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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30303-0.txt b/30303-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9d42eb --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4294 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30303 *** + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from Astounding Stories November 1932. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + The Table of Contents is not part of the original magazine. + + One word in Chapter II could not be read. It has been marked + as illegible. + + + The Passing of Ku Sui + + _A Complete Novelette_ + + + By Anthony Gilmore + + * * * * * + + + + + CONTENTS + +Chapter + I The Plan + II Three Figures in the Dawn + III The Raid + IV The Voice of the Brains + V "My Congratulations, Captain Carse!" + VI The Deadline + VII To the Laboratory + VIII White's Brain--Yellow's Head + IX Four Bodies + X The Promise Fulfilled + XI Ordeal + XII Flight + XIII In Earth's Shadow + XIV The Hawk Strikes + XV There Is a Meteor + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +_The Plan_ + +[Illustration: _Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out in a direction +away from Earth._] + +[Sidenote: A screaming streak in the night--a cloud of billowing +steam--and the climax of Hawk Carse's spectacular "Affair of the +Brains" is over.] + + +The career of Hawk Carse, taken broadly, divides itself into three +main phases, and it is with the Ku Sui adventures of the second phase +that we have been concerned in this intimate narrative. John Sewell, +the historian, baldly condenses those adventures of a century ago +together, but on research and closer scrutiny they take on an +individuality and significance deserving of separate treatment, and +this they have been given here. For fictionized presentation, we have +spaced the adventures into four connected episodes, four acts of a +vibrant drama which ranged clear from Saturn to Earth, the core of +which was the feud between Captain Carse and the power-lusting +Eurasian scientist, Dr. Ku Sui--that feud the reverberations of whose +terrible settling still echo over the solar system--and in this last +act of the drama, set out below, we come to its spectacular climax. + +The words of John Sewell's epic history sit lightly on paper; easy +words for Sewell, once the collection of data was over, to write; not +very significant words for the uninitiated and casual reader who does +not see the irresistible forces beneath them. But consider the full +meaning of these words, and glance for a moment at the two figures +conjured up by them. We see Hawk Carse, a man slender in build, but +with gray eyes and lithe, strong-fingered hands and cold, intent face +that give the clue to the steel of him; we see Dr. Ku Sui, tall, +suave, unhurried, formed as though by a master sculptor, in whose rare +green eyes slumbered the soul of a tiger, notwithstanding the courtesy +and the grace that masked always his most infamous moves. These two we +see looming through and dwarfing Sewell's words as they face each +other, for they were probably the most bitter, and certainly the most +spectacular, foe-men of that raw period before the patrol ships swept +up from the home of man to lay Earth's laws through space. + +Carse and Ku Sui, adventurer and scientist, each with his own +distinctive strength and his own unyielding character--those two were +star-crossed, fated to be foes, and whenever they met there was blood, +and never was quarter asked nor quarter expected. How could it have +been otherwise? Ku Sui controlled the isuan drug trade, and Carse was +against it, as he was against everything underhanded and unclean; Ku +Sui had tricked and, by a single deed, driven Carse's loved comrade, +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, from his honored position on Earth, +and Carse was sworn to bring Ku Sui to Earth to clear the old +scientist's name. Either of these alone was enough to seal the feud, +but there was more. Carse was sworn to release from their bondage of +life-in-death Ku Sui's most prized possession, his storehouse of +wisdom--the brains of five great Earth scientists, kept alive though +their bodies were dead. + +These, then, were the forces glossed over so lightly by John +Sewell's words. These the forces that clashed in the episode set out +below: that clashed, then drew apart, and knew not one another for +years.... + + * * * * * + +It will be recalled that, in the second of these four episodes, "The +Affair of the Brains,"[1] Hawk Carse, Eliot Leithgow, and the Negro +Friday broke free from Dr. Ku's secret lair, his outwardly invisible +asteroid, and in doing so thought they had destroyed the Eurasian and +all his works, including the infamous machine of coordinated brains. +In the third episode, "The Bluff of the Hawk,"[2] it will be +remembered that the companions came in Dr. Ku's self-propulsive +space-suits to Satellite III of Jupiter; and that there Carse learned +that in reality the Eurasian and the brains had survived, and that Dr. +Ku might very possibly soon be in possession of a direct clue to +Leithgow's hidden laboratory on Satellite III. We saw Carse take the +lone course, as he always preferred, sending Leithgow and Friday to +his friend Ban Wilson's ranch while he went to erase the clue. And we +saw him achieve his end at the fort-ranch of Lar Tantril, strong +henchman of Ku Sui, and, in brilliant Carse fashion, turn the tables +and escape from the trap that had seemingly snared him, and proceed +towards where, fourteen miles away, Leithgow and the Negro were +waiting for him. + +[Footnote 1: See the March, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.] + +[Footnote 2: See the May, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.] + +His three friends were waiting very uneasily that day. Eleven hours +had passed since Leithgow and Friday had parted from the Hawk, and +they had heard nothing from him. They knew he was going into high +peril: Leithgow had in vain tried to dissuade him; and so it was with +growing fear that they watched the hours pass by. + +With Ban Wilson, they sat near dawn in the comfortable living room of +the ranch's central building. Although largely rested from the ordeal +of the journey to Satellite III, the huge Negro was fidgety, and even +Leithgow, more controlled, showed the strain by continually raising +his thin white fingers to his lined face and stroking it. Wilson's men +were on watch outside in the graying darkness, but often Friday +supplemented them, going to the door, staring down to the beach of the +bordering lake, staring up to the skies, staring at the black and +murmurous flanks of the jungle--staring, scowling and returning to sit +and look gloomily at the floor. + + * * * * * + +Ban Wilson was the most active physically. He was a miniature dynamo +of a man, throbbing with a restless, inexhaustible tide of energy. +Short and wiry, he stared truculently at the universe through +wonderfully clear blue eyes, surrounded by a bumper crop of freckles +and topped by a mat of bristly red hair. His short stub nose had +prodded into countless hostile places where it most emphatically was +not wanted. It would be hardly necessary to old acquaintances of his +to say that he was now speaking. + +"No, sir! I say the Hawk's safe and kicking! Can't kill _him_! By my +grandmother's false teeth, I swear I'd follow him to hell, knowin' I'd +come out alive and leavin' the devil yowlin' behind with his tail tied +into pretzels! He said he would meet you here? Well, then, he will." + +Friday looked up mournfully. + +"Yes, suh, Cap'n Ban; but Cap'n Carse was going into a pow'ful lot of +trouble. An' he was worn an' tired, an' he only had a space-suit an' a +raygun, an' you know he wouldn't stop for anything till he'd done +what he set out to. I kind of feel ... I dunno ... I dunno...." + +"By Betelguese!" swore Ban Wilson, "if he doesn't come soon I'll take +that damned Porno apart till I find him!" + +Eliot Leithgow gave up the late radio newscast from Earth he had been +pretending to read. A brief silence fell, and through it the old +scientist seemed to feel something, seemed to expect something. And he +was not mistaken. + +"_Who's there?_" + +It was a cry from one of the watchers outside. Friday leaped out of +his uneasy seat and was through the door even before Ban, who followed +with Leithgow. They heard the Negro roar from ahead: + +"Cap'n Carse! Cap'n Carse! Sure enough, it's Cap'n Carse!"--and they +saw his great form go bounding down to the gray-lit beach of the lake, +to a slight, weary figure that came stumbling along it. + + * * * * * + +Hawk Carse had come as he said he would, but he was a sore figure of a +man. Though he was not in it now, for days he had worn the harsh, +grating metal and fabric of a space-suit, and its marks were left on +him. Even from a distance the others could see that his once-neat blue +trousers and soft flannel shirt were torn through in many places, +revealing ugly purplish bruises; on his haggard face was a nap of +flaxen beard, and in his blood-shot gray eyes utter exhaustion, both +mental and physical. The Hawk had been acting at high tension for days +past, and now the reaction was exacting its inevitable toll. + +He came stumbling heavily along the beach, his feet dragging through +its coarse sand, and it seemed as if he would drop any moment. With a +slight smile he greeted Friday, then Eliot Leithgow and Wilson, all +running down. + +"Hello, Eclipse," he murmured, "and Eliot--and Ban--" + +There he wavered and half fell against the Negro's body. Friday wished +to carry him, but he would have none of it: by himself he walked up to +the ranch-house, where he slumped into a chair while Ban Wilson went +shouting into the galley for a mug of hot alkite. + +After draining it, Carse revived slightly. Again aware of the three +men grouped around him, and recognizing their eagerness for his news, +he forced himself to speech. + +"Sleepy--must sleep. But--yes--some things I'll tell you." In quick, +staccato sentences, his tired eyelids shut half the time, he sketched +his adventure at Lar Tantril's ranch, explaining how, even though +captured, he had destroyed the figures, telling of the location of +Leithgow's laboratory; and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he +told of the ruse by which he had escaped. "Got away. Told them the +lake-front was very dangerous to them. Made them let me show them. I +walked out--dozens of them round me, guns on me--walked out till I +went under water. Could do it in the suit. I walked under water half a +mile or so, then came up and cached the suit. I guess they're still +watching! Easy!" + + * * * * * + +He chuckled, and then, after a short pause, went on: + +"But here's what's important--Ku Sui is alive. Yes, I know it. He has +an assignation with Tantril at Tantril's ranch. In five days. And the +coordinated brains I promised to destroy--they still exist. So, Eliot, +these are orders: prepare plans for infra-red and ultra-violet +devices--they ought to do it--so we can see Dr. Ku's invisible +asteroid when it comes. Friday, you go down and get my space-suit: +it's cached ten miles down the beach, beneath a big watrari tree. And +then--" His head slumped over; he appeared to have abruptly fallen to +sleep. + +"Yes, Carse? What is your plan?" Eliot Leithgow asked softly. But the +Hawk was only making a great last effort to gather the threads of his +idea. + +"Yes," he responded, "the plan. Ban stations a man to keep watch on +Tantril's ranch, while we go back to your laboratory, Eliot, where +you'll make the devices and repair the gravity-plates of my suit. +Then, four nights from now, if the watcher's seen no one arrive, Ban, +Friday and I return and lie in ambush round Tantril's ranch. Awaiting +Dr. Ku. When he comes, he'll surely leave his asteroid somewhere near. +And while he's at Tantril's, we capture the asteroid--and my promise +to the coordinated brains will be kept. + +"Then--but that's enough for now; I am so tired. Ban, will you +please--some food--" + +Wilson, who had been listening eagerly and, at the end, grinning in +prospect of action with the Hawk, darted off like a spark. A few +minutes later, after his third mouthful of food, Carse murmured: + +"We'll use your ship to go to Eliot's lab in, Ban, but I think +you'll--have to--carry me--aboard. So sleepy. Wake me when we get +to--lab." + +On this last word his sleep-denied body had its way, and at once he +was deep in the dreamless slumber of exhaustion. + +While he slept, the others rapidly carried out his orders. Within two +hours Friday, in the ranch's air-car, had retrieved the cached suit. +Ban Wilson had manned and made ready his personal space-ship for the +trip to the laboratory, and Eliot Leithgow had jotted down a few +preliminary plans for the infra-red and ultra-violet instruments +which Carse would need in order to see the invisible asteroid of Dr. +Ku Sui. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +_Three Figures in the Dawn_ + + +The fourth night after the Hawk had met his friends at Ban Wilson's +was sunless and Jupiter-less, nor was there the slightest breath of +wind; and in the humid, dank jungle surrounding on three sides the +isuan ranch of the Venusian Lar Tantril the sounds of night-prowling +animals burst full and loud, making an almost continuous babel of +varied and savage noise. + +In the midst of this dark inferno, Tantril's ranch was an island of +stillness. Within the high guarding fence, the long low buildings lay +quiet and were [illegible] brushed periodically by the light from the +watch-beacon high overhead as it swept its shaft over the jungle +smother and then around over the black glassy surface of the Great +Briney Lake, bordering the ranch enclosure on the fourth side. And, +vigilantly, the eyes of three Venusian guards followed the ray. + +They stood on the three lookout towers which reared at equal intervals +up above the circumference of the ranch; and though the buildings +below seemed deserted, in reality wide-awake men were stationed at +posts within them, waiting for the clang of the alarm which the +pressing of a button in any one of the lookout towers would effect. +Lar Tantril's ranch was not asleep. It was as alert and wary as the +beasts tracking through the jungle outside its fence, and all its +defensive and offensive weapons were at the ready. + +No one within the ranch knew it, but within two hundred yards lay the +foe Lar Tantril and his men feared most. + + * * * * * + +Regularly around the watch-beacon swept, slicing the blackness with an +oval white finger, the farthest edge of which reached a hundred and +fifty yards. Over the "western" lake--and its inky ripples sparkled +somehow ominously. Over the jungle's confusion--and trees, great +bushes, spiky vines and creeper-growths leaped into momentary +visibility, and then were again swallowed up in the tide of night. +Here a cutlas-beaked bird, spotlighted for an instant, froze into +surprised immobility with the pasty, bloated worm it had seized +twisting and dangling from its mouth, to flap squawking away as the +ray glided on: there the coils of a seekan, in ambush on a tree limb, +glittered crimson for the sudden moment of illumination; or a nameless +huge-eyed pantherlike creature was glimpsed as it clawed at a nest of +unfledged haris, while the frantic, screaming mother beat at it with +wings and claws.... + +But all this was usual and unalarming, merely the ordinary routine of +the jungle at night. Could the beacon have reached out another fifty +yards, the guards on their towers would have seen that which was not +usual--and would have summoned every weapon of the ranch beneath. + +Or could the guards have heard, besides the cries and crashings and +yowls of the jungle folk, the man-made sounds which sped silently back +and forth across the ranch within their tight and secret radio +beams--then, too, the alarm would have clanged. + +Had the beacon suddenly stretched its path outward another fifty +yards, it would have fallen upon a massive, leafy watrari tree, taller +than most: and the guards, looking close, might have caught in one +notch of the tree's many limbs a glint of metal: might have seen, had +the light held on that glint, a bloated monster of metal and fabric +braced there, hiding behind a screen of leaves. + +This giant, not native to the jungle, was posted due "north" from the +ranch. Another waited to the "south," in a similarly large tree; and +another to the "east." + +Hawk Carse and his friends were abroad again and waiting to strike. + + * * * * * + +Ban Wilson, hot, itching and uncomfortable inside the heavy space-suit +that he wore, and supremely aware of his consequent awkwardness, +watched the ranch's beacon sweeping past him thirty or more yards +away, and again sought relief from the tedium in conversation. + +"Jupiter should be rising soon, Carse. It's the darkest hour--seems to +me he'll come now if he comes at all. What do you think?" + +He was the one posted in a watrari tree "south" of Tantril's ranch. +Flung on the tight beam of his helmet-radio, which had been tuned and +adjusted by Eliot Leithgow so as to reach only two other radios, the +words rang simultaneously in the receivers of Friday, who was "east" +of the ranch, and Carse, who was "north." + +The Hawk responded curtly: + +"I don't know when he'll come; I suspect not before full morning." + +Ban Wilson grunted at receipt of this discouraging opinion, and then +once more, as he had been doing regularly all through the night, +raised to his eyes the instrument that hung by a cord from the +neckpiece of the suit. Through it he scanned slowly and methodically +the portion of black heaven that had been assigned to him. The +instrument would have resembled a bulky pair of electro-binoculars +with its twin tubes and eyepieces, had not there been, underneath the +tubes, a small, compact box which by Leithgow-magic revealed the +world through infra-red light by one tube, and ultra-violet the other. + +"Nothing!" Ban muttered to himself, lowering the device. "And damn Ku +Sui for makin' these space-suits so infernally uncomfortable! Might as +well have made 'em space-ships, while he was at it!... Say, Carse," he +began again aloud into his microphone, "maybe Dr. Ku's come already. I +know my men said no one had arrived at the ranch in a suit like these +we've got on--but, hell, if his whole asteroid's invisible, why +couldn't he make his space-suit invisible, too?" + +"I don't think he's done that. Otherwise he would have--" The +adventurer's level tone raised incisively. "Now, both of you, still! +Conceal yourselves with great care--Jupiter's rising!" + + * * * * * + +The "western" horizon, a moment before indistinguishable, was now +faintly flushed, a flush which deepened quickly into glowing, riotous +crimson, causing long streamers to shoot out over the surface of the +Great Briney, tingling it, sparkling it. The light reached the jungle: +and when the first faint reflected rays filtered down through the +matted gloom of tree and vine and bush the creatures that had tracked +for prey all night looked to their lairs: and gradually, the tenor of +the jungle noises waned off into a few last screams and muttered +growls, and then died altogether into the heavy, brooding hush that +comes always with dawn over the jungles of Satellite III. + +Jupiter thrust his flaming arch upwards over the horizon, and climbed +with his whole vast blood-blotched bulk into a sky turned suddenly +blue. Lake and jungle shimmered under the rapidly dissipating night +vapors. The ranch-beacon paled into unimportance. Day had come. + +And now the three bloated figures of metal and fabric that were men +crouched closely back beneath the leaves of the trees that concealed +them, and waited tensely, not daring at first to move for fear of +discovery. Each one could see, through the intervening growth, the +watch-towers of the ranch; but Friday, from his post in the tree to +the "east," could see the area best, and it was Friday to whom Carse's +next words were addressed. + +"Eclipse?" his terse voice asked. "Do the guards in the towers seem to +notice anything?" + +The big Negro strained cautiously for a better view. + +"No, suh, Cap'n Carse. Sure they can't see us at all. Just pacin' +round on their towers, kind of fidgety." + +"Anyone else in sight?" + +"No, suh.... Oh, now there's somethin'. Two of the guards are looking +below, cupping their ears. Someone down there must be tellin' them +somethin'. Now they're lookin' up to the sky--the northern sky. Yes, +suh! All three of 'em! They're expectin' someone, sure enough!" + +"Good. He must be coming. Use your glasses." + + * * * * * + +Then in all three trees the instruments that Eliot Leithgow had shaped +were raised, and the whole sweep of horizon and the glowing, clear +blue dome of sky subjected to minute inspection through their +detecting infra-red and ultra-violet. Ban Wilson, perhaps, stared most +eagerly, for he had never seen Ku Sui's asteroid, and despite himself +still only half-believed that twenty craggy, twisted miles of rock +could be swung as its master willed in space, and brought down bodily +to Satellite III. + +But he saw nothing in the sky; nothing looming gigantically over any +part of the horizon; and he reported disgustedly: + +"Nothing doing anywhere. Carse." + +"Don't see nothing either, suh," the Negro's deep voice added. And +both of them heard the Hawk murmur: + +"Nor do I. But he must be--Ah! There! Careful! They're coming!" + +"Where? Where is it?" yapped Ban excitedly, jerking the instrument to +his eyes again. + +"Speak low. Not the asteroid. Three men." + +For a tense minute there was silence between them, until, in a low, +crisp voice, the Hawk added: + +"Three men in space-suits like ours, coming from the "north" straight +for Tantril's. Ban, you may not be able to see them till they get to +the ranch, so you keep hunting for the asteroid with your glasses. +Friday, you see them?" + +"Yes, suh! Three! One ahead of the others!" + +"Keep your eyes tight on them. No talking now from either of you +unless it's important." + +The steely voice snapped off. And carefully, in his tree, Hawk Carse +brushed aside a fringe of leaves and concentrated on the three figures +the dawn had brought. + + * * * * * + +Hard and sharp they glittered in the flood of ruddy light from +Jupiter, great grotesque figures of metal and bulging fabric, with +shining quarzite face-plates and the abnormally large helmets and +boot-pieces which identified them as being of the enemy. At a level +fifty feet above the jungle's crown they came in fast, horizontal +transit, and there was much of beauty in the picture that they +made--sparkling shapes flying without sound or movement of limb +against the blue sky, over the heaped colors of the jungle below. One +flew slightly in the lead, and he, the watching Hawk felt positive, +was Ku Sui, and the other two his servants--probably men whose brains +had been violated, dehumanized--mere machines in human form. + +Straight in the three figures flew, without hesitation or swerving, +closer and closer to the watching man in the tree. The Hawk's lips +compressed as his old enemy neared, and into his watching gray eyes +came the deadly cold emotionless look that was known and feared +throughout space, wherever outlaws walked or flew. Ku Sui--so close! +There, in that even-gliding figure, was the author of the infamy done +to Leithgow, of the crime to the brains that lived though their bodies +were dead; of the organized isuan trade. Go for him now? The thought +flashed temptingly through Carse's head, but he saw sense at once. Far +too dangerous, with the powerful, watching ranch so close. He could +not jeopardize the success of his promise to the brains. + +And so Dr. Ku Sui passed, while two pairs of eyes from two leafy trees +watched closely every instant of his passing, and one man's hand +dropped unconsciously to the butt of a raygun. + +Quickly, the Eurasian and his servitors were gone, their straight, +steady flight obscured by the trees around Tantril's ranch, below +which they slanted. + +Dr. Ku Sui had arrived at his assignation. But where was the asteroid? + + * * * * * + +Through his instrument, Carse sought horizon and heaven for the +massive body, but in vain. He spoke into his helmet-radio's mike. + +"Ban?" + +"Yes, Carse?" + +"See the asteroid anywhere?" + +"Nowhere, by Betelgeuse! I've looked till my eyes--" + +The Hawk cut him short. "All right. Stand by. Friday?" + +"Yes, suh?" + +"Can you see anything special?" + +"No, suh--only that the three platform guards keep lookin' down +towards the center of the ranch." + +"Good. That means Ku Sui's being received," said Carse; and then he +considered swiftly for a minute. Decided, he continued: + +"Ban and Friday, you both wait where you are, keeping a steady +lookout. None of us can see the asteroid, but it must be somewhere +comparatively near, for Dr. Ku has no reason to bother with a long +journey in a space-suit. I think the asteroid's close down, hidden by +that distant ridge in the direction from which they came. I'm going to +find it. When I do, I'll tell you where to come meet me. Inform me at +once if Ku Sui leaves or if anything unusual happens. Understood?" + +The assenting voices rang back to him simultaneously. + +"Right!" he said; and slowly his great bulging figure lifted. + + * * * * * + +Cautiously, the adventurer made through the watrari tree to the side +facing away from the ranch. There, poising for a second, he +manipulated the lateral direction-rod on the suit's chest, and, still +very slowly, floated free from the shrouding leaves. Then, mindful of +the lookouts on the towers behind, he employed the tactics he had used +before, and kept constantly below the uneven crown of the jungle, +gliding at an easy rate through the leafy lanes created by the banked +tree-tops. + +In that fashion, in the upthrust arms of the jungle, twisting, +turning, sometimes doubling, but following always a path the objective +of which was straight ahead, Hawk Carse soared soundlessly for miles. +He maneuvered his way with practised ease, and his speed increased as +the need for hiding his flight decreased. + +He was familiar with the landmarks of the region, and it was towards +the most pronounced of them that he flew. Soon it was looming far +above him: a long, high ridge, rearing more than three miles above the +level of the Great Briney, and crowded with trees even taller and +sturdier than those of the lower jungle plains. Beyond it was the most +likely spot.... + +The Hawk paused at the base of the ridge. There had been no warning +from Ban or Friday, but, to make sure, he established radio +connection. + +"Friday?" he asked into the microphone. "Any activity on the ranch? +Any sign they're aware of our presence?" + +Clear and deep from miles behind, the Negro's voice answered: + +"No, suh. Dead still. I guess they're inside the buildings--except the +guards, and they're taking things easy. Where are you, suh?" + +"About ten miles from you, 'north' and a little 'east,' at the foot of +the ridge. I think I'll know something soon now. Stand by." + +Then Carse moved forward again, slowly winding up between the trees to +the summit of the ridge. + +At the top he stopped. His eyes took in a long, wide valley, of which +the ridge where he hung was the southernmost barrier. He knew at once +something was wrong. Through his opened face-plate he was aware of a +breathless hush that hovered over the valley, a hush which embraced +its fifty miles or more of jungle length, a hush which was rendered +actually visible in several places by the unmoving, limp-hanging +leaves of the trees. Below, in the valley, all the myriad life of the +jungle seemed to have frozen, and only occasionally was the pause of +life and sound disturbed by the faint, muffled cry of a bird. + +What had wrought the hush? Nothing showed to the naked eye. + +From the summit of the ridge, Hawk Carse lifted Leithgow's glasses to +his eyes. And the valley was suddenly changed, and the hush explained. +The miracle lay before him. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_The Raid_ + + +A dim, shimmering outline through the infra-red, the valley lay +revealed as a great natural cradle for a mammoth body of rock which +had been swung down from the deeps of space to the surface of +Satellite III. + +Titanic, breath-taking in its majesty of sheer bulk, the asteroid of +Dr. Ku Sui was made visible. + +It hung suspended, low over the tree-tops of the valley, and it filled +the valley with rock and towered above it. This was the asteroid, +exploded into a separate entity by the cataclysm that gave birth to +the planets, which Dr. Ku Sui had wrenched from the asteroidal belt +between Mars and Jupiter and built into a world of his own, swinging +it through space as he willed, and cloaking it with invisibility to +baffle those who marveled at how he came and went, unseen, on his +various errands. This was the mighty rock fortress in which lay the +key-stone of his mounting power. This his lonely, unsuspected home, +come for a while to rest.... + +Hawk Carse scanned it closely. + +It lay roughly head-on to him, its nearest massive, craggy end lying +some three miles from where he hung. On that end lived the life of the +asteroid, and were located all Ku Sui's works. On a space planed flat +in the rock, rested the dome, like an inverted quarter-mile-wide bowl +of glittering glasslike substance, laced inside with spidery +supporting struts--the half bubble from inside which men guided the +mass. Therein an artificial atmosphere was maintained, even as on any +space-ship, and there lay the group of buildings, chief of which was +the precious laboratory in which were the coordinated brains to whom +the Hawk had made his promise. + +Carse lowered the glasses, and again the Jupiter-light poured normally +around him, the valley hushed and seemingly empty once more. He put +through his call to Friday and Ban, giving them simple directions how +to find him. And twenty-five minutes after that, he saw, looking back +down the ridge, their two giant metallic figures come twisting and +turning in noiseless flight through the top lanes of the jungle below, +and they were together. + + * * * * * + +It was seldom that Friday would intrude his thoughts when with his +master and his master's friends, so when he arrived he merely surveyed +the asteroid through his glasses and was silent. But Ban Wilson, after +a long, comprehensive stare, during which one could almost feel the +amazement leaping through him, sputtered: + +"By jumping Jupiter, Carse--I never would've believed it! That Ku +Sui's sure a genius! To have that whole asteroid there, man, and to +take it with him wherever he wants to go! Look at it! Fifteen, twenty +miles long, it must be! And that dome--" + +"Yes," said the Hawk shortly, "but easy on that now. We've work to do, +and it's got to be done quickly. Now listen: + +"There are two main port-locks in the dome for space-ships, and the +starboard one has a smaller man-size lock beside it. We're going to +the smaller one. There'll no doubt be a guard on watch at it, so to +him we're Ku Sui and the two men who accompanied him. We'll have to +chance recognition; but at least there's no difference in the suits +we're wearing, and we'll clasp our glasses on all the way to the lock, +for surely Dr. Ku has to use some similar device. Keep your faces +averted as much as you can though, when near, and your rayguns in your +belts. If there's to be gunplay, leave the first shot to me. You'll +both follow me just as those two followed Dr. Ku." + +Ban Wilson asked: "Will you go down into the valley between the trees, +then up the face of the rock? The guard wouldn't see us until we were +right at the lock." + +"No, he wouldn't: but he'd wonder why Ku Sui was being so cautious. +We'll go straight across, in full view. We'll get in easily, or--well, +that depends. Ready?" + +They fastened the glasses over their eyes, keeping the helmet +face-plates partly open. The rayguns they eased in their belt +holsters, and slid back the hinged palms of their mittens, to give +exit if need be to their gun-hands. They were ready. + +Switching on the helmet gravity-plates to swift repulsion, the three +soared out of the trees, soared up on a straight, inclined line for +the dome on the asteroid, a steady, rapid climb that soon raised them +one mile, a second and a third, where they leveled off and sped +straight ahead. Now they could look right into the dome. + +Rapidly the port-lock that was their objective grew in size. Behind it +were the buildings: the large, four-winged central structure and the +supplementary workshops and hangars, coolie-quarters and outhouses, +all dim and shimmering through the infra-red--the mysterious, lonely +citadel of Dr. Ku Sui. There it all was, inside the dome, with the +rest of the asteroid looming massive behind. + +A quarter-mile away, and swiftly half that, and half again the three +grouped figures arrowed ahead without hesitation. And the Hawk said +curtly: + +"I see no men--do either of you? It looks deserted." + +"There!" cried Ban, after a second. "There! Beside the port-lock. Just +now!" + + * * * * * + +Beside the smaller port-lock's inner door a figure had appeared, clad +in the neat yellow smock of a servitor of Ku Sui. It was a smooth, +impassive Oriental face that turned to stare out at the approaching +men; and even Ban knew that this sentinel stationed at the lock was +one of the coolies whose brains Dr. Ku had altered, turning him into a +mechanicalized man who obeyed no orders but his. He watched closely +the three who swept on towards him, his hand at a raygun in his belt. +The same questions were in the minds of all three of the raiders. +Would he recognize something as being different, or suspicious? Would +he summon others of his kind from the small guard-box he had come out +of? + +But the coolie evinced no alarm. It would have been difficult for +anyone to have discerned distinguishing features inside the cumbersome +helmets, behind the instruments clamped to the faces of the men who +wore the suits. He called no others, but merely watched. + +Soon the opaque metal plates of the small lock's outer door had neared +to within a few feet of Hawk Carse, and he stopped short, Ban and +Friday following suit. They hovered there outside the door, gently +swaying like flies against the great gleaming sweep of the dome, the +craggy rock face dropping sickeningly down for miles beneath them. +And, like flies, they were powerless to open the door to gain +entrance. Only the coolie inside could do that; and he, through the +dome to one side, was peering at them. + +Apparently he was satisfied with his scrutiny. After a moment, bolts +shifted and the door stirred and swung out, revealing the all-metal +atmosphere chamber and the inner door at the far side. Immediately +Carse floated into the chamber, and the two others pressed in behind. +They saw the outer door swing shut, and heard its locks thud over. + +They were sealed from sight inside the port-lock's atmosphere chamber. + +"Looks to me," whispered Ban Wilson, "like a very sweet trap. If that +fellow inside wants to--" + +The Hawk's cool voice cut him off. + +"We can take off the glasses now," he said casually. "Keep alert." + +And for a full minute they waited. + + * * * * * + +At length a circle of light showed around the rim of the inner door, +and it grew quickly into the full flood of Jupiter-light as the door +opened. + +Carse floated through, no longer attempting to avert his face. + +The coolie, standing just outside the chamber, saw the adventurer's +features and remembered--and drew the raygun in his belt. + +Carse did not shoot. He never killed unless he could not avoid it; +this was as much a part of his creed as his remorseless leveling of a +blood-debt. He struck with the suit. Under a quick turn of the +control, the great heavy bulk of fabric-joined metal lunged forward. +The move was quick, but not quite quick enough, for just before the +coolie was bowled headlong to the ground, he got out a high-pitched +warning yell; and then, as he lay sprawled out, apparently +unconscious, a thin hot orange streak sizzled by Hawk Carse's helmet +from the left. + +This time Carse shot. His gun leaped from belt to hand, and had twice +spoken from the hip before one could quite grasp what had happened. +Seemingly without bothering to take aim, his deadly left hand had +stricken into lifeless heaps two coolies who had come running and +shooting from the nearby guard-box. + +As Carse stood looking down at their bodies he was startled by another +sizzling spit. He wheeled to see Friday holding the raygun that had +spoken. + +The Negro said apologetically: + +"Sorry, suh--I had to. The other coolie, the one you knocked down, +came to and was aimin' at you. Guess they're all three dead now, sure +enough." + + * * * * * + +His master nodded, and said in a low, thoughtful voice: "In spite of +what some men have said, I never like to kill; but for these robots, +more machines than men, with nothing human to live for, it's release +rather than death. + +"Well," he began again, more briskly, "we're inside, and whoever else +is here apparently doesn't know it yet. I expected more of a +commotion. I wonder how many coolies Ku Sui had, altogether? Fourteen +or fifteen were killed when we broke through the dome, before, and now +these three. There surely can't be many left. Of course, there are the +four white men, his surgical assistants." + +Ban Wilson spoke after what was for him a long silence. He had watched +the Hawk's gunplay with an awe-stricken face; its speed never failed +to amaze him. He observed: + +"These buildings certainly look lifeless. Well, what now, Carse?" + +"A search." He planned it out in his head, then gave quick orders. +"Ban," he directed, "you go through all the out-buildings, your gun +ready. The five main ones are a workshop, a power-house, storehouse, a +ship hangar and a barracks for coolies. Whoever you find, take +prisoner. Keep in touch with me by radio." + +"Friday," he continued, "I'm leaving you here. First get these bodies +in that guard-house they came out of. Then keep sharp watch. I don't +think Ku Sui will return within fifteen minutes, but we must take no +chance. At the first sign of him, warn me." + +"Yes, suh. But what are you goin' to do?" + +"Take over the central building," said the Hawk. "And then, when the +whole place has been reconnoitered, fulfil my promise to the brains." + +"And what about Ku Sui?" + +"Later," he said. "It should not be hard to take him prisoner.... Now, +enough!" + +The three parted. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +_The Voice of the Brains_ + + +The central structure of the group of buildings was shaped like a +great plus-mark, each of its four wings of identical square +construction, with long smooth metal sides and top, and with a door at +the end giving entrance to a corridor that ran straight through to the +chief central laboratory of Dr. Ku Sui. + +Carse skimmed swiftly, two feet off the glittering metallic soil, +towards the end of the nearest wing, where he gently landed. He tried +the door giving entrance. It was open. He cautiously floated through +into complete darkness. + +The Hawk was prepared for that. He drew a hand-flash from the belt of +his suit, and, standing motionless, his raygun ready in his left +hand, he probed the darkness with a long white beam. Spaced evenly +along the sides of the corridor were many identical doors, and at the +end a larger, heavier door which gave entrance to the central +laboratory. He found no life or anything that moved at all, so, +methodically, he set about inspecting the side rooms. + +The doors were all unlocked, and he moved down the line without alarm, +like a mechanical giant preceded by a sweeping, nervous flow of light. +Such he might from the outside have appeared to be, but the man within +himself was more like a cat scenting for danger, all muscles and +senses delicately tuned to alertness. Door by door, a cautious and +thorough inspection; but he found nothing of danger. All the rooms of +that wing were used merely for stores and equipment, and they were +quite silent and deserted. When he came at last to its end, Carse knew +that the wing was safe. + +He paused a minute before the laboratory door. He had expected to find +it locked, and that he would have to seek other means of entrance; but +it was not. By pushing softly against it, it easily gave inward on +silent well-oiled hinges. He entered. + + * * * * * + +Carse found himself in a place of memories, and they were sharp and +painful in his brain as he stood there. Here so much had happened: +here death, and even more than death, had been, and was, so near! + +The high-walled circular room was dimly lit by daylight tubes from +above. The damage he, Carse, had wrought when besieged in it, a week +before, had all been repaired. The place was deserted--it seemed even +desolate--but in Carse's moment of memory it was peopled. There had +been the tall, graceful shape in black silk; there the operating table +and the frail old man bound on it; there the four other men, white men +and gowned in the smocks of surgeons, but whose faces were lifeless +and expressionless. Dr. Ku Sui and his four assistant surgeons and his +intended victim, Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.... + +They were all gone from the room now, but there was in it one thing of +life that had been there before. It lay behind the inlaid screen +which, standing on roller-legs, lay along the wall at one place. The +Hawk did not look behind the screen. He could see under it, to know +that no one lurked there. He knew what it was meant to conceal. There +his promise lay. + +But his promise could not be fulfilled immediately. There were four +wings to the building, four doors leading into the laboratory, and he +had inspected but one. + +An open door to his right revealed a corridor similar to the one he +had reconnoitered. He repeated down it his methodical search and found +no one. Then he returned to the laboratory. + +Surely there were men somewhere! Surely someone was behind one of the +two closed doors remaining! Gun and flashlight still at the ready, +Carse listened a moment at the nearest one. + +Silence. He grasped the knob, turned it and quickly threw the door +open. A rapid glance revealed no one. Wary and alert, he passed +through, and discovered that in this wing were the personal living +quarters of Dr. Ku Sui. + +The quarters were divided into five rooms: living room, bedroom, +library, dining room and kitchen, and the huge metal figure passed +through all five, the cold gray eyes taking in every detail of the +comfortable but not luxurious furnishings. There was a great interest +to him, but it would have to wait. + +He reentered the laboratory and went to the remaining door. Bending +his head he again listened. A sound--a faint whisper? He fancied he +heard something. + +Ready for whatever it was, Carse pulled the door wide. And before him +he saw the control room of the asteroid, and the men for whom he had +been hunting. + + * * * * * + +They were white men. Carse recognized them immediately as the four +assistants of Dr. Ku Sui. Once, they had been eminent on Earth, +respected doctors of medicine and brain surgery, leaders in their +profession: now they were like the mechanicalized coolies. For their +brains, too, the Eurasian had altered, divested of all humanity and +individuality, so as to utilize unhampered their skill with medicine +and scalpel. + +They were clad in soft yellow robes and seated at ease at one end of a +room crowded with a bewildering profusion of gauges, machines, +instruments, screens, wheels, levers, and other nameless controlling +devices. They did not show surprise at the huge clumsy figure that +stood suddenly before them, a raygun in one hand. Like the coolies, +their clean-cut features did not change under emotion. All they did +was rise silently, as one, gazing at the adventurer out of blank eyes, +saying nothing, and making no other move. + +Carse tried simple measures in dealing with them. His voice gentle yet +firm, he said: + +"You must not try to obstruct me. You have seen me before under +unfortunate conditions, yet I want you to know that I am really your +friend. I mean you no harm; but you must realize that I have a gun, +and believe that I will not hesitate to use it if you resist me. So +please do not. I only want you to come with me. Will you?" + +They were simple words, and what he asked was simple, but would the +meaning reach these violated brains? Or would there instead be the +desperate reaction of the coolies, who had tried to kill him? Carse +waited with genuine anxiety. It would be hard to shoot them, and he +knew he could not shoot to kill. + +A moment of indecision--and then with relief he saw all four, with +apparent willingness, move forward towards him. He directed them +through the laboratory and, without sign of resistance, herded them +down the corridor he had first searched to the outside. + + * * * * * + +The light of Jupiter, flooding undiminished through the dome, dazzled +him at first. When he could see clearly, he distinguished the great +form that was Friday standing motionless by the small port-lock, and, +an equal distance away, moving around one of the out-buildings, +another similar figure. He spoke by radio. + +"Find any, Ban?" + +Cheerful words came humming back. + +"Only one coolie, Carse. Had no trouble after I disarmed him. He's now +locked inside a room in this building. Safe place for prisoners." + +"Good," said Carse. "You can see I've got four men--white men. I +believe they're unarmed and quite harmless, but I want you to take +them, search them and put them away in that room too." + +"Coming!" + +The distant form rose lightly, skimmed low over the open area between, +and grew into the grinning, freckle-faced Ban Wilson. He bounced down +awkwardly, almost losing his balance, then surveyed, wonderingly, the +four assistants of Ku Sui. + +"By Betelgeuse!" he muttered, "--like robots! Horrible!" + +"Yes," said the Hawk shortly. "You had no trouble, eh?" + +Ban grinned again. "Nothing to mention. This has been soft, hasn't +it?" + +"Don't be too optimistic, Ban. All right--when you've put these men in +the room, please relieve Friday. Send him to me in the laboratory--he +knows where it is--and stand watch yourself. If Ku Sui appears--" + +"I'll let you know on the instant!" + +Hawk Carse nodded and turned back into the corridor from which he had +just come. Now he would fulfil his promise. With no possibility of a +surprise attack from anyone within the dome, and Ban Wilson posted +against the return of Ku Sui, he could attend unhampered to the vow +which had brought him there. + + * * * * * + +He returned to the central laboratory. Quickly be rolled back the high +screen lying across one part of the curved wall and stood looking at +what was behind it. The monstrousness of that dead-and-alive mechanism +overwhelmed his thoughts again. + +Before him stood a case, transparent, hard and crystal-like, as long +as a man's body and half as deep, standing level on short metal legs. +What it contained was the most jealously guarded, the most precious of +all Dr. Ku Sui's works, the very consummation of his mighty genius, +his treasure-house of wisdom as profound as man then could know. And +more: it held the consummation of all that was so coldly unhuman in +the Eurasian. For there, in that case, he had bound to his will the +brains of five of Earth's greatest scientists, and kept them alive, +with their whole matured store of knowledge subservient to his need, +although their bodies were long since dead and decayed. + +For some time the adventurer stood lost in a mood of thoughts and +emotions rare to him--until he was startled back into reality by a +heavy, clumping noise coming down the corridor through which he had +entered. His gun-hand flickered to readiness, but it was only Friday, +coming as he had been ordered. Carse greeted the Negro with a nod, and +said briefly: + +"There's a panel in this room--over there somewhere--you remember--the +place through which Ku Sui escaped when we were here before. It's an +unknown quantity, so I want you to stand watch by it. Open your +face-plate wide, and warn me at the slightest sound or sight of +possible danger." + +The Negro nodded and moved as silently as was possible in his +space-suit to obey. And Carse turned again to the thing to which he +had made a promise. + + * * * * * + +The icy-glittering case was full of a colorless liquid in which were +grouped at the bottom, several delicate, colored instruments, all +interconnected by a maze of countless spidery silver wires. Sheathes +of other wires ran up from the lower devices to the case's main +content--five grayish, convoluted mounds that lay in shallow +pans--five brutally naked things that were the brains of scientists +once honored and eminent on Earth. + +Their bodies has long since been cast aside as useless to the ends of +Ku Sui, but the priceless brains had been condemned to live on in an +unlit, unseeing deathless existence: machines serving the man who had +trapped them into life in death. Alive--and with stray memories, which +Ku Sui could not banish entirely, of Earth, of love, of the work and +the respect that had once been theirs. Alive--with an unnatural and +horrible life, without sensation, without hope. Alive--and made to aid +with their knowledge the man who had brought them into slavery +unspeakable.... + +Hawk Carse's eyes were frigid gray mists in a graven, expressionless +face as he turned to the left of the case and pulled over one of the +well-remembered knife switches. A low hum came; a ghost of rosy color +diffused through the liquid in the case. The color grew until the +whole was glowing jewel-like in the dim-lit laboratory, and the narrow +tubes leading into the undersides of the brains were plainly visible. +Something within the tubes pulsed at the rate of heart-beats. The +stuff of life. + +When the color ceased to increase, Carse pulled the second switch, and +moved close to the grille inset in a small panel above the case. + +Slowly, gently he said into the grille: + +"Master Scientist Cram, Professors Estapp and Geinst, Doctors Swanson +and Norman--I wish to talk to you. I am Captain Carse, friend of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. Some days ago you aided us in our +escape from here, and in return I made you a promise. Do you +remember?" + +There was a pause, a silence so tense it was painful. And then +functioned the miracle of Ku Sui's devising. There came from the +grille a thin, metallic voice from the living dead. + +"_I remember you, Captain Carse, and your promise._" + + * * * * * + +A voice from living brain cells, through inorganic lungs and throat +and tongue! A voice from five brains, speaking, for some obscure +reason which even Ku Sui could not explain, in the first person, and +setting to mechanical words the living, pulsing thoughts that sped +back and forth inside the case and were coordinated into unity by the +master brain, which had once been in the body of Master Scientist +Cram. A voice out of nothingness; a voice from what seemed so clearly +to be the dead. To Hawk Carse, man of action, it was unearthly; it was +a miracle the fact of which he could not question, but which he could +not hope to understand. And well might it have been unearthly to +anyone. Even to-day. + +Still thrilling to the wonder of it, he went on: + +"I have returned here to the asteroid with friends. Primarily I came +to keep my promise to you, but I intend to do more. Dr. Ku Sui is not +here now, and will not be for at least fifteen minutes; but when he +does return, I am going to capture him. I am going to take him alive." + +He was silent for a moment. + +"Perhaps you do not know," he continued levelly, "but the people of +Earth hold Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow responsible for your +disappearance. He is therefore a fugitive, and there is a price on his +head. It is my purpose to restore Eliot Leithgow to his old place by +returning Dr. Ku to Earth to answer for the crimes he has effected on +you. + +"I am now ready to fulfil my promise to you. I expect no interruption +this time. I regret exceedingly my inability to destroy you when I was +here before, but I simply could not in the little time I had. I still +do not know how best to go about it. Perhaps you will tell me. I will +wait...." + +An afterthought came to him. He added into the grille: + +"There is no hurry. Your extraordinary position--your thoughts--I +understand...." + +Then there was a long silence. For once the Hawk was not impatient; in +fact there was in him the feeling that the pause was only decent and +fitting. For before him were the brains of five great scientists, who +as captive remnants of men had asked him to end their cold and lonely +bondage. Limbless, his was to be the hand of their self-immolation. +The present silent, slow-passing minutes were to be their last of +consciousness.... + +And then at last spoke the voice: + +"_Captain Carse, I do not wish you to destroy me. I wish you to give +me new life. I wish you to transplant me within the bodies of five +living men._" + + * * * * * + +The words, so unexpected, took Hawk Carse by perhaps the greatest +surprise he had ever known. For a time he was completely astounded; he +could hardly credit his ears. It required a full minute for him to +summon even the most halting reply. + +"But--but could that be done?" He strove to collect himself, to +consider logically this course that he had never dreamed would be +requested. "Who could do it? I know of no man." + +"_Dr. Ku Sui could transplant me._" + +"Ku Sui? He could, but he wouldn't. He would destroy you, rather." + +Almost immediately the artificial voice responded: + +"_You have said, Captain Carse, that you will soon have Ku Sui +captive. Will you not attempt to force him to do as I desire?_" + +Carse considered the suggestion, but it did not seem remotely +possible. Ku Sui could not be prevented from having endless +opportunities for destroying the brains while enjoying the manual +freedom necessary to perform the operations of re-embodying them. + +"I do not see how," he began--and then he cut off his words abruptly. + +Something had come into his mind, a memory of something Eliot Leithgow +had told him once, long before. Slowly the details came back in full, +and at their remembrance his right hand rose to the odd bangs of +flaxen hair concealing his forehead and began to smooth them, and a +ghost of a smile appeared on his thin lips. + +"Perhaps," he murmured. "I think ... perhaps...." + +He said decisively into the grille: + +"Yes! I think it's quite possible that I can force Ku Sui to +transplant you into living bodies! I think--I _think_--I cannot be +sure--that it can be done. At least I will make a very good attempt." + +The toneless, mechanical voice uttered: + +"_Captain Carse, you bring me hope. My thoughts are many, and they are +grateful._" + +But the Hawk had made a promise, and had to be formally freed of the +duty it entailed. + +"You release me, then," he asked, "from my original promise to destroy +you?" + +"_I release you, Captain Carse. And again I thank you._" + +The adventurer returned the switches motivating the case, and the +faint smile returned to his lips at the thought that had come to him. + +But the smile vanished suddenly at the quick, excited words that came +crackling into his helmet receiver. + +"Carse? Carse? Do you hear me?" + +He threw over his microphone control. + +"Yes, Ban? What is it?" + +"Come as fast as you can. Just caught sight of three distant figures +flying straight towards here. It's Ku Sui, returning!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +_"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"_ + + +A few minutes later the trap was in readiness. + +It had been swiftly planned and executed, and it promised well. Both +the inner and outer doors of the smaller port-lock lay ajar. Hawk +Carse was gone from view. The only figure visible there was that which +lay sprawled face-downward on the ground close to the inner door of +the port-lock. + +The figure seemed to have been stricken down in sudden death. It was +clad in the trim yellow smock of a coolie of Ku Sui. It was limp, its +arms and legs spreadeagled, and it lay there as mute evidence that the +dome of the asteroid had been attacked. + +To one entering from outside, the figure was that of a dead coolie. +The coolie that had worn those clothes was dead; his clothes now +covered the wiry length of freckle-faced Ban Wilson. + +Ban played the game well. His face lay in the ground, pointed away +from the lock, so he could not see what was going to happen behind +him: but before the Hawk had directed him to take off his suit and don +the yellow smock, he had glimpsed, rising swiftly over the +southernmost barrier of hills that edged the valley, three black dots +coming fast toward the asteroid in straight, disciplined flight, and +he knew that the leader of the three was Dr. Ku Sui. + +As he lay limp on the ground, playing his important part as the decoy +of the trap, he knew that his life depended on the action and the +skill and the timing of Hawk Carse. But he did not worry about that. +He had implicit faith in the Hawk, and trusted his life to his +judgment without a tremor. + +Still, it was hard for Ban to throttle down his excessively nervous +nature and maintain the dead man pose for the long silent minutes that +crawled by before there came any sound from behind. The Jupiter-light, +flooding down on him from the glittering blue sky above, was hot and +growing hotter, and of course he began to itch. Had he had the freedom +of his limbs, he would not have itched, he knew; it happened only when +he had to keep absolutely still; he cursed the phenomenon to himself. +Minute after minute, and no sound to tell him what was happening +behind, or how close the three approaching figures had come, or +whether Carse was at all visible or not--and the mounting, maddening +itch right in the middle of his back! + + * * * * * + +At last Ban's mental cursings stopped. His straining ears had caught a +sound. + +It was quickly repeated, and again and again--the heavy, grating noise +of metal on metal. The boots of space-suits on the metal floor of the +port-lock. They had arrived! + +Ku Sui would be there, close behind him; probably gazing at his +outflung figure; probably puzzled, and suspicious, and quickly looking +around for the enemies that had apparently killed one of his coolies. +With a raygun in hand--and guns in the hands of the two others with +him--glancing warily around over the guard-chamber close to the +port-lock, and the main buildings beyond, and the whole area inside +the dome, and seeing no one. + +And then--approaching! + +Ban could tell it by the silence, then the harsh crunch of the great +boots against the powdered, metallic upper crust of ground. But he lay +without an eyelash's flickering, a dead coolie, limp, crumpled. He +heard the crunch of boots come right up to him and then pause; and the +feeling that came to his stomach told him unmistakably that a man was +looking down on him.... + +Now--while Ku Sui's attention was on him--now was the time! Now! +Otherwise the Eurasian would turn him over and see that he was white! + +It seemed to Ban centuries later that he heard the welcome voice of +the Hawk bark out: + +"You are covered, Dr. Ku! And your men. I advise you not to move. Tell +your men to drop their guns--_sh!_" + +The sound of the voice from the guard-chamber was replaced by two +spits of a raygun. Unable to restrain himself, Ban rolled over and +looked up. + +He saw, first, the figure of the Hawk. Carse had stepped out from +where he had been concealed, in the guard-chamber, and was holding the +gun that had just spoken. Standing upright, close to the inner door of +the port-lock, were two suit-clad coolies. Ban saw that they had +turned to fire at Carse, and that now they were dead. Dead on their +feet in the stiff, heavy stuff of their suits. + +Dr. Ku Sui was standing motionless above him, and through the open +face-plate of the Eurasian's helmet Ban could see him gazing at Hawk +Carse with a strange, faint smile on his beautifully chiselled, +ascetic face. + +The Hawk came towards them, the raygun steady on his old foe; but +while he was still yards away, and before he could do anything to +prevent it, the Eurasian spoke a few unintelligible words into the +microphone of his helmet-radio. Carse continued forward and stopped +when a few feet away. Dr. Ku bowed as well as he could in his stiff +suit and said courteously, in English: + +"So I am trapped. My congratulations, Captain Carse! It was very +neatly done." + + * * * * * + +The two puffed-out, metal-gleaming figures faced each other for a +moment without speaking. And in the silence, Ban Wilson, watchful, +with a raygun he had drawn from his belt, fancied he could _feel_ the +long, bitter, bloody feud between the two, adventurer and scientist, +there met again.... + +Carse spoke first, his voice steel-cold. + +"You take it lightly, Dr. Ku. Do not rely too much on those words you +spoke in Chinese. I could not understand them--but such things as I do +not know about your asteroid I have already guarded against; and I +think we can forestall whatever you have set in action.... You will +please take off your space-suit." + +"Willingly, my friend!" + +"Watch close, Ban," said the Hawk. + +Dr. Ku Sui unbuckled the heavy clasps of his suit, unscrewed the +cumbersome helmet, and in a moment stepped free. At the suit slid to +the ground, there stood revealed his tall, slim-waisted form, clad in +the customary silk. He wore a high-collared green silk blouse, +tailored to the lines of his body, full trousers of the same material, +and pointed red slippers and red sash, which set the green off +tastefully. A lithe, silky figure; and above the silk the high +forehead, the saffron, delicately carved face, the fine black hair. +Half-veiled by their long lashes, his exotic eyes rested like a cat's +on his old enemy. + +The Hawk moved close to him, and swiftly patted one hand over his +body. From inside one of the blouse's sleeves he drew a pencil-thin +blade of steel from its hidden sheath. He found no other weapon. +Stepping back, he quickly divested himself of his suit also. + +"And now, Captain?" the Eurasian murmured softly. + +"Now, Dr. Ku," answered Carse, once again a slender, wiry figure in +soft blue shirt and blue denim trousers, "we are going to have a +little talk. In your living room, I think. + +"Ban," he continued. "I don't believe there's anyone else who can even +see the asteroid, but we have to be careful. Will you stay on guard +here by the port-lock? Good. Close its doors, and yell or come to me +if anything should occur." + +He turned to the waiting Eurasian again. + +"You may go first, Dr. Ku. Into the laboratory, and then to the living +room of your quarters." + + * * * * * + +They found Friday on guard where he had been stationed in the +laboratory. The big Negro, on recognizing the Eurasian, grinned from +ear to ear and gave him what he considered a witty greeting. + +"Well, well!" he said with gusto, "--come right in. Dr. Ku Sui! Make +yourself at home, suh! Sure glad to have you come visitin' us!" He +laughed gleefully. + +But his words were wasted on Dr. Ku. His eyes at once fastened on the +case of coordinated brains, standing at one side. Carse noticed this. + +"No. Dr. Ku," he said. "I have not touched the brains. Not yet. But +that's what we're going to talk about." He motioned to one of the four +doors connecting the central laboratory with the building's wings. +"Into your living room please, and be seated there. And no sudden +moves, of course: I have a certain skill with a raygun. Friday, keep +doubly alert now. Better take off your suit. I will call for you in a +few minutes." + +Ku Sui walked on silent feet into the first division of his personal +quarters, the softly-lit living room. A lush velvet carpet made the +floor soft; ancient Chinese tapestries hid the pastelled metal of the +walls; books were everywhere. It was a quiet and restful room, with no +visible reminder of the asteroid and its controlling mechanics. + +Dr. Ku sank into a deep armchair, linked his fingers before him and +looked up inquiringly. + +"We were going to talk about the brains?" he asked. + + * * * * * + +Carse had closed the door behind him, and now remained standing. He +met the masked green eyes squarely. + +"Yes." He was silent for a little, then, quietly and coldly he went to +the point. + +"You'll be interested to hear that I have talked with the brains and +been relieved of my premise to destroy them. They requested something +else. Now I have committed myself to attempt their restoration into +living bodies." + +"So?" murmured the Eurasian. "So. Yes, Captain, that is very +interesting." + +"Very." The Hawk spoke without trace of emotion. "And some courtroom +on Earth will find more than interesting the testimony of your +re-embodied brains." + +Dr. Ku Sui smiled in answer. "Oh, no doubt. But, my friend--this +transplantation--you accept its possibility so casually! Won't it +prove rather difficult for you, who have never even pretended to be a +scientist?" + +"Not difficult. Impossible." + +"And Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow--I have unbounded respect for his +genius, but brain surgery is a specialty and I really think that this +task would be outside even his capabilities. I am sure he himself +would admit it." + +"You are right, Dr. Ku: he has admitted it. We both realize there is +only one person in the universe who could achieve it--you. So you will +have to perform the operations." + +"Well!" said Dr. Ku Sui. The smooth, fine skin of his brow wrinkled +slightly as he gazed up at the intent man facing him. "Is this just +stupidity on your part, Captain? Or do you attempt a joke at which in +courtesy I should smile?" + +The Hawk answered levelly: "I was never farther from joking in my +life." + + * * * * * + +With a delicate shrug of his silken shoulders, Ku Sui averted his +eyes. As if bored, he glanced around the room. Slowly he unclasped his +hands. + +"I am a very fast shot, Dr. Ku," whispered Carse. "You must not make a +single move without my permission." + +At that the Eurasian laughed aloud, a liquid laugh that showed his +even teeth between the finely cut lips. + +"But I am so completely in your power, Captain Carse!" He held on to +the last syllable, a low, sustained hiss--and then he snapped it off. + +"_S-s-stah!_" His mood had changed: the smile vanished from a face +suddenly thin and cruel; the green eyes unmasked, to show in their +depths the tiger. + +"What insane talk! You say such things to me! Don't you know that to +coordinate those brains I worked for years with a devotion, a +concentration, a genius you can never hope even to comprehend? Don't +you realize they're the most precious possession of the greatest +surgeon and the greatest mind in the universe? Don't you understand +that I've fashioned a miracle? Realize these things, then, and marvel +at yourself--you who, with your gun and your egotism, think you can +make me undo their wonderful coordination!" + +The tiger returned behind the veil, its power and fury again leashed, +and Dr. Ku Sui relaxed his green eyes once more masked and enigmatic. +Hawk Carse asked simply: + +"_Could_ you transplant the brains?" + +"You insist on continuing this farce?" murmured the Eurasian. "I would +not be rude, but really you try my patience!" + +"_Could_ you transplant the brains?" + +Dr. Ku Sui looked at the colorless face with its eyes of ice. With a +trace of irritation, he said: + +"Of course! What I have once transplanted, I can transplant again. But +I will not do it--and my will no one, and no force, can alter. Perhaps +it is clear now? In no way can you touch my will. I am sorry that I so +grossly insulted you, Carse, for there are certain things about you +that in a small way I respect. But here you are helpless." + +"Not entirely," said the Hawk. + + * * * * * + +Ku Sui leaned forward a trifle. In that moment, perhaps, he first felt +real concern, for Carse's quiet voice was so confident, so assured. He +attempted to sound him out. + +"A gun?" he asked. "Torture? Threats? These against my will? Absurd! +Consider, my friend--even if I seemed to consent to the operations, +could I not easily destroy the brains while ostensibly working on +them?" + +"Of course," said Carse, with a faint smile. "And threats and torture +would be absurd. Against your will, Dr. Ku, a more powerful weapon +will have to be used." + +The Eurasian's eyes were brilliant with intuition. + +"Ah--I see," he murmured. "Eliot Leithgow!" + +"Yes, Dr. Ku!" + +The two gazed at each other, Carse still with the faint smile, the +other with the face of a statue. Presently the adventurer went on: + +"Unfortunately for you, Eliot Leithgow can provide a method of +compulsion neither you nor any other man could ever resist. Not guns, +torture, threats--no. A subtler weapon, worthy of your fine will." + +As he spoke, Carse saw the Eurasian's green eyes narrow, and in the +pause that followed he knew that the swift, trained mind behind those +eyes was working. What would it evolve? What move? And those Chinese +words, uttered out by the port-lock--what would they result in, and +when? Dr. Ku Sui was concerned now, the Hawk knew, seriously +concerned, and inevitably, would take serious steps. What was growing +in his resourceful brain? He would have to ward off any trouble when +it came, for he could not know now. He said curtly: + +"But enough of that. Now, I have a trifling favor to ask of +you--something concerning the laboratory. Will you please return to +it." + +A strange light glimmered for an instant in Dr. Ku Sui's eyes--a +mocking of the slender man before him. Only for an instant; then it +was gone. Gracefully he raised his tall figure. + +"The laboratory? Of course, my friend. And as for the favor--almost +anything." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +_The Deadline_ + + +Friday greeted them with another wide grin, and would again have +bludgeoned the Eurasian with his wit had not the Hawk motioned him to +silence. Looking at Dr. Ku, he said: + +"I have Friday posted here because of the secret panel somewhere in +this wall. You escaped through it before--do you remember?" + +"Of course I remember. And if I'd had merely a fraction of your luck +then, my present situation would be quite different." + +"Perhaps," said the Hawk. "This panel is now the unknown quantity so +far as I'm concerned, and I don't like unknown quantities; so I am +asking you to show me where it is and how it works. That's my favor. +Of course you can refuse to reveal it, but that will not delay me very +long. The method of compulsion I mentioned...." + +Dr. Ku-Sui appeared to reflect a moment, but his decision was not +tardy in coming. He smiled. + +"You terrify me, Captain, with your ominous hints about compulsion. I +suppose I'd better be reasonable and show it to you. Really, though, +your concern over the panel is rather wasted, inasmuch as it conceals +nothing more than a small escape passage leading out of this building. +Nothing important at all." + +But his words, Carse somehow felt, were a screen; something else lay +beneath them. He watched the tall figure with its always present odor +of tsin-tsin blossoms move forward in a few indecisive steps, then +back again, considering. The smile and the easy words were a +camouflage, surely--but for what? + +"Nothing important at all." Dr. Ku Sui repeated pleasantly. "Come. I +will show you. Friday--if I may so address you--over on that +switchboard you will find a small lever-control. It is the one with a +Chinese character above it. Will you be so kind as to throw it?" + +The Negro glanced inquiringly at his master. Grimly Carse nodded. + +An enigmatic light glimmered in the Eurasian's green eyes as they +watched the Negro go to the switchboard and put thumb and forefinger +on the control. + +"Only a small escape passage," he said deprecatingly as the Hawk +crouched, gun ready, his eyes on the suspected place in the wall. + +Friday threw the switch. + +Immediately there sounded a short, sharp explosion. And acrid smoke +billowed out from under the case of coordinated brains! + + * * * * * + +Carse sprang to Ku Sui, gripped one arm and cried harshly: + +"What have you done?" + +"Not I, Captain--your obedient servant, the Black. Please, your +fingers--" He removed them from his arm; and then, smiling, he said: + +"I am afraid that all your assurance, your threats, are now but so +much wasted breath." + +"You mean--?" + +"Surely, Captain," said Ku Sui, "you must have known I would provide +for such an emergency, as this. I chose not to risk your darkly-hinted +method of compulsion, and so had Friday remove the need for it. The +Chinese character above the switch stands for 'Death.'" + +Frigidly the Hawk asked: "You've destroyed the brains?" + +"I have destroyed the brains." The Eurasian's voice was deep with a +strange, unusual tone. "No matter: it was time. I am far, far ahead of +that work, great though it was; it has destroyed itself with its +inherent, irremediable fault. Yes, far ahead. Next time...." He +appeared to lapse into profound and melancholy reflections; seemed to +forget entirely the two men by him. + +But the Hawk acted. + +"We'll see," he said curtly. "Friday, watch the Doctor closely; this +trick may be only the first." An intent, grim figure, he strode to the +case of coordinated brains, pulled over the first of its two +controlling switches, and stood silent while slowly the pulsings of +light grew through the inner liquid and very slowly irradiated the +five gray, naked mounds that were human brains. The light came to +full, and Carse threw over the second switch. He said into the +grille: + +"I am Captain Carse. I wish to know if you are aware of what has just +happened. Do you hear me, and did you feel anything a minute ago?" + + * * * * * + +Silence. Friday, close to the Eurasian and watchful, hung breathless, +hoping that words might come from the grille in answer. But the silken +figure he watched was there only in body; Dr. Ku's mind was in a far +space of his own. + +Cold, unhuman words spoke out. + +"_Yes, Captain Carse, I hear you. I felt the vibrations of the +explosion that occurred a minute ago._" + +"Hah!" grunted Friday, immediately relieved. "All bluff, suh! No +damage to 'em at all!" + +Carse asked quickly into the grille: + +"You felt the explosion, but do you know what it meant?--what it did?" + +Again a pause; and again the toneless voice: + +"_A vital part of the machinery through which I live his been +destroyed. I have left only some three hours of life._" + +The Hawk returned to Ku Sui. "Is that true?" he snapped. + +"Yes, Captain." The words made a whisper, gentle and melancholy, +coming from afar. A man was turning back from the scanning of the long +years of one phase of his life. "Three hours is all that is left to +them.... But there was a fault inherent in such coordinated brains; it +is just as well that they are going.... Ah, Carse. I am so far ahead +of you ... but I tell you it is a painful thing to destroy so +wonderful a work of my hands...." + +Silence filled the laboratory. It was broken by the awful voice of the +living dead. + +"_I release you from your second promise, Captain Carse. No doubt +what happened was beyond your control.... I will soon be dead. +Although there is still nourishment in my liquid, I grow weaker +already. I am dying...._" + +Harshly, the Hawk asked a final question into the grille: + +"Within what time will you retain the vitality necessary to undergo +the initial steps of the transplanting operations? Do you know?" + +Dr. Ku raised his head at this, though he seemed only mildly +interested in what the reply would be. + +"_I think for two of the remaining three hours._" + +"All right!" said Hawk Carse decisively. He threw off the case's +switches. "Dr. Ku," he said, "you've only succeeded in accelerating +things. Now for speed! Friday, we're taking this asteroid to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory. Go see that the port-lock doors are closed +tight, then you and Wilson hurry back here! Fast! Run!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +_To the Laboratory_ + + +When the Negro returned, panting, with Ban Wilson, it was to discover +Carse in the control room of the asteroid. He was studying the +multifarious devices and instruments: and they, seeing his face so set +in concentration, did not disturb him, but went over to where Dr. Ku +Sui sat in a chair, and posted themselves behind it. + +The apparatus in the control room resembled that of any modern +space-ship of its time, except that there were extra pieces of +unguessed function. Directly in front of Carse was the directional +space-stick above its complicated mechanism: above his eyes was the +wide six-part visi-screen, which in space would record the whole +"sphere" of the heavens: while to his right was the chief control +board, a smooth black surface studded with squads of vari-colored +buttons and lights, These were the essentials, familiar to any ship +navigator; but they were here awesome, for they controlled not the one +or two hundred feet of an ordinary craft, but twenty miles of this +space-ship of rock. + +"Yes ... yes...." Carse murmured presently out of his study, then +turned and for the first time appeared to notice Friday and Ban. He +gave orders. + +"Eclipse, you see the radio over there? Get Master Leithgow on it for +me--protected beam. Ban, you bind Dr. Ku Sui in that chair, please." + +Wilson was surprised. + +"Bind him? Isn't he going to run this thing?" + +"No." + +"_You're_ going to, Carse?" + +"Yes. I don't quite trust Dr. Ku. The asteroid's controlled on the +same principles as a space-ship: I'll manage. Please hurry, Ban." + +"Cap'n., suh! Already got the Master Scientist!" called Friday from +the radio panel. The Hawk strode swiftly to it and clamped the +individual receivers over his ears. + +"M. S.?" he asked into the microphone. "You're there?" + +"Yes. Carse? What's happened?" + +"All's well, but I'm in a tremendous hurry: I've only got time, now, +to tell you we're on the asteroid with Dr. Ku prisoner, and that I'm +undertaking to transplant the coordinated brains into living human +bodies.... What? Yes transplant them! Please, M. S.--not now: +questions later. I'm calling primarily to learn whether you have any +V-27 on hand?" + +Eliot Leithgow, in his distant laboratory, paused before replying. +When his voice sounded in the receivers again, it was excited. + +"I think I see, Carse! Good! Yes, I have a little--" + +"We'll need a lot," the Hawk cut in tersely. "Will you instruct your +assistants to begin preparing as much as they can in the next hour? Yes. +And your laboratory--clear it for the operations, and improvise five +operating tables. Powerful lights, too, M. S. Yes--_yes_--right--all +accessories. Have someone stand by your radio; I'll radio further +details while we're on our way." + +"Right, Carse. All understood." + +The Hawk remembered something else. "Oh, yes, Eliot--is everything +safe in your vicinity?" + +"There's a small band of isuanacs foraging around somewhere in the +neighborhood, but otherwise nothing. They're harmless--" + +"But possibly observant," finished Carse. "All right--I'll clear them +away before descending to the lab. Until later, Eliot." + + * * * * * + +Carse switched off the microphone and turned to catch Friday's shocked +expression. Carse looked inquiringly at his dark satellite. + +"What's wrong?" + +"Lordy, suh," the Negro whispered, "Dr. Ku could hear all you said! +He'll know where Master Leithgow's laboratory is!" + +The Hawk smiled briefly. "No matter, Eclipse. I'm quite sure the +information will avail him nothing. For this ride to the laboratory +will be his last ride but one." He turned. "We're starting at once. +Ban, you've bound him well?" + +"If he can get out of those knots," grinned Wilson, "I'll kiss him on +the mouth!" + +The Eurasian's nostrils distended. "Then," he said. "I most certainly +will not try. But Captain Carse, may I have a cigarro before we start +on this journey?" + +Carse had gone over so the space-stick and his eyes were on the +visi-screen, but he now turned them to his old foe for a moment. "Not +just now, Dr. Ku," he said levelly. "For it might be that all but two +puffs of it would be wasted. Yes--later--if we survive these next few +minutes." + +The remark did nothing to ease the tension of their leaving. Ban +Wilson could not restrain a question. + +"Carse, are you going to risk atmospheric friction all the way to the +laboratory?" + +"No. Haven't time for that. Up and down--up into space, then down to +the lab--high acceleration and deceleration." + +He grasped the space-stick, then in neutral, holding the asteroid +motionless in the valley. He glanced at the visi-screen again, checked +over the main controls and tightened his hand on the stick. + +"Ready everyone," he said, and gently moved the stick up and forward. + + * * * * * + +There was, to the men in the control room, little consciousness of +power unleashed: only the visi-screen and the bank of positional +instruments told what had happened with that first, delicate movement +of the space-stick. It was an experiment, a feeler. The indicators of +the positionals quivered a little and altered, and in the visi-screen +the hills of the valley, that a moment before had been quite close and +large, had diminished to purple-green mounds below. + +Then the accelerating sensations began. Carse had the "feel" of the +asteroidal ship and his controlling hand grew bolder. The steady +pressure on the space-stick increased, it went up farther and farther, +and the whole mighty mass of the asteroid streaked out at a tangent +through the atmosphere of Satellite III toward the gulf beyond. + +With dangerous acceleration the gigantic body rose, and from outside +there grew a moaning which was quickly a shrieking--a terrible, +maddened sound as of a Titan dying in agony--the sound of the cloven +atmosphere. Twenty miles of rock were hurled out by the firm hand on +the space-stick, and that hand only increased its driving pressure +when the screaming of the air died away in the depthless silence of +outer space. + +In one special visi-screen lay mirrored the craggy back-stretch of the +asteroid, half of it clear-cut and hard in Jupiter's flood of light, +the other half lost in the encompassing blackness of space. Over this +shadowed portion a faint, unearthly glow clung close, the result of +the terrific friction of the ascent. In miniature, in the regular +screens, was Satellite III, but a distorted miniature, for its +half-face appeared concave in shape, and dusted with the haze of its +atmosphere. + + * * * * * + +The Hawk was visibly relieved. He turned to the silent Ku Sui. + +"I must congratulate you, Dr. Ku," he said, "on the operation of the +asteroid. It's as smooth as any ship. And now, your cigarro. Ban, have +you one?" + +Wilson produced a small metal case from which he extracted one of the +long black cylinders. + +"You will have to put it in my lips, please," murmured Dr. Ku. "Thank +you. And a light? Again thanks. Ah...." He drew in the smoke, exhaled +a fine stream of it from his delicately carved nostrils. "Good." Then +he looked up pleasantly at the Hawk. + +"And my congratulations to you, Captain. Not only on your expert +maneuvering of my asteroid, but on everything: your resourcefulness, +your decision, your caution. I have long admired these qualities in +you, and the events of to-day, though for me perhaps unfortunate, +increase my admiration. My own weak resistance, my attempt to +frustrate your plans in connection with the brains--how miserable in +comparison! It would seem, Captain, that you cannot fail, and that you +will indeed succeed in giving the brains new life, so swiftly do you +move. Yes, my congratulations!" + +He drew at the cigarro, and the smoke wreathed gently around his +ascetic saffron face. A faint, queer glint was visible under the long +lashes that half-veiled his eyes as he continued: + +"But I have a question, Captain. A mere nothing, but still--" + +"Yes, Dr. Ku?" + +"The living bodies into which you propose to transplant the +brains--where are they?" + +Hawk Carse's face was stern and his voice frigid as he answered: + +"Fortunately, those bodies are right here on the asteroid." + +"Here on the asteroid, Captain? I don't understand. What bodies are +here?" + +"The bodies of your four white assistants, whom I have safely +confined, and one of your robot-coolies, also confined. I did not +intend to use these five, but, because you put a premium on time by +your attempted destruction of the brains, it cannot be helped." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku Sui's impassive demeanor did not change. He did not seem in the +least surprised. He puffed quietly at the cigarro and nodded. + +"Of course, of course. You have five bodies right here on the +asteroid. Yes." + +"At least," continued Carse levelly, "I do not regret having to use +the bodies of your men. They are no longer human: they are not men: +they are in effect but machines of your making, Dr. Ku." + +"Quite. Quite." + +"I suppose you find it an unpleasant thought, to have to be the means +of re-making them into whole, normal human beings?" + +"On the contrary," breathed the Eurasian, "you inspire a very pleasant +thought in my brain, Captain Carse--though I must confess it is not +exactly the thought you mention." A smile, veiled by the smoke of the +cigarro, appeared on his lips. + +The Hawk looked at him closely: the words had a hidden meaning, and it +was clear he was not intended to miss the implied threat. But what was +Ku Sui's thought? Back in his mind an anxiety grew, indefinite, vague +and devilish. + +And that vague anxiety was still with him when, fifty-seven minutes +later, the asteroid returned from its inverted U-flight, slowed in its +hurtling drop from space and hovered directly over the secret, hidden +laboratory of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +_White's Brain--Yellow's Head_ + + +To Friday it was a bad mistake to reveal the location of the +laboratory to Dr. Ku Sui. From him above all men had that location up +to now been kept. Just a few days before, Hawk Carse had risked his +life to preserve the secret. And yet now, deliberately, he was showing +it to the Eurasian! + +Nervously, Friday watched him, and he saw that his eyes were alive +with interest as they scanned the visi-screen. It was too much for the +Negro. + +"Captain Carse," he whispered, coming close to the adventurer, "look, +suh--he's seein' it all! Shouldn't I blindfold him?" + +Carse shook his head, but turned to Dr. Ku, where he sat bound in the +chair scrutinizing the visi-screen. + +"Yes, Doctor," he said, "there it is--what you have searched for so +long--the refuge and the laboratory of Eliot Leithgow." + +"There, Captain?" murmured the Eurasian. "I see nothing!" + +And true, the visi-screen showed nothing but a hill, a lake, a swamp, +and the distant, surrounding jungle. + +That spot on Satellite III had been most carefully chosen by the +Master Scientist and Carse as best suiting their needs. It lay at +least a thousand miles--a thousand miles of ugly, primeval +jungle--from the nearest unfriendly isuan ranch, and was diametrically +opposite Port o' Porno. Thus it allowed Leithgow and Carse to come and +go with but faint chance of being observed, and the steady watch kept +through the laboratory's telescopic instruments lessened even that. +And even if their movements to and from the laboratory had been +observed, a spy could have discovered little, so ingeniously was the +camouflage contrived to use to best advantage the natural features of +the landscape. + +At this spot on Satellite III there was a small lake, long rather than +wide. At its shallow end, the lake lost itself in marshy, thick-grown +swamps; at its deep end it washed against the slopes of a low, rounded +hill. Topping the hill was a rude ranch-house, which to the casual eye +would appear the unimportant habitation of some poor jungle-squatter, +with beds of various vegetables and fruits growing around it, and +guarded against the jungle's animals by what looked like a makeshift +fence. The ground inside the fence had been cleared save for a few +thick, dead stumps of oxi trees, gnarled and weather-beaten, which +made the whole outlay look crude and desolate. + +So desolate, so poor, so humble, as not to deserve a second glance +from the lowest of scavenger or pirate ships. So misleading! + + * * * * * + +Carse had brought the invisible asteroid to a halt perhaps a half mile +above the hill. The minutes were slipping by, bringing the two-hour +deadline ever closer, but he did not skimp his customary caution on +approaching the laboratory. From the control room, he swept the +electelscope over the surrounding terrain, and soon sighted the band +of isuanacs Eliot Leithgow had mentioned. + +Through the 'scope's magnifying mirrors they seemed but yards away, +though they were wandering knee-deep in the marshes at the far end of +the lake. All their repulsive details stood out clearly. + +More beasts than men, were such isuanacs (pronounced ee-swan-acs), so +called from the drug that had betrayed them step by step to a pit in +which there was no intelligence, no light, no hope--nothing but their +mind-shattering craving. In many and unpredictable ways did the drug +ravish their bodies. They were outcasts from the port of outcasts, +driven out of Porno into the wilderness, where they tracked out their +miry ways searching ever for the isuan weed until some animal ended +their enslavement, or the drug itself finally killed them in +convulsions. They were the legion of the damned. + +This band of half a dozen was typical, grubbing through the slime of +the swamp, snarling at each other, now and again fighting over a leaf, +then squatting down in the mud where they were, to chew on it, their +torture of mind and body momentarily forgotten. Rags, mud-caked and +foul, partly covered their emaciated bodies: their hair was matted, +their eyes blood-shot.... + +Carse noted their position and looked up at Friday. + +"Get the Master Scientist for me, please," he requested. The radio +connection took only seconds: and then he said into the microphone: + +"Eliot? We're directly above you, as you probably have seen. All +well?" + +"Yes, Carse. The laboratory's in readiness. But those +isuanacs--they're still outside." + +"I've seen them, and I'm going to drive them away. Then I'll be down +to you. Have the upper entrance ready." + + * * * * * + +The Hawk turned back to the controls. Taking the space-stick out of +neutral, he moved it very slightly down and to one side. Ban and +Friday, not understanding his intention, watched the visi-screen. + +The whole mass of rock that was the asteroid changed position at a +gentle speed. The band of isuanacs came nearer and nearer, and then +were to the right. Completely oblivious of the great bulk hovering +above them, they continued their grubbing through the swamp; and then +the asteroid was over the jungle beyond them, and lowering its craggy +under-side. + +The under-side brushed the crown of the jungle. The trees bent, +crackled and broke, as if swept by a vicious but silent hurricane. +Only a moment of contact; but in that moment a square mile of +interwoven trees and vines was swept low--and to the isuanacs the +effect, as was intended, was terrifying. + +They stared at the phenomenon. There had been no sound, no whip of +wind, nothing--yet all those trees had bent and crashed splintering to +the ground. Their slavering lips open, the isuan weed forgotten, they +stared: and then howling and shrieking they broke and went splashing +off panic-stricken through the marsh. + +In five minutes the band had disappeared into the jungle in the +opposite direction and the district was cleared; and by that time +Hawk Carse was again in his space-suit, out of the control room and +busy at the mechanism of one of the great ship-sized port-locks in the +dome, having left behind him both Ban and Friday to guard Dr. Ku. + +He mastered the controls of the port-lock quickly, and swung inner and +outer doors open. He glided through, and then, a giant, clumsy figure, +poised far out in the air, a soft breeze washing his face as he gazed +down at the hill five miles below, judging his descent. As he did not +use the infra-red instrument hanging from his neck, the asteroid might +not have been there at all. + +A moment or so later, after a straight, swift drop, Carse landed on +the hill, close to a particular, gnarled oxi-tree stump. The nearby +ranch-house looked deserted, the whole place seemed desolate. The Hawk +waddled over to the stump, pressed a crooked little twig sticking out +from it, and a section of the seeming-bark slid down, revealing the +hollow, metal-sided interior of a cleverly camouflaged shaft. + +There were rungs inside, but Carse could not use them. He squeezed +himself in, closed the entrance panel, and, carefully manipulating his +gravity controls, floated down. A descent of twenty-five feet, and he +was on the floor of a short, level corridor with gray walls and +ceiling. + +Carse clumped along to the door at the other end of the corridor, +opened it, and stepped into the hidden underground laboratory of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, which, with its storerooms, living +quarters and space-ship hangar, had been built into the hollowed-out +hill. + + * * * * * + +"Welcome back, Carse!" + +"Hello, Eliot," the Hawk nodded, rapidly divesting himself of the +suit but retaining his infra-red device. "You've lost no time, I see." + +The elderly scientist, his frail form clad in a buff-colored smock, +turned and surveyed the laboratory. In the center of the square room +five improvised operating tables were drawn up, each one flooded +individually with, light from focused flood-tubes above in the white +ceiling. Flanking them were tables for instruments and sterilizers, +and, more prominent, two small sleek cylindrical drums, from one of +which sprouted a tube ending in a breathing-cone. + +"The best I could do on such short notice," Leithgow commented. + +"Where are your assistants?" + +"At work on the V-27. All I had on hand is in those cylinders." + +"Much?" + +"Enough for twelve hours for one man, but the process of its +manufacture is accelerating; fortunately I had plenty of ingredients. +Of course I've divined your intention, Carse. Ku Sui to perform the +operations under the V-27. And it's possible, possible! It's +stupendous--and possible!" + +"Yes," said the Hawk, "but more later. I'm going up now to get Dr. Ku. +I'll use the air-car. It's ready?" + +"Yes." Leithgow answered. "But, Carse--one question I must ask--" + +The Hawk, already halfway to the door in the opposite wall of the +laboratory, paused and looked back inquiringly. + +"What bodies are to be used?" + +"The only ones available, Eliot," the adventurer replied, "since Ku +Sui, in his attempt to destroy the brains, left us only two hours--now +one hour--to complete the first steps of the transfer. They'll be +those four white assistants of his--those men, you remember, whose +intellects he's dehumanized--" + +"Yes, yes?" Leithgow pressed him eagerly. "And the fifth?" + +"A robot coolie." + +"Good God!" + +"I know, Eliot! It won't be pleasant for one of those brains to find +itself in a yellow body. But it's that or nothing." + +The scientist nodded slowly, his first expression of shock leaving his +old face to sadness: "But, a coolie. A coolie...." + +"Come, Eliot, we need speed! Speed! We've but an hour, remember, to +complete the first steps! I'll have Ku Sui and the five men down +immediately." + +The Hawk opened the door and strode down the long corridor beyond. His +footsteps were swiftly gone: and then the sound of another door +opening and closing. In the laboratory there was a murmur from the old +man. + +"A coolie! A scientist's brain in that ugly yellow head! When +consciousness returns, what a cruel shock!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +_Four Bodies_ + + +Hawk Carse had gone into Leithgow's ship hangar. + +It was a vast place, occupying most of the hollowed-out space of the +hill. Seventy feet high and more than two hundred feet long, it was, +and, like the rest of the rooms, metal-walled and sound-proofed. Eliot +Leithgow's own personal space-ship, the _Sandra_, rested there on its +mooring cradle, and by its side was the laboratory's air-car, an +identical shape in miniature, designed for atmospheric transit. + +The adventurer, a silent, swift figure, went straight to the air-car +and climbed into its control seat. He tested the controls, found them +responsive, then pressed a button set apart from the others: and the +huge port-lock door set in the farther wall of the hangar slid +smoothly open, revealing a metal chamber similar to that of the ship +port-lock on Ku Sui's asteroid. But whereas the chamber of the +asteroid's port-lock was for vacuum-atmosphere, this was for +water-atmosphere. + +The clamps of the mooring cradle were released, and the air-car moved +gently into the lock chamber. The door swung shut behind. On the +pressing of another button there sounded a gurgling and splashing of +water, and quickly the chamber was filled. The air-car was now a +submarine. All these operations were effected by radio control from +within it. + +When the water filled the inside of the chamber, the second door +opened automatically, and the car started forward through a long +steel-lined, water-filled tube. It continued on even keel until Carse, +watching through the bow window, saw a red light flash in the ceiling +of the tube: and then he tilted the car and rose. + +A second later, the shiny, water-dripping shape of the car broke +through the surface of the lake that edged on the hill, and forsook +the water for the air. + +To an outside observer, the appearance of the air-car and its +subsequent movements would have been incomprehensible. There lay the +hill, desolate, barren, apparently lifeless: and there, washing +against its slopes, the lake; nothing more. Then suddenly a curve of +gleaming steel thrust up through the muddy water, rose swiftly almost +straight into the cloudless blue of the sky, and as suddenly +disappeared, and remained gone from sight, as if the ether had opened +and swallowed it. + + * * * * * + +Using his infra-red device, Carse brought the car in neatly through +the ship-size port-lock of the dome, and sped it across to the +central building, to land lightly beside one of the wings. Debarking, +he ran down the wing's passage and in a few seconds was back in the +asteroid's control room. + +Friday was sitting in a chair close by the bound Eurasian; Ban Wilson, +more restless, was pacing up and down. The Hawk nodded in response to +their looks of welcome and issued curt orders. + +"All ready. Ban, the air-car's just outside; go over and get those +four men and the coolie and put them in it. Have your raygun ready, +but don't use it if humanly possible. We're going down to the +laboratory. I want speed. Please hurry." + +"Right Carse!" + +"Friday," the Hawk continued, "help me untie Dr. Ku." + +They stooped to the chair and the impassive, silken figure sitting in +it, and in a moment the bonds were ripped off; all save those on the +wrists. Stretching himself, the Eurasian asked: + +"You are taking the brains down now, Captain Carse?" + +"No--just you, your assistants and that one coolie, this trip. Master +Leithgow and I wish to have a talk with you." + +"I am always agreeable, my friend." + +"Yes," said the Hawk, "you'll be surprisingly agreeable. And truthful +and helpful, too. Now--outside, please, and do not attempt to delay me +in any way. I am in a great hurry, and consequently will not be +patient at any tricks." He turned to the Negro. "Friday. I'm leaving +you here on guard. Stay alert, gun handy, and keep in radio contact. +I'll be back soon." + +"Yes, suh!" + + * * * * * + +Walking behind his captive, the Hawk left, passing down the wing to +the air-car outside. There, Ban Wilson was waiting with the four white +assistants of Dr. Ku and the one robot-coolie, all unarmed, stolid, +emotionless. Carse placed them all in the rear seats of the car's +compartment, Ban facing them with drawn raygun. Then with a hum from +its generators the car raised, wheeled, slid forward, until through +the large port-lock, and swooped down to the lake. + +Dr. Ku Sui watched everything with an interest he did not attempt to +disguise. There was being revealed to him the secret entrance to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory, and long had he sought for that laboratory, +long pondered on its probable location. No doubt, at various times, +pissing over, he had seen the barren hill and its flanking lake, but +had never given them a second glance. Yet here, right in the lake, was +the doorway to Leithgow's refuge! + +The air-car lowered like a humming bird to the lake's surface, paused +and dipped under. The light left the sealed ports and entrance +hatchway, and the water pressed around, dark and muddy. Down the car +sunk, apparently without direction, its course very slow, until ahead, +out of the blackness, a spot of red winked. + +At once the air-car made towards it and slid into the tube leading +through the hill. Quickly it was in the chamber of the lock, the outer +door closed automatically behind, the water was drained out, and then +the inner door opened and the car, dripping, emerged into the +brilliantly-lit hangar and went to rest in its mooring cradle beside +Leithgow's space-ship. + +A minute later its passengers were in the laboratory of the Master +Scientist. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku Sui took in the arrangements made in the laboratory with a +swift glance, and then his eyes went to a door that opened in the +opposite wall and to the slight, smock-garbed figure that came through +it. He smiled. + +"Ah, Master Leithgow! A return visit, you see. At Captain Carse's +invitation. It is very interesting to me, this home of yours: so +cleverly concealed!" + +Leithgow vouchsafed his archenemy no more than a look, but turned to +the Hawk. + +"You are ready, Carse?" + +"Some preliminaries first, Eliot. These men, the four whites and the +yellow, must be put in some place of safety. You can take care of +them, Ban. One of the storerooms; lock them in. You remember your way? +Then, better take off your suit." + +Ban nodded, and led the five robot humans out. Leithgow, Hawk Carse +and Ku Sui were left alone in the laboratory, and for a minute there +was silence. + +How much had passed between these three! How many plots, and +counter-plots: how much blood: how many lives affected! The feud of +Hawk Carse and Dr. Ku Sui--and Eliot Leithgow, who was the chief cause +of it--here again had come to a head. Here again were all the varied +forces of brains and guile, science and skill, marshaled in the great, +vital game on whose outcome depended the restoration of Eliot Leithgow +and the lives of the coordinated brains and, indeed, though more +distantly, the fate of all the tribes of men on all the planets. For +if Ku Sui won free he would go on irresistibly, and his goal was the +domination of the solar system.... + +Three men, alone in a room--and the course of the creature Man being +affected by their every move. Large words: but the histories of the +period bear them out. Though, doubtless, Ku Sui alone knew how great +were the stakes as they stood there in the laboratory. + + * * * * * + +Hawk Carse was uneasy. The odds seemed all on his side--yet there was +Ku Sui's strange, almost imperceptible smile, his mysterious words up +on the asteroid, his smooth, unruffled assurance! What did these +things mean? He intended now to find out. He said, tersely: + +"Eliot. I have informed Dr. Ku that he is to be the means of the +transplantation of the coordinated brains to living human bodies, +since he is the only person capable of performing the operations. He +does not believe that we can force him to do our will, yet all the +same he is taking no chances: he started the death of the brains. We +shall have to work very fast--all right. But Dr. Ku has other cards to +play against us, and I don't know what they are. You and I must find +out now." + +"I somehow feel that you mistrust me," interposed the Eurasian with +mock sadness. "Ah, if you could only read my mind.... Or can you? Is +that what you are coming to?" + +The Hawk glanced at Leithgow; and Leithgow nodded, and placed a metal +chair close to one of the cylindrical drums--the one fitted with a +tube and breathing cone. + +"Will you sit there. Dr. Ku?" Carse asked. + +The green eyes scanned the drum. + +"A gas, Master Leithgow?" + +"That is all. Not harmful, not painful." + +"I see. I see...." the Eurasian murmured. And suddenly, he smiled at +the two men facing him, and said pleasantly to Carse: + +"Things repeat! Not long ago I asked you to sit in a chair and submit +to a treatment of mine, and you did as I asked. After so gallant a +precedent, how could I refuse? All right. Now, Master Leithgow, your +gas!" + + * * * * * + +With gentle fingers Eliot Leithgow fitted the cone on the Eurasian's +face and fastened it there. The fingers and thumb of one hand he kept +on Dr. Ku's pulse; with the other he pulled over slowly a control set +in the side of the drum. A ticking and slight hissing became audible, +and two indicators on the drum quivered and crept downward. + +A minute of this--the ticking and soft hissing, the indicator's slow +fall, the silk-clad figure in the chair, watched closely by Carse on +one side and Eliot Leithgow on the other--and a change was apparent. A +ripple flowed over the Eurasian's silken garments; the body appeared +to loosen up, to become free of all muscular and mental tension. The +gas hissed on. + +"The first step," murmured Leithgow abstractedly, out of his +concentration on dials and patient. "The muscles--notice--relaxed. The +will--the ego--the nexi of emotions and volitions which oppose +external direction--all being worked upon, submerged, neutralized--but +not his knowledge, not his skill. No--all that he will retain! You'll +notice nothing more until you see his eyes. A few minutes. What says +the red hand? Thirteen. At nineteen it should be completed." + +Carse watched intently. It was wonderful to know that when the correct +amount of this substance, which he knew only as V-27, had been +administered, and Ku Sui awoke, there would be no enmity in him, no +opposition to their demands, no fencing with wits; that this same Ku +Sui, his great mentality unimpaired, would be subservient and entirely +dependable. + +"Seventeen," murmured the old scientist. "Eighteen ... now!" With a +flick of his fingers he shut off the stream of V-27 and gently +unloosened the cone from Dr. Ku's face. + +The ascetic features were in repose, the eyelids closed, their long +black lashes lying against the delicate saffron of the skin. Dr. Ku +Sui seemed resting in dreamless, unclouded sleep. But for only a +moment. Soon the eyelids quivered and slowly opened--and a great +change was immediately visible in the man's green eyes. + +Many observers have recorded that under the veiled, enigmatic eyes of +Dr. Ku Sui there lurked a sultry glimmer of fire; or perhaps it was +that the observers who met these eyes always imagined the fire, being +conscious of the devil and the tiger in the man. But Carse and +Leithgow now saw that all that was gone. + +No mask lay over the green eyes now, no spark of fire glinted deep in +them. They were clear and serene; they hid nothing; almost they were +the eyes of a fresh, innocent child. Dr. Ku Sui, he of a hundred +schemes, a score of plots, he of the magnificent capacity and untiring +brain bearing ever toward his goal of lordship of the solar system--it +was as if he had slipped into a magic pool whose waters had washed him +clean and given him innocence and eyes of peace.... + + * * * * * + +The Eurasian breathed deeply, then smiled at the two men standing by +him. + +"Now," whispered Eliot Leithgow. "Ask him anything. He will answer +truthfully." + +The Hawk lost no time. He asked: + +"Dr. Ku, you will perform the brain transplantations for us?" + +"Yes, my friend." + +The man's tone was different. Gone was the suaveness, the customary +polite mockery; it was frank, open, genuinely pleasant. + +"Is it true, Dr. Ku, that your coordinated brains will die, if left in +their case?" + +"Yes, they will die if left there." + +"Within what time, to save them, must the operations to transplant +them into human bodies be started?" + +"Within twenty-five, perhaps thirty, minutes at the most." + +"Can all five brains be given the initial steps for transplantation +into the heads of your four white assistants and the coolie prisoner +within one hour--the remaining half of the two hours the brains said +they would retain the necessary vitality?" + +Dr. Ku smiled at him. There was no malice in the thunderbolt that he +unleashed then. He simply told what he knew to be the truth. + +"By fast work they could be, and so saved, although the subsequent +operations will take weeks. But the brains cannot be transplanted into +the heads of my four white assistants." + +"What?" Both the Hawk and Leithgow cried the word out together. "They +cannot?" + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku looked at them as though astonished. + +"Why, no, my friends! I wish I were able to, but I cannot perform the +operations by myself, unaided. That would be impossible, absurd.... +You seem startled. Surely you must have known that those assistants +would be vital to the work! I have taught them, you see; trained them; +they were specialists in brain surgery to begin with, and I do not +believe there are any others this side of Mars who could take their +place in operations of this type. Without them, I could never +transplant the brains." + +This, then, had been the trick up his sleeve! This was why, in the +control room of the asteroid, he had shown relief when the Hawk told +him what bodies were to be used for the transplantation! For he had +known that, whatever Eliot Leithgow's method of forcing him to +perform the operations might be, and no matter how efficacious, the +coordinated brains simply could not be put in the heads of his four +assistants--because the assistants were themselves needed for the +operations! + +"Then--it's hopeless!" said the Master Scientist bitterly. "All this +for nothing! You might find other bodies in Port o' Porno, +Carse--condemned men, criminals--but Porno's an hour away, two hours' +round trip, and in thirty minutes the brains will be too weak to +save...." + +"I am sorry," Ku Sui continued. "I should have told you before, +perhaps. If there were any way out I knew of, I would tell you but +there does not seem to be...." + +"Yes," broke in Hawk Carse suddenly. His left hand had been pulling at +his bangs of flaxen hair; his brain had been working very fast. He +added coldly: + +"Yes, there is a way." + + * * * * * + +Leithgow and Ku Sui looked at him inquiringly. + +"We need four bodies," he went on. "We have one--the coolie; he is not +needed to assist in the operations. Four bodies--and here, ready, in +twenty-five minutes. Not the bodies of normal men, of those with life +ahead of them. No. That would be murder. Four bodies of condemned +men--men with no hope left, nothing left to live for. I can get them!" + +He brushed aside Ku Sui's and Leithgow's questions. He was all steel +now, frigid, intent, hard. "Ban!" he called. "Ban Wilson!" + +"Yes, Carse?" Ban had been waiting outside the laboratory. + +"Put on your propulsive space-suit. Hurry. Then here." + +"Right!" + +Carse ran over to where he had left his suit and rapidly got inside. +As he did so, he said: + +"Eliot, there's fast work to be done while I'm gone with Ban. You must +take your assistants and Dr. Ku up to the asteroid in the air-car and +transfer down here all the equipment Dr. Ku says he'll need. Be +extremely careful with the case of coordinated brains. If you possibly +can, have everything in readiness by the time Ban and I return with +the four bodies." + +Ban Wilson, in his suit, entered the laboratory. The Hawk gestured him +to the door which led to the tree-shaft to the surface. + +"But, Carse, _what_ bodies? Where can you get four more living human +bodies?" Leithgow cried. + +"No time, now, Eliot!" the Hawk rapped out, turning at the door. "Just +do as I say--and hurry! I'll get them!" + +And he was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +_The Promise Fulfilled_ + + +Although puzzled by the Hawk's promise, Leithgow could only put his +trust in it and go ahead with the preparations as he had been +directed. He took two of his three laboratory assistants off their +hurried manufacture of quantities of the V-27, and with Ku Sui went +out into the air-car. Passing by way of tube and lake and air, they +were quickly inside the dome on the asteroid, and then into Ku Sui's +laboratory, where Friday waited on guard. + +Completely docile and friendly, the Eurasian indicated the various +instruments and devices he would need for the operations, and these +were transported quickly. Then came the case of coordinated brains. +Dr. Ku detached in connections with expert fingers, and all but +Leithgow took a corner and carried it with infinite care to the +air-car outside. + +"Do I stay here, suh?" Friday asked the Master Scientist in a +whisper. Though informed of the change in Dr. Ku effected by the V-27, +he was still very suspicious of him. "Seems to me he's a bit too meek +and mild, suh. I think I ought to go down and watch him." + +Eliot Leithgow did not quite know what answer to give. The Eurasian +forced the decision. + +"I will need," he observed, in his new, frank voice, "all the +assistance you can possibly give me. I am faced by a tremendous task, +and the use of every man will be necessary. I would suggest, Master +Leithgow that the Negro be brought down." + +And so Friday came and the asteroid was left unguarded. A mistake, +this turned out to be, but under the circumstances Eliot Leithgow +could hardly be blamed for it. There was so much on their minds, so +much work of vital importance, so desperate a need for speed, that +quite naturally other considerations were subordinated. The asteroid, +to the naked eye, was invisible; it could attract no attention; its +occupants had all been disposed of. Certainly it seemed safe enough to +leave it unguarded for a while. + +However, Eliot Leithgow took one precaution. Down in his own +laboratory again, in the midst of the work of transferring Dr. Ku's +operating equipment from the air-car, he called aside one of his +assistants and instructed him to go and survey the asteroid through +the infra-red device every ten minutes: and with this order the old +scientist dismissed the matter from his mind, and turned all his +energies to preparing the laboratory for the operations. + + * * * * * + +Under Ku Sui's directions his cases of equipment were brought in and +arrayed, and the various drills and delicate saws, and such other +instruments as worked by electricity, were connected. Everything was +sterilized. Rapidly the plain, square room assumed the appearance of +an operating arena, the five tables in the center, spotlessly white +and clean under the direct beams of the tubes hanging from the +ceiling, at the head of every table a stand on which were containers +of antiseptics, bottles of etheloid, a breathing cone, rolls of gauze +and other materials, and along the edge of the stand identical, +complete sets of fine instruments. + +The case of coordinated brains was brought into the laboratory last. +The inner liquid was now dark and apparently lifeless; to the casual +eye, it would not have seemed possible that the five grayish mounds +immersed in the liquid held life. And, indeed, Leithgow looked at them +doubtfully. + +"Are you sure they're still alive? Do you think there's still time?" +he asked Dr. Ku. + +The Eurasian picked up a long, slender, tubelike instrument with a +dial topping it. Then, going to the brain-case, he touched a cleverly +concealed catch and a square pane set in the top of the case swung +back. He dipped the instrument he held into the liquid, and for a +moment stood silent, watching the dial. Then he took it out, re-closed +the pane and turned to Leithgow. + +"A test," he explained. "The indicator, interpreted means we have +about forty-eight minutes in which to complete the first phase of the +transplantation of the brains into human heads. It might be done if we +start in eight minutes. But the human heads--?" He paused. + +"Eight minutes!" said Leithgow worriedly. "Eight minutes for Carse to +come! He promised the bodies, but ... well, we can only go ahead with +the preparations and trust to him. Is everything ready?" + +"All but my assistants. I had better see them now." + + * * * * * + +The Master Scientist issued an order to one of his men, and presently +the four white assistants of Dr. Ku were led into the laboratory. For +these men, no V-27 was needed; their brains were utterly subservient +to Dr. Ku Sui, and his orders they would obey unquestioningly, no +matter what the work. There was no danger from them. + +They stood motionless, their eyes fastened on their master, as he +spoke to them. + +"Brain operations," he said. "These"--he indicated the case--"are to +be transplanted again into human heads. You have done work similar to +it before; you know the routine. But now it must be quick. Synchronize +your speed with mine; I will be working very rapidly, and it is vital +that you be in harmony with me every instant. When the bodies come, +you will prepare the heads: and then you will attend me through every +step. You understand." He turned to the old scientist. "Operating +gowns, gloves, masks, Master Leithgow?" + +"I have your own. Over there. Your black costume is among them." + +But Leithgow's answer was abstracted. Four minutes for Carse to come! +Or else, everything lost! He busied himself helping the four surgeons +and two of his own assistants into the white, sterilized gowns, and +the masks that left only the eyes free and the skin-tight rubber +gloves, but his mind was not with his actions. The old man looked very +frail now; his age showed in the deep lines now eminent on his face. +Three minutes--swiftly two.... + +"At least," observed Ku Sui, "we have one body ... the coolie. I had +better start immediately on him." + +"Bring him out," Leithgow instructed one of his men. "One brain will +be saved. But--_there!_ Thank God! Hear that? Coming down the passage? +It's Carse, returning!" + + * * * * * + +It was Carse. He and Ban Wilson, coming down the passage from the top +of the tree-shaft. Everyone in the laboratory could hear plainly the +heavy, sliding tread of the great space-boots. Eliot Leithgow was +first to the door. He opened it, peered through eagerly and called: + +"Carse? You've got them?" + +"Yes, Eliot. Here--we need help." + +The Hawk's voice sounded weary. Friday and the scientist ran down the +passageway until they reached the adventurer. In the faint light, they +saw he was carrying a limp body. He laid it carefully down on the +floor. + +"Ban's coming down with another," he said, "and there are two more +above. Go up and get them, Friday." + +The Negro started to obey. But Eliot Leithgow did not move, did not +utter a sound. He stood staring at the body Carse had laid down. The +parchmentlike skin of his face seemed to whiten; that was all; but he +winced and slowly brushed his eyes with his hands when, in a moment, +Ban Wilson floated down the shaft and, approached with a second +unconscious body. + +At last Leithgow whispered: + +"They're all--like that, Carse?" + +"Yes," answered the emotionless voice. "There were two others, but we +let them go. They were worse." The gray eyes looked steadily at Eliot +Leithgow. "I know," the Hawk said. "It's horrible--but it can't be +helped. It was these or nothing. There was no choice." + +Hawk Carse had fulfilled his promise. He had brought back four +isuanacs. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +_Ordeal_ + + +Five bodies lay on the operating tables in Eliot Leithgow's +laboratory. The air, hushed and heavy, was pervaded by the various +odors of antiseptics and etheloid. The breathing cones had been +applied to each of the bodies, and they were now locked fast in +controlled unconsciousness. + +On the first table lay the body of the robot-coolie, a man of medium +size, sturdy, well-muscled, with the smooth round yellow face and stub +nose of his kind. His short-cropped, bristly black hair had been +shaved off; the head was now bald. That head was destined to hold the +mighty brain of Master Scientist Raymond Cram. + +On the second table lay a twisted, distorted thing, an apelike body +with which fate had played grotesque pranks. It was hairy, of middle +height, and its dark skin all over was wizened and coarse, almost like +the bark of a tree. The legs were short and bowed, the hands stubby +claws; the face, puckered even in unconsciousness, was that of a +gargoyle in pain. The long matted hair had been shaved away; the large +pate washed with antiseptics. Soon, were the operation successful, +that head would hold the brain of Professor Edgar Estapp, world-famous +chemist and bio-chemist. + +On the third table lay a shape skeletonlike in appearance, so +emaciated was it, so closely did the bones press into the dry, +fever-yellowed skin. Of one leg, only the stump was left; this +creature had been forced to hop or crawl his way through the isuan +swamps. The head, too, was no more than a skull, with great sunken +dark-rimmed eyes, discolored fangs and loose, leathery lips. There had +been no hair on this death's head; it had long been bald, and now, +washed, clean for the first time in months or even years, it was to +hold the brain of Dr. Ralph Swanson, Earth's one-time leader in the +science of psychology. + +On the fourth table lay a giant's body--but a hollow giant, a giant +made thin and pitiful by the ravages of his destroyer, isuan. A +roistering, free-booting space-ship sailor, this man may once have +been, but, from the drug, the mighty arms had been twisted and +shrivelled, the strong legs wasted away. One ear had been torn from +the skull in an old brawl, and what was left was naked and ugly to the +eye. Behind that bitter, drug-coarsened face would be the new home of +the brain of Sir Charles Esme Norman, wizard of mathematics and once a +polished, charming Englishman. + +On the fifth table lay a dwarf. Its ridiculous body was not over four +and a half feet long, though the head was larger than that of a normal +man. In the old dark ages on Earth this body would have served for the +jester of a lord, the comic butt of a king; in more recent times as +the prize of a circus side-show. The huge, weighty head with its ugly +brooding mask of a face, the child's body below--this was for the +brain of Professor Erich Geinst, the solitary German who had stood +preeminent on Earth in astronomy. + + * * * * * + +These creatures were the result of Hawk Carse's desperate search. They +had composed, with one other, the band of isuanacs that had been +rooting in the swamp at the end of the lake when the asteroid had +first arrived. The Hawk had remembered them, and had quickly seen that +they were the only answer to the problem. And so, with Ban Wilson, he +had gone out for them, his mind steeled to the ghastly thought of the +great scientists' brains in such bodies. In space-suits they had swept +down on them. There had been no time for considerate measures: the +four isuanacs had been abruptly knocked out by the impact of the great +suits swooping against them, and carried back to the laboratory. + +Eliot Leithgow had been shocked at the idea of a scientist's brain in +the head of the robot-coolie; how much greater, then, was his horror +when confronted by the need of using these appalling remnants of men! +But he could not protest. What else was there? Ku Sui, under the V-27, +had spoken the truth: the operations would be impossible without the +aid of his four assistants. The brains even now were dying. The choice +was: bodies of isuanacs or death for the brains. The scientist and the +adventurer had chosen. + +Circumstances had required their use. Ku Sui's attempt to kill the +brains, thus inflicting a time limit: the presence of the band of +isuanacs near the laboratory; each circumstance with a long train of +other, minor ones behind it. Chance or Fate--whatever it is--whether +predetermined or accidental--men must wonder at its working, and know +awe from its patterns and results. Seldom, certainly, was there a +pattern more strange than this now being worked out in the laboratory +of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. + +The bodies lay there, washed, shaved and swathed in customary loose +operating garments: globules of etheloid dropped steadily down into +the breathing cones, of hunchback, living skeleton, twisted giant, +dwarf and robot-coolie. One by one the isuanacs dropped with the +falling of the etheloid into unconsciousness--and that was their +farewell to the brains, each one debauched either by isuan-drug or +skill of genius, that they had known. + +And movement began in the laboratory. White-clothed figures, masked +and capped, used gleaming instruments in their gloved hands; and all +the figures were mute--mute from their great concentration on the +delicate work in progress--or mute from horror that would not die.... + + * * * * * + +So began the ordeal. + +Of its details, Hawk Carse knew little. They were not of his world. +Only for the first half-hour could he follow intelligently what was +being done. He too had put on a white robe, as had Ban Wilson and +Friday; and he stood at one side of the room, a silent, intently +watching figure, with the two other men of action, Ban and the Negro, +while the rest moved in a kind of rhythm. The center-piece was the +black-garbed Ku Sui, moving from this table to that, slim gloved hands +flying, pausing, flying again, steadying, concentrating on a detail, +once more sweeping forward. No more than single words came from him; +he and his assistants worked almost as a whole, in perfect sympathy +and coordination, and a constant stream of instruments flowed to him +and then away, their task done. + +The first table, and then to the second, with one white figure staying +behind at the first, finishing off details of the work, left by the +master. The third table; the fourth; the fifth; and then back to the +first, while two white figures detached themselves from the main group +and went to the nearby case of coordinated brains. An object held in a +specially formed type of pan was lifted out and carried to the first +table; and Carse sensed a crisis in the attitudes of the working men. +This, he knew, was the first great, step. A brain was being re-born. +The fingers of men, and one man in particular, were fashioning a +miracle. + +How could he hope to understand? He could only hang on the movements +of that group of figures, and feel relief as he saw them settle into +smoothness again. Evidently the first crisis was past. A few minutes +more were spent at the first table; then once more Dr. Ku Sui went to +the second, and another object was carried from the coldly gleaming +case. + +And in a long, deep pan standing on short legs beside the case, +something gray and shapeless and warm was placed. + +The first phase came to an end when there were five similar things in +the open pan, and nothing, except the liquid and a multitude of +spidery, disconnected wires, in the case that but shortly before had +harbored the brains of five scientists.... + + * * * * * + +A pause. Relaxation. Tests. The black-clad figure spoke to one in +yellow in a tone of pleased relief. + +"Successful so far, Master Leithgow! We may congratulate ourselves on +the consummation of the first step. It has been done, I believe, well +within the time limit." + +"Yes, Dr. Ku; yes. And now--how long will be needed to finish?" + +"That is up to you. Normally, I would require a month. In that time +all could be done safely, with small chance--" + +"Too long!" said Leithgow. + +Carse intervened: + +"Why too long, Eliot?" + +The old scientist went over close to him, and, in a lowered voice, +explained: + +"Ku Sui would develop immunity to the V-27 in a month. Two weeks of it +would give him part immunity. Even ten days might. He has to be +re-gassed four times a day." + +"But, letting him come out of it every night and resting normally?" +the Hawk objected. + +"I have allowed for that. The gas would still be in his system. +No--nine or ten days is the limit." He raised his voice again to reach +the Eurasian. "Can you complete the work within nine days, Dr. Ku?" + +Ku Sui considered it. At last he said: + +"That is a lot to ask, Master Leithgow. But--it might be possible. +However, it would mean prodigies of sustained, concentrated labor; +work and skill never-ceasing. We'll have to work in shifts, +naturally." + +So it was arranged. All the assistants, both Ku Sui's and Leithgow's, +were portioned off into shifts of four hours' sleep and eight hours' +work: Carse, Ban Wilson and Friday, too, for now every one of them was +needed. + +Nine days for the work of a month--and work as delicate and vital as +could possibly be! Small wonder that in the minds of all of them, the +Hawk and the old scientist, and Ban and the Negro, that period, when +remembered later, seemed no more than a confused, unreal, hazy dream; +rather, a nightmare connected imperishably with the odors of an +operating room, antiseptics, etheloid, and the glint of small, sharp +instruments. + +It was a titanic task, an ordeal that stretched to the limit the +powers of the men working in that confined space. Normal life for them +ceased; the operating room became a new universe. Swiftly they lost +consciousness of time, even with the routine of the changing shifts +and the food which was brought in at regular hours. Antiseptics, +etheloid, the never-ceasing flow of the instruments, the five bodies +lying still and deathlike on the tables, the hard white glare of the +light beating down on them--all this and nothing more--all sealed away +underground from the life of the forgotten world above. On and on and +on.... + + * * * * * + +It is impossible even to conjecture how the mind of Ku Sui saw the +colossal work that he was doing to aid his most bitter enemies. Even +when he was normal there are only moments when, through some recorded +speech or action of his, we can peer past the man's personality into +his brain; how great a sealed mystery must his thoughts remain to us +when held in that abnormal state by Eliot Leithgow's V-27! Envision +it: this arch-foe of Hawk Carse and Leithgow helping their designs, +lending all his intellect, his great skill, to their purposes, aiding +them in everything! Certainly, afterwards, the memory of what he had +been forced to do must have occasioned Dr. Ku many bitter moments. +Regularly, every four waking hours, he was led to the metal chair and +gassed afresh with the V-27; and his expression remained pleasant; his +eyes were always friendly. But the artificial state in which he was +kept showed soon on his face. It lost its clearness and became a +jaundiced yellow in color: and also it grew peaked and drawn. + +But the other faces around him were peaked and drawn, too. The +terrific strain told in definite terms on all, no matter what +stimulants they took to keep going. Many a man would have been driven +to insanity by their sustained, terrible concentration, and the +knowledge that five lives hung on every action, however minute.... + +On and on and on, science made into a marathon. Four hours of +exhausted, deathlike sleep; eight hours more of the smells, and the +glaring light, and the moving instruments. Days of this, sealing the +brains permanently into their new homes, into their hideous new +bodies.... + +But finally came the climax, and the last exhausted spurt of work. For +the concluding twelve hours there was no sleep or rest for anyone; and +at the end a breathless, haggard tension held them as Dr. Ku Sui, a +shell of his former self, reviewed the results of the nine days' +ordeal. His verdict was: + +"Four have come through, I think, safe. The fifth--I do not know. His +body was near death when he was brought here. He may live or die; it +is impossible to tell now. But it is finished." + +Then the men slept. Some slipped to the floor and slept where they +were. In nine days, the work of a month had been done, and a miracle +wrought. The brains had been born again. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +_Flight_ + + +It was to Hawk Carse that the news of imminent danger came first. + +He had staggered from the laboratory into a sleeping room and, clad as +he was, fallen over into a berth. He would have wakened in a few +hours, such was his custom of years to four-hour watches on ships, but +he was permitted less than an hour of sleep. A hand pulled at him; a +voice kept calling his name. Awareness returned to him slowly as his +brain roused from the coma of sleep. + +"Captain Carse! Captain Carse! Wake up, sir!" + +It was one of Leithgow's assistants, a man named Thorpe. His tone was +excited and his manner distraught. + +"Yes?" the Hawk muttered thickly. "What is it?" + +"It's the asteroid, sir! I was instructed to watch it at intervals, +but I--I guess I fell asleep, and just now--" + +Carse sat up. "Yes? What?" + +"--when I looked, through the glasses--it was gone!" + +"Gone? You're sure? Let me see." + +Swiftly, Thorpe at his heels, Carse strode out from the room to a +cubby just off the laboratory, the watch-post, where observational +electelscopes and visi-screens provided a panorama of the surrounding +territory. + +He gazed through the electelscope, which had been equipped with an +infra-red device and trained on the asteroid, and saw that now, where +the massive body of rock had been poised, there was nothing. Only the +brilliant light of mid-afternoon, the cloudless sky. Carse swept the +glass around. The search was fruitless. The heavens were bare. The +asteroid had gone. + +In half a minute Carse had reasoned out the disappearance, saw the +consequences and made the inevitable decision. Gone was the torpor of +sleep, the weariness of the laboratory; this was a crisis, and this +was his work. During the operations, he had been able merely to obey +orders and do manual work. Now he assumed command. + +"Your lapse has imperilled us all," he said curtly to Thorpe. "From +now on we're in great danger. Stay here and keep on watch, and sound +the alarm immediately if the asteroid reappears." + +"Yes, sir. I--I'm sorry--" + +The adventurer cut him off with a frigid nod and ran on silent, rapid +feet to the laboratory, where both Ban Wilson and Friday lay fast +asleep. Roughly Carse shook them into consciousness. Trained to +shipboard routine and the sudden emergencies of space, they needed but +little time to return to full wakefulness. In staccato sentences the +new situation was outlined to them. + +"The asteroid's gone. That means danger to everything here. We will +have to evacuate. Ban, wake all the men, including Ku Sui and his +assistants, then come to me for further orders. Friday, see that +Leithgow's ship is ready for instant departure. Quick!" + +Alarmed, but without questions, the two parted on their separate +errands. Carse went to the room where Eliot Leithgow lay asleep. + + * * * * * + +The pallor and weariness of the old scientist's face were emphasized +by the alarming news his friend brought him, but he took it with +spirit, and his voice was level and controlled as he asked: + +"What does it mean, Carse? What must we do?" + +"Leave, Eliot, and at once. We have no choice. Our danger while here +is immense. The asteroid, in the hands of enemies, could crush us like +a fly, simply by coming down on the top of the hill." + +"But who could have taken it? There was no one on it, was there?" + +The Hawk said wryly: "I thought not, but well, you remember the secret +panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory?" + +"Through, which he escaped before? Yes." + +"I suspected that he might have someone hidden behind it, and I +intended to question him when he was under the V-27, but in the +terrific rush of things it slipped my mind. Sheer carelessness, Eliot; +I'm very sorry. I should have known, for when we captured Ku Sui he +spoke some words in Chinese through his helmet-radio. Now I can see +that they must have gone to some man of his hidden there; and that +man, obeying instructions, simply lay low, heard all that passed in +Dr. Ku's laboratory, and then, at a suitable opportunity, took the +asteroid away in search of allies. He knows his master is a prisoner +here and unquestionably he will be back to release him. We must be out +of here and far away by the time he arrives." + +"Yes," Leithgow nodded slowly. "As you say, there is no choice." + +"But your work here is finished, Eliot," Carse went on. "If only we +can get to Earth safely, with Ku Sui and the brains in their new +bodies, we will have achieved everything we wanted to achieve. We have +proof of the crime done you, and we have Ku Sui, too. Your position +will be restored and the blame put where it belongs. But we must leave +for Earth at once! God knows how near the asteroid is, or who's on +it." + +"All right, Carse." The scientist got up. "What are your +instructions?" + +Ban Wilson appeared in the door, reporting that all the men had been +accounted for and awakened. Carse started the wheels moving. + +"Everything of value here must be transported aboard the ship. Eliot, +you know better than I what to take, so you'll assume charge of the +loading. Ban, you and all the men save two of Eliot's assistants will +help. I'll need them to move the bodies. Send them to me in the +laboratory. But first, be sure Ku Sui and his four men are safely +confined. All right; let's go." + +Within half an hour the general evacuation was finished and the ship +loaded. + + * * * * * + +The _Sandra_, Leithgow's ship, bearing his daughter's name, was a +sturdy vessel designed more for comfort and utility than speed, and so +her appointments, including offensive and defensive weapons, though +modern were limited. Her commodious cargo-holds were easily capable of +accommodating all of the Master Scientist's laboratory instruments and +devices, the volumes of his extensive library, his great mass of +personal papers and more intimate effects; all the more important +stores of the place, too, and its furnishings. The laboratory and its +surrounding rooms were pretty well stripped. + +The largest of the _Sandra's_ cabins was transformed under the +direction of Leithgow into a hospital bay, and the five cots bearing +the prostrate, unconscious bodies of the patients put there. Though +hastily improvised, this hospital was complete, as fully equipped and +nearly as efficient as if it were on Earth and not in the belly of a +space-ship. The chances of the patients for complete recovery were not +diminished in any way by the sudden necessity for flight. + +In a second, much smaller cabin, Dr. Ku Sui was confined by himself. +Its walls, of course, were of metal, and there was no possible means +of exit from it save by the door, which bore double locks. The +Eurasian, silent and drugged and stupid, immediately stretched his +tall form out on the single berth and in seconds was again sound +asleep. A third cabin was made over to his four assistants. + +With everything completed, the underground refuge bare of articles of +value and the _Sandra_ stored and made ready for the long trip, the +inner door of the exit tube swung open, and the ship slid slowly out +of her cradle and into the water chamber for the last time. Her flight +to Earth had begun. + +Eliot Leithgow stood near the Hawk in the control cabin, and his old +face was made sad by many memories. For years, this place that he was +now leaving had been his only home, his one sure haven. How carefully, +long ago, had he and Carse planned it and built it! How many times had +they met there, often when danger was close and enemies near, and +cemented still more firmly the bonds between them! To Leithgow, the +hill symbolized safety and friendship and his beloved work. Dangerous, +weary years, those he had spent in the hill, but priceless +nevertheless, warmed as they were by his achievements and the +friendship of Hawk Carse. + +Now he was leaving it and going back to Earth. The outlaw years, it +seemed, were ended: Ku Sui was a prisoner, and the proof of his great +crime, which had been laid to Leithgow, was aboard. Earth--green +Earth! Separate, distinct, peerless in the universe; home of men, of +his kind! He had loved and worked and known honor and respect on +Earth; it held the grave of his wife, and the fresh, warm young love +of his wife reincarnate, his daughter Sandra. He was at last going +home to Earth from his exile on this desolate, raw frontier post. + +There was a choking in Eliot Leithgow's throat at leaving the hill, +and he turned away, afraid at that moment of being observed by the +steel-gray eyes of his friend, Hawk Carse.... + + * * * * * + +The _Sandra_ swam up through the lake's muddy tide and launched +herself, dripping, into the warm air of afternoon. Her generators +hummed with life given them by the firm hand at the controls, and +swiftly she arrowed forth into the blue. With a few words as to the +visual course, Carse handed the space-stick over to Friday, and +devoted himself to the matter of the watches. + +Satellite III dropped swiftly to concavity, as the _Sandra_ was +expertly jockeyed through the rare outer layer of the stratosphere, +became a true globe again. The Negro reported: + +"Through the atmosphere, suh. Orders?" + +"Full acceleration. Continue visually for the present. I'll work out +the true course in a few minutes." + +"Yes, suh!" + +The hum of the generators deepened. In a matter of ten minutes, +shipboard routine was arranged, Carse, Friday and Ban splitting the +watches. The Hawk, as was his custom, took the first. Friday was +relieved of the space-stick and immediately went back for sleep, as +did Wilson. Eliot Leithgow did not retire right away, however. + +He watched Carse snap on the automatic control and go to an +electelscope which had been equipped with an infra-red device. He +directed it rearward on Satellite III, back along the course the +_Sandra_ had described, and peered through its eyepiece for several +minutes. Then he turned to the old scientist. + +"Nothing," he said. "No sign of the asteroid as yet. We'll have to +keep careful watch. The visi-screen's useless against the invisibility +of the asteroid; and the high magnification of this scope, with its +resulting small field of view, will require us continually and +methodically to search through a wide circle behind, in the attempt to +pick up the asteroid, should it appear. A tedious job, with chances of +sighting it about even.... At any rate, we'll have some sort of a +head-start," he finished. + + * * * * * + +This was the opportunity Leithgow had waited for; he wanted a few +frank words with his friend. + +"Carse," he said slowly, "I wonder just where that man concealed +behind the secret panel would take the asteroid?" + +"I've thought about that too," replied the Hawk. "We may be sure that +he went for allies: Dr. Ku has several on Satellite III. Of them all, +I think he would go for Lar Tantril." + +"Tantril?" + +"Yes, I think so. Lar Tantril, the Venusian. A fellow of much +self-confidence and one of Ku Sui's chief agents, and who at +present"--he smiled faintly--"nurses a special bitterness against me. +I told you how I tricked him on his ranch. He'd be very eager to +pursue us in the asteroid simply for the opportunity of repaying me +for that trick." The adventurer's left hand rose to the bangs of +flaxen hair combing down over his forehead, and he murmured, musingly: +"I rather hope it _is_ Lar Tantril...." + +"You hope so?" Leithgow repeated, surprised. "When he hates you so? +And would be on the lookout for tricks? Why?" + +"I would guess, Eliot, that Lar Tantril is not notable for intellect. +Blustering, domineering--pretty much of a braggart, you know. +Certainly he is not a model of caution; and he is not acquainted with +Dr. Ku's asteroid, for he did not even know it existed. He will be +able to run it, of course, with the advice of this hidden man, but +surely he will not have the perception to discern the weakness in it. +Yes, I hope it is he." + +Leithgow went on to the main thing on his mind. + +"I'm a little unsettled, Carse," he admitted. "I've been imagining +this as the end of my outlaw years, and the beginning of my +re-establishment on Earth. But this ship is slow, and I see now that +if the asteroid does pursue us and capture us.... What do you really +think of our chances?" + + * * * * * + +The Hawk pursed his lips slightly, and for a little while he looked +away and did not answer. When his voice came, it was tinged with +bitterness. + +"Eliot," he said, "I've been trying to find an excuse for my lapse. +But there is none. It was the blunder of a novice, my not remembering +to question Ku Sui about that secret panel. That was the cardinal +point, yet it slipped my mind, in my preoccupation with the +emergencies connected with the restoration of the brains. + +"Our chances are only fair, Eliot; I'm telling you frankly how it +appears to me. I believe we'll be pursued, and if we are the odds are +greatly against us. The asteroid's far more powerful than we. And +Jupiter only knows what new offensive resources Ku Sui may have given +it: I had no time to study the several strange mechanisms I saw in its +control room. Then, no nearby patrol ship would help us if we were +attacked, for to them our enemy would be invisible, and they'd think +us crazy." + +He paused. But seeing the somber expression on the other's face, he +smiled and cuffed him on the back. + +"But maybe we won't even be pursued, Eliot! Maybe we'll be too far +ahead for them to catch us! No doubt I've made it look too serious, so +cheer up! We're alive, we've got everything we wanted, and we're +hitting at full speed for Earth! And you know the luck of that +space-adventurer they call the Hawk!" + +Leithgow smiled gently in answer, then left the cabin for the sleep he +needed so badly. Hawk Carse was left alone on watch in the fleeing +_Sandra_. + +A lonely, intent figure, he stood over the chart-table, working out +their best course to Earth. Presently, however, he went back to the +infra-red electelscope and swept it over the leagues behind. Carse +could not detect any sign of the asteroid, but he remained for a +little while at the eyepiece, staring at Satellite III. There it lay, +a diminishing globe, three-quarters of it gleaming in the light flung +by Jupiter. Dark patches mottled it: they would be the jungles. And +there was the scintillant sheet that was the Great Briney Lake, with +Port o' Porno nearby. On the other side of the little world, now, lay +the hill containing Leithgow's laboratory. All going ... going ... +falling swiftly behind. Satellite III, scene of so many clashes, plots +and counter-plots, where so many times he and Eliot Leithgow had +fought off the reaching hand of Ku Sui--soon it would be a million +miles away. What adventures would he have before he saw it again?... + +A little sound came from the Hawk, a half-sigh. Abruptly he called one +of the men on his watch and stationed him at the 'scope, and then he +returned to the chart-table and the work of calculating their course +to Earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +_In Earth's Shadow_ + + +Hour after hour and day after day, for a week the _Sandra_ tracked on +through the boundless leagues, the waxing sunlight beating steadily on +her starboard bow and her silent gravity-plates and singing generators +bringing Earth ever nearer. Friday, who possessed an extensive +knowledge of all the practical sciences, did extra service in the role +of cook, and his regularly served meals disguised the undifferentiated +hours of space into Earth-mornings, noons and nights. Watch in and +watch out, and nothing to disturb the even routine. + +As for the ever-feared pursuit, there was no sign of it. +Systematically and carefully the men stationed at the electelscope +turned it through the region behind, but never did their watching eyes +discern the bulk of the asteroid. Its disappearance, and the kindred +mystery of who had been on it, remained unsolved. + +Therefore peace came to Eliot Leithgow's face, and the tiredness left +his eyes. The long, hunted years were beginning to be washed from him, +and daily, to Carse, he appeared younger. Often in the control cabin +or over a meal he talked of what lay ahead, and the happiness Earth +held waiting for him. There was his daughter, Sandra, whom he had seen +last as a girl of fourteen, and even then interested in his work. She +would be matured now, and she would perhaps be eager to help him in +the work he intended to resume. There was so much of it! Discoveries, +theories, evolved during his fugitive years--now he could complete +them and give them to his old circles of brother scientists. All this +was in his conversations; but secret and unworded in his thoughts were +anticipations of the old dear beauty of Earth, that beauty for which +his ageing heart had pined so long.... + +And Earth was drawing nearer. + + * * * * * + +Another week passed. + +Twice a day the door of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin was unlocked and he was +brought out under guard for several turns through the ship. Though for +safety's sake they continued to dose him with the V-27, it was +apparent that the gas had less and less effect on him. Four, then +eight, then twelve times a day they re-gassed him--as often as they +dared, considering its ultimate destructive mental effect--but more +and more of the frankness and serenity foreign to his green eyes +melted away. Gradually the normal veil came to hide their depths and +make them enigmatic; and sometimes there was again on his face the +hint of something strong and tigerish and cruel lying waiting. They no +longer trusted him to attend to the five patients. He spoke seldom. A +tall, reserved figure in black silk, attended either by Ban Wilson or +Friday, he strolled through the ship for fifteen minutes and was +returned to his lonely cabin. Of all the marks his experience must +have left upon him, the only one apparent was his silence. + +It was on the seventeenth day that he forsook that silence and +directly accosted Carse. He had a request. The saffron face impassive, +the long lashes lying low over the eyes, he said softly: + +"I wonder, Captain Carse, if I might be permitted a glimpse of the +subjects of my transplantation?" + +Leithgow and Wilson were at the time with Carse in the control cabin, +and they regarded their friend intently, curious as to what the reply +would be. They saw his steel-gray eyes meet Dr. Ku's gaze squarely; +and the two men looked at each other: Hawk Carse, complete victor at +last, and Ku Sui, the vanquished. + +The adventurer answered: + +"Your request is only natural, Dr. Ku. Certainly you may see them, and +perhaps offer an opinion on their progress, which has so far been in +the hands of your assistants. But I shall have to accompany you." + +"You are kind." + +"Take the controls, Ban," Carse directed, and together they left the +cabin. + + * * * * * + +There was no visible change in the five bodies. They lay stretched out +in cots, sheets drawn up to their necks, and it seemed almost as if +they were quietly slumbering and would presently wake up; though in +reality consciousness would not return to the fine brains in their +hideous, distorted bodies for many weeks, and then only if the healing +processes were successful. Bandages swathed the heads, leaving eyes +and nostrils alone visible. An assistant of Leithgow's, at present on +watch there, moved occasionally with instrument in hand to time the +fevered pulses. + +"I must ask you to stand back here, Dr. Ku," said the Hawk, indicating +a spot some five feet from the nearest cot. His left arm hung easily +by his side, the hand resting by the butt of his holstered raygun; and +the position was not accidental. + +Ku Sui nodded and doubtless noted the gun, but his eyes were on the +bodies. He stood regarding his own handiwork in silence, his face +inscrutable, and Carse did not disturb him. At last, in a low tone he +asked the assistant: + +"The food injections take successfully?" + +The man nodded. + +"I remember," the beautifully modulated voice went on. "I was not sure +of one subject. Swanson's brain, was it not? Is his condition any +better?" + +"We are not sure." + +"Ah, yes ... yes...." He appeared to muse, and no one disturbed him in +the minutes of silence that followed. Finally he looked away and said: + +"It was a great feat. Thank you, Captain Carse. I am pleased by this +glimpse of the miracle my hands were made to perform. I am ready to +return." + +But at the door of his cabin he paused, and his eyes rested again on +the cold, firm face close to him. He said: + +"I suppose, Captain Carse, you intend to bring me before Earth's World +Court of Justice?" + +"Yes. Along with our living proof of your abduction of the five +scientists." + +The Eurasian smiled. "I see. And since there is no questioning that +proof, it would appear that Earthlings will soon levy punishment on +Dr. Ku Sui.... So.... You know, Captain Carse, I find your caution a +great handicap. You keep gassing me; I am locked in; and since I have +observed no excitement aboard the ship, apparently there are no +friends anywhere near me. You have stripped me of everything." His +eyes lowered for a moment. "Everything save this ring." + +On the forefinger of his right hand, set simply in a platinum band, +was a large dark stone. + +"A black opal," said Dr. Ku. "I have worn it for years and I prize it +highly. Perhaps at the last I will give it to you as a memento of +these past years, Captain Carse." And he went into the cabin, where +they gassed him again. + + * * * * * + +The third week passed. + +Crossing the orbit of Mars, now approximately in opposition to +Jupiter, the _Sandra_ streaked on into the last leg of her long +voyage. The sun was a vast, flame-belching disk on her starboard side, +and ahead lay Earth, growing each hour. Cheerfulness pervaded the +ship, nerves were relaxing, faces lightening. Carse could not remember +when Eliot Leithgow had worn a smile so constantly. It was only +natural, for to the old scientist and his personal assistants Earth +was home, the fulfillment of every desire, the reality and symbol of +normal life and love of man. + +But to Hawk Carse the Green Planet was not home. He was the +adventurer, and wanderer, the seeker of new places with the alluring +lustre of peril. Earth was to him little more than a port of call, and +it brought him sadness to see how eagerly Leithgow stared at her +growing face. Their parting was not far away now. + +The _Sandra_ logged off the miles. Then came the day when only ten +thousand were left, and, soon after, five thousand. Deceleration had +long since been begun. Slightly but unvaryingly the ship's momentum +slackened until she arrived at the two thousand mile mark, where the +great curving stretch of the planet filled her bow windows, and the +well-remembered continents and seas stood out as clearly as on a +tilted classroom globe. + +Carse leaned musing in a corner of the control cabin, oblivious to the +well-meaning but toneless voice with which Ban Wilson, at the +electelscope was butchering a song. A gentle tap on the shoulder +summoned him out of his study. + +He turned and saw that Leithgow had come to him. Carse smiled at the +old scientist, and said: + +"Well, Eliot, we'll be in soon now. Apparently we've made it safely, +and there's nothing to stand between you and the day you've waited for +so long." + + * * * * * + +"Yes. But Carse--what of you? How long will you stay? I only wish I +could persuade you--" + +"To retire, Eliot? Settle down? Become a humdrum landlocked +Earthling?" He chuckled, and shook his head. "No, no, old friend. Oh, +I'll stay on Earth for a few weeks; I suppose I'll have to, to testify +before the World Court of Justice when it takes up your case; but +after that's settled, I'll be going back. You know me, Eliot: I'll +never change. There are a number of things I must attend to at once. +My ship, the _Star Devil_, is still on Iapetus, remember; I must find +her and get her tuned up again. She's the fastest craft in space, bar +none. Then I must make the round of my ranches and see that things are +running smoothly. I've a lot of work on the Iapetus ranch, +particularly. Then, there's that Pool of Radium--not that I need the +wealth, if it really exists; but the job has killed so many who have +sought for it that I'd like to take a crack at it myself. Oh, plenty +to do!" + +Leithgow looked at him, and there was all affection in his eyes, and +friendship as close as it can be between men. + +"No, Carse," said Leithgow softly. "I suppose Earth will never get her +gravity on you for keeps. But I hope you will come down occasionally +to see me, and perhaps once a year, say, spend a month with Sandra and +me in our--" + +"Carse!" + +Ban shouted the name out. His face, turned from the electelscope, was +alive with excitement. + +"Here! Look!" + +"What is it?" + +"The asteroid! It's close!" + +In two strides Carse was at the eyepiece of the infra-red glass +attached to the instrument. One look through it served to verify Ban's +report. The asteroid of Dr. Ku Sui had at last appeared. + + * * * * * + +It was not more than fifty miles from the _Sandra_, a craggy fragment +of rock, peanut-shaped, and tipped by its gleaming dome. Its speed +seemed the same as theirs, but its course was different; and to Carse, +that fact immediately explained its sudden appearance. He turned from +the eyepiece with a face grown hard and cold. + +"Well, it's happened," he said. "Instead of a stern chase, which would +give us some chance of spotting them, they at once got off to the side +and have all this time been flanking us. Now they're cutting in, +straight behind, no doubt ready for business. All right. Ban, sound +the alarm." + +Like a gladiator about to step sword in hand into the arena, the +_Sandra_, though a ship never designed for space duels, girded her +loins and made herself ready for what at its best could only be an +unequal struggle. She was outclassed in weapons, weight and speed--in +all save pilots. She had Hawk Carse at her helm. + +The harsh alarm bell at once rang through the ship, an emergency call +to stations. Carse, at the controls, rapped out another order. + +"Defensive web on, Ban, and build up power for the ray batteries." + +As the echoes of the bell died, a piercing whine grew amidships, and +shreds of blue light swiftly scattered by the _Sandra's_ ports. They +were quickly gone, but they left behind an almost invisible envelope +of blue which enwrapped the ship completely. The defensive web against +attacking rays was on. + +Friday tumbled into the control cabin, and on his heels two of +Leithgow's assistants, the third being on duty with the patients. +Carse briefly explained what had happened. "Friday," he ordered, "you +take the stern ray batteries. Ban--" + +But Ban Wilson had returned to the electelscope, and it had given him +more news. Interrupting, he cried out: + +"They must be attacking! A light just flashed in the dome!" + +With his words they all saw the light. The visi-screen, though it did +not reveal the asteroid, showed the first weapon with which it +struck--a lustrous ray of purple which in a blink had leaped out to +the _Sandra_ and enfolded her. A shower of sparks crackled out from +the ship's defensive web, but the purple ray continued. + +"I don't know that ray, Eliot." Carse said. "What's on our speed +indicator?" + +The scientist's gasp was plainly audible as he read the dial. "Why, +it--it's dropping! Much faster than our deceleration accounts for! +That ray--why, it must have magnetic properties! Carse, the asteroid's +stopping us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +_The Hawk Strikes_ + + +No surprise showed on the Hawk's face, though the others were visibly +shaken. He, at the helm, merely nodded and continued with further +orders. + +"Williams," he said to one of Leithgow's assistants, "get Thorpe and +go and dose Ku Sui with V-27. Give him plenty. Then both of you +station yourselves, ray guns in hand, outside his cabin. We'll take no +chances with him, gassed or not. Friday, open our radio receiver to +the general band. Just the receiver, not the mike.... Our speed, +Eliot?" + +"Down to seven hundred, and falling steadily." + +Carse went to the electelscope, after giving the controls over to Ban. + +Squarely behind the _Sandra_, and within twenty-five miles, the +peanut-shaped body had come. It was an ominous and silent approach. +The _Sandra_ remained pinned by the purple ray for minutes while the +Hawk studied her aggressor. As he watched the asteroid, the others +watched him; Ban Wilson fidgety, Friday clenching and unclenching his +big hands. Eliot Leithgow with whitened face and shoulders that seemed +to have bowed a little. + +The forward speed of the _Sandra_ decreased to four hundred miles an +hour, and still the Hawk studied the massive body behind.... + +A sputter sounded in the radio receiver. Carse turned away from the +electelscope and listened to the heavy Venusian voice that was +suddenly speaking to him from it. + +"Carse, I've got you! You've seen our ray, of course, but have you +looked at your speed-indicator? You're caught--and this time you're +going to stay caught. You cannot possibly resist the magnetic ray I +have on you, and in a few minutes you will be drawn right into me. I +advise you to surrender peacefully. No tricks--though there's no trick +that could do you any good! Nothing! I have you this time!" + +A frosty smile tightened the Hawk's lips. + +"I was right, Eliot," he murmured. "The man behind the panel took the +asteroid to Lar Tantril. He is our opponent." + + * * * * * + +Those were his words, but he did nothing. He seemed content to stand +with cold, intent face looking back through the infra-red +electelscope. The _Sandra's_ speed sank to three hundred, two hundred +and soon a hundred, and the asteroid, which was of course also +decelerating, crept up remorselessly. Ban Wilson had every confidence +in the Hawk, but finally the inaction grew too much for him to bear. + +"Jumping Jupiter, Carse!" he sputtered. "--aren't you going to do +anything? Use our rays! Try maneuvering to the side! Damn it, we're +just letting them take us!" + +The adventurer might not have heard, for all the sign he gave. The +Earth-clock on the wall ticked on; seconds built minutes, and the +minutes passed. The asteroid was only ten miles astern. + +"Eliot," said Carse quietly, "get me one of your infra-red glasses." + +He took over the controls again. Carefully he varied the forward +repulsion and sent current to the side gravity-plates, and slowly the +_Sandra_ answered by rotating, longitudinally, reversing her position. +Still maintaining a slight and dwindling speed toward Earth, her bow +swung from that planet's eye-filling panorama and came to face, +instead, the invisible asteroid. When turned completely around, the +men in her control cabin looked through the bow windows right into +the brilliant cone of the purple ray. + +Lar Tantril's voice again boomed from the broadcasting shell, and this +time it was harsh with anger. + +"Try no tricks, Carse! I see what you intend. You plan to suddenly +_answer_ my ray, instead of continuing to resist it, and so drive +right past me and escape. But I warn you I have terrific power, and if +you move towards me of your own volition, I can burn you to a cinder +in three seconds, and I'll do it. You can't escape! If I have to +destroy Ku Sui, all right--but I'll get you!" + + * * * * * + +The Hawk strapped over his eyes the infra-red glasses Leithgow now +gave him. + +Reversing the _Sandra's_ ends had neither increased nor decreased the +rate at which the asteroid's purple stream was bringing her closer. +Obviously the magnetic stream was being varied. The space-ship's +forward momentum merely continued to drop normally until the moment +came when she had no Earthward velocity at all; and then more quickly +she moved toward the restraining asteroid. + +With his infra-red glasses, through the bow windows, Carse could now +see the massive body in full detail. There was the dome, a huge, +gleaming cup of transparent stuff now showing wisps of blue, from the +defensive web around it; and inside were the several buildings, and +minute black dots which were the figures of men. There was a great +number of them. The largest group was clustered inside one of the +large ship-size port-locks in the dome. The lock's outer door was +open, and it was from there that the purple ray seemed to originate. +Obviously the intention of the enemy was to draw the _Sandra_ right +in. Five miles now separated asteroid and ship. + +Again the Venusian chief spoke. + +"I warn you once more, Sparrow Hawk, try no tricks. You can see the +men I have here, but you can't see my ray projectors. They're hidden, +but they're centered on you, every one, and my hand's at the control +that fires them. They have terrific power, Carse. Better not attempt +anything!" + +The Hawk switched on the extension microphone at his side. He said +levelly into it: + +"Lar Tantril, I'll make a bargain with you: a favor for a favor." + +"What?" shot from the loudspeaker. + +"I will agree to surrender peaceably when you've drawn my ship inside +if, for your part, you promise to free Eliot Leithgow, who is aboard +with me, and the five patients on whom Ku Sui operated. If you don't +grant me that, I will oppose you to the last pull of my finger on +trigger." + +"But, Carse--" the Master Scientist began, horrified: but his +expression of amazement faded when the slender man at the radio turned +his head and half-closed one eye in a wink. + +"You will agree to that--and no tricks?" Tantril's voice repeated. + +"I will agree to it. And as for tricks, what could I possibly try? +Your rays could burn through the maximum power of my web in three +seconds, as you say: I know it as well as you. I only wish there was a +chance to get out of your range in time." + +"All right!" the Venusian replied decisively. "I agree. I'll release +Leithgow and the five patients. Keep away from the controls and I'll +draw you in." + + * * * * * + +Carse switched off the microphone. + +"A hell of a lot Tantril's word is worth!" muttered Ban Wilson. Once +more, surprisingly, the Hawk winked. Friday was grinning now. For +once in his life he had guessed his master's strategy before the +others. + +A mile and a half to the front lay the dome-end of the asteroid. +Perhaps nine hundred miles to the rear lay the tremendous mottled +curve of Earth with her dangerous upper layers of the stratosphere all +too close. In the very face of Earth, all three on a line, the ship +lay linked by a stream of purple to the great rough-hewn, errant +asteroid. Half the bulk of all three lay sharply outlined against the +black of space by the intense yellow light of the flaming distant sun. + +The asteroid neared to a mile, then a half-mile. Hawk Carse said +curtly: + +"Ban, when I give the word, put all the power we've got into our +defensive web. Load the generators; overload them; tax them to the +limit. That web must be as tough as possible for five seconds." + +"Got you, Carse." + +"You've--a trick?" ventured Leithgow timidly. + +"I think I have, Eliot. Lar Tantril might have caught on when I turned +the ship, but unfortunately for him his brain is incapable of +proceeding past a certain point.... All right, Ban." + +"Feel it!" + +In answer to Ban's hands, the deck of the control cabin was literally +vibrating under the mounting speed of the generators in the +power-room. The generators could not stand that terrific overload +long: they would burn out. But Carse needed only a few seconds of it. + +The asteroid was a quarter of a mile away, seen through the infra-red. +The dome loomed large. + +"All right!" whispered Hawk Carse. "Hold on!" + +With the words he unleashed the _Sandra's_ full acceleration. + + * * * * * + +It was a risk and a big one, but the Hawk had it calculated to a +fraction of a second, and so, without hesitation, he took the chance. +A little less than four seconds to reach his objective, he reckoned; a +little more than one second for Tantril to release the asteroid's +disintegrating rays as he had threatened; therefore about two and a +half seconds for the _Sandra_ to be exposed to those rays. The chance +that her defensive web could resist them for that long would decide +it. + +From almost a standing start, the _Sandra_ swept ahead, generators +humming, her web a blue mist around her, acceleration at the full. +Straight down through the heart of the narrowing purple ray she sped, +a hurtling metallic projectile, hundreds of tons in mass, her stub bow +levelled dead at the dome. + +After a second the asteroid bared its fangs. + +A cone of brilliant orange flamed and washed around the _Sandra's_ +bow, and a storm of soundless sparks engulfed her. She was caught in a +maw of fire, and held there for the remaining terrific seconds of her +wild forward dash. But the seconds passed; the hands of Hawk Carse +were delicate on her controls; and the _Sandra_, curving slightly +upward, struck, crashed, wrenched terribly in every joint; and then +the jolt and the protesting wrench and the spluttering sparks were +gone from her, and there was around her only the deep silence of +lifeless space. + +At three hundred miles an hour the _Sandra_ had nicked the upper +plates of the dome and streaked on, unharmed! + +It was not necessary now to use infra-red glasses to see the asteroid. +It was there in the visi-screen for naked eyes, but for seconds not +one of the men in the ship's control-cabin thought to look. The awful +acceleration and shock had dazed them. They had not known what was +coming, except Friday and the Hawk, and only the latter was able to +retain reasonable alertness. He, almost immediately after the impact, +cut down the load on the generators, and brought the _Sandra_ out of +her mad drive forward, rotating the ship until she was facing back +towards the asteroid. Then all of them looked through the bow windows, +and what they saw told the story in an instant. + +"It's visible! See--the invisibility's gone!" cried Friday. + + * * * * * + +A score of miles away the body lay, fully revealed, its starboard half +gleaming hard and sharp in the sunlight. Cautiously the _Sandra_ drew +closer. Carse gave the controls to Ban and examined it carefully +through the electelscope, after removing the infra-red attachment. + +He saw that the keel of the _Sandra_ had torn a great, mangled rent in +the dome and through this the air had rushed out. Space had taken +possession. The disintegrating rays which had been burning at the +_Sandra_ had been snapped off with the sheathing of invisibility; in +that one wild second of impact, all the asteroid's functioning +mechanism had been destroyed. Lar Tantril had not thought quite far +enough: he had not sealed the buildings air-tight against a possible +crashing of the dome, and for that reason alone he and his men had +gone down in full defeat under the drive of the Hawk. + +Shreds of flotsam drifting and turning in space around the dome now +became visible--bits of wreckage hurled out from the tear, and also a +number of white, bloated things which once had been the bodies of men. +The outrushing tide of air had taken them along, and now they drifted, +shapeless, all of a kind, in the lifelessness of space. + +"Merciful heaven!" whispered Eliot Leithgow, staring at the +desolation. "Gone! Just snuffed out!" + +The Hawk took over again and brought and held the _Sandra_ in a +position a quarter of a mile above the now rapidly falling asteroid. + +"They're all dead, I'm sure," he said in a voice hard and emotionless +as his graven face. "They must be, for the asteroid is now visible, +and that means that the doors of the power building were open. Inside +and out, all there is dead, machinery and men.... Still, it had to be +done. It was they or we. A variation of the trick we used to escape +from the dome before, Eliot; and Tantril of course didn't expect it +and protect himself as Ku Sui did that other time. It's all done +now--yes, its gravity-plates too, for see, it's turning." + +"And fast!" murmured Friday. + +The body was rotating around its longer axis at about twice the speed +of an Earth-watch's second hand. Now the dome was sliding under, out +of their sight, the craggy rock belly coming up to take its place. +Nine hundred miles away was Earth--rather, less than that, for the +body was now free to accept the tremendous gravity pull of the planet +so near. Soon it would plunge to destruction there.... + + * * * * * + +A thought came to Carse, and he said: + +"Perhaps Ku Sui would like to see what has become--" + +On the last word he stopped and whirled around. His eyes were suddenly +intense and his face startled. + +"I heard a hiss!" said Friday. + +"You too? Then it was a port-lock!" Carse turned to the visi-screen. +"Look there!" he cried. + +In the screen Earth made a titanic background against which, a +falling, dwindling figure in a clear-cut in the sunlight, gleamed +space-suit. Down it went, rapidly, even as they stared, until it hung +just off the also-falling asteroid. It was obviously preparing to +enter the dome. + +"Take the helm, Ban, and watch him!" Carse ordered harshly, and ran +aft from the control cabin. + +Leithgow and Friday, following at once, found him inside the open door +of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin, examining two figures stretched limp at his +feet. The men were Thorpe and Williams, who had been set to gas and +guard the Eurasian. Carse said: + +"Both dead. Poison. Look at Thorpe's wrist." + +On the right wrist of the dead man was a line of red, a scratch, and +swollen, discolored flesh was ugly around it. One cheek of Williams +bore a similar patch. Both had been armed with rayguns, but now they +were gone. Half to himself, the Hawk murmured: + +"Yes, poison. It might have been in the ring. Everyone else was in the +control cabin. The men entered the door, Ku Sui was waiting--quick +death.... Well, I'm going after him." + +Not understanding, still horrified by the contorted face of the man on +the deck, the other two gazed at the adventurer. + +"But, Carse!" Leithgow broke out. "How can you? How can you +possibly--" + +"He's gone back to the dome," the Hawk cut in frostily. "He can't make +it to Earth as he is now, for we'd see him and easily be able to pick +him up. No; he's got some reason for returning, to the dome. Something +important. He thinks he's escaped.... He's mistaken." + +A shudder passed over Friday, for Hawk Carse's eyes had fallen on him, +and they were deadly. + +"Let me by, Eliot," the man whispered. "This time he goes or I go, but +by the gods of space it'll be one of us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +_There Is a Meteor_ + + +His face set and cold, Carse ran to the stores cabin, just as the +Eurasian must have hurried there a few minutes before. He took one of +Dr. Ku's self-propulsive space-suits down from the rack and slipped +into it, sticking a raygun in the belt. Still not speaking, he glided +to the rear port-lock, Leithgow and Friday running alongside and +attempting to dissuade him from the dangerous pursuit. Their words +were wasted. Carse gave them only a faint smile and a few directions. + +"Keep the ship as close as you can without danger. No, Eclipse; I'm +going by myself; there's no need to risk two. If I don't come out, +you've everything needed to prove your case. Eliot--the re-embodied +brains, Ku Sui's four white assistants--" + +"I tell you you're going to your death! You'll be caught inside! +Earth's attracting the asteroid now, and in a few minutes it will be +plunging through the atmosphere with terrific speed! The friction will +make it a meteor, and you'll burn. Carse! You'll die in flames! You +haven't but a few minutes to do the whole thing!" + +"Have to risk that, Eliot." He swung open the inner door of the lock +and stepped into the chamber. "Remember, keep as close to the asteroid +as possible, and a steady watch for Ku Sui and me." He looked levelly +at them, white man and black, for a moment, then turned his face away. +"That's all. Good-by," he said. + +The door swung shut in their faces with a hiss of compressed air. + +The Hawk closed the face-plate of his helmet and rapidly spun over the +controls. Another hiss, and the outer door moved wide. He stepped with +force into space. + + * * * * * + +The panorama below him was breath-taking: Earth seemed almost to hit +him in the face. He had not realized it was so close. The sheer, +mighty stretch of the globe filled his eyes, and for seconds he could +not focus on anything else, so overwhelming to his vision was the +colossal map. It reached away to left and right, before and behind, +and he was so near that it seemed almost flat, a sun-gleaming plain on +which stood out in sharp outline the continent of Europe, the Atlantic +Ocean and, bordering it, the edge of North America. + +To his left was the flaming orb of the sun; and directly underfoot, +rotating against the vast background of the North Atlantic, he now saw +the asteroid, glinting metallically along its craggy length as it +swung over. Carse centered every bit of power he had on it, and at +maximum acceleration began to overhaul his objective. + +The asteroid was plunging free to Earth, and the rate of its +uncontrolled plunge was second by second mounting tremendously; but +Carse's power-fall quickly enabled him to overtake it. As the dome +swooped up in front of him, and the sunlight washed briefly over its +desolate buildings, he looked hard for a shape moving amongst them, +without success. Doubtless the Eurasian was well inside by now. + +The job of getting into the dome was a hazardous one. About every +thirty seconds the asteroid described a complete rotation, making the +rim turn at a speed of half a mile a second, and that made the task of +entering extremely dangerous to a man whose only protection was the +metal and fabric of a space-suit. Misjudgment would either rip the +suit or dash him to instant death. He had to slip cleanly down through +the jagged tear in the dome, planning his swoop accurately to the +fraction of a second. + +Never cooler, the Hawk made it. Building a parallel speed equal to +that of the rotating dome, he followed it over in a dizzy whirl; and +as the rent came below he shot curving down and in with sufficient +precision, and at once swiftly adjusted his gravity to offset the +asteroid's great centrifugal force. + + * * * * * + +For alternating fifteen-second periods the sunlight filled the dome +and its buildings; and on the tail of the first of these, even as the +sable tide swept all vision from him, the Hawk arrived at the door of +one wing of the central building. He had not seen Ku Sui, and he had +no time for exploration, but he did have a hunch as to where the +Eurasian had gone, and he followed that hunch. A silent, giant-gray +thing in the black silence of the corridor, grim, intent and seeming +irresistible, he swept along it; and every second he knew that a +raygun might spit from where it had been waiting in ambush to puncture +his suit and kill him. For whether or not Ku Sui was aware that he was +being tracked by his old, bitter foe, Carse did not know. + +The asteroid plunged down faster and faster. Earth's atmosphere, with +all its perils of friction, coming ever closer, and the great bosom of +the planet lying waiting to receive and bury the rock hurtling towards +it. Throughout most of the leagues of space that asteroid had tracked +on its master's diverse errands, and in many distant places the trails +of Hawk Carse and Ku Sui had crossed and left blood and crossed again; +and now those three--asteroid, Eurasian and the Hawk--were drawn once +more together for the spectacular and epic climax, now only minutes +away. No power in the universe was to stop the plunge of the asteroid; +it remained to be seen how one or both of the two living humans on it +could get out in time.... + +But of all this, nothing was in Hawk Carse's mind except the beating, +driving realization that few minutes were left in which to play out +the last scene. With reckless haste he sped to where his hunch led +him, the secret panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory. As he reached it, faint +sunlight came filtering in from somewhere and he saw that the panel +was open. + +He looked within and dimly saw a ladder reaching down into black +depths. Without hesitation he thrust through the opening and dropped +into the blackness. He dared not lose a second. + + * * * * * + +He hit bottom with a thud, changed his glove controls and reached out +in the darkness. He felt that he was in one end of a passageway. As +rapidly as he could, his arms stretched wide, all his nerves and +muscles and senses alert, he pressed along it. + +Continually he was thrown into the rough wall at his right by the +centrifugal force of the asteroid. How far did the passageway extend? +Was Ku Sui at the end of it? It occurred to the Hawk that the asteroid +was a developing shooting star, eating up the few hundred miles of +life that remained, streaking down into the atmosphere, where waited +quick friction and incandescence--and he down in the heart of it, +blind, without clue to what lay in front of him, ignorant of +everything, and with only minutes in which to achieve his end. There'd +be no heat-warning through his insulated suit. Even now, perhaps, +there was no time to get out; already the deadline might have been +crossed; he could not know. He went on.... + +How far? A hundred yards; two hundred? Easily that, he thought, and +still no variation in the blackness around him! The passageway seemed +straight, so he might now be past the rim of the dome above. + +Then, for just a second, he saw a faint wisp of light ahead! + +Automatically Carse's raygun came up, but in the time that simple +motion took the light was gone and the blackness was as deep and +lifeless as before. But he was coming to something. He went on, +perhaps a little faster, hot to discover the last emergency resource +of Dr. Ku. He took no pains to avoid making noise, for he knew Ku Sui +could not hear him through the airless space between. + +After another hundred yards or so the light from ahead winked again. +It was stronger. Only a second of it, but he now suspected that it +came at regular intervals. It was a machine, perhaps, working under +the hands of the Eurasian. On--on! With the seconds fleeting by, +building to the small total which would bring friction to the +asteroid, and incandescence, and scalding death for him within it! + +Again, suddenly, the mysterious light. It left instantly as usual, but +not before it revealed, well ahead, the end of the passage. Quickly he +traversed the remaining distance and felt around with his hands. He +found what he half expected. There was an opening, a doorway, to his +right. The room beyond surely held the final secret of the asteroid. +And if Dr. Ku Sui were anywhere, he was in there. + + * * * * * + +Carse restrained an impulse to rush in, deciding to wait for the +recurring light. Everything in him told him that this was the climax, +that through the door to his right lay the object of his chase; and in +spite of his consciousness of the plunging asteroid, and the +up-leaping skin of Earth's atmosphere, now so close, he stood full in +the doorway, gun ready, waiting. Seconds were precious, but this was +the part of common sense. He needed the light to show him what perils +he must face; he could not go into that chamber ignorant of the +situation there. + +For what seemed ages the fantastic figure stood there. The great rock +turning over and over, with awful speed dropping down. Earth nearing, +death ever closer--and he standing in silence and darkness, waiting to +finish the feud! He might never escape; he knew that; it might already +be too late to try; but the core of the man, his grim and steely will, +would not let him think of retreating towards safety until he had +faced Dr. Ku Sui and decided the account between them forever. + +The wall of darkness melted. A ghostly light filtered through. He +stared, and in its brief maximum saw before him a high, bare +rectangular room, hewn out of the rock--and at its far side a man in a +space-suit. Ku Sui, brought to bay! + +But Carse, for one of the few times in his life, doubted his eyes. +What trick were they playing him? For it was not a real, sharp figure +that he saw; it was an indefinite one, shimmering and elusive, like a +mirage. A prank of the strange light, perhaps. But Ku Sui +nevertheless! Ku Sui trapped! + +The Hawk leaped forward with outstretched arms to seize and hold the +Eurasian's motionless figure. As he moved, the second of ghostly light +dissolved away, and in the blackness his eager reaching arms closed +on--nothing! + +Surely Ku Sui had been there! Surely he had not just imagined he saw +him! + + * * * * * + +Baffled and coldly raging, the Hawk whirled and groped frantically. +The centrifugal force caught him off balance and hurled him into a +wall, but dizzy he continued his desperate search, sweeping his arms +all around him, over walls and floor and, rising, the ceiling. The +tumbling asteroid banged him unmercifully into the six sides of the +room, but even as he was flung he reached and felt in every +direction--felt without result. + +In some incredible way, Ku Sui had eluded him. The second the light +failed, he must have slipped by and escaped down the passageway +behind. The Hawk could hardly understand how it might have been +achieved, but there was no other explanation. So, with lips firm set +in his cold, grim face, he felt to the doorway, ready to track back +through the long, unlit passage. He might still overhaul and capture +the other. If there was still time.... + +But _was_ there? + +The passing seconds had not been idle. Inexorably they had brought him +to Earth's atmosphere. He stared around the room in sheer horror. + +For its blackness was relieved by the faintest of glows. It was not +that of the recurring light; it came from the whole rock ceiling +above. Carse was overwhelmed by the realization that within numbered +seconds the surface of the asteroid would reach incandescence. + +Thoughts raced like lightning through his head. He could not get free +through the corridor and dome behind: that would take at least three +minutes, and not a quarter of a minute was left. Ku Sui too, if he +were in the corridor trying to reach the dome, was trapped and +finished. A meteor flaming to Earth would be their common grave! + +A searing, hideous death! Trapped within fiery walls of melting rock! + +At that moment the regularly re-recurring flash of light came, and +under pressure of his great need the phenomenon meshed with +understanding in Carse's mind. That light was sunlight! It come at +definite intervals as the dome side of the asteroid rotated to face +the sun. + +And that light could reach the room only by way of some channel in the +ceiling! + + * * * * * + +In the waxing glow of the rock above him, Carse swiftly found the +channel--a vertical bore several feet wide, in one corner of the +ceiling. Its rock sides glowed redly, and at their end was a round +black patch that caused his heart to leap with hope. Outer space!--and +a short, straight escape to it! In a flash he saw how Ku Sui perhaps +had eluded him. + +The Eurasian's prepared emergency exit would also be his! + +He lost not a fraction of a second. Turning his glove controls to +maximum acceleration, he rose with a rush into the bore. Despite his +good aim the asteroid's centrifugal force threw him heavily into one +red-hot side. His heart went cold; would the fabric of the suit burn +through? No time for such worries--must make the frigid air +outside--fast--fast--never mind bumps--quick out--and must stay +conscious--_must_ stay conscious to exert repulsion against Earth! + +Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out of that tunnel of hell at a +tangent to the asteroid and in a direction away from Earth, and in an +instant the doomed body was far below him, and streaking faster and +ever faster to the annihilation now so near. + +He fought to come out of his dizziness. Shaking his head, he glanced +back for sight of a minute, suit-clad figure. Had Ku Sui preceded him +through the emergency exit, his shape should be visible somewhere, +etched by the sunlight. + +There was no sign of him. + +Carse's eyes dropped to the asteroid. He saw it already miles below, +a breath-taking celestial object, a second sun, brilliant and +increasingly brilliant as it diminished over the watery plain waiting +to receive it. His mind saw the Eurasian, caught in the long corridor +to the dome, already dead on this last flight of his extraordinary +vehicle of space.... + +The end came at once. The sun was quickly a great, brilliant shooting +star, then a blinding smaller one: then its straight mad flight +through the heavens was over, and it was received in the waters of the +Atlantic Ocean and buried deep. + +A cataclysmic burial. A titanic meteor, an incandescent, screaming +streak in the night--a cloud of billowing steam--a wall of water +rearing back from the strange grave of the asteroid, so far come from +its accustomed orbit around Mars.... The thought came to Carse that +Dr. Ku Sui had died as he lived, spectacularly, with a brilliance and +a tidal wave and an earthquake to disturb the lives of men.... + +And a sadness fell over the heart of the Hawk.... + + * * * * * + +He roused from it in a moment. He felt heat! In the rush of events he +had not before noticed that his space-suit had started to burn from +the friction of his own passage through the atmosphere. Fortunately, +it was already cooling off. + +For in spite of his own leaving speed and the added centrifugal +velocity the asteroid had given him, he had hurtled down after the +doomed rock; and only then was his building repulsion neutralizing +Earth's gravity and his initial Earthward velocity. He had slowed down +just in time to keep his space suit intact. + +He came to rest, in relation to the Earth, and hovered there. Again he +scrutinized the black untenanted wastes of space above. Far out, +approaching as rapidly as it dared, was the _Sandra_. + +He wanted to be sure, so he cut in his mike and asked Leithgow if they +had, through their electelscope, seen, Ku Sui leave the asteroid. + +The anxious scientist told him they had not. + +With a slight sigh Hawk Carse snapped off his contact and waited till +the sharp, growing spot that was the _Sandra_ should come dropping +down to pick him up, and his friends learn from his own lips the story +of the passing of Ku Sui.... + +[Illustration: Advertisement.] + + * * * * * + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passing of Ku Sui, by Anthony Gilmore + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30303 *** diff --git a/30303-h/30303-h.htm b/30303-h/30303-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fea99fb --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/30303-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4525 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Passing of Ku Sui, by Anthony Gilmore + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { width:60%; padding: 1em; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + +.tocch { text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + + +.f1 { font-size:smaller; } + +a[name] { position: static; } +a:link { border:none; color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } +a:visited {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none; } +a:hover { color:#ff0000; } + + +.sidenote { + width: 30%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; font-size:smaller;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + + +.figleft2 { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-right: 0.5em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft1 { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30303 ***</div> + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from Astounding Stories November 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p> + +<p class="center"> The Table of Contents is not part of the original magazine.</p> +<p class="center">One word in Chapter II could not be read. It has been marked as <a href="#illegible">illegible</a>.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + + + + +<h1>The Passing of Ku Sui</h1> + +<h4><i>A Complete Novelette</i></h4> +<p> </p> +<h2>By Anthony Gilmore</h2> +<p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> + <td class="tocch f1">Chapter</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">I</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">The Plan</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">II</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Three Figures in the Dawn</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">III</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">The Raid</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">IV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">The Voice of the Brains</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">V</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VI</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">The Deadline</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">To the Laboratory</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VIII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">White's Brain—Yellow's Head</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">IX</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Four Bodies</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">X</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X">The Promise Fulfilled</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XI</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Ordeal</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Flight</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XIII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">In Earth's Shadow</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XIV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">The Hawk Strikes</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">There Is a Meteor</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2><i>The Plan</i></h2> + + +<div class="sidenote">A screaming streak in the night—a cloud of billowing +steam—and the climax of Hawk Carse's spectacular "Affair of the +Brains" is over.</div> + +<div> +<img class="figleft2" src="images/image_001_01.jpg" width="301" height="317" alt="" title="" /> +<img class="figleft2" src="images/image_001_02.jpg" width="600" height="181" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out in a direction +away from Earth.</i></span> +</div> + +<p><span style="font-size:xx-large">T</span>he career of Hawk Carse, taken broadly, divides itself into three +main phases, and it is with the Ku Sui adventures of the second phase +that we have been concerned in this intimate narrative. John Sewell, +the historian, baldly condenses those adventures of a century ago +together, but on research and closer scrutiny they take on an +individuality and significance deserving of separate treatment, and +this they have been given here. For fictionized presentation, we have +spaced the adventures into four connected episodes, four acts of a +vibrant drama which ranged clear from Saturn to Earth, the core of +which was the feud between Captain Carse and the power-lusting +Eurasian scientist, Dr. Ku Sui—that feud the reverberations of whose +terrible settling still echo over the solar system—and in this last +act of the drama, set out below, we come to its spectacular climax.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>The words of John Sewell's epic history sit lightly on paper; easy +words for Sewell, once the collection of data was over, to write; not +very significant words for the uninitiated and casual reader who does +not see the irresistible forces beneath them. But consider the full +meaning of these words, and glance for a moment at the two figures +conjured up by them. We see Hawk Carse, a man slender in build, but +with gray eyes and lithe, strong-fingered hands and cold, intent face +that give the clue to the steel of him; we see Dr. Ku Sui, tall, +suave, unhurried, formed as though by a master sculptor, in whose rare +green eyes slumbered the soul of a tiger, notwithstanding the courtesy +and the grace that masked always his most infamous moves. These two we +see looming through and dwarfing Sewell's words as they face each +other, for they were probably the most bitter, and certainly the most +spectacular, foe-men of that raw period before the patrol ships swept +up from the home of man to lay Earth's laws through space.</p> + +<p>Carse and Ku Sui, adventurer and scientist, each with his own +distinctive strength and his own unyielding character—those two were +star-crossed, fated to be foes, and whenever they met there was blood, +and never was quarter asked nor quarter expected. How could it have +been otherwise? Ku Sui controlled the isuan drug trade, and Carse was +against it, as he was against everything underhanded and unclean; Ku +Sui had tricked and, by a single deed, driven Carse's loved comrade, +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, from his honored position on Earth, +and Carse was sworn to bring Ku Sui to Earth to clear the old +scientist's name. Either of these alone was enough to seal the feud, +but there was more. Carse was sworn to release from their bondage of +life-in-death Ku Sui's most prized possession, his storehouse of +wisdom—the brains of five great Earth scientists, kept alive though +their bodies were dead.</p> + +<p>These, then, were the forces glossed over so lightly by John +Sewell's words. These the forces that clashed in the episode set out +below: that clashed, then drew apart, and knew not one another for +years....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>t will be recalled that, in the second of these four episodes, "The +Affair of the Brains,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Hawk Carse, Eliot Leithgow, and the Negro +Friday broke free from Dr. Ku's secret lair, his outwardly invisible +asteroid, and in doing so thought they had destroyed the Eurasian and +all his works, including the infamous machine of coordinated brains. +In the third episode, "The Bluff of the Hawk,"<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> it will be +remembered that the companions came in Dr. Ku's self-propulsive +space-suits to Satellite III of Jupiter; and that there Carse learned +that in reality the Eurasian and the brains had survived, and that Dr. +Ku might very possibly soon be in possession of a direct clue to +Leithgow's hidden laboratory on Satellite III. We saw Carse take the +lone course, as he always preferred, sending Leithgow and Friday to +his friend Ban Wilson's ranch while he went to erase the clue. And we +saw him achieve his end at the fort-ranch of Lar Tantril, strong +henchman of Ku Sui, and, in brilliant Carse fashion, turn the tables +and escape from the trap that had seemingly snared him, and proceed +towards where, fourteen miles away, Leithgow and the Negro were +waiting for him.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See the March, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See the May, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.</p></div> + +<p>His three friends were waiting very uneasily that day. Eleven hours +had passed since Leithgow and Friday had parted from the Hawk, and +they had heard nothing from him. They knew he was going into high +peril: Leithgow had in vain tried to dissuade him; and so it was with +growing fear that they watched the hours pass by.</p> + +<p>With Ban Wilson, they sat near dawn in the comfortable living room of +the ranch's central building. Although largely rested from the ordeal +of the journey to Satellite III, the huge Negro was fidgety, and even +Leithgow, more controlled, showed the strain by continually raising +his thin white fingers to his lined face and stroking it. Wilson's men +were on watch outside in the graying darkness, but often Friday +supplemented them, going to the door, staring down to the beach of the +bordering lake, staring up to the skies, staring at the black and +murmurous flanks of the jungle—staring, scowling and returning to sit +and look gloomily at the floor.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> +<p>an Wilson was the most active physically. He was a miniature dynamo +of a man, throbbing with a restless, inexhaustible tide of energy. +Short and wiry, he stared truculently at the universe through +wonderfully clear blue eyes, surrounded by a bumper crop of freckles +and topped by a mat of bristly red hair. His short stub nose had +prodded into countless hostile places where it most emphatically was +not wanted. It would be hardly necessary to old acquaintances of his +to say that he was now speaking.</p> + +<p>"No, sir! I say the Hawk's safe and kicking! Can't kill <i>him</i>! By my +grandmother's false teeth, I swear I'd follow him to hell, knowin' I'd +come out alive and leavin' the devil yowlin' behind with his tail tied +into pretzels! He said he would meet you here? Well, then, he will."</p> + +<p>Friday looked up mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh, Cap'n Ban; but Cap'n Carse was going into a pow'ful lot of +trouble. An' he was worn an' tired, an' he only had a space-suit an' a +raygun, an' you know he wouldn't stop for anything till he'd done +what he set out to. I kind of feel ... I dunno ... I dunno...."</p> + +<p>"By Betelguese!" swore Ban Wilson, "if he doesn't come soon I'll take +that damned Porno apart till I find him!"</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow gave up the late radio newscast from Earth he had been +pretending to read. A brief silence fell, and through it the old +scientist seemed to feel something, seemed to expect something. And he +was not mistaken.</p> + +<p>"<i>Who's there?</i>"</p> + +<p>It was a cry from one of the watchers outside. Friday leaped out of +his uneasy seat and was through the door even before Ban, who followed +with Leithgow. They heard the Negro roar from ahead:</p> + +<p>"Cap'n Carse! Cap'n Carse! Sure enough, it's Cap'n Carse!"—and they +saw his great form go bounding down to the gray-lit beach of the lake, +to a slight, weary figure that came stumbling along it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>awk Carse had come as he said he would, but he was a sore figure of a +man. Though he was not in it now, for days he had worn the harsh, +grating metal and fabric of a space-suit, and its marks were left on +him. Even from a distance the others could see that his once-neat blue +trousers and soft flannel shirt were torn through in many places, +revealing ugly purplish bruises; on his haggard face was a nap of +flaxen beard, and in his blood-shot gray eyes utter exhaustion, both +mental and physical. The Hawk had been acting at high tension for days +past, and now the reaction was exacting its inevitable toll.</p> + +<p>He came stumbling heavily along the beach, his feet dragging through +its coarse sand, and it seemed as if he would drop any moment. With a +slight smile he greeted Friday, then Eliot Leithgow and Wilson, all +running down.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Eclipse," he murmured, "and Eliot—and Ban—"</p> + +<p>There he wavered and half fell against the Negro's body. Friday wished +to carry him, but he would have none of it: by himself he walked up to +the ranch-house, where he slumped into a chair while Ban Wilson went +shouting into the galley for a mug of hot alkite.</p> + +<p>After draining it, Carse revived slightly. Again aware of the three +men grouped around him, and recognizing their eagerness for his news, +he forced himself to speech.</p> + +<p>"Sleepy—must sleep. But—yes—some things I'll tell you." In quick, +staccato sentences, his tired eyelids shut half the time, he sketched +his adventure at Lar Tantril's ranch, explaining how, even though +captured, he had destroyed the figures, telling of the location of +Leithgow's laboratory; and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he +told of the ruse by which he had escaped. "Got away. Told them the +lake-front was very dangerous to them. Made them let me show them. I +walked out—dozens of them round me, guns on me—walked out till I +went under water. Could do it in the suit. I walked under water half a +mile or so, then came up and cached the suit. I guess they're still +watching! Easy!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e chuckled, and then, after a short pause, went on:</p> + +<p>"But here's what's important—Ku Sui is alive. Yes, I know it. He has +an assignation with Tantril at Tantril's ranch. In five days. And the +coordinated brains I promised to destroy—they still exist. So, Eliot, +these are orders: prepare plans for infra-red and ultra-violet +devices—they ought to do it—so we can see Dr. Ku's invisible +asteroid when it comes. Friday, you go down and get my space-suit: +it's cached ten miles down the beach, beneath a big watrari tree. And +then—" His head slumped over; he appeared to have abruptly fallen to +sleep.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse? What is your plan?" Eliot Leithgow asked softly. But the +Hawk was only making a great last effort to gather the threads of his +idea.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he responded, "the plan. Ban stations a man to keep watch on +Tantril's ranch, while we go back to your laboratory, Eliot, where +you'll make the devices and repair the gravity-plates of my suit. +Then, four nights from now, if the watcher's seen no one arrive, Ban, +Friday and I return and lie in ambush round Tantril's ranch. Awaiting +Dr. Ku. When he comes, he'll surely leave his asteroid somewhere near. +And while he's at Tantril's, we capture the asteroid—and my promise +to the coordinated brains will be kept.</p> + +<p>"Then—but that's enough for now; I am so tired. Ban, will you +please—some food—"</p> + +<p>Wilson, who had been listening eagerly and, at the end, grinning in +prospect of action with the Hawk, darted off like a spark. A few +minutes later, after his third mouthful of food, Carse murmured:</p> + +<p>"We'll use your ship to go to Eliot's lab in, Ban, but I think +you'll—have to—carry me—aboard. So sleepy. Wake me when we get +to—lab."</p> + +<p>On this last word his sleep-denied body had its way, and at once he +was deep in the dreamless slumber of exhaustion.</p> + +<p>While he slept, the others rapidly carried out his orders. Within two +hours Friday, in the ranch's air-car, had retrieved the cached suit. +Ban Wilson had manned and made ready his personal space-ship for the +trip to the laboratory, and Eliot Leithgow had jotted down a few +preliminary plans for the infra-red and ultra-violet instruments +which Carse would need in order to see the invisible asteroid of Dr. +Ku Sui.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2><i>Three Figures in the Dawn</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he fourth night after the Hawk had met his friends at Ban Wilson's +was sunless and Jupiter-less, nor was there the slightest breath of +wind; and in the humid, dank jungle surrounding on three sides the +isuan ranch of the Venusian Lar Tantril the sounds of night-prowling +animals burst full and loud, making an almost continuous babel of +varied and savage noise.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this dark inferno, Tantril's ranch was an island of +stillness. Within the high guarding fence, the long low buildings lay +quiet and were <a name="illegible" id="illegible"></a>[illegible] brushed periodically by the light from the +watch-beacon high overhead as it swept its shaft over the jungle +smother and then around over the black glassy surface of the Great +Briney Lake, bordering the ranch enclosure on the fourth side. And, +vigilantly, the eyes of three Venusian guards followed the ray.</p> + +<p>They stood on the three lookout towers which reared at equal intervals +up above the circumference of the ranch; and though the buildings +below seemed deserted, in reality wide-awake men were stationed at +posts within them, waiting for the clang of the alarm which the +pressing of a button in any one of the lookout towers would effect. +Lar Tantril's ranch was not asleep. It was as alert and wary as the +beasts tracking through the jungle outside its fence, and all its +defensive and offensive weapons were at the ready.</p> + +<p>No one within the ranch knew it, but within two hundred yards lay the +foe Lar Tantril and his men feared most.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_r.jpg" alt="R" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>egularly around the watch-beacon swept, slicing the blackness with an +oval white finger, the farthest edge of which reached a hundred and +fifty yards. Over the "western" lake—and its inky ripples sparkled +somehow ominously. Over the jungle's confusion—and trees, great +bushes, spiky vines and creeper-growths leaped into momentary +visibility, and then were again swallowed up in the tide of night. +Here a cutlas-beaked bird, spotlighted for an instant, froze into +surprised immobility with the pasty, bloated worm it had seized +twisting and dangling from its mouth, to flap squawking away as the +ray glided on: there the coils of a seekan, in ambush on a tree limb, +glittered crimson for the sudden moment of illumination; or a nameless +huge-eyed pantherlike creature was glimpsed as it clawed at a nest of +unfledged haris, while the frantic, screaming mother beat at it with +wings and claws....</p> + +<p>But all this was usual and unalarming, merely the ordinary routine of +the jungle at night. Could the beacon have reached out another fifty +yards, the guards on their towers would have seen that which was not +usual—and would have summoned every weapon of the ranch beneath.</p> + +<p>Or could the guards have heard, besides the cries and crashings and +yowls of the jungle folk, the man-made sounds which sped silently back +and forth across the ranch within their tight and secret radio +beams—then, too, the alarm would have clanged.</p> + +<p>Had the beacon suddenly stretched its path outward another fifty +yards, it would have fallen upon a massive, leafy watrari tree, taller +than most: and the guards, looking close, might have caught in one +notch of the tree's many limbs a glint of metal: might have seen, had +the light held on that glint, a bloated monster of metal and fabric +braced there, hiding behind a screen of leaves.</p> + +<p>This giant, not native to the jungle, was posted due "north" from the +ranch. Another waited to the "south," in a similarly large tree; and +another to the "east."</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse and his friends were abroad again and waiting to strike.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> +<p>an Wilson, hot, itching and uncomfortable inside the heavy space-suit +that he wore, and supremely aware of his consequent awkwardness, +watched the ranch's beacon sweeping past him thirty or more yards +away, and again sought relief from the tedium in conversation.</p> + +<p>"Jupiter should be rising soon, Carse. It's the darkest hour—seems to +me he'll come now if he comes at all. What do you think?"</p> + +<p>He was the one posted in a watrari tree "south" of Tantril's ranch. +Flung on the tight beam of his helmet-radio, which had been tuned and +adjusted by Eliot Leithgow so as to reach only two other radios, the +words rang simultaneously in the receivers of Friday, who was "east" +of the ranch, and Carse, who was "north."</p> + +<p>The Hawk responded curtly:</p> + +<p>"I don't know when he'll come; I suspect not before full morning."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson grunted at receipt of this discouraging opinion, and then +once more, as he had been doing regularly all through the night, +raised to his eyes the instrument that hung by a cord from the +neckpiece of the suit. Through it he scanned slowly and methodically +the portion of black heaven that had been assigned to him. The +instrument would have resembled a bulky pair of electro-binoculars +with its twin tubes and eyepieces, had not there been, underneath the +tubes, a small, compact box which by Leithgow-magic revealed the +world through infra-red light by one tube, and ultra-violet the other.</p> + +<p>"Nothing!" Ban muttered to himself, lowering the device. "And damn Ku +Sui for makin' these space-suits so infernally uncomfortable! Might as +well have made 'em space-ships, while he was at it!... Say, Carse," he +began again aloud into his microphone, "maybe Dr. Ku's come already. I +know my men said no one had arrived at the ranch in a suit like these +we've got on—but, hell, if his whole asteroid's invisible, why +couldn't he make his space-suit invisible, too?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think he's done that. Otherwise he would have—" The +adventurer's level tone raised incisively. "Now, both of you, still! +Conceal yourselves with great care—Jupiter's rising!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he "western" horizon, a moment before indistinguishable, was now +faintly flushed, a flush which deepened quickly into glowing, riotous +crimson, causing long streamers to shoot out over the surface of the +Great Briney, tingling it, sparkling it. The light reached the jungle: +and when the first faint reflected rays filtered down through the +matted gloom of tree and vine and bush the creatures that had tracked +for prey all night looked to their lairs: and gradually, the tenor of +the jungle noises waned off into a few last screams and muttered +growls, and then died altogether into the heavy, brooding hush that +comes always with dawn over the jungles of Satellite III.</p> + +<p>Jupiter thrust his flaming arch upwards over the horizon, and climbed +with his whole vast blood-blotched bulk into a sky turned suddenly +blue. Lake and jungle shimmered under the rapidly dissipating night +vapors. The ranch-beacon paled into unimportance. Day had come.</p> + +<p>And now the three bloated figures of metal and fabric that were men +crouched closely back beneath the leaves of the trees that concealed +them, and waited tensely, not daring at first to move for fear of +discovery. Each one could see, through the intervening growth, the +watch-towers of the ranch; but Friday, from his post in the tree to +the "east," could see the area best, and it was Friday to whom Carse's +next words were addressed.</p> + +<p>"Eclipse?" his terse voice asked. "Do the guards in the towers seem to +notice anything?"</p> + +<p>The big Negro strained cautiously for a better view.</p> + +<p>"No, suh, Cap'n Carse. Sure they can't see us at all. Just pacin' +round on their towers, kind of fidgety."</p> + +<p>"Anyone else in sight?"</p> + +<p>"No, suh.... Oh, now there's somethin'. Two of the guards are looking +below, cupping their ears. Someone down there must be tellin' them +somethin'. Now they're lookin' up to the sky—the northern sky. Yes, +suh! All three of 'em! They're expectin' someone, sure enough!"</p> + +<p>"Good. He must be coming. Use your glasses."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen in all three trees the instruments that Eliot Leithgow had shaped +were raised, and the whole sweep of horizon and the glowing, clear +blue dome of sky subjected to minute inspection through their +detecting infra-red and ultra-violet. Ban Wilson, perhaps, stared most +eagerly, for he had never seen Ku Sui's asteroid, and despite himself +still only half-believed that twenty craggy, twisted miles of rock +could be swung as its master willed in space, and brought down bodily +to Satellite III.</p> + +<p>But he saw nothing in the sky; nothing looming gigantically over any +part of the horizon; and he reported disgustedly:</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing anywhere. Carse."</p> + +<p>"Don't see nothing either, suh," the Negro's deep voice added. And +both of them heard the Hawk murmur:</p> + +<p>"Nor do I. But he must be—Ah! There! Careful! They're coming!"</p> + +<p>"Where? Where is it?" yapped Ban excitedly, jerking the instrument to +his eyes again.</p> + +<p>"Speak low. Not the asteroid. Three men."</p> + +<p>For a tense minute there was silence between them, until, in a low, +crisp voice, the Hawk added:</p> + +<p>"Three men in space-suits like ours, coming from the "north" straight +for Tantril's. Ban, you may not be able to see them till they get to +the ranch, so you keep hunting for the asteroid with your glasses. +Friday, you see them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh! Three! One ahead of the others!"</p> + +<p>"Keep your eyes tight on them. No talking now from either of you +unless it's important."</p> + +<p>The steely voice snapped off. And carefully, in his tree, Hawk Carse +brushed aside a fringe of leaves and concentrated on the three figures +the dawn had brought.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>ard and sharp they glittered in the flood of ruddy light from +Jupiter, great grotesque figures of metal and bulging fabric, with +shining quarzite face-plates and the abnormally large helmets and +boot-pieces which identified them as being of the enemy. At a level +fifty feet above the jungle's crown they came in fast, horizontal +transit, and there was much of beauty in the picture that they +made—sparkling shapes flying without sound or movement of limb +against the blue sky, over the heaped colors of the jungle below. One +flew slightly in the lead, and he, the watching Hawk felt positive, +was Ku Sui, and the other two his servants—probably men whose brains +had been violated, dehumanized—mere machines in human form.</p> + +<p>Straight in the three figures flew, without hesitation or swerving, +closer and closer to the watching man in the tree. The Hawk's lips +compressed as his old enemy neared, and into his watching gray eyes +came the deadly cold emotionless look that was known and feared +throughout space, wherever outlaws walked or flew. Ku Sui—so close! +There, in that even-gliding figure, was the author of the infamy done +to Leithgow, of the crime to the brains that lived though their bodies +were dead; of the organized isuan trade. Go for him now? The thought +flashed temptingly through Carse's head, but he saw sense at once. Far +too dangerous, with the powerful, watching ranch so close. He could +not jeopardize the success of his promise to the brains.</p> + +<p>And so Dr. Ku Sui passed, while two pairs of eyes from two leafy trees +watched closely every instant of his passing, and one man's hand +dropped unconsciously to the butt of a raygun.</p> + +<p>Quickly, the Eurasian and his servitors were gone, their straight, +steady flight obscured by the trees around Tantril's ranch, below +which they slanted.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui had arrived at his assignation. But where was the asteroid?</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hrough his instrument, Carse sought horizon and heaven for the +massive body, but in vain. He spoke into his helmet-radio's mike.</p> + +<p>"Ban?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"See the asteroid anywhere?"</p> + +<p>"Nowhere, by Betelgeuse! I've looked till my eyes—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk cut him short. "All right. Stand by. Friday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh?"</p> + +<p>"Can you see anything special?"</p> + +<p>"No, suh—only that the three platform guards keep lookin' down +towards the center of the ranch."</p> + +<p>"Good. That means Ku Sui's being received," said Carse; and then he +considered swiftly for a minute. Decided, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Ban and Friday, you both wait where you are, keeping a steady +lookout. None of us can see the asteroid, but it must be somewhere +comparatively near, for Dr. Ku has no reason to bother with a long +journey in a space-suit. I think the asteroid's close down, hidden by +that distant ridge in the direction from which they came. I'm going to +find it. When I do, I'll tell you where to come meet me. Inform me at +once if Ku Sui leaves or if anything unusual happens. Understood?"</p> + +<p>The assenting voices rang back to him simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Right!" he said; and slowly his great bulging figure lifted.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>autiously, the adventurer made through the watrari tree to the side +facing away from the ranch. There, poising for a second, he +manipulated the lateral direction-rod on the suit's chest, and, still +very slowly, floated free from the shrouding leaves. Then, mindful of +the lookouts on the towers behind, he employed the tactics he had used +before, and kept constantly below the uneven crown of the jungle, +gliding at an easy rate through the leafy lanes created by the banked +tree-tops.</p> + +<p>In that fashion, in the upthrust arms of the jungle, twisting, +turning, sometimes doubling, but following always a path the objective +of which was straight ahead, Hawk Carse soared soundlessly for miles. +He maneuvered his way with practised ease, and his speed increased as +the need for hiding his flight decreased.</p> + +<p>He was familiar with the landmarks of the region, and it was towards +the most pronounced of them that he flew. Soon it was looming far +above him: a long, high ridge, rearing more than three miles above the +level of the Great Briney, and crowded with trees even taller and +sturdier than those of the lower jungle plains. Beyond it was the most +likely spot....</p> + +<p>The Hawk paused at the base of the ridge. There had been no warning +from Ban or Friday, but, to make sure, he established radio +connection.</p> + +<p>"Friday?" he asked into the microphone. "Any activity on the ranch? +Any sign they're aware of our presence?"</p> + +<p>Clear and deep from miles behind, the Negro's voice answered:</p> + +<p>"No, suh. Dead still. I guess they're inside the buildings—except the +guards, and they're taking things easy. Where are you, suh?"</p> + +<p>"About ten miles from you, 'north' and a little 'east,' at the foot of +the ridge. I think I'll know something soon now. Stand by."</p> + +<p>Then Carse moved forward again, slowly winding up between the trees to +the summit of the ridge.</p> + +<p>At the top he stopped. His eyes took in a long, wide valley, of which +the ridge where he hung was the southernmost barrier. He knew at once +something was wrong. Through his opened face-plate he was aware of a +breathless hush that hovered over the valley, a hush which embraced +its fifty miles or more of jungle length, a hush which was rendered +actually visible in several places by the unmoving, limp-hanging +leaves of the trees. Below, in the valley, all the myriad life of the +jungle seemed to have frozen, and only occasionally was the pause of +life and sound disturbed by the faint, muffled cry of a bird.</p> + +<p>What had wrought the hush? Nothing showed to the naked eye.</p> + +<p>From the summit of the ridge, Hawk Carse lifted Leithgow's glasses to +his eyes. And the valley was suddenly changed, and the hush explained. +The miracle lay before him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2><i>The Raid</i></h2> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> dim, shimmering outline through the infra-red, the valley lay +revealed as a great natural cradle for a mammoth body of rock which +had been swung down from the deeps of space to the surface of +Satellite III.</p> + +<p>Titanic, breath-taking in its majesty of sheer bulk, the asteroid of +Dr. Ku Sui was made visible.</p> + +<p>It hung suspended, low over the tree-tops of the valley, and it filled +the valley with rock and towered above it. This was the asteroid, +exploded into a separate entity by the cataclysm that gave birth to +the planets, which Dr. Ku Sui had wrenched from the asteroidal belt +between Mars and Jupiter and built into a world of his own, swinging +it through space as he willed, and cloaking it with invisibility to +baffle those who marveled at how he came and went, unseen, on his +various errands. This was the mighty rock fortress in which lay the +key-stone of his mounting power. This his lonely, unsuspected home, +come for a while to rest....</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse scanned it closely.</p> + +<p>It lay roughly head-on to him, its nearest massive, craggy end lying +some three miles from where he hung. On that end lived the life of the +asteroid, and were located all Ku Sui's works. On a space planed flat +in the rock, rested the dome, like an inverted quarter-mile-wide bowl +of glittering glasslike substance, laced inside with spidery +supporting struts—the half bubble from inside which men guided the +mass. Therein an artificial atmosphere was maintained, even as on any +space-ship, and there lay the group of buildings, chief of which was +the precious laboratory in which were the coordinated brains to whom +the Hawk had made his promise.</p> + +<p>Carse lowered the glasses, and again the Jupiter-light poured normally +around him, the valley hushed and seemingly empty once more. He put +through his call to Friday and Ban, giving them simple directions how +to find him. And twenty-five minutes after that, he saw, looking back +down the ridge, their two giant metallic figures come twisting and +turning in noiseless flight through the top lanes of the jungle below, +and they were together.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was seldom that Friday would intrude his thoughts when with his +master and his master's friends, so when he arrived he merely surveyed +the asteroid through his glasses and was silent. But Ban Wilson, after +a long, comprehensive stare, during which one could almost feel the +amazement leaping through him, sputtered:</p> + +<p>"By jumping Jupiter, Carse—I never would've believed it! That Ku +Sui's sure a genius! To have that whole asteroid there, man, and to +take it with him wherever he wants to go! Look at it! Fifteen, twenty +miles long, it must be! And that dome—"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk shortly, "but easy on that now. We've work to do, +and it's got to be done quickly. Now listen:</p> + +<p>"There are two main port-locks in the dome for space-ships, and the +starboard one has a smaller man-size lock beside it. We're going to +the smaller one. There'll no doubt be a guard on watch at it, so to +him we're Ku Sui and the two men who accompanied him. We'll have to +chance recognition; but at least there's no difference in the suits +we're wearing, and we'll clasp our glasses on all the way to the lock, +for surely Dr. Ku has to use some similar device. Keep your faces +averted as much as you can though, when near, and your rayguns in your +belts. If there's to be gunplay, leave the first shot to me. You'll +both follow me just as those two followed Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson asked: "Will you go down into the valley between the trees, +then up the face of the rock? The guard wouldn't see us until we were +right at the lock."</p> + +<p>"No, he wouldn't: but he'd wonder why Ku Sui was being so cautious. +We'll go straight across, in full view. We'll get in easily, or—well, +that depends. Ready?"</p> + +<p>They fastened the glasses over their eyes, keeping the helmet +face-plates partly open. The rayguns they eased in their belt +holsters, and slid back the hinged palms of their mittens, to give +exit if need be to their gun-hands. They were ready.</p> + +<p>Switching on the helmet gravity-plates to swift repulsion, the three +soared out of the trees, soared up on a straight, inclined line for +the dome on the asteroid, a steady, rapid climb that soon raised them +one mile, a second and a third, where they leveled off and sped +straight ahead. Now they could look right into the dome.</p> + +<p>Rapidly the port-lock that was their objective grew in size. Behind it +were the buildings: the large, four-winged central structure and the +supplementary workshops and hangars, coolie-quarters and outhouses, +all dim and shimmering through the infra-red—the mysterious, lonely +citadel of Dr. Ku Sui. There it all was, inside the dome, with the +rest of the asteroid looming massive behind.</p> + +<p>A quarter-mile away, and swiftly half that, and half again the three +grouped figures arrowed ahead without hesitation. And the Hawk said +curtly:</p> + +<p>"I see no men—do either of you? It looks deserted."</p> + +<p>"There!" cried Ban, after a second. "There! Beside the port-lock. Just +now!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> + +<p>eside the smaller port-lock's inner door a figure had appeared, clad +in the neat yellow smock of a servitor of Ku Sui. It was a smooth, +impassive Oriental face that turned to stare out at the approaching +men; and even Ban knew that this sentinel stationed at the lock was +one of the coolies whose brains Dr. Ku had altered, turning him into a +mechanicalized man who obeyed no orders but his. He watched closely +the three who swept on towards him, his hand at a raygun in his belt. +The same questions were in the minds of all three of the raiders. +Would he recognize something as being different, or suspicious? Would +he summon others of his kind from the small guard-box he had come out +of?</p> + +<p>But the coolie evinced no alarm. It would have been difficult for +anyone to have discerned distinguishing features inside the cumbersome +helmets, behind the instruments clamped to the faces of the men who +wore the suits. He called no others, but merely watched.</p> + +<p>Soon the opaque metal plates of the small lock's outer door had neared +to within a few feet of Hawk Carse, and he stopped short, Ban and +Friday following suit. They hovered there outside the door, gently +swaying like flies against the great gleaming sweep of the dome, the +craggy rock face dropping sickeningly down for miles beneath them. +And, like flies, they were powerless to open the door to gain +entrance. Only the coolie inside could do that; and he, through the +dome to one side, was peering at them.</p> + +<p>Apparently he was satisfied with his scrutiny. After a moment, bolts +shifted and the door stirred and swung out, revealing the all-metal +atmosphere chamber and the inner door at the far side. Immediately +Carse floated into the chamber, and the two others pressed in behind. +They saw the outer door swing shut, and heard its locks thud over.</p> + +<p>They were sealed from sight inside the port-lock's atmosphere chamber.</p> + +<p>"Looks to me," whispered Ban Wilson, "like a very sweet trap. If that +fellow inside wants to—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk's cool voice cut him off.</p> + +<p>"We can take off the glasses now," he said casually. "Keep alert."</p> + +<p>And for a full minute they waited.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t length a circle of light showed around the rim of the inner door, +and it grew quickly into the full flood of Jupiter-light as the door +opened.</p> + +<p>Carse floated through, no longer attempting to avert his face.</p> + +<p>The coolie, standing just outside the chamber, saw the adventurer's +features and remembered—and drew the raygun in his belt.</p> + +<p>Carse did not shoot. He never killed unless he could not avoid it; +this was as much a part of his creed as his remorseless leveling of a +blood-debt. He struck with the suit. Under a quick turn of the +control, the great heavy bulk of fabric-joined metal lunged forward. +The move was quick, but not quite quick enough, for just before the +coolie was bowled headlong to the ground, he got out a high-pitched +warning yell; and then, as he lay sprawled out, apparently +unconscious, a thin hot orange streak sizzled by Hawk Carse's helmet +from the left.</p> + +<p>This time Carse shot. His gun leaped from belt to hand, and had twice +spoken from the hip before one could quite grasp what had happened. +Seemingly without bothering to take aim, his deadly left hand had +stricken into lifeless heaps two coolies who had come running and +shooting from the nearby guard-box.</p> + +<p>As Carse stood looking down at their bodies he was startled by another +sizzling spit. He wheeled to see Friday holding the raygun that had +spoken.</p> + +<p>The Negro said apologetically:</p> + +<p>"Sorry, suh—I had to. The other coolie, the one you knocked down, +came to and was aimin' at you. Guess they're all three dead now, sure +enough."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>is master nodded, and said in a low, thoughtful voice: "In spite of +what some men have said, I never like to kill; but for these robots, +more machines than men, with nothing human to live for, it's release +rather than death.</p> + +<p>"Well," he began again, more briskly, "we're inside, and whoever else +is here apparently doesn't know it yet. I expected more of a +commotion. I wonder how many coolies Ku Sui had, altogether? Fourteen +or fifteen were killed when we broke through the dome, before, and now +these three. There surely can't be many left. Of course, there are the +four white men, his surgical assistants."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson spoke after what was for him a long silence. He had watched +the Hawk's gunplay with an awe-stricken face; its speed never failed +to amaze him. He observed:</p> + +<p>"These buildings certainly look lifeless. Well, what now, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"A search." He planned it out in his head, then gave quick orders. +"Ban," he directed, "you go through all the out-buildings, your gun +ready. The five main ones are a workshop, a power-house, storehouse, a +ship hangar and a barracks for coolies. Whoever you find, take +prisoner. Keep in touch with me by radio."</p> + +<p>"Friday," he continued, "I'm leaving you here. First get these bodies +in that guard-house they came out of. Then keep sharp watch. I don't +think Ku Sui will return within fifteen minutes, but we must take no +chance. At the first sign of him, warn me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh. But what are you goin' to do?"</p> + +<p>"Take over the central building," said the Hawk. "And then, when the +whole place has been reconnoitered, fulfil my promise to the brains."</p> + +<p>"And what about Ku Sui?"</p> + +<p>"Later," he said. "It should not be hard to take him prisoner.... Now, +enough!"</p> + +<p>The three parted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2><i>The Voice of the Brains</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he central structure of the group of buildings was shaped like a +great plus-mark, each of its four wings of identical square +construction, with long smooth metal sides and top, and with a door at +the end giving entrance to a corridor that ran straight through to the +chief central laboratory of Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>Carse skimmed swiftly, two feet off the glittering metallic soil, +towards the end of the nearest wing, where he gently landed. He tried +the door giving entrance. It was open. He cautiously floated through +into complete darkness.</p> + +<p>The Hawk was prepared for that. He drew a hand-flash from the belt of +his suit, and, standing motionless, his raygun ready in his left +hand, he probed the darkness with a long white beam. Spaced evenly +along the sides of the corridor were many identical doors, and at the +end a larger, heavier door which gave entrance to the central +laboratory. He found no life or anything that moved at all, so, +methodically, he set about inspecting the side rooms.</p> + +<p>The doors were all unlocked, and he moved down the line without alarm, +like a mechanical giant preceded by a sweeping, nervous flow of light. +Such he might from the outside have appeared to be, but the man within +himself was more like a cat scenting for danger, all muscles and +senses delicately tuned to alertness. Door by door, a cautious and +thorough inspection; but he found nothing of danger. All the rooms of +that wing were used merely for stores and equipment, and they were +quite silent and deserted. When he came at last to its end, Carse knew +that the wing was safe.</p> + +<p>He paused a minute before the laboratory door. He had expected to find +it locked, and that he would have to seek other means of entrance; but +it was not. By pushing softly against it, it easily gave inward on +silent well-oiled hinges. He entered.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse found himself in a place of memories, and they were sharp and +painful in his brain as he stood there. Here so much had happened: +here death, and even more than death, had been, and was, so near!</p> + +<p>The high-walled circular room was dimly lit by daylight tubes from +above. The damage he, Carse, had wrought when besieged in it, a week +before, had all been repaired. The place was deserted—it seemed even +desolate—but in Carse's moment of memory it was peopled. There had +been the tall, graceful shape in black silk; there the operating table +and the frail old man bound on it; there the four other men, white men +and gowned in the smocks of surgeons, but whose faces were lifeless +and expressionless. Dr. Ku Sui and his four assistant surgeons and his +intended victim, Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow....</p> + +<p>They were all gone from the room now, but there was in it one thing of +life that had been there before. It lay behind the inlaid screen +which, standing on roller-legs, lay along the wall at one place. The +Hawk did not look behind the screen. He could see under it, to know +that no one lurked there. He knew what it was meant to conceal. There +his promise lay.</p> + +<p>But his promise could not be fulfilled immediately. There were four +wings to the building, four doors leading into the laboratory, and he +had inspected but one.</p> + +<p>An open door to his right revealed a corridor similar to the one he +had reconnoitered. He repeated down it his methodical search and found +no one. Then he returned to the laboratory.</p> + +<p>Surely there were men somewhere! Surely someone was behind one of the +two closed doors remaining! Gun and flashlight still at the ready, +Carse listened a moment at the nearest one.</p> + +<p>Silence. He grasped the knob, turned it and quickly threw the door +open. A rapid glance revealed no one. Wary and alert, he passed +through, and discovered that in this wing were the personal living +quarters of Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>The quarters were divided into five rooms: living room, bedroom, +library, dining room and kitchen, and the huge metal figure passed +through all five, the cold gray eyes taking in every detail of the +comfortable but not luxurious furnishings. There was a great interest +to him, but it would have to wait.</p> + +<p>He reentered the laboratory and went to the remaining door. Bending +his head he again listened. A sound—a faint whisper? He fancied he +heard something.</p> + +<p>Ready for whatever it was, Carse pulled the door wide. And before him +he saw the control room of the asteroid, and the men for whom he had +been hunting.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hey were white men. Carse recognized them immediately as the four +assistants of Dr. Ku Sui. Once, they had been eminent on Earth, +respected doctors of medicine and brain surgery, leaders in their +profession: now they were like the mechanicalized coolies. For their +brains, too, the Eurasian had altered, divested of all humanity and +individuality, so as to utilize unhampered their skill with medicine +and scalpel.</p> + +<p>They were clad in soft yellow robes and seated at ease at one end of a +room crowded with a bewildering profusion of gauges, machines, +instruments, screens, wheels, levers, and other nameless controlling +devices. They did not show surprise at the huge clumsy figure that +stood suddenly before them, a raygun in one hand. Like the coolies, +their clean-cut features did not change under emotion. All they did +was rise silently, as one, gazing at the adventurer out of blank eyes, +saying nothing, and making no other move.</p> + +<p>Carse tried simple measures in dealing with them. His voice gentle yet +firm, he said:</p> + +<p>"You must not try to obstruct me. You have seen me before under +unfortunate conditions, yet I want you to know that I am really your +friend. I mean you no harm; but you must realize that I have a gun, +and believe that I will not hesitate to use it if you resist me. So +please do not. I only want you to come with me. Will you?"</p> + +<p>They were simple words, and what he asked was simple, but would the +meaning reach these violated brains? Or would there instead be the +desperate reaction of the coolies, who had tried to kill him? Carse +waited with genuine anxiety. It would be hard to shoot them, and he +knew he could not shoot to kill.</p> + +<p>A moment of indecision—and then with relief he saw all four, with +apparent willingness, move forward towards him. He directed them +through the laboratory and, without sign of resistance, herded them +down the corridor he had first searched to the outside.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he light of Jupiter, flooding undiminished through the dome, dazzled +him at first. When he could see clearly, he distinguished the great +form that was Friday standing motionless by the small port-lock, and, +an equal distance away, moving around one of the out-buildings, +another similar figure. He spoke by radio.</p> + +<p>"Find any, Ban?"</p> + +<p>Cheerful words came humming back.</p> + +<p>"Only one coolie, Carse. Had no trouble after I disarmed him. He's now +locked inside a room in this building. Safe place for prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Good," said Carse. "You can see I've got four men—white men. I +believe they're unarmed and quite harmless, but I want you to take +them, search them and put them away in that room too."</p> + +<p>"Coming!"</p> + +<p>The distant form rose lightly, skimmed low over the open area between, +and grew into the grinning, freckle-faced Ban Wilson. He bounced down +awkwardly, almost losing his balance, then surveyed, wonderingly, the +four assistants of Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>"By Betelgeuse!" he muttered, "—like robots! Horrible!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk shortly. "You had no trouble, eh?"</p> + +<p>Ban grinned again. "Nothing to mention. This has been soft, hasn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be too optimistic, Ban. All right—when you've put these men in +the room, please relieve Friday. Send him to me in the laboratory—he +knows where it is—and stand watch yourself. If Ku Sui appears—"</p> + +<p>"I'll let you know on the instant!"</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse nodded and turned back into the corridor from which he had +just come. Now he would fulfil his promise. With no possibility of a +surprise attack from anyone within the dome, and Ban Wilson posted +against the return of Ku Sui, he could attend unhampered to the vow +which had brought him there.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e returned to the central laboratory. Quickly be rolled back the high +screen lying across one part of the curved wall and stood looking at +what was behind it. The monstrousness of that dead-and-alive mechanism +overwhelmed his thoughts again.</p> + +<p>Before him stood a case, transparent, hard and crystal-like, as long +as a man's body and half as deep, standing level on short metal legs. +What it contained was the most jealously guarded, the most precious of +all Dr. Ku Sui's works, the very consummation of his mighty genius, +his treasure-house of wisdom as profound as man then could know. And +more: it held the consummation of all that was so coldly unhuman in +the Eurasian. For there, in that case, he had bound to his will the +brains of five of Earth's greatest scientists, and kept them alive, +with their whole matured store of knowledge subservient to his need, +although their bodies were long since dead and decayed.</p> + +<p>For some time the adventurer stood lost in a mood of thoughts and +emotions rare to him—until he was startled back into reality by a +heavy, clumping noise coming down the corridor through which he had +entered. His gun-hand flickered to readiness, but it was only Friday, +coming as he had been ordered. Carse greeted the Negro with a nod, and +said briefly:</p> + +<p>"There's a panel in this room—over there somewhere—you remember—the +place through which Ku Sui escaped when we were here before. It's an +unknown quantity, so I want you to stand watch by it. Open your +face-plate wide, and warn me at the slightest sound or sight of +possible danger."</p> + +<p>The Negro nodded and moved as silently as was possible in his +space-suit to obey. And Carse turned again to the thing to which he +had made a promise.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he icy-glittering case was full of a colorless liquid in which were +grouped at the bottom, several delicate, colored instruments, all +interconnected by a maze of countless spidery silver wires. Sheathes +of other wires ran up from the lower devices to the case's main +content—five grayish, convoluted mounds that lay in shallow +pans—five brutally naked things that were the brains of scientists +once honored and eminent on Earth.</p> + +<p>Their bodies has long since been cast aside as useless to the ends of +Ku Sui, but the priceless brains had been condemned to live on in an +unlit, unseeing deathless existence: machines serving the man who had +trapped them into life in death. Alive—and with stray memories, which +Ku Sui could not banish entirely, of Earth, of love, of the work and +the respect that had once been theirs. Alive—with an unnatural and +horrible life, without sensation, without hope. Alive—and made to aid +with their knowledge the man who had brought them into slavery +unspeakable....</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse's eyes were frigid gray mists in a graven, expressionless +face as he turned to the left of the case and pulled over one of the +well-remembered knife switches. A low hum came; a ghost of rosy color +diffused through the liquid in the case. The color grew until the +whole was glowing jewel-like in the dim-lit laboratory, and the narrow +tubes leading into the undersides of the brains were plainly visible. +Something within the tubes pulsed at the rate of heart-beats. The +stuff of life.</p> + +<p>When the color ceased to increase, Carse pulled the second switch, and +moved close to the grille inset in a small panel above the case.</p> + +<p>Slowly, gently he said into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Master Scientist Cram, Professors Estapp and Geinst, Doctors Swanson +and Norman—I wish to talk to you. I am Captain Carse, friend of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. Some days ago you aided us in our +escape from here, and in return I made you a promise. Do you +remember?"</p> + +<p>There was a pause, a silence so tense it was painful. And then +functioned the miracle of Ku Sui's devising. There came from the +grille a thin, metallic voice from the living dead.</p> + +<p>"<i>I remember you, Captain Carse, and your promise.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> voice from living brain cells, through inorganic lungs and throat +and tongue! A voice from five brains, speaking, for some obscure +reason which even Ku Sui could not explain, in the first person, and +setting to mechanical words the living, pulsing thoughts that sped +back and forth inside the case and were coordinated into unity by the +master brain, which had once been in the body of Master Scientist +Cram. A voice out of nothingness; a voice from what seemed so clearly +to be the dead. To Hawk Carse, man of action, it was unearthly; it was +a miracle the fact of which he could not question, but which he could +not hope to understand. And well might it have been unearthly to +anyone. Even to-day.</p> + +<p>Still thrilling to the wonder of it, he went on:</p> + +<p>"I have returned here to the asteroid with friends. Primarily I came +to keep my promise to you, but I intend to do more. Dr. Ku Sui is not +here now, and will not be for at least fifteen minutes; but when he +does return, I am going to capture him. I am going to take him alive."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you do not know," he continued levelly, "but the people of +Earth hold Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow responsible for your +disappearance. He is therefore a fugitive, and there is a price on his +head. It is my purpose to restore Eliot Leithgow to his old place by +returning Dr. Ku to Earth to answer for the crimes he has effected on +you.</p> + +<p>"I am now ready to fulfil my promise to you. I expect no interruption +this time. I regret exceedingly my inability to destroy you when I was +here before, but I simply could not in the little time I had. I still +do not know how best to go about it. Perhaps you will tell me. I will +wait...."</p> + +<p>An afterthought came to him. He added into the grille:</p> + +<p>"There is no hurry. Your extraordinary position—your thoughts—I +understand...."</p> + +<p>Then there was a long silence. For once the Hawk was not impatient; in +fact there was in him the feeling that the pause was only decent and +fitting. For before him were the brains of five great scientists, who +as captive remnants of men had asked him to end their cold and lonely +bondage. Limbless, his was to be the hand of their self-immolation. +The present silent, slow-passing minutes were to be their last of +consciousness....</p> + +<p>And then at last spoke the voice:</p> + +<p>"<i>Captain Carse, I do not wish you to destroy me. I wish you to give +me new life. I wish you to transplant me within the bodies of five +living men.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he words, so unexpected, took Hawk Carse by perhaps the greatest +surprise he had ever known. For a time he was completely astounded; he +could hardly credit his ears. It required a full minute for him to +summon even the most halting reply.</p> + +<p>"But—but could that be done?" He strove to collect himself, to +consider logically this course that he had never dreamed would be +requested. "Who could do it? I know of no man."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dr. Ku Sui could transplant me.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Ku Sui? He could, but he wouldn't. He would destroy you, rather."</p> + +<p>Almost immediately the artificial voice responded:</p> + +<p>"<i>You have said, Captain Carse, that you will soon have Ku Sui +captive. Will you not attempt to force him to do as I desire?</i>"</p> + +<p>Carse considered the suggestion, but it did not seem remotely +possible. Ku Sui could not be prevented from having endless +opportunities for destroying the brains while enjoying the manual +freedom necessary to perform the operations of re-embodying them.</p> + +<p>"I do not see how," he began—and then he cut off his words abruptly.</p> + +<p>Something had come into his mind, a memory of something Eliot Leithgow +had told him once, long before. Slowly the details came back in full, +and at their remembrance his right hand rose to the odd bangs of +flaxen hair concealing his forehead and began to smooth them, and a +ghost of a smile appeared on his thin lips.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," he murmured. "I think ... perhaps...."</p> + +<p>He said decisively into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Yes! I think it's quite possible that I can force Ku Sui to +transplant you into living bodies! I think—I <i>think</i>—I cannot be +sure—that it can be done. At least I will make a very good attempt."</p> + +<p>The toneless, mechanical voice uttered:</p> + +<p>"<i>Captain Carse, you bring me hope. My thoughts are many, and they are +grateful.</i>"</p> + +<p>But the Hawk had made a promise, and had to be formally freed of the +duty it entailed.</p> + +<p>"You release me, then," he asked, "from my original promise to destroy +you?"</p> + +<p>"<i>I release you, Captain Carse. And again I thank you.</i>"</p> + +<p>The adventurer returned the switches motivating the case, and the +faint smile returned to his lips at the thought that had come to him.</p> + +<p>But the smile vanished suddenly at the quick, excited words that came +crackling into his helmet receiver.</p> + +<p>"Carse? Carse? Do you hear me?"</p> + +<p>He threw over his microphone control.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ban? What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Come as fast as you can. Just caught sight of three distant figures +flying straight towards here. It's Ku Sui, returning!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2><i>"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> +<p> few minutes later the trap was in readiness.</p> + +<p>It had been swiftly planned and executed, and it promised well. Both +the inner and outer doors of the smaller port-lock lay ajar. Hawk +Carse was gone from view. The only figure visible there was that which +lay sprawled face-downward on the ground close to the inner door of +the port-lock.</p> + +<p>The figure seemed to have been stricken down in sudden death. It was +clad in the trim yellow smock of a coolie of Ku Sui. It was limp, its +arms and legs spreadeagled, and it lay there as mute evidence that the +dome of the asteroid had been attacked.</p> + +<p>To one entering from outside, the figure was that of a dead coolie. +The coolie that had worn those clothes was dead; his clothes now +covered the wiry length of freckle-faced Ban Wilson.</p> + +<p>Ban played the game well. His face lay in the ground, pointed away +from the lock, so he could not see what was going to happen behind +him: but before the Hawk had directed him to take off his suit and don +the yellow smock, he had glimpsed, rising swiftly over the +southernmost barrier of hills that edged the valley, three black dots +coming fast toward the asteroid in straight, disciplined flight, and +he knew that the leader of the three was Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>As he lay limp on the ground, playing his important part as the decoy +of the trap, he knew that his life depended on the action and the +skill and the timing of Hawk Carse. But he did not worry about that. +He had implicit faith in the Hawk, and trusted his life to his +judgment without a tremor.</p> + +<p>Still, it was hard for Ban to throttle down his excessively nervous +nature and maintain the dead man pose for the long silent minutes that +crawled by before there came any sound from behind. The Jupiter-light, +flooding down on him from the glittering blue sky above, was hot and +growing hotter, and of course he began to itch. Had he had the freedom +of his limbs, he would not have itched, he knew; it happened only when +he had to keep absolutely still; he cursed the phenomenon to himself. +Minute after minute, and no sound to tell him what was happening +behind, or how close the three approaching figures had come, or +whether Carse was at all visible or not—and the mounting, maddening +itch right in the middle of his back!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t last Ban's mental cursings stopped. His straining ears had caught a +sound.</p> + +<p>It was quickly repeated, and again and again—the heavy, grating noise +of metal on metal. The boots of space-suits on the metal floor of the +port-lock. They had arrived!</p> + +<p>Ku Sui would be there, close behind him; probably gazing at his +outflung figure; probably puzzled, and suspicious, and quickly looking +around for the enemies that had apparently killed one of his coolies. +With a raygun in hand—and guns in the hands of the two others with +him—glancing warily around over the guard-chamber close to the +port-lock, and the main buildings beyond, and the whole area inside +the dome, and seeing no one.</p> + +<p>And then—approaching!</p> + +<p>Ban could tell it by the silence, then the harsh crunch of the great +boots against the powdered, metallic upper crust of ground. But he lay +without an eyelash's flickering, a dead coolie, limp, crumpled. He +heard the crunch of boots come right up to him and then pause; and the +feeling that came to his stomach told him unmistakably that a man was +looking down on him....</p> + +<p>Now—while Ku Sui's attention was on him—now was the time! Now! +Otherwise the Eurasian would turn him over and see that he was white!</p> + +<p>It seemed to Ban centuries later that he heard the welcome voice of +the Hawk bark out:</p> + +<p>"You are covered, Dr. Ku! And your men. I advise you not to move. Tell +your men to drop their guns—<i>sh!</i>"</p> + +<p>The sound of the voice from the guard-chamber was replaced by two +spits of a raygun. Unable to restrain himself, Ban rolled over and +looked up.</p> + +<p>He saw, first, the figure of the Hawk. Carse had stepped out from +where he had been concealed, in the guard-chamber, and was holding the +gun that had just spoken. Standing upright, close to the inner door of +the port-lock, were two suit-clad coolies. Ban saw that they had +turned to fire at Carse, and that now they were dead. Dead on their +feet in the stiff, heavy stuff of their suits.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui was standing motionless above him, and through the open +face-plate of the Eurasian's helmet Ban could see him gazing at Hawk +Carse with a strange, faint smile on his beautifully chiselled, +ascetic face.</p> + +<p>The Hawk came towards them, the raygun steady on his old foe; but +while he was still yards away, and before he could do anything to +prevent it, the Eurasian spoke a few unintelligible words into the +microphone of his helmet-radio. Carse continued forward and stopped +when a few feet away. Dr. Ku bowed as well as he could in his stiff +suit and said courteously, in English:</p> + +<p>"So I am trapped. My congratulations, Captain Carse! It was very +neatly done."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he two puffed-out, metal-gleaming figures faced each other for a +moment without speaking. And in the silence, Ban Wilson, watchful, +with a raygun he had drawn from his belt, fancied he could <i>feel</i> the +long, bitter, bloody feud between the two, adventurer and scientist, +there met again....</p> + +<p>Carse spoke first, his voice steel-cold.</p> + +<p>"You take it lightly, Dr. Ku. Do not rely too much on those words you +spoke in Chinese. I could not understand them—but such things as I do +not know about your asteroid I have already guarded against; and I +think we can forestall whatever you have set in action.... You will +please take off your space-suit."</p> + +<p>"Willingly, my friend!"</p> + +<p>"Watch close, Ban," said the Hawk.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui unbuckled the heavy clasps of his suit, unscrewed the +cumbersome helmet, and in a moment stepped free. At the suit slid to +the ground, there stood revealed his tall, slim-waisted form, clad in +the customary silk. He wore a high-collared green silk blouse, +tailored to the lines of his body, full trousers of the same material, +and pointed red slippers and red sash, which set the green off +tastefully. A lithe, silky figure; and above the silk the high +forehead, the saffron, delicately carved face, the fine black hair. +Half-veiled by their long lashes, his exotic eyes rested like a cat's +on his old enemy.</p> + +<p>The Hawk moved close to him, and swiftly patted one hand over his +body. From inside one of the blouse's sleeves he drew a pencil-thin +blade of steel from its hidden sheath. He found no other weapon. +Stepping back, he quickly divested himself of his suit also.</p> + +<p>"And now, Captain?" the Eurasian murmured softly.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dr. Ku," answered Carse, once again a slender, wiry figure in +soft blue shirt and blue denim trousers, "we are going to have a +little talk. In your living room, I think.</p> + +<p>"Ban," he continued. "I don't believe there's anyone else who can even +see the asteroid, but we have to be careful. Will you stay on guard +here by the port-lock? Good. Close its doors, and yell or come to me +if anything should occur."</p> + +<p>He turned to the waiting Eurasian again.</p> + +<p>"You may go first, Dr. Ku. Into the laboratory, and then to the living +room of your quarters."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hey found Friday on guard where he had been stationed in the +laboratory. The big Negro, on recognizing the Eurasian, grinned from +ear to ear and gave him what he considered a witty greeting.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he said with gusto, "—come right in. Dr. Ku Sui! Make +yourself at home, suh! Sure glad to have you come visitin' us!" He +laughed gleefully.</p> + +<p>But his words were wasted on Dr. Ku. His eyes at once fastened on the +case of coordinated brains, standing at one side. Carse noticed this.</p> + +<p>"No. Dr. Ku," he said. "I have not touched the brains. Not yet. But +that's what we're going to talk about." He motioned to one of the four +doors connecting the central laboratory with the building's wings. +"Into your living room please, and be seated there. And no sudden +moves, of course: I have a certain skill with a raygun. Friday, keep +doubly alert now. Better take off your suit. I will call for you in a +few minutes."</p> + +<p>Ku Sui walked on silent feet into the first division of his personal +quarters, the softly-lit living room. A lush velvet carpet made the +floor soft; ancient Chinese tapestries hid the pastelled metal of the +walls; books were everywhere. It was a quiet and restful room, with no +visible reminder of the asteroid and its controlling mechanics.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku sank into a deep armchair, linked his fingers before him and +looked up inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"We were going to talk about the brains?" he asked.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse had closed the door behind him, and now remained standing. He +met the masked green eyes squarely.</p> + +<p>"Yes." He was silent for a little, then, quietly and coldly he went to +the point.</p> + +<p>"You'll be interested to hear that I have talked with the brains and +been relieved of my premise to destroy them. They requested something +else. Now I have committed myself to attempt their restoration into +living bodies."</p> + +<p>"So?" murmured the Eurasian. "So. Yes, Captain, that is very +interesting."</p> + +<p>"Very." The Hawk spoke without trace of emotion. "And some courtroom +on Earth will find more than interesting the testimony of your +re-embodied brains."</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui smiled in answer. "Oh, no doubt. But, my friend—this +transplantation—you accept its possibility so casually! Won't it +prove rather difficult for you, who have never even pretended to be a +scientist?"</p> + +<p>"Not difficult. Impossible."</p> + +<p>"And Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow—I have unbounded respect for his +genius, but brain surgery is a specialty and I really think that this +task would be outside even his capabilities. I am sure he himself +would admit it."</p> + +<p>"You are right, Dr. Ku: he has admitted it. We both realize there is +only one person in the universe who could achieve it—you. So you will +have to perform the operations."</p> + +<p>"Well!" said Dr. Ku Sui. The smooth, fine skin of his brow wrinkled +slightly as he gazed up at the intent man facing him. "Is this just +stupidity on your part, Captain? Or do you attempt a joke at which in +courtesy I should smile?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk answered levelly: "I was never farther from joking in my +life."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>ith a delicate shrug of his silken shoulders, Ku Sui averted his +eyes. As if bored, he glanced around the room. Slowly he unclasped his +hands.</p> + +<p>"I am a very fast shot, Dr. Ku," whispered Carse. "You must not make a +single move without my permission."</p> + +<p>At that the Eurasian laughed aloud, a liquid laugh that showed his +even teeth between the finely cut lips.</p> + +<p>"But I am so completely in your power, Captain Carse!" He held on to +the last syllable, a low, sustained hiss—and then he snapped it off.</p> + +<p>"<i>S-s-stah!</i>" His mood had changed: the smile vanished from a face +suddenly thin and cruel; the green eyes unmasked, to show in their +depths the tiger.</p> + +<p>"What insane talk! You say such things to me! Don't you know that to +coordinate those brains I worked for years with a devotion, a +concentration, a genius you can never hope even to comprehend? Don't +you realize they're the most precious possession of the greatest +surgeon and the greatest mind in the universe? Don't you understand +that I've fashioned a miracle? Realize these things, then, and marvel +at yourself—you who, with your gun and your egotism, think you can +make me undo their wonderful coordination!"</p> + +<p>The tiger returned behind the veil, its power and fury again leashed, +and Dr. Ku Sui relaxed his green eyes once more masked and enigmatic. +Hawk Carse asked simply:</p> + +<p>"<i>Could</i> you transplant the brains?"</p> + +<p>"You insist on continuing this farce?" murmured the Eurasian. "I would +not be rude, but really you try my patience!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Could</i> you transplant the brains?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui looked at the colorless face with its eyes of ice. With a +trace of irritation, he said:</p> + +<p>"Of course! What I have once transplanted, I can transplant again. But +I will not do it—and my will no one, and no force, can alter. Perhaps +it is clear now? In no way can you touch my will. I am sorry that I so +grossly insulted you, Carse, for there are certain things about you +that in a small way I respect. But here you are helpless."</p> + +<p>"Not entirely," said the Hawk.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_k.jpg" alt="K" width="50" height="52" /></div> + +<p>u Sui leaned forward a trifle. In that moment, perhaps, he first felt +real concern, for Carse's quiet voice was so confident, so assured. He +attempted to sound him out.</p> + +<p>"A gun?" he asked. "Torture? Threats? These against my will? Absurd! +Consider, my friend—even if I seemed to consent to the operations, +could I not easily destroy the brains while ostensibly working on +them?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Carse, with a faint smile. "And threats and torture +would be absurd. Against your will, Dr. Ku, a more powerful weapon +will have to be used."</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's eyes were brilliant with intuition.</p> + +<p>"Ah—I see," he murmured. "Eliot Leithgow!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku!"</p> + +<p>The two gazed at each other, Carse still with the faint smile, the +other with the face of a statue. Presently the adventurer went on:</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately for you, Eliot Leithgow can provide a method of +compulsion neither you nor any other man could ever resist. Not guns, +torture, threats—no. A subtler weapon, worthy of your fine will."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Carse saw the Eurasian's green eyes narrow, and in the +pause that followed he knew that the swift, trained mind behind those +eyes was working. What would it evolve? What move? And those Chinese +words, uttered out by the port-lock—what would they result in, and +when? Dr. Ku Sui was concerned now, the Hawk knew, seriously +concerned, and inevitably, would take serious steps. What was growing +in his resourceful brain? He would have to ward off any trouble when +it came, for he could not know now. He said curtly:</p> + +<p>"But enough of that. Now, I have a trifling favor to ask of +you—something concerning the laboratory. Will you please return to +it."</p> + +<p>A strange light glimmered for an instant in Dr. Ku Sui's eyes—a +mocking of the slender man before him. Only for an instant; then it +was gone. Gracefully he raised his tall figure.</p> + +<p>"The laboratory? Of course, my friend. And as for the favor—almost +anything."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2><i>The Deadline</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> +<p>riday greeted them with another wide grin, and would again have +bludgeoned the Eurasian with his wit had not the Hawk motioned him to +silence. Looking at Dr. Ku, he said:</p> + +<p>"I have Friday posted here because of the secret panel somewhere in +this wall. You escaped through it before—do you remember?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I remember. And if I'd had merely a fraction of your luck +then, my present situation would be quite different."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said the Hawk. "This panel is now the unknown quantity so +far as I'm concerned, and I don't like unknown quantities; so I am +asking you to show me where it is and how it works. That's my favor. +Of course you can refuse to reveal it, but that will not delay me very +long. The method of compulsion I mentioned...."</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku-Sui appeared to reflect a moment, but his decision was not +tardy in coming. He smiled.</p> + +<p>"You terrify me, Captain, with your ominous hints about compulsion. I +suppose I'd better be reasonable and show it to you. Really, though, +your concern over the panel is rather wasted, inasmuch as it conceals +nothing more than a small escape passage leading out of this building. +Nothing important at all."</p> + +<p>But his words, Carse somehow felt, were a screen; something else lay +beneath them. He watched the tall figure with its always present odor +of tsin-tsin blossoms move forward in a few indecisive steps, then +back again, considering. The smile and the easy words were a +camouflage, surely—but for what?</p> + +<p>"Nothing important at all." Dr. Ku Sui repeated pleasantly. "Come. I +will show you. Friday—if I may so address you—over on that +switchboard you will find a small lever-control. It is the one with a +Chinese character above it. Will you be so kind as to throw it?"</p> + +<p>The Negro glanced inquiringly at his master. Grimly Carse nodded.</p> + +<p>An enigmatic light glimmered in the Eurasian's green eyes as they +watched the Negro go to the switchboard and put thumb and forefinger +on the control.</p> + +<p>"Only a small escape passage," he said deprecatingly as the Hawk +crouched, gun ready, his eyes on the suspected place in the wall.</p> + +<p>Friday threw the switch.</p> + +<p>Immediately there sounded a short, sharp explosion. And acrid smoke +billowed out from under the case of coordinated brains!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse sprang to Ku Sui, gripped one arm and cried harshly:</p> + +<p>"What have you done?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, Captain—your obedient servant, the Black. Please, your +fingers—" He removed them from his arm; and then, smiling, he said:</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that all your assurance, your threats, are now but so +much wasted breath."</p> + +<p>"You mean—?"</p> + +<p>"Surely, Captain," said Ku Sui, "you must have known I would provide +for such an emergency, as this. I chose not to risk your darkly-hinted +method of compulsion, and so had Friday remove the need for it. The +Chinese character above the switch stands for 'Death.'"</p> + +<p>Frigidly the Hawk asked: "You've destroyed the brains?"</p> + +<p>"I have destroyed the brains." The Eurasian's voice was deep with a +strange, unusual tone. "No matter: it was time. I am far, far ahead of +that work, great though it was; it has destroyed itself with its +inherent, irremediable fault. Yes, far ahead. Next time...." He +appeared to lapse into profound and melancholy reflections; seemed to +forget entirely the two men by him.</p> + +<p>But the Hawk acted.</p> + +<p>"We'll see," he said curtly. "Friday, watch the Doctor closely; this +trick may be only the first." An intent, grim figure, he strode to the +case of coordinated brains, pulled over the first of its two +controlling switches, and stood silent while slowly the pulsings of +light grew through the inner liquid and very slowly irradiated the +five gray, naked mounds that were human brains. The light came to +full, and Carse threw over the second switch. He said into the +grille:</p> + +<p>"I am Captain Carse. I wish to know if you are aware of what has just +happened. Do you hear me, and did you feel anything a minute ago?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_s.jpg" alt="S" width="36" height="50" /></div> +<p>ilence. Friday, close to the Eurasian and watchful, hung breathless, +hoping that words might come from the grille in answer. But the silken +figure he watched was there only in body; Dr. Ku's mind was in a far +space of his own.</p> + +<p>Cold, unhuman words spoke out.</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes, Captain Carse, I hear you. I felt the vibrations of the +explosion that occurred a minute ago.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Hah!" grunted Friday, immediately relieved. "All bluff, suh! No +damage to 'em at all!"</p> + +<p>Carse asked quickly into the grille:</p> + +<p>"You felt the explosion, but do you know what it meant?—what it did?"</p> + +<p>Again a pause; and again the toneless voice:</p> + +<p>"<i>A vital part of the machinery through which I live his been +destroyed. I have left only some three hours of life.</i>"</p> + +<p>The Hawk returned to Ku Sui. "Is that true?" he snapped.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Captain." The words made a whisper, gentle and melancholy, +coming from afar. A man was turning back from the scanning of the long +years of one phase of his life. "Three hours is all that is left to +them.... But there was a fault inherent in such coordinated brains; it +is just as well that they are going.... Ah, Carse. I am so far ahead +of you ... but I tell you it is a painful thing to destroy so +wonderful a work of my hands...."</p> + +<p>Silence filled the laboratory. It was broken by the awful voice of the +living dead.</p> + +<p>"<i>I release you from your second promise, Captain Carse. No doubt +what happened was beyond your control.... I will soon be dead. +Although there is still nourishment in my liquid, I grow weaker +already. I am dying....</i>"</p> + +<p>Harshly, the Hawk asked a final question into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Within what time will you retain the vitality necessary to undergo +the initial steps of the transplanting operations? Do you know?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku raised his head at this, though he seemed only mildly +interested in what the reply would be.</p> + +<p>"<i>I think for two of the remaining three hours.</i>"</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Hawk Carse decisively. He threw off the case's +switches. "Dr. Ku," he said, "you've only succeeded in accelerating +things. Now for speed! Friday, we're taking this asteroid to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory. Go see that the port-lock doors are closed +tight, then you and Wilson hurry back here! Fast! Run!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2><i>To the Laboratory</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen the Negro returned, panting, with Ban Wilson, it was to discover +Carse in the control room of the asteroid. He was studying the +multifarious devices and instruments: and they, seeing his face so set +in concentration, did not disturb him, but went over to where Dr. Ku +Sui sat in a chair, and posted themselves behind it.</p> + +<p>The apparatus in the control room resembled that of any modern +space-ship of its time, except that there were extra pieces of +unguessed function. Directly in front of Carse was the directional +space-stick above its complicated mechanism: above his eyes was the +wide six-part visi-screen, which in space would record the whole +"sphere" of the heavens: while to his right was the chief control +board, a smooth black surface studded with squads of vari-colored +buttons and lights, These were the essentials, familiar to any ship +navigator; but they were here awesome, for they controlled not the one +or two hundred feet of an ordinary craft, but twenty miles of this +space-ship of rock.</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes...." Carse murmured presently out of his study, then +turned and for the first time appeared to notice Friday and Ban. He +gave orders.</p> + +<p>"Eclipse, you see the radio over there? Get Master Leithgow on it for +me—protected beam. Ban, you bind Dr. Ku Sui in that chair, please."</p> + +<p>Wilson was surprised.</p> + +<p>"Bind him? Isn't he going to run this thing?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"<i>You're</i> going to, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I don't quite trust Dr. Ku. The asteroid's controlled on the +same principles as a space-ship: I'll manage. Please hurry, Ban."</p> + +<p>"Cap'n., suh! Already got the Master Scientist!" called Friday from +the radio panel. The Hawk strode swiftly to it and clamped the +individual receivers over his ears.</p> + +<p>"M. S.?" he asked into the microphone. "You're there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Carse? What's happened?"</p> + +<p>"All's well, but I'm in a tremendous hurry: I've only got time, now, +to tell you we're on the asteroid with Dr. Ku prisoner, and that I'm +undertaking to transplant the coordinated brains into living human +bodies.... What? Yes transplant them! Please, M. S.—not now: +questions later. I'm calling primarily to learn whether you have any +V-27 on hand?"</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow, in his distant laboratory, paused before replying. +When his voice sounded in the receivers again, it was excited.</p> + +<p>"I think I see, Carse! Good! Yes, I have a little—"</p> + +<p>"We'll need a lot," the Hawk cut in tersely. "Will you instruct your +assistants to begin preparing as much as they can in the next hour? Yes. +And your laboratory—clear it for the operations, and improvise five +operating tables. Powerful lights, too, M. S. Yes—<i>yes</i>—right—all +accessories. Have someone stand by your radio; I'll radio further +details while we're on our way."</p> + +<p>"Right, Carse. All understood."</p> + +<p>The Hawk remembered something else. "Oh, yes, Eliot—is everything +safe in your vicinity?"</p> + +<p>"There's a small band of isuanacs foraging around somewhere in the +neighborhood, but otherwise nothing. They're harmless—"</p> + +<p>"But possibly observant," finished Carse. "All right—I'll clear them +away before descending to the lab. Until later, Eliot."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse switched off the microphone and turned to catch Friday's shocked +expression. Carse looked inquiringly at his dark satellite.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Lordy, suh," the Negro whispered, "Dr. Ku could hear all you said! +He'll know where Master Leithgow's laboratory is!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk smiled briefly. "No matter, Eclipse. I'm quite sure the +information will avail him nothing. For this ride to the laboratory +will be his last ride but one." He turned. "We're starting at once. +Ban, you've bound him well?"</p> + +<p>"If he can get out of those knots," grinned Wilson, "I'll kiss him on +the mouth!"</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's nostrils distended. "Then," he said. "I most certainly +will not try. But Captain Carse, may I have a cigarro before we start +on this journey?"</p> + +<p>Carse had gone over so the space-stick and his eyes were on the +visi-screen, but he now turned them to his old foe for a moment. "Not +just now, Dr. Ku," he said levelly. "For it might be that all but two +puffs of it would be wasted. Yes—later—if we survive these next few +minutes."</p> + +<p>The remark did nothing to ease the tension of their leaving. Ban +Wilson could not restrain a question.</p> + +<p>"Carse, are you going to risk atmospheric friction all the way to the +laboratory?"</p> + +<p>"No. Haven't time for that. Up and down—up into space, then down to +the lab—high acceleration and deceleration."</p> + +<p>He grasped the space-stick, then in neutral, holding the asteroid +motionless in the valley. He glanced at the visi-screen again, checked +over the main controls and tightened his hand on the stick.</p> + +<p>"Ready everyone," he said, and gently moved the stick up and forward.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>here was, to the men in the control room, little consciousness of +power unleashed: only the visi-screen and the bank of positional +instruments told what had happened with that first, delicate movement +of the space-stick. It was an experiment, a feeler. The indicators of +the positionals quivered a little and altered, and in the visi-screen +the hills of the valley, that a moment before had been quite close and +large, had diminished to purple-green mounds below.</p> + +<p>Then the accelerating sensations began. Carse had the "feel" of the +asteroidal ship and his controlling hand grew bolder. The steady +pressure on the space-stick increased, it went up farther and farther, +and the whole mighty mass of the asteroid streaked out at a tangent +through the atmosphere of Satellite III toward the gulf beyond.</p> + +<p>With dangerous acceleration the gigantic body rose, and from outside +there grew a moaning which was quickly a shrieking—a terrible, +maddened sound as of a Titan dying in agony—the sound of the cloven +atmosphere. Twenty miles of rock were hurled out by the firm hand on +the space-stick, and that hand only increased its driving pressure +when the screaming of the air died away in the depthless silence of +outer space.</p> + +<p>In one special visi-screen lay mirrored the craggy back-stretch of the +asteroid, half of it clear-cut and hard in Jupiter's flood of light, +the other half lost in the encompassing blackness of space. Over this +shadowed portion a faint, unearthly glow clung close, the result of +the terrific friction of the ascent. In miniature, in the regular +screens, was Satellite III, but a distorted miniature, for its +half-face appeared concave in shape, and dusted with the haze of its +atmosphere.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk was visibly relieved. He turned to the silent Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>"I must congratulate you, Dr. Ku," he said, "on the operation of the +asteroid. It's as smooth as any ship. And now, your cigarro. Ban, have +you one?"</p> + +<p>Wilson produced a small metal case from which he extracted one of the +long black cylinders.</p> + +<p>"You will have to put it in my lips, please," murmured Dr. Ku. "Thank +you. And a light? Again thanks. Ah...." He drew in the smoke, exhaled +a fine stream of it from his delicately carved nostrils. "Good." Then +he looked up pleasantly at the Hawk.</p> + +<p>"And my congratulations to you, Captain. Not only on your expert +maneuvering of my asteroid, but on everything: your resourcefulness, +your decision, your caution. I have long admired these qualities in +you, and the events of to-day, though for me perhaps unfortunate, +increase my admiration. My own weak resistance, my attempt to +frustrate your plans in connection with the brains—how miserable in +comparison! It would seem, Captain, that you cannot fail, and that you +will indeed succeed in giving the brains new life, so swiftly do you +move. Yes, my congratulations!"</p> + +<p>He drew at the cigarro, and the smoke wreathed gently around his +ascetic saffron face. A faint, queer glint was visible under the long +lashes that half-veiled his eyes as he continued:</p> + +<p>"But I have a question, Captain. A mere nothing, but still—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku?"</p> + +<p>"The living bodies into which you propose to transplant the +brains—where are they?"</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse's face was stern and his voice frigid as he answered:</p> + +<p>"Fortunately, those bodies are right here on the asteroid."</p> + +<p>"Here on the asteroid, Captain? I don't understand. What bodies are +here?"</p> + +<p>"The bodies of your four white assistants, whom I have safely +confined, and one of your robot-coolies, also confined. I did not +intend to use these five, but, because you put a premium on time by +your attempted destruction of the brains, it cannot be helped."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku Sui's impassive demeanor did not change. He did not seem in the +least surprised. He puffed quietly at the cigarro and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course. You have five bodies right here on the +asteroid. Yes."</p> + +<p>"At least," continued Carse levelly, "I do not regret having to use +the bodies of your men. They are no longer human: they are not men: +they are in effect but machines of your making, Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>"Quite. Quite."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you find it an unpleasant thought, to have to be the means +of re-making them into whole, normal human beings?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," breathed the Eurasian, "you inspire a very pleasant +thought in my brain, Captain Carse—though I must confess it is not +exactly the thought you mention." A smile, veiled by the smoke of the +cigarro, appeared on his lips.</p> + +<p>The Hawk looked at him closely: the words had a hidden meaning, and it +was clear he was not intended to miss the implied threat. But what was +Ku Sui's thought? Back in his mind an anxiety grew, indefinite, vague +and devilish.</p> + +<p>And that vague anxiety was still with him when, fifty-seven minutes +later, the asteroid returned from its inverted U-flight, slowed in its +hurtling drop from space and hovered directly over the secret, hidden +laboratory of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2><i>White's Brain—Yellow's Head</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>o Friday it was a bad mistake to reveal the location of the +laboratory to Dr. Ku Sui. From him above all men had that location up +to now been kept. Just a few days before, Hawk Carse had risked his +life to preserve the secret. And yet now, deliberately, he was showing +it to the Eurasian!</p> + +<p>Nervously, Friday watched him, and he saw that his eyes were alive +with interest as they scanned the visi-screen. It was too much for the +Negro.</p> + +<p>"Captain Carse," he whispered, coming close to the adventurer, "look, +suh—he's seein' it all! Shouldn't I blindfold him?"</p> + +<p>Carse shook his head, but turned to Dr. Ku, where he sat bound in the +chair scrutinizing the visi-screen.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Doctor," he said, "there it is—what you have searched for so +long—the refuge and the laboratory of Eliot Leithgow."</p> + +<p>"There, Captain?" murmured the Eurasian. "I see nothing!"</p> + +<p>And true, the visi-screen showed nothing but a hill, a lake, a swamp, +and the distant, surrounding jungle.</p> + +<p>That spot on Satellite III had been most carefully chosen by the +Master Scientist and Carse as best suiting their needs. It lay at +least a thousand miles—a thousand miles of ugly, primeval +jungle—from the nearest unfriendly isuan ranch, and was diametrically +opposite Port o' Porno. Thus it allowed Leithgow and Carse to come and +go with but faint chance of being observed, and the steady watch kept +through the laboratory's telescopic instruments lessened even that. +And even if their movements to and from the laboratory had been +observed, a spy could have discovered little, so ingeniously was the +camouflage contrived to use to best advantage the natural features of +the landscape.</p> + +<p>At this spot on Satellite III there was a small lake, long rather than +wide. At its shallow end, the lake lost itself in marshy, thick-grown +swamps; at its deep end it washed against the slopes of a low, rounded +hill. Topping the hill was a rude ranch-house, which to the casual eye +would appear the unimportant habitation of some poor jungle-squatter, +with beds of various vegetables and fruits growing around it, and +guarded against the jungle's animals by what looked like a makeshift +fence. The ground inside the fence had been cleared save for a few +thick, dead stumps of oxi trees, gnarled and weather-beaten, which +made the whole outlay look crude and desolate.</p> + +<p>So desolate, so poor, so humble, as not to deserve a second glance +from the lowest of scavenger or pirate ships. So misleading!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse had brought the invisible asteroid to a halt perhaps a half mile +above the hill. The minutes were slipping by, bringing the two-hour +deadline ever closer, but he did not skimp his customary caution on +approaching the laboratory. From the control room, he swept the +electelscope over the surrounding terrain, and soon sighted the band +of isuanacs Eliot Leithgow had mentioned.</p> + +<p>Through the 'scope's magnifying mirrors they seemed but yards away, +though they were wandering knee-deep in the marshes at the far end of +the lake. All their repulsive details stood out clearly.</p> + +<p>More beasts than men, were such isuanacs (pronounced ee-swan-acs), so +called from the drug that had betrayed them step by step to a pit in +which there was no intelligence, no light, no hope—nothing but their +mind-shattering craving. In many and unpredictable ways did the drug +ravish their bodies. They were outcasts from the port of outcasts, +driven out of Porno into the wilderness, where they tracked out their +miry ways searching ever for the isuan weed until some animal ended +their enslavement, or the drug itself finally killed them in +convulsions. They were the legion of the damned.</p> + +<p>This band of half a dozen was typical, grubbing through the slime of +the swamp, snarling at each other, now and again fighting over a leaf, +then squatting down in the mud where they were, to chew on it, their +torture of mind and body momentarily forgotten. Rags, mud-caked and +foul, partly covered their emaciated bodies: their hair was matted, +their eyes blood-shot....</p> + +<p>Carse noted their position and looked up at Friday.</p> + +<p>"Get the Master Scientist for me, please," he requested. The radio +connection took only seconds: and then he said into the microphone:</p> + +<p>"Eliot? We're directly above you, as you probably have seen. All +well?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse. The laboratory's in readiness. But those +isuanacs—they're still outside."</p> + +<p>"I've seen them, and I'm going to drive them away. Then I'll be down +to you. Have the upper entrance ready."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk turned back to the controls. Taking the space-stick out of +neutral, he moved it very slightly down and to one side. Ban and +Friday, not understanding his intention, watched the visi-screen.</p> + +<p>The whole mass of rock that was the asteroid changed position at a +gentle speed. The band of isuanacs came nearer and nearer, and then +were to the right. Completely oblivious of the great bulk hovering +above them, they continued their grubbing through the swamp; and then +the asteroid was over the jungle beyond them, and lowering its craggy +under-side.</p> + +<p>The under-side brushed the crown of the jungle. The trees bent, +crackled and broke, as if swept by a vicious but silent hurricane. +Only a moment of contact; but in that moment a square mile of +interwoven trees and vines was swept low—and to the isuanacs the +effect, as was intended, was terrifying.</p> + +<p>They stared at the phenomenon. There had been no sound, no whip of +wind, nothing—yet all those trees had bent and crashed splintering to +the ground. Their slavering lips open, the isuan weed forgotten, they +stared: and then howling and shrieking they broke and went splashing +off panic-stricken through the marsh.</p> + +<p>In five minutes the band had disappeared into the jungle in the +opposite direction and the district was cleared; and by that time +Hawk Carse was again in his space-suit, out of the control room and +busy at the mechanism of one of the great ship-sized port-locks in the +dome, having left behind him both Ban and Friday to guard Dr. Ku.</p> + +<p>He mastered the controls of the port-lock quickly, and swung inner and +outer doors open. He glided through, and then, a giant, clumsy figure, +poised far out in the air, a soft breeze washing his face as he gazed +down at the hill five miles below, judging his descent. As he did not +use the infra-red instrument hanging from his neck, the asteroid might +not have been there at all.</p> + +<p>A moment or so later, after a straight, swift drop, Carse landed on +the hill, close to a particular, gnarled oxi-tree stump. The nearby +ranch-house looked deserted, the whole place seemed desolate. The Hawk +waddled over to the stump, pressed a crooked little twig sticking out +from it, and a section of the seeming-bark slid down, revealing the +hollow, metal-sided interior of a cleverly camouflaged shaft.</p> + +<p>There were rungs inside, but Carse could not use them. He squeezed +himself in, closed the entrance panel, and, carefully manipulating his +gravity controls, floated down. A descent of twenty-five feet, and he +was on the floor of a short, level corridor with gray walls and +ceiling.</p> + +<p>Carse clumped along to the door at the other end of the corridor, +opened it, and stepped into the hidden underground laboratory of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, which, with its storerooms, living +quarters and space-ship hangar, had been built into the hollowed-out +hill.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft1"><img src="images/image_w1.jpg" alt="W" width="78" height="54" /></div> +<p>elcome back, Carse!"</p> + +<p>"Hello, Eliot," the Hawk nodded, rapidly divesting himself of the +suit but retaining his infra-red device. "You've lost no time, I see."</p> + +<p>The elderly scientist, his frail form clad in a buff-colored smock, +turned and surveyed the laboratory. In the center of the square room +five improvised operating tables were drawn up, each one flooded +individually with, light from focused flood-tubes above in the white +ceiling. Flanking them were tables for instruments and sterilizers, +and, more prominent, two small sleek cylindrical drums, from one of +which sprouted a tube ending in a breathing-cone.</p> + +<p>"The best I could do on such short notice," Leithgow commented.</p> + +<p>"Where are your assistants?"</p> + +<p>"At work on the V-27. All I had on hand is in those cylinders."</p> + +<p>"Much?"</p> + +<p>"Enough for twelve hours for one man, but the process of its +manufacture is accelerating; fortunately I had plenty of ingredients. +Of course I've divined your intention, Carse. Ku Sui to perform the +operations under the V-27. And it's possible, possible! It's +stupendous—and possible!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk, "but more later. I'm going up now to get Dr. Ku. +I'll use the air-car. It's ready?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." Leithgow answered. "But, Carse—one question I must ask—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk, already halfway to the door in the opposite wall of the +laboratory, paused and looked back inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"What bodies are to be used?"</p> + +<p>"The only ones available, Eliot," the adventurer replied, "since Ku +Sui, in his attempt to destroy the brains, left us only two hours—now +one hour—to complete the first steps of the transfer. They'll be +those four white assistants of his—those men, you remember, whose +intellects he's dehumanized—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes?" Leithgow pressed him eagerly. "And the fifth?"</p> + +<p>"A robot coolie."</p> + +<p>"Good God!"</p> + +<p>"I know, Eliot! It won't be pleasant for one of those brains to find +itself in a yellow body. But it's that or nothing."</p> + +<p>The scientist nodded slowly, his first expression of shock leaving his +old face to sadness: "But, a coolie. A coolie...."</p> + +<p>"Come, Eliot, we need speed! Speed! We've but an hour, remember, to +complete the first steps! I'll have Ku Sui and the five men down +immediately."</p> + +<p>The Hawk opened the door and strode down the long corridor beyond. His +footsteps were swiftly gone: and then the sound of another door +opening and closing. In the laboratory there was a murmur from the old +man.</p> + +<p>"A coolie! A scientist's brain in that ugly yellow head! When +consciousness returns, what a cruel shock!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2><i>Four Bodies</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>awk Carse had gone into Leithgow's ship hangar.</p> + +<p>It was a vast place, occupying most of the hollowed-out space of the +hill. Seventy feet high and more than two hundred feet long, it was, +and, like the rest of the rooms, metal-walled and sound-proofed. Eliot +Leithgow's own personal space-ship, the <i>Sandra</i>, rested there on its +mooring cradle, and by its side was the laboratory's air-car, an +identical shape in miniature, designed for atmospheric transit.</p> + +<p>The adventurer, a silent, swift figure, went straight to the air-car +and climbed into its control seat. He tested the controls, found them +responsive, then pressed a button set apart from the others: and the +huge port-lock door set in the farther wall of the hangar slid +smoothly open, revealing a metal chamber similar to that of the ship +port-lock on Ku Sui's asteroid. But whereas the chamber of the +asteroid's port-lock was for vacuum-atmosphere, this was for +water-atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The clamps of the mooring cradle were released, and the air-car moved +gently into the lock chamber. The door swung shut behind. On the +pressing of another button there sounded a gurgling and splashing of +water, and quickly the chamber was filled. The air-car was now a +submarine. All these operations were effected by radio control from +within it.</p> + +<p>When the water filled the inside of the chamber, the second door +opened automatically, and the car started forward through a long +steel-lined, water-filled tube. It continued on even keel until Carse, +watching through the bow window, saw a red light flash in the ceiling +of the tube: and then he tilted the car and rose.</p> + +<p>A second later, the shiny, water-dripping shape of the car broke +through the surface of the lake that edged on the hill, and forsook +the water for the air.</p> + +<p>To an outside observer, the appearance of the air-car and its +subsequent movements would have been incomprehensible. There lay the +hill, desolate, barren, apparently lifeless: and there, washing +against its slopes, the lake; nothing more. Then suddenly a curve of +gleaming steel thrust up through the muddy water, rose swiftly almost +straight into the cloudless blue of the sky, and as suddenly +disappeared, and remained gone from sight, as if the ether had opened +and swallowed it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_u.jpg" alt="U" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>sing his infra-red device, Carse brought the car in neatly through +the ship-size port-lock of the dome, and sped it across to the +central building, to land lightly beside one of the wings. Debarking, +he ran down the wing's passage and in a few seconds was back in the +asteroid's control room.</p> + +<p>Friday was sitting in a chair close by the bound Eurasian; Ban Wilson, +more restless, was pacing up and down. The Hawk nodded in response to +their looks of welcome and issued curt orders.</p> + +<p>"All ready. Ban, the air-car's just outside; go over and get those +four men and the coolie and put them in it. Have your raygun ready, +but don't use it if humanly possible. We're going down to the +laboratory. I want speed. Please hurry."</p> + +<p>"Right Carse!"</p> + +<p>"Friday," the Hawk continued, "help me untie Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>They stooped to the chair and the impassive, silken figure sitting in +it, and in a moment the bonds were ripped off; all save those on the +wrists. Stretching himself, the Eurasian asked:</p> + +<p>"You are taking the brains down now, Captain Carse?"</p> + +<p>"No—just you, your assistants and that one coolie, this trip. Master +Leithgow and I wish to have a talk with you."</p> + +<p>"I am always agreeable, my friend."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk, "you'll be surprisingly agreeable. And truthful +and helpful, too. Now—outside, please, and do not attempt to delay me +in any way. I am in a great hurry, and consequently will not be +patient at any tricks." He turned to the Negro. "Friday. I'm leaving +you here on guard. Stay alert, gun handy, and keep in radio contact. +I'll be back soon."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>alking behind his captive, the Hawk left, passing down the wing to +the air-car outside. There, Ban Wilson was waiting with the four white +assistants of Dr. Ku and the one robot-coolie, all unarmed, stolid, +emotionless. Carse placed them all in the rear seats of the car's +compartment, Ban facing them with drawn raygun. Then with a hum from +its generators the car raised, wheeled, slid forward, until through +the large port-lock, and swooped down to the lake.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui watched everything with an interest he did not attempt to +disguise. There was being revealed to him the secret entrance to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory, and long had he sought for that laboratory, +long pondered on its probable location. No doubt, at various times, +pissing over, he had seen the barren hill and its flanking lake, but +had never given them a second glance. Yet here, right in the lake, was +the doorway to Leithgow's refuge!</p> + +<p>The air-car lowered like a humming bird to the lake's surface, paused +and dipped under. The light left the sealed ports and entrance +hatchway, and the water pressed around, dark and muddy. Down the car +sunk, apparently without direction, its course very slow, until ahead, +out of the blackness, a spot of red winked.</p> + +<p>At once the air-car made towards it and slid into the tube leading +through the hill. Quickly it was in the chamber of the lock, the outer +door closed automatically behind, the water was drained out, and then +the inner door opened and the car, dripping, emerged into the +brilliantly-lit hangar and went to rest in its mooring cradle beside +Leithgow's space-ship.</p> + +<p>A minute later its passengers were in the laboratory of the Master +Scientist.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku Sui took in the arrangements made in the laboratory with a +swift glance, and then his eyes went to a door that opened in the +opposite wall and to the slight, smock-garbed figure that came through +it. He smiled.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Master Leithgow! A return visit, you see. At Captain Carse's +invitation. It is very interesting to me, this home of yours: so +cleverly concealed!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow vouchsafed his archenemy no more than a look, but turned to +the Hawk.</p> + +<p>"You are ready, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Some preliminaries first, Eliot. These men, the four whites and the +yellow, must be put in some place of safety. You can take care of +them, Ban. One of the storerooms; lock them in. You remember your way? +Then, better take off your suit."</p> + +<p>Ban nodded, and led the five robot humans out. Leithgow, Hawk Carse +and Ku Sui were left alone in the laboratory, and for a minute there +was silence.</p> + +<p>How much had passed between these three! How many plots, and +counter-plots: how much blood: how many lives affected! The feud of +Hawk Carse and Dr. Ku Sui—and Eliot Leithgow, who was the chief cause +of it—here again had come to a head. Here again were all the varied +forces of brains and guile, science and skill, marshaled in the great, +vital game on whose outcome depended the restoration of Eliot Leithgow +and the lives of the coordinated brains and, indeed, though more +distantly, the fate of all the tribes of men on all the planets. For +if Ku Sui won free he would go on irresistibly, and his goal was the +domination of the solar system....</p> + +<p>Three men, alone in a room—and the course of the creature Man being +affected by their every move. Large words: but the histories of the +period bear them out. Though, doubtless, Ku Sui alone knew how great +were the stakes as they stood there in the laboratory.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>awk Carse was uneasy. The odds seemed all on his side—yet there was +Ku Sui's strange, almost imperceptible smile, his mysterious words up +on the asteroid, his smooth, unruffled assurance! What did these +things mean? He intended now to find out. He said, tersely:</p> + +<p>"Eliot. I have informed Dr. Ku that he is to be the means of the +transplantation of the coordinated brains to living human bodies, +since he is the only person capable of performing the operations. He +does not believe that we can force him to do our will, yet all the +same he is taking no chances: he started the death of the brains. We +shall have to work very fast—all right. But Dr. Ku has other cards to +play against us, and I don't know what they are. You and I must find +out now."</p> + +<p>"I somehow feel that you mistrust me," interposed the Eurasian with +mock sadness. "Ah, if you could only read my mind.... Or can you? Is +that what you are coming to?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk glanced at Leithgow; and Leithgow nodded, and placed a metal +chair close to one of the cylindrical drums—the one fitted with a +tube and breathing cone.</p> + +<p>"Will you sit there. Dr. Ku?" Carse asked.</p> + +<p>The green eyes scanned the drum.</p> + +<p>"A gas, Master Leithgow?"</p> + +<p>"That is all. Not harmful, not painful."</p> + +<p>"I see. I see...." the Eurasian murmured. And suddenly, he smiled at +the two men facing him, and said pleasantly to Carse:</p> + +<p>"Things repeat! Not long ago I asked you to sit in a chair and submit +to a treatment of mine, and you did as I asked. After so gallant a +precedent, how could I refuse? All right. Now, Master Leithgow, your +gas!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>ith gentle fingers Eliot Leithgow fitted the cone on the Eurasian's +face and fastened it there. The fingers and thumb of one hand he kept +on Dr. Ku's pulse; with the other he pulled over slowly a control set +in the side of the drum. A ticking and slight hissing became audible, +and two indicators on the drum quivered and crept downward.</p> + +<p>A minute of this—the ticking and soft hissing, the indicator's slow +fall, the silk-clad figure in the chair, watched closely by Carse on +one side and Eliot Leithgow on the other—and a change was apparent. A +ripple flowed over the Eurasian's silken garments; the body appeared +to loosen up, to become free of all muscular and mental tension. The +gas hissed on.</p> + +<p>"The first step," murmured Leithgow abstractedly, out of his +concentration on dials and patient. "The muscles—notice—relaxed. The +will—the ego—the nexi of emotions and volitions which oppose +external direction—all being worked upon, submerged, neutralized—but +not his knowledge, not his skill. No—all that he will retain! You'll +notice nothing more until you see his eyes. A few minutes. What says +the red hand? Thirteen. At nineteen it should be completed."</p> + +<p>Carse watched intently. It was wonderful to know that when the correct +amount of this substance, which he knew only as V-27, had been +administered, and Ku Sui awoke, there would be no enmity in him, no +opposition to their demands, no fencing with wits; that this same Ku +Sui, his great mentality unimpaired, would be subservient and entirely +dependable.</p> + +<p>"Seventeen," murmured the old scientist. "Eighteen ... now!" With a +flick of his fingers he shut off the stream of V-27 and gently +unloosened the cone from Dr. Ku's face.</p> + +<p>The ascetic features were in repose, the eyelids closed, their long +black lashes lying against the delicate saffron of the skin. Dr. Ku +Sui seemed resting in dreamless, unclouded sleep. But for only a +moment. Soon the eyelids quivered and slowly opened—and a great +change was immediately visible in the man's green eyes.</p> + +<p>Many observers have recorded that under the veiled, enigmatic eyes of +Dr. Ku Sui there lurked a sultry glimmer of fire; or perhaps it was +that the observers who met these eyes always imagined the fire, being +conscious of the devil and the tiger in the man. But Carse and +Leithgow now saw that all that was gone.</p> + +<p>No mask lay over the green eyes now, no spark of fire glinted deep in +them. They were clear and serene; they hid nothing; almost they were +the eyes of a fresh, innocent child. Dr. Ku Sui, he of a hundred +schemes, a score of plots, he of the magnificent capacity and untiring +brain bearing ever toward his goal of lordship of the solar system—it +was as if he had slipped into a magic pool whose waters had washed him +clean and given him innocence and eyes of peace....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Eurasian breathed deeply, then smiled at the two men standing by +him.</p> + +<p>"Now," whispered Eliot Leithgow. "Ask him anything. He will answer +truthfully."</p> + +<p>The Hawk lost no time. He asked:</p> + +<p>"Dr. Ku, you will perform the brain transplantations for us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my friend."</p> + +<p>The man's tone was different. Gone was the suaveness, the customary +polite mockery; it was frank, open, genuinely pleasant.</p> + +<p>"Is it true, Dr. Ku, that your coordinated brains will die, if left in +their case?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they will die if left there."</p> + +<p>"Within what time, to save them, must the operations to transplant +them into human bodies be started?"</p> + +<p>"Within twenty-five, perhaps thirty, minutes at the most."</p> + +<p>"Can all five brains be given the initial steps for transplantation +into the heads of your four white assistants and the coolie prisoner +within one hour—the remaining half of the two hours the brains said +they would retain the necessary vitality?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku smiled at him. There was no malice in the thunderbolt that he +unleashed then. He simply told what he knew to be the truth.</p> + +<p>"By fast work they could be, and so saved, although the subsequent +operations will take weeks. But the brains cannot be transplanted into +the heads of my four white assistants."</p> + +<p>"What?" Both the Hawk and Leithgow cried the word out together. "They +cannot?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku looked at them as though astonished.</p> + +<p>"Why, no, my friends! I wish I were able to, but I cannot perform the +operations by myself, unaided. That would be impossible, absurd.... +You seem startled. Surely you must have known that those assistants +would be vital to the work! I have taught them, you see; trained them; +they were specialists in brain surgery to begin with, and I do not +believe there are any others this side of Mars who could take their +place in operations of this type. Without them, I could never +transplant the brains."</p> + +<p>This, then, had been the trick up his sleeve! This was why, in the +control room of the asteroid, he had shown relief when the Hawk told +him what bodies were to be used for the transplantation! For he had +known that, whatever Eliot Leithgow's method of forcing him to +perform the operations might be, and no matter how efficacious, the +coordinated brains simply could not be put in the heads of his four +assistants—because the assistants were themselves needed for the +operations!</p> + +<p>"Then—it's hopeless!" said the Master Scientist bitterly. "All this +for nothing! You might find other bodies in Port o' Porno, +Carse—condemned men, criminals—but Porno's an hour away, two hours' +round trip, and in thirty minutes the brains will be too weak to +save...."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," Ku Sui continued. "I should have told you before, +perhaps. If there were any way out I knew of, I would tell you but +there does not seem to be...."</p> + +<p>"Yes," broke in Hawk Carse suddenly. His left hand had been pulling at +his bangs of flaxen hair; his brain had been working very fast. He +added coldly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is a way."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_l.jpg" alt="L" width="33" height="50" /></div> + +<p>eithgow and Ku Sui looked at him inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"We need four bodies," he went on. "We have one—the coolie; he is not +needed to assist in the operations. Four bodies—and here, ready, in +twenty-five minutes. Not the bodies of normal men, of those with life +ahead of them. No. That would be murder. Four bodies of condemned +men—men with no hope left, nothing left to live for. I can get them!"</p> + +<p>He brushed aside Ku Sui's and Leithgow's questions. He was all steel +now, frigid, intent, hard. "Ban!" he called. "Ban Wilson!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse?" Ban had been waiting outside the laboratory.</p> + +<p>"Put on your propulsive space-suit. Hurry. Then here."</p> + +<p>"Right!"</p> + +<p>Carse ran over to where he had left his suit and rapidly got inside. +As he did so, he said:</p> + +<p>"Eliot, there's fast work to be done while I'm gone with Ban. You must +take your assistants and Dr. Ku up to the asteroid in the air-car and +transfer down here all the equipment Dr. Ku says he'll need. Be +extremely careful with the case of coordinated brains. If you possibly +can, have everything in readiness by the time Ban and I return with +the four bodies."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson, in his suit, entered the laboratory. The Hawk gestured him +to the door which led to the tree-shaft to the surface.</p> + +<p>"But, Carse, <i>what</i> bodies? Where can you get four more living human +bodies?" Leithgow cried.</p> + +<p>"No time, now, Eliot!" the Hawk rapped out, turning at the door. "Just +do as I say—and hurry! I'll get them!"</p> + +<p>And he was gone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2><i>The Promise Fulfilled</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> +<p>lthough puzzled by the Hawk's promise, Leithgow could only put his +trust in it and go ahead with the preparations as he had been +directed. He took two of his three laboratory assistants off their +hurried manufacture of quantities of the V-27, and with Ku Sui went +out into the air-car. Passing by way of tube and lake and air, they +were quickly inside the dome on the asteroid, and then into Ku Sui's +laboratory, where Friday waited on guard.</p> + +<p>Completely docile and friendly, the Eurasian indicated the various +instruments and devices he would need for the operations, and these +were transported quickly. Then came the case of coordinated brains. +Dr. Ku detached in connections with expert fingers, and all but +Leithgow took a corner and carried it with infinite care to the +air-car outside.</p> + +<p>"Do I stay here, suh?" Friday asked the Master Scientist in a +whisper. Though informed of the change in Dr. Ku effected by the V-27, +he was still very suspicious of him. "Seems to me he's a bit too meek +and mild, suh. I think I ought to go down and watch him."</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow did not quite know what answer to give. The Eurasian +forced the decision.</p> + +<p>"I will need," he observed, in his new, frank voice, "all the +assistance you can possibly give me. I am faced by a tremendous task, +and the use of every man will be necessary. I would suggest, Master +Leithgow that the Negro be brought down."</p> + +<p>And so Friday came and the asteroid was left unguarded. A mistake, +this turned out to be, but under the circumstances Eliot Leithgow +could hardly be blamed for it. There was so much on their minds, so +much work of vital importance, so desperate a need for speed, that +quite naturally other considerations were subordinated. The asteroid, +to the naked eye, was invisible; it could attract no attention; its +occupants had all been disposed of. Certainly it seemed safe enough to +leave it unguarded for a while.</p> + +<p>However, Eliot Leithgow took one precaution. Down in his own +laboratory again, in the midst of the work of transferring Dr. Ku's +operating equipment from the air-car, he called aside one of his +assistants and instructed him to go and survey the asteroid through +the infra-red device every ten minutes: and with this order the old +scientist dismissed the matter from his mind, and turned all his +energies to preparing the laboratory for the operations.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_u.jpg" alt="U" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>nder Ku Sui's directions his cases of equipment were brought in and +arrayed, and the various drills and delicate saws, and such other +instruments as worked by electricity, were connected. Everything was +sterilized. Rapidly the plain, square room assumed the appearance of +an operating arena, the five tables in the center, spotlessly white +and clean under the direct beams of the tubes hanging from the +ceiling, at the head of every table a stand on which were containers +of antiseptics, bottles of etheloid, a breathing cone, rolls of gauze +and other materials, and along the edge of the stand identical, +complete sets of fine instruments.</p> + +<p>The case of coordinated brains was brought into the laboratory last. +The inner liquid was now dark and apparently lifeless; to the casual +eye, it would not have seemed possible that the five grayish mounds +immersed in the liquid held life. And, indeed, Leithgow looked at them +doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure they're still alive? Do you think there's still time?" +he asked Dr. Ku.</p> + +<p>The Eurasian picked up a long, slender, tubelike instrument with a +dial topping it. Then, going to the brain-case, he touched a cleverly +concealed catch and a square pane set in the top of the case swung +back. He dipped the instrument he held into the liquid, and for a +moment stood silent, watching the dial. Then he took it out, re-closed +the pane and turned to Leithgow.</p> + +<p>"A test," he explained. "The indicator, interpreted means we have +about forty-eight minutes in which to complete the first phase of the +transplantation of the brains into human heads. It might be done if we +start in eight minutes. But the human heads—?" He paused.</p> + +<p>"Eight minutes!" said Leithgow worriedly. "Eight minutes for Carse to +come! He promised the bodies, but ... well, we can only go ahead with +the preparations and trust to him. Is everything ready?"</p> + +<p>"All but my assistants. I had better see them now."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Master Scientist issued an order to one of his men, and presently +the four white assistants of Dr. Ku were led into the laboratory. For +these men, no V-27 was needed; their brains were utterly subservient +to Dr. Ku Sui, and his orders they would obey unquestioningly, no +matter what the work. There was no danger from them.</p> + +<p>They stood motionless, their eyes fastened on their master, as he +spoke to them.</p> + +<p>"Brain operations," he said. "These"—he indicated the case—"are to +be transplanted again into human heads. You have done work similar to +it before; you know the routine. But now it must be quick. Synchronize +your speed with mine; I will be working very rapidly, and it is vital +that you be in harmony with me every instant. When the bodies come, +you will prepare the heads: and then you will attend me through every +step. You understand." He turned to the old scientist. "Operating +gowns, gloves, masks, Master Leithgow?"</p> + +<p>"I have your own. Over there. Your black costume is among them."</p> + +<p>But Leithgow's answer was abstracted. Four minutes for Carse to come! +Or else, everything lost! He busied himself helping the four surgeons +and two of his own assistants into the white, sterilized gowns, and +the masks that left only the eyes free and the skin-tight rubber +gloves, but his mind was not with his actions. The old man looked very +frail now; his age showed in the deep lines now eminent on his face. +Three minutes—swiftly two....</p> + +<p>"At least," observed Ku Sui, "we have one body ... the coolie. I had +better start immediately on him."</p> + +<p>"Bring him out," Leithgow instructed one of his men. "One brain will +be saved. But—<i>there!</i> Thank God! Hear that? Coming down the passage? +It's Carse, returning!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was Carse. He and Ban Wilson, coming down the passage from the top +of the tree-shaft. Everyone in the laboratory could hear plainly the +heavy, sliding tread of the great space-boots. Eliot Leithgow was +first to the door. He opened it, peered through eagerly and called:</p> + +<p>"Carse? You've got them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Eliot. Here—we need help."</p> + +<p>The Hawk's voice sounded weary. Friday and the scientist ran down the +passageway until they reached the adventurer. In the faint light, they +saw he was carrying a limp body. He laid it carefully down on the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Ban's coming down with another," he said, "and there are two more +above. Go up and get them, Friday."</p> + +<p>The Negro started to obey. But Eliot Leithgow did not move, did not +utter a sound. He stood staring at the body Carse had laid down. The +parchmentlike skin of his face seemed to whiten; that was all; but he +winced and slowly brushed his eyes with his hands when, in a moment, +Ban Wilson floated down the shaft and, approached with a second +unconscious body.</p> + +<p>At last Leithgow whispered:</p> + +<p>"They're all—like that, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the emotionless voice. "There were two others, but we +let them go. They were worse." The gray eyes looked steadily at Eliot +Leithgow. "I know," the Hawk said. "It's horrible—but it can't be +helped. It was these or nothing. There was no choice."</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse had fulfilled his promise. He had brought back four +isuanacs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h2><i>Ordeal</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> +<p>ive bodies lay on the operating tables in Eliot Leithgow's +laboratory. The air, hushed and heavy, was pervaded by the various +odors of antiseptics and etheloid. The breathing cones had been +applied to each of the bodies, and they were now locked fast in +controlled unconsciousness.</p> + +<p>On the first table lay the body of the robot-coolie, a man of medium +size, sturdy, well-muscled, with the smooth round yellow face and stub +nose of his kind. His short-cropped, bristly black hair had been +shaved off; the head was now bald. That head was destined to hold the +mighty brain of Master Scientist Raymond Cram.</p> + +<p>On the second table lay a twisted, distorted thing, an apelike body +with which fate had played grotesque pranks. It was hairy, of middle +height, and its dark skin all over was wizened and coarse, almost like +the bark of a tree. The legs were short and bowed, the hands stubby +claws; the face, puckered even in unconsciousness, was that of a +gargoyle in pain. The long matted hair had been shaved away; the large +pate washed with antiseptics. Soon, were the operation successful, +that head would hold the brain of Professor Edgar Estapp, world-famous +chemist and bio-chemist.</p> + +<p>On the third table lay a shape skeletonlike in appearance, so +emaciated was it, so closely did the bones press into the dry, +fever-yellowed skin. Of one leg, only the stump was left; this +creature had been forced to hop or crawl his way through the isuan +swamps. The head, too, was no more than a skull, with great sunken +dark-rimmed eyes, discolored fangs and loose, leathery lips. There had +been no hair on this death's head; it had long been bald, and now, +washed, clean for the first time in months or even years, it was to +hold the brain of Dr. Ralph Swanson, Earth's one-time leader in the +science of psychology.</p> + +<p>On the fourth table lay a giant's body—but a hollow giant, a giant +made thin and pitiful by the ravages of his destroyer, isuan. A +roistering, free-booting space-ship sailor, this man may once have +been, but, from the drug, the mighty arms had been twisted and +shrivelled, the strong legs wasted away. One ear had been torn from +the skull in an old brawl, and what was left was naked and ugly to the +eye. Behind that bitter, drug-coarsened face would be the new home of +the brain of Sir Charles Esme Norman, wizard of mathematics and once a +polished, charming Englishman.</p> + +<p>On the fifth table lay a dwarf. Its ridiculous body was not over four +and a half feet long, though the head was larger than that of a normal +man. In the old dark ages on Earth this body would have served for the +jester of a lord, the comic butt of a king; in more recent times as +the prize of a circus side-show. The huge, weighty head with its ugly +brooding mask of a face, the child's body below—this was for the +brain of Professor Erich Geinst, the solitary German who had stood +preeminent on Earth in astronomy.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hese creatures were the result of Hawk Carse's desperate search. They +had composed, with one other, the band of isuanacs that had been +rooting in the swamp at the end of the lake when the asteroid had +first arrived. The Hawk had remembered them, and had quickly seen that +they were the only answer to the problem. And so, with Ban Wilson, he +had gone out for them, his mind steeled to the ghastly thought of the +great scientists' brains in such bodies. In space-suits they had swept +down on them. There had been no time for considerate measures: the +four isuanacs had been abruptly knocked out by the impact of the great +suits swooping against them, and carried back to the laboratory.</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow had been shocked at the idea of a scientist's brain in +the head of the robot-coolie; how much greater, then, was his horror +when confronted by the need of using these appalling remnants of men! +But he could not protest. What else was there? Ku Sui, under the V-27, +had spoken the truth: the operations would be impossible without the +aid of his four assistants. The brains even now were dying. The choice +was: bodies of isuanacs or death for the brains. The scientist and the +adventurer had chosen.</p> + +<p>Circumstances had required their use. Ku Sui's attempt to kill the +brains, thus inflicting a time limit: the presence of the band of +isuanacs near the laboratory; each circumstance with a long train of +other, minor ones behind it. Chance or Fate—whatever it is—whether +predetermined or accidental—men must wonder at its working, and know +awe from its patterns and results. Seldom, certainly, was there a +pattern more strange than this now being worked out in the laboratory +of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.</p> + +<p>The bodies lay there, washed, shaved and swathed in customary loose +operating garments: globules of etheloid dropped steadily down into +the breathing cones, of hunchback, living skeleton, twisted giant, +dwarf and robot-coolie. One by one the isuanacs dropped with the +falling of the etheloid into unconsciousness—and that was their +farewell to the brains, each one debauched either by isuan-drug or +skill of genius, that they had known.</p> + +<p>And movement began in the laboratory. White-clothed figures, masked +and capped, used gleaming instruments in their gloved hands; and all +the figures were mute—mute from their great concentration on the +delicate work in progress—or mute from horror that would not die....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_s.jpg" alt="S" width="36" height="50" /></div> +<p>o began the ordeal.</p> + +<p>Of its details, Hawk Carse knew little. They were not of his world. +Only for the first half-hour could he follow intelligently what was +being done. He too had put on a white robe, as had Ban Wilson and +Friday; and he stood at one side of the room, a silent, intently +watching figure, with the two other men of action, Ban and the Negro, +while the rest moved in a kind of rhythm. The center-piece was the +black-garbed Ku Sui, moving from this table to that, slim gloved hands +flying, pausing, flying again, steadying, concentrating on a detail, +once more sweeping forward. No more than single words came from him; +he and his assistants worked almost as a whole, in perfect sympathy +and coordination, and a constant stream of instruments flowed to him +and then away, their task done.</p> + +<p>The first table, and then to the second, with one white figure staying +behind at the first, finishing off details of the work, left by the +master. The third table; the fourth; the fifth; and then back to the +first, while two white figures detached themselves from the main group +and went to the nearby case of coordinated brains. An object held in a +specially formed type of pan was lifted out and carried to the first +table; and Carse sensed a crisis in the attitudes of the working men. +This, he knew, was the first great, step. A brain was being re-born. +The fingers of men, and one man in particular, were fashioning a +miracle.</p> + +<p>How could he hope to understand? He could only hang on the movements +of that group of figures, and feel relief as he saw them settle into +smoothness again. Evidently the first crisis was past. A few minutes +more were spent at the first table; then once more Dr. Ku Sui went to +the second, and another object was carried from the coldly gleaming +case.</p> + +<p>And in a long, deep pan standing on short legs beside the case, +something gray and shapeless and warm was placed.</p> + +<p>The first phase came to an end when there were five similar things in +the open pan, and nothing, except the liquid and a multitude of +spidery, disconnected wires, in the case that but shortly before had +harbored the brains of five scientists....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> pause. Relaxation. Tests. The black-clad figure spoke to one in +yellow in a tone of pleased relief.</p> + +<p>"Successful so far, Master Leithgow! We may congratulate ourselves on +the consummation of the first step. It has been done, I believe, well +within the time limit."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku; yes. And now—how long will be needed to finish?"</p> + +<p>"That is up to you. Normally, I would require a month. In that time +all could be done safely, with small chance—"</p> + +<p>"Too long!" said Leithgow.</p> + +<p>Carse intervened:</p> + +<p>"Why too long, Eliot?"</p> + +<p>The old scientist went over close to him, and, in a lowered voice, +explained:</p> + +<p>"Ku Sui would develop immunity to the V-27 in a month. Two weeks of it +would give him part immunity. Even ten days might. He has to be +re-gassed four times a day."</p> + +<p>"But, letting him come out of it every night and resting normally?" +the Hawk objected.</p> + +<p>"I have allowed for that. The gas would still be in his system. +No—nine or ten days is the limit." He raised his voice again to reach +the Eurasian. "Can you complete the work within nine days, Dr. Ku?"</p> + +<p>Ku Sui considered it. At last he said:</p> + +<p>"That is a lot to ask, Master Leithgow. But—it might be possible. +However, it would mean prodigies of sustained, concentrated labor; +work and skill never-ceasing. We'll have to work in shifts, +naturally."</p> + +<p>So it was arranged. All the assistants, both Ku Sui's and Leithgow's, +were portioned off into shifts of four hours' sleep and eight hours' +work: Carse, Ban Wilson and Friday, too, for now every one of them was +needed.</p> + +<p>Nine days for the work of a month—and work as delicate and vital as +could possibly be! Small wonder that in the minds of all of them, the +Hawk and the old scientist, and Ban and the Negro, that period, when +remembered later, seemed no more than a confused, unreal, hazy dream; +rather, a nightmare connected imperishably with the odors of an +operating room, antiseptics, etheloid, and the glint of small, sharp +instruments.</p> + +<p>It was a titanic task, an ordeal that stretched to the limit the +powers of the men working in that confined space. Normal life for them +ceased; the operating room became a new universe. Swiftly they lost +consciousness of time, even with the routine of the changing shifts +and the food which was brought in at regular hours. Antiseptics, +etheloid, the never-ceasing flow of the instruments, the five bodies +lying still and deathlike on the tables, the hard white glare of the +light beating down on them—all this and nothing more—all sealed away +underground from the life of the forgotten world above. On and on and +on....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t is impossible even to conjecture how the mind of Ku Sui saw the +colossal work that he was doing to aid his most bitter enemies. Even +when he was normal there are only moments when, through some recorded +speech or action of his, we can peer past the man's personality into +his brain; how great a sealed mystery must his thoughts remain to us +when held in that abnormal state by Eliot Leithgow's V-27! Envision +it: this arch-foe of Hawk Carse and Leithgow helping their designs, +lending all his intellect, his great skill, to their purposes, aiding +them in everything! Certainly, afterwards, the memory of what he had +been forced to do must have occasioned Dr. Ku many bitter moments. +Regularly, every four waking hours, he was led to the metal chair and +gassed afresh with the V-27; and his expression remained pleasant; his +eyes were always friendly. But the artificial state in which he was +kept showed soon on his face. It lost its clearness and became a +jaundiced yellow in color: and also it grew peaked and drawn.</p> + +<p>But the other faces around him were peaked and drawn, too. The +terrific strain told in definite terms on all, no matter what +stimulants they took to keep going. Many a man would have been driven +to insanity by their sustained, terrible concentration, and the +knowledge that five lives hung on every action, however minute....</p> + +<p>On and on and on, science made into a marathon. Four hours of +exhausted, deathlike sleep; eight hours more of the smells, and the +glaring light, and the moving instruments. Days of this, sealing the +brains permanently into their new homes, into their hideous new +bodies....</p> + +<p>But finally came the climax, and the last exhausted spurt of work. For +the concluding twelve hours there was no sleep or rest for anyone; and +at the end a breathless, haggard tension held them as Dr. Ku Sui, a +shell of his former self, reviewed the results of the nine days' +ordeal. His verdict was:</p> + +<p>"Four have come through, I think, safe. The fifth—I do not know. His +body was near death when he was brought here. He may live or die; it +is impossible to tell now. But it is finished."</p> + +<p>Then the men slept. Some slipped to the floor and slept where they +were. In nine days, the work of a month had been done, and a miracle +wrought. The brains had been born again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h2><i>Flight</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>t was to Hawk Carse that the news of imminent danger came first.</p> + +<p>He had staggered from the laboratory into a sleeping room and, clad as +he was, fallen over into a berth. He would have wakened in a few +hours, such was his custom of years to four-hour watches on ships, but +he was permitted less than an hour of sleep. A hand pulled at him; a +voice kept calling his name. Awareness returned to him slowly as his +brain roused from the coma of sleep.</p> + +<p>"Captain Carse! Captain Carse! Wake up, sir!"</p> + +<p>It was one of Leithgow's assistants, a man named Thorpe. His tone was +excited and his manner distraught.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" the Hawk muttered thickly. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's the asteroid, sir! I was instructed to watch it at intervals, +but I—I guess I fell asleep, and just now—"</p> + +<p>Carse sat up. "Yes? What?"</p> + +<p>"—when I looked, through the glasses—it was gone!"</p> + +<p>"Gone? You're sure? Let me see."</p> + +<p>Swiftly, Thorpe at his heels, Carse strode out from the room to a +cubby just off the laboratory, the watch-post, where observational +electelscopes and visi-screens provided a panorama of the surrounding +territory.</p> + +<p>He gazed through the electelscope, which had been equipped with an +infra-red device and trained on the asteroid, and saw that now, where +the massive body of rock had been poised, there was nothing. Only the +brilliant light of mid-afternoon, the cloudless sky. Carse swept the +glass around. The search was fruitless. The heavens were bare. The +asteroid had gone.</p> + +<p>In half a minute Carse had reasoned out the disappearance, saw the +consequences and made the inevitable decision. Gone was the torpor of +sleep, the weariness of the laboratory; this was a crisis, and this +was his work. During the operations, he had been able merely to obey +orders and do manual work. Now he assumed command.</p> + +<p>"Your lapse has imperilled us all," he said curtly to Thorpe. "From +now on we're in great danger. Stay here and keep on watch, and sound +the alarm immediately if the asteroid reappears."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I—I'm sorry—"</p> + +<p>The adventurer cut him off with a frigid nod and ran on silent, rapid +feet to the laboratory, where both Ban Wilson and Friday lay fast +asleep. Roughly Carse shook them into consciousness. Trained to +shipboard routine and the sudden emergencies of space, they needed but +little time to return to full wakefulness. In staccato sentences the +new situation was outlined to them.</p> + +<p>"The asteroid's gone. That means danger to everything here. We will +have to evacuate. Ban, wake all the men, including Ku Sui and his +assistants, then come to me for further orders. Friday, see that +Leithgow's ship is ready for instant departure. Quick!"</p> + +<p>Alarmed, but without questions, the two parted on their separate +errands. Carse went to the room where Eliot Leithgow lay asleep.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he pallor and weariness of the old scientist's face were emphasized +by the alarming news his friend brought him, but he took it with +spirit, and his voice was level and controlled as he asked:</p> + +<p>"What does it mean, Carse? What must we do?"</p> + +<p>"Leave, Eliot, and at once. We have no choice. Our danger while here +is immense. The asteroid, in the hands of enemies, could crush us like +a fly, simply by coming down on the top of the hill."</p> + +<p>"But who could have taken it? There was no one on it, was there?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk said wryly: "I thought not, but well, you remember the secret +panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory?"</p> + +<p>"Through, which he escaped before? Yes."</p> + +<p>"I suspected that he might have someone hidden behind it, and I +intended to question him when he was under the V-27, but in the +terrific rush of things it slipped my mind. Sheer carelessness, Eliot; +I'm very sorry. I should have known, for when we captured Ku Sui he +spoke some words in Chinese through his helmet-radio. Now I can see +that they must have gone to some man of his hidden there; and that +man, obeying instructions, simply lay low, heard all that passed in +Dr. Ku's laboratory, and then, at a suitable opportunity, took the +asteroid away in search of allies. He knows his master is a prisoner +here and unquestionably he will be back to release him. We must be out +of here and far away by the time he arrives."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Leithgow nodded slowly. "As you say, there is no choice."</p> + +<p>"But your work here is finished, Eliot," Carse went on. "If only we +can get to Earth safely, with Ku Sui and the brains in their new +bodies, we will have achieved everything we wanted to achieve. We have +proof of the crime done you, and we have Ku Sui, too. Your position +will be restored and the blame put where it belongs. But we must leave +for Earth at once! God knows how near the asteroid is, or who's on +it."</p> + +<p>"All right, Carse." The scientist got up. "What are your +instructions?"</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson appeared in the door, reporting that all the men had been +accounted for and awakened. Carse started the wheels moving.</p> + +<p>"Everything of value here must be transported aboard the ship. Eliot, +you know better than I what to take, so you'll assume charge of the +loading. Ban, you and all the men save two of Eliot's assistants will +help. I'll need them to move the bodies. Send them to me in the +laboratory. But first, be sure Ku Sui and his four men are safely +confined. All right; let's go."</p> + +<p>Within half an hour the general evacuation was finished and the ship +loaded.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he <i>Sandra</i>, Leithgow's ship, bearing his daughter's name, was a +sturdy vessel designed more for comfort and utility than speed, and so +her appointments, including offensive and defensive weapons, though +modern were limited. Her commodious cargo-holds were easily capable of +accommodating all of the Master Scientist's laboratory instruments and +devices, the volumes of his extensive library, his great mass of +personal papers and more intimate effects; all the more important +stores of the place, too, and its furnishings. The laboratory and its +surrounding rooms were pretty well stripped.</p> + +<p>The largest of the <i>Sandra's</i> cabins was transformed under the +direction of Leithgow into a hospital bay, and the five cots bearing +the prostrate, unconscious bodies of the patients put there. Though +hastily improvised, this hospital was complete, as fully equipped and +nearly as efficient as if it were on Earth and not in the belly of a +space-ship. The chances of the patients for complete recovery were not +diminished in any way by the sudden necessity for flight.</p> + +<p>In a second, much smaller cabin, Dr. Ku Sui was confined by himself. +Its walls, of course, were of metal, and there was no possible means +of exit from it save by the door, which bore double locks. The +Eurasian, silent and drugged and stupid, immediately stretched his +tall form out on the single berth and in seconds was again sound +asleep. A third cabin was made over to his four assistants.</p> + +<p>With everything completed, the underground refuge bare of articles of +value and the <i>Sandra</i> stored and made ready for the long trip, the +inner door of the exit tube swung open, and the ship slid slowly out +of her cradle and into the water chamber for the last time. Her flight +to Earth had begun.</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow stood near the Hawk in the control cabin, and his old +face was made sad by many memories. For years, this place that he was +now leaving had been his only home, his one sure haven. How carefully, +long ago, had he and Carse planned it and built it! How many times had +they met there, often when danger was close and enemies near, and +cemented still more firmly the bonds between them! To Leithgow, the +hill symbolized safety and friendship and his beloved work. Dangerous, +weary years, those he had spent in the hill, but priceless +nevertheless, warmed as they were by his achievements and the +friendship of Hawk Carse.</p> + +<p>Now he was leaving it and going back to Earth. The outlaw years, it +seemed, were ended: Ku Sui was a prisoner, and the proof of his great +crime, which had been laid to Leithgow, was aboard. Earth—green +Earth! Separate, distinct, peerless in the universe; home of men, of +his kind! He had loved and worked and known honor and respect on +Earth; it held the grave of his wife, and the fresh, warm young love +of his wife reincarnate, his daughter Sandra. He was at last going +home to Earth from his exile on this desolate, raw frontier post.</p> + +<p>There was a choking in Eliot Leithgow's throat at leaving the hill, +and he turned away, afraid at that moment of being observed by the +steel-gray eyes of his friend, Hawk Carse....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he <i>Sandra</i> swam up through the lake's muddy tide and launched +herself, dripping, into the warm air of afternoon. Her generators +hummed with life given them by the firm hand at the controls, and +swiftly she arrowed forth into the blue. With a few words as to the +visual course, Carse handed the space-stick over to Friday, and +devoted himself to the matter of the watches.</p> + +<p>Satellite III dropped swiftly to concavity, as the <i>Sandra</i> was +expertly jockeyed through the rare outer layer of the stratosphere, +became a true globe again. The Negro reported:</p> + +<p>"Through the atmosphere, suh. Orders?"</p> + +<p>"Full acceleration. Continue visually for the present. I'll work out +the true course in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh!"</p> + +<p>The hum of the generators deepened. In a matter of ten minutes, +shipboard routine was arranged, Carse, Friday and Ban splitting the +watches. The Hawk, as was his custom, took the first. Friday was +relieved of the space-stick and immediately went back for sleep, as +did Wilson. Eliot Leithgow did not retire right away, however.</p> + +<p>He watched Carse snap on the automatic control and go to an +electelscope which had been equipped with an infra-red device. He +directed it rearward on Satellite III, back along the course the +<i>Sandra</i> had described, and peered through its eyepiece for several +minutes. Then he turned to the old scientist.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," he said. "No sign of the asteroid as yet. We'll have to +keep careful watch. The visi-screen's useless against the invisibility +of the asteroid; and the high magnification of this scope, with its +resulting small field of view, will require us continually and +methodically to search through a wide circle behind, in the attempt to +pick up the asteroid, should it appear. A tedious job, with chances of +sighting it about even.... At any rate, we'll have some sort of a +head-start," he finished.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>his was the opportunity Leithgow had waited for; he wanted a few +frank words with his friend.</p> + +<p>"Carse," he said slowly, "I wonder just where that man concealed +behind the secret panel would take the asteroid?"</p> + +<p>"I've thought about that too," replied the Hawk. "We may be sure that +he went for allies: Dr. Ku has several on Satellite III. Of them all, +I think he would go for Lar Tantril."</p> + +<p>"Tantril?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. Lar Tantril, the Venusian. A fellow of much +self-confidence and one of Ku Sui's chief agents, and who at +present"—he smiled faintly—"nurses a special bitterness against me. +I told you how I tricked him on his ranch. He'd be very eager to +pursue us in the asteroid simply for the opportunity of repaying me +for that trick." The adventurer's left hand rose to the bangs of +flaxen hair combing down over his forehead, and he murmured, musingly: +"I rather hope it <i>is</i> Lar Tantril...."</p> + +<p>"You hope so?" Leithgow repeated, surprised. "When he hates you so? +And would be on the lookout for tricks? Why?"</p> + +<p>"I would guess, Eliot, that Lar Tantril is not notable for intellect. +Blustering, domineering—pretty much of a braggart, you know. +Certainly he is not a model of caution; and he is not acquainted with +Dr. Ku's asteroid, for he did not even know it existed. He will be +able to run it, of course, with the advice of this hidden man, but +surely he will not have the perception to discern the weakness in it. +Yes, I hope it is he."</p> + +<p>Leithgow went on to the main thing on his mind.</p> + +<p>"I'm a little unsettled, Carse," he admitted. "I've been imagining +this as the end of my outlaw years, and the beginning of my +re-establishment on Earth. But this ship is slow, and I see now that +if the asteroid does pursue us and capture us.... What do you really +think of our chances?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk pursed his lips slightly, and for a little while he looked +away and did not answer. When his voice came, it was tinged with +bitterness.</p> + +<p>"Eliot," he said, "I've been trying to find an excuse for my lapse. +But there is none. It was the blunder of a novice, my not remembering +to question Ku Sui about that secret panel. That was the cardinal +point, yet it slipped my mind, in my preoccupation with the +emergencies connected with the restoration of the brains.</p> + +<p>"Our chances are only fair, Eliot; I'm telling you frankly how it +appears to me. I believe we'll be pursued, and if we are the odds are +greatly against us. The asteroid's far more powerful than we. And +Jupiter only knows what new offensive resources Ku Sui may have given +it: I had no time to study the several strange mechanisms I saw in its +control room. Then, no nearby patrol ship would help us if we were +attacked, for to them our enemy would be invisible, and they'd think +us crazy."</p> + +<p>He paused. But seeing the somber expression on the other's face, he +smiled and cuffed him on the back.</p> + +<p>"But maybe we won't even be pursued, Eliot! Maybe we'll be too far +ahead for them to catch us! No doubt I've made it look too serious, so +cheer up! We're alive, we've got everything we wanted, and we're +hitting at full speed for Earth! And you know the luck of that +space-adventurer they call the Hawk!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow smiled gently in answer, then left the cabin for the sleep he +needed so badly. Hawk Carse was left alone on watch in the fleeing +<i>Sandra</i>.</p> + +<p>A lonely, intent figure, he stood over the chart-table, working out +their best course to Earth. Presently, however, he went back to the +infra-red electelscope and swept it over the leagues behind. Carse +could not detect any sign of the asteroid, but he remained for a +little while at the eyepiece, staring at Satellite III. There it lay, +a diminishing globe, three-quarters of it gleaming in the light flung +by Jupiter. Dark patches mottled it: they would be the jungles. And +there was the scintillant sheet that was the Great Briney Lake, with +Port o' Porno nearby. On the other side of the little world, now, lay +the hill containing Leithgow's laboratory. All going ... going ... +falling swiftly behind. Satellite III, scene of so many clashes, plots +and counter-plots, where so many times he and Eliot Leithgow had +fought off the reaching hand of Ku Sui—soon it would be a million +miles away. What adventures would he have before he saw it again?...</p> + +<p>A little sound came from the Hawk, a half-sigh. Abruptly he called one +of the men on his watch and stationed him at the 'scope, and then he +returned to the chart-table and the work of calculating their course +to Earth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h2><i>In Earth's Shadow</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>our after hour and day after day, for a week the <i>Sandra</i> tracked on +through the boundless leagues, the waxing sunlight beating steadily on +her starboard bow and her silent gravity-plates and singing generators +bringing Earth ever nearer. Friday, who possessed an extensive +knowledge of all the practical sciences, did extra service in the role +of cook, and his regularly served meals disguised the undifferentiated +hours of space into Earth-mornings, noons and nights. Watch in and +watch out, and nothing to disturb the even routine.</p> + +<p>As for the ever-feared pursuit, there was no sign of it. +Systematically and carefully the men stationed at the electelscope +turned it through the region behind, but never did their watching eyes +discern the bulk of the asteroid. Its disappearance, and the kindred +mystery of who had been on it, remained unsolved.</p> + +<p>Therefore peace came to Eliot Leithgow's face, and the tiredness left +his eyes. The long, hunted years were beginning to be washed from him, +and daily, to Carse, he appeared younger. Often in the control cabin +or over a meal he talked of what lay ahead, and the happiness Earth +held waiting for him. There was his daughter, Sandra, whom he had seen +last as a girl of fourteen, and even then interested in his work. She +would be matured now, and she would perhaps be eager to help him in +the work he intended to resume. There was so much of it! Discoveries, +theories, evolved during his fugitive years—now he could complete +them and give them to his old circles of brother scientists. All this +was in his conversations; but secret and unworded in his thoughts were +anticipations of the old dear beauty of Earth, that beauty for which +his ageing heart had pined so long....</p> + +<p>And Earth was drawing nearer.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>nother week passed.</p> + +<p>Twice a day the door of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin was unlocked and he was +brought out under guard for several turns through the ship. Though for +safety's sake they continued to dose him with the V-27, it was +apparent that the gas had less and less effect on him. Four, then +eight, then twelve times a day they re-gassed him—as often as they +dared, considering its ultimate destructive mental effect—but more +and more of the frankness and serenity foreign to his green eyes +melted away. Gradually the normal veil came to hide their depths and +make them enigmatic; and sometimes there was again on his face the +hint of something strong and tigerish and cruel lying waiting. They no +longer trusted him to attend to the five patients. He spoke seldom. A +tall, reserved figure in black silk, attended either by Ban Wilson or +Friday, he strolled through the ship for fifteen minutes and was +returned to his lonely cabin. Of all the marks his experience must +have left upon him, the only one apparent was his silence.</p> + +<p>It was on the seventeenth day that he forsook that silence and +directly accosted Carse. He had a request. The saffron face impassive, +the long lashes lying low over the eyes, he said softly:</p> + +<p>"I wonder, Captain Carse, if I might be permitted a glimpse of the +subjects of my transplantation?"</p> + +<p>Leithgow and Wilson were at the time with Carse in the control cabin, +and they regarded their friend intently, curious as to what the reply +would be. They saw his steel-gray eyes meet Dr. Ku's gaze squarely; +and the two men looked at each other: Hawk Carse, complete victor at +last, and Ku Sui, the vanquished.</p> + +<p>The adventurer answered:</p> + +<p>"Your request is only natural, Dr. Ku. Certainly you may see them, and +perhaps offer an opinion on their progress, which has so far been in +the hands of your assistants. But I shall have to accompany you."</p> + +<p>"You are kind."</p> + +<p>"Take the controls, Ban," Carse directed, and together they left the +cabin.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>here was no visible change in the five bodies. They lay stretched out +in cots, sheets drawn up to their necks, and it seemed almost as if +they were quietly slumbering and would presently wake up; though in +reality consciousness would not return to the fine brains in their +hideous, distorted bodies for many weeks, and then only if the healing +processes were successful. Bandages swathed the heads, leaving eyes +and nostrils alone visible. An assistant of Leithgow's, at present on +watch there, moved occasionally with instrument in hand to time the +fevered pulses.</p> + +<p>"I must ask you to stand back here, Dr. Ku," said the Hawk, indicating +a spot some five feet from the nearest cot. His left arm hung easily +by his side, the hand resting by the butt of his holstered raygun; and +the position was not accidental.</p> + +<p>Ku Sui nodded and doubtless noted the gun, but his eyes were on the +bodies. He stood regarding his own handiwork in silence, his face +inscrutable, and Carse did not disturb him. At last, in a low tone he +asked the assistant:</p> + +<p>"The food injections take successfully?"</p> + +<p>The man nodded.</p> + +<p>"I remember," the beautifully modulated voice went on. "I was not sure +of one subject. Swanson's brain, was it not? Is his condition any +better?"</p> + +<p>"We are not sure."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes ... yes...." He appeared to muse, and no one disturbed him in +the minutes of silence that followed. Finally he looked away and said:</p> + +<p>"It was a great feat. Thank you, Captain Carse. I am pleased by this +glimpse of the miracle my hands were made to perform. I am ready to +return."</p> + +<p>But at the door of his cabin he paused, and his eyes rested again on +the cold, firm face close to him. He said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Captain Carse, you intend to bring me before Earth's World +Court of Justice?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Along with our living proof of your abduction of the five +scientists."</p> + +<p>The Eurasian smiled. "I see. And since there is no questioning that +proof, it would appear that Earthlings will soon levy punishment on +Dr. Ku Sui.... So.... You know, Captain Carse, I find your caution a +great handicap. You keep gassing me; I am locked in; and since I have +observed no excitement aboard the ship, apparently there are no +friends anywhere near me. You have stripped me of everything." His +eyes lowered for a moment. "Everything save this ring."</p> + +<p>On the forefinger of his right hand, set simply in a platinum band, +was a large dark stone.</p> + +<p>"A black opal," said Dr. Ku. "I have worn it for years and I prize it +highly. Perhaps at the last I will give it to you as a memento of +these past years, Captain Carse." And he went into the cabin, where +they gassed him again.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he third week passed.</p> + +<p>Crossing the orbit of Mars, now approximately in opposition to +Jupiter, the <i>Sandra</i> streaked on into the last leg of her long +voyage. The sun was a vast, flame-belching disk on her starboard side, +and ahead lay Earth, growing each hour. Cheerfulness pervaded the +ship, nerves were relaxing, faces lightening. Carse could not remember +when Eliot Leithgow had worn a smile so constantly. It was only +natural, for to the old scientist and his personal assistants Earth +was home, the fulfillment of every desire, the reality and symbol of +normal life and love of man.</p> + +<p>But to Hawk Carse the Green Planet was not home. He was the +adventurer, and wanderer, the seeker of new places with the alluring +lustre of peril. Earth was to him little more than a port of call, and +it brought him sadness to see how eagerly Leithgow stared at her +growing face. Their parting was not far away now.</p> + +<p>The <i>Sandra</i> logged off the miles. Then came the day when only ten +thousand were left, and, soon after, five thousand. Deceleration had +long since been begun. Slightly but unvaryingly the ship's momentum +slackened until she arrived at the two thousand mile mark, where the +great curving stretch of the planet filled her bow windows, and the +well-remembered continents and seas stood out as clearly as on a +tilted classroom globe.</p> + +<p>Carse leaned musing in a corner of the control cabin, oblivious to the +well-meaning but toneless voice with which Ban Wilson, at the +electelscope was butchering a song. A gentle tap on the shoulder +summoned him out of his study.</p> + +<p>He turned and saw that Leithgow had come to him. Carse smiled at the +old scientist, and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Eliot, we'll be in soon now. Apparently we've made it safely, +and there's nothing to stand between you and the day you've waited for +so long."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft1"><img src="images/image_y1.jpg" alt="Y" width="62" height="58" /></div> +<p>es. But Carse—what of you? How long will you stay? I only wish I +could persuade you—"</p> + +<p>"To retire, Eliot? Settle down? Become a humdrum landlocked +Earthling?" He chuckled, and shook his head. "No, no, old friend. Oh, +I'll stay on Earth for a few weeks; I suppose I'll have to, to testify +before the World Court of Justice when it takes up your case; but +after that's settled, I'll be going back. You know me, Eliot: I'll +never change. There are a number of things I must attend to at once. +My ship, the <i>Star Devil</i>, is still on Iapetus, remember; I must find +her and get her tuned up again. She's the fastest craft in space, bar +none. Then I must make the round of my ranches and see that things are +running smoothly. I've a lot of work on the Iapetus ranch, +particularly. Then, there's that Pool of Radium—not that I need the +wealth, if it really exists; but the job has killed so many who have +sought for it that I'd like to take a crack at it myself. Oh, plenty +to do!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow looked at him, and there was all affection in his eyes, and +friendship as close as it can be between men.</p> + +<p>"No, Carse," said Leithgow softly. "I suppose Earth will never get her +gravity on you for keeps. But I hope you will come down occasionally +to see me, and perhaps once a year, say, spend a month with Sandra and +me in our—"</p> + +<p>"Carse!"</p> + +<p>Ban shouted the name out. His face, turned from the electelscope, was +alive with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Here! Look!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"The asteroid! It's close!"</p> + +<p>In two strides Carse was at the eyepiece of the infra-red glass +attached to the instrument. One look through it served to verify Ban's +report. The asteroid of Dr. Ku Sui had at last appeared.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was not more than fifty miles from the <i>Sandra</i>, a craggy fragment +of rock, peanut-shaped, and tipped by its gleaming dome. Its speed +seemed the same as theirs, but its course was different; and to Carse, +that fact immediately explained its sudden appearance. He turned from +the eyepiece with a face grown hard and cold.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's happened," he said. "Instead of a stern chase, which would +give us some chance of spotting them, they at once got off to the side +and have all this time been flanking us. Now they're cutting in, +straight behind, no doubt ready for business. All right. Ban, sound +the alarm."</p> + +<p>Like a gladiator about to step sword in hand into the arena, the +<i>Sandra</i>, though a ship never designed for space duels, girded her +loins and made herself ready for what at its best could only be an +unequal struggle. She was outclassed in weapons, weight and speed—in +all save pilots. She had Hawk Carse at her helm.</p> + +<p>The harsh alarm bell at once rang through the ship, an emergency call +to stations. Carse, at the controls, rapped out another order.</p> + +<p>"Defensive web on, Ban, and build up power for the ray batteries."</p> + +<p>As the echoes of the bell died, a piercing whine grew amidships, and +shreds of blue light swiftly scattered by the <i>Sandra's</i> ports. They +were quickly gone, but they left behind an almost invisible envelope +of blue which enwrapped the ship completely. The defensive web against +attacking rays was on.</p> + +<p>Friday tumbled into the control cabin, and on his heels two of +Leithgow's assistants, the third being on duty with the patients. +Carse briefly explained what had happened. "Friday," he ordered, "you +take the stern ray batteries. Ban—"</p> + +<p>But Ban Wilson had returned to the electelscope, and it had given him +more news. Interrupting, he cried out:</p> + +<p>"They must be attacking! A light just flashed in the dome!"</p> + +<p>With his words they all saw the light. The visi-screen, though it did +not reveal the asteroid, showed the first weapon with which it +struck—a lustrous ray of purple which in a blink had leaped out to +the <i>Sandra</i> and enfolded her. A shower of sparks crackled out from +the ship's defensive web, but the purple ray continued.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that ray, Eliot." Carse said. "What's on our speed +indicator?"</p> + +<p>The scientist's gasp was plainly audible as he read the dial. "Why, +it—it's dropping! Much faster than our deceleration accounts for! +That ray—why, it must have magnetic properties! Carse, the asteroid's +stopping us!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h2><i>The Hawk Strikes</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_n.jpg" alt="N" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>o surprise showed on the Hawk's face, though the others were visibly +shaken. He, at the helm, merely nodded and continued with further +orders.</p> + +<p>"Williams," he said to one of Leithgow's assistants, "get Thorpe and +go and dose Ku Sui with V-27. Give him plenty. Then both of you +station yourselves, ray guns in hand, outside his cabin. We'll take no +chances with him, gassed or not. Friday, open our radio receiver to +the general band. Just the receiver, not the mike.... Our speed, +Eliot?"</p> + +<p>"Down to seven hundred, and falling steadily."</p> + +<p>Carse went to the electelscope, after giving the controls over to Ban.</p> + +<p>Squarely behind the <i>Sandra</i>, and within twenty-five miles, the +peanut-shaped body had come. It was an ominous and silent approach. +The <i>Sandra</i> remained pinned by the purple ray for minutes while the +Hawk studied her aggressor. As he watched the asteroid, the others +watched him; Ban Wilson fidgety, Friday clenching and unclenching his +big hands. Eliot Leithgow with whitened face and shoulders that seemed +to have bowed a little.</p> + +<p>The forward speed of the <i>Sandra</i> decreased to four hundred miles an +hour, and still the Hawk studied the massive body behind....</p> + +<p>A sputter sounded in the radio receiver. Carse turned away from the +electelscope and listened to the heavy Venusian voice that was +suddenly speaking to him from it.</p> + +<p>"Carse, I've got you! You've seen our ray, of course, but have you +looked at your speed-indicator? You're caught—and this time you're +going to stay caught. You cannot possibly resist the magnetic ray I +have on you, and in a few minutes you will be drawn right into me. I +advise you to surrender peacefully. No tricks—though there's no trick +that could do you any good! Nothing! I have you this time!"</p> + +<p>A frosty smile tightened the Hawk's lips.</p> + +<p>"I was right, Eliot," he murmured. "The man behind the panel took the +asteroid to Lar Tantril. He is our opponent."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hose were his words, but he did nothing. He seemed content to stand +with cold, intent face looking back through the infra-red +electelscope. The <i>Sandra's</i> speed sank to three hundred, two hundred +and soon a hundred, and the asteroid, which was of course also +decelerating, crept up remorselessly. Ban Wilson had every confidence +in the Hawk, but finally the inaction grew too much for him to bear.</p> + +<p>"Jumping Jupiter, Carse!" he sputtered. "—aren't you going to do +anything? Use our rays! Try maneuvering to the side! Damn it, we're +just letting them take us!"</p> + +<p>The adventurer might not have heard, for all the sign he gave. The +Earth-clock on the wall ticked on; seconds built minutes, and the +minutes passed. The asteroid was only ten miles astern.</p> + +<p>"Eliot," said Carse quietly, "get me one of your infra-red glasses."</p> + +<p>He took over the controls again. Carefully he varied the forward +repulsion and sent current to the side gravity-plates, and slowly the +<i>Sandra</i> answered by rotating, longitudinally, reversing her position. +Still maintaining a slight and dwindling speed toward Earth, her bow +swung from that planet's eye-filling panorama and came to face, +instead, the invisible asteroid. When turned completely around, the +men in her control cabin looked through the bow windows right into +the brilliant cone of the purple ray.</p> + +<p>Lar Tantril's voice again boomed from the broadcasting shell, and this +time it was harsh with anger.</p> + +<p>"Try no tricks, Carse! I see what you intend. You plan to suddenly +<i>answer</i> my ray, instead of continuing to resist it, and so drive +right past me and escape. But I warn you I have terrific power, and if +you move towards me of your own volition, I can burn you to a cinder +in three seconds, and I'll do it. You can't escape! If I have to +destroy Ku Sui, all right—but I'll get you!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk strapped over his eyes the infra-red glasses Leithgow now +gave him.</p> + +<p>Reversing the <i>Sandra's</i> ends had neither increased nor decreased the +rate at which the asteroid's purple stream was bringing her closer. +Obviously the magnetic stream was being varied. The space-ship's +forward momentum merely continued to drop normally until the moment +came when she had no Earthward velocity at all; and then more quickly +she moved toward the restraining asteroid.</p> + +<p>With his infra-red glasses, through the bow windows, Carse could now +see the massive body in full detail. There was the dome, a huge, +gleaming cup of transparent stuff now showing wisps of blue, from the +defensive web around it; and inside were the several buildings, and +minute black dots which were the figures of men. There was a great +number of them. The largest group was clustered inside one of the +large ship-size port-locks in the dome. The lock's outer door was +open, and it was from there that the purple ray seemed to originate. +Obviously the intention of the enemy was to draw the <i>Sandra</i> right +in. Five miles now separated asteroid and ship.</p> + +<p>Again the Venusian chief spoke.</p> + +<p>"I warn you once more, Sparrow Hawk, try no tricks. You can see the +men I have here, but you can't see my ray projectors. They're hidden, +but they're centered on you, every one, and my hand's at the control +that fires them. They have terrific power, Carse. Better not attempt +anything!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk switched on the extension microphone at his side. He said +levelly into it:</p> + +<p>"Lar Tantril, I'll make a bargain with you: a favor for a favor."</p> + +<p>"What?" shot from the loudspeaker.</p> + +<p>"I will agree to surrender peaceably when you've drawn my ship inside +if, for your part, you promise to free Eliot Leithgow, who is aboard +with me, and the five patients on whom Ku Sui operated. If you don't +grant me that, I will oppose you to the last pull of my finger on +trigger."</p> + +<p>"But, Carse—" the Master Scientist began, horrified: but his +expression of amazement faded when the slender man at the radio turned +his head and half-closed one eye in a wink.</p> + +<p>"You will agree to that—and no tricks?" Tantril's voice repeated.</p> + +<p>"I will agree to it. And as for tricks, what could I possibly try? +Your rays could burn through the maximum power of my web in three +seconds, as you say: I know it as well as you. I only wish there was a +chance to get out of your range in time."</p> + +<p>"All right!" the Venusian replied decisively. "I agree. I'll release +Leithgow and the five patients. Keep away from the controls and I'll +draw you in."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse switched off the microphone.</p> + +<p>"A hell of a lot Tantril's word is worth!" muttered Ban Wilson. Once +more, surprisingly, the Hawk winked. Friday was grinning now. For +once in his life he had guessed his master's strategy before the +others.</p> + +<p>A mile and a half to the front lay the dome-end of the asteroid. +Perhaps nine hundred miles to the rear lay the tremendous mottled +curve of Earth with her dangerous upper layers of the stratosphere all +too close. In the very face of Earth, all three on a line, the ship +lay linked by a stream of purple to the great rough-hewn, errant +asteroid. Half the bulk of all three lay sharply outlined against the +black of space by the intense yellow light of the flaming distant sun.</p> + +<p>The asteroid neared to a mile, then a half-mile. Hawk Carse said +curtly:</p> + +<p>"Ban, when I give the word, put all the power we've got into our +defensive web. Load the generators; overload them; tax them to the +limit. That web must be as tough as possible for five seconds."</p> + +<p>"Got you, Carse."</p> + +<p>"You've—a trick?" ventured Leithgow timidly.</p> + +<p>"I think I have, Eliot. Lar Tantril might have caught on when I turned +the ship, but unfortunately for him his brain is incapable of +proceeding past a certain point.... All right, Ban."</p> + +<p>"Feel it!"</p> + +<p>In answer to Ban's hands, the deck of the control cabin was literally +vibrating under the mounting speed of the generators in the +power-room. The generators could not stand that terrific overload +long: they would burn out. But Carse needed only a few seconds of it.</p> + +<p>The asteroid was a quarter of a mile away, seen through the infra-red. +The dome loomed large.</p> + +<p>"All right!" whispered Hawk Carse. "Hold on!"</p> + +<p>With the words he unleashed the <i>Sandra's</i> full acceleration.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was a risk and a big one, but the Hawk had it calculated to a +fraction of a second, and so, without hesitation, he took the chance. +A little less than four seconds to reach his objective, he reckoned; a +little more than one second for Tantril to release the asteroid's +disintegrating rays as he had threatened; therefore about two and a +half seconds for the <i>Sandra</i> to be exposed to those rays. The chance +that her defensive web could resist them for that long would decide +it.</p> + +<p>From almost a standing start, the <i>Sandra</i> swept ahead, generators +humming, her web a blue mist around her, acceleration at the full. +Straight down through the heart of the narrowing purple ray she sped, +a hurtling metallic projectile, hundreds of tons in mass, her stub bow +levelled dead at the dome.</p> + +<p>After a second the asteroid bared its fangs.</p> + +<p>A cone of brilliant orange flamed and washed around the <i>Sandra's</i> +bow, and a storm of soundless sparks engulfed her. She was caught in a +maw of fire, and held there for the remaining terrific seconds of her +wild forward dash. But the seconds passed; the hands of Hawk Carse +were delicate on her controls; and the <i>Sandra</i>, curving slightly +upward, struck, crashed, wrenched terribly in every joint; and then +the jolt and the protesting wrench and the spluttering sparks were +gone from her, and there was around her only the deep silence of +lifeless space.</p> + +<p>At three hundred miles an hour the <i>Sandra</i> had nicked the upper +plates of the dome and streaked on, unharmed!</p> + +<p>It was not necessary now to use infra-red glasses to see the asteroid. +It was there in the visi-screen for naked eyes, but for seconds not +one of the men in the ship's control-cabin thought to look. The awful +acceleration and shock had dazed them. They had not known what was +coming, except Friday and the Hawk, and only the latter was able to +retain reasonable alertness. He, almost immediately after the impact, +cut down the load on the generators, and brought the <i>Sandra</i> out of +her mad drive forward, rotating the ship until she was facing back +towards the asteroid. Then all of them looked through the bow windows, +and what they saw told the story in an instant.</p> + +<p>"It's visible! See—the invisibility's gone!" cried Friday.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> score of miles away the body lay, fully revealed, its starboard half +gleaming hard and sharp in the sunlight. Cautiously the <i>Sandra</i> drew +closer. Carse gave the controls to Ban and examined it carefully +through the electelscope, after removing the infra-red attachment.</p> + +<p>He saw that the keel of the <i>Sandra</i> had torn a great, mangled rent in +the dome and through this the air had rushed out. Space had taken +possession. The disintegrating rays which had been burning at the +<i>Sandra</i> had been snapped off with the sheathing of invisibility; in +that one wild second of impact, all the asteroid's functioning +mechanism had been destroyed. Lar Tantril had not thought quite far +enough: he had not sealed the buildings air-tight against a possible +crashing of the dome, and for that reason alone he and his men had +gone down in full defeat under the drive of the Hawk.</p> + +<p>Shreds of flotsam drifting and turning in space around the dome now +became visible—bits of wreckage hurled out from the tear, and also a +number of white, bloated things which once had been the bodies of men. +The outrushing tide of air had taken them along, and now they drifted, +shapeless, all of a kind, in the lifelessness of space.</p> + +<p>"Merciful heaven!" whispered Eliot Leithgow, staring at the +desolation. "Gone! Just snuffed out!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk took over again and brought and held the <i>Sandra</i> in a +position a quarter of a mile above the now rapidly falling asteroid.</p> + +<p>"They're all dead, I'm sure," he said in a voice hard and emotionless +as his graven face. "They must be, for the asteroid is now visible, +and that means that the doors of the power building were open. Inside +and out, all there is dead, machinery and men.... Still, it had to be +done. It was they or we. A variation of the trick we used to escape +from the dome before, Eliot; and Tantril of course didn't expect it +and protect himself as Ku Sui did that other time. It's all done +now—yes, its gravity-plates too, for see, it's turning."</p> + +<p>"And fast!" murmured Friday.</p> + +<p>The body was rotating around its longer axis at about twice the speed +of an Earth-watch's second hand. Now the dome was sliding under, out +of their sight, the craggy rock belly coming up to take its place. +Nine hundred miles away was Earth—rather, less than that, for the +body was now free to accept the tremendous gravity pull of the planet +so near. Soon it would plunge to destruction there....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> thought came to Carse, and he said:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Ku Sui would like to see what has become—"</p> + +<p>On the last word he stopped and whirled around. His eyes were suddenly +intense and his face startled.</p> + +<p>"I heard a hiss!" said Friday.</p> + +<p>"You too? Then it was a port-lock!" Carse turned to the visi-screen. +"Look there!" he cried.</p> + +<p>In the screen Earth made a titanic background against which, a +falling, dwindling figure in a clear-cut in the sunlight, gleamed +space-suit. Down it went, rapidly, even as they stared, until it hung +just off the also-falling asteroid. It was obviously preparing to +enter the dome.</p> + +<p>"Take the helm, Ban, and watch him!" Carse ordered harshly, and ran +aft from the control cabin.</p> + +<p>Leithgow and Friday, following at once, found him inside the open door +of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin, examining two figures stretched limp at his +feet. The men were Thorpe and Williams, who had been set to gas and +guard the Eurasian. Carse said:</p> + +<p>"Both dead. Poison. Look at Thorpe's wrist."</p> + +<p>On the right wrist of the dead man was a line of red, a scratch, and +swollen, discolored flesh was ugly around it. One cheek of Williams +bore a similar patch. Both had been armed with rayguns, but now they +were gone. Half to himself, the Hawk murmured:</p> + +<p>"Yes, poison. It might have been in the ring. Everyone else was in the +control cabin. The men entered the door, Ku Sui was waiting—quick +death.... Well, I'm going after him."</p> + +<p>Not understanding, still horrified by the contorted face of the man on +the deck, the other two gazed at the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"But, Carse!" Leithgow broke out. "How can you? How can you +possibly—"</p> + +<p>"He's gone back to the dome," the Hawk cut in frostily. "He can't make +it to Earth as he is now, for we'd see him and easily be able to pick +him up. No; he's got some reason for returning, to the dome. Something +important. He thinks he's escaped.... He's mistaken."</p> + +<p>A shudder passed over Friday, for Hawk Carse's eyes had fallen on him, +and they were deadly.</p> + +<p>"Let me by, Eliot," the man whispered. "This time he goes or I go, but +by the gods of space it'll be one of us!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h2><i>There Is a Meteor</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>is face set and cold, Carse ran to the stores cabin, just as the +Eurasian must have hurried there a few minutes before. He took one of +Dr. Ku's self-propulsive space-suits down from the rack and slipped +into it, sticking a raygun in the belt. Still not speaking, he glided +to the rear port-lock, Leithgow and Friday running alongside and +attempting to dissuade him from the dangerous pursuit. Their words +were wasted. Carse gave them only a faint smile and a few directions.</p> + +<p>"Keep the ship as close as you can without danger. No, Eclipse; I'm +going by myself; there's no need to risk two. If I don't come out, +you've everything needed to prove your case. Eliot—the re-embodied +brains, Ku Sui's four white assistants—"</p> + +<p>"I tell you you're going to your death! You'll be caught inside! +Earth's attracting the asteroid now, and in a few minutes it will be +plunging through the atmosphere with terrific speed! The friction will +make it a meteor, and you'll burn. Carse! You'll die in flames! You +haven't but a few minutes to do the whole thing!"</p> + +<p>"Have to risk that, Eliot." He swung open the inner door of the lock +and stepped into the chamber. "Remember, keep as close to the asteroid +as possible, and a steady watch for Ku Sui and me." He looked levelly +at them, white man and black, for a moment, then turned his face away. +"That's all. Good-by," he said.</p> + +<p>The door swung shut in their faces with a hiss of compressed air.</p> + +<p>The Hawk closed the face-plate of his helmet and rapidly spun over the +controls. Another hiss, and the outer door moved wide. He stepped with +force into space.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he panorama below him was breath-taking: Earth seemed almost to hit +him in the face. He had not realized it was so close. The sheer, +mighty stretch of the globe filled his eyes, and for seconds he could +not focus on anything else, so overwhelming to his vision was the +colossal map. It reached away to left and right, before and behind, +and he was so near that it seemed almost flat, a sun-gleaming plain on +which stood out in sharp outline the continent of Europe, the Atlantic +Ocean and, bordering it, the edge of North America.</p> + +<p>To his left was the flaming orb of the sun; and directly underfoot, +rotating against the vast background of the North Atlantic, he now saw +the asteroid, glinting metallically along its craggy length as it +swung over. Carse centered every bit of power he had on it, and at +maximum acceleration began to overhaul his objective.</p> + +<p>The asteroid was plunging free to Earth, and the rate of its +uncontrolled plunge was second by second mounting tremendously; but +Carse's power-fall quickly enabled him to overtake it. As the dome +swooped up in front of him, and the sunlight washed briefly over its +desolate buildings, he looked hard for a shape moving amongst them, +without success. Doubtless the Eurasian was well inside by now.</p> + +<p>The job of getting into the dome was a hazardous one. About every +thirty seconds the asteroid described a complete rotation, making the +rim turn at a speed of half a mile a second, and that made the task of +entering extremely dangerous to a man whose only protection was the +metal and fabric of a space-suit. Misjudgment would either rip the +suit or dash him to instant death. He had to slip cleanly down through +the jagged tear in the dome, planning his swoop accurately to the +fraction of a second.</p> + +<p>Never cooler, the Hawk made it. Building a parallel speed equal to +that of the rotating dome, he followed it over in a dizzy whirl; and +as the rent came below he shot curving down and in with sufficient +precision, and at once swiftly adjusted his gravity to offset the +asteroid's great centrifugal force.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> + +<p>or alternating fifteen-second periods the sunlight filled the dome +and its buildings; and on the tail of the first of these, even as the +sable tide swept all vision from him, the Hawk arrived at the door of +one wing of the central building. He had not seen Ku Sui, and he had +no time for exploration, but he did have a hunch as to where the +Eurasian had gone, and he followed that hunch. A silent, giant-gray +thing in the black silence of the corridor, grim, intent and seeming +irresistible, he swept along it; and every second he knew that a +raygun might spit from where it had been waiting in ambush to puncture +his suit and kill him. For whether or not Ku Sui was aware that he was +being tracked by his old, bitter foe, Carse did not know.</p> + +<p>The asteroid plunged down faster and faster. Earth's atmosphere, with +all its perils of friction, coming ever closer, and the great bosom of +the planet lying waiting to receive and bury the rock hurtling towards +it. Throughout most of the leagues of space that asteroid had tracked +on its master's diverse errands, and in many distant places the trails +of Hawk Carse and Ku Sui had crossed and left blood and crossed again; +and now those three—asteroid, Eurasian and the Hawk—were drawn once +more together for the spectacular and epic climax, now only minutes +away. No power in the universe was to stop the plunge of the asteroid; +it remained to be seen how one or both of the two living humans on it +could get out in time....</p> + +<p>But of all this, nothing was in Hawk Carse's mind except the beating, +driving realization that few minutes were left in which to play out +the last scene. With reckless haste he sped to where his hunch led +him, the secret panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory. As he reached it, faint +sunlight came filtering in from somewhere and he saw that the panel +was open.</p> + +<p>He looked within and dimly saw a ladder reaching down into black +depths. Without hesitation he thrust through the opening and dropped +into the blackness. He dared not lose a second.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e hit bottom with a thud, changed his glove controls and reached out +in the darkness. He felt that he was in one end of a passageway. As +rapidly as he could, his arms stretched wide, all his nerves and +muscles and senses alert, he pressed along it.</p> + +<p>Continually he was thrown into the rough wall at his right by the +centrifugal force of the asteroid. How far did the passageway extend? +Was Ku Sui at the end of it? It occurred to the Hawk that the asteroid +was a developing shooting star, eating up the few hundred miles of +life that remained, streaking down into the atmosphere, where waited +quick friction and incandescence—and he down in the heart of it, +blind, without clue to what lay in front of him, ignorant of +everything, and with only minutes in which to achieve his end. There'd +be no heat-warning through his insulated suit. Even now, perhaps, +there was no time to get out; already the deadline might have been +crossed; he could not know. He went on....</p> + +<p>How far? A hundred yards; two hundred? Easily that, he thought, and +still no variation in the blackness around him! The passageway seemed +straight, so he might now be past the rim of the dome above.</p> + +<p>Then, for just a second, he saw a faint wisp of light ahead!</p> + +<p>Automatically Carse's raygun came up, but in the time that simple +motion took the light was gone and the blackness was as deep and +lifeless as before. But he was coming to something. He went on, +perhaps a little faster, hot to discover the last emergency resource +of Dr. Ku. He took no pains to avoid making noise, for he knew Ku Sui +could not hear him through the airless space between.</p> + +<p>After another hundred yards or so the light from ahead winked again. +It was stronger. Only a second of it, but he now suspected that it +came at regular intervals. It was a machine, perhaps, working under +the hands of the Eurasian. On—on! With the seconds fleeting by, +building to the small total which would bring friction to the +asteroid, and incandescence, and scalding death for him within it!</p> + +<p>Again, suddenly, the mysterious light. It left instantly as usual, but +not before it revealed, well ahead, the end of the passage. Quickly he +traversed the remaining distance and felt around with his hands. He +found what he half expected. There was an opening, a doorway, to his +right. The room beyond surely held the final secret of the asteroid. +And if Dr. Ku Sui were anywhere, he was in there.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse restrained an impulse to rush in, deciding to wait for the +recurring light. Everything in him told him that this was the climax, +that through the door to his right lay the object of his chase; and in +spite of his consciousness of the plunging asteroid, and the +up-leaping skin of Earth's atmosphere, now so close, he stood full in +the doorway, gun ready, waiting. Seconds were precious, but this was +the part of common sense. He needed the light to show him what perils +he must face; he could not go into that chamber ignorant of the +situation there.</p> + +<p>For what seemed ages the fantastic figure stood there. The great rock +turning over and over, with awful speed dropping down. Earth nearing, +death ever closer—and he standing in silence and darkness, waiting to +finish the feud! He might never escape; he knew that; it might already +be too late to try; but the core of the man, his grim and steely will, +would not let him think of retreating towards safety until he had +faced Dr. Ku Sui and decided the account between them forever.</p> + +<p>The wall of darkness melted. A ghostly light filtered through. He +stared, and in its brief maximum saw before him a high, bare +rectangular room, hewn out of the rock—and at its far side a man in a +space-suit. Ku Sui, brought to bay!</p> + +<p>But Carse, for one of the few times in his life, doubted his eyes. +What trick were they playing him? For it was not a real, sharp figure +that he saw; it was an indefinite one, shimmering and elusive, like a +mirage. A prank of the strange light, perhaps. But Ku Sui +nevertheless! Ku Sui trapped!</p> + +<p>The Hawk leaped forward with outstretched arms to seize and hold the +Eurasian's motionless figure. As he moved, the second of ghostly light +dissolved away, and in the blackness his eager reaching arms closed +on—nothing!</p> + +<p>Surely Ku Sui had been there! Surely he had not just imagined he saw +him!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> + +<p>affled and coldly raging, the Hawk whirled and groped frantically. +The centrifugal force caught him off balance and hurled him into a +wall, but dizzy he continued his desperate search, sweeping his arms +all around him, over walls and floor and, rising, the ceiling. The +tumbling asteroid banged him unmercifully into the six sides of the +room, but even as he was flung he reached and felt in every +direction—felt without result.</p> + +<p>In some incredible way, Ku Sui had eluded him. The second the light +failed, he must have slipped by and escaped down the passageway +behind. The Hawk could hardly understand how it might have been +achieved, but there was no other explanation. So, with lips firm set +in his cold, grim face, he felt to the doorway, ready to track back +through the long, unlit passage. He might still overhaul and capture +the other. If there was still time....</p> + +<p>But <i>was</i> there?</p> + +<p>The passing seconds had not been idle. Inexorably they had brought him +to Earth's atmosphere. He stared around the room in sheer horror.</p> + +<p>For its blackness was relieved by the faintest of glows. It was not +that of the recurring light; it came from the whole rock ceiling +above. Carse was overwhelmed by the realization that within numbered +seconds the surface of the asteroid would reach incandescence.</p> + +<p>Thoughts raced like lightning through his head. He could not get free +through the corridor and dome behind: that would take at least three +minutes, and not a quarter of a minute was left. Ku Sui too, if he +were in the corridor trying to reach the dome, was trapped and +finished. A meteor flaming to Earth would be their common grave!</p> + +<p>A searing, hideous death! Trapped within fiery walls of melting rock!</p> + +<p>At that moment the regularly re-recurring flash of light came, and +under pressure of his great need the phenomenon meshed with +understanding in Carse's mind. That light was sunlight! It come at +definite intervals as the dome side of the asteroid rotated to face +the sun.</p> + +<p>And that light could reach the room only by way of some channel in the +ceiling!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>n the waxing glow of the rock above him, Carse swiftly found the +channel—a vertical bore several feet wide, in one corner of the +ceiling. Its rock sides glowed redly, and at their end was a round +black patch that caused his heart to leap with hope. Outer space!—and +a short, straight escape to it! In a flash he saw how Ku Sui perhaps +had eluded him.</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's prepared emergency exit would also be his!</p> + +<p>He lost not a fraction of a second. Turning his glove controls to +maximum acceleration, he rose with a rush into the bore. Despite his +good aim the asteroid's centrifugal force threw him heavily into one +red-hot side. His heart went cold; would the fabric of the suit burn +through? No time for such worries—must make the frigid air +outside—fast—fast—never mind bumps—quick out—and must stay +conscious—<i>must</i> stay conscious to exert repulsion against Earth!</p> + +<p>Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out of that tunnel of hell at a +tangent to the asteroid and in a direction away from Earth, and in an +instant the doomed body was far below him, and streaking faster and +ever faster to the annihilation now so near.</p> + +<p>He fought to come out of his dizziness. Shaking his head, he glanced +back for sight of a minute, suit-clad figure. Had Ku Sui preceded him +through the emergency exit, his shape should be visible somewhere, +etched by the sunlight.</p> + +<p>There was no sign of him.</p> + +<p>Carse's eyes dropped to the asteroid. He saw it already miles below, +a breath-taking celestial object, a second sun, brilliant and +increasingly brilliant as it diminished over the watery plain waiting +to receive it. His mind saw the Eurasian, caught in the long corridor +to the dome, already dead on this last flight of his extraordinary +vehicle of space....</p> + +<p>The end came at once. The sun was quickly a great, brilliant shooting +star, then a blinding smaller one: then its straight mad flight +through the heavens was over, and it was received in the waters of the +Atlantic Ocean and buried deep.</p> + +<p>A cataclysmic burial. A titanic meteor, an incandescent, screaming +streak in the night—a cloud of billowing steam—a wall of water +rearing back from the strange grave of the asteroid, so far come from +its accustomed orbit around Mars.... The thought came to Carse that +Dr. Ku Sui had died as he lived, spectacularly, with a brilliance and +a tidal wave and an earthquake to disturb the lives of men....</p> + +<p>And a sadness fell over the heart of the Hawk....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e roused from it in a moment. He felt heat! In the rush of events he +had not before noticed that his space-suit had started to burn from +the friction of his own passage through the atmosphere. Fortunately, +it was already cooling off.</p> + +<p>For in spite of his own leaving speed and the added centrifugal +velocity the asteroid had given him, he had hurtled down after the +doomed rock; and only then was his building repulsion neutralizing +Earth's gravity and his initial Earthward velocity. He had slowed down +just in time to keep his space suit intact.</p> + +<p>He came to rest, in relation to the Earth, and hovered there. Again he +scrutinized the black untenanted wastes of space above. Far out, +approaching as rapidly as it dared, was the <i>Sandra</i>.</p> + +<p>He wanted to be sure, so he cut in his mike and asked Leithgow if they +had, through their electelscope, seen, Ku Sui leave the asteroid.</p> + +<p>The anxious scientist told him they had not.</p> + +<p>With a slight sigh Hawk Carse snapped off his contact and waited till +the sharp, growing spot that was the <i>Sandra</i> should come dropping +down to pick him up, and his friends learn from his own lips the story +of the passing of Ku Sui....</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="500" height="260" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30303 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_001_01.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_001_01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcd2ed5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_001_01.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_001_02.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_001_02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d42c0a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_001_02.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_002.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_002.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..babf5ba --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_002.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_a.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa86591 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_a.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_b.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a769002 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_b.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_c.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_c.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75c583a --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_c.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_d.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_d.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c80263 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_d.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_f.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_f.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ed7f74 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_f.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_h.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_h.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6d0e81 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_h.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_i.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_i.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbd5c4e --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_i.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_k.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_k.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2a0a378 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_k.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_l.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_l.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d7a06f --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_l.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_n.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_n.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb6bdc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_n.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_r.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_r.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5dd753b --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_r.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_s.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_s.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c25f47f --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_s.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_t.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_t.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c51d25a --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_t.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_u.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_u.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8dfb002 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_u.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_w.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_w.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..61a4298 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_w.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_w1.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_w1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c79e73 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_w1.jpg diff --git a/30303-h/images/image_y1.jpg b/30303-h/images/image_y1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..534a142 --- /dev/null +++ b/30303-h/images/image_y1.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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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 Passing of Ku Sui + +Author: Anthony Gilmore + +Release Date: October 20, 2009 [EBook #30303] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSING OF KU SUI *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from Astounding Stories November 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p> + +<p class="center"> The Table of Contents is not part of the original magazine.</p> +<p class="center">One word in Chapter II could not be read. It has been marked as <a href="#illegible">illegible</a>.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> + + + + +<h1>The Passing of Ku Sui</h1> + +<h4><i>A Complete Novelette</i></h4> +<p> </p> +<h2>By Anthony Gilmore</h2> +<p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> + <td class="tocch f1">Chapter</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">I</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">The Plan</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">II</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Three Figures in the Dawn</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">III</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">The Raid</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">IV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">The Voice of the Brains</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">V</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VI</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">The Deadline</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">To the Laboratory</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">VIII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">White's Brain—Yellow's Head</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">IX</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Four Bodies</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">X</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X">The Promise Fulfilled</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XI</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Ordeal</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Flight</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XIII</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">In Earth's Shadow</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XIV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">The Hawk Strikes</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tocch">XV</td> + <td> </td> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">There Is a Meteor</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h2><i>The Plan</i></h2> + + +<div class="sidenote">A screaming streak in the night—a cloud of billowing +steam—and the climax of Hawk Carse's spectacular "Affair of the +Brains" is over.</div> + +<div> +<img class="figleft2" src="images/image_001_01.jpg" width="301" height="317" alt="" title="" /> +<img class="figleft2" src="images/image_001_02.jpg" width="600" height="181" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out in a direction +away from Earth.</i></span> +</div> + +<p><span style="font-size:xx-large">T</span>he career of Hawk Carse, taken broadly, divides itself into three +main phases, and it is with the Ku Sui adventures of the second phase +that we have been concerned in this intimate narrative. John Sewell, +the historian, baldly condenses those adventures of a century ago +together, but on research and closer scrutiny they take on an +individuality and significance deserving of separate treatment, and +this they have been given here. For fictionized presentation, we have +spaced the adventures into four connected episodes, four acts of a +vibrant drama which ranged clear from Saturn to Earth, the core of +which was the feud between Captain Carse and the power-lusting +Eurasian scientist, Dr. Ku Sui—that feud the reverberations of whose +terrible settling still echo over the solar system—and in this last +act of the drama, set out below, we come to its spectacular climax.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>The words of John Sewell's epic history sit lightly on paper; easy +words for Sewell, once the collection of data was over, to write; not +very significant words for the uninitiated and casual reader who does +not see the irresistible forces beneath them. But consider the full +meaning of these words, and glance for a moment at the two figures +conjured up by them. We see Hawk Carse, a man slender in build, but +with gray eyes and lithe, strong-fingered hands and cold, intent face +that give the clue to the steel of him; we see Dr. Ku Sui, tall, +suave, unhurried, formed as though by a master sculptor, in whose rare +green eyes slumbered the soul of a tiger, notwithstanding the courtesy +and the grace that masked always his most infamous moves. These two we +see looming through and dwarfing Sewell's words as they face each +other, for they were probably the most bitter, and certainly the most +spectacular, foe-men of that raw period before the patrol ships swept +up from the home of man to lay Earth's laws through space.</p> + +<p>Carse and Ku Sui, adventurer and scientist, each with his own +distinctive strength and his own unyielding character—those two were +star-crossed, fated to be foes, and whenever they met there was blood, +and never was quarter asked nor quarter expected. How could it have +been otherwise? Ku Sui controlled the isuan drug trade, and Carse was +against it, as he was against everything underhanded and unclean; Ku +Sui had tricked and, by a single deed, driven Carse's loved comrade, +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, from his honored position on Earth, +and Carse was sworn to bring Ku Sui to Earth to clear the old +scientist's name. Either of these alone was enough to seal the feud, +but there was more. Carse was sworn to release from their bondage of +life-in-death Ku Sui's most prized possession, his storehouse of +wisdom—the brains of five great Earth scientists, kept alive though +their bodies were dead.</p> + +<p>These, then, were the forces glossed over so lightly by John +Sewell's words. These the forces that clashed in the episode set out +below: that clashed, then drew apart, and knew not one another for +years....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>t will be recalled that, in the second of these four episodes, "The +Affair of the Brains,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Hawk Carse, Eliot Leithgow, and the Negro +Friday broke free from Dr. Ku's secret lair, his outwardly invisible +asteroid, and in doing so thought they had destroyed the Eurasian and +all his works, including the infamous machine of coordinated brains. +In the third episode, "The Bluff of the Hawk,"<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> it will be +remembered that the companions came in Dr. Ku's self-propulsive +space-suits to Satellite III of Jupiter; and that there Carse learned +that in reality the Eurasian and the brains had survived, and that Dr. +Ku might very possibly soon be in possession of a direct clue to +Leithgow's hidden laboratory on Satellite III. We saw Carse take the +lone course, as he always preferred, sending Leithgow and Friday to +his friend Ban Wilson's ranch while he went to erase the clue. And we +saw him achieve his end at the fort-ranch of Lar Tantril, strong +henchman of Ku Sui, and, in brilliant Carse fashion, turn the tables +and escape from the trap that had seemingly snared him, and proceed +towards where, fourteen miles away, Leithgow and the Negro were +waiting for him.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See the March, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See the May, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.</p></div> + +<p>His three friends were waiting very uneasily that day. Eleven hours +had passed since Leithgow and Friday had parted from the Hawk, and +they had heard nothing from him. They knew he was going into high +peril: Leithgow had in vain tried to dissuade him; and so it was with +growing fear that they watched the hours pass by.</p> + +<p>With Ban Wilson, they sat near dawn in the comfortable living room of +the ranch's central building. Although largely rested from the ordeal +of the journey to Satellite III, the huge Negro was fidgety, and even +Leithgow, more controlled, showed the strain by continually raising +his thin white fingers to his lined face and stroking it. Wilson's men +were on watch outside in the graying darkness, but often Friday +supplemented them, going to the door, staring down to the beach of the +bordering lake, staring up to the skies, staring at the black and +murmurous flanks of the jungle—staring, scowling and returning to sit +and look gloomily at the floor.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> +<p>an Wilson was the most active physically. He was a miniature dynamo +of a man, throbbing with a restless, inexhaustible tide of energy. +Short and wiry, he stared truculently at the universe through +wonderfully clear blue eyes, surrounded by a bumper crop of freckles +and topped by a mat of bristly red hair. His short stub nose had +prodded into countless hostile places where it most emphatically was +not wanted. It would be hardly necessary to old acquaintances of his +to say that he was now speaking.</p> + +<p>"No, sir! I say the Hawk's safe and kicking! Can't kill <i>him</i>! By my +grandmother's false teeth, I swear I'd follow him to hell, knowin' I'd +come out alive and leavin' the devil yowlin' behind with his tail tied +into pretzels! He said he would meet you here? Well, then, he will."</p> + +<p>Friday looked up mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh, Cap'n Ban; but Cap'n Carse was going into a pow'ful lot of +trouble. An' he was worn an' tired, an' he only had a space-suit an' a +raygun, an' you know he wouldn't stop for anything till he'd done +what he set out to. I kind of feel ... I dunno ... I dunno...."</p> + +<p>"By Betelguese!" swore Ban Wilson, "if he doesn't come soon I'll take +that damned Porno apart till I find him!"</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow gave up the late radio newscast from Earth he had been +pretending to read. A brief silence fell, and through it the old +scientist seemed to feel something, seemed to expect something. And he +was not mistaken.</p> + +<p>"<i>Who's there?</i>"</p> + +<p>It was a cry from one of the watchers outside. Friday leaped out of +his uneasy seat and was through the door even before Ban, who followed +with Leithgow. They heard the Negro roar from ahead:</p> + +<p>"Cap'n Carse! Cap'n Carse! Sure enough, it's Cap'n Carse!"—and they +saw his great form go bounding down to the gray-lit beach of the lake, +to a slight, weary figure that came stumbling along it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>awk Carse had come as he said he would, but he was a sore figure of a +man. Though he was not in it now, for days he had worn the harsh, +grating metal and fabric of a space-suit, and its marks were left on +him. Even from a distance the others could see that his once-neat blue +trousers and soft flannel shirt were torn through in many places, +revealing ugly purplish bruises; on his haggard face was a nap of +flaxen beard, and in his blood-shot gray eyes utter exhaustion, both +mental and physical. The Hawk had been acting at high tension for days +past, and now the reaction was exacting its inevitable toll.</p> + +<p>He came stumbling heavily along the beach, his feet dragging through +its coarse sand, and it seemed as if he would drop any moment. With a +slight smile he greeted Friday, then Eliot Leithgow and Wilson, all +running down.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Eclipse," he murmured, "and Eliot—and Ban—"</p> + +<p>There he wavered and half fell against the Negro's body. Friday wished +to carry him, but he would have none of it: by himself he walked up to +the ranch-house, where he slumped into a chair while Ban Wilson went +shouting into the galley for a mug of hot alkite.</p> + +<p>After draining it, Carse revived slightly. Again aware of the three +men grouped around him, and recognizing their eagerness for his news, +he forced himself to speech.</p> + +<p>"Sleepy—must sleep. But—yes—some things I'll tell you." In quick, +staccato sentences, his tired eyelids shut half the time, he sketched +his adventure at Lar Tantril's ranch, explaining how, even though +captured, he had destroyed the figures, telling of the location of +Leithgow's laboratory; and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he +told of the ruse by which he had escaped. "Got away. Told them the +lake-front was very dangerous to them. Made them let me show them. I +walked out—dozens of them round me, guns on me—walked out till I +went under water. Could do it in the suit. I walked under water half a +mile or so, then came up and cached the suit. I guess they're still +watching! Easy!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e chuckled, and then, after a short pause, went on:</p> + +<p>"But here's what's important—Ku Sui is alive. Yes, I know it. He has +an assignation with Tantril at Tantril's ranch. In five days. And the +coordinated brains I promised to destroy—they still exist. So, Eliot, +these are orders: prepare plans for infra-red and ultra-violet +devices—they ought to do it—so we can see Dr. Ku's invisible +asteroid when it comes. Friday, you go down and get my space-suit: +it's cached ten miles down the beach, beneath a big watrari tree. And +then—" His head slumped over; he appeared to have abruptly fallen to +sleep.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse? What is your plan?" Eliot Leithgow asked softly. But the +Hawk was only making a great last effort to gather the threads of his +idea.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he responded, "the plan. Ban stations a man to keep watch on +Tantril's ranch, while we go back to your laboratory, Eliot, where +you'll make the devices and repair the gravity-plates of my suit. +Then, four nights from now, if the watcher's seen no one arrive, Ban, +Friday and I return and lie in ambush round Tantril's ranch. Awaiting +Dr. Ku. When he comes, he'll surely leave his asteroid somewhere near. +And while he's at Tantril's, we capture the asteroid—and my promise +to the coordinated brains will be kept.</p> + +<p>"Then—but that's enough for now; I am so tired. Ban, will you +please—some food—"</p> + +<p>Wilson, who had been listening eagerly and, at the end, grinning in +prospect of action with the Hawk, darted off like a spark. A few +minutes later, after his third mouthful of food, Carse murmured:</p> + +<p>"We'll use your ship to go to Eliot's lab in, Ban, but I think +you'll—have to—carry me—aboard. So sleepy. Wake me when we get +to—lab."</p> + +<p>On this last word his sleep-denied body had its way, and at once he +was deep in the dreamless slumber of exhaustion.</p> + +<p>While he slept, the others rapidly carried out his orders. Within two +hours Friday, in the ranch's air-car, had retrieved the cached suit. +Ban Wilson had manned and made ready his personal space-ship for the +trip to the laboratory, and Eliot Leithgow had jotted down a few +preliminary plans for the infra-red and ultra-violet instruments +which Carse would need in order to see the invisible asteroid of Dr. +Ku Sui.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h2><i>Three Figures in the Dawn</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he fourth night after the Hawk had met his friends at Ban Wilson's +was sunless and Jupiter-less, nor was there the slightest breath of +wind; and in the humid, dank jungle surrounding on three sides the +isuan ranch of the Venusian Lar Tantril the sounds of night-prowling +animals burst full and loud, making an almost continuous babel of +varied and savage noise.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this dark inferno, Tantril's ranch was an island of +stillness. Within the high guarding fence, the long low buildings lay +quiet and were <a name="illegible" id="illegible"></a>[illegible] brushed periodically by the light from the +watch-beacon high overhead as it swept its shaft over the jungle +smother and then around over the black glassy surface of the Great +Briney Lake, bordering the ranch enclosure on the fourth side. And, +vigilantly, the eyes of three Venusian guards followed the ray.</p> + +<p>They stood on the three lookout towers which reared at equal intervals +up above the circumference of the ranch; and though the buildings +below seemed deserted, in reality wide-awake men were stationed at +posts within them, waiting for the clang of the alarm which the +pressing of a button in any one of the lookout towers would effect. +Lar Tantril's ranch was not asleep. It was as alert and wary as the +beasts tracking through the jungle outside its fence, and all its +defensive and offensive weapons were at the ready.</p> + +<p>No one within the ranch knew it, but within two hundred yards lay the +foe Lar Tantril and his men feared most.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_r.jpg" alt="R" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>egularly around the watch-beacon swept, slicing the blackness with an +oval white finger, the farthest edge of which reached a hundred and +fifty yards. Over the "western" lake—and its inky ripples sparkled +somehow ominously. Over the jungle's confusion—and trees, great +bushes, spiky vines and creeper-growths leaped into momentary +visibility, and then were again swallowed up in the tide of night. +Here a cutlas-beaked bird, spotlighted for an instant, froze into +surprised immobility with the pasty, bloated worm it had seized +twisting and dangling from its mouth, to flap squawking away as the +ray glided on: there the coils of a seekan, in ambush on a tree limb, +glittered crimson for the sudden moment of illumination; or a nameless +huge-eyed pantherlike creature was glimpsed as it clawed at a nest of +unfledged haris, while the frantic, screaming mother beat at it with +wings and claws....</p> + +<p>But all this was usual and unalarming, merely the ordinary routine of +the jungle at night. Could the beacon have reached out another fifty +yards, the guards on their towers would have seen that which was not +usual—and would have summoned every weapon of the ranch beneath.</p> + +<p>Or could the guards have heard, besides the cries and crashings and +yowls of the jungle folk, the man-made sounds which sped silently back +and forth across the ranch within their tight and secret radio +beams—then, too, the alarm would have clanged.</p> + +<p>Had the beacon suddenly stretched its path outward another fifty +yards, it would have fallen upon a massive, leafy watrari tree, taller +than most: and the guards, looking close, might have caught in one +notch of the tree's many limbs a glint of metal: might have seen, had +the light held on that glint, a bloated monster of metal and fabric +braced there, hiding behind a screen of leaves.</p> + +<p>This giant, not native to the jungle, was posted due "north" from the +ranch. Another waited to the "south," in a similarly large tree; and +another to the "east."</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse and his friends were abroad again and waiting to strike.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> +<p>an Wilson, hot, itching and uncomfortable inside the heavy space-suit +that he wore, and supremely aware of his consequent awkwardness, +watched the ranch's beacon sweeping past him thirty or more yards +away, and again sought relief from the tedium in conversation.</p> + +<p>"Jupiter should be rising soon, Carse. It's the darkest hour—seems to +me he'll come now if he comes at all. What do you think?"</p> + +<p>He was the one posted in a watrari tree "south" of Tantril's ranch. +Flung on the tight beam of his helmet-radio, which had been tuned and +adjusted by Eliot Leithgow so as to reach only two other radios, the +words rang simultaneously in the receivers of Friday, who was "east" +of the ranch, and Carse, who was "north."</p> + +<p>The Hawk responded curtly:</p> + +<p>"I don't know when he'll come; I suspect not before full morning."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson grunted at receipt of this discouraging opinion, and then +once more, as he had been doing regularly all through the night, +raised to his eyes the instrument that hung by a cord from the +neckpiece of the suit. Through it he scanned slowly and methodically +the portion of black heaven that had been assigned to him. The +instrument would have resembled a bulky pair of electro-binoculars +with its twin tubes and eyepieces, had not there been, underneath the +tubes, a small, compact box which by Leithgow-magic revealed the +world through infra-red light by one tube, and ultra-violet the other.</p> + +<p>"Nothing!" Ban muttered to himself, lowering the device. "And damn Ku +Sui for makin' these space-suits so infernally uncomfortable! Might as +well have made 'em space-ships, while he was at it!... Say, Carse," he +began again aloud into his microphone, "maybe Dr. Ku's come already. I +know my men said no one had arrived at the ranch in a suit like these +we've got on—but, hell, if his whole asteroid's invisible, why +couldn't he make his space-suit invisible, too?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think he's done that. Otherwise he would have—" The +adventurer's level tone raised incisively. "Now, both of you, still! +Conceal yourselves with great care—Jupiter's rising!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he "western" horizon, a moment before indistinguishable, was now +faintly flushed, a flush which deepened quickly into glowing, riotous +crimson, causing long streamers to shoot out over the surface of the +Great Briney, tingling it, sparkling it. The light reached the jungle: +and when the first faint reflected rays filtered down through the +matted gloom of tree and vine and bush the creatures that had tracked +for prey all night looked to their lairs: and gradually, the tenor of +the jungle noises waned off into a few last screams and muttered +growls, and then died altogether into the heavy, brooding hush that +comes always with dawn over the jungles of Satellite III.</p> + +<p>Jupiter thrust his flaming arch upwards over the horizon, and climbed +with his whole vast blood-blotched bulk into a sky turned suddenly +blue. Lake and jungle shimmered under the rapidly dissipating night +vapors. The ranch-beacon paled into unimportance. Day had come.</p> + +<p>And now the three bloated figures of metal and fabric that were men +crouched closely back beneath the leaves of the trees that concealed +them, and waited tensely, not daring at first to move for fear of +discovery. Each one could see, through the intervening growth, the +watch-towers of the ranch; but Friday, from his post in the tree to +the "east," could see the area best, and it was Friday to whom Carse's +next words were addressed.</p> + +<p>"Eclipse?" his terse voice asked. "Do the guards in the towers seem to +notice anything?"</p> + +<p>The big Negro strained cautiously for a better view.</p> + +<p>"No, suh, Cap'n Carse. Sure they can't see us at all. Just pacin' +round on their towers, kind of fidgety."</p> + +<p>"Anyone else in sight?"</p> + +<p>"No, suh.... Oh, now there's somethin'. Two of the guards are looking +below, cupping their ears. Someone down there must be tellin' them +somethin'. Now they're lookin' up to the sky—the northern sky. Yes, +suh! All three of 'em! They're expectin' someone, sure enough!"</p> + +<p>"Good. He must be coming. Use your glasses."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen in all three trees the instruments that Eliot Leithgow had shaped +were raised, and the whole sweep of horizon and the glowing, clear +blue dome of sky subjected to minute inspection through their +detecting infra-red and ultra-violet. Ban Wilson, perhaps, stared most +eagerly, for he had never seen Ku Sui's asteroid, and despite himself +still only half-believed that twenty craggy, twisted miles of rock +could be swung as its master willed in space, and brought down bodily +to Satellite III.</p> + +<p>But he saw nothing in the sky; nothing looming gigantically over any +part of the horizon; and he reported disgustedly:</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing anywhere. Carse."</p> + +<p>"Don't see nothing either, suh," the Negro's deep voice added. And +both of them heard the Hawk murmur:</p> + +<p>"Nor do I. But he must be—Ah! There! Careful! They're coming!"</p> + +<p>"Where? Where is it?" yapped Ban excitedly, jerking the instrument to +his eyes again.</p> + +<p>"Speak low. Not the asteroid. Three men."</p> + +<p>For a tense minute there was silence between them, until, in a low, +crisp voice, the Hawk added:</p> + +<p>"Three men in space-suits like ours, coming from the "north" straight +for Tantril's. Ban, you may not be able to see them till they get to +the ranch, so you keep hunting for the asteroid with your glasses. +Friday, you see them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh! Three! One ahead of the others!"</p> + +<p>"Keep your eyes tight on them. No talking now from either of you +unless it's important."</p> + +<p>The steely voice snapped off. And carefully, in his tree, Hawk Carse +brushed aside a fringe of leaves and concentrated on the three figures +the dawn had brought.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>ard and sharp they glittered in the flood of ruddy light from +Jupiter, great grotesque figures of metal and bulging fabric, with +shining quarzite face-plates and the abnormally large helmets and +boot-pieces which identified them as being of the enemy. At a level +fifty feet above the jungle's crown they came in fast, horizontal +transit, and there was much of beauty in the picture that they +made—sparkling shapes flying without sound or movement of limb +against the blue sky, over the heaped colors of the jungle below. One +flew slightly in the lead, and he, the watching Hawk felt positive, +was Ku Sui, and the other two his servants—probably men whose brains +had been violated, dehumanized—mere machines in human form.</p> + +<p>Straight in the three figures flew, without hesitation or swerving, +closer and closer to the watching man in the tree. The Hawk's lips +compressed as his old enemy neared, and into his watching gray eyes +came the deadly cold emotionless look that was known and feared +throughout space, wherever outlaws walked or flew. Ku Sui—so close! +There, in that even-gliding figure, was the author of the infamy done +to Leithgow, of the crime to the brains that lived though their bodies +were dead; of the organized isuan trade. Go for him now? The thought +flashed temptingly through Carse's head, but he saw sense at once. Far +too dangerous, with the powerful, watching ranch so close. He could +not jeopardize the success of his promise to the brains.</p> + +<p>And so Dr. Ku Sui passed, while two pairs of eyes from two leafy trees +watched closely every instant of his passing, and one man's hand +dropped unconsciously to the butt of a raygun.</p> + +<p>Quickly, the Eurasian and his servitors were gone, their straight, +steady flight obscured by the trees around Tantril's ranch, below +which they slanted.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui had arrived at his assignation. But where was the asteroid?</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hrough his instrument, Carse sought horizon and heaven for the +massive body, but in vain. He spoke into his helmet-radio's mike.</p> + +<p>"Ban?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"See the asteroid anywhere?"</p> + +<p>"Nowhere, by Betelgeuse! I've looked till my eyes—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk cut him short. "All right. Stand by. Friday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh?"</p> + +<p>"Can you see anything special?"</p> + +<p>"No, suh—only that the three platform guards keep lookin' down +towards the center of the ranch."</p> + +<p>"Good. That means Ku Sui's being received," said Carse; and then he +considered swiftly for a minute. Decided, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Ban and Friday, you both wait where you are, keeping a steady +lookout. None of us can see the asteroid, but it must be somewhere +comparatively near, for Dr. Ku has no reason to bother with a long +journey in a space-suit. I think the asteroid's close down, hidden by +that distant ridge in the direction from which they came. I'm going to +find it. When I do, I'll tell you where to come meet me. Inform me at +once if Ku Sui leaves or if anything unusual happens. Understood?"</p> + +<p>The assenting voices rang back to him simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Right!" he said; and slowly his great bulging figure lifted.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>autiously, the adventurer made through the watrari tree to the side +facing away from the ranch. There, poising for a second, he +manipulated the lateral direction-rod on the suit's chest, and, still +very slowly, floated free from the shrouding leaves. Then, mindful of +the lookouts on the towers behind, he employed the tactics he had used +before, and kept constantly below the uneven crown of the jungle, +gliding at an easy rate through the leafy lanes created by the banked +tree-tops.</p> + +<p>In that fashion, in the upthrust arms of the jungle, twisting, +turning, sometimes doubling, but following always a path the objective +of which was straight ahead, Hawk Carse soared soundlessly for miles. +He maneuvered his way with practised ease, and his speed increased as +the need for hiding his flight decreased.</p> + +<p>He was familiar with the landmarks of the region, and it was towards +the most pronounced of them that he flew. Soon it was looming far +above him: a long, high ridge, rearing more than three miles above the +level of the Great Briney, and crowded with trees even taller and +sturdier than those of the lower jungle plains. Beyond it was the most +likely spot....</p> + +<p>The Hawk paused at the base of the ridge. There had been no warning +from Ban or Friday, but, to make sure, he established radio +connection.</p> + +<p>"Friday?" he asked into the microphone. "Any activity on the ranch? +Any sign they're aware of our presence?"</p> + +<p>Clear and deep from miles behind, the Negro's voice answered:</p> + +<p>"No, suh. Dead still. I guess they're inside the buildings—except the +guards, and they're taking things easy. Where are you, suh?"</p> + +<p>"About ten miles from you, 'north' and a little 'east,' at the foot of +the ridge. I think I'll know something soon now. Stand by."</p> + +<p>Then Carse moved forward again, slowly winding up between the trees to +the summit of the ridge.</p> + +<p>At the top he stopped. His eyes took in a long, wide valley, of which +the ridge where he hung was the southernmost barrier. He knew at once +something was wrong. Through his opened face-plate he was aware of a +breathless hush that hovered over the valley, a hush which embraced +its fifty miles or more of jungle length, a hush which was rendered +actually visible in several places by the unmoving, limp-hanging +leaves of the trees. Below, in the valley, all the myriad life of the +jungle seemed to have frozen, and only occasionally was the pause of +life and sound disturbed by the faint, muffled cry of a bird.</p> + +<p>What had wrought the hush? Nothing showed to the naked eye.</p> + +<p>From the summit of the ridge, Hawk Carse lifted Leithgow's glasses to +his eyes. And the valley was suddenly changed, and the hush explained. +The miracle lay before him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h2><i>The Raid</i></h2> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> dim, shimmering outline through the infra-red, the valley lay +revealed as a great natural cradle for a mammoth body of rock which +had been swung down from the deeps of space to the surface of +Satellite III.</p> + +<p>Titanic, breath-taking in its majesty of sheer bulk, the asteroid of +Dr. Ku Sui was made visible.</p> + +<p>It hung suspended, low over the tree-tops of the valley, and it filled +the valley with rock and towered above it. This was the asteroid, +exploded into a separate entity by the cataclysm that gave birth to +the planets, which Dr. Ku Sui had wrenched from the asteroidal belt +between Mars and Jupiter and built into a world of his own, swinging +it through space as he willed, and cloaking it with invisibility to +baffle those who marveled at how he came and went, unseen, on his +various errands. This was the mighty rock fortress in which lay the +key-stone of his mounting power. This his lonely, unsuspected home, +come for a while to rest....</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse scanned it closely.</p> + +<p>It lay roughly head-on to him, its nearest massive, craggy end lying +some three miles from where he hung. On that end lived the life of the +asteroid, and were located all Ku Sui's works. On a space planed flat +in the rock, rested the dome, like an inverted quarter-mile-wide bowl +of glittering glasslike substance, laced inside with spidery +supporting struts—the half bubble from inside which men guided the +mass. Therein an artificial atmosphere was maintained, even as on any +space-ship, and there lay the group of buildings, chief of which was +the precious laboratory in which were the coordinated brains to whom +the Hawk had made his promise.</p> + +<p>Carse lowered the glasses, and again the Jupiter-light poured normally +around him, the valley hushed and seemingly empty once more. He put +through his call to Friday and Ban, giving them simple directions how +to find him. And twenty-five minutes after that, he saw, looking back +down the ridge, their two giant metallic figures come twisting and +turning in noiseless flight through the top lanes of the jungle below, +and they were together.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was seldom that Friday would intrude his thoughts when with his +master and his master's friends, so when he arrived he merely surveyed +the asteroid through his glasses and was silent. But Ban Wilson, after +a long, comprehensive stare, during which one could almost feel the +amazement leaping through him, sputtered:</p> + +<p>"By jumping Jupiter, Carse—I never would've believed it! That Ku +Sui's sure a genius! To have that whole asteroid there, man, and to +take it with him wherever he wants to go! Look at it! Fifteen, twenty +miles long, it must be! And that dome—"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk shortly, "but easy on that now. We've work to do, +and it's got to be done quickly. Now listen:</p> + +<p>"There are two main port-locks in the dome for space-ships, and the +starboard one has a smaller man-size lock beside it. We're going to +the smaller one. There'll no doubt be a guard on watch at it, so to +him we're Ku Sui and the two men who accompanied him. We'll have to +chance recognition; but at least there's no difference in the suits +we're wearing, and we'll clasp our glasses on all the way to the lock, +for surely Dr. Ku has to use some similar device. Keep your faces +averted as much as you can though, when near, and your rayguns in your +belts. If there's to be gunplay, leave the first shot to me. You'll +both follow me just as those two followed Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson asked: "Will you go down into the valley between the trees, +then up the face of the rock? The guard wouldn't see us until we were +right at the lock."</p> + +<p>"No, he wouldn't: but he'd wonder why Ku Sui was being so cautious. +We'll go straight across, in full view. We'll get in easily, or—well, +that depends. Ready?"</p> + +<p>They fastened the glasses over their eyes, keeping the helmet +face-plates partly open. The rayguns they eased in their belt +holsters, and slid back the hinged palms of their mittens, to give +exit if need be to their gun-hands. They were ready.</p> + +<p>Switching on the helmet gravity-plates to swift repulsion, the three +soared out of the trees, soared up on a straight, inclined line for +the dome on the asteroid, a steady, rapid climb that soon raised them +one mile, a second and a third, where they leveled off and sped +straight ahead. Now they could look right into the dome.</p> + +<p>Rapidly the port-lock that was their objective grew in size. Behind it +were the buildings: the large, four-winged central structure and the +supplementary workshops and hangars, coolie-quarters and outhouses, +all dim and shimmering through the infra-red—the mysterious, lonely +citadel of Dr. Ku Sui. There it all was, inside the dome, with the +rest of the asteroid looming massive behind.</p> + +<p>A quarter-mile away, and swiftly half that, and half again the three +grouped figures arrowed ahead without hesitation. And the Hawk said +curtly:</p> + +<p>"I see no men—do either of you? It looks deserted."</p> + +<p>"There!" cried Ban, after a second. "There! Beside the port-lock. Just +now!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> + +<p>eside the smaller port-lock's inner door a figure had appeared, clad +in the neat yellow smock of a servitor of Ku Sui. It was a smooth, +impassive Oriental face that turned to stare out at the approaching +men; and even Ban knew that this sentinel stationed at the lock was +one of the coolies whose brains Dr. Ku had altered, turning him into a +mechanicalized man who obeyed no orders but his. He watched closely +the three who swept on towards him, his hand at a raygun in his belt. +The same questions were in the minds of all three of the raiders. +Would he recognize something as being different, or suspicious? Would +he summon others of his kind from the small guard-box he had come out +of?</p> + +<p>But the coolie evinced no alarm. It would have been difficult for +anyone to have discerned distinguishing features inside the cumbersome +helmets, behind the instruments clamped to the faces of the men who +wore the suits. He called no others, but merely watched.</p> + +<p>Soon the opaque metal plates of the small lock's outer door had neared +to within a few feet of Hawk Carse, and he stopped short, Ban and +Friday following suit. They hovered there outside the door, gently +swaying like flies against the great gleaming sweep of the dome, the +craggy rock face dropping sickeningly down for miles beneath them. +And, like flies, they were powerless to open the door to gain +entrance. Only the coolie inside could do that; and he, through the +dome to one side, was peering at them.</p> + +<p>Apparently he was satisfied with his scrutiny. After a moment, bolts +shifted and the door stirred and swung out, revealing the all-metal +atmosphere chamber and the inner door at the far side. Immediately +Carse floated into the chamber, and the two others pressed in behind. +They saw the outer door swing shut, and heard its locks thud over.</p> + +<p>They were sealed from sight inside the port-lock's atmosphere chamber.</p> + +<p>"Looks to me," whispered Ban Wilson, "like a very sweet trap. If that +fellow inside wants to—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk's cool voice cut him off.</p> + +<p>"We can take off the glasses now," he said casually. "Keep alert."</p> + +<p>And for a full minute they waited.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t length a circle of light showed around the rim of the inner door, +and it grew quickly into the full flood of Jupiter-light as the door +opened.</p> + +<p>Carse floated through, no longer attempting to avert his face.</p> + +<p>The coolie, standing just outside the chamber, saw the adventurer's +features and remembered—and drew the raygun in his belt.</p> + +<p>Carse did not shoot. He never killed unless he could not avoid it; +this was as much a part of his creed as his remorseless leveling of a +blood-debt. He struck with the suit. Under a quick turn of the +control, the great heavy bulk of fabric-joined metal lunged forward. +The move was quick, but not quite quick enough, for just before the +coolie was bowled headlong to the ground, he got out a high-pitched +warning yell; and then, as he lay sprawled out, apparently +unconscious, a thin hot orange streak sizzled by Hawk Carse's helmet +from the left.</p> + +<p>This time Carse shot. His gun leaped from belt to hand, and had twice +spoken from the hip before one could quite grasp what had happened. +Seemingly without bothering to take aim, his deadly left hand had +stricken into lifeless heaps two coolies who had come running and +shooting from the nearby guard-box.</p> + +<p>As Carse stood looking down at their bodies he was startled by another +sizzling spit. He wheeled to see Friday holding the raygun that had +spoken.</p> + +<p>The Negro said apologetically:</p> + +<p>"Sorry, suh—I had to. The other coolie, the one you knocked down, +came to and was aimin' at you. Guess they're all three dead now, sure +enough."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>is master nodded, and said in a low, thoughtful voice: "In spite of +what some men have said, I never like to kill; but for these robots, +more machines than men, with nothing human to live for, it's release +rather than death.</p> + +<p>"Well," he began again, more briskly, "we're inside, and whoever else +is here apparently doesn't know it yet. I expected more of a +commotion. I wonder how many coolies Ku Sui had, altogether? Fourteen +or fifteen were killed when we broke through the dome, before, and now +these three. There surely can't be many left. Of course, there are the +four white men, his surgical assistants."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson spoke after what was for him a long silence. He had watched +the Hawk's gunplay with an awe-stricken face; its speed never failed +to amaze him. He observed:</p> + +<p>"These buildings certainly look lifeless. Well, what now, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"A search." He planned it out in his head, then gave quick orders. +"Ban," he directed, "you go through all the out-buildings, your gun +ready. The five main ones are a workshop, a power-house, storehouse, a +ship hangar and a barracks for coolies. Whoever you find, take +prisoner. Keep in touch with me by radio."</p> + +<p>"Friday," he continued, "I'm leaving you here. First get these bodies +in that guard-house they came out of. Then keep sharp watch. I don't +think Ku Sui will return within fifteen minutes, but we must take no +chance. At the first sign of him, warn me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh. But what are you goin' to do?"</p> + +<p>"Take over the central building," said the Hawk. "And then, when the +whole place has been reconnoitered, fulfil my promise to the brains."</p> + +<p>"And what about Ku Sui?"</p> + +<p>"Later," he said. "It should not be hard to take him prisoner.... Now, +enough!"</p> + +<p>The three parted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h2><i>The Voice of the Brains</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he central structure of the group of buildings was shaped like a +great plus-mark, each of its four wings of identical square +construction, with long smooth metal sides and top, and with a door at +the end giving entrance to a corridor that ran straight through to the +chief central laboratory of Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>Carse skimmed swiftly, two feet off the glittering metallic soil, +towards the end of the nearest wing, where he gently landed. He tried +the door giving entrance. It was open. He cautiously floated through +into complete darkness.</p> + +<p>The Hawk was prepared for that. He drew a hand-flash from the belt of +his suit, and, standing motionless, his raygun ready in his left +hand, he probed the darkness with a long white beam. Spaced evenly +along the sides of the corridor were many identical doors, and at the +end a larger, heavier door which gave entrance to the central +laboratory. He found no life or anything that moved at all, so, +methodically, he set about inspecting the side rooms.</p> + +<p>The doors were all unlocked, and he moved down the line without alarm, +like a mechanical giant preceded by a sweeping, nervous flow of light. +Such he might from the outside have appeared to be, but the man within +himself was more like a cat scenting for danger, all muscles and +senses delicately tuned to alertness. Door by door, a cautious and +thorough inspection; but he found nothing of danger. All the rooms of +that wing were used merely for stores and equipment, and they were +quite silent and deserted. When he came at last to its end, Carse knew +that the wing was safe.</p> + +<p>He paused a minute before the laboratory door. He had expected to find +it locked, and that he would have to seek other means of entrance; but +it was not. By pushing softly against it, it easily gave inward on +silent well-oiled hinges. He entered.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse found himself in a place of memories, and they were sharp and +painful in his brain as he stood there. Here so much had happened: +here death, and even more than death, had been, and was, so near!</p> + +<p>The high-walled circular room was dimly lit by daylight tubes from +above. The damage he, Carse, had wrought when besieged in it, a week +before, had all been repaired. The place was deserted—it seemed even +desolate—but in Carse's moment of memory it was peopled. There had +been the tall, graceful shape in black silk; there the operating table +and the frail old man bound on it; there the four other men, white men +and gowned in the smocks of surgeons, but whose faces were lifeless +and expressionless. Dr. Ku Sui and his four assistant surgeons and his +intended victim, Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow....</p> + +<p>They were all gone from the room now, but there was in it one thing of +life that had been there before. It lay behind the inlaid screen +which, standing on roller-legs, lay along the wall at one place. The +Hawk did not look behind the screen. He could see under it, to know +that no one lurked there. He knew what it was meant to conceal. There +his promise lay.</p> + +<p>But his promise could not be fulfilled immediately. There were four +wings to the building, four doors leading into the laboratory, and he +had inspected but one.</p> + +<p>An open door to his right revealed a corridor similar to the one he +had reconnoitered. He repeated down it his methodical search and found +no one. Then he returned to the laboratory.</p> + +<p>Surely there were men somewhere! Surely someone was behind one of the +two closed doors remaining! Gun and flashlight still at the ready, +Carse listened a moment at the nearest one.</p> + +<p>Silence. He grasped the knob, turned it and quickly threw the door +open. A rapid glance revealed no one. Wary and alert, he passed +through, and discovered that in this wing were the personal living +quarters of Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>The quarters were divided into five rooms: living room, bedroom, +library, dining room and kitchen, and the huge metal figure passed +through all five, the cold gray eyes taking in every detail of the +comfortable but not luxurious furnishings. There was a great interest +to him, but it would have to wait.</p> + +<p>He reentered the laboratory and went to the remaining door. Bending +his head he again listened. A sound—a faint whisper? He fancied he +heard something.</p> + +<p>Ready for whatever it was, Carse pulled the door wide. And before him +he saw the control room of the asteroid, and the men for whom he had +been hunting.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hey were white men. Carse recognized them immediately as the four +assistants of Dr. Ku Sui. Once, they had been eminent on Earth, +respected doctors of medicine and brain surgery, leaders in their +profession: now they were like the mechanicalized coolies. For their +brains, too, the Eurasian had altered, divested of all humanity and +individuality, so as to utilize unhampered their skill with medicine +and scalpel.</p> + +<p>They were clad in soft yellow robes and seated at ease at one end of a +room crowded with a bewildering profusion of gauges, machines, +instruments, screens, wheels, levers, and other nameless controlling +devices. They did not show surprise at the huge clumsy figure that +stood suddenly before them, a raygun in one hand. Like the coolies, +their clean-cut features did not change under emotion. All they did +was rise silently, as one, gazing at the adventurer out of blank eyes, +saying nothing, and making no other move.</p> + +<p>Carse tried simple measures in dealing with them. His voice gentle yet +firm, he said:</p> + +<p>"You must not try to obstruct me. You have seen me before under +unfortunate conditions, yet I want you to know that I am really your +friend. I mean you no harm; but you must realize that I have a gun, +and believe that I will not hesitate to use it if you resist me. So +please do not. I only want you to come with me. Will you?"</p> + +<p>They were simple words, and what he asked was simple, but would the +meaning reach these violated brains? Or would there instead be the +desperate reaction of the coolies, who had tried to kill him? Carse +waited with genuine anxiety. It would be hard to shoot them, and he +knew he could not shoot to kill.</p> + +<p>A moment of indecision—and then with relief he saw all four, with +apparent willingness, move forward towards him. He directed them +through the laboratory and, without sign of resistance, herded them +down the corridor he had first searched to the outside.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he light of Jupiter, flooding undiminished through the dome, dazzled +him at first. When he could see clearly, he distinguished the great +form that was Friday standing motionless by the small port-lock, and, +an equal distance away, moving around one of the out-buildings, +another similar figure. He spoke by radio.</p> + +<p>"Find any, Ban?"</p> + +<p>Cheerful words came humming back.</p> + +<p>"Only one coolie, Carse. Had no trouble after I disarmed him. He's now +locked inside a room in this building. Safe place for prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Good," said Carse. "You can see I've got four men—white men. I +believe they're unarmed and quite harmless, but I want you to take +them, search them and put them away in that room too."</p> + +<p>"Coming!"</p> + +<p>The distant form rose lightly, skimmed low over the open area between, +and grew into the grinning, freckle-faced Ban Wilson. He bounced down +awkwardly, almost losing his balance, then surveyed, wonderingly, the +four assistants of Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>"By Betelgeuse!" he muttered, "—like robots! Horrible!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk shortly. "You had no trouble, eh?"</p> + +<p>Ban grinned again. "Nothing to mention. This has been soft, hasn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be too optimistic, Ban. All right—when you've put these men in +the room, please relieve Friday. Send him to me in the laboratory—he +knows where it is—and stand watch yourself. If Ku Sui appears—"</p> + +<p>"I'll let you know on the instant!"</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse nodded and turned back into the corridor from which he had +just come. Now he would fulfil his promise. With no possibility of a +surprise attack from anyone within the dome, and Ban Wilson posted +against the return of Ku Sui, he could attend unhampered to the vow +which had brought him there.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e returned to the central laboratory. Quickly be rolled back the high +screen lying across one part of the curved wall and stood looking at +what was behind it. The monstrousness of that dead-and-alive mechanism +overwhelmed his thoughts again.</p> + +<p>Before him stood a case, transparent, hard and crystal-like, as long +as a man's body and half as deep, standing level on short metal legs. +What it contained was the most jealously guarded, the most precious of +all Dr. Ku Sui's works, the very consummation of his mighty genius, +his treasure-house of wisdom as profound as man then could know. And +more: it held the consummation of all that was so coldly unhuman in +the Eurasian. For there, in that case, he had bound to his will the +brains of five of Earth's greatest scientists, and kept them alive, +with their whole matured store of knowledge subservient to his need, +although their bodies were long since dead and decayed.</p> + +<p>For some time the adventurer stood lost in a mood of thoughts and +emotions rare to him—until he was startled back into reality by a +heavy, clumping noise coming down the corridor through which he had +entered. His gun-hand flickered to readiness, but it was only Friday, +coming as he had been ordered. Carse greeted the Negro with a nod, and +said briefly:</p> + +<p>"There's a panel in this room—over there somewhere—you remember—the +place through which Ku Sui escaped when we were here before. It's an +unknown quantity, so I want you to stand watch by it. Open your +face-plate wide, and warn me at the slightest sound or sight of +possible danger."</p> + +<p>The Negro nodded and moved as silently as was possible in his +space-suit to obey. And Carse turned again to the thing to which he +had made a promise.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he icy-glittering case was full of a colorless liquid in which were +grouped at the bottom, several delicate, colored instruments, all +interconnected by a maze of countless spidery silver wires. Sheathes +of other wires ran up from the lower devices to the case's main +content—five grayish, convoluted mounds that lay in shallow +pans—five brutally naked things that were the brains of scientists +once honored and eminent on Earth.</p> + +<p>Their bodies has long since been cast aside as useless to the ends of +Ku Sui, but the priceless brains had been condemned to live on in an +unlit, unseeing deathless existence: machines serving the man who had +trapped them into life in death. Alive—and with stray memories, which +Ku Sui could not banish entirely, of Earth, of love, of the work and +the respect that had once been theirs. Alive—with an unnatural and +horrible life, without sensation, without hope. Alive—and made to aid +with their knowledge the man who had brought them into slavery +unspeakable....</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse's eyes were frigid gray mists in a graven, expressionless +face as he turned to the left of the case and pulled over one of the +well-remembered knife switches. A low hum came; a ghost of rosy color +diffused through the liquid in the case. The color grew until the +whole was glowing jewel-like in the dim-lit laboratory, and the narrow +tubes leading into the undersides of the brains were plainly visible. +Something within the tubes pulsed at the rate of heart-beats. The +stuff of life.</p> + +<p>When the color ceased to increase, Carse pulled the second switch, and +moved close to the grille inset in a small panel above the case.</p> + +<p>Slowly, gently he said into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Master Scientist Cram, Professors Estapp and Geinst, Doctors Swanson +and Norman—I wish to talk to you. I am Captain Carse, friend of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. Some days ago you aided us in our +escape from here, and in return I made you a promise. Do you +remember?"</p> + +<p>There was a pause, a silence so tense it was painful. And then +functioned the miracle of Ku Sui's devising. There came from the +grille a thin, metallic voice from the living dead.</p> + +<p>"<i>I remember you, Captain Carse, and your promise.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> voice from living brain cells, through inorganic lungs and throat +and tongue! A voice from five brains, speaking, for some obscure +reason which even Ku Sui could not explain, in the first person, and +setting to mechanical words the living, pulsing thoughts that sped +back and forth inside the case and were coordinated into unity by the +master brain, which had once been in the body of Master Scientist +Cram. A voice out of nothingness; a voice from what seemed so clearly +to be the dead. To Hawk Carse, man of action, it was unearthly; it was +a miracle the fact of which he could not question, but which he could +not hope to understand. And well might it have been unearthly to +anyone. Even to-day.</p> + +<p>Still thrilling to the wonder of it, he went on:</p> + +<p>"I have returned here to the asteroid with friends. Primarily I came +to keep my promise to you, but I intend to do more. Dr. Ku Sui is not +here now, and will not be for at least fifteen minutes; but when he +does return, I am going to capture him. I am going to take him alive."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you do not know," he continued levelly, "but the people of +Earth hold Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow responsible for your +disappearance. He is therefore a fugitive, and there is a price on his +head. It is my purpose to restore Eliot Leithgow to his old place by +returning Dr. Ku to Earth to answer for the crimes he has effected on +you.</p> + +<p>"I am now ready to fulfil my promise to you. I expect no interruption +this time. I regret exceedingly my inability to destroy you when I was +here before, but I simply could not in the little time I had. I still +do not know how best to go about it. Perhaps you will tell me. I will +wait...."</p> + +<p>An afterthought came to him. He added into the grille:</p> + +<p>"There is no hurry. Your extraordinary position—your thoughts—I +understand...."</p> + +<p>Then there was a long silence. For once the Hawk was not impatient; in +fact there was in him the feeling that the pause was only decent and +fitting. For before him were the brains of five great scientists, who +as captive remnants of men had asked him to end their cold and lonely +bondage. Limbless, his was to be the hand of their self-immolation. +The present silent, slow-passing minutes were to be their last of +consciousness....</p> + +<p>And then at last spoke the voice:</p> + +<p>"<i>Captain Carse, I do not wish you to destroy me. I wish you to give +me new life. I wish you to transplant me within the bodies of five +living men.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he words, so unexpected, took Hawk Carse by perhaps the greatest +surprise he had ever known. For a time he was completely astounded; he +could hardly credit his ears. It required a full minute for him to +summon even the most halting reply.</p> + +<p>"But—but could that be done?" He strove to collect himself, to +consider logically this course that he had never dreamed would be +requested. "Who could do it? I know of no man."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dr. Ku Sui could transplant me.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Ku Sui? He could, but he wouldn't. He would destroy you, rather."</p> + +<p>Almost immediately the artificial voice responded:</p> + +<p>"<i>You have said, Captain Carse, that you will soon have Ku Sui +captive. Will you not attempt to force him to do as I desire?</i>"</p> + +<p>Carse considered the suggestion, but it did not seem remotely +possible. Ku Sui could not be prevented from having endless +opportunities for destroying the brains while enjoying the manual +freedom necessary to perform the operations of re-embodying them.</p> + +<p>"I do not see how," he began—and then he cut off his words abruptly.</p> + +<p>Something had come into his mind, a memory of something Eliot Leithgow +had told him once, long before. Slowly the details came back in full, +and at their remembrance his right hand rose to the odd bangs of +flaxen hair concealing his forehead and began to smooth them, and a +ghost of a smile appeared on his thin lips.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," he murmured. "I think ... perhaps...."</p> + +<p>He said decisively into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Yes! I think it's quite possible that I can force Ku Sui to +transplant you into living bodies! I think—I <i>think</i>—I cannot be +sure—that it can be done. At least I will make a very good attempt."</p> + +<p>The toneless, mechanical voice uttered:</p> + +<p>"<i>Captain Carse, you bring me hope. My thoughts are many, and they are +grateful.</i>"</p> + +<p>But the Hawk had made a promise, and had to be formally freed of the +duty it entailed.</p> + +<p>"You release me, then," he asked, "from my original promise to destroy +you?"</p> + +<p>"<i>I release you, Captain Carse. And again I thank you.</i>"</p> + +<p>The adventurer returned the switches motivating the case, and the +faint smile returned to his lips at the thought that had come to him.</p> + +<p>But the smile vanished suddenly at the quick, excited words that came +crackling into his helmet receiver.</p> + +<p>"Carse? Carse? Do you hear me?"</p> + +<p>He threw over his microphone control.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ban? What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Come as fast as you can. Just caught sight of three distant figures +flying straight towards here. It's Ku Sui, returning!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h2><i>"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> +<p> few minutes later the trap was in readiness.</p> + +<p>It had been swiftly planned and executed, and it promised well. Both +the inner and outer doors of the smaller port-lock lay ajar. Hawk +Carse was gone from view. The only figure visible there was that which +lay sprawled face-downward on the ground close to the inner door of +the port-lock.</p> + +<p>The figure seemed to have been stricken down in sudden death. It was +clad in the trim yellow smock of a coolie of Ku Sui. It was limp, its +arms and legs spreadeagled, and it lay there as mute evidence that the +dome of the asteroid had been attacked.</p> + +<p>To one entering from outside, the figure was that of a dead coolie. +The coolie that had worn those clothes was dead; his clothes now +covered the wiry length of freckle-faced Ban Wilson.</p> + +<p>Ban played the game well. His face lay in the ground, pointed away +from the lock, so he could not see what was going to happen behind +him: but before the Hawk had directed him to take off his suit and don +the yellow smock, he had glimpsed, rising swiftly over the +southernmost barrier of hills that edged the valley, three black dots +coming fast toward the asteroid in straight, disciplined flight, and +he knew that the leader of the three was Dr. Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>As he lay limp on the ground, playing his important part as the decoy +of the trap, he knew that his life depended on the action and the +skill and the timing of Hawk Carse. But he did not worry about that. +He had implicit faith in the Hawk, and trusted his life to his +judgment without a tremor.</p> + +<p>Still, it was hard for Ban to throttle down his excessively nervous +nature and maintain the dead man pose for the long silent minutes that +crawled by before there came any sound from behind. The Jupiter-light, +flooding down on him from the glittering blue sky above, was hot and +growing hotter, and of course he began to itch. Had he had the freedom +of his limbs, he would not have itched, he knew; it happened only when +he had to keep absolutely still; he cursed the phenomenon to himself. +Minute after minute, and no sound to tell him what was happening +behind, or how close the three approaching figures had come, or +whether Carse was at all visible or not—and the mounting, maddening +itch right in the middle of his back!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t last Ban's mental cursings stopped. His straining ears had caught a +sound.</p> + +<p>It was quickly repeated, and again and again—the heavy, grating noise +of metal on metal. The boots of space-suits on the metal floor of the +port-lock. They had arrived!</p> + +<p>Ku Sui would be there, close behind him; probably gazing at his +outflung figure; probably puzzled, and suspicious, and quickly looking +around for the enemies that had apparently killed one of his coolies. +With a raygun in hand—and guns in the hands of the two others with +him—glancing warily around over the guard-chamber close to the +port-lock, and the main buildings beyond, and the whole area inside +the dome, and seeing no one.</p> + +<p>And then—approaching!</p> + +<p>Ban could tell it by the silence, then the harsh crunch of the great +boots against the powdered, metallic upper crust of ground. But he lay +without an eyelash's flickering, a dead coolie, limp, crumpled. He +heard the crunch of boots come right up to him and then pause; and the +feeling that came to his stomach told him unmistakably that a man was +looking down on him....</p> + +<p>Now—while Ku Sui's attention was on him—now was the time! Now! +Otherwise the Eurasian would turn him over and see that he was white!</p> + +<p>It seemed to Ban centuries later that he heard the welcome voice of +the Hawk bark out:</p> + +<p>"You are covered, Dr. Ku! And your men. I advise you not to move. Tell +your men to drop their guns—<i>sh!</i>"</p> + +<p>The sound of the voice from the guard-chamber was replaced by two +spits of a raygun. Unable to restrain himself, Ban rolled over and +looked up.</p> + +<p>He saw, first, the figure of the Hawk. Carse had stepped out from +where he had been concealed, in the guard-chamber, and was holding the +gun that had just spoken. Standing upright, close to the inner door of +the port-lock, were two suit-clad coolies. Ban saw that they had +turned to fire at Carse, and that now they were dead. Dead on their +feet in the stiff, heavy stuff of their suits.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui was standing motionless above him, and through the open +face-plate of the Eurasian's helmet Ban could see him gazing at Hawk +Carse with a strange, faint smile on his beautifully chiselled, +ascetic face.</p> + +<p>The Hawk came towards them, the raygun steady on his old foe; but +while he was still yards away, and before he could do anything to +prevent it, the Eurasian spoke a few unintelligible words into the +microphone of his helmet-radio. Carse continued forward and stopped +when a few feet away. Dr. Ku bowed as well as he could in his stiff +suit and said courteously, in English:</p> + +<p>"So I am trapped. My congratulations, Captain Carse! It was very +neatly done."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he two puffed-out, metal-gleaming figures faced each other for a +moment without speaking. And in the silence, Ban Wilson, watchful, +with a raygun he had drawn from his belt, fancied he could <i>feel</i> the +long, bitter, bloody feud between the two, adventurer and scientist, +there met again....</p> + +<p>Carse spoke first, his voice steel-cold.</p> + +<p>"You take it lightly, Dr. Ku. Do not rely too much on those words you +spoke in Chinese. I could not understand them—but such things as I do +not know about your asteroid I have already guarded against; and I +think we can forestall whatever you have set in action.... You will +please take off your space-suit."</p> + +<p>"Willingly, my friend!"</p> + +<p>"Watch close, Ban," said the Hawk.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui unbuckled the heavy clasps of his suit, unscrewed the +cumbersome helmet, and in a moment stepped free. At the suit slid to +the ground, there stood revealed his tall, slim-waisted form, clad in +the customary silk. He wore a high-collared green silk blouse, +tailored to the lines of his body, full trousers of the same material, +and pointed red slippers and red sash, which set the green off +tastefully. A lithe, silky figure; and above the silk the high +forehead, the saffron, delicately carved face, the fine black hair. +Half-veiled by their long lashes, his exotic eyes rested like a cat's +on his old enemy.</p> + +<p>The Hawk moved close to him, and swiftly patted one hand over his +body. From inside one of the blouse's sleeves he drew a pencil-thin +blade of steel from its hidden sheath. He found no other weapon. +Stepping back, he quickly divested himself of his suit also.</p> + +<p>"And now, Captain?" the Eurasian murmured softly.</p> + +<p>"Now, Dr. Ku," answered Carse, once again a slender, wiry figure in +soft blue shirt and blue denim trousers, "we are going to have a +little talk. In your living room, I think.</p> + +<p>"Ban," he continued. "I don't believe there's anyone else who can even +see the asteroid, but we have to be careful. Will you stay on guard +here by the port-lock? Good. Close its doors, and yell or come to me +if anything should occur."</p> + +<p>He turned to the waiting Eurasian again.</p> + +<p>"You may go first, Dr. Ku. Into the laboratory, and then to the living +room of your quarters."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hey found Friday on guard where he had been stationed in the +laboratory. The big Negro, on recognizing the Eurasian, grinned from +ear to ear and gave him what he considered a witty greeting.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he said with gusto, "—come right in. Dr. Ku Sui! Make +yourself at home, suh! Sure glad to have you come visitin' us!" He +laughed gleefully.</p> + +<p>But his words were wasted on Dr. Ku. His eyes at once fastened on the +case of coordinated brains, standing at one side. Carse noticed this.</p> + +<p>"No. Dr. Ku," he said. "I have not touched the brains. Not yet. But +that's what we're going to talk about." He motioned to one of the four +doors connecting the central laboratory with the building's wings. +"Into your living room please, and be seated there. And no sudden +moves, of course: I have a certain skill with a raygun. Friday, keep +doubly alert now. Better take off your suit. I will call for you in a +few minutes."</p> + +<p>Ku Sui walked on silent feet into the first division of his personal +quarters, the softly-lit living room. A lush velvet carpet made the +floor soft; ancient Chinese tapestries hid the pastelled metal of the +walls; books were everywhere. It was a quiet and restful room, with no +visible reminder of the asteroid and its controlling mechanics.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku sank into a deep armchair, linked his fingers before him and +looked up inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"We were going to talk about the brains?" he asked.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse had closed the door behind him, and now remained standing. He +met the masked green eyes squarely.</p> + +<p>"Yes." He was silent for a little, then, quietly and coldly he went to +the point.</p> + +<p>"You'll be interested to hear that I have talked with the brains and +been relieved of my premise to destroy them. They requested something +else. Now I have committed myself to attempt their restoration into +living bodies."</p> + +<p>"So?" murmured the Eurasian. "So. Yes, Captain, that is very +interesting."</p> + +<p>"Very." The Hawk spoke without trace of emotion. "And some courtroom +on Earth will find more than interesting the testimony of your +re-embodied brains."</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui smiled in answer. "Oh, no doubt. But, my friend—this +transplantation—you accept its possibility so casually! Won't it +prove rather difficult for you, who have never even pretended to be a +scientist?"</p> + +<p>"Not difficult. Impossible."</p> + +<p>"And Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow—I have unbounded respect for his +genius, but brain surgery is a specialty and I really think that this +task would be outside even his capabilities. I am sure he himself +would admit it."</p> + +<p>"You are right, Dr. Ku: he has admitted it. We both realize there is +only one person in the universe who could achieve it—you. So you will +have to perform the operations."</p> + +<p>"Well!" said Dr. Ku Sui. The smooth, fine skin of his brow wrinkled +slightly as he gazed up at the intent man facing him. "Is this just +stupidity on your part, Captain? Or do you attempt a joke at which in +courtesy I should smile?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk answered levelly: "I was never farther from joking in my +life."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>ith a delicate shrug of his silken shoulders, Ku Sui averted his +eyes. As if bored, he glanced around the room. Slowly he unclasped his +hands.</p> + +<p>"I am a very fast shot, Dr. Ku," whispered Carse. "You must not make a +single move without my permission."</p> + +<p>At that the Eurasian laughed aloud, a liquid laugh that showed his +even teeth between the finely cut lips.</p> + +<p>"But I am so completely in your power, Captain Carse!" He held on to +the last syllable, a low, sustained hiss—and then he snapped it off.</p> + +<p>"<i>S-s-stah!</i>" His mood had changed: the smile vanished from a face +suddenly thin and cruel; the green eyes unmasked, to show in their +depths the tiger.</p> + +<p>"What insane talk! You say such things to me! Don't you know that to +coordinate those brains I worked for years with a devotion, a +concentration, a genius you can never hope even to comprehend? Don't +you realize they're the most precious possession of the greatest +surgeon and the greatest mind in the universe? Don't you understand +that I've fashioned a miracle? Realize these things, then, and marvel +at yourself—you who, with your gun and your egotism, think you can +make me undo their wonderful coordination!"</p> + +<p>The tiger returned behind the veil, its power and fury again leashed, +and Dr. Ku Sui relaxed his green eyes once more masked and enigmatic. +Hawk Carse asked simply:</p> + +<p>"<i>Could</i> you transplant the brains?"</p> + +<p>"You insist on continuing this farce?" murmured the Eurasian. "I would +not be rude, but really you try my patience!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Could</i> you transplant the brains?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui looked at the colorless face with its eyes of ice. With a +trace of irritation, he said:</p> + +<p>"Of course! What I have once transplanted, I can transplant again. But +I will not do it—and my will no one, and no force, can alter. Perhaps +it is clear now? In no way can you touch my will. I am sorry that I so +grossly insulted you, Carse, for there are certain things about you +that in a small way I respect. But here you are helpless."</p> + +<p>"Not entirely," said the Hawk.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_k.jpg" alt="K" width="50" height="52" /></div> + +<p>u Sui leaned forward a trifle. In that moment, perhaps, he first felt +real concern, for Carse's quiet voice was so confident, so assured. He +attempted to sound him out.</p> + +<p>"A gun?" he asked. "Torture? Threats? These against my will? Absurd! +Consider, my friend—even if I seemed to consent to the operations, +could I not easily destroy the brains while ostensibly working on +them?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Carse, with a faint smile. "And threats and torture +would be absurd. Against your will, Dr. Ku, a more powerful weapon +will have to be used."</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's eyes were brilliant with intuition.</p> + +<p>"Ah—I see," he murmured. "Eliot Leithgow!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku!"</p> + +<p>The two gazed at each other, Carse still with the faint smile, the +other with the face of a statue. Presently the adventurer went on:</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately for you, Eliot Leithgow can provide a method of +compulsion neither you nor any other man could ever resist. Not guns, +torture, threats—no. A subtler weapon, worthy of your fine will."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Carse saw the Eurasian's green eyes narrow, and in the +pause that followed he knew that the swift, trained mind behind those +eyes was working. What would it evolve? What move? And those Chinese +words, uttered out by the port-lock—what would they result in, and +when? Dr. Ku Sui was concerned now, the Hawk knew, seriously +concerned, and inevitably, would take serious steps. What was growing +in his resourceful brain? He would have to ward off any trouble when +it came, for he could not know now. He said curtly:</p> + +<p>"But enough of that. Now, I have a trifling favor to ask of +you—something concerning the laboratory. Will you please return to +it."</p> + +<p>A strange light glimmered for an instant in Dr. Ku Sui's eyes—a +mocking of the slender man before him. Only for an instant; then it +was gone. Gracefully he raised his tall figure.</p> + +<p>"The laboratory? Of course, my friend. And as for the favor—almost +anything."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h2><i>The Deadline</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> +<p>riday greeted them with another wide grin, and would again have +bludgeoned the Eurasian with his wit had not the Hawk motioned him to +silence. Looking at Dr. Ku, he said:</p> + +<p>"I have Friday posted here because of the secret panel somewhere in +this wall. You escaped through it before—do you remember?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I remember. And if I'd had merely a fraction of your luck +then, my present situation would be quite different."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said the Hawk. "This panel is now the unknown quantity so +far as I'm concerned, and I don't like unknown quantities; so I am +asking you to show me where it is and how it works. That's my favor. +Of course you can refuse to reveal it, but that will not delay me very +long. The method of compulsion I mentioned...."</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku-Sui appeared to reflect a moment, but his decision was not +tardy in coming. He smiled.</p> + +<p>"You terrify me, Captain, with your ominous hints about compulsion. I +suppose I'd better be reasonable and show it to you. Really, though, +your concern over the panel is rather wasted, inasmuch as it conceals +nothing more than a small escape passage leading out of this building. +Nothing important at all."</p> + +<p>But his words, Carse somehow felt, were a screen; something else lay +beneath them. He watched the tall figure with its always present odor +of tsin-tsin blossoms move forward in a few indecisive steps, then +back again, considering. The smile and the easy words were a +camouflage, surely—but for what?</p> + +<p>"Nothing important at all." Dr. Ku Sui repeated pleasantly. "Come. I +will show you. Friday—if I may so address you—over on that +switchboard you will find a small lever-control. It is the one with a +Chinese character above it. Will you be so kind as to throw it?"</p> + +<p>The Negro glanced inquiringly at his master. Grimly Carse nodded.</p> + +<p>An enigmatic light glimmered in the Eurasian's green eyes as they +watched the Negro go to the switchboard and put thumb and forefinger +on the control.</p> + +<p>"Only a small escape passage," he said deprecatingly as the Hawk +crouched, gun ready, his eyes on the suspected place in the wall.</p> + +<p>Friday threw the switch.</p> + +<p>Immediately there sounded a short, sharp explosion. And acrid smoke +billowed out from under the case of coordinated brains!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse sprang to Ku Sui, gripped one arm and cried harshly:</p> + +<p>"What have you done?"</p> + +<p>"Not I, Captain—your obedient servant, the Black. Please, your +fingers—" He removed them from his arm; and then, smiling, he said:</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that all your assurance, your threats, are now but so +much wasted breath."</p> + +<p>"You mean—?"</p> + +<p>"Surely, Captain," said Ku Sui, "you must have known I would provide +for such an emergency, as this. I chose not to risk your darkly-hinted +method of compulsion, and so had Friday remove the need for it. The +Chinese character above the switch stands for 'Death.'"</p> + +<p>Frigidly the Hawk asked: "You've destroyed the brains?"</p> + +<p>"I have destroyed the brains." The Eurasian's voice was deep with a +strange, unusual tone. "No matter: it was time. I am far, far ahead of +that work, great though it was; it has destroyed itself with its +inherent, irremediable fault. Yes, far ahead. Next time...." He +appeared to lapse into profound and melancholy reflections; seemed to +forget entirely the two men by him.</p> + +<p>But the Hawk acted.</p> + +<p>"We'll see," he said curtly. "Friday, watch the Doctor closely; this +trick may be only the first." An intent, grim figure, he strode to the +case of coordinated brains, pulled over the first of its two +controlling switches, and stood silent while slowly the pulsings of +light grew through the inner liquid and very slowly irradiated the +five gray, naked mounds that were human brains. The light came to +full, and Carse threw over the second switch. He said into the +grille:</p> + +<p>"I am Captain Carse. I wish to know if you are aware of what has just +happened. Do you hear me, and did you feel anything a minute ago?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_s.jpg" alt="S" width="36" height="50" /></div> +<p>ilence. Friday, close to the Eurasian and watchful, hung breathless, +hoping that words might come from the grille in answer. But the silken +figure he watched was there only in body; Dr. Ku's mind was in a far +space of his own.</p> + +<p>Cold, unhuman words spoke out.</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes, Captain Carse, I hear you. I felt the vibrations of the +explosion that occurred a minute ago.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Hah!" grunted Friday, immediately relieved. "All bluff, suh! No +damage to 'em at all!"</p> + +<p>Carse asked quickly into the grille:</p> + +<p>"You felt the explosion, but do you know what it meant?—what it did?"</p> + +<p>Again a pause; and again the toneless voice:</p> + +<p>"<i>A vital part of the machinery through which I live his been +destroyed. I have left only some three hours of life.</i>"</p> + +<p>The Hawk returned to Ku Sui. "Is that true?" he snapped.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Captain." The words made a whisper, gentle and melancholy, +coming from afar. A man was turning back from the scanning of the long +years of one phase of his life. "Three hours is all that is left to +them.... But there was a fault inherent in such coordinated brains; it +is just as well that they are going.... Ah, Carse. I am so far ahead +of you ... but I tell you it is a painful thing to destroy so +wonderful a work of my hands...."</p> + +<p>Silence filled the laboratory. It was broken by the awful voice of the +living dead.</p> + +<p>"<i>I release you from your second promise, Captain Carse. No doubt +what happened was beyond your control.... I will soon be dead. +Although there is still nourishment in my liquid, I grow weaker +already. I am dying....</i>"</p> + +<p>Harshly, the Hawk asked a final question into the grille:</p> + +<p>"Within what time will you retain the vitality necessary to undergo +the initial steps of the transplanting operations? Do you know?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku raised his head at this, though he seemed only mildly +interested in what the reply would be.</p> + +<p>"<i>I think for two of the remaining three hours.</i>"</p> + +<p>"All right!" said Hawk Carse decisively. He threw off the case's +switches. "Dr. Ku," he said, "you've only succeeded in accelerating +things. Now for speed! Friday, we're taking this asteroid to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory. Go see that the port-lock doors are closed +tight, then you and Wilson hurry back here! Fast! Run!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h2><i>To the Laboratory</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen the Negro returned, panting, with Ban Wilson, it was to discover +Carse in the control room of the asteroid. He was studying the +multifarious devices and instruments: and they, seeing his face so set +in concentration, did not disturb him, but went over to where Dr. Ku +Sui sat in a chair, and posted themselves behind it.</p> + +<p>The apparatus in the control room resembled that of any modern +space-ship of its time, except that there were extra pieces of +unguessed function. Directly in front of Carse was the directional +space-stick above its complicated mechanism: above his eyes was the +wide six-part visi-screen, which in space would record the whole +"sphere" of the heavens: while to his right was the chief control +board, a smooth black surface studded with squads of vari-colored +buttons and lights, These were the essentials, familiar to any ship +navigator; but they were here awesome, for they controlled not the one +or two hundred feet of an ordinary craft, but twenty miles of this +space-ship of rock.</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes...." Carse murmured presently out of his study, then +turned and for the first time appeared to notice Friday and Ban. He +gave orders.</p> + +<p>"Eclipse, you see the radio over there? Get Master Leithgow on it for +me—protected beam. Ban, you bind Dr. Ku Sui in that chair, please."</p> + +<p>Wilson was surprised.</p> + +<p>"Bind him? Isn't he going to run this thing?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"<i>You're</i> going to, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I don't quite trust Dr. Ku. The asteroid's controlled on the +same principles as a space-ship: I'll manage. Please hurry, Ban."</p> + +<p>"Cap'n., suh! Already got the Master Scientist!" called Friday from +the radio panel. The Hawk strode swiftly to it and clamped the +individual receivers over his ears.</p> + +<p>"M. S.?" he asked into the microphone. "You're there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Carse? What's happened?"</p> + +<p>"All's well, but I'm in a tremendous hurry: I've only got time, now, +to tell you we're on the asteroid with Dr. Ku prisoner, and that I'm +undertaking to transplant the coordinated brains into living human +bodies.... What? Yes transplant them! Please, M. S.—not now: +questions later. I'm calling primarily to learn whether you have any +V-27 on hand?"</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow, in his distant laboratory, paused before replying. +When his voice sounded in the receivers again, it was excited.</p> + +<p>"I think I see, Carse! Good! Yes, I have a little—"</p> + +<p>"We'll need a lot," the Hawk cut in tersely. "Will you instruct your +assistants to begin preparing as much as they can in the next hour? Yes. +And your laboratory—clear it for the operations, and improvise five +operating tables. Powerful lights, too, M. S. Yes—<i>yes</i>—right—all +accessories. Have someone stand by your radio; I'll radio further +details while we're on our way."</p> + +<p>"Right, Carse. All understood."</p> + +<p>The Hawk remembered something else. "Oh, yes, Eliot—is everything +safe in your vicinity?"</p> + +<p>"There's a small band of isuanacs foraging around somewhere in the +neighborhood, but otherwise nothing. They're harmless—"</p> + +<p>"But possibly observant," finished Carse. "All right—I'll clear them +away before descending to the lab. Until later, Eliot."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse switched off the microphone and turned to catch Friday's shocked +expression. Carse looked inquiringly at his dark satellite.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Lordy, suh," the Negro whispered, "Dr. Ku could hear all you said! +He'll know where Master Leithgow's laboratory is!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk smiled briefly. "No matter, Eclipse. I'm quite sure the +information will avail him nothing. For this ride to the laboratory +will be his last ride but one." He turned. "We're starting at once. +Ban, you've bound him well?"</p> + +<p>"If he can get out of those knots," grinned Wilson, "I'll kiss him on +the mouth!"</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's nostrils distended. "Then," he said. "I most certainly +will not try. But Captain Carse, may I have a cigarro before we start +on this journey?"</p> + +<p>Carse had gone over so the space-stick and his eyes were on the +visi-screen, but he now turned them to his old foe for a moment. "Not +just now, Dr. Ku," he said levelly. "For it might be that all but two +puffs of it would be wasted. Yes—later—if we survive these next few +minutes."</p> + +<p>The remark did nothing to ease the tension of their leaving. Ban +Wilson could not restrain a question.</p> + +<p>"Carse, are you going to risk atmospheric friction all the way to the +laboratory?"</p> + +<p>"No. Haven't time for that. Up and down—up into space, then down to +the lab—high acceleration and deceleration."</p> + +<p>He grasped the space-stick, then in neutral, holding the asteroid +motionless in the valley. He glanced at the visi-screen again, checked +over the main controls and tightened his hand on the stick.</p> + +<p>"Ready everyone," he said, and gently moved the stick up and forward.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>here was, to the men in the control room, little consciousness of +power unleashed: only the visi-screen and the bank of positional +instruments told what had happened with that first, delicate movement +of the space-stick. It was an experiment, a feeler. The indicators of +the positionals quivered a little and altered, and in the visi-screen +the hills of the valley, that a moment before had been quite close and +large, had diminished to purple-green mounds below.</p> + +<p>Then the accelerating sensations began. Carse had the "feel" of the +asteroidal ship and his controlling hand grew bolder. The steady +pressure on the space-stick increased, it went up farther and farther, +and the whole mighty mass of the asteroid streaked out at a tangent +through the atmosphere of Satellite III toward the gulf beyond.</p> + +<p>With dangerous acceleration the gigantic body rose, and from outside +there grew a moaning which was quickly a shrieking—a terrible, +maddened sound as of a Titan dying in agony—the sound of the cloven +atmosphere. Twenty miles of rock were hurled out by the firm hand on +the space-stick, and that hand only increased its driving pressure +when the screaming of the air died away in the depthless silence of +outer space.</p> + +<p>In one special visi-screen lay mirrored the craggy back-stretch of the +asteroid, half of it clear-cut and hard in Jupiter's flood of light, +the other half lost in the encompassing blackness of space. Over this +shadowed portion a faint, unearthly glow clung close, the result of +the terrific friction of the ascent. In miniature, in the regular +screens, was Satellite III, but a distorted miniature, for its +half-face appeared concave in shape, and dusted with the haze of its +atmosphere.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk was visibly relieved. He turned to the silent Ku Sui.</p> + +<p>"I must congratulate you, Dr. Ku," he said, "on the operation of the +asteroid. It's as smooth as any ship. And now, your cigarro. Ban, have +you one?"</p> + +<p>Wilson produced a small metal case from which he extracted one of the +long black cylinders.</p> + +<p>"You will have to put it in my lips, please," murmured Dr. Ku. "Thank +you. And a light? Again thanks. Ah...." He drew in the smoke, exhaled +a fine stream of it from his delicately carved nostrils. "Good." Then +he looked up pleasantly at the Hawk.</p> + +<p>"And my congratulations to you, Captain. Not only on your expert +maneuvering of my asteroid, but on everything: your resourcefulness, +your decision, your caution. I have long admired these qualities in +you, and the events of to-day, though for me perhaps unfortunate, +increase my admiration. My own weak resistance, my attempt to +frustrate your plans in connection with the brains—how miserable in +comparison! It would seem, Captain, that you cannot fail, and that you +will indeed succeed in giving the brains new life, so swiftly do you +move. Yes, my congratulations!"</p> + +<p>He drew at the cigarro, and the smoke wreathed gently around his +ascetic saffron face. A faint, queer glint was visible under the long +lashes that half-veiled his eyes as he continued:</p> + +<p>"But I have a question, Captain. A mere nothing, but still—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku?"</p> + +<p>"The living bodies into which you propose to transplant the +brains—where are they?"</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse's face was stern and his voice frigid as he answered:</p> + +<p>"Fortunately, those bodies are right here on the asteroid."</p> + +<p>"Here on the asteroid, Captain? I don't understand. What bodies are +here?"</p> + +<p>"The bodies of your four white assistants, whom I have safely +confined, and one of your robot-coolies, also confined. I did not +intend to use these five, but, because you put a premium on time by +your attempted destruction of the brains, it cannot be helped."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku Sui's impassive demeanor did not change. He did not seem in the +least surprised. He puffed quietly at the cigarro and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course. You have five bodies right here on the +asteroid. Yes."</p> + +<p>"At least," continued Carse levelly, "I do not regret having to use +the bodies of your men. They are no longer human: they are not men: +they are in effect but machines of your making, Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>"Quite. Quite."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you find it an unpleasant thought, to have to be the means +of re-making them into whole, normal human beings?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," breathed the Eurasian, "you inspire a very pleasant +thought in my brain, Captain Carse—though I must confess it is not +exactly the thought you mention." A smile, veiled by the smoke of the +cigarro, appeared on his lips.</p> + +<p>The Hawk looked at him closely: the words had a hidden meaning, and it +was clear he was not intended to miss the implied threat. But what was +Ku Sui's thought? Back in his mind an anxiety grew, indefinite, vague +and devilish.</p> + +<p>And that vague anxiety was still with him when, fifty-seven minutes +later, the asteroid returned from its inverted U-flight, slowed in its +hurtling drop from space and hovered directly over the secret, hidden +laboratory of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h2><i>White's Brain—Yellow's Head</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>o Friday it was a bad mistake to reveal the location of the +laboratory to Dr. Ku Sui. From him above all men had that location up +to now been kept. Just a few days before, Hawk Carse had risked his +life to preserve the secret. And yet now, deliberately, he was showing +it to the Eurasian!</p> + +<p>Nervously, Friday watched him, and he saw that his eyes were alive +with interest as they scanned the visi-screen. It was too much for the +Negro.</p> + +<p>"Captain Carse," he whispered, coming close to the adventurer, "look, +suh—he's seein' it all! Shouldn't I blindfold him?"</p> + +<p>Carse shook his head, but turned to Dr. Ku, where he sat bound in the +chair scrutinizing the visi-screen.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Doctor," he said, "there it is—what you have searched for so +long—the refuge and the laboratory of Eliot Leithgow."</p> + +<p>"There, Captain?" murmured the Eurasian. "I see nothing!"</p> + +<p>And true, the visi-screen showed nothing but a hill, a lake, a swamp, +and the distant, surrounding jungle.</p> + +<p>That spot on Satellite III had been most carefully chosen by the +Master Scientist and Carse as best suiting their needs. It lay at +least a thousand miles—a thousand miles of ugly, primeval +jungle—from the nearest unfriendly isuan ranch, and was diametrically +opposite Port o' Porno. Thus it allowed Leithgow and Carse to come and +go with but faint chance of being observed, and the steady watch kept +through the laboratory's telescopic instruments lessened even that. +And even if their movements to and from the laboratory had been +observed, a spy could have discovered little, so ingeniously was the +camouflage contrived to use to best advantage the natural features of +the landscape.</p> + +<p>At this spot on Satellite III there was a small lake, long rather than +wide. At its shallow end, the lake lost itself in marshy, thick-grown +swamps; at its deep end it washed against the slopes of a low, rounded +hill. Topping the hill was a rude ranch-house, which to the casual eye +would appear the unimportant habitation of some poor jungle-squatter, +with beds of various vegetables and fruits growing around it, and +guarded against the jungle's animals by what looked like a makeshift +fence. The ground inside the fence had been cleared save for a few +thick, dead stumps of oxi trees, gnarled and weather-beaten, which +made the whole outlay look crude and desolate.</p> + +<p>So desolate, so poor, so humble, as not to deserve a second glance +from the lowest of scavenger or pirate ships. So misleading!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse had brought the invisible asteroid to a halt perhaps a half mile +above the hill. The minutes were slipping by, bringing the two-hour +deadline ever closer, but he did not skimp his customary caution on +approaching the laboratory. From the control room, he swept the +electelscope over the surrounding terrain, and soon sighted the band +of isuanacs Eliot Leithgow had mentioned.</p> + +<p>Through the 'scope's magnifying mirrors they seemed but yards away, +though they were wandering knee-deep in the marshes at the far end of +the lake. All their repulsive details stood out clearly.</p> + +<p>More beasts than men, were such isuanacs (pronounced ee-swan-acs), so +called from the drug that had betrayed them step by step to a pit in +which there was no intelligence, no light, no hope—nothing but their +mind-shattering craving. In many and unpredictable ways did the drug +ravish their bodies. They were outcasts from the port of outcasts, +driven out of Porno into the wilderness, where they tracked out their +miry ways searching ever for the isuan weed until some animal ended +their enslavement, or the drug itself finally killed them in +convulsions. They were the legion of the damned.</p> + +<p>This band of half a dozen was typical, grubbing through the slime of +the swamp, snarling at each other, now and again fighting over a leaf, +then squatting down in the mud where they were, to chew on it, their +torture of mind and body momentarily forgotten. Rags, mud-caked and +foul, partly covered their emaciated bodies: their hair was matted, +their eyes blood-shot....</p> + +<p>Carse noted their position and looked up at Friday.</p> + +<p>"Get the Master Scientist for me, please," he requested. The radio +connection took only seconds: and then he said into the microphone:</p> + +<p>"Eliot? We're directly above you, as you probably have seen. All +well?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse. The laboratory's in readiness. But those +isuanacs—they're still outside."</p> + +<p>"I've seen them, and I'm going to drive them away. Then I'll be down +to you. Have the upper entrance ready."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk turned back to the controls. Taking the space-stick out of +neutral, he moved it very slightly down and to one side. Ban and +Friday, not understanding his intention, watched the visi-screen.</p> + +<p>The whole mass of rock that was the asteroid changed position at a +gentle speed. The band of isuanacs came nearer and nearer, and then +were to the right. Completely oblivious of the great bulk hovering +above them, they continued their grubbing through the swamp; and then +the asteroid was over the jungle beyond them, and lowering its craggy +under-side.</p> + +<p>The under-side brushed the crown of the jungle. The trees bent, +crackled and broke, as if swept by a vicious but silent hurricane. +Only a moment of contact; but in that moment a square mile of +interwoven trees and vines was swept low—and to the isuanacs the +effect, as was intended, was terrifying.</p> + +<p>They stared at the phenomenon. There had been no sound, no whip of +wind, nothing—yet all those trees had bent and crashed splintering to +the ground. Their slavering lips open, the isuan weed forgotten, they +stared: and then howling and shrieking they broke and went splashing +off panic-stricken through the marsh.</p> + +<p>In five minutes the band had disappeared into the jungle in the +opposite direction and the district was cleared; and by that time +Hawk Carse was again in his space-suit, out of the control room and +busy at the mechanism of one of the great ship-sized port-locks in the +dome, having left behind him both Ban and Friday to guard Dr. Ku.</p> + +<p>He mastered the controls of the port-lock quickly, and swung inner and +outer doors open. He glided through, and then, a giant, clumsy figure, +poised far out in the air, a soft breeze washing his face as he gazed +down at the hill five miles below, judging his descent. As he did not +use the infra-red instrument hanging from his neck, the asteroid might +not have been there at all.</p> + +<p>A moment or so later, after a straight, swift drop, Carse landed on +the hill, close to a particular, gnarled oxi-tree stump. The nearby +ranch-house looked deserted, the whole place seemed desolate. The Hawk +waddled over to the stump, pressed a crooked little twig sticking out +from it, and a section of the seeming-bark slid down, revealing the +hollow, metal-sided interior of a cleverly camouflaged shaft.</p> + +<p>There were rungs inside, but Carse could not use them. He squeezed +himself in, closed the entrance panel, and, carefully manipulating his +gravity controls, floated down. A descent of twenty-five feet, and he +was on the floor of a short, level corridor with gray walls and +ceiling.</p> + +<p>Carse clumped along to the door at the other end of the corridor, +opened it, and stepped into the hidden underground laboratory of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, which, with its storerooms, living +quarters and space-ship hangar, had been built into the hollowed-out +hill.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft1"><img src="images/image_w1.jpg" alt="W" width="78" height="54" /></div> +<p>elcome back, Carse!"</p> + +<p>"Hello, Eliot," the Hawk nodded, rapidly divesting himself of the +suit but retaining his infra-red device. "You've lost no time, I see."</p> + +<p>The elderly scientist, his frail form clad in a buff-colored smock, +turned and surveyed the laboratory. In the center of the square room +five improvised operating tables were drawn up, each one flooded +individually with, light from focused flood-tubes above in the white +ceiling. Flanking them were tables for instruments and sterilizers, +and, more prominent, two small sleek cylindrical drums, from one of +which sprouted a tube ending in a breathing-cone.</p> + +<p>"The best I could do on such short notice," Leithgow commented.</p> + +<p>"Where are your assistants?"</p> + +<p>"At work on the V-27. All I had on hand is in those cylinders."</p> + +<p>"Much?"</p> + +<p>"Enough for twelve hours for one man, but the process of its +manufacture is accelerating; fortunately I had plenty of ingredients. +Of course I've divined your intention, Carse. Ku Sui to perform the +operations under the V-27. And it's possible, possible! It's +stupendous—and possible!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk, "but more later. I'm going up now to get Dr. Ku. +I'll use the air-car. It's ready?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." Leithgow answered. "But, Carse—one question I must ask—"</p> + +<p>The Hawk, already halfway to the door in the opposite wall of the +laboratory, paused and looked back inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"What bodies are to be used?"</p> + +<p>"The only ones available, Eliot," the adventurer replied, "since Ku +Sui, in his attempt to destroy the brains, left us only two hours—now +one hour—to complete the first steps of the transfer. They'll be +those four white assistants of his—those men, you remember, whose +intellects he's dehumanized—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes?" Leithgow pressed him eagerly. "And the fifth?"</p> + +<p>"A robot coolie."</p> + +<p>"Good God!"</p> + +<p>"I know, Eliot! It won't be pleasant for one of those brains to find +itself in a yellow body. But it's that or nothing."</p> + +<p>The scientist nodded slowly, his first expression of shock leaving his +old face to sadness: "But, a coolie. A coolie...."</p> + +<p>"Come, Eliot, we need speed! Speed! We've but an hour, remember, to +complete the first steps! I'll have Ku Sui and the five men down +immediately."</p> + +<p>The Hawk opened the door and strode down the long corridor beyond. His +footsteps were swiftly gone: and then the sound of another door +opening and closing. In the laboratory there was a murmur from the old +man.</p> + +<p>"A coolie! A scientist's brain in that ugly yellow head! When +consciousness returns, what a cruel shock!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h2><i>Four Bodies</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>awk Carse had gone into Leithgow's ship hangar.</p> + +<p>It was a vast place, occupying most of the hollowed-out space of the +hill. Seventy feet high and more than two hundred feet long, it was, +and, like the rest of the rooms, metal-walled and sound-proofed. Eliot +Leithgow's own personal space-ship, the <i>Sandra</i>, rested there on its +mooring cradle, and by its side was the laboratory's air-car, an +identical shape in miniature, designed for atmospheric transit.</p> + +<p>The adventurer, a silent, swift figure, went straight to the air-car +and climbed into its control seat. He tested the controls, found them +responsive, then pressed a button set apart from the others: and the +huge port-lock door set in the farther wall of the hangar slid +smoothly open, revealing a metal chamber similar to that of the ship +port-lock on Ku Sui's asteroid. But whereas the chamber of the +asteroid's port-lock was for vacuum-atmosphere, this was for +water-atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The clamps of the mooring cradle were released, and the air-car moved +gently into the lock chamber. The door swung shut behind. On the +pressing of another button there sounded a gurgling and splashing of +water, and quickly the chamber was filled. The air-car was now a +submarine. All these operations were effected by radio control from +within it.</p> + +<p>When the water filled the inside of the chamber, the second door +opened automatically, and the car started forward through a long +steel-lined, water-filled tube. It continued on even keel until Carse, +watching through the bow window, saw a red light flash in the ceiling +of the tube: and then he tilted the car and rose.</p> + +<p>A second later, the shiny, water-dripping shape of the car broke +through the surface of the lake that edged on the hill, and forsook +the water for the air.</p> + +<p>To an outside observer, the appearance of the air-car and its +subsequent movements would have been incomprehensible. There lay the +hill, desolate, barren, apparently lifeless: and there, washing +against its slopes, the lake; nothing more. Then suddenly a curve of +gleaming steel thrust up through the muddy water, rose swiftly almost +straight into the cloudless blue of the sky, and as suddenly +disappeared, and remained gone from sight, as if the ether had opened +and swallowed it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_u.jpg" alt="U" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>sing his infra-red device, Carse brought the car in neatly through +the ship-size port-lock of the dome, and sped it across to the +central building, to land lightly beside one of the wings. Debarking, +he ran down the wing's passage and in a few seconds was back in the +asteroid's control room.</p> + +<p>Friday was sitting in a chair close by the bound Eurasian; Ban Wilson, +more restless, was pacing up and down. The Hawk nodded in response to +their looks of welcome and issued curt orders.</p> + +<p>"All ready. Ban, the air-car's just outside; go over and get those +four men and the coolie and put them in it. Have your raygun ready, +but don't use it if humanly possible. We're going down to the +laboratory. I want speed. Please hurry."</p> + +<p>"Right Carse!"</p> + +<p>"Friday," the Hawk continued, "help me untie Dr. Ku."</p> + +<p>They stooped to the chair and the impassive, silken figure sitting in +it, and in a moment the bonds were ripped off; all save those on the +wrists. Stretching himself, the Eurasian asked:</p> + +<p>"You are taking the brains down now, Captain Carse?"</p> + +<p>"No—just you, your assistants and that one coolie, this trip. Master +Leithgow and I wish to have a talk with you."</p> + +<p>"I am always agreeable, my friend."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Hawk, "you'll be surprisingly agreeable. And truthful +and helpful, too. Now—outside, please, and do not attempt to delay me +in any way. I am in a great hurry, and consequently will not be +patient at any tricks." He turned to the Negro. "Friday. I'm leaving +you here on guard. Stay alert, gun handy, and keep in radio contact. +I'll be back soon."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>alking behind his captive, the Hawk left, passing down the wing to +the air-car outside. There, Ban Wilson was waiting with the four white +assistants of Dr. Ku and the one robot-coolie, all unarmed, stolid, +emotionless. Carse placed them all in the rear seats of the car's +compartment, Ban facing them with drawn raygun. Then with a hum from +its generators the car raised, wheeled, slid forward, until through +the large port-lock, and swooped down to the lake.</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku Sui watched everything with an interest he did not attempt to +disguise. There was being revealed to him the secret entrance to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory, and long had he sought for that laboratory, +long pondered on its probable location. No doubt, at various times, +pissing over, he had seen the barren hill and its flanking lake, but +had never given them a second glance. Yet here, right in the lake, was +the doorway to Leithgow's refuge!</p> + +<p>The air-car lowered like a humming bird to the lake's surface, paused +and dipped under. The light left the sealed ports and entrance +hatchway, and the water pressed around, dark and muddy. Down the car +sunk, apparently without direction, its course very slow, until ahead, +out of the blackness, a spot of red winked.</p> + +<p>At once the air-car made towards it and slid into the tube leading +through the hill. Quickly it was in the chamber of the lock, the outer +door closed automatically behind, the water was drained out, and then +the inner door opened and the car, dripping, emerged into the +brilliantly-lit hangar and went to rest in its mooring cradle beside +Leithgow's space-ship.</p> + +<p>A minute later its passengers were in the laboratory of the Master +Scientist.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku Sui took in the arrangements made in the laboratory with a +swift glance, and then his eyes went to a door that opened in the +opposite wall and to the slight, smock-garbed figure that came through +it. He smiled.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Master Leithgow! A return visit, you see. At Captain Carse's +invitation. It is very interesting to me, this home of yours: so +cleverly concealed!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow vouchsafed his archenemy no more than a look, but turned to +the Hawk.</p> + +<p>"You are ready, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Some preliminaries first, Eliot. These men, the four whites and the +yellow, must be put in some place of safety. You can take care of +them, Ban. One of the storerooms; lock them in. You remember your way? +Then, better take off your suit."</p> + +<p>Ban nodded, and led the five robot humans out. Leithgow, Hawk Carse +and Ku Sui were left alone in the laboratory, and for a minute there +was silence.</p> + +<p>How much had passed between these three! How many plots, and +counter-plots: how much blood: how many lives affected! The feud of +Hawk Carse and Dr. Ku Sui—and Eliot Leithgow, who was the chief cause +of it—here again had come to a head. Here again were all the varied +forces of brains and guile, science and skill, marshaled in the great, +vital game on whose outcome depended the restoration of Eliot Leithgow +and the lives of the coordinated brains and, indeed, though more +distantly, the fate of all the tribes of men on all the planets. For +if Ku Sui won free he would go on irresistibly, and his goal was the +domination of the solar system....</p> + +<p>Three men, alone in a room—and the course of the creature Man being +affected by their every move. Large words: but the histories of the +period bear them out. Though, doubtless, Ku Sui alone knew how great +were the stakes as they stood there in the laboratory.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>awk Carse was uneasy. The odds seemed all on his side—yet there was +Ku Sui's strange, almost imperceptible smile, his mysterious words up +on the asteroid, his smooth, unruffled assurance! What did these +things mean? He intended now to find out. He said, tersely:</p> + +<p>"Eliot. I have informed Dr. Ku that he is to be the means of the +transplantation of the coordinated brains to living human bodies, +since he is the only person capable of performing the operations. He +does not believe that we can force him to do our will, yet all the +same he is taking no chances: he started the death of the brains. We +shall have to work very fast—all right. But Dr. Ku has other cards to +play against us, and I don't know what they are. You and I must find +out now."</p> + +<p>"I somehow feel that you mistrust me," interposed the Eurasian with +mock sadness. "Ah, if you could only read my mind.... Or can you? Is +that what you are coming to?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk glanced at Leithgow; and Leithgow nodded, and placed a metal +chair close to one of the cylindrical drums—the one fitted with a +tube and breathing cone.</p> + +<p>"Will you sit there. Dr. Ku?" Carse asked.</p> + +<p>The green eyes scanned the drum.</p> + +<p>"A gas, Master Leithgow?"</p> + +<p>"That is all. Not harmful, not painful."</p> + +<p>"I see. I see...." the Eurasian murmured. And suddenly, he smiled at +the two men facing him, and said pleasantly to Carse:</p> + +<p>"Things repeat! Not long ago I asked you to sit in a chair and submit +to a treatment of mine, and you did as I asked. After so gallant a +precedent, how could I refuse? All right. Now, Master Leithgow, your +gas!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_w.jpg" alt="W" width="65" height="50" /></div> +<p>ith gentle fingers Eliot Leithgow fitted the cone on the Eurasian's +face and fastened it there. The fingers and thumb of one hand he kept +on Dr. Ku's pulse; with the other he pulled over slowly a control set +in the side of the drum. A ticking and slight hissing became audible, +and two indicators on the drum quivered and crept downward.</p> + +<p>A minute of this—the ticking and soft hissing, the indicator's slow +fall, the silk-clad figure in the chair, watched closely by Carse on +one side and Eliot Leithgow on the other—and a change was apparent. A +ripple flowed over the Eurasian's silken garments; the body appeared +to loosen up, to become free of all muscular and mental tension. The +gas hissed on.</p> + +<p>"The first step," murmured Leithgow abstractedly, out of his +concentration on dials and patient. "The muscles—notice—relaxed. The +will—the ego—the nexi of emotions and volitions which oppose +external direction—all being worked upon, submerged, neutralized—but +not his knowledge, not his skill. No—all that he will retain! You'll +notice nothing more until you see his eyes. A few minutes. What says +the red hand? Thirteen. At nineteen it should be completed."</p> + +<p>Carse watched intently. It was wonderful to know that when the correct +amount of this substance, which he knew only as V-27, had been +administered, and Ku Sui awoke, there would be no enmity in him, no +opposition to their demands, no fencing with wits; that this same Ku +Sui, his great mentality unimpaired, would be subservient and entirely +dependable.</p> + +<p>"Seventeen," murmured the old scientist. "Eighteen ... now!" With a +flick of his fingers he shut off the stream of V-27 and gently +unloosened the cone from Dr. Ku's face.</p> + +<p>The ascetic features were in repose, the eyelids closed, their long +black lashes lying against the delicate saffron of the skin. Dr. Ku +Sui seemed resting in dreamless, unclouded sleep. But for only a +moment. Soon the eyelids quivered and slowly opened—and a great +change was immediately visible in the man's green eyes.</p> + +<p>Many observers have recorded that under the veiled, enigmatic eyes of +Dr. Ku Sui there lurked a sultry glimmer of fire; or perhaps it was +that the observers who met these eyes always imagined the fire, being +conscious of the devil and the tiger in the man. But Carse and +Leithgow now saw that all that was gone.</p> + +<p>No mask lay over the green eyes now, no spark of fire glinted deep in +them. They were clear and serene; they hid nothing; almost they were +the eyes of a fresh, innocent child. Dr. Ku Sui, he of a hundred +schemes, a score of plots, he of the magnificent capacity and untiring +brain bearing ever toward his goal of lordship of the solar system—it +was as if he had slipped into a magic pool whose waters had washed him +clean and given him innocence and eyes of peace....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Eurasian breathed deeply, then smiled at the two men standing by +him.</p> + +<p>"Now," whispered Eliot Leithgow. "Ask him anything. He will answer +truthfully."</p> + +<p>The Hawk lost no time. He asked:</p> + +<p>"Dr. Ku, you will perform the brain transplantations for us?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my friend."</p> + +<p>The man's tone was different. Gone was the suaveness, the customary +polite mockery; it was frank, open, genuinely pleasant.</p> + +<p>"Is it true, Dr. Ku, that your coordinated brains will die, if left in +their case?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they will die if left there."</p> + +<p>"Within what time, to save them, must the operations to transplant +them into human bodies be started?"</p> + +<p>"Within twenty-five, perhaps thirty, minutes at the most."</p> + +<p>"Can all five brains be given the initial steps for transplantation +into the heads of your four white assistants and the coolie prisoner +within one hour—the remaining half of the two hours the brains said +they would retain the necessary vitality?"</p> + +<p>Dr. Ku smiled at him. There was no malice in the thunderbolt that he +unleashed then. He simply told what he knew to be the truth.</p> + +<p>"By fast work they could be, and so saved, although the subsequent +operations will take weeks. But the brains cannot be transplanted into +the heads of my four white assistants."</p> + +<p>"What?" Both the Hawk and Leithgow cried the word out together. "They +cannot?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_d.jpg" alt="D" width="57" height="56" /></div> + +<p>r. Ku looked at them as though astonished.</p> + +<p>"Why, no, my friends! I wish I were able to, but I cannot perform the +operations by myself, unaided. That would be impossible, absurd.... +You seem startled. Surely you must have known that those assistants +would be vital to the work! I have taught them, you see; trained them; +they were specialists in brain surgery to begin with, and I do not +believe there are any others this side of Mars who could take their +place in operations of this type. Without them, I could never +transplant the brains."</p> + +<p>This, then, had been the trick up his sleeve! This was why, in the +control room of the asteroid, he had shown relief when the Hawk told +him what bodies were to be used for the transplantation! For he had +known that, whatever Eliot Leithgow's method of forcing him to +perform the operations might be, and no matter how efficacious, the +coordinated brains simply could not be put in the heads of his four +assistants—because the assistants were themselves needed for the +operations!</p> + +<p>"Then—it's hopeless!" said the Master Scientist bitterly. "All this +for nothing! You might find other bodies in Port o' Porno, +Carse—condemned men, criminals—but Porno's an hour away, two hours' +round trip, and in thirty minutes the brains will be too weak to +save...."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," Ku Sui continued. "I should have told you before, +perhaps. If there were any way out I knew of, I would tell you but +there does not seem to be...."</p> + +<p>"Yes," broke in Hawk Carse suddenly. His left hand had been pulling at +his bangs of flaxen hair; his brain had been working very fast. He +added coldly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is a way."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_l.jpg" alt="L" width="33" height="50" /></div> + +<p>eithgow and Ku Sui looked at him inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"We need four bodies," he went on. "We have one—the coolie; he is not +needed to assist in the operations. Four bodies—and here, ready, in +twenty-five minutes. Not the bodies of normal men, of those with life +ahead of them. No. That would be murder. Four bodies of condemned +men—men with no hope left, nothing left to live for. I can get them!"</p> + +<p>He brushed aside Ku Sui's and Leithgow's questions. He was all steel +now, frigid, intent, hard. "Ban!" he called. "Ban Wilson!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Carse?" Ban had been waiting outside the laboratory.</p> + +<p>"Put on your propulsive space-suit. Hurry. Then here."</p> + +<p>"Right!"</p> + +<p>Carse ran over to where he had left his suit and rapidly got inside. +As he did so, he said:</p> + +<p>"Eliot, there's fast work to be done while I'm gone with Ban. You must +take your assistants and Dr. Ku up to the asteroid in the air-car and +transfer down here all the equipment Dr. Ku says he'll need. Be +extremely careful with the case of coordinated brains. If you possibly +can, have everything in readiness by the time Ban and I return with +the four bodies."</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson, in his suit, entered the laboratory. The Hawk gestured him +to the door which led to the tree-shaft to the surface.</p> + +<p>"But, Carse, <i>what</i> bodies? Where can you get four more living human +bodies?" Leithgow cried.</p> + +<p>"No time, now, Eliot!" the Hawk rapped out, turning at the door. "Just +do as I say—and hurry! I'll get them!"</p> + +<p>And he was gone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h2><i>The Promise Fulfilled</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> +<p>lthough puzzled by the Hawk's promise, Leithgow could only put his +trust in it and go ahead with the preparations as he had been +directed. He took two of his three laboratory assistants off their +hurried manufacture of quantities of the V-27, and with Ku Sui went +out into the air-car. Passing by way of tube and lake and air, they +were quickly inside the dome on the asteroid, and then into Ku Sui's +laboratory, where Friday waited on guard.</p> + +<p>Completely docile and friendly, the Eurasian indicated the various +instruments and devices he would need for the operations, and these +were transported quickly. Then came the case of coordinated brains. +Dr. Ku detached in connections with expert fingers, and all but +Leithgow took a corner and carried it with infinite care to the +air-car outside.</p> + +<p>"Do I stay here, suh?" Friday asked the Master Scientist in a +whisper. Though informed of the change in Dr. Ku effected by the V-27, +he was still very suspicious of him. "Seems to me he's a bit too meek +and mild, suh. I think I ought to go down and watch him."</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow did not quite know what answer to give. The Eurasian +forced the decision.</p> + +<p>"I will need," he observed, in his new, frank voice, "all the +assistance you can possibly give me. I am faced by a tremendous task, +and the use of every man will be necessary. I would suggest, Master +Leithgow that the Negro be brought down."</p> + +<p>And so Friday came and the asteroid was left unguarded. A mistake, +this turned out to be, but under the circumstances Eliot Leithgow +could hardly be blamed for it. There was so much on their minds, so +much work of vital importance, so desperate a need for speed, that +quite naturally other considerations were subordinated. The asteroid, +to the naked eye, was invisible; it could attract no attention; its +occupants had all been disposed of. Certainly it seemed safe enough to +leave it unguarded for a while.</p> + +<p>However, Eliot Leithgow took one precaution. Down in his own +laboratory again, in the midst of the work of transferring Dr. Ku's +operating equipment from the air-car, he called aside one of his +assistants and instructed him to go and survey the asteroid through +the infra-red device every ten minutes: and with this order the old +scientist dismissed the matter from his mind, and turned all his +energies to preparing the laboratory for the operations.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_u.jpg" alt="U" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>nder Ku Sui's directions his cases of equipment were brought in and +arrayed, and the various drills and delicate saws, and such other +instruments as worked by electricity, were connected. Everything was +sterilized. Rapidly the plain, square room assumed the appearance of +an operating arena, the five tables in the center, spotlessly white +and clean under the direct beams of the tubes hanging from the +ceiling, at the head of every table a stand on which were containers +of antiseptics, bottles of etheloid, a breathing cone, rolls of gauze +and other materials, and along the edge of the stand identical, +complete sets of fine instruments.</p> + +<p>The case of coordinated brains was brought into the laboratory last. +The inner liquid was now dark and apparently lifeless; to the casual +eye, it would not have seemed possible that the five grayish mounds +immersed in the liquid held life. And, indeed, Leithgow looked at them +doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure they're still alive? Do you think there's still time?" +he asked Dr. Ku.</p> + +<p>The Eurasian picked up a long, slender, tubelike instrument with a +dial topping it. Then, going to the brain-case, he touched a cleverly +concealed catch and a square pane set in the top of the case swung +back. He dipped the instrument he held into the liquid, and for a +moment stood silent, watching the dial. Then he took it out, re-closed +the pane and turned to Leithgow.</p> + +<p>"A test," he explained. "The indicator, interpreted means we have +about forty-eight minutes in which to complete the first phase of the +transplantation of the brains into human heads. It might be done if we +start in eight minutes. But the human heads—?" He paused.</p> + +<p>"Eight minutes!" said Leithgow worriedly. "Eight minutes for Carse to +come! He promised the bodies, but ... well, we can only go ahead with +the preparations and trust to him. Is everything ready?"</p> + +<p>"All but my assistants. I had better see them now."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Master Scientist issued an order to one of his men, and presently +the four white assistants of Dr. Ku were led into the laboratory. For +these men, no V-27 was needed; their brains were utterly subservient +to Dr. Ku Sui, and his orders they would obey unquestioningly, no +matter what the work. There was no danger from them.</p> + +<p>They stood motionless, their eyes fastened on their master, as he +spoke to them.</p> + +<p>"Brain operations," he said. "These"—he indicated the case—"are to +be transplanted again into human heads. You have done work similar to +it before; you know the routine. But now it must be quick. Synchronize +your speed with mine; I will be working very rapidly, and it is vital +that you be in harmony with me every instant. When the bodies come, +you will prepare the heads: and then you will attend me through every +step. You understand." He turned to the old scientist. "Operating +gowns, gloves, masks, Master Leithgow?"</p> + +<p>"I have your own. Over there. Your black costume is among them."</p> + +<p>But Leithgow's answer was abstracted. Four minutes for Carse to come! +Or else, everything lost! He busied himself helping the four surgeons +and two of his own assistants into the white, sterilized gowns, and +the masks that left only the eyes free and the skin-tight rubber +gloves, but his mind was not with his actions. The old man looked very +frail now; his age showed in the deep lines now eminent on his face. +Three minutes—swiftly two....</p> + +<p>"At least," observed Ku Sui, "we have one body ... the coolie. I had +better start immediately on him."</p> + +<p>"Bring him out," Leithgow instructed one of his men. "One brain will +be saved. But—<i>there!</i> Thank God! Hear that? Coming down the passage? +It's Carse, returning!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was Carse. He and Ban Wilson, coming down the passage from the top +of the tree-shaft. Everyone in the laboratory could hear plainly the +heavy, sliding tread of the great space-boots. Eliot Leithgow was +first to the door. He opened it, peered through eagerly and called:</p> + +<p>"Carse? You've got them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Eliot. Here—we need help."</p> + +<p>The Hawk's voice sounded weary. Friday and the scientist ran down the +passageway until they reached the adventurer. In the faint light, they +saw he was carrying a limp body. He laid it carefully down on the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Ban's coming down with another," he said, "and there are two more +above. Go up and get them, Friday."</p> + +<p>The Negro started to obey. But Eliot Leithgow did not move, did not +utter a sound. He stood staring at the body Carse had laid down. The +parchmentlike skin of his face seemed to whiten; that was all; but he +winced and slowly brushed his eyes with his hands when, in a moment, +Ban Wilson floated down the shaft and, approached with a second +unconscious body.</p> + +<p>At last Leithgow whispered:</p> + +<p>"They're all—like that, Carse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the emotionless voice. "There were two others, but we +let them go. They were worse." The gray eyes looked steadily at Eliot +Leithgow. "I know," the Hawk said. "It's horrible—but it can't be +helped. It was these or nothing. There was no choice."</p> + +<p>Hawk Carse had fulfilled his promise. He had brought back four +isuanacs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h2><i>Ordeal</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> +<p>ive bodies lay on the operating tables in Eliot Leithgow's +laboratory. The air, hushed and heavy, was pervaded by the various +odors of antiseptics and etheloid. The breathing cones had been +applied to each of the bodies, and they were now locked fast in +controlled unconsciousness.</p> + +<p>On the first table lay the body of the robot-coolie, a man of medium +size, sturdy, well-muscled, with the smooth round yellow face and stub +nose of his kind. His short-cropped, bristly black hair had been +shaved off; the head was now bald. That head was destined to hold the +mighty brain of Master Scientist Raymond Cram.</p> + +<p>On the second table lay a twisted, distorted thing, an apelike body +with which fate had played grotesque pranks. It was hairy, of middle +height, and its dark skin all over was wizened and coarse, almost like +the bark of a tree. The legs were short and bowed, the hands stubby +claws; the face, puckered even in unconsciousness, was that of a +gargoyle in pain. The long matted hair had been shaved away; the large +pate washed with antiseptics. Soon, were the operation successful, +that head would hold the brain of Professor Edgar Estapp, world-famous +chemist and bio-chemist.</p> + +<p>On the third table lay a shape skeletonlike in appearance, so +emaciated was it, so closely did the bones press into the dry, +fever-yellowed skin. Of one leg, only the stump was left; this +creature had been forced to hop or crawl his way through the isuan +swamps. The head, too, was no more than a skull, with great sunken +dark-rimmed eyes, discolored fangs and loose, leathery lips. There had +been no hair on this death's head; it had long been bald, and now, +washed, clean for the first time in months or even years, it was to +hold the brain of Dr. Ralph Swanson, Earth's one-time leader in the +science of psychology.</p> + +<p>On the fourth table lay a giant's body—but a hollow giant, a giant +made thin and pitiful by the ravages of his destroyer, isuan. A +roistering, free-booting space-ship sailor, this man may once have +been, but, from the drug, the mighty arms had been twisted and +shrivelled, the strong legs wasted away. One ear had been torn from +the skull in an old brawl, and what was left was naked and ugly to the +eye. Behind that bitter, drug-coarsened face would be the new home of +the brain of Sir Charles Esme Norman, wizard of mathematics and once a +polished, charming Englishman.</p> + +<p>On the fifth table lay a dwarf. Its ridiculous body was not over four +and a half feet long, though the head was larger than that of a normal +man. In the old dark ages on Earth this body would have served for the +jester of a lord, the comic butt of a king; in more recent times as +the prize of a circus side-show. The huge, weighty head with its ugly +brooding mask of a face, the child's body below—this was for the +brain of Professor Erich Geinst, the solitary German who had stood +preeminent on Earth in astronomy.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hese creatures were the result of Hawk Carse's desperate search. They +had composed, with one other, the band of isuanacs that had been +rooting in the swamp at the end of the lake when the asteroid had +first arrived. The Hawk had remembered them, and had quickly seen that +they were the only answer to the problem. And so, with Ban Wilson, he +had gone out for them, his mind steeled to the ghastly thought of the +great scientists' brains in such bodies. In space-suits they had swept +down on them. There had been no time for considerate measures: the +four isuanacs had been abruptly knocked out by the impact of the great +suits swooping against them, and carried back to the laboratory.</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow had been shocked at the idea of a scientist's brain in +the head of the robot-coolie; how much greater, then, was his horror +when confronted by the need of using these appalling remnants of men! +But he could not protest. What else was there? Ku Sui, under the V-27, +had spoken the truth: the operations would be impossible without the +aid of his four assistants. The brains even now were dying. The choice +was: bodies of isuanacs or death for the brains. The scientist and the +adventurer had chosen.</p> + +<p>Circumstances had required their use. Ku Sui's attempt to kill the +brains, thus inflicting a time limit: the presence of the band of +isuanacs near the laboratory; each circumstance with a long train of +other, minor ones behind it. Chance or Fate—whatever it is—whether +predetermined or accidental—men must wonder at its working, and know +awe from its patterns and results. Seldom, certainly, was there a +pattern more strange than this now being worked out in the laboratory +of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.</p> + +<p>The bodies lay there, washed, shaved and swathed in customary loose +operating garments: globules of etheloid dropped steadily down into +the breathing cones, of hunchback, living skeleton, twisted giant, +dwarf and robot-coolie. One by one the isuanacs dropped with the +falling of the etheloid into unconsciousness—and that was their +farewell to the brains, each one debauched either by isuan-drug or +skill of genius, that they had known.</p> + +<p>And movement began in the laboratory. White-clothed figures, masked +and capped, used gleaming instruments in their gloved hands; and all +the figures were mute—mute from their great concentration on the +delicate work in progress—or mute from horror that would not die....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_s.jpg" alt="S" width="36" height="50" /></div> +<p>o began the ordeal.</p> + +<p>Of its details, Hawk Carse knew little. They were not of his world. +Only for the first half-hour could he follow intelligently what was +being done. He too had put on a white robe, as had Ban Wilson and +Friday; and he stood at one side of the room, a silent, intently +watching figure, with the two other men of action, Ban and the Negro, +while the rest moved in a kind of rhythm. The center-piece was the +black-garbed Ku Sui, moving from this table to that, slim gloved hands +flying, pausing, flying again, steadying, concentrating on a detail, +once more sweeping forward. No more than single words came from him; +he and his assistants worked almost as a whole, in perfect sympathy +and coordination, and a constant stream of instruments flowed to him +and then away, their task done.</p> + +<p>The first table, and then to the second, with one white figure staying +behind at the first, finishing off details of the work, left by the +master. The third table; the fourth; the fifth; and then back to the +first, while two white figures detached themselves from the main group +and went to the nearby case of coordinated brains. An object held in a +specially formed type of pan was lifted out and carried to the first +table; and Carse sensed a crisis in the attitudes of the working men. +This, he knew, was the first great, step. A brain was being re-born. +The fingers of men, and one man in particular, were fashioning a +miracle.</p> + +<p>How could he hope to understand? He could only hang on the movements +of that group of figures, and feel relief as he saw them settle into +smoothness again. Evidently the first crisis was past. A few minutes +more were spent at the first table; then once more Dr. Ku Sui went to +the second, and another object was carried from the coldly gleaming +case.</p> + +<p>And in a long, deep pan standing on short legs beside the case, +something gray and shapeless and warm was placed.</p> + +<p>The first phase came to an end when there were five similar things in +the open pan, and nothing, except the liquid and a multitude of +spidery, disconnected wires, in the case that but shortly before had +harbored the brains of five scientists....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> pause. Relaxation. Tests. The black-clad figure spoke to one in +yellow in a tone of pleased relief.</p> + +<p>"Successful so far, Master Leithgow! We may congratulate ourselves on +the consummation of the first step. It has been done, I believe, well +within the time limit."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dr. Ku; yes. And now—how long will be needed to finish?"</p> + +<p>"That is up to you. Normally, I would require a month. In that time +all could be done safely, with small chance—"</p> + +<p>"Too long!" said Leithgow.</p> + +<p>Carse intervened:</p> + +<p>"Why too long, Eliot?"</p> + +<p>The old scientist went over close to him, and, in a lowered voice, +explained:</p> + +<p>"Ku Sui would develop immunity to the V-27 in a month. Two weeks of it +would give him part immunity. Even ten days might. He has to be +re-gassed four times a day."</p> + +<p>"But, letting him come out of it every night and resting normally?" +the Hawk objected.</p> + +<p>"I have allowed for that. The gas would still be in his system. +No—nine or ten days is the limit." He raised his voice again to reach +the Eurasian. "Can you complete the work within nine days, Dr. Ku?"</p> + +<p>Ku Sui considered it. At last he said:</p> + +<p>"That is a lot to ask, Master Leithgow. But—it might be possible. +However, it would mean prodigies of sustained, concentrated labor; +work and skill never-ceasing. We'll have to work in shifts, +naturally."</p> + +<p>So it was arranged. All the assistants, both Ku Sui's and Leithgow's, +were portioned off into shifts of four hours' sleep and eight hours' +work: Carse, Ban Wilson and Friday, too, for now every one of them was +needed.</p> + +<p>Nine days for the work of a month—and work as delicate and vital as +could possibly be! Small wonder that in the minds of all of them, the +Hawk and the old scientist, and Ban and the Negro, that period, when +remembered later, seemed no more than a confused, unreal, hazy dream; +rather, a nightmare connected imperishably with the odors of an +operating room, antiseptics, etheloid, and the glint of small, sharp +instruments.</p> + +<p>It was a titanic task, an ordeal that stretched to the limit the +powers of the men working in that confined space. Normal life for them +ceased; the operating room became a new universe. Swiftly they lost +consciousness of time, even with the routine of the changing shifts +and the food which was brought in at regular hours. Antiseptics, +etheloid, the never-ceasing flow of the instruments, the five bodies +lying still and deathlike on the tables, the hard white glare of the +light beating down on them—all this and nothing more—all sealed away +underground from the life of the forgotten world above. On and on and +on....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t is impossible even to conjecture how the mind of Ku Sui saw the +colossal work that he was doing to aid his most bitter enemies. Even +when he was normal there are only moments when, through some recorded +speech or action of his, we can peer past the man's personality into +his brain; how great a sealed mystery must his thoughts remain to us +when held in that abnormal state by Eliot Leithgow's V-27! Envision +it: this arch-foe of Hawk Carse and Leithgow helping their designs, +lending all his intellect, his great skill, to their purposes, aiding +them in everything! Certainly, afterwards, the memory of what he had +been forced to do must have occasioned Dr. Ku many bitter moments. +Regularly, every four waking hours, he was led to the metal chair and +gassed afresh with the V-27; and his expression remained pleasant; his +eyes were always friendly. But the artificial state in which he was +kept showed soon on his face. It lost its clearness and became a +jaundiced yellow in color: and also it grew peaked and drawn.</p> + +<p>But the other faces around him were peaked and drawn, too. The +terrific strain told in definite terms on all, no matter what +stimulants they took to keep going. Many a man would have been driven +to insanity by their sustained, terrible concentration, and the +knowledge that five lives hung on every action, however minute....</p> + +<p>On and on and on, science made into a marathon. Four hours of +exhausted, deathlike sleep; eight hours more of the smells, and the +glaring light, and the moving instruments. Days of this, sealing the +brains permanently into their new homes, into their hideous new +bodies....</p> + +<p>But finally came the climax, and the last exhausted spurt of work. For +the concluding twelve hours there was no sleep or rest for anyone; and +at the end a breathless, haggard tension held them as Dr. Ku Sui, a +shell of his former self, reviewed the results of the nine days' +ordeal. His verdict was:</p> + +<p>"Four have come through, I think, safe. The fifth—I do not know. His +body was near death when he was brought here. He may live or die; it +is impossible to tell now. But it is finished."</p> + +<p>Then the men slept. Some slipped to the floor and slept where they +were. In nine days, the work of a month had been done, and a miracle +wrought. The brains had been born again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h2><i>Flight</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> +<p>t was to Hawk Carse that the news of imminent danger came first.</p> + +<p>He had staggered from the laboratory into a sleeping room and, clad as +he was, fallen over into a berth. He would have wakened in a few +hours, such was his custom of years to four-hour watches on ships, but +he was permitted less than an hour of sleep. A hand pulled at him; a +voice kept calling his name. Awareness returned to him slowly as his +brain roused from the coma of sleep.</p> + +<p>"Captain Carse! Captain Carse! Wake up, sir!"</p> + +<p>It was one of Leithgow's assistants, a man named Thorpe. His tone was +excited and his manner distraught.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" the Hawk muttered thickly. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's the asteroid, sir! I was instructed to watch it at intervals, +but I—I guess I fell asleep, and just now—"</p> + +<p>Carse sat up. "Yes? What?"</p> + +<p>"—when I looked, through the glasses—it was gone!"</p> + +<p>"Gone? You're sure? Let me see."</p> + +<p>Swiftly, Thorpe at his heels, Carse strode out from the room to a +cubby just off the laboratory, the watch-post, where observational +electelscopes and visi-screens provided a panorama of the surrounding +territory.</p> + +<p>He gazed through the electelscope, which had been equipped with an +infra-red device and trained on the asteroid, and saw that now, where +the massive body of rock had been poised, there was nothing. Only the +brilliant light of mid-afternoon, the cloudless sky. Carse swept the +glass around. The search was fruitless. The heavens were bare. The +asteroid had gone.</p> + +<p>In half a minute Carse had reasoned out the disappearance, saw the +consequences and made the inevitable decision. Gone was the torpor of +sleep, the weariness of the laboratory; this was a crisis, and this +was his work. During the operations, he had been able merely to obey +orders and do manual work. Now he assumed command.</p> + +<p>"Your lapse has imperilled us all," he said curtly to Thorpe. "From +now on we're in great danger. Stay here and keep on watch, and sound +the alarm immediately if the asteroid reappears."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I—I'm sorry—"</p> + +<p>The adventurer cut him off with a frigid nod and ran on silent, rapid +feet to the laboratory, where both Ban Wilson and Friday lay fast +asleep. Roughly Carse shook them into consciousness. Trained to +shipboard routine and the sudden emergencies of space, they needed but +little time to return to full wakefulness. In staccato sentences the +new situation was outlined to them.</p> + +<p>"The asteroid's gone. That means danger to everything here. We will +have to evacuate. Ban, wake all the men, including Ku Sui and his +assistants, then come to me for further orders. Friday, see that +Leithgow's ship is ready for instant departure. Quick!"</p> + +<p>Alarmed, but without questions, the two parted on their separate +errands. Carse went to the room where Eliot Leithgow lay asleep.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he pallor and weariness of the old scientist's face were emphasized +by the alarming news his friend brought him, but he took it with +spirit, and his voice was level and controlled as he asked:</p> + +<p>"What does it mean, Carse? What must we do?"</p> + +<p>"Leave, Eliot, and at once. We have no choice. Our danger while here +is immense. The asteroid, in the hands of enemies, could crush us like +a fly, simply by coming down on the top of the hill."</p> + +<p>"But who could have taken it? There was no one on it, was there?"</p> + +<p>The Hawk said wryly: "I thought not, but well, you remember the secret +panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory?"</p> + +<p>"Through, which he escaped before? Yes."</p> + +<p>"I suspected that he might have someone hidden behind it, and I +intended to question him when he was under the V-27, but in the +terrific rush of things it slipped my mind. Sheer carelessness, Eliot; +I'm very sorry. I should have known, for when we captured Ku Sui he +spoke some words in Chinese through his helmet-radio. Now I can see +that they must have gone to some man of his hidden there; and that +man, obeying instructions, simply lay low, heard all that passed in +Dr. Ku's laboratory, and then, at a suitable opportunity, took the +asteroid away in search of allies. He knows his master is a prisoner +here and unquestionably he will be back to release him. We must be out +of here and far away by the time he arrives."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Leithgow nodded slowly. "As you say, there is no choice."</p> + +<p>"But your work here is finished, Eliot," Carse went on. "If only we +can get to Earth safely, with Ku Sui and the brains in their new +bodies, we will have achieved everything we wanted to achieve. We have +proof of the crime done you, and we have Ku Sui, too. Your position +will be restored and the blame put where it belongs. But we must leave +for Earth at once! God knows how near the asteroid is, or who's on +it."</p> + +<p>"All right, Carse." The scientist got up. "What are your +instructions?"</p> + +<p>Ban Wilson appeared in the door, reporting that all the men had been +accounted for and awakened. Carse started the wheels moving.</p> + +<p>"Everything of value here must be transported aboard the ship. Eliot, +you know better than I what to take, so you'll assume charge of the +loading. Ban, you and all the men save two of Eliot's assistants will +help. I'll need them to move the bodies. Send them to me in the +laboratory. But first, be sure Ku Sui and his four men are safely +confined. All right; let's go."</p> + +<p>Within half an hour the general evacuation was finished and the ship +loaded.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he <i>Sandra</i>, Leithgow's ship, bearing his daughter's name, was a +sturdy vessel designed more for comfort and utility than speed, and so +her appointments, including offensive and defensive weapons, though +modern were limited. Her commodious cargo-holds were easily capable of +accommodating all of the Master Scientist's laboratory instruments and +devices, the volumes of his extensive library, his great mass of +personal papers and more intimate effects; all the more important +stores of the place, too, and its furnishings. The laboratory and its +surrounding rooms were pretty well stripped.</p> + +<p>The largest of the <i>Sandra's</i> cabins was transformed under the +direction of Leithgow into a hospital bay, and the five cots bearing +the prostrate, unconscious bodies of the patients put there. Though +hastily improvised, this hospital was complete, as fully equipped and +nearly as efficient as if it were on Earth and not in the belly of a +space-ship. The chances of the patients for complete recovery were not +diminished in any way by the sudden necessity for flight.</p> + +<p>In a second, much smaller cabin, Dr. Ku Sui was confined by himself. +Its walls, of course, were of metal, and there was no possible means +of exit from it save by the door, which bore double locks. The +Eurasian, silent and drugged and stupid, immediately stretched his +tall form out on the single berth and in seconds was again sound +asleep. A third cabin was made over to his four assistants.</p> + +<p>With everything completed, the underground refuge bare of articles of +value and the <i>Sandra</i> stored and made ready for the long trip, the +inner door of the exit tube swung open, and the ship slid slowly out +of her cradle and into the water chamber for the last time. Her flight +to Earth had begun.</p> + +<p>Eliot Leithgow stood near the Hawk in the control cabin, and his old +face was made sad by many memories. For years, this place that he was +now leaving had been his only home, his one sure haven. How carefully, +long ago, had he and Carse planned it and built it! How many times had +they met there, often when danger was close and enemies near, and +cemented still more firmly the bonds between them! To Leithgow, the +hill symbolized safety and friendship and his beloved work. Dangerous, +weary years, those he had spent in the hill, but priceless +nevertheless, warmed as they were by his achievements and the +friendship of Hawk Carse.</p> + +<p>Now he was leaving it and going back to Earth. The outlaw years, it +seemed, were ended: Ku Sui was a prisoner, and the proof of his great +crime, which had been laid to Leithgow, was aboard. Earth—green +Earth! Separate, distinct, peerless in the universe; home of men, of +his kind! He had loved and worked and known honor and respect on +Earth; it held the grave of his wife, and the fresh, warm young love +of his wife reincarnate, his daughter Sandra. He was at last going +home to Earth from his exile on this desolate, raw frontier post.</p> + +<p>There was a choking in Eliot Leithgow's throat at leaving the hill, +and he turned away, afraid at that moment of being observed by the +steel-gray eyes of his friend, Hawk Carse....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he <i>Sandra</i> swam up through the lake's muddy tide and launched +herself, dripping, into the warm air of afternoon. Her generators +hummed with life given them by the firm hand at the controls, and +swiftly she arrowed forth into the blue. With a few words as to the +visual course, Carse handed the space-stick over to Friday, and +devoted himself to the matter of the watches.</p> + +<p>Satellite III dropped swiftly to concavity, as the <i>Sandra</i> was +expertly jockeyed through the rare outer layer of the stratosphere, +became a true globe again. The Negro reported:</p> + +<p>"Through the atmosphere, suh. Orders?"</p> + +<p>"Full acceleration. Continue visually for the present. I'll work out +the true course in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, suh!"</p> + +<p>The hum of the generators deepened. In a matter of ten minutes, +shipboard routine was arranged, Carse, Friday and Ban splitting the +watches. The Hawk, as was his custom, took the first. Friday was +relieved of the space-stick and immediately went back for sleep, as +did Wilson. Eliot Leithgow did not retire right away, however.</p> + +<p>He watched Carse snap on the automatic control and go to an +electelscope which had been equipped with an infra-red device. He +directed it rearward on Satellite III, back along the course the +<i>Sandra</i> had described, and peered through its eyepiece for several +minutes. Then he turned to the old scientist.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," he said. "No sign of the asteroid as yet. We'll have to +keep careful watch. The visi-screen's useless against the invisibility +of the asteroid; and the high magnification of this scope, with its +resulting small field of view, will require us continually and +methodically to search through a wide circle behind, in the attempt to +pick up the asteroid, should it appear. A tedious job, with chances of +sighting it about even.... At any rate, we'll have some sort of a +head-start," he finished.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>his was the opportunity Leithgow had waited for; he wanted a few +frank words with his friend.</p> + +<p>"Carse," he said slowly, "I wonder just where that man concealed +behind the secret panel would take the asteroid?"</p> + +<p>"I've thought about that too," replied the Hawk. "We may be sure that +he went for allies: Dr. Ku has several on Satellite III. Of them all, +I think he would go for Lar Tantril."</p> + +<p>"Tantril?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. Lar Tantril, the Venusian. A fellow of much +self-confidence and one of Ku Sui's chief agents, and who at +present"—he smiled faintly—"nurses a special bitterness against me. +I told you how I tricked him on his ranch. He'd be very eager to +pursue us in the asteroid simply for the opportunity of repaying me +for that trick." The adventurer's left hand rose to the bangs of +flaxen hair combing down over his forehead, and he murmured, musingly: +"I rather hope it <i>is</i> Lar Tantril...."</p> + +<p>"You hope so?" Leithgow repeated, surprised. "When he hates you so? +And would be on the lookout for tricks? Why?"</p> + +<p>"I would guess, Eliot, that Lar Tantril is not notable for intellect. +Blustering, domineering—pretty much of a braggart, you know. +Certainly he is not a model of caution; and he is not acquainted with +Dr. Ku's asteroid, for he did not even know it existed. He will be +able to run it, of course, with the advice of this hidden man, but +surely he will not have the perception to discern the weakness in it. +Yes, I hope it is he."</p> + +<p>Leithgow went on to the main thing on his mind.</p> + +<p>"I'm a little unsettled, Carse," he admitted. "I've been imagining +this as the end of my outlaw years, and the beginning of my +re-establishment on Earth. But this ship is slow, and I see now that +if the asteroid does pursue us and capture us.... What do you really +think of our chances?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk pursed his lips slightly, and for a little while he looked +away and did not answer. When his voice came, it was tinged with +bitterness.</p> + +<p>"Eliot," he said, "I've been trying to find an excuse for my lapse. +But there is none. It was the blunder of a novice, my not remembering +to question Ku Sui about that secret panel. That was the cardinal +point, yet it slipped my mind, in my preoccupation with the +emergencies connected with the restoration of the brains.</p> + +<p>"Our chances are only fair, Eliot; I'm telling you frankly how it +appears to me. I believe we'll be pursued, and if we are the odds are +greatly against us. The asteroid's far more powerful than we. And +Jupiter only knows what new offensive resources Ku Sui may have given +it: I had no time to study the several strange mechanisms I saw in its +control room. Then, no nearby patrol ship would help us if we were +attacked, for to them our enemy would be invisible, and they'd think +us crazy."</p> + +<p>He paused. But seeing the somber expression on the other's face, he +smiled and cuffed him on the back.</p> + +<p>"But maybe we won't even be pursued, Eliot! Maybe we'll be too far +ahead for them to catch us! No doubt I've made it look too serious, so +cheer up! We're alive, we've got everything we wanted, and we're +hitting at full speed for Earth! And you know the luck of that +space-adventurer they call the Hawk!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow smiled gently in answer, then left the cabin for the sleep he +needed so badly. Hawk Carse was left alone on watch in the fleeing +<i>Sandra</i>.</p> + +<p>A lonely, intent figure, he stood over the chart-table, working out +their best course to Earth. Presently, however, he went back to the +infra-red electelscope and swept it over the leagues behind. Carse +could not detect any sign of the asteroid, but he remained for a +little while at the eyepiece, staring at Satellite III. There it lay, +a diminishing globe, three-quarters of it gleaming in the light flung +by Jupiter. Dark patches mottled it: they would be the jungles. And +there was the scintillant sheet that was the Great Briney Lake, with +Port o' Porno nearby. On the other side of the little world, now, lay +the hill containing Leithgow's laboratory. All going ... going ... +falling swiftly behind. Satellite III, scene of so many clashes, plots +and counter-plots, where so many times he and Eliot Leithgow had +fought off the reaching hand of Ku Sui—soon it would be a million +miles away. What adventures would he have before he saw it again?...</p> + +<p>A little sound came from the Hawk, a half-sigh. Abruptly he called one +of the men on his watch and stationed him at the 'scope, and then he +returned to the chart-table and the work of calculating their course +to Earth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h2><i>In Earth's Shadow</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>our after hour and day after day, for a week the <i>Sandra</i> tracked on +through the boundless leagues, the waxing sunlight beating steadily on +her starboard bow and her silent gravity-plates and singing generators +bringing Earth ever nearer. Friday, who possessed an extensive +knowledge of all the practical sciences, did extra service in the role +of cook, and his regularly served meals disguised the undifferentiated +hours of space into Earth-mornings, noons and nights. Watch in and +watch out, and nothing to disturb the even routine.</p> + +<p>As for the ever-feared pursuit, there was no sign of it. +Systematically and carefully the men stationed at the electelscope +turned it through the region behind, but never did their watching eyes +discern the bulk of the asteroid. Its disappearance, and the kindred +mystery of who had been on it, remained unsolved.</p> + +<p>Therefore peace came to Eliot Leithgow's face, and the tiredness left +his eyes. The long, hunted years were beginning to be washed from him, +and daily, to Carse, he appeared younger. Often in the control cabin +or over a meal he talked of what lay ahead, and the happiness Earth +held waiting for him. There was his daughter, Sandra, whom he had seen +last as a girl of fourteen, and even then interested in his work. She +would be matured now, and she would perhaps be eager to help him in +the work he intended to resume. There was so much of it! Discoveries, +theories, evolved during his fugitive years—now he could complete +them and give them to his old circles of brother scientists. All this +was in his conversations; but secret and unworded in his thoughts were +anticipations of the old dear beauty of Earth, that beauty for which +his ageing heart had pined so long....</p> + +<p>And Earth was drawing nearer.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p>nother week passed.</p> + +<p>Twice a day the door of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin was unlocked and he was +brought out under guard for several turns through the ship. Though for +safety's sake they continued to dose him with the V-27, it was +apparent that the gas had less and less effect on him. Four, then +eight, then twelve times a day they re-gassed him—as often as they +dared, considering its ultimate destructive mental effect—but more +and more of the frankness and serenity foreign to his green eyes +melted away. Gradually the normal veil came to hide their depths and +make them enigmatic; and sometimes there was again on his face the +hint of something strong and tigerish and cruel lying waiting. They no +longer trusted him to attend to the five patients. He spoke seldom. A +tall, reserved figure in black silk, attended either by Ban Wilson or +Friday, he strolled through the ship for fifteen minutes and was +returned to his lonely cabin. Of all the marks his experience must +have left upon him, the only one apparent was his silence.</p> + +<p>It was on the seventeenth day that he forsook that silence and +directly accosted Carse. He had a request. The saffron face impassive, +the long lashes lying low over the eyes, he said softly:</p> + +<p>"I wonder, Captain Carse, if I might be permitted a glimpse of the +subjects of my transplantation?"</p> + +<p>Leithgow and Wilson were at the time with Carse in the control cabin, +and they regarded their friend intently, curious as to what the reply +would be. They saw his steel-gray eyes meet Dr. Ku's gaze squarely; +and the two men looked at each other: Hawk Carse, complete victor at +last, and Ku Sui, the vanquished.</p> + +<p>The adventurer answered:</p> + +<p>"Your request is only natural, Dr. Ku. Certainly you may see them, and +perhaps offer an opinion on their progress, which has so far been in +the hands of your assistants. But I shall have to accompany you."</p> + +<p>"You are kind."</p> + +<p>"Take the controls, Ban," Carse directed, and together they left the +cabin.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>here was no visible change in the five bodies. They lay stretched out +in cots, sheets drawn up to their necks, and it seemed almost as if +they were quietly slumbering and would presently wake up; though in +reality consciousness would not return to the fine brains in their +hideous, distorted bodies for many weeks, and then only if the healing +processes were successful. Bandages swathed the heads, leaving eyes +and nostrils alone visible. An assistant of Leithgow's, at present on +watch there, moved occasionally with instrument in hand to time the +fevered pulses.</p> + +<p>"I must ask you to stand back here, Dr. Ku," said the Hawk, indicating +a spot some five feet from the nearest cot. His left arm hung easily +by his side, the hand resting by the butt of his holstered raygun; and +the position was not accidental.</p> + +<p>Ku Sui nodded and doubtless noted the gun, but his eyes were on the +bodies. He stood regarding his own handiwork in silence, his face +inscrutable, and Carse did not disturb him. At last, in a low tone he +asked the assistant:</p> + +<p>"The food injections take successfully?"</p> + +<p>The man nodded.</p> + +<p>"I remember," the beautifully modulated voice went on. "I was not sure +of one subject. Swanson's brain, was it not? Is his condition any +better?"</p> + +<p>"We are not sure."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes ... yes...." He appeared to muse, and no one disturbed him in +the minutes of silence that followed. Finally he looked away and said:</p> + +<p>"It was a great feat. Thank you, Captain Carse. I am pleased by this +glimpse of the miracle my hands were made to perform. I am ready to +return."</p> + +<p>But at the door of his cabin he paused, and his eyes rested again on +the cold, firm face close to him. He said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Captain Carse, you intend to bring me before Earth's World +Court of Justice?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Along with our living proof of your abduction of the five +scientists."</p> + +<p>The Eurasian smiled. "I see. And since there is no questioning that +proof, it would appear that Earthlings will soon levy punishment on +Dr. Ku Sui.... So.... You know, Captain Carse, I find your caution a +great handicap. You keep gassing me; I am locked in; and since I have +observed no excitement aboard the ship, apparently there are no +friends anywhere near me. You have stripped me of everything." His +eyes lowered for a moment. "Everything save this ring."</p> + +<p>On the forefinger of his right hand, set simply in a platinum band, +was a large dark stone.</p> + +<p>"A black opal," said Dr. Ku. "I have worn it for years and I prize it +highly. Perhaps at the last I will give it to you as a memento of +these past years, Captain Carse." And he went into the cabin, where +they gassed him again.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he third week passed.</p> + +<p>Crossing the orbit of Mars, now approximately in opposition to +Jupiter, the <i>Sandra</i> streaked on into the last leg of her long +voyage. The sun was a vast, flame-belching disk on her starboard side, +and ahead lay Earth, growing each hour. Cheerfulness pervaded the +ship, nerves were relaxing, faces lightening. Carse could not remember +when Eliot Leithgow had worn a smile so constantly. It was only +natural, for to the old scientist and his personal assistants Earth +was home, the fulfillment of every desire, the reality and symbol of +normal life and love of man.</p> + +<p>But to Hawk Carse the Green Planet was not home. He was the +adventurer, and wanderer, the seeker of new places with the alluring +lustre of peril. Earth was to him little more than a port of call, and +it brought him sadness to see how eagerly Leithgow stared at her +growing face. Their parting was not far away now.</p> + +<p>The <i>Sandra</i> logged off the miles. Then came the day when only ten +thousand were left, and, soon after, five thousand. Deceleration had +long since been begun. Slightly but unvaryingly the ship's momentum +slackened until she arrived at the two thousand mile mark, where the +great curving stretch of the planet filled her bow windows, and the +well-remembered continents and seas stood out as clearly as on a +tilted classroom globe.</p> + +<p>Carse leaned musing in a corner of the control cabin, oblivious to the +well-meaning but toneless voice with which Ban Wilson, at the +electelscope was butchering a song. A gentle tap on the shoulder +summoned him out of his study.</p> + +<p>He turned and saw that Leithgow had come to him. Carse smiled at the +old scientist, and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Eliot, we'll be in soon now. Apparently we've made it safely, +and there's nothing to stand between you and the day you've waited for +so long."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft1"><img src="images/image_y1.jpg" alt="Y" width="62" height="58" /></div> +<p>es. But Carse—what of you? How long will you stay? I only wish I +could persuade you—"</p> + +<p>"To retire, Eliot? Settle down? Become a humdrum landlocked +Earthling?" He chuckled, and shook his head. "No, no, old friend. Oh, +I'll stay on Earth for a few weeks; I suppose I'll have to, to testify +before the World Court of Justice when it takes up your case; but +after that's settled, I'll be going back. You know me, Eliot: I'll +never change. There are a number of things I must attend to at once. +My ship, the <i>Star Devil</i>, is still on Iapetus, remember; I must find +her and get her tuned up again. She's the fastest craft in space, bar +none. Then I must make the round of my ranches and see that things are +running smoothly. I've a lot of work on the Iapetus ranch, +particularly. Then, there's that Pool of Radium—not that I need the +wealth, if it really exists; but the job has killed so many who have +sought for it that I'd like to take a crack at it myself. Oh, plenty +to do!"</p> + +<p>Leithgow looked at him, and there was all affection in his eyes, and +friendship as close as it can be between men.</p> + +<p>"No, Carse," said Leithgow softly. "I suppose Earth will never get her +gravity on you for keeps. But I hope you will come down occasionally +to see me, and perhaps once a year, say, spend a month with Sandra and +me in our—"</p> + +<p>"Carse!"</p> + +<p>Ban shouted the name out. His face, turned from the electelscope, was +alive with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Here! Look!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"The asteroid! It's close!"</p> + +<p>In two strides Carse was at the eyepiece of the infra-red glass +attached to the instrument. One look through it served to verify Ban's +report. The asteroid of Dr. Ku Sui had at last appeared.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was not more than fifty miles from the <i>Sandra</i>, a craggy fragment +of rock, peanut-shaped, and tipped by its gleaming dome. Its speed +seemed the same as theirs, but its course was different; and to Carse, +that fact immediately explained its sudden appearance. He turned from +the eyepiece with a face grown hard and cold.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's happened," he said. "Instead of a stern chase, which would +give us some chance of spotting them, they at once got off to the side +and have all this time been flanking us. Now they're cutting in, +straight behind, no doubt ready for business. All right. Ban, sound +the alarm."</p> + +<p>Like a gladiator about to step sword in hand into the arena, the +<i>Sandra</i>, though a ship never designed for space duels, girded her +loins and made herself ready for what at its best could only be an +unequal struggle. She was outclassed in weapons, weight and speed—in +all save pilots. She had Hawk Carse at her helm.</p> + +<p>The harsh alarm bell at once rang through the ship, an emergency call +to stations. Carse, at the controls, rapped out another order.</p> + +<p>"Defensive web on, Ban, and build up power for the ray batteries."</p> + +<p>As the echoes of the bell died, a piercing whine grew amidships, and +shreds of blue light swiftly scattered by the <i>Sandra's</i> ports. They +were quickly gone, but they left behind an almost invisible envelope +of blue which enwrapped the ship completely. The defensive web against +attacking rays was on.</p> + +<p>Friday tumbled into the control cabin, and on his heels two of +Leithgow's assistants, the third being on duty with the patients. +Carse briefly explained what had happened. "Friday," he ordered, "you +take the stern ray batteries. Ban—"</p> + +<p>But Ban Wilson had returned to the electelscope, and it had given him +more news. Interrupting, he cried out:</p> + +<p>"They must be attacking! A light just flashed in the dome!"</p> + +<p>With his words they all saw the light. The visi-screen, though it did +not reveal the asteroid, showed the first weapon with which it +struck—a lustrous ray of purple which in a blink had leaped out to +the <i>Sandra</i> and enfolded her. A shower of sparks crackled out from +the ship's defensive web, but the purple ray continued.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that ray, Eliot." Carse said. "What's on our speed +indicator?"</p> + +<p>The scientist's gasp was plainly audible as he read the dial. "Why, +it—it's dropping! Much faster than our deceleration accounts for! +That ray—why, it must have magnetic properties! Carse, the asteroid's +stopping us!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h2><i>The Hawk Strikes</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_n.jpg" alt="N" width="49" height="50" /></div> +<p>o surprise showed on the Hawk's face, though the others were visibly +shaken. He, at the helm, merely nodded and continued with further +orders.</p> + +<p>"Williams," he said to one of Leithgow's assistants, "get Thorpe and +go and dose Ku Sui with V-27. Give him plenty. Then both of you +station yourselves, ray guns in hand, outside his cabin. We'll take no +chances with him, gassed or not. Friday, open our radio receiver to +the general band. Just the receiver, not the mike.... Our speed, +Eliot?"</p> + +<p>"Down to seven hundred, and falling steadily."</p> + +<p>Carse went to the electelscope, after giving the controls over to Ban.</p> + +<p>Squarely behind the <i>Sandra</i>, and within twenty-five miles, the +peanut-shaped body had come. It was an ominous and silent approach. +The <i>Sandra</i> remained pinned by the purple ray for minutes while the +Hawk studied her aggressor. As he watched the asteroid, the others +watched him; Ban Wilson fidgety, Friday clenching and unclenching his +big hands. Eliot Leithgow with whitened face and shoulders that seemed +to have bowed a little.</p> + +<p>The forward speed of the <i>Sandra</i> decreased to four hundred miles an +hour, and still the Hawk studied the massive body behind....</p> + +<p>A sputter sounded in the radio receiver. Carse turned away from the +electelscope and listened to the heavy Venusian voice that was +suddenly speaking to him from it.</p> + +<p>"Carse, I've got you! You've seen our ray, of course, but have you +looked at your speed-indicator? You're caught—and this time you're +going to stay caught. You cannot possibly resist the magnetic ray I +have on you, and in a few minutes you will be drawn right into me. I +advise you to surrender peacefully. No tricks—though there's no trick +that could do you any good! Nothing! I have you this time!"</p> + +<p>A frosty smile tightened the Hawk's lips.</p> + +<p>"I was right, Eliot," he murmured. "The man behind the panel took the +asteroid to Lar Tantril. He is our opponent."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>hose were his words, but he did nothing. He seemed content to stand +with cold, intent face looking back through the infra-red +electelscope. The <i>Sandra's</i> speed sank to three hundred, two hundred +and soon a hundred, and the asteroid, which was of course also +decelerating, crept up remorselessly. Ban Wilson had every confidence +in the Hawk, but finally the inaction grew too much for him to bear.</p> + +<p>"Jumping Jupiter, Carse!" he sputtered. "—aren't you going to do +anything? Use our rays! Try maneuvering to the side! Damn it, we're +just letting them take us!"</p> + +<p>The adventurer might not have heard, for all the sign he gave. The +Earth-clock on the wall ticked on; seconds built minutes, and the +minutes passed. The asteroid was only ten miles astern.</p> + +<p>"Eliot," said Carse quietly, "get me one of your infra-red glasses."</p> + +<p>He took over the controls again. Carefully he varied the forward +repulsion and sent current to the side gravity-plates, and slowly the +<i>Sandra</i> answered by rotating, longitudinally, reversing her position. +Still maintaining a slight and dwindling speed toward Earth, her bow +swung from that planet's eye-filling panorama and came to face, +instead, the invisible asteroid. When turned completely around, the +men in her control cabin looked through the bow windows right into +the brilliant cone of the purple ray.</p> + +<p>Lar Tantril's voice again boomed from the broadcasting shell, and this +time it was harsh with anger.</p> + +<p>"Try no tricks, Carse! I see what you intend. You plan to suddenly +<i>answer</i> my ray, instead of continuing to resist it, and so drive +right past me and escape. But I warn you I have terrific power, and if +you move towards me of your own volition, I can burn you to a cinder +in three seconds, and I'll do it. You can't escape! If I have to +destroy Ku Sui, all right—but I'll get you!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he Hawk strapped over his eyes the infra-red glasses Leithgow now +gave him.</p> + +<p>Reversing the <i>Sandra's</i> ends had neither increased nor decreased the +rate at which the asteroid's purple stream was bringing her closer. +Obviously the magnetic stream was being varied. The space-ship's +forward momentum merely continued to drop normally until the moment +came when she had no Earthward velocity at all; and then more quickly +she moved toward the restraining asteroid.</p> + +<p>With his infra-red glasses, through the bow windows, Carse could now +see the massive body in full detail. There was the dome, a huge, +gleaming cup of transparent stuff now showing wisps of blue, from the +defensive web around it; and inside were the several buildings, and +minute black dots which were the figures of men. There was a great +number of them. The largest group was clustered inside one of the +large ship-size port-locks in the dome. The lock's outer door was +open, and it was from there that the purple ray seemed to originate. +Obviously the intention of the enemy was to draw the <i>Sandra</i> right +in. Five miles now separated asteroid and ship.</p> + +<p>Again the Venusian chief spoke.</p> + +<p>"I warn you once more, Sparrow Hawk, try no tricks. You can see the +men I have here, but you can't see my ray projectors. They're hidden, +but they're centered on you, every one, and my hand's at the control +that fires them. They have terrific power, Carse. Better not attempt +anything!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk switched on the extension microphone at his side. He said +levelly into it:</p> + +<p>"Lar Tantril, I'll make a bargain with you: a favor for a favor."</p> + +<p>"What?" shot from the loudspeaker.</p> + +<p>"I will agree to surrender peaceably when you've drawn my ship inside +if, for your part, you promise to free Eliot Leithgow, who is aboard +with me, and the five patients on whom Ku Sui operated. If you don't +grant me that, I will oppose you to the last pull of my finger on +trigger."</p> + +<p>"But, Carse—" the Master Scientist began, horrified: but his +expression of amazement faded when the slender man at the radio turned +his head and half-closed one eye in a wink.</p> + +<p>"You will agree to that—and no tricks?" Tantril's voice repeated.</p> + +<p>"I will agree to it. And as for tricks, what could I possibly try? +Your rays could burn through the maximum power of my web in three +seconds, as you say: I know it as well as you. I only wish there was a +chance to get out of your range in time."</p> + +<p>"All right!" the Venusian replied decisively. "I agree. I'll release +Leithgow and the five patients. Keep away from the controls and I'll +draw you in."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse switched off the microphone.</p> + +<p>"A hell of a lot Tantril's word is worth!" muttered Ban Wilson. Once +more, surprisingly, the Hawk winked. Friday was grinning now. For +once in his life he had guessed his master's strategy before the +others.</p> + +<p>A mile and a half to the front lay the dome-end of the asteroid. +Perhaps nine hundred miles to the rear lay the tremendous mottled +curve of Earth with her dangerous upper layers of the stratosphere all +too close. In the very face of Earth, all three on a line, the ship +lay linked by a stream of purple to the great rough-hewn, errant +asteroid. Half the bulk of all three lay sharply outlined against the +black of space by the intense yellow light of the flaming distant sun.</p> + +<p>The asteroid neared to a mile, then a half-mile. Hawk Carse said +curtly:</p> + +<p>"Ban, when I give the word, put all the power we've got into our +defensive web. Load the generators; overload them; tax them to the +limit. That web must be as tough as possible for five seconds."</p> + +<p>"Got you, Carse."</p> + +<p>"You've—a trick?" ventured Leithgow timidly.</p> + +<p>"I think I have, Eliot. Lar Tantril might have caught on when I turned +the ship, but unfortunately for him his brain is incapable of +proceeding past a certain point.... All right, Ban."</p> + +<p>"Feel it!"</p> + +<p>In answer to Ban's hands, the deck of the control cabin was literally +vibrating under the mounting speed of the generators in the +power-room. The generators could not stand that terrific overload +long: they would burn out. But Carse needed only a few seconds of it.</p> + +<p>The asteroid was a quarter of a mile away, seen through the infra-red. +The dome loomed large.</p> + +<p>"All right!" whispered Hawk Carse. "Hold on!"</p> + +<p>With the words he unleashed the <i>Sandra's</i> full acceleration.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>t was a risk and a big one, but the Hawk had it calculated to a +fraction of a second, and so, without hesitation, he took the chance. +A little less than four seconds to reach his objective, he reckoned; a +little more than one second for Tantril to release the asteroid's +disintegrating rays as he had threatened; therefore about two and a +half seconds for the <i>Sandra</i> to be exposed to those rays. The chance +that her defensive web could resist them for that long would decide +it.</p> + +<p>From almost a standing start, the <i>Sandra</i> swept ahead, generators +humming, her web a blue mist around her, acceleration at the full. +Straight down through the heart of the narrowing purple ray she sped, +a hurtling metallic projectile, hundreds of tons in mass, her stub bow +levelled dead at the dome.</p> + +<p>After a second the asteroid bared its fangs.</p> + +<p>A cone of brilliant orange flamed and washed around the <i>Sandra's</i> +bow, and a storm of soundless sparks engulfed her. She was caught in a +maw of fire, and held there for the remaining terrific seconds of her +wild forward dash. But the seconds passed; the hands of Hawk Carse +were delicate on her controls; and the <i>Sandra</i>, curving slightly +upward, struck, crashed, wrenched terribly in every joint; and then +the jolt and the protesting wrench and the spluttering sparks were +gone from her, and there was around her only the deep silence of +lifeless space.</p> + +<p>At three hundred miles an hour the <i>Sandra</i> had nicked the upper +plates of the dome and streaked on, unharmed!</p> + +<p>It was not necessary now to use infra-red glasses to see the asteroid. +It was there in the visi-screen for naked eyes, but for seconds not +one of the men in the ship's control-cabin thought to look. The awful +acceleration and shock had dazed them. They had not known what was +coming, except Friday and the Hawk, and only the latter was able to +retain reasonable alertness. He, almost immediately after the impact, +cut down the load on the generators, and brought the <i>Sandra</i> out of +her mad drive forward, rotating the ship until she was facing back +towards the asteroid. Then all of them looked through the bow windows, +and what they saw told the story in an instant.</p> + +<p>"It's visible! See—the invisibility's gone!" cried Friday.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> score of miles away the body lay, fully revealed, its starboard half +gleaming hard and sharp in the sunlight. Cautiously the <i>Sandra</i> drew +closer. Carse gave the controls to Ban and examined it carefully +through the electelscope, after removing the infra-red attachment.</p> + +<p>He saw that the keel of the <i>Sandra</i> had torn a great, mangled rent in +the dome and through this the air had rushed out. Space had taken +possession. The disintegrating rays which had been burning at the +<i>Sandra</i> had been snapped off with the sheathing of invisibility; in +that one wild second of impact, all the asteroid's functioning +mechanism had been destroyed. Lar Tantril had not thought quite far +enough: he had not sealed the buildings air-tight against a possible +crashing of the dome, and for that reason alone he and his men had +gone down in full defeat under the drive of the Hawk.</p> + +<p>Shreds of flotsam drifting and turning in space around the dome now +became visible—bits of wreckage hurled out from the tear, and also a +number of white, bloated things which once had been the bodies of men. +The outrushing tide of air had taken them along, and now they drifted, +shapeless, all of a kind, in the lifelessness of space.</p> + +<p>"Merciful heaven!" whispered Eliot Leithgow, staring at the +desolation. "Gone! Just snuffed out!"</p> + +<p>The Hawk took over again and brought and held the <i>Sandra</i> in a +position a quarter of a mile above the now rapidly falling asteroid.</p> + +<p>"They're all dead, I'm sure," he said in a voice hard and emotionless +as his graven face. "They must be, for the asteroid is now visible, +and that means that the doors of the power building were open. Inside +and out, all there is dead, machinery and men.... Still, it had to be +done. It was they or we. A variation of the trick we used to escape +from the dome before, Eliot; and Tantril of course didn't expect it +and protect himself as Ku Sui did that other time. It's all done +now—yes, its gravity-plates too, for see, it's turning."</p> + +<p>"And fast!" murmured Friday.</p> + +<p>The body was rotating around its longer axis at about twice the speed +of an Earth-watch's second hand. Now the dome was sliding under, out +of their sight, the craggy rock belly coming up to take its place. +Nine hundred miles away was Earth—rather, less than that, for the +body was now free to accept the tremendous gravity pull of the planet +so near. Soon it would plunge to destruction there....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_a.jpg" alt="A" width="51" height="50" /></div> + +<p> thought came to Carse, and he said:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Ku Sui would like to see what has become—"</p> + +<p>On the last word he stopped and whirled around. His eyes were suddenly +intense and his face startled.</p> + +<p>"I heard a hiss!" said Friday.</p> + +<p>"You too? Then it was a port-lock!" Carse turned to the visi-screen. +"Look there!" he cried.</p> + +<p>In the screen Earth made a titanic background against which, a +falling, dwindling figure in a clear-cut in the sunlight, gleamed +space-suit. Down it went, rapidly, even as they stared, until it hung +just off the also-falling asteroid. It was obviously preparing to +enter the dome.</p> + +<p>"Take the helm, Ban, and watch him!" Carse ordered harshly, and ran +aft from the control cabin.</p> + +<p>Leithgow and Friday, following at once, found him inside the open door +of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin, examining two figures stretched limp at his +feet. The men were Thorpe and Williams, who had been set to gas and +guard the Eurasian. Carse said:</p> + +<p>"Both dead. Poison. Look at Thorpe's wrist."</p> + +<p>On the right wrist of the dead man was a line of red, a scratch, and +swollen, discolored flesh was ugly around it. One cheek of Williams +bore a similar patch. Both had been armed with rayguns, but now they +were gone. Half to himself, the Hawk murmured:</p> + +<p>"Yes, poison. It might have been in the ring. Everyone else was in the +control cabin. The men entered the door, Ku Sui was waiting—quick +death.... Well, I'm going after him."</p> + +<p>Not understanding, still horrified by the contorted face of the man on +the deck, the other two gazed at the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"But, Carse!" Leithgow broke out. "How can you? How can you +possibly—"</p> + +<p>"He's gone back to the dome," the Hawk cut in frostily. "He can't make +it to Earth as he is now, for we'd see him and easily be able to pick +him up. No; he's got some reason for returning, to the dome. Something +important. He thinks he's escaped.... He's mistaken."</p> + +<p>A shudder passed over Friday, for Hawk Carse's eyes had fallen on him, +and they were deadly.</p> + +<p>"Let me by, Eliot," the man whispered. "This time he goes or I go, but +by the gods of space it'll be one of us!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h2><i>There Is a Meteor</i></h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> +<p>is face set and cold, Carse ran to the stores cabin, just as the +Eurasian must have hurried there a few minutes before. He took one of +Dr. Ku's self-propulsive space-suits down from the rack and slipped +into it, sticking a raygun in the belt. Still not speaking, he glided +to the rear port-lock, Leithgow and Friday running alongside and +attempting to dissuade him from the dangerous pursuit. Their words +were wasted. Carse gave them only a faint smile and a few directions.</p> + +<p>"Keep the ship as close as you can without danger. No, Eclipse; I'm +going by myself; there's no need to risk two. If I don't come out, +you've everything needed to prove your case. Eliot—the re-embodied +brains, Ku Sui's four white assistants—"</p> + +<p>"I tell you you're going to your death! You'll be caught inside! +Earth's attracting the asteroid now, and in a few minutes it will be +plunging through the atmosphere with terrific speed! The friction will +make it a meteor, and you'll burn. Carse! You'll die in flames! You +haven't but a few minutes to do the whole thing!"</p> + +<p>"Have to risk that, Eliot." He swung open the inner door of the lock +and stepped into the chamber. "Remember, keep as close to the asteroid +as possible, and a steady watch for Ku Sui and me." He looked levelly +at them, white man and black, for a moment, then turned his face away. +"That's all. Good-by," he said.</p> + +<p>The door swung shut in their faces with a hiss of compressed air.</p> + +<p>The Hawk closed the face-plate of his helmet and rapidly spun over the +controls. Another hiss, and the outer door moved wide. He stepped with +force into space.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_t.jpg" alt="T" width="55" height="50" /></div> +<p>he panorama below him was breath-taking: Earth seemed almost to hit +him in the face. He had not realized it was so close. The sheer, +mighty stretch of the globe filled his eyes, and for seconds he could +not focus on anything else, so overwhelming to his vision was the +colossal map. It reached away to left and right, before and behind, +and he was so near that it seemed almost flat, a sun-gleaming plain on +which stood out in sharp outline the continent of Europe, the Atlantic +Ocean and, bordering it, the edge of North America.</p> + +<p>To his left was the flaming orb of the sun; and directly underfoot, +rotating against the vast background of the North Atlantic, he now saw +the asteroid, glinting metallically along its craggy length as it +swung over. Carse centered every bit of power he had on it, and at +maximum acceleration began to overhaul his objective.</p> + +<p>The asteroid was plunging free to Earth, and the rate of its +uncontrolled plunge was second by second mounting tremendously; but +Carse's power-fall quickly enabled him to overtake it. As the dome +swooped up in front of him, and the sunlight washed briefly over its +desolate buildings, he looked hard for a shape moving amongst them, +without success. Doubtless the Eurasian was well inside by now.</p> + +<p>The job of getting into the dome was a hazardous one. About every +thirty seconds the asteroid described a complete rotation, making the +rim turn at a speed of half a mile a second, and that made the task of +entering extremely dangerous to a man whose only protection was the +metal and fabric of a space-suit. Misjudgment would either rip the +suit or dash him to instant death. He had to slip cleanly down through +the jagged tear in the dome, planning his swoop accurately to the +fraction of a second.</p> + +<p>Never cooler, the Hawk made it. Building a parallel speed equal to +that of the rotating dome, he followed it over in a dizzy whirl; and +as the rent came below he shot curving down and in with sufficient +precision, and at once swiftly adjusted his gravity to offset the +asteroid's great centrifugal force.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_f.jpg" alt="F" width="43" height="50" /></div> + +<p>or alternating fifteen-second periods the sunlight filled the dome +and its buildings; and on the tail of the first of these, even as the +sable tide swept all vision from him, the Hawk arrived at the door of +one wing of the central building. He had not seen Ku Sui, and he had +no time for exploration, but he did have a hunch as to where the +Eurasian had gone, and he followed that hunch. A silent, giant-gray +thing in the black silence of the corridor, grim, intent and seeming +irresistible, he swept along it; and every second he knew that a +raygun might spit from where it had been waiting in ambush to puncture +his suit and kill him. For whether or not Ku Sui was aware that he was +being tracked by his old, bitter foe, Carse did not know.</p> + +<p>The asteroid plunged down faster and faster. Earth's atmosphere, with +all its perils of friction, coming ever closer, and the great bosom of +the planet lying waiting to receive and bury the rock hurtling towards +it. Throughout most of the leagues of space that asteroid had tracked +on its master's diverse errands, and in many distant places the trails +of Hawk Carse and Ku Sui had crossed and left blood and crossed again; +and now those three—asteroid, Eurasian and the Hawk—were drawn once +more together for the spectacular and epic climax, now only minutes +away. No power in the universe was to stop the plunge of the asteroid; +it remained to be seen how one or both of the two living humans on it +could get out in time....</p> + +<p>But of all this, nothing was in Hawk Carse's mind except the beating, +driving realization that few minutes were left in which to play out +the last scene. With reckless haste he sped to where his hunch led +him, the secret panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory. As he reached it, faint +sunlight came filtering in from somewhere and he saw that the panel +was open.</p> + +<p>He looked within and dimly saw a ladder reaching down into black +depths. Without hesitation he thrust through the opening and dropped +into the blackness. He dared not lose a second.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e hit bottom with a thud, changed his glove controls and reached out +in the darkness. He felt that he was in one end of a passageway. As +rapidly as he could, his arms stretched wide, all his nerves and +muscles and senses alert, he pressed along it.</p> + +<p>Continually he was thrown into the rough wall at his right by the +centrifugal force of the asteroid. How far did the passageway extend? +Was Ku Sui at the end of it? It occurred to the Hawk that the asteroid +was a developing shooting star, eating up the few hundred miles of +life that remained, streaking down into the atmosphere, where waited +quick friction and incandescence—and he down in the heart of it, +blind, without clue to what lay in front of him, ignorant of +everything, and with only minutes in which to achieve his end. There'd +be no heat-warning through his insulated suit. Even now, perhaps, +there was no time to get out; already the deadline might have been +crossed; he could not know. He went on....</p> + +<p>How far? A hundred yards; two hundred? Easily that, he thought, and +still no variation in the blackness around him! The passageway seemed +straight, so he might now be past the rim of the dome above.</p> + +<p>Then, for just a second, he saw a faint wisp of light ahead!</p> + +<p>Automatically Carse's raygun came up, but in the time that simple +motion took the light was gone and the blackness was as deep and +lifeless as before. But he was coming to something. He went on, +perhaps a little faster, hot to discover the last emergency resource +of Dr. Ku. He took no pains to avoid making noise, for he knew Ku Sui +could not hear him through the airless space between.</p> + +<p>After another hundred yards or so the light from ahead winked again. +It was stronger. Only a second of it, but he now suspected that it +came at regular intervals. It was a machine, perhaps, working under +the hands of the Eurasian. On—on! With the seconds fleeting by, +building to the small total which would bring friction to the +asteroid, and incandescence, and scalding death for him within it!</p> + +<p>Again, suddenly, the mysterious light. It left instantly as usual, but +not before it revealed, well ahead, the end of the passage. Quickly he +traversed the remaining distance and felt around with his hands. He +found what he half expected. There was an opening, a doorway, to his +right. The room beyond surely held the final secret of the asteroid. +And if Dr. Ku Sui were anywhere, he was in there.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_c.jpg" alt="C" width="46" height="50" /></div> + +<p>arse restrained an impulse to rush in, deciding to wait for the +recurring light. Everything in him told him that this was the climax, +that through the door to his right lay the object of his chase; and in +spite of his consciousness of the plunging asteroid, and the +up-leaping skin of Earth's atmosphere, now so close, he stood full in +the doorway, gun ready, waiting. Seconds were precious, but this was +the part of common sense. He needed the light to show him what perils +he must face; he could not go into that chamber ignorant of the +situation there.</p> + +<p>For what seemed ages the fantastic figure stood there. The great rock +turning over and over, with awful speed dropping down. Earth nearing, +death ever closer—and he standing in silence and darkness, waiting to +finish the feud! He might never escape; he knew that; it might already +be too late to try; but the core of the man, his grim and steely will, +would not let him think of retreating towards safety until he had +faced Dr. Ku Sui and decided the account between them forever.</p> + +<p>The wall of darkness melted. A ghostly light filtered through. He +stared, and in its brief maximum saw before him a high, bare +rectangular room, hewn out of the rock—and at its far side a man in a +space-suit. Ku Sui, brought to bay!</p> + +<p>But Carse, for one of the few times in his life, doubted his eyes. +What trick were they playing him? For it was not a real, sharp figure +that he saw; it was an indefinite one, shimmering and elusive, like a +mirage. A prank of the strange light, perhaps. But Ku Sui +nevertheless! Ku Sui trapped!</p> + +<p>The Hawk leaped forward with outstretched arms to seize and hold the +Eurasian's motionless figure. As he moved, the second of ghostly light +dissolved away, and in the blackness his eager reaching arms closed +on—nothing!</p> + +<p>Surely Ku Sui had been there! Surely he had not just imagined he saw +him!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_b.jpg" alt="B" width="42" height="50" /></div> + +<p>affled and coldly raging, the Hawk whirled and groped frantically. +The centrifugal force caught him off balance and hurled him into a +wall, but dizzy he continued his desperate search, sweeping his arms +all around him, over walls and floor and, rising, the ceiling. The +tumbling asteroid banged him unmercifully into the six sides of the +room, but even as he was flung he reached and felt in every +direction—felt without result.</p> + +<p>In some incredible way, Ku Sui had eluded him. The second the light +failed, he must have slipped by and escaped down the passageway +behind. The Hawk could hardly understand how it might have been +achieved, but there was no other explanation. So, with lips firm set +in his cold, grim face, he felt to the doorway, ready to track back +through the long, unlit passage. He might still overhaul and capture +the other. If there was still time....</p> + +<p>But <i>was</i> there?</p> + +<p>The passing seconds had not been idle. Inexorably they had brought him +to Earth's atmosphere. He stared around the room in sheer horror.</p> + +<p>For its blackness was relieved by the faintest of glows. It was not +that of the recurring light; it came from the whole rock ceiling +above. Carse was overwhelmed by the realization that within numbered +seconds the surface of the asteroid would reach incandescence.</p> + +<p>Thoughts raced like lightning through his head. He could not get free +through the corridor and dome behind: that would take at least three +minutes, and not a quarter of a minute was left. Ku Sui too, if he +were in the corridor trying to reach the dome, was trapped and +finished. A meteor flaming to Earth would be their common grave!</p> + +<p>A searing, hideous death! Trapped within fiery walls of melting rock!</p> + +<p>At that moment the regularly re-recurring flash of light came, and +under pressure of his great need the phenomenon meshed with +understanding in Carse's mind. That light was sunlight! It come at +definite intervals as the dome side of the asteroid rotated to face +the sun.</p> + +<p>And that light could reach the room only by way of some channel in the +ceiling!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_i.jpg" alt="I" width="25" height="50" /></div> + +<p>n the waxing glow of the rock above him, Carse swiftly found the +channel—a vertical bore several feet wide, in one corner of the +ceiling. Its rock sides glowed redly, and at their end was a round +black patch that caused his heart to leap with hope. Outer space!—and +a short, straight escape to it! In a flash he saw how Ku Sui perhaps +had eluded him.</p> + +<p>The Eurasian's prepared emergency exit would also be his!</p> + +<p>He lost not a fraction of a second. Turning his glove controls to +maximum acceleration, he rose with a rush into the bore. Despite his +good aim the asteroid's centrifugal force threw him heavily into one +red-hot side. His heart went cold; would the fabric of the suit burn +through? No time for such worries—must make the frigid air +outside—fast—fast—never mind bumps—quick out—and must stay +conscious—<i>must</i> stay conscious to exert repulsion against Earth!</p> + +<p>Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out of that tunnel of hell at a +tangent to the asteroid and in a direction away from Earth, and in an +instant the doomed body was far below him, and streaking faster and +ever faster to the annihilation now so near.</p> + +<p>He fought to come out of his dizziness. Shaking his head, he glanced +back for sight of a minute, suit-clad figure. Had Ku Sui preceded him +through the emergency exit, his shape should be visible somewhere, +etched by the sunlight.</p> + +<p>There was no sign of him.</p> + +<p>Carse's eyes dropped to the asteroid. He saw it already miles below, +a breath-taking celestial object, a second sun, brilliant and +increasingly brilliant as it diminished over the watery plain waiting +to receive it. His mind saw the Eurasian, caught in the long corridor +to the dome, already dead on this last flight of his extraordinary +vehicle of space....</p> + +<p>The end came at once. The sun was quickly a great, brilliant shooting +star, then a blinding smaller one: then its straight mad flight +through the heavens was over, and it was received in the waters of the +Atlantic Ocean and buried deep.</p> + +<p>A cataclysmic burial. A titanic meteor, an incandescent, screaming +streak in the night—a cloud of billowing steam—a wall of water +rearing back from the strange grave of the asteroid, so far come from +its accustomed orbit around Mars.... The thought came to Carse that +Dr. Ku Sui had died as he lived, spectacularly, with a brilliance and +a tidal wave and an earthquake to disturb the lives of men....</p> + +<p>And a sadness fell over the heart of the Hawk....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_h.jpg" alt="H" width="50" height="50" /></div> + +<p>e roused from it in a moment. He felt heat! In the rush of events he +had not before noticed that his space-suit had started to burn from +the friction of his own passage through the atmosphere. Fortunately, +it was already cooling off.</p> + +<p>For in spite of his own leaving speed and the added centrifugal +velocity the asteroid had given him, he had hurtled down after the +doomed rock; and only then was his building repulsion neutralizing +Earth's gravity and his initial Earthward velocity. He had slowed down +just in time to keep his space suit intact.</p> + +<p>He came to rest, in relation to the Earth, and hovered there. Again he +scrutinized the black untenanted wastes of space above. Far out, +approaching as rapidly as it dared, was the <i>Sandra</i>.</p> + +<p>He wanted to be sure, so he cut in his mike and asked Leithgow if they +had, through their electelscope, seen, Ku Sui leave the asteroid.</p> + +<p>The anxious scientist told him they had not.</p> + +<p>With a slight sigh Hawk Carse snapped off his contact and waited till +the sharp, growing spot that was the <i>Sandra</i> should come dropping +down to pick him up, and his friends learn from his own lips the story +of the passing of Ku Sui....</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image_002.jpg" width="500" height="260" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passing of Ku Sui, by Anthony Gilmore + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSING OF KU SUI *** + +***** This file should be named 30303-h.htm or 30303-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/3/0/30303/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 Passing of Ku Sui + +Author: Anthony Gilmore + +Release Date: October 20, 2009 [EBook #30303] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSING OF KU SUI *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from Astounding Stories November 1932. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + The Table of Contents is not part of the original magazine. + + One word in Chapter II could not be read. It has been marked + as illegible. + + + The Passing of Ku Sui + + _A Complete Novelette_ + + + By Anthony Gilmore + + * * * * * + + + + + CONTENTS + +Chapter + I The Plan + II Three Figures in the Dawn + III The Raid + IV The Voice of the Brains + V "My Congratulations, Captain Carse!" + VI The Deadline + VII To the Laboratory + VIII White's Brain--Yellow's Head + IX Four Bodies + X The Promise Fulfilled + XI Ordeal + XII Flight + XIII In Earth's Shadow + XIV The Hawk Strikes + XV There Is a Meteor + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +_The Plan_ + +[Illustration: _Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out in a direction +away from Earth._] + +[Sidenote: A screaming streak in the night--a cloud of billowing +steam--and the climax of Hawk Carse's spectacular "Affair of the +Brains" is over.] + + +The career of Hawk Carse, taken broadly, divides itself into three +main phases, and it is with the Ku Sui adventures of the second phase +that we have been concerned in this intimate narrative. John Sewell, +the historian, baldly condenses those adventures of a century ago +together, but on research and closer scrutiny they take on an +individuality and significance deserving of separate treatment, and +this they have been given here. For fictionized presentation, we have +spaced the adventures into four connected episodes, four acts of a +vibrant drama which ranged clear from Saturn to Earth, the core of +which was the feud between Captain Carse and the power-lusting +Eurasian scientist, Dr. Ku Sui--that feud the reverberations of whose +terrible settling still echo over the solar system--and in this last +act of the drama, set out below, we come to its spectacular climax. + +The words of John Sewell's epic history sit lightly on paper; easy +words for Sewell, once the collection of data was over, to write; not +very significant words for the uninitiated and casual reader who does +not see the irresistible forces beneath them. But consider the full +meaning of these words, and glance for a moment at the two figures +conjured up by them. We see Hawk Carse, a man slender in build, but +with gray eyes and lithe, strong-fingered hands and cold, intent face +that give the clue to the steel of him; we see Dr. Ku Sui, tall, +suave, unhurried, formed as though by a master sculptor, in whose rare +green eyes slumbered the soul of a tiger, notwithstanding the courtesy +and the grace that masked always his most infamous moves. These two we +see looming through and dwarfing Sewell's words as they face each +other, for they were probably the most bitter, and certainly the most +spectacular, foe-men of that raw period before the patrol ships swept +up from the home of man to lay Earth's laws through space. + +Carse and Ku Sui, adventurer and scientist, each with his own +distinctive strength and his own unyielding character--those two were +star-crossed, fated to be foes, and whenever they met there was blood, +and never was quarter asked nor quarter expected. How could it have +been otherwise? Ku Sui controlled the isuan drug trade, and Carse was +against it, as he was against everything underhanded and unclean; Ku +Sui had tricked and, by a single deed, driven Carse's loved comrade, +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, from his honored position on Earth, +and Carse was sworn to bring Ku Sui to Earth to clear the old +scientist's name. Either of these alone was enough to seal the feud, +but there was more. Carse was sworn to release from their bondage of +life-in-death Ku Sui's most prized possession, his storehouse of +wisdom--the brains of five great Earth scientists, kept alive though +their bodies were dead. + +These, then, were the forces glossed over so lightly by John +Sewell's words. These the forces that clashed in the episode set out +below: that clashed, then drew apart, and knew not one another for +years.... + + * * * * * + +It will be recalled that, in the second of these four episodes, "The +Affair of the Brains,"[1] Hawk Carse, Eliot Leithgow, and the Negro +Friday broke free from Dr. Ku's secret lair, his outwardly invisible +asteroid, and in doing so thought they had destroyed the Eurasian and +all his works, including the infamous machine of coordinated brains. +In the third episode, "The Bluff of the Hawk,"[2] it will be +remembered that the companions came in Dr. Ku's self-propulsive +space-suits to Satellite III of Jupiter; and that there Carse learned +that in reality the Eurasian and the brains had survived, and that Dr. +Ku might very possibly soon be in possession of a direct clue to +Leithgow's hidden laboratory on Satellite III. We saw Carse take the +lone course, as he always preferred, sending Leithgow and Friday to +his friend Ban Wilson's ranch while he went to erase the clue. And we +saw him achieve his end at the fort-ranch of Lar Tantril, strong +henchman of Ku Sui, and, in brilliant Carse fashion, turn the tables +and escape from the trap that had seemingly snared him, and proceed +towards where, fourteen miles away, Leithgow and the Negro were +waiting for him. + +[Footnote 1: See the March, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.] + +[Footnote 2: See the May, 1932, issue of Astounding Stories.] + +His three friends were waiting very uneasily that day. Eleven hours +had passed since Leithgow and Friday had parted from the Hawk, and +they had heard nothing from him. They knew he was going into high +peril: Leithgow had in vain tried to dissuade him; and so it was with +growing fear that they watched the hours pass by. + +With Ban Wilson, they sat near dawn in the comfortable living room of +the ranch's central building. Although largely rested from the ordeal +of the journey to Satellite III, the huge Negro was fidgety, and even +Leithgow, more controlled, showed the strain by continually raising +his thin white fingers to his lined face and stroking it. Wilson's men +were on watch outside in the graying darkness, but often Friday +supplemented them, going to the door, staring down to the beach of the +bordering lake, staring up to the skies, staring at the black and +murmurous flanks of the jungle--staring, scowling and returning to sit +and look gloomily at the floor. + + * * * * * + +Ban Wilson was the most active physically. He was a miniature dynamo +of a man, throbbing with a restless, inexhaustible tide of energy. +Short and wiry, he stared truculently at the universe through +wonderfully clear blue eyes, surrounded by a bumper crop of freckles +and topped by a mat of bristly red hair. His short stub nose had +prodded into countless hostile places where it most emphatically was +not wanted. It would be hardly necessary to old acquaintances of his +to say that he was now speaking. + +"No, sir! I say the Hawk's safe and kicking! Can't kill _him_! By my +grandmother's false teeth, I swear I'd follow him to hell, knowin' I'd +come out alive and leavin' the devil yowlin' behind with his tail tied +into pretzels! He said he would meet you here? Well, then, he will." + +Friday looked up mournfully. + +"Yes, suh, Cap'n Ban; but Cap'n Carse was going into a pow'ful lot of +trouble. An' he was worn an' tired, an' he only had a space-suit an' a +raygun, an' you know he wouldn't stop for anything till he'd done +what he set out to. I kind of feel ... I dunno ... I dunno...." + +"By Betelguese!" swore Ban Wilson, "if he doesn't come soon I'll take +that damned Porno apart till I find him!" + +Eliot Leithgow gave up the late radio newscast from Earth he had been +pretending to read. A brief silence fell, and through it the old +scientist seemed to feel something, seemed to expect something. And he +was not mistaken. + +"_Who's there?_" + +It was a cry from one of the watchers outside. Friday leaped out of +his uneasy seat and was through the door even before Ban, who followed +with Leithgow. They heard the Negro roar from ahead: + +"Cap'n Carse! Cap'n Carse! Sure enough, it's Cap'n Carse!"--and they +saw his great form go bounding down to the gray-lit beach of the lake, +to a slight, weary figure that came stumbling along it. + + * * * * * + +Hawk Carse had come as he said he would, but he was a sore figure of a +man. Though he was not in it now, for days he had worn the harsh, +grating metal and fabric of a space-suit, and its marks were left on +him. Even from a distance the others could see that his once-neat blue +trousers and soft flannel shirt were torn through in many places, +revealing ugly purplish bruises; on his haggard face was a nap of +flaxen beard, and in his blood-shot gray eyes utter exhaustion, both +mental and physical. The Hawk had been acting at high tension for days +past, and now the reaction was exacting its inevitable toll. + +He came stumbling heavily along the beach, his feet dragging through +its coarse sand, and it seemed as if he would drop any moment. With a +slight smile he greeted Friday, then Eliot Leithgow and Wilson, all +running down. + +"Hello, Eclipse," he murmured, "and Eliot--and Ban--" + +There he wavered and half fell against the Negro's body. Friday wished +to carry him, but he would have none of it: by himself he walked up to +the ranch-house, where he slumped into a chair while Ban Wilson went +shouting into the galley for a mug of hot alkite. + +After draining it, Carse revived slightly. Again aware of the three +men grouped around him, and recognizing their eagerness for his news, +he forced himself to speech. + +"Sleepy--must sleep. But--yes--some things I'll tell you." In quick, +staccato sentences, his tired eyelids shut half the time, he sketched +his adventure at Lar Tantril's ranch, explaining how, even though +captured, he had destroyed the figures, telling of the location of +Leithgow's laboratory; and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he +told of the ruse by which he had escaped. "Got away. Told them the +lake-front was very dangerous to them. Made them let me show them. I +walked out--dozens of them round me, guns on me--walked out till I +went under water. Could do it in the suit. I walked under water half a +mile or so, then came up and cached the suit. I guess they're still +watching! Easy!" + + * * * * * + +He chuckled, and then, after a short pause, went on: + +"But here's what's important--Ku Sui is alive. Yes, I know it. He has +an assignation with Tantril at Tantril's ranch. In five days. And the +coordinated brains I promised to destroy--they still exist. So, Eliot, +these are orders: prepare plans for infra-red and ultra-violet +devices--they ought to do it--so we can see Dr. Ku's invisible +asteroid when it comes. Friday, you go down and get my space-suit: +it's cached ten miles down the beach, beneath a big watrari tree. And +then--" His head slumped over; he appeared to have abruptly fallen to +sleep. + +"Yes, Carse? What is your plan?" Eliot Leithgow asked softly. But the +Hawk was only making a great last effort to gather the threads of his +idea. + +"Yes," he responded, "the plan. Ban stations a man to keep watch on +Tantril's ranch, while we go back to your laboratory, Eliot, where +you'll make the devices and repair the gravity-plates of my suit. +Then, four nights from now, if the watcher's seen no one arrive, Ban, +Friday and I return and lie in ambush round Tantril's ranch. Awaiting +Dr. Ku. When he comes, he'll surely leave his asteroid somewhere near. +And while he's at Tantril's, we capture the asteroid--and my promise +to the coordinated brains will be kept. + +"Then--but that's enough for now; I am so tired. Ban, will you +please--some food--" + +Wilson, who had been listening eagerly and, at the end, grinning in +prospect of action with the Hawk, darted off like a spark. A few +minutes later, after his third mouthful of food, Carse murmured: + +"We'll use your ship to go to Eliot's lab in, Ban, but I think +you'll--have to--carry me--aboard. So sleepy. Wake me when we get +to--lab." + +On this last word his sleep-denied body had its way, and at once he +was deep in the dreamless slumber of exhaustion. + +While he slept, the others rapidly carried out his orders. Within two +hours Friday, in the ranch's air-car, had retrieved the cached suit. +Ban Wilson had manned and made ready his personal space-ship for the +trip to the laboratory, and Eliot Leithgow had jotted down a few +preliminary plans for the infra-red and ultra-violet instruments +which Carse would need in order to see the invisible asteroid of Dr. +Ku Sui. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +_Three Figures in the Dawn_ + + +The fourth night after the Hawk had met his friends at Ban Wilson's +was sunless and Jupiter-less, nor was there the slightest breath of +wind; and in the humid, dank jungle surrounding on three sides the +isuan ranch of the Venusian Lar Tantril the sounds of night-prowling +animals burst full and loud, making an almost continuous babel of +varied and savage noise. + +In the midst of this dark inferno, Tantril's ranch was an island of +stillness. Within the high guarding fence, the long low buildings lay +quiet and were [illegible] brushed periodically by the light from the +watch-beacon high overhead as it swept its shaft over the jungle +smother and then around over the black glassy surface of the Great +Briney Lake, bordering the ranch enclosure on the fourth side. And, +vigilantly, the eyes of three Venusian guards followed the ray. + +They stood on the three lookout towers which reared at equal intervals +up above the circumference of the ranch; and though the buildings +below seemed deserted, in reality wide-awake men were stationed at +posts within them, waiting for the clang of the alarm which the +pressing of a button in any one of the lookout towers would effect. +Lar Tantril's ranch was not asleep. It was as alert and wary as the +beasts tracking through the jungle outside its fence, and all its +defensive and offensive weapons were at the ready. + +No one within the ranch knew it, but within two hundred yards lay the +foe Lar Tantril and his men feared most. + + * * * * * + +Regularly around the watch-beacon swept, slicing the blackness with an +oval white finger, the farthest edge of which reached a hundred and +fifty yards. Over the "western" lake--and its inky ripples sparkled +somehow ominously. Over the jungle's confusion--and trees, great +bushes, spiky vines and creeper-growths leaped into momentary +visibility, and then were again swallowed up in the tide of night. +Here a cutlas-beaked bird, spotlighted for an instant, froze into +surprised immobility with the pasty, bloated worm it had seized +twisting and dangling from its mouth, to flap squawking away as the +ray glided on: there the coils of a seekan, in ambush on a tree limb, +glittered crimson for the sudden moment of illumination; or a nameless +huge-eyed pantherlike creature was glimpsed as it clawed at a nest of +unfledged haris, while the frantic, screaming mother beat at it with +wings and claws.... + +But all this was usual and unalarming, merely the ordinary routine of +the jungle at night. Could the beacon have reached out another fifty +yards, the guards on their towers would have seen that which was not +usual--and would have summoned every weapon of the ranch beneath. + +Or could the guards have heard, besides the cries and crashings and +yowls of the jungle folk, the man-made sounds which sped silently back +and forth across the ranch within their tight and secret radio +beams--then, too, the alarm would have clanged. + +Had the beacon suddenly stretched its path outward another fifty +yards, it would have fallen upon a massive, leafy watrari tree, taller +than most: and the guards, looking close, might have caught in one +notch of the tree's many limbs a glint of metal: might have seen, had +the light held on that glint, a bloated monster of metal and fabric +braced there, hiding behind a screen of leaves. + +This giant, not native to the jungle, was posted due "north" from the +ranch. Another waited to the "south," in a similarly large tree; and +another to the "east." + +Hawk Carse and his friends were abroad again and waiting to strike. + + * * * * * + +Ban Wilson, hot, itching and uncomfortable inside the heavy space-suit +that he wore, and supremely aware of his consequent awkwardness, +watched the ranch's beacon sweeping past him thirty or more yards +away, and again sought relief from the tedium in conversation. + +"Jupiter should be rising soon, Carse. It's the darkest hour--seems to +me he'll come now if he comes at all. What do you think?" + +He was the one posted in a watrari tree "south" of Tantril's ranch. +Flung on the tight beam of his helmet-radio, which had been tuned and +adjusted by Eliot Leithgow so as to reach only two other radios, the +words rang simultaneously in the receivers of Friday, who was "east" +of the ranch, and Carse, who was "north." + +The Hawk responded curtly: + +"I don't know when he'll come; I suspect not before full morning." + +Ban Wilson grunted at receipt of this discouraging opinion, and then +once more, as he had been doing regularly all through the night, +raised to his eyes the instrument that hung by a cord from the +neckpiece of the suit. Through it he scanned slowly and methodically +the portion of black heaven that had been assigned to him. The +instrument would have resembled a bulky pair of electro-binoculars +with its twin tubes and eyepieces, had not there been, underneath the +tubes, a small, compact box which by Leithgow-magic revealed the +world through infra-red light by one tube, and ultra-violet the other. + +"Nothing!" Ban muttered to himself, lowering the device. "And damn Ku +Sui for makin' these space-suits so infernally uncomfortable! Might as +well have made 'em space-ships, while he was at it!... Say, Carse," he +began again aloud into his microphone, "maybe Dr. Ku's come already. I +know my men said no one had arrived at the ranch in a suit like these +we've got on--but, hell, if his whole asteroid's invisible, why +couldn't he make his space-suit invisible, too?" + +"I don't think he's done that. Otherwise he would have--" The +adventurer's level tone raised incisively. "Now, both of you, still! +Conceal yourselves with great care--Jupiter's rising!" + + * * * * * + +The "western" horizon, a moment before indistinguishable, was now +faintly flushed, a flush which deepened quickly into glowing, riotous +crimson, causing long streamers to shoot out over the surface of the +Great Briney, tingling it, sparkling it. The light reached the jungle: +and when the first faint reflected rays filtered down through the +matted gloom of tree and vine and bush the creatures that had tracked +for prey all night looked to their lairs: and gradually, the tenor of +the jungle noises waned off into a few last screams and muttered +growls, and then died altogether into the heavy, brooding hush that +comes always with dawn over the jungles of Satellite III. + +Jupiter thrust his flaming arch upwards over the horizon, and climbed +with his whole vast blood-blotched bulk into a sky turned suddenly +blue. Lake and jungle shimmered under the rapidly dissipating night +vapors. The ranch-beacon paled into unimportance. Day had come. + +And now the three bloated figures of metal and fabric that were men +crouched closely back beneath the leaves of the trees that concealed +them, and waited tensely, not daring at first to move for fear of +discovery. Each one could see, through the intervening growth, the +watch-towers of the ranch; but Friday, from his post in the tree to +the "east," could see the area best, and it was Friday to whom Carse's +next words were addressed. + +"Eclipse?" his terse voice asked. "Do the guards in the towers seem to +notice anything?" + +The big Negro strained cautiously for a better view. + +"No, suh, Cap'n Carse. Sure they can't see us at all. Just pacin' +round on their towers, kind of fidgety." + +"Anyone else in sight?" + +"No, suh.... Oh, now there's somethin'. Two of the guards are looking +below, cupping their ears. Someone down there must be tellin' them +somethin'. Now they're lookin' up to the sky--the northern sky. Yes, +suh! All three of 'em! They're expectin' someone, sure enough!" + +"Good. He must be coming. Use your glasses." + + * * * * * + +Then in all three trees the instruments that Eliot Leithgow had shaped +were raised, and the whole sweep of horizon and the glowing, clear +blue dome of sky subjected to minute inspection through their +detecting infra-red and ultra-violet. Ban Wilson, perhaps, stared most +eagerly, for he had never seen Ku Sui's asteroid, and despite himself +still only half-believed that twenty craggy, twisted miles of rock +could be swung as its master willed in space, and brought down bodily +to Satellite III. + +But he saw nothing in the sky; nothing looming gigantically over any +part of the horizon; and he reported disgustedly: + +"Nothing doing anywhere. Carse." + +"Don't see nothing either, suh," the Negro's deep voice added. And +both of them heard the Hawk murmur: + +"Nor do I. But he must be--Ah! There! Careful! They're coming!" + +"Where? Where is it?" yapped Ban excitedly, jerking the instrument to +his eyes again. + +"Speak low. Not the asteroid. Three men." + +For a tense minute there was silence between them, until, in a low, +crisp voice, the Hawk added: + +"Three men in space-suits like ours, coming from the "north" straight +for Tantril's. Ban, you may not be able to see them till they get to +the ranch, so you keep hunting for the asteroid with your glasses. +Friday, you see them?" + +"Yes, suh! Three! One ahead of the others!" + +"Keep your eyes tight on them. No talking now from either of you +unless it's important." + +The steely voice snapped off. And carefully, in his tree, Hawk Carse +brushed aside a fringe of leaves and concentrated on the three figures +the dawn had brought. + + * * * * * + +Hard and sharp they glittered in the flood of ruddy light from +Jupiter, great grotesque figures of metal and bulging fabric, with +shining quarzite face-plates and the abnormally large helmets and +boot-pieces which identified them as being of the enemy. At a level +fifty feet above the jungle's crown they came in fast, horizontal +transit, and there was much of beauty in the picture that they +made--sparkling shapes flying without sound or movement of limb +against the blue sky, over the heaped colors of the jungle below. One +flew slightly in the lead, and he, the watching Hawk felt positive, +was Ku Sui, and the other two his servants--probably men whose brains +had been violated, dehumanized--mere machines in human form. + +Straight in the three figures flew, without hesitation or swerving, +closer and closer to the watching man in the tree. The Hawk's lips +compressed as his old enemy neared, and into his watching gray eyes +came the deadly cold emotionless look that was known and feared +throughout space, wherever outlaws walked or flew. Ku Sui--so close! +There, in that even-gliding figure, was the author of the infamy done +to Leithgow, of the crime to the brains that lived though their bodies +were dead; of the organized isuan trade. Go for him now? The thought +flashed temptingly through Carse's head, but he saw sense at once. Far +too dangerous, with the powerful, watching ranch so close. He could +not jeopardize the success of his promise to the brains. + +And so Dr. Ku Sui passed, while two pairs of eyes from two leafy trees +watched closely every instant of his passing, and one man's hand +dropped unconsciously to the butt of a raygun. + +Quickly, the Eurasian and his servitors were gone, their straight, +steady flight obscured by the trees around Tantril's ranch, below +which they slanted. + +Dr. Ku Sui had arrived at his assignation. But where was the asteroid? + + * * * * * + +Through his instrument, Carse sought horizon and heaven for the +massive body, but in vain. He spoke into his helmet-radio's mike. + +"Ban?" + +"Yes, Carse?" + +"See the asteroid anywhere?" + +"Nowhere, by Betelgeuse! I've looked till my eyes--" + +The Hawk cut him short. "All right. Stand by. Friday?" + +"Yes, suh?" + +"Can you see anything special?" + +"No, suh--only that the three platform guards keep lookin' down +towards the center of the ranch." + +"Good. That means Ku Sui's being received," said Carse; and then he +considered swiftly for a minute. Decided, he continued: + +"Ban and Friday, you both wait where you are, keeping a steady +lookout. None of us can see the asteroid, but it must be somewhere +comparatively near, for Dr. Ku has no reason to bother with a long +journey in a space-suit. I think the asteroid's close down, hidden by +that distant ridge in the direction from which they came. I'm going to +find it. When I do, I'll tell you where to come meet me. Inform me at +once if Ku Sui leaves or if anything unusual happens. Understood?" + +The assenting voices rang back to him simultaneously. + +"Right!" he said; and slowly his great bulging figure lifted. + + * * * * * + +Cautiously, the adventurer made through the watrari tree to the side +facing away from the ranch. There, poising for a second, he +manipulated the lateral direction-rod on the suit's chest, and, still +very slowly, floated free from the shrouding leaves. Then, mindful of +the lookouts on the towers behind, he employed the tactics he had used +before, and kept constantly below the uneven crown of the jungle, +gliding at an easy rate through the leafy lanes created by the banked +tree-tops. + +In that fashion, in the upthrust arms of the jungle, twisting, +turning, sometimes doubling, but following always a path the objective +of which was straight ahead, Hawk Carse soared soundlessly for miles. +He maneuvered his way with practised ease, and his speed increased as +the need for hiding his flight decreased. + +He was familiar with the landmarks of the region, and it was towards +the most pronounced of them that he flew. Soon it was looming far +above him: a long, high ridge, rearing more than three miles above the +level of the Great Briney, and crowded with trees even taller and +sturdier than those of the lower jungle plains. Beyond it was the most +likely spot.... + +The Hawk paused at the base of the ridge. There had been no warning +from Ban or Friday, but, to make sure, he established radio +connection. + +"Friday?" he asked into the microphone. "Any activity on the ranch? +Any sign they're aware of our presence?" + +Clear and deep from miles behind, the Negro's voice answered: + +"No, suh. Dead still. I guess they're inside the buildings--except the +guards, and they're taking things easy. Where are you, suh?" + +"About ten miles from you, 'north' and a little 'east,' at the foot of +the ridge. I think I'll know something soon now. Stand by." + +Then Carse moved forward again, slowly winding up between the trees to +the summit of the ridge. + +At the top he stopped. His eyes took in a long, wide valley, of which +the ridge where he hung was the southernmost barrier. He knew at once +something was wrong. Through his opened face-plate he was aware of a +breathless hush that hovered over the valley, a hush which embraced +its fifty miles or more of jungle length, a hush which was rendered +actually visible in several places by the unmoving, limp-hanging +leaves of the trees. Below, in the valley, all the myriad life of the +jungle seemed to have frozen, and only occasionally was the pause of +life and sound disturbed by the faint, muffled cry of a bird. + +What had wrought the hush? Nothing showed to the naked eye. + +From the summit of the ridge, Hawk Carse lifted Leithgow's glasses to +his eyes. And the valley was suddenly changed, and the hush explained. +The miracle lay before him. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_The Raid_ + + +A dim, shimmering outline through the infra-red, the valley lay +revealed as a great natural cradle for a mammoth body of rock which +had been swung down from the deeps of space to the surface of +Satellite III. + +Titanic, breath-taking in its majesty of sheer bulk, the asteroid of +Dr. Ku Sui was made visible. + +It hung suspended, low over the tree-tops of the valley, and it filled +the valley with rock and towered above it. This was the asteroid, +exploded into a separate entity by the cataclysm that gave birth to +the planets, which Dr. Ku Sui had wrenched from the asteroidal belt +between Mars and Jupiter and built into a world of his own, swinging +it through space as he willed, and cloaking it with invisibility to +baffle those who marveled at how he came and went, unseen, on his +various errands. This was the mighty rock fortress in which lay the +key-stone of his mounting power. This his lonely, unsuspected home, +come for a while to rest.... + +Hawk Carse scanned it closely. + +It lay roughly head-on to him, its nearest massive, craggy end lying +some three miles from where he hung. On that end lived the life of the +asteroid, and were located all Ku Sui's works. On a space planed flat +in the rock, rested the dome, like an inverted quarter-mile-wide bowl +of glittering glasslike substance, laced inside with spidery +supporting struts--the half bubble from inside which men guided the +mass. Therein an artificial atmosphere was maintained, even as on any +space-ship, and there lay the group of buildings, chief of which was +the precious laboratory in which were the coordinated brains to whom +the Hawk had made his promise. + +Carse lowered the glasses, and again the Jupiter-light poured normally +around him, the valley hushed and seemingly empty once more. He put +through his call to Friday and Ban, giving them simple directions how +to find him. And twenty-five minutes after that, he saw, looking back +down the ridge, their two giant metallic figures come twisting and +turning in noiseless flight through the top lanes of the jungle below, +and they were together. + + * * * * * + +It was seldom that Friday would intrude his thoughts when with his +master and his master's friends, so when he arrived he merely surveyed +the asteroid through his glasses and was silent. But Ban Wilson, after +a long, comprehensive stare, during which one could almost feel the +amazement leaping through him, sputtered: + +"By jumping Jupiter, Carse--I never would've believed it! That Ku +Sui's sure a genius! To have that whole asteroid there, man, and to +take it with him wherever he wants to go! Look at it! Fifteen, twenty +miles long, it must be! And that dome--" + +"Yes," said the Hawk shortly, "but easy on that now. We've work to do, +and it's got to be done quickly. Now listen: + +"There are two main port-locks in the dome for space-ships, and the +starboard one has a smaller man-size lock beside it. We're going to +the smaller one. There'll no doubt be a guard on watch at it, so to +him we're Ku Sui and the two men who accompanied him. We'll have to +chance recognition; but at least there's no difference in the suits +we're wearing, and we'll clasp our glasses on all the way to the lock, +for surely Dr. Ku has to use some similar device. Keep your faces +averted as much as you can though, when near, and your rayguns in your +belts. If there's to be gunplay, leave the first shot to me. You'll +both follow me just as those two followed Dr. Ku." + +Ban Wilson asked: "Will you go down into the valley between the trees, +then up the face of the rock? The guard wouldn't see us until we were +right at the lock." + +"No, he wouldn't: but he'd wonder why Ku Sui was being so cautious. +We'll go straight across, in full view. We'll get in easily, or--well, +that depends. Ready?" + +They fastened the glasses over their eyes, keeping the helmet +face-plates partly open. The rayguns they eased in their belt +holsters, and slid back the hinged palms of their mittens, to give +exit if need be to their gun-hands. They were ready. + +Switching on the helmet gravity-plates to swift repulsion, the three +soared out of the trees, soared up on a straight, inclined line for +the dome on the asteroid, a steady, rapid climb that soon raised them +one mile, a second and a third, where they leveled off and sped +straight ahead. Now they could look right into the dome. + +Rapidly the port-lock that was their objective grew in size. Behind it +were the buildings: the large, four-winged central structure and the +supplementary workshops and hangars, coolie-quarters and outhouses, +all dim and shimmering through the infra-red--the mysterious, lonely +citadel of Dr. Ku Sui. There it all was, inside the dome, with the +rest of the asteroid looming massive behind. + +A quarter-mile away, and swiftly half that, and half again the three +grouped figures arrowed ahead without hesitation. And the Hawk said +curtly: + +"I see no men--do either of you? It looks deserted." + +"There!" cried Ban, after a second. "There! Beside the port-lock. Just +now!" + + * * * * * + +Beside the smaller port-lock's inner door a figure had appeared, clad +in the neat yellow smock of a servitor of Ku Sui. It was a smooth, +impassive Oriental face that turned to stare out at the approaching +men; and even Ban knew that this sentinel stationed at the lock was +one of the coolies whose brains Dr. Ku had altered, turning him into a +mechanicalized man who obeyed no orders but his. He watched closely +the three who swept on towards him, his hand at a raygun in his belt. +The same questions were in the minds of all three of the raiders. +Would he recognize something as being different, or suspicious? Would +he summon others of his kind from the small guard-box he had come out +of? + +But the coolie evinced no alarm. It would have been difficult for +anyone to have discerned distinguishing features inside the cumbersome +helmets, behind the instruments clamped to the faces of the men who +wore the suits. He called no others, but merely watched. + +Soon the opaque metal plates of the small lock's outer door had neared +to within a few feet of Hawk Carse, and he stopped short, Ban and +Friday following suit. They hovered there outside the door, gently +swaying like flies against the great gleaming sweep of the dome, the +craggy rock face dropping sickeningly down for miles beneath them. +And, like flies, they were powerless to open the door to gain +entrance. Only the coolie inside could do that; and he, through the +dome to one side, was peering at them. + +Apparently he was satisfied with his scrutiny. After a moment, bolts +shifted and the door stirred and swung out, revealing the all-metal +atmosphere chamber and the inner door at the far side. Immediately +Carse floated into the chamber, and the two others pressed in behind. +They saw the outer door swing shut, and heard its locks thud over. + +They were sealed from sight inside the port-lock's atmosphere chamber. + +"Looks to me," whispered Ban Wilson, "like a very sweet trap. If that +fellow inside wants to--" + +The Hawk's cool voice cut him off. + +"We can take off the glasses now," he said casually. "Keep alert." + +And for a full minute they waited. + + * * * * * + +At length a circle of light showed around the rim of the inner door, +and it grew quickly into the full flood of Jupiter-light as the door +opened. + +Carse floated through, no longer attempting to avert his face. + +The coolie, standing just outside the chamber, saw the adventurer's +features and remembered--and drew the raygun in his belt. + +Carse did not shoot. He never killed unless he could not avoid it; +this was as much a part of his creed as his remorseless leveling of a +blood-debt. He struck with the suit. Under a quick turn of the +control, the great heavy bulk of fabric-joined metal lunged forward. +The move was quick, but not quite quick enough, for just before the +coolie was bowled headlong to the ground, he got out a high-pitched +warning yell; and then, as he lay sprawled out, apparently +unconscious, a thin hot orange streak sizzled by Hawk Carse's helmet +from the left. + +This time Carse shot. His gun leaped from belt to hand, and had twice +spoken from the hip before one could quite grasp what had happened. +Seemingly without bothering to take aim, his deadly left hand had +stricken into lifeless heaps two coolies who had come running and +shooting from the nearby guard-box. + +As Carse stood looking down at their bodies he was startled by another +sizzling spit. He wheeled to see Friday holding the raygun that had +spoken. + +The Negro said apologetically: + +"Sorry, suh--I had to. The other coolie, the one you knocked down, +came to and was aimin' at you. Guess they're all three dead now, sure +enough." + + * * * * * + +His master nodded, and said in a low, thoughtful voice: "In spite of +what some men have said, I never like to kill; but for these robots, +more machines than men, with nothing human to live for, it's release +rather than death. + +"Well," he began again, more briskly, "we're inside, and whoever else +is here apparently doesn't know it yet. I expected more of a +commotion. I wonder how many coolies Ku Sui had, altogether? Fourteen +or fifteen were killed when we broke through the dome, before, and now +these three. There surely can't be many left. Of course, there are the +four white men, his surgical assistants." + +Ban Wilson spoke after what was for him a long silence. He had watched +the Hawk's gunplay with an awe-stricken face; its speed never failed +to amaze him. He observed: + +"These buildings certainly look lifeless. Well, what now, Carse?" + +"A search." He planned it out in his head, then gave quick orders. +"Ban," he directed, "you go through all the out-buildings, your gun +ready. The five main ones are a workshop, a power-house, storehouse, a +ship hangar and a barracks for coolies. Whoever you find, take +prisoner. Keep in touch with me by radio." + +"Friday," he continued, "I'm leaving you here. First get these bodies +in that guard-house they came out of. Then keep sharp watch. I don't +think Ku Sui will return within fifteen minutes, but we must take no +chance. At the first sign of him, warn me." + +"Yes, suh. But what are you goin' to do?" + +"Take over the central building," said the Hawk. "And then, when the +whole place has been reconnoitered, fulfil my promise to the brains." + +"And what about Ku Sui?" + +"Later," he said. "It should not be hard to take him prisoner.... Now, +enough!" + +The three parted. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +_The Voice of the Brains_ + + +The central structure of the group of buildings was shaped like a +great plus-mark, each of its four wings of identical square +construction, with long smooth metal sides and top, and with a door at +the end giving entrance to a corridor that ran straight through to the +chief central laboratory of Dr. Ku Sui. + +Carse skimmed swiftly, two feet off the glittering metallic soil, +towards the end of the nearest wing, where he gently landed. He tried +the door giving entrance. It was open. He cautiously floated through +into complete darkness. + +The Hawk was prepared for that. He drew a hand-flash from the belt of +his suit, and, standing motionless, his raygun ready in his left +hand, he probed the darkness with a long white beam. Spaced evenly +along the sides of the corridor were many identical doors, and at the +end a larger, heavier door which gave entrance to the central +laboratory. He found no life or anything that moved at all, so, +methodically, he set about inspecting the side rooms. + +The doors were all unlocked, and he moved down the line without alarm, +like a mechanical giant preceded by a sweeping, nervous flow of light. +Such he might from the outside have appeared to be, but the man within +himself was more like a cat scenting for danger, all muscles and +senses delicately tuned to alertness. Door by door, a cautious and +thorough inspection; but he found nothing of danger. All the rooms of +that wing were used merely for stores and equipment, and they were +quite silent and deserted. When he came at last to its end, Carse knew +that the wing was safe. + +He paused a minute before the laboratory door. He had expected to find +it locked, and that he would have to seek other means of entrance; but +it was not. By pushing softly against it, it easily gave inward on +silent well-oiled hinges. He entered. + + * * * * * + +Carse found himself in a place of memories, and they were sharp and +painful in his brain as he stood there. Here so much had happened: +here death, and even more than death, had been, and was, so near! + +The high-walled circular room was dimly lit by daylight tubes from +above. The damage he, Carse, had wrought when besieged in it, a week +before, had all been repaired. The place was deserted--it seemed even +desolate--but in Carse's moment of memory it was peopled. There had +been the tall, graceful shape in black silk; there the operating table +and the frail old man bound on it; there the four other men, white men +and gowned in the smocks of surgeons, but whose faces were lifeless +and expressionless. Dr. Ku Sui and his four assistant surgeons and his +intended victim, Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow.... + +They were all gone from the room now, but there was in it one thing of +life that had been there before. It lay behind the inlaid screen +which, standing on roller-legs, lay along the wall at one place. The +Hawk did not look behind the screen. He could see under it, to know +that no one lurked there. He knew what it was meant to conceal. There +his promise lay. + +But his promise could not be fulfilled immediately. There were four +wings to the building, four doors leading into the laboratory, and he +had inspected but one. + +An open door to his right revealed a corridor similar to the one he +had reconnoitered. He repeated down it his methodical search and found +no one. Then he returned to the laboratory. + +Surely there were men somewhere! Surely someone was behind one of the +two closed doors remaining! Gun and flashlight still at the ready, +Carse listened a moment at the nearest one. + +Silence. He grasped the knob, turned it and quickly threw the door +open. A rapid glance revealed no one. Wary and alert, he passed +through, and discovered that in this wing were the personal living +quarters of Dr. Ku Sui. + +The quarters were divided into five rooms: living room, bedroom, +library, dining room and kitchen, and the huge metal figure passed +through all five, the cold gray eyes taking in every detail of the +comfortable but not luxurious furnishings. There was a great interest +to him, but it would have to wait. + +He reentered the laboratory and went to the remaining door. Bending +his head he again listened. A sound--a faint whisper? He fancied he +heard something. + +Ready for whatever it was, Carse pulled the door wide. And before him +he saw the control room of the asteroid, and the men for whom he had +been hunting. + + * * * * * + +They were white men. Carse recognized them immediately as the four +assistants of Dr. Ku Sui. Once, they had been eminent on Earth, +respected doctors of medicine and brain surgery, leaders in their +profession: now they were like the mechanicalized coolies. For their +brains, too, the Eurasian had altered, divested of all humanity and +individuality, so as to utilize unhampered their skill with medicine +and scalpel. + +They were clad in soft yellow robes and seated at ease at one end of a +room crowded with a bewildering profusion of gauges, machines, +instruments, screens, wheels, levers, and other nameless controlling +devices. They did not show surprise at the huge clumsy figure that +stood suddenly before them, a raygun in one hand. Like the coolies, +their clean-cut features did not change under emotion. All they did +was rise silently, as one, gazing at the adventurer out of blank eyes, +saying nothing, and making no other move. + +Carse tried simple measures in dealing with them. His voice gentle yet +firm, he said: + +"You must not try to obstruct me. You have seen me before under +unfortunate conditions, yet I want you to know that I am really your +friend. I mean you no harm; but you must realize that I have a gun, +and believe that I will not hesitate to use it if you resist me. So +please do not. I only want you to come with me. Will you?" + +They were simple words, and what he asked was simple, but would the +meaning reach these violated brains? Or would there instead be the +desperate reaction of the coolies, who had tried to kill him? Carse +waited with genuine anxiety. It would be hard to shoot them, and he +knew he could not shoot to kill. + +A moment of indecision--and then with relief he saw all four, with +apparent willingness, move forward towards him. He directed them +through the laboratory and, without sign of resistance, herded them +down the corridor he had first searched to the outside. + + * * * * * + +The light of Jupiter, flooding undiminished through the dome, dazzled +him at first. When he could see clearly, he distinguished the great +form that was Friday standing motionless by the small port-lock, and, +an equal distance away, moving around one of the out-buildings, +another similar figure. He spoke by radio. + +"Find any, Ban?" + +Cheerful words came humming back. + +"Only one coolie, Carse. Had no trouble after I disarmed him. He's now +locked inside a room in this building. Safe place for prisoners." + +"Good," said Carse. "You can see I've got four men--white men. I +believe they're unarmed and quite harmless, but I want you to take +them, search them and put them away in that room too." + +"Coming!" + +The distant form rose lightly, skimmed low over the open area between, +and grew into the grinning, freckle-faced Ban Wilson. He bounced down +awkwardly, almost losing his balance, then surveyed, wonderingly, the +four assistants of Ku Sui. + +"By Betelgeuse!" he muttered, "--like robots! Horrible!" + +"Yes," said the Hawk shortly. "You had no trouble, eh?" + +Ban grinned again. "Nothing to mention. This has been soft, hasn't +it?" + +"Don't be too optimistic, Ban. All right--when you've put these men in +the room, please relieve Friday. Send him to me in the laboratory--he +knows where it is--and stand watch yourself. If Ku Sui appears--" + +"I'll let you know on the instant!" + +Hawk Carse nodded and turned back into the corridor from which he had +just come. Now he would fulfil his promise. With no possibility of a +surprise attack from anyone within the dome, and Ban Wilson posted +against the return of Ku Sui, he could attend unhampered to the vow +which had brought him there. + + * * * * * + +He returned to the central laboratory. Quickly be rolled back the high +screen lying across one part of the curved wall and stood looking at +what was behind it. The monstrousness of that dead-and-alive mechanism +overwhelmed his thoughts again. + +Before him stood a case, transparent, hard and crystal-like, as long +as a man's body and half as deep, standing level on short metal legs. +What it contained was the most jealously guarded, the most precious of +all Dr. Ku Sui's works, the very consummation of his mighty genius, +his treasure-house of wisdom as profound as man then could know. And +more: it held the consummation of all that was so coldly unhuman in +the Eurasian. For there, in that case, he had bound to his will the +brains of five of Earth's greatest scientists, and kept them alive, +with their whole matured store of knowledge subservient to his need, +although their bodies were long since dead and decayed. + +For some time the adventurer stood lost in a mood of thoughts and +emotions rare to him--until he was startled back into reality by a +heavy, clumping noise coming down the corridor through which he had +entered. His gun-hand flickered to readiness, but it was only Friday, +coming as he had been ordered. Carse greeted the Negro with a nod, and +said briefly: + +"There's a panel in this room--over there somewhere--you remember--the +place through which Ku Sui escaped when we were here before. It's an +unknown quantity, so I want you to stand watch by it. Open your +face-plate wide, and warn me at the slightest sound or sight of +possible danger." + +The Negro nodded and moved as silently as was possible in his +space-suit to obey. And Carse turned again to the thing to which he +had made a promise. + + * * * * * + +The icy-glittering case was full of a colorless liquid in which were +grouped at the bottom, several delicate, colored instruments, all +interconnected by a maze of countless spidery silver wires. Sheathes +of other wires ran up from the lower devices to the case's main +content--five grayish, convoluted mounds that lay in shallow +pans--five brutally naked things that were the brains of scientists +once honored and eminent on Earth. + +Their bodies has long since been cast aside as useless to the ends of +Ku Sui, but the priceless brains had been condemned to live on in an +unlit, unseeing deathless existence: machines serving the man who had +trapped them into life in death. Alive--and with stray memories, which +Ku Sui could not banish entirely, of Earth, of love, of the work and +the respect that had once been theirs. Alive--with an unnatural and +horrible life, without sensation, without hope. Alive--and made to aid +with their knowledge the man who had brought them into slavery +unspeakable.... + +Hawk Carse's eyes were frigid gray mists in a graven, expressionless +face as he turned to the left of the case and pulled over one of the +well-remembered knife switches. A low hum came; a ghost of rosy color +diffused through the liquid in the case. The color grew until the +whole was glowing jewel-like in the dim-lit laboratory, and the narrow +tubes leading into the undersides of the brains were plainly visible. +Something within the tubes pulsed at the rate of heart-beats. The +stuff of life. + +When the color ceased to increase, Carse pulled the second switch, and +moved close to the grille inset in a small panel above the case. + +Slowly, gently he said into the grille: + +"Master Scientist Cram, Professors Estapp and Geinst, Doctors Swanson +and Norman--I wish to talk to you. I am Captain Carse, friend of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. Some days ago you aided us in our +escape from here, and in return I made you a promise. Do you +remember?" + +There was a pause, a silence so tense it was painful. And then +functioned the miracle of Ku Sui's devising. There came from the +grille a thin, metallic voice from the living dead. + +"_I remember you, Captain Carse, and your promise._" + + * * * * * + +A voice from living brain cells, through inorganic lungs and throat +and tongue! A voice from five brains, speaking, for some obscure +reason which even Ku Sui could not explain, in the first person, and +setting to mechanical words the living, pulsing thoughts that sped +back and forth inside the case and were coordinated into unity by the +master brain, which had once been in the body of Master Scientist +Cram. A voice out of nothingness; a voice from what seemed so clearly +to be the dead. To Hawk Carse, man of action, it was unearthly; it was +a miracle the fact of which he could not question, but which he could +not hope to understand. And well might it have been unearthly to +anyone. Even to-day. + +Still thrilling to the wonder of it, he went on: + +"I have returned here to the asteroid with friends. Primarily I came +to keep my promise to you, but I intend to do more. Dr. Ku Sui is not +here now, and will not be for at least fifteen minutes; but when he +does return, I am going to capture him. I am going to take him alive." + +He was silent for a moment. + +"Perhaps you do not know," he continued levelly, "but the people of +Earth hold Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow responsible for your +disappearance. He is therefore a fugitive, and there is a price on his +head. It is my purpose to restore Eliot Leithgow to his old place by +returning Dr. Ku to Earth to answer for the crimes he has effected on +you. + +"I am now ready to fulfil my promise to you. I expect no interruption +this time. I regret exceedingly my inability to destroy you when I was +here before, but I simply could not in the little time I had. I still +do not know how best to go about it. Perhaps you will tell me. I will +wait...." + +An afterthought came to him. He added into the grille: + +"There is no hurry. Your extraordinary position--your thoughts--I +understand...." + +Then there was a long silence. For once the Hawk was not impatient; in +fact there was in him the feeling that the pause was only decent and +fitting. For before him were the brains of five great scientists, who +as captive remnants of men had asked him to end their cold and lonely +bondage. Limbless, his was to be the hand of their self-immolation. +The present silent, slow-passing minutes were to be their last of +consciousness.... + +And then at last spoke the voice: + +"_Captain Carse, I do not wish you to destroy me. I wish you to give +me new life. I wish you to transplant me within the bodies of five +living men._" + + * * * * * + +The words, so unexpected, took Hawk Carse by perhaps the greatest +surprise he had ever known. For a time he was completely astounded; he +could hardly credit his ears. It required a full minute for him to +summon even the most halting reply. + +"But--but could that be done?" He strove to collect himself, to +consider logically this course that he had never dreamed would be +requested. "Who could do it? I know of no man." + +"_Dr. Ku Sui could transplant me._" + +"Ku Sui? He could, but he wouldn't. He would destroy you, rather." + +Almost immediately the artificial voice responded: + +"_You have said, Captain Carse, that you will soon have Ku Sui +captive. Will you not attempt to force him to do as I desire?_" + +Carse considered the suggestion, but it did not seem remotely +possible. Ku Sui could not be prevented from having endless +opportunities for destroying the brains while enjoying the manual +freedom necessary to perform the operations of re-embodying them. + +"I do not see how," he began--and then he cut off his words abruptly. + +Something had come into his mind, a memory of something Eliot Leithgow +had told him once, long before. Slowly the details came back in full, +and at their remembrance his right hand rose to the odd bangs of +flaxen hair concealing his forehead and began to smooth them, and a +ghost of a smile appeared on his thin lips. + +"Perhaps," he murmured. "I think ... perhaps...." + +He said decisively into the grille: + +"Yes! I think it's quite possible that I can force Ku Sui to +transplant you into living bodies! I think--I _think_--I cannot be +sure--that it can be done. At least I will make a very good attempt." + +The toneless, mechanical voice uttered: + +"_Captain Carse, you bring me hope. My thoughts are many, and they are +grateful._" + +But the Hawk had made a promise, and had to be formally freed of the +duty it entailed. + +"You release me, then," he asked, "from my original promise to destroy +you?" + +"_I release you, Captain Carse. And again I thank you._" + +The adventurer returned the switches motivating the case, and the +faint smile returned to his lips at the thought that had come to him. + +But the smile vanished suddenly at the quick, excited words that came +crackling into his helmet receiver. + +"Carse? Carse? Do you hear me?" + +He threw over his microphone control. + +"Yes, Ban? What is it?" + +"Come as fast as you can. Just caught sight of three distant figures +flying straight towards here. It's Ku Sui, returning!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +_"My Congratulations, Captain Carse!"_ + + +A few minutes later the trap was in readiness. + +It had been swiftly planned and executed, and it promised well. Both +the inner and outer doors of the smaller port-lock lay ajar. Hawk +Carse was gone from view. The only figure visible there was that which +lay sprawled face-downward on the ground close to the inner door of +the port-lock. + +The figure seemed to have been stricken down in sudden death. It was +clad in the trim yellow smock of a coolie of Ku Sui. It was limp, its +arms and legs spreadeagled, and it lay there as mute evidence that the +dome of the asteroid had been attacked. + +To one entering from outside, the figure was that of a dead coolie. +The coolie that had worn those clothes was dead; his clothes now +covered the wiry length of freckle-faced Ban Wilson. + +Ban played the game well. His face lay in the ground, pointed away +from the lock, so he could not see what was going to happen behind +him: but before the Hawk had directed him to take off his suit and don +the yellow smock, he had glimpsed, rising swiftly over the +southernmost barrier of hills that edged the valley, three black dots +coming fast toward the asteroid in straight, disciplined flight, and +he knew that the leader of the three was Dr. Ku Sui. + +As he lay limp on the ground, playing his important part as the decoy +of the trap, he knew that his life depended on the action and the +skill and the timing of Hawk Carse. But he did not worry about that. +He had implicit faith in the Hawk, and trusted his life to his +judgment without a tremor. + +Still, it was hard for Ban to throttle down his excessively nervous +nature and maintain the dead man pose for the long silent minutes that +crawled by before there came any sound from behind. The Jupiter-light, +flooding down on him from the glittering blue sky above, was hot and +growing hotter, and of course he began to itch. Had he had the freedom +of his limbs, he would not have itched, he knew; it happened only when +he had to keep absolutely still; he cursed the phenomenon to himself. +Minute after minute, and no sound to tell him what was happening +behind, or how close the three approaching figures had come, or +whether Carse was at all visible or not--and the mounting, maddening +itch right in the middle of his back! + + * * * * * + +At last Ban's mental cursings stopped. His straining ears had caught a +sound. + +It was quickly repeated, and again and again--the heavy, grating noise +of metal on metal. The boots of space-suits on the metal floor of the +port-lock. They had arrived! + +Ku Sui would be there, close behind him; probably gazing at his +outflung figure; probably puzzled, and suspicious, and quickly looking +around for the enemies that had apparently killed one of his coolies. +With a raygun in hand--and guns in the hands of the two others with +him--glancing warily around over the guard-chamber close to the +port-lock, and the main buildings beyond, and the whole area inside +the dome, and seeing no one. + +And then--approaching! + +Ban could tell it by the silence, then the harsh crunch of the great +boots against the powdered, metallic upper crust of ground. But he lay +without an eyelash's flickering, a dead coolie, limp, crumpled. He +heard the crunch of boots come right up to him and then pause; and the +feeling that came to his stomach told him unmistakably that a man was +looking down on him.... + +Now--while Ku Sui's attention was on him--now was the time! Now! +Otherwise the Eurasian would turn him over and see that he was white! + +It seemed to Ban centuries later that he heard the welcome voice of +the Hawk bark out: + +"You are covered, Dr. Ku! And your men. I advise you not to move. Tell +your men to drop their guns--_sh!_" + +The sound of the voice from the guard-chamber was replaced by two +spits of a raygun. Unable to restrain himself, Ban rolled over and +looked up. + +He saw, first, the figure of the Hawk. Carse had stepped out from +where he had been concealed, in the guard-chamber, and was holding the +gun that had just spoken. Standing upright, close to the inner door of +the port-lock, were two suit-clad coolies. Ban saw that they had +turned to fire at Carse, and that now they were dead. Dead on their +feet in the stiff, heavy stuff of their suits. + +Dr. Ku Sui was standing motionless above him, and through the open +face-plate of the Eurasian's helmet Ban could see him gazing at Hawk +Carse with a strange, faint smile on his beautifully chiselled, +ascetic face. + +The Hawk came towards them, the raygun steady on his old foe; but +while he was still yards away, and before he could do anything to +prevent it, the Eurasian spoke a few unintelligible words into the +microphone of his helmet-radio. Carse continued forward and stopped +when a few feet away. Dr. Ku bowed as well as he could in his stiff +suit and said courteously, in English: + +"So I am trapped. My congratulations, Captain Carse! It was very +neatly done." + + * * * * * + +The two puffed-out, metal-gleaming figures faced each other for a +moment without speaking. And in the silence, Ban Wilson, watchful, +with a raygun he had drawn from his belt, fancied he could _feel_ the +long, bitter, bloody feud between the two, adventurer and scientist, +there met again.... + +Carse spoke first, his voice steel-cold. + +"You take it lightly, Dr. Ku. Do not rely too much on those words you +spoke in Chinese. I could not understand them--but such things as I do +not know about your asteroid I have already guarded against; and I +think we can forestall whatever you have set in action.... You will +please take off your space-suit." + +"Willingly, my friend!" + +"Watch close, Ban," said the Hawk. + +Dr. Ku Sui unbuckled the heavy clasps of his suit, unscrewed the +cumbersome helmet, and in a moment stepped free. At the suit slid to +the ground, there stood revealed his tall, slim-waisted form, clad in +the customary silk. He wore a high-collared green silk blouse, +tailored to the lines of his body, full trousers of the same material, +and pointed red slippers and red sash, which set the green off +tastefully. A lithe, silky figure; and above the silk the high +forehead, the saffron, delicately carved face, the fine black hair. +Half-veiled by their long lashes, his exotic eyes rested like a cat's +on his old enemy. + +The Hawk moved close to him, and swiftly patted one hand over his +body. From inside one of the blouse's sleeves he drew a pencil-thin +blade of steel from its hidden sheath. He found no other weapon. +Stepping back, he quickly divested himself of his suit also. + +"And now, Captain?" the Eurasian murmured softly. + +"Now, Dr. Ku," answered Carse, once again a slender, wiry figure in +soft blue shirt and blue denim trousers, "we are going to have a +little talk. In your living room, I think. + +"Ban," he continued. "I don't believe there's anyone else who can even +see the asteroid, but we have to be careful. Will you stay on guard +here by the port-lock? Good. Close its doors, and yell or come to me +if anything should occur." + +He turned to the waiting Eurasian again. + +"You may go first, Dr. Ku. Into the laboratory, and then to the living +room of your quarters." + + * * * * * + +They found Friday on guard where he had been stationed in the +laboratory. The big Negro, on recognizing the Eurasian, grinned from +ear to ear and gave him what he considered a witty greeting. + +"Well, well!" he said with gusto, "--come right in. Dr. Ku Sui! Make +yourself at home, suh! Sure glad to have you come visitin' us!" He +laughed gleefully. + +But his words were wasted on Dr. Ku. His eyes at once fastened on the +case of coordinated brains, standing at one side. Carse noticed this. + +"No. Dr. Ku," he said. "I have not touched the brains. Not yet. But +that's what we're going to talk about." He motioned to one of the four +doors connecting the central laboratory with the building's wings. +"Into your living room please, and be seated there. And no sudden +moves, of course: I have a certain skill with a raygun. Friday, keep +doubly alert now. Better take off your suit. I will call for you in a +few minutes." + +Ku Sui walked on silent feet into the first division of his personal +quarters, the softly-lit living room. A lush velvet carpet made the +floor soft; ancient Chinese tapestries hid the pastelled metal of the +walls; books were everywhere. It was a quiet and restful room, with no +visible reminder of the asteroid and its controlling mechanics. + +Dr. Ku sank into a deep armchair, linked his fingers before him and +looked up inquiringly. + +"We were going to talk about the brains?" he asked. + + * * * * * + +Carse had closed the door behind him, and now remained standing. He +met the masked green eyes squarely. + +"Yes." He was silent for a little, then, quietly and coldly he went to +the point. + +"You'll be interested to hear that I have talked with the brains and +been relieved of my premise to destroy them. They requested something +else. Now I have committed myself to attempt their restoration into +living bodies." + +"So?" murmured the Eurasian. "So. Yes, Captain, that is very +interesting." + +"Very." The Hawk spoke without trace of emotion. "And some courtroom +on Earth will find more than interesting the testimony of your +re-embodied brains." + +Dr. Ku Sui smiled in answer. "Oh, no doubt. But, my friend--this +transplantation--you accept its possibility so casually! Won't it +prove rather difficult for you, who have never even pretended to be a +scientist?" + +"Not difficult. Impossible." + +"And Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow--I have unbounded respect for his +genius, but brain surgery is a specialty and I really think that this +task would be outside even his capabilities. I am sure he himself +would admit it." + +"You are right, Dr. Ku: he has admitted it. We both realize there is +only one person in the universe who could achieve it--you. So you will +have to perform the operations." + +"Well!" said Dr. Ku Sui. The smooth, fine skin of his brow wrinkled +slightly as he gazed up at the intent man facing him. "Is this just +stupidity on your part, Captain? Or do you attempt a joke at which in +courtesy I should smile?" + +The Hawk answered levelly: "I was never farther from joking in my +life." + + * * * * * + +With a delicate shrug of his silken shoulders, Ku Sui averted his +eyes. As if bored, he glanced around the room. Slowly he unclasped his +hands. + +"I am a very fast shot, Dr. Ku," whispered Carse. "You must not make a +single move without my permission." + +At that the Eurasian laughed aloud, a liquid laugh that showed his +even teeth between the finely cut lips. + +"But I am so completely in your power, Captain Carse!" He held on to +the last syllable, a low, sustained hiss--and then he snapped it off. + +"_S-s-stah!_" His mood had changed: the smile vanished from a face +suddenly thin and cruel; the green eyes unmasked, to show in their +depths the tiger. + +"What insane talk! You say such things to me! Don't you know that to +coordinate those brains I worked for years with a devotion, a +concentration, a genius you can never hope even to comprehend? Don't +you realize they're the most precious possession of the greatest +surgeon and the greatest mind in the universe? Don't you understand +that I've fashioned a miracle? Realize these things, then, and marvel +at yourself--you who, with your gun and your egotism, think you can +make me undo their wonderful coordination!" + +The tiger returned behind the veil, its power and fury again leashed, +and Dr. Ku Sui relaxed his green eyes once more masked and enigmatic. +Hawk Carse asked simply: + +"_Could_ you transplant the brains?" + +"You insist on continuing this farce?" murmured the Eurasian. "I would +not be rude, but really you try my patience!" + +"_Could_ you transplant the brains?" + +Dr. Ku Sui looked at the colorless face with its eyes of ice. With a +trace of irritation, he said: + +"Of course! What I have once transplanted, I can transplant again. But +I will not do it--and my will no one, and no force, can alter. Perhaps +it is clear now? In no way can you touch my will. I am sorry that I so +grossly insulted you, Carse, for there are certain things about you +that in a small way I respect. But here you are helpless." + +"Not entirely," said the Hawk. + + * * * * * + +Ku Sui leaned forward a trifle. In that moment, perhaps, he first felt +real concern, for Carse's quiet voice was so confident, so assured. He +attempted to sound him out. + +"A gun?" he asked. "Torture? Threats? These against my will? Absurd! +Consider, my friend--even if I seemed to consent to the operations, +could I not easily destroy the brains while ostensibly working on +them?" + +"Of course," said Carse, with a faint smile. "And threats and torture +would be absurd. Against your will, Dr. Ku, a more powerful weapon +will have to be used." + +The Eurasian's eyes were brilliant with intuition. + +"Ah--I see," he murmured. "Eliot Leithgow!" + +"Yes, Dr. Ku!" + +The two gazed at each other, Carse still with the faint smile, the +other with the face of a statue. Presently the adventurer went on: + +"Unfortunately for you, Eliot Leithgow can provide a method of +compulsion neither you nor any other man could ever resist. Not guns, +torture, threats--no. A subtler weapon, worthy of your fine will." + +As he spoke, Carse saw the Eurasian's green eyes narrow, and in the +pause that followed he knew that the swift, trained mind behind those +eyes was working. What would it evolve? What move? And those Chinese +words, uttered out by the port-lock--what would they result in, and +when? Dr. Ku Sui was concerned now, the Hawk knew, seriously +concerned, and inevitably, would take serious steps. What was growing +in his resourceful brain? He would have to ward off any trouble when +it came, for he could not know now. He said curtly: + +"But enough of that. Now, I have a trifling favor to ask of +you--something concerning the laboratory. Will you please return to +it." + +A strange light glimmered for an instant in Dr. Ku Sui's eyes--a +mocking of the slender man before him. Only for an instant; then it +was gone. Gracefully he raised his tall figure. + +"The laboratory? Of course, my friend. And as for the favor--almost +anything." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +_The Deadline_ + + +Friday greeted them with another wide grin, and would again have +bludgeoned the Eurasian with his wit had not the Hawk motioned him to +silence. Looking at Dr. Ku, he said: + +"I have Friday posted here because of the secret panel somewhere in +this wall. You escaped through it before--do you remember?" + +"Of course I remember. And if I'd had merely a fraction of your luck +then, my present situation would be quite different." + +"Perhaps," said the Hawk. "This panel is now the unknown quantity so +far as I'm concerned, and I don't like unknown quantities; so I am +asking you to show me where it is and how it works. That's my favor. +Of course you can refuse to reveal it, but that will not delay me very +long. The method of compulsion I mentioned...." + +Dr. Ku-Sui appeared to reflect a moment, but his decision was not +tardy in coming. He smiled. + +"You terrify me, Captain, with your ominous hints about compulsion. I +suppose I'd better be reasonable and show it to you. Really, though, +your concern over the panel is rather wasted, inasmuch as it conceals +nothing more than a small escape passage leading out of this building. +Nothing important at all." + +But his words, Carse somehow felt, were a screen; something else lay +beneath them. He watched the tall figure with its always present odor +of tsin-tsin blossoms move forward in a few indecisive steps, then +back again, considering. The smile and the easy words were a +camouflage, surely--but for what? + +"Nothing important at all." Dr. Ku Sui repeated pleasantly. "Come. I +will show you. Friday--if I may so address you--over on that +switchboard you will find a small lever-control. It is the one with a +Chinese character above it. Will you be so kind as to throw it?" + +The Negro glanced inquiringly at his master. Grimly Carse nodded. + +An enigmatic light glimmered in the Eurasian's green eyes as they +watched the Negro go to the switchboard and put thumb and forefinger +on the control. + +"Only a small escape passage," he said deprecatingly as the Hawk +crouched, gun ready, his eyes on the suspected place in the wall. + +Friday threw the switch. + +Immediately there sounded a short, sharp explosion. And acrid smoke +billowed out from under the case of coordinated brains! + + * * * * * + +Carse sprang to Ku Sui, gripped one arm and cried harshly: + +"What have you done?" + +"Not I, Captain--your obedient servant, the Black. Please, your +fingers--" He removed them from his arm; and then, smiling, he said: + +"I am afraid that all your assurance, your threats, are now but so +much wasted breath." + +"You mean--?" + +"Surely, Captain," said Ku Sui, "you must have known I would provide +for such an emergency, as this. I chose not to risk your darkly-hinted +method of compulsion, and so had Friday remove the need for it. The +Chinese character above the switch stands for 'Death.'" + +Frigidly the Hawk asked: "You've destroyed the brains?" + +"I have destroyed the brains." The Eurasian's voice was deep with a +strange, unusual tone. "No matter: it was time. I am far, far ahead of +that work, great though it was; it has destroyed itself with its +inherent, irremediable fault. Yes, far ahead. Next time...." He +appeared to lapse into profound and melancholy reflections; seemed to +forget entirely the two men by him. + +But the Hawk acted. + +"We'll see," he said curtly. "Friday, watch the Doctor closely; this +trick may be only the first." An intent, grim figure, he strode to the +case of coordinated brains, pulled over the first of its two +controlling switches, and stood silent while slowly the pulsings of +light grew through the inner liquid and very slowly irradiated the +five gray, naked mounds that were human brains. The light came to +full, and Carse threw over the second switch. He said into the +grille: + +"I am Captain Carse. I wish to know if you are aware of what has just +happened. Do you hear me, and did you feel anything a minute ago?" + + * * * * * + +Silence. Friday, close to the Eurasian and watchful, hung breathless, +hoping that words might come from the grille in answer. But the silken +figure he watched was there only in body; Dr. Ku's mind was in a far +space of his own. + +Cold, unhuman words spoke out. + +"_Yes, Captain Carse, I hear you. I felt the vibrations of the +explosion that occurred a minute ago._" + +"Hah!" grunted Friday, immediately relieved. "All bluff, suh! No +damage to 'em at all!" + +Carse asked quickly into the grille: + +"You felt the explosion, but do you know what it meant?--what it did?" + +Again a pause; and again the toneless voice: + +"_A vital part of the machinery through which I live his been +destroyed. I have left only some three hours of life._" + +The Hawk returned to Ku Sui. "Is that true?" he snapped. + +"Yes, Captain." The words made a whisper, gentle and melancholy, +coming from afar. A man was turning back from the scanning of the long +years of one phase of his life. "Three hours is all that is left to +them.... But there was a fault inherent in such coordinated brains; it +is just as well that they are going.... Ah, Carse. I am so far ahead +of you ... but I tell you it is a painful thing to destroy so +wonderful a work of my hands...." + +Silence filled the laboratory. It was broken by the awful voice of the +living dead. + +"_I release you from your second promise, Captain Carse. No doubt +what happened was beyond your control.... I will soon be dead. +Although there is still nourishment in my liquid, I grow weaker +already. I am dying...._" + +Harshly, the Hawk asked a final question into the grille: + +"Within what time will you retain the vitality necessary to undergo +the initial steps of the transplanting operations? Do you know?" + +Dr. Ku raised his head at this, though he seemed only mildly +interested in what the reply would be. + +"_I think for two of the remaining three hours._" + +"All right!" said Hawk Carse decisively. He threw off the case's +switches. "Dr. Ku," he said, "you've only succeeded in accelerating +things. Now for speed! Friday, we're taking this asteroid to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory. Go see that the port-lock doors are closed +tight, then you and Wilson hurry back here! Fast! Run!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +_To the Laboratory_ + + +When the Negro returned, panting, with Ban Wilson, it was to discover +Carse in the control room of the asteroid. He was studying the +multifarious devices and instruments: and they, seeing his face so set +in concentration, did not disturb him, but went over to where Dr. Ku +Sui sat in a chair, and posted themselves behind it. + +The apparatus in the control room resembled that of any modern +space-ship of its time, except that there were extra pieces of +unguessed function. Directly in front of Carse was the directional +space-stick above its complicated mechanism: above his eyes was the +wide six-part visi-screen, which in space would record the whole +"sphere" of the heavens: while to his right was the chief control +board, a smooth black surface studded with squads of vari-colored +buttons and lights, These were the essentials, familiar to any ship +navigator; but they were here awesome, for they controlled not the one +or two hundred feet of an ordinary craft, but twenty miles of this +space-ship of rock. + +"Yes ... yes...." Carse murmured presently out of his study, then +turned and for the first time appeared to notice Friday and Ban. He +gave orders. + +"Eclipse, you see the radio over there? Get Master Leithgow on it for +me--protected beam. Ban, you bind Dr. Ku Sui in that chair, please." + +Wilson was surprised. + +"Bind him? Isn't he going to run this thing?" + +"No." + +"_You're_ going to, Carse?" + +"Yes. I don't quite trust Dr. Ku. The asteroid's controlled on the +same principles as a space-ship: I'll manage. Please hurry, Ban." + +"Cap'n., suh! Already got the Master Scientist!" called Friday from +the radio panel. The Hawk strode swiftly to it and clamped the +individual receivers over his ears. + +"M. S.?" he asked into the microphone. "You're there?" + +"Yes. Carse? What's happened?" + +"All's well, but I'm in a tremendous hurry: I've only got time, now, +to tell you we're on the asteroid with Dr. Ku prisoner, and that I'm +undertaking to transplant the coordinated brains into living human +bodies.... What? Yes transplant them! Please, M. S.--not now: +questions later. I'm calling primarily to learn whether you have any +V-27 on hand?" + +Eliot Leithgow, in his distant laboratory, paused before replying. +When his voice sounded in the receivers again, it was excited. + +"I think I see, Carse! Good! Yes, I have a little--" + +"We'll need a lot," the Hawk cut in tersely. "Will you instruct your +assistants to begin preparing as much as they can in the next hour? Yes. +And your laboratory--clear it for the operations, and improvise five +operating tables. Powerful lights, too, M. S. Yes--_yes_--right--all +accessories. Have someone stand by your radio; I'll radio further +details while we're on our way." + +"Right, Carse. All understood." + +The Hawk remembered something else. "Oh, yes, Eliot--is everything +safe in your vicinity?" + +"There's a small band of isuanacs foraging around somewhere in the +neighborhood, but otherwise nothing. They're harmless--" + +"But possibly observant," finished Carse. "All right--I'll clear them +away before descending to the lab. Until later, Eliot." + + * * * * * + +Carse switched off the microphone and turned to catch Friday's shocked +expression. Carse looked inquiringly at his dark satellite. + +"What's wrong?" + +"Lordy, suh," the Negro whispered, "Dr. Ku could hear all you said! +He'll know where Master Leithgow's laboratory is!" + +The Hawk smiled briefly. "No matter, Eclipse. I'm quite sure the +information will avail him nothing. For this ride to the laboratory +will be his last ride but one." He turned. "We're starting at once. +Ban, you've bound him well?" + +"If he can get out of those knots," grinned Wilson, "I'll kiss him on +the mouth!" + +The Eurasian's nostrils distended. "Then," he said. "I most certainly +will not try. But Captain Carse, may I have a cigarro before we start +on this journey?" + +Carse had gone over so the space-stick and his eyes were on the +visi-screen, but he now turned them to his old foe for a moment. "Not +just now, Dr. Ku," he said levelly. "For it might be that all but two +puffs of it would be wasted. Yes--later--if we survive these next few +minutes." + +The remark did nothing to ease the tension of their leaving. Ban +Wilson could not restrain a question. + +"Carse, are you going to risk atmospheric friction all the way to the +laboratory?" + +"No. Haven't time for that. Up and down--up into space, then down to +the lab--high acceleration and deceleration." + +He grasped the space-stick, then in neutral, holding the asteroid +motionless in the valley. He glanced at the visi-screen again, checked +over the main controls and tightened his hand on the stick. + +"Ready everyone," he said, and gently moved the stick up and forward. + + * * * * * + +There was, to the men in the control room, little consciousness of +power unleashed: only the visi-screen and the bank of positional +instruments told what had happened with that first, delicate movement +of the space-stick. It was an experiment, a feeler. The indicators of +the positionals quivered a little and altered, and in the visi-screen +the hills of the valley, that a moment before had been quite close and +large, had diminished to purple-green mounds below. + +Then the accelerating sensations began. Carse had the "feel" of the +asteroidal ship and his controlling hand grew bolder. The steady +pressure on the space-stick increased, it went up farther and farther, +and the whole mighty mass of the asteroid streaked out at a tangent +through the atmosphere of Satellite III toward the gulf beyond. + +With dangerous acceleration the gigantic body rose, and from outside +there grew a moaning which was quickly a shrieking--a terrible, +maddened sound as of a Titan dying in agony--the sound of the cloven +atmosphere. Twenty miles of rock were hurled out by the firm hand on +the space-stick, and that hand only increased its driving pressure +when the screaming of the air died away in the depthless silence of +outer space. + +In one special visi-screen lay mirrored the craggy back-stretch of the +asteroid, half of it clear-cut and hard in Jupiter's flood of light, +the other half lost in the encompassing blackness of space. Over this +shadowed portion a faint, unearthly glow clung close, the result of +the terrific friction of the ascent. In miniature, in the regular +screens, was Satellite III, but a distorted miniature, for its +half-face appeared concave in shape, and dusted with the haze of its +atmosphere. + + * * * * * + +The Hawk was visibly relieved. He turned to the silent Ku Sui. + +"I must congratulate you, Dr. Ku," he said, "on the operation of the +asteroid. It's as smooth as any ship. And now, your cigarro. Ban, have +you one?" + +Wilson produced a small metal case from which he extracted one of the +long black cylinders. + +"You will have to put it in my lips, please," murmured Dr. Ku. "Thank +you. And a light? Again thanks. Ah...." He drew in the smoke, exhaled +a fine stream of it from his delicately carved nostrils. "Good." Then +he looked up pleasantly at the Hawk. + +"And my congratulations to you, Captain. Not only on your expert +maneuvering of my asteroid, but on everything: your resourcefulness, +your decision, your caution. I have long admired these qualities in +you, and the events of to-day, though for me perhaps unfortunate, +increase my admiration. My own weak resistance, my attempt to +frustrate your plans in connection with the brains--how miserable in +comparison! It would seem, Captain, that you cannot fail, and that you +will indeed succeed in giving the brains new life, so swiftly do you +move. Yes, my congratulations!" + +He drew at the cigarro, and the smoke wreathed gently around his +ascetic saffron face. A faint, queer glint was visible under the long +lashes that half-veiled his eyes as he continued: + +"But I have a question, Captain. A mere nothing, but still--" + +"Yes, Dr. Ku?" + +"The living bodies into which you propose to transplant the +brains--where are they?" + +Hawk Carse's face was stern and his voice frigid as he answered: + +"Fortunately, those bodies are right here on the asteroid." + +"Here on the asteroid, Captain? I don't understand. What bodies are +here?" + +"The bodies of your four white assistants, whom I have safely +confined, and one of your robot-coolies, also confined. I did not +intend to use these five, but, because you put a premium on time by +your attempted destruction of the brains, it cannot be helped." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku Sui's impassive demeanor did not change. He did not seem in the +least surprised. He puffed quietly at the cigarro and nodded. + +"Of course, of course. You have five bodies right here on the +asteroid. Yes." + +"At least," continued Carse levelly, "I do not regret having to use +the bodies of your men. They are no longer human: they are not men: +they are in effect but machines of your making, Dr. Ku." + +"Quite. Quite." + +"I suppose you find it an unpleasant thought, to have to be the means +of re-making them into whole, normal human beings?" + +"On the contrary," breathed the Eurasian, "you inspire a very pleasant +thought in my brain, Captain Carse--though I must confess it is not +exactly the thought you mention." A smile, veiled by the smoke of the +cigarro, appeared on his lips. + +The Hawk looked at him closely: the words had a hidden meaning, and it +was clear he was not intended to miss the implied threat. But what was +Ku Sui's thought? Back in his mind an anxiety grew, indefinite, vague +and devilish. + +And that vague anxiety was still with him when, fifty-seven minutes +later, the asteroid returned from its inverted U-flight, slowed in its +hurtling drop from space and hovered directly over the secret, hidden +laboratory of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +_White's Brain--Yellow's Head_ + + +To Friday it was a bad mistake to reveal the location of the +laboratory to Dr. Ku Sui. From him above all men had that location up +to now been kept. Just a few days before, Hawk Carse had risked his +life to preserve the secret. And yet now, deliberately, he was showing +it to the Eurasian! + +Nervously, Friday watched him, and he saw that his eyes were alive +with interest as they scanned the visi-screen. It was too much for the +Negro. + +"Captain Carse," he whispered, coming close to the adventurer, "look, +suh--he's seein' it all! Shouldn't I blindfold him?" + +Carse shook his head, but turned to Dr. Ku, where he sat bound in the +chair scrutinizing the visi-screen. + +"Yes, Doctor," he said, "there it is--what you have searched for so +long--the refuge and the laboratory of Eliot Leithgow." + +"There, Captain?" murmured the Eurasian. "I see nothing!" + +And true, the visi-screen showed nothing but a hill, a lake, a swamp, +and the distant, surrounding jungle. + +That spot on Satellite III had been most carefully chosen by the +Master Scientist and Carse as best suiting their needs. It lay at +least a thousand miles--a thousand miles of ugly, primeval +jungle--from the nearest unfriendly isuan ranch, and was diametrically +opposite Port o' Porno. Thus it allowed Leithgow and Carse to come and +go with but faint chance of being observed, and the steady watch kept +through the laboratory's telescopic instruments lessened even that. +And even if their movements to and from the laboratory had been +observed, a spy could have discovered little, so ingeniously was the +camouflage contrived to use to best advantage the natural features of +the landscape. + +At this spot on Satellite III there was a small lake, long rather than +wide. At its shallow end, the lake lost itself in marshy, thick-grown +swamps; at its deep end it washed against the slopes of a low, rounded +hill. Topping the hill was a rude ranch-house, which to the casual eye +would appear the unimportant habitation of some poor jungle-squatter, +with beds of various vegetables and fruits growing around it, and +guarded against the jungle's animals by what looked like a makeshift +fence. The ground inside the fence had been cleared save for a few +thick, dead stumps of oxi trees, gnarled and weather-beaten, which +made the whole outlay look crude and desolate. + +So desolate, so poor, so humble, as not to deserve a second glance +from the lowest of scavenger or pirate ships. So misleading! + + * * * * * + +Carse had brought the invisible asteroid to a halt perhaps a half mile +above the hill. The minutes were slipping by, bringing the two-hour +deadline ever closer, but he did not skimp his customary caution on +approaching the laboratory. From the control room, he swept the +electelscope over the surrounding terrain, and soon sighted the band +of isuanacs Eliot Leithgow had mentioned. + +Through the 'scope's magnifying mirrors they seemed but yards away, +though they were wandering knee-deep in the marshes at the far end of +the lake. All their repulsive details stood out clearly. + +More beasts than men, were such isuanacs (pronounced ee-swan-acs), so +called from the drug that had betrayed them step by step to a pit in +which there was no intelligence, no light, no hope--nothing but their +mind-shattering craving. In many and unpredictable ways did the drug +ravish their bodies. They were outcasts from the port of outcasts, +driven out of Porno into the wilderness, where they tracked out their +miry ways searching ever for the isuan weed until some animal ended +their enslavement, or the drug itself finally killed them in +convulsions. They were the legion of the damned. + +This band of half a dozen was typical, grubbing through the slime of +the swamp, snarling at each other, now and again fighting over a leaf, +then squatting down in the mud where they were, to chew on it, their +torture of mind and body momentarily forgotten. Rags, mud-caked and +foul, partly covered their emaciated bodies: their hair was matted, +their eyes blood-shot.... + +Carse noted their position and looked up at Friday. + +"Get the Master Scientist for me, please," he requested. The radio +connection took only seconds: and then he said into the microphone: + +"Eliot? We're directly above you, as you probably have seen. All +well?" + +"Yes, Carse. The laboratory's in readiness. But those +isuanacs--they're still outside." + +"I've seen them, and I'm going to drive them away. Then I'll be down +to you. Have the upper entrance ready." + + * * * * * + +The Hawk turned back to the controls. Taking the space-stick out of +neutral, he moved it very slightly down and to one side. Ban and +Friday, not understanding his intention, watched the visi-screen. + +The whole mass of rock that was the asteroid changed position at a +gentle speed. The band of isuanacs came nearer and nearer, and then +were to the right. Completely oblivious of the great bulk hovering +above them, they continued their grubbing through the swamp; and then +the asteroid was over the jungle beyond them, and lowering its craggy +under-side. + +The under-side brushed the crown of the jungle. The trees bent, +crackled and broke, as if swept by a vicious but silent hurricane. +Only a moment of contact; but in that moment a square mile of +interwoven trees and vines was swept low--and to the isuanacs the +effect, as was intended, was terrifying. + +They stared at the phenomenon. There had been no sound, no whip of +wind, nothing--yet all those trees had bent and crashed splintering to +the ground. Their slavering lips open, the isuan weed forgotten, they +stared: and then howling and shrieking they broke and went splashing +off panic-stricken through the marsh. + +In five minutes the band had disappeared into the jungle in the +opposite direction and the district was cleared; and by that time +Hawk Carse was again in his space-suit, out of the control room and +busy at the mechanism of one of the great ship-sized port-locks in the +dome, having left behind him both Ban and Friday to guard Dr. Ku. + +He mastered the controls of the port-lock quickly, and swung inner and +outer doors open. He glided through, and then, a giant, clumsy figure, +poised far out in the air, a soft breeze washing his face as he gazed +down at the hill five miles below, judging his descent. As he did not +use the infra-red instrument hanging from his neck, the asteroid might +not have been there at all. + +A moment or so later, after a straight, swift drop, Carse landed on +the hill, close to a particular, gnarled oxi-tree stump. The nearby +ranch-house looked deserted, the whole place seemed desolate. The Hawk +waddled over to the stump, pressed a crooked little twig sticking out +from it, and a section of the seeming-bark slid down, revealing the +hollow, metal-sided interior of a cleverly camouflaged shaft. + +There were rungs inside, but Carse could not use them. He squeezed +himself in, closed the entrance panel, and, carefully manipulating his +gravity controls, floated down. A descent of twenty-five feet, and he +was on the floor of a short, level corridor with gray walls and +ceiling. + +Carse clumped along to the door at the other end of the corridor, +opened it, and stepped into the hidden underground laboratory of +Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, which, with its storerooms, living +quarters and space-ship hangar, had been built into the hollowed-out +hill. + + * * * * * + +"Welcome back, Carse!" + +"Hello, Eliot," the Hawk nodded, rapidly divesting himself of the +suit but retaining his infra-red device. "You've lost no time, I see." + +The elderly scientist, his frail form clad in a buff-colored smock, +turned and surveyed the laboratory. In the center of the square room +five improvised operating tables were drawn up, each one flooded +individually with, light from focused flood-tubes above in the white +ceiling. Flanking them were tables for instruments and sterilizers, +and, more prominent, two small sleek cylindrical drums, from one of +which sprouted a tube ending in a breathing-cone. + +"The best I could do on such short notice," Leithgow commented. + +"Where are your assistants?" + +"At work on the V-27. All I had on hand is in those cylinders." + +"Much?" + +"Enough for twelve hours for one man, but the process of its +manufacture is accelerating; fortunately I had plenty of ingredients. +Of course I've divined your intention, Carse. Ku Sui to perform the +operations under the V-27. And it's possible, possible! It's +stupendous--and possible!" + +"Yes," said the Hawk, "but more later. I'm going up now to get Dr. Ku. +I'll use the air-car. It's ready?" + +"Yes." Leithgow answered. "But, Carse--one question I must ask--" + +The Hawk, already halfway to the door in the opposite wall of the +laboratory, paused and looked back inquiringly. + +"What bodies are to be used?" + +"The only ones available, Eliot," the adventurer replied, "since Ku +Sui, in his attempt to destroy the brains, left us only two hours--now +one hour--to complete the first steps of the transfer. They'll be +those four white assistants of his--those men, you remember, whose +intellects he's dehumanized--" + +"Yes, yes?" Leithgow pressed him eagerly. "And the fifth?" + +"A robot coolie." + +"Good God!" + +"I know, Eliot! It won't be pleasant for one of those brains to find +itself in a yellow body. But it's that or nothing." + +The scientist nodded slowly, his first expression of shock leaving his +old face to sadness: "But, a coolie. A coolie...." + +"Come, Eliot, we need speed! Speed! We've but an hour, remember, to +complete the first steps! I'll have Ku Sui and the five men down +immediately." + +The Hawk opened the door and strode down the long corridor beyond. His +footsteps were swiftly gone: and then the sound of another door +opening and closing. In the laboratory there was a murmur from the old +man. + +"A coolie! A scientist's brain in that ugly yellow head! When +consciousness returns, what a cruel shock!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +_Four Bodies_ + + +Hawk Carse had gone into Leithgow's ship hangar. + +It was a vast place, occupying most of the hollowed-out space of the +hill. Seventy feet high and more than two hundred feet long, it was, +and, like the rest of the rooms, metal-walled and sound-proofed. Eliot +Leithgow's own personal space-ship, the _Sandra_, rested there on its +mooring cradle, and by its side was the laboratory's air-car, an +identical shape in miniature, designed for atmospheric transit. + +The adventurer, a silent, swift figure, went straight to the air-car +and climbed into its control seat. He tested the controls, found them +responsive, then pressed a button set apart from the others: and the +huge port-lock door set in the farther wall of the hangar slid +smoothly open, revealing a metal chamber similar to that of the ship +port-lock on Ku Sui's asteroid. But whereas the chamber of the +asteroid's port-lock was for vacuum-atmosphere, this was for +water-atmosphere. + +The clamps of the mooring cradle were released, and the air-car moved +gently into the lock chamber. The door swung shut behind. On the +pressing of another button there sounded a gurgling and splashing of +water, and quickly the chamber was filled. The air-car was now a +submarine. All these operations were effected by radio control from +within it. + +When the water filled the inside of the chamber, the second door +opened automatically, and the car started forward through a long +steel-lined, water-filled tube. It continued on even keel until Carse, +watching through the bow window, saw a red light flash in the ceiling +of the tube: and then he tilted the car and rose. + +A second later, the shiny, water-dripping shape of the car broke +through the surface of the lake that edged on the hill, and forsook +the water for the air. + +To an outside observer, the appearance of the air-car and its +subsequent movements would have been incomprehensible. There lay the +hill, desolate, barren, apparently lifeless: and there, washing +against its slopes, the lake; nothing more. Then suddenly a curve of +gleaming steel thrust up through the muddy water, rose swiftly almost +straight into the cloudless blue of the sky, and as suddenly +disappeared, and remained gone from sight, as if the ether had opened +and swallowed it. + + * * * * * + +Using his infra-red device, Carse brought the car in neatly through +the ship-size port-lock of the dome, and sped it across to the +central building, to land lightly beside one of the wings. Debarking, +he ran down the wing's passage and in a few seconds was back in the +asteroid's control room. + +Friday was sitting in a chair close by the bound Eurasian; Ban Wilson, +more restless, was pacing up and down. The Hawk nodded in response to +their looks of welcome and issued curt orders. + +"All ready. Ban, the air-car's just outside; go over and get those +four men and the coolie and put them in it. Have your raygun ready, +but don't use it if humanly possible. We're going down to the +laboratory. I want speed. Please hurry." + +"Right Carse!" + +"Friday," the Hawk continued, "help me untie Dr. Ku." + +They stooped to the chair and the impassive, silken figure sitting in +it, and in a moment the bonds were ripped off; all save those on the +wrists. Stretching himself, the Eurasian asked: + +"You are taking the brains down now, Captain Carse?" + +"No--just you, your assistants and that one coolie, this trip. Master +Leithgow and I wish to have a talk with you." + +"I am always agreeable, my friend." + +"Yes," said the Hawk, "you'll be surprisingly agreeable. And truthful +and helpful, too. Now--outside, please, and do not attempt to delay me +in any way. I am in a great hurry, and consequently will not be +patient at any tricks." He turned to the Negro. "Friday. I'm leaving +you here on guard. Stay alert, gun handy, and keep in radio contact. +I'll be back soon." + +"Yes, suh!" + + * * * * * + +Walking behind his captive, the Hawk left, passing down the wing to +the air-car outside. There, Ban Wilson was waiting with the four white +assistants of Dr. Ku and the one robot-coolie, all unarmed, stolid, +emotionless. Carse placed them all in the rear seats of the car's +compartment, Ban facing them with drawn raygun. Then with a hum from +its generators the car raised, wheeled, slid forward, until through +the large port-lock, and swooped down to the lake. + +Dr. Ku Sui watched everything with an interest he did not attempt to +disguise. There was being revealed to him the secret entrance to Eliot +Leithgow's laboratory, and long had he sought for that laboratory, +long pondered on its probable location. No doubt, at various times, +pissing over, he had seen the barren hill and its flanking lake, but +had never given them a second glance. Yet here, right in the lake, was +the doorway to Leithgow's refuge! + +The air-car lowered like a humming bird to the lake's surface, paused +and dipped under. The light left the sealed ports and entrance +hatchway, and the water pressed around, dark and muddy. Down the car +sunk, apparently without direction, its course very slow, until ahead, +out of the blackness, a spot of red winked. + +At once the air-car made towards it and slid into the tube leading +through the hill. Quickly it was in the chamber of the lock, the outer +door closed automatically behind, the water was drained out, and then +the inner door opened and the car, dripping, emerged into the +brilliantly-lit hangar and went to rest in its mooring cradle beside +Leithgow's space-ship. + +A minute later its passengers were in the laboratory of the Master +Scientist. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku Sui took in the arrangements made in the laboratory with a +swift glance, and then his eyes went to a door that opened in the +opposite wall and to the slight, smock-garbed figure that came through +it. He smiled. + +"Ah, Master Leithgow! A return visit, you see. At Captain Carse's +invitation. It is very interesting to me, this home of yours: so +cleverly concealed!" + +Leithgow vouchsafed his archenemy no more than a look, but turned to +the Hawk. + +"You are ready, Carse?" + +"Some preliminaries first, Eliot. These men, the four whites and the +yellow, must be put in some place of safety. You can take care of +them, Ban. One of the storerooms; lock them in. You remember your way? +Then, better take off your suit." + +Ban nodded, and led the five robot humans out. Leithgow, Hawk Carse +and Ku Sui were left alone in the laboratory, and for a minute there +was silence. + +How much had passed between these three! How many plots, and +counter-plots: how much blood: how many lives affected! The feud of +Hawk Carse and Dr. Ku Sui--and Eliot Leithgow, who was the chief cause +of it--here again had come to a head. Here again were all the varied +forces of brains and guile, science and skill, marshaled in the great, +vital game on whose outcome depended the restoration of Eliot Leithgow +and the lives of the coordinated brains and, indeed, though more +distantly, the fate of all the tribes of men on all the planets. For +if Ku Sui won free he would go on irresistibly, and his goal was the +domination of the solar system.... + +Three men, alone in a room--and the course of the creature Man being +affected by their every move. Large words: but the histories of the +period bear them out. Though, doubtless, Ku Sui alone knew how great +were the stakes as they stood there in the laboratory. + + * * * * * + +Hawk Carse was uneasy. The odds seemed all on his side--yet there was +Ku Sui's strange, almost imperceptible smile, his mysterious words up +on the asteroid, his smooth, unruffled assurance! What did these +things mean? He intended now to find out. He said, tersely: + +"Eliot. I have informed Dr. Ku that he is to be the means of the +transplantation of the coordinated brains to living human bodies, +since he is the only person capable of performing the operations. He +does not believe that we can force him to do our will, yet all the +same he is taking no chances: he started the death of the brains. We +shall have to work very fast--all right. But Dr. Ku has other cards to +play against us, and I don't know what they are. You and I must find +out now." + +"I somehow feel that you mistrust me," interposed the Eurasian with +mock sadness. "Ah, if you could only read my mind.... Or can you? Is +that what you are coming to?" + +The Hawk glanced at Leithgow; and Leithgow nodded, and placed a metal +chair close to one of the cylindrical drums--the one fitted with a +tube and breathing cone. + +"Will you sit there. Dr. Ku?" Carse asked. + +The green eyes scanned the drum. + +"A gas, Master Leithgow?" + +"That is all. Not harmful, not painful." + +"I see. I see...." the Eurasian murmured. And suddenly, he smiled at +the two men facing him, and said pleasantly to Carse: + +"Things repeat! Not long ago I asked you to sit in a chair and submit +to a treatment of mine, and you did as I asked. After so gallant a +precedent, how could I refuse? All right. Now, Master Leithgow, your +gas!" + + * * * * * + +With gentle fingers Eliot Leithgow fitted the cone on the Eurasian's +face and fastened it there. The fingers and thumb of one hand he kept +on Dr. Ku's pulse; with the other he pulled over slowly a control set +in the side of the drum. A ticking and slight hissing became audible, +and two indicators on the drum quivered and crept downward. + +A minute of this--the ticking and soft hissing, the indicator's slow +fall, the silk-clad figure in the chair, watched closely by Carse on +one side and Eliot Leithgow on the other--and a change was apparent. A +ripple flowed over the Eurasian's silken garments; the body appeared +to loosen up, to become free of all muscular and mental tension. The +gas hissed on. + +"The first step," murmured Leithgow abstractedly, out of his +concentration on dials and patient. "The muscles--notice--relaxed. The +will--the ego--the nexi of emotions and volitions which oppose +external direction--all being worked upon, submerged, neutralized--but +not his knowledge, not his skill. No--all that he will retain! You'll +notice nothing more until you see his eyes. A few minutes. What says +the red hand? Thirteen. At nineteen it should be completed." + +Carse watched intently. It was wonderful to know that when the correct +amount of this substance, which he knew only as V-27, had been +administered, and Ku Sui awoke, there would be no enmity in him, no +opposition to their demands, no fencing with wits; that this same Ku +Sui, his great mentality unimpaired, would be subservient and entirely +dependable. + +"Seventeen," murmured the old scientist. "Eighteen ... now!" With a +flick of his fingers he shut off the stream of V-27 and gently +unloosened the cone from Dr. Ku's face. + +The ascetic features were in repose, the eyelids closed, their long +black lashes lying against the delicate saffron of the skin. Dr. Ku +Sui seemed resting in dreamless, unclouded sleep. But for only a +moment. Soon the eyelids quivered and slowly opened--and a great +change was immediately visible in the man's green eyes. + +Many observers have recorded that under the veiled, enigmatic eyes of +Dr. Ku Sui there lurked a sultry glimmer of fire; or perhaps it was +that the observers who met these eyes always imagined the fire, being +conscious of the devil and the tiger in the man. But Carse and +Leithgow now saw that all that was gone. + +No mask lay over the green eyes now, no spark of fire glinted deep in +them. They were clear and serene; they hid nothing; almost they were +the eyes of a fresh, innocent child. Dr. Ku Sui, he of a hundred +schemes, a score of plots, he of the magnificent capacity and untiring +brain bearing ever toward his goal of lordship of the solar system--it +was as if he had slipped into a magic pool whose waters had washed him +clean and given him innocence and eyes of peace.... + + * * * * * + +The Eurasian breathed deeply, then smiled at the two men standing by +him. + +"Now," whispered Eliot Leithgow. "Ask him anything. He will answer +truthfully." + +The Hawk lost no time. He asked: + +"Dr. Ku, you will perform the brain transplantations for us?" + +"Yes, my friend." + +The man's tone was different. Gone was the suaveness, the customary +polite mockery; it was frank, open, genuinely pleasant. + +"Is it true, Dr. Ku, that your coordinated brains will die, if left in +their case?" + +"Yes, they will die if left there." + +"Within what time, to save them, must the operations to transplant +them into human bodies be started?" + +"Within twenty-five, perhaps thirty, minutes at the most." + +"Can all five brains be given the initial steps for transplantation +into the heads of your four white assistants and the coolie prisoner +within one hour--the remaining half of the two hours the brains said +they would retain the necessary vitality?" + +Dr. Ku smiled at him. There was no malice in the thunderbolt that he +unleashed then. He simply told what he knew to be the truth. + +"By fast work they could be, and so saved, although the subsequent +operations will take weeks. But the brains cannot be transplanted into +the heads of my four white assistants." + +"What?" Both the Hawk and Leithgow cried the word out together. "They +cannot?" + + * * * * * + +Dr. Ku looked at them as though astonished. + +"Why, no, my friends! I wish I were able to, but I cannot perform the +operations by myself, unaided. That would be impossible, absurd.... +You seem startled. Surely you must have known that those assistants +would be vital to the work! I have taught them, you see; trained them; +they were specialists in brain surgery to begin with, and I do not +believe there are any others this side of Mars who could take their +place in operations of this type. Without them, I could never +transplant the brains." + +This, then, had been the trick up his sleeve! This was why, in the +control room of the asteroid, he had shown relief when the Hawk told +him what bodies were to be used for the transplantation! For he had +known that, whatever Eliot Leithgow's method of forcing him to +perform the operations might be, and no matter how efficacious, the +coordinated brains simply could not be put in the heads of his four +assistants--because the assistants were themselves needed for the +operations! + +"Then--it's hopeless!" said the Master Scientist bitterly. "All this +for nothing! You might find other bodies in Port o' Porno, +Carse--condemned men, criminals--but Porno's an hour away, two hours' +round trip, and in thirty minutes the brains will be too weak to +save...." + +"I am sorry," Ku Sui continued. "I should have told you before, +perhaps. If there were any way out I knew of, I would tell you but +there does not seem to be...." + +"Yes," broke in Hawk Carse suddenly. His left hand had been pulling at +his bangs of flaxen hair; his brain had been working very fast. He +added coldly: + +"Yes, there is a way." + + * * * * * + +Leithgow and Ku Sui looked at him inquiringly. + +"We need four bodies," he went on. "We have one--the coolie; he is not +needed to assist in the operations. Four bodies--and here, ready, in +twenty-five minutes. Not the bodies of normal men, of those with life +ahead of them. No. That would be murder. Four bodies of condemned +men--men with no hope left, nothing left to live for. I can get them!" + +He brushed aside Ku Sui's and Leithgow's questions. He was all steel +now, frigid, intent, hard. "Ban!" he called. "Ban Wilson!" + +"Yes, Carse?" Ban had been waiting outside the laboratory. + +"Put on your propulsive space-suit. Hurry. Then here." + +"Right!" + +Carse ran over to where he had left his suit and rapidly got inside. +As he did so, he said: + +"Eliot, there's fast work to be done while I'm gone with Ban. You must +take your assistants and Dr. Ku up to the asteroid in the air-car and +transfer down here all the equipment Dr. Ku says he'll need. Be +extremely careful with the case of coordinated brains. If you possibly +can, have everything in readiness by the time Ban and I return with +the four bodies." + +Ban Wilson, in his suit, entered the laboratory. The Hawk gestured him +to the door which led to the tree-shaft to the surface. + +"But, Carse, _what_ bodies? Where can you get four more living human +bodies?" Leithgow cried. + +"No time, now, Eliot!" the Hawk rapped out, turning at the door. "Just +do as I say--and hurry! I'll get them!" + +And he was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +_The Promise Fulfilled_ + + +Although puzzled by the Hawk's promise, Leithgow could only put his +trust in it and go ahead with the preparations as he had been +directed. He took two of his three laboratory assistants off their +hurried manufacture of quantities of the V-27, and with Ku Sui went +out into the air-car. Passing by way of tube and lake and air, they +were quickly inside the dome on the asteroid, and then into Ku Sui's +laboratory, where Friday waited on guard. + +Completely docile and friendly, the Eurasian indicated the various +instruments and devices he would need for the operations, and these +were transported quickly. Then came the case of coordinated brains. +Dr. Ku detached in connections with expert fingers, and all but +Leithgow took a corner and carried it with infinite care to the +air-car outside. + +"Do I stay here, suh?" Friday asked the Master Scientist in a +whisper. Though informed of the change in Dr. Ku effected by the V-27, +he was still very suspicious of him. "Seems to me he's a bit too meek +and mild, suh. I think I ought to go down and watch him." + +Eliot Leithgow did not quite know what answer to give. The Eurasian +forced the decision. + +"I will need," he observed, in his new, frank voice, "all the +assistance you can possibly give me. I am faced by a tremendous task, +and the use of every man will be necessary. I would suggest, Master +Leithgow that the Negro be brought down." + +And so Friday came and the asteroid was left unguarded. A mistake, +this turned out to be, but under the circumstances Eliot Leithgow +could hardly be blamed for it. There was so much on their minds, so +much work of vital importance, so desperate a need for speed, that +quite naturally other considerations were subordinated. The asteroid, +to the naked eye, was invisible; it could attract no attention; its +occupants had all been disposed of. Certainly it seemed safe enough to +leave it unguarded for a while. + +However, Eliot Leithgow took one precaution. Down in his own +laboratory again, in the midst of the work of transferring Dr. Ku's +operating equipment from the air-car, he called aside one of his +assistants and instructed him to go and survey the asteroid through +the infra-red device every ten minutes: and with this order the old +scientist dismissed the matter from his mind, and turned all his +energies to preparing the laboratory for the operations. + + * * * * * + +Under Ku Sui's directions his cases of equipment were brought in and +arrayed, and the various drills and delicate saws, and such other +instruments as worked by electricity, were connected. Everything was +sterilized. Rapidly the plain, square room assumed the appearance of +an operating arena, the five tables in the center, spotlessly white +and clean under the direct beams of the tubes hanging from the +ceiling, at the head of every table a stand on which were containers +of antiseptics, bottles of etheloid, a breathing cone, rolls of gauze +and other materials, and along the edge of the stand identical, +complete sets of fine instruments. + +The case of coordinated brains was brought into the laboratory last. +The inner liquid was now dark and apparently lifeless; to the casual +eye, it would not have seemed possible that the five grayish mounds +immersed in the liquid held life. And, indeed, Leithgow looked at them +doubtfully. + +"Are you sure they're still alive? Do you think there's still time?" +he asked Dr. Ku. + +The Eurasian picked up a long, slender, tubelike instrument with a +dial topping it. Then, going to the brain-case, he touched a cleverly +concealed catch and a square pane set in the top of the case swung +back. He dipped the instrument he held into the liquid, and for a +moment stood silent, watching the dial. Then he took it out, re-closed +the pane and turned to Leithgow. + +"A test," he explained. "The indicator, interpreted means we have +about forty-eight minutes in which to complete the first phase of the +transplantation of the brains into human heads. It might be done if we +start in eight minutes. But the human heads--?" He paused. + +"Eight minutes!" said Leithgow worriedly. "Eight minutes for Carse to +come! He promised the bodies, but ... well, we can only go ahead with +the preparations and trust to him. Is everything ready?" + +"All but my assistants. I had better see them now." + + * * * * * + +The Master Scientist issued an order to one of his men, and presently +the four white assistants of Dr. Ku were led into the laboratory. For +these men, no V-27 was needed; their brains were utterly subservient +to Dr. Ku Sui, and his orders they would obey unquestioningly, no +matter what the work. There was no danger from them. + +They stood motionless, their eyes fastened on their master, as he +spoke to them. + +"Brain operations," he said. "These"--he indicated the case--"are to +be transplanted again into human heads. You have done work similar to +it before; you know the routine. But now it must be quick. Synchronize +your speed with mine; I will be working very rapidly, and it is vital +that you be in harmony with me every instant. When the bodies come, +you will prepare the heads: and then you will attend me through every +step. You understand." He turned to the old scientist. "Operating +gowns, gloves, masks, Master Leithgow?" + +"I have your own. Over there. Your black costume is among them." + +But Leithgow's answer was abstracted. Four minutes for Carse to come! +Or else, everything lost! He busied himself helping the four surgeons +and two of his own assistants into the white, sterilized gowns, and +the masks that left only the eyes free and the skin-tight rubber +gloves, but his mind was not with his actions. The old man looked very +frail now; his age showed in the deep lines now eminent on his face. +Three minutes--swiftly two.... + +"At least," observed Ku Sui, "we have one body ... the coolie. I had +better start immediately on him." + +"Bring him out," Leithgow instructed one of his men. "One brain will +be saved. But--_there!_ Thank God! Hear that? Coming down the passage? +It's Carse, returning!" + + * * * * * + +It was Carse. He and Ban Wilson, coming down the passage from the top +of the tree-shaft. Everyone in the laboratory could hear plainly the +heavy, sliding tread of the great space-boots. Eliot Leithgow was +first to the door. He opened it, peered through eagerly and called: + +"Carse? You've got them?" + +"Yes, Eliot. Here--we need help." + +The Hawk's voice sounded weary. Friday and the scientist ran down the +passageway until they reached the adventurer. In the faint light, they +saw he was carrying a limp body. He laid it carefully down on the +floor. + +"Ban's coming down with another," he said, "and there are two more +above. Go up and get them, Friday." + +The Negro started to obey. But Eliot Leithgow did not move, did not +utter a sound. He stood staring at the body Carse had laid down. The +parchmentlike skin of his face seemed to whiten; that was all; but he +winced and slowly brushed his eyes with his hands when, in a moment, +Ban Wilson floated down the shaft and, approached with a second +unconscious body. + +At last Leithgow whispered: + +"They're all--like that, Carse?" + +"Yes," answered the emotionless voice. "There were two others, but we +let them go. They were worse." The gray eyes looked steadily at Eliot +Leithgow. "I know," the Hawk said. "It's horrible--but it can't be +helped. It was these or nothing. There was no choice." + +Hawk Carse had fulfilled his promise. He had brought back four +isuanacs. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +_Ordeal_ + + +Five bodies lay on the operating tables in Eliot Leithgow's +laboratory. The air, hushed and heavy, was pervaded by the various +odors of antiseptics and etheloid. The breathing cones had been +applied to each of the bodies, and they were now locked fast in +controlled unconsciousness. + +On the first table lay the body of the robot-coolie, a man of medium +size, sturdy, well-muscled, with the smooth round yellow face and stub +nose of his kind. His short-cropped, bristly black hair had been +shaved off; the head was now bald. That head was destined to hold the +mighty brain of Master Scientist Raymond Cram. + +On the second table lay a twisted, distorted thing, an apelike body +with which fate had played grotesque pranks. It was hairy, of middle +height, and its dark skin all over was wizened and coarse, almost like +the bark of a tree. The legs were short and bowed, the hands stubby +claws; the face, puckered even in unconsciousness, was that of a +gargoyle in pain. The long matted hair had been shaved away; the large +pate washed with antiseptics. Soon, were the operation successful, +that head would hold the brain of Professor Edgar Estapp, world-famous +chemist and bio-chemist. + +On the third table lay a shape skeletonlike in appearance, so +emaciated was it, so closely did the bones press into the dry, +fever-yellowed skin. Of one leg, only the stump was left; this +creature had been forced to hop or crawl his way through the isuan +swamps. The head, too, was no more than a skull, with great sunken +dark-rimmed eyes, discolored fangs and loose, leathery lips. There had +been no hair on this death's head; it had long been bald, and now, +washed, clean for the first time in months or even years, it was to +hold the brain of Dr. Ralph Swanson, Earth's one-time leader in the +science of psychology. + +On the fourth table lay a giant's body--but a hollow giant, a giant +made thin and pitiful by the ravages of his destroyer, isuan. A +roistering, free-booting space-ship sailor, this man may once have +been, but, from the drug, the mighty arms had been twisted and +shrivelled, the strong legs wasted away. One ear had been torn from +the skull in an old brawl, and what was left was naked and ugly to the +eye. Behind that bitter, drug-coarsened face would be the new home of +the brain of Sir Charles Esme Norman, wizard of mathematics and once a +polished, charming Englishman. + +On the fifth table lay a dwarf. Its ridiculous body was not over four +and a half feet long, though the head was larger than that of a normal +man. In the old dark ages on Earth this body would have served for the +jester of a lord, the comic butt of a king; in more recent times as +the prize of a circus side-show. The huge, weighty head with its ugly +brooding mask of a face, the child's body below--this was for the +brain of Professor Erich Geinst, the solitary German who had stood +preeminent on Earth in astronomy. + + * * * * * + +These creatures were the result of Hawk Carse's desperate search. They +had composed, with one other, the band of isuanacs that had been +rooting in the swamp at the end of the lake when the asteroid had +first arrived. The Hawk had remembered them, and had quickly seen that +they were the only answer to the problem. And so, with Ban Wilson, he +had gone out for them, his mind steeled to the ghastly thought of the +great scientists' brains in such bodies. In space-suits they had swept +down on them. There had been no time for considerate measures: the +four isuanacs had been abruptly knocked out by the impact of the great +suits swooping against them, and carried back to the laboratory. + +Eliot Leithgow had been shocked at the idea of a scientist's brain in +the head of the robot-coolie; how much greater, then, was his horror +when confronted by the need of using these appalling remnants of men! +But he could not protest. What else was there? Ku Sui, under the V-27, +had spoken the truth: the operations would be impossible without the +aid of his four assistants. The brains even now were dying. The choice +was: bodies of isuanacs or death for the brains. The scientist and the +adventurer had chosen. + +Circumstances had required their use. Ku Sui's attempt to kill the +brains, thus inflicting a time limit: the presence of the band of +isuanacs near the laboratory; each circumstance with a long train of +other, minor ones behind it. Chance or Fate--whatever it is--whether +predetermined or accidental--men must wonder at its working, and know +awe from its patterns and results. Seldom, certainly, was there a +pattern more strange than this now being worked out in the laboratory +of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. + +The bodies lay there, washed, shaved and swathed in customary loose +operating garments: globules of etheloid dropped steadily down into +the breathing cones, of hunchback, living skeleton, twisted giant, +dwarf and robot-coolie. One by one the isuanacs dropped with the +falling of the etheloid into unconsciousness--and that was their +farewell to the brains, each one debauched either by isuan-drug or +skill of genius, that they had known. + +And movement began in the laboratory. White-clothed figures, masked +and capped, used gleaming instruments in their gloved hands; and all +the figures were mute--mute from their great concentration on the +delicate work in progress--or mute from horror that would not die.... + + * * * * * + +So began the ordeal. + +Of its details, Hawk Carse knew little. They were not of his world. +Only for the first half-hour could he follow intelligently what was +being done. He too had put on a white robe, as had Ban Wilson and +Friday; and he stood at one side of the room, a silent, intently +watching figure, with the two other men of action, Ban and the Negro, +while the rest moved in a kind of rhythm. The center-piece was the +black-garbed Ku Sui, moving from this table to that, slim gloved hands +flying, pausing, flying again, steadying, concentrating on a detail, +once more sweeping forward. No more than single words came from him; +he and his assistants worked almost as a whole, in perfect sympathy +and coordination, and a constant stream of instruments flowed to him +and then away, their task done. + +The first table, and then to the second, with one white figure staying +behind at the first, finishing off details of the work, left by the +master. The third table; the fourth; the fifth; and then back to the +first, while two white figures detached themselves from the main group +and went to the nearby case of coordinated brains. An object held in a +specially formed type of pan was lifted out and carried to the first +table; and Carse sensed a crisis in the attitudes of the working men. +This, he knew, was the first great, step. A brain was being re-born. +The fingers of men, and one man in particular, were fashioning a +miracle. + +How could he hope to understand? He could only hang on the movements +of that group of figures, and feel relief as he saw them settle into +smoothness again. Evidently the first crisis was past. A few minutes +more were spent at the first table; then once more Dr. Ku Sui went to +the second, and another object was carried from the coldly gleaming +case. + +And in a long, deep pan standing on short legs beside the case, +something gray and shapeless and warm was placed. + +The first phase came to an end when there were five similar things in +the open pan, and nothing, except the liquid and a multitude of +spidery, disconnected wires, in the case that but shortly before had +harbored the brains of five scientists.... + + * * * * * + +A pause. Relaxation. Tests. The black-clad figure spoke to one in +yellow in a tone of pleased relief. + +"Successful so far, Master Leithgow! We may congratulate ourselves on +the consummation of the first step. It has been done, I believe, well +within the time limit." + +"Yes, Dr. Ku; yes. And now--how long will be needed to finish?" + +"That is up to you. Normally, I would require a month. In that time +all could be done safely, with small chance--" + +"Too long!" said Leithgow. + +Carse intervened: + +"Why too long, Eliot?" + +The old scientist went over close to him, and, in a lowered voice, +explained: + +"Ku Sui would develop immunity to the V-27 in a month. Two weeks of it +would give him part immunity. Even ten days might. He has to be +re-gassed four times a day." + +"But, letting him come out of it every night and resting normally?" +the Hawk objected. + +"I have allowed for that. The gas would still be in his system. +No--nine or ten days is the limit." He raised his voice again to reach +the Eurasian. "Can you complete the work within nine days, Dr. Ku?" + +Ku Sui considered it. At last he said: + +"That is a lot to ask, Master Leithgow. But--it might be possible. +However, it would mean prodigies of sustained, concentrated labor; +work and skill never-ceasing. We'll have to work in shifts, +naturally." + +So it was arranged. All the assistants, both Ku Sui's and Leithgow's, +were portioned off into shifts of four hours' sleep and eight hours' +work: Carse, Ban Wilson and Friday, too, for now every one of them was +needed. + +Nine days for the work of a month--and work as delicate and vital as +could possibly be! Small wonder that in the minds of all of them, the +Hawk and the old scientist, and Ban and the Negro, that period, when +remembered later, seemed no more than a confused, unreal, hazy dream; +rather, a nightmare connected imperishably with the odors of an +operating room, antiseptics, etheloid, and the glint of small, sharp +instruments. + +It was a titanic task, an ordeal that stretched to the limit the +powers of the men working in that confined space. Normal life for them +ceased; the operating room became a new universe. Swiftly they lost +consciousness of time, even with the routine of the changing shifts +and the food which was brought in at regular hours. Antiseptics, +etheloid, the never-ceasing flow of the instruments, the five bodies +lying still and deathlike on the tables, the hard white glare of the +light beating down on them--all this and nothing more--all sealed away +underground from the life of the forgotten world above. On and on and +on.... + + * * * * * + +It is impossible even to conjecture how the mind of Ku Sui saw the +colossal work that he was doing to aid his most bitter enemies. Even +when he was normal there are only moments when, through some recorded +speech or action of his, we can peer past the man's personality into +his brain; how great a sealed mystery must his thoughts remain to us +when held in that abnormal state by Eliot Leithgow's V-27! Envision +it: this arch-foe of Hawk Carse and Leithgow helping their designs, +lending all his intellect, his great skill, to their purposes, aiding +them in everything! Certainly, afterwards, the memory of what he had +been forced to do must have occasioned Dr. Ku many bitter moments. +Regularly, every four waking hours, he was led to the metal chair and +gassed afresh with the V-27; and his expression remained pleasant; his +eyes were always friendly. But the artificial state in which he was +kept showed soon on his face. It lost its clearness and became a +jaundiced yellow in color: and also it grew peaked and drawn. + +But the other faces around him were peaked and drawn, too. The +terrific strain told in definite terms on all, no matter what +stimulants they took to keep going. Many a man would have been driven +to insanity by their sustained, terrible concentration, and the +knowledge that five lives hung on every action, however minute.... + +On and on and on, science made into a marathon. Four hours of +exhausted, deathlike sleep; eight hours more of the smells, and the +glaring light, and the moving instruments. Days of this, sealing the +brains permanently into their new homes, into their hideous new +bodies.... + +But finally came the climax, and the last exhausted spurt of work. For +the concluding twelve hours there was no sleep or rest for anyone; and +at the end a breathless, haggard tension held them as Dr. Ku Sui, a +shell of his former self, reviewed the results of the nine days' +ordeal. His verdict was: + +"Four have come through, I think, safe. The fifth--I do not know. His +body was near death when he was brought here. He may live or die; it +is impossible to tell now. But it is finished." + +Then the men slept. Some slipped to the floor and slept where they +were. In nine days, the work of a month had been done, and a miracle +wrought. The brains had been born again. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +_Flight_ + + +It was to Hawk Carse that the news of imminent danger came first. + +He had staggered from the laboratory into a sleeping room and, clad as +he was, fallen over into a berth. He would have wakened in a few +hours, such was his custom of years to four-hour watches on ships, but +he was permitted less than an hour of sleep. A hand pulled at him; a +voice kept calling his name. Awareness returned to him slowly as his +brain roused from the coma of sleep. + +"Captain Carse! Captain Carse! Wake up, sir!" + +It was one of Leithgow's assistants, a man named Thorpe. His tone was +excited and his manner distraught. + +"Yes?" the Hawk muttered thickly. "What is it?" + +"It's the asteroid, sir! I was instructed to watch it at intervals, +but I--I guess I fell asleep, and just now--" + +Carse sat up. "Yes? What?" + +"--when I looked, through the glasses--it was gone!" + +"Gone? You're sure? Let me see." + +Swiftly, Thorpe at his heels, Carse strode out from the room to a +cubby just off the laboratory, the watch-post, where observational +electelscopes and visi-screens provided a panorama of the surrounding +territory. + +He gazed through the electelscope, which had been equipped with an +infra-red device and trained on the asteroid, and saw that now, where +the massive body of rock had been poised, there was nothing. Only the +brilliant light of mid-afternoon, the cloudless sky. Carse swept the +glass around. The search was fruitless. The heavens were bare. The +asteroid had gone. + +In half a minute Carse had reasoned out the disappearance, saw the +consequences and made the inevitable decision. Gone was the torpor of +sleep, the weariness of the laboratory; this was a crisis, and this +was his work. During the operations, he had been able merely to obey +orders and do manual work. Now he assumed command. + +"Your lapse has imperilled us all," he said curtly to Thorpe. "From +now on we're in great danger. Stay here and keep on watch, and sound +the alarm immediately if the asteroid reappears." + +"Yes, sir. I--I'm sorry--" + +The adventurer cut him off with a frigid nod and ran on silent, rapid +feet to the laboratory, where both Ban Wilson and Friday lay fast +asleep. Roughly Carse shook them into consciousness. Trained to +shipboard routine and the sudden emergencies of space, they needed but +little time to return to full wakefulness. In staccato sentences the +new situation was outlined to them. + +"The asteroid's gone. That means danger to everything here. We will +have to evacuate. Ban, wake all the men, including Ku Sui and his +assistants, then come to me for further orders. Friday, see that +Leithgow's ship is ready for instant departure. Quick!" + +Alarmed, but without questions, the two parted on their separate +errands. Carse went to the room where Eliot Leithgow lay asleep. + + * * * * * + +The pallor and weariness of the old scientist's face were emphasized +by the alarming news his friend brought him, but he took it with +spirit, and his voice was level and controlled as he asked: + +"What does it mean, Carse? What must we do?" + +"Leave, Eliot, and at once. We have no choice. Our danger while here +is immense. The asteroid, in the hands of enemies, could crush us like +a fly, simply by coming down on the top of the hill." + +"But who could have taken it? There was no one on it, was there?" + +The Hawk said wryly: "I thought not, but well, you remember the secret +panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory?" + +"Through, which he escaped before? Yes." + +"I suspected that he might have someone hidden behind it, and I +intended to question him when he was under the V-27, but in the +terrific rush of things it slipped my mind. Sheer carelessness, Eliot; +I'm very sorry. I should have known, for when we captured Ku Sui he +spoke some words in Chinese through his helmet-radio. Now I can see +that they must have gone to some man of his hidden there; and that +man, obeying instructions, simply lay low, heard all that passed in +Dr. Ku's laboratory, and then, at a suitable opportunity, took the +asteroid away in search of allies. He knows his master is a prisoner +here and unquestionably he will be back to release him. We must be out +of here and far away by the time he arrives." + +"Yes," Leithgow nodded slowly. "As you say, there is no choice." + +"But your work here is finished, Eliot," Carse went on. "If only we +can get to Earth safely, with Ku Sui and the brains in their new +bodies, we will have achieved everything we wanted to achieve. We have +proof of the crime done you, and we have Ku Sui, too. Your position +will be restored and the blame put where it belongs. But we must leave +for Earth at once! God knows how near the asteroid is, or who's on +it." + +"All right, Carse." The scientist got up. "What are your +instructions?" + +Ban Wilson appeared in the door, reporting that all the men had been +accounted for and awakened. Carse started the wheels moving. + +"Everything of value here must be transported aboard the ship. Eliot, +you know better than I what to take, so you'll assume charge of the +loading. Ban, you and all the men save two of Eliot's assistants will +help. I'll need them to move the bodies. Send them to me in the +laboratory. But first, be sure Ku Sui and his four men are safely +confined. All right; let's go." + +Within half an hour the general evacuation was finished and the ship +loaded. + + * * * * * + +The _Sandra_, Leithgow's ship, bearing his daughter's name, was a +sturdy vessel designed more for comfort and utility than speed, and so +her appointments, including offensive and defensive weapons, though +modern were limited. Her commodious cargo-holds were easily capable of +accommodating all of the Master Scientist's laboratory instruments and +devices, the volumes of his extensive library, his great mass of +personal papers and more intimate effects; all the more important +stores of the place, too, and its furnishings. The laboratory and its +surrounding rooms were pretty well stripped. + +The largest of the _Sandra's_ cabins was transformed under the +direction of Leithgow into a hospital bay, and the five cots bearing +the prostrate, unconscious bodies of the patients put there. Though +hastily improvised, this hospital was complete, as fully equipped and +nearly as efficient as if it were on Earth and not in the belly of a +space-ship. The chances of the patients for complete recovery were not +diminished in any way by the sudden necessity for flight. + +In a second, much smaller cabin, Dr. Ku Sui was confined by himself. +Its walls, of course, were of metal, and there was no possible means +of exit from it save by the door, which bore double locks. The +Eurasian, silent and drugged and stupid, immediately stretched his +tall form out on the single berth and in seconds was again sound +asleep. A third cabin was made over to his four assistants. + +With everything completed, the underground refuge bare of articles of +value and the _Sandra_ stored and made ready for the long trip, the +inner door of the exit tube swung open, and the ship slid slowly out +of her cradle and into the water chamber for the last time. Her flight +to Earth had begun. + +Eliot Leithgow stood near the Hawk in the control cabin, and his old +face was made sad by many memories. For years, this place that he was +now leaving had been his only home, his one sure haven. How carefully, +long ago, had he and Carse planned it and built it! How many times had +they met there, often when danger was close and enemies near, and +cemented still more firmly the bonds between them! To Leithgow, the +hill symbolized safety and friendship and his beloved work. Dangerous, +weary years, those he had spent in the hill, but priceless +nevertheless, warmed as they were by his achievements and the +friendship of Hawk Carse. + +Now he was leaving it and going back to Earth. The outlaw years, it +seemed, were ended: Ku Sui was a prisoner, and the proof of his great +crime, which had been laid to Leithgow, was aboard. Earth--green +Earth! Separate, distinct, peerless in the universe; home of men, of +his kind! He had loved and worked and known honor and respect on +Earth; it held the grave of his wife, and the fresh, warm young love +of his wife reincarnate, his daughter Sandra. He was at last going +home to Earth from his exile on this desolate, raw frontier post. + +There was a choking in Eliot Leithgow's throat at leaving the hill, +and he turned away, afraid at that moment of being observed by the +steel-gray eyes of his friend, Hawk Carse.... + + * * * * * + +The _Sandra_ swam up through the lake's muddy tide and launched +herself, dripping, into the warm air of afternoon. Her generators +hummed with life given them by the firm hand at the controls, and +swiftly she arrowed forth into the blue. With a few words as to the +visual course, Carse handed the space-stick over to Friday, and +devoted himself to the matter of the watches. + +Satellite III dropped swiftly to concavity, as the _Sandra_ was +expertly jockeyed through the rare outer layer of the stratosphere, +became a true globe again. The Negro reported: + +"Through the atmosphere, suh. Orders?" + +"Full acceleration. Continue visually for the present. I'll work out +the true course in a few minutes." + +"Yes, suh!" + +The hum of the generators deepened. In a matter of ten minutes, +shipboard routine was arranged, Carse, Friday and Ban splitting the +watches. The Hawk, as was his custom, took the first. Friday was +relieved of the space-stick and immediately went back for sleep, as +did Wilson. Eliot Leithgow did not retire right away, however. + +He watched Carse snap on the automatic control and go to an +electelscope which had been equipped with an infra-red device. He +directed it rearward on Satellite III, back along the course the +_Sandra_ had described, and peered through its eyepiece for several +minutes. Then he turned to the old scientist. + +"Nothing," he said. "No sign of the asteroid as yet. We'll have to +keep careful watch. The visi-screen's useless against the invisibility +of the asteroid; and the high magnification of this scope, with its +resulting small field of view, will require us continually and +methodically to search through a wide circle behind, in the attempt to +pick up the asteroid, should it appear. A tedious job, with chances of +sighting it about even.... At any rate, we'll have some sort of a +head-start," he finished. + + * * * * * + +This was the opportunity Leithgow had waited for; he wanted a few +frank words with his friend. + +"Carse," he said slowly, "I wonder just where that man concealed +behind the secret panel would take the asteroid?" + +"I've thought about that too," replied the Hawk. "We may be sure that +he went for allies: Dr. Ku has several on Satellite III. Of them all, +I think he would go for Lar Tantril." + +"Tantril?" + +"Yes, I think so. Lar Tantril, the Venusian. A fellow of much +self-confidence and one of Ku Sui's chief agents, and who at +present"--he smiled faintly--"nurses a special bitterness against me. +I told you how I tricked him on his ranch. He'd be very eager to +pursue us in the asteroid simply for the opportunity of repaying me +for that trick." The adventurer's left hand rose to the bangs of +flaxen hair combing down over his forehead, and he murmured, musingly: +"I rather hope it _is_ Lar Tantril...." + +"You hope so?" Leithgow repeated, surprised. "When he hates you so? +And would be on the lookout for tricks? Why?" + +"I would guess, Eliot, that Lar Tantril is not notable for intellect. +Blustering, domineering--pretty much of a braggart, you know. +Certainly he is not a model of caution; and he is not acquainted with +Dr. Ku's asteroid, for he did not even know it existed. He will be +able to run it, of course, with the advice of this hidden man, but +surely he will not have the perception to discern the weakness in it. +Yes, I hope it is he." + +Leithgow went on to the main thing on his mind. + +"I'm a little unsettled, Carse," he admitted. "I've been imagining +this as the end of my outlaw years, and the beginning of my +re-establishment on Earth. But this ship is slow, and I see now that +if the asteroid does pursue us and capture us.... What do you really +think of our chances?" + + * * * * * + +The Hawk pursed his lips slightly, and for a little while he looked +away and did not answer. When his voice came, it was tinged with +bitterness. + +"Eliot," he said, "I've been trying to find an excuse for my lapse. +But there is none. It was the blunder of a novice, my not remembering +to question Ku Sui about that secret panel. That was the cardinal +point, yet it slipped my mind, in my preoccupation with the +emergencies connected with the restoration of the brains. + +"Our chances are only fair, Eliot; I'm telling you frankly how it +appears to me. I believe we'll be pursued, and if we are the odds are +greatly against us. The asteroid's far more powerful than we. And +Jupiter only knows what new offensive resources Ku Sui may have given +it: I had no time to study the several strange mechanisms I saw in its +control room. Then, no nearby patrol ship would help us if we were +attacked, for to them our enemy would be invisible, and they'd think +us crazy." + +He paused. But seeing the somber expression on the other's face, he +smiled and cuffed him on the back. + +"But maybe we won't even be pursued, Eliot! Maybe we'll be too far +ahead for them to catch us! No doubt I've made it look too serious, so +cheer up! We're alive, we've got everything we wanted, and we're +hitting at full speed for Earth! And you know the luck of that +space-adventurer they call the Hawk!" + +Leithgow smiled gently in answer, then left the cabin for the sleep he +needed so badly. Hawk Carse was left alone on watch in the fleeing +_Sandra_. + +A lonely, intent figure, he stood over the chart-table, working out +their best course to Earth. Presently, however, he went back to the +infra-red electelscope and swept it over the leagues behind. Carse +could not detect any sign of the asteroid, but he remained for a +little while at the eyepiece, staring at Satellite III. There it lay, +a diminishing globe, three-quarters of it gleaming in the light flung +by Jupiter. Dark patches mottled it: they would be the jungles. And +there was the scintillant sheet that was the Great Briney Lake, with +Port o' Porno nearby. On the other side of the little world, now, lay +the hill containing Leithgow's laboratory. All going ... going ... +falling swiftly behind. Satellite III, scene of so many clashes, plots +and counter-plots, where so many times he and Eliot Leithgow had +fought off the reaching hand of Ku Sui--soon it would be a million +miles away. What adventures would he have before he saw it again?... + +A little sound came from the Hawk, a half-sigh. Abruptly he called one +of the men on his watch and stationed him at the 'scope, and then he +returned to the chart-table and the work of calculating their course +to Earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +_In Earth's Shadow_ + + +Hour after hour and day after day, for a week the _Sandra_ tracked on +through the boundless leagues, the waxing sunlight beating steadily on +her starboard bow and her silent gravity-plates and singing generators +bringing Earth ever nearer. Friday, who possessed an extensive +knowledge of all the practical sciences, did extra service in the role +of cook, and his regularly served meals disguised the undifferentiated +hours of space into Earth-mornings, noons and nights. Watch in and +watch out, and nothing to disturb the even routine. + +As for the ever-feared pursuit, there was no sign of it. +Systematically and carefully the men stationed at the electelscope +turned it through the region behind, but never did their watching eyes +discern the bulk of the asteroid. Its disappearance, and the kindred +mystery of who had been on it, remained unsolved. + +Therefore peace came to Eliot Leithgow's face, and the tiredness left +his eyes. The long, hunted years were beginning to be washed from him, +and daily, to Carse, he appeared younger. Often in the control cabin +or over a meal he talked of what lay ahead, and the happiness Earth +held waiting for him. There was his daughter, Sandra, whom he had seen +last as a girl of fourteen, and even then interested in his work. She +would be matured now, and she would perhaps be eager to help him in +the work he intended to resume. There was so much of it! Discoveries, +theories, evolved during his fugitive years--now he could complete +them and give them to his old circles of brother scientists. All this +was in his conversations; but secret and unworded in his thoughts were +anticipations of the old dear beauty of Earth, that beauty for which +his ageing heart had pined so long.... + +And Earth was drawing nearer. + + * * * * * + +Another week passed. + +Twice a day the door of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin was unlocked and he was +brought out under guard for several turns through the ship. Though for +safety's sake they continued to dose him with the V-27, it was +apparent that the gas had less and less effect on him. Four, then +eight, then twelve times a day they re-gassed him--as often as they +dared, considering its ultimate destructive mental effect--but more +and more of the frankness and serenity foreign to his green eyes +melted away. Gradually the normal veil came to hide their depths and +make them enigmatic; and sometimes there was again on his face the +hint of something strong and tigerish and cruel lying waiting. They no +longer trusted him to attend to the five patients. He spoke seldom. A +tall, reserved figure in black silk, attended either by Ban Wilson or +Friday, he strolled through the ship for fifteen minutes and was +returned to his lonely cabin. Of all the marks his experience must +have left upon him, the only one apparent was his silence. + +It was on the seventeenth day that he forsook that silence and +directly accosted Carse. He had a request. The saffron face impassive, +the long lashes lying low over the eyes, he said softly: + +"I wonder, Captain Carse, if I might be permitted a glimpse of the +subjects of my transplantation?" + +Leithgow and Wilson were at the time with Carse in the control cabin, +and they regarded their friend intently, curious as to what the reply +would be. They saw his steel-gray eyes meet Dr. Ku's gaze squarely; +and the two men looked at each other: Hawk Carse, complete victor at +last, and Ku Sui, the vanquished. + +The adventurer answered: + +"Your request is only natural, Dr. Ku. Certainly you may see them, and +perhaps offer an opinion on their progress, which has so far been in +the hands of your assistants. But I shall have to accompany you." + +"You are kind." + +"Take the controls, Ban," Carse directed, and together they left the +cabin. + + * * * * * + +There was no visible change in the five bodies. They lay stretched out +in cots, sheets drawn up to their necks, and it seemed almost as if +they were quietly slumbering and would presently wake up; though in +reality consciousness would not return to the fine brains in their +hideous, distorted bodies for many weeks, and then only if the healing +processes were successful. Bandages swathed the heads, leaving eyes +and nostrils alone visible. An assistant of Leithgow's, at present on +watch there, moved occasionally with instrument in hand to time the +fevered pulses. + +"I must ask you to stand back here, Dr. Ku," said the Hawk, indicating +a spot some five feet from the nearest cot. His left arm hung easily +by his side, the hand resting by the butt of his holstered raygun; and +the position was not accidental. + +Ku Sui nodded and doubtless noted the gun, but his eyes were on the +bodies. He stood regarding his own handiwork in silence, his face +inscrutable, and Carse did not disturb him. At last, in a low tone he +asked the assistant: + +"The food injections take successfully?" + +The man nodded. + +"I remember," the beautifully modulated voice went on. "I was not sure +of one subject. Swanson's brain, was it not? Is his condition any +better?" + +"We are not sure." + +"Ah, yes ... yes...." He appeared to muse, and no one disturbed him in +the minutes of silence that followed. Finally he looked away and said: + +"It was a great feat. Thank you, Captain Carse. I am pleased by this +glimpse of the miracle my hands were made to perform. I am ready to +return." + +But at the door of his cabin he paused, and his eyes rested again on +the cold, firm face close to him. He said: + +"I suppose, Captain Carse, you intend to bring me before Earth's World +Court of Justice?" + +"Yes. Along with our living proof of your abduction of the five +scientists." + +The Eurasian smiled. "I see. And since there is no questioning that +proof, it would appear that Earthlings will soon levy punishment on +Dr. Ku Sui.... So.... You know, Captain Carse, I find your caution a +great handicap. You keep gassing me; I am locked in; and since I have +observed no excitement aboard the ship, apparently there are no +friends anywhere near me. You have stripped me of everything." His +eyes lowered for a moment. "Everything save this ring." + +On the forefinger of his right hand, set simply in a platinum band, +was a large dark stone. + +"A black opal," said Dr. Ku. "I have worn it for years and I prize it +highly. Perhaps at the last I will give it to you as a memento of +these past years, Captain Carse." And he went into the cabin, where +they gassed him again. + + * * * * * + +The third week passed. + +Crossing the orbit of Mars, now approximately in opposition to +Jupiter, the _Sandra_ streaked on into the last leg of her long +voyage. The sun was a vast, flame-belching disk on her starboard side, +and ahead lay Earth, growing each hour. Cheerfulness pervaded the +ship, nerves were relaxing, faces lightening. Carse could not remember +when Eliot Leithgow had worn a smile so constantly. It was only +natural, for to the old scientist and his personal assistants Earth +was home, the fulfillment of every desire, the reality and symbol of +normal life and love of man. + +But to Hawk Carse the Green Planet was not home. He was the +adventurer, and wanderer, the seeker of new places with the alluring +lustre of peril. Earth was to him little more than a port of call, and +it brought him sadness to see how eagerly Leithgow stared at her +growing face. Their parting was not far away now. + +The _Sandra_ logged off the miles. Then came the day when only ten +thousand were left, and, soon after, five thousand. Deceleration had +long since been begun. Slightly but unvaryingly the ship's momentum +slackened until she arrived at the two thousand mile mark, where the +great curving stretch of the planet filled her bow windows, and the +well-remembered continents and seas stood out as clearly as on a +tilted classroom globe. + +Carse leaned musing in a corner of the control cabin, oblivious to the +well-meaning but toneless voice with which Ban Wilson, at the +electelscope was butchering a song. A gentle tap on the shoulder +summoned him out of his study. + +He turned and saw that Leithgow had come to him. Carse smiled at the +old scientist, and said: + +"Well, Eliot, we'll be in soon now. Apparently we've made it safely, +and there's nothing to stand between you and the day you've waited for +so long." + + * * * * * + +"Yes. But Carse--what of you? How long will you stay? I only wish I +could persuade you--" + +"To retire, Eliot? Settle down? Become a humdrum landlocked +Earthling?" He chuckled, and shook his head. "No, no, old friend. Oh, +I'll stay on Earth for a few weeks; I suppose I'll have to, to testify +before the World Court of Justice when it takes up your case; but +after that's settled, I'll be going back. You know me, Eliot: I'll +never change. There are a number of things I must attend to at once. +My ship, the _Star Devil_, is still on Iapetus, remember; I must find +her and get her tuned up again. She's the fastest craft in space, bar +none. Then I must make the round of my ranches and see that things are +running smoothly. I've a lot of work on the Iapetus ranch, +particularly. Then, there's that Pool of Radium--not that I need the +wealth, if it really exists; but the job has killed so many who have +sought for it that I'd like to take a crack at it myself. Oh, plenty +to do!" + +Leithgow looked at him, and there was all affection in his eyes, and +friendship as close as it can be between men. + +"No, Carse," said Leithgow softly. "I suppose Earth will never get her +gravity on you for keeps. But I hope you will come down occasionally +to see me, and perhaps once a year, say, spend a month with Sandra and +me in our--" + +"Carse!" + +Ban shouted the name out. His face, turned from the electelscope, was +alive with excitement. + +"Here! Look!" + +"What is it?" + +"The asteroid! It's close!" + +In two strides Carse was at the eyepiece of the infra-red glass +attached to the instrument. One look through it served to verify Ban's +report. The asteroid of Dr. Ku Sui had at last appeared. + + * * * * * + +It was not more than fifty miles from the _Sandra_, a craggy fragment +of rock, peanut-shaped, and tipped by its gleaming dome. Its speed +seemed the same as theirs, but its course was different; and to Carse, +that fact immediately explained its sudden appearance. He turned from +the eyepiece with a face grown hard and cold. + +"Well, it's happened," he said. "Instead of a stern chase, which would +give us some chance of spotting them, they at once got off to the side +and have all this time been flanking us. Now they're cutting in, +straight behind, no doubt ready for business. All right. Ban, sound +the alarm." + +Like a gladiator about to step sword in hand into the arena, the +_Sandra_, though a ship never designed for space duels, girded her +loins and made herself ready for what at its best could only be an +unequal struggle. She was outclassed in weapons, weight and speed--in +all save pilots. She had Hawk Carse at her helm. + +The harsh alarm bell at once rang through the ship, an emergency call +to stations. Carse, at the controls, rapped out another order. + +"Defensive web on, Ban, and build up power for the ray batteries." + +As the echoes of the bell died, a piercing whine grew amidships, and +shreds of blue light swiftly scattered by the _Sandra's_ ports. They +were quickly gone, but they left behind an almost invisible envelope +of blue which enwrapped the ship completely. The defensive web against +attacking rays was on. + +Friday tumbled into the control cabin, and on his heels two of +Leithgow's assistants, the third being on duty with the patients. +Carse briefly explained what had happened. "Friday," he ordered, "you +take the stern ray batteries. Ban--" + +But Ban Wilson had returned to the electelscope, and it had given him +more news. Interrupting, he cried out: + +"They must be attacking! A light just flashed in the dome!" + +With his words they all saw the light. The visi-screen, though it did +not reveal the asteroid, showed the first weapon with which it +struck--a lustrous ray of purple which in a blink had leaped out to +the _Sandra_ and enfolded her. A shower of sparks crackled out from +the ship's defensive web, but the purple ray continued. + +"I don't know that ray, Eliot." Carse said. "What's on our speed +indicator?" + +The scientist's gasp was plainly audible as he read the dial. "Why, +it--it's dropping! Much faster than our deceleration accounts for! +That ray--why, it must have magnetic properties! Carse, the asteroid's +stopping us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +_The Hawk Strikes_ + + +No surprise showed on the Hawk's face, though the others were visibly +shaken. He, at the helm, merely nodded and continued with further +orders. + +"Williams," he said to one of Leithgow's assistants, "get Thorpe and +go and dose Ku Sui with V-27. Give him plenty. Then both of you +station yourselves, ray guns in hand, outside his cabin. We'll take no +chances with him, gassed or not. Friday, open our radio receiver to +the general band. Just the receiver, not the mike.... Our speed, +Eliot?" + +"Down to seven hundred, and falling steadily." + +Carse went to the electelscope, after giving the controls over to Ban. + +Squarely behind the _Sandra_, and within twenty-five miles, the +peanut-shaped body had come. It was an ominous and silent approach. +The _Sandra_ remained pinned by the purple ray for minutes while the +Hawk studied her aggressor. As he watched the asteroid, the others +watched him; Ban Wilson fidgety, Friday clenching and unclenching his +big hands. Eliot Leithgow with whitened face and shoulders that seemed +to have bowed a little. + +The forward speed of the _Sandra_ decreased to four hundred miles an +hour, and still the Hawk studied the massive body behind.... + +A sputter sounded in the radio receiver. Carse turned away from the +electelscope and listened to the heavy Venusian voice that was +suddenly speaking to him from it. + +"Carse, I've got you! You've seen our ray, of course, but have you +looked at your speed-indicator? You're caught--and this time you're +going to stay caught. You cannot possibly resist the magnetic ray I +have on you, and in a few minutes you will be drawn right into me. I +advise you to surrender peacefully. No tricks--though there's no trick +that could do you any good! Nothing! I have you this time!" + +A frosty smile tightened the Hawk's lips. + +"I was right, Eliot," he murmured. "The man behind the panel took the +asteroid to Lar Tantril. He is our opponent." + + * * * * * + +Those were his words, but he did nothing. He seemed content to stand +with cold, intent face looking back through the infra-red +electelscope. The _Sandra's_ speed sank to three hundred, two hundred +and soon a hundred, and the asteroid, which was of course also +decelerating, crept up remorselessly. Ban Wilson had every confidence +in the Hawk, but finally the inaction grew too much for him to bear. + +"Jumping Jupiter, Carse!" he sputtered. "--aren't you going to do +anything? Use our rays! Try maneuvering to the side! Damn it, we're +just letting them take us!" + +The adventurer might not have heard, for all the sign he gave. The +Earth-clock on the wall ticked on; seconds built minutes, and the +minutes passed. The asteroid was only ten miles astern. + +"Eliot," said Carse quietly, "get me one of your infra-red glasses." + +He took over the controls again. Carefully he varied the forward +repulsion and sent current to the side gravity-plates, and slowly the +_Sandra_ answered by rotating, longitudinally, reversing her position. +Still maintaining a slight and dwindling speed toward Earth, her bow +swung from that planet's eye-filling panorama and came to face, +instead, the invisible asteroid. When turned completely around, the +men in her control cabin looked through the bow windows right into +the brilliant cone of the purple ray. + +Lar Tantril's voice again boomed from the broadcasting shell, and this +time it was harsh with anger. + +"Try no tricks, Carse! I see what you intend. You plan to suddenly +_answer_ my ray, instead of continuing to resist it, and so drive +right past me and escape. But I warn you I have terrific power, and if +you move towards me of your own volition, I can burn you to a cinder +in three seconds, and I'll do it. You can't escape! If I have to +destroy Ku Sui, all right--but I'll get you!" + + * * * * * + +The Hawk strapped over his eyes the infra-red glasses Leithgow now +gave him. + +Reversing the _Sandra's_ ends had neither increased nor decreased the +rate at which the asteroid's purple stream was bringing her closer. +Obviously the magnetic stream was being varied. The space-ship's +forward momentum merely continued to drop normally until the moment +came when she had no Earthward velocity at all; and then more quickly +she moved toward the restraining asteroid. + +With his infra-red glasses, through the bow windows, Carse could now +see the massive body in full detail. There was the dome, a huge, +gleaming cup of transparent stuff now showing wisps of blue, from the +defensive web around it; and inside were the several buildings, and +minute black dots which were the figures of men. There was a great +number of them. The largest group was clustered inside one of the +large ship-size port-locks in the dome. The lock's outer door was +open, and it was from there that the purple ray seemed to originate. +Obviously the intention of the enemy was to draw the _Sandra_ right +in. Five miles now separated asteroid and ship. + +Again the Venusian chief spoke. + +"I warn you once more, Sparrow Hawk, try no tricks. You can see the +men I have here, but you can't see my ray projectors. They're hidden, +but they're centered on you, every one, and my hand's at the control +that fires them. They have terrific power, Carse. Better not attempt +anything!" + +The Hawk switched on the extension microphone at his side. He said +levelly into it: + +"Lar Tantril, I'll make a bargain with you: a favor for a favor." + +"What?" shot from the loudspeaker. + +"I will agree to surrender peaceably when you've drawn my ship inside +if, for your part, you promise to free Eliot Leithgow, who is aboard +with me, and the five patients on whom Ku Sui operated. If you don't +grant me that, I will oppose you to the last pull of my finger on +trigger." + +"But, Carse--" the Master Scientist began, horrified: but his +expression of amazement faded when the slender man at the radio turned +his head and half-closed one eye in a wink. + +"You will agree to that--and no tricks?" Tantril's voice repeated. + +"I will agree to it. And as for tricks, what could I possibly try? +Your rays could burn through the maximum power of my web in three +seconds, as you say: I know it as well as you. I only wish there was a +chance to get out of your range in time." + +"All right!" the Venusian replied decisively. "I agree. I'll release +Leithgow and the five patients. Keep away from the controls and I'll +draw you in." + + * * * * * + +Carse switched off the microphone. + +"A hell of a lot Tantril's word is worth!" muttered Ban Wilson. Once +more, surprisingly, the Hawk winked. Friday was grinning now. For +once in his life he had guessed his master's strategy before the +others. + +A mile and a half to the front lay the dome-end of the asteroid. +Perhaps nine hundred miles to the rear lay the tremendous mottled +curve of Earth with her dangerous upper layers of the stratosphere all +too close. In the very face of Earth, all three on a line, the ship +lay linked by a stream of purple to the great rough-hewn, errant +asteroid. Half the bulk of all three lay sharply outlined against the +black of space by the intense yellow light of the flaming distant sun. + +The asteroid neared to a mile, then a half-mile. Hawk Carse said +curtly: + +"Ban, when I give the word, put all the power we've got into our +defensive web. Load the generators; overload them; tax them to the +limit. That web must be as tough as possible for five seconds." + +"Got you, Carse." + +"You've--a trick?" ventured Leithgow timidly. + +"I think I have, Eliot. Lar Tantril might have caught on when I turned +the ship, but unfortunately for him his brain is incapable of +proceeding past a certain point.... All right, Ban." + +"Feel it!" + +In answer to Ban's hands, the deck of the control cabin was literally +vibrating under the mounting speed of the generators in the +power-room. The generators could not stand that terrific overload +long: they would burn out. But Carse needed only a few seconds of it. + +The asteroid was a quarter of a mile away, seen through the infra-red. +The dome loomed large. + +"All right!" whispered Hawk Carse. "Hold on!" + +With the words he unleashed the _Sandra's_ full acceleration. + + * * * * * + +It was a risk and a big one, but the Hawk had it calculated to a +fraction of a second, and so, without hesitation, he took the chance. +A little less than four seconds to reach his objective, he reckoned; a +little more than one second for Tantril to release the asteroid's +disintegrating rays as he had threatened; therefore about two and a +half seconds for the _Sandra_ to be exposed to those rays. The chance +that her defensive web could resist them for that long would decide +it. + +From almost a standing start, the _Sandra_ swept ahead, generators +humming, her web a blue mist around her, acceleration at the full. +Straight down through the heart of the narrowing purple ray she sped, +a hurtling metallic projectile, hundreds of tons in mass, her stub bow +levelled dead at the dome. + +After a second the asteroid bared its fangs. + +A cone of brilliant orange flamed and washed around the _Sandra's_ +bow, and a storm of soundless sparks engulfed her. She was caught in a +maw of fire, and held there for the remaining terrific seconds of her +wild forward dash. But the seconds passed; the hands of Hawk Carse +were delicate on her controls; and the _Sandra_, curving slightly +upward, struck, crashed, wrenched terribly in every joint; and then +the jolt and the protesting wrench and the spluttering sparks were +gone from her, and there was around her only the deep silence of +lifeless space. + +At three hundred miles an hour the _Sandra_ had nicked the upper +plates of the dome and streaked on, unharmed! + +It was not necessary now to use infra-red glasses to see the asteroid. +It was there in the visi-screen for naked eyes, but for seconds not +one of the men in the ship's control-cabin thought to look. The awful +acceleration and shock had dazed them. They had not known what was +coming, except Friday and the Hawk, and only the latter was able to +retain reasonable alertness. He, almost immediately after the impact, +cut down the load on the generators, and brought the _Sandra_ out of +her mad drive forward, rotating the ship until she was facing back +towards the asteroid. Then all of them looked through the bow windows, +and what they saw told the story in an instant. + +"It's visible! See--the invisibility's gone!" cried Friday. + + * * * * * + +A score of miles away the body lay, fully revealed, its starboard half +gleaming hard and sharp in the sunlight. Cautiously the _Sandra_ drew +closer. Carse gave the controls to Ban and examined it carefully +through the electelscope, after removing the infra-red attachment. + +He saw that the keel of the _Sandra_ had torn a great, mangled rent in +the dome and through this the air had rushed out. Space had taken +possession. The disintegrating rays which had been burning at the +_Sandra_ had been snapped off with the sheathing of invisibility; in +that one wild second of impact, all the asteroid's functioning +mechanism had been destroyed. Lar Tantril had not thought quite far +enough: he had not sealed the buildings air-tight against a possible +crashing of the dome, and for that reason alone he and his men had +gone down in full defeat under the drive of the Hawk. + +Shreds of flotsam drifting and turning in space around the dome now +became visible--bits of wreckage hurled out from the tear, and also a +number of white, bloated things which once had been the bodies of men. +The outrushing tide of air had taken them along, and now they drifted, +shapeless, all of a kind, in the lifelessness of space. + +"Merciful heaven!" whispered Eliot Leithgow, staring at the +desolation. "Gone! Just snuffed out!" + +The Hawk took over again and brought and held the _Sandra_ in a +position a quarter of a mile above the now rapidly falling asteroid. + +"They're all dead, I'm sure," he said in a voice hard and emotionless +as his graven face. "They must be, for the asteroid is now visible, +and that means that the doors of the power building were open. Inside +and out, all there is dead, machinery and men.... Still, it had to be +done. It was they or we. A variation of the trick we used to escape +from the dome before, Eliot; and Tantril of course didn't expect it +and protect himself as Ku Sui did that other time. It's all done +now--yes, its gravity-plates too, for see, it's turning." + +"And fast!" murmured Friday. + +The body was rotating around its longer axis at about twice the speed +of an Earth-watch's second hand. Now the dome was sliding under, out +of their sight, the craggy rock belly coming up to take its place. +Nine hundred miles away was Earth--rather, less than that, for the +body was now free to accept the tremendous gravity pull of the planet +so near. Soon it would plunge to destruction there.... + + * * * * * + +A thought came to Carse, and he said: + +"Perhaps Ku Sui would like to see what has become--" + +On the last word he stopped and whirled around. His eyes were suddenly +intense and his face startled. + +"I heard a hiss!" said Friday. + +"You too? Then it was a port-lock!" Carse turned to the visi-screen. +"Look there!" he cried. + +In the screen Earth made a titanic background against which, a +falling, dwindling figure in a clear-cut in the sunlight, gleamed +space-suit. Down it went, rapidly, even as they stared, until it hung +just off the also-falling asteroid. It was obviously preparing to +enter the dome. + +"Take the helm, Ban, and watch him!" Carse ordered harshly, and ran +aft from the control cabin. + +Leithgow and Friday, following at once, found him inside the open door +of Dr. Ku Sui's cabin, examining two figures stretched limp at his +feet. The men were Thorpe and Williams, who had been set to gas and +guard the Eurasian. Carse said: + +"Both dead. Poison. Look at Thorpe's wrist." + +On the right wrist of the dead man was a line of red, a scratch, and +swollen, discolored flesh was ugly around it. One cheek of Williams +bore a similar patch. Both had been armed with rayguns, but now they +were gone. Half to himself, the Hawk murmured: + +"Yes, poison. It might have been in the ring. Everyone else was in the +control cabin. The men entered the door, Ku Sui was waiting--quick +death.... Well, I'm going after him." + +Not understanding, still horrified by the contorted face of the man on +the deck, the other two gazed at the adventurer. + +"But, Carse!" Leithgow broke out. "How can you? How can you +possibly--" + +"He's gone back to the dome," the Hawk cut in frostily. "He can't make +it to Earth as he is now, for we'd see him and easily be able to pick +him up. No; he's got some reason for returning, to the dome. Something +important. He thinks he's escaped.... He's mistaken." + +A shudder passed over Friday, for Hawk Carse's eyes had fallen on him, +and they were deadly. + +"Let me by, Eliot," the man whispered. "This time he goes or I go, but +by the gods of space it'll be one of us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +_There Is a Meteor_ + + +His face set and cold, Carse ran to the stores cabin, just as the +Eurasian must have hurried there a few minutes before. He took one of +Dr. Ku's self-propulsive space-suits down from the rack and slipped +into it, sticking a raygun in the belt. Still not speaking, he glided +to the rear port-lock, Leithgow and Friday running alongside and +attempting to dissuade him from the dangerous pursuit. Their words +were wasted. Carse gave them only a faint smile and a few directions. + +"Keep the ship as close as you can without danger. No, Eclipse; I'm +going by myself; there's no need to risk two. If I don't come out, +you've everything needed to prove your case. Eliot--the re-embodied +brains, Ku Sui's four white assistants--" + +"I tell you you're going to your death! You'll be caught inside! +Earth's attracting the asteroid now, and in a few minutes it will be +plunging through the atmosphere with terrific speed! The friction will +make it a meteor, and you'll burn. Carse! You'll die in flames! You +haven't but a few minutes to do the whole thing!" + +"Have to risk that, Eliot." He swung open the inner door of the lock +and stepped into the chamber. "Remember, keep as close to the asteroid +as possible, and a steady watch for Ku Sui and me." He looked levelly +at them, white man and black, for a moment, then turned his face away. +"That's all. Good-by," he said. + +The door swung shut in their faces with a hiss of compressed air. + +The Hawk closed the face-plate of his helmet and rapidly spun over the +controls. Another hiss, and the outer door moved wide. He stepped with +force into space. + + * * * * * + +The panorama below him was breath-taking: Earth seemed almost to hit +him in the face. He had not realized it was so close. The sheer, +mighty stretch of the globe filled his eyes, and for seconds he could +not focus on anything else, so overwhelming to his vision was the +colossal map. It reached away to left and right, before and behind, +and he was so near that it seemed almost flat, a sun-gleaming plain on +which stood out in sharp outline the continent of Europe, the Atlantic +Ocean and, bordering it, the edge of North America. + +To his left was the flaming orb of the sun; and directly underfoot, +rotating against the vast background of the North Atlantic, he now saw +the asteroid, glinting metallically along its craggy length as it +swung over. Carse centered every bit of power he had on it, and at +maximum acceleration began to overhaul his objective. + +The asteroid was plunging free to Earth, and the rate of its +uncontrolled plunge was second by second mounting tremendously; but +Carse's power-fall quickly enabled him to overtake it. As the dome +swooped up in front of him, and the sunlight washed briefly over its +desolate buildings, he looked hard for a shape moving amongst them, +without success. Doubtless the Eurasian was well inside by now. + +The job of getting into the dome was a hazardous one. About every +thirty seconds the asteroid described a complete rotation, making the +rim turn at a speed of half a mile a second, and that made the task of +entering extremely dangerous to a man whose only protection was the +metal and fabric of a space-suit. Misjudgment would either rip the +suit or dash him to instant death. He had to slip cleanly down through +the jagged tear in the dome, planning his swoop accurately to the +fraction of a second. + +Never cooler, the Hawk made it. Building a parallel speed equal to +that of the rotating dome, he followed it over in a dizzy whirl; and +as the rent came below he shot curving down and in with sufficient +precision, and at once swiftly adjusted his gravity to offset the +asteroid's great centrifugal force. + + * * * * * + +For alternating fifteen-second periods the sunlight filled the dome +and its buildings; and on the tail of the first of these, even as the +sable tide swept all vision from him, the Hawk arrived at the door of +one wing of the central building. He had not seen Ku Sui, and he had +no time for exploration, but he did have a hunch as to where the +Eurasian had gone, and he followed that hunch. A silent, giant-gray +thing in the black silence of the corridor, grim, intent and seeming +irresistible, he swept along it; and every second he knew that a +raygun might spit from where it had been waiting in ambush to puncture +his suit and kill him. For whether or not Ku Sui was aware that he was +being tracked by his old, bitter foe, Carse did not know. + +The asteroid plunged down faster and faster. Earth's atmosphere, with +all its perils of friction, coming ever closer, and the great bosom of +the planet lying waiting to receive and bury the rock hurtling towards +it. Throughout most of the leagues of space that asteroid had tracked +on its master's diverse errands, and in many distant places the trails +of Hawk Carse and Ku Sui had crossed and left blood and crossed again; +and now those three--asteroid, Eurasian and the Hawk--were drawn once +more together for the spectacular and epic climax, now only minutes +away. No power in the universe was to stop the plunge of the asteroid; +it remained to be seen how one or both of the two living humans on it +could get out in time.... + +But of all this, nothing was in Hawk Carse's mind except the beating, +driving realization that few minutes were left in which to play out +the last scene. With reckless haste he sped to where his hunch led +him, the secret panel in Dr. Ku's laboratory. As he reached it, faint +sunlight came filtering in from somewhere and he saw that the panel +was open. + +He looked within and dimly saw a ladder reaching down into black +depths. Without hesitation he thrust through the opening and dropped +into the blackness. He dared not lose a second. + + * * * * * + +He hit bottom with a thud, changed his glove controls and reached out +in the darkness. He felt that he was in one end of a passageway. As +rapidly as he could, his arms stretched wide, all his nerves and +muscles and senses alert, he pressed along it. + +Continually he was thrown into the rough wall at his right by the +centrifugal force of the asteroid. How far did the passageway extend? +Was Ku Sui at the end of it? It occurred to the Hawk that the asteroid +was a developing shooting star, eating up the few hundred miles of +life that remained, streaking down into the atmosphere, where waited +quick friction and incandescence--and he down in the heart of it, +blind, without clue to what lay in front of him, ignorant of +everything, and with only minutes in which to achieve his end. There'd +be no heat-warning through his insulated suit. Even now, perhaps, +there was no time to get out; already the deadline might have been +crossed; he could not know. He went on.... + +How far? A hundred yards; two hundred? Easily that, he thought, and +still no variation in the blackness around him! The passageway seemed +straight, so he might now be past the rim of the dome above. + +Then, for just a second, he saw a faint wisp of light ahead! + +Automatically Carse's raygun came up, but in the time that simple +motion took the light was gone and the blackness was as deep and +lifeless as before. But he was coming to something. He went on, +perhaps a little faster, hot to discover the last emergency resource +of Dr. Ku. He took no pains to avoid making noise, for he knew Ku Sui +could not hear him through the airless space between. + +After another hundred yards or so the light from ahead winked again. +It was stronger. Only a second of it, but he now suspected that it +came at regular intervals. It was a machine, perhaps, working under +the hands of the Eurasian. On--on! With the seconds fleeting by, +building to the small total which would bring friction to the +asteroid, and incandescence, and scalding death for him within it! + +Again, suddenly, the mysterious light. It left instantly as usual, but +not before it revealed, well ahead, the end of the passage. Quickly he +traversed the remaining distance and felt around with his hands. He +found what he half expected. There was an opening, a doorway, to his +right. The room beyond surely held the final secret of the asteroid. +And if Dr. Ku Sui were anywhere, he was in there. + + * * * * * + +Carse restrained an impulse to rush in, deciding to wait for the +recurring light. Everything in him told him that this was the climax, +that through the door to his right lay the object of his chase; and in +spite of his consciousness of the plunging asteroid, and the +up-leaping skin of Earth's atmosphere, now so close, he stood full in +the doorway, gun ready, waiting. Seconds were precious, but this was +the part of common sense. He needed the light to show him what perils +he must face; he could not go into that chamber ignorant of the +situation there. + +For what seemed ages the fantastic figure stood there. The great rock +turning over and over, with awful speed dropping down. Earth nearing, +death ever closer--and he standing in silence and darkness, waiting to +finish the feud! He might never escape; he knew that; it might already +be too late to try; but the core of the man, his grim and steely will, +would not let him think of retreating towards safety until he had +faced Dr. Ku Sui and decided the account between them forever. + +The wall of darkness melted. A ghostly light filtered through. He +stared, and in its brief maximum saw before him a high, bare +rectangular room, hewn out of the rock--and at its far side a man in a +space-suit. Ku Sui, brought to bay! + +But Carse, for one of the few times in his life, doubted his eyes. +What trick were they playing him? For it was not a real, sharp figure +that he saw; it was an indefinite one, shimmering and elusive, like a +mirage. A prank of the strange light, perhaps. But Ku Sui +nevertheless! Ku Sui trapped! + +The Hawk leaped forward with outstretched arms to seize and hold the +Eurasian's motionless figure. As he moved, the second of ghostly light +dissolved away, and in the blackness his eager reaching arms closed +on--nothing! + +Surely Ku Sui had been there! Surely he had not just imagined he saw +him! + + * * * * * + +Baffled and coldly raging, the Hawk whirled and groped frantically. +The centrifugal force caught him off balance and hurled him into a +wall, but dizzy he continued his desperate search, sweeping his arms +all around him, over walls and floor and, rising, the ceiling. The +tumbling asteroid banged him unmercifully into the six sides of the +room, but even as he was flung he reached and felt in every +direction--felt without result. + +In some incredible way, Ku Sui had eluded him. The second the light +failed, he must have slipped by and escaped down the passageway +behind. The Hawk could hardly understand how it might have been +achieved, but there was no other explanation. So, with lips firm set +in his cold, grim face, he felt to the doorway, ready to track back +through the long, unlit passage. He might still overhaul and capture +the other. If there was still time.... + +But _was_ there? + +The passing seconds had not been idle. Inexorably they had brought him +to Earth's atmosphere. He stared around the room in sheer horror. + +For its blackness was relieved by the faintest of glows. It was not +that of the recurring light; it came from the whole rock ceiling +above. Carse was overwhelmed by the realization that within numbered +seconds the surface of the asteroid would reach incandescence. + +Thoughts raced like lightning through his head. He could not get free +through the corridor and dome behind: that would take at least three +minutes, and not a quarter of a minute was left. Ku Sui too, if he +were in the corridor trying to reach the dome, was trapped and +finished. A meteor flaming to Earth would be their common grave! + +A searing, hideous death! Trapped within fiery walls of melting rock! + +At that moment the regularly re-recurring flash of light came, and +under pressure of his great need the phenomenon meshed with +understanding in Carse's mind. That light was sunlight! It come at +definite intervals as the dome side of the asteroid rotated to face +the sun. + +And that light could reach the room only by way of some channel in the +ceiling! + + * * * * * + +In the waxing glow of the rock above him, Carse swiftly found the +channel--a vertical bore several feet wide, in one corner of the +ceiling. Its rock sides glowed redly, and at their end was a round +black patch that caused his heart to leap with hope. Outer space!--and +a short, straight escape to it! In a flash he saw how Ku Sui perhaps +had eluded him. + +The Eurasian's prepared emergency exit would also be his! + +He lost not a fraction of a second. Turning his glove controls to +maximum acceleration, he rose with a rush into the bore. Despite his +good aim the asteroid's centrifugal force threw him heavily into one +red-hot side. His heart went cold; would the fabric of the suit burn +through? No time for such worries--must make the frigid air +outside--fast--fast--never mind bumps--quick out--and must stay +conscious--_must_ stay conscious to exert repulsion against Earth! + +Like a projectile Hawk Carse shot out of that tunnel of hell at a +tangent to the asteroid and in a direction away from Earth, and in an +instant the doomed body was far below him, and streaking faster and +ever faster to the annihilation now so near. + +He fought to come out of his dizziness. Shaking his head, he glanced +back for sight of a minute, suit-clad figure. Had Ku Sui preceded him +through the emergency exit, his shape should be visible somewhere, +etched by the sunlight. + +There was no sign of him. + +Carse's eyes dropped to the asteroid. He saw it already miles below, +a breath-taking celestial object, a second sun, brilliant and +increasingly brilliant as it diminished over the watery plain waiting +to receive it. His mind saw the Eurasian, caught in the long corridor +to the dome, already dead on this last flight of his extraordinary +vehicle of space.... + +The end came at once. The sun was quickly a great, brilliant shooting +star, then a blinding smaller one: then its straight mad flight +through the heavens was over, and it was received in the waters of the +Atlantic Ocean and buried deep. + +A cataclysmic burial. A titanic meteor, an incandescent, screaming +streak in the night--a cloud of billowing steam--a wall of water +rearing back from the strange grave of the asteroid, so far come from +its accustomed orbit around Mars.... The thought came to Carse that +Dr. Ku Sui had died as he lived, spectacularly, with a brilliance and +a tidal wave and an earthquake to disturb the lives of men.... + +And a sadness fell over the heart of the Hawk.... + + * * * * * + +He roused from it in a moment. He felt heat! In the rush of events he +had not before noticed that his space-suit had started to burn from +the friction of his own passage through the atmosphere. Fortunately, +it was already cooling off. + +For in spite of his own leaving speed and the added centrifugal +velocity the asteroid had given him, he had hurtled down after the +doomed rock; and only then was his building repulsion neutralizing +Earth's gravity and his initial Earthward velocity. He had slowed down +just in time to keep his space suit intact. + +He came to rest, in relation to the Earth, and hovered there. Again he +scrutinized the black untenanted wastes of space above. Far out, +approaching as rapidly as it dared, was the _Sandra_. + +He wanted to be sure, so he cut in his mike and asked Leithgow if they +had, through their electelscope, seen, Ku Sui leave the asteroid. + +The anxious scientist told him they had not. + +With a slight sigh Hawk Carse snapped off his contact and waited till +the sharp, growing spot that was the _Sandra_ should come dropping +down to pick him up, and his friends learn from his own lips the story +of the passing of Ku Sui.... + +[Illustration: Advertisement.] + + * * * * * + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Passing of Ku Sui, by Anthony Gilmore + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PASSING OF KU SUI *** + +***** This file should be named 30303.txt or 30303.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/3/0/30303/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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