"You see, I couldn't be lonely," she continued. "It could even have been fun, if I hadn't known that those millions of horrible little jaws were out there in the dark, gnawing, gnawing. You can even hear them. You can hear the big trees crashing down, all day, all night."
"Easy, honey—it's all over now. We're going to get out of here. We'll get Paul's body, and—"
"But Art, don't you see what this means? If Paul hadn't forgotten to fill the fuel tank, it we had had a full tank, we'd have been blown to atoms when that jet exploded—it was only an accident that I escaped. But that plugged jet was noaccident—that was deliberate. Don't you think it is strange that Dr. Theller shouldn't let you know when I have been lost for two days? And that he was the only one besides us who knew about Haight's discovery, and his coming to Washington, and that the same accident happened to Haight? And what happened to Denny? I tell you, there are all sorts of things about Dr. Theller that are beginning to add up. From the very first he's occupied only a passive role in this battle, done nothing whatever to help. He let that specimen get away the first day, and has never had another in there for analysis."
"What!" exclaimed Art. "No—Elene—it can't be. You don't know what you're saying!"
V
"On the contrary, the young lady is quite right," came a deep bass voice from behind him. Art whirled in sudden panic, reaching for his electron gun. But what he saw froze him to immobility. A tall, gaunt figure, its ebony skin decked with a harness of white plastic, in which were set countless glossy black stones. The head narrow and acquiline to the extreme, with huge, haunting black eyes. A Martian! And one of the Greater Ring of scientists who governed the red planet, judging by the trappings.
"You do not recognize me," chuckled the deep voice. "Why, I remember you well. You came to Mars with Dr. Theller, let me see, June last year, and November the year before, I believe it would be, according to your calendar. They say we all look alike to Earthmen—but surely you know Klalmar-lan. I was on the Committee both times."
"Of course I do," beamed Art, holding out his hand. "You had me a bit rattled there for a minute. But you can't imagine how glad we are to see you. Elene, meet Klalmar-lan. This is Miss Moor, my fiancee."
"Klalmar-lan," said Elene, "as Art has already told you, we are immensely relieved to see you. We hope that you can help us rid our planet of this scourge. Unless you do, the human race and every form of animal life on Earth is doomed."
"I have the means of accomplishing that," he answered gravely. "For how else do you suppose this tiny refuge has remained here, other than through my doing?" They stood in amazement as he went on. "Furthermore, I am rather ashamed of you, Art, for letting so many things which should have been obvious to a man of your calibre, slip by you. But I guess Theller did a pretty good job of covering up."
"How do you happen to be here in such an out of the way spot?" asked Art.
"I had to have a hideout on Earth from which I could steal out and make a few observations," the Martian explained. "And it's a good thing I did, from what I hear. I arrived here from Venus yesterday morning, about five—"
"Only a few hours before we crashed!" exclaimed Elene.
"Yes—the forest in this vicinity was just beginning to be attacked. I landed on the side hill above here, and blanketed this canyon with a choker ray. I didn't want to make it too noticeable—"
"Wait," Art interrupted, "how about this choker ray—that's the whole thing—that's what we want to know!"
"I'll get to that," rebuked Klalmar-lan. "Anyway, I saw this ship crash—but knowing it was one of Theller's, I had to be careful about offering assistance. I have been watching Miss Moor and wondering if I should have to protect her from all this vicious looking fauna which you have here in such profusion. But I didn't dare trust her until I heard her talk to you. My object was to contact some trustworthy person here on Earth. Now that I've found you, I think we'd better take off for Venus immediately. My ship is right up the hill above us. Incidentally, I have a surprise there—an old friend of yours."
Mystified, the couple followed him through thick underbrush to the space ship. They entered behind him and froze in astonishment. There, lying on a bunk, white and still and swathed in bandages, was Denny!
"Don't be alarmed," Klalmar-lan reassured them. "I've got him under a neural anesthetic. He's suffered a bad radium burn, but I think he'll be all right. Should recover consciousness in a couple of hours." Klalmar-lan was at the controls, and they were rising rapidly. The little spot of green was visible through the rear port, falling away behind them.
"I first met Denny on Venus, where I had been sent to watch for the coming of Ghlak-Ileth, or Hell-worms, as we call them; for they are no new experience to us Martians. Some three thousand Earth years ago, they turned our once beautiful planet into a red desert, almost exterminating our race. Three thousand years before that, our astronomers had watched as uninhabited Mercury gave up its treasure. According to all our calculations, Venus should have been next. When I talked to Denny in his jungle camp, he informed me that he had discovered remains of an ancient civilization on Venus.
"I knew then that something was terribly wrong with our theory—for we had always considered Venus a very young planet, whose evolution of life had not even produced a mammalian form, and would not for millions of years. Now it seemed more plausible that at a remote age Venus was inhabited by intelligent beings, perhaps more highly developed than we on Earth or Mars, and that some great catastrophe wiped them out, leaving survivors, the ancestors of the present day fauna.
"The answer," he went on, "was plain—the Ghlak-Ileth had already been to Venus! In all probability, Earth would suffer the effect of the next raid! Denny had started for Earth with his crew. I hurried to my ship and followed him. About two hours out, my mass detector indicated the presence of matter about ten thousand miles ahead, but movingtowardme. In a little while I saw it, approaching headon. A huge blob of a ship, gleaming like quicksilver, shaped like a great flat-bellied slug. The Ghosts of Outer Space had come again!"
"Hold it!" cried Art. "This is getting beyond me. Who are these—"
"We call them Ghosts, or Voornizar, because they bear little resemblance to anything mortal, although they are terribly real. They are the masters, the creators of these Hell-worms, whom they planted countless eons ago on the planets of our Solar System. The impelling energy of these Ghlak-Ileth, as with their masters, and in fact all the machinery they use, is the disintegration of radium, of which they are partially composed. They devour it for food.
"We believe that the Voornizar originate in some planetary system far beyond the awful void which surrounds our solar family. Long ago, they found their radium supply disappearing, and were forced to wander in search of new deposits. They developed the Ghlak-Ileth in their laboratories to do the work of removing the radium. They were probably planted as tiny eggs or spores, each with an infinitesimal bit of radium to furnish life energy. When the creatures hatched, their instinct was to dig downward. As they went, they fed on radium and other elements.
"Thus, ever growing and multiplying, they remained, finally absorbing every bit of radium in the planet. After a fixed period, they became imbued with the impulse to return to the surface. There they were collected by the Voornizar, who returned at exactly the proper time, to extract the radium for their own use. The period of three thousand years is, we believe, the time necessary for a round trip from here to the habitat of the Voornizar. However, it may be only the period between meals—for time means nothing to them—nor do heat, cold or lack of atmosphere affect them."
"How can we possibly combat such a menace?" asked Elene hopelessly.
"This time we Martians are ready," Klalmar-lan told them. "Before, we were forced to resort to pitiful devices such as lead lined boats, which shut out the deadly emanations of theradongas which seeped to the surface from the Ghlak-Ileth on the sea bottoms. But now we have developed a weapon—the choker ray, harmless to organisms like ourselves, but able instantly to halt any sort of disintegration, particularly radio-activity. It will stop the Voornizar instantly.
"As soon as I recognized this Voornizar ship, I let her have the choker beam. She immediately lost headway, began to drift. I came alongside and boarded her, being careful to put on a space suit, for the Voornizar require no atmosphere, and would not be likely to have the ship's interior conditioned. I found what I expected. There was not a living creature, or moving piece of machinery aboard. I had heard the fearsome Ghosts described many times, but these were the first I had seen. Their silvery, amorphous bodies are said to glow with a blinding white effulgence, but in death, these had turned to a dull leaden hue. There were hundreds of them in the great ship, which seemed to me mostly occupied by machinery with which to attract and grapple the radium worms, and holds in which to store them.
"On an upper deck, I found a row of small staterooms, which I thought wise to investigate. And well that I did, for my former presumption that nothing lived on the ship was not quite correct. That was one whobarelylived—"
"Barely is the word, my friend," came a weak voice from the bunk, "I don't know what you did to those devils, but you sure stopped them in their tracks."
Denny had recovered consciousness. The trio hurried to his side.
"So they couldn't quite kill you?" Art grinned down at the space pilot.
"Weren't trying!" replied Denny briefly. "They seemed interested in the discoveries I'd made on Venus. Had the nicest ways of getting information; simple, too. All they had to do was touch my skin and I got a radium burn."
"You must have passed out just after I used the ray on them," Klalmar-lan commented. "But how did they get you in the first place?"
"Just slipped up behind us, showing a friendly signal, and slapped some kind of paralysis ray on us—went through the permirium hull and everything. They came aboard—but only took me off. The rest of the crew they left lying there, paralyzed. Then they just swung away a few miles and disintegrated the whole works. That was pretty tough to take—some of those boys had been to hell and back with me."
"They paid for that massacre," growled Klalmar-lan. "But that was only one of their countless thousands, perhaps millions of ships. I believe that they have a huge base on Venus, from which they are preparing to swoop down on Earth when the Ghlak-Ileth are ready. We will have to locate that base. Then we will radio the Martian Fleet. We have half a million ships, armed with choker rays and disintegrators. Long have we prepared to seize the treasure of Venus, and at the same time revenge ourselves on our ancient enemy. Speaking for the Greater Ring," and he drew himself up proudly, "I can promise you that we will fight as fiercely to save your race from extinction, though there be no gain, if it will in some measure alleviate the great wrong we have done you in leaving you unwarned and unprepared."
"Thank you, Klalmar-lan," answered Denny simply. "However, I've got to warn you—there's something rotten on our side of it. ThoseThingsspoke English—and had a pretty fair knowledge of Earth science and Earth affairs."
"Yes, we know where the rotten spot is located," replied Klalmar-lan. "He's been building up a machinery against us for some time, unknown to some of you who worked nearest him. Got away with several of our secrets, too—the force field, for one—"
"The force field!" ejaculated Art. "That's how he got Haight! Remember that night, Elene?"
"Of course," she cried. "Haight had found the secret of the Ghlak-Ileth and their high radium content."
"Yes," agreed Klalmar-lan, "and that secret Dr. Theller knew he must suppress at all costs. The force field he no doubt projected as a beam through some hidden port in the laboratory roof. Playing it about like an invisible searchlight, he met the incoming flier with a barrier as effective as a stone wall."
"The Voornizar must have contacted him long ago, and made some kind of deal—probably offered him all the radium he could use," mused Art. "I would guess that he planned to establish a new laboratory on Venus—that's why he was so interested in that city you found, Denny—interested enough to discredit your story on Earth, and order you held by the Voornizar!"
"And to go a step farther," interjected Klalmar-lan, "I will wager that we find the Voornizar's base not so far from that city."
"What ghastly treachery!" gasped Elene. "To betray his own Mother Earth to annihilation. Already millions have died—"
Art, watching her, saw her freeze in silence. He tried to glance at the others, but his eyeballs would not move in their sockets. He tried to move; his whole body was gripped in a rigid paralysis! There was utter silence and stillness in the hurtling ship. Art's thoughts were racing. What fools they had been, flocking around Denny's bunk when he came to. They had totally neglected to watch the control panel, where the mass detector would have warned them of an approaching ship. Now they had been surprised and seized with the same deadly paralysis that had trapped Denny before.
The air lock swung inward. None of the four were surprised to see Dr. Theller step through the port, keeping a careful distance between himself and the two grotesque monstrosities who followed him. Theller was without space suit or arms. Art stared with horrified fascination at the two Voornizar. The dazzling, white hot radiance that ceaselessly flowed from them made it difficult to identify their form. They seemed to have none; yet they could take any shape. Fundamentally, they were a tube about a foot in diameter and some seven feet high. They had a slit-like mouth near the top, and a huge crystalline eye which surmounted their exact top. They seemed to favor a bilateral form, although the number of pairs of arms appeared indeterminate. But as Art watched, above each slit mouth appeared a huge beak nose and above this, deep, staring sightless hollows. A horrible caricature of a human face! Demoniac laughter came from the lipless mouth of one!
"So you pitiful Martians had a weapon that would stop the Voornizar!" it boomed. "You fool, did you not know that we are immortal? Only when we lack radium can one of us die—and then, he only suspends animation until sustenance can be brought. I know not the principle of the thing you fashioned, although its effect is to halt radio-activity. Think ye that would kill us?" The thing's laughter roared. "We merely lay inert—waiting only for the next contact with a living Voornizar or any bit of active radium, to set our life process in motion once more. Think ye that you can fight a million mighty ships with such a harmless weapon?
"Had you known that the transport you captured carried me, Dwalbuth, mighty Shan of the Voornizar, you might not have so carelessly left us drifting in space, to be found and revived by Dr. Theller."
"Before we release you from the paralysis," spoke up Theller, "I want to tell you that resistance is futile. These people can project, from that single eye, a ray of any frequency, ranging from ultraviolet to infra-red, and would have no trouble in burning you to a crisp in a fraction of a second. Also, as Pilot Denny has reason to know, their slightest touch will cause a severe burn." He searched Denny, still lying on the bunk, found nothing. He removed Art and Elene's electron pistols. From Klalmar-lan's belt he took the choker ray gun, gave it a contemptuous glance, and flung it squarely in Klalmar-lan's face, just as Dwalbuth flicked a bluish light from a tiny torch over the four, releasing them from the paralysis. Klalmar-lan caught the gun, staring down at it with dumb despair and sick disappointment written all over his handsome ebony face.
"We'll put them in my ship," said Theller, motioning them toward the lock. Denny rose and hobbled painfully along with them. "The Earth people I can use for helpers, if I can educate them to the practicability of such a course; the Martian I will destroy, after I have wrung from him a few of the secrets I need for my conquest of his planet."
VI
"I assure you that these are the most comfortable accommodations to be found anywhere on Venus," commented Denny sardonically as he gazed around the dank cell in which the four found themselves imprisoned. "Speaking from experience, I mean that."
"This is your city, then, of which you spoke?" queried the Martian.
"Yes. I spent very little time in exploring it, however, as I was due to report back and was in a hurry. I do know that it's mostly underground, and of almost inconceivable antiquity, however. Of the nature of its former inhabitants, their language, or the name of the city, I could learn nothing."
"My guess that the Voornizar's base was in, or somewhere near this city was correct," asserted Klalmar-lan, dropping his voice. He glanced at the guard looming outside the heavily barred metal door, and beckoned them to a far, gloomy corner of the dungeon. The Earth people were startled to hear a chuckle of fiendish glee. It came from the Martian! He was swinging his ray pistol by the trigger guard, shaking in nearly inaudible mirth.
"By the Two Moons! What ego!" he hissed, lapsing into his native tongue, which the others understood to some extent. "They have such contempt for my poor Martian brainchild, they do not even take it from me!"
"Well, it's practically useless, as near as I can see, against any number of the creatures," shrugged Elene. "I suppose we could knock out the guard, but the lock on the door is still impossible. The next Voornizar who comes along would revive him, and we'd only be in for more restrictions."
"Ah, but you do not understand. Watch." A lizard-like reptile had run down the slimy wall, paused at the bottom. Klalmar-lan aimed the gun at it, pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. "That was the choker ray. Now, observe—I move this little catch here, press the button again." There was a little frying sound. A puff of vapor rose above the lizard, and it shrank instantly to a blackened lump. The Earthians stared in amazement.
Art finally found voice. "How did you do it?"
"Simple—a disintegrator. Result, the disintegration is only begun, when it is cut off. No explosion. Only a few elements in the victim begin to go, but the molecular structure is broken down nevertheless. I can set it for any degree I want.
"Dwalbuth called me a fool, but it is he who is stupid in his conceit. Immortal! Bah! There is nothing that cannot be disintegrated."
"Then I move; we get out of here, right now!" whispered Art vehemently. "People are dying on Earth, every minute."
"Right," agreed Denny. "Let's go." He limped to the door. "Say, guard—"
Standing behind him, the gun hidden, Klalmar-lan poured the rays over the Voornizar, through Denny, door and all. The creature slumped heavily to the floor, its fiery luminescence fading to a dull leaden gray. Klalmar-lan stepped forward, turned up his disintegrator, and impassively played the beam over the Thing on the floor, until nothing remained but a heap of blackened slag. Then he went to work on the lock. In a moment they were free. Art kicked the ashes of the guard into a dark, obscure corner of the cell.
"We've got to find our way to the upper level, get to a televisor someway," panted Klalmar-lan, as they hurried up the inclined passageway.
"Don't know if I can remember all the twists and turns we followed when they brought us down or not," Denny puzzled. "How about you, Art?" Art shook his head doubtfully.
"You intend to bring the Martian fleet here—that is, if you can contact them?" Elene inquired of Klalmar-lan.
"No—not here—to Earth! While they are neutralizing the Ghlak-Ileth there, we must in some way hold off the menace here."
"You're right," Art agreed. "The fleet can't fight off a million Voornizar ships and kill the Ghlak-Ileth, too. And it's imperative that they get to Earth with no delay."
Through pitch black corridors, twisting, climbing, dropping again, the party groped their way. Art had a tiny torch, which he risked flashing on occasionally, but this helped little. All hope of retracing their steps was soon abandoned. The lower levels of the ancient city had been a veritable labyrinth. Realizing that they were hopelessly lost, they stopped to take stock of the situation. Leaning against a dank, moss grown wall, Art felt something slimy brush his leg. He flashed on his light, and his sanity reeled. He saw a great, rat-like figure, the size of man on his knees! The eye in its humanoid face were closed against the light—its teeth were bared in the snarl of a cornered rat. Then it scuttled away clumsily. Great God! It was a man shambling on his knees, naked and unclean!
Art heard a little moan of horror—Elene had turned away, her face in her hands.
"Did you see it, Klalmar-lan?" he muttered hoarsely to the Martian.
"Yes, my friend," was the sad reply. "I believe we have witnessed all that is left of the glory that was Venus. A skulking creature of the sewers—creeping on its knees." He shuddered. "They nearly did that to us once—and they will do it to Earth, if we do not find a way out of here soon."
There was a metallic rattle, far down the corridor, and a livid, glowing stab of light appeared. It was a Voornizar, running—the empty cell had been found.
"It's all right," hissed Art, "he can't possibly see us. Here we have the advantage." Klalmar-lan grimly drew his ray gun, but Art halted him. "Wait—I've got a plan. You stick here. Keep out of sight. The rest of us will give ourselves up. We'll try to get him to take us to Dwalbuth or Theller. Then you follow. See?"
Klalmar-lan nodded silently, stepped back into the shadows. Grasping Elene and Denny by the hand, Art ran toward the Voornizar, shouting.
"Get us out of this horrible place before we go mad!" he croaked. Elene managed a sob or two. The Voornizar grinned evilly at their panic, then peered behind them.
"Where is the Martian?" he snarled.
"We got separated in the dark some time ago—never could locate him again," Art answered.
"We'll find him; he can't go far," rasped the creature. "Meanwhile, I will take you to Dwalbuth, who will see that you suffer adequately for this attempt at escape. In the absence of the Earthman, who wants to preserve you as his assistants, our Mighty Shan will dispose of you as he sees fit."
The guard carried a powerful torch, and had no trouble in finding the way out of the pits. They entered a level which had evidently been the quarters of the well-to-do class of ancients. There were many furnishings and decorations, most of which were badly faded and deteriorated. Hosts of Voornizar were hurrying about on various errands. Dwalbuth had evidently established headquarters here, from which he superintended the preparation of the huge radium fleet. How Klalmar-lan would ever follow them through this swarming hive was beyond Art.
The guard led them to a huge room where Dwalbuth was snarling orders to a group of his lieutenants. On sighting the Earthmen, he dismissed his henchmen.
"Perhaps," he began, "I have not made it clear to you just how insignificant you, and your form of life, is in our scheme of things. We have wiped out many races stronger than you, on a score of planets, in my time. We are strong, immortal; you are weak, you suffer pain easily. Do not try my patience with any more escape attempts. And you had better tell me what you have done with that guard." There was only silence. He screamed, "What did you do with that guard?" A great three-toed claw, or hand, shot out, stopped an inch from Elene's terror-stricken face.
"I have heard that your men consider you beautiful to look upon," sneered Dwalbuth, "I will change that face to a seared mask if you do not tell me, immediately." Then Art leaped. He threw himself on the arm with its grasping claw, bore it down. White hot, burning agony shot through his hands and arms. Then, miraculously, it stopped. Dwalbuth was sagging to the floor. But there came a vicious crackling as the guard whirled to train his heat ray on them. Then he, too, collapsed. Klalmar-lan stood in the door, grinning as he switched on his disintegrator.
"Fasten this door the best you can," he commanded, "while I finish off these two. Hate to take the time, but we can't risk their recovering." This done, he stepped to the televisor, dialled his commander-in-chief in the Greater Ring's Martian stronghold. In a few terse words, he explained the situation and sent the fleet hurtling toward Earth. By this time, a great pounding had begun at the door. But the Earthians had not been idle—they had been searching frantically for an exit. And Elene had found one, a tiny passageway behind a once secret, but now half-rotted-away panel. They scrambled into it, crawled for a short way. Then the tunnel debouched into a larger corridor in which they could stand up and run. Luckily, it was crooked, and winding; for they heard the angry snap and hiss of searching heat rays not far behind.
"Watch this," said Klalmar-lan, turning his disintegrator up higher. A Voornizar appeared around a corner, and exploded with a muffled roar.
"Don't get the mixture too rich!" laughed Art as the fragments showered around them. "Say, Klalmar-lan, how in blazes did you get through that mob to follow us?"
"Easy," grinned the black man. "When you came out on that level, I was lurking close behind. There was nothing for me to do but fall right in with you. If you had looked around, you'd have seen me right at your elbow. Of course, when you came to the door of Dwalbuth's staff room, I dropped out, and just stood outside the door, acting the part of a bored prisoner, until the fun started."
Art chuckled at the Martian's audacity. The sounds of pursuit were getting fainter behind them. The Voornizar were learning new respect for their once despised captives.
The tunnel now narrowed down to a width which made it passable by one person only, and ran perfectly straight. The party formed in single file, Klalmar-lan bringing up the rear. Denny led, with Art's flash, as Art was nursing scorched hands and arms.
"They'll be getting after us with that paralysis ray directly," Art worried. "What do you say to blocking the tunnel? We can surely depend on its emerging somewhere."
"The War Gods help us iftheyknow where it comes out! But I think you've got an idea there," agreed Klalmar-lan, turning his ray on the roof of the tunnel a good distance behind them. It crumbled, slowly at first, then gave way with a roar, the fragments of rock and masonry completely choking the aperture. Klalmar-lan did not stop until he had filled the passage for a good hundred feet.
"We can get back through there, if we have to, by using this gun, but the Voornizar will have to dig or bore their way. Their disintegrators are like yours of Earth—uncontrolled. They are useful out in space for destroying an enemy space ship at a distance, but one blast under ground here would set off enough thermal energy to blow this whole city off the green face of Venus."
Denny was crouching on the floor. "Look at this!" he exclaimed. His tiny flash revealed fresh marks in the damp sand which covered the floor at that point. They were blurred, and had no resemblance to human footprints.
"At least one Voornizar passed this way," commented Klalmar-lan, "but my guess is that Dwalbuth made these tracks, and was the only one who knew the secret of this passage."
"It's a sure thing it's leading us to some place of importance—Dwalbuth didn't take this walk for the fresh air," Denny contributed.
The tunnel's length seemed interminable, although Art estimated they had not covered over four or five Earth miles. They found a tiny spring of pure water trickling down the moss-shrouded stone wall, and drank gratefully. Their lunch consisted of a few food tablets which Art had been carrying.
At last a dim glow of light appeared ahead. Advancing warily, they found the passage ran squarely into a plate metal barrier, which leaned away from them at a slight angle. About head height, there was a small ragged hole burned into it, through which came the light they had seen. Denny applied his eyes to this.
"Smokin' Mercury!" he exclaimed, sotto voice. "Get a load of this, Art!" Art looked. The sight was awesome. Far below, and stretching into the dim distance, was a vast cavern. As far as the eye could see, its floor was covered with huge silvery shapes—the mighty cruisers of the Voornizar. Their close-packed ranks seemed to stretch for miles into the darkness. The only light was the luminescence of the ships themselves. The great domed roof was shrouded with gloom. The vantage point from which Art looked seemed to be located high in the curved side, and the metal barricade against which the tunnel ended was actually the shell of the Gargantuan cavity.
Klalmar-lan then had a quick glance, then turned to them, elated.
"This is it! We've stumbled on the main pool. There must be nearly a million ships down there."
Elene was looking now—she was unable to see any egress through which the ships could be trundled to the surface. Doubtless there was a ramp or elevator of some sort, probably on the far side beyond their range of vision. Many Voornizar were moving among the great hulks, servicing them, effecting minor repairs.
"We are now probably well outside the city proper," continued Klalmar-lan. "Apparently this was once a great assembly hall, where huge mass meetings or possibly some kind of sporting events, were held. Some ancient king, wishing to spy upon the doings of his subjects unobserved, caused this passageway to be dug and the peekhole to be cut. Dwalbuth, in turn, utilized it for somewhat the same purpose."
"Looks like the work of a twentieth-century acetylene torch," laughed Denny.
"That might afford an excellent clue as to the comparative development of their civilization," agreed Klalmar-lan gravely. "But enough theorizing. We must utterly destroy all these ships. Wait here."
They watched as he moved back through the tunnel a short distance. He trained his pistol on the wall. Rapidly a hole began to appear.
"It can't be far to the surface," he told them. "I'm going to burn a tunnel upward at a steep angle. Keep a good watch in both directions." Just then Art, his eye glued to the opening, saw that something was amiss below. The Voornizar were running about excitedly. Faintly he heard their discordant shouting, and the crackle of heat rays. Then he saw, skimming and swerving above the rows of giant ships, a familiar sight! Klalmar-lan's own spaceship, in which they had originally embarked from Earth! Wildly, it plunged toward Art, then swung erratically away and headed in a steep climb for the top of the dome. Several small patrol fliers appeared, racing in pursuit. Searchlights lanced through the blackness, illuminating the heretofore invisible ceiling, which was apparently just what the pilot of Klalmar-lan's ship hoped for. A passing searchlight beam revealed for an instant a round, jagged hole in the center of the room; the little rocket ship shot through it like an escaping minnow. The hole had evidently been newly made by the Voornizar for the passage of their smaller and more maneuverable craft, a half dozen of which now flashed through in pursuit.
Art turned and related what he had seen.
"That was Theller, or I'm not a broken down space eater," growled Denny, "Here, let me spell you on that excavation work a while, Klalmar-lan." Klalmar-lan had a tough job—it was getting more difficult as the hole progressed. Hot gobbets of molten lava came splashing down from time to time, preventing him from entering the hole and following up his work. Acrid, choking fumes began to fill the tunnel, but Klalmar-lan refused to let Denny or Art take over, on account of their burned hands. It was two hours before daylight began to show, fifty feet above.
"Now, while those rocks are cooling sufficiently for us to crawl out, I'll show you what my plan is," said Klalmar-lan. "Has anyone a chrono?" Elene slipped one from her wrist, handed it to him. Quickly, he slipped it out of its case, began removing various parts. He attached it to the trigger ring of his pistol, made a delicate adjustment. Then he set the gun to full disintegrator. He rigged it so that the muzzle pointed through the peep-hole, aimed at the ships below.
"We've got six hours to get out of here and put plenty of miles between us and this place," he informed them. Hurriedly they scrambled up the chimney he had made. The rock had cooled rapidly, as it was pouring rain above, and water ran down in little rivulets. The four of them were drenched by the time they reached the surface. The rain was beating down in such a torrent that they could hardly get their breath. It was warm, like a tepid shower. It was difficult to see more than a few feet, but it was evident that they were in thick jungle.
"Let's head West," shouted Denny. "There's a bay that runs in here, toward the city. We came in that way before, from the sea. Shouldn't be far from here. If we can get on the open beach, it'll be lots better going than this damned jungle." With this they had to agree, and no time was lost in plunging into the jungle in the direction he had indicated. The four were now weaponless, and would have fallen easy prey to any one of a dozen varieties of carnivorous monsters who habitually roamed the forest. But the creatures evidently did not consider the rain conducive to good hunting, and so they were unmolested. Two hours of exhausting struggle brought them out on the beach, which had not been over a mile away.
"Now we can make time," said Denny. "This narrow strip of beach will take us almost straight away from the space port for about twenty miles."
"We'll do our best to cover it in the four hours we have left," Art chuckled. They set out at a rapid clip, keeping a wary eye on both jungle and sea, from either of which might spring sudden death at any moment. The rain stopped, but lead-colored clouds still swirled overhead, for Venus was eternally overcast. Plenty of drinking water was to be found in the hollows of huge leaves—but the need for food was becoming keen with all of them. Still, they did not dare tarry long enough to find sustenance.
"There are a few species of fish in these waters which I know to be edible," explained Denny. "When it's safe to stop, we can catch a few."
"You may stop right now!" commanded a harsh voice from behind them. They whirled—there, in the fringe of the jungle, his gray hair awry, his eyes glittering with desperation, stood Doctor Theller, covering them with the wide mouth of an electronic pistol.
"You—the Martian—I need your services. Come along—there's no time to lose. The rest of you come, too." There was nothing to do but trudge ahead of him through the jungle in the direction he indicated. There, as they had expected, lay Klalmar-lan's ship.
"You are having a little trouble with my ship?" inquired the Martian insolently, winking at his comrades.
"Yes, damn you—and you're going to fix it!" snarled the scientist. "It was necessary for me to fly through a narrow opening—I grazed the edge slightly. Two of the starboard main propulsion jets were sheared away. I had no trouble losing my pursuers in the mist, but when I cut in the main jets to leave the atmosphere, I merely looped about in crazy trajectories. The right adjustment of the firing pattern would compensate for this, but I could not find it. On one of my own ships, yes, but this confounded Martian oddity is beyond my understanding. I had to drop down here, and attempt to trace out the connections from the firing panel. This I have been unable to do. You will do it for me!"
"Apparently you no longer occupy your former position of esteem with the Voornizar," mocked Art.
"Get in the ship!" snapped Theller, glancing sharply at them. "You, Klalmar-lan, pilot the ship. Set the course for Mars."
"Mars!"
"Yes. We will land in a remote area, where we will pose as refugees from Earth. That is, all of us except Klalmar-lan, of whom I will dispose before reaching there. I am not beaten yet. I have friends there, and with the secrets I have learned of the Martian weapons and defenses, I will be able to build anew."
Art stepped forward, ignoring the threatening gun muzzle. "Doctor Theller, it strikes me that you are in no position to dictate terms to us. You are in as great a danger as we, how great a danger, you do not even dream. Only Klalmar-lan can pilot this crippled ship. This he can, and will, refuse to do. Now here are our terms. We will take you to Mars alive, where we will turn you over to the authorities." Art was loath to reveal as yet that they could set their course for Earth and arrive there in perfect safety. "You do not dare kill any of us."
"Don't I?" sneered the scientist. "Watch me. If Klalmar-lan does not get into that pilot seat before I count ten, I will blast Elene to a cinder. Then I will kill you, Art. Then Denny. When only Klalmar-lan is left, I will destroy him by inches, burning away a hand or foot at a time." The electronic pistol swung toward Elene and he began counting. White-faced, Art motioned despairingly to Klalmar-lan. The Martian's black eyes were obsidian as he silently strapped himself in the seat. The rest followed, Doctor Theller last, his pistol covering them. Suddenly there was a sickening lurch, a numbing crash, and blackening oblivion.
VII
Through a dull, throbbing ache, Art began to wonder where he was. His body seemed first to be spinning in a vast void, and yet again seemed to be pinned against a hard cold surface. He felt repeated small shocks, as of missiles striking him. From a distance a voice was calling insistently. Rubbing sticky blood from his eyes, he saw a greater flat expanse stretching away above him. Then his eyes focused. It was the deck of the flier! And there at its far end sat Klalmar-lan in the pilot seat! He was looking over his shoulder, calling, "Art! Art! Get that ray pistol! Quickly!" Art looked about him sluggishly. He saw the gun lying only a few feet from his face. But beyond it, there was a crawling figure—a mad ravening thing whose clawlike hand was even now extended to grasp the weapon! Art tried to move—he could not budge. Something was pinning him down—the body of Denny. He heaved desperately, but the man seemed to weigh tons. The truth of the situation came to Art. The ship was still within the gravity of Venus, and accelerating at a rate far beyond that of normal flight. The inexorable force of the acceleration was pressing the four passengers against the rear panel of the ship. Klalmar-lan could not leave his pilot's seat, for he would never be able to return! And even then, Theller's hand was closing on the grip of the pistol. The rocket ship spun on its longitudinal axis like a giant gyroscope. Art felt himself thrown from wall to wall, battered and bruised, but miraculously retaining consciousness. He was free now, of the encumbrance. The whirling stopped, and he drew himself painfully to a sitting position. He looked wildly around for the gun. It was nowhere to be seen; but Theller, pulling a long, bodkin-like dagger from his boot, was close upon him. The dagger was raised for the plunge into Art's unprotected heart, but there came a low hum from the front of the ship. Theller collapsed, his muscles constricted into taut bands of agony by the shock ray.
And Art's pain-wracked body once more found the peace of oblivion.
Sounds of laughter and conversation finally woke him again. Relaxed and refreshed, he knew that he had slept long. He sat up in the bunk. He was swathed in bandages, and medications had eased the pain of his bruises and burns. Elene and Denny, also heavily bandaged, were watching him smilingly. Klalmar-lan came toward him from the pilot's seat.
"You're a fine pilot!" roared Art, in mock fury. "That was about the worst take-off I have ever seen!" Klalmar-lan ruefully had to admit that it was pretty bad.
"I had to do it, though, Art," he said. "It was our only chance. I watched out of the corner of my eye. As soon as you were in, I threw on the main jets, full power, thinking to leave Theller behind, but I didn't time it quite right. He had managed to get in first. Of course, you were all thrown heavily against the rear panel, which, being padded, prevented serious injury. Naturally, we all blacked out for a time from the acceleration. We had passed through the cloud layer before I myself regained consciousness. Just in time to see the most beautiful sight! The rear mirrograph showed the whole thing. The clouds, which extend a full six miles above Venus' surface, parted like a puff of smoke, and a huge flower of white flame, miles in diameter, sprang up at us.
"The concussion boosted our speed at a terrific rate. But I discovered that at least three Voornizar fighters had been scattered far enough to avoid destruction, and were now speeding in savage pursuit. When I saw Theller coming to, and crawling after that gun, I didn't know what to do for a moment. I couldn't leave the cockpit and expect to return without neutralizing our tremendous acceleration, which meant leveling off, in which case our pursuers would be on us instantly.
"I shouted at you, threw pieces of my harness, anything to rouse you. You finally woke, but Theller practically had the pistol by that time. I spun the ship over a couple of times, which was cruel punishment for all of you, but necessary. Well, I thought all was over when I saw Theller about to knife you. But spinning the ship had dislodged something from under the seat which Theller had evidently fastened there previously—a shock ray pistol. I paralyzed him with that. In a few hours we were out of Venus' gravity, and I was able to leave the controls and revive the four of you." He strode to a bunk where Theller lay, securely bound.
"And now, I think you'd better tell me what happened to those two Martian ships which disappeared enroute to Earth. At the time, knowing of the secrets you had stolen from us, but nothing of your connection with Voornizar, we were forced to regard it as an act of war on the part of Earth, and cut off communications until we could investigate it in our own way. Now it is obvious that you gave their schedule to the Voornizar and had them intercepted."
"They disintegrated every trace of both of them!" shrieked the murderer. "And I'm glad, glad, do you hear? I'd like to destroy everything Martian! If my plan had gone right, some day I would have brought you black devils to your knees. Knowing that I cannot do that, I only want death."
"That wish you shall have—for on Mars a death sentence awaits you," Klalmar-lan answered grimly.
"On Mars?" asked Art swiftly. "But Klalmar-lan, Elene and I must get to Earth. Even though the danger is over, we are badly needed for the work of rebuilding and reorganizing. And—besides—we, well, hang it all, we want to find someone to marry us."
"Don't worry, my friends," Klalmar-lan assured them. "You shall go to Earth. In about two hours we will meet a Martian patrol which left Mars for Venus at the same time the fleet left for Earth. I will transfer to their ship with my prisoner, leaving you mine. I hope you will not object to my taking an Earthian to Mars for trial—but my only motive is to save the trouble of a trial when you will want to be devoting your efforts to more important work."
"He's right," agreed Denny, "and here's another thing. Don't worry about getting back to Earth to get married. Have you forgotten that I'm a full commander, with the right to marry any couple aboard a ship in space?"
Art and Elene hadn't forgotten.
[Transcriber's Note: Original text had 2 Section IV headings. Section headings renumbered to correct.]