A Plague of Demons

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NO! BY THE MOTHER WORM, I PLEDGE MY GROOVE AT THE EATING TROUGH. FOR US THE MAN WILL GUT THE GREAT VAULT OF HIS NEST WORLD!

The Gool raged-and I grasped for an elusive thought and held it. The bomb, only a few feet away. The waiting machine. And the Gool had given me the co-ordinates of their cavern…

With infinite sluggishness, I moved.

I found the bomb, fumbled for a grip.

My breath choked off in my throat; a hideous pain coiled outward from my chest. But it was unimportant. Only the bomb mattered. I tottered, groping. There was the table; the transmitter…

I lifted the bomb, felt the half-healed skin of my burned arm crackle as I strained…

I thrust the case containing the Master Tape out of the field of the transmitter, then pushed, half-rolled the bomb into position. I groped for the switch, found it. I tried to draw breath, felt only a surge of agony. Blackness was closing in…

The co-ordinates…

From the whirling fog of pain and darkness, I brought the target concept of the Gool cavern into view, clarified it, held it…