The Sound (short story)

"The Sound" is a science fiction short story by Canadian American writer A. E. van Vogt, originally published in Astounding in February 1950.

The story takes place during a war between humanity and the alien Yevd, a species with the organic ability to project holographic disguises and fire energy blasts. Over the course of a single night filled with cat-and-mouse intrigue, a young boy thwarts the efforts of a Yevd espionage ring to infiltrate a vast military spaceship-construction yard.

Like much of van Vogt's earlier work, the story has an atmosphere of paranoia, in this case specifically evocative of the second Red Scare.