The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Invader, by Alfred Coppel

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Title: The Invader

Author: Alfred Coppel

Release Date: June 4, 2010 [EBook #32684]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE INVADER

By Alfred Coppel

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Imagination Stories of
Science and Fantasy February 1953. Extensive research did not uncover
any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: Invading Earth was going to be a cinch, the Triomed scout
decided. But to make certain he must study its inhabitants--as one of
them!]

The Triomed advanced stealthily across the floor of the dark cell toward
the sleeping figure huddled in the corner. After the long, lonely
voyage, the nearness to a host filled the Triomed with eager
anticipation.

The tiny spaceship that had carried him into this lush planetary system
far from the galaxy's heart lay well hidden behind him. So far as he
could tell, his descent had not been detected, and that was as it should
be--for he was a Triomed and a scientist. One of the finest in the
service of his dying race. Dying that is, until now, he thought. No
longer would the race of Triomeds weaken and die for lack of suitable
hosts. This third planet of the yellow sun was a paradise thick with
warm-blooded biped mammals....

* * * * *

The sleeping creature stirred uneasily, as though sensing the approach
of danger. The Triomed froze into immobility. It was unlikely that he
could be seen, he knew, though the sense of sight was only a synthesized
abstraction to him. It was not one of his own proper senses, but he had
been able to detect at long distance that almost every living creature
on this planet received impressions through certain specialized organs
mounted on and within their structure. There were plants, of course, as
there were on Triom, but they were unimportant.

There were viruses, too, a