Page 15 (1/2)

INSIDE, the Huloorafted a pleasantly disorganized scientific enterprise Glassed shelves of leatherbound books that hadn&039;t been opened for decades were elbowed by trim microfilm files Blackened portraits of John Junius Humberford and his ancestors looked down onthe eternal Rhine cards and on fluorescent screens-in-depth that blended a dozen recordings of a brain wave les into the shadowy se roo of bustles and teacups instead held soleirls with electrodes attached to twenty parts of their bodies Laboratory technicians in loose sht their heels in stair carpets a hundred years old

But today there was an excitement that pushed the Edwardian half of the place far into the background and brightened the very grime on the walls Chancellor Frobisher and his little train of visitors were not even noticed Girls triuly Clairvoyants sketching objects being iined by someone else three floors away didn&039;t look up froe syringe and took air sa to be aware of their presence Correlating engines hu about for his green cat that he heard little of what Frobisher was telling theh pitched explanatory phrases floated back to Phil: " her 117,318thrun through the cards telepathic cohts of an amoeba No, I really don&039;t knohere Dr Garnett is, I&039;m busy with important visitors, Miss A behind da Silva up the stairs to the top floor, Phil started to listen to Frobisher consecutively The Chancellor of Philosophy was saying, "Now in the room I&039;m about to show you, an experiment incomplete telepathy is underway When telepathy is perfected, it will be possible for two individuals to lay their s in the raw, as it were"

"Is good!" da Silva interjected

Frobisher frowned at the interruption before rely, "In this case, however, we have only a prelied speech, writing, sketching,to share their inhts to such an extent that they will tend to become telepathic, as seems to be the case with some husbands and wives" As they came to the top of the stairs, Frobisher continued a bit breathlessly, "Incidentally, the young man in this experi lady is a handie bit player who graciously devotes her leisure time to science"

He paused with his hand on an ancient brass doorknob

"Let&039;s not disturb theainst the wall though he showed no other effects of the climb "Sounds like rather an intimate experiment"

Frobisher shook his head, "As I say," he pronounced, "these two researchists are seeking to lay their asped, and hastily slah not before da Silva, peering over his shoulder, had e chortle

"As I say, their away froht, Dr Opperly, we&039;d best not disturb them Research is at times a strenuous affair" He looked apprehensively at the purported representative ofLa Prensa "I trust, Senor da Silva -"

"Is very good!" da Silva assured him enthusiastically

Frobisher looked at him blankly, shook hiive you a gli project - the one on the roof If you&039;ll just precede me up this circular staircase"

"I think I&039;ll stay here, Hugo," Opperly told hi research can be strenuous too"

"But I rather i hied up the musty cylinder lit by tiny bull&039;s-eye s, his feet clanking on worn metal treads, it occurred to hi a field day here, bringing people together in understanding and love and what not In fact, ithis favors around

From behind Chancellor Frobisher&039;s fussy voice filtered up "I should preface this ascent by saying that one of J J Hu the Foundation was the conviction that mankind will soon destroy itself unless some superior power intervenes So we feel bound to apply what little knowledge of esping we have gained to seeking such intervention Even if there is only one chance in aa superior power soreat that we entlemen, please watch out for the next to the last step There isn&039;t any"

Phil, as just putting his foot on it, caught hier step, and the next moment was out on the roof The sodiuht down, though hardly enough to explain the dark glasses Frobisher handed hiris underside of the saucer toppingit and frowningly inspected the tiny penthouse under its center Then Frobisher was urging him and da Silva up a ladder that led to a s the platforlasses The interior of the saucer was polished to such a degree that even the sodiuht flashed froness He clamped his eyes shut and quickly put on the black specs

"As you are aware," Frobisher was saying, "the exact nature of thought waves is unknown It may be that they reater than that of light We have yet to get a figure on theht-casts between here and Montevideo - but the huical factor confounds us They may not be waves at all On the other hand it is possible that they are reflected and refracted like ordinary light"

"Is right," interjected da Silva, a vague blur beside Phil, who hadn&039;t yet got over the first blinding glimpse of the saucer&039;s interior

"You believe so?" Frobisher questioned sharply

La Prensa &039;sfaun-like representative shrugged his ," he said

"At any rate," Frobisher continued, "we are working on that latter supposition here This copper structure is a parabolicat its focus are concentrated into a beam which is directed upward into the sky toward any stellar planetary systerunted "Explains everything"

"What do you mean?" Frobisher asked sharply

"Just humble before wonders of science," da Silva told hiht," he said "Who knows but what thebeamed, with its appeal for help from a war-threatened and deluded humanity, may son race, which will swiftly co It&039;s broken"

Phil jerked his hand away from the rusted pipe "Yes," he said to Frobisher, "but how do these thought waves originate at the focus?"

"Just look," Frobisher told hih his dark glasses and it beca from a hole in the center of the boas a brownish-red blob wearing goggles that looked as if they were lass than his own specs The blob&039;s lips , of all things, "S-O-S, earth S-O-S, earth"

"Our star esper," Frobisher chortled, "if you&039;ll pardon a pun of which we&039;re rather fond To be sure, it&039;s thought waves, not sound waves, he&039;s originating, but it helps hie at the same time he thinks of it He&039;s a bit of an eccentric - a religious scholar - but that&039;s the case with most of our best people"

At that lasses, beca head at the focus of the parabolic mirror was that of Sacheverell Akeley At the same moment Sacheverell saw Phil and his sunburned top disappeared froe

"He shouldn&039;t do that," Frobisher said sharply "There&039;s at least twentyWell, I presuentleo down"

As Phil&039;s foot touched the roof, Sacheverell Akeley darted up to hi off his ruddy-bronze forehead

"What are you doing here?" Phil asked sharply "How did you get away from them - Romadka&039;s friends, I mean"

"They raced off a couple of hours after Romadka left," Sacheverell answered quickly "Got a phone call Incidentally, Romadka abducted three of our cats As for es The important point is," he continued in an intense whisper, "thathe&039;s here, isn&039;t he? I mean the Green One I&039;ve never esped like this before, even at stars"

But before Phil could answer, Frobisher and da Silva glanced at them inquisitively Phil and Sacheverell followed the the top floor they found Opperly deep in conversation with a man who looked at least half out of this world He was fat and had a beard, but his dull eyes see at Sacheverell tugged at Phil&039;s sleeve guardedly "Garnett&039;s frightfully espy," he whispered, his lips next to Phil&039;s ear

"But Winnie, how do you explain it?" Opperly was saying "Why all this success with esping, in practically all your projects, all of a sudden?"

Garnett frowned "Well, there is one unusual circumstance Our lab technicians claim to have found hor around in the air"

"What hormones?" Opperly asked quickly

"Well," Garnett said, "they have had so them" He hesitated "The hormones seem to show a tremendous variability - almost chaaze

"Winnie, do you by any chance know," Opperly said, "whether an odd ani?"

Phil felt Sacheverell&039;s hand tighten on his biceps

Dr Garnett looked around puzzledly Then his eyebrows shot up "Yes," he said, "Ginny A at the door early thisWe don&039;t have much food here, but she tried it on some elderberry preserves and apparently it liked it I believe the creature&039;s still around"

"Winnie, don&039;t you get any bulletins from Security?" Opperly asked incredulously "Or fro head "Not for the past ten years Esp&039;s so unpopular that even the governlittering with interest "In that case you haven&039;t read anything about a reen cat, that&039;s believed to have super-huo over to Russia and do all sorts of other things described as crazy? The public hasn&039;t been told, but all the higher echelons - scientists, doctors, psychiatrists - have been getting bulletins on the subject, de they know or have heard about a green cat Even I&039;ve been told a little"

"Can you beat it," Garnett said disgustedly, "so esp and they consult everyone but us" Then he turned to Opperly like a est that this creature is responsible for the esp results we&039;ve been getting?"

Opperly nodded "I do"

"But hohy?"

Opperly shrugged happily "I don&039;t know I&039;ve uesses I&039;ve warnedjournalist friends about" And he smiled at Phil and da Silva

"Guesses!" Garnett said "Well, we&039;ll soon find out" And he started past the dust from the ancient carpet "We&039;ll have a look at this animal and see e think about it Miss Ames -!" he started to call, and then suddenly his face went half out of this world again and he stopped in midstride "She thinks the same," he said softly and so astonishedly that even Phil knew heface seeo a little further out of the world "In fact, they all do Practically everybody at the Foundation" The big face seeo out almost all the hile the voice sank to a faint ht"