Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke [7]
"And do you?" whispered Stormgren, half to himself.
"That, Rikki, is the fear that torments them, even though they will never admit it openly. Believe me, it gives us no pleasure to destroy men's faiths, but all the world's religions cannot be right, and they know it. Sooner or later man has to learn the truth; but that time is not yet. As for our secrecy, which you are correct in saying aggravates our problems-that is a matter beyond my control. I regret the need for this concealment as much as you do, but the reasons are sufficient. However, I will try and get a statement from my-superiors-which may satisfy you and perhaps placate the Freedom League. Now, please, can we return to the agenda and start recording again?"
***
"Well?" asked Van Ryberg anxiously. "Did you have any luck?"
"I don't know," Stormgren replied wearily as he threw the files down on his desk and collapsed into the seat. "Karellen's consulting his superiors now, whoever or whatever they may be. He won't make any promises."
"Listen," said Pieter abruptly, "I've just thought of something. What reason have we for believing that there is anyone beyond Karellen? Suppose all the Overlords, as we've christened them, are right here on Earth in these ships of theirs? "They may have nowhere else to go, but they're hiding the fact from us."
"It's an ingenious theory," grinned Stormgren. "But it clashes with what little I know-or think I know-about Karellen's background."
"And how much is that?"
"Well, he often refers to his position here as something temporary, hindering him from getting on with his real work, which I think is some form of mathematics. Once I mentioned Acton's quotation about power corrupting, and absolute power corrupting absolutely. I wanted to see how he'd react to that. He gave that cavernous laugh of his, and said; 'There's no danger of that happening to me. In the first case, the sooner I finish my work here, the sooner I can get back to where I belong, a good many light-years from here. And secondly, I don't have absolute power, by any means. I'm just-Supervisor.' Of course, he may have been misleading me. I can never be sure of that."
"He's immortal isn't he?"
"Yes, by our standards, though there's something in the future he seems to fear; I can't imagine what it is. And that's really all I know about him."
"It isn't very conclusive. My theory is that his little fleet's lost in space and is looking for a new home. He doesn't want us to know how few he and his comrades are. Perhaps all those other ships are automatic, and there's no-one in any of them. They're just an imposing faзade."
"You," said Stormgren, "have been reading too much science-fiction."
Van Ryberg grinned, a little sheepishly.
"The 'Invasion From Space' didn't turn out quite as expected, did it? My theory would certainly explain why Karellen never shows himself. He doesn't want us to learn that there aren't any more Overlords."
Stormgren shook his head in amused disagreement.
"Your explanation, as usual, is much too ingenious to be true. Though we can only infer its existence, there must be a great civilization behind the Supervisor-and one that's known about man for a very long time. Karellen himself must have been studying us for centuries. Look at his command of English, for example. He taught me how to speak it idiomatically!"
"Have you ever discovered anything he doesn't know?"
"Oh yes, quite often-but only on trivial