"But I reported accurately," Earl said. Even yet it didn't see!
"I know," the Cyberene said, "but it can't be, because then that electrostatic speaker would be—" It stopped.
"Deep inside of you," Earl continued. "Waiting only for—"
A wave of emotion blasted into his mind, driving him by its very force into the deep recesses behind his wall of gray, into a cosmos of mind wrenching pain.
"No!" the thought blasted into him. "No human can have the power to destroy me! It can't exist. You can't exist another instant, with the danger to me!"
In agony Earl reached out, meshing little by little with his conscious mind, feeling its terror and fear of death, calming it, controlling it with all the infinite skill he had learned during the past weeks.
And even as he gained control against the will of the Cyberene he realized with a sinking feeling the essential weakness of his plan. Nadine!
He had been criminally stupid, blinded by emotion toward her. She was conditioned from birth to accept the domination of the mind of the Cyberene.
Sweating with the terrible effort it took to hold on, he forced his muscles to permit him to turn toward her. His worst fears were realized. She stood there, her face a calm mask that revealed no emotion.