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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..63f54aa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63304 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63304) diff --git a/old/63304-h.zip b/old/63304-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 18aea61..0000000 --- a/old/63304-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63304-h/63304-h.htm b/old/63304-h/63304-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index d5f803f..0000000 --- a/old/63304-h/63304-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,943 +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 Doublecross, by James Mac Creigh. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* 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; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Double-Cross, by James MacCreigh - -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: Double-Cross - -Author: James MacCreigh - -Release Date: September 26, 2020 [EBook #63304] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLE-CROSS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>DOUBLECROSS</h1> - -<h2>by JAMES Mac CREIGH</h2> - -<p>Revolt was brewing on Venus, led by the<br /> -descendant of the first Earthmen to<br /> -land. Svan was the leader making the final<br /> -plans—plotting them a bit too well.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Winter 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>The Officer of the Deck was pleased as he returned to the main lock. -There was no reason why everything shouldn't have been functioning -perfectly, of course, but he was pleased to have it confirmed, all the -same. The Executive Officer was moodily smoking a cigarette in the open -lock, staring out over the dank Venusian terrain at the native town. He -turned.</p> - -<p>"Everything shipshape, I take it!" he commented.</p> - -<p>The OD nodded. "I'll have a blank log if this keeps up," he said. -"Every man accounted for except the delegation, cargo stowed, drivers -ready to lift as soon as they come back."</p> - -<p>The Exec tossed away his cigarette. "<i>If</i> they come back."</p> - -<p>"Is there any question?"</p> - -<p>The Exec shrugged. "I don't know, Lowry," he said. "This is a funny -place. I don't trust the natives."</p> - -<p>Lowry lifted his eyebrows. "Oh? But after all, they're human beings, -just like us—"</p> - -<p>"Not any more. Four or five generations ago they were. Lord, they don't -even look human any more. Those white, flabby skins—I don't like them."</p> - -<p>"Acclimation," Lowry said scientifically. "They had to acclimate -themselves to Venus's climate. They're friendly enough."</p> - -<p>The Exec shrugged again. He stared at the wooden shacks that were the -outskirts of the native city, dimly visible through the ever-present -Venusian mist. The native guard of honor, posted a hundred yards from -the Earth-ship, stood stolidly at attention with their old-fashioned -proton-rifles slung over their backs. A few natives were gazing -wonderingly at the great ship, but made no move to pass the line of -guards.</p> - -<p>"Of course," Lowry said suddenly, "there's a minority who are afraid -of us. I was in town yesterday, and I talked with some of the natives. -They think there will be hordes of immigrants from Earth, now that we -know Venus is habitable. And there's some sort of a paltry underground -group that is spreading the word that the immigrants will drive the -native Venusians—the descendants of the first expedition, that -is—right down into the mud. Well—" he laughed—"maybe they will. -After all, the fittest survive. That's a basic law of—"</p> - -<p>The annunciator over the open lock clanged vigorously, and a metallic -voice rasped: "Officer of the Deck! Post Number One! Instruments -reports a spy ray focused on the main lock!"</p> - -<p>Lowry, interrupted in the middle of a word, jerked his head back and -stared unbelievingly at the tell-tale next to the annunciator. Sure -enough, it was glowing red—might have been glowing for minutes. He -snatched at the hand-phone dangling from the wall, shouted into it. -"Set up a screen! Notify the delegation! Alert a landing party!" But -even while he was giving orders, the warning light flickered suddenly -and went out. Stricken, Lowry turned to the Exec.</p> - -<p>The Executive Officer nodded gloomily. He said, "You see!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"You see?"</p> - -<p>Svan clicked off the listening-machine and turned around. The five -others in the room looked apprehensive. "You see?" Svan repeated. "From -their own mouths you have heard it. The Council was right."</p> - -<p>The younger of the two women sighed. She might have been beautiful, in -spite of her dead-white skin, if there had been a scrap of hair on her -head. "Svan, I'm afraid," she said. "Who are we to decide if this -is a good thing? Our parents came from Earth. Perhaps there will be -trouble at first, if colonists come, but we are of the same blood."</p> - -<p>Svan laughed harshly. "<i>They</i> don't think so. You heard them. We are -not human any more. The officer said it."</p> - -<p>The other woman spoke unexpectedly. "The Council was right," she -agreed. "Svan, what must we do?"</p> - -<p>Svan raised his hand, thoughtfully. "One moment. Ingra, do you still -object?"</p> - -<p>The younger woman shrank back before the glare in his eyes. She looked -around at the others, found them reluctant and uneasy, but visibly -convinced by Svan.</p> - -<p>"No," she said slowly. "I do not object."</p> - -<p>"And the rest of us? Does any of us object?"</p> - -<p>Svan eyed them, each in turn. There was a slow but unanimous gesture of -assent.</p> - -<p>"Good," said Svan. "Then we must act. The Council has told us that we -alone will decide our course of action. We have agreed that, if the -Earth-ship returns, it means disaster for Venus. Therefore, it must not -return."</p> - -<p>An old man shifted restlessly. "But they are strong, Svan," he -complained. "They have weapons. We cannot force them to stay."</p> - -<p>Svan nodded. "No. They will leave. But they will never get back to -Earth."</p> - -<p>"Never get back to Earth?" the old man gasped. "Has the Council -authorized—murder?"</p> - -<p>Svan shrugged. "The Council did not know what we would face. The -Councilmen could not come to the city and see what strength the -Earth-ship has." He paused dangerously. "Toller," he said, "do you -object?"</p> - -<p>Like the girl, the old man retreated before his eyes. His voice was -dull. "What is your plan?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Svan smiled, and it was like a dark flame. He reached to a box at his -feet, held up a shiny metal globe. "One of us will plant this in the -ship. It will be set by means of this dial—" he touched a spot on the -surface of the globe with a pallid finger—"to do nothing for forty -hours. Then—it will explode. Atomite."</p> - -<p>He grinned triumphantly, looking from face to face. The grin -faded uncertainly as he saw what was in their eyes—uncertainty, -irresolution. Abruptly he set the bomb down, savagely ripped six leaves -off a writing tablet on the table next him. He took a pencil and made a -mark on one of them, held it up.</p> - -<p>"We will let chance decide who is to do the work," he said angrily. "Is -there anyone here who is afraid? There will be danger, I think...."</p> - -<p>No answer. Svan jerked his head. "Good," he said. "Ingra, bring me that -bowl."</p> - -<p>Silently the girl picked up an opaque glass bowl from the broad arm -of her chair. It had held Venus-tobacco cigarettes; there were a few -left. She shook them out and handed the bowl to Svan, who was rapidly -creasing the six fatal slips. He dropped them in the bowl, stirred it -with his hand, offered it to the girl. "You first, Ingra," he said.</p> - -<p>She reached in mechanically, her eyes intent on his, took out a slip -and held it without opening it. The bowl went the rounds, till Svan -himself took the last. All eyes were on him. No one had looked at their -slips.</p> - -<p>Svan, too, had left his unopened. He sat at the table, facing them. -"This is the plan," he said. "We will go, all six of us, in my ground -car, to look at the Earth-ship. No one will suspect—the whole city -has been to see it already. One will get out, at the best point we can -find. It is almost dusk now. He can hide, surely, in the vegetation. -The other five will start back. Something will go wrong with the -car—perhaps it will run off the road, start to sink in the swamp. The -guards will be called. There will be commotion—that is easy enough, -after all; a hysterical woman, a few screams, that's all there is to -it. And the sixth person will have his chance to steal to the side -of the ship. The bomb is magnetic. It will not be noticed in the -dark—they will take off before sunrise, because they must travel away -from the sun to return—in forty hours the danger is removed."</p> - -<p>There was comprehension in their eyes, Svan saw ... but still that -uncertainty. Impatiently, he crackled: "Look at the slips!"</p> - -<p>Though he had willed his eyes away from it, his fingers had rebelled. -Instinctively they had opened the slip, turned it over and over, -striving to detect if it was the fatal one. They had felt nothing....</p> - -<p>And his eyes saw nothing. The slip was blank. He gave it but a second's -glance, then looked up to see who had won the lethal game of chance. -Almost he was disappointed.</p> - -<p>Each of the others had looked in that same second. And each was looking -up now, around at his neighbors. Svan waited impatiently for the chosen -one to announce it—a second, ten seconds....</p> - -<p>Then gray understanding came to him. <i>A traitor!</i> his subconscious -whispered. <i>A coward!</i> He stared at them in a new light, saw their -indecision magnified, became opposition.</p> - -<p>Svan thought faster than ever before in his life. If there was a -coward, it would do no good to unmask him. All were wavering, any might -be the one who had drawn the fatal slip. He could insist on inspecting -every one, but—suppose the coward, cornered, fought back? In fractions -of a second, Svan had considered the evidence and reached his decision. -Masked by the table, his hand, still holding the pencil, moved swiftly -beneath the table, marked his own slip.</p> - -<p>In the palm of his hand, Svan held up the slip he had just marked in -secret. His voice was very tired as he said, "I will plant the bomb."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The six conspirators in Svan's old ground car moved slowly along the -main street of the native town. Two Earth-ship sailors, unarmed except -for deceptively flimsy-looking pistols at their hips, stood before the -entrance to the town's Hall of Justice.</p> - -<p>"Good," said Svan, observing them. "The delegation is still here. We -have ample time."</p> - -<p>He half turned in the broad front seat next to the driver, searching -the faces of the others in the car. Which was the coward? he wondered. -Ingra? Her aunt? One of the men?</p> - -<p>The right answer leaped up at him. <i>They all are</i>, he thought. <i>Not one -of them understands what this means. They're afraid.</i></p> - -<p>He clamped his lips. "Go faster, Ingra," he ordered the girl who was -driving. "Let's get this done with."</p> - -<p>She looked at him, and he was surprised to find compassion in her -eyes. Silently she nodded, advanced the fuel-handle so that the clumsy -car jolted a trace more rapidly over the corduroy road. It was quite -dark now. The car's driving light flared yellowishly in front of them, -illuminating the narrow road and the pale, distorted vegetation of the -jungle that surrounded them. Svan noticed it was raining a little. The -present shower would deepen and intensify until midnight, then fall off -again, to halt before morning. But before then they would be done.</p> - -<p>A proton-bolt lanced across the road in front of them. In the silence -that followed its thunderous crash, a man's voice bellowed: "Halt!"</p> - -<p>The girl, Ingra, gasped something indistinguishable, slammed on the -brakes. A Venusian in the trappings of the State Guard advanced on them -from the side of the road, proton-rifle held ready to fire again.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?" he growled.</p> - -<p>Svan spoke up. "We want to look at the Earth-ship," he said. He opened -the door beside him and stepped out, careless of the drizzle. "We heard -it was leaving tonight," he continued, "and we have not seen it. Is -that not permitted?"</p> - -<p>The guard shook his head sourly. "No one is allowed near the ship. The -order was just issued. It is thought there is danger."</p> - -<p>Svan stepped closer, his teeth bared in what passed for a smile. "It -is urgent," he purred. His right hand flashed across his chest in a -complicated gesture. "Do you understand?"</p> - -<p>Confusion furrowed the guard's hairless brows, then was replaced by -a sudden flare of understanding—and fear. "The Council!" he roared. -"By heaven, yes, I understand! You are the swine that caused this—" -He strove instinctively to bring the clumsy rifle up, but Svan was -faster. His gamble had failed; there was only one course remaining. -He hurled his gross white bulk at the guard, bowled him over against -the splintery logs of the road. The proton-rifle went flying, and Svan -savagely tore at the throat of the guard. Knees, elbows and claw-like -nails—Svan battered at the astonished man with every ounce of strength -in his body. The guard was as big as Svan, but Svan had the initial -advantage ... and it was only a matter of seconds before the guard -lay unconscious, his skull a mass of gore at the back where Svan had -ruthlessly pounded it against the road.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Svan grunted as his fingers constricted brutally.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Svan rose, panting, stared around. No one else was in sight, save the -petrified five and the ground car. Svan glared at them contemptuously, -then reached down and heaved on the senseless body of the guard. Over -the shoulder of the road the body went, onto the damp swampland of the -jungle. Even while Svan watched the body began to sink. There would be -no trace.</p> - -<p>Svan strode back to the car. "Hurry up," he gasped to the girl. "Now -there is danger for all of us, if they discover he is missing. And keep -a watch for other guards."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Venus has no moon, and no star can shine through its vast cloud layer. -Ensign Lowry, staring anxiously out through the astro-dome in the bow -of the Earth-ship, cursed the blackness.</p> - -<p>"Can't see a thing," he complained to the Exec, steadily writing away -at the computer's table. "Look—are those lights over there?"</p> - -<p>The Exec looked up wearily. He shrugged. "Probably the guards. Of -course, you can't tell. Might be a raiding party."</p> - -<p>Lowry, stung, looked to see if the Exec was smiling, but found no -answer in his stolid face. "Don't joke about it," he said. "Suppose -something happens to the delegation?"</p> - -<p>"Then we're in the soup," the Exec said philosophically. "I told you -the natives were dangerous. Spy-rays! They've been prohibited for the -last three hundred years."</p> - -<p>"It isn't all the natives," Lowry said. "Look how they've doubled the -guard around us. The administration is co-operating every way they -know how. You heard the delegation's report on the intercom. It's this -secret group they call the Council."</p> - -<p>"And how do you know the guards themselves don't belong to it?" the -Exec retorted. "They're all the same to me.... Look, your light's gone -out now. Must have been the guard. They're on the wrong side to be -coming from the town, anyhow...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Svan hesitated only a fraction of a second after the girl turned the -lights out and stopped the car. Then he reached in the compartment -under the seat. If he took a little longer than seemed necessary to get -the atomite bomb out of the compartment, none of the others noticed. -Certainly it did not occur to them that there had been <i>two</i> bombs in -the compartment, though Svan's hand emerged with only one.</p> - -<p>He got out of the car, holding the sphere. "This will do for me," he -said. "They won't be expecting anyone to come from behind the ship—we -were wise to circle around. Now, you know what you must do?"</p> - -<p>Ingra nodded, while the others remained mute. "We must circle back -again," she parroted. "We are to wait five minutes, then drive the car -into the swamp. We will create a commotion, attract the guards."</p> - -<p>Svan, listening, thought: <i>It's not much of a plan. The guards would -not be drawn away. I am glad I can't trust these five any more. If -they must be destroyed, it is good that their destruction will serve a -purpose.</i></p> - -<p>Aloud, he said, "You understand. If I get through, I will return to the -city on foot. No one will suspect anything if I am not caught, because -the bomb will not explode until the ship is far out in space. Remember, -you are in no danger from the guards."</p> - -<p><i>From the guards</i>, his mind echoed. He smiled. At least, they would -feel no pain, never know what happened. With the amount of atomite in -that bomb in the compartment, they would merely be obliterated in a -ground-shaking crash.</p> - -<p>Abruptly he swallowed, reminded of the bomb that was silently counting -off the seconds. "Go ahead," he ordered. "I will wait here."</p> - -<p>"Svan." The girl, Ingra, leaned over to him. Impulsively she reached -for him, kissed him. "Good luck to you, Svan," she said.</p> - -<p>"Good luck," repeated the others. Then silently the electric motor of -the car took hold. Skilfully the girl backed it up, turned it around, -sent it lumbering back down the road. Only after she had traveled a few -hundred feet by the feel of the road did she turn the lights on again.</p> - -<p>Svan looked after them. The kiss had surprised him. What did it mean? -Was it an error that the girl should die with the others?</p> - -<p>There was an instant of doubt in his steel-shackled mind, then it was -driven away. Perhaps she was loyal, yet certainly she was weak. And -since he could not know which was the one who had received the marked -slip, and feared to admit it, it was better they all should die.</p> - -<p>He advanced along the midnight road to where the ground rose and the -jungle plants thinned out. Ahead, on an elevation, were the rain-dimmed -lights of the Earth-ship, set down in the center of a clearing made by -its own fierce rockets. Svan's mist-trained eyes spotted the circling -figures of sentries, and knew that these would be the ship's own. -They would not be as easily overcome as the natives, not with those -slim-shafted blasters they carried. Only deceit could get him to the -side of the ship.</p> - -<p>Svan settled himself at the side of the road, waiting for his chance. -He had perhaps three minutes to wait; he reckoned. His fingers went -absently to the pouch in his wide belt, closed on the slip of paper. He -turned it over without looking at it, wondering who had drawn the first -cross, and been a coward. Ingra? One of the men?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He became abruptly conscious of a commotion behind him. A ground car -was racing along the road. He spun around and was caught in the glare -of its blinding driving-light, as it bumped to a slithering stop.</p> - -<p>Paralyzed, he heard the girl's voice. "Svan! They're coming! They found -the guard's rifle, and they're looking for us! Thirty Earthmen, Svan, -with those frightful guns. They fired at us, but we got away and came -for you. We must flee!"</p> - -<p>He stared unseeingly at the light. "Go away!" he croaked unbelievingly. -Then his muscles jerked into action. The time was almost up—the bomb -in the car—</p> - -<p>"Go away!" he shrieked, and turned to run. His fists clenched and -swinging at his side, he made a dozen floundering steps before -something immense pounded at him from behind. He felt himself lifted -from the road, sailing, swooping, dropping with annihilating force -onto the hard, charred earth of the clearing. Only then did he hear the -sound of the explosion, and as the immense echoes died away he began to -feel the pain seeping into him from his hideously racked body....</p> - -<p>The Flight Surgeon rose from beside him. "He's still alive," he said -callously to Lowry, who had just come up. "It won't last long, though. -What've you got there?"</p> - -<p>Lowry, a bewildered expression on his beardless face, held out the two -halves of a metallic sphere. Dangling ends of wires showed where a -connection had been broken. "He had a bomb," he said. "A magnetic-type, -delayed-action atomite bomb. There must have been another in the car, -and it went off. They—they were planning to bomb us."</p> - -<p>"Amazing," the surgeon said dryly. "Well, they won't do any bombing -now."</p> - -<p>Lowry was staring at the huddled, mutilated form of Svan. He shuddered. -The surgeon, seeing the shudder, grasped his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Better them than us," he said. "It's poetic justice if I ever saw it. -They had it coming...." He paused thoughtfully, staring at a piece of -paper between his fingers. "This is the only part I don't get," he said.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" Lowry craned his neck. "A piece of paper with a cross on -it? What about it?"</p> - -<p>The surgeon shrugged. "He had it clenched in his hand," he said. "Had -the devil of a time getting it loose from him." He turned it over -slowly, displayed the other side. "Now what in the world would he be -doing carrying a scrap of paper with a cross marked on both sides?"</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Double-Cross, by James MacCreigh - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLE-CROSS *** - -***** This file should be named 63304-h.htm or 63304-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/3/0/63304/ - -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: Double-Cross - -Author: James MacCreigh - -Release Date: September 26, 2020 [EBook #63304] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLE-CROSS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - DOUBLECROSS - - by JAMES Mac CREIGH - - Revolt was brewing on Venus, led by the - descendant of the first Earthmen to - land. Svan was the leader making the final - plans--plotting them a bit too well. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1944. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The Officer of the Deck was pleased as he returned to the main lock. -There was no reason why everything shouldn't have been functioning -perfectly, of course, but he was pleased to have it confirmed, all the -same. The Executive Officer was moodily smoking a cigarette in the open -lock, staring out over the dank Venusian terrain at the native town. He -turned. - -"Everything shipshape, I take it!" he commented. - -The OD nodded. "I'll have a blank log if this keeps up," he said. -"Every man accounted for except the delegation, cargo stowed, drivers -ready to lift as soon as they come back." - -The Exec tossed away his cigarette. "_If_ they come back." - -"Is there any question?" - -The Exec shrugged. "I don't know, Lowry," he said. "This is a funny -place. I don't trust the natives." - -Lowry lifted his eyebrows. "Oh? But after all, they're human beings, -just like us--" - -"Not any more. Four or five generations ago they were. Lord, they don't -even look human any more. Those white, flabby skins--I don't like them." - -"Acclimation," Lowry said scientifically. "They had to acclimate -themselves to Venus's climate. They're friendly enough." - -The Exec shrugged again. He stared at the wooden shacks that were the -outskirts of the native city, dimly visible through the ever-present -Venusian mist. The native guard of honor, posted a hundred yards from -the Earth-ship, stood stolidly at attention with their old-fashioned -proton-rifles slung over their backs. A few natives were gazing -wonderingly at the great ship, but made no move to pass the line of -guards. - -"Of course," Lowry said suddenly, "there's a minority who are afraid -of us. I was in town yesterday, and I talked with some of the natives. -They think there will be hordes of immigrants from Earth, now that we -know Venus is habitable. And there's some sort of a paltry underground -group that is spreading the word that the immigrants will drive the -native Venusians--the descendants of the first expedition, that -is--right down into the mud. Well--" he laughed--"maybe they will. -After all, the fittest survive. That's a basic law of--" - -The annunciator over the open lock clanged vigorously, and a metallic -voice rasped: "Officer of the Deck! Post Number One! Instruments -reports a spy ray focused on the main lock!" - -Lowry, interrupted in the middle of a word, jerked his head back and -stared unbelievingly at the tell-tale next to the annunciator. Sure -enough, it was glowing red--might have been glowing for minutes. He -snatched at the hand-phone dangling from the wall, shouted into it. -"Set up a screen! Notify the delegation! Alert a landing party!" But -even while he was giving orders, the warning light flickered suddenly -and went out. Stricken, Lowry turned to the Exec. - -The Executive Officer nodded gloomily. He said, "You see!" - - * * * * * - -"You see?" - -Svan clicked off the listening-machine and turned around. The five -others in the room looked apprehensive. "You see?" Svan repeated. "From -their own mouths you have heard it. The Council was right." - -The younger of the two women sighed. She might have been beautiful, in -spite of her dead-white skin, if there had been a scrap of hair on her -head. "Svan, I'm afraid," she said. "Who are we to decide if this -is a good thing? Our parents came from Earth. Perhaps there will be -trouble at first, if colonists come, but we are of the same blood." - -Svan laughed harshly. "_They_ don't think so. You heard them. We are -not human any more. The officer said it." - -The other woman spoke unexpectedly. "The Council was right," she -agreed. "Svan, what must we do?" - -Svan raised his hand, thoughtfully. "One moment. Ingra, do you still -object?" - -The younger woman shrank back before the glare in his eyes. She looked -around at the others, found them reluctant and uneasy, but visibly -convinced by Svan. - -"No," she said slowly. "I do not object." - -"And the rest of us? Does any of us object?" - -Svan eyed them, each in turn. There was a slow but unanimous gesture of -assent. - -"Good," said Svan. "Then we must act. The Council has told us that we -alone will decide our course of action. We have agreed that, if the -Earth-ship returns, it means disaster for Venus. Therefore, it must not -return." - -An old man shifted restlessly. "But they are strong, Svan," he -complained. "They have weapons. We cannot force them to stay." - -Svan nodded. "No. They will leave. But they will never get back to -Earth." - -"Never get back to Earth?" the old man gasped. "Has the Council -authorized--murder?" - -Svan shrugged. "The Council did not know what we would face. The -Councilmen could not come to the city and see what strength the -Earth-ship has." He paused dangerously. "Toller," he said, "do you -object?" - -Like the girl, the old man retreated before his eyes. His voice was -dull. "What is your plan?" he asked. - -Svan smiled, and it was like a dark flame. He reached to a box at his -feet, held up a shiny metal globe. "One of us will plant this in the -ship. It will be set by means of this dial--" he touched a spot on the -surface of the globe with a pallid finger--"to do nothing for forty -hours. Then--it will explode. Atomite." - -He grinned triumphantly, looking from face to face. The grin -faded uncertainly as he saw what was in their eyes--uncertainty, -irresolution. Abruptly he set the bomb down, savagely ripped six leaves -off a writing tablet on the table next him. He took a pencil and made a -mark on one of them, held it up. - -"We will let chance decide who is to do the work," he said angrily. "Is -there anyone here who is afraid? There will be danger, I think...." - -No answer. Svan jerked his head. "Good," he said. "Ingra, bring me that -bowl." - -Silently the girl picked up an opaque glass bowl from the broad arm -of her chair. It had held Venus-tobacco cigarettes; there were a few -left. She shook them out and handed the bowl to Svan, who was rapidly -creasing the six fatal slips. He dropped them in the bowl, stirred it -with his hand, offered it to the girl. "You first, Ingra," he said. - -She reached in mechanically, her eyes intent on his, took out a slip -and held it without opening it. The bowl went the rounds, till Svan -himself took the last. All eyes were on him. No one had looked at their -slips. - -Svan, too, had left his unopened. He sat at the table, facing them. -"This is the plan," he said. "We will go, all six of us, in my ground -car, to look at the Earth-ship. No one will suspect--the whole city -has been to see it already. One will get out, at the best point we can -find. It is almost dusk now. He can hide, surely, in the vegetation. -The other five will start back. Something will go wrong with the -car--perhaps it will run off the road, start to sink in the swamp. The -guards will be called. There will be commotion--that is easy enough, -after all; a hysterical woman, a few screams, that's all there is to -it. And the sixth person will have his chance to steal to the side -of the ship. The bomb is magnetic. It will not be noticed in the -dark--they will take off before sunrise, because they must travel away -from the sun to return--in forty hours the danger is removed." - -There was comprehension in their eyes, Svan saw ... but still that -uncertainty. Impatiently, he crackled: "Look at the slips!" - -Though he had willed his eyes away from it, his fingers had rebelled. -Instinctively they had opened the slip, turned it over and over, -striving to detect if it was the fatal one. They had felt nothing.... - -And his eyes saw nothing. The slip was blank. He gave it but a second's -glance, then looked up to see who had won the lethal game of chance. -Almost he was disappointed. - -Each of the others had looked in that same second. And each was looking -up now, around at his neighbors. Svan waited impatiently for the chosen -one to announce it--a second, ten seconds.... - -Then gray understanding came to him. _A traitor!_ his subconscious -whispered. _A coward!_ He stared at them in a new light, saw their -indecision magnified, became opposition. - -Svan thought faster than ever before in his life. If there was a -coward, it would do no good to unmask him. All were wavering, any might -be the one who had drawn the fatal slip. He could insist on inspecting -every one, but--suppose the coward, cornered, fought back? In fractions -of a second, Svan had considered the evidence and reached his decision. -Masked by the table, his hand, still holding the pencil, moved swiftly -beneath the table, marked his own slip. - -In the palm of his hand, Svan held up the slip he had just marked in -secret. His voice was very tired as he said, "I will plant the bomb." - - * * * * * - -The six conspirators in Svan's old ground car moved slowly along the -main street of the native town. Two Earth-ship sailors, unarmed except -for deceptively flimsy-looking pistols at their hips, stood before the -entrance to the town's Hall of Justice. - -"Good," said Svan, observing them. "The delegation is still here. We -have ample time." - -He half turned in the broad front seat next to the driver, searching -the faces of the others in the car. Which was the coward? he wondered. -Ingra? Her aunt? One of the men? - -The right answer leaped up at him. _They all are_, he thought. _Not one -of them understands what this means. They're afraid._ - -He clamped his lips. "Go faster, Ingra," he ordered the girl who was -driving. "Let's get this done with." - -She looked at him, and he was surprised to find compassion in her -eyes. Silently she nodded, advanced the fuel-handle so that the clumsy -car jolted a trace more rapidly over the corduroy road. It was quite -dark now. The car's driving light flared yellowishly in front of them, -illuminating the narrow road and the pale, distorted vegetation of the -jungle that surrounded them. Svan noticed it was raining a little. The -present shower would deepen and intensify until midnight, then fall off -again, to halt before morning. But before then they would be done. - -A proton-bolt lanced across the road in front of them. In the silence -that followed its thunderous crash, a man's voice bellowed: "Halt!" - -The girl, Ingra, gasped something indistinguishable, slammed on the -brakes. A Venusian in the trappings of the State Guard advanced on them -from the side of the road, proton-rifle held ready to fire again. - -"Where are you going?" he growled. - -Svan spoke up. "We want to look at the Earth-ship," he said. He opened -the door beside him and stepped out, careless of the drizzle. "We heard -it was leaving tonight," he continued, "and we have not seen it. Is -that not permitted?" - -The guard shook his head sourly. "No one is allowed near the ship. The -order was just issued. It is thought there is danger." - -Svan stepped closer, his teeth bared in what passed for a smile. "It -is urgent," he purred. His right hand flashed across his chest in a -complicated gesture. "Do you understand?" - -Confusion furrowed the guard's hairless brows, then was replaced by -a sudden flare of understanding--and fear. "The Council!" he roared. -"By heaven, yes, I understand! You are the swine that caused this--" -He strove instinctively to bring the clumsy rifle up, but Svan was -faster. His gamble had failed; there was only one course remaining. -He hurled his gross white bulk at the guard, bowled him over against -the splintery logs of the road. The proton-rifle went flying, and Svan -savagely tore at the throat of the guard. Knees, elbows and claw-like -nails--Svan battered at the astonished man with every ounce of strength -in his body. The guard was as big as Svan, but Svan had the initial -advantage ... and it was only a matter of seconds before the guard -lay unconscious, his skull a mass of gore at the back where Svan had -ruthlessly pounded it against the road. - -[Illustration: _Svan grunted as his fingers constricted brutally._] - -Svan rose, panting, stared around. No one else was in sight, save the -petrified five and the ground car. Svan glared at them contemptuously, -then reached down and heaved on the senseless body of the guard. Over -the shoulder of the road the body went, onto the damp swampland of the -jungle. Even while Svan watched the body began to sink. There would be -no trace. - -Svan strode back to the car. "Hurry up," he gasped to the girl. "Now -there is danger for all of us, if they discover he is missing. And keep -a watch for other guards." - - * * * * * - -Venus has no moon, and no star can shine through its vast cloud layer. -Ensign Lowry, staring anxiously out through the astro-dome in the bow -of the Earth-ship, cursed the blackness. - -"Can't see a thing," he complained to the Exec, steadily writing away -at the computer's table. "Look--are those lights over there?" - -The Exec looked up wearily. He shrugged. "Probably the guards. Of -course, you can't tell. Might be a raiding party." - -Lowry, stung, looked to see if the Exec was smiling, but found no -answer in his stolid face. "Don't joke about it," he said. "Suppose -something happens to the delegation?" - -"Then we're in the soup," the Exec said philosophically. "I told you -the natives were dangerous. Spy-rays! They've been prohibited for the -last three hundred years." - -"It isn't all the natives," Lowry said. "Look how they've doubled the -guard around us. The administration is co-operating every way they -know how. You heard the delegation's report on the intercom. It's this -secret group they call the Council." - -"And how do you know the guards themselves don't belong to it?" the -Exec retorted. "They're all the same to me.... Look, your light's gone -out now. Must have been the guard. They're on the wrong side to be -coming from the town, anyhow...." - - * * * * * - -Svan hesitated only a fraction of a second after the girl turned the -lights out and stopped the car. Then he reached in the compartment -under the seat. If he took a little longer than seemed necessary to get -the atomite bomb out of the compartment, none of the others noticed. -Certainly it did not occur to them that there had been _two_ bombs in -the compartment, though Svan's hand emerged with only one. - -He got out of the car, holding the sphere. "This will do for me," he -said. "They won't be expecting anyone to come from behind the ship--we -were wise to circle around. Now, you know what you must do?" - -Ingra nodded, while the others remained mute. "We must circle back -again," she parroted. "We are to wait five minutes, then drive the car -into the swamp. We will create a commotion, attract the guards." - -Svan, listening, thought: _It's not much of a plan. The guards would -not be drawn away. I am glad I can't trust these five any more. If -they must be destroyed, it is good that their destruction will serve a -purpose._ - -Aloud, he said, "You understand. If I get through, I will return to the -city on foot. No one will suspect anything if I am not caught, because -the bomb will not explode until the ship is far out in space. Remember, -you are in no danger from the guards." - -_From the guards_, his mind echoed. He smiled. At least, they would -feel no pain, never know what happened. With the amount of atomite in -that bomb in the compartment, they would merely be obliterated in a -ground-shaking crash. - -Abruptly he swallowed, reminded of the bomb that was silently counting -off the seconds. "Go ahead," he ordered. "I will wait here." - -"Svan." The girl, Ingra, leaned over to him. Impulsively she reached -for him, kissed him. "Good luck to you, Svan," she said. - -"Good luck," repeated the others. Then silently the electric motor of -the car took hold. Skilfully the girl backed it up, turned it around, -sent it lumbering back down the road. Only after she had traveled a few -hundred feet by the feel of the road did she turn the lights on again. - -Svan looked after them. The kiss had surprised him. What did it mean? -Was it an error that the girl should die with the others? - -There was an instant of doubt in his steel-shackled mind, then it was -driven away. Perhaps she was loyal, yet certainly she was weak. And -since he could not know which was the one who had received the marked -slip, and feared to admit it, it was better they all should die. - -He advanced along the midnight road to where the ground rose and the -jungle plants thinned out. Ahead, on an elevation, were the rain-dimmed -lights of the Earth-ship, set down in the center of a clearing made by -its own fierce rockets. Svan's mist-trained eyes spotted the circling -figures of sentries, and knew that these would be the ship's own. -They would not be as easily overcome as the natives, not with those -slim-shafted blasters they carried. Only deceit could get him to the -side of the ship. - -Svan settled himself at the side of the road, waiting for his chance. -He had perhaps three minutes to wait; he reckoned. His fingers went -absently to the pouch in his wide belt, closed on the slip of paper. He -turned it over without looking at it, wondering who had drawn the first -cross, and been a coward. Ingra? One of the men? - - * * * * * - -He became abruptly conscious of a commotion behind him. A ground car -was racing along the road. He spun around and was caught in the glare -of its blinding driving-light, as it bumped to a slithering stop. - -Paralyzed, he heard the girl's voice. "Svan! They're coming! They found -the guard's rifle, and they're looking for us! Thirty Earthmen, Svan, -with those frightful guns. They fired at us, but we got away and came -for you. We must flee!" - -He stared unseeingly at the light. "Go away!" he croaked unbelievingly. -Then his muscles jerked into action. The time was almost up--the bomb -in the car-- - -"Go away!" he shrieked, and turned to run. His fists clenched and -swinging at his side, he made a dozen floundering steps before -something immense pounded at him from behind. He felt himself lifted -from the road, sailing, swooping, dropping with annihilating force -onto the hard, charred earth of the clearing. Only then did he hear the -sound of the explosion, and as the immense echoes died away he began to -feel the pain seeping into him from his hideously racked body.... - -The Flight Surgeon rose from beside him. "He's still alive," he said -callously to Lowry, who had just come up. "It won't last long, though. -What've you got there?" - -Lowry, a bewildered expression on his beardless face, held out the two -halves of a metallic sphere. Dangling ends of wires showed where a -connection had been broken. "He had a bomb," he said. "A magnetic-type, -delayed-action atomite bomb. There must have been another in the car, -and it went off. They--they were planning to bomb us." - -"Amazing," the surgeon said dryly. "Well, they won't do any bombing -now." - -Lowry was staring at the huddled, mutilated form of Svan. He shuddered. -The surgeon, seeing the shudder, grasped his shoulder. - -"Better them than us," he said. "It's poetic justice if I ever saw it. -They had it coming...." He paused thoughtfully, staring at a piece of -paper between his fingers. "This is the only part I don't get," he said. - -"What's that?" Lowry craned his neck. "A piece of paper with a cross on -it? What about it?" - -The surgeon shrugged. "He had it clenched in his hand," he said. "Had -the devil of a time getting it loose from him." He turned it over -slowly, displayed the other side. "Now what in the world would he be -doing carrying a scrap of paper with a cross marked on both sides?" - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Double-Cross, by James MacCreigh - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLE-CROSS *** - -***** This file should be named 63304.txt or 63304.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/3/0/63304/ - -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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