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our own town, our own homes, our own people
Kenniston understood, now. Deep indeed was her homesickness for the old town, for the old way of life. So
deep, that it had completely conquered the fear she might otherwise have felt
He took her in his arms and kissed her, and touched her hair, and he was thinking, She does love me but
only as part of a life that's gone, not me alone, not just John Kenniston by himself, but the Kenniston of
Middletown. And she'll be happy with me again, if we can change our life back a little to what it was.
Why did that thought bring no joy? Why must he think of Varn Allan, tired and lonely, and yet courageously
facing the wide universe, carrying a burden of duty too heavy for her?
Carol was asking him, What was it like, Ken? Out there?
He shook his head. Strange and hostile and beautiful, in a terrible way.
She said, I think it changed you, a little. I think it would change anybody.
And she shivered a little, as though even in the touch of him now was a freezing breath of alien deeps, a taint
of unearthly worlds.
No, Carol, he said. I'm not changed! But I can't stay now. I have to get back every minute is precious
As he hurried back to the others, Kenniston saw that New Middletown had become a rushing, surging swirl of
excitement. Voices called to him, hands grabbed to delay him, men and women tried to reach him with
questions. He was glad to rejoin the others around the lip of the great heat shaft.
Gorr Holl grinned his frightening grin at him. Now, get ready to work!
Chapter 19 Middletown decides 102
The City at World's End
For what seemed an eternity, Kenniston worked. Machinists and sheet metal workers of Middletown were
called in, every available man and piece of equipment. Great loads were brought in from the ship. Hammers
rang with a deafening clamor, shaping metal on improvised forges. Riveting machines gave out their staccato
thunder.
And gradually, painfully, shaped out of the sweat and effort of their bodies, a scaffolding of steel girders rose
above the mouth of the great shaft
Magro labored with the technicians over the complicated and delicate electrofuses, and the timing devices,
and the radio control that from a distance would drop and detonate the charge.
Kenniston had little time to think of anything but the work. Yet his mind reverted strangely often to Varn
Allan, locked in her cabin aboard the cruiser, and he wondered what her thoughts were.
Morning came. The city was to be cleared by noon, and the men and women of Middletown were gathering
their children in readiness. They would not take much out of the city with them. They would not need much,
either way.
The cryptic black ovoid was wheeled into position by the shaft. And with it were brought four small round
objects of a different look.
Capper bombs, that we made in the ship's laboratory on the way here, explained Arnol. They will drop an
instant after the energy bomb and will explode in the shaft just before it detonates below, sealing the shaft to
prevent backlash.
Kenniston watched while the technicians set the capper bombs in their racks, one above the other, inside the
frame of girders. The racks would be tripped by electronic relay, from the remote control box.
Kenniston felt an increasing dread, as the fateful moment loomed close. His dread was for the trusting
thousands of Middletown, who accepted the powers of scientists with the same unquestioning faith with
which men had once accepted the powers of wizards.
He hoped that, if the experiment were a disastrous failure, he would not survive to know it.
A crane had been rigged to handle the energy bomb. The electronics crew were working desperately to finish
the intricate wiring of the rack mechanisms, the split second timing of the relays. One of the cantilever support
girders had flawed, and steel workers were sweating away to replace it.
A few more hours now, and the thing would be done. By noon, or a little after, they would know whether
Earth was to live or die.
Then one of Arnol's men came running. He had run all the way from the starcruiser. He was breathless, and
his eyes were wild.
He cried out to Arnol, A message on the televisor from a Control Squadron! They say they are approaching
Earth, and order us to cease operations at once!
Chapter 20 appointment with destiny
Kenniston felt the impact of the news as a catastrophe crushing all their desperate hopes. He stood sagging,
looking at the technicians who stared frozenly back.
Chapter 20 appointment with destiny 103
The City at World's End
Like an ominous echo, Varn Allan's warning came back into his mind.
You cannot fight Federation law!
But Jon Arnol, raging at seeing the dream of a lifetime threatened at this last moment, rushed forward to the
messenger.
He grabbed the man's collar. Did you think to use a distance gauge on the message from those ships?
The man nodded hastily. Yes. The readings were
The devil with readings! How far from Earth are those ships?
I'd estimate that they're three or four hours away, if they come at full speed.
They'll come at full speed, don't worry, said Arnol grimly. His face was a sweating mask, the bones of it
standing out gauntly, as he turned to the others. Can we be ready in time?
The rack-trip controls are in, answered a technician. It'll take an hour or more to prepare the timers.
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