Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space warfare -- Fiction
"Yes. Like you, only more so." Kay paused, trying to put into
intelligible thought a picture inherently incapable of reception or
recognition by her as yet strictly three-dimensional intelligence.
"Something like the Eich, too, but not much. Their visible aspect was
obscure, fluid ... amorphous ... indefinite? ... skip it--I couldn't
really perceive it, let alone describe it. I wish you had caught that
thought."
"I wish so, too--it is extremely interesting. But tell me--if the
thought was directed, not broadcast, how could you have received it?"
"That's the funniest part of the whole thing." Nadreck could feel
the girl frown in concentration. "It came at me from all sides at
once--never felt anything like it. Naturally I started feeling around
for the source--particularly since it was a distress signal--but before
I could get even a general direction of the origin it ... it ... well,
it didn't really disappear or really weaken, but something happened to
it. I couldn't read it any more--and _that_ really did throw me
for a loss." She paused, then went on. "It didn't so much go away as go
_down_, some way or other. Then it vanished completely, without
really going anywhere. I know that I'm not making myself clear--I
simply can't--but have I given you enough leads so that you can make
any sense at all out of any part of it?"
"I'm very sorry to say that I can not."
* * * * *
Nor could he, ever, for excellent reasons. That girl had a mind whose
power, scope, depth, and range she herself did not, could not even
dimly understand; a mind to be fully comprehended only by an adult of
her own third level. That mind had in fact received in toto a purely
fourth-dimensional thought. If Nadreck had received it, he would
have understood it and recognized it for what it was only because
of his advanced Arisian training--no other Palainian could have
done so--and it would have been sheerly unthinkable to him that any
warm-blooded and, therefore, strictly three-dimensional entity could
by any possibility receive such a thought; or, having received it,
could understand any figment of it. Nevertheless, if he had really
concentrated the full powers of his mind upon the girl's attempted
description, he might very well have recognized in it the clearest
possible three-dimensional delineation of such a thought; and from that
point he could have gone on to a full understanding of the Children of
the Lens.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account