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diff --git a/old/62395-h/62395-h.htm b/old/62395-h/62395-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index e81e5fd..0000000 --- a/old/62395-h/62395-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2887 +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 Phantom Out of Time, by Nelson S. Bond. - </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; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Phantom Out of Time, by Nelson S. Bond - -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: Phantom Out of Time - -Author: Nelson S. Bond - -Release Date: June 14, 2020 [EBook #62395] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHANTOM OUT OF TIME *** - - - - -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="347" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Phantom Out of Time</h1> - -<h2>By NELSON S. BOND</h2> - -<p><i>AN EERIE NOVEL OF SPACE AND TIME.</i></p> - -<p>Graed Garroway's empire on Earth was toppling,<br /> -smashed by the flaming vengeance of Dirk<br /> -Morris who struck from nowhere with blinding<br /> -speed and true justice. Yet such a thing could<br /> -not be—for Dirk Morris was dead, slain at<br /> -the brutal command of the Black Dictator.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Fall 1943.<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>Metal grated upon metal, a heavy gate at the far end of the corridor -swung open, and footsteps stirred dull echoes down the quiet -prison-block. Neil Hardesty turned beseeching eyes to his friend and -leader.</p> - -<p>"Dirk," he begged, "for the last time ... let us share this with you? -Please!"</p> - -<p>Vurrth, the hulking Venusian, nodded mutely, lending his support -to Neil's appeal. Shaughnessey, Vurrth's earthly equal in size and -strength, rumbled deep in his throat, "Yes, Dirk. We're all in this -together. Let's take the punishment together ... like men."</p> - -<p>Dirk Morris shook his head. His voice was firm; his gaze calm and -steady.</p> - -<p>"No. It's better <i>one</i> of us should die, than all. We set ourselves a -righteous task: to rid the System of a madman and a tyrant. We pledged -ourselves to fight ... to win ... or to die. Our first leader has -already given his life that worlds may someday again breathe the air -of freedom. A dozen of our comrades have paid the price of rebellion. -Edwards, Johnson, Vallery ... our blood-brothers.</p> - -<p>"Now it is my turn. But my passing does not mean we give up the fight. -You, Hardesty, must take over the leadership of our little clan. -When you have been freed, carry on! Find new recruits; rebuild our -organization. Four against an empire is mighty odds, but if you four -surrender, the liberty of all men is doomed for generations!"</p> - -<p>Fred Meacher said hopefully, "That's right. Someone must pick up the -torch. Neil, if you'd rather not, <i>I'll</i> bear the <i>Message</i>—"</p> - -<p>"Never mind," said Hardesty. "I'm ready to take it. Well, Dirk?"</p> - -<p>The footsteps were drawing nearer. Swiftly, coolly, but deliberately, -Dirk Morris placed his lips close to Neil's ear, whispered a brief -sentence. Hardesty started. His eyes first widened, then narrowed with -incredulous surmise.</p> - -<p>"Dirk!" he gasped. "But that's.... You can't mean—"</p> - -<p>"Quiet!" warned Brian Shaughnessey. "Here they come! The skulking -rats!" He spat contemptuously on the floor as a band of armed men -halted before the cell in which the quartet was imprisoned.</p> - -<p>The foremost guardsmen parted, and before the grille appeared a man -tall and powerful, dark of eye and beetling of brow; a personage whose -innate ruthlessness and cruelty could not be disguised even by the -ornate finery he wore. This was Graed Garroway, "Black" Garroway, -tyrant of Earth, emperor of the System, Overlord—by force of arms—of -the entire Solar Union.</p> - -<p>He smiled. But there was little mirth in his smile, and no sincerity.</p> - -<p>"Well, Morris?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"Well?" repeated Dirk stonily.</p> - -<p>"Your time passes swiftly. Have you decided to tell your secret?"</p> - -<p>"I know one thing," said Morris, "that is no secret. My time passes -swiftly, yes. But so does yours. The days of your dictatorship are -numbered, Garroway. Soon the cleansing flame of righteous rebellion -will rise to sweep you and every evil thing you stand for from the face -of creation!"</p> - -<p>Garroway stiffened, flushing with dark anger.</p> - -<p>"You speak boldly for a doomed man, Morris. Guards, open the cell!" -He scowled. "It may amuse you to learn that I did not need your -information, traitor. I gave you a final chance to offer it of your own -free will. But your cherished 'secret' has already been solved."</p> - -<p>"Solved!" That was Hardesty. "You mean—?"</p> - -<p>"Quiet, Neil!" warned Dirk. "He's faking!"</p> - -<p>Garroway laughed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Faking? You shall see in a few minutes, when I put you to death in the -murderous device constructed by your one-time leader, Dr. Townsend!"</p> - -<p>"Murderous—" began Hardesty.</p> - -<p>"Please, Neil! Then you ... you found Dr. Townsend's chamber?" asked -Dirk.</p> - -<p>"Yes. And experimented with it, too. We know, now, its purpose. Too -bad Robert Townsend did not live to receive our congratulations. So -that was your secret, eh? Your late leader succeeded in perfecting a -disintegration chamber?"</p> - -<p>"Disint—" began Morris. Then he stopped abruptly. When he spoke again, -his voice was defiant. "Well ... now that you know, what are you going -to do about it?"</p> - -<p>Brian Shaughnessey stared at his friend miserably.</p> - -<p>"Disintegrating machine!" he choked. "Nothing but a damned theoretical -gadget! Is <i>that</i> the great invention we've been risking our lives for? -Dirk—"</p> - -<p>"Do about it?" laughed Garroway negligently. "Why, I'm going to turn it -to my own usage, of course. And you, my unfortunate young conspirator, -will attain the distinction of being the instrument's first human -victim. Come, guards! We have no more time to waste."</p> - -<p>"A moment!" interrupted Morris. "You will keep your promise? My -companions go free when I die?"</p> - -<p>The Overlord nodded with mock graciousness.</p> - -<p>"Graed Garroway needs compromise with no man. But I have given my word. -Yes, your companions go free."</p> - -<p>"Very well, then. I am ready."</p> - -<p>Morris turned and gripped warmly the hand of each of his companions in -turn. Then he stepped forward. Two guards flanked him. The Captain of -the Guard rasped a command. The little band marched down the avenue -and out of sight; silence surged in to hush the stir of footsteps. -Somewhere a barrier clanged metallically.</p> - -<p>"A disintegrating machine!" moaned Shaughnessey. "A damned -disintegrating machine! Suppose we <i>did</i> have it? What good would it do -us? It wasn't portable. We couldn't use it to fight Garroway's hordes. -Dirk's just thrown his life away for nothing—"</p> - -<p>"Please, Brian!" begged Hardesty.</p> - -<p>His hands were knotted at his sides, the knuckles as white as his lips. -Meacher's eyes were ghastly. Only Vurrth displayed no emotion, but the -sinews of the Venusian's throat were taut cords of strain as he, with -the others, waited.</p> - -<p>Slow seconds passed on sluggish feet. Then, after a million aeons, -came the dreaded signal. From afar sounded the thin, persistent hum -of pulsing current; the strong lights of the prison-block dimmed -briefly ... glowed ... dimmed again ... and glowed....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Brian Shaughnessey, strong fighting man that he was, raised a hand to -his eyes. Neil Hardesty's breath broke in a shaken murmur. Meacher -whimpered, and Vurrth's massive fists tensed at his thighs.</p> - -<p>Again a door opened ... again footsteps approached the prisoners. There -was a look of gloating malice on Garroway's swarthy face. He said, -"Open the cell, guards. Let them out now."</p> - -<p>Hardesty whispered, "It ... it is over?"</p> - -<p>"It is over. Your friend has vanished ... disappeared into whatever -hell awaits rebels." The Overlord smiled. "It was a most interesting -exhibition ... most. Through the glazed pane we saw him standing, -panic-stricken, frozen with terror. Then the current was turned on. -Before our eyes, he vanished as a mist—"</p> - -<p>"I don't believe it!" growled Shaughnessey. "Morris was afraid of -nothing; man, beast, nor devil—"</p> - -<p>"And ... <i>and we</i>?" broke in Fred Meacher fearfully.</p> - -<p>"Go free," said Black Garroway, "as I promised. But have a care! If -ever I hear a word of complaint or suspicion raised against any of you -again, you will share his fate. It is only through my graciousness you -live."</p> - -<p>"We understand," said Neil evenly. "Come, friends."</p> - -<p>He led the way from the cell as a guard unlocked the door. When the -four had almost reached the end of the prison corridor, Garroway called -after them.</p> - -<p>"Oh ... one thing more! I almost forgot to thank you, Meacher!"</p> - -<p>Shaughnessey said, "Huh? What's that? Why? What's he got to thank <i>you</i> -for, Fred?"</p> - -<p>Meacher's pale eyes rolled, suddenly panicked.</p> - -<p>"Me? I ... I don't know what he's talking about—"</p> - -<p>Black Garroway's heavy laughter filled the hall.</p> - -<p>"What? Oh, come now, Meacher! Of course you do. I appreciate the -information you gave me on Morris. The reward I promised you will be -waiting at the State Hall tomorrow. A thousand credits, wasn't it? -Well, come and claim it—" He chuckled stridently—"if you can."</p> - -<p>Before the quick suspicion rising in the eyes of the comrades he had -betrayed, Meacher quailed. He tugged free of Shaughnessey's hand and -scampered to the protection of Garroway's guard. His voice bleated -shrill remonstrance.</p> - -<p>"Sire ... you should not have told them! I served you faithfully and -well ... wormed my way into their inner council! Were it not for me you -would never have known—"</p> - -<p>Black Garroway avoided the informer's frenzied clawing. His voice was -hard, mocking, contemptuous.</p> - -<p>"Fool! You brought me no information worth hearing! Through my own -efforts I discovered Townsend's instrument and solved its secret. You -are a dolt, a stupid bungler! I need no such aides."</p> - -<p>"But I told you Morris held the Secret—"</p> - -<p>"Bah! There is no longer a secret to be held."</p> - -<p>"But there is, Sire! Before he died, Morris told it to—"</p> - -<p>Hardesty interrupted coldly, "Am I to understand, Garroway, that this -man is no longer under your protection?"</p> - -<p>Garroway shrugged.</p> - -<p>"I have washed my hands of him," he said carelessly. "Come, guards!"</p> - -<p>He turned away as Meacher screamed, vainly struggled to escape the -vengeful trio closing in on him.</p> - -<p>"Take him, Vurrth!" ordered Hardesty succinctly.</p> - -<p>The great Venusian's hands closed briefly around the traitor's throat, -stifling his garbled cries. With revealing ease he lifted the Earthman, -held him dangling like a sack of meal in midair, and looked at Hardesty -for orders.</p> - -<p>"Put him down," commanded Neil. "We will settle our differences -elsewhere."</p> - -<p>Vurrth grunted, and obediently loosed his grip. The body, of Fred -Meacher slumped to the floor awkwardly ... and lay still. Brian -Shaughnessey bent over the crumpled figure. He glared up angrily at his -comrade.</p> - -<p>"Confound you, Vurrth! He's dead!"</p> - -<p>Vurrth grinned slowly.</p> - -<p>"Sor-ree," he said. "Maybe hold too tight?"</p> - -<p>One of the guards, glancing back, muttered a word to his captain who, -in turn, passed the message to the Overlord. A thin smile touched -Garroway's lips, but he did not turn his head. The incident was, his -attitude intimated as he led his entourage from the hall, a matter in -which he took no concern whatsoever....</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>As at his captors' bidding he stepped into the great metal chamber -which was the late Dr. Townsend's creation, two singular emotions -filled Dirk Morris' mind. One of these was thankfulness, the second ... -curiosity.</p> - -<p>Fear was strangely absent. Perhaps that was because for many months -Dirk and those with whom he conspired for the overthrow of Black -Garroway's tyrannical rule had lived under a Damoclean sword. Death, -long a silent guest at their every gathering, was a host whose -imminence aroused no dread.</p> - -<p>Dirk was thankful that he had been able to buy, with his own life, -the freedom of his companions. Why the Emperor had been willing to -strike this bargain, Dirk did not exactly understand; possibly because -the Overlord held his enemies in contempt, now their leader was being -removed; more likely because Garroway still held a lurking fear of -those who plotted against him, and was freeing them only that his -hireling spies might watch their movements.</p> - -<p>But even that, thought Morris gratefully, was better than that all -should die, and the Movement end. Hardesty now knew the Secret, and -while one remained alive to work on that knowledge, hope endured.</p> - -<p>The second commingling emotion, curiosity, concerned the chamber into -which, at this very moment, he was stepping. A "disintegration chamber" -Garroway had called it, vowing his scientists had learned its method of -operation. But in this, Dirk knew with positive assurance, the Overlord -was mistaken. Utterly mistaken. Yet, if it were not a disintegration -machine, then what—?</p> - -<p>There was no time for further thought. The door was closed; through the -thick pane Morris saw Garroway nod, saw a soldier close the switch on -the instrument's control-board.</p> - -<p>For an instant the thin hum of current filled Dirk's ears; a terrific -impact of pure electrical energy pierced his every nerve and fiber with -flaming hammers of agony. He felt his knees buckle beneath him, was -vainly aware that his mouth opened to cry aloud noiselessly.</p> - -<p>A strange, twisting vibration wrenched and tore him; the solid walls -about him seemed to melt and writhe at angles the eyes ached to follow. -All this he saw as in the throes of wild delirium. Then, unable to -longer bear the fearful pain, every sinew of his being tensed for an -intolerable instant ... then darkness, blessed darkness, rushed in to -claim Dirk Morris. He sank, weak and senseless, into its enfolding -arms.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Silence.</p> - -<p>Silence and darkness.</p> - -<p>Then, out of the silence, sound. Out of the infinite darkness, light. -Light, and warmth, and comfort.</p> - -<p>Dirk Morris opened his eyes.</p> - -<p>He opened his eyes ... then closed them again, shaking his head to rid -his fancy of its weird hallucination. Beside him a voice spoke soft, -rippling syllables that held no meaning. Another voice replied; a -masculine voice, equally soft, but elderly and grave.</p> - -<p>The possessor of the first voice, pressed a cup to Morris' lips. An -unknown liquor tingled Dirk's palate and swept the lethargy from his -veins. He stirred and lifted himself to one elbow, stared about him -incredulously.</p> - -<p>"Where—?" he began—"where on earth—?" Then he stopped, seeing -the sky above him, the ground supporting him, those who were his -Samaritans. A poignant regret seized him. He whispered, "<i>Not</i> on -Earth. Then the ancient religions were true? There <i>is</i> an -afterlife ... a Heaven peopled with angels."</p> - -<p>The girl kneeling beside him laughed, her voice like the music of -rill waters. She turned to her elder companion, said in strange, -accented English, "See, I was right, father! He <i>is</i> from over There. I -recognized the garments; severe and ugly. Not at all like <i>ours</i>—"</p> - -<p>She touched the flowing hem of her own brief, silken kirtle with -fingers equally soft and white. Both she and the graybeard were dressed -in clothing of classic simplicity. No stiff military harness like that -worn by earthlings of Dirk's era, but something resembling the <i>chiton</i> -of ancient Greece.</p> - -<p>Dirk said wonderingly, "You ... you're human!"</p> - -<p>"But, of course, stranger."</p> - -<p>"This ... this isn't Earth, though. Nor any planet of the System!"</p> - -<p>Dirk gestured toward the landscape, smooth and gaily gardened, -stretching from horizon to horizon with no ornament save the natural -adornments of Nature. Here were no grim and ugly buildings towering -to the skies, blocking the sun's warm rays from view; no shining -mansions flanked by filthy hovels; none of the cheek-and-jowl splendor -and squalor of the world whence he had come. Here was only gentle, -untrammeled beauty in a quiet, pastoral existence.</p> - -<p>No planet of the Solar System was so organized, Dirk knew. But were a -second, convincing proof needed, he had but to glance at the sky. There -shone not the lone, familiar Sun of Earth ... but <i>two</i> suns! A binary -system. One golden-yellow like Sol, the other a bluish-white globe of -radiance.</p> - -<p>"No," answered the elderly man, "this is neither the Earth from which -you came nor any planet of its system. This is the planet Nadron, -satellite of the twin suns, Kraagol and Thuumion, in the fourth -galactic level."</p> - -<p>Triumph was a bursting bomb in Morris' heart.</p> - -<p>"Then it was a success, after all!" he cried. "Then Townsend was -right! If only he had lived to see this day! A success ... and all -because Garroway's scientists, playing with an instrument they did not -understand, succeeded where we had failed for years!</p> - -<p>"But ... but your planet is unfamiliar to me; I do not know your suns -by the names you have given them. Your system lies just where in -relation to the galactic center? How many miles ... or light years ... -are we from my native Earth?"</p> - -<p>The old man looked at him oddly for a moment, then:</p> - -<p>"We are <i>no</i> miles from your Earth, my friend," he announced quietly, -"and the distance may be measured in <i>seconds</i> ... not light-years."</p> - -<p>Dirk stared, bewilderment in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"I ... I'm afraid I don't understand, sir. I hope you will forgive me. -Perhaps you are joking—?"</p> - -<p>"It is no jest, my boy, but the simple truth. Earth and Nadron are ... -but, stay! Let me prove my point otherwise. Has it not occurred to you -to wonder that we, the people of a foreign world, know your language?"</p> - -<p>Dirk said wonderingly, "Why ... why, that's right; you do! But how—?"</p> - -<p>"Because," explained the elder, "we have listened to it being spoken -for many, many years. Over our visors we have both heard and watched -you on your neighboring world."</p> - -<p>"Neighboring world?"</p> - -<p>"How came you here?" asked the old man. "What means of propulsion -brought you hither?"</p> - -<p>That, at least, Dirk knew. He answered eagerly.</p> - -<p>"I came here through the medium of the greatest discovery ever made by -man. The <i>teleport</i>, a machine invented by Robert Townsend. A perfect -solution to the long puzzling problem of material transport through -Space. It disassembles the atoms of any body placed in its transmitting -chamber, and reconstructs that body at a destination selected by a -setting of its dials.</p> - -<p>"Through circumstances not of my own choosing, I was a subject of that -machine. I was forced into the transmitter by ... well, it does not -matter whom ... and my body broadcast to this spot. Though I do not -yet, sir, understand just where I am, or exactly how I reached here—"</p> - -<p>The old man shook his head regretfully.</p> - -<p>"I am sorry, my boy, to tell you the machine did not work as was -planned. Its theory was sound; in one respect it performed as expected. -It <i>did</i> disassemble your atomic components, did reconstruct your body -elsewhere. But it was to no far bourne your journey carried you.</p> - -<p>"<i>Your body still stands in exactly the spot it stood before the -machine operated!</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For a long, uncomprehending moment Dirk Morris gaped at his informant. -At last his bedazement found words.</p> - -<p>"Oh, now, surely you can't expect me to believe—"</p> - -<p>"No," interrupted the graybeard gently, "not without visual evidence. -Rima, my dear—?"</p> - -<p>He turned to the girl, who nodded and from the folds of her garment -produced a shimmering crystal object; a mirror of some sort, or a lens. -This she handed to Dirk.</p> - -<p>"If you will look through this—?" she suggested.</p> - -<p>Morris lifted the crystal to his eyes wonderingly ... then almost -dropped it in his excitement!</p> - -<p>Beneath his feet still lay the lush greensward of an alien world, but -through the curious crystal he gazed upon no panorama of soft, rolling -hills and pleasant valleys. Before him lay the image of a scene he had -but recently quitted: the execution dock of Graed Garroway's prison!</p> - -<p>A few feet to his right stood the metal chamber into which he had been -thrust, the supposed "disintegration cell." Through the viewpane of -this the Overlord was peering, a grim smirk of satisfaction on his -lips. As Dirk watched, Garroway turned and gestured to the guardsman -whose hand had depressed the activating switch. Dirk heard no words, -but could easily read the movement of the Emperor's lips.</p> - -<p>"<i>Enough! It is done!</i>"</p> - -<p>With an instinct born of illogic, Dirk reached forth as if to grip -the throat of the murderous Garroway. In doing so, the crystal left -his eyes. Instantly the scene vanished. He looked once more upon -distance-purpled hills softly limned in the splendor of two suns.</p> - -<p>The girl laughed softly.</p> - -<p>"Confusing at first, isn't it? But you'll soon—"</p> - -<p>"Please!" begged Dirk hoarsely. "I must see—" He placed the mirrorlike -object once more to his eyes, saw Graed Garroway lead the way from -the execution chamber. Awkwardly, uncertainly, Morris took a step -forward ... another. Though he knew his feet trod the soil of the -planet Nadron, to his eyes it seemed he glided forward across the floor -of the prison.</p> - -<p>The door swung to behind Garroway and his followers, and involuntarily -Dirk flinched ... then grunted reproof at his own needless gesture. -So far as he was concerned, that heavy metal barrier did not exist. -For the briefest fraction of an instant his vision was blotted by jet -darkness, then he stood outside the door, looking down the corridor.</p> - -<p>He hastened forward, stumbling, as feet that appeared to be traversing -smooth floors actually trod uneven soil, and paused at last, an -invisible presence at the tableau next enacted. He witnessed his -friends' release from the cell, read the movement of Hardesty's dry -lips as Neil whispered, "<i>It ... it is over?</i>" He saw Garroway's -boastful warning, Brian's hot denial, then watched—first with dazed -incomprehension, then with fierce understanding—the betrayal, panic -and execution of Fred Meacher.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Meacher's corpse lay on the floor at ... or so it seemed ... his -very feet, and the comrades left the hallway, he would again have -followed them. But at that moment he landed with a solid bump against -something hard, and with a start he looked from the crystal to find a -tree before him. More than a hundred yards away waited those who had -befriended him. He retraced his steps slowly to their company.</p> - -<p>"Now you understand and believe, my boy?" the kindly alien asked.</p> - -<p>"I believe," said Dirk simply. "But, sir—"</p> - -<p>"My name, man of Earth, is Slador. On this world, I am known as the -Ptan Slador, which is to say 'teacher.' This is my daughter, Rima."</p> - -<p>"I am called Morris. Dirk Morris. I also—" Dirk spoke bitterly—"have -a number, as have all Earthmen of this unhappy century. Yes, Ptan -Slador, I believe, but even yet I do not understand. I stand in one -world, but looking through your crystal I see into another: my own. Why -is this?"</p> - -<p>"Because, Dirk Morris, our two worlds lie adjacent."</p> - -<p>"Adjacent? You mean in Space?"</p> - -<p>"I mean in Space-Time. Look, my young friend ... your Earth science -knows of the atom?"</p> - -<p>"But of course. It is the building-block of matter. The smallest -indivisible unit—"</p> - -<p>"Exactly. Yet even this minute fleck of matter, the building-block -of worlds, so small that it cannot be observed under man's strongest -microscopes, is composed of ninety-nine per cent <i>empty space</i>!</p> - -<p>"Or, let me say, rather ... what <i>appears</i> to be such to the men of all -universes. Actually, there is no emptiness in the atom. It is composed -of solid matter, but the individual zerons of this single entity are -all vibrating at a different frequency in the Greater Universe which -includes <i>all</i> of Space and Time.</p> - -<p>"Consequently, you on Earth, existing at one rate of vibration, see -an entire universe vibrating at a period which matches your own. We -of Nadron live under another vibration. Our solidity, our world, our -universe ... these are all part of the 'emptiness' of <i>your</i> world, -just as <i>your</i> existence forms a part of the emptiness of <i>our</i> atom. -Do you see?"</p> - -<p>"Vaguely," said Dirk humbly. "Only vaguely. We, the young men of my -era, are not an educated people, Ptan Slador. There was a time in -Earth's history when all men were free to study where and as they -wished, read what they willed. It is not so now. Only the highborn are -permitted to own books, or borrow them from the Overlord's crypts; only -those designated by the Emperor are taught to read and write. The rest -of us, hungry for a crust of knowledge, must gather in hidden places to -learn our letters from instructors who risk their lives to teach us."</p> - -<p>"You mean," cried the girl, "one man has dared grasp so much power? So -much evil power?"</p> - -<p>Slador nodded gravely.</p> - -<p>"Yes, my dear. I have long believed some such situation existed on -our neighbor world. From scenes I have witnessed through the visor, -snatches of whispered conversation, I guessed such might be the case. -It is a sorry plight for a once proud world. Drowned in a sea of -ignorance, sunken in a slough of misery and despair, mankind is beaten -helpless—"</p> - -<p>Dirk laughed gratingly.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, sir. Not beaten. Not helpless. We are ignorant, yes ... but -not yet have all of us abandoned hope of striking off our shackles.</p> - -<p>"We have a secret organization, fostered by the late Dr. Townsend, -led until recently by myself, now headed by the bravest of my former -comrades: Neil Hardesty. The members of this clan are pledged to one -purpose ... the overthrow of Graed Garroway, tyrant of the Solar System.</p> - -<p>"Our greatest hope for success lay in Dr. Townsend's invention, the -<i>teleport</i>. It is quite impossible to muster an armed band on any of -the planets under Garroway's thumb. His spies are everywhere. Even—" -Dirk finished bitterly—"among our own supposed comrades.</p> - -<p>"Therefore we had planned to transport our bodies to some extra-Solar -world, there gird ourselves for a last fight against Garroway's -minions. That was our dream. But now—"</p> - -<p>He paused, shaking his head sorrowfully. That dream was now ended. Dr. -Townsend's secret weapon was not what had been hoped. Instead—</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Then, even as he despaired, understanding drove home with blinding -force. The weapon was <i>not</i> a failure! It was a success ... but in -another way than had been planned. He cried aloud: "But, yes! I've been -blind! This way is just as good ... perhaps better!"</p> - -<p>"What way, Dirk Morris?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p>"There is no need to seek a far planet of a far sun! We planned that -solely because we did not know anything about the existence of your -world, your universe.</p> - -<p>"Nadron shall be our rallying spot! It is the ideal spot wherein to -gather our forces. Close to Earth ... seconds, not light-years, from -the foe we would crush—"</p> - -<p>"A moment, Earthman!" interrupted Slador. "You mean to use our world as -the breeding-place for conflict on yours? Is that your thought?"</p> - -<p>"But of course. What better place?"</p> - -<p>The Ptan shook his head gravely.</p> - -<p>"I am sorry, my son. But I fear that is impossible. The Council would -never permit it."</p> - -<p>"Council?"</p> - -<p>"Our government. Here we have a World Council, made up of the oldest -and wisest amongst us. Many, many centuries ago the question was raised -as to whether we of Nadron should establish and maintain intercourse -between our neighboring planets.</p> - -<p>"After a lengthy period of observation and study, it was decided we -should not. It was the Council's judgment—" Here Slador flushed with -thin apology—"that Earth is in too primitive a stage of development -for such a union.</p> - -<p>"Wherever and whenever we watched affairs unfolding, we saw war, -strife, bickering and discontent. We saw poverty and hunger ... perils -unknown in our own quiet civilization. We heard the roar of gunfire and -the bombastic mouthings of warlords. We found, in short, no culture -worthy of inclusion in our own placid existence.</p> - -<p>"At that time was the Law laid down ... that we of Nadron should not -embroil ourselves in Earth's affairs until such time as a civilized -Earth should be able to meet us on a plane of equal amity.</p> - -<p>"Therefore—" sighed the Ptan—"despite my private sympathy with your -cause, I am compelled to warn you that you may not use Nadron as host -for your gathering forces. Though a peaceful world, we have means of -enforcing this edict. I am sorry, but you must develop other plans."</p> - -<p>Dirk stared at the speaker strickenly, realizing the logic of all -Slador had said, but feeling, nevertheless, sick despair that Earth's -past madnesses should now so destroy the only chance of present -salvation. He turned to the girl, who returned his gaze with a helpless -little shrug of sympathy.</p> - -<p>He wet his lips, said hoarsely, "But ... but if you do not help us, -Earth is doomed to tyranny for countless decades to come. You cannot -refuse us your aid—"</p> - -<p>Slador said smoothly, surprisingly, "I have not said I would not aid -you. I have merely forbidden your forces the soil of Nadron. But there -are ... other ways of helping. Ways not under the ban of our Council's -sage decision."</p> - -<p>Hope surged in Morris like a welling tide.</p> - -<p>"There are?" he cried. "What ways, Ptan Slador?"</p> - -<p>"Have you forgotten," asked Slador, "the strangeness of your own -existence here? Or is it that you do not yet see how this can be bent -to use? Listen, my son—"</p> - -<p>He spoke, and Dirk Morris listened with ever growing interest.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>Corporal Ned Tandred, Precinct Collector of Taxes in the Ninth Ward, -Thirty-Fourth district of Greater Globe City, did not like his job.</p> - -<p>As he wheeled his unicar through the twilight shaded streets of the -city, hemmed by a rush of bustling traffic, he thought regretfully of -those from whom he had this day forced payment of tithes—tribute—they -could ill afford.</p> - -<p>An old man ... an even older widow ... the husband of an invalid wife -and father of three small children ... a young man unable, now new -taxes had been exacted, to marry the girl who had been waiting for -him seven long years ... these were just a few of the humble lives the -Emperor's recent edict had driven to newer, deeper, sloughs of despair. -And he, Corporal Tandred, had been the unwilling instrument through -which Garroway had dipped once again into the pockets of his subjects.</p> - -<p>"Subjects!" grunted Corporal Tandred. "Not subjects ... slaves! That's -what we are, all of us. Myself included!" He tugged savagely at the -handle of his unicar, careening the tiny one-wheeled vehicle perilously -to the curb of the avenue as a gigantic, gray-green armored tanker of -the Imperial Army roared belligerently up the center of the street, -hogging the road and scattering traffic before it. "Miserable serfs, -all of us! If I thought there were half a chance of getting away with -it, I'd skip this filthy uniform and—"</p> - -<p>He stopped suddenly, a strange sensation coming over him. The sensation -of somehow being watched ... listened to.</p> - -<p>He peered cautiously over his shoulder. No ... no one in the car but -himself. The communications unit was dull; no chance his rebellious -grumbling had been overhead by a keen-eared Headquarters clerk.</p> - -<p>Corporal Tandred breathed a sigh of relief. Nerves. Just plain -nerves ... that was all that bothered him. That was the result of -living under constant surveillance, inescapable oppression. You got the -feeling of never being free.</p> - -<p>"This cursed money!" he grumbled again. "If I could get away with it, -I'd throw it in the Captain's face! In the Overlord's face! Thieving—"</p> - -<p>Once more he stopped in midsentence, his lips a wide and fearful O of -bewilderment. This time he had made no mistake! There <i>was</i> someone -near him. A voice spoke in his ear.</p> - -<p>"<i>Make no such foolish gesture, Corporal!</i>"</p> - -<p>Corporal Tandred recovered control of his car with a sudden effort. -He depressed its decelerating button, drew it to the curb, and stared -wildly about him.</p> - -<p>"W-who said that?" he demanded hoarsely. "Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Who speaks</i>," said the quiet, insistent voice, "<i>does not matter. Nor -the spot from whence I speak. The important thing is that you hear -and obey my words. Make not the error of hurling the tribute money in -anyone's face. Deliver it to your superior officer—but see that you -get a signed receipt for it. Do you understand?</i>"</p> - -<p>"No!" said Corporal Tandred weakly. "I hear a voice speaking, but see -no one. I don't understand—"</p> - -<p>"<i>It is not necessary that you understand. Just obey. Get a signed -receipt for that money. That is all!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" cried Corporal Tandred. "Wait a minute—!" He was talking to -himself. Even as he spoke, he sensed that. The strange, semi-electrical -feeling of a nearby presence was gone.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For a moment he sat stock-still, trying to sooth his ruffled nerves. -His effort was not altogether successful; he started the unicar with a -jerk, and sped down the avenue at a rate of speed forbidden by civic -ordinance. A uniformed attendant frowned disapproval as he screeled to -a stop in front of the Revenue Office, but Corporal Tandred paid him no -heed. He hurried straightway to the central office, there deposited his -collections before his captain.</p> - -<p>The captain nodded abstractedly, then, his attention drawn by some -oddness in the subaltern's appearance, raised a questioning eyebrow.</p> - -<p>"What is it, Tandred? Anything wrong?"</p> - -<p>"N-no, sir," said the corporal uncertainly.</p> - -<p>"Someone make a complaint? That it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, sir, there <i>were</i> several complaints. Citizens find these new -taxes hard to swallow, sir; very hard."</p> - -<p>The captain laughed derisively.</p> - -<p>"Sheep! Let them suffer. It is no concern of ours. The Overlord has a -militia to maintain. Well ... that is all."</p> - -<p>He waved a hand in dismissal. Corporal Tandred said hesitantly, "Yes, -sir. But the ... the receipt, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Receipt? For what?"</p> - -<p>"For the money, sir. Regulations, sir."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes." The captain grinned caustically. "Don't you trust me, -Corporal? You never asked for a receipt before that I can remember."</p> - -<p>"N-no, sir. I mean ... of course I trust you, sir. I just thought -that ... that this being a new tax—"</p> - -<p>"Very well; very well!" The captain scribbled, tore a receipt from his -pad, and handed it to the underling. "You may go now, Corporal."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."</p> - -<p>Corporal Tandred left hurriedly, still uncertain <i>why</i> he had obeyed -the instructions of the mysterious voice, still uncomprehending as to -<i>why</i> he should have asked for a receipt, but with a strong conviction -he had done the wise thing.</p> - -<p>He was right! Five minutes later the money vanished mysteriously from -the captain's desk. Or so, at any rate, in stern, judicial court -the captain swore repeatedly to an even colder superior. In vain -the captain protested his innocence and tried to shift the blame -to Corporal Tandred's shoulders. The Corporal was in the clear, -triumphantly acquitted through possession of a signed receipt for the -missing money.</p> - -<p>In the bleak gray of the following dawn, the captain was shot for theft -and conspiracy against the State. But the money was not found among his -effects....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Brian Shaughnessey, crouched in the concealment of a flowering hedge, -heard the footsteps of the guard pass within scant inches of his head. -He counted slowly to himself.</p> - -<p>"... eight ... nine ... ten...."</p> - -<p>Noiselessly he gathered himself for the silent dash. Watchful waiting -had taught him that ten seconds after marching past this bush, the -guard turned briefly down a side lane from which the roadway was -invisible. A hurried run, a swift and silent dash, would take him to -the doorway of the supply warehouse.</p> - -<p>He crouched, tensed, listened ... then ran. For a big man he made -little noise. He had reached his objective with seconds to spare before -the guard, returning from the bypath, glanced up and down the main -avenue, found all clear, and resumed his rounds.</p> - -<p>Shaughnessey grinned, slipped into the shadow of the doorway, and -fumbled at his belt. He withdrew a metal ovoid, prepared to draw -the pin that set its mechanism into operation ... then stopped! His -fingers faltered, and he whirled, eyes darting anxiously. For from the -darkness, a voice had spoken.</p> - -<p>"<i>No, Brian!</i>"</p> - -<p>Brian Shaughnessey shook himself like a great, shaggy dog. He was a -strong man, a man of great courage. But he was also a superstitious -man. Awe dawned now in his eyes. "This is it, then," he whispered to -himself. "I'm not long for this world. It ... it's <i>him</i>, come to meet -me. Well—" He shrugged—"if that's the way it must be, I might as well -finish this job—"</p> - -<p>And again he reached for the pin. But this time the sense of unseen -presence was so strong that Brian Shaughnessey could almost feel the -grip of ghostly fingers tingling on his wrist. And the voice was -louder, clearer.</p> - -<p>"<i>No, Brian! Not here!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Morris!" cried Shaughnessey starkly, unbelievingly. "Dirk Morris!"</p> - -<p>"<i>Hush, you idiot!</i>" warned the voice. "<i>You'll bring the guard down -upon us!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Us?" repeated Brian, baffled.</p> - -<p>"<i>Don't toss that grenade here. You're too close to the munitions bins. -Here ... let me have it!</i>"</p> - -<p>Shaughnessey, stricken with a near-paralysis of awe, felt a curious -vibration tingle through his fingers as from his slackened grip the -explosive ovoid slipped ... and vanished! He stared about him wildly, -gasped, "The grenade! Where did it go? Dirk—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Not now!</i>" whispered the urgent voice. "<i>Go to Neil. Tell him to -gather the Group at the regular place tonight. I will come to you. Now, -get out of here. Quickly!</i>"</p> - -<p>"B-but I don't understand—" gulped Brian.</p> - -<p>"<i>Quickly!</i>" insisted the voice.</p> - -<p>Shaughnessey nodded. He did not in the least understand what manner -of mystery here confronted him. But he was a faithful servant of the -Group. It was enough for him that he had heard Dirk Morris' voice, and -that voice issued orders. Without another word he turned and slipped -across the pathway to the cover of the hedge. Using it as a shelter, he -fled the vicinity of the warehouse.</p> - -<p>It was well he did so. Less than two minutes later, a terrific blast -hurled him headlong to the ground as a bolt of man-made lightning -seared the munitions dump wherein was stored the bulk of Graed -Garroway's military supplies for this area. A livid stalk of greasy -smoke, flame-laced, mushroomed to the skies, and the terrain for miles -around was shaken as by a temblor.</p> - -<p>When the ensuing fire was finally brought under control, there remained -but charred and twisted girders in that gaping pit which once had been -a fortress....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lenore Garroway hummed softly to herself as she sat before the -gorgeous, full-length mirror of her dressing-room table. She was -happy ... and that was not altogether commonplace, because for an -Emperor's daughter, surrounded by ease and every comfort, dwelling in -the lap of luxuries few others even dared dream of, Lenore Garroway was -not often happy.</p> - -<p>But she was now, because she was with her gems. No pleasure in the -seven worlds compared, in the Princess Lenore's mind, with that of -fondling her precious stones, rare and perfect specimens gathered from -the farflung corners of the System at the cost of no one dared guess -how many lives.</p> - -<p>Before and about her in bounteous array lay a ransom of glittering -baubles. Chalcedony and sardonyx ... diamond and ruby ... the rare -green <i>pharonys</i> delved from the sea-bottoms of Venus, the even rarer -ice-amethyst of Uranus ... <i>wisstrix</i> from giant Jupiter and the -faceted <i>koleidon</i> of tiny Eros ... these were her playthings.</p> - -<p>So she sat, allowing the glittering motes to sift through her soft, -white fingers, raising this matched set of rings to her ears, that -exquisite lavaliere to her equally exquisite throat, humming softly -to herself as she sat at her dressing table, watching the graceful -movements of her perfect body in the full-length rock-quartz mirror.</p> - -<p>A soft tap pulsed through the room, and the Princess Lenore turned, the -flicker of a frown marring the perfection of her brow.</p> - -<p>"Well, Marta?" she demanded.</p> - -<p>Her maid-in-waiting entered fearfully. She was old and ugly. The -Princess would not have about her any who were not; her radiance must -be at all times like that of a true jewel amidst paste. Even the ladies -of the court were required to dress down their own lesser beauty when -gathered for state occasions.</p> - -<p>"Well, Marta?" repeated the princess.</p> - -<p>"Your pardon, Highness," breathed the old woman. "A delegation from the -women of the city—"</p> - -<p>"What do they want?"</p> - -<p>"It is something about ... taxes, Highness. They say they cannot -afford—"</p> - -<p>"Taxes!" The princess' eyes clouded. "Why must they fret me with their -miserable woes? I know nothing of taxes. Bid them see my father."</p> - -<p>Marta cringed humbly.</p> - -<p>"They have tried to, Highness, but without success. That is why they -have come here. To beg your intercession—"</p> - -<p>"I cannot see them," said Lenore. "Tell them to go away. I am busy."</p> - -<p>"But, Highness—"</p> - -<p>"Away, I said!" The princess' voice was silken-soft no longer; it -flamed with sudden petulance. "I am too busy to hear their petty -grievances. Send them away! And you, too!"</p> - -<p>With abrupt, feline violence she snatched a handful of baubles from -the table before her, hurled them at the aged servant. Marta stood -like a withered Danae beneath the rich rain, whined, "Yes, Highness," -and disappeared. The princess shut intrusion from her mind as the door -closed. She turned once more to her playthings, picked up and fondled -a pendant of intricately interwoven sapphire and <i>tolumnis</i>. Its -green-and-scarlet flame burned cold against the smooth satin of her -breast. She hummed softly to herself, happy....</p> - -<p>It was then the voice spoke.</p> - -<p>The voice was a man's voice. Its masculine deepness was like the rasp -of grating steel in the languid femininity of this room.</p> - -<p>"<i>Send them away, eh, Princess? Very well. As you have judged, so shall -it also be judged against you!</i>"</p> - -<p>The Princess Lenore whirled to the doorway, startled white hands -leaping to her throat. Her gray-green eyes were wide with shock ... and -horror. They widened even more as they found ... no one!</p> - -<p>"Wh-where are you?" she gasped. "Who dares enter the boudoir of the -Princess Lenore?"</p> - -<p>She heard no sound of footsteps, but the voice drew nearer with each -word.</p> - -<p>"<i>I so dare, Princess.</i>"</p> - -<p>"And ... and who are you?"</p> - -<p>"<i>My name does not matter. But you may call me Conscience, if you must -give me a name. For I am the Conscience of an empire.</i>"</p> - -<p>The voice was beside Lenore now. She spun swiftly, her hands seeking -emptiness about her.</p> - -<p>"It is a trick! Someone will die for this! Leave! Leave this instant, -or I call the guard—"</p> - -<p>The voice of "Conscience" laughed.</p> - -<p>"<i>Call the guard if you will, Princess. I will have gone ere they -arrive ... and these with me!</i>"</p> - -<p>This time the sound came from <i>behind</i> her. Again the girl whirled, -this time to see a stupefying sight. As if imbued with eerie lapidary -life, the jewels were rising from her dressing-table in great handfuls. -Leaping clots of rich iridescence climbed into thin air ... and -vanished!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Up till now the princess had been overwhelmed with shock; now she was -struck to the quick with another emotion. She screamed aloud and darted -forward in defense of her precious gems.</p> - -<p>"Stop! They are mine! How dare you—?"</p> - -<p>Her questing hands touched the disappearing jewels, and for an instant -a strange, electrical tingling coursed her veins. Then the warmth of a -human hand struck down her clawing fingers; the Voice cried sternly, -"<i>Let be, woman! These go to those who need them more than you!</i>" Then -with a quick change of tone, "<i>Stand still, you little hell-cat</i>—"</p> - -<p>The Princess Lenore had flung herself forward upon the invisible thief, -was groping with maddened fingers at a face, at eyes she could not -see. Her hands touched flesh ... her ears caught the swift sibilance -of an indrawn breath. In all her life, never had Lenore been in such -close contact with a man. Strong arms gripped her shoulders, shook her -fiercely, an angry voice grated, "<i>You greedy little fool! Are these -all you live for, then? Cold stones? No wonder your heart is an icy -barren, without sympathy or compassion. Don't you know what it means to -hunger and be without bread, to want and be without hope, to love and -be without love? In all your life, have you known only the icy caress -of gems? Not this—?</i>"</p> - -<p>And harshly, stunningly, the cries of the Princess Lenore were stifled -by the crush of male lips upon her own. For an instant the world spun -dizzily beneath her; it seemed a burning brand raced through her veins, -crying a tocsin. A vast, engulfing weakness shook the princess; she -fell back, trembling and shaken.</p> - -<p>Then anger, fierce and bitter, cleared her senses. She opened her -eyes ... and found herself viewing an incredible sight: herself bent to -the embrace of a tall, dark-haired man clad in the rough habiliments -of the working class. A young man whose jacket pockets bulged with the -jewels that had disappeared ... a young man whose eyes were covered -with a pair of strangely shaped spectacles....</p> - -<p>With a start, she realized she was seeing her formerly invisible guest -in the rock-quartz mirror. At her gasp, the stranger spun, saw his -reflection in the glass. With an oath he loosed her, seized a heavy -stool, and hurled it at the glass. Its smoothness shattered into a -thousand gleaming splinters ... and once again she saw no one.</p> - -<p>"<i>Vixen!</i>" grated the voice. For a few more seconds, jewels continued -to leap upward into what the Princess Lenore now knew were hidden -pockets, while she stood helplessly by. Then—she never could explain -just <i>why</i>, but by some curious <i>absence</i> of sensation she knew—the -boudoir was deserted save for herself.</p> - -<p>The Princess Lenore stared long and wonderingly at what had been a -mirror, the most perfect example of Plutonian rock-quartz crystal -ever moulded. Then one soft hand lifted strangely to lips which still -tingled ... and something like a smile, a thoughtful smile, touched -those lips.</p> - -<p>Then, at long last, the Princess Lenore called the guard.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Neil Hardesty peered anxiously at the chronometer on his wrist. He -said, "Almost midnight. Brian, are you sure it was—?"</p> - -<p>"Positive!" said Brian Shaughnessey stubbornly. "It was Dirk Morris, -Neil. You've got to believe me. I know how it sounds. Crazy. But it was -him."</p> - -<p>"You didn't <i>see</i> him," reminded Hardesty gently. "You were under great -stress. It might have been an hallucination, you know."</p> - -<p>"Was that explosion," demanded Shaughnessey, "imagination? It blew the -warehouse plumb from here to Tophet. If I'd been within five hundred -yards, I'd have been blown to a bunch of rags. It was him, Neil. I'd -know his voice any time, any place."</p> - -<p>Vurrth said thoughtfully, "But Dirk dead, no?"</p> - -<p>"That's what we <i>thought</i>," said Brian doggedly. "But he ain't dead. -Either he's still alive, or his ghost—" A strange look swept his -features. He stopped, glanced at the new leader of the group. "Neil, -could it have been a—"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," confessed Hardesty. "I honestly do not know. We'll just -have to wait and see, Brian. But if he's coming here tonight, he'd -better come soon. It's almost midnight. After the curfew, we won't be -allowed to move on the streets."</p> - -<p>"Particularly," interjected a new member of the Group, "now. The -Overlord's guards are watching the streets like a pack of hounds since -the theft of the Princess' jewels."</p> - -<p>Hardesty said staunchly, "They can't blame that on us. We were all -at work when it happened. Still ... I'd like to know who did it. I'd -like to know what became of them, too. Disappeared into thin air, the -Princess claimed—"</p> - -<p>"<i>The jewels</i>," said a familiar voice, "<i>have been distributed where -they will do the most good. Their wealth has been converted into food -to fill the bellies of those who hunger.</i>"</p> - -<p>All occupants of the refuge spun as one, seeking in vain the speaker. -Neil Hardesty cried:</p> - -<p>"Dirk! Then Brian was right! But ... where are you?"</p> - -<p>The voice from nowhere chuckled.</p> - -<p>"That is what Garroway would like to know. I am beside you, Neil. Reach -out your hand."</p> - -<p>Hardesty did so. Briefly he felt a strange, warm tingling ... then his -hand met and gripped the hand of Morris. Tears sprang to the Group -leader's eyes. He choked, "Dirk! Thank the gods you have returned! We -thought you were—"</p> - -<p>He hesitated over the word. Morris supplied it.</p> - -<p>"Dead? I am, Neil ... so far as you are concerned."</p> - -<p>All members of the listening party stirred uneasily. Vurrth grunted, -and Brian Shaughnessey husked, "You see? I guessed it. A ghost—"</p> - -<p>"That's right," laughed Morris in most unwraithlike tones. "A ghost. A -galactic ghost ... free to roam the System without hindrance or bar. -Fleshless at will ... but with a body if I so desire."</p> - -<p>"You ... you mean," choked Neil, "you can make yourself visible if you -wish?"</p> - -<p>"Not visible to your eyes, no. But I can render myself solid when it -is necessary to do so. It was thus—" Morris laughed—"I stole the -tax-collector's gleanings and the Princess Lenore's jewels. Thus, too, -I helped Brian destroy the munitions dump."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid," said Hardesty humbly, "I'm afraid I do not understand, -Dirk. You are fleshless ... yet you can make your body solid. You are -alive, yet you call yourself 'dead so far as we are concerned.' What -does it mean?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not sure," answered Morris, "that I understand it myself, -completely. But here is the explanation as it was told me—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He told them, then, of that which had followed his "execution" in the -teleport. Of his meeting with Ptan Slador and Rima, and that which -had transpired between them. To a group such as this, untutored and -unlettered, it was vain to speak in technical language; he told his -story as simply as possible.</p> - -<p>"—thus," he concluded, "though the laws of Nadron forbid our using -that adjacent world as a gathering-spot for our forces, the Ptan -Slador and his fellows are sympathetic to our cause. They, therefore, -instructed me in the use of their visor, as well as in the employment -of certain strange faculties developed in me by my passage through the -teleport.</p> - -<p>"I am, you see, no longer simply a man of Earth, but a creature of two -worlds. Through the machination of the teleport, my atomic vibration -was altered to that of Nadron's galactic universe. But in the greater -continuum of Space-Time, there remains a life-path which is mine, and -typically mine.</p> - -<p>"To this ineradicable life-path I am always free to return. Could you -see me, you would note that I wear two odd bits of apparel. One, a pair -of visor-spectacles secured to my eyes; the second, a force-belt which -enables me to give my invisible body substance when such is needed.</p> - -<p>"To reach any given spot on Earth, I have but to go to its matching -spot on Nadron, then turn the stud upon the force-belt. This sends a -magnetic flux through my body, diverting it from Nadron's vibration -to that of Earth ... and placing me on my home planet. But as for -visibility—" He shook his head sadly—"that I can never be again ... -to you. There are limits to the diversion of matter. My only <i>real</i> -existence now is upon Nadron; my visits to Earth can be made only as a -tangible and vengeful wraith."</p> - -<p>"Then we can never see you again, Dirk?"</p> - -<p>"Not on Earth. On Nadron, perhaps. The Ptan Slador has promised that -when we have rid Earth of its tyrant, intercourse may be opened between -our two worlds. Not before, though." Dirk pondered briefly. "There is -one other way," he said. "A way which I did not know of myself until -a few hours ago. But I shall not mention it, even to you. It was an -accident which happened in the Princess' boudoir. I must ask the Ptan -about it when next I see him. Meanwhile—"</p> - -<p>"Yes?" said Brian eagerly. "What do we do, Dirk?"</p> - -<p>"You," ordered Morris sternly, "get out of sight and lay low! All of -you! The incidents which have occurred today are but a mild beginning -to what is to come. There is about to burst loose a reign of terror -such as Graed Garroway in the depth of his infamy never dreamed -possible ... and I am its originator!</p> - -<p>"When this begins, Garroway's first logical move will be to herd all -known living members of the Group together for questioning. You know -the manner of his interrogation. You must be spared the pleasures of -his rack and brand.</p> - -<p>"So ... hide! Go where you can, as swiftly as you can, and forget you -have heard from me. But spread the word to all freedom-loving men that -the time approaches when Earth and the solar system will rid itself of -Garroway's shackles. You can do this from concealment?"</p> - -<p>"We can," said Hardesty eagerly. "We can and will, Dirk. The hearts of -millions are with us. If you will but tell us when and where to strike."</p> - -<p>"You will be told from time to time. When word does not come, you -will know to strike where a weakness has been driven in the enemy's -defenses."</p> - -<p>The voice of Dirk Morris was not pleasant now. It rang with the bitter -hardness of forged steel.</p> - -<p>"I will strike Garroway hard, and often, and everywhere! Where least he -expects attack, there will I strike him. His armies will be robbed of -leaders, stores, strongholds. I will make Earth a boiling hell for him. -And when Earth becomes too hot a cauldron for his tasting, to the far -planets of the System I will pursue him inexorably. This I vow by the -bond of comradeship we have pledged!"</p> - -<p>Hardesty asked, "Far planets, Dirk? You can leave Nadron, then?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. There is no time for further explanation now, though. You must -get into hiding immediately. For tonight begins the vengeance we have -so long waited. Until happier days, then, my friends—"</p> - -<p>The voice dimmed with the final words. An electric tenseness left the -air, and somehow the assembled listeners knew their visitor had gone. -Neil Hardesty shook himself.</p> - -<p>"Goodbye, Dirk, and ... good luck!"</p> - -<p>Then, to his companions, "Well ... that's all. Now we know what to -expect. Come on ... let's get going! There's a lot of work ahead of us, -as well as Morris."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Already back on the fair soil of Nadron, Dirk Morris had retraced his -wanderings to the home of the Ptan Slador. He approached its "doorway," -marveling again—as he had when first the Ptan revealed the entrance to -his domicile—at the ease with which the portal merged itself into the -surrounding landscape.</p> - -<p>Homes on Nadron, Dirk had learned, were <i>underground</i>! That was why -the eye beheld nothing but the beauties of nature when the horizon -was scanned. The functions of living were carried on in cleverly -constructed subterranean dwelling-places, leaving the entire surface of -the planet a playground for the pastoral race.</p> - -<p>The Ptan was awaiting his return, eager curiosity in his eyes. He -looked up as Morris entered.</p> - -<p>"Well, my friend?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Dirk smiled grimly.</p> - -<p>"Very!" he replied. "It has been a day Graed Garroway will long -remember ... if I give him a chance to do so."</p> - -<p>"Your plans were successful?"</p> - -<p>"Perfectly. I assisted one of my erstwhile comrades in the destruction -of a vital munitions storehouse, robbed a tax collector of his monies -and the Emperor's own daughter of her jewels, and distributed these -where they were needed most ... amongst the poverty-ridden families -of the capital." Morris chuckled. "There will be more surprised faces -tomorrow when those poor devils wake to find themselves richer by a -king's ransom than when they sought their pallets."</p> - -<p>"Still," said Slador thoughtfully, "you have really accomplished -little. It would take a thousand men as many years to redistribute the -tribute Garroway's army has exacted from the people of your homeland—"</p> - -<p>"That is true. But this is only a beginning; a few, minor incidents -created to strike fear and awe into Garroway's hirelings. Later, I -will strike at more vital spots. And as for men ... there will be not -thousands, but millions, to rally when Garroway's force begins to -weaken."</p> - -<p>Slador nodded.</p> - -<p>"Yes, that I believe. It is the history of mankind. Ever there have -been millions to arise when oppression grows unbearable."</p> - -<p>A remembered question stirred in Dirk's mind; something which had -vaguely puzzled him in his previous conversations with the Nadronian. -He asked, "How is it, Ptan Slador, you know so much about the history -of Earthmen? And how, even more strangely, does it come about that you -of Nadron and we of Earth are identical in physical structure? Man's -space-vessels have flamed to the farthermost planets of our sun, but -nowhere else was ever found a life-form similar to that on our own -Earth.</p> - -<p>"The Venusians resemble us, but are taller by many feet, heavier, -slower of wit. The Plutonians again look like us ... save for the fact -that their skins are green. Yet you, not only removed from our Solar -Galaxy, but from our very ken of knowledge, might be a brother of my -own."</p> - -<p>The Ptan smiled slowly.</p> - -<p>"And so, in fact, I am, Dirk Morris."</p> - -<p>"What?"</p> - -<p>"A brother many times and many centuries removed. Tell me ... have you -never heard of the land of Aztlan?"</p> - -<p>"Azt—?" Dirk pondered, shook his head. "No. I'm afraid I have not, -Slador. Where was it ... or is it?"</p> - -<p>"It was," answered the older man, "an island in the ocean you Earthmen -now call the 'Atlantic' The very ocean takes its name from our -once-great nation—"</p> - -<p>"Aztlan!" ejaculated Morris. "Atlantis! Of course! Now I remember. It -is a myth ... a fable ... of an island which sank beneath the waves -countless centuries ago! But surely, sir, you don't mean—?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I mean," Slador assured him gravely, "that legend is no fable, but -veritable truth. Yes, my son, there <i>was</i> such an island ... and we of -Nadron were once the rulers of that island, and of your world.</p> - -<p>"Its ancientness is not measured in centuries, but in millennia. -How long we descendants of the Atlanteans have lived on Nadron, our -archives do not tell. Those who fled hither from the holocaust that -deluged our former home could not bring with them the impedimenta -of a cultured civilization. We had to fight our way upward from -semi-barbarism to our present state of living ... and even yet we have -not regained all the lost lore of Aztlan."</p> - -<p>Dirk said humbly, "Great must have been the wisdom of your forebears to -be able to transfer themselves from a sinking island to this place. I -understand, now, your interest in Earth. It is more than just sympathy -for us ... it is a natural love for a land which once was yours."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the Ptan. "A land which once we ruled, and now have lost -forever. But enough of this, my son. You were telling me of your -adventures—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Dirk, remembering. "There was one thing happened which I do -not understand. In the boudoir of the Princess Lenore, Ptan Slador, I -was <i>visible</i> for a few seconds! Why was that?"</p> - -<p>Slador stared at him in astonishment.</p> - -<p>"Visible! Impossible!"</p> - -<p>"That's what I thought. But it is true, sir. I saw my own image in the -Princess' mirror—"</p> - -<p>"Mirror! Ah!" exclaimed the Ptan. "Now I begin to understand. This -mirror ... it was not plain, silvered glass? It was, perhaps, quartz?"</p> - -<p>"Possibly," admitted Dirk. "I would not know about such things, sir."</p> - -<p>"Undoubtedly," mused his advisor, "it <i>must</i> have been a rock-quartz -mirror. That is the only Earthly substance of dual isotopic form. Its -converse refractions hold and trap not only the normal vibrations of -your system, but harmonic vibrations as well. Surely your scientists -know this. Many hundreds of years ago, I know they experimented with -the use of quartz substances in both light and sound transmission.</p> - -<p>"But we are not so interested now in causes as in results. Do you think -the Princess saw you in this mirror?"</p> - -<p>"I ... I am afraid so," confessed Dirk. "It was her astonishment that -attracted my gaze to the glass. Of course, I shattered the mirror -instantly. But too late to keep her from seeing—"</p> - -<p>"If, of course," interrupted a cool voice, "she was not as bemused as -yourself."</p> - -<p>"Eh?" Dirk spun, flushing in swift embarrassment as his eyes met those -of Slador's daughter. Rima's lips were lifted in a light smile which, -oddly, was not altogether of amusement. "Oh, you mean ... then, you ... -you saw?"</p> - -<p>"You do let business interfere with pleasure, do you, Dirk Morris?" -laughed the girl. "Yes, I am sorry, but I must confess to having -been an innocent witness to your ... momentary digression. It was -inexcusable of me, I know, but I was so interested in your endeavors -that I turned on the visor to follow your adventures, and—"</p> - -<p>"Rima," blurted Dirk, "you must believe me ... it was nothing. I mean, -the Princess means nothing to me. I—"</p> - -<p>He stopped, his embarrassment heightening with his color as he realized -how any attempt at explanation merely made an already awkward situation -worse. It suddenly mattered to him terribly that Rima should have -watched that impulsive episode between himself and the Emperor's -daughter. He had no right, he knew, to think of Rima as other than -a girl who had befriended him on an alien world ... but somehow he -already did. At first sight of her, a new meaning had entered into his -life.</p> - -<p>It did not soothe him that Rima turned away his explanation with a -laughing shrug.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but do not misunderstand me, Dirk Morris. It does not concern <i>me</i> -in the least how you amuse yourself in your lighter moments. And your -other exploits were, I must acknowledge, thrilling to watch ... in a -somewhat different way."</p> - -<p>Dirk said miserably, "Please! It was an impulse ... one I regretted -immediately. The Princess Lenore means nothing to me ... nothing. I -shall never lay eyes on her again in my life...."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>In that one statement, Morris was mistaken. He made it in all good -faith, but its truth was a matter over which he was not to have full -control.</p> - -<p>Two weeks passed. Two weeks filled with excitement and adventure. Two -weeks during which Dirk Morris made good his pledge to the assembled -brothers of the Group, now safely in hiding.</p> - -<p>During that fortnight the Galactic Ghost ... as soon he became known -to the whispering citizenry of Earth ... struck again, again, and yet -again at the wide-flung forces of Black Garroway. Some of these blows -were of a minor nature: the theft of hoarded gold, and the subsequent -reappearance, as if by magic, of that gold where starving folk could -lay eager hands on it; the mysterious disappearance of the Emperor's -armored unicar scant moments before Garroway was to make an impressive -"personal appearance" before the populace of the capital city; the -inexplicable vanishment of a secret formula wherewith the Overlord's -military experts hoped to subdue the gallant little guerrilla army -which still held a salient against Garroway's might on the planetoid -Iris.</p> - -<p>Other occurrences were more violent ... the kind that not even a -ruthlessly controlled press can keep from public knowledge. The -shocking demolition of the Overlord's strongest Asiatic fortress at -Chuen-tzwan, keypoint from which his troops dominated all of what had -once been Southern China. At six-fifteen in an evening, according -to testimony given by the commanding officer at the subsequent -investigation, from out of nowhere had appeared a placard, advising the -entire garrison to withdraw immediately from the fortress, advising its -component members, moreover, to rebel against Garroway. This ultimatum -had teeth in it. Midnight was set as the deadline for obedience.</p> - -<p>When at midnight the garrison was still abristle with an aroused and -suspicious force of armed men, from a dozen key points had broken out -instantaneous fires. "Only a member of the Imperial High Command," -testified the wretched officer, "could have known where to set those -fires. Each was at a vitally strategic place: near a munitions bin, a -water supply depot, or a warehouse of inflammables. We were helpless. -In an hour the entire fortress was doomed. I was lucky to save a tenth -of my men."</p> - -<p>He was not so fortunate in facing Garroway's wrath. The ex-commanding -officer was put to death, along with every other ranking officer of the -destroyed battalion.</p> - -<p>This summary execution seemed bootless, though, when a day or so later -a similar flame destroyed the spaceport wherein was cradled one quarter -of the Emperor's fleet. It was revealed by those who escaped this -debacle that it had been impossible to salvage a single one of the -spacecraft. "They were not merely attacked with fire from without," one -official avowed. "Each vessel was found to have been tampered with by -someone of the crew. The hypos were smashed as if with sledges, vital -running parts were broken or stolen. We were helpless!"</p> - -<p>Helpless ... helpless ... helpless! There were excuses Garroway heard -often, far too often, during the next weeks. It was a word he learned -to hate fiercely, because it was so true. In quick succession he saw -fall his outpost in Lower Africa, the well-fortified city of Buenos -Aires, the central armaments depot on Lake Huron. And each time the -apologies were the same. "We saw no one ... heard no one ... until it -was too late."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meanwhile, trouble had reared its head challengingly in the capital -city itself. Here, as elsewhere, a frightened populace began by asking, -"Why?" and rapidly changed its query to the more daring, "Why not?"</p> - -<p>Rumor, despite Garroway's every attempt to still it, ran like -quicksilver through the city. If the press was silent on a new -disaster, a common man or woman walking the streets might hear at -his elbow a mysterious Voice asking, "<i>Did you know that last night -the fortress at Toulon fell? The city is freed of the Emperor's -rule; already the people have declared their independence, set up a -provisional government. You can do the same. The hour is near!</i>"</p> - -<p>Or a child, playing with his little companions on the streets, would -suddenly stop and look about him strangely, listen as to an unseen -speaker ... then run home to his parents with the inexplicable words of -a Voice: "<i>Yesterday the Territory of Mexico threw off the Overlord's -bonds. In a short while you may do the same. Prepare!</i>"</p> - -<p>Or an unwimpled nun, praying in the sanctuary of a forbidden -cloister—Black Garroway had long since outlawed the Church—might hear -the vengeful, whispered tones of an unecclesiastic visitant: "<i>On Timor -the Cross is worshipped openly since the Overlord's force has been -broken. Here it will soon be the same. Spread the word!</i>"</p> - -<p>Thus the message was passed from person to person, and through a -citizenry for decades apathetic to its own plight a new sense of hope -and courage pulsed. Garroway's warriors sought in vain the refuge of -the Group, upon the heads of whose members the Emperor had long since -placed a tremendous price. But any common man who felt the urge to add -his contribution to the rising tide of revolt could find that refuge -with ease ... for at his work, or by his side, or in the heart of a -crowd would be a Voice to tell him its location.</p> - -<p>So grew revolt like a tropic vine, reaching out new tentacles with -every rising dawn, developing new strength with every failure of -Garroway's heretofore supposedly invulnerable war machine, gathering -new converts with every fresh disaster. And the mute whisperings of -fearful people began to thrum with a new and heady tone ... the spirit -of daring, the renascense of the flame of liberty. The voice of the -people ... which is the will of God.</p> - -<p>Graed Garroway heard the bruitings of this voice, and was afraid.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Graed Garroway, whose boast had ever been he feared no man, heard the -slow, insistent voice of revolt closing in about him ... and was afraid.</p> - -<p>For the first time in his brutal career he had met an enemy he could -not crush with ruthless blows, destroy by force, obliterate with a -flick of the hand. His armies had fallen twice ... thrice ... a dozen -times before a phantom, a will-o'-the-wisp that struck and fled, -leaving terror, awe, and desolation in its wake.</p> - -<p>He was baffled and confused, was Black Garroway. A terror was upon him -that he could neither escape nor admit, for his confession of this fear -to his commanders might be the last thing needed to send them, too, -fleeing from his banner.</p> - -<p>There was but one living soul to whom he dared admit this fear. That -was his own flesh and blood, the Princess Lenore. Yet even to her -he would not make an open avowal. His admission came in the form of -blustering attack.</p> - -<p>"Cowards!" he stormed, pacing the floor of his daughter's boudoir. -"Snivelling cowards ... the lot of them! All this nonsense about a -Voice ... a ghost that destroys strong forts ... a phantom that passes -unscathed through flame ... <i>pah!</i> It's lies, lies ... nothing but -lies!"</p> - -<p>Princess Lenore studied her father lazily. She was not of the type -easily stirred to fear. Under other circumstances, born the daughter -of a lesser man than Black Garroway, Lenore Garroway might have -made a name for herself in the world. As an adventuress ... a -fighting-woman ... a daring woman.</p> - -<p>She drawled, half amusedly, "Lies? Are you so sure of that, my father?"</p> - -<p>"Sure?" snorted Graed Garroway. "Of course, I'm sure! There is no such -thing as invisibility! My scientists have proven that time and time -again in laboratories. The fabled 'magic cloak' of invisibility is both -hypothetically and actually impossible. Where matter exists, there -must be either reflection, refraction, or occultation—"</p> - -<p>The Princess yawned.</p> - -<p>"I do not understand these high-sounding words," she said, "nor need I. -Because, you see, I have met the Galactic Ghost myself."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" fumed her parent. "It was an hallucination you suffered. -Sympathetic reaction set up by nervousness. The medical examiner -testified—"</p> - -<p>"Sometimes," interrupted the girl coldly, "you allow your -ultrascientific viewpoint to warp your better judgment, my father. You -talk nonsense! Could a nervous reaction account for the theft of my -jewels, or the shattering of my mirror?"</p> - -<p>"I am not denying," protested Black Garroway stiffly, "that the ... -the Ghost visited you. Possibly he hypnotized you into believing him -invisible. As for your broken mirror, that might have happened in a -dozen ways—"</p> - -<p>"The mirror was broken," said Lenore, "by the Ghost! Because I saw him -reflected in it!"</p> - -<p>"Furthermore, it is ridiculous to assume—" The Emperor stopped -abruptly, his brow congealing—"Eh? What did you say? You saw—"</p> - -<p>"I tried to tell you," purred the girl, "at the time. But you were too -concerned with the loss of my gems to listen to me. I told you I saw -the Galactic Ghost. He was a tall, dark-haired young man—"</p> - -<p>"Ridiculous!" puffed Garroway. "More hypnosis!"</p> - -<p>"—with crisp, curling hair," continued the Princess reminiscently, -"and a small, triangular scar over his right eyebrow. A very -interesting young man—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Garroway had stiffened at her words, but this time it was with a -tensing of interest. He leaned forward.</p> - -<p>"A moment, my dear. Did you say ... a small scar above his right -eyebrow?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes."</p> - -<p>"A triangular scar? You are certain of that?"</p> - -<p>"Positive. Why?"</p> - -<p>"Because if you are right—" The Overlord left the sentence dangling; -strode to the wall audio and crisped sharp orders into its metallic -throat. Elsewhere in the palace a corps of underlings went into -action, collecting swiftly the information demanded by their master. -Within minutes there came a messenger, bearing a portfolio. This -Garroway pawed through, selecting a photograph which he handed to the -girl.</p> - -<p>"Is this," he asked hoarsely, "the image you saw?"</p> - -<p>The Princess Lenore took the photo, studied it, and nodded. "It is. I -remember him well. Who is he?"</p> - -<p>Graed Garroway laughed. But now there was a touch of hysteria in his -laughter, and his deeprooted fear struck new depths as he answered.</p> - -<p>"His name is Dirk Morris ... an underling."</p> - -<p>"Dirk Morris," repeated the girl. "It is a pleasant name to the ears. -Well ... now that you know the identity of the Ghost, what are you -going to do?"</p> - -<p>Garroway said slowly, "I am going to do ... nothing. Dirk Morris was -put to death almost three weeks ago. The ... the Galactic Ghost is a -ghost indeed!"</p> - -<p>The girl smiled. "Perhaps," she said thoughtfully. "But a ghost with -very tangible body ... and impulses. And, if I am not greatly mistaken, -an Achilles' heel. Listen, my father.... I will drive a bargain with -you. For a certain price, I will deliver into your hands this threat to -your power."</p> - -<p>"Price?" The Overlord stared at her bleakly. "What price do you ask?"</p> - -<p>"The life," said the girl, "of the Ghost."</p> - -<p>Garroway's brow darkened.</p> - -<p>"Have you gone mad?" he demanded harshly. "His life is forfeit the -moment my men seize him!"</p> - -<p>"But," pointed out the Princess Lenore sagely, "they cannot lay hands -on him ... without my help. Come, father ... I, too, can be ruthless -in getting that which I desire. Will you give me the man, Dirk Morris, -and put an end to these depredations? Or must your fortresses continue -to fall because of all on earth, I alone know how this phantom may be -caught?"</p> - -<p>Garroway's cheeks were mottled with rage; for a moment it seemed he -might strike his own daughter.</p> - -<p>"You ... you ingrate!" he husked. "You dare bargain with the System's -Emperor?"</p> - -<p>"I dare bargain," taunted the Princess, "with my own father. And with a -badly frightened man."</p> - -<p>Garroway fumed at the taunt ... but capitulated, as the Princess had -known he must do. He lowered his hands weakly.</p> - -<p>"Very well," he said. "I give you your price. Now, what must be done?"</p> - -<p>"This—" said the Princess. And for a long time two remarkably similar -heads, both in physiognomy and mentality, bent close together in -conference....</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VI</p> - -<p>"Tonight?" asked Dirk Morris. "You're sure, Neil?"</p> - -<p>"This very night," swore Neil Hardesty. "At the Palace Royal. I got -it on the highest authority. From one of the Imperial Guard, recently -converted to our Cause. A grand meeting of the Emperor's strategy -Council, summoned to discuss ways and means—" He grinned—"of -apprehending the Galactic Ghost."</p> - -<p>Dirk Morris smiled, too, though his features were invisible to his -friend.</p> - -<p>"The Ghost," he promised, "will attend the Council meeting. Neil, send -out a hurried summons to all the Group. Tonight may be the night for -which we have waited and planned. The situation has finally turned -to our advantage. This is the setting we needed to strike our final, -and heaviest, blow. A gathering of all Graed Garroway's most trusted -lieutenants! What better time to bring an abrupt end to his tyranny?"</p> - -<p>"Destruction?" asked Brian Shaughnessey. "You plan to kill them all, -Dirk?"</p> - -<p>"That is not the best way. Killing would immortalize Garroway and—in -the minds of many misguided people—forever brand the Galactic Ghost as -an outlaw and murderer. No ... I will not destroy the Overlord. I will -make him appear ignominious in the eyes of his subjects ... prove to -all men that his vaunted powers are weak and futile. There is no weapon -so strong as mirth, no blade so keen as scorn."</p> - -<p>Vurrth grunted heavily. "Maybe better you kill, Dirk. No trust -Overlord."</p> - -<p>"My plans have been successful thus far," pointed out the Voice of -Conscience. "Play along with me a little farther. I think the end is in -sight. Neil ... be ready to send your forces into the Palace the moment -I give the signal."</p> - -<p>"Right!"</p> - -<p>"And you, Brian ... see that the audiocast stations are controlled by -us in time to speed word to the populace that the Emperor has been -taken."</p> - -<p>"Right, Dirk."</p> - -<p>"And you, Vurrth—"</p> - -<p>"Me be on hand," growled Vurrth, "to watch Overlord. No like this."</p> - -<p>Dirk laughed. "As you will. Well ... until tonight, comrades!"</p> - -<p>Again, as oft before during these past weeks, the assembled brothers -of the Group sensed the passage of a tingling vibrancy, and knew their -leader had gone back to that strange, mysterious other universe which -was now his home. Neil issued orders. The Group disbanded.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Back on Nadron, Dirk Morris sighed and unlimbered himself of the -heavy harness which necessity forced his wearing when he made his -peregrinations between the two worlds. To the Ptan Slador he said, -"Well ... that's all I can do now. I shall try to rest until the hour -comes."</p> - -<p>"And then?" asked Slador.</p> - -<p>"And then," repeated Dirk slowly, "success ... at last. If everything -goes well, tonight will mark the beginning of the end. Earth's greatest -citadel will fall, carrying with it into destruction not only the -Emperor, but all those upon whom the burden of his military power rests.</p> - -<p>"With the fall of Earth, half the battle is won. No other planet is so -tightly under Garroway's control as ours. With the Overlord imprisoned, -the other worlds will burst free of their bondage ... the System will -know again the joys of liberty."</p> - -<p>Rima said, "Dirk ... you have laid careful plans for tonight? You have -plotted every move you will make?"</p> - -<p>"Under the circumstances, that is well-nigh impossible. I know only -that the Emperor gathers with his staff. I shall have to make my -entrance, then decide on the spur of the moment how best to accomplish -my aims."</p> - -<p>"You are sure—" hesitated the girl—"this is not a trap of some sort?"</p> - -<p>"Trap?" Dirk laughed lightly. "How could it be?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. But the Overlord is no fool. He is a ruthless man ... -but he is no fool."</p> - -<p>"He also," reminded Dirk, "thinks I am dead. The identity of the -Galactic Ghost is, to him, a complete mystery. Were he to discover my -identity, then perhaps I might have occasion to fear a trap of some -sort, for ... as you say ... Garroway is no fool. He would realize, -then, that the teleport brought about not death, but some sort of -sinister change. But I am sure there is no danger. Ptan Slador ... let -us drink to success, and to the final reunion of our freed worlds!"</p> - -<p>So they toasted a new life opening to all mankind. And the maiden, -Rima, drank the toast with them. But even as she drank, her eyes were -grave and thoughtful....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nevertheless, despite his claims of confidence, it was with some slight -degree of trepidation that Dirk Morris prepared for his ultimate -exploit later that night. This was, he knew, his boldest stroke to -date. He had hurled his forces elsewhere with supreme confidence. But -always he had avoided too-close contact with Graed Garroway. For in -his heart of hearts he agreed with Rima. He knew the Emperor to be, -in truth, no fool ... but a cunning adversary of infinite daring and -resource.</p> - -<p>Still, the die was cast now. The Group's preparations were made; he -could not let them down. He must pave the way for the general uprising -which would sweep Garroway from power ... or his own scheming into -disaster.</p> - -<p>Slador and Rima accompanied him to the spot on Nadron where his -translation was to take place. It was a tiny wooded glade, bathed -in the cool moonlight of the alien planet. In the thickets small -night-things chirruped, and from somewhere a sleepy bird sang a -listless lullaby. Dirk, standing there breathing the sweet, fresh -air of Nadron found it hard to believe that the mere pressure of a -switch on his belt would place him on the musty, lower levels of that -architectural monstrosity which was the Palace Royal ... a towering -structure of numberless stories ... at the very topmost of which would -be held the conference he pledged himself to end.</p> - -<p>He held out a hand; first Slador, then Rima, gripped it warmly.</p> - -<p>"Good luck!" said the Ptan. And Rima added, "We'll be waiting ... and -watching!"</p> - -<p>Dirk nodded, not daring to trust his thoughts to words, and depressed -the switch. As oft before he felt a churning moment of vertigo ... then -he stood in a lower corridor of the Palace Royal. Not ten feet distant -stood an armed guard. This man stirred restlessly, his head turning as -if he felt the electric disturbance of Dirk's entrance. But when his -searching eyes found nothing, he returned to the pacing of his post. -Dirk slipped past him swiftly, noiselessly, and to the first of the -long series of staircases he must negotiate.</p> - -<p>The Palace Royal was equipped with elevators, but these he dared not -use. The movement of an "empty" elevator would be token enough to the -wit-sharpened Palace guards that the dreaded Galactic Ghost was in -their midst. So he pressed forward and upward to the heights of the -tower.</p> - -<p>It was a long climb and a brutal one. The Emperor's palace dwarfed to -shame the puny "skyscraper" attempts of ancestors a thousand years -removed. Thus it was a weary Dirk Morris who finally attained the -topmost flight, and there rested himself briefly before entering the -suite which comprised the Overlord's council chamber.</p> - -<p>The vagrant thought struck him that the Palace was poorly guarded, -considering the chaos into which the Ghost's activities should have -thrown the Emperor. But this, he reasoned, might be but another proof -of the weakening of Graed Garroway's grip; so undermined was the -structure of his empire now that not even in his own bailiwick could -he command the meticulous discipline he had heretofore exacted of his -hirelings.</p> - -<p>Rested at last, he moved toward the massive portal of the council hall. -It hung slightly ajar; with no effort he inched it open and eased his -still-invisible, but now substantial body through.</p> - -<p>His entrance found the Overlord addressing a group seated in a -semi-circle about the dais from which Garroway spoke. All backs save -that of the Emperor himself were turned to Dirk. He moved forward -silently, cautiously.</p> - -<p>"—therefore, my lords and generals," the Overlord was saying, "it is -vitally necessary that we apprehend this dastard, this criminal, who -has so dared attack our government. Never until the so-called Galactic -Ghost is captured and put to death will we be free to—"</p> - -<p>"—to continue," said Dirk loudly, boldly, "your murderous onslaught -against the rights and liberties of freedom loving people! Is that your -meaning, Graed Garroway? Then abandon the thought. For truly, tonight -your empire crumbles beneath you!"</p> - -<p>"<i>The Ghost!</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The cry lifted in the hall; all heads whirled as one. Eyes opened -wide in futile scanning, and jaws fell agape. And of all that vast, -terrified assemblage, there was only one who did not freeze with sudden -fear. That one was Garroway. Strangely, a smile seized his lips as he -cried:</p> - -<p>"Yes, the Ghost ... as I had hoped! Guards ... <i>lights!</i>"</p> - -<p>Instantly the room, which had been cloaked in semi-darkness, blazed -with the fury of a thousand beaming flares. And to his horror, Dirk -Morris saw....</p> - -<p>... not only those who had spun to face him, tight faces wreathed in -scowls, hands gripping lethal weapons ... but his own image, reflected -a hundred times from every nook and corner of the vast hall! From -a hundred mirrors placed to reflect in their revealing rock-quartz -surfaces every move he made!</p> - -<p>Too late, comprehension dawned upon him! Rima had guessed aright ... -this was a trap, ingeniously set for him by the Overlord, and now -sprung at the proper moment. The Princess had revealed that which she -had seen; the Overlord was clever enough to take advantage of it.</p> - -<p>There was but one thing to do, and that quickly! In a trice, Dirk's -hand leaped to the control stud on his belt, seeking to depress the -switch that would return him to Nadron. But here, too, the Emperor -had anticipated his move. His voice again cleft the stark, foreboding -silence.</p> - -<p>"<i>Field!</i>"</p> - -<p>And instantly there hummed through the room a shrill, whining current. -It took but the split of a second for Dirk Morris to discern its -purpose. For when his own hand tightened on the switch ... nothing -happened! He did not find himself hurling the vibration-span to the -safety of Nadron. He remained where he was, writhing in the coils of an -electric agony that coursed through his veins like liquid fire.</p> - -<p>It was then the Overlord laughed, his voice a grating triumph.</p> - -<p>"You see, Dirk Morris, it is useless! My scientists have probed the -secret of your ghostly state ... and you are snared in a net of their -devising! Toss down your weapons!"</p> - -<p>The grim purpose in his voice left Dirk no choice. Reluctantly he -dropped to the floor the weapon with which he had hoped to capture -Graed Garroway, stood still as grim-faced guards moved forward to grip -him, bundle him to the dais wherefrom watched the smirking Overlord.</p> - -<p>The tide was terribly turned. The biter was bitten!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VII</p> - -<p>Dirk released the stud, pressure upon which had not brought him the -escape he hoped, and gained some consolation in the fact that the pain -faded. One thing he would <i>not</i> do, he pledged himself, was show fear -or hurt before Garroway.</p> - -<p>In as level a voice as he could muster he said, "So we meet again, -Overlord of scavengers?"</p> - -<p>Garroway laughed harshly.</p> - -<p>"The trapped rabbit uses strong language still. You have profited -little by your experience, I see, Dirk Morris."</p> - -<p>"On the contrary," retorted Dirk, "I have profited much. And the -measure of my profit lies in the dissolution of your empire ... as you -have learned in this past fortnight."</p> - -<p>Garroway said, "True, you have caused me trouble. I acknowledge it. -But that trouble is ended, now, for I have discovered—at last, but -fortunately not too late—the true nature of the machine in which I -had thought to execute you. It was <i>not</i> a disintegrating machine, but -one that distorted the atoms of your body, rendering you invisible."</p> - -<p>Dirk's heart leaped; he struggled to maintain the impassive mask which -was his face, revealed to the Overlord in a hundred reflecting surfaces -of quartz. Then not yet had Garroway learned of the existence of -Nadron, of the adjacent universe. That, at least, was something to be -thankful for.</p> - -<p>He said, "It was a clever trap you set for me, Garroway. You announced -a council meeting which you knew I must attend; you surround yourself -not with your generals, as was expected, but with guards. You listened -to the advice of your daughter, used rock-quartz to make my body -visible—"</p> - -<p>"—and," added Garroway complacently, "prepared an electric -wave-transmitter that disrupted your own instrument, trapped you in our -presence, and makes it impossible for you to escape.</p> - -<p>"Well—" His voice changed abruptly—"your puny attempt to overthrow me -has failed, Morris. As a fighter, I cannot restrain a certain degree of -admiration for your effort, but as Emperor of the System, there is one -thing I can, and must, do. <i>Guards—!</i>"</p> - -<p>His voice was a thin snarl.</p> - -<p>But as hulking stalwarts moved forward to perform his bidding, another -slighter figure hastened before them to confront her parent. The -Princess Lenore.</p> - -<p>"Wait!" she commanded. "What means this, my parent? Why do you call the -guards?"</p> - -<p>"Return to your apartment, Lenore!" ordered Garroway sternly. "You have -served your purpose. It is not seemly you should witness the judgment -on this rebel."</p> - -<p>"Have you forgotten your promise?" raged the woman. "You cannot kill -this man. You pledged me his life!"</p> - -<p>"Forget this foolish whim!" bade her father. "He is but an underling. -Surely there are other men—"</p> - -<p>"I want this one!" insisted Lenore. For a moment her dark, vivid eyes -touched Dirk's with lingering ferocity ... and despite the tenseness of -the moment, the peril of his situation, Dirk Morris could not restrain -the quick thrill of admiration and ... something else which burned -through him. His brain tossed in a turmoil of conflicting emotions. He -understood, now, why an ungovernable impulse had caused him to sweep -this girl into his arms that night in her apartment. It was because -she was ... she was his type of woman! A hard, gallant, ruthless -fighting-woman who knew what she wanted and would adopt any measures to -get it.</p> - -<p>There was Rima on Nadron ... true. He respected her. For her he -felt—though he had known her but a short time—a great tenderness and -affection. But it was not true love. It was a brotherly feeling; a -comfortable confidence in her presence and companionship.</p> - -<p><i>This</i> girl, the Princess Lenore, alone could stir his veins to running -fire; she alone quickened a hungry spark within him. It was mad ... it -was impossible ... but true. He loved—and the knowledge of it struck -Dirk Morris with brutally staggering force—he loved an enemy and the -daughter of his bitterest foe!</p> - -<p>Stranger yet ... she loved him!</p> - -<p>Now she was talking again, hurriedly arguing a case to win his life.</p> - -<p>"It is not necessary to kill this man, my parent. It would be folly -to do so. Think! On all this world ... in all this universe ... there -are few men worthy of the name of <i>man</i>! Your court is a <i>melange</i> -of smirking nincompoops and weaklings. Who amongst them can match in -strength and vigor the spirit of Dirk Morris? Which can compare with -him in audacity and daring?"</p> - -<p>"That," responded her father darkly, "is why he must die. I cannot -allow so dangerous a foe to live—"</p> - -<p>"No? Have you forgotten the medical science of which your attendants -are capable? Think, my father ... were it not better to make slight -alterations in this man's brain, converting him to a true and faithful -servant, than to destroy forever the bravery in his heart?"</p> - -<p>The words struck home. Garroway frowned thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>"It is true," he mused. "A slight operation ... a period in the Mental -Clinic to erase from his brain-passage all thoughts of rebellion ... -would make him a new man. But it is too great a chance. Were anything -to go wrong—"</p> - -<p>The Princess Lenore gazed at him scornfully.</p> - -<p>"I see. Very well, then—" With slow, deliberate movements she reached -up, stripped from her raven hair the glittering imperial emblem which -designated her a member of the Family Royal—"if such must be your -decision, so be it? But I ... I shall no longer confess myself a -Garroway. If the word of the Emperor is so lightly to be given...."</p> - -<p>And this time she was triumphant. Her scorn hit the Overlord in his -one most vulnerable spot ... his colossal vanity. His dark eyes -flamed with petulance. He snarled, "Oh, let be! No man shall say the -Overlord retracted a pledge. If you must have this man—" He turned to -Morris—"Well, what say <i>you</i>, rebel? Are you too proud to buy your -life at the expense of rebellion? Or will you accept life at the price -of a new existence of loyalty ... to me?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dirk wavered, sorely tempted. Until this moment his life had been -consecrated to a single Cause ... the overthrow of Garroway's cruel -empire. But now, suddenly, strangely, singingly, had entered into it -another influence ... love for a woman of matchless courage and beauty.</p> - -<p>His attempts to destroy Garroway had failed. He was hopelessly -ensnared, his cohorts could not save him. Years might pass before -another Dirk Morris arose to lead malcontents in rebellion. Neil -Hardesty was a good man, a strong and faithful friend ... but he lacked -the spark of genius that leads lost causes to success.</p> - -<p>Perhaps it would be better, in the long run, to accept defeat ... and -in accepting it, accept also such share of happiness as this world -had to offer. As the mate of Lenore he would live a new life, all -rebellious thoughts exiled from his brain by the surgery of Garroway's -physicians....</p> - -<p>So he hesitated, and for those tense moments the fate of a world hung -in the balance. But then ... honor won! With infinite sadness, but with -courage too, Dirk Morris made his answer. It was symbolic that he made -it to the Princess.</p> - -<p>"I am sorry, my Princess," he said quietly. "I know a great wonder, -and a great pride, that you have made this plea for me. But ... I -cannot accept life on such terms. For me there is but one clear and -unavoidable path ... to go on. This path I must choose to glory or ... -the grave."</p> - -<p>"Don't be a fool!" cried the girl. "Don't you see you can gain nothing -by this gesture. You have no choice!"</p> - -<p>Her words were sharp ... but her voice was fearful. Dirk, recognized -this as he said, still softly, "Yes, that, too, I see. And, believe me, -Princess, I am deeply sorry. But I have made my choice."</p> - -<p>For an instant that seemed eternities the Princess Lenore, she who had -until a fortnight since known passion for nothing save costly baubles, -stared into Dirk's eyes. Then a little sob broke from her lips, and she -turned away.</p> - -<p>And the Emperor nodded.</p> - -<p>"Guards!" he said. "Take this man—"</p> - -<p>It was a command that was never obeyed ... an order never completed! -For at that moment came interruption in the form of a violent blast -that shook the entire council hall as a thatched shack trembles in -a cyclone's wake. A column of living fire blossomed in the room; -eyes burned and eardrums throbbed to see and hear the tingling of an -unleashed and unguessable <i>force</i> turned loose in their midst.</p> - -<p>And in the heart of this column, loose-girt in shining white, -radiant as a goddess, but calm with the ominous quiet of powers -unfathomable ... stood the girl, <i>Rima of Nadron</i>!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was Morris who first recovered sufficiently from the unexpected -appearance to make a movement. A cry broke from his lips, "<i>Rima!</i>" He -moved toward the girl. But her voice lifted in crisp warning.</p> - -<p>"Back, Dirk! To touch this flame means death!"</p> - -<p>Her words stopped not only Morris, but a group of the Imperial Guards -who, as one, had now spun toward the visitant. They faltered, stopped -dead in their tracks and turned to the Overlord for guidance.</p> - -<p>Graed Garroway's black eyebrows were knit with rage and bafflement. He -demanded hoarsely, "Who is this woman? And whence comes she, that she -dares enter the stronghold of the Emperor?"</p> - -<p>It was incredible how forceful could be the tones of Rima. Her voice -was dulcet sweet, but carried conviction.</p> - -<p>"I am of a race that ruled this world before your ilk was spawned, -Black Garroway ... a race whose least remembered knowledge so surpasses -your own that you are as pawns with which we play at will.</p> - -<p>"I came because the evil in your heart has inspired you to do a great -wrong ... a wrong upon mankind that we, who once loved Earth, can -neither condone nor allow. I came to free Dirk Morris, and to free -Earth of a tyrant.</p> - -<p>"Dirk ... bid the Emperor step from his dais. He no longer rules this -city or this System."</p> - -<p>"No longer rules—" choked Garroway.</p> - -<p>"The city has fallen," said Rima. "While in this tower you plotted for -the life of a rebel leader, you have lost an empire. Listen ... or -better yet, turn on your visi-screens. Therein you will see I speak the -truth."</p> - -<p>In sudden, fumbling haste Graed Garroway turned to a vision-unit set in -the auditorium wall. Instantly a section of the capital city sprawled -before the gaze of those assembled. It was as Rima had foretold. No -matter where the dial was swung, there reflected the same scene: people -leaping, laughing, rejoicing in the streets ... marching in vast, -inchoate crowds, singing and cheering. Here and there were grisly -evidences of the reason for their rejoicing ... a knot of tumbled -bodies garbed in the uniform of Garroway's forces ... a burning pyre -which had been an Imperial blockhouse ... a torn, stained militiaman's -cap lying in a gutter.</p> - -<p>And now, to further the evidence, came the sound of voices, running -footsteps, through the tower itself. And into the council hall flooded -a host of jubilant freedmen, led by a trio at sight of whom Dirk's -heart filled with gladness. The gigantic Vurrth, grinning from ear -to ear and wearing a jacket snatched from a fallen foe ... a jacket -that had ripped up the back under the strain of the Venusian's mighty -muscles. Brian Shaughnessey, bellowing loud greetings. Neil Hardesty, -grave and quiet as ever, even in this hour of triumph, as he spoke to -his leader.</p> - -<p>"It is over, Dirk. You have succeeded here, too?"</p> - -<p>Dirk said ruefully, "I have succeeded, yes. But it was not of my doing. -Rima—"</p> - -<p>"He has succeeded," interrupted the Nadronian girl. "The Emperor is -deposed."</p> - -<p>Neil said gratefully, "We awaited your signal, Dirk. When it did not -come we grew anxious. Then Rima—" For an instant his eyes sought -those of the alien girl, and there was a curious humility in them, an -almost worshipful admiration—"then Rima came to us; told us the hour -had struck. We issued our rallying cry. It ... it was easier than we -had dared hope. The city was like a ripe plum, ready for our taking. -At every street-corner new hordes joined us. Even Garroway's hirelings -abandoned their old leaders to follow the standard of the fabulous -Galactic Ghost."</p> - -<p>"Thus, you see," said Rima so softly that only Dirk could hear her, -"you <i>did</i> succeed, Dirk Morris. It was the Ghost whose spirit forged -this rebellion. I but stepped in when the moment needed me."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Garroway, who had been standing at the vision plate, staring as a -man transfixed at the image of his own downfall, now turned to his -destroyers. His dark eyes were haggard, his sagging jowls suddenly no -longer the harsh features of a ruler, but those of a defeated old man. -He whispered:</p> - -<p>"This, then, is the end? Very well—" A burst of his former defiance -flamed in him. He forced a laugh. "You have won, Dirk Morris. And the -death I promised you lies in store for me? Well ... so be it. It has -been a long game, but one worth the playing. Of one thing you cannot -rob me ... the memory that once I ruled the mightiest empire known to -man."</p> - -<p>But again it was Rima who spoke. Her voice was like a crystal bell.</p> - -<p>"Not death, Graed Garroway. It is the right of none to judge that -ultimate penalty on another. <i>Exile</i> shall be your fate. Those who know -your system better than I shall decide which planet ... or planetoid -far removed from Earth ... shall be your final refuge.</p> - -<p>"Neil Hardesty—" She turned to the listening captain—"send him away. -Your new government shall sit in judgment on him later."</p> - -<p>Hardesty nodded, motioned to Shaughnessey, and the erstwhile Overlord -was led away. With him were herded from the room, none too gently, -those who had been his companions in the attempt to trap Dirk. Within -a matter of minutes the hall was cleared save for a handful: Dirk and -Rima, in her glowing pillar of flame; Hardesty, the Princess Lenore.</p> - -<p>In the Princess' eyes glittered a great defiance and a great sorrow. -She asked, "And I? I join my father in exile?"</p> - -<p>Rima looked at Dirk.</p> - -<p>"Well, Dirk Morris?" she asked.</p> - -<p>Dirk's throat was dry, his mind confusion. He said, "Must ... must I, -then, be the one to judge, Rima? She saved my life ... or tried to. -Were it not for her—"</p> - -<p>Rima said gently, "You love her. Isn't that what you mean, Dirk?"</p> - -<p>Dirk's head turned slowly; his eyes met those of the Princess Lenore. -And what he found there forced the answer from his lips.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Rima. May the gods help me ... I love her."</p> - -<p>"That," said the Nadronian girl, "I know. And this also I know ... that -she loves you. Does she love you enough to join you in the new world -which is the only one whereon you now can live? Enough to join you on -Nadron?"</p> - -<p>It was Lenore who answered that question. She said simply, "I do not -understand your meaning, woman who dwells in a column of flame ... but -this much I <i>do</i> know. Where Dirk Morris dwells, there would I dwell -also."</p> - -<p>Rima nodded, satisfied.</p> - -<p>"That, too, I had expected. It is well. She will make you a good mate, -Dirk Morris. I wish—" There was a strange catch in her voice, a catch -clenched teeth upon her lower lip could not quite stifle—"I wish -you ... much joy ... in my lost, beloved homeland—"</p> - -<p>Dirk stared at her aghast, uncomprehending. "Rima!" he cried. "Lost -homeland? I don't understand—"</p> - -<p>The maid of Nadron smiled wanly. Her voice, when she spoke, was -infinitely gentle.</p> - -<p>"Surely <i>you</i> should know, Dirk Morris, that one cannot pass with -impunity from one universe of vibration to another?"</p> - -<p>Dirk said, "You mean that you, as I did, have become a ... a wraith to -your own world? That henceforth you have no true existence on Nadron, -as I none on Earth?"</p> - -<p>Rima nodded quietly, sadly.</p> - -<p>"But then," stammered Dirk, "if not on Nadron, where <i>is</i> your new -plane of existence?" A hope caught and tugged at his heart. "Earth, -perhaps? Our planet will become your new world?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Rima shook her head. "No, Dirk Morris. The atomic pathway of Space-Time -winds ever upward ... not downward to a lower vibrational plane. -When this protective shield, which already wanes—" She glanced with -a swift, despairing apprehension as the iridescence dulled, and a -crepuscular wavering dimmed its outlines—"When this shield wanes, I -shall move ... forward to a bourne I cannot guess. A better world, -perhaps, or ... a worse—"</p> - -<p>"No!" cried Dirk. He started forward, but within the blazing column a -white arm rose in stern command.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="650" height="421" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"No farther, Dirk. To touch this field means death!"</p> - -<p>"Rima!" cried Dick huskily. "Rima, you shouldn't have done this. It -wasn't required of you!"</p> - -<p>"The quest of liberty," said the girl softly, "is the quest of all men, -all women, everywhere. I was watching your progress, Dirk. When I saw -you had been trapped, I knew someone must come to your aid, someone -must carry out the plans you had so carefully laid.</p> - -<p>"My father was too old. The journey between our two worlds is ... well, -not without pain. So—" The girl smiled—"I came."</p> - -<p>"You sacrificed yourself," cried Dirk humbly, "for us. It is too much. -Earth can never repay you, Rima."</p> - -<p>"I was repaid when you refused life at the expense of your own -honor, Dirk. Now it is done I can tell you that on your decision at -that moment rested the future fate of Earth. We of Nadron have ever -hesitated in dabbling in the affairs of others. Had you proved unworthy -of our aid in that moment of trial. I would not have made the journey.</p> - -<p>"And now—" There flickered in her eyes a shadow of thin, wondering -fear as the veil of flame about her seemed to shudder—"the time has -come for ... parting—"</p> - -<p>"No!" shouted Dirk, as if by the very strength of his cry he could -withhold the inexorable. "No, Rima! Don't—"</p> - -<p>His cry ended in a little moan. For at that moment the shimmering -column trembled and ... vanished like the flame of a snuffed candle. -The last vision of Rima to be burned forevermore upon the retina of -Dirk Morris' memory was that of a slim and gallant goddess, whiteclad, -lifting a soft arm in salute ... and farewell.</p> - -<p>Then ... nothing.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dirk turned away, shaken. He whispered, "Gone! Rima ... gone ... no one -knows where—"</p> - -<p>Lenore said soberly, "<i>She</i> loved you, too, Dirk."</p> - -<p>"No. She never loved me. Not as I love you ... not as you love me—"</p> - -<p>"It was a different kind of love," said the princess.</p> - -<p>"I will find her!" vowed Dirk brokenly.</p> - -<p>Lenore moved to his side quietly; the warmth of her beside him like the -courage of a voice in the wilderness.</p> - -<p>"You and I," she breathed, "together, Dirk."</p> - -<p>And suddenly, though there stretched before him a new and greater quest -than that recently acquitted, Dirk was consumed with a vast impatience -to know again the lips of the girl whose nearness was a heady wine, -challenging him to dare any danger. He turned to Lenore.</p> - -<p>"Together," he agreed. "But first I must return to Nadron to lay the -plans. You ... you will come soon, my Princess?"</p> - -<p>"Soon," she promised. "Soon. But, first—"</p> - -<p>She moved toward his voice. If she closed her eyes, she could not tell -it was invisible arms that held her close, nor invisible lips that -quickened upon her own....</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Phantom Out of Time, by Nelson S. Bond - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHANTOM OUT OF TIME *** - -***** This file should be named 62395-h.htm or 62395-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/3/9/62395/ - -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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