It was nearly an hour later before Bergdorf woke up. "What hit me?" he
asked fuzzily.
"Subsonics," I said. "They should have scared you to death."
"I fainted?"
"Sure you did. You couldn't help it. They hit like a ton of brick."
"They certainly do," he said ruefully.
"They can kill," I said. "I've seen them do it. The Niobians generate
them naturally, and they can focus them fairly well. Probably this
quality was one of their forms of defense against predators in their
early days. It's a survival trait; and when there are enough natives
present to augment the impulses they can be downright nasty."
Bergdorf nodded. "I know," he said. He stopped talking and looked out
over the sun-drenched top of the overcast. "It looks like Tovan Harl
wants to keep this oyster farm a private matter. In a way he's doing us
a favor, but I'd still feel happier if I had one or two of those
oysters."
"Why do you need them?"
"Well, I figured on getting a couple of the Navy's organic detectors and
setting them for oyster protoplasm. You know how sensitive those gadgets
are. There might be a small but significant change in oyster protoplasm
since it has arrived here."
"Well, you don't need to worry," I said. "I put one of your pets in my
pocket before the natives showed up, so you've got what you need." I
pulled the oyster out and handed it to him. It didn't look any the worse
for its recent rough treatment.