But during the meal, in response to a double-edged, wickedly-barbed remark of Belle"s, a memory flashed into being above Lola"s shield. It was the veriest flash, instantly suppressed. Her eyes held clear and steady; if she blushed at all it did not show.
Belle caught it, of course, and winked triumphantly at Garlock.
She knew, now, what she had wanted to know. And, Prime Operator though he was, it was all he could do to make no sign; for that fleetingly-revealed memory was a perfect job. He would not have--_could_ not have--questioned it himself, except for one highly startling fact.
It was of an event that had not happened and never would!
And after breakfast, at some distance from the others, "That is my girl, Brownie! You"re firing on all forty barrels. You"re an Operator, all right; and it takes a d.a.m.n good one to lie like that with her mind!"
"Thanks to you, Clee. And thanks a million, really. I"m me again--I think."
Then, since Belle was looking, she took him by both ears, pulled his head down, and kissed him lightly on the lips. The spontaneity and tenderness were perfect at that moment. Clee"s appreciation was obvious.
"I know I said you"d have to kiss me next time," Lola said, very low, "but this act needs just this much of an extra touch. Anyway, such little, tiny, sisterly ones as this, and out in public, don"t count."
CHAPTER 3
Lola and Garlock went to town in the same taxi. As they were about to separate, Garlock said:
"I don"t like those h.e.l.l-divers, yellow, green, or any other color; and you, Brownie, are very definitely not expendable. Are you any good at mind-bombing?"
"Why, I never heard of such a thing."
"You isolate a little energy in the Op field, remembering of course, that you"re handling a hundred thousand gunts. Transpose it into platinum or uranium--anything good and heavy. For one of these monsters you"d need two or three micrograms. For a battleship, up to maybe a gram or so. "Port it to the exact place you want it to detonate. Reconvert and release instantaneously. One-hundred-percent-conversion atomic bomb, tailored exactly to fit the job. Very effective."
"It would be. My G.o.d, Clee, can _you_ do _that_?"
"Sure--so can you. Any Operator can."
"Well, I _won"t_. I _never_ will. Besides, I"d probably kill too many people, besides the monster. No, I"ll "port back to the Main if anything attacks me. I"m chain lightning at that."
"Do that, then. And if anything very unusual happens give me a flash."
"I"ll do that. "Bye, Clee." She turned to the left. He walked straight on, toward the business center, to resume his study at the point where he had left off the evening before.
For over an hour he wandered aimlessly about the city; receiving, cla.s.sifying, and filing away information. He saw several duels between guardians and yellow and green-bat monsters, to none of which he paid any more attention than did the people around him. Then a third kind of enemy appeared--two of them at once, flying wing-and-wing--and Garlock stopped and watched.
Vivid, clear-cut stripes of red and black, even on the tremendously long, strong wings. Distinctly feline as to heads, teeth, and claws.
While they did not at all closely resemble flying saber-toothed tigers, that was the first impression that leaped into Garlock"s mind.
Two bow-legged guardians came leaping as usual, but one of them was a fraction of a second too late. That fraction was enough. While the first guardian was still high in air, grappling with one tiger, the other swung on a dime--the blast of air from his right wing blowing people in the crowd below thither and yon and knocking four of them flat--and took the guardian"s head off his body with one savage swipe of a frightfully-armed paw. Disregarding the carca.s.s both attackers whirled sharply at the second guardian, meeting him in such fashion that he could not come to firm grips with either of them, and that battle was very brief indeed. More and more guardians were leaping in from all directions, however, and the two tigers were forced to the ground and slaughtered.
Since six guardians had been killed, eight guardians marched up the street, dragging grisly loads. Eight bodies, friend and foe alike, were dumped into a manhole; eight creatures squatted down and cleaned themselves meticulously before resuming their various patrols.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, Garlock felt Lola"s half-excited, half-frightened thought. "Clee, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear."
"There"s something coming that"s certainly none of my business--maybe not even yours."
"Coming," and with the thought he was there. "Where?"
She pointed a thought, he followed it. Far away yet, but coming fast, was an immense flock of flying tigers!
Lola licked her lips. "I"m going home, if you don"t mind."
"Beat it."
She disappeared.
"Jim!" Garlock thought. "Where are you?"
"Observatory. Need me?"
"Yes. Bombing. Two point four microgram loads. Focus spot on my right--teleport in."
"Coming in on your right."
"And I on your left!" Belle"s thought drove in as he had never before felt it driven. Being a Prime, she did not need a focus spot and appeared the veriest instant later than did James.
"Can you bomb?" Garlock snapped.
"What do _you_ think?" she snapped back.
A moment of flashing thought and the three Tellurians disappeared, materializing five hundred feet in air, two hundred feet ahead of the van of that horrible flight of monsters, drifting before it.
Belle got in the first shot. Not only did the victim disappear--a couple of dozen around it were torn to fragments and the force of the blast staggered all three Tellurians.
"d.a.m.n it, Belle, cut down or get to h.e.l.l out!" Garlock yelped. "I said two point four _micrograms_, not milligrams. Just kill "em, don"t scatter "em all over h.e.l.l"s half acre--less mess to clean up and I _don"t_ want you to kill people down below. Especially I don"t want you to kill us--not even yourself."
""Scuse, please, I guess I was a bit enthusiastic in my weighing."
There began a series of m.u.f.fled explosions along the front; each followed by the plunge of a tiger-striped body to the ground. Faster and faster the explosions came as the Operator and the Primes learned the routine and the rhythm of the job.
Nor were they long alone. The roaring, screaming howl of jets came up from behind them; four Arpalones appeared at their left, strung out along the front. Each held an extraordinarily heavy-duty blaster in each of his four hands; sixteen terrific weapons were hurling death into the flying horde.
"Slide over, Terrestrials," came a calm thought. "You three take their left front, we"ll take their right and center."
As they obeyed the instructions, "_They_ don"t give a d.a.m.n where the pieces fly!" Belle protested. "Why should we be fussy about their street-cleaning department? _I"m_ starting to use fives."
"Okay. We"ll have to hit "em harder, anyway, to keep up. Five or maybe six--just be d.a.m.n sure not to knock us or the Arpalones out of the air."
Carnage went on. The battle-front, while inside the city limits, was now almost stationary.