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The Plotters By: Alexander Blade |
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By ALEXANDER BLADE [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories December
1948. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.]
[Sidenote: He came from a far planet to find some of the Earth's
secrets. But Marko found other things, too like his love for beautiful
Beth]
It seemed to be the same tree that kept getting in my way. I tried to go
around it but it moved with me and I ran right into it. I found myself
sprawled on my back and my nose was bleeding where I had hit it against
the tree. Then I got up and ran again. I had to keep running. I didn't know why; I just had to. There was a
puddle of water and I splashed through it and then slipped and fell into
a thorny bush. When I got up there were scratches on my hands and face
and chest. As yet I felt no pain. That wouldn't come for a while, after I had done
a lot more running. But at the moment I couldn't feel a thing. In my conscious mind there was only a sort of grayness. I didn't know
where I was, or who I was, or why I was running. I didn't know that if I
ran long enough and bumped into enough trees and scratched myself often
enough I would eventually feel pain. Or that out of the exertion and the
pain would come awareness. All that must have been there, but buried so deep it didn't come
through. It was only instinct which kept me going. The same tree was in my way again and this time I didn't even try to go
around it. My breath was knocked out of me. After a few gasps it came
back, and then I was off again. I went up a rise and down into a hollow and tripped over roots. That
time I didn't fall. I went up the other side of the hollow with the wind
whistling in my ears. A few drops of rain fell. There were flashes of
lightning in the sky. Wet leaves whipped against my face and there was a crack of thunder so
close that it shook me. I ran away from the thunder and up another rise
and down into another hollow. The wind was stronger now. It came in long blasts. Sometimes I ran with
it and sometimes against it. When I ran against it I didn't make much
headway, but my legs kept pumping. There was tall grass to slow me down
and there were roots to trip me. There was the wind and the thunder and
the lightning. And there were always trees. And then there was a terrible flash and above me a crack that was not of
thunder. Something came crashing down. It was the limb of a tree. It
crashed against my chest and smashed me flat on my back and pinned me
there. One of my ribs felt broken. It jabbed into me as I fought to raise this
weight from my chest, and this was a pain I could feel. This was something that hurt as nothing had ever hurt me before. This
was excruciating. But it was the pain that cut through the grayness of
my mind, and because of that I welcomed it. With the pain would come knowledge. I would know who I was and why I was
running. Already there were figures racing across the blankness. There
were faces and there were names: Ristal, Kresh, Marko, Copperd, Beth. I was Marko. I knew that much already. Beth was the golden girl. Somehow
I knew that too. But who were the others? It wasn't coming fast enough. I couldn't find the connections. There was
only one way to bring it back, to bridge the gaps. I had to start
somewhere, with what I knew. I had to start with myself and then bridge
the gap to Beth. That was the beginning. I checked with the mirror for the last time and decided that I would
pass muster. As far as I could see, I looked like almost any college
student. There wasn't anything I could do about my hair. It hadn't grown at all.
It was a mass of short, black ringlets that fit my head like a tight
cap. But there was no use worrying about that. Mrs. Mara came down the hall just as I was locking the door. She looked
hurt when she saw me turn the key. "You don't have to do that in my house," she said... Continue reading book >>
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