Part 2

“About two hundred,” she told him. “And there are thousands more scattered throughout the country in other places like this.”

“What about _them!_” Brandt demanded.

Ellen pointed to the complex machinery in the room. “These controls can be activated to open every cell in the country.”

Brandt examined the machinery. It was similar to the cybernetic brain he had developed at Central Metals to control the quality regulators in all the factories at the same time.

Suddenly he was smiling. “Then you planned this whole thing!”

“Yes, Neville. Even the man who almost killed you with his concentrated thoughts this evening. He was planted there for Blanding’s benefit.”

“But why did you wait this long? Why not two years ago when my telepathy began?”

“That’s when our planning began,” Ellen said. “When I was certain that you were telepathic, I told our leaders about you. They decided that you were the only one who could set the dials on the ‘Brain’ properly, and we had to let them get you in here. It wasn’t easy to stand by and wait while Blanding watched you compile your notebook.

“This book,” Ellen continued, reaching into her purse, “could have been a valuable tool against us. It pinpoints every stage and system of telepathic development. Blanding wanted it as complete as possible before moving against you. Now we’ll use it to help train our people.”

“Then you knew how I felt about you all along,” Brandt whispered.

“I knew--and I feared for you each day. I wanted to tell you who I really was a thousand times--to tell you I loved you. But Blanding would have read you in an instant.”

“Ellen, I--”

She reached up and kissed him gently. “Now we must hurry.”

Brandt turned back to the dials of the cybernetic brain. He reached out and touched them. And an image flashed across his mind, an image of a thousand doors springing open.

Transcriber’s Note:

This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe, March 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 2.). Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Obvious errors in punctuation have been silently corrected in this version.