Page:Fantastic Universe (1956-10; vol. 8, no. 3).djvu/82

110 "Can you define that?" Graut challenged.

"Not yet. We're still waiting for the real break through. But you could say that telepathy rests on brain frequencies while E.S.P. is concerned with soul frequencies. The one is rooted in the physical, the other is of the very essence of the psyche itself.

"Too subtle for me."

"Well, gentlemen," Professor Graut broke in, "interesting as all this is, we must get down to business. As you know, this conference is called to discuss the progress of the expedition Exploration Jupiter, now in the vicinity of the small satellite Jupiter VIII."

He touched a thin hand lightly over the air to his right, breaking required ray contacts. Several things followed in sequence. The Time Robot announced smoothly. "At the third stroke it will be 5.45 Greenwich Mean Time, and 18 arcs of Solar Space Time. Cosmic Compass shows the pericope of Earth's swing to be 5 degrees variable, west of Saturn line." As the voice died, a section of the wall opened smoothly to extend a gleaming white-metal-arm which deposited a number of files on the desk at Grant's elbow, withdrawing itself immediately into the recess, which closed with a subdued click. Simultaneously, the Sound Gatherer of the Cosmar Screen came into action, and the room was filled with the myriad murmurings of space acoustics.

As Graut unfolded a map of Jupiter Quadrant, Ace Peters made a face and said; "Jupiter VIII. Wasn't that the sector the Vibrant cruised for hours, but we couldn't find him?"

"Wasn't there something else?" The Ace frowned. "Something pretty queer "

The Spectrology Expert gulped. "Yes, sir. I don't know though if I can explain it. Something about it not so nice. We were holding him all the time right in the spot of the ether ramp  the new Z type, that's fitted with the telescopic lens. So it brought the whole thing right up close. Chris began to go at the feet  I mean that part of him just went out like a light. The rest of his body followed, until there was only his head left. Then that went too. Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Just a blank, sir."

"Disintegrated, you mean?"

Jaguers shook his head.

"No. I've seen a man disintegrate. He fell to bits, as you might say, all in one piece. But with Chris it was a piece at a time. We were nowhere near the gravity tug- line, either, so it wasn't that."

"I'm only learning on your side of the fence," Dr. Walstab said. "When you say gravity tug-line, Jaguers "

The Ace Commander interrupted. "We don't know much about it. In theory, it's the dividing line between solar pull and galactic pull.