The Delegate from Venus Read online

building that he knew where the meeting was to be held.

  But his greatest surprise was yet to come. The vast auditorium whichhoused the general assembly was filled to its capacity, but there werenew faces behind the plaques which designated the member nations. Hecouldn't believe his eyes at first, but as the meeting got under way, heknew that it was true. The highest echelons of the world's governmentswere represented, even--Jerry gulped at the realization--NikitaKhrushchev himself. It was a summit meeting such as he had never dreamedpossible, a summit meeting without benefit of long foreign minister'sdebate. And the cause of it all, a placid, highly-polished metal robot,was seated blithely at a desk which bore the designation:

  VENUS.

  The robot delegate stood up.

  "Gentlemen," it said into the microphone, and the great men at thecouncil tables strained to hear the translator's version through theirheadphones, "Gentlemen, I thank you for your prompt attention. I come asa Delegate from a great neighbor planet, in the interests of peace andprogress for all the solar system. I come in the belief that peace isthe responsibility of individuals, of nations, and now of worlds, andthat each is dependent upon the other. I speak to you now through theelectronic instrumentation which has been created for me, and I come tooffer your planet not merely a threat, a promise, or an easysolution--but a challenge."

  The council room stirred.

  "Your earth satellites have been viewed with interest by the astronomersof our world, and we foresee the day when contact between our planetswill be commonplace. As for ourselves, we have hitherto had littledesire to explore beyond our realm, being far too occupied with internalmatters. But our isolation cannot last in the face of your progress, sowe believe that we must take part in your affairs.

  "Here, then, is our challenge. Continue your struggle of ideas, competewith each other for the minds of men, fight your bloodless battles, ifyou know no other means to attain progress. But do all this _without_unleashing the terrible forces of power now at your command. Onceunleashed, these forces may or may not destroy all that you have gained.But we, the scientists of Venus, promise you this--that on the very dayyour conflict deteriorates into heedless violence, we will not stand byand let the ugly contagion spread. On that day, we of Venus will actswiftly, mercilessly, and relentlessly--to destroy your worldcompletely."

  Again, the meeting room exploded in a babble of languages.

  "The vessel which brought me here came as a messenger of peace. Butenvision it, men of Earth, as a messenger of war. Unstoppable,inexorable, it may return, bearing a different Delegate from Venus--aDelegate of Death, who speaks not in words, but in the explosion ofatoms. Think of thousands of such Delegates, fired from a vantage pointfar beyond the reach of your retaliation. This is the promise and thechallenge that will hang in your night sky from this moment forward.Look at the planet Venus, men of Earth, and see a Goddess of Vengeance,poised to wreak its wrath upon those who betray the peace."

  The Delegate sat down.

  * * * * *

  Four days later, a mysterious explosion rocked the quiet sands of LosAlamos, and the Venus spacecraft was no more. Two hours after that, therobot delegate, its message delivered, its mission fulfilled, requestedto be locked inside a bombproof chamber. When the door was opened, theDelegate was an exploded ruin.

  The news flashed with lightning speed over the world, and Jerry Bridges'eyewitness accounts of the incredible event was syndicated throughoutthe nation. But his sudden celebrity left him vaguely unsatisfied.

  He tried to explain his feeling to Greta on his first night back inWashington. They were in his apartment, and it was the first time Gretahad consented to pay him the visit.

  "Well, what's _bothering_ you?" Greta pouted. "You've had the biggeststory of the year under your byline. I should think you'd be tickledpink."

  "It's not that," Jerry said moodily. "But ever since I heard theDelegate speak, something's been nagging me."

  "But don't you think he's done good? Don't you think they'll beimpressed by what he said?"

  "I'm not worried about that. I think that damn robot did more forpeace than anything that's ever come along in this cockeyed world. Butstill ..."

  Greta snuggled up to him on the sofa. "You worry too much. Don't youever think of anything else? You should learn to relax. It can be fun."

  She started to prove it to him, and Jerry responded the way a normal,healthy male usually does. But in the middle of an embrace, he criedout:

  "Wait a minute!"

  "What's the matter?"

  "I just thought of something! Now where the hell did I put my oldnotebooks?"

  He got up from the sofa and went scurrying to a closet. From a debris ofcardboard boxes, he found a worn old leather brief case, and cackledwith delight when he found the yellowed notebooks inside.

  "What _are_ they?" Greta said.

  "My old school notebooks. Greta, you'll have to excuse me. But there'ssomething I've got to do, right away!"

  "That's all right with me," Greta said haughtily. "I know when I'm notwanted."

  She took her hat and coat from the hall closet, gave him one last chanceto change his mind, and then left.

  Five minutes later, Jerry Bridges was calling the airlines.

  * * * * *

  It had been eleven years since Jerry had walked across the campus ofClifton University, heading for the ivy-choked main building. It wasremarkable how little had changed, but the students seemed incrediblyyoung. He was winded by the time he asked the pretty girl at the deskwhere Professor Martin Coltz could be located.

  "Professor Coltz?" She stuck a pencil to her mouth. "Well, I guess he'dbe in the Holland Laboratory about now."

  "Holland Laboratory? What's that?"

  "Oh, I guess that was after your time, wasn't it?"

  Jerry felt decrepit, but managed to say: "It must be something new sinceI was here. Where is this place?"

  He followed her directions, and located a fresh-painted building threehundred yards from the men's dorm. He met a student at the door, whotold him that Professor Coltz would be found in the physics department.

  The room was empty when Jerry entered, except for the single stoopedfigure vigorously erasing a blackboard. He turned when the door opened.If the students looked younger, Professor Coltz was far older than Jerryremembered. He was a tall man, with an unruly confusion of straight grayhair. He blinked when Jerry said:

  "Hello, Professor. Do you remember me? Jerry Bridges?"

  "Of course! I thought of you only yesterday, when I saw your name in thepapers--"

  They sat at facing student desks, and chatted about old times. But Jerrywas impatient to get to the point of his visit, and he blurted out:

  "Professor Coltz, something's been bothering me. It bothered me from themoment I heard the Delegate speak. I didn't know what it was until lastnight, when I dug out my old college notebooks. Thank God I kept them."

  Coltz's eyes were suddenly hooded.

  "What do you mean, Jerry?"

  "There was something about the Robot's speech that sounded familiar--Icould have sworn I'd heard some of the words before. I couldn't proveanything until I checked my old notes, and here's what I found."

  He dug into his coat pocket and produced a sheet of paper. He unfoldedit and read aloud.

  "'It's my belief that peace is the responsibility of individuals, ofnations, and someday, even of worlds ...' Sound familiar, Professor?"

  Coltz shifted uncomfortably. "I don't recall every silly thing I said,Jerry."

  "But it's an interesting coincidence, isn't it, Professor? These verywords were spoken by the Delegate from Venus."

  "A coincidence--"

  "Is it? But I also remember your interest in robotics. I'll never forgetthat mechanical homing pigeon you constructed. And you've probablylearned much more these past eleven years."

  "What are you driving at, Jerry?"

  "Just
this, Professor. I had a little daydream, recently, and I want youto hear it. I dreamed about a group of teachers, scientists, andengineers, a group who were suddenly struck by an exciting, incredibleidea. A group that worked in the quiet and secrecy of a University on afantastic scheme to force the idea of peace into the minds of theworld's big shots. Does my dream interest you, Professor?"

  "Go on."

  "Well, I dreamt that this group would secretly launch an earth satelliteof their own, and arrange for the nose cone to come down safely at acertain time and place. They would install a marvelous electronic robotwithin the cone, ready to be assembled. They would beam a radio messageto earth from