Meanwhile Helmuth, the Boskonian, had deduced that it was a Lensman who had been giving him so much trouble. He had already connected the Lens with Arisia; therefore he set out for Arisia to find out for himself just what it was that made the Lens such a powerful thing. He discovered that he was no match at all for an Arisian. He was given terrific mental punishment, but was allowed to return to his Grand Base alive and sane; being informed that he was spared because his destruction would not be good for the budding Civilization to which Boskonian culture was opposed. He was told further that the Arisians had given Civilization the Lens; that by its intelligent use, Civilization should be able to conquer Boskone's alien, abhorrent culture; that if it could not learn to use the Lens, it was not yet ready to become a Civilization, and Boskonia would be allowed to flourish for a time.

After various adventures upon Trenco—a peculiar planet indeed—Kinnison secured a new Bergenholm and went on. This time he managed to reach Tellus, and, after a spectacular battle in the stratosphere with a blockading fleet of the enemy, got down to Prime Base with his precious data. There he first revealed his conviction that the Boskonians were not ordinary pirates, but in fact composed a culture almost, if not quite, as strong as Civilization itself; and asked that certain scientists of the Patrol should try to develop a detector nullifier. He predicted a stalemate, and intimated that such a nullifier might well prove to be the deciding factor in the entire war.

By building ultrapowerful battleships, called "maulers," the Patrol gained a temporary advantage, but the stalemate soon ensued. Kinnison thought out a plan of action, in the pursuit of which he scouted a pirate base upon Aldebaran I. The personnel of this base, however, instead of being human or near-human beings, were Wheelmen, beings possessed of a sense of perception unknown to man. The Lensman was discovered before he could accomplish anything, and in the fight which followed he was very seriously wounded.

However, he managed to get back to his speedster and sent a thought to Port Admiral Haynes, who forthwith sent ships to his aid. In the hospital, Chief Surgeon Lacy put him together without the use of artificial members; and, during a long and quarrelsome convalescence, Nurse Clarrissa MacDougall held him together.

As soon as he could leave the hospital he went to Arisia in the hope that he might be permitted to take advanced training—an unheard-of idea. Much to his surprise, he learned that he had been expected to 

 Prev. P 8/237 next