Elmer’s thoughts milled muddily, panic edging in on him. Other Earthmen had said the same thing, but there was a difference. He could read their minds and know they meant what they said.
“You could help us, Elmer,” Harper said. “I’ve often wondered why you haven’t.”
“Why should I?” Elmer asked.
“Brother races,” the man explained. “The Martians and the Earthmen. Your race, whatever happened to them, wouldn’t want to keep their knowledge from us.”
“I do not have the knowledge of the Martian race.” Elmer’s thoughts were curt.
“You have some of it. The fourth dimension, for example. Think of what we could do with that. A surgeon could go inside his patient and fix him up without a single knife stroke. We could press a button and go a million miles.”
“Then what?” asked Elmer.
“Progress,” said Harper. “Certainly you must understand that. Man was Earth-bound. Now he has reached the planets. He’s already reaching toward the stars.”
“Maybe when you reach the stars you won’t like what you find,” Elmer declared. “Maybe you’ll find things you’d wish you left alone.”
Harper grinned and pawed at his pink chin whiskers.