"Sir, I believe you are right. However, they look like fragile, harmless things, and the resolver rays will be taken care of effortlessly. Sir, can I order the ray operators to their location?"

"Please. Please take care of the front projector yourself, okay? Mr. Hendricks, can you direct the rear projector? Mr. Kincaid, I will continue working here."

"Sir, can we open at will or should we order?" Corey asked.

"According to the order," I said. "And as long as your order is within range, you will get the order; I feel we are in trouble."

"I hope so, sir!" Corey smiled at the door.

Hendricks followed him silently, but I saw a deep and thoughtful frown between his eyebrows.

Kincaid commented calmly: "I think Hendricks may be more useful to us than Corey in this matter."

I nodded and bent over to watch TV. Things seem closer. Now, the injured group almost filled the disk.

The way they sparkle, the faint redness, and the way their dull tentacles stretch out, there is something very longing, very vicious.

I glanced at the earth clock on the wall.

"The next hour," I said soberly, "It can't be too fast for me!"

We decelerated steadily within an hour, but when I finally ordered the decomposing rays to open the intruder, we were still above the maximum atmospheric velocity. They are close, but of course, the light is not as effective in space as when working in a more favorable medium, so I want to ensure our prey.

I pressed the attention signal on the post, and he answered immediately.

"Ready, Mr. Corey?"

"Ready, sir!"

"Then act!"

Before I repeated the command, I heard a deep impression of the atom generator and knew it was already running.

I was with Kinkade, silently bending over to watch TV. We looked for a moment, then unanimously raised our heads and looked at each other's eyes.

"No, sir." Kincaid said quietly. [408]

I nodded. Obviously disintegrant rays are useless here. When they smashed into groups of crescent-shaped things and hit us so hungry, the things changed from red to sickly yellowish pink, which seemed to be distorted and seemed a little uncomfortable, but that was all.

"Maybe at a closer distance...?" Adventure Kincard.

"I don't think so. If Mr. Hendricks is correct-I believe he is correct-these things are not important; as we understand them, they are irrelevant. Therefore, they cannot be disintegrated."

"So, sir, how do we do our best?"

"First, we must learn more about them. First, how they attacked. We should know soon. Please think back to Mr. Hendricks and then order to go all out. We might do this."

Hendricks could not breathe.

He said: "Rays are useless, sir." "They will show up in a few minutes. Are there any other orders?"

"Not yet. Do you have any ideas about how they attacked? What can they do to us?"

"No, sir. That is no reasonable idea."

"So, Mr. Hendricks, what is your unreasonable theory?"

He replied: "Sir, I want to make further observations first." "I think they are now close enough to monitor the ports. Do I agree to open one of the ports?"

"Of course, sir." That, like all the special patrol ships of the period, there were but few ports, and a large number of these were kept closed. Her hull is double decked. She is actually two ships, one in the other, the two skins are separated and supported by countless trusses. Between the outer skin and the inner skin, the air pressure is maintained at about half of the normal pressure, so the pressure strain is evenly distributed between the two hulls.

In order to arrange the ports or outlets, the two skins must be put together in the required position, and many braces must be used to reinforce this weak point. In order to further protect themselves from emergencies, the combat fleet must be prepared for all emergencies, and all ports are closed by closed solid metal gates. I want to explain this in detail for the benefit of those who are not familiar with my ship today, because this information is necessary to give people a complete understanding of future events.

After getting my permission, Hendricks suddenly drove to one of the two ports in the navigation room and opened it.

"Please turn on the light?" he asked on his shoulder. Kincaid nodded, and then closed the acetylene tube that illuminates the room. The three of us crowded around the recessed port.

Things are not only close: they are indeed on us! Even when we looked at it, one of them was swept so close by the harbor that, apart from the thick crystal, one of them might have reached into space and touched it.

The TV disc represents them very accurately. Their maximum size may be twice the height of a person, and their red is slightly brighter than I thought at close range. The thickest part of the crescent seems to be the nucleus, and the light of things is almost invisible.

Obviously, they are not entities. They have no clear boundaries[409] body; they gradually disappear into nothingness, almost like a dim halo.

Attention to the signal, Kincaid quickly fumbled and answered.

"It's Corey, sir," he said. "He reported that his beam was completely useless and asked for further orders."

"Tell him to stop and report here immediately." I turned to Hendrix and stared at the port next to me. "So, what do you think of them now?"

Kincaid yelled out before he heard back.

"Come here, sir! The chart is invalid. We are blind."

That's right, the graph is just two rectangles of red flames, with yellow sparks shining in the center of each center, and thin black lines clearly set off the wavering red flames.

"Mr. Hendricks!" I said, "Let us master your theory-reasonable or not."

Hendrix, his face pressed against the side of the port at an angle, turned to me, and then set the blinds in place. Kinkade got the light.

He said in an endless voice: "Sir, this is no longer a theory, although it is still unreasonable. These things are devouring us!"

"Eat us?" The voice was the same as mine, amazed. He just entered the navigation room at my order.

"Corrodes us, attracts us, whatever you want to call it. There is a work boat close enough to the port so that I can see it. The electric arc is powered on the hull, and the arc is powered on the electrodes on the hull!"

"Farewell!" Corey said coldly. "No light can be licked, that is victory!"

"Not yet!" I contradicted him. "Kinkade, what is the closest object we can put down?"

"-127, sir." He answered quickly. "I recorded it for her a few minutes ago." He hurriedly ate through the dog food index. "Here is: \'-127, difficult to breathe; most of the nitrogen, oxygen is not enough to sustain human life; no animal life reports; although the insects are large, they are reported to be non-toxic; the vegetation is strong and may carry edible fruits, although According to reports, the score is incomplete; unless it is distilled, it is not suitable for drinking water; the land area is approximately "\'"

"Enough." I interrupted. "Sir, the route is set for -127 based on the reading of the TV instrument. Sir, accelerate to the maximum airspeed and put us down on land at the speed that brought us there at the emergency speed. Mr. Hendricks, please tell us Everything you know or guess about the enemy."

Hendricks waited quietly until the ship sailed on her course, accelerating every moment. Kinkade gradually increased the tension of the gravity pad to twice the normal level, so we found it almost impossible to move. It should be an old timer, but when she speeds up, she has to throw us all into the artificial gravity anchor if it is not a cushion.

"It's all speculation," Hendricks said slowly, "So, I hope you don't rely too much on my theory, sir. I just give you my line of reasoning, and you can evaluate it yourself.

"These things are creatures of space. We know that no life of any kind can live in space. Therefore, they are not matter; they are not related, just like ourselves.

"From their graph of [410], we think they are essentially electronic. They are not composed of atoms and electrons, but of pure electric energy in an unfamiliar form.

"Then, remembering that they exist in space, and concluding that they are the destroyers of the two ships we know, I began to wonder how they caused the destruction or at least the disappearance of these two ships. Any kind of life must have Something can be relied on. To produce one kind of energy, we have to convert, obviously consume another kind of energy, even if our atom generator is slow but it will certainly eat up the locked metal, so that the power of this ship becomes may.

If you like the best trick or treat system, please collect it: (readwn.com) The best trick or treat system has the fastest literary update.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like