I thumbed my power-pack and the field spread out around me. I began to cut my way through the streets to the Harwood house. The aliens took notice of me, now. No more hovering around tv antennae; they clustered in the air, just outside range of my force-field, and chattered and buzzed for all they were worth. Every once in a while, one would blunder into my field, and a swift upward cut with the knife would take care of him. One cut. They were like balloons, and the first puncture did it. I didn't dare shut off the force-field to see if they'd pop out of existence, for fear the clouds of them in the air would swoop in on me before I could turn it on again--but as I moved on, through the dead and deserted streets, I could see the string of dead Invaders hanging in the air vanishing one by one as I moved out of range. And then I was standing in front of Laura's home, right in front of the vortex itself. It was still there, and the aliens came thundering through at a rate of ten or twenty a minute. I stepped past the vortex, ignoring the aliens that clustered around me, as helpless against me as humanity had been against them only a few hours before. There was no point in dealing with the Invaders yet--not until the source was cut off. * * * * * I strode up to the porch and peered in the window. I saw Laura huddled in a far corner of the sitting-room, and behind her Abel Harwood marching up and down, probably delivering a fiery parental harangue. It was a nightmare scene, with a dead city outside, hordes of alien invaders swarming in the air--and the man responsible for it busy delivering a lecture to his unruly daughter! I banged on the door. "Come on out of there, Harwood!" He looked up, astonished. I saw Laura's pale face brighten as she recognized me, then grow downcast as Harwood started to come toward me. I walked off the porch into the garden and waited there for him. He emerged, eyes blazing, and said, "How did you get here? How did you get past my guards?" "Your guards don't worry me any more, Harwood. I'm going to put a stop to all this now!" He chuckled. "You're a very troublesome young man, Mr. Matthews. I spared you once, for my daughter's sake--but I'll have no such scruples this time." He gestured imperiously to the thick swarm of Invaders billowing out of the vortex. "You don't scare me, Harwood." I drew a deep breath, reached around back, and cut off the force-field for the barest fraction of a second, then restored it. It was just enough time to trap twenty or so aliens in a glowing ring right above my head. Smiling, I drew my trusty kitchen knife and began to lay about. I heard Harwood's flustered exclamations as, one by one, the imprisoned Invaders winked out, darkened, and died. I finished off the twenty and folded my arms. "Care to send some more, Harwood? It's easier than swatting gnats!" He sputtered a few unintelligible words, then rushed from the porch toward me.