Imperial Earth

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Duncan McKenzie was ten years old when he found the magic number. It was pure chance; he had

intended to call Grandma Ellen, but he had been careless and his fingers must have touched the wrong

keys. He knew at once that he had made a mistake, because Grandma's viddy had a two-second delay,

even on Auto/Record. This circuit was live immediately.

Yet there was no ringing tone, and no picture. The screen was completely blank, with not even a

speckling of interference. Duncan guessed that he had been switched into an audio-only channel, or had reached a station where the camera was disconnected. In any case, this certainly wasn't Grandma's

number, and he reached out to break the circuit.

Then he noticed the sound. At first, he thought that someone was breathing quietly into the

microphone at the far end, but he quickly realized his mistake. There was a random, inhuman quality

about this gentle susurration; it lacked any regular rhythm, and there were long intervals of complete silence.

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