Time after time he leaped to his feet, as if about to dash across to one of the control stations; but each time he sank back into his seat at the desk. One firing station would be little, if any, better than none at all. Besides, that accursed Lensman was back of this. He was—must be—right here in the dome, somewhere. Hewantedhim to leave this desk; that was what he was waiting for! As long as he stayed at the desk he himself was safe. For that matter, this whole dome was safe. The projector had never been mounted that could break downthosescreens. No—no matter what happened, he would stay at the desk!
Kinnison, watching, marveled at his fortitude. He himself could not have stayed there, he knew; and he also knew now that Helmuth was going to stay. Time was flying; five of the fifteen minutes were gone. He had hoped that Helmuth would leave that well-protected inner sanctum, with its unknown potentialities; but if the pirate would not come out, the Lensman would go in. The storming of that inner stronghold was what his new armor had been designed for.
In he went, but he did not catch Helmuth napping. Even before he crashed the screens his own defensive zones burst into furiously coruscant activity, and through that flame there came tearing the metallic slugs of a high-caliber machine rifle.
Ha! Therewasa rifle, even though he had not been able to find it! Clever guy, that Helmuth! And what a break that he had taken time to learn how to hold this suit up against the trickiest kind of machine-rifle fire!
Kinnison's screens were almost those of a battleship; his armor almost, relatively, as strong. And he could hold that armor upright. Therefore, through the raging beam of the semiportable projector he plowed, and straight up that torrent of raging steel he drove his way. And now from his own mighty projector, against Helmuth's armor, there raved out a beam scarcely less potent than that of a semiportable. The Lensman's armor did not mount a water-cooled machine rifle—there was a limit to what even that powerful structure could carry—but grimly, with every faculty of his newly enlarged mind concentrated upon that thought-screened, armored head behind the belching gun, Kinnison held his line and forged ahead.
But Helmuth could not now reach that ball of force—and Kinnison's mighty armor forged undamaged through the hail of metal.
But Helmuth could not now reach that ball of force—and Kinnison's mighty armor forged undamaged through the hail of metal.
But Helmuth could not now reach that ball of force—and Kinnison's mighty armor forged undamaged through the hail of metal.
Well it was that the Lensmanwasconcentrating upon that screened head; for when the screen weakened slightly and a thought began to seep through it toward an enigmatically sparkling ball of force, Kinnison was ready. He blanketed the thought savagely, before it could take form, and attacked the screen so viciously that Helmuth had either to restore full coverage instantly or die then and there. For the Lensman had studied that ball long and earnestly. It was the one thing about the whole base that he could not understand, the one thing, therefore, of which he had been uneasily afraid.
But he was afraid of it no longer. It was operated, he now knew, by thought; and, no matter how terrific its potentialities might be, it now was and would remain perfectly harmless; for if the pirate chief softened his screen enough to emit a thought, he would never think again.
Therefore, Kinnison rushed. At full blast he hurdled the rifle and crashed full against the armored figure behind it. Magnetic clamps locked and held; and, driving projectors furiously ablaze, he whirled around and forced the madly struggling Helmuth back, toward the line along which the bellowing rifle was still spewing forth a continuous storm of metal.
Helmuth's utmost efforts sufficed only to throw the Lensman out of balance, and both figures crashed to the floor. Now the madly fighting armored pair rolled over and over—straight into the line of fire.
First Kinnison—the bullets whining, shrieking off the armor of his personal battleship and crashing through or smashing ringingly against whatever happened to be in the ever-changing line of ricochet. Then Helmuth—and the fierce-driven metal slugs tore, in their multitudes, through his armor and through his body, riddling his every vital organ.
[1]In the "big teardrops"—cruisers and battleships—the driving force is always directed upward, along the geometrical axis of the ship, and the artificial gravity is always downward along that same line. Thus, throughout any possible maneuvering, free or inert, "down" and "up" have the same significance as within any Earthly structure.These vessels are ordinarily landed only in special docks, but in emergencies can be landed almost anywhere, sharp stern down, as their immense weight drives them deep enough into even the hardest ground to keep them upright. They sink in water, but are readily maneuverable, even under water.
[1]In the "big teardrops"—cruisers and battleships—the driving force is always directed upward, along the geometrical axis of the ship, and the artificial gravity is always downward along that same line. Thus, throughout any possible maneuvering, free or inert, "down" and "up" have the same significance as within any Earthly structure.
These vessels are ordinarily landed only in special docks, but in emergencies can be landed almost anywhere, sharp stern down, as their immense weight drives them deep enough into even the hardest ground to keep them upright. They sink in water, but are readily maneuverable, even under water.
[2]Navigation. Each ship has a reference sphere held rigidly by gyroscopes so that its great circle of galactic longitude is always parallel to the galactic equator. Its line of zeros is always parallel to the line joining Centralia, the central solar system of the galaxy, with the system of Vandemar, which is on its very rim. Thus, courses are expressed in galactic longitude and latitude, from 0 to 360 degrees in each circle.Position is expressed in galactic coördinates of "x," "y," and "z." The origin is at Centralia, and the line of positive "x" is the above-mentioned Centralia-Vandemar line.The position of the ship in the galaxy is known at all times by that of a moving dot in the tank. This dot is shifted automatically by calculating machines coupled inductively to the leads of the drives. When the ship is inert this device is inoperative, as any distance traversed in inert flight is entirely negligible in galactic computations. Due to various perturbations and other slight errors, cumulative discrepancies occur, for which the pilot must from time to time correct manually the position of the dot in the tank representing his ship.
[2]Navigation. Each ship has a reference sphere held rigidly by gyroscopes so that its great circle of galactic longitude is always parallel to the galactic equator. Its line of zeros is always parallel to the line joining Centralia, the central solar system of the galaxy, with the system of Vandemar, which is on its very rim. Thus, courses are expressed in galactic longitude and latitude, from 0 to 360 degrees in each circle.
Position is expressed in galactic coördinates of "x," "y," and "z." The origin is at Centralia, and the line of positive "x" is the above-mentioned Centralia-Vandemar line.
The position of the ship in the galaxy is known at all times by that of a moving dot in the tank. This dot is shifted automatically by calculating machines coupled inductively to the leads of the drives. When the ship is inert this device is inoperative, as any distance traversed in inert flight is entirely negligible in galactic computations. Due to various perturbations and other slight errors, cumulative discrepancies occur, for which the pilot must from time to time correct manually the position of the dot in the tank representing his ship.
[3]With the neutralization of inertia it was discovered that while inert mass is limited to the velocity of light, there is no limit whatever to the velocity of inertialess matter. A "free" ship takes on instantly the velocity at which the force of her drive is exactly equalled by the friction of the medium. This velocity is determined by many factors; but, assuming an ultra-fast shape, a standard mass-to-volume ratio, a power to develop an inert acceleration of ten Earth gravities, and a density of matter in space of one atom per ten cubic centimeters, such speeds are not at all unusual.It may be of interest to note here that Mays and Cornell recently made the transgalactic run along the line of zeros, from Alsakan past Centralia to Vandemar, a distance of 100,309.46 parsecs, in 1253.486 hours (Galactic Standard); thus establishing a new galactic record of 812.44 parsecs per hour for the entire distance.
[3]With the neutralization of inertia it was discovered that while inert mass is limited to the velocity of light, there is no limit whatever to the velocity of inertialess matter. A "free" ship takes on instantly the velocity at which the force of her drive is exactly equalled by the friction of the medium. This velocity is determined by many factors; but, assuming an ultra-fast shape, a standard mass-to-volume ratio, a power to develop an inert acceleration of ten Earth gravities, and a density of matter in space of one atom per ten cubic centimeters, such speeds are not at all unusual.
It may be of interest to note here that Mays and Cornell recently made the transgalactic run along the line of zeros, from Alsakan past Centralia to Vandemar, a distance of 100,309.46 parsecs, in 1253.486 hours (Galactic Standard); thus establishing a new galactic record of 812.44 parsecs per hour for the entire distance.
[4]Unlike the larger war vessels of the patrol, speedsters are very narrow in proportion to their length, and in their design nothing is considered save speed and maneuverability. Very definitely they are not built for comfort. Thus, although their gravity plates are set for horizontal flight, they have braking jets, under jets, side jets, and top jets, as well as driving jets; so that in inert maneuvering any direction whatever may seem "down," and that direction may change with bewildering rapidity.Nothing can be loose in a speedster. Everything, even to the food supplies in the refrigerators, must be clamped into place. Sleeping is done in hammocks, not in beds. All seats and resting places have heavy safety straps, and there are no loose items of furniture or equipment anywhere on board.Because they are designed for the utmost possible speed in the free condition, speedsters are extremely cranky and tricky in inert flight, unless they are being handled upon their under jets, which are designed and placed specifically and only for inert flight.Some of the ultra-fast vessels of the pirates, as will be brought out later, were also of this shape and design.
[4]Unlike the larger war vessels of the patrol, speedsters are very narrow in proportion to their length, and in their design nothing is considered save speed and maneuverability. Very definitely they are not built for comfort. Thus, although their gravity plates are set for horizontal flight, they have braking jets, under jets, side jets, and top jets, as well as driving jets; so that in inert maneuvering any direction whatever may seem "down," and that direction may change with bewildering rapidity.
Nothing can be loose in a speedster. Everything, even to the food supplies in the refrigerators, must be clamped into place. Sleeping is done in hammocks, not in beds. All seats and resting places have heavy safety straps, and there are no loose items of furniture or equipment anywhere on board.
Because they are designed for the utmost possible speed in the free condition, speedsters are extremely cranky and tricky in inert flight, unless they are being handled upon their under jets, which are designed and placed specifically and only for inert flight.
Some of the ultra-fast vessels of the pirates, as will be brought out later, were also of this shape and design.
[Transcriber's Note: Chapter V. heading missing in original text.]