CORPUS EARTHLING Louis Charbonneau A Zenith Original Zenith Books, Inc. Rockville Centre, New York Copyright © 1960 by Louis Charbonneau Zenith Books edition published in March, 1960 Manufactured in the U.S.A. [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] I stared appraisingly at the redhead curled up on my couch. Even she, Laurie Hendricks, might be one of them--one of the things from outer space. She noticed me watching her. She smiled knowingly, and stretched, catlike, her body straining against the smooth coverall. She walked over to where I stood and pressed against me. "Let's see what you can teach me, professor," she said softly. My last thought was: This girl is flesh and blood and human--she _must_ be human! And then everything was blotted out in the crimson sensation of that incredible kiss.... 1 It came again--the dream within a dream, the alien mind within the ailing mind. Drowning in the treacherous whirlpool near the shores of sleep, I fought to reach the firm reality of consciousness, of awakening, but I was sucked back and slowly sank beneath the surface into the horror of the dream.... * * * * * I stood on a lonely stretch of beach in a blue night, the sand glistening white against the inky darkness of sky and water. Waves rolled and tumbled toward me in noisy confusion. Beyond the apron of sand were the small, black beetle-shapes of a cluster of house trailers. But my eyes were focused on the figure which stood far up the beach, and an unknown terror crawled like a furry, many-legged animal down the nape of my neck. "No!" The wind snatched the single cry of protest from my lips and tore it into thin shreds of sound. And the alien mind spoke in my ear, in my mind but not of it, a whispered insinuation. "Drown!" it urged. "Drown!" I didn't move. My legs seemed to have grown into the sand like the trunks of trees. The voice spoke again in my mind, louder, more compelling. "Walk! Now! Into the water!" I stood resisting the terrifying power of the voice. The figure up the beach seemed closer, blurred by the cold wind that brought tears to my eyes. I stood rooted and my body bent as if a gale tugged and pulled at it. My legs began to tremble uncontrollably. The command hammered at me with a relentless pressure, filling my mind, blotting out all consciousness save for the drumming words, overwhelming in their brutal strength.