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The professor rose to the occasion. An armored gun carrier appeared between us and the building, firing even as it thudded to the ground. The weapon traversed and the weapon positions were obliterated one by one. With the defense silenced the gun traversed once more and blew away the, front entrance to the building. A hatch, opened as I passed the machine and Captain Grissle of the Space Marines poked his head out.
“I’ll cover you when you go in. Just shout and point.”
“Right—and thanks.” I pumped my right fist in the air, then pointed forward. “Charge!”
We did. Right up to the front of the building, beside the gaping hole where the door used to be.
“Grissle—can you hear me?” “Loud and clear.”
“Put a couple of rounds in there before we go in.” “No problem.”
A couple proved to be more than a hundred; he must have had plenty of ammo. Flame and smoke exploded inside the building. Sounding farther and farther away as the interior was demolished. The firing stopped. Then a last large—caliber shell whistled by—the resultant explosion was so distant it sounded like a mere crump. “Holed through to the other side.”
“Cease fire then—we’re going in.”
Whatever defenses and traps that would have been awaiting us were gone now. Flame and destruction had blasted any obstruction aside. We felt our way through the debris in the darkness. Which began to lift as the smoke cleared. Light poured in from a ragged opening in the wall ahead. Weapons at the ready, we crept forward, looked out.
“Now isn’t that—nice?” Angelina said. “It looks like we have finally reached the end of the trail.”
Chapter 28
We were looking out on the pleasant valley of Heaven. Blue sky above, green grass below. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves on the ornamental trees and brought sweet perfumes to our noses. Set into the valley floor were white marquees, small buildings with tiled roofs half concealed by flower—filled gardens. Paths twined through the landscape, past fountains and statuary. All of this surrounded the most unusual object I had seen in my unusual life. A matte—black sphere at least ten meters high. Smooth and unmarked in any way; a giant eight ball without the eight, a Brobdingnagian bowling ball without finger holes. We stood and gaped.
“Can’t you feel it,” Angelina said, holding out her hand towards the enigmatic object. “That sensation, indescribablebut that’s what we looked for in the coal dust.”
As soon as she said this I became distantly aware of what she meant, knew why the sensation could not be described. A weight that was no weight, an experience unfelt, a movement that stayed still. Women could detect small quantities—but there was enough in the sphere before us for mere men to feel.
“U
“Why is he doing it?” Angelina asked.
“I don’t know—hut I think that we are going to find out very soon. Look.”
A round, fat figure that could only be the Slakey from the temple waddled out of one of the tents and made his way to a conference table surrounded by chairs, dropped into the largest chair. He sat staring at the ground for long seconds before looking up. He looked angrily in our direction—then made a single wave of his hand to signal us forward.
“It’s a trap,” Angelina said.
“Possibly—but I think not. This is his grail, whatever it is, that he has been working so energetically to build, fighting so hard to defend. The battle is over. So let’s go down and see what he has to say.”
Warily, spread out with our weapons ready, we walked down the valley. It was peaceful and serene and undoubtedly very dangerous. I felt better when I approached Slakey, closer and closer. I was too near to him now for the other Slakeys to use heavy weapons. I sat down in the chair nearest to him, swung my backpack off so that it rested on my lap. Leaned back comfortably and smiled. Slakey scowled.
“Draw up some chairs, guys, and listen,” I said, “this is going, to be interesting.”
“How I wish I could kill you, diGriz. That was my primary mistake. If I had killed you the first time I saw you none of this would have happened.”
’We all make mistakes, Slakey. You have made a lot of them. It’s the end now and you know it.”
His face blazed with suppressed fury. I could hear his teeth grating together. It was very nice to look at and my smile broadened.
“ I knew that we would get you in the end,” I said, “So I made certain precautions. This is for you.”
I took the backpack off my lap and set it on the table between us. This was totally unexpected he looked at it with bewilderment, at the square white cross on the red background.
“Are you mad? First aid… medicine?”
“Sorry.” I said. “This will make it much clearer.” I leaned over and peeled off the cross.
Underneath was a glaring red radiation symbol. And a notice spelled out in red letters:
TEN—MEGATON ATOMIC BOMB
HANDLE WITH CARE KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN
“Just a small precaution. I armed it when I put it down. It has nothing to do with me now, although it is tempting to look at the switch. You see, Professor Coypu has another ignition switch and is watching us closely at the present time. Keep that in mind at—all times.”
“You can’t—”
“Oh, but I did. I am very serious about this. Just one more thing before we draw this matter to its close. Professor Coypu, now is the time.”
I had arranged it all with him, beaten down his reluctance and convinced him that it was the only course possible. Slakey had to be stopped and this was the only way that it could be done. I smiled with relief when Angelina and the twins, Sybil and Berkk, all vanished.
“Safe back in Main Station.” I looked up and waved. “Sorry, Angelina, but I had to do this my way. If you were here I would not have had the guts to go through with it. Now I can. If something should go wrong—and I don’t think it will—remember… that I have always loved you.”
I jumped to my feet and patted the bomb. “Enough emotion. I shall put love aside for the moment and get involved in some solid hatred. And, oh, how I hate you, you multibodied monster. And I have you at last. There is no escape. It’s just you and I now, Slakey, End of the line.”
“I want to make an arrangement with you, diGriz—”
“No deals. Just unconditional surrender. And don’t make me angry or I might lose my temper and just press the button and settle you once and for all.”
“But wait until you hear my offer. It is an irresistible one. You see—I am going to offer you eternal life. Wouldn’t you like that?”
He was right. It was a very attractive offer. But this nutcake was a fruitcake and I couldn’t believe anything that he said. “Tell me about it, Professor Slakey. Convince me and perhaps I will consider it.”
“Entropy,” he said sinking automatically into professorial didactic lecture mode. “That is my field of expertise, as you know. But you do not know how far I have advanced my knowledge, or to what lengths my research has gone. In the begi