lic mind. Read
the newsfacs, watch the newscasts. Take a look at popular fiction. He's
everywhere at once. He can do anything. He's taken on the attributes of
the djinn, the vampire, the ghoul, the werewolf, and every other horror
and hobgoblin that the mind of man has conjured up in the past half
million years."

"That's hardly surprising, Colonel," Bart Stanton said with a wry smile.
"If a human being had gone on a ten-year rampage of robbery and murder,
showing himself as callously indifferent to human life and property as
you and I would be to the life and property of a cockroach, and if, in
addition, he proved impossible to catch, such a person would be looked
upon as a demon too. And if you add to that the fact that the Nipe is
_not_ human, that he is as frightening in appearance as he is in
actions, what can you expect?"

"I agree," said Dr. Farnsworth. "Look at Jack the Ripper and consider
how he terrorized London a couple of centuries ago."

"I know," said Colonel Mannheim. "There have been human criminals whose
actions could be described as 'inhuman', but the Nipe has some touches
that few human criminals have thought of and almost none would have the
capacity to execute. If he has time to spare, his victims become an
annoying problem in identification when they're found. He leaves nothing
but well-gnawed bones. And by 'time to spare', I mean twenty or thirty
minutes. The damned monster has a very efficient digestive tract, if
nothing else. He eats like a shrew."

"And if he doesn't have time, he beats them to death," Bart Stanton said
thoughtfully.

Colonel Mannheim frowned. "Not exactly. According to the evidence--"

Dr. Farnsworth interrupted him. "Colonel, let's go into the lounge,
shall we? Aside from the fact that standing around in an empty chamber
like this isn't the most comfortable way to discuss the fate of mankind,
this room is scheduled for other work."

Colonel Mannheim grinned, caught up by the touch of lightness that the
biophysicist had injected into the conversation. "Very well. I could do
with some coffee, if you have some."

"All you want," said Dr. Farnsworth, leading the way toward the door of
the chamber and opening it. "Or, if you'd prefer something with a little
more power to it...."

"Thanks, no," said Mannheim. "Coffee will do fine. How about you,
Stanton?"

Bart Stanton shook his head. "I'd love to have some coffee, but I'll
leave the alcohol alone. I'd just have the lu