the SURSIANS! His men were almost through the area of the curtain when he saw the whole sickening picture! Something had gone wrong-impossibly, horribly wrong. His own men were being crumpled and twisted by atomic fire, but the SURSIANS, seemingly untouched, came on with a piercing supersonic scream. Gay was lost-everything was lost. The whole world was crashing about his head and all because his plans had miscarried. He, Dick Lovett, had brought about the end of the world.

A ring of fire closed around Dick's throat. He could no longer breathe, and his eyes were swallowed up in the deadly blue atomic fog. He tried to speak-one nameGay-but no sound would come.

٤٠٤٠

The fog was lifting but the shrieking drone of aircraft still sang in Dick's brain. His mind strained to return to reality and his hands reached out for reassurance. "Dick! Dick! What is it?" It was Gay's voice. "What's the matter?"

Dick shook his head. Things were getting clearer now.

"Are you all right?" Dick's voice was very unsteady.

"I'm all right, but how about you?" Some of the concern was beginning to leave Gay's face. "You were making such awful noises!"

"What day is it . . . I mean, what year . . ?" Dick was still tense.

Gay's reply came quickly. "Sunday, August 29th, 1954-time, about 5:00 P.M. You went to sleep at three."

"Then there are no . . . HEXOSOMU ALS!" Dick's returning awareness couldn't conceal the disappointment he felt, and it colored his voice.

Gay looked puzzled. "HEXOSOMU ALS?" he queried, "what's that?"

"A dream," Dick finally answered. "A dream for the future-a wonderful dream up to a certain point. It all seemed so plausible, somehow, being accepted by society and no longer under a cloud." By now Dick was sitting up. "Oh, if ..."

He didn't finish the sentence.

"You can tell me your dream later . . ." But Dick could not go back to sleep. Somehow he knew that he could never again be content with half a world. Today, "a dream," but tomorrow-maybe tomorrow . . !

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