hates us now worse than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hate you. I\u2019m just trying to tell you that the public is in an ugly humor. They\u2019re angry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton twisted his mouth in derision. \u201cLet them be angry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, but what about tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019ll be no tomorrow!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut if there is. Say that there is\u2014just to see what happens. That anger might take shape into something serious. After all, you know business has taken a nose dive these last two months. Investors don\u2019t really believe the world is coming to an end, but just the same they\u2019re being cagey with their money until it\u2019s all over. Johnny Public doesn\u2019t believe you, either, but the new spring furniture might as well wait a few months\u2014just to make sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see the point. Just as soon as this is all over, the business interest will be after your hide. They\u2019ll say that if crackpots\u2014begging your pardon\u2014can upset the country\u2019s prosperity any time they want simply by making some cockeyed prediction\u2014it\u2019s up to the planet to prevent them. The sparks will fly, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director regarded the columnist sternly. \u201cAnd just what were you proposing to do to help the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d grinned Theremon, \u201cI was proposing to take charge of the publicity. I can handle things so that only the ridiculous side will show. It would be hard to stand, I admit, because I\u2019d have to make you all out to be a bunch of gibbering idiots, but if I can get people laughing at you, they might forget to be angry. In return for that, all my publisher asks is an exclusive story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay nodded and burst out, \u201cSir, the rest of us think he\u2019s right. These last two months we\u2019ve considered everything but the million-to-one chance that there is an error somewhere in our theory or in our calculations. We ought to take care of that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a murmur of agreement from the men grouped about the table, and Aton\u2019s expression became that of one who found his mouth full of something bitter and couldn\u2019t get rid of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou may stay if you wish, then. You will kindly refrain, however, from hampering us in our duties in any way. You will also remember that I am in charge of all activities here, and in spite of your opinions as expressed in your columns, I will expect full co-operation and full respect\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His hands were behind his back, and his wrinkled face thrust forward determinedly as he spoke. He might have continued indefinitely but for the intrusion of a new voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cHello, hello, hello!\u201d It came in a high tenor, and the plump cheeks of the newcomer expanded in a pleased smile. \u201cWhat\u2019s this morgue-like atmosphere about here? No one\u2019s losing his nerve, I hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton started in consternation and said peevishly, \u201cNow what the devil are you doing here, Sheerin? I thought you were going to stay behind in the Hideout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin laughed and dropped his tubby figure into a chair. \u201cHideout be blowed! The place bored me. I wanted to be here, where things are getting hot. Don\u2019t you suppose I have my share of curiosity? I want to see these Stars the Cultists are forever speaking about.\u201d He rubbed his hands and added in a soberer tone, \u201cIt\u2019s freezing outside. The wind\u2019s enough to hang icicles on your nose. Beta doesn\u2019t seem to give any heat at all, at the distance it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The white-haired director ground his teeth in sudden exasperation, \u201cWhy do you go out of your way to do crazy things, Sheerin? What kind of good are you around here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat kind of good am I around there?\u201d Sheerin spread his palms in comical resignation. \u201cA psychologist isn\u2019t worth his salt in the Hideout. They need men of action and strong, healthy women that can breed children. Me? I\u2019m a hundred pounds too heavy for a man of action, and I wouldn\u2019t be a success at breeding children. So why bother them with an extra mouth to feed? I feel better over here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon spoke briskly, \u201cJust what is the Hideout, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin seemed to see the columnist for the first time. He frowned and blew his ample cheeks out, \u201cAnd just who in Lagash are you, redhead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton compressed his lips and then muttered sullenly, \u201cThat\u2019s Theremon 762, the newspaper fellow. I suppose you\u2019ve heard of him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The columnist offered his hand. \u201cAnd, of course, you\u2019re Sheerin 501 of Saro University. I\u2019ve heard of you.\u201d Then he repeated, \u201cWhat is this Hideout, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said Sheerin, \u201cwe have managed to convince a few people of the validity of our prophecy of\u2014er\u2014doom, to be spectacular about it, and those few have taken proper measures. They consist mainly of the immediate members of the families of the Observatory staff, certain of the faculty of Saro University and a few outsiders. Altogether, they number about three hundred, but three quarters are women and children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see! They\u2019re supposed to hide where the Darkness and the\u2014er\u2014Stars can\u2019t get at them, and then hold out when the rest of the world goes poof.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they can. It won\u2019t be easy. With all of mankind insane; with the great cities going up in flames\u2014environment will not be conducive to survival. But they have food, water, shelter, and weapons\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got more,\u201d said Aton. \u201cThey\u2019ve got all our records, except for what we will collect today. Those records will mean everything to the next cycle, and that\u2019s<\/em> what must survive. The rest can go hang.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon whistled a long, low whistle and sat brooding for several minutes. The men about the table had brought out a multichess board and started a six-member game. Moves were made rapidly and in silence. All eyes bent in furious concentration on the board. Theremon watched them intently and then rose and approached Aton, who sat apart in whispered conversation with Sheerin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen,\u201d he said, \u201cLet\u2019s go somewhere where we won\u2019t bother the rest of the fellows. I want to ask some questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aged astronomer frowned sourly at him, but Sheerin chirped up, \u201cCertainly. It will do me good to talk. It always does. Aton was telling me about your ideas concerning world reaction to a failure of the prediction\u2014and I agree with you. I read your column pretty regularly, by the way, and as a general thing I like your views.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease, Sheerin,\u201d growled Aton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEh? Oh, all right. We\u2019ll go into the next room. It has softer chairs, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were<\/em> softer chairs in the next room. There were also thick red curtains on the windows and a maroon carpet on the floor. With the bricky light of Beta pouring in, the general effect was one of dried blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon shuddered, \u201cSay, I\u2019d give ten credits for a decent dose of white light for just a second. I wish Gamma or Delta were in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are your questions?\u201d asked Aton. \u201cPlease remember that our time is limited. In a little over an hour and a quarter we\u2019re going upstairs, and after that there will be no time to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, here it is.\u201d Theremon leaned back and folded his hands on his chest. \u201cYou people seem so all-fired serious about this that I\u2019m beginning to believe you. Would you mind explaining what it\u2019s all about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton exploded, \u201cDo you mean to sit there and tell me that you\u2019ve been bombarding us with ridicule without even finding out what we\u2019ve been trying to say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The columnist grinned sheepishly. \u201cIt\u2019s not that bad, sir. I\u2019ve got the general idea. You say that there is going to be a world-wide Darkness in a few hours and that all mankind will go violently insane. What I want now is the science behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you don\u2019t. No, you don\u2019t,\u201d broke in Sheerin. \u201cIf you ask Aton for that\u2014supposing him to be in the mood to answer at all\u2014he\u2019ll trot out pages of figures and volumes of graphs. You won\u2019t make head or tail of it. Now if you were to ask me,<\/em> I could give you the layman\u2019s standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right; I ask you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen first I\u2019d like a drink.\u201d He rubbed his hands and looked at Aton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWater?\u201d grunted Aton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be silly!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you be silly. No alcohol today. It would be too easy to get my men drunk. I can\u2019t afford to tempt them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist grumbled wordlessly. He turned to Theremon, impaled him with his sharp eyes, and began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou realize, of course, that the history of civilization on Lagash displays a cyclic character\u2014but I mean, cyclic!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know,\u201d replied Theremon cautiously, \u201cthat that is the current archeological theory. Has it been accepted as a fact?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust about. In this last century it\u2019s been generally agreed upon. This cyclic character is\u2014or, rather, was\u2014one of the<\/em> great mysteries. We\u2019ve located series of civilizations, nine of them definitely, and indications of others as well, all of which have reached heights comparable to our own, and all of which, without exception, were destroyed by fire at the very height of their culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd no one could tell why. All centers of culture were thoroughly gutted by fire, with nothing left behind to give a hint as to the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon was following closely. \u201cWasn\u2019t there a Stone Age, too?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably, but as yet, practically nothing is known of it, except that men of that age were little more than rather intelligent apes. We can forget about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see. Go on!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been explanations of these recurrent catastrophes, all of a more or less fantastic nature. Some say that there are periodic rains of fire; some that Lagash passes through a sun every so often; some even wilder things. But there is one theory, quite different from all of these, that has been handed down over a period of centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know. You mean this myth of the \u2018Stars\u2019 that the Cultists have in their \u2018Book of Revelations.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d rejoined Sheerin with satisfaction. \u201cThe Cultists said that every two thousand and fifty years Lagash entered a huge cave, so that all the suns disappeared, and there came total darkness all over the world!<\/em> And then, they say, things called Stars appeared, which robbed men of their souls and left them unreasoning brutes, so that they destroyed the civilization they themselves had built up. Of course, they mix all this up with a lot of religio-mystic notions, but that\u2019s the central idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a short pause in which Sheerin drew a long breath. \u201cAnd now we come to the Theory of Universal Gravitation.\u201d He pronounced the phrase so that the capital letters sounded\u2014and at that point Aton turned from the window, snorted loudly, and stalked out of the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The two stared after him, and Theremon said, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing in particular,\u201d replied Sheerin. \u201cTwo of the men were due several hours ago and haven\u2019t shown up yet. He\u2019s terrifically short-handed, of course, because all but the really essential men have gone to the Hideout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think the two deserted, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho? Faro and Yimot? Of course not. Still, if they\u2019re not back within the hour, things would be a little sticky.\u201d He got to his feet suddenly, and his eyes twinkled. \u201cAnyway, as long as Aton is gone\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiptoeing to the nearest window, he squatted, and from the low window box beneath withdrew a bottle of red liquid that gurgled suggestively when he shook it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought<\/em> Aton didn\u2019t know about this,\u201d he remarked as he trotted back to the table. \u201cHere! We\u2019ve only got one glass so, as the guest you can have it. I\u2019ll keep the bottle.\u201d And he filled the tiny cup with judicious care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon rose to protest, but Sheerin eyed him sternly. \u201cRespect your elders, young man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman seated himself with a look of pain and anguish on his face. \u201cGo ahead, then, you old villain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist\u2019s Adam\u2019s apple wobbled as the bottle upended, and then, with a satisfied grunt and a smack of the lips, he began again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what do you know about gravitation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing, except that it is a very recent development, not too well established, and that the math is so hard that only twelve men in Lagash are supposed to understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTcha!<\/em> Nonsense! Boloney! I can give you all the essential math in a sentence. The Law of Universal Gravitation states that there exists a cohesive force among all bodies of the universe, such that the amount of this force between any two given bodies is proportional to the product of their masses divided by the square of the distance between them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs that all?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough! It took four hundred years to develop it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy that long? It sounded simple enough, the way you said it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause great laws are not divined by flashes of inspiration, whatever you may think. It usually takes the combined work of a world full of scientists over a period of centuries. After Genovi 41 discovered that Lagash rotated about the sun Alpha, rather than vice versa\u2014and that was four hundred years ago\u2014astronomers have been working. The complex motions of the six suns were recorded and analyzed and unwoven. Theory after theory was advanced and checked and counterchecked and modified and abandoned and revived and converted to something else. It was a devil of a job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon nodded thoughtfully and held out his glass for more liquor. Sheerin grudgingly allowed a few ruby drops to leave the bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was twenty years ago,\u201d he continued after remoistening his own throat, \u201cthat it was finally demonstrated that the Law of Universal Gravitation accounted exactly for the orbital motions of the six suns. It was a great triumph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin stood up and walked to the window, still clutching his bottle. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re getting to the point. In the last decade, the motions of Lagash about Alpha were computed according to gravity, and it did not account for the orbit observed<\/em>; not even when all perturbations due to the other suns were included. Either the law was invalid, or there was another, as yet unknown, factor involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon joined Sheerin at the window and gazed out past the wooded slopes to where the spires of Saro City gleamed bloodily on the horizon. The newsman felt the tension of uncertainty grow within him as he cast a short glance at Beta. It glowered redly at zenith, dwarfed and evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead, sir,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin replied, \u201cAstronomers stumbled about for years, each proposed theory more untenable than the one before\u2014until Aton had the inspiration of calling in the Cult. The head of the Cult, Sor 5, had access to certain data that simplified the problem considerably. Aton set to work on a new track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if there were another nonluminous planetary body such as Lagash? If there were, you know, it would shine only by reflected light, and if it were composed of bluish rock, as Lagash itself largely is, then, in the redness of the sky, the eternal blaze of the suns would make it invisible\u2014drown it out completely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon whistled, \u201cWhat a screwy idea!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou think that\u2019s<\/em> screwy? Listen to this: Suppose this body rotated about Lagash at such a distance and in such an orbit and had such a mass that its attraction would exactly account for the deviations of Lagash\u2019s orbit from theory\u2014do you know what would happen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The columnist shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, sometimes this body would get in the way of a sun.\u201d And Sheerin emptied what remained in the bottle at a draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it does, I suppose,\u201d said Theremon flatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes! But only one sun lies in its plane of revolutions.\u201d He jerked a thumb at the shrunken sun above. \u201cBeta! And it has been shown that the eclipse will occur only when the arrangement of the suns is such that Beta is alone in its hemisphere and at maximum distance, at which time the moon is invariably at minimum distance. The eclipse that results, with the moon seven times the apparent diameter of Beta, covers all of Lagash and lasts well over half a day, so that no spot on the planet escapes the effects. That eclipse comes once every two thousand and forty-nine years.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon\u2019s face was drawn into an expressionless mask. \u201cAnd that\u2019s my story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s all of it. First the eclipse\u2014which will start in three quarters of an hour\u2014then universal Darkness, and, maybe, these mysterious Stars\u2014then madness, and end of the cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He brooded. \u201cWe had two months\u2019 leeway\u2014we at the Observatory\u2014and that wasn\u2019t enough time to persuade Lagash of the danger. Two centuries might not have been enough. But our records are at the Hideout, and today we photograph the eclipse. The next cycle will start off<\/em> with the truth, and when the next<\/em> eclipse comes, mankind will at last be ready for it. Come to think of it, that\u2019s part of your story, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thin wind ruffled the curtains at the window as Theremon opened it and leaned out. It played coldly with his hair as he stared at the crimson sunlight on his hand. Then he turned in sudden rebellion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is there in Darkness to drive me<\/em> mad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin smiled to himself as he spun the empty liquor bottle with abstracted motions of his hand. \u201cHave you ever experienced Darkness, young man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman leaned against the wall and considered. \u201cNo. Can\u2019t say I have. But I know what it is. Just\u2014uh\u2014\u201c He made vague motions with his fingers, and then brightened. \u201cJust no light. Like in caves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave you ever been in a cave?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a cave!<\/em> Of course not!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought not. I<\/em> tried last week\u2014just to see\u2014but I got out in a hurry. I went in until the mouth of the cave was just visible as a blur of light, with black everywhere else. I never thought a person my weight could run that fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon\u2019s lip curled. \u201cWell, if it comes to that, I guess I wouldn\u2019t have run, if I had been there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist studied the young man with an annoyed frown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy, don\u2019t you talk big! I dare you to draw the curtain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon looked his surprise and said, \u201cWhat for? If we had four or five suns out there we might want to cut the light down a bit for comfort, but now we haven\u2019t enough light as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the point. Just draw the curtain; then come here and sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right.\u201d Theremon reached for the tasseled string and jerked. The red curtain slid across the wide window, the brass rings hissing their way along the crossbar, and a dusk-red shadow clamped down on the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Theremon\u2019s footsteps sounded hollowly in the silence as he made his way to the table, and then they stopped halfway. \u201cI can\u2019t see you, sir,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeel your way,\u201d ordered Sheerin in a strained voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I can\u2019t see you, sir.\u201d The newsman was breathing harshly. \u201cI can\u2019t see anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did you expect?\u201d came the grim reply. \u201cCome here and sit down!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The footsteps sounded again, waveringly, approaching slowly. There was the sound of someone fumbling with a chair. Theremon\u2019s voice came thinly, \u201cHere I am. I feel \u2026 ulp<\/em> \u2026 all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou like it, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cN-no. It\u2019s pretty awful. The walls seem to be\u2014\u201d He paused. \u201cThey seem to be closing in on me. I keep wanting to push them away. But I\u2019m not going mad!<\/em> In fact, the feeling isn\u2019t as bad as it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. Draw the curtain back again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were cautious footsteps through the dark, the rustle of Theremon\u2019s body against the curtain as he felt for the tassel, and then the triumphant ro-o-o-osh<\/em> of the curtain slithering back. Red light flooded the room, and with a cry of joy Theremon looked up at the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin wiped the moistness off his forehead with the back of a hand and said shakily, \u201cAnd that was just a dark room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be stood,\u201d said Theremon lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, a dark room can. But were you at the Jonglor Centennial Exposition two years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, it so happens I never got around to it. Six thousand miles was just a bit too much to travel, even for the exposition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I was there. You remember hearing about the \u2018Tunnel of Mystery\u2019 that broke all records in the amusement area\u2014for the first month or so, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. Wasn\u2019t there some fuss about it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery little. It was hushed up. You see, that Tunnel of Mystery was just a mile-long tunnel\u2014with no lights. You got into a little open car and jolted along through Darkness for fifteen minutes. It was very popular\u2014while it lasted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPopular?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly. There\u2019s a fascination in being frightened when it\u2019s part of a game.<\/em> A baby is born with three instinctive fears: of loud noises, of falling, and of the absence of light. That\u2019s why it\u2019s considered so funny to jump at someone and shout \u2018Boo!\u2019 That\u2019s why it\u2019s such fun to ride a roller coaster. And that\u2019s why that Tunnel of Mystery started cleaning up. People came out of that Darkness shaking, breathless, half dead with fear, but they kept on paying to get in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a while, I remember now. Some people came out dead, didn\u2019t they? There were rumors of that after it shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist snorted. \u201cBah! Two or three died. That was nothing! They paid off the families of the dead ones and argued the Jonglor City Council into forgetting it. After all, they said, if people with weak hearts want to go through the tunnel, it was at their own risk\u2014and besides, it wouldn\u2019t happen again. So they put a doctor in the front office and had every customer go through a physical examination before getting into the car. That actually boosted<\/em> ticket sales.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, you see, there was something else. People sometimes came out in perfect order, except that they refused to go into buildings\u2014any buildings; including palaces, mansions, apartment houses, tenements, cottages, huts, shacks, lean-tos, and tents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon looked shocked. \u201cYou mean they refused to come in out of the open. Where\u2019d they sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey should have forced<\/em> them inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, they did, they did. Whereupon these people went into violent hysterics and did their best to bat their brains out against the nearest wall. Once you got them inside, you couldn\u2019t keep them there without a strait jacket and a shot of morphine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey must have been crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich is exactly what they were. One person out of every ten who went into that tunnel came out that way. They called in the psychologists, and we did the only thing possible. We closed down the exhibit.\u201d He spread his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was the matter with these people?\u201d asked Theremon finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEssentially the same thing that was the matter with you when you thought the walls of the room were crushing in on you in the dark. There is a psychological term for mankind\u2019s instinctive fear of the absence of light. We call it \u2018claustrophobia,\u2019 because the lack of light is always tied up with enclosed places, so that fear of one is fear of the other. You see?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd those people of the tunnel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose people of the tunnel consisted of those unfortunates whose mentality did not quite possess the resiliency to overcome the claustrophobia that overtook them in the Darkness. Fifteen minutes without light is a long time; you only had two or three minutes, and I believe you were fairly upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people of the tunnel had what is called a \u2018claustrophobic fixation.\u2019 Their latent fear of Darkness and inclosed places had crystallized and become active, and, as far as we can tell, permanent. That\u2019s<\/em> what fifteen minutes in the dark will do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There was a long silence, and Theremon\u2019s forehead wrinkled slowly into a frown. \u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s that bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou mean you don\u2019t want to believe,\u201d snapped Sheerin. \u201cYou\u2019re afraid to believe. Look out the window!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon did so, and the psychologist continued without pausing, \u201cImagine Darkness\u2014everywhere. No light, as far as you can see. The houses, the trees, the fields, the earth, the sky\u2014black!<\/em> And Stars thrown in, for all I know\u2014whatever they<\/em> are. Can you conceive it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I can,\u201d declared Theremon truculently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Sheerin slammed his fist down upon the table in sudden passion. \u201cYou lie! You can\u2019t conceive that. Your brain wasn\u2019t built for the conception any more than it was built for the conception of infinity or of eternity. You can only talk about it. A fraction of the reality upsets you, and when the real thing comes, your brain is going to be presented with a phenomenon outside its limits of comprehension. You will go mad, completely and permanently! There is no question of it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added sadly, \u201cAnd another couple of millenniums of painful struggle comes to nothing. Tomorrow there won\u2019t be a city standing unharmed in all Lagash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon recovered part of his mental equilibrium. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t follow. I still don\u2019t see that I can go loony just because there isn\u2019t a Sun in the sky\u2014but even if I did, and everyone else did, how does that harm the cities? Are we going to blow them down?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sheerin was angry, too. \u201cIf you were in Darkness, what would you want more than anything else; what would it be that every instinct would call for? Light, damn you, light!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd how would you get light?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Theremon flatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the only<\/em> way to get light, short of the sun?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow should I know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were standing face to face and nose to nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin said, \u201cYou burn something, mister. Ever see a forest fire? Ever go camping and cook a stew over a wood fire? Heat isn\u2019t the only thing burning wood gives off, you know. It gives off light, and people know that. And when it\u2019s dark they want light, and they\u2019re going to get it.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo they burn wood?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo they burn whatever they can get. They\u2019ve got to have light. They\u2019ve got to burn something, and wood isn\u2019t handy\u2014so they\u2019ll burn whatever is nearest. They\u2019ll have their light\u2014and every center of habitation goes up in flames!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eyes held each other as though the whole matter were a personal affair of respective will powers, and then Theremon broke away wordlessly. His breathing was harsh and ragged, and he scarcely noted the sudden hubbub that came from the adjoining room behind the closed door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin spoke, and it was with an effort that he made it sound matter-of-fact. \u201cI think I heard Yimot\u2019s voice. He and Faro are probably back. Let\u2019s go in and see what kept them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMight as well!\u201d muttered Theremon. He drew a long breath and seemed to shake himself. The tension was broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room was in an uproar, with members of the staff clustering about two young men who were removing outer garments even as they parried the miscellany of questions being thrown at them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton bustled through the crowd and faced the newcomers angrily. \u201cDo you realize that it\u2019s less than half an hour before deadline? Where have you two been?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faro 24 seated himself and rubbed his hands. His cheeks were red with the outdoor chill. \u201cYimot and I have just finished carrying through a little crazy experiment of our own. We\u2019ve been trying to see if we couldn\u2019t construct an arrangement by which we could simulate the appearance of Darkness and Stars so as to get an advance notion as to how it looked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a confused murmur from the listeners, and a sudden look of interest entered Aton\u2019s eyes. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t anything said of this before. How did you go about it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said Faro, \u201cthe idea came to Yimot and myself long ago, and we\u2019ve been working it out in our spare time. Yimot knew of a low one-story house down in the city with a domed roof\u2014it had once been used as a museum, I think. Anyway, we bought it\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere did you get the money?\u201d interrupted Aton peremptorily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur bank accounts,\u201d grunted Yimot 70. \u201cIt cost two thousand credits.\u201d Then, defensively, \u201cWell, what of it? Tomorrow, two thousand credits will be two thousand pieces of paper. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure,\u201d agreed Faro. \u201cWe bought the place and rigged it up with black velvet from top to bottom so as to get as perfect a Darkness as possible. Then we punched tiny holes in the ceiling and through the roof and covered them with little metal caps, all of which could be shoved aside simultaneously at the close of a switch. At least, we didn\u2019t do that part ourselves; we got a carpenter and an electrician and some others\u2014money didn\u2019t count. The point was that we could get the light to shine through those holes in the roof, so that we could get a starlike effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a breath was drawn during the pause that followed. Aton said stiffly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou had no right to make a private\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faro seemed abashed. \u201cI know, sir\u2014but, frankly, Yimot and I thought the experiment was a little dangerous. If the effect really worked, we half expected to go mad\u2014from what Sheerin says about all this, we thought that would be rather likely. We wanted to take the risk ourselves. Of course, if we found we could retain sanity, it occurred to us that we might develop immunity to the real thing, and then expose the rest of you to the same thing. But things didn\u2019t work out at all\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy, what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Yimot who answered. \u201cWe shut ourselves in and allowed our eyes to get accustomed to the dark. It\u2019s an extremely creepy feeling because the total Darkness makes you feel as if the walls and ceiling are crushing in on you. But we got over that and pulled the switch. The caps fell away and the roof glittered all over with little dots of light\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell\u2014nothing. That was the whacky part of it. Nothing happened. It was just a roof with holes in it, and that\u2019s just what it looked like. We tried it over and over again\u2014that\u2019s what kept us so late\u2014but there just isn\u2019t any effect at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There followed a shocked silence, and all eyes turned to Sheerin, who sat motionless, mouth open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon was the first to speak. \u201cYou know what this does to this whole theory you\u2019ve built up, Sheerin, don\u2019t you?\u201d He was grinning with relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sheerin raised his hand. \u201cNow wait a while. Just let me think this through.\u201d And then he snapped his fingers, and when he lifted his head there was neither surprise nor uncertainty in his eyes. \u201cOf course\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never finished. From somewhere up above there sounded a sharp clang, and Beenay, starting to his feet, dashed up the stairs with a \u201cWhat the devil!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest followed after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Things happened quickly. Once up in the dome, Beenay cast one horrified glance at the shattered photographic plates and at the man bending over them; and then hurled himself fiercely at the intruder, getting a death grip on his throat. There was a wild threshing, and as others of the staff joined in, the stranger was swallowed up and smothered under the weight of half a dozen angry men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton came up last, breathing heavily. \u201cLet him up!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a reluctant unscrambling and the stranger, panting harshly, with his clothes torn and his forehead bruised, was hauled to his feet. He had a short yellow beard curled elaborately in the style affected by the Cultists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay shifted his hold to a collar grip and shook the man savagely. \u201cAll right, rat, what\u2019s the idea? These plates\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t after them,<\/em>\u201d retorted the Cultist coldly. \u201cThat was an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay followed his glowering stare and snarled, \u201cI see. You were after the cameras themselves. The accident with the plates was a stroke of luck for you, then. If you had touched Snapping Bertha or any of the others, you would have died by slow torture. As it is\u2014\u201d He drew his fist back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton grabbed his sleeve. \u201cStop that! Let him go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young technician wavered, and his arm dropped reluctantly. Aton pushed him aside and confronted the Cultist. \u201cYou\u2019re Latimer, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cultist bowed stiffly and indicated the symbol upon his hip. \u201cI am Latimer 25, adjutant of the third class to his serenity, Sor 5.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd\u201d\u2014Aton\u2019s white eyebrows lifted\u2014\u201cyou were with his serenity when he visited me last week, weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latimer bowed a second time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, then, what do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing that you would give me of your own free will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSor 5 sent you, I suppose\u2014or is this your own idea?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t answer that question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill there be any further visitors?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t answer that, either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton glanced at his timepiece and scowled. \u201cNow, man, what is it your master wants of me? I have fulfilled my end of the bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latimer smiled faintly, but said nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked him,\u201d continued Aton angrily, \u201cfor data only the Cult could supply, and it was given to me. For that, thank you. In return, I promised to prove the essential truth of the creed of the Cult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was no need to prove that,\u201d came the proud retort. \u201cIt stands proven by the \u2018Book of Revelations.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the handful that constitute the Cult, yes. Don\u2019t pretend to mistake my meaning. I offered to present scientific backing for your beliefs. And I did!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cultist\u2019s eyes narrowed bitterly. \u201cYes, you did\u2014with a fox\u2019s subtlety, for your pretended explanation backed our beliefs, and at the same time removed all necessity for them. You made of the Darkness and of the Stars a natural phenomenon, and removed all its real significance. That was blasphemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf so, the fault isn\u2019t mine. The facts exist. What can I do but state them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour \u2018facts\u2019 are a fraud and a delusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton stamped angrily. \u201cHow do you<\/em> know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the answer came with the certainty of absolute faith. \u201cI know!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director purpled and Beenay whispered urgently. Aton waved him silent. \u201cAnd what does Sor 5 want us to do? He still thinks, I suppose, that in trying to warn the world to take measures against the menace of madness, we are placing innumerable souls in jeopardy. We aren\u2019t succeeding, if that means anything to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe attempt itself has done harm enough, and your vicious effort to gain information by means of your devilish instruments must be stopped. We obey the will of their Stars, and I only regret that my clumsiness prevented me from wrecking your infernal devices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have done you too much good,\u201d returned Aton. \u201cAll our data, except for the direct evidence we intend collecting right now, is already safely cached and well beyond possibility of harm.\u201d He smiled grimly. \u201cBut that does not affect your present status as an attempted burglar and criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He turned to the men behind him. \u201cSomeone call the police at Saro City.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There was a cry of distaste from Sheerin. \u201cDamn it, Aton, what\u2019s wrong with you? There\u2019s no time for that. Here\u201d\u2014he bustled his way forward\u2014\u201clet me handle this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton stared down his nose at the psychologist. \u201cThis is not the time for your monkeyshines, Sheerin. Will you please let me handle this my own way? Right now you are a complete outsider here, and don\u2019t forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin\u2019s mouth twisted eloquently. \u201cNow why should we go to the impossible trouble of calling the police\u2014with Beta\u2019s eclipse a matter of minutes from now\u2014when this young man here is perfectly willing to pledge his word of honor to remain and cause no trouble whatsoever?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cultist answered promptly, \u201cI will do no such thing. You\u2019re free to do what you want, but it\u2019s only fair to warn you that just as soon as I get my chance I\u2019m going to finish what I came out here to do. If it\u2019s my word of honor you\u2019re relying on, you\u2019d better call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin smiled in a friendly fashion. \u201cYou\u2019re a determined cuss, aren\u2019t you? Well, I\u2019ll explain something. Do you see that young man at the window? He\u2019s a strong, husky fellow, quite handy with his fists, and he\u2019s an outsider besides. Once the eclipse starts there will be nothing for him to do except keep an eye on you. Besides him, there will be myself\u2014a little too stout for active fisticuffs, but still able to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, what of it?\u201d demanded Latimer frozenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen and I\u2019ll tell you,\u201d was the reply. \u201cJust as soon as the eclipse starts, we\u2019re going to take you, Theremon and I, and deposit you in a little closet with one door, to which is attached one giant lock and no windows. You will remain there for the duration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd afterward,\u201d breathed Latimer fiercely, \u201cthere\u2019ll be no one to let me out. I know as well as you do what the coming of the Stars means\u2014I know it far better than you. With all your minds gone, you are not likely to free me. Suffocation or slow starvation, is it? About what I might have expected from a group of scientists. But I don\u2019t give my word. It\u2019s a matter of principle, and I won\u2019t discuss it further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton seemed perturbed. His faded eyes were troubled. \u201cReally, Sheerin, locking him\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease!\u201d Sheerin motioned him impatiently to silence. \u201cI don\u2019t think for a moment things will go that far. Latimer has just tried a clever little bluff, but I\u2019m not a psychologist just because I like the sound of the word.\u201d He grinned at the Cultist. \u201cCome now, you don\u2019t really think I\u2019m trying anything as crude as slow starvation. My dear Latimer, if I lock you in the closet, you are not going to see the Darkness, and you are not going to see the Stars. It does not take much of a knowledge of the fundamental creed of the Cult to realize that for you to be hidden from the Stars when they appear means the loss of your immortal soul. Now, I believe you to be an honorable man. I\u2019ll accept your word of honor to make no further effort to disrupt proceedings if you\u2019ll offer it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vein throbbed in Latimer\u2019s temple, and he seemed to shrink within himself as he said thickly, \u201cYou have it!\u201d And then he added with swift fury, \u201cBut it is my consolation that you will all be damned for your deeds of today.\u201d He turned on his heel and stalked to the high three-legged stool by the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin nodded to the columnist. \u201cTake a seat next to him, Theremon\u2014just as a formality. Hey, Theremon!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the newspaperman didn\u2019t move. He had gone pale to the lips. \u201cLook at that!\u201d The finger he pointed toward the sky shook, and his voice was dry and cracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There was one simultaneous gasp as every eye followed the pointing finger and, for one breathless moment, stared frozenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beta was chipped on one side!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tiny bit of encroaching blackness was perhaps the width of a fingernail, but to the staring watchers it magnified itself into the crack of doom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only for a moment they watched, and after that there was a shrieking confusion that was even shorter of duration and which gave way to an orderly scurry of activity\u2014each man at his prescribed job. At the crucial moment there was no time for emotion. The men were merely scientists with work to do. Even Aton had melted away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin said prosaically, \u201cFirst contact must have been made fifteen minutes ago. A little early, but pretty good considering the uncertainties involved in the calculation.\u201d He looked about him and then tiptoed to Theremon, who still remained staring out the window, and dragged him away gently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAton is furious,\u201d he whispered, \u201cso stay away. He missed first contact on account of this fuss with Latimer, and if you get in his way he\u2019ll have you thrown out the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon nodded shortly and sat down. Sheerin stared in surprise at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe devil, man,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cyou\u2019re shaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEh?\u201d Theremon licked dry lips and then tried to smile. \u201cI don\u2019t feel very well, and that\u2019s a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist\u2019s eyes hardened. \u201cYou\u2019re not losing your nerve?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d cried Theremon in a flash of indignation. \u201cGive me a chance, will you? I haven\u2019t really believed this rigmarole\u2014not way down beneath, anyway\u2014till just this minute. Give me a chance to get used to the idea. You\u2019ve<\/em> been preparing yourself for two months or more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right, at that,\u201d replied Sheerin thoughtfully. \u201cListen! Have you got a family\u2014parents, wife, children?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon shook his head. \u201cYou mean the Hideout, I suppose. No, you don\u2019t have to worry about that. I have a sister, but she\u2019s two thousand miles away. I don\u2019t even know her exact address.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, then, what about yourself? You\u2019ve got time to get there, and they\u2019re one short anyway, since I left. After all, you\u2019re not needed here, and you\u2019d make a darned fine addition\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon looked at the other wearily. \u201cYou think I\u2019m scared stiff, don\u2019t you? Well, get this, mister, I\u2019m a newspaperman and I\u2019ve been assigned to cover a story. I intend covering it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a faint smile on the psychologist\u2019s face. \u201cI see. Professional honor, is that it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou might call it that. But, man, I\u2019d give my right arm for another bottle of that sockeroo juice even half the size of the one you<\/em> hogged. If ever a fellow needed a drink, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He broke off. Sheerin was nudging him violently. \u201cDo you hear that? Listen!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon followed the motion of the other\u2019s chin and stared at the Cultist, who, oblivious to all about him, faced the window, a look of wild elation on his face, droning to himself the while in singsong fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s he saying?\u201d whispered the columnist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quoting \u2018Book of Revelations,\u2019 fifth chapter,\u201d replied Sheerin. Then, urgently, \u201cKeep quiet and listen, I tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cultist\u2019s voice had risen in a sudden increase of fervor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And it came to pass that in those days the Sun, Beta, held lone vigil in the sky for ever longer periods as the revolutions passed; until such time as for full half a revolution, it alone, shrunken and cold, shone down upon Lagash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And men did assemble in the public squares and in the highways, there to debate and to marvel at the sight, for a strange depression had seized them. Their minds were troubled and their speech confused, for the souls of men awaited the coming of the Stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And in the city of Trigon, at high noon, Vendret 2 came forth and said unto the men of Trigon, \u201cLo, ye sinners! Though ye scorn the ways of righteousness, yet will the time of reckoning come. Even now the Cave approaches to swallow Lagash; yea, and all it contains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And even as he spoke the lip of the Cave of Darkness passed the edge of Beta so that to all Lagash it was hidden from sight. Loud were the cries of men as it vanished, and great the fear of soul that fell upon them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018It came to pass that the Darkness of the Cave fell upon Lagash, and there was no light on all the surface of Lagash. Men were even as blinded, nor could one man see his neighbor, though he felt his breath upon his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And in this blackness there appeared the Stars, in countless numbers, and to the strains of ineffable music of a beauty so wondrous that the very leaves of the trees turned to tongues that cried out in wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018And in that moment the souls of men departed from them, and their abandoned bodies became even as beasts; yea, even as brutes of the wild; so that through the blackened streets of the cities of Lagash they prowled with wild cries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018From the Stars there then reached down the Heavenly Flame, and where it touched, the cities of Lagash flamed to utter destruction, so that of man and of the works of man nought remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018Even then\u2014\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


There was a subtle change in Latimer\u2019s tone. His eyes had not shifted, but somehow he had become aware of the absorbed attention of the other two. Easily, without pausing for breath, the timbre of his voice shifted and the syllables became more liquid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon, caught by surprise, stared. The words seemed on the border of familiarity. There was an elusive shift in the accent, a tiny change in the vowel stress; nothing more\u2014yet Latimer had become thoroughly unintelligible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin smiled slyly. \u201cHe shifted to some old-cycle tongue, probably their traditional second cycle. That was the language in which the \u2018Book of Revelations\u2019 had originally been written, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter; I\u2019ve heard enough.\u201d Theremon shoved his chair back and brushed his hair back with hands that no longer shook. \u201cI feel much better now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou do?\u201d Sheerin seemed mildly surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll say I do. I had a bad case of jitters just a while back. Listening to you and your gravitation and seeing that eclipse start almost finished me. But this\u201d\u2014he jerked a contemptuous thumb at the yellow-bearded Cultist\u2014<\/em>\u201dthis<\/em> is the sort of thing my nurse used to tell me. I\u2019ve been laughing at that sort of thing all my life. I\u2019m not going to let it scare me now.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He drew a deep breath and said with a hectic gaiety, \u201cBut if I expect to keep on the good side of myself, I\u2019m going to turn my chair away from the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin said, \u201cYes, but you\u2019d better talk lower. Aton just lifted his head out of that box he\u2019s got it stuck into and gave you a look that should have killed you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon made a mouth. \u201cI forgot about the old fellow.\u201d With elaborate care he turned the chair from the window, cast one distasteful look over his shoulder and said, \u201cIt has occurred to me that there must be considerable immunity against this Star madness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist did not answer immediately. Beta was past its zenith now, and the square of bloody sunlight that outlined the window upon the floor had lifted into Sheerin\u2019s lap. He stared at its dusky color thoughtfully and then bent and squinted into the sun itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chip in its side had grown to a black encroachment that covered a third of Beta. He shuddered, and when he straightened once more his florid cheeks did not contain quite as much color as they had had previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a smile that was almost apologetic, he reversed his chair also. \u201cThere are probably two million people in Saro City that are all trying to join the Cult at once in one gigantic revival.\u201d Then, ironically, \u201cThe Cult is in for an hour of unexampled prosperity. I trust they\u2019ll make the most of it. Now, what was it you said?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust this. How do the Cultists manage to keep the \u2018Book of Revelations\u2019 going from cycle to cycle, and how on Lagash did it get written in the first place? There must have been some sort of immunity, for if everyone had gone mad, who would be left to write the book?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin stared at his questioner ruefully. \u201cWell, now, young man, there isn\u2019t any eyewitness answer to that, but we\u2019ve got a few damned good notions as to what happened. You see, there are three kinds of people who might remain relatively unaffected. First, the very few who don\u2019t see the Stars at all; the blind, those who drink themselves into a stupor at the beginning of the eclipse and remain so to the end. We leave them out\u2014because they aren\u2019t really witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen there are children below six, to whom the world as a whole is too new and strange for them to be too frightened at Stars and Darkness. They would be just another item in an already surprising world. You see that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other nodded doubtfully. \u201cI suppose so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLastly, there are those whose minds are too coarsely grained to be entirely toppled. The very insensitive would be scarcely affected\u2014oh, such people as some of our older, work-broken peasants. Well, the children would have fugitive memories, and that, combined with the confused, incoherent babblings of the half-mad morons, formed the basis for the \u2018Book of Revelations.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaturally, the book was based, in the first place, on the testimony of those least qualified to serve as historians; that is, children and morons; and was probably extensively edited and re-edited through the cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you suppose,\u201d broke in Theremon, \u201cthat they carried the book through the cycles the way we\u2019re planning on handing on the secret of gravitation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin shrugged. \u201cPerhaps, but their exact method is unimportant. They do it, somehow. The point I was getting at was that the book can\u2019t help but be a mass of distortion, even if it is based on fact. For instance, do you remember the experiment with the holes in the roof that Faro and Yimot tried\u2014the one that didn\u2019t work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know why it didn\u2019t w\u2014\u201d He stopped and rose in alarm, for Aton was approaching, his face a twisted mask of consternation. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Aton drew him aside and Sheerin could feel the fingers on his elbow twitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot so loud!\u201d Aton\u2019s voice was low and tortured. \u201cI\u2019ve just gotten word from the Hideout on the private line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin broke in anxiously. \u201cThey are in trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot they.<\/em>\u201d Aton stressed the pronoun significantly. \u201cThey sealed themselves off just a while ago, and they\u2019re going to stay buried till day after tomorrow. They\u2019re safe. But the city,<\/em> Sheerin\u2014it\u2019s a shambles. You have no idea\u2014\u201d He was having difficulty in speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell?\u201d snapped Sheerin impatiently. \u201cWhat of it? It will get worse. What are you shaking about?\u201d Then, suspiciously, \u201cHow do you feel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton\u2019s eyes sparked angrily at the insinuation, and then faded to anxiety once more. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. The Cultists are active. They\u2019re rousing the people to storm the Observatory\u2014promising them immediate entrance into grace, promising them salvation, promising them anything. What are we to do, Sheerin?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin\u2019s head bent, and he stared in long abstraction at his toes. He tapped his chin with one knuckle, then looked up and said crisply, \u201cDo? What is there to do? Nothing at all! Do the men know of this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, of course not!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood! Keep it that way. How long till totality?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot quite an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to do but gamble. It will take time to organize any really formidable mob, and it will take more time to get them out here. We\u2019re a good five miles from the city\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He glared out the window, down the slopes to where the farmed patches gave way to clumps of white houses in the suburbs; down to where the metropolis itself was a blur on the horizon\u2014a mist in the waning blaze of Beta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He repeated without turning, \u201cIt will take time. Keep on working and pray that totality comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beta was cut in half, the line of division pushing a slight concavity into the still-bright portion of the Sun. It was like a gigantic eyelid shutting slantwise over the light of a world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The faint clatter of the room in which he stood faded into oblivion, and he sensed only the thick silence of the fields outside. The very insects seemed frightened mute. And things were dim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He jumped at the voice in his ear. Theremon said, \u201cIs something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEh? Er\u2014no. Get back to the chair. We\u2019re in the way.\u201d They slipped back to their corner, but the psychologist did not speak for a time. He lifted a finger and loosened his collar. He twisted his neck back and forth but found no relief. He looked up suddenly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you having any difficulty in breathing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newspaperman opened his eyes wide and drew two or three long breaths. \u201cNo. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI looked out the window too long, I suppose. The dimness got me. Difficulty in breathing is one of the first symptoms of a claustrophobic attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon drew another long breath. \u201cWell, it hasn\u2019t got me yet. Say, here\u2019s another of the fellows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Beenay had interposed his bulk between the light and the pair in the corner, and Sheerin squinted up at him anxiously. \u201cHello, Beenay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The astronomer shifted his weight to the other foot and smiled feebly. \u201cYou won\u2019t mind if I sit down awhile and join in on the talk? My cameras are set, and there\u2019s nothing to do till totality.\u201d He paused and eyed the Cultist, who fifteen minutes earlier had drawn a small, skin-bound book from his sleeve and had been poring intently over it ever since. \u201cThat rat hasn\u2019t been making trouble, has he?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin shook his head. His shoulders were thrown back and he frowned his concentration as he forced himself to breathe regularly. He said, \u201cHave you had any trouble breathing, Beenay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay sniffed the air in his turn. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem stuffy to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA touch of claustrophobia,\u201d explained Sheerin apologetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh-h-h! It worked itself differently with me. I get the impression that my eyes are going back on me. Things seem to blur and\u2014well, nothing is clear. And it\u2019s cold, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s cold, all right. That\u2019s no illusion.\u201d Theremon grimaced. \u201cMy toes feel as if I\u2019ve been shipping them cross country in a refrigerating car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we need,\u201d put in Sheerin, \u201cis to keep our minds busy with extraneous affairs. I was telling you a while ago, Theremon, why Faro\u2019s experiments with the holes in the roof came to nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were just beginning,\u201d replied Theremon. He encircled a knee with both arms and nuzzled his chin against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, as I started to say, they were misled by taking the \u2018Book of Revelations\u2019 literally. There probably wasn\u2019t any sense in attaching any physical significance to the Stars. It might be, you know, that in the presence of total Darkness, the mind finds it absolutely necessary to create light. This illusion of light might be all the Stars there really are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn other words,\u201d interposed Theremon, \u201cyou mean the Stars are the results of the madness and not one of the causes. Then, what good will Beenay\u2019s photographs be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo prove that it is an illusion, maybe; or to prove the opposite, for all I know. Then again\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Beenay had drawn his chair closer, and there was an expression of sudden enthusiasm on his face. \u201cSay, I\u2019m glad you two got on to this subject.\u201d His eyes narrowed and he lifted one finger. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about these Stars and I\u2019ve got a really cute notion. Of course, it\u2019s strictly ocean foam, and I\u2019m not trying to advance it seriously, but I think it\u2019s interesting. Do you want to hear it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He seemed half reluctant, but Sheerin leaned back and said, \u201cGo ahead! I\u2019m listening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, then, supposing there were other suns in the universe.\u201d He broke off a little bashfully. \u201cI mean suns that are so far away that they\u2019re too dim to see. It sounds as if I\u2019ve been reading some of that fantastic fiction, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot necessarily. Still, isn\u2019t that possibility eliminated by the fact that, according to the Law of Gravitation, they would make themselves evident by their attractive forces?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot if they were far enough off,\u201d rejoined Beenay, \u201creally far off\u2014maybe as much as four light years, or even more. We\u2019d never be able to detect perturbations then, because they\u2019d be too small. Say that there were a lot of suns that far off; a dozen or two, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon whistled melodiously. \u201cWhat an idea for a good Sunday supplement article. Two dozen suns in a universe eight light years across. Wow! That would shrink our<\/em> universe into insignificance. The readers would eat it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly an idea,\u201d said Beenay with a grin, \u201cbut you see the point. During eclipse, these dozens suns would become visible, because there\u2019d be no real<\/em> sunlight to drown them out. Since they\u2019re so far off, they\u2019d appear small, like so many little marbles. Of course, the Cultists talk of millions of Stars, but that\u2019s probably exaggeration. There just isn\u2019t any place in the universe you could put a million suns\u2014unless they touch one another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin had listened with gradually increasing interest. \u201cYou\u2019ve hit something there, Beenay. And exaggeration is just exactly what would happen. Our minds, as you probably know, can\u2019t grasp directly any number higher than five; above that there is only the concept of \u2018many.\u2019 A dozen would become a million just like that. A damn good idea!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cAnd I\u2019ve got another cute little notion,\u201d Beenay said. \u201cHave you ever thought what a simple problem gravitation would be if only you had a sufficiently simple system? Supposing you had a universe in which there was a planet with only one sun. The planet would travel in a perfect ellipse and the exact nature of the gravitational force would be so evident it could be accepted as an axiom. Astronomers on such a world would start off with gravity probably before they even invent the telescope. Naked-eye observation would be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut would such a system be dynamically stable?\u201d questioned Sheerin doubtfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure! They call it the \u2018one-and-one\u2019 case. It\u2019s been worked out mathematically, but it\u2019s the philosophical implications that interest me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to think about,\u201d admitted Sheerin, \u201cas a pretty abstraction\u2014like a perfect gas or absolute zero.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d continued Beenay, \u201cthere\u2019s the catch that life would be impossible on such a planet. It wouldn\u2019t get enough heat and light, and if it rotated there would be total Darkness half of each day. You couldn\u2019t expect life\u2014which is fundamentally dependent upon light\u2014to develop under those conditions. Besides\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin\u2019s chair went over backward as he sprang to his feet in a rude interruption. \u201cAton\u2019s brought out the lights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay said, \u201cHuh,\u201d turned to stare, and then grinned halfway around his head in open relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were half a dozen foot-long, inch-thick rods cradled in Aton\u2019s arms. He glared over them at the assembled staff members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet back to work, all of you. Sheerin, come here and help me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin trotted to the older man\u2019s side and, one by one, in utter silence, the two adjusted the rods in makeshift metal holders suspended from the walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the air of one carrying through the most sacred item of a religious ritual, Sheerin scraped a large, clumsy match into spluttering life and passed it to Aton, who carried the flame to the upper end of one of the rods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hesitated there a while, playing futilely about the tip, until a sudden, crackling flare cast Aton\u2019s lined face into yellow highlights. He withdrew the match and a spontaneous cheer rattled the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rod was topped by six inches of wavering flame! Methodically, the other rods were lighted, until six independent fires turned the rear of the room yellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The light was dim, dimmer even than the tenuous sunlight. The flames reeled crazily, giving birth to drunken, swaying shadows. The torches smoked devilishly and smelled like a bad day in the kitchen. But they emitted yellow light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is something to yellow light\u2014after four hours of somber, dimming Beta. Even Latimer had lifted his eyes from his book and stared in wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin warmed his hands at the nearest, regardless of the soot that gathered upon them in a fine, gray powder, and muttered ecstatically to himself. \u201cBeautiful! Beautiful! I never realized before what a wonderful color yellow is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Theremon regarded the torches suspiciously. He wrinkled his nose at the rancid odor, and said, \u201cWhat are those things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWood,\u201d said Sheerin shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, no, they\u2019re not. They aren\u2019t burning. The top inch is charred and the flame just keeps shooting up out of nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of it. This is a really efficient artificial-light mechanism. We made a few hundred of them, but most went to the Hideout, of course. You see\u201d\u2014he turned and wiped his blackened hands upon his handkerchief\u2014\u201cyou take the pithy core of coarse water reeds, dry them thoroughly and soak them in animal grease. Then you set fire to it and the grease burns, little by little. These torches will burn for almost half an hour without stopping. Ingenious, isn\u2019t it? It was developed by one of our own young men at Saro University.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


After the momentary sensation, the dome had quieted. Latimer had carried his chair directly beneath a torch and continued reading, lips moving in the monotonous recital of invocations to the Stars. Beenay had drifted away to his cameras once more, and Theremon seized the opportunity to add to his notes on the article he was going to write for the Saro City Chronicle<\/em> the next day\u2014a procedure he had been following for the last two hours in a perfectly methodical, perfectly conscientious and, as he was well aware, perfectly meaningless fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as the gleam of amusement in Sheerin\u2019s eyes indicated, careful note taking occupied his mind with something other than the fact that the sky was gradually turning a horrible deep purple-red, as if it were one gigantic, freshly peeled beet; and so it fulfilled its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air grew, somehow, denser. Dusk, like a palpable entity, entered the room, and the dancing circle of yellow light about the torches etched itself into ever-sharper distinction against the gathering grayness beyond. There was the odor of smoke and the presence of little chuckling sounds that the torches made as they burned; the soft pad of one of the men circling the table at which he worked, on hesitant tiptoes; the occasional indrawn breath of someone trying to retain composure in a world that was retreating into the shadow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Theremon who first heard the extraneous noise. It was a vague, unorganized impression<\/em> of sound that would have gone unnoticed but for the dead silence that prevailed within the dome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman sat upright and replaced his notebook. He held his breath and listened; then, with considerable reluctance, threaded his way between the solarscope and one of Beenay\u2019s cameras and stood before the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silence ripped to fragments at his startled shout:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSheerin!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work stopped! The psychologist was at his side in a moment. Aton joined him. Even Yimot 70, high in his little lean-back seat at the eyepiece of the gigantic solarscope, paused and looked downward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside, Beta was a mere smoldering splinter, taking one last desperate look at Lagash. The eastern horizon, in the direction of the city, was lost in Darkness, and the road from Saro to the Observatory was a dull-red line bordered on both sides by wooden tracts, the trees of which had somehow lost individuality and merged into a continuous shadowy mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was the highway itself that held attention, for along it there surged another, and infinitely menacing, shadowy mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton cried in a cracked voice, \u201cThe madmen from the city! They\u2019ve come!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow long to totality?\u201d demanded Sheerin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFifteen minutes, but \u2026 but they\u2019ll be here in five.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNever mind, keep the men working. We\u2019ll hold them off. This place is built like a fortress. Aton, keep an eye on our young Cultist just for luck. Theremon, come with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Sheerin was out the door, and Theremon was at his heels. The stairs stretched below them in tight, circular sweeps about the central shaft, fading into a dank and dreary grayness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first momentum of their rush had carried them fifty feet down, so that the dim, flickering yellow from the open door of the dome had disappeared and both up above and down below the same dusky shadow crushed in upon them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin paused, and his pudgy hand clutched at his chest. His eyes bulged and his voice was a dry cough. \u201cI can\u2019t \u2026 breathe \u2026 go down \u2026 yourself. Close all doors\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon took a few downward steps, then turned. \u201cWait! Can you hold out a minute?\u201d He was panting himself. The air passed in and out his lungs like so much molasses, and there was a little germ of screeching panic in his mind at the thought of making his way into the mysterious Darkness below by himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon, after all, was afraid of the dark!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStay here,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be back in a second.\u201d He dashed upward two steps at a time, heart pounding\u2014not altogether from the exertion\u2014tumbled into the dome and snatched a torch from its holder. It was foul smelling, and the smoke smarted his eyes almost blind, but he clutched that torch as if he wanted to kiss it for joy, and its flame streamed backward as he hurtled down the stairs again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin opened his eyes and moaned as Theremon bent over him. Theremon shook him roughly. \u201cAll right, get a hold on yourself. We\u2019ve got light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He held the torch at tiptoe height and, propping the tottering psychologist by an elbow, made his way downward in the middle of the protecting circle of illumination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offices on the ground floor still possessed what light there was, and Theremon felt the horror about him relax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere,\u201d he said brusquely, and passed the torch to Sheerin. \u201cYou can hear them<\/em> outside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they could. Little scraps of hoarse, wordless shouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sheerin was right; the Observatory was built like a fortress. Erected in the last century, when the neo-Gavottian style of architecture was at its ugly height, it had been designed for stability and durability, rather than for beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The windows were protected by the grillework of inch-thick iron bars sunk deep into the concrete sills. The walls were solid masonry that an earthquake couldn\u2019t have touched, and the main door was a huge oaken slab reinforced with iron at the strategic points. Theremon shot the bolts and they slid shut with a dull clang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the other end of the corridor, Sheerin cursed weakly. He pointed to the lock of the back door which had been nearly jimmied into uselessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat must be how Latimer got in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t stand there,\u201d cried Theremon impatiently. \u201cHelp drag up the furniture\u2014and keep that torch out of my eyes. The smoke\u2019s killing me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He slammed the heavy table up against the door as he spoke, and in two minutes had built a barricade which made up for what it lacked in beauty and symmetry by the sheer inertia of its massiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere, dimly, far off, they could hear the battering of naked fists upon the door; and the screams and yells from outside had a sort of half reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mob had set off from Saro City with only two things in mind: the attainment of Cultist salvation by the destruction of the Observatory, and a maddening fear that all but paralyzed them. There was no time to think of ground cars, or of weapons, or of leadership, or even of organization. They made for the Observatory on foot and assaulted it with bare hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now that they were there, the last flash of Beta, the last ruby-red drop of flame, flickered feebly over a humanity that had left only stark, universal fear!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon groaned, \u201cLet\u2019s get back to the dome!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In the dome, only Yimot, at the solarscope, had kept his place. The rest were clustered about the cameras, and Beenay was giving his instructions in a hoarse, strained voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet it straight, all of you. I\u2019m snapping Beta just before totality and changing the plate. That will leave one of you to each camera. You all know about \u2026 about times of exposure\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a breathless murmur of agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay passed a hand over his eyes. \u201cAre the torches still burning? Never mind, I see them!\u201d He was leaning hard against the back of a chair. \u201cNow remember, don\u2019t \u2026 don\u2019t try to look for good shots. Don\u2019t waste time trying to get t-two stars at a time in the scope field. One is enough. And \u2026 and if you feel yourself going, get away from the camera.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the door, Sheerin whispered to Theremon, \u201cTake me to Aton. I don\u2019t see him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman did not answer immediately. The vague forms of the astronomers wavered and blurred, and the torches overhead had become only yellow splotches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dark,\u201d he whimpered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheerin held out his hand, \u201cAton.\u201d He stumbled forward. \u201cAton!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon stepped after and seized his arm. \u201cWait, I\u2019ll take you.\u201d Somehow he made his way across the room. He closed his eyes against the Darkness and his mind against the chaos within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one heard them or paid attention to them. Sheerin stumbled against the wall. \u201cAton!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychologist felt shaking hands touching him, then withdrawing, and a voice muttering, \u201cIs that you, Sheerin?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAton!\u201d He strove to breathe normally. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about the mob. The place will hold them off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Latimer, the Cultist, rose to his feet, and his face twisted in desperation. His word was pledged, and to break it would mean placing his soul in mortal peril. Yet that word had been forced from him and had not been given freely. The Stars would come soon; he could not stand by and allow\u2014And yet his word was pledged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beenay\u2019s face was dimly flushed as it looked upward at Beta\u2019s last ray, and Latimer, seeing him bend over his camera, made his decision. His nails cut the flesh of his palms as he tensed himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He staggered crazily as he started his rush. There was nothing before him but shadows; the very floor beneath his feet lacked substance. And then someone was upon him and he went down with clutching fingers at his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He doubled his knee and drove it hard into his assailant. \u201cLet me up or I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon cried out sharply and muttered through a blinding haze of pain, \u201cYou double-crossing rat!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newsman seemed conscious of everything at once. He heard Beenay croak, \u201cI\u2019ve got it. At your cameras, men!\u201d and then there was the strange awareness that the last thread of sunlight had thinned out and snapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously he heard one last choking gasp from Beenay, and a queer little cry from Sheerin, a hysterical giggle that cut off in a rasp\u2014and a sudden silence, a strange, deadly silence from outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Latimer had gone limp in his loosening grasp. Theremon peered into the Cultist\u2019s eyes and saw the blankness of them, staring upward, mirroring the feeble yellow of the torches. He saw the bubble of froth upon Latimer\u2019s lips and heard the low animal whimper in Latimer\u2019s throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the slow fascination of fear, he lifted himself on one arm and turned his eyes toward the blood-curdling blackness of the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through it shone the Stars!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Earth\u2019s feeble thirty-six hundred Stars visible to the eye\u2014Lagash was in the center of a giant cluster. Thirty thousand mighty suns shown down in a soul-searing splendor that was more frighteningly cold in its awful indifference than the bitter wind that shivered across the cold, horribly bleak world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theremon staggered to his feet, his throat constricting him to breathlessness, all the muscles of his body writhing in a tensity of terror and sheer fear beyond bearing. He was going mad, and knew it, and somewhere deep inside a bit of sanity was screaming, struggling to fight off the hopeless flood of black terror. It was very horrible to go mad and know that you were going mad\u2014to know that in a little minute you would be here physically and yet all the real essence would be dead and drowned in the black madness. For this was the Dark\u2014the Dark and the Cold and the Doom. The bright walls of the universe were shattered and their awful black fragments were falling down to crush and squeeze and obliterate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He jostled someone crawling on hands and knees, but stumbled somehow over him. Hands groping at his tortured throat, he limped toward the flame of the torches that filled all his mad vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLight!\u201d he screamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aton, somewhere, was crying, whimpering horribly like a terribly frightened child. \u201cStars\u2014all the Stars\u2014we didn\u2019t know at all. We didn\u2019t know anything. We thought six stars is a universe is something the Stars didn\u2019t notice is Darkness forever and ever and ever and the walls are breaking in and we didn\u2019t know we couldn\u2019t know and anything\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone clawed at the torch, and it fell and snuffed out. In the instant, the awful splendor of the indifferent Stars leaped nearer to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the horizon outside the window, in the direction of Saro City, a crimson glow began growing, strengthening in brightness, that was not the glow of a sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long night had come again.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bibliographic data<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Author: Isaac Asimov
Title: Nightfall
Published in: Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1941
Appears in: Nightfall and Other Stories (1969)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Full text]<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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