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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. 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Fox - -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 Last Monster - -Author: Gardner F. Fox - -Release Date: November 5, 2020 [EBook #63645] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST MONSTER *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>The Last Monster</h1> - -<h2>By GARDNER F. FOX</h2> - -<p>Irgi was the last of his monster race, guardian of<br /> -a dead planet, master of the secret of immortality.<br /> -It was he whom the four men from Earth had to<br /> -conquer to gain that secret—a tentacled<br /> -monstrosity whom Earthly weapons could not touch.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Fall 1945.<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>Irgi was the last of his race. There was no one else, now; there had -been no others for hundreds and hundreds of years. Irgi had lost count -of time dwelling alone amid the marble halls of the eon-ancient city, -but he knew that much. There were no others.</p> - -<p>Only Irgi, alone.</p> - -<p>He moved now along the ebony flooring, past the white marble walls hung -with golden drapes that never withered or shed their aurate luster in -the opalescent mists that bathed the city in shimmering whiteness. They -hung low, those wispy tendrils of mist, clasping everything in their -clinging shelter, destroying dust and germs. Irgi had discovered the -mist many years ago, when it was too late to save his kind.</p> - -<p>He had flung a vast globe of transparent metal above this greatest of -the cities of the Urg and filled it with the mist, and in it he had -stored the treasures of his people. From Bar Nomala, from Faryl, and -from the far-off jungle city of Kreed had he brought the riches of the -Urg and set them up. Irgi enjoyed beauty, and he enjoyed work. It was -the combination of both that kept him sane.</p> - -<p>Toward a mighty bronze doorway he went, and as his body passed an -invisible beam, the bronze portals slid apart, noiselessly, opening to -reveal a vast circular chamber that hummed and throbbed, and was filled -with a pale blue luminescence that glimmered upon metal rods and bars -and ten tall cones of steelite.</p> - -<p>In the doorway, Irgi paused and ran his eyes about the chamber, sighing.</p> - -<p>This was his life work, this blue hum and throb. Those ten cones -lifting their disced tips toward a circular roof bathed in, and drew -their power from, a huge block of radiant white matter that hung -suspended between the cones, in midair. All power did the cones and the -block possess. There was nothing they could not do, if Irgi so willed. -It was another discovery that came too late to save the Urg.</p> - -<p>Irgi moved across the room. He pressed glittering jewels inset in a -control panel on the wall, one after another, in proper sequence.</p> - -<p>The blue opalescence deepened, grew dark and vivid. The hum broadened -into a hoarse roar. And standing out, startlingly white against the -blue, was the queer block of shining metal, shimmering and pulsing.</p> - -<p>Irgi drew himself upwards, slowly turning, laving in the quivering -bands of cobalt that sped outward from the cones. He preened his body -in their patterns of color, watching it splash and spread over his -chest and torso. Where it touched, a faint tingle lingered; then spread -outwards, all over his huge form.</p> - -<p>Irgi was immortal, and the blue light made him so.</p> - -<p>"There, it is done," he whispered to himself. "Now for another oval I -can roam all Urg as I will, for the life spark in me has been cleansed -and nourished."</p> - -<p>He touched the jeweled controls, shutting the power to a low murmur. He -turned to the bronze doors, passed through and into the misty halls.</p> - -<p>"I must speak," Irgi said as he moved along the corridor. "I have not -spoken for many weeks. I must exercise my voice, or lose it. That is -the law of nature. It would atrophy, otherwise.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I will use my voice tonight, and I will go out under the dome and -look up at the stars and the other planets that swing near Urg, and I -will talk to them and tell them how lonely Irgi is."</p> - -<p>He turned and went along a hall that opened into a broad balcony which -stood forth directly beneath a segment of the mighty dome. He stared -upwards, craning all his eyes to see through the darkness pressing down -upon him.</p> - -<p>"Stars," he whispered, "listen to me once again. I am lonely, stars, -and the name and fame of Irgi means nothing to the walls of my city, -nor to the Chamber of the Cones, nor even—at times—to Irgi himself."</p> - -<p>He paused and his eyes widened, staring upwards.</p> - -<p>"By the Block," he said to the silence about him. "There is something -up there that is not a star, nor a planet, nor yet a meteor."</p> - -<p>It was a spaceship.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Emerson took his hands from the controls of the gigantic ship that -hurtled through space, and wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs. His -grey eyes bored like a steel awl downward at the mighty globe swinging -in the void.</p> - -<p>"The last planet in our course," he breathed. "Maybe it has the radium!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," whispered the man beside him, wetting his lips with his tongue. -"No use to think of failure. If it hasn't, we'll die ourselves, down -there."</p> - -<p>Radium. And the Plague. It had come on Earth suddenly, had the Plague, -back in the first days of space travel, after Quigg, the American -research scientist at Cal Tech, discovered a way to lift a rocket ship -off the Earth, and propel it to the Moon.</p> - -<p>They had been slow, lumbering vessels, those first spaceships; not at -all like the sleek craft that plied the voids today. But it had been a -beginning. And no one had thought anything of it when Quigg, who had -made the first flight through space, died of cancer.</p> - -<p>As the years passed to a decade, and the ships of Earth rode to Mars -and Venus, it began to be apparent that a lifetime of space travel -meant a hideous death. Scientists attributed it to the cosmic rays, for -out in space there was no blanketing layer of atmosphere to protect -the fleshy tissues of man from their piercing power. It had long been -a theory that cosmic rays were related to the birth of new life in the -cosmos; perhaps they were, said some, the direct cause of life. Thus by -causing the unorderly growth of new cells that man called cancer, the -cosmic rays were destroying the life they had created.</p> - -<p>It meant death to travel in space, and only the stupendous fees paid to -the young men who believed in a short life and a merry one, kept the -ships plying between Mars and Earth and Venus. Lead kept out the cosmic -rays, but lead would not stand the terrific speed required to lift a -craft free of planetary gravity; and an inner coating of lead brought -men into port raving with lead poisoning illusions.</p> - -<p>Cancer cases increased on Earth. It was learned that the virulent -form of space cancer, as it was called, was in some peculiar manner, -contagious to a certain extent. The alarm spread. Men who voyaged in -space were segregated, but the damage had been done.</p> - -<p>The Plague spread, and ravaged the peoples of three planets.</p> - -<p>Hospitals were set up, and precious radium used for the fight. But the -radium was hard to come by. There was just not enough for the job.</p> - -<p>A ship was built, the fastest vessel ever made by man. It was designed -for speed. It made the swiftest interplanetary craft seem a lumbering -barge by comparison. And mankind gave it to Valentine Emerson to take -it out among the stars to find the precious radium in sufficient -quantities to halt the Plague.</p> - -<p>It had not been easy to find a crew. The three worlds knew the men -were going to their doom. It would be a miracle if ever they reached -a single planet, if they did not perish of space cancer before their -first goal. Carson Nichols, whose wife and children were dying of the -Plague, begged him for a chance. A murderer convicted to the Martian -salt mines, Karl Mussdorf, grudgingly agreed to go along on the promise -that he won a pardon if he ever came back. With Mussdorf went a little, -wry-faced man named Tilford Gunn, who knew radio, cookery, and the fine -art of pocket-picking. The two seemed inseparable.</p> - -<p>Now Emerson was breathing softly, "Yes, it had better be there, or else -we die."</p> - -<p>He ran quivering fingers over his forearm, felt the strange lumps that -heralded cancer. Involuntarily, he shuddered.</p> - -<p>Steps clanged on the metal runway beneath them. Mussdorf pushed up -through the trap and got to his feet. He was as big as Emerson, bulky -where Emerson was lithe, granite where Emerson was chiseled steel. His -hair was black, and his brows shaggy. A stubborn jaw shot out under -thin, hard lips.</p> - -<p>"There it is, Karl," said Nichols. "Start hoping."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf scowled darkly, and spat.</p> - -<p>"A hell of a way to spend my last days," he growled. "I'm dying on my -feet, and I've got to be a martyr to a billion people who don't know -I'm alive."</p> - -<p>"You know a better way to die, of course," replied Emerson.</p> - -<p>"You bet I do. There's a sweet little redhead in New Mars. She'd make -dying a pleasure. In fact," he chuckled softly, "that's just the way -I'd let her kill me."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Emerson snorted, glancing down at the controls. Beneath his steady -fingers, the ship sideslipped into the gravity tug of the looming orb, -shuddered a moment, then eased downward.</p> - -<p>"Tell Gunn to come up," ordered Emerson. "No need for him to be below."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf dropped to the floor, lowered his shaggy head through the open -trap, and bellowed. A hail from the depths of the ship answered him. A -moment later, Gunn stood with the others: a little man with a wry smile -twisting his features to a hard mask.</p> - -<p>"Think she's got the stuff, skipper?" he asked Emerson.</p> - -<p>"The spectroscope'll tell us. Break it out."</p> - -<p>"You bet."</p> - -<p>The ship rocked gently as Emerson set it down on a flat, rocky plain -between two high, craggy mountains that rose abruptly from the tiny -valley. It was just lighting as the faint rays of the suns that served -this planet nosed their way above the peaks. Like a silver needle on a -floor of black rock, the spacecraft bounced once, twice; then lay still.</p> - -<p>Within her gleaming walls, four men bent with hard faces over gleaming -bands of color on a spectroscopic screen. With quivering fingers, -Emerson twisted dials and switches.</p> - -<p>"Hell!" exploded Mussdorf. "I might have known it. Not a trace."</p> - -<p>Emerson touched his forearm gently, and shuddered.</p> - -<p>Nichols bit his lips, and thought of Marge and the kids; Gunn licked -his lips with a dry tongue and kept looking at Emerson.</p> - -<p>With one sweep of his brawny arm, Mussdorf sent the apparatus flying -against the far wall to shatter in shards.</p> - -<p>No one said a word.</p> - -<p>Something whispered in the ship. They jerked their heads up, stood -listening. The faint susurration swept all about them, questioning, -curious. It came again, imperative; suddenly demanding.</p> - -<p>"Gawd," whispered Gunn. "Wot is it, guv'nor?"</p> - -<p>Emerson shook his head, frowning, suddenly glad that the others had -heard it, too.</p> - -<p>"Maybe somebody trying to speak to us," stated Nichols.</p> - -<p>The whispers grew louder and harsher. Angry.</p> - -<p>"Take it easy," yelled Mussdorf savagely. "We don't know what you're -talking about. How can we answer you, you stupid lug?"</p> - -<p>Gunn giggled hysterically, "We can't even 'alf talk 'is bloomin' -language."</p> - -<p>The rustle ceased. The silence hung eerily in the ship. The men looked -at one another, curious; somehow, a little nervous.</p> - -<p>"What a radio <i>he</i> must have," said Emerson softly. "The metal of our -hull is his loudspeaker. That's why we heard him in all directions."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf nodded, shaggy brows knotted.</p> - -<p>"We'll see what his next move is," he muttered. "If he gets too fresh, -we'll try a sun-blaster out on him."</p> - -<p>The ship began to glow softly, flushing a soft, delicate green. The -light bathed the interior, turning the men a ghastly hue. Gunn shivered -and looked at Emerson, who went to the port window; stood staring out, -gasping.</p> - -<p>"Wot's happenin' now?" choked Gunn.</p> - -<p>"We're off the ground! Whatever it is, it's lifting us."</p> - -<p>The others crowded about him, looking out. Here the green was more -vivid, intense. They could feel its surging power tingling on their -skins. Beneath them, the jagged peak of the mountain almost grazed the -hull. Spread out under their eyes was the panorama of a dead planet.</p> - -<p>Great rocks lay split and tumbled over one another in a black -desolation. Sunlight glinting on their jagged edges, made harsh -shadows. Far to the north a mountain range shrugged its snow-topped -peaks to a sullen sky. To the south, beyond the rocks, lay a white -waste of desert. To the west—</p> - -<p>"A city," yelled Nichols, "the place is inhabited. Thank God, thank -God—"</p> - -<p>Mussdorf erupted laughter.</p> - -<p>"For what? How do we know what they're like? An inhabited planet -doesn't mean men. We found that out—several times."</p> - -<p>"We can hope," said Emerson sharply. "Maybe they have some radium, -stored so that our spectroscope couldn't pick it up."</p> - -<p>The mighty globe that hung over the city glimmered in the morning suns. -Beneath it, the white towers and spires of the city reared in alien -loveliness above graceful buildings and rounded roofs. A faint mist -seemed to hang in the city streets.</p> - -<p>"It's empty," said Nichols heavily. "Deserted."</p> - -<p>"Something's alive," protested Emerson. "Something that spoke to us, -that is controlling this green beam."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A section of the globe slid back, and the spaceship moved through the -opening. The globe slipped back and locked after it.</p> - -<p>"They have us now," grunted Mussdorf. He slid his fingers along the -transparent window, pressing hard, the skin showing white as his -knuckles lifted. He said swiftly, "You guys can stay here if you want, -but I'm getting myself a sun-blaster. Two of them. I'm not going to be -caught short when the time for action comes."</p> - -<p>He swung through the trap and out of sight. They heard him running -below; heard the slam of opened doors, the withdrawal of the guns. They -could imagine him belting them about his waist.</p> - -<p>"Bring us some," cried Emerson suddenly, and turned again to look out -the window.</p> - -<p>The spaceship settled down on the white flagging of an immense square. -The green beam was gone, suddenly. The uncanny silence of the place -pressed in on them.</p> - -<p>"Think it's safe to go out?" asked Nichols.</p> - -<p>"Try the atmospheric recorder," said Emerson. "If the air's okay, I'd -like to stretch my own legs."</p> - -<p>Nichols twisted chrome wheels, staring at a red line that wavered on a -plastic screen, then straightened abruptly, rigid.</p> - -<p>"Hey," yelled Nichols excitedly. "It's pure. I mean actually pure. No -germs. No dust. Just clean air!"</p> - -<p>Emerson leaped to his side, staring, frowning.</p> - -<p>"No germs. No dust. Why—that means there's no disease in this place! -No disease."</p> - -<p>He began to laugh, then caught himself.</p> - -<p>"No disease," he whispered, "and every one of us is going to die of -cancer."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf came up through the trap and passed out the sun-blasters. They -buckled them around their waists while Mussdorf swung the bolts of the -door. He threw it open, and clean air, and faint tendrils of whitish -mist came swirling into the ship.</p> - -<p>Nichols took a deep breath and his boyish face split with a grin.</p> - -<p>"I feel like a kid again on a Spring day back on Earth. You know, with -a ball and a glove under your arm, with the sun beating down on you, -swinging a bat and whistling. You felt good. You were young. Young! I -feel like that now."</p> - -<p>They grinned and went through the door, dropping to the street.</p> - -<p>They turned.</p> - -<p>It was coming across the square, flowing along on vast black tentacles -towering over twenty feet high, with a great torso seemingly sculpted -out of living black marble. A head that held ten staring eyes looked -down at them. Six arms thrust out of the torso, moving like tentacles, -fringed with cilia thick as fingers.</p> - -<p>"Lord," whispered Mussdorf. "What is it?"</p> - -<p>"Don't know," said Emerson. "Maybe it's friendly—"</p> - -<p>"Friendly?" queried Mussdorf harshly. "<i>That</i> doesn't know the meaning -of the word! I'm going to let it taste a blast—"</p> - -<p>His hand dove for the sun-blaster in his holster; yanked it free and -upward, firing brilliant yellow jets as he jerked the trigger.</p> - -<p>"Look <i>out</i>!" yelled Emerson.</p> - -<p>The thing twisted sideways with an eerie grace, dodging the amber beams -of solar power that sizzled past its bulbous head. As it moved, its -tentacled arms and legs slithered out with unthinkable rapidity, fell -and wrapped around Mussdorf.</p> - -<p>The big Earthman was lifted high into the air, squeezed until his lungs -nearly collapsed. He hung limp in a gigantic tentacle as Emerson ran -to one side, trying for a shot without hitting Mussdorf. But the thing -was diabolically clever. It held Mussdorf aloft, between itself and -Emerson, while its other arms stabbed out at Gunn and Nichols, catching -them up and shaking them as a terrier shakes a rat.</p> - -<p>"Hold on," called Emerson, dodging and twisting, gun in hand, seeking a -spot to fire at.</p> - -<p>The thing dropped the Earthmen suddenly; its legs gathered beneath it -and launched it full at Emerson. Caught off guard, the Earthman lifted -his sun-blaster—felt it ripped from his fingers, knew a hard blackness -thrashing down at him. He went backwards, sickened....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Irgi stared at the things that lay on the white flagging. Queer beings -they were, unlike anything Irgi had ever conceived. Only two legs, only -two arms. And such weak little limbs! Why, an Urgian cat would make -short work of them if an Urgian cat existed any more, and Irgi had -never rated cats very highly.</p> - -<p>He looked at the spaceship, ran exploring feelers over it. He cast a -glance back at the creatures again, and shook his head. Strange beings -they might be, but they had mastered interplanetary travel. Well, he'd -always maintained that life would be different on other worlds. Life -here on Urg took different patterns.</p> - -<p>Irgi bent to wrap long arms about the queer beings, lifting them. His -eyes were caught suddenly by the lumps protruding from their arms and -legs, from face and chest. The growth disease! That was bad, but Irgi -knew a way to cure it. Irgi knew a way to cure anything.</p> - -<p>He slid swiftly across the square and onto a flat, glittering ramp that -stretched upward toward an arched doorway set like a jewel of light -in a long, low building next to the vast, round Chamber of the Cones. -He carried these creatures easily, without trouble. The ease of his -passage gave him time to think.</p> - -<p>He had been glad to find these creatures. They were someone to -converse with after centuries of loneliness. But as he approached them -there in the square, calling out gladly to them, they could not hear -him. His voice was pitched eight vibrations to the second. He wondered -idly if that was beyond the hearing range of these two-legged things. -He ought to check that, to be sure. Still, they had heard him on their -ship. He had caught a confused, angry murmur on the radiation recorder. -Perhaps the metal of the hull had in some manner made his voice audible -to them, speeded up the vibrations to twelve or fifteen a second.</p> - -<p>Then there was the matter of the growth disease. He could eliminate -that easily enough, in the Chamber of the Cones. But first they would -have to be prepared. And the preparation—hurt. Well, better a few -moments of agony than a death through a worse.</p> - -<p>And if he could not speak to them, they could speak to him, through -their minds. Once unconscious, he could tap their memories with an -electrigraph screen. That should be absorbing. It made Irgi happy, -reflecting upon it, and Irgi had not known happiness for a long time.</p> - -<p>From the passage he hurried into a large white room, fitted with glass -vials and ovules and glittering metal instruments, so many in number -that the room seemed a jungle of metal. Down on flat, smooth tables -Irgi dropped his burdens. With quick tendrils he adjusted straps to -them, bound them securely. From a small, wheeled vehicle he took a -metal rod and touched it to their foreheads. As it met the flesh, it -hummed once faintly.</p> - -<p>"It's short-circulated their nervous systems for a while, absorbed the -electric charges all intelligent beings cast," Irgi said aloud, glad at -this chance to exercise his voice. "They won't be able to feel for some -time. When the worst pain will have passed, they will recover. And now -to examine their minds—"</p> - -<p>He fitted metal clamps over their heads and screwed them tight. He -wheeled forward a glassy screen; plugged in the cords that dangled from -its frame to the metal clamps.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if they've perfected this," Irgi mused. "They must be aware -that the brain gives off electrical waves. Perhaps they can chart -those waves on graphs. But do they know that each curve and bend of -those waves represents a picture? I can translate those waves into -pictures—but can they?"</p> - -<p>He slouched a little on his tentacles, squatting, gazing at the screen -as he flipped over a lever.</p> - -<p>A picture quivered on the screen; grew nebulous, then cleared. Irgi -found himself staring at a city far vaster than Urg. Grim white -towers peaked high into the air, and broad, flat ramps circled them, -interwoven like ribbons in the sunlight. On the tallest and largest -buildings were great fields of metal painted a dull luster, where -queerly wrought flying ships landed and took off.</p> - -<p>The scene changed suddenly. He looked into a hospital room and watched -a pretty young woman smiling up at him. She too, had the growth -disease. Now he beheld the mighty salt mines where naked men swung huge -picks at the crusted crystals, sweating and dying under a strange sun. -Even these remnants of humanity festered with the growth.</p> - -<p>A tall, lean man in white looked out at him. His lips moved, and Irgi -read their meaning. This man spoke to one named Emerson, commissioning -him with a spaceship, reciting the need of radium, the dread of the -plague. The thoughts of this Emerson were coming in clearer, as Irgi in -sudden interest, flipped over different dials. The unspoken thoughts -pouring into his brain through the screen continued. The words he did -not understand, but the necessity for radium, and the danger of the -growth disease he did. The pictures jumbled, grew chameleonesque—</p> - -<p>Irgi stared upward at a colossal figure graven in lucent white marble. -He made out the letters chiseled into the base: GEORGE WASHINGTON. He -wondered idly what this Washington had done, to merit such undying -fame. He must have created a nation, or saved it. He wished there were -Urgians alive to build a statue to <i>him</i>.</p> - -<p>He rose suddenly, standing upright on his tentacles, swaying gently. -Why, he had the power to make himself immortal! These creatures would -gladly build statues to him! True, he could not create a nation—<i>but -he could save it</i>!</p> - -<p>Irgi unfastened clamps, and rolled the screen aside. He reached to a -series of black knobs inset in the wall, and turned them carefully. -Turning, he saw the figures of the four men stiffen to rigidity as a -red aura drifted upward from the tabletop, passing through them as if -they were mist, rising upwards to dissipate in the air near the ceiling.</p> - -<p>"That will prepare their bodies for the Chamber of the Cones," he said. -"When they realize that I am their friend, they will gladly hear my -counsels!"</p> - -<p>Opening the laboratory door, Irgi passed out and closed it behind him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was the sweat of agony trickling down his forehead and over his eyes -and cheeks that woke Emerson. He opened his eyes, then clamped them -shut as his body writhed in pain.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Lord!" he whimpered, bloodying his mouth where his teeth sank into -his lips.</p> - -<p>In every fibre of his body sharp lancets cut and dug. In arms and legs -and chest and belly they twisted and tore. Into the tissues beneath his -skin, all along the muscles and the bone, the fiery torment played. He -could not stand it; he could not—</p> - -<p>He flipped his head to right, to left; saw the others stretched out -and strapped even as he. They were unconscious. What right had they to -ignore this agony? Why didn't they share it with him? He opened his -lips to shriek; then bit down again, hard.</p> - -<p>Nichols screamed suddenly, his body aching.</p> - -<p>It woke the others. They too, bellowed and screamed and sobbed, and -their arms and legs writhed like wild things in a trap.</p> - -<p>"Got to get free," Emerson panted, straining against the wristbands. -The hard muscles of his arms ridged with effort, but the straps held. -He dropped back, sobbing.</p> - -<p>"That fiend," yelled Mussdorf. "That ten-eyed, octopus-legged, -black-hearted spawn of a mismated monster did this to us. Damn him! -Damn him! If I ever get loose I'll cut his heart out and make him eat -it."</p> - -<p>"Maybe—maybe he's vivisecting us," moaned Nichols. "With rays or—or -something—aagh! I can't stand it!"</p> - -<p>"Hang on, kid," gritted Emerson, fighting the straps. "I think it's -lessening. Yeah, yeah—it is. It doesn't hurt so much now."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf grunted astonishment.</p> - -<p>"You're right. It is lessening. And—hey, one of my arm buckles is -coming loose. It's torn a little. Maybe I can work it free."</p> - -<p>They turned their heads to watch, biting their lips, the sweat standing -in colorless beads on their pale foreheads. Mussdorf's thick arm bulged -its muscles as he wrenched and tugged, panting. A buckle swung outward, -clanging against the tabletop as it ripped loose. Mussdorf held his arm -aloft and laughed harsh triumph.</p> - -<p>"I'll have you all loose in a second," he grunted, ripping straps from -his body.</p> - -<p>He leaped from the table and stretched. He grinned into their faces.</p> - -<p>"You know, it's funny—but I feel great. Huh, I must've sweated all the -aches out of me. Here, Gunn—you first."</p> - -<p>"Thanks, Karl. We're still pals, aren't we?"</p> - -<p>When Gunn was free, Mussdorf came to stand over Emerson, looking down -at him. His eyes narrowed suddenly. He grinned a little, twisting his -lips.</p> - -<p>"Maybe you fellows ought to stay tied up," he said. "In case that—that -thing comes back. He won't blame us all for the break we're making."</p> - -<p>"Not on your life," said Emerson.</p> - -<p>But Mussdorf shook his head, and his lips tightened.</p> - -<p>"No. No, I think it's better the way I say."</p> - -<p>"Don't be a fool, Mussdorf," snapped Emerson savagely. "It isn't your -place to think, anyhow. That's mine. I'm commander of this force. What -I say is an order."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf grinned dryly. Into his eyes came a glint of hot, sullen anger.</p> - -<p>"You were our commander—out there, in space. We're on a planet now. -Things are different. I want to learn the secret of those mists, -Emerson. Something tells me I'd get a fortune for it, on Earth."</p> - -<p>Emerson squirmed helplessly, cursing him, saying, "What's gotten into -you?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing new. Remember me, Karl Mussdorf? I'm a convict, I am. A salt -mine convict. I'd have done anything to get out of that boiling hell. I -volunteered to go with you for the radium. Me and Gunn. Nichols doesn't -count. He came on account of his wife and kids. We were the only two -who'd come. Convicts, both of us."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mussdorf drew air into his lungs until his ribs showed against the rips -in his jacket.</p> - -<p>He went on slowly, "All along I've thought that if we ever did discover -radium in any quantity to cure the folks of space out of it. I want to -be that somebody, Emerson. With my pardon and that profit, I could be a -boss on Mars. And you know what it's like to be a boss on Mars."</p> - -<p>Emerson writhed in his straps, wrenching and twisting until his muscles -crackled, seeking freedom. His lips snarled oaths at the big criminal.</p> - -<p>"If I ever get out of this, I'll teach you who's boss—right here!"</p> - -<p>Mussdorf laughed his confidence, "Don't worry. You won't. Those straps -are pretty secure. I'm lucky one of mine was ripped."</p> - -<p>The big man turned to Gunn; looked down at him, curiously.</p> - -<p>"You with me, Til?"</p> - -<p>Gunn looked at Emerson; looked up at Mussdorf, nodding.</p> - -<p>"I think we got a chance, guv'nor," he muttered softly. "Them mists -that don't 'ave germs. They're worth lots. People will pay plenty for -h'air without germs."</p> - -<p>The big man and the little man swung toward the door. They paused at -the threshold and glanced back.</p> - -<p>"We'll give you a chance to think it over, Emerson," Mussdorf grated. -"You can use a few billions, same as us. We aren't hogs. We're willing -to share—"</p> - -<p>"Get out!" Emerson spat.</p> - -<p>Mussdorf shrugged and followed Gunn into the corridor, carefully -closing the door behind him. He glanced both ways frowning.</p> - -<p>"We don't know this space," he said slowly. "Stick close to me, Til. -We might meet some more of that beast's pals. He's too much for us -physically, but damned if I don't believe we got more grey matter than -him and his whole tribe, if we use it right!"</p> - -<p>They went along the black marble flooring for long minutes. The -thick drapes along the walls muffled their footsteps, but they cast -anxious glances behind them. The eerie silence that overhung the place -scratched at their uneasy nerves.</p> - -<p>Mussdorf's hand vised on Gunn until the little man whimpered.</p> - -<p>Behind them there was the slow shuffle of a mighty body.</p> - -<p>"In here," snapped Mussdorf, drawing Gunn with him into a niche sculped -in the marble wall. They pressed back, drawing the drapes about them. -Biting on their tongues, they held their breaths.</p> - -<p>The huge black body trod past, stirring the drapes and uncovering the -feet of the Earthmen. But he did not glance aside. Mussdorf and Gunn -let their breath out slowly, silently. They did not know that Irgi was -the last of his race, that he was used to loneliness, that he was not -given to looking away from his objective.</p> - -<p>They peered out: saw the monster nearing two great bronze doors sculped -with forms of alien beauty. Watching breathlessly, they saw the doors -slide open untouched.</p> - -<p>"Light beam," whispered Mussdorf.</p> - -<p>They caught a glimpse of the Chamber of the Cones through the doorway; -saw with awe the great block of glimmering white, pulsing with an inner -fire. The ten glittering cones with their rings of shimmering light -made them gape.</p> - -<p>They eased forward, and halted at the doors.</p> - -<p>The black thing was pressing levers, working them swiftly. The great -cones began to hum softly, began to throb. They could feel that -terrific power pulsating through the room, making them quiver in rhythm -though they stood beyond its range. The faint azure haze darkened; grew -deeper, a dark blue. In broad bands of light the blue leaped from the -cones, poured outward over the room.</p> - -<p>Irgi too, they saw. He lifted himself to his full height, turning and -pirouetting gracefully despite his bulk. He bathed in the light, and it -sprayed over and covered him.</p> - -<p>"He's h'on h'a bat," croaked Gunn in hoarse excitement. "'E's getting -drunk on that stuff, whatever it is. A bender, a rip-snorting tear -'e's 'avin' for himself. Look at him. Like it was champagne he was -wallowin' in. Gawd—I could stand a snootful of that myself!"</p> - -<p>He leaped swiftly, before Mussdorf could stop him.</p> - -<p>Past the big man's outstretched arm he charged, full into the beating -bands of blue.</p> - -<p>"Oh good Lord!" whispered Mussdorf.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before his eyes little Gunn stiffened in intolerable agony, straight -up, rigid. He hung that way for one long instant, immobile.</p> - -<p>Then Gunn—disappeared.</p> - -<p>Mussdorf blinked, and looked. The little pickpocket had been right -before him an instant ago. Now where he had been was nothing but those -pulsing ribbons on cobalt, pounding, beating, throbbing.</p> - -<p>He's gone right in front of my eyes, Mussdorf thought. Evaporated. Into -thin air. No, not into air. Into that blue color. It just absorbed him, -like a blotter sops up ink!</p> - -<p>Mussdorf knew cold fright, shuddering.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He whirled and ran, straight up the corridor toward the laboratory -door. It shot back before the thrust of his arms. He leaped for the -white tables as Emerson and Nichols stared at him, wondering at his -pale face.</p> - -<p>Big brown hands seized on the straps that held Emerson, fighting to -burst them.</p> - -<p>"Calm down, man," said Emerson evenly. "If those things could break, -I'd have broken them. Undo the buckles."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, yeah. You're right," sobbed the big convict.</p> - -<p>"What happened to you?"</p> - -<p>"Not to me. To Gunn. Little Tilford Gunn. Gone. That—that damned black -beast killed him with his blue color. Right in front of my eyes. It's -going to take all of us to lick him. That's why I came back."</p> - -<p>"What are you babbling about?" said Emerson softly. "Take your time, -man. What blue color?"</p> - -<p>"In the big room up the corridor. There's a deep roar and splashes of -this deep light, as dark as a sapphire. Caught him, it did. Melted him -into nothing at all. I—I can't forget it."</p> - -<p>He unsnapped the last buckle and stood silent as Emerson got up and -stretched. His chest heaved as he gasped for air.</p> - -<p>He said suddenly, "We might as well get out of here while we can. If -that thing wants to experiment on us any more—the hell with him. Let's -go, and fast."</p> - -<p>Emerson was freeing Nichols, smiling thinly, "What about your fortune, -Mussdorf? What about being a boss on Mars?"</p> - -<p>Mussdorf licked his lips, whispering, "Hell with that. I just want to -get away from here, that's all. That black thing has power we've never -seen, never dreamed of. I tell you, those blue bands—"</p> - -<p>Mussdorf swore.</p> - -<p>Emerson whirled, reaching for his solar gun.</p> - -<p>Irgi stood in the doorway, brooding at them. Almost he seemed to shake -his vast head, sadly.</p> - -<p>"Stop him, one of you," babbled Mussdorf, striving to get past them. -"Maybe one of us can get away."</p> - -<p>The thing stretched out his tentacles so swiftly that Emerson rasped -curses as his gun-arm was clapped and held tight against his side. -Nichols writhed beside him in another viselike arm. Mussdorf had -fainted.</p> - -<p>Looking down at him, Emerson smiled thinly, and said to Nichols, -"Whatever happened to Gunn must have been pretty bad. They told me at -New Mars that Karl Mussdorf was pretty tough."</p> - -<p>"Yeah," whispered Nichols.</p> - -<p>Emerson looked up at the thing, studying it, thinking: maybe I can -get it to listen to me. Maybe it will even let us go free if I can -communicate with it.</p> - -<p>"What're you going to do with us?" he questioned as calmly as he could.</p> - -<p>The thing looked at him, and the thin mouth moved, but Valentine -Emerson heard no sound. The thing shook his head again, sadly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He could not make these beings understand that he was helping them, -Irgi realized. They cannot hear my voice because it is pitched lower -than their ears can detect. And even if they heard me, they would not -understand. I shall cure them of the growth disease. By that act, they -will know I am friendly. Time enough then to discuss other matters. -Matters like the building of a great statue to him, Irgi, greatest of -the Urg.</p> - -<p>He carried them into the Chamber of the Cones; set them down gently.</p> - -<p>The large one with the black hair and the shaggy brows was screaming -something. He was undergoing an emotion: anger. And fright, too. Yes, -the black haired one was frightened. More frightened than he was angry. -Irgi watched him curiously. He must have seen the little one blasted -when the Cones were pulsing.</p> - -<p>It was too bad about that, Irgi thought as he trussed them up. But -these beings were so impetuous, almost childlike in their emotional -hysteria. He could not let them know that the Cones were set to pulse -in rhythm with his own body, not theirs. And anything foreign to that -peculiar vibration—perished. It simply ceased to exist, wiped out by -the flood of power loosed by the white block.</p> - -<p>Irgi twisted dials on the instrument panel. He knew the rhythm of these -creatures, and adjusted to allow for it. This time the blue beam would -not harm them. Instead they would blast into nothingness the growth -disease that was slowly eating away their lives.</p> - -<p>There was danger for Irgi, too, in this. He could not remain in the -Chamber to watch them. He must leave. He set the automatic regulators -to begin in five parazaw, last for one azaw, then switch back. After -that time, he could safely return, for the dark blue light and the -roaring hum would cease, and the cones would be idle.</p> - -<p>Irgi glanced at the three beings. The black-haired one still raved, -but the others lay silent, watching him. He nodded approval. The -black-haired being was trying to loosen within the others the storms of -emotions that held him thrall, but they were of different stuff.</p> - -<p>He went through the doors, and the doors slid shut.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Emerson rasped, "Shut up!"</p> - -<p>They lay silent for long moments. Emerson was studying the white block -and the cones and the spiralling, gleaming rings. He frowned, trying -to imagine their use. A tremendous powerhouse, of some sort. Probably -atomic power sucked from the white rock in some alien manner. Atomic -power that beat outward from the cones in bands of visible color. Could -it be a bath of atoms, bombarding everything in the room?</p> - -<p>Mussdorf snarled, "I tell you he's going to do away with us like he did -with Gunn."</p> - -<p>"Don't be a fool, man," answered Emerson wearily. "He wouldn't go to -all this trouble just to kill us. One quick wrench with those tentacles -of his, and we'd be dead ducks. He's got us in here for some reason. -I'm not denying he may be experimenting on us. But there ought to be -others joining with him in it. Funny, we haven't seen any others like -him."</p> - -<p>"Look," said Nichols abruptly.</p> - -<p>The white block was radiating, pulsing, casting forth bluish beams that -swept to the cones and fled outward in ever expanding arcs to splash -against the walls. The blue light deepened, grew violet. It pulsed -faster, swifter. And the humming of the cones was deafening.</p> - -<p>"I don't feel anything," said Emerson. "I can still see you fellows. -Whatever it was happened to Gunn isn't happening to us."</p> - -<p>He turned; found himself free of the straps, sat up. He clambered to -his feet and looked around.</p> - -<p>"The straps that held us are gone. Disappeared. Like Gunn."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf murmured oaths but he too got to his feet, asking, "What do we -do now?"</p> - -<p>"Stay here and see what's next on the program. I still don't believe -that thing's out to harm us."</p> - -<p>"Ahh, you always were a soft-hearted fool," Mussdorf snarled. "Why's he -going to all this bother to save us? It doesn't add up. This is some -fool scheme of his mad brain. He's no altruist. Not that black octopus. -Gad, what a shape!"</p> - -<p>Nichols smiled wryly, "I believe we're just as peculiar to him as he -is to us. He talks and we can't even hear his voice. He may hear us, -but it's a cinch he doesn't know what we're talking about. Huh, it's -somewhat of a 'Never the twain shall meet' angle. East and West, and -that sort of thing."</p> - -<p>"Only it's solar and star system," agreed Emerson, walking toward the -intricate control panels on the wall. He stretched an arm toward a -dial—</p> - -<p>He paused, staring.</p> - -<p>His arm. Good Lord, his <i>arm</i>!</p> - -<p>"Nichols! Mussdorf," he shouted, leaping for them. "Let me see your -arms, your faces. Yes, you see? Mine, too. Free. Free of the lumps. -They're <i>gone</i>! The bumps that mean cancer—gone. We're cured!"</p> - -<p>They stared in awed fascination at themselves. Nichols ripped at his -jacket, pulled it open, ran exploring hands over his skin. He sobbed -suddenly; began hysterically to cry, shoulders shaking.</p> - -<p>"Whatever it is, it's cured us," whispered Emerson, turning to stare -upwards at the great glittering cones, that towered high above him.</p> - -<p>"Ada and the kids," Nichols sobbed. "If they were here we could cure -them too."</p> - -<p>"The world can be freed from the Plague," Emerson breathed.</p> - -<p>"A fortune," grinned Mussdorf, eyes glinting.</p> - -<p>Emerson said, "If we knew how this thing worked, we could set it up on -Earth. Duplicate it."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf slid a hand over the butt of his solar gun. He smiled grimly. -"At a price, commander. Think of it. We'll be billionaires. That girl -in New Mars—bah! I could have girls ten times better than her, just -throwing themselves at me."</p> - -<p>"We came to do a job," Emerson said flatly, "and we're going to see it -through."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf tugged at his gun, lifting it, aiming it at Emerson's broad -chest.</p> - -<p>"I'm tired of these damned ideals of yours," he grated savagely. -"You'll never change. Neither will I. The time for words is past. I'm -acting—"</p> - -<p>His finger tightened on the trigger.</p> - -<p>And Emerson dove in at him, like a fullback at the line.</p> - -<p>The bolt of yellow never left the muzzle of the gun. It was smothered -in a cobalt-dark spray of angry color. Color that sizzled.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Emerson brought his fist up hard, caught the big adventurer alongside -his jaw, snapping his head back viciously. With hard lefts and rights, -Emerson banged his fists mercilessly, swarming over Mussdorf, bruising -his ribs, thudding home his big fists on jaw and belly.</p> - -<p>Mussdorf dropped, rolled over: lashed upward with both feet.</p> - -<p>Emerson sideswayed, drove in. His fists battered Mussdorf's jaw, -rolling his head from side to side. His knuckles gashed the tight -skin and drew blobs of blood. Mussdorf staggered dizzily, and pitched -forward as Emerson hammered his head again.</p> - -<p>"I put up with you long enough," he spat at the prostrate man. "After -this, when I give an order, you—obey!"</p> - -<p>Emerson bent, ripped the gun from Mussdorf; thrust it into his belt.</p> - -<p>"But this is what we came to get," Nichols said. "This means -life—security—wealth—freedom from cancer—for all the people on -Earth and Mars."</p> - -<p>"I know," Emerson nodded. "We'll have to take it."</p> - -<p>He glanced up at the cones and shook his head. They were far too vast -to carry in the spaceship. He might duplicate them if he knew how they -worked, though.</p> - -<p>"Quick," he rasped at Nichols. "Start hunting for -plans—blue-prints—anything that might tell what this apparatus is, -how it works, what its principle is."</p> - -<p>They sprang about the room, searching the scrolls that hung on the -walls, the inscriptions graven in stone and metal. Off in one corner, -a great leaden casket lay in a niche. It was Emerson who found it, and -his yelp of delight brought Nichols running.</p> - -<p>"It's here, all here. Diagrams. Calculations. All of them worked out -mathematically. They don't use our system, but it'll be easy enough to -decipher theirs. We've got it, Car!"</p> - -<p>Nichols stood with head bent, lips soundlessly moving.</p> - -<p>"It's atomic power, all right," assured Emerson, "with that block as -its source. But lord, what tremendous advances from the atomic power we -know. The block is acted upon by the cones which cause it to send out -streams of radioactive atoms, throwing them back to the cones that take -them up in turn to hurl them all around the room.</p> - -<p>"Matter is constantly in motion, thanks to the molecules that comprise -it. They keep moving about one another eternally; in the case of -solids, they just about make it. That motion is carried on at a certain -rate of speed. To an extent, you might say it vibrates at a certain -pulse. If the atoms are attuned to that pulse, they feed and nourish. -If the matter vibrates at a different rate than the atoms, the atoms -destroy it. The straps that bound us are gone, but our clothes are -unaffected. Perhaps that's because the things we wear are tuned in -some manner to our own vibratory rate. Maybe it's because what we wear -comes from Earth, and things from Earth have their own peculiar motion. -I'm not sure, yet. But I do know anything that's in this room when the -cones are set at a certain pulse either vibrates in harmony with that -pulse or is wiped out of existence by the atoms that hit it. Like Gunn. -Like the cancer cells that vibrated differently from our otherwise -healthy bodies!"</p> - -<p>"The block," whispered Nichols. "We'll need the block!"</p> - -<p>"Certainly. It's radium, in all probability—perhaps treated in some -manner we don't know of. But we can take it. It'll fit into this box. -The box was made for it. It's lead."</p> - -<p>The doors were opening soundlessly. Warned by eyes upon him, Emerson -whirled and dove for the cone controls. He set a hand on a lever and -turned to face the thing.</p> - -<p>"I don't know whether you can hear me, fella," he grated. "But this -thing is tuned to <i>our</i> bodies now, not yours. We want that block—" -jerking his head toward the shimmering white square, "—to take with -us. If you don't step aside—you die!"</p> - -<p>"Kill him anyhow," whispered Nichols.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you soft fool," snarled Mussdorf through swollen, cut lips from -the floor. "Pull the lever and do away with him."</p> - -<p>Emerson shook his head, still looking at the thing that stood so still -in the doorway, staring back at him.</p> - -<p>"That would be murder. He's an intelligent being. If he doesn't -interfere, he stays alive."</p> - -<p>The black monster turned, and moved off down the corridor. Emerson -exhaled with relief, found his palm wet and sticky. He rubbed it on his -thigh, turning to the others.</p> - -<p>"Snap into it," he barked. "Get off the floor, Mussdorf, and give -Nichols a hand. Lug that leaden box between the cones, beneath the -block. I'm going to release the pressure that keeps it suspended. We -want that block. We need it. We can build the cones and the rings back -on Earth, but there isn't anything like that block anywhere else in all -the Universe!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They worked feverishly, sliding the box across the floor. Emerson -studied the control panels, sweat beading his brow with the effort of -his concentration. He summoned the years of his tutelage under the -world's greatest physicists at Earth University, the years of knowledge -acquired in laboratory and spaceship on Earth and in the great red city -of New Mars. He only had one chance here. It had to be successful. If -he made a mistake, he was like to draw on them the concentrated fury of -a billion annihilating atoms.</p> - -<p>He touched levers hesitantly, frowning; striving to remember the -diagrams etched in metal on the box. Here, this one. This should be it. -He wrapped his fingers carefully about the gleaming white knob, turned -it with infinitesimal slowness, looking at the great white block. He -saw it quiver, settle slowly floorwards.</p> - -<p>"It's in," yelled Nichols, slamming the leaden cover down and locking -it.</p> - -<p>It took the three of them to budge it, to slide it across the floor.</p> - -<p>"Hell," panted Mussdorf. "We'll never make it. Once we get it into the -corridor, that black fiend'll be on top of us again."</p> - -<p>Somehow they got it out of the Chamber, and scraped it along the -corridor. Luckily, the way was level, and the ramp that lead from the -Chamber of the Cones to the great square was smooth. But in the square -they ran into an unsurmountable difficulty. There was no way to lift it -into the spaceship.</p> - -<p>"We can't do it," acknowledged Emerson glumly. "It would take a crane -to lift that."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf kicked at the box, and swore. Nichols ran quivering fingers -through his hair, trembling.</p> - -<p>Then Emerson started to grin.</p> - -<p>"A crane, sure. We have one here, if we can only make it work. The -thing, the black thing. He's as strong as any crane I ever saw!"</p> - -<p>"Think he'll do it?" asked Mussdorf.</p> - -<p>"I can try. Maybe a threat to use the solar blasters on him will do -the trick."</p> - -<p>He really didn't think so, recalling the way the black being had -sidestepped the bolts before; but it was their only hope. He pulled his -two guns and turned; stopped short, staring.</p> - -<p>The black creature was coming down the ramp, slithering his great bulk -toward them. He ignored them, heading directly toward the leaden box.</p> - -<p>Irgi lifted the leaden casket in three of his rippling tentacles, -balancing it. He moved toward the spaceship, thrust the box through the -open door.</p> - -<p>Emerson frowned. He went to the thing, touching it and looking upward -into its eyes.</p> - -<p>The thing looked down at Emerson unblinking. It pointed to the -transparent globe above, then patted Emerson on his wrist with a force -that nearly snapped it.</p> - -<p>"He's going to open the globe for us. He's going to set us free!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Irgi watched the ship twinkle to a glittering dot high in the heavens. -Sadly he turned and moved back along the empty corridors, once again -alone.</p> - -<p>He wished they were still here, even though he never could understand -them. At least they were beings who moved, and talked among themselves, -showed emotions. But what a strange world they came from! A world where -heroes were worshipped, where tall strong statues were built to the -great men of their race. Irgi liked that idea, though it was foreign -to Urg. He rather thought there would be a statue to him, there on -that planet called Earth. Yes, for the beings would tell how Irgi -helped them, how he gave them the white block that would save them from -extinction, even though it meant his own death, eventually.</p> - -<p>Irgi was happy. There was no doubt of it. There would be a fine -statue to him on that distant planet. Irgi, savior of the race called -men. A hero to mankind, to be worshipped. He wished wistfully that -he could have been there to see it. But he was afraid of unleashing -those creatures' terror. They might even have done something rash to -themselves, if he had crowded his bulk into the spacecraft.</p> - -<p>No, it was better this way.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And in the spaceship, Emerson and Mussdorf and Nichols squatted over -the leaden casket, commenting on it, copying the alien symbols and -designs for study.</p> - -<p>Emerson frowned thoughtfully, choosing his words.</p> - -<p>"As near as I can judge, it's a form of atomic bombardment of matter. -Suppose its rate of vibration is adjusted to matter <i>a</i>. Anything other -than matter <i>a</i>, such as foreign substance <i>b</i>, is hit so swiftly -and so often by those hurtling atoms that they simply wipe it out of -existence.</p> - -<p>"Back in the twentieth century, they were using just this principle -to cure cancer. They bombarded the cancer with radioactive -atoms—overcrowding the atoms with neutrons beyond their ability to -hold them for very long—and the atoms ate away the cancer. I think -they treated other diseases too, with some success. Goiter, for one. -And, if I recall rightly, the atoms could build up blood cells or -eliminate them.</p> - -<p>"But this block and the cones seem to be the ultimate perfection of -that idea. Maybe atoms possess some degree of intellect, for all we -know. We'll never really be sure. They do have a power of attraction, -and appear to be drawn to the danger spot as though magnetized to it."</p> - -<p>They were silent, thoughtful.</p> - -<p>"Yeah," said Mussdorf at last. "It begins to trickle through. Gunn -wasn't in harmony with that black beast, so he went out of existence -immediately. Gunn was human and the other wasn't."</p> - -<p>Emerson nodded, and his eyes widened.</p> - -<p>"My God!" he whispered. "This block and the cones could make a man -immortal!"</p> - -<p>Mussdorf gagged; laughed suddenly.</p> - -<p>"Then why did that thing let us cart it off right from under its nose? -Why, he even helped us."</p> - -<p>"I wish I knew," muttered Emerson, troubled. "I wish I knew."</p> - -<p>Mussdorf scowled; looked at him sideways, clearing his throat.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry I went off my nut back there," he mumbled. "The thought -of all the dough this thing was worth sort of slapped me haywire. -Why, just to be free of space cancer, Val—and hell! They'll give us -pensions for this job. I'm sorry."</p> - -<p>"Skip it," said Emerson. "That black thing was enough to make us all -jittery. He seemed a good enough egg, though. But I was a little -disappointed in him. He sure was bluffed when I touched that lever. -Boy, he turned tail fast enough."</p> - -<p>"Maybe he was just what he looked like, Val," murmured Nichols -thoughtfully. "An animal—left by the real builders of the Cones to -turn it over to someone like us, with a use for it."</p> - -<p>"Sure," nodded Mussdorf. "That's what he was. Car's hit it. Just a big -animal who knew enough to work the things, and no more."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Irgi was alone, and cold. It would get steadily colder for him, without -the block to feed his body. But Irgi kept smiling. He would be a hero -someday. There would be a statue to him.</p> - -<p>Again he wished that he could see it. But he knew he would never be -happy on Earth. There would always be the fear that the earthmen seemed -to have. To Irgi, it seemed a silly sort of fright, too. They were -always on the verge of harming themselves. As in the Chamber of the -Cones when that one had placed his hand on the lever to loose the fury -of the cones. Why had he done that? And those others urging him to pull -it! Did fear turn those beings into madmen? Didn't they know that they -would have blasted themselves to nothingness? They must have known that -the controls would automatically shift back to his own vibratory rate, -not theirs. The machine had been built for him. In rest, it was tuned -to his pulse.</p> - -<p>He had been afraid for them, and so had gone away, leaving them to -slide the box as best they could. He had meant to carry it for them, -since it was best that a race carry on instead of one lone Urgian. For -Irgi would die without the block. Well, it was like exchanging one form -of immortality for another. But he still wished he could have seen that -statue.</p> - -<p>"<i>An animal</i>," said Emerson heavily. "<i>Well, maybe you're right. Just -an animal, scared of three men. Let's forget him.</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Irgi shivered.</p> - -<p>It was growing colder....</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Monster, by Gardner F. 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Fox - -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 Last Monster - -Author: Gardner F. Fox - -Release Date: November 5, 2020 [EBook #63645] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST MONSTER *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Last Monster - - By GARDNER F. FOX - - Irgi was the last of his monster race, guardian of - a dead planet, master of the secret of immortality. - It was he whom the four men from Earth had to - conquer to gain that secret--a tentacled - monstrosity whom Earthly weapons could not touch. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Fall 1945. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Irgi was the last of his race. There was no one else, now; there had -been no others for hundreds and hundreds of years. Irgi had lost count -of time dwelling alone amid the marble halls of the eon-ancient city, -but he knew that much. There were no others. - -Only Irgi, alone. - -He moved now along the ebony flooring, past the white marble walls hung -with golden drapes that never withered or shed their aurate luster in -the opalescent mists that bathed the city in shimmering whiteness. They -hung low, those wispy tendrils of mist, clasping everything in their -clinging shelter, destroying dust and germs. Irgi had discovered the -mist many years ago, when it was too late to save his kind. - -He had flung a vast globe of transparent metal above this greatest of -the cities of the Urg and filled it with the mist, and in it he had -stored the treasures of his people. From Bar Nomala, from Faryl, and -from the far-off jungle city of Kreed had he brought the riches of the -Urg and set them up. Irgi enjoyed beauty, and he enjoyed work. It was -the combination of both that kept him sane. - -Toward a mighty bronze doorway he went, and as his body passed an -invisible beam, the bronze portals slid apart, noiselessly, opening to -reveal a vast circular chamber that hummed and throbbed, and was filled -with a pale blue luminescence that glimmered upon metal rods and bars -and ten tall cones of steelite. - -In the doorway, Irgi paused and ran his eyes about the chamber, sighing. - -This was his life work, this blue hum and throb. Those ten cones -lifting their disced tips toward a circular roof bathed in, and drew -their power from, a huge block of radiant white matter that hung -suspended between the cones, in midair. All power did the cones and the -block possess. There was nothing they could not do, if Irgi so willed. -It was another discovery that came too late to save the Urg. - -Irgi moved across the room. He pressed glittering jewels inset in a -control panel on the wall, one after another, in proper sequence. - -The blue opalescence deepened, grew dark and vivid. The hum broadened -into a hoarse roar. And standing out, startlingly white against the -blue, was the queer block of shining metal, shimmering and pulsing. - -Irgi drew himself upwards, slowly turning, laving in the quivering -bands of cobalt that sped outward from the cones. He preened his body -in their patterns of color, watching it splash and spread over his -chest and torso. Where it touched, a faint tingle lingered; then spread -outwards, all over his huge form. - -Irgi was immortal, and the blue light made him so. - -"There, it is done," he whispered to himself. "Now for another oval I -can roam all Urg as I will, for the life spark in me has been cleansed -and nourished." - -He touched the jeweled controls, shutting the power to a low murmur. He -turned to the bronze doors, passed through and into the misty halls. - -"I must speak," Irgi said as he moved along the corridor. "I have not -spoken for many weeks. I must exercise my voice, or lose it. That is -the law of nature. It would atrophy, otherwise. - -"Yes, I will use my voice tonight, and I will go out under the dome and -look up at the stars and the other planets that swing near Urg, and I -will talk to them and tell them how lonely Irgi is." - -He turned and went along a hall that opened into a broad balcony which -stood forth directly beneath a segment of the mighty dome. He stared -upwards, craning all his eyes to see through the darkness pressing down -upon him. - -"Stars," he whispered, "listen to me once again. I am lonely, stars, -and the name and fame of Irgi means nothing to the walls of my city, -nor to the Chamber of the Cones, nor even--at times--to Irgi himself." - -He paused and his eyes widened, staring upwards. - -"By the Block," he said to the silence about him. "There is something -up there that is not a star, nor a planet, nor yet a meteor." - -It was a spaceship. - - * * * * * - -Emerson took his hands from the controls of the gigantic ship that -hurtled through space, and wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs. His -grey eyes bored like a steel awl downward at the mighty globe swinging -in the void. - -"The last planet in our course," he breathed. "Maybe it has the radium!" - -"Yes," whispered the man beside him, wetting his lips with his tongue. -"No use to think of failure. If it hasn't, we'll die ourselves, down -there." - -Radium. And the Plague. It had come on Earth suddenly, had the Plague, -back in the first days of space travel, after Quigg, the American -research scientist at Cal Tech, discovered a way to lift a rocket ship -off the Earth, and propel it to the Moon. - -They had been slow, lumbering vessels, those first spaceships; not at -all like the sleek craft that plied the voids today. But it had been a -beginning. And no one had thought anything of it when Quigg, who had -made the first flight through space, died of cancer. - -As the years passed to a decade, and the ships of Earth rode to Mars -and Venus, it began to be apparent that a lifetime of space travel -meant a hideous death. Scientists attributed it to the cosmic rays, for -out in space there was no blanketing layer of atmosphere to protect -the fleshy tissues of man from their piercing power. It had long been -a theory that cosmic rays were related to the birth of new life in the -cosmos; perhaps they were, said some, the direct cause of life. Thus by -causing the unorderly growth of new cells that man called cancer, the -cosmic rays were destroying the life they had created. - -It meant death to travel in space, and only the stupendous fees paid to -the young men who believed in a short life and a merry one, kept the -ships plying between Mars and Earth and Venus. Lead kept out the cosmic -rays, but lead would not stand the terrific speed required to lift a -craft free of planetary gravity; and an inner coating of lead brought -men into port raving with lead poisoning illusions. - -Cancer cases increased on Earth. It was learned that the virulent -form of space cancer, as it was called, was in some peculiar manner, -contagious to a certain extent. The alarm spread. Men who voyaged in -space were segregated, but the damage had been done. - -The Plague spread, and ravaged the peoples of three planets. - -Hospitals were set up, and precious radium used for the fight. But the -radium was hard to come by. There was just not enough for the job. - -A ship was built, the fastest vessel ever made by man. It was designed -for speed. It made the swiftest interplanetary craft seem a lumbering -barge by comparison. And mankind gave it to Valentine Emerson to take -it out among the stars to find the precious radium in sufficient -quantities to halt the Plague. - -It had not been easy to find a crew. The three worlds knew the men -were going to their doom. It would be a miracle if ever they reached -a single planet, if they did not perish of space cancer before their -first goal. Carson Nichols, whose wife and children were dying of the -Plague, begged him for a chance. A murderer convicted to the Martian -salt mines, Karl Mussdorf, grudgingly agreed to go along on the promise -that he won a pardon if he ever came back. With Mussdorf went a little, -wry-faced man named Tilford Gunn, who knew radio, cookery, and the fine -art of pocket-picking. The two seemed inseparable. - -Now Emerson was breathing softly, "Yes, it had better be there, or else -we die." - -He ran quivering fingers over his forearm, felt the strange lumps that -heralded cancer. Involuntarily, he shuddered. - -Steps clanged on the metal runway beneath them. Mussdorf pushed up -through the trap and got to his feet. He was as big as Emerson, bulky -where Emerson was lithe, granite where Emerson was chiseled steel. His -hair was black, and his brows shaggy. A stubborn jaw shot out under -thin, hard lips. - -"There it is, Karl," said Nichols. "Start hoping." - -Mussdorf scowled darkly, and spat. - -"A hell of a way to spend my last days," he growled. "I'm dying on my -feet, and I've got to be a martyr to a billion people who don't know -I'm alive." - -"You know a better way to die, of course," replied Emerson. - -"You bet I do. There's a sweet little redhead in New Mars. She'd make -dying a pleasure. In fact," he chuckled softly, "that's just the way -I'd let her kill me." - - * * * * * - -Emerson snorted, glancing down at the controls. Beneath his steady -fingers, the ship sideslipped into the gravity tug of the looming orb, -shuddered a moment, then eased downward. - -"Tell Gunn to come up," ordered Emerson. "No need for him to be below." - -Mussdorf dropped to the floor, lowered his shaggy head through the open -trap, and bellowed. A hail from the depths of the ship answered him. A -moment later, Gunn stood with the others: a little man with a wry smile -twisting his features to a hard mask. - -"Think she's got the stuff, skipper?" he asked Emerson. - -"The spectroscope'll tell us. Break it out." - -"You bet." - -The ship rocked gently as Emerson set it down on a flat, rocky plain -between two high, craggy mountains that rose abruptly from the tiny -valley. It was just lighting as the faint rays of the suns that served -this planet nosed their way above the peaks. Like a silver needle on a -floor of black rock, the spacecraft bounced once, twice; then lay still. - -Within her gleaming walls, four men bent with hard faces over gleaming -bands of color on a spectroscopic screen. With quivering fingers, -Emerson twisted dials and switches. - -"Hell!" exploded Mussdorf. "I might have known it. Not a trace." - -Emerson touched his forearm gently, and shuddered. - -Nichols bit his lips, and thought of Marge and the kids; Gunn licked -his lips with a dry tongue and kept looking at Emerson. - -With one sweep of his brawny arm, Mussdorf sent the apparatus flying -against the far wall to shatter in shards. - -No one said a word. - -Something whispered in the ship. They jerked their heads up, stood -listening. The faint susurration swept all about them, questioning, -curious. It came again, imperative; suddenly demanding. - -"Gawd," whispered Gunn. "Wot is it, guv'nor?" - -Emerson shook his head, frowning, suddenly glad that the others had -heard it, too. - -"Maybe somebody trying to speak to us," stated Nichols. - -The whispers grew louder and harsher. Angry. - -"Take it easy," yelled Mussdorf savagely. "We don't know what you're -talking about. How can we answer you, you stupid lug?" - -Gunn giggled hysterically, "We can't even 'alf talk 'is bloomin' -language." - -The rustle ceased. The silence hung eerily in the ship. The men looked -at one another, curious; somehow, a little nervous. - -"What a radio _he_ must have," said Emerson softly. "The metal of our -hull is his loudspeaker. That's why we heard him in all directions." - -Mussdorf nodded, shaggy brows knotted. - -"We'll see what his next move is," he muttered. "If he gets too fresh, -we'll try a sun-blaster out on him." - -The ship began to glow softly, flushing a soft, delicate green. The -light bathed the interior, turning the men a ghastly hue. Gunn shivered -and looked at Emerson, who went to the port window; stood staring out, -gasping. - -"Wot's happenin' now?" choked Gunn. - -"We're off the ground! Whatever it is, it's lifting us." - -The others crowded about him, looking out. Here the green was more -vivid, intense. They could feel its surging power tingling on their -skins. Beneath them, the jagged peak of the mountain almost grazed the -hull. Spread out under their eyes was the panorama of a dead planet. - -Great rocks lay split and tumbled over one another in a black -desolation. Sunlight glinting on their jagged edges, made harsh -shadows. Far to the north a mountain range shrugged its snow-topped -peaks to a sullen sky. To the south, beyond the rocks, lay a white -waste of desert. To the west-- - -"A city," yelled Nichols, "the place is inhabited. Thank God, thank -God--" - -Mussdorf erupted laughter. - -"For what? How do we know what they're like? An inhabited planet -doesn't mean men. We found that out--several times." - -"We can hope," said Emerson sharply. "Maybe they have some radium, -stored so that our spectroscope couldn't pick it up." - -The mighty globe that hung over the city glimmered in the morning suns. -Beneath it, the white towers and spires of the city reared in alien -loveliness above graceful buildings and rounded roofs. A faint mist -seemed to hang in the city streets. - -"It's empty," said Nichols heavily. "Deserted." - -"Something's alive," protested Emerson. "Something that spoke to us, -that is controlling this green beam." - - * * * * * - -A section of the globe slid back, and the spaceship moved through the -opening. The globe slipped back and locked after it. - -"They have us now," grunted Mussdorf. He slid his fingers along the -transparent window, pressing hard, the skin showing white as his -knuckles lifted. He said swiftly, "You guys can stay here if you want, -but I'm getting myself a sun-blaster. Two of them. I'm not going to be -caught short when the time for action comes." - -He swung through the trap and out of sight. They heard him running -below; heard the slam of opened doors, the withdrawal of the guns. They -could imagine him belting them about his waist. - -"Bring us some," cried Emerson suddenly, and turned again to look out -the window. - -The spaceship settled down on the white flagging of an immense square. -The green beam was gone, suddenly. The uncanny silence of the place -pressed in on them. - -"Think it's safe to go out?" asked Nichols. - -"Try the atmospheric recorder," said Emerson. "If the air's okay, I'd -like to stretch my own legs." - -Nichols twisted chrome wheels, staring at a red line that wavered on a -plastic screen, then straightened abruptly, rigid. - -"Hey," yelled Nichols excitedly. "It's pure. I mean actually pure. No -germs. No dust. Just clean air!" - -Emerson leaped to his side, staring, frowning. - -"No germs. No dust. Why--that means there's no disease in this place! -No disease." - -He began to laugh, then caught himself. - -"No disease," he whispered, "and every one of us is going to die of -cancer." - -Mussdorf came up through the trap and passed out the sun-blasters. They -buckled them around their waists while Mussdorf swung the bolts of the -door. He threw it open, and clean air, and faint tendrils of whitish -mist came swirling into the ship. - -Nichols took a deep breath and his boyish face split with a grin. - -"I feel like a kid again on a Spring day back on Earth. You know, with -a ball and a glove under your arm, with the sun beating down on you, -swinging a bat and whistling. You felt good. You were young. Young! I -feel like that now." - -They grinned and went through the door, dropping to the street. - -They turned. - -It was coming across the square, flowing along on vast black tentacles -towering over twenty feet high, with a great torso seemingly sculpted -out of living black marble. A head that held ten staring eyes looked -down at them. Six arms thrust out of the torso, moving like tentacles, -fringed with cilia thick as fingers. - -"Lord," whispered Mussdorf. "What is it?" - -"Don't know," said Emerson. "Maybe it's friendly--" - -"Friendly?" queried Mussdorf harshly. "_That_ doesn't know the meaning -of the word! I'm going to let it taste a blast--" - -His hand dove for the sun-blaster in his holster; yanked it free and -upward, firing brilliant yellow jets as he jerked the trigger. - -"Look _out_!" yelled Emerson. - -The thing twisted sideways with an eerie grace, dodging the amber beams -of solar power that sizzled past its bulbous head. As it moved, its -tentacled arms and legs slithered out with unthinkable rapidity, fell -and wrapped around Mussdorf. - -The big Earthman was lifted high into the air, squeezed until his lungs -nearly collapsed. He hung limp in a gigantic tentacle as Emerson ran -to one side, trying for a shot without hitting Mussdorf. But the thing -was diabolically clever. It held Mussdorf aloft, between itself and -Emerson, while its other arms stabbed out at Gunn and Nichols, catching -them up and shaking them as a terrier shakes a rat. - -"Hold on," called Emerson, dodging and twisting, gun in hand, seeking a -spot to fire at. - -The thing dropped the Earthmen suddenly; its legs gathered beneath it -and launched it full at Emerson. Caught off guard, the Earthman lifted -his sun-blaster--felt it ripped from his fingers, knew a hard blackness -thrashing down at him. He went backwards, sickened.... - - * * * * * - -Irgi stared at the things that lay on the white flagging. Queer beings -they were, unlike anything Irgi had ever conceived. Only two legs, only -two arms. And such weak little limbs! Why, an Urgian cat would make -short work of them if an Urgian cat existed any more, and Irgi had -never rated cats very highly. - -He looked at the spaceship, ran exploring feelers over it. He cast a -glance back at the creatures again, and shook his head. Strange beings -they might be, but they had mastered interplanetary travel. Well, he'd -always maintained that life would be different on other worlds. Life -here on Urg took different patterns. - -Irgi bent to wrap long arms about the queer beings, lifting them. His -eyes were caught suddenly by the lumps protruding from their arms and -legs, from face and chest. The growth disease! That was bad, but Irgi -knew a way to cure it. Irgi knew a way to cure anything. - -He slid swiftly across the square and onto a flat, glittering ramp that -stretched upward toward an arched doorway set like a jewel of light -in a long, low building next to the vast, round Chamber of the Cones. -He carried these creatures easily, without trouble. The ease of his -passage gave him time to think. - -He had been glad to find these creatures. They were someone to -converse with after centuries of loneliness. But as he approached them -there in the square, calling out gladly to them, they could not hear -him. His voice was pitched eight vibrations to the second. He wondered -idly if that was beyond the hearing range of these two-legged things. -He ought to check that, to be sure. Still, they had heard him on their -ship. He had caught a confused, angry murmur on the radiation recorder. -Perhaps the metal of the hull had in some manner made his voice audible -to them, speeded up the vibrations to twelve or fifteen a second. - -Then there was the matter of the growth disease. He could eliminate -that easily enough, in the Chamber of the Cones. But first they would -have to be prepared. And the preparation--hurt. Well, better a few -moments of agony than a death through a worse. - -And if he could not speak to them, they could speak to him, through -their minds. Once unconscious, he could tap their memories with an -electrigraph screen. That should be absorbing. It made Irgi happy, -reflecting upon it, and Irgi had not known happiness for a long time. - -From the passage he hurried into a large white room, fitted with glass -vials and ovules and glittering metal instruments, so many in number -that the room seemed a jungle of metal. Down on flat, smooth tables -Irgi dropped his burdens. With quick tendrils he adjusted straps to -them, bound them securely. From a small, wheeled vehicle he took a -metal rod and touched it to their foreheads. As it met the flesh, it -hummed once faintly. - -"It's short-circulated their nervous systems for a while, absorbed the -electric charges all intelligent beings cast," Irgi said aloud, glad at -this chance to exercise his voice. "They won't be able to feel for some -time. When the worst pain will have passed, they will recover. And now -to examine their minds--" - -He fitted metal clamps over their heads and screwed them tight. He -wheeled forward a glassy screen; plugged in the cords that dangled from -its frame to the metal clamps. - -"I wonder if they've perfected this," Irgi mused. "They must be aware -that the brain gives off electrical waves. Perhaps they can chart -those waves on graphs. But do they know that each curve and bend of -those waves represents a picture? I can translate those waves into -pictures--but can they?" - -He slouched a little on his tentacles, squatting, gazing at the screen -as he flipped over a lever. - -A picture quivered on the screen; grew nebulous, then cleared. Irgi -found himself staring at a city far vaster than Urg. Grim white -towers peaked high into the air, and broad, flat ramps circled them, -interwoven like ribbons in the sunlight. On the tallest and largest -buildings were great fields of metal painted a dull luster, where -queerly wrought flying ships landed and took off. - -The scene changed suddenly. He looked into a hospital room and watched -a pretty young woman smiling up at him. She too, had the growth -disease. Now he beheld the mighty salt mines where naked men swung huge -picks at the crusted crystals, sweating and dying under a strange sun. -Even these remnants of humanity festered with the growth. - -A tall, lean man in white looked out at him. His lips moved, and Irgi -read their meaning. This man spoke to one named Emerson, commissioning -him with a spaceship, reciting the need of radium, the dread of the -plague. The thoughts of this Emerson were coming in clearer, as Irgi in -sudden interest, flipped over different dials. The unspoken thoughts -pouring into his brain through the screen continued. The words he did -not understand, but the necessity for radium, and the danger of the -growth disease he did. The pictures jumbled, grew chameleonesque-- - -Irgi stared upward at a colossal figure graven in lucent white marble. -He made out the letters chiseled into the base: GEORGE WASHINGTON. He -wondered idly what this Washington had done, to merit such undying -fame. He must have created a nation, or saved it. He wished there were -Urgians alive to build a statue to _him_. - -He rose suddenly, standing upright on his tentacles, swaying gently. -Why, he had the power to make himself immortal! These creatures would -gladly build statues to him! True, he could not create a nation--_but -he could save it_! - -Irgi unfastened clamps, and rolled the screen aside. He reached to a -series of black knobs inset in the wall, and turned them carefully. -Turning, he saw the figures of the four men stiffen to rigidity as a -red aura drifted upward from the tabletop, passing through them as if -they were mist, rising upwards to dissipate in the air near the ceiling. - -"That will prepare their bodies for the Chamber of the Cones," he said. -"When they realize that I am their friend, they will gladly hear my -counsels!" - -Opening the laboratory door, Irgi passed out and closed it behind him. - - * * * * * - -It was the sweat of agony trickling down his forehead and over his eyes -and cheeks that woke Emerson. He opened his eyes, then clamped them -shut as his body writhed in pain. - -"Oh, Lord!" he whimpered, bloodying his mouth where his teeth sank into -his lips. - -In every fibre of his body sharp lancets cut and dug. In arms and legs -and chest and belly they twisted and tore. Into the tissues beneath his -skin, all along the muscles and the bone, the fiery torment played. He -could not stand it; he could not-- - -He flipped his head to right, to left; saw the others stretched out -and strapped even as he. They were unconscious. What right had they to -ignore this agony? Why didn't they share it with him? He opened his -lips to shriek; then bit down again, hard. - -Nichols screamed suddenly, his body aching. - -It woke the others. They too, bellowed and screamed and sobbed, and -their arms and legs writhed like wild things in a trap. - -"Got to get free," Emerson panted, straining against the wristbands. -The hard muscles of his arms ridged with effort, but the straps held. -He dropped back, sobbing. - -"That fiend," yelled Mussdorf. "That ten-eyed, octopus-legged, -black-hearted spawn of a mismated monster did this to us. Damn him! -Damn him! If I ever get loose I'll cut his heart out and make him eat -it." - -"Maybe--maybe he's vivisecting us," moaned Nichols. "With rays or--or -something--aagh! I can't stand it!" - -"Hang on, kid," gritted Emerson, fighting the straps. "I think it's -lessening. Yeah, yeah--it is. It doesn't hurt so much now." - -Mussdorf grunted astonishment. - -"You're right. It is lessening. And--hey, one of my arm buckles is -coming loose. It's torn a little. Maybe I can work it free." - -They turned their heads to watch, biting their lips, the sweat standing -in colorless beads on their pale foreheads. Mussdorf's thick arm bulged -its muscles as he wrenched and tugged, panting. A buckle swung outward, -clanging against the tabletop as it ripped loose. Mussdorf held his arm -aloft and laughed harsh triumph. - -"I'll have you all loose in a second," he grunted, ripping straps from -his body. - -He leaped from the table and stretched. He grinned into their faces. - -"You know, it's funny--but I feel great. Huh, I must've sweated all the -aches out of me. Here, Gunn--you first." - -"Thanks, Karl. We're still pals, aren't we?" - -When Gunn was free, Mussdorf came to stand over Emerson, looking down -at him. His eyes narrowed suddenly. He grinned a little, twisting his -lips. - -"Maybe you fellows ought to stay tied up," he said. "In case that--that -thing comes back. He won't blame us all for the break we're making." - -"Not on your life," said Emerson. - -But Mussdorf shook his head, and his lips tightened. - -"No. No, I think it's better the way I say." - -"Don't be a fool, Mussdorf," snapped Emerson savagely. "It isn't your -place to think, anyhow. That's mine. I'm commander of this force. What -I say is an order." - -Mussdorf grinned dryly. Into his eyes came a glint of hot, sullen anger. - -"You were our commander--out there, in space. We're on a planet now. -Things are different. I want to learn the secret of those mists, -Emerson. Something tells me I'd get a fortune for it, on Earth." - -Emerson squirmed helplessly, cursing him, saying, "What's gotten into -you?" - -"Nothing new. Remember me, Karl Mussdorf? I'm a convict, I am. A salt -mine convict. I'd have done anything to get out of that boiling hell. I -volunteered to go with you for the radium. Me and Gunn. Nichols doesn't -count. He came on account of his wife and kids. We were the only two -who'd come. Convicts, both of us." - - * * * * * - -Mussdorf drew air into his lungs until his ribs showed against the rips -in his jacket. - -He went on slowly, "All along I've thought that if we ever did discover -radium in any quantity to cure the folks of space out of it. I want to -be that somebody, Emerson. With my pardon and that profit, I could be a -boss on Mars. And you know what it's like to be a boss on Mars." - -Emerson writhed in his straps, wrenching and twisting until his muscles -crackled, seeking freedom. His lips snarled oaths at the big criminal. - -"If I ever get out of this, I'll teach you who's boss--right here!" - -Mussdorf laughed his confidence, "Don't worry. You won't. Those straps -are pretty secure. I'm lucky one of mine was ripped." - -The big man turned to Gunn; looked down at him, curiously. - -"You with me, Til?" - -Gunn looked at Emerson; looked up at Mussdorf, nodding. - -"I think we got a chance, guv'nor," he muttered softly. "Them mists -that don't 'ave germs. They're worth lots. People will pay plenty for -h'air without germs." - -The big man and the little man swung toward the door. They paused at -the threshold and glanced back. - -"We'll give you a chance to think it over, Emerson," Mussdorf grated. -"You can use a few billions, same as us. We aren't hogs. We're willing -to share--" - -"Get out!" Emerson spat. - -Mussdorf shrugged and followed Gunn into the corridor, carefully -closing the door behind him. He glanced both ways frowning. - -"We don't know this space," he said slowly. "Stick close to me, Til. -We might meet some more of that beast's pals. He's too much for us -physically, but damned if I don't believe we got more grey matter than -him and his whole tribe, if we use it right!" - -They went along the black marble flooring for long minutes. The -thick drapes along the walls muffled their footsteps, but they cast -anxious glances behind them. The eerie silence that overhung the place -scratched at their uneasy nerves. - -Mussdorf's hand vised on Gunn until the little man whimpered. - -Behind them there was the slow shuffle of a mighty body. - -"In here," snapped Mussdorf, drawing Gunn with him into a niche sculped -in the marble wall. They pressed back, drawing the drapes about them. -Biting on their tongues, they held their breaths. - -The huge black body trod past, stirring the drapes and uncovering the -feet of the Earthmen. But he did not glance aside. Mussdorf and Gunn -let their breath out slowly, silently. They did not know that Irgi was -the last of his race, that he was used to loneliness, that he was not -given to looking away from his objective. - -They peered out: saw the monster nearing two great bronze doors sculped -with forms of alien beauty. Watching breathlessly, they saw the doors -slide open untouched. - -"Light beam," whispered Mussdorf. - -They caught a glimpse of the Chamber of the Cones through the doorway; -saw with awe the great block of glimmering white, pulsing with an inner -fire. The ten glittering cones with their rings of shimmering light -made them gape. - -They eased forward, and halted at the doors. - -The black thing was pressing levers, working them swiftly. The great -cones began to hum softly, began to throb. They could feel that -terrific power pulsating through the room, making them quiver in rhythm -though they stood beyond its range. The faint azure haze darkened; grew -deeper, a dark blue. In broad bands of light the blue leaped from the -cones, poured outward over the room. - -Irgi too, they saw. He lifted himself to his full height, turning and -pirouetting gracefully despite his bulk. He bathed in the light, and it -sprayed over and covered him. - -"He's h'on h'a bat," croaked Gunn in hoarse excitement. "'E's getting -drunk on that stuff, whatever it is. A bender, a rip-snorting tear -'e's 'avin' for himself. Look at him. Like it was champagne he was -wallowin' in. Gawd--I could stand a snootful of that myself!" - -He leaped swiftly, before Mussdorf could stop him. - -Past the big man's outstretched arm he charged, full into the beating -bands of blue. - -"Oh good Lord!" whispered Mussdorf. - - * * * * * - -Before his eyes little Gunn stiffened in intolerable agony, straight -up, rigid. He hung that way for one long instant, immobile. - -Then Gunn--disappeared. - -Mussdorf blinked, and looked. The little pickpocket had been right -before him an instant ago. Now where he had been was nothing but those -pulsing ribbons on cobalt, pounding, beating, throbbing. - -He's gone right in front of my eyes, Mussdorf thought. Evaporated. Into -thin air. No, not into air. Into that blue color. It just absorbed him, -like a blotter sops up ink! - -Mussdorf knew cold fright, shuddering. - -He whirled and ran, straight up the corridor toward the laboratory -door. It shot back before the thrust of his arms. He leaped for the -white tables as Emerson and Nichols stared at him, wondering at his -pale face. - -Big brown hands seized on the straps that held Emerson, fighting to -burst them. - -"Calm down, man," said Emerson evenly. "If those things could break, -I'd have broken them. Undo the buckles." - -"Yeah, yeah. You're right," sobbed the big convict. - -"What happened to you?" - -"Not to me. To Gunn. Little Tilford Gunn. Gone. That--that damned black -beast killed him with his blue color. Right in front of my eyes. It's -going to take all of us to lick him. That's why I came back." - -"What are you babbling about?" said Emerson softly. "Take your time, -man. What blue color?" - -"In the big room up the corridor. There's a deep roar and splashes of -this deep light, as dark as a sapphire. Caught him, it did. Melted him -into nothing at all. I--I can't forget it." - -He unsnapped the last buckle and stood silent as Emerson got up and -stretched. His chest heaved as he gasped for air. - -He said suddenly, "We might as well get out of here while we can. If -that thing wants to experiment on us any more--the hell with him. Let's -go, and fast." - -Emerson was freeing Nichols, smiling thinly, "What about your fortune, -Mussdorf? What about being a boss on Mars?" - -Mussdorf licked his lips, whispering, "Hell with that. I just want to -get away from here, that's all. That black thing has power we've never -seen, never dreamed of. I tell you, those blue bands--" - -Mussdorf swore. - -Emerson whirled, reaching for his solar gun. - -Irgi stood in the doorway, brooding at them. Almost he seemed to shake -his vast head, sadly. - -"Stop him, one of you," babbled Mussdorf, striving to get past them. -"Maybe one of us can get away." - -The thing stretched out his tentacles so swiftly that Emerson rasped -curses as his gun-arm was clapped and held tight against his side. -Nichols writhed beside him in another viselike arm. Mussdorf had -fainted. - -Looking down at him, Emerson smiled thinly, and said to Nichols, -"Whatever happened to Gunn must have been pretty bad. They told me at -New Mars that Karl Mussdorf was pretty tough." - -"Yeah," whispered Nichols. - -Emerson looked up at the thing, studying it, thinking: maybe I can -get it to listen to me. Maybe it will even let us go free if I can -communicate with it. - -"What're you going to do with us?" he questioned as calmly as he could. - -The thing looked at him, and the thin mouth moved, but Valentine -Emerson heard no sound. The thing shook his head again, sadly. - - * * * * * - -He could not make these beings understand that he was helping them, -Irgi realized. They cannot hear my voice because it is pitched lower -than their ears can detect. And even if they heard me, they would not -understand. I shall cure them of the growth disease. By that act, they -will know I am friendly. Time enough then to discuss other matters. -Matters like the building of a great statue to him, Irgi, greatest of -the Urg. - -He carried them into the Chamber of the Cones; set them down gently. - -The large one with the black hair and the shaggy brows was screaming -something. He was undergoing an emotion: anger. And fright, too. Yes, -the black haired one was frightened. More frightened than he was angry. -Irgi watched him curiously. He must have seen the little one blasted -when the Cones were pulsing. - -It was too bad about that, Irgi thought as he trussed them up. But -these beings were so impetuous, almost childlike in their emotional -hysteria. He could not let them know that the Cones were set to pulse -in rhythm with his own body, not theirs. And anything foreign to that -peculiar vibration--perished. It simply ceased to exist, wiped out by -the flood of power loosed by the white block. - -Irgi twisted dials on the instrument panel. He knew the rhythm of these -creatures, and adjusted to allow for it. This time the blue beam would -not harm them. Instead they would blast into nothingness the growth -disease that was slowly eating away their lives. - -There was danger for Irgi, too, in this. He could not remain in the -Chamber to watch them. He must leave. He set the automatic regulators -to begin in five parazaw, last for one azaw, then switch back. After -that time, he could safely return, for the dark blue light and the -roaring hum would cease, and the cones would be idle. - -Irgi glanced at the three beings. The black-haired one still raved, -but the others lay silent, watching him. He nodded approval. The -black-haired being was trying to loosen within the others the storms of -emotions that held him thrall, but they were of different stuff. - -He went through the doors, and the doors slid shut. - - * * * * * - -Emerson rasped, "Shut up!" - -They lay silent for long moments. Emerson was studying the white block -and the cones and the spiralling, gleaming rings. He frowned, trying -to imagine their use. A tremendous powerhouse, of some sort. Probably -atomic power sucked from the white rock in some alien manner. Atomic -power that beat outward from the cones in bands of visible color. Could -it be a bath of atoms, bombarding everything in the room? - -Mussdorf snarled, "I tell you he's going to do away with us like he did -with Gunn." - -"Don't be a fool, man," answered Emerson wearily. "He wouldn't go to -all this trouble just to kill us. One quick wrench with those tentacles -of his, and we'd be dead ducks. He's got us in here for some reason. -I'm not denying he may be experimenting on us. But there ought to be -others joining with him in it. Funny, we haven't seen any others like -him." - -"Look," said Nichols abruptly. - -The white block was radiating, pulsing, casting forth bluish beams that -swept to the cones and fled outward in ever expanding arcs to splash -against the walls. The blue light deepened, grew violet. It pulsed -faster, swifter. And the humming of the cones was deafening. - -"I don't feel anything," said Emerson. "I can still see you fellows. -Whatever it was happened to Gunn isn't happening to us." - -He turned; found himself free of the straps, sat up. He clambered to -his feet and looked around. - -"The straps that held us are gone. Disappeared. Like Gunn." - -Mussdorf murmured oaths but he too got to his feet, asking, "What do we -do now?" - -"Stay here and see what's next on the program. I still don't believe -that thing's out to harm us." - -"Ahh, you always were a soft-hearted fool," Mussdorf snarled. "Why's he -going to all this bother to save us? It doesn't add up. This is some -fool scheme of his mad brain. He's no altruist. Not that black octopus. -Gad, what a shape!" - -Nichols smiled wryly, "I believe we're just as peculiar to him as he -is to us. He talks and we can't even hear his voice. He may hear us, -but it's a cinch he doesn't know what we're talking about. Huh, it's -somewhat of a 'Never the twain shall meet' angle. East and West, and -that sort of thing." - -"Only it's solar and star system," agreed Emerson, walking toward the -intricate control panels on the wall. He stretched an arm toward a -dial-- - -He paused, staring. - -His arm. Good Lord, his _arm_! - -"Nichols! Mussdorf," he shouted, leaping for them. "Let me see your -arms, your faces. Yes, you see? Mine, too. Free. Free of the lumps. -They're _gone_! The bumps that mean cancer--gone. We're cured!" - -They stared in awed fascination at themselves. Nichols ripped at his -jacket, pulled it open, ran exploring hands over his skin. He sobbed -suddenly; began hysterically to cry, shoulders shaking. - -"Whatever it is, it's cured us," whispered Emerson, turning to stare -upwards at the great glittering cones, that towered high above him. - -"Ada and the kids," Nichols sobbed. "If they were here we could cure -them too." - -"The world can be freed from the Plague," Emerson breathed. - -"A fortune," grinned Mussdorf, eyes glinting. - -Emerson said, "If we knew how this thing worked, we could set it up on -Earth. Duplicate it." - -Mussdorf slid a hand over the butt of his solar gun. He smiled grimly. -"At a price, commander. Think of it. We'll be billionaires. That girl -in New Mars--bah! I could have girls ten times better than her, just -throwing themselves at me." - -"We came to do a job," Emerson said flatly, "and we're going to see it -through." - -Mussdorf tugged at his gun, lifting it, aiming it at Emerson's broad -chest. - -"I'm tired of these damned ideals of yours," he grated savagely. -"You'll never change. Neither will I. The time for words is past. I'm -acting--" - -His finger tightened on the trigger. - -And Emerson dove in at him, like a fullback at the line. - -The bolt of yellow never left the muzzle of the gun. It was smothered -in a cobalt-dark spray of angry color. Color that sizzled. - - * * * * * - -Emerson brought his fist up hard, caught the big adventurer alongside -his jaw, snapping his head back viciously. With hard lefts and rights, -Emerson banged his fists mercilessly, swarming over Mussdorf, bruising -his ribs, thudding home his big fists on jaw and belly. - -Mussdorf dropped, rolled over: lashed upward with both feet. - -Emerson sideswayed, drove in. His fists battered Mussdorf's jaw, -rolling his head from side to side. His knuckles gashed the tight -skin and drew blobs of blood. Mussdorf staggered dizzily, and pitched -forward as Emerson hammered his head again. - -"I put up with you long enough," he spat at the prostrate man. "After -this, when I give an order, you--obey!" - -Emerson bent, ripped the gun from Mussdorf; thrust it into his belt. - -"But this is what we came to get," Nichols said. "This means -life--security--wealth--freedom from cancer--for all the people on -Earth and Mars." - -"I know," Emerson nodded. "We'll have to take it." - -He glanced up at the cones and shook his head. They were far too vast -to carry in the spaceship. He might duplicate them if he knew how they -worked, though. - -"Quick," he rasped at Nichols. "Start hunting for -plans--blue-prints--anything that might tell what this apparatus is, -how it works, what its principle is." - -They sprang about the room, searching the scrolls that hung on the -walls, the inscriptions graven in stone and metal. Off in one corner, -a great leaden casket lay in a niche. It was Emerson who found it, and -his yelp of delight brought Nichols running. - -"It's here, all here. Diagrams. Calculations. All of them worked out -mathematically. They don't use our system, but it'll be easy enough to -decipher theirs. We've got it, Car!" - -Nichols stood with head bent, lips soundlessly moving. - -"It's atomic power, all right," assured Emerson, "with that block as -its source. But lord, what tremendous advances from the atomic power we -know. The block is acted upon by the cones which cause it to send out -streams of radioactive atoms, throwing them back to the cones that take -them up in turn to hurl them all around the room. - -"Matter is constantly in motion, thanks to the molecules that comprise -it. They keep moving about one another eternally; in the case of -solids, they just about make it. That motion is carried on at a certain -rate of speed. To an extent, you might say it vibrates at a certain -pulse. If the atoms are attuned to that pulse, they feed and nourish. -If the matter vibrates at a different rate than the atoms, the atoms -destroy it. The straps that bound us are gone, but our clothes are -unaffected. Perhaps that's because the things we wear are tuned in -some manner to our own vibratory rate. Maybe it's because what we wear -comes from Earth, and things from Earth have their own peculiar motion. -I'm not sure, yet. But I do know anything that's in this room when the -cones are set at a certain pulse either vibrates in harmony with that -pulse or is wiped out of existence by the atoms that hit it. Like Gunn. -Like the cancer cells that vibrated differently from our otherwise -healthy bodies!" - -"The block," whispered Nichols. "We'll need the block!" - -"Certainly. It's radium, in all probability--perhaps treated in some -manner we don't know of. But we can take it. It'll fit into this box. -The box was made for it. It's lead." - -The doors were opening soundlessly. Warned by eyes upon him, Emerson -whirled and dove for the cone controls. He set a hand on a lever and -turned to face the thing. - -"I don't know whether you can hear me, fella," he grated. "But this -thing is tuned to _our_ bodies now, not yours. We want that block--" -jerking his head toward the shimmering white square, "--to take with -us. If you don't step aside--you die!" - -"Kill him anyhow," whispered Nichols. - -"Yes, you soft fool," snarled Mussdorf through swollen, cut lips from -the floor. "Pull the lever and do away with him." - -Emerson shook his head, still looking at the thing that stood so still -in the doorway, staring back at him. - -"That would be murder. He's an intelligent being. If he doesn't -interfere, he stays alive." - -The black monster turned, and moved off down the corridor. Emerson -exhaled with relief, found his palm wet and sticky. He rubbed it on his -thigh, turning to the others. - -"Snap into it," he barked. "Get off the floor, Mussdorf, and give -Nichols a hand. Lug that leaden box between the cones, beneath the -block. I'm going to release the pressure that keeps it suspended. We -want that block. We need it. We can build the cones and the rings back -on Earth, but there isn't anything like that block anywhere else in all -the Universe!" - - * * * * * - -They worked feverishly, sliding the box across the floor. Emerson -studied the control panels, sweat beading his brow with the effort of -his concentration. He summoned the years of his tutelage under the -world's greatest physicists at Earth University, the years of knowledge -acquired in laboratory and spaceship on Earth and in the great red city -of New Mars. He only had one chance here. It had to be successful. If -he made a mistake, he was like to draw on them the concentrated fury of -a billion annihilating atoms. - -He touched levers hesitantly, frowning; striving to remember the -diagrams etched in metal on the box. Here, this one. This should be it. -He wrapped his fingers carefully about the gleaming white knob, turned -it with infinitesimal slowness, looking at the great white block. He -saw it quiver, settle slowly floorwards. - -"It's in," yelled Nichols, slamming the leaden cover down and locking -it. - -It took the three of them to budge it, to slide it across the floor. - -"Hell," panted Mussdorf. "We'll never make it. Once we get it into the -corridor, that black fiend'll be on top of us again." - -Somehow they got it out of the Chamber, and scraped it along the -corridor. Luckily, the way was level, and the ramp that lead from the -Chamber of the Cones to the great square was smooth. But in the square -they ran into an unsurmountable difficulty. There was no way to lift it -into the spaceship. - -"We can't do it," acknowledged Emerson glumly. "It would take a crane -to lift that." - -Mussdorf kicked at the box, and swore. Nichols ran quivering fingers -through his hair, trembling. - -Then Emerson started to grin. - -"A crane, sure. We have one here, if we can only make it work. The -thing, the black thing. He's as strong as any crane I ever saw!" - -"Think he'll do it?" asked Mussdorf. - -"I can try. Maybe a threat to use the solar blasters on him will do -the trick." - -He really didn't think so, recalling the way the black being had -sidestepped the bolts before; but it was their only hope. He pulled his -two guns and turned; stopped short, staring. - -The black creature was coming down the ramp, slithering his great bulk -toward them. He ignored them, heading directly toward the leaden box. - -Irgi lifted the leaden casket in three of his rippling tentacles, -balancing it. He moved toward the spaceship, thrust the box through the -open door. - -Emerson frowned. He went to the thing, touching it and looking upward -into its eyes. - -The thing looked down at Emerson unblinking. It pointed to the -transparent globe above, then patted Emerson on his wrist with a force -that nearly snapped it. - -"He's going to open the globe for us. He's going to set us free!" - - * * * * * - -Irgi watched the ship twinkle to a glittering dot high in the heavens. -Sadly he turned and moved back along the empty corridors, once again -alone. - -He wished they were still here, even though he never could understand -them. At least they were beings who moved, and talked among themselves, -showed emotions. But what a strange world they came from! A world where -heroes were worshipped, where tall strong statues were built to the -great men of their race. Irgi liked that idea, though it was foreign -to Urg. He rather thought there would be a statue to him, there on -that planet called Earth. Yes, for the beings would tell how Irgi -helped them, how he gave them the white block that would save them from -extinction, even though it meant his own death, eventually. - -Irgi was happy. There was no doubt of it. There would be a fine -statue to him on that distant planet. Irgi, savior of the race called -men. A hero to mankind, to be worshipped. He wished wistfully that -he could have been there to see it. But he was afraid of unleashing -those creatures' terror. They might even have done something rash to -themselves, if he had crowded his bulk into the spacecraft. - -No, it was better this way. - - * * * * * - -And in the spaceship, Emerson and Mussdorf and Nichols squatted over -the leaden casket, commenting on it, copying the alien symbols and -designs for study. - -Emerson frowned thoughtfully, choosing his words. - -"As near as I can judge, it's a form of atomic bombardment of matter. -Suppose its rate of vibration is adjusted to matter _a_. Anything other -than matter _a_, such as foreign substance _b_, is hit so swiftly -and so often by those hurtling atoms that they simply wipe it out of -existence. - -"Back in the twentieth century, they were using just this principle -to cure cancer. They bombarded the cancer with radioactive -atoms--overcrowding the atoms with neutrons beyond their ability to -hold them for very long--and the atoms ate away the cancer. I think -they treated other diseases too, with some success. Goiter, for one. -And, if I recall rightly, the atoms could build up blood cells or -eliminate them. - -"But this block and the cones seem to be the ultimate perfection of -that idea. Maybe atoms possess some degree of intellect, for all we -know. We'll never really be sure. They do have a power of attraction, -and appear to be drawn to the danger spot as though magnetized to it." - -They were silent, thoughtful. - -"Yeah," said Mussdorf at last. "It begins to trickle through. Gunn -wasn't in harmony with that black beast, so he went out of existence -immediately. Gunn was human and the other wasn't." - -Emerson nodded, and his eyes widened. - -"My God!" he whispered. "This block and the cones could make a man -immortal!" - -Mussdorf gagged; laughed suddenly. - -"Then why did that thing let us cart it off right from under its nose? -Why, he even helped us." - -"I wish I knew," muttered Emerson, troubled. "I wish I knew." - -Mussdorf scowled; looked at him sideways, clearing his throat. - -"I'm sorry I went off my nut back there," he mumbled. "The thought -of all the dough this thing was worth sort of slapped me haywire. -Why, just to be free of space cancer, Val--and hell! They'll give us -pensions for this job. I'm sorry." - -"Skip it," said Emerson. "That black thing was enough to make us all -jittery. He seemed a good enough egg, though. But I was a little -disappointed in him. He sure was bluffed when I touched that lever. -Boy, he turned tail fast enough." - -"Maybe he was just what he looked like, Val," murmured Nichols -thoughtfully. "An animal--left by the real builders of the Cones to -turn it over to someone like us, with a use for it." - -"Sure," nodded Mussdorf. "That's what he was. Car's hit it. Just a big -animal who knew enough to work the things, and no more." - - * * * * * - -Irgi was alone, and cold. It would get steadily colder for him, without -the block to feed his body. But Irgi kept smiling. He would be a hero -someday. There would be a statue to him. - -Again he wished that he could see it. But he knew he would never be -happy on Earth. There would always be the fear that the earthmen seemed -to have. To Irgi, it seemed a silly sort of fright, too. They were -always on the verge of harming themselves. As in the Chamber of the -Cones when that one had placed his hand on the lever to loose the fury -of the cones. Why had he done that? And those others urging him to pull -it! Did fear turn those beings into madmen? Didn't they know that they -would have blasted themselves to nothingness? They must have known that -the controls would automatically shift back to his own vibratory rate, -not theirs. The machine had been built for him. In rest, it was tuned -to his pulse. - -He had been afraid for them, and so had gone away, leaving them to -slide the box as best they could. He had meant to carry it for them, -since it was best that a race carry on instead of one lone Urgian. For -Irgi would die without the block. Well, it was like exchanging one form -of immortality for another. But he still wished he could have seen that -statue. - -"_An animal_," said Emerson heavily. "_Well, maybe you're right. Just -an animal, scared of three men. Let's forget him._" - - * * * * * - -Irgi shivered. - -It was growing colder.... - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Monster, by Gardner F. 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