Project Gutenberg's Hellhounds of the Cosmos, by Clifford Donald Simak

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Title: Hellhounds of the Cosmos

Author: Clifford Donald Simak

Release Date: October 24, 2008 [EBook #27013]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: _He glimmered momentarily, then vanished._]

Hellhounds of the Cosmos

By Clifford D. Simak

Weird are the conditions of the
interdimensional struggle faced
by Dr. White's ninety-nine men.

The paper had gone to press, graphically describing the latest of the
many horrible events which had been enacted upon the Earth in the last
six months. The headlines screamed that Six Corners, a little hamlet in
Pennsylvania, had been wiped out by the Horror. Another front-page
story told of a Terror in the Amazon Valley which had sent the natives
down the river in babbling fear. Other stories told of deaths here and
there, all attributable to the "Black Horror," as it was called.

The telephone rang.

"Hello," said the editor.

"London calling," came the voice of the operator.

"All right," replied the editor.

He recognized the voice of Terry Masters, special correspondent. His
voice came clearly over the transatlantic telephone.

"The Horror is attacking London in force," he said. "There are thousands
of them and they have completely surrounded the city. All roads are
blocked. The government declared the city under martial rule a quarter
of an hour ago and efforts are being made to prepare for resistance
against the enemy."

"Just a second," the editor shouted into the transmitter.

He touched a button on his desk and in a moment an answering buzz told
him he was in communication with the press-room.

"Stop the presses!" he yelled into the speaking tube. "Get ready for a
new front make-up!"

"O.K.," came faintly through the tube, and the editor turned back to the
phone.

"Now let's have it," he said, and the voice at the London end of the
wire droned on, telling the story that in another half hour w