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Browne said,  I accept your promise. The speed of light is a constant, and does not change in relation to
moving objects. That would also apply to electromagnetic fields.
Lesbee said,  Then Dzing was affected by the remote-control device I turned on.
 Instantly, said Browne.  He never got a chance to do anything. How much power did you use?
 Only first stage, said Lesbee.  But the machine-driven thought pulses in that would interfere with just
about every magnetic field in his body. He couldn t do another coherent thing.
Browne said in a hushed tone,  It s got to be. He ll be out of control in one of the corridors, completely
at our mercy. He grinned.  I told you I knew how to defeat him because, of course, he was already
defeated.
Lesbee considered that for a long moment, eyes narrowed. He realized that he accepted the explanation,
but that he had preparations to make, and quickly before Browne got suspicious of his delay.
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He turned to the board and switched on the intercom.  People, he said,  strap yourselves in again. Help
those who were injured to do the same. We may have another emer-gency. You have several minutes, I
think, but don t waste any of them.
He cut off the intercom, and he activated the closed-circuit intercom of the technical stations. He said
urgently,  Special instruction to Technical personnel. Report anything unusual, particularly if strange
thought forms are going through your mind.
He had an answer to that within moments after he finished speaking. A man s twangy voice came over:
 I keep thinking I m somebody named Dzing, and I m trying to report to my owners. Boy, am I
incoherent!
 Where is this?
 D 4 19.
Lesbee punched the buttons that gave them a TV view of that particular ship location. Almost
immediately he spotted a shimmer near the floor.
After a moment s survey he ordered a heavy-duty mobile blaster brought to the corridor. By the time its
colossal energies ceased, Dzing was only a darkened area on the flat surface.
While these events were progressing, Lesbee had kept one eye on Browne and Mindel s blaster firmly
gripped in his left hand. Now he said,  Well, sir, you certainly did what you promised. Wait a moment
while I put this gun away, and then I ll carry out my part of the bargain.
He started to do so, then, out of pity, paused.
He had been thinking in the back of his mind about what Browne had said earlier: that the trip to Earth
might only take a few months. The officer had backed away from that statement, but it had been
bothering Lesbee ever since.
If it were true, then it was indeed a fact that nobody need die!
He said quickly,  What was your reason for saying that the journey home would only take well less
than a year?
 It s the tremendous time compression, Browne explained eagerly. The distance as you pointed out is
over 12 light-years. But with a time ratio of 3, 4 or 500 to one, we ll make it in less than a month. When
I first started to say that, I could see that the figures were incomprehensible to you in your tense mood. In
fact, I could scarcely believe them myself.
Lesbee said, staggered,  We can get back to Earth in a couple of weeks my God! He broke off, said
urgently,  Look, I accept you as commander. We don t need an election. The status quo is good enough
for any short period of time. Do you agree?
 Of course, said Browne.  That s the point I ve been trying to make.
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As he spoke, his face was utterly guileless.
Lesbee gazed at that mask of innocence, and he thought hopelessly:  What s wrong? Why isn t he really
agreeing? Is it because he doesn t want to lose his command so quickly?
Sitting there, unhappily fighting for the other s life, he tried to place himself mentally in the position of the
com-mander of a vessel, tried to look at the prospect of a return to view. It was hard to picture such a
reality. But presently it seemed to him that he understood.
He said gently, feeling his way,  It would be kind of a shame to return without having made a successful
landing anywhere. With this new speed, we could visit a dozen sun systems, and still get home in a year. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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