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.The following night, watchers at several small towns and villages to the westofSantander spotted the half-egg shapes crawling ashore at mid-tide.There wastime to arouse most of the inhabitants and get them away.A unit of theSpanish air force was standing-by, and went into action with flares andcannon.At San Vicente they blew up half a dozen sea-tanks with their firstonslaught, and the rest stopped.Several more were destroyed on the secondrun; the rest started back to the sea.The fighters got the last of them whenit was already a few inches submerged.At the other four places where theylanded the defenses did almost as well.No more than three or fourcoelenterates were released in all, and only a dozen or so villagers caught bythem.It was estimated that out of fifty or so sea-tanks engaged, no more thanfour or fivecould have got safely back to deep water.It was a famous victory, and thewine flowed freely to celebrate.The night after that there were watchers all along the coast ready to give thealarm when the first dark hump should break the water.But all night long thewaves rolled steadily onto the beaches, with never an alien shape to breakPage 63ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthem.By morning it was clear that the sea-tanks, or those who sent them, hadlearned a painful lesson.The few that had survived were reckoned to be makingfor parts less alert.During the day the wind dropped.In the afternoon a fog came up, by theevening it was thick, and visibility down to no more than a few yards.Somewhere about ten-thirty in the evening the sea-tanks came sliding up from the quietly lappingwaters atGijon, with not a sound to betray them until their metal bellies started tocrunch up the stone ramps.The few small boats that were already drawn upthere they pushed aside or crushed as they came.It was the cracking of thetimbers that brought men out from the waterside posadas to investigate.They could make out little in the fog.The first sea-tanks must have sentcoelenterate bubbles wobbling into the air before the men realized what washappening, for presently all was cries, screams and confusion.The sea-tankspressed slowly forward through the fog, crunching and scraping into the narrowstreets while, behind them, still more climbed out of the water.On thewaterfront there was panic.People running from one tank were as likely to runinto another.Without any warning a whip-like cilium would slash out of thefog, find its victim, and began to contract.A little later there would be aheavy splash as it rolled with its load over the quayside, back into thewater.Alarm, running back up the town, reached the comisaria.The officer in charge put through the emergency call.He listened, then hungup slowly. Grounded, he said, and wouldn t be much use in this, even if they couldtake off.He gave orders to issue rifles and turn out every available man. Not that they ll be much good, but we might be lucky.Aim carefully, and ifyou do find a vital spot, report at once.He sent the men off with little hope that they could do more than offer atoken resistance.Presently he heard the sounds of firing.Suddenly there wasa boom that rattled windows, then another.The telephone rang.An excitedvoice explain that a party of dockworkers was throwing fused sticks ofdynamite and gelignite under the advancing sea-tanks.Another boom rattled thewindows.The officer thought quickly. Very well.Find the leader.Authorize him from me.Put your men on to gettingthe people clear, he directed.The sea-tanks were not easily discouraged this time, and it was difficult tosort out claims and reports.Estimates of the number destroyed varied betweenthirty and seventy; of the numbers engaged, between fifty and a hundred andfifty.Whatever the true figures, the force must have been considerable, andthe pressure eased only a couple hours before dawn.When the sun rose to clear the last of the fog it shone upon a town batteredin parts, and widely covered with slime, but also upon a citizenry which, inspite of some hundreds of casualties, felt that it had earned battle honors.The account, as I had it first from the innkeeper, was brief, but it includedthe main points, and he concluded it with the observation: They reckons as there was well over a bloody undred of the damn thingsdone-in them two nights.And then there s all those that come up in otherplaces, too - there must be bloody thousands of the bastards a-crawlin allover the bloody sea bottom.Time something was bloody done about em, I say.Bu no. No cause for alarm,says the bloody government
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