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//-->Faithfully YoursTabakow, LouPublished:1955Type(s):Short Fiction, Science FictionSource:http://gutenberg.org1Copyright:Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/orcheck the copyright status in your country.Note:This book is brought to you by Feedbooks.http://www.feedbooks.comStrictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial purposes.2JULY 18, 1949 A.D.The fugitive lay face down in the fetid undergrowth, drawing in spasmodiclungfuls of air through cracked and swollen lips. Long before, his blue workshirthad been ripped to ribbons and his exposed chest showed a spiderwork ofscratches, where branches and brambles had sought to restrain him in his fren-zied flight. Across his back from shoulder to shoulder ran a deeper cut aroundwhich the caked blood attested to the needle-sharp viciousness of a thorn bush amile to the north. With each tortured breath he winced, as drops of sweat randown, following the spiderwork network and burning like acid. Incessantly herubbed his bruised torso with mud-caked palms to dislodge the gnats and mos-quitoes that clung to him, gorging shamelessly.To the east he could see the lights of Fort Mudge where the railroad cutthrough on its way to Jacksonville. He had planned to ride the freight into Jack-sonville but by now they were stopping every train and searching along everyfoot of the railroad right of way. In the distance he heard the eerie keen of a trainwhistle, and visualized the scene as it was flagged down and searched from en-gine to caboose.Directly before him loomed the forbidding northern boundary of the Okefeno-kee Swamp. Unconsciously he strained his ears, then shuddered at the nightnoises that issued from the noisome wilderness. A frenzied threshing, then asplash, then … silence. What drama of life and death was being played out inthat strange other-world of perpetual shadows?In sudden panic he jerked erect and cupped his palm round his ear. Far off;muted by distance, but still unmistakable; he heard the baying of bloodhounds.Then this was the end. A sob broke from his throat. What was he, an animal; tobe hunted down as a sport? Tears of self-pity welled to his eyes as he thoughtback to a party and a girl and laughter and cleanliness and the scent of magnoli-as, like a heady wine. But that was so long ago—so long ago—and now… . Helooked down at his sweating, lacerated body; his blistered calloused palms; theblack broken nails; the cheap workshoes with hemp laces; the shapeless gray cot-ton trousers, now wet to the knees.He pulled back his shoulders and resolutely faced west toward the river, butstopped short in horror as he heard the sudden cacophony of barks, yelps andhowls of a pack of bloodhounds that senses the beginning of the end. He turnedin panic. They couldn't be over half a mile away. In a panic of indecision heturned first east then west, then facing due south he hesitated a moment to takeone last look at the clear open skies, and with a muffled prayer plunged into thebrooding depths of the Okefenokee.3JUNE 13, 427th Year GALACTIC ERAThe building still hummed and vibrated with the dying echoes of thealarm siren as the biophysicist hurried down the corridor, and withoutbreaking stride, pushed open the door to the Director's office.The Director shuffled the papers before him and sighed heavily. Hischair creaked protestingly as he shifted his bulk and looked up."Well?""He got away clean," said the biophysicist."Any fix on the direction?""None at all, sir. And he's got at least a two hours' start. That takes in apretty big area of space.""Hm-m-m! Well there's just a bare chance. That experimental cruiser isthe fastest thing in space and it's equipped with the latest ethero-radar. Ifwe get started right away, we just might—""That's just it," interrupted the biophysicist. "That's the ship he gotaway in."The Director jumped angrily to his feet. "How did that happen? Howcan I explain to the board?""I'm sorry, sir. He was just too—""You're sorry?" He slumped back in his chair and drummed the desktop with his fingernails, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. He ex-haled loudly and leaned forward. "Well, only one thing to do. You knowthe orders."The biophysicist squirmed uncomfortably. "Couldn't we send a squad-ron of ships out to search and—""And what?" asked the Director, sarcastically. "You don't think I'd riska billion credits worth of equipment on a wild-goose chase like that, doyou? We could use up a year's appropriation of fuel and manpower andstill be unable to adequately search a sector one-tenth that size. If he justsat still, a thousand ships couldn't find him in a thousand years, search-ing at finite speeds. Add to that the fact that the target is moving at ultra-light speed and the odds against locating him is multiplied by a billion.""I know, but he can't stay in space. He'll have to land somewhere,sometime.""True enough—but where and when?""Couldn't we alert all the nearby planets?"4"You know better than that. He could be halfway across the galaxy be-fore an ethero-gram reached the nearest planet.""Suppose we sent scout ships to the nearer planets and asked them toinform their neighbors in the same way. We'd soon have an expandingcircle that hecouldn'tslip through."The Director smiled wryly. "Maybe. But who's going to pay for all this.By the time the circle was a thousand light-years in diameter therewould be ten thousand ships and a million clerks working on recaptur-ing one escaped prisoner. Another thing; I don't know offhand what he'sbeen sentenced for, but I'll wager there are ten thousand planets onwhich his crime would not be a crime. Do you think we could ever extra-dite him from such a planet? And even if by some incredible stroke offortune one of our agents happened to land on the right planet, in whichcity would he begin his search. Or suppose our quarry lands only on un-inhabited planets? We can't very well alert the whole galaxy in thesearch for just one man.""I know, but—""But what?" interrupted the Director. "Any other suggestions?""N … no—""All right, he asked for it. You have the pattern, I presume.Feed it toFido!""Yes, sir, but well … I just don't—""Do you thinkIlike it?" asked the Director, fiercely.In the silence that followed, they looked at each other, guiltily."There's nothing else we can do," said the Director. "The orders are ex-plicit.No one escapes from Hades!""I know," replied the biophysicist. "I'm not blaming you. Only I wishsomeone else had my job.""Well," said the Director, heavily. "You might as well get started." Henodded his head in dismissal.As the biophysicist went out the door, the Director looked down oncemore at the pile of papers before him. He pulled the top sheet closer, andrubber-stamped across its face—CASE CLOSED."Yes," he mused aloud. "Closed for us, but—" He hesitated a moment,and then sighing once more, signed his name in the space provided.5
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