It was nine o'clock at night when Lockley killed the porcupine, and ten by the time Jill had gone to sleep the of a tree. Shortly after midnight Lockley had been when a a a hundred yards of their bivouac. But some time in between, there was another of much elsewhere.
Something came out of Boulder Lake National Park. All had from it. It was to the of the thing from the sky. But something came out of it.
Nobody saw the thing, of course. Nobody approach it, which was the point demonstrated. No being being seven miles of it was. It was a vehicle of some sort, however, it terror it, and terror on either side, and when it was clear of the Park it played terror it, too. Men who the touch of those of terror and moved to avoid having the again. So when something moved out of the Park and sent terror it, men moved to one or the other and gave it room.
On a large-scale map in the area post, its progress be as it was reported. The reports a of which up as a in the cordon's line. That bulge, which was the itself moving back, moved and a half-circle some miles across. It to move outward, and on the map it appeared like a by an amoeba. It was the area of of a unknown on earth—the area where not stay.
Deliberately, the moving thing itself from the and larger which was its and its home. It moved with great toward the small town of Maplewood, twenty miles from the border of the Park.
Jeeps and ahead of it, just out of of its beams. They sure that houses and and all places were of people the moving terror them. They into the town of Maplewood itself and sure that nothing alive in it. They on to clear the beyond.
The thing from the Park moved onward. High overhead there was a like thunder, but it was with bomb above the land. There were men in those who to and this of an invasion. But there were orders from the Pentagon. So long as the killed nobody, they were not to be attacked. There was for the order in the of the government to be on terms with a which travel the stars. But there was an more urgent reason. The had not yet to murder, but it was that they had a power to kill. So it was that no bomb or or was to be used unless the by killing humans. Their captives—the of a helicopter—might be if and men friendship. So for now—no provocation!
The thing which nobody saw moved over the ground the park and Maplewood. In the center of the there was a something which the terror and passengers. Whatever it was, it moved and into Maplewood and for seven miles in every direction for it to move out again. Artillerymen had to fire upon it if they got and permission to go into action. Planes were to if they got to do so. And a miles away there were to prove their and if only a command. But nothing happened. Not a was permitted to be by the up in the sky. A might be taken for hostility.
The thing from the Park in Maplewood for two hours. At the end of that time it moved toward the Park. It left the town save for of stores and radio shops and a or two. It looked as if not-human beings had moved from their redoubt—Boulder Lake—to out what beings had attained. They at it by the and the homes, but most in the shops of the inhabitants.
It slowly and into the Park. Humans moved into the area that had been emptied. Not many, but to be sure that the thing had returned to the place from which it had come. Soldiers were entering the again-abandoned town of Maplewood when the thing the range of its on that little city. It was then not less than seven miles on its way to Boulder Lake. The had themselves on what they'd learned. The at the had a range of much more than seven miles, but this movable, thing a armament. From it, men and animals seven miles away were safe. This was news.
Then the object did something. The terror that and in intensity. The soldiers just Maplewood and saw lights. Bellowings them. They with every in spasm. Beyond them other men were paralyzed. For five minutes the invaders' all for a of fifteen miles. Then for thirty it for a of thirty miles. For a it men and animals for a yet. And all these of the terror knew, thereafter, an of the beam.
The thing from the Park which nobody had into the Park. And then men were permitted to return to the same places they'd been allowed to the thing its excursion.
It that nothing was changed, but was changed. If there were of the weapon, then victory not be had by a single bomb into Boulder Lake. There might be a dozen terror through the Park. Any attack would need to be in its to be of results. Instead of one bomb there might be a need for fifty. They would have to the Park utterly, its mountains. And the from so many not be risked. The were invulnerable.
While this was being demonstrated, Jill slept two of a very large tree, and Lockley against a tree trunk. He that he Jill most vigilantly.
He at with the of bird song in his ears. Jill opened her at almost the same instant. She at him and to up. She was and from the of the ground on which she'd slept. But it was a new day, and there was breakfast. It was the night before.
"Somehow," said Jill as she at a bone, "somehow I more than I did."
"That's a mistake," Lockley told her. "Start out with a and the day as they turn out wrong. But if you start out hoping, the day ends with most of your denied."
"You've got premonitions?" she asked.
"Definitely," he said.
It was true. As yet he nothing of last night's temporary of a town, but he he how the terror if he couldn't out a way to it. He no defense against it. But if Jill had cheerful, there was no to her. She'd have to be later, with proof of Vale's death and going on from there.
"We might to the news," she suggested. "A or two might be out right away!"
Silently, he on the little radio. Automatically, he set it for the they distinctly.
The main item in the news was a but toned-down report of the thing from the which had left the park and a small town in detail and then had returned to the Park. There were reports of where the had been. They were not the of any animal. There was an report from the scientists at work on the problem of the beam. Someone had come up with an idea and some calculations which to promise that the would presently be duplicated. Once it was duplicated, of a way to it be found.
Lockley grunted. The was in its on the scientists. It talked which as if it meant something but was actually nonsense. It touched on the that beings were now ordered out of a much larger space than had been before. There was a from an official that panic of food was and unwise. Lockley again when the ended.
"The idea that anything that can be can be canceled," he gloomily, "is rot. We can sounds, but there's no way to make them out! Not accurately!"
Jill had a part of the while the was on. It was not a satisfying breakfast, but it her after two days of near-starvation.
"But," she observed, "maybe that won't apply to this when you report what you know. It's not likely that else has just a and of what it's like and how it's and so on."
They started off. For in the Park, Lockley had the that as part of the for making a new map, he'd himself with all done to date. He very nearly where he was. He a close just where the terror stretched. He'd his watch, which for a compass, but he maintain a line toward that part of the Park's border the terror would cross.
They moved over mountain-flanks and up valleys, and once they a for a long way it toward their without that they climb. It was in this area that, pushing through a stream, they came upon a big bear. He was no more than a hundred away. He at them inquisitively, his nose to for their scent.
Lockley and up a stone. He it. It on on the ground. The a and moved away.
"I'd have been to do that," said Jill.
"It was a he-bear," said Lockley. "I wouldn't have it on a she-bear with cubs."
They on and on. At mid-morning Lockley some mushrooms. They were and only would make them raw, but he his pockets. A little later there were berries, and as they and ate them he on wild plants to be in the wilderness. Jill with interest. When they left the they to the left to avoid a climb directly in their way. And Lockley stopped short. At the same Jill at his arm. She'd white.
They and ran.
A hundred yards back, Lockley his speed. They stopped. After a moment he managed to mirthlessly.
"A reflex," he said wryly. "We something and we run. But I think it's the old familiar terror that to stop men from using them. If it were a portable with somebody it, we wouldn't be talking about it."
Jill panted, with relief.
"I've of something I want to try," said Lockley. "I should have it yesterday when I my watch."
He his steps to the spot where they'd the of that reptilian-jungle-decay odor which had their nostrils. Jill called anxiously, "Be careful!"
He nodded. He got the out of his pocket. He very to the spot where the noticeable. Standing well from it, he one end of the into it. He it back. He the operation. He moved to one side. Again he the gold-colored ribbon. He it and forth. Then he yet again and his left hand and with many of the thin spring, the turns. He moved once more.
He came back, his no at all.
"No good," he said unhappily. "In a way, it works. The as an and up more of the than my hand. But I to make a Faraday cage. That will stop most radiation, but not this stuff! It goes right through, like through a radio grid."
He put the in his pocket.
"Well," he grimaced. "Let's go on again. I had a little of hope, but some men than I am haven't got the right yet."
They started off once more. And this time they did not choose a path for travel, but up a that rose for hundreds of to arrive at a with another going downhill. At the top Lockley said sourly, "I did one thing, if it means anything. The at its edges, but it's only leakage. It doesn't diffuse. It's tight. It's more like a than anything else in that way. You can see a light at night some part of it. But most of the light goes on. This the same. It's hard to a limit to its range."
He on downhill. Jill him. Presently, when they'd two miles or more with no of his expression, she said, "You said you how it works. Radio and don't have like this. How this have them?"
"It makes high on the surface of anything it hits. High doesn't go into or metal. It on the surface only. So when this a man it high on his skin. That underneath, and they all the nerves we've got—of our and ears and as well as our skin. Every nerve reports its own of sensation. Run over your tongue, and you taste. Induce a in your eyes, and you see of light. So the makes all our report they're of reporting, true or not, and we're and deafened. Then the nerves to our report to them that they're to contract, and they do. So we're paralyzed."
"And," said Jill, "if there's a way to high on a man's skin there's nothing that can be done?"
"Nothing," said Lockley dourly.
"Maybe," said Jill, "you can out a way to prevent that high generation."
He shrugged. Jill as she him. She hadn't Vale, but she some to Lockley. Womanlike, she to pay part of it by him to do something he impossible.
"At least," she suggested, "it can't be a death ray!"
Lockley looked at her.
"You're there," he said coldly. "It can."
Jill again. Not of his statement, but she hadn't succeeded in his mind from things. She had for sadness, herself. If she spoke of it, Lockley would try to her. But he was with more than his own emotions. Without it, Jill had come to a great in Lockley. It had been that he food, and more that he away a bear. Such were not logical for being that he solve the alien's weapon, but she was to so. And if she him to with the monsters—why—it would be a of to Vale. So she believed.
In the late Lockley said, "Another four or five miles and we ought to be out of the Park and on another we'll won't be by a terror beam. Anyhow there should be an occasional where we can some of food."
Jill said hungrily, "Scrambled eggs!"
"Probably," he agreed.
They on and on. Three miles. Four. Five. Five and a half. They a minor and came to a hard-surfaced road with marks on it and a in driving. There were in which were growing. There was a of telephone with a wire them.
"We'll west," said Lockley. "There ought to be a near."
"And people," said Jill. "I look terrible!"
He her with approval.
"No. You look all right. You look fine!"
It was that he to it. But she said, "Maybe we'll be able to out about ... about...."
"Vale," Lockley. "But don't be if we don't. He have or been without it."
She said in surprise, "Been freed! That's something I didn't think of. He'd set to work to make them that we are and they ought to make friends with us. That would be the thing he'd think of. And they might set him free to it."
Lockley said, "Yes," in a tone.
Another mile, this time on the hard road. It to walk on so a surface after so many miles on different of footing. It was almost now. There was a set well from the road and corn. The house dead. It was and in good repair. There were of from it. But it had the of emptiness.
Lockley called. He called again. He to the door and would have called once more, but the door opened at a touch.
"Evacuated," he said. "Did you notice that there was a telephone line leading here from the road?"
He in the now rooms. He the telephone. He the and the of the line. He to call an operator. He the that said the call was sounding. But there was no answer. He a telephone book and one number after another. Sheriff. Preacher. Doctor. Garage. Operator again. General store.... He tell that in places. But there was no answer at all.
"I'll look in the chicken coops," said Jill practically.
She came with eggs. She said briefly, "The were hungry. I them and left the chicken gate open. I wonder if the them too?"
"It does," said Lockley.
He a light and then a fire and she eggs which to the unknown people who owned this house and who had walked out of it when for came. They queer, making free with this house of a stranger. They that he might come in and be with them.
"I ought to wash the dishes," said Jill when they were finished.
"No," said Lockley. "We go on. We need to some soldiers, or a telephone that works...."
"I'm not a good anyhow," said Jill guiltily.
Lockley put a on the table, with a weight on it to keep it from away. They closed the house door. They'd and of eggs and and the was admirable. They out to the again.
"West is still our best bet," said Lockley. "They've the to with that terror beam."
The sun had set now, but a in the sky. They saw the slenderest, of a new moon in the glow. They walked upon a road, with a on one of it and above it a single telephone wire that be out against the stars.
"I feel," said Jill, "as if we were almost safe, now. All this looks so ordinary and reassuring."
"But we'd keep our alert," Lockley told her. "We know that one comes nearly this and probably—no, this road. There may be more."
"Oh, yes," Jill. Then she said irrelevantly, "I'll they do make him a of—ambassador to our government to for making friends. He'll be able to them!"
Again she to Vale. Lockley said nothing.
Night was now fallen. There were overhead. They saw the telephone wire against the sky's brightness. They passed an open gate where another telephone wire away, to another farmhouse. But if there was no one at the other end of a telephone line, there was no point in using a phone.
There came a noise them. They at one another in the starlight. The approached.
"It—can't be!" said Jill, marvelling.
"It's a motor," said Lockley. He not complete relief. "Sounds like a truck. I wonder—"
He uneasiness. But it was absurd. Only beings would use trucks.
There was a in the them. It came nearer as the of the approached. The motor's a grumble. It was definitely a truck. They those other that trucks always make in to their noises.
It came up to the they'd last. Its on the next to the highway. One appeared around the turn. Then the other. An trailer-truck came toward them. Jill up her hand for it to stop. Its upon her.
Airbrakes came on. The combination—cab in front, box behind—came to a halt. A man out. He said amazedly, "Hey, what are you doin' here? Everybody's to be long gone! Ain't you about all out from twenty miles the Park? There's in there! Characters from Mars or somewhere. They eat people!"
Even in the Lockley saw the familiar Wild Life Control on the trailer. He Jill, her voice with relief, that she'd been at the and had been left behind, and that she and Lockley had their way out.
"We want to to a telephone," she added. "He has some he wants to give to the Army. It's very important." Then she swallowed. "And I'd like to ask if you've anything about a Mr. Vale. He was taken by the up there. Have you of his being released?"
The driver hesitated. Then he said, "No, ma'm. Not a word about him. But we'll take of you two! You been through plenty! Jud, you go in the trailer, yonder. Make room for these two up on the seat." He added explanatorily, "There's cases and in the back, ma'm. You two climb right up here alongside of me. You sure had a time!"
The door on the near of the opened. A small man got out. Silently, he to the of the and up out of sight. Jill into the opened door. Lockley her. He still an uneasiness, but he put it to habit. The past days had it.
"We've been cartin' for the soldiers," the driver as Lockley closed the door him. "They keep of where that terror is workin', and they tell us by radio, and we it. Ain't had a of trouble. Never I'd play with Martians! Did you see any of 'em? What of are they?"
He the into and the motor. Truck and trailer, together, to roll the highway. Lockley was with himself he couldn't and safe, as this to warrant.
Later, he would wonder why he hadn't used his in this as in other the days just past.
He hadn't.
