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diff --git a/29321.txt b/29321.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d368db2 --- /dev/null +++ b/29321.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1525 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vulcan's Workshop, by Harl Vincent + +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: Vulcan's Workshop + +Author: Harl Vincent + +Release Date: July 5, 2009 [EBook #29321] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VULCAN'S WORKSHOP *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +Vulcan's Workshop + + +By Harl Vincent + + + + +Transcriber's Note: This e-text was produced from Astounding Stories, +June, 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the +U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + +Savagely cursing, Luke Fenton reeled backward from the porthole, his +great hairy paws clapped over his eyes. No one had warned him, and he +did not know that total blindness might result from gazing too earnestly +into the sun's unscreened flaming orb, especially with that body not +more than twenty million miles distant in space. + +[Sidenote: Mighty Luke Fenton swaggers defiantly in Vulcan's Workshop, +most frightful of Martian prisons.] + +He did not know, in fact, that the ethership was that close: Luke had +not the faintest notion of the vast distances of the universe or of the +absence of air in space which permitted the full intensity of the +dazzling rays to strike into his optics unfiltered save by the thick but +clear glass which covered the port. He knew only that the sun, evidently +very near, was many times its usual size and of infinitely greater +brilliance. And he was painfully aware of the fact that the +fantastically enlarged and blazing body had seared his eyeballs and +caused the floating black spots which now completely obscured his +vision. + +Stumbling in his blindness, he fell across the hard cot that was the +sole article of furniture in the cell he had occupied for more than two +weeks. Lying there half dazed and with splitting head, he cursed the +guard who had opened the inner cover of the port; cursed anew the +fish-eyed Martian judge who had sentenced him to a term in Vulcan's +Workshop. + +Several of Luke's thirty-eight years had been spent in jails and sundry +other penal institutions devised by Earthman and Martian for the +punishment of offenders against the laws of organized society. And yet +they had failed to break his defiant spirit or to convince him of the +infallibility of his creed that might makes right. Nor had they taken +from him the gorillalike strength that was in his broad squat body, the +magnificent brute lustihood that made him a terror to police and citizen +alike. Instead, the many periods of incarceration had only served to +increase his hatred of mankind and his contempt of the forces of law and +order. Especially was he contemptuous of the book-learning that gave the +authorities their power. + +As the pain back of his eyes abated, Luke could see dimly the shaft of +light that slanted down from the porthole to the bare steel floor. His +sight was returning, yet he lay there still, growling in his throat, his +mind occupied with thoughts of his checkered past. + + * * * * * + +Steel-worker, mechanic, roustabout, he had worked in most of the +populous cities of Earth and had managed to get into serious trouble +wherever he went. It was his boast that he had never killed a man except +in fair fight. And yet, at thirty, finding himself wanted by the police +of a half dozen cities of Earth, he had signed up in the black gang of a +tramp ethership bound for Mars, knowing he would never return and caring +not at all. + +At first, he had been riotously happy in the changed life on the new +world. There had been plenty of soul-satisfying brawls and plenty of +chulco, the fiery Martian distillate. On his many and frequent jobs +there were excellent opportunities to rebel against authority, and he +had fomented numerous mutinies in which he was always victorious but +which usually landed him in one of the malodorous Martian jails for a +more or less extended stay. + +Then had come that final fracas in the Copau foundry on the bank of +Canal Pyramus. Overly optimistic, Luke's new boss had struck out at the +chunky, red-headed Earthman during an inconsequential argument and had +promptly measured his length in a sand pile as a hamlike fist crashed +home in return. They had picked up the foreman and taken him to the +infirmary where it was found that his skull was fractured and that he +had little chance for life. There were the red police after that, and +Luke, single-handed, trounced four of them so soundly and thoroughly +that someone sent in a riot call. It had taken a dozen of the reserves +to club him into submission at the last. + +That was too much for Martian justice. In pronouncing sentence the judge +had termed Luke an incurably vicious character and a menace to society +such as the planet had never harbored. And Luke, his head swathed in +bandages from which his wiry red hair bristled like the comb of a +gamecock, had grinned evilly and snarled his defiance. + +And so they were taking him to the dread prison camp known as Vulcan's +Workshop, a mysterious place of horror and hardship from which no +convict had ever returned. Vaguely Luke knew that it was located on +still another world, away off somewhere in the heavens. He had seen the +lips of men go white when they were condemned to its reputed torture, +had heard them plead for death in preference. Yet its terrors had not +awed him; they did not awe him now. He had beaten the law before; he'd +beat it again--even in Vulcan's Workshop. + + * * * * * + +A key rattled in the lock and Luke Fenton leaped to his feet, facing the +barred door with feet spread wide and with his massive shoulders hunched +expectantly. He could see now, with much blinking and watering of his +still aching eyes, and he looked out with sneering disapproval at the +three guards in the corridor. They were afraid of him, singly, these +Martian cops, even though armed with the deadly dart guns and with +shot-loaded billies. So afraid, Luke chuckled inwardly, that they had +kept him from the other prisoners throughout the trip, kept him in +solitary confinement. + +The door was opening and it came to Luke that the ethership was +strangely and hollowly silent. The rocket tubes were stilled, that was +it, and even the motors that drove the great ventilating fans had been +stopped. They had arrived. + +No time now to start anything. He would have to submit tamely to +whatever they might mete out to him in the way of punishment--until he +got the lay of the land. It would require some time to study things out +and to plan. But plan he would, and act; they'd never hold him here +until he died of whatever it was that killed men quickly in Vulcan's +Workshop. Not Luke Fenton. + +Sullenly docile, he was prodded forward to the air-lock. A draft of hot +fetid air swept through the corridor, carrying with it the forewarning +of unspeakable things to come. And a shriek of mortal terror wafted in +from outside by the stinking breeze, told of some poor devil already +demoralized. The thick muscles of Luke's biceps tightened to hard knots +under his black prison jacket. + + * * * * * + +They were outside then and Luke essayed a deep breath, a breath that was +chokingly acrid in his throat. + +"Waugh!" he coughed, and spat. One of the guards laughed. + +Any foul epithet that might have formed on Fenton's lips was forgotten +in the sight that met his eyes. A barren and rugged terrain stretched +out from the landing stage, a land utterly desolate of vegetation and +incapable of supporting life. Pockmarked with craters and seamed with +yawning fissures from which dense vapors curled, it was seemingly devoid +of habitation. And the scene was visible only in the lurid half light of +flame-shot mists that hung low over all. In the all too near distance, +awesomely vast and ruddy columns of fire rose and fell with monotonous +regularity. For the first time, Luke experienced something of the +superstitious fear exhibited by even the most hardened criminals when +faced with a term at Vulcan's Workshop. That term, to them, meant horror +and misery, torture and swift death. And he, too, was ready to believe +it now. + +He was prodded down an incline that led from the landing stage to the +rocks below. The guards from the ethership, he saw, remained behind on +the platform and there were new guards awaiting him below. Husky +fellows, these were, in strange bulky clothing and armed with the +highest powered dart guns. The other prisoners from the vessel were +already down there, a huddled and frightened mass--a squashed pile, +almost--silent now and watchful of their jailers. + + * * * * * + +"Come on, show some speed, tough guy!" a guard yelled from the foot of +the runway. "Think this is a reception?" + +Another of the guards guffawed hoarsely, and Luke choked back the +blasting retort that rose in his throat. Plenty of time yet before he'd +be ready to make things hot for those birds. + +The runway, he observed, was a strip of yielding metal that glowed +faintly with an unnatural greenish light. He was nearing its lower end +when the siren of the ethership shrieked and he heard the clang of the +outer door of its air-lock as it swung to its seat. + +Then he stepped out to the smooth stone slab on which the nearest of the +guards was standing. Immediately it was as if a tremendous weight was +flung upon him, bearing him down until his knees buckled beneath him. He +was rooted to the spot by an enormous force which dragged at his vitals +and weighted his limbs to leaden uselessness. With a mighty effort he +raised his head to look up into the grinning yellow face of the guard, +and his thick neck muscles were taut gnarled ridges under the strain. + +"Damn your hide!" he howled. "It's a trick. I'll break you in two for +this, you slob!" + +His huge biceps tensed and his fists came up. But they came up slowly +and ineffectually, ponderous things he could scarcely lift. A great +roaring of rocket tubes was in his ears then, and the ethership screamed +off through the red mists while he dabbed futilely at the leering yellow +face. And vile curses rasped from between his set teeth at the laughter +of the guards. + + * * * * * + +Luke Fenton never had taken the trouble to learn or he would have known +something about this planet Vulcan on which he was a prisoner. As far +back as 1859, by Earth chronology, its existence within the orbit of +Mercury had been reported by one Lescarbault, a French physician. But +other astronomers had failed to confirm, in fact had ridiculed his +discovery, and it was not until some years after the establishing of +interplanetary travel in the first decade of the twenty-first century +that the body was definitely located. + +Vulcan, the smallest and innermost of the planets, circles the sun with +great rapidity at a mean distance of twenty million miles. Its periods +of rotation and revolution are equal, so that it always presents the +same face toward the solar system's great center of heat and light--for +which reason one side is terrifically hot and the other, that facing +into outer space, unbearably cold. + +There is no life native to the body, and mankind has found it possible +to exist only in the narrow belt immediately on the dark side of the +terminator, the line of demarcation between night and day. Here there +are the dense vapors, illuminated perpetually by refracted light from +the daylight side and by the internal fires of the planet itself, fires +which erupt at regular intervals through many fissures and craters. And +it is only under greatest hardship that man can exist even here, what +with the noxious gases and the extremes of heat and cold to which his +body it subjected. There is no natural source of water or of food, so +these essentials must of necessity be conveyed from Mars or Earth by +ethership. + +In spite of all this, man has persisted in establishing himself in the +vapor belt of Vulcan for the sake of wresting from the rocky soil its +vast deposits of rare ores, and a great number of mining operations are +continually in progress. All of these are commercial projects and are +worked by adventurous seekers of fortune, save only the penal colony +known as Vulcan's Workshop: But no Terrestrial or Martian, however +greedy for riches, would dare to remain longer than two lunar months, +which is the average time limit of human endurance. Only the condemned +remain, and these remain to die. + + * * * * * + +Though hardly more than two hundred miles in diameter, Vulcan is +possessed of a surface gravity almost six times greater than that on +Earth. This is due to the planet's core of neutronium, the densest known +substance of the universe, a little understood concentration of matter +whose atoms comprise only nuclei from which all negative electrons have +been stripped by some stupendous cataclysm of nature. + +And so it was that Luke Fenton, uninsulated from the tremendous gravity +pull when he stepped from the charged metal of the runway, was +struggling against his own bodily weight, suddenly increased to more +than twelve hundred pounds. + +Doggedly, the Earthman pitted his mighty sinews against the force he +could not understand. Here was an intangible thing, yet it was a power +that challenged his own brute strength, and he exerted himself to the +limit in accepting the challenge. With legs spread wide and with sweat +oozing from every pore, he heaved himself erect, straightening knees and +spine and standing there firmly on his two feet. + +"He's carrying it!" came the husky whisper of a guard. "This bird _is_ +tough." + +Craftily, Luke bared his white, even teeth in a good-humored grin. He +had seen what they were doing with the other prisoners, fitting them one +by one with the strange bulky breeches--garments that gave forth a faint +greenish glow like that of the runway. And each of the men, so attired, +was enabled somehow to get to his feet easily and walk about as if +unhampered by the force which had flattened him to the rocks and which +still held Luke's straining body in its grip. + + * * * * * + +The yellow-skinned guard, a Terrestrial of Asiatic origin, was solemnly +engaged now in lacing the slitted legs of a similar garment to Luke's +rigid nether limbs. Yet there was no cessation of that awful weight when +the thing was done. The guard stepped back and leered wickedly. He had +slung his dart gun over his shoulder and now produced a slender black +tube which he leveled at Luke's midsection. + +"You walk now, Fenton," he snarled. + +The Earthman rose upward as if he would leave the ground. Two or three +inches seemed added to his stature, and his muscles trembled from the +sudden release. He stepped a pace forward. + +Then a light beam flashed forth from the black tube and Luke sagged down +with an astonished oath squeezed grunting from his throat. The swift +renewal of the inexplicable force had caught him off balance and he +dropped ignominiously to his knees. + +"Ha!" gloated the Oriental. "It is thus we control the tough ones, +Fenton. I've given you a warning; now get up--and march!" + +On the last word came blessed release and the return of Luke's strength. +He marched, meekly falling in with the file of new prisoners. He even +smiled through the red stubble of his beard. But black hatred was in his +heart, and renewed determination that he'd get away from this place +somehow--alive. + +Time would show him the way. + + * * * * * + +Fenton's slow but retentive mind absorbed many things during the +succeeding few days. There was neither day nor night in this hellish +place--only the flame-lit mists; but they had clocks like those of +Earth, and you worked fourteen hours on the slope or in the smelter and +had the rest of each so-called day of twenty-four hours in which to eat +and sleep. + +The food was coarse, but there was plenty of it. There was only water to +drink, lukewarm stinking stuff, doled out sparingly in rusty tin cups. +And, during the sleeping periods, you were required to take off the +gravity-insulated garments and sleep in huts with insulated floor +coverings. The charged floor, of course, allowed you to sleep without +being smashed flat on the uncomfortable cots. But they had you safe in +these sleeping huts; they took away your clothes and you couldn't step +out of the door without taking on the weight of a half a dozen men. + +The Workshop itself was in a vast excavation from whose slopes a +silvery-veined ore was being removed. There were the blast furnace and +reduction plant on the one side and the convicts' huts and more +pretentious houses of the guards on the other. And the choking mists, +and the lurid flame behind. The stifling heat, Luke learned, too, that +every ninth day, with what they called the libration of Vulcan, there +came an equal period of raw and biting cold to replace the heat. As bad +or worse, that would be. + +There were perhaps three hundred prisoners here, Luke guessed, and a +guard allotted to each squad of fifteen men. Not many guards for so +large a number of convicts--but enough. The weird gravity of Vulcan had +taken care of that, and the flashlight things they always carried--queer +lights that would instantly neutralize the insulating property of his +clothing and render a man helpless. + + * * * * * + +Luke was working high up on the slope, with rock drill and pick. The +group to which he had been assigned was composed entirely of new +prisoners, mostly white men, but with a few blacks and one +coppery-skinned drylander of Mars. Whimpering, hopeless creatures, all +of them; not worth his notice. All day he labored without speaking to +any of them and the quantities of ore he removed gave mute evidence of +his tireless vigor. If Kulan, the giant Martian guard, took any notice +of it he gave no sign. + +During the sleeping period, which they persisted in calling night, +things were different. No guards were needed in the escape-proof huts +and there was some surreptitious fraternizing among the prisoners. As +long as they made no undue noise, they were left to their own devices. +But for the most part they went to sleep heavily and wordlessly as soon +as they flung into their bunks. A broken-spirited lot. + +Luke saw men suffering from some horrible malady that made them cough +and scream and bleed from nose and mouth. Old-timers, these were, men +who had survived for as many as three of four months. He saw them, in +their agony, beg the guards for merciful death; heard the brutal +laughter of their tormentors. Only when they were no longer able to rise +from their bunks were they put out of their misery by one of the singing +darts from the senior guard's gun. + +Novak had it, this malady known as X.C.--Novak, the scar-faced, +yellow-fanged rat who occupied the bunk beneath Luke's and who talked to +him in hoarse whispers long after the others had gone to sleep. It was +from Novak that Luke was learning, and the knowledge he gained by +listening to the doomed man served only to intensify the flame of hate +that smoldered deep in his barrel-like chest. + +After three red-lit days of grueling labor and three similarly red-lit +nights of listening to Novak, he reached the grudging conclusion that +escape from this place was impossible. With this conviction there came +to him a deeper bitterness and the resolve that he, Luke Fenton, would +have his revenge before he went the way of the rest. + +Perhaps the law had him for keeps this time--it certainly seemed so; but +he'd leave his mark on its representatives yet. + + * * * * * + +At inspection preceding the next labor period, Luke began doing things. + +The prisoners were lined up and the guards were parading the line, +reassigning them to new working squads, which were shifted and +rearranged every third day. Kulan, the big Martian, selected Luke. + +"You, Fenton," he snapped, "ten paces forward." + +Luke grinned but made no move. + +Amazed, the guard stepped closer. "You heard me!" he roared. "I'm +keepin' you in my squad, tough guy." + +A ripple of astonished comment ran along the line and the other guards +bellowed for silence. Kulan fingered the black tube of his neutro-beam +and his broad face was chalky white. + +Luke advanced two paces, still grinning. And he looked up sneeringly +into the grim face that was a foot above his own. + +"That's right, you big ape," he grated, "you ain't man enough to fight +the way men fight. Gotta use dart guns, or gravity." + +It was sheer baiting of the big Martian. Fenton was shrewd and he knew +the fellow's kind, quick to resent insult and prouder of their physical +size and prowess than of any other possession. He saw the flush that +rose to replace the guard's pallor, saw the huge lithe body go tense. +Laughing derisively, he completed his ten paces with leisurely aplomb. + +Speechless with rage, Kulan stood rigid. Furtive boos and a few hoarse +cheers came from somewhere in the long line of convicts, and Luke saw +several men flattened to the ground by swift darting neutro-beams. + +And then the head guard came running from the small bastion. "What the +hell?" he demanded of Kulan. "Any trouble?" + +Kulan saluted, and his eyes were narrow slits. "No sir," he returned +stiffly, "no trouble." + +Eyeing Luke suspiciously, the senior guard grunted, then moved on along +the line. And the work of reallotting squads went on. + + * * * * * + +It was exactly as Fenton had expected. This Kulan, a head over him in +stature and broad in proportion, was sure in his mind that he could +handle the red-headed Earthman without resort to weapons. And the taunt +as to his physical ability had struck home. In some way that guard would +maneuver matters so the encounter could come about. Besides, he would +endeavor to keep Luke in his squad where he would be able to drive him +to the utmost. The guards, Novak had said, were on the job only a month +when they were replaced by fresh recruits--and their pay was based on +the productivity of the squads they commanded. Kulan had seen that the +Earthman was a real sapper; worth three of the others. And he'd try to +keep it so. + +That working period was a highly gratifying one to Luke. With the +rankling hatred concentrated and directed at Kulan, he was positively +gleeful. And yet he was content to bide his time. He swung his pick and +wielded his rock drill with joyful abandon, so that three men were kept +busy loading the ore he removed. + +Kulan, he saw with satisfaction, was sullen and watchful. But no word +passed between the two. And the Earthman knew he had planted a seed that +was bound to sprout and grow until it bore fruit. + + * * * * * + +At the midday mess it happened. The shifting of men had brought Novak in +the same squad with Luke and they came in to sit at the long table +together. Kulan eyed them narrowly from the head of the board. + +"Say," Novak whispered, "yuh got under Kuley's skin, know it? He'll run +yuh ragged." + +"Yes?" Luke looked up at the guard, saw he was scowling darkly in their +direction, and grinned evilly. "I'll run him, you mean. I'll bust him in +two if I get my hands on him." + +"Yuh ain't got a chance, I tell yuh. I seen a guy once, take a poke at a +guard, and what they done to him was plenty. They----" + +With that, the wasted body of Novak bent double and he dropped to the +ground screaming. Blood gushed from his nostrils. Luke had seen the same +thing happen to several others and he knew what to expect. It was all +over for Novak, or nearly over. + +Kulan came running and turned the stricken man face up. + +"You'll last another period," he snarled. "Get up and eat." + +He yanked Novak to his feet and shook him as he would a sack of meal. +The sick man moaned and begged, his head rolling from side to side and +his eyes filmed with pain. + +"Let me have it," he whimpered. "I'm done, I tell yuh Kuley. Get +Gannett, if yuh don't believe me." + +Kulan slapped him heavily with the flat of his massive hand. "You'll +work another period, sewer rat, if I have to prop you up!" + +Then Luke Fenton took a chance. He didn't care particularly for Novak, +nor was he overly concerned by what might happen to him. But this gave +him an excuse, an opening. + +He hooked his thick fingers in the collar of Kulan's jacket and twisted +until the big Martian loosed Novak and whirled around. Then Luke drove a +hard fist to his jaw--a pulled punch so as not to betray his real +strength. Nevertheless it set the guard back on his heels and split the +taut skin where it landed. + + * * * * * + +Pandemonium broke loose in the mess hall. Gannett, the senior guard, +came bellowing down the aisle, and the squad guards were on their feet +in an instant, neutro-tubes and dart guns ready. The uproar of the +prisoners died down. + +Kulan shook his shaggy head and crouched low as he circled the Earthman. +Murder was in his heart, and the urge to break this tough guy Fenton +with his bare hands. But Gannett was between them. + +"Hell's bells!" he yelped. "What goes on here?" + +Then he saw Novak--and heard him. Novak was writhing on the ground, +begging for death. And the chief guard's dart gun twanged as its +needlelike missile sped forth and drove into the sick man's breast where +it sang its shrill song of vibratory dissolution. + +In the twinkling of an eye where Novak had lain was only the dust of +complete disintegration and a few scintillating, dancing light flecks +that swiftly snuffed out. A speedy and merciful end. + +In the silence that followed, Gannett turned on Kulan. "Why didn't you +send for me?" he demanded. + +The guard, white with rage, indicated Luke. + +"So--the tough guy Fenton again. Can't you handle him?" + +Kulan's yellow eyes flashed fire. "Sure I can; I will. But I want your +permission, sir. With my hands." + +"No,"--flatly. And then Gannett whirled to look over the mess tables, +whence a few scattered hisses had arisen. + +His gaze was solemn when he returned it to Kulan. Swiftly his black eyes +measured the Martian's giant body, and then they swung to Luke. The +comparison evidently pleased him, for he changed his mind. + +"On second thought, yes," he said to Kulan. "It'll be good for +discipline. Only don't disable him; he's too valuable a worker." + +Luke concealed his unholy glee; stood glowering savagely. "In fair +fight?" he put in. + +"In fair fight," sneered Gannett. He took personal charge of Kulan's +weapons. "All right, you," he yelled then to the mess, "you can watch +this. But if there's a sound or a move from any one of you there'll be +the neutro-broadcast and full gravity for an hour for the whole +flea-bitten gang of you." + +He drew back, motioning Luke and Kulan to an open space nearby. There +was not the slightest doubt in his mind as to the outcome, for the +Martian towered over his stocky opponent and was fully fifty pounds +heavier. This irregular procedure would put a stop to some of the open +homage paid to this reputed tough guy by the prisoners, and to the +restlessness among them which his coming had occasioned. + + * * * * * + +They fought instantly and with silent deadliness of purpose, these two. +Luke drove in two terrible blows to the big Martian's body in the +split-second before they closed, breathtaking punches that rocked Kulan +yet did not slow him up in the least. And then the tangle of arms and +legs and bodies of the two was so swift moving and violent that the +watchers could not follow them. + +Now they were up, slugging, clinching; now down, rolling over and over, +straining and tearing at each other like beasts of the jungle. Once, +breaking free, Luke was seen to batter Kulan's face to a bloody mass +with swift, hammering fists that thudded too rapidly to count. And then +the Martian had flung him to the rocky ground so heavily that it seemed +certain the Earthman's end had come. But such was not the case, for +there was a flailing scramble and Luke Fenton rose up with the great +body of Kulan across his shoulders. He spread his legs wide and heaved +mightily. + +The Martian guard kicked and squirmed, lashing out with his huge fists +at the squarely-built and squarely-planted body of the Earthman below +him. But to no avail. Grasping a shoulder and a thigh, Fenton +straightened his thick arms and Kulan was hoisted aloft. Amazingly then, +the madly struggling guard was flung out and away to land with a +sickening thud, smashed and crumpled on the rocks. + +Luke stood swaying on those spreadeagled legs and his lungs were near +bursting from the exertion in the noxious atmosphere. "There you are, +Gannett," he howled through swollen lips. "That fair enough for you?" + +In the ominous silence a cracked voice yelped: "Attaboy Fenton!" + +Wild disorder followed. Immediately there was the raucous call of the +general alarm siren and a flashing light from the bastion that paled the +red mists to a sickly, luminous pink. Full gravity coming down with +crushing force on the hapless prisoners. + +Luke, as he was flattened, gasping painfully under the enormous +pressure, saw that Gannett and the rest of the guards were not affected +by the neutro-broadcast. They stood erect and moved freely among the +prisoners who sprawled everywhere in grotesque squashed heaps. Queer. +There was no way of beating the authorities at this game. + + * * * * * + +Gannett transferred Luke to the dreaded sealed cell in the reduction +plant, a room spoken of in hushed whispers by the convicts, and in which +it was reported an inmate suffered indescribable tortures for the better +part of three weeks. Then he died in horrible misery, for one could not +survive longer than that. + +Kulan had not been killed. He would recover, but was pretty well smashed +up, with a fractured hip and several broken ribs, one of which had +punctured a lung. It would be necessary to return him to Mars on the +next ethership, due in two days. Strangely, the news brought Luke no +great amount of satisfaction. + +When they locked him up in the sealed cell for his first period of labor +he saw there was only one other occupant. A tall lanky Earthman with +narrow aristocratic features and keen gray eyes. He was perhaps +forty-five, slightly stooped, and with thin graying hair. Luke had seen +him several times at mess and had contemptuously classed him as a +highbrow. Fuller, his name was. + +This was a small room where several slender chutes brought down tumbling +crystals of a silvery salt from somewhere above, emptying it into glass +containers that stood in endless rows in wooden racks. You filled these +containers with the salt, then sealed them in lead tubes and packed them +for shipment. There was a faint pungent odor in the air of the room, a +new smell that widened Luke's nostrils and caught at his throat and +lungs. + +In this place you were watched by a guard who came regularly each half +hour and spied on you through a peephole. + +Child's play, the work in the sealed cell. Luke went at it +half-heartedly and he spoke no word to Fuller after the heavy door had +closed them in. After ten minutes of silence he caught himself watching +his companion furtively. + +What was there about Fuller that marked him as superior to Luke and the +rest of the convicts? A good gust of wind would blow the man away; a +woman might easily beat him in a rough and tumble. Yet this man had +something which unmistakably proclaimed greatness, the same something +that gave authority and power to the smart guys of Earth and Mars. +Brains--book-learning! Luke snorted. + +Fuller was looking at him with calmly appraising gaze. Luke scowled +darkly, but the keen eyes that measured him did not waver. + +"You're a fool, Fenton," came from the thin lips. + +"What!" Luke advanced threateningly. + +"I repeat: you are a fool." Still the gray eyes were unwavering. + +"Why, you--you----" Spasmodically Luke's fingers closed down on the +spare shoulder with crushing force. + + * * * * * + +By not so much as the flicker of an eyelash did Fuller betray the pain +that must have come with that grip. He did not even wince, but swiftly +lashed out with a bony fist, raking Luke's cheek with sharp knuckles. +The blow stung, but was utterly futile. With a single cuff Luke could +send the man sprawling; with a single wrench of his powerful hands, snap +his spine. Yet he did neither, and the impulse to laugh coarsely died in +his throat. Here was courage of a kind he never had encountered; here a +man in whose bright eyes fearlessness and defiance mingled with a cool +disdain that brought the first real feeling of inferiority Luke ever had +experienced. + +He relaxed his grip of Fuller's shoulder and his big hands fell loosely +at his sides. It was that action which saved Fenton. He did not know it +at the time, nor would he have believed it. But he was to remember many +times and finally to realize it, though he never fully understood. + +"That's better," breathed Fuller. And the ghost of a smile crinkled the +corner of his mouth. + +At the old man's warning Luke returned to his own work bench and was +industriously engaged when the guard's eye showed at the peephole. Then +the eye was gone and he grinned over at Fuller. + +"How long you been in here?" he ventured. + +"Five days in the sealed cell; ten altogether in the Workshop." + +Luke pondered this. "How'd you get in the cell?" + +"Same way you did--I struck a guard." + +"No!" marveled Luke. "Mean to tell me you----" + +"I had a reason to get in here," Fuller broke in mildly. + +"You--you _wanted_ to get in?" Luke was incredulous. + +"I did." + +"My God, you ain't crazy, are you--wantin' to get yourself killed off +quicker?" + + * * * * * + +"No, that isn't it," Fuller explained patiently. "I've a plan to escape +and only by taking the chance of spending some time here could I obtain +access to the necessary materials. Fenton, I'm a scientist and I +know----" + +"Escape!" Luke snorted. "You _are_ crazy. Where you goin' to go?" + +"Listen, Fenton." The other dropped his voice. "I'm not doing this +blindly; I have friends outside. And you can help me. You can get away +yourself, alive. I called you a fool and by that I meant that you have +relied too much on brute force in your lifetime and had not sense enough +to realize that this brought only trouble. Combine your brawn with my +brains, now, and do as I say--if you will I promise you freedom. Will +you do it, or do you want to keep on being a fool?" + +Luke bristled, but the earnestness of that steady gaze served to check +his rising temper. "I still think you're nuts," he growled, "but hell, I +ain't fool enough to pass up any kind of chance of gettin' outa here. +Gimme the dope." + +Fuller coughed slightly and a fleck of red-tinged foam appeared at his +lips. "It'll have to be to-day," he whispered. "One more day in this +place and it'll be too late for me." + +X.C.! Luke stared, horrified. Fuller had it already and didn't know it. +Poor devil; he was a goner before he started this crazy break of his. +Strangely, Luke was deeply concerned. It was a new experience, this +feeling of compassion for a fellow man. + +"To-day!" he grunted. "You ain't figurin' on gettin' out to-day?" + +"Positively--it must be to-day. I'll explain." + + * * * * * + +Much of what followed was unintelligible to Luke Fenton, but he absorbed +enough of the scientist's explanation to understand that his plan was +not impossible of realization. He waxed enthusiastic. + +Tom Fuller was vague concerning his own past, but Luke gathered that a +political crime had been responsible for his sentence to the Workshop. +There was much bitterness in the scientist's refusal to dwell on this +point. This, too, Luke was able to understand. The bond between them +strengthened. + +"It's like this," Fuller told him: "these suits which enable us to move +about comfortably in Vulcan's gravity are really quite simple in their +functioning. A maze of fine wires is woven into the fabric, and these +wires are charged with anti-gravity energies from tiny capsules which +are inserted under the belt of the garment. The capsules are really +miniature atomic generators and are replaced with fresh ones each night +during the sleeping period, since the initial charge lasts only eighteen +hours. The generated energies neutralize more than eighty percent of the +effect of gravity and our weight thus becomes approximately the same as +it is on Earth. Such garments are worn by all prospectors and other +visitors to Vulcan." + +"How come the neutro-beams?" asked Luke. + +They are used only here in the Workshop and they operate the same as the +neutro-broadcast from the bastion, the only difference being that the +broadcast blankets an area of about two miles in all directions. In both +cases vibratory ether waves are sent out and these are of such frequency +and wave form as to neutralize the anti-gravity energies originating in +our capsules. They render our suits useless, but those of the guards are +provided with insulating coverings which block off the waves and thus +permit their own garments to function even when the neutro-broadcast is +in operation." + +"Smart guys," commented Luke. "Too smart. How the devil we gonna get +away, then? They'll send out the alarm and----" + +"Ah, that is where we fool them, Fenton. With the radium." + +"Radium!" + + * * * * * + +"Yes, didn't you know? This ore we mine here contains a higher +percentage of that valuable element than any on Earth or Mars. Its +emanations, together with certain atmospheric gases of Vulcan, are what +cause X.C.--a swift destruction of tissue in the lungs and other vital +organs. And this concentrate"--Fuller waved his hand toward the rows of +tubes before him--"is most highly radioactive of all the products of the +Workshop. That is why the sealed cell is so very dangerous to work in. +But it is this radioactive salt that gives us the means for escape----" + +Both men turned quickly to their labors on hearing the footsteps of the +guard. + +"My suit is already prepared," continued Fuller, when the eye had gone +from the peephole. "Now to prepare yours. I discovered that this +radioactivity can be used to defeat the purpose of the neutro-rays as +well or better than the regular insulation, which, of course, we can not +obtain. That is why I wanted to be in the sealed cell for a time. We +merely pack a quantity of the radioactive salt around the capsules in +the lining of our garments, and the radium emanations continue the +excitation of the tiny atomic generators even under the influence of the +neutralizing vibrations. Do you follow me?" + +"Yes." + +Luke did comprehend, even though the technical explanation was beyond +his understanding. They would be able to defy this terrible gravity of +Vulcan. They could fight unhampered; walk, or run--to meet these +mysterious friends of Fuller's. The flashlights and the broadcast would +be useless against them. + +The lanky scientist outlined the further details of his plan in swift +whispers while he worked with the energizing capsule of Luke's garment. + + * * * * * + +Actual escape was surprisingly easy. They waited until the labor period +was finished, when Chan Dai, the yellow-skinned guard, came to unlock +the door. As agreed, Tom Fuller came out first and Luke held back, +dragging his feet and cursing softly to himself. + +"What'd you say?" the guard snarled. + +Luke grinned disarmingly. "Nothin'," he drawled. Still he hung back, +scarcely moving from where he stood just within the door. + +"Come on, tough guy, a little speed." Chan Dai reached for him. + +And then Luke was upon him. The neutro-beam flashed harmlessly. Luke's +big hands moved with lightning swiftness, his left one scooping the +guard's dart gun from its shoulder strap and his right closing on the +astonished Oriental's wind-pipe. It was the work of only an instant to +choke him in unconsciousness and lock him in the sealed cell. + +"Quick, the chute!" hissed Fuller. He dived head foremost into a +rectangular wooden trough that was used for the disposal of the gangue +from a crushing mill above. This chute, Fuller had said, led to the +outside at the back of the reduction plant. + +Across the passage Luke saw a squad of convicts and two guards emerging +from the lift. Then he plunged down the steeply inclined trough after +Fuller. As he slid and tumbled into the darkness, he heard the hoarse +shouting of the guards. + +He landed heavily in the pile of gangue at the base of the chute; then +was scrambling and slipping down with an avalanche of the sharp edged +stone. At the bottom, he saw that Fuller had already started up the +slope of the great pit which enclosed the Workshop. Luke darted after +him. + + * * * * * + +They were hidden from the bastion by the buildings of the smelter and +reduction plant. But the loud yelling of guards back there in the pit +gave evidence that word of the escape was being passed along to Gannett. +Before they were halfway up the slope there was the shriek of the alarm +siren, and Luke felt his body sag with a sudden increase of weight. Fool +that he had been to trust the scrawny scientist! + +"It's the broadcast," panted Fuller, beside him. There is some effect, +of course. You're probably carrying fifty extra pounds." + +"Huh!" Luke hoped it would be no worse. + +Fuller slipped into a narrow crevasse that ran slantwise of the slope +and extended upward to the rim of the pit. The going was much easier +here and they made rapid progress toward the top. Suddenly Luke realized +that it was growing very cold; there was a bite to the foul air, and +moisture from the red mist was frosting his beard. The liberation of the +tiny planet and consequent shifting of the terminator was bringing +frigidity to Vulcan's Workshop. + +They came up out of the crevasse at the top of the pit and Luke could +not resist looking back. Every convict in sight was flattened to the +ground. They sprawled singly and in heaps, each one a squashed inert +thing that would not move again until the neutro-broadcast was +discontinued. The guards, confident they would find the escaped +prisoners in like condition, were searching the slope below them. + +Luke raised Chan Dai's, dart gun to his shoulder. + +Fuller struck aside the muzzle of the weapon. "No!" he protested, "No +unnecessary killing, Fenton. They're completely fooled, and we'll be +well on our way before they know the truth." + +Grumbling, Luke drew back from the rim of the excavation. + + * * * * * + +Up here the ground was fairly level, but there were many fissures and +small craters which made the footing precarious. The mists were so dense +they could see scarcely two hundred feet ahead. + +"We'll be lost in the vapors when they finally wake up and come out +after us," Fuller said. "And look Fenton, off there to the left are the +three columns of fire that mark the rendezvous." + +They plunged on through the red mist toward the flaming pillars. Those +beacons, even though they subsided at regular intervals, quickly +reappeared after each cessation. And their brilliance penetrated the +mists with ease at this distance of about two miles. There was no fear +of missing their destination. + +"Sure your friends'll be there?" Luke asked doubtingly. He was beginning +to have some misgivings about the matter--the scientist had been +anything but explicit as to who these friends were. And the longer his +thoughts dwelt upon the things Fuller had told him the more suspicious +he became. Pretty cagey about everything but the actual getting away +from the Workshop, Fuller had been. + +"Certainly they will; they've been waiting two days." Fuller's tone was +impatient and his words came painfully. "You leave that part of it to +me, Fenton," he gasped. There was a fleck of blood at his lips. + +As the scientist stumbled on through the mists, Luke's doubts increased +and he began to lose his respect for the man's intellect and for the +cunning which had enabled him to outwit the neutralizing energies used +by the guards. After all, he was a weak and puny specimen. They all +were, the smart guys who held the people of two worlds in their power by +exercising the knowledge they had learned from books. And this one had +failed even in that; whatever he might have been, he had run afoul of +the law himself and was already a doomed man. Tricks! This trick of +Fuller's had gotten them away, but of what use was it without the brute +force necessary to carry on to a successful end? + +The brawn Tom had spoken of so slightingly was what they needed from +this time on, and nothing else would save them. Luke had that brawn; +Fuller did not. The scientist slipped and nearly lost his balance at the +edge of a fissure, but Luke made no move to help him. It was every man +for himself at this stage of the game. + + * * * * * + +Increasing difficulty came with every step. Now they were sliding and +rolling into a deep crater, now scrambling up its steep sides with hands +torn and bodies bruised by the jagged boulders. A yawning crevasse +opened before them and they were forced to skirt its edge for fully a +half mile in the wrong direction before they found a crossing. And the +cold was unbelievably intense. Numbed and silent, with their eyes half +blinded and lungs seared by the frosty air, they struggled on toward the +three pillars of flame. + +And still Tom Fuller carried on, though Luke was now in the lead. + +They had covered probably half the distance to the flaming columns when +shouts arose behind them. The guards were on their trail. + +"Can't--find us," Fuller panted. "The mists----" + +"Hell, the mists are clearing," Luke snarled. "You ain't so damn smart +as you think." + +What he said was true. Though there was less light on account of the new +angle with the sun farther below the horizon, the red mist was +definitely lighter in color, noticeably less dense. Visibility was good +to several hundred yards. Luke turned his head, but could see nothing of +their pursuers. + +"They can't," Fuller insisted weakly. + +Luke, pushed on with renewed vigor, ignoring him, cursing. + +And then there came faintly to his ears the twang of a dart gun; the +shrill scream of its deadly vibrating missile; a violent blow that flung +him headlong. + + * * * * * + +Like a cat, he bounced to his feet, crouching with Chan Dai's dart gun +at his shoulder. A strangely grotesque heap was at his feet--Tom Fuller. +Off there in the thinning mist he saw a shadowy figure and he fired at +it twice. Whether his darts found their mark he was never to know, for a +wall of white swept down suddenly to obscure his vision. Snow! Great +massed flakes falling endlessly--the moisture of the mist crystallized +and closing in on him to hide him even more safely, than had the mists +themselves. + +He was on his knees then at Fuller's side. A brilliant flash and a +screaming roar over amongst the rocks apprised him of the fact that the +guard's dart had gone wide. And yet Fuller was down, moaning with pain. +Luke tried to turn him over and found that his body had taken on +tremendous weight. He was flattened, crushed to the rocky surface of +Vulcan by the full force of its gravity! + +"What the devil!" he grunted as he heaved and strained. "What'd they do +to you, old man?" + +With great effort he succeeded in turning the scientist face up. Then he +saw what had happened, and knew in a flash that Fuller had saved him +from the singing dart whose energy was making a sizzling puddle of the +stones where it had landed. The missile, in passing, had carried away +the belt and part of the fabric of Tom's garment--carried away the +capsule and the radium that energized it. Made the thing worse than +useless. And Fuller had done this for him; he had flung himself upon +Luke to shove him out of the line of fire ... risking his own life +gladly ... lucky the deadly dart had missed his body, but.... + + * * * * * + +"You go on, Fenton," the scientist was whispering through lips that were +blue and stiff. "Leave me here. I'm licked. But you can carry on the +work; go to my friends and tell them--everything. Tell them what you saw +back there--tell them----" + +"Shut up!" Luke's words were softly growled. There was a new and utterly +unaccountable huskiness in his voice as he straddled the prone body and +locked his strong fingers underneath. "You ain't gonna be left behind," +he grunted. "We're goin' on, brother, together." + +His back straightened and Fuller was swung clear of the ground. His huge +biceps tensed and the scrawny scientist was in the air, up and above the +bowed head, then let down gently to rest across the broad shoulders of +Luke Fenton. Fuller hung there, bent double by the immense weight of +him, crushed to painful contact with the taut muscles that carried the +strain. + +On Earth, Fuller might have tipped the scales at a scant one hundred and +thirty pounds; now his sagging body was a load in excess of seven +hundredweight. With that load upon him, and glorying in the effort it +cost, Luke staggered on toward the triple red glow, which, even in the +blinding whiteness of the snowfall, marked the location of the columns +of fire. + +That all feeling had left his limbs in the deep-biting cold meant +nothing; that his lungs were near bursting under the terrific strain +meant even less. Luke Fenton had found a man. One he would fight for, +not against. And, miraculously, he had found himself. + + * * * * * + +After that there was a blur of interminable torture. Reeling and +stumbling, his leg and back muscles shot through with stabbing pain as +the frost worked slowly upward, Luke plodded doggedly ahead. An +occasional shout came from far behind where the guards still searched +the rocky plateau. + +Across his great shoulders, Luke's burden was a dead weight, of +corpselike rigidity and stillness. Yet Luke clung to it tenaciously, +disposing the drooping leaden limbs as comfortably as possible by the +judicious spreading of his own brawny arms. + +Fuller, he was sure, had not long to live in any event. X.C. had +already progressed to such a point that it was hardly possible he could +recover. And yet, these smart guys Luke always had detested--the doctors +and surgeons and such--they might be able to do something for the poor +devil. Anyway, he determined, he'd get the scientist to his friends dead +or alive, and he'd see to it that they treated him right. If they +didn't.... + +The red glow was suddenly very bright and a silvery metallic shape +loomed up before him in the whiteness. An ethership! Luke tried to call +out but his bellowing voice was gone; only faint gurgling sounds came +from his throat. He pushed forward with a savage summoning of his last +ounce of energy and Fuller's weight was that of a mastodon upon him. The +curved hull of the vessel was overhead when he slipped and fell to one +knee in the thick carpet of snow. + +Luke saw them then, a dozen strangers running from the open air-lock of +the ship. In uniform, some of them--government officials of Earth and +Mars. Damn them, it was a trap! + +Knowing vaguely that they had surrounded him, he let Fuller slip from +his shoulders and lowered him gently to the snow. Lurching to his feet, +he stood swaying above the scientist's body, ready to defend the +helpless man against any who came to take him. Defiant curses died in +his paralyzed throat as darkness swooped down to blot out all +consciousness. His steel-sinewed body, beaten at last, slumped +protectingly over the lanky form of his new-found friend. + + * * * * * + +When Luke next saw the light he stared long and hard at immaculate white +walls and ceiling that shut him in. A gentle purring was in his ears and +he knew he was in an ethership that was under way. He lay weak and +helpless beneath snowy covers, on an iron hospital bed. + +There were voices in the room, hushed, awed voices, and Luke moved his +head painfully to stare across the room. Fuller, he saw, was stretched +on another cot, pale and still. And a white-clad nurse was there, +bending over him, talking softly to a doctor. The words that passed +between them brought enlightenment to Luke--and more. They brought a new +elation, and understanding, and hope. + +When the doctor and nurse had left, Luke lay for a long time with his +thoughts. There was a man--Tom Fuller. Unafraid, as an agent of a +special governmental committee investigating prison conditions he had +volunteered to get the evidence on Vulcan's Workshop. And he had done +it, even though it was almost certain that his own life was to be the +price. He had dared the misery and hardship, dared X.C. and the +horrible death it brought, that this hellhole of Vulcan might be +exposed, that it might be wiped out of existence by government +agreement. Vulcan's Workshop, where the gold dust of a certain political +clique, brought torture and disease and extinction to hapless prisoners +who might otherwise be remade into useful members of society by the use +of scientific methods--all this was to be no more. + +Fuller had succeeded where many others had failed. And Fuller was not to +die. Only one of his lungs had been affected by X.C. and this not too +extensively to respond to treatment. Many months of careful attendance +would be required, and many more months of convalescence. But Fuller, +they were sure, would live, Luke gloated. + +From what he had heard, Luke gathered that there was to be no trouble +about his own pardon. Oddly enough, this gave him no satisfaction. +Something had happened to him--inside. For the first time he realised +his debt to society and would have preferred that just sentence be +carried out upon him. But not in that place, not in Vulcan's Workshop! +Luke shuddered. + + * * * * * + +And lying there, he swore a mighty oath that the remainder of his life +was to be devoted to entirely different pursuits. It was not too late to +face about, not too late to learn. If Fuller would help him, he _would_ +learn. He had acquired a healthy respect for the book-learning he +formerly ridiculed, and he wanted some of it for himself--as much as he +could get. His old creed was forgotten, and his bitterness vanished. + +"Luke!" At the scientist's husky whisper he turned his head. Fuller was +gazing at him with wide, solemn eyes. + +"Thanks, Luke," the thin lips murmured. + +"Thanks yourself. Where'd we be right now if it wasn't for your radium?" + +There was silence as they regarded one another. + +"I need you, Luke," Fuller whispered then, "in my laboratory back home. +I'll be laid up for a long time, you know, and there's much to be done. +Your brawn and my brain--we'll both profit. What do you say to that, +Fenton, will you do it?" + +Luke grinned. "Will I? Just watch me!" + +Then, with a queer lump choking him, Luke looked away. He could think of +no words to suit the occasion; he couldn't think at all somehow. + +Blissfully, he fell asleep. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vulcan's Workshop, by Harl Vincent + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VULCAN'S WORKSHOP *** + +***** This file should be named 29321.txt or 29321.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/3/2/29321/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://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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