and sickened. Kapp moved quietly towards the waggon.
“It’ll come again,” promised Kickalong. “It’ll take us too!”
“Soon! Soon! Soon!” they cried.
The girl was aware of their hands on her face. She gave a trembling smile. Kickalong looked up and shouted: “We’re waiting! We won’t be long! We’re coming out of the blackness of this world!”
“Soon! Soon!”
There was a roar from the waggon as Kapp backed it towards them at full throttle. The tail door was open.
As the Planet People scattered Quatermass made his effort.
He grabbed the girl up, grateful for her lightness, and threw himself towards the waggon. Clare moved too, the spell broken. Between them they got her in and slammed the door behind them.
As the cries of anger rose, Kapp let in the clutch.
He jerked at his door to shut it and found it jammed. Kickalong was clinging there. As Kapp drove off the big tattooed face was thrust into his and they were fighting for the wheel.
“Let her go,” yelled Kickalong. “She’s ours!”
He was stronger as well as bigger. Kapp found himself veering helplessly in a circle. They were well into the blasted area now. Dust belched up round the waggon.
Kickalong made a grab at the mesh that covered the windscreen. He hauled himself on to the bonnet and clung there, kicking at the mesh until the glass crazed. Kapp swung the wheel desperately, trying to shake him off, trying just to see.
“The stones!” shouted Quatermass.
They were plunging into the Round. The wheels thudded and the whole heavy vehicle bucked in the air. They had hit the fallen sarsen.
Kickalong was flung to the ground. But in a moment he was up, reeling on his feet. He snatched up a stone fragment and hurled it.
“You took my chance!” he screamed. “You stopped me! I could’a gone to the Planet!”
He was weeping with rage. He turned to the pay cop wreckage and grabbed a long machine gun. Kapp fought to reverse free of the sarsen. Kickalong aimed. He pulled the trigger but the bolt clicked dead. He hurled the gun with all the strength he had left, shattering a side window and showering glass inside.
The waggon backed away.
In another moment it was zigzagging down the slope. Clare was clinging among the rubbish in the back trying to protect the injured girl. As Kapp drove at full speed down the slope a shower of stones hit the side. There were furious screams from the little group of Planet People, in total contrast to their gentle keening minutes before.
“They want her!” gasped Clare.
Kapp said: “They want us!”
He kept his foot hard down. As they thumped over the turf they heard a burst of fire behind them.
Kickalong had found a gun that worked.
“Keep down!” yelled Kapp.
Another distant burst. Bullets slashed a corner off the waggon. They waited for more but none came. Perhaps that gun had jammed too.
Incredulity, said the cool small voice, is a protective device. When the senses overload a safety cutout says enough is enough. After it operates everything that does not match the norm gets rejected. So now. Those thousands, they were not there, how could they have been? None of it happened, we didn’t see it. The safety cutout is trying to trip but it can’t quite manage it. A bit of grit in the mechanism. It takes the form of a small thin girl lying in the back of this waggon.
Quatermass looked round.
Clare had the girl’s head on her lap. She was stroking her face. Now that was a normal thing to see, a woman comforting a sick child. The cutout trembled again towards the safety position. But there was something wrong even in that. Other hands had performed that same service. He had seen them only a few minutes before. To sustain a belief that was totally insane. Was Clare consciously imitating them? She looked stunned. Did she realize?
The safety cutout failed. Quatermass felt a trembling inside his spinal column.
He glanced at Kapp, glaring out through the starred glass and mesh of the
“It’ll come again,” promised Kickalong. “It’ll take us too!”
“Soon! Soon! Soon!” they cried.
The girl was aware of their hands on her face. She gave a trembling smile. Kickalong looked up and shouted: “We’re waiting! We won’t be long! We’re coming out of the blackness of this world!”
“Soon! Soon!”
There was a roar from the waggon as Kapp backed it towards them at full throttle. The tail door was open.
As the Planet People scattered Quatermass made his effort.
He grabbed the girl up, grateful for her lightness, and threw himself towards the waggon. Clare moved too, the spell broken. Between them they got her in and slammed the door behind them.
As the cries of anger rose, Kapp let in the clutch.
He jerked at his door to shut it and found it jammed. Kickalong was clinging there. As Kapp drove off the big tattooed face was thrust into his and they were fighting for the wheel.
“Let her go,” yelled Kickalong. “She’s ours!”
He was stronger as well as bigger. Kapp found himself veering helplessly in a circle. They were well into the blasted area now. Dust belched up round the waggon.
Kickalong made a grab at the mesh that covered the windscreen. He hauled himself on to the bonnet and clung there, kicking at the mesh until the glass crazed. Kapp swung the wheel desperately, trying to shake him off, trying just to see.
“The stones!” shouted Quatermass.
They were plunging into the Round. The wheels thudded and the whole heavy vehicle bucked in the air. They had hit the fallen sarsen.
Kickalong was flung to the ground. But in a moment he was up, reeling on his feet. He snatched up a stone fragment and hurled it.
“You took my chance!” he screamed. “You stopped me! I could’a gone to the Planet!”
He was weeping with rage. He turned to the pay cop wreckage and grabbed a long machine gun. Kapp fought to reverse free of the sarsen. Kickalong aimed. He pulled the trigger but the bolt clicked dead. He hurled the gun with all the strength he had left, shattering a side window and showering glass inside.
The waggon backed away.
In another moment it was zigzagging down the slope. Clare was clinging among the rubbish in the back trying to protect the injured girl. As Kapp drove at full speed down the slope a shower of stones hit the side. There were furious screams from the little group of Planet People, in total contrast to their gentle keening minutes before.
“They want her!” gasped Clare.
Kapp said: “They want us!”
He kept his foot hard down. As they thumped over the turf they heard a burst of fire behind them.
Kickalong had found a gun that worked.
“Keep down!” yelled Kapp.
Another distant burst. Bullets slashed a corner off the waggon. They waited for more but none came. Perhaps that gun had jammed too.
Incredulity, said the cool small voice, is a protective device. When the senses overload a safety cutout says enough is enough. After it operates everything that does not match the norm gets rejected. So now. Those thousands, they were not there, how could they have been? None of it happened, we didn’t see it. The safety cutout is trying to trip but it can’t quite manage it. A bit of grit in the mechanism. It takes the form of a small thin girl lying in the back of this waggon.
Quatermass looked round.
Clare had the girl’s head on her lap. She was stroking her face. Now that was a normal thing to see, a woman comforting a sick child. The cutout trembled again towards the safety position. But there was something wrong even in that. Other hands had performed that same service. He had seen them only a few minutes before. To sustain a belief that was totally insane. Was Clare consciously imitating them? She looked stunned. Did she realize?
The safety cutout failed. Quatermass felt a trembling inside his spinal column.
He glanced at Kapp, glaring out through the starred glass and mesh of the
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