Fantastic Stories Presents the Imagination (Stories of Science and Fantasy) Super Pack. Edmond Hamilton

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      Then as he rested, he saw movement behind one of the huge, softly purring machines. Although he could not know this, it was a female from the larger compartment. Muscles knotting, he waited.

      He saw her again—the merest glint of flesh. She had not seen him. He half crouched.

      It is impossible, he told himself. Only my compartment-mates and Forential and others of his race are on the ship.

      Walt did not even think of trying for telepathic contact. Blind hatred overcame him. She’s an earthling! he thought instinctively.

      She has been left here for a test; that’s it, he thought. Forential is testing me . . . .

      He crept cautiously toward her. Still she was unaware of him.

      I will break her neck, so . . . .

      No, he thought suddenly.

      Forential has brought her here for questioning. He would be angry if I harmed her. He does not intend it for a test after all.

      He crouched undecided, trying to think. I better leave her, he thought.

      He was motionless, watching. If I killed her, he thought, Forential might be angry.

      He slipped silently toward the ladder.

      Perhaps, he thought, Forential will give her to me to dispose of when he finishes with her.

      He remembered seeing Forential dispose of several captured earthlings. It was a very satisfying thing to watch. Forential promised us some, Walt thought, but he never gave us any. But I guess I was wrong in thinking he was too cowardly to risk another trip to Earth for them . . . .

      Just as he reached the ladder, he whirled. The female had seen him. She had started toward him. His eyes sparkled in anticipation.

      She’s a Lyrian! he thought in amazement.

      Damned earthmen, she thought.

       No, I . . . .

      For a long moment they were motionless. Then Walt, keeping a suspicious eye on her until he was above the second ceiling continued to climb.

      *

      In the alien compartment, the gravity was so low that Walt almost floated. He propelled himself toward Forential’s cubicle.

      “Come in,” Forential said, sensing him. Forential looked up when he entered.

      “I saw a female Lyrian in the machinery room!” Walt blurted.

      There was a moment of silence. Forential’s face grew a shade paler. “ . . . did she see you?”

      Of course, Walt thought.

      It was an effort for Forential to telepath in English. He preferred vocalizing. Staring at Walt with his faceted, unblinking eyes, he thought in his own language, a language earthlings were incapable of learning: **Lycan, you idiot! You told me the machinery room was clear! One of my charges has seen one of yours!**

      **I have great regret,** Lycan answered. **I, I overlooked her.**

      **We cannot risk the compartments discovering each other.** Forential thought angrily.

      “This is not all,” Walt said. There is one on Earth!

      Forential’s tentacles stiffened. What? It was almost involuntary: unbelieving: terrified.

      “There is one on Earth. A female.”

      **I have regretfully disposed of the one he saw,** Lycan telepathed. **Have you disposed of the one who saw her?**

      **Send out a call for the Council!** Forential broadcast hysterically. **One more set of parents than we were aware of was exposed to our field! There is an unindoctrinated mutant on Earth!**

      “Are you sure?” Forential demanded of Walt.

      “What 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!”

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