"Why," he said, "doesn't a group of you get together and face him
down? Ten guns against his one. He'd have to surrender."
"No, he wouldn't," I said. "That ain't the way it works. He'd just
dare any of us to be the first to try and stop him--and none of us
would take him up on it. A group like that don't mean anything--it'd
be each man against Buck Tarrant, and none of us good enough."
"I see," the professor said softly.
"God...." I clenched my fists so hard they hurt. "I wish we could
think his gun right back into the holster or something!"
Ben and Buck were about forty feet apart now. Ben was coming on
steadily, his hand over his gunbutt. He was a good man with a gun,
Ben--nobody around these parts had dared tackle him for a long time.
But he was out-classed now, and he knew it. I guess he was just hoping
that Buck's first shot or two wouldn't kill him, and that he could
place a good one himself before Buck let loose any more.
But Buck was a damn good shot. He just wouldn't miss.
The professor was staring at Buck with a strange look in his eyes.
"He should be stopped," he said.
"Stop him, then," I said sourly.
"After all," he mused, "if the ability to perform telekinesis lies
dormant in all of us, and is released by strong faith and desire to
accomplish something that can be accomplished only by that means--then
our desire to stop him might be able to counter his desire to--"
"Damn you and your big words," I said bitterly.
"It was your idea," the professor said, still looking at Buck. "What
you said about thinking his gun back into its holster--after all, we
_are_ two to his one--"
I turned around and stared at him, really hearing him for the first
time. "Yeah, that's right--I said that! My God ... do you think we
could do it?"
"We can try," he said. "We know it _can_ be done, and evidently that
is nine-tenths of the battle. He can do it, so we should be able to.
We must want him _not_ to more than he _wants_ to."
* * * * *
"Lord," I said, "I want him not to, all right...."
Ben and Buck were about twenty feet apart now, and Ben stopped.