E-text prepared by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
This etext was produced from Astounding Science Fiction,September, 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidencethat the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
ALARM CLOCK
By EVERETT B. COLE
Illustrated by Van Dongen
Most useful high explosives, like ammonium nitrate, areenormously violent ... once they're triggered. But they willremain seemingly inert when beaten, burned, variouslypunished—until the particular shock required comesalong....
any years had passed since the original country rock had been broken,cut and set, to form solid pavement for the courtyard at OpertalPrison. And over those years the stones had suffered change ascountless feet, scuffing and pressing against once rough edges, hadsmoothed the bits of rock, burnishing their surfaces until the lightof the setting sun now reflected from them as from polished mosaic.
As Stan Graham crossed the wide expanse from library to cell block,his shoe soles added their small bit to the perfection of the age-oldpolish.
He looked up at the building ahead of him, noting the coarse,weathered stone of the walls. The severe, vertical lines of the massreminded him of Kendall Hall, back at the Stellar Guard Academy. Hesmiled wryly.
There were, he told himself, differences. People rarely left thisplace against their wishes. None had wanted to come here. Few had anydesire to stay. Whereas at the Academy—
How, he wondered, had those other guys they'd booted out really felt?None had complained—or even said much. They'd just packed their gearand picked up their tickets. There had been no expression offrustrated rage to approach his. Maybe there was something wrong withhim—some unknown fault that put him out of phase with all others.
He hadn't liked it at all.
His memory went back to his last conversation with Major Michaels. Theofficer had listened, then shaken his head decisively.
"Look, Graham, a re-examination wouldn't help. We just can't retainyou."
"But I'm sure—"
"No, it won't work. Your academic record isn't outstanding in any areaand Gravitics is one of the most important courses we've got."
"But I don't see how I could have bugged it, sir. I got a good gradeon the final examination."
"True, but there were several before that. And there were your dailygrades." Michaels glanced at the papers on his desk.
"I can't say what went wrong, but I think you missed something, wayback at the beginning. After that, things got worse and you ran out oftime. This is a pretty competitive place, you know, and we probablydrop some pretty capable men, but that's the way it is."
"Sir, I'm certain I know—"
"It isn't enough to know. You've got to know better than a lot ofother people."
Michaels got to his feet and came around the desk.
"Look, there's no disgrace in getting an academic tossout from here.You had to be way above average to get here. And very few people canmake it for one year, let alone three or four."
He raised a hand as Stan started to speak.
"I know. You think it looks as though you'd broken down somehow. Youdidn't. From the day you came here, everyone looked for weaknesses. Ifthere'd been a flaw, they'd have found it—and they'd have been on youtill you came a