ew, but he was too numbed by his incredible success to be able to
think clearly. All he knew was that The Belphin would be able to
explain things to him.

* * * * *

Bells began to clash and clang. That meant the force barriers had gone
up. He could see the shimmering insubstance of the first one before
him. Squaring his shoulders, he charged it ... and walked right through.
He looked himself up and down. He was alive and entire.

Then the whole thing was a fraud; the barriers were not lethal--or
perhaps even actual. But what of Mieczyslaw? And George? And countless
rumored others? He would not let himself even try to think of them. He
would not let himself even try to think of anything save his duty.

A staircase spiraled up ahead of him. A Belphin was at its foot. Behind
him, a barrier iridesced.

"Please, young man----" the Belphin began. "You don't understand. Let
me explain."

But Ludovick destroyed the thing before it could say anything further,
and he passed right through the barrier. He had to get to the top and
warn The Belphin of Belphins, whoever or whatever he (or it) was, that
the Flockharts had a secret weapon which might be able to annihilate it
(or him). Belphin after Belphin Ludovick destroyed, and barrier after
barrier he penetrated until he reached the top. At the head of the
stairs was a vast golden door.

"Go no further, Ludovick Eversole!" a mighty voice roared from within.
"To open that door is to bring disaster upon your race."

But all Ludovick knew was that he had to get to The Belphin within and
warn him. He battered down the door; that is, he would have battered
down the door if it had not turned out to be unlocked. A stream of
noxious vapor rushed out of the opening, causing him to black out.

When he came to, most of the vapor had dissipated. The Belphin of
Belphins was already dying of asphyxiation, since it was, in fact, a
single alien entity who breathed another combination of elements. The
room at the head of the stairs had been its tank.

"You fool...." it gasped. "Through your muddle-headed integrity ... you
have destroyed not only me ... but Earth's future. I tried to make ...
this planet a better place for humanity ... and this is my reward...."

"But I don't understand!" Ludovick wept. "_Why_ did you let me do it?
Why were Mieczyslaw and George and all the others killed? Why was it
that I could pass the barriers and they could no