Finnish version here! 

Veikko Rekunen

MAN!

It was a beautiful day. Nevertheless, Axxon felt strange uneasiness. He rose from his chair and shuffled to the window. He looked at the hustle and bustle of the great space station that glittered in bluish sunlight and thought once again how much he had to answer for. He was in charge, and though it at times seemed a heavy burden, he relished every moment.

Axxon smiled to himself as he turned away. He knew that a single word from him would close those big gates which he passed every morning on his way to his office so tightly that no creature from anywhere in the universe could get through. The fact that electronic brains directed all the usual activities had no real bearing on the issue. In security matters Axxon had the supreme power, and though he seldom had to assert his position, everyone knew who the boss was.

The holographic image about arrivals and departures in the centre of the office kept changing. Sometimes Axxon glanced more carefully at some specific item, but as a rule everything went smoothly. Routes had been more or less the same for years, and seldom these days were ships sent to examine planets that were not commercially useful.

Though today a ship had come in, and a glance at the route had made Axxon shiver. The Sayari had travelled through the wildest parts of the known galaxy. Axxon had briefly addressed the captain while the ship had been unloading, but Captain Tred had merely shaken his head and refused to discuss the details. That of course was understandable, because ships that went where his had been would only do so under the auspices of the Council.

Well, everything was all right and the Chief of Security sat down again. The Sayari seemed no worse for her trip and the crew looked cheerful enough. Axxon remembered how during the wars travelling through unknown territory had tested strength and fortitude sometimes to the utmost. But they had always pulled through.

The wars! He had been too young, too unprepared to plant seeds of death amongst other creatures. He had joined for the illusion of the romance of space, but those illusions had quickly disappeared when they for the first time had raided a planet. He still remembered the smell of blood, the fear, the helplessness in the midst of all that destruction.

It had been necessary, of course. There can be no peace without war, and peace reigned now. Former enemies had joined forces in keeping the peace in the galaxy, and the weapons had been put down years ago. The military had become the police, and that he himself could be happy about.

He had climbed the greasy pole here in Space Harbour, and this was certainly better that the constant fear of killing or being killed. It was seldom that anything remarkable took place here. At most he had been forced to arrest a few adventurous stowaways.

Sometimes he wondered whether he could act any more if called for.

Axxon's thoughts were interrupted by his deputy, Heww, who charged in.

"A stowaway!" he shouted.

"I beg your pardon?" Axxon asked.

"A stowaway, illegal passenger," Heww cried and flung himself to the seat.

Axxon contemplated his deputy for away. It was all very well to have enthusiasm while still young, but sometimes Heww seemed too ebullient. And telling him that Deputy Chief of Security should appear calmer had no effect, But Heww was good. He would learn before Axxon retired.

"Could you, and very calmly please, tell me what has happened?" he said gently.

Heww took a better position in the chair, wiped some sweat from his brow and said: "A stowaway was found in a ship. He was seen when he slipped from the ship to the field, but you know how much junk there is while they are unloading. They could not catch him, so this stowaway is now hiding somewhere in the field."

"And this is the news that makes it necessary for you to come crashing in," Axxon said calmly. "You know as well as I do that in this job you must not act hastily. You make too many mistakes that way."

"But you don't understand," Heww said excited.

"Of course I don't understand," Axxon said quietly, "because it is you, who ought to tell me, calmly, sensibly and without any fuss, what exactly has happened and why all this commotion over a single stowaway?"

"He came on the Sayari," Heww said and wiped his brow again. "And do you know where it has been?"

"Of course," Axxon said and glanced at the shining marks on his desk. "It went from sector AR-56 to sector BG-45X through uncharted space. We are unfamiliar with that part, because we have never wanted to open commercial routes there."

"And why not?" Heww asked.

"What is this, a guessing game?" Axxon replied a little irascibly. "How should I know? Perhaps there is nothing there we want."

"There are a number a different metals and above all asteroids rich in iron ore around a small star," said Heww. Axxon had always agreed that Heww's knowledge of space was superior to his own. "The problem, however, is that around that star there are a number of planets all ruled over by a sentient creature. And therefore we dare not go there." Heww spoke in the educational tone that usually angered Axxon. But this time he felt no anger, because suddenly his mind cleared and he remembered the co-ordinates in Kroton's Star Atlas.

"Man!" he cried out.

"Man," Heww said. And sighed heavily. 

He slipped out quickly and went around a couple of barrels whose content remained a mystery - though they smelled awful. He did not know where he was and how he had got here, but as he woke up he had seen horrible creatures and panicked. Like a rat chased into a corner he had run around, and though he had seen no one he had an uncanny feeling that somebody had been observing his route in this strange world.

He tripped and grazed his knee, but the blood that trickled from it did not interest him at all. Though he was unable to think clearly instinct told him that everyone here was an enemy and he had to hide himself from them.

Sobbing with fear he went farther and farther among the barrels.

Seldom had Axxon been as embarrassed as when listening to Co-ordinator of Space Flights. Even the triangular image of Co-ordinator seemed to flutter with indignation, though Axxon knew fully well that this effect on the holoimage was caused by the radar equipment in the harbour.

"How is it possible," Co-ordinator asked for the third time, "how is it possible that you can leave a ship that has travelled in such area completely without supervision?"

Axxon had twice tried to explain that had Captain Tred immediately told him where he had landed he would certainly have surrounded the ship with men. Co-ordinator had not listened to him then, so he merely shrugged.

"I intend to send there one of the Exopsychologists," Co-ordinator said, "but in the meantime do everything you can to find this creature. And for heaven's sake keep this to yourselves. If the word gets out we will have a panic in our hands."

Axxon tried to nod in agreement, but the image had gone. At the moment Chief of Security did not at all feel like the boss.

"Heww," he said to his deputy, "are you quite certain that the stowaway is man?"

"That's what Captain Tred said when he heard the worker's story. But he did only see the creature from behind, so there is a slight possibility of an error. But there are not many such creatures here, so it certainly looked bad to the captain."

"So," Axxon grunted. "What did you do with the worker?"

"Put him in the cell for the time being. That way he can't go around talking about it to everybody. But what are we waiting for? Don't you understand what this means? Man is loose in the harbour!"

Axxon rose slowly from his chair. Man! The ogre, the goblin from black space that mothers used to frighten their children with, a creature you could hardly call civilized though it undoubtedly was sentient. A creature he knew the basic details of though had never seen one alive: a being that had four limbs, walked upright and would probably have passed for a foreign tourist in any harbour.

"All right," he said. "Let's go."

The barrels made a noise when he fell against them. Lifting his legs was arduous, different from home. He staggered forward crying in his fright, but no one could be seen. There was nothing but the barrels, and still he knew, beyond any doubt, that there were creatures here that wanted to hurt him.

His chin was wet with saliva. He raised his arms which felt heavier that at home to the sky and cried out in his loneliness.

"There's no point in making accusations," Axxon said to Captain Tred. "Our main objective is to make sure that it is man and then eliminate the threat it imposes on the harbour."

Oh my God, Heww thought. Man is loose in the harbour and he starts quoting the procedure manual. Fortunately not to the letter. But Captain Tred was still feeling apologetic.

"I was quite certain that I followed all security procedures," he kept talking. "We were certain we could be neither heard nor seen. The security field was unbroken. It was definitely impossible for man to enter our ship."

"Such is man," a booming voice said from behind. "He is cunning and ruthless. If your security procedures failed for a fraction of a second, man may have discovered you and entered your ship."

Axxon sighed and turned. Of course, he thought. Of course the Exopsychologist had to be a Marfi. He had to be a Marfi.

Chief of Security had never been able to stand the Marfi. Though calm himself, he had never liked their calmness and omniscience any better than their appearance. All aesthetic values aside, he thought, I still cannot like creatures who look like moss-covered trees. He looked at his own arms, which were covered with silky hair.

"I heard you have some trouble here," the Marfi said. "I am Kroop, one of the Exopsychologists, specialized in man's psychology. Not the most pleasant task, I might add. Man is cunning, as I said, and we will have our hands full when trying to get him to come out."

"Is that really necessary?" Axxon asked irritated. He was always irritated when Marfi were around. "He can't stay alive long out there. There is no food for him."

"What has made man feared and hated is the very fact that he is able to survive against all odds. We Marfi have studied man and other creatures for centuries, but there has never been one more cruel, one more dangerous than man, no other creature has survived what man has survived."

Bloody hell, Axxon thought, now he is exaggerating. There are a number of rather tough creatures in the harbour at the moment, and we have a clear advantage in numbers.

"One single man in this kind of harbour could mean death to all those in it," Kroop said as if in answer. "If we cannot eliminate him very soon, we must evacuate the entire harbour."

"Surely one man cannot destroy us all," Captain Tred said. "After all, we returned from their planet safe and sound."

"One of the first - and at the same time one of the last - attempts we made to bring man into our Council took place over a hundred years ago, long before the Treaty," the Marfi said solemnly. "We brought six men to our own planet, and before we could get rid of them, they had killed over two hundred of our people - and without any arms, mind you."

"But how can that be possible?" Heww asked. His thirst for knowledge overcame his impatience.

"We have come to the conclusion," Kroop said calmly, "that man has an innate trait for violence. Wherever man goes he takes that trait with him. It is like the symbiosis of the Leijjuu, where two different creatures form a whole, but man forms that whole within himself. Fortunately their attempts to travel beyond their own solar system have failed so far. But if they some day find out what the Niidri found in their time, the rest of us will be gone."

"Well, could we now start chasing this awfully dangerous man," Axxon said. "We have wasted a lot of time talking nonsense while this creature is on the loose. That is supposing he is as dangerous as you seem to think, Kroop. Don't you think they could be brought into our Council? That should, as I recall, be the main philosophy behind the Council - to bring all sentient beings into peaceful coexistence with each other. And it was you Marfi who were very eager to put up the Council, wasn't it?" he added sarcastically.

"That is true," the Marfi said calmly. "But that was before we knew very much about man."

Somehow he could feel the chase closing in on him, though he could not see them because the barrels surrounded him everywhere. Sobbing he clambered forward expecting to be caught at any moment.

Suddenly he heard a sound from his left, and something bit him in the leg. He turned, but saw nothing. He understood that this place had more dangers than he had had to face in his entire life. He tried to move faster, but that made him bump into the barrels more often. Every bump made him long for company and touch more and more.

If Axxon's words had insulted the Marfi he showed no signs of it. "Let the chase begin," he said, and for once Axxon agreed.

"Are there any special precautions we ought to consider," he asked the Marfi just to be sure. The Marfi's countenance remained unchanged as he answered.

"Is it possible to clear the harbour from all the personnel who are not absolutely necessary in chasing the creature?" the Exopsychologist asked. "I do not think that one man could pass the electronic gates, and I also believe the fence is too high. You can never be sure as to what man can do, but if the gate is carefully guarded, I believe we might be able to keep it inside the area."

"We can hardly stop the work of the entire harbour because of one stowaway," Axxon said. "And besides, if this man is as dangerous as you seem to imagine, I don't think we should give the smallest hint of his existence to anyone - it could cause a riot. So far I haven't even told my gate watch anything. They know their duty, if anyone tries to get out of the gate without a pass."

"You seem unbelieving, Chief of Security", the Marfi said. "But allow me to ensure you that man truly is as dangerous as I have said. We must catch it, and fast."

"It seems strange to believe that Universe might have a race which according to you has nothing good," Axxon said, but started to search the barrels at the same time. "It seems to conflict all natural laws. But now we must finish the job and talk afterwards."

The Marfi's tales had apparently had their effect on Axxon, because as he pushed further between the barrels he felt a strange uneasiness come over him. He knew his life was in jeopardy, if indeed such a bloodthirsty and primitive creature as the Marfi had described was lurking somewhere among the barrels.

"Do you have a gun?" he asked Kroop when he noticed the Exobiologist following him. The Marfi shook his head.

"I shall remain right behind you together with the captain. If he attacks me, you will have a chance to kill him. My own life is nothing compared with the danger of man to all our planets."

Axxon did not speak but continued cautiously his way among the barrels. Heww followed him a little behind. They had been practising this many times. They both moved very silently, because the soft pads in their shoeless soles were well suited for silent pursuit.

He could hear the chase drawing closer, though they were not clumsy. But his entire world had been mainly a world of sound and touch, and his senses were well suited for that.

He had been alone far too long. First that strange, unknown room that had made him sick and vomiting, and now this heavy world of barrels that seemed to have no friends. He needed a friend, needed some kind of touch. He clambered upright and waved one hand wearily.

Axxon heard something. His trained fighter's reflexes anticipated it before he fully realized what he had seen. In a flash he raised his gun and fired. Heww behind him worked just as quickly. The sound of the ray guns was so silent that it could hardly be heard, and there was no extra commotion in the field.

Everything was quiet. Axxon went carefully forward until he saw the creature. The shot had hit him in the middle of his body and his eyes were wide open. His mouth was open and he tried to speak. But the shot had been too well aimed, and he could make no sound. Then his eyes closed, and Axxon knew he was dead.

Chief of Security had seen dead bodies of many different races during both war and peace. He knew that when the creature had died he had been thoroughly amazed and frightened. He found it impossible to see it as a bloodthirsty and cruel being.

"Good shot, Chief of Security," the Marfi's booming voice said. "We are safe again."

Axxon bent down to examine to dead body. "Can such a small creature really be so dangerous?" he asked Kroop. "I believe he was just as frightened as we were."

"Well, that is only a child..." the Marfi began.

"A child!" Axxon cried out. "Only a child!"

"Only a child, as you said, apparently about four years old in his own world. A child, but still man! Man, who in time would have been just as violent and evil as the adults."

Kroop bent down and lifted the human child into his arms. "I will take it to be examined. Well done, Chief of Security."

But Axxon did not hear him. As a soldier he had killed a lot of creatures, also children no doubt, but never intentionally. Be it bad and cruel, it was still only a helpless little child, who had been as frightened as he. He had seen it in the child's eyes.

He lifted his gaze to the sky and studied the thousand stars. Their children at least are not cruel and frightening. Axxon thought of his own children. They would have been just as scared. Why do we fear them for their reputation alone?

But were they themselves any better? They were so frightened at the thought of man that a little child alone was a horror to them. Surely there was room enough for all races in the universe!

"What did you say?" Heww asked.

"Nothing, I was just wondering..."

"About what?" Heww asked again.

"Man," he replied. "Man and Universe and the future. And us."

"And what else?" Heww said. "Come on, the danger is over."

"You're wrong," Axxon said. "The danger is by no means over. The danger is within ourselves. One day more men will come, and if we then are so afraid of them, we can never live in the same galaxy. One must change - us or them - or both. Or we'll all die, and all sentient life in our galaxy will be destroyed."

"What are you blabbering about," Heww wondered.

"Nothing much," Axxon said. "But from tomorrow you will be Chief of Security in this harbour."

"What will you do then?" Heww asked.

"What will I do?" Axxon repeated to himself and turned his gaze again to the stars. "I think I'll go out and meet man." 

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