2 - Second Variety by Philip K. Dick - Section 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section two of Second Variety by Philip Kaydick. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. A tall figure came
out on the ridge above him, cloak flapping, gray green.
A Russian behind him, A second soldier appeared another Russian.

(00:21):
Both lifted their guns. Amy Hendrix froze. He opened his mouth.
The soldiers were kneeling, sighting down the side of the slope.
A third figure had joined them on the ridgetop, a
smaller figure in gray green, a woman. She stood behind
the other two. Hendrix found his voice stop. He waved

(00:45):
at them frantically, I'm The Two Russians fired behind Hendrix.
There was a faint pop. Waves of heat lapped against him,
throwing him to the ground. Ash tore at his face,
grinding in to his eyes and nose, choking. He pulled
himself to his knees. It was all a trap. He

(01:07):
was finished. He had come to be killed like a steer.
The soldiers and the woman were coming down the side
of the ridge toward him, sliding down through the soft ash.
Hendrix was numb. His head throbbed awkwardly. He got his
rifle up and took aim. It weighed a thousand tons

(01:28):
he could hardly hold it. His nose and cheeks stung.
The air was full of the blast smell, a bitter,
acrid stench. Don't fire, the first Russian said in heavily
accented English. The three of them came up to him,
surrounding him. Put down your rifle, yank, the other said.

(01:50):
Hendrix was dazed. Everything had happened so fast. He had
been caught, and they had blasted the boy. He turned
his head. David was gone. What remained of him was
strewn across the ground. The three Russians studied him curiously.
Hendrix sat wiping blood from his nose, picking out bits

(02:13):
of ash. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
Why did you do it, he murmured thickly. The boy. Why.
One of the soldiers helped him roughly to his feet.
He turned Hendrix around. Look. Hendrix closed his eyes. Look.

(02:34):
The two Russians pulled him forward. See hurry up, there
isn't much time to spa yank. Hendrix looked and gasped. See. Now,
do you understand from the remains of David a metal wheel,
rolled relays, glinting metal parts wiring. One of the Russians

(02:57):
kicked at the heap of remains. Parts popped out, rolling away,
wheels and springs and rods. A plastic section fell in half, charred.
Hendrix bent shakily down. The front of the head had
come off. He could make out the intricate brain, wires

(03:17):
and relays, tiny tubes and switches, thousands of minute studs,
a robot. The soldier holding his arm said, we watched
it tagging you, tagging me. That's their way. They tag
along with you into the bunker. That's how they get in.

(03:39):
Hendrix blinked, dazed, But come on. They led him toward
the ridge. We can't stay here. It isn't safe. There
must be hundreds of them all around here. The three
of them pulled him up the side of the ridge,
sliding and slipping on the ash. The woman reached the
top and stood waiting for them the forward command, and

(04:00):
Hendrix muttered, I came to negotiate with the Soviet. There
is no more forward command. They got in. We'll explain.
They reached the top of the ridge. We're all that's left.
The three of us. The rest were down in de buncer.
This way down this way. The woman unscrewed a lid

(04:22):
a gray manhole cover set in the ground. Get in.
Hendrix lowered himself. The two soldiers and the woman came
behind him, following him down the ladder. The woman closed
the lid after them, bolting it tightly into place. Good thing,
we saw you, One of the two soldiers grunted. It

(04:42):
had tagged you about as far as it was going
to give me one of your cigarettes. The woman said,
I haven't had an American cigarette for weeks. Hendrix pushed
the pack to her. She took a cigarette and passed
the pack to the two soldiers. In the corner of
the small the lamp gleamed fitfully. The room was low, ceilinged, cramped.

(05:05):
The four of them sat around a small wood table.
A few dirty dishes were stacked to one side. Behind
a ragged curtain. A second room was partially visible. Hendrix
saw the corner of a cut some blankets, clothes hung
on a hook. We were here, the soldier beside him said.
He took off his helmet, pushing his blonde hair back.

(05:28):
I'm Corporal Rudy Maxum Polish, impressed in the Soviet Army
two years ago. He held out his hand. Hendrix hesitated
and then shook Major Joseph Hendrix Klaus Epstein, the other
soldier shook with him, a small dark man with fitting hair.
Epstein plucked nervously at his ear. Austrian impressed, God knows

(05:51):
when I don't remember. The three of us were here,
Rudy and I with Tusso he indicated the woman. That's
how we escaped. All the rest were down in the bunker,
and and they got in. Epstein lit a cigarette first,
just one of them, the kind that tagged you. Then

(06:14):
let others in. Hendrix became alert. The kind or there
more than one kind? The little boy David, David holding
his Teddy Bear. That's variety three, the most effective. What
are the other types? Epstein reached into his coat. Here
he tossed a packet of photographs onto the table, tied

(06:37):
with a string. Look for yourself. Hendrix untied the string.
You see, Rudy Maxer said, that's why we wanted to
talk terms the Russians. I mean, we found out about
a week ago, found out that your claws were beginning
to make up new designs on their own, new types

(06:58):
of their own, better types down in your underground factories,
behind our lines. You let them stamp themselves, or a
pair of themselves, make them more and more intricate. It's
your fault this has happened. Hendrix examined the photos. They
had been snapped hurriedly. They were blurred and indistinct. The

(07:22):
first few showed David David walking along a road by himself,
David and another David. Three Davids, all exactly alike, each
with a ragged teddy bear, all pathetic. Look at the others,
Tasso said. The next picture, taken at a great distance,

(07:43):
showed a towering wounded soldier sitting by the side of
a path, his arm in a sling, the stump of
one leg extended a crude crutch on his lap. Then
two wounded soldiers, both the same, standing side by side.
That's a variety. One the wounded soldier, Klaus, reached out

(08:04):
and took the pictures. You see, the claws were designed
to get to human beings, to find them. Each kind
was better than the last. They got farther closer, passed
most of our defenses into our lines. But as long
as they were merely machines, metal spheres with claws and

(08:24):
horns and feelers, they could be picked off like any
other object. They could be detected as lethal robots as
soon as they were seen. Once we caught sight of them,
Variety one subverted our whole north wing. Rudy said, it
was a long time before anyone caught on. Then it

(08:45):
was too late. They came in wounded soldiers, knocking and
begging to be let in. So we let them in,
and as soon as they were in they took over.
We were watching out from machines. At that time it
was thought there was only one type. Klaus Epstein said,
No one suspected there were other types. The pictures were

(09:08):
flashed to us when the runner was sent to you.
We knew of just one type, Variety one. See big
wounded soldier. We thought that was all. Your line fell
to two. Variety three David and his spare That worked
even better. Klaus smiled, bitterly, soldiers or suckers for children.

(09:33):
We brought them in and tried to feed them. We
found out the hard way what they were after. At
least those who were in the bunker. The three of
us were lucky. Rudy said, Klaus and I were were
visiting Tasso when it happened. This is her place. He
waved a big hand round this little cellar. We finished

(09:57):
and climbed the latter to start back from the ridge.
We saw there they were all around the bunker. Fighting
was still going on, David and his bare, hundreds of them.
Klaus took the pictures. Klaus tied up the photographs again,

(10:17):
and it's going on all along your line. Hendrick said, yes,
how about our lines? Without thinking, he touched the tab
on his arm. Can they they're not bothered by your
radiation tabs. It makes no difference to them, Russian, American, Pole, German.
It's all the same. They're doing what they were designed

(10:40):
to do, carrying out the original idea. They track down
life wherever they find it. They go by warmth. Klaus said,
that's the way you constructed them from the very start.
Of course, those you designed were kept back by the
radiation tabs. Where now they've got around that. These new

(11:04):
varieties are lead lined. What's the other variety, Hendrix asked,
the David type, the wounded soldier. What's the other? We
don't know. Klaus pointed up at the wall. On the
wall were two metal plates ragged at the edges. Hendrix
got up and studied them. They were bent and dented,

(11:28):
the one on the left came off a wounded soldier.
Rudy said, we got one of them. It was going
along toward our old bunker. We got it from the
ridge the same way we got the David taking you.
The plate was stamped I dash V. Hendrix touched the
other plate and this came from the David type. Yes,

(11:50):
the plate was stamped III dash V. Klaus took a
look at them, leaning over Hendrix's broad shoulder. You can
see what we're up against. There's another type. Maybe it
was abandoned, maybe it didn't work, but there must be
a second variety. There's one and three. You were lucky,

(12:14):
Rudy said. The David tagged you all the way here
and never touched you. Probably thought you'd get into a
bunker somewhere. One gets in and it's all over. Klaus said,
they move fast. One lets all the rest in. They're
inflexible machines with one purpose. They were built for only

(12:37):
one thing. He rubbed sweat from his lip. We saw
they were silent. Let me have another cigarette. Yank Tasso said,
they are good. I almost forgot how they were. It
was night, The sky was black, No stars were visible
through the rolling clouds of ash. Did the lid cautiously

(13:01):
so that Hendrix could look out. Rudy pointed into the
darkness over that way or the bunkers, where we used
to be, not over half a mile from us. It
was just chance. Klaus and I were not there when
it happened. Weakness saved by our lusts. All the rest
must be dead, Klaus said in a low voice. It

(13:25):
came quickly this morning the Politburo reached their decision. They
notified us for the command. Our runner was set out
at once. We saw him start toward the direction of
your lines. We covered him until he was out of sight.
Alex Raviisky, we both knew him. He disappeared about six o'clock.

(13:49):
The sun had just come up about noon. Klaus and
I had an hour relief. We crept off away from
the bunkers. No one was watching. We came here. They
used to be a town here, a few houses a street.
This cellar was part of a big farmhouse. We knew
Tasso would be here, hiding down in her little place.

(14:11):
We had come here before, others from the bunkers came
here to day. Happened to be our turn, so we
were saved Klaud said, chance, it might have been others.
We we finished, and then we came up to the
surface and started back along the ridge. That was when
we saw them. The Davids. We understood right away. We

(14:37):
had seen the photos of the first variety, the wounded soldier.
Our commissar distributed them to us with an explanation. If
we had gone another step, they would have seen us.
As it was, we had to blast two Davids before
we got back. There were hundreds of them all around

(14:58):
like ants. V took pictures and slipped back here, bolting
the lid tight. They're not so much fin you catch
them alone. We moved faster than they did, but they're inexorable,
not like living things. They came right at us and
we blasted them. Major Hendrix rested against the edge of

(15:22):
the lid, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. Is it
safe to have the lid up at all? If we're careful?
How else can you operate your transmitter? Hendrix lifted the
small belt transmitter slowly. He pressed it against his ear.
The metal was cold and damp. He blew against the mic,

(15:44):
raising up the short antenna. A faint hum sounded in
his ear. That's true, I suppose, but he still hesitated.
We'll pull you ONREI if anything happens, Klaus said, thanks.
Hendrix waited moment, resting the transmitter against his shoulder. Interesting,

(16:04):
isn't it? What this? The new types, the new varieties
of clause. We're completely at their mercy, or aren't we?
By now they've probably gotten into the un lines too.
It makes me wonder if we're not seeing the beginning
of a new species, the new species evolution, the race

(16:29):
to come after man. Rudy grunted, there is no race
after men? No, why not? Maybe we're seeing it now,
the end of human beings, the beginning of the new society.
They're not a race that are mechanical killers. You made

(16:50):
them to destroy. That's all they can do. They're machines
with a job, so it seems now, But how about
later on, after the war is over, Maybe when there
aren't any humans to destroy, their real potentialities will begin
to show. You talk as if they were alive, aren't they?

(17:13):
There was silence, their machines, Rudy said. They look like people,
but their machines use your transmitter. Major Klaus said, we
can't stay up here, forever. Holding the transmitter tightly, Hendrix
called the code of the command monker. He waited, listening,

(17:33):
no response, only silence. He checked the leads carefully, everything
was in place, Scott, he said into the mic, can
you hear me? Silence? He raised the gain up full
and tried again, only static. I don't get anything. They
may hear me, but they may not want to answer.

(17:54):
Tell them it's an emergency. They'll think I'm being forced
to call under your direction. He tried again, outlining briefly
what he had learned, but still the phone was silent.
Except for the fate static radiation pools killed most transmissions,
Klaus said, after a while, maybe that's it. Hendrix shut

(18:16):
the transmitter up. No use, no answer, radiation pools. Maybe
or they heard me but won't answer. Frankly, that's what
I would do if a runner tried to call from
the Soviet lines. They have no reason to believe such
a story. They may hear everything I say, or maybe

(18:37):
it's too late. Hendrix nodded. We'd better get the lid down.
Rudy said nervously. We don't want to take unnecessary chances.
They climbed slowly back down the tunnel. Klau spolted the
lid carefully into place. They descended into the kitchen. The
air was heavy and close around them. Could they work

(19:01):
that fast? Hendrix said, I left the bunker this noon,
ten hours ago. How could they move so quickly? It
doesn't take them long. Not after the first ones get in,
it goes wild. You know what the little claws can do.
Even one of these is beyond belief, raises each finger, maniacal.

(19:27):
All right, Hendrix moved away impatiently. He stood with his
back to them. What's the matter, Rudy said, the moon base. God,
if they've gotten there, the moon base. Hendrix turned round.
They couldn't have got to the moon base. How could
they get there? It isn't possible. I can't believe it.

(19:50):
What is this moon base? We've heard rumors, but nothing definite.
What is the actual situation? You seem concerned. We're supplied
from the Moon. The governments are there under the lunar's surface,
all our people and industries. That's what keeps us going.
If they should find some way of getting off terror

(20:13):
on to the Moon, it only takes one of them.
Once the first gets in, it admits the others hundreds
of them, all alike. You should have seen them identical,
like ants. Perfect socialism, Tasso said, the ideal of the
communist state, all citizens, interchangeable. Klaus grunted angrily. That's enough,

(20:39):
Well what next? Hendricks paced back and forth around the
small room. The air was full of smells of food
and perspiration. The others watched him presently. Tasso pushed through
the garden into the other room. I am going to
take a nap. The curtain closed behind her. Rudy and

(21:01):
Klaus sat down at the table, still watching Hendrix. It's
up to you, Klaus said, We don't know your situation.
Hendrix nodded, it's a problem. Rudy drank some coffee, filling
his cup from a rusty pot. We're safe here for
a while, but we can't stay here forever. Not enough

(21:21):
food or supplies. But if we go outside, if we
go outside, they'll get us, or probably they'll get us.
We couldn't go very far. How far is your command
bunker major? Three or four miles? We might make it
the four of us. Four of us could watch all sides.

(21:43):
They couldn't slip up behind us and start tagging us.
We have three rifles, three blast rifles. Tasso can have
my pistol. Rudy tapped his belt. In the Soviet Army,
we didn't have shoes always, but we had guns. With
all four of us on, one of us might get
to your command bunker preparably, you Major, What if they're

(22:07):
already there, Klaus said. Rudy shrugged, Well, then we come
back here. Hendrix stopped pacing. What do you think the
chances are they're already in the American lines? Hard to say,
fairly good. They're organized, they know exactly what they're doing.
Once they start, they go like a horde of a locus.

(22:32):
They have to keep moving and fast. It's secrecy and
speed they depend on surprise. They pushed their way in
before anyone has any idea. I see, Hendrix murmured. From
the other room, Tasso stirred. Major Hendrix pushed the curtain back.

(22:52):
What Tasso looked up at him lazily from the cot
Have you any more? American cigarettes left? Hendrix went into
the room and sat down across from her on a
wood stool. He felt his pockets. No, all gone too bad?
What nationality are you, Hendrix asked, after a while, Russian?

(23:15):
How did you get here here? This used to be France,
This was part of Normandy. Did you come with the
Soviet Army? Why? Just curious? He studied her. She had
taken off her coat, tossing it over the end of
the cot. She was young, about twenty, slim, her long

(23:35):
hair stretched out over the pillow. She was staring at
him silently, her eyes dark and large. What's on your mind?
Tasso said nothing. How old are you? Eighteen? She continued
to watch him, unblinking, her arms behind her head. She

(23:57):
had on Russian army pants and shirt, great green, thick
leather belt with counter and cartridges, medicine kit. You're in
the Soviet Army. No where did you get the uniform?
She shrugged? It was given to me. She told him.
How old were you when you came here? Sixteen? That young?

(24:21):
Her eyes narrowed. What do you mean, Hendrix rubbed this jaw.
Your life would have been a lot different if there
had been no war sixteen. You came here at sixteen
to live this way. I had to survive. I'm not moralizing.
Your life would have been different, too, Tasso murmured. She

(24:44):
reached down and unfastened one of her boots. She kicked
the boot off onto the floor. Major, do you want
to go in the other room? I'm sleepy. It's going
to be a problem the four of us here. It's
going to be hard to live in the quarters. Are
there just the two rooms? Yes? How big was the

(25:05):
cellar originally? Was it larger than this? Are there other
rooms filled up with debris? We might be able to
open one of them? Perhaps? I really don't know. Tasso
loosened her belt. She made herself comfortable on the cot,
unbuttoning her shirt. You're sure you have no more cigarettes?
I only had the one pack. Too bad. Maybe if

(25:28):
we get back to your bunker we can find some.
The other boot fell. Tasso reached up for the light cord.
Good night, you're going to sleep, that's right. The room
plunged into darkness. Hendrix got up and made his way
past the curtain into the kitchen and stopped. Rigid. Rudy

(25:50):
stood against the wall, his face white and gleaming. His
mouth opened and closed, but no sounds came. Klaus stood
in front of him, the muzzle of his pistol in
Rudy's stomach. Neither of them moved. Klaus his hand tight
around his gun, His features set, Rudy pale and silent.

(26:11):
Spread eagled against the wall. What Hendrix muttered, but Klaus
cut him off. Be quiet, Major, Come over here your gun.
Get out your gun. Hendrix drew his pistol. What is it?
Cover him? Klaus motioned him forward beside me. Hurry. Rudy
moved a little, lowering his arms. He turned to Hendrix,

(26:33):
licking his lips. The whites of his eyes shone wildly.
Sweat dripped from his forehead down his cheeks. He fixed
his gaze on Hendrix. Major, he's gone insane. Stop him.
Rudy's voice was thin and hoarse, almost inaudible. What's going on?
Hendrix demanded, without lowering his pistol. Klaus answered, Major, Remember

(26:59):
a discussion the three varieties. We knew about one and three,
but we didn't know about two. At least we didn't
know before. Klaus's fingers tightened around the gun. But we
didn't know before, but we know now. He pressed the trigger.

(27:20):
A burst of white heat rolled out of the gun,
licking around Rudy. Major, this is the second variety. Tasso
swept the curtain aside Klaus. What did you do? Klaus
turned from the charred form gradually sinking down the wall

(27:40):
onto the floor. The second variety, Tasso. Now we know
we have all three types identified. The danger is less I.
Tasso stared past him at the remains of Rudy, at
the blackened, smoldering fragments and bits of cloth. You killed

(28:00):
him him? It you mean I was watching? I had
a feeling, but I wasn't sure. At least I wasn't
sure before, But this evening I was certain. Klaus rubbed
his pistol butt nervously. We're lucky, don't you understand? Another

(28:21):
hour and it might you were certain. Tasso pushed past
him and bent down over the steaming remains on the floor.
Her face became hard major siphy yourself, bones, flesh. Hendrix
bent down beside her. The remains were human remains, seared flesh, charred, bone, fragments,

(28:44):
part of a skull, ligaments, fischera blood, blood forming a
pool against the wall. No wheels, Tusso said, calmly. She
straightened up. No wheels, no parts, no relays, not a claw,
not the second variety. She folded her arms. You're going

(29:07):
to have to be able to explain this. Klaus sat
down at the table. All the color drained suddenly from
his face. He put his head in his hands and
rocked back and forth. Snap out of it. Tusso's fingers
closed over his shoulder. Why did you do it? Why
did you kill him? He was frightened. Heinbrook said, all this,

(29:30):
the whole thing building up around us. Maybe what then?
What do you think I think he may have had
a reason for killing Rudy, A good reason? What reason?
Maybe Rudy learns something. Hendrix studied her bleak face about
what he asked about him about Klaus end of Section two.