Page 21 of Tomorrow, the Stars

  It turned out later that the name "Sack" was well chosen from another point of view, in addition to that of appearance. For the Sack was stuffed with infor­mation, and beyond that, with wisdom. There were many doubters at first, and some of them retained their doubts to the very end, just as some people remained convinced hundreds of years after Columbus that the Earth was flat. But those who saw and heard the Sack had no doubts at all. They tended, if anything, to go too far in the other direction, and to believe that the Sack knew everything. This, of course, was untrue.

  It was the official function of the Sack, established by a series of Interplanetary acts, to answer questions. The first questions, as we have seen, were asked acci­dentally, by Captain Ganko. Later they were asked purposefully, but with a purpose that was itself random, and a few politicians managed to acquire considerable wealth before the Government put a stop to the leak of information, and tried to have the questions asked in a more scientific and logical manner.

  Question time was rationed for months in advance, and sold at what was, all things considered, a ridicu­lously low rate—a mere hundred thousand credits a minute. It was this unrestricted sale of time that led to the first great government squabble.

  It was the unexpected failure of the Sack to answer what must have been to a mind of its ability an easy question that led to the second blowup, which was fierce enough to be called a crisis. A total of a hundred and twenty questioners, each of whom had paid his hundred thousand, raised a howl that could be heard on every planet, and there was a legislative investigation, at which Siebling testified and all the conflicts were aired.

  He had left an assistant in charge of the Sack, and now, as he sat before the Senatorial Committee, he twisted uncomfortably in front of the battery of cameras. Senator Horrigan, his chief interrogator, was a bluff, florid, loud-mouthed politician who had been able to imbue him with a feeling of guilt even as he told his name, age, and length of government service.

  "It is your duty to see to it that the Sack is maintained in proper condition for answering questions, is it not, Mr. Siebling?" demanded Senator Horrigan.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Then why was it incapable of answering the questioners in question? These gentlemen had honestly paid their money—a hundred thousand credits each. It was necessary, I understand, to refund the total sum. That meant an overall loss to the Government of, let me see now—one hundred twenty at one hundred thousand each—one hundred and twenty million credits," he shouted, rolling the words.

  "Twelve million, Senator," hastily whispered his secretary.

  The correction was not made, and the figure was duly headlined later as one hundred and twenty million.

  Siebling said, "As we discovered later, Senator, the Sack failed to answer questions because it was not a machine, but a living creature. It was exhausted. It had been exposed to questioning on a twenty-four-hour-a-­day basis."

  "And who permitted- this idiotic procedure?" boomed Senator Horrigan.

  " You yourself, Senator," said Siebling happily. "The procedure was provided for in the bill introduced by you and approved by your committee."

  Senator Horrigan had never even read the bill to which his name was attached, and he was certainly not to blame for its provisions. But this private knowledge of his own innocence did him no good with the public. From that moment he was Siebling's bitter enemy.

  "So the Sack ceased to answer questions for two whole hours?"

  "Yes, sir. It resumed only after a rest."

  "And it answered them without further difficulty?"

  "No, sir. Its response was slowed down. Subsequent questioners complained that they were defrauded of a good part of their money. But as answers were given, we considered that the complaints were without merit, and the financial department refused to make refunds."

  "Do you consider that this cheating of investors in the Sack's time is honest?"

  "That's none of my business, Senator," returned Siebling, who had by this time got over most of his ner­vousness. "I merely see to the execution of the laws. I leave the question of honesty to those who make them. I presume that it's in perfectly good hands."

  Senator Horrigan flushed at the laughter that came from the onlookers. He was personally unpopular, as unpopular as a politician can be and still remain a politician. He was disliked even by the members of his own party, and some of his best political friends were among the laughers. He decided to abandon what had turned out to be an unfortunate line of questioning.

  "It is a matter of fact, Mr. Siebling, is it not, that you have frequently refused admittance to investors who were able to show perfectly valid receipts for their credits?"

  "That is a fact, sir. But—"

  "You admit it, then."

  "There is no question of `admitting' anything, Senator. What I meant to say was—"

  "Never mind what you meant to say. It's what you have already said that's important. You've cheated these men of their money!"

  "That is not true, sir. They were given time later. The reason for my refusal to grant them admission when they asked for it was that the time had been previously reserved for the Armed Forces. There are important research questions that come up, and there is, as you know, a difference of opinion as to priority. When confronted with requisitions for time from a commercial in­vestor and a representative of the Government, I never took it upon myself to settle the question. I always con­sulted with the Government's legal adviser."

  "So you refused to make an independent decision, did you?"

  "My duty, Senator, is to look after the welfare of the Sack. I do not concern myself with political questions. We had a moment of free time the day before I left the asteroid, when an investor who had already paid his money was delayed by a space accident, so instead of letting the moment go to waste, I utilized it to ask the Sack a question."

  "How you might advance your own fortunes, no doubt?"

  "No, sir. I merely asked it how it might function most efficiently. I took the precaution of making a recording, knowing that my word might be doubted. If you wish, Senator, I can introduce the recording in evidence."

  Senator Horrigan grunted, and waved his hand. "Go on with your answer."

  "The Sack replied that it would require two hours of complete rest out of every twenty, plus an additional hour of what it called `recreation.' That is, it wanted to converse with some human being who would ask what it called sensible questions, and not press for a quick an­swer."

  "So you suggest that the Government waste three hours of every twenty—one hundred and eighty million credits?"

  "Eighteen million," whispered the secretary.

  "The time would not be wasted. Any attempt to overwork the Sack would result in its premature an­nihilation."

  "That is your idea, is it?"

  "No, sir, that is what the Sack itself said."

  At this point Senator Horrigan swung into a speech of denunciation, and Siebling was excused from further testimony. Other witnesses were called, but at the end the Senate investigating body was able to come to no definite conclusion, and it was decided to interrogate the Sack personally.

  It was out of the question for the Sack to come to the Senate, so the Senate quite naturally came to the Sack. The Committee of Seven was manifestly uneasy as the senatorial ship decelerated and cast its grapples toward the asteroid. The members, as individuals, had all traveled in space before, but all their previous destinations had been in civilized territory, and they obviously did not relish the prospect of landing on this airless and sunless body of rock.

  The televisor companies were alert to their op­portunity, and they had acquired more experience with desert territory. They had disembarked and set up their apparatus before the senators had taken their first timid steps out of the safety of their ship.

  Siebling noted ironically that in these somewhat frightening surroundings, far from their home grounds, the senators were not so sure of themselves. It was his part to
act the friendly guide, and he did so with relish.

  "You see, gentlemen," he said respectfully, "it was decided, on the Sack's own advice, not to permit it to be further exposed to possible collision with stray meteors. It was the meteors which killed off the other members of its strange race, and it was a lucky chance that the last surviving individual managed to escape destruction as long as it has. An impenetrable shelter dome has been built therefore, and the Sack now lives under its protection. Questioners address it through a sound and sight system that is almost as good as being face to face with it."

  Senator Horrigan fastened upon the significant part of his statement. "You mean that the Sack is safe—and we are exposed to danger from flying meteors?"

  "Naturally, Senator. The Sack is unique in the system. Men—even senators—are, if you will excuse the expression, a decicredit a dozen. They are definitely replaceable, by means of elections."

  Beneath his helmet the senator turned green with a fear that concealed the scarlet of his anger. "I think it is an outrage to find the Government so unsolicitous of the safety and welfare of its employees!"

  "So do I, sir. I live here the year round." He added smoothly, "Would you gentlemen care to see the Sack now?"

  They stared at the huge visor screen and saw the Sack resting on its seat before them, looking like a burlap bag of potatoes which had been tossed onto a throne and forgotten there. It looked so definitely inanimate that it struck them as strange that the thing should remain upright instead of toppling over. All the same, for a moment the senators could not help showing the awe that overwhelmed them. Even Senator Horrigan was silent.

  But the moment passed. He said, "Sir, we are an of­ficial Investigating Committee of the Interplanetary Senate, and we have come to ask you a few questions." The Sack showed no desire to reply, and Senator Horrigan cleared his throat and went on. "Is it true, sir, that you require two hours of complete rest in every twenty, and one hour for recreation, or, as I may put it, perhaps more precisely, relaxation?"

  "It is true."

  Senator Horrigan gave the creature its chance, but the Sack, unlike a senator, did not elaborate. Another of the committee asked, "Where would you find an in­dividual capable of conversing intelligently with so wise a creature as you?"

  "Here," replied the Sack.

  "It is necessary to ask questions that are directly to the point, Senator," suggested Siebling. "The Sack does not usually volunteer information that has not been specifically called for."

  Senator Horrigan said quickly, "I assume, sir, that when you speak of finding an intelligence on a par with your own, you refer to a member of our committee, and I am sure that of all my colleagues there is not one who is unworthy of being so denominated. But we cannot all of us spare the time needed for our manifold other duties, so I wish to ask you, sir, which of us, in your opinion, has the peculiar qualifications of that sort of wisdom which is required for this great task?"

  "None," said the Sack.

  Senator Horrigan looked blank. One of the other senators flushed, and asked, "Who has?"

  "Siebling."

  Senator Horrigan forgot his awe of the Sack, and shouted, "This is a put-up job!"

  The other senator who had just spoken now said sud­denly, "How is it that there are no other questioners present? Hasn't the Sack's time been sold far in ad­vance?"

  Siebling nodded. "I was ordered to cancel all pre­vious appointments with the Sack, sir."

  "By what idiot's orders?"

  "Senator Horrigan's, sir."

  At this point the investigation might have been said to come to an end. There was just time, before they turned away, for Senator Horrigan to demand desperately of the Sack, "Sir, will I be re-elected?" But the roar of anger that went up from his colleagues prevented him from hearing the Sack's answer, and only the question was picked up and broadcast clearly over the in­terplanetary network.

  It had such an effect that it in itself provided Senator Horrigan's answer. He was not re-elected. But before the election he had time to cast his vote against Siebling's designation to talk with the Sack for one hour out of every twenty. The final committee vote was four to three in favor of Siebling, and the decision was confirmed by the Senate. And then Senator Horrigan passed temporarily out of the Sack's life and out of Siebling's.

  Siebling looked forward with some trepidation to his first long interview with the Sack. Hitherto he had limited himself to the simple tasks provided for in his directives—to the maintenance of the meteor shelter dome, to the provision of a sparse food supply, and to the proper placement of an army and Space Fleet Guard. For by this time the great value of the Sack had been recognized throughout the system, and it was widely realized that there would be thousands of criminals anxious to steal so defenseless a treasure.

  Now, Siebling thought, he would be obliged to talk to it, and he feared that he would lose the good opinion which it had somehow acquired of him. He was in a position strangely like that of a young girl who would have liked nothing better than to talk of her dresses and her boy friends to someone with her own background, and was forced to endure a brilliant and witty conversation with some man three times her age.

  But he lost some of his awe when he faced the Sack itself. It would have been absurd to say that the strange creature's manner put him at ease. The creature had no manner. It was featureless and expressionless, and even when part of it moved, as when it was speaking, the ef­fect was completely impersonal. Nevertheless, something about it did make him lose his fears.

  For a time he stood before it and said nothing. To his surprise, the Sack spoke—the first time to his knowledge that it had done so without being asked a question. "You will not disappoint me," it said. "I ex­pect nothing."

  Siebling grinned. Not only had the Sack never before volunteered to speak, it had never spoken so dryly. For the first time it began to seem not so much a mechanical brain as the living creature he knew it to be. He asked, "Has anyone ever before asked you about your origin?"

  "One man. That was before my time was rationed. And even he caught himself when he realized that he might better be asking how to become rich, and he paid little attention to my answer."

  "How old are you?"

  "Four hundred thousand years. I can tell you to the fraction of a second, but I suppose that you do not wish me to speak as precisely as usual."

  The thing, thought Siebling, did have in its way a sense of humor. "How much of that time," he asked, "have you spent alone?"

  "More than ten thousand years."

  "You told someone once that your companions were killed by meteors. Couldn't you have guarded against them?"

  The Sack said slowly, almost wearily, "That was after we had ceased to have an interest in remaining alive. The first death was three hundred thousand years ago."

  "And you have lived, since then, without wanting to?"

  "I have no great interest in dying either. Living has become a habit."

  "Why did you lose your interest in remaining alive?"

  "Because we lost the future. There had been a miscalculation."

  "You are capable of making mistakes?"

  "We had not lost that capacity. There was a miscalcu­lation, and although those of us then living escaped per­sonal disaster, our next generation was not so fortunate. We lost any chance of having descendants. After that, we had nothing for which to live."

  Siebling nodded. It was a loss of motive that a human being could understand. He asked, "With all your knowledge, couldn't you have overcome the effects of what happened?"

  The Sack said, "The more things become possible to you, the more you will understand that they cannot be done in impossible ways. We could not do everything. Sometimes one of the more stupid of those who come here asks me a question I cannot answer, and then becomes angry because he feels that he has been cheated of his credits. Others ask me to predict the future. I can predict only what I can calculate, and I soon come to the end of my powers o
f calculation. They are great com­pared to yours; they are small compared to the possibilities of the future."

  "How do you happen to know so much? Is the knowledge born in you?"

  "Only the possibility for knowledge is born. To know, we must learn. It is my misfortune that I forget little."

  "What in the structure of your body, or your organs of thought, makes you capable of learning so much?"

  The Sack spoke, but to Siebling the words meant nothing, and he said so. "I could predict your lack of comprehension," said the Sack, "but I wanted you to realize it for yourself. To make things clear, I should be required to dictate ten volumes, and they would be dif­ficult to understand even for your specialists, in biology and physics and in sciences you are just discovering."

  Siebling fell silent, and the Sack said, as if musing, "Your race is still an unintelligent one. I have been in your hands for many months, and no one has yet asked me the important questions. Those who wish to be wealthy ask about minerals and planetary land concessions, and they ask which of several schemes for making fortunes would be best. Several physicians have asked me how to treat wealthy patients who would otherwise die. Your scientists ask me to solve problems that would take them years to solve without my help. And when your rulers ask, they are the most stupid of all, wanting to know only how they may maintain their rule. None ask what they should."

  "The fate of the human race?"

  "That is prophecy of the far future. It is beyond my powers."

  "What should we ask?"

  "That is the question I have awaited. It is difficult for you to see its importance, only because each of you is so concerned with himself." The Sack paused, and mur­mured, "I ramble as I do not permit myself to when I speak to your fools. Nevertheless, even rambling can be informative."