Science fiction; Time travel -- Fiction; War stories; World War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction
"Since the Germans didn't, I'm inclined to," admitted Kane. "We know
that more things are possible than German imagination can swallow;
we've got several such things here. Of course, it's always just
possible that you're German spies, using a crazy wheels-within-wheels
stunt to get on the inside. I don't think so, though, and fortunately I
don't have to guess." He turned to Vzryvov. "Got the apparatus set up?"
"Since an hour ago," said the Russian.
Kane slid off the table top. He became brusque. "If you'll just step
into the next room, we'll read your minds and settle all doubts."
* * * * *
Fifteen minutes later, Igor Vzryvov switched off the psychoanalyzer.
Manning glanced up under the spidery hemisphere of wire that gathered
the faint broadcasts of the brain, and met Kane's warm smile. The
underground leader tossed aside the graphs he had been studying, and
extended a welcoming hand.
"You're genuine, all right. No need to examine your friend--your mind
says he came with you out of the past, and that's enough and to spare."
"Swell!" said Dugan. "I didn't much like the idea of having that thing
poking around inside my head."
Kane caressed the machine affectionately. "This is one of the best
achievements of cellar science. Thanks to it, we've got the only
leak-proof organization this sinful world has ever seen. The Nazi party
is one of the tightest setups ever created without benefit of the
psychoanalyzer, and we've got men inside it--but we _know_ that all our
members are loyal and stable." His expression darkened. "Of course,
if this and our other psychoelectronic developments got into German
hands, we'd be sunk. With their resources, they could exploit the field
a lot more thoroughly than we can. For example, Igor here has invented
a death ray that kills by just convincing a man he's dead--but to make
it an effective weapon would take a lot more power. We get a good deal
of leakage here from the Long Island station, but we have to be careful
about antennas."
The four of them sat around the table in the outer room. Harry Clark
had disappeared--literally, and then gone out to pass the word to the
agents scattered around New York that the men they sought had been
found.
"Now," said Kane, "since you're really time travelers, I'm on fire to
hear how you did it. A time machine might be a useful addition to our
arsenal, though it sounds like a tricky thing to use...."
"I'm afraid we can't help on that score," said Manning, and related the
whole story of their experience with Herr Doktor Kahl's _Zeitfahrer_.
Kane rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So you're stranded in our
time. I feel for you! At least the Germans didn't get the machine,
either--though they have got the inventor. We may have to do something
about that. And what about you? Have any plans?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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