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Applied Generative Ai For Beginners: Practical Knowledge On Diffusion Models, Chatgpt, and Other Llms Akshay Kulkarni

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40 views51 pages

Applied Generative Ai For Beginners: Practical Knowledge On Diffusion Models, Chatgpt, and Other Llms Akshay Kulkarni

The document promotes the ebook 'Applied Generative AI for Beginners' by Akshay Kulkarni and others, which covers practical knowledge on diffusion models, ChatGPT, and other large language models (LLMs). It provides links to download the ebook and other related titles, emphasizing instant digital access to various formats. Additionally, it includes a detailed table of contents outlining the chapters and topics covered in the book.

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Applied
Generative AI for
Beginners
Practical Knowledge on Diffusion Models,
ChatGPT, and Other LLMs

Akshay Kulkarni
Adarsha Shivananda
Anoosh Kulkarni
Dilip Gudivada
Applied Generative AI for
Beginners
Practical Knowledge on Diffusion
Models, ChatGPT, and Other LLMs

Akshay Kulkarni
Adarsha Shivananda
Anoosh Kulkarni
Dilip Gudivada
Applied Generative AI for Beginners: Practical Knowledge on Diffusion Models,
ChatGPT, and Other LLMs
Akshay Kulkarni Anoosh Kulkarni
Bangalore, Karnataka, India Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Adarsha Shivananda Dilip Gudivada
Hosanagara, Karnataka, India Bangalore, India

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-9993-7 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-9994-4


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9994-4

Copyright © 2023 by Akshay Kulkarni, Adarsha Shivananda, Anoosh Kulkarni,


Dilip Gudivada
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Table of Contents
About the Authors���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xi

About the Technical Reviewer������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xiii

Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv

Chapter 1: Introduction to Generative AI������������������������������������������������������������������ 1


So, What Is Generative AI?������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 2
Components of AI�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
Domains of Generative AI�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Text Generation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 4
Image Generation�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Audio Generation��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5
Video Generation��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5
Generative AI: Current Players and Their Models��������������������������������������������������������������������� 9
Generative AI Applications����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 13

Chapter 2: Evolution of Neural Networks to Large Language Models�������������������� 15


Natural Language Processing����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16
Tokenization�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
N-grams�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
Language Representation and Embeddings�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 19
Probabilistic Models�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 20
Neural Network–Based Language Models���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21
Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23
Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24
Encoder-Decoder Networks��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 25

v
Table of Contents

Transformer��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 27
Large Language Models (LLMs)�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29
Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30

Chapter 3: LLMs and Transformers������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33


The Power of Language Models�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
Transformer Architecture������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 34
Motivation for Transformer���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35
Architecture��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35
Encoder-Decoder Architecture���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 36
Attention�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 39
Position-wise Feed-Forward Networks��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47
Advantages and Limitations of Transformer Architecture������������������������������������������������������ 51
Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53

Chapter 4: The ChatGPT Architecture: An In-Depth Exploration of OpenAI’s


Conversational Language Model����������������������������������������������������������� 55
The Evolution of GPT Models������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 56
The Transformer Architecture: A Recap��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57
Architecture of ChatGPT�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59
Pre-training and Fine-Tuning in ChatGPT������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 70
Pre-training: Learning Language Patterns����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70
Fine-Tuning: Adapting to Specific Tasks�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 71
Continuous Learning and Iterative Improvement������������������������������������������������������������������ 71
Contextual Embeddings in ChatGPT�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 71
Response Generation in ChatGPT������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 72
Handling Biases and Ethical Considerations������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73
Addressing Biases in Language Models�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73
OpenAI’s Efforts to Mitigate Biases��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73
Strengths and Limitations����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 75
Strengths of ChatGPT������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 75
Limitations of ChatGPT���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 76
Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 77
vi
Table of Contents

Chapter 5: Google Bard and Beyond����������������������������������������������������������������������� 79


The Transformer Architecture����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 80
Elevating Transformer: The Genius of Google Bard��������������������������������������������������������������������� 80
Google Bard’s Text and Code Fusion�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 82
Strengths and Weaknesses of Google Bard�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 83
Strengths������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 83
Weaknesses�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 84
Difference Between ChatGPT and Google Bard��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 84
Claude 2�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 86
Key Features of Claude 2������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 86
Comparing Claude 2 to Other AI Chatbots����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 87
The Human-Centered Design Philosophy of Claude�������������������������������������������������������������� 88
Exploring Claude’s AI Conversation Proficiencies������������������������������������������������������������������ 89
Constitutional AI�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 89
Claude 2 vs. GPT 3.5�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 92
Other Large Language Models���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93
Falcon AI�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93
LLaMa 2��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 95
Dolly 2������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 98
Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 99

Chapter 6: Implement LLMs Using Sklearn���������������������������������������������������������� 101


Install Scikit-LLM and Setup����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 102
Obtain an OpenAI API Key���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 103
Zero-Shot GPTClassifier������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 103
What If You Find Yourself Without Labeled Data?���������������������������������������������������������������� 109
Multilabel Zero-Shot Text Classification������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 111
Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 111
What If You Find Yourself Without Labeled Data?���������������������������������������������������������������� 112
Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 112

vii
Table of Contents

Text Vectorization���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 113


Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 113
Text Summarization������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 114
Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 115
Conclusion�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 115

Chapter 7: LLMs for Enterprise and LLMOps�������������������������������������������������������� 117


Private Generalized LLM API����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 118
Design Strategy to Enable LLMs for Enterprise: In-Context Learning��������������������������������������� 119
Data Preprocessing/Embedding������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 121
Prompt Construction/Retrieval�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 123
Fine-Tuning������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 126
Technology Stack���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 128
Gen AI/LLM Testbed������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 128
Data Sources����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 129
Data Processing������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 129
Leveraging Embeddings for Enterprise LLMs���������������������������������������������������������������������� 130
Vector Databases: Accelerating Enterprise LLMs with Semantic Search���������������������������� 130
LLM APIs: Empowering Enterprise Language Capabilities�������������������������������������������������� 130
LLMOps������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 131
What Is LLMOps?����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 131
Why LLMOps?���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 133
What Is an LLMOps Platform?��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 134
Technology Components LLMOps���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 135
Monitoring Generative AI Models����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 136
Proprietary Generative AI Models���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 139
Open Source Models with Permissive Licenses������������������������������������������������������������������ 140
Playground for Model Selection������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 141
Evaluation Metrics��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 141
Validating LLM Outputs�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 144
Challenges Faced When Deploying LLMs���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 146

viii
Table of Contents

Implementation������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148
Using the OpenAI API with Python��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148
Leveraging Azure OpenAI Service���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
Conclusion�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153

Chapter 8: Diffusion Model and Generative AI for Images������������������������������������ 155


Variational Autoencoders (VAEs)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 156
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 157
Diffusion Models����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 158
Types of Diffusion Models��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 160
Architecture������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 162
The Technology Behind DALL-E 2��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 165
Top Part: CLIP Training Process������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 167
Bottom Part: Text-to-Image Generation Process����������������������������������������������������������������� 168
The Technology Behind Stable Diffusion����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 168
Latent Diffusion Model (LDM)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 169
Benefits and Significance���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 170
The Technology Behind Midjourney������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 170
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 170
Text-to-Image Synthesis with GANs������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 171
Conditional GANs����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 171
Training Process������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 171
Loss Functions and Optimization����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 171
Attention Mechanisms��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 172
Data Augmentation and Preprocessing������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 172
Benefits and Applications���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 172
Comparison Between DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney������������������������������������������ 172
Applications������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 174
Conclusion�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 176

ix
Table of Contents

Chapter 9: ChatGPT Use Cases������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 179


Business and Customer Service����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 179
Content Creation and Marketing����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 181
Software Development and Tech Support��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 183
Data Entry and Analysis������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 185
Healthcare and Medical Information����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 187
Market Research and Analysis�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 189
Creative Writing and Storytelling���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 191
Education and Learning������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 193
Legal and Compliance��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 194
HR and Recruitment������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 196
Personal Assistant and Productivity������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 198
Examples���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 200
Conclusion�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 205

Index��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 207

x
About the Authors
Akshay Kulkarni is an AI and machine learning evangelist
and IT leader. He has assisted numerous Fortune 500 and
global firms in advancing strategic transformations using
AI and data science. He is a Google Developer Expert,
author, and regular speaker at major AI and data science
conferences (including Strata, O’Reilly AI Conf, and GIDS).
He is also a visiting faculty member for some of the top
graduate institutes in India. In 2019, he was featured as one
of the top 40 under-40 data scientists in India. He enjoys
reading, writing, coding, and building next-gen AI products.

Adarsha Shivananda is a data science and generative AI


leader. Presently, he is focused on creating world-­class
MLOps and LLMOps capabilities to ensure continuous value
delivery using AI. He aims to build a pool of exceptional
data scientists within and outside the organization to solve
problems through training programs and always wants
to stay ahead of the curve. He has worked in the pharma,
healthcare, CPG, retail, and marketing industries. He lives in
Bangalore and loves to read and teach data science.

Anoosh Kulkarni is a data scientist and MLOps engineer. He


has worked with various global enterprises across multiple
domains solving their business problems using machine
learning and AI. He has worked at one of the leading
ecommerce giants in UAE, where he focused on building
state-of-the-art recommender systems and deep learning–
based search engines. He is passionate about guiding and
mentoring people in their data science journey. He often
leads data science/machine learning meetups, helping aspiring data scientists carve
their career road map.
xi
About the Authors

Dilip Gudivada is a seasoned senior data architect with


13 years of experience in cloud services, big data, and data
engineering. Dilip has a strong background in designing and
developing ETL solutions, focusing specifically on building
robust data lakes on the Azure cloud platform. Leveraging
technologies such as Azure Databricks, Data Factory, Data
Lake Storage, PySpark, Synapse, and Log Analytics, Dilip
has helped organizations establish scalable and efficient
data lake solutions on Azure. He has a deep understanding
of cloud services and a track record of delivering successful
data engineering projects.

xii
About the Technical Reviewer
Prajwal is a lead applied scientist and consultant in the
field of generative AI. He is passionate about building AI
applications in the service of humanity.

xiii
Introduction
Welcome to Applied Generative AI for Beginners: Practical Knowledge on Diffusion
Models, ChatGPT, and Other LLMs. Within these pages, you're about to embark on an
exhilarating journey into the world of generative artificial intelligence (AI). This book
serves as a comprehensive guide that not only unveils the intricacies of generative AI but
also equips you with the knowledge and skills to implement it.
In recent years, generative AI has emerged as a powerhouse of innovation, reshaping
the technological landscape and redefining the boundaries of what machines can
achieve. At its core, generative AI empowers artificial systems to understand and
generate human language with remarkable fluency and creativity. As we delve deep
into this captivating landscape, you'll gain both a theoretical foundation and practical
insights into this cutting-edge field.

What You Will Discover


Throughout the chapters of this book, you will

• Build Strong Foundations: Develop a solid understanding of the core


principles that drive generative AI's capabilities, enabling you to
grasp its inner workings.

• Explore Cutting-Edge Architectures: Examine the architecture of


large language models (LLMs) and transformers, including renowned
models like ChatGPT and Google Bard, to understand how these
models have revolutionized AI.

• Master Practical Implementations: Acquire hands-on skills for


integrating generative AI into your projects, with a focus on
enterprise-grade solutions and fine-tuning techniques that enable
you to tailor AI to your specific needs.

xv
Introduction

• Operate with Excellence: Discover LLMOps, the operational


backbone of managing generative AI models, ensuring efficiency,
reliability, and security in your AI deployments.

• Witness Real-World Use Cases: Explore how generative AI is


revolutionizing diverse domains, from business and healthcare to
creative writing and legal compliance, through a rich tapestry of real-
world use cases.

xvi
Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
Dowland shook his head. He could think about that when he had
more time. He'd lost—he looked at his watch—a little less than four
hours. In four hours, a large number of things might have happened
in the ranch area, with only the one partly attractive possibility
among them that somebody had managed to get into the laboratory
and shut off the YM flow.

He started back at a cautious trot. Downhill and with the light


strengthening gradually, covering ground was considerably less of a
problem than it had been during the night. The wind hadn't let up; it
still came in wild, intermittent gusts that bent the trees. Now and
then a cloud of dust whipped past, suggesting that the air over the
desert was also violently disturbed. And it might very well be,
Dowland thought, that YM could upset atmospheric conditions in an
area where it was active. Otherwise, if there was anything abnormal
going on in the forest about him, there were no detectable
indications of it.
He came out presently on a ridge from where the ranch area was in
view. It lay now approximately a third of a mile ahead. In the dim
light, everything seemed quiet. Dowland slowed to a walk.
He might be heading into an ambush down there. Jill Trelawney
could, at most, be beginning to wake up from her drugged sleep and
for another hour or so she would be too confused and groggy to
present a problem. But others might be at the ranch by now; Paul
Trelawney or a group of Carter's Troopers. And whether Jill was able
to give them a coherent report or not, any of the Freeholder
conspirators would discover very quickly that somebody who was not
a member of their group had been there before them; they would
anticipate his return, be on the watch for it. Dowland left the direct
line he had been following, and headed east, moving with constantly
increasing caution. On that side, the forest grew closest to the ranch
buildings, and he remembered noticing a hedge-like thicket of
evergreens just north of the cleared land. He could make a
preliminary check of the area from there.
He was within a hundred and fifty feet of the point when he
discovered just how healthy the notion of a preliminary check had
been. A man was lying in the cover of the evergreens Dowland had
been thinking about, head up, studying the ranch grounds. He wore
an antiradiation suit of the type Dowland had found in the storeroom;
a heavy rifle lay beside him. His face was in profile. It was smeared
now with the sweat and dirt the AR field had held in, but Dowland
recognized the bold, bony features instantly.
He had finally found Doctor Paul Trelawney.

It took Dowland over eight minutes to cover the remaining distance


between them. But the stalk had eminently satisfactory results. He
was within a yard of Trelawney before the Freeholder became aware
of his presence. The IPA gun prodded the man's spine an instant
later.
"No noise, please," Dowland said softly. "I'd sooner not kill you. I
might have to."
Paul Trelawney was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice
was raw with shock. "Who the devil are you?"
"Solar Police Authority," Dowland said. "You know why I'm here."
Trelawney grunted. Dowland went on, "Why are you hiding out?"
"Why do you think?" Trelawney asked irritably. "Before showing
myself, I was trying to determine the whereabouts of the man who
fired a rifle within half a mile of me during the night."
So they had been stalking each other. Dowland said, "Why couldn't
that person have been your brother or niece?"
"Because I know the sound of our rifles."
"My mistake.... Do you have a gun or other weapon on you?"
"A knife."
"Let's have it."
Trelawney reached under his chest, brought out a sheathed knife and
handed it back to Dowland. Dowland lobbed it into the bushes a few
yards away, moved back a little.
"Get up on your hands and knees now," he said, "and we'll make sure
that's all."
He was careful about the search. Trelawney appeared passive enough
at the moment, but he was not a man too take chances with. The AR
suit turned out to be concealing a tailored-in two-way communicator
along with as many testing and checking devices as an asteroid
miner's outfit, but no weapons. In a sealed pocket, obviously
designed for it, was a five-inch atomic key. Dowland slid the heavy
disk out with fingers that suddenly were shaking a little.
"Does this open your laboratory here?"
"Yes."
Dowland detached the communicator's transmission unit, and
dropped it with the laboratory key into his pocket. "All right," he said,
"turn around and sit down." He waited until Trelawney was facing
him, then went on. "How long have you been watching the ranch?"
"About an hour."
"Seen anyone—or anything?"
Trelawney regarded him quizzically, shook his head. "Not a thing."
"I won't waste time with too many questions just now," Dowland
said. "The laboratory is locked, and the machine you started in there
apparently is still in operation. Your brother was found outside the
laboratory yesterday morning, and may be dead or dying of internal
radiation burns. He was alive and didn't seem to be doing too badly
when I left him and Miss Trelawney in the house last night to go
looking for you. I had to drug Miss Trelawney—she isn't a very
cooperative person. She should still be asleep.
"Now, if I hadn't showed up here just now, what did you intend to
do?"
"I intended to stop the machine, of course," Trelawney said. His
expression hadn't changed while Dowland was talking. "Preferably
without involving the Solar Police Authority in our activities. But since
you've now involved yourself, I urgently suggest that we go to the
laboratory immediately and take care of the matter together."

Dowland nodded. "That's what I had in mind, Trelawney. Technically


you're under arrest, of course, and you'll do whatever has to be done
in there at gun point. Are we likely to run into any difficulties in the
operation?"
"We very probably will," Trelawney said thoughtfully, "and it's just as
probable that we won't know what they are before we encounter
them."
Dowland stood up. "All right," he said, "let's go. We'll stop off at the
house on the way. I want to be sure that Miss Trelawney isn't in a
position to do something thoughtless."
He emptied the magazine of Trelawney's rifle before giving it to him.
They started down to the house, Trelawney in the lead, the IPA gun
in Dowland's hand.
The house door was closed. Trelawney glanced back questioningly.
Dowland said in a low voice, "It isn't locked. Open it, go on in, and
stop two steps inside the hallway. I'll be behind you. They're both in
the living room."
He followed Trelawney in, reaching back to draw the door shut again.
There was a whisper of sound. Dowland half turned, incredulously
felt something hard jab painfully against his backbone. He stood still.
"Drop your gun, Dowland," Jill Trelawney said behind him. Her voice
was as clear and unslurred as if she had been awake for hours.
Dowland cursed himself silently. She must have come around the
corner of the house the instant they went in.
"My gun's pointing at your uncle's back," he said. "Don't do anything
that might make me nervous, Miss Trelawney."
"Don't try to bluff Jill, friend," Paul Trelawney advised him without
turning his head. There was dry amusement in the man's voice. "No
one's ever been able to do it. And she's quite capable of concluding
that trading an uncle for an SPA spy would still leave Terra ahead at
this stage. But that shouldn't be necessary. Jill?"
"Yes, Paul?"
"Give our policeman a moment to collect his wits. This does put him
in a very embarrassing position, after all. And I can use his help in
the lab."
"I'll give you exactly three seconds, Dowland," Jill said. "And you'd
better believe that is not a bluff. One...."
Dowland dropped his gun.

The two Trelawneys held a brief, whispered conversation in the living


room. Dowland, across the room from them, and under cover of two
guns now, couldn't catch much of it. Jill was in one of the radiation
suits he'd brought in from the storeroom. Miguel was dead. He had
still been unconscious when she woke up, and had stopped breathing
minutes afterwards. Medic had done what it could; in this case it
simply hadn't been enough. Jill, however, had found another use for
it. Dowland thought the possibility mightn't have occurred to anyone
else in similar circumstances; but he still should have thought of it
when he left the house. As she began to struggle up from sleep, she
remembered what Dowland had told her about medic, and somehow
she had managed to inject a full ampule of it into her arm. It had
brought her completely awake within minutes.
The murmured talk ended. The girl looked rather white and
frightened now. Paul Trelawney's face was expressionless as he came
over to Dowland. Jill shoved the gun she had put on Dowland into
her belt, picked up Paul's hunting rifle, held it in her hands, and stood
waiting.
"Here's the procedure, Dowland," Trelawney said. "Jill will go over to
the lab with us, but stay outside on guard. She'll watch...."
"Did you tell her," Dowland interrupted, "to keep an eye out for
something that stands twice as high as this house?"
Trelawney looked at him a moment. "So you ran into it," he said. "I
was wondering. It's very curious that ... well, one thing at a time. I
cautioned her about it, as it happens. Now come over to the table."
Dowland remained standing beside the table, while across from him
Trelawney rapidly sketched out two diagrams on a piece of paper.
The IPA gun lay on the table near Trelawney's right hand. There
might have been an outside chance of reaching it if one could have
discounted Jill's watchfulness. Which, Dowland decided, one couldn't.
And he'd seen her reload the rifle she was holding. He stayed where
he was.
Trelawney shoved the paper across to him.
"Both diagrams represent our machine," he said, "and they should
give you a general idea of what you'll see. This wheel here is at the
far side of the console when we come in the door. The wheel is the
flow regulator—the thing you have to keep in mind. There are scale
markings on it. The major markings have the numbers one to five.
Yesterday morning the regulator was set at five—full flow. Spin the
wheel back to one, and the Ym-400 that's been producing the flow
goes inert. Is that clear?"
Dowland nodded. "Clear enough."
"After that," Trelawney remarked, "we may be able to take things a
little easier."
"What's the quantity you're using in there?"
"No real reason I should tell you that, is there? But I will. The sixty-
eight kilograms the Overgovernment's been grieving about are under
the machine platform. We're using all of it." He grinned briefly,
perhaps at Dowland's expression. "The type of job we had in mind
required quantities in that class. Now, about yourself. We're not
murderers. Jill tells me you can't be bribed—all right. What will
happen, when this thing's settled, is that you'll have an attack of
amnesia. Several months of your life will be permanently lost from
your memory, including, of course, everything connected with this
operation. Otherwise you won't be harmed. Understand?"
"I've heard of such things," Dowland said drily.
It wouldn't, however, be done that way. It was the kind of thing told
a man already as good as dead, to keep him from making a
desperate attempt to save himself. The Freeholders really wouldn't
have much choice. Something had loused up their plans here, and if
Dowland either disappeared or was found suffering from a sudden
bout of amnesia, the IPA would turn its full attention on Terra at
once. If he died, his death could be plausibly arranged to look like an
accident or a killing for personal motives. These people were quite
capable of sacrificing one of their group to back such a story up. And
it would pass. Terra was under no more immediate suspicion than
any other world. Dowland had been on a routine assignment.

There were a few brief preparations. Paul Trelawney checked the


batteries in the radiation suits he and Jill were wearing, then
exchanged his set for that of the spare suit. Dowland left his own AR
field off for the moment. It was at least as adequate as the one
developed by the Trelawneys' suits, and in some respects a much
more practical device. But the suit batteries had an effective life of
twenty-four hours, expending them automatically while the suits were
worn. His field would maintain itself for a minimum of an hour and a
half, a maximum of two hours. In this situation, Dowland wasn't sure
how long he would have to depend on the field. A few more minutes
of assured protection might make a difference.
He saw Trelawney studying the mountaineering rig on the floor; then
he picked up the harness and brought it over to him.
"Here, put it on," he said.
"What for?" Dowland asked, surprised.
Trelawney grinned. "We may have a use for it. You'll find out in a
minute or two."
They left the house by a back entrance. Clouds were banked low on
the eastern horizon now; the first sunlight gleamed pale gold beneath
them. In the west the sky was brown with swirling dust. Jill stopped
twenty yards from the laboratory building and stood on the slope,
rifle in hand, watching the men go on. At the door, Dowland switched
on his AR field. Trelawney tossed the disk-shaped key over to him.
"Know how to use it?"
Dowland nodded.
"All right. After you've snapped it in and it releases again, throw it
back to me. It may be the last one around, and we're not taking it
into the laboratory this time. When the door starts moving down,
step back to the right of it. We'll see what the lab is like before we go
in." Trelawney indicated a thimble-sized instrument on his suit.
"This'll tell whether the place is hot at the moment, and
approximately how hot." He waved the IPA gun in Dowland's
direction. "All right, go ahead."
Dowland fitted the key into the central depression in the door,
pressed down, felt the key snap into position with a sharp twisting
motion of its own, released his pressure on it. An instant later, the
key popped back out into his hand. He tossed it back to Trelawney,
who caught it left-handed and threw it over his head in Jill's direction.
The disk thudded heavily into the grass ten feet from her. The girl
walked over, picked it up, and slid it into one of her suit pockets.
The slab of metasteel which made up the laboratory door began
moving vertically downward. The motion stopped when the door's top
rim was still several inches above the level of the sill.
A low droning came from the little instrument on Trelawney's suit. It
rose and fell irregularly like the buzz of a circling wasp. Mingled with
it was something that might have been the hiss of escaping steam.
That was Dowland's detector confirming. The lab reeked with
radiation.
He glanced over at Trelawney.
"Hot enough," the Freeholder said. "We'll go inside. But stay near the
door for a moment. There's something else I want to find out
about...."

Inside, the laboratory was unpartitioned and largely empty, a great


shell of a building. Only the section to the left of the entrance
appeared to have been used. That section was lighted. The light
arose evenly from the surfaces of the raised machine platform
halfway over to the opposite wall. The platform was square, perhaps
twenty feet along its sides. Dowland recognized the apparatus on it
from Trelawney's diagrams. The central piece was an egg-shaped
casing which appeared to be metasteel. Near its blunt end, partly
concealed, stood the long, narrow instrument console. Behind the
other end of the casing, an extension ramp jutted out above the
platform. At the end of the ramp was a six-foot disk that might have
been quartz, rimless, brightly iridescent. It was tilted to the left,
facing the bank of instruments.
"A rather expensive bit of equipment over there, Dowland,"
Trelawney said. "My brother developed the concept, very nearly in
complete detail, almost twenty-five years ago. But a great deal of
time and thought and work came then before the concept turned into
the operating reality on that platform."
He nodded to the left. "That's Miguel's coat on the floor. I wasn't sure
it would still be here. The atomic key you were searching for so
industriously last night is in one of its pockets. Miguel was standing
just there, with the coat folded over his arm, when I saw him last—
perhaps two or three seconds before I was surprised to discover I
was no longer looking at the instrument controls in our laboratory."
"Where were you?" Dowland asked. "Six hundred thousand years in
the past?"
"The instruments showed a fix on that point in time," Trelawney said.
"But this was, you understand, a preliminary operation. We intended
to make a number of observations. We had not planned a personal
transfer for several more weeks. But in case the test turned out to be
successful beyond our expectations, I was equipped to make the
transfer. That bit of optimistic foresight is why I'm still alive."
What was the man waiting for? Dowland asked, "What actually
happened?"
"A good question, I'd like to know the whole answer myself. What
happened in part was that I suddenly found myself in the air, falling
toward a river. It was night and cloudy, but there was light enough to
show it was a thoroughly inhospitable river.... And now I believe"—his
voice slowed thoughtfully—"I believe I understand why my brother
was found outside the closed door of this building. Over there,
Dowland. What does that look like to you?"
Near the far left of the building, beyond the immediate range of the
light that streamed from the machine stand, a big packing crate
appeared to have been violently—and rather oddly—torn apart. The
larger section of the crate lay near the wall, the smaller one
approximately twenty feet closer to the machine platform. Assorted
items with which it had been packed had spilled out from either
section. But the floor between the two points of wreckage was bare
and unlittered. Except for that, one might have thought the crate had
exploded.

"It wasn't an explosion," Trelawney agreed when Dowland said as


much. He was silent a moment, went on, "In this immediate area,
two space-time frames have become very nearly superimposed.
There is a constant play of stresses now as the two frames attempt
to adjust their dissimilarities. Surrounding our machine we have a
spherical concentration of those stresses, and there are moments
when space here is literally wrenched apart. If one were caught at
such an instant—ah!"
To Dowland it seemed that a crack of bright color had showed briefly
in the floor of the building, between the door and the machine
platform. It flickered, vanished, reappeared at another angle before
his ears had fully registered the fact that it was accompanied by a
curiously chopped-off roar of sound. Like a play of lightning. But this
was....
The air opened out before him, raggedly framing a bright-lit three-
dimensional picture. He was staring down across a foaming river to
the rim of a towering green and yellow forest. The crash of the river
filled the building. Something bulky and black at the far left ... but
the scene was gone—
The interior of the laboratory building lay quiet and unchanged before
them again. Dowland said hoarsely, "How did you know what was
going to happen?"
"I was in a position to spend several hours observing it," Trelawney
said, "from the other side. You see now, I think, that we can put your
mountaineer's kit to some very practical use here."
Dowland glanced across the building. "The walls...."
"Metasteel," Trelawney said, "and thank God for that. The building's
sound; the stresses haven't affected it. We'll have some anchor
points. A clamp piton against that wall, six feet above the console
walk and in line with it, another one against the doorframe here, and
we can rope across."
Dowland saw it, unsnapped his harness, fed the end of the
magnerope through the eye of a piton, and twisted it tight. "Are we
going together?" he asked.
Trelawney shook his head. "You're going, Dowland. Sorry about that,
but this is no time for sporting gestures. The rope doesn't eliminate
the danger. But if you find your feet suddenly dangling over the air of
a very old time, you'll still stay here—I hope. If you don't make it
across, I'll follow. We get two chances to shut Ymir down instead of
one. All right?"
"Since you have the gun, yes," Dowland said. "If I had it, it would be
the other way around."
"Of course," Trelawney agreed. He watched in silence then as
Dowland rammed the threaded piton down the muzzle of the gun,
locked it in position, took aim across the machine platform, and fired.
The piton clamp made a slapping sound against the far wall, froze
against it. Dowland gave the loose end of the rope a few tugs, said,
"Solid," cut the rope, and handed the end to Trelawney.
The Freeholder reached up to set a second piton against the
doorframe, fed a loop of the rope through it, and twisted it tight.
Dowland slipped a set of grappling gloves out of the harness, pulled
one over his right hand, tossed the other to Trelawney. "In case," he
said, "you have to follow. Magnerope gets to be wearing on bare
hands."
Trelawney looked briefly surprised, then grinned. "Thanks," he said.
"Can you do it with one glove?"
"No strain at that distance."
"Too bad you're not a Terran, Dowland. We could have used you."
"I'm satisfied," Dowland said. "Any point in waiting now for another
run of those cracks in space before making the trip?"
Trelawney shook his head. "None at all, I'm afraid. From what I saw,
there's no more regularity in those stress patterns than there is in a
riptide. You see how the rope is jerking right now—you'll get pulled
around pretty savagely, I'd say, even if you don't run into open splits
on the way across."

Dowland was fifteen feet from the door, half running with both hands
on the rope, when something plucked at him. He strained awkwardly
sideways, feet almost lifting from the floor. Abruptly he was released,
went stumbling forward a few steps before the next invisible current
tugged at him, pulling him downward now. It was a very much
stronger pull, and for endless seconds it continued to build up. His
shoulders seemed ready to snap before he suddenly came free again.
The rest of the way to the platform remained almost undisturbed, but
Dowland was trembling with tensions before he reached it; he could
feel the drag of the AR field on his breathing. The steps to the
platform were a dozen feet to his right—too far from the rope.
Dowland put his weight on the rope, swung forward and up, let the
rope go and came down on the narrow walk between instrument
board and machine section. The panels shone with their own light; at
the far end he saw the flow-control wheel Trelawney had indicated, a
red pointer opposite the numeral "5." Dowland took two steps toward
it, grasped the wheel, and spun it down.
The pointer stopped at "1." He heard it click into position there.
Instantly, something slammed him sideways against the console, sent
him staggering along it, and over the low railing at the end of the
platform. The floor seemed to be shuddering as he struck it, and then
to tilt slowly. Dowland rolled over, came up on hands and knees,
facing back toward the platform. Daylight blazed again in the building
behind him, and the roar of a river that rolled through another time
filled his ears. He got to his feet, plunged back toward the whipping
rope above the platform. The light and the roaring cut off as he
grasped the rope, flashed back into the building, cut off again.
Somewhere somebody had screamed....
Dowland swung about on the rope, went handing himself along it,
back toward the door. His feet flopped about over the floor, unable to
get a stand there for more than an instant. It was a struggle now to
get enough air through the antiradiation field into his lungs. He saw
dust whip past the open door, momentarily obscuring it. The building
bucked with earthquake fury. And where was Trelawney?
He saw the red, wet thing then, lying by the wall just inside the door;
and sickness seized him because Trelawney's body was stretched out
too far to make it seem possible it had ever been that of a man. Dust
blasted in through the door as he reached it, and subsided, leaving a
choking residue trapped within the radiation screen. If he could only
cut off the field....
His gun lay too close to the sodden mess along the wall. Dowland
picked it up, was bending to snatch the climbing harness from the
floor when light flared behind him again. Automatically, he looked
back.
Once more the interior of the building seemed to have split apart.
Wider now. He saw the rushing white current below. To the right,
above the forest on the bank, the sun was a swollen red ball glaring
through layers of mist. And to the left, moving slowly over the river in
the blaze of long-dead daylight, was something both unmistakable
and not to be believed. But, staring at it in the instant before the
scene shivered and vanished again, Dowland suddenly thought he
knew what had happened here.
What he had seen was a spaceship.
He turned, went stumbling hurriedly out the door into the whistling
wind, saw Jill Trelawney standing there, white-faced, eyes huge,
hands to her mouth.
He caught her shoulder. "Come on! We've got to get away from
here."
She gasped, "It—tore him apart!"
"We can't help him...." Dust clouds were spinning over the back of
the mesa, concealing the upper slopes. Dowland glanced to the west,
winced at the towering mountain of darkness sweeping toward them
through the sky. He plunged up the slope, hauling her along behind
him. Jill cried out incoherently once, in a choking voice, but he didn't
stop to hear what she was trying to say. He shoved her into the
house, slammed the door shut behind them, hurried her on down the
hall and into the living room. As they came in, he switched off his AR
field and felt air fill his lungs easily again. It was like surfacing out of
deep water. The detector still hissed its thin warning, but it was
almost inaudible. They would have to risk radiation now.
"Out of your suit, quick! Whatever's happening in the lab has
whistled up a dust storm here. When it hits, that radiation field will
strangle you in a minute outdoors."
She stared at him dumbly.
"Get out of your suit!" Dowland shouted, his nerves snapping. "We're
going down the eastern wall. It's our only chance. But we can't get
down alive if we can't breathe...." Then, as she began unbuckling the
suit hurriedly with shaking fingers, he turned to the pile of camping
equipment beside the fireplace and pawed through it.
He found the communicator and was snapping it to the
mountaineering harness when the front door slammed. He wheeled
about, startled. Jill's radiation suit lay on the floor near the entry hall.
She was gone.
He was tearing the door open three seconds later, shouted, and saw
her through the dust forty feet away, running up toward the forest.
He mightn't have caught her if she hadn't stumbled and gone
headlong. Dowland was on top of her before she could get up. She
fought him in savage silence like an animal, tearing and biting, her
eyes bloodshot slits. There was a mechanical fury about it that
appalled him. But at last he got his right arm free, and brought his
fist up solidly to the side of her jaw. Jill's head flew back, and her
eyes closed.

He came padding up to the eastern side of the mesa with her


minutes later. Here, beyond the ranch area, the ground was bare
rock, with occasional clusters of stunted bushes. The dust had
become blinding, though the main storm was still miles away. There
was no time to stop off at the house to look for the quiz-gun, though
it would have been better to try the descent with a dazed and half-
paralyzed young woman than with the twisting lunatic Jill might turn
into again when she recovered from his punch. At least, he'd have
her tied up. Underfoot were grinding and grumbling noises now, the
ground shaking constantly. At moments he had the feeling of
plodding through something yielding, like quicksand. Only the feeling,
he told himself; the rock was solid enough. But....
Abruptly, he was at the mesa's edge. Dowland slid the girl to the
ground, straightened up, panting, to dab at his smarting eyes. The
mesa behind them had almost vanished in swirling dust.
And through the dust Dowland saw something coming over the open
ground he had just traversed.
He stared at it, mouth open, stunned with a sense of unfairness. The
gigantic shape was still only partly visible, but it was obvious that it
was following them. It approached swiftly over the shaking ground.
Dowland took out his gun, with the oddly calm conviction that it
would be entirely useless against their pursuer. But he brought it up
slowly and leveled it, squinting with streaming eyes through the dust.
And then it happened. The pursuer appeared to falter. It moved again
in some manner; something thundered into the ground beside
Dowland. Then, writhing and twisting—slowly at first, then faster—
the dust-veiled shape seemed to be sinking downward through the
rock surface of the mesa.
In another instant, it was gone.
Seconds passed before Dowland gradually lowered the gun again.
Dazedly, he grew aware of something else that was different now. A
miniature human voice appeared to be jabbering irritably at him from
some point not far away. His eyes dropped to the little communicator
attached to his harness.
The voice came from there.
Terra's grid-power had returned to Lion Mesa.

A week later, Lieutenant Frank Dowland was shown into the office of
the chief of the Solar Police Authority. The chief introduced him to the
two other men there, who were left unidentified, and told him to be
seated.
"Lieutenant," he said, "these gentlemen have a few questions to ask
you. You can speak as openly to them as you would to me."
Dowland nodded. He had recognized one of the gentlemen
immediately—Howard Camhorn, the Coordinator of Research.
Reputedly one of the sharpest minds in the Overgovernment's top
echelons. The other one was unfamiliar. He was a few years younger
than Camhorn, around six inches shorter, chunky, with black hair,
brown eyes, an expression of owlish reflectiveness. Probably,
Dowland thought, wearing contact lenses. "Yes, sir," he said to the
chief, and looked back at the visitors.
"We've seen your report on your recent visit to Terra, Lieutenant
Dowland," Camhorn began pleasantly. "An excellent report,
incidentally—factual, detailed. What we should like to hear now are
the things that you, quite properly, omitted from it. That is, your
personal impressions and conclusions."
"For example," the other man took up, as Dowland hesitated, "Miss
Trelawney has informed us her uncles were attempting to employ the
Ym-400 they had acquired to carry out a time-shift to an earlier Earth
period—to the period known as the Pleistocene, to be somewhat
more exact. From what you saw, would you say they had succeeded
in doing it?"
"I don't know, sir," Dowland said. "I've been shown pictures
representing that period during the past few days. The scene I
described in the report probably might have existed at that time." He
smiled briefly. "However, I have the impression that the very large
flying creature I reported encountering that night is regarded as
being ... well, er ... ah...."
"A product of excited nerves?" the short man said, nodding. "Under
such extraordinary circumstances, that would be quite possible, you
know."
"Yes, sir, I know."
The short man smiled. "But you don't think it was that?"
"No, sir," Dowland said. "I think that I have described exactly what I
did hear and see."
"And you feel the Trelawneys established contact with some previous
Earth period—not necessarily the Pleistocene?"
"Yes, I do."
"And you report having seen a spaceship in that prehistorical
period...."
Dowland shook his head. "No, sir. At the moment I was observing it, I
thought it was that. What I reported was having seen something that
looked like a spaceship."
"What do you think it was?"
"A timeship—if there is such a word."
"There is such a word," Camhorn interrupted lazily. "I'm curious to
hear, lieutenant, what brought you to that conclusion."
"It's a guess, sir. But the thing has to fit together somehow. A
timeship would make it fit."
"In what way?"
"I've been informed," Dowland said, "that the Overgovernment's
scientists have been unable to make a practical use of YM because
something has invariably gone wrong when they did try to use it. I
also heard that there was no way of knowing in advance what would
happen to make an experiment fail. But something always would
happen, and frequently a number of people would get killed."
Camhorn nodded. "That is quite true."
"Well, then," Dowland said, "I think there is a race of beings who
aren't quite in our time and space. They have YM and use it, and
don't want anyone else to use it. They can tell when it's activated
here, and use their own YM to interfere with it. Then another
experiment suddenly turns into a failure.

"But they don't know yet who's using it. When the Trelawneys turned
on their machine, these beings spotted the YM stress pattern back
there in time. They went to that point and reinforced the time-
blending effect with their own YM. The Trelawneys hadn't intended a
complete contact with that first test. The aliens almost succeeded in
blending the two periods completely in the area near the laboratory."
"For what purpose?" Camhorn asked.
"I think they're very anxious to get us located."
"With unfriendly intentions?"
"The ones we ran into didn't behave in a friendly manner. May I ask a
question, sir?"
"Of course," Camhorn said.
"When the Trelawneys' machine was examined, was the supply of YM
adequately shielded?"
"Quite adequately," Camhorn said.
"But when I opened the door, the laboratory was hot. And Miguel
Trelawney died of radiation burns...."
Camhorn nodded. "Those are facts that give your theory some
substance, lieutenant. No question about it. And there is the
additional fact that after you shut off the YM flow in the laboratory,
nearly ten minutes passed before the apparent contact between two
time periods was broken. Your report indicates that the phenomena
you described actually became more pronounced immediately after
the shutoff."
"Yes, sir."
"As if the aliens might have been making every effort to retain
contact with our time?"
"Yes, sir," Dowland said. "That was my impression."
"It's quite plausible. Now, the indications are that Paul Trelawney
actually spent considerable time—perhaps twelve to fourteen hours,
at any rate—in that other period. He gave no hint of what he
experienced during those hours?"
"No, sir, except to say that it was night when he appeared there. He
may have told Miss Trelawney more."
"Apparently, he didn't," Camhorn said. "Before you and he went into
the laboratory, he warned her to watch for the approach of a creature
which answers the description of the gigantic things you encountered
twice. But that was all. Now, here again you've given us your
objective observations. What can you add to them—on a perhaps
more speculative basis?"
"Well, sir," Dowland said, "my opinions on that are, as a matter of
fact, highly speculative. But I think that Paul Trelawney was captured
by the aliens as soon as he appeared in the other time period, and
was able to escape from them a number of hours later. Two of the
aliens who were attempting to recapture him eventually followed him
out on Lion Mesa through another opening the YM stresses had
produced between the time periods, not too far away from the first."
Camhorn's stout companion said thoughtfully, "You believe the
birdlike creature you saw arrived by the same route?"
"Yes, sir," Dowland said, turning to him. "I think that was simply an
accident. It may have been some kind of wild animal that blundered
into the contact area and found itself here without knowing what had
occurred."
"And you feel," the other man went on, "that you yourself were
passing near that contact point in the night at the time you seemed
to be smelling a swamp?"
Dowland nodded. "Yes, sir, I do. Those smells might have been an
illusion, but they seemed to be very distinct. And, of course, there
are no swamps on the mesa itself."

Camhorn said, "We'll assume it was no illusion. It seems to fit into


the general picture. But, lieutenant, on what are you basing your
opinion that Paul Trelawney was a captive of these beings for some
time?"
"There were several things, sir," Dowland said. "One of them is that
when Miss Trelawney regained consciousness in the hospital she
didn't remember having made an attempt to get away from me."
Camhorn nodded. "That was reported."
"She made the attempt," Dowland went on, "immediately after she
had taken off her radiation suit to avoid being choked in the dust
storm on the way down from the mesa. That is one point."
"Go ahead," Camhorn said.
"Another is that when I discovered Paul Trelawney early in the
morning, he was wearing his radiation suit. Judging by his
appearance, he had been in it for hours—and a radiation suit, of
course, is a very inconvenient thing to be in when you're hiking
around in rough country."
"He might," the stout man suggested, "have been afraid of running
into a radioactive area."
Dowland shook his head. "No, sir. He had an instrument which would
have warned him if he was approaching one. It would have made
much more sense to carry the suit, and slip into it again if it became
necessary. I didn't give the matter much thought at the time. But
then the third thing happened. I did not put that in the report
because it was a completely subjective impression. I couldn't prove
now that it actually occurred."
Camhorn leaned forward. "Go ahead."
"It was just before the time periods separated and the creature that
was approaching Miss Trelawney and myself seemed to drop through
the top of the mesa—I suppose it fell back into the other period. I've
described it. It was like a fifty-foot gray slug moving along on its tail
... and there were those two rows of something like short arms. It
wasn't at all an attractive creature. I was frightened to death. But I
was holding a gun—the same gun with which I had stopped another
of those things when it chased me during the night. And the trouble
was that this time I wasn't going to shoot."
"You weren't going to shoot?" Camhorn repeated.
"No, sir. I had every reason to try to blow it to pieces as soon as I
saw it. The other one didn't follow up its attack on me, so it probably
was pretty badly injured. But while I knew that, I was also simply
convinced that it would be useless to pull the trigger. That's as well
as I can explain what happened....
"I think these aliens can control the minds of other beings, but can't
control them through the interference set up by something like our
AR fields. Paul Trelawney appeared in the other time period almost in
their laps. He had a rifle strapped over his back, but presumably they
caught him before he had a chance to use it. They would have
examined him and the equipment he was carrying, and when they
took off his radiation suit, they would have discovered he belonged to
a race which they could control mentally. After that, there would have
been no reason for them to guard him too closely. He was helpless.

"I think Trelawney realized this, and used a moment when his actions
were not being controlled to slip back into the suit. Then he was free
to act again. When they discovered he had escaped, some of them
were detailed to search for him, and two of those pursuers came out
here in our time on the mesa.
"As for Miss Trelawney—well, obviously she wasn't trying to get away
from me. Apparently, she wasn't even aware of what she was doing.
She was simply obeying physically the orders her mind began to
receive as soon as she stepped out of the radiation suit. They would
have been to come to the thing, wherever it was at the moment—
somewhere up to the north of the ranch area, judging from the
direction in which she headed."
There was silence for some seconds. Then Camhorn's companion
observed, "There's one thing that doesn't quite fit in with your theory,
lieutenant."
"What's that, sir?"
"Your report states that you switched off your AR field at the same
time you advised Miss Trelawney to get out of her suit. You should
have been equally subject to the alien's mental instructions."
"Well," Dowland said, "I can attempt to explain that, sir, though again
there is no way to prove what I think. But it might be that these
creatures can control, only one mind at a time. The alien may not
have realized that I had ... well ... knocked Miss Trelawney
unconscious and that she was unable to obey its orders, until it came
to the spot and saw us. My assumption is that it wasn't till that
moment that it switched its mental attack to me."

The stout man—his name was Laillard White, and he was one of
Research's ace trouble-shooters in areas more or less loosely related
to psychology—appeared morosely reflective as he and Camhorn left
Solar Police Authority Headquarters, and turned toward the adjoining
Overgovernment Bureau.
"I gather from your expression," Camhorn remarked, "that our
lieutenant was telling the truth."
White grunted. "Of course, he was—as he saw it."
"And he's sane?"
"Quite sane," White agreed absently.
Camhorn grinned. "Then what's the matter, Lolly? Don't you like the
idea of time-travel?"
"Naturally not. It's an absurdity."
"You're blunt, Lolly. And rash. A number of great minds differ with
you about that."
Laillard White said something rude about great minds in general. He
went on, "Was the machine these Trelawneys built found intact?"
Camhorn nodded. "In perfect condition. I found an opportunity to
look it over when it and the others the Freeholders had concealed on
Terra were brought in."
"And these machines are designed to make it possible to move
through time?"
"No question about that. They function in Riemann space, and are
very soundly constructed. A most creditable piece of work, in fact. It's
only regrettable that the Trelawney brothers were wasted on it. We
might have put their talents to better use. Though as it turned
out...." He shrugged.
White glanced over at him. "What are you talking about?" he asked
suspiciously.
"They didn't accomplish time-travel," Camhorn said, "though in
theory they should have. I know it because we have several
machines based on the same principles. The earliest was built almost
eighty years ago. Two are now designed to utilize the YM thrust. The
Trelawney machine is considerably more advanced in a number of
details than its Overgovernment counterparts, but it still doesn't
make it possible to move in time."
"Why not?"
"I'd like to know," Camhorn said. "The appearance of it is that the
reality we live in takes the same dim view of time-travel that you do.
Time-travel remains a theoretical possibility. But in practice—when,
for example, the YM thrust is applied for that purpose—the thrust is
diverted."
White looked bewildered. "But if Paul Trelawney didn't move through
time, what did he do?"
"What's left?" Camhorn asked. "He moved through space, of course."
"Where?"
Camhorn shrugged. "They penetrated Riemann space," he said,
"after harnessing their machine to roughly nineteen thousand times
the power that was available to us before the Ymir series of elements
dropped into our hands. In theory, Lolly, they might have gone
anywhere in the universe. If we'd had the unreasonable nerve to play
around with multikilograms of YM—knowing what happened when
fractional quantities of a gram were employed—we might have had a
very similar experience."
"I'm still just a little in the dark, you know," Laillard White observed
drily, "as to what the experience consisted of."
"Oh, Lieutenant Dowland's theory wasn't at all far off in that respect.
It's an ironic fact that we have much to thank the Trelawneys for.
There's almost no question at all now what the race of beings they
encountered were responsible for the troubles that have plagued us
in the use of YM. They're not the best of neighbors—neighbors in
Riemann space terms, that is. If they'd known where to look for us,
things might have become rather hot. They had a chance to win the
first round when the Trelawneys lit that sixty-eight kilogram beacon
for them. But they made a few mistakes, and lost us again. It's a
draw so far. Except that we now know about as much about them as
they've ever learned about us. I expect we'll take the second round
handily a few years from now."

White still looked doubtful. "Was it one of their planets the


Trelawneys contacted?"
"Oh, no. At least, it would have been an extremely improbable
coincidence. No, the machine was searching for Terra as Terra is
known to have been in the latter part of the Pleistocene period. The
Trelawneys had provided something like a thousand very specific
factors to direct and confine that search. Time is impenetrable, so the
machine had to find that particular pattern of factors in space, and
did. The aliens—again as Lieutenant Dowland theorized—then moved
through Riemann space to the planet where the YM thrust was
manifesting itself so violently. But once there, they still had no way of
determining where in the universe the thrust had originated—even
though they were, in one sense, within shouting distance of Terra,
and two of them were actually on its surface for a time. It must have
been an extremely frustrating experience all around for our friends."
Laillard White said, "Hm-m," and frowned.
Camhorn laughed. "Let it go, Lolly," he said. "That isn't your field,
after all. Let's turn to what is. What do you make of the fact that
Dowland appears to have been temporarily immune to the mental
commands these creatures can put out?"
"Eh?" White said. His expression turned to one of surprise. "But that's
obvious!"
"Glad to hear it," Camhorn said drily.
"Well, it is. Dowland's attitude showed clearly that he suspected the
truth himself on that point. Naturally, he was somewhat reluctant to
put it into words."
"Naturally. So what did he suspect?"
White shook his head. "It's so simple. The first specimen of humanity
the aliens encountered alive was Paul Trelawney. High genius level,
man! It would take that level to nullify our I.Q. tests in the manner
he and his half-brother did. When those creatures were prowling
around on the mesa, they were looking for that kind of mentality.
Dowland's above average, far from stupid. As you say, you like his
theories. But he's no Trelawney. Unquestionably, the aliens in each
case regarded him as some kind of clever domestic animal. The only
reason he's alive is that they weren't taking him seriously."

"That," Camhorn said thoughtfully, "may have changed a number of


things."
"It may, indeed."
"Do we have anything on hand that would block their specific psi
abilities?"
"Oh, surely. If an AR field can stop them, there's nothing to worry
about in that respect. Our human telepaths wouldn't be seriously
hampered by that degree of interference."
"Very good," Camhorn said. "Do you have any theory about the
partial sensory interpretation of the two areas which both Dowland
and Miss Trelawney reported? The matter of being able to hear the
river on the other planet from time to time."
White nodded. "There are several possible explanations for that. For
one thing...."
"Better save it for lunch, Lolly," Camhorn interrupted, glancing at his
watch. "I see I have two minutes left to make the meeting. Anything
else you feel should be brought up at the moment?"
"Just one thing," White said. "If the Trelawneys' machine is capable
of locating a Terra-type planet anywhere in the universe...."
Camhorn nodded. "It is."
"Then," White said, "we've solved our exploding population problem,
haven't we?"
"For the time being, we have," Camhorn agreed. "As a matter of fact,
Lolly, that's precisely what the meeting I'm headed for is about."
"Then the Terran Freeholders can stop worrying about the political
pressures that have threatened to turn Terra into another hygienically
overcrowded slum-world."
"True enough," Camhorn said. "In another few years, if things go
right, every man, woman and child can become a Freeholder—
somewhere."
"So the Trelawneys got what they wanted, after all...."
"They did, in a way. If the brothers knew the whole score, I think
they'd be satisfied. The situation has been explained to their niece.
She is."
THE END
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