CHAPTER XV
Life Everlasting
"The life skiff!" thundered Hugh Warren. "That was Borisu. He's escaped to his own fleet!"
"And ruined," groaned Muldoon, "everything. Now they know who we are, where we came from, and what we want!"
MacDonald spoke again from below. "Dr. Bryant, sir—he's coming around. Shall I—?"
"Bring him up here," ordered Lane. "And for God's sake, hurry!"
The audio clicked off. Gary turned to his companions. "Whatever we're going to do, we've got to do fast. Now they've got wind of our scheme, we mayneveraccomplish it. And if we don't—"
He let the sentence dangle. But all knew as well as he what must follow if their mission failed.
Minutes later, a dazed Dr. Bryant appeared in the turret, supported on the shoulder of the young space lieutenant. He shook his head in sorrowful reply to Gary's unspoken query.
"I—I don't know. I can't remember a thing. I was here in the turret with the rest of you. The next thing I knew MacDonald was breaking an ammonia tube under my nostrils. All that happened between is—blank."
"I told you he looked sick," said Muldoon. "He looked sort of dopey. Like he was drugged or—"
"Or," burst forth Gary Lane with a sudden comprehension, "hypnotized! Doctor, could that have been it?"
Bryant stared at the younger man confusedly.
"Why—why, I don't know, Gary. It is possible. I remember now that months ago, when Anjers first came to the observatory, one evening we discussed hypnotism at great length. He claimed some small faculty along that line. I laughed and told him it was impossible for a mesmerist to gain control over a strong minded person. Why—he experimented, with me as the subject. His efforts were a complete failure. Later he acknowledged as much, and we never broached the subject again."
"You didn't have to," grunted Lark O'Day. "That experiment wasn't the failure you thought it, Doctor. On the contrary, it must have been a complete success. At that time, with your cooperation, Borisu established a control over your brain. One which he has never relinquished."
"With my cooperation? But I concentrated upon rejecting his mental suggestions—"
"That," interrupted Dr. Kang gently, "is the explanation, my good friend. You erred in saying strong wills cannot be hypnotized. Research indicates that quite the opposite is true. It isonlythe strong-willed who make good hypnotic subjects. Never the dolts, morons, the weak of brain. For in order to accept hypnotic influence, one must be able to concentrate solely upon a single thought to the exclusion of all others. And only the highly intellectual have this power. I fear it is true you have been an unwitting partner to Borisu."
"Iknowyou have," cried Gary. "There has been one thing which bothered me all along. It was not satisfactorily explained after Borisu admitted he was the one who attacked Muldoon in the observatory.Youalibied him at that time, Doctor. You said you and he were together in your office. Had it not been for this we should have discovered long ago who was the traitor in our midst."
"He," moaned the aged scientist, "must have compelled me to say that. And this time he forced me to come below, open his prison cell, and permit his escape. But what are we going to do?"
"It's not what we're going to do," fumed Flick, "but what we should have done. Itoldyou we ought to have conked that—"
"Stow it, Flick," suggested Gary. "There's no use crying over spilt milk. Borisu's skipped. So we'll have to abandon that plan of approach. We must figure the next best thing."
"Skipper? Captain Warren?" Again the intercommunicating system was alive.
"It's Sparks," said Warren, "calling from the radio turret. Yes, Sparks? What is it?"
"A telaudio message coming in. Someone calling us by name."
"Borisu," snarled O'Day.
"Pipe it down here, Sparks," ordered the commander of the vessel. "Throw it over the IC so we can all hear it."
"Very good, sir!" There was a moment's hush, then an instant of metallic confusion. Then the incoming message was retransmitted from the radio room to the control turret. A voice was calling, "Spaceship Liberty! Signalling the Liberty! Can you hear us?"
Warren glanced at his friends significantly. "ItisBorisu," he whispered. "I'd know that soapy, accented voice in a million." He pressed the activating control of the turret transmitter and answered, "SpaceshipLibertyanswering. Hugh Warren, commanding officer, speaking. Who are you? What do you want?"
Transmission cleared as the beam between the converging spacecraft strengthened. It was definitely Borisu's voice addressing them. All recognized and tensed with anger to hear the vindictive mockery in his tone.
"What, Captain? But certainly you're clever enough to know without being told. We not onlywantbutdemandthe immediate surrender of your ship!"
O'Day's face turned brick red. His lean jowls mottled with rage. In stifled tones he choked, "Surrender! That slimy rat! All right, Skipper. We know where we stand now. Let's unhinge the guns and give them—"
"They are a dozen," reminded MacDonald nervously, "to our one."
"All right! So what?" blazed O'Day. "Our weapons will more than match theirs. And we're protected by Dr. Kang's force-shield. Come on!"
He took three quick strides toward the nearest gun embrazure, and was in the act of whipping the tarpaulin from the rotor port when Borisu's voice sheered through again.
"That was the reformed corsair's voice I heard, was it not? Well,CaptainO'Day—" He stressed the title with gentle irony—"I suggest you think twice before opening hostilities. Having shared your comradeship I am well aware as to the power of your weapon and the strength of the learned Dr. Kang's force-shield. However, the weapons mounted on our craft are not the destructive type averted by electrical barriers.Ourguns are ultrawave cannon."
"Ultrawave!" repeated Dr. Kang, and stayed Lark O'Day's hand swiftly. "Stop, Lark! If he's telling the truth, our shield is useless."
"What? But I thought it would stop anything."
"Anything of material or radiant nature—exceptcosmic rays. They will penetrateallmatter; even our force-shield. One blast of their guns can loose upon us the dwindling destruction which they have been using to destroy our universe."
"Well spoken, Dr. Kang," came the taunting voice from afar. "You grasp essential truths with admirable swiftness. And now—your surrender, Captain? You will drop your force-shield, permitting a boarding party to enter your ship."
All the while the Magogean had been speaking, Hugh Warren's fingers had been twisting dials on the control panel. Now, his face aflame with anger, he roared defiantly, "Like hell we will, Borisu. The Space Patrol dies but never surrenders! If you want to board us ...come find us!"
And his finger pressed suddenly down upon the green key installed by the Jovian engineers. A violent shudder trembled theLibertyfrom stem to stern, warped plates screamed in metal agony, and for an instant it seemed the straining ship would shake herself to shards, so great was the shock of that abrupt movement.
But even as lurching passengers tumbled headlong upon the metal deck, as contact broke abruptly between their ship and the Magogean fleet, Warren pressed a second stud: this time the red one.
Then horror loomed upon horror. For in the vision plate which fore-shadowed theLiberty'strajectory, appeared a gigantic darkness blotting out all space.
Gary Lane cried hoarsely, "My God, what—"
"Hugh!" screamed Nora Powell. "What have you done?"
But Warren's voice smashed through their cries of dismay, roaring crisp orders to the control room below. "Search-beams, Howard!"
And the young engineer's voice came back shakily, "Aye, sir! Search beams it is, sir!"
The darkness before them was rent with silver radiance. And what had seemed a black, impenetrable nothingness was now revealed as a black landscape over which theLibertywas hurtling like a bird in the night. Dark hills loomed starkly through whipping fingers of fog. The search-beams limned sharp outlines of crags and gulleys, forests thick with uncombed vegetation....
Dr. Bryant cried, "A planet! But which, Warren? One of our own universe, or—?"
Warren grinned mirthlessly. "Not on your life. The only place to lick an enemy is in his own back yard. Thank heavens, those Jovian engineers taught me how to use their tricky drive! I warped us clean around that space fleet into the night side of their home planet. The world you see beneath us isMagog itself!
"And now for our landing—" His fingers flickered over the studs. TheLibertydropped slowly, smoothly, speed dwindling as Warren searched for a likely landing place—and found it. A low plateau, cradled like a saucer between encircling hills.
No lights gleamed there; no glare of hostile cities. There was only Stygian darkness and the interminable greenery of jungle. TheLiberty, enveloped in its matter-repulsing shield, struck once lightly and bounced; dropped lower. Warren released the shield that the ship might settle. Through the metal hull they could hear the crackling of timber as the great ship plowed its way through virgin forest land ... then the grating grind of metal against rock as the ship wallowed to a landing ... and lay still.
Hugh Warren cut controls. He turned to his friends, panting, his forehead damp with perspiration. But he forced a shaky laugh, and....
"All right, folks. Turn in your tickets. This is the place we started for."
"So," said Flick Muldoon, "we're here. Actually here on Magog! We've been working and plotting and contriving it seems like forever. And all of a sudden when it seems like we're licked—bingo!—here we are!" Flick's face had a curiously woebegone expression. "I'm confused. No kidding, I'm up a tree. All this time, even though I knew where we were heading, I kept thinking subconsciously that we'd never make it. And now we're here, and I'm puzzled even worse. What are we going to do here?"
Dr. Bryant said, "Well, I should say thefirstthing we must do is test the gravity and atmosphere of Magog to make sure it's safe for us to venture outside."
"We won't have to worry about that," said Warren. "I told you theLibertyhad all the latest gadgets. The testing apparatus went into action automatically upon our landing. We'll have a complete report in a few minutes."
"Then," said O'Day, "the first thing we must do is find a good hiding place for theLiberty. Or if there isn't one, camouflage the ship immediately. It's night now, but with morning I've got an idea the Magogean fleet will be circling this planet looking for us. Borisu and his buddies aren't dummies. They'll know we used the quad drive to scoot, and they'll leave no stone unturned—"
Dr. Kang interrupted quietly, "I think that isanotherpoint on which you need have no apprehension. By the time morning comes we shall have either accomplished or failed in our mission."
"What?" Gary Lane whistled. "Aren't you a little optimistic, Doctor? We're going to work as swiftly as possible, yes. But getting our job done in a couple of hours is a bit too much to expect."
Kang's ivory features framed a wisp of a smile. "Have you forgotten Borisu's remarks concerning the time differential between our planets?"
Gary said testily, "Not by a long sight. And it's been worrying me plenty. Borisu said Magog had been playing the cosmic ray cannon on our universe for only twenty years. Yet it is a scientifically recognized fact that the planet which existed between Mars and Jupiter in our system was destroyed no less than 40,000 Earth years ago. Isn't that so, Dr. Bryant?"
"Quite true, Gary," agreed the older scientist worriedly.
"Therefore," pointed out Lane, "every Magogean year is the equivalent of two thousand Earth years; every day on this planet the equivalent of three Earth years. And—" His breath caught in his throat—"since our calculations prove that the critical dwindling point of Sol can be at most no more than two months away, we must fulfill our task here in a matter of Magogeanhours—or our universe will die!"
At his words the younger men in the turret sprang to their feet as one. Flick spoke for all when he cried, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going! My God, we've got to move and move fast—"
"Gently, gently," chided Dr. Kang. Again one of his rare smiles touched his lips. "Youth is impetuous. It is written, 'The young man tests the balance of the sword; the elder sage admires its chaste engraving.' Dr. Lane's discovery would be frightening ... if it were based on fact. But there is another way of viewing the matter. One you have not pondered. Have you failed to take into consideration thelengthof the Magogean year?"
Dr. Bryant stopped him in mid-sentence, his eyes lighting with swift admiration. "But, of course! That is extremely important. If the orbital revolution of Magog takes longer than that of Earth—"
"I believe," said Dr. Kang placidly, "you will find it does. Approximately 2000 times longer! We have not, just now, the time to study the truth of my conjecture. But from certain factors I have noticed, I believe we shall find this to be true. The size of Magog argues a slow orbital movement.
"In brief, my friends, I conclude that Magog revolves about its primary but a single time while Earth is whirling around the Suntwo thousandtimes. There is, therefore, a one-to-one correspondence between the time units of our systems. We may completely disregard their relative size. A 'day' on Magog may equal 2000 Earth days—but twenty-four Earthly hours spent on Magog are of no longer duration than the same period spent on Earth. We may govern our actions accordingly."
Gary said soberly, "I certainly hope you are right, Doctor. Otherwise, howsoever short a time we spend in this system may be too long to save our universe. But—but you realize what thismeans, don't you? I am thinking now of the life span of the Magogeans."
Dr. Kang nodded. "I realize very well. It means that if they live an average of sixty to a hundred Magogean years, each of them exists for a period of manythousandsof Earth years. But—" He shrugged—"is it too unreasonable to concede this? Has not our Earthly science already suggested that the shortness of our life span may be due to the bombardment of cosmic rays? Here on Magog where they do not live beneath this lethal radiation—"
Dr. Bryant's fine features cleared, his eyes lighted raptly. He said, "Then it is not only theimmediateexistence of our universe for which we are fighting, but another and greater goal. One of which mankind has dreamed for centuries. If we succeed in putting to an end this cosmic radiation, we may win for our people not only life, but—"
"Yes," nodded Dr. Kang. "Almost ... eternal life!"