shield remained intact, though its power pack was
beginning to smoke, and its generator units were glowing red. The
creature obviously not realizing the damage it had done, began to
retreat down the corridor.
42 Morn, not waiting for the other two officers, spun around and headed
for engineering. "Open the disposal chamber!" he screamed. The
Engineers wasted no time. They yanked open the disposal chute. It was
barely up when Morn was throwing in his shield, pulling the hatch back
down, and screaming "Eject! Eject!"
43 The chamber was emptying into open space even as he sealed the
hatch. "Clear the shields, damn you!" Morn screamed. A few moments
later the ship was rocked as the shield's power pack exploded. Morn
leaned back against the hatch and permitted himself to breathe again.
44 "What, in the name of Hades was that?" asked the Second Engineer.
45 "A being of pure energy," explained Morn, "probably produced by
nuclear fusion. It damned near fried us." He checked his radiation
detector. It was still green. The shield's deflectors had stopped much
of the radiation, but it had been close!
46 "I need three shields," Morn ordered, "equipped with double force
field generators. A single power pack will still be sufficient. They
will not be used for long duration. Number Three, go up to the command
deck, describe to the Commander of the battleship what happened. He
must be aware of this thing's capabilities. What I said before about
capture? Forget it! Our first and most important priority is KILL THAT
THING!"
47 The Third Officer hurried off. Morn patted the disposal chamber.
"Glad they put that thing here," he praised. "And now I understand why
even better. They should have more of them about the ship."
48 The Engineers had the two remaining shields and four more they had
acquired from somewhere. They were