How had he been fed? -that was anybody's guess. Not by Psychomech, no, for the machine's feeding was really recycling and more on the psychical than the physical side. Not only had the control panel been interfered with but Garrison had been fed. It was crazy, ridiculous, but it was the only solution. Someone was here, in this very house, right now. Someone, some unknown but very real and physical one, had somehow been in here and turned down the fear-stimulation controls, releasing Garrison from his nightmares. And as the machine had followed the stream through the great and rambling V of the deep cleft, so Garrison had once more slept upon its broad back. He had not noticed the missing milk or sandwiches.Īfter that he had climbed aboard the revitafized Machine to ride it out of the desert into a green and beautiful valley, and for some little time - though time as a real concept did not have a great deal of meaning here - he had followed a tinkling stream to where it cut a cleft through a range of high, domed hills. Also, something of Psychomech's feeding on him: that is to say, he knew that the Machine had somehow drawn on his strength, or that he had applied his strength so as to 'make repairs' in the Machine.īy 5.15 A.M. Now Garrison could only remember the food and drink (though not the actual sensation of eating and drinking), and something of the feeling of well-being which had come afterwards. The desert had been just such a crisis an episode which, like the others before it, had now all but passed into the limbo of lost memories. And so on, chasing his thoughts in a circle - but only for a few minutes, until common-sense took over. How could it possibly be Terri? She had been right here with him when things started to go wrong. He cursed himself for his mind's illogical processing of data. Perhaps this was her get-out, her escape route from actions she could neither control nor tolerate. Or could it be Terri herself, half-crazy with guilt, perhaps even schizoid? Wyatt remembered thinking to himself that she was taking all of this very well. And at 6.30, after a hot shower, he allowed himself to fall asleep for two hours, only waking up at Tern's insistent ringing at the doorbell. Psychomech would do the job, he was sure. he felt an almost irresistible urge to check Garrison's condition, but somehow managed to fight it ?off. They seemed almost to shut him in.Īt 6.00 A.M. They seemed to weigh on him with the weight of the Universe. But if he was here, and if he knew what was going on, why didn't he just come right on out of the woodwork, free Garrison and make an accusation? He could be here right now, looking after his master's interests as always. He could have gone to Germany, turned around and flown straight back. Koenig? The German manservant seemed most eligible, Wyatt had to admit. Not before that time and never since, until now, had Garrison suffered claustrophobia.Īnd coming awake when once more the sun had fallen upon him, he had seen that they were through the pass and that the river's bed was dry and cracked in places, and that the surrounding land was weathered into strange formations here, and the Machine moved more slowly under heavy, dark and oppressive skies.īut between times, in the room of the machine.Īnd yet.
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