Solaris Read Free

the Station? Is he on an observation flight?"
    Snow was gazing at a tangled mass of cables.
    "No, he hasn't left the Station. And he won't be flying. The fact is…"
    My ears were still blocked, and I was finding it more and more difficult to hear.
    "What? What do you mean? Where is he then?"
    "I should think you might guess," he answered in a changed voice, looking me coldly in the eyes. I shivered. He was drunk, but he knew what he was saying.
    "There's been an accident?"
    He nodded vigorously, watching my reactions closely.
    "When?"
    "This morning, at dawn."
    By now, my sensations were less violent; this succinct exchange of questions and answers had calmed me. I was beginning to understand Snow's strange behavior.
    "What kind of accident?"
    "Why not go to your cabin and take off your spacesuit? Come back in, say, an hour's time."
    I hesitated.
    "All right," I said finally.
    As I made to leave, he called me back.
    "Wait!" He had an uneasy look, as if he wanted to add something but was finding it difficult to bring out the words. After a pause, he said:
    "There used to be three of us here. Now, with you, there are three of us again. Do you know Sartorius?"
    "In the same way as I knew you—only from his photographs."
    "He's up there, in the laboratory, and I doubt if he'll come down before dark, but… In any case, you'll recognize him. If you should see anyone else—someone who isn't me or Sartorius, you understand, then…"
    "Then what?"
    I must be dreaming. All this could only be a dream! The inky waves, their crimson gleams under the low-hanging sun, and this little man who had gone back to his armchair, sitting there as before, hanging his head and staring at the heap of cables.
    "In that case, do nothing."
    "Who could I see?" I flared up. "A ghost?"
    "You think I'm mad, of course. No, no, I'm not mad. I can't say anything more for the moment. Perhaps … who knows? … Nothing will happen. But don't forget I warned you."
    "Don't be so mysterious. What's all this about?"
    "Keep a hold on yourself. Be prepared to meet … anything. It sounds impossible I know, but try. It's the only advice I can give you. I can't think of anything better."
    "But what could I possibly meet?" I shouted.
    Seeing him sitting there, looking sideways at me, his sunburnt face drooping with fatigue, I found it difficult to contain myself. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him.
    Painfully, dragging the words out one by one, he answered:
    "I don't know. In a way, it depends on you."
    "Hallucinations, you mean?"
    "No … it's real enough. Don't attack. Whatever you do, remember that!"
    "What are you getting at?" I could hardly recognize the sound of my own voice.
    "We're not on Earth, you know."
    "A Polytherian form?" I shouted. "There's nothing human about them!"
    I was about to rush at him, to drag him out of the trance, prompted, apparently, by his crazy theories, when he murmured:
    "That's why they're so dangerous. Remember what I've told you, and be on your guard!"
    "What happened to Gibarian?"
    He did not answer.
    "What is Sartorius doing?"
    "Come back in an hour."
    I turned and went out. As I closed the door behind me, I took a last look at him. Tiny, shrunken, his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his stained knees, he sat there, motionless. It was only then that I noticed the dried bloodstains on the backs of his hands.

The Solarists
    In the empty corridor I stood for a moment in front of the closed door. I noticed a strip of plaster carelessly stuck on one of the panels. Pencilled on it was the word "Man!" At the sight of this faintly scribbled word, I had a sudden longing to return to Snow for company; but I thought better of it.
    His crazy warnings still ringing in my ears, I started off down the narrow, tubular passage which was filled with the moaning of the wind, my shoulders bowed under the weight of the spacesuit. On tip-toe, half- consciously fleeing from some invisible watcher, I found two doors on my