Stranger in a Strange Land

«Prejudice again. Most snakes are harmless, useful, and fun to raise. The scarlet snake is a beauty — red, black, and yellow — docile and makes a fine pet. I think this little fellow was fond of me. I knew how to handle snakes, how not to alarm them and not give them a chance to bite — even the bite of a non-poisonous snake is a nuisance. This baby was my prize. I used to take him out and show him to people, holding him back of his head and letting him wrap himself around my wrist.

«I got a chance to show my collection to the herpetologist of the Tampa zoo — I showed him my prize first. He almost had hysterics. My pet was not a scarlet snake — it was a young coral snake. The most deadly snake in North America. Duke, do you see my point?»

«That raising snakes is dangerous? I could have told you.»

«Oh, for Pete's sake! I had rattlesnakes and water moccasins, too. A poisonous snake is not dangerous, no more than a loaded gun is dangerous — in each case, you must handle if properly. The thing that made that snake dangerous was that I hadn't known what it could do. If, in my ignorance, I had handled it carelessly, it would have killed me as casually and innocently as a kitten scratches. That's what I'm trying to tell you about Mike. He seems like an ordinary young male human, rather underdeveloped, clumsy, abysmally ignorant but bright and docil and eager to learn. But, like my snake, Mike is more than he appears to be. If Mike does not trust you, he can be much more deadly than that coral snake. Especially if he thinks you are. harming one of his water brothers, such as Jill — or me.»

Harshaw shook his head. «Duke, if you had given way to your impulse to take a poke at me and if Mike had been standing in that doorway, you would have been dead before you knew it, much too quickly for me to stop him. Mike would then have been apologetic over having “wasted food” — namely your beefy carcass. But he wouldn't feel guilty about killing you; that would be a necessity you forced on him … and not important, even to you. You see, Mike believes that your soul is immortal.»

«Huh? Well, hell, so do I. But — »

«Do you?» Jubal said bleakly. «I wonder.»

«Why, certainly I do! Oh, I don't go to church much, but I was brought up right. I've got faith.»

«Good. Though I've never understood how God could expect his creatures to pick the one true religion by faith — it strikes me as a sloppy way to run a universe. However, since you believe in immortality, we need not trouble over the probability that your prejudices will cause your demise. Do you want to be cremated or buried?»

«Oh, for cripe's sake, Jubal, quit trying to get my goat.»

«Not at all. I can't guarantee your safety since you persist in thinking that a coral snake is a harmless scarlet snake — any blunder may be your last. But I promise I won't let Mike eat you.»

Duke's chin dropped. Then he answered, explosively, pro fanely, incoherently. Harshaw listened, then said testily, «All right, pipe down. Make any arrangements with Mike you like.» Harshaw bent over the projector. «I want to see these pictures. Damn!» he added. «The pesky thing savaged me.»

«You tried to force it. Here — » Duke completed the adjustment Harshaw had muffed, then inserted a spool. Neither reopened the question of whether Duke was, or was not, working for Jubal. The projector was a tabletop tank, with adapter to receive solid-sight-sound 4 mm. film. Shortly they were watching events leading up to the disappearance of the empty brandy case.

Jubal saw the box hurtle toward his head, saw it wink out in mid-air. «Anne will be pleased to know that the cameras back her up. Duke, let's repeat that in slow motion.»

«Okay.» Duke spooled back, then announced, «This is ten-to-one.»

The scene was the same but slowed-down sound was useless; Duke switched it off. The box floated from Jill's hands toward Jubal's head, then ceased to be. But under slow-motion it could be seen shrinking, smaller and smaller until it was no longer there.

«Duke, can you slow it still more?»

«Just a sec. Something has fouled the stereo.»

«What?»

«Darned if I know. It looked all right on the fast run. But when I slowed it, the depth effect was reversed. That box went away from us, mighty fast — but it always looked closer than the wall. Swapped parallax, of course. But I never took that cartridge off the spindle.»

«Oh. Hold it, Duke. Run the film from the other camera.»

«Unh…I see. That'll give us a ninety-degree cross and we'll see properly even if I did jimmy this film.» Duke changed cartridges. «Zip through the first part. Then undercranked on the last part?»

«Go ahead.»

The scene was unchanged save for angle. When the image of Jill grabbed the box, Duke slowed action and again they watched the box go away.

Duke cursed. «Something fouled the second camera, too.»

«So?»

«It was shooting from the side so the box should have gone out of frame to one side. Instead it went straight away from us again. You saw it.»

«Yes,» agreed Jubal. «“Straight away from us”.»