"Kayle! I guess you've got a recorder on the line. I'll give you the
details of the transmitter circuits. It's complicated, but fifteen
minutes ought to--"
"No time," Kayle cut in. "I'm sorry about everything, Granthan. If
you've finished the machine, it's a tragedy for humanity--if it works.
I can only ask you to try--when the Gool command comes--not to give
them what they want. I'll tell you, now, Granthan. The bomb blows in--"
there was a pause--"two minutes and twenty-one seconds. Try to hold
them off. If you can stand against them for that long at least--"
I slammed the phone down, cold sweat popping out across my face. Two
minutes ... too late for anything. The men in the War Room would never
know how close I had come to beating the Gool--and them.
But I could still save the Master Tape. I wrestled the yellow plastic
case that housed the tape onto the table, into the machine.
And the world vanished in a blaze of darkness, a clamor of silence.
_NOW, MASTERS! NOW! LINK UP! LINK UP!_
Like a bad dream coming back in daylight, I felt the obscene presence
of massed Gool minds, attenuated by distance but terrible in their
power, probing, thrusting. I fought back, struggling against paralysis,
trying to gather my strength, use what I had learned....
_SEE, MASTERS, HOW IT WOULD ELUDE US. BLANK IT OFF, TOGETHER NOW...._
The paths closed before me. My mind writhed, twisted, darted here and
there--and met only the impenetrable shield of the Gool defenses.
_IT TIRES, MASTERS. WORK SWIFTLY NOW. LET US IMPRESS ON THE SUBJECT THE
CO-ORDINATES OF THE BRAIN PIT._ The conceptualization drifted into my
mind. _HERE, MAN. TRANSMIT THE TAPE HERE!_
As from a distance, the monitor personality fraction watched the
struggle. Kayle had been right. The Gool had waited--and now their
moment had come. Even my last impulse of defiance--to place the tape
in the machine--had been at the Gool command. They had looked into
my mind. They understand psychology as no human analyst ever could;
and they had led me in the most effective way possible, by letting
me believe I was the master. They had made use of my human ingenuity
to carry out their wishes--and Kayle had made it easy for them by
evacuating a twenty-mile radius around me, leaving the field clear for
the Gool.
_HERE_--The Gool voice rang like a bell in my mind: _TRANSMIT THE TAPE
HERE!_
Even as I fought against the impulse to comply, I felt my arm twitch
toward the machine.
_THROW THE SWITCH!_ the voice thundered.
I struggled, willed my arm to stay at my side. Only a minute longer, I
thought. Only a minute more, and the bomb would save me....
_LINK UP, MASTERS!_
_I WILL NOT LINK. YOU PLOT TO FEED AT MY EXPENSE._
_NO! BY THE MOTHER WORM, I PLEDGE MY GROOVE AT THE EATING TROUGH. FOR
US THE MAN WILL GUT THE GREAT VAULT OF HIS NEST WORLD!_
_ALREADY YOU BLOAT AT OUR EXPENSE!_
_FOOL!! WOULD YOU BICKER NOW? LINK UP!_
* * * * *
The Gool raged--and I grasped for an elusive thought and held it. The
bomb, only a few feet away. The waiting machine. And the Gool had given
me the co-ordinates of their cavern....
With infinite sluggishness, I moved.
_LINK UP, MASTERS: THEN ALL WILL FEED...._
_IT IS A TRICK. I WILL NOT LINK._