"Brian ... Brian—" Crystal sobbed hopelessly.
The burning streak of fire traced steadily across the sky—then abruptly it ended in a bursting nova of flaming incandescence. The light faded slowly into the twilight darkness.
"He's gone," McHague whimpered.
Serono laughed softly.
"Oh, don't sound so disappointed, McHague. You'll soon be with him." The dry click of Serono's artificial hand crisped in McHague's ears.
"No... no... Serono... wait... wait a minute—" McHague babbled. Half paralyzed with terror, he sidled desperately away from the hideous weapon in Serono's hand. "He held a gun on me.... I had to—" McHague's stumbling words trailed off as he read "Death" in Serono's eyes. His terrified scream ripped out as he turned blindly and plunged down the yawning blackness of the shaft.
Serono's dry chuckle stirred like the rustling wings of a bat.
"And now, Crystal James—" He turned. There was nothing but the impassive stillness of the jungle; the girl was not in sight.
"—and that, gentlemen, completes my report on the present status of Venus. This folder contains the vital statistics for the period since your last inspection. You will find there the reason for me presenting this report instead of Governor McHague. He was killed, together with Mr. Hanson, Chief of Research for Venus Consolidated, in an explosion during an experiment in rocketry which Mr. Hanson was conducting."
"Ah, thank you, Zeburzac." Chief Inspector Nathan accepted the final folio of the voluminous annual report on Venus. He sat with the other members of the Board of Inspection in the governor's offices as they carefully sorted through the stacks of report form and record sheets. "Hm-m-m—I see you have a Crystal James listed here as killed in an aircraft accident. Was she one of the old Venusian family of James?"
Serono nodded regretfully. "Yes, I believe she was the last of them. I knew them well."
"That is too bad," Inspector Nathan said softly. "They were a fine, old family. Well, that cleans up the report, Zeburzac; everything seems to be perfectly in order."
"Thank you, inspector." Of course, it was. He had spent three months on those reports and everything had run smoothly on schedule. In a few more hours this inquisitive crew of inspectors would be gone and Venus would be his.
The mild gentleness of Serono's face revealed nothing of his dictatorial intentions as he listened to Inspector Nathan's closing remarks. In a moment they would be offering him the governorship, legalizing the power he already possessed. With Venus in his hands to be forged into a weapon, the easy-going democracy of Earth would be no serious obstacle. What one clever man could do—Nathan was speaking.
"There is one item here, however, that seriously affects several of these reports. This Mr. Hanson—"
"Hanson? Yes, I think I mentioned, he died. A very violent explosion."
Chief Inspector Nathan's formal politeness melted abruptly in the sudden fire of his rage.
"Explosion? I know all about that explosion, you blundering murderer. Come in here, Hanson!"
"Hanson!" Serono stared in shocked unbelief at the grim figure of a man who should have died, but only for a moment. Then he leaned back and relaxed, his fingertips met and tapped rhythmically.
"Mr. Hanson—hm-m-m—this is almost unbelievable."
"Next time you plant a time bomb in a ship, don't connect it through the lighting circuit, it shows on the ammeter," Brian told him grimly. "And if you want to keep people on Venus, you should watch your freight ships more closely."
"Oh, I wasn't as careless as you might think. That trap was set for McHague. I would have made other arrangements if I had known you were to be present. As it was I thought I had got you. However, I can remedy that slight omission almost immediately."
Serono twisted abruptly to his feet. His right hand snatched at his left. The spluttering crackle of a projector flame lashed out. Serono screamed as he dropped the red-hot wreckage of his artificial hand.
"We'd been told about that, too, and I can still shoot," Inspector Nathan growled.
Serono stared stupidly at the empty socket on his left arm. His face grayed lividly. He staggered against the desk, threw out his hand for support and vanished. There was a moment of stunned silence in the room.
"It's a trapdoor!" Brian yelled and leaped for the opening. He caught a glimpse of a descending chute as the section of floor swung solidly back into place.
"Where does that lead to?" Nathan barked.
Brian didn't answer; he was already on his way. Nathan and the rest of the Board of Inspectors pounded along behind him. They thudded down two flights of stairs.
"There he goes!" The pack of inspectors let out a howl and raced down the corridor behind Brian.
Zeburzac, racing for his life, started to draw away from them. They saw him stop. There were men in the corridor ahead of him, half a dozen of them. They were on him!
Serono screamed terribly, once, as a swinging knife ripped him open. He was slammed to the floor, his head beaten in by the vicious blows of his assailants. One of them lunged viciously at the prostrate form. Brian felt sick as he saw the crushed and bloody form of Zeburzac stabbed through the middle with the yard-long spike of a giant Venusian thorn bush.
Having finished their business the killers calmly faced the projectors in the hands of Inspector Nathan and his crew.
"Who are you?" Nathan demanded.
"My name's Carlton. We're rebels. You better hurry up and shoot, it'll save you trouble."
"These men are all right," Brian defended hastily. "Serono murdered some of the Carltons."
Nathan grunted. "Well, thanks, boys. You saved us a job." He slipped his atomic projector back into its holster. "We're inspectors from Earth. We'll have to arrest you for murder, but I guess it's up to Governor Hanson here to decide what to do with you."
"Governor?"
"Yeah. That was decided before we left Earth. Where was Zeburzac heading? Where does this corridor lead to?"
"To his apartments. Maybe he had something there. I'll go and see." Brian started down the corridor.
Governor! Governor of this young, green frontier planet. There should have been a thrill in it somewhere but he felt as though he had come to the end of a pointless journey. He opened the door of Serono's apartment and stepped inside.
There was no one in the luxurious room. Brian's scalp tingled; he felt that he was not alone. He shuddered as he remembered Serono's ghastly death, then stepped quickly to the bedroom door. He opened it cautiously, then moved in and shut it noiselessly behind him. He stiffened as something prodded him in the middle of his spine.
"Don't move!" The voice was thin and vicious with hate. It stopped incredulously—"Brian!"
He swung around in amazement, and in synchronism as perfect as a trained chorus, he and Crystal James cried: "You! I thought you were dead!"
Their next moves were in perfect synchronism, too.