adjustments on the device, then threw a switch.
'It is working,' he said. 'Now the Lortonoi will not be able to control the mind of anyone in this ship no matter how hard they try.'
'What difference does that make?' Jerry asked. 'Since they'll be sucked into the temporal tornado in a couple of minutes.'
'I will explain. You may recall that I said that the temporal tornado sucked in everything within two light- years. Krakar has to be fired at a distance of one point nine light-years from its target. So whoever fires it goes along with it. I suggest you draw straws or something and pick yourself a volunteer, quickly, while the rest of us get cheddite-projected back to the fleet.'
There was a shuffling of feet, backward for the most part, since the desire to get trapped in a temporal tornado and whisked back to blow up and start the universe going did not seem to be a strong one.
But – there are some individuals who are big enough to face the idea of sacrifice for a cause, particularly for a cause as worthy as this one. These are the individuals who alter the destiny of worlds, and they are few and far between indeed. But when the need arises, they are ready to step forward, and step forward they do or the history of intelligence and civilization would not be where it is today. Not one. Not two. But three stalwart figures stepped forward grimly, volunteering for certain death, volunteering to die so that the universe might live.
'One will be enough,' Four said.
'Who will choose between us?' Jerry said, and John and Chuck smiled at this, and as one man, they put out their hands and clasped them together, comrades all.
'We will do it together,' Chuck said. 'It is our responsibility.'
'The rest of you, go,' John said. 'It sure has been nice knowing you.'
Quickly the Galaxy Rangers filed by, clasping the hands of their leaders in silence, knowing that this was the greatest day in the history of the galaxy. Many-eyed SlugTogath shook a tentacular good-bye, web-fingered Pipa croaked his adieu with a tear in each large eye, Lord Prrsi soaked the tip of his great claw in ice water – ignoring the pain – so he too could have it shooken by them, while Troceps, clacking his great beak with emotion, shook hands as well and gave each of them one of his wing feathers for a souvenir. It was a heart-stopping, throat- choking moment. And as each Ranger stepped away, the cheddite projector whisked him back to the fleet which was already in full flight before the coming thunder of the temporal tornado. Number Four of the Chachkas was the last to go, and before he did, he injected a single note of hope.
'I make no guarantees, but you will remember I said that you will be caught up by the edge of the temporal tornado. There is no escaping from the heart of the storm, but at the edge, once you are in it, you may be able to rewire Krakar to get you out. Maybe. No one of course knows, and it would take a genius to figure the thing out in time, but there you are. Even a billion-to-one odds chance, like this one, is better than no chance at all. So listen, say good-bye quick because I see the space armada, the greatest the universe has ever known, tearing down on you at top speed, so I have to go.'
And he went, and the good companions were alone.
'Will you look at that!' Chuck said, and look they did indeed.
Space ahead was full, but full. Wall-to-wall spaceships. Ships such as had never been seen before away from the endless battle around Cotorra. Battleships that were twenty miles long and had gun turrets every eighty feet of their length. Ship after ship, fleet after fleet, squadron after squadron, all bearing down on the little shining form of the Pleasantville Eagle, every gun firing, every projector ravening rays, every torpedo zeroed in on them. Space was filled with hurtling death that rushed down on them with the force of destiny.
'You know,' Chuck mused. 'It makes you feel kind of humble.'
'It makes me feel like pressing the goddamn button,' Jerry said.
'Only three more light-years to go,' added John.
'Well, you might have told me,' Sally said; walking in with a great plate of salami sandwiches. 'Here I've gone to all this trouble and everyone has left.'
'I thought you went with the others!' John gasped.
'And that you were crying too hard to say good-bye.'
'Send her back with the cheddite projector!' Jerry shouted, diving for it.
'No time!' Chuck said, finger ready on the button.
'One point nine light-years exactly. . . now!' He pressed the button down savagely, and the can hissed slightly, and nothing else happened.
'It doesn't work!' more than one voice cried out, but more than one voice has been wrong before.
Because something was happening out there in interstellar space. Something that absorbed the energies of the ravening rays, rockets, shells, and torpedoes, eating them like candy, absorbing them into what can only be described as a black hole in the blackness of space, a new kind of blackness that hurt the eye to look upon. Beyond the hole the space armada sent out thousand-mile-long plumes of fire as they tried to brake and change course, but they could not. With frightening speed the black hole grew, absorbing them, eating them, growing larger all the time. Then, as ihe last great ship vanished, the blackness rushed out toward the Pleasantville Eagle, and Sally screamed at its terrible presence, and it was upon them.
For an unmeasurable instant time went mad. First it froze, and they were paralyzed and felt their hearts stop beating and the clocks stopped and even the molecules of matter stopped spinning. And then everything reversed. It is impossible to describe the sensation, except to say that it was not a nice one. They staggered, released suddenly from the temporal paralysis, and it was Jerry who pointed out the front window and shouted, 'Look!'
What a sight! Here at the rim of the temporal tornado it was relatively calm. Just an occasional bump when they ran over a minute or a clatter on the hull when they sailed through a cloud of seconds, nothing to bother over. But in the heart of the tornado it was a different matter! All the ships were being whirled about and buffeted together, glowing hotter and hotter as they did, already beginning to melt and run together into the primordial matter that would explode and form the universe.
'Might I ask just what is going on?' Sally asked.
'Let's get to work on the diagram,' Jerry said, and an instant later he and Chuck were bent over the table scratching out equations. Therefore, it was John's unhappy duty to take Sally by the hand and take her aside and explain what had happened. She instantly burst out crying, and he let her weep upon his shoulder and stroked her smooth hair and made soothing noises. Soon her crying became a soft sobbing, and then she wiped her eyes and attempted a weak smile at him, and he smiled back and took a salami sandwich – he knew she would like that – then he took a second and a third and wolfed them down because this sort of thing gave him an appetite.
'Great sandwiches,' he said, kindly.
'Thanks, John, I did my best.' The little smile played across her tear-stained features and was as quickly gone.
'But do we stand any chance at all of getting out of this thing?'
'Well, the odds are a billion to one, and those aren't what I call great betting odds. But Jerry and Chuck are geniuses, and if anyone can put Krakar into reverse gear and get us out of this, it is those two guys. Great guys.'
'They are. And you are a great guy too.'
'Aww, you're just saying that because it is the end of everything.'
'Maybe, but one can't lie when everything is coming to an end? I feel honored to be loved by three such great guys as you three. Yes, John, I know, it was easy to tell, there is no need to blush and turn away. You are blushing, aren't you? Yes, I thought so.' She took his great hand in her tiny one and squeezed just as Jerry jumped up shaking a piece of paper and shouted.
'Eureka!'
'What does that mean?' Sally gasped.
'I don't know, it's Greek. But we have it. Chuck did the math, and I have worked out a new circuit. Now, a bit of quick work with the old soldering iron, and we will see if the theory works.'
He was as good as his word. They cannibalized some of the gunnery controls for spare parts, and within minutes he had breadboarded up a new circuit and opened up Krakar with a can opener and wired it into place.
'This is it,' he said grimly, as he made delicate adjustments on the controls. 'We will use the angular momentum of the tornado to hurl us backward in time and, since we are not going backward, that backward will
