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diff --git a/old/66714-0.txt b/old/66714-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a25d672..0000000 --- a/old/66714-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1146 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cosmic Snare, by Milton Lesser - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Cosmic Snare - -Author: Milton Lesser - -Release Date: November 12, 2021 [eBook #66714] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COSMIC SNARE *** - - - - - - THE COSMIC SNARE - - By Milton Lesser - - Sub-space was a vast nothingness used for - instantaneous travel between stellar worlds. It - was uncharted, and--Liddell knew--a death trap! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - February 1956 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Liddell stared expectantly at the blank screen of the transfer unit. It -had been blank ever since he had arrived with his wife at the doorway, -enigmatically, mysteriously, sometimes frighteningly blank. - -"See anything?" Linda asked. Liddell's wife of one month was a tall but -trimly built girl in the uniform of the Transfer Service. She leaned -anxiously over Liddell's shoulder now as he peered at the dazzling -white screen. - -"Not yet," he said, licking his lips. "It was just a hunch, anyway." - -"What was just a hunch, darling?" - -"That we'd see anything now." - -"But you said--" - -"I know what I said, Linda. That we'd had enough time to get used to -this transfer station. That we'd read all the instructions and advice -left by our predecessor. That we'd--" - -"Then where's our first customer?" Linda demanded with a pout. - -Liddell grinned and craned his neck to peck a kiss at his young wife's -cheek. "Don't tell me you're lonely already!" he gasped, feigning -amazement. - -"No, but--" - -Suddenly, the lines of Liddell's gaunt face went serious. "The -lighthouse keepers of last century had nothing on us," he said. - -Linda nodded. "They were practically in the middle of things by -comparison. That's one thing I can't exactly get straight, sweetheart. -Exactly where we are, I mean." - -Liddell shrugged and offered an expansive gesture which was meant to -take in the round globe of their living quarters and the transfer unit. -"We're nowhere," he said. "Or we're everywhere. It depends on what -sub-space school you belong to. You see, sub-space is either utterly -nowhere, existing _below_ the normal endless but finite, self-contained -space-time continuity or else it is potentially everywhere, existing -just below the warp and woof of space-time on a thousand thousand -worlds...." - -"Never mind, Lidd," Linda grinned. "Once you get started on something -like that, you'd keep a gal up all night." - -"Sleepy?" - -"A little. That is, as you would say, if there was such a thing as -night here. But there's nothing outside the globe, nothing but that -featureless grayness. It doesn't even swirl. If it just swirled a -little, like smoke, that would be something. But it doesn't even do -that." - -"Sub-space," Liddell offered. "Absolute nothingness. It's funny, you -always picture nothingness as being black. But it's not. It's gray. -Plain, featureless, changeless gray." - -"Brother!" Linda said. "Can I ever see why they only take husband-wife -teams in the Transfer Service." - -"I'll bite. Why?" - -"Because a man alone could go off his rocker thinking the things you -think. He needs a girl around." - -"Does he?" Liddell asked, then waited until Linda had begun to pout -before he whirled around and took her in his arms, his back to the -blank transfer screen. - -"Lidd," Linda said. "Ah, Lidd...." But all at once she stiffened in -his arms. He could feel her hands against his chest, trying to thrust -him away. Her mouth was open but she couldn't speak. With one hand she -managed to point. - -At the surface of the transfer screen. - -"We're going to have company," Linda finally said. - - * * * * * - -Linda was in the galley, whipping up a quick meal. Aside from its -complete necessity in making the switch-over from normal space to -sub-space and back again, that was one of the functions of the transfer -unit. Since many of the outworld colonies still depended entirely on -food concentrates and vitashots, a final home-cooked meal would be much -appreciated by the traveler through sub-space. - -"Scared?" Liddell called over his shoulder. - -"You mean that they won't like my food?" - -"No, I mean with our first customer?" - -"I'm too busy with southern fried chicken to be scared." - -"Funny, isn't it?" Liddell mused. "Fifty years ago if you asked a -science writer to whip you up a piece about sub-space what would he -have said?" - -"Oh, something about a silver-hulled space liner shimmering into normal -space." - -Liddell nodded. "Well, they had the shimmering part right, anyway. But -it wouldn't have been a space ship." - -"It wouldn't have been a space ship," Linda agreed. - -"Because there's no necessity to breathe or to carry out any of the -normal biological functions in sub-space. There isn't any heat in -sub-space and there isn't any cold. There is only nothingness and -nothingness can have absolutely no effect on an organism. In short--" - -"In short my fried chicken is going to burn if I keep listening to -you." - -"--no spaceships. Just people. Shimmering in and out and spanning the -chasm of light years instantly." - -"Have you any data on our visitors yet?" - -"Not visitors. Just one. One traveler." - -"What does the screen say, Lidd?" - -Liddell read what was there before him for the third time. "Single man. -Luna outbound." - -"Destination?" - -"It doesn't say. Weight, one ninety. The--" - -"But we don't collect his fare, so why the business about his weight?" - -"Didn't you read the instructions, hon? Because it's forwarded from -here, just like we'll forward Mister Smith to his destination." - -"Smith? That's his name?" - -"John Smith," Liddell said. - -"I don't believe it. I never thought there actually was anybody named -John Smith anywhere, anytime." - -"We," said Liddell, "have a John Smith." - -"_Darn_ this deep well cooker! It isn't hot enough yet to put a good -crust on--" - -"A fine time to talk about cooking," Liddell shouted, hoping his voice -would carry back into the galley over the click-clacking racket of -the sub-space communicator. "Hey here's more from the Luna outbound -station," he added as the transfer screen pulsed and flashed again. - -"Such as what?" - -"It's still blurry. Here it comes now." - -"Well?" - -"Hey, what the hell is this!" Liddell cried abruptly. - -"Such language." - -"It's still blurry. It's flashing on and off, red on and then off to -white blank, red on again and off to white blank." - -"While you were studying the manuals, need I remind you I was trying -to learn how to cook for an interstellar clientele? What does the -flashing red signal mean?" - -"It means danger," Liddell said. "It means something's wrong and Luna -out doesn't have time to tell us what. I don't want to scare you, but -better drop your pots and pans and truck something up from the arsenal. -I've got to stay by the screen." - -There was a clatter as Linda called, "He doesn't want to scare me, the -man says. What is it, creatures from outer space or something?" - -"Very funny," Liddell said in a voice which clearly indicated he did -not think it was particularly funny at all. - - * * * * * - -There was nothing on the screen now but the flashing red and white -signal. The complete fragility of their position struck Liddell all at -once. The transfer station was a steelite globe a sixteenth of a mile -in diameter. It contained the sub-space transfer machinery, complete -living quarters for Liddell and his wife and the private and public -rooms of a small-sized hotel, as well as repair machinery, an arsenal -and a library of the ten thousand six hundred and seventeen possible -destinations for an outbound sub-space traveler. - -If there was trouble, Liddell thought, any kind of serious trouble--he -and Linda could do almost nothing about it. And if ever--for some -reason the nightmare thought came to him unbidden--if ever they were -set adrift from the transfer station, adrift in the featureless -less-than vacuum of sub-space, as had happened once or twice before -in the brief history of the service, they would float in a changeless -insanity-ridden void forever, their bodily functions suspended -indefinitely, only their minds working, fighting the sheer horror of -nothingness.... - -"Here's the gun," Linda said. "Did you know you were covered with -sweat, Lidd?" - -"I was just thinking." He took the blaster and stuck it awkwardly in -his belt. He felt suddenly foolish. The trouble could have been any -number of things; it didn't necessarily mean gun trouble. He was on the -point of removing the big clumsy weapon from his belt when the screen -flashed again. - -"He's coming now," Linda said. - -He was coming, all right. The screen flashed green for arrival. It -was seven feet high and three feet across, that screen, and whoever -materialized at the station would materialize in the screen itself. - -"What about the danger signal?" Linda asked. - -"They always follow it up with a verbal message," Liddell explained. -"It usually only takes a few minutes. It--" - -"Here he comes!" Linda cried. - -Something was shimmering in the screen, pulsing, struggling to bridge -the yawning chasm between the space which was not and the universe -which was. It gradually took the shape of a man floating in an -unexpectedly fetus-like position. - -"Lidd," Linda said. "We're getting over the sub-typer." - -"A message?" Liddell asked, only a small part of his mind concentrating -on what Linda had said. The rest of his being was riveted on the -transfer screen as the figure there floated closer, still shadowy, but -the shadow darkening, solidifying, bridging.... - -"I'll read it to you as it comes. URGENT LUNA OUTWARD TO SUB-SPACE WAY -STATION. JOHN SMITH ... that's strange. It's stopping." - -"It has to stop. Sub-space can take only a certain number of verbal -units at a time. Give it a couple of seconds." - -"How's our John Smith?" - -"Still shimmering, but getting more solid all the time." - -"Here it comes again.... IS ESCAPED LUNA PRISON CONDEMNED KILLER JASON -SHORT.... Oh God, Lidd!" - -There wasn't a station or budding colony in the galaxy which hadn't -heard of Jason Short. His kind was a rarity in the twenty-first -century, the strangely mal-adjusted, warped, sneering, conscienceless -professional killer. Before his capture, Short had hired out to -governments, to private firms, to individuals if they had sufficient -capital--as a killer. On capture he had been condemned to death at the -luna penal colony but the sentence had been delayed and postponed for -several years--all the while Jason Short's notoriety growing--because -sociologists and psychologists had insisted on studying Short -exhaustively to see if they could prevent a recurrence of his mental -sickness. - -And now all this, Liddell thought numbingly, had backfired. Now Jason -Short had somehow managed to escape-- - -Was materializing here, a cold, ruthless killer. - -Liddell clawed at the blaster at his belt and brought it up and clear -at the precise moment that Jason Short materialized fully in the screen. - -There was time for one wild shot, the raw energy searing into -sub-space through the screen. Then Jason Short became a solid, bulky -but swift-moving figure. He lunged at Liddell and they grappled for -possession of the blaster. Linda screamed, but she might have been -a hundred parsecs away in sub-space. For all his enormous size and -heavily-muscled body, Jason Short moved with surprising swiftness. He -used his right forearm like a club, smashing it against Liddell's jaw, -stunning him. Liddell went down and Short came down on top of him and -the two of them rolled over and over away from the screen, their wildly -thrashing arms and legs bringing Linda down on top of them. - -All at once, Short rolled clear of Liddell. Struggling for breath, -Liddell climbed to his feet, bringing the blaster to bear on the killer -triumphantly. - -"Hold it!" Short cried. - -"Oh, Lidd, Lidd ... do what you have to do!" Linda said. - -But Liddell let the blaster fall to the floor. - -For standing in front of him, waiting insolently, Jason Short had -circled his arm about Linda's neck and was holding her in front of him -as a shield. In his free hand, Short held a knife, the point barely -touching the edge of Linda's ribcage. - -"Why," said Short in a pleasant voice, "don't we talk about where -you're going to send me?" - - * * * * * - -Later Jason Short said, "I see they flashed a danger signal from Luna -out. How do I know you won't do the same?" Short was a big man with -immense shoulders and heavy limbs but the fluid, graceful movements of -the born athlete. Only his eyes, in an otherwise pleasant face, looked -brutal. Liddell had never seen a killer's eyes before, but did not have -to be told that Short's were killer's eyes. - -"You don't," Liddell said. "You don't know at all." - -"O.K. pal. Have it your way. I guess I made a mistake at Luna out. I -guess I should have killed them. Do you think it matters to me? Do you -think it could possibly matter how many I kill now?" - -Liddell said nothing. Short licked his lips and studied Liddell's -blaster, which he had retrieved while still holding Linda as a shield. - -"Are you going to kill us?" Linda said. - -"Lady, I'm not even thinking about it." - -"You're not--" - -"Yet. The important thing is--where am I going? Is there some way I can -go off from here without you knowing where? Or without these machines -of yours recording it?" - -"The machines record nothing," Liddell said. "It's all up to us." - -"Then all I have to do is kill you, and there'll be no way for them to -trace me? Is that what you're saying, you sap?" - -"That's what I'm saying," Liddell admitted. Linda gave him a startled -look but said nothing. - -"There must be a catch to it somewhere," Short protested. He almost -sounded indignant. - -"There's a catch," Liddell said. - -"Give." - -"These stations. It's why they're manned. Don't you think the whole job -could be done mechanically?" - -"Yes, but--" - -"But it's not, Mr. Short. Because there are too many variables. Because -sub-space is still unpredictable and the thinking machine has not yet -been built which can handle more than a few unpredictables." - -"What are you getting at?" - -"Just this, Mr. Short. You can kill us if you want to. You can choose -your destination, wait while I plot it out on the de-materializer and -possibly verify it for yourself if you know anything about sub-space." - -"I don't know anything at all about sub-space," Short admitted. - -"But," Liddell went on, "you'd be gambling and gambling badly with -the unpredictability factor. One sub-space transfer out of two, -according to statistics, is not routine. Oh, not essentially dangerous -as long as there's someone at the transfer unit station to correct -any inconsistencies in transfer as they arise. But if there's no one, -you'll float in sub-space forever, not going hungry, not going thirsty, -not growing older, but slowly going crazy with changelessness...." - -"So, I can't kill you." - -"Suit yourself." - -"We'll get to that later," Short said. "Now, about where I can go: you -got any ideas?" - -"There are ten thousand and some worlds connected by these sub-space -units, Mr. Short. What type of world did you have in mind?" - -"Not a new one or a small one. I'd stick out like a sore thumb. I want -one plenty far from Earth but still not a brand new, uncrowded colony. -I want a far colony but an established one." - -"Deneb Twelve," Liddell said in a very businesslike voice. "You -couldn't possibly do better than Deneb Twelve. At the last census it -had a population of over a hundred million, but it's more than six -hundred light years from Earth, the twelfth planet of a system in -which seven, nine, ten, eleven, twelve and fourteen are inhabited or -habitable...." - -"All right, all right. Cut all the details. How do I know you're -telling the truth about Deneb Twelve?" - -"You don't but you can always check it in our library." - -"If you say I can check it, then I don't have to. I believe you. But -unfortunately, I know nothing about sub-space." - -Liddell shrugged. - -"But you're not going to trick me," Short said. - -"I didn't say I would." - -"I'm saying _I know_ you're not." - -Again Liddell shrugged. - -"You want to know why?" - -"I'm listening," Liddell said. - -"Because I'm going to take your wife with me, that's why. When we land -on Deneb Twelve, I'll let her go." - -"You can't take her," Liddell said. - -"Can't I? Want to get started now, Liddell?" Short asked, waving the -blaster. "I'm ready to get started, if you are." - - * * * * * - -Liddell stared mutely at his wife. Linda's face was drawn and white and -for several moments no one spoke. Then Linda said: - -"You'd better do whatever he says, Lidd." - -"You know something?" Short said, laughing. "You'd better." - -Without a word, Liddell stalked toward the de-materializer. - -"Sooner or later they're going to catch you, Short," Liddell said an -hour later. "Why don't you give yourself up now and get it over with." - -"Don't make me laugh. Would you give yourself up? I'm a condemned -killer, pal. Sure, maybe they'll catch me on Deneb or someplace, but -every day I stay alive is an extra day of reprieve for me, and don't -think I don't know it. Now, are you ready with that de-materializer or -whatever the hell you call it?" - -Liddell nodded and Short said, "Then let's go." - -Liddell sat at the plotting table without moving. For a moment he -stared defiantly at Short, but the escaped killer got up and placed -a hand impersonally on Linda's shoulder. He closed the fingers and -Linda's face went chalk-white. He looked at Liddell, challenging him -with his eyes. - -"Better do what he says, Lidd," Linda told her husband. - -Liddell sat there and didn't answer. Linda turned to Short and said, -"Let me talk to him for a minute." - -Short shrugged and released her. She came over to Liddell and bent -close to him and said, "Listen to me, darling. Do everything he says." - -"He's not going to take you with him," Liddell said fiercely. - -"You've plotted his sub-space pattern. He could take a chance and kill -us both and try the transfer mechanism himself. You forget, he has -absolutely nothing to lose." - -"Don't you see the way he looked at you? He's not hiding it. He wants -you, Linda. If we let him take you to Deneb Twelve, he can lose himself -there. With you. It would take the law officers of a frontier world -like Deneb Twelve months to find you. I can't let him do it." - -"I'll be all right, believe me." - -"Linda, listen to me. I know you're saying that because you don't want -Short to do anything violent here--to both of us. But there's another -way." - -"I know. To refuse. To let him go alone--and probably kill us first." - -"No," Liddell whispered while Short watched them from across the room, -unable to hear the words they spoke. "There _is_ another way. Do you -trust me, Linda?" - -"You know you don't have to ask a question like that. I trust you, -Lidd. I trust you with my life." - -"Then listen. I'm going to send you. I don't want to say any more. I -don't think he can hear us from where he's sitting but let's not chance -it." - -"But you said if he took me to Deneb--" - -"I'll send you," said Liddell grimly, his voice fading until Linda -could barely hear it. "But not to Deneb. Trust me, darling." - -"I trust you." - -"And we don't have to worry about law officers. I'll come for you." - -"But where--" - -"Hey, you two," Short yelled suddenly. "That's enough of that. I said I -was ready to get started!" He crossed the room in half a dozen powerful -strides and grasped Linda's arm. Liddell had time to kiss his wife -briefly, quickly, then watched as she went to the transfer screen with -Jason Short. - -"You sure you won't try any tricks?" Short asked. - -Instead of answering Liddell said, "Do you think I'm crazy? You have my -wife, haven't you?" - -Short laughed and said nothing. With Linda, he climbed the three steps -up to the transfer screen. "I still can't get used to the idea," he -admitted. "We stand here, in this screen like this. You press a few -buttons, and what happens? We go sailing off into sub-space and the -next thing we know we're materializing on Deneb Twelve. It's like -magic." - -"It's coldly scientific," Liddell assured him. "Sub-space is as real -as the normal space-time continuum, as extensive. As a matter of fact, -they're co-extensive. They exist together, side by side, but the laws -of finite speed, the laws which say you would need all the mass in the -universe to travel at the speed of light do not apply in sub-space. -Travel is incredibly fast, almost instantaneous between any two -points--without the need of acceleration." - -"I didn't ask for a lecture," Short said. "Just you send us where we -want to go." - - * * * * * - -Linda offered Liddell a wan smile. The smile said, better than any -words: you're spouting science, the science you love, even at a time -like this--and you know something! I love you for it, I love you all -the more for it.... - -Now Short and Linda stood within the frame of the transfer screen. -Wordless, Liddell took the data on weight and space-shift which he had -plotted at the plotting table and brought it to the simple bank of -controls below the transfer screen. Automatically he began to plot in -the course by punching half a dozen tabs on one side of the control -board. He was aware of Short standing above him, within the frame of -the screen, scowling, one hand on Linda's shoulder and one holding -Liddell's own blaster--aware of the almost serene smile of trust on -Linda's face. - -It was better, Liddell knew all at once, far better that he hadn't had -the time to tell her. For then her trust would have been shattered by -fear.... - -"Well, what are we waiting for?" Short wanted to know. - -"I'm ready now," Liddell told him. - -"Say so long to the old man," Short told Linda. - -"I--I trust you, darling," Linda said. "I love you." - -"Now you know," Short chortled. "There's a touching scene. But let's -drop the curtain and get on with it!" he added with a broad grin. -Short was enjoying himself. Liddell knew. Every moment he had was a -moment of freedom he hadn't expected. He would be very dangerous as a -consequence. Whatever he did, he knew he had nothing to lose. He had to -be stopped. - -And Liddell was the only one who could stop him. - -Savagely, Liddell threw home the controls. For a split second, nothing -happened. Then, slowly, Linda and Jason Short began to shimmer. -Watching them like that, it was eerie. Liddell knew the theory well -enough, but this was the first actual transfer he had ever attempted. -And Linda was part of it-- - -The two figures in the screen above him--the woman he loved and the man -who had come abruptly to shatter their lives--became no more tenuous -than smoke. They seemed to swirl and shift like smoke, to grow thinner, -as if a wind had come following blowing.... - -Short's voice echoed strangely from the now almost shapeless fog in the -transfer screen. "Deneb," his voice wailed ghostlike. "Deneb, here we -come!" - -Then the screen was empty. Liddell released the controls and stared -for a moment at the blank whiteness. He got up and went to the -communications board, where he tapped a code message to central -sub-space station. The message said: - -_This is Liddell at sub-space B-11. Received your message and your John -Smith. Trouble. Station suspended until further notice. Send no one -through as there will be no one to receive them._ - -The message sent, Liddell replotted the transfer unit, double-checking -his previous findings. He then set the controls on automatic and -climbed the steps to the screen. He did not bother going to the arsenal -for a weapon. Where he was going weapons would be useless, he thought. -Where he was going, no man had ever gone before. - -Well, two people had--but two only. And he had sent them. - -He was going after Linda and Jason Short. - -He took one more look at the mistake he had purposely plotted into the -transfer pattern. The mistake which meant that Linda and her captor -would never arrive on Deneb Twelve. - -Or anywhere.... - -The mistake which left Jason Short and Liddell's wife stranded in -sub-space, in the nothingness continuum somewhere between the normal -space-time of station B-11 and Deneb Twelve. - -It was, Liddell told himself for the tenth time, the only thing he -could have done. Trap Short. Trap Linda with him, yes, but at least -he could go after them. At least he knew exactly where they were. In -sub-space. At the exact point he had plotted on the control board. -Waiting. Waiting forever if somehow he missed them when he sent himself -through. Waiting in timeless, spaceless, airless, temperature-less -sub-space. Waiting. They would not miss oxygen. All their bodily -functions were suspended. Waiting--possibly to drift forever until -their minds were shattered in the awful blank immensity. - - * * * * * - -A chill possessed Liddell as the automatic machinery suddenly made him -shimmer. From his viewpoint within the screen, it looked as if the room -and the controls and the screen were themselves shimmering. - -He blinked. And opened his eyes. - -And stared out on a featureless gray infinity. - -On sub-space. - -"Linda!" he called. He hadn't meant to shout. He knew there was no air, -no medium to carry his voice. - -But he heard it--loud, clear. - -"Linda!" he shouted again. It was his own voice booming out across -the gray void. It was not his imagination. Then was science somehow -wrong about sub-space? He didn't think so. But it couldn't possibly -be an audible projection of his voice. It had to be something else. -Telepathy? It was something like that, he decided. An audible telepathy -in a world which didn't obey the natural laws which governed our own -universe. - -"We're over here, Lidd!" Linda's voice came to him. It was followed at -once by a scream and Short's shout: - -"Shut your trap if you know what's good for you." - -Liddell swam. The motion came to him unbidden but he felt himself -moving through the gray nothingness. He could see nothing except his -own arms as he made the swimming motions and moved. Swimming through -nothingness? But there was no medium to push against. Another physical -law, a law of our universe, Liddell knew which went by the boards in -sub-pace. - -"I'm coming, Linda." - -"He's got your blaster. He's ... I can see you now, Lidd." - -There was a roar and a flash up ahead. Something streaked at Liddell -through the gray void. Instinctively, he moved aside. It was a beam of -raw energy from the blaster and he wondered what would have happened if -it had struck him. - -He gasped in surprise. - -The blaster beam did not fade. It hovered near him. Wondering, he -touched it. It was a jagged bolt ten feet long and felt solid as a -shaft of steel. Another natural law, Liddell thought. Snafu here. -Because the energy beam of the blaster had been transformed instantly -into matter. Shrugging, Liddell grasped the beam--which although -it seemed as solid as steel had utterly no weight. With it he swam -through the changeless gray murk. - -All at once he could see them up ahead, Short and Linda, floating -there, two tiny figures a few hundred yards in front of him. Short's -blaster roared again--and the roaring was still another violation of -natural law. Another beam streaked out and flashed by Liddell. Again it -solidified. Ignoring it, Liddell swam forward with the first beam. He -began to feel like Zeus wielding a thunderbolt. - -He waited until he was quite close to Short and Linda, until Short -fired the blaster once more. Then he hurled his thunderbolt. - -Short howled with rage and darted away, triggering the blaster -again. But this time Liddell was on him before he could take careful -aim. Dimly, Liddell was aware of Linda hovering near, touching the -thunderbolt gingerly. - -Then all his attention was centered on Jason Short. They were fighting -for their lives, fighting tooth and nail, where fighting or any -physical activity should have been impossible. But what did the edicts -of science matter when Short slammed a hard left hook against Liddell's -jaw, staggering him spilling him backward through the gray murk? - -Short followed up his advantage and lunged after Liddell, straddling -him weightlessly as they floated off, finding his throat with strong -fingers, applying pressure. - - * * * * * - -He drove Short off him with two left jabs, snapping the bigger man's -head back. Short was like a bulldog, though. - -Slowly, the fingers around Liddell's throat released their pressure. -In a world with no air and where no air was necessary, the choking -pressure hadn't damaged Liddell, but his throat ached from constriction -alone. He drove Short off him now with lefts and rights to the head. -They were weightless, but they hurt. He couldn't explain it, no more -than he could explain the sudden trans-mutation of the blaster's -energy beam to solid matter. It was one of the unknown natural laws of -sub-space, that was all. - -Presently, he was aware that Short no longer fought but hung there in -sub-space with his arms slack. He drove a few more left hooks and right -crosses into the face floating so near his own, then swam back and -clear. - -Short hung there, suspended. - -"But how," Linda gasped, "how did you ever--" - -"Automatic control. I came after you." - -"How will we ever get back?" - -Liddell looked at his wrist-chrono. "In fifteen minutes, the automatic -control picks us up and brings us back. Are you all right?" - -"He didn't hurt me. He didn't have time." - -They waited there in sub-space in each other's arms. When, fifteen -minutes later, they began to shimmer, Liddell grabbed the unconscious -Short's hand and the three of them shimmered together into normal space. - -Liddell went to the arsenal and secured Short with arm and leg irons. -By the time he called through to Luna outbound with his explanatory -message, the escaped killer had regained consciousness but maintained a -grim silence. - -"You know," Liddell told his wife, "one thing good's going to come of -this. I mean, besides recapturing Short." - -"Such as what?" - -"Such as science always regarded sub-space only as a medium of -transfer. But with some of its unusual properties, I'll bet a few -first-rate resorts can be built out there." - -"You--you're crazy," Linda said, but smiled. - -"And what's more--" - -"Let me finish for you, darling. What's more, if they're going to build -any resorts out there, you're the man to build them. Right?" - -"Right," said Liddell, before he kissed her. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COSMIC SNARE *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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