a photo finish, and all the channels havebeen jammed ever since. Canopus, Vega, Rigel, Spica. They all want you.Everybody, from Alsakan to Vandemar and back. We told them right offthat we would not receive personal delegations--we had to almost throw acouple of pink-haired Chickladorians out bodily to make them believethat we meant it--and that the age and condition of the vortexinvolved, not priority of requisition, would govern, QX?"
"Absolutely," Cloud agreed. "That's the only way it could be, I shouldthink."
"So forget about this psychic trauma.... No, I don't mean that," theLensman corrected himself hastily. "You know what I mean. The will tolive is the most important factor in any man's recovery, and too manyworlds need you too badly to have you quit now. Not?"
"I suppose so," Cloud acquiesced, but somberly. "I'll get out of here inshort order. And I'll keep on pecking away until one of those vorticesfinishes what this one started."
"You'll die of old age then, son," the Lensman assured him. "We got fulldata--all the information we need. We know exactly what to do to yourscreens. Next time nothing will come through except light, and only asmuch of that as you feel like admitting. You can wait as close to avortex as you please, for as long as you please; until you get exactlythe activity and time-interval that you want. You will be just ascomfortable and just as safe as though you were home in bed."
"Sure of that?"
"Absolutely--or at least, as sure as we can be of anything that hasn'thappened yet. But I see that your guardian angel here is eyeing herclock somewhat pointedly, so I'd better be doing a flit before they tossme down a shaft. Clear ether, Storm!"
"Clear ether, Chief!"
And that is how "Storm" Cloud, atomic physicist, became the mostnarrowly-specialized specialist in all the annals of science: how hebecame "Storm" Cloud, Vortex Blaster--the Galaxy's only vortex blaster.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from _Comet_, July 1941. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Obvious typographic errors and misspellings have been corrected.]
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