THE COMING OF THE WINDS
H. B. B. McGhee



"That was an excellent dinner," Dr. Keely said appreciatively, sitting back, looking at the empty plates. "It's certainly better than the concentrate capsules we've been having so far this trip." 

"I'm afraid I did have an ulterior motive for asking you and your assistant to join me for dinner tonight," the Captain admitted apologetically, smiling slightly at the corners of his mouth. "I was hoping that you might be able to tell me what this journey is all about.'' 

"I don't think that there's anything mysterious or frightening that should be kept secret from you, Captain," the Doctor replied, smiling sardonically. "As far as I'm concerned it's just another assignment to watch, and capture for posterity, a rather interesting event in the life of the Galaxy." 

"That may be so," the Captain persisted, "but there must be something strange going on. I've been ferrying scientists on their expeditions for ten years now, and I've found that their researches fall in a slowly growing sphere inside our borders. Now, suddenly we're shooting right out to the very edge of known space." 

"It's all to do with the time factor," the Doctor stated. "We can't leave this event to take it's natural place, or it will be too late. What we are going to witness is the destruction of a race; one, I might add, not too unlike mankind in appearance. To us, it's a very interesting case." 

"Could you tell me about it?" the Captain asked. "You've got me interested now." 

"Yes, of course," the Doctor agreed, belching quietly and rubbing his stomach. "Perhaps the most interesting thing about this race is that every seventy years everything on the surface of their planet is destroyed by a mighty tornado. They have adapted themselves to this catastrophe in a very peculiar way. Tell me, Captain, what would you consider to be the most satisfactory solution, assuming, of course, that you couldn't stop the tornado?" 

"Build some sort of underground shelter that they could live in for the duration of the holocaust?" the Captain asked. 

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed, belching again. "And that is what they've done." 

"So what's so interesting about that?" the Captain asked. "I mean, interesting enough to jump the queue on the exploration list; you can always see them underground or wait until they come back up. How long does the tornado last?" 

"About a day?" 

"I'm sorry, you've lost me." 

"But I haven't told you the whole story," the Doctor stated. "You see, there is a barren period on the surface after the tornado. But that isn't the most fascinating thing about it all; you see this race has given up sex as a means of reproduction - all their children are artificially created. What's more, they're all born at the same time; the time of emergence after the tornado has passed. Their average life span is seventy, and it's an easy average to arrive at, for everyone lives to be seventy to the day. They all die in the night before the tornado arrives." 

"Then how are the children created?" the Captain asked. 

"That's where the underground city comes into it's own. For the seventy years between tornadoes it prepares the next generation of children for the surface." 

"Amazing," the Captain said. "No sex, eh? That's a pretty bad idea." He looked at Keely's deputy, Laura Ritchie, and smiled broadly. She was a very attractive and well developed young lady. She gave an embarrassed smile. 

The Doctor belched loudly, and, professing his most profound apologies, excused himself from the table and made his way back to his cabin. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

It was over a week before the two men had the chance to meet again due to pressure of work, and by this time the ship had gone into orbit around the planet and the crew had begun to set up observation cameras on the surface and collate details and information from the probes they had sent out. 

"How's it going?" the Captain asked. "All your scientists seem to be very busy." 

"Yes," Keely agreed. "The survey craft that discovered this race were a bit out in their report when they estimated the date of the tornado. It's going to come about two weeks earlier than we expected. That gives us only today to complete our survey. We've been going full out and we should just about do it. We don't want to leave it to the last second before we get all our men back on board the ship. I wouldn't want any of them to be down there when the tornado starts; it's supposed to be very ferocious." 

"Do you think your equipment on the surface will stand up to it?" 

"I hope so," Keely said. "We've had some of that measuring equipment near to the surface of stars." 

"But how near is near when you're talking about a star?" the Captain asked. 

"Nearer than I'd want to get," Keely confessed, smiling. 

"Well, I mustn't keep you talking," the Captain chided himself. "I expect you've got lots to do." 

Keely nodded. "Yes. I'm Just on my way to get the latest report from the meteorological computer. It was already picking up the first indications of a storm near the North Pole yesterday." 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

The next day the Captain received an urgent summons to the viewer room. Keely was there, waiting for him. 

"I thought you'd like to watch it with us," he explained. "The destruction of the planet is on the verge of happening." 

The Captain looked over a maze of screens. On the main, central, screen he could see an old man staggering slowly down an otherwise deserted street. 

"The last survivor," Keely explained. "Our detectors showed that most of the population died while they slept. It'll be interesting to see if he manages to survive until the storm gets to him." 

"It seems wicked to just leave him down there," the Captain said. 

"Our main rule is non-intervention," the Doctor reminded him. "Anyway, he's probably only got a few more minutes of life left in him." 

"Probably," the Captain agreed, "but you can't be certain. He might be a freak; have years of life. I can't reconcile your policy with the first rule of space: you must always go to the rescue of those in difficulty. If we got an SOS from a ship in space, and we knew it's only crew member was someone dying, with only an hour or so left, we'd still go to his aid." 

"Our difference of opinion seems to have resolved itself," Keely stated, pointing to the screen. The old man had fallen forward and now lay face down, motionless, in the gutter. 

"The storm has started," one of the technicians reported. 

"Switch to Scanner 84," Keely ordered, consulting a chart. The main screen showed a major city being ripped apart by a huge tornado that seemed to grow every second as it snaked it's way evilly across the surface. 

"Doctor Keely," a startled voice exclaimed. They all turned to see Laura Ritchie staring up, white-faced. "The life detector," she explained, "it's registering a living creature on the surface in sector 12; reading 678- 484." 

"That' s impossible," Keely muttered. "All my personnel reported back to the ship." 

"I'm sure none of my crew are on the surface,'' the Captain added, "but perhaps it'd be best to run a quick check." 

It only took a few minutes to account for all the crew. 

"Hell?" the Captain asked, "what is your explanation, Dr. Keely?" 

"The only logical answer would appear to be that there is an inhabitant who was not accounted for in our survey, and that he has survived. But that's impossible; we charted everyone, in every town, and checked off each as they died." 

"Then it must be someone you missed. Maybe someone who doesn't live in a town." 

"But they all live in towns," Keely insisted. "That's part of their way of life." 

"Then there must be an exception," the Captain persisted. 

"Get a visual probe above that co-ordinate," Keely ordered. He looked anxiously at his chart. "At least the tornado has not reached that point yet," he mumbled. 

A few minutes later a screen lit up, to show a picture of a small mound-like dwelling, right in the middle of the desert. A young girl in her late teens could be seen sitting next to the bodies of two other people who were obviously dead. 

"This is impossible," Keely reiterated, "there can't be anyone of that age alive." 

"It's obvious there is though, isn't it?" the Captain interrupted. "Tell me, although their children are produced mechanically, do the people still retain the power of sexual reproduction?" 

"Yes," Keely nodded. "Our survey indicated that they still maintained the power of sexual reproduction; in a latent form, naturally.'' 

"Then that girl is obviously the result of a couple in whom it stopped being latent. They must have been either banished or else they came out here voluntarily, to escape being persecuted, maybe." 

Keely thought. "Yes," he agreed, "that sounds plausible ." 

"Never mind about whether it sounds plausible or not," the Captain rapped, "we've got to rescue her." 

"No," Keely said, "we must not interfere." 

"But we can't just leave her to die," the Captain insisted. 

"There's nothing we can do," Keely replied adamantly. 

"I'm sending a ship down to save her!" 

"But the Galactic Council-" the Doctor argued. 

"Damn them," the Captain retorted sharply, "it's a life in danger!" He strode out of the room. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

The Captain personally took control of the life craft that was launched towards the surface. Things looked grim as the tiny ship sped downwards. The holocaust seemed to be spreading faster and faster every minute. 

He managed to bring the ship down remarkably near to where the girl sat, watching him with frightened eyes. The Captain looked uneasily up at the sky; black towards the horizon as he ran out of his craft towards the girl. He pointed at the storm, then at his ship, then up at the sky. She seemed to understand, but pointed down at her legs. Despair swept through the spaceman's body as he saw that her ankles were manacled to the ground. 

"We'll never make it back unless we leave now," a crewman shouted. 

"Get the cutting equipment," the Captain ordered. 

The crewman nodded, hurrying back. The Captain smiled reassuringly at the girl. He snatched the cutter from the crewman as he ran up and focused the beam on the manacles. It seemed ineffective. 

"We'll keep trying," the Captain ordered, knowing they had passed the point of no return. Even if they left the girl they couldn't make it back to the ship; the clouds above them swirled about angrily...... 

Suddenly a great calm settled. "Congratulations," a voice whispered in the spaceman's brain. "You have passed the test." 

"Test?" he asked mentally. 

"Yes," the voice continued. "The civilisation you have just seen destroyed never existed at all really; it was merely a tool of our great power. A part of the test." 

"What test?" the Captain demanded. 

"The test of entry," the voice explained. "We are the trustees of a huge empire that once belonged to a race that was extinct long before your people existed. Your race has just reached the borders of that empire. Only those that pass the test can enter." 

"By your action, you have proved your people have both compassion and curiosity, two of the most important ideals for any people. We are not giving you the empire; you must contest possession with those other races that passed the test too - but we are sure a great future is unfolding for your kind." 

The Captain nodded. He thought so too. 

 
 