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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf 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. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15cb4b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #61844 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61844) diff --git a/old/61844-h.zip b/old/61844-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c2628bf..0000000 --- a/old/61844-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/61844-h/61844-h.htm b/old/61844-h/61844-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 6ab222e..0000000 --- a/old/61844-h/61844-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1235 +0,0 @@ -<!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=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Stellar Legion, by Leigh Brackett. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stellar Legion, by Leigh Brackett - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Stellar Legion - -Author: Leigh Brackett - -Release Date: April 15, 2020 [EBook #61844] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STELLAR LEGION *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE STELLAR LEGION</h1> - -<h2>By LEIGH BRACKETT</h2> - -<p>No one had ever escaped from Venus'<br /> -dread Stellar Legion. And, as Thekla<br /> -the low-Martian learned, no one<br /> -had ever betrayed it and—lived.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Winter 1940.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Silence was on the barracks like a lid clamped over tight-coiled -springs. Men in rumpled uniforms—outlanders of the Stellar Legion, -space-rats, the scrapings of the Solar System—sweated in the sullen -heat of the Venusian swamplands before the rains. Sweated and -listened.</p> - -<p>The metal door clanged open to admit Lehn, the young Venusian -Commandant, and every man jerked tautly to his feet. Ian MacIan, the -white-haired, space-burned Earthman, alone and hungrily poised for -action; Thekla, the swart Martian low-canaler, grinning like a weasel -beside Bhak, the hulking strangler from Titan. Every quick nervous -glance was riveted on Lehn.</p> - -<p>The young officer stood silent in the open door, tugging at his fair -mustache; to MacIan, watching, he was a trim, clean incongruity in this -brutal wilderness of savagery and iron men. Behind him, the eternal -mists writhed in a thin curtain over the swamp, stretching for miles -beyond the soggy earthworks; through it came the sound every ear had -listened to for days, a low, monotonous piping that seemed to ring -from the ends of the earth. The Nahali, the six-foot, scarlet-eyed -swamp-dwellers, whose touch was weapon enough, praying to their gods -for rain. When it came, the hot, torrential downpour of southern Venus, -the Nahali would burst in a scaly tide over the fort.</p> - -<p>Only a moat of charged water and four electro-cannons stood between -the Legion and the horde. If those things failed, it meant two hundred -lives burned out, the circle of protective forts broken, the fertile -uplands plundered and laid waste. MacIan looked at Lehn's clean, -university-bred young face, and wondered cynically if he was strong -enough to do his job.</p> - -<p>Lehn spoke, so abruptly that the men started. "I'm calling for -volunteers. A reconnaissance in Nahali territory; you know well enough -what that means. Three men. Well?"</p> - -<p>Ian MacIan stepped forward, followed instantly by the Martian Thekla. -Bhak the Titan hesitated, his queerly bright, blank eyes darting from -Thekla to Lehn, and back to MacIan. Then he stepped up, his hairy face -twisted in a sly grin.</p> - -<p>Lehn eyed them, his mouth hard with distaste under his fair mustache. -Then he nodded, and said; "Report in an hour, light equipment." Turning -to go, he added almost as an afterthought, "Report to my quarters, -MacIan. Immediately."</p> - -<p>MacIan's bony Celtic face tightened and his blue eyes narrowed with -wary distrust. But he followed Lehn, his gaunt, powerful body as -ramrod-straight as the Venusian's own, and no eye that watched him go -held any friendship.</p> - -<p>Thekla laughed silently, like a cat with his pointed white teeth. "Two -of a kind," he whispered. "I hope they choke each other!" Bhak grunted, -flexing his mighty six-fingered hands.</p> - -<p>In his quarters, Lehn, his pink face flushed, strode up and down while -MacIan waited dourly. It was plain enough what was coming; MacIan felt -the old bitter defensive anger rising in him.</p> - -<p>"Look," he told himself inwardly. "Books. Good cigars. A girl's picture -on the table. You had all that once, you damn fool. Why couldn't -you...."</p> - -<p>Lehn stopped abruptly in front of him, grey eyes steady. "I'm new here, -MacIan," he said. "But we've been Legion men for five generations, and -I know the law; no man is to be questioned about his past. I'm going to -break the law. Why are you here, MacIan?"</p> - -<p>MacIan's white head was gaunt and stubborn as Tantallon Rock, and he -kept silent.</p> - -<p>"I'm trying to help," Lehn went on, "You've been an officer; every man -in the barracks knows that. If you're here for any reason but failure -in duty, you can be an officer again. I'll relieve you of special duty; -you can start working for the examinations. No need to waste you in the -ranks. Well?"</p> - -<p>MacIan's eyes were hidden, but his voice was harsh. "What's behind -this, Lehn? What the hell is it to you?"</p> - -<p>The Venusian's level gaze wavered; for a moment the boy looked through -the man, and MacIan felt a quick stab in his heart. Then all that was -gone, and Lehn said curtly.</p> - -<p>"If you find the barracks congenial stay there, by all means. -Dismissed!"</p> - -<p>MacIan glared at him half-blindly for a moment, his fine long hands -clenching and unclenching at his sides. Then he 'bout faced with -vicious smartness and went out.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nearly an hour later he stood with the Martian Thekla on the -earthworks, waiting. The monotonous pipes prayed on in the swamp; -MacIan, looking up at the heavy sky, prayed just as hard that it would -not rain. Not just yet. Because if it rained before the patrol left, -the patrol would not leave; the Nahali would be on the march with the -very first drop.</p> - -<p>"And my chance would be gone," he whispered to himself.</p> - -<p>Thekla's bright black eyes studied him, as they always did; an -insolent, mocking scrutiny that angered the Scot.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said dryly. "The perfect soldier, the gallant volunteer. For -love of Venus, Thekla, or love of the Legion?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Thekla softly, "for the same reason you did, Earthman. -And perhaps not." His face, the swart, hard face of a low-canal outlaw, -was turned abruptly toward the mist-wrapped swamp. "Love of Venus!" he -snarled. "Who could love this lousy sweatbox? Not even Lehn, if he had -the brains of a flea!"</p> - -<p>"Mars is better, eh?" MacIan had a sudden inspiration. "Cool dry air, -and little dark women, and the wine-shops on the Jekkara Low-canal. -You'd like to be back there, wouldn't you?"</p> - -<p>To himself, he thought in savage pleasure, "I'll pay you out, you -little scum. You've tortured me with what I've lost, until I'd have -killed you if it hadn't been against my plan. All right, see if you can -take it!"</p> - -<p>The slow dusk was falling; Thekla's dark face was a blur but MacIan -knew he had got home. "The fountains in the palace gardens, Thekla; -the sun bursting up over red deserts; the singing girls and the <i>thil</i> -in Madame Kan's. Remember the <i>thil</i>, Thekla? Ice cold and greenish, -bubbling in blue glasses?"</p> - -<p>He knew why Thekla snarled and sprang at him, and it wasn't Thekla he -threw down on the soft earth so much as a tall youngster with a fair -mustache, who had goaded with good intent. Funny, thought MacIan, that -well-intentioned goads hurt worse than the other kind.</p> - -<p>A vast paw closed on his shoulder, hauling him back. Another, he saw, -yanked Thekla upright. And Bhak the Titan's hairy travesty of a face -peered down at them.</p> - -<p>"Listen," he grunted, in his oddly articulated Esperanto. "I know -what's up. I got ears, and village houses got thin walls. I heard the -Nahali girl talking. I don't know which one of you has the treasure, -but I want it. If I don't get it...."</p> - -<p>His fingers slid higher on MacIan's shoulder, gripped his throat. Six -fingers, like iron clamps. MacIan heard Thekla choking and cursing; he -managed to gasp:</p> - -<p>"You're in the wrong place, Bhak. We're men. I though you only -strangled women."</p> - -<p>The grip slackened a trifle. "Men too," said Bhak slowly. "That's why -I had to run away from Titan. That's why I've had to run away from -everywhere. Men or women—anyone who laughs at me."</p> - -<p>MacIan looked at the blank-eyed, revolting face, and wondered that -anyone could laugh at it. Pity it, shut it harmlessly away, but not -laugh.</p> - -<p>Bhak's fingers fell away abruptly. "They laugh at me," he repeated -miserably, "and run away. I know I'm ugly. But I want friends and a -wife, like anyone else. Especially a wife. But they laugh at me, the -women do, when I ask them. And...." He was shaking suddenly with rage -and his face was a beast's face, blind and brutal. "And I kill them. I -kill the damned little vixens that laugh at me!"</p> - -<p>He stared stupidly at his great hands. "Then I have to run away. Always -running away, alone." The bright, empty eyes met MacIan's with deadly -purpose. "That's why I want the money. If I have money, they'll like -me. Women always like men who have money. If I kill one of you, I'll -have to run away again. But if I have someone to go with me. I won't -mind."</p> - -<p>Thekla showed his pointed teeth. "Try strangling a Nahali girl, Bhak. -Then we'll be rid of you."</p> - -<p>Bhak grunted. "I'm not a fool. I know what the Nahali do to you. But I -want that money the girl told about, and I'll get it. I'd get it now, -only Lehn will come."</p> - -<p>He stood over them, grinning. MacIan drew back, between pity and -disgust. "The Legion is certainly the System's garbage dump," he -muttered in Martian, loud enough for Thekla to hear, and smiled at the -low-canaler's stifled taunt. Stifled, because Lehn was coming up, his -heavy water-boots thudding on the soggy ground.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Without a word the three fell in behind the officer, whose face had -taken on an unfamiliar stony grimness. MacIan wondered whether it was -anger at him, or fear of what they might get in the swamp. Then he -shrugged; the young cub would have to follow his own trail, wherever it -led. And MacIan took a stern comfort from this thought. His own feet -were irrevocably directed; there was no doubt, no turning back. He'd -never have again to go through what Lehn was going through. All he had -to do was wait.</p> - -<p>The plank bridge groaned under them, almost touching the water in the -moat. Most ingenious, that moat. The Nahali could swim it in their -sleep, normally, but when the conductor rods along the bottom were -turned on, they literally burned out their circuits from an overload. -The swamp-rats packed a bigger potential than any Earthly electric eel.</p> - -<p>Ian MacIan, looking at the lights of the squalid village that lay below -the fort, reflected that the Nahali had at least one definitely human -trait. The banging of a three-tiered Venusian piano echoed on the -heavy air, along with shouts and laughter that indicated a free flow -of "swamp juice." This link in the chain of stations surrounding the -swamplands was fully garrisoned only during the rains, and the less -warlike Nahali were busy harvesting what they could from the soldiers -and the rabble that came after them.</p> - -<p>Queer creatures, the swamp-rats, with their ruby eyes and iridescent -scales. Nature, in adapting them to their wet, humid environment, had -left them somewhere between warm-blooded mammals and cold-blooded -reptiles, anthropoid in shape, man-sized, capricious. The most -remarkable thing about them was their breathing apparatus, each -epithelial cell forming a tiny electrolysis plant to extract oxygen -from water. Since they lived equally on land and in water, and since -the swamp air was almost a mist, it suited them admirably. That was why -they had to wait for the rains to go raiding in the fertile uplands; -and that was why hundreds of Interworld Legionnaires had to swelter on -the strip of soggy ground between swamp and plateau to stop them.</p> - -<p>MacIan was last in line. Just as his foot left the planks, four heads -jerked up as one, facing to the darkening sky.</p> - -<p>"Rain!"</p> - -<p>Big drops, splattering slowly down, making a sibilant whisper across -the swamp. The pipes broke off, leaving the ears a little deafened with -the lack of them after so long. And MacIan, looking at Lehn, swore -furiously in his heart.</p> - -<p>The three men paused, expecting an order to turn back, but Lehn waved -them on.</p> - -<p>"But it's raining," protested Bhak. "Well get caught in the attack."</p> - -<p>The officer's strangely hard face was turned toward them. "No," he -said, with an odd finality, "they won't attack. Not yet."</p> - -<p>They went on, toward the swamp that was worse in silence than it had -been with the praying pipes. And MacIan, looking ahead at the oddly -assorted men plowing grimly through the mud, caught a sudden glimpse of -something dark and hidden, something beyond the simple threat of death -that hung always over a reconnoitering patrol.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The swamp folded them in. It is never truly dark on Venus, owing to the -thick, diffusing atmosphere. There was enough light to show branching, -muddy trails, great still pools choked with weeds, the spreading -<i>liha</i>-trees with their huge pollen pods, everything dripping with the -slow rain. MacIan could hear the thudding of that rain for miles around -on the silent air; the sullen forerunner of the deluge.</p> - -<p>Fort and village were lost in sodden twilight. Lehn's boots squelched -onward through the mud of a trail that rose gradually to a ridge of -higher ground. When he reached the top, Lehn turned abruptly, his -electro-gun seeming to materialize in his hand, and MacIan was startled -by the bleak look of his pink, young face.</p> - -<p>"Stop right there," said Lehn quietly. "Keep your hands up. And don't -speak until I'm finished."</p> - -<p>He waited a second, with the rain drumming on his waterproof coverall, -dripping from the ends of his fair mustache. The others were obedient, -Bhak a great grinning hulk between the two slighter men. Lehn went on -calmly.</p> - -<p>"Someone has sold us out to the Nahali. That's how I know they won't -attack until they get the help they're waiting for. I had to find -out, if possible, what preparations they have made for destroying our -electrical supply, which is our only vulnerable point. But I had a -double purpose in calling this party. Can you guess what it is?"</p> - -<p>MacIan could. Lehn continued:</p> - -<p>"The traitor had his price; escape from the Legion, from Venus, through -the swamp to Lhiva, where he can ship out on a tramp. His one problem -was to get away from the fort without being seen, since all leaves have -been temporarily cancelled."</p> - -<p>Lehn's mist-grey eyes were icy. "I gave him that chance."</p> - -<p>Bhak laughed, an empty, jarring road. "See? That's what the Nahali girl -said. She said, 'He can get what he needs, now. He'll get away before -the rains, probably with a patrol; then our people can attack.' I know -what he needed. Money! And I want it."</p> - -<p>"Shut up!" Lehn's electro-gun gestured peremptorily. "I want the truth -of this. Which one of you is the traitor?"</p> - -<p>Thekla's pointed white teeth gleamed. "MacIan loves the Legion, sir. -<i>He</i> couldn't be guilty."</p> - -<p>Lehn's gaze crossed MacIan's briefly, and again the Scot had a fleeting -glimpse of something softer beneath the new hardness. It was something -that took him back across time to a day when he had been a green -subaltern in the Terran Guards, and a hard-bitten, battle-tempered -senior officer had filled the horizon for him.</p> - -<p>It was the something that had made Lehn offer him a chance, when -his trap was set and sprung. It was the something that was going to -make Lehn harder on him now than on either Bhak or Thekla. It was -hero-worship.</p> - -<p>MacIan groaned inwardly. "Look here," he said. "We're in Nahali -country. There may be trouble at any moment. Do you think this is the -time for detective work? You may have caught the wrong men anyway. -Better do your job of reconnoitering, and worry about the identity of -the traitor back in the fort."</p> - -<p>"You're not an officer now, MacIan!" snapped Lehn. "Speak up, and I -want the truth. You, Thekla!"</p> - -<p>Thekla's black eyes were bitter. "I'd as well be here as anywhere, -since I can't be on Mars. How could I go back, with a hanging charge -against me?"</p> - -<p>"MacIan?" Lehn's grey gaze was levelled stiffly past his head. And -MacIan was quivering suddenly with rage; rage against the life that had -brought him where he was, against Lehn, who was the symbol of all he -had thrown away.</p> - -<p>"Think what you like," he whispered, "and be damned!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Bhak's movement came so swiftly that it caught everyone unprepared. -Handling the Martian like a child's beanbag, he picked him up and -hurled him against Lehn. The electro-gun spat a harmless bolt into -empty air as the two fell struggling in the mud. MacIan sprang forward, -but Bhak's great fingers closed on his neck. With his free hand, the -Titan dragged Thekla upright; he held them both helpless while he -kicked the sprawling Lehn in the temple.</p> - -<p>In the split second before unconsciousness took him, Lehn's eyes met -MacIan's and they were terrible eyes. MacIan groaned, "You young fool!" -Then Lehn was down, and Bhak's fingers were throttling him.</p> - -<p>"Which one?" snarled the Titan. "Give me the money, and I'll let you -go. I'm going to have the money, if I have to kill you. Then the girls -won't laugh at me. Tell me. Which one?"</p> - -<p>MacIan's blue eyes widened suddenly. With all his strength he fought to -croak out one word: "Nahali!"</p> - -<p>Bhak dropped them with a grunt. Swinging his great hands, forgetting -his gun completely, he stood at bay. There was a rush of bodies in -the rain-blurred dusk, a flash of scarlet eyes and triangular mouths -laughing in queer, noseless faces. Then there were scaly, man-like -things hurled like battering-rams against the Legionnaires.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="379" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>MacIan's gun spat blue flame; two Nahali fell, electrocuted, but there -were too many of them. His helmet was torn off, so that his drenched -white hair blinded him; rubber-shod fists and feet lashed against -reptilian flesh. Somewhere just out of sight, Thekla was cursing -breathlessly in low-canal argot. And Lehn, still dazed, was crawling -gamely to his feet; his helmet had protected him from the full force of -Bhak's kick.</p> - -<p>The hulking Titan loomed in the midst of a swarm of red-eyed -swamp-rats. And MacIan saw abruptly that he had taken off his clumsy -gloves when he had made ready to strangle his mates. The great -six-fingered hands stretched hungrily toward a Nahali throat.</p> - -<p>"Bhak!" yelled MacIan. "<i>Don't</i>...!"</p> - -<p>The Titan's heavy laughter drowned him out; the vast paws closed in -a joyous grip. On the instant, Bhak's great body bent and jerked -convulsively; he slumped down, the heart burned out of him by the -electricity circuited through his hands.</p> - -<p>Lehn's gun spoke. There was a reek of ozone, and a Nahali screamed -like a stricken reptile. The Venusian cried out in sudden pain, and -was silent; MacIan, struggling upright, saw him buried under a pile of -scaly bodies. Then a clammy paw touched his own face. He moaned as a -numbing shock struck through him, and lapsed into semi-consciousness.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He had vague memories of being alternately carried and towed through -warm lakes and across solid ground. He knew dimly that he was dumped -roughly under a <i>liha</i>-tree in a clearing where there were thatched -huts, and that he was alone.</p> - -<p>After what seemed a very long time he sat up, and his surroundings were -clear. Even more clear was Thekla's thin dark face peering amusedly -down at him.</p> - -<p>The Martian bared his pointed white teeth, and said, "Hello, traitor."</p> - -<p>MacIan would have risen and struck him, only that he was weak and -dizzy. And then he saw that Thekla had a gun.</p> - -<p>His own holster was empty. MacIan got slowly to his feet, raking the -white hair out of his eyes, and he said, "You dirty little rat!"</p> - -<p>Thekla laughed, as a fox might laugh at a baffled hound. "Go ahead and -curse me, MacIan. You high-and-mighty renegade! You were right; I'd -rather swing on Mars than live another month in this damned sweatbox! -And I can laugh at you, Ian MacIan! I'm going back to the deserts and -the wine-shops on the Jekkara Low-canal. The Nahali girl didn't mean -money; she meant plastic surgery, to give me another face. I'm free. -And you're going to die, right here in the filthy mud!"</p> - -<p>A slow, grim smile touched MacIan's face, but he said nothing.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I understand," said Thekla mockingly. "You fallen swells and your -honor! But you won't die honorably, any more than you've lived that -way."</p> - -<p>MacIan's eyes were contemptuous and untroubled.</p> - -<p>The pointed teeth gleamed. "You don't understand, MacIan. Lehn isn't -going to die. He's going back to face the music, after his post is -wiped out. I don't know what they'll do to him, but it won't be nice. -And remember, MacIan, he thinks you sold him out. He thinks <i>you</i> cost -him his post, his men, his career: his honor, you scut! Think that over -when the swamp-rats go to work on you—they like a little fun now and -then—and remember I'm laughing!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>MacIan was silent for a long time, hands clenched at his sides, his -craggy face carved in dark stone under his dripping white hair. Then he -whispered, "Why?"</p> - -<p>Thekla's eyes met his in sudden intense hate. "Because I want to see -your damned proud, supercilious noses rubbed in the dirt!"</p> - -<p>MacIan nodded. His face was strange, as though a curtain had been drawn -over it. "Where's Lehn?"</p> - -<p>Thekla pointed to the nearest hut. "But it won't do you any good. The -rats gave him an overdose, accidentally, of course, and he's out for a -long time."</p> - -<p>MacIan went unsteadily toward the hut through rain. Over his shoulder -he heard Thekla's voice: "Don't try anything funny, MacIan. I can shoot -you down before you're anywhere near an escape, even if you could find -your way back without me. The Nahali are gathering now, all over the -swamp; within half an hour they'll march on the fort, and then on to -the plateaus. They'll send my escort before they go, but you and Lehn -will have to wait until they come back. You can think of me while -you're waiting to die, MacIan; me, going to Lhiva and freedom!"</p> - -<p>MacIan didn't answer. The rhythm of the rain changed from a slow -drumming to a rapid, vicious hiss; he could see it, almost smoking -in the broad leaves of the <i>liha</i>-trees. The drops cut his body like -whips, and he realized for the first time that he was stripped to -trousers and shirt. Without his protective rubber coverall, Thekla -could electrocute him far quicker even than a Nahali, with his service -pistol.</p> - -<p>The hut, which had been very close, was suddenly far off, so far he -could hardly see it. The muddy ground swooped and swayed underfoot. -MacIan jerked himself savagely erect. Fever. Any fool who prowled the -swamp without proper covering was a sure victim. He looked back at -Thekla, safe in helmet and coverall, grinning like a weasel under the -shelter of a pod-hung tree-branch.</p> - -<p>The hut came back into proper perspective. Aching, trembling suddenly -with icy cold, he stooped and entered. Lehn lay there, dry but stripped -like MacIan, his young face slack in unconsciousness. MacIan raised a -hand, let it fall limply back. Lehn was still paralyzed from the shock. -It might be hours, even days before he came out of it. Perhaps never, -if he wasn't cared for properly.</p> - -<p>MacIan must have gone a little mad then, from the fever and the shock -to his own brain, and Thekla. He took Lehn's shirt in both hands and -shook him, as though to beat sense back into his brain, and shouted at -him in hoarse savagery.</p> - -<p>"All I wanted was to die! That's what I came to the Legion for, to die -like a soldier because I couldn't live like an officer. But it had to -be honorably, Lehn! Otherwise...."</p> - -<p>He broke off in a fit of shivering, and his blue eyes glared under -his white, tumbled hair. "You robbed me of that, damn you! You and -Thekla. You trapped me. You wouldn't even let me die decently. I was -an officer, Lehn, like you. Do you hear me, young fool? I had to -choose between two courses, and I chose the wrong one. I lost my whole -command. Twenty-five hundred men, dead.</p> - -<p>"They might have let me off at the court-martial. It was an honest -mistake. But I didn't wait. I resigned. All I wanted was to die like a -good soldier. That's why I volunteered. And you tricked me, Lehn! You -and Thekla."</p> - -<p>He let the limp body fall and crouched there, holding his throbbing -head in his hands. He knew he was crying, and couldn't stop. His skin -burned, and he was cold to the marrow of his bones.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he looked at Lehn out of bright, fever-mad eyes. "Very well," -he whispered. "I won't die. You can't kill me, you and Thekla, and you -go on believing I betrayed you. I'll take you back, you two, and fight -it out. I'll keep the Nahali from taking the fort, so you can't say I -sold it out. I'll make you believe me!"</p> - -<p>From somewhere, far off, he heard Thekla laugh.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>MacIan huddled there for some time, his brain whirling. Through the -rain-beat and the fever-mist in his head and the alternate burning and -freezing that racked his body, certain truths shot at him like stones -from a sling.</p> - -<p>Thekla had a gun that shot a stream of electricity. A gun designed for -Nahali, whose nervous systems were built to carry a certain load and -no more, like any set of wires. The low frequency discharge was strong -enough to kill a normal man only under ideal conditions; and these -conditions were uniquely ideal. Wet clothes, wet skin, wet ground, even -the air saturated.</p> - -<p>Then there were metal and rubber. Metal in his belt, in Lehn's belt; -metal mesh, because the damp air rotted everything else. Rubber on his -feet, on Lehn's feet. Rubber was insulation. Metal was a conductor.</p> - -<p>MacIan realized with part of his mind that he must be mad to do what he -planned to do. But he went to work just the same.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes later he left the hut and crossed the soaking clearing -in the downpour. Thekla had left the <i>liha</i>-tree for a hut directly -opposite Lehn's; he rose warily in the doorway, gun ready. His sly -black eyes took in MacIan's wild blue gaze, the fever spots burning on -his lean cheekbones, and he smiled.</p> - -<p>"Get on back to the hut," he said. "Be a pity if you die before the -Nahali have a chance to try electro-therapy."</p> - -<p>MacIan didn't pause. His right arm was hidden behind his back. Thekla's -jaw tightened. "Get back or I'll kill you!"</p> - -<p>MacIan's boots sucked in the mud. The beating rain streamed from his -white hair, over his craggy face and gaunt shoulders. And he didn't -hesitate.</p> - -<p>Thekla's pointed teeth gleamed in a sudden snarl. His thumb snapped the -trigger; a bolt of blue flame hissed toward the striding Scot.</p> - -<p>MacIan's right hand shot out in the instant the gun spoke. One of -Lehn's rubber boots cased his arm almost to the shoulder, and around -the ankle of it a length of metal was made fast; two mesh belts linked -together. The spitting blue fire was gathered to the metal circle, shot -down the coupled lengths, and died in the ground.</p> - -<p>The pistol sputtered out as a coil fused. Thekla cursed and flung it -at MacIan's head. The Scot dodged it, and broke into a run, dropping -Lehn's boot that his hands might be free to grapple.</p> - -<p>Thekla fought like a low-canal rat, but MacIan was bigger and beyond -himself with the first madness of fever. He beat the little Martian -down and bound him with his own belt, and then went looking for his -clothes and gun.</p> - -<p>He found them, with Lehn's, in the hut next door. His belt pouch -yielded quinine; he gulped a large dose and felt better. After he had -dressed, he went and wrestled Lehn into his coverall and helmet and -dragged him out beside Thekla, who was groaning back to consciousness -in the mud.</p> - -<p>Looking up, MacIan saw three Nahali men watching him warily out of -scarlet eyes as they slunk toward him.</p> - -<p>Thekla's escort. And it was a near thing. Twice clammy paws seared -his face before he sent them writhing down into the mud, jerking as -the overload beat through their nervous systems. Triangular mouths -gaped in noseless faces, hand-like paws tore convulsively at scaly -breast-plates, and MacIan, as he watched them die, said calmly:</p> - -<p>"There will be hundreds of them storming the fort. My gun won't be -enough. But somehow I've got to stop them."</p> - -<p>No answer now. He shrugged and kicked Thekla erect. "Back to the fort, -scut," he ordered, and laughed. The linked belts were fastened now -around Thekla's neck, the other end hooked to the muzzle of MacIan's -gun, so that the slightest rough pull would discharge it. "What if I -stumble?" Thekla snarled, and MacIan answered, "You'd better not!"</p> - -<p>Lehn was big and heavy, but somehow MacIan got him across his -shoulders. And they started off.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The fringe of the swamp was in sight when MacIan's brain became -momentarily lucid. Another dose of quinine drove the mists back, so -that the fort, some fifty yards away, assumed its proper focus. MacIan -dropped Lehn on his back in the mud and stood looking, his hand ready -on his gun.</p> - -<p>The village swarmed with swamp-rats in the slow, watery dawn. They were -ranged in a solid mass along the edges of the moat, and the fort's -guns were silent MacIan wondered why, until he saw that the dam that -furnished power for the turbine had been broken down.</p> - -<p>Thekla laughed silently. "My idea, MacIan. The Nahali would never have -thought of it themselves. They can't drown, you know. I showed them -how to sneak into the reservoir, right under the fort's guns, and stay -under water, loosening the stones around the spillway. The pressure did -the rest. Now there's no power for the big guns, nor the conductor rods -in the moat."</p> - -<p>He turned feral black eyes on MacIan. "You've made a fool of yourself. -You can't stop those swamp-rats from tearing the fort apart. You can't -stop me from getting away, after they're through. You can't stop Lehn -from thinking what he does. You haven't changed anything by these -damned heroics!"</p> - -<p>"Heroics!" said MacIan hoarsely, and laughed. "Maybe." With sudden -viciousness he threw the end of the linked belts over a low -<i>liha</i>-branch, so that Thekla had to stand on tiptoe to keep from -strangling. Then, staring blindly at the beleagured fort, he tried to -beat sense out of his throbbing head.</p> - -<p>"There was something," he whispered. "Something I was saying back -in the swamp. Something my mind was trying to tell me, only I was -delirious. What was it, Thekla?"</p> - -<p>The Martian was silent, the bloody grin set on his dark face. MacIan -took him by the shoulders and shook him. "What was it?"</p> - -<p>Thekla choked and struggled as the metal halter tightened. "Nothing, -you fool! Nothing but Nahali and <i>liha</i>-trees."</p> - -<p>"<i>Liha</i>-trees!" MacIan's fever-bright eyes went to the great green -pollen-pods hung among the broad leaves. He shivered, partly with -chill, partly with exultation. And he began like a madman to strip Lehn -and Thekla of their rubber coveralls.</p> - -<p>Lehn's, because it was larger, he tented over two low branches. -Thekla's he spread on the ground beneath. Then he tore down pod after -pod from the <i>liha</i>-tree, breaking open the shells under the shelter of -the improvised tent, pouring out the green powder on the groundcloth.</p> - -<p>When he had a two-foot pile, he stood back and fired a bolt of -electricity into the heart of it.</p> - -<p>Thick, oily black smoke poured up, slowly at first, then faster and -faster as the fire took hold. A sluggish breeze was blowing out of -the swamp, drawn by the cooler uplands beyond the fort; it took the -smoke and sent it rolling toward the packed and struggling mass on the -earthworks.</p> - -<p>Out on the battlefield, Nahali stiffened suddenly, fell tearing -convulsively at their bodies. The beating rain washed the soot down -onto them harder and harder, streaked it away, left a dull film over -the reptilian skins, the scaly breast-plates. More and more of them fell -as the smoke rolled thicker, fed by the blackened madman under the -<i>liha</i>-tree, until only Legionnaires were left standing in its path, -staring dumbly at the stricken swamp-rats.</p> - -<p>The squirming bodies stilled in death. Hundreds more, out on the edges -of the smoke, seeing their comrades die, fled back into the swamp. The -earthworks were cleared. Ian MacIan gave one wild shout that carried -clear to the fort. Then he collapsed, crouched shivering beside the -unconscious Lehn, babbling incoherently.</p> - -<p>Thekla, strained on tiptoe under the tree-branch, had stopped smiling.</p> - -<p>The fever-mists rolled away at last. MacIan woke to see Lehn's pink -young face, rather less pink than usual, bending over him.</p> - -<p>Lehn's hand came out awkwardly. "I'm sorry, MacIan. Thekla told me; -I made him. I should have known." His grey eyes were ashamed. MacIan -smiled and gripped his hand with what strength the fever had left him.</p> - -<p>"My own fault, boy. Forget it."</p> - -<p>Lehn sat down on the bed. "What did you do to the swamp-rats?" he -demanded eagerly. "They all have a coating as though they'd been dipped -in paraffin!"</p> - -<p>MacIan chuckled. "In a way, they were. You know how they breathe; each -skin cell forming a miniature electrolysis plant to extract oxygen from -water. Well, it extracts hydrogen too, naturally, and the hydrogen is -continually being given off, just as we give off carbon dioxide.</p> - -<p>"Black smoke means soot, soot means carbon. Carbon plus hydrogen forms -various waxy hydrocarbons. Wax is impervious to both water and air. -So when the oily soot from the smoke united with the hydrogen exuded -from the Nahali's bodies, it sealed away the life-giving water from -the skin-cells. They literally smothered to death, like an Earthly ant -doused with powder."</p> - -<p>Lehn nodded. He was quiet for a long time, his eyes on the sick-bay's -well-scrubbed floor. At length, he said:</p> - -<p>"My offer still goes, MacIan. Officer's examinations. One mistake, an -honest one, shouldn't rob you of your life. You don't even know that it -would have made any difference if your decision had been the other way. -Perhaps there was no way out."</p> - -<p>MacIan's white head nodded on the pillow.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I will, Lehn. Something Thekla said set me thinking. He said -he'd rather die on Mars than live another month in exile. I'm an exile -too, Lehn, in a different way. Yes, I think I'll try it. And if I fail -again—" he shrugged and smiled—"there are always Nahali."</p> - -<p>It seemed for a minute after that as though he had gone to sleep. Then -he murmured, so low that Lehn had to bend down to hear him:</p> - -<p>"Thekla will hang after the court-martial. Can you see that they take -him back to Mars, first?"</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stellar Legion, by Leigh Brackett - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STELLAR LEGION *** - -***** This file should be named 61844-h.htm or 61844-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/8/4/61844/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/61844-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/61844-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 772fb20..0000000 --- a/old/61844-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/61844-h/images/illus.jpg b/old/61844-h/images/illus.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9f3a778..0000000 --- a/old/61844-h/images/illus.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/61844.txt b/old/61844.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f4ba00e..0000000 --- a/old/61844.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1125 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stellar Legion, by Leigh Brackett - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Stellar Legion - -Author: Leigh Brackett - -Release Date: April 15, 2020 [EBook #61844] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STELLAR LEGION *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE STELLAR LEGION - - By LEIGH BRACKETT - - No one had ever escaped from Venus' - dread Stellar Legion. And, as Thekla - the low-Martian learned, no one - had ever betrayed it and--lived. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1940. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Silence was on the barracks like a lid clamped over tight-coiled -springs. Men in rumpled uniforms--outlanders of the Stellar Legion, -space-rats, the scrapings of the Solar System--sweated in the sullen -heat of the Venusian swamplands before the rains. Sweated and -listened. - -The metal door clanged open to admit Lehn, the young Venusian -Commandant, and every man jerked tautly to his feet. Ian MacIan, the -white-haired, space-burned Earthman, alone and hungrily poised for -action; Thekla, the swart Martian low-canaler, grinning like a weasel -beside Bhak, the hulking strangler from Titan. Every quick nervous -glance was riveted on Lehn. - -The young officer stood silent in the open door, tugging at his fair -mustache; to MacIan, watching, he was a trim, clean incongruity in this -brutal wilderness of savagery and iron men. Behind him, the eternal -mists writhed in a thin curtain over the swamp, stretching for miles -beyond the soggy earthworks; through it came the sound every ear had -listened to for days, a low, monotonous piping that seemed to ring -from the ends of the earth. The Nahali, the six-foot, scarlet-eyed -swamp-dwellers, whose touch was weapon enough, praying to their gods -for rain. When it came, the hot, torrential downpour of southern Venus, -the Nahali would burst in a scaly tide over the fort. - -Only a moat of charged water and four electro-cannons stood between -the Legion and the horde. If those things failed, it meant two hundred -lives burned out, the circle of protective forts broken, the fertile -uplands plundered and laid waste. MacIan looked at Lehn's clean, -university-bred young face, and wondered cynically if he was strong -enough to do his job. - -Lehn spoke, so abruptly that the men started. "I'm calling for -volunteers. A reconnaissance in Nahali territory; you know well enough -what that means. Three men. Well?" - -Ian MacIan stepped forward, followed instantly by the Martian Thekla. -Bhak the Titan hesitated, his queerly bright, blank eyes darting from -Thekla to Lehn, and back to MacIan. Then he stepped up, his hairy face -twisted in a sly grin. - -Lehn eyed them, his mouth hard with distaste under his fair mustache. -Then he nodded, and said; "Report in an hour, light equipment." Turning -to go, he added almost as an afterthought, "Report to my quarters, -MacIan. Immediately." - -MacIan's bony Celtic face tightened and his blue eyes narrowed with -wary distrust. But he followed Lehn, his gaunt, powerful body as -ramrod-straight as the Venusian's own, and no eye that watched him go -held any friendship. - -Thekla laughed silently, like a cat with his pointed white teeth. "Two -of a kind," he whispered. "I hope they choke each other!" Bhak grunted, -flexing his mighty six-fingered hands. - -In his quarters, Lehn, his pink face flushed, strode up and down while -MacIan waited dourly. It was plain enough what was coming; MacIan felt -the old bitter defensive anger rising in him. - -"Look," he told himself inwardly. "Books. Good cigars. A girl's picture -on the table. You had all that once, you damn fool. Why couldn't -you...." - -Lehn stopped abruptly in front of him, grey eyes steady. "I'm new here, -MacIan," he said. "But we've been Legion men for five generations, and -I know the law; no man is to be questioned about his past. I'm going to -break the law. Why are you here, MacIan?" - -MacIan's white head was gaunt and stubborn as Tantallon Rock, and he -kept silent. - -"I'm trying to help," Lehn went on, "You've been an officer; every man -in the barracks knows that. If you're here for any reason but failure -in duty, you can be an officer again. I'll relieve you of special duty; -you can start working for the examinations. No need to waste you in the -ranks. Well?" - -MacIan's eyes were hidden, but his voice was harsh. "What's behind -this, Lehn? What the hell is it to you?" - -The Venusian's level gaze wavered; for a moment the boy looked through -the man, and MacIan felt a quick stab in his heart. Then all that was -gone, and Lehn said curtly. - -"If you find the barracks congenial stay there, by all means. -Dismissed!" - -MacIan glared at him half-blindly for a moment, his fine long hands -clenching and unclenching at his sides. Then he 'bout faced with -vicious smartness and went out. - - * * * * * - -Nearly an hour later he stood with the Martian Thekla on the -earthworks, waiting. The monotonous pipes prayed on in the swamp; -MacIan, looking up at the heavy sky, prayed just as hard that it would -not rain. Not just yet. Because if it rained before the patrol left, -the patrol would not leave; the Nahali would be on the march with the -very first drop. - -"And my chance would be gone," he whispered to himself. - -Thekla's bright black eyes studied him, as they always did; an -insolent, mocking scrutiny that angered the Scot. - -"Well," he said dryly. "The perfect soldier, the gallant volunteer. For -love of Venus, Thekla, or love of the Legion?" - -"Perhaps," said Thekla softly, "for the same reason you did, Earthman. -And perhaps not." His face, the swart, hard face of a low-canal outlaw, -was turned abruptly toward the mist-wrapped swamp. "Love of Venus!" he -snarled. "Who could love this lousy sweatbox? Not even Lehn, if he had -the brains of a flea!" - -"Mars is better, eh?" MacIan had a sudden inspiration. "Cool dry air, -and little dark women, and the wine-shops on the Jekkara Low-canal. -You'd like to be back there, wouldn't you?" - -To himself, he thought in savage pleasure, "I'll pay you out, you -little scum. You've tortured me with what I've lost, until I'd have -killed you if it hadn't been against my plan. All right, see if you can -take it!" - -The slow dusk was falling; Thekla's dark face was a blur but MacIan -knew he had got home. "The fountains in the palace gardens, Thekla; -the sun bursting up over red deserts; the singing girls and the _thil_ -in Madame Kan's. Remember the _thil_, Thekla? Ice cold and greenish, -bubbling in blue glasses?" - -He knew why Thekla snarled and sprang at him, and it wasn't Thekla he -threw down on the soft earth so much as a tall youngster with a fair -mustache, who had goaded with good intent. Funny, thought MacIan, that -well-intentioned goads hurt worse than the other kind. - -A vast paw closed on his shoulder, hauling him back. Another, he saw, -yanked Thekla upright. And Bhak the Titan's hairy travesty of a face -peered down at them. - -"Listen," he grunted, in his oddly articulated Esperanto. "I know -what's up. I got ears, and village houses got thin walls. I heard the -Nahali girl talking. I don't know which one of you has the treasure, -but I want it. If I don't get it...." - -His fingers slid higher on MacIan's shoulder, gripped his throat. Six -fingers, like iron clamps. MacIan heard Thekla choking and cursing; he -managed to gasp: - -"You're in the wrong place, Bhak. We're men. I though you only -strangled women." - -The grip slackened a trifle. "Men too," said Bhak slowly. "That's why -I had to run away from Titan. That's why I've had to run away from -everywhere. Men or women--anyone who laughs at me." - -MacIan looked at the blank-eyed, revolting face, and wondered that -anyone could laugh at it. Pity it, shut it harmlessly away, but not -laugh. - -Bhak's fingers fell away abruptly. "They laugh at me," he repeated -miserably, "and run away. I know I'm ugly. But I want friends and a -wife, like anyone else. Especially a wife. But they laugh at me, the -women do, when I ask them. And...." He was shaking suddenly with rage -and his face was a beast's face, blind and brutal. "And I kill them. I -kill the damned little vixens that laugh at me!" - -He stared stupidly at his great hands. "Then I have to run away. Always -running away, alone." The bright, empty eyes met MacIan's with deadly -purpose. "That's why I want the money. If I have money, they'll like -me. Women always like men who have money. If I kill one of you, I'll -have to run away again. But if I have someone to go with me. I won't -mind." - -Thekla showed his pointed teeth. "Try strangling a Nahali girl, Bhak. -Then we'll be rid of you." - -Bhak grunted. "I'm not a fool. I know what the Nahali do to you. But I -want that money the girl told about, and I'll get it. I'd get it now, -only Lehn will come." - -He stood over them, grinning. MacIan drew back, between pity and -disgust. "The Legion is certainly the System's garbage dump," he -muttered in Martian, loud enough for Thekla to hear, and smiled at the -low-canaler's stifled taunt. Stifled, because Lehn was coming up, his -heavy water-boots thudding on the soggy ground. - - * * * * * - -Without a word the three fell in behind the officer, whose face had -taken on an unfamiliar stony grimness. MacIan wondered whether it was -anger at him, or fear of what they might get in the swamp. Then he -shrugged; the young cub would have to follow his own trail, wherever it -led. And MacIan took a stern comfort from this thought. His own feet -were irrevocably directed; there was no doubt, no turning back. He'd -never have again to go through what Lehn was going through. All he had -to do was wait. - -The plank bridge groaned under them, almost touching the water in the -moat. Most ingenious, that moat. The Nahali could swim it in their -sleep, normally, but when the conductor rods along the bottom were -turned on, they literally burned out their circuits from an overload. -The swamp-rats packed a bigger potential than any Earthly electric eel. - -Ian MacIan, looking at the lights of the squalid village that lay below -the fort, reflected that the Nahali had at least one definitely human -trait. The banging of a three-tiered Venusian piano echoed on the -heavy air, along with shouts and laughter that indicated a free flow -of "swamp juice." This link in the chain of stations surrounding the -swamplands was fully garrisoned only during the rains, and the less -warlike Nahali were busy harvesting what they could from the soldiers -and the rabble that came after them. - -Queer creatures, the swamp-rats, with their ruby eyes and iridescent -scales. Nature, in adapting them to their wet, humid environment, had -left them somewhere between warm-blooded mammals and cold-blooded -reptiles, anthropoid in shape, man-sized, capricious. The most -remarkable thing about them was their breathing apparatus, each -epithelial cell forming a tiny electrolysis plant to extract oxygen -from water. Since they lived equally on land and in water, and since -the swamp air was almost a mist, it suited them admirably. That was why -they had to wait for the rains to go raiding in the fertile uplands; -and that was why hundreds of Interworld Legionnaires had to swelter on -the strip of soggy ground between swamp and plateau to stop them. - -MacIan was last in line. Just as his foot left the planks, four heads -jerked up as one, facing to the darkening sky. - -"Rain!" - -Big drops, splattering slowly down, making a sibilant whisper across -the swamp. The pipes broke off, leaving the ears a little deafened with -the lack of them after so long. And MacIan, looking at Lehn, swore -furiously in his heart. - -The three men paused, expecting an order to turn back, but Lehn waved -them on. - -"But it's raining," protested Bhak. "Well get caught in the attack." - -The officer's strangely hard face was turned toward them. "No," he -said, with an odd finality, "they won't attack. Not yet." - -They went on, toward the swamp that was worse in silence than it had -been with the praying pipes. And MacIan, looking ahead at the oddly -assorted men plowing grimly through the mud, caught a sudden glimpse of -something dark and hidden, something beyond the simple threat of death -that hung always over a reconnoitering patrol. - - * * * * * - -The swamp folded them in. It is never truly dark on Venus, owing to the -thick, diffusing atmosphere. There was enough light to show branching, -muddy trails, great still pools choked with weeds, the spreading -_liha_-trees with their huge pollen pods, everything dripping with the -slow rain. MacIan could hear the thudding of that rain for miles around -on the silent air; the sullen forerunner of the deluge. - -Fort and village were lost in sodden twilight. Lehn's boots squelched -onward through the mud of a trail that rose gradually to a ridge of -higher ground. When he reached the top, Lehn turned abruptly, his -electro-gun seeming to materialize in his hand, and MacIan was startled -by the bleak look of his pink, young face. - -"Stop right there," said Lehn quietly. "Keep your hands up. And don't -speak until I'm finished." - -He waited a second, with the rain drumming on his waterproof coverall, -dripping from the ends of his fair mustache. The others were obedient, -Bhak a great grinning hulk between the two slighter men. Lehn went on -calmly. - -"Someone has sold us out to the Nahali. That's how I know they won't -attack until they get the help they're waiting for. I had to find -out, if possible, what preparations they have made for destroying our -electrical supply, which is our only vulnerable point. But I had a -double purpose in calling this party. Can you guess what it is?" - -MacIan could. Lehn continued: - -"The traitor had his price; escape from the Legion, from Venus, through -the swamp to Lhiva, where he can ship out on a tramp. His one problem -was to get away from the fort without being seen, since all leaves have -been temporarily cancelled." - -Lehn's mist-grey eyes were icy. "I gave him that chance." - -Bhak laughed, an empty, jarring road. "See? That's what the Nahali girl -said. She said, 'He can get what he needs, now. He'll get away before -the rains, probably with a patrol; then our people can attack.' I know -what he needed. Money! And I want it." - -"Shut up!" Lehn's electro-gun gestured peremptorily. "I want the truth -of this. Which one of you is the traitor?" - -Thekla's pointed white teeth gleamed. "MacIan loves the Legion, sir. -_He_ couldn't be guilty." - -Lehn's gaze crossed MacIan's briefly, and again the Scot had a fleeting -glimpse of something softer beneath the new hardness. It was something -that took him back across time to a day when he had been a green -subaltern in the Terran Guards, and a hard-bitten, battle-tempered -senior officer had filled the horizon for him. - -It was the something that had made Lehn offer him a chance, when -his trap was set and sprung. It was the something that was going to -make Lehn harder on him now than on either Bhak or Thekla. It was -hero-worship. - -MacIan groaned inwardly. "Look here," he said. "We're in Nahali -country. There may be trouble at any moment. Do you think this is the -time for detective work? You may have caught the wrong men anyway. -Better do your job of reconnoitering, and worry about the identity of -the traitor back in the fort." - -"You're not an officer now, MacIan!" snapped Lehn. "Speak up, and I -want the truth. You, Thekla!" - -Thekla's black eyes were bitter. "I'd as well be here as anywhere, -since I can't be on Mars. How could I go back, with a hanging charge -against me?" - -"MacIan?" Lehn's grey gaze was levelled stiffly past his head. And -MacIan was quivering suddenly with rage; rage against the life that had -brought him where he was, against Lehn, who was the symbol of all he -had thrown away. - -"Think what you like," he whispered, "and be damned!" - - * * * * * - -Bhak's movement came so swiftly that it caught everyone unprepared. -Handling the Martian like a child's beanbag, he picked him up and -hurled him against Lehn. The electro-gun spat a harmless bolt into -empty air as the two fell struggling in the mud. MacIan sprang forward, -but Bhak's great fingers closed on his neck. With his free hand, the -Titan dragged Thekla upright; he held them both helpless while he -kicked the sprawling Lehn in the temple. - -In the split second before unconsciousness took him, Lehn's eyes met -MacIan's and they were terrible eyes. MacIan groaned, "You young fool!" -Then Lehn was down, and Bhak's fingers were throttling him. - -"Which one?" snarled the Titan. "Give me the money, and I'll let you -go. I'm going to have the money, if I have to kill you. Then the girls -won't laugh at me. Tell me. Which one?" - -MacIan's blue eyes widened suddenly. With all his strength he fought to -croak out one word: "Nahali!" - -Bhak dropped them with a grunt. Swinging his great hands, forgetting -his gun completely, he stood at bay. There was a rush of bodies in -the rain-blurred dusk, a flash of scarlet eyes and triangular mouths -laughing in queer, noseless faces. Then there were scaly, man-like -things hurled like battering-rams against the Legionnaires. - -MacIan's gun spat blue flame; two Nahali fell, electrocuted, but there -were too many of them. His helmet was torn off, so that his drenched -white hair blinded him; rubber-shod fists and feet lashed against -reptilian flesh. Somewhere just out of sight, Thekla was cursing -breathlessly in low-canal argot. And Lehn, still dazed, was crawling -gamely to his feet; his helmet had protected him from the full force of -Bhak's kick. - -The hulking Titan loomed in the midst of a swarm of red-eyed -swamp-rats. And MacIan saw abruptly that he had taken off his clumsy -gloves when he had made ready to strangle his mates. The great -six-fingered hands stretched hungrily toward a Nahali throat. - -"Bhak!" yelled MacIan. "_Don't_...!" - -The Titan's heavy laughter drowned him out; the vast paws closed in -a joyous grip. On the instant, Bhak's great body bent and jerked -convulsively; he slumped down, the heart burned out of him by the -electricity circuited through his hands. - -Lehn's gun spoke. There was a reek of ozone, and a Nahali screamed -like a stricken reptile. The Venusian cried out in sudden pain, and -was silent; MacIan, struggling upright, saw him buried under a pile of -scaly bodies. Then a clammy paw touched his own face. He moaned as a -numbing shock struck through him, and lapsed into semi-consciousness. - - * * * * * - -He had vague memories of being alternately carried and towed through -warm lakes and across solid ground. He knew dimly that he was dumped -roughly under a _liha_-tree in a clearing where there were thatched -huts, and that he was alone. - -After what seemed a very long time he sat up, and his surroundings were -clear. Even more clear was Thekla's thin dark face peering amusedly -down at him. - -The Martian bared his pointed white teeth, and said, "Hello, traitor." - -MacIan would have risen and struck him, only that he was weak and -dizzy. And then he saw that Thekla had a gun. - -His own holster was empty. MacIan got slowly to his feet, raking the -white hair out of his eyes, and he said, "You dirty little rat!" - -Thekla laughed, as a fox might laugh at a baffled hound. "Go ahead and -curse me, MacIan. You high-and-mighty renegade! You were right; I'd -rather swing on Mars than live another month in this damned sweatbox! -And I can laugh at you, Ian MacIan! I'm going back to the deserts and -the wine-shops on the Jekkara Low-canal. The Nahali girl didn't mean -money; she meant plastic surgery, to give me another face. I'm free. -And you're going to die, right here in the filthy mud!" - -A slow, grim smile touched MacIan's face, but he said nothing. - -"Oh, I understand," said Thekla mockingly. "You fallen swells and your -honor! But you won't die honorably, any more than you've lived that -way." - -MacIan's eyes were contemptuous and untroubled. - -The pointed teeth gleamed. "You don't understand, MacIan. Lehn isn't -going to die. He's going back to face the music, after his post is -wiped out. I don't know what they'll do to him, but it won't be nice. -And remember, MacIan, he thinks you sold him out. He thinks _you_ cost -him his post, his men, his career: his honor, you scut! Think that over -when the swamp-rats go to work on you--they like a little fun now and -then--and remember I'm laughing!" - - * * * * * - -MacIan was silent for a long time, hands clenched at his sides, his -craggy face carved in dark stone under his dripping white hair. Then he -whispered, "Why?" - -Thekla's eyes met his in sudden intense hate. "Because I want to see -your damned proud, supercilious noses rubbed in the dirt!" - -MacIan nodded. His face was strange, as though a curtain had been drawn -over it. "Where's Lehn?" - -Thekla pointed to the nearest hut. "But it won't do you any good. The -rats gave him an overdose, accidentally, of course, and he's out for a -long time." - -MacIan went unsteadily toward the hut through rain. Over his shoulder -he heard Thekla's voice: "Don't try anything funny, MacIan. I can shoot -you down before you're anywhere near an escape, even if you could find -your way back without me. The Nahali are gathering now, all over the -swamp; within half an hour they'll march on the fort, and then on to -the plateaus. They'll send my escort before they go, but you and Lehn -will have to wait until they come back. You can think of me while -you're waiting to die, MacIan; me, going to Lhiva and freedom!" - -MacIan didn't answer. The rhythm of the rain changed from a slow -drumming to a rapid, vicious hiss; he could see it, almost smoking -in the broad leaves of the _liha_-trees. The drops cut his body like -whips, and he realized for the first time that he was stripped to -trousers and shirt. Without his protective rubber coverall, Thekla -could electrocute him far quicker even than a Nahali, with his service -pistol. - -The hut, which had been very close, was suddenly far off, so far he -could hardly see it. The muddy ground swooped and swayed underfoot. -MacIan jerked himself savagely erect. Fever. Any fool who prowled the -swamp without proper covering was a sure victim. He looked back at -Thekla, safe in helmet and coverall, grinning like a weasel under the -shelter of a pod-hung tree-branch. - -The hut came back into proper perspective. Aching, trembling suddenly -with icy cold, he stooped and entered. Lehn lay there, dry but stripped -like MacIan, his young face slack in unconsciousness. MacIan raised a -hand, let it fall limply back. Lehn was still paralyzed from the shock. -It might be hours, even days before he came out of it. Perhaps never, -if he wasn't cared for properly. - -MacIan must have gone a little mad then, from the fever and the shock -to his own brain, and Thekla. He took Lehn's shirt in both hands and -shook him, as though to beat sense back into his brain, and shouted at -him in hoarse savagery. - -"All I wanted was to die! That's what I came to the Legion for, to die -like a soldier because I couldn't live like an officer. But it had to -be honorably, Lehn! Otherwise...." - -He broke off in a fit of shivering, and his blue eyes glared under -his white, tumbled hair. "You robbed me of that, damn you! You and -Thekla. You trapped me. You wouldn't even let me die decently. I was -an officer, Lehn, like you. Do you hear me, young fool? I had to -choose between two courses, and I chose the wrong one. I lost my whole -command. Twenty-five hundred men, dead. - -"They might have let me off at the court-martial. It was an honest -mistake. But I didn't wait. I resigned. All I wanted was to die like a -good soldier. That's why I volunteered. And you tricked me, Lehn! You -and Thekla." - -He let the limp body fall and crouched there, holding his throbbing -head in his hands. He knew he was crying, and couldn't stop. His skin -burned, and he was cold to the marrow of his bones. - -Suddenly he looked at Lehn out of bright, fever-mad eyes. "Very well," -he whispered. "I won't die. You can't kill me, you and Thekla, and you -go on believing I betrayed you. I'll take you back, you two, and fight -it out. I'll keep the Nahali from taking the fort, so you can't say I -sold it out. I'll make you believe me!" - -From somewhere, far off, he heard Thekla laugh. - - * * * * * - -MacIan huddled there for some time, his brain whirling. Through the -rain-beat and the fever-mist in his head and the alternate burning and -freezing that racked his body, certain truths shot at him like stones -from a sling. - -Thekla had a gun that shot a stream of electricity. A gun designed for -Nahali, whose nervous systems were built to carry a certain load and -no more, like any set of wires. The low frequency discharge was strong -enough to kill a normal man only under ideal conditions; and these -conditions were uniquely ideal. Wet clothes, wet skin, wet ground, even -the air saturated. - -Then there were metal and rubber. Metal in his belt, in Lehn's belt; -metal mesh, because the damp air rotted everything else. Rubber on his -feet, on Lehn's feet. Rubber was insulation. Metal was a conductor. - -MacIan realized with part of his mind that he must be mad to do what he -planned to do. But he went to work just the same. - -Ten minutes later he left the hut and crossed the soaking clearing -in the downpour. Thekla had left the _liha_-tree for a hut directly -opposite Lehn's; he rose warily in the doorway, gun ready. His sly -black eyes took in MacIan's wild blue gaze, the fever spots burning on -his lean cheekbones, and he smiled. - -"Get on back to the hut," he said. "Be a pity if you die before the -Nahali have a chance to try electro-therapy." - -MacIan didn't pause. His right arm was hidden behind his back. Thekla's -jaw tightened. "Get back or I'll kill you!" - -MacIan's boots sucked in the mud. The beating rain streamed from his -white hair, over his craggy face and gaunt shoulders. And he didn't -hesitate. - -Thekla's pointed teeth gleamed in a sudden snarl. His thumb snapped the -trigger; a bolt of blue flame hissed toward the striding Scot. - -MacIan's right hand shot out in the instant the gun spoke. One of -Lehn's rubber boots cased his arm almost to the shoulder, and around -the ankle of it a length of metal was made fast; two mesh belts linked -together. The spitting blue fire was gathered to the metal circle, shot -down the coupled lengths, and died in the ground. - -The pistol sputtered out as a coil fused. Thekla cursed and flung it -at MacIan's head. The Scot dodged it, and broke into a run, dropping -Lehn's boot that his hands might be free to grapple. - -Thekla fought like a low-canal rat, but MacIan was bigger and beyond -himself with the first madness of fever. He beat the little Martian -down and bound him with his own belt, and then went looking for his -clothes and gun. - -He found them, with Lehn's, in the hut next door. His belt pouch -yielded quinine; he gulped a large dose and felt better. After he had -dressed, he went and wrestled Lehn into his coverall and helmet and -dragged him out beside Thekla, who was groaning back to consciousness -in the mud. - -Looking up, MacIan saw three Nahali men watching him warily out of -scarlet eyes as they slunk toward him. - -Thekla's escort. And it was a near thing. Twice clammy paws seared -his face before he sent them writhing down into the mud, jerking as -the overload beat through their nervous systems. Triangular mouths -gaped in noseless faces, hand-like paws tore convulsively at scaly -breast-plates, and MacIan, as he watched them die, said calmly: - -"There will be hundreds of them storming the fort. My gun won't be -enough. But somehow I've got to stop them." - -No answer now. He shrugged and kicked Thekla erect. "Back to the fort, -scut," he ordered, and laughed. The linked belts were fastened now -around Thekla's neck, the other end hooked to the muzzle of MacIan's -gun, so that the slightest rough pull would discharge it. "What if I -stumble?" Thekla snarled, and MacIan answered, "You'd better not!" - -Lehn was big and heavy, but somehow MacIan got him across his -shoulders. And they started off. - - * * * * * - -The fringe of the swamp was in sight when MacIan's brain became -momentarily lucid. Another dose of quinine drove the mists back, so -that the fort, some fifty yards away, assumed its proper focus. MacIan -dropped Lehn on his back in the mud and stood looking, his hand ready -on his gun. - -The village swarmed with swamp-rats in the slow, watery dawn. They were -ranged in a solid mass along the edges of the moat, and the fort's -guns were silent MacIan wondered why, until he saw that the dam that -furnished power for the turbine had been broken down. - -Thekla laughed silently. "My idea, MacIan. The Nahali would never have -thought of it themselves. They can't drown, you know. I showed them -how to sneak into the reservoir, right under the fort's guns, and stay -under water, loosening the stones around the spillway. The pressure did -the rest. Now there's no power for the big guns, nor the conductor rods -in the moat." - -He turned feral black eyes on MacIan. "You've made a fool of yourself. -You can't stop those swamp-rats from tearing the fort apart. You can't -stop me from getting away, after they're through. You can't stop Lehn -from thinking what he does. You haven't changed anything by these -damned heroics!" - -"Heroics!" said MacIan hoarsely, and laughed. "Maybe." With sudden -viciousness he threw the end of the linked belts over a low -_liha_-branch, so that Thekla had to stand on tiptoe to keep from -strangling. Then, staring blindly at the beleagured fort, he tried to -beat sense out of his throbbing head. - -"There was something," he whispered. "Something I was saying back -in the swamp. Something my mind was trying to tell me, only I was -delirious. What was it, Thekla?" - -The Martian was silent, the bloody grin set on his dark face. MacIan -took him by the shoulders and shook him. "What was it?" - -Thekla choked and struggled as the metal halter tightened. "Nothing, -you fool! Nothing but Nahali and _liha_-trees." - -"_Liha_-trees!" MacIan's fever-bright eyes went to the great green -pollen-pods hung among the broad leaves. He shivered, partly with -chill, partly with exultation. And he began like a madman to strip Lehn -and Thekla of their rubber coveralls. - -Lehn's, because it was larger, he tented over two low branches. -Thekla's he spread on the ground beneath. Then he tore down pod after -pod from the _liha_-tree, breaking open the shells under the shelter of -the improvised tent, pouring out the green powder on the groundcloth. - -When he had a two-foot pile, he stood back and fired a bolt of -electricity into the heart of it. - -Thick, oily black smoke poured up, slowly at first, then faster and -faster as the fire took hold. A sluggish breeze was blowing out of -the swamp, drawn by the cooler uplands beyond the fort; it took the -smoke and sent it rolling toward the packed and struggling mass on the -earthworks. - -Out on the battlefield, Nahali stiffened suddenly, fell tearing -convulsively at their bodies. The beating rain washed the soot down -onto them harder and harder, streaked it away, left a dull film over -the reptilian skins, the scaly breast-plates. More and more of them fell -as the smoke rolled thicker, fed by the blackened madman under the -_liha_-tree, until only Legionnaires were left standing in its path, -staring dumbly at the stricken swamp-rats. - -The squirming bodies stilled in death. Hundreds more, out on the edges -of the smoke, seeing their comrades die, fled back into the swamp. The -earthworks were cleared. Ian MacIan gave one wild shout that carried -clear to the fort. Then he collapsed, crouched shivering beside the -unconscious Lehn, babbling incoherently. - -Thekla, strained on tiptoe under the tree-branch, had stopped smiling. - -The fever-mists rolled away at last. MacIan woke to see Lehn's pink -young face, rather less pink than usual, bending over him. - -Lehn's hand came out awkwardly. "I'm sorry, MacIan. Thekla told me; -I made him. I should have known." His grey eyes were ashamed. MacIan -smiled and gripped his hand with what strength the fever had left him. - -"My own fault, boy. Forget it." - -Lehn sat down on the bed. "What did you do to the swamp-rats?" he -demanded eagerly. "They all have a coating as though they'd been dipped -in paraffin!" - -MacIan chuckled. "In a way, they were. You know how they breathe; each -skin cell forming a miniature electrolysis plant to extract oxygen from -water. Well, it extracts hydrogen too, naturally, and the hydrogen is -continually being given off, just as we give off carbon dioxide. - -"Black smoke means soot, soot means carbon. Carbon plus hydrogen forms -various waxy hydrocarbons. Wax is impervious to both water and air. -So when the oily soot from the smoke united with the hydrogen exuded -from the Nahali's bodies, it sealed away the life-giving water from -the skin-cells. They literally smothered to death, like an Earthly ant -doused with powder." - -Lehn nodded. He was quiet for a long time, his eyes on the sick-bay's -well-scrubbed floor. At length, he said: - -"My offer still goes, MacIan. Officer's examinations. One mistake, an -honest one, shouldn't rob you of your life. You don't even know that it -would have made any difference if your decision had been the other way. -Perhaps there was no way out." - -MacIan's white head nodded on the pillow. - -"Perhaps I will, Lehn. Something Thekla said set me thinking. He said -he'd rather die on Mars than live another month in exile. I'm an exile -too, Lehn, in a different way. Yes, I think I'll try it. And if I fail -again--" he shrugged and smiled--"there are always Nahali." - -It seemed for a minute after that as though he had gone to sleep. Then -he murmured, so low that Lehn had to bend down to hear him: - -"Thekla will hang after the court-martial. Can you see that they take -him back to Mars, first?" - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stellar Legion, by Leigh Brackett - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STELLAR LEGION *** - -***** This file should be named 61844.txt or 61844.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/8/4/61844/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan 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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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