Part 3

He wished they were still here, even though he never could understand them. At least they were beings who moved, and talked among themselves, showed emotions. But what a strange world they came from! A world where heroes were worshipped, where tall strong statues were built to the great men of their race. Irgi liked that idea, though it was foreign to Urg. He rather thought there would be a statue to him, there on that planet called Earth. Yes, for the beings would tell how Irgi helped them, how he gave them the white block that would save them from extinction, even though it meant his own death, eventually.

Irgi was happy. There was no doubt of it. There would be a fine statue to him on that distant planet. Irgi, savior of the race called men. A hero to mankind, to be worshipped. He wished wistfully that he could have been there to see it. But he was afraid of unleashing those creatures' terror. They might even have done something rash to themselves, if he had crowded his bulk into the spacecraft.

No, it was better this way.

* * * * *

And in the spaceship, Emerson and Mussdorf and Nichols squatted over the leaden casket, commenting on it, copying the alien symbols and designs for study.

Emerson frowned thoughtfully, choosing his words.

"As near as I can judge, it's a form of atomic bombardment of matter. Suppose its rate of vibration is adjusted to matter _a_. Anything other than matter _a_, such as foreign substance _b_, is hit so swiftly and so often by those hurtling atoms that they simply wipe it out of existence.

"Back in the twentieth century, they were using just this principle to cure cancer. They bombarded the cancer with radioactive atoms--overcrowding the atoms with neutrons beyond their ability to hold them for very long--and the atoms ate away the cancer. I think they treated other diseases too, with some success. Goiter, for one. And, if I recall rightly, the atoms could build up blood cells or eliminate them.

"But this block and the cones seem to be the ultimate perfection of that idea. Maybe atoms possess some degree of intellect, for all we know. We'll never really be sure. They do have a power of attraction, and appear to be drawn to the danger spot as though magnetized to it."

They were silent, thoughtful.

"Yeah," said Mussdorf at last. "It begins to trickle through. Gunn wasn't in harmony with that black beast, so he went out of existence immediately. Gunn was human and the other wasn't."

Emerson nodded, and his eyes widened.

"My God!" he whispered. "This block and the cones could make a man immortal!"

Mussdorf gagged; laughed suddenly.

"Then why did that thing let us cart it off right from under its nose? Why, he even helped us."

"I wish I knew," muttered Emerson, troubled. "I wish I knew."

Mussdorf scowled; looked at him sideways, clearing his throat.

"I'm sorry I went off my nut back there," he mumbled. "The thought of all the dough this thing was worth sort of slapped me haywire. Why, just to be free of space cancer, Val--and hell! They'll give us pensions for this job. I'm sorry."

"Skip it," said Emerson. "That black thing was enough to make us all jittery. He seemed a good enough egg, though. But I was a little disappointed in him. He sure was bluffed when I touched that lever. Boy, he turned tail fast enough."

"Maybe he was just what he looked like, Val," murmured Nichols thoughtfully. "An animal--left by the real builders of the Cones to turn it over to someone like us, with a use for it."

"Sure," nodded Mussdorf. "That's what he was. Car's hit it. Just a big animal who knew enough to work the things, and no more."

* * * * *

Irgi was alone, and cold. It would get steadily colder for him, without the block to feed his body. But Irgi kept smiling. He would be a hero someday. There would be a statue to him.

Again he wished that he could see it. But he knew he would never be happy on Earth. There would always be the fear that the earthmen seemed to have. To Irgi, it seemed a silly sort of fright, too. They were always on the verge of harming themselves. As in the Chamber of the Cones when that one had placed his hand on the lever to loose the fury of the cones. Why had he done that? And those others urging him to pull it! Did fear turn those beings into madmen? Didn't they know that they would have blasted themselves to nothingness? They must have known that the controls would automatically shift back to his own vibratory rate, not theirs. The machine had been built for him. In rest, it was tuned to his pulse.

He had been afraid for them, and so had gone away, leaving them to slide the box as best they could. He had meant to carry it for them, since it was best that a race carry on instead of one lone Urgian. For Irgi would die without the block. Well, it was like exchanging one form of immortality for another. But he still wished he could have seen that statue.

"_An animal_," said Emerson heavily. "_Well, maybe you're right. Just an animal, scared of three men. Let's forget him._"

* * * * *

Irgi shivered.

It was growing colder....