Hi, my name is Josh and this is Thunk. Kicker Guard, what's the matter? Nothing. Episode 42, as Douglas Adams fans are no doubt aware, this is a number of cosmic significance, so to celebrate reaching this milestone, I'm going to talk about the answer to the ultimate question, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. There's a whole constellation of philosophical labels that point in the general direction of what I think is the best answer that we have to those questions. Distentialism, nihilism, absurdism, deconstruction, all sorts of authors and philosophers have used terms like these to write different things about this single general idea. It's a pretty simple thing to understand, but really hard to truly come to terms with. It's going to get pretty dark, but I promise there's a light at the end of the tunnel that will leave you feeling slightly powerless, but also infinitely powerful. Are you still on board? Alright, here we go. Let's begin with the end.  We're all going to die someday, and that has made several people very upset. Presented with this fact, many decide or are told by others that the meaning of life is to make a difference, to change the world in some way such that even after they die, their legacy will live on. But realistically, the things that you and I do probably aren't going to matter very much after we die, especially not if you consider the bigger picture. No, bigger than that. No, bigger still. Bigger, bigger, yes. It's tough to feel super accomplished when you realize that with the exception of a couple of satellites and maybe a sunbleach flag, the sum total of all human history and endeavor has all occurred on this tiny spit of rock in space. And even barring a man-made apocalypse or a rogue asteroid smashing into earth and erasing that tiny legacy forever, literally nothing lasts forever. Cosmologists have tons of theories for the ultimate fate of the universe, ranging from the big crunch to a catastrophic vacuum metastability event. They may disagree about what's going to happen, but as you might be able to guess from the names, the general consensus is there isn't going to be anything recognizable left. Even if there was some sort of afterlife after the universe ends, the question still remains pretty much the same. What's the meaning of this life if anything that we ever do in it won't have any lasting effect on the amorphous cloud or the singularity that will conclude the universe? What's the meaning of the universe itself if it's going to end? Well, when you're looking for meaning, you're looking for one of two separate things, and although they can be similar or perhaps even identical, it's important to recognize and appreciate the difference between them. Meaning can be either the intended message or significance or purpose. For example, painters, musicians and authors will occasionally offer a description of the intended message that they were trying to convey with their work, but it's much more common to be presented with an abstract painting entitled Number 31, or a symphony that's called the Fifth Symphony, without any explanation, just the work itself. How are we supposed to know what those mean? Someone might look at this and think, oh, it's a joyous celebration of life in the midst of chaos. Someone else might think, no, it's about loneliness and suffering, and someone else might say, it's just some wheat fields, guys. Who's right? Van Gogh didn't give us any instruction manual for wheat field with crows, but the thing is, this painting's significance is not the same thing as the message that it was intended to convey. You might look at it and think of one time you were driving in the country with your parents, or of the Wizard of Oz. Personally, I think of how little painting ability I really have. Van Gogh clearly wasn't thinking of those things when he painted this. That was not his intent, and yet it can still have that significance to you. The significance of this painting isn't anything that's contained in the paints, or the canvas, or the colors, or even in Van Gogh's history, or the title, or the resemblance of these smudges to crows or wheat.  And that's the only place that it exists. And that's the answer to the ultimate question. Meaning all meaning, the meaning of our lives, the meaning of the universe, the meaning of anything, doesn't exist outside of our heads. There is no objective external significance for anything. To say that that idea is a tough thing to swallow is like saying that a bowling ball is a tough thing to swallow. But as far as we can tell, it's true. The universe doesn't function in any way that acknowledges meaning. Like if there was a fire in a museum, it wouldn't spare the masterpieces. The little pamphlets in the lobby would burn just as readily as the Mona Lisa, or the Constitution, or a Bible, or Da Vinci's notebooks. That could be exceptionally difficult to come to grips with, especially for people like me who were taught to look outside of ourselves to discover meaning. There's none out there. But here's the light at the end of the tunnel that I promised you. You don't live out there. You live in here. Just like mortality is part and parcel of being human, so is experiencing the world subjectively. We value objectivity, and we can probably access it to some extent. But what's good, what's bad, what's delicious, what's funny, all of that ends at the boundary of your skull. Wanting the world to heed the meaning that we assign to it is really just our vanity. We want our opinions to be universal facts. We want the things that are important to us to be important to everybody everywhere. We want the world to just stop spinning in space if we're heartbroken or overjoyed and acknowledge how we feel. That isn't going to happen. But you don't have to view yourself and your place in the cosmos as though you were some alien observer looking on from space. You can't. You have to view everything as yourself. And for you, the smallest change in your perception or mentality is effectively a change to the way that you experience the whole universe. And as such, is a change to that universe itself. Meaning doesn't exist anywhere in the universe, but in your head. That's the only meaning that exists anywhere. And that makes it really precious. Just like that Van Gogh painting, you are the sole author and arbiter of the meaning of your universe and your life and anything else. You get to decide what it all means. It's a literally awesome responsibility and a literally awesome opportunity. And that's pretty awesome. What does life mean to you? What does thunk mean to you? Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Thank you very much for watching. It means a lot to me. Don't forget to blah, blah, subscribe, blah, share, and I'll see you next week.


Hi, how's everybody doing today? I am your host, Rich here on behalf of Rich TV Live with our very special guest, Jeff Stevens, the CEO of Psyched Wellness. How are you doing today, Jeff? I'm doing great. Thanks, Rich. I really appreciate you taking the time to have me on your show. Love having you on the show. Psychedelics Sector is really, really hot right now. It's an up-and-coming sector and Psyched Wellness is one of the companies that we're really focused on. What I wanted to do today, Jeff, is learn a little bit more about how you got involved in the business of doing deals, working with public companies, and what made you want to become the CEO of Psyched Wellness? That's a loaded question, so I'll do my best to keep it short. Institutional sales and trading for 15-plus years at various boutique shops in Canada ran a couple of desks, and through that process met a lot of really interesting management teams. A lot of that was focused primarily in the mining industry as that was sort of the hot spot for Canada back then. But I recognized early that it's important as a public company to run an operational business, being whatever your core business is, and then also to run the market side of the business. And so many times meeting these great CEOs of companies who just didn't understand that they had to stay in regular contact with the market and work with groups like yourselves, where you can communicate with them and keep them in the flow of what's happening. So that was one of the things where when I was sort of coming to the end of my institutional sales career, I thought, you know what, if I take on a role as an issuer, I really want to be proactive with the investment community. And so sort of evolved from that. I left the sales desk about six years ago. I've been involved with about four or five companies that were private going public, structuring the deal, raising the money, in some cases being the face of the company. This time, it's my first time as the CEO. So prior to, prior to sight, I was COO and a president of a AI company called Data Metrics.  It was a challenging challenge to the up and down road. But we've come through the other end on that side. And psyched is I'm really excited about I think the psychedelic industry in the sector itself is just the beginning stages. And there's a lot of growth opportunity. There's a lot of exciting things coming down the pipeline from from ourselves and from our peer group as well. Let's talk about that a little bit. So what are the main focuses for psych wellness for the first half of 2021? And what sets you apart from your competitors in the psychedelic space? Yeah, so we are very focused right now. We're in the middle of our preclinical trials with our CRO partner, KGK Science. So we are doing our safety and efficacy, rodent testing, safe dosage levels. Because what we're doing is is kind of unique. We're working with a mushroom called M&E to Muscaria. I'll show you a prop for pull this out. But most people recognize it's the red and white mushroom cap. Popular culture has done a great job branding this people will recognize it's likely the emoji on your phone. You know, Super Mario Brothers, they would eat that mushroom and get bigger in size, because that's actually one of the attributes. If you were to take a big dosage of M&E to it gives you a sense of size increase. Yeah, so it's a very cool mushroom. But what's unique is it has never been a scheduled one drug. So we're able to work with it as a food supplement. And that's what we're doing. So our preclinical studies right now are with the goal at the end of this year to be able to apply to the FDA for new dietary ingredient and the Health Canada for natural health product number. So we're going to have a path to market in early 2022, we'll be able to start selling our health supplements. We've done all the safety and efficacy. We did the toxicology assessment, our gap analysis and our path to path to market. So we've been able to identify and trademark our protocol for creating a safe for human consumption extract of Musco more, which is the compound and aminica muscaria that we're after. Wow. Now you guys also just raised $6.6 million through a financing. Can you tell us what the company plans on doing with the money to help achieve its milestones in the future? Yeah, so that was that was great. We're really proud of it for two reasons. First, obviously, get about deals is a big win, especially for your company. We, you know, we've only been trading about six months. Second to that, it was a bought deal for a four month old private placement. So you don't see that very regularly. I think when you look at the team that we've assembled on our board and management, that's what gave confidence to Canakor to stand behind us and give us that. So that was huge. It totally de-risks our preclinical studies that we're doing. It allows us more funds to look to do further R&D. We are obviously looking for additional fungus and plant opportunities. I think the goal of the company is we really like the fact that we are working with, you know, non scheduled drugs. And that's a differentiator for us with our peer group because, you know, again, our path to markets quicker, we're able to research, develop, import, export the product without all the red tape that comes along with the scheduled drug. So when we're doing that, we will look at other compounds that sort of fall in the category of a food supplement as opposed to a drug. So yeah, the funds will provide us with the ability to sort of look at that. And you had hinted earlier on in a conversation about consolidation. And I think that you'll start to see that in the sector. I think, you know, there's some loft evaluations now, which is very exciting. I think the companies have done great work. But I think we'll start to see some consolidation. So we want to be in a defensible position and showing that, you know, we can get financed. The bank believes that we were included in the horizon psychedelic ETF, which was a huge win for us. We were one of the first 17 companies. So, you know, it sort of put us on the map. And we recognized, okay, well, you know, we better cash up and be defensible so that, you know, if something does happen, we're not vulnerable. You know, we'd like to like to be in a choir if possible, if there's something that fits what we're trying to do with this with the business plan of the company as well. That's great. There was a press release that Psych Wellness provided an update on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory study in muscle, which you just mentioned. Can you go through that update with us and what it means for the company? Yeah, so that was a great little, not a side project, but it's outside of what we're doing our preclinical studies. And one of our advisors, Brian Tick County, took that on. The qualities of muscle, which again is the main compound in aminida, a scary mushroom that we're after, it has anti-inflammatory qualities. Anecdotally, people have been using these, you know, these mushrooms for a various number of health issues. And inflammation is one of them. So people suffering from arthritis, etc. So we wanted to do some initial studies to make sure that no allergen affects and be able to move forward with that. We think that there's an opportunity for that as well. And that would fall under the health and wellness side as well, where it'd be sort of a, you know, a topical cream or something, because it's very transferable. Are you guys looking to do any financing in the future? Are you fully funded right now? If you are looking to do financing in the future, how much would you be looking to finance and for what? I think, you know, we just closed this financing. I think we're in a very strong cash position for what we're doing right now. You know the name of the game and the markets, you know, sometimes things happen and you're opportunistic with it. But where we are right now, I feel that feel confident that we have a good position and that we're able to execute on what we're doing. OK, great. Now here at Rich TV Live, our community is worldwide over 100 countries watching this show every day all over the world. And one of the biggest keys to our success for our community is we love tightly held companies, companies that are responsible with their shares. Now, you just raised some funds, 6.6 million and issued 21,300,000 shares. Now that we've issued those shares, can you break down the share structure and how much is held by insiders and friendly hands? Yeah, so I think if you look at our capital structure between management directors and then sort of our seed round of founders, we are at about 25 percent of the capital. You know, we actually bought myself and our chairman Michael Miederhoff bought shares in the open market in the first week of trading.  If you look at the share composition, we also did a two cent financing round prior to going public. We put a voluntary escrow on that. That was with, you know, some key people. So we actually changed that escrow release voluntarily again so that it was less potentially harmful to the stock when it was trading. So it went from 25 percent tranches every six months or based on a share calculation to 10 percent tranches every two months on the balance of the 50 percent that was held in escrow. And that was just really to, you know, people had already made some good money from their initial investment and everyone agreed.  So everybody agreed to lock up. So we're quite proud of the shareholder base that we have and our early supporters. I mentioned our board earlier, Rich, and that when we did our pre-RTO financing, we were only looking to do a million dollars. Terry Booth joined the board. Michael Miederhoff joined the board. And there were some big names that the market really got behind. And we actually had over four million dollars in interest. So we actually took just shy, yeah, we took just shy of four million dollars in that pre-RTO round, which allowed us to just do a straight listing without an RTO financing. So this financing was the first one with Canakord, was the first one since pre-RTO. If there was one thing that you'd want shareholders to know about site dwellers, what would it be? Again, I keep going back to team. I think obviously working with a legal substance compound is very important because it differentiates us from the crowd but our team. We have Professor David Nutt, who I haven't mentioned yet, but so we're very proud to have him on our board. He's a professor at Imperial College. He's the chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Compass Pathways, which is a two billion plus company. Huge. The largest psychedelic company, correct? For sure. He was Robin Carhart Harris's professor at Imperial College. So he's one of the top sort of five thought leaders in the modern renaissance of psychedelics. We actually co-called them, sort of reached out to him and said, hey, we're working on aminita miscaria. We want to take a product to market. Would you be interested? And he was blown away because, you know, most people, they look at it initially if you Google it, it says it's a poisonous mushroom. But if you do the work, it's actually been mislabeled and there's ways to convert the ivitinic acid into muscamole and that's all part of our trademark protocol, extract protocol that we have. So he worked with us initially as an advisor for the first three months, was comfortable because he obviously has a lot of reputational risk. So here's this new startup company. So he worked with us as an advisor, got comfortable with the way the team and the management team was working with, you know, high-end CRO partners doing the science first, getting all the data to support everything as we move forward, you know, doing the preclinical studies to go to market. So after about three months we asked him if he'd consider a full board position and he took it. So we're very proud to have him on as a board member, working closely with my management team, David Schisel, who's our COO and the rest of our advisory team. So we've got a great team and something unique in the sense we can beat a market within a year where our peers are sort of three to six years with clinical trials. One of the reasons that we love doing these interviews is we give the shareholders an opportunity to get in contact with the company, ask them questions, investors might be able to get some, you know, interesting conversations going so that they can learn more about the company before they invest, potential joint ventures, LOIs, business partnerships can be generated from these relationships. What's the best way for someone who watches this video to get in contact with you or the company? Yeah, I love engagement with our shareholders, our potential shareholders. So yeah, all of our press releases will have my email address on it. That's likely the best way to get in touch. The phone's there as well, but it's sometimes it's harder to answer a phone call during the day because I've got a lot of calls and interviews scheduled. So email is the best way and please do reach out. Happy to get in touch and we can set up a time to have a conversation after that initial one. But yeah, welcome that opportunity to speak with anyone in your network for sure. Okay, great. Now, guys, for that are watching, please remember that Rich TV Live is strictly for education and entertainment purposes. Always do your due diligence. Always do your research before you invest in anything that we talk about here in Rich TV Live. Consult your financial advisor. Chances are your financial advisor would say, yeah, this is a really good pick. I really like this company, guys. I'm going to tell you right now that in my opinion, this is a company that is underappreciated, undervalued, underexposed. I think there's a lot of potential for this company. I think you're doing something really great, Jeff. And I'm very, very big believer in psychedelics and new hypergrowth industries. We've seen it with industry after industry after industry. We've seen Mind Medicine be a huge success story, which I brought first about a year ago. It sat at 30 cents for a long time and today a year later it's at $5. So we've seen huge success with Mind Medicine. We've seen them grow their market cap to $1.2 billion and psych wellness is just getting started. So if you guys like this video, please smash the like button, comment down below, share the video everywhere, and subscribe here with Jeff Stevens, the CEO of psych wellness. Thank you for joining us today, Jeff. That was my pleasure. Thanks for having me and look forward to future opportunities to chat with you again. Yeah, and anytime you have any big breaking news, anything you'd like to discuss, love to invite you back on the show. And guys, remember what we say to you guys, if you're not winning, you're not watching. We bring you the winners and we bring them to you first. Thank you guys for watching. Thank you, Jeff. Have a great day. Have a nice day everybody. We'll talk to you soon.


A U.S. Navy veteran was awarded the French National Order of the Legion of Honor at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum on August 15th. The award is given by the French government and is the most distinguished honor in France. It was given to Oscar Russell of Biloxi for his service during the liberation of France in World War II. This honor comes 68 years after DJ when Russell landed with the first wave on the beaches of Normandy, France. It makes me feel proud that I could help give a nation freedom. Lieutenant Colonel Promotable Philippe Testart is the French liaison officer to the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia. He said that he was honored to present the award to Russell. We usually say that it is an honor to be awarded a medal. Today is not true. It is an honor to be awarded a medal.


Alrighty, so as promised on our previous YouTube videos and our Instagram account, we are going to present a counter argument. So everyone knows we are a speculation and rumors channel and we want to counter some of our speculation and rumors sometimes to allow for both sides of the argument or speculation to have us say. So in today's video, we are going to discuss why Ziz or Bold Rush won't be a Giga Coaster. So as you know, in one of our videos, we've discussed the possibilities of this being a Giga Coaster. But we have expressed that we strongly don't feel like this will be the case. And in today's video, we are definitely going to discuss the reasons why. There are definitely a lot of great reasons as to why this won't be a Giga Coaster and we're going to discuss it. This is not a video saying it isn't going to be a Giga Coaster and this isn't a video saying it's going to be a Giga Coaster. We are just going to present the other side's arguments as we've received over Instagram and I want them to have a say in our videos as well. So a lot of you know that I've discussed the length of the lift hill being a possibility for a Giga Coaster. Well, let's look at that a little further. So when comparing that to Leviathan, Leviathan is roughly 120 meters long at a 37 degree angle. That is why it's quite long. It's only a 37 degree angle. But one could suggest that we don't fully know the angle of our lift hill. We do believe the angle of the lift hill is 45 degrees. We've seen it in a couple of locations that would suggest that and our lift hill length is approximately, let's say 80 meters to 90 meters max. So one would assume if it's an angle of 35 degrees between 35 and 45 degrees that this may not be a Giga Coaster after all and bring its height down into around the range of 250 feet. Just to throw in a little extra knowledge there, behemoth is roughly 90 meters long of a lift hill at a 37 degree angle. And that brings it to 230 feet tall. We could be looking at around that height range for our new dive coaster. So that's just a little diving into the length of the lift hill argument a little further. It doesn't prove anything, it doesn't disprove anything, but let's go into a few of the other wild theories I've thrown out there. So the ascent of the lift hill, we kind of just discussed that. We don't fully know the ascent of this lift hill. We used a program called CAD to figure out the ascent of the lift hill and we saw some other things that would suggest it's 45 degrees. And for this kind of an argument, I personally do think it's 45 degrees, which would bring it still higher than Val Raven, but it does not make it a Giga automatically. So the ascent of the lift hill fully relies on the length of the lift hill and the length of the lift hill is pure speculation at this moment. We do have a rough idea of its like length that we've seen, but we don't have the full accounts of where the straight parts are on the lift. So it could end up being 80 meters long, which would bring it down to about Val Raven's kind of territory. Regardless, this coaster is definitely going to have a larger drop than Val Raven. That I can almost guarantee. I don't want to fully guarantee because I don't want to mislead any of you. But let's go to the pull out of the drop. This is an argument I've been using since the beginning. So the pull out of the drop is definitely around the size of Leviathan. And at first I was using this as like, kind of like backing to the speculation and rumors of this being a Giga coaster. And it's a fair assumption in most cases, but one could also argue that the length of our pull out is only that long for specific reasons like to get to its next elements over vortex. Vortex is in the way. So maybe it needs the extra long pull out to give it extra time to crest over the Imlan loop and back over vortex into another element. That could be a factor as well. That also brings me into the bolts on the track. So this is one argument that I used and in fact I did provide the wrong information. A couple of readers sent us in pictures of Val Raven at other parts of the coaster where it did in fact have 10 by nine and 10 by 10. It all depends on the stress on the track at that moment. So I appreciate you guys sending me pictures and advice and opinions along the way. I will definitely correct it when I can. So again, just because our coaster has more bolts at the bottom of the drop, it could just mean there's a little more stress in there or it could be in fact because it's also underground. So that doesn't necessarily guarantee a Giga or larger than Val Raven in that aspect as well. So we're gonna go into the number of columns. Now this is an argument I can't really or I don't have much to say on. I don't have a counter argument for this. So we do know that our coaster has more columns than Val Raven. That I can guarantee that I know for sure. It actually has quite a few more columns and support columns than that to Val Raven. It also has a lot more footings as well. Now one would assume that automatically means it's larger than Val Raven by a lot and it would need a lot of extra speed to get through the layout. Well, that's not necessarily true. It could be the same height as Val Raven but not have a mid-course brake run which reduces its speed by a lot like other dive coasters and it would simply just make it through a longer layout by maintaining its speed that it gained from the drop and other elements along the ride. So this doesn't fully guarantee a larger coaster than that to Val Raven. Now I'm gonna talk about a few other concepts. So those were the most popular theories I use to discuss the Giga rumor. And again, I'm using this platform to give everyone a say. I want this channel to be not just a rumors and speculation channel. I want everyone to have like their opinions and speculation heard as well. I really want this channel to not just be me saying this is gonna be a Giga coaster, everyone believe it. No, no, never. Definitely feel free to comment on my videos down below. Send me a message on Instagram if you disagree with me on anything and participate in control my videos on Instagram. I want to hear every side of the argument. That is not the kind of channel I'm gonna be just dictating what I think something's gonna be and forcing you guys to either agree with it or like feel like you're excluded from an opinion. I want your opinions in all of my videos as well. So let's get to Val Raven. Now this is a great argument in fact and this counters a lot to what I have to say and it actually leads into the next point as well. But Val Raven is at Cedar Point. Val Raven holds the records right now for a dive coaster and a lot of people would argue that why would you dis take away Val Raven's records so soon after it just being built? Val Raven's still a newer coaster for Cedar Fair and Cedar Point and why would you give the records to a place like Canada's Wonderland that has its own records to beat within its own country? There really isn't much purpose or need to take away from a major park in the US to give it to a less major park on the North American scale despite of how well it performs, the park doesn't necessarily need a record-breaking coaster to do well. So one would argue that Cedar Fair doesn't really have that extra push or oomph, we'll say, to give Canada's Wonderland a record-breaking coaster and if they were, why would they need to go from 223 feet to 300 feet? That's a big jump. So one could argue that there really isn't a need to burst that giga bubble so soon on the dive coasters and maybe leave that up for a park down the road. Maybe Carolans will end up taking that record down the road like five to seven years from now if they were to ever get a dive coaster or another park as well at King's Island or any other park in the Cedar Fair chain. Now that brings us to Wonderland and Canada. Wonderland is located in Canada and beating records in its own country is very easy to do. Thus, pleasing the public and creating that awe effect with the general public is easier to do than not in the States. So building a dive coaster with the giga title isn't really something, again, that the park needs to do to wow the crowds. Canada, again, as I just said, is easy to beat with records and Wonderland doesn't really hold any record-breaking attractions on the global scale. So one could suggest that Cedar Fair has never been looking at beating records in Canada on the world scale and more so going after the records in Canada instead of, again, the world scale. Now, let's get to theming and the expansion. So we know what this coaster, we're probably looking at a massive expansion and maybe I slightly over exaggerated that actually. It doesn't look so massive, but it's getting an expansion. It looks like a whole themed area and theming for this ride. We see it right there. There's a lot of weird things happening with this coaster and one would assume if they're already spending a ton of money on theming and an expansion like the Canadian theme, we don't have that extra funds or the need, again, to build a gigadive coaster. Building something like Val Raven would suffice with this park and they don't have that extra, again, push to do something so massive when they're already providing a newer refreshed area, providing theming and guest experiences in the park at this new area and coaster. So why go the extra mile? Again, I really hope you guys enjoyed this video. Comment down below what you think. Are you on Team Giga or are you in the middle or are you just, this is gonna be smaller than Val Raven? I wanna hear from you guys down below. Give the video a like, share this video for others to give their opinions. Anyways, again, thanks so much for watching my videos guys and head on over to Instagram to participate in control my video. Have a good one guys. Bye.


CHAPTER XIII At first the lighted matches under his toenails hurt like the very devil. He had never known such pain. Then he forgot about the matches under his toenails. They started lighting them under his fingers. Where did they go? Cusso screamed. How did they do it? Zen had long since ceased trying to say that he didn't know. Instead of speaking, he shook his head. This was all he could do. Cusso interpreted the head shake as a stubborn refusal to answer. He kicked the colonel in the face. At the kick the race-mind clicked in. This was the effect Zen had, as if a third person had suddenly come in on a party line. After that the pain from the kick did not seem so important. The torture from the matches under his nails seemed to diminish also. Not that the contact with the race-mind nullified the pain or made it any less real. Fire was still fire and torture was still the same, but neither were very important. Other things were. Zen tried to concentrate his attention on the other things. The room, the shouting Cusso, the two Asians who were holding him down while the third thrust the matches under his nails, the shivering Cal, the lieutenant who was over-eager to obey his leader's orders. All these seemed to become misty and vague. These things were real. There was no question about that. But his mind was contacting another reality which made these things different. Time began to lose its meaning. He wondered if he was fainting. Another question came across his thoughts, healed over like a sailing ship moving across the wind. Was he dying? There was no shock with the thought. If that was the way it was, then he was more than ready. You are not fainting and you are not dying. The race-mind whispered to him. Come closer to me. How do I come closer to you? Let go. The voice of the race-mind was like a whisper from the other side of infinity. Let go and come to me. Dimly he wondered how one let go. The answer came with the question. The words met exactly what they said. The meaning was literal. Let go. As he performed the action that went with the words, the big gallery, Cusso, the lieutenant, and the torturers faded away and became a part of a misty world that seemed to have no real existence. Even the pain vanished. Come to me, the race-mind whispered again and again, a luring voice that drew him resistably. Abruptly, he was back in the gallery. He did not know how long he had been gone, but he realized that some time must have passed, enough to allow them to set up a portable radio transmitter in the gallery. The set looked to be very powerful. A yellow-skinned operator was huddling over the controls. In contact with Asian headquarters, Xan thought. He knew his thinking was correct. If somewhere in the distance outside the mountain, the night shuddered. He knew the meaning of the sound. A rocket ship was either landing or blasting off, probably the latter. A long line of burdened Asians was moving through the gallery. At the site of their loads, Xan knew what had gone into the hold of that ship. The equipment of the hidden center here. He saw parts of the super radar go past on the backs of sweating Asian soldiers, and he knew where this was going. At this knowledge anguish came up in him. With West super radar in their possession, no American secret was safe from prying Asian eyes, unless some way could be found to shield the frequencies employed. Such shielding might work for laboratories, but there was no way to shield troop movements and takeoffs and landings. These would be as public as an advertisement. Xan's face was wet. He could not understand this until another bucket of water hit him. An Asian bent over him, saw that his eyes were open, and grunted with satisfaction. They started again on his fingers. The radio operator called to Kuso, giving him a message. Xan could not understand the language, but the Asian leader was both startled and elated. He shouted at the men carrying loads to work faster. Not much time left. Big bomb coming. What bomb, Xan thought. With the question came the answer. Worn by Kuso that their preparations were probably known, the Asians had decided to launch their super bomb immediately. Turmoyle came up inside Xan at this knowledge. Real pain came from his fingertips as the tortures began operations again. Do you want to die? The race-mind whispered in his thoughts. Although he couldn't contact it, the race-field could reach him. You have suffered all that is required. You have met the law. You may join me if you wish. I...  This was fantasy, the product of torture and nearing dissolution. His own imagination was tricking him, he thought. This is not your imagination, the answer came. This is what you call the race-mind. But... how do you know? You don't. At this point you have to accept me on faith. The thinking flowing smoothly into his mind went into silence, then came again, stronger than before. Do you want to die? You have earned the right. No, Xan answered. He screamed the words again. No, no! The path before you will be difficult. I don't care how difficult it is. There's work to be done. Again he shouted the words. Very well. It is your choice. You may remain among the living for as long as your strength may last. The voice whispering in his mind went into silence. It continued screaming. Pain raced through his consciousness again. As he came awake he realized that he was screaming at the torturer to stop. He also realized that the asian had stopped. There was a sound in the gallery. Filling the air it seemed to emerge from the very walls of the mountain itself. The note of a violin. High and sweet and compelling the sound came from nowhere. Every atom in the solid stone walls seemed to pick it up and to rebroadcast it. The molecules of the air seemed to dance in resonance with it. Simultaneously, about ten feet above the floor, the face appeared again. The lieutenant's rifle blasted at it. He fired shot after shot at point blank range. Red hot slugs howled from the walls of the big gallery in a cacophony of death. The face smiled at the lieutenant. The lips moved. Deep shooting-old fellow, the lips seemed to say. The officer emptied his gun. In a desperate burst of fear he threw it at the mocking face. The weapon passed through the face without harming it. "'You fool! That's a projection! Not a real person!" Kuso shouted. He grabbed the officer by the shoulder and spun him backward to the floor. "'Who are you?' he demanded of the face. It smiled at him. Then repressed the impulse to shout. He knew what was going to happen next. "'I said, who are you?' Kuso shouted again. The crash of something in the gallery jerked his attention away. Twisting his head around, he saw that one of the soldiers engaged in carrying the loot of his cavern out to the plane waiting to hurry it to Asia had collapsed on the floor. Under ordinary circumstances Kuso would have had the man summarily executed, but with that face smiling at him out of nothing these circumstances were not ordinary. Zen, knowing what was going to happen, forgot the pain of his burned fingers and toes. He could feel it creeping over him in waves. This time he did not resist it. He let his eyes close. When he opened them the torture was snoring beside him. Every Asian in the big gallery was sound asleep. People were crowding around him. The new people. In a sweeping glance he recognized every person he had met here except Nedra, and he did not see her at first because she was busy bandaging his hands. West was smiling down at him with an expression that was somehow grandfatherly, but back of West's smile was a perturbation. Zen started to get to his feet and discovered they had not as yet removed the ropes from his legs. As one did this, Nedra clucked reprovingly at him and tried to tell him that he was wounded. He said this did not matter. Faces were here that he did not recognize. This did not matter either. You did this, he said to West. Yes, I designed and built the equipment. Others were operating it in this instance. West had something else on his mind. Yes, Zen said. Why didn't you take me with you when you went wherever it was you went? We couldn't, West answered. You haven't had the training. Why did you come back? To rescue you? Kurt, West had something that he wanted to say. Nedra, will you stop fussing with me? I'm all right.  I don't even feel them. I won't have them to feel at all unless action is taken.  Somewhere in Asia they're getting ready to launch a super-bomb, or maybe it's already on its way. I didn't know, the girl said. The big one? Yes.  I always wondered what it would be like to live on a mud flat. I wonder if we will be oysters or eels, or maybe crabs.  Zen demanded. After the bomb goes off, the girl said. What then? The race-mind will have to start over again, she explained. Her manner indicated that she was explaining something that she clearly understood. She seemed to wonder why he did not understand it. Maybe we will be turtles. That will be funny. A turtle that can remember when it was a man. That's the way it will be. Except. I know all about that. Except that the turtle won't be able to do anything about its memories. The girl continued, as if she had not heard him. It will have flippers and a beak, but what it will need will be hands. It won't have them until it grows them itself. A turtle with the memories that it was once a man, knowing that if it had hands it could rebuild human culture.  I wonder how the race-mind will solve that problem. Again she seemed to muse. It would be worse to be crabs. Or would it?  Zen snarled. We're not turtles yet, or crabs, and we're not going back on the mud flats. But we're on the edge of them, the girl insisted. One more teeter and we will go totter. Zen turned to west.  Nothing, the craggy man answered. She has some degree of clairvoyance and it is coming to consciousness. Unfortunately she has not yet had the time to develop her talents in that direction. Maybe the turtle wouldn't want to rebuild human culture, the girl interrupted. Maybe it wouldn't want to go back down that blind alley again. Perhaps it would decide to go into another channel to develop into something totally different. In that case it might not need hands. Zen deliberately ignored her. He turned to west. A bomb will be going off, he said. That is what I've been trying to talk to you about, the craggy man answered. This is another reason why we came back for you, so we could talk to you about that bomb. To me, Zen said, startled. Yes, to you. Why? Because you are a kernel of intelligence and have experience in such matters. Also, because you are something that none of us are, a fighting man. I... I don't understand you, Zen answered. I can get you there, but once there my knowledge fails. I, to my regret, know nothing of fighting. West spread his hands in a helpless gesture.  To Asia. To the underground cavern where they are getting ready to launch that bomb, West explained. The tone of his voice said this was easy. The hard part came in knowing what to do and being able to do it after they were there. To Asia? Zen parroted the words. He had the dazed impression that this whole scene was unreal, that the snoring Asians on the floor, Cal huddled by the wall, and the new people crowding into the room would shortly all vanish in puffs of green smoke.  How did we get out of this gallery? West responded. How did we vanish? How did the men in the reports you read get into the planes that were about to crash? Who landed Colonel Grant's space satellite? Who steered it? Who provided the power to energize the motion? Who... Did you know I knew about Grant? It was obvious that you must know. And you can get me to Asia. You and as many others as you choose to take with you. Walking over to the sleeping lieutenant, he picked up the man's rifle, then turned to the group. Who will go with me to Asia? he asked. The group stepped forward as one man. A knot formed in Kurt Zen's throat at the site, and he gulped to force it down. He knew how much this decision meant to them. They had been trained in the ways of peace. They were searching for the road to the future. Fighting meant turning backward on the path that led to growth. It was the last thing they wanted to do. Yet do it they would, if it was necessary. In an instant they were scrambling for weapons from the sleeping Asians. Then they were trying to salute and tell them their names and say they would follow him at the same time. One man saluted well. Red dog Jimmy Thurman, he said. Pride was in the man's voice. Zen caught the man's arm. Red dog Jimmy Thurman? But I know you. Maybe you do, sir. Thurman spoke with the soft drawl of the old south. One of the new people appeared in your plane and saved your life. Zen burst out. Yes, sir. That's right, sir. But you deserted. You went another way, sir. Let's say I joined the right side. How did you find this place? I just kept thinking and kept trying. Eventually we found each other. The psychos tried to make me believe I was nuts. But I knew better. I knew what had happened. And I knew there had to be a reason for it. I kept hunting until I found that reason. The big part of the battle, where I had an advantage over most everybody else, was that I knew from experience that something was going on. Knowing this much, all I had to do was keep looking. The man's voice drawled the explanation. His eyes smiled. At your service, sir. Do you know that going with me may mean death? What's death, sir? Red dog Jimmy Thurman grinned. I died over the north pole, sir. Like Larson, another man said, You were in a sub, Zen challenged. A glow was coming up inside of him like nothing he had ever experienced before. He was getting fighting men to stand beside him. Yes, Larson answered, and I will consider it a privilege to stand beside you. Like soldiers they passed in review before him, the fat boy, the tall, lean, brown-skinned youths. Somehow he thought there ought to be another one. He looked around for him. Grant was talking to West. Grant was the man whose face had looked out of thin air in the middle of the room. Seeing that Zen was staring at him, he left off his talk with the craggy man and came over and saluted. How was it up in that satellite? Zen asked. Lonely as hell, Colonel. Grant answered. Do you want to go with me to Asia? There's no place on earth I'd rather go. And, the way things stand now, I don't have much choice. If they get that bomb into the air... He left the sentence unfinished.  At the side of her it seemed to him that the world stood still. He shook his head. Why, she challenged. Because I love you, he answered. Then, that is the real reason why you should take me with you, she answered. I don't follow, he said. If you fail, there will be no tomorrow, she answered. To her the statement had no answer. Besides, I am a nurse, she continued. If they are wounded, I can help with them. But the fact that you love me does not enter into the situation. It is a thing apart. It is a very wonderful thing, she added hastily, the starlight shining in her eyes. And I wish we could bring it to fruit the ways it used to be. But those days are gone. And I am going to age you with you. Watching West smiled. Zen spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. He turned to the craggy man. This sleep thing. I don't know how you do it and don't much care.  Yes, West agreed. I'd like to borrow the unit, Zen said. Gladly, Colonel. I wish we had other weapons. We'll make do with what we have, Zen answered. End of Chapter 13. CHAPTER XIV. OF DOOM'S DAY EV. by Robert Moore Williams. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. DOOM'S DAY EV. CHAPTER XIV. The loudspeaker droned in a Chinese dialect. In a deep cavern in the hinterlands of Asia, men responded to the command coming over the speaker system. Already driven to the point of exhaustion, they were working harder than they had ever worked before. The moment of victory for which all true Asians had lived was near at hand. The launching of this bomb would make the Asian Union master of the world. Orders had come through to launch this bomb immediately. Zero minus forty-five minutes, the speaker said. The drone had gone from the voice of the officer watching the time. A rising excitement appeared in the tones as if he too had caught the scent of fear rising in the vast underground depot. So much was left to be done. The atomic warhead was already in place, waiting for the day of launching, otherwise the task would have been impossible. The driving engines were complete, but had to be fueled. The steering equipment was almost ready, only the installation of the left gyroscope was necessary. This was at hand waiting to be installed. Five technicians constantly got in each other's way as they tried to slip the delicate instrument into place. Zero minus thirty minutes! The gyroscope was eased into place and tested. It was found to be in perfect working order. In the course-plotting room the final calculations were being made. Wind direction and velocity aloft had been noted across half the planet. This had some importance on the launching and landing end, but had no significance when the bomb itself was out of the atmosphere. The target had been figured and refigured. Actually, the target was anywhere on the continent of North America. If this bomb struck anywhere in the Mississippi Valley, the whole watershed below the striking point would be scoured clean of all life. Water carrying radiation downstream would account for that. Zero minus fifteen minutes! On the outside of the mountain, in a special observatory constructed for this precise purpose, radar scopes for tracking the rocket were ready. Instruments in the laboratory there were for the purpose of changing the course of the super bomb, if it veered too far from its destination. The technicians there were on their toes. They had no guards to encourage them, but they needed none. They knew what would happen if this bomb failed to land and the fault was traced to their door. What would happen when the bomb landed? Hell would happen. Probably the crust of the earth would open up in a hole miles in depth. Meteor crater in Arizona would be the work of a child compared to the result of this explosion. What had happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be nothing in comparison. The possibility existed that the molten magma of the core of the planet would gush forth. No one knew for sure whether or not this would happen. If it did take place, the result might be the sudden appearance of a lake of overflowing lava. The shock waves from the bomb would probably be strong enough to pull down every skyscraper that still remains standing in America. The effect on the watershed where the bomb landed will be almost complete catastrophe. If it struck on any of the rivers or streams flowing into the Mississippi, the water supply of all cities downstream to New Orleans would be contaminated. Nobody knew what the effect of the fallout from this bomb would be. High air currents might carry radioactive particles for thousands of miles from the explosion point, where they would fall as a gentle but very deadly rain upon the earth below. Zero minus ten minutes! The high, thin note of a violin appeared in the vast underground cavern. Amid the scurrying of feet, the shouts of the foremen bossing the work-gangs, and the occasional cracking of the rifles of the guard, the sound was unheard by the ears. But deeper centers heard it. The first man to go was a fad engineer. Sighing, he stumbled and fell. When he did not rise, a guard approached him. As the guard determined that the man was snoring, he lifted his rifle. The engineer died without awakening. Another shot rang out as another man went to sleep, then continued on to join his father's. The technician busy filling the fuel tanks of the rocket was the third man to go. He managed to finish closing the filler cap and to lay down his flexible line before the urge to sleep overcame him. By this time the guards knew that something was wrong. Silence came over the cavern. In the stillness, the note of the violin flickering up and down the scale could be heard. Men looked at each other in growing apprehension. Looking, some of them laid down and went to sleep. Sleep gas! An officer bawled. Shoot all foreigners on sight! The officer suspected that some spy had slipped into the underground cavern and had released gas there. His command was intended to enable his men to find and eliminate this alien. As such, from a military standpoint, it was a good command. It had this deficiency. When his men did not find any aliens, but their own people continued going to sleep on them, they began imagining foreigners. The guards began to shoot their own technicians and engineers. As panic swept through the cavern, guards began to shoot other guards. Soon the people in this huge underground chamber were tearing and destroying each other. And one other thing. They were also going to sleep. The panic grew to hurricane proportions. When Kurt Zenn appeared inside the cavern, the whole vast place was as still as a tomb. Smoke from the rifles hung in the air. The cavern stank of death and fear. But the bomb still rested in its launching cradle. Zenn took one long look at that bomb. He felt his sigh of relief cleared down to the ends of his toes. At the sight, the last remnant of pain vanished from his toes and fingers. Not that the damage done by the matches did not still exist. It did. But in the surge of elation that swept through him, he completely forgot the pain. We just got here in time, a man said, appearing beside him. It was Spike Larson who had spoken. All on his face Larson glanced around the cavern. They started killing each other. They must have gone nuts. I don't blame them, Zenn said. I damn near did on the way here. That trip through nothing is sure a stinker, isn't it? Larson answered, grinning and shaking his head. Zenn agreed with him wholeheartedly. After tuning his body to an instrument in the cavern, hidden so well that Kuso's men had not had time to find it, West had punched a button. The machine had vanished. West had vanished. A horrible moment had come when it had seemed that his feet were standing on nothing more substantial than air. What he had felt under his feet had, in fact, been far less substantial than air, which had body. It had been even less solid than space. It had been nothing. Swishing Colonel Grant came into existence on the other side of Zenn. Grant looked fussed, but he gripped the rifle he had taken from one of Kuso's men with determination. Just between you and me, I'd rather fly a space satellite to Mars any day in preference to facing this jump. I know what you mean, Zenn said. As he spoke, another figure came into existence to his left. Nedra. She came spinning into reality with a smile on her face. Zenn wasted a moment wondering what kind of cast iron nerf this girl had. It looks as if all we had to do was to tie them up, Spike Larson said. This is almost too good to be true. It is too good to be true, Zenn said. Turmoy was... somewhere. He did not know where, but it seemed to him that a vast uneasiness had suddenly come into existence. It had to do somehow with the future, with a something that was about to happen. Halt! Grant's voice rang out. Zenn swung his gaze around just in time to see an Asian lift himself to his feet near a control board that stood beside the rocket. He's walking in his sleep, Larson exclaimed. Zero minus one minute! the loudspeaker announced. Where in the hell is that man on the speaker? Grant demanded. The sleep frequency didn't get to him. No time to be concerned about him now, Zenn said. The turmoil that existed somewhere had increased in intensity. Somehow it was concerned with the solitary Asian who was reeling in circles like a drunken man trying to make up his mind. Shall I shoot him, Colonel? Grant demanded. Zenn hesitated. He knew that West's deepest wish was to avoid violence if that was possible. The split-second's delay was fatal. Grant's shot rang out, much too late. Reeling on his feet, the man reached the control panel and pulled the single switch there. A heavy thud came from the rocket as a ram drove home inside the heavy metal hull. Get back! Zenn screamed. He caught Nedra and pulled her backward. Beside him he knew that Grant and Larson were also reeling backward. Inside the rocket a steady rumble of sound was building up. Low in frequency but heavy in volume it seemed to shake the foundations of the earth itself. Inside the vessel heavy heat charges were building up. Smoke and flames spurred it backward as the first warming charge let go. For all Zenn knew, this section was to have been cleared before the firing of the first rocket. He did not know whether provision had been made for the elimination of flame and smoke, but he knew that heat and smoke hit him as he pulled Nedra away. Then the main charges let go. Rising, like some devil spurting upward from the depths of hell itself, the launching cradle carrying the rocket lurched upward. The stone floor shook underfoot. The mountain shook. Unless this rocket could be stopped the whole planet would shake. Earth would twitcher skin like an elephant stung by a giant wasp. With a thundering roar the rocket shook itself loose from its cradle and hurled into the sky under its own power. West! Zenn shouted. Yes, Kurt? The craggy man's reply was as prompt as it would have been if he had stayed in the same room. Actually, he was in the American Center. We've lost, Zenn said. I know, West replied. A sadness as deep as the ocean of space was in his voice. Pull these people back to you. Of course. Me last. The last lingering roars of sound were still pounding down the bore of the launching cradle. Why do you want to be last? Duty, Zenn said. Get that miracle device of yours into operation pronto. Sure, I'm starting now. Hey, guys, you're going home. Zenn yelled at the people with him. What good is it to go home? Spike Larson asked. There won't be any home within an hour, Grand added. Or however long that rocket will take to land. Why go back to what isn't there? That's where we will start the task of rebuilding, Zenn said. Rebuild what with what? Larson demanded. There will be something left, Zenn said firmly. You are already underground. You will stay that way. Keep the good fight going for years. Raise some kids to keep it going after you are gone. He felt very firm and sure about what he was saying.  Besides, you are planning something else, Nedra spoke. You want to get rid of us so you can West, Zenn shouted. Yes, Kurt, take them away. Zenn yelled. They're trying to rebel on me. Take Nedra first before she reads my mind. I'm working as fast as I can, West answered. This instrument has to be tuned to the individual body frequency. I knew there was something, Nedra began, and vanished. Zenn grinned. He had the impression that she was calling him names that no lady should speak as she went away. Time would cure that, if any time was left. In the chamber an Asian was stirring. Zenn, old man, what are you up to? Grand asked. Take this one next, Kurt ordered. Grant looked reluctant but resigned as he disappeared. Zenn was alone in the big chamber. Smoke swirled from the ceiling. One Asian was already on his feet and a guard was sitting up. I've got them all here. West's voice came across vast distances. Good. Are you ready? Yeah, Zenn answered. But I'm going that way. He pointed toward the ceiling. Kurt! West's voice was sharp with sudden pain as he caught the Colonel's meaning. That way or no way, Zenn answered. But that's not a passenger rocket. The hull will hold enough air to keep me alive for as long as I need to be there. But the rocket isn't constantly accelerating flight. It's a moving target. Red Dog Jimmy Thurman's plane was falling and Colonel Grant's satellite was moving and Spike Larson's sub was on the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Don't give me any backtalk, Sam. Somebody got into that plane and that satellite and that submarine. I can get into that rocket. You're the man who can put me there. But I'm not on that target. West's voice had a whale in it. Then get on it!  All right, I'll do my best. But something will remain here, Kurt, even after the explosion. We'll be safe in a way here. That argument has already been used by me to get the others back to you.  All right, West repeated. Ah, I'm on the rocket as a target. Good. Zenn repressed every muscular tremor everywhere in his body. Somewhere there was jubilation. A sensed but not tangible vibration that he could not locate. He concentrated on the jubilation. A layer of smoke floated down from the ceiling, like a descending death-paul. The guard had gotten to his feet. He had picked up his rifle and was staring around the room, seeking either an explanation for what had happened or a target. To him, which he got, didn't matter. His eyes came to focus on the lean Colonel with the bandaged fingers. That uniform did not belong here. The guard raised his rifle. Good luck, Kurt! West's voice whispered across the space between two continents. As the gun exploded in his face, Kurt Zenn felt his body vibrate into what seemed to be nothing. Again, the terror wrenched at his soul. Again, he experienced the mind-compelling agony of this incredible type of spaceflight. This time he did not mind these terrors. Somewhere in his mind was jubilation. Wondering if it was the forerunner of death, he continued to concentrate on that. Dimly, as if from some other space or some other time, he was aware of a roar. The rocket swam into existence ten feet away from him. He was outside it, in airless space. West had made a miscalculation. Agony seared every cell in his body, paying clamped at his throat like hands trying to choke him to death. Oops! I made a mistake! He heard West gasp. He was moving with the rocket on a parallel course. West had matched course and velocity, but he had not achieved his exact aiming-point. Error in the instrument? Human mistake? Who knew? Who cared? Click. Like a vast ocean of warm, pulsing, sure power, the race-mind came into Kurt Zen. It existed here in space, too. He had never thought of that. In what little thinking he had had time to do, he had considered it as a super-special sort of field which possessed intelligence but which was limited to the surface of the planet. Here in space it sustained life in him. He did not know how this was done. This was one of the mysteries which must be left to the future to solve. If there was a future, other than the mud flats, it felt to him as if a vast tidal current was flowing into his body. Click. He was in the rocket. The smell of overheated oil fouled his nose. As he tried to move, he bumped his head. He was in a narrow passage. A head was a control paddle with automatic devices. He began to crawl in that direction. Noise was a thundering roar in his ears. His whole body felt as if it was about to shake to pieces. The passage was narrow. It had never been intended for humans. Moving upward, Zen found it was too narrow. He got stuck. No matter how hard he tried he could not move an inch forward. The control panel was so close he could spit on it. But it could not have been farther out of his reach if it had been on the other side of the moon. Air was getting short. He twisted and squirmed, fighting like the devil. But his body was wedged into the narrow passage in such a way that he could not move. Something pulled at his arms. Nedra was directly ahead of him. She was trying to pull him forward along the passage. You, he whispered. Who has a better right than I, she answered. Sweat grimeed her face. Her hair was a rye. Fiercely she pulled at him. The rocket yawed, beginning its turn in space. He forced himself forward and came free. Somehow he found the strength to pull himself up in front of the control panel. He was running on nervous energy now and he knew it. No strength was left in his body beyond what he was forcing into it. Send it out into space, he muttered. Send it out there. He tried to wave his arm in an outward gesture and bumped his hand on the steel hull. Light came through a circular port. He had a glimpse of the earth down below. The planet was very far away. Blue seas and green land, the planet was also very beautiful. He fumbled his way over the controls, trying to understand them. Somewhere, stabilizing gyroscopes were running smoothly. He could hear them. The controls were simple. He decided which way was up and jammed home the controls. Nothing happened. In the confined quarters his laughter had madness in it. Nedra stared at him. What happened? Nothing. Nothing happened. They're locked in place. His eyes grew very wide. These controls are only for establishing the flight course. Once that is established and the rocket launched they automatically lock in place. Then we can't change its course? No. Her face puckered and she looked like a small girl about to cry. Another panel to the left caught his attention. It had a red button on it. He studied the wiring on it. By thunder the words burst involuntarily from his lips. What is it, Kurt? They put a manual control on the warhead. It's got to be that. It can't be anything else. He pointed to the red button. Why do you suppose they did that? Test purposes probably to check the firing mechanism before the warhead was installed. What difference does it make? Nedra's voice was listless. Maybe we can go to heaven. What do you mean? He explained very carefully what he meant. Explode the rocket here in space? Sure, he said. His tone of voice said this was nothing, that anybody could do it. West's voice clambered in his mind again. He ignored it. His hand moved toward the red button. There's one thing I want you to know, he said, pausing. What is that? I love you, he said. She came into his arms like a tired frightened child. I knew that the minute I saw you, she said. He held her close to him and she lay there, seemingly very content. All right, she said. I'm ready. Her lips sought his. Kissing her, he reached behind her back and punched the red button. A relay thudded. Darkness closed in. Kurt Senn came out of that darkness to find himself staring upward into the face of Sam West. There was something about that face that was familiar, something that he should have guessed long before. He tried to think what it was. How'd you get to heaven, he said. The warhead had a delay relay on it, West explained. It was about 30 seconds as near as I can figure it.  What he said sounded very important. Under other circumstances Zenn knew he would have considered it important, but other things seemed more significant now. Did she blow? He asked. All of ten minutes ago West said exultantly. Do you know what this means, Kurt? Do you know what it means? Yeah, Zenn answered. I won't have to be an eel. There was still this other thing that was important. Say, an eel? For an instant the craggy man was puzzled. Then he grasped the meaning. You're right, Kurt. No eels for any of us. That's good, Zenn said. Nedra. She's right here beside you, still out from exhaustion. But she will be all right. Good, Zenn said again.  As he tried to think what it was, the answer came to him. He looked up at the craggy man. You're not Sam West, he said. No, the craggy man said, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Then who am I? You're Jal Jonar. Nobody but Jal Jonar could have done all the things you have done. You're right, Kurt. I'm Jal Jonar. And you're Kurt Zenn. And this is Nedra. Zenn saw the smile on the face of the craggy man. It was a very good smile, the best he had ever seen. Then it faded away as he sank into the deep slumber of exhaustion. He did not even feel Jonar place Nedra's hand in his as he went to sleep. The End of Doomsday Eve by Robert Moore Williams