"Ben," Ferris Weldon said, "if you'll look back, you'll recall that a
little less than five years ago we had ... packed into the space of a
few months ... a series of the grimmest public disasters on record.
These were not due to natural forces--to hurricanes, earthquakes,
floods or the like. No, each and every one of them involved, or
might have involved, a human agency. They were not inexplicable.
Individually, each could be explained only too well by human
incompetence, human lunacy or criminal purpose. But--a giant hotel
exploded, a city's water supply was poisoned, a liner ... yes, you
remember.
"Now, notice that the rogue did not strike directly at our
investigators. He did that on a later occasion and under different
circumstances, but not at the time. It indicated that in spite of his
immense natural advantages he did not regard himself as invulnerable.
And, of course, he had no need to assume personal risks. By the public
nonspace and air systems, he would move anywhere on earth within hours;
and wherever he went, any human being within the range of his mind
became a potential tool. He could order death at will and be at a safe
distance when the order was executed. Within ten weeks, he had Special
Activities on the ropes. The attempts to identify him were called off.
And the abnormal series of disasters promptly ended. The rogue had made
his point."
Arlene said soberly, "You say he attacked some of your investigators
later on. What was that about?"
* * * * *
"That was a year later," Weldon said. "A kind of stalemate had
developed. As you're aware, the few operating telepaths in the
government's employment are a daintily handled property. They're never
regarded as expendable. It was clear they weren't in the rogue's class,
so no immediate attempt was made to use them against him. But meanwhile
we'd assembled--almost entirely by inference--a much more detailed
picture of this opponent of mankind than DEDCOM had been able to
provide. He was a freak in every way. His ability to read other minds
and to affect them--an apparent blend of telepathy and irresistable
hypnosis--obviously was a much more powerful and definite tool than the
unreliable gropings of any ordinary telepath. But there was the curious
point that he appeared to be limited--very sharply limited--simply
by distance, which to most of our trained telepaths is a meaningless
factor, at least this side of interplanetary space. If one stayed
beyond his range, the rogue was personally harmless. And if he could be
identified from beyond his range, he also could be--and by that time
almost immediately would have been--destroyed by mechanical means,
without regard for any last-moment havoc he might cause.
"So the first security island was established, guarded against the
rogue's approach by atmospheric blocks and sophisticated somatic
barriers. Two government telepaths were brought to it and induced to
locate him mentally.
"It turned out to be another mistake. If our unfortunate prodigies
gained any information about the rogue, they didn't live long enough
to tell us what it was. Both committed suicide within seconds of each
other."
"The rogue had compelled them to do it?" Arlene asked.
"Of course."
"And was this followed," Dr. Lowry asked, "by another public disaster?"
"No," Weldon said. "The rogue may have considered that unnecessary.
After all, he'd made his point again. Sending the best of our tame
telepaths after him was like setting spaniels on a tiger. Ordinarily,
he could reach a telepath's mind only within his own range, like that
of any other person. But if they were obliging enough to make contact
with him, they would be instantly at his mercy, wherever he might be.
We took the hint; the attempt wasn't repeated. Our other telepaths have
remained in the seclusion of security islands, and so far the rogue has
showed no interest in getting at them there."
Weldon stubbed his cigarette out carefully in the ashtray beside him,
added, "You see now, I think, why we feel it is necessary to take
extreme precautions in the further handling of your diex projector."
* * * * *
There was silence for some seconds. Then Dr. Lowry said, "Yes, that
much has become obvious." He paused, pursing his lips doubtfully, his
eyes absent. "All right," he went on. "This has been rather disturbing
information, Ferris. But let's look at the thing now.
"We've found that diex energy can be employed to augment the effects
of the class of processes commonly referred to as telepathic. The
projector operates on that theory. By using it, ordinary mortals
like Arlene and myself can duplicate some of the results reportedly
achieved by the best-trained telepaths. However, we are restricted in
several ways by our personal limitations. We need the location devices
to direct the supporting energy to the points of the globe where the
experiments are to be carried out. And so far we have not been able to
'read the mind'--to use that very general term--of anyone with whom we
are not at least casually acquainted."