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Spacewarp, v. 5, issue 5, whole no. 27, June 1949
Page 6
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* * * "WHAT'LL we do?" wailed Upperberth to his employees. "He's in no condition to pilot a delicate and complicated mechanism like a space ship, and we have no one to replace him." Everyone gazed thoughtfully at Mackintosh's recumbent form, sprawled on the floor of the FITS office. "Pardon me, Mr. Upperberth," said a new voice, "But perhaps I can help you." It was the fan who had accompanied r-tRapp to the FITS officewwith news of the ship. "What could you do?" asked Upperberth skeptically. "Well," said the fan, "I'm rather an expert at hypnosis, and perhaps if I banished Mr. Mackintosh's terror to his subconscious mind, he'd be willing to pilot the ship." Upperberth meditated a while. "It might work, at that," he admitted. "Even if it doesn't, we're no worse off than before. Are you ready?--he's coming to." The fan bent over Glover Mackintosh, who was no blinking dazedly. "Look into my eyes, said the fan. "Deeper.....deeper. You are conscious of nothing but the sound of my voice." A weird change came over Glover Mackintosh. His chattering teeth slowed down, his terror-convulsed face relaxed. His voice, in answer to a question from the fan, sounded weak and far-away. "I hear your command; I will obey." In a few brisk sentences in the fan implanted in the Assistant Editor's mind the idea that he was a fearless, calm adventurer who could hardly wait to set foot on Mars. And strangely enough, even after a snap of the fingers had released Mackintosh from his hypnotic state, this idea persisted. "I don't know how to thank you," said Upperberth gratefully, as the two fen prepared to leave the FITS office. Mackintosh had already left, headed for the Planetarium to study orbits and trajectories. "No trouble at all," the hypnotist assured him. "I only hope that I made the the posthypnotic suggestion strong enough to last throughout the flight." "I hope so too," Upperberth answered. "Although, of course, once he's taken off in the ship, he has to keep going whether he wants to or not." * * * IN A SMALL ROOM a short, dark-complexioned man turned from a portable video set. "Well, Kola," he said to his companion who was, as if in intentional contrast to his colleague, little more than a tall skeleton with skin draped around it, "I've talked with the Master." "Oh?" said Kola. "What did he want?" "He commanded that we return to our home planet, having failed in our mission on Earth." Vogar's voice trembled. Kola blanched. "Then we are doomed! We shall never be able to get into the Master's favor! When we leave Earth, the Priestess will be free to search for von Heine's body and learn the secret of the ship. And if she does . . . Vogar -- WE'D BE KILLED!" "Fool!" replied Vogar scornfully. "Cowardly fool! We aren't removed yet. We must leave Earth, but when we get home we'll see what can be done from there to sabotage the Priestess." 6
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* * * "WHAT'LL we do?" wailed Upperberth to his employees. "He's in no condition to pilot a delicate and complicated mechanism like a space ship, and we have no one to replace him." Everyone gazed thoughtfully at Mackintosh's recumbent form, sprawled on the floor of the FITS office. "Pardon me, Mr. Upperberth," said a new voice, "But perhaps I can help you." It was the fan who had accompanied r-tRapp to the FITS officewwith news of the ship. "What could you do?" asked Upperberth skeptically. "Well," said the fan, "I'm rather an expert at hypnosis, and perhaps if I banished Mr. Mackintosh's terror to his subconscious mind, he'd be willing to pilot the ship." Upperberth meditated a while. "It might work, at that," he admitted. "Even if it doesn't, we're no worse off than before. Are you ready?--he's coming to." The fan bent over Glover Mackintosh, who was no blinking dazedly. "Look into my eyes, said the fan. "Deeper.....deeper. You are conscious of nothing but the sound of my voice." A weird change came over Glover Mackintosh. His chattering teeth slowed down, his terror-convulsed face relaxed. His voice, in answer to a question from the fan, sounded weak and far-away. "I hear your command; I will obey." In a few brisk sentences in the fan implanted in the Assistant Editor's mind the idea that he was a fearless, calm adventurer who could hardly wait to set foot on Mars. And strangely enough, even after a snap of the fingers had released Mackintosh from his hypnotic state, this idea persisted. "I don't know how to thank you," said Upperberth gratefully, as the two fen prepared to leave the FITS office. Mackintosh had already left, headed for the Planetarium to study orbits and trajectories. "No trouble at all," the hypnotist assured him. "I only hope that I made the the posthypnotic suggestion strong enough to last throughout the flight." "I hope so too," Upperberth answered. "Although, of course, once he's taken off in the ship, he has to keep going whether he wants to or not." * * * IN A SMALL ROOM a short, dark-complexioned man turned from a portable video set. "Well, Kola," he said to his companion who was, as if in intentional contrast to his colleague, little more than a tall skeleton with skin draped around it, "I've talked with the Master." "Oh?" said Kola. "What did he want?" "He commanded that we return to our home planet, having failed in our mission on Earth." Vogar's voice trembled. Kola blanched. "Then we are doomed! We shall never be able to get into the Master's favor! When we leave Earth, the Priestess will be free to search for von Heine's body and learn the secret of the ship. And if she does . . . Vogar -- WE'D BE KILLED!" "Fool!" replied Vogar scornfully. "Cowardly fool! We aren't removed yet. We must leave Earth, but when we get home we'll see what can be done from there to sabotage the Priestess." 6
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