The Leader Page 3
someone else--especially someonenow dead. This may be a useful device to get at least some informationfrom people who so far have refused any. Naturally I will pass on to youanything I learn.
I try to work again upon the task assigned me--to investigate the riseand power of The Leader. I find it hard to concentrate. My mind goesback to your laboratory. I am deeply shaken by my experience there. Ihad thought nothing could be more bewildering than my own work.Consider: Today I received a letter in which a man tells me amazedly ofthe life he led in a slave-labor camp during the time of The Leader'srule. He describes the attempt of another prisoner to organize a revoltof the prisoners. While he spoke of the brutality of the guards and theintolerably hard labor and the deliberately insufficient food, theycheered him. But when he accused The Leader of having ordered thesethings--the prisoners fell upon him with cries of fury. They killed him.I had this information verified. It was true.
I cannot hope for a sane explanation of such things. But a saneexplanation for my experience seems even less probable. I am impressedby your rat who levitates crumbs of cheese. But I am appalled; I amhorrified; I am stupefied by what I did! You asked me to wait for you ina certain laboratory beyond a door. I entered. I saw a small, fat, mangyshe-dog in a dog-run. She looked at me and wagged her tail. I thereuponwent to the other end of the laboratory, opened a box, and took out ahandful of strange objects you later told me are sweetmeats to a dog. Igave them to the animal.
Why did I do it? How was it that I went directly to a box of which Iknew nothing, opened it as a matter of course, and took out objects Idid not even recognize, to give them to that unpleasant small beast? Howdid I know where to go? Why did I go? Why should I give thosethen-meaningless objects to the dog? It is as if I were enchanted!
You say that it is a psi phenomenon. The rat causes small objects tomove. The dog, you say, causes persons to give it canine candy. I revoltagainst the conclusion, which I cannot reason away. If you are right, weare at the mercy of our domestic animals! Dog-lovers are not people wholove dogs, but people who are enslaved by dogs. Cat-lovers are merelypeople who have been seized upon by cats to support and pet and caterto them. This is intolerable! I shall fear all pets from now on! I throwmyself back into my own work to avoid thinking of it. I--
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Later. I did not mail this letter because an appalling idea occurred tome. This could bear upon my investigation! Do you think The Leader--No!It could not be! It would be madness....
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Extract from a letter from Dr. Karl Thurn to Professor Albrecht Aigen.
... I deplore your reaction. It has the emotional quality of a reactionto witchcraft or magic, but psi is not witchcraft. It is a naturalforce. No natural force is either nonexistent or irresistible. Nonatural force is invariably effective. Psi is not irresistible under allcircumstances. It is not always effective. My rat cannot levitatecheese-crumbs weighing more than 1.7 grams. My she-dog could not makeyou give her dog-candy once you were on guard. When you went again intothe laboratory she looked at you and wagged her tail as before. You saythat you thought of the box and of opening it, but you did not. It wasnot even an effort of will to refrain.
A lesser will or a lower grade of personality cannot overwhelm a greaterone. Not ever! Lesser beings can only urge. The astrologers used to saythat the stars incline, but they do not compel. The same can be said ofpsi--or of magnetism or gravitation or what you will. Schweeringen couldnot make the computer err when it had to err too egregiously. A greaterpsi ability was needed than he had. A greater psi power than wasavailable would have been needed to make you give the dog candy, onceyou were warned.
I do not apply these statements to your so-called appalling idea. Icarefully refrain from doing so. It is your research, not mine....
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Extract from letter to Professor Albrecht Aigen from the Herr FriedrichHolm, supervisor of electrical maintenance, municipal electricalservice, Untersberg.
Herr Professor:
You have written to ask if I knew a certain Herr Schweeringen, attachedto The Leader's personal staff during his regime. I did know such aperson. I was then in charge of electrical maintenance in The Leader'svarious residences. Herr Schweeringen was officially one of The Leader'ssecretaries, but his actual task was to make predictions for The Leader,like a soothsayer or a medium. He had a very remarkable gift. There weretimes when it was especially needful that there be no electricalfailures--when The Leader was to be in residence, for example. On suchoccasions it was my custom to ask Herr Schweeringen if there was apt tobe any failure of apparatus under my care. At least three times he toldme yes. In one case it was an elevator, in another refrigeration, in athird a fuse would blow during a State dinner.
I overhauled the elevator, but it failed nevertheless. I replaced therefrigeration motor, and the new motor failed. In the third case Ichanged the fuse to a new and tested one, and then placed a new, fusedline around the fuse Herr Schweeringen had said would blow, and placed aworkman beside it. When the fuse did blow as predicted, my workmaninstantly closed the extra-line switch, so that the lights of the Statedinner barely flickered. But I shudder when I think of the result ifHerr Schweeringen had not warned me.
He was executed a few days before the period of confusion began, whichended as everyone knows. I do not know the reason for his execution. Itwas said, however, that The Leader executed him personally. This, HerrProfessor, is all that I know of the matter.
Very respectfully, (Et cetera.)
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Letter from Herr Theophrastus Paracelsus Bosche, astrologer, toProfessor Albrecht Aigen, Brunn University.
Most respected Herr Professor:
I am amused that a so-eminent scientist like yourself should askinformation from a so-despised former astrologer to The Leader. It iseven more amusing that you ask about a mere soothsayer--a man whodisplayed an occult gift of prophecy--whom you should consider merelyone of the charlatans like myself whom The Leader consulted, and whoare unworthy of consideration by a scientific historian. We have noeffect upon history, most respected Herr Professor! None at all. Oh,none! I am much diverted.
You ask about the Herr Schweeringen. He was a predictor, using hisoccult gift of second sight to foreknow events and tell The Leader aboutthem. You will remember that The Leader considered himself to haveoccult powers of leadership and decision, and that all occult powersshould contribute to his greatness. At times of great stress, such aswhen The Leader demanded ever-increasing concessions from other nationson threat of war, he was especially concerned that occult predictionspromise him success.
At a certain time the international tension was greater than everbefore. If The Leader could doubt the rightness of any of his actions,he doubted it then. There was great danger of war. Prime MinisterWinston had said flatly that The Leader must withdraw his demands orfight. The Leader was greatly agitated. He demanded my prediction. Iconsidered the stars and predicted discreetly that war would beprevented by some magnificent achievement by The Leader. Truly, if hegot out of his then situation it would be a magnificent achievement. Butastrology, of course, could only indicate it but not describe what itwould be.
The Leader was confident that he could achieve anything he couldimagine, because he had convinced even himself that only treason ordisloyalty could cause him to fail in any matter. He demanded of hisgenerals what achievement would prevent the war. They were notencouraging. He demanded of his civilian political advisers. They darednot advise him to retreat. They offered nothing. He demanded of hisoccult advisers.
The Herr Schweeringen demanded of me that I tell him my exactprediction. His nerves were bad, then, and he twitched with the strain.Someone had to describe the great achievement The Leader would make. Itwould be dangerous not to do so. I told him the prediction, I found hispredicament diverting. He left me, still twitching and despe
rately sunkin thought.
I now tell you exact, objective facts, Herr Professor, with nointerpretation of my own upon them. The Herr Schweeringen was closetedwith The Leader. I am told that his face was shining with confidencewhen he went to speak to The Leader. It was believed among us charlatansthat he considered that he foreknew what The Leader would do to preventwar at this time.
Two hours later there were shots in The Leader's private quarters. TheLeader came out, his eyes glaring, and ordered Herr Schweeringen's bodyremoved. He ordered the execution of the four senior generals of theGeneral Staff, of the Minister of Police, and several other persons. Hethen went into seclusion, from which he emerged only briefly to giveorders making the unthinkable retreat that Prime Minister Winston haddemanded. No one spoke to him for a week. Confusion began. These areobjective facts. I now add one small boast.
My discreet prediction had come true, and it is extremely diverting tothink about it. The Leader had achieved magnificently. The war wasprevented not only for