hey got to a place where the road's blocked with a terror beam,"
said Lockley evenly. "They stopped and called by short wave and the
beam was cut off, then they went past the block-point and undoubtedly
the beam was turned on again."

He debated a decision.

"We'll have breakfast," he said shortly. "We'll have to eat the eggs raw,
but we need to eat. Then we'll figure things out. It may be that we'd be
sensible to forget about cars and try to get to the cordon on foot,
robbing farmhouses of food on the way. There can't be too many ...
collaborators. And we could keep out of sight."

He opened a jar of preserves.

"But it would be better for you to be travelling by car, if tonight's
clear and there's starlight to drive by."

Jill said practically, "There might be some news...."

Her hands shook as she put the pocket radio on the hood of the car.
Lockley noticed it. He felt, himself, the strain of their long march
through the wilderness with danger in every breath they drew. And he
was shaken in a different way by the proof that humans were
cooperating fully with the invading monsters. It was unthinkable that
anybody could be a traitor not only to his own country but to all the
human race. He felt incredulous. It couldn't be true! But it obviously
was.

The radio made noises. Lockley turned it in another direction. There
was music. Jill's face worked. She struggled not to show how she felt.

The radio said, "_Special news bulletin! Special news bulletin! The
Pentagon announces that for the first time there has been practically
complete success in duplicating the terror beam used by the space
invaders at Boulder Lake! Working around the clock, teams of foreign
and American scientists have built a projector of what is an entirely
new type of electronic radiation which produces every one of the
physiological effects of the alien terror beam! It is low-power, so
far, and has not produced complete paralysis in experimental animals.
Volunteers have submitted themselves to it, however, and report that
it produces the sensations experienced by members of the military
cordon around Boulder Lake. A crash program for the development of the
projector is already under way. At the same time a crash program to
develop a counter to it is already showing promising results. The
authorities are entirely confident that a complete defense against the
no longer mysterious weapon will be found. There is no longer any
reason to fear th