The Seed of Evil

It led to strange possibilities, as a matter of fact. The material of the planet is super-conducting, but nothing ever happened to cause a current. Electricity had no place there—until the explorers came. As an experiment, Professor Juker discharged a million volts into the ground. It flashed right round the planet and is still going. The whole planet is alive with that circling million volts which never decreases.

“You can’t have actually felt cold,” I said.

“No, but you can see it. Goddammit, you can feel it. But not with your senses. With your emotions. Get me?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“If only there was some starlight, or something like that. But just darkness. We could only see by the reflection of our own beams. I’d have liked to set off some hydrogen bombs, just to show the place some action.”

“It wouldn’t have made much difference.”

“No, I guess not.” He laughed. “Say, you’re a good listener, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I know all about Celenthenis. My brother and I were on the ship that discovered it.”

He looked at me with new interest. “Say … you must be—”

“Robert Stemming.” I held out my hand.

He shook it vigorously. “I never realised who I was talking to.”

“As a matter of fact,” I continued, “my brother is upstairs. Perhaps you would like to meet him.”

He looked alarmed. “No! I mean, I’ve promised to have a word with somebody in the other room. …” He backed away.

This time it was my turn to laugh.

I hid myself for the rest of the evening and left the guests to my expert and sociable wife. Crowds don’t interest me. In recent years I’ve developed a liking for a peaceful, solitary life.

At about two o’clock in the morning I heard the sounds of the party diminish. The few people left were talking quietly in the lounge, and they would probably stay for another hour.

I decided to go upstairs and look at my brother.

Not many people care to meet Jack, and I can’t say I blame them. There’s something decidedly eerie about it all.

But I’m not afraid of him. I mounted the wooden stairs to the top of the house. Towards the attic, where we keep Jack, it gets musty. Janet never comes up here, so neither the steps nor the attic get cleaned. Cobwebs brushed me frequently. Outside the door of the attic I could hear the low hum of the apparatus on the other side.

I opened the door and went in. The attic is illuminated by a dim yellow electric light bulb which is always on because I forgot to install a switch. To the right of the door a thick power cable comes snaking through the wall and across to the other side of the room. The cable’s a thick one. We need a lot of power to keep the temperature down.

And on the dirty table opposite was a silicon container, two foot on the side, surrounded by Professor Juker’s refrigerators.

Closing the door, I walked across. “How are you today, Jack?” I said.

There was a definite pause, before the small speaker attached to the canister spoke in a weary voice.

“Can’t complain, Robert,” it said disconsolately.

Brother Jack, it is a hard life I have lived with you!

Ever since the day of our birth, Jack and I have been together. I arrived first, and Jack came pushing and shoving his way awkwardly right after. Or so I like to think.

Perhaps I even gave him a hand. Because I’ve been looking back over my shoulder and hauling him over his troubles ever since.

You could never avoid trouble, could you, Jack? It’s in your nature to steep yourself in it. Show you a doubtful situation, a compromising situation, a sneaky situation, and you plunge right in without regard for anyone. That’s why you have a hundred enemies on every inhabited planet.

I don’t say you intend it. You just revel in temptation; you can’t resist an opportunity to cheat. But why, Jack, why have you such a knack of doing it when a blind donkey could see you’ll be found out?

I’m not exempt from Jack’s ways, in fact I’ve borne the life-long brunt of them. Even when we were youngsters he would borrow my cycle for an hour and sell it on the other side of town for a few pounds. Then he would stall for days on end before I found out. He would always stall. And several times he stole my girl from behind my back.

That would make me really mad. But even then, Jack always seemed to get away with it. Somehow he would crawl from under like an indestructible insect. His technique was quite simple. Stall. Stay out of the way. Sooner or later, you lost the heart to hit back at him.

When we grew up we set up in business together as go-getters.