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<v Speaker 1>Chapter two of The Vortex Blaster Makes War by E. E. Smith.

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<v Speaker 1>This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter two

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<v Speaker 1>The bone Heads of de Hill. The planet de Hill

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<v Speaker 1>and its enormous satellite called Loon in lieu of the

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<v Speaker 1>utterly unpronounceable name its inhabitants gave it, are almost twin worlds,

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<v Speaker 1>revolving about their common center of gravity and circling as

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<v Speaker 1>one about their Sun in its second orbit. In the

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<v Speaker 1>third orbit revolves oo Hal, a planet strikingly similar to

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<v Speaker 1>de Hill in every respect of gravity, atmosphere, and climate. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 1>de Hillians and Uhalians are to while interests and purposes identical.

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<v Speaker 1>In spite of these facts, however, the two peoples have

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<v Speaker 1>been at war with each other most of the time

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<v Speaker 1>for centuries. Practically all of the warfare has been waged

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<v Speaker 1>upon luckless Loon. Each race was well advanced in science,

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<v Speaker 1>and each had atomic power, offensive beams, defensive screens. Neither

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<v Speaker 1>had even partial inertilessness, neither had ever driven a spaceship

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<v Speaker 1>to any other solar system. Neither had ever heard of

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<v Speaker 1>galactic civilization. At this particular time, peace of a sort existed.

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<v Speaker 1>More precisely, it was a truce of exhaustion and preparation

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<v Speaker 1>for further strife. It was a fragile thing, indeed, and

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<v Speaker 1>existed only upon the surface. Beneath the conflict raged as

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<v Speaker 1>bitterly as ever. The discovery by these scientists inventors our

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<v Speaker 1>secret service of either world, of any superior artifice of

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<v Speaker 1>destruction would kindle the conflagration anew without warning. Such was

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<v Speaker 1>the condition obtaining when darjib of Ouhal lasted his little

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<v Speaker 1>spaceship upward away from Lun, he was glowing with pride

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<v Speaker 1>of accomplishment, suffused with self esteem. Not only had he

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<v Speaker 1>touched off an inextinguishable atomic flame exactly where it would

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<v Speaker 1>do the most good, but as a crowning achievement, he

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<v Speaker 1>had taken and was now making off with no less

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<v Speaker 1>a personage than Luda of the Hill herself, the coldest, hardest,

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<v Speaker 1>most efficient minister of war that the planet the Hill

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<v Speaker 1>had ever had. Now, as soon as they could extract

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<v Speaker 1>certain facts from Luda's mind, they could take Lun in

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<v Speaker 1>short order. Then, with Lun definitely theirs to use as

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<v Speaker 1>a permanent base, the Hill could not possibly hold out

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<v Speaker 1>for more than a couple of years or so. The

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<v Speaker 1>goal of generations would have been reached. He Darjib would

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<v Speaker 1>have wealth, fame, and best of all power. Gazing gloatingly

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<v Speaker 1>at his furiously radiating captive with every eye he could

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<v Speaker 1>bring to bear, Daijeb strolled over to inspect again. Her

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<v Speaker 1>chains and manacles let her radiate. She could not touch

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<v Speaker 1>his mind. No mentality in existence could break down his barriers,

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<v Speaker 1>but physically she had to be watched. Those irons were strong,

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<v Speaker 1>but so was Luda. If she could succeed in breaking free,

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<v Speaker 1>he would very probably have to shoot her, which would

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<v Speaker 1>be a very bad thing. Indeed, she had not caved

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<v Speaker 1>in yet, but she would when he got her to Uhl,

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<v Speaker 1>where the proper measures could be taken, she would give

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<v Speaker 1>up every scrap of knowledge she had ever had. The

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<v Speaker 1>chains were holding all eight of them, and Dharjib kept

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<v Speaker 1>on gloating as he backed toward his control station. To him,

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<v Speaker 1>Luda's shape was normal enough, since his zone was the same,

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<v Speaker 1>but in the sight of a Telorian she would have

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<v Speaker 1>appeared more than a little queer. The lower part of

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<v Speaker 1>her resembled more or less closely a small elephant, one

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<v Speaker 1>weighing perhaps three hundred and fifty pounds. There were, however, differences.

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<v Speaker 1>The skin was clear and fine, delicately tanned, and there

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<v Speaker 1>were no ears or tusks. The neck was longer, the

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<v Speaker 1>trunk was sharp, divided at the tip to form a

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<v Speaker 1>highly capable hand, and between the somewhat protuberate eyes of

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<v Speaker 1>this feeding head there thrust out a boldly roman startlingly

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<v Speaker 1>human nose. The brain in this head was very small,

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<v Speaker 1>being concerned only in the matter of food. Above this

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<v Speaker 1>not too unbelievable body, however, all resemblance to anything terrestrial, ceased.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of a back, there were two mighty shoulders fore

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<v Speaker 1>and aft, from each of which sprang two tremendous arms,

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<v Speaker 1>like the trunk, except longer and stronger. Between those massive

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<v Speaker 1>shoulders there was an armored, slightly retractile neck, which carried

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<v Speaker 1>the heavily armored thinking head. In this head, there were

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<v Speaker 1>no mouths, no nostrils. The four equally spaced pairs of

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<v Speaker 1>eyes were protected and shielded by heavy ridges and plates.

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<v Speaker 1>The entire head, except for its juncture with the neck,

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<v Speaker 1>was solidly sheathed with bare, hard, thick, tough bone. Darjib's

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<v Speaker 1>amazing head shone a clean, scrubbed white but Ludas the

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<v Speaker 1>eternal Feminine was really something to look at. It had

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<v Speaker 1>been sanded, buffed, and polished. It had been inlaid with

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<v Speaker 1>bars and strips and scrolls of variously colored noble metals

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<v Speaker 1>and alloys, then decorated tastefully in red and green, and

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<v Speaker 1>blue and black inn then to cap the climax lacquered.

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<v Speaker 1>But that was old stuffed to Darjeeb. All that he

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<v Speaker 1>cared about was the tightness of the chains immobilizing Ludah's

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<v Speaker 1>every hand and foot. Seeing that they were all tight,

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<v Speaker 1>he returned his attention to his plates, for he was

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<v Speaker 1>not yet in the clear. Any number of enemies might

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<v Speaker 1>be blasting off after him at any minute. A light

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<v Speaker 1>flashed upon his panel, something within the ether behind him.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything was clear. Nothing was coming from the hill Ah

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<v Speaker 1>there it was coming in from open space. Nothing could

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<v Speaker 1>move that fast. But this thing, whatever it might be,

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<v Speaker 1>certainly was. It was a spacecraft of some kind, and

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<v Speaker 1>gods of the ancients how it was coming. As a

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<v Speaker 1>matter of fact, the lifeboat was coming in at less

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<v Speaker 1>than one light. The mirrors crawl as space be go.

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<v Speaker 1>Otherwise Dr Jib could not have seen it at all.

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<v Speaker 1>Even that velocity however, was so utterly beyond anything known

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<v Speaker 1>to his solar system that the usually phlegmatic Uhalian sat spellbound,

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<v Speaker 1>appalled for a fraction of a second, then every organ

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<v Speaker 1>leaping convulsively in the realization that that incredible thing was

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<v Speaker 1>actually happening. He drove one hand toward a control too late.

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<v Speaker 1>Before the hand had covered half the distance, the incomprehensibly

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<v Speaker 1>fast ship had struck his own in direct central impact.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, before he even realized what was happening, it

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<v Speaker 1>was all over. The strange vessel had struck and had

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<v Speaker 1>stopped dead still, without a jar or shock, without even

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<v Speaker 1>a vibration. Both ships should have been blasted to atoms,

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<v Speaker 1>but there the stranger was poised motionless beside him. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>under the urge of a ridiculously tiny jet of flame,

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<v Speaker 1>she leaped away, covering a distance of miles in the

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<v Speaker 1>twinkling of an eye. Then something else happened. She moved aside,

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<v Speaker 1>drifting heavily backward against the stupendous force of her full

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<v Speaker 1>driving blast. As soon as he recovered from his shock,

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<v Speaker 1>Darjeeb's cold, keen brain began to function in its wonted fashion.

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<v Speaker 1>Only one explanation was possible in ersulessness. What a weapon

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<v Speaker 1>With that and Luda. Even without Luda, the Solar system

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<v Speaker 1>was his. No longer was it a question of ooh

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<v Speaker 1>Hal overcoming the hill with inertilessness. He himself would become

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<v Speaker 1>the dictator, not only of ooh Hal and the hill

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<v Speaker 1>and Loon, but also of all the worlds within reach.

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<v Speaker 1>That vessel and its secrets must be his. He blasted, then,

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<v Speaker 1>to match the inert velocity of the smaller craft. As

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<v Speaker 1>his ship crept toward the other, he reached out both

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<v Speaker 1>telepathically he could neither speak nor hear, and with a

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<v Speaker 1>spy ray to determine the most feasible method of taking

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<v Speaker 1>over this godsend. Bipeds peculiar little beasts, repulsive, only two

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<v Speaker 1>arms and two eyes, only one head, Weak, soft, fragile.

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<v Speaker 1>But they might have weapons. No, no weapons? Good? Couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>any of them communicate? Ah? Yes, there was one, an

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<v Speaker 1>unusually thin reed like specimen. Bundle up in layer after

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<v Speaker 1>layer of fabric. I perceive that you are the survivors

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<v Speaker 1>of some catastrophe in outer space. Tell your pilot to

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<v Speaker 1>open up so that I may come aboard and guide

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<v Speaker 1>you to safety. D'arjib began. He correlated instantly, if unsympathetically,

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<v Speaker 1>the smashed panel and the pilot's bleeding head. If the

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<v Speaker 1>creature had had a real head, it could have wrecked

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<v Speaker 1>a dozen such things with it without getting a scratch. Harry,

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<v Speaker 1>those may come at any moment who will destroy all

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<v Speaker 1>of us without palaver. I am trying, sir, but I

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<v Speaker 1>cannot get through to him direct. It will take a

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<v Speaker 1>few moments, the strange telepathist replied. She began to wave

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<v Speaker 1>rhythmically her peculiar arms, hands and fingers. Others of the

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<v Speaker 1>outlanders brandished their members and made repulsive motions with their

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<v Speaker 1>ridiculous mouths. Finally, he says that he would rather not,

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<v Speaker 1>the interpreter reported, He asks you to go ahead. He

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<v Speaker 1>will follow you down. Impossible. We cannot land upon this

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<v Speaker 1>world or upon its primary to heal. Dhartjib argued, reasonably,

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<v Speaker 1>these people are enemies, savages. I have just escaped from them.

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<v Speaker 1>It is death to attempt to land anywhere in this

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<v Speaker 1>system except upon my home planet. Ooh hal that bluish

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<v Speaker 1>one very well. Then we'll see you over there. We

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<v Speaker 1>are just about out of air, but it will take

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<v Speaker 1>only a minute or so to reach ooh Hal. But

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<v Speaker 1>that would not do either. Of course, argument took too

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<v Speaker 1>much time. He would have to use force, and he

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<v Speaker 1>had better call up reinforcements. D'harjib hurled mental orders to

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<v Speaker 1>a henchman far below, threw out his magnetic grapples and

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<v Speaker 1>turned on a broad, low powered beam. Open up or die,

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<v Speaker 1>he ordered. I do not want to blast you open,

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<v Speaker 1>but time says, and I will do so if I must.

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<v Speaker 1>That treatment was effective, as the Uhalian had been pretty

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<v Speaker 1>certain that it would be. Pure heat is hard to take.

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<v Speaker 1>The outer portal opened, and Darjib, after dotting his armor

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<v Speaker 1>and checking his ragun, picked Luda up and swung nonchalantly

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<v Speaker 1>out into space. Luda was tough enough so that a

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<v Speaker 1>little vacuum wouldn't hurt her much. Inside the lifeboat, he

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<v Speaker 1>tossed his trust stop captive into an unoccupied corner and

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<v Speaker 1>strode purposefully toward the control board. I want to know

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<v Speaker 1>right now what it is that makes the ship to

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<v Speaker 1>be without inertia, he radiated harshly. The Cichlodourian at the board,

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<v Speaker 1>the only male aboard the lifeboat, was very plainly in

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<v Speaker 1>bad shape. He had been fighting off unconsciousness for hours.

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<v Speaker 1>The beaming had not done him a bit of good. Nevertheless,

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<v Speaker 1>he paid no attention to the invading monstrouss these relaid demand,

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<v Speaker 1>but concentrated what was left of his intelligence upon his

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<v Speaker 1>visi beam communicator. You'll have to hurry it up, he said, quietly,

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<v Speaker 1>and spatial, the lingua franca of deep space, the apes

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<v Speaker 1>aboard and means business. I'm blocking out. I'm afraid that

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<v Speaker 1>I've left the lock open for you take over. Palell

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<v Speaker 1>Darjib had been probing vainly at the pink biped's mind

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<v Speaker 1>most peculiar. He a natural mind block of tremendous power.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell him to give me what I want to know,

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<v Speaker 1>or I will squeeze it out of his very brain,

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<v Speaker 1>he directed the Monarch and girl. As the order was

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<v Speaker 1>being translated, he slipped an arm out of his suit

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<v Speaker 1>and clamped one huge hand around the pilot's head. But

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<v Speaker 1>just as he made contact, before he had applied any

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<v Speaker 1>pressure at all, the weakling fainted, went limp and useless. Simultaneously,

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<v Speaker 1>he saw in the visiplate that another ship, neither Ohalian

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<v Speaker 1>nor d'hillian, had arrived and had locked on He tautened

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<v Speaker 1>as two of his senses registered disquieting tidings. He received

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<v Speaker 1>as plainly as though it were intended for him, a

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<v Speaker 1>welcome which the swaddled up Biped was radiating in the

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<v Speaker 1>light at an unexpected visitor. He saw that that visitor,

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<v Speaker 1>now entering the compartment, while a Biped, was in no

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<v Speaker 1>sense on a par with the frightened, helpless, holdly innocuous

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<v Speaker 1>creatures already cluttering up the room. Instead, it was armed

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<v Speaker 1>and armored in complete readiness for strife. Even with dr

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<v Speaker 1>jib of Huhl the Bone had swung his ready weapon

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<v Speaker 1>with his built he had no need ever to turn

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<v Speaker 1>a world to face danger, and pressed a stud A

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<v Speaker 1>searing lance of flames stabbed out at the overbold intruder.

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<v Speaker 1>Passengers screamed and fled into whatever places of safety were available.

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<v Speaker 1>End of Chapter two