William Morrison by The Lost Masters Volume 2A

Author:The Lost Masters Volume 2A [2A, The Lost Masters Volume]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-06-09T15:43:08+00:00

HE SWITCHED on the set, the two plant-creatures watching without any motion of their own. The light receptors which were scattered over the entire upper halves of their bodies were so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. But not the slightest move, he knew, would escape them.

A dim picture appeared on the scene, a voice came soothingly from the speaker. “Do you have difficulty falling asleep? Do you suffer unnecessarily from insomnia? Do your troubles keep you awake? Then tune in our special program with Dr. Hypno! Dr. Hypno’s soothing personality will put you to sleep without difficulty over millions of miles of space. Dr. Hypno’s healing balm for the soul will act as the salve for your wounded psyche.

“Dr. Hypno is brought to you as a good-will service by Psychiatric Associates, Inc., makers of psychic articles of all kinds. In just a moment, Psychiatric Associates, Inc., will bring you the details of a wonderful offer by which you can obtain absolutely free some of the most remarkable inventions—”

He leaned forward to turn the thing off, when suddenly, responding to something in his behavior that must have set off an alarm mechanism, the two creatures seized him and held him firm. He was helpless, unable to move forward or back.

The eyes of Dr. Hypno widened, became enormous, began to glow. A camera trick, he thought dully. But he could not turn his own eyes away. Nor could he close his ears when a soothing voice began, “You are falling asleep, you are falling—asleep.” He slept.

Strangely enough, he felt refreshed when he awoke. A posthypnotic suggestion by Dr. Hypno, he thought. He had his freedom to move once more. Carefully, for fear of alarming the too-alert creatures, he leaned forward and switched off the set.

The space scanners, he knew, were scattered along the main passenger and freighter routes. They were like the ancient buoys on the oceans of water-rich planets, informing sea-faring vessels of their positions. But unlike the buoys, these scanners had automatic television cameras attached. In case a vessel met with some disaster and its own sending set were destroyed, some scanner or other was sure to pick up its position and guide a protest ship to the rescue.

On the screen, a tiny silvery figure swam into view. Slowly it grew larger, became a giant shape which blotted out more and more of the background of stars. It was a freighter, speeding in a trajectory which at its closest point would bring the ship to within two million miles-of his own planet.

From out of the blackness, a tiny gnat appeared and raced after the freighter. From a gleaming point, the gnat grew, took on definite form. It was a low-powered atomic jet ship, of the most primitive design, resembling the one-man jets of the pre-spaceflight era. Speed was high, but the jet was so small that the oxygen store, despite the regenerators, could hardly suffice for more than a few million miles. He could see vaguely the figure of the man inside.

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