02444cam a22003253u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000310011324500210014426400510016530000470021633600260026333700260028933800360031549000570035150000310040850801110043952013860055053400450193665300200198183000570200185600430205899900170210119067UtSlPG20260610133439.0mcr n260607r2006||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aPiper, H. Beam,d1904-196410aPolice Operation 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2006  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, July 1948.  aRelease date is 2006-08-16  aProduced by Greg Weeks, William Woods, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net  a"Police Operation" by H. Beam Piper is a science fiction novella originally published in the mid-20th century, specifically in 1948. The narrative follows the unusual case of a rogue extraterrestrial creature—a Venusian nighthound—that has escaped to a rural setting and is causing havoc among livestock, leading the protagonist, Verkan Vall, to embark on a perilous mission to capture or eliminate it. The story explores themes of parallel universes and the interaction between different timelines, all wrapped in a police procedural format.  The plot centers on Verkan Vall, a special assistant to the Paratime Police, who is dispatched to a Fourth-Level timeline to deal with the aftermath of Gavran Sarn's reckless actions in bringing a deadly nighthound to Earth. As Vall tracks the creature, he navigates through thrilling encounters and utilizes his knowledge of the beast, which is a genetically modified hunting animal. The tension builds as Vall contemplates the impending danger posed by the creature if it were to attack humans. With its unique features and hunting techniques, the creature becomes a formidable adversary. The story concludes with Vall effectively resolving the threat while reflecting on the potential complications of paratime travel and the consequences of human interference in alternate realities. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction 0aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, July 1948.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19067  c60453d60453