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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e526571 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63150 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63150) diff --git a/old/63150-h.zip b/old/63150-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f81a1df..0000000 --- a/old/63150-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63150-h/63150-h.htm b/old/63150-h/63150-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 452aca6..0000000 --- a/old/63150-h/63150-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2169 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Soul Eaters, by William Conover. - </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%;} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -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 The Soul Eaters, by William Conover - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Soul Eaters - -Author: William Conover - -Release Date: September 8, 2020 [EBook #63150] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL EATERS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>THE SOUL EATERS</h1> - -<h2>By WILLIAM CONOVER</h2> - -<p>Firebrand Dennis Brooke had one final chance<br /> -to redeem himself by capturing Koerber whose<br /> -ships were the scourge of the Void. But his<br /> -luck had run its course, and now he was<br /> -marooned on a rogue planet—fighting to save<br /> -himself from a menace weapons could not kill.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Fall 1944.<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>"<i>And so, my dear</i>," Dennis detected a faint irony in the phrase, "<i>I'm -afraid I can offer no competition to the beauties of five planets—or -is it six? With regret I bow myself out, and knowing me as you do, -you'll understand the futility of trying to convince me again. Anyway, -there will be no temptation, for I'm sailing on a new assignment I've -accepted. I did love you.... Good-by.</i>"</p> - -<p>Dennis Brooke had lost count of the times he'd read Marla's last -letter, but every time he came to these final, poignant lines, they -never failed to conjure a vision of her tawny loveliness, slender as -the palms of Venus, and of the blue ecstasy of her eyes, wide with a -perpetual wonder—limpid as a child's.</p> - -<p>The barbaric rhythms of the <i>Congahua</i>, were a background of annoyance -in Dennis' mind; he frowned slightly as the maneuvers of the Mercurian -dancer, who writhed among the guests of the notorious pleasure palace, -began to leave no doubt as to her intentions. The girl was beautiful, -in a sultry, almost incandescent sort of way, but her open promise left -him cold. He wanted solitude, somewhere to coordinate his thoughts -in silence and salvage something out of the wreck of his heart, not -to speak of his career. But Venus, in the throes of a gigantic boom -upon the discovery of radio-active fields, could offer only one -solitude—the fatal one of her swamps and virgin forests.</p> - -<p>Dennis Brooke was thirty, the time when youth no longer seems unending. -When the minor adventures of the heart begin to pall. If the loss of -Marla left an aching void that all the women of five planets could not -fill, the loss of Space, was quite as deadly. For he had been grounded. -True, Koerber's escape from the I.S.P. net had not quite been his -fault; but had he not been enjoying the joys of a voluptuous Jovian -Chamber, in Venus' fabulous Inter-planetary Palace, he would have been -ready for duty to complete the last link in the net of I.S.P. cruisers -that almost surrounded the space pirate.</p> - -<p>A night in the Jovian Chamber, was to be emperor for one night. Every -dream of a man's desire was marvelously induced through the skilful use -of hypnotics; the rarest viands and most delectable drinks appeared as -if by magic; the unearthly peace of an Olympus descended on a man's -soul, and beauty ... beauty such as men dreamed of was a warm reality -under the ineffable illumination of the Chamber.</p> - -<p>It cost a young fortune. But to pleasure mad, boom-ridden Venus, a -fortune was a bagatelle. Only it had cost Dennis Brooke far more than a -sheaf of credits—it had cost him the severe rebuff of the I.S.P., and -most of his heart in Marla.</p> - -<p>Dennis sighed, he tilted his red, curly head and drank deeply of the -insidious <i>Verbena</i>, fragrant as a mint garden, in the tall frosty -glass of Martian <i>Bacca-glas</i>, and as he did so, his brilliant hazel -eyes found themselves gazing into the unwinking, violet stare of a -young Martian at the next table. There was a smouldering hatred in -those eyes, and something else ... envy, perhaps, or was it jealousy? -Dennis couldn't tell. But his senses became instantly alert. Danger -brought a faint vibration which his superbly trained faculties could -instantly denote.</p> - -<p>His steady, bronzed hand lowered the drink, and his eyes narrowed -slightly. Absorbed in trying to puzzle the sudden enmity of this -Martian stranger, he was unaware of the Mercurian Dancer. The latter -had edged closer, whirling in prismatic flashes from the myriad -semi-precious stones that studded her brief gauze skirt. And now, in -a final bid for the spacer's favor she flung herself in his lap and -tilted back invitingly.</p> - -<p>Some of the guests laughed, others stared in plain envy at the -handsome, red-haired spacer, but from the table across, came the -tinkling sound of a fragile glass being crushed in a powerful hand, -and a muffled Martian curse. Without warning, the Martian was on his -feet with the speed of an Hellacorium, the table went crashing to one -side as he leaped with deadly intent on the sprawled figure of Dennis -Brooke. A high-pitched scream brought instant silence as a Terran girl -cried out. Then the Martian's hand reached out hungrily. But Dennis was -not there.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Leaping to one side, impervious to the fall of the dancer, he avoided -the murderous rush of the Martian youth, then he wheeled swiftly and -planted a sledge-hammer blow in that most vulnerable spot of all -Martians, the spot just below their narrow, wasp-like waist, and as the -Martian half-doubled over, he lefted him with a short jab to the chin -that staggered and all but dropped him.</p> - -<p>The Martian's violet eyes were black with fury now. He staggered back -and sucked in air, his face contorted with excruciating pain. But he -was not through. His powerful right shot like a blast straight for -Dennis' chest, striking like a piston just below the heart. Dennis took -it, flat-footed, without flinching; then he let his right ride over -with all the force at his command. It caught the Martian on the jaw and -spun him like a top, the pale, imperious face went crimson as he slowly -sagged to his knees and rolled to the impeccable mosaics of the floor.</p> - -<p>Dennis, breathing heavily, stood over him until the international -police arrived, and then he had the surprise of his life. Upon search, -the police found a tiny, but fatal silvery tube holstered under his -left arm-pit—an atomic-disintegrator, forbidden throughout the -interplanetary League. Only major criminals and space pirates still -without the law were known to possess them.</p> - -<p>"Looks like your brawl has turned out to be a piece of fool's luck, -Brooke!" The Police Lieutenant favored Dennis with a wry smile. "If -I'm not mistaken this chap's a member of Bren Koerber's pirate crew. -Who else could afford to risk his neck at the International, and have -in his possession a disintegrator? Pity we have no complete records -on that devil's crew! Anyway, we'll radio the I.S.P., perhaps they -have details on this dandy!" He eyed admiringly the priceless Martian -embroideries on the unconscious Martian's tunic, the costly border of -red, ocelandian fur, and the magnificent black <i>acerine</i> on his finger.</p> - -<p>Dennis Brooke shrugged his shoulders, shoulders that would have put to -shame the Athenian statues of another age. A faint, bitter smile curved -his generous mouth. "I'm grounded, Gillian, it'd take the capture of -Koerber himself to set me right with the I.S.P. again—you don't know -Bertram! To him an infraction of rules is a major crime. Damn Venus!" -He reached for his glass of <i>Verbena</i> but the table had turned over -during the struggle, and the glass was a shattered mass of gleaming -<i>Bacca-glas</i> shards. He laughed shortly as he became conscious of the -venomous stare of the Mercurian Dancer, of the excited voices of the -guests and the emphatic disapproval of the Venusian proprietor who -was shocked at having a brawl in his ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive -Palace.</p> - -<p>"Better come to Headquarters with me, Dennis," the lieutenant said -gently. "We'll say you captured him, and if he's Koerber's, the -credit's yours. A trip to Terra's what you need, Venus for you is a -hoodoo!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The stern, white haired I.S.P. Commander behind the immense Aluminil -desk, frowned slightly as Dennis Brooke entered. He eyed the six foot -four frame of the Captain before him with a mixture of feelings, as -if uncertain how to begin. Finally, he sighed as if, having come to a -decision, he were forcing himself to speak:</p> - -<p>"Sit down, Dennis. I've sent for you, despite your grounding, for -two reasons. The first one you already know—your capture of one of -Koerber's henchmen—has given us a line as to his present orbit of -piracy, and the means of a check on his activities. But that's not -really why I've brought you here." He frowned again as if what he had -to say were difficult indeed.</p> - -<p>"Marla Starland, your fiancee, accepted an assignment we offered her—a -delicate piece of work here on Terra that only a very beautiful, and -very clever young lady could perform. And," he paused, grimacing, -"somewhere between Venus and Terra, the interplanetary spacer bringing -her and several other passengers, began to send distress signals. -Finally, we couldn't contact the ship any more. It is three days -overdue. All passengers, a cargo of radium from Venus worth untold -millions, the spacer itself—seem to have vanished."</p> - -<p>Dennis Brooke's space-tanned features had gone pale. His large hazel -eyes, fringed with auburn lashes, too long for a man, were bright slits -that smouldered. He stood silent, his hands clenched at his sides, -while something cold and sharp seemed to dig at his heart with cruel -precision.</p> - -<p>"Marla!" He breathed at last. The thought of Marla in the power -of Koerber sent a wave of anguish that seared through him like an -atom-blast.</p> - -<p>"Commander," Dennis said, and his rich baritone voice had depths of -emotion so great that they startled Commander Bertram himself—and -that grizzled veteran of the I.S.P., had at one time or another known -every change of torture that could possibly be wrung on a human soul. -"Commander, give me one ... <i>one</i> chance at that spawn of unthinkable -begetting! Let me try, and I promise you ..." in his torture, Dennis -was unconsciously banging a knotted fist on the chaste, satiny surface -of the priceless desk, "I promise you that I will either bring you -Koerber, or forfeit my life!"</p> - -<p>Commander Bertram nodded his head. "I brought you here for that -purpose, son. We have reached a point in our war with Koerber, where -the last stakes must be played ... and the last stake is death!"</p> - -<p>He reached over and flipped up the activator on a small telecast set -on his desk; instantly the viso-screen lighted up. "You'll now see -a visual record of all we know about the passenger spacer that left -Venus with passengers and cargo, as far as we could contact the vessel -in space. This, Dennis," the Commander emphasized his words, "is your -chance to redeem yourself!" He fell silent, while the viso-screen began -to show a crowded space port on Venus, and a gigantic passenger spacer -up-tilted in its cradle.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They watched the parabola it made in its trajectory as it flashed into -space and then fell into orbit there beyond the planetary attraction of -Venus. On the three-dimensional viso-screen it was uncannily real.</p> - -<p>A flight that had taken many hours to accomplish, was shortened on -the viso-screen to a matter of minutes. They saw the great, proud -interplanetary transport speeding majestically through the starry void, -and suddenly, they saw her swerve in a great arc; again she swerved -as if avoiding something deadly in space, and point upwards gaining -altitude. It was zig-zagging now, desperately maneuvering in an erratic -course, and as if by magic, a tiny spot appeared on the transport's -side.</p> - -<p>Tiny on the viso-screen, the fatal spots must have been huge in -actuality. To the Commander of the I.S.P., and to Captain Brooke, it -was an old story. Atom-blasts were pitting the spacer's hull with -deadly Genton shells. The great transport trembled under the impact of -the barrage, and suddenly, the screen went blank.</p> - -<p>Commander Bertram turned slowly to face the young I.S.P. captain, whose -features were a mask devoid of all expression now, save for the pallor -and the burning fire in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"And that's the sixth one in a month. Sometimes the survivors reach -Terra in emergency spacers, or are picked up in space by other -transports ... and sometimes son ... well, as you know, sometimes -they're never seen again."</p> - -<p>"When do I leave, Commander!" Dennis Brooke's voice was like a javelin -of ice.</p> - -<p>"Right now, if you wish. We have a new cruiser armored in beryloid with -double hull—a new design against Genton shells, but it's the speed -of the thing that you'll want to know about. It just about surpasses -anything ever invented. Get the figures and data from the coordination -room, son; it's serviced and fueled and the crew's aboard." He -extended his hand. "You're the best spacer we have—aside from your -recklessness—and on your success depends far more than the capture of -an outlaw." Bertram smiled thinly. "Happy landing!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>Their nerves were ragged. Days and days of fruitless search for a -phantom ship that seemed to have vanished from space, and an equally -elusive pirate whose whereabouts were hidden in the depths of -fathomless space.</p> - -<p>To all but Captain Brooke, this was a new adventure, their first -assignment to duty in a search that went beyond the realm of the -inner planets, where men spent sleepless nights in eternal vigilance -against stray asteroids and outlaw crews of ruthless vandal ships. Even -their cruiser was a new experience, the long, tapering fighter lacked -the luxurious offices and appointments of the regular I.S.P. Patrol -spacers. It placed a maximum on speed, and all available space was -hoarded for fuel. The lightning fast tiger of the space-lanes, was a -thing of beauty, but of grim, sleek beauty instinct with power, not the -comfortable luxury that they knew.</p> - -<p>Day after day they went through their drills, donning space suits, -manning battle stations; aiming deadly atom-cannon at empty space, and -eternally scanning the vast empty reaches by means of the telecast.</p> - -<p>And suddenly, out of the void, as they had all but given up the search -as a wild goose chase, a speck was limned in the lighted surface of the -viso-screen in the control room. Instantly the I.S.P. cruiser came to -life. In a burst of magnificent speed, the cruiser literally devoured -the space leagues, until the spacer became a flashing streak. On the -viso-screen, the speck grew larger, took on contours, growing and -becoming slowly the drifting shell of what had been a transport.</p> - -<p>Presently they were within reaching distance, and Captain Brooke -commanded through the teleradio from the control room:</p> - -<p>"Prepare to board!"</p> - -<p>Every member of the crew wanted to be among the boarding party, for -all but George Randall, the junior member of the crew had served his -apprenticeship among the inner planets, Mars, Venus and Terra. He felt -nauseated at the very thought of going out there in that vast abyss of -space. His young, beardless face, with the candid blue eyes went pale -when the order was given. But presently, Captain Brooke named those who -were to go beside himself:</p> - -<p>"You, Tom and Scotty, take one emergency plane, and Dallas!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Captain!" Dallas Bernan, the immense third lieutenant boomed in -his basso-profundo voice.</p> - -<p>"You and I'll take a second emergency!" There was a pause in the voice -of the Captain from the control room, then: "Test space suits. Test -oxygen helmets! Atom-blasts only, ready in five minutes!"</p> - -<p>George Randall breathed a sigh of relief. He watched them bridge the -space to the drifting wreck, then saw them enter what had once been a -proud interplanetary liner, now soon to be but drifting dust, and he -turned away with a look of shame.</p> - -<p>Inside the liner, Captain Dennis Brooke had finished making a detailed -survey.</p> - -<p>"No doubt about it," he spoke through the radio in his helmet. "Cargo -missing. No survivors. No indication that the repulsion fields were -out of order. And finally, those Genton shells could only have been -fired by Koerber!" He tried to maintain a calm exterior, but inwardly -he seethed in a cold fury more deadly than any he had ever experienced. -Somehow he had expected to find at least one compartment unharmed, -where life might have endured, but now, all hope was gone. Only a great -resolve to deal with Koerber once and for all remained to him.</p> - -<p>Dennis tried not to think of Marla, too great an ache was involved in -thinking of her and all he had lost. When he finally spoke, his voice -was harsh, laconic:</p> - -<p>"Prepare to return!"</p> - -<p>Scotty Byrnes, the cruiser's nurse, who could take his motors through a -major battle, or hell and high water and back again, for that matter, -shifted the Venusian weed that made a perpetual bulge on his cheek and -gazed curiously at Captain Brooke. They all knew the story in various -versions, and with special additions. But they were spacemen, implicit -in their loyalty, and with Dennis Brooke they could and did feel safe.</p> - -<p>Tom Jeffery, the tall, angular and red-faced Navigator, whose slow, -easygoing movements belied the feral persistence of a tiger, and the -swiftness of a striking cobra in a fight, led the small procession of -men toward the emergency planes. Behind him came Dallas Bernan, third -lieutenant, looming like a young asteroid in his space suit, followed -by Scotty, and finally Captain Brooke himself. All left in silence, as -if the tragedy that had occurred aboard the wrecked liner, had touched -them intimately.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Aboard the I.S.P. Cruiser, a surprise awaited them. It was young George -Randall, whose excited face met them as soon as they had entered the -airlocks and removed the space suits.</p> - -<p>"Captain Brooke ... Captain, recordings are showing on the new 'Jet -Analyzers' must be the trail of some spacer. Can't be far!" He was -fairly dancing in his excitement, as if the marvelous work of the -new invention that detected the disturbance of atomic jets at great -distance were his own achievement.</p> - -<p>Dennis Brooke smiled. His own heart was hammering, and inwardly he -prayed that it were Koerber. It had to be! No interplanetary passenger -spacer could possibly be out here at the intersection of angles Kp -39 degrees, 12 minutes, Fp 67 degrees of Ceres elliptic plane. None -but a pirate crew with swift battle cruisers could dare! This was the -dangerous asteroid belt, where even planetoids drifted in eccentric -uncharted orbits.</p> - -<p>Dennis, Tom Jeffery and Scotty Byrnes raced to the control room, -followed by the ponderous Dallas to whom hurry in any form was -anathema. There could be no doubt now! The "Jet Analyzer" recorded -powerful disturbance, atomic—could be nothing else.</p> - -<p>Instantly Captain Brooke was at the inter-communication speaker:</p> - -<p>"Crew, battle stations! Engine room, full speed!"</p> - -<p>Scotty Byrnes was already dashing to the engine room, where his beloved -motors purred with an ascending hum. Aboard the I.S.P. Cruiser each -member of the crew raced to his assigned task without delay. Action -impended, and after days and nights of inertia, it was a blessed -relief. Smiles appeared on haggard faces, and the banter of men -suddenly galvanized by a powerful incentive was bandied back and forth. -All but George Randall. Now that action was imminent. Something gripped -his throat until he could hardly stand the tight collar of his I.S.P. -uniform. A growing nausea gripped his bowels, and although he strove to -keep calm, his hands trembled beyond control.</p> - -<p>In the compact, super-armored control room, Captain Brooke watched -the telecast's viso-screen, with hungry eyes that were golden with -anticipation. It seemed to him as if an eternity passed before at -last, a black speck danced on the illuminated screen, until it finally -reached the center of the viso-screen and remained there. It grew by -leaps and bounds as the terrific speed of the cruiser minimized the -distance long before the quarry was aware of pursuit.</p> - -<p>But at last, when the enemy cruiser showed on the viso-screen, -unmistakably for what it was—a pirate craft, it showed by its sudden -maneuver that it had detected the I.S.P. cruiser. For it had described -a parabola in space and headed for the dangerous asteroid belt. As if -navigated by a masterly hand that knew each and every orbit of the -asteroids, it plunged directly into the asteroid drift, hoping to lose -the I.S.P. cruiser with such a maneuver. Ordinarily, it would have -succeeded, no I.S.P. patrol ship would have dared to venture into such -a trap without specific orders. But to Dennis Brooke, directing the -chase from the control room, even certain death was welcome, if only he -could take Koerber with him.</p> - -<p>Weaving through the deadly belt for several hours, Dennis saw his -quarry slow down. Instantly he seized the chance and ordered a salvo -from starboard. Koerber's powerful spacer reeled, dived and came up -spewing Genton-shells. The battle was on at last.</p> - -<p>From the banked atom-cannon of the I.S.P. Cruiser, a deadly curtain -of atomic fire blazed at the pirate craft. A ragged rent back toward -midship showed on Koerber's Cruiser which trembled as if it had been -mortally wounded. Then Dennis maneuvered his cruiser into a power -dive as a rain of Genton-shells swept the space lane above him, but as -he came up, a lone shell struck. At such close range, super-armor was -ripped, second armor penetrated and the magnificent vessel shook under -the detonating impact.</p> - -<p>It was then that Dennis Brooke saw the immense dark shadow looming -immediately behind Koerber's ship. He saw the pirate cruiser zoom -desperately in an effort to break the gravity trap of the looming mass, -but too late. It struggled like a fly caught in a spider-web to no -avail. It was then that Koerber played his last card. Sensing he was -doomed, he tried to draw the I.S.P. Cruiser down with him. A powerful -magnetic beam lashed out to spear the I.S.P. Cruiser.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>With a wrenching turn that almost threw them out of control, Dennis -maneuvered to avoid the beam. Again Koerber's beam lashed out, as he -sank lower into the looming mass, and again Dennis anticipating the -maneuver avoided it.</p> - -<p>"George Randall!" He shouted desperately into the speaker. "Cut all -jets in the rocket room! Hurry, man!" He banked again and then zoomed -out of the increasing gravity trap.</p> - -<p>"Randall! I've got to use the magnetic repulsion plates.... Cut all the -jets!" But there was no response. Randall's screen remained blank. Then -Koerber's lashing magnetic beam touched and the I.S.P. ship was caught, -forced to follow the pirate ship's plunge like the weight at the end of -a whiplash. Koerber's gunners sent one parting shot, an atom-blast that -shook the trapped cruiser like a leaf.</p> - -<p>Beneath them, growing larger by the second, a small world rushed up to -meet them. The readings in the Planetograph seemed to have gone crazy. -It showed diameter 1200 miles; composition mineral and radio-active. -Gravity seven-eighths of Terra. It couldn't be! Unless perhaps this -unknown planetoid was the legendary core of the world that at one time -was supposed to have existed between Jupiter and Mars. Only that could -possibly explain the incredible gravity.</p> - -<p>And then began another type of battle. Hearing the Captain's orders to -Randall, and noting that no result had been obtained, Scotty Byrnes -himself cut the jets. The Magnetic Repulsion Plates went into action, -too late to save them from being drawn, but at least they could prevent -a crash. Far in the distance they could see Koerber's ship preceding -them in a free fall, then the Planetoid was rushing up to engulf them.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>The atmosphere was somewhat tenuous, but it was breathable, provided -a man didn't exert himself. To the silent crew of the I.S.P. Cruiser, -the strange world to which Koerber's magnetic Beam had drawn them, -was anything but reassuring. Towering crags jutted raggedly against -the sky, and the iridescent soil of the narrow valley that walled in -the cruiser, had a poisonous, deadly look. As far as their eyes could -reach, the desolate, denuded vista stretched to the horizon.</p> - -<p>"Pretty much of a mess!" Dennis Brooke's face was impassive as he -turned to Scotty Byrnes. "What's your opinion? Think we can patch her -up, or are we stuck here indefinitely?"</p> - -<p>Scotty eyed the damage. The atom-blast had penetrated the hull into -the forward fuel chambers and the armor had blossomed out like flower -petals. The crash-landing had not helped either.</p> - -<p>"Well, there's a few beryloid plates in the storage locker, Captain, -but," he scratched his head ruminatively and shifted his precious cud.</p> - -<p>"But what? Speak up man!" It was Tom Jeffery, his nerves on edge, his -ordinarily gentle voice like a lash.</p> - -<p>"But, you may as well know it," Scotty replied quietly. "That parting -shot of Koerber's severed our main rocket feed. I had to use the -emergency tank to make it down here!"</p> - -<p>For a long moment the four men looked at each other in silence. Dennis -Brooke's face was still impassive but for the flaming hazel eyes. Tom -tugged at the torn sleeve of his I.S.P. uniform, while Scotty gazed -mournfully at the damaged ship. Dallas Bernan looked at the long, -ragged line of cliffs.</p> - -<p>"I think we got Koerber, though," he said at last. "While Tom was doing -a job of navigation, I had one last glimpse of him coming down fast -and out of control somewhere behind those crags over there!"</p> - -<p>"To hell with Koerber!" Tom Jeffery exploded. "You mean we're stuck in -this hellish rock-pile?"</p> - -<p>"Easy, Tom!" Captain Brooke's tones were like ice. On his pale, -impassive face, his eyes were like flaming topaz. "Where's Randall?"</p> - -<p>"Probably hiding his head under a bunk!" Dallas laughed with scorn. His -contemptuous remark voiced the feelings of the entire crew. A man who -failed to be at his battle-station in time of emergency, had no place -in the I.S.P.</p> - -<p>"Considering the gravity of this planetoid," Dennis Brooke said -thoughtfully, "it's going to take some blast to get us off!"</p> - -<p>"Maybe we can locate a deposit of anerioum or uranium or something for -our atom-busters to chew on!" Scotty said hopefully. He was an eternal -optimist.</p> - -<p>"Better break out those repair plates," Dennis said to Scotty. "Tom, -you get the welders ready. I've got a few entries to make in the log -book, and then we'll decide on a party to explore the terrain and try -to find out what happened to Koerber's ship. I must know," he said in a -low voice, but with such passion that the others were startled.</p> - -<p>A figure appeared in the slanting doorway of the ship in time to hear -the last words. It was George Randall, adjusting a bandaged forehead -bumped during the crash landing.</p> - -<p>"Captain ... I ... I wanted ..." he paused unable to continue.</p> - -<p>"You wanted what?" Captain Brooke's voice was terse. "Perhaps you -wanted to explain why you weren't at your battle station?"</p> - -<p>"Sir, I wanted to know if ... if I might help Scotty with the welding -job...." That wasn't at all what he'd intended to say. But somehow the -words had stuck in his throat and his face flushed deep scarlet. His -candid blue eyes were suspiciously brilliant, and the white bandage -with its crimson stains made an appealing, boyish figure. It softened -the anger in Brooke's heart. Thinking it over calmly, Dennis realized -this was the youngster's first trip into the outer orbits, and better -men than he had cracked in those vast reaches of space. But there had -been an instant when he'd found Randall cowering in the rocket-room, in -the grip of paralyzing hysteria, when he could cheerfully have wrung -his neck!</p> - -<p>"Certainly, Randall," he replied in a much more kindly tone. "We'll -need all hands now."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, sir!" Randall seemed to hesitate for a moment, opened his -mouth to speak further, but feeling the other's calculating gaze upon -him, he whirled and re-entered the ship.</p> - -<p>"But for him we wouldn't be here!" Dallas exclaimed. "Aagh!" He shook -his head in disgust until the several folds of flesh under his chin -shook like gelatin. "Cowards are hell!" He spat.</p> - -<p>"Easy, Dallas, Randall's a kid, give 'im a chance." Dennis observed.</p> - -<p>"You Captain ... you're defending 'im? Why you had a greater stake in -this than we, and he's spoiled it for you!"</p> - -<p>"Yep," Dennis nodded. "But I'm still keeping my senses clear. No feuds -on my ship. Get it!" The last two words cut like a scimitar.</p> - -<p>Dallas nodded and lowered his eyes. Scotty shifted his cud and spat -a thin stream of juice over the iridescent ground. One by one they -re-entered the cruiser.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Absorbedly Randall added finishing flourishes to the plate of beryloid -he had just finished welding. With the heavy atomic welder in his -hands, he paused to inspect the job. Inwardly he wished that Scotty -and Dallas would hurry with that final plate. He could just barely -hear them pounding it into shape, within the cruiser. Unconsciously he -shivered.</p> - -<p>Outside the cruiser, it was cold, and breathing was laborious, for -despite the gravity, the atmosphere was thin, diffused. Besides, this -shadowy world of dark crags and palely creeping sunlight had an uncanny -feel, as if it were evil. For the hundredth time he twisted around and -surveyed the rocky terrain behind him. Determinedly he squared his -shoulders and jutted out his chin. It was bad enough to have muffed -a chance to add glory to the I.S.P., not to speak of having the rest -of the crew think him demented. Still the feeling of being <i>watched</i> -persisted. Randall cursed his imagination, and over-wrought nerves -that made him feel what palpably didn't exist. He closed his young eyes -for a second and strove to steady his nerves.</p> - -<p>He breathed deeply of the tenuous atmosphere and exhaled slowly; then -he opened his eyes, feeling more calm and turned to make one final -survey, and stood rooted to the ground as if petrified.</p> - -<p>From a dark crevice in the jagged wall behind the I.S.P. Spacer, -something seemed to glide effortlessly into the open. About twenty -feet from Randall it paused and remained stationary, hovering above -the rocky surface. It was perfectly spherical, fully three feet in -diameter, and had George Randall not been hysterical with dread, he -would have seen that it was exquisitely beautiful, a softly shining, -transparent globe that pulsed rhythmically with lambent fires. A -wavering, lavender corona, like an aura, surrounded it as it began to -spin slowly.</p> - -<p>From nerveless hands the atomic welder dropped to the ground, as a wave -of surging panic engulfed Randall. With an eerie, half-strangled scream -he clawed for the atom-blast at his hip. He had a brief impression -that the globe was sentiently alive, and that something that felt like -tendrils of fire probed his brain. His hair stood on end as the icy -fear deepened to the verge of madness.</p> - -<p>"Scotty! Dallas!" He shouted, and then realized he couldn't be heard -above the pounding within the cruiser. He aimed at the globe and -squeezed the trigger. The tremendous energy released by the atom-blast -flung the globe back, by blasting the surrounding air in furious waves, -but regaining its equilibrium the globe began to zoom forward again, -<i>undamaged</i>!</p> - -<p>Randall waited no longer, he raced for the open hatch of the cruiser -with the speed of horror. He scrambled madly, almost dived into the -opening and had the presence of mind to pull the lever that slammed the -door shut behind him. He lay there panting, completely unnerved by the -experience.</p> - -<p>Dishevelled and horror-stricken was the way Scotty and Dallas -found him, when on hearing the hatch clang shut, they rushed in to -investigate.</p> - -<p>"What happened, an attack? Koerber's men?" Scotty queried.</p> - -<p>"Speak up, Randall!" Dallas shook him briefly. "What was it? You look -as if you'd seen a ghost!"</p> - -<p>"There's something out there.... I don't know what it is, but it's -alive. It almost got me!" He shuddered.</p> - -<p>"Something alive on this barren world? Unless it was one of Koerber's -men, you've been seeing ghosts again, kid!" Scotty said not unkindly. -He was well aware of spacemen's mirage, the affliction that sometimes -drove newcomers mad.</p> - -<p>"It was real," Randall persisted. "And it was alive ... a glowing globe -of energy that hung just above me, a few feet away. I blasted at it -with my gun, and it just spun, then came forward."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He rose from the floor and moved over to the starboard port to look -outside. Scotty and Dallas stood beside him. They gazed curiously in -every direction, as far as they could see.</p> - -<p>"Don't see a thing," Dallas said stolidly. "Come on, son! I'll fix you -a sedative," he said contemptuously.</p> - -<p>"Wait a minute Dallas," Scotty interrupted. "Randall's right. Take a -look at that big pile of rocks over there ... to the left, Dallas!"</p> - -<p>"By the red-tailed Picaroons on Jupiter's satellites!" Dallas swore -swiftly. "I've seen a lot of queer sights, but nothing like this!" he -exclaimed. Suddenly he turned to Randall. "How do you know it's alive? -For all we know it's just a globe of radio-active energy native to this -hell-spot."</p> - -<p>Randall colored, hesitated and finally blurted out. "I ... I just felt -it was alive. I sensed it trying to contact my mind.... Oh, I know it -sounds crazy, I know you'll laugh, but the thing was trying to probe my -brain, Dallas!"</p> - -<p>Scotty suddenly thought of Captain Brooke and Tom Jeffery who had gone -on an exploratory trip. "I wonder about the Captain and Tom," he said -in alarm. "If there's one of these whirling demons on this rock there's -sure to be others." He raced to the communications set and turned it -on. But it was silent.</p> - -<p>Dallas gazed at Randall for a second with a faint, scornful smile. -"Alive, eh? We'll see." He patted the atom-blast at his hip.</p> - -<p>"Never saw nothin' dangerous yet that this couldn't put a hole -through!" He exclaimed inelegantly.</p> - -<p>"Hold on, Dallas!" The more prudent Scotty tried to dissuade him. "If -that thing's radio-active, it may be deadly! We're not afraid of it, -man ... but we don't know what it is."</p> - -<p>"You boys stay and play the radio!" Dallas turned lightly on his feet -for all his tremendous bulk and soon the airlock had hissed open and he -was gone.</p> - -<p>Both Scotty and Randall watched him half-fearful, half in admiration -as he strode away from the cruiser. The luminous, iridescent sphere -hovering over the rocks, whirled faster and faster as Dallas moved away -from the ship. Rapidly the whirling accelerated until it was a pulsing -vortex of exquisite hues of living light. Then, it began to move slowly -forward toward the walking man.</p> - -<p>In the macabre landscape of the planetoid, the rotund Dallas was not -unlike a sphere himself, as gun in hand he unhesitatingly went forward -to meet the globe. Calmly he aimed the atom-blast and suddenly there -was a flash from the muzzle of the gun. But the flood of vicious atomic -energy failed to harm the globe, on the contrary, it seemed to flame in -a cataract of colors, flaming into living light. Then the fluorescent -flare died down to normal again and the sphere stopped, motionless as -if it were appraising Dallas.</p> - -<p>In unfeigned wonder, the blimp-like Dallas Bernan stared at the globe. -"A full charge from the blaster, and the damn thing takes it like a -drink of milk!" he murmured audibly. Reaching over he picked up a good -sized rock and threw it at the sphere. But the rock bounced back as if -it had hit an impenetrable wall of energy. The globe was unharmed, it -merely hung there quiescent now, as if observing the strange creature -from another planet that had suddenly appeared.</p> - -<p>Another rock followed the first, then another and another, until rocks -were flying in every direction as they rebounded from the globe. And -Dallas began to laugh! To his matter-of-fact mind, the sphere was -merely a bunch of radio-active gas that repelled matter of certain -types like the stones he had thrown, and was drawn by organic matter. -A bunch of gas! He roared. And the globe was retreating, floating -backwards effortlessly, whirling faster and faster, until as Dallas -flung a final rock it darted upward and swiftly disappeared down the -great valley. As Dallas turned to go back to the cruiser, a flicker -of movement caught his eye. Instantly he aimed his atom-blast, but as -quickly lowered, and a joyous expression came into his vast face.</p> - -<p>Clambering down the tumbled rocks and boulders just ahead of the -spacer, Captain Brooke and Tom Jeffery were hurrying toward him, the -latter carrying the insulated leadite specimen box.</p> - -<p>"Hiya, Captain! We just laid a ghost. See our pretty company?" Dallas -roared with laughter.</p> - -<p>"Yes, we saw it," Captain Brooke replied. "What was it? Looked like a -transparent globe of some sort. Radioactive?"</p> - -<p>"Naw! Just a bunch of gas!" Dallas explained.</p> - -<p>"Well, we have another kind of company ... about twenty miles from -here," Dennis said grimly. "Get into the ship, we're holding a -conference, Dallas."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Seated in the small dining-room of the cruiser, the entire crew -listened to the Captain's report on their trip, while Scotty brewed -coffee skillfully and cocked his ears to the narrative. Tom laid the -leadite specimen box on the table without a word, then sat back.</p> - -<p>"I'll cut corners on this," he began. "Because we have a lot to do, and -a very short time to do it in. Approximately twenty miles westwards, -there's a cavern that runs through the crags around us. Jeffery and -I started to explore it, but fortunately stopped just in time. It -happens that Koerber and his thugs have landed on the other side of -the crags. This cave is filled with some sort of radio-active mineral, -unfortunately, the main deposits are at the other end of the cavern -system, and Koerber and his gang are already in possession! He must -have crashed there. Pity the situation is not reversed, we'd have ample -fuel then!"</p> - -<p>"But, Captain," Randall spoke impulsively, "why can't we get some of -the mineral from this end of the cavern and blast off this awful place?"</p> - -<p>Dallas gave the youngster a look of withering disgust from across the -table.</p> - -<p>"No good," Tom Jeffery answered for the Captain without looking at -Randall. "The stuff at this end's mostly rubble; we had to dig the -better part of an hour to find a piece rich enough to use." He pointed -to the leadite box.</p> - -<p>"The plan is simplicity itself," Captain Brooke continued. "We'll use -this specimen for fuel to zoom over the crags and attack Koerber ... -we've got to take possession of the other end of the cave. Without -sufficient fuel, we can't fight Koerber to a finish, and I intend to -go into that black cruiser of his if I have to crack it open like a -Venusian palm-nut!"</p> - -<p>Dallas and Scotty's eyes glowed. "Any time you say, Captain!" the -latter said eagerly. "Cruiser's hull's finished but for a few minor -touches. Just give the word!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Captain Brooke tightened his safety belt thoughtfully, then his glance -travelled slowly to where Lieutenant Jeffery sat, fingers poised over -the gleaming bank of keys.</p> - -<p>"I suppose we really should test this specimen first," the captain -observed. "However, if we did, I doubt if we'd have enough left for -fuel to smash Koerber." He flipped a tiny switch in the panel before -him. The silver screen lighted, and Scotty's features appeared.</p> - -<p>"Ready 'n waiting on the firing line Cap'n!"</p> - -<p>"Switch over to relays and strap in, Scotty, I'll give you thirty -seconds," Dennis grinned, then turned to Jeffery:</p> - -<p>"Ready Lieutenant?"</p> - -<p>Jeffery took one more look into the V-screen, made a last second check -of his objective—the high peak about twenty miles down the valley. As -soon as the peak was reached, the cruiser would be under full manual -control and he would dart the swift sky-tiger from the heights down on -Koerber's spacer, in a terrific power dive. He nodded satisfied, "Yes, -sir, ready!"</p> - -<p>"Take off!" The command whipped out and Jeffery's fingers flashed over -the rows of keys with automatic precision. For the fraction of a second -there was a muffled, rumbling thunder. Then, both Dennis Brooke and -Jeffery were slammed back against their air-cushions as the astounding -crescendo of acceleration hit them.</p> - -<p>Twisting his head slowly, Captain Dennis looked at his navigator in -astonishment. Tom Jeffery had always been the acme of dependability, -his precision in plotting had practically become a legend in the I.S.P.</p> - -<p>"Cruiser's running wild!" Jeffery gasped painfully. "The key bank -must ... be out ... of order. I'd never ... never use that much speed -on take-off!"</p> - -<p>"Slack off...." Dennis gritted. He saw Jeffery struggle to get his -long, supple hands back on the keys. Blood throbbed and pounded in -surging waves at his temples, and he knew he'd black out in a matter of -seconds if his Navigator didn't reach those keys.</p> - -<p>Concentrating all his remaining energy, Jeffery reached and pushed one -hand forward, but it was like pushing against an invisible wall. His -hand refused to move any further, and then he felt the impenetrable -blackness welling up inside his brain. Nervelessly the Navigator's -hand dropped, but two fingers scraped over the key-bank and the -flashing cruiser changed its course. The ship angled upward sharply and -gradually reduced its speed. Like two punch-drunk mortals, Dennis and -Jeffery shook their heads, doggedly trying to clear the clinging black -webs from their brains.</p> - -<p>They were not unnerved, for to these two, danger was too familiar a -face, it was a constant shadow at their heels, the eternal companion at -their table—without it, life would have seemed flat, without zest.</p> - -<p>"Worse than a shot of Martian <i>Absytron</i>! Whew!" Jeffery exclaimed, -startled out of his usually laconic state. "That mineral's terrific!"</p> - -<p>"I was just thinking the same thing," Captain Brooke agreed quietly. -"Which makes it doubly important that we settle scores with Koerber and -leave this planetoid. If the reaction of this mineral's true, we've -found a new type of fuel, far more powerful than anything known to us -at present."</p> - -<p>"Imagine if that space-rat gets hold of it," Jeffery concurred in awed -tones. "He could rule the space-lanes, commit any crime and outpace any -ship in the universe!"</p> - -<p>"Besides," Dennis said ruminatively, "this mineral'd make Terra -independent of Venus for her supply of radio-actives. It would usher -in a new era, Jeffery!"</p> - -<p>Suddenly it seemed to Dennis that there was even more at stake than -the smashing of a dangerous outlaw, than the recovery of his former -state in the I.S.P., or the avenging of Marla, if she were dead—the -destiny of Terra was at stake too. As if one of those cross-roads of -Life, at which an individual is sometimes poised by fate, had opened -before his gaze, and history awaited being written in the invisible -pages of space. He had come prepared to die to fulfill a mission—but -now matters had changed. The need was not to die, but to live, that -an unsuspecting world might rise to new heights of achievement on the -incredibly radio-active marvel of this unknown planetoid. With a swift -movement he threw on the panel switch, and his voice boomed out:</p> - -<p>"All hands attention! Koerber has seen us, no doubt. But whether or not -he's fore-warned, we attack as scheduled. Stand-by!"</p> - -<p>The I.S.P. Cruiser swept back up the long valley, until it was almost -opposite the Pirate's camp. Only the tremendous mountain range -separated them. Glancing at the banks of keys, the instruments and -dials under the V-Screen, Dennis issued orders:</p> - -<p>"Scotty, give it everything you have!" He grinned as Scotty gave back -one of his inimitable replies.</p> - -<p>"Dallas!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir!"</p> - -<p>"Take the stern turret, and start firing when we pull out—angle -thirty-eight, precision!" He again threw a quick glance at the panel.</p> - -<p>"Randall! Take forward position, secondary turret. Hold fire till they -open up, or until I give you the command. Got it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," Randall's voice was tense.</p> - -<p>It was then Captain Dennis turned to his Navigator. "I'll take the main -forward turret myself, Jeffery! Now, use a thirty-five degree dive, -pull out at five-hundred feet and use MA-24 to pull out and regain -altitude." He grinned fleetingly at the startled Jeffery.</p> - -<p>"But ... but you're going to man the forward turret—get the gunner, -Cap'n ... I...." But Dennis silenced him with a swift gesture.</p> - -<p>"Taking no chances, I want to be sure that spawn of Barrabas's -smeared, if I have to do it myself!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The long, gleaming cruiser was like the spear of the Angel Gabriel, -unerring, fatal, as the skillful fingers of its navigator in the -control room swept over the keys and the ship obediently canted -downward. Suddenly it took the plunge in a supernal power-dive that -sent it hurtling straight at the Pirate's camp below. All around the -cruiser a rain of Genton-shells exploded in buffeting succession, as -the cruiser quivered and strained holding the dizzying dive.</p> - -<p>From the main forward turret, a stream of fire scorched the -surroundings below, starting great fires on the stacked supplies -which had been removed from Koerber's ship to facilitate repairs. The -atom-blast raised clouds of iridescent mineral as it peeled the ground -like a gigantic knife. But the Genton-Shells prevented close aim, as -the explosions buffeted the cruiser off her course. Captain Dennis -finally came into the control room.</p> - -<p>"They saw us, all right," he growled angrily. "I wasn't able to come -closer than a hundred feet of Koerber's ship with the gun!"</p> - -<p>"They've almost got us boxed in, sir. I can't hold her on much longer."</p> - -<p>"All right then, Jeffery, pull out ... right bank ... that should throw -them off long enough for us to break away. Give me a few seconds to -adjust my sights, I'm going back to the turret!"</p> - -<p>The great cruiser had reached its objective and swept like a stupendous -bird of death over the Pirate camp spewing a rain of death. Two pirates -caught behind mounds of supplies and provisions were blasted together -with the boxes that protected them. The stern turret of the black -Pirate cruiser was a melting, incandescent mass as Captain Brooke's -atom-blast found its mark. Suddenly the meteor-like vessel canted to -the right and zoomed upward at the same time, then with vertiginous -speed flashed beyond the range of the Pirate's full fire-power, leaving -Koerber cursing in impotent fury. The sound of wracking concussions -died away; the unearthly ascending whine of the atom-blasts ceased, and -the cruiser flashed back to base.</p> - -<p>"At least we'll have a choice this time where to set the ship down," -Lieutenant Jeffery said wryly, as he watched the changed scene on the -V-screen before him.</p> - -<p>Watching also, Dennis Brooke suddenly leaned forward with great -interest, but abruptly the emergency thermo-bulb flashed on and off and -a shrill buzzer sounded. Dennis threw the switch quickly.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to set her down, Cap'n!" Scotty announced. "She's reached -the danger mark."</p> - -<p>"Hell!" Jeffery exclaimed succinctly.</p> - -<p>"Set her down!" Dennis ordered, but the ship was already headed -groundwards.</p> - -<p>The air lock on the cruiser opened and the crew jumped to the ground. -It was the same bizarre landscape, harsh, Dantesque, extreme.</p> - -<p>"Since we've reached a temporary impasse," the Captain explained to -them, "we may at least examine something I happened to see just prior -to landing. I have a vague idea concerning this small world; it is just -possible I may be right."</p> - -<p>"What did you see, sir?" Randall, forever impulsive and emotional, -asked, curiously apprehensive.</p> - -<p>"You probably won't like the idea so much, Lieutenant," Captain Brooke -said quietly, shifting the weight of his atom-blast on his hip. He -smiled thinly, "We're going to investigate some of those playmates of -yours—the spheres!"</p> - -<p>Randall's face tightened with a peculiar expression. He started to -speak, then noting Dallas' sardonic smile, he stopped.</p> - -<p>"Just before we landed," the Captain continued, "I saw a large pit -filled with the globes up in the plateau just ahead. I want to try an -experiment. From what I saw happened with you Dallas, when you tried to -blast that globe and then threw rocks at it and it went away, and yet, -it pursued Randall ... well, I have a theory that I want to test. If it -works, we may yet turn the tables on Koerber."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>With perfect confidence, Captain Dennis turned and began to stride -toward the plateau in the near distance. Without hesitation Dallas -strode behind him, followed by Scotty and Jeffery, and a few other -lesser members of the crew. Only Randall hesitated as if an awful -premonition paralyzed his steps. He seemed to make an heroic effort, -and hesitantly at first, then with greater confidence he began to -follow the leaders.</p> - -<p>At last they were standing at the rim of the vast pit; looking down, -Dennis realized it must be all of a mile in width. It seemed filled -with clusters of the globes which vibrated gently at the bottom.</p> - -<p>"Millions of the damned things!" Dallas exclaimed.</p> - -<p>The pit sloped down to a point at the center of the bottom, and there -was the immense cluster of globes that Dennis had seen. From small -ones, the size of thermo-bulbs, to gigantic spheres fully six feet in -diameter, it was a pulsating, shimmering mass of changing opalescences, -a seething cauldron of prismatic hues, dormant now, but ready to flame -into living light.</p> - -<p>Randall, the last to arrive, approached the edge and gazed down. The -ethereal, ghostly seeming spheres with their pulsating auras sent an -icy shiver of dread along his taut nerves. He shuddered and turned to -the others. "Let's go," he said hoarsely. "Those demons might come -floating up here!" There was a hysterical quality to his voice that did -not pass unnoticed to Captain Dennis, who was observing him closely. -"Let's go!" Randall cried again, his face contorted.</p> - -<p>Suddenly there was a stream of movement below; from the central mass -of globes, several detached themselves and floated silently upwards in -swirls of living light.</p> - -<p>Cold, unreasoning fear surged into Randall's mind. In his hysteria, -the spheres were coming after him! His thin face with the wide, -fear-stricken blue eyes was ashen while his lips twitched to form words -that failed to come. At last he managed to scream: "Run! They're coming -after us." And Randall was racing pell-mell back to the spacer.</p> - -<p>Captain Dennis stood his ground, Dallas beside him. "Come here, you -fool!" Dennis cried exasperated. But it was too late. With flashing -speed two of the spheres outraced Randall and now hovered over him. -They were whirling into a vortex of incredible light, lovely beyond -description, and beneath them, convulsed with horror, Randall raced for -his life.</p> - -<p>"Action!" Dennis shouted. Instantly several atom-blasts spewed their -deadly charge into the two pursuing globes. They drank in the awful -energy charge and glowed supernally vivid, still unharmed, then, -swooping downwards they charged Randall, and the boy was fighting -them, flailing his arms wildly, haphazardly trying to fend them off. -The other members of the party had now held their fire, for Randall -was enmeshed in the luminous globes. And suddenly the globes seemed -to become part of the boy's body, enveloping it in their translucent, -fatal embrace.</p> - -<p>Before their eyes, they saw the boyish form shrivel and fall crumpled -to the ground as if all the energy had been absorbed in that unearthly -embrace of living light. In an instant it was over.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>Lazily, the two spheres floated upward, their fire deepening into -swirls of colors, swirling slowly over the prostrate figure as if -exulting.</p> - -<p>Unutterable horror showed in Captain Brooke's eyes; then flaming anger -shook him. "The dirty...." Dennis ground out the words from set, taut -lips. Furiously he began blasting at the globes. The spheres rocked -and twisted in the tortured air currents, then gradually they rose and -floated up the valley.</p> - -<p>Dennis kneeled beside the still form of Randall; slid his hand under -the boy's jacket. He rose slowly and faced the rest of the awed crew, -his eyes topaz slits of consuming fury.</p> - -<p>"Now we know how dangerous, how deadly those entities are; for make -no mistake, they are entities. A strange, unearthly form of life that -can suck a man's life-energy. Randall had good reason to be afraid, -poor kid! Those globes react to the most powerful of the emotions, -and fear being perhaps one of the strongest, unerringly draws them. I -feel somehow responsible for this boy's death. Still, he has not died -in vain, for in his sacrifice, he has given us a clue to Koerber's -ultimate defeat." He paused gazing somberly at the still form at his -feet: "Remember, he died a hero, for whatever success we may have, we -shall owe to him!"</p> - -<p>Rocks iridescent and vari-hued were piled high into a cairn, making -Randall's last resting place, in the depths of the space he had feared -so.</p> - -<p>The remaining members of the crew walked back slowly to the waiting -ship. A dark silence hung over the group as they filed to their -respective sleeping quarters. All but Captain Dennis, Dallas, Jeffery -and Scotty, who went on to their council room. Quietly they took their -places at the small table. Jeffery sat with his long hands on his lap, -silent, while Scotty methodically tamped down the Venusian tobacco with -which he had filled his blackened pipe. Dallas said nothing. His vast -bulk overflowed the seat and his tremendous chest heaved with emotions -alien to his nature. All of them seemed, to be waiting for Captain -Dennis Brooke's words. The latter sat down last, absorbed in thought. -When he spoke, his voice was quiet, sombre almost.</p> - -<p>"I told you," he began without preamble, "that I had a vague -theory about those spheres. Well, I know now. Randall proved -it this afternoon. There can be no doubt that those globes are -radio-active—the way they react to our atom-guns leads me to believe -that they subsist on energy—radiant energy from the mineral and -radio-actives of this planetoid. Their atomic scale must be such that -their component atoms make up the two missing elements in our atomic -scale! <i>This is the first time that man has ever encountered these -two elements.</i> And of course, this is the first time these spheres -have ever encountered humans—organic life—on an atomic scale so -far removed from their own. Naturally they're curious. They tried to -investigate and what they encountered from Randall was <i>fear</i>! <i>Perhaps -the second strongest emotion.</i> Our fear must send out intangible -vibrations that impinge harshly upon their own vibrations and lead them -to attack. What fear arouses in them, we shall probably never know. -The fact is that our human emotion of <i>fear</i> in conflict with their -vibratory rate renders them fatal, and even seems to draw them with a -strange magnetic attraction!"</p> - -<p>For a moment every one of the four was silent, as the explanation -cleared so much of the mystery before them. Then Captain Dennis walked -over to the locker where the space-suits were racked. He began slipping -into one of the bulky suits.</p> - -<p>"I'm going outside again. If this spacer's insulation against the -spheres, there's no reason why a space-suit should not be also. Two -of you cover me from the stern turret, and two—including a crew -member, from the forward turret, you can at least delay their attack by -blasting air currents, in case <i>they do attack</i>!" He dogged the last -clamp into place and moved heavily through the doorway.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The men watching from the gun turrets saw Dennis approach the vast -pit which seemed to be the abode of the sphere. The face-plate of his -helmet was open. For minutes he stood motionless on the rim of the pit. -They knew he was concentrating, duplicating the emotion of fear. Then -with a catch in their throats they observed groups of the spheres rise -majestically from the depths and swoop toward the waiting Dennis.</p> - -<p>With a swift gesture Captain Brooke snapped the face-plate closed. The -spheres came to a complete stop about twenty feet from the waiting -captain. The globes pulsed gently, as if waiting ... waiting.</p> - -<p>Again Dennis opened the face-plate wide, then snapped it shut. In the -brief interval the spheres had darted into action, sweeping closer.</p> - -<p>Turning at last, Captain Dennis strode back to the ship, and slowly the -flaming globes sank back into the pit out of sight.</p> - -<p>"It works," Scotty yelled delightedly, as the other men ran to their -airlock to greet their Captain.</p> - -<p>Once again at the table, Dennis began: "Now we can have a definite -plan. Here's the strategy, two of us will use space-suits and rocket -belts to lure as many of the spheres as possible to a point near -Koerber's camp, and <i>one of us must enter Koerber's domain with a ready -made story</i>! That man, the one to enter Koerber's camp, will be <i>the -bait for the spheres</i>. He will concentrate on maintaining the powerful -emotion of fear in his mind, as strongly as he's able. Dennis paused, -his hazel eyes brilliant with anticipation, surveying the men around -him.</p> - -<p>"All of us know that the chosen man may not come through this -alive—Koerber may not believe his story ... the spheres may succeed -in getting him. However, if he's clever and quick...." Captain Dennis -shrugged his great shoulders. It was then Jeffery interrupted him:</p> - -<p>"We'll draw lots for that, won't we, Captain?" His voice was harsh.</p> - -<p>A faint nod from Dennis accepted the question as a fact. The Captain -walked over to a cabinet and picked up something. Returning to the -table he continued:</p> - -<p>"The fourth man will have to stay here and broadcast." He turned a -small box over on the table and several objects the size of small -coins, spilled out. "These midget speakers may or may not work—anyway, -propaganda at a psychological moment has intense effect, and is worth -trying out. The man who goes into Koerber's camp will take some -of these and get rid of them in strategic places wherever he can. -Remember, the job of broadcasting is just as important as any other -in this set up. Keep hammering at them. They won't be able to locate -the speakers until it is too late. Keep pounding into their heads -that this <i>new weapon of the I.S.P. is invincible</i>! Tell them it is -radio-controlled and invulnerable as far as present arms are concerned. -Keep working on them ... don't let up for a minute!"</p> - -<p>Jeffery had been methodically tearing strips of paper and now he handed -them to Dennis.</p> - -<p>"Three strips of paper, Captain ... and four men!"</p> - -<p>Dennis searched the grim, tense faces before him, then handed the -strips to Scotty who picked up a book and started putting the strips -between the pages. The other members of the council watched his back -curiously, until the crash of an overturned chair snapped their heads -around. They looked squarely into the muzzle of an atom-blast gun. -Their jaws went slack with astonishment.</p> - -<p>"I am the commander of this cruiser," Captain Brooke's voice, flat and -opaque had an unequivocal finality. "Walk over to the wall, stand five -feet from the base, lean forward and press your hands against the wall!"</p> - -<p>With the three men completely off balance, Dennis methodically disarmed -them. He placed all their weapons on the table, and then proceeded to -encase himself in one of the bulky space-suits, keeping a careful eye -on the fuming Dallas. As he dressed he continued to talk.</p> - -<p>"I know that nothing short of this could convince you to let me be -the man to enter Koerber's camp. But it's got to be this way. I swore -to enter that black cruiser if I had to take it apart, and by Venus' -thinking spiders, I'll go through with it! If Marla's there, she has to -be rescued from that cut-throat gang—besides, I think I can make up a -much more plausible story, being as I was the one in disgrace with the -I.S.P., not you!" He was dressed now, and stood for a moment gazing -at their reddened faces. "I'm leaving now, I'll dog this door when I -leave. There's an atomic welder in the locker and you can get out in -three-quarters of an hour. The rest is up to you men." He was gone as -the metal door clanged tightly shut.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Trudging along the iridescent stretch of desolate ground, the thought -uppermost in Dennis' mind was Marla. He was torn between the fear of -what that brutal, conscienceless pirate might have done to her, and -the fear she might have survived. Try as he might to reconstruct the -emotion of fear, he failed time after time. Only the dull, ceaseless -fury at Koerber remained in his mind, and his heart, a fury that -smouldered in the depths of his being.</p> - -<p>Slowly he approached the camp where Koerber's men tried to repair the -damage his raid had made. Dennis kept his hands slightly in the air, -and his feet kept kicking a scuff of glittering dust that could be -easily noticed.</p> - -<p>Without warning, an atom-ray blasted bits of a rocky cliff to Captain -Brooke's right and an invisible voice boomed out:</p> - -<p>"Hold it, copper!" There was a noticeable awe in that voice and it made -Dennis smile. The scum remembered, it seemed!</p> - -<p>Dennis stopped abruptly. "I'll talk to Koerber," he said coldly.</p> - -<p>"Hold it right where you are, Captain Koerber's coming outside," the -same voice shouted.</p> - -<p>Cautiously Dennis let another of the midget speakers fall to the ground -behind him.</p> - -<p>The circular airlock opened and a ladder descended automatically. Down -the steps came a short, heavy-set man. His aquiline features would -have been handsome because of their symmetry, and the pale olive skin -tanned by the vast spaces, but for the perpetual sneer that twisted -rather full lips. Koerber's wide set eyes, were dark, brilliant, and -just now had a sort of incredulous amusement, as if the spectacle of -Captain Dennis Brooke come to parley with him were something quite too -fantastic to believe.</p> - -<p>"Well ... well! This <i>is</i> a land of miracles!" He flashed a sardonic -smile, displaying white, even teeth.</p> - -<p>"Considering my reputation for ... er ... shall we say dishonor?" He -smiled again, "You are risking a great deal by coming here, aren't you, -Captain?"</p> - -<p>Captain Brooke shrugged his vast shoulders, and a thin smile of -contempt curved his lips. "It occurs to me, Koerber, that at my age men -are neither rash nor fools ... unless the stakes are high. And," he -paused deliberately, conscious of the instant interest his words had -aroused, "and it happens that the stakes are beyond ... far beyond all -that you and I, and even the I.S.P., are worth. Man, our feet are now -<i>on the base of a great empire</i>!"</p> - -<p>Interest, cupidity and astonishment mingled in the expression of -Captain Koerber's face. Finally he guffawed.</p> - -<p>"Captain, they say that too many nights in the Jovian Chamber turns a -man's mind, I am beginning to believe it!" Then his face darkened:</p> - -<p>"Let's finish it quick, Dennis, what're you selling?"</p> - -<p>"A partnership in an empire, in exchange for Marla!" Dennis Brooke said -quietly but with deadly emphasis, ignoring the pointed barb.</p> - -<p>Koerber still gazed at the space-suited figure incredulously. With an -imperious motion of his powerful hand, he motioned Captain Brooke up -the ladder, then followed at a distance, his hand on the atom-blaster. -He had not noticed Dennis drop another tiny speaker on the ground -behind.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Inside the black cruiser, Dennis was herded by two gunmen into a -spacious cabin. It was furnished in the splendor of priceless loot from -the ships of several planets. He felt his atom-blast lifted from its -holster and the indignity of exploratory fingers seeking hidden arms. -He walked past them to see Koerber seated in what had evidently been -a Martian imperial chair, a throne-like affair of priceless hardwoods, -incrusted with rare metals and jewels, and bearing a canopy of soft, -ocelandian furs, with jewelled brooches at the corners. He sat silent, -the faint satirical smile still on his lips, as if for once in his life -the very depths of his involved and merciless soul were filled with -joy, as indeed was the case. "Speak your piece!" he said insolently, -and motioned for the guards to cover the exit.</p> - -<p>"I shall be brief," Dennis shrugged his shoulders. "Marla means more -to me than anything else. What can she be to you than just another -passing conquest? There's no satisfaction in possession without love, -Koerber—and <i>there are other things that you would prefer</i>!"</p> - -<p>"For instance!" The words came like a whiplash.</p> - -<p>"Wealth beyond even your imagination, and power ... power as you have -never even conceived could ever fall into your hands, man!"</p> - -<p>"How do you know Marla's alive?" The sardonic grin became sadistic in -its enjoyment at the fleeting shadow of pain that crossed Dennis' face.</p> - -<p>"Because," Dennis spoke slowly, quietly, "she's too valuable for you -to miss the chance to ransom her. You know the I.S.P., never lets its -agents down—you knew she'd accepted an assignment, didn't you?"</p> - -<p>"Of course, I have scouts in every planet, and means of communication -even you don't know anything about—like that scout you knocked out on -Venus," he finished venomously.</p> - -<p>"Well?" Dennis said laconically.</p> - -<p>"You'll have to explain better. Where's the wealth and all this power -you're talking about to come from?"</p> - -<p>Dennis knew he was playing his last card. If the man had even a shred -of humanity, of intelligent selfishness, the way was open, if Koerber -allowed his undying hatred of the I.S.P. to dominate him, he'd have to -fight for his life.</p> - -<p>"All right, I'll give it to you. This planetoid is full of a new -radio-active metal of such terrific power that used even in its raw -state it can supply power for speeds beyond anything known to us at -present. The reason you saw our ship before we attacked was that -we used a small specimen of the mineral and it flung us into space -with such terrific acceleration that it almost sent us beyond the -planetoid's gravity. If my navigator's hand had not fallen on the keys -and changed the course, we would have been wrecked. There are untold -billions of credits in radio-active mineral strewn on the surface. Now, -if you can't imagine what that means ... what's the use of my talking.</p> - -<p>"It'll make us invulnerable. A few tons of this new fuel will purchase -a fleet of spacers of the first order, such as this one you have, -Koerber; and with a fleet powered by the mineral we can conquer any -planet. Power ..." Dennis laughed. "Man, we'd lord space!"</p> - -<p>As Dennis spoke, the expression of Machiavellian greed and cunning in -Koerber's face heightened, mingled by triumph. At last his laughter, -peal after peal of cold, remorseless laughter thundered in the -luxurious cabin.</p> - -<p>"You fool, you utter fool! <i>You</i> have told me this and expect me to -bargain with <i>you</i>! So you would share with me supreme power over the -known universe.... One reason why I've lived so long is that I never -share with anyone, and I never trust anyone, copper!" He flung the -final insult in Dennis' face, and laughed to see Dennis' eyes blaze -with murderous fury.</p> - -<p>"Throw him in the cell!" Koerber said imperiously. Instantly the two -gunmen went into action, prodding Dennis with drawn blasters. They -drove him down a corridor to a metal cell and heaved him into it, then -left him lying on the metal floor.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VI</p> - -<p>In the semi-darkness of the armored cell, the wicket through which -the guard could watch the prisoner was a square of light. Only, there -was no guard. Only an atomic-welder could have pierced that tough -shell—unarmed, within the pirate cruiser, surrounded by armed guards -at every exit, Dennis hadn't the ghost of a chance. He sat up on the -cold metal floor, and strove to point his mind to the task ahead. And -the last midget speaker slipped from his pocket to roll across the -floor, coming to a stop at a corner of the wall. Dennis could not -suppress a smile.</p> - -<p>Then he heard a voice he had thought never to hear again. A wave of -feeling engulfed him.</p> - -<p>"Dennis ... Dennis, my dear!" Framed in the wicket, the lovely features -of Marla, smiling despite the brimming eyes, smiling at him in -encouragement. His heart leapt upwards as if it would leave his body, -as he rose in a single bound and was at the wicket, kissing hungrily -the exquisite lips. He could not speak, for seconds, that Marla was -alive was that his heart could wish. For a moment he was weak with the -tremendous reaction. "You're safe ... safe ... not hurt ... Marla," he -was incoherently repeating.</p> - -<p>"Quick," Marla cautioned. "Take this!" She slipped a deadly atom-blast, -the smaller variety once carried by women into his hand. "They never -found it on me—being a woman I have prerogatives. I have been held -for ransom until now, and here on this deserted world, having no means -of escape I was allowed comparative freedom within the ship. But I -heard what you told Koerber, Dennis. Now that he knows untold wealth -is within reach of his hand, he may have another fate in store for me. -For the past few days he has been changing ... becoming amorous. I know -he's trying to win me, Dennis ... as only a woman can know!"</p> - -<p>"Take this blaster back ... and use it!" Dennis said fiercely.</p> - -<p>"No need," she smiled, her eyes luminous. "I have a better way. I'll -not be harmed, Dennis." She kissed him as if all her heart were in that -kiss, despite the vertical bars that divided them, then she was gone, -leaving behind the faint fragrance that she always wore, like a scent -in the garden ways, or an echo in the wind.</p> - -<p>One last card remained to him. One last venture wherein his life would -hang from so slender a thread, and yet.</p> - -<p>He began to scream and shout with a passion that raised reverberating -echoes in the enclosing metal cell. Almost immediately the metal door -opened with a bang, and the powerful figure of Koerber flanked by -guards with drawn atom-blasts was silhouetted in the light.</p> - -<p>"Have you gone space-crazy, you rat?" Koerber growled through clenched -teeth. "What's the racket for?"</p> - -<p>"You double-crosser," Dennis spat like an animal at bay, "if I have to -be caged like this, after telling you about my discovery, at least you -could let me have some air. You've got the air rectifiers shut off in -here, and it's worse than in the caves! Want me to choke?"</p> - -<p>"Haw!" One of the guards guffawed. "That's real good, boss ... saves us -the trouble of shooting 'im!"</p> - -<p>"Shut up!" Koerber rumbled. "Double-crosser, eh? What made you -think I'd cut you in on the discovery? But you've given me an idea! -Branche ... Jennings! Truss him up and carry him out to the cave. -The radio-active minerals'll take care of him better'n anything -else." His sadistic nature gloated on the thought of Dennis' gradual -disintegration as the powerful radio-active vibrations bombarded his -being.</p> - -<p>Koerber's smile was like a feline caress, but his eyes were feral in -the ecstasy of his triple triumph. He had Marla, the wealth and power -of a new universe before him, and, his greatest enemy condemned to a -horrible death.</p> - -<p>Thoroughly trussed, they carried Dennis to the entrance to the cave -system where the radio-active minerals were in greatest abundance. Then -they threw him carelessly on the rough, rocky ground.</p> - -<p>"I can watch you from here," Koerber said silkily, "as you slowly rot -away. We'll be working on the spacer for at least four more hours -before we blast off, time enough for the effects of the radiations to -begin to show, eh Dennis?"</p> - -<p>There was no doubt in Captain Brooke's mind what would happen to -Marla, and to the I.S.P. cruiser when Koerber was ready to leave. The -monstrous egotism of the man demanded a series of triumphs, for he -already saw himself as a supreme ruler. He watched the guards walk back -to the cruiser, where most of the crew were engaged in final repairs, -and he was glad, fiercely glad, so he could concentrate. All the fear -he felt for Marla, all the horror at the murder of his comrades and the -destruction of his cruiser, and the vast, awful vision of a universe -ruled by a sadistic madman, utterly evil, began to flood into his mind -as he willed himself to emotionally see these things realized.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he was aware that through auto-suggestion, he was beginning -to feel fear, <i>real fear</i>! He thought of the luminous spheres ... -there was something monstrous about them ... the way they sucked the -life-energy from poor Randall. He continued to elaborate and build up a -crescendo of horror. A blast of thunder from Koerber's ship shook the -cave.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The distant sun was moving rapidly toward the horizon's rim, and the -swift settling twilight enhanced the spumes coming from the jets of the -black, pirate spacer. As the rumble of the warming rockets died to a -murmur, Dennis saw two guards leave the airlock of the pirate cruiser. -They were Jennings and Branche. They must be almost ready to leave, -he thought. The guards came to where he lay and roughly jerked him to -his feet then dragged him further inside the cave, where the deadly -radio-actives would really get to work on his body. Then they dropped -him unceremoniously as they turned with a start.</p> - -<p>Like black magic, a stentorian voice had begun speaking, filling the -melancholy dusk of the eerie planetoid, as the thundering tones seemed -to come from everywhere. Ear-drums throbbing with the vibration, the -guards jerked Dennis back to the cave entrance, the binding cords that -tied Dennis becoming dangerously ragged with the dragging over the -rough ground he had endured twice.</p> - -<p>"Bren Koerber! Attention! This is the I.S.P." The voice rolled and -echoed. "You're completely surrounded. Resistance will be futile! You -have just one minute to get your men together in front of your ship. -Throw your side-arms in a pile on the ground!"</p> - -<p>Koerber appeared at the lock of the pirate spacer then he scrambled -down with surprising agility, followed by three of his men.</p> - -<p>"Who in hell is playing jokes!" The pirate roared. "Come on!" He yelled -at the two guards now at the cave's entrance. "You ... Branche ... -Jennings! Who's getting funny? Somebody's going to get their heads -blasted off for this!"</p> - -<p>But instantly on the heels of Koerber's tirade, came Scotty's voice, -magnified a hundred times:</p> - -<p>"Your time's almost up, Koerber! Fifteen seconds more and <i>the newest, -most deadly weapon of the I.S.P.</i> will be released against you!"</p> - -<p>Even though he was still concentrating on the spheres and the emotion -of fear, Dennis felt a sudden exaltation. But he brushed it aside and -continued to recreate the terrible fear that had begun to invade his -being under his relentless auto-hypnosis. Subconsciously he could hear -Scotty's sonorous voice describing the horrible, irresistible weapon -that was to be used. Scotty was doing a magnificent job of laying it -on, with variations!</p> - -<p>Koerber gazed around in stupefaction, then spying the prone figure -at the mouth of the cave, he cursed at Dennis and then began to race -across to the trussed up figure of his enemy, but he was halted by a -hoarse shout from one of his guards:</p> - -<p>"Boss, look! <i>There is</i> something coming!" The guard yelled excitedly.</p> - -<p>Still lying on the ground, where the guards had dropped him, Dennis -could barely see the top of the cliff behind him. Over the edge, high -above the plain, swept cluster after cluster of the glowing, gloriously -shimmering spheres. A myriad rain of lavender, greens, pulsing reds and -flamboyant blues, iridescent, flaming with inward fires and spinning -ever faster the spectral globes swept downwards in the deepening -twilight with dazzling speed.</p> - -<p>"Get the gun working, you scum!" Koerber cursed, pointing to the -portable atom-ray still remaining outside the spacer. Two men jumped at -his order and the livid ray blasted skyward. Blasting fiercely for a -few seconds, the two outlaws hesitated. Astonishment then fear crossed -their stubbled faces. The deadly ray was merely expanding the globes, -which flared into incandescent light and, kept right on coming down!</p> - -<p>Huge chunks out of the side of the cliff behind the zooming spheres -crashed to the plain. And still the glittering flood of glowing globes -kept flowing on. His men must have done a wonderful job of luring the -deadly spheres, Dennis thought with a part of his mind.</p> - -<p>"Needle guns!" Koerber screamed, rushing over to the two men who -stopped firing. "Use your hand guns, men! Someone get atomite capsules, -we'll blast whatever these things are out of space!"</p> - -<p>Picking up the heavy atom-ray, Koerber cradled it in his powerful arms, -sweeping the deadly projector in wide arcs through the approaching, -luminous mass. Suddenly, Koerber shouted again. One of the men -near the stern of the ship had dropped his weapon and was running, -horror-stricken, across the broken ground.</p> - -<p>"Come back here, you rat!" Koerber shrieked, swinging the big atom-ray -around. But he had no need to fire, a glowing globe fully six feet -in diameter, already was pursuing the doomed, fear-maddened creature -with vertiginous speed. Koerber saw it suddenly descend and envelop -the running figure, and in seconds the outlaw was a shrunken mass that -dropped to the ground like a squeezed fruit.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>The spheres rolled down in a deadly wave.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Koerber's eyes were blazing as he whirled around and screamed at his -men: "Fight ... fight you lousy rats!" Uncontrollable passion twisted -his features in a fiendish snarl at the thought of losing the supreme -power and unimaginable wealth he had thought to be within his grasp. -His voice rose piercingly above the concussions of the atomite capsules -that at his command had been brought into action.</p> - -<p>But unknown to him, stealthily, a growing fear was creeping into -his brain as all his efforts and the deadly fire of atom-blasts, -atom-ray and atomite capsules failed to even destroy a single globe. -The unearthly, macabre appearance of the luminous globes was already -playing havoc with the men's minds, and one by one the outlaws fled -shrieking into the darkness, to be consumed by the glowing spheres.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the impenetrable blackness of the cave, Dennis Brooke had stopped -building the emotion of fear. With part of his mind he sought to -dispel the stubborn auto-hypnosis, and slowly, he was able to regain a -measure of normalcy. The thought of Marla helped, as with the growing -destruction of Koerber's men, he deliberately forced himself to see -her safe, in his arms. And slowly he came back out of the abyss of -fear into which he had purposely pushed his courageous mind. It took -patience, infinite patience and time, but time was growing short. He -rubbed the frayed bonds that bound his arms back of him, against the -jagged outcroppings of radio-active rock, until he burst them with -herculean strength, then it took a matter of seconds to free his legs. -Painfully he stood up, and let the blood course with exquisite torture -through his semi-paralyzed limbs. Then he sought the tiny atom-blast -Marla had given him to conceal.</p> - -<p>The space in front of the black spacer was milling with men battling -spheres, a vortex of flaring illumination that hungrily enveloped the -maddened crew. Now and then, another man sank to the ground a lifeless -hulk. Suddenly one of the spheres came floating into the cave, curious, -attracted by the remnants of the fear vibrations and approached Dennis. -The Captain saw it enter and illuminate the impenetrable darkness, -he laughed. A few moments ago it would have meant his life, but now -he contemptuously bent down and picking a glittering specimen of -radio-active mineral flung it unerringly at the gently spinning globe. -As if the sphere weren't even there, the I.S.P. Captain strode out of -the cave. It was then he saw his own crew, space-suited, exultant, -spewing green death from their atom-blasts at the milling remnants of -what had been the scourge of the space-lanes. Far to one side he spied -Koerber, now a demoniac figure still firing the few remaining charges -left in the atom-ray. Saw him finally drop the useless weapon and turn -to fend off the swooping spheres. In a few bounds Dennis was beside him.</p> - -<p>At the sight of Dennis, the scowling face went black with fury. He -sprang forward with both arms jabbing like pistons. Dennis swerved and -again planted a terrific left to Koerber's solar-plexus, it almost -doubled the pirate over, but Koerber was not through. He knew death was -very close, but he meant to take with him the one man he blamed for his -defeat. He came in with a fury that swept all before him, impervious -of the rain of blows that Dennis aimed at his face, and unleashing a -right to Dennis' jaw, he put every ounce of remaining power behind -it. But the I.S.P. Captain moved slightly, letting the blow whiz past -his face, then flat-footed, he let his right ride with the power of a -sledge-hammer. Koerber's face lost contour, a gout of dark, welling -blood flooded over it and he sank to the ground.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Dennis' own men saw him, and came running to where he stood -planted over what remained of Koerber, pirate of the space lanes. His -chest heaving, clothes torn, he heard them as if in a dream, as they -shouted in joy at the complete victory they had achieved. It was only -when cool hands touched his face, and a remembered fragrance was in -his nostrils, that he came out of his daze. A voice was whispering the -simple words, "<i>my dear ... my very dear!</i>" Slowly he gathered Marla -in his arms and kissed her tenderly, while around him, the hovering -spheres sensed another emotion, greater even than fear—but of another -kind—that greatest of all emotions, Love.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Captain Dennis chewed the end of his stylus. After a moment he began to -write again in the large metallic book:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>B-XA-321</i></p> - -<p><i>2400 SCT</i></p> - -<p><i>The plan outlined in the previous entry was carried out. Operation -successful. Bren Koerber is being brought back a prisoner. All members -of his crew are dead. Koerber's cruiser is being towed to Ceres Base. -Full report on radio-active mineral discovery has been radioed I.S.P. -Headquarters, Terra. No luminous spheres captured. Suggest scientific -expedition be sent.</i></p> - -<p><i>Casualties suffered: One. Junior Lieutenant George Randall killed -in performance of duty by one of the spheres. Recommend heroism be -recognized by posthumous honors. Suggest Antares Cross.</i></p></div> - -<p>Dennis Brooke, paused for a moment, uncertain whether or not to enter -in the official log book the one burning desire that dominated his -thoughts, at last he smiled and with a flourish he added:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>Leave of absence for two months requested. Reason: Marriage. Miss -Marla Starland has consented to honor me by becoming my wife.</i></p></div> - -<p>Distantly he heard the muffled roar of the warming rockets. The great -cruiser was ready to leave the fateful Planetoid. He sighed in vast -contentment as he unplugged the stylus and gently closed the book.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Soul Eaters, by William Conover - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL EATERS *** - -***** This file should be named 63150-h.htm or 63150-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/5/63150/ - -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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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Soul Eaters - -Author: William Conover - -Release Date: September 8, 2020 [EBook #63150] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL EATERS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE SOUL EATERS - - By WILLIAM CONOVER - - Firebrand Dennis Brooke had one final chance - to redeem himself by capturing Koerber whose - ships were the scourge of the Void. But his - luck had run its course, and now he was - marooned on a rogue planet--fighting to save - himself from a menace weapons could not kill. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Fall 1944. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -"_And so, my dear_," Dennis detected a faint irony in the phrase, "_I'm -afraid I can offer no competition to the beauties of five planets--or -is it six? With regret I bow myself out, and knowing me as you do, -you'll understand the futility of trying to convince me again. Anyway, -there will be no temptation, for I'm sailing on a new assignment I've -accepted. I did love you.... Good-by._" - -Dennis Brooke had lost count of the times he'd read Marla's last -letter, but every time he came to these final, poignant lines, they -never failed to conjure a vision of her tawny loveliness, slender as -the palms of Venus, and of the blue ecstasy of her eyes, wide with a -perpetual wonder--limpid as a child's. - -The barbaric rhythms of the _Congahua_, were a background of annoyance -in Dennis' mind; he frowned slightly as the maneuvers of the Mercurian -dancer, who writhed among the guests of the notorious pleasure palace, -began to leave no doubt as to her intentions. The girl was beautiful, -in a sultry, almost incandescent sort of way, but her open promise left -him cold. He wanted solitude, somewhere to coordinate his thoughts -in silence and salvage something out of the wreck of his heart, not -to speak of his career. But Venus, in the throes of a gigantic boom -upon the discovery of radio-active fields, could offer only one -solitude--the fatal one of her swamps and virgin forests. - -Dennis Brooke was thirty, the time when youth no longer seems unending. -When the minor adventures of the heart begin to pall. If the loss of -Marla left an aching void that all the women of five planets could not -fill, the loss of Space, was quite as deadly. For he had been grounded. -True, Koerber's escape from the I.S.P. net had not quite been his -fault; but had he not been enjoying the joys of a voluptuous Jovian -Chamber, in Venus' fabulous Inter-planetary Palace, he would have been -ready for duty to complete the last link in the net of I.S.P. cruisers -that almost surrounded the space pirate. - -A night in the Jovian Chamber, was to be emperor for one night. Every -dream of a man's desire was marvelously induced through the skilful use -of hypnotics; the rarest viands and most delectable drinks appeared as -if by magic; the unearthly peace of an Olympus descended on a man's -soul, and beauty ... beauty such as men dreamed of was a warm reality -under the ineffable illumination of the Chamber. - -It cost a young fortune. But to pleasure mad, boom-ridden Venus, a -fortune was a bagatelle. Only it had cost Dennis Brooke far more than a -sheaf of credits--it had cost him the severe rebuff of the I.S.P., and -most of his heart in Marla. - -Dennis sighed, he tilted his red, curly head and drank deeply of the -insidious _Verbena_, fragrant as a mint garden, in the tall frosty -glass of Martian _Bacca-glas_, and as he did so, his brilliant hazel -eyes found themselves gazing into the unwinking, violet stare of a -young Martian at the next table. There was a smouldering hatred in -those eyes, and something else ... envy, perhaps, or was it jealousy? -Dennis couldn't tell. But his senses became instantly alert. Danger -brought a faint vibration which his superbly trained faculties could -instantly denote. - -His steady, bronzed hand lowered the drink, and his eyes narrowed -slightly. Absorbed in trying to puzzle the sudden enmity of this -Martian stranger, he was unaware of the Mercurian Dancer. The latter -had edged closer, whirling in prismatic flashes from the myriad -semi-precious stones that studded her brief gauze skirt. And now, in -a final bid for the spacer's favor she flung herself in his lap and -tilted back invitingly. - -Some of the guests laughed, others stared in plain envy at the -handsome, red-haired spacer, but from the table across, came the -tinkling sound of a fragile glass being crushed in a powerful hand, -and a muffled Martian curse. Without warning, the Martian was on his -feet with the speed of an Hellacorium, the table went crashing to one -side as he leaped with deadly intent on the sprawled figure of Dennis -Brooke. A high-pitched scream brought instant silence as a Terran girl -cried out. Then the Martian's hand reached out hungrily. But Dennis was -not there. - - * * * * * - -Leaping to one side, impervious to the fall of the dancer, he avoided -the murderous rush of the Martian youth, then he wheeled swiftly and -planted a sledge-hammer blow in that most vulnerable spot of all -Martians, the spot just below their narrow, wasp-like waist, and as the -Martian half-doubled over, he lefted him with a short jab to the chin -that staggered and all but dropped him. - -The Martian's violet eyes were black with fury now. He staggered back -and sucked in air, his face contorted with excruciating pain. But he -was not through. His powerful right shot like a blast straight for -Dennis' chest, striking like a piston just below the heart. Dennis took -it, flat-footed, without flinching; then he let his right ride over -with all the force at his command. It caught the Martian on the jaw and -spun him like a top, the pale, imperious face went crimson as he slowly -sagged to his knees and rolled to the impeccable mosaics of the floor. - -Dennis, breathing heavily, stood over him until the international -police arrived, and then he had the surprise of his life. Upon search, -the police found a tiny, but fatal silvery tube holstered under his -left arm-pit--an atomic-disintegrator, forbidden throughout the -interplanetary League. Only major criminals and space pirates still -without the law were known to possess them. - -"Looks like your brawl has turned out to be a piece of fool's luck, -Brooke!" The Police Lieutenant favored Dennis with a wry smile. "If -I'm not mistaken this chap's a member of Bren Koerber's pirate crew. -Who else could afford to risk his neck at the International, and have -in his possession a disintegrator? Pity we have no complete records -on that devil's crew! Anyway, we'll radio the I.S.P., perhaps they -have details on this dandy!" He eyed admiringly the priceless Martian -embroideries on the unconscious Martian's tunic, the costly border of -red, ocelandian fur, and the magnificent black _acerine_ on his finger. - -Dennis Brooke shrugged his shoulders, shoulders that would have put to -shame the Athenian statues of another age. A faint, bitter smile curved -his generous mouth. "I'm grounded, Gillian, it'd take the capture of -Koerber himself to set me right with the I.S.P. again--you don't know -Bertram! To him an infraction of rules is a major crime. Damn Venus!" -He reached for his glass of _Verbena_ but the table had turned over -during the struggle, and the glass was a shattered mass of gleaming -_Bacca-glas_ shards. He laughed shortly as he became conscious of the -venomous stare of the Mercurian Dancer, of the excited voices of the -guests and the emphatic disapproval of the Venusian proprietor who -was shocked at having a brawl in his ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive -Palace. - -"Better come to Headquarters with me, Dennis," the lieutenant said -gently. "We'll say you captured him, and if he's Koerber's, the -credit's yours. A trip to Terra's what you need, Venus for you is a -hoodoo!" - - * * * * * - -The stern, white haired I.S.P. Commander behind the immense Aluminil -desk, frowned slightly as Dennis Brooke entered. He eyed the six foot -four frame of the Captain before him with a mixture of feelings, as -if uncertain how to begin. Finally, he sighed as if, having come to a -decision, he were forcing himself to speak: - -"Sit down, Dennis. I've sent for you, despite your grounding, for -two reasons. The first one you already know--your capture of one of -Koerber's henchmen--has given us a line as to his present orbit of -piracy, and the means of a check on his activities. But that's not -really why I've brought you here." He frowned again as if what he had -to say were difficult indeed. - -"Marla Starland, your fiancee, accepted an assignment we offered her--a -delicate piece of work here on Terra that only a very beautiful, and -very clever young lady could perform. And," he paused, grimacing, -"somewhere between Venus and Terra, the interplanetary spacer bringing -her and several other passengers, began to send distress signals. -Finally, we couldn't contact the ship any more. It is three days -overdue. All passengers, a cargo of radium from Venus worth untold -millions, the spacer itself--seem to have vanished." - -Dennis Brooke's space-tanned features had gone pale. His large hazel -eyes, fringed with auburn lashes, too long for a man, were bright slits -that smouldered. He stood silent, his hands clenched at his sides, -while something cold and sharp seemed to dig at his heart with cruel -precision. - -"Marla!" He breathed at last. The thought of Marla in the power -of Koerber sent a wave of anguish that seared through him like an -atom-blast. - -"Commander," Dennis said, and his rich baritone voice had depths of -emotion so great that they startled Commander Bertram himself--and -that grizzled veteran of the I.S.P., had at one time or another known -every change of torture that could possibly be wrung on a human soul. -"Commander, give me one ... _one_ chance at that spawn of unthinkable -begetting! Let me try, and I promise you ..." in his torture, Dennis -was unconsciously banging a knotted fist on the chaste, satiny surface -of the priceless desk, "I promise you that I will either bring you -Koerber, or forfeit my life!" - -Commander Bertram nodded his head. "I brought you here for that -purpose, son. We have reached a point in our war with Koerber, where -the last stakes must be played ... and the last stake is death!" - -He reached over and flipped up the activator on a small telecast set -on his desk; instantly the viso-screen lighted up. "You'll now see -a visual record of all we know about the passenger spacer that left -Venus with passengers and cargo, as far as we could contact the vessel -in space. This, Dennis," the Commander emphasized his words, "is your -chance to redeem yourself!" He fell silent, while the viso-screen began -to show a crowded space port on Venus, and a gigantic passenger spacer -up-tilted in its cradle. - - * * * * * - -They watched the parabola it made in its trajectory as it flashed into -space and then fell into orbit there beyond the planetary attraction of -Venus. On the three-dimensional viso-screen it was uncannily real. - -A flight that had taken many hours to accomplish, was shortened on -the viso-screen to a matter of minutes. They saw the great, proud -interplanetary transport speeding majestically through the starry void, -and suddenly, they saw her swerve in a great arc; again she swerved -as if avoiding something deadly in space, and point upwards gaining -altitude. It was zig-zagging now, desperately maneuvering in an erratic -course, and as if by magic, a tiny spot appeared on the transport's -side. - -Tiny on the viso-screen, the fatal spots must have been huge in -actuality. To the Commander of the I.S.P., and to Captain Brooke, it -was an old story. Atom-blasts were pitting the spacer's hull with -deadly Genton shells. The great transport trembled under the impact of -the barrage, and suddenly, the screen went blank. - -Commander Bertram turned slowly to face the young I.S.P. captain, whose -features were a mask devoid of all expression now, save for the pallor -and the burning fire in his eyes. - -"And that's the sixth one in a month. Sometimes the survivors reach -Terra in emergency spacers, or are picked up in space by other -transports ... and sometimes son ... well, as you know, sometimes -they're never seen again." - -"When do I leave, Commander!" Dennis Brooke's voice was like a javelin -of ice. - -"Right now, if you wish. We have a new cruiser armored in beryloid with -double hull--a new design against Genton shells, but it's the speed -of the thing that you'll want to know about. It just about surpasses -anything ever invented. Get the figures and data from the coordination -room, son; it's serviced and fueled and the crew's aboard." He -extended his hand. "You're the best spacer we have--aside from your -recklessness--and on your success depends far more than the capture of -an outlaw." Bertram smiled thinly. "Happy landing!" - - - II - -Their nerves were ragged. Days and days of fruitless search for a -phantom ship that seemed to have vanished from space, and an equally -elusive pirate whose whereabouts were hidden in the depths of -fathomless space. - -To all but Captain Brooke, this was a new adventure, their first -assignment to duty in a search that went beyond the realm of the -inner planets, where men spent sleepless nights in eternal vigilance -against stray asteroids and outlaw crews of ruthless vandal ships. Even -their cruiser was a new experience, the long, tapering fighter lacked -the luxurious offices and appointments of the regular I.S.P. Patrol -spacers. It placed a maximum on speed, and all available space was -hoarded for fuel. The lightning fast tiger of the space-lanes, was a -thing of beauty, but of grim, sleek beauty instinct with power, not the -comfortable luxury that they knew. - -Day after day they went through their drills, donning space suits, -manning battle stations; aiming deadly atom-cannon at empty space, and -eternally scanning the vast empty reaches by means of the telecast. - -And suddenly, out of the void, as they had all but given up the search -as a wild goose chase, a speck was limned in the lighted surface of the -viso-screen in the control room. Instantly the I.S.P. cruiser came to -life. In a burst of magnificent speed, the cruiser literally devoured -the space leagues, until the spacer became a flashing streak. On the -viso-screen, the speck grew larger, took on contours, growing and -becoming slowly the drifting shell of what had been a transport. - -Presently they were within reaching distance, and Captain Brooke -commanded through the teleradio from the control room: - -"Prepare to board!" - -Every member of the crew wanted to be among the boarding party, for -all but George Randall, the junior member of the crew had served his -apprenticeship among the inner planets, Mars, Venus and Terra. He felt -nauseated at the very thought of going out there in that vast abyss of -space. His young, beardless face, with the candid blue eyes went pale -when the order was given. But presently, Captain Brooke named those who -were to go beside himself: - -"You, Tom and Scotty, take one emergency plane, and Dallas!" - -"Yes, Captain!" Dallas Bernan, the immense third lieutenant boomed in -his basso-profundo voice. - -"You and I'll take a second emergency!" There was a pause in the voice -of the Captain from the control room, then: "Test space suits. Test -oxygen helmets! Atom-blasts only, ready in five minutes!" - -George Randall breathed a sigh of relief. He watched them bridge the -space to the drifting wreck, then saw them enter what had once been a -proud interplanetary liner, now soon to be but drifting dust, and he -turned away with a look of shame. - -Inside the liner, Captain Dennis Brooke had finished making a detailed -survey. - -"No doubt about it," he spoke through the radio in his helmet. "Cargo -missing. No survivors. No indication that the repulsion fields were -out of order. And finally, those Genton shells could only have been -fired by Koerber!" He tried to maintain a calm exterior, but inwardly -he seethed in a cold fury more deadly than any he had ever experienced. -Somehow he had expected to find at least one compartment unharmed, -where life might have endured, but now, all hope was gone. Only a great -resolve to deal with Koerber once and for all remained to him. - -Dennis tried not to think of Marla, too great an ache was involved in -thinking of her and all he had lost. When he finally spoke, his voice -was harsh, laconic: - -"Prepare to return!" - -Scotty Byrnes, the cruiser's nurse, who could take his motors through a -major battle, or hell and high water and back again, for that matter, -shifted the Venusian weed that made a perpetual bulge on his cheek and -gazed curiously at Captain Brooke. They all knew the story in various -versions, and with special additions. But they were spacemen, implicit -in their loyalty, and with Dennis Brooke they could and did feel safe. - -Tom Jeffery, the tall, angular and red-faced Navigator, whose slow, -easygoing movements belied the feral persistence of a tiger, and the -swiftness of a striking cobra in a fight, led the small procession of -men toward the emergency planes. Behind him came Dallas Bernan, third -lieutenant, looming like a young asteroid in his space suit, followed -by Scotty, and finally Captain Brooke himself. All left in silence, as -if the tragedy that had occurred aboard the wrecked liner, had touched -them intimately. - - * * * * * - -Aboard the I.S.P. Cruiser, a surprise awaited them. It was young George -Randall, whose excited face met them as soon as they had entered the -airlocks and removed the space suits. - -"Captain Brooke ... Captain, recordings are showing on the new 'Jet -Analyzers' must be the trail of some spacer. Can't be far!" He was -fairly dancing in his excitement, as if the marvelous work of the -new invention that detected the disturbance of atomic jets at great -distance were his own achievement. - -Dennis Brooke smiled. His own heart was hammering, and inwardly he -prayed that it were Koerber. It had to be! No interplanetary passenger -spacer could possibly be out here at the intersection of angles Kp -39 degrees, 12 minutes, Fp 67 degrees of Ceres elliptic plane. None -but a pirate crew with swift battle cruisers could dare! This was the -dangerous asteroid belt, where even planetoids drifted in eccentric -uncharted orbits. - -Dennis, Tom Jeffery and Scotty Byrnes raced to the control room, -followed by the ponderous Dallas to whom hurry in any form was -anathema. There could be no doubt now! The "Jet Analyzer" recorded -powerful disturbance, atomic--could be nothing else. - -Instantly Captain Brooke was at the inter-communication speaker: - -"Crew, battle stations! Engine room, full speed!" - -Scotty Byrnes was already dashing to the engine room, where his beloved -motors purred with an ascending hum. Aboard the I.S.P. Cruiser each -member of the crew raced to his assigned task without delay. Action -impended, and after days and nights of inertia, it was a blessed -relief. Smiles appeared on haggard faces, and the banter of men -suddenly galvanized by a powerful incentive was bandied back and forth. -All but George Randall. Now that action was imminent. Something gripped -his throat until he could hardly stand the tight collar of his I.S.P. -uniform. A growing nausea gripped his bowels, and although he strove to -keep calm, his hands trembled beyond control. - -In the compact, super-armored control room, Captain Brooke watched -the telecast's viso-screen, with hungry eyes that were golden with -anticipation. It seemed to him as if an eternity passed before at -last, a black speck danced on the illuminated screen, until it finally -reached the center of the viso-screen and remained there. It grew by -leaps and bounds as the terrific speed of the cruiser minimized the -distance long before the quarry was aware of pursuit. - -But at last, when the enemy cruiser showed on the viso-screen, -unmistakably for what it was--a pirate craft, it showed by its sudden -maneuver that it had detected the I.S.P. cruiser. For it had described -a parabola in space and headed for the dangerous asteroid belt. As if -navigated by a masterly hand that knew each and every orbit of the -asteroids, it plunged directly into the asteroid drift, hoping to lose -the I.S.P. cruiser with such a maneuver. Ordinarily, it would have -succeeded, no I.S.P. patrol ship would have dared to venture into such -a trap without specific orders. But to Dennis Brooke, directing the -chase from the control room, even certain death was welcome, if only he -could take Koerber with him. - -Weaving through the deadly belt for several hours, Dennis saw his -quarry slow down. Instantly he seized the chance and ordered a salvo -from starboard. Koerber's powerful spacer reeled, dived and came up -spewing Genton-shells. The battle was on at last. - -From the banked atom-cannon of the I.S.P. Cruiser, a deadly curtain -of atomic fire blazed at the pirate craft. A ragged rent back toward -midship showed on Koerber's Cruiser which trembled as if it had been -mortally wounded. Then Dennis maneuvered his cruiser into a power -dive as a rain of Genton-shells swept the space lane above him, but as -he came up, a lone shell struck. At such close range, super-armor was -ripped, second armor penetrated and the magnificent vessel shook under -the detonating impact. - -It was then that Dennis Brooke saw the immense dark shadow looming -immediately behind Koerber's ship. He saw the pirate cruiser zoom -desperately in an effort to break the gravity trap of the looming mass, -but too late. It struggled like a fly caught in a spider-web to no -avail. It was then that Koerber played his last card. Sensing he was -doomed, he tried to draw the I.S.P. Cruiser down with him. A powerful -magnetic beam lashed out to spear the I.S.P. Cruiser. - - * * * * * - -With a wrenching turn that almost threw them out of control, Dennis -maneuvered to avoid the beam. Again Koerber's beam lashed out, as he -sank lower into the looming mass, and again Dennis anticipating the -maneuver avoided it. - -"George Randall!" He shouted desperately into the speaker. "Cut all -jets in the rocket room! Hurry, man!" He banked again and then zoomed -out of the increasing gravity trap. - -"Randall! I've got to use the magnetic repulsion plates.... Cut all the -jets!" But there was no response. Randall's screen remained blank. Then -Koerber's lashing magnetic beam touched and the I.S.P. ship was caught, -forced to follow the pirate ship's plunge like the weight at the end of -a whiplash. Koerber's gunners sent one parting shot, an atom-blast that -shook the trapped cruiser like a leaf. - -Beneath them, growing larger by the second, a small world rushed up to -meet them. The readings in the Planetograph seemed to have gone crazy. -It showed diameter 1200 miles; composition mineral and radio-active. -Gravity seven-eighths of Terra. It couldn't be! Unless perhaps this -unknown planetoid was the legendary core of the world that at one time -was supposed to have existed between Jupiter and Mars. Only that could -possibly explain the incredible gravity. - -And then began another type of battle. Hearing the Captain's orders to -Randall, and noting that no result had been obtained, Scotty Byrnes -himself cut the jets. The Magnetic Repulsion Plates went into action, -too late to save them from being drawn, but at least they could prevent -a crash. Far in the distance they could see Koerber's ship preceding -them in a free fall, then the Planetoid was rushing up to engulf them. - - - III - -The atmosphere was somewhat tenuous, but it was breathable, provided -a man didn't exert himself. To the silent crew of the I.S.P. Cruiser, -the strange world to which Koerber's magnetic Beam had drawn them, -was anything but reassuring. Towering crags jutted raggedly against -the sky, and the iridescent soil of the narrow valley that walled in -the cruiser, had a poisonous, deadly look. As far as their eyes could -reach, the desolate, denuded vista stretched to the horizon. - -"Pretty much of a mess!" Dennis Brooke's face was impassive as he -turned to Scotty Byrnes. "What's your opinion? Think we can patch her -up, or are we stuck here indefinitely?" - -Scotty eyed the damage. The atom-blast had penetrated the hull into -the forward fuel chambers and the armor had blossomed out like flower -petals. The crash-landing had not helped either. - -"Well, there's a few beryloid plates in the storage locker, Captain, -but," he scratched his head ruminatively and shifted his precious cud. - -"But what? Speak up man!" It was Tom Jeffery, his nerves on edge, his -ordinarily gentle voice like a lash. - -"But, you may as well know it," Scotty replied quietly. "That parting -shot of Koerber's severed our main rocket feed. I had to use the -emergency tank to make it down here!" - -For a long moment the four men looked at each other in silence. Dennis -Brooke's face was still impassive but for the flaming hazel eyes. Tom -tugged at the torn sleeve of his I.S.P. uniform, while Scotty gazed -mournfully at the damaged ship. Dallas Bernan looked at the long, -ragged line of cliffs. - -"I think we got Koerber, though," he said at last. "While Tom was doing -a job of navigation, I had one last glimpse of him coming down fast -and out of control somewhere behind those crags over there!" - -"To hell with Koerber!" Tom Jeffery exploded. "You mean we're stuck in -this hellish rock-pile?" - -"Easy, Tom!" Captain Brooke's tones were like ice. On his pale, -impassive face, his eyes were like flaming topaz. "Where's Randall?" - -"Probably hiding his head under a bunk!" Dallas laughed with scorn. His -contemptuous remark voiced the feelings of the entire crew. A man who -failed to be at his battle-station in time of emergency, had no place -in the I.S.P. - -"Considering the gravity of this planetoid," Dennis Brooke said -thoughtfully, "it's going to take some blast to get us off!" - -"Maybe we can locate a deposit of anerioum or uranium or something for -our atom-busters to chew on!" Scotty said hopefully. He was an eternal -optimist. - -"Better break out those repair plates," Dennis said to Scotty. "Tom, -you get the welders ready. I've got a few entries to make in the log -book, and then we'll decide on a party to explore the terrain and try -to find out what happened to Koerber's ship. I must know," he said in a -low voice, but with such passion that the others were startled. - -A figure appeared in the slanting doorway of the ship in time to hear -the last words. It was George Randall, adjusting a bandaged forehead -bumped during the crash landing. - -"Captain ... I ... I wanted ..." he paused unable to continue. - -"You wanted what?" Captain Brooke's voice was terse. "Perhaps you -wanted to explain why you weren't at your battle station?" - -"Sir, I wanted to know if ... if I might help Scotty with the welding -job...." That wasn't at all what he'd intended to say. But somehow the -words had stuck in his throat and his face flushed deep scarlet. His -candid blue eyes were suspiciously brilliant, and the white bandage -with its crimson stains made an appealing, boyish figure. It softened -the anger in Brooke's heart. Thinking it over calmly, Dennis realized -this was the youngster's first trip into the outer orbits, and better -men than he had cracked in those vast reaches of space. But there had -been an instant when he'd found Randall cowering in the rocket-room, in -the grip of paralyzing hysteria, when he could cheerfully have wrung -his neck! - -"Certainly, Randall," he replied in a much more kindly tone. "We'll -need all hands now." - -"Thank you, sir!" Randall seemed to hesitate for a moment, opened his -mouth to speak further, but feeling the other's calculating gaze upon -him, he whirled and re-entered the ship. - -"But for him we wouldn't be here!" Dallas exclaimed. "Aagh!" He shook -his head in disgust until the several folds of flesh under his chin -shook like gelatin. "Cowards are hell!" He spat. - -"Easy, Dallas, Randall's a kid, give 'im a chance." Dennis observed. - -"You Captain ... you're defending 'im? Why you had a greater stake in -this than we, and he's spoiled it for you!" - -"Yep," Dennis nodded. "But I'm still keeping my senses clear. No feuds -on my ship. Get it!" The last two words cut like a scimitar. - -Dallas nodded and lowered his eyes. Scotty shifted his cud and spat -a thin stream of juice over the iridescent ground. One by one they -re-entered the cruiser. - - * * * * * - -Absorbedly Randall added finishing flourishes to the plate of beryloid -he had just finished welding. With the heavy atomic welder in his -hands, he paused to inspect the job. Inwardly he wished that Scotty -and Dallas would hurry with that final plate. He could just barely -hear them pounding it into shape, within the cruiser. Unconsciously he -shivered. - -Outside the cruiser, it was cold, and breathing was laborious, for -despite the gravity, the atmosphere was thin, diffused. Besides, this -shadowy world of dark crags and palely creeping sunlight had an uncanny -feel, as if it were evil. For the hundredth time he twisted around and -surveyed the rocky terrain behind him. Determinedly he squared his -shoulders and jutted out his chin. It was bad enough to have muffed -a chance to add glory to the I.S.P., not to speak of having the rest -of the crew think him demented. Still the feeling of being _watched_ -persisted. Randall cursed his imagination, and over-wrought nerves -that made him feel what palpably didn't exist. He closed his young eyes -for a second and strove to steady his nerves. - -He breathed deeply of the tenuous atmosphere and exhaled slowly; then -he opened his eyes, feeling more calm and turned to make one final -survey, and stood rooted to the ground as if petrified. - -From a dark crevice in the jagged wall behind the I.S.P. Spacer, -something seemed to glide effortlessly into the open. About twenty -feet from Randall it paused and remained stationary, hovering above -the rocky surface. It was perfectly spherical, fully three feet in -diameter, and had George Randall not been hysterical with dread, he -would have seen that it was exquisitely beautiful, a softly shining, -transparent globe that pulsed rhythmically with lambent fires. A -wavering, lavender corona, like an aura, surrounded it as it began to -spin slowly. - -From nerveless hands the atomic welder dropped to the ground, as a wave -of surging panic engulfed Randall. With an eerie, half-strangled scream -he clawed for the atom-blast at his hip. He had a brief impression -that the globe was sentiently alive, and that something that felt like -tendrils of fire probed his brain. His hair stood on end as the icy -fear deepened to the verge of madness. - -"Scotty! Dallas!" He shouted, and then realized he couldn't be heard -above the pounding within the cruiser. He aimed at the globe and -squeezed the trigger. The tremendous energy released by the atom-blast -flung the globe back, by blasting the surrounding air in furious waves, -but regaining its equilibrium the globe began to zoom forward again, -_undamaged_! - -Randall waited no longer, he raced for the open hatch of the cruiser -with the speed of horror. He scrambled madly, almost dived into the -opening and had the presence of mind to pull the lever that slammed the -door shut behind him. He lay there panting, completely unnerved by the -experience. - -Dishevelled and horror-stricken was the way Scotty and Dallas -found him, when on hearing the hatch clang shut, they rushed in to -investigate. - -"What happened, an attack? Koerber's men?" Scotty queried. - -"Speak up, Randall!" Dallas shook him briefly. "What was it? You look -as if you'd seen a ghost!" - -"There's something out there.... I don't know what it is, but it's -alive. It almost got me!" He shuddered. - -"Something alive on this barren world? Unless it was one of Koerber's -men, you've been seeing ghosts again, kid!" Scotty said not unkindly. -He was well aware of spacemen's mirage, the affliction that sometimes -drove newcomers mad. - -"It was real," Randall persisted. "And it was alive ... a glowing globe -of energy that hung just above me, a few feet away. I blasted at it -with my gun, and it just spun, then came forward." - - * * * * * - -He rose from the floor and moved over to the starboard port to look -outside. Scotty and Dallas stood beside him. They gazed curiously in -every direction, as far as they could see. - -"Don't see a thing," Dallas said stolidly. "Come on, son! I'll fix you -a sedative," he said contemptuously. - -"Wait a minute Dallas," Scotty interrupted. "Randall's right. Take a -look at that big pile of rocks over there ... to the left, Dallas!" - -"By the red-tailed Picaroons on Jupiter's satellites!" Dallas swore -swiftly. "I've seen a lot of queer sights, but nothing like this!" he -exclaimed. Suddenly he turned to Randall. "How do you know it's alive? -For all we know it's just a globe of radio-active energy native to this -hell-spot." - -Randall colored, hesitated and finally blurted out. "I ... I just felt -it was alive. I sensed it trying to contact my mind.... Oh, I know it -sounds crazy, I know you'll laugh, but the thing was trying to probe my -brain, Dallas!" - -Scotty suddenly thought of Captain Brooke and Tom Jeffery who had gone -on an exploratory trip. "I wonder about the Captain and Tom," he said -in alarm. "If there's one of these whirling demons on this rock there's -sure to be others." He raced to the communications set and turned it -on. But it was silent. - -Dallas gazed at Randall for a second with a faint, scornful smile. -"Alive, eh? We'll see." He patted the atom-blast at his hip. - -"Never saw nothin' dangerous yet that this couldn't put a hole -through!" He exclaimed inelegantly. - -"Hold on, Dallas!" The more prudent Scotty tried to dissuade him. "If -that thing's radio-active, it may be deadly! We're not afraid of it, -man ... but we don't know what it is." - -"You boys stay and play the radio!" Dallas turned lightly on his feet -for all his tremendous bulk and soon the airlock had hissed open and he -was gone. - -Both Scotty and Randall watched him half-fearful, half in admiration -as he strode away from the cruiser. The luminous, iridescent sphere -hovering over the rocks, whirled faster and faster as Dallas moved away -from the ship. Rapidly the whirling accelerated until it was a pulsing -vortex of exquisite hues of living light. Then, it began to move slowly -forward toward the walking man. - -In the macabre landscape of the planetoid, the rotund Dallas was not -unlike a sphere himself, as gun in hand he unhesitatingly went forward -to meet the globe. Calmly he aimed the atom-blast and suddenly there -was a flash from the muzzle of the gun. But the flood of vicious atomic -energy failed to harm the globe, on the contrary, it seemed to flame in -a cataract of colors, flaming into living light. Then the fluorescent -flare died down to normal again and the sphere stopped, motionless as -if it were appraising Dallas. - -In unfeigned wonder, the blimp-like Dallas Bernan stared at the globe. -"A full charge from the blaster, and the damn thing takes it like a -drink of milk!" he murmured audibly. Reaching over he picked up a good -sized rock and threw it at the sphere. But the rock bounced back as if -it had hit an impenetrable wall of energy. The globe was unharmed, it -merely hung there quiescent now, as if observing the strange creature -from another planet that had suddenly appeared. - -Another rock followed the first, then another and another, until rocks -were flying in every direction as they rebounded from the globe. And -Dallas began to laugh! To his matter-of-fact mind, the sphere was -merely a bunch of radio-active gas that repelled matter of certain -types like the stones he had thrown, and was drawn by organic matter. -A bunch of gas! He roared. And the globe was retreating, floating -backwards effortlessly, whirling faster and faster, until as Dallas -flung a final rock it darted upward and swiftly disappeared down the -great valley. As Dallas turned to go back to the cruiser, a flicker -of movement caught his eye. Instantly he aimed his atom-blast, but as -quickly lowered, and a joyous expression came into his vast face. - -Clambering down the tumbled rocks and boulders just ahead of the -spacer, Captain Brooke and Tom Jeffery were hurrying toward him, the -latter carrying the insulated leadite specimen box. - -"Hiya, Captain! We just laid a ghost. See our pretty company?" Dallas -roared with laughter. - -"Yes, we saw it," Captain Brooke replied. "What was it? Looked like a -transparent globe of some sort. Radioactive?" - -"Naw! Just a bunch of gas!" Dallas explained. - -"Well, we have another kind of company ... about twenty miles from -here," Dennis said grimly. "Get into the ship, we're holding a -conference, Dallas." - - * * * * * - -Seated in the small dining-room of the cruiser, the entire crew -listened to the Captain's report on their trip, while Scotty brewed -coffee skillfully and cocked his ears to the narrative. Tom laid the -leadite specimen box on the table without a word, then sat back. - -"I'll cut corners on this," he began. "Because we have a lot to do, and -a very short time to do it in. Approximately twenty miles westwards, -there's a cavern that runs through the crags around us. Jeffery and -I started to explore it, but fortunately stopped just in time. It -happens that Koerber and his thugs have landed on the other side of -the crags. This cave is filled with some sort of radio-active mineral, -unfortunately, the main deposits are at the other end of the cavern -system, and Koerber and his gang are already in possession! He must -have crashed there. Pity the situation is not reversed, we'd have ample -fuel then!" - -"But, Captain," Randall spoke impulsively, "why can't we get some of -the mineral from this end of the cavern and blast off this awful place?" - -Dallas gave the youngster a look of withering disgust from across the -table. - -"No good," Tom Jeffery answered for the Captain without looking at -Randall. "The stuff at this end's mostly rubble; we had to dig the -better part of an hour to find a piece rich enough to use." He pointed -to the leadite box. - -"The plan is simplicity itself," Captain Brooke continued. "We'll use -this specimen for fuel to zoom over the crags and attack Koerber ... -we've got to take possession of the other end of the cave. Without -sufficient fuel, we can't fight Koerber to a finish, and I intend to -go into that black cruiser of his if I have to crack it open like a -Venusian palm-nut!" - -Dallas and Scotty's eyes glowed. "Any time you say, Captain!" the -latter said eagerly. "Cruiser's hull's finished but for a few minor -touches. Just give the word!" - - - IV - -Captain Brooke tightened his safety belt thoughtfully, then his glance -travelled slowly to where Lieutenant Jeffery sat, fingers poised over -the gleaming bank of keys. - -"I suppose we really should test this specimen first," the captain -observed. "However, if we did, I doubt if we'd have enough left for -fuel to smash Koerber." He flipped a tiny switch in the panel before -him. The silver screen lighted, and Scotty's features appeared. - -"Ready 'n waiting on the firing line Cap'n!" - -"Switch over to relays and strap in, Scotty, I'll give you thirty -seconds," Dennis grinned, then turned to Jeffery: - -"Ready Lieutenant?" - -Jeffery took one more look into the V-screen, made a last second check -of his objective--the high peak about twenty miles down the valley. As -soon as the peak was reached, the cruiser would be under full manual -control and he would dart the swift sky-tiger from the heights down on -Koerber's spacer, in a terrific power dive. He nodded satisfied, "Yes, -sir, ready!" - -"Take off!" The command whipped out and Jeffery's fingers flashed over -the rows of keys with automatic precision. For the fraction of a second -there was a muffled, rumbling thunder. Then, both Dennis Brooke and -Jeffery were slammed back against their air-cushions as the astounding -crescendo of acceleration hit them. - -Twisting his head slowly, Captain Dennis looked at his navigator in -astonishment. Tom Jeffery had always been the acme of dependability, -his precision in plotting had practically become a legend in the I.S.P. - -"Cruiser's running wild!" Jeffery gasped painfully. "The key bank -must ... be out ... of order. I'd never ... never use that much speed -on take-off!" - -"Slack off...." Dennis gritted. He saw Jeffery struggle to get his -long, supple hands back on the keys. Blood throbbed and pounded in -surging waves at his temples, and he knew he'd black out in a matter of -seconds if his Navigator didn't reach those keys. - -Concentrating all his remaining energy, Jeffery reached and pushed one -hand forward, but it was like pushing against an invisible wall. His -hand refused to move any further, and then he felt the impenetrable -blackness welling up inside his brain. Nervelessly the Navigator's -hand dropped, but two fingers scraped over the key-bank and the -flashing cruiser changed its course. The ship angled upward sharply and -gradually reduced its speed. Like two punch-drunk mortals, Dennis and -Jeffery shook their heads, doggedly trying to clear the clinging black -webs from their brains. - -They were not unnerved, for to these two, danger was too familiar a -face, it was a constant shadow at their heels, the eternal companion at -their table--without it, life would have seemed flat, without zest. - -"Worse than a shot of Martian _Absytron_! Whew!" Jeffery exclaimed, -startled out of his usually laconic state. "That mineral's terrific!" - -"I was just thinking the same thing," Captain Brooke agreed quietly. -"Which makes it doubly important that we settle scores with Koerber and -leave this planetoid. If the reaction of this mineral's true, we've -found a new type of fuel, far more powerful than anything known to us -at present." - -"Imagine if that space-rat gets hold of it," Jeffery concurred in awed -tones. "He could rule the space-lanes, commit any crime and outpace any -ship in the universe!" - -"Besides," Dennis said ruminatively, "this mineral'd make Terra -independent of Venus for her supply of radio-actives. It would usher -in a new era, Jeffery!" - -Suddenly it seemed to Dennis that there was even more at stake than -the smashing of a dangerous outlaw, than the recovery of his former -state in the I.S.P., or the avenging of Marla, if she were dead--the -destiny of Terra was at stake too. As if one of those cross-roads of -Life, at which an individual is sometimes poised by fate, had opened -before his gaze, and history awaited being written in the invisible -pages of space. He had come prepared to die to fulfill a mission--but -now matters had changed. The need was not to die, but to live, that -an unsuspecting world might rise to new heights of achievement on the -incredibly radio-active marvel of this unknown planetoid. With a swift -movement he threw on the panel switch, and his voice boomed out: - -"All hands attention! Koerber has seen us, no doubt. But whether or not -he's fore-warned, we attack as scheduled. Stand-by!" - -The I.S.P. Cruiser swept back up the long valley, until it was almost -opposite the Pirate's camp. Only the tremendous mountain range -separated them. Glancing at the banks of keys, the instruments and -dials under the V-Screen, Dennis issued orders: - -"Scotty, give it everything you have!" He grinned as Scotty gave back -one of his inimitable replies. - -"Dallas!" - -"Yes, sir!" - -"Take the stern turret, and start firing when we pull out--angle -thirty-eight, precision!" He again threw a quick glance at the panel. - -"Randall! Take forward position, secondary turret. Hold fire till they -open up, or until I give you the command. Got it?" - -"Yes, sir," Randall's voice was tense. - -It was then Captain Dennis turned to his Navigator. "I'll take the main -forward turret myself, Jeffery! Now, use a thirty-five degree dive, -pull out at five-hundred feet and use MA-24 to pull out and regain -altitude." He grinned fleetingly at the startled Jeffery. - -"But ... but you're going to man the forward turret--get the gunner, -Cap'n ... I...." But Dennis silenced him with a swift gesture. - -"Taking no chances, I want to be sure that spawn of Barrabas's -smeared, if I have to do it myself!" - - * * * * * - -The long, gleaming cruiser was like the spear of the Angel Gabriel, -unerring, fatal, as the skillful fingers of its navigator in the -control room swept over the keys and the ship obediently canted -downward. Suddenly it took the plunge in a supernal power-dive that -sent it hurtling straight at the Pirate's camp below. All around the -cruiser a rain of Genton-shells exploded in buffeting succession, as -the cruiser quivered and strained holding the dizzying dive. - -From the main forward turret, a stream of fire scorched the -surroundings below, starting great fires on the stacked supplies -which had been removed from Koerber's ship to facilitate repairs. The -atom-blast raised clouds of iridescent mineral as it peeled the ground -like a gigantic knife. But the Genton-Shells prevented close aim, as -the explosions buffeted the cruiser off her course. Captain Dennis -finally came into the control room. - -"They saw us, all right," he growled angrily. "I wasn't able to come -closer than a hundred feet of Koerber's ship with the gun!" - -"They've almost got us boxed in, sir. I can't hold her on much longer." - -"All right then, Jeffery, pull out ... right bank ... that should throw -them off long enough for us to break away. Give me a few seconds to -adjust my sights, I'm going back to the turret!" - -The great cruiser had reached its objective and swept like a stupendous -bird of death over the Pirate camp spewing a rain of death. Two pirates -caught behind mounds of supplies and provisions were blasted together -with the boxes that protected them. The stern turret of the black -Pirate cruiser was a melting, incandescent mass as Captain Brooke's -atom-blast found its mark. Suddenly the meteor-like vessel canted to -the right and zoomed upward at the same time, then with vertiginous -speed flashed beyond the range of the Pirate's full fire-power, leaving -Koerber cursing in impotent fury. The sound of wracking concussions -died away; the unearthly ascending whine of the atom-blasts ceased, and -the cruiser flashed back to base. - -"At least we'll have a choice this time where to set the ship down," -Lieutenant Jeffery said wryly, as he watched the changed scene on the -V-screen before him. - -Watching also, Dennis Brooke suddenly leaned forward with great -interest, but abruptly the emergency thermo-bulb flashed on and off and -a shrill buzzer sounded. Dennis threw the switch quickly. - -"We'll have to set her down, Cap'n!" Scotty announced. "She's reached -the danger mark." - -"Hell!" Jeffery exclaimed succinctly. - -"Set her down!" Dennis ordered, but the ship was already headed -groundwards. - -The air lock on the cruiser opened and the crew jumped to the ground. -It was the same bizarre landscape, harsh, Dantesque, extreme. - -"Since we've reached a temporary impasse," the Captain explained to -them, "we may at least examine something I happened to see just prior -to landing. I have a vague idea concerning this small world; it is just -possible I may be right." - -"What did you see, sir?" Randall, forever impulsive and emotional, -asked, curiously apprehensive. - -"You probably won't like the idea so much, Lieutenant," Captain Brooke -said quietly, shifting the weight of his atom-blast on his hip. He -smiled thinly, "We're going to investigate some of those playmates of -yours--the spheres!" - -Randall's face tightened with a peculiar expression. He started to -speak, then noting Dallas' sardonic smile, he stopped. - -"Just before we landed," the Captain continued, "I saw a large pit -filled with the globes up in the plateau just ahead. I want to try an -experiment. From what I saw happened with you Dallas, when you tried to -blast that globe and then threw rocks at it and it went away, and yet, -it pursued Randall ... well, I have a theory that I want to test. If it -works, we may yet turn the tables on Koerber." - - * * * * * - -With perfect confidence, Captain Dennis turned and began to stride -toward the plateau in the near distance. Without hesitation Dallas -strode behind him, followed by Scotty and Jeffery, and a few other -lesser members of the crew. Only Randall hesitated as if an awful -premonition paralyzed his steps. He seemed to make an heroic effort, -and hesitantly at first, then with greater confidence he began to -follow the leaders. - -At last they were standing at the rim of the vast pit; looking down, -Dennis realized it must be all of a mile in width. It seemed filled -with clusters of the globes which vibrated gently at the bottom. - -"Millions of the damned things!" Dallas exclaimed. - -The pit sloped down to a point at the center of the bottom, and there -was the immense cluster of globes that Dennis had seen. From small -ones, the size of thermo-bulbs, to gigantic spheres fully six feet in -diameter, it was a pulsating, shimmering mass of changing opalescences, -a seething cauldron of prismatic hues, dormant now, but ready to flame -into living light. - -Randall, the last to arrive, approached the edge and gazed down. The -ethereal, ghostly seeming spheres with their pulsating auras sent an -icy shiver of dread along his taut nerves. He shuddered and turned to -the others. "Let's go," he said hoarsely. "Those demons might come -floating up here!" There was a hysterical quality to his voice that did -not pass unnoticed to Captain Dennis, who was observing him closely. -"Let's go!" Randall cried again, his face contorted. - -Suddenly there was a stream of movement below; from the central mass -of globes, several detached themselves and floated silently upwards in -swirls of living light. - -Cold, unreasoning fear surged into Randall's mind. In his hysteria, -the spheres were coming after him! His thin face with the wide, -fear-stricken blue eyes was ashen while his lips twitched to form words -that failed to come. At last he managed to scream: "Run! They're coming -after us." And Randall was racing pell-mell back to the spacer. - -Captain Dennis stood his ground, Dallas beside him. "Come here, you -fool!" Dennis cried exasperated. But it was too late. With flashing -speed two of the spheres outraced Randall and now hovered over him. -They were whirling into a vortex of incredible light, lovely beyond -description, and beneath them, convulsed with horror, Randall raced for -his life. - -"Action!" Dennis shouted. Instantly several atom-blasts spewed their -deadly charge into the two pursuing globes. They drank in the awful -energy charge and glowed supernally vivid, still unharmed, then, -swooping downwards they charged Randall, and the boy was fighting -them, flailing his arms wildly, haphazardly trying to fend them off. -The other members of the party had now held their fire, for Randall -was enmeshed in the luminous globes. And suddenly the globes seemed -to become part of the boy's body, enveloping it in their translucent, -fatal embrace. - -Before their eyes, they saw the boyish form shrivel and fall crumpled -to the ground as if all the energy had been absorbed in that unearthly -embrace of living light. In an instant it was over. - - - V - -Lazily, the two spheres floated upward, their fire deepening into -swirls of colors, swirling slowly over the prostrate figure as if -exulting. - -Unutterable horror showed in Captain Brooke's eyes; then flaming anger -shook him. "The dirty...." Dennis ground out the words from set, taut -lips. Furiously he began blasting at the globes. The spheres rocked -and twisted in the tortured air currents, then gradually they rose and -floated up the valley. - -Dennis kneeled beside the still form of Randall; slid his hand under -the boy's jacket. He rose slowly and faced the rest of the awed crew, -his eyes topaz slits of consuming fury. - -"Now we know how dangerous, how deadly those entities are; for make -no mistake, they are entities. A strange, unearthly form of life that -can suck a man's life-energy. Randall had good reason to be afraid, -poor kid! Those globes react to the most powerful of the emotions, -and fear being perhaps one of the strongest, unerringly draws them. I -feel somehow responsible for this boy's death. Still, he has not died -in vain, for in his sacrifice, he has given us a clue to Koerber's -ultimate defeat." He paused gazing somberly at the still form at his -feet: "Remember, he died a hero, for whatever success we may have, we -shall owe to him!" - -Rocks iridescent and vari-hued were piled high into a cairn, making -Randall's last resting place, in the depths of the space he had feared -so. - -The remaining members of the crew walked back slowly to the waiting -ship. A dark silence hung over the group as they filed to their -respective sleeping quarters. All but Captain Dennis, Dallas, Jeffery -and Scotty, who went on to their council room. Quietly they took their -places at the small table. Jeffery sat with his long hands on his lap, -silent, while Scotty methodically tamped down the Venusian tobacco with -which he had filled his blackened pipe. Dallas said nothing. His vast -bulk overflowed the seat and his tremendous chest heaved with emotions -alien to his nature. All of them seemed, to be waiting for Captain -Dennis Brooke's words. The latter sat down last, absorbed in thought. -When he spoke, his voice was quiet, sombre almost. - -"I told you," he began without preamble, "that I had a vague -theory about those spheres. Well, I know now. Randall proved -it this afternoon. There can be no doubt that those globes are -radio-active--the way they react to our atom-guns leads me to believe -that they subsist on energy--radiant energy from the mineral and -radio-actives of this planetoid. Their atomic scale must be such that -their component atoms make up the two missing elements in our atomic -scale! _This is the first time that man has ever encountered these -two elements._ And of course, this is the first time these spheres -have ever encountered humans--organic life--on an atomic scale so -far removed from their own. Naturally they're curious. They tried to -investigate and what they encountered from Randall was _fear_! _Perhaps -the second strongest emotion._ Our fear must send out intangible -vibrations that impinge harshly upon their own vibrations and lead them -to attack. What fear arouses in them, we shall probably never know. -The fact is that our human emotion of _fear_ in conflict with their -vibratory rate renders them fatal, and even seems to draw them with a -strange magnetic attraction!" - -For a moment every one of the four was silent, as the explanation -cleared so much of the mystery before them. Then Captain Dennis walked -over to the locker where the space-suits were racked. He began slipping -into one of the bulky suits. - -"I'm going outside again. If this spacer's insulation against the -spheres, there's no reason why a space-suit should not be also. Two -of you cover me from the stern turret, and two--including a crew -member, from the forward turret, you can at least delay their attack by -blasting air currents, in case _they do attack_!" He dogged the last -clamp into place and moved heavily through the doorway. - - * * * * * - -The men watching from the gun turrets saw Dennis approach the vast -pit which seemed to be the abode of the sphere. The face-plate of his -helmet was open. For minutes he stood motionless on the rim of the pit. -They knew he was concentrating, duplicating the emotion of fear. Then -with a catch in their throats they observed groups of the spheres rise -majestically from the depths and swoop toward the waiting Dennis. - -With a swift gesture Captain Brooke snapped the face-plate closed. The -spheres came to a complete stop about twenty feet from the waiting -captain. The globes pulsed gently, as if waiting ... waiting. - -Again Dennis opened the face-plate wide, then snapped it shut. In the -brief interval the spheres had darted into action, sweeping closer. - -Turning at last, Captain Dennis strode back to the ship, and slowly the -flaming globes sank back into the pit out of sight. - -"It works," Scotty yelled delightedly, as the other men ran to their -airlock to greet their Captain. - -Once again at the table, Dennis began: "Now we can have a definite -plan. Here's the strategy, two of us will use space-suits and rocket -belts to lure as many of the spheres as possible to a point near -Koerber's camp, and _one of us must enter Koerber's domain with a ready -made story_! That man, the one to enter Koerber's camp, will be _the -bait for the spheres_. He will concentrate on maintaining the powerful -emotion of fear in his mind, as strongly as he's able. Dennis paused, -his hazel eyes brilliant with anticipation, surveying the men around -him. - -"All of us know that the chosen man may not come through this -alive--Koerber may not believe his story ... the spheres may succeed -in getting him. However, if he's clever and quick...." Captain Dennis -shrugged his great shoulders. It was then Jeffery interrupted him: - -"We'll draw lots for that, won't we, Captain?" His voice was harsh. - -A faint nod from Dennis accepted the question as a fact. The Captain -walked over to a cabinet and picked up something. Returning to the -table he continued: - -"The fourth man will have to stay here and broadcast." He turned a -small box over on the table and several objects the size of small -coins, spilled out. "These midget speakers may or may not work--anyway, -propaganda at a psychological moment has intense effect, and is worth -trying out. The man who goes into Koerber's camp will take some -of these and get rid of them in strategic places wherever he can. -Remember, the job of broadcasting is just as important as any other -in this set up. Keep hammering at them. They won't be able to locate -the speakers until it is too late. Keep pounding into their heads -that this _new weapon of the I.S.P. is invincible_! Tell them it is -radio-controlled and invulnerable as far as present arms are concerned. -Keep working on them ... don't let up for a minute!" - -Jeffery had been methodically tearing strips of paper and now he handed -them to Dennis. - -"Three strips of paper, Captain ... and four men!" - -Dennis searched the grim, tense faces before him, then handed the -strips to Scotty who picked up a book and started putting the strips -between the pages. The other members of the council watched his back -curiously, until the crash of an overturned chair snapped their heads -around. They looked squarely into the muzzle of an atom-blast gun. -Their jaws went slack with astonishment. - -"I am the commander of this cruiser," Captain Brooke's voice, flat and -opaque had an unequivocal finality. "Walk over to the wall, stand five -feet from the base, lean forward and press your hands against the wall!" - -With the three men completely off balance, Dennis methodically disarmed -them. He placed all their weapons on the table, and then proceeded to -encase himself in one of the bulky space-suits, keeping a careful eye -on the fuming Dallas. As he dressed he continued to talk. - -"I know that nothing short of this could convince you to let me be -the man to enter Koerber's camp. But it's got to be this way. I swore -to enter that black cruiser if I had to take it apart, and by Venus' -thinking spiders, I'll go through with it! If Marla's there, she has to -be rescued from that cut-throat gang--besides, I think I can make up a -much more plausible story, being as I was the one in disgrace with the -I.S.P., not you!" He was dressed now, and stood for a moment gazing -at their reddened faces. "I'm leaving now, I'll dog this door when I -leave. There's an atomic welder in the locker and you can get out in -three-quarters of an hour. The rest is up to you men." He was gone as -the metal door clanged tightly shut. - - * * * * * - -Trudging along the iridescent stretch of desolate ground, the thought -uppermost in Dennis' mind was Marla. He was torn between the fear of -what that brutal, conscienceless pirate might have done to her, and -the fear she might have survived. Try as he might to reconstruct the -emotion of fear, he failed time after time. Only the dull, ceaseless -fury at Koerber remained in his mind, and his heart, a fury that -smouldered in the depths of his being. - -Slowly he approached the camp where Koerber's men tried to repair the -damage his raid had made. Dennis kept his hands slightly in the air, -and his feet kept kicking a scuff of glittering dust that could be -easily noticed. - -Without warning, an atom-ray blasted bits of a rocky cliff to Captain -Brooke's right and an invisible voice boomed out: - -"Hold it, copper!" There was a noticeable awe in that voice and it made -Dennis smile. The scum remembered, it seemed! - -Dennis stopped abruptly. "I'll talk to Koerber," he said coldly. - -"Hold it right where you are, Captain Koerber's coming outside," the -same voice shouted. - -Cautiously Dennis let another of the midget speakers fall to the ground -behind him. - -The circular airlock opened and a ladder descended automatically. Down -the steps came a short, heavy-set man. His aquiline features would -have been handsome because of their symmetry, and the pale olive skin -tanned by the vast spaces, but for the perpetual sneer that twisted -rather full lips. Koerber's wide set eyes, were dark, brilliant, and -just now had a sort of incredulous amusement, as if the spectacle of -Captain Dennis Brooke come to parley with him were something quite too -fantastic to believe. - -"Well ... well! This _is_ a land of miracles!" He flashed a sardonic -smile, displaying white, even teeth. - -"Considering my reputation for ... er ... shall we say dishonor?" He -smiled again, "You are risking a great deal by coming here, aren't you, -Captain?" - -Captain Brooke shrugged his vast shoulders, and a thin smile of -contempt curved his lips. "It occurs to me, Koerber, that at my age men -are neither rash nor fools ... unless the stakes are high. And," he -paused deliberately, conscious of the instant interest his words had -aroused, "and it happens that the stakes are beyond ... far beyond all -that you and I, and even the I.S.P., are worth. Man, our feet are now -_on the base of a great empire_!" - -Interest, cupidity and astonishment mingled in the expression of -Captain Koerber's face. Finally he guffawed. - -"Captain, they say that too many nights in the Jovian Chamber turns a -man's mind, I am beginning to believe it!" Then his face darkened: - -"Let's finish it quick, Dennis, what're you selling?" - -"A partnership in an empire, in exchange for Marla!" Dennis Brooke said -quietly but with deadly emphasis, ignoring the pointed barb. - -Koerber still gazed at the space-suited figure incredulously. With an -imperious motion of his powerful hand, he motioned Captain Brooke up -the ladder, then followed at a distance, his hand on the atom-blaster. -He had not noticed Dennis drop another tiny speaker on the ground -behind. - - * * * * * - -Inside the black cruiser, Dennis was herded by two gunmen into a -spacious cabin. It was furnished in the splendor of priceless loot from -the ships of several planets. He felt his atom-blast lifted from its -holster and the indignity of exploratory fingers seeking hidden arms. -He walked past them to see Koerber seated in what had evidently been -a Martian imperial chair, a throne-like affair of priceless hardwoods, -incrusted with rare metals and jewels, and bearing a canopy of soft, -ocelandian furs, with jewelled brooches at the corners. He sat silent, -the faint satirical smile still on his lips, as if for once in his life -the very depths of his involved and merciless soul were filled with -joy, as indeed was the case. "Speak your piece!" he said insolently, -and motioned for the guards to cover the exit. - -"I shall be brief," Dennis shrugged his shoulders. "Marla means more -to me than anything else. What can she be to you than just another -passing conquest? There's no satisfaction in possession without love, -Koerber--and _there are other things that you would prefer_!" - -"For instance!" The words came like a whiplash. - -"Wealth beyond even your imagination, and power ... power as you have -never even conceived could ever fall into your hands, man!" - -"How do you know Marla's alive?" The sardonic grin became sadistic in -its enjoyment at the fleeting shadow of pain that crossed Dennis' face. - -"Because," Dennis spoke slowly, quietly, "she's too valuable for you -to miss the chance to ransom her. You know the I.S.P., never lets its -agents down--you knew she'd accepted an assignment, didn't you?" - -"Of course, I have scouts in every planet, and means of communication -even you don't know anything about--like that scout you knocked out on -Venus," he finished venomously. - -"Well?" Dennis said laconically. - -"You'll have to explain better. Where's the wealth and all this power -you're talking about to come from?" - -Dennis knew he was playing his last card. If the man had even a shred -of humanity, of intelligent selfishness, the way was open, if Koerber -allowed his undying hatred of the I.S.P. to dominate him, he'd have to -fight for his life. - -"All right, I'll give it to you. This planetoid is full of a new -radio-active metal of such terrific power that used even in its raw -state it can supply power for speeds beyond anything known to us at -present. The reason you saw our ship before we attacked was that -we used a small specimen of the mineral and it flung us into space -with such terrific acceleration that it almost sent us beyond the -planetoid's gravity. If my navigator's hand had not fallen on the keys -and changed the course, we would have been wrecked. There are untold -billions of credits in radio-active mineral strewn on the surface. Now, -if you can't imagine what that means ... what's the use of my talking. - -"It'll make us invulnerable. A few tons of this new fuel will purchase -a fleet of spacers of the first order, such as this one you have, -Koerber; and with a fleet powered by the mineral we can conquer any -planet. Power ..." Dennis laughed. "Man, we'd lord space!" - -As Dennis spoke, the expression of Machiavellian greed and cunning in -Koerber's face heightened, mingled by triumph. At last his laughter, -peal after peal of cold, remorseless laughter thundered in the -luxurious cabin. - -"You fool, you utter fool! _You_ have told me this and expect me to -bargain with _you_! So you would share with me supreme power over the -known universe.... One reason why I've lived so long is that I never -share with anyone, and I never trust anyone, copper!" He flung the -final insult in Dennis' face, and laughed to see Dennis' eyes blaze -with murderous fury. - -"Throw him in the cell!" Koerber said imperiously. Instantly the two -gunmen went into action, prodding Dennis with drawn blasters. They -drove him down a corridor to a metal cell and heaved him into it, then -left him lying on the metal floor. - - - VI - -In the semi-darkness of the armored cell, the wicket through which -the guard could watch the prisoner was a square of light. Only, there -was no guard. Only an atomic-welder could have pierced that tough -shell--unarmed, within the pirate cruiser, surrounded by armed guards -at every exit, Dennis hadn't the ghost of a chance. He sat up on the -cold metal floor, and strove to point his mind to the task ahead. And -the last midget speaker slipped from his pocket to roll across the -floor, coming to a stop at a corner of the wall. Dennis could not -suppress a smile. - -Then he heard a voice he had thought never to hear again. A wave of -feeling engulfed him. - -"Dennis ... Dennis, my dear!" Framed in the wicket, the lovely features -of Marla, smiling despite the brimming eyes, smiling at him in -encouragement. His heart leapt upwards as if it would leave his body, -as he rose in a single bound and was at the wicket, kissing hungrily -the exquisite lips. He could not speak, for seconds, that Marla was -alive was that his heart could wish. For a moment he was weak with the -tremendous reaction. "You're safe ... safe ... not hurt ... Marla," he -was incoherently repeating. - -"Quick," Marla cautioned. "Take this!" She slipped a deadly atom-blast, -the smaller variety once carried by women into his hand. "They never -found it on me--being a woman I have prerogatives. I have been held -for ransom until now, and here on this deserted world, having no means -of escape I was allowed comparative freedom within the ship. But I -heard what you told Koerber, Dennis. Now that he knows untold wealth -is within reach of his hand, he may have another fate in store for me. -For the past few days he has been changing ... becoming amorous. I know -he's trying to win me, Dennis ... as only a woman can know!" - -"Take this blaster back ... and use it!" Dennis said fiercely. - -"No need," she smiled, her eyes luminous. "I have a better way. I'll -not be harmed, Dennis." She kissed him as if all her heart were in that -kiss, despite the vertical bars that divided them, then she was gone, -leaving behind the faint fragrance that she always wore, like a scent -in the garden ways, or an echo in the wind. - -One last card remained to him. One last venture wherein his life would -hang from so slender a thread, and yet. - -He began to scream and shout with a passion that raised reverberating -echoes in the enclosing metal cell. Almost immediately the metal door -opened with a bang, and the powerful figure of Koerber flanked by -guards with drawn atom-blasts was silhouetted in the light. - -"Have you gone space-crazy, you rat?" Koerber growled through clenched -teeth. "What's the racket for?" - -"You double-crosser," Dennis spat like an animal at bay, "if I have to -be caged like this, after telling you about my discovery, at least you -could let me have some air. You've got the air rectifiers shut off in -here, and it's worse than in the caves! Want me to choke?" - -"Haw!" One of the guards guffawed. "That's real good, boss ... saves us -the trouble of shooting 'im!" - -"Shut up!" Koerber rumbled. "Double-crosser, eh? What made you -think I'd cut you in on the discovery? But you've given me an idea! -Branche ... Jennings! Truss him up and carry him out to the cave. -The radio-active minerals'll take care of him better'n anything -else." His sadistic nature gloated on the thought of Dennis' gradual -disintegration as the powerful radio-active vibrations bombarded his -being. - -Koerber's smile was like a feline caress, but his eyes were feral in -the ecstasy of his triple triumph. He had Marla, the wealth and power -of a new universe before him, and, his greatest enemy condemned to a -horrible death. - -Thoroughly trussed, they carried Dennis to the entrance to the cave -system where the radio-active minerals were in greatest abundance. Then -they threw him carelessly on the rough, rocky ground. - -"I can watch you from here," Koerber said silkily, "as you slowly rot -away. We'll be working on the spacer for at least four more hours -before we blast off, time enough for the effects of the radiations to -begin to show, eh Dennis?" - -There was no doubt in Captain Brooke's mind what would happen to -Marla, and to the I.S.P. cruiser when Koerber was ready to leave. The -monstrous egotism of the man demanded a series of triumphs, for he -already saw himself as a supreme ruler. He watched the guards walk back -to the cruiser, where most of the crew were engaged in final repairs, -and he was glad, fiercely glad, so he could concentrate. All the fear -he felt for Marla, all the horror at the murder of his comrades and the -destruction of his cruiser, and the vast, awful vision of a universe -ruled by a sadistic madman, utterly evil, began to flood into his mind -as he willed himself to emotionally see these things realized. - -Suddenly he was aware that through auto-suggestion, he was beginning -to feel fear, _real fear_! He thought of the luminous spheres ... -there was something monstrous about them ... the way they sucked the -life-energy from poor Randall. He continued to elaborate and build up a -crescendo of horror. A blast of thunder from Koerber's ship shook the -cave. - - * * * * * - -The distant sun was moving rapidly toward the horizon's rim, and the -swift settling twilight enhanced the spumes coming from the jets of the -black, pirate spacer. As the rumble of the warming rockets died to a -murmur, Dennis saw two guards leave the airlock of the pirate cruiser. -They were Jennings and Branche. They must be almost ready to leave, -he thought. The guards came to where he lay and roughly jerked him to -his feet then dragged him further inside the cave, where the deadly -radio-actives would really get to work on his body. Then they dropped -him unceremoniously as they turned with a start. - -Like black magic, a stentorian voice had begun speaking, filling the -melancholy dusk of the eerie planetoid, as the thundering tones seemed -to come from everywhere. Ear-drums throbbing with the vibration, the -guards jerked Dennis back to the cave entrance, the binding cords that -tied Dennis becoming dangerously ragged with the dragging over the -rough ground he had endured twice. - -"Bren Koerber! Attention! This is the I.S.P." The voice rolled and -echoed. "You're completely surrounded. Resistance will be futile! You -have just one minute to get your men together in front of your ship. -Throw your side-arms in a pile on the ground!" - -Koerber appeared at the lock of the pirate spacer then he scrambled -down with surprising agility, followed by three of his men. - -"Who in hell is playing jokes!" The pirate roared. "Come on!" He yelled -at the two guards now at the cave's entrance. "You ... Branche ... -Jennings! Who's getting funny? Somebody's going to get their heads -blasted off for this!" - -But instantly on the heels of Koerber's tirade, came Scotty's voice, -magnified a hundred times: - -"Your time's almost up, Koerber! Fifteen seconds more and _the newest, -most deadly weapon of the I.S.P._ will be released against you!" - -Even though he was still concentrating on the spheres and the emotion -of fear, Dennis felt a sudden exaltation. But he brushed it aside and -continued to recreate the terrible fear that had begun to invade his -being under his relentless auto-hypnosis. Subconsciously he could hear -Scotty's sonorous voice describing the horrible, irresistible weapon -that was to be used. Scotty was doing a magnificent job of laying it -on, with variations! - -Koerber gazed around in stupefaction, then spying the prone figure -at the mouth of the cave, he cursed at Dennis and then began to race -across to the trussed up figure of his enemy, but he was halted by a -hoarse shout from one of his guards: - -"Boss, look! _There is_ something coming!" The guard yelled excitedly. - -Still lying on the ground, where the guards had dropped him, Dennis -could barely see the top of the cliff behind him. Over the edge, high -above the plain, swept cluster after cluster of the glowing, gloriously -shimmering spheres. A myriad rain of lavender, greens, pulsing reds and -flamboyant blues, iridescent, flaming with inward fires and spinning -ever faster the spectral globes swept downwards in the deepening -twilight with dazzling speed. - -"Get the gun working, you scum!" Koerber cursed, pointing to the -portable atom-ray still remaining outside the spacer. Two men jumped at -his order and the livid ray blasted skyward. Blasting fiercely for a -few seconds, the two outlaws hesitated. Astonishment then fear crossed -their stubbled faces. The deadly ray was merely expanding the globes, -which flared into incandescent light and, kept right on coming down! - -Huge chunks out of the side of the cliff behind the zooming spheres -crashed to the plain. And still the glittering flood of glowing globes -kept flowing on. His men must have done a wonderful job of luring the -deadly spheres, Dennis thought with a part of his mind. - -"Needle guns!" Koerber screamed, rushing over to the two men who -stopped firing. "Use your hand guns, men! Someone get atomite capsules, -we'll blast whatever these things are out of space!" - -Picking up the heavy atom-ray, Koerber cradled it in his powerful arms, -sweeping the deadly projector in wide arcs through the approaching, -luminous mass. Suddenly, Koerber shouted again. One of the men -near the stern of the ship had dropped his weapon and was running, -horror-stricken, across the broken ground. - -"Come back here, you rat!" Koerber shrieked, swinging the big atom-ray -around. But he had no need to fire, a glowing globe fully six feet -in diameter, already was pursuing the doomed, fear-maddened creature -with vertiginous speed. Koerber saw it suddenly descend and envelop -the running figure, and in seconds the outlaw was a shrunken mass that -dropped to the ground like a squeezed fruit. - -[Illustration: _The spheres rolled down in a deadly wave._] - -Koerber's eyes were blazing as he whirled around and screamed at his -men: "Fight ... fight you lousy rats!" Uncontrollable passion twisted -his features in a fiendish snarl at the thought of losing the supreme -power and unimaginable wealth he had thought to be within his grasp. -His voice rose piercingly above the concussions of the atomite capsules -that at his command had been brought into action. - -But unknown to him, stealthily, a growing fear was creeping into -his brain as all his efforts and the deadly fire of atom-blasts, -atom-ray and atomite capsules failed to even destroy a single globe. -The unearthly, macabre appearance of the luminous globes was already -playing havoc with the men's minds, and one by one the outlaws fled -shrieking into the darkness, to be consumed by the glowing spheres. - - * * * * * - -In the impenetrable blackness of the cave, Dennis Brooke had stopped -building the emotion of fear. With part of his mind he sought to -dispel the stubborn auto-hypnosis, and slowly, he was able to regain a -measure of normalcy. The thought of Marla helped, as with the growing -destruction of Koerber's men, he deliberately forced himself to see -her safe, in his arms. And slowly he came back out of the abyss of -fear into which he had purposely pushed his courageous mind. It took -patience, infinite patience and time, but time was growing short. He -rubbed the frayed bonds that bound his arms back of him, against the -jagged outcroppings of radio-active rock, until he burst them with -herculean strength, then it took a matter of seconds to free his legs. -Painfully he stood up, and let the blood course with exquisite torture -through his semi-paralyzed limbs. Then he sought the tiny atom-blast -Marla had given him to conceal. - -The space in front of the black spacer was milling with men battling -spheres, a vortex of flaring illumination that hungrily enveloped the -maddened crew. Now and then, another man sank to the ground a lifeless -hulk. Suddenly one of the spheres came floating into the cave, curious, -attracted by the remnants of the fear vibrations and approached Dennis. -The Captain saw it enter and illuminate the impenetrable darkness, -he laughed. A few moments ago it would have meant his life, but now -he contemptuously bent down and picking a glittering specimen of -radio-active mineral flung it unerringly at the gently spinning globe. -As if the sphere weren't even there, the I.S.P. Captain strode out of -the cave. It was then he saw his own crew, space-suited, exultant, -spewing green death from their atom-blasts at the milling remnants of -what had been the scourge of the space-lanes. Far to one side he spied -Koerber, now a demoniac figure still firing the few remaining charges -left in the atom-ray. Saw him finally drop the useless weapon and turn -to fend off the swooping spheres. In a few bounds Dennis was beside him. - -At the sight of Dennis, the scowling face went black with fury. He -sprang forward with both arms jabbing like pistons. Dennis swerved and -again planted a terrific left to Koerber's solar-plexus, it almost -doubled the pirate over, but Koerber was not through. He knew death was -very close, but he meant to take with him the one man he blamed for his -defeat. He came in with a fury that swept all before him, impervious -of the rain of blows that Dennis aimed at his face, and unleashing a -right to Dennis' jaw, he put every ounce of remaining power behind -it. But the I.S.P. Captain moved slightly, letting the blow whiz past -his face, then flat-footed, he let his right ride with the power of a -sledge-hammer. Koerber's face lost contour, a gout of dark, welling -blood flooded over it and he sank to the ground. - -Suddenly Dennis' own men saw him, and came running to where he stood -planted over what remained of Koerber, pirate of the space lanes. His -chest heaving, clothes torn, he heard them as if in a dream, as they -shouted in joy at the complete victory they had achieved. It was only -when cool hands touched his face, and a remembered fragrance was in -his nostrils, that he came out of his daze. A voice was whispering the -simple words, "_my dear ... my very dear!_" Slowly he gathered Marla -in his arms and kissed her tenderly, while around him, the hovering -spheres sensed another emotion, greater even than fear--but of another -kind--that greatest of all emotions, Love. - - * * * * * - -Captain Dennis chewed the end of his stylus. After a moment he began to -write again in the large metallic book: - - _B-XA-321_ - - _2400 SCT_ - - _The plan outlined in the previous entry was carried out. Operation - successful. Bren Koerber is being brought back a prisoner. All - members of his crew are dead. Koerber's cruiser is being towed to - Ceres Base. Full report on radio-active mineral discovery has been - radioed I.S.P. Headquarters, Terra. No luminous spheres captured. - Suggest scientific expedition be sent._ - - _Casualties suffered: One. Junior Lieutenant George Randall killed - in performance of duty by one of the spheres. Recommend heroism be - recognized by posthumous honors. Suggest Antares Cross._ - -Dennis Brooke, paused for a moment, uncertain whether or not to enter -in the official log book the one burning desire that dominated his -thoughts, at last he smiled and with a flourish he added: - - _Leave of absence for two months requested. Reason: Marriage. Miss - Marla Starland has consented to honor me by becoming my wife._ - -Distantly he heard the muffled roar of the warming rockets. The great -cruiser was ready to leave the fateful Planetoid. He sighed in vast -contentment as he unplugged the stylus and gently closed the book. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Soul Eaters, by William Conover - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SOUL EATERS *** - -***** This file should be named 63150.txt or 63150.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/5/63150/ - -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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