"Consequently, we have always been intrigued by many-dimensionality because we can't picture it to ourselves. But the calcatryte rays weren't hindered by a lack of imagination. They just zoomed off into an _n_-dimensional space, and wound up near Neeoorna. They were lines, remember, straight lines. And lines can be _n_-dimensional." Dr. Wooden rubbed his chin and said, "Could be, could be. But how does hyperspace solve your problem?" "A dot inside a circle can go outside that circle without crossing its circumference. Likewise, I could pass from the inside to the outside of a sphere without going through the surface of a four-dimensional object. "Those calcatryte rays beamed out from your lab into hyperspace, passing through ordinary space without touching it, and appeared billions of miles away. When I entered the shadows, I followed their course." Dr. Wooden drew a deep breath, saying, "If I hadn't seen you materialize out of thin air--" and broke off, laughing. "Seeing does enter it, doesn't it? But the attempts that were made to fight the shadows! Why were the attackers always destroyed? Unless--unless their weapons backfired on them--" "That's my thought. They were shooting three-dimensional objects at an n-dimensional space. The three-dimensional objects never got anywhere. They didn't even leave their source. They expended their frightful energy right where they began." "Well," muttered Dr. Wooden. "You could talk for hours and not _prove_ anything." * * * * * He broke off, looking at Jonathan. He lifted a wooden mallet and held it out to him. "Destroy it," he said simply. "If it's that much of a danger to the universe, it deserves obliteration." Jonathan put out his hand, brushed the mallet aside. He bent over the table, setting both hands on it, partially supporting his weight. The calcatryte in the metal cradles began to quiver as though made of soluble, moving liquid. Their veins ran into channels of color, red and green and blue and yellow. The blocks hazed over, writhing. The calcatryte was fading, bit by bit. Jonathan stood up. He looked worn, but his lips smiled. "It's done," he whispered. "You won't stay?" A smile came and dwelt on Jonathan's lips. "No," he said. "No, I won't stay. I am going back to Neeoorna, and then to Zarathza--to look at a sunrise coming up over the waters of the Jaralayan Sea." He went out, and the door closed behind him, softly. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Man nth, by Gardner F. Fox