C. M. Kornbluth by His Share Of Glory
Author:His Share Of Glory
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-11-21T23:06:16+00:00
The Perfect Invasion [Stirring Science Stories - March 1942 as by S. D.
Gottesman]
âHeavens!â said Bartok mildly, and âOh, my Lord!â His face wore a curiously complex look, as though he were half stunned with shock and otherwise doubting what he saw. Said Bartok: âThey canât do this to us.â
He turned decidedly from the transceiver and began to pace his office.
Into his personal mike he snapped: âSend in the number one houri.â
Babe MacNeice entered on cue. âWhat,â she asked, âis the matter with our overlord and preceptor?â She studied his face and dropped the smile. âBarty,â she said worriedly, âwhatâs wrong?â
âSit down,â he growled, shoving a chair at her. Looking fixedly at the ceiling, he said: âI just got a report from somewhere in the neighborhood of a punky little star named Arided in Cygnus. Babe, weâre being invaded. The world is being invaded.â
The girl laughed briefly. âDonât be an ass,â she said.
âItâs true,â said Bartok.
She rose and began to pace beside him. Finally she exploded: âThey canât do this to us! They simply canâtâwhy, weâre the invaders; we always have been!â
Bartok looked sidewise at her. âThatâs the way I felt,â he observed sagely. âI know what you mean. Question is, what do we do now?â
âI donât know. Letâs hear the transcript from the communications outfit.â Silently he turned on the rewind and replay. It said mechanically: âOffice of Commander Bartok, Intelligence Wing, Fleet Command. Go ahead.â That was a sort of letterhead.
Immediately there was the agitated voice of some man or other: âBarty?
This is Hogan, of the Aries Hogans. I jammed this through to youâ
personal report. Itâs going to panic them if it gets out. Be very careful.â
Bartokâs voice: âI remember youâpatrol duty for the Arided section.
Give me the facts in a hurry, son.â
Hoganâs voice: âShips coming at us from everywhere, it seems. A big lineship was blown to pieces before it could report. Iâm the only intelligence man in the district, I guess. I donât know whose the ships areâI donât know how they work. Iâm speaking from the fourth planet of Aridedâpolyp-like natives, oxygenous atmosphere. Theyâre systematically bombing the cities.â
Bartokâs voice: âStop beating yourself over the head, Hogan. Youâre crazy!â
Hoganâs voice: âIf thatâs the way you feel. Theyâre laying a line barrage along the planet, letting it rotate under their fire. We canât get a thing into the airâitâs jammed up bad. I donât know, Barty, honest I donât knowââ What Hogan didnât know remained a mystery, for the transcript ended right there with a strangled wail and a deafening report.
âOho,â said Babe MacNeice in a long exhalation. âHe wasnât kidding.â
Bartok was at the phone: âGet me Fitzjames,â he said. âYesâthe all-highest Admiral of the Fleet, the slave-minded or windjammer in person.â In a rapid aside to Babe he snapped: âI canât handle this. Iâll leave it to the Navyâitâs their baby.â
Again at the phone. âAdmiral? Shoot some patrollers out to Cygnus Arided. Donât be surprised if they donât come back. Invasion, Admiral. I wouldnât kid you.â He hung up sharply.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Fantasy | Gaming |
Science Fiction | Writing |
Sita - Warrior of Mithila (Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series) by Amish(51425)
The Crystal Crypt by Dick Philip K(35683)
Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut(13868)
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han(13638)
Ready Player One by Cline Ernest(12839)
The Last by Hanna Jameson(9221)
Year One by Nora Roberts(8475)
Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey(8270)
The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro(7551)
Dark Space: The Second Trilogy (Books 4-6) (Dark Space Trilogies Book 2) by Jasper T. Scott(7373)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown(7326)
Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro(7130)
The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood(6854)
The Circle by Dave Eggers(6257)
Legacy by Ellery Kane(5946)
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood(5781)
Frank Herbert's Dune Saga Collection: Books 1 - 6 by Frank Herbert(5678)
Pandemic (The Extinction Files Book 1) by A.G. Riddle(5589)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty(5204)