Lifeforce by Colin Wilson Read Free Book Online Page B

floors. But not out of the building. For Christ’s sake, Robert, a naked girl can’t get far.” He turned back to Carlsen. “How in hell did she get your pass card?”
    “She took it.”
    “How did she know about it?”
    “She read my mind.”
    “Are you certain of that?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “That complicates things. Do you think she can read the minds of the security guards?”
    “Probably.”
    Bukovsky went to the cabinet and poured himself a Scotch; Carlsen nodded when he held out the bottle. Bukovsky came back with the drink. Carlsen took a long pull and experienced relief as the smoky liquid burned his throat.
    Bukovsky sat down. He said: “Listen, Olof, I’m going to ask you a straight question, and I want a straight answer. Do you believe this girl is dangerous?”
    He said: “Of course. She killed a man.”
    “That’s not what I mean. I want to know: Is she evil?”
    He tried to answer, and the conflict built up inside him. His strongest impulse was to say no, but his reason told him he would be lying. Oddly enough, he felt no resentment about her, although he knew she wanted to drain his life force. Was she evil? Is a man-eating tiger evil?
    As he stared at the floor, trying to find a reply, Bukovsky said: “You know what I’m asking. That man intended to rape her. She destroyed him. Was it basically self-defence?”
    He knew the answer. He said wearily: “No. It wasn’t self-defence. She needed his life. She took it.”
    “ Deliberately?” As Carlsen hesitated, he said: “She was unconscious. I’ve seen her a dozen times. Her lambda field was .004. That’s as low as a fish frozen in the ice. Is it not possible that she had no control over what happened?”
    He took his time to answer. Finally he said: “No. She had control. It was deliberate.”
    “Okay.” Bukovsky stood up and went to the telescreen. He said: “Give me George Ash… George, those two space creatures in the specimen room. I want them destroyed. Tonight. Now. Then get a message to the Vega . They’re not to approach the Stranger. Stay at least a hundred miles from it.”
    Ash headed the S.R.I. police; he was directly subordinate to Harlow. He said: “I’ll get them to the incinerator.”
    Bukovsky came back. He said: “Now all we have to do is to find that girl. I wish I knew she was still in the building. A general alert’s going to cause panic.” He plunged his face in his hands; he was obviously tired. “Thank God there’s only that one.”
    “Inspector Caine is here, sir.” It was Bukovsky’s secretary. Caine looked like a policeman: bulky, sad-faced, grey-haired.
    Bukovsky introduced himself and Carlsen. Caine said: “Ah, yes, I recognise you, sir. You found them in the first place, didn’t you?”
    Carlsen nodded. “If that’s what you can call it.”
    Caine was about to go on, but Bukovsky interrupted him. “What do you mean by that?”
    Carlsen shrugged, smiling tiredly. “Did we find them? Or did they find us? Had the Stranger really been there for a million years? Or was it planted so we’d find it?”
    Caine obviously found this speculation futile. He said patiently: “Excuse me, sir, but I’d like you to tell me in your own words just what happened this evening.”
    Carlsen went through it again, and Caine recorded it. He listened without interruption until Carlsen described running into the specimen room and finding the body.
    “You say she opened her eyes. Then what happened?”
    “She sat up… and held out her arms… like this. Like a baby asking to be picked up.”
    “And how did you respond?”
    He shook his head. It would have sounded stupid to say, “I fell in love with her.” Bukovsky was watching him closely. He said: “I did nothing. I just stared.”
    “You must have been pretty shaken. Then what?”
    “Then she got up — very lightly. And she tried to put her arms round my neck.”
    “She wanted to drain you too?”
    “I suppose so.” It was incredible how