The Galaxy Primes

"Clee's going to be seven thousand miles deep in mathematics and Jim's doing his stuff at the observatory, and

en announced-no death. Just hands. I can't really believ

om his head instead of his hands, but as

hose slippers?" Garlock asked. "That could turn out to be a long, tough

if I have to suffer just a little bit for good appe

showing off

eyes at him. "How you talk! But

front of the Capitol Building. President Benton was there, with his cabinet

lad you are here," Benton said, as

bodyguard. May I meet your S

ss Bellamy, may I p

tal room ready?...

us, in th

es, there it is. I hope it will not be used. You agree with General

the best ones. They know that if these meetings go through, they're sunk; so they're desperate. We've got this whole area cov

and I am a Prime Operator. That is, a wielder of power of no small

sensitivity, and her power were immensely greater than Lola's; were probably equal to G

he

t-telepathy was of course new to him-so she seized his attention and dire

couldn't,

e, and long, with a very good telescope on it-with crosshairs. If I scan their minds more precise

ton on her clothes-get her away, quick!

w six handless men in your hospital room. If you will send men to those three places you will find the Bufords and the hands. Your surgeon will have

t-or, rather, to expect anything, no matter what and with no limits whatever-but he hadn't believed it then and simply could not believe it now. Goddamn it, such things couldn't happen. And

tion of sex. In your primitive culture the women may still be allowing you men to believe in the fallacy of the

certainly...." Avengord'

on relentlessly. "Stop believing that just because a thing has not already happened on this primitive, backward, mudball planet of

n not be h

denied the truth of his statement. "To that end you will go now into the hospital room and see

ame back a bad

pened!" he protested. "They'll all scatter ou

ther; they assured each other and their underlings that it was just capitalistic bluff and nonsense. And since they are al

h you and having you pounding it into my h

heir whole spy system is now violating rule and precedent by sending out mes

where, I'll get ove

'll watch Lola get started. It will be highly instructi

troducing Lola. The crowd, many thousands strong, was cheerin

I do not use speech. Not only do I not know any of your various languages, but no o

prise. "Surely not behind the Curta

easily as one mind. Nor does it matter whether it be day or night, or whether anyone is awake or asleep. All will receive my message. Since you wish a record, the

ess Congress!" the President whis

within sight, but also individually at every person on the globe; and when Brownie Montandon set out to make a p

of you who are now looking at teevee screens can see my imaged lik

irst Galaxy of this, our common universe. I have attuned my mind to each

ere to open your minds to certain basic truths, to be of help to you in clearing your minds of fallacies, of

ined and polished performer can do. What do you think of them comfits, Chief?"

gy. "She's phenomenal-good-I don't mean

oesn't do any of them a bit of good. That's her specialty and s

know that he was repeating himself. "But it

contactor, the spreader of the good old oil, the shining example of purity and sweetness and light-in short, the Greaser of the Ways. I'm a fighter, myself. Do you think she could actually have de-handed those men? Uh-

nvinced. I don't see how

only thing to do to that kind of scum is kill them. If you'll gi

m or in the throng even noticed that they were gone. They materialized in Avengord's private of

t been interrupted by any passage of time

ou were covering

re as anywhere. I will be, until she g

are-if you have any-you might as well do what

ing to get a shock when you see wh

frowned in concentration. "Could be, though. He wou

ne of this can be proved, as his record is perfect. Born citizen, highest standing

evidence, in such cases as tha

after we've recorded everythi

ng-arm squad now. Anyway, I'd rather kill him myself tha

n a hot fight, yes; but killing anyone who is helpless to fight back-i

an get evidence enough to send them al

o many spies and agents-giving names, addresses, and facts, of course-got panicky after Lola's address. They fired up their hidden planes and flew back behind the Curtain. Then, when we've scanned their minds and recorde

ut and flipped the switch of his inte

a minute.... Oh!" She saw Belle, and backed, eyes wide, toward the door

ime Operator Belle Bellamy, who is cleaning

w did y

meantime, don't be surprised at anything that happens, and by that I mean anything. Such as solid people appearing on this carpet-on that spot right there-instantaneously. I want you to pay

what you're talking ab

l it as we go along. We're ready for George T. B

f-assured, affluent type. He had not the slightest idea of how he had been spirited out of his ultra-secret sub-basement and

g with his fist on Avengord's desk. "A stup

him and strai

going to be extremely surprised at just how high-handed I am going to be. I am going to read your mind to its very bottom-layer

ure that no item, however small, was missed. Avengord recorded every p

st and worst violation of his rights-those of his own private m

nt violation of law..

nd if you only knew how tickled I am to do it,

are you sure we ca

government or your Secret Service. We'll start you clean-but it'

it. Come around again, say i

team, but I've got a notion to tape a recommendation for a r

oo, if everybody thought you'd come

hat I can do. But let's get on with the job. They're all i

a ball. And Belle's feet did hurt when she got back to the Pleiades, bu

, the Galaxians began to destroy military atomic plants; and,

ed button that would send t

d, even with the high-speed comparator, it took l

e next, and the next. The time require

does it do? Even if we find a similarity, what could we do about it? We've got enou

Keep on taking the shots, though; they'll prove, I think, that the universe is one whole hell of a lot bigge

e and I together can't feed it to Compy in such shape as to get a definite answer. We think, though, that your guess was right-if we ever stabilize any

ripe and old. We're a

y encountered an Arpalone Inspector who did not test

. "This world is dying, and if you leave the

rely?" Garlock protested.

course, but it is the world itself that is attacked, not

s attention down

looks like a mighty good job

n the Dilipics strike in such small force that none of their-agents?-devices?-whatever t

tly. "It is merely a symbol-it doesn't mean anything-t

answer. "Not even their physical shape-if they have any.

Garlock pondered. "We have

carcely one world in five hundred is ever attacked by

ds, then?" Lola asked. She was badly shaken

o die, in the battles now going on. Those of us who survive, however, will stay al

an you can restore planets so bad

difficult work, but the p

ck said. "I want to ge

and all nearby space were full of battling vessels of all shapes and sizes; ranging from the treme

s, from heavy machine guns up to seventy-five-millimeter quick-firing rifles. They were also

out a tight beam of highly effective energy. It was at these reflectors, and particularly at these tiny devices, that the small-arms fire was directed, and the marksmanship of the Dilipics was very good indeed. However, each projector was oscillating irregularly and each f

ed incandescently, blindingly white or violet or high blue-never anything lower than blue. Almost everything material, that is; for guns, ammunition, and missiles were not affected. They did not even explode. When

he stratosphere; the smallest fighters were hedge-hoppingly close to ground. Each Dilipic unit seemed madly, suicidally determined that nothing would get through

of five jet-fighters each came driving in; and, occasionally, the combined blasts of all five made enough of opening in the wall so that the center fighter could get through. Once inside, eac

hich it became increasingly difficult for the Dilipics to fill. More and more Arpalone fighters were getting i

e attacking fleet. It had no effect. Then a larger one. Then another, still heavier. Finally, at over a hundred megatons equivalent, he did get results-of a sort. The invade

, probing the things that were com

firecrackers of yours and look here-pure, solid force, like ball lightning

of the things-they were furiously-radiating spheres

are, they're a form of life that no

gested, still trying to tune in with the thing

hour-but when it struck the roof it did not even slow down. Without any effort at all, apparently, it continued downward through

"If you don't mind, I'm going to my room, set all the

oo tough for anybody to watch. I'd do the s

disap

ng. Neither had paid any attenti

rkling, bubbling, writhing, partly-fluid-partly-viscous, obscenely repulsive mass of something unknown and unkno

nor avoided them. Walls, doors, windows, ceilings, floors and rugs, office furniture and off

d into a loosely-heaped pile of granulated sugar. By the time the ravening sphere had reached the second floor, the entire roof of the building was gone and the writhing, racing flood of co

ly-did nothing at all. By this time, the ravening flood outside had eaten far into the lower floors of the buildings across the street, as well as along all four sides of the block, and tremendous mass

lashing the stuff in all directions for hundreds of yards. Wherever each splash struck, however, a

ing with it, Clee

get us far, I don't think. It'll be more productive to analyze th

s, the two Prime Operators wo

kind of stuff with our m

nd." He whistled raucously through his teeth. "My guess is it'd take four months to de

thoughtfully, "but of course I'm not the engineer yo

ver will be," h

cumstances as those, Belle Bellamy was eager

so close to knowing it for a fact t

ite-blew up. "Well, wha

your vaunted and flaunted belief in the inherent superiority of the female over the male, can dope out somethi

the problem of finding something-anything-that could be done to help this doomed world and to show that big, overbearing jerk of a Garlock

were making no attempt to land, anywhere on the world's surface. Instead, they were flying upward toward, and were being drawn one by one into the bowels of, hu

rtices had been driven to ground. Every large land-mass surrounded by large bodies of water had been struck once, and only once; from the

hat means?" James ask

ns, too. Skip us back to where we started-o

ed a sparkling, seething, writhing expanse of-of what? The edge of that devouring flood had

slight stiffening, a little darkening, some freezing and breaking off of solid blocks; but the thing's forward motion was no

collapsed into the foul, corrosive semi-liquid and were consumed. Nor was there much raising of the golop's level, even when the highest mountains were reached and

at shore long since, had attacked its sands out into deep water, and there it had been stopped. The corrupt flood was now being reinforced, however, by an ever-

jagged-edged chunks of something that was neither water nor land; or rock or soil or sand or Satan's unholy brew. Nevertheless, the water won. The

more violently, then stopped sparkling and turned dark, then froze solid. The frozen

ate, battle. Inch by inch the ocean's shoreline was driven backward toward ocean's depths; but every inch the ocean lost was to its tactical advantage, since the adv

icker and solider; the adva

to the shifting of the mountains' masses?-no Tellurian ever surely knew. Whatever the cause, however, those waves operated to pin the golop down. Whenever and wherev

was water enough, the water won. And the total quantity of

verybody who lives on or could be flown to all the islands smaller than the b

handle things, including distribution. What I'm thinking about is how they're goin

nths before they can even start the job, I'd like to stick around and see how they go abo

I've said before and may say again, if we can g

ontinued to fall, like a cloud-burst in Colorado. And shortly thereafter-first by square feet and then by acres and then by square miles-the surface of the golop began to die. To die, that is, if it had ever been even par

thing to hold us here any longer," G

he wanderers really felt like smiling; and Lola di