Robert Sheckley - The Hour of Battle
Pages: 15
|Published: 1 Sep 1953
Description
An excerpt from the book -
As one of the Guardian ships protecting Earth, the crew had a
problem to solve. Just how do you protect a race from an enemy who
can take over a man's mind without seeming effort or warning?
"That hand didn't move, did it? " Edwardson asked, standing at the port,
looking at the stars.
"No," Morse said. He had been staring fixedly at the Attison Detector
for over an hour. Now he blinked three times rapidly, and looked again.
"Not a millimeter. "
"I don't think it moved either," Cassel added, from behind the gunfire
panel. And that was that. The slender black hand of the indicator rested
unwaveringly on zero. The ship's guns were ready, their black mouths
open to the stars. A steady hum filled the room. It came from the
Attison Detector, and the sound was reassuring. It reinforced the fact
that the Detector was attached to all the other Detectors, forming a
gigantic network around Earth.
"Why in hell don't they come? " Edwardson asked, still looking at the
stars. "Why don't they hit? "
"Aah, shut up," Morse said. He had a tired, glum look. High on his right
temple was an old radiation burn, a sunburst of pink scar tissue.
As one of the Guardian ships protecting Earth, the crew had a
problem to solve. Just how do you protect a race from an enemy who
can take over a man's mind without seeming effort or warning?
"That hand didn't move, did it? " Edwardson asked, standing at the port,
looking at the stars.
"No," Morse said. He had been staring fixedly at the Attison Detector
for over an hour. Now he blinked three times rapidly, and looked again.
"Not a millimeter. "
"I don't think it moved either," Cassel added, from behind the gunfire
panel. And that was that. The slender black hand of the indicator rested
unwaveringly on zero. The ship's guns were ready, their black mouths
open to the stars. A steady hum filled the room. It came from the
Attison Detector, and the sound was reassuring. It reinforced the fact
that the Detector was attached to all the other Detectors, forming a
gigantic network around Earth.
"Why in hell don't they come? " Edwardson asked, still looking at the
stars. "Why don't they hit? "
"Aah, shut up," Morse said. He had a tired, glum look. High on his right
temple was an old radiation burn, a sunburst of pink scar tissue.
