Download ebooks file Research on Cognition Disorders Theoretical and Methodological Issues Benito Damasceno all chapters
Download ebooks file Research on Cognition Disorders Theoretical and Methodological Issues Benito Damasceno all chapters
com
https://textbookfull.com/product/research-on-
cognition-disorders-theoretical-and-
methodological-issues-benito-damasceno/
https://textbookfull.com/product/aging-research-methodological-issues-
carmen-garcia-pena/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/equity-and-justice-in-developmental-
science-theoretical-and-methodological-issues-1st-edition-horn/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/interculturality-in-education-a-
theoretical-and-methodological-toolbox-1st-edition-fred-dervin-auth/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-serpent-column-a-cultural-
biography-paul-stephenson/
textbookfull.com
Janis Her Life and Music George-Warren
https://textbookfull.com/product/janis-her-life-and-music-george-
warren/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-chemistry-of-mycotoxins-1st-
edition-stefan-brase/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/making-stuff-and-doing-things-fourth-
edition-kyle-bravo/
textbookfull.com
https://textbookfull.com/product/naraka-the-u-gambira-story-1st-
edition-marie-siochana/
textbookfull.com
Social Network Analysis Applied to Team Sports Analysis
1st Edition Filipe Manuel Clemente
https://textbookfull.com/product/social-network-analysis-applied-to-
team-sports-analysis-1st-edition-filipe-manuel-clemente/
textbookfull.com
Benito Damasceno
Research
on Cognition
Disorders
Theoretical and Methodological Issues
Research on Cognition Disorders
Benito Damasceno
Research on Cognition
Disorders
Theoretical and Methodological Issues
Benito Damasceno
Department of Neurology
State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To my wife Dione, my sons Eduardo and
Alfredo, and my uncle Eduardo who raised
me with love and wisdom.
Preface
This book is addressed to all those interested in studying the human mind, espe-
cially in doing research on disorders of cognition, being intended for graduate and
postgraduate students (in projects of scientific initiation, master’s and PhD theses)
as well as for postdoctoral researchers in the areas of neurology, cognitive neurosci-
ence, psychology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, education, and linguistics. It is the
result of my theoretical and practical experience in teaching and researching in neu-
rology, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience at the State University of
Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil) since 1986. The focus is on theoretical-methodolog-
ical issues, controversies, and limitations of current studies in cognition disorders.
Part I is about cognitive functions and their interrelationships. Functions such as
perception, attention, visuospatial-motor abilities, memory, language, and intellec-
tual reasoning are conceived, not as isolated mental “faculties,” a priori existing, or
as “modules” located in restricted brain center, but as complex functional systems
which represent the world by means of signs (mainly those of language), result from
the appropriation (internalization) of external actions and relations of the individual
with other persons and things, and have a cerebral organization distributed in vari-
ous interconnected regions. Theoretically, several studies conceive the cognitive
functions as neurofunctional networks, but in the methodological implementation
of their research they do not consider them as functional systems, with each func-
tion being reciprocally influenced by others, particularly by those most relevant for
the execution of the proposed test or task.
Part II deals with the historical-cultural origin of cognition, presenting its phylo-
genetic and ontogenetic development, from perception to theory of mind, social
cognition, language, and intellectual reasoning. A problem with various studies is
their exclusively biological or computational approach to the human mind.
Obviously, our mind is the product of a long biological evolution, besides being
mediated by biological, neurophysiological, and neurochemical processes.
Computations also underlie the mental functioning and have even been imple-
mented in electronic neural networks, helping us to better understand, for example,
visual perception. Notwithstanding, the human mind is an emergent property of
these processes and cannot be reduced to them; it is the interface between the organ-
vii
viii Preface
ism and the world, being mediated by signs, particularly those of language, and
therefore by internalized social-cultural elements acquired in joint social practice,
and whose lack or deprivation in the critical periods of the mental-cerebral develop-
ment impairs the acquisition of a normal mind. In addition to the biological and
computational processes, the mental act of the human being also involves subjectiv-
ity, free will, and the social regulation of attitudes and decision making.
Part III addresses methodological issues of the neuropsychological investigation
of patients with brain disease, focusing on brain-behavior correlations, especially
on detection of impaired basic mental mechanisms or operations and, in this way,
drawing inferences about the regional distribution of the brain lesion or dysfunc-
tion. Based on the systemic approach, the neuropsychological battery has to include
appropriate tests for the function being studied, including control tests (counter-
proofs) and control conditions, particularly the comparison with healthy matched
subjects. For example, performance in a test of learning and delayed recall of a list
of words may be affected by impairment of other functions such as attention, verbal
fluency, motivation (apathy), and humor state (depression). Thus, for knowing
whether the low scores in this test are due to a primary impairment of episodic
memory (and, by inference, to a hippocampal lesion) or due to a disturbance of
other mental functions (e.g., attention, verbal fluency, humor state), we need control
tests (counter-proofs) for these other functions. The influence of these variables
(mainly subject variables such as age and education) should be foreseen in the plan-
ning phase of the project, or should be verified after data collection by means of a
multivariate analysis. So, it is emphasized to use appropriate study designs as well
as randomization and matching for controlling subject variables which could, other-
wise, confound the results of the investigation.
Part IV presents the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics applied
to biomedical and psychological research. The four chapters in this part cover defi-
nitions of basic concepts, elements of statistical analysis, hypothesis testing, and
choice of tests. The intention is to make the science of statistics more interesting and
easier to be understood even by graduate students. With this purpose, practical illus-
trations are given about how to calculate Z score, effect size, chi-squared (χ2) test,
t-test, Pearson´s correlation coefficient (r), and simple linear regression. Obviously,
these tests can be immediately run by online calculators of free software programs,
but the idea here is to teach the student the rationale behind such tests.
Part V deals with methodological issues in cognition research on three selected
conditions: multiple sclerosis, temporal lobe epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s dementia.
Why these conditions and not others? I chose them because they have been the
objects of my neurological practice, teachings, and researches, including clinical
trials, since I started as professor at the Department of Neurology, UNICAMP,
decades ago, and even before, under my medical residency and specialization in
Neurology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden). The prob-
lems and limitations of researches on these conditions are critically discussed from
the point of view of a systemic and interfunctional approach of cognition, as thor-
oughly presented in Parts I and III.
Preface ix
With this kind of approach, by showing the complexity of the human mind, I
hope this book will be useful to all those who are interested in doing research on
cognition disorders.
xi
Contents
1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.1 Theoretical Approach������������������������������������������������������������������������ 1
1.1.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.1.2 Cognition as a Dynamic Functional System������������������������ 1
1.1.3 Historical-Cultural Origin of Cognition������������������������������� 3
1.2 Methodological Issues���������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
1.2.1 Neuropsychological Diagnosis of the Impaired Basic
Mental Mechanisms and Lesion Localization���������������������� 4
1.2.2 Brain-Behavior Correlations������������������������������������������������ 6
1.3 Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
xiii
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
xiv Contents
4 Memory���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
4.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
4.2 Memory Processes���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
4.3 Memory Systems������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 36
4.4 Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43
5 Language�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47
5.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47
5.2 Discourse and Pragmatics ���������������������������������������������������������������� 48
5.3 Brain Lesion and the Classical Aphasia Syndromes������������������������ 49
5.3.1 Boston Group Classification of Aphasias ���������������������������� 51
5.3.2 Luria’s Classification������������������������������������������������������������ 52
5.4 Brain Lesion and Disorders of Discourse ���������������������������������������� 53
5.5 Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56
6 Cognition as a Mediated, Self-Organized, and Dynamic
Activity������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 59
6.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59
6.2 The Mediated Character of Cognition���������������������������������������������� 59
6.3 Cognition as a Self-Organized Functional System �������������������������� 60
6.4 Cognition Conceived as a Kind of Activity�������������������������������������� 61
6.5 The Dynamic Structure of the Mental Activity�������������������������������� 64
6.6 Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 66
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67
Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 237
Abbreviations
AD Alzheimer´s disease
ADNI Alzheimer´s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
ADRDA Alzheimer´s Disease and Related Disorders Association
AMPA α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid
ANCOVA analysis of covariance
ANOVA analysis of variance
APOE apolipoprotein E
APP amyloid precursor protein
BDI Beck Depression Inventory
BDNF brain-derived neurotrophic factor
BICAMS Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis
BNT Boston Naming Test
BRB-N Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests
BVMT Brief Visuospatial Memory Test
CDR Clinical Dementia Rating
CSF cerebrospinal fluid
COWAT Controlled Oral Word Association Test
CVD cerebrovascular disease
CVLT California Verbal Learning Test
D-KEFS Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System
DMN default mode network
DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
EDSS Expanded Disability Status Scale
EEG electroencephalography
FAQ Functional Assessment Questionnaire
FCSRT Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test
FDG fluorodeoxyglucose
FSMC Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions
FSS Fatigue Severity Scale
FTD frontotemporal degeneration
FTDP-17 Frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17
xix
xx Abbreviations
GM gray matter
IADL instrumental activities of daily life
ICD-10 International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health
Problems – 10th Revision
ILAE International League Against Epilepsy
IWG International Working Group
LNI Luria´s Neuropsychological Investigation
MACFIMS Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis
MCI mild cognitive impairment
MADRS Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale
MFIS Modified Fatigue Impact Scale
MMSE Mini-Mental State Examination
MRI magnetic resonance imaging
MS multiple sclerosis
MSFC MS Functional Composite
MTLE medial temporal lobe epilepsy
NFT neurofibrillary tangle
NIA-AA National Institute on Aging – Alzheimer’s Association
NINCDS National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and
Stroke
NMDA N-methyl-D-aspartate
PASAT Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test
PET positron emission tomography
PFC prefrontal cortex
PiB Pittsburgh compound B
PM prospective memory
PSEN presenilin
RAVLT Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
SDMT Symbol Digit Modalities Test
SPART 10/36 Spatial Recall Test
SPECT single photon emission computerized tomography
SRT-DR Selective Reminding Test – Delayed Recall
ToM theory of mind
WAIS-R Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised
WLG Word List Generation
WM working memory
WMS Wechsler Memory Scale
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1.1 Introduction
and eat it. If he took the basket of corn first, the fox would stay behind with the hen
and eat it. What would he have to do to get all three things across the river?”. The
solution requires an ensemble of various crucial mental operations and their corre-
sponding brain regions or networks, such as (1) phonemic analysis and synthesis for
understanding words (left superior-posterior temporal gyrus and neighboring asso-
ciative cortex); (2) semantic analysis of sentences and the text as a whole as well as
interpretation of the logico-grammatical relationship expressed by the phrase “less
than,” plus symbolic-spatial reasoning involved in the subtraction 10 minus 3
(mainly left inferior parietal and neighboring lateral temporal associative cortex);
(3) memory processes for maintaining online in the focus of consciousness, both
short-term, new incoming information (sensory-perceptive, spatial, verbal-
phonological) and long-term, old information, collected from episodic, semantic,
and procedural memory (prefrontal in connection with temporal regions); and (4)
hypothesis testing, establishment of a goal and plan of solution, monitoring the
execution of the plan, and lastly verifying whether the result obtained is according
to the final question and to the data and constraints of the problem (prefrontal
regions).
Another characteristic of the mind’s functional system is its dynamic structure,
that is, the composition of the whole set of mental operations and brain regions’
changes from moment to moment insofar as each task consecutively switches from
one to the other. At each moment, each intermediary task requires a different ensem-
ble of cognitive operations suitable to achieve the main objective (i.e., to achieve the
goal or to answer to the final question of a problem). Besides these cognitive opera-
tions, an adequate level of motivation, volition, and affective state is critical. So, the
final objective of the activity as a whole remains constant, but the methods and
cognitive operations involved can vary [3].
This conception of the mind represents a great theoretical-methodological con-
tribution to basic and clinical scientific research on mental-cognitive issues, since it
takes into account relationships and reciprocal influences between task-relevant
psychological variables, whose unique (independent) contribution to the fulfillment
of the task can be controlled beforehand (when planning the study) or can be deter-
mined by multivariable statistical analysis after data collection. Based on this con-
ception, a clinical neuropsychological research has also to take into consideration
the influences exerted by symptoms or syndromes on each other, for example, the
interplay between depression, apathy, fatigue, sleep disturbance, psychosocial
stress, and side effect of drugs. In clinical practice, a thorough anamnesis with
detailed analysis of each of these accompanying disorders or comorbidities may
disclose which of them is the main or primary contributor to the cognitive
impairment.
As regards the mediated character of cognition, it is given by the fact that the
individual relates himself with other things and persons not directly, but by means
of the signals and signs (mediators) which represent these things, persons, their
properties, and behaviors. Sensations are the first step to getting knowledge about
the outside world. The physical, chemical, and spatial-temporal properties of exter-
nal things and phenomena stimulate the sensory cells’ receptors, where these prop-
1.1 Theoretical Approach 3
erties are transduced and converted into trains of action potentials along the sensory
cells’ axons, whose frequency and rhythm codify (as neural codes) the information
about those external things. From the most primitive and simple signals (as those of
conditioned reflexes) to the signs of human language (e.g., words), the meaning of
the mediators becomes more generalized and abstract [4].
Research on cognitive disorders may have as objectives (1) to detect which basic
mechanism or mental operation is impaired as well as which symptom or syndrome
is primary or secondary and, in this way, to diagnose the regional distribution of the
brain lesion or dysfunction, yielding valuable information for establishing an appro-
priate rehabilitation program; (2) to provide a baseline and profile of neuropsycho-
logical impairment for future comparisons; and (3) to predict the patient’s behavior
in real-world settings on the basis of his/her performance on neuropsychological
tests. The first and third objectives are particularly challenging due to the complex,
interrelated, and dynamic nature of our mental functions.
Modern techniques as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can localize the brain
damage with high accuracy, but an MRI may not show signs of lesion where the
neuropsychological evaluation indicates there is a dysfunction, as in patients exam-
ined 2 h after an acute ischemic stroke manifested exclusively as Wernicke-like
aphasia or in the early phase of Alzheimer’s disease presenting solely with episodic
memory impairment (amnesia). Neuropsychological evaluation takes into account
the following principles proposed by Luria [2] and Mesulam [14]:
1. Some brain regions, especially those of so-called convergence-divergence zones
or hubs (e.g., left temporal-parietal junction), process some basic mental opera-
tions (e.g., spatial reasoning) needed for performing different complex tasks
(e.g., construction of a model using multicolored Kohs cubes, chess game, left-
right orientation, subtraction 51–17, and understanding of relational expressions
as “the father’s brother”). Therefore, a lesion in such a region (e.g., left inferior
parietal) will produce not an isolated symptom but a whole syndrome compris-
ing, e.g., constructional apraxia, acalculia, spatial disorientation, and aphasic
difficulties – also known as Gerstmann syndrome. As a corollary, the finding of
such a syndrome obtained by means of a comprehensive neuropsychological
assessment strongly suggests a lesion in that brain region.
2. The various basic operations required to fulfill a complex task can be impaired
by damage to a brain region (or interconnecting pathways) that processes any of
them. For instance, incapacity to solve a problem may be due to lesion in any
brain region that process some of the basic operations needed for resolving it.
So, it may result from a working memory and/or intellectual-executive dysfunc-
tion (prefrontal lesion), aphasia (left temporal cortex), or acalculia (left inferior
parietal region).
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
1.2 Methodological Issues 5
Therefore, to disclose the impaired basic mental operation and, by inference, the
corresponding brain region that is damaged, we need a comprehensive battery of
appropriate tests, including control tests (counterproofs) and control conditions.
One crucial control condition is the comparison of the patient’s test performance
with that of healthy subjects matched to the patient as regards variables that can
influence performance, such as age, sex, and educational level. This comparison is
necessary for ascribing the patient’s inferior performance to his brain lesion.
The selection of the tests is based on their accuracy to detect and measure those
basic mental operations hypothetically required for executing the complex task in
which the subject is disabled. This can be illustrated with the neuropsychological
investigation of patients with medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), the most
common epilepsy type in adults, frequently associated with medial temporal lesions
and memory decline, but presenting good outcome after resection of the epilepto-
genic focus. The best surgical outcomes are obtained when the results of neuropsy-
chological, electroencephalographic (video-EEG-telemetry), and neuroimaging
(e.g., MRI, SPECT, PET) are concordant, each one independently indicating the
same side and local of the brain dysfunction. In MTLE cases, the main challenge to
the neuropsychologist is to localize the brain dysfunction without knowing or being
influenced by the EEG and neuroimaging data. For attaining this goal, the neuropsy-
chological investigation has to satisfy the following conditions:
1. As regards memory, the test battery has to take into account the existence of its
different subtypes (episodic, semantic, working memory) as well as the putative
functional differences between the left and right temporal lobes concerning rep-
resentation of verbal and visual-spatial memory. According to the so-called
material specific memory model (MSMM) [15, 16], the left temporal lobe is
dominant for mediating memory for verbal material (e.g., list of abstract words)
and the right one, for nonverbal material (e.g., abstract designs). This material-
specific lateralization has been confirmed strongly as regards the relation
between left temporal epileptogenic focus (or lesion) and verbal memory [17–
21] but weakly as concerns right-sided focus (lesion) and nonverbal (visual, spa-
tial) memory deficits, probably due to the verbalizability of the visual material
employed or because visual-spatial memory has a more diffuse or bilateral brain
representation. Moreover, there is “paradoxical” evidence of impairment of non-
verbal (visual, spatial) memory in cases with left hippocampal sclerosis or left
anterior temporal resection [22], as well as of verbal memory after right tempo-
ral resection [23].
2. Another problem is that the patient’s inferior performance on a memory (learn-
ing) task may be caused not by a primary disorder of episodic memory (or medial
temporal lesion) but by impairment of another cognitive function that is crucial
for executing that task (e.g., auditory or visual perception, attention, verbal flu-
ency), or it may also be due to a more widespread or diffuse disturbance (e.g.,
depression, fatigue, drowsiness, side effect of drugs) whose influence should
have been controlled, minimized, or removed. For this reason, all these variables
(i.e., other non-memory cognitive functions or diffuse disturbances) that can
6 1 Introduction
ing even small treatment effects in clinical trials, besides a large enough sample
size, is double-blinding, that is, neither the participant subjects nor the investigators
know the kind of treatment the participants are receiving.
VII
Within the next hour he had a gun, taken from an amiable but
unfortunate young cop who had the courtesy to stop and give him a
match on a dark back street. He was sincerely sorry for that,
knowing what would happen to the cop, but he was also acutely
aware that he needed the gun a hell of a lot more than the cop did,
even if this was Chicago.
Later on, when the sun was up, he reconsidered. It occurred to him
that where he was going noise would be no virtue, not if he was
going in alone. So he bought himself a knife—Bowie, with a double
edged tip. Anyway, he had been schooled in knives in jump school,
and he knew how to use one even better than a wild .45. The thing
to do now was get within reach.
A cab took him to the bus terminal. It was a beautiful morning, brisk
and clear and cold, and on the way he picked up three Faktors.
At discreet intervals, they followed him into the terminal. He did not
notice them. They ringed him at a distance, following a set plan of
destruction, prepared to close in. Since there had been no time for
another recording, Kunklin and Prule had no choice. The three
Faktors died at once, in their tracks, in separate parts of the waiting
room.
It was a short while before the slumping men were noticed and the
uproar began. By that time Web was outside boarding a bus, and he
went on his way knowing nothing at all of the Faktors, nor of the
unfortunate incident that immediately befell the Galactics.
He rode the bus for two hours. As he got nearer and nearer to his
destination his resolve began to slip away. He was utterly alone, and
these enemies were alien. What in heck could he accomplish?
The bus pulled into a town called Alford just before noon. He
stepped down into the quiet street. There were no aliens around,
none that he could tell. He decided that there was probably no sense
in waiting for the dark. He did not know his way and the layout
would be important, so he decided to go up into the hills right away.
It was a long walk. He stayed with the road for about two miles,
then cut off abruptly into the woods. The ground became steeper, he
began to climb.
He had not gone forty feet before he tripped the first alarm.
In the late afternoon, when the wind had died and the day was
quiet, the door opened.
The same two men—she had begun to be able to tell them apart—
came in and, this time, bowed.
Ivy yawned, rose up on an elbow and blinked her eyes.
The two men, surprised, stared at her.
"All right, what is it?" Ivy said as briskly as she could, trying to force
down the sudden fear. "Stop that damned bowing. A sillier bunch of
skinny idiots I never saw. Men! Huh! You're dying out, all right,
that's obvious."
The two men looked at each other. Then one of them recaptured his
grin.
"It is time for your breeding," he said lecherously.
Ivy yawned again, started to rise.
"Okay, I'll be with you in a minute. I hope it doesn't take too long.
I've lost a lot of sleep."
She managed to stand up calmly, with composure. The only thing
she could think of to do now was to regard this whole thing lightly,
and to make an occasional remark about the rather obvious defects
of her captors.
There was no sense in collapsing.
The two men, puzzled, followed her with their eyes as she fluffed up
her hair.
"No need of that," one of them said quickly, "you will be prepared by
others."
Ivy let her hair fall. "Okay Oscar. Whatever you say." In a very
unladylike manner, she yawned again, scratched herself. She grinned
at them both.
"I don't mean to be nasty, fellas, but why don't you pull up a chair
for a minute? Old guys like you shouldn't be running around all day
—"
The near one growled. The other one restrained him, smiled thinly.
"We have no need of rest," he said slowly. "We possess a certain—
vitality." His smile broadened. "As you shall presently see for
yourself."
Ivy did not look at him, walked suddenly past him and out the door.
They made a motion to grab her, but held back as she stopped. She
stood in the afternoon sun and stretched lazily.
"To your left," the man behind her said.
She waited for a moment, and then she walked. She strode upon
bare ground, upon soft grass, unable to be flippant now, looking
stiffly ahead toward a flat gray building. The door was open and she
could see the far wall, which was richly hung and colored in a
strange deep red. The two men left her at the door, where another
man, very old and white gowned and prissy, took her by the arm.
The man prepared her. She dropped all pretense at hardness, at
disinterest, and sat like a stone. In with the other, the breeder, she
would have to be icy. She became vaguely aware of a thick
fragrance around her, a musky, oily smell. Then the man released
her. She was prepared. He stood her up, waved at the door at the
far end of the room.
"There," he said without interest, turning away.
She took a deep breath and walked forward.
It was a long way up and Web went most of the way at a crouch,
the knife and the gun both ready at his belt. He had taken off his
coat and tie; it was chilly in the woods but he did not feel it.
Four miles north of Alford, the old man had said. Just a half mile off
the highway, on the tallest hill, the really steep one. He kept the
highway to his right going up, beginning to wonder at last if the
alien had told the truth. For all he knew, the camp might really be in
northern Tibet, and he could be stealing his way ever so stealthily
through total emptiness. But no. The old man had been scared to
death. Literally. And anyway, the thing he was walking into was
undoubtedly a trap, and knowing it did not do much good.
He cleared the first rise and climbed in among some rocks. Nearby
below he could see the highway, empty. The sun was high in the
afternoon. Four miles was not a long way, even crouching, and he
could probably make it before dark. In the dark shadows of the
bushes around him, nothing moved. He went up the next hill.
When he reached the top he was beginning to perspire. He sat down
for a moment to think.
Now that he was close and the moment of contact was so near he
could almost touch it, his mind began to function with a cold,
comforting clarity. It was time to make a plan. His target was the
ship, yes, but he would have to proceed on the assumption that they
knew he was coming. They would have some kind of warning
system, and a variety of weapons. But for the time being he held the
ace.
He grinned cheerlessly to himself and headed for the next rise.
On the other side of this one there was a long flat space, scrub-
bushed and empty, and then the last hill, the steep one, began. He
went forward across the open space in broad daylight. He felt like he
was walking into the mouth of a primed cannon. In effect, he was.
It was in among a clump of pines, silent and green, that the thing
fell to the ground near him. He froze, momentarily panic-stricken, his
hand to his belt. The fallen thing lay on the ground a few inches
from his right hand, stiff and unmoving, dark among the leaves.
He relaxed slightly.
It was only a bird.
A dead bird. He stared at it for a long while, motionless. Out of the
trees above him a dead bird had fallen.
Coincidence?
Or were they now turning on the power?
He lay flat on the ground. They knew where he was and they did not
like it. They had fired on him. He did not know whether the thing
that killed the bird had missed him, or whether it had hit him too
and his incredible immunity had protected him. Perhaps they had
already fired on him with the other gun, the one from the satellite.
He did not know that either. But in front of him lay the dead bird.
And now, if he tripped another electronic eye, they would probably
come out in person.
All for the best. He peered intently through the trees up the hill,
searching for some sign of buildings. If he could get to the edge of a
clearing, could see, he would stand a better chance. But there was
nothing but bushes, the bare brown shafts of trees. Now that they
knew where he was, he was deeply thankful that he'd had the sense
to bring the gun.
He moved forward on his hands and knees, watching, listening,
praying that he didn't trip another eye.
The bushes crackled around him. The wind, dammit.
He stopped and listened, heard his heart beating in his throat. He
decided he could crawl just as well with one hand, so he took out
the gun. It was at that moment that he saw the first Faktor.
An instant silhouette through the trees ahead, moving silently
toward him. They were coming.
He dropped to his stomach, crawled with a cold silent slide into the
nearest bush clump. Although they probably knew to the foot where
he was, he had to lie still.
In a brief, brutal flash of reproach and disgust, he realized what an
idiot he'd been to come out here alone.
But there was no helping that now. He moved down behind a fallen
log, laid the barrel of the .45 on the trunk and sighted through the
leaves.
Now he could hear them. They were small, but sloppy. Maybe they
didn't care. That didn't figure. But by now they had undoubtedly
understood his immunity, were coming to kill him in the bloody ways
of Earth.
He had no way of knowing that the Faktors had been terrified to
realize that a Galactic was approaching, but immensely relieved to
see that the Galactic was afoot. To the Faktors, Web was one of two
things: a hybrid, or a stranded Galactic. For no agent would ever
approach on foot, not in his right mind. Short of a force field, no
armor known will stop a high velocity missile. And a Galactic on foot
could not have that.
The killing of a Galactic was a rare thing, a delectable thing. Seven
Faktors converged on Web.
He let them come in very close, counting them and noting their
positions, before he fired. When the nearest man was ten yards
away, crawling toward Web at an angle, the white round eyes looked
past him. In the last second he saw that they were circling the
wrong spot. They had not expected his sideward movement. He
fired.
The heavy police bullet caught the Faktor in the head. He died
where he lay, instantly. There were swift, rising, horribly frightened
screams from the bushes around him.
Web rolled back from the log, crawled around to the other side of
the tree. The god-awful things were whimpering.
He peered furtively around the tree looking for another shot while
the shooting was good, wondering how in hell they'd ever gotten the
nerve to come in after him. And then he looked at the body of the
alien he'd killed, saw the small brown bomb in his hand, and knew.
They'd never intended to get in close. They probably hadn't even
expected him to be armed.
He grinned viciously, turning his head the while to look for a way
out.
In that instant he saw another alien move. He fired.
The shot went home. There were more screams.
Good God, he said, almost aloud, shocked. He did not fire again, the
fear of the things was revolting. He wanted to get out.
He started to move, but they located him. The first bomb hit on the
other side of the tree, blew with a white blinding flash, a thin,
screaming, ripping explosion.
The tree saved him. He fell flat, tried to crawl away. Two more
bombs let go on the other side of the tree, spattered among the
bushes and leaves, cut the tree in half. The tree fell in the direction
of another bomb, the top of it was blown away. In frantic
desperation, the Faktors were giving it everything they had.
There was a tense moment of silence. Web started to rise. He had to
get away. He fired again and again into the woods around him, rose
and started to run, hoping that the shooting would keep the aliens
flat, that some of them at least had died of fear and that he could
outrun them. He made it as far as another fallen log before the next
bomb let go, giving him a great crunching shove in his back. He fell
face down over the log.
Oh hell, he said painfully, oh hell oh hell oh hell. A bomb fell near
him, and another, and he turned to rise and fire back just once
more, swearing, his flesh rising to greet the one last killing
explosion, and damn it all, he was going to die.
A huge fist hit him squarely between the eyes. He fell over
backwards.
And there was dark, blessed silence.
The doors opened automatically when Prule pushed the right button.
Three hundred and twelve young girls and two hundred and
fourteen young men, all of them the cream of Earth's children and
most of them mother-naked, peered out cautiously, furtively, into the
gathering dusk. One made a move, then another. A rather brazen
young woman, nude, walked right out into the center of the camp.
And then they all emerged, wide-eyed and taut, looking for the
Faktors.
"All gone," said Kunklin, waving his hands expressively. But since his
suit was recharged and working, nobody saw him.
They did not see the Faktors either. They began to gather and talk
with each other, some dangerously close to shock, some excitedly
none the worse for wear. Most of the women were recovered so far
as to return to modesty, began to search for covering.
This did not please Kunklin at all. He was tempted to push the
button again and close all the doors, thereby making all clothing
unavailable, but—after a thoughtful look at Prule—he let it go. It had
been an extraordinary sight, a delectable sight, and his opinion of
the virtues of Earth was skyrocketing.
Right then and there Kunklin decided the spot for his next vacation.
And now at last, as they watched, the men and the girls began to
leave. It was growing dark and quite cold and they could not stay
here. One by one, in varying degrees of undress, they strode off
down the mountain. The sensation they created in Alford was
nothing next to the sensation they created the next day, in
newspapers the world over.
Kunklin watched them go with mixed torture and delight.
Prule brought him back to the next order of business.
"The Earthman," he said gloomily.
"Um?"
"The man from the satellite. Where is he?"
"Um," said Kunklin, sobering. "Where is he indeed?"
Prule pointed a lean finger at the near woods.
"There were explosions going on over there when we flew down. I
suppose—" he fixed his eyes reproachfully on Kunklin—"they
bombed him."
Kunklin shrugged. "The man came all the way up here. Really. You
know, you have to admire these people, in more ways than one. I—"
He broke off.
For out of the woods, stumbling, holding his head in one hand and
his colt .45 in the other, came the great battered figure of Web
Hilton. He was scarred and bloody, one eye was closed and he
walked with a heavy limp, but he was walking at least, and Kunklin
brightened.
"Well by Jupiter, he made it!"
Prule smiled happily.
"We must have just got here in time. The Faktors were probably
bombing him when they disappeared."
"Yes, yes. Well, well, well." Kunklin fussed with a knob, turned off his
bender and switched on the translator. "I suppose, now that it's all
over, we owe this fellow an explanation. Lord, man, we owe him
more than that. He's one of us!" He started walking quickly toward
Web. "Ho! Hey! You there!"
Web stopped, peered confusedly through bleary eyes at the
incredible figures on the mountain side before him. His gun was in
his hand, but he had forgotten it. He had not yet collected himself
and there was an awful ringing in his head.
Kunklin and Prule surrounded him, babbling away cheerfully, set him
down and gave him first aid. In an astonishingly short time he was
feeling well again and the Galactics did their best to bring him up to
date on what had occurred, being careful to praise his undeniable
courage in the face of such odds. They admitted to using him as
decoy, but told him nothing about the recording business. They saw
no reason to tell this boy that he had, during the course of recent
events, died twice. No telling how he would react. Although really,
since he was atom for atom identical with the original Web Hilton,
what difference did it make?
"—and so we finally found a Faktor with some strength of will—had
to inject the man as he came aboard—then came out here and
eliminated the rest of them."
Web stared dazedly around at the empty buildings.
"All gone?"
"Completely." Kunklin grinned. "We used the same device on them
that they used on your people. We thought it only fitting. Quite a
weapon. Used to be the most dangerous weapon in this part of the
universe until we found immunity. You could wipe out whole planets
without a single leaf being harmed—"
"Yes, yes," said Prule, "but the job is ended. Thank you my friend.
You have been of great help. Any time you need us. Kunklin?"
"What?" said Kunklin, straightening. "You mean leave him here? Well
really, Prule, that's hardly—" And then his whole face brightened. He
clapped Web heavily on the back. "Why Prule, this boy's a Galactic!
After all he's done for us, the least we can do is take him back with
us"—Prule jumped—"to headquarters, at least, and introduce him
around. Why, the boy has a heritage! You can see that from the way
he held up his end. Oh yes, yes, we'll have to take him back."
Web looked up blearily, beginning to understand.
"Back where?"
But Kunklin reached down and took him by the arm, and began
leading him toward the ship. He explained, as painlessly as he could,
the fact of Web's Galactic parentage. He did not say that it was
Web's father—which, for biological reasons, it had to be—but only
that some ancestor, somewhere along the line, had been
extraterrestrial.
And while Web was downing that, and Prule was protesting, Kunklin
spoke gaily on.
"You'll need time, my boy, won't you, before you come along with
us? You'll need time, eh?"
"I have to see Dundon—"
"Of course, of course," Kunklin chuckled, "take all the time you want.
Take weeks, take months. And in the meantime," he grinned toward
Prule, in whom just now a great light was dawning—"in the
meantime Prule and I will wander the byroads of your lovely planet.
Eh, Prule? A vacation!"
And in a mood of genial lechery—for Earthman, Galactic, Faktor, this
one thing is constant—the three men climbed into the ship, and
then, the sky.
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the
United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the
terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying,
performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this
work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes
no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in
any country other than the United States.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you
provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work
in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in
the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or
expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or
a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original
“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must
include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in
paragraph 1.E.1.
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive
from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.F.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.