them move that fast before. Even so I
won't have time to watch the outcome of the experiment. I've put
everything I had into this thing. 500 hives--that would make it 35
million individuals of the species at a conservative estimate. It's the
biggest mass-migration I've ever seen, but will it be big enough to do
the trick?

11:20: The foremost columns must have reached the neighboring
apperception centers to the right and left of mine by now. But they
won't stop; I know that from experience in Australia. To them it's just
like any other "hollow tree"; they'll drive right on to the top; they
won't bivouak before they are completely exhausted. That won't be before
five or six hours. At the rate of 900 feet per hour that would make it
almost a mile, covering the whole "occipital region" of The Brain. And
then they are going to feast; boy, will they be ravenous....

11:30: About 3 million are safely inside now I should say. Don't think
that I could stay at my post much longer. There's a certain
extracurricular idea coming up from the subconscious like a tidal wave.
The dams of willpower don't seem able to hold back that idea; I've got
to get out before it spills across the dam and floods my consciousness.
The phone rings; for once it is a welcome sound.

* * * * *

It was Oona's voice; trembling with emotion as if she were still
suffering from this morning's shock or had suffered another:

"Semper, are you all right?"

Lee reassured her that he was and then listened astounded as she heaved
a sigh of relief.

"Listen, Semper, this is terribly important. I've got to see you
immediately. No, I cannot tell you over the phone; it's a personal
matter and it concerns you. You cannot make it? Is your business _that_
important? You're in the midst of a vital experiment? That's awful,
Semper; it really is in this case. No; I'm all right personally; it
isn't that. It's _you_ Semper, it's _you_. 5 p.m. at the earliest, is
that the best you can do? All right then. Meet me at the airport. And
take good care of yourself, do you hear me: _take good care of yourself,
Semper_, up to that time."

She hung up quickly, as if suddenly disturbed.

Lee frowned at the clock: 11:35. He could have managed to meet Oona
during her lunch hour at the hotel. But there were things he still had
to do even more important than Oona. More important to him than even
Oona. He shook his head; it wouldn't have seemed possi