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diff --git a/27968.txt b/27968.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d17c084 --- /dev/null +++ b/27968.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1286 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tulan, by Carroll Mather Capps + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tulan + +Author: Carroll Mather Capps + +Release Date: February 2, 2009 [EBook #27968] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TULAN *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +TULAN + +By C. C. MacAPP + + + _To disobey the orders of the + Council of Four was unthinkable + to a Space Admiral of the old + school. But the trouble was, + the school system had changed. + A man, a fighter, an Admiral + had to think for himself now, if + his people were to live._ + + +While facing the Council of Four his restraint had not slipped; but +afterward, shaking with fury, the Admiral of the Fleets of Sennech +slammed halfway down the long flight of stone steps before he realized +someone was at his elbow. He slowed. "Forgive me, Jezef. They made me so +mad I forgot you were waiting." + +Jezef (adjutant through most of Tulan's career, and for some years +brother-in-law as well) was shorter and less harshly carved than his +superior. "So they wouldn't listen to you. Not even Grefen?" + +"Even Grefen." That vote had stabbed deepest of all. + +Jezef took it with the detachment that still irritated Tulan. "The end +of a hundred years of dreams; and we go back under the yoke. Well, +they've always been soft masters." + +They reached the ground cars. Before getting into his own Tulan said +coldly, "Since you're so philosophical about it, you'll be a good one to +bear the sight of men saying good-bye to their families. We're to take +full crews to Coar and surrender them with the ships. Requisition what +help you need and get everybody aboard by noon tomorrow." + +Jezef saluted with a hint of amused irony, and left. + + * * * * * + +Whipping through the dark icy streets, Tulan smiled sourly, thinking how +Sennech's scientists had reversed themselves on the theory of hyperspace +now that Coar had demonstrated its existence. Maybe the Council was +right in mistrusting their current notions. As for himself, he saw only +two things to consider: that with Coar swinging behind the sun, the +accuracy of her new weapon had gone to pot; and that before she was +clear again he could pound her into surrender. + +His swift campaigns had already smashed her flabby fleets and driven the +remnants from space, but the Council, faced with the destruction and +casualties from just a few days of the weird surprise bombardment, was +cowed. + +He'd spent the previous night at home, but wasn't going back now, having +decided to make his farewell by visiphone. It was the thing he dreaded +most, or most immediately, so as soon as he reached the flagship he went +to his quarters to get it over with. + +Anatu's eyes--the same eyes as Jezef's--looked at him out of the screen, +filling him with the familiar awkward worship. "You've heard?" he asked +finally. + +"Yes. You won't be home before you go?" + +"No; I ..." He abandoned the lie he'd prepared. "I just didn't feel up +to it." + +She accepted that. "I'll wake the boys." + +"No! It's--" Something happened to his throat. + +She watched him for a moment. "You won't be back from Coar. You've _got_ +to speak to them." + +He nodded. This wasn't going according to plan; he'd intended it to be +brief and controlled. Damn it, he told himself, I'm Admiral of the +Fleets; I've no right to feelings like this. He straightened, and knew +he looked right when the two sleepy stares occupied the screen. + +Their hair was stiff and stubborn like his own, so that they wore it +cropped in the same military cut. It could have stood a brush right now. +They were quiet, knowing enough of what was wrong to be frightened. + +He spoke carefully. "I'm going to Coar to talk to them about stopping +the war. I want you to look after things while I'm away. All right?" + +"All right, Dad." The older one was putting on a brave front for the +benefit of the younger and his mother, but the tears showed. + +As Tulan cut the connection he saw that Anatu's eyes were moist too, and +realized with surprise that he'd never before, in all the years, seen +her cry. He watched the last faint images fade from the screen. + + * * * * * + +Sometime near dawn he gave up trying to sleep, dressed, and began +composing orders. Presently Jezef came in with cups of steaming amber +liquid. They sipped in silence for a while, then Jezef asked "You've +heard about Grefen?" + +Tulan felt something knot inside him. He shook his head, dreading what +he knew was coming. + +"He killed himself last night," Jezef said. + +Tulan remembered the agony in the old Minister of War's eyes when he'd +voted for surrender. Grefen had been Admiral in his day; the prototype +of integrity and a swift sledgehammer in a fight; and Tulan's first +combat had been under him. A symbol of the Fleet, Tulan reflected; and +his death, yes, that too was a symbol--what was there but shame in +surrender, for a man or a fleet or a world? + +His hand clenched, crumpling the paper it was resting on. He smoothed +the paper and re-read the order he'd been writing. He visualized the +proud ranks of his crewmen, reduced to ragged lines shuffling toward +prison or execution. + +It seemed impossible, against the laws of nature, that men should strive +mightily and win, then be awarded the loser's prize. His anger began to +return. "I've a mind to defy the Government and only take skeleton +crews," he said. "Leave the married men, at least." + +Jezef shrugged. "They'd only be bundled into transports and sent after +us." + +"Yes. Damn it, I won't be a party to it! All they did was carry out +their orders, and superbly, at that!" + +Jezef watched him with something like curiosity. "You'd disobey the +Council? You?" + +Tulan felt himself flush. "I've told you before, discipline's a +necessity to me, not a religion!" Nevertheless, Jezef's question wasn't +unfair; up to now it really hadn't occurred to him that he might +disobey. + +His inward struggle was brief. He grabbed the whole pad of orders and +ripped them across. "What's the Council, with Grefen gone, but three +trembling old men? Get some guns manned, in case they get suspicious and +try to interfere." + +Blood began to surge faster in his veins; he felt a vast relief. How +could he have ever seen it differently? He jabbed at a button. "All +ships' Duty Officers; scramble communication circuits. This is the +Admiral. Top Secret Orders...." + + * * * * * + +Shortly before noon the four-hundred-odd ships lifted out of Sennech's +frosty atmosphere, still ignoring the furious demands from the radio. +Fully armed, they couldn't be stopped. + +Tulan's viewer gave a vivid picture of the receding fifth planet. The +white mantle of ice and snow was a backdrop for blue artificial lakes +and the dark green of forest-strips (hardy conifers from Teyr) +alternated with the lighter shades of surface farms. The ice had been +almost unbroken until men came, bringing more heat than Sennech had ever +received from a far-off sun. + +That had been before the First Solar War, when Teyr (the race of Aum had +originated there) ruled. That awful struggle had bludgeoned the home +planet back to savagery, and left Coar and Sennech little better off. + +With recovery, Coar had taken over and prospered immensely. Teyr stayed +wild except for small colonies planted there by the other two planets, +and Sennech lagged for a while. + +Within Tulan's lifetime his world had found itself ready to rise against +the lax but profit-taking rule of Coar, and that rebellion had grown +into the present situation. + +Sennech's wounds were plainly visible in the viewscreen; great man-made +craters spewing incandescent destruction blindly over farm, city, or +virgin ice. The planet was in three-quarters phase from here, and Tulan +could see the flecks of fire in the darkness beyond the twilight zone. +Near the edge of that darkness he made out the dimmer, diffused glow of +Capitol City, where Anatu would be giving two small boys their supper. + +He checked altitude, found they were free of the atmosphere, and ordered +an acceleration that would take them halfway to the sun in fifty hours. +It was uncomfortable now, with Sennech's gravity added, but that would +fall off fast. + +Jezef hauled himself in and dropped to a pad. "I wish I had your build," +he said. "Do you really think we can pull this off?" + +Tulan, in a good mood, grinned at him. "Have I ever led you into defeat +yet, pessimist?" + +"No; and more than once I'd have bet ten to one against us. That's why +the Fleet fights so well for you; we have the feeling we're following a +half-god. Gods, however, achieve defeats as terrible as their +victories." + +Tulan laughed and sat down beside Jezef with some charts. "I think I'll +appoint you Fleet Poet. Here's the plan. No one knows what I intend; we +could be on our way around the sun to overtake Coar and either fight or +surrender, or we might be diving into the sun in a mass suicide. That's +why I broke off the siege and pulled all units away from Coar; the fact +that they're coming back around to meet us will suggest something like +that." + +"Are they going to join up?" + +"No; I want them on this side of the sun but behind us. I have a use for +them later that depends on their staying hidden. Incidentally, I'm +designating them Group Three. + +"In a few hours we're going to turn hard, this side of the sun, and +intercept Teyr. I want to evacuate our forces from the moon, then decoy +whatever the enemy has there into space where we can get at them. That's +their last fleet capable of a sortie, and with that gone we can combine +our whole strength and go around to Coar. She'll probably give up +immediately, on the spot." + + * * * * * + +Jezef thought it over. "Will they be foolish enough to leave the moon? +As long as they're safely grounded there, they constitute a +fleet-in-being and demand attention." + +"We'll give them a reason to move, then ambush them. Right now we've a +lot of reorganizing to do, and I want you to get it started. We're +splitting this Force into Groups One and Two. Here's what I want." + + * * * * * + +They cut drives and drifted in free fall while supplies were transferred +between ships, then Tulan held an inspection and found crews and +equipment proudly shipshape. Despite the proliferating rumors, morale +was excellent. + +A few hours later the realignment began. Space was full of the +disc-shapes; thin, delicate-looking Lights with their projecting +external gear, and thicker, smoothly armored Mediums and Heavies. He had +twenty-three of the latter in Group One, with twice as many Mediums and +a swarm of smaller craft. + +Group Two, composed of the supply ships and a small escort, was already +formed and diverging away. That was a vital part of his plan. From a +distance they'd look to telescope or radar like a full combat fleet. + +He was almost ready to swerve toward the third planet and its moon, but +first he had a speech to make. It was time to squash all the rumors and +doubts with a dramatic fighting announcement. + +He checked his appearance, stepped before the scanner, and nodded to +Communications to turn it on. "All hands," he said, then waited for +attention. + +The small monitor screens showed a motley sampling of intent faces. He +permitted himself a tight smile. "You know I have orders to surrender +the Fleet." He paused for effect. "Those are the orders of the Council +of Four, and to disobey the Council would be unthinkable. + +"Yet it is also unthinkable that a single ship of the Fleet should +surrender under any circumstances, at any time; therefore I am faced +with a dilemma in which tradition must be broken. + +"The Council of Four has lost courage, and so, perhaps, have many of the +people of Sennech. We have ways of knowing that the people of Coar, far +more than our own, clamor at their government for any sort of peace. + +"Coar's fleets are smashed and the remnants have fled from space. + +"Clearly, courage has all but vanished from the Solar System; yet there +is one place where courage has not wavered. That place is in the Fleet +of Sennech. + +"At this moment we are the only strength left in the Solar System. We +dominate the System! + +"Would we have history record that the Fleet won its fight gloriously, +then cravenly shrank back from the very brink of victory? + +"We left Sennech fully armed, though our orders were directly opposite. +I need not tell you that I have made the decision any man of the Fleet +would make. + +"This is our final campaign. Within a short time we shall orbit Coar +herself and force her surrender. That is all." + +There was a moment so quiet that the hum of the circuits grew loud, then +the monitors shook with a mighty cheer. + +Later, alone, Jezef congratulated him amusedly. "They are certainly with +you a hundred percent now, if there was any doubt before. Yet there was +one argument you didn't even hint at; the strongest argument of all." + +"What was that?" + +"Why, you're offering them a chance at life and freedom, where they +might be going to imprisonment or execution." + +That irritated Tulan. "I'm sure you're not so cynical about Fleet +loyalty and tradition as you pretend," he said stiffly. "I wouldn't +affront the men by using that kind of an argument." + +Jezef grinned more widely. "Did it even occur to you to use it?" + +Tulan flushed. "No," he admitted. + + * * * * * + +Teyr and her moon Luhin, both in quarter-phase from here, moved steadily +apart in the viewers. + +Group One's screen of light craft probed ahead, jamming enemy radar, and +discovering occasional roboscouts which were promptly vaporized. Far +behind, Group Two showed as a small luminescence. It would never be +visible to Luhin as anything else, and then only when Tulan was ready. + +They reversed drives, matched speeds neatly, and went into forced orbit +around Luhin. On the flagship's first pass over the beleaguered oval of +ground held by Sennech's forces--unsupported and unreinforced since the +home planet's defection--Tulan sent a message squirting down. "Tulan +commanding. Is Admiral Galu commanding there? Report situation." + +The next time around a long reply came up to them. "This is Captain Rhu +commanding. Galu killed. Twenty percent personnel losses. Six Lights +destroyed; moderate damage to several Mediums and one Heavy. Ground +lines under heavy pressure. Ships' crews involved in fighting at +perimeter. Food critical, other supplies low. Several thousand wounded. +Combat data follows." There was a good assessment of the struggle, with +some enemy positions that were known. + +The Fleet Force that had escorted nearly one hundred thousand ground +troops included five Heavies and other craft in proportion, besides the +transports and supply ships. Alone, they'd been pinned down by superior +enemy ground forces and by a sizable fleet holed up all around the +satellite. With Tulan's support they could be taken off. + +Tulan composed orders. "Withdraw ships' crews from lines and prepare to +lift. Get wounded aboard transports and prepare to evacuate troops. Set +up fire control network to direct our ground support." + +The tedious job of shrinking the perimeter, a short stretch at a time, +began, harassed by the quickly adapting enemy. + +During the first twenty hours the hostile fire was all from ground +projectors, the enemy ships not risking detection by joining in. By that +time one section of the front had pulled back to where several ships, +sheltered in a crater, would have to lift. + +Lines of men and equipment converged on the ships and jammed aboard. The +actual lift was preceded by a diversion a few miles away, which +succeeded in pulling considerable enemy fire. The ships got off in +unison, slanting back across friendly territory and drawing only light +missiles which the defenses handled easily. + + * * * * * + +Then, suddenly, a salvo of heavy stuff came crashing in, too unexpected +and too well planned to stop. One of the lifting ships, a transport, +vanished in a great flash. + +Tulan yelled into his communicator. "Plot! Where did that come from?" + +"I'm sorting, sir. Here! A roboscout got a straight five-second plot +before they downed it!" + +"Intelligence!" Tulan snapped. "Get the co-ordinates and bring me +photos!" + +There were already pictures of the area where the salvo must have +originated, and one of them showed a cave-like opening in a crater +wall. "That's it!" Tulan jabbed a pencil at it. "You could hide a dozen +ships in there. Let's get a strike organized!" + + * * * * * + +The strike group included four Heavies besides the flagship, with twelve +Mediums and twenty Lights. They slanted down in a jerky evasive course +while pictures flashed on screens to be compared with the actual +terrain. + +Ground fire, chemically propelled missiles, erupted ahead of them and +the small craft went to work intercepting it. They were down to a +hundred miles, then fifty, streaking along the jagged surface so close +they seemed to scrape it. This was point-blank range; as the computers +raced with the chaos of fire and counter-fire, human senses could only +register a few impressions--the bruising jerks, the shudder of +concussions, white streaks of rocket-trails, gushers of dirt from the +surface, winking flashes of mid-air interception. + +Then the Heavies were on target. The flagship jumped as the massive +salvo leaped away--not chemical missiles, but huge space torpedoes +propelled by Pulsor units like the ships' drives, directing their own +flocks of smaller defensive missiles by an intricate network of +controls. The small stuff, augmented by fire from the lighter ships, +formed momentarily a visible tube down which the big stuff streaked +untouched. + +The whole crater seemed to burst upward, reaching out angry fingers of +shattered rock as they ripped by, rocking and bucking with the blasts. +Tulan's viewer swivelled aft to hold the scene. Secondary blasts went +off like strings of giant firecrackers. Great black-and-orange +fungi-like clouds swirled upward, dissipating fast in the thin +atmosphere. Then Tulan spotted what he was looking for: three small +ships flashing over the area, to get damage-assessment pictures. There +was still a lot of ground-fire from farther out, and it caught one of +the three, which wobbled crazily then disappeared in a flash which +blanked out the viewscreen. + +"Intelligence!" Tulan shouted. "Casualties?" + +Intelligence was listening to his earphones and punching buttons. "Two +Lights lost, sir. Slight damage to seven more and to one Medium." + +"All right. Get a telecopy of those pictures as soon as you can; we +certainly hit something. Maybe a Heavy or two." He relaxed, aching, and +reflected that he was getting a little mature for actual combat. + +The pull-back went on, drawing only the local ground-fire now that the +enemy had been taught his lesson. Groups of ships lifted almost +constantly. The final position was an oval forty by sixty miles, held +almost entirely from the sky. The last evacuees straggled in like weary +ants, and when the radio reported no more of them the last fifty ships +lifted together and ran the gauntlet with slight losses. + +Tulan pulled the Force away for rest and repair. Group Two was idling at +extreme radar range, making a convincing blip, and he designed some +false messages to be beamed toward it with the expectation of +interception. The impression he wanted to give was that Group Two was +the Force that had been bombarding Coar, coming in now to join him. +Actually, the latter fleet was farther away, hidden in the sun and, he +hoped, unsuspected. + + * * * * * + +Things were going according to plan except for one puzzling item: there +was no message from Sennech's small garrison on Teyr. All he could get +from the planet was a steady radar scan, which might mean that Sennech's +colony had been conquered by Coar's. + +He'd been hoping to get certain supplies from Teyr, and now he took a +strong detachment in close to the planet to find out what was wrong. The +threat finally raised an answer. "This is the Chief of Council. What is +it that you want?" + +"Chief of Council? What are you talking about? I want the Garrison +Commander." + +"I suppose you're Admiral Tulan. There's been a change here, Tulan; Teyr +is now an independent planet. Your garrison, with Coar's, comprise our +defense forces." + +Tulan stared at the planet's image. "You're at war with Coar!" + +"Not any more, we aren't." There was a chuckle. "Don't sound so shocked, +Admiral; we understand you're in mutiny yourself." + +Tulan slapped the microphone onto its hangar. He sat, angry and +bewildered, until he remembered something, then buzzed Communications. +"Get me that connection again. Hello? Listen. I have sixty thousand +troops in transports, with almost no food. I intend to land them." + +"They're welcome as noncombatants, Admiral. They'll have to land +disarmed, in areas we designate, and live off the country. We've already +got more refugees than we can handle." + +"Refugees from where?" + +"Haven't you been in contact with Sennech at all?" + +"No." + +"Oh." There was a thoughtful pause. "Then you don't know. There's bad +radiation in the atmosphere and we're hauling as many away as we can. We +can use your ships if you're finished playing soldier." + +Tulan broke the connection again and turned, fuming, to Jezef. "We'll +blast our way in and take over!" + +Jezef raised his eyebrows. "What good would that do?" he asked. + +"Why; they--for one thing, we've got to think of those troops! We can't +land them unarmed and let them be slaughtered by the savages!" + +Jezef grinned. "I doubt if they'll refuse to let them have enough small +arms to defend themselves. They can't stay where they are." + +"But they're military men, and loyal!" + +"Are they? The war's over for them, anyway. Why not let them vote on +it?" + +Tulan jumped up and strode around the command room, while Jezef and the +staff watched him silently. Gradually, the logic of it forced itself +upon him. "All right," he said wearily, "We'll let them vote." + + * * * * * + +A few hours later he studied the results gloomily. "Well, after all, +they're not Fleet. They don't have the tradition." + +Jezef smiled, then lingered, embarrassed. + +"Well?" Tulan asked. + +"Sir," (that hadn't come out, in private, for years) "I'd like to be +relieved." + +It was a blow, but Tulan found he wasn't really surprised. He stared at +his brother-in-law, feeling as if he faced an amputation. "You think I'm +wrong about this whole thing, don't you?" + +"I'm not going to judge that, but Sennech's in trouble far worse than +any question of politics, including your own family." + +"But if we turn back now Coar will recover! It's only going to take us a +few more hours!" + +"How long does it take people to die?" + +Tulan looked at the deck for a while. "All right. I'll detach every +ship I can spare, and put you in charge. You'll have the transports too, +as soon as they're unloaded." He stared after Jezef, wanting to call out +to him to be sure to send word about Anatu and the boys, but somehow +feeling he didn't have the right. + + * * * * * + +He took the fighting ships away from Teyr, to where Group Two could join +up without being unmasked, then started sunward as if he were crossing +to intercept Coar. A few miles in, where they'd be hidden in the sun, he +left a few scouts. + +As he saw it, the enemy commander on the satellite, noting the armada's +course and finding himself apparently clear, would have no choice but to +lift his ships and start around the sun by some other path to help his +planet. + +That other path to Coar could be intercepted, and as soon as Tulan was +lost near the sun he went into heavy drive to change direction. He +drifted across the sun, waiting for word from his scouts. At about the +time he'd expected, they reported ships leaving the satellite. + +He looked across the room toward Plot. "Plot! Feed that data to +Communications as it comes in, will you?" And to Communications: "Can we +beam Group Three from here?" + +"Not quite, sir; but I can relay through the scouts." + +"All right; but make sure it's not intercepted. I want Group Three under +maximum acceleration for Luhin, and I want them to get running reports +on the enemy." + +"Right, sir." + +Tulan was in the position he wanted, not needing to use his own radar, +but able to pick up that of Coar's fleet at extreme range, too far to +give them a bounce. He'd know their course, speed, and acceleration +fairly well, without even being suspected himself. + +He held that position until the enemy was close enough to get a bounce, +then went into drive on an intercepting course. + +One of the basic tenets of space maneuver was this: if two fleets were +drawing together, with radar contact, neither (barring interference from +factors such as the sun or planets) could escape the other; for if one +applied acceleration in any direction the other could simply match it +(human endurance being the limitation) and maintain the original +relative closing speed. + +When the enemy commander discovered Tulan's armada loafing ahead of +him, he'd been accelerating for about ten hours and had a velocity of a +million miles per hour, while Tulan was going the same direction but at +half the speed. The quarry began decelerating immediately, knowing it +could get back to Luhin with time enough to land. + +Tulan didn't quite match the deceleration, preferring to waste a few +hours and lessen the strain on his crews. He let the gap close slowly. + +He could tell almost the precise instant when the other jaw of his trap +was discovered, for Plot, Communications, and Intelligence all jerked up +their heads and looked at him. He grinned at them. What they'd picked up +would be an enemy beam from Luhin, recklessly sweeping space to find the +Coar fleet and warn it of the onrushing Group Three. + +The enemy commander reacted fast. It was obvious he'd never beat Group +Three to Luhin, and he made no futile attempts at dodging, but reversed +drives and accelerated toward the nearest enemy, which was Tulan. Tulan +was not surprised at that either, for though Coar's fleets had bungled +the war miserably, when cornered they'd always fought and died like men. + +He matched their acceleration to hold down the relative speeds. The +swift passing clash would be brief at best. He formed his forces into an +arrangement he'd schemed up long ago but never used: a flat disc of +lighter ships out in front, masking a doughnut-shaped mass behind. He +maneuvered laterally to keep the doughnut centered on the line of +approach. + + * * * * * + +Roboscouts appeared and blossomed briefly as they died. The fuzzy patch +of light on the screens swelled, then began to resolve into individual +points. The first missiles arrived. Intricate patterns of incandescence +formed and vanished as fire-control systems locked wits. + +A sudden, brilliantly planned salvo came streaking in, saturating the +defenses along its path. Ships in Tulan's secondary formation swerved +frantically, but one darting, corkscrewing missile homed on a Heavy, and +for an instant there were two suns. + +Tulan, missing Jezef's smooth help, was caught up in the daze and strain +of battle now. He punched buttons and shouted orders as he played the +fleet to match the enemy's subtle swerving. Another heavy salvo came +in, but the computers had its sources pinpointed now, and it was +contained. These first few seconds favored the enemy, who was only +fighting the light shield in front of Tulan's formation. + +Now the swelling mass of blips streaked apart in the viewers and space +lit up with the fire and interception. Two ships met head on; at such +velocities it was like a nuclear blast. + +Then Coar's ships crashed through the shield and into the center of the +doughnut. Ringed, outgunned, outpredicted, they hit such a concentration +of missiles that it might as well have been a solid wall. Ships +disintegrated as if on a common fuse; the ones that didn't take direct +hits needed none, in that debris-filled stretch of hell. + +Tulan's flagship rocked in the wave of expanding hot gasses. There was a +jolt as some piece of junk hit her; if she hadn't already been under +crushing acceleration away from the inferno she'd have been holed. + +From a safer distance the path of destruction was a bright slash across +space, growing into the distance with its momentum. It was annihilation, +too awful for triumph; there was only horror in it. Tulan knew that with +this overwhelming tactic he'd written a new text-book for action against +an inferior fleet. He hoped it would never be printed. Sweating and +weak, he slumped in his straps and was ill. + + * * * * * + +While brief repairs and re-arming were under way, he sent scouts +spiraling out to pick up any radio beams from Sennech or Teyr. There +were none. The telescopes showed Sennech's albedo down to a fraction of +normal; that, he supposed, would indicate smoke in the atmosphere. He +wavered, wondering whether he should detach more ships to send out +there. Reason and training told him to stick to the key objective, which +was Coar's surrender. He waited only for Group Three to achieve a +converging course, then started around the sun again. + +They didn't encounter even a roboscout. He crossed the sun, curved into +Coar's orbit, matched speeds, and coasted along a million miles ahead of +the planet, sending light sorties in to feel out any ambushes. Still +there was no sign of fight, so he went in closer where the enemy could +get a good look at his strength. Finally he took a small group in boldly +over the fourth planet's Capitol and sent a challenge. + +The answer was odd. "This is Acting President Kliu. What are your +intentions?" + +Tulan realized he was holding his breath. He let it out and looked +around the silent command room, meeting the intent eyes of his staff. He +had an unreal feeling; this couldn't be the climax, the +consummation--this simple exchange over the radio. He lifted the +microphone slowly. "This is Admiral Tulan, commanding the Fleets of +Sennech. I demand your immediate and unconditional surrender." + +There was something in the reply that might have been dry amusement: +"Oh; by all means; but I hope you're not going to insist upon an +elaborate ceremony. Right now we don't give a damn about the war; we're +worried about the race." + +There was more silence, and Tulan turned, uncertainly, looking at the +bare spot where Jezef ought to be standing. He buzzed for +Communications. "Connect me with Captain Rhu. Rhu; I'm advancing you in +rank and leaving you in charge here. I'm going down to accept the +surrender and find out what this man's talking about." + + * * * * * + +Kliu was gaunt and middle-aged, wearing, to Tulan's surprise, the gray +of Coar's First Level of Science. He was neither abject nor hostile, +agreeing impatiently to turn over the secret of Coar's weapon and to +assist with a token occupation of the planet. Again Tulan had the +unreal, let-down feeling, and judging by Kliu's amused expression, it +showed. + +Tulan sent couriers to get things started, then turned back to the +scientist. "So you have had a change of government. What did you mean, +about the race?" + +Kliu watched him for a moment. "How much do you know about the weapon?" + +"Very little. That it projects matter through hyperspace and +materializes it where you want it." + +"Not exactly; the materialization is spontaneous. Mass somehow distorts +hyperspace, and when the projected matter has penetrated a certain +distance into such distortion, it pops back into normal space. The +penetration depends mainly upon a sort of internal energy in the +missile; you might think of it more as a voltage than as velocity. +You've made it very hard for us to get reports, but I understand we +successfully placed stuff in Sennech's crust." + +"Yes; causing volcanoes. Our scientists speculated that any kind of +matter would do it." + +"That's right. Actually, we were projecting weighed chunks of rock. When +one bit of matter, even a single atom, finds itself materializing where +another already is, unnatural elements may be formed, most of them +unstable. That's what blew holes in your crust and let the magma out." + +Tulan considered the military implications of the weapon for a few +moments, then pulled his mind back. "I see; but what about the +radiation? It wasn't more than a trace when I left." + +Kliu looked away for a while before answering. "When we learned you'd +defied your government, our own military got out of hand. They had a +couple of days before the sun cut us off completely, and they began +throwing stuff as soon as it could be dug and hauled to the projectors. +They used high energies to get it past the sun. As we realize now, a lot +of it hit the planet deeper than at first, below the crust. Under such +pressure a different set of fissionables was formed. Some of them burst +out and poisoned the atmosphere, but most of them are still there." He +leaned forward and eyed Tulan hard. "We've got to get an expedition out +there to study things. Will you help?" + +There was another of the palpable silences, and when he spoke Tulan's +voice sounded unnatural. "I--yes; we'll help. Whatever you want. Is ... +Sennech finished?" + +Kliu smiled tightly. "Sennech, for sure; and she may take the rest of us +with her. Nobody conceived what this might come to. A lot of those deep +materializations produced pockets of dense fissionables, and they're +converging toward the center under their own weight. When they get to a +certain point, we'll have a fine monument to Man's ingenuity. A +planet-size nova." He stood up. "I'll start organizing." + + * * * * * + +Tulan existed someway through the preparations, and when they were in +space again the solid familiarity of his ship helped. His staff was +carrying on wonderfully; shielding him, he suspected, from considerable +hostility. Discipline held up. + +A technology that had spanned five orbits and probed beyond was at bay, +and the expedition was tremendous. Hardly an art or science was +unrepresented. If need be, whole ships could be built in space. + +A beam from Teyr as they passed told of refugees by the hundreds of +thousands, dumped in the wilderness with a few ships still trickling in. +Tulan would have traded everything he could command to hear a word of +Jezef or the family, but Teyr wasn't concerned with individuals and he +didn't ask. + +Sennech was dull gray in the telescopes, showing, as they neared, flecks +of fire. They went in fast, using her gravity to help them curve into a +forced orbit as they strained to decelerate. Thermocouples gave readings +close to the boiling point of water; that, probably, was the temperature +of the lower air. + +Roboscouts went down first, then, as conditions were ascertained, manned +ships. Tulan took the flagship down once. Her coolers labored and her +searchlights were swallowed in murk within a few feet. Sounds carried +through the hull; the howl of great winds and the thumps of explosions. +Once a geyser of glowing lava spattered the ship. + +Within hours the picture began to form. The surface was a boiling sea +broken only by transient mountain peaks which tumbled down in quakes or +were washed away by the incessant hot rain. It would have been hard to +find a single trace of the civilization that had flourished scant hours +before. + + * * * * * + +The slower job was learning, by countless readings and painful +deduction, what was going on inside the planet. Tulan occupied himself +with organizational tasks and clung to what dignity he could. After an +eternity Kliu had time for him. + +"She'll blow, all right," the scientist said, sinking tiredly into a +seat. "Within half a year. Her year." + +"Twenty thousand hours," Tulan said automatically. "How about the other +planets?" + +"Coar has one chance in a hundred, Teyr possibly one in ten." + +Tulan had to keep talking. "The outer satellites. We can do a lot in +that time." + +Kliu shrugged. "A few thousand people, and who knows what will happen to +them afterward? It's going to be a long time before the System's +inhabitable again, if ever." + +"Ships ... people can live a long time in ships." + +"Not that long." + +"There must be something! The power we've got, and this hyperspace +thing." + +Kliu shook his head. "I can guess what you're thinking; we've been all +over it. There's no way to get to the stars, and no way to move a planet +out of its orbit. Don't think we haven't been pounding our skulls, but +the figures are hopeless." + +Tulan stared at the ulcerous image on the screen, built up by infra-red +probing through the opaque atmosphere. "She looks ready to fall apart +right now. How much of her could you blast off?" + +Kliu smiled wearily and without humor. "We've worked that idea to the +bone, too. If you could build a big enough projector, and mount it on an +infinitely solid base, you could push something deep enough and +accurately enough to throw off stuff at escape velocity, but it's a +matter of energy and we can't handle one percent of what we'd need. Even +if you could generate it fast enough, your conduits would melt under the +current." He got up and walked a few steps, then sat down again. +"Ironic, isn't it? All we can do is destroy ourselves." + +Tulan's mind couldn't accept it; he was used to thinking that any amount +of energy could be handled some way. "There must be something," he +repeated, feeling foolish as he said it. + +He went over the figures he knew so well; the acceleration and the total +energy necessary to drive a ship to the nearest stars. Even a ship's +Pulsors, pouring energy out steadily, were pitiful compared to that job. +Schoolboys knew the figures; mankind had dreamed for generations ... + +He sat up abruptly. "This hyperspace; didn't you tell me there were such +things as velocity and momentum in it?" + +Kliu's eyes focussed. "Yes; why?" + +"And that a projector could be built to put an entire ship into +hyperspace?" + +Kliu stared at him for a second. "Kinetic energy! Built up gradually!" +He jumped to his feet. "Come on! Let's get to the computers!" + + * * * * * + +Several hundred hours later Tulan lay watching the pinpoint on his +viewscreen that represented Sennech. He'd been building up speed for a +long time; he ached from the steady double-gravity. The ship, vastly +beefed up, was moving at a good fraction of the speed of light. It +wouldn't be much longer. + +The cargo of carefully chosen matter, shifting into hyperspace at the +right instant, would be taken deep into Sennech by the momentum he'd +accumulated in normal space. If the calculations were right, the +resulting blast would knock a chunk completely out of the planet. Each +of the thousands of other ships tied to him by robot controls would take +its own bite at the right time and place. Providing the plan worked. + +The Solar System would have a few hot moments, and would be full of junk +for a long time, but the threatening fissionables inside Sennech would +be hurled far apart, to dribble away their potence gradually. Kliu +admitted no one could calculate for sure even how much, if any, of +Sennech would remain as a planet, but Teyr, at least, with her thick +atmosphere, should withstand the rain of debris. + +He wondered about his family, and Jezef. Kliu had tried to get word, but +the tragically few refugees were scattered. + +He smiled, recalling how severely he'd had to order his staff to abandon +him. He was proud to remember that much of the fleet would have come +along, if he'd let them; but live men were going to be at more of a +premium on Teyr than heroic atoms drifting in space. Machines could +handle this assault. He himself had not had to touch a single control. + +The indicators began to flash, and, sweating with the effort, he hauled +himself erect to attention. It was good to be winding up here in his own +command room, where he'd lived his moments of triumph. Still, as the red +light winked on, he couldn't help thinking how very quiet and lonely it +was without Jezef and the staff. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ June 1960. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tulan, by Carroll Mather Capps + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TULAN *** + +***** This file should be named 27968.txt or 27968.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/9/6/27968/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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