DeLieb manipulated the controls as the rest of them watched through the
large projection screen. Clawed arms came from the side of the screen
and picked the crystal out of the dish. They carried it over to the
mouth of a pneumatic tube, where it was dropped into a carrier. There
was a _whoosh!_ and the carrier disappeared.
The scene on the television screen switched abruptly to Claverly, who
opened the end of the tube and removed the crystal. He held it up for
them to see.
"So here we are," said Claverly. "The crystal and myself, removed from
the critical mass of human radiation--if that means anything. Watch me
closely. I am going to test this crystal for power output."
Claverly turned aside and clamped the crystal in a holder. He turned
away, then, and--
There was a flash that filled the telescreen. It did not blind the
onlookers, for the total output of the projection system would not
furnish so much light. But the flash at the transmitting end paralyzed
the orthicon, and once the phosphor of the receiving tube ceased to
glow, the screen went dark. The orthicon at the far end of the line was
no longer working. There was no roar of sound from the speaker. Just an
electric crackle, and then the hiss of the live circuit.
"Gone!" said DeLieb explosively.
Phelps turned from the mounted telescope and said, "I saw a flicker
from the windows, but the building is still there."
"Then it didn't blow," said Jane Nolan.
Crandall caught a faint flicker on the telescreen. The bare highlights
were there, just coming up above the black level. "Claverly!" said Dave.
They turned. The tall scientist was visible, standing still as they had
seen him before. Motionless, like a strobo-flashed picture.
Dave raced down, out of the building and into the parked jeep. He
shoved the jeep into gear and took off with a roar. His tires threw
dust as he raced across the intervening three miles to the remote
laboratory.
Claverly was there. A phantom Claverly; a three-dimensional image,
unmistakable as the man himself. Transparent, however; the bricks of
the far wall could be distinguished through it.
The image was fading, but so very gradually that Dave had to watch
carefully to be certain.
* * * * *
"The crystal is still here," said Dave. "It seems unchanged."
"We see," replied DeLieb. "The video is working again."
"So--what was Claverly's next move to be?"
"Wait!" cried Jane. "Be careful; Claverly--"
"Someone has to do it," said Dave. "If you'll give me directions--?"
Phelps shook his head at the rest and said: "Dave, if we could
manipulate that thing from here through these last few motions,
Claverly wouldn't have been there."
"Forgot that," said Dave unhappily. "So now what?"
"I'm coming over. You leave."
"Check--but don't like it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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