self. As their minds joined they heard the android Tuly
cry out, "Good...." And then their minds were out in
interstellar space._

VIII

Hilton did not have to drive the peyondix-beam to the planet Strett; it
was already there. And there was the monstrous First Lord Thinker Zoyar.

Into that mind his multi-mind flashed, its every member as responsive to
his will as his own fingers--almost infinitely more so, in fact, because
of the tremendous lengths of time required to send messages along
nerves.

That horrid mind was scanned cell by cell. Then, after what seemed like
a few hours, when a shield began sluggishly to form, Hilton transferred
his probe to the mind of the Second Thinker, one Lord Ynos, and absorbed
everything she knew. Then, the minds of all the other Thinkers being
screened, he studied the whole Strett planet, foot by foot, and
everything that was on it.

Then, mission accomplished, Hilton snapped his attention back to his
office and the multi-mind fell apart. As he opened his eyes he heard
Tuly scream: "... Luck!"

"Oh--you still here, Tuly? How long have we been gone?"

"Approximately one and one-tenth seconds, sir."

"WHAT!"

Beverly Bell, in the haven of Franklin Poynter's arms, fainted quietly.
Sandra shrieked piercingly. The four men stared, goggle-eyed. Temple
and Teddy, as though by common thought, burrowed their faces into brawny
shoulders.

Hilton recovered first. "So _that's_ what peyondix is."

"Yes, sir--I mean no, sir. No, I mean yes, but ..." Tuly paused, licking
her lips in that peculiarly human-female gesture of uncertainty.

"Well, what _do_ you mean? It either is or isn't. Or is that necessarily
so?"

"Not exactly, sir. That is, it started as peyondix. But it became something
else. Not even the most powerful of the old Masters--nobody--ever did or
ever could _possibly_ generate such a force as that. Or handle it so fast."

"Well, with seven of the best minds of Terra and a ..."

"Chip-chop the chit-chat!" Karns said, harshly. "What I want to know is
whether I was having a nightmare. Can there _possibly_ be a race such as
I thought I saw? So utterly savage--ruthless--merciless! So devoid of
every human trace and so hell-bent determined on the extermination of
every other race in the Galaxy? God damn it, it simply doesn't make
sense!"

* * * * *

Eyes went from eyes to eyes to eyes.

All had seen the same indescriba