CHAPTER XIII
The War Between the Worlds
Gary Lane's immediate reaction to these incredible words was a swift and regretful commiseration. The little man plainly did not know what he was saying. The rigors of the long and arduous trip had undermined his nerve. Now this final, most perilous adventure had completely disrupted his morale.
Lane said soothingly, "Easy, Doctor. It's not so bad as all that. It'll be all over in a few minutes. Here, sit down and rest—"
And he moved a few paces toward the rotund little savant. But Anjers, moving even more swiftly, evaded him. He darted back, a hand dipping into one capacious pocket of his jacket, and when that hand emerged it gripped the hilt of an ugly Haemholtz ray pistol. With this Anjers covered his stunned companions.
"Stand back, Lane! Another step and I'll—Aaah, that's better." There was no cherubic placidity on his features now. Nothing but pure, unadulterated malevolence. "No, my friends, I am not, as you think, unnerved or mad. I am in complete possession of my senses ... and have been all along. Too much so to permit that you outcasts of Gog shall ever achieve your purpose—"
"Boris!" cried Dr. Bryant. "Whateveristhe matter? Calm down man, for God's sake!"
"Gog?" spluttered Flick Muldoon. "What's he mean, Gog?"
And Gary Lane, remembering it was wise to humor the deranged, said in as calm a voice as he could muster, "Now, Dr. Anjers please! Be calm. Rest a while."
"Rest?" Anjers' voice broke almost hysterically. "Yes ... rest. That is good. When the red button is pressed, we willallrest, eternally."
"What do you mean?" demanded Lark O'Day harshly.
"I mean it was an evil day for you, pirate, when you cast your lot with these too-ambitious thwarters of destiny. For this journey is, and has been since its beginning, doomed to failure. I, theKraedarBorisu, Prae-consul of Magog, have seen to that!"
"Now it'sMagog!" cried Muldoon. "A minute ago it was Gog. What's all this double talk—Gog and Magog?"
Gog and Magog! The two names struck a familiar spark in Gary Lane's brain. The ancient legend of Earth, about which they had been talking only the other day. A folk tale of an elder age when giants walked the earth and strove mightily amongst themselves.
The dim beginnings of a horrible conception stirred within him, and he repeated the words. "Gog and Magog. Not two mythical persons, but two worlds. Two ancient worlds embattled."
Anjers' half-mad laughter rang shrill in the tense control turret. "You surpass yourself, Dr. Lane. Sometimes your swift intuition amazes me. Yes, you have guessed the truth. A truth forgotten by man for countless centuries. Therearetwo worlds—two worlds which one time warred. The name of one is Magog. That is the planet whereon I was born, from which I came to Earth. The name of the other was Gog. It was the solar globe which one time circled your sun between Mars and Jupiter. Long ages ago our two great empires strove in bitter conflict. Long ages agoyourtime, that is. In the Greater Universe—the true universe—of which Magog is still a dominant part, time has passed more slowly. To our people it has been but a score of years since our great weapons crumbled Gog to destruction and hurled your entire solar system into the doom which now approaches its climax."
Nora Powell cried, "Then Gary's theory was right! The cosmic raysarea deliberate force being played upon our solar system to destroy it. And you—you—"
"I am one of a race pledged to the utter obliteration of your people," snarled Anjers. "Yes. Had you not been blind and trusting fools you should have realized this long since. I did my utmost to prevent this expedition. And even though through fortunate follies on your part my efforts came to naught, now at the end triumph shall be mine!"
Gary said dazedly, "Then—then the marauder in the laboratory, thatwasyou! And the informer whose distorted revelations caused the World Council to reject our pleas—"
"And it was you," challenged Muldoon, "who stumbled and fell at the Space Patrol port, almost ruining our escape? You, too, who suggested we turn back when Venus refused usneurotrope—"
"And it was also you," said Dr. Kang gravely, "who from the engine room tampered with the controls of the force-shield on Jupiter, imperiling all our lives? You who insisted we should set our course toward Proxima Centauri rather than Sirius—"
Boris Anjers, or "Borisu", as he now designated himself, bowed mockingly. But his grip was still firm upon the butt of the Haemholtz pistol, and his eyes carefully guarded against sudden movement by his erstwhile comrades.
"Yes, my friends," he taunted. "It was I who did these things. Your belated recognition of my exploits is amusing ... but not significant. For it wasalsoI who, a short while ago, reset the verniers of the Jovian quadridimensional drive. In a few short moments I shall press the red key which unfolds the space warp. When that happens, success will finally crown my efforts. For in this room are gathered the half dozen Earthmen capable of staying your solar system's destruction. With your passing dies the last hope of saving your universe."
O'Day's eyes were narrowed slits. He rasped dryly, "Haven't you forgotten something else, Dr. Anjers.Youare one of our party. When that red stud is depressedyouwill share our fate."
The Magogean traitor asked proudly, "Do you think, scavenger of the spaceways,thatconsideration would in any way alter my act? When I was assigned to espionage service in your universe, I knew and accepted the perils of my post. The death of one Magogean is a small price to pay for the complete and final destruction of your hated empire. And now—"
A smile of fanatic triumph touched his lips as he moved toward the banked studs. But Gary, staring beyond him, had been watching with a glimmer of hope the frantic gesturings of Captain Hugh Warren. While the Magogean spy boasted, Warren had been inching toward theLiberty'sintercommunicating audio system. He was now but a few feet from the diaphragm over which his voice could be borne to every nook and cranny of the ship. His eyes pled desperately with Gary to stall the small Magogean a while longer.
Gary answered with no sign but with action. He cried, "But Dr. Anjers—"
"The name, my foolish young Quixote, is not 'Anjers' but 'Borisu'. The second name I adopted to comply with your silly Earth tradition of two names for a single entity. It is an amusing joke. In our tongue the word 'anjers' means 'the fox'."
"Fox," growled Lark O'Day, "spelled r-a-t."
"But tell me, Borisu," persisted Gary, "if we are to die, there can be no harm in our knowing now ... why do your people bear such fierce hatred for those of our universe?"
Borisu glowered darkly. "That is a story too long to tell in its entirety. But a portion Iwilltell you that you may die realizing the implacable enmity of all Magogeans.
"It is a story which goes back many years—as we measure time in the true universe. Many millenia of your brief solar time.
"In true space once existed side by side two universes. That of our mother sun, which you call Sirius, and that of your parent star—Sol. Life spawned on the planets of these two systems; human life evolved. Men similar to you and me grew in stature and wisdom, developed civilizations, cultures.
"All this was long ago. For ages untold each planet lived in ignorance of its neighbors. But some two hundred years ago—I measure chronology now in Universal Constant time, which is the only true measurement—that race of azure-tinted humans who peopled Sol's fifth planet—"
"The predecessors of the Jovians?"
"Yes, they. The Gogeans they called themselves, for the name of their world was Gog. Their science discovered, as has recently your Earthly science re-discovered, space travel. Their employment of this knowledge was a parallel to your own. They ventured, explored, expanded. They colonized, transporting their people to the other worlds of your sun. They set up outposts, carrying their superior culture to every habitable world. So potent was their rule, so all-embracing their lordship, that all the other planets' creatures they made slaves, shuttling them back and forth between the worlds as they had need of them."
Dr. Kang interrupted, "Then my theory was right, at least in part? Space travelisresponsible for the commingling of planetary types."
"Yes," nodded Borisu. "And had the Gogeans gone no farther than this, their worlds might still exist. Their people might still be a great people instead of the decadent sprinkling we met on Jupiter.
"But they were not content with draining the wealth of one solar system. No, they must venture afar. So Gogean space-vessels, a mighty armada of them, came to our neighboring system, there by weight of superior science wreaked havoc on our cities, slew our brave warriors and set themselves up as rulers not only of their system but of our own.
"But their tyranny was short-lived. Though our race had not solved the secret of spaceflight, still our scientists possessed a vast knowledge. They turned to the construction of a weapon which should overthrow the interlopers. You know the result, because you have experienced it. Our scientists discovered an all-penetrating ray with the power of contracting the molecules of anything upon which it was turned. In brief, a 'dwindling' ray which projects what you Earthmen call gamma or cosmic rays.
"The hour for revolt was struck. Long was the warfare, and bloody. But ultimately our people were triumphant. And in judicial council, when victory had been won, it was decided that never again would Gog be granted an opportunity to threaten cosmic peace with its lust for power. And since the only way to cure a disease is by ruthlessly crushing out its roots, a gigantic cosmic ray gun was built. This was turned upon Gog—"
"And Gog," Dr. Bryant took up the tale, from the depths of his scientific wisdom supplying the details as accurately as if he had been eye witness, "dwindling, crumbled into ruins beneath the cannon's radiation. But your vengeance did not stop there. You continued to play the gun upon the whole of Sol's system. Now, not only one world but an entire universe had been contracted well-nigh to the breaking point. Shortly our parent star itself will become too densely packed to supply light, and then—"
"Then," proclaimed Borisu stridently, "our planet, called 'Magog' because it is 'the enemy of Gog', will reign triumphant throughout not only ours but througheveryuniverse."
Gary risked a swift glance at Warren. The skipper had not been idle. Moving a hair's breadth at a time he had finally gained the wall. Now a single motion of his hand would snap open the switch.
"But, Borisu," demanded Gary. "Are not your people satisfied? You have destroyed your real enemy. Must you take vengeance on the children of the other planets which never harmed you? On the descendants thousands of years removed of those with whom you once struggled?"
"That," said Borisu, "does not matter. Our vengeance will not be complete until the last despised Solarian is destroyed. Only then—Stop!I warned you—"
His ray pistol, whirling to bear upon Warren, spat viciously. Its flame cracked across the turret to blast at the spot where Hugh but a moment before had stood. But its lethal tongue barely licked Warren's uniform. With a blinding movement the captain had smashed open the audio key, bawled,Engine room! Hypos on, quickly!
Then no more, for a second flare of the pistol dropped him, choking, to the floor. Its searing blast kindled the serge of his uniform. Nora Powell screamed and impetuously lunged forward to beat at the burning cloth with bare hands. A familiar thin, high, whining shuddered through the ship, and from the engine room below came the voice of Bud Howard demanding, "Why, Skipper? I thought you told us not to—"
Then the MagogeanKraedarwheeled, his face livid. "Enough," he rasped. "It will do you no good, Miss Powell, to extinguish that little burning. In a moment it and you andallof us will merge in a mightier flame ... Magog's blazing star!"
He laughed madly as his fist smashed down upon the crimson stud!