Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space warfare -- Fiction
L2 Worsel, then, held himself aloof and observed appreciatively
everything that went on. More, he did a little hallucinating of
his own. Under the Overlords' compulsion he was supposed to remain
motionless, staring raptly into an imaginary visiplate at an orgiastic
saturnalia designed to make even his burly ego quail. Therefore, as far
as the occupied portion of his mind and through it the Overlords were
concerned, he did so. Actually, however, his body moved purposefully
about, under the direction only of his own grim will; moved to make
ready against the time of landing.
For Worsel knew that his opponents were not fools. He knew that they
reduced their risks to the irreducible minimum. He knew that the mighty
_Velan_, with her prodigious weaponry, would not be permitted to
be within even extreme range of the cavern, if the Overlords could
possibly prevent it, when that cavern's location was revealed. His was
the task to see to it that she was not only within range, but was at
the very portal.
* * * * *
The speeding spaceship approached the planet--went inert--matched the
planetary intrinsic--landed. Her air locks opened. Her crew rushed out
headlong, sprang into the air, and arrowed away _en masse_. Then
Worsel, Grand Master of Hallucinations, went blithely but intensely to
work.
Thus, although he stayed at the _Velan's_ control board instead
of joining the glamoured Velantians in their rush over the unfamiliar
terrain, and although the huge spaceship lifted lightly into the air
and followed them, neither the fiend-possessed part of Worsel's mind,
nor any of his fellows, nor through them the many Overlords, knew that
either of those two things was happening. To that part of his mind
Worsel's body was, under full control, flying along upon tireless wings
in the midst of the crowd; to it and to all of the other Velantians and
hence to the Overlords the _Velan_ lay motionless and deserted
upon the rocks far below and behind them. They watched the vessel
diminish in apparent size in the distance; they saw it vanish beyond
the horizon!
This was eminently tricky work, necessitating as it did such nicety
of synchronization with the Delgonian's own compulsions as to be
indetectable even to the monsters themselves. Worsel was, however, an
expert, one of the Universe's best; he went at the task not with any
doubt whatever as to his ability to carry it through, but only with
an uncontrollably shivering physical urge to come to grips with the
hereditary enemies of his race.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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