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+Project Gutenberg's The Death-Traps of FX-31, by Sewell Peaslee Wright
+
+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: The Death-Traps of FX-31
+
+Author: Sewell Peaslee Wright
+
+Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29309]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEATH-TRAPS OF FX-31 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         Transcriber's Note:
+
+     This etext was produced from Astounding Stories March 1933.
+     Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
+     U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
+
+
+                       The Death Traps of FX-31
+
+                 _A Commander John Hanson Adventure_
+
+
+
+                       By Sewell Peaslee Wright
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Sidenote: Commander John Hanson recalls his harrowing expedition
+among the giant spiders of FX-31.]
+
+
+I do not wish to appear prejudiced against scientists. I am not
+prejudiced, but I have observed the scientific mind in action, on a
+great many occasions, and I find it rather incomprehensible.
+
+It is true that there are men with a scientific turn of mind who, at
+the same time, you can feel safe to stand with shoulder to shoulder,
+in an emergency. Young Hendricks, who was my junior officer on the
+_Ertak_, back in those early days of the Special Patrol Service, about
+which I have written so much, was one of these.
+
+Nor, now that I come to think of the matter in the cool and impartial
+manner which is typical of me, was young Hendricks the only one. There
+was a chap--let's see, now. I remember his face very well; he was one
+of those dark, wiry, alert men, a native of Earth, and his name
+was--Inverness! Carlos Inverness. Old John Hanson's memory isn't quite
+as tricky as some of these smart young officers of the Service, so
+newly commissioned that the silver braid is not yet fitted to the
+curve of their sleeves, would lead one to believe.
+
+I met Inverness in the ante-room of the Chief of Command. The Chief
+was tied up in one of the long-winded meetings which the
+Silver-sleeves devoted largely to the making of new rules and
+regulations for the confusion of both men and officers of the Service,
+but he came out long enough to give me the _Ertak's_ orders in person.
+
+"Glad to see you here at Base again, Commander," he said, in his
+crisp, business-like way. "Hear some good reports of your work; keep
+it up!"
+
+"Thank you, sir," I said, wondering what was in the air. Any time the
+Chief was complimentary, it was well to look out for squalls--which is
+an old Earth term for unexpected trouble.
+
+"Not at all, Commander, not at all. And now, let me present Carlos
+Inverness, the scientist, of whom you have undoubtedly heard."
+
+I bowed and said nothing, but we shook hands after the fashion of
+Earth, and Inverness smiled quite humanly.
+
+"I imagine the good captain has been too busy to follow the activities
+of such as myself," he said, sensibly enough.
+
+"A commander"--and I laid enough emphasis on the title to point out to
+him his error in terminology--"in the Special Patrol Service usually
+finds plenty to occupy his mind," I commented, wondering more than
+ever what was up.
+
+[Illustration: _At the same instant two other trap-doors swung up._]
+
+"True," said the Chief briskly. "You'll pardon me if I'm exceedingly
+brief, Commander, but there's a sizeable group in there waiting my
+return.
+
+"I have a special mission for you; a welcome relief from routine
+patrol. I believe you have made special requests, in the past, for
+assignments other than the routine work of the Service, Commander?"
+
+He was boxing me up in a corner, and I knew it, but I couldn't deny
+what he said, so I admitted it as gracefully as I could.
+
+"Very well," nodded the Chief, and it seemed to me his eyes twinkled
+for an instant. "Inverness, here, is head of a party of scientists
+bent upon a certain exploration. They have interested the Council in
+the work, and the Council has requested the cooperation of this
+Service."
+
+He glanced at me to make sure I understood. I certainly did; when the
+Supreme Council _requested_ something, that thing was done.
+
+"Very well, sir," I said. "What are your orders?"
+
+The Chief shrugged.
+
+"Simply that you are to cooperate with Inverness and his party,
+assisting them in every possible way, including the use of your ship
+for transporting them and a reasonable amount of equipment, to the
+field of their activities. The command of the ship remains, of course,
+in you and your officers, but in every reasonable way the _Ertak_ and
+her crew are to be at the disposal of Inverness and his group. Is that
+clear, Commander?"
+
+"Perfectly, sir." Nothing could have been clearer. I was to run the
+ship, and Inverness and his crew were to run me. I could just imagine
+how Correy, my fighting first officer, would take this bit of news.
+The mental picture almost made me laugh, disgusted as I was.
+
+"Written orders will, of course, be given you before departure. I
+believe that's all. Good luck, Commander!" The Chief offered his hand
+briefly, and then hurried back to the other room where the
+Silver-sleeves had gathered to make more rulings for the confusion of
+the Service.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Since when," asked Correy bitterly, "are we running excursions for
+civilians? We'll be personally conducting elderly ladies next thing."
+
+"Or put on Attached Police Service," growled Hendricks, referring to
+the poor devils who, in those days, policed the air-lanes of the
+populated worlds, cruising over the same pitiful routes day after day,
+never rising beyond the fringe of the stratosphere.
+
+"Perhaps," suggested the level-headed Kincaide, "it isn't as bad as it
+sounds. Didn't you, say, sir, that this Inverness was rather a decent
+sort of chap?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Very much so. You'd scarcely take him for a scientist."
+
+"And our destination is--what?" asked Kincaide.
+
+"That I don't know. Inverness is to give us that information when he
+arrives, which will be very shortly, if he is on time."
+
+"Our destination," said Correy, "will probably be some little ball of
+mud with a tricky atmosphere or some freak vegetation they want to
+study. I'd rather--"
+
+A sharp rap on the door of the navigating room, where we had gathered
+for an informal council of war, interrupted.
+
+"Party of three civilians at the main exit port, Port Number One,
+sir," reported the sub-officer of the guard. "One sent his name:
+Carlos Inverness."
+
+"Very good. Admit them at once, and recall the outer guards. We are
+leaving immediately."
+
+As the guard saluted and hurried away, I nodded to Correy. "Have the
+operating room crew report for duty at once," I ordered, "and ask
+Sub-officer Scholey to superintend the sealing of the ports. Mr.
+Kincaide, will you take the first watch as navigating officer? Lift
+her easily until we determine our objective and can set a course; this
+is like shoving off with sealed orders."
+
+"Worse," said Hendricks unhappily. "Sealed orders promise something
+interesting, and--"
+
+"Carlos Inverness and party," announced the guard from the doorway.
+
+Inverness nodded to me in friendly fashion and indicated his two
+companions.
+
+"Commander Hanson," he said, "permit me to present Godar Tipene and
+Cleve Brady, who are my companions on this expedition." I bowed, and
+shook hands with Brady; Tipene was a Zenian, and hence did not offer
+me this greeting of Earth. Then, quickly, I completed the round of
+introductions, studying Inverness's companions with interest as I did
+so.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Brady was short, and rather red-faced; a beefy, taciturn type, with a
+trap-like mouth and thoughtful discerning eyes. He struck me as being
+one with whom most men would like to be friendly, but who would have
+exceedingly few friends.
+
+The Zenian was a perfect foil for him. Tipene was exceedingly tall and
+slender, like all his race, and very dark. His eyes were almost
+womanly in their softness, and he had the nervous grace of a
+thoroughbred--which is an Earth animal of particularly high breeding,
+raised for show purposes. He had the happy faculty of speaking the
+language of Earth without a trace of Zenian or Universal accent; the
+Zenians are exceeded by none in linguistic ability, which was a real
+accomplishment before these decadent days when native languages are
+slipping so rapidly into obscurity.
+
+"And now," said Inverness crisply, when the introductions were over,
+"I presume you'll wish to know something about our destination and the
+objects of this expedition, sir?"
+
+"It would be helpful in charting our course," I admitted, smiling.
+
+Inverness, with beautiful disregard for the necessities of space
+navigation, spread voluminous papers over the table whose surface was
+formed by the pair of three-dimensional charts which were the
+_Ertak's_ eyes in outer space.
+
+"Our destination," he said, "is a body designated on the charts as
+FX-31. You are familiar with it, Commander Hanson?"
+
+"Hardly familiar," I admitted, smiling at Correy. "The universe is
+rather sizable, and even the named bodies are so numerous that one is
+able to be familiar with but an exceedingly small percentage. Its
+designation, of course, gives me certain information regarding its
+size, location and status, however."
+
+"How much information, Commander?" asked Tipene nervously.
+
+"Well, 'F' indicates that it is large; larger than Earth, for example.
+The numerals tells me where to locate it upon our space charts. And
+the 'X' would indicate that it is inhabited, but not by intelligent
+beings. Or that there is reasonable doubt as to the nature of those
+inhabiting it."
+
+"A very good summary of the knowledge we have," nodded Inverness
+approvingly. "I can add but one bit of information which may or may
+not be accurate: that the sphere known as FX-31 is populated by a
+ruling class decidedly unusual in type, and possessed of a degree of
+intelligence which has made them virtual masters of the sphere."
+
+"What are they like?" asked Correy. "Will they put up a fight? Are
+they dangerous?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Our knowledge came from a luckless tramp liner which set down on
+FX-31 in search of water, their water-producing equipment having been
+damaged by carelessness. They found water, a great river of it, and
+sent a party of five men to determine its fitness for human
+consumption. They were snapped up before they had gone a hundred feet
+from the ship--and no more men were sent out. They hovered over the
+stream and drew up the water in containers devised for the purpose."
+
+"Snapped up?" asked Correy impatiently. "By whom? Or what?"
+
+"By spiders!" replied Inverness, his eyes shining with the fanatical
+gleam of a scientist who scents something strange. "Great
+spiders--perhaps not true spiders, but akin to them, from the
+descriptions we have--of what is known on Earth as the trap-door
+variety, but possessed of a high degree of intelligence, the power of
+communication, and definitely organized."
+
+"Organized," put in Tipene, "in the sense that they work together
+instead of individually; that there are those to command and those to
+obey."
+
+"You say they are large," I commented. "How large?"
+
+"Large enough," said Inverness grimly, "to enable one of them to
+instantly overpower a strong man."
+
+I saw Correy glance forward, where our largest disintegrator-ray tubes
+were located, and his eyes lit up with the thought of battle.
+
+"If there's anything I hate," he gritted, "it's a spider. The hairy,
+crawling beasts! I'll man one of the tubes myself, just for the fun of
+seeing them dissolve into nice brown dust, and--"
+
+"I'm afraid not, Mr. Correy," said Inverness, shaking his head. "We're
+going to study them--not to exterminate them. Our object is to learn
+their history, their customs, their mode of communication, and their
+degree of intelligence--if possible."
+
+"Yes," grunted Brady. "If possible."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Kincaide set the _Ertak_ down on FX-31, close to the shore of a river,
+as gently as a feather settling to earth. Correy and I made our way to
+the exit port, where Inverness and his companions had gathered, with a
+considerable amount of scientific apparatus, and what seemed to be a
+boat, ingeniously taken down for shipment.
+
+All three of the scientists were clad in suits of some gray material,
+flexible as cloth, but possessed of a certain metallic sheen, which
+completely covered them. The material had been stiffened to form a
+sort of helmet, with a broad band of transparent material set in at
+the eye level, so that the wearer could see to both sides, as well as
+to the front. I could also discern the outlines of menores--the crude
+and cumbersome type of thought-transference instrument used in that
+day--apparently built into the helmets. Belted around their middles
+were atomic pistols of the latest and most deadly model.
+
+"For emergency use only, Commander," explained Inverness, observing my
+glance. His voice came quite clearly through the fabric which covered
+his face, so I gathered it was sufficiently porous to admit air for
+breathing. "This garment we wear will be sufficient protection, we
+believe; their mandibles are the weapons of the creatures we are to
+study, and this fabric should be ample protection against much more
+deadly weapons.
+
+"Now, we shall walk to the shore of the river; if we are not
+molested--and I believe we shall not be, here, because the
+infiltration of water would quickly fill any passage sunk into this
+sandy earth so close to the river--please have your men bring our
+supplies to us, the boat first."
+
+I nodded, and the three men walked through the open port, out across
+the gleaming, golden sand, to the water's edge. A number of great
+scarlet birds, with long, fiercely taloned legs, swooped about them
+curiously, croaking hoarsely and snapping their hawkish beaks, but
+offering no real molestation.
+
+My men quickly carried their supplies to them, and before the last of
+the equipment had been delivered, the boat was assembled and afloat: a
+broad-beamed craft with hollow metal ribs, covered with some shining
+fabric which was unfamiliar to me. There was a small cabin forward and
+a small atomic engine housed back near the stern.
+
+I walked to the edge of the water and shook hands with Inverness and
+Brady; with Tipene I exchanged bows.
+
+"I am sorry," said Inverness, "that I am facing you with what will,
+undoubtedly, be a monotonous and wearying vigil, for we shall probably
+be gone several weeks." He referred, I must explain, to a period of
+seven Earth days, a common unit of time on Earth.
+
+"We'll make the best of it," I said, thinking of Correy, and how he
+would rage at such a period of inaction. "The best of luck to you!"
+
+"Thanks; we'll remain no longer than necessary," smiled Inverness,
+smiling, his shining eyes already fixed on the river ahead.
+
+"And that will be no short time," said the taciturn Brady. "Shall we
+start?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correy raged. I had expected that, and I was in complete sympathy with
+him. Routine patrol was better than being earth-fast on this barren
+and uninteresting ball of mud.
+
+"Have I your permission, sir," asked Correy on the fourth day, "to
+make a little tour of inspection and exploration? We might run into
+some fresh meat."
+
+"I'm not sure that would be wise. These spider creatures--"
+
+"Pardon me, sir," interrupted Correy eagerly, "but we could take a
+small landing force, armed with pistols and grenades. Even a field ray
+tube. Certainly we could handle anything which might turn up, then."
+
+"And, you rather hope that something will turn up, Mr. Correy?"
+
+Correy grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"It would break the monotony, wouldn't it, sir? And, too, if anything
+should happen to them"--and he glanced up the river, in the direction
+taken by the three scientists--"we'd know something about what we had
+to contend with, wouldn't we?"
+
+I'm not sure whether it was Correy's argument or my own venturesome
+disposition which swayed me, but immediately after lunch Correy and I,
+with a picked crew of men, started out from the ship.
+
+Up until that time, we had confined our activities to the area between
+the ship and the shore--a small enough space at best. Now we rounded
+the shining blunt bow of the _Ertak_ and headed inland, Correy and
+myself in the lead, the two portable disintegrator ray-men immediately
+behind us, and the four other men of the party flanking the ray
+operators, two on each side.
+
+It was hot, but the air was dry and invigorating. There was not a
+cloud visible in the sky. Far ahead was a low line of bluish, fronded,
+vegetation; whether small trees or some fern-like undergrowth, we
+could not determine. The ground between the ship and the line of
+vegetation was almost completely barren, the only growth being a
+lichenous sort of vegetation, gray-green in color.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Here and there on the ground were the imprints of sharp, split hoofs,
+and Correy pointed these out to me with the comment that one of the
+guards had reported seeing a number of slender-legged animals roaming
+here in the star-light, apparently seeking water, but frightened by
+the strange apparition of our ship.
+
+"From the way he described them, they're something like the deer we
+used to have on Earth," he said. "I've seen the fossils in the
+museums, and they had little sharp, split hoofs like--"
+
+One of the men behind us shouted a warning at that instant, and we
+both whirled in our tracks. My eyes fell instantly upon one of the
+strangest and most fearsome sights I have ever seen--and I have
+explored many strange and terrible worlds.
+
+To our left, a huge circular section of the earth had lifted, and was
+swinging back on a hinge of glistening white fibers; a disk as great
+in diameter as the height of a man, and as thick as a man's body.
+
+Where the disk had been, gaped a tunnel slanting down into the earth,
+and lined with the same glistening white fibers which covered the
+bottom of the disk, and hinged it in place. As I looked, there sprang
+from this tunnel a _thing_ which I shall call a spider, yet which was
+too monstrous to be called by such an innocuous name.
+
+It was rust red in color, with eight bristling legs, each tipped with
+three curved and tufted claws. On each side of its face was an armored
+mandible, tipped with shining fangs, and beside them, slender,
+six-jointed palps stretched hungrily.
+
+The man who had seen the disk fly up opened fire without orders, and
+if he had not done so, some of us would not have returned to the ship.
+As it was, the atomic pistol whispered a steady stream of death which
+spattered the hairy body into an oozing pulp while it was still in
+mid-air. We leaped away, adding our fire to that of the alert guard
+who had first seen the apparition, and the spider, a twitching bundle
+of bespattered legs, fell on the spot where, an instant before, we had
+been.
+
+Almost at the same instant two other great circular trap-doors swung
+up, just beyond the first, and their hairy, malignant occupants leaped
+toward us.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our pistols were ready, now, however, and the portable ray equipment
+was humming. The ray dissolved the first into a sifting of reddish
+dust, and our pistols slashed the other into ribbons.
+
+"Back to the ship!" I shouted. "Look, Mr. Correy--there are hundreds
+of them!"
+
+Before us score upon score of the great disks were lifting, and from
+the tunnel each revealed, monstrous rust-red bodies were pouring.
+
+Our retreat covered by the two ray operators, we made our way swiftly
+to the ship. The great spiders, apparently alarmed by the magical
+disappearance of those of their comrades upon which the disintegrator
+ray rested, hesitated for a moment, their tremendous legs tensed, and
+their mandibles quivering with venomous anger, and then scuttled back
+into their holes, swinging their covers into place as they did so.
+
+"We didn't do so badly, at that," grinned Correy rather breathlessly,
+as we gained the welcome shelter of the _Ertak_. "There are a score
+and more of those potlids still standing open--which means that many
+spiders didn't go back to tell about what happened to them."
+
+"True--but had they waited until they could have surrounded us, the
+_Ertak_ would have been short-handed on the return trip. She would
+have been just two officers and six men short."
+
+I have never seen a real expression of fear on Correy's face, but I
+came as close to it then as I ever did.
+
+"They're tough customers," he said. "I never did like spiders, and I
+like them less, now. Those things stood half again as high as a man on
+their long legs, and could jump half the length of the ship."
+
+"Hardly that," I said. "But I'll say this: if they're the gentry
+Inverness and the other two are investigating, they're welcome to
+their jobs!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There wasn't any difficulty in keeping the men close to the ship after
+that, although waiting was a tedious and nerve-racking procedure.
+
+We watched the spider-infested territory closely, however, and found
+that they fed at night upon the deer-like creatures Correy had
+mentioned. These unwary beasts, seeking water, were pounced upon the
+instant they came close to one of the hidden dens, and dragged swiftly
+out of sight. These observations were made by television, and Correy
+in particular would sit up half the night watching the creatures at
+work.
+
+It was the second day of the fourth week that the sentry on duty
+called out that the boat was returning. We hastened down to the river
+to welcome them back, and I for one felt very much relieved.
+
+But as the boat approached, I felt my fears returning, for there was
+only one man visible: Tipene.
+
+The Zenian, bedraggled and weary, had lost or discarded the protective
+suit he had worn, and his lean, dark face was haggard.
+
+"We leave immediately, Commander Hanson," he said as he disembarked.
+"Please give the necessary orders."
+
+"But the others, sir? Where are Inverness and Brady?"
+
+"Dead," said Tipene. "The Aranians got them. I barely escaped myself."
+
+"And who are the Aranians?" I asked.
+
+"The creatures which control this world. The spider creatures.
+Aranians, they call themselves. Do we leave at once, as I ordered?"
+
+I thought quickly. I didn't like Tipene, and never had, and I fancied
+even less the high-handed attitude he was taking.
+
+"I would suggest, sir, that you first give us an account of what has
+happened," I said shortly. "If there is anything we can do for the
+other two, perhaps--"
+
+"I said they were dead," snapped Tipene. "You can't do anything for
+dead men, can you?"
+
+"No. But we must have a report to enter on our log, you understand,
+and--I'll be very busy on the return trip. I'd like to have your story
+before we start." Somehow, I was suspicious of Tipene.
+
+"Very well. Although I warn you I shall report your delay to your
+superiors." I shrugged, and led the way to the dining saloon which,
+small as it was, held chairs enough to seat us all.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"My story is very brief," he said, when my three officers, Tipene, and
+myself were seated. "We proceeded up the river to a spot which we
+deemed suited as a point of entry into the country, and far enough
+from the ship so that its presence would not be alarming to the
+inhabitants.
+
+"We permitted ourselves to be captured by the Aranians, knowing that
+our protective suits would prevent them from doing us serious bodily
+injury.
+
+"You have seen the creatures--word of your adventure with them
+precipitated our misfortune, I might say here--and you know of their
+tunnels. We were taken down one of these tunnels, and into a still
+larger one. This in turn gave onto a veritable subterranean avenue,
+and, in time, led to a sort of underground metropolis."
+
+"What?" growled Correy. "An underground city of those things?"
+
+"I should like to ask that you do not interrupt," said Tipene coldly.
+"This metropolis was really no more than a series of cubicles, opening
+off the innumerable crisscrossing tunnels, and many layers in
+thickness. Passage from one level to another was by means of slanting
+tunnels.
+
+"Some of these cubicles were very large, and utilized as storage
+rooms. Others were used for community activities, schools,
+entertainments, and so forth. We learned these things later, and
+explored them by means of our _ethon_ lamps--the entire system of
+tunnels being, of course, in utter darkness.
+
+"The first few days they were exceedingly hostile, and tried to tear
+us to pieces. When they could not do this, word was sent to some of
+their more learned members, and we were investigated. By the use of
+extra menores we had brought with us, we established a contact with
+their minds; first by the usual process of impressing pictures of our
+thoughts upon their minds, and later by more direct process."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I will say nothing of the great scientific value of our discoveries,
+for you would neither understand nor appreciate them--although they
+will set the scientific universe agog," continued Tipene, his eyes
+gleaming suddenly with a triumphant light. "As we perfected
+communication, we convinced them that we were friendly, and we gained
+their complete confidence.
+
+"They are a very ancient race. Very slowly have they come to their
+present stage of mental development, but they now possess reasoning
+faculties, a language--and a form of community government. There is
+much more, which, as I have said, would be of no significance to you.
+
+"And then word came that beings like ourselves had attacked and killed
+many of the Aranians. The news had traveled slowly, for their system
+of communication is crude, but it reached the community center in
+which we were staying.
+
+"Instantly, all was hostility. They felt they had been betrayed, and
+that we might betray them. Brady and Inverness, always rash and
+thoughtless, had discarded their protective suits, feeling sure they
+were perfectly safe, and they were torn to pieces.
+
+"I, having a more scientific and cautious mind, doubting everything as
+a true scientific mind must, still wore my armor. By the liberal use
+of my pistol, I managed to fight my way to the surface, and to the
+boat. And now, Commander Hanson, will you start back, as I have
+ordered?"
+
+I don't know what I would have said if I had not caught a peculiar
+glance from Correy, a glance accompanied by a significant, momentary
+closing of one eye (a gesture of Earth which means many things, and
+which is impossible to explain) and a slight nod.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Tipene," I said shortly. "We'll start at once.
+Gentlemen, will you join me in the navigating room?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correy was the last to arrive in the navigating room, and when he came
+in his eyes were dancing.
+
+"I've just transferred Tipene to another stateroom, sir," he said. "A
+specially equipped stateroom."
+
+"You what?"
+
+"If you'll give orders, sir, for an immediate start, I'll tell you all
+about it," chuckled Correy. "Tipene says he's worn out, and is going
+to retire as soon as we start. And when he does--we'll learn
+something."
+
+I nodded to Kincaide, and he gave the general attention signal. In a
+few seconds the outer sentry was recalled, and the exit port had been
+sealed. Slowly, the _Ertak_ lifted.
+
+"Maybe I'm wrong, sir," said Correy then, "but I'm convinced that
+Tipene is lying. Something's wrong; he was in altogether too much of a
+hurry to get away.
+
+"So, before I transferred him to the other stateroom, I concealed a
+menore under the mattress of his bunk, immediately under where his
+head will lie. It's adjusted to full strength, and I believe it will
+pick up enough energy to emanate what he's thinking about. We'll be in
+the next stateroom and see what we can pick up. How does that sound,
+sir?"
+
+"Like something you'd cook up, Mr. Correy!" I said promptly. "And I
+believe, as you do, that if it works at all, we'll find out something
+interesting."
+
+We equipped ourselves with menores, adjusted to maximum power, and
+silently filed into the stateroom adjacent to Tipene's.
+
+He was moving about slowly, apparently undressing, for we heard first
+one boot and then another drop to the floor. And we could sense vague
+emanations, too faint to be intelligible, and unmistakably coming from
+him.
+
+"Probably sitting on the edge of his bunk," whispered Correy. "When he
+lies down, it'll work like a charm!"
+
+It did--almost too well. Suddenly we caught a strong emanation, in the
+Universal language.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Surly individual, that Hanson--didn't like my giving orders--hurt his
+dignity. But I had my own way, and that's all that's important. Seemed
+to be suspicious--they all were. Maybe I was a bit urgent--but I was
+afraid--those damned Aranians might have changed their spidery minds.
+
+"They can't be very intelligent--to think I'd come back with tribute
+to pay for the spiders that fool Hanson and his men killed. Why, the
+ship's rays could wipe them all out, drill a hole in the ground--they
+didn't realize that. Thought that by holding Brady and that conceited
+Inverness for hostages, they'd be safe--and I'd be idiotic enough to
+not see this chance to get all the glory of the expedition for
+myself--instead of sharing it with those two. You're a quick thinker,
+Tipene--the true, ruthless, scientific mind...."
+
+I motioned for my officers to follow me, and we made our way, silent
+and grim-faced, to the navigating room.
+
+"Nice, friendly lad, isn't he?" snarled Correy. "I thought there was
+something up. What are your plans, sir?"
+
+"We'll go to the rescue of Inverness and Brady, of course. Mr. Correy,
+place Tipene under arrest, and bring him here at once. Mr. Kincaide,
+take over the ship; give orders to set her down where we were. And
+you, Mr. Hendricks, will take personal command of the forward ray
+tubes."
+
+My officers sprang to obey orders, and I paced restlessly up and down
+the room, thinking. Just as the _Ertak_ settled softly to earth,
+Correy returned with his prisoner. Two men stood on guard with drawn
+atomic pistols at the door.
+
+"What's the meaning of this indignity, sir?" flared Tipene. He had
+dressed hurriedly, and was by no means an imposing spectacle. He drew
+himself up to his full height, and tried to look domineering, but
+there was fear in his eyes. "I shall report you--"
+
+"You'll do no reporting, Tipene," I broke in coldly. "I'll do the
+reporting. You see, we know all about your little plan to desert your
+comrades, held by the Aranians as hostages, and to grasp all the glory
+of your findings for yourself. But--the plan doesn't work. We're going
+back."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tipene's face drained a dirty yellow--a Zenian can never be actually
+pale.
+
+"You ... how...." he floundered.
+
+"A menore, under your pillow," I explained crisply. "But that doesn't
+matter, now. You will guide us to the spot where you found the Aranian
+city, and establish communication with the Aranians. When that's done,
+I'll give you further orders."
+
+"And if I won't?" breathed Tipene, his teeth clenched in a shaking
+rage.
+
+"But you will. Otherwise, we'll permit you to continue your
+explorations on this interesting little sphere--minus your protective
+suit."
+
+Tipene stared at me with horror-stricken eyes. I think he saw that I
+meant exactly what I said--and I was not bluffing.
+
+"I--I'll do it," he said.
+
+"Then watch the river carefully," I ordered. "Kincaide, lift her just
+enough so we can get a good view of the river. Tipene will tell you
+where to set her down."
+
+Navigating visually, Kincaide followed the winding course of the
+river, covering in a few minutes a distance it had taken the
+scientists a day to navigate.
+
+"There--there is the place," said Tipene suddenly. "Just this side of
+the patch of vegetation."
+
+"Very good. And remember what happens if you play any tricks," I
+nodded grimly. "Descend to within a few yards of the ground, Mr.
+Kincaide; we'll drop Tipene through the trap."
+
+Correy hurried the prisoner away, and I ordered the trap in the bottom
+of the _Ertak's_ hull to be opened.
+
+"Now," I informed Tipene, "we'll let you down and you will establish
+communication with the Aranians. Tell them you have brought back, not
+tribute, but an enemy powerful enough to blast their entire city out
+of existence. It will be a simple matter for you to picture what an
+atomic grenade or one of the ship's rays will do. We'll arrange a
+little demonstration, if they're not convinced. And tell them that if
+they don't want to be wiped out, to bring Inverness and Brady to us,
+unharmed, as fast as their eight long legs will manage."
+
+"They won't do it," whined Tipene. "They were very angry over the
+killing of those others. I'm just risking my life without the
+possibility of gain."
+
+"You obey my orders, or you go down and stay there," I said abruptly.
+"Which?"
+
+"I'll do as you say," he said, and the cage dropped with him swiftly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As soon as he was on the ground he reached up and adjusted his menore,
+peering around anxiously. For several minutes nothing happened, and
+then, the length of the ship away, one of the great trap-doors flew
+open. Out of it came one of the spiders, not rust-red like those we
+had seen, but faded to a dirty yellow. Close behind him were two of
+the rust-red Aranians, which fell in one on each side of the yellow
+chap.
+
+The first Aranian, I presumed--and rightly--was one of the old learned
+members of the race. As he scuttled closer to the cowering Tipene, I
+saw that, amidst the bristles which covered his head and thorax, was a
+menore.
+
+The three great spiders approached the ship warily, watching it
+constantly with huge, glittering eyes. A safe distance away they
+paused, and the old one fixed his attention on Tipene.
+
+Evidently, what Tipene emanated caused the old fellow to become very
+angry; I could see his legs quivering, and his withered old mandibles
+fairly clattered.
+
+"He says he won't do it!" Tipene called up to me, excitedly. "Says we
+can't reach them underground, and that they'll kill their hostages if
+we try to harm them."
+
+"Ask him if there are any tunnels between the ship and the river," I
+commanded. "We'll demonstrate what we can do if he harms Inverness and
+Brady."
+
+The two were in silent communion for a moment, and Tipene looked up
+and shook his head.
+
+"No," he shouted. "No tunnels there. The water would seep into them."
+
+"Then tell him to watch!"
+
+I stepped back and pressed an attention signal.
+
+"Mr. Hendricks?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+"Open up with the starboard tube, full power, concentrated beam, at
+any spot halfway between here and the river. At once."
+
+"At once, sir!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ray generators hummed instantly, their note deepening a moment
+later. The ray bit into the dry, sandy soil, boring steadily into the
+earth, making an opening over twice the height of a man in diameter.
+
+The fine, reddish-brown dust of disintegration hung swirling above the
+mouth of the tunnel at first, and then, as the ray cut deeper into the
+earth, settled quickly and disappeared.
+
+"Cease operation, Mr. Hendricks!" I commanded. "Keep the generators
+on, and stand by for further orders."
+
+As soon as Hendricks' quick acknowledgment came back, I called down to
+Tipene.
+
+"Tell your friend to inspect the little hole we drilled," I said.
+"Tell him to crawl down into it, if he wishes to see how deep it is.
+And then inform him that we have several ray tubes like this one, and
+that if he does not immediately produce his hostages, unharmed, we'll
+rise above his city and blast out a crater big enough to bury the
+_Ertak_."
+
+Tipene nodded and communicated with the aged Aranian, who had cowered
+from the shaft in the earth disintegrated by our ray, and who now,
+very cautiously, approached it, flanked by his two far from eager
+guards.
+
+At the lip of the slanting tunnel he paused, peered downward, and
+then, circling cautiously, approached the lidded tunnel whence he had
+emerged.
+
+"He agrees," Tipene called up sullenly. "He will deliver Inverness and
+Brady to us. But we must come and get them; he says they have
+barricaded themselves in one of the cubicles, and will not permit any
+Aranian to approach. They still have their atomic pistols; the
+Aranians did not realize they were weapons."
+
+"Very well; tell him a party from the ship will be ready in a few
+seconds. You will go with us as interpreter; you understand how to
+communicate with them."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I pressed Correy's attention signal and he answered instantly.
+
+"Pick five good men for a landing party, two of them portable
+disintegrator ray operators, with equipment. The others will be
+provided with _ethon_ lamps, pistols, and atomic grenades. Get the men
+to the trap as quickly as possible, please."
+
+"Immediately, sir!"
+
+I had the cage drawn up, and by the time I had secured my own
+equipment and returned, Correy was waiting with his men.
+
+"One second, Mr. Correy, and we'll leave," I said, calling the
+navigating room. "Mr. Kincaide, I'm leaving you in command. We are
+going into the Aranian city to pick up Inverness and Brady. I
+anticipate no trouble, and if there is no trouble, we shall return
+within an hour. If we are not back within three hours, blast this
+entire area with atomic grenades, and riddle it with the rays. Is
+that clear?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Kincaide.
+
+"And then proceed immediately to Base and report. I have made an entry
+in the log regarding this expedition, as official evidence, if
+needed."
+
+"Right, sir," said Kincaide, who was as near a perfect officer as I
+have ever seen.
+
+"Mr. Correy, you've heard my orders. So have you, men. We're going
+underground, into a veritable warren of these spider creatures. If any
+of you wish to refuse this service, you have my permission to
+withdraw."
+
+Not a man moved. Correy hardly repressed a grin. He knew the men he
+had picked for the job.
+
+"Good!" I said, and signaled to the cage operator. Swiftly we dropped
+to earth, where Tipene and our three hairy guides awaited us.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The descent into the white-lined tunnel was a terrifying experience.
+The lining was tough and fibrous, a sort of coarse material
+corresponding to the silk of a spider of normal size, although these
+strands were as large as my little finger, and strong as cables.
+
+A close inspection of our guides added nothing to my confidence or
+bravery; their eight beady eyes, set at strategic spots about their
+heads, seemed unwinkingly ominous. And their mandibles, with fangs
+folded back like the blades of a pocket-knife, paired with their
+bristly palps, seemed like very capable weapons.
+
+The Aranians ran ahead of us, our _ethon_ lamps making strange and
+distorted shadows on the curving walls of the tunnel. Correy and I
+herded the unwilling Tipene just ahead of us, and the five picked men
+brought up the rear.
+
+About forty feet down, the floor of the tunnel curved sharply and
+leveled off; a short distance farther on a number of other level
+tunnels merged with it, and the shape changed; from a tube perfectly
+circular in cross-section, it became a flattened oval, perhaps half
+again the height of a man, and at least three times that dimension in
+width.
+
+Our party was joined by scores of other Aranians, who darted in from
+side passages; some going ahead, some closing in behind us, until the
+tunnel was filled with the peculiar brittle sound of their walking.
+
+"They don't lack for numbers," muttered Correy softly. "Think they'll
+make trouble, sir?"
+
+"Your guess is as good as mine. I showed them what the ray would do; I
+believe it threw a scare into the old chap. Did you tell them what we
+would do if they played any tricks, Tipene?"
+
+"Certainly; my own life is endangered, isn't it?" snapped the Zenian.
+
+"It certainly is," I told him grimly. "And not only by the spiders, if
+you make any suspicious moves."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We went on without further conversation, until we came to the
+beginning of the cubicles Tipene had mentioned.
+
+Each of these was closed, or could be closed, by a circular door such
+as those which concealed the outer entrance to the tunnels, save that
+these were swung on a side hinge. From the central passage we were
+following, smaller ones branched off in all directions: to the left,
+to the right; upward and downward. And all were lined with the
+cubicles, from which a constantly increasing army of Aranians emerged
+to accompany us.
+
+We had gone but a short distance into the "city" when our ancient
+guide paused, turning to stare down a deserted passage.
+
+"He says," grunted Tipene--as near a grunt as the high-pitched Zenian
+voice is capable of, "that they're down there. He asks that we go and
+get them; he is afraid. They have killed two of the Aranians already
+with their atomic pistols."
+
+"For which I don't blame them in the least," said Correy. "I'd get as
+many as I could before I let them sink their mandibles into me."
+
+"But I thought they were hostages, and being treated as such?"
+
+"The Aranians got tired of waiting; some of the younger ones tried to
+do their own executing," explained Tipene. "The whole brood of them is
+in an ugly mood, the old fellow tells me. We were fools to come!"
+
+I didn't argue the matter. You can't argue such a matter with a man
+like Tipene. Instead, I lifted my voice in a shout which echoed down
+the long corridors.
+
+"Brady! Inverness! Can you hear us?"
+
+For a moment there was no reply, and then, as our _ethon_ lights
+played hopefully along the passage, a circular door opened, and
+Inverness, his pistol drawn, peered out at us. A moment later, both he
+and Brady were running toward us.
+
+"Hanson!" cried Inverness. "Man, but we're glad to see a human face
+again--but why did you come? Now they've got us all."
+
+"But they'll let us all go," I said, with a confidence I did not feel.
+"I've demonstrated to one of their leaders just what the _Ertak_ can
+do--and will do--if we aren't aboard, safe and unhurt, in three
+hours."
+
+"The young bloods don't obey well, though," said Brady, shaking his
+head. "Look at them, milling around there in the central passage! They
+didn't see your demonstration, whatever it was. They started for us
+some time back, and we had to rip a couple of them to pieces, and
+barricade ourselves."
+
+"Well," said Correy grimly, "we'll soon find out. Ready to start back,
+sir?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I turned to Tipene, who was staring at the packed mass of Aranians,
+who choked the tunnel in both directions.
+
+"Tell them to make way," I commanded. "We're leaving."
+
+"I've--I've been in communication with him," moaned Tipene. "And he
+hasn't any power over these youngsters. They want blood. Blood! They
+say the ship won't dare do anything so long as so many of us are
+here."
+
+"It will, though," I snapped. "Kincaide will obey my orders to the
+letter. It'll be a wholesale slaughter, if we're not there by the
+specified time."
+
+"I know! I know!" groaned Tipene. "But I can't make them understand
+that. They can't appreciate the meaning of such discipline."
+
+"I believe that," put in Brady. "Their state of society is still low
+in the scale. You shouldn't have come, Commander. Better the two of us
+than the whole group."
+
+"It may not be so simple as they think. Mr. Correy, shall we make a
+dash for it?"
+
+"I'd be in favor of that, sir!" he grinned.
+
+"Very well, you take three of the enlisted men, Mr. Correy, and give
+us a brisk rear-guard action when we get into the main passage--if we
+do. Use the grenades if you have to, but throw them as fast as
+possible, or we'll have the roof coming down on us.
+
+"The two ray operators and myself will try to open a way, backed up by
+Inverness and Brady. Understand, everybody?" The men took the places I
+had indicated, nodding, and we stood at the mouth of the side tunnel,
+facing the main passage which intersected it at a right angle. The
+mouth of the passage was blocked by a crowded mass of the spider
+creatures, evidently eager to pounce on us, but afraid to start an
+action in those narrow quarters.
+
+As we came toward them, the Aranians packed about the entrance gave
+way grudgingly, all save two or three. Without an instant's
+hesitation, I lifted my pistol and slashed them into jerking pulp.
+
+"Hold the ray," I ordered the two men by my side, "until we need it.
+They'll get a surprise when it goes into action."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We needed it the moment we turned into the main corridor, for here the
+passage was broad, and in order to prevent the creatures from flanking
+us, we had to spread our front and rear guards until they were no more
+than two thin lines.
+
+Seeing their advantage, the Aranians rushed us. At a word from me, the
+ray operators went into action, and I did what I could with my
+comparatively ineffective pistol. Between us, we swept the passage
+clean as far as we could see--which was not far, for the reddish dust
+of disintegration hung in the quiet air, and the light of our _ethon_
+lamps could not pierce it.
+
+For a moment I thought we would have clear sailing; Correy and his men
+were doing fine work behind us, and our ray was sweeping everything
+before us.
+
+Then we came to the first of the intersecting passages, and a
+clattering horde of Aranians leaped out at us. The ray operators
+stopped them, but another passage on the opposite side was spewing out
+more than I could handle with my pistol.
+
+Two of the hairy creatures were fairly upon me before the ray swung to
+that side and dissolved them into dust. For an instant the party
+stopped, checked by these unexpected flank attacks.
+
+And there would be more of these sallies from the hundreds of passages
+which opened off the main corridor; I had no doubt of that. And there
+the creatures had us: our deadly ray could not reach them out ahead;
+we must wait until we were abreast, and then the single ray could work
+upon but one side. Correy needed every man he had to protect our rear,
+and my pistol was not adequate against a rush at such close quarters.
+That fact had just been proved to me with unpleasant emphasis.
+
+It was rank folly to press on; the party would be annihilated.
+
+"Down this passage, men," I ordered the two ray operators. "We'll have
+to think up a better plan."
+
+They turned off into the passage they had swept clean with their ray,
+and the rest of the party followed swiftly. A few yards from the main
+corridor the passage turned and ran parallel to the corridor we had
+just left. Doors opened off this passage on both sides, but all the
+doors were open, and the cubicles thus revealed were empty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Well, sir," said Correy, when we had come to the dead end of the
+passage, "now what?"
+
+"I don't know," I confessed. "If we had two ray machines, we could
+make it. But if I remember correctly, it's seven hundred yards, yet,
+to the first of the tunnels leading to the surface--and that means
+several hundred side passages from which they can attack. We can't
+make it."
+
+"Well, we can try again, anyway, sir," Correy replied stoutly. "Better
+to go down fighting than stay here and starve, eh?"
+
+"If you'll pardon me, gentlemen," put in Inverness, "I'd like to make
+a suggestion. We can't return the way we came in; I'm convinced of
+that. It was the sheerest luck that Commander Hanson wasn't brought
+down a moment ago--luck, and excellent work on the part of the two ray
+operators.
+
+"But an analysis of our problem shows that our real objective is to
+reach the surface, and that need not be done the most obvious way, by
+returning over the course by which we entered."
+
+"How, then?" I asked sharply.
+
+"The disintegrator ray you have there should be able to cut a passage
+for us," said Inverness. "Then all we need do is protect our rear
+while the operators are working. Once on the surface, we'll be able to
+fight our way to the ship, will we not?"
+
+"Of course! You should be in command, Inverness, instead of myself."
+His was the obvious solution to our difficulty; once proposed, I felt
+amazingly stupid that the thought had not occurred to me.
+
+I gave the necessary orders to the ray men, and they started
+immediately, boring in steadily at an angle of about forty-five
+degrees.
+
+The reddish dust came back to us in choking clouds, and the Aranians,
+perhaps guessing what we were doing--at least one of their number had
+seen how the ray could tunnel in the ground--started working around
+the angle of the passage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At first they came in small groups, and our pistols readily disposed
+of them, but as the dust filled the air, and it became increasingly
+difficult to see their spidery bodies, they rushed us in great masses.
+
+Correy and I, shoulder to shoulder, fired at the least sign of
+movement in the cloud of dust. A score of times the rushes of the
+Aranians brought a few of them scuttling almost to our feet; inside of
+a few minutes the passage was choked, waist high, with the riddled
+bodies--and still they came!
+
+"We're through, sir!" shouted one of the ray operators. "If you can
+hold them off another fifteen minutes, we'll have the hole large
+enough to crawl through."
+
+"Work fast!" I ordered. Even with Inverness, Brady, and the three of
+the _Ertak's_ crew doing what they could in those narrow quarters, we
+were having a hard time holding back the horde of angry, desperate
+Aranians. Tipene was useless; he was cowering beside the ray
+operators, chattering at them, urging them to hurry.
+
+Had we had good light, our task would have been easy, but the passage
+was choked now with dust. Our _ethon_ lamps made little more than a
+dismal glow. The clattering Aranians were almost within leaping
+distance before we could see them; indeed, more than one was stopped
+in mid-air by a spray from one pistol or another.
+
+"Ready, sir," gasped the ray man who had spoken before. "I think we've
+got it large enough, now."
+
+"Good!" I brought down two scuttling Aranians, so close that their
+twitching legs fell in an untidy heap almost at my feet. "You go
+first, and protect our advance. Then the rest of you; Mr. Correy and I
+will bring up the--"
+
+"No!" screamed Tipene, shouldering aside the ray men. "I...." He
+disappeared into the slanting shaft, and the two ray men followed
+quickly. The three members of the crew went next; then Brady and
+Inverness.
+
+Correy and I backed toward the freshly cut passage.
+
+"I'll be right behind you," I snapped, "so keep moving!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Correy hesitated an instant; I knew he would have preferred the place
+of danger as the last man, but he was too good an officer to protest
+when time was so precious. He climbed into the slanting passage the
+ray had cut for us, and as he did so, I heard, or thought I heard, a
+cry from beyond him, from one of those ahead.
+
+I gave Correy several seconds before I followed; when I did start, I
+planned on coming fast, for in that shoulder-tight tube I would be
+utterly at the mercy of any who might attack from behind.
+
+Fairly spraying the oncoming horde, I drove them back, for a moment,
+beyond the angle in the corridor; then I fairly dived into the tunnel
+and crawled as fast as hands and knees could take me toward the
+blessed open air.
+
+I heard the things clatter into the space I had deserted. I heard them
+scratching frantically in the tunnel behind me, evidently handicapped
+by their long legs, which must have been drawn up very close to their
+bodies.
+
+Light came pouring in on me suddenly, and I realized that Correy had
+won free. Behind me I could hear savage mandibles snapping, and cold
+sweat broke out on me. How close a terrible death might be, I had no
+means of knowing--but it was very close.
+
+My head emerged; I drew my body swiftly out of the hole and snatched a
+grenade from my belt. Instantly I flung it down the slanting passage,
+with a shout of warning to my companions.
+
+With a muffled roar, the grenade shook the earth; sent a brown cloud
+spattering around us. I had made a desperate leap to get away, but
+even then I was covered by the shower of earth.
+
+I looked around. Trapdoors were open everywhere, and from hundreds of
+these openings, Aranians were scuttling toward us.
+
+But the ray operators were working; not only the little portable
+machine, but the big projectors on the _Ertak_, five or six hundred
+yards away; laying down a deadly and impassable barrage on either side
+of us.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"They got Tipene, sir!" said Correy. "He dodged out ahead of the ray
+men, and two of them pounced on him. They were dragging him away,
+tearing him. The ray men wiped them out. Tipene was already dead--torn
+to fragments, they said. Back to the ship now, sir?"
+
+"Back to the ship," I nodded, still rather breathless. "Let the ray
+men cover our retreat; we can take care of those between us and the
+ship with our pistols--and the _Ertak's_ projectors will attend to our
+flanks. On the double, men!"
+
+We fought every step of the way, in a fog of reddish dust from the big
+disintegrator rays playing on either side of us--but we made it, a
+torn, weary, and bedraggled crew.
+
+"Quite an engagement, sir," gasped Correy, when we were safely inside
+the _Ertak_. "Think they'll remember this little visit of ours, sir?"
+
+"I know we'll remember it, anyway," I said, shaking some of the dust
+of disintegration from my clothes. "Just at the moment, I'd welcome a
+tour of routine patrol."
+
+"Sure, sir," grinned Correy. "So would I--until we were a day or two
+out from Base!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Death-Traps of FX-31, by Sewell Peaslee Wright
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