Fantastic Stories Presents the Imagination (Stories of Science and Fantasy) Super Pack. Edmond Hamilton
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about the one I saw a minute ago?” Walt persisted.
“ . . . she came on the last ship from Lyria,” Forential lied curtly.
“Oh? I would like to talk to her. We all would. Can we, Forential?”
The alien was outwardly impassive. “We’ll see. Never mind her right now. Tell me about this one on Earth.”
“I heard her thoughts.”
Forential lay his tentacles on his desk. They scrabbled nervously. “How long have you known?” How did she manage to break through our telepathic shielding? he wondered. He made an inward snarl of surprise . . . powerful mind! . . . Then he went weak with temporary relief: Suppose we hadn’t found out about her until the invasion? We had to know now while there’s time! How much does she . . . ?
“Just today, for sure. Once or twice before . . . .”
Walt told Forential all he knew about Julia. He spoke quickly, and with rising excitement.
*
By the time he was finished, the council had convened. The circuits were open. Forential fed them the information Walt had just given him. Their incomprehensible language crackled beyond Walt’s thought range.
**We must destroy her at once.**
**Unconditioned! Unconditioned: no telling how much information she has.**
A terrified thought: **Danger, danger, danger!**
Forential’s eyes did not leave Walt’s face. His thoughts were assessing the situation even under the force of the shock . . . . The one called Julia had to be under the influence of the larger transmitter; all the mutants had been bred for that frequency. It was only years later that the ones in the smaller compartment had been adjusted to the other frequency. If the larger transmitter were to be shut down, then it would interrupt Lycan’s training schedule for nearly a thousand mutants. But it would also render Julia an earth-normal . . . .
“ . . . we’ll try to teleport her here,” Forential said. “You have had contact with her. Can you regain it?”
“I think, yes.”
“I will explain the process,” Forential said.
“Yes . . . yes . . .,” Walt said from time to time as he listened. He nodded his head excitedly. “I have it! I understand! I can do it!”
“You are in contact with her through the shielding? Do not think of her now. Just touch her. Can you?”
“Yes,” Walt said.
“You feel the grip on her I explained?” Forential said eagerly.
“Yes!”
Now yank her!
Walt yanked.
Julia didn’t budge.
“ . . . I slipped,” Walt said apologetically. Sweat glistened on his upper lip.
“Try again!” Forential ordered.
**Cut the power in the big transmitter,** he instructed.
The aliens had been unwilling to complete their mutations. To do so would have given the mutants too much autonomy. By arranging to have the final effects dependent upon the transmission of certain frequency impulses, the aliens could—in the unlikely event of difficulty with their charges—reduce them to earth-normals by the flick of a switch. It also was an arrangement necessary to their invasion plan. The aliens were careful.
**It’s cut.**
A moment later, Walt said, “She’s changed!”
(The mutants in the larger compartment had ceased to be able to hear or put their hands through walls.)
Now! Forential ordered.
A pause.
*
Walt let out his breath in an explosive burst. He shook his head. “It’s no use. I can’t.”
Forential’s tentacles went limp. He had known it was impossible to teleport higher life forms against their resistance; he had hoped she would have been caught off guard.
**Cut the transmitter in again,** Forential thought wearily.
**She’ll have to be killed,** Lycan projected with an undertone of terror.
**Send him down,** Fierut, the engineer, suggested, trembling in fear. **Since he has potential knowledge of the other compartment, he will have to be destroyed anyway if he remains. Send him down to kill her.**
**We can cut off his transmitter when the main force strikes. He can’t do us any harm down there . . . .**
“You’ll have to go down and kill her,” Forential told Walt. “She is a clever, clever traitor . . . .”
“Give me the focus rod, so I can practice the death radiation with it,” Walt said eagerly.
Forential answered smoothly, with scarcely an instant’s hesitation; but during that time, he explored the situation and his answer was a considered one. “No, you’ll have to go unarmed. We can’t run the risk of premature exposure.”
**Stress that,** the Elder insisted.
“I can kill earthmen, too?”
“Just her,” Forential said, knowing Walt would obey him. “Just her,” he repeated for emphasis. “Remember that. Approach her carefully. Do not let her suspect what you intend to do. Lie to her, Walt, anything to get close to her, and then . . . .”
**I’ll get a ship ready for him,** Lycan thought. **And some suitable clothes.**
“May I tell my mates goodbye?” Walt asked.
**Don’t forget he has seen the one from the other compartment,** the Elder reminded Forential sharply.
“No,” Forential lied. “You haven’t the time. You must leave immediately.”
**Tell him much depends on him,** the Elder thought.
“I can’t overstress the importance of this,” Forential said. He too, was trembling now as he began to see the possible implications; his tentacles quivered. His faceted eyes peered deeply into Walt’s face. “It will be a great service to Lyria and to all the people of your race.”
**It is a good planet,** Lycan thought. **We can’t lose it now!**
**We’ve already begun to breed for the gravity,** one of the others thought plaintively.
**By rights it should be ours.**
**The air is so good, so rich . . . .**
**We can’t lose it now!** Lycan insisted pathetically.
**Savages: the thought of the natives horrifies me! Hurry Forential!**
Forential thought to them with all the conviction he could muster: **This child of mine is very adept. He will kill her.**
“The ship will have to be destroyed as soon as you land,” Forential told the mutant. “That means you will have to remain until the invasion. Let me review all this again . . . .”
Walt’s hands jerked with nervous anticipation. “I understand, Forential.”
**The ship is ready any time, Forential.**
“Let me review this again . . . .”
As Walt listened, he thought; I wonder if earthmen can prevent themselves from being teleported? I hope not. I want to teleport them this way and that way, from all around me, whenever one comes close to me. It’s the easiest way to kill them. It’s a shame I couldn’t get the one on Earth . . . . She would have suddenly materialized, bloody, twisted, wrenched,