Zelazny, Roger - SS Collection - My Name is Legion.pdf - Roger Zelazny - przemosta

My Name Is Legion

Roger Zelazny

PART ONE

The Eve of RUMOKO

I was in the control room when the J-9 unit flaked out

on us. I was there for purposes of doing some idiot

maintenance work, among other things.

There were two men below in the capsule, inspecting

the Highway to Hell, that shaft screwed into the ocean's

bottom thousands of fathoms beneath us and soon to be

opened for traffic. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have worried,

as there were two J-9 technicians on the payroll. Only,

one of them was on leave in Spitzbergen and the other

had entered sick bay just that morning. As a sudden

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combination of wind and turbulent waters rocked the

Aquina and I reflected that it was now the Eve of RU-

MOKO, I made my decision. I crossed the room and re-

moved a side panel.

"Schweitzer! You're not authorized to fool around

with that!" said Doctor Asquith.

I studied the circuits, and, "Do you want to work on

it?" I asked him.

"Of course not. I wouldn't know how to begin.

But—"

"Do you want to see Martin and Demmy die?"

"You know I don't. Only you're not—"

"Then tell me who is," I said. "That capsule down

there is controlled from up here, and we've just blown

something. If you know somebody better fit to work on

it, then you'd better send for him. Otherwise, I'll try to

repair the J-9 myself."

He shut up then, and I began to see where the trouble

was. They had been somewhat obvious about things.

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They had even used solder. Four circuits had been

rigged, and they had fed the whole mess back through

one of the timers. ...

So I began unscrewing the thing. Asquith was an

oceanographer and so should know little about electron-

ic circuits. I guessed that he couldn't tell that I was

undoing sabotage. I worked for about ten minutes, and

the drifting capsule hundreds of fathoms beneath us be-

gan to function once again.

As I worked, I had reflected upon the powers soon to

be invoked, the forces that would traverse the Highway

to Hell for a brief time, and then like the Devil's envoy

or the Devil himself, perhaps—be released, there in

the mid-Atlantic. The bleak weather that prevails in

these latitudes at this time of year did little to improve

my mood. A deadly force was to be employed, atomic

energy, to release an even more powerful phenomenon

—live magma—which seethed and bubbled now miles

beneath the sea itself. That anyone should play senseless

games with something like this was beyond my compre-

hension. Once again, the ship was shaken by the waves.

"Okay," I said. "There were a few shorts and I

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straightened them out" I replaced the side panel.

"There shouldn't be any more trouble."

He regarded the monitor. "It seems to be functioning

all right now. Let me check. . . ."

He flipped the toggle and said, "Aquina to capsule.

Do you read me?"

"Yes," came the reply. "What happened?"

"Short circuit in the J-9," he answered. "It has been

repaired. What is your condition?"

"All systems returned to normal. Instructions?"

"Proceed with your mission," he said, then turned to

me. "I'll recommend you for something or other," he

said. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I didn't know you

could service the J-9."

"I'm an electrical engineer," I replied, "and I've stud-

ied tills thing. I know it's restricted. If I hadn't been able

to figure out what was wrong, I wouldn't have touched

it."

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"I take it you'd rather not be recommended for some-

thing or other?"

"That is correct."

"Then I will not do it."

Which was a very good thing, for the nonce, as I'd

also disconnected a small bomb, which then resided in

my left-hand jacket pocket and would soon be tossed

overboard. It had had another five to eight minutes to

go and would have blotted the record completely. As for

me, I didn't even want a record; but if there had to be

one, it would be mine, not the enemy's.

I excused myself and departed. I disposed of the evi-

dence. I thought upon the day's doings.

Someone had tried to sabotage the project. So Don

Walsh had been right. The assumed threat had been for

real. Consume that and digest it. It meant that there was

something big involved. The main question was,

"What?" The second was, "What next?"

I lit a cigarette and leaned on the Aquini/s rail. I

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