Part 53 (1/2)

”I think she'd agree with you there,” Trigger said.

Lyad's first a.s.signment after Professor Mantelish came out of the dope was to snap him back into trance and explain to him how he had once more been put under hypno control and used for her felonious ends by the First Lady of Tranest. They let him work off his rage while he was still under partial control. Then the Ermetyne woke him up.

He stared at her coldly.

”You are a deceitful woman, Lyad Ermetyne!” he declared. ”I don't wish to see you about my labs again! At any time. Under any pretext. Is that understood?”

”Yes, Professor,” Lyad said. ”And I'm sorry that I believed it necessary to--”

Mantelish snorted. ”Sorry! Necessary! Just to be certain it doesn't happen again, I shall make up a batch of antihypno pills. If I can remember the prescription.”

”I happen,” the Ermetyne ventured, ”to know a very good prescription for the purpose, Professor. If you will permit me!”

Mantelish stood up. ”I'll accept no prescriptions from you!” he said icily. He looked at Trigger as he turned to walk out of the cabin. ”Or drinks from you either, Trigger Argee!” he growled. ”Who in the great spiraling galaxy is there left to trust!”

”Sorry, Professor,” Trigger said meekly.

In half an hour or so, he calmed down enough to join the others in the lounge, to get the final story on Gess Fayle and the missing king plasmoid from the Ermetyne.

Doctor Gess Fayle, Lyad reported, had died very shortly after leaving the Manon System. And with him had died every man on board the U-League's transport s.h.i.+p. It might be simplest, she went on, to relate the first series of events from the plasmoid's point of view.

”Point of view?” Professor Mantelish interrupted. ”The plasmoid has awareness then?”

”Oh, yes. That one does.”

”Self-awareness?”

”Definitely.”

”Oho! But then--”

”Professor,” Trigger interrupted politely in turn, ”may I get you a drink?”

He glared at her, growled, then grinned. ”I'll shut up,” he said. Lyad went on.

Doctor Fayle had resumed experimentation with the 112-113 unit almost as soon as he was alone with it; and one of the first things he did was to detach the small 113 section from the main one. The point Doctor Fayle hadn't adequately considered when he took this step was that 113's function appeared to be that of a restraining, limiting or counteracting device on its vastly larger partner. The Old Galactics obviously had been aware of dangerous potentialities in their more advanced creations, and had used this means of regulating them. That the method was reliable was indicated by the fact that, in the thirty thousand years since the Old Galactics had vanished, plasmoid 112 had remained restricted to the operations required for the maintenance of Harvest Moon.

But it hadn't liked being restricted.

And it had been very much aware of the possibilities offered by the new life-forms which lately had intruded on Harvest Moon.

The instant it found itself free, it attempted to take control of the human minds in its environment.

”Mind-level control?” Mantelish exclaimed, looking startled. ”Not unheard-of, of course. And we'd been considering.... But of _human_ minds?”

Lyad nodded. ”It can contact human minds,” she said, ”though, perhaps rather fortunately, it can project that particular field effect only within a quite limited radius. A little less, the Devagas found later, than five miles.”

Mantelish shook his head, frowning. He turned toward the Commissioner.

”Holati,” he said emphatically, ”I believe that thing could be dangerous!”

For a moment, they all looked at him. Then the Commissioner cleared his throat. ”It's a possibility, Mantelish,” he admitted. ”We will give it thought later.”