Norton, Andre - Anthology Read Free

Pid heaved a sigh of
relief and sat down. The twenty-first Glom expedition had landed safely.
     
                   There was nothing to be done until morning, so Pid began to make plans. They had landed as close to
the atomic power installation as they dared. Now they would have to get closer.
Somehow, one of them had to get very near the reactor room in order to activate
the Displacer.
                   Difficult. But Pid felt certain of success. After all, the Glom were strong on ingenuity.
                  Strong on ingenuity, he thought bitterly, but
terribly short of radioactives. That was another reason why this expedition was
so important. There was little radioactive fuel left on any of the Glom worlds.
                   Ages ago, the Glom had spent their store of
radioactives spreading throughout their neighbor worlds, occupying the ones
that they could live on. Colonization barely kept up with the mounting
birthrate. New worlds were constantly needed.
                   This particular world, discovered in a
scouting expedition, was needed. It suited the Glom perfectly. But it was too
far away. They didn't have enough fuel to mount a conquering space fleet.
                   Luckily, there was another way. A better way.
                   Over the centuries, the Glom scientists had
developed the Displacer. A triumph of Identity Engineering, the Displacer
allowed mass to be moved instantaneously between any two linked points.
                   One end was set up at Glom's sole atomic
energy plant. The other end had to be placed in proximity to another atomic
power source, and activated. Diverted power then flowed through both ends, was
modified, and modified again.
                   Then, through the miracle of Identity
Engineering, the Glom could step through from planet to planet; or pour through
in a great, overwhelming wave.
                   It was quite simple. But twenty expeditions
had failed to set up the Earth-end Displacer.
                   What had happened to them was not known.
                   For no Glom ship had ever returned to tell.
     
                   Before dawn they crept through the woods,
taking on the coloration of the plants around them. Their Displacers pulsed
feebly, sensing the nearness of atomic energy.
                   A tiny, four-legged creature darted in front
of them. Instantly, Ger grew four legs and a long, streamlined body and gave
chase.
                   "Ger! Come back
here!" Pid howled at the Detector, throwing
caution to the winds.
                   Ger overtook the animal and knocked it down.
He tried to bite it, but he had neglected to grow teeth. The animal jumped free
and vanished into the underbrush. Ger thrust out a set of teeth and bunched his
muscles for a leap.
                   "Ger!"
                   Reluctantly, the Detector turned away. He
loped silently back to Pid .
                   "I was hungry," he said.
                   "You were not," Pid said sternly.
                   "Was," Ger mumbled, writhing with
embarrassment.
                   Pid remembered what
the Chief had told him. Ger certainly did have Hunter tendencies. He would have
to watch him more closely.
                   "We'll have no more of that," Pid said. "Remember—the lure of Exotic Shapes is not
sanctioned. Be content with the shape you were born to."
                   Ger nodded and melted back into the
underbrush. They moved on.
     
                   At the extreme edge of the woods they could
observe the atomic energy installation. Pid disguised
himself as a clump of shrubbery and Ger formed himself into an old log. Ilg,
after a moment's thought, became a young oak.
                   The installation was in the form of a