| Read in 70s, private eye, null sphere, held tube up to ear
I believe the main character was a private eye, he was being followed by shadows or beings from another planet. A stranger eventually caught up to him and told him his help was needed on another planet to stop an insane computer, the being gave him a device that looked like a tube or maybe a guitar slide and said 'Hold this up to your ear if you get into trouble'. He was being chased in his car by the shadows (creatures) and slid off of a bridge into water and was drowning, in a last ditch effort, he held the tube up to his ear and wound up on the other planet where he saw, I believe, were robots flying aircraft. I think the computer was in a city that was protected by what the author called a null sphere, our character held a nickle up to it and the sphere cut the nickle in half with no sound or struggle. He had to get inside the sphere. That vague description is all I remember. Please help, Thanks | 
20th May 2012, 04:48 PM
