[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Now they were in the cavern itself-the sanctum sanctorum of the Overlords
of
Delgon. There was the hellish torture screen, now licked clean of life. There
was the
audience which had been so avid, now milling about in a mob frenzy of panic.
There,
upon a raised balcony, were the "big shots" of this nauseous clan, now doing
their
utmost to marshal some force able to cope effectively with this unheard-of
Page 58
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
violation of
their ages-old immunity.
A last wave of Delgonian slaves hurled themselves forward, futile
projectors
furiously aflame, only to disappear in the DeLameters' fans of force. The
Patrolmen
hated to kill those mindless slaves, but it was a nasty job that had to be
done. The
slaves out of the way, those ravening beams bored on into the massed
Overlords.
And now Kinnison and vanBuskirk killed, if not joyously, at least
relentlessly,
mercilessly, and with neither sign nor sensation of compunction. For this
unbelievably
monstrous tribe needed killing, root and branch-not a scion or shoot of it
should be
allowed to survive, to continue to contaminate the civilization of the galaxy.
Back and
forth, to and fro, up and down swept the raging beams, playing on until in all
the vast
volume of that gruesome chamber nothing lived save the two grim figures in its
portal.
Assured of this fact, but with DeLameters still in hand, the two
destroyers
retraced their way to the tunnel's mouth, where Worsel anxiously awaited them.
Lines
of communication again established, Kinnison informed the Velantian of all
that had
taken place I and the latter gradually cut down the power of his
thought-screen. Soon it
was at zero strength and he reported jubilantly that for the first time in
untold ages, the
Overlords of Delgon were off the air!
"But surely the danger isn't over yeti" protested Kinnison. "We couldn't
have got
them all in this one raid. Some of them must have escaped, and there must be
other
dens of them on this planet somewhere?"
"Possibly, possibly," the Velantian waved his tail airily -the first sign
of
joyousness he had shown. "But their power is broken, definitely and forever.
With these
new screens, and with the arms and armament which, thanks to you, we can now
fabricate, the task of wiping them out completely will be comparatively
simple. Now you
will accompany me to Velantia, where, I assure you, the resources of the
planet will be
put solidly behind you in your own endeavors. I have already summoned a
space-ship-
in less than twelve days we will be back in Velantia and at work upon your
projects. In
the meantime . . . . ."
"Twelve days! Noshabkeming the Radiant!" vanBuskirk exploded, and
Kinnison
put in.
"Sure-you forget they haven't got free drive. We'd better hop over and
get our
lifeboat, I think. It's not so good, either way, but in our own boat we'll be
open to
detection less than an hour, as against twelve days in the Velantians . And
Page 59
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the pirates
may be here any minute. It's as good as certain that their ship will be
stopped and
searched long before it gets back to Velantia, and if we were aboard it'd be
just too
bad."
And, since the crew knows about us, the pirates soon will, and it'll be
just too
bad, anyway," vanBuskirk reasoned.
"Not at all," Interposed Worsel. `The few of my people who know of you
have
been instructed to seal that knowledge. I must admit, however, that I am
greatly
disturbed by your conceptions of these pirates of space. You see, until I met
you I knew
nothing more of the pirates than I did of your Patrol."
"What a world!" vanBuskirk exclaimed. "No Patrol and no pirates! But at
that, life
might be simpler without both of them and without the free space-drive-more
like it used
to be in the good old airplane days that the novelists rave about."
"Of course I could not judge as to that." The Velantian was very serious.
"This in
which we live seems to be an out-of-the-way section of the galaxy, or it may
be that we
have nothing the pirates want."
"More likely it's simply that, like the Patrol, they haven't got
organized into this
district yet," suggested Kinnison. "There are so many thousands of millions of
solar
systems in the galaxy that it will probably be thousands of years yet before
the Patrol
gets into them all."
"But about these pirates," Worsel went back to his point. "If they have
such
minds as those of the Overlords, they will be able to break the seals of cur
minds.
However, I gather from your thoughts that their minds are not of that
strength?"
"Not so far as I know," Kinnison replied. "You folks have the most
powerful
brains I ever heard of, short of the Arisians. And speaking of mental power,
you can
hear thoughts a lot farther than I can, even with my Lens or with this pirate
receiver I've
got. See if you can find out whether there are any pirates in space around
here, will
you?"
While the Velantian was concentrating, vanBuskirk asked.
"Why, if his mind is so strong, could the Overlords put him under so much
easier
than they could us `weak-minded' human beings?"
"You are confusing 'mind' with `will,' I think. Ages of submission to the
Overlords
made the Velantians' willpower zero, as far as the bosses were concerned. On
the
other hand, you and I could raise stubbornness to sell to most people. In
fact, if the
Overlords had succeeded in really breaking us down, back there, the chances
are we'd
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
have gone insane."
"Probably you're right-we break, but don't bend, huh?" and the Velantian
was
ready to report.
"I have scanned space to the nearer stars-some eleven of your
light-years-and
have encountered no intruding entities," he announced.
"Eleven light-years-what a range!" Kinnison exclaimed. "However, that's
only a
shade over two minutes for a pirate ship at full blast. But we've got to take
a chance
sometime, and the quicker we get started the sooner we'll get back. We'll pick
you up
here, Worsel. No use in you going back to your tent-we'll be back here long
before you
could reach it. You'll be safe enough, I think, especially with our spare
DeLameters.
Let's get going, Bus !"
Again they shot into the air, again they traversed the airless depths of
interplanetary space. To locate the temporary tomb of their lifeboat required
only a few
minutes, to disinter her only a few more. Then again they braved detection in
the void,
Kinnison tense at his controls, vanBuskirk in strained attention listening to
and staring at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
Now they were in the cavern itself-the sanctum sanctorum of the Overlords
of
Delgon. There was the hellish torture screen, now licked clean of life. There
was the
audience which had been so avid, now milling about in a mob frenzy of panic.
There,
upon a raised balcony, were the "big shots" of this nauseous clan, now doing
their
utmost to marshal some force able to cope effectively with this unheard-of
Page 58
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
violation of
their ages-old immunity.
A last wave of Delgonian slaves hurled themselves forward, futile
projectors
furiously aflame, only to disappear in the DeLameters' fans of force. The
Patrolmen
hated to kill those mindless slaves, but it was a nasty job that had to be
done. The
slaves out of the way, those ravening beams bored on into the massed
Overlords.
And now Kinnison and vanBuskirk killed, if not joyously, at least
relentlessly,
mercilessly, and with neither sign nor sensation of compunction. For this
unbelievably
monstrous tribe needed killing, root and branch-not a scion or shoot of it
should be
allowed to survive, to continue to contaminate the civilization of the galaxy.
Back and
forth, to and fro, up and down swept the raging beams, playing on until in all
the vast
volume of that gruesome chamber nothing lived save the two grim figures in its
portal.
Assured of this fact, but with DeLameters still in hand, the two
destroyers
retraced their way to the tunnel's mouth, where Worsel anxiously awaited them.
Lines
of communication again established, Kinnison informed the Velantian of all
that had
taken place I and the latter gradually cut down the power of his
thought-screen. Soon it
was at zero strength and he reported jubilantly that for the first time in
untold ages, the
Overlords of Delgon were off the air!
"But surely the danger isn't over yeti" protested Kinnison. "We couldn't
have got
them all in this one raid. Some of them must have escaped, and there must be
other
dens of them on this planet somewhere?"
"Possibly, possibly," the Velantian waved his tail airily -the first sign
of
joyousness he had shown. "But their power is broken, definitely and forever.
With these
new screens, and with the arms and armament which, thanks to you, we can now
fabricate, the task of wiping them out completely will be comparatively
simple. Now you
will accompany me to Velantia, where, I assure you, the resources of the
planet will be
put solidly behind you in your own endeavors. I have already summoned a
space-ship-
in less than twelve days we will be back in Velantia and at work upon your
projects. In
the meantime . . . . ."
"Twelve days! Noshabkeming the Radiant!" vanBuskirk exploded, and
Kinnison
put in.
"Sure-you forget they haven't got free drive. We'd better hop over and
get our
lifeboat, I think. It's not so good, either way, but in our own boat we'll be
open to
detection less than an hour, as against twelve days in the Velantians . And
Page 59
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the pirates
may be here any minute. It's as good as certain that their ship will be
stopped and
searched long before it gets back to Velantia, and if we were aboard it'd be
just too
bad."
And, since the crew knows about us, the pirates soon will, and it'll be
just too
bad, anyway," vanBuskirk reasoned.
"Not at all," Interposed Worsel. `The few of my people who know of you
have
been instructed to seal that knowledge. I must admit, however, that I am
greatly
disturbed by your conceptions of these pirates of space. You see, until I met
you I knew
nothing more of the pirates than I did of your Patrol."
"What a world!" vanBuskirk exclaimed. "No Patrol and no pirates! But at
that, life
might be simpler without both of them and without the free space-drive-more
like it used
to be in the good old airplane days that the novelists rave about."
"Of course I could not judge as to that." The Velantian was very serious.
"This in
which we live seems to be an out-of-the-way section of the galaxy, or it may
be that we
have nothing the pirates want."
"More likely it's simply that, like the Patrol, they haven't got
organized into this
district yet," suggested Kinnison. "There are so many thousands of millions of
solar
systems in the galaxy that it will probably be thousands of years yet before
the Patrol
gets into them all."
"But about these pirates," Worsel went back to his point. "If they have
such
minds as those of the Overlords, they will be able to break the seals of cur
minds.
However, I gather from your thoughts that their minds are not of that
strength?"
"Not so far as I know," Kinnison replied. "You folks have the most
powerful
brains I ever heard of, short of the Arisians. And speaking of mental power,
you can
hear thoughts a lot farther than I can, even with my Lens or with this pirate
receiver I've
got. See if you can find out whether there are any pirates in space around
here, will
you?"
While the Velantian was concentrating, vanBuskirk asked.
"Why, if his mind is so strong, could the Overlords put him under so much
easier
than they could us `weak-minded' human beings?"
"You are confusing 'mind' with `will,' I think. Ages of submission to the
Overlords
made the Velantians' willpower zero, as far as the bosses were concerned. On
the
other hand, you and I could raise stubbornness to sell to most people. In
fact, if the
Overlords had succeeded in really breaking us down, back there, the chances
are we'd
Page 60
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
have gone insane."
"Probably you're right-we break, but don't bend, huh?" and the Velantian
was
ready to report.
"I have scanned space to the nearer stars-some eleven of your
light-years-and
have encountered no intruding entities," he announced.
"Eleven light-years-what a range!" Kinnison exclaimed. "However, that's
only a
shade over two minutes for a pirate ship at full blast. But we've got to take
a chance
sometime, and the quicker we get started the sooner we'll get back. We'll pick
you up
here, Worsel. No use in you going back to your tent-we'll be back here long
before you
could reach it. You'll be safe enough, I think, especially with our spare
DeLameters.
Let's get going, Bus !"
Again they shot into the air, again they traversed the airless depths of
interplanetary space. To locate the temporary tomb of their lifeboat required
only a few
minutes, to disinter her only a few more. Then again they braved detection in
the void,
Kinnison tense at his controls, vanBuskirk in strained attention listening to
and staring at [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]