tant.

A killer was on the loose.

* * * * *

One of Senator Crane's priceless gifts was a sense of timing. Much of
his success had sprung from the instinctive knowledge of when to act. He
had a sense of the dramatic which never deserted him. As a result, he
had been known to turn in an instant from one subject to another--to
dodge defeats and score triumphs with bewildering agility.

His preoccupation on this particular day was with a home-state
issue--the location of a government plant. After he obtained the floor,
he counted the house and noted that only a bare quorum was present.
Gradually, the members of the Senate of the United States would drift to
their seats. So Crane began reading letters which tended to support his
state's claim to the new plant and the benefits that would accrue
therefrom.

Crane droned on. The Vice-President of the United States looked down on
the top of Senator Crane's massive head and became fruitfully
preoccupied with thoughts of his own.

Then, quite suddenly, the line of Crane's exposition changed. The
Vice-President wasn't quite sure at what precise point this had come
about. He wasn't aware of the change until some very strange words
penetrated:

" ... so, therefore, it has become starkly apparent that the American
people have been denied the information which would have made them
aware of their own deadly danger. Invasion from space is now imminent."

The Vice-President tensed. Had the stupid idiot gone mad? Or had he, the
Vice-President, been in a fog when vital, top-secret information had
been made public?

He banged the gavel down hard, for want of a better gesture, and was
grateful when a tall, dignified man with a look of deepest concern on
his face rose from behind his desk out on the floor.

"Will the Senator yield to his distinguished colleague from
Pennsylvania?"

Crane turned, scowling. "I will yield to no man on matters of grave
import." With that he turned and continued with his revelations. "The
people of this nation have been deprived of the knowledge that the
invasion from space has already begun. A vanguard of hideous, half-human
creatures have even now achieved a beach-head on our planet. Even now,
the evil hordes from beyond the stars ..."

The Vice-President looked around in a daze. Had someone forgotten to
brief him? Had that project come to a head overnight? The last he'd
heard there had been much doubt as to--

"