brain__

sort of fantasy-complex of his own!"
"Bring him out of it!"
"Excellency, I tried. I can't reach him. It's as though he'd tapped the chair's energy sources, and were using them to reinforce his own defense mechanism!"
"Override him!"
"I'll try—but his power is fantastic."
"Then we'll use more power!"
"It's . . . dangerous, Excellency."
"Not more dangerous than failure!"
Grim-faced, the technician reset the panel to step up the energy flow through Mallory's brain.
* * *
The subject stirs! The Perceptors burst out. Massive new energies flow in the mind-field! My/our grip loosens . . .
HOLD THE SUBJECT! RESTIMULATE AT ONCE, WITH MAXIMUM EMERGENCY FORCE!
While the captive surged and fought against the restraint, the segmented mind of the alien concentrated its forces, hurled a new stimulus into the rolling captive mind-field.
* * *
. . . Hot sun beat down on his back. A light wind ruffled the tall grass growing up the slope where the wounded lion had taken cover. Telltale drops of dark purple blood clinging to the tall stems marked the big cat's route. It would be up there, flattened to the earth under the clump of thorn trees, its yellow eyes narrowed against the agony of the .375 bullet in his chest, waiting, hoping for its tormentor to come to it . . .
His heart was thudding under the damp khaki shirt. The heavy rifle felt like a toy in his hands—a useless plaything against the primitive fury of the beast. He took a step; his mouth twisted in an ironic grimace. What was he proving? There was no one here to know if he chose to walk back and sit under a tree and take a leisurely swig from his flask, Ol