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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hour of Battle, by Robert Sheckley This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Hour of Battle Author: Robert Sheckley Illustrator: Roy Gerald Krenkel Release Date: July 18, 2009 [EBook #29445] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUR OF BATTLE *** Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE HOUR OF BATTLE BY ROBERT SHECKLEY ILLUSTRATED BY KRENKEL As one of the Guardian ships protecting Earth, the crew had a problem to solve. Just how do you protect a race from an enemy who can take over a man's mind without seeming effort or warning? "That hand didn't move, did it?" Edwardson asked, standing at the port, looking at the stars. "No," Morse said. He had been staring fixedly at the Attison Detector for over an hour. Now he blinked three times rapidly, and looked again. "Not a millimeter." "I don't think it moved either," Cassel added, from behind the gunfire panel. And that was that. The slender black hand of the indicator rested unwaveringly on zero. The ship's guns were ready, their black mouths open to the stars. A steady hum filled the room. It came from the Attison Detector, and the sound was reassuring. It reinforced the fact that the Detector was attached to all the other Detectors, forming a gigantic network around Earth. "Why in hell don't they come?" Edwardson asked, still looking at the stars. "Why don't they hit?" "Aah, shut up," Morse said. He had a tired, glum look. High on his right temple was an old radiation burn, a sunburst of pink scar tissue. From a distance it looked like a decoration. "I just wish they'd come," Edwardson said. He returned from the port to his chair, bending to clear the low metal ceiling. "Don't you wish they'd come?" Edwardson had the narrow, timid face of a mouse; but a highly intelligent mouse. One that cats did well to avoid. [Illustration] "Don't you?" he repeated. The other men didn't answer. They had settled back to their dreams, staring hypnotically at the Detector face. "They've had enough time," Edwardson said, h
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