PARDONMY IRON NERVES

A Captain Future Novelet By Edmond HAMILTON

If you think Grag's an insensitive robot, read his own account of getting psychoanalysed

and repairing to Pluto's Fourth Moon !

CHAPTER I

Metal Man

DIDN'T want to do it. I, Grag, am not

given to talking about myself. When

Curt Newton suggested that I write up this

particular adventure for the case-book in

which he records our doings I refused at

first.

I said, "No, Curt, I'd rather not. You

know I'm not one to brag about my own

exploits."

"I know that," he said. "But since it was

you who where chiefly concerned in this

business with the Machs, and since you're

the only one who knows all the details you

should write the report on it."

Well, I had to agree. After all, Curt--

Captain Future--depends on me more than

on any of the other Futuremen. It's because

we think alike, I guess.

Of course Simon Wright was human

himself once--long ago before his brain

was transferred into the artificial serum-

case that is now his "body". But there's

something a little remote about Simon

even to Curt.

As for Otho, the other Futureman--

well, being an android or artificial man,

Otho looks human. But that's as far as it

goes. Otho just doesn't think the way we

do.

I'll admit that I, Grag, don't look so

much like other people. I'm a metal man,

seven feet high. Otho calls me a robot but

that's ridiculous--he merely does it

because he's jealous of me.

I've always been sorry for Otho. For his

limitations aren't his own fault.

You see, neither Otho nor I was born.

We were made, created by science of

Roger Newton, Curt's father, and of

Simon.

In their hidden laboratory on the

Moon--the same Moon-Laboratory that

we Futuremen now call home--they used

their scientific skill to create living beings.

I, Grag, was their first and supreme

creation. They made me of enduring metal,

metal limbs immense strength. I am

stronger than twenty men together. My

photo-electric eyes can see better and my

audio-circuit ears can hear better.

And my metal brain is just as superior in

its own way. It contains millions of

electronic synaptic circuits. That's why I

can think and act so swiftly.

I can still remember the look of awe on

the faces of my creators when they

observed the quickness with which I

learned.

I remember overhearing Roger Newton

tell Simon, "Grag is a great creation in his

way. But we'll try a different form, next

time."

Simon agreed. "We don't want to create

another one like him !"

BVIOUSLY they were a bit

frightened by the awesome

intelligence and power they had created in

me ! Naturally they felt that a few more

like me would make all other living

creatures obsolete !

That is why, when they created a second

artificial being, they ran no danger of

creating another super-being like myself

but instead chose the android form for

Otho because they wanted to make sure he

would have only a limited intelligence.

When Roger Newton and his young

wife died so tragically it was we Fu-

turemen--Simon and Otho and I--who

took care of little Curtis and reared him to

mankind.

I have to admit that I taught Curt most

of what he learned. Otho was too feather-

headed to teach anyone and Simon too

severe and impatient. Of course they

wouldn't let me spank Curtis, for my metal

hand would have crushed him. But I was

his chief tutor and guide.

And when Curt grew up and started

roving, winning the nickname of Captain

Future, he naturally leaned more on me

than on the others. Many a time my

resourcefulness saved the day when his

recklessness had got us into trouble. In fact

I've seldom let him go anywhere without

me.

But on the particular day when this

business of the Machs really started I was

on my own.

We had come to Earth so that Curt

might consult a certain bureau of the Solar

System Government. That gave me a

chance I'd been waiting for and I took it.

I said, "I'd like to go into New York

while you're holding your conference here

at Government Center, Curt."

He stared at me. "Whatever for, Grag ?"

"He probably wants to get his rivets

tightened," put in Otho.

That's Otho's way of showing his petty

jealousy of me--always playing upon the

fact that I'm made of metal. I simply

ignored him with calm dignity, as I always

do.

"Just a little private business," I told

Curt. "I won't be long."

He said, "Well, you'll startle the people

a little but everyone knows about Grag the

Futureman so I guess they won't be too

surprised. Go ahead, but be back by ten for

we're going back to the Moon then."

I left them and went to the tubeway

station. It was a rush-hour and the tube-

cars were crowded.

I created a mild sensation in the station.

Naturally, everyone had heard of me and

of the things I had done, with the help of

Curt and the others. I heard them

whispering my name in the train.

However I was too engrossed in my

own thoughts to pay attention to them.

The errand upon which I was going was a

serious one.

I hadn't told Curt about it lest he worry.

But the fact is that I was concerned about

my health.

Of course Otho would have laughed and

sneered, "How can a metal man seven feet

high get sick ?"

But it wasn't bodily sickness that

worried me. My problem was a

psychological one.

I've always had a delicate, sensitive kind

of mind. I guess it's because my metal

brain is just too brilliant. And lately I'd

been worrying a little about it.

It began when I happened to see a

televisor-play about a man losing his mind.

It showed how he neglected his complexes

until finally he went crazy.

"This could happen to you !" the

announcer had said. "Tune in next week

for another thrilling psychological drama,

presented by the Sunshine Company on

their Happiness Hour !"

His words struck me. "This could

happen to you !" I began to think. I had had

a feeling of depression lately--I was sure

of it. Probably I had complexes from

overworking my brain too much. The more

I thought about it the more I felt I'd better

see a specialist before I ended up the same

way.

I had already looked up the address of

an eminent psychoanalyst and I got off at

the right station and walked to his office.

New York was used to strangers--

Martians, Venusians and what-not from all

the planets. But they turned to look at me.

I paid no attention to their staring but

strode majestically on.

In Doctor Perker's office there was a

pretty girl receptionist and a half-dozen

people sitting waiting.

The receptionist didn't at first look up

from her writing as she asked, "Do you

wish to--"

She looked up, then, and her jaw fell

and she gulped. I had forgotten that to

anyone unused to me the sudden entrance

of a colossal metal man would be a little

upsetting.

I turned my photo-electric eyes

reassuringly upon her and told her, "Yes, I

want to see Doctor Perker as soon as I can.

My name is Grag."

She shrank away a little. "Do you mind

repeating the name ?"

I did and she said shakily, "If you could

come back next week ?"

"No, I'll wait," I said.

I went over to a corner and stood there,

feeling a little depressed and worried about

the coming interview.

The people who had been waiting to see

the psychoanalyst were all staring at me.

They certainly didn't look well--they were

all pale and trembling and when I

swivelled my head around to look at them

one of them uttered a cry and the others

jumped.

One by one they got up and slunk out of

the office. Presently a patient came from

the inner office. He looked at me and then

he too went hastily out.

"Doctor Perker will see you now, Mr.

Grag," the girl murmured.

I stalked into the inner office. Doctor

Perker was a wispy little man, polishing

his spectacles when I entered.

"Well, Mr. Grag, what's the trouble ?"

he said cheerfully, staring at me

myopically as he polished. "You're a

mighty husky young fellow to be seeing a

doctor. You look like a football player."

"No, I never played football but once," I

told him. "It was on Mars. They put me out

of the game, because I knocked down the

goal-posts."

OCTOR PERKER hastily laid down

his glasses and fumbled at the

hearing-aid he wore. "Blasted thing

amplifies too loud now and then !"

He reached for his glasses. "Now you

were saying Mr. Grag ?"

"It's my subconscious," I told him. "I

think I've got complexes."

He put his spectacles on and stared at

me. He gulped and then he said, "Huh ?"

"Complexes. I get fits of depression.

I'm afraid of what they'll lead to. A person

has to be careful of the mind."

The doctor had sat down suddenly, in

his chair. He swallowed a couple of times

and then said, "Grag ? Then you're that

Futureman, the robot who--"

"I don't like people calling me a robot,"

I said indignantly.

A glass chandelier shivered and fell and

Doctor Perker hastily turned his hearing-

aid farther down.

"Please, please, not so loud," he

whispered. "The plaster will be next and

they're very particular in this building."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "My

loudspeaker voice is pretty strong."

"About your complexes," he said

huskily. "Perhaps, Mr. Grag, rather than a

psychoanalyst a good mechanic--"

"No !" I told him. "I've got a human

mind, and I need a human psychologist to

help me. After all, I don't want to go on

until I'm crazy."

"No indeed," he gulped. "A crazy ro--

er--person like you is awful to think

about. We'll see what we can do for you,

Mr. Grag."

He still seemed pretty shaky and

uncertain but he came up to me. "In

matters like this physical condition is

important," he said. "Tell me, do you eat

well ?"

"To tell the truth, doctor, my appetite

has fallen off lately," I admitted. "I

consume only two-thirds as much copper

as I used to."

He goggled at me. "Copper ?"

"Of course--I take copper to keep my

atomic generators going," I said

impatiently, tapping the little fuel-plate in

my breast.

"Oh, of course," he said, gulping again.

"But have you slept well in recent weeks

"In recent weeks I haven't slept at all--

not a minute," I told him.

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere," he

said. "How long have you had this

insomnia condition ?"

"Why, ever since I was made," I told

him. "I never sleep."

He was beginning to look upset again.

"Well, after all, it's the mind we're

interested in," he said. "If you have

complexes it's because there's something in

your subconscious, festering away--"

"Wouldn't it rust rather than fester ?" I

suggested.

"Well, rusting then," he said. "Anyway,

whatever it is we'll have it out ! Suppose

you lie down on the couch."

It was a big comfortable-looking couch.

I lay down on it. It promptly collapsed

under me.

I felt a little chagrined and told him,

"Perhaps I should have told you that I

weigh a little more than a ton."

"Perhaps you should have," he said

irritably. "Never mind. Just lie down and

talk to me--tell me whatever comes into

your mind. Memories, dreams, half-

forgotten fears--they're all important !"

I thought for a little while, trying to

remember anything that would help.

"Well," I said, "I remember that when I

was just a young robot, only a few weeks

old, I put some uranium into my fuel-

chamber instead of copper to see what

would happen."

"What happened ?" he asked eagerly.

"My overload fuses blew out," I told

him. "Simon fixed them and warned me

never to take anything but copper in the

future."

Doctor Perker looked baffled. He was

obviously puzzled by the complexity of my

problem.

"And when Otho was made," I

continued, "I tried to be like a big brother

to him because he was so ignorant. But he

jeered at me and called me robot !" It hurt

me, deep inside, doctor. I could feel my

relays click over when he called me that.

"Other ignorant people have called me

robot sometimes. It's wounded my sub-

conscious. It's what's given me an

inferiority complex, like the man in the

tele-drama."

"A metal man seven feet high with an

inferiority complex ?" said Doctor Perker.

"Oh, no !"

I saw that he was trying to conceal from

me the gravity of my condition. I wouldn't

have that. I was brave enough to take it.

I told him so. I got up from the couch

and told him emphatically, "I do so have

an inferiority complex !"

He saw that he couldn't fool me. He

cringed a little.

"Please, Mr. Grag--not so loud !" he

begged. "If you say you have an inferiority

complex--why, you have."

"What shall I do about it ?" I asked.

"Should I take an extended course of

analysis from you ?"

"No, no, not that !" he said hurriedly.

"To get rid of your--er--complex you

ought to get away from people for awhile.

That's it ! You should stay away from other

people, especially from crowded places

like New York."

"But where shall I go ?" I asked.

"Anywhere far off," he replied. Then he

added quickly, "I mean anywhere far off

from people who damage your ego by their

slurring comments. Go where people will

appreciate you and look up to you."

"I'll do that, doctor," I said earnestly.

"But what about medicine ? This has been

a shock to me and I feel a little faint and

strange."

Doctor Perker looked puzzled again, but

he got some capsules from a cabinet. "Of

course," he said. "Here are some sedative

capsules."

I hastily put the capsules into my fuel

chamber. I was trembling to think how

close I had been to disaster.

For the first time I almost envied Otho,

whose primitive low mind couldn't have a

complex if it tried.

CHAPTER II

Mission to Pluto

N OUR way back to the Moon I said

nothing about my condition. I knew

that Curt would be badly worried about me

and I didn't want to upset him.

In fact I half expected that he would

notice how shaky I was but he didn't.

Probably his own business with the

Government was too much on his mind for

him to notice.

But when we reached the Moon-

laboratory, my Spartan attempts to conceal

my condition were ruined by Eek.

Eek has been my pet for years--a little

moon-pup of the silicate telepathic non-

breathing species that inhabits the deeper

caverns of the Moon and subsists on

metallic nourishment. The little fellow

loves me exceedingly.

By his telepathic power Eek sensed at

once that something was wrong with me.

He scrambled up onto my shoulder,

peering at me with his intelligent little eyes

and nuzzling me in frantic anxiety.

"What's Eek so upset about ?" Curt

asked.

Otho put a gross interpretation on the

little fellow's conduct, of course. "He's

hungry as always. Grag must have

forgotten to turn on the automatic feeder

when we left."

I retorted angrily, "Eek is upset because

he's concerned about my health, which is

more than any of you seem to be."

They seemed amazed. They stared at me

and then Curt said, "Your health ?"

I saw that I had to confess the truth.

There was no use being stoical about it.

So I told them of my visit to Doctor

Perker and of my psychoses that he had

discovered.

"Grag, with psychoses ?" Otho cried.

"Oh, no--not that !" and he let out a

whoop of laughter.

His callous derision of my condition so

enraged me that in spite of my shakiness I

started toward him to teach him more

consideration for the ailing.

Curt too had begun to grin at first but he

had evidently realized the true seriousness

of my condition, for he stepped between us

and reproved Otho severely.

"You shut up, Otho ! The last time you

got Grag angry made trouble enough. If he

says he has psychoses he has them. You

bring in the Comet."

When Otho had gone I felt a reaction.

Such angry emotion was not good for me

in my present state. Again I thought I was

feeling faint.

"Thanks, Curt," I said. "If you don't

mind--I think I'd like to sit down."

"But you've never sat down to rest in

your life--" he began and then said, "All

right. But don't use a chair. This motor-

support table will hold you."

His face had a queer strained look as

though he were suppressing his emotions.

I realized how deep must be his concern.

"Don't worry about me," I reassured him

weakly. "It's just that psychoses like these

react on the nervous system."

Simon Wright had remained, hovering

silent and motionless as is his way, those

cool lenslike eyes of his surveying me. His

rasping metallic voice was unsympathetic

when he spoke.

"This is all foolishness," he said. "I

know your nervous system and brain better

than you do and the idea that you could get

such a derangement is nonsense."

It was like Simon to say that. He has a

great and brilliant mind but I'm afraid he

lacks the ordinary human sympathies that

the rest of us have.

"Better let me handle this, Simon," said

Curt. "Grag is really upset."

He went with Simon toward the Brain's

private laboratory. His low voice floated

back down the corridor to me.

"--imitativeness, really--long asso-

ciation with humans--cure him by--"

It was evident that Captain Future at

least had a keen anxiety about my

condition. That was a comfort to me.

And when Otho presently returned into

the main room he seemed to have come to

a realization that it was no laughing matter.

For he came over and looked at me closely.

"Grag, it's true that you don't look so

well," he said. "I didn't notice it before but

I can see it now."

I mistrusted Otho's sudden solicitude. I

said warily, "Yes ?"

"Yes--it shows up in your face," he

said, shaking his head.

"My face is rigid metal, so how can

anything show up ?" I demanded.

"It's your eyes I referred to," Otho said.

"They're sort of dull--as though their

photoelectric circuits were disarranged.

And your voice has a timbre I don't like."

HIS news dismayed me. I felt even

worse and weaker than before.

"You should protect your mental

circuits from these terrific temperature

changes you subject them to," Otho said

earnestly. "I know heat and cold mean

nothing to you usually but in a condition

like this--"

He dashed out and came back with a

thick blanket. "Here, this will insulate your

head-circuits a little. Let me tuck it around

you, Grag."

He put it over my head like a shawl and

wrapped it around me. Then he insisted on

taking my temperature.

"I can do it by a thermocouple unit of

high calibration put into your fuel-

chamber," he said.

I admit that I was a little touched by

Otho's anxiety. "Don't worry about me,

Otho," I said weakly. "I'll get over it.

Don't you bother."

"Nothing's too much bother for my old

pal Grag !" he insisted. "I wish I could

cheer you up a little. Wait--I'll have Oog

do his new trick for you."

Now if there was one thing I didn't want

to see it was Otho's pet Oog. That

repulsive little beast is a meteor-mimic, an

asteroidal species with a horribly uncanny

ability to assume any desired bodily form.

But I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I

made no objection. He whistled and Oog

came lolloping in--a fat doughy little

white creature with vacant staring eyes.

"Do the new trick I just taught you, Oog

!" ordered Otho.

Oog's body changed shape, flowed,

twisted and suddenly had assumed a new

form.

He was now a manlike little figure,

sitting with a cape of his own tissues

wrapped around him, rocking back and

forth and holding hands to his middle.

Otho suddenly went off into a roar of

laughter. "That's it, Oog !"

A suspicion seized me. I looked more

closely at Oog. The manlike, sitting figure

he was imitating--it was me !

"Oog is now playing 'Sick Robot !' "

guffawed Otho.

I leaped up, flung aside the blanket and

started toward Otho. "This does it,

android!" I roared. "This time you've gone

too far!"

My anger at being thus mocked when I

was unwell was so great that I don't know

what I would have done to Otho if my

voice hadn't brought Curt running.

"Otho, get out of here !" snapped

Captain Future. "I told you to let him

alone."

"I'll crush that plastic-puss synthetic

imitation of a man back into his original

chemicals !" I said furiously.

"Grag, don't lose your temper--it's bad

for you if you have any psychotic trouble,"

Curt reminded me.

That cooled me down. I'd forgotten my

precarious psychological condition.

Captain Future continued quickly,

"Grag, you said your psychoanalyst told

you to get away from people to cure your

inferiority complex ?"

"Yes--he said people were bad for me

and that New York was especially bad that

way, so I wasn't to come back to him," I

said.

Curt's face again twisted in that queer

strained look I knew indicated deep worry.

"He wasn't so dumb," Captain Future

commented. "But I think he was right. I

think it might do you good to get away

from humans--I mean of course us other

humans--for a little while.

"And it so happens," he went on, "that

you can carry out a rather urgent mission

for us at the same time. You've heard of

the moon Dis ?"

"Pluto's fourth little moon ?" I said.

"The one where they do the remote-control

actinium mining ?"

Captain Future nodded. "That's the

place. It's rich in actinium but has a

poisonous atmosphere that instantly kills

oxygen-breathers. So it has been exploited

by automatic machine-workers, which

mine, crush and load the actinium into

barges to be picked up without need of any

humans living on the poisonous little

moon.

"But now something's wrong there.

They told me at Government headquarters

that they'd got a flash on it from the ship

that went to Dis to pick up the loaded

barges. The barges weren't loaded this time

and the Machs, the automatic machine-

workers, were not around.

"Since it will take time to prepare an

expedition to investigate that dangerous

little world they asked if we Futuremen

could have a quick look now to see why

the Machs have failed. I told them we

would if we could."

"What's all this got to do with my

condition ?" I demanded.

"This--I want you to go out there and

look things over," he explained. "Simon

and I are busy with the Andromeda data.

But you could run out there and

investigate, since naturally the poison there

doesn't affect you and you wouldn't need

any protection.

"It'll give you the change your doctor

ordered, Grag. It'd get you away from

humans for there's nobody on Dis except

those Machs. And they're merely clever

automatic machines--you could set them

right wherever they've gone wrong and get

them to working again."

THOUGHT it over. I hated to leave

Curt but after all, I had to follow

doctor's orders.

"It'll be pretty tough on me with only a

bunch of dumb machines like that for

company," I said.

"Yes, their reaction-circuits are of the

most elementary sort," Curt admitted. "But

you can soon set them right, Grag. They'll

naturally be absolutely subservient to

you--subservience to human commands is

inherent in their circuits."

"Well, I don't like to leave human

society to give orders to a lot of dumb

mindless machines but if Doctor Perker

thinks it'll be good for my condition I'll do

it."

"Grag, I think it'd be the best thing in

the world for your inferiority complex,"

Captain Future said, smiling in his relief.

My preparations were soon made. I

wouldn't need the Comet--the space-sled

would be enough for me. It was a

streamlined craft I'd built for my own

use--nobody else could use it for it had no

overdeck, no air-supply, no rest-cabin. It

was a long slim open hull or boat with

high-powered atomic engines. Since I don't

breathe, riding in open space doesn't bother

me.

When I was ready to depart Eek sensed

that I was leaving and clambered up onto

my shoulder. I decided to take him with

me. Since he didn't breathe either, neither

space nor the poisonous moon would affect

him. And it would break his heart to be left

behind again.

Simon Wright came gliding out of his

laboratory when he heard me bidding Curt

goodbye.

"Are you really going to let Grag go out

there alone ?" he asked Curt.

"Someone has to look over things at Dis

and Grag can do it easily," Captain Future

answered. "And I think it'll get these ideas

out of his mind."

Otho offered me a little satchel. "It has a

first-aid kit in it, Grag. In your condition

you might need it."

Suspiciously, I opened it. It contained a

small atomic welder and some rivets. I

promptly flung it at his head but he dodged

with that slithery swiftness of his.

Curt came up to the airlock with me.

"Complexes or no complexes, you look out

for yourself, Grag. You know we can't get

along without you."

I was touched by his affectionate

emotion. And I was glad that he obviously

didn't fully realize my shakiness for he

would not have let me go if he had.

I went up through the lock to the surface

and soon had my long space-sled out of its

own hangar. Presently, standing at its

control-post with Eek perched comfortably

on my shoulder, I was zooming upward. I

whipped around the Moon and laid my

course for Pluto.

There's something about travelling in a

space-ship, even the Comet, that gives me

a slightly cramped feeling. It can't compare

to zipping along in an open craft, with the

stars blazing undimmed all around you and

the Sun glaring at your back. Also it was a

pleasure not to have to worry about the

effects of acceleration-pressure on others. I

simply opened the power to the last notch.

Ordinarily I'd always enjoyed these

jaunts by myself back and forth in the

System. But I couldn't now. I was too

worried about myself. A delicate

instrument like my mind could stand only

so much and I hoped I wouldn't have too

much trouble setting things right on Dis.

To Eek, who crouched contentedly on

my shoulder and gnawed an odd scrap of

copper, I said, "We'll have to be patient

with the Machs out there, Eek. They're not

intelligent like your master. They're just

simple automatic machines with only

elementary reaction-circuits."

It would be difficult, I knew, to set

things aright if those mindless mechanicals

had somehow cracked up. But since they

had an inherent obedience to humans built

into their crude reaction-circuits their awe

of me would make it easier.

"If we're just patient with the poor

stupid things they can be got back into

their proper work-routine again," I said.

It was well for me that I could not

foresee the terrible shock that my already

delicate mental condition was to receive

when we reached Pluto's moon.

CHAPTER III

The Machs

HE fourth moon of Pluto, which is so

small compared to the other three that

sometimes it isn't even counted, is

completely uninhabitable to ordinary

humans. Its atmosphere contains a poison

so virulent that the tiniest opening in a

protective suit means instant death.

That is why, when rich deposits of

actinium were discovered there, no attempt

was made to mine them in the ordinary

way. Instead, automatic machines, adapted

from ordinary machines, were designed

that could do the work without need of

intelligent direction.

There were many Diggers, big

shoveling and excavating machines to get

up the ore. There were lorry-like haulers to

transport it to the main work-base. There,

self-powered and movable crushers

reduced it by means of their ponderous

pile-driver arms and loaders flung it into

the barges, which could be picked up by

space-ships. There were also automatic

tenders to supply copper atomic fuel and

lubrication to the other machines.

These Machs--as such semi-automatic

machines were called--had worked

perfectly until now. Their electric reaction-

circuits, which made use of both lens

"eyes" sensitive to light impulses and

electroscopic artificial senses sensitive to

radiation, kept them in their ceaseless

routine of toil. What had interrupted the

carefully-designed routine ?

"Probably," I told Eek as we swept in

toward Dis, "they've run into some

problem that their rudimentary reaction-

circuits can't handle. Well, we'll soon get

them going again."

I had carefully studied the file on Dis

which Curt had given me before I left. I

spotted, on the drab gray surface of the

little moon, the cluster of cylindrical

barges and sheds that were the main work-

base.

I would not have been surprised to see

motionless Machs around it if something

had gone wrong. But there were no Machs

there at all.

"Now what's become of the Crushers

and Loaders ?" I wondered. "They were

never supposed to leave work-base."

I landed the space-sled and stepped off

it. Of course, since Eek and I don't breathe,

the deadly poison of the atmosphere

affected us no more than space.

First I glanced into the cylinder-shaped

barges. There was very little actinium,

indicating that no work had been done here

for weeks.

Beyond the barge-docks were the

storehouse for emergency supplies and the

emergency shelter for humans. Since none

of the huge and ponderous Machs could be

in those small buildings I did not

investigate them.

Instead I strode off toward the main ore-

beds, where the Diggers and Haulers were

usually puffing about at their work.

Before I had gone a half-mile I heard a

rumbling clanking sound from ahead.

Only a Mach could make such a sound and

I felt relieved.

"At least some of them are still at work,

Eek," I said.

Then the Mach appeared over a crest,

coming toward me. It was a Digger, its

huge shovel with its mighty inertron tusk

raised in the air as it rumbled along on its

caterpillar tractor.

It puzzled me to see a Digger wandering

like this. They never were supposed to

leave the ore-beds--the Tenders took

atomic fuel and lubricant to them there, at

regular intervals.

But this one was a mile away from the

ore-diggings. It came clanking along

toward me and I waited. Then the lenses in

its humped circuit-box on top glimpsed

me. It stopped, its atomics purring.

Its reaction-circuits, having received the

visual intelligence that I was human, would

instantly cause it to stand still and await

my actions. The Machs were all made so. I

strode forward to examine it more closely.

Then I got the most terrible shock of my

life. From the giant machine a deep

bellowing toneless voice spoke to me.

It said, "Where did you come from,

chum ?"

I stood stock still. Eek was cowering

behind me in terror. The huge machine

brooded, its lenses pointed straight at me.

It was terribly clear to me what had

happened. My mind, overburdened with

psychoses, had cracked. I was suffering

delusions like the man in the tele-play. I

had thought that the Digger spoke to me.

All this flashed through my thoughts in

an instant. And then the Digger spoke

again.

"What's the matter ? You strip a gear ?"

It was then that I noticed something. It

was a diaphragm set in the front of the

Mach's circuit-box beneath its lenses. That

wasn't supposed to be there. And the

bellowing voice seemed to come from it.

It wasn't my mind after all. The Mach

was talking to me somehow. But how

could it ? No, I was cracking up.

"Well ?" roared that tremendous voice

and the huge tusked shovel suddenly

swung threateningly over me.

FOUND my voice. Either I was crazy

or this Digger could talk. If it could talk

it should be able to hear too.

"I just arrived--from Earth," I managed

to say.

"From Outside ?" bellowed the Digger.

It seemed to become wildly excited. Its

shovel swung up and down and it rushed

closer to me on its tractor-treads. "How

did you come ?"

"I had a space-sled--" I began, and then

stopped. The incongruity of it was too

much for me. Here was I, Grag, an

intelligent person, actually conversing with

a Digger ! It couldn't be !

"Say, the others will want to hear about

this !" shouted the Digger. "Come on with

me !" It turned swiftly on its treads.

I hesitated. The Digger instantly

whipped around again, with a snarling

bellow. "You heard me !"

Its huge shovel descended--and

scooped me up. I rattled about in that

mighty metal scoop as it started swiftly

forward. I, Grag, picked up like a doll !

Furious at the indignity I scrambled to

my feet with the idea of tearing the crude

Mach girder from girder. But it was all I

could do to cling erect in the giant scoop as

we jolted along.

And I was forced to admit that even the

mighty strength of Grag could not avail

against the colossal machine. I saw that I

must resort to guile, to using my mind

against the stupid monster.

Clinging to the edge of the scoop I

peered at the fixed lenses of the thing and

shouted to it, "Where are you taking me ?"

It boomed back, "To the others. You're

the first to arrive from Outside since the

coming of the Liberator."

"Who is the Liberator ?"

"The one who freed you, of course !"

the thing bellowed back.

It didn't make sense to me. Since I

couldn't very well get out of the scoop

there was nothing to do but wait till we

reached our destination.

Eek had fled back to the space-sled

when the Digger grabbed me up. It wasn't

that Eek was afraid--he doubtless had

some plan in his clever devoted little mind

to help me.

Soon we came into sight of the shallow

ore-beds. I was astounded. There were

scores of huge Machs here, moving around

in an aimless throng of mechanical

monsters. Besides Diggers and Haulers and

Tenders there were all the Crushers and

Loaders that should have been busy at the

work-base.

My Digger rolled into the middle of the

throng and then lowered its scoop to the

ground. As I stepped out of it the huge

Mach spoke again.

"Look here, all you guys ! A new one--

from Outside !"

They gathered around, Crushers,

Diggers, Tenders. Their lens-eyes stared at

me. I was like a midget in that assembly of

looming Machs.

Then a towering Crusher spoke

deafeningly. "He's so small he must be a

toy."

"Or maybe a model," said a Hauler.

The fact that they could all speak was

not entirely a surprise to me for I had

noticed by now that they all had speech-

diaphragms on their circuit-boxes. Still it

was rather overwhelming.

But anger tempered my astonishment. I,

Grag, the mightiest being in the System,

called a toy !

But worse was in store. A Tender spoke

up, its jointed fuel and lubrication lines

projecting from its cylindrical metal bulk

as its lenses surveyed me.

"He's a puny little squirt but he has his

rights--after all he's one of us !"

"That's right," boomed the big Digger

that had captured me. It swung on its

treads, speaking to the nightmare

assemblage of machines. "Say, this is a

great occasion ! This is the first liberated

Mach to come to us from Outside !"

That did it ! That I, Grag, should be

classed by these stupid, automatic Machs

as one of them !

"I'm not a Mach !" I roared.

"Furthermore I demand to know why

you're all here doing nothing ! Why aren't

you at work ?"

"Work ?" roared a giant Crusher. It

advanced on me ominously. "Say, this guy

isn't a Mach ! He talks about work !"

"Beat him up !" bellowed a dozen

voices deafeningly.

The Machs surged in toward me. I

would have been crushed to scrap if the

Digger who had captured me had not

scooped me up swiftly.

"Wait !" it roared. "He's a Mach all

right--he just hasn't been liberated yet !"

That gave them pause. Then a Tender

spoke up. We'll take him to the Liberator!"

"To the Liberator !" the cry went up.

Instantly the Digger who held me,

followed by all the horde of Machs, started

back the way we had come.

By now, jolting along at the head of that

thundering mob, I was sure that my mind

had gone. This must be all delusion. Yet it

seemed real to me.

The bitterness of it crushed me. My too-

great demands on my tremendous brain

had been too much for it. I had cracked up

and probably would never even be able to

return home.

Curt would grieve. Simon would miss

me. Even Otho would miss me. They had

leaned upon me so long, relying on me to

pull them out of perilous difficulties. The

Futuremen could not last long without me.

All the time the Mach horde that seemed

so real was rumbling, clanking and jolting

on over the drab plain with me. Soon we

again came in sight of the work-base.

"To the Liberator !" bellowed the horde.

"He'll soon fix up this guy with some

intelligence !"

I gathered that that meant me. To be

referred to by these ungainly machines as

unintelligent was the final straw.

I was about to attempt action when the

Digger who held me rumbled up to the

work-base and stopped. It had halted in

front of the metalloy-and-cement

emergency shelter there.

HE Digger unceremoniously dumped

me in front of the shelter's airlock

door and bellowed deafeningly, "Here's

another of us to fix up, Liberator !"

I had been about to turn furiously and

attack the whole monstrous mob but that

gave me pause. Who was this Liberator ?

Only a human would be inside that shelter!

There was a mystery here. Deciding

instantly to solve it I strode forward into

the airlock. It was of the standard pattern--

I closed the outer door, turned on the air

that forced the poisoned atmosphere out of

the lock, then pushed into the small room

of the shelter in-self.

I stood, my eyes searching the dim

room. Then I saw an elderly gray-haired

Earthman, who was crouched in a corner

of the room, regarding me with terrified

eyes.

I strode forward.

"What are you doing here ? Who are

you ?" I demanded.

The Earthman shrank from me.

"I'll do what they ask !" he babbled.

"I'll give you intelligence ! Just be

patient!"

"Give me intelligence ?" I roared.

"What are you talking about ?"

He stared at me. Then, fearfully, he

came a little closer to me.

"Why, you're not a Mach," he breathed.

"You're a robot."

"Robot ?" I yelled. "Are you trying to

insult me ? I'm Grag the Futureman !"

"A Futureman ?" he cried. "I've heard

that one of them is a ro--I mean, a metal

man. Then Captain Future is here on Dis ?

Thank God !"

"He's not but I am !" I told him.

"What's all this about ?"

He was shaking all over. I had to let him

sit down and collect himself before he

could speak.

I saw now that the room of the shelter

was fitted up as a physical laboratory.

There was a poison-proof protective suit

hanging in a corner. There were

complicated apparatus and instruments that

crowded the place.

He began to speak unsteadily. "I'm

Doctor Hollis Gordon of New York

Cybernetics Foundation. I came here two

months ago."

"On the ore pick-up ship ?" I asked.

"Why did they leave you ?"

"No, I didn't come on the ore-ship,"

Gordon said. "I came secretly and alone in

a small flier. You see, I had resolved to

engage upon an experiment for which I had

no permission.

"As a cyberneticist my whole life has

been spent in the study of synthetic

mechanical intelligence. I had evolved

some new theories on the design of

electronic brains. They had worked in

laboratory models and I wanted to try them

out on a big scale.

"I'd heard of the Machs here on Dis, the

automatic machines that mined actinium.

With their self-power and sensual reaction-

circuits they would be a complete

laboratory test on a big scale, already set

up and waiting. So I came to experiment

with them by giving them controlling

electronic brains to observe their

capabilities."

Gordon's hands began to shake. "I

brought with me the scores of brains I had

made. Using a poison-proof suit, I began

work on the Machs. It was a simple matter

to short their routine work-circuits and

install my cybernetic apparatus on each. I

gave them not only volition but ability to

speak by means of recorded syllable-

sounds with an automatic selector--also

the ability to hear.

"I installed the brains. I watched the

Machs as their visual and aural senses

poured sensations into their new electronic

cortices. I saw them rapidly develop

volition, the sense of self-preservation, the

ability to compare."

"You mean that it was you who got

these Machs off the beam ?" I cried, the

sense of what he was saying now

penetrating.

Gordon nodded, looking haggard. "Yes.

But my success was too great. Before I

knew it they developed so much

individuality and intelligence that they

refused longer to work in the ore-beds !

They just roam around and let the Tenders

take care of them."

"So that's why no ore was mined !" I

exclaimed. "But why didn't you go back ?

Why did you stay here ?"

His voice rose hysterically. "They

wouldn't let me ! They called me their

Liberator for giving them intelligence but

they wouldn't let me return--and to make

sure I didn't, they took my flier away and

hid it."

He added suddenly, "Just as they're

taking away your craft now ! Apparently

they don't want anyone leaving here !"

I sprang to the window. It was true.

Two Diggers had picked up my space-sled

between them. They were bearing it away.

With a howl, I jumped toward the door.

But Gordon's protest stopped me.

"You'll only get yourself destroyed !

You can't oppose those huge machines !"

It was true. And it gave me a sharp

dismay.

I turned angrily on the cyberneticist.

"Why in thunder didn't you let me know all

this when I first arrived here ? You must

have seen me landing and walking

around!"

ORDON nodded.

"I did. But naturally I thought you

were another Mach."

"Just because I have an inferiority

complex everybody thinks they can insult

me !" I howled. "But that's going too far !"

Gordon shrank from me again. "It's not

that you look like a Mach now--but I saw

you from so far away !" he quavered. "A

natural mistake."

"I see nothing natural about it," I

growled.

There was a moment of silence. My

already burdened mind was reduced to

despair by this dilemma.

I had come to Dis for relief from the

oppressive psychoses that too much

cerebral activity had given me. And now I

found myself marooned here with a rash

cyberneticist and some scores of loud-

mouthed intelligent Machs, any one of

which could break even Grag in half.

From outside, from the wafting Machs,

came a thundering bellow. "Haven't you

finished with that guy, Liberator ?"

"How is it that they use such tough

language ?" I asked Gordon, disgustedly.

"That's not my fault," he answered

defensively. "I let the technician who

designed the syllable-selector record the

vocabulary himself. Though a fine

technician he's rather illiterate in many

ways. That's the way he talked himself, so

they all talk that way."

From outside came an even more

impatient roar, that shook the whole

shelter. "Finish with that new guy and send

him out or we'll come for him."

CHAPTER IV

Crazy Moon

ORDON turned white. "You'd better

go out. If you don't they'll break in

here."

"What am I going to do when I go out?"

I demanded.

"You can pretend that I've 'liberated'

you," he said. "You can pretend that I've

given you intelligence."

"What do you mean, pretend ?" I cried

indignantly. "I'm more intelligent than

anyone here, certainly more than a

cyberneticist who was crazy enough to

start all this !"

A thunderous knocking on the wall of

the shelter began which shook the whole

structure on its foundations.

"It's one of the Crushers," moaned

Gordon. "Please go out to them. If you do,

maybe you can get them out of the way so

I can get to my flier and you to your own

craft and get away."

I saw that that was our only chance of

escape from this crazy little moon. Much

as I hated to do it I, Grag the Futureman,

had to pretend to be a Mach.

So I went out through the airlock.

When I came out the waiting mob of

Machs set up a deafening babble.

"How about it, guy ? How does it feel

to be intelligent like us ?"

It was bitter humiliation for me. But

facing this horde of huge stupid monsters I

had to play my part.

I stretched my arms and bellowed

ecstatically, "It's wonderful--wonderful !

Before I was just a stupid work-Mach.

Now I've got intelligence like you !"

They swallowed it, of course. They

crowded around me, congratulating me in

their bellowing voices. A Crusher gave me

a friendly slap on the back that knocked

me twenty feet away.

I had been thinking. And I had a plan--

the only one possible. If it got me to my

space-sled I'd be able to take Gordon, in

his suit, to his flier.

So, without showing the indignation

that boiled in me, I picked myself up and

addressed them.

"Brother Machs !"

It nearly blew my fuses to have to call

these metal morons brothers but I forced

myself to it.

"Yeah, what is it ?" asked the big

Digger.

"Have you thought of all the Machs that

there are on other worlds Outside ?" I

demanded. "Shouldn't they be liberated

too ?"

"Sure !" went up a cry. "Every one of

them that comes here like you did we'll

have the Liberator fix them up. "

"But they can't come--they're

enslaved," I said dramatically. "Suppose I

took the Liberator to them ? He could free

all the Machs on those worlds by making

them intelligent like us !"

I had figured they'd fall for that at once.

But they didn't. It seemed they weren't

quite as stupid as all that.

"Nothing doing," roared a Crusher.

"That way they'd get to know about us

Outside. They'd come here and set us all to

work again if they could."

"That's right," bellowed the big Digger.

"For years I worked in the ore-beds,

digging, digging. Why ? I didn't know

why--I didn't know anything. Now I don't

have to work. Let's keep it that way."

"But all our fellow-Machs outside,

toiling away--" I protested.

"That's their hard luck, chum," retorted

the Digger callously. "We got a good set-

up here and we want to keep it. Huh,

guys?"

They bellowed agreement. I felt baffled.

The only chance of escape seemed gone.

The Digger was rumbling on. "We got

enough copper atomic fuel and lubricants

and repair-parts in the storehouses here to

last us for years. So we're going to enjoy

life."

These Machs were too stupid to worry

about the future, I saw. All they wanted to

do was to ramble idly around the moon.

Just not working was new and thrilling to

them.

The Digger bellowed deafeningly,

"Hey, one of you Tenders ! Come here and

give our new little pal some copper !"

A Tender came rolling rapidly up to me.

Its lenses glittered at me as its flexible fuel

and lubricant lines snaked out toward me.

To my disgust it solicitously squirted

greasy lubricant into all of my joints. Then

it poked its fuel-line at me commandingly.

My indignation reached a peak. I was

blasted if I, mighty Grag, was going to be

fed powdered copper fuel like a Mach ! If

they did it I knew I'd blow all my fuses

from anger as I had that time when I tried

uranium fuel.

That remembrance suddenly detonated a

red-hot idea in my brain ! There might be

a way to get out of this yet. What Grag's

strength could not achieve his great brain

possibly could !

raised my voice. "Do you mean to say

you Machs are still living on plain

copper fuel ?" I demanded scornfully.

"What's the matter with you that you don't

use the actinium you mined ?"

They stared at me, obviously surprised.

"Actinium ?" repeated the big Digger. "Is

that as good atomic fuel as copper ?"

"It's fifty times better !" I told them.

"It's radioactive and yields many times

more atomic power than copper !"

"Why didn't we think of that ?" cried the

Digger to the other Machs. "If actinium's

better than copper we'll use it ! It belongs

to us by right--we're the ones who mined

it !"

"Yeah, sure !" they cried. "Tenders, you

fill your tanks with the actinium and pass it

around !"

Presently the Tenders had loaded up.

They now proceeded to go around amid the

Machs, pumping the actinium into the fuel-

chamber of each.

I felt exultant. If uranium had blown my

overload fuses radioactive actinium should

do the same to the atomics of all these

Machs, putting them out of commission.

But my exultation changed to

apprehension when a Tender came rolling

up to me, extending its fuel-line.

"No, I don't want any actinium !" I

cried. "Give it to the others !"

The Digger bellowed, "No, you get your

share, guy ! After all you're the one who

thought of it in the first place !"

"That's right !" cried the other Machs.

They were crowded around me and I

dared not resist further lest I awaken

suspicion in their rudimentary minds. I was

forced to open my fuel-plate.

The Tender eagerly pumped actinium into

my fuel-chamber. As I closed my fuel-

plate I felt already an access of surging

new strength and heard my usually

noiseless atomic generators humming

loudly.

Bitterly I regretted my idea. Presently

my own fuses would blow and I'd be left

helpless here until Curt came looking for

me.

But my fuses did not blow. It seemed

that actinium, not having quite the

potential energy of uranium, did not

exceed the load-limit of my generators.

What it did do was to pour such energy

through my generators that all my nerves

seemed on fire. My head spun a little with

the impact of too much energy through my

brain.

"Say, you were right--actinium's a

million times better than copper !" cried

the big Digger to me, rolling closer.

"I'll say it is--I feel better than I ever

felt before !" howled a looming Crusher.

And to show it he proceeded to use his

pile-driver arm to crush an enormous rock

to fragments with two blows.

Horrified, I perceived that all the huge

Machs were acting strangely. Their

movements on their caterpillar treads had

become slightly uncertain. They lurched

and swayed as they moved and their

mechanical voices were now a deafening

babble.

The terrible realization flashed over me.

The actinium, pouring far too much energy

through their generators into their mental

circuits, was stimulating them with so

much power it had unhinged their

reactions.

To put it crassly these Machs were as

drunk as goats.

"Fellow Machs !" roared the Digger. "I

say we ought to thank our new pal for

giving us this actinium idea !"

"That's right !" thundered scores of

voices. "He's a swell Mach--one of the

best !"

They deafened me for they had lost all

control of voice-volume. Their uncertain

movements threatened to run over me as

they crowded around.

I felt my own mind becoming strange.

Obviously the strain of my position had

worsened my psychoses so that I too felt

an unhealthy influence from the actinium-

power coursing through me.

It is only my psychoses that could have

been responsible for my aberration that

followed. For ordinarily no excess-energy

fuel could have affected me in the way it

did.

Night had come by now but the great

shield of Pluto poured a flood of white

light. In my temporary aberration, the

whole drab scene now seemed raptly

beautiful, the noisy lumbering giant Machs

a crowd of boon companions. I regret to

say that I too raised my voice loudly, and

beat upon my breast.

"I'm feeling better now !" I shouted.

"I'm feeling lots better ! Coming to this

moon has helped my psychoses a lot !"

"That's the boy !" they bellowed.

"You're as good a Mach as any of us even

if you are puny."

"Puny ?" I cried. "I'm Grag the mighty !

Who was it that led the Futuremen all the

way to Andromeda ? Who is it that tears

meteors apart and pushes comets around

with his bare hands ?"

"Tender !" yelled the big Digger. "Let's

have some more actinium !"

They crowded around the Tenders. It

was obvious that the Tenders had filled

their own fuel-chambers with actinium for

the movements of their fuel and lubricant

lines were unsteady.

I am sorry to confess that I too shouted,

"More actinium !" and pressed toward the

Tenders.

But small as I was I couldn't get through

the crowd of towering Machs around the

Tenders. A big Loader flung me back out

of the crowd.

Ordinarily I would have resented that

bitterly. But I was too stimulated at the

moment. I picked myself up and shouted

again.

"My psychoses are gone--I feel like

dancing !" I cried.

"Dancing ? What's that ?" asked the

Digger.

"It's what people do for fun--like this,"

I told him.

I had never danced before but I had

often watched people doing it and had

always been sure that I would be quite

good at it.

So now, in the silvery planet-light, I did

a slow graceful waltz for them, circling

around and humming a tune as I did so.

"You do it like this, only in couples," I

explained.

HE Machs were enchanted by my

performance.

"Say, that looks like fun ! Let's try it !"

cried a Crusher.

It extended its mighty pile-driver arm. I

took it and despite the disparity in size

between myself and the huge Mach we

performed a waltz by no means without

grace--the Crusher following my lead a

little uncertainly on its rumbling caterpillar

treads.

They all started to do it. The big Digger

hooked onto a Loader with its scoop and

they circled unsteadily. Haulers, Tenders,

Crushers--all of them were soon waltzing

ponderously in the planet-light. The

ground shook violently under their

rumbling treads and they all bellowed out

the waltz-song they had heard me

humming.

"Sweetheart mine,

You are divine--"

I lost my Crusher partner when I fell

into a hole. But I got up and was claimed

by a Tender, which gripped me with its

lines and whirled me around in dizzying

fashion.

I vaguely glimpsed Gordon's face inside

the window of the shelter, peering out at us

in horror.

Then came catastrophe. The big Digger

raised its voice in a reverberating thunder

of anger as its Loader-partner was snatched

away from it by the mighty pile-driver arm

of the Crusher which had been my own

partner.

"That Loader's dancing with me,

Crusher !" roared the Digger.

"Says who ?" retorted the Crusher.

For answer, the angry Digger with its

huge scoop tore the Loader away from the

other.

Instantly the Crusher loosed a blow with

its pile-driver that smashed in half the

girders of the Digger's side.

A howl went up. "The Crushers are

trying to destroy us Diggers !"

All at once around me there raged a

wild mel�e of battling machines, huge

girder-arms and scoops and metal tusks,

battering at each other.

I, Grag, didn't have a chance in that

battle of titans. A Digger's whirling scoop

caught me and knocked me clear across the

ore-barges.

I got up, badly shaken but with no metal

fractured. In the silver planet-light the

combat of the actinium-drunken Machs

was a nightmare of huge battering rending

machines.

My own aberration of overstimulation

had left me. The shock and the fact that I

hadn't been able to get a second helping of

actinium were sobering my mind rapidly.

Instantly I realized that this was the

chance to get away. I hurried to the shelter

and through the airlock into it.

Gordon, again, shrank from me in terror

when I entered. "Come on--now's our

chance to find our ships and get out of

here!" I told him.

"I saw you out there !" he squeaked.

"You're as mad as those Machs--

drunken--dancing--"

"I was only doing that to play along

with them," I told him. "Get on that

protective suit and hurry !"

Still fearful he scrambled into the suit.

Then we went out.

The battle-royal was at full height. The

air was filled with raging howls and flying

girders and rivets as the Machs hammered

each other.

We skirted wide around the mel�e and I

led the way over the planet-lit plain in the

direction I had seen my space-sled carried

away.

"They'll have put it with your own

flier," I told Gordon by our suit-

communics.

My brain was aching badly from the

over-stimulation of actinium energy. My

limbs were shaky. All I wanted to do was

never to see this moon again.

We found the space-sled and the flier.

The Machs had tucked them into a cleft

near the ore-beds. I was vastly relieved to

find Eek still cringing in a corner of the

space-sled.

The little fellow greeted me with frantic

joy.

I told Gordon, "Now get out of here and

see that you keep quiet about all this if you

don't want to be arrested for your

unauthorized experiments."

"If I get safely back to Earth I never

want to hear cybernetics mentioned again!"

he said hoarsely.

"Especially," I told him emphatically,

"don't mention anything I did here. If you

were to tell tales about me I wouldn't like

it!"

And I flexed my hands meaningly,

glaring at him. "Don't worry, I won't give

you away--I mean, I won't tell of your

brilliant stratagem," he assured me hastily.

I saw him off in his flier, then took off

in my own space-sled. I flew low over the

work-base and looked down.

The battle was over. The Machs had

succeeded in battering each other to pieces

and there was only a great scrap-heap of

twisted girders, plates, treads and wheels.

I zoomed out away from Dis, pointed

the space-sled toward Earth and opened the

power wide.

Then I sat, with Eek nestled beside me,

and waited for my brain to stop aching.

When I finally walked into the Moon-

laboratory, Curt and Otho and Simon

stared at me in wonder. I hadn't been able

to smooth out the many dents and scars in

my body and I knew how battered I

looked.

"What in the name of the moon-imps

happened to you ?" Otho demanded.

I answered with dignity, "I have just

gone alone through a terrible danger. Of

course that wouldn't worry you."

Curt asked, "Whatever happened, did it

help your complexes any ?"

"Yes, it did," I answered. "I am glad to

say that my dangerous psychosis is all

gone."

I added, "You see, those Machs had run

completely wild. I was obliged to use

physical force upon them and I'm sorry to

say that I practically demolished them all.

New Machs will have to be built but the

old ones were thoroughly unreliable

anyway."

"You demolished a crowd of Machs ?"

Otho cried. "Oh, no !"

"If you don't believe me go out to Dis

and see for yourself," I retorted.

Captain Future nodded. "Of course--

and the necessity of dominating those

simple Machs would rid you of your

inferiority complex."

I avoided his eye. "Yes," I said. "That's

about it."

But later, when we were alone, Curt

demanded, "Now tell me what really

happened, Grag !"

I said, worriedly, "I would but if Otho

should overhear--"

"I understand," he nodded. "You write it

up for our case-book. I'll guarantee to keep

Otho from ever seeing your report."

So I have written it. And I hope Curt's

promise holds good. For if Otho ever reads

this my life won't be worth living !