had studied the situation from afar, and this wave was one of heavily-armed -- for Delgon-soldiery. On they came, projectors fiercely ,aflame, confident in their belief that nothing could stand before their blasts. But how wrong they were! The two repulsively erect bipeds before them neither burned nor fell. Beams, no matter how powerful, did not reach. them at all, but spent themselves in crackingly incandescent fury, inches from their marks. Nor were these outlandish beings inoffensive. Utterly careless of the service-life of the pitifully weak Delgonian projectors, they were using them at maximum drain and at extreme aperture-and in the resultant beams the Delgonian soldier-slaves fell in scorched and smoking heaps. On came reserves, platoon after platoon, only and continuously to meet the same fate, for as soon as one projector weakened the invincibly armored man would toss it aside and pick up another. But finally the last commandeered weapon was exhausted and the beleaguered pair brought their own DeLameters-the most powerful portable weapons known to the military scientists of the Galactic Patrol-into play.
And what a difference! In those beams the attacking reptiles did not smoke or burn. They. simply vanished in a blaze of flaming light, as did also the nearby walls and a good share of the building beyond! The Delgonian hordes having disappeared, vanBuskirk shut off his projector. Kinnison, however, left his on, angling its beam sharply upward, blasting into fiery vapor the ceiling and roof over their heads, remarking.
"While we're at it we might as well fix things, so that we can make a quick get-away if we want to."
Then they waited. Waited, watching the needles of their meters creep ever closer to the "full-charge" marks, waited while, as they suspected, the distant, cowardly-hiding Overlords planned some other, more promising line of physical attack.
Nor was it long in developing. Another small army appeared, armored this time, or, more accurately, advancing behind metallic shields. Knowing what to expect, Kinnison was not surprised when the beam of his DeLameter not only failed to pierce one of those shields, but did not in any way impede the progress of the Delgonian column.
"Well, were all done here, anyway, as far as I'm concerned," Kinnison grinned at the Dutchman as he spoke.
"My cans've been showing full back pressure for the last two minutes. How about yours?"
"Same here," vanBuskirk reported, and the two leaped lightly into the Velantian's refuge. Then, inertialess all, the three shot into the air at such a pace that to the slow senses of the Delgonian slaves they simply disappeared. Indeed, it was not until the barrier had been blasted away and every room, nook, and cranny of the immense structure had been literally and minutely combed that the Delgonians-and through their enslaved minds the Overlords-became convinced that their prey had in some uncanny and unknown fashion eluded them.
Now high in air, the three allies traversed in a matter of minutes the same distance that had cost them so much time and strife the day before. Over the monster-infested forest they sped, over the deceptively peaceful green lushness of the jungle, to slant down toward Worsel's thought proof tent. Inside that refuge they snapped off their thought screens and Kinnison yawned prodigiously.
"Working days and nights both is all right for a while, but it gets monotonous in time. Since this seems to be the only really safe spot on the planet, I suggest that we take a day or so off and catch up on our eats and sleeps."
They slept and ate, slept and ate again.
"The next thing on the program," Kinnison announced then, “Is to clean out that den of Overlords. Then Worsel will be free to help us get going about our own business.”
"You speak lightly indeed of the impossible," Worsel, all glum despondency, reproved him. "I have already -explained why the task is, and must remain, beyond our power."
"Yes, but you don’t
And what a difference! In those beams the attacking reptiles did not smoke or burn. They. simply vanished in a blaze of flaming light, as did also the nearby walls and a good share of the building beyond! The Delgonian hordes having disappeared, vanBuskirk shut off his projector. Kinnison, however, left his on, angling its beam sharply upward, blasting into fiery vapor the ceiling and roof over their heads, remarking.
"While we're at it we might as well fix things, so that we can make a quick get-away if we want to."
Then they waited. Waited, watching the needles of their meters creep ever closer to the "full-charge" marks, waited while, as they suspected, the distant, cowardly-hiding Overlords planned some other, more promising line of physical attack.
Nor was it long in developing. Another small army appeared, armored this time, or, more accurately, advancing behind metallic shields. Knowing what to expect, Kinnison was not surprised when the beam of his DeLameter not only failed to pierce one of those shields, but did not in any way impede the progress of the Delgonian column.
"Well, were all done here, anyway, as far as I'm concerned," Kinnison grinned at the Dutchman as he spoke.
"My cans've been showing full back pressure for the last two minutes. How about yours?"
"Same here," vanBuskirk reported, and the two leaped lightly into the Velantian's refuge. Then, inertialess all, the three shot into the air at such a pace that to the slow senses of the Delgonian slaves they simply disappeared. Indeed, it was not until the barrier had been blasted away and every room, nook, and cranny of the immense structure had been literally and minutely combed that the Delgonians-and through their enslaved minds the Overlords-became convinced that their prey had in some uncanny and unknown fashion eluded them.
Now high in air, the three allies traversed in a matter of minutes the same distance that had cost them so much time and strife the day before. Over the monster-infested forest they sped, over the deceptively peaceful green lushness of the jungle, to slant down toward Worsel's thought proof tent. Inside that refuge they snapped off their thought screens and Kinnison yawned prodigiously.
"Working days and nights both is all right for a while, but it gets monotonous in time. Since this seems to be the only really safe spot on the planet, I suggest that we take a day or so off and catch up on our eats and sleeps."
They slept and ate, slept and ate again.
"The next thing on the program," Kinnison announced then, “Is to clean out that den of Overlords. Then Worsel will be free to help us get going about our own business.”
"You speak lightly indeed of the impossible," Worsel, all glum despondency, reproved him. "I have already -explained why the task is, and must remain, beyond our power."
"Yes, but you don’t
Similar Books
