rtia. There's a mass-speed-time ratio
involved. The greater the first two, the more time required to divert
the missile from its path. The mass-speed must be sufficient to create a
greater diversion period than exists between the time of detection and
the time of impact."

"You would say that the rocket could get through?"

"If the same rule holds for the aliens as for us, I don't think they
would have time to teleport it away."

"That's what I wanted."

"Just a minute, though. How long will it take you to complete it?"

"Give us another week," the general said. "That's one of the things I
wanted to see you about. It will take Doctor Norvel longer than that to
plot the orbit of the station. I want you to plot that orbit for us--"

"I'm sorry, General. This is in your reports somewhere, too. I can't.
Not until Doctor Norvel can locate it. It's too far out for me to
locate. I'd have to have an, an _anchor_ on that end--something I could
contact--before I could center on it. And I don't have. I can't even
_feel_ it, if you see what I mean. There's, nothing to get ahold of. If
I could ... I could just teleport an atom bomb there, and we wouldn't
need to worry with the rocket at all." She snubbed out her cigarette.

"Couldn't you get a fix on this frequency that controls your mutant
powers and locate the space station that way?"

"Neither Dr. Norvel nor I could detect it with the available equipment:
we tried. There's no way of knowing what equipment's required. It's
probable the frequency is displaced from normal space; if it is, we
can't even tell the increment of displacement. It's just a hopeless
task."

"Well, it will take us two weeks or more, then...." He crossed out
something on the paper before him.

"Suppose they attack before that?"

"I'm coming to that possibility.... I see you say here that mutants can
be destroyed by bomb concussions because they can't displace
sufficiently far without teleporting. What do you mean there?"

"It's complicated. If the bomb has too much inertia to be teleported off
target, they have to remove themselves from the blast area. And they
can't remove themselves far enough--not in space, but in relation to
space; so they'd have to teleport, and that would be fatal."

"Ummm. Bullets?"

"They could displace themselves far enough to avoid a bullet."

The general wrote something down. "How large an explosion would
suffice?"

"I believe Dr. Norvel has those figures. I did