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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c951d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63638 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63638) diff --git a/old/63638-h.zip b/old/63638-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b442a21..0000000 --- a/old/63638-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63638-h/63638-h.htm b/old/63638-h/63638-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5dd33c2..0000000 --- a/old/63638-h/63638-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1236 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Electron Eat Electron, by Noel Loomis. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Electron Eat Electron, by Noel Loomis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Electron Eat Electron - -Author: Noel Loomis - -Release Date: November 5, 2020 [EBook #63638] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELECTRON EAT ELECTRON *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Electron Eat Electron</h1> - -<h2>By NOEL LOOMIS</h2> - -<p>(<i>Editor's note: When we had read through<br /> -this in-a-class-by-itself story, we exclaimed,<br /> -"Here's PLANET'S scoop on the world!" What do<br /> -you think? Does Mr. Loomis answer the<br /> -questions: "How will future wars be fought?<br /> -Will civilization be destroyed?"</i>)</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Spring 1946.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Supreme General Hoshawk, chief of staff, watched with piercing -gray eyes while the President of the United States of the Western -Hemisphere, Jeffrey Wadsworth, lay relaxed under a cosmic-ray lamp, -with no covering but a towel over his loins.</p> - -<p>The surgeon-general of the Hemispheric Armies raised his hand, and the -lamp receded.</p> - -<p>"Is that enough?" Hoshawk asked dryly.</p> - -<p>"It's the maximum, even for him," said the surgeon-general. "His -reflexes will be faster than light itself."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk grunted, his eyes narrow. As far as he could see, the speed of -a man's reflexes, even of a man who was about to champion seven hundred -million persons, wasn't as important as the man's loyalty or his sense -of personal responsibility. And Hoshawk did not have much use for -Wadsworth.</p> - -<p>Augusto Iraola of Brazil, deputy president for South America, stepped -forward from the group of forty men. He asked the President anxiously, -"How do you feel?" Iraola was old and bearded.</p> - -<p>"Not bad," said the President, and his voice squeaked a little as it -changed pitch.</p> - -<p>The Minister of State, with a big portfolio under his arm, said, -"Shouldn't we prepare the vice president?"</p> - -<p>Morrison, vice president for Canada, spoke pedantically, "It would be -a tragedy to lose President Wadsworth. Last month his I.Q. was 340, -nearly twenty points above any other member of the Mutant College."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk barely caught himself in time to repress a snort. A boy of -sixteen, no matter what his I.Q., was just a kid. You couldn't expect -him to exhibit initiative or even to take things seriously. That was -why Hoshawk had almost broken with the Hemispheric Congress thirty -years before—almost two of President Jeffrey's lifetimes, Hoshawk -reflected wryly.</p> - -<p>The voice of the President, slightly amused, came to them. "I'm all -right now," he said. "I think I ate too much ice cream last night. Nine -dishes."</p> - -<p>There were gasps. Hoshawk held back his sarcasm, but he could not -refrain from a triumphant glance at the ancient Minister of State, who -avoided his eyes.</p> - -<p>Iraola was volatile. "Sabotage!" he said.</p> - -<p>President Wadsworth licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. "No, -the new pineapple-avocado. Very good, gentlemen. I recommend it."</p> - -<p>The neuro-analyst whipped a graph from his machine. Hoshawk barely -looked at the graph. "Speed of reaction down to zero, point, nine -zeros, three, four—three times normal speed. Let's get on with the -war."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The President's eyes had been fixed hopefully on Hoshawk's grizzled -face, and at Hoshawk's words he relaxed. His muscles rippled an -instant, and then he was standing.</p> - -<p>It was always a little shock to Hoshawk to see him move. It wasn't -right that any man, even a Superior Mutant, should be able to move -faster than light-speed. You didn't dare to trust a man like that.</p> - -<p>Forty august heads—all but Hoshawk's—inclined as the President stood -there, but the President just smiled at them and yawned and stretched -luxuriously.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk was annoyed, but there was nothing he could do about it. The -Hemispheric Congress had set up the Mutant College two hundred years -ago, and every child with I.Q. above 200 and physique to match, became -a member, for the sole purpose of selecting a President whose primary -duty would be to fight a war, if it should come in his term, on one of -the giant keyboards. This had been a concession to left-wing agitation -that, if there was to be another war, it should be fought by the -leaders and not by the ranks.</p> - -<p>The Mutant College had been established when the Hunyas had overrun -Europe and Asia, and now for two centuries there had been no war, -but only preparation for war, East against West, through systems of -selection and training closely parallel, but with a difference that was -forever in Hoshawk's mind—if he was a capable man, the Hunyas kept him -for twenty-one years. And obviously you could depend a lot more on a -man of thirty-five than you could on a boy of sixteen.</p> - -<p>Forgacs, president of the Hunyas, was thirty-three—an old man for a -mutant, and smart and clever as only a mutant could be at that age.</p> - -<p>Yesterday the Hunyas had challenged.</p> - -<p>It was sudden, but not unexpected. There was no reason for delay. At -six o'clock tonight the two hemispheres would match force, and by eight -o'clock it would be over.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeffrey Wadsworth moved. One instant he was before them with a towel -around the middle of his bronze body, the next instant he was standing -there dressed in light plastic slippers, red trunks and a sleeveless -blue shirt. If Hoshawk hadn't been so old, he would have been envious -of the President's physique.</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen," Jeffrey said, "I am ready to go to the Chamber." He rubbed -his bare midriff in the region of his stomach.</p> - -<p>"Are you ill?" Hoshawk asked quickly.</p> - -<p>"No," Jeffrey watched the forty statesmen file out.</p> - -<p>"Sire," said Hoshawk, and his manner was respectful, for this boy of -sixteen was his commander-in-chief, "I still wish we had trained a few -thousand men in the use of weapons. I don't see how we can fight a war -with electronic tubes."</p> - -<p>Jeffrey looked at him gravely. "War with men is primitive. Lives can't -be replaced."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk sputtered. "There's never been any civilized war."</p> - -<p>"This time there will be," Jeffrey said confidently.</p> - -<p>"But—"</p> - -<p>"We'll win," Jeffrey repeated. "We <i>must</i> win." And Hoshawk caught a -flash of something deep in his eyes. Hoshawk could not quite identify -it, and yet he knew it spoke of the inner wisdom and conviction of the -young. And in that direction, Hoshawk reasoned, lay their weakness.</p> - -<p>"There'll be trickery from Forgacs," Hoshawk predicted.</p> - -<p>"Quite possible," said Wadsworth. "I don't trust him, myself. He -challenged on a technicality."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk was gratified to hear a worried note in the President's voice. -"He claimed we violated the Agreement of 2118," he said, probing, "by -keeping scientific discoveries to ourselves."</p> - -<p>Wadsworth answered quietly, "Then he challenged because he himself had -secrets that he believed more potent."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless," said Hoshawk, "a few hundred men trained in the use of -tanks—"</p> - -<p>Jeffrey shook his head. "And revert to the primitive," he pointed out. -"If the world is ever to get away from that kind of war, this is the -time to prove it."</p> - -<p>"And if we lose, we do so at the expense of a hemisphere."</p> - -<p>"That's true," Jeffrey said calmly. "But if we should win by using men -and destroying lives, we would do so at the expense of a civilization. -By the act of reverting to the use of human fighters, we would convince -the world that war could not be fought electronically."</p> - -<p>They reached the door of the Chamber. The President shook hands with -Iraola and with Hoshawk.</p> - -<p>"Wish me luck," he said lightly.</p> - -<p>They inclined their heads, and when they looked up, the President was -seated on a beryllium stool that traveled a three-quarter circle before -the great bank of keys like the keyboard of a giant organ. He pulled -on a glass helmet and adjusted the sonic amplifiers to his mastoids. -He flicked the oxygen valve open and shut, and then looked at it and -listened intently.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk saw an instant's doubt on the President's face. Hoshawk -wondered if the valve was leaking, and frowned. The Chamber had been -tested exhaustively, but with hundreds of thousands of circuits, -cut-backs, by-passes, and relays, it was possible the oxygen valve had -been overlooked.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeffrey strapped himself into the chair. The chronometer showed five -minutes before the Hour. The President looked at the huge curved map -of the Atlantic, now aglow with light above the big keyboard. His eyes -swept the thousands of ivory keys and he rubbed his hands together for -a final limbering of his fingers.</p> - -<p>He spoke, and his intent voice came to them through the amplifier: -"HHQ."</p> - -<p>"North America is completely evacuated, Sire, to the Polar ice-cap. -There is now no human being on the continent. The Hunyas refused our -request to declare New York an open city, and it was evacuated thirty -minutes ago."</p> - -<p>The President called for a chronometer check. The instrument in the -Chamber had lost two hundredths of a second, and Hoshawk could see that -Jeffrey was making a mental note of that. He was forced to admit that -the young mutant was thorough.</p> - -<p>There were two minutes left. Jeffrey sat straight before the great -keyboard, poised an instant, and then his incredibly facile fingers -played the keys, flashing from one bank to the next, shooting the chair -to right and to left, while he watched the map above him and the great -bank of lights on each side. Then he leaned back, relaxed.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk was glad now they were playing it safe. Jeffrey had insisted on -the Midwest Chamber in preference to the Pacific or Atlantic station. -For this was modern war. There would be only one person killed. This -was a war of electronics, deadly and final, but no one would be -actually killed but the losing President. That was decreed by the -Six-Continent Council.</p> - -<p>It was one minute before the hour. The President pressed a key.</p> - -<p>The Starter answered: "President Wadsworth, are you ready?"</p> - -<p>"Ready," said Jeffrey in a high voice.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk heard the Starter's voice: "President Forgacs, are you ready?"</p> - -<p>"Ja," came the deep voice of the Hunyas president.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey flicked the oxygen valve for a second, snapped it off, and -Hoshawk saw him glance down at it. Then Jeffrey sat poised, all the -alertness of his incredible mind bearing intently on the map before him.</p> - -<p>A bell sounded. The war was on!</p> - -<p>Jeffrey did not move. He waited, and watched. Ten trillion electronic -tubes would flash their information on the Map. He waited—one minute, -two minutes, five minutes. The Map was dark.</p> - -<p>So Forgacs wanted him to move first.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey flicked the oxygen and his chair shot to the left. His fingers -blurred into movement. He shot back to the center of the keyboard and -focused his entire intellect on the Map.</p> - -<p>A dozen tiny red lights rose off the coast of Newfoundland and raced -eastward. Each light represented a thousand rockets loaded with thirty -tons of DTN. One of those rockets would wipe Berlin from the earth—if -it struck.</p> - -<p>But Hoshawk knew the President did not expect them to reach Europe.</p> - -<p>They did not. Near the coast of Holland they began to wink out. One got -as far as Cologne.</p> - -<p>If the Chamber had been above ground instead of three hundred feet deep -in solid rock, they would have felt the concussion, for DTN's powerful -waves traveled at the speed of light.</p> - -<p>Still there was no answer.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey's fingers played for an instant on the keys. Red lights rose -from Labrador, from near Boston, from Florida, and streaked east—not -for Berlin this time, but for Marseilles.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey was testing Forgacs' explosive screen. It was wholly effective; -one after the other, the trains of red lights winked out.</p> - -<p>But now there was an answer. From the Bay of Biscay red lights with -black dots on them began to wink on as the mammoth tabulating machine -in the room below recorded the information from thousands of hidden -electronic tubes, totaled it, and presented it on the Map.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The President hardly watched them. His screen with its principal -power-plant in Philadelphia would stop the rockets, up to a total of -some seventy-five octillion macro-ergs.</p> - -<p>On the off chance that Forgacs would forget to close his screen after -his rockets had passed it, Jeffrey fired a salvo from the Bahamas.</p> - -<p>Forgacs answered with three salvos from Brest, and Jeffrey gave him -back ten from Long Island, then Hoshawk frowned as he saw the President -rub his stomach. Hoshawk had always opposed that abominable atavistic -confection called ice cream.</p> - -<p>It was a game of incredibly swift calculation and rapier thrusts from -strong point to strong point in the effort to break through the screen. -Once the screen should be broken, anything might happen.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeffrey could see when his own screen was up, but their science had -devised no way to detect the enemy's screen except by firing into it. -Jeffrey pressed a pedal with his left foot, and a thin golden line -flashed on in a flattened arc from Greenland down through the Atlantic -and curved around the Falkland Islands.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey's screen was up. The Biscay salvos began to wink out against -it. Jeffrey's hands began to flash. Red lights winking up along the -coast of Europe and from North Africa showed that Forgacs was opening -up.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey cut in the oxygen for a second and flicked it off, then his -left foot slashed at the pedal as he cut his screen to let his own -rockets through and then threw it on again to stop the enemy.</p> - -<p>Forgacs was beginning a drive on Philadelphia, the site of the power -plant. Jeffrey was watching for an opening to Marseilles, vulnerable -for the same reason.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey kept firing rockets, but his mutant mind would be racing ahead, -calculating with infinite precision the times of discharge and times of -arrival.</p> - -<p>It was apparent by now that Forgacs' most powerful defenses were -centered around Marseilles, because Forgacs was not using them. This -meant he was not taking a chance on opening the Marseilles sector of -the screen.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey calculated the probable interchange of batteries for some sixty -moves ahead, Hoshawk knew, then he began to fire the Philadelphia -batteries at intervals.</p> - -<p>The firing rose in intensity, and Jeffrey's faster-than-light fingers -played the great keyboard like a master organ. A bell sounded and his -right foot threw on the western screen with its automatic cut-out.</p> - -<p>And all the time Jeffrey fired his big Philadelphia batteries at -intervals with a definite rhythm—five, three, and six seconds.</p> - -<p>He shot to the right and manipulated a bank of keys and was back in the -center almost instantaneously.</p> - -<p>He did not pause in his rocket salvos, but in three minutes and -eight seconds his first salvo of one-ton atom bombs would reach the -Marseilles screen. If he had calculated correctly, the Marseilles -screen would be open for an instant just as the atom bombs reached -it. He didn't think Forgacs could resist the temptation to blast -Philadelphia with his Marseilles batteries.</p> - -<p>Presently a thousand red lights winked up from the screen at -Marseilles. But Forgacs overlooked the atom bombs. They were slower -than the rockets, and there was no way to tell, from the Map, which was -which.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey shot a look at the chronometer, and Hoshawk saw the atom bombs -go through. A few seconds later the glow in Marseilles began to redden, -and Hoshawk exulted. The atom bombs had done their work. The Marseilles -screen was weakening.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey played the keys with fantastic speed. The war would soon be -over. Thousands of little red lights began streaking toward Marseilles. -At first they exploded in air as they hit the screen, but as the -explosive force of the DTN began to drain the screen, those behind -began to pour through.</p> - -<p>But there was a flash from Philadelphia, and a shock went through -Hoshawk. Something was wrong there. Jeffrey hadn't intended that. -Forgacs had used atom bombs and had broken through when the screen was -down.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey's fingers snatched at the oxygen valve. He tore it off and -threw it on the floor. He still held one important advantage. He was -ahead of Forgacs by forty seconds.</p> - -<p>Philadelphia went out and the golden defensive screen began to fade, -but Jeffrey, tensely erect, stayed on the attack. Hundreds of green -lights began to rise around Marseilles—great submarines, controlled by -electronics and carrying tanks and guns and explosives.</p> - -<p>The green lights converged on Marseilles. They got through the screen. -Now was the big gamble. Jeffrey guessed that Forgacs would operate from -an underground chamber near Marseilles itself.</p> - -<p>It wasn't a logical thing to do, and so Forgacs would do it, believing -that Jeffrey would pass Marseilles and go inland to find the Chamber.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey let him believe that. He sent eight thousand giant -electron-controlled bombers through the Marseilles gap and straight for -Berlin.</p> - -<p>The green lights started winking on the coast of France, showing the -submarines were unloading amphibious tanks. Jeffrey started them out -across France at high speed. Near Paris they met heavy resistance from -Forgacs' tank-killers.</p> - -<p>But now Jeffrey had more trouble. Forgacs had slipped a salvo of atom -bombs into the Labrador power station, and the entire north quadrant -of Jeffrey's screen was down. And just at that instant, the automatic -breaker failed and a tube burned out in the Montevideo power station, -and the southern half of South America was exposed. Green lights began -to wink up at the open spaces.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeffrey was grim. It was near the end. Dog eat dog. His flying fingers -chose to ignore Forgacs' attack, beyond firing millions of salvos of -small rockets which were little better than a delaying action.</p> - -<p>There were only two targets in this war—the Chambers.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey released his trump—thirty-five hundred flying robot tanks.</p> - -<p>They rocketed through the Marseilles screen and came on the city from -the land side, firing eight-inch rockets and shooting flames out half a -mile ahead.</p> - -<p>But this was a feint, too. From the sea now rose a great armada of -robot submarine carriers that spewed out tanks that were little more -than armored tank-cars filled with jellied XPR, which exploded always -down, toward the center of gravitation. They poured out the jelly on -the surface around Marseilles for a distance of twenty miles until -according to Jeffrey's figures the ground was covered a foot thick. The -flame-throwers roared into it and Jeffrey stopped them there.</p> - -<p>Then he fired his last salvo of atom-bombs from the Bahamas.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, Forgacs' tanks had overrun Boston, searching for the -American Chamber.</p> - -<p>The lights began to wink out, and Hoshawk knew that Boston was being -destroyed.</p> - -<p>Orange lights, indicating bombers, were heading for Chicago, and -Hoshawk knew that if Jeffrey's guess on Marseilles was bad, he had not -much longer to live.</p> - -<p>He looked at the Map. The atom-bombs were at Marseilles. A glow showed -around the twenty-mile circle that he had covered with jelly, and -Hoshawk knew the atom-bombs had landed.</p> - -<p>He knew that on the other continent, the most tremendous explosion in -man's history was taking place. And when it was over there would be a -mile-deep crater where Marseilles had been, and anything, no matter how -deep it was buried, would be destroyed by concussion.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey still played the keys, but his eyes were on the orange lights -approaching Chicago.</p> - -<p>They reached Chicago, perhaps directly over their heads, but Hoshawk -felt no bombs. A moment later the planes were still going westward.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey called the Starter. "Does Forgacs concede?" he asked.</p> - -<p>There was a moment's delay, then, "Forgacs does not answer."</p> - -<p>The President let out an undignified whoop. He tore off the straps that -held him in the chair, threw his helmet across the Chamber. "We won!"</p> - -<p>The Hemispheric diplomats were gathering excitedly in the corridor. -Jeffrey unsealed the Chamber.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk shook hands with him. "You did it," he said gruffly. "I -apologize for ever thinking—"</p> - -<p>The Chamber shuddered, and Hoshawk paled, but Jeffrey held up his -hand. He glanced at the chronometer. "That was Marseilles blowing up," -he said.</p> - -<p>His feet moved and he was gone. In a moment he was back. "Excuse me, -gentlemen," he begged. "I've got to see the squad. Just figured out a -way to beat the Blues. If you—"</p> - -<p>He stopped, frowned.</p> - -<p>He had felt it before they did—a distant blast. Then they heard it—a -dull explosion through three hundred feet of solid rock above them. The -floor shuddered under their feet.</p> - -<p>It came again, and again, farther away. A pattern. Then off somewhere -else came another string of explosions.</p> - -<p>The forty august heads stared at the ceiling. Mouths were open, but the -President's mutant brain in seconds analyzed the possibilities and came -up with the answer:</p> - -<p>"Atom-bombs!"</p> - -<p>"Impossible!" growled Hoshawk. "Forgacs' Chamber was destroyed."</p> - -<p>The President was already back in the Chamber. He pressed a key.</p> - -<p>"Starter," came the answer. "Forgacs' Chamber is destroyed. You have -won the war."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk was behind him. "But he's still firing, isn't he?"</p> - -<p>"No." The President was icily alert. He pointed to the big map. There -were no red pin-points that would indicate rockets or bombs coming from -the European continent. "The Chamber is gone. Undeniably gone."</p> - -<p>A new pattern of bomb-bursts came from above. "Chicago must be -destroyed by now," said the President harshly. He pointed to a -blacked-out area on the ground-glass screen above. "There are no -detector tubes left above us. But look—orange lights. Thousands of -them coming from the sea on the Maryland coast. And look there, to the -right. One—two—fifteen thousand bombers coming!"</p> - -<p>Hoshawk nodded as if he had known it all the time. "Sure. He has men -in those planes. Live men who can observe and act independently. He's -throwing hundreds of thousands of planes and submarine tractors and -mobile bomb-throwers at us—all operated by men. And Forgacs himself is -here, leading them. We're whipped, Sire! Where is your civilization -now?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wadsworth was calm. He was taking it like a man, anyway. He threw a -lever and poised at the great keyboard, then his mutant fingers began -to work in blurred movement.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk watched the screen above. The Atlantic filled with long trains -of red lights that arose from their American bases and streamed -eastward.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk blinked. "You're firing everything. And you've locked the -controls."</p> - -<p>Wadsworth didn't look up. "In five minutes," he said, "there won't be -an ounce of explosive left in any emplacement in America."</p> - -<p>"But that's—" Hoshawk started to say "foolish," but he changed it. -"That won't help, Sire. Forgacs' equipment is all over here, now."</p> - -<p>But Wadsworth leaned back. Their golden explosive screen showed no -longer on the Map. Already some of the emplacements had ceased to spew -out red lights, and the tail-ends of their trains were disappearing to -the east.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk shuddered as he saw that now America was completely defenseless.</p> - -<p>But Wadsworth spoke into his transmitter. "Radio. Give me special -frequency three-hundred-eighty-one thousand, six hundred kilocycles. -Clear all air-lines."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sire."</p> - -<p>The President pressed the scrambler button and then spoke. The words -came out of the amplifier. "Three tons of butter unloaded a fast curve -day before tomorrow because the baby was yelling for its morning -high-ball. The soap-suds are thick enough for whipping but who knows -where or when."</p> - -<p>The President leaned back and smiled. "That's an order to all sixteen -thousand mutants over the country to be on the alert at their -predetermined stations."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk frowned. "But everybody's been evacuated."</p> - -<p>"Not the mutants. You see General, we ourselves haven't trusted -Forgacs."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk's grim face lighted up. "Do you mean you have secretly made -some fighting equipment?"</p> - -<p>Wadsworth shook his head. "No. We could have. There's a loophole -in the Twenty-one Eighteen Agreement. But we have observed the -spirit—ah!"</p> - -<p>Up on the ground-glass screen, purple lights had been flashing on at -intervals over the United States, until now there were nineteen, and -Wadsworth spoke: "Those represent transmitter stations equally spaced -over the country. They are all manned by mutants."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk actually snorted. "Transmitter stations! You can't fight with -words! And, anyway, there won't be any power at all within a half hour."</p> - -<p>"They each have their own power-plant," The President said quietly.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk looked at the map again and groaned. The nation was almost -covered by a canopy of orange lights marked with black crosses. "There -must be at least a million bombers over us! They'll wipe out the whole -country within an hour. If there's anything you can do, <i>do it</i>!"</p> - -<p>The President was pale, but he sat quietly. "Stalled," Hoshawk thought -sardonically. It took something besides smartness to win a war. It took -character, too.</p> - -<p>Wadsworth pointed to the American shores. Long lines of green and -white and black and yellow dots coming from the sea, crawling in among -the orange lights that swarmed over America like a gigantic swarm of -hornets. "Submarines, amphibian battleships, flame-throwers, tanks," he -said.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk stood erect. "If it were not against regulations, Sire, I would -be tempted to blow my head off. We shall be destroyed as a people and -as a continent."</p> - -<p>The President's hands were clenched, but he answered slowly, "As -a continent, perhaps. But the buildings can be built again. As a -people—no, I don't think so. As a civilization, I hope we can be -saved."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk's eyes narrowed. "How?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"Those purple lights represent sonic transmitters. In other words, -generating stations for sound frequencies above the narrow band which -can be heard by humans. They were developed, built, and financed by -graduate mutants. They broadcast on different frequencies that we have -determined most effective in upsetting the equilibrium of unstable -chemical compounds."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean," asked Hoshawk, "that you are going to try to detonate -the explosives carried by Forgacs' planes?"</p> - -<p>"His planes, and anything else that carries them. We have analyzed -samples of his explosives to determine the critical frequency of each. -These nineteen stations cover the country. Any known explosive in the -continental United States will be detonated when these stations go into -operation."</p> - -<p>"What if Forgacs has some unknown explosive?"</p> - -<p>Wadsworth was solemn. "We take that chance," he said. "But the range of -possible explosive combinations is well known, and something entirely -different is unlikely. At any rate—"</p> - -<p>"They're starting to drop bombs!" Hoshawk said.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The President watched the red glow around Kansas City. His face was -taut. "There will be many cities destroyed," he said. "But we must wait -for all of Forgacs' equipment to be within our continental limits. It -must all be destroyed at once."</p> - -<p>"But the bombers are in action," said Hoshawk. "Denver is getting it -now."</p> - -<p>Wadsworth's eyes were on the coastlines. "It will be twenty minutes -at least before we can open the transmitters. We may lose most of our -cities by that time, but there is nothing we can do."</p> - -<p>The red glows began to spread. Dallas and Fort Worth, New Orleans, -Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland -and Seattle. The bombers were systematically destroying America's -population centers. And still Wadsworth waited. He sat tense before the -Map, watching the endless stream of lights come from the sea.</p> - -<p>But they were beginning to end. Many were far inland, attacking the -smaller cities, cleaning up the big ones.</p> - -<p>"The bombers won't be destroyed," said Hoshawk, "if they've already -dropped their bombs."</p> - -<p>"I think they will, for all practical purposes," said the President. -"Their ammunition, their signal flares—everything explosive will be -detonated."</p> - -<p>"How can you cover them all at once?"</p> - -<p>"There are over nine hundred frequencies—but we don't know that they -will be enough," Jeffrey pointed out gravely. "We can only hope."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk couldn't stand still any longer. He paced the floor before -the Map. "Every city in America of more than a hundred thousand is -gone—obliterated," he said tonelessly. "Can't we ever—"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" The President was alert. "The last line of flame-throwers is -coming on land." He pointed to the black dots streaming up on the west -coast. He spoke into the audio transmitter. He didn't bother with the -scrambler now. "Sonic stations on. Emergency force. Sonic stations on. -Emergency force. Situation critical."</p> - -<p>He pointed to the Map and sat back. Within a few seconds the purple -lights began to flash intermittently.</p> - -<p>"They're on," said the President. "But it will take a few minutes -for them to reach full intensity. The sonic devices operate at high -speeds—some at two hundred thousand r.p.m."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk watched, almost without breathing. For the first time he was -aware that the forty statesmen of the Western Hemisphere were watching -through the glass windows of the Chamber.</p> - -<p>At that instant purple glows began to surround the green lights, -starting on the east coast of Florida and spreading upward.</p> - -<p>"Amphibian submarines," whispered the President. "Their aerial -torpedoes are exploding!"</p> - -<p>"And up around the Great Lakes," said Hoshawk. "There it's amphibian -tanks."</p> - -<p>The President sat, and watched. The glows spread. They absorbed -flame-throwers, tractors, mine-heavers. The Map of America was a -clustered mass of lights, with the purple glow beginning to consume -everything in its reach.</p> - -<p>"The planes," said Jeffrey. "They're still untouched. They anticipated -something like this." He barked into the microphone. "All stations, -ascending frequency!" he ordered, and turned to Hoshawk. "We don't know -how effective this will be. It isn't as powerful as the static ranges. -But—"</p> - -<p>"It is! They've got the range!" cried Hoshawk.</p> - -<p>Jeffrey looked. Near Albuquerque, New Mexico, a cluster of orange -lights was being consumed by the purple glow. Jeffrey shot a glance at -a dial. "All stations! All stations! Frequency seventy-two thousand, -nine eighty. Emergency. Frequency seventy-two thousand, nine eighty."</p> - -<p>And the purple glow rolled and spread and consumed Forgacs' bombers by -the thousands.</p> - -<p>At last Wadsworth looked at the Map, with nothing left but the dead -embers of a mighty army.</p> - -<p>Hoshawk shook hands with him and then looked for a place to sit down -for a moment. "Sire," he said at last, licking his lips with the tip of -his tongue, "if it isn't presumptuous, I'd stand the check for a dish -of that new ice cream."</p> - -<p>Jeffrey looked at him and smiled. "You'd better have one yourself."</p> - -<p>Hoshawk's grizzled face was solemn. "I'm going to," he said.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Electron Eat Electron, by Noel Loomis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELECTRON EAT ELECTRON *** - -***** This file should be named 63638-h.htm or 63638-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/6/3/63638/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Electron Eat Electron - -Author: Noel Loomis - -Release Date: November 5, 2020 [EBook #63638] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELECTRON EAT ELECTRON *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Electron Eat Electron - - By NOEL LOOMIS - - (_Editor's note: When we had read through - this in-a-class-by-itself story, we exclaimed, - "Here's PLANET'S scoop on the world!" What do - you think? Does Mr. Loomis answer the - questions: "How will future wars be fought? - Will civilization be destroyed?"_) - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Spring 1946. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Supreme General Hoshawk, chief of staff, watched with piercing -gray eyes while the President of the United States of the Western -Hemisphere, Jeffrey Wadsworth, lay relaxed under a cosmic-ray lamp, -with no covering but a towel over his loins. - -The surgeon-general of the Hemispheric Armies raised his hand, and the -lamp receded. - -"Is that enough?" Hoshawk asked dryly. - -"It's the maximum, even for him," said the surgeon-general. "His -reflexes will be faster than light itself." - -Hoshawk grunted, his eyes narrow. As far as he could see, the speed of -a man's reflexes, even of a man who was about to champion seven hundred -million persons, wasn't as important as the man's loyalty or his sense -of personal responsibility. And Hoshawk did not have much use for -Wadsworth. - -Augusto Iraola of Brazil, deputy president for South America, stepped -forward from the group of forty men. He asked the President anxiously, -"How do you feel?" Iraola was old and bearded. - -"Not bad," said the President, and his voice squeaked a little as it -changed pitch. - -The Minister of State, with a big portfolio under his arm, said, -"Shouldn't we prepare the vice president?" - -Morrison, vice president for Canada, spoke pedantically, "It would be -a tragedy to lose President Wadsworth. Last month his I.Q. was 340, -nearly twenty points above any other member of the Mutant College." - -Hoshawk barely caught himself in time to repress a snort. A boy of -sixteen, no matter what his I.Q., was just a kid. You couldn't expect -him to exhibit initiative or even to take things seriously. That was -why Hoshawk had almost broken with the Hemispheric Congress thirty -years before--almost two of President Jeffrey's lifetimes, Hoshawk -reflected wryly. - -The voice of the President, slightly amused, came to them. "I'm all -right now," he said. "I think I ate too much ice cream last night. Nine -dishes." - -There were gasps. Hoshawk held back his sarcasm, but he could not -refrain from a triumphant glance at the ancient Minister of State, who -avoided his eyes. - -Iraola was volatile. "Sabotage!" he said. - -President Wadsworth licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. "No, -the new pineapple-avocado. Very good, gentlemen. I recommend it." - -The neuro-analyst whipped a graph from his machine. Hoshawk barely -looked at the graph. "Speed of reaction down to zero, point, nine -zeros, three, four--three times normal speed. Let's get on with the -war." - - * * * * * - -The President's eyes had been fixed hopefully on Hoshawk's grizzled -face, and at Hoshawk's words he relaxed. His muscles rippled an -instant, and then he was standing. - -It was always a little shock to Hoshawk to see him move. It wasn't -right that any man, even a Superior Mutant, should be able to move -faster than light-speed. You didn't dare to trust a man like that. - -Forty august heads--all but Hoshawk's--inclined as the President stood -there, but the President just smiled at them and yawned and stretched -luxuriously. - -Hoshawk was annoyed, but there was nothing he could do about it. The -Hemispheric Congress had set up the Mutant College two hundred years -ago, and every child with I.Q. above 200 and physique to match, became -a member, for the sole purpose of selecting a President whose primary -duty would be to fight a war, if it should come in his term, on one of -the giant keyboards. This had been a concession to left-wing agitation -that, if there was to be another war, it should be fought by the -leaders and not by the ranks. - -The Mutant College had been established when the Hunyas had overrun -Europe and Asia, and now for two centuries there had been no war, -but only preparation for war, East against West, through systems of -selection and training closely parallel, but with a difference that was -forever in Hoshawk's mind--if he was a capable man, the Hunyas kept him -for twenty-one years. And obviously you could depend a lot more on a -man of thirty-five than you could on a boy of sixteen. - -Forgacs, president of the Hunyas, was thirty-three--an old man for a -mutant, and smart and clever as only a mutant could be at that age. - -Yesterday the Hunyas had challenged. - -It was sudden, but not unexpected. There was no reason for delay. At -six o'clock tonight the two hemispheres would match force, and by eight -o'clock it would be over. - - * * * * * - -Jeffrey Wadsworth moved. One instant he was before them with a towel -around the middle of his bronze body, the next instant he was standing -there dressed in light plastic slippers, red trunks and a sleeveless -blue shirt. If Hoshawk hadn't been so old, he would have been envious -of the President's physique. - -"Gentlemen," Jeffrey said, "I am ready to go to the Chamber." He rubbed -his bare midriff in the region of his stomach. - -"Are you ill?" Hoshawk asked quickly. - -"No," Jeffrey watched the forty statesmen file out. - -"Sire," said Hoshawk, and his manner was respectful, for this boy of -sixteen was his commander-in-chief, "I still wish we had trained a few -thousand men in the use of weapons. I don't see how we can fight a war -with electronic tubes." - -Jeffrey looked at him gravely. "War with men is primitive. Lives can't -be replaced." - -Hoshawk sputtered. "There's never been any civilized war." - -"This time there will be," Jeffrey said confidently. - -"But--" - -"We'll win," Jeffrey repeated. "We _must_ win." And Hoshawk caught a -flash of something deep in his eyes. Hoshawk could not quite identify -it, and yet he knew it spoke of the inner wisdom and conviction of the -young. And in that direction, Hoshawk reasoned, lay their weakness. - -"There'll be trickery from Forgacs," Hoshawk predicted. - -"Quite possible," said Wadsworth. "I don't trust him, myself. He -challenged on a technicality." - -Hoshawk was gratified to hear a worried note in the President's voice. -"He claimed we violated the Agreement of 2118," he said, probing, "by -keeping scientific discoveries to ourselves." - -Wadsworth answered quietly, "Then he challenged because he himself had -secrets that he believed more potent." - -"Nevertheless," said Hoshawk, "a few hundred men trained in the use of -tanks--" - -Jeffrey shook his head. "And revert to the primitive," he pointed out. -"If the world is ever to get away from that kind of war, this is the -time to prove it." - -"And if we lose, we do so at the expense of a hemisphere." - -"That's true," Jeffrey said calmly. "But if we should win by using men -and destroying lives, we would do so at the expense of a civilization. -By the act of reverting to the use of human fighters, we would convince -the world that war could not be fought electronically." - -They reached the door of the Chamber. The President shook hands with -Iraola and with Hoshawk. - -"Wish me luck," he said lightly. - -They inclined their heads, and when they looked up, the President was -seated on a beryllium stool that traveled a three-quarter circle before -the great bank of keys like the keyboard of a giant organ. He pulled -on a glass helmet and adjusted the sonic amplifiers to his mastoids. -He flicked the oxygen valve open and shut, and then looked at it and -listened intently. - -Hoshawk saw an instant's doubt on the President's face. Hoshawk -wondered if the valve was leaking, and frowned. The Chamber had been -tested exhaustively, but with hundreds of thousands of circuits, -cut-backs, by-passes, and relays, it was possible the oxygen valve had -been overlooked. - - * * * * * - -Jeffrey strapped himself into the chair. The chronometer showed five -minutes before the Hour. The President looked at the huge curved map -of the Atlantic, now aglow with light above the big keyboard. His eyes -swept the thousands of ivory keys and he rubbed his hands together for -a final limbering of his fingers. - -He spoke, and his intent voice came to them through the amplifier: -"HHQ." - -"North America is completely evacuated, Sire, to the Polar ice-cap. -There is now no human being on the continent. The Hunyas refused our -request to declare New York an open city, and it was evacuated thirty -minutes ago." - -The President called for a chronometer check. The instrument in the -Chamber had lost two hundredths of a second, and Hoshawk could see that -Jeffrey was making a mental note of that. He was forced to admit that -the young mutant was thorough. - -There were two minutes left. Jeffrey sat straight before the great -keyboard, poised an instant, and then his incredibly facile fingers -played the keys, flashing from one bank to the next, shooting the chair -to right and to left, while he watched the map above him and the great -bank of lights on each side. Then he leaned back, relaxed. - -Hoshawk was glad now they were playing it safe. Jeffrey had insisted on -the Midwest Chamber in preference to the Pacific or Atlantic station. -For this was modern war. There would be only one person killed. This -was a war of electronics, deadly and final, but no one would be -actually killed but the losing President. That was decreed by the -Six-Continent Council. - -It was one minute before the hour. The President pressed a key. - -The Starter answered: "President Wadsworth, are you ready?" - -"Ready," said Jeffrey in a high voice. - -Hoshawk heard the Starter's voice: "President Forgacs, are you ready?" - -"Ja," came the deep voice of the Hunyas president. - -Jeffrey flicked the oxygen valve for a second, snapped it off, and -Hoshawk saw him glance down at it. Then Jeffrey sat poised, all the -alertness of his incredible mind bearing intently on the map before him. - -A bell sounded. The war was on! - -Jeffrey did not move. He waited, and watched. Ten trillion electronic -tubes would flash their information on the Map. He waited--one minute, -two minutes, five minutes. The Map was dark. - -So Forgacs wanted him to move first. - -Jeffrey flicked the oxygen and his chair shot to the left. His fingers -blurred into movement. He shot back to the center of the keyboard and -focused his entire intellect on the Map. - -A dozen tiny red lights rose off the coast of Newfoundland and raced -eastward. Each light represented a thousand rockets loaded with thirty -tons of DTN. One of those rockets would wipe Berlin from the earth--if -it struck. - -But Hoshawk knew the President did not expect them to reach Europe. - -They did not. Near the coast of Holland they began to wink out. One got -as far as Cologne. - -If the Chamber had been above ground instead of three hundred feet deep -in solid rock, they would have felt the concussion, for DTN's powerful -waves traveled at the speed of light. - -Still there was no answer. - -Jeffrey's fingers played for an instant on the keys. Red lights rose -from Labrador, from near Boston, from Florida, and streaked east--not -for Berlin this time, but for Marseilles. - -Jeffrey was testing Forgacs' explosive screen. It was wholly effective; -one after the other, the trains of red lights winked out. - -But now there was an answer. From the Bay of Biscay red lights with -black dots on them began to wink on as the mammoth tabulating machine -in the room below recorded the information from thousands of hidden -electronic tubes, totaled it, and presented it on the Map. - -The President hardly watched them. His screen with its principal -power-plant in Philadelphia would stop the rockets, up to a total of -some seventy-five octillion macro-ergs. - -On the off chance that Forgacs would forget to close his screen after -his rockets had passed it, Jeffrey fired a salvo from the Bahamas. - -Forgacs answered with three salvos from Brest, and Jeffrey gave him -back ten from Long Island, then Hoshawk frowned as he saw the President -rub his stomach. Hoshawk had always opposed that abominable atavistic -confection called ice cream. - -It was a game of incredibly swift calculation and rapier thrusts from -strong point to strong point in the effort to break through the screen. -Once the screen should be broken, anything might happen. - - * * * * * - -Jeffrey could see when his own screen was up, but their science had -devised no way to detect the enemy's screen except by firing into it. -Jeffrey pressed a pedal with his left foot, and a thin golden line -flashed on in a flattened arc from Greenland down through the Atlantic -and curved around the Falkland Islands. - -Jeffrey's screen was up. The Biscay salvos began to wink out against -it. Jeffrey's hands began to flash. Red lights winking up along the -coast of Europe and from North Africa showed that Forgacs was opening -up. - -Jeffrey cut in the oxygen for a second and flicked it off, then his -left foot slashed at the pedal as he cut his screen to let his own -rockets through and then threw it on again to stop the enemy. - -Forgacs was beginning a drive on Philadelphia, the site of the power -plant. Jeffrey was watching for an opening to Marseilles, vulnerable -for the same reason. - -Jeffrey kept firing rockets, but his mutant mind would be racing ahead, -calculating with infinite precision the times of discharge and times of -arrival. - -It was apparent by now that Forgacs' most powerful defenses were -centered around Marseilles, because Forgacs was not using them. This -meant he was not taking a chance on opening the Marseilles sector of -the screen. - -Jeffrey calculated the probable interchange of batteries for some sixty -moves ahead, Hoshawk knew, then he began to fire the Philadelphia -batteries at intervals. - -The firing rose in intensity, and Jeffrey's faster-than-light fingers -played the great keyboard like a master organ. A bell sounded and his -right foot threw on the western screen with its automatic cut-out. - -And all the time Jeffrey fired his big Philadelphia batteries at -intervals with a definite rhythm--five, three, and six seconds. - -He shot to the right and manipulated a bank of keys and was back in the -center almost instantaneously. - -He did not pause in his rocket salvos, but in three minutes and -eight seconds his first salvo of one-ton atom bombs would reach the -Marseilles screen. If he had calculated correctly, the Marseilles -screen would be open for an instant just as the atom bombs reached -it. He didn't think Forgacs could resist the temptation to blast -Philadelphia with his Marseilles batteries. - -Presently a thousand red lights winked up from the screen at -Marseilles. But Forgacs overlooked the atom bombs. They were slower -than the rockets, and there was no way to tell, from the Map, which was -which. - -Jeffrey shot a look at the chronometer, and Hoshawk saw the atom bombs -go through. A few seconds later the glow in Marseilles began to redden, -and Hoshawk exulted. The atom bombs had done their work. The Marseilles -screen was weakening. - -Jeffrey played the keys with fantastic speed. The war would soon be -over. Thousands of little red lights began streaking toward Marseilles. -At first they exploded in air as they hit the screen, but as the -explosive force of the DTN began to drain the screen, those behind -began to pour through. - -But there was a flash from Philadelphia, and a shock went through -Hoshawk. Something was wrong there. Jeffrey hadn't intended that. -Forgacs had used atom bombs and had broken through when the screen was -down. - -Jeffrey's fingers snatched at the oxygen valve. He tore it off and -threw it on the floor. He still held one important advantage. He was -ahead of Forgacs by forty seconds. - -Philadelphia went out and the golden defensive screen began to fade, -but Jeffrey, tensely erect, stayed on the attack. Hundreds of green -lights began to rise around Marseilles--great submarines, controlled by -electronics and carrying tanks and guns and explosives. - -The green lights converged on Marseilles. They got through the screen. -Now was the big gamble. Jeffrey guessed that Forgacs would operate from -an underground chamber near Marseilles itself. - -It wasn't a logical thing to do, and so Forgacs would do it, believing -that Jeffrey would pass Marseilles and go inland to find the Chamber. - -Jeffrey let him believe that. He sent eight thousand giant -electron-controlled bombers through the Marseilles gap and straight for -Berlin. - -The green lights started winking on the coast of France, showing the -submarines were unloading amphibious tanks. Jeffrey started them out -across France at high speed. Near Paris they met heavy resistance from -Forgacs' tank-killers. - -But now Jeffrey had more trouble. Forgacs had slipped a salvo of atom -bombs into the Labrador power station, and the entire north quadrant -of Jeffrey's screen was down. And just at that instant, the automatic -breaker failed and a tube burned out in the Montevideo power station, -and the southern half of South America was exposed. Green lights began -to wink up at the open spaces. - - * * * * * - -Jeffrey was grim. It was near the end. Dog eat dog. His flying fingers -chose to ignore Forgacs' attack, beyond firing millions of salvos of -small rockets which were little better than a delaying action. - -There were only two targets in this war--the Chambers. - -Jeffrey released his trump--thirty-five hundred flying robot tanks. - -They rocketed through the Marseilles screen and came on the city from -the land side, firing eight-inch rockets and shooting flames out half a -mile ahead. - -But this was a feint, too. From the sea now rose a great armada of -robot submarine carriers that spewed out tanks that were little more -than armored tank-cars filled with jellied XPR, which exploded always -down, toward the center of gravitation. They poured out the jelly on -the surface around Marseilles for a distance of twenty miles until -according to Jeffrey's figures the ground was covered a foot thick. The -flame-throwers roared into it and Jeffrey stopped them there. - -Then he fired his last salvo of atom-bombs from the Bahamas. - -In the meantime, Forgacs' tanks had overrun Boston, searching for the -American Chamber. - -The lights began to wink out, and Hoshawk knew that Boston was being -destroyed. - -Orange lights, indicating bombers, were heading for Chicago, and -Hoshawk knew that if Jeffrey's guess on Marseilles was bad, he had not -much longer to live. - -He looked at the Map. The atom-bombs were at Marseilles. A glow showed -around the twenty-mile circle that he had covered with jelly, and -Hoshawk knew the atom-bombs had landed. - -He knew that on the other continent, the most tremendous explosion in -man's history was taking place. And when it was over there would be a -mile-deep crater where Marseilles had been, and anything, no matter how -deep it was buried, would be destroyed by concussion. - -Jeffrey still played the keys, but his eyes were on the orange lights -approaching Chicago. - -They reached Chicago, perhaps directly over their heads, but Hoshawk -felt no bombs. A moment later the planes were still going westward. - -Jeffrey called the Starter. "Does Forgacs concede?" he asked. - -There was a moment's delay, then, "Forgacs does not answer." - -The President let out an undignified whoop. He tore off the straps that -held him in the chair, threw his helmet across the Chamber. "We won!" - -The Hemispheric diplomats were gathering excitedly in the corridor. -Jeffrey unsealed the Chamber. - -Hoshawk shook hands with him. "You did it," he said gruffly. "I -apologize for ever thinking--" - -The Chamber shuddered, and Hoshawk paled, but Jeffrey held up his -hand. He glanced at the chronometer. "That was Marseilles blowing up," -he said. - -His feet moved and he was gone. In a moment he was back. "Excuse me, -gentlemen," he begged. "I've got to see the squad. Just figured out a -way to beat the Blues. If you--" - -He stopped, frowned. - -He had felt it before they did--a distant blast. Then they heard it--a -dull explosion through three hundred feet of solid rock above them. The -floor shuddered under their feet. - -It came again, and again, farther away. A pattern. Then off somewhere -else came another string of explosions. - -The forty august heads stared at the ceiling. Mouths were open, but the -President's mutant brain in seconds analyzed the possibilities and came -up with the answer: - -"Atom-bombs!" - -"Impossible!" growled Hoshawk. "Forgacs' Chamber was destroyed." - -The President was already back in the Chamber. He pressed a key. - -"Starter," came the answer. "Forgacs' Chamber is destroyed. You have -won the war." - -Hoshawk was behind him. "But he's still firing, isn't he?" - -"No." The President was icily alert. He pointed to the big map. There -were no red pin-points that would indicate rockets or bombs coming from -the European continent. "The Chamber is gone. Undeniably gone." - -A new pattern of bomb-bursts came from above. "Chicago must be -destroyed by now," said the President harshly. He pointed to a -blacked-out area on the ground-glass screen above. "There are no -detector tubes left above us. But look--orange lights. Thousands of -them coming from the sea on the Maryland coast. And look there, to the -right. One--two--fifteen thousand bombers coming!" - -Hoshawk nodded as if he had known it all the time. "Sure. He has men -in those planes. Live men who can observe and act independently. He's -throwing hundreds of thousands of planes and submarine tractors and -mobile bomb-throwers at us--all operated by men. And Forgacs himself is -here, leading them. We're whipped, Sire! Where is your civilization -now?" - - * * * * * - -Wadsworth was calm. He was taking it like a man, anyway. He threw a -lever and poised at the great keyboard, then his mutant fingers began -to work in blurred movement. - -Hoshawk watched the screen above. The Atlantic filled with long trains -of red lights that arose from their American bases and streamed -eastward. - -Hoshawk blinked. "You're firing everything. And you've locked the -controls." - -Wadsworth didn't look up. "In five minutes," he said, "there won't be -an ounce of explosive left in any emplacement in America." - -"But that's--" Hoshawk started to say "foolish," but he changed it. -"That won't help, Sire. Forgacs' equipment is all over here, now." - -But Wadsworth leaned back. Their golden explosive screen showed no -longer on the Map. Already some of the emplacements had ceased to spew -out red lights, and the tail-ends of their trains were disappearing to -the east. - -Hoshawk shuddered as he saw that now America was completely defenseless. - -But Wadsworth spoke into his transmitter. "Radio. Give me special -frequency three-hundred-eighty-one thousand, six hundred kilocycles. -Clear all air-lines." - -"Yes, sire." - -The President pressed the scrambler button and then spoke. The words -came out of the amplifier. "Three tons of butter unloaded a fast curve -day before tomorrow because the baby was yelling for its morning -high-ball. The soap-suds are thick enough for whipping but who knows -where or when." - -The President leaned back and smiled. "That's an order to all sixteen -thousand mutants over the country to be on the alert at their -predetermined stations." - -Hoshawk frowned. "But everybody's been evacuated." - -"Not the mutants. You see General, we ourselves haven't trusted -Forgacs." - -Hoshawk's grim face lighted up. "Do you mean you have secretly made -some fighting equipment?" - -Wadsworth shook his head. "No. We could have. There's a loophole -in the Twenty-one Eighteen Agreement. But we have observed the -spirit--ah!" - -Up on the ground-glass screen, purple lights had been flashing on at -intervals over the United States, until now there were nineteen, and -Wadsworth spoke: "Those represent transmitter stations equally spaced -over the country. They are all manned by mutants." - -Hoshawk actually snorted. "Transmitter stations! You can't fight with -words! And, anyway, there won't be any power at all within a half hour." - -"They each have their own power-plant," The President said quietly. - -Hoshawk looked at the map again and groaned. The nation was almost -covered by a canopy of orange lights marked with black crosses. "There -must be at least a million bombers over us! They'll wipe out the whole -country within an hour. If there's anything you can do, _do it_!" - -The President was pale, but he sat quietly. "Stalled," Hoshawk thought -sardonically. It took something besides smartness to win a war. It took -character, too. - -Wadsworth pointed to the American shores. Long lines of green and -white and black and yellow dots coming from the sea, crawling in among -the orange lights that swarmed over America like a gigantic swarm of -hornets. "Submarines, amphibian battleships, flame-throwers, tanks," he -said. - -Hoshawk stood erect. "If it were not against regulations, Sire, I would -be tempted to blow my head off. We shall be destroyed as a people and -as a continent." - -The President's hands were clenched, but he answered slowly, "As -a continent, perhaps. But the buildings can be built again. As a -people--no, I don't think so. As a civilization, I hope we can be -saved." - -Hoshawk's eyes narrowed. "How?" he demanded. - -"Those purple lights represent sonic transmitters. In other words, -generating stations for sound frequencies above the narrow band which -can be heard by humans. They were developed, built, and financed by -graduate mutants. They broadcast on different frequencies that we have -determined most effective in upsetting the equilibrium of unstable -chemical compounds." - -"Do you mean," asked Hoshawk, "that you are going to try to detonate -the explosives carried by Forgacs' planes?" - -"His planes, and anything else that carries them. We have analyzed -samples of his explosives to determine the critical frequency of each. -These nineteen stations cover the country. Any known explosive in the -continental United States will be detonated when these stations go into -operation." - -"What if Forgacs has some unknown explosive?" - -Wadsworth was solemn. "We take that chance," he said. "But the range of -possible explosive combinations is well known, and something entirely -different is unlikely. At any rate--" - -"They're starting to drop bombs!" Hoshawk said. - - * * * * * - -The President watched the red glow around Kansas City. His face was -taut. "There will be many cities destroyed," he said. "But we must wait -for all of Forgacs' equipment to be within our continental limits. It -must all be destroyed at once." - -"But the bombers are in action," said Hoshawk. "Denver is getting it -now." - -Wadsworth's eyes were on the coastlines. "It will be twenty minutes -at least before we can open the transmitters. We may lose most of our -cities by that time, but there is nothing we can do." - -The red glows began to spread. Dallas and Fort Worth, New Orleans, -Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland -and Seattle. The bombers were systematically destroying America's -population centers. And still Wadsworth waited. He sat tense before the -Map, watching the endless stream of lights come from the sea. - -But they were beginning to end. Many were far inland, attacking the -smaller cities, cleaning up the big ones. - -"The bombers won't be destroyed," said Hoshawk, "if they've already -dropped their bombs." - -"I think they will, for all practical purposes," said the President. -"Their ammunition, their signal flares--everything explosive will be -detonated." - -"How can you cover them all at once?" - -"There are over nine hundred frequencies--but we don't know that they -will be enough," Jeffrey pointed out gravely. "We can only hope." - -Hoshawk couldn't stand still any longer. He paced the floor before -the Map. "Every city in America of more than a hundred thousand is -gone--obliterated," he said tonelessly. "Can't we ever--" - -"Wait!" The President was alert. "The last line of flame-throwers is -coming on land." He pointed to the black dots streaming up on the west -coast. He spoke into the audio transmitter. He didn't bother with the -scrambler now. "Sonic stations on. Emergency force. Sonic stations on. -Emergency force. Situation critical." - -He pointed to the Map and sat back. Within a few seconds the purple -lights began to flash intermittently. - -"They're on," said the President. "But it will take a few minutes -for them to reach full intensity. The sonic devices operate at high -speeds--some at two hundred thousand r.p.m." - -Hoshawk watched, almost without breathing. For the first time he was -aware that the forty statesmen of the Western Hemisphere were watching -through the glass windows of the Chamber. - -At that instant purple glows began to surround the green lights, -starting on the east coast of Florida and spreading upward. - -"Amphibian submarines," whispered the President. "Their aerial -torpedoes are exploding!" - -"And up around the Great Lakes," said Hoshawk. "There it's amphibian -tanks." - -The President sat, and watched. The glows spread. They absorbed -flame-throwers, tractors, mine-heavers. The Map of America was a -clustered mass of lights, with the purple glow beginning to consume -everything in its reach. - -"The planes," said Jeffrey. "They're still untouched. They anticipated -something like this." He barked into the microphone. "All stations, -ascending frequency!" he ordered, and turned to Hoshawk. "We don't know -how effective this will be. It isn't as powerful as the static ranges. -But--" - -"It is! They've got the range!" cried Hoshawk. - -Jeffrey looked. Near Albuquerque, New Mexico, a cluster of orange -lights was being consumed by the purple glow. Jeffrey shot a glance at -a dial. "All stations! All stations! Frequency seventy-two thousand, -nine eighty. Emergency. Frequency seventy-two thousand, nine eighty." - -And the purple glow rolled and spread and consumed Forgacs' bombers by -the thousands. - -At last Wadsworth looked at the Map, with nothing left but the dead -embers of a mighty army. - -Hoshawk shook hands with him and then looked for a place to sit down -for a moment. "Sire," he said at last, licking his lips with the tip of -his tongue, "if it isn't presumptuous, I'd stand the check for a dish -of that new ice cream." - -Jeffrey looked at him and smiled. "You'd better have one yourself." - -Hoshawk's grizzled face was solemn. 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