He slowed his car down. The gas gauge was near empty.
To the right of the road was a filling station and a small roadside cafe. The sight of the cafe reminded him he hadn’t eaten breakfast. His stomach was beginning to protest. There were a couple of cars pulled up in front of the cafe. A few people were sitting inside at the counter.
He turned off the highway and coasted into the gas station.
“Fill her up!” he called to the attendant. He got out on the hot gravel, leaving the car in gear. His mouth watered. A plateful of hotcakes, side order of ham, steaming black coffee… “Can I leave her here?”
“The car?” The white-clad attendant unscrewed the cap and began filling the tank. “What do you mean?”
“Fill her up and park her for me. I’ll be out in a few minutes. I want to catch some breakfast.”
“Breakfast?”
Douglas was annoyed. What was the matter with the man? He indicated the cafe. A truck driver had pushed the screen door open and was standing on the step, picking his teeth thoughtfully. Inside, the waitress hustled back and forth. He could already smell the coffee, the bacon frying on the griddle. A faint tinny sound of a jukebox drifted out. A warm, friendly sound. “The cafe.”
The attendant stopped pumping gas. He put down the hose slowly and turned toward Douglas, a strange expression on his face. “What cafe?” he said.
The cafe wavered and abruptly winked out. Douglas fought down a scream of terror. Where the cafe had been there was only an open field.
Greenish brown grass. A few rusty tin cans. Bottles. Debris. A leaning fence. Off in the distance, the outline of the mountains.
Douglas tried to get hold of himself. “I’m a little tired,” he muttered. He climbed unsteadily back into the car. “How much?”
“I just hardly began to fill the—”
“Here.” Douglas pushed a bill at him. “Get out of the way.” He turned on the motor and raced out onto the highway, leaving the astonished attendant staring after him.
That had been close. Damn close. A trap. And he had almost stepped inside.
But the thing that really terrified him wasn’t the closeness. He was out of the mountains and they had still been ahead of him.
It hadn’t done any good. He wasn’t any safer than last night. They were everywhere.
The car sped along the highway. He was getting near Denver—but so what? It wouldn’t make any difference. He could dig a hole in Death Valley and still not be safe. They were after him and they weren’t going to give up. That much was clear.
He racked his mind desperately. He had to think of something, some way to get loose.
A parasitic culture. A race that preyed on humans, utilized human knowledge and discoveries. Wasn’t that what Bill had said? They were after his know-how, his unique ability and knowledge of nuclear physics. He had been singled out, separated from the pack because of his superior ability and training. They would keep after him until they got him. And then—what?
Horror gripped him. The gold ingot. The decoy. The girl had looked perfectly real. The cafe full of people. Even the smells of food. Bacon frying. Steaming coffee.
God, if only he were just an ordinary person, without skill, without special ability. If only—
A sudden flapping sound. The car lurched. Douglas cursed wildly. A flat. Of all times…
Of all times.
Douglas brought the car to a halt at the side of the road. He switched off the motor and put on the brake. For a while he sat in silence. Finally he fumbled in his coat and got out a mashed package of cigarettes. He lit up slowly and then rolled the window down to let in some air.
He was trapped, of course. There was nothing he could do. The flat had obviously been arranged. Something on the road, sprinkled down from above. Tacks, probably.
The highway was deserted. No cars in sight. He was utterly alone, between towns. Denver was thirty miles ahead. No chance of getting there. Nothing around him but terribly level fields, desolated plains.
Nothing but level ground—and the blue sky above.
Douglas peered up. He couldn’t see them, but they were there, waiting for him to get out of his car. His knowledge, his ability, would be utilized by an alien culture. He would become an instrument in their hands. All his learning would be theirs. He would be a slave and nothing more.
Yet, in a way, it was a complement. From a whole society, he alone had been selected. His skill and knowledge, over everything else. A faint glow rose in his cheeks. Probably they had been studying him for some time. The great eye had no doubt often peered down through its telescope, or microscope, or whatever it was, peered down and seen him. Seen his ability and realized what that would be worth to its own culture.
Douglas opened the car door. He stepped out onto the hot pavement. He dropped his cigarette and calmly stubbed it out. He took a deep breath, stretching and yawning. He could see the tacks now, bright bits of light on the surface of the pavement. Both front tires were flat.
Something shimmered above him. Douglas waited quietly. Now that it had finally come, he was no longer afraid. He watched with a kind of detached curiosity. The something grew. It fanned out over him, swelling and expanding. For a moment it hesitated. Then it descended.
Douglas stood still as the enormous cosmic net closed over him. The strands pressed against him as the net rose. He was going up, heading toward the sky. But he was relaxed, at peace, no longer afraid.
Why be afraid? He would be doing much the same work as always. He would miss Laura and the college, of course, the intellectual companionship of the faculty, the bright faces of the students. But no doubt he would find companionship up above. Persons to work with. Trained minds with which to communicate.
The net was lifting him faster and faster. The ground fell rapidly away. The Earth dwindled from a flat surface to a globe. Douglas watched with professional interest. Above him, beyond the intricate strands of the net, he could see the outline of the other universe, the new world toward which he was heading.
Shapes. Two enormous shapes squatting down. Two incredibly huge figures bending over. One was drawing in the net. The other watched, holding something in its hand. A landscape. Dim forms too vast for Douglas to comprehend.
At last, a thought came. What a struggle.
It was worth it, thought the other creature.
Their thoughts roared through him. Powerful thoughts, from immense minds.
I was right. The biggest yet. What a catch!
Must weigh all of twenty-four ragets!
At last!
Suddenly Douglas’s composure left him. A chill of horror flashed through his mind. What were they talking about? What did they mean?
But then he was being dumped from the net. He was falling. Something was coming up at him. A flat, shiny surface. What was it?
Oddly, it looked almost like a frying pan.