Huvane said, “Gone!” and the sound of his voice re-echoed back and forth across the empty cell.
“Gone,” repeated Chelan. “Utterly incomprehensible, but none the less a fact. But how—? Isolated, alone, imprisoned—cut off from all communication. All communication—?”
“I’ll get another specimen, chief.”
Chelan shook his head. “Seven times we’ve slapped them down. Seven times we’ve watched their rise—and wondered how they did it. Seven times they would have surpassed us if we hadn’t blocked them. Let them rise, let them run the Universe. They’re determined to do that anyway. And now I think it’s time for us to stop annoying our betters. I’d hate to face them if they were angry.”
“But chief, he was cut off from all communication—?”
“Obviously,” said Chelan, “not!”
THE END
Transcriber’s Note:
This etext was produced from Astounding Science Fiction March 1959. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.