didnot want to be disturbed by the sensory impressions that "Mart's" bodyprovided. Like the schizophrenic, Martin was living in a little world thatwas cut off from the actual physical world around his body.
The difference between Martin's condition and that of the ordinaryschizophrenic was that _his_ little world actually existed. It was analmost exact counterpart of the world that existed in the perfectly sane,rational mind of his brother, Bart. It grew and developed as Bart did, fedby the telepathic flow from the stronger mind to the weaker.
There were two Barts, and no Mart at all.
And then the Neurophysical Institute had come into the picture. A newprocess had been developed, by which a human being could bereconstructed--made, literally, into a superman. The drawback was that anormal human body resisted the process--to the death, if necessary, justas a normal human body will resist a skin graft from an alien donor.
But the radiation-damaged body of Martin Stanton had no resistance of thatkind. With him--perhaps--the process might work.
So Bartholomew Stanton, Martin's legal guardian after the death of theirmother, had given permission for the series of operations that wouldrebuild his brother.
The telepathic link, of course, had to be shut off--for a time, at least.Part of that could be done in the treatment of Martin, but Bart, too, hadto do his part. By submitting to hypnosis, he had allowed himself to beconvinced that his name was Stanley Martin. He had taken a job on Luna,and then had gone to the asteriods. The simple change of name andenvironment had been just enough to snap the link during a time whenMartin's brain had been inactivated by therapy and anesthetics.
Only the sense of identity remained. The patient was still Bart.
Mannheim had used them both, naturally. Colonel Mannheim had the abilityto use anyone at hand, including himself, to get a job done.
Stanton looked at his watch. It was almost time.
Mannheim had sent for "Stanley Martin" when the time had come for him toreturn in order to give the Nipe data that he would be sure tomisinterpret. A special code phrase in the message had released "StanleyMartin" from the posthypnotic suggestion that had held him for so long. Heknew that he was Bartholomew Stanton again.
_And so do I,_ thought the man by the window. _We have a lot to straightenout, we two._
There was a knock at the door.
Stanton walked over and opened it, trying to think.
It was like looking into a mirror.
"Hello, Bart," he said.
"Hello, Bart," said the other.
In that instant, the complete telepathic linkage was restored, and theyboth knew what only one of them had known before--that, for a time, theflow had been one-way again--that "Stanley Martin" had experienced theentire battle with the Nipe. His release from the posthypnotic suggestionhad made it possible.
_E duobus unum._
There was unity without loss of identity.
* * * * *
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