Robert Silverberg - The Insidious Invaders

After the incident of the disposal unit, there was no longer any room for reasonable doubt: something peculiar had happened to Ted Kennedy while he was away at space. Marge and Dave Spalding, Kennedys sister and brother-in-law, had been watching him all evening, growing more and more puzzled by certain strangenesses in Kennedys behavior. But this was the strangest of all.

He had been wandering around the room, examining the new gadgets that now were standard household fare. They were strange to him, after all the years he had been away. He had been standing by the wall disposal unit, which efficiently and instantly converted matter to energy, and he had suddenly, curiously, stuck his hand near the open entryway to the unit, saying, This house is so full of new gadgets that I hardly know what anything does. This thing over here

Watch out, Ted! Marge Spalding screamed in alarm. Dont

She was too late. There was the brief crackling noise of the disposal unit functioning. And Kennedy had thrust his arm in up to the elbow!

Ted! Marge wailed. Your arm! She closed her eyes and felt hysterics starting.

But Kennedy said in the same calm, strange voice he had been using all evening, My arms all right, Marge. Whats all the excitement about?

Butbut that was the wall disposal unit, Marge muttered bewilderedly. Anything you put in there gets converted to energy.

Kennedy held up an obviously intact arm and smiled, the way one might smile when talking to a child who misunderstands. Look, Marge. I pulled my arm back in time. See?

Dave Spalding, who had been watching the scene with growing confusion, said, But we heard the sound, Ted. When you activate the unit, it crackles like that.

And I saw you stick your hand in there all the way up to the elbow, Ted! Marge insisted.

Kennedy chuckled. Youre both imagining things. All I did was toss a piece of candy in to see what would happen. My hand didnt go anywhere near the field.

But I saw your hand go in, Ted, Marge repeated, getting more stubborn now that the evidence of her own eyes was being contradicted. And yetyour hands all right. I dont understand.

I tell you my hand didnt come anywhere near it, Marge, her brother said forcefully. Lets not discuss it any more, shall we?

That was the strangest part of the evening so far, Marge thought. But Ted had been behaving peculiarly ever since he came in.

He had been late, first of all. That was unlike the old Ted. He had been expected about nine, but he was long overdue. Dave Spalding had been pacing the apartment with increasing irritation.

Its past ten, Marge. Whens this spaceman brother of yours getting here? Three in the morning?

Oh, Dave, dont start getting upset about it, Marge had said soothingly. So hes a little late! Dont forget its five years since he was last on Earth.

Five years or no five years. His ship landed at half past seven. It doesnt take three hours to get here from the spaceport. I thought you said he was so punctual, Marge.

He used to be. Oh, I dont knowmaybe there was some routine he had to go through, before they would let him leave the spaceport. I understand theres a comprehensive medical examination for all returning spacemen

Thats all we need, Spalding snorted. Some weird disease he picked up on Alpha Centauri Five, or

You know they wouldnt let him near civilians if he had any such diseases.

Well, all I want to say is that if he doesnt show his face here by eleven, Im going to go upstairs and go to bed, Spalding grumbled. Spaceman or no spaceman. I need my sleep.

The doorbell chimed.

Marge cried, There he is now, Dave! I knew hed get here any minute! Be nice to him, Dave. He is my brother, after all. And I havent seen him since 89.

Okay, Spalding said. Dont worry about me. Ill be polite.

He walked to the door, hesitated before it a moment, and opened it. A tall young man in spacemans uniform stood in the hallway, smiling. There was something about the quality of that smile that made Dave Spalding instantly uncomfortable. As ifas if it were not the smile of a human being, but of some alien thing wearing the mask of humanity.

Hello, there, Spalding said with forced geniality. Come right on in. My names Dave Spalding.

Thanks. I appreciate this, Dave. Kennedy stepped in. His voice, when he had spoken, had a curious otherwordly undertone.

Spalding closed the door.

Marge ran toward her brother, throwing her arms around him. Ted! Oh, Ted!

Hello, Sis! Kennedy replied. He thrust her gently away from him. Stand backlet me look at you. He whistled appreciatively. Sisters a big girl, now, isnt she?

Im almost 24, Marge said I married Dave three years ago.

You havent changed much in the five years Ive been away, Kennedy said. The same red hairthat dimplethe freckles on your nose

Was there much red tape before you could leave the spaceport? Spalding broke in brusquely.

Just the medical exam, Kennedy said. They gave me a quick look to make sure I wasnt carrying the plague. I was cleared through around quarter past eight.

Spalding gave an unfunny chuckle. You must have stopped off for a little nip or two before coming here, eh?

Nip? No. I came straight here from the spaceport.

But it only takes half an hour by rocket-tube, Marge said, frowning.

Kennedy shook his head. No one said anything to me about a rocket-tube. I took the subway.

The subway! Spalding laughed. Oh, really nowthe subway, all the way out here! No wonder it took you so long!

Marge said, Dave, the rocket-tube line has only been in operation three and a half years. Thats why Ted didnt use it. He didnt know it existed!

The world changes more than you think in five years. The new-model autos that drive themselvesthe three-D videothe robotsthose things were still brand new and strange, when I was last on Earth. And now theyre commonplace. To everyone except me.

Marge stared keenly at her brother. When he spoke like that, he seemed real. But there was something unconvincing about him, all the same.

What am I thinking? she wondered. Am I nuts? Hes my brother, thats all. He looks and acts a little different because hes been away so long.

Dave said, Come on into the living room, Ted. You probably want to rest up. Ill give you a drinkput a little music on

And you can tell us all about your five years in space, Marge said.

Ted smiled. Good ideas, all of them.

They adjourned to the living room, where Kennedy made himself comfortable in an armchair. Spalding turned the phonograph on. Chamber music welled out into the room. Kennedy nodded his head in time with the music.

Mozart, he said. You miss him, out in space.

Can I dial you a drink? Spalding asked.

Scotch, thanks. I take it neat.

Same old Ted! Marge said, reassuring herself. Still likes the same music, still drinks then same kind of drink.

Its only been five years, you know. I havent been away forever.

Marge nodded. But, still, the nagging feeling persisted that there was something different about Ted that a mere absence of five years could not account for.

Can you tell us where youve been? Spalding asked. Or is that classified?

Well, some of it is, Kennedy said. But I covered a lot of ground. You ought to see the night sky on Deneb Nine, Margefive hundred little moons up there, like whirling knives in the darkness. And the 17th planet of the Vega systemtwo billion miles from its sun, and yet theres that great blazing light in the sky, so bright we had to wear special eye-lenses.

Join the Space Force and see the galaxy!, Marge exclaimed. Thats what the recruiting commercials say. I guess its really true.

Kennedy sipped his drink slowly. It was good of you two to put me up here while I was on ground leave. Its no treat to come back to a world where you have no friends and just one living relative.