STRANCE ADVENTURES ON OTHERWORLDS

— THE UNIVERSE OF FUTURE CENTURIES

BEYOND*
LIGHK
TOMORROW'S ADVENTURE
IN THE OUTER VOID
by
NELSON S. BOND

ONE THOUSAND
। MILES BELOW
EANDO BINDER

PHANTOM
OF THE
SEVEN STARS
by
RAY CUMMINGS
THORNTON AYRE • ROSS ROCKLYNE • LEIGH BRACKETT
£<d me kelp q&u. (five faste GIFTS
9'U buiAt 4fMt - 9'U (flue you
10 MONTHS & ZU __ _

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MAIL ORDER DIVISION OF FINLAY STRAUS, Inc.
Dept ES31670 BROADWAY, NEW YORK! |
•* PLANET* ★• * * STORIES *
T. T. SCOTT, President and General Manager MALCOLM REISS, Editor

A THRILLING PLANET NOVEL

ONE THOUSAND MILES BELOW........................................... Eando Binder 2
Up from Earth’s depths came a strange, pale army to battle the Martian Ray Armada.

TWO NOVELETS OF LOST WORLDS

PHANTOM OF THE SEVEN STARS..................................... Ray Cummings 74
A phantom pirate had marked the life-precious cargo of the Seven Stars for plunder.

TWILIGHT OF THE TENTH WORLD..................................... Thornton Ayre 104

“We, your masters, have failed!” The message panicked the doomed World.

FIVE PLANET SNORT STORIES

THE CASTAWAY......................................................................... George Danzell 36
Brait knew the space wanderer by a name that was old when the world was young.

ATOM OF DEATH . ....................................................... Ross Rocklynne 46

An atom was to have been the killer’s alibi—but instead it was judge and executioner.

BEYOND LIGHT............................................................................... Nelson S. Bond 53

Deep in Venns’ caverns . . . beyond light . . . beyond imagination, dwelt Horror.

EXIT FROM ASTEROID 60.............................................................D. L. James 65

Strange things were happening in the deep core of Echo, weird Martian satellite.

THE STELLAR LEGION............................................................. Leigh Brackett 95

Thekla, the low-Martian, learned no one betrayed the Steller Legion—and lived.

Winter Issue 1940 20c per copy

Volume 1, No. 5 52

THIS IS A FICTION HOUSE MAGAZINE

PLANET STORIES: Published quarterly by Love Romances, Inc., 461 Eighth Ave., New York City. The entire
contents of this magazine are copyrighted, 1940, by Love Romances Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This issue
dated November 1, 1940. While due care is always exercised, the publishers will not be responsible for the return of
unsolicited manuscripts. For advertising rates address. THE NEWSSTAND FICTION UNIT, 9 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York City, Printed in U. S. A.
One Thousand Miles Below
By EANDO BINDER

Humanity was doomed. Hour by hour the Martian horror was blast­
ing Mankind from the earth. Then up from the depths came a
strange, pale army, marching to battle the sky-born Ray Armada.

ERGEANT EVAN PAIGE’S gray, Donovan, small, wiry, his voice tense.

S brooding eyes stared reflectively at “Before a draft commission comes for us.
the paper in his hand, dated three We never sidestepped a fight yet.”
days before, June 7, 1941. Under the of­ He walked to the window with a limp,
ficial seal of Washington it read: and looked out into the night, shuddering.
“Lordl Martians taking over Earth!”
“Emergency Draft. All men able to Evan Paige tossed the well-thumbed
bear arms, ages 14 to 55, in defense of paper on his workbench, and ran his strong
Earth against the invaders from Mars. hands through uncombed hair in nervous
Your country and your world need you. indecision.
Report at the nearest recruiting of­ “We should go. Yet what about Dr.
fice IMMEDIATELY.” Aronson?”
Sparky tossed his hands in the air elo­
“We’d better go, Sarge,” said “Sparky” quently.
3
 Paige turned back to his radio. Its “At the center of Earth!” The scien­
banks of power-tubes and its special airial tist’s voice came back almost casually.
outside were designed to send a beam un­ “What?” snapped Paige. “You’re jok­
derground. An electrical engineer, Paige ing!”
had developed the set himself, with Sparky Sparky had started, and then made a
Donovan’s help, to keep in touch with sad. gesture with his finger tapping his
Aronson’s exploring party. It had gone forehead.
in a different direction from any other ex­ “Not at all.” The scientist’s voice, with
ploring party—down. a weird howl in it from underground in­
“No return signal from him for three terference, went on eagerly. “You re­
months,” Sparky said gloomily. “What member that we found the linked caverns,
do you expect ? Somewhere under Earth’s at the back of Mammoth Cave. We fol­
crust, his number rang up.” lowed them down, for ten days, as you
“But we’re not sure,” Paige said. His know from our previous contact. At sixty
voice became musing. “Sparky, this is miles down, we came to the heat-zone,
about the strangest situation facing us ever where our troubles started. Molten lava
imagined. For the first time in history, flows there, in the caverns. The worst
an unsuspected underworld is being dis­ happened. Peters, Henderson and Bode
covered. And for the first time in his­ slipped and fell while we ran. All three
tory, invasion has come from space. Two died!”
of the most astounding events in human Paige and Sparky looked at each other,
chronicles happening at the same time! It’s shocked.
fantastic—as only truth can be. If we Aronson’s voice went on tersely, as if
leave the radio now, we might be cutting he had steeled himself against useless emo­
off Aronson’s last chance to tell the tion. “I grabbed up the portable radio
world—” and kept running. Escaped the lava. But
“Tell what world?” shrugged Sparky. the set was damaged. I couldn’t contact
“The Martians?” you. The rest is unbelievable.”
“We’ll try once more—” “The rest!” Sparky muttered ironically.
Hopelessly, Paige sent his beam down, Aronson resumed in a lower tone.
down. The last contact with Aronson had “I’ll give it to you straight from the
broken off at sixty miles below Earth’s shoulder, Evan. There’s a vast world
surface—abruptly. A cry of alarm, clipped down here. And people! Human beings,
off in the middle. Had Aronson and his but total albinos. They’ve never seen the
three men met death, in that unknown sun. Don’t know our upper world exists,
depth? Still, perhaps only their portable as we didn’t know theirs did!”
radio-set had been damaged. On that slim “Completely daffy!” breathed Sparky.
hope, Paige had kept a hopeless vigil, “Poor guy.”
hunched over the radio at all hours, sig­ “People; human beings!” Paige recov­
naling below. ered quickly. So many incredible things
Three months of nerve-wracking sus­ were happening, one more didn’t matter.
pense. And in the meantime, the Mar­ He grinned a little. “Even you didn’t sus­
tians had thundered down on Earth, like pect that, Dr. Aronson.”
a bolt out of the blue. . . . “No. And they’ve kept me busy. I
didn’t have a chance to repair my set and
AIGE stiffened, as a faint voice trickled contact you, Evan, till now. You see,
P from his speaker, behind a barrage of there’s a war down here, just like above.
crackling static. He twisted his power dialEarth is a honeycomb of natural caverns,
to the upper limit. as I theorized originally. The albino peo­
“—ling Evan Paige! Aronson calling ple inhabit them and the total population
Evan Paige! Aronson calling—” is as much as on Earth’s surface. They
“It’s him!” Sparky yelled wildly. have separate nations, and they are war­
Paige barked into the microphone. ring, with scientific weapons, just like in
“Paige answering! Good Lord, Dr. Aron­ Europe when I left the surface.”
son, it’s about time! What happened? Paige was about to break in, to destroy
Where are you?” that illusion, but the scientist went on rap­
idly. His voice was eager, with the eager­ invasion. He spoke finally, in a choking
ness of his calling. whisper.
“But all that to the side, think what this “Possibly, Evan. But I wonder. You
means! A whole new underground world see, they don’t believe in the existence of
discovered! I’m going to try to escape an upper world. And—”
and return to the surface. All my theories Without warning, the radio suddenly
about a non-molten, honeycombed Earth went dead. But not at Aronson’s end.
are proven true. When I get above I’ll Paige’s set had blinked out, and with it all
wave the proof in front of certain learned the electric lights. They heard dull thuds,
colleagues who sneered at me—” from the center of town. Sparky was al­
Paige did break in now, with a harsh, ready limping to the window, and flung it
mirthless laugh. He spoke slowly, bitterly. wide. Aronson’s laboratory-home was on
“The upper world isn’t what you knew, the outskirts of Cincinnati.
Dr. Aronson. There isn’t a European They saw, in the heart of the city, the
war any more. Two months ago the un­ sinister iridescent beams that stabbed down
believable happened. Beings from another from swift rocket ships.
world — from Mars — attacked Earth! “A bombing raid by the Martians!”
They are utterly savage, ruthless, bent on Sparky growled. “They’re starting in on
wiping out humanity!” America like Europe. Blasting cities rail­
How fantastic it sounded, in Paige’s roads power-houses. Then the final clean­
own ears! up on the battlefield—”
“Now you’re joking!” gasped Aronson. Cold rage iced through Evan Paige’s
“No joke,” Paige returned grimly. veins. He felt his way back to the work­
“They’re a scientific—stt/>erscientific race. bench in the dark and picked up the draft­
They’re blasting down cities steadily. In paper.
the first few weeks, their swift rocket “Yeah, that’s it, Sarge!” snarled Sparky.
ships blew most of our aircraft out of the “We’ll join up now and fight those Mar­
sky. Even the great German fleet only tian snakes. I want to get in my lick at
lasted a month. After that, in Europe, it them.”
settled down to ground warfare. We put Paige crumpled the paper in his hand
army after army against them. Soldiers suddenly. “Wait! What about those
lately bitter enemies fought side by side. albino-people? A mysterious scientific race
The pride of French, Italian, Russian, Ger­ under Earth! If we could get their
man troops marched into their long-range help—”
kill-beams. They have ray-weapons. Our “Sarge, for Lord’s sake!” exploded
cannon can’t even reach halfway to their Sparky. “You don’t believe that story?
projectors. Standing armies no longer ex­ The old guy went crazy, somewhere down
ist. Now everyone marches to battle, even there. Why, it’s like a fairy tale.”
women. But it’s hopeless. I think half Paige gripped the little man’s arm and
of humanity in Europe, where the Mar­ squeezed. “Sparky, I wouldn’t have be­
tians first landed, is gone already. The lieved about the Martians either, except
end may be near for the human race. I that it happened.”
can’t begin to describe the stark horror of “But, Sarge—”
it! A banging at the door interrupted them.
“But, Dr. Aronson—” Sparky groped his way down the hall to
A blazing thought had struck Paige. the front door, Paige following. Three
He went on hoarsely: men in uniform stood in the doorway, and
“Can we recruit those albino-people to played flashlight beams over them.
help us ? They’re scientific, and know fight­ “Drafting commission,” announced the
ing. Will they help us? They must! head officer. “We’re looking for slack­
They’re human, you say—” ers.” After a significant pause, he said
Paige stopped, a little dazed by the stu­ harshly, “Come along, you two.”
pendous revelation of underground civili­ Sparky looked at Paige, shrugged and
zation, wondering if it could be true. made a step forward.
Aronson, in turn, still seemed stunned “Wait!” Paige suddenly made up his
by the stupendous revelation of Martian mind. “We didn’t report for duty be­
cause—” He gave the details briefly. “So somewhere in South Carolina. It was all
you see, we’ve got to get power somehow a hellish confusion.
and re-contact Dr. Aronson. It’s impor­ Overhead, swift Martian rocket craft
tant, more important than going into the outmaneuvered American pursuit ships
front line.” and shot them down steadily. Earth ar­
The officer glanced at his men cynically. tillery pounded briefly, and then the guns
“First time I heard that excuse! Even exploded as creeping neutron-rays touched
at a time like this, cowards lie for their off shells prematurely.
skins. Afraid to fight, eh? Come along, Finally, across no-man’s-land came a
slackers!” wave of Martians, with long-range kill­
“Afraid to fight!” Sparky’s voice was beams. On all sides of Paige and Sparky
an angry shriek. Paige pulled him back, soldiers threw up their hands with choked
as he made for the man with balled fists. cries and fell as corpses, as neutron-beams
Sparky growled. “We fought in Spain, drilled a one-inch hole through lungs and
and Finland. I got my limp in Rumania. spine.
And you think we’re afraid to fight!” The regiment stood its ground, under
Paige had a scar on his shoulder from orders. Men fought grimly, with a
Rumania, too. They had come back, with doomed look in their eyes. And so it had
their wounds. While convalescing with gone for two months, with the Earth
Dr. Henry Aronson, his dead father’s old forces steadily being decimated. The Mar­
friend, he and Sparky had become inter­ tians, an older race, were maddeningly sci­
ested in and part of the underground entific, equipped with superweapons and
project. superships. Earth’s defenses were toylike
“All right, then come along,” said the in comparison. Complete extermination
recruiting officer. “You’re experienced of the human race seemed the enemy’s aim,
soldiers.” so that they might take over the new world
Paige flung off the man’s hand. “Don't for their own.
you understand? What good are we, as “It’s no use, Sparky!” groaned Paige,
two more soldiers? We’ve got to stay resting his automatic gun for a moment on
here and re-contact the underworld, I tell the knoll behind which they crouched. His
you!” voice was filled with the hollow bitterness
“Underworld!” snorted the officer, in that he and all humans felt. “Earth is
utter disbelief. “The Martians have Eu­ licked. Extinction faces humanity. There
rope licked. They set up a base in Georgia isn’t a chance in the world of winning out
a week ago. Now they’re raiding Ameri­ against the Martians. It’s just a matter
can cities. Don’t you realize you’ve got of months—”
to fight?” “We’re not licked till the last man
His voice was suddenly dogged, har­ goes,” Sparky retorted grimly.
ried. “Earth has to fight to the last man!” Paige looked around. In back of the
“That’s just it,” Paige shot back. thin line of doomed fighters the way was
“There’s no hope. But if we get help clear. Paige suddenly clutched the little
from the und—” man’s arm.
“Take your choice!” rasped the officer, “Come on, Sparky.” His voice was
whipping out a pistol. “My orders are to dry, defeated. “We’re deserting.”
shoot any slackers who resist!” “Deserting!” Sparky repeated the word
Paige and Sparky went. Paige couldn’t with a good soldier’s utter loathing. “To
blame the officer for not believing the save our skins ? Almighty, Sarge—not
story. Even Sparky didn’t. And Paige you—”
himself wondered. Maybe there wasn’t “Not to save our skins,” Paige said sav­
any underground world. Maybe Aronson agely. “To take the one chance left to
was crazy mad, trapped in some corner save Earth!”
of the strange subterranean world. “You mean that funny-sounding under­
world business? Sarge now you’re
II
cracked, too.”
WEEK later, Paige’s regiment took But Paige was already crawling back,
the full brunt of a Martian attack, away from the line of fighters. Sparky
looked up in the war-torn sky, as though mouth receded, became lost. Utter tomb­
for guidance, then followed. like silence surrounded them. Their foot­
“Sarge, I’ll stick with you. That makes falls sounded like the tread of mammoths.
me a deserter, a skunk and a maniac. At times they were startled by bats skit­
Funny, what a man will do at times.” tering through the air. High overhead,
They crept back, through bushes and from the vaulted ceiling of rock, hung gi­
grass, deserting the regiment that was be­ gantic stalactites that seemed poised for an
ing cut down to the last man. They hid instant drop.
in a woods till night, and then sneaked There was fantastic beauty in it. Light
through the secondary line hastily digging from the hidden cave-mouth reflected
into trenches. In back of its constantly through the gloom in stabbing beams,
melting front line, the Earth forces were sparkling from a thousand crystalline fa­
setting up further lines. A hopeless, bit­ cets. In the dim distance, great arched
ter fight to try and stem the invincible corridors spread in all directions, like the
invaders. halls of a cyclopean cathedral. Strange
They were shot at several times by sen­ rock formations loomed magnificently, the
tries, but escaped. wildly artistic sculpturings of a wonder­
“Shot at by our own people!” Sparky land of nature.
sobbed brokenly. “We’ll die yet, with bul­ The arrows pointed on and on.
lets in our backs. They’ll kick our bodies “How did Dr. Aronson know the way?”
and spit at them.” Sparky chattered.
Paige winced, but led the way ada­ “By his new geologic theory about the
mantly. To die without honor was hor­ crust and all Earth,” Paige informed.
rible. But to die without hope was worse. “That Mammoth Cave, at some point,
The desertion was easier than they might must connect to lower caverns.”
have thought. The country was disor­ Abruptly a riven gash ran before them
ganized, under the encroaching menace. across the cave floor. An arrow at the
They stole from farmer’s vegetable patches edge pointed down. They clambered down
for food, avoiding cities. They slept in thirty feet. A water-worn passage a hun­
the day, among trees, and moved at night. dred yards beyond led out—to where?
In a week they had trudged through Ten­ At one point, they had to crawl through
nessee, up into Kentucky. a natural tunnel so narrow that Paige’s
“Sarge!” Sparky stopped stock still sud­ broad shoulders almost stuck. The pas­
denly. “We’re really fools. What can sage widened and soon they stood upright,
we do when we get back to the lab in looking out upon a breathless sight.
Cincinnati? There’s no electrical power On a lower level than Mammoth Cave,
for our radio!” and connected to it only by that narrow
“We’re not going there,” Paige returned passage, was a cavern yet more gigantic.
quietly. “We’re going to Mammoth Cave. Even a small lake lay gemlike in the cen­
We’re going down in the underworld our­ ter, glowing with phosphorescent algae.
selves !” And beyond stretched corridors, twining
through the rock, going on and on, and
HEY entered the yawning portals of down and down.
T mighty Mammoth Cave.
Tour-parties had long been suspended,
“The beginning of the underworld!”
Paige whispered. “No wonder Dr. Aron­
with the coming of the Martians. It was son was so excited when he reported this
deserted. A forest of stalagmites loomed to us.”
in the dimness ahead. Sparky grunted. “And no wonder he
“People have gone in here and never went nuts. Sarge, look. This is all crazy.
come out,” shivered Sparky. “They went There can’t be any people down here, no
in circles. How do we find the way?” matter how far it goes! Let’s go back,
“Aronson’s markings,” reminded Paige, Sarge, and be sensible.”
pointing to a stalagmite on which had For a moment Paige hesitated. Was he
plainly been scratched an arrow with a being a fool? Could there be a buried
large “A” beneath it. race down here? Or was it all hallucina­
They followed the arrows. The cave­ tion, in a man driven insane? Should he
go on this wild goose chase? Or go back “Can’t go on!” panted Sparky, his limp
to duty? And death! dragging at his speed. “Sarge, we can’t
What choice was there? They would go on. We’ll burn alive!”
go on. Sparky accepted the decision with But Paige grabbed Sparky’s arm and
a resigned shrug. staggered on grimly. If Dr. Aronson had
won through, so could they. Sparky cursed
HEY scrabbled down the slopes, lividly, but said no more.
T passed the lake, and followed the ar­
rows into the passage beyond. In the
Suddenly he screamed: “Look! That
follava-flow
­ —it’s coming straight for us!”
lowing days they hunted and shot fat cave A portion of the wall had broken open
rats, salamanders and jackdaws for food, to let a flood of smoking molten rock pour
toasting them over fires of dried moss. out over the passage they were treading.
The signs of life increased, rather than Croaking hoarsely with fear, Sparky tried
diminished, as they went on. They were to run back. But the lava had cut off
all albino forms, pigmentless, living with­ retreat.
out sun. Paige stood still with hammering pulses,
They plodded uncountable miles, in the trying to figure out an escape. The dam­
underground maze, unmapped by the up­ nable vapors cut off vision. A lake of lava
per world. It became like a dream to began crowding them toward the burning-
Paige. He sensed they were going down, hot walls. Wasn’t there any way out?
ever down, as much as forward. It was “We’ll die here like trapped rats!”
as if gravity lured them down into its Sparky shouted. Then he laughed wildly.
lair, where there was a choice of grades. “We left the Martians, for a death like
Phosphorescent plants and radio-active de­ this!”
posits in the walls lighted the way, dimly. Echoes of the laughter mocked them,
The upper world seemed remote. Even ringing back from the cavern walls.
the terrible struggle going on up there
faded from their thoughts, as though it had UDDENLY Paige lifted his bleary
happened centuries ago.
“A new world!” Paige murmured more
S eyes. One sound hadn’t been an echo.
It had sounded like a shout—a human
than once, his voice echoing hollowly shout!
through the caverns. He peered into the steamy gloom around
‘‘Maybe so, Sarge,” Sparky admitted. them. Again the shout, and two figures
“But we won’t find any people. I still don’t racing toward them. Humanlike figures!
believe that.” The foremost was a female form, long ash­
Temperature had risen, gradually, stead­ white hair streaming back. Her skin, too,
ily. Now, at the end of ten days, it was was alabaster white, and her eyes pink.
abominably hot. They peeled their coats, She was an albino. She was like a white
ripped their collars open. They skirted angel darting through the steam curtain.
pools of bubbling, steaming water. The “I've gone daffy, like Aronson,” moaned
soles of their boots became blackened and Sparky. “I think I’m seeing angels.”
scorched. Waves of blistering heat radi­ The two figures came up. The white
ated from the walls about them. At times girl-creature grasped Paige’s arm and
they saw lava-flows, like creeping amoeba, forced him to stumble through the blinding
reach up from cracks and holes. vapors. Her male counterpart hustled
“The heat-zone Aronson mentioned,” Sparky along. They could see.
Paige said thoughtfully. “Watch your Paige’s bloodshot eyes saw the sudden
step. Here’s where his three men lost upwelling of hot, molten rock, sweeping
their lives!” toward them like a tide, threatening to cut
It became worse. Small rivers of lava them off. They made it to a side passage
flowed sluggishly by. Curtains of steam with just seconds to spare. It was like an
half blinded them. The air was furnace infernally detailed nightmare.
hot. Stumbling, sweat-soaked, throats Paige felt coolness touch his fevered
seared dry, they were barely able to find brow in the new corridor. The white angel
the arrows that led on and on into the half dragged him along another hundred
virtual inferno. yards, then stopped. The white male let
Sparky go, as he leaned against a wall. high vaulted ceiling. Paige thrilled. Civ­
In dim radioactive glow, the four people ilization after all, in this sunless world, and
looked at each other. albino people identical to humans except
Sparky’s eyes were bulging. He reached for lack of skin pigment.
out to touch his rescuer. “Well,” he told Sparky, “Dr. Aronson
“He’s real!” Sparky gasped. “My was right.”
Lord, Sarge, they’re real!” Sparky for once had nothing to say.
“Of course,” panted Paige. “These are They were led to one of the cliff-dwell­
the albino people.” ings, overlooking the community. Utterly
“Then Aronson wasn’t cracked—” worn out by their ordeal through the fire­
Sparky began. zone, they thankfully climbed into ham­
They both started as the albino girl mocks, and slept the sleep of the dead-
spoke quickly. “Aronson,” she repeated weary.
in a lilting tone nodding her head. “Dr.
Aronson—” The rest was a flood of her Ill
own tongue.
“You know Dr. Aronson?” Paige quer­ AIGE awoke, feeling wonderfully
ied. “Do you know any of our language ?” rested. He swung his eyes to look
The girl seemed puzzled, her eyes on through an open window, down at the
him. Suddenly she smiled, and Paige albino people’s city.
smiled back. Somehow, the ache of his And there were more cities. Two bil­
muscles, the burning of his skin seemed all lion human souls, if Aronson were right,
worth while to meet this marble-white girl living like moles. A hustling, teeming
of another world. world here within Earth’s core! As many
Sparky was shaking his arm. “Don’t humans living without the sun as under
you hear me? I said—oh, never mind.” its rays! Suddenly the whole thing seemed
He grinned suddenly. “Quite a nice num­ fantastic, incredible.
ber, eh? But her boy-friend’s kind of But here it was!
jealous.” And then, Paige felt a queer satisfaction
Paige started and looked around. The stealing through him. The Martians up
albino man was frowning. He gestured above were only killing off one-half of the
for them to move on. human race. They didn’t know either of
The way wound erratically down. At this mysterious underworld.
times it was rough going. The girl helped In a way, it was almost a joke on those
Paige’s staggering legs, while the man heartless monsters from another planet.
helped Sparky. Sure-footed as goats, the Joke? It would be more than a joke, soon.
albino-people never faltered. “You awake, Sarge?” came Sparky’s
A few minutes later they were standing voice. “I’ve been lying here wondering
at the lip of a cavern more gargantuan if it’s all true.”
than any Paige and Sparky had yet seen. “It’s an amazing riddle, Sparky. Civ­
They gasped. There was a city in it. ilization below Earth’s surface. Wonder
Dwellings had been hollowed out of the if Dr. Aronson knows all the answers?
rock walls, with stone steps leading to We’ll have to get to him, somehow, at the
the entrances. The center space, surround­ center of Earth.”
ing a mirror-like lake, was a checkerboard “Center of Earth!” scoffed Sparky. “I
of tilled fields bearing albino-crops, won’t believe that yet.”
tended by albino people. Sounds arose, “Still skeptical ?” Paige • laughed. He
the welcome noises of a busy, civilized sobered. “After what we’ve seen, we can’t
community, sweet to their ears after the doubt anything. And thank Heaven for it.
ghastly echoing silences of the cave above. Don’t forget what we’re here for, Sparky
The farther wall was pockmarked with —to enlist the albino people in the fight
tunnels; man-made passages from which against the Martians. They—”
came the roar of machinery. He stopped, as the man and girl who
It was a fairy-like scene, weirdly lovely had rescued them appeared, smiling a
in a radioactive glow shed by huge globe­ greeting.
lamps, again man-made, hanging in the Paige took a longer look at them. He
 stared at the girl till her almost colorless of comprehension. “Him Center. Sick
eyes, dropped. A vivid scarlet blush place. Him there.”
touched her marble-white skin. Cosmetics It might mean anything. “Can we go to
were known to these people, for her eye­ him?” Paige asked patiently.
brows and eyelashes were tinged with “No,” Reena Meloth emphasized the flat
black paint, and her cheeks and lips with a negative with a shake of her ash-blonde
red tint, to relieve otherwise uniform white head, Tai Rithor following suit.
features. She looked very human. “Why?” demanded Paige.
Sparky was more practical. “We’re The albino man spoke this time. “You
hungry,” he said. “Very, very hungry.” fighters! You fight!”
The two stared in perplexity till Sparky “I don’t like his tone,” Sparky asserted
pantomimed eating, at which the girl in a low aside. He had always formed
nodded quickly, left, and returned with quick likes and dislikes. “I wouldn’t trust
steaming bowls of gruel-like food. Paige him.”
and Sparky gulped it down as fast as they Paige nudged his friend quiet but didn’t
could, finding it enigmatically tasty. New like the albino man’s tone either. He took
strength flowed through their bodies, a breath. Now that he had found out
wasted by the trek through the endless they vaguely understood English, he pre­
caverns and the hell-hot fire zone. pared to launch into the most important
Paige gave a sigh of satisfaction, and aspect of their mission.
introduced themselves, wishing he could “Listen,” he said slowly. “We must
launch a flood of questions that plagued see Dr. Aronson. We have come down
him. from the upper world for a purpose—a
“Evan Paige! Sparky Donovan!” re­ grave purpose. An enemy is wiping out
peated the girl, nodding, apparently with a the human race up there. We need help.
quick ear for new words. “Names—him Do you understand?”
Tai Rithor. Me—Reena Meloth.” Her “No.” Both shook their heads in abso­
hand touched Paige’s momentarily. lute lack of comprehension. Again Paige
Paige noticed again the quick frown in had the nagging thought that it was his
Tai Rithor’s face, and grinned a little. meaning they failed to grasp.
“Don’t worry, Tai,” he said. “I’m not Sparky was shaking his head, too.
your rival.” “We’ll never get anywhere this way, Sarge.
“Yet!” Sparky added under his breath. We’ll have to teach them our language
Aloud he exclaimed, “But, Sarge, she used better, or learn theirs.”
a couple of English words! She must have Paige grunted. “We’ll learn theirs. I
learned some from Aronson.” hate to take the time, with Earth being
Paige nodded, wondering how much blasted day by day, but we’ll have to.” He
English they knew. “How far under­ turned to the girl. “Wil you teach us your
ground are we?” he asked. language ?”
“No understand,” returned the girl She nodded brighty. This she seemed
blankly, after a moment of thought. to understand. “Start now,” she said.
“Where are you people from?” essayed She spoke to Tai Rithor rapidly in their
Paige, speaking slowly and distinctly. flowing speech. He nodded, rather reluc­
“No understand.” tantly, shot a glance at Paige, and left.
Paige checked the turmoil of further “I still don’t like him,” Sparky mur­
questions on his lips. Which didn’t they mured.
understand—his words or the ideas be­ “Forget it!” Paige snapped. “It’s triv­
hind them? ial. We’re here to learn the language first,
The girl leaned forward. “We learn contact Aronson, and get help for Earth!”
fill your words. From Dr. Aronson.” In his mind, he pictured what was hap­
“Where is he?” queried Paige. “At the pening up in the world they had left. New
center of Earth?” That thought, in spite York, London, Paris, Berlin—falling be­
of the astounding confirmation of the sub­ fore giant forces spawned in Martian
terranean world, still seemed stretching a minds. Humanity facing extinction.
point. The girl began pointing to objects, giv­
The girl shook her head without a shred ing their names in her strange tongue.
 N a week, they knew more than a smat­ people call the Fire Zone. Dr. Aronson,
I tering of the albino people’s speech.
With a flair for language Paige had learned
too.”

fast. He was amazed himself, but real­ HE frowned thoughtfully. “Yes. And
ized that a demon drove him, sharpened
his mind.
S you are strangely dark-skinned. Dr.
Aronson stumbled through the Fire Zone,
Reena spent all waking hours with them. which is strange. Tai and I were there,
She told them much of the strange new by chance, as we liked to look upon the
world they had dropped into, as they fires. When you came through, we were
learned words. Dorthia it was called by there because Tai almost ‘believed there
the inhabitants. Underworld, Paige and might be a world above the terrible Fire
Sparky called it between themselves. Mil­ Zone.”
lions of human beings lived down here, “Almost!” reiterated Paige. “You don’t
as easily as up above. believe—”
Reena conducted them through the cav­ “We believe,” said the girl, “that you
ern-city. Industry was well developed. come from an unexplored cave-city beyond
The albino people had metal alloys, and the Fire Zon£.”
inexhaustible supplies of ore all about “Not cave-city.” Paige wondered how
them. They had electricity, fast transpor­ to express himself, still unhandy with
tation, and were superb structural engi­ their language. “My world is beyond the
neers. They had, apparently through a caves. It is open, wide, free. It is under
long history, hollowed out many artificial the ‘sky’ ”—he was forced to use the En­
caverns, and so extended their range of glish word and an all-embracing gesture-—
living. “and there are ‘stars’ and the ‘moon’ and
Later, watching a new tunnel being ex­ ‘winds’ and ‘rain’ and ‘sunshine.’ ”
tended, Paige became thoughtful. A giant He stopped, caught by a sudden sigh.
machine on rollers, with a spout something “You’re homesick, Sarge,” Sparky said
like a cannon, slowly edged forward, bluntly. There was also a longing look
guided by workmen. An invisible force in his eye.
shot from it peeling the wall down stead­ Reena looked still more perplexed. “I
ily, converting rock into compressed -heavy do not understand,” she murmured. Then
matter that was carted away. It was she laughed rouguishly. “Whatever strange
something Earth science knew nothing of. cave you came from, your people are
“Reena,” Paige asked, using the new- gifted with much imagination!”
found language haltingly, “what force “Imagination, she calls it!” Sparky
does that machine use?” snorted.
“It is atom-breaking,” she responded. Paige fumed at the girl’s hard-headed
“Energy springs forth when atoms are attitude, like an ant denying the existence
broken down.” of anything beyond his ant-heap.
“Atomic-energy! Or at least a form of Reena had become grave suddenly.
it!” Paige gasped eagerly. “Sparky, do “Perhaps you and your friend had bet­
you know what it means?” ter return to your cave-city beyond the
“A weapon for our forces, against the Fire Zone,” she said with averted eyes.
Martians?” Sparky guessed quickly. “We are at war here. You will be con­
Paige whirled on Rena, his eyes blazing. scripted. Tai is commander of this city’s
“Reena,” he said in her tongue, “I think military force. . He is rather hard at
I can explain now, in your words. We’re times. He needs every man.”
from the upper world. It is being de­ “War!” Paige was reminded again of
stroyed. Martians, beings from another the holocaust above ground. How could
planet, have attacked—” he forget it, even for an instant? “Reena,
He stopped, at her utterly blank stare. there is war in my world. We need
“Upper world ?” she repeated. “There is help— ”
no upper world.” “We do not go to your cave asking for
Paige and Sparky looked at each other. help,” she returned, sharply.
“But there is,” Paige returned patiently. “But this is different. Monsters from
“You saw us come down from what you another world are attacking Earth—”
 Again her uncomprehending stare of it? Before the Martians came, up above,
puzzled disbelief. the nations of Europe—”
“No use, Sarge,” muttered Sparky in A noise interrupted a — brazen clang
English. “Can’t you see it’s like talking that reverberated through the city-cavern
Greek?” deafeningly. Tai and Reena stood for a
Paige grasped the girl’s arm. “Dr. Aron­ moment frozenly. Then the albino man
son—where is he?” darted away with a startled shout.
“He is down in the Center. Tai sent “Attack!” breathed Reena. “By our ene­
him there, to help care for the wounded.” mies. King Luth of Uldorn and his peo­
“Can he come to us?” ple are trying to gain control of this sec­
“No.” tion of caverns!”
“Then we’ll go to him. Tell us how.”
The ash-blonde head shook a negative. IV
“You cannot go. Tai will keep you here,
to fight—unless you return to your cave.” AIGE watched. It seemed to be a
“Can I send a message to Dr. Aron­
son ?” Paige asked desperately.
P skirmish, rather than battle. From the
remotest corridors pressed the attackers,
“Tai will not allow it.” a few thousand albino men, firing long
Sparky growled: “What is this Tai, a rifle-like weapons. The city’s defense
dictator ?” force retaliated from concealed ledges.
They had returned to their cliff-dwell- Paige wondered what their weapons did.
ing. Tai was waiting for them, glancing His answer came abruptly.
from the girl to Paige scowlingly. Paige There was a queer crunching sound, as
ignored that and repeated his request to though millions of crystals were being
see Dr. Aronson. squeezed together, and then a six-inch por­
“No,” Tai Rithor said flatly. “Only tion of the stone window frame chipped
the wounded go to the Center. This is war­ away, next to his elbow. But the piece
time. You are able-bodied men. I need that dropped was only one inch in size!
you in defense of the city.” “Stand back!” warned Reena. “Another
Paige ground his teeth. Their story dis­ stray shot might hit you. If you do not
believed. No spark of concern, or even know our weapons, they fire a bolt that
comprehension, for the tale they brought. causes atoms to collapse together, like the
Impressed into military service! Paige de­ tunnel-digging machines.”
cided on a show-down. The pistol that he “Atomic-power weapons!” Paige said
still had leaped into his hand from its excitedly.
holster. “If we had them up above, we’d lick
But Tai had been on guard. A hand­ the Martians!” cried Sparky.
weapon of his own came out just as “We’ve got to get out of Tai’s hands,”
swiftly. The eyes of the two men locked. Paige groaned. “Find Aronson and fig­
Reena fell back with a gasp. Sparky ure out how to bring help to the surface.”
poised on the balls of his feet, ready for Reena’s hand was on his arm, her lovely
anything. pale eyes on his. “It is important for you
“Don’t shoot, or I will,” Tai barked. to see your Dr. Aronson?”
“If you kill me, my men will get you. Paige grasped her shoulders. “Reena,
You can’t escape!” if I could only tell you how important!”
Paige relaxed and bolstered his gun. It She looked at him for another moment,
had been a mad thing to do, antagonizing then spoke tensely.
Tai still more. “This is just a skirmish. I think the
“But, Tai,” he pleaded, “if you’ll only Uldorn forces only want to find out gun
listen carefully to my story—” emplacements. They are planning for a
“This is war,” the albino man returned bigger attack, in the future. Go down
coldly. “We cannot help in your war, among our forces and fight!”
while we have our own. You are free to Paige was confused. Was she using
go back to your own cave. If you stay, an age-old appeal simply to force him to
you fight with us.” help her side? “But that’s just what I
“Crazy world,” Sparky grunted. “Or is don’t want to do!” he exploded. “I can’t
 13
fight in your crazy war while up above—” such power of death in so small a weapon.
His voice ground to a stop. Did she Paige shuddered, too, because he had
think him a coward? killed a man against whom he had no
She was looking at him strangely. “The slightest enmity or cause. Yet it had been
wounded go to the Center,” she said necessary, to find out the true potentiality
quietly. of the underworld weapon.
“I get it!” yelled Sparky. “It’s our one “What a gun 1” Sparky was crowing be­
way to get to Aronson. Sarge, she’s tell­ side him, bending to his sights for the
ing us how.” second time.
Paige was already running for the door. Paige pulled him away. “No more,
He glanced back at her, but she had Sparky. Now we know this is the weapon
averted her eyes. we need for upper Earth. No sense kill­
On the cavern-city’s floor level, the ing albino men.”
two men came up behind the Dorthian “But, Sarge!” Sparky was puzzled.
lines. Tai Rithor, directing operations, “They’ll notice we’re faking. And we
turned in surprise. have to get wounded—or killed!” He
“We will fight,” Paige said shortly. twisted his lips in a wry grimace. “On
“Good. Our weapons are easy to op­ second thought, this is kind of wacky—
erate.” shopping for a wound. A crazy suggestion
“What’s wrong with this ?” Pa.ge pulled by a woman, and we go prancing off—”
his pistol from its holster again. “She was a step ahead of you,” Paige
Tai glanced at it and laughed. “Bul­ cut him off. “Sparky, we’ve got to get
lets? We stopped using such guns a hun­ to that Center, where Aronson is. There’s
dred years ago. Here,” he snapped an only one way, with a wound. Even if
order and an aide brought two of their we—” He paused.
rifles. “Use these. Get up in the front “—have to do it ourselves!” gasped
line and pick off as many of the enemy Sparky, in dawning comprehension. “But,
as you can. This is little more than a Sarge, that’s worse than our deserting
skirmish. The experience will be good was.”
for you. There will be heavier attacks He stopped at the grim, implacable look
in the future.” in Paige’s eye. Events seemed to force
He turned away. them to do these incredible things, to ful­
fil their strange mission.
AIGE and Sparky found themselves A moment later it was done, as they
P behind a stone bulwark, a moment la­ crouched low behind the stone parapet.
ter, with grooves in which to rest theThe other albino soldiers were too busy
rifles. With a swift glance over the to look. Paige winced as Sparky care­
weapon, Paige found the trigger-lever at fully sent a bullet through the fleshy
the side that would release blasts of atom­ part of his left shoulder. Then Page
compressing force. He sighted along the calmly aimed his pistol for a shot through
barrel at a dim figure in the enemy uni­ Spark’s right shoulder. They did not trust
form of blue, creeping forward in the using the unfamiliar blast-rifles. Wounds
corridor from which the attackers had were alike.
come. They crawled back from the firing line,
The weapon had no kick. There was holding their wounds as though two shots
just a faint hum as he pulled the trigger. from the enemy had grazed their shoulders.
But in the “V” of the sights, three hun­ “Shooting ourselves!” Spark mumbled,
dred yards away, the blue-clad Uldornian outraged. “What in the name of Lucifer
threw up his hands and toppled backward. will we try next?”
Paige closed his eyes for a moment, “Anything!” Paige shot back. “Any­
shuddering. The man’s head had com­ thing at all to bring help to upper Earth.”
pletely vanished, reduced instantaneously First-aid women, in the safety zone,
to crushed matter. quickly ripped their shoulders free and
This was a wonderful—or frightful— dabbed on some antiseptic, and then taped
weapon! Even the Martians, with their the wounds. Tai suddenly appeared.
rustling kilLbeams of neutrons, had no “Wounded already?” he grinned. “You
will go to the Center immediately, for re­ “Sorry,” mumbled Paige, cursing him­
cuperation.” self for a fool.
“Figure out why he wanted you fight­ The girl, still furious, whirled away and
ing right away,” whispered Sparky. “He’s vanished in the crowd.
glad you’re going away from Reena!” “You know, Sarge,” Sparky said softly,
Paige was also glad, for a different rea­ “when they get angry like that, it means
son. To the Center meant finding Aron­ something!”
son, and getting somewhere in his baf­ Paige straightened. “Never mind about
fling quest. that. The important thing is meeting
“You were a little careless,” Tai went Aronson.”
on. “It’s a good lesson. When you come
back, recovered, you’ll be good fighters. NSIDE the kiosk, they were hustled
I’ll need you.” He turned away on his
heel.
I into one of a long train of little cars,
resting on a smooth runway that further
The skirmish was over abruptly. The on dipped down into rock-bound tunnel.
attackers left as suddenly as they had They lay flat in the car, made for that po­
come leaving a hundred dead. The hiss­ sition. An attendant slid tight a cover
ing of weapons died away. and they were sealed in.
Paige and Sparky found themselves “I feel nervous,” vouched Sparky.
bundled, along with other wounded, before “Like my*first subway ride as a kid. Won­
a structure that vaguely resembled a sub­ der where this hospital Center is?”
way kiosk. Reena was there, along with “At the center of Earth, four thousand
other albino women who had come to see miles down.”
the wounded off. “Naw,” snorted Sparky. “It’s some­
She extended her hand, relief in her where near. Why would they send
face. “I was afraid I might have sent wounded men four thousand miles? Its
you to—worse. Now you will find your name happens to ibe the Center, where Doc
Dr. Aronson. Perhaps we will meet Aronson is. He was just fooled into
again.” thinking it meant Center of Earth.”
She said it as if they were strange be­ Outside, partly muffled, they heard a
ings who might at any moment vanish as warning signal. Then motion. As if
suddenly as they had appeared in the al­ brakes had been released, the train rattled
bino world. forward on the runway, smoothly gather­
Paige stared. He was struck again by ing speed.
her snow-white beauty, under the radium- Paige felt the gradual dip downward,
glow lamps. How would she look in the into the tunnel. When he felt pressure on
bright sunshine of Earth? Probably, he his feet, he knew they were vertical. He
thought, like a rare white orchid rescued was in reality standing up now—not lying
from gloomy jungle. down—in a car that dropped straight
Paige was queerly disturbed. Was she down! Yet the pressure on his feet was
human, with her exotic whiteness ? At light. Was the car simply a free-falling
times this seemed like a dream, humans body, being yanked down by force of
sixty miles below the foundations of Earth gravity ?
cities. And the albino people looked so A low whine sounded from outside and
cold, statuesque, unreal. Impulsively, he within minutes the train rumbled along
bent to kiss her. Other soldiers were with the sound of a streamlined express
kissing women farewell. His doubts dis­ roaring at top speed.
pelled. Her lips were warm, her body Paige felt pressure against his ear­
supple. This was a girl as human as any drums that made him swallow. Counting
above. mentally, he timed the period of accelera­
Sparky turned away, with a soft whistle. tion, till the sensation of drop became uni­
She yielded only for a moment, then form. Paige grunted as though his breath
broke away. A spark of fury flashed had been knocked out, when he figured it
from her rose-irised eyes. “How dare out.
you?” she said coldly. “Tai Rithor is “Wonder how fast we’re going?” yelled
my future husband.” Sparky above the whine.
 “About a thousand miles an hour!” wounds, unable to move by themselves,
Paige yelled back. were towed through the air like balloons.
Paige wanted to think over the amaz­ Paige found walking like the strut of a
ing adventure he had dropped into, from drum-major, lowering each foot firmly to
the upper world. But now lassitude stole press forward. He slid one hand along
over him. He felt light-headed. In his the guide-rail, thankful for its assistance.
weakened condition, from loss of blood, The path they followed was a metal ramp
his mind whirled into blankness. Sparky that seemed to slant upward. And yet,
was quiet beside him. was it upward? Paigne didn’t know.
Emerging into a large cavern, the ramp
AIGE awoke with a start. An atten­ stretched without support straight on, like
P dant was shaking his good shoulder, a bridge through empty space.
urging him up. Their car was open, and “You won’t fall,” Paige chuckled at
the train had come to a stop. Sparky’s gasp. “There’s no down here.”
“Are you all right?” Paige looked ahead to where the miracu­
Paige nodded dazedly, feeling queer, lously hanging bridge led. It was a cav­
and started to rise on his elbows. The at­ ern so stupendously huge that the further
tendant’s hand restrained him for a mo­ walls were fused in distant gloom that
ment. looked like starless space. A hollow
“Don’t make any sudden moves,” he here, in Earth’s core. In the center was
warned. “Use your arms to get out.” It a gigantic metal ball, also suspended in
was routine instruction, given passengers the gravityless cavern, moored to the walls
in peace-time, no doubt, as well as when a by thin wires. Lights streamed from count­
train-load of wounded came. less rows of apertures.
Paige lifted himself over the edge of the “A hanging hospital!” marveled Sparky.
car with his arm muscles—an impossible “A hanging city!” corrected Paige, real­
acrobatic feat! That is, impossible against izing its true size.
gravity. He further astonished himself by
remaining suspended in the air, his body V
horizontal, once he was out. He stayed
that way, feeling paralyzed, helpless, out HEY entered a large portal. An at­
of his element.
With no amusement, the attendant
T tendant began to take down some sort
of record, asking questions, when another
reached up and pulled him down. “Keep figure strode forward.
your hands on the guide-rail!” “Evan Paige!”
Sparky bounced out like a rubber ball, Paige looked around into the face of
and had to be pulled down, too, flounder­ Dr. Aronson, familiar yet different, from
ing and kicking his legs.in the air. When months before. The sunless environment
he had his hands safely on the guide-rail, had obviously faded his skin, beard and
he was panting. hair. But otherwise, the short, stocky
“I feel like a fish out of water,” he explorer-scientist seemed in good health.
growled. “What’s wrong, Sarge? I feel “Dr. Aronson!” Paige wrung his hand.
like a feather!” “Hi, Doc!” greeted Sparky. “Had to
“There’s no gravity here,” Paige re­ play several tricks to get down here, but
turned. “There’s only one spot on or in here we are.”
Earth that would have no force of grav­ “Good to see you both!” returned the
ity, because of equal pull in all directions.” scientist eagerly. “It’s like meeting fel­
He looked at Sparky half maliciously. low Americans in some foreign port. I
“The center of Earth.” knew you were coming—Reena sent a
Sparky gasped. “You mean we’re really message, by wire. It’s still a surprise,
there? Four thousand miles down!” though. After our radio contact clipped
Paige sympathized with the little man’s off so suddenly, a month ago, I didn’t
utter dumbfoundment. Fantastic, every know what had happened. I thought per­
bit of this. haps the—the Martians—”
They followed a stream of wounded He stopped. He had said the word
men from the train. Those with serious queerly. He looked at Paige with a
strange, half-skeptical glance, question- “But that wouldn’t help,” Paige ground
ingly. out. “Most of our factories have been
Paige nodded. “It’s true,” he said destroyed. Our industry paralyzed by the
quietly. “Too bitterly true.” enemy’s ceaseless bombing.” He waved
“Then it wasn’t a horrible dream I’d an arm around. “We must bring them
had.” The scientist’s shoulders sagged. along an albino army!”
“I’d been hoping it was that.” Shaking “Evan, wait a minute,” interposed the
his head, he turned, beckoning. “I’ll take scientist, thunderstruck. “How are you
you to your room.” going to convince the albino people to
It was down a hall, a small cubicle with send such an army?”
two hanging hammocks. Paige looked “How can they refuse?” Paige countered.
around for a chair, finding none, then “They’re human. When they hear of part
realized standing was no effort at all, in of their own blood-race being savagely
the first place. annihilated by monsters from another
Paige told their story briefly, then looked planet, they’ll flock up there like the cru­
quizzically at the scientist for his. saders of the Middle Ages!”
“First of all,” Aronson began, “this “Will they?” Aronson was slowly shak­
floating city is more or less of a huge ing his head. “I’ve been accepted as a
sanitarium. In war-time, all the Dorthian somewhat mad creature whose poor, dazed
wounded are brought here, to recover mind can’t even remember what ‘cave’ he
more quickly, and so return to battle came from. They’ve fed me, let me live
sooner.” with them, treated me kindly, for that rea­
A sanitarium at the center of the Earth! son. You told me yourself how deaf
Paige thought of how skeptical, how ut­ Reena and Tai were to your story.”
terly disbelieving the upper world would Paige hardly heard him. He burst in,
be, if told. He shrugged that away. Be­ nervously impatient to start the grand
fore 1492, they hadn’t even known of the scheme off.
other half of that upper world. It wasn’t “Where is the ruling center? Take me
so strange that two worlds could lie al­ there. If we go directly to the authori­
most side by side, without mutual dis­ ties, we’ll get somewhere. Where is it?”
covery. “A cavern quite near here. The ruler
“I came down here to prove my geo­ of Dorthia is a sort of premier or presi­
logic theories,” resumed the scientist. “I dent, called the Kal of Dorthia. He
found the albino people. Or they found heard of me and took some slight interest
me, Reena and Tai. Neither believed I in me. But Evan, I don’t know—”
had come from an upper world, only an­ “Look,” snapped Paige, shaking the
other ‘cave.’ When Tai found out I was older man like a little child. “Up above
something of an M.D., as well as explorer, maybe half the human race is wiped out,
he impressed me into service here. War­ the other half doomed. This is a matter
time measures. In spare moments I man­ of saving the civilization we know. Get
aged to repair my set and signal you. me an audience with this Kal of Dorthia
Then the news—” one way or another!”
His voice was suddenly haggard. Aronson jerked erect. “I’ll do it! Stay
“You’re amazed at finding life and civ­ here, in the meantime. Your wounds have
ilization below here. I’m amazed that up to heal anyway.”
above, the civilization I knew is crumbling
under alien attack.” HE Kal of Dorthia was a tall, regal
He broke off, shaking his head with a
groan.
T albino with a mane of long, blond
hair that hung to his shoulders. Paige
“But now there’s some hope!” Paige’s studied him. His face was intelligent,
voice rang. “Sparky and I have already his eyes keen and kindly. Surely such a
used the weapon that will defeat the Mar­ man must have an open mind.
tians. You know of it.” “Dr. Aronson,” nodded the Kal of Dor­
Aronson brightened. “It will? Then thia in recognition. “My aide tells me
we’ll contrive to go above, and bring the you plagued him ceaselessly for a week
plans of this weapon along.” for an audience. What is it?”
 The scientist pointed to Paige. “This “Gigantic globe—space—nothingness ?
man recently came from my world. He You speak in riddles, dark man. Every­
wishes to speak with you.” one knows that there is no nothingness,
“Two more dark-skinned men!” mar­ which you call ‘space.’ How can the
veled the Kal, glancing over Paige and world be a globe, when there is only rock-
Sparky. “One of my scientists has just in all directions?”
advanced the possible theory that you, Paige groaned and tried again. He
Dr. Aronson, and these men too, presuma­ broke out in a sweat from intense expla­
bly, are”—he paused delicately—“freaks nation. Vaguely he knew himself to be
caused by excess radium emanation!” Galileo, trying to say Earth revolved
“Freaks, nothing!” Paige stepped for­ around the sun. Or Columbus, saying
ward, boiling a little at the albino’s patron­ the Earth was round and that half the
izing smile. “We’re from a different world lay beyond the seas, against all pre­
world entirely. It exists above and around vious belief.
your world. Millions of human beings The Kal of Dorthia suddenly waved an
like myself live there, and we have a civ­ imperious arm, interrupting.
ilization comparable to yours. Three “It is a mad conception. Dr. Aronson
months ago the Martians attacked, beings told me the same thing. I convinced him
from another planet—” such thoughts are wholly wrong.”
Paige went on, describing the Martian “But at least you can send an expedi­
invasion briefly. Aronson helped him tion with us beyond the Fire Zone, to dis­
when he was stuck for a word in the Dor- prove our claims,” Paige said desperately.
thian tongue. Paige paused, out of breath, “Not at present,” the Kal retorted.
but went right on. “King Luth of Uldorn is again waging
“In behalf of my world, I appeal for war on us. All our activities must go into
your help. It will not be an easy task. protection of our cave system.”
It will take an army of millions. But your “But Good Lord!” exploded Paige.
fresh forces, powerful weapons, and im­ “Don’t you realize that over your head
pregnable base will stop the enemy. You your own blood-people are being extermi­
are human. We are human. It is your nated, massacred!”
duty, by race ties alone, to send your “Enough!” snapped the ruler of Dor­
help.” thia. “I deal with realities, not the fig­
The Kal of Dorthia had listened pa­ ments of a madman’s brain. Go!”
tiently. A smile played about his lips at Baffled rage shook Paige. He took a
times. step forward, fists clenched, but Aron­
“Where do these so-called monsters you son pulled him back.
describe come from?” he queried. “Don’t be a fool!” he hissed.
“From another ‘planet.’ Another “No use, Sarge,” Sparky sighed. “Like
world.” with Tai and Reena.”
“You mean another cave?” The Kal Paige turned helplessly, to leave the
looked genuinely puzzled. “Beyond the chamber.
Fire Zone? But that is the Heavy Re­ The Kal of Dorthia’s voice floated to
gion, where our people do not go to live. them, at the door, “You will be allowed
It’s hardly explored.” to live with us and be treated well, dark
Paige saw he would have to be more man. I did not mean to be unkind to
explicit. He did not notice the ironic you.”
look in Aronson’s eyes. “Treated well, like lunatics they pity!”
“The Fire Zone lies just beneath Sparky muttered.
Earth’s crust. Climbing up through the Paige ground his teeth, out in the
crust you emerge into open air. The hall. “How could the man refuse? How
Earth is a globe, a gigantic ball, hanging could he be so obtuse, ignorant, heart­
in ‘space,’ in nothingness. Other worlds less?”
lie in space. Mars is such a ‘planet.’ And “No, Evan,” cut in the scientist wear­
from it, across space, have come the in­ ily. “You can’t blame him. Think once,
vaders. Surely you must understand?” suppose it were the other way around.
2—Planet Stories—Winter Suppose two albino men had stumbled up
into our world, made their way to Wash­ VI
ington, and demanded that the United
States send a vast army down to defeat HEY were suddenly electrified by the
monsters who were wiping out the buried
albino race. A race we never heard of,
T clanging of a great bell. The sound
reverberated through the cavern deafen-
never even dreamed was under our feet. ingly.
And monsters we couldn’t believe in, be­ Startled, Aronson turned. Dorthians
cause we had never seen them before. were scurrying by excitedly. He grabbed
Picture that, and then try to picture 130,- the arm of one man, questioned him. His
000,000 practical, hard-headed Americans reply was too rapid for Paige and Sparky
taking up the crusade.” to grasp.
“Yeah, especially past that Fire Zone,” “Attack!” Aronson told them. “By Ul-
agreed Sparky. dornian forces!”
“Okay, I get it,” muttered Paige. “Here?” gasped Paige. “At the center
“When you look at it that way, there is of Dorthia?”
some excuse for them. But at least our “No. Reena’s city, at the ‘border’ of
people would send down an expedition to Dorthia. But a real attack, this time.
investigate!” The beginning of large-scale war. The
“Would they? If powerful, blood­ Kal of Dorthia has just called for general
thirsty European armies were invading the mobilization.”
coasts at that particular time? Here’s how The scientist’s face was grave. “This
the situation is: For the past three years, is a big crisis down here in the under­
there has been growing friction between world. The start of a great war that may
the Dorthians and Uldornians. They are drag on for years!”
the two great ‘powers’ down here. There Paige’s nerves tightened suddenly.
are separate governments and cultures, Reena in danger! That one thought stood
just like above. King or Dictator Luth of out above all others. He clutched the sci­
Uldorn rules over a vast chain of caverns entist’s shoulder.
lying roughly under the Pacific Ocean and “I’m going to Reena’s city!” he said
Asia. He has built up a powerful aggres­ hoarsely.
sive army and has been absorbing smaller, “Evan, Good Lord—why?”
independent cave-states. He is now creep­ “Because he loves her!” Sparky said
ing at the ‘borders’ of Dorthia, ready to simply.
smash at it with all his power. The Kal Aronson stared for a moment, then
of Dorthia is concerned with that, not a smiled in understanding. “We can’t do
hypothetical new world that needs help.” much for ourselves right now, anyway.
“And remember the recruiting officer Come on, I’ll take you to the tube-cars.”
up above?” put in Sparky. “He didn’t He led the way to the tube-car system.
believe about the underworld for a min­ Soldiers were piling in, part of the stand­
ute. How can we blame these people? ing army rushing to the defense of the
We had to desert the Earth forces to even border. Paige shouldered uniformed men
get down here!” aside and leaped in one of the cars. As
Paige suddenly felt as though a crush­ he settled himself, Sparky attempted to
ing weight had descended on him. Two follow.
worlds, neither of which believed in the “Not you!” snapped Paige. “It’s
other! One world, too panic-stricken with enough that I’m crazy fool enough to go.
doom to investigate possible rescue. The You stay here with Dr. Aronson.”
other, preoccupied with a civil war, un­ “Okay, Sarge,” Sparky said obediently,
aware that monsters were killing off half with a slight quiver of his lips. “Take
their blood-race! care of yourself, Sarge.”
The gods must be laughing at the cos­ Paige gripped his hand. “I’m a fool, I
mic irony of it. know. But I can’t help it. If I don’t
What could be done? What possible come back, try your damnedest to talk the
way was there to break this nightmarish Kal into an expedition. I’ll try what I can,
deadlock? Paige didn’t know. He just maybe on the Uldornians. Some way or
didn’t know any more. other, we’ll work this out.”
 19
The car’s cover slid forward. A mo­ in little detachments, never getting more
ment later the long train moved, slowly than halfway. But Paige recognized the
gathering speed. Paige heard the muffled tactics. The detachments drew concen­
throb of motors, and the drone of pow­ trated fire, marking the strongest and
erful rockets. This train was going up, weakest points of the defending Dorthian
against gravity, and needed power. Yet line. The Uldornian generals must be
its speed, after acceleration, was scarcely paving the way for a great assault, within
less than that of free fall. The train an hour, Paige reasoned.
roared up into its tube like a runaway His eyes narrowed suddenly to a
comet. frown.
Paige’s thoughts were in a turmoil. His Why didn’t the Dorthians counter­
adventure into the underworld seemed attack and flank? Now was the time. It
more than ever a page out of the impos­ would be too late soon. It was ABC mil­
sible. War raging above ground and be­ itary tactics. A queer thought struck
low ground. Buried humans fighting un­ Paige. Was it possible—just possible—
der Earth’s crust for a few paltry caves. that the military of both Dorthia and Ul-
Doomed humans above ground counting dorn knew nothing of flanking?
their last hours. Napoleon had beaten all Europe to its
The universe was a madhouse. knees that way, once.
It was ironic, too, that at the moment Paige stopped firing and crawled on
Paige cared nothing for those things. hands and knees toward the center of the
Two worlds precariously dangled by fate, Doathian forces. He made out the officer
and he thought only of Reena, lovely al­ in command—a general evidently rushed
bino girl of the underworld, and her pos­ from headquarters to supersede Tai, now
sible danger! that the full tide of war had begun. He
was staring out over the battlefield. Be­
IVE hours later the train slowed and side him stood Tai Rithor, now second-in-
F ground to a halt.
Its soldier-passengers stepped out into
command. There was a strange look in
Tai’s face, as he glanced from the battle­
the midst of battle. The enemy was press­ ground to the city, as though contemplat­
ing forward, bent on capturing the tube­ ing how soon the city would be in enemy
station and cutting off both retreat and hands.
reinforcement. The trained Dorthian “Tai!” Paige called, striding up. “Is
troops scurried for cover, unslung their Reena safe?”
rifles, and began peppering away. Tai Rithor started, and flushed as he
Paige gasped as he raised his head and met Paige’s eyes, as though caught off
felt a diabolic bolt whine past his ear. guard. “So you’re back, Evan Paige?
Then fire leaped into his eyes. That Just in time to see the city fall!”
strange madness which comes over men in Paige grunted at the fatalistic words.
battle swept through him. He leaped out He whirled on the high-commander, who
with tigerish speed, and crouched behind hadn’t noticed him.
the protective train. His shoulder wound “The enemy will attack soon, in force,”
was completely healed, after a week in Paige said without preamble.
the gravityless sanitarium. “Yes, and we will be wiped out,” re­
A moment later he picked up the rifle turned the commander imperturbably,
of a Dorthian whose crushed body lay without turning his head. “We are out­
sprawled over the stone floor. He loaded numbered. The city will fall. But we will
his pockets with charge-clips from slain fight to the last man.”
Dorthians and settled down to the grim
business of picking off as many of the Tt was starkly clear to Paige then.
enemy as possible. In this way he was
helping Reena, who was safe back in the
I Middle Age warfare, frontal attack,
no strategy, no thought of outwitting the
city. But if the city fell— enemy. Paige could almost understand.
Paige looked around. The albino people had never known wide
A wide no-man’s-land separated the two battlefields on which to experiment with
forces. Periodically the enemy charged maneuvers.
 Paige drew a breath. Could they be called flanking, dark man. If it fails, we
taught ? will all die anyway.”
“There’s still a chance!” he said. “Look I Paige himself led the men. Single file,
Send a file of men hugging the left wall, a thousand Dorthians crept warily along
in the shadows. Halfway to the first Ul- the left wall, where numerous overhangs
dornian line there’s a hollow. From there and outjuttings cast shadows. An hour
they can blast out at the enemy attack later they were lined in two close pha­
from the side, taking them completely by lanxes, one kneeling, one standing, as
surprise!” Paige ordered.
“What?” For the first time the com­ Paige waited tensely. They were barely
mander turned, surprised. He started at in time. There was a sudden ominous
sight of the dark-skinned man, in a uni­ hush from the enemy. Then they came,
form that was not even regulation. “Who in Hun-like tides, charging across the
are you?” space. Paige held back the signal to fire
“Tai Rithor knows me.” till the last moment.
“He came through the Fire Zone re­ Then his arm flung down.
cently,” Tai nodded. “From some iso­ A withering crossfire burst from his
lated cave beyond. He is not quite—” Tai troops, into the side ranks of the unsus­
stopped but the innuendo was plain. pecting enemy. It was slaughter. The
“We are not playing a game here, dark Uldornians pressed forward against the
man,” the commander said, as if to a child. fire from front and side, by sheer mo­
“We are fighting.” mentum. But when Paige gave the order
Paige groaned aloud. Anger surged in to charge, pressing them into a disorgan­
his veins. ized mass from his side, they broke. In
“You idiot!” he yelled in English. “Go a half hour the battlefield was clear, except
ahead and murder your troops. I don’t for the dead. The Uldornians had lost
care!” He bit his lip, gripping himself. heavily. And they hadn’t gained an inch.
Once more, desperately, he tried to ex­ The Dorthian commander, facing Paige
plain the flanking movement. again, saluted. “You are hereby appointed
“Evan Paige, you must stop,” inter­ my second-in-command!” he said directly.
posed Tai, glancing apologetically at his “That was a magnificent maneuver!”
superior officer. “You are trying to tell All the officers murmured agreement.
us our business. Now come with me to But Paige noted that Tai Rithor’s face
the rear lines.” was expressionless. He did not show re­
Paige flung his hand off with almost a sentment, for being displaced. There was
snarl, and kept on speaking. Two other a queer, indefinable air about him, of cold
officers had come up, listening. Sudden watchfulness.
fire seemed to strike in their minds. The The commander’s face fell into worried
military men looked at one another, and lines, the next moment. “But it will still
then at Paige. go hard with us. The Uldornians are here
“Perhaps it is worth a try!” mused the in full force. They will attack again and
commander. again.”
“Sir, it would be a mistake,” Tai dep­ And they did.
recated. “My poor friend’s mind thinks
up all sorts of queer ideas.” OURS flew by. Hours of humming
Paige glared at the young albino. There
was something strange in his attitude.
H death, dying men, grim struggle for
mastery. Paige used all the tricks he knew
Had Reena perhaps told him of Paige’s from Earth’s battlefields: double flanking,
kiss, and thus stirred his jealousy? Or sniping, fake counter-attacks, anything and
was it something deeper, more vital? everything to harass the enemy. They
The commander hesitated, trying to might ordinarily have won hours before.
make up his mind. Instead, now, the chances were better than
“You have nothing to lose,” Paige stated even that the Dorthians could hold out till
flatly. adequate reinforcements came.
“By the head of Luth, no!” the com­ But the enemy prepared for a final gi­
mander exclaimed. “We will try this so- gantic assault. Dorthian lookouts made
out the massing of all their troops, behind marooned in an island of dead bodies.
their lines. Conferring with the officers Up ahead, a body of blue-uniformed
on this, Paige outlined a daring maneuver. men came surging toward him. He fired
It would be a triple flanking movement. into their massed numbers, taking savage
Two thousand men were to slip past the delight in seeing three men go down like
Uldornian left flank, when they charged, tenpins. Then they spread. The men
and come up from the rear! The enemy, at both extremes kneeled, taking careful
still amazed and baffled at the flanking that aim at him. Paige got one, but knew he
robbed them of quick victory, would hardly couldn’t get the other.
conceive of attack on their rear. He heard the vicious hiss of a bolt and
Paige and Tai Rithor led the men. They felt a jerk as the gun in his hands took
reached their position and waited. Heart the shot. He was unarmed now! Then
pounding, Paige looked for the enemy to he noticed the men running up without
appear. And then, suddenly, he was aware firing. They were going to capture him
that Tai was gone! alive! A moment later they gripped his
There was little time to think that over, arms and were hustling him back to their
or look for him. lines, out of the battle zone.
The grand attack came, like a jugger­ Paige turned back to look. Far across
naut, wave after wave of men. the battlefield strewn with bodies he could
While the left flank engaged the van of see the waves of blue-uniformed Uldor­
the attack, Paige waved his men past. A nians sweeping past the tube-station and
thousand went down, under fire, but the into the city proper. The fight was prac­
other thousand straggled through, re­ tically over. The city had fallen.
formed, and swung in a wide circle, to fall When Paige turned his eyes back, he
on the Uldornian rear. looked directly into the face of Tai Rithor,
Just as Paige was congratulating him­ smiling triumphantly. He had come up
self on success, it happened. from the enemy camp.
Five thousand yelling, vengeful Uldor­ “Renegade!” snarled Paige.
nians leaped from a concealed vantage, as “Call it what you want,” Tai replied.
though waiting for them. They fell on “The fall of this city was planned, with
the Dorthian force devastatingly. The my aid, weeks ago.” His smile became
Dorthians could not retreat. Paige cursed threatening. “I think King Luth will be
as his men were decimated on all sides. interested in seeing the man who caused
This shattered the whole Dorthian plan. so many of his troops to be killed need­
Uldornian victory was assured. lessly. I told them to take you alive.”
As though waiting for them!
This phrase had stuck in Paige’s mind, VII
all the while that he fought hopelessly,
firing from one knee. The Uldornian de­ OURS later, rough hands woke Paige
tachment had been waiting. How had they
divined a strategy they knew nothing
H from the sleep of utter exhaustion
he had fallen into. He was still chained
about ? before the enemy headquarters, where they
There was one possible answer, though had herded him after the defeat. But
Paige hated to think of it—the disappear­ now he was not alone. Dozens of Dor­
ance of Tai Rithor! thian men were chained nearby, obviously
But nothing mattered any more. high officials of the fallen city, now pris­
Paige was marked for death. He felt oners of war. They sat dejected, silent,
as he had that day against the Martians, bitter.
with the regiment doomed. Here he could Paige suddenly sprang to his feet and
not even run, with limiting walls on every strained at his bonds. The door of the
side. He could only keep firing, account­ temporary barracks had opened and Reena
ing for as many of the enemy as possible, Meloth stood framed in it! Behind her
before the shot with his number on it came Tai, holding her arm. Seeing Paige,
arrived. she struggled as though to run to him,
He glanced around. Not one of his but Tai held her firmly.
men was alive, for yards around. He was “No. You will never have each other!”
 Tai grated. “After we rescued Evan Paige held emotional overtones that quivered
from the Fire Zone, your attitude toward through the giant cavern.
me changed, Reena. This is my revenge. “My praises to my valiant army, for
You must take me or—” He waved their splendid efficiency. This marks our
around at the Uldornian soldiers sugges­ first step in the conquest of the degenerate
tively. Dorthian state. Our victorious, invincible
“Snake!” ground out Paige, wrenching forces will sweep onward. In capturing
futilely at his chains. this tube-station, we have access to dozen
Reena’s eyes met his. Paige thrilled, of other city-caverns, which will be taken
for in them he saw a glowing light meant under our beneficent wing. Soon our
for him. Tai, proving himself a renegade army will be hammering at the very heart
to their people, was no longer between of the enemy region. Dorthia will be ours
them. The swift reversal of relationship and we will rule the universe!”
left Paige almost giddy with joy, for a Rule the universe! He had used a word
moment. that translated that way to Paige, and
Only for a moment. Then crushing Paige grinned mirthlessly. Little did King
realization swept over him. He had gained Luth realize that his rock-bound “uni­
that and lost everything else. A prisoner verse” lay under another world!
of the Uldornians, separated from Aron­ The speech went on, in similar vein.
son and Sparky, perhaps for the duration Paige could have written the words for
of war. Fool! He had recklessly thrown him. Upper world dictators had preceded
aside his mission to save upper Earth. him. The high-pitched tones worked the
What could he do now? crowd into an emotional frenzy. The army
Paige groaned from the bottom of his would go on in its conquest with renewed
soul. Sparky was right. They should faith in their “cause,” whatever nebulous
never have left the upper world, to em­ thing it was. Paige didn’t know enough
bark on this mad adventure. At least, of their language to get that clear, but he
before the Martians, they would have had knew it wasn’t important. He’d heard
an honorable death. something like it before.
His tortured thoughts were interrupted Paige’s mind reviewed its own thoughts.
as a murmur of excitement rose among Bitterly he hated King Luth and his pro­
the Uldornians. All eyes turned. gram of conquest. If it weren’t for that,
From the tunnel passageway that crossed the Dorthians might have listened to him
the former “border” of Dorthia and Ul- and investigated his story of upper Earth
dorn came a procession. The enemy king, holocaust. As it was, the underworld peo­
a short albino man with a long blond mus­ ple would be engaged in this struggle for
tache, strode at the head of resplendently mastery of the “universe” for years. If
uniformed troops who marched with strut­ ever they did penetrate to the upper world,
ting legs. A cheer rose from the Ul­ it would be only to find an alien race of
dornians as their king paused at the bor­ monsters firmly entrenched.
der-marking, gestured disdainfully, and Paige groaned mentally to himself again.
stepped into Dorthian “territory.” Up above, the human race wiped out. Be­
Paige watched wonderingly. low, the human race under the control of
How like a re-enactment of similar a dictatorial regime. Cruel fate had dealt
scenes on Earth it was! Before the Mar­ a double blow to the race of creatures who
tians had come, a dictator in Europe had had struggled up so agonizingly from the
thus stepped triumphantly into captured ape.
territory. Nothing new under the sun, or
under Earth’s crust itself! N hour later, his official speech-mak­
All the Uldornian army had gathered to
watch this momentous occasion. They
A ing over, King Luth looked over his
Dorthian prisoners, contemptuously sen­
cheered and raised their arms in salute as tencing them to death. Finally he stopped
Kink Luth of Uldorn stepped onto a stone before Paige and Reena.
dais erected for him. Tai saluted him.
“I take over this liberated city, in the “Ah, yes, Tai Rithor,” nodded the king.
name of Uldorn!” he spoke. His voice "I have been told. For your part in our
victory, I hereby appoint you governor of must be the largest in existence! Further­
this city!” more—”
Tai beamed, looking at Paige and Reena. He paused and went on tensely. “I
They turned their eyes away in loathing. have surmised that their cavern may be the
For this he had sold himself to the enemy. key to a quick conquest of Dorthia!”
With a malicious grin, Tai pointed to King Luth started, no less than Paige
Paige. and Reena.
“This is the dark man, sire, who was Tai went on slowly.
also mentioned to you.” “They speak of their cavern being
The King of Uldorn turned his pale above both Dorthia and Uldorn. If there
eyes balefully on Paige. is a way down to Dorthia, there must be
“Then you are the one, dark man, who one to Uldorn. If their story is true, that
so organized the Dorthians that they held their cavern is a huge one, it must also
out for senseless hours? It was an added lie above other sections of Dorthia. Per­
cost to us of thousands of brave soldiers!” haps other passages lead to Dorthian cav­
His glare changed to thoughtfulness. erns, or can be quickly blasted out. The
“You must be a military genius. Are you Uldomian forces could then attack Dorthia
a Dorthian? You have a remarkably dark in a totally unexpected quarter!”
skin. It does not matter, however. I Paige gasped.
will offer you leniency. If you reveal to The whole thing was ridiculous, non­
us your strange new method of warfare, sensical. To carry out any such plan as
you will be absolved from blame for what Tai’s, an army of Uldornians would have
happened before!” to march way across Earth, searching all
Paige straightened his shoulders and other natural caves like Mammoth for pos­
shook his head firmly. “I am not a Dor­ sible entrances to the underworld caverns.
thian. But neither will I lift one finger Dr. Aronson himself suspected that Carls­
to help you!” bad, Yellowstone, and many natural caves
The king’s face darkened. “Then I sen­ in out-of-way places had access to the
tence you to banishment above the Fire underworld, if once they were meticulously
Zone, in the Heavy Region! You will searched for.
wander there for days, lost, and finally die But it remained that Tai had no con­
of madness!” ception of the hugeness of the outside
Paige’s heart leaped. Banishment above world. Obviously, he thought of it simply
the Fire Zone! That way led to the upper as a large “cave,” extending perhaps a
world! Perhaps, winning his way up few dozen miles.
again, he might still do something about “Is this true, dark man?” demanded
his mission; try again to have an Earth King Luth.
expedition come down. “Of course not!” scoffed Paige. “It is
He hastily wiped a faint smile of sat­ true that I came from a world abov> both
isfaction from his face and tried to look Dorthia and Uldorn, but you would never
properly dismayed. find other passages to attack Dorthia.”
Tai Rithor had been watching him nar­ Tai and King Luth exchanged glances.
rowly. The king smiled a slow, knowing smile.
“No, sire!” he interposed quickly. “This “So! Now I am sure there must be such
dark man came from a cave above the a passage, else you would not be so quick
Fire Zone!” to deny it! You are a bad actor, dark
King Luth looked astonished. “Go on!” man. You refused to help me before,
he commanded. earning death. I give you another chance.
Tai told the story of Paige’s rescue from Show us the way to your cavern, and to
the lava flows, and also the arrival of Dr. one other passage to Dorthia, and you will
Aronson, months before. be spared!”
“Thus these three dark men have come Paige laughed aloud.
down from some city-cavern above the “I couldn't if I wanted to!” he retorted.
Fire Zone,” Tai concluded. “I have lis­ “I could lead an army of yours up there,
tened to their stories closely. They de­ all right. But it would walk its legs off
scribe their cavern in such terms that it trying to find another natural cave for a
way down. I’d have to walk it from Ken­ Paige turned away from the stony-faced
tucky to New Mexico, to the Carlsbad girl, hoping he wasn’t making too melo­
Cavern, as a possibility. That’s only about dramatic an air out of it.
two thousand miles—half-way across all “Listen, then. Here’s how it must be
Dorthia! No, King Luth, I can’t help you done. My people are numerous, in our
in that, even assuming I wanted to!” cavern above the Fire Zone. We have
Again Tai and the king exchanged armed forces, too. It will be best for you
glances. to send a large force along with me, to
“He seeks to confuse us,” observed Tai. reach another cave-entrance to Dorthia.”
“He is trying to cover up the fact that King Luth looked perturbed. “You
his cavern is the way to quick conquest of have armed forces? Then perhaps it
Dorthia!” would gain us little.”
“You fools!” snapped Paige, humor Paige called forth all the histrionic pow­
leaving him. “When I tell you the truth, ers at his command. He looked as relieved
you don’t believe it. If you’d only believe as he could.
my story as it is—but, of course, you “Yes!” he hastened to assure. “You
won’t, any more than the Kal of Dorthia. would have to fight my people first. It
What’s more, if your army went up there, might gain you nothing. I speak the truth.
it would run smack into the Martian I want to save my life. I will take your
forces.” first offer, to show you our military tac­
Paige stopped, choking. He staggered tics.”
mentally. They weren't the fools—he “Sire!” burst in Tai. “He is trying to
was! He didn’t speak for a minute, his dissuade us now from going to his cav­
mind churning. ern. It must mean he is trying to save
King Luth, watching him, waved a hand. his own people. Despite their clever mili­
“You still refuse. Therefore, you must tary tactics, they are weakly armed. They
die.” used obsolete propulsion-weapons.”
“Wait!” Paige took a deep breath. He His eyes lighted. “Another thing! His
was trembling. Sweat beaded his fore­ uniform is a military one. He came down
head. “I don’t want to die!” There was for help, against an enemy. His people are
a whine in his voice. at civil war—divided!”
The king smiled triumphantly at Tai. Paige looked guilty. He nodded re­
“He has broken down!” To Paige he luctantly. But then he said sharply: “But
said: “Will you show us the way to your your armed forces are not strong enough
cavern world, then?” to conquer my people, divided though we
Paige nodded, haggardly. are. I tell you, you can’t! You will not
easily conquer my people.”
EENA, who had listened silently all “Conquer your people!” interrupted
R the while, darted him a strange, King Luth, taking the bait. “Yes, we will
shocked glance. Her eyes seemed to plead
conquer your people! Uldorn will add
with him, but Paige looked away. Then another part of its great kingdom. Ob­
her lips curled. Deliberately, she shrank viously, they are weak, by your hesitation,
away from him, with an expression of dark man. We will conquer them quickly
loathing. and then strike at Dorthia. It is my com­
“Reena!” Paige stammered. “Reena, mand. You, Tai, and this man will lead
please! After all, it’s my life. What can an expeditionary regiment to the upper
I do?” cavern. If by some chance they prove
To himself Paige was saying: “Make too strong, send word and I will rush re­
this good! Don’t overplay your hand, but inforcements. If the dark man tries
make it good!” treachery, torture him.”
Out of the corner of his eyes he watched “I have a better suggestion,” Tai grinned
Tai. Somewhat suspicious of the abrupt evilly. “Let us take the girl along, whom
breakdown on Paige’s part, Tai now he loves. If the dark man attempts to
grinned in satisfaction. It pleased him lead us astray, she will be tortured!”
that Reena showed the same contempt for “Good!” nodded King Luth. “The reg­
Paige that she had shown for Tai. iment will start tomorrow.”
 ONE TBOlS iy D
VIII wondered how it would all turn out.
Sweating and toiling their way upward,
GAIN Evan Paige felt that it was all the army of Uldornian troops were mut­
a strange, incredible dream. tering by the tenth day. King Luth had
It was a week after the fall of the city. insisted that they take small cannon along,
Behind him marched a regiment of Ul­ against any surprising power of the dark-
dornian soldiers, powerfully armed. On skinned people. At times, where the way
his left and right were Reena and Tai. led over boulders or up steep defiles, the
The girl was silent, drawn-faced, and had men had to sling the cannon on ropes and
hardly spoken a word to either of them drag them up by sheer labor.
in six days. Her contempt for both was But they were hardy, well-disciplined
equal. One renegade deserved no better troops, not easily dismayed by such draw­
than another. backs. They were superbly equipped, both
Tai Rithor strode along eagerly. As in armament and supplies. Where the
commanding officer of the regiment, he caverns were dim, lacking both phospher­
stood to gain much in prestige and fdvor escent plants and radio-active walls, they
with King Luth, if Paige’s cavern-world lighted the way with portable radium-glow
were successfully negotiated. searchlights. Well armed, they would be
The way led upward steadily. able to set a defense line anywhere and
They had passed through the Fire Zone at the very least hold off against vastly
three days before. Again Paige saw why superior forces till reinforcements came,
it had placed a natural limit on the ex­ were such needed in the venture ahead.
pansion of the albino people. It was a Paige grinned.
hot, tempestuous region of linked caverns, The venture ahead was going to have
with treacherous lava flows springing out an amazing climax! And even Paige was
at any unguarded moment. They had lost not sure just what sort of climax. Only
more than a dozen men, despite caution. one thing was certain—that he was at
And once, by a miracle, the regiment had last leading the albino people to the upper
barely quitted a cavern before a veritable world.
cloudburst of molten, hissing rock dropped He thrilled at the thought. He was in­
down from the ceiling. Had that struck troducing one world to another, neither
them, the whole regiment would have been aware of the other. He was a second
wiped out. Columbus 1
But that was all behind them now. Ahead Though all had gone so far as he
lay fifty miles of Earth’s crust to pene­ planned, one thing bothered Paige and
trate. And they were constantly strug­ made his sleep troubled. It was the girl,
gling against gravity, fighting their slow and the open way she despised him for
way up. Thus the region had long been what he had done. Paige longed to talk
known as the Heavy Region, where the to her, convince her she was wrong, and
peak of gravity existed. The bulk of al­ one day had his chance. Tai had slipped
bino population lived at least a thousand back a few dozen yards, talking to one of
miles below, where gravity was only his officers.
of surface gravity. Paige called her without moving close
Paige followed Aronson’s arrows, in re­ to her. It would not do for Tai to know
verse, leading the way. he had spoken to her. She made no an­
Tai looked at him suspiciously at times. swer, staring straight ahead, moving her
“If you are leading us astray, Evan legs mechanically.
Paige, you’ll regret it. You wouldn’t like “Reena, listen to me!” he tried again.
to see Reena—” He had then gone into “Whatever you think of me, it isn’t true.
detail, till Paige had to dig his nails in Do you think I’m deliberately showing the
his palms to keep from leaping at the man. Uldornian army the way to conquer Dor­
But within himself, he laughed. For thia?”
though Tai could not realize it, leading “Well?” she said witheringly, breaking
the army astray was the last thing in the her silence.
world Paige would do. Sometimes Paige “But I’m not,” Paige returned. “Please
himself became a little confused, and trust me. You must believe me. What
I’m doing is for the benefit of my people.” pinpoints of light in the roof of the cave
Her voice came back wearily. “I only beyond. Also a cold wind blew in.”
know that this regiment can bring no good And as they marched to the mouth of
to my people!” Mammoth Cave, after a sleeping period,
‘‘Reena, you don’t understand—” Paige Evan Paige grew to wonder what reaction
began, but at that moment Tai returned, the full sight of his world would have on
and Paige subsided. He stole a glance at these buried people.
the girl, for a sign that she might still From now on, he told himself, anything
trust him, but saw none. might happen! He had played with fate.
Within himself, Paige alternately cursed How would fate now play with him?
her and forgave her. He could see her
viewpoint, knowing no more of the outer HEY reached the cave-mouth when
world than the others. T it was again night in the outside world.
Paige strained forward eagerly, for the
WO weeks after they had left their last hundred yards, though Tai’s gruff
T base, Paige drew a deep breath.
He was leading the way now across a
voice warned him not to attempt to escape.
Finally he stood looking out into the
cavern decorated by the ages with familiar night sky, his first glimpse of open air
stalactites and stalagmites. It was the for more than a month. He stood drink­
cavern directly in back of Mammoth Cave ing in the fresh night breezes. It was
proper. Another few miles. . . . July and the summer stars beamed down
When they reached the narrow tunnel like fiery beacons. He felt much as if he
through which Paige and Sparky, and had been resurrected from a grave.
Aronson before them, had scarcely He turned.
squeezed through, Paige called a halt. What was the effect on the albino peo­
“This narrow tunnel,” he informed Tai, ple, who had never in all their lives seen
“is the only entrance to my cavern in this the sky, or stars? They were looking out
vicinity. It would take too long for each in puzzled astonishment. They were all
man to wiggle through. Have a cannon shivering from the breeze, knowing little
blast a larger passage.” of circulating air in their protected world.
Tai complied, after sending a man “What a strange cavern!” muttered Tai,
through and back. The albino cannoneers, his face slowly turning to take in the night
past masters in the art of fashioning rock­ view. “It must be truly huge. The roof
bound tunnels, expertly hollowed out a appears very high. But what are all those
large corridor. Their cannon’s blasts flashing lights?”
peeled the walls down rapidly. Within “Stars!” murmured Paige in his own
the smooth fissure down which Paige and language, since they had no such word.
Sparky had slid, they blasted a sloping “Blessed stars! And that roof is a little
path through to the cave floor. And the higher than you think!”
regiment marched up into the back por­ A gasp came suddenly from Reena. She
tions of Mammoth Cave. pointed a trembling hand. “Look! That
“This is your cavern?” Tai queried. great light—it is moving up! What can
“The beginning of it,” Paige nodded. that be?”
“Further on, there is a wide portal, leading All the albino people watched in shocked
into the main part of my cavern-world. amazement, as the full moon slowly bulked
Come on.” over the horizon. Its light, though pale
Tai was cautious. “I will send a man and soft, was almost as bright as the ra-
ahead first. Your forces might be lurking dium-glow lamps the albino people used.
to trap us.” “That is unique,” commented Tai. “Your
A scout was sent, following the arrows, people are rather clever, Evan Paige. They
and came back reporting he had seen the move a huge radium-glow lamp across the
portal, but no sign of enemy forces. He roof. But on second thought, it’s rather
had a sort of shocked look in his eyes, ridiculous. If this is the end of the sleep­
and was shivering. ing period, why don’t they have it over­
“I looked out of the portal,” he said. head and simply turn it on?”
“It was strange. There were many little “We have our reasons,” said Paige, the
corners of his lips twitching. He went bino men jumped up, rubbed sleepy eyes,
on curiously. “How far away does that and then shielded them from the light
light look to you, Tai?” pouring in from outside. Light that was
“Well, perhaps ten lengths,"’ Tai esti­ dozens of times stronger than their bright­
mated. A length was the length of a cer­ est radium-glow lamps.
tain cavern used as a standard in the un­ Tai sprang up, shouting orders. In
derworld ; approximately a mile. He shook quicker time than it ever had before, the
his head. “No. I must admit this is a regiment broke camp—and retreated!
huge cavern. Twenty lengths!” They retreated back into the cave, where
He said it reluctantly, as though he had shadows cut down most of the blinding
betrayed his people’s pride. daylight glare. There they stopped, and
Some of the albino men in back gasped, reorganized themselves. It had been close
at that bold and stupendous estimate. Paige to a panic.
laughed silently. The moon was twenty Paige had watched with amusement. He
miles away! He realized something now. stood in the direct rays, letting the warm,
The albino people’s eyes, never focusing pleasant sunshine tingle on his skin. He
on distances more than a few miles in was pale from his confinement under­
their restricted world, had no mental equip­ ground. The deep tan he had once had
ment with which to judge distances beyond was faded.
a few miles. To them, the “roof” actually Reena, too, had stayed behind.
was twenty miles away, and no more! She stood tensely, watching Paige as
Paige watched Reena’s face mostly. A though ready to bolt when he did. But
strange succession of emotions had flitted again he saw in her eyes a queer growing
across her alabaster-white features. First wonder and joy, as though she were see­
amazement, wonder, even a little fear, but ing a dream unfold exactly as some dim
finally something softer. racial memory told her it would. Her
“It’s beautiful, in a way,” she mur­ eyes, bluish now in the sunlight, watered
mured. “It’s almost like something I’ve as the unaccustomed radiation bathed
dreamed at times. And it’s beautiful!” them. But blinking bravely, she was star­
She was swallowing, her eyes misting ing out at the wide sweep of rolling mead-
slightly. owland, lush and green and beautiful.
And Paige knew, from that, that though “Evan!” she whispered. “It seems to
the albino race had not known the surface go on and on, till my sight blurs! On
world for an age, their primary memory and on—” She swayed suddenly, as
still loved it. The ancestors common to though perched on some tremendous peak.
both races had known these things for Paige caught her. He held her for a
longer ages before. Life did not forget, moment, and it was more than the sun
though the individual might. that pumped heated blood through his
He pitied the albino people at that mo­ veins. He started, then, peering closely at
ment. They had been withheld from their her.
birth-right. The white skin of her face, hands and
lower legs, exposed to the sun, had turned
IX a fiery red. With a cry, he pulled her
back into the shadow of an upright stone
HE regiment pitched camp at the block. A few more minutes and her un­
mouth of the cave, for its regular pigmented skin might have had a bad
sleep period. burn! As it was, she was as red as a
At dawn, Paige was up. He wanted to lobster.
see the sunrise. As the first rose rays Tai came running up. Glancing curi­
stole into the air, the sentries began to get ously at the girl, he clutched Paige’s arm,
nervous. They watched in growing won­ as if to prevent his escape.
der as the light became stronger and “I’d almost forgotten you," he panted.
stronger. When they caught a glimpse of “But I should have known you wouldn’t
the sun, behind a bank of thick clouds, try to escape. Something has happened
they shouted in alarm. out there in your cavern. Your people are
The army woke to pandemonium. Al­ doomed! It is on fire!"
 "No,” Paige smiled in amusement at “It’s a machine that—” began Paige,
Tai’s statement. then stopped.
After thinking a moment, he went on. There were no words to explain what
“My people have devised a great, bright he meant, in their language. He would
lamp that is swung across the roof, just have to say “flies like a bird” in English.
as the dimmer lamp was last night. My Tai and the albino people had never seen
people find this light better to see by, and
a bird. They did not exist in the sub­
have become used to its effects on the skin.
terranean world. And they had no single
Your men can also endure it, soon, by word that meant “flying.”
letting their skins become dark, like mine. Paige saw the mental shell-shock in Tai’s
But it must be done carefully, a few min­ face. Hastily he said: "It is simple
utes at a time, over a period of days, other­
enough, Tai. We have a region, in the
wise you will have serious burns.” air, that is without gravity, just as your
Tai shook his head dazedly. “This is Center is. Machines float up there quite
a queer enough cavern. But we will have naturally. Is there anything strange about
to do it. Then we’ll reconnoiter out and that ?”
see what forces oppose us.” Paige waited to see the effect, wondering
His eyes were suddenly on Paige, sus­ if his tissue of lies would hold together.
piciously. Tai nodded rather sheepishly, his tensed
“You didn’t attempt to run away, thoughbody relaxing. "Your people have strange
you had a perfect chance! And now you things. Do they,” he asked shrewdly, "arm
are warning us against the burn from this those floating machines and use them in
great lamp, when you could have let us warfare ?”
go out and be burned! What game are Paige nodded, putting a gleam in his eye
you playing, Evan Paige? You would not for Tai’s benefit.
thus easily help us against your own peo­ He went on truthfully. “Yes, and they
ple.” are powerful fighting craft. They rain
“Don’t forget there is Reena,” coun­ down rays and bombs, sweeping whole
tered Paige. “I didn’t want her to suffer armies to destruction.”
revenge meant for me.” "Enough!” cut in Tai, smiling. "I know
The girl darted him a puzzled glance. when you lie, Paige! You’re trying to
Tai looked from one to the other, clouds
frighten me, hoping I’ll give up this cam­
of doubt still hovering over his features.paign ! But no—we’ll sweep out into your
"I’m going to keep close watch on you, cavern, when we have become adjusted to
Paige,” he growled. “You won’t trick the burning light. Your clumsy tongue
me.” won’t dissuade me from glory and con­
He waved his hand-pistol, for Paige to quest. You tremble, I see. But come,
return to their camp. there is much to do.”
Paige was trembling. But for a differ­
HRUGGING, Paige turned, thinking ent reason than Tai suspected. The
S deeply. The ice was thin. He could plane, now gone, had been a Martian craft,
not play this subtle game much longer.upheld by its miraculous hissing rocket
And yet the cards had to be played in the jets. A patrol ship, probably, scouting
right order. over conquered territory for possible hu­
His whole body jerked suddenly. A low man survivors.
hissing sounded from outside the cave­ The sight of the ship brought sharp re­
mouth, from the sky. Alert to all new membrance to Paige, like a knife thrust.
things in this strange cavern-world, Tai The adventures in the underworld had
switched around, peering up. His mouth dulled his mind partly to the upper world
fell open. A wide-winged, sleek airplane catastrophe, but now the full, agonizing,
soared high overhead. unbearable thought of it reared.
It was the first manifestation of the He saw something else, about a mile
outer civilization, and to Tai it was an away, on a broad field. A strewn line of
unbelievable phenomenon. little khaki mounds, broken silent field­
"What is that?” he cried. “How can pieces, and gouged-out craters of torn
that machine ride off the ground?” ground. A battle had been fought there,
perhaps just a few days ago. A regiment to him. It told him that this was the
of Earth soldiers annihilated. Several world man was meant to live in, not the
wrecks, of Earth planes, indicated how sunless depths below.
easily the Martians had won. Yes, man’s world—but for how long?
How far had the Martians advanced? How near was the end of mankind’s reign,
Had the American army been driven back usurped by the Martian invaders? The
to the Rockies perhaps, while he had been thought chilled Paige to the marrow.
below? Was Europe a vast graveyard of “I have been looking at the blue rock
humans? Were the defenseless millions of the roof often.” It was Reena speak­
of China falling like chaff before the Mar­ ing, her voice awed. “Sometimes I have
tian juggernaut? the feeling that nothing is there at all!”
For all Paige knew, the Martians had Paige looked at her. Though she was
broken all military resistance, and were unrelenting in her attitude toward him,
now systematically running a vacuum­ she was changed. She had become vital,
cleaner of death over Earth’s face! alive, thrillingly lovely. With her carmine-
“Good Lord 1” he groaned aloud at that tinted face, framed by ash-blonde hair, she
thought. If only he knew. But he had was like some rare, exotic blossom.
no radio, no way of finding out at present. Tai’s eyes involuntarily turned upward,
There was a plane there, a mile away, also, to the mystery of the sky, with a
that looked unwrecked. Perhaps its pilot look close to fear. “Yes, at times I won­
had been able to land it just before dying der, too.”
of wounds. Paige almost leaped away, “How foolish!” It was Paige himself
burning to find out about his world, but who scoffed. It was not time for them
eased back with another groan. Tai would to know. “The bright light my people use
shoot him if he ran. gives the illusion of emptiness. The roof
Tai leered at him, hearing the groan. is there.”
“There is no help for it, Evan Paige,” he “Of course!” agreed Tai, shaking his
said vigorously. “I will conquer your head in self-reprovement. “There must
people!” be a roof. It wouldn’t be possible to con­
ceive of its absence.”
WEEK later, the regiment performed One more phenomenon Paige had to ex­
A drills in the open space beyond the
mouth of Mammoth Cave, under the
plain away—rain. Swift clouds came up,
precipitating a brief but thorough down­
hot
sun. With Paige’s apparently reluctant pour. A mere summer shower, but to the
guidance, Tai had conditioned the men to albino people, watching from the shelter
the new climate. Daily they had gone out of the cave, it was stark novelty. They
into the sun, for short periods of time, knew water, but only in trickles that
acquiring a steady “tan.” Their white, seeped down from the ocean bottoms, down
unpigmented skin turned a rich red, as into their isolated catacombs. What was
with Scandinavians who went to warmer this incredible dropping of lakefuls of
climates. water from the roof?
Active, hardy men, they were quickly “My people use this method of water­
becoming acclimated to extremes of heat ing their crops,” Paige lied magnificently.
and cold unknown in their sheltered world. “It is easy to transport water into the
The blowing of even the gentlest wind was gravityless region above and then propel
to them a source of wonder. it downward.”
Tai, watching the drill, turned to Paige. Lightning and thunder, accompanying
“Look how energetic the men are. the shower, still more amazed the albino
Somehow, these strange conditions are in­ people. And it brought something of fear.
vigorating!” He drew a deep lungful of “A distant battle, in our war,” Paige
air. “In a way, Evan Paige,” he admitted improvised.
thoughtfully, “your cavern is a desirable Tai pondered. “More and more I begin
place to live in!” to wonder what manner of science your
Paige felt almost friendly toward the people use—”
man, at this. As with Reena, a heritage “We are great scientists!” interposed
of instinctive memory must be whispering Paige instantly. “You have seen the great
lights we use, the flying machines, those A hush came over the albino men. Then
thunders and flashes of our weapons, and Tai waved triumphantly and a cheer of
how we handle large quantities of water. victory welled from his regiment.
We have a great science!” “Thus we deal with your vaunted float­
Tai automatically gave a cynical leer. ing machines of war!” Tai crowed.
“I see it clearly now, Paige. You’ve Paige stared at the burned Martian
been trying to impress me with your peo­ wreck. His spirits sang. All had worked
ple’s greatness. You wish me to with­ out as he had planned.
draw ! But I’m more determined than ever The albino army had struck—not at his
to go on. My plans are careful. I’ve sent people—but at the Martians!
a messenger back to King Luth, telling The Martians would retaliate, when an­
him of what we have found, and to hold other patrol ship searched for the missing
reinforcements ready at a moment’s notice. one. Coming in force then, they might
In the meantime—” wipe out the regiment very quickly. But
in the face of defeat, Tai would send a
AIGE’S ears caught a low sound throb­ message below. The news would sweep
P bing from the sky. He interrupted through the underworld. King Luth would
Tai. “I tell you my people are powerfulnot
! lightly forget the annihilated regiment.
Their air machines will come and blast you He would send up stronger forces.
to dust.” That had been Paige’s grand plan, from
The hissing drone became louder. They the start. To pit two powerful forces
all heard it. Another rocketplane sailed against one another. King Luth’s vast
grandly into view, overhead. army of conquest, and the ruthless Mar­
“Blast us, eh?” grunted Tai. “We’ll tians. But would it work ? It must, Paige
see.” told himself.
He whirled, shouting orders. His men It must!
obeyed, dragging forward their cannon.
Lightly mounted on smoothly swiveled X
bearings, the tubes could be pointed in any
direction swiftly. E was still staring at the wreck, think­
“Don’t!” Paige yelled, though within
himself he exulted. He had played the
H ing these world-moving thoughts,
when dusk settled. The Uldornian regi­
cards right! ment had made camp in the open
The cannon began to whoosh softly, as air, outside Mammoth Cave, for the first
their bolts of atom-compressing force time.
stabbed invisibly into the sky. The Mar­ Tai Rithor sidled up to Paige, rubbing
tian ship was about 2,000 feet high, easily his hands.
within range. But the Uldornian gun­ “I will send out scouting parties tomor­
ners, unused to such a fast-moving target, row,” he informed. “When we have
aimed far behind. learned where your people’s forces lie, we’ll
Paige held his breath. Would the chance attack. I don’t care which side, in your
pass? Would the ship escape? war, they are on. I’ll conquer them both!”
But the Martian ship sealed its own Tai radiated supreme confidence that
doom. It slowed down and circled, ob­ he felt since bringing down the amazing
viously interested in the human figures “floating machine” so easily. Paige was
below. They heard no cannon-roars, as glad it was dark, hiding the sardonic smile
with Earthly artillery, and so were un­ on his lips. If he hadn’t missed his guess,
aware of being shot at. Tai would have a fight on his hands by
The Uldornian gunners took better aim. the next day. The Martians would in­
Quite abruptly one wing of the ship vestigate the lost patrol ship, spy the camp
crumpled. The craft flopped, burst into of humans, and attack!
flame. It streaked down like a blazing His spine prickled suddenly, as a shout
comet to land with a sodden crash a thou­ of alarm rose from one side of the camp.
sand yards away. Its fiercely burning fuel Paige whirled. Had the Martians arrived
formed a pyre out of which no creature already? Yet he had heard no sound of
could escape alive. aircraft.
 A sentry came running up, face work­ world extended over parts of Uldorn,
ing. “The enemy, sir!” he reported to which he could counter-attack. He didn’t
Tai. “They are at the mouth of the cave!” try to say any more about what this ‘cav­
“The enemy,” snapped Tai. “Who?” ern’ really is, or our strange story of Mar­
“Dorthians!” tian invasion. He simply appealed to the
Tai was already running toward his Kal’s practical side, that from here he
camp’s edge nearest the mouth of Mam­ might find a way to invade Uldorn and
moth Cave. With a startled gasp, Paige stave off what looked like the eventual
followed. They halted a hundred yards downfall of Dorthia. The Kal finally
from the cave-mouth. The gibbous moon, agreed to send up an expeditionary regi­
rising, shed light upon uniformed figures, ment.”
gun in hand, staring out, obviously sur­ He stopped, panting for breath.
prised themselves. “Exactly how I worked on King Luth!”
“Dorthian troops!” confirmed Tai, Paige went on briefly, explaining his part.
breathing heavily. “How did they get “Good work you and Sparky did,” he
here ?” finished. “We got the albino people out
He stared at Paige, suspicion crawling here after all, into this world they posi­
in his pale eyes. tively wouldn’t believe in! And now, we
Paige stood stunned, asking himself the have some real work ahead of us.”
same question. Then he made out the
stocky figure without a uniform, standing E went on, telling of the Martian
with arms outstretched, head high, like a
man viewing a heaven he had been absent
H ship shot down, and the eventuality
of Martian attack. Tai’s face was sud­
from. Dr. Aronson! He was seeing the denly before him, dark with rage. He
upper world again, after long months of had listened closely as they spoke in En­
sojourn beneath. Little wonder, Paige re­ glish. Paige suddenly realized he might
flected, that he stood as if bewitched. Be­ have understood.
side him was Sparky, also staring around He had—in distorted fashion.
raptly, swaying a little on his game leg. “Treachery!” he spat out. “You two
“Aronson! Sparky!” Paige called. planned this. One of you to lure an Ul­
The scientist started, peered out and dornian regiment into your cavern, the
then ran in his direction. other a Dorthian regiment, to fall upon
“Halt!” yelled Tai. Behind him, his us. And then your forces—the ‘Martians’
under officers had already aroused the regi­ you call them—are to join with Dorthia
ment into watchful readiness. “Surrender in invading Uldorn!”
your troops, in the name of King Luth, or He glared accusingly at them. Neither
we will fire!” Paige nor Aronson could think of any­
Aronson’s flying figure did not hesitate. thing to say that would sound sensible.
Tai seemed about to give the battle sig­ Tai’s face worked dangerously. “But I’ll
nal. Paige gripped his arm fiercely. “You show you how you have underestimated
can’t shoot a defenseless man! He has me. I’ll wipe out the Dorthians and then
no weapons. He wants to talk with us.” deal with your forces!”
Tai hesitated, then gave low commands. Whirling, he screamed out the order to
His men stood watchfully, but did not begin battle. Then he turned back, direct­
fire. Aronson came up pantingly, and al­ ing his aides to chain Paige and Aronson
most fell in Paige’s arms. to a great boulder, out of range of the
“I can’t believe it’s you, Dr. Aronson!” battle zone. Reena was brought up a mo­
Paige said, his thoughts confused. “And ment later, and chained. Tai eyed the
Dorthian troops with you! How did you three of them.
convince the Kal of Dorthia.” “When we have won, Pll deal with you.
The scientist spoke between gulps of his If we should happen to face defeat, our
lungs. last shots will take you with us!”
“Sparky did it. When the news of Ul- He dashed away, to direct the struggle.
dorn’s first major victory came through, Paige looked at the girl. In the glow
Sparky worked on him. The Kal was of moonlight, she was a picture of love­
worried. Sparky told him this cavern­ liness. Her eyes were on him, not hostile
 STORIES
now, but in complete understanding. “Your civilization fights a civil war,” he
“Forgive me, Evan!” she murmured. groaned, “while mine goes under!”
“I see now what you planned. The pres­
ence of the Dorthian troops here shows XI
your good intention, however it turned
out. You had hoped the Dorthian troops HEY watched the battle.
would get here first, to strike at Uldorn?” It was fought under the dim light
Paige shook his head, groaning. of the moon But to the albino people, it
“No. My plans are all shattered. I had was natural, like the battles fought under­
hoped to pit Tai against the Martians. ground in their sunless labyrinths.
Now, instead, the Dorthians and Uldor- Tai had deployed his men in a wide
nians will decimate each other. When circle facing the cave mouth. Steady fire
the Martians come, they will find little poured in, and steady fire returned. The
opposition. Don’t you understand, Reena, Uldornians were at a tactical disadvantage.
it’s the Martians who are to be feared! But on the other hand, Tai had remem­
They come from another world, beyond bered the advanced military maneuvers
the roof.” Paige had employed below. Sparky was
Paige stopped. How could he explain commanding a regiment of Dorthians who
this to the girl who still thought of Earth’s probably misunderstood most of his or­
surface as a huge cave, with a roof ? The ders, new to them.
conception of another planet, hanging in A secret company of Uldornians crept
space millions of miles away, could have to the side of the cave-mouth, and attacked.
no meaning to her. So he thought. When the Dorthians blindly flocked to re­
She was staring at him thoughtfully. sist, a second flanking group fell on their
“There is no—no roof ?” she queried side.
slowly. The battle raged on, while the moon
Paige glanced at her hopefully. “None slowly climbed the zenith. Paige foresaw
at all. Space goes on forever.” already that, all else being equal, one or
She took a deep, shuddering breath, as the other side would win by a slim mar­
though assimilating that fact, once and for gin, depending on luck. He ground his
all. It was not less in degree than a per­ teeth helplessly, at the thought of human
son of upper Earth having suddenly to beings, albino or not, killing one another
believe that the sky was a roof. off, in the very world where an alien power
“And these Martians you speak of—they wanted just that.
come from another world, far away? “Aronson,” he muttered, “I guess we’ve
From up there, many times farther than failed.”
the greatest distance in Dorthia?” “Hsst!”
Paige pointed to the fiery red speck of It was a low warning from back of
Mars, following the moon. “From there them, in the shadow of the boulder they
they have come.” were chained to. The crouching form of
“They are not human?” she whispered. Sparky crept close, one eye cautiously on
“They are monsters; ruthless beings who the guard who stood with back turned,
are killing off my people relentlessly.” He watching the battle.
watched the girl. What effect was it hav­ “Sparky!” breathed Paige. “How—”
ing on her, if she believed? “Hi, Sarge,” whispered Sparky, press­
She believed, now. He could see that ing his hand. His mouth twisted a little.
in the dread and horror that darkened her “Deserted again—the Dorthians. Wanted
eyes. to find you. Figure out something. This
“My people,” she said suddenly, “should fight is crazy. We should be blasting at
help your people, Dorthians and Uldor- the Martians!”
nians alike!” “Yes,” Paige said brokenly. “After all
Paige choked. If this girl’s reaction my planning, and yours, we run up against
were only a symbol, a token, of how all this stupid, blind, senseless stone wall. The
the albino people might react, if they once underworld people fight below, and now
knew and understood! But then he turned above, too. And the Martians, meanwhile,
bitter, defeated eyes on the battle raging. take over Earth!”
 Sparky’s face twisted convulsively. A low hissing drone snaked through the
“Lord! How I’d like to get one more upper air.
lick at the Martians!” Paige started, ears alert. Was it the
Paige laughed a little wildly, bitterly.drone of a propeller, or the throbbing beat
“You can, maybe. I think there’s an un­ of rocket jets?
damaged Earth plane, a mile away.” He It was both!
dismissed the thought. “But Sparky, can An Earth plane streaked across the
you free us?” moon’s face. Hounding after it drummed
Sparky was already aiming his Dor­ a fleet of seven Martian ships, rocket jets
flaming brilliantly. The lone Earth ship
thian blast-pistol at a portion of the chain
that held Reena. Three bolts and the shot up suddenly, in a power-climb. Dar­
chain clinked apart. Reena stood free. ingly, madly, it swooped over the Martian
“Hurry I” whispered Paige. ships, raking them with machine-gun fire.
Sparky sent two bolts at Aronson’s A wasp against seven deadly eagles.
chain. The guard turned, finally hearing. One Martian ship swung out of line
With a shout of alarm he ran forward, wobbled, and then flopped Earthward in
pistol upraised. flames.
“Got to do it,” muttered Sparky, aiming Again the Earth plane swooped, guns
at him. chattering. Another Martian ship plum­
But there was only a dull click from hismeted down like a comet. Paige stared in
weapon. “Used my shots!” he cried. “And disbelief. It was the most amazing exhi­
I have no more charge-clips. Sarge, I’ve bition of flying and fighting he had ever
got to go. I’m deserting again.” thought possible. Who could that wizard
With that Sparky scuttled away as fast flyer be?
as he could, with his limp. The guard A gasp tore from Paige’s throat.
fired several times into the darkness be­ “Sparky!” he screamed. “Give ’em
yond the boulder, then gave up and turned hell, Sparky!”
back. Reena, though free, had not left, It was all clear now. Sparky had flown
her hand on Paige’s arm. to the nearest Martian base, probably at
She was sharing his fate, but Paige saidCincinnati. Charged down from the sky
nothing. What did it mean now? Tai speaking a challenge with bullets. The
would win, take them below, and warn Martian fleet had given chase. By some
King Luth against the campaign in the miracle, Sparky had outflown the superior
upper world, convinced now that Paige had Martian craft, led them here.
planned a trap. “Give ’em hell, Sparky!” Paige shrieked
again.
AIGE cursed, and looked up at the But the end was inevitable. The Mar­
P garnet speck of Mars, that seemed like tian ships spread, darted at him from all
a mocking red eye. Faintly, through theangles. Three Martian neutron-beams
roar of battle, he heard a low drone from struck at the same time. The little Earth
the opposite direction. The beating of a ship changed into a riddled, broken bit of
propeller, lifting an Earth plane into the debris that rained to the ground.
air. Sparky had found the plane intact. “That was Sparky?” gasped Aronson,
He was off to have his last lick at the horrified. “He’s dead.”
Martians. He would not let mocking fate “Yes, but he died happy,” Paige said.
make him a deserter of duty a fourth time. “He got in his last lick at the Mar­
Paige reviled fate, and wished he were tians.”
with Sparky. “Brave little man,” murmured Reena.
The red eye of Mars glared down gloat­ “But why did he do it?”
ingly on the battle. Slowly Tai was win­ Paige knew why. His eyes glowed in
ning out, driving the Dorthians back into anticipation.
the cave-mouth where he would gain stra­ Now the remaining five Martian ships
tegic positions and cut them to pieces. circled, observing. Then suddenly a sing­
“Dr. Aronson,” Paige said again, “we’ve ing, iridescent beam stabbed down. Where
failed.” it struck, a geyser of dirt and rock shot
3—Planet Stories—Winter up. The beam ran along the edge of the
Uldornian forces, plowing a furrow of de­ ishly think of fighting against us to the
struction. It seemed like a warning, to last?”
discontinue whatever was being done It was a question. Paige thought rap­
below. idly. Whispering swiftly to Aronson to
The battle between the albino forces translate for the benefit of the albino
died. Amazed at what the unknown third men, he answered the Martian commander.
power had done, a temporary truce sprang “Yes. What else would you have us do ?”
into being. One of the Martian ships spi­ The Martian made a magnanimous ges­
raled lower and landed, a hundred yards ture.
back of the Uldornians. “A few weeks ago we would have ex­
Paige trembled. For this Sparky had terminated you without wasting time talk­
given his life. To bring the Martians ing first. But our High Command has
here quickly, while they were still ponder­ instituted a new order. All humans left
ing the absence of the missing patrol ship. are given the choice, if they surrender,
And before the albino battle had ended to become slaves!”
all chance of Martian interference. Paige gave the air of one considering
Tai came running up from the battle­ the offer. Back of him the albino men
front, pausing beside Paige. They all were utterly silent, hushed. Then Paige
watched as the cabin of the strange craft asked another question.
opened and figures emerged. They strode “We have been isolated from the rest
forward, a dozen forms with glinting of Earth. How many humans are left?”
weapons in their hands. It tore his soul to bring it out, but he
had to know. And he wanted the albino
S they drew near, the moonlight re­ men to hear.
A vealed them clearly. A concerted
gasp arose from the throats of Tai and all
“About one-half of the former Earth
population,” returned the Martian expres­
the albino men who could see. Even Dr. sionlessly. “We have killed off a billion
Aronson gulped, for he had never seen of you humans. The remaining we offer
the Martians before. life, as our slaves.”
They were tall, thick-chested, thin­
legged, built in the travesty of man. They AL an dthe nearby albino men stood
were ridiculously like old men who had
not exercised properly. But their faces in­
T stunned, as Aronson’s whispered trans­
lation came to them. The whisper grew
spired horror. They were not human, by and rustled through all the ranks behind.
any stretch of imagination. Large eyes It leaped the gap between the Uldornian
with red irises, flat bestial noses, and lips and Dorthian forces, those that had lately
from which protruded fang-like teeth, been about to engage in hand-to-hand
topped by a feathery wool of dank green struggle.
hair. Evolution had given them a large A billion humans destroyed!
brain-case, larger than man’s, but some­ The crushing revelation seemed to
thing had placed the stamp of utter piti­ sweep over the scene like a living force.
lessness in their features. They carried “Is there any resistance in other parts
with them, as they neared, an aura of mer­ of Earth?” Paige pursued.
ciless cruelty. The Martian answered without hesita­
Paige shuddered, as well as the others, tion, with the air of one who does not need
though the sight of these other-worldly to hide anything.
creatures was nothing new to him. “Yes, in various sectors, your people
The foremost Martian spoke, in a pip­ hold out. It is almost admirable. But
ing, precise English. stupid. They are doomed. West of your
“You destroyed our patrol ship, this Rockies, fifty million people battle us. We
afternoon. You sent one of your own are daily bombing all their cities and push­
ships to raid our nearest base. Like other ing back their armies.”
groups of earthlings, you have come down He made a sharp gesture. “That is all.
from the hills, most likely, and are armed. What is your decision?”
You have been hidden back there prac­ The answer did not come from Evan
ticing battle tactics. You bravely but fool­ Paige. It came from Tai Rithor.
 He had been standing like a statue, nos­ know that people like us are threatened
trils flaring, his breath coming in short, with extinction, up here. I will speak now
hard gasps. Deliberately, his arm flung for King Luth and say that all the army
up and then down. and forces of Uldorn pledge themselves
The battle signal! to fight the alien invaders!”
Almost in one volley, the weapons of As though it had been rehearsed, the
the albino men spoke, as though only will­ Dorthian commander came forward,
power had kept them before from shoot­ throwing his arms at Tai’s feet.
ing down the repulsive monsters at first “I say the same in behalf of the Kal of
sight. The attack was totally unexpected, Dorthia!”
to the confident Martians. Six of them And the cheer that rose from all the
fell corpses. The other six fired back, men’s throaths was hurled out in defiance
with their rustling kill-beams. In another to the unspeakable enemy from another
moment they, too, fell dead. world.
Retaliation came instantly, from above. Paige knew that the greatest moment in
Broad beams of explosive neutrons hurtled the history of the human race was enact­
down, cutting swaths of death among the ing itself.
albino men. A buried portion of mankind grown
Paige leaned back against the rock, sick. great and strong, would take up the cru­
He thought it was all over. But Tai was sade. Would fight for a world they had
leaping back and forth, yelling commands. never seen before, but which was theirs
Cannon swiveled into the sky. A weapon by heritage. Already, like on echo from
spoke back at least the equal of the Mar­ the future, Paige could hear the tramp,
tians’. The enemy, not given to night tramp, tramp of marching feet, as the le­
fighting, were aiming blind. The albino gions from below came into the light of
men, in their element under dim radiation, the sun.
found their marks. An army millions upon millions strong
Four of the Martian ships crashed down would arise out of the depths to confront
in flames. One drummed away, to call for and drive back the Martians who thought
stronger forces. Soon a mighty fleet would their bloody task done. The Martians
wing back, to wipe out the defiant band would sneer at first, as they wiped out the
of humans at the mouth of Mammoth first few regiments, till the albino army
Cave! learned of the new conditions and war­
Paige imparted that knowledge to Tai. fare.
And he went on, explaining the truth of Tramp, tramp, tramp!
what Earth’s upper surface was. If Reena The Earth itself would shake with their
had finally understood, he must, too. heavy tread, as her sons from below
Tai stood listening. stormed up, to win back a world.
The dawn of understanding came into Tramp, tramp, tramp!
his eyes. He said nothing. Quietly he And leading this army of revenge from
came forward and struck off their chains below would be the ghost of Sparky Don­
himself. A vast hush had come over the ovan. He had deserted again—deserted
albino men. Tai strode toward the mouth life. But in death itself he would be get­
of Mammoth-Cave, toward the Dorthian ting in his lick at the Martians again.
forces. Halfway there he stopped, threw Tai Rithor now stood before Paige and
down his weapons. Then he spoke, his Reena, in each other’s arms, and he smiled
voice ringing through the still night air. wanly, but sincerely. This was a new Tai,
“Soldiers of Dorthia and Uldorn! We who had crawled out of the shell of the
can no longer fight each other. This is a old. The Tai who had viewed the upper
strange, new world up here—one we didn’t world and knew that it was good.
know existed, inhabited by another part “You two will be a token, in marriage,
of the human race. But it belongs to the of the union of mankind above and be­
human race; not to monsters from another low,” he said.
world! Where or what that other world He added simply, “We will win.”
is or can be, I’m not yet sure. I only “We will win,” agreed Evan Paige.
 THE CASTAWAY
By GEORGE DAAZELE

Who was this bearded castaway of space? Some said he was Jonah.
Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist. But Lieutenant Brait
knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.

HERE was an ad in the classified Moran, last known to have taken off from

T
36
columns of this week’s Spaceways Long Island Spaceport for parts unlogged.”
Weekly. It asked for information Captain McNeally drew the notice to my
attention. He said, “Look at this, Brait.
concerning the whereabouts of one “Paul
 37
Wasn’t Moran the chap we picked up in rotor port, wrinkled his leathery, space-
the asteroids? It seems to me I remem­ toughed cheeks into a frown, and squirted
ber—” mekel-juice at a distant gobboon.
“You should,” I told him. “You see his “Mebbe you better look, Mr. Brait,” he
name twice every shuttle, engraved on cold said. “If Russ says there’s a man there,
steel. And you can be thankful for that. then there’s a man there.”
But I don’t think he’ll answer this ad. I So I looked. And to look was to act.
don’t think they’ll ever hear from him.” I cut in my intercommunicating unit and
“That,” scoffed the Shipper, “is non­ bawled a stop hypo order to Chief Lester
sense! Do you realize what this means, in the engine room below. Bartlett was
Brait? This ad was inserted by the Gov­ right. There was a single, bulger-clad
ernment Patent Office. There’s a fortune figure sprawled on the craggy rock of a
waiting for Mr. Moran back on Earth, tiny asteroid hurtling beneath us. A man
when he sees this—” who lay there quietly, did not rise, did not
“A fortune waiting,” I said softly, wave, gave no sign of noticing our ap­
“when and if he ever sees it. But I won­ proach even when I dropped the Antigone
der, Skipper. I wonder.” down toward the spatial island.
Bartlett, peering through the duplicate
E were about three thousand miles lens, said, “Dead, Brait. He must have
W north, west and loft of Ceres when
we first sighted him. I remember that
cracked up. He’s not moving.”
well,But there was no wrecked spaceship
because I was on the Bridge, and our anywhere around. I said, “We’ll know
Sparks, Toby Frisch, had just handed me a in a few minutes.” And then the Skipper
free clearance report from the space com­ burst into the bridge, startled and curious.
mander of that planetoid. “Something haywire, boys? Here, I’ll
I read it and chuckled. I said, “Sparks, take over.”
this bit of transcription is a masterpiece. He was a good man, Cap McNeally. A
Nobody expects a radioman to be good­ hardened spacehound, canny and wise to
looking or have brains, but blue space the ways of the void, always on deck in
above, man, your spelling and gram­ moments of emergency. That’s why the
mar—” IPS, the Corporation for which we work,
“Leave my relatives,” said Sparks stiffly, had placed him in command of the
“out of this. Is the message O. Q. or Antigone, finest and fastest ship in the
ain’t it?” fleet.
“Yes,” I told him, “with a light sprink­ But I calmed his rotors. “Everything
ling of no. Sometimes I wish we had a O. Q., sir,” I told him. “We’re standing
good operator aboard the Antigone. Like by to take on a space-wrecked sailor. I
one of those Donovan brothers, for in­ think.”
stance.” My guess was right. A few minutes
“Them guys!” sniffed Sparks. “Too later we threw out a grapple, space-
wise for their britches, both of ’em. I’m anchored the Aunty, and a rescue party
a bug-pounder, not a joke-book. If it’s landed on the asteroid. They brought back
smart cracks you want, why don’t you buy with them a sad looking specimen of the
an audio?” genus Homo sapiens. His cheeks were
It was at this point that Lt. Russ Bart­ drained and sunken beneath a bristling,
lett, First Mate of our ship, who had been unkempt beard; his skin was blistered
shooting the azimuth through the perilens, frightfully from long exposure to solars
turned and waved to me excitedly. and cosmics; his limbs were so feeble that
“Brait, take a look! Quick! There’s a he couldn’t walk unaided. He had to be
man down below! On one of the minor carried.
asteroids!” Someone unscrewed his face-port for
I said, “A joke, Bartlett? You’d better him. He drew a long, deep breath of the
check the alignment of that perilens. That’s pure Antigone air. His wan eyes lighted
the Man in the Moon you see.” dimly and he spoke in a voice that was
Gunner McCoy, Bartlett’s staunchest a thin husk of sound.
friend and admirer, looked up from the “Thank you, gentlemen. I had hoped
that at last I might—But you meant well, heads you could drive a stratoplane
I suppose.” through who simply refused to—”
Which was, I thought at the time, a “That’s just it,” said Jurnegan. “He
damned strange speech of gratitude. But wants to die! He refused to take food.
I had no time to answer. For his knees I had to feed him intravenously and force
suddenly buckled beneath him, his eyes him to drink. But in spite of his physical
closed. Had it not been for the friendly and mental condition, he still lives. It—
hands that supported him, he would have it’s mysterious, Brait!”
pitched forward on his face. So I went in to visit our strange pas­
Cap McNeally snapped, “Sick-bay! Snap senger.
it up, you lubbers! The man’s in bad He wasn’t a bad looking chap, now that
shape. Out on his feet, cold!” his whiskers had been plowed. Thin, of
Sparks whispered, “Gosh, he looks like course; hollow of cheek and eye. His
a corpus!” as the sailors bore our unex­ skin was sallow, faintly olive; the contours
pected passenger away. I stared at him of his head long and narrow, short-in­
disgustedly. dexed. He was a typical Mediterannean,
“Corpse.” I said. if what my profs taught me is right. Me­
“Huh?” said Sparks. dium stature, small-boned, thin, tapering
“Corpse!” I repeated. “Corpse 1” fingers. Crisp, oily hair, black as space.
“You,” suggested Sparks, “oughta take I said, “Well, you look like a new man!”
somethin’ for that indigestion, Lootenant. ■—which he did, and, “You’re looking
My sister had it. It made her a physical fine!” I said—which he wasn’t.
reek.” He turned his head slowly, studied me
It’s against the rules for a Second Mate with grave, questioning eyes. His voice
to punch a radioman. So I kicked him. was faint, but low and pleasing.
There are limits. “You are Mr. Brait, the Second Mate?
I believe I have you to thank for having
HAT was our first meeting with the rescued me?”
T mysterious Paul Moran. We didn’t “That’s all right,” I told him.
know his name then, of course. We learned “Why,” he interrupted gently, “did you
that several days later. After Doc Jurne- do it?”
gan, our medico, had coaxed, bulldozed I said, “Oh, come now! You’ve got to
and sulfanilamided him back off the brink perk up! You get a little flesh on your
of the dark and nasty. bones and you’ll feel better.”
Doc was the first to tag Moran with the But he went on, as though not hearing
adjective we all, eventually, accepted. my words, “It was a chance. The best
“It’s the damnedest thing,” he told me, chance I’ve had for years—a thousand
“I’ve ever seen. Brait, I’ll swear on a years—and you took it from me. Out
pile of prescriptions that he didn’t have there I might have found peace at last.
one chance in a million of pulling through. The power cannot—it must not—extend
But he’s still alive! into the depths of space.”
“By rights, he should have been dead
two weeks before we found him. Do you IS voice had risen; there was a light
know he was on that asteroid five solid
weeks? Without food. With only one
H of madness, of strange, savage inten­
sity in his eyes. I felt the little hairs on
container of water. With the oxygen re­ the back of my neck pringling. I knew,
serve in his tank practically exhausted! now, that the man had not come unscathed
“And his condition—” Jurnegan through his experience. He was space­
shook his head uncomprehendingly. “De­ crazy. Wildly, desperately so. I said, in
plorable! He was dessicated, undernour­ what I hoped was a soothing voice,
ished, fouled from weeks in a bulger. “Now, take it easy, Mr.—er—Moran,
Acute cyanosis alone should have killed isn’t it?”
him. But—” The ghost of a smile touched his lips,
I said, “The will-to-live, Doc. It’s the and his body became less tense. He said
determining factor in many a borderline wearily, “Moran—yes. Or Aden Or
case. I’ve heard of men with holes in their Cart—Oh, anything you choose. It hardly
seems important any more. I’ve had so And I left.
many, many names.”
That wasn’t exactly encouraging. But ELL, I was busy for the next four
at least he was quieter now. And I had to
know a lew things about him to put in the
W days on my job. It was a plenty
important job, and had to be done care­
ship’s log. I asked, “How did you get on fully. The H-layer of the planets—the
that asteroid, Moran? Were you space- Kennelly-Heaviside layer—is a superten­
wrecked? If so, what was the name of sioned field of force similar in composition
your craft? The authorities will want to to the corona of a star. A wide swath
know.” of ionized gas with high potential, serving
He answered, almost mockingly, “I was as a shield against the murderous Q- and
marooned.” ultra-violet rays that emanate from solar
“Marooned! But—but that’s criminal 1 bodies.
Who did it? We’ll have them picked up But the H-layer is a barrier as well as
and punished!” a shield. The first space-flight experi­
“You’ll do nothing of the sort. They menters learned that, and the knowledge
marooned me on that asteroid because I cost them their lives. For their craft hit
deserved it, and I respect and thank them the H-layer unguarded; and where had
for it!” His voice was rising again ; been a glistening ship, now was pitted,
higher, shriller. “I thank them, do you blackened metal; where had been life, now
hear? I bless them, a hundred, thousand, there was charred carbon.
million times. Though their effort was in Now all spaceships were equipped with
vain. I was, and am, a Jonah. A Jonah, shield generators. They were “generators”
Jonah, Jonah!” by courtesy only; actually they were huge
He sat bolt upright in bed, screaming condensers fed by cable lines tied at inter­
the word defiantly. Doc Jurnegan raced vals to the hull plates. The theory was
in, glanced at me reproachfully and took that as the craft plunged into and through
his patient in hand. “You’d better go, the H-layer, these condensers would ab­
Brait,” he suggested. sorb the excess potential, thus allowing
So I left. The sweat on my forehead the ship to pass through unharmed.
was damp and cold. I needed a drink. And it worked swell, most of the time.
When I told Cap McNeally of my ex­ Oh, every year a few ships would get
perience, he nodded soberly. theirs—would blow out in a blue wreath
“I know, Brait. I saw him before you of coruscating flame—but for the most
did. And he acted just as loony toward part the trip was safe enough. Except, of
me. Warned me he was a Jonah—” course, when a condenser was in bad con­
“I’m not superstitious,” I interrupted, dition. Which was why I was giving ours
“but there are such things as Jonahs. Men a check and double check.
whose very presence aboard a spaceship Still, I could never rid myself of a
seems to cause trouble, dissention, dis­ queasy moment when we hit that blanket
aster. You remember that Venusian blaster of spark-happy ionization. Particularly
on the Goddard III? The survivors al­ when a planet was at aphelion as Earth
ways swore he caused the crack-up.” was now. Because at such times the
“Moran’s case,” frowned the skipper, H-layer was more highly activated than
“is more than just superstition. He told usual.
me that he never wanted to see Earth And to tell the truth, I wasn’t satisfied
again. When I told him that was too bad, with the way my work was going. First
that we were headed for Earth right now, I hit my thumb with a monkey-wrench.
he warned me solemnly that he’d do every­ It didn’t hurt the wrench, but the thumb
thing in his power to prevent our getting turned pale mauve and throbbed like a
there. So what do you think of that?” sixteen-year-old kid’s pulse on his first
“I think,” I said glumly, “he’s nuts! hayride.
And if we pay any attention to him, we’ll Then I lost a brass collar off the hull­
all be nuts, too. Well, I’ve got to go, Cap. brace, and since we didn’t carry a reserve
I’ve got to check the shield generators be­ stock I had to ask Chief Lester to make
fore we go busting into Earth’s H-layer.” me one. By the time that was ready, I’d
40
busted a .44 coil cable lock, and had to he’s responsible for these occurrences, and
jerry-rig a substitute. besides, a rescued passenger is entitled to
Oh, it was a headache! But I wasn’t the courtesy of the ship.”
the only guy on board the Aunty who was
having troubles. Slops raised a howl to O that’s how I assumed, in addition to
high heaven because his stove went on
the squeegee. Gunner McCoy stalked into
S the rest of my duties, the job of watch­
dogging the mysterious Paul Moran. As
the officer’s mess one afternoon demanding Cap McNeally had said, Moran was up
what such-and-such so-and-so had stripped and about now. He had made what Doc
the gears of his pet rotor-gun. Sparks Jurnegan claimed was the swiftest recov­
burned out three vacuum tubes in one day, ery in the annals of medicine. He still
breaking contact with all transmitting sta­ looked like a skeleton in search of a square
tions and almost causing us to crack up meal. But there was sanity in his eyes.
on a rogue asteroid. Even Cap McNeally If not always in his speech. Like that
was visited by the plague. He came wail­ afternoon in Sparks’ radio turret, for in­
ing to me, on the bridge, that the refriger­ stance.
ation units in the No. 3 storage bin had We had been talking, Sparks and I,
broken down. about space-flight. What a great thing it
“—and we’ve lost a whole binfull of was. How, only in its infancy, it was
dab, Brait! Worth at least six thousand already changing man’s outlook, widening
credits on Earth. The Corporation will the borders of man’s domain, creating a
be mad as hell.” newer, greater universe.
“That’s tough,” I said, “but there’s “We got,” Sparks said, “reason to be
nothing we can do about it. It wasn’t proud of ourselves. Gee, I was readin’
your fault.” in the library—”
He eyed me curiously. “Brait—” he “You,” I interrupted wonderingly, “can
said. read ?”
“Yes, Cap?” “Comets to you, Lootenant!” sniffed
“I’ve been wondering—do you think Sparks. “As I was sayin’ before I was so
there could be anything in what Moran rudely ruptured, I was readin’ in the lib­
said? About him being a—a—” rary some old books from the Twentieth
“Jonah?” I’d been thinking the same Century. Just about a hundred an’ fifty
thing myself. “I don’t know, Skipper. years old, mind you! They had the crazi­
I wouldn’t say yes, and I wouldn’t say no. est ideas about what men would find on
But there’s no doubt about it, things have other planets, if an’ when they ever got
been going haywire ever since we picked there. Flame-men, an’ robots, an’ all sorts
him up. I’ll be glad when he lifts gravs of things.
off the Aunty.” “Nothin’ like what we actually found.
Cap said petulantly, “Of course it’s just ’Course, we shouldn’t laugh at ’em too
nonsense. Bad luck doesn’t hang around much. They had no way of knowin’.
one man like that. It’s against the law of We’re the first people ever traveled in
averages. Still, I wish you’d sort of keep space.”
an eye on him for the next three days, “No!” said Moran.
Brait. Till we land on Earth. I’ve got Sparks said patiently, “Well, I didn’t
a notion—” mean us here in this room. Of course we
“So has Earth,” I grinned. “Five of ain’t. But I mean the people of our time.”
’em. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and the two “And I still say,” said Moran gravely,
Etceteras. What’s yours?” “no! Man in all ages is a creature of
“It might,” frowned the skipper. “Be conceit, self-pride, self-glorification. There
sabotage. He said he’d do everything in was space-flight long before you lived,
his power to prevent our reaching Earth. Sparks. A race, long dead now, from a
And he’s up and around now.” neighbor planet.”
“If you think that,” I suggested, “why I said gently, “You’re thinking of those
don’t you shove him in the clink, just to pyramids found on Venus and Mars,
make sure?” Moran? I know that’s a puzzler to mod­
“Can’t do it. Because I’ve no proof ern science. And I’ve read several theo-
ries regarding their builders. But most “Nuts!” he said. “Crazy as a loon,
authorities agree that their mere presence Lootenant.”
does not necessarily imply the existence
of a single race of engineers. The pyra­ H, he was an odd one, that Moran.
mid is a fundamental structural form. Any
intelligent race—”
O Those next days are somehow gar­
bled in my mind. They were so full of
“Man,” said Moran almost sadly. “Man incident that now, looking back upon them,
the dreamer; Man the doubter. No, Lieu­ I can hardly distinguish between that
tenant, I am not speaking of theories, now. which actually was, and that which an
I am speaking of tales I’ve heard; accounts active imagination conjured for me out of
I’ve read in archives long molded into fancy.
dust. At least three times in the past This I do know—it was the worst trip
have civilized races spanned the void. It I’ve ever experienced in the Antigone or
was the dying Martian race that first any other ship. Something was always
achieve^ space-flight. They found Venus wrong. Lt. Russ Bartlett, whose mind is
a rank and stinking jungle, but on Earth as accurate as the cogs of a computing
certain of them set up their new abode.” machine, discovered to his dismay that he
He smiled quietly. “And reverted to had made an error in calculation; that at
savagery, as is always the case when civi­ our present rate of speed we would miss
lized men, removed from the source of Earth entirely and plunge Sunward at a
their culture, find themselves face to face rate that would destroy us all. He dis­
with stark reality. covered that by sheer accident, and just in
“Then it was the Moon-creatures who time to scream a hasty, “Cut hypos!” to
fled their airless world, spanned the dis­ the engine room, else I wouldn’t be here
tance to nearby earth.” to tell it. Then there was that mysterious
I said, “That’s an interesting thought, occurrence in the galley. Our cook had
Moran. It explains the coloration of the a pet cat, and if it weren’t for his habit
races of man, doesn’t it? I’d like to read of feeding the pussy before he fed the
that book you mentioned. Where can I crew, half of us would be stiff now. Be­
get it?” cause the cat slopped up its dinner and
He shook his head sadly. forthwith proceeded to give up all nine of
“You can’t, Lt. Brait. The last copy of its lives simultaneously. Ptomaine, from
it was destroyed more than twelve cen­ faulty food tins. The first time such a
turies ago. Simon Magnus was the last thing had happened in more than forty
man to read it as I remember. I loaned years!
it to him—” You couldn’t say Moran was behind
He stopped abruptly. But Sparks’ eyes either of these near-disasters. For I was
were plate-sized and incredulous. “—you dogging his footsteps; I’ll take my oath
loaned it to him?” he was not involved. Physically, that is.
I spun on Sparks, angry. Jurnegan had But they say a Jonah’s curse works even
told us to humor Moran, help him to a though the Jonah takes no actual part.
complete recovery. I didn’t approve of Oh, he was an odd one, that Moran.
this, not a little bit. I snapped, “That’ll For instance, the time Sparks’ selenium
do, Sparks! Good Lord, man—What’s plate blew out. It was Moran who got
the matter, Moran?” permission to use the machine shop, con­
For suddenly his face had paled, his struct a substitute out of a uranoid-steel
eyes widened in horror, and he was back­ atmochamber. We used that freak audio
ing away from me. He thrust out a trem­ throughout the trip, then replaced it with
bling hand, gasped hoarsely, “Have a care, a standard one when we reached Earth.
Brait! ‘Thou shalt not take the name of Like dopes! Because two years later that
the Lord, thy God, in vain—’!” screwball First Mate of the Saturn “in­
Then he fled; his running footsteps clat­ vented” a uranium time-speech-trap ex­
tered down the ramp, and the echoes were actly like the one Moran made us. He
strangely disturbing. Sparks stared after earned a quarter million credits from it.
him, then made a circular motion at his Imagine!
temple. Then there was the time, as we were
approaching the Lunar outpost, that our I just stared at him for a minute. When
calculating machine jammed. Lieutenant I caught my breath, there was only enough
Bartlett and Cap McNeally were in a of it for one word.
dither trying to figure the approach veloc­ “Impossible!”
ity. It’s a fifteen-minute job for the ma­ “Impossible, maybe,” acknowledged the
chine; a six-hour job for a man’s brain. First Mate, “but unfortunately, Don, the
But Moran, who happened by, glanced Captain’s right. Three lead-in cables are
casually at the declension chart, said, broken, the stripping is off the condenser.”
“Cut to forty-three at 3.05 Earth Stand­ “But—but everything was in perfect or­
ard, Captain. Maintain full speed for der an hour ago! I don’t understand!
point three five parsecs, alter declension Yes, I do! Moran! He said he’d destroy
to north one, loft seven, fire fore jets us all if he got a chance! Skipper, there’s
twice—” the answer. He’s done it. The mad­
Having no better idea, McNeally did man—”
as Moran suggested. And we warped Then there was a mirthful chuckle in
past the Moon oh-oh-oh on trajectory! the doorway, and Moran was standing
there looking at us, his thin lips wide in
HICH put us within scant hours of a smile.
W Earth’s H-layer. And which also
roused in me the realization that the mys­
“You’re right, Brait. I did do it. But
I’m not a madman. I’m a happy man.
terious Paul Moran was more than the The happiest man who ever lived!” His
ordinary space-sailor he pretended to be. eyes lighted triumphantly ; he stretched his
Maybe I’m snoopy, I don’t know. Any­ arms above his head in a great, yearning
way, I went to the radio room. I told gesture. “Soon will come freedom! The
Sparks grimly, “You and I are going to great, everlasting freedom of death.”
find out just who or what this Moran guy “Get him!” said the Skipper succinctly.
is. Send a message, Sparks. To Fred Gunner McCoy lumbered forward, his
Bender, at Long Island Spaceport. Tell long, hairy arms encircled Moran’s body.
him to find out if there’s a scientist miss­ The Skipper pawed his graying thatch.
ing who answers to this description. Five “This is no time for reproaches, Mr.
feet, seven and a half inches; a hundred Brait. I told you to guard this man; for
and twenty-five pounds, dark hair, brown some reason you failed to do so. But
eyes—” now our problem is to repair the damage
The relay of that description and the he has done. Or else—”
subsequent reply took longer than I had His pause was significant. But Moran’s
anticipated. That’s why Sparks and I quiet, mocking laughter persisted.
were among the last to learn of'the new “It is useless, Captain. Not in hours,
trouble. We didn’t learn until, excited, no, not in weeks, will you repair the dam­
we burst onto the bridge, confronted the age. Don’t you see—” There was a
skipper with our information. feverish light in his eyes, a- shuddering
“Look, Skipper!” I yelled. “No wonder vibrancy in his voice. “Don’t you see that
‘Moran’ was able to fix Sparks’ radio and I bring you the greatest of all boons known
set your course! Do you—” to man?
And the Captain raised haggard eyes to “Death! Wonderful, blissful death!
me. Death that I have sought so long ... so
“Brait, where have you been? I’ve been hopelessly.”
audioing all over the ship for you.” Those were the last words I heard for
“In Sparks’ cabin. Listen, though. some time. I dashed from the room, Bart­
Moran is—” lett, Sparks and McCoy at my heels. We
“I don’t care,” said the skipper wearily, picked up the Chief Engineer. We cov­
“who he is. And in a little while, nobody ered the Antigone from stem to stern.
else will, either. Your check-up, Mr. And our worst fears were realized. It
Brait, was a miserable failure! We are was no use. The damage Moran had done
only an hour and a half out of the H-layer was irreparable.
—and the shield generators refuse to Russ Bartlett said, “There’s only one
function!” way out. We mustn’t try to penetrate the
 43
Heaviside layer. We must shift trajectory, well know that the man who has con­
pass Earth and remain in space until we demned us all to death is—or was—one of
get the shield generator operating again.” Earth’s greatest scientists. Had he not
And Chief Lester said somberly, “Have become a raving lunatic his genius could
you forgotten the trajectory you planned, have stemmed this disaster.”
Lieutenant Bartlett?” McNeally said, “What’s that, Lieu­
“The trajectory?” tenant? What do you mean?”
“I thought it was unusual,” rumbled “I mean this man’s name is not ‘Paul
the engineer, “when you called it down to Moran’—”
me. It’s paper-thin, balanced on a knife- “Names,” murmured Moran gently.
edge between counter-gravitations. If we “What difference does a name make?
try to shift course now, we’ll tear the ship When one has had thousands* of names.”
into shreds I” “His name,” I'continued, “is John Car­
I knew, now, why Moran had come* up taphilus I”
with such a ready answer when the com­ Bartlett said, “Cartaphilus!” In’ a leap
puter failed. He had planned well. He he was at our strange guest’s side, his
had deliberately forced us into this trajec­ voice eager. “Then he will—he must—
tory from which there was no escape. help us!
“Cartaphilus, listen to me! Of all men,
ACK on the bridge, we found Captain only you have the genius to devise some
B McNeally pacing the deck like a caged
cat. Moran was silent, watchful intent, with
way of escaping this peril! You’ve been
mad, sir! Insane from your privations!
an unholy gleam of justification lighting But now I beg that you cast aside this mad­
his curious eyes. The skipper looked up ness, come to our rescue!”
hopefully as we entered. Moran—or Cartaphilus—brushed his
“Well, gentlemen?” hand aside. A dreamy look was in his
Bartlett shook his head. eyes.
McNeally was silent for a1 long moment. “Death at last!” he whispered. “Oh,
His glance roved the smart, glistening in­ sweet boon of mankind—death! I who
terior of the Antigone’s control room. I have suffered so long, waited such a long
knew exactly what he was thinking. It time—”
was too bad that this smooth perfection, “Can’t you hear me, man? Snap out
this finest ship built by master craftsmen, of it! Time is growing short. In a half
should become a brief, winking flame in hour, maybe less, we’ll nose into the H-
the atmospheric, borders of Earth. layer. And then—Please, sir!”
And it was tough that we must all go But there was no reply. Captain Mc­
out together like this. Through no fault Neally looked at me uncertainly. “Are
of our own. Through the machinations you sure, Brait?”
of a space-mad castaway. He turned to “Positive. I forwarded a description to
me. “Lieutenant Brait, you and Sparks Bender at L. I. He said Cartaphilus has
will go to the radio turret. Send a com­ been missing for a year and a half. He
plete report to the Earth authorities. Tell fled Earth because of a scandal. It
them—” He gulped. “Tell them why the seems—”
—the Antigone will not come in.” “Never mind that now.” McNeally con­
I said, “Aye, aye, sir!” mechanically, fronted the insane scientist. “Mr. Carta­
and started for the door. But Sparks philus, you must help us out of this jam!
stopped me. We’re not thinking only of ourselves, but
“Ain’t you gonna tell ’em what we of the mothers and children waiting for
learned?” us on Earth. And of the future of space­
“Eh?” travel. If the Antigone, the finest ship
“About him?” ever built, blows out in the H-layer, it
He jerked his head toward 'Moran’. will strike a heavy blow at all astronaviga­
“It doesn’t really make any difference tion. Help us, sir! For Heaven’s sake—”
now,” I said. “But—” I suppose my Cartaphilus spoke suddenly, sharply.
voice was scornful. There was scorn and “Don’t say that!”
bitterness in my heart. “They might as “Only Heaven can save us now,” said
McNeally simply, “if you won’t. It’s our And all because I would not let Him
only hope. May the Lord help us if rest . . .”
you—” His voice broke in a great, wrenching
“Don’t! The strange, thin man sob. Then he lurched from the control
screamed the word. Suddenly he buried room like a broken thing.
his face in his hands, and his words were
an incoherent babble of torment. “Don’t NEVER saw him again. No one
you see what you’re doing? Man, have
you no pity?”
1 aboard the Antigone ever saw him
again. For the next hour we were in a
He raised wide, tortured eyes. “The turmoil, rearranging the electrical units of
endlessness of time—” he whispered. “But the ship as Cartaphilus had told us. We
I thought that, free of Earth, lost in the finished our task just in time; scant sec­
depths of space, I might at last find peace. onds after we had thrown on the power
But now you call upon me to save you in we nosed into the web-like field of force
His name. which is the H-layer.
“I won’t do it! I won’t! The power It was a breathless moment. Despite
cannot force me, here in the void. our efforts, there was not a man of us but
Two thousand years . . . No! No!” expected a brief, brilliant instant of horror
—then oblivion. But we were as wrong as
cNEALLY stepped back, torn be­ Cartaphilus had been right. There was a
M tween dread and doubt. He shook
his head at us. “It’s no use. He’s
jolt as our forcefield met that of Earth’s
com ­ ; the permalloy hull of the ship sang
shield
pletely mad.” and hummed and glowed cherry-red under
Then Russ Bartlett cried, “Wait! the impact of that terrific electro-motive
Listen!” strain, but we slipped through the barrier
For Cartaphilus, his face worn and aged, with greater ease than ever had any ship
had bowed his head as though surrendering using the old style shield generators.
to forces greater than his will-to-die. And In our jubilation we quite forgot the
he was droning in a drab, lack-lustre voice, mad scientist whose strange, last-minute
“Tell the engineer to reverse the polarity change of mind had saved our lives. We
of the alternate hypatomic motors. Trans­ landed. And sometime between the mo­
mit the counter electromotive force heli­ ment of landing and the moment when we
cally through the forward coils. Use full remembered our passenger, he fled. Dis­
power. Keep all motors running at top appeared completely from the ship and
speed. Cut out the intercommunicating from our lives.
and lighting systems; there must be no Cap McNeally was nothing if not a
D.C. current in operation anywhere on the square-shooter. He refused to take credit
ship. The cross-currents will—” for the invention that had brought us
Chief Engineer Lester’s face was a through the H-layer. The patent rights
masque of blank dismay. He husked, “A were taken out in the name of our de­
hysteresis bloc! It might work. No­ ranged passenger. The “Moran H-pene-
body ever thought of it before.” trant” it is called. All spaceships used it
“What do you mean?” That was Cap until just recently; until Cap Hawkins of
McNeally. the Andromeda and the Venusian scien­
“His suggestion. Heterodyning the web­ tist, Jar Farges, discovered Ampies could
coils, so we’ll counter the H-layer radia­ be used as H-layer shields.
tion with an alternating current of our But afterward, Cap McNeally came to
own. It’s just about one chance in a me, wondering.
million!” “Why should he have wanted to die,
“Then take that chance!” cried the skip­ Brait? I can’t understand it. A man like
per. “Try it! Do as he says. And, for John Cartaphilus; wealthy, intelligent, re­
God’s sake, man, hurry!” spected—was he really mad, do you
Cartaphilus, his eyes drained of all ex­ think?”
pression, rose sluggishly. Once more he I hesitated. I, too, had been wondering
spoke, faintly. “It will work,” he said. about that. I had gone so far as to look
“It will work, and I have failed again. up the life history of the mad scientist.
 45
I had found several curious things. No while probing into the life history of John
man knew when, or where, John Carta­ Cartaphilus. Something that, to my mind
philus had been bom. All agreed that he at least, more fully explained the oddness
was “remarkably youthful” in appearance. of our erstwhile passenger.
It was rumored that he had outlived a It was an old legend I had run across.
wife married in youth; that she had been The queer story of a man with many
an elderly woman when she died. names (“I have had so many names,”
I said, “I told you there had been a Moran had said) who wandered endlessly
scandal in his life, recently, Skipper. It about the Earth, perhaps the universe now,
concerned a friend of his, a worker in one simply because he had not let another rest
of his shops. for a moment on his doorsill.
“Cartaphilus was, and is, a genius, but Sometimes this man had been known as
he has a reputation for driving his men Carthaphilus. He had also been known
too hard. They say that on this occasion, as Juan Espera en Dios, as Ahasverus,
seeking the answer to some problem that and as Butta Deus. The Parisian gazette,
evaded him, he forced this assistant to “Turkish Spy,” had in 1644 A.D. reported
labor for weeks, begrudging him even a his presence in that city traveling under
few hours sleep each night. the name of “Paul Marrane.” But men
“On the eve of the solution of the prob­ in general knew him by a more descriptive
lem, this worker came to him, nervous, name. The Wandering Jew. The Eternal
ragged, exhausted, begging for a brief res­ Jew . . .
pite. Claiming he was sick with overwork But I did not tell Cap McNeally this.
and fatigue. But John Cartaphilus insisted, After all, it was a fanciful thought. And
impatiently, there was no time for rest. surely Moran—or Marrane, or Cartha­
He ordered the man to get about his work. philus—was mad when he claimed to have
“The job was completed. But the friend met and talked with Simon Magnus twelve
died. The doctors said it was a pure case hundred years ago?
of exhaustion. When he heard this, Carta­ Anyway, when we saw that ad in the
philus’ brain snapped. He blamed him­ classified columns of this week’s Space­
self for the man’s death, fled Earth. He ways Weekly, and McNeally claimed
became—or so we may believe—the wan­ Moran would return to claim his reward,
dering spaceman we found in the aster­ it raised again the question in my mind.
oids.” Will he return? Or will he find, at last,
Cap McNeally frowned. whatever peace awaits him out there? In
“Do you believe that story, Brait?” the vast emptiness of space, where the
I started to say no. I started to tell the power cannot — must not — extend? I
skipper something else I had discovered wonder . . ,

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 ATOM OF DEATH
By ROSS ROCKLYNNE
The Earthling killer planned too well! An
atom was to have been his alibi ... that same
atom was his judge and executioner.
OWLER BARRY curled his lips and swamp and stepped forth into the
into a thin smile of satisfaction as clearing where the drug gatherers’ shack,
he pushed aside the oily, dripping a cubical, airtight structure, stood. This
vines and branches of the Venusian jungle was as he had planned. They—Pete Slater
46
 47
and Luke Browne their names had been the first. I looked you fellows up in the
entered in the Venus Registry of 2061— Registry. Boys, this grub looks almighty
should help him to establish his alibi, un­ good!”
wittingly; if, indeed, he should ever have During the meal, while Barry talked with
to establish it. the easy abandon that made these men re­
He approached boldly, and rang the buz­ spect and like him at once, he studied them
zer. After a couple of seconds, a bearded carefully. Rough, bluff, middle-aged men
face placed itself against the thick circular who had been gathering Zantw-leaves for
window, peered out at him. years; bringing their food and supplies by
Barry made motions of friendliness, and boat down a tortuous system of rivers and
smiled his most disarming smile. lakes from South Venus City; taking their
The man waved back. He grinned in produce out in similar fashion; living
response. Seconds later he operated the simply, roughly, more than glad to lend a
controls that slid open the outer door of hand to anyone who might stop by. They’d
the small airlock, closed it as Barry stepped do, all right, Barry thought in gloating
through, then opened the inner. satisfaction. They’d never suspect Jim
Barry stepped into the single, untidy Harrington of being anything else than
room, grinning his thanks. The two men, what he was. Even if they personally knew
Slater and Browne, smiled back at him. Anson Harkness, the man who had turned
Barry quickly unlatched his gloves, un­ state’s evidence on Fowler Barry eight long
buckled his helmet. years ago, and doubtless they did, they’d
“Whew! Sure is good to breathe real never suspect that his disappearance was
air again!” He stuck out his hand, shook tied up in any way with the man who sat
those of the two drug gatherers. “Name’s here, smoking a cigar and swapping tall
Harrington—Jim Harrington. I’m on my yarns.
way up to the Little White Water Country, An hour later he was finishing his cigar
getting a clay sample for my company, and yawning.
Venusian Metals. We think there might “If you fellows can put me up for a
be emeralds up that way.” few hours—?”
“Pleased to meetcha,” said the taller of Luke Browne said with alacrity, “Hell,
the two, looking at Barry from under yes, brother. You’ll be out all day tomor­
beetling brows. “Name’s Pete Slater. row if you want to get to Little White
This here is my pardner, Luke Browne. Water and back here—though you better
Get your pressure suit off, Harrington, listen to an old-timer like me. I been up
we was just setting down to grub.” that way, and there ain’t any emeralds. I
“Thanks, I will,” said Barry, in a tone did hear tell of some fellows a couple years
of relief. I’ve been on the trail twelve and ago finding a pocket of beryls, but they
a half hours. I left my space-ship on the was wuthless and shot through with faults.
edge of the plains outside the jungle, But if you’re going anyway, you better
forty-three odd miles back. That -was about take two tanks of ozone. You might find
the nearest place to here I could manage yourself breathing CO2 before you get
to land.” back.”
Browne, a short man with broad He pulled a compact folding bed out of
shoulders and lines of humor around his the wall.
eyes, said, “Guess you made it just in time. “No, thanks,” said Barry. “A twenty
Another half hour and your ozone tank pound tank is enough to carry around. I’ll
would have given out.” Ozone tanks were be traveling kinda fast, and all I’ll be doing
used instead of oxygen because, under is to grab a fistful of mud, then I’ll be
equal conditions of pressure and tempera­ starting back here again. Should make it
ture, more ozone, made of a heavier mole­ on one tank.”
cule, could be crowded into a tank than “Yeah, but you’ll have to pick ’em up
could oxygen. “If you’re going up to the and put ’em down for sure.” Browne in­
Little White Water country, we can fit you dicated the bed, while Slater started pulling
up with a full tank, in exchange for the a partition out that bisected the room.
empty one and three eighty-five.” “There y’are, Harrington; hit the cork
Barry grinned. “That was my idea from anytime you feel like it.”
 N the morning—by chronometer, since flamed in his eyes. Anson Harkness, a tall,
I Venus rotated slowly—the friendly
drug-gatherers screwed an ozone tank into
thin, gangling sort of man with a sensitive,
almost gentle face, was bending over an
the back of his pressure suit, attached the earthenware crock, stirring a mess of
nozzle to the catalyst chamber, where the lantis-ieaves with a wooden spoon. Now
ozone was broken down into oxygen. The and again, as Barry exultantly watched, he
pressure control gage automatically fixed moved to a small retort suspended over a
itself at room pressure. Bunsen burner, closely regarding the pale,
“Thirteen point five suit?” asked sirupy fluid that emerged, drop by slow
Browne. “Some people can’t stand any­ drop.
thing less than fifteen pounds to the square “Here’s where you get yours,” Barry
inch. Me and Pete stick to thirteen point whispered. His thin lips drew dack wolf­
five.” like ; his close-set eyes gleamed.
“I leave the control gage roll where she He stepped to the door, pressed his
wants to,” answered Barry absently. He gloved finger against the buzzer. After a
buckled on his gloves, and then stuck out few seconds, Anson Harkness looked out
a hand to each of the two men. “Be seeing at him.
you, then, in thirteen hours at the most.
More probably twelve.” He grinned again, OWLER BARRY waved his hand and
took his leave. In a few minutes, he was
striding along the Little White Water trail,
F grinned. Harkness smiled faintly, his
lips framing the words, “Just a minute.”
with the two men watching him as he dis­ Seconds later, the tiny airlock opened;
appeared into the jungle. and less than a minute after that, Barry
His thin lips twisted in a smile of con­ stepped into the cabin. He nodded at Hark­
tempt as soon as he was out of sight. The ness as he went about the job of closing
old fogies! They had been marooned in the inner door, and then turned his back to
the jungle so long that they had entirely him. Quickly, he unbuckled his gloves, un­
forgotten how to read a man’s character latched his helmet. He felt the sudden
except at face value. Well, that was all slight change of pressure in the air. He let
to the good and part of Barry’s plan. He his helmet fall back on his shoulders. He
sought for a break in the jungle and still had his back to Harkness, grinning
plunged through at right angles to the Little wolfishly to himself. He was going to en­
White Water trail. He traveled some three joy the horror and consternation that was
hundred yards, and picked up his actual suddenly going to sweep across Harkness’
route, at the end of which lay the cabin of face.
Anson Harkness and the revenge that Harkness turned away from the door.
Fowler Barry had looked forward to for He was evidently waiting for Barry to
eight long years of imprisonment in a Ter­ turn around. He said nervously, “Bad tra­
restrial penitentiary. veling, alone, eh? You going far?”
It took him four hours of laborious Barry swung around, his eyes gloating.
travel through the slushy swamplands and “No.” he whispered in a low, husky mono­
eternal twilight of Venus, guiding himself tone, “but you are 1”
by means of a Registered Veneographical Harkness stared, his eyes dilating.
Map, to reach Anson Harkness’ cabin. As Barry could feel him searching his face,
was the case with the cabin of Slater and prying behind the beard that hid his fea­
Browne, this cabin was situated in a small tures. Then—what Barry was waiting for
clearing, and perched on a knoll. It was —the consternation and fright came.
running with water from the light drizzle Harkness leaped back, pinning himself
that had started. Barry struggled over the against the wall, his sensitive face going
soggy ground toward the cabin, his bearded whiter than it normally was under Venus’
face wreathed in a cruel, anticipatory smile. cloud blanket.
The port-like windows were lit up from “You 1” he whispered hoarsely He stared
within. at the blunt instrument in Barry’s hand.
He stepped quietly to the window near­ “No!” he suddenly screamed, his face dis­
est him. He cautiously looked in. His torted as he came to realize that his death
breath hissed through his teeth. His hate was only a matter of moments. “You
 49
can’t, Barry! You can’t! Not after I’ve picked the body up, took one look around
gone straight, not just when I’m beginning to make sure everything was all right, and
to get ahead. Don’t! Barry!” then stepped into the tiny airlock, closed the
“Stop babbling,” Barry whispered gloat­ inner door, left the outer open, as was
ingly, falling into a crouch. Slowly he customary.
brought the automatic up, his eyes bright He jogged swiftly along through the
with his intent, dwelling with pleasure on eternal dusk, Anson Harkness riding on
the utter horror of Anson Harkness. “For his shoulder. He came to a bog, and threw
you,” he said softly; “for turning state’s the body far out. He turned at once, and
evidence, you double-crosser!” rapidly made off toward the drug-gather­
“No!” Harkness thrust up a hand as if ers’ cabin. Things had so far worked out to
to ward off the death that was coming. He his intense satisfaction, and he was per­
never finished his horrified protest. A thin, fectly sure that he had made no slip-up
spiteful crack cut through the silence; at all.
smoke curled upward from the automatic.
Anson Harkness slumped and died, his LITTLE less than three hours later,
protest still written on his face.
Barry stood over him, still reveling in
A he cut across through the jungle to
the Little White Water trail, and continued
the terrible fear that Harkness’ eyes on from there, filled with gleeful confid­
showed. Then he stuck his automatic into ence. His tank was almost empty, therefore
its holster, fastened his gloves and helmet a little more than twelve hours had passed.
down again, and threw himself into a He’d reach the cabin in about fifteen min­
chair. utes now.
The main thing to remember now was His breath suddenly soughed from his
that Slater and Browne expected him to lungs. What in hell was that? Slater and
go to Little White Water, which distance Browne, hurrying toward him along the
was a little less than twice as far as where trail! He could just about see their faces;
he actually had gone. Traveling at a steady and their faces were worried, alarmed. But
pace, it would take a minumum of twelve that passed quickly when they saw him.
hours to go there and back, his tank sup­ They hurried up, their smiles wide with
plying him for almost exactly that length relief.
of time. Therefore, Barry had some six Slater grabbed his hand, and panted,
hours to dawdle away; or he could simply “Whew! We sure were worried about you!
wait until his tank was three-quarters What kept you, man? We’ve been waiting
empty, and then start back to the drug for the last two hours!”
gatherers’ cabin, arriving by way of the “What kept me?” said Barry blankly.
Little White Water trail, with his ozone “Why, nothing kept me.” He was begin­
tank almost empty. ning to feel alarmed.
Barry laughed to himself in high glee. Browne looked at him curiously. He put
The fools wouldn’t ever suspect, or have his hands on hips, and screwed his face into
reason to suspect him. After all, he didn't a puzzled frown. “That’s funny. D’you
have to show them a sample of the clay he know you’ve been gone fourteen and a half
had supposedly picked up, did he ? No. He hours? And—hell! You’ve still got ozone
settled himself back in the chair, sending in your tank yet, too!”
an occasional look at the contents gage of Slater looked at the contents gage too.
his ozone tank while he interested himself “That is funny!” he exclaimed. “For a
in a year-old picture magazine. trip to the Little White Water country and
He paid no attention to time; after all, back, thireen hours is just about the lim—”
he thought, the contents gage of his tank Barry clenched his hands and raced his
was his time piece. mind. No matter where he’d slipped up,
He was looking through his fourth mag­ he had to collect himself!
azine when the time came to leave. He He forced a wide grin to his face. “Say,
carefully placed the magazines back where let’s don’t stand here gabbing.” He slipped
they came from. He dressed the dead body his arms between those of Slater and
of Anson Harkness in a pressure suit, Browne and urged them along in com­
4—Planet Stories—Winter radely fashion. “All I know is, I’ve been
 traveling, and I’m damned glad to get Then he got up, and touched Slater on
back! I didn’t know I was gone this long. the shoulder. He made a motion to him.
I was just timing myself by the contents The mystified drug-gatherer followed him
gage on my tank. It looked to me like I to a far corner of the room.
was in plenty of time. And say, I’m a little “What ails you ?”
runt of a fellow; I don’t use up as much Browne put a finger to his lips.
oxygen as you fellows would.” “Softer,” he advised, lowly. His canny
“W-well,” Slater said uncertainly, “may­ eyes sharpened. He jerked a thumb to­
be that’s the reason. Still, it don’t seem—” ward the partitioned off room where
He broke off. “I guess the main thing is, Fowler Barry was sleeping. “He didn’t
you got back. But I can remember lots of go to Little White Water,” he whispered,
times I’ve wished a tank would last me fif­ his eyes smoldering.
teen hours the way it did you. Whenever Slater started. “What?” His voice was
I go on a long trip I have to carry two of alarmed. His eyes widened. He trusted
the tanks, and forty pounds ain’t no fun. his partner, knew him for a man of good
Oh hell! C’mon—grub’s been stewing for sense. He said slowly, “Maybe I follow
an hour.” your thought. Maybe I don’t. Go ahead.”
Barry grinned approval. He turned his Browne made a fierce gesture. “He
head toward Browne. Browne was looking couldn’t have gone to White Water and
at Barry’s ozone tank with a funny expres­ stayed away fifteen hours with only one
sion. Barry felt a quick thrill of alarm, tank of ozone. He stayed away fifteen
but that passed when Browne grinned at hours, and actually came back with some
him disarmingly. still in his tank. So he went somewhere
“You musta stopped breathing for else, and told us he was going to Little
a while,” he chuckled, and quickened his White Water in order to throw us off the
pace with Barry and Slater toward the trail. He went a shorter distance, and then
cabin. laid around and dawdled away the remain­
The evening was a repetition of the ing time, timing himself by his contents
other. They ate, smoked cigars, swopped gage. But he forgot that a man uses more
yarns, and laughed until whatever fears oxygen when he’s walking than when he’s
Barry had were utterly dispelled. He laying around. So he stayed away longer
couldn’t understand exactly why his ozone than he should have. That’s right, isn’t
had lasted him fifteen hours, but it didn’t it?”
appear to be troubling the two grizzled “Go on.” Slater’s eyes showed his
drug-gatherer’s, so Barry resolved that it interest.
wouldn’t bother him either. He went to “Answer me this: When a man puts a
bed and prepared for an untroubled sleep. pressure suit on and attaches a tank, what
Lord knows the tanger of hate for Anson pressure does the gage read?”
Harkness in his mind had been keeping “Huh?” said Slater. “You know that—
him awake for eight long years! He had the same pressure that surrounded him be­
done the sensible thing when he had re­ fore he put the suit on. The gage adjusts
moved it! itself to give you the same pressure in the
But none the less, though he did go to suit as that you’ve been used to.”
sleep, it was a troubled slumber. There “Sure. For instance, if you came into
were uneasy thoughts in the back of his this cabin from outside with a pressure of
mind. Somehow he wished that the two fifteen pounds inside your suit, and opened
drug-gatherers hadn’t drawn that partition your helmet only for a couple seconds, the
across this section of the room—a sound­ pressure gage would change to read thir­
proof partition at that. But they had ex­ teen point five—the pressure in the cabin.
plained they weren’t ready for bed yet, so Well, Harrington’s gage reads thirteen
it must be all right. point one one.”
Slater’s breath released with an explosive
ROWNE, a short man with extremely sound. “The pressure Harkness has been
B broad shoulders, said nothing to Slater using! I see what you mean!” He turned
of his suspicions until a half hour hadhis whole body, and stared at the partition
passed. behind which Barry was sleeping. He
jerked his head toward Browne and started made him think that Harrington was look­
toward the partition. Brown grasped his ing at him with a trace of wariness show­
arm. ing behind his eyes. Whether it was or
“No,” he whispered fiercely. He quieted, wasn’t, he had to keep Harrington here
said soberly, “We can’t be sure of any­ somehow, until they could be sure.
thing. That reading may be a hell of a “Breakfast?” he asked, rising without
far-fetched coincidence, but coincidence too much alacrity. “What’ll it be ?”
just the same. Understand? I’m going to Barry was swiftly dressing. He looked
beat it over and see if Harkness is all up. He made a wry face. “Nothing, this
right. If he isn’t and if anything at all’s morning. Bad stomach. Thanks, anyway.
happened to him, I’ll try to be back here Guess I’ll be shoving off. I’ll need a new
before Harrington gets up and leaves. tank I guess,” he added carelessly. He
We’ll know what to do with him if our started to lace his rawhide boots, his slim
suspicions are right.” fingers moving rapidly.
He turned, rummaged in a locker, “Sure. Stick around though—wait until
brought out a pressure suit. Slater stared Browne gets back.”
at him for a minute, then nodded his head Barry’s head snapped up, his eyes nar­
quickly. Five minutes later, Browne was rowing slightly. “Where’d Browne go?”
equipped and ready to leave. He added casually, “I’d hate to go off
“I’ll hurry it up,” he promised. “Seven without seeing him.”
hours, no more; and maybe less. In the “Sure,” said Slater, wandering around
meantime, if he gets up ahead of time, try the room with his hands in his pockets.
to keep him here. But don’t accuse him of “That’s the reason I thought it might be
anything. He might be innocent. There’s nice for you to stick around. He’s out
just a vague chance that he might actually gathering lantis. We take shifts—mean
have gone to White Water.” job.”
“Okay.” “Um-huh.” Barry buttoned his shirt, put
Five minutes later, Slater was watching his coat on. He sat down with a sigh, and
his partner disappear hurriedly into the Slater heaved an inward sigh of relief.
jungle. He went back and sat down, nerv­ But still, perhaps Harrington was just pre­
ously picking at his finger-nails. If Har­ tending that he wasn’t in a hurry to be off.
rington got up ahead of time, and decided He watched the man while he lit a cigar,
to leave before Browne got back, what puffed leisurely; then put the cigar out
could he do except let him go? That was with a sigh of regret.
all he could do. But what if he—the “Got to be off,” he said apologetically,
thought was fantastic—what if he had getting to his feet. He got his pressure
murdered Harkness, and all the talk about suit off the wall, and while Slater watched
White Water was just an alibi? Slater’s with a sinking feeling, clambered into it.
teeth came together with a click. If that He said carelessly over his shoulder.
was true, Barry would have to pay for his “Let’s have that ozone tank, Pete.”
crime—someway, somehow. But whatever Slater bit his lip and gave up. He
that was Slater didn’t have the least idea. wheeled, and without more ado crossed the
room to a row of tanks suspended from a
HE long hours wore away. Slater had rack. He paused in mid-step, and his eyes
T a case of nerves. Twice he thought he
heard sounds of Fowler Barry getting
suddenly flashed. Then he went ahead, got
out
a tank down from the rack, and returned
of bed, then knew it was just the rain. with it. He screwed it into place on Barry’s
Six hours had passed when the moment suit after taking the empty one off. He at­
he dreaded to face came. The man who tached the nozzle to the catalyst chamber,
might or might not be guilty of some hide­ released the valve and saw that Barry was
ous crime pushed back the partition, blink­ watching the pressure gage swing over to
ing in the sudden light. thirteen point five. His eyes switched up­
“Time to get up,” he remarked, smiling ward to the contents gage, where the needle
in friendly fashion. pointed to “Full.”
Slater answered mechanically, wonder­ “Guess that fixes you up,” Slater said,
ing if it was just his imagination which watching Barry buckle down his helmet.
“Too bad you have to go, but here’s wish­ “Remember that Harrington’s tank was
ing you luck anyway.” almost empty when he got here from his
He stuck out his hand. Barry took it, ship? He had just enough ozone to take
smiling in man to man fashion; and then, him that far. Well, he needed the same
with Slater’s help at the airlock, took his amount of ozone to get back. Do you
leave. know why we use ozone and a catalyst to
Slater watched him from the port-like break the ozone down into oxygen that we
window as he pushed aside the tangled can breathe, instead of using plain
creepers and branches that led him into the oxygen ?”
jungle. “Don’t remember the theory of it,”
Then he turned back to his chair, Browne said sulkily.
whistling under his breath. “Avogadro’s Hypothesis. Equal volumes
of all gases under the same conditions of
T couldn’t have been more than forty-five pressure and temperature contain the same
I minutes later that Luke Browne came number of molecules. That applies no mat­
hurriedly out of swampland and jungle ter how big the molecules are.
from a direction opposite to that in which “So that’s the reason we use ozone.
Barry had left. Ozone is an allotropic form of oxygen. A
Slater let him into the house. catalyst can break it down into oxygen.
Even before he took off his helmet, And since the ozone molecule is one third
Browne whispered, savagely, “He did it! larger than the oxygen molecule, we can
He killed poor Harkness! Where is he?” get more oxygen into a tank—actually—by
His eyes roved around. filling it with ozone rather than -oxygen.”
Slater felt a cold chill running up his His grim eyes bored into Browne’s.
spine. He grabbed Browne’s arm. “So,” he said softly, “I took one of our
“You’re sure?” he said, tensely. old stock of oxygen tanks, and gave it to
“Sure I’m sure!” Browne gasped. There Harrington. But he thinks it’s ozone.”
were tears in his eyes. When he looked at The two of them looked at each other
Slater there was a deadly rage there too. silently for a full thirty seconds. A tight
“Don’t tell me,” he hissed, “that you let grim smile suddenly etched itself on
him go! He murdered Harkness. He shot Browne’s bearded face. “Right,” he said,
him. I found him in the swamp—poor in a whisper. “And we could have pushed
Harkness, that wouldn’t hurt a fly! If you ourselves and caught up with him—if he
tell me you let him go,” he babbled. was innocent.”
“I did,” said Slater. As by mutual accord, they turned to a
Browne turned, snarling. “Then I’m window, looked out into the swamp, where
going after him,” he gritted. “Im going Fowler Barry was even then hurrying back
to his ship.
Slater said sharply, “Shut up. You’re Each knew what the other was thinking.
not going to do anything.” He smiled, a After eight hours of travel, and four more
slow, terrible smile. “Sit down, Luke. Get to go, Harrington would suddenly discover
your suit off, too. Jim Harrington, if that his tank was almost empty. Only two
that’s really his name, is already taken care thirds of the journey completed, because
of. Understand?” an oxygen molecule is only two thirds as
“You’re crazy! He’s already gone, big as one of ozone. Panic—wild fear—
hasn’t he? You didn’t have sense enough utter madness as slow suffocation started.
to keep him here, did you?” Yes, Fowler Barry, alias Jim Harring­
“Shut up!” Slater said sharply. He held ton, would pay for the murder of Anson
Browne’s wet eyes with his own hard ones. Harkness.

||| A Fiction House Magazine^

 BEYOND LIGHT
By NELSON S. BOND
Venns was civilized ... so the Universe thought! But deep in
its midnight caverns . . . beyond light, beyond the wildest
imaginings of an ordered System . . . dwelt Horror.

HEY stood in the Orestes’ tiny ob­ tain Lane had found them. The shimmer­

T servation turret, Mallory’s defiant ing reflection of the planet Venus, only a
arm still tight about the slim and few thousand miles ahead, bathed the
trim,
lovely girl, just exactly as bull-voiced Cap ­ hard-jawed man and the softly
53
pretty girl in a gentle glow, but it failed designing and installation of air-condition­
to soothe the grizzled space ship skipper. ing plants where they are needed. On
“What in hell does this mean ?” airless Luna, the cold Martian deserts,
Mallory, remembering an old forgotten here on Venus. The simple truth is—”
saying—something about a soft answer “The simple truth is,” stated the skip­
turning aside wrath—spoke rapidly. “Sorry per savagely, “that you’re a groundhog
if we gave you a shock, sir,” he said. “But and a damned poor son-in-law for a space­
your daughter and I are engaged.” man. You being what you are, and Dor­
Few medical men would have guaran­ othy being what she is, I say the hell with
teed Space Captain Jonathan Lane a long you, Mr. Mallory! Perhaps I can’t pre­
life at that moment. His usually ruddy face vent your marriage. But there’s one thing
was a violent mauve-scarlet, his eyes hot I can do—and that is wash my hands of
pin-points of anger, his lean, hard body the two of you!”
was atremble with emotion. He watched them, searching for signs
“Engaged. Engaged!” He made a con­ of indecision in their eyes. He found, in­
vulsive motion. “Did you say engaged? stead—and with a sense of sickening dread
To this inane young fool. You’re talking —only sorrow. Sorrow and pity and re­
nonsense. Go to your cabin, girl.” gret. And Tim Mallory said quietly, “I’m
Dorothy Lane sighed and looked hope­ sorry, sir, that you feel that way about it.”
fully up at Mallory. Lane turned to his daughter.
Tim Mallory had forgotten his old and “Dorothy?” he said hoarsely.
wise quotation. “I’m sorry, too.” Her voice was gentle
“Why not engaged,” he snapped. “What but determined. “Tim is right. We—”
have you got against me?” Then her eyes widened; sudden panic
“What” growled Captain Lane. “He asks lighted them, and her hand flew to her lips
me what!” in a gesture of fear. “Something’s wrong!
He had a reason; one which he shared Venus! The ship—1”
with all fond parents who have ever seen
a beloved child slipping from their arms APTAIN LANE did not need her
—jealousy. Jealousy and grief. Now his
mind pounced on a substitute for the true
C warning. His space-trained body
had recognized disaster a split-second be­
reasons that he would not—could not— fore. His legs had felt the smooth floor­
name. ing beneath him lurch and sway. His
“Well, for one thing,” he said curtly, eyes had glimpsed, through the spaceport,
“you’re not a spaceman. You’re nothing the sudden looming of the silver disc to­
but a blasted Earthlubber I” ward which they had been gliding easily
Mallory grinned. but now were plunging at headlong, break­
“You can hardly call me an Earthlub­ neck speed. His ears howled with the
ber, Captain. I spent two years on Luna, clamor of monstrous winds that clutched
three on Mars; I’ll be five or more on with vibrant fingers the falling Orestes.
Venus—” In a flash he spun and fought his way
“Pah! Luna . . . Mars . . . Venus up a sharply tilting deck to the wall audio,
. . . you’re still a groundhog. I’ll not thrust at its button, bawled a query. The
see my girl married to a money-grubbing mate’s voice, shrill with terror, answered:
businessman, Mallory.” “The Dixie-rod, sir! It’s jammed!
“Tim’s not a businessman,” broke in We’re trying to get it free, but it’s locked!
Dorothy Lane. “He’s an engineer.” And We’re out of control—”
anyone seeing her young fury would have “Up rockets!” roared Lane. “Up rock­
smiled to note how much alike she was to ets and blast!”
her bucko, space captain father. “They’re cut, sir! The hypo’s cold.
“Engineer! Nonsense! Only an astro­ We’ll have to ’bandon ship—”
gation engineer deserves that title. He’s a Abandon ship! Tim Mallory did not
—a— What is it you do? Build ice­ need Dorothy’s sudden gasp to tell him
boxes ?” what that meant to the trio caught in the
“I’m a calorimetrical engineer,” Mal­ observation turret. Earthlubber he might
lory answered stiffly. “My main job is the be, but he knew enough about the con­
struction of space craft to realize that tain Lane as he strapped himself into a
there were no auxiliary safety-sleds an­ hammock between Tim and Dorothy, Dor­
chored to this section of the Orestes. othy’s voice, “Tim, dear—” And his own
Venus was no longer a beaming platter reply, “Hold tight, youngster!”
of silver in the distance. They had burst Then heat increasing, heat like a mas­
through its eternal blanket of cloud, now; sive fist upon his breast, hot beads of
the world below was no longer a sphere, sweat, salt-tasting on his lips, an ear-split­
it was a huge saucer of green, swelling ting tumult of sound from somewhere.
ominously with each flashing second. Tem­ . . . A swiff, terrifying glimpse of solid
pests screamed about them, and the scream­ earth rushing up to meet them. . . . The
ing was the triumphant cry of hungry last, wrenching shudder of the Orestes as
death. it plunged giddily groundward. Heat . . .
No ships. No time to seek escape. pain . . . flame . . . suffocation. . . .
Life, which had but recently become a pre­ Then darkness.
cious thing to Tim Mallory, was but a
matter of minutes. UT of the darkness, light. Out of the
He saw the agony of indecision on Cap­
tain Jonathan Lane’s face, heard, as in a
O sultriness, a thin, cool finger of
breeze. Out of the silence of death, life!
dream, the skipper delivering the only pos­ Tim Mallory opened his eyes. And a
sible order. thick, wordless cry of thanksgiving burst
‘Very well, Carter! ’Bandon ship!” from his lips as he stared about him.
And the pilot’s hectic query, “But where The impossible had happened!
are you?” The ship had crashed. Its control-room
“Never mind that. Cut loose, you was a fused and twisted heap of wreck­
fool!” age smoldering in the giant crater it had
“No, Captain! You’re below. I can’t let plowed. But somehow the observation tur­
you die. I’ll keep trying—” ret, offset in a streamlined vane of the
“ ’Bandon ship, Carter! It’s an order!” Orestes, had escaped destruction.
And the faint, thin answer, “Aye, sir!” Great rents gaped where once girders
Silence. had welded together sturdy permalloy
Tim turned to Dorothy, and from some­ sheets, purposeless shards lay strewn
where summoned the ghost of a smile. about, even the hammocks had been
His arms went out to her, and as one in wrenched from their strong moorings, but
a dream she moved toward him. There he and his companions still lived!
was, at least, this. They could die to­ Even as Tim fought to loose the straps
gether. that circled him, Captain Lane groaned,
And then Captain Lane was •between stirred, opened his eyes. Dully, then with
them, bellowing, commanding, pushing wakening recollection. And his first
them apart. word—
“Avast, you two! This is no time for “Dorothy?”
play-acting. Mallory, jerk down those “Safe,” said Mallory. “She’s safe.
hammocks. Tumble in and strap your­ We’re all safe. I don’t know how. We
selves tight! It’s a chance in a billion, must bear charmed lives.” He bent over
but—” the girl, loosened her straps, chafed her
Tim swung into motion. The old man wrists gently. Her eyes opened, and the
was right. It was a slim chance, but—a image of that last moment of panic was
chance! To strap themselves into the pneu­ still mirrored in their depths. “Tim!”
matic hammocks used by passengers at she cried. “Are we— Where’s Daddy?”
times of acceleration, hope that by some “Easy, sugar!” soothed Tim. “He’s
miracle the Orestes would not be crushed here. It’s all over. We pulled through.
into a metal pancake when they crashed, It was a miracle.”
pray that it might land on a slope, or He said it gratefully. But Captain
some yielding substance. Lane corrected him. The safety of his
It was a breathless moment and a mad daughter assured, the old spacedog’s next
one. Frenzied winds and the groan of thought had been for his ship. He had
scorching metal, the thick panting of Cap­ walked forward, studied the crumpled ruin
of the control-room. Now he said, “Not heading into those marshes, those hills, or
a miracle, Mallory. A sacrifice. It was those jungles. Our only chance of survi­
val is to stay close to the Orestes. Five
Carter. He didn’t bail out with the others.
He must have stayed on in the control­ of the sailors bailed out, you’ll remember.
room, fighting that jammed Dixie-rod. It In safety-sleds. We’ve got to hope one or
must have come clean at the last moment, more of them will reach Venus City, start
slowing the ship, or we wouldn’t be here. a rescue party out after us.”
But it was too late, then, for him to get “But you said ‘get going’ ?”
away—” “To work, I meant. We’re going to
His voice was sad, but there was a sortneed protection from the sun.” Again
of pride in it, too. Dorothy began to cry Captain Lane glanced at the sky, this time
softly. Captain Lane’s hand came to his a little anxiously. “I know this country.
After that sun gets up, it will be a bake­
forehead in brief, farewell salute to a gal­
lant man. Then he rejoined the others. oven. A seething cauldron of heat. Damp,
“It was the first time,” he said, “he evermuggy heat. Steam from the marshes be­
disobeyed my orders.” low, the raw, blinding heat blazing down
Tim said nothing. There was nothing from the rocks above. This is Venus,
he could say. But for the first time he Mallory—” He laughed shortly; but
realized why Captain Lane, why all space­ there was no mirth in his laughter. “This
men, felt as they did about their calling.isn’t an air-conditioned home on Earth.
Because the men who wore space-blues Come along!”
were of this breed. Silently, Tim followed him. They
For a long moment there was silence. picked their way through the tangled
Then the old man stirred brusquely. wreckage of the Orestes, stopping from
“Well, we’d better get going.” time to time to salvage such bits of equip­
“Going?” Tim stared about him. It was ment as Lane felt might be of use. Flash­
a far from reassuring scene that met his lights, side-arms, vacuteens of clear, cold
eyes. They had landed in the midst of water, packets of emergency rations.
wild and desolate country, on a plateau Through chamber after shattered chamber
midway between sprawling marshlands be­ they moved, Captain Lane leading the way,
low and craggy, clo id-created hills above.Tim and Dorothy following mutely be­
The shock of the crash must have stunned hind. Everywhere it was the same. Broken
into silence all wild-life temporarily, forwalls, bent and twisted girders, great rents
upon awakening, Tim had been dimly in what had once been a sturdy space­
conscious of a vast, reverberant quietude. craft.
But now the small, secret things were And finally Lane gave up.
creeping back to gaze on the smoking “It’s no use,” he said. “There’s no
monster that had died in their midst; protection in this battered hulk. Shading
small squeals and snarls and chirrupings ourselves in one of these open cells would
bespoke an infinitude of watchers. The be like taking refuge in a broiler.”
hour was just before dawn; the eastward “Then what can we do, Daddy?”
horizon was tinged with pearl. “Going?” “There’s only one thing to do. Break
Tim repeated. “But where are we?” out bulgers. They’re thermostatically con­
trolled. We’ll keep cooler in space-suits
APTAIN JONATHAN looked at than anything else. Mallory, you remem­
C him somberly. “In the Badlands,” he ber where they were?”
said. “And the term is not a loose one; “Yes, sir!” Tim went after the space­
they are bad lands, Mallory.” He pointed suits, grateful for a chance to contribute
the hour hand of his wrist-watch at the in some way to their common good. The
pale mist of rising sunlight. “I don’t storeroom in which the bulgers had been
know exactly where we are, or how far locked was no longer burglar-proof; one
from civilization, but it’s far enough.” wall had been sheared away in the crash
Tim said determinedly, “Then we’d bet­ as if cleft with a gigantic ax. He clam­
ter pack up, eh? Hit the trail?” bered into the compartment, broke out
The skipper laughed scornfully. “What three bulgers, gathered up spare oxytain-
trail? We’d be committing suicide by ers for each of them.
 He had just finished lugging the equip­ backing away. And get into the bulgers.
ment out of the storeroom, sweating from Move!”
the exertion of lifting three heavy space­ Mallory climbed swiftly into his space­
suits beneath a sun which was now glow­ suit. Its weight disappeared as he touched
ing brazenly in an ochre, misted sky, when the grav control button; the heat which
a sharp cry startled him. had begun to oppress him fled, too, when
“Daddy! Behind you!” It was Dor­ he closed the face-port. He touched Lane’s
othy who screamed the warning. And shoulder, thrust the remaining bulger at
then, “Tim! Tim!” him.
“Coming!” roared Mallory. He was “I’ll hold them while you get into it!”
scarcely conscious of the weight of the And he did. It was an unequal battle,
bulgers now. In a flash he was plunging though. The proto-balls were the next
toward the source of the cry, tugging at thing to imperishable. The needle-gun
the needle-gun in his belt. But before he could not destroy them, it only slowed
had taken a dozen steps— them down. An occasional perfect bull’s-
“Never mind, Mallory!” roared Captain eye shot, striking a vulnerable spot, would
Lane. “Stay where you are! Back, you burst a proto-ball into a thousand pieces
filthy—!” There came the sharp, charac­ —but when that happened, each of the
teristic hiss of a flashing needle-gun, the pieces, amoeba-like, curled instantly into
plaivp! of some unguessable, fleshy thing a tiny daughter proto-ball and surged for­
exploding into atoms. “Stay where you ward again.
are! We’ll come to you. Quick, Dorothy!” Yet there must have been some elemen­
tary nervous-system in these creatures, for
HEN their footsteps pounding toward while it could not kill them, still they
T him, Dorothy rounding a bend of the
ship, white-faced and flying, Captain Lane
seemed to fear the flaming ray of the
needle-gun. And it was to this fear that
on her heels, covering their retreat with the trio of Earthlings owed their exis­
his gun. As Mallory sprang to join them tence during those next hectic minutes
Lane flashed him a swift glance and tossed while they stumbled, ever backward and
curt words of explanation. upward, giving ground steadily, toward
“Proto-balls! Giant, filthy amoebae. the cave-mouth Captain Lane had pointed
Pure proteid matter. Aaah! Scorched that out on the hillside.
one! Damned needle-guns won’t stop ’em, Tim did not even know the cave was
though. Just slows ’em down. Only near. Shoulder to shoulder with the old
thing’ll kill ’em is an acid-spray. We’ve space-captain, he maintained a rear-guard
got to get out of here!” defense against the proto-balls, gun flam­
“But where, Daddy?” ing without cessation, his eyes aching from
“Got those bulgers, Mallory? Climb into the strain of constant watchfulness against
’em. And hurry. Saw caves in the moun­ an unexpected flank attack. And then—
tainside up there. They won’t enter caves. And then, suddenly, incredibly, a
Need sunlight. Look out!” shadow fell under his stumbling feet; at
Again that sharp, explosive hiss. Mal­ that line of division between glowing sun
lory leaped back, feeling the brief, furtive and somber shade the proto-balls stopped,
brush of something foreign across the toe quivering and oozing viscous droplets of
of his boot. The attacking proto-balls slime, hesitated, and turned away.
were of all sizes; they ranged from huge, Lane’s roar was gleeful. “Good work,
oily-glistening, foul-odored spheres to tiny young fellow! We made it!”
globules the size of a baseball. One of They were safe in the black harbor of
the latter size had rolled swiftly toward the cave.
him; for a second, before Captain Lane’s
gun splashed flame upon it, it had come HEN he turned to stare into the
in contact with Mallory’s foot. Where it
had touched was now a patch of crum­
W depths beyond him, at first he could
see nothing but a great orange ball, which
bling gray that had been leather! was his photo-image of the dazzling sun­
“Eat anything!” rasped Lane. “Didn’t light whence they had fled. Then tortured
touch you, eh, Mallory? Good. Start nerves surrendered to the soothing dark
and he could see that they stood at the should be a lot of fun. What do you say,
mouth of not a cave but a great, many- Dorothy ?”
corridored cavern that stretched—for all Dorothy looked from her lover to her
Mallory could tell—clear down into the father, back to her lover again. And her
murky bowels of Venus. voice was grave and fearless.
Jonathan Lane was loudly exuberant. “I say,” she said quietly, “you are the
“This is fine!” he declared. “We owe two finest men who ever lived. But you’re
those grease-balls a vote of thanks. This not fooling me for a moment. I know very
is an ideal refuge. Shady and cool and well why we must explore this cave. And
safe—and look! We can even see the I say, let’s start!” There came swift light­
ship from the heights, here! If anyone— ness and heart-warming humor to her
I mean, when they come to rescue us, we tone. “After all, if a gal has to keep house
can signal them.” in a place like this, she ought to know
Mallory hoped the slip had passed un­ how many rooms it has!”
noticed by Dorothy. “If anyone—” the Tim looked at her long and gravely.
skipper had started to say. Which meant And then,
that he, too, had misgivings as to the like­ “You,” he said, “are swell. Once I called
lihood of rescue. But that was a question you wonderful. I didn’t really know—
Mallory would not press. He hurdled the then.”
awkward moment with a swift response. “Wonderful?” snorted Captain Lane.
“We’ll have to have something to signal “Of course she is! She’s my daughter,
with, sir. Our bulger audios won’t oper­ isn’t she? Well, come along!”
ate that far, will they? We’ll have to Grinning, Tim fell in behind him. And
build a fire, or at least have one ready into Stygian darkness, preceded by a yel­
to be kindled when they arrive.” low circle from the flashlight of the
“Right,” agreed the skipper. “But we Orestes’ skipper, moved the marooned
can’t gather wood until those protos have trio.
gone away. We’ll take care of that later.
Meanwhile—” He glanced into the jetty HE main cave opened out as they
depths beyond them. “It will be some
hours before we can expect to get relief.
T picked their path forward; the walls
pressed back, the ceiling lofted, until they
Time to waste. Why not amuse ourselves were standing in a huge, arched chamber
by exploring this cave?” almost two hundred feet wide and half as
“Explo—” began Tim. It was a childish high. This amphitheater debouched into
idea. One so ridiculous, in fact, that it was a half dozen or more smaller corridors or
on the tip of Mallory’s tongue to make openings; for a moment Captain Lane
caustic rejoinder to Lane’s suggestion. stood considering these silently, then he
But even as the comment trembled on his nodded toward that on their extreme left.
lips, his eyes met those of the captain— “Might as well go at it in orderly fash­
and in Lane’s shrewd, pleading glance, ion. We’ll try that one first. No, wait a
Tim found a reason and an answer for minute!” He halted Tim, who had pressed
this subterfuge. obediently toward the corridor-mouth.
Lane feared that very thing which he, “Try not to be a ground-hog all your life,
himself, had dreaded. This cave might Mallory! You should know better than
be their refuge for a long, long time! to stroll aimlessly around a place like this.
There might be no rescue party. If so, A confounded labyrinth, that’s what it is!
and since a trek across the Badlands was If we got lost down here, we might spend
suicidal, their only chance for ultimate the rest of our natural lives trying to find
salvation was to find a place where they a way out.”
could live. This cave was such a place. If He slipped his needle-gun from his bul­
it had water, and if it were undenizened ger belt, let its scorching ray play for an
by wild beasts; if in it, or near it, they instant on the rocky floor of the cavern.
could find food . . . Hot rock bubbled, and a fresh, new groove
He hoped his voice was not too suspi­ shone sharply in the shape of an arrow.
ciously hearty. “Every time we make a turn we’ll do
“Great idea!” he agreed. “Splendid. It this. Then we can retrace our steps.”
Lane smiled sarcastically. “But a hot-and- things here. No telling what we’ll bump
cold engineer wouldn’t think of a thing into.”
like that, I suppose?” He didn’t mention the all-too-obvious
Tim made no reply. But he reproached fact that so far they had not “bumped
himself secretly for not having considered into” that thing which they sought. A
this necessity; it did not make him feel fuel supply, a water supply, signs of an
much better that Dorothy, standing beside underground grotto wherein might be
him, pressed his arm in mute encourage­ found food. Nor had their winding way
ment. at any time moved them toward the sur­
The corridor was a short one, opening face, toward a possible second exit from
into another cavern like that which they had the caverns. Their movement was ever
just quitted. Similar, but not quite the down, deeper into the bowels of this weird,
same. For as Lane played his light about faery wonderland.
the walls of this inner, deeper, chamber, all
three adventurers gasped with the impact of NCE, for a heart-stopping moment,
sudden, breathtaking beauty. The ebon
walls, warmed by the light, flashed into a
O they thought they had found their
desire. Rounding a bend, they came upon
glittering, scintilliscent miracle of loveli­ a cavern alive with color; towering vines
ness; a galaxy of twinkling stars seemed and trees laden with great clusters of
to appear from nowhere and hang in dark grapes; bushes aflower with myriads of
space burning and gleaming. gorgeous buds. Dorothy sprang forward
“It—it’s magnificent!” breathed the girl. with a cry of joy—but when she touched
“What is it, Daddy? Jewels? It looks one of the mock roses it shattered to fine,
like the fabulous caves of Ali Baba.” white, powdery snow; upon investigation
It was Tim who supplied the answer. the trees, the vines and “grapes” turned
“They’re not jewels. Just nitre crystals out to be of the same, perishable nature.
protruding through a coating of black oxide And Tim remembered their name.
of manganese. I’ve seen the same thing “Oulopholites,” he said. “Sulphate of
on Earth—in the Mammoth Cave of Ken­ magnesia and gypsum. Mother Nature
tucky.” does repeat herself, you see. She uses the
And they moved on. Deeper and yet same forms, but these are lifeless mimi­
deeper into the Lethean depths, pausing cry.” And he looked at his watch. “Guess
from time to time to char a signpost for we’d better turn back, eh, skipper? We’ve
their retreat. Miracles without wonder been two hours on the prowl, and there
they saw. Domes huge enough to house a doesn’t seem to be anything in this direc­
spaceship, stalactites lowering like great, tion. Shall we go back and try another
rough fangs from ceilings lost in dizzy corridor ?”
heights, twin growths springing, oftimes Lane nodded slowly.
without apparent reason, from the cavern “I suppose so. But—Oh, while we’re
floor—stalactites formed by centuries of this far, we might as well peek into that
slow lime dripping from the roof. And next cavern. Won’t take but a minute.
gigantic columns, hoariest monsters of all, And if there’s nothing there—”
columns of strange, iridescent beauty. The words died on his lips. As he spoke
Once they passed a pit so deep, so dark, them, they had moved through a short
that even the skipper’s probing beam could archway; the yellow circle of his flashlight
not penetrate its majestic depths. From had swung about a cavern larger than any
somewhere far below came the whispering in which they had yet stood. The floor of
surge of churned water; in the light of the this cavern sloped sharply downward, nar­
flash there seemed to hover above the rim rowing into a funnel. And at the end of
of this chasm a faint, white, wraithly film. that funnel. . . .
Lane frowned, unscrewed his faceport for “Great gods of space!” whispered Cap­
an instant, sniffed, and hastily ducked back tail Lane, awestruck. “Am I crazy? Do
into the bulger. you see what I see?”
“Ammonia,” he said. “I thought as For that upon which his lightbeam had
much. Keep your bulger-ports closed. ended, the incredible structure from which
Venus caves aren’t Earth caves. Queer its glow was now reflecting in shimmer­
ing clarity, was—a massive door of bronze! portion of the cavern; the heights above
Golden in sheen, strong and secure, obvi­ were a well of jet, against which the cre­
ously the work of intelligent craftsmen, it puscular creatures were all but invisible.
met their wondering stares with bland im­ Again and again the two heat-beams
perturbability. stabbed black shadows, once Tim thought
And Tim gave a great shout. he heard a brief, whimpering cry, but no
“A door! Venusians! We’re all right winged creature, charred in death, hurtled
now. Food and rest . . . they’ll tell us from the eyrie point of vantage. Only
how to get back to civilization. ...” the sound of great wings beating persisted
And then— —and once an ebon shape flung itself
“Quiet!” rasped Captain Lane. His from an ebon shadow to rake sharp claws
flashlight beam faded abruptly, darkness gratingly across Tim’s bulger helmet. It
closed in about them like a shroud. But had glided away again, mockingly, before
only for an instant. Because a new efful­ he could spin to flame a shot after it.
gence lit the scene. The massive door was Then Lane’s free arm was thrusting
slowly swinging open—and from its at him. Lane’s voice was sharp, incisive.
widening groove came a pallid, greenish “Out of here! Dorothy first! Maybe
glow. Like some monstrous, hungry mouth there are just two of these devils—Ooow!
the door opened wider and yet wider. Damn your rotten hide!”
Dim shapes were shadows behind it, vague He had turned to speak over his shoul­
at first, dark and sinister. . . . der. In that moment of inattention, one
And then, out of the ghoulish semi­ of the bat-men had rocketed down upon
gloom, suddenly two figures stood limned him, slashed viciously at his gun-arm with
in stark relief. But they were not the fig­ clawed hands. Metal clattered on rock;
ures of Earthmen, neither were they fat, Captain Lane went swiftly after the lost
friendly shapes of Venusians. They were gun, groping for it blindly, down on his
tall, lean creatures, thin-faced and hungry- knees.
fanged, garbed with what appeared to be Tim had taken a backward step; now
huge mantles covering them from their he moved forward again to cover the
shoulder-blades to the tips of their long, frenzied fumbling of the older man. His
prehensile fingers! eyes were suddenly dazzled as Lane, des­
Two wobbling, awkward steps they took perate, used his flash to search for the
from the now completely opened door; weapon. And the skipper groaned.
for an instant Tim heard the shrill, pip­ “It’s gone! It fell down that fissure!
ing chatter of their speech—then their Mallory—quick! Do you have another
“mantles” spread and became huge, jointed gun? They’re closing in—”
wings on which they soared straight across Beads of cold sweat had suddenly sprung
the cavern toward the spellbound trio! out on Tim Mallory’s forehead. Not only
Captain Lane’s cry was thick with did he not have another gun—but the one
horror. he now held was about to become useless!
“Good God, Mallory! Shoot, and shoot A dim shape wheeled above him; he
quick! We’ve found the gates of hell. pressed the trigger, but no red flame
They’re the bat-men—the Vampires of leaped from the muzzle. Just a spluttering,
Venus!” ochre ray that simmered into nothingness
a few feet above his head!
VEN as he spoke, he was tugging his The gun’s charge was practically ex­
E own needle-gun from its holster; now hausted. Battle with the proto-balls . . .
its fiery beam lanced squarely at the forethe
­ constant drainage of raying their route­
most of the two attackers. Nor was Tim- turns . . . these had done it! There were
Mallory slow in heeding. His weapon was fresh capsules in his ammunition kit, but
out in one swift movement; its beam in the length of time required to recharge
slashed a hole in the gloom as it sought the gun. . . .
one of the silently winging creatures above. “A minute!” he cried. “Fight ’em off
But they might as well have taken aim a minute! I have to—”
at a will-o’-the-wisp. The dim glow from And he reached for a new capsule. But
beyond the open door illumined only a the skipper, misunderstanding, impatient.
turned peril into disaster with his next, “Where are we?” he fepeated. He
impetuous move. started to unscrew his face port, but the
“Don’t stand thene like an idiot, you skipper stayed his hand.
Earthlubber!” he howled. “Here—give “Don’t, Mallory! We tried that. It’s
that to me!” impossible. The air’s so ammoniated it
And he jerked the useless weapon from would kill you. From that.”
Tim’s hand! He pointed to a trough-like depression
For a stark instant, Tim was wrenched in the room. A curious arrangement.
in a vise of indecision. To fight the Probably for purposes of sanitation.
winged demons without a weapon was Liquid ammonia, or something akin, en­
madness. Wisdom lay in hurrying back tered the trough from a gushing tube set
to the ship, equipping themselves with new low in one wall, transversed the room, and
guns. But—but Lane> had said these bat­ exited through a second circular duct.
men were vampires. The Vampires of These were the. only openings in the cham­
Venus, he had said. And Tim had heard ber, save for—Tim glanced up, noticed
stories . . . the word “vampire” meant several round holes. He studied these cu­
the same in any language, on any planet. riously. Lane answered his unspoken
But there was Dorothy to consider, too. query.
He groaned aloud. His instinct bade him “Yes, that’s right. Ventilation. These
plunge forward, weaponless or not; com­ devils may be inhuman in form but .they’re
mon sense advised the other course. clever. They’ve built this underground city,
And then, in a split-second, the decision equipped it with heat, light, ventilated it
became no longer his to make. For as if to maintain circulation—”
the victory of the first two bat-men had There was something wrong there. Tim
determined the action of the entire clan, frowned.
out of the bronze gateway flooded a veri­ “Ventilation? Yet you say that stream
table host of the sickening winged crea­ is ammoniated enough to kill a man. Then
tures ! how do they live?”
Then a battering-ram smashed him “They’re not men,” replied Lane bit­
crushingly and he choked, gasped, felt the terly. “They’re vampires. Heaven knows
weakness of oblivion well over him like a how they can breathe this atmosphere, but
turgid, engulfing cloud. He was conscious they can. The ingenious, murdering . .
of raking talons that gripped his armpits,
of sudden, swift and dizzy flight . . . of a E didn’t complete the sentence. For
vast, aching chaos that rocked with hun­
gry, inhuman mirth.
Hat that instant there came the scrape
of movement outside their dungeon door.
The door swung open. A bat-man entered.
APTAIN LANE’S voice was an aeon His hooked claw signalled them to come
C away, but it came closer. It said, forth. Tim glanced at the older man.
“—be all right now. You must have been Lane shrugged resignedly.
in a hell of a fight, boy!” “There’s nothing else to do. Maybe we
And Dorothy was beside him, too. There can strike a bargain with them. Our free­
were tears in her eyes, but she shook them dom for something they want.”
away and tried to smile as Tim pushed But there was no hope-in his voice. Tim
himself up on one elbow. Tint’s head threw an arm about Dorothy’s shoulders.
was one big ache, and his body was bruised They followed their guide- out of the
and sore from the buffeting of the bat­ room. There a cordon of other bat-crea­
men’s hard wings. He looked about him tures circled them, and Tim, for the first
dazedly. time, got an opportunity to see his captors
“Wh-here are we?” at close range.
The room was a low-ceilinged, square They weren’t much to look at. They
one. It had but one door, a bronze one were such stuff as nightmares are made of.
similar in design, but smaller, than the Tall, angular, covered from head to toe
gateway that had led to the city of the with a stiff, glossy pelt of fur. Their faces
Vampires. Elsewhere the walls were hewn were lean and hard and predatory; their
from solid rock. teeth sharp and protruding. Their wings
were definitely chiropteric; the wing­ mate the intellect of our ancient race.
membranes spanned from their shoulders “With fire and flame you forced us to
to their claws, falling loosely away when the caverns, Man-thing. But we are old
not in use, and were anchored to stiff, and wise. We built our cities here,
horny knobs at clavicle and heel. warmed them against the dreadful damp
They walked now, guarding their cap­ and cold. Soon we shall burst forth in all
tives, but it was apparent that flight was our might. And when we do—”
their usual method of locomotion. Any­ He stopped abruptly; the tensing of his
thing else would be awkward, for their claws told the rest more eloquently than
knees bent backward as did the knees of words. He rapped a command to one of
their diminutive Earthly prototype. the guards.
They turned, at last, into a huge cham­ “Take off their garments! I would see
ber. And before them, perched obscenely what prizes have stumbled into our
on a platform elaborately laid with jewels refuge!”
and tapestries, was the overlord of the Obediently, the bat-creature shambled
Harpies. forward; his talons fumbled at Captain
Lane’s face-port. Tim cried out, “No!
O man, by the wildest stretch of the Don’t let him! The atmosphere—”
N imagination, could have considered The vampire overlord grinned at him
any of the vampires attractive. But of cunningly.
all
they had seen, this monster was the most “Fear not, Earthman. The air in this
repugnant. It was not only that his frame chamber will not harm you. We have
was tauter, skinnier, than that of his fel­ other plans—” His wet, red tongue licked
lows ; it was not that his furry body was his lips.
raw and chafed, as if from ancient, un­ Then Lane’s'headpiece was removed, and
healed sores; it was not only that his pen­ his bulger was stripped from him. A
dulous nose-leaf perpetually snuffled, dazed expression swrept across his fore­
pulsed, above a red-lipped, vicious mouth; head. He said, “Mallory—it—it’s hot in
It was the unclean aura of evil about him here! And the air is breatheable!”
that made Tim feel dirty. As though by But by that time, Tim, too, had been re­
merely looking on this thing he had pro­ moved of his space-suit; he, too, had felt
faned himself in some strange, inexpli­ the sultry, oppressive heat of the cavern.
cable fashion. It wras incredible but true. The vampires
Dorothy felt it, too. She choked once, had found a way to make their under­
turned her face away. And Captain Lane ground city warm as the surface from
growled a disgusted curse. which men had hunted them. That then—
“Lord, what a filthy beast! Mallory, I it came to Tim with sudden, startling clar­
wouldn’t mind dying if I could get one ity—that was why—
shot at that pot-bellied horror first!”
The overlord was speaking again. His
He did not expect—none of them could
tone was one of gratification.
have expected—that which happened then.
There came a high, simpering parody of “The men will do. We shall feast well
laughter from the thing on the dais be­ tonight —very well! The woman—” He
fore them. And the words in their own gazed at Dorothy speculatively. “I won­
der ?” he mused in a half whisper. “I won­
tongue—
“But you cannot, Man! For here I am der if there is not a better way of under­
the Master!” mining Earthmen than just crushing them ?
Lane’s jaw dropped; his eyes widened. A new race to people Venus? A race com­
Tim Mallory felt the small hairs at the bining our ancient, noble blood and that
nape of his neck tighten coldly. The bat­ of these pale creatures?” His eyes fastened
thing could speak! Was speaking again, on Dorothy’s suddenly flaming loveliness.
its cruel little mouth pulled into a grimace “That is a matter I must consider.
remotely resembling a grin. “That will do!” He motioned to his fol­
“You are surprised that I speak your lowers even as Tim, white of lip and riot­
language? Ah, that is amusing. But you ous with rage, took a forward step. “Al­
are just the first of many who will soon low them to don their clumsy air-suits
discover how foolish it was to underesti­ again; take them back to their dungeon.
We shall bring them forth again when the What might have been is past. There re­
time is ripe.” mains only time to acknowledge past faults,
Strong claws clutched Mallory, staying and then—and then—”
him. Short minutes later, surrounded by He faltered. And Dorothy took up the
their guards, they were once more on their weighty burden of speech.
way to the nether prison. “Shall we . . . do it now?”
Her hands lifted to the pane of her hel­
T was a grim-faced Captain Lane who met. For an instant they hesitated, then
I paced the floor of their dungeon. There began to turn. And then—
was anger in his eyes, and outrage, too. “Stop!” cried Tim. He struck her hands
But beneath those surface emotions was a away, spun swiftly to the older man.
deeper one—fear! The dreadful, haunting “Don’t do it, Skipper! I’ve got it! Got it
fear of a powerless man, caught in a trap at last!”
beyond his utmost devising. Lane stared at him dazedly. “Wh-what
“If there were only something we could do you mean?”
do!” he raged savagely. “But we’re weap­ Tim’s sudden laughter was almost hys­
onless—helpless—we can’t even die fight­ terically triumphant. “I mean that this is
ing, like strong men. I’d rather we had one time a ‘groundhog engineer’ knows
all died in the Orestes than that this should more than a spaceman. There’s no time to
happen. You and I, Mallory, a feast for explain now, but quick!—you have some
such foul things. Dorothy—” gun-capsules, haven’t you?”
He stopped, shaken, sickened. Dor­ “Y-yes, but—”
othy’s face was pale, but her voice was “Give them to me! All you have. And
even. hurry!”
“There is one thing he overlooked,
Daddy. We still have the privilege of dy­ S he spoke, he was emptying his own
ing cleanly. Together. We can take off
our suits. Here. Before they come for
A capacious ammunition pouch. Cap­
sule after capsule poured from it, until
us.” he had an overflowing double handful.
Lane nodded. He knew what death by With frenzied haste he broke the safety­
asphyxiation meant; he had seen men die tip off the first, tossed the cartridge into
in Earth’s lethal chambers. But anything, the stream that ran through their prison.
even that, was better than meek surrender As it struck, it hissed faintly; bubbles be­
to the overlord’s mad, lustful plan. gan to rise from the fluid, and a thin,
“Yes, Dorothy. That is the only way steamy film of vapor rose whitely.
left to us.” He thought for a moment. “Do that to all of them. Toss them in
“There is no use delaying. But before we there! I’m right! I know I am. I have
—we go, there is one thing I must say—” to be!”
And he looked at his daughter and her Bewilderedly, Captain Lane and Dor­
lover in turn. “I was wrong in forbid­ othy began doing as he ordered. A dozen,
ding your marriage. You’re a man, Mal­ a score, twoscore of the heat-gun car­
lory. It’s too bad I had to learn that under tridges were untipped, thrown into the
such circumstances. But I want you to coursing stream. The white film became a
know—at the end—that if things had cloud, a fog, a thick, dense blanket about
turned out differently, I—I’d change my them, through which they could barely see
mind.” each other. And still Tim’s voice cried,
Tim said quietly, “Thank you, sir.” But “More! Faster! All of them!”
his thoughts were only half upon the older Then the last capsule had been tossed
man’s admission. There was a tiny some­ into the fluid, and their only contact with
thing scratching at the back of his mind. each other was by speech and the sense of
Something that had occurred to him, touch. They were engulfed in rolling bil­
dimly, in the hot chamber above. He lows of white; vapor that frosted their
couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but— view-panes, screened the world from view.
“I still find it in me to wish,” said Cap­ For half an hour they stood there wait­
tain Lane, “that you had been a spaceman. ing, torn with a thousand mingled doubts.
But there’s no use talking about that now. Until, at last—
 “I can’t stand it any longer, Tim!” cried form and habit—kept their underground
Dorothy. “What is it? What do we do? chambers superheated I applied an elemen­
What is this wild plan?” tal principle of refrigeration to cool their
The vapor had thinned a trifle. And city below that point!”
through gray mists, she saw a form loom Dorothy said, “The—the ammonia—?”
before her. It was Tim’s shape, and his “Exactly. The set-up was perfect. Our
hand stretched out to her. His voice was apparatus was, perforce, crude, but we had
tense. all the elements of a refrigerating unit.
“Now—” he said. “Now we walk from Ammoniated water, running in a constant
our prison!” stream, capsules of condensed and concen­
And he flung open the door. trated heat from our needle-guns—a small
“Careful!” cried Captain Lane. “The room which was connected, by ventilating
guards, son! ’Ware the Harpy guards!” ducts, with the rest of the underground
But no guards sprang forward to bar city.
their passage. There were guards, a dozen “The principle of the absorption process
of them. But not a single one of them depends on the fact that vapors of low
moved. boiling point are readily absorbed in water
And Dorothy, wiping a sudden veil of and can be separated again by the applica­
hoar-frost from her view-pane, saw them tion of heat. At 60° F., water will ab­
and gasped. sorb about 760 times its own volume of
“Dead!” she cried. “Tim—they’re all ammonia vapor, and this produces evapo­
dead!” ration, which, in turn, gives off vapor at a
Tim shook his head. low temperature, thereby becoming a re­
“Not dead, darling. Just—sleeping! And frigerator abstracting heat from any sur­
now let’s hurry. Before they waken rounding body. In this case—the rooms
again!” above!
“It—” Tim grinned. “It’s as simple as
HEN they had reached the upper­ that!”
W most corridor of the caverns, they
paused for a moment’s rest. It was then
Captain Lane groaned.
“Simple!” he echoed weakly. “The man
that Captain Lane found time for the says ‘simple’! I don’t understand a word
question that had plagued him. of it, but—it worked, son! And that’s the
“You were right, Tim. They were pay-off.”
sleeping. I could see that overlord’s nose­ “No, sir,” said Tim promptly.
leaf quivering with slow breath just before “What ? What’s that ?”
I shot him. But—but what caused it? “The pay-off,” persisted Tim, “comes
Anesthetic? I don’t understand.” later. When we get back to civilization.
“No,” grinned Tim, “it was not an an­ You said something about removing your
esthetic. It was a simple matter of re­ objections to our marriage, remember?”
membering a biological trait of bats, and Captain Jonathan growled and stood up.
applying a little technical knowledge. The “Confound it, do you think of everything?
knowledge—” He could not resist the Well—all right, then. I’m a man of my
dig. “The special knowledge of what you word. But when we get back to civiliza­
called a ‘hot-and-cold’ expert. Refrigera­ tion may be a long time yet.”
tion ! “I can wait,” grinned Tim. “But I’ve
“Bats are hibernating creatures. And got a feeling I won’t have to wait long.
hibernation it not merely a matter of cus­ Maybe I’m psychic all of a sudden. I don’t
tom, tradition, desire to sleep—it is a phys­ know. But somehow I’ve got a hunch that
ical reflex which cannot be avoided when when we get to the cave-mouth, we’re
the conditions are made suitable. going to find a rescue party waiting for us
“Bats, like many other hibernating mam­ up there. I just feel that way.”
mals, are automatically forced into slum­ “Humph!” snorted Lane. “You’re a
ber when the temperature drops below dreamer, lad! A blasted, wishful dreamer!”
46°F. Knowing this, and realizing that But it was a good dream. For the
was the reason the Harpies—bat-like in hunch was right,
 EXIT FROM
ASTEROID 60
By D. L. JAMES

Strange things were happening

on Echo, weird Martian satellite.
But none stranger than the two
Earthlings who hurtled into the
star-lanes from its deep, hidden
core.

CHO is naturally magnetic, probably

more so than any other planetoid—
and Neal Bormon cursed softly, just
to relieve his feelings, as that magnetism
gripped the small iron plates on the soles
of the rough boots with which the
Martians had provided him. Slavery—
and in the twenty-ninth century! It was
difficult to conceive of it, but it was
all too painfully true. His hands, in-

5—Planet Stories—Winter 65
side their air-tight gauntlets, wadded into gauge, he began to swing his rock-pick
fists; little knots of muscle bulged along with renewed vigor, pausing now and then
his lean jaw, and he stared at the dark­ to toss the loosened lumps of ore into the
ness around him as if realizing it for the latticed basket. On Earth, that huge con­
first time. This gang had plenty of guts, tainer, filled with ore, would have weighed
to shanghai men from the Earth-Mars over a ton; here on Echo its weight was
Transport Lines. They’d never get by only a few pounds.
with it. Neal Bormon had the average space­
And yet, they had—until now. First, man’s dread of oxygen shortage. And so,
Keith Calbur, and then himself. Of working steadily, he at last had the huge
course, there had been others before Cal­ basket filled with ore—almost pure rho­
bur, but not personal friends of Neal dium—judging by the color and weight of
Bormon. Men just disappeared. And the lumps. Nearby, a jagged gash of
you could do that in the Martian space­ light on the almost black shoulder of Echo
port of Quessel without arousing much indicated the location of that tremendous
comment—unless you were a high official. chasm which cut two-thirds of the way
But when Calbur failed to show up in through the small asteroid, and in which
time for a return voyage to Earth, Bor­ the Martians had installed their machine
mon had taken up the search. for consuming ore.
Vague clews had led him into that plea­ Locating this gash of light, Bormon set
sure palace in Quessel—a joint frequented out toward it, dragging the basket of ore
alike by human beings and Martians—a behind him over the rough, rocky surface.
fantasmagoria of tinkling soul-lights; gos­ The ultimate purpose of that gargan­
samer arms of frozen music that set your tuan mechanism, and why this side of the
senses reeling when they floated near you; planetoid apparently never turned toward
lyric forms that lived and danced and died the sun, were mysteries with which his
like thoughts. Then someone had crushed mind struggled but could not fathom.
a bead of reverie-gas, probably held in a
Martian tentacle, under Bormon’s nostrils, RESENTLY, having reached the rim
and now—here he was on Echo.
He gave an angry yank at the chain
P of the abyss, with only a narrow mar­
gin of oxygen left, he commenced the
which was locked around his left wrist. downward passage, his iron-shod boots
The other end was fastened to a large clinging to the vertical wall of metallic
metal basket partly filled with lumps of rock, and as he advanced this magnetic
whitish-gray ore, and the basket bobbed attraction became ever more intense. The
and scraped along behind him as he ad­ blaze of lights before him grew brighter
vanced. Of the hundred or more Earth- and seemed to expand. Dimly, two hun­
men, prisoners here on Echo, only seven dred yards over his head, he could glimpse
or eight were within sight of Bormon, the opposite wall of the chasm like the
visible as mere crawling spots of light; opposing jaw of an enormous vise.
but he knew that each was provided with He joined the slow-moving stream of
a basket and rock-pick similar to his own. workers. They were filing past a guard
As yet he had not identified anyone of and out on a narrow metal catwalk that
them as Keith Calbur. Suddenly the me­ seemed to be suspended—or rather poised
tallic voice of a Martian guard sounded —by thin rods in close proximity to a
in Bormon’s ears. spacious disk which extended from wall
“Attention. One-seven-two. Your bas­ to wall of the chasm. They moved in ab­
ket is not yet half filled, your oxygen tank solute silence. Even when tilted ore-bas­
is nearly empty. You will receive no more kets dumped a ton or more ore into the
food or oxygen until you deliver your gaping orifice in the center of the disk,
quota of ore. Get busy.” there was still no sound—for Echo, small
“To hell with you!” fumed Bormon and barren of native life, lacked even the
—quite vainly, as he well knew, for the suggestion of a sound-carrying atmos­
helmet of his space suit was not provided phere.
with voice-sending equipment. Neverthe­ And that weird soundlessness of the ac­
less, after a swift glance at the oxygen tion around him brought a giddy sense of
unreality to Neal Bormon. Only the harsh, Then Calbur tried to grin a welcome,
mechanical voice of the Martian guard, and the effect was ghastly!
intoning orders with cold and impersonal For a moment his helmet clicked into
precision, seemed actually real. contact with Bormon’s.
“Attention. One-seven-two. Dump “Neal,” he said, his voice sounding far
your ore. ...” away, “so they got you, too! We can’t
These Earthmen were apparently known talk here. . . . I’m pretty well shot. Lived
by numbers only. Bormon’s own number in this damn walking tent for ages. No
.—172—was on a thin metal stencil sleep, not since they took me. . . . Some
stretched across the outer surface of the powder, drug, they put in the nutrient
glass vision plate of his helmet; he couldn’t fluid—it’s supposed to take the place of
forget it. sleep—and you can’t sleep! Only it
He obeyed the Martian’s order. Then doesn’t. . . . You come along with me.”
he noticed that men with empty baskets The darkness swallowed them up. Bor­
were moving along a curved ramp, like mon had thrown his rock-pick into his
a corkscrew, which led to a different level, empty basket. And now, by keeping one
whether above or below he could not pos­ hand in contact with Calbur’s basket, as
sibly tell without a distinct mental effort. it bobbed and jerked on ahead, he was
He decided it was to a lower level as able, even in the inky blackness, to keep
he moved onward, for the huge disk lost from straying aside.
its circularity and became like the curving After seemingly interminable groping
wall of a cylinder, or drum, down the out­ and stumbling, Calbur’s light flashed on.
side of which the ramp twisted. Fresh They had entered a pocket in the rocks,
ore was also being brought from this di­ Bormon realized, a small cavern whose
rection. And seeming to extend out in­ walls would prevent the light from betray­
definitely into blackness was a misty shaft, ing their presence to the guard.
like the beam of a searchlight. Presently Calbur threw himself exhaustedly down,
the ramp gave way to a tunnel-like pas­ signifying that Bormon should do likewise,
sage. and with their helmets touching, a strange
Flexible metal-sheathed tubes dangled conversation ensued.
from the ceiling. These tubes were la- Bormon explained, as well as he was
bled : OXYGEN, WATER, NUTRIENT. able, his presence there.
“When you didn’t show up, Keith, in
ORMON, patterning the actions of time to blast for Earth,” he said, “all we
B those he observed around him began
to replenish his supply of these three
could do was to report your absence to
­ space police. But they’re swamped;
esthe
sentials to life. His space suit was of con­ too many disappearances lately. More­
ventional design, with flasks in front for over, they’re trying to relocate that stream
water and nutrient fluid, and oxygen tank of meteoric matter which wrecked a
across the shoulders. By attaching the freighter some time back. They know
proper tubes and opening valves—except something is in the wind, but they’ll never
the oxygen inlet valve, which was auto­ guess this! For weeks they’ve had the
matic—he soon had his suit provisioned to patrol ship, Alert, scouting around Mars.
capacity. So, after making the run to Earth and
He had just finished this operation when back to Mars—I had to do that, you know
someone touched his arm. He glanced up —I got back in Quessel again and com­
at the bulky, tall figure—an unmistakable menced to pry around, sort of inviting the
form that even a month’s sojourn on Echo same thing to happen to me that had hap­
had not been able to rob of a certain viril­ pened to you—and here we are.”
ity and youthful eclat. “We’re here for keeps, looks like,” an­
For a moment they stared into each swered Calbur grimly, his voice having
other’s eyes through the vision plates of lost part of that overtone of strained
their helmets and Bormon was struck nerves. “A man doesn’t last long, so the
dumb by the change, the stark and utterly other prisoners say, two months at the
nerve-fagged hopelessness expressed on most. These Marts use Earthmen because
Keith Calbur’s features. we’re tougher, here at least, and last longer
than Marts. . . . Hell, what wouldn’t I After a moment of thought, Bormon
give for a smoke!” replied, “Cyclotronic action.”
“But the purpose, Keith? What’s the There was a short silence, then Calbur
scheme ?” resumed. “These Marts shoot the ore
“I thought you knew. Just Marts with across space to the south magnetic pole
fighting ideas—a crowd backed by wealthy, of Mars. A ground crew gathers it up
middle-class Martians who call themselves and transports it to their underground
Lords of Conquest. They’re building laboratories. As a prisoner explained it,
ships, weapons. First, they’re going to it was simple; those old-time cyclotrones
take over Mars from the present govern­ used to build up the velocity of particles,
ment, which is friendly to Earth, and then ions mostly, by whirling them in spiral
they’re going to subdue Earth.” orbits in a vacuum-enclosed magnetic field.
Well, there’s a vacuum all around Echo,
ALBUR had switched off his light, and clear to Mars. By giving these lumps
C as a matter of precaution, and his of ore a static charge, they act just like
voice came to Bormon from a seemingly ions. When the stream of ore comes out
far distant point—a voice from out of the of the machine, it passes through a mag­
darkness, fraught with fantastic sugges­ netic lens which focuses it like a beam of
tion. light on Mars’ south pole. And there you
“Ships? You say they’re building ships? have it. Maybe you saw what looked like
Where ?” Bormon asked, his own voice a streak of light shooting off through the
reverberating harshly within the confines chasm. That’s the ore stream. It comes
of his helmet. out on the day side of Echo, and so on to
“In a cavern they’ve blasted out near Mars. They aim it by turning the whole
the south magnetic pole of Mars. You planetoid.”
know that’s an immense, barren region— “Hm-m-m, I understand, now, why it’s
lifeless, cold—bordered on the north by always dark here—they keep this side of
impenetrable reed thickets. They need Echo facing away from Mars and the
rhodium in large quantities for hull al­ sun.”
loys and firing chambers. That’s why “Right,” said Calbur. “Now we’ll have
they’re mining it, here on Echo.” to move. These Marts are heartless.
“They’ll never get it to Mars,” Bormon They’ll let you die for lack of oxygen if
declared quickly. “Every freighter is you don’t turn in baskets of ore regularly.
checked and licensed by the joint govern­ But we’ll meet here again.”
ments of Earth and Mars.” “Just give me time to size things up,”
“They won’t?” Calbur laughed, dis­ Bormon agreed. The effects of the rev­
tantly. “Listen, Neal—every crateful of erie-gas was wearing off and he was be­
ore that’s dumped into their machine, here ginning to feel thoroughly alive again and
on Echo, gets to Mars within a few hours. aware of the serious situation which con­
And it isn’t carried by ships, either!” fronted them. “Don’t let it get you down,
“You mean—?” Keith,” he added. “We’ll find a way out.”
“I didn’t get the answer, myself, until But his words expressed a confidence
I’d been here for some time. You see, that the passing of time did not justify.
Echo is just a gob of metal—mostly mag­ Again and again he filled his ore-basket,
netite, except for these granules of rho­ dragged it to the hungry mouth of that
dium—forty miles in diameter, but far prodigious mechanism in the abyss, and in
from round. Then there’s that chasm, a return he received the essentials for con­
mammoth crack that’s gaped open, cutting tinued life.
the planetoid almost in half. The whole During this time he formed a better idea
thing is magnetic—like a terrestrial lode­ of conditions around him. Once he wan­
stone—and there’s a mighty potent field dered far from the Martian’s headquar­
of force across that gap in the chasm. The ters, so far that he nearly blinded himself
walls are really poles of a bigger magnet in the raw sunlight that bombarded the
than was ever built by Martians or hu­ day side of the tiny planetoid. Again, he
man being. And of what does a big was strangely comforted with the dis­
magnet remind you?” covery of a small space ship anchored deep
 69
in the abyss although he was not permitted and presently found concealment that
to go near it. suited him. Near at hand he placed a
loose chunk of rock which on Earth would
E soon found that nothing was to be have weighed perhaps eighty pounds. The
H expected of the horde of Earthmen
who slaved like automatons over the
trap was set.
fewHe settled himself to wait. His own
miles of Echo immediately adjacent to the light was, of course, extinguished. Far
chasm’s rim. The accumulative effect of off he could see crawling blobs of lumi­
the drug seemed to render them almost nance as guards and human workers moved
insensible of existence. slowly over the surface of Echo. Other­
But with Calbur, who had served for a wise stygian darkness surrounded him. But
shorter time, it was different. he had chosen a position which, he hoped,
“Keith, we’ve got to tackle one of the would not be revealed by the light of any
Mart guards,” Bormon told him, during Martian bent on investigating the cave.
one of their conferences in the cave. “We’ll There were, he had learned, actually less
take its ray-tubes, fight our way to that than a score of Martians here on Echo;
ship they’ve cached in the chasm below about half of them stayed around that
the cyclotrone power plant, and blast away cyclotronic ore-hurler in the chasm. They
from here.” depended on secrecy, and were in constant
“How?” asked Calbur. “If you make communication, by ether-wave, with spies
a move toward one, it’ll burn you down not only on Earth and Mars but among
—I’ve seen it happen!” the personnel of the space police itself.
“Listen, I’ve spent hours figuring this These spies were in a position to warn
out. Suppose one of us were to stay here them to shut down operations in case the
in this cave, helmet-light on, and near ore stream through space attracted notice
enough to the opening so that his light and was in danger of being investigated.
would show dimly on the outside. Wouldn’t It was all being conducted with true Mar­
a Mart guard be sure to come along to tian insidiousness.
investigate ?” Thus Bormon’s thoughts were wander­
“Yes, practically sure,” agreed Calbur, ing when, at last, he became aware that
but with no great interest. Hour by hour a Martian guard was approaching. His
he was sinking closer to that animate coma cramped muscles suddenly grew tense. His
which gripped the other Earthmen. “But heart began to pound; it was now or never
what would that get you? If you lose too —and he must not fail!
much time, you’ll be cut off from rations.”
“I know, but suppose also that one of HE Martian, reeling along rapidly on
us—I, for instance—was hiding in the
rocks above the cave, with a big chunk of
T the mechanical legs attached to its
space armor, appeared to suspect nothing.
ore, ready to heave it down on the Mart?” It approached amid a rosette of light which
Calbur seemed to be thinking this over, seemed to chase back the shadows into a
and for a moment there was silence. surrounding black wall. It had evidently
“When shall we try it?” he demanded seen the gleam of Calbur’s helmet-light,
suddenly, and there was a note of eager­ for it was heading directly toward the
ness and hope in his voice. “It’s simple mouth of the cave above which Bormon
enough. It might actually work.” crouched.
“Right now! If we put it off, it’ll soon The moment for action arrived. Tense
be too late.” as a tirhco spring, Bormon leaped erect,
They discussed details, laying their plans hurled the jagged lump of rock down on
carefully, Bormon prudently refraining the rounded dome of the Martian’s armor.
any suggestion that this move was one Then, without pausing to ascertain the re­
born of sheer desperation on his part. sult, he grasped the rim of his ore-basket
Everything settled, Calbur moved up and swinging it in a wide arc before him,
near the opening, so that his helmet-light leaped downward—
could be dimly seen from outside the cave. For a moment Martian, basket and
Bormon, dragging his ore-basket, climbed Earthman were in a mad tangle. Bormon
up in the rocks directly over the entrance, realized that the Martian had been top-
pled over, and that one of its ray-tubes conceal the fact that it had been severed.
was sending out a coruscating plume of Bormon, in the narrow confines of his
fire as it ate into the rocks. The moment armor, disconnected the mechanical voder
seemed propitious to Bormon! used by its deposed owner, for all Mar­
Hands gripping and searching desper­ tians are voiceless.
ately, he found the oddly-shaped clamp His greatest fear was that one of the
that bound the two halves of the Mar­ Martian guards would attempt to com­
tian’s space armor together—and released municate with him. This would disclose
it. the imposture immediately, since he would
There was a hiss of escaping gas. be unable to reply. For all Martian com­
Abruptly those metal handlers ceased to munication, even by ether-wave, is visual
thrash about. . . . —the medium being a complicated series
Bormon, thrilling with success, rose to of symbols based on their ancient sign
his feet, turned off the Martian’s ray-tube language, the waving of tentacles, which
just as Calbur, delayed with having to drag no human brain has ever fully understood.
his ore-basket, through the rather narrow The means of producing these convention­
opening, dashed into view. alized symbols was a tiny keyboard, just
There was no need for words. Bormon below an oval, silvery screen, and as Bor­
handed him a ray-tube. mon sent his odd conveyance stalking down
Within a matter of seconds, each had the side of the chasm, toward that sweep­
burned through a link of the chain around ing disk which he now knew to be formed
his wrist. They were free from those by the ends of two cyclotronic D-chambers
accursed baskets! Calbut secreted the facing each other, he kept one eye on this
weapon in a pouch of his space suit, then silvery screen, but it remained blank.
swiftly they set to work, for their next He moved on down past the catwalk to
move had been carefully planned. the lower ramp. Here he must pass close
Opening the armor fully, they began to to a Martian guard.
remove the dead Martian, puffed up like But this Martian seemed to give him no
a kernel of pop-corn by the sudden loss attention whatever.
of its air pressure. Reaching a point opposite the ship, Bor­
Having cleared the armor, Bormon mon stepped from the ramp. Still that
climbed inside—space suit and all—fold­ oval screen remained blank. No Martian
ing up like a pocket knife so as to re­ was apparently paying enough attention
semble somewhat the alien shape it was to him to question his movements.
intended to hold, and tested the semi-auto­ Again he caused the armor to advance
matic controls. Everything appeared to slowly, picking his way along the rock
be in working order. Assuring himself surface. He reached the ship.
of this as well as his knowledge of Mar­ For a moment he was hidden behind
tian mechanics would permit, he crawled the hull. One glance sent his hopes plung­
out again to help Calbur. ing utterly. Neither of the two fuel caps
Calbur was scrambling to collect ore. were clamped down, which could mean
And under their combined efforts one of but one thing—the ship’s tanks were
the baskets was presently filled—for the empty!
last time, Bormon fervently hoped! It was a stunning blow. No wonder
Again he entered that strange convey­ the Martians felt safe in leaving the ship
ance, the Martian’s armor, and after some practically unguarded. After a moment,
experimental manipulation of the push­ anger began to mount above Bormon’s dis­
button controls, managed to get the thing appointment. He would start to kill off
upright on its jointed, metal legs and start Martians! If he and Calbur couldn’t get
it moving awkwardly in the direction of away from Echo, then he’d see that at
the chasm. least some of these Marts didn’t either.
Behind him came Calbur, dragging the He might even wipe them all out. Calbur,
basket of ore-—for lacking a disguise such too, had a ray-tube.
as Bormon’s, he must have some excuse But what of Calbur? Quickly Bormon
for returning to the cabin, and he had moved from behind the ship. Calbur was
wrapped the chain around his wrist to loitering on the ramp, ore-basket empty,
evidently on the point of making a break catwalk itself and the stream of Earth-
to join him. men slaves still moving uncomprehendingly
Frantically, Bormon focused the ether- along it. Bormon sent his space armor
wave on Calbur’s helmet, hurling a warn­ reeling forward, intent on seeking shelter
ing. behind the bulk of the power-plant.
“Stay where you are. It’s a washout! He almost reached that protection. But
No fuel. ...” suddenly sparks plumed around him, and
He began moving across the rocks to­ his armor slumped forward—one leg miss­
ward the power-plant. That was the most ing. He fell, fortunately, just within the
likely spot to commence—more Marts close shelter of the power-plant.
at hand. He’d take them by surprise. Desperately he struggled to open the
Suddenly he was cold, calculating, pur­ armor, so as to get the ray-tube in his
poseful. After all, there wasn’t much own hand. But when he finally crawled
chance of wiping them all out—and yet forth it was to face three Martians
he might. He should strike at a vital, grouped around him, their weapons—six
point, cripple them, so as to give Calbur in number—unwaveringly centered on him.
and the others a chance in case he only “Earthman,” said the mechanical speaker
managed to kill a few before passing out coldly inside his helmet, “you have killed
of the picture. a Martian.”
A glittering neutrochrome helix on top And then, with true Martian decisive­
of the power-plant gave him a suggestion. ness and cruelty, they pronounced inhuman
Why not destroy their communications, judgment on him.
fix things so they couldn’t call for help “We in our kindness shall not immedi­
from Mars? ately demand your life as forfeit. You
shall wander unhindered over Echo, dying
BRUPTLY he realized something slowly, until your oxygen is gone. Do not
A was wrong. That silver oval six
inches from his face was flashing a
ask for more; it is sealed from you. Do
be ­ again enter the chasm; it is death to
not
wildering complexity of symbols. Simul­ you. Now go.”
taneously the Martian on the ramp began
to move quickly and questioningly toward OURS later Bormon was Indeed wan­
him.
The moment had arrived. Bormon
H dering, hopeless as a lost soul, over
nighted Echo, awaiting the consummation
swung the metal handler bearing the ray­ of his sentence, which now seemed very
tube into line and pressed the firing but­ near. Already his oxygen gauge indicated
ton. . . . zero and he was face to face with the “dy­
Amid a splatter of coruscating sparks ing slowly” process promised by the Mar­
the Martian went down. tians—the terrible death of suffocation.
“Number one!” growled Bormon. Now, as things began to seem vague
Everything now depended on prompt ac­ and unreal around him, Bormon was draw­
tion and luck—mostly luck! As quickly ing near that hidden cave where he and
as possible he heeled around, aimed at the Calbur had often met for like a final flash
helix on the power-plant. It swayed slowly of inspiration had come the thought that
as that pale blue shaft ate into its sup­ here, if anywhere, he would find Calbur.
ports, then drifted away. It was strange, he reflected, how the
He had lost sight of Calbur. Absolute life in a man forces him on and on, al­
silence still reigned, but on airless Echo ways hoping, to the very end. For now
that silence was portentous. Along the it seemed that the most important thing
rim of the chasm he could see the glitter in the universe was to find Calbur.
of Martian armor against the blackness He had husbanded the last of his oxy­
of space. The alarm had been given. But gen to the utmost. But panting, now, for
for the moment he was more concerned breath, he opened the valve a fraction of
with the imminent danger from those who a turn and staggered on in the darkness.
tended the intricate controls in the power­ And suddenly, dimly as in a dream, he
plant, and the guard at the far end of the knew that at last he had found Calbur. . ..
catwalk. This guard was protected by the And Calbur was doing a queer thing.
Gauntleted hands moving hastily in the Bormon sprang erect, leaped from the
chalky radiance cast by his helmet-light, basket. For a moment he stared around,
he was tossing chunks of rhodium from locating the guard at the end of the cat­
his filled ore-basket— walk. As yet the guard appeared not to
Then their helmets clicked together, and have noticed anything unusual. But where
he heard Calbur’s voice, faint, urgent: was Calbur?
“Climb in the basket! I’ll cover you “Attention. One-six-nine. Dump your
with ore so they won’t see you. I’ll drag ore,” ordered the guard, coldly, mechani­
you in. We’ll get your tank filled—I cally.
swear it!” Something seemed to draw Bormon’s
The next instant, it seemed, Bormon eyes into focus on his own number sten­
felt himself being tumbled into the ore- cil. One-six-nine, he read. Calbur’s num­
basket. Chunks of ore began pressing ber! And then, suddenly, he realized the
down lightly on his body. Then the basket dreadful, admirable thing Keith Calbur
commenced to pitch and scrape over the had done. . . .
rocks. For Calbur had leaped through the ore-
But his lungs were bursting! Could he chute, into the cyclotron’s maelstromic
last ? He had to. He couldn’t fool Calbur heart! Despairing, he had chosen a way
by passing out—not now. Something like out. He had forfeited his life so that
destiny was working, and he’d have to see Bormon could take his place.
it through. “Dump your ore,” repeated the Martian
Something was tapping on his helmet. guard, coldly.
Bormon opened his eyes, and light was “To hell with you!” snarled Bormon,
trickling down between the chunks of ore. and blasted with the tube.
No longer was there any scraping vibra­ He missed the Martian. Still weakened
tions. Something, metallic, snakelike, was by the ordeal he had just passed through,
being pressed into his hand. and overwrought as an effect of Calbur’s
And then Bormon remembered. The last despairing act, his aim was not true.
oxygen tube! With a final rallying of Nevertheless, that coruscating shaft was
forces only partly physical, he managed fraught with far-reaching consequence.
to stab the tube over the intake of his Passing three feet to the left of the Mar­
tank. The automatic valve clicked and a tian, it snapped two of the rods which
stream of pure delight swept into his braced the catwalk in position over the
lungs! cyclotron drum. Thus released at the far
For a time he lay there, his body trem­ end, the metal ribbon—for the catwalk
bling with the exquisite torture of vitality was little more than that—curled and
reawakening, slowly closing the helmet­ twisted like a tirhco spring, pitching Bor­
valve to balance the increase of pressure mon, as from a catapult, straight along
in the tank. the path so recently chosen by Calbur.
Suddenly that snakelike tube was jerked Destiny had indeed provided them both
away from between the chunks of ore, and with a strange exit from Echo, for in that
again the basket began a scraping advance. split second Bormon realized that he was
Bormon’s new lease on life brought its being hurled squarely into the gapping ori­
problems. What was about to happen ? fice of the cyclotron.
In a moment, now, Calbur would be or­
dered by the guard to dump his ore. They AR out in the vacuity between Echo
wouldn’t have a chance, there on the cat­
walk. For Bormon’s abrupt reappearance
F and Mars, Captain Dunstan sat in his
cabin aboard the Patrol Ship Alert—most
would bring swift extinction, probably to powerful and, therefore, speediest craft
both. possessed by the Earth-Mars Space Police.
The basket stopped. They had reached On his desk lay two jagged pieces of
the ore-dump. Calbur’s head and shoul­ ore, whitish-gray in color, which he had
ders appeared. Behind the vision plate in been examining.
his helmet there was a queer, set expres­ His speculations were interrupted by the
sion on his thin face. He thrust the ray­ sudden bursting open of the cabin door.
tube into Bormon’s hands. An officer, spruce in gray uniform and
silver braid, entered hurriedly, his face their communications have been repaired.”
flushed with excitement. Captain Dunstan nodded. “That ex­
“Captain Dunstan, the most extraordi­ plains why we were able, on this occasion,
nary thing has happened! We’ve just to approach the meteoric stream without
picked up two men—two men drifting with its immediate disappearance. But I can­
the meteoric stream, and in space suits—• not understand,” he confessed, “how two
and they’re alive!” men could have passed through such an
Captain Dunstan rose slowly. “Alive, apparatus as you describe, and remain
and adrift in space? Then it’s the first alive.”
such occurrence in the history of space “Perhaps I can offer a possible explan­
travel! Who are they?” ation,” said an officer whose insignia was
“I don’t know, sir. So far we’ve got that of Chief Electrobiologist. “If, as we
only one out of his suit. But I have rea­ suspect, this Martian invention is founded
son to believe they’re the men recently on the old and well-known cyclotronic
reported as missing by the E.M.T. Lines. principle, then we have nothing but re­
He babbled something about Echo—that ciprocal interaction of electric fields and
there’s hell to pay on Echo. I imagine he magnetic fields. And these fields, as such,
means Asteroid No. 60. But—” are entirely harmless to living organisms,
“Lead the way,” said the captain, step­ just as harmless as gravitational fields.
ping quickly toward the doorway. “There’s Moreover, any static charge carried by the
something mighty queer going on.” bodies of these men would have been
slowly dissipated through the grapple-ray
ND so, by a lucky break, Neal Bor­ with which they were drawn out of the
A mon found himself snatched from ore stream.”
death and aboard the Alert, arriving there This explanation appeared to satisfy the
by a route as hazardous and strange as captain. "You say,” he questioned, ad­
was ever experienced by spaceman. dressing Bormon, “that there are other
And no less strange and unexpected men on Echo—Earthmen being used as
came the knowledge of Keith Calbur’s ar­ slaves ?”
rival there ahead of him. “Yes, more than a hundred.”
Bormon, who was last to be drawn in Captain Dunstan’s mouth became a
by the grapple-ray and helped out of his fighting, grim line. He gave several swift
space suit by the willing hands of the orders to his officers, who scattered im­
Alert’s crew, was still capable of giving an mediately.
understandable account of things; although Somewhat later, Bormon found his way
Calbur, until the effects of the Martian into the surgery where Calbur lay—not
drug wore off, would be likely to remain sleeping yet, but resting peacefully.
in his somewhat neurotic condition of be­ Assuring himself of this, Bormon, too,
wilderment. let his long frame slump down on a
“These Marts,” said Bormon, after a near-by cot—not to sleep, either, but to
great deal of explaining on both sides, contemplate pleasantly the wiping-up proc­
“don’t know that you have discovered their ess soon to take place on Echo, and else­
stream of ore. They won’t know it until where.

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74
Phantom of the
Seven Stars
By RAY CUMMINGS
Lovely Brenda Carson, scholarly Jerome, pompons Livingston . . .
everyone aboard the Seven Stars scoffed at the idea of a Phantom
Pirate. But I.P. agent Jim Fanning didn’t laugh. He knew the lux­
ury-liner’s innocent looking cargo was already marked for plunder.
ART of my assignment on this space­ gling at the back of her neck and the cape

P flight of the Seven Stars was to

watch the girl. That much, at least,
wasn’t hard. She was certainly easy
look at—a little beauty, slim with a pert,
folds flowing from her slim shoulders al­
most to the ground.
toWe were several days out from New
York, with Mars, our destination, hanging
oval little face framed by unruly pale-gold like a great dull-red ball among the blaz­
hair. With mingled starlight and earth­ ing stars in the black firmament ahead of
light gleaming in that hair it was like spun us, when I first noticed that there was
platinum. Her name was Brenda Carson. anything queer about Brenda. We were
Certainly she was an inspiring figure to sitting under the glassite pressure-dome
any young man, in her white blouse and on the forepeak of the Seven Stars, bathed
corded black and white trousers and her in the pallid starlight. By ship-routine it
long black traveling cape with its hood dan­ was mid-evening,
 I gestured toward one of the side bull’s- “Ah, beautiful night,” he greeted us.
eyes of the bow-peak. “Gloomy-looking “I never get tired of the glories of the
world, that Asteroid-9,” I said. starways. Good evening, Miss Carson.”
The little asteroid, one of the many out He nodded smilingly to Philip Carson and
here in the belt between the orbits of Earth me, and drew up a chair with us. His
and Mars, was a small leaden crescent of name was Arthur Jerome, well-known to
sunlight with the unlighted portion faintly me, though I had never before met him.
putty-colored. It was, I knew, a world He was a big, florid, distinguished-looking
some five hundred miles in diameter, man of forty-odd; an habitual Interplane­
amazingly dense so that its gravity was tary traveler, who between flights lectured
not a great deal less than Earth. A bleak, over the earth television networks on
barren little globe. It had an atmosphere things astronomical.
breatheable for humans; there was water We talked for a while, and then sud­
—occasional rainfall; but chemicals in the denly Arthur Jerome said, “Nobody men­
cloud-vapors poisoned the water for hu­ tions the Phantom bandit. You know, if
man consumption. The rocks were heav­ anything could spoil my interest in Inter­
ily laden with metals. But they were all planetary travel, it’s to have a weird thing
base metals, of no particular value. So like that come up.”
far as I knew, nobody had ever bothered “Phantom bandit?” Brenda Carson mur­
to settle on Asteroid-9. It was completely mured. “Is there—is there really such a
uninhabited. thing ?”
“Asteroid-9?” Brenda murmured. “Is Arthur Jerome shrugged. “Naturally
that what it’s called?” it’s had no publicity. But things get out.
Something in my chance remark had Those last three accidents to space-liners
frightened her. Her blue eyes as she flung •—you can’t hide that sort of thing. And
me a quick, startled glance were suddenly you wouldn’t call it supernatural. Or
clouded with what might have been terror. would you?”
Her brother Philip was with us. He
said quickly, “Asteroid-9 ? Somebody said HE Phantom of the starways! That
we pass pretty close to it this voyage.”
He laughed. “Rotten sort of place, by
T was the crux of my being here on the
Seven Stars. Weird, mysterious thing
what I’ve heard. You can have it and —no wonder the Earth, Mars and Venus
welcome.” governments had not dared let it get any
I must explain that I was—and still am publicity which they could possibly avoid.
—an IP Man. My name, Jim Fanning. For three months now, this Earth-year of
I was assigned as Lieutenant to Patrol­ 2170, mysterious accidents had been hap­
ship-2. I had been on vacation, in New pening to commercial space-ships. Non­
York. My ship, one of the biggest in the arrival at destination, and then later found
Interplanetary Patrol, was on roving duty by the Interplanetary Patrol, derelicts in
now, out somewhere in the vicinity of space. Gruesome damn’ thing. A ship
Mars. Then suddenly an emergency with unharmed, save that its air was gone. As
the Seven Stars had arisen. Chief Ran­ though some mysterious accident had
kin had planted me on her. Only the broken one of the pressure valves, or de­
captain knew my identity. To the dozen ranged the machinery of an exit-porte, so
or so passengers, I was merely a young that the air had all hissed out. Ship of
civilian traveler. the dead. Everyone aboard lying asphyx­
‘Tvs never been to Asteroid-9,” I was iated.
saying. And I, too, laughed casually. “I It was eerie.
agree with you, Carson. Nice place to A “ghost-vessel” attacking the liners?
die in, but I guess that’s all.” A modern version of the ancient Flying
There was no question but what Brenda Dutchman legend? Radio newscasters
was trying to hide her sudden emotion. talked of things like that. A vengeful
Terror? Was that it? We said no more ghost-ship roaming the starways, with
about the asteroid; chatted of other things, dead pirates aboard, bent on attacking the
and presently we were joined by another living navigators whom they hated just
of the passengers. because they were alive. It made nice
 77
gruesome broadcasting to give the tele­ its forthcoming invasion of Deimos to
vision audience the shivers. Supernatu­ subdue the rebels.
ral legends easily get support. Particu­
larly from hysterical, imaginative women, OT much of a prize, our little com­
or cranks who crave publicity. Reports
had come from amateur astronomers who
N mercial liner Seven Stars this voy­
age? Just the opposite! Those rich colo­
owned fairly decent telescopes that they nists of Deimos most certainly would pay
had seen the wraith of a pallid ghost-ship well to keep this shipment away for Mars!
hovering up in Earth’s stratosphere; pas­ Would news of it have leaked out? Would
sengers on liners had hysterically thought the Phantom of the Starways attack the
they saw the same thing. Seven Stars for just that purpose? Chief
A supernatural menace. But no repu­ Rankin, of the Interplanetary Patrol, cer­
table observer had ever seen anything. tainly thought it a possibility. He had
Our Interplanetary Patrol was completely put me ahoard here; and as only the Cap­
baffled. And what the public didn’t know tain and I knew, my ship—Patrolship-2—
was that those wrecked vessels—one of had been ordered to join us out here some­
them, at least—had shown evidence that where and convoy us to Mars. Convoy
it had been hit by an electronic space-gun us against an attack by an enemy that you
with a range of several hundred miles, couldn’t see!
which had broken the pressure-dome and “The Phantom raider!” Young Philip
let the air out. And in every case the Carson was echoing Arthur Jerome’s lugu­
wrecked ship was looted; the passengers’ brious words. “You suppose there is
money and jewelry gone; the Purser’s safe really any such thing?” I saw him ex­
rifled. change a glance with his sister. He
“Anyway, it’s a good thing for us,” Ar­ laughed, but it wasn’t much of a success.
thur Jerome was saying, “the little Seven “I doubt it,” I agreed. ‘So far as I ever
Stars ought not to be much of a prize for heard, those accidents were—well, just
the phantom raider.” He grinned, with accidents. An air-valve can go wrong,
his hand ruffling his sandy hair. “Let’s you know, and dump the air out of a ship.
hope we escape.” Air goes quickly, and with a pretty pow­
The Seven Stars not much of a prize? erful rush, if it once gets started. . • .
It was certainly reasonable enough to think Gruesome kind of talk, Miss Carson,” I
that. We had a few Martians in the sec­ added lightly.
ond-class section, and a few Earthmen She tried to smile. My heart went out
passengers; and just an average commer­ to her in that moment. Her beauty, I
cial cargo. That’s what anyone would suppose; but somehow she seemed hor­
think; and only the captain and I knew ribly pathetic. That mention of Asteroid-9
differently. Our cargo was anything but mysteriously frightened her; and now this
average. The boxes, as they had come mention of the phantom spaceship terrified
aboard and been stored in the hold, were her even more.
labeled as American preserved food-stuffs; “You’re right,” Arthur Jerome agreed.
technical commercial instruments, Ger­ “The supernatural is fascinating Or a
man-made prisms, lenses and the like. thing that you can’t see but still can kill
But in reality those boxes were crammed you—that’s just as gruesome.”
only with modern electronic weapons of “And fascinating?” Philip Carson put
war. It was a shipment purchased by the in sourly. “Well, it may be to you, but
Martian government which was faced by it’s frightening my sister. Let’s talk of
the insurrection of its wealthy colony on something else.”
Deimos. They were unusual weapons of Then another passenger joined us. That
exclusive Earth-manufacture. Small, for girl was a magnet to men.
short-range, hand-use only; weapons to “Well, well, Miss Carson,” he boomed
disable, but not injure. The recently pub­ as he came up. “You are looking very
licized so-called “paralysis gun” was one beautiful in the starlight.” He sat down
of them. The Martian government, hu­ with us. His name was Walter J. Liv­
mane at least in battle with its own people, ingston—the Very Honorable Walter J.
desperately needed this type of weapon in Livingston to give him his official title.
He had just been appointed by the Presi­ I saw it also—a tiny puff of electronic
dent of the World-Federation as Earth light at the top of the oncoming patrol­
Ambassador to the Martian Government; ship’s dome. There was nothing else to
was on his way there now to present his be seen. I searched the starfield in that
credentials. He was a big, heavy-set fel­ second of premonitory horror. Absolutely
low, with a mass of iron-gray hair, a rib­ nothing visible. Just that puff of light
bon across his ruffled shirt-bosom; and where an electronic shot must have struck.
the out-jutting jaw and booming voice of “Fanning—you saw that?” Captain
a born politician. Did he by any chance Wilkes murmured.
know the contents of the Seven Stars’ “Yes.”
cargo, this voyage? So far as I had been Another few seconds. It seemed an
informed, he did not. I studied him now, eternity. And then the Patrolship wa­
and instinctively I didn’t like him—possi­ vered ; drunkenly lurching and slowly turn­
bly because of the extravagant compli­ ing over! Ghastly silent drama, out there
ments he was paying Brenda Carson. in space ten thousand miles away. We
The talk went on, and presently as I could not see its details; just the tiny im­
glanced up to the little control tower un­ age of the ship, lurching, turning end over
der the pressure-dome above us, I saw the end.
bulky figure of Captain Wilkes standing A derelict in space. My horrified im­
there. He caught my gaze and furtively agination pictured the air hissing out,
gestured. I excused myself in a moment; spewing wreckage and bodies out per­
sauntered down the narrow side deck, haps. Ship of the dead, all in those sec­
turned a distant corner of the little super­ onds. Then it was hanging poised, slowly
structure. Then I went up to its roof, turning on a drunken axis of its own.
and forward again. In a moment I was The leprous, smashed dome was for a
in the control tower. moment visible as it turned.
The Phantom raider had struck again!
APTAIN WILKES was there, seated
C alone with his electro-telescope be­
side him. He slid the oval doors closed M
Y comrades. Thirty of them meet­
ing their deaths out there in that
upon us. moment. The thought numbed me. Cap­
“Your ship’s in sight,” he greeted me. tain Wilkes had leaped to his feet.
“Thought you’d be interested.” “Why—why, good Lord, it got them!
Patrolship-2, coming to convoy us. I And now—us next!”
took a look through the eye-piece of the Our convoy gone. Unquestionably that
telescope. Familiar vessel on which I had was because the phantom was after us!
spent so many months. Its long cylindri­ “What are you going to do?” I mur­
cal alumite hull, with the pressure-dome mured. “Not tell the passengers—”
over its single upper deck, was painted “Good Lord, no. Nor the crew. What
by sunlight on one side and starlight on good would it do? We’re not armed with
the other as it headed diagonally toward long-range guns—no preparations to make.
us. By the range-finder on the telescope Only spread panic maybe among my men.
I measured its visual length. Some of them might want to try and per­
“Ten thousand miles off us,” I said to suade me to turn back to Earth.”
the captain. “And you’re not going to do that?”
“Yes. Just about. Now listen, Fan­ “Hell, no.” Captain Wilkes was a chol­
ning—there’ll be no contact. It will circle eric fellow. His ham-like fist crashed
us, close at hand. If the passengers ask down on his desk. “I was told to run this
you why we need any convoy—we don’t cargo to Mars, and by Heaven, Fanning,
want any panic here you know.” that’s what I’m going to do. Make a run
What he had in mind about explaining for it.” He swung for his controls. “I
this convoy was never disclosed. He was can use a greater Earth-repulsion and once
staring through a duplicate eye-piece, and we get past Asteroid-9, by a little jockey­
suddenly his words were checked as he ing I can use that, too. We’ll see if there’s
sucked in his breath. any damn’ phantom-ship going to over­
“Good Lord, Fanning—” take us.”
 79
It was a weird, gruesome feeling, reali­ small, wide-angle telescope. The wreck
zation that in all probability we were be­ of the patrolship was certainly far beyond
ing pursued by something we couldn’t see. sight of the naked eye. This stern look­
Something still ten thousand miles away. out evidently hadn’t spotted it, and in a
Could it overtake us? Certainly not in moment now I knew it would be beyond
less than a few hours, perhaps not even his range also. The captain and I, doubt­
in a day. And then, would there be a less, were the only ones who knew what
flash of an electronic space-gun, weirdly had happened.
from its unseen source? The crash of I went forward along the side deck. In
our hull, or our pressure-dome exploding the men’s smoking lounge, amidships in the
outward; the wild rush and hiss of our superstructure, I heard voices, caught a
air out into the vacuum of space? And glimpse as I went past of Arthur Jerome,
then death by suffocation all in a minute the television lecturer, and Livingston, the
or two. Earth Ambassador to Mars, in there with
The thing had me shuddering. I must Green, the ship’s purser. Did that mean
have been murmuring something of my that Brenda Carson and her brother were
thoughts, for Captain Wilkes retorted: still on the forward peak? I went cau­
“If they crash us with a shot they might tiously . forward. They were there—the
very easily injure the cargo. More apt blobs of them, faintly starlit, showed where
to try running in close to us—a boarding they were standing together at one of the
party with powered pressure-suits.” His side bull’s-eyes. Upon impulse, instead of
fist thumped his desk again. “An’ by joining them, I slid unseen into the shad­
Heaven, if they try that—you got a gun, ows of a loading engine.
Fanning ?” “Oh, Philip—” The girl’s voice was
“Yes,” I agreed. I had a small weapon faintly audible in the silence. “I’m so
of the paralyzer-gun type, efficient at a frightened. You think we can do it
few feet of range. But of what use safely ?”
against an enemy you couldn’t see? “Yes, of course. I’ll make sure—” He
Wilkes presently dismissed me. “You lowered his voice and I lost the rest of it.
keep your own counsel,” he told me. He “When?” she murmured.
lowered his voice. “By what your Chief “I’ll just take a look presently. We’re
Rankin intimated, there’s at least a rea­ not there yet—closer in a few hours.”
sonable possibility that we’ve some damn’ What, in Heaven’s name, could that
spy on board.” mean? Were these two spies, planted here
“Well, if that’s a fact,” I said, “the on the Seven Stars by the phantom­
Phantom won’t try cracking us with a bandits? Were they discussing the attack
long-range gun and killing the spy as well which Captain Wilkes and I feared? Cer­
as the rest of us.” tainly it did not seem so. Young Philip
“Exactly. That’s what I’m counting on. Carson wasn’t much older than his sister.
Keep your eyes open and your ears Slim, handsome, rather effeminate-looking
stretched. Report to me anything that fellow, with a weak jaw and slack mouth.
looks queer.” He wore black and white trousers, some­
what like hers. He and she seemed de­
LEFT him presently. Dogged, indom­ voted to each other. Rankin l ad told me
1 itable old fellow. He was seated grimly that Philip Carson had a bad record of
at his desk with his astronomical chartsgambling and bad companions. Was the
as he figured by what ingenuity he could girl entangled because of him?
map an emergency course to give the little My mind went back to the meager de­
Seven Stars its greatest speed. The tails which Rankin had given me. Brenda
ship was silent as I padded the length of and Philip Carson came of a cultured and
the superstructure roof and went down to once-rich family in New York. Their
the stern triangle. By ship-routine it was father—their only close living relative—
now about eleven at night. The Martian had been a research physicist. An eccen­
passengers were out of sight, sleeping tric old fellow; he had built a laboratory
probably. None of the crew were about, down on Long Island where, working in
save the man in the aft peak with his secret, he was laboriously experimenting
on something. Two years ago the place chair. The wallet was in a pocket.
had exploded. Presumably he had been Swiftly I riffled through it, came upon a
killed. But in the wreckage his body had folded square of notepaper. The map?
not been found; nor was there anything I was opening it. By the dim sheen of
to give a clue as to what he had been doing reflected light I could see its penciled
there. scrawl. And suddenly I was stricken by
Had he been building the phantom the sound of footsteps in the corridor out­
space-raider? The thought was obvious side. Someone coming. I jumped on the
now. Brenda and Philip had denied know­ chair. Through the grille I could catch a
ing, when the authorities had questioned glimpse of a cloaked figure coming along
them. And now they were going to Mars, the corridor. Carson or the girl—in that
on this of all voyages, and for no reason second I could not tell which.
that they had been able to give. Was the But at all events I had no desire to get
vanished eccentric Professor Robert Car- caught here by either of them. I got back
son the Phantom raider ? My heart leaped out the window just in time. Aft down
as I heard another fragment from the the side deck there was the blob of a loi­
girl- tering figure, a big, bulky silhouette. It
“You think you got his message cor­ was Walter Livingston, the Earth-Mars
rectly ?” Ambassador. The tip of his cigarette
“Yes, of course I did.” glowed in the dimness as he stood by one
“If we can do it safely—Oh, Phil—the of the side bull’s-eyes. Was he watching
location.” these windows of Carson and the girl?
“I’ve got it all figured out, Bren,” he Did he see me? I had no way of telling.
insisted. “Even made a little map—got it I ran forward, ducked around the super­
in the wallet of my jacket.” structure corner. The bow-peak triangle
That stiffened me. I could see the blob was empty; the chairs where the group of
of him standing there with her. The folds us had been sitting were stil here.
of his hooded cape, like hers, fell almost There was enough light for me to ex­
to his feet. But his arm held the cape amine the folded sheet of paper I had pur­
draped a little to one side. I could see hisloined. It seemed a crude map. A rough,
white shirt; he was wearing no jacket. It penciled sketch. But a map of what?
would be in his sleeping cubby then. There were the ragged outlines of what
For a moment more I crouched in the might be intended to represent mountains.
The scribbled word: “Andros.” A dotted
shelter of the little loading engine; I caught
a few more fragments, but they were not line through what might be a mountain
important. pass. And then a tiny X.
I stared at the thing, puzzled. A few
WALLET in young Carson’s cubby, hundred years ago the fabled surface-ship
A with a map in it? I shifted silently pirates of Earth’s romantic sea-history
backward, reached the side deci, and supposedly made maps like this. Maps of
padded aft. The smoking lounge was buried treasure. Pirates’ gold. Were
empty now. The little interior cross corri­ Carson and his young sister after some
dor of the superstructure was dim and si­ treasure? Where? On Earth? Mars?
lent. Carson and his sister had connect­ Little Deimos ? Asteroid-9 ? That thought
ing rooms, with corridor doors side by leaped at me. Certainly they had shown
side. Cautiously I tried them. They a queer interest in my chance remark
were locked. about Asteroid-9. We were not far from it
In a moment I was out to the side deck. now. Fifty thousand miles perhaps—would
Carson’s window was closed; I pulled at pass at our closest point to it in an hour
the vertical sash and it yielded, slid out­ of two. I stared through the bull’s-eye
ward. The room was dim, with just a beside me. It was down there, diagonally
faint glow of the corridor light coming ahead of us—a full-round, putty-colored
over the lattice-grille above the door. disk, with the configurations of its moun­
I jumped over the sill; landed silently tains and the turgid clouds of its atmos­
in the room. No need for any lengthy phere beginning to be visible.
search; his jacket was here, folded on a But what could any of that have to do
with the Phantom raider, or the attack trousers were visible. Brenda? It made
on the patrolship and the impending attackmy heart pound. For a second I stared as
upon us? Surely there was no treasure she ducked into a doorway. I was there
on Asteroid-9. The treasure, if you could in twenty seconds, until I saw the cloaked
call it that, was right here on board the shadow of her going down a companion
little Seven Stars. ladder into the ship’s hold.
I was crouching now in the shadow of Swiftly I followed. Down two eight-
the loading engine on the bow-peak, puz­ foot levels, and then I caught another
zled by my rush of thoughts. Should I glimpse of her as she moved into the
take this to Captain Wilkes? Vaguely I lower passage. It was a metal catwalk
realized that perhaps I should, but some­ with small cubbies opening from it. The
thing stopped me. My own instinctive ship’s air-renewers, ventilating system; a
feelings for Brenda Carson. She seemed cubby controlling the hull gravity-plate
somehow so pathetic. Surely she was no shifters; other mechanism rooms. She
plotting murderess. Her brother—yes. went past them, a furtive little shadow.
But the girl—protecting someone she And stopped at what seemed the door to
loved? Was her father really the Phan­ one of the tiny pressure chambers of an
tom raider? His invention an X-flyer en­ exit-porte in the side of the hull.
dowed with mechanical, electronic invisi­ “Oh, you, Mr. Fanning? What do you
bility? I knew that such a thing was sci­ want down here” The voice in the silence
entifically possible, of course. But Pro­ so startled me that I whirled. It was Kel­
fessor Carson was a frail old man. And logg, the ship’s gravity-control operator.
my mind leaped back to some other things In his shirtsleeves, pipe in hand, with a
Chief Rankin had told me. The Phantom green eyeshade on his forehead, he had
was thought to be a notorious Earth-crimi­seen me from the door of his little cubby.
nal who, a few years ago, had been known “Why—” I murmured. “Just coming
as the “Chameleon.” A fellow skilled in down to see you.” I turned to join him.
the art of wax disguise so that none of And suddenly a buzzer in his control room
the Earth crime-trackers really knew what interrupted him. I stood while he an­
he looked like. He was wanted in both swered it—an audio-tube for direct voice­
Great New York and Great London for transmission.
mail-tube murders. Nothing was known “Yes, Captain Wilkes—” And then
of his identity save that he had once had Kellogg gasped and clutched at the table
an operation for a fractured skull, where beside him; then he whirled upon me, his
in the back of the skull a big triangular face chalk-white. “Our radio-helio is
platinum plate had been inserted to take smashed! Someone—something smashed
the place of the shattered bone. A crimi­ it!”
nal surgeon, dying, had confessed that Our little Seven Stars was cut off
much; had said he had performed the op­ from Earth or Mars communication! Cap­
eration. And then he had mumbled some­ tain Wilkes had evidently decided to flash
thing about the Chameleon being the Phan­ a call for help to Earth, and found that
tom raider. the apparatus had been smashed! But
Surely such a notorious skilled adven­even that startling news instantly was
turer could not be old Professor Carson. stricken from Kellogg and me. Out in
I decided not to have Brenda and Philip the corridor quite near us a low scream
hauled before the captain now for ques­ sounded! And then there was the sound
tioning. of air hissing!
“What the devil!” Kellogg gasped.
HOUGHTS are instant things. I was My gun was in my hand as we ran.
T crouching there behind the engine There was nothing in sight on the dim
loader no more than a moment; and sud little
­ catwalk. The scream had died. The
denly down the other side deck just be­ air-hissing stopped.
yond the smoking lounge, I saw a moving “Somebody went into the pressure­
figure. A slight figure in dark cloak and chamber!” Kellogg muttered. “What in
hood—the bottoms of black and white the hell—”
6—Planet Stories—Winter “The pressure-chamber door-slide was
closed. I knew the mechanism of these ready finding an orbit of its own, slowly
exit-portes. There were four of them in circling around us.
the hull-bottom of the Seven Stars—two
on each side. There was an inner door­ STAGGERED back from the bull’s-eye.
slide ; a sealed pressure-room some ten
feet square and six feet high; and an outer
1 As I rushed back along the catwalk
my horrified mind was clamoring with the
door-slide. Ordinarily the mechanism was vague thought: had Brenda operated that
automatic. The outer slide must be closed pressure-mechanism wrongly? Or had
if the inner one was open. To make an someone on the catwalk, at the controls
exit, one went into the pressure-room; there, done it?
closed the catwalk door, and with manual That thought, too, was stricken away.
control slowly opened the outer slide, so I reached the forward deck triangle. The
that the air in the sealed room would hiss bow-peak lookout was calling up to Cap­
out into space. After which, with a thirty- tain Wilkes:
second interval, the outer slide would close “Passenger overboard! Brenda Carson!
and the inner one slowly open, admitting It’s Miss Brenda Carson!”
the ship’s air again into the pressure-room. Dead girl in the space-light. I could
“Someone worked the manual controls not look at the horrible thing as it rounded
wrong!” Kellogg was muttering. He ges­ our bow and came slowly floating past
tured to where there was a duplicate set of again.
controls out here in the corridor. “That “You, Fanning — what’s happened?
outer slide opened too quickly!” Brenda Carson, he says.”
We could hear the last of the air rushing Arthur Jerome stood calling to me from
out with a wild gush. A stab of horror his stateroom door at the bow superstruc­
went into my heart. Brenda Carson in ture corner. He was in his nightrobe with
there, trying to escape from the ship—not a negligee hastily wrapped around him.
knowing how to work the controls—open­ “Yes—” I gasped. “Brenda Carson.
ing that outer slide too quickly. She—”
The air in the pressure-room was gone “And I heard something about radio-
in a few seconds. Then we heard the helio room wrecked.” The big, florid tele­
click of the outer slide closing. The inner vision lecturer seemed in a panic. Expe­
door began very slowly opening. With rienced space-traveler, but he had never
a muttered curse of impatience Kellogg run into anything like this before. I
twitched at the control levers here. The couldn’t blame him for his terror. But
inner door slid wide. I had no time for him now. The ship
We clutched at the cat walk rail to hold was in confusion. I could hear the Mar­
ourselves against the gust of wind as the tians, below deck in the bow, shouting with
little pressure-room filled. And then we frightened questions. Two or three mem­
rushed into it. Pressure suits, powered bers of the crew were running up to Cap­
as I knew by tiny gravity-repulsers and tain Wilkes who was outside his turret
a rocket-stream mechanism, stood here in calling down orders.
racks. One of them lay here on the floor, I ran down the side deck. One of the
entangled with a rack-post so that it had excited crew stopped me. “You seen
not blown out. Brenda evidently had tried young Philip Carson? Captain wants
to get into it and failed. him.”
“Look! Good Lord—poor little thing—” I shook my head and ran on. Some­
Kellogg murmured. He had slid aside a body else was calling Carson's name. I
tiny bull’s-eye shade. Through it a seg­ mounted the companionway to the super­
ment of space outside the hull was visible. structure roof. Had Philip Carson van­
We had only a glimpse of a ghastly ished? They couldn’t find him? Well,
body, mangled by the explosion of the what I knew about Philip Carson now I'd
pressure within itself, out in the pressure­ certainly tell Captain Wilkes! Suddenly
less vacuum of space. It floated past us, I realized fully that because of Brenda
some forty feet out. Held poised by the I had wanted to keep silent—but there
gravity, the nearness and bulk of the was no need of that now.
Seven Stars. Horrible little satellite, al­ From the superstructure roof, as I ran
forward along it, I could see down to the held him for a second. But my head was
side deck. A cloaked figure there. Philip reeling; my senses swiftly fading, with a
Carson. I had just a glimpse as he darted cold sweat breaking out all over me.
into a door under me. A ladder was And then I was aware that I had fallen
nearby. My little paralyzer-gun was in to the deck with my gun clattering away.
my hand as I climbed down the ladder, With my last dim thought came the reali­
reached the dark side-deck. The commo­ zation that I was fainting. That tiny
tion was all up forward; there was no one glass globe which had broken against my
here at the moment. The corridor door forehead—I knew what it was! A little
into which Carson had run was beside me. bomb of acetycholine, a weird drug to
I ran into it, ten feet or so and into a cross lower the blood-pressure and cause me to
corridor. Came to his doorway. It was faint. I fought, but it was useless. My
locked. I ran around to the deck again. senses faded.
His window was near here. Then after an interval I seemed vaguely
The glassite pane of the window was to be conscious that someone was bending
closed and locked. The inner fabric-shade over me. A dark cloak. . . . Again I
was drawn down. What was he doing in knew only blankness; and then slowly my
there? Searching for his map? For other senses were coming back. Weak, dizzy,
things which might be incriminating? with my head roaring, my body bathed in
I had a few instruments hidden in my cold sweat, I found myself still lying on
clothes, tiny devices which we of the Inter­ the dark deck. Perhaps I had been out
planetary Patrol sometimes have occasion only a moment or two. I could still hear
to use—a small electric listener and a tiny the commotion up forward. I staggered
X-ray fluoroscope screen. The listener to my feet; saw the cloaked figure as it
yielded the sound of a man’s panting ran into the superstructure. Carson mak­
breath, his furtive, fumbling movements ing his getaway! I had a glimpse of him
within the dark little cubby. Then I tried again, two levels down on the dim cat­
the X-ray, through the fabric-shrouded walk, and saw him dart into the pressure­
glassite pane of the window. It shot its chamber. I was too late getting there.
invisible, soundless rays through the win­ The metal pressure-door closed in my face.
dow into the cubby. The little hooded But I had him! I could do to him what
three-inch screen in my palm glowed with he had done to Brenda! I started for the
the greenish fluoroscopic X-ray image. manual controls. I could open that outer
A kneeling skeleton was revealed—the slide, lei the pressure-room air out with a
skeleton of a man kneeling in there with rush before he could get into his space suit,
his back to me. I stared, and suddenly blast him out into space, or suffocate him
gasped, with my breath stopped. The back in the pressure-room.
of the skeleton’s skull was visible—the But I had over-taxed my strength. My
image-shadow there was of a different den­ blood-pressure was still too low from that
sity from the bones of his skull! A dark accursed drug. My senses were fading
triangular patch—not bone, but metal! again and I sank to the floor. Weakly I
The man with the metal skull! Philip tried to call Kellogg. But he wasn’t in
Carson, of notorious Chameleon fame! his little nearby cubby now.
The Phantom raider! I had him here I did not quite lose consciousness this
identified at last! Had him trapped here! time. I heard the air slowly going out
through the outside opening slide. Then
ITH a blow of my gun-butt I heard the click as the automatic mechan­
W smashed through the glassite pane; ism closed it. The corridor slide in an­
tore the fabric-shade aside. This room was
other moment, automatically was slowly
dark. I had an instant’s glimpse of the opening. The rush of air into the little
dark blob of his crouching figure. There room helped revive me. I got to my feet
was the whiz of something he threw at again; ran into the room. I could see the
me; the tinkling of glass as some fragile empty space on the rack where he had
little thing struck against my forehead. I taken one of the powered pressure suits
recall that my paralyzer ray darted into and escaped. All the bull’s-eye observation
the dark room. Perhaps it caught him, porte I had a glimpse of him—a bloated
figure in his air-filled suit—a tiny comet and earthlight mellow with a faint sheen
with a radiance of rocket-stream like a that struck down through the clouds and
tail behind it. tinged the giant ragged peaks with a tint­
The blob of him in a moment had van­ ing glow.
ished. Where did he expect to go? Diag­ The clouds, still far down, were broken
onally ahead, and far down in the glitter­ in thin stratas here over this hemisphere.
ing star-field, the round, putty-colored disk
The disk had widened now so that pres­
of Asteroid-9 was visible. ently it filled all the lower half of the
My strength had almost fully come back firmament; and a visual convexity had
to me now. Quickly I got into another come to it. I tried to calculate my veloc­
of the power-suits. They were a some­ ity by the apparent enlarging of the deso­
what old-fashioned model, but adequate late scene as it rushed up at me.
enough, a double-shelled fabric with elec­ Where was Carson? Long since, I had
tronic pressure-absorbing current in it; lost sight of the tiny speck which had
air-renewers, and the small power-units. been he. Was I overtaking him? I could
I bloated the suit in another moment; not tell. With the leaden glow of the as­
closed the corridor slide. I let the air teroid’s surface as a background, I knew
rush out through the outer slide as quickly I could be quite close to him and still not
as I dared. see him. Undoubtedly he was not using
And then I catapulted out, not bothering his rocket-stream now; had only used it in
with the rocket-stream but using full grav­ starting, for quick repulsion against the
ity-repulsion against the bulk of the Seven ship’s hull. I was sure he could not be
Stars. Far down, ahead of me, for an very far below me unless, during the time
instant I could just see the speck which which had passed, he had headed in some
was the fleeing Carson. Over me the other direction, departing from a straight,
bulk of the Seven Stars hung, a great swift descent. Could he drop faster than
alumite cylinder, receding, dwindled by I was dropping? I doubted it. Unless
he was very skilled—or very desperate,
distance until it was only a tiny speck, lost
among the blazing stars. holding the asteroid’s attraction to a dan­
With the huge, dull-lead disk of As­ gerous point. I held my own until I dared
teroid-9 growing in visual size under me, hold it no longer. I was in the upper at­
I hurtled downward, using the asteroid’s mosphere now. In every direction, save
full attraction now as I sped after the above me, the planet’s dark surface spread
escaping Carson. out to its jagged, circular horizon.
Then at last I dared not hold the attrac­
LONE in space; a little drifting tion longer. With all the tiny plates in
A world of yourself. It is an eerie my suit electronized to full repulsion, I
feeling. I have no idea how long that began slackening my fall. Still I had not
descent to Asteroid-9 took; one loses all glimpsed Carson. Disappointment was
sense of time as well as space, hurtling within me. What a long chance was this!
alone through the starry universe. The A five-hundred-mile hemisphere of utter
Seven Stars long since was gone, van­ desolation. No food; no water. And I
ished in the black illimitable distances of had no weapons or instruments, save the
the blazing firmament above me. Head single little paralyzer-gun which I had
down, with full attraction in the little snatched from the deck when I recovered
gravity plates of the padded shoulders of my senses. I was beginning to be sorry
my bloated suit, like a diver I headed, now that I had so hastily left the Seven
hurtling for the dull-lead surface. Stars. No chance of getting back; the
I had picked up velocity swiftly. The die was cast, here on little Asteroid-9,
great round disk of Asteroid-9 widened, pitted against this resourceful, youthfully
spread, crawled outward and seemed visu­ astonishing Interplanetary murderer.
ally coming up. For a time, sunlight was What mas Carson’s plan? Escape from
a thin stream on its distant curving limb the ship had been a desperate necessity
of mountains. Then I went into the cone for him, of course. And my memory went
of its shadow. At once the look of the back to the fragments I had heard be­
weird leaden mountains changed; starlight tween him and Brenda. I could under-
 85
stand them better now! They had planned up against what was now a sullen sky of
from the beginning to escape to Asteroid- broken leaden clouds through which the
9! And poor little Brenda, entangled in starlight and Earthlight fitfully shone. I
this criminality with her brother, had left had landed, by all that I could judge, about
the ship first, and met her death. Mem­ half an Earth-mile from where Carson
ory of the map they had had came sud­ had dropped. Had he seen me coming
denly to me. I had it in my pocket now; down above him ? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
I tried to conjure what it had looked like. With my helmet off, and with my lungs
Outlines of mountains; the word Andros. panting as they tried to adjust themselves
Was that the name of one of the aster­ to the weird air, I crouched for a moment
oid’s mountain peaks? Probably it was. in the shadow of a rock, peering, listen­
I cursed myself for my ignorance. The ing. There was nothing. It seemed a dead
Phantom raider probably was based upon world, myself its only inhabitant—a silence
this desolate asteroid. A hide-out here, so utter that my own breath, my pounding
with food and water and possibly with heart were roaring in my ears.
some of the raiders’ men living here. And I started in a moment, heading along a
Carson was dropping now to join them. ridged, fantastic little terrain at the bot­
What chance had I against a layout like tom of a shadowed valley. The deflated
that? suit hung in baggy folds upon me; the
But I had no choice now but hurtle bulky helmet was folded, hanging down
downward, trying to check my descent as from the back of my neck. Half a mile
best I could. For a time, as I came out to where Carson had dropped. Gun in
from under the clouds, with the dark, hand I advanced as cautiously as I could,
fantastic surface of naked, ragged little until presently I was following a ragged
peaks no more than twenty or thirty thou­ ditch with the triple spires of Andros
sand feet down, it seemed that I had been looming above me.
too brash; I was dropping too fast; never Was this where Carson had landed? So
would I be able to check it. I would far as I could judge, it seemed so. I was
crash. . . . tense, alert with the vague, horrible feel­
ing that I was walking into ambush.
UT that, too, was an error, born of Then ahead of me, in a distant shadow,
B my momentarily despairing thoughts.
I was presently poised, some ten thousand
it seemed that there was a faint stir of
movement. Soundlessly I melted down to
feet up. The highest of the little peaks the lead-gray rocks. I could not see the
was no more than half that. They stood shadow now, but every instant I expected
in a tumbled mass—jagged needle-spires the luminous darkness to be stabbed with
—rocks and buttes and great round-top a bursting bolt. There was nothing.
boulders, with ravines and gullies between Suddenly the stillness was broken by a
them. Scene of utter, naked desolation, faint scraping sound. It seemed fairly
convulsed landscape, frozen into immo­ close, and into the darkness from whence
bility. it had come I aimed my ray; pressed its
And suddenly my heart was pounding lever.
with abrupt exultation. Far down, where There was a faint, gasping scream;
the starlight and Earthlight bathed a little then a choked silence. I jumped to my(
peak, I saw the speck which was the de­ feet, holding the paralyzer-gun leveled as
scending Carson! Just for a second the it throbbed and quivered in my grip. Got
tiny outline of his bloated suit was clear him! He couldn’t move. He was rooted
against the background of a shining rock. there in the darkness, with rigid, stiffened
Then he dropped into an inky shadow and muscles as the ray held him.
was gone again. I saw him in an instant, the dark blob
I tried to mark the spot. A little triplet of him almost merged with the shadows,
of spires, standing like sentinels above a with his baggy space-suit like my own de­
small dark valley. Was that Andros, a flated in folds upon him, and his helmet
landmark here? Probably it was. folded back.
I was down in perhaps another half Triumphant, I dashed forward; and
hour, with the triplet of spires standing then stopped transfixed, amazed. The
paralyzed figure, stricken upright here on tical mechanical invisibility was clearly
the rocks wasn’t young Carson! Above forecast by Einstein’s discoveries.”
the folded helmet there was a head of “And you think now,” I murmured,
bobbed blonde hair! Brenda! Brenda, “your father is this mysterious Phantom
not dead! Not that ghastly thing that raider ?”
was a gruesome little satellite of the Her little face clouded. Her blue eyes,
Seven Stars! misty with Earthlight which was striking
I saw her rigid face, with goggling down upon us now through the clouds,
mouth and staring eyes. Brenda mute, gazed at me with a pathetic appeal.
stricken by my ray. I snapped it off “We did not know. We—:we were
frantically; called to her as I dashed up. afraid so. And then Philip got a message
And as the ray released her, I saw her one night—”
waver; then, with her knees buckling, she Weird occurrence. Young Carson had
sank into a little heap on the ground. been cn the porch of their Long Island
If only I had some water to dash into home. From the sky overhead, where
her face! Frantically I knelt, holding her nothing was to be seen, had come a little
head, brushing her curls from her damp stab of waving white light. A helio sig­
forehead. The ray, I knew, upon her for nal. From their father? Certainly it
so short a time, should not quite do this toseemed so. It told them to come secretly
her. It was her emotion, her terror which to Asteroid-9. He would be there, at the
had caused her to faint. base of Andros. And so they had come
My mind went back to that hooded to try and help their father.
figure, cloaked, which I had chased in the “Help him?” I murmured.
ship’s corridor. I had had a vague inde­ “Yes. Oh, Mr. Fanning—”
cision, then had decided it was Brenda— “Jim is shorter,” I interjected.
and the ship’s lookout at the bowpeak had “—Jim, you see, we couldn’t believe
confirmed my fears. But that had been father is a criminal. Captured maybe and
Philip, and it was Brenda whom I had forced to operate his ship by these ban­
chased that second time, following her out dits, and appealing to us for help.”
the porte, hurtling into space after her. Desperate adventure indeed. But they
“Brenda—” had tackled it; had taken passage on the
She opened her eyes presently, bewil­ little Seven Stars which they under­
dered, but she was unharmed. stood would pass very close to Asteroid-9,
“Oh—you—I was so frightened.” this voyage. And they had known com­
pletely nothing of the Seven Stars’
HELD her as she recovered, and pres­ cargo or of any plot which the raider
1 ently she was filling in all the grim might have against her! Brenda gasped
details of her tragic little story. What­now when I told her of those angles.
ever her brother Philip’s propensities for And there were still other angles that
gambling and bad companions, he had puzzled me. “Brenda, have you ever
been no criminal. They had lost their heard of an Earth-criminal called the Cha­
father; had been truthful when they said meleon ?”
they did not know what Professor Carson She had not; and when I described his
had been building in his lonely little lab­ exploits of a few years ago, she was con­
oratory. But they knew enough so that vinced that by no possible chance could
when the Phantom bandit began his mys­ her aged father have been secretly doing
terious raids, they suspected it was their things like that. Nor Philip either, for
father’s ship; the laboratory explosion that matter. She declared it vehemently,
merely a blind. He had often mentioned, and I believed her. But the man with the
when they were children, that the dream metal skull had been on the Seven Stars
of his life was to discover and perfect as stowaway, or spy among the passen­
electronic invisibility. gers, ship’s officers or crew. I had seen
“Albert Einstein of two hundred years him there in young Carson’s stateroom.
ago,” she was telling me now. “Father Brenda, when I was chasing her, had
studied his writings and his theories very eluded me. “I saw you fighting with
closely. He said that the secret of prac­ somebody at Philip’s window,” she told
me now. “I was going to escape from that the Phantom raider’s base was here!
the ship then.” He had brought his little treasure ship into
‘‘Even though Philip was dead, you the very camp of the enemy!
were going on with your plans alone?” “We must warn him, Brenda.”
“Yes, why not?” She smiled her twisted The blob of the little liner dropped from
little smile. “Then I saw you fall to the our sight behind a line of broken rock­
deck. I ran, bent over you. I—I thought spires as she settled t- the plateau. But
you were dead. So I—I ran down to the we could tell within a few hundred yards
porte and took off. Philip and I had of where she had landed. It took us only
planned it so carefully. Oh, poor Philip!” a few minutes to run there, with the
“He didn’t miscalculate those air­ slighter gravity of Asteroid-9 aiding us
mechanisms,” I muttered. “That damned in our leaps across the intervening little
villain must have been there in the corri­ chasms. And then we saw the Seven
dor for an instant while I was talking to Stars, where she rested placidly on the
Kellogg, and shoved the controls—killed level surface. One of her lower portes
Philip.” was open, but there were no figures out on
And I had tried to do the same thing the dim rocks.
to Brenda! I could only thank the Lord There was silence inside as we entered
now that I had failed! the dark little pressure-chamber. As al­
ways customary in port, both its outer
HE two of us, alone here on Asteroid- and inner door-slides were open, admit­
T 9. No food nor water. Perhaps the
only inhabitants of this desolate little
ting the fresh outer air.
There was no one to greet us on the
world. lower level catwalk. Its single overhead
Abruptly she was gripping me. “Look light was burning. We passed Kellogg’s
—Jim—look there!” little cubby. No one was in it. Then
I followed her gesture. Up in the we mounted the companion ladder; came
leaden sky beyond the looming triple spires to the superstructure corridor.
of Andros, a tiny speck had appeared. A Queer, this silence. I held Brenda,
ship coming down. Breathlessly we with my heart chilling, sinking. It seemed
watched. In a few minutes it was a little suddenly that we weie prowling like
oblong blob. ghouls. The ship was so cold, so silent.
“It’s coming this way, Brenda.” With the ventilating fans stilled, the inte­
“Yes.” rior air here was turning fetid. I had an
It seemed circling a little. By the look impulse to call out. Captain Wilkes, Con­
it would land on a small level plateaq trolman Kellogg, Purser Green, the crew,
some quarter of a mile from us. We the passengers—where were they all? But
stared, mute, transfixed, watching. abruptly I was furtive, with a slow, horri­
And then suddenly I sucked in my fied terror dawning in me so that in the
breath with a new shock of startled amaze­ dim corridor I stood suddenly and turned
ment. There was something familiar to Brenda.
about that cylindrical alumite hull with “We’d better get back out of here,” I
the curving pressure-dome above it, and murmured. “Something queer—”
those quadruplicate tail-fins. “Jim—look!”
It wasn’t the bandit flyer! “That’s the We stood frozen, transfixed. At the
Seven Stars!” I gasped. deck doorway a blob was lying. Captain
The Seven Stars unquestionably. We saw Wilkes. Dead—suffocated. I swept
her clearly in a moment, as she circled some Brenda away that she might not get a
five miles away from us and headed slowly second glimpse of his puffed, mangled
for the small plateau. Captain Wilkes flesh where it had burst outward from its
undoubtedly had changed his mind about own pressure. There had been a vacuum
trying to make a run for it. With chaos here! Out in space the little Seven Stars
on his ship—his radio-helio wrecked so quite evidently had lost her interior air!
that he could not summon another convoy Ship of the dead! I took only one look
—he had headed down here to hide his at the dimly starlit deck triangle; the
vessel. And he did not know, of course, bodies lying strewn there, Little group
of humans who had gathered there in a duties. Your father, will appreciate that.
last frenzied panic, clinging to each other, You do, eh Carson?”
falling one upon the other—suffocating, Familiar, suave, ironic voice with a rich
dying. booming timber to it of assumed gracious­
Nothing but the dead here. ness. I knew I had heard that voice be­
But this tragedy had happened out in fore, but with my swimming senses now
space! And we had seen the Seven Stars I could not quite place it. I felt my eyes
calmly coming down, gracefully, skilfully opening to a blur of swaying outlines.
landing! “You let her alone.” The thin fright­
I swung back to Brenda. I gasped, ened voice of an old man. Brenda’s father.
“Good Lord, we’ve got to get out!” The dim scene clarified as my strength
Too late a realization! I was aware came. I was lying on the floor of a little
suddenly of a dark glistening shape behind circular control room, with a black shape
us in the corridor—a man in a sleek tight- beside me. And there were three other
fitting black robe. His white face, evil figures: Brenda, still garbed in her baggy
with a leer, grinned at us. Brenda deflated space-suit, with her white tense
screamed. I tried to defend us from an­ face staring in my direction; her gray­
other dark blob that leaped from a door­ haired, thin father, in black trousers and
way beside me. And then something black shirt, seated in a little metal chair
struck my head. I was aware only that beside her. And the other figure at the
Brenda was screaming as I felt myself controls—a big, heavy-set man in tight-
falling, my senses hurtling off into the fitting black garment. Tubelight shone on
soundless abyss of unconsciousness. his florid face. Arthur Jerome, Interplan­
etary traveler, Earth television lecturer on
CAME at last into a dim half-con­ things astronomical! The man with the
I sciousness in which I realized that I metal skull, unquestionably! Notorious
was being carried. I could feel the rhyth­ chameleon of former years, and now the
mic step; and then I knew that I was Phantom Raider!
slung over a man’s shoulder and that he “This Fanning comes to his senses,” a
was walking with me on the rocks. Other voice beside me growled.
dark forms were beside us. With blurred “Ah, so?” It brought Jerome with a
vague vision I could see the little Seven leap, and then he bent over me. “So that
Stars which we had left. blow on your head didn’t kill you, Fan­
And near at hand another space-ship ning?”
had landed now, here upon little As­ “No,” I said. “You, Jerome. If only
teroid-9. I was being carried to it. I I had known—”
could glimpse it only vaguely as I hung “Quite true,” he chuckled. “Hindsight
inert on my captor’s shoulder. It was a is very easy. And now we have you here.
small ship smaller than the Seven Stars, You will be useful, if you have any sense.
and of a type I had never seen before A member of the Interplanetary Patrol,
—barrel-finned and with a spreading fan­ you should be skilled in many things of
tail, somewhat in the British Earth-design. our adventuring in space. Romantic life,
It rested on the rocks like a long, thin Fanning. Did you ever read of Captain
bird, with body puffed out underneath. Kidd, so long ago? One might say I am
Over it was the conventional glassite pres­ his modern incarnation. Romantic idea,
sure dome, low-slung so that its top was eh Fanning?”
no more than ten feet above the single A little mad, this fellow. I could well
deck. A dead-black bird. The starlight imagine it. But a clever scheming, mur­
and mellow Earthlight were on it, but the derous villain for all that. “Much money
black metal surface did not shimmer. for you,” he added slyly. “I treat all my
My senses wafted away again into an­ men well. There are fifteen of us here.”
other blank interval. . . . And then dimly “I like money,” I said with an assump­
my hearing came. . . . tion of sullenness. “But there are a lot
“We’re glad to have you, little Brenda. of things I want to know.”
You are a treasure indeed. A woman I found that I was still garbed in the
among us—to cook and sew with woman’s space-suit, but my weapon was gone. I
 89
was presently allowed to sit up in a chair rency, Fanning. You’ll want some of it,
beside Brenda and her father. But for surely. And then we’ll go looking for
all my assumption that I could be bribed, another adventure. Romantic life, eh?”
it did not deceive the wily Jerome. The I tried, during those following hours,
two other black-garbed men here were very cautiously to convince Jerome that
closely watching me. at heart I might be a villain like himself.
Perhaps to some extent, I succeeded. At
HE Phantom flyer. From here in its all events, there came at last a brief in­
T tiny control room, it did not seem terval when the controls were locked and
Brenda, her father and I were out on the
unusually weird. Its fittings a dead-black
metal. Its men garbed in sleek, dead-black, tiny forepeak in the starlight, momentarily
close-fitting fabric suits with black fabric alone. I had found now that a little free­
helmets dangling at the back of the neck. dom of movement was given us. After
I could see that we were in space. all, there was nothing that we could do,
Through the pressure dome the stars were trapped here.
glittering in a black firmament. . Where “You know where the exit porte of this
were we going? Jerome had not the ship is?” I murmured.
slightest objection to telling me. Perhaps “Yes, yes, of course.” Professor Car-
in the back of his mind there was the son was a confused, dazed old man; his
idea that ultimately he could bribe me, life among these cutthroats for so long
make me one of his band of cutthroats, now had cowed him. “But what—what
useful to him. He was a genial, tri­ do you think you could do?”
umphant villain now, flushed with his suc­ In truth I had no possible idea. But if
cess, pleased to boast of it before his men ever a chance should come for escape—
and before Brenda. “In the pressure chamber,” I whispered,
Old Professor Carson had not intended “would there be pressure suits? One for
that his children come to Asteroid-9 and you—”
try to rescue him. That furtive message “Yes. Yes, there are.”
he had found opportunity to send was in­ A commotion up at the control turret
tended to bring the Interplanetary Police. interrupted us. The black-garbed man at
Jerome had discovered that the message the electo-telescope there was shouting.
was sent. On the Seven Stars he had Jerome came running; and we followed
thrust Phillip out through the porte; and him up into the turret. He was grim, but
had been searching Phillip’s stateroom, ironically smiling.
fearing that some incriminating evidence “Interplanetary Patrolship off there,” he
might be there, when I assailed him. said. “Patrolship-3.”
“You were using an X-ray screen?” he Sister ship of my ill-fated vessel.
jibed at me now. “My metal headplate? “Sighted us?” I murmured.
Much good will it ever do you now to He shrugged. “Probably. Only three
know that I was the Chameleon. A clever thousand miles away—probably did.” His
fellow, that Chameleon—but I like the mouth was set into a grim hard line. In
Phantom bandit better, don’t you?” his eyes I saw that gleam of fanatic ir­
And then he told me gloatingly how easy rationality. “Unfortunate, for them. This
it had been for him to don a pressure-suit little vessel of mine has never been sighted
and hide in the pressure-room while he before, you know.” His lips twitched with
wrecked the air-valves and let the air out a grin. “You see how we are dressed
of the doomed Seven Stars. Ship of the here? Why, we’ve even been down into
dead, on which he was the only living Earth’s atmosphere—we’ve landed and
human until his phantom raider had come made away without discovery. We’ll do
with a boarding party. Then the Seven that on Deimos. And now this Patrol­
had been taken to Asteroid-9, her cargo ship—no one on it will ever live to tell
of electronic weapons transferred to the that even for a moment they sighted the
arriving X-flyer, and here we were. Phantom raider!”
“Headed for Deimos,” he chuckled. He turned to an intricate bank of levers,
“How glad they will be to see us! A dials and tiny vacuum globes that were
million decimars of Interplanetary cur- ranged on a table here at the side of the
control room. Separate from the space­ tinkling bells, or harsh thuds. All timbre
flying mechanisms. The controls of the had gone from them so that they had lost
mechanical electronic invisibility. their identity completely.
“You’ll see us go into action now, Fan­ “Not long now, Fanning,” Jerome said.
ning. It should be interesting.” “You’ll see that ship go to its death.”
He swung the dials. I felt my senses Ghastly dead voice. Every overtone had
reel with a weird shock. Brenda gave a gone from it. It could have been a man’s
little gasp. There was a momentary quiver voice, or a woman’s. The voice of a dead
of all the ship; a momentary current-hum. thing in a hollow tomb.
And then silence. “Weird—” I muttered. My own voice
My head cleared; the shock was passed. the same. And Brenda’s, as she murmured
I gripped the arms of my chair and stared. something in horror. All dead, indistin­
guishable one from the other.
GLOW like an aura of green radi­ Down on the forepeak in the sodden
A ance suffused the control room. A
green glow of unreality throughout all
dull-green light, I could see the crew rais­
the
ing the electronic gun-carriages into posi­
little ship. I could see it out on the fore­ tion now. They were quite evidently of
peak triangle—the black-garbed figures like the most modern Edretch type, squat pro­
wraiths out there in a luminous green jectors with grid faces fitted into vacuum
gloom. The glassite bull’s-eye portes firing portes on each side of the forepeak.
seemed now to have a green film on them. Guns undoubtedly with an effective range
The stars outside were shut away. The of some five hundred Earth-miles.
transparent glassite dome was spread with X-flyer going into action. The crew,
the same dull-green opaquenes now. And with their dead putty-colored faces, moved
then I saw, here in the turret walls, in silently in the soundless ship. Up here in
the dome and in the center of each of the the turret with us, Jerome’s hollow voice
bull’s-eyes, little holes through which a was gloating:
tiny segment of the starfield still was ap­ “That fool patrolship—they have seen
parent—windows like dull little eyes punc­ us vanish. They know now who their ad­
turing our barrage of invisibility so that versary is. Want to see them, Fanning?”
we could see outward through them. There was no need of a telescope now.
Here in the control room the dull radi- A magnified image of the oncoming patrol­
ence shone upon Jerome’s grinning, tri­ ship as seen through one of the little bar­
umphant face; it was tinted ghastly, putty­ rage-vents on our bow, was spread here on
colored by the strange light. And the a grid-screen in the control turret. Fasci­
light glistened on his eyeballs, glowing like nated with horror, I watched it—the fore­
phosphorescence—like the eyes of an ani­ shortened looming bow of the patrolship
mal in a hunter’s torchlight at night. clearly outlined against the black velvet of
Everyone here, the same. And I saw the firmament. It had seen us vanish,
old Professor Carson’s face — the face of had turned and was heading straight for
a dead man. His expression was stamped where it had last seen us! Even as I
with his mixed emotions. This, his science watched, the image of it was visibly en­
of which he had been so proud, perverted larging. A thousand miles away now,
now into murderous, ghastly warfare by probably. But almost in a moment it
the villainous Jerome. would be within range!
Then Jerome moved to his space-flight Then the wily Jerome abruptly swung us
controls; through the tiny windows in the sharply. He was still at his gravity-con­
barrage I could see that our ship was trol levers. The starfield rolled sidewise
swinging, heading for the oncoming pa­ as we turned in a great hundred-mile arc.
trolship. Only three thousand miles apart. The maneuver was obvious. The patrol­
They would be upon each other in a few ship had marked our position. Jerome
minutes. quite evidently was not sure what range­
Jerome’s footsteps as he moved across guns his adversary had. He was taking
the room faintly sounded on the metal no chances that a premature shot, aimed
floor-grid. Toneless footsteps in this eerie by calculation at where we might be, would
radiance. Unreal—they might have been strike us.
 Patrolship-3 had guns very similar to Briefly, its operation involved three sci­
these which I saw now being erected here entific factors: De-electronization, thus to
on the X-flyer. It could have been a create around any metallic object a bar­
fairly even battle, a test of electronic bat­ rage of magnetic- field of a new type to
tery-strength, of astronomical skill, of reck­ any previously developed; color-absorp­
less daring—and yet, against an invisible tion, by which there can be no reflected
enemy it could be no fight at all 1 I knew light from the de-electronized object; and
the commander of Patrolship-3 well. A the Albert Einstein principle of the natu­
stalwart, youngish fellow named Rollins. ral bending of light-rays when passing
A man of infinite skill, reckless daring. I through a magnetic field. In effect then,
could picture him now in the turret of his the total color-absorption into the de-elec­
ship, with his mouth set grim and his tronized object would make it, when
eyes flashing as he hurtled his little vessel viewed externally, a nothingness to see.
forward. At what? Nothing but an ap­ A blankness, like an outlined dark hole.
parently empty starfield from some un­ But that in itself is not invisibility—
known quarter of which a sudden stab of merely a silhouette. The background
bolt would leap to strike him! I knew what would be blotted out, so that the invisible
Commander Rollins was thinking now. He object would be perceived by the back­
would watch for that first bolt, and if it ground it obscured. The magnetic field,
did not wreck his ship he would fire at the however, by natural law which Einstein
blankness from whence the shot had come. discovered, bends the light-rays from the
His only chance. An almost hopeless one. background, around the intervening ob­
And yet he had done his best to hurl him­ ject. The background thus seems com­
self at us. plete. The intervening object has van­
ished !
E were circling now. And sud­ Simple in theory; but it was an intri­
W denly it seemel that Rollins’ ship,
with its side spread toward us, off
cate little apparatus here which now old
Professor Carson was attending. I stared
there
at some five hundred miles, was slacken­ at him as he bent so earnestly over it. His
ing its velocity. Like a lion at bay, stop­ beloved brain-child.
ping, waiting with an invisible soundless For that moment Brenda tenderly re­
wasp encircling it. garded him. And then she turned to me.
One of the gunners down in our fore­ Her eyes were misted.
peak signaled up to Jerome. “Whatever you think best,” she mur­
“Not yet,” Jerome called. “When we mured.
strike, it must smash. There must not Tensely I was waiting my chance. That
even be a chance of an answering shot.” tiny row of fragile vacuum tubes.
Maneuvering for the kill. Fascinated, My heart pounded suddenly as Jerome
silently I watched as again we were head­ locked his space-controls and darted down
ing for Rollins’ ship. And within me a to the forepeak to consult one of his men
vague, desperate thought was growing: at a gun-range finder. I muttered:
There are things through which one has no “Brenda take your father and get out
right to live. If only I could contrive it. of here quickly!” A burly, black-garbed
Jerome was absorbed at his controls, his guard was coming in from the turret bal­
range-finders and his calculations. My cony to watch us in Jerome’s absence. I
hand touched Brenda’s arm where she sat added in a swift undertone: “Go down
beside me. I whispered: with Jerome. Find some pretense to help
“Brenda, we may not live through this.” him.”
“I know.” They would escape Jerome’s wrath and
“I mean, if we were to die, to help that there was just a chance that they might
other ship.” live through this.
She stared at me, and then at her father. They had only reached the little bal­
Jerome had called the old man, ordered cony outside the turret when the guard
him to the mechanisms of the vessel’s in­ came in. I was on my feet.
visibility, where he sat checking the dial­ “Sit down,” he commanded.
readings of his intricate apparatus. He was between me and the little table
where Carson’s tiny row of vacuum tubes then Rollins’ ray snapped off and van­
glowed dull-green. And in that second ished. A test shot. I knew it was not a
I leaped, head down like a battering ram. weakness of his electronic power. A
With my skull striking his middle he went great, long-range space-gun with a single
backward, spun as he tried to get his bal­ snap-bolt ordinarily can do little damage.
ance. And he landed, sprawled forward It is the duration of seconds over which
on Carson’s little table. the bolt can cling, eating its way with
There was a tinkling crash as the de- generated interference-heat, fusing and
electronizers short-circuited. A hiss of breaking its opposing armored substance.
neutronic flame which in that second with And this was Rollins’ first tentative test.
its half-million ultra-pressure oscillating Verifying his range, and our ship’s re­
volts, electrocuted the luckless villain who sistance. A conservation of his electronic
was sprawled there. power. In space-gun battle, the available
I was down on the floor, crawling in reserve'of battery strength is vital. A
the chaos. Amazing, electronic turmoil. long-range gun, with ten seconds of sus­
The shock of it swiftly spread around the tained . voltage, drains any battery-series
little vessel; made the senses of everyone faster than the whirling electro-dynamos
on board momentarily reel. I was aware can build them up. Then there must be
of thin slivers of neutronic fire darting an interval of replenishment.
upward from the cooking flesh of the My heart pounded with exultation as
sprawling man’s body. Neutronic fire that the thoughts swept me. Rollins had been
all in that second of deranged current grimly desperate, undoubtedly, against an
darted throughout the ship. A split sec­ invisible enemy. But his adversary was
ond of flash; but in that second the dart­ visible now. An equality of battle; and
ing tiny slivers of light-fire everywhere so Rollins would use his wits, his skill of
were drinking up the weird green glow. judgment. This damned murderous Jerome
The muffled ghastly, toneless sounds of would have all he could do to match tac­
the ship’s interior were brought to life. tics with the skilful commander of Patrol­
Down on the forepeak Jerome gasped a ship-3 !
startled curse. One of his men fell with In those chaotic seconds I was still on
reeling senses. the floor near the door of the control room.
And light was here. Normal celestial Inside it the dead, roasted body of my
light, streaming down through our trans­ guard lay sprawled face down upon the
parent dome where the blazing firmament wreckage of the invisibility-controls. The
of stars was now clearly to be seen. We current there was shut off now. The sliv­
had lost our invisibility! Gone. Irrevo­ ers of light-fire were gone. Down on our
cably gone. At least this combat would forepeak Jerome and his gunners were re­
be upon an equality! Rollins at last had covering. Jerome was gazing up, wildly
his equal chance with the Phantom raider! cursing.
Patrolship-3 was clearly apparent now I staggered to the little turret-balcony,
through our forward dome. I saw Rollins where Brenda and her father, white-faced,
swing his bow toward us. There was a were clinging to its rail.
tiny violet flash from his forepeak. The “That damned fool!” I shouted. “In
first shot! there—in the turret. He stumbled and
It came like a great violet lightning fell on the control table.”
bolt hurtling at us! Would it serve as an excuse? Would
the raging Jerome stab at me now with a
HERE was a puff of electronic light heat-bolt? Or would he believe me? I
T up at our dome-peak. A shower of felt sure that no one actually had seen
red-yellow sparks. I held my breath as what had happened.
Rollins’ little circle of violet beam struck “You damned—why—why—” Jerome
us full, and clung. A second. Ten sec­ for that instant glared up at me, his hand
onds, while the shower of sparks sprayed instinctively reaching for his belt. But in
like a little fountain of light-points. all the chaos, turning his wrath upon me
Would the outer shell of our dome crack? must have struck him as futile. And it
It seemed to hold. Ten seconds, and was stricken from his mind by the confu­
sion around him. Acrid choking fumes An’ we’re almost at zero in the main bat­
were swirling through our little vessel, tery.”
fumes from the deranged current of the Jerome disconnected with a grim curse.
de-electronizers. One of Jerome’s men Another few seconds. The narrowing
dashed up to him. angle of the hurtling ships had brought
“A fire on our stern-deck. I put it them within a hundred miles of each
out.” other. And then suddenly, again it was
“Go back to your post.” Jerome Rollins who was the more cautious. From
shoved him away impatiently; turned, the tail of his vessel a stream of burning
came up and went into his turret, and gas suddenly was issuing. A widening
seated himself at his gravity controls. fluorescent comet-tail streaming out be­
Through the dome-peak I could see hind him. And then he was turning,
Rollins’ ship, going in the opposite direc­ heading away from us! In retreat! The
tion from us, hurtling past us. Two hun­ interference area of the two clashing
dred miles off. In a moment it had passed sword-beams broke. The great prismatic
and was out of range. Then it was turn­ spark shower died. Our bolt, plunging
ing, mounting in a great arc and hurtling through, for a second may have struck the
back at us! turning, retreating Rollins. No one here
could say. Rollins’ bolt had snapped off.
EROME stabbed first. A hit! The The image of his ship merged with the gas
J violet sword dimly glowing, luminous cloud. Vanished behind its masking cloak.
as it ignited the motes of intervening star­ Jerome snapped off our beam. His face
dust, leaped across the narrowing angle was triumphant; his enemy fleeing, trying
and struck with a puff of glare. Jerome to mask his retreat with a cloud of burn­
held it, clinging. Five seconds. Ten. ing gas.
Fifteen. I could hear the throb and whir “By Heaven, I’ve got him!” Jerome was
of our dynamos as they struggled with the muttering. “Damn’ fool, trying to fight
load. The big dial levers on Jerome’s the Phantom.”
desk quivered, slowly turned backward to­ The starfield swung as we turned,
ward zero as our batteries drained. headed at the gas-cloud where it hung in
For those seconds Rollins took it with a vast luminous fog of prismatic color as
no answering shot. Would his forepeak though a comet had burst there. Tri­
dome hold? I could see the tiny puff of umphant pursuit of our enemy. But I held
fountain-light there where the violet beam my breath.
was boring. And then Rollins answered! I found Brenda beside me. Her hand,
From his stern-peak this time diagonally cold dank, gripped mine. Our eyes met.
away from us, his beam shot out. Not There was nothing to say. Surely we both
directly at us, but at our bolt-stream. Two knew what little chance we had of coming
great violet rapiers in space, sliding one out of this alive.
upon the other. Midway between the ves­ The luminous gas-cloud swarmed to the
sels they clashed. The interference cut our sides as our ship plunged headlong into it.
beam from Rollins’ vessel. Out there in And then we were through it.
space for breathless seconds both the beams
held firm. Amazing sight of pyrotechnic HERE was no warning as Rollins’
beauty, that area where the beams clashed.
Another ten seconds, each of them an
T bolt struck us! He had not tried to
escape but was poised here in ambush,
eternity. The giant circle of the interfer­ bow toward us, no more than fifty miles
ence area slowly was backing toward Rol­ away, off to one side by skilled calculation
lins’ ship! Our beam, at reckless full­ so that there was only his narrow bow as
power now, was pushing it back. Only our target and we were almost broadside
twenty or thirty miles now from its target. to him!
A buzzer sounded at Jerome’s elbow. The bolt struck us midway of the hull
He reached for his audiphone. The panic- in a shower of sparks that mounted up
stricken voice of our controlman in the and clouded our instruments. Clinging,
ship’s hull sounded: full-power beam. Rollins at last striking
“Chief! Dynamo bearing running hot! for the kill! Wildly our guns tried to
intercept it. One of our forepeak guns on the deck fired at us with a hand-ray,
went out of commission with a back-firing but it missed.
burst which shattered it and killed the man “Brenda, hurry! Get your father into
at its controls. The fumes of the explosion a space-suit.”
came wafting up, acrid, choking. She and I still were garbed in the space­
There was a sudden panic of confusion suits from the Seven Stars. In the tiny
here, but Jerome leaped to his feet with exit-porte, one of Jerome’s crew, himself
his roaring voice steadying his men. Then trying to escape, lunged at me, but I felled
two of our guns, stern and bow, stabbed him with a blow of my fist into his face.
beams that struck the patrolship’s bow and The closing slide-door of the tiny pressure
clung. But still that blast at our hull per­ chamber shut away the chaos. Then our
sisted. Eating, fusing the metallic hull-plate. suits were inflated; our helmets fixed and
Weird, transfixed drama as the seconds we catapaulted into the glare of outside
passed. I knew that Rollins now would space. I flung on my rocket-stream; clung
never yield. This bolt would cling to the to Brenda and her father. My metal­
limit of his batteries. tipped fingers on the metallic plate of her
The audiphone beside Jerome was shoulder made audiphone contact.
screaming with the hull-controlman’s “Hold tight, Brenda.”
panic-stricken voice: “Chief—hull plate is “Yes, Jim.”
bending—bulging—” “I’ll tow us.”
Then I saw, through the shower of Horrible, chaotic seconds as the shower-*
sparks outside, that Rollins’ ship was edg­ ing electronic sparks from the doomed
ing even closer. One of our two bolts had phantom flyer enveloped us. Indescrib­
wavered and broken, with exhausted bat­ able glaring confusion of deranged elec­
tery. The other, weakened by all Jerome’s tricity and fusing, bubbling, flying metal­
reckless firing, was futilely clinging to its fragments. Prismatic light that blinded.
target with a shower of sparks paling now We came through it in a moment, out
by diminished voltage. into the starlight with the glaring, stagger­
And then from the patrolship, little ing vessel receding behind and above us
blobs were popping out. Catapulted as my rocket-stream and gravity-plates
bombs, hurtling at us with this close, drew us out of the line of fire. The patrol­
twenty-mile range. Some exploded in mid­ ship was hardly ten miles away now. I
space fired by the free electrons which signalled with a helmet-flare. Interplanet­
hung heavy here around us. And then ary Code signal. Rollins saw it; recog­
one struck us, exploded with a dull con­ nized it; answered it!
cussion against our stern. And then an­ We hurtled forward. Behind us, well
other, and another. overhead now, Jerome’s harried, wavering
“Jim—Jim dear—goodbye.” ship suddenly cracked. With a great burst
Brenda’s murmured words brought me of interior pressure the dome, to which
suddenly to myself. Only sixty seconds Rollins’ main beam had shifted, abruptly
had passed since we burst out of the gas­ exploded outward. Ghastly, silent explo­
cloud and Rollins had jumped to finish us. sion. It spewed wreckage. Little hurtling
Sixty seconds, but it had brought chaos dots of shattered glassite and metal and
here on the Phantom ship. My chance! mangled humans—blobs that spewed out,
Old Professor Carson beside us was in a were caught by the vessel’s attraction, find­
daze; white-faced, numbly staring. ing their orbits so that they circled, grue­
“The exit-porte,” I muttered. “Brenda, some satellites of their convulsed world.
make your father hurry.” Then the last of Rollins’ blasting beams
Fumes of green-yellow chlorine mingled snapped off. Back there the broken ship
with oil-smoke, were surging around us as hung leprous, with fused, still bubbling
we staggered up the little catwalk from dome. Like a bent finger of colored light
the balcony to the dome-top. Jerome may for a moment more it glowed. And then
have seen us. His voice was shouting des­ it went dark.
perate orders, and curses, but whether at Dead X-flyer among the stars. The end
us or not I never knew. A gunner down of the dreaded Phantom of the Starways.
 THE STELLHR LEGIOH By LEIGH BRACKETT
No one had ever escaped from Venus’ dread Stellar
Legion. And, as Thekla the low-Martian learned, no
one had ever betrayed it—and lived.
ILENCE was on the barracks like a the scrapings of the Solar System—

S lid clamped over tight-coiled springs. sweated in the sullen heat of the Venusian
Men in rumpled uniforms—outland­ swamp-lands before the rains. Sweated
ers of the Stellar Legion, space-rats, and listened.
95
 The metal door clanged open to admit own, and no eye that watched him go held
Lehn, the young Venusian Commandant, any friendship.
and every man jerked tautly to his feet. Thekla laughed silently, like a cat with
Ian Maclan, the white-haired, space-burned his pointed white teeth. “Two of a kind,”
Earthman, alone and hungrily poised for he whispered. “I hope they choke each
action; Thekla, the swart Martian low- other!” Bhak grunted, flexing his mighty
canaler, grinning like a weasel beside Bhak, six-fingered hands.
the hulking strangler from Titan. Every In his quarters, Lehn, his pink face
quick nervous glance was riveted on Lehn. flushed, strode up and down while Maclan
The young officer stood silent in the open waited dourly. It was plain enough what
door, tugging at his fair mustache; to was coming; Maclan felt the old bitter de­
Maclan, watching, he was a trim, clean in­ fensive anger rising in him.
congruity in this brutal wilderness of sav­ “Look,” he told himself inwardly.
agery and iron men. Behind him, the eter­ “Books. Good cigars. A girl’s picture on
nal mists writhed in a thin curtain over the table. You had all that once, you damn
the swamp, stretching for miles beyond the fool. Why couldn’t you . . .”
soggy earthworks; through it came the Lehn stopped abruptly in front of him,
sound every ear had listened to for days, grey eyes steady. “I’m new here, Mac­
a low, monotonous piping that seemed to lan,” he said. “But we’ve been Legion
ring from the ends of the earth. The men for five generations, and I know the
Nahali, the six-foot, scarlet-eyed swamp­ law; no man is to be questioned about his
dwellers, whose touch was weapon enough, past. I’m going to break the law. Why
praying to their gods for rain. When it are you here, Maclan?”
came, the hot, torrential downpour of Maclan’s white head was gaunt and
southern Venus, the Nahali would burst in stubborn as Tantallon Rock, and he kept
a scaly tide over the fort. silent.
Only a moat of charged water and four “I’m trying to help,” Lehn went on.
electro-cannons stood between the Legion “You’ve been an officer; every man in the
and the horde. If those things failed, it barracks knows that. If you’re here for
meant two hundred lives burned out, the any reason but failure in duty, you can
circle of protective forts broken, the fertile be an officer again. I’ll relieve you of
uplands plundered and laid waste. Maclan special duty; you can start working for
looked at Lehn’s clean, university-bred the examinations. No need to waste you
young face, and wondered cynically if he in the ranks. Well?”
was strong enough to do his job. Maclan’s eyes were hidden, but his
Lehn spoke, so abruptly that the men voice was harsh. “What’s behind this,
started. “I’m calling for volunteers. A rec­ Lehn? What the hell is it to you?”
onnaissance in Nahali territory; you know The Venusian’s level gaze wavered; for
well enough what that means. Three men. a moment the boy looked through the man,
Well?” and Maclan felt a quick stab in his heart.
Ian Maclan stepped forward, followed Then all that was gone, and Lehn said
instantly by the Martian Thekla. Bhak the curtly.
Titan hesitated, his queerly bright, blank “If you find the barracks congenial,
eyes darting from Thekla to Lehn, and stay there, by all means. Dismissed!”
back to Maclan. Then he stepped up, his Maclan glared at him half-blindly for
hairy face twisted in a sly grin. a moment, his fine long hands clenching
Lehn eyed them, his mouth hard with and unclenching at his sides. Then he
distaste under his fair mustache. Then he ’bout faced with vicious smartness and
nodded, and said; “Report in an hour, light went out.
equipment.” Turning to go, he added
almost as an afterthought, “Report to my EARLY an hour later he stood with
quarters, Maclan. Immediately.”
Maclan’s bony Celtic face tightened and
N the Martian Thekla on the earth­
works, waiting. The monotonous pipes
his blue eyes narrowed with wary distrust. prayed on in the swamp; Maclan, looking
But he followed Lehn, his gaunt, powerful up at the heavy sky, prayed just as hard
body as ramrod-straight as the Venusian’s that it would not rain. Not just yet. Be-
 97
cause if it rained before the patrol left, don’t know which one of you has the
the patrol would not leave; the Nahali treasure, but I want it. If I don’t get
would be on the march with the very first it . .
drop. His fingers slid higher on Maclan’s
“And my chance would be gone,” he shoulder, gripped his throat. Six fingers,
whispered to himself. like iron clamps. Maclan heard Thekla
Thekla’s bright black eyes studied him, choking and cursing; he managed to gasp:
as they always did; an insolent, mocking “You’re in the wrong place, Bhak.
scrutiny that angered the Scot. We’re men. I though you only strangled
“Well,” he said dryly. “The perfect women.”
soldier, the gallant volunteer. For love of The grip slackened a trifle. “Men too,”
Venus, Thekla, or love of the Legion?” said Bhak slowly. “That’s why I had to
“Perhaps,” said Thekla softly, “for the run away from Titan. That’s why I’ve
same reason you did, Earthman. And per­ had to run away from everywhere. Men
haps not.” His face, the swart, hard face or women—anyone who laughs at me.”
of a low-canal outlaw, was turned abruptly Maclan looked at the blank-eyed, re­
toward the mist-wrapped swamp. “Love volting face, and wondered that anyone
of Venus!” he snarled. “Who could love could laugh at it. Pity it, shut it harm­
this lousy sweatbox? Not even Lehn, if lessly away, but not laugh.
he had the brains of a flea!” Bhak’s fingers fell away abruptly.
“Mars is better, eh ?” Madan had a sud­ “They laugh at me,” he repeated miser­
den inspiration. “Cool dry air, and little ably, “and run away. I know I’m ugly.
dark women, and the wine-shops on the But I want friends and a wife, like any­
Jekkara Low-canal. You’d like to be back one else. Especially a wife. But they
there, wouldn’t you?” laugh at me, the women do, when I ask
To himself, he thought in savage them. And . . .” He was shaking sud­
pleasure, “I’ll pay you out, you little scum. denly with rage and his face was a beast’s
You’ve tortured me with what I’ve lost, face, blind and brutal. “And I kill them.
until I’d have killed you if it hadn’t been I kill the damned little vixens that laugh
against my plan. All right, see if you can at me!”
take it!” He stared stupidly at his great hands.
The slow dusk was falling; Thekla’s “Then I have to run away. Always run­
dark face was a blur but Maclan knew he ning away, alone.” The ’ bright, empty
had got home. “The fountains in the eyes met Maclan’s with deadly purpose.
palace gardens, Thekla; the sun bursting “That’s why I want the money. If I have
up over red deserts; the singing girls and money, they’ll like me. Women always like
the thil in Madame Kan’s. Remember the men who have money. If I kill one of
thil, Thekla? Ice cold and greenish, you, I’ll have to run away again. But
bubbling in blue glasses?” if I have someone to go with me. I won’t
He knew why Thekla snarled and sprang mind.”
at him, and it wasn’t Thekla he threw down Thekla showed his pointed teeth. “Try
on the soft earth so much as a tall young­ strangling a Nahali girl, Bhak. Then
ster with a fair mustache, who had goaded we’ll be rid of you.”
with good intent. Funny, thought Maclan, Bhak grunted. “I’m not a fool. I know
that well-intentioned goads hurt worse than what the Nahali do to you. But I want
the other kind. that money the girl told about, and I’ll
A vast paw closed on his shoulder, haul­ get it. I’d get it now, only Lehn will
ing him back. Another, he saw, yanked come.”
Thekla upright. And Bhak the Titan’s He stood over them, grinning. Maclan
hairy travesty of a face peered down at drew back, between pity and disgust.
them. “The Legion is certainly the System’s
“Listen,” he grunted, in his oddly ar­ garbage dump,” he muttered in Martian,
ticulated Esperanto. “I know what’s up. loud enough for Thekla to hear, and smiled
I got ears, and village houses got thin at the low-canaler’s stifled taunt. Stifled,
walls. I heard the Nahali girl talking. I because Lehn was coming up, his heavy
7—Planet Stories—Winter water-boots thudding on the soggy ground.
 ITHOUT a word the three fell in as one, facing to the darkening sky.
W behind the officer, whose face had “Rain I”
taken on an unfamiliar stony grimness.Big drops, splattering slowly down,
Maclan wondered whether it was anger at making a sibilant whisper across the
him, or fear of what they might get in swamp. The pipes broke off, leaving the
the swamp. Then he shrugged; the young ears a little deafened with the lack of them
cub would have to follow his own trail, after so long. And Maclan, looking at
wherever it led. And Maclan took a stern Lehn, swore furiously in his heart.
comfort from this thought. His own feet The three men paused, expecting an
were irrevocably directed; there was no order to turn back, but Lehn waved them
doubt, no turning back. He’d never have on.
again to go through what Lehn was going “But it's raining,” protested Bhak.
through. All he had to do was wait. “We’ll get caught in the attack.”
The plank bridge groaned under them, The officer's strangely hard face was
almost touching the water in the moat. turned toward them. “No,” he said, with
Most ingenious, that moat. The Nahali an odd finality, “they won’t attack. Not
could swim it in their sleep, normally, but yet.”
when the conductor rods along the bot­ They went on, toward the swamp that
tom were turned on, they literally burned was worse in silence than it had been with
out their circuits from an overload. The the praying pipes. And Maclan, looking
swamp-rats packed a bigger potential than ahead at the oddly assorted men plowing
any Earthly electric eel. grimly through the mud, caught a sud­
Ian Maclan, looking at the lights of the den glimpse of something dark and hidden,
squalid village that lay below the fort, re­ something beyond the simple threat of
flected that the Nahali had at least one death that hung always over a reconnoiter­
definitely human trait. The banging of a ing patrol.
three-tiered Venusian piano echoed on the
heavy air, along with shouts and laughter HE swamp folded them in. It is
T
that indicated a free flow of “swamp juice.”
This link in the chain of stations surround­
never truly dark on Venus, owing to
the thick, diffusing atmosphere. There
ing the swamplands was fully garrisoned was enough light to show branching, muddy
only during the rains, and the less war­ trails, great still pools choked with weeds,
like Nahali were busy harvesting what they the spreading Zi/w-trees with their huge
could from the soldiers and the rabble that pollen pods, everything dripping with the
came after them. slow rain. Maclan could hear the thud­
Queer creatures, the swamp-rats, with ding of that rain for miles around on the
their ruby eyes and iridescent scales. Na­ silent air; the sullen forerunner of the
ture, in adapting them to their wet, humid deluge.
environment, had left them somewhere Fort and village were lost in sodden
between warm-blooded mammals and cold­ twilight. Lehn’s boots squelched onward
blooded reptiles, anthropoid in shape, man­ through the mud of a trail that rose
sized, capricious. The most remarkable gradually to a ridge of higher ground.
thing about them was their breathing When he reached the top, Lehn turned
apparatus, each epithelial cell forming a abruptly, his electro-gun seeming to ma­
tiny electrolysis plant to extract oxygen terialize in his hand, and Maclan was
from water. Since they lived equally on startled by the bleak look of his pink
land and in water, and since the swamp young face.
air was almost a mist, it suited them “Stop right there,” said Lehn quietly.
admirably. That was why they had to wait “Keep your hands up. And don’t speak
for the rains to go raiding in the fertile until I'm finished.”
uplands; and that was why hundreds of He waited a second, with the rain drum­
Interworld Legionnaires had to swelter on ming on his waterproof coverall, dripping
the strip of soggy ground between swamp from the ends of his fair mustache. The
and plateau to stop them. others were obedient, Bhak a great grin­
Maclan was last in line. Just as his ning hulk between the two slighter men.
foot left the planks, four heads jerked up Lehn went on calmly.
 “Someone has sold us out to the Nahali. snapped Lehn. “Speak up, and I want the
That’s how I know they won’t attack until truth. You, Thekla!”
they get the help they’re waiting for. I Thekla’s black eyes were bitter. “I’d
had to find out, if possible, what prepara­ as well be here as anywhere, since I can’t
tions they have made for destroying our be on Mars. How could I go back, with a
electrical supply, which is our only vul­ hanging charge against me?”
nerable point. But I had a double purpose “Maclan ?” Lehn’s grey gaze was levelled
in calling this party. Can you guess what stiffly past his head. And Maclan was
it is?” quivering suddenly with rage; rage against
Maclan could. Lehn continued: the life that had brought him where he
“The traitor had his price; escape from was, against Lehn, who was the symbol of
the Legion, from Venus, through the all he had thrown away.
swamp to Lhiva, where he can ship out on “Think what you like,” he whispered,
a tramp. His one problem was to get “and be damned!”
away from the fort without being seen,
since all leaves have been temporarily can­ HAK’S movement came so swiftly
celled.”
Lehn’s mist-grey eyes were icy. “I gave
B that it caught everyone unprepared.
Handling the Martian like a child’s bean­
him that chance.” bag, he picked him up and hurled him
Bhak laughed, an empty, jarring road. against Lehn. The electro-gun spat a
“See? That’s what the Nahali girl said. harmless bolt into empty air as the two
She said, ‘He can get what he needs, now. fell struggling in the mud. Maclan sprang
He’ll get away before the rains, probably forward, but Bhak’s great fingers closed
with a patrol; then our people can attack.’ on his neck. With his free hand, the
I know what he needed. Money! And I Titan dragged Thekla upright; he held
want it.” them both helpless while he kicked the
“Shut up!” Lehn’s electro-gun gestured sprawling Lehn in the temple.
peremptorily. “I want the truth of this. In the split second before unconscious­
Which one of you is the traitor?” ness took him, Lehn’s eyes met Maclan’s,
Thekla’s pointed white teeth gleamed. and they were terrible eyes. Maclan
“Maclan loves the Legion, sir. He groaned, “You young fool!” Then Lehn
couldn’t be guilty.” was down, and Bhak’s fingers were
Lehn’s gaze crossed Maclan’s briefly, and throttling him.
again the Scot had a fleeting glimpse of “Which one?” snarled the Titan. “Give
something softer beneath the new hard­ me the money, and I’ll let you go. I’m
ness. It was something that took him going to have the money, if I have to kill
back across time to a day when he had you. Then the girls won’t laugh at me.
been a green subaltern in the Terran Tell me. Which one?”
Guards, and a hard-bitten, battle-tempered Maclan’s blue eyes widened suddenly.
senior officer had filled the horizon for With all his strength he fought to croak
him. out one word: “Nahali!”
It was the something that had made Lehn Bhak dropped them with a grunt. Swing­
offer him a chance, when his trap was ing his great hands, forgetting his gun
set and sprung. It was the something completely, he stood at bay. There was
that was going to make Lehn harder on a rush of bodies in the rain-blurred dusk,
him now than on either Bhak or Thekla. a flash of scarlet eyes and triangular
It was hero-worship. mouths laughing in queer, noseless faces.
Maclan groaned inwardly. “Look here,” Then there were scaly, man-like things
he said. “We’re in Nahali country. There hurled like battering-rams against the
may be trouble at any moment. Do you Legionnaires.
think this is the time for detective work? Maclan’s gun spat blue flame; two
You may have caught the wrong men any­ Nahali fell, electrocuted, but there were
way. Better do your job of reconnoitering, too many of them. His helmet was torn
and worry about the identity of the traitor off, so that his drenched white hair blinded
back in the fort.” him; rubber-shod fists and feet lashed
“You’re not an officer now, Maclan!” against reptilian flesh. Somewhere just out
of sight, Thekla was cursing breathlessly Low-canal. The Nahali girl didn’t mean
in low-canal argot. And Lehn, still dazed, money; she meant plastic surgery, to give
was crawling gamely to his feet; his hel­ me another face. I’m free. And you’re
met had protected him from the full force going to die, right here in the filthy mud!”
of Bhak’s kick. A slow, grim smile touched Maclan’s
The hulking Titan loomed in the midst face, but he said nothing.
of a swarm of red-eyed swamp-rats. And “Oh, I understand,” said Thekla mock­
Maclan saw abruptly that he had taken ingly. “You fallen swells and your honor!
off his clumsy gloves when he had made But you won’t die honorably, any more
ready to strangle his mates. The great than you’ve lived that way.”
six-fingered hands stretched hungrily Maclan’s eyes were contemptuous and
toward a Nahali throat. untroubled.
“Bhak!” yelled Maclan. “Don’t . . . 1” The pointed teeth gleamed. “You don’t
The Titan's heavy laughter drowned him understand, Maclan. Lehn isn’t going to
out; the vast paws closed in a joyous grip. die. He’s going back to face the music,
On the instant, Bhak’s great body bent after his post is wiped out. I don’t know
and jerked convulsively; he slumped down, what they’ll do to him, but it won’t be
the heart burned out of him by the elec­ nice. And remember, Maclan, he thinks
tricity circuited through his hands. you sold him out. He thinks you cost
Lehn’s gun spoke. There was a reek him his post, his men, his career: his
of ozone, and a Nahali screamed like a honor, you scut! Think that over when
stricken reptile. The Venusian cried out the swamp-rats go to work on you—they
in sudden pain, and was silent; Maclan, like a little fun now and then—and remem­
struggling upright, saw him buried under a ber I’m laughing!”
pile of scaly bodies. Then a clammy paw Maclan was silent for a long time, hands
touched his own face. He moaned as a clenched at his sides, his craggy face
numbing shock struck through him, and carved in dark stone under his dripping
lapsed into semi-consciousness. white hair. Then he whispered, “Why?”
Thekla’s eyes met his in sudden intense
E had vague memories of being hate. “Because I want to see your damned
H alternately carried and towed through
warm lakes and across solid ground.
proud, supercilious noses rubbed in the
dirt!”
He
knew dimly that he was dumped roughly Maclan nodded. His face was strange,
under a liha-tree in a clearing where there as though a curtain had been drawn over
were thatched huts, and that he was alone. it. “Where’s Lehn?”
After what seemed a very long time he Thekla pointed to the nearest hut. “But
sat up, and his surroundings were clear. it won’t do you any good. The rats gave
Even more clear was Thekla’s thin dark him an overdose, accidentally, of course,
face peering amusedly down at him. and he’s out for a long time.”
The Martian bared his pointed white
teeth, and said, “Hello, traitor.” acIAN went unsteadily toward the
Maclan would have risen and struck him,
only that he was weak and dizzy. And
M hut through rain. Over his shoulder
he heard Thekla’s voice: “Don’t try any­
then he saw that Thekla had a gun. thing funny, Maclan. I can shoot you down
His own holster was empty. Maclan before you’re anywhere near an escape,
got slowly to his feet, raking the white even if you could find your way back with­
hair out of his eyes, and he said, “You out me. The Nahali are gathering now, all
dirty little rat!” over the swamp; within half an hour they’ll
Thekla laughed, as a fox might laugh march on the fort, and then on to the
at a baffled hound. “Go ahead and curse plateaus. They’ll send my escort before
me, Maclan. You high-and-mighty rene­ they go, but you and Lehn will have to
gade! You were right; I’d rather swing wait until they come back. You can think
on Mars than live another month in this of me while you’re waiting to die, Maclan;
damned sweat-box! And I can laugh at me, going to Lhiva and freedom!”
you, Ian Maclan! I’m going back to the Maclan didn’t answer. The rhythm of
deserts and the wine-shops on the Jekkara the rain changed from a slow drumming
 101
to a rapid, vicious hiss; he could see it, there, holding his throbbing head in his
almost smoking in the broad leaves of the hands. He knew he was crying, and
liha-trees. The drops cut his body like couldn’t stop. His skin burned, and he
whips, and he realized for the first time was cold to the marrow of his bones.
that he was stripped to trousers and shirt. Suddenly he looked at Lehn out of
Without his protective rubber coverall, bright, fever-mad eyes. “Very well,” he
Thekla could electrocute him far quicker whispered. “I won’t die. You can’t kill
even than a Nahali, with his service pistol. me, you and Thekla, and you go on be­
The hut, which had been very close, was lieving I betrayed you. I’ll take you back,
suddenly far off, so far he could hardly you two, and fight it out. I’ll keep the
see it. The muddy ground swooped and Nahali from taking the fort, so you can’t
swayed underfoot. Maclan jerked him­ say I sold it out. I’ll make you believe
self savagely erect. Fever. Any fool who me!”
prowled the swamp without proper cov­ From somewhere, far off, he heard
ering was a sure victim. He looked back at Thekla laugh.
Thekla, safe in helmet and coverall, grin­
ning like a weasel under the shelter of a acIAN huddled there for some time,
pod-hung tree-branch.
The hut came back into proper perspec­
M his brain whirling. Through the
rain-beat and the fever-mist in his head
tive. Aching, trembling suddenly with icy and the alternate burning and freezing that
cold, he stooped and entered. Lehn lay racked his body, certain truths shot at him
there, dry but stripped like Maclan, his like stones from a sling.
young face slack in unconsciousness. Thekla had a gun that shot a stream
Maclan raised a hand, let it fall limply of electricity. A gun designed for Nahali,
back. Lehn was still paralyzed from the whose nervous systems were built to carry
shock. It might be hours, even days be­ a certain load and no more, like any set
fore he came out of it. Perhaps never, if of wires. The low frequency discharge
he wasn’t cared for properly. was strong enough to kill a normal man
Maclan must have gone a little mad only under ideal conditions; and these con­
then, from the fever and the shock to his ditions were uniquely ideal. Wet clothes,
own brain, and Thekla. He took Lehn’s wet skin, wet ground, even the air satu­
shirt in both hands and shook him, as rated.
though to beat sense back into his brain, Then there were metal and rubber.
and shouted at him in hoarse savagery. Metal in his belt, in Lehn’s belt; metal
“All I wanted was to die! That’s what mesh, because the damp air rotted every­
I came to the Legion for, to die like a thing else. Rubber on his feet, on Lehn’s
soldier because I couldn’t live like an offi­ feet. Rubber was insulation. Metal was
cer. But it had to be honorably, Lehn! a conductor.
Otherwise . . .” Maclan realized with part of his mind
He broke off in a fit of shivering, and that he must be mad to do what he planned
his blue eyes glared under his white, to do. But he went to work just the
tumbled hair. “You robbed me of that, same.
damn you! You and Thekla. You trapped Ten minutes later he left the hut and
me. You wouldn’t even let me die de­ crossed the soaking clearing in the down­
cently. I was an officer, Lehn, like you. pour. Thekla had left the liha-tree for a
Do you hear me, young fool? I had to hut directly opposite Lehn’s; he rose
choose between two courses, and I chose warily in the doorway, gun ready. His
the wrong one. I lost my whole command. sly black eyes took in Maclan’s wild blue
Twenty-five hundred men, dead. gaze, the fever spots burning on his lean
“They might have let me off at the cheekbones, and he smiled.
court-martial. It was an honest mistake. “Get on back to the hut,” he said. “Be
But I didn’t wait. I resigned. All I a pity if you die before the Nahali have a
wanted was to die like a good soldier. chance to try electro-therapy.”
That’s why I volunteered. And you Maclan didn’t pause. His right arm
tricked me, Lehn! You and Thekla.” was hidden behind his back. Thekla’s jaw
He let the limp body fall and crouched tightened. “Get back or I’ll kill you!’
 Maclan’s boots sucked in the mud. The Maclan’s gun, so that the slightest rough
beating rain streamed from his white hair, pull would discharge it. “What if I
over his craggy face and gaunt shoulders. stumble?” Thekla snarled, and Maclan
And he didn’t hesitate. answered, “You’d better not!”
Thekla’s pointed teeth gleamed in a sud­ Lehn was big and heavy, but somehow
den snarl. His thumb snapped the trig­ Maclan got him across his shoulders. And
ger ; a bolt of blue flame hissed toward the they started off.
striding Scot.
Maclan’s right hand shot out in the HE fringe of the swamp was in sight
instant the gun spoke. One of Lehn’s
rubber boots cased his arm almost to the
T when Maclan’s brain became momen­
tarily lucid. Another dose of quinine drove
shoulder, and around the ankle of it a the mists back, so that the fort, some fifty
length of metal was made fast; two mesh yards away, assumed its proper focus.
belts linked together. The spitting blue Maclan dropped Lehn on his back in the
fire was gathered to the metal circle, shot mud and stood looking, his hand ready
down the coupled lengths, and died in the on his gun.
ground. The village swarmed with swamp-rats
The pistol sputtered out as a coil fused. in the slow, watery dawn. They were
Thekla cursed and flung it at Maclan’s ranged in a solid mass along the edges of
head. The Scot dodged it, and broke into the moat, and the fort’s guns were silent
a run, dropping Lehn’s boot that his hands Maclan wondered why, until he saw that
might be free to grapple. the dam that furnished power for the tur­
Thekla fought like a low-canal rat, but bine had been broken down.
Maclan was bigger and beyond himself Thekla laughed silently. “My idea,
with the first madness of fever. He beat Maclan. The Nahali would never have
the little Martian down and bound him thought of it themselves. They can't
with his own belt, and then went looking drown, you know. I showed them how to
for his clothes and gun. sneak into the reservoir, right under the
He found them, with Lehn’s, in the fort’s guns, and stay under water, loosen­
hut next door. His belt pouch yielded ing the stones around the spillway. The
quinine; he gulped a large dose and felt pressure did the rest. Now there’s no
better. After he had dressed, he went power for the big guns, nor the conduc­
and wrestled Lehn into his coverall and tor rods in the moat.”
helmet and dragged him out beside Thekla, He turned feral black eyes on Maclan.
who was groaning back to consciousness “You’ve made a fool of yourself. You
in the mud. can’t stop those swamp-rats from tearing
Looking up, Maclan saw three Nahali the fort apart. You can’t stop me from
men watching him warily out of scarlet getting away, after they’re through. You
eyes as they slunk toward him. can’t stop Lehn from thinking what he
Thekla’s escort. And it was a near does. You haven’t changed anything by
thing. Twice clammy paws seared his these damned heroics!”
face before he sent them writhing down “Heroics!” said Maclan hoarsely, and
into the mud, jerking as the overload beat laughed. “Maybe.” With sudden vicious­
through their nervous systems. Triangu­ ness he threw the end of the linked belts
lar mouths gaped in noseless faces, hand­ over a low ZiAa-branch, so that Thekla had
like paws tore convulsively at scaly breast­ to stand on tiptoe to keep from strangling.
plates, and Maclan, as he watched them Then, staring blindly at the beleagured
die, said calmly: fort, he tried to beat sense out of his
“There will be hundreds of them storm­ throbbing head.
ing the fort. My gun won’t be enough. “There was something,” he whispered.
But somehow I’ve got to stop them.” “Something I was saying back in the
No answer now. He shrugged and kicked swamp. Something my mind was trying
Thekla erect. “Back to the fort, scut,” he to tell me, only I was delirious. What was
ordered, and laughed. The linked belts it, Thekla?”
were fastened now around Thekla’s neck, The Martian was silent, the bloody grin
the other end hooked to the muzzle of set on his dark face. Maclan took him by
the shoulders and shook him. “What was Lehn’s hand came out awkwardly. “I’m
it?” sorry, Maclan. Thekla told me; I made
Thekla choked and struggled as the him. I should have known.” His grey
metal halter tightened. “Nothing, you eyes were ashamed. Maclan smiled and
fool! Nothing but Nahali and liha-trees.” gripped his hand with what strength the
“Liha-treesI” Maclan’s fever-bright fever had left him.
eyes went to the great green pollen-pods “My own fault, boy. Forget it.”
hung among the broad leaves. He shivered, Lehn sat down on the bed. “What did
partly with chill, partly with exultation. you do to the swamp-rats?” he demanded
And he began like a madman to strip Lehn eagerly. “They all have a coating as
and Thekla of their rubber coveralls. though they’d been dipped in paraffin!”
Lehn’s, because it was larger, he tented Maclan chuckled. “In a way, they were.
over two low branches. Thekla’s he spread You know how they breathe; each skin
on the ground beneath. Then he tore down cell forming a miniature electrolysis plant
pod after pod from the liha-tree, breaking to extract oxygen from water. Well, it
open the shells under the shelter of the extracts hydrogen too, naturally, and the
improvised tent, pouring out the green hydrogen is continually being given off,
powder on the groundcloth. just as we give off carbon dioxide.
When he had a two-foot pile, he stood “Black smoke means soot, soot means
back and fired a bolt of electricity into carbon. Carbon plus hydrogen forms vari­
the heart of it. ous waxy hydrocarbons. Wax is imper­
Thick, oily black smoke poured up, vious to both water and air. So when the
slowly at first, then faster and faster as oily soot from the smoke united with the
the fire took hold. A sluggish breeze was hydrogen exuded from the Nahali’s bodies,
blowing out of the swamp, drawn by the it sealed away the life-giving water from
cooler uplands beyond the fort; it took the skin-cells. They literally smothered
the smoke and sent it rolling toward the to death, like an Earthly ant doused with
packed and struggling mass on the earth­ powder.”
works. Lehn nodded. He was quiet for a long
Out on the battlefield, Nahali stiffened time, his eyes on the sick-bay’s well­
suddenly, fell tearing convulsively at their scrubbed floor. At length, he said;
bodies. The beating rain washed the soot “My offer still goes, Maclan. Officer’s
down onto them harder and harder, examinations. One mistake, an honest one,
streaked it away, left a dull film over the shouldn’t rob you of your life. You don’t
reptilian skins, the scaly breastplates. More even know that it would have made any
and more of them fell as the smoke rolled difference if your decision had been the
thicker, fed by the blackened madman other way. Perhaps there was no way
under the liha-tree, until only Legionnaires out.”
were left standing in its path, staring Maclan’s white head nodded on the pil­
dumbly at the stricken swamp-rats. low.
The squirming bodies stilled in death. “Perhaps I will, Lehn. Something Thekla
Hundreds more, out on the edges of the said set me thinking. He said he’d rather
smoke, seeing their comrades die, fled back die on Mars than live another month in
into the swamp. The Earthworks were exile. I’m an exile too, Lehn, in a dif­
cleared. Ian Maclan gave one wild shout ferent way. Yes, I think I’ll try it. And
that carried clear to the fort. Then he if I fail again—” he shrugged and smiled—
collapsed, crouched shivering beside the “there are always Nahali.”
unconscious Lehn, babbling incoherently. It seemed for a minute after that as
Thekla, strained on tiptoe under the though he had gone to sleep. Then he
tree-branch, had stopped smiling. murmured, so low that Lehn had to bend
The fever-mists rolled away at last. down to hear him:
Maclan woke to see Lehn’s pink young “Thekla will hang after the court-
face, rather less pink than usual, bending martial. Can you see that they take him
over him. back to Mars, first?”
On the silent wings of thought flashed the monstrous message
that panicked an already doomed and crumbling World—
“Earthlings! We, your masters, have failed!”
TWILIGHT OF THE TEMTH WORLD
By THORNTON AYRE
HEY came without warning from a “Blasted cheek!” he observed at last,

T place no man could discover. People

in different parts of the earth sent
through hurried reports that they had
the invaders floating ten miles above them,
rubbing his upstanding thatch of red hair.
“What in heck do they think we are?
Specimens ?”
seen
“If they do they’re probably right.”
stationary and presumably watching. It was Lance Dugan, the Airways’ chief
Watching for what? physicist, who answered. He had come out
Was it war? War by interplanetary in­ to get a breath of fresh air away from the
vaders? Possibly. Different countries eternal smells in which he lived and moved
bristled at the ready, but nothing happened. and had his being. He stood now with his
Giant telescopes were turned on the inter­ long-legged, narrow-shouldered frame
lopers but the mirror-screens merely re­ propped against the door jamb, cigarette in
flected back tapering gray ovoids catching mouth. His lean face was elevated up­
the light of the sun. No sign of any liv­ ward, his dark eyes slitted.
ing things aboard them—no sign of any­ “We’re not specimens!” Walt snorted.
thing, in fact. Damned mysterious! “Least I’m not! I’m a man on two legs,
Bookworms took to reading “Wars of American, and proud of it. I’m no bug!”
the Worlds” again; the leading dailies came “To those things up there we’re all
over all Martian and went the limit of their bugs,” Lance sighed. “Just like real insects
imaginations depicting glorified bugs de­ are nothing more than insects to us. Mat­
scending on earth. Funny how they always ter of intelligence rating. Those up there
thought of bugs. are cleverer than us down here, so we’re
Stratomen braved the greatest reaches of right below their interest. That’s why they
the atmosphere, but came nowhere near haven’t attacked us. We don’t go about
the interlopers because they rose out of slaughtering insects wholesale because
range. There was something indescribably they’re beneath our range of intelligence.
irritating about the way they floated there, “So what?” Walt muttered. “Anyway,
a dozen of them. London saw them first, I don’t like being stared at.” He broke
then Paris. Report came in from Vienna, off, his blue eyes narrowing. Suddenly he
Ceylon, Leningrad, Antwerp, Toronto— shot out his leather jacketed arm and
and at length, New York. pointed. “Will you look ?” he shouted. “A
It was as though the twelve gray vessels sort of red flash up there! Middle ship!”
were conducting a very minute examina­ Lance shot suddenly erect, staring
tion. fixedly. The pair of them gazed at that
New Yorkers were exasperated, but not red spot as it glinted momentarily, then
frightened any more. No damage had they searched the empty sky question! ngly
happened anywhere else, so why here? as a faint, rising hum crept into the eve­
Mount Wilson verified the European as­ ning stillness.
tronomers’ reports as the things had passed “It’s a bomb!” Walt yelled abruptly.
high over California. “I’d know that sound any place! It’s a
To Walt Danning of the New York war!”
Transcontinental Airways, the things were The sound reached a high-pitched
just a pain in the neck. Twice he had scream. For a moment something was visi­
been up to get near them, and they had ble dropping against the rosy western sky;
gently receded. Now he stood on the tar­ then the object dropped beyond horizon
mac outside the messroom door and stared range. There was no resultant explosion;
up at them with angry eyes as they hung no concussion.
like blood-red cigars in the westering sun­ “It must be war!” Walt gulped, uncer­
light. tain. He stared up again, his gaze not un­
mixed with astonishment when he saw the longer remained to haunt the earth. But
vessels suddenly move away. Gathering those bombs still fizzed and nobody knew
momentum they fled toward the west, van­ what to do about them.
ished within seconds. In grave files the scientists of various
Lance turned suddenly, raced through the countries, together with their respective
messroom into the general radio depart­ heads of ballistics, went out to conduct
ment. The men in control were already investigations. The only thing they could
sitting listening to the first reports intonedfigure out was that the original bombs had
over the main loudspeakers. now vanished and given place to a hole
“... curious type of shell dropped by that fizzed like hell, like water into which
invaders upon open ground near Bridge­ a white hot iron is plunged.
port, Connecticut. No full details yet. Ap­ Trouble was, the holes were getting
parently a new-type bomb. It just hisses, bigger everywhere!
without causing any explosive damage. No­ Nobody outside of the scientists wor­
body injured. More reports later.” ried unduly. What were a few holes, any­
Walt relaxed a little scratching his head. way? So long as the invaders had gone
“Say, Lance, where’s the sense in dropping that was all that counted: whatever legacy
a bomb that doesn’t do anything but just they had left behind did not signify. Or
hisses ?” did it? One or two newspaper editors with
Lance crushed out his cigarette as he more scientific leader writers than others
shrugged his smocked shoulders. Though prattled gaily about atomic force and said
he made no answer his dark eyes showed he it might work out like Wells’ “World Set
was grappling with some complex inner Free.” So the bookworms changed their
thought. volumes and browsed afresh.
Only it was not atomic force either!
HE Bridgeport shell was the first in a “In fact,” Lance told Walt, when they
T series. Flying westwards during the were together in their apartment in the
evening, the unknown invaders dropped city, “nobody knows what the hell it is!
similar shells, always on open ground where I was down at the Bridgeport hole with
nobody was hurt, near Cincinnati, St. Saunders and the rest of the gang today
Louis, Kansas, Denver, Salt Lake City, but we got no place. We tried acids, ex­
and San Francisco. A jittery American plosives, X-rays, and Heaven knows what
people heard the hasty reports of analysts on that bomb hole, but it made no difference.
over their radios. And the ground was just eating itself out
The bombs were apparently harmless, like an apple stuffed with caustic. I tell
fizzed in their holes like a kid’s rocket. No you, it’s nasty!”
reason to suppose that they would explode Walt crossed his feet against the man­
with any violence, but it was unsafe to try tleshelf. “Don’t tell me you envisage
and extinguish them in case that very act ever-expanding holes! What would road
started them onto something really nasty. menders do for a living?”
That was what the analysts said: in solemn “Listen, Walt, this is serious!” Lance
conclave by themselves they admitted they faced him grimly. “There are roughly
couldn’t stop the darned thinks anyway. twenty-four growing holes in different parts
The holes were invincible. of the world; they are spreading at the
So the holes fizzed, and America rate of several feet a day; later on they
waited. may go even faster. Those invaders
It was during the next day that reports dropped something that is unknown to us,
came in from London, Paris, and other something eats away matter completely. It
great cities of the earth that bombs had consumes rock, soil and metal—yes, even
been dropped in their countries too. Why ? tungsten! We used tungsten bars to ex­
Nobody could imagine. Attack these inter­ periment and they evaporated like fizz­
lopers? Some hopes! water in a couple of minutes. Tungsten,
Amazing thing! After they had left which we can’t melt under three thousand
their donations in various parts of the Centigrade! Think that over!”
earth the unknowns just scrammed out of Walt turned. “But hang it, man, you
the skies to places beyond conjecture, no must have some sort of theory. You’re a
physicist, and a darned good one. If it cities . . .” He left his sentence unfin­
isn’t atomic force, what is it?” ished.
Lance smiled a little. “You forget I’m “But the science back of such an idea!”
not a big-shot scientist; it doesn’t matter Walt whistled. “Who in heck would want
to anybody what I think. Doc Saunders to start these holes anyway ? What’s it all
does all the talking. But, privately, I think about ?”
it’s done by polarizing gravitation. The “Don’t ask me! But we do know—at
spectrum analyses we made, and my own least I do—that we’re facing a situation
calculations, led me to that revolutionary that’s going to get mighty desperate as time
theory. But I daren’t say anything about goes on. Mighty desperate!”
it to the higher ups because it might cost
me my job.” II
“Polarized gravitation 1 What on earth’s
that?” HEN Lance had envisaged trouble
“Just this—the best of us can’t explain
what gravity is. Enstein favors the etheric
W ahead he had only guessed the half
of it, for more alarms muscled in from a
rumple theory; other scientists say mag­ totally different angle, one that neither he
netism, or a sort of force. Modern scien­ nor anybody else could have anticipated.
tists favor the view of electrical energy. It all started the following morning when
If that is so it must be an energy inherent the newspapers reported that Henry Hy­
in atoms, in the electrons and protons that son, the level-headed, emotionless chief of
go to make them up, because everything is Hyson’s Chain Stores had thrown him­
made of atoms. Right?” self out of his bedroom window seventy-
“So I’ve always understood.” two stories up.
“Right. Now, if there are forces which Naturally Henry was not beautiful when
can block sound and light—which there are he struck the sidewalk. It was tragic, of
of course—there may be similar forces course, and the public was dutifully
that can block gravitative influence, only shocked, but nobody knew why Henry Hy­
our science isn’t up to understanding them son had risen from bed and taken a death
yet. Because of that it does not say they leap.
cannot exist. Suppose the shells that In itself it would have been inconclu­
dropped released a counter-gravity force sive, but reports drifting in during the day
upon impact: do you see what would hap­ from scattered parts of America, England,
pen? The gravitational laws operative in and Europe revealed that hundreds of
an atom, just as much as in a solar sys­ people had committed suicide during the
tem, would cease to exist! Electrons would night. It suddenly became a matter of
fly away from the degravitated proton, the international importance. What had hap­
molecule itself would collapse, and it would pened to them in the night, anyway? The
be progressive! Because as one molecule psychologists went broody, but they hatched
became degravitated the one next to it nothing. Nothing to hatch!
would automatically become unstable and That was only the start. During the
behave the same way. So it would go on— day there was the case of the man in the
will go on! The original shell that released New York subway train who dozed on his
the energy would disappear, but that way to work. He woke up suddenly, ac­
wouldn’t matter. The thing would be done cording to witnesses, screaming—“They’re
then. And of course there is no noise or burning through me!” Then he smashed
concussion; just the slow degravitation pro­ his way through the train window and
cess.” jumped, killing himself instantly on the
“In that case—” Walt stared in front live rail outside.
of him. Suddenly he lowered his feet and He was one instance. In all there were
shot upright. “My Lord, anything can twenty cases of people awakening from
happen ! Anything will give way. Any­ sleep to instantly go mad and kill them­
thing with molecules—and there isn’t any­ selves. It was horrible, unreasonable. The
thing without ’em!” shadow of a tragic blot cast itself on an
“I’m pretty sure I’m right,” Lance went already troubled world.
on moodily. “When it catches up on Though Lance Dugan was primarily a
physicist, the psychological aspect of the know I’m right!” he went on desperately.
new riddle interested him not a little. “Laugh at me if you will, but in a few
Much to the surprise of the staff, and even weeks you’ll see for yourselves. And I
more so to Walt, he went to the trouble of also believe there is something more be­
carefully noting down all the wild state­ hind all this—that there is a connection
ments uttered by those who had after­ between people who have leapt to death and
wards committed suicide. Not that they the mystery of the holes.”
made sense—yet. And besides, there was “I suppose,” Saunders said, with mea­
this business of expanding holes beginning sured acidity, “you infer that these holes
to obsess the public mind. give off some brain-disturbing element ?”
To New Yorkers the Bridgeport hole “I had thought of that, yes, but my own
was the main concern. Headlines got private experiments show that to be in­
larger and larger, matching the hole. It correct. There is no connection. It’s
had now spread to Yonkers and New something deeper, something that embraces
Haven. The waters of Long Island Sound the whole field of psychology. For in­
were rising incessantly over Long Island stance, have you gentlemen noticed that
itself, sending monstrous ship-smashing these people were asleep before killing
disturbances through New York’s har­ themselves ?”
bors. And the water pouring into the hole “You mean that they dreamed about
just went out into nothing like everything something that made them want to com­
else. mit suicide?” Saunders demanded.
Evacuation orders were put into effect. “I do, yes.”
People poured from the stricken hole areas Lance stood in grim, flushed silence at
in thousands, were either looked after by the laughs round the assembly table. He
relatives or installed in hastily arranged was still glaring when the speaker’s mallet
Government camps. From a mystery, the brought order. The speaker himself spoke
holes had changed to a menace. Not only through his nicotine-tinted whiskers.
America, but each country was getting “After all, Mr. Dugan, we are scien­
eaten into nothing by nothing. It was tists, not spinners of fairy tales! Either
idiotic—a merciless paradox. confine yourself to logical analysis or re­
Congress in America limited itself to tire from the debate.”
arranging evacuation; the President For a brief instant Lance hesitated, then
ordered scientists to investigate. Then be­ he glanced at Saunder’s big, grinning face.
fore a solemn convention of scientists in “You’ll have my resignation in the morn­
New York Lance Dugan’s turn came to ing, sir,” he stated briefly. “Since I can­
make suggestions. He took a chance and not convince the best brains in science of
unwrapped his pet theory. the most obvious facts I may as well
“I realize, gentlemen, that it is a far work alone. Thank you for listening, any­
cry from holes in the earth to the end of way.”
the world,” he said quietly, looking round He walked out of the room silently and
on the grave faces; ‘‘but that is what I closed the door.
unhesitatingly predict unless science finds “Dreams!” echoed Saunders, amidst the
a way round the problem. I have out­ uncomfortable hush. “Good Lord, what
lined my theory to you—and I have no next? These young men, you know,” he
ideas on how to defeat the scientific men­ went on paternally. “They mean well,
ace which I believe is threatening us.” but—damned fanciful! Now, about these
“End of the world!” snorted Dr. Saun­ holes. . .”
ders contemptuously, his popeyes arrogant.
“Sheer fantasy, man! Same as your ideas HILE the scientists vapored the
of polarized gravitation! There isn’t such
a thing!”
W holes spread. In two weeks the
Bridgeport hole had swallowed half of
“Not that we know of, and that’s why Long Island. A semicircle of hissing,
we’re licked,” Lance retorted. “Either spluttering nothing, reaching down into
we find out how it’s done, or perish.” He abysmal dark, began to encroach on New
stared moodily in front of him, thumped York’s harbors with relentless power,
his fist on the table top. “Gentlemen, I merged toward the city.
 Normal activity by millions of New Every night for the past two weeks some
Yorkers was hastily abandoned. There fifty or more people have died. Here are
could be no commerce or civilized activity a few of the things they’ve said before
in a city threatened with ruthless extinc­ succumbing. Listen! ‘They’re burning
tion. From the eastern buildings that through me!’ ‘The force shields are weak­
spreading maw could be distinctly seen, ening!’ ‘On the tenth gangway!’ ‘They’re
creeping ever nearer. come back!’ ‘They’re visible against the
In other devastated areas of the world stars!’ Now, what do you figure to that
the same conditions of wild panic existed. lot?”
With the threat of extinction now so “Nuts—same as you!” Walt gave an
palpably near at hand, humans changed enormous yawn.
from ordered pursuit to animalistic fury, “A person who’s nuts doesn’t refer to
trampled on the weaker ones in their fran­ force-shields,” Lance snapped. “The par­
tic efforts to reach a possible land of safety. ticular person who referred to them was
But there wasn’t one; the unknown in­ a truck driver, with no more idea of force­
vaders had cunningly seen to that. shields than a Hottentot. Force-shields
Every country had its holes, and in some represent something in a science beyond
of the countries the holes had gone down­ our range. Again—‘They are visible
ward far enough to touch and open vol­ against the stars.’ The ‘they’ referred to
canic seams. In consequence volcanic probably meant space ships. That couldn’t
eruptions and earthquakes were rife, have meant the space ships we saw be­
blanketing the shuddering world in dense cause they left long ago, so why did the
overhead smoke through which daylight dreamer still see them? And why against
only reached with great difficulty. the stars? Perhaps because—because it’s
It was Walt Danning’s particular task a dark world. No sunshine.”
in this world maelstrom to fly until he “Oh, heck! Walt snorted. “Let a guy
dropped from exhaustion, carrying refugees sleep, can’t you?”
out of New York to parts westwards where He coiled himself up on the bed, pulled
they might find temporary surcease while the cover over his ears to deaden the
a harried Government wrestled with the eternal rumble of collapse from the doomed
problem. metropolis. Lance turned to the window,
looked out on the advancing tide of ruin
ANCE Dugan, his work with the Air­ two miles away. People were scurrying
L ways finished in any case, even had he through the streets. Night, hardly dis­
not given in his resignation, still remained
tinguishable from day, had closed down on
in New York. In fact he had the run of the unlighted city. But there was light
the whole apartment building: all other enough from fires.
tenants had bolted to join the general Lance frowned, glanced again at his
exodus. Not so him. He remained where notes.
he was, unmindful of the view of destruc­ “Another world, affecting ours!” he
tion from the window, working all his wak­ breathed. “Affecting the minds of earthly
ing hours on complicated notes and stew­ people! Why ?”
ing over hefty volumes. A deep snore from the bed answered
It was to Walt that he unburdened him­ him. Impatiently he turned back to the
self. Walt listened, lying flat on the bed, table, then swung round sharply as Walt
snatching a few hours relief before start­ suddenly awakened with a fiendish yell.
ing off again on his superhuman work of He sat bolt upright, red hair standing on
evacuating the still struggling thousands end, stared fixedly at the bedrail.
at the airports. “He’ll get me!” he whispered, rubbing
“While everybody else has kept track his forehead absently. “He’ll—”
of the holes I’ve kept track of the suicides,” Instantly Lance dived for him, seized his
Lance said slowly, flourishing his notes in arms in a grip of iron.
the light of the oil lamp. “By dint of “Walt, snap out of it! What’s the mat­
sheer damned hard work I’ve managed to ter?”
grab witnesses of several suicides and got For answer Walt tore himself free and
the dying man or woman’s last words. dashed for the window, holding his head
 as he went. Like lightning Lance twirled Walt screwed his eyes in thought
after him, seized him as he reached “Ten,” he said. “So what?”
the sash. Bringing up his right he planted "One man died screaming They’re on
a terrific blow under Walt’s jaw, sent him the tenth gangway’!”
spinning heavily across the room to col­ “Hell!” Walt was startled. “Look, do
lapse on the rug. you think—”
"Take it easy, Walt! Get a grip on "I’ll tell you what I think. We’ve
yourself, man!” stumbled on the most amazing thing that
Walt’s face was suddenly taut and per­ ever happened—mental contact with some­
spiring. Slowly he got to his feet, fingered where unknown. Does it not seem to you
his jaw reflectively. At last he gave a that if a dream can be so savage as to
sheepish grin. cause actual physical agony, enough to
“Th-thanks,” he stammered. “I guess make suicide seem the only way out, it
you did more than you know of, socking points to the fact that the mind is linked
me like that. I—I was going to jump out to the actual circumstances?”
of that window.” “Maybe; but how? How come that
“Because of something you dreamed?” only a few people have these awful dreams,
Lance demanded, clutching him. and not everybody?”
“Yeah.” Walt shook his head fiercely. “The few that have died from suicide
“Gosh, it was the maddest dream ever, actually died elsewhere at the same time!
and then some! Sort of thing you read Double entity. A bit involved.”
about in imaginative stories. Men with “I’ll say!” Walt echoed incredulously.
machines mowing us down, great cigarlike “Why was it that I did not jump to death
ships flashing across the stars, halls of as I wanted to?”
engines, galleries, men and women sweat­
ing and struggling—■ Curious people, big CCT> ECAUSE in that other state you
headed, like people that’ll be here in the Jj didn’t die. Something happened to
future, if any! Listen, Lance, it was so save you. You can’t defeat Destiny and
real it was positive anguish when a black­ the laws of Nature. Had you died there
skinned guy with a head like a strato­ you would also have died here, and there’s
balloon came shooting for me with a thing an end of it.”
like a searchlight. It hurt! Hurt like Walt scratched his head, then he
hell! So real. . . .” glanced up sharply as the phone rang.
“It was real!” Lance stated quietly. Lance whirled the instrument up im­
“Huh? Now look here—” patiently.
“Listen, can’t you? If every one of “Lance Dugan speaking, yes. Who’s
those other folks who’d committed sui­ calling ? Huh ? Oh—Dr. Saunders!”
cide had had somebody like me to knock Lance glanced significantly at Walt. Walt
the sense back into them they might not be stood watching, saw Lance’s face change
dead now! You dreamed of an attack to grim hardness by degrees.
upon you—it upset your brain mighty “. . . a ghastly dream, eh? What? Oh,
hard. Think back on those other death- you tripped and knocked yourself out.
leapers, and what they said before leap­ All right when you recovered ? Sure I was
ing. You said ‘He’ll get me!’ You know right! I told you that at the Convention.
what they said. And remember the one I’ll be right over. I think I’ve got onto
who said ‘They are visible against the something important.”
stars.’ You’ve just said yourself you saw Lance dropped the receiver and dived for
ships flashing across the stars.” his hat and coat.
“I know, but— Hang it, it was only a "Plane outside?” he asked briefly, and
dream! Those invaders still on my mind, nodded quickly as Walt jerked his thumb
I guess.” toward the roof. “Good! We’re hopping
“The black guy who went for you was out to Washington—the Mark Bolton
one of the invaders in person,” Lance mur­ Hotel. Old Saunders scrammed out there
mured. “I’m sure of it. You said a hall when the Bridgeport Hole started hitting
of engines. How many engine gangways, N. Y. C. Seems the phone wires are O. K.
or aisles, were there?” to Washington. Near as I can figure out
Saunders has had a dream too. He tried Lance walked in quietly, Walter be­
to commit suicide but stunned himself ac­ hind him; then they both stopped as a tall,
cidentally before he could do it. Anyway dignified figure turned slowly to face them.
he’s at last decided there must be some­ “Mr. President!’ Lance gasped, and im­
thing in what I told him. He’s rounded mediately came to attention.
up some of the scientists and is ready to “Please be at your ease, Mr. Dugan,”
listen. Let's go!” the President said quietly, miling rather
“I’m due back at the Evacuation station anxiously. “My visit here was upon my
in thirty minutes.” own initiative. As a matter of fact, Dr.
“To blazes with that. There’ll be noth­ Saunders here contacted several scientists,
ing left to evacuate at all soon, anyway.” who in turn relayed certain information to
Walt shrugged and whirled after his me. I felt it prudent to cut time to a mini­
friend as he strode out into the corridor. mum by coming straight here.”
In five minutes they were on the roof, “I understand, sir,” Lance moved for­
took off over the dark, fire-ridden city. ward slowly, glanced at Saunders. The
From the air they could see the flare of big, red-faced scientist cleared his throat.
arcs at the airports and railway stations, “In this room, Dugan, are most of the
the dim surging dark tides that betokened scientists who were present at the Con­
desperately struggling thousands trying to vention. You told us that time would prove
gain safety from the black half moon that your point: I realize now that we all owe
yawned invincibly to the east. you a sincere apology. So far, all scien­
“Devilish,” Walt muttered. “What tists in every country are at a deadlock.
chances are there of things getting back to It becomes increasingly clear that you are
normal, Lance?” the one man who knows anything at all,
“None!” Lance sat tight lipped, star­ outlandish though your theory seems to
ing into the darkness ahead. His face was be. You mentioned a dream connection,
like a mask in the dashboard light. Dugan. I told you over the phone of my
“None! But surely—” experience.”
“Shut up; I’m thinking. Figuring out Lance looked at the plasters on Saun­
this dual personality angle. If I’ve got ders’ forehead, asked shortly.
the right hunch we. . Lance relapsed • “Just what did you dream about? The
into silence, biting his underlip. tiniest detail is important.”
There was not much sign of trouble “I dreamed that a vast machine of some
as they passed over Philadelphia. From kind was breaking right over my head. It
Baltimore, however, there were droves of was steel, I think—some kind of metal
airplanes leaping into the sky, scurrying to anyway. A ray, pink in color, was turned
collect more refugees from the Cincinnati onto it and it started to break up. I was
regions. The moon was out here, shed right underneath it!” Saunders paused
its pallid light upon roads black with au­ to mop his brow; his bulgy eyes went
tomobiles and tramping people. Country brighter with the fear of his remembrance.
roads, city roads—they were both blocked “Dugan, the mental horror of those mo­
alike. The lights of temporary campfires ments was something incredible—paralyz­
winked like cigarette ends in the night. ing! I imagine a man standing facing a
runaway auto would feel the same. The
Ill relentless certainty of death! I woke up
suddenly—I went to bed with a headache,
T was 10:30 when Walt and Lance by the way—to find my mind in a turmoil.
I touched Washington, landing right I wanted to do something to ease the awful
outside the city on deserted ground. To agony in my brain. I rushed for the win­
make the blocked airport would be mad­ dow, stumbled over a chair and struck my
ness. They lost an hour getting to civiliza­ head on the dressing table . . . When I
tion and a taxi, thence were whirled to the recovered I found I was calm again. Then
Mark Bolton Hotel in the city center. In I rang you up.”
room 26 on the 7th floor Dr. Saunders was Lance stroked his eyebrow. “Hmmm . . .
waiting, around him standing a group of Do you remember if you saw a hall full
grave-faced men. of engines?”
 “I certainly did! Multitudes of en­ “Consider what dreams represent,” he
gines and people, men and women, all went on deliberately. “Sometimes they
trying to do something. I can recall there forecast an event long before it happens
were about nine islands of engines in one I could quote thousands of instances in
great hall.” the possession of the Society for Psychical
“Nine islands mean ten gangways,” Research. Now, we use at best only a fifth
Lance broke in. “That’s all I wanted to of our brain capacity. Were we to use
know. I definitely believe I’ve got it! all our capacity we would be able to forsee
But it’s the most incredible thing. I feel coming events very easily because of our
I’m right because otherwise hundreds of tremendous mind force, which would pro­
people could not leap to suicide for the ject along the time-continuum and forsee
same identical reason . . .” Lance paused any eventuality, even as we could comb
a moment, went on slowly, “Mr. Presi­ the past.”
dent—gentlemen—I believe that we of “Possible,” Saunders mused.
Earth are dual identities, that the entities Lance gave a little shrug. “My theory,
we possess as human beings are only a I admit, now takes a leap across all known
part of our real selves—experimental laws of science. Is it possible that we of
offshoots of our real selves. Our real Earth are experiments? Nobody can ex­
selves are situated on another planet, may­ plain the beginning of life very satisfac­
be far, maybe near. I don’t know yet.” torily. The egg-to-man theory doesn’t fit
Saunders tried to strangle his look of dis­ too well because there is an inexplicable
belief. The President’s keen eyes nar­ gap between man and saurian. I submit
rowed a little. that saurians were the real denizens of
“Can you substantiate this rather—er— Earth and that man is a glorified experi­
uncommon theory, Mr. Dugan?” ment from elsewhere! Consider the human
“I think I can, yes. Some time ago brain for a moment—a fifth of it works
Duke University of North Carolina made fairly well: we accomplish quite reason­
elaborate researches into the mysteries of able achievements. We have the power
mental telepathy. They made more than to reason, but the remaining part of our
100,000 separate experiments, and their brain as any surgeon will tell you is just
results showed that human beings not only waste material. We say it is the subcon­
can read thoughts and transmit them, but scious region, that it is there for future
that thought—as opposed to any other evolution; wonderful theories are contrived
known force—does not weaken with dis­ to explain it. But it still remains waste!
tance ! Instead it grows stronger the And why? Because it represents the sec­
further away it goes! Bear that in mind, tion that should be filled in with active
gentlemen, for I feel it explains the rea­ brain material if we were complete!"
son for the intensity of recent dream- The scientists were silent, clearly moved.
experiences.” “Suppose we were sent to Earth long
“You mentioned dual personality,” ago,” Lance resumed. “Suppose that in
Saunders murmured. our real state we were superhumanly clev­
“Exactly. There is, says Dunne, who er ? So clever we knew that by parting with
wrote that masterpiece ‘An Experiment a small portion of our brains we could be
with Time,’ increasing evidence that the little the worse? Suppose, then, a chosen
threshold of perception not only shifts number of us made synthetic human beings,
when we sleep, but that we are given, into whose skulls was placed a small sec­
through dreams, access to a different range tion of our giant brains? These synthetic
of apprehension, a range the waking con­ bodies were fired to earth to mature, to
sciousness can never command, and from become the object of careful watching by
age to age that threshold changes! I be­ those who had sent them. . .
lieve it changes because the world we view “Do you not see that a mental kinship
in dreams naturally progresses and there­ would always remain with the creator of
for alters its outlines.” us? Even as the child has kinship with
The scientists glanced at one another the mother, as twins have kinship, as
in surprise, turned back to Lance with re­ species have kinship? Mind force does
newed interest. not weaken in the journey across space.
The remains of memories, the only door to “Excellent! And whom do you imagine
our real selves, can be reached only through the invaders of this other world are?”
what we call the subconscious region. In “The same ones that came here first and
daily waking life we cannot utilize it, but in dropped polarized gravity shells!” Lance
sleep we can wing our way to the un­ snapped. “And I begin to ree why, too!
known—back, gentlemen, across space Our creators deliberately deprived them­
whence we came! In snatches, we live selves of a fifth of their intellect to make
again through our kinship selves in the us an experimental race. When they were
cosmps, our tiny brain linking into the their complete selves they were probably
space removed from our master brain. equal to, if not superior, in knowledge to
Now do you understand?” the beings who are now invading them. But
“Amazing!” whispered Saunders, fas­ now, with their power lessened, our crea­
cinated. tors are at the mercy of the invaders.
“There are other points. The children To make doubly sure the fifth-power could
of the experimenters would be born like not be regained the invaders came here
their parents, minus a fifth of their brains. first and set about making our planet drop
I believe that by the law of Nature, when to bits beneath our feet. That will give
a man or woman dies on that other world them domination, just as it will mean our
the corresponding twin dies here. Think destruction. If our creators die, we die.
of the multitude of sudden deaths that And even if they survive our world col­
occur for no apparent reason. Likewise, lapses anyway. Don’t ask me who these
when a creature is born on that world the invaders are or what they’re driving at.
corresponding lesser-intelligent twin is Our problem is to discover how to save
born here. It is inevitable. For untold ages ourselves and those who created us—even
the process has gone on, but now comes how to regain our wholeness so that we
a change to that unknown world. can perhaps overcome these invaders. We
“Invasion! What happens ? The minds know’that so far they have held out, though
of our creators are tortured with doubts our innumerable suicides point to the death
and fears, and our minds being linked to of hundreds in the struggle.”
theirs are turmoiled as well! The greater “And what will finally hapen to this
always affects the lesser. That is why world of ours ?” the President asked grave­
thousands have dreamed and died. They ly-
experienced the death agony of their par­ “It is doomed, sir,” Lane answered in
ticular creator and died when he, or she, a quiet voice. “I do not like admitting
did. In your case, Dr. Saunders, some defeat, but we have no scientific means of
accident in that other world saved your defeating this relentless menace. Our
creator from death; a corresponding pre­ world is corroding, smashing up. We
ventative occurred here and saved you. The have not even the secret of space travel
same thing happened to Walt Danning whereby we could move a few of our
here. Something saved him. We live and people to another planet. All we can do
move in two places! We’re sundered is hang on as long as possible and try
beings! The intense mental strain of our and establish contact with our creators
creators is reflected through us, stirs some on their world. Then we shall have to
of us to a pitch of mad hysteria. If our see where the fates lead us.”
creators die, we must die too!” The President tightened his lips. “I
understand. You can rest assured that
«T TNQUESTIONABLY,” said the full co-operation will be given you in what­
vJ President slowly, “you have jumped ever scheme you may have. Just what have
over all of the frontiers of mind science, you in mind?”
Mr. Dugan. And I for one believe you. “I propose to create a mind-explorer.
There is so much evidence within our ex­ In other words, try and explore this un­
perience. But tell me, how are we to ever known world by means of mind. Since
actually prove conclusively that you are mind does not weaken with distance, there
right?” is no reason why we cannot get perfectly
“I have ideas that may work.” lucid views of this other world. We know
8—Planet Stories—Winter of two people here—Walt Danning and
Dr. Saunders—who have established direct enough to save our world. It’s worth try­
contact through the medium of dreams. It ing, anyway.”
is possible that that contact still remains “The whole of the country’s resources
because the counterparts will still be in are open to you, Mr. Dugan,” the Presi­
pretty poor shape, maybe injured, or at any dent said. “I will see to it that staffs are
rate recovering from shock. I propose we recalled, doubled and trebled where neces­
use Walt as the subject, mainly because sary. Whatever you want, if it is within
he is the younger and tough enough to my power, will be obtained. Make Dr.
stand anything.” Saunders here your go-between. While
“What do you figure on doing?” Walt you work I will get what co-operation I
asked shortly. can from other countries. At least we’re
Lance smiled briefly. safe for a time here in Washington. Our
“Inducing you to sleep. You will dream, nearest centers of destruction are Cincin­
and your dream can be recorded and care­ nati and Bridgeport.”
fully examined. You can become a free “While I work here, have another ser­
mental explorer of the unknown. If on ies of laboratories prepared in a less
awakening you get notions of suicide we threatened area, sir,” Lance said quickly.
can master that. Unless actual death hap­ “If I get hard pressed I can move on
pens on that other world, then we’re and continue there. Now, gentlemen, let
powerless. But that would happen any­ us see how we can arrange things.”
way, no matter what we tried to do. The scientists moved forward quickly.
See ?” Automatically, Lance Dugan had become
“Kind of,” Walt muttered, scratching their leader.
his head. “O. K. by me, of course, but IV
how do you think you’re going to record
a dream?” ANCE Dugan did not have to work
alone. The President’s urgent radio
ftT) Y enlarging on the system used by appeal to the world for expert scientists
-D one Captain Englefield of England to pool their knowledge for the common
in 1930,” Lance replied. “He invented a good of humanity elicited response from
thought-reading device. At the back of the all quarters. English, French, and Rus­
subject’s head is a semicircular metallic sian scientists flew immediately from their
plate of electrically reflective substance. crumbling countries to lend aid to the soli­
Thoughts flowing outwards from the brain tary man in all Earth’s millions who had
are reflected back from this plate and the unquestionably right idea.
trapped in a series of condensors and trans­ The Russians in particular were valu­
formers. Being electric in basis the men­ able. For years they had pursued brain
tal vibrations can be stepped up. Engle­ experiments on similar lines to Englefield;
field used a system of headphones for lis­ their methods of trapping and reproducing
tening to thoughts—but that was long thought-waves went a great way toward
ago. knitting Lance’s fragmentary conceptions
“In the light of present science we can into solid, permanent fact.
transform those vibrations into visible pic­ So while humanity milled and swept
tures ! The brain will experience sensa­ uselessly about slowly shattering coun­
tions, and a specially devised screen will tries, while yawning craters crept with
pick them up and remould them scene for pitiless steadiness toward Washington
scene, just like television. I have Engle- from Cincinnati—having already swallowed
field’s original designs: I hunted for them up most of the states of West Virginia
the moment I suspected dreams were di­ and Ohio—there grew in the laboratories
rectly connected with our troubles. The of Washington a curious five-foot high
rest is mainly a matter of improvement and contrivance of rotating spheres, designed
construction. Given two weeks and the to pick up thought-wave impacts; curved
run of the best laboratories still remaining receiving plates, electronic tubes of giant
in the country I think I can get some­ size, a projector, and a mineral base
where. If we can contact a brain creator screen.
we may even get scientific knowledge Lance had been too optimistic in allow­
ing two weeks. It was a month before the less power, snaking cables, bridges and
machine was finished, a testimony to the networks, ladders and catwalks. Ten gang
untiring work of the scientists, engineers, ways. And over it all a doming roof of
truck drivers and factory men engaged transparent material, evidently not glass—
on the job. Lance had a special time set unless it was unimaginably tough—for up­
for the experiment—11:30 in the evening— on it there constantly spattered the frag­
in the hope that Walt would be fairly ments of shells and the savage glow of
sleepy from natural causes at that time. deadly beams of force.
He was. The exertions of the past Fascinated, the assembled scientists
days had seen to that. But it was essen­ waited. Lance spoke tensely.
tial none the less that he be drugged. “We’re seeing through the eyes of the
Without a murmur he relaxed his power­ creator of which Walt is a part. He’s con­
ful body on the receiving table. Sur­ trolling that switchboard; that’s obvious.”
rounded by the numberless, eager scientists He broke off. The view had changed
Lance adjusted the headplates quickly on slightly to encompass a vision of the en­
the slide rollers, glanced once more over tire roof. Sweeping over it in droning
the controls. thousands were cigar-shaped machines
Turning, he switched off the lights. Only identical to the dozen that had visited
his capable hands were visible in the sub­ Earth and left their cargo of horror. That
dued spotlights over the control board. the invaders were one and the same was
A heavy quiet dropped on the laboratory, now beyond dispute. But they were mak­
broken only by two sounds—the deep ing little headway. It became apparent by
breathing of Walt and the slowly rising degrees that, though parts of this giant
music of the generators in the neighbor­ hall were shattered from enemy attack, the
ing power room. roof and the majority of the tenants with­
Slowly the giant screen came to life. in were still sticking it out.
All eyes studied it; all hearts beat faster
at a sudden sense of sweeping motion, of ARTHLY looking they were, but de­
bottomless falling through infinity. Scud­
ding whirlpools of light seemed to leap
E veloped in craniums far beyond all
earthly standards. Their heads were big,
out of the screen and then sweep to extinc­ bald, and revolting.
tion. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus. “Something else is explained,” Lance
They vomited out of the cosmos toward whispered. “Since we were created by
the screen and were swallowed up. Head­ them we naturally resembled them physi­
long, ghastly falling. cally. Our heads are a fifth the size of
“The falling dream,” Lance murmured. theirs, which fits exactly . .
“This time pursued right to its limit. “But what do we do?” asked Saunders’
Usually we awake before we can com­ impatient voice from the gloom. “How far
plete it. For the first time we shall per­ is this thing getting us? How—”
haps see where the fall really ends!” “I sense a mental contact!"1
In the background behind him the Saunders broke off astounded. Those
astronomical experts kept careful check last words, uttered with the colorless de­
of the planets revealed on the screen. Only liberation of a subject under hypnosis, had
from their charting would it be possible to come from Walt! Numberless eyes stared
locate the position of the unknown world. at him in the switchboard glow.
In several seconds, accomplished with “Did he—?” began Voravski, leader of
incredible speed—a speed only possible to the Russian scientists; then Walt resumed
untrammelled thought—the fall stopped. his talking.
The view underwent crazy lurchings and “I sense a contact between myself and
resolved suddenly into a view of a switch­ that distant other being who, by the law
board, gigantic and meaningless. But be­ of birth and experiment conducted down
yond it were other things . . . the ages, now has the fifth of a brain
A hall of machines, endless machines, that I should have!”
stretching away into a distance that was “A contact!” Lance yelped, in the en­
blurred. Nine islands of machinery; ti­ suing silence. “That clears the way for
tanic balance wheels that spun with sound­ us. That being’s supersensitive brain must
be aware of our own efforts on Earth here. diabolical cunning, they decided to wipe
He senses Walt’s fifth-brain mixed up with out our experiments first so we could never
his own. Walt’s brain is in sympathy and regain our natural full brain capacity and
he understands his creator’s thoughts. so defeat them. And defeat them we could
Creator by heredity, that is. When this if only we were complete. In this city is a
other being was born Walt was born too: vast hall, locked by our ancestors, inside
same thing applies to everybody. Naturally which is a purely automatic armament
Walt talks in English because it’s the only system—a. terrifying mass of defensive
language he knows. Thought takes no heed secrets that could wipe the Jurians out of
of language bar.” existence if only we had the full knowl­
“I feel a vague return to the full com­ edge of how to unlock those doors and
plement of my brain,” Walt’s mechanical start the machines!
voice went on. “But there is something “We presumed the Jurians had de­
between. Now I think I understand! Pro­ stroyed you. Our telescopes revealed a
jected thought! Somehow you of Earth world covered in smoke. Hope at that
have projected thought across space, have end seemed dead, but this new mental
solved the riddle of your kinship with us. surge makes me realize otherwise. You
That is sheer genius. Can it be that Provi­ can perhaps still save us. On Earth there
dence has come to our aid in the time of must be a hundred duplicates of we hun­
need? That the experiments the Jurians dred scientists here—that is if that hundred
sought to destroy can even yet save us ?” have escaped earthly disasters. But surely
There was a quality of breathless won­ there will be seventy-five percent of the
derment, of new born hope, in those words. total. If there is, there is one chance!
Again that breathless silence as thoughts Just one!
flowed and interflowed across the gulf of
space. MT?IND all men who are scientific,
“If my belief is true that this is a mental -T gather them together. Later you will
contact, you may perhaps receive this mes­ be able to identify their kinship with us
sage through my minor duplicate. There by their aura numbers—that is, the fre­
are a hundred scientists here. There were quency of electrical radiation their bodies
two hundred, but our numbers are now give off. Each human being has a dif­
halved by battle. Scores have also died in ferent frequency, like fingerprints. The
the city itself. Our city is below the sur­ apparatus is simple to make, and the elec­
face of our planet. It means extinction trical frequencies exactly duplicate our own
for all of us unless succor comes quickly. in each case. I cannot give you details
The Jurians are our sworn enemies. Many now; matters are too urgent. All I hope
generations ago they came from their is that you understand me; if so, try and
planet in the first galaxy and tried un­ contact me again when you have gathered
successfully to conquer us in an effort to your possible hundred. . . ”
take over this then very prosperous world. The view on the screen swung from the
We defeated them—we thought for all switchboard as the owner of the brain in
time; but news leaked through inter­ question stepped down into the hall. Lance
planetary spies that we had parted with a reached out his hand and stopped the ex­
fifth of our brains in order to test experi­ periment. Lights gushed back into being,
mental reasoning life on a distant world. set the scientists blinking. Simultaneously
We hoped later to take over this world— Walt stirred a little and sat up.
your world—when our planet finally gets “I—I dreamed about—” he began slow­
too old to support us. Let me make it ly, but Lance cut him short.
clear that it was our ancestors who made “We know exactly what you dreamed
this experiment; we, always short of a about” and he reeled off a detailed ac­
fifth of our rightful brain heritage, have count. Finally he swung back to the
grown up since. scientists. “Well, gentlemen, we know
“Hearing of our shortage of brain ma­ where we stand. We’ve got to find the
terial, knowing we could not be as brilliant hundred if they’re alive. They won’t re­
as our ancestors, the new generation of side in the masses of the people, that is
Jurians tried again. But this time, with evident; in fact it is probable that most of
them are here amongst us. What we have ate down into its bowels and released ap­
to do is find as many scientific minds as palling storms over the racked planet,
we can, rope them in, then we stand by obedience was the only guarantee of
for further orders. Walt here has be­ safety.
come our agent. Once we know how to In that week of searching dozens of
work this frequency detector and have the scientists, amateur and professional, re­
list of frequency numbers we shall know ported to the nearest Evacuation Stations,
where we stand. In the meantime. . . were picked up and transported back to
Lance turned quickly and went over to Washington by the fastest route. Walt
the astronomical experts. Danning had the time of his life tearing
“Well, what’d you find out,” he asked back and forth across the world, pitting
shortly. “Where is this unknown world, his aeronautical skill and the strength of
anyway?” his heavy liner against sweeping tempests,
“Near as we can figure out, Mr. Dugan, dense fogs, and incredible rains. Time
it’s about twenty million miles beyond the and again he descended into cities that were
orbit of Pluto—a tenth planet. We’ve corroded, plague-ridden, filled with starv­
thought for a long time there might be ing, struggling thousands who surged for
one but have never found anything. We his liner the moment it landed.
can try again now we have this data. The Police, shoulder to shoulder, held back
planet must have a mighty low albedo the masses with leveled machine guns. If
since we’ve never sighted it in the 400- a rush was made they fired, ruthlessly. To
incher at Mount Wilson.” destroy the few was the only possible way
“O. K., hop to it and see what you can to save the many. If once the master
find out,” Lance said briskly. “We’ve got scientists of the tenth world could get the
other work to do, Walt. You’re in charge upper hand they would beyond question
of the flying around here: see that a dozenhave ways and means to impart whereby
fast, roomy planes are prepared, with pi­ the earth-rot could be stopped. On that
lots. We’re going to start a world-wide Lance was backing everything. If the
toothcombing for men of science. We’ll master scientists were wiped out, and their
get at them by every possible means— people with them, every soul on earth would
radio, airplane, personal contact, word of automatically die also, the world smash in
mouth. Everything hinges on it. Let’s pieces under their corpses. It was grim
get the wheels moving. Time’s precious!” desperate race the few chosen Earthlings
“And if our distant friend tries to com­were running. . .
municate and finds no medium?” Walt On his journeys back and forth to
asked. Washington Walt saw things he could
“He won’t, dumbbell. He knows when never have deemed possible. Those fizzing
your mind’s tuned up with his. Come on, holes from Bridgeport to San Francisco
will you?” had become miles wide and no man knew
how deep. The St. Louis and Kansas
O find the remaining men on earth craters had joined together now, wiping
T with scientific minds, get into touch out the State of Missouri in its entirety
with them by radio or bring them perand ­ replacing it with a volcanic crater
sonally to Washington by plane, was a that belched forth cotton-woollike masses
gigantic task, rendered all the more dif­ of yellow fumes. From Northern Wiscon­
ficult by the almost total collapse of nor­ sin to Louisiana people floundered and
mal existence in every country. fought and died in this choking fog, aware
In fact it never could have been done all the time of the rumble of approaching
had it not been for the untiring efforts doom ever following them up.
of the heads of different countries, the Between Salt Lake City and San Fran­
courage of the intelligence service, the cisco holes there was a belt of land two
vigilance of police, army and air force, miles wide, flanked on each side by im­
who clung to their appointed posts and passable smoking gulfs. Shuddering thou­
accepted orders without question. Never sands waited on that narrow strip, hour
had discipline been so necessary. Here, in by hour finding it getting smaller. Behind
a world fast smashing in pieces, as holes and before their horrified eyes yawned
 death in the earth’s furious, molten interior. been even more difficult without astronomi­
The same tale could be told of every cal mathematics to go on. Well, I think
part of the world. England was doomed, we’re ready to see if our friend has any­
so was Europe and the East. Even the thing more to tell. Ready, Walt ?”
poles had not escaped. The whole world “And waiting!” He lay down on the
was turning into a smoldering rock experimental table. As before the opiate
sponge, must finally smash in pieces by its was administered; he» relaxed gently into
very disintegration. slumber. The lights dimmed; the screen
It was against this deadly element of glowed as the engines came to life. The
time that Lance had to work with such ultimate view was different this time. It
feverish energy. Washington now was for seemed to be from a considerable height,
the most part inundated by the boiling portrayed a city which had no doubt once
waters of Chesapeake Bay, spouted over­ been wrought with delightful artistry.
land across the Potomacs by the Bridge­ Now most of it lay in ruins, its towers
port hole’s advance into the sea. For­ splintered, its streets littered with debris.
tunately that hole had spread more to the Far above, now inside the transparent
north than the south and Washington still roof, were dozens of attacking ships.
lay out of the main track. Reports showed “So they got in,” Lance breathed in a
the destructive line was still 150 miles dis­ bitter voice. “Wonder how they did it—”
tant—a matter of perhaps a month before Walt spoke suddenly.
it caught up. But in other directions “I sense mental contact again. That
Massachusetts and Vermont had gone in­ satisfies me that you got the last com­
to the forever, sweeping tens of thousands munication. Today I am in my own apart­
to destruction. ment looking over the city that is slowly
But at last all the scientists had been being conquered unless you can help us.
gathered together. About the same time The Jurians got through one of the valve­
the astronomers of Mount Wilson com­ shafts, which we have now closed. It was
pleted their final studies, just before the an unfortunate mistake for us to make.
combined Frisco and Salt Lake City holes However, I am hoping you have gathered
caught up with them and reduced the whole together some of your scientific minds in
mountain range to an avalanche of crum­ the hope that among them will be the hun­
bling rock. dred we need. Here are the frequencies
Lance stood in the Washington labora­ they must register in order to tally with
tory reading the reports of the men who ours.
had died that they might be made. The Instantly adding machines began to click
reports were brief, but to the point. in the gloom.
“As to the detector itself you can con­
“Tenth planet positively exists. Revo­ struct it within a few hours. It is merely
lution 10 hrs. 6 mins. Solar revolution a voltmeter of extreme sensitivity, register­
about 400 years. Approximately 3,800,- ing the exact aura of everybody on whom
000,000 miles from sun. Small—densely it is tested. When it registers the tally
packed. Gravity will be about same as numbers you have one of the hundred we
Earth’s. Many Plutonian characteris­ need. Here are the construction details.”
tics. Low albedo, probably due to black The army of technicians scribbled under
rock and distance from sun. No air. their spotlights. The others stood watch­
Orbital inclination of—” ing the attack and defense going on in that
distant world.
N that the record tragically ended. “I may not be able to speak again. We
O Lance turned slowly to the assembled
scientists packing the great expanse.
are lining up for our last great stand
against these invaders. Listen carefully.
“At least we kr.ow where the tenth When you have found as many as pos­
world is.” he said quietly, after reading sible of the hundred construct a space ma­
the report out. “Small wonder it hasn’t chine and bring them here. In appearance
been seen before. Don’t forget it took it will resemble the gray ships you have
the Lowell Observatory astronomers fif­ seen. For power you will use rockets.
teen years to find Pluto. This would have There are other ways, but too involved for
explanation here. You have hestitated so at least it can’t be worse than life is at
far to use rockets for space travel, not present. They’ll think we mean that ive
knowing what results you might get. If are taking them to a better land.”
you follow out these directions implicitly “I don’t like it,” Walt growled, sitting
you will have no trouble reaching us. For up. “It’s barefaced treachery, Lance.”
fuel you will use your most powerful ex­ He nodded slowly. “I know it is—but
plosive: atomic force is not within your look at it my way. If we do not go into
province. Once you get here, radio a sig­ space, what happens? Our world smashes
nal. One of us will pick it up and give in pieces, every soul will die and us in­
further orders. You must get here! If cluded. That distant world will be ruled
only one of us can get a fuil brain these by an infinitely merciless race. In the far
invaders are finished. Only a full brain future other planets will have them to
can unlock the doors of our sealed arsenal. reckon with. Now the other way. We
Now, here are the details of space travel, cannot save the rest of humanity anyway,
and some useful weapons.” but if vue go we can still perhaps save the
For an hour and a half the details fol­ tenth planet scientists, preserve their ideals.
lowed, were taken down by voice record­ They are our creators, and for that we owe
ers word for word. The last words had them a certain debt. Take your choice,
desperation in them. gentlemen; the issue’s too mighty for one
“The rest is your task! You must come, man’s shoulders.”
if a mighty science is to be saved from the There was a long silence. The way out
ruthless domination of an alien foe! was plain.
Hurry!” “We’ll go,” said Saunders quietly.
With that Walt ceased speaking. Lance “Guess you’re right at that!”
looked at him in the resumed lights, glanced
at the scientists. He gave a heavy sigh. V
“If only we were able to ask questions,”
he muttered. “We might have found a HILE the Washington laboratory
way to stop our crumbling world. As it
is, I can only forsee the survival of per­
W technicians went to work the next
day to build the aura-detector, Lance went
haps a hundred or so on another world. into conference with the President. Out
Well— There it is. The peoples of of that came a call throughout America to
Earth must never know, gentlemen.” throw open factories for the sole purpose
of casting the moulds for one mighty space
E became silent for a moment, grim machine. Engineers, promised a better land
H faced, then went on, “For tonight we in return for their services, came into ac­
rest. We have got to do so: we have tion to follow out the plans. Areas still
worked at mind-numbing speed recently. escaping the devouring holes were assigned
Tomorrow we will follow out these direc­ and surrounded by police and army reserves
tions. Engineers must get to work im­ to keep away the screaming multitudes,
mediately, what remaining metal foundries whose sole object now, knowing all of
still exist must be pressed into service.” them could not be accommodated, was to
“Just what excuse will you make to the destroy the chances of survival for the
world?” asked Saunders quietly. “We’re luckier ones. It was human nature, un­
on a doomed planet, Lance—that’s per­ derstandable, but it was met with merciless
fectly clear now. At the end of our work opposition.
only a few of us will take off to this tenth The construction of that space ship and
world. How do we excuse ourselves? the arms for it could well be described in
What promise do we give in order to get blood instead of ink. It brought out the
help?” most bestial elements in man as he fought
Lance set his jaw. “We promise those a losing battle in a world gone mad. The
who work for us that they are going to a red flares of titanic blast furnaces belched
better land,” he answered grimly. into the drifting, acrid fogs; great tractor
“Deception—plain and simple!” Saun­ lorries carrying the castings rumbled over
ders said slowly. an eternally quaking countryside, lorries
“I know it. The better land is death— mounted with armed guards whose job it
was to defeat the wild, bearded incendiaries swung in the grip of earthquakes; tidal
lurking in the fields and hedges. waves swamped inwards. To the west of
In Washington’s mighty engineering America the Pacific poured inwards as far
sheds themselves the cast moulds were as­ as the St. Louis hole, and there, Providen­
sembled amidst a glare of floodlight that tially, the hole stopped it by canceling it
shone through the darkness now almost out. Washington still stood, a somewhat
eternally present. The whole world was shaken, fissured city, one of the last metro­
wrapped in confusion, horror, destruction. polises of a dying world.
In the arament factories men and It was no longer safe to delay. Lance
women worked ceaselessly on the pro­ gave the immediate order for the space­
duction of weapons such as earth had ship to be tenanted by the chosen ones.
never known before. They utilized basic That demanded a trip through flood, fire,
forces which could only be tapped in free and falling buildings. It demanded escape
space, were designed to make use of the from maddened revoluntionaries; it was
destructive radiations—the most dominant necessary to run the gauntlet of steel and
being cosmic—forever networking the void. fists. But it was done.
On earth they were useless because of By degrees the hundred and fifty, scien­
Earth’s atmosphere. tists and preferred ones, entered the ship.
And the space ship grew by degrees, The massive valves were relentlessly closed
five hundred feet long, with enough ac­ upon the surging, screaming myriads in the
commodation for the now chosen hundred yellow fog outside. Faces mouthed en­
and some few promised ones, including the treaties for assistance, fists hammered
President, Lance himself, and Saunders, futilely on bellying curves of invincible
found they had twins among the hundred metal.
scientists of the tenth planet. Not that it “It’s tough, betraying them like this,”
was any surprise to them. As they had Lance muttered, staring outside. For a
expected, most of the hundred had been long moment he hesitated, then his face set
found among the scientists who had ar­ like a rock. “But we’ve got to do it!”
rived at the outset of the adventure. He glanced round on the enormous
Walt, his twinship already determined, length of ship as the assembly took up their
had elected to become pilot of the machine, various positions, Walter at the far end and
spent his time learning the intricacies of in the seat before the master control board.
the master control-board. He made num­ “O.K.”, Lance said quietly. “Let her
berless journeys to the sheds where the go!”
monster was being prepared, saw it finally Instantly the engines roared, hurling their
reach completion. power to the mammoth rocket tubes. The
ship quivered, hung in breathless motion­
T was toward the close of this hurri­ lessness for one pent second, then with an
I cane of activity which had its center in ever-increasing whining shriek it tore up­
Washington that the first cataclysmic dis­ wards in a vast, spark-encrusted arc. Up
asters reeled across the world, shook the through the yellow, scudding rack—up with
crumbling planet to its depths. Several of a velocity that held the last men of earth
the European craters, now miles wide, had rooted to the metal floor.
bored clean through the earth to neighbor­ In fifteen minutes they had shot through
ing holes on the opposite side of the world. the last vestige of atmosphere, gazed back
The outcome was incredible—overwhelm­ in morose silence on a smoking, plumed
ing in its vastness. cinder that had been a planet. That in a
Monstrous portions of the eastern world few hours would be a planet no more.
roared with a million thunders into the
transplanetary bore, sweeping countless UT within the first three days a new,
millions to instant death. Unguessable
square miles of land flashed into nothing
B grim problem arose. By degrees, first
in ones, then in twos and threes, death
or tore off into space. A globe, pock stalked through the space ship! Sometimes
marked and scarred, filled with scurrying it happened by suicide after dreaming; at
myriads of antlike humans, was deprived others one of the picked scientists just
'of a quarter of its mass. It rocked and dropped dead from apparent heart-failure.
Their bodies were promptly cremated in The scientists nodded, each at his post,
the rocket tubes’ inspection chambers, in­ each silently marveling at the mechanisms
cinerated instantly. which could absorb and retransmit the
Lance became increasingly worried. By energies of the void for such destructive
the time the vessel had passed the orbit of purposes.
Jupiter the numbers in the ship were re­ Lance turned aside and switched on the
duced to sixty-five! radio. To his relief there was an immedi­
“It is perfectly obvious what is happen­ ate answering call.
ing,” he said, gazing round on the taut, “Within a million miles,” he stated
grave faces. “Any of us may die instantly briefly. “What now?”
when our master twin is destroyed on the “From your present position you will see
tenth planet. It is also obvious that our five protective domes. The fifth one is
masters are getting the worst of it. The marked with a cross. At the moment it is
best scientists on Planet Ten are being ex­ shielded by force energy to deflect the in­
terminated. We have that danger of exter­ vaders. Below the fifth dome there are
mination to face also—but if only one of us no people: what few there are left of us
gets through it can save the situation. are collected in the first hall. Here is what
One scientist, we were told through Walt, you must do—drive through the fifth
can unlock the doors of that vast, sealed dome! We will stop the force shield as we
automatic armament section. For the sake see you approach: drive straight on! You
of that world’s science one must finish the will have a fifteen hundred foot drop below
course! I am telling you this because— the dome, enough to enable you to break
■because each of us must realize the issues your fall. The instant you are through the
at stake.” force will resume over the gap. We dare
Heads nooded in silent agreement. Lance .not swing aside the valves: we did that
turned to Walt. before and some invaders got through . . .
“Increase the speed to absolute maxi­ Hurry!”
mum, Walt. If the acceleration plays hell “Right!” Lance switched off and glanced
with us we’ll have to stand it. Get going!” round keenly. “O.K. Walt, let’s go!”
Walt nodded briefly. Thereafter the vest
ship tore with crushing, numbing speed ALT set his teeth, sighted the fifth
through the deeps, drawing ever nearer and
nearer the distant outposts of the solar
W crossed dome directly in line with
the forward window, then eased in the
system—but by the time Pluto’s orbit had power once more. Like a bolt out of in­
finally been passed another twenty five finity the ship dived downwards. But it
were ashes in the rocket chambers. The was not so easy as all that. Several of the
remainder waited, grim-faced, realizing that invaders caught sight of the vessel, swung
now must come the final struggle. round from their harrying attacks. In­
They worked with a total disregard for stantly the void was ablaze with nameless
the fate hovering over them, carefully forces. Rays of unknown quantity criss­
checked with the position of the tenth crossed the path down which the machine
planet, swung the ship toward it, at last was hurtling.
sighted it as a densely dark world far be­ "Fire!” Lance bellowed frantically, and
yond Pluto. And the nearer they came to simultaneously the weapons lined round the
it, their speed now reduced, the more they ship’s walls blazed forth their own mysteri­
became aware of multitudes of flashing ous energies. What they were the earth
shapes swarming around the dark surface. men did not kow, but they realized that
Through the telescopes the planet was without them they could never have made
clearly pockmarked with gleaming domes, it. Though they did not make any effect
presumably the protection against the air­ on the invaders’ ships themselves, they at
less exterior; and the darting shapes were least hetrodyned their powers.
undoubtedly the invaders. For a moment or two in that breathless
“This,” said Lance tensely, as they came million-mile drop the ship had the advan­
within a million miles, “is where we really tage, but the task of sheer accuracy was
go to town. All set on those weapons, too exacting. Three invader beams seared
boys ?” free of neutralization, sliced against the
 vessel with shattering impact. The walls

P£'& feature turned white hot, then cooled again, but

the damage was done. The infinite cold
fissured the metal. Vital air began to
escape in a singing tide.
“Quick! Space suits!” Lance screamed.
flash He foundered across to the area where
they were kept, only to fall back with a
gasping scream as the rays got through
F LASHING yon the highlights on the men again. As though slashed with a razor the
you’ve met in the preceding pages—those ship sliced clean in two! For one wild
cosmic-minded writers and illustrators who instant Lance was aware of himself open
help to nourish Planet Stories. to the void in half a ship, with the stunned
scientists around him. Far away in the
opposite half of the ship, hurtling with ter­
Concerning rific speed, was Walt—alone.
Lance knew no more than that. The
Mr. Ayre— universe was cold, dark—void.
Walt twisted his head around as he
feel pretty certain that Thornton Ayre’s
WEprovocative story, “Twilight of the Tenth
sensed the sudden tentacles of space bite
through the vanishing air. For a breathless
World,” will fascinate you as much as it did us. second he stared at the half ship in which
Since reading it, our brains have been toying
he was marooned, back at the black planet
with cosmic possibilities far beyond any possible
and crossed dome hurtling to meet him.
editorial scope. We’ve been doing our work in
an aureate haze of tempting telepathic possibili­ Something, a remembrance, blazed through
ties. Thought transference, we find (Mr. Ayre his brain.
to the contrary) does not get out magazines. So, “One must finish the course 1”
a bit wistfully, perhaps, we’ve thrown in the Relentless agony warped his muscles,
sponge and pass the problem on to you. coiled up his lungs. He was a dying, tor­
All of which is merely a leading up to the tured wreck as he clung to the switches,
following letter from Mr. Ayre concerning the staring through dimming eyes at that wid­
source of his unusual plot ening cross. Blood suddenly gushed from
his nose. With blinding impact he tore
<«T OWE this entire plot to an article in a lead- toward the dome, fell helpless over the
ing English daily paper of a year ago, switches that fired the last charge into the
headed Sixth Sense Tested! I have tried for a
forward tubes to break the fall. His senses
long time to work out something both possible
and adventurous to fit the theory expounded in reeled and rebounded amidst rioting, catas­
the article—and “Twilight of the Tenth World” trophic noise.
is the result.
O Walt the events that followed were
“After all, I’m no new explorer into dreams:
men have tried to get to the root of them for T little better than the figments of a
weird dream. In half conscious fashion he
ages. I’ve simply tried to work out another way,
was aware of robots carrying him, of his
which—though I say it myself—I don’t consider
to be so very unlikely. The hardest part about
arrival in a titanic surgery lit with blazing
this story was knitting up the essentially scien­ lights. Things happened to his head that
tific statements of the theory to the fast pace I he could not figure out—but through it all
tried to maintain throughout the yarn itself. I one clear realization crept to him. He was
hope I have managed it without any undue able to look on his own body! A wrecked,
sagging. . . . shattered ruin of a body that was irrevo­
cably dead.
“The conception of polarizing gravity is, I hope,
one that has the rudiments of possibility. If light
Thereafter things changed. He knew he
can be polarized—and we certainly know it can— went to doors of stupendous size, sat for
why not gravity? And if such a thing were to hours before complex controls, unraveling
come about I think we’d find ourselves facing intricate combinations and interlocking de­
something pretty similar to what I’ve depicted in vices—until at last the doors swung wide.
the story. What happened then he was none too sure;
but he had an idea of seeing countless “Maybe some readers will be surprised to find
thousands of tiny space ships buzzing like that not a single feminine character appears in
hornets through the underground city’s air­ the yarn—which is, I suppose, something of a
locks, of seeing them discharge such stag­ departure after the murky ladies who have per­
gering forces of war upon the invaders that vaded my last few novelettes. Reason? To get
the invaders’ ships simply crumbled and a fresh angle; to see if it were possible to change
the system and achieve the same effects. Don’t
splintered and mushroomed into nothing
imagine I’m going to drop my mystery females
under the onslaught. entirely. No: I don’t think a story is properly
Through days, through weeks, Walt balanced without them—a story relying entirely
knitted his sensations together. He was on character, that is. This one does not rely on
aware of other scientists, big headed, like that, but on new theories and action.
the ones he had seen in his dreams. He saw
thousands of people at work repairing the “That, for this time, covers what little I have
to say of the background of ‘Twilight of the
damage of the invasion. Everybody seemed
Tenth World.’ I hope you will enjoy it.”
to pay him great respect. Gradually he
crept out of his detached sense into full Thornton Ayre,
understanding. His brain leapt the gaps. Lancs, England.
At last it was crystal clear! He had,
automatically, become the master of the
entire race. The former master was dead: Addenda—
as the only man with intelligence enough
to unlock the doors of the arsenal his BECAUSE of lack of space in the last issue,
supreme power was unchallenged. Of we were unable to publish the complete list
of fanmags that Tom Wright so kindly sent us.
course! He had his full brain now; the
We print herewith the remainder. As Mr.
fifth section that had been owned by Walt Wright pointed out in his letter to us, these
Banning had been grafted onto his own. publications are not amateur, and stf. fans should
The body of Walt Banning had been not expect to receive them free of charge.
smashed to atoms in that final heroic dive,
but this brain had escaped immediate in­ FANTASY-NEWS @ 3 for 10^ from 31-81
jury, had been removed in the nick of time. 41st St., Long Island City, N. Y.
And now ? Now he understood. Strange
how he forgot Walt Banning. Now he was FANTASY FICTIONEER @ 10/ from Sully
conscious of only being the supremely Roberds, 922 West Division St., Normal, Ill.
brilliant master of this already brilliant The official organ of the Illini Fantasy Fic-
race. Now that he had a complete brain tioneers. Mimeographed.
he could provide ways and means for the
others to gain their full brain power too. PLUTO @ 1<M from L. S. & H. Club, Decker,
Synthesis, forces of life— He toyed with Ind. Humor and drawings. Mimeographed.
ideas that only a complete brain could toy
with. GOLDEN ATOM @ 1(M from Larry B. Far-
Lance Bugan, Saunders, and the others ? saci, 48 Lewis St., Rochester, N. Y. Poetry
They were the last of the experiment—that and collectors’ articles. Mimeographed.
ghastly, mighty experiment in life that had
come to an end. The servants had saved PSFS NEWS @ 5<f from Jack Agnew and
the masters. Robert A. Madle, 2308 E. Belgrade St., Phil­
He was the Master! He turned slowly adelphia, Penna. Local news. Mimeographed.
and gazed on the activity. Mighty ideas
pounded again through his vast dome case, THE SCIENTAL @ 10/ from Bob Studley,
and with them a certain conclusion. Never 519 W. 134th St., New York City. General
again must a scientist part with a vital por­ fan material. Mimeographed.
tion of his brain or body. That way lay YEARBOOK OF WEIRD, SCIENCE AND
destruction, and because of it a world of FANTASY FICTION @ 20/ from Bob
struggling bipeds had been wiped out. Tucker, Box 260, Bloomington, Ill. Gives com­
Never again! He, especially, must stay plete data on every stf. story published last
as he was—complete. The supreme Master! year. Mimeographed.
 0
0

' I 'HERE’S not much doubt about it, fans. You picked the
winners of original illustrations from the Fall issue. They’re
Bob Tucker with a score of 60, Charles Hidley with a score
of 42 and Isaac Asenion with a score of 9. (These scores
aren’t based on letters received—just our own cock-eyed sys­
tem.) Now here’s a flock of new offerings to the altar.
Hop on ’em, stf. fans, and let us know your choices. Re­
member, the three best get original illustrations from this
issue.

MERELY THE MOST RAPIDLY IMPROVING

MAGAZINE IN AMERICA 3136 Q St.
Lincoln, Nebr.
Dear Editor:
All those hard words which I have applied to PS in the
past are hereby declared null and void! I have just finished
reading the Fall issue of the most rapidly improving mag in
America. You can’t go wrong with such stories as “The
I* Ultimate Salient,” decidedly one of the best by one of the
best, Nelson S. Bond; “Quest on Io,” a very entertaining
tale, by an author who seems able to write stories of all grades,
from the very worst, to the very best; “The Planet That Time
Forgot,” the best story on this particular theme since Dr.
Breuer’s, back in “the good(?) old days”; "Hermit of Saturn’s
Ring,” with some neat characterization; and,—well, why con­
tinue? Selwyn’s adventure suited me least, but it is a good
adventure yarn of its type. If you keep on improving at
the present rate—but there MUST be a limit somewhere!
Anyway, you are going to get suggestions that you go bi­
monthly; and, on the basis of this issue, I think they will
be justified.
For the prize letters, I nominate Bob Tucker’s for first,
Charles Hidley’s, for second, and Izaac Asim—oops! Asenion’s,
for third. But, if you want to turn them around, it is Okay
with me. The latter has voiced my favorite plea, “Down with
'slop’ in science-fiction 1” Hidley calls me a “constant groaner”;
but several letters in this issue “groan” about the same items;
and Tucker sets us all straight on that strange but interesting
mutant, the non-story-reading collector! All in all, the en­
larged “Visigraph” is greatly appreciated.
The cover is greatly improved, with the fully-clothed Red­
head replacing the “over-exposed blonde” of previous issues,
although the scene presented must have been taken from a
story by the artist, since it is not taken from any tale in the mag.
 Paul has turned out one of his best drawings But there is one squawk I’ll have to make.
of the year for Bond’s fine story. Rosenthal For FOUR issues the hero and heroine have
and Lynch also do very well. Morey has done cavorted on the cover, blowing up rocket ships,
some good work, at times, but he didn’t do it etc. Please, dear Editor, do SOMETHING to
for Cummings’ story. relieve the monotony—even the picture of an
The plea for smooth edges at this time is a orange-eyed zwilnik from the 5th planet of Alpha
little premature; but, with the increased circula­ Centauri would be better. Seriously though, I
tion which this issue is SURE to bring, it may would like to have Paul do a cover illustrating
be justified shortly. Here’s hoping! a story—preferably machinery at which he excels.
Yours sincerely, To complete the art survey: the interior draw­
D. B. Thompson. ings are very good, the ones by Paul and Lynch
Editor’s Note: Go on Mr. Thompson! I bet being the best.
you tell that to all the editors, Now for the stories. “The Ultimate Salient”
is, of course, the best—and contains a rather
unique idea. It also paints a happy picture of
LAURELS FOR the future of democracy? The rest of the
LYNCH General Delivery, stories are fair, though not quite up to the level
of the Summer issue. This is probably just a
Fort B. Harrison, lull before PS begins to improve again. The
Indiana. two departments are improving—and the best let­
Dear Editor: ters in the Vizigraph are Tucker, Hidley, and
A few crits and back-slapping: The flying Hurter in that order.
belt on the cover is impractical because the Suggestion: why not raise price to quarter and
wearer could stick an arm or leg into the rocket trim edges?
stream and then be minus a leg or an arm. William Stoy.
Why does he need thick clothing and an oxygen
helmet when the lady needs neither and seems Editor’s Note: Wait till your eye lights on the
to be quite contented. The color contrast was next cover job,
very good but I believe the covers should be
more scientific.
In Rosenthal’s picture, “Quest on Io,” the WISHES COME 2541 Aqueduct Ave.,
woman’s facial expression bothers me. Will TRUE New York, New York.
Rosenthal kindly tell me whether it is love,
anger, fear, etc. The picture was hazy except Dear Editor:
for the symmetrical lines of the airship. I wish to first thank you most sincerely for
Don Lynch is your best. In his picture of printing my letter, thereby giving me a chance-
“Buccaneer of the Star Seas” we find the best even though very slight with Tucker, Thompson
as represented by the ship. The ship itself and Azimov in the same issue—of obtaining one
is a wonder of scientific imagination. I ask for of those very beautiful illustrations in the Fall
more of him and less of Rosenthal’s present publication. After you are so good to present
work. Don’s small sketch of Carlyle and the it, it depends on me to win it and I am praying
friar rate generous applause. The picture makes my best. I’ll have the gall to give my prefer­
them live more vividly thru-out the story. He ences, those being: 1 Paul, 2 Lynch (Hermit
has another wonderful picture of ships of the of Saturn’s Ring) and 3 Morey (Revolt in the
future in “Hermit of Saturn’s Rings.” The Ice Empire). Enough of wishful thinking.
sketch of Jasper was even better than that of The Drake (?) cover did not accurately depict
Carlyle and the friar. His picture of “Venus any scene from the Cummings’ novel and had a
Has Green Eyes” was a detriment to his abil­ poor style, but of the nine stf magazine covers
ity. I think we should have his ships in color presented in the month of July it copped fifth
on the cover or framed in the book by simple place and had four of the biggest “name” mags
black lines. trailing it. Of the illustrations, Paul’s effort
The stories were average and the pictures did easily led the field with the new-comer, Don
help them up a lot. Top ranking was “Hermit Lynch, doing swell stuff in black, a style both
of Saturn’s Rings” and “The Ultimate Salient” off the general types and also pleasing to the eye..
running a close second. Rosenthal is refreshing but it takes some time
If some of the science rag-chewers wish to to cultivate any keen liking for his work. I
drop me a line I will be thankful. would prefer him in weird channels, I think.
A Crank, Please don’t listen to readers with complaints
Joe Fitzgerald. against Morey, an artist with, such a unique style
Editor’s Note: Even Rosenthal has to admit that I rate him amongst my favorites despite his
that the “Quest on lo’s” lady has her emotions faults. Give him machines and ships and cities
mixed. The main trouble though is adenoids. to do and his real worth will soon become ap­
parent. I’d like to see cover work by Paul
and Morey and the others, and am sorry that
you prefer one-artist covers.
WANTED—ONE ORANCE-EYED It was delightful to read another link in Bond’s
ZWILNIK 140-92 Burden Crescent, series that have now appeared in three different
Jamaica, N. Y. mags to date. The adventures of O’Shea was
Dear Editor : the best of the four and the one complaint is
When I first bought PS I thought it was an­ its brevity. Ed Earl’s Repp’s weird “Buccaneer”
other of those low-grade s-f mags, that seem to is second on this list, with Domain of Zero
spring up over night (curiously, this type either such a close third it was almost a tie.
disappears again almost as quickly or improves). It amazes me the way Neil R. Jones has been
But after perusing it I found the grade of stories held down for so many years. His recent flood
were high. And so another reader joined the of work in this field has hardly been mediocre,
happy little fold. and the No. 4 Hermit yarn is another proof
that his is a good thing to have. Lynch is a he has ever done, and Bond’s batter is the
fine artist, but should beware of comic-strip best he has stirred up yet.
effects and should round out his work to a three- Give the illus. in the Fall issue to Charley
dimensional perspective. This latter idea was Hidley, Tucker, and Fred Hurter in the order
completely lost in the No. 2 story drawing. named.
The Planet that Time Forgot has an old plot, One thing more, change your covets and
but because of Wollheim’s novel development and give us some space scenes such as a battle be­
construction it became a plot with a new angle tween two or more Space vessels or intricate
worthy of a second perusal and also fine for fifth machines, etc., in fact almost anything, but Puh-
place. I’m sorry that Cummings’ cover story lease no more hero rescues heroine from villain
gets only the No. 6 spot, but the plot was so old type you have been featuring. And now to swipe
and the action trite and overdone to such a a quotation from Lowell Thomas and say,
boring state, that this had to sink down. Morey So long until next issue,
good here. Robert Stoker.
I have Qitcst on Io down for seventh place,
but on looking over this short I almost feel it
should be in fifth. Oh, well, the talking animal NOT A BAD IDEA—ABOUT OSCAR
there isn’t new so I guess it’ll stay there. Last
is the Selwyn short, merely human-interest stuff, 312 East Elm Street,
but with such a grand climactic punch that it Scranton, Pennsylvania,
deserves more. Dear Editor:
To be frank, the Fall issue was not as good I have two reasons for writing this letter; one
as the Summer one, but perhaps we can blame is to try and win an original Paul or Lynch
that to the heat. So sorry you had but one full­ drawing, and the second is to ask you to an­
page, framed pic this issue, but will hope for nounce somewhere in the next issue of PLANET
them next time. I dislike “spreads,” but if STORIES that I should like to communicate
they are neatly done I suppose complaint is unfair. with all readers in Scranton and the vicinity who
I’d gladly pay a higher price for trimmed edges. are interested in forming a local fan club. All
Your book is so aristocratic with the sane print­ interested should write me care of the above
ing and few advertisements that TE would add address or telephone 2-2554.
much toward a bigger seller. You cannot know Now I come to •the Fall issue of Planet Stories.
what a delight it is to miss the Pepsi-Cola cops, ‘The best story in the issue was Wellheim's “The
the Sen-Sen horned germs and the Burma stub­ Planet that Time Forgot.” The author’s ex­
bles, not to mention “I Talked with God (Yes, planation of the different time-rate between the
Actually and Literally),” and though I realize two worlds seemed very plausible. Wollheim
that advertisements are a mag’s life blood, I seems to be an up-and-coming author.
hope you shan’t have to resort to them in the “Hermit of Saturn’s Ring,” by Neil R. Jones,
future. is a close second to Wollheim’s tale. Perhaps,
Keep away from sloppy mush, an item that In fact, there was no incredible theory in the
was very prevalent this time, with three or four story. There also was not much action, but
yarns crawling with it. Better than the first two Jones’ descriptions of all that Jasper did, saw and
issues in that much of it has been deleted. encountered were very interesting. Even though
I guess I didn’t win that Fall Paul after all, I perceived the escape of the white monster, and
and I realize this longwinded bunch of zero won’t even though the characterization was handled
have a chance Maybe Spring issue, hunh? poorly in some parts, I still say the story was
Thanks, interesting enough to be in second place.
Charles Hidley.
A fair third place is filled by Bond’s “The
Editor’s Note: Why wait for Spring, Mr. Hid­ Ultimate Salient.” This is what might be called
ley? On the strength of your previous letter a science fiction story, but the fact that it is, in
you’re due for either the Lynch or the Morey part, a war tale spoiled it a little. Too much war
as soon as we hear from Bob Tucker, concerning is sneaking into stf. There seems to be a slight
his first choice. error in the story. In the story proper it is
made clear that one Eben Clinton is passing on
ONE, TWO, THREE the story. Therefore, in the note in italics on
page eighteen his initials and not Bond’s should
Mountain Home, Idaho. appear. Right or wrong?
Dear Editor: Williams’ story, “Quest on Io,” presents a new
The three best letters in Fall issue of Planet character, of which I would like to see more.
Stories are, in my opinion: None other than Oscar, the Ganymedian honey
No. 1—Charles Hidley bear, who provided some humor for me. You
“ 2—Bob Tucker ought to try and get some humorous stories, and
“ 3—Isaac Asenion also more with Oscar in the cast.
Repp’s new twist to the immortal tale “Buc­
Emrys Evans, caneer of the Star Seas” puts that story in fifth
place. The other three stories are fair.
BOTTLED IN BOND Lagro, Indiana. The best artists presented in the issue are
Paul, Lynch, Morey, and Rosenthal. Your two
Dear Editor: new1 artists are a lot better than some new artists
A short, short recipe for top-notch stories— that other stf mags have produced. Who did
A several thousand-word batter well mixed by the cover? It is an admirable piece of work.
one Nelson S. Bond, add frosting by Patil Tucker, Hidley, and Thompson, in the order
and bake in “Planet Stories.” named, should receive the originals. I miss your
For results of said recipe consult “Planet editorial comments on the letters. A few things
Stories” for Fall 1940, and I might add that irritate me. If you are going to nut a date on
Paul’s frosting on that job is one of the best one letter, date the others also. Either put the
names and addresses before or after all letters. nothing could be conceived more silly and ex­
The fourth issue is the only issue of PS that travagant.”
I have read, and I am not sorry I read it. It I am an amateur artist myself, and I imagine
has induced me to find time to read the previous there are quite a few more in the fan ranks.
issues. Keep future issues as the fourth one was I would appreciate a department which described
and you will have me for a steady reader. incidents of coming stories, for which the
Plantascientomically yours, amateur artist could send in entries. They could
Rajocz. then appear in the corresponding story in addition
Ed.’s NoTE:Concerning page 18—you’re right. to the regular artist’s work. Accurate directions
We and Bond were very, very wrong. would be necessary for the guidance of the en­
trants. For example, one couldn’t have three
Jovian Lionosaurs devouring a planet scout when
PAGING MISS MOROJO— it distinctly said in the story, “two and one-half
Jovian Lionosaurs devouring a large red fungus.”
70 Leuty Ave., My choice for the most interesting letter in the
Toronto, Ont. fall issue is Bob Tucker. Then Mr. Asenion and
Dear Editor: Charles Hidley. Now closing with high hopes,
I purchased the first issue of Planet Stories I remain
because I am in the habit of buying first issues Yours stfictionally,
of all science fiction magazines. Like most, this
first issue did not come up to expectations, but S. C, Goldsmith.
because of its promise of improvement I was
reluctant to ignore it. Now I am glad I did nof.
The advent of Paul and Morey as illustrators MORE OF THESE HONEYS!
raised it the first step, and the great improve­
ment in stories by recognized leaders brings it Imperial Bank of Canada,
to the elevation of any publication in this field. Cobalt, Ont.
When one sees Paul in a publication, one realizes
the editor is versed in science fiction tradition Dear’ Editor :
and is aware of its unique attraction; not merely Just a word about your No. 4 issue of Planet
a western magazine gone futuristic. regarding the- cover. The faces of bodies of the
I will not attempt to rate the stories individu­ foremost people are excellently drawn. But the
ally. Suffice it to say the trend is toward the background 1 Oof— The people near the ship
best. Paul’s illustration for “The Ultimate Salient” (I take it they are to be people) look like im­
is very well done. The humans are secondary to mense monstrosities or fat gorillas. They are
the machine, in which Frank R. excels. Rosen­ far from being proportionate to- a man. Another
thal is also quite good. He has a knack for1 alien odd-looking feature is the 3 men up in the air
beings; Oscar and the “creatures” of Domain being blown out of the Rocket Ship. Somehow
of Zero. As he will not be with you- long, by all it doesn’t hit the right spot when you look at
means utilize his skill to the utmost while you it. (Now for another drawing.)
can. About the -one. on page No. 2. It is an ex­
I usually have a motive for any letter I write cellently detailed drawing by Paul, -but it would
to a science fiction magazine. In this case it is have to be spoiled by the “continued on the next
the hope of an original drawing, preferably by page” idea. That white space of about 1%
Paul, after Paul a good Morey. I have quite inches spoils it considerably. Think we can ever
a stf. collection but am lacking an original Paul. have the keen drawings like that done with yel­
An unheard of situation for any avid fan to low or blue ink?
be in. The drawing on page -No. 33 is quite good as
To weaken competition for myself I waited a relief effect picture.
till some of the number one fans voiced their Drawings on pages No. 41 and 57 are excellent.
thoughts. 4S J., number one fan by popular
vote, and Bob Tucker, number one fan in Bob The diagram: accompanying “The Planet That
Tucker’s opinion, have now both aired their Time Forgot” on page No. 70 strikes one queerly
views. Now I have only to worry about Morojo. as you note the tallness of the two persons in
By the way, what exactly is her true identity. the background. Diagram on page No. 81 is
I have heard that Morojo is an Esperanto word novel and new in style, therefore quite pleasing.
The covers are still too gaudy and comic, but Ah!—now we come to the one—by Don Lynch,
at least in this issue the earthlings have moved on page No. 92. It is splendid. The black relief
from the ship’s door. For fan’s sake use more idea is excellent, giving one a good idea of the
dignified cover illustrations. For instance a lighting, that the planet receives in the same
sliver-gray rocket on a dark, star-studded back­ breath. We want more of these honeys!
ground, a party of humans in futuristic dress, Drawing on page No. 101 has excellent per­
the lounge of a space liner or a planetary view. spective, but the lady in foreground ruins it
I heartily agree with Mr. Asenion concerning quite a bit by the clawlike hand and style of
cheap blood-and-thunder and heroes of the type headdress.
of Superman, Garbageman, etc. The stories Please accept my lowly criticisms with good
might also be improved if, before passing out a will. I mean no harm! The stories are excellent
crisp checque for a Planet Story, you considered and I often find the shortest ones are best, so
a very true statement concerning science fiction how about lengthening the short?
once made by H. G. Welles. Even better, frame
a copy and place it on your desk where it may Hoping to see this in the “Vizigraph,” I re­
main,
leer at you at all times. Statement: “When this
kind of thing is attempted by clumsy writers who Yours truly,
do not understand its elementary principles, Paul I, Cuttle,
NOTRE DAME’S
YEAR?
Or will a tiny, obscure
Pacific Coast outfit trip
the tall Irish in the
season’s opener?

OW about COR-

H NELL—can the Big

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OHIO STATE derail that
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broad Southwest, where
champions never repeat,
rumor has it that the sure­
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to blast a hallowed prec­
edent. And on the Coast, what is hap­ Edited by Eddie Dooley
pening to the diploma-wrecked Trojans
—is the U.S.C. colossus losing its Rose 96 rotogravure page*
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