The Second Voice Read online

is Mars. We have received your voice. We know of you, know yourlanguage. We want you to know that we do not like intruders. We want nocontact with you. Seek us out no more. The voice was received clearly.It fits our frequency well. We will keep it so that no morecommunication from you is possible. Let this be a warning. Stay away! Wedo not want you!_"

  The voice stopped and there was silence again. Then Colonel Meadowschuckled. "Very clever, Crawford! You really startled me for a moment."

  "Yes," said Dr. Shalt, smiling. "So you made a little joke at the end.Very clever."

  Crawford's back was to them as he stared at the loudspeaker. His facewas contorted in a surprised grimace and the flesh was suddenly whiteand lifeless. He turned to face them, his body rigid and his mouthtrembling as he whispered:

  "That voice--that last voice--it wasn't mine! _That wasn't mespeaking!_"

  Dr. Shalt laughed. "Superb actor. A great performance, Mr. Crawford. Weare most grateful to you."

  "Robbie's a born comedian," added Colonel Meadows, his eyes sparklingwith the humor of the situation. "Never misses a chance to clown."

  "Don't you understand--_it wasn't my voice_!" screamed Crawford. Helooked from one man to another, his eyes pleading for belief. "Thesecond part was not mine!"

  They stared at him, their smiles fading.

  Colonel Meadows said, "What do you mean, Robbie?"

  "Didn't you hear when I spoke? I never said those last things. Didn'tyou hear what I said?"

  The technician answered him. "We didn't hear a thing, Mr. Crawford. Theamplification was too high. It was nothing but mumbling when it passedthrough this room." He looked at Dr. Shalt for confirmation.

  "I explained that to you myself," said the doctor. "You could haverecited the Gettysburg Address and we'd never have known until itreturned."

  Crawford stared down at the limp form of Spud hanging across his arm. Heran a hand across his eyes, dropped the dummy onto the desk. Turningback to Dr. Shalt, he began to speak in a taut, controlled voice.

  "Dr. Shalt, I swear to you that was not my voice at the end. I finishedwith a goodbye. The voice that spoke after that moment of silence wassomebody else's voice. It's up to you to find out whose."

  "Don't be absurd," said Dr. Shalt, irritably. "That was _your_ voice,_your_ pitch. The voice of your dummy, Spud." He wasn't going to betaken in by any warped sense of humor. Robbie Crawford was the bestventriloquist in America. He was also noted for his practical jokes. "Anexperiment of this magnitude shouldn't be treated so lightly," he addedacidly.

  "You've got to believe me!" screamed Crawford. His voice was choked andhis pale face was glistening with perspiration. "It was someone else,imitating my ventriloquist voice! I swear it was not me!"

  Colonel Meadows sat down abruptly. The technician ran from the booth andreturned a moment later with a glass of water. Colonel Meadows motionedfor him to give it to Crawford.

  The ventriloquist gulped down the water, then went over and sat downbeside the Colonel.

  "Look," he said quietly. "I'm not joking and I'm not out of my head. Itwas a shock to hear a voice so like my own, to hear it threaten us, toknow that it's traveling from another world. It's like hearing an echothat shouldn't be."

  The Colonel exchanged a puzzled look with Dr. Shalt. After a moment thedoctor reached down and picked the dummy up and brought it to Crawford.

  "Crawford, listen to me." His voice was gentle, sympathetic. "Perhapsyou've been working too hard. These USO trips, the rehearsal, theexcitement of the last hour. Maybe you forgot what you said, or saidmore than you recall."

  "I remember everything I said," Crawford said quietly. "I stopped whenyou gave me the signal. That voice came after I stopped. Can't youcheck--?"

  A phone in the back of the control booth rang sharply and ColonelMeadows answered it. He spoke for a few moments, then hung up. "That wasthe stage manager calling from the main auditorium. You've got tenminutes before the show. How do you feel?"

  Crawford blinked in surprise. He had almost forgotten the program. Hetried to rise, found his legs trembling.

  "He's in no condition to put on a show," said Dr. Shalt. "Betterpostpone it."

  "No, no, I'm okay," protested Crawford, walking around the small floor,exercising his hands. "It's my show. They're waiting for me. Let's getgoing."

  In the car, during the ride to the auditorium, he did not speak. He satwith Spud resting snugly against his chest, drumming his fingers on anarm rest while Colonel Meadows and Dr. Shalt talked, tried to convincehim of the invalidity in his reasoning. There was a simple explanationfor the voice; either he had forgotten part of his speech or maybe someamateur radio ham had somehow managed to pick up their signal and wasplaying a joke. He was too intelligent a man to be frightened by suchcoincidence. They spoke to him reassuringly all during the ride. At thestage door he thanked them, then went inside the auditorium to give hisperformance.

  The ovation that greeted him was tremendous. The orchestra played histheme and an army announcer introduced him as the Number Oneventriloquist in the world. He walked out slowly from the wing, wavingand grinning at the audience with Spud sitting erect on his arm.

  The soldiers roared and whistled as Spud's head spun, drooped and tiltedin the opening routine that he was famous for. Crawford stopped in themiddle of the stage, rested his foot on a chair that had been provided,sat Spud on his knee. The applause dwindled gradually and the othermembers of the cast moved into their positions. The army announcerwalked forward to engage Crawford in conversation--to feed him questionsthat would be answered in Spud's high, squeaky voice.

  "Hi, Robbie, Spud," said the announcer. "What took you so long gettinghere?"

  It was Spud's answer. All eyes focused on the dummy's face as it bentforward and its mouth opened slowly. A wooden hand moved up andscratched a wooden head. But only a gurgle came out of the open mouth!

  The announcer looked at Crawford, motioned him to speed up. "Speak up,Spud. Can't hear a word you're saying. No time to be bashful."

  Again the dummy's mouth opened, the head bobbed and the eyes blinked.The gurgle became a half-strangled gasp. It whined unsteadily a fewmoments then broke off completely. The cast in the wings began to stirnervously. Crawford was obviously straining. A vein throbbed in thecenter of his forehead and his lips were tight over his teeth.

  "Stage fright," he said in an aside to the audience. Turning his headaside, he coughed and cleared his throat and pretended to whisper withSpud. "Speak up, Pal. This is what we rehearsed for."

  The mouth of the dummy flapped up and down without cadence. The soldierssnickered, squirmed restlessly. A sound started, a low, plaintive wailthat broke into a dirge and finally into a wild shriek from Crawford'slips. He screamed and kicked over the chair his foot was balanced on.The dummy toppled to the floor.

  "I can't! I can't! My voice is gone!" He was screaming and clutching athis throat, trying to loosen his collar. The curtains closed behind himas soldiers leaped to their feet all over the auditorium.

  He screamed, "I've lost my second voice! They took it from me! TheMartians stole my voice!"

  The announcer grabbed his arms then and tried to lead him from thestage. Crawford shoved him away.

  "They took it," cried Crawford. "No matter what they tell you, theMartians took Spud's voice. It fitted their frequency. They'll use it toreach Earth! I can't get it back!"

  Colonel Meadows and several MPs who were stationed in the wings came outand dragged him from the platform.

  The G.I. audience remained silent a moment longer, then broke into loud,nervous rumbling. Seconds later Colonel Meadows returned to themicrophone and held up his hand until the confusion died down. Heexplained briefly about Dr. Shalt's experiment and how Crawford had beenasked to participate. He told how a human voice had been sent to Marsfor the first time and how Crawford had suffered a temporary shock onhearing his voice return from this journey.

  He assured the audience that Crawford would receive the best medicalcare and would probably
be back performing at the field in a few shortweeks. He asked the soldiers to remain in their seats and let the showcontinue out of respect for a great performer.

  The orchestra began the refrain of a popular song and the guest vocalistappeared wearing a white strapless evening gown. She blew warm, friendlykisses to the soldiers. The response she received was a healthy one.

  And the show went on....

  Transcriber's Note:

  This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ March 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on