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.Hedid not fear physical pursuit, since his speedster was the fastest thing in space.For a second or so it was not so bad.Another Eddorian came in, suspicious andon guard.Kit blasted him down— learning still more in the process—but he could notprevent him from radiating a frantic and highly revealing call for help.And although theEddorians could scarcely realize that such an astonishing thing as physical invasion hadactually happened, that fact neither slowed them down nor made their anger lessviolent.When Kit flashed past his friendly fortress he was taking •bout all he couldhandle, and more and more Eddorians were piling on.At the fourth screen it was worse;at the third he reached what he was sure was his absolute ceiling.Nevertheless, fromsome hitherto unsuspected profundity of his being, he managed to draw enough reserveforce to endure that hellish punishment for a little while longer.Hang on, Kit, hang on! Only two more screens to go.Maybe only one.Maybeless.Living Eddorian brains, and not mechanical generators, are now handling all thescreens, of course; but if the Arisians' visualization is worth a tinker's damn, they musthave that first screen knocked down by this time and must be working on the second.Hang on, Kit, and keep on slugging!And grimly; doggedly; toward the end sheerly desperately: Christopher Kinnison,eldest Child of the Lens, hung on and slugged.CHAPTER 23: - ESCAPES WITH HIS LIFEIf the historian has succeeded in his attempt to describe the characters andabilities concerned, it is not necessary to enlarge upon what Kit went through inescaping Eddore.If he has not succeeded, enlargement would be useless.Therefore itis enough to say that the young Lensman, by dint of calling up and putting outeverything he had, hung on long enough and slugged his way through.Arisia had acted precisely on time.The Eddorian guardians had scarcely takenover the first screen when it was overwhelmed by a tremendous wave of Arisianthought.It is to be remembered, however, that this was not the first time that themassed might of Arisia had been thrown against Eddore's defenses, and the Eddorianshad learned much, during the intervening years, from their exhaustive analyses of theoffensive and defensive techniques of the Arisians.Thus the Arisian drive waspractically stopped at the second zone of defense as Kit approached it.The screen waswavering, shifting; yielding stubbornly wherever it must and springing back into placewhenever it could.Under a tremendous concentration of Arisian force the screen weakened in alimited area directly ahead of the hurtling speedster.A few beams lashed out aimlessly,uselessly —if the Eddorians could not hold their main screens proof against the powerof the Arisian attack, how could they protect such minor things as gunners' minds? Thelittle ship flashed through the weakened barrier and into the center of a sphere ofimpenetrable, impermeable Arisian thought.At the shock of the sudden ending of his terrific battle— the instantaneoustransition from supreme to zero effort— Kit fainted in his control chair.He lay slumped,inert, in a stupor which changed gradually into a deep and natural sleep.And as thesleeping man in his inertialess speedster traversed space at full touring blast, thatpeculiar sphere of force still enveloped and still protected him.Kit finally began to come to.His first foggy thought was that he washungry—then, wide awake and remembering, he grabbed his levers."Rest quietly, youth, and eat your fill," a grave, resonant pseudo-voice assuredhim."Everything is exactly as it should be.""Hi, Ment.well, well, if it isn't my old chum Eukonidor! Hi, young fellow! What'sthe good word? And what's the big idea of letting—or making—me sleep for a weekwhen there's work to do?""Your part of the work, at least for the immediate present, is done; and, let mesay, very well done.""Thanks.but." Kit broke off, flushing darkly."Do not reproach yourself, youth, nor us.Consider, please, and recite, themanufacture of a fine tool of ultimate quality.""The correct alloy.Hot working—perhaps cold, too.Forging—heating—quenching—drawing.""Enough, youth.Think you that the steel, if sentient, would enjoy thosetreatments? While you did not enjoy them, you are able to appreciate their necessity.You are now a finished tool, forged and tempered.""Oh.you may have something there, at that.But as to ultimate quality, don'tmake me laugh." There was no nuance of merriment in Kit's thought."You can't squarethat with cowardice.""Nor is there need.The term ultimate was used advisedly, and still stands.Itdoes not mean or imply, however, a state of perfection, since that condition isunattainable.I am not advising you to try to forget; nor am I attempting to forceforgetfulness upon you, since your mind cannot now be coerced by any force at mycommand.Be assured that nothing that occurred should irk you; for the simple truth is,that although stressed as no other mind has ever before been stressed, you did notyield.Instead, you secured and retained information which we of Arisia have never beenable to obtain; information which will in fact be the means of preserving yourCivilization.""I can't believe.that is, it doesn't seem." Kit, knowing that he was thinkingmuddily and foolishly, paused and pulled himself together.Overwhelming, almostparalyzing as that information was, it must be true.It was true!"Yes, youth, it is the truth.While we of Arisia have at various times madeambiguous statements, to lead certain Lensmen and others to arrive at erroneousconclusions, you know that we do not lie.""Yes, I know that." Kit plumbed the Arisian's mind."It sort of knocks me out of myorbit—that's an awfully big bite to swallow at one gulp, you know.""It is.That is one reason I am here, to convince you of the truth, which you wouldnot otherwise believe fully.Also to see to it that your rest, without which you might havetaken hurt, was not disturbed; as well as to make sure that you were not permanentlydamaged by the Eddorians.""I wasn't.at least, I don't think so.was I?""You were not.""Good.I was wondering.Mentor will be tied up for a while, of course, so I'llask you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Hedid not fear physical pursuit, since his speedster was the fastest thing in space.For a second or so it was not so bad.Another Eddorian came in, suspicious andon guard.Kit blasted him down— learning still more in the process—but he could notprevent him from radiating a frantic and highly revealing call for help.And although theEddorians could scarcely realize that such an astonishing thing as physical invasion hadactually happened, that fact neither slowed them down nor made their anger lessviolent.When Kit flashed past his friendly fortress he was taking •bout all he couldhandle, and more and more Eddorians were piling on.At the fourth screen it was worse;at the third he reached what he was sure was his absolute ceiling.Nevertheless, fromsome hitherto unsuspected profundity of his being, he managed to draw enough reserveforce to endure that hellish punishment for a little while longer.Hang on, Kit, hang on! Only two more screens to go.Maybe only one.Maybeless.Living Eddorian brains, and not mechanical generators, are now handling all thescreens, of course; but if the Arisians' visualization is worth a tinker's damn, they musthave that first screen knocked down by this time and must be working on the second.Hang on, Kit, and keep on slugging!And grimly; doggedly; toward the end sheerly desperately: Christopher Kinnison,eldest Child of the Lens, hung on and slugged.CHAPTER 23: - ESCAPES WITH HIS LIFEIf the historian has succeeded in his attempt to describe the characters andabilities concerned, it is not necessary to enlarge upon what Kit went through inescaping Eddore.If he has not succeeded, enlargement would be useless.Therefore itis enough to say that the young Lensman, by dint of calling up and putting outeverything he had, hung on long enough and slugged his way through.Arisia had acted precisely on time.The Eddorian guardians had scarcely takenover the first screen when it was overwhelmed by a tremendous wave of Arisianthought.It is to be remembered, however, that this was not the first time that themassed might of Arisia had been thrown against Eddore's defenses, and the Eddorianshad learned much, during the intervening years, from their exhaustive analyses of theoffensive and defensive techniques of the Arisians.Thus the Arisian drive waspractically stopped at the second zone of defense as Kit approached it.The screen waswavering, shifting; yielding stubbornly wherever it must and springing back into placewhenever it could.Under a tremendous concentration of Arisian force the screen weakened in alimited area directly ahead of the hurtling speedster.A few beams lashed out aimlessly,uselessly —if the Eddorians could not hold their main screens proof against the powerof the Arisian attack, how could they protect such minor things as gunners' minds? Thelittle ship flashed through the weakened barrier and into the center of a sphere ofimpenetrable, impermeable Arisian thought.At the shock of the sudden ending of his terrific battle— the instantaneoustransition from supreme to zero effort— Kit fainted in his control chair.He lay slumped,inert, in a stupor which changed gradually into a deep and natural sleep.And as thesleeping man in his inertialess speedster traversed space at full touring blast, thatpeculiar sphere of force still enveloped and still protected him.Kit finally began to come to.His first foggy thought was that he washungry—then, wide awake and remembering, he grabbed his levers."Rest quietly, youth, and eat your fill," a grave, resonant pseudo-voice assuredhim."Everything is exactly as it should be.""Hi, Ment.well, well, if it isn't my old chum Eukonidor! Hi, young fellow! What'sthe good word? And what's the big idea of letting—or making—me sleep for a weekwhen there's work to do?""Your part of the work, at least for the immediate present, is done; and, let mesay, very well done.""Thanks.but." Kit broke off, flushing darkly."Do not reproach yourself, youth, nor us.Consider, please, and recite, themanufacture of a fine tool of ultimate quality.""The correct alloy.Hot working—perhaps cold, too.Forging—heating—quenching—drawing.""Enough, youth.Think you that the steel, if sentient, would enjoy thosetreatments? While you did not enjoy them, you are able to appreciate their necessity.You are now a finished tool, forged and tempered.""Oh.you may have something there, at that.But as to ultimate quality, don'tmake me laugh." There was no nuance of merriment in Kit's thought."You can't squarethat with cowardice.""Nor is there need.The term ultimate was used advisedly, and still stands.Itdoes not mean or imply, however, a state of perfection, since that condition isunattainable.I am not advising you to try to forget; nor am I attempting to forceforgetfulness upon you, since your mind cannot now be coerced by any force at mycommand.Be assured that nothing that occurred should irk you; for the simple truth is,that although stressed as no other mind has ever before been stressed, you did notyield.Instead, you secured and retained information which we of Arisia have never beenable to obtain; information which will in fact be the means of preserving yourCivilization.""I can't believe.that is, it doesn't seem." Kit, knowing that he was thinkingmuddily and foolishly, paused and pulled himself together.Overwhelming, almostparalyzing as that information was, it must be true.It was true!"Yes, youth, it is the truth.While we of Arisia have at various times madeambiguous statements, to lead certain Lensmen and others to arrive at erroneousconclusions, you know that we do not lie.""Yes, I know that." Kit plumbed the Arisian's mind."It sort of knocks me out of myorbit—that's an awfully big bite to swallow at one gulp, you know.""It is.That is one reason I am here, to convince you of the truth, which you wouldnot otherwise believe fully.Also to see to it that your rest, without which you might havetaken hurt, was not disturbed; as well as to make sure that you were not permanentlydamaged by the Eddorians.""I wasn't.at least, I don't think so.was I?""You were not.""Good.I was wondering.Mentor will be tied up for a while, of course, so I'llask you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]