Robert Sheckley

“ He paused impressively. "Nothing is impervious to force. Muster enough force and anything will give. Anything.
"Professor," the general continued, in a friendlier tone, "you shouldn't sell short the science you represent. We have, massed under North Hill, the greatest accumulation of energy and radioactive weapons ever assembled in one spot. Do you think your leech can stand the full force of them?"
"I suppose it's possible to overload the thing," Micheals said doubtfully. He realized now why the general wanted him around. ”

“ O'Donnell asked, "if it keeps on eating?"
"I have no idea what its growth-limits are," Micheals said. "Its growth may be limited only by its food source."
"You mean it could continue to grow probably forever?"
"It could possibly grow as long as it had something to feed on."
"This is really a challenge," O'Donnell said. "That leech can't be totally impervious to force."
"It seems to be. I suggest you get some physicists in here. Some biologists also. Have them figure out a way of nullifying it."
The general put out his cigarette. "Professor, I cannot wait while scientists wrangle. ”

“ It had been a long wait after the first rich food. The greater radiation of day was followed by the lesser energy of night many times, as the leech ate away the earth beneath it, absorbed the air around it, and grew. ”

“ General O'Donnell said cheerfully, getting up and holding back a flap of the tent. "We're going to crack that leech in half."
After a long wait, rich food started to come again, piped into one side of it. First there was only a little, and then more and more. Radiations, vibrations, explosions, solids, liquids—an amazing variety of edibles. It accepted them all. But the food was coming too slowly for the starving cells, for new cells were constantly adding their demands to the rest. ”

“ But the important thing is the destruction. You will all witness it. Destruction is at times a sacred mission. This is such a time. Men, I feel wonderful."
"Turn the spaceship!" It was Moriarty who had spoken. His face was white. "Turn the damned thing!"
He shoved his figures at them.
They were easy to read. The growth-rate of the leech. The energy-consumption rate, estimated. Its speed in space, a constant. The energy it would receive from the Sun as it approached, an exponential curve. Its energy-absorption rate, figured in terms of growth, expressed as a hyped-up discontinuous progression. ”

“ Sixty-seven men were lost in Operation Leech, and General O'Donnell asked permission to use atomic bombs. Washington sent a group of scientists to investigate the situation.
"Haven't those experts decided yet?" O'Donnell asked, halting angrily in front of the tent. "They've been talking long enough."
"It's a hard decision," Micheals said. Since he wasn't an official member of the investigating team, he had given his information and left. "The physicists consider it a biological matter, and the biologists seem to think the chemists should have the answer. ”

“ First, it converts mass into energy, then back into mass for its body. Second, energy is converted directly into the body mass. How this takes place, I do not know. The leech is not protoplasmic. It may not even be cellular—"
"So we need something big against it," O'Donnell interrupted. "Well, that's all right. I've got some big stuff here."
"I don't think you understand me," Micheals said. "Perhaps I'm not phrasing this very well. The leech eats energy. It can consume the strength of any energy weapon you use against it." ”

“ General O'Donnell was given permission to use hydrogen bombs, contingent on the approval of his scientists.
"What have the bright boys decided?" O'Donnell wanted to know.
He and Micheals were in the living room of an evacuated Schroon Lake house. O'Donnell had made it his new command post.
"Why are they hedging?" O'Donnell demanded impatiently. "The leech has to be blown up quick. What are they fooling around for?"
"They're afraid of a chain reaction," Micheals told him. "A concentration of hydrogen bombs might set one up in the Earth's crust or in the atmosphere. ”

“ This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction December 1952. 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. ”