Latest / Galactic Patrol / 22 - Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith

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22 - Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith · Galactic Patrol

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two of Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. But Kinnison
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: was not heading for Helmuth's base yet. He was splitting
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  Speaker 1: the ether toward Aldebaran instead, as fast as his speedster
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  Speaker 1: could go, and she was one of the fastest things
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  Speaker 1: in the galaxy. He had two good reasons for going
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  Speaker 1: there before he attempted Boscone's grand base. First, to try
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  Speaker 1: out his skill upon non human intellects. If he could
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  Speaker 1: handle the wheelmen, he was ready to take on the
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  Speaker 1: far greater hazard. Second, he owed those wheelmen something, and
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  Speaker 1: he did not like to call in the whole patrol
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  Speaker 1: to help him pay his debts. He could, he thought,
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  Speaker 1: handle that base himself. Knowing exactly where it was, he
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  Speaker 1: had no difficulty in finding the volcanic shaft which formed
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  Speaker 1: the entrance to that Eldeboranian base. Down that shaft, his
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  Speaker 1: sense of perception sped. He found the lookout plates. He
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  Speaker 1: followed their power leads gently. Carefully. He in sinuated his
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  Speaker 1: mind into that of the wheelmen at the board, discovering
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  Speaker 1: to his great relief that that monstrosity was no more
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  Speaker 1: difficult to handle than had been the Ratiligian observer mind
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  Speaker 1: or intellect, he found were not affected at all by
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  Speaker 1: the shape of the brains concerned. Quality, reach, and power
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  Speaker 1: were the essential factors. Therefore, he let himself in and
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  Speaker 1: took position in the same room from which he had
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  Speaker 1: been driven so violently. Kinnison examined with interest the wall
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  Speaker 1: through which he had been blown, noting that it had
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  Speaker 1: been repaired so perfectly that he could scarcely find the
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  Speaker 1: joints which had been made These wheelmen. The Lensmen knew
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  Speaker 1: had explosives, since the bullets which had torn their way
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  Speaker 1: through his armor and through his flesh had been propelled
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  Speaker 1: by that agency. Therefore, to the mind within his grasp,
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  Speaker 1: he suggested the place where explosives are kept, and the
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  Speaker 1: thought of that mind flashed to the store room in question. Similarly,
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  Speaker 1: the thought of the one who had access to that
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  Speaker 1: room pointed out to the Lensmen the particular whels, and
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  Speaker 1: he wanted It was as easy as that, And since
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  Speaker 1: he took care not to look at any of the
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  Speaker 1: weird beings, he gave no alarm. Kinnison withdrew his mind delicately,
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  Speaker 1: leaving no trace of its occupancy, and went to investigate
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  Speaker 1: the arsenal. There he found a few cases of machine
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  Speaker 1: rifle cartridges, and that was all. Then he went into
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  Speaker 1: the mind of the munitions officer, where he discovered that
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  Speaker 1: the heavy bombs were kept in a distant crater so
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  Speaker 1: that no damage would be done by any possible explosion.
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  Speaker 1: Hum not quite as simple as I thought, Kinnison ruminated.
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  Speaker 1: But there's a way out of that too. There was.
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  Speaker 1: It took an hour or so of time, and he
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  Speaker 1: had to control two wheelmen instead of one, But he
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  Speaker 1: found that he could do that. When the munition's master
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  Speaker 1: took out a bomb scow after a load of high explosives,
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  Speaker 1: the crew had no idea that it was anything except
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  Speaker 1: a routine job. The only wheelman who would have known differently,
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  Speaker 1: the one at the lookout board, was the other whom
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  Speaker 1: Kinnison had to keep under control. The scow went out,
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  Speaker 1: got its load, and came back. Then, while the lensman
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  Speaker 1: was flying out into space, the scow dropped down the shaft.
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  Speaker 1: So quietly was the whole thing done that not a
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  Speaker 1: creature in that whole establishment knew that anything was wrong
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  Speaker 1: until it was too late to act, And then none
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  Speaker 1: of them knew anything At all, not even the crew
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  Speaker 1: of the scow realized that they were dropping too fast.
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  Speaker 1: Kinnison didn't know what would happen if a mind to
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  Speaker 1: say nothing of two of them died while in his
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  Speaker 1: mental grasp, and he didn't care to find out. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: a fraction of a second before the crash, he jerked
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  Speaker 1: free and watched. The explosion and its consequences did not
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  Speaker 1: look at all impressive from the lensman's coin advantage. The
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  Speaker 1: mountain trembled a little, then subsided noticeably. From its summit.
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  Speaker 1: There erupted an unimportant little flare of flame, some smoke,
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  Speaker 1: and an insignificant shower of rock and debris. However, when
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  Speaker 1: the scene had cleared, there was no longer any shaft
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  Speaker 1: leading downward from that crater. A floor of solid rock
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  Speaker 1: began almost at its lip. Nevertheless, the lensmen explored thoroughly
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  Speaker 1: all the region where the stronghold had been, making sure
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  Speaker 1: that the clean up had been one hundred percent effective. Then,
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  Speaker 1: and only then did he point the speedster's streamlined nose
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  Speaker 1: towards star cluster AC two five seven four seven three six.
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  Speaker 1: In his hidden retreat, so far from the galaxy's crowded
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  Speaker 1: suns and worlds. Helmuth was in no enviable or easy
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  Speaker 1: frame of mind. Four times he had declared that that
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  Speaker 1: a cursed Lensman, whoever he might be, must be destroyed,
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  Speaker 1: and had mustered his every available force to that end,
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  Speaker 1: only to have his intended prey slip from his grasp
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  Speaker 1: as effortlessly as a droplet of mercury eludes the clutching
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  Speaker 1: fingers of a child. The Lensman, with nothing except a
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  Speaker 1: speedster and a bomb, had taken and had studied one
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  Speaker 1: of Boscone's new battleships, thus obtaining for his patrol the
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  Speaker 1: secret of cosmic energy. Abandoning his own vessel, then crippled
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  Speaker 1: and doomed to capture our destruction, he had stolen one
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  Speaker 1: of the ships searching for him, and in it he
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  Speaker 1: had calmly sailed to Valantia, right through Helmuth's screen of
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  Speaker 1: blockading vessels. He had in some way so fortified Valantia
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  Speaker 1: as to capture six more Bosconian battleships, and in one
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  Speaker 1: of those ships he had won his way back to
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  Speaker 1: the prime base of the patrol, with information of such
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  Speaker 1: immense importance that it had robbed the Bosconian organization of
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  Speaker 1: its then overwhelming superiority. More, he had found or had
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  Speaker 1: developed new items of equipment, which, save for Helmuth's own
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  Speaker 1: success in obtaining them, would have given the Patrol a
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  Speaker 1: definite and decisive superiority over Bosconia. Now both sides were
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  Speaker 1: equal again, except for that lensman and the lens. Helmuth
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  Speaker 1: still quailed inwardly whenever he thought of what he had
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  Speaker 1: undergone at the Rissian Barrier, and he had given up
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  Speaker 1: all thought of securing the secret of the lens by
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  Speaker 1: force or from Ursia. But there must be other ways
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  Speaker 1: of getting it. And just then there came in the
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  Speaker 1: urgent call from Boisea, too, followed by the stunningly successful
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  Speaker 1: revolt of the hitherto innocuous Blakesley, culminating as it did,
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  Speaker 1: in the destruction of Helmuth's every Boisean device of vision
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  Speaker 1: or of communication. Blue White with fury, the Basconian high
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  Speaker 1: Chief flung his net abroad to take the renegade, But
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  Speaker 1: as he settled back to await results, a thought struck
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  Speaker 1: him like a blow from a fist. Blakeslee was innocuous.
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  Speaker 1: He never had, had, did not now, and never would have.
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  Speaker 1: The cold nerve and the sheer dominating power he had
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  Speaker 1: just shown. Toward what conclusion did that fact point? The
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  Speaker 1: furious anger disappeared from Helmet's face, as though it had
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  Speaker 1: been wiped therefrom with a sponge, and he became again
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  Speaker 1: the coldly calculating mechanism of flesh and blood that he
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  Speaker 1: ordinarily was. This conception changed matters entirely. This was not
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  Speaker 1: an ordinary revolt of any ordinary subordinate. The man had
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  Speaker 1: done something which he could not possibly do. So what
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  Speaker 1: the lens again? Again, that a cursed lensman, the one
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  Speaker 1: who had somehow learned really to use his lens well
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  Speaker 1: mark Call every vessel at Boise a base, he directed, crisply,
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  Speaker 1: keep on calling them until someone answers. Get whoever is
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  Speaker 1: in charge there now, and put him on me here.
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  Speaker 1: A few minutes of silence followed. Then Vice Commander Krimsky
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  Speaker 1: reported in full everything that had happened, and told of
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  Speaker 1: the threatened destruction of the base. You have an automatic speedster, there,
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  Speaker 1: have you not? Yes, sir, turn over command to the
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  Speaker 1: next in line, with orders to move to the nearest base,
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  Speaker 1: taking with him as much equipment as is possible. Caution
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  Speaker 1: him to leave on time, however, for I very strongly
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  Speaker 1: suspect that it is now too late to do anything
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  Speaker 1: to prevent the destruction of the base. You alone, take
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  Speaker 1: the speedster and bring away the personal files of the
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  Speaker 1: men who went with Blakesley. A speedster will meet you
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  Speaker 1: at a point to be designated later and relieve you
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  Speaker 1: of those records. An hour passed, two, then three, will
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  Speaker 1: mark Blakesley and the hospital ship have vanished. I presume
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  Speaker 1: they have. The underling, expecting a verbal playing, was greatly
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  Speaker 1: surprised at the mildness of his chief's tone and at
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  Speaker 1: the studious serenity of his face. Come to the center. Then,
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  Speaker 1: when the Lieutenant was seated. I do not suppose that
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  Speaker 1: you as yet realize what, or rather who it is
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  Speaker 1: that is doing this, Why Blakesley's doing it? Of course
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  Speaker 1: I thought so too at first. That was what the
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  Speaker 1: one who really did it wanted us to think. But
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  Speaker 1: it must have been Blakesley, sir. We saw him do it.
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  Speaker 1: How could it have been anyone else? I do not know.
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  Speaker 1: I do know, however, and so should you, that he
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  Speaker 1: could not have done it. Blakesley, of himself is of
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  Speaker 1: no importance whatsoever. We'll catch him, sir, and make him
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  Speaker 1: talk he can't get away, You will find that you
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  Speaker 1: will not catch him, and that he can get away.
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  Speaker 1: Blakesley alone, of course, could not do so any more
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  Speaker 1: than he could have done the things he apparently did do.
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  Speaker 1: No will, Mark, we are not dealing with Blakesley who, then, sir,
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  Speaker 1: haven't you deduced that yet? The lensmen fool the same
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  Speaker 1: lensman who has been thumbing his nose at us ever
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  Speaker 1: since he took one of our first class battleships with
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  Speaker 1: a speedboat and a firecracker, but but great blinding rockets.
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  Speaker 1: How Again, I admit that I do not know yet.
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  Speaker 1: The connection, however, is quite evident. Thought Blakesley was thinking
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  Speaker 1: thoughts utterly beyond him. The lens comes from Aricia. The
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  Speaker 1: Oriysians are masters of thought, of mental forces and processes
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  Speaker 1: incomprehensible to any of us. These are the elements which,
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  Speaker 1: when fitted together, will give us the complete picture. Still
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  Speaker 1: I don't see how they fit. Neither do I. Yet, however,
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  Speaker 1: it should be clear to you that we do not
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  Speaker 1: want that lensman thinking such thoughts as that into this space.
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  Speaker 1: We certainly do not. However, surely he can't trace it
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  Speaker 1: just a moment the time has come when it is
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  Speaker 1: no longer safe to say what that lensman cannot do.
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  Speaker 1: Our communicator beams are hard and tight, yes, but any
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  Speaker 1: beam can be tapped if enough power be applied to it,
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  Speaker 1: and any beam that can be tapped can be traced.
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  Speaker 1: I expect him to visit us here, and we shall
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  Speaker 1: be prepared for his visit. That is the reason for
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  Speaker 1: this conference with you. Here is a device which generates
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  Speaker 1: a field through which no thought can penetrate. I have
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  Speaker 1: had this device for some time, but for obvious reasons,
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  Speaker 1: have not released it. Here are the diagrams and the
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  Speaker 1: complete constructional data. Have a few hundred of them made
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  Speaker 1: with all possible speed, and see to it that every
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  Speaker 1: being upon this planet wears one continuously impress upon every one.
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  Speaker 1: And I will also that it is of the utmost
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  Speaker 1: importance that absolutely continuous protection be maintained even while changing batteries.
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  Speaker 1: Experts have been working for some time upon the problem
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  Speaker 1: of protecting the entire planet with such a screen, and
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  Speaker 1: there is some little hope of success in the near future.
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  Speaker 1: But individual protection will still be of the utmost importance.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot impress it too forcibly upon every one that
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  Speaker 1: every man's life is dependent upon each one maintaining his
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  Speaker 1: thought screen in full operation at all times. That is all.
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  Speaker 1: When the messenger brought in the personal files of Blakesley
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  Speaker 1: and the other deserters, Helmuth and his psychologists went over
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  Speaker 1: them with minutely painstaking care. The more they studied them,
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  Speaker 1: the clearer it became that the Chief's conclusion was the
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  Speaker 1: correct one. Someone had, in some way brought an extraordinary
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  Speaker 1: mental pressure to bear Reason and logic told Helmuth that
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: the Lensman's only purpose in attacking the Boisean base was
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  Speaker 1: to get a line on grand base, that Blakesley's flight
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  Speaker 1: and the destruction of the base were merely diversions to
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  Speaker 1: obscure the real purpose of the visit. That the Lensman
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  Speaker 1: had staged, that theatrical performance especially to hold him Helmuth
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  Speaker 1: while his beam was being traced, and that was the
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  Speaker 1: only reason why the visi set was not sooner put
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  Speaker 1: out of action. And finally, that the Lensman had scored
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  Speaker 1: another clean hit. He Helmuth himself had been caught flat footed,
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  Speaker 1: his face hardened and his jaw set at the thought,
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  Speaker 1: but he had not been taken in. He was forewarned
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  Speaker 1: and he would be ready, for he was coldly certain
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  Speaker 1: that Grand Base and he himself were the real objectives
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  Speaker 1: of the Lensmen. That Lensman knew full well that any
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  Speaker 1: number of ordinary bases, ships, and men could be destroyed
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  Speaker 1: without damaging materially the Bosconian cause. Steps must be taken
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  Speaker 1: to make Grand Base as impregnable to mental forces as
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  Speaker 1: it already was to physical ones. Otherwise it might well
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  Speaker 1: be that even Helmoth's own life would presently be at stake,
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  Speaker 1: and that life was a thing precious. Indeed, therefore, counsel
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  Speaker 1: after council was Every contingency that could be thought of
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  Speaker 1: was brought up and discussed, Every possible precaution was taken.
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  Speaker 1: In short, every resource of Grand Base was devoted to
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  Speaker 1: the warding off of any possible mental threat which might
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  Speaker 1: be forthcoming. Kinnison approached that star cluster with care, small
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  Speaker 1: though it was as cosmic groups go, it yet was
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  Speaker 1: composed of some hundreds of stars and an unknown number
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  Speaker 1: of planets, and one of those planets might be the
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  Speaker 1: one he sought, and to approach it unknowingly might prove disastrous. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: he slowed down to a crawl and crept up the
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  Speaker 1: light year by light year, with his ultra powered detectors
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  Speaker 1: fanning out before him to the limit of their unimaginable range.
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  Speaker 1: He had more than half expected that he would have
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  Speaker 1: to search that cluster world by world, But in that
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  Speaker 1: at least he was pleasantly disappointed. One corner of one
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  Speaker 1: of his plates began to show a dim glow of detection.
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  Speaker 1: A bell tinkled, and Kinnison directed his most powerful master
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  Speaker 1: plate into the region indicated. This plate, while a very
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  Speaker 1: narrow field, had tremendous resolving power and magnification, and in
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  Speaker 1: it he saw that there were eighteen small centers of
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: radiation surrounding one vastly larger one. There was no doubt
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  Speaker 1: then as to the location of Hamlet's base, But there
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  Speaker 1: arose the question of approach. The Lensmen had not considered
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  Speaker 1: the possibility of a screen of lookout ships. If they
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  Speaker 1: were close enough together so that their electromagnetics had even
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  Speaker 1: fifty percent overlap, he might as well go back home.
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  Speaker 1: What were those outposts and exactly how closely were they spaced?
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  Speaker 1: He observed, advanced and observed again, computing finally that whatever
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  Speaker 1: they were, they were so far apart that there could
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  Speaker 1: be no possibility of any electro overlap at all. He
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  Speaker 1: could get between them easily enough he wouldn't even have
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  Speaker 1: to baffle his flares. They could not be guards at all,
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  Speaker 1: Kinnison concluded, but must be simply outposts set far outside
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  Speaker 1: the Solar System of the planet, guarded not to ward
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  Speaker 1: off one man's speedsters, but to warn Helmuth of the
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  Speaker 1: possible approach of a force large enough to threaten the
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  Speaker 1: grand base of Bosconia. Closer and closer, Kinnison flashed, discovering
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  Speaker 1: that the central object was indeed a base, startling in
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  Speaker 1: its immensity and completely and intensively fortified, and that the
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  Speaker 1: outposts were huge floating fortresses, practically stationary in space relative
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  Speaker 1: to the Sun of the Solar System. They surrounded the
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  Speaker 1: Lensmen aimed at the center of the imaginary square formed
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  Speaker 1: by four of the outposts, and drove in as close
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  Speaker 1: to the planet as he dared. Then, going inert, he
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  Speaker 1: set his speedster into an orbit. He didn't care particularly
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  Speaker 1: about its shape, provided that it was not too narrow
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  Speaker 1: an ellipse, and he cut off all his power. He
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  Speaker 1: was now safe from detection. Leaning back in his seat
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  Speaker 1: and closing his eyes, he hurled his sense of perception
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  Speaker 1: into and through the massed fortifications of grand base. For
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  Speaker 1: a long time, he did not find a single living creature.
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  Speaker 1: He traversed hundreds of miles, perceiving only automatic machinery bank
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  Speaker 1: after towering mile square bank of accumulators and remote controlled
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  Speaker 1: projectors and other weapons and apparatus. Finally, however, he came
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  Speaker 1: to Helmuth's dome, and in that dome he received another
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  Speaker 1: severe shock. The personnel in that dome were to be
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  Speaker 1: numbered by the hundreds, but he could not make mental
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  Speaker 1: contact with any one of them. He could not touch
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  Speaker 1: their mind at all. He was stopped cold. Every member
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  Speaker 1: of Helmuth's base was protected by a thought screen as
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  Speaker 1: effective as the Lensman's own. Around and around the planet,
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  Speaker 1: the speedster circled while Kinnison struggled with this new, entirely
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  Speaker 1: unexpected setback. This looked as though Helmuth knew what was coming.
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  Speaker 1: Helmuth was nobody's fool. Kennison knew, But how could he
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: possibly have suspected that a mental attack was in the book.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps he was just playing safe. If so, the Lensman's
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  Speaker 1: chance would come. Men would be careless, batteries weakened, and
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  Speaker 1: would have to be changed. But this hope was also
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  Speaker 1: vain as continued watching revealed that each battery was listed,
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  Speaker 1: checked and timed, nor was any screen released even for
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  Speaker 1: an instant when its battery was changed, the fresh power
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: source being slipped into service before the weakening one was disconnected. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that proves that Helmuth knows Kinnison cogitated after watching vainly
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  Speaker 1: several such changes. He's a wise old bird. That guy
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  Speaker 1: really has jets. I don't see what I did that
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  Speaker 1: could have put him wisest to what was going on.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Day after day, the Lensman studied every detail of construction,
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  Speaker 1: operation and routine of that base, and finally an idea
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  Speaker 1: began to dawn. He shot his attention toward barracks he
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: had inspected frequently of late, but stopped irresolute. Uh uh, kim,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: maybe better or not, he advised himself. Helmuth's mighty quick
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  Speaker 1: on the trigger to figure out that boising thing. So
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: fast his projected thought was sheared off without warning, thus
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  Speaker 1: settling the question. Definitely. Helmuth's big apparatus was at work
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  Speaker 1: just then, and now the whole planet was screened against thought.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Oh well, probably better at that Kinnison went on, arguing
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  Speaker 1: with himself, if I'd had tried it out, maybe he'd
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: have got onto it and laid me a stymy next
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: time when I really needed it. Since he had accomplished
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: everything that he could do for the time being, he
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: went free and hurled his speed stir toward Earth now distant. Indeed,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: several times during that long trip he was sorely tempted
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: to call Haines through his lens and get things started,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: but he always thought better of it. This was altogether
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  Speaker 1: too important a thing to be sent through so much
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  Speaker 1: sub ether, or even to be thought about except inside
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: an absolutely thought tight room. And besides, every waking hour
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: of even that long time could be spent very profitably
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: in digesting and correlating the information he had obtained, and
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: in mapping out the salient features of the campaign that
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: was to come. Therefore, before time began to drag, Kinnison
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: landed at Prime Base and was granted instant audience with
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Port Admiral Haines. Mighty glad to see you, son, Haines,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: greeted the young lensman cordially as he sealed the room
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: thought tight. Since he came in under your own power,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I assume you're here to make a constructive report. Better
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: than that, sir, I'm here to start something in a
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: big way. I know at last where their grand base is,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and I have detailed plans of it. I think I
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: know who and where bos Scone is. I know where
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Helmuth is, and I have worked out a plan whereby,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: if it works, we can wipe out that base. Boscone, Helmuth,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: and all the lesser masterminds in one wipe holy jumping rockets.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: For the first time since Kinnison had known him, the
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: old man lost his poise. He leapt to his feet
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: and seized Kinnison by the arm. I knew you were good,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: but not that good. The Euryssians gave you the treatments
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: you wanted. Then they sure did, And the younger man
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: reported as briefly as possible, everything that had happened. He
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: then outlined the plan upon which he'd been working so long.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: I'm just as sure that Helmuth is Boscone as I
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: can be of anything that can't be proved, Kinnison declared,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: bending over a huge chart and sketching rapidly. Helmuth speaks
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: for Boscone, and nobody else, ever, does not even Boscone himself.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: None of the other big shots know anything about Boscone
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: or ever heard him speak, but they all jump through
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: their hoops when Helmuth speaking for Boscone cracks the whip,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: and I couldn't get a trace of Helmuth ever taking
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: anything up with any higher ups. Therefore, I'm dead certain
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: that when we get Helmuth, we get Boscone. But that's
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: going to be a real job of work. I scouted
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: his headquarters from Stem to Gudgeon, as I told you,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: and Grand Bass is absolutely impregnable as it stands. I
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: never imagined anything like it. It makes Prime Base here
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: look like a deserted crossroads after a hard winner. They've
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: got screens, pits, projectors, accumulators, all on gigantic scale. In fact,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: they've got everything. But you can get all that from
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: the tape. I've learned definitely that we cannot take them
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: by any possible direct frontel attack. Even if we attacked
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: with every ship and mauler we've got throughout the galaxy.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: They could stand us off and they can match us
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: ship for ship, so we'd never get near the base
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: at all if they knew we were coming. Well, if
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: it's such an impossible job. What I'm coming to that
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: it's impossible as it stands, but there's a good chance
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I'll be able to soften grand base up, you know,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: like a worm bore from within. Anyway, that's the only
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: possible way to do it, so I've got to try it.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: You'll have to put detector nullifiers on every ship assigned
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: to the job, but that'll be easy. I would suggest
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: sending all the maulers and first class backs we've got,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: but you will of course work that out later. The
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: important thing, as I gather it, is timing absolutely to
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the minute, since I won't be able to communicate once
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I get inside their thought screens. How long will it
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: take to concentrate everything we've got and put it in
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: that cluster? Seven weeks eight at the outside plus two
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: four allowances QX at exactly our twenty ten weeks from today.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: You let every projector of every vessel that you can
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: possibly get there cut loose on that base with everything
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: they can pour in. Where's that other print? Ah? Here,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: twenty six main objectives. You see blast these all simultaneously
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: to the second. If they all go down, the rest
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: will be possible. If not, it will be just too bad.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Then work along these lines here straight from those twenty
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: six stations to the dome, blasting everything as you go.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Make it last exactly fifteen minutes minutes, not a minute
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: more or less. If by fifteen minutes after twenty the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: main Dome hasn't surrendered by cutting its screens, blast that too,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: if you can. It'll take a lot of blasting. I'm
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: afraid from then on you and the fleet commander will
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: have to do whatever is appropriate to the occasion. Your
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: plan doesn't cover that. Apparently, Where will you be How
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: will you be fixed? If the main Dome does not
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: cut its screens, I'll be dead and you'll be just
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: starting the damnedest war this galaxy ever saw. End of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two.