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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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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 Lost Tribes Of Venus - -Author: Erik Fennel - -Release Date: December 1, 2020 [EBook #63932] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS</h1> - -<h2>By ERIK FENNEL</h2> - -<p><i>On mist-shrouded Venus, where hostile<br /> -swamp meets hostile sea ... there did<br /> -Barry Barr—Earthman transmuted—swap<br /> -his Terran heritage for the deep dark<br /> -waters of Tana; for the strangely<br /> -beautiful Xintel of the blue-brown skin.</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories May 1954.<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>Evil luck brought the meteorite to those particular space-time -coordinates as Number Four rode the downhill spiral toward Venus. The -football-sized chunk of nickel-iron and rock overtook the ship at a -relative speed of only a few hundred miles per hour and passed close -enough to come within the tremendous pseudo-gravatic fields of the -idling drivers.</p> - -<p>It swerved into a paraboloid course, following the flux lines, and was -dragged directly against one of the three projecting nozzles. Energy -of motion was converted to heat and a few meteoric fragments fused -themselves to the nonmetallic tube casing.</p> - -<p>In the jet room the positronic line accelerator for that particular -driver fouled under the intolerable overload, and the backsurge sent -searing heat and deadly radiation blasting through the compartment -before the main circuit breakers could clack open.</p> - -<p>The bellow of the alarm horn brought Barry Barr fully awake, shattering -a delightfully intimate dream of the dark haired girl he hoped to see -again soon in Venus Colony. As he unbuckled his bunk straps and started -aft at a floating, bounding run his weightlessness told him instantly -that Number Four was in free fall with dead drivers.</p> - -<p>Red warning lights gleamed wickedly above the safety-locked jet -room door, and Nick Podtiaguine, the air machines specialist, was -manipulating the emergency controls with Captain Reno at his elbow. One -by one the crew crowded into the corridor and watched in tense silence.</p> - -<p>The automatic lock clicked off as the jet room returned to habitable -conditions, and at Captain Reno's gesture two men swung the door open. -Quickly the commander entered the blasted jet room. Barry Barr was -close behind him.</p> - -<p>Robson Hind, jet chief of Four and electronics expert for Venus Colony, -hung back until others had gone in first. His handsome, heavy face had -lost its usual ruddiness.</p> - -<p>Captain Reno surveyed the havoc. Young Ryan's body floated eerily in -the zero gravity, charred into instant death by the back-blast. The -line accelerator was a shapeless ruin, but except for broken meter -glasses and scorched control handles other mechanical damage appeared -minor. They had been lucky.</p> - -<p>"Turnover starts in six hours twelve minutes," the captain said -meaningfully.</p> - -<p>Robson Hind cleared his throat. "We can change accelerators in two -hours," he declared. With a quick reassumption of authority he began to -order his crew into action.</p> - -<p>It took nearer three hours than two to change accelerators despite -Hind's shouted orders.</p> - -<p>At last the job was completed. Hind made a final check, floated over to -the control panel and started the fuel feed. With a confident smile he -threw in the accelerator switch.</p> - -<p>The meter needles climbed, soared past the red lines without pausing, -and just in time to prevent a second blowback, Hind cut the power.</p> - -<p>"<i>There's metal in the field!</i>" His voice was high and unsteady.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Everyone knew what that meant. The slightest trace of magnetic material -would distort the delicately balanced cylinder of force that contained -and directed the Hoskins blast, making it suicidal to operate.</p> - -<p>Calmly Captain Reno voiced the thought in every mind.</p> - -<p>"It must be cleared. From the outside."</p> - -<p>Several of the men swore under their breaths. Interplanetary space -was constantly bombarded, with an intensity inverse to the prevailing -gravitation, by something called Sigma radiation. Man had never -encountered it until leaving Earth, and little was known of it -except that short exposure killed test animals and left their bodies -unpredictably altered.</p> - -<p>Inside the ship it was safe enough, for the sleek hull was charged with -a Kendall power-shield, impervious to nearly any Sigma concentration. -But the shielding devices in the emergency spacesuits were small -and had never been space-tested in a region of nearly equalized -gravitations.</p> - -<p>The man who emerged from the airlock would be flipping a coin with a -particularly unpleasant form of death.</p> - -<p>Many pairs of eyes turned toward Robson Hind. He was jet chief.</p> - -<p>"I'm assigned, not expendable," he protested hastily. "If there were -more trouble later...." His face was pasty.</p> - -<p>Assigned. That was the key word. Barry Barr felt a lump tightening -in his stomach as the eyes shifted to him. He had some training in -Hoskins drivers. He knew alloys and power tools. And he was riding Four -unassigned after that broken ankle had made him miss Three. He was the -logical man.</p> - -<p>"For the safety of the ship." That phrase, taken from the ancient -Earthbound code of the sea, had occurred repeatedly in the -indoctrination manual at Training Base. He remembered it, and -remembered further the contingent plans regarding assigned and -unassigned personnel.</p> - -<p>For a moment he stood indecisively, the nervous, unhumorous smile -quirking across his angular face making him look more like an untried -boy than a structural engineer who had fought his way up through some -of the toughest tropical construction camps of Earth. His lean body, -built more for quick, neatly coordinated action than brute power, -balanced handily in the zero gravity as he ran one hand through his -sandy hair in a gesture of uncertainty.</p> - -<p>He knew that not even the captain would order him through the airlock.</p> - -<p>But the members of the Five Ship Plan had been selected in part for a -sense of responsibility.</p> - -<p>"Nick, will you help me button up?" he asked with forced calmness.</p> - -<p>For an instant he thought he detected a sly gleam in Hind's eyes. But -then the jet chief was pressing forward with the others to shake his -hand.</p> - -<p>Rebellious reluctance flared briefly in Barry's mind. Dorothy Voorhees -had refused to make a definite promise before blasting off in Three—in -fact he hadn't even seen her during her last few days on Earth. But -still he felt he had the inside track despite Hind's money and the -brash assurance that went with it. But if Hind only were to reach Venus -alive—</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The blazing disc of Sol, the minor globes of the planets, the unwinking -pinpoints of the stars, all stared with cosmic disinterest at the tiny -figure crawling along the hull. His spacesuit trapped and amplified -breathing and heartbeats into a roaring chaos that was an invitation -to blind panic, and all the while there was consciousness of the -insidiously deadly Sigma radiations.</p> - -<p>Barry found the debris of the meteorite, an ugly shining splotch -against the dull superceramic tube, readied his power chisel, started -cutting. Soon it became a tedious, torturingly strenuous manual task -requiring little conscious thought, and Barry's mind touched briefly on -the events that had brought him here.</p> - -<p>First Luna, and that had been murderous. Man had encountered Sigma -for the first time, and many had died before the Kendall-shield was -perfected. And the chemical-fueled rockets of those days had been -inherently poor.</p> - -<p>Hoskins semi-atomics had made possible the next step—to Mars. But men -had found Mars barren, swept clear of all life in the cataclysm that -had shattered the trans-Martian planet to form the Asteroid Belt.</p> - -<p>Venus, its true surface forever hidden by enshrouding mists, had been -well within one-way range. But Hoskins fuel requirements for a round -trip added up to something beyond critical mass. Impossible.</p> - -<p>But the Five Ship Plan had evolved, a joint enterprise of government -and various private groups. Five vessels were to go out, each fueled -to within a whiskered neutron of spontaneous detonation, manned by -specialists who, it was hoped, could maintain themselves under alien -conditions.</p> - -<p>On Venus the leftover fuel from all five would be transferred to -whichever ship had survived the outbound voyage in best condition. -That one would return to Earth. Permanent base or homeward voyage with -colonists crowded aboard like defeated sardines? Only time would tell.</p> - -<p>Barry Barr had volunteered, and because the enlightened guesses of the -experts called for men and women familiar with tropical conditions, -he had survived the rigorous weeding-out process. His duties in Venus -Colony would be to refabricate the discarded ships into whatever form -was most needed—most particularly a launching ramp—and to study -native Venusian materials.</p> - -<p>Dorothy Voorhees had signed on as toxicologist and dietician. When the -limited supply of Earth food ran out the Colony would be forced to -rely upon Venusian plants and animals. She would guard against subtle -delayed-action poisons, meanwhile devising ways of preparing Venusian -materials to suit Earth tastes and digestions.</p> - -<p>Barry had met her at Training Base and known at once that his years of -loneliness had come to an end.</p> - -<p>She seemed utterly independent, self-contained, completely intellectual -despite her beauty, but Barry had not been deceived. From the moment -of first meeting he had sensed within her deep springs of suppressed -emotion, and he had understood. He too had come up the hard way, alone, -and been forced to develop a shell of hardness and cold, single-minded -devotion to his work. Gradually, often unwillingly under his -insistence, her aloofness had begun to melt.</p> - -<p>But Robson Hind too had been attracted. He was the only son of the -business manager of the great Hoskins Corporation which carried -a considerable share in the Five Ship Plan. Dorothy's failure to -virtually fall into his arms had only piqued his desires.</p> - -<p>The man's smooth charm had fascinated the girl and his money had opened -to her an entirely new world of lavish nightclubs and extravagantly -expensive entertainments, but her inborn shrewdness had sensed some -factor in his personality that had made her hesitate.</p> - -<p>Barry had felt a distrust of Hind apart from the normal dislike of -rivalry. He had looked forward to being with Dorothy aboard Three, and -had made no secret of his satisfaction when Hind's efforts to have -himself transferred to Three also or the girl to Four had failed.</p> - -<p>But then a scaffold had slipped while Three was being readied, and with -a fractured ankle he had been forced to miss the ship.</p> - -<p>He unclipped the magnetic detector from his belt and ran it inch by -inch over the nozzle. He found one spot of metal, pinhead-sized, but -enough to cause trouble, and once more swung his power chisel into -stuttering action.</p> - -<p>Then it was done.</p> - -<p>As quickly as possible he inched back to the airlock. Turnover had to -start according to calculations.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry opened his eyes. The ship was in normal deceleration and Nick -Podtiaguine was watching him from a nearby bunk.</p> - -<p>"I could eat a cow with the smallpox," Barry declared.</p> - -<p>Nick grinned. "No doubt. You slept around the clock and more. Nice job -of work out there."</p> - -<p>Barry unhitched his straps and sat up.</p> - -<p>"Say," he asked anxiously. "What's haywire with the air?"</p> - -<p>Nick looked startled. "Nothing. Everything checked out when I came off -watch a few minutes ago."</p> - -<p>Barry shrugged. "Probably just me. Guess I'll go see if I can mooch a -handout."</p> - -<p>He found himself a hero. The cook was ready to turn the galley inside -out while a radio engineer and an entomologist hovered near to wait on -him. But he couldn't enjoy the meal. The sensations of heat and dryness -he had noticed on awakening grew steadily worse. It became difficult to -breathe.</p> - -<p>He started to rise, and abruptly the room swirled and darkened around -him. Even as he sank into unconsciousness he knew the answer.</p> - -<p>The suit's Kendall-shield had leaked!</p> - -<p>Four plunged toward Venus tail first, the Hoskins jets flaring ahead. -The single doctor for the Colony had gone out in Two and the crewmen -trained in first aid could do little to relieve Barry's distress. -Fainting spells alternated with fever and delirium and an unquenchable -thirst. His breathing became increasingly difficult.</p> - -<p>A few thousand miles out Four picked up a microbeam. A feeling of -exultation surged through the ship as Captain Reno passed the word, for -the beam meant that some Earthmen were alive upon Venus. They were not -necessarily diving straight toward oblivion. Barry, sick as he was, -felt the thrill of the unknown world that lay ahead.</p> - -<p>Into a miles-thick layer of opacity Four roared, with Captain Reno -himself jockeying throttles to keep it balanced on its self-created -support of flame.</p> - -<p>"You're almost in," a voice chanted into his headphones through -crackling, sizzling static. "Easy toward spherical one-thirty. Hold it! -Lower. Lower. CUT YOUR POWER!"</p> - -<p>The heavy hull dropped sickeningly, struck with a mushy thud, settled, -steadied.</p> - -<p>Barry was weak, but with Nick Podtiaguine steadying him he was waiting -with the others when Captain Reno gave the last order.</p> - -<p>"Airlock open. Both doors."</p> - -<p>Venusian air poured in.</p> - -<p>"For this I left Panama?" one of the men yelped.</p> - -<p>"Enough to gag a maggot," another agreed with hand to nose.</p> - -<p>It was like mid-summer noon in a tropical mangrove swamp, hot and -unbearably humid and overpowering with the stench of decaying -vegetation.</p> - -<p>But Barry took one deep breath, then another. The stabbing needles in -his chest blunted, and the choking band around his throat loosened.</p> - -<p>The outer door swung wide. He blinked, and a shift in the encompassing -vapors gave him his first sight of a world bathed in subdued light.</p> - -<p>Four had landed in a marsh with the midships lock only a few feet above -a quagmire surface still steaming from the final rocket blast. Nearby -the identical hulls of Two and Three stood upright in the mud. The -mist shifted again and beyond the swamp he could see the low, rounded -outlines of the collapsible buildings Two and Three had carried in -their cargo pits. They were set on a rock ledge rising a few feet out -of the marsh. The Colony!</p> - -<p>Men were tossing sections of lattice duckboard out upon the swamp, -extending a narrow walkway toward Four's airlock, and within a few -minutes the new arrivals were scrambling down.</p> - -<p>Barry paid little attention to the noisy greetings and excited talk. -Impatiently he trotted toward the rock ledge, searching for one -particular figure among the men and women who waited.</p> - -<p>"Dorothy!" he said fervently.</p> - -<p>Then his arms were around her and she was responding to his kiss.</p> - -<p>Then unexpected pain tore at his chest. Her lovely face took on an -expression of fright even as it wavered and grew dim. The last thing he -saw was Robson Hind looming beside her.</p> - -<p>By the glow of an overhead tubelight he recognized the kindly, deeply -lined features of the man bending over him. Dr. Carl Jensen, specialist -in tropical diseases. He tried to sit up but the doctor laid a -restraining hand on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Water!" Barry croaked.</p> - -<p>The doctor held out a glass. Then his eyes widened incredulously as his -patient deliberately drew in a breath while drinking, sucking water -directly into his lungs.</p> - -<p>"Doctor," he asked, keeping his voice low to spare his throat. "What -are my chances? On the level."</p> - -<p>Dr. Jensen shook his head thoughtfully. "There's not a thing—not a -damned solitary thing—I can do. It's something new to medical science."</p> - -<p>Barry lay still.</p> - -<p>"Your body is undergoing certain radical changes," the doctor -continued, "and you know as much—more about your condition than I do. -If a normal person who took water into his lungs that way didn't die of -a coughing spasm, congestive pneumonia would get him sure. But it seems -to give you relief."</p> - -<p>Barry scratched his neck, where a thickened, darkening patch on each -side itched infuriatingly.</p> - -<p>"What are these changes?" he asked. "What's this?"</p> - -<p>"Those things seem to be—" the doctor began hesitantly. "Damn it, I -know it sounds crazy but they're rudimentary gills."</p> - -<p>Barry accepted the outrageous statement unemotionally. He was beyond -shock.</p> - -<p>"But there must be—"</p> - -<p>Pain struck again, so intense his body twisted and arched -involuntarily. Then the prick of a needle brought merciful oblivion.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>Barry's mind was working furiously. The changes the Sigma radiations -had inflicted upon his body might reverse themselves spontaneously, Dr. -Jensen had mentioned during a second visit—but for that to happen he -must remain alive. That meant easing all possible strains.</p> - -<p>When the doctor came in again Barry asked him to find Nick Podtiaguine. -Within a few minutes the mechanic appeared.</p> - -<p>"Cheez, it's good to see you, Barry," he began.</p> - -<p>"Stuff it," the sick man interrupted. "I want favors. Can do?"</p> - -<p>Nick nodded vigorously.</p> - -<p>"First cut that air conditioner and get the window open."</p> - -<p>Nick stared as though he were demented, but obeyed, unbolting the heavy -plastic window panel and lifting it aside. He made a face at the damp, -malodorous Venusian air but to Barry it brought relief.</p> - -<p>It was not enough, but it indicated he was on the right track. And he -was not an engineer for nothing.</p> - -<p>"Got a pencil?" he asked.</p> - -<p>He drew only a rough sketch, for Nick was far too competent to need -detailed drawings.</p> - -<p>"Think you can get materials?"</p> - -<p>Nick glanced at the sketch. "Hell, man, for you I can get anything the -Colony has. You saved Four and everybody knows it."</p> - -<p>"Two days?"</p> - -<p>Nick looked insulted.</p> - -<p>He was back in eight hours, and with him came a dozen helpers. A -power line and water tube were run through the metal partition to the -corridor, connections were made, and the machine Barry had sketched was -ready.</p> - -<p>Nick flipped the switch. The thing whined shrilly. From a fanshaped -nozzle came innumerable droplets of water, droplets of colloidal size -that hung in the air and only slowly coalesced into larger drops that -fell toward the metal floor.</p> - -<p>Barry nodded, a smile beginning to spread across his drawn features.</p> - -<p>"Perfect. Now put the window back."</p> - -<p>Outside lay the unknown world of Venus, and an open, unguarded window -might invite disaster.</p> - -<p>A few hours later Dr. Jensen found his patient in a normal sleep. The -room was warm and the air was so filled with water-mist it was almost -liquid. Coalescing drops dripped from the walls and curving ceiling -and furniture, from the half clad body of the sleeping man, and the -scavenger pump made greedy gulping sounds as it removed excess water -from the floor.</p> - -<p>The doctor shook his head as he backed out, his clothes clinging wet -from the short exposure.</p> - -<p>It was abnormal.</p> - -<p>But so was Barry Barr.</p> - -<p>With breathing no longer a continuous agony Barry began to recover some -of his strength. But for several days much of his time was spent in -sleep and Dorothy Voorhees haunted his dreams.</p> - -<p>Whenever he closed his eyes he could see her as clearly as though -she were with him—her face with the exotic high cheek-bones—her -eyes a deep gray in fascinating contrast to her raven hair—lips that -seemed to promise more of giving than she had ever allowed herself to -fulfil—her incongruously pert, humorous little nose that was a legacy -from some venturesome Irishman—her slender yet firmly lithe body.</p> - -<p>After a few days Dr. Jensen permitted him to have visitors. They came -in a steady stream, the people from Four and men he had not seen since -Training Base days, and although none could endure his semi-liquid -atmosphere more than a few minutes at a time Barry enjoyed their visits.</p> - -<p>But the person for whom he waited most anxiously did not arrive. At -each knock Barry's heart would leap, and each time he settled back with -a sigh of disappointment. Days passed and still Dorothy did not come -to him. He could not go to her, and stubborn pride kept him from even -inquiring. All the while he was aware of Robson Hind's presence in the -Colony, and only weakness kept him from pacing his room like a caged -animal.</p> - -<p>Through his window he could see nothing but the gradual brightening -and darkening of the enveloping fog as the slow 82-hour Venusian day -progressed, but from his visitors' words he learned something of -Venusian conditions and the story of the Colony.</p> - -<p>Number One had bumbled in on visual, the pilot depending on the smeary -images of infra-sight goggles. An inviting grassy plain had proved to -be a layer of algae floating on quicksand. Frantically the crew had -blasted down huge balsa-like marsh trees, cutting up the trunks with -flame guns to make crude rafts. They had performed fantastic feats of -strength and endurance but managed to salvage only half their equipment -before the shining nose of One had vanished in the gurgling ooze.</p> - -<p>Lost in a steaming, stinking marsh teeming with alien creatures that -slithered and crawled and swam and flew, blinded by the eternal fog, -the crew had proved the rightness of their choice as pioneers. For -weeks they had floundered across the deadly terrain until at last, -beside a stagnant-looking slough that drained sluggishly into a warm, -almost tideless sea a mile away, they had discovered an outcropping of -rock. It was the only solid ground they had encountered.</p> - -<p>One man had died, his swamp suit pierced by a poisonous thorn, but the -others had hand-hauled the radio beacon piece by piece and set it up -in time to guide Two to a safe landing. Houses had been assembled, the -secondary power units of the spaceship put to work, and the colony had -established a tenuous foothold.</p> - -<p>Three had landed beside Two a few months later, bringing -reinforcements, but the day-by-day demands of the little colony's -struggle for survival had so far been too pressing to permit extended -or detailed explorations. Venus remained a planet of unsolved mysteries.</p> - -<p>The helicopter brought out in Three had made several flights which -by radar and sound reflection had placed vague outlines on the blank -maps. The surface appeared to be half water, with land masses mainly -jungle-covered swamp broken by a few rocky ledges, but landings away -from base had been judged too hazardous.</p> - -<p>Test borings from the ledge had located traces of oil and radioactive -minerals, while enough Venusian plants had proven edible to provide an -adequate though monotonous food source.</p> - -<p>Venus was the diametric opposite of lifeless Mars. Through the fog -gigantic insects hummed and buzzed like lost airplanes, but fortunately -they were harmless and timid.</p> - -<p>In the swamps wildly improbable life forms grew and reproduced and -fought and died, and many of those most harmless in appearance -possessed surprisingly venomous characteristics.</p> - -<p>The jungle had been flamed away in a huge circle around the colony to -minimize the chances of surprise by anything that might attack, but the -blasting was an almost continuous process. The plants of Venus grew -with a vigor approaching fury.</p> - -<p>Most spectacular of the Venusian creatures were the amphibious armored -monsters, saurian or semi-saurians with a slight resemblance to the -brontosauri that had once lived on Earth, massive swamp-dwellers that -used the slough beside the colony's ledge as a highway. They were -apparently vegetarians, but thorough stupidity in tremendous bulk made -them dangerous. One had damaged a building by blundering against it, -and since then the colony had remained alert, using weapons to repel -the beasts.</p> - -<p>The most important question—that of the presence or absence of -intelligent, civilized Venusians—remained unanswered. Some of the men -reported a disquieting feeling of being watched, particularly when near -open water, but others argued that any intelligent creatures would have -established contact.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry developed definite external signs of what the Sigma radiation had -done to him. The skin between his fingers and toes spread, grew into -membranous webs. The swellings in his neck became more pronounced and -dark parallel lines appeared.</p> - -<p>But despite the doctor's pessimistic reports that the changes had not -stopped, Barry continued to tell himself he was recovering. He had -to believe and keep on believing to retain sanity in the face of the -weird, unclassifiable feelings that surged through his body. Still -he was subject to fits of almost suicidal depression, and Dorothy's -failure to visit him did not help his mental condition.</p> - -<p>Then one day he woke from a nap and thought he was still dreaming. -Dorothy was leaning over him.</p> - -<p>"Barry! Barry!" she whispered. "I can't help it. I love you even if you -do have a wife and child in Philadelphia. I know it's wrong but all -that seems so far away it doesn't matter any more." Tears glistened in -her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Huh?" he grunted. "Who? Me?"</p> - -<p>"Please, Barry, don't lie. She wrote to me before Three blasted -off—oh, the most piteous letter!"</p> - -<p>Barry was fully awake now. "I'm not married. I have no child. -I've never been in Philadelphia," he shouted. His lips thinned. -"I—think—I—know—who—wrote—that—letter!" he declared grimly.</p> - -<p>"Robson wouldn't!" she objected, shocked, but there was a note of doubt -in her voice.</p> - -<p>Then she was in his arms, sobbing openly.</p> - -<p>"I believe you, Barry."</p> - -<p>She stayed with him for hours, and she had changed since the days -at Training Base. Long months away from the patterned restraints of -civilization, living each day on the edge of unknown perils, had -awakened in her the realization that she was a human being and a -woman, as well as a toxicologist.</p> - -<p>When the water-mist finally forced her departure she left Barry joyous -and confident of his eventual recovery. For a few minutes anger -simmered in his brain as he contemplated the pleasure of rearranging -Robson Hind's features.</p> - -<p>The accident with the scaffold had been remarkably convenient, but -this time the ruthless, restless, probably psychopathic drive that had -made Robson Hind more than just another rich man's spoiled son had -carried him too far. Barry wondered whether it had been inefficiency or -judiciously distributed money that had made the psychometrists overlook -some undesirable traits in Hind's personality in accepting him for the -Five Ship Plan.</p> - -<p>But even with his trickery Hind had lost.</p> - -<p>He slept, and woke with a feeling of doom.</p> - -<p>The slow Venusian twilight had ended in blackness and the overhead -tubelight was off.</p> - -<p>He sat up, and apprehension gave way to burning torture in his chest.</p> - -<p>Silence! He fumbled for the light switch, then knelt beside the mist -machine that no longer hummed. Power and water supplies were both dead, -cut off outside his room.</p> - -<p>Floating droplets were merging and falling to the floor. Soon the air -would be dry, and he would be choking and strangling. He turned to call -for help.</p> - -<p>The door was locked!</p> - -<p>He tugged and the knob came away in his hand. The retaining screw had -been removed.</p> - -<p>He beat upon the panel, first with his fists and then with the metal -doorknob, but the insulation between the double alloy sheets was -efficient soundproofing. Furiously he hurled himself upon it, only to -bounce back with a bruised shoulder. He was trapped.</p> - -<p>Working against time and eventual death he snatched a metal chair -and swung with all his force at the window, again, again, yet again. -A small crack appeared in the transparent plastic, branched under -continued hammering, became a rough star. He gathered his waning -strength, then swung once more. The tough plastic shattered.</p> - -<p>He tugged at the jagged pieces still clinging to the frame. Fog-laden -Venusian air poured in—but it was not enough!</p> - -<p>He dragged himself head first through the narrow opening, landed -sprawling on hands and knees in the darkness. In his ears a confused -rustling drone from the alien swamp mingled with the roar of -approaching unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>There was a smell in his nostrils. The smell of water. He lurched -forward at a shambling run, stumbling over the uneven ground.</p> - -<p>Then he plunged from the rocky ledge into the slough. Flashes of -colored light flickered before his eyes as he went under. But Earth -habits were still strong; instinctively he held his breath.</p> - -<p>Then he fainted. Voluntary control of his body vanished. His mouth hung -slack and the breathing reflex that had been an integral part of his -life since the moment of birth forced him to inhale.</p> - -<p>Bubbles floated upward and burst. Then Barry Barr was lying in the ooze -of the bottom. And he was breathing, extracting vital oxygen from the -brackish, silt-clouded water.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>Slowly his racing heartbeat returned to normal. Gradually he became -aware of the stench of decaying plants and of musky taints he knew -instinctively were the scents of underwater animals. Then with a shock -the meaning became clear. He had become a water-breather, cut off from -all other Earthmen, no longer entirely human. His fellows in the colony -were separated from him now by a gulf more absolute than the airless -void between Earth and Venus.</p> - -<p>Something slippery and alive touched him near one armpit. He opened -his eyes in the black water and his groping hand clutched something -burrowing into his skin. With a shudder of revulsion he crushed a fat -worm between his fingers.</p> - -<p>Then dozens of them—hundreds—were upon him from all sides. He was -wearing only a pair of khaki pants but the worms ignored his chest to -congregate around his face, intent on attacking the tender skin of his -eyelids.</p> - -<p>For a minute his flailing hands fought them off, but they came in -increasing numbers and clung like leeches. Pain spread as they bit and -burrowed, and blindly he began to swim.</p> - -<p>Faster and faster. He could sense the winding banks of the slough and -kept to midchannel, swimming with his eyes tightly closed. One by one -the worms dropped off.</p> - -<p>He stopped, opened his eyes, not on complete darkness this time but on -a faint blue-green luminescence from far below. The water was saltier -here, and clearer.</p> - -<p>He had swum down the slough and out into the ocean. He tried to turn -back, obsessed by a desire to be near the colony even though he -could not go ashore without strangling, but he had lost all sense of -direction.</p> - -<p>He was still weak and his lungs were not completely adjusted to -underwater life. Again he grew dizzy and faint. The slow movements of -hands and feet that held him just below the surface grew feeble and -ceased. He sank.</p> - -<p>Down into dimly luminous water he dropped, and with his respiratory -system completely water-filled there was no sensation of pressure. At -last he floated gently to the bottom and lay motionless.</p> - -<p>Shouting voices awakened him, an exultant battle cry cutting through a -gasping scream of anguish. Streaks of bright orange light were moving -toward him in a twisting pattern. At the head of each trail was a -figure. A human figure that weaved and swam in deadly moving combat. -One figure drifted limply bottomward.</p> - -<p>Hallucination, Barry told himself. Then one of the figures broke from -the group. Almost overhead it turned sharply downward and the feet -moved in a powerful flutter-kick. A slender spear aimed directly at the -Earthman.</p> - -<p>Barry threw himself aside. The spear point plunged deep into the -sticky, yielding bottom and Barry grappled with its wielder.</p> - -<p>Pointed fingernails raked his cheek. Barry's balled fist swung -in a roundhouse blow but water resistance slowed the punch to -ineffectiveness. The creature only shook its head and came in kicking -and clawing.</p> - -<p>Barry braced his feet against the bottom and leaped. His head butted -the attacker's chest and at the same instant he lashed a short jab to -the creature's belly. It slumped momentarily, its face working.</p> - -<p>Human—or nearly so—the thing was, with a stocky, powerful body and -webbed hands and feet. A few scraps of clothing, seemingly worn more -for ornament than covering, clung to the fishbelly-white skin. The face -was coarse and savage.</p> - -<p>It shook off the effects of Barry's punch and one webbed hand snatched -a short tube from its belt.</p> - -<p>Barry remembered the spring-opening knife in his pocket, and even as -he flicked the blade out the tube-weapon fired. Sound thrummed in the -water and the water grew milky with a myriad of bubbles. Something -zipped past his head, uncomfortably close.</p> - -<p>Then Barry struck, felt his knife slice flesh and grate against bone. -He struck again even as the undersea being screamed and went limp.</p> - -<p>Barry stared through the reddening water.</p> - -<p>Another figure plunged toward him. Barry jerked the dead Venusian's -spear from the mud and raised it defensively.</p> - -<p>But the figure paid no attention. This one was a female who fled -desperately from two men closing in from opposite sides. One threw his -spear, using an odd pushing motion, and as she checked and dodged, the -other was upon her from behind.</p> - -<p>One arm went around her neck in a strangler's hold, bending her slender -body backward. Together captor and struggling captive sank toward the -bottom. The other recovered his thrown spear and moved in to help -secure her arms and legs with lengths of cord.</p> - -<p>One scooped up the crossbow the girl had dropped. The other ripped at -her brief skirt and from her belt took a pair of tubes like the one the -dead Venusian had fired at Barry, handling them as though they were -loot of the greatest value. He jerked cruelly at the slender metallic -necklace the girl wore but it did not break.</p> - -<p>He punched the helpless girl in the abdomen with the butt of his spear. -The girl writhed but she did not attempt to cry out.</p> - -<p>Barry bounded toward them in a series of soaring leaps, knife and spear -ready. One Venusian turned to meet him, grinning maliciously.</p> - -<p>Barry dug one foot into the bottom and sidestepped a spear thrust. His -own lunge missed completely. Then he and the Venusian were inside each -other's spear points, chest to chest. A pointed hook strapped to the -inside of the creature's wrist just missed Barry's throat. The Earthman -arched his body backward and his knife flashed upward. The creature -gasped and pulled away, clutching with both hands at a gaping wound in -its belly.</p> - -<p>The other one turned too late as Barry leaped.</p> - -<p>Barry's hilt cracked against its jawbone.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry bent over the girl and realized with a start that she was -different.</p> - -<p>Her skin was a strange blue-brown. Her features were delicate, -intelligent, very different from the savage faces of the males he had -battled. Her dark hair grew further down the back of her neck than was -customary on Earth, forming a short, silky mane between her shoulder -blades.</p> - -<p>She was slender of body, except that the muscles running down her sides -from armpit to waist were amazingly well developed. Her high-set, -compactly pointed breasts were uncovered, and he could see that any -sort of upper clothing would interfere with full use of those unusual -swimming muscles. Her skirt was short and close-fitting.</p> - -<p>Her eyes, though, were filled with hatred, defiance, terror.</p> - -<p>"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, hoping his tone would convey the -meaning.</p> - -<p>She seemed more puzzled than grateful as he slid the knife gently -between her ankles to sever the binding cords, and she shrank under his -touch as he rolled her over to reach her wrists.</p> - -<p>"There you are," he said, and started to straighten up.</p> - -<p>Something struck him from above and many hands clutched at him. Within -seconds he was flat in the mud. Two Venusians held each arm and leg.</p> - -<p>Another stood over him with spear poised.</p> - -<p>But the girl shouted and grasped the spearman's arm.</p> - -<p>The girl spoke with rapid urgency, pointing from Barry to her erstwhile -captors.</p> - -<p>Barry could not believe his ears. The sounds were familiar. He could -even understand a word here and there, and in these entirely alien -surroundings the effect was eerie.</p> - -<p>A Venusian looked at the pink clouds of diluted blood rising from the -bodies, then gazed apprehensively up into the dimness overhead.</p> - -<p>"Kill him quickly and let us go," he suggested. "The torvaks will soon -come."</p> - -<p>The girl turned upon him. "He lives!" she snapped. "From what yort he -comes I know not, but assuredly he is no noru!"</p> - -<p>Although his right arm was pinioned Barry still clutched his knife. -Now the girl stooped and touched his fist without attempting to pry it -open. Barry surrendered the weapon.</p> - -<p>The men allowed him to sit up, but they remained wary. Meanwhile the -girl was examining the knife with intense interest.</p> - -<p>Barry smiled at her, and being careful to make no sudden motions that -might be misinterpreted he held out his hand. Hesitantly she laid the -knife on his palm while around him his guards raised their spears and -crossbows.</p> - -<p>He closed the blade. Then, showing her exactly how it was done, he -pressed the button that let the five-inch blade snick out. Repeating -the demonstration, he handed it back with a gesture indicating it was a -gift.</p> - -<p>The girl smiled and spoke to him, and although most of her words were -unintelligible he gathered she was asking if he wanted to accompany -them. Emphatically he nodded, overcome with a sudden dread of being -left alone on the sea bottom.</p> - -<p>Her suggestion created consternation among the others.</p> - -<p>"We must consult Komso," one suggested uneasily.</p> - -<p>The girl frowned. "We do not consult Komso," she contradicted. "I take -full responsibility."</p> - -<p>The man shrugged. "Let us go before the torvaks come," he evaded.</p> - -<p>Weapons were slung for carrying and the band leaped from the bottom -and began swimming. Barry followed, keeping close beside the girl.</p> - -<p>Although he relied more on power than skill he found himself able to -maintain their fast pace. He soon caught the knack of using the webs -between his fingers and toes.</p> - -<p>And muscles trained under Earth gravity and without water support -seemed superior to those of the Venusians.</p> - -<p>The men talked as they swam, and Barry remembered where he had heard -those particular combinations of sounds before.</p> - -<p>A construction job had once taken him to an almost inaccessible -mountain section of Mexico and there he had picked up a few words of -the dialect used by the native Indian laborers. Aztec? Incan? Mayan? -Something predating all three? He had no idea of its origin, but the -similarity opened astounding trails of speculation.</p> - -<p>The girl, he learned from hearing the others address her, was named -Xintel.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>An undersea cliff loomed craggy and irregular ahead. As the group -slanted up toward a black hole in its face the voices of the men took -on tones of happy relief.</p> - -<p>But the girl was frowning.</p> - -<p>The group which had held together compactly during the long swim broke -up, each man heading for the cave mouth at top speed. Barry saw that -huge boulders had been piled one upon another to narrow the entrance -until not more than three abreast could pass.</p> - -<p>Xintel motioned to Barry to stay close behind her. She seemed to be -anticipating trouble.</p> - -<p>It came as they started to enter. A huge, bull-necked man with a well -fed appearance in marked contrast to the lean muscularity of the other -Venusians, stepped out and barred their passage, arms outflung. Heavy -glittering bracelets jangled on his wrists. Something in the contrived -melodrama of his gestures told Barry that unseen eyes were watching -from the darkness.</p> - -<p>"Xintel! What is this thing you bring to the portal of Tana?" the man -asked harshly.</p> - -<p>The girl stood her ground. "He comes with me!"</p> - -<p>"He's an alien. He must die!" The man's tone was arrogant.</p> - -<p>Xintel stiffened angrily. "He will not be killed, Komso. He is not a -noru."</p> - -<p>Komso's face reddened angrily. "But he is—" he began, and then stopped -abruptly.</p> - -<p>"You would take this one, then, into Tana itself?" His voice conveyed -the impression that such a course was unheard of.</p> - -<p>The girl nodded, motioning Barry to follow.</p> - -<p>"Sacrilege! Offspring of a blasphemer!" Komso shouted.</p> - -<p>Xintel did not pause.</p> - -<p>Komso motioned and someone in the dark tunnel behind him placed a -loaded crossbow in his hands. He swung the weapon to cover the Earthman.</p> - -<p>"Over my dead body shall this alien thing enter Tana," he snarled.</p> - -<p>Barry stood motionless and helpless, trying to conceal his fear.</p> - -<p>Xintel's voice was coldly defiant. "So be it, then. Over your dead -body, if you insist."</p> - -<p>With a movement of feline grace and speed she snatched a tube-weapon -from her belt. She was bluffing. Barry had seen the savages who had -captured her test the weapons and find them unloaded. But Komso had not.</p> - -<p>His face grew pale but his slitted eyes glared murder. "You bring your -own death. I tried only to save you from the consequences of your -folly."</p> - -<p>He turned and swam into the opening.</p> - -<p>Xintel did not allow herself the vestige of a smile. Instead she -grabbed Barry's wrist and pulled him after her into the black hole. In -the darkness she passed him his knife.</p> - -<p>The passage was several hundred yards long but the girl guided him -unerringly around its turns. The Earthman's nerves were jangling.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>They rounded a sharp bend and Barry gasped at the vista before him. The -passage opened into a tremendous cavern.</p> - -<p>Far below on the bowl-shaped floor sprawled a town composed of -cylindrical houses higher than they were wide, scattered in an -irregular pattern.</p> - -<p>He looked upward for the source of the cold yellow light flooding -everything, and a few yards above his head lay a flat silvery plane. -Just below it the water glowed, like the phosphorescence that -microscopic life forms cause in the tropic seas of Earth—but a -thousand times brighter.</p> - -<p>The men from Xintel's group had taken no part in her altercation -with Komso save to watch in uneasy silence. Now they were scattering -downward toward the houses. Nearly all had been joined by waiting -women, but Barry saw two women swimming pitifully and dejectedly alone. -The battle into which he had been precipitated had not been without its -casualties.</p> - -<p>He stared about as Xintel led him in a long dive. On the bottom were -trees—he had no other name for them—with stiff trunks and snake-like -branches supported by air-filled knobs.</p> - -<p>Their pale leaves were covered with minute bubbles that gave them a -frosty appearance despite the warmth of the water.</p> - -<p>There were no streets or paths between the cylindrical houses, but in -small areas around the entrances the bright varicolored seaweed-moss -had been worn away by Venusian feet.</p> - -<p>A few Venusians eyed them in curiosity as they swam downward, but none -approached.</p> - -<p>They touched bottom beside one of the houses. Xintel pushed aside -a curtain covering the circular doorway. Barry saw the house was -constructed by training and grafting a number of the large trees -until they intertwined. Its foundations were the roots that clung to -irregularities in the rocks.</p> - -<p>There were no windows, and for a moment after the girl let the curtain -fall into place it was pitch black. Then suddenly the circular room was -brilliantly lighted.</p> - -<p>From the ceiling hung a globe a foot in diameter, the translucent -floatation chamber of some subaqueous plant. It was spinning at the end -of a twisted cord, the luminous milky fluid it contained stirred by the -motion.</p> - -<p>Xintel sighed wearily and hung up her crossbow. Then with a graceful -leap she vanished through a hatchway in the ceiling.</p> - -<p>She returned, floating down with a pair of pronged darts and a small -round box with bubbles dribbling upward in a steady stream through the -perforated lid. She opened it and, with a fingertip, smeared a dab of -vermilion paste on the base of each dart. Then she pushed the missiles -base first into her tube-weapons, twisting them until a latch caught.</p> - -<p>Her weapons prepared, the girl turned back to the Earthman and made the -universal gesture of eating. Barry had no idea how long it had been -since he had eaten, and for the first time since the Sigma sickness -began he was really hungry. He nodded.</p> - -<p>She leaped upward and he followed her to a second windowless room above -the first, then up through another hatchway to a third. This was the -top of the house, for through an opening in the flat roof he could look -up into open water. Several baskets, woven of strips of undersea wood -and equipped with close-fitting lids, stood along the wall. In a wooden -cage a few dozen strange fish swam sluggishly.</p> - -<p>With her bare hands Xintel caught one and pulled it out. She picked up -a dagger of the same material as the spears—an unfamiliar substance -which Barry had had no chance to examine closely—and jumped to the -open roof. She returned a few minutes later with the fish neatly -cleaned and divided into halves.</p> - -<p>Barry was hungry but Earth habits were still strong. The girl saw his -involuntary grimace. She looked hurt. He forced himself to take a bite -of the raw fish and to his amazement found it pleasant. Evidently his -taste organs had changed with the rest of his body.</p> - -<p>From the baskets Xintel took other foods of vegetable origin. Barry ate -ravenously.</p> - -<p>The cumulative effects of fatigue overwhelmed him even as he finished. -He felt a sense of dreamlike unreality and detachment, as though -nothing mattered. The girl too appeared tired but he could see she was -bursting with curiosity. He appreciated her restraint in not bombarding -him with questions. At her gesture he stepped through the hatch and -floated down to the middle room.</p> - -<p>The light there had gone dim but she gave the globe a deft spin that -brightened it again. She motioned to a wide pallet woven of resilient -fiber, and he lay down at once. There were no coverings, no need for -them in the soothingly warm water.</p> - -<p>Despite his tiredness Barry's nerves were still tense and twitching, -and he kept hearing soft sounds as the girl moved about the room. After -several minutes he opened his eyes again.</p> - -<p>Xintel had removed her brief skirt and was wearing only her silvery -necklace. She was anointing herself with an oily salve that sent a -pleasantly pungent odor through the water, giving special attention -to her wrists and ankles where the cords of the norus had chafed them -and to the livid bruises that were developing on other portions of her -slender body. She paused and smiled at him, not at all embarrassed.</p> - -<p>Finally she came toward the pallet and without hesitation lay -down beside him. She stretched and moved slightly until she found -a comfortable position, and then her breathing took on the slow -regularity of sleep while the light dimmed.</p> - -<p>For a while Barry remained awake. Half-formed questions spun madly -through his mind but when he tried to think rationally his tired brain -balked.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He woke and sat up, floated up from the pallet in the unaccustomed -support of the black water, settled back slowly while he strove to -winnow true memories from the remnants of nightmare. The girl woke and -spoke questioningly. It required great concentration on Barry's part to -understand and answer, for he had forgotten much of what he had learned -from those Mexican laborers.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I feel better," he said hesitantly. "But—."</p> - -<p>In the blackness their bodies touched accidentally. Her skin was warm -and smooth, soft but with the firmness of underlying muscle. After a -long moment she drew away.</p> - -<p>Barry blinked as she spun the light into brilliance. Her dressing was -a simple and brief process, and then she turned to him with an intent -look on her face.</p> - -<p>"You come here from the Above." It was more statement than question.</p> - -<p>Barry nodded.</p> - -<p>"But from what yort? And how did your people change to live in the -Above?"</p> - -<p>"I come from Earth."</p> - -<p>"Earth?" she repeated with a puzzled frown. "There is no yort beneath -the seas called Earth."</p> - -<p>Trying to explain was like describing color to a man born blind. With -the surface of Venus she seemed to have a slight familiarity, but she -had never glimpsed planets or stars, never seen the sun.</p> - -<p>"You are from the World Beyond—and yet you are alive!" she said in awe.</p> - -<p>She smiled and seemed relieved when Barry hastily assured her there was -nothing supernatural about his place of origin, but she understood only -that he was not an undersea dweller by birth. She hurried on to other -questions.</p> - -<p>"But why have only you of all your people come to the Here?" she asked. -"And now—Oh, tell me how!—did you cause the Place Of Change to work -again?"</p> - -<p>Barry frowned, trying to grasp her meaning. "An accident happened to me -out in space that made me different."</p> - -<p>"You did not come through the Place Of Change?" She seemed bitterly -disappointed. "Then how will you return?"</p> - -<p>"I will never see my own people again, I fear," he admitted.</p> - -<p>Xintel made a soft sound of sympathy.</p> - -<p>"I owe my very life to you, for I would have killed myself rather than -bear a child to those norus who captured me. You can stay here in Tana, -with me—if Komso does not cause your death."</p> - -<p>Barry knew that if he were to survive he must learn the ways of this -undersea world. Alone he would soon perish. He had no choice.</p> - -<p>"Who is Komso?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Xintel spat a few sibilant words that were evident obscenities.</p> - -<p>"He is Leader of the Chosen Ones, and he fears you. If the people learn -you come from the Above they will grow dissatisfied, for there are some -who still remember the ancient promises that we may return."</p> - -<p>Barry was silent and thoughtful, considering the implications of -the things Xintel had said. The girl watched the Earthman with a -calculating look.</p> - -<p>"You will help me?" she asked at length.</p> - -<p>"Help you?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps together we can succeed where my father failed. Perhaps -together we can overthrow Komso and break the hold of the Chosen upon -Tana."</p> - -<p>Barry thought of the open sea and the savage norus he had battled, and -he had gathered the impression that Komso was some sort of priest or -witchdoctor who would be an adversary without mercy. All he wanted was -peace. But peace, Komso's face had told him, was something he could not -have.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he said flatly. He had no choice.</p> - -<p>The girl laid her hand on his arm, confident and suddenly affectionate.</p> - -<p>"Good," she said. "There is nothing we can do now. We must wait for the -right time."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was no night in Tana and the inhabitants slept whenever so -inclined, without set intervals. After several sleeping periods Barry -lost all sense of time.</p> - -<p>Whenever the girl was not attending to the routine tasks of daily life -he bombarded her with questions. She asked in turn about Earth and -the colony, and at some of his answers stared and giggled as though -suspecting him of concocting fantastic lies for her benefit.</p> - -<p>At her suggestion he did not wander alone, although most of the -Venusians regarded him with suspicious curiosity rather than hostility.</p> - -<p>"Trust no one," she warned him. "For the Chosen have spies everywhere. -Komso may know or suspect that you come from the Above but the less he -knows about you the better."</p> - -<p>A small cave branched off from one wall of the great cavern. No houses -were placed near its black mouth and the common Venusians gave it a -wide berth.</p> - -<p>"That is the Temple of the Chosen," Xintel explained. "To approach it -means death."</p> - -<p>Just outside the forbidden zone several huge baskets had been anchored -to receive offerings from each inhabitant. Food, tools, clothing, a -fourth of everything produced went to the Chosen and their master.</p> - -<p>"What would happen if the people refused to pay tribute?" Barry asked.</p> - -<p>"The Chosen have many ways of enforcing their will," the girl replied -ominously. "And no scruples."</p> - -<p>The thirty Chosen Ones ruled the thousand or so inhabitants of Tana -ruthlessly and arrogantly, a government of impulse and whim without -fixed laws. The rulers were immune from all work, taking whatever they -desired, subject only to Komso's word.</p> - -<p>The situation had apparently existed so long it had been accepted as -the only possible mode of life, and the submissiveness of the people -was shocking to the Earthman. One day he saw a Chosen One approach one -of the younger woman and curtly order her to follow him. The woman -shrank back, but at a black glare choked off her sobbing and moved -docilely away. Her mate, standing nearby, made not the slightest move -to interfere.</p> - -<p>"He will get her back when the Chosen One tires of her," Xintel told -Barry later, her normally soft voice harsh with bitterness. "That is, -if the poor creature lives, for the Chosen are often brutal to the -women they take. If her mate had so much as opened his mouth he would -have incurred the wrath of the Gods Of The Deeps as enforced by the -Chosen."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Occasionally Barry found himself wishing for a cigarette. That gave him -a wry laugh, but it also impressed upon him the fact that the Venusians -had created an underwater civilization without the knowledge of fire. -An unintelligent race could never have managed, and he wondered to what -stage they might have progressed without the yoke of the Chosen about -their necks.</p> - -<p>Metal was known in Tana only in the form of a few ornaments of greatest -antiquity, about the origin of which it was forbidden by superstition -and tradition even to speculate. Almost all were in the hands of the -Chosen.</p> - -<p>Xintel was one of the few exceptions, and upon examining her treasured -silver necklace Barry discovered that each beautifully wrought link had -been welded. <i>Welded.</i> That implied heat, which definitely did not fit -in a subaqueous environment.</p> - -<p>He questioned her but she only shook her head. She had no idea of the -technique.</p> - -<p>"It came through my family from the other life before the Place Of -Change," was her only explanation.</p> - -<p>The most common substance for tools and weapons was something with -the cellular structure of wood but the weight and feel of cast metal. -It was slightly malleable and could be sharpened by grinding against -abrasive rocks, but it fractured when stressed beyond its elastic -limit. It fascinated Barry, not only because of its unfamiliarity but -because the Venusians had no tools suitable for working such a hard -material.</p> - -<p>But Xintel explained. The soft wood of undersea trees was carved to -the required shape, and then the implements were taken to the Outside, -across the sea bottom to the Cleft Of Hardening. There the wood -underwent a change.</p> - -<p>She had been returning from the Cleft—the Venusians always managed to -visit the Outside in groups despite the Chosen—when Barry saved her -from marauding norus.</p> - -<p>The norus were outcast savages, hated and feared and despised. They had -long since learned the folly of attacking Tana, but whenever possible -would ambush anyone venturing into the Outside.</p> - -<p>Males they invariably killed for their clothing and weapons, but -females the savages preferred to capture alive. The mortality among -their own women was frightfully high, particularly during pregnancy -and childbirth when they were unable to defend themselves against the -monstrous torvaks that scouraged the deeps, so replacement slave-wives -were in constant demand.</p> - -<p>Tana was not the only undersea city or yort, Barry learned, but the -journey across the sea bottom was so perilous that communication was -most infrequent and warfare impractical.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>Komso had not forgotten Barry. Everywhere Barry and Xintel went a -Chosen One followed, and even though their actions were not interfered -with in any way it was nerve-wracking to know their every move was -being reported. Under such continuing surveillance his temper grew -ragged.</p> - -<p>But he heeded Xintel's repeated warnings and the watchers learned -little. Finally the Leader grew annoyed and decided this outsider, -this potential threat to his unchallenged supremacy, had existed long -enough. And so had the girl who sheltered him.</p> - -<p>Barry was helping Xintel in the fields beyond the house, harvesting -thick, meaty leaves that were a staple article of diet. A score of -Venusians were engaged in the same task nearby.</p> - -<p>Something prompted Barry to look up just in time to see Komso and a -large Chosen One called Czerki hanging in the water some distance -away. They looked aside a bit too ostentatiously as they noticed the -Earthman's eyes upon them.</p> - -<p>A frown crossed Xintel's face as he nudged her.</p> - -<p>"We avoid trouble if we can," she whispered.</p> - -<p>But Czerki swam unhurriedly toward them and caught Xintel by the -shoulder. The girl winced as the Chosen One swung her around.</p> - -<p>"Give me that necklace," Czerki ordered.</p> - -<p>Xintel's face was pale as he fumbled for the catch of the ornament but -her arms remained limp at her sides. Raising a hand against a Chosen -One was sacrilege punishable by death—and she had guessed what Komso -intended.</p> - -<p>Barry took a step forward.</p> - -<p>"Get your hands off!" His voice was deceptively soft.</p> - -<p>Czerki turned with a challenging sneer. "You oppose the will of the -Chosen?"</p> - -<p>"Barry! Don't!" Xintel cried. "He has killed many."</p> - -<p>But the sight of the Chosen One touching her slender body was more than -Barry could bear. He took another step forward, his fists clenching.</p> - -<p>Czerki whipped out a long wood-metal knife and smiled.</p> - -<p>"Suitable?"</p> - -<p>Duel. Xintel had told Barry of their custom.</p> - -<p>In a move too perfectly timed for coincidence, someone thrust a -duplicate knife toward Barry, hilt first. In that instant the Earthman -knew he had walked into a framed-up battle against an expert, and with -the expert's chosen weapons, just as Komso had planned it.</p> - -<p>He must smash that plan. Still empty-handed he braced his feet against -the bottom and dived. The Chosen One's knife made one startled lunge -and then Barry's hand caught Czerki's wrist. For a second Earthman and -Venusian glowered face to face, the Venusian's expression of surprise -changing to pain as Barry's Earth-trained muscles tightened.</p> - -<p>Barry clutched, digging his fingers into the tendon of Czerki's wrist. -Czerki's face contorted. His free hand clawed out, but Barry caught the -Chosen One's middle finger and forced it back.</p> - -<p>Joints strained and the Venusian whimpered under his breath as Barry -increased the crippling pressure. The knife dropped from Czerki's -numbed fingers, and then with a twist Barry brought him helpless to his -knees.</p> - -<p>The faces of the watching Venusians seemed to consist almost entirely -of gaping mouths and staring eyes. Barry considered the situation. -Perhaps he could do more against Komso and his Chosen by discrediting -and releasing this one than by killing him.</p> - -<p>"Enough?" he gritted.</p> - -<p>The Venusian nodded.</p> - -<p>"Next time you bother Xintel you die," Barry warned.</p> - -<p>Czerki got to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Look out!" Xintel screamed, just as the Chosen One's hand flashed to -his belt.</p> - -<p>Barry leapt. His right hand, straight-arming, jolted the Venusian's -head back, and at the same instant his left whipped a deadly palm-edge -judo chop to Czerki's neck.</p> - -<p>There was a sound like the breaking of a dry twig. Czerki's body jerked -once and the dart of his tube-weapon plowed into the bottom.</p> - -<p>With a gesture of revulsion the Earthman dropped the limp body and -stepped back.</p> - -<p>He looked about for Komso, angry enough now to force an immediate -showdown, but the priest had prudently withdrawn.</p> - -<p>Xintel took his arm and smiled proudly for all to see.</p> - -<p>"Come, Barry," she said. "It is over for now."</p> - -<p>The uneasy stares of her people followed them, and only the -long-standing superstitious fear of appearing to criticise the Chosen -kept them from breaking into excited comment.</p> - -<p>The stranger had not only defied a Chosen One but had killed in the -manner of a Leader, with the touch of an empty hand. All knew now he -did not come from another yort. And his companion was Xintel!</p> - -<p>As soon as they were alone Barry turned to the girl.</p> - -<p>"What now?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"Next time Komso will not underestimate you."</p> - -<p>"What do you think he'll try?"</p> - -<p>Xintel frowned. "Not force. One of the secret methods which have kept -the Chosen in power. Perhaps the Curse with which he killed my father."</p> - -<p>"Your father?" Barry asked. She had never spoken of her family before.</p> - -<p>The subject was obviously painful, but she forced herself to talk.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Her father, Soren, had been an unusual individual from a family of -chronic dissidents, a doubter who despite the long indoctrination of -the Chosen still possessed the power to think independently. And in his -family there had been passed by word of mouth across the generations -all the ancient traditions of the other life which the Chosen had -nearly succeeded in consigning to the limbo of forgotten knowledge.</p> - -<p>He had the courage to venture into the Outside alone, even into the -dread Above for short periods, to see for himself the things the Chosen -wished forgotten.</p> - -<p>He had actually dared to organize groups for cooperative action and to -circulate whispers that the Gods Of The Deeps were a fraud perpetrated -by the Chosen for their own purposes. He had aroused doubt and become -the rallying point for all the latent forces of resistance.</p> - -<p>For a brief but exciting time his efforts to undermine the priesthood -had been successful. But then the old priest of the Chosen had died -suddenly and Komso had succeeded to the post. Where the old priest had -been senile and vacillating, Komso took forceful action.</p> - -<p>He had publicly named Soren a blasphemer against the Gods Of The Deeps -and had called down their Curse upon him.</p> - -<p>A few sleeps later Soren had started with others toward the Cleft Of -Hardening. They had scarcely left the tunnel when dozens of torvaks -descended upon the group.</p> - -<p>The others had escaped easily, the monsters paying no attention to -them. All had converged upon Soren and he died quickly.</p> - -<p>Komso had regained unquestioned power. His curse had been fulfilled in -too dreadful a fashion for any to dispute his word.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry developed an unwillingness to spend the remainder of his life -hiding behind Xintel's skirt. With increasing boldness, but conscious -always of the menace of the Chosen, he began to leave the house and -observe the Venusian way of life.</p> - -<p>The undersea people bore him no grudge for killing Czerki, he -discovered. In fact the Chosen One's death was not mourned even by his -three women. But neither were the Venusians openly friendly toward this -strange outlander who spoke haltingly and killed without weapons. They -regarded him with mingled suspicion and awe.</p> - -<p>Xintel's position in the community, he soon decided, was extremely odd.</p> - -<p>Marriage relationships in Tana were informal, continuing only as long -as mutually satisfactory. Polygamy was an accepted institution. It was -customary for the girls of Tana to enter marriage relationships, on a -temporary basis at least, almost as soon as they developed the curves -of maturity.</p> - -<p>Xintel was as beautiful as any female of Tana, and in addition she -owned a house and tools and weapons representing considerable wealth. -Nevertheless she was the only grown woman who did not have a mate or -ex-mate or who was not a widow.</p> - -<p>One day he asked her outright about it, and she burst into tears.</p> - -<p>For a minute Barry stared, nonplussed. He put one arm around her bare -shoulders.</p> - -<p>"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said gently.</p> - -<p>She snuggled closer in the curve of his arm.</p> - -<p>"Don't talk about it if you don't want to," Barry urged.</p> - -<p>She raised her head, "But you must know.</p> - -<p>"When Komso put his Curse upon my father he could easily have killed me -too. I was but a small girl then, and my mother already dead. But he -had brought about the death of my father to display his power, and he -wanted the people to remember. I was to be a living reminder.</p> - -<p>"But, he told the people, I shared my father's guilt of blasphemy by -being of his blood. Anyone mating with me would be contaminated, and -upon him too would fall the curse of the Gods Of The Deeps.</p> - -<p>"The men of Tana are not cowards despite what the Chosen have done to -them. Some have faced and fought even the torvaks of the Outside. But -to act contrary to what Komso has declared the will of the Gods—that -they will not do. So although several have looked upon me with desire, -none have dared take me as mate."</p> - -<p>There was pity in Barry's heart as he thought of the deep loneliness -to which Komso had condemned her from childhood on. More than pity, -he thought now. What had started with him as a matter of survival had -changed and deepened, become more than friendship.</p> - -<p>"But I am not a man of Tana," he blurted impulsively. "And I love you."</p> - -<p>Xintel lowered her eyes. "Barry, do you really like me—that way?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Then it is settled," she declared, and came into his arms. "See, it is -simple."</p> - -<p>Later, still holding her closely, he told her, "Xintel dearest, -whatever lies ahead we shall face together."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But even his newfound happiness could not curb Barry's restless -tension. Large as it was, the cavern of Tana was still confining to -one accustomed to the open sweeps of Earth, and the threat of Komso -hung like a looming storm cloud. And, despite much thinking and long, -fruitless conversations, neither Barry nor Xintel could see a way to -attack the Chosen's almost invulnerable position.</p> - -<p>Roaming the great cave, Barry's attention turned one day to the gas -filling the upper portion. It gathered from the tiny bubbles given -off by the submarine plants, with even the living houses of Tana -contributing, and its level was nearly constant. Whenever its volume -increased beyond a certain point the excess spilled into the tunnel -leading to the open sea.</p> - -<p>"What's up there?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Xintel laughed. "It should do no harm to go there."</p> - -<p>Together they swam high above the town along one insloping wall of the -cavern, passing through the thin layer where swarming microscopic life -furnished Tana's constant illumination, and reached the surface.</p> - -<p>"Clear the water from your lungs all at once," Xintel instructed him. -"It's easier that way."</p> - -<p>She exhaled as far as possible, water pouring from her open mouth, and -gasped in a breath of gas. He did likewise, and after some choking and -coughing, found he could breathe.</p> - -<p>They climbed out on a slanting rock outcropping and he stared around.</p> - -<p>"This gas must be almost pure oxygen," he said, his voice ringing -hollowly.</p> - -<p>He looked around at the vaulted roof and irregular walls, noticing that -his breathing, while not painful, was somewhat labored. Then suddenly -the girl laughed wildly and did a few steps of a strange sinuous dance.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" he asked anxiously.</p> - -<p>She threw herself into his arms with limp abandon and squinted up into -his face as though having difficulty focusing her eyes. He believed he -understood, and besides he was beginning to cough.</p> - -<p>She was giggling as he pushed her head under the water, but he had to -force himself to overcome his instinctive Earth reactions before he -could take that first breath of liquid.</p> - -<p>After a few minutes Xintel gave him a shamefaced smile.</p> - -<p>"Did I make a fool of myself?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Of course not," he replied gallantly but with a trace of -absentmindedness.</p> - -<p>Slowly they let themselves drift down into the city, with Barry's mind -working furiously. He had remained out of water several minutes. He -though of the colony, and—until Xintel touched his arm—of Dorothy.</p> - -<p>The experience gave a new purpose to his oddly timeless life. After -that during each waking period he swam up to the cavern roof. Each -time, as well as he could judge, he was able to remain out of water a -little longer.</p> - -<p>At first Xintel scolded him bitterly, as from time immemorial wives -have scolded husbands for their own good. Upon the Venusians breathing -gaseous oxygen had the same effects as alcohol addiction on Earth. She -told him horrible stories of people who had drunkenly wandered into the -Outside and fallen afoul of norus or torvaks. She pointed out an oxygen -addict who moved jerkily and seemed half insane. Once she even resorted -to the ancient feminine weapon of contending amid loud sobs that he no -longer loved her or he would instantly cease his debauchery.</p> - -<p>But Barry persisted, and after following him and seeing for herself -that he did not become intoxicated she finally accepted his habit, -along with his periods of silent thoughtfulness, as an inborn -peculiarity of her alien mate.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VI</p> - -<p>Gradually, so gradually he could not determine when it started, he -began to hear a new word whispered around the city.</p> - -<p>"<i>Demon!</i>"</p> - -<p>"The demons are not all dead!"</p> - -<p>"The demons have returned!"</p> - -<p>"The demons gather to attack us!"</p> - -<p>"Only Komso can save us from the demons!"</p> - -<p>"Is he—?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps her father, Soren Who Died Accursed, was a—"</p> - -<p>"Have they found—?"</p> - -<p>"Will the demons—?"</p> - -<p>A shuddering uneasiness spread insidiously among the people, and their -attitude changed. Venusian men watched the Earthman with hostile -speculation in their eyes and hands close to weapon hilts. Women moved -aside as he approached, dragging their children with them.</p> - -<p>Although not a single individual mentioned demons to Barry's face he -knew he was somehow concerned.</p> - -<p>"Just what are these demons?" he demanded of Xintel.</p> - -<p>He expected her to refer to some superstition, but she surprised him -with a definite answer.</p> - -<p>"They were the last of my race to live in the Above—not devil-spirits -or supernatural beings at all. But they were outlaws and killers, and -so were not permitted to pass through the Place Of Change. Over this -there was great bitterness, and the Last Days were filled with hatred -and slaughter that is still remembered. But they are all long since -dead."</p> - -<p>"You mean your people came here from the Above deliberately?" Barry -asked incredulously. "Why?"</p> - -<p>Xintel nodded. "We—my forefathers—were to have come to the Here for -a short time only, for sanctuary. But our way back was closed when the -Place Of Change was destroyed. And the Chosen, gaining power, saw that -misfortune overtook those who knew the secret of the Place."</p> - -<p>She smiled tremulously. "I hoped that you could lead us back. But you -too had lost the way of return."</p> - -<p>"But why? What made your people come to the Here?"</p> - -<p>The pain of ancient tragedy was in Xintel's eyes as she told the story.</p> - -<p>"Around us nearly everywhere are creatures, living creatures, small -beyond all normal sight," she explained.</p> - -<p>"There." She pointed to the light. "And another sort live in the paste -which produces gas. My people were always clever at making use of them.</p> - -<p>"In the Above live many more types of these unseen creatures. My people -became too clever—but they were not as clever as they thought."</p> - -<p>She glanced at Barry and spoke with earnest seriousness. "Some of them, -incredibly tiny as they are, are deadly. They get inside a person, -causing him to sicken and die, killing as surely as a spear thrust."</p> - -<p>She hesitated as though expecting the Earthman to hoot in derision at -such an idea, and continued only when he nodded slowly.</p> - -<p>"There were quarrels among factions of my people, breaking out again -and again with increasingly vicious fury.</p> - -<p>"Ordinary weapons were not enough. With their skill my people took the -unseen things—they understood, then, a way to see them—and made them -change their natures to become more deadly still."</p> - -<p>Barry shuddered as he guessed the rest. He remembered talk on Earth of -developing mutant, hypervirulent strains for bacterial warfare.</p> - -<p>"The ancients used the special unseen creatures they had created to -fight their battles, and the slaughter was horrible beyond belief. -But then the creatures turned against their masters. The other tiny -creatures with which the ancient protected themselves failed, became -ineffective, and Death walked the entire Above unhindered."</p> - -<p>It hadn't happened on Earth yet but Barry could picture bacterial -warfare out of control, spontaneous mutations loose, and no vaccines -or antitoxins to combat them. The warm, eternally moist atmosphere of -Venus offered ideal conditions. Perhaps that was why the Colony had -found only insects and quasi-reptiles. Infection could have spread from -homo Venusians to all related, warm-blooded life forms, blasting them -into extinction.</p> - -<p>"Against that deadly smallness there was no way to fight," Xintel -continued. "And there was but one place to flee. So the Place Of Change -was built by the wisest of my race. But by the time it was completed -only a few remained to use it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry had no doubts who was fomenting talk of the demons. Komso.</p> - -<p>But if the Venusians had once been air-breathers and had deliberately -become water-breathers there was still a chance that somehow he -could become completely human again. At least his condition was not -completely hopeless.</p> - -<p>He could escape. His practice sessions had taught him to remain out of -water nearly three hours, as nearly as he could judge, and that should -be sufficient to re-establish contact with the Colony. But escaping -alone, leaving Xintel behind, was something he knew he could never do.</p> - -<p>"How did the Place Of Change work?" he asked. "On what principles? Did -your Ancients actually understand how to generate Sigma radiations on -the surface of a planet? Or was the change accomplished in other ways?"</p> - -<p>Xintel shook her head. "That knowledge has fallen into the hands of -the Chosen and been destroyed. Knowledge, except for themselves, is -according to the Chosen against the will of the Gods."</p> - -<p>"Is there nothing left?" Barry insisted, grasping at straws.</p> - -<p>"The Place still remains amid the ruins of Last City," Xintel answered -unexpectedly. "But it is wrecked and useless."</p> - -<p>"How do you know?"</p> - -<p>Xintel smiled sadly. "I have been there, twice. Soren once took me as a -little girl, and once I went alone."</p> - -<p>"But how?"</p> - -<p>"Long since have the creatures of deadly smallness exterminated each -other. Soren knew, and I know, and Komso knows. But Komso will not tell -the people that one can go to the Above for a short time and not die."</p> - -<p>Immediately Barry wanted to see for himself the remains of Last City -and particularly the Place Of Change, but the Venusian girl demurred. -The trip was perilous, she said, and if they were to leave Tana now, -going into the Outside and toward the Above, it would only confirm in -the minds of the people that Barry was a demon. Anything that would -precipitate open action before they were able to take countermeasures -against Komso's plots would be a fatal mistake.</p> - -<p>Reluctantly Barry put the idea aside, but he did not abandon it. -Instead he doubled his practice sessions in the oxygen at the top of -the cavern, driving himself until his chest burned and throbbed. He was -still a member of the Five Ship Plan whose duty was to the colony, and -besides he had a frightening surety that without outside help Komso -would eventually encompass his death.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>One day when they were returning from the fields in the far reaches of -the cavern they saw a man swimming away from their house. Barry put on -an angry burst of speed, but the distance was great and the furtive -figure vanished.</p> - -<p>Xintel went through the three rooms inch by inch, checking all her -possessions—but nothing was missing and nothing seemed to have been -disturbed.</p> - -<p>"We must have frightened him away before he could steal anything," -Barry commented.</p> - -<p>The girl frowned and bit her lip. "No. I do not think thievery was his -object."</p> - -<p>"What then?"</p> - -<p>"I—I do not know," she admitted uneasily.</p> - -<p>Komso finally took official cognizance of the talk of demons. He -selected ten young men, not of the Chosen, and led them forth to -reconnoiter in the Above. The men went heavily armed, but still -superstitious dread would have prevented them from venturing to the -myth-haunted surface without the high priest's mystic protection.</p> - -<p>Barry grew acutely uneasy when he heard of the expedition. It boded -no good for anyone except Komso. Hour after hour the underwater city -hummed with speculation. For Barry and Xintel it was a nerve-wracking -wait.</p> - -<p>Then Komso returned—and with him came only three of the ten.</p> - -<p>With lightning rapidity the story spread. There were demons in the -Above, and despite Komso's great powers they had turned overwhelmingly -potent weapons against them.</p> - -<p>The mates of the slain were loud in their lamentations, and as though -following prepared instructions, the Chosen spread the rumor that -Barry, and Xintel too, were responsible for the slaughter. Barry was a -demon spy, and Xintel had turned against her own people to mate with -him.</p> - -<p>Barry felt certain the priest had deliberately led his men into -disaster for the psychological effect. He had been building hatred, and -to one of Komso's mentality, seven deaths would be a negligible price -for this crowning touch.</p> - -<p>Drawn together by a spreading terror the people massed near the center -of the city, each seeking company to stem their rising panic of -helplessness. Their mutterings increased, their mood grew uglier.</p> - -<p>But with dramatic suddenness Komso appeared in the doorway of his -cave-temple and swam slowly forward. The murmuring died, then broke -out again with a questioning undertone. The priest raised his arms so -the sacred bracelets of office on his thick wrists flashed in the cold -yellow light. Then slowly, deliberately he began to speak.</p> - -<p>He expressed regret for the deaths of those who had followed him aloft. -He had underestimated the malignancy of the demons, he admitted.</p> - -<p>A shocked silence fell over the crowd, broken only by the grief -stricken sobs of one of the widows. He glared at the woman, and his -eyes made her cower.</p> - -<p>The peril was dire, he warned. One demon had already penetrated the -sacred boundaries of Tana and others were gathering in the Above. Soon -they would descend and overwhelm the city unless the people of Tana -followed his leadership unquestioningly.</p> - -<p>But the mission had not been in vain. Komso had discovered the demons' -plans—and their vulnerability.</p> - -<p>"We killed one demon!" he boasted.</p> - -<p>Barry gasped. Komso was too clever to tell an outright lie when there -were three surviving witnesses to check his story.</p> - -<p>"Kill the demons! Kill all the demons!" A Chosen One began the chant, -and it was taken up and echoed by the crowd.</p> - -<p>It sounded so absurd that a group of aquatic semi-savages could hope -to attack a surface settlement defended by the finest weapons of Earth -that Barry almost laughed. But he remembered Xintel's account of the -Venusian downfall, and was not so sure. Komso's forces would not -have to breach the defense perimeter of the colony to achieve their -objective. Bacterial warfare ineffective under water, could render the -surface uninhabitable again.</p> - -<p>And the colony had no inkling of such a threat.</p> - -<p>"Damn him," Barry thought. It was all so stupid and useless.</p> - -<p>He fumed while Komso's words calmed, influenced, and finally controlled -with hypnotic completeness the emotions of his listeners.</p> - -<p>"The demons shall die!" Komso orated. "I, Komso, shall call upon the -powers of the Gods Of The Deeps. Beasts of the marshlands shall come at -my command, smashing and overturning the houses and forts of the demons -in the Above! And then shall the Unseen Death smite them!"</p> - -<p>The people roared their approval, and while they were still shouting -the priest turned away in abrupt dismissal.</p> - -<p>Barry and Xintel looked at each other, their faces white and set, each -wondering what they could do.</p> - -<p>A hundred thoughts flashed through Barry's mind at once, dominated -by the knowledge it was his duty to warn the colony. He had become -a freak through accident, but he was still an Earthman. But to make -his warning really valuable he must know more of Komso's methods. He -thought momentarily of invading the cave-temple to steal information or -even assassinate the priest, but discarded the notion. Komso would be -expecting such an attempt and have his Chosen Ones waiting.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They were still discussing the situation hours later when Xintel -suddenly raised her hand for silence. A puzzled frown appeared on her -face and she dropped to the lower room. Barry, watching her peer around -the door curtain, saw her body grow tense. He listened, and his ears -caught a confused sound of voices.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"Men are coming this way, and they are led by Sanlan, the brother of -that Czerki."</p> - -<p>"Komso's work?"</p> - -<p>"Naturally."</p> - -<p>Barry reached for a spear. "They won't touch you as long as I'm alive," -he promised.</p> - -<p>The sounds outside grew louder.</p> - -<p>"Go in through the door," he heard a voice command. "Chase the demon -and his woman upward and out. Lart and I will attend to them."</p> - -<p>Xintel leaped to the upper room and began tossing down baskets.</p> - -<p>"Block the hatchway," she directed. "We will hold the middle room."</p> - -<p>Quickly Barry piled them across the opening, thrusting extra spears -through the wovenwork and into the material of the floor. It was a -flimsy barricade but better than nothing.</p> - -<p>Xintel loaded her crossbow. Barry stood beside her with a spear ready.</p> - -<p>"Now!" the voice outside boomed.</p> - -<p>Men poured into the lower room, shouting to keep up their courage. -Xintel, her face pale, squinted along her crossbow and thumbed the -trigger. A man screamed. A spear thwacked upward into the baskets as -the girl put her strength against her weapon's reloading ratchet.</p> - -<p>"Can you hold them off a minute?" Barry whispered.</p> - -<p>She nodded, and he leaped to the upper room. One basket remained, and -he found that by standing on it his head was just below the roof's -lower surface. With his knife he began cutting into the matted fibers -of the roof. He was nearly through when a whisper from above made him -pause.</p> - -<p>"Psst! Lart, be very sure your thrust misses."</p> - -<p>That was Sanlan, Barry guessed.</p> - -<p>The other Venusian growled under his breath.</p> - -<p>"Komso will have your skin if you disobey," Sanlan warned.</p> - -<p>"But why?"</p> - -<p>Sanlan chuckled. "Have you no faith?"</p> - -<p>Barry resumed cutting, puzzled and suspicious, opening a hole just -large enough to admit his head. He had guessed his position well, for -Sanlan and Lart were standing with their backs toward him while they -watched the hatchway.</p> - -<p>The Earthman withdrew silently, taking no chances that Sanlan's talk -had been a trick to draw him out.</p> - -<p>Xintel glanced up as he dropped to the middle room. A confused -discussion was in progress below, for no man wanted to be the first to -rush the barricade.</p> - -<p>"Give me both your tube-weapons," Barry demanded.</p> - -<p>She turned her hips, allowing him to take them from her belt without -putting down her crossbow or relaxing her vigilance.</p> - -<p>"Come at once when you hear me call," he directed. "We can't hold out -forever. It's run or die."</p> - -<p>"Run? Where?"</p> - -<p>"Outside. It is our only chance."</p> - -<p>He leaped to the upper room again.</p> - -<p>A tube gun in each hand, he thrust his wrists through the hole he had -cut. Sanlan and Lart were still waiting.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you should have others break through the walls," Lart -suggested impatiently.</p> - -<p>Sanlan shook his head. "There is plenty of time."</p> - -<p>But Sanlan's own time ran out just then as Barry triggered the weapon -in his left hand. He died instantly.</p> - -<p>Lart whirled. Barry fired the other tube. Lart screamed and doubled -over in agony.</p> - -<p>"Xintel!" Barry called.</p> - -<p>She came up with a rush.</p> - -<p>Lart was still alive, and he screamed as they emerged onto the roof. -Answering yells came from below.</p> - -<p>"Let's go!" Barry barked as attackers began to swarm out of the house.</p> - -<p>They swam desperately, side by side. The members of the mob trailed -after them, but although they split the water with bloodthirsty yells -they were reluctant in their efforts to close with the fugitives. -Xintel had taught them respect during the battle inside the house, and -Barry was a dread demon.</p> - -<p>Barry broke his stroke to point. A large crowd had gathered around the -mouth of the tunnel.</p> - -<p>"Women there too," Xintel panted.</p> - -<p>As they drew nearer he could see she was right. Women and unarmed men -predominated in the group around the portal. They made no hostile -moves, but nevertheless Barry drew his knife.</p> - -<p>And then, off to one side, he saw the unmistakable figure of the priest.</p> - -<p>Komso watched their headlong flight with a thin smirk of satisfaction, -and as they drew near he pointed one arm at them in a ritualistic -gesture and began a resonant chant. A deadly hush fell over the -watchers.</p> - -<p>"Accursed be ye!" Komso intoned. "Manifestations of evil who presume -to flaunt those the Gods have appointed to rule, be ye accursed by the -Gods Of The Deeps!</p> - -<p>"Gods Of The Deeps, heed thy servant! Send thou thy creatures that they -may feed, that they may rend the flesh and grind the bones and destroy -utterly those whom I have cursed in thy mighty names!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barry felt a crawling prickle of fear along his spine at the confidence -of Komso's manner. Xintel's face twisted in terror as she remembered -how that self-same curse had brought death to her father. The Earthman -felt an almost overwhelming urge to swerve aside, to swing in a -suicidal dive upon the priest and his Chosen guards. But remembrance of -his duties to the colony and to Xintel overcame blind fury.</p> - -<p>It seemed too good to be true when he and Xintel plunged into the dark -passageway without interference. The armed mob followed, shouting to -the noncombatants to move aside—but they were in the clear. They -emerged from the tunnel mouth into the open, deadly, faintly luminous -sea of the Outside.</p> - -<p>"Hold!" They heard Komso's shouted command behind them. "Follow and you -too shall be accursed!"</p> - -<p>He did not have to repeat his order, for the Venusians were never too -eager to venture into the Outside. Instead they massed at the portal to -witness the fate of the demon and his traitorous mistress.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the girl gasped in horror, clutching Barry's arm and pointing -upward and outward. Against the background of dim luminosity, far in -the distance, two bright pinpoints showed. Then three. Four. And then -more than he could count.</p> - -<p>"Torvaks!" she gasped.</p> - -<p>Barry stared aghast. As though summoned by Komso's words the terrible -undersea monsters were gathering from all directions.</p> - -<p>Xintel's forehead wrinkled in desperate concentration.</p> - -<p>"The Cleft!" she said suddenly.</p> - -<p>Barry followed blindly as she dove toward the rocky, irregular bottom. -Each time he risked a glance over his shoulder the monsters were -nearer. And there were more of them. His muscles ached, but those -trails of ominous light acted as a powerful stimulant.</p> - -<p>The girl led him along the bottom, paying no attention to landmarks but -relying solely on an intuitive sense of direction which all Venusians -possessed. Soon Tana was lost to sight.</p> - -<p>How long the nightmare chase lasted Barry was never to know. Seconds -grew to ages and minutes to throbbing eternities. He concentrated -on swimming, swimming, swimming for his very life, and hardly heard -Xintel's words of encouragement.</p> - -<p>"Just—a—little—further!"</p> - -<p>Then stabbing, biting, burning pain seared his throat. Almost -intolerable. But Xintel was guiding him straight down into a narrow -fissure in the bottom. Her legs stopped their flutter-kick and she -allowed momentum to carry her bottomward. Barry too ceased his -exertions in a state of near collapse.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps—they—won't follow!" Xintel panted.</p> - -<p>Both looked upward. The monstrous shapes—they could see the gross, -hideous bodies now—seemed unwilling to follow their prey into the -crevice. They wheeled above in relentless circles.</p> - -<p>One creature, like a gigantic moray with finned pectoral legs, made an -abortive lunge but turned upward again a few feet above them.</p> - -<p>Another torvak's neck shot out, its armored head striking the -eel-creature a tremendous blow. Another monster swooped, fangs ripping, -and for a few minutes the water grew murky with spilled blood and -roiled ooze as the three huge beasts battled. The fight ended, and -once more the saurians took up a restless, watchful patrol above the -cowering pair.</p> - -<p>Barry's breathing eased but the burning in his throat remained. -Something in the water was irritating the tender membranes of his -lungs, nose and eyes. He glanced at Xintel and saw that she too was in -pain. But it was this very irritant that was preserving their lives. -The monsters did not like its smell or taste.</p> - -<p>"Maybe they'll go away," he said, not believing his own words but -trying to reassure the girl.</p> - -<p>The cleft in the ocean floor was long and narrow, deeper than it -was wide, and at the bottom it tapered to a hair-thin crevice in -the bedrock. The steeply slanting walls were deeply covered with a -yellow-blue greasy jelly mixed with mud and silt. Barry recognized it -from Xintel's descriptions as the Cleft Of Hardening where soft wooden -implements were made usable. The crack in the bottom must extend deep -into the heart of the planet.</p> - -<p>"Xintel," he asked. "Are there any weapons buried here now?"</p> - -<p>"There always are," she answered, but her voice was filled with despair.</p> - -<p>"Where?"</p> - -<p>She did not know. When the inhabitants of Tana buried objects to be -hardened they were extremely careful to smooth the jelly over them. -Otherwise prowling norus would dig them up.</p> - -<p>Pawing into the sticky, corrosive jelly with hands and arms they -began a blind search. Within minutes the girl gave a cry as she -uncovered a spear. She wiped away the clinging stuff, then wept with -disappointment. It had been buried only a short time and still had the -soft consistency of balsa. Angrily she threw it down.</p> - -<p>Barry recovered it. As a weapon it was worthless, but it was firm -enough to use as a prod. Methodically he moved along the bottom, -thrusting deeply every few inches.</p> - -<p>"Got something!" he called, and Xintel swam to his side.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There were two spears and two long knives, all thoroughly hardened. -Within a few more sleeps someone from Tana would have made the -dangerous trip to pick them up.</p> - -<p>Barry glanced at the shadows overhead. It felt good to have a weapon -in his hand again, even though logic told him a spear could never -penetrate the armored hides of those nightmare creatures. They could do -absolutely nothing but wait and hope.</p> - -<p>He found a projecting rock that was relatively free from slime and -settled down. He wanted to think.</p> - -<p>A sudden commotion overhead made him leap up. Two bodies came hurtling -over the edge of the cleft some two hundred yards away, with trails -of light glistening behind them. A torvak lashed out, missed, and its -frustrated bellow made the water vibrate as the newcomers settled -toward the bottom.</p> - -<p>"Norus!" Xintel hissed in Barry's ear.</p> - -<p>"They're not armed," Barry observed.</p> - -<p>She turned on him peevishly. "But they're norus!"</p> - -<p>Barry, not trained to hatred by a lifetime of strife with these -outcasts, felt sorry for them as they crouched trembling and gasping -from their flight. They eyed him furtively.</p> - -<p>After the first few minutes, when it became evident the norus did not -intend to break the unspoken truce imposed by mutual peril, the girl -relaxed. Yet she did not turn her back to them.</p> - -<p>For a long while she and Barry sat in silence. There was nothing to -say, nothing worth saying in their hopeless situation. The norus -watched stolidly, their eyes flicking occasionally between the pair -from Tana and the monsters circling overhead.</p> - -<p>Then in a quick move that startled Barry the girl stood up, unfastened -her skirt, stepped out of the garment. She seemed entirely unaware of -her nakedness.</p> - -<p>"Fan your hands back and forth," she requested. "Make light."</p> - -<p>Barry complied, swirling the water to brightness. The norus watched -uneasily, staring hard at the girl. But Xintel was absorbed in -inspecting the fabric of her skirt, going over it inch by inch. A -couple of times she held it to her nose, but each time shook her head.</p> - -<p>"Ha!" she cried suddenly, pointing to a slight, almost invisible stain.</p> - -<p>"What is?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"It may be—Give me your knife."</p> - -<p>She cut away the stained cloth and wrapped it around the unhardened, -useless spear.</p> - -<p>"What are you doing?"</p> - -<p>She ignored his question.</p> - -<p>"Take this and go part way up," she directed. "But be careful, very -careful, dearest—and throw it over the rim."</p> - -<p>Trusting her knowledge of this undersea world, he climbed the slippery -wall. Halfway up he found a foothold. He tensed his muscles, heaved the -weapon with the peculiar pushing gesture he had learned was the only -way to throw under water. As the spear made a high arc he abandoned his -exposed position in a headlong dive.</p> - -<p>Xintel shouted happily. "Look! Barry! Look!"</p> - -<p>Above the cleft the water was whipped to intense brilliance as the -nightmare monsters converged on the spot where the spear had fallen.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" Barry yelped.</p> - -<p>Xintel laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "The curse, Barry! -The curse Komso put upon us!"</p> - -<p>"Huh?" he grunted.</p> - -<p>"Everyone knows those beasts follow the smell of blood, and that a man -wounded in the Outside is as good as dead. They follow other smells -too!"</p> - -<p>At once he understood. "So Komso's curse is some powerful lure that -will bring every monster within miles to attack, but has a smell we -ourselves can't detect."</p> - -<p>She nodded. "That one we saw leaving our house—he did it."</p> - -<p>Xintel put down her skirt and even unclasped her precious metal -necklace. Stark naked and unarmed she started up the slope.</p> - -<p>"Come back!" he yelled as he sensed her intention.</p> - -<p>She paused, but then continued upward.</p> - -<p>A shadow swooped.</p> - -<p>"Look out!" Barry screamed. But Xintel had been alert and had thrown -herself into a plunging dive.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" she sobbed as she pulled herself up beside him. "It's no good. It -has gotten into my skin. Probably yours too."</p> - -<p>But after his burst of renewed hope Barry refused to surrender. "This -corrosive jelly might counteract it," he suggested.</p> - -<p>Xintel's eyes were somber. "We have nothing to lose," she agreed.</p> - -<p>They scooped out two troughs in the greasy jelly and buried themselves -with only their heads projecting, but at Xintel's suggestion they took -positions where they could keep an eye on the norus.</p> - -<p>"Rub some on your face," Barry advised the girl. "In your hair too."</p> - -<p>"It stings!" she complained.</p> - -<p>"I know. But it's our only chance."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VIII</p> - -<p>They let an hour of torment pass, and although Xintel tried gamely to -keep her face composed she could not hide an occasional grimace of pain -as the caustic jelly ate at the more tender portions of her skin.</p> - -<p>The swarm of monsters still held patrol above the cleft with -dull-witted reptilian patience. The two norus had settled down, -squatting lumpishly, with only their eyes active.</p> - -<p>At last Barry pulled himself from his uncomfortable bed. His body was -red and chapped from head to foot. Xintel was in the same condition.</p> - -<p>"I hope this works," he said.</p> - -<p>He climbed toward the rim, nearly to the top, and still the beasts -paid no attention. He made no sudden movements and their eyesight was -apparently dull.</p> - -<p>"Barry! That's enough! Come back!" Xintel called.</p> - -<p>Deliberately he waved his arms. A swimming torvak turned in its own -length and plunged toward him, and Barry barely evaded its rush.</p> - -<p>"If we try to escape they'll see us," Xintel said.</p> - -<p>Barry nodded sadly. Even though Komso's curse had been voided they -could still only wait and hope.</p> - -<p>The nomads who had found refuge with them unwittingly solved his -dilemma. As once more the age-old envious hatred of the homeless ones -for the city dwellers came to the fore they whispered to each other. -For a moment Barry and Xintel grew inattentive. The norus had been -waiting for just that. They dashed forward, intent on snatching the -weapons that to them represented great wealth. Xintel shouted in alarm -and one of the savages struck at her with a webbed fist.</p> - -<p>Barry's knife flashed and a noru died. As the survivor swerved to evade -Xintel's spear, Barry was upon him from behind.</p> - -<p>His knife descended, this time not in a killing stroke. Deliberately he -carved a long, shallow gash down the savage's back, a wound that would -bleed copiously. Then he shouted and roared ferociously. The wounded -noru fled.</p> - -<p>Xintel streaked in pursuit, a grim expression on her face and a -spear poised, but Barry reached out one arm and caught her ankle. -Instinctively she twisted and her fingernails raked his face.</p> - -<p>He slapped her hard.</p> - -<p>"No!" he barked. "Let the noru go!"</p> - -<p>She looked at him in furious disgust as the nomad churned in -panic-stricken flight toward the rim.</p> - -<p>"He's bleeding!" Barry snapped.</p> - -<p>A great dark shadow swooped at the noru, missed, and Xintel looked -admiringly at Barry as she understood.</p> - -<p>The water above the cleft grew streaky with light as the monsters -abandoned the tenuous remnants of the lure to follow a trail of fresh -blood. The noru gibbered in horror as he dodged along the rocky bottom.</p> - -<p>"Let's go!" Barry barked. "<i>Straight up!</i>"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>It was a long, tiring swim. At last they floated just below the -surface.</p> - -<p>"Can you find the colony?" Barry asked.</p> - -<p>"We go to the nearest shore, near Last City," Xintel corrected. "We are -not safe here over deep water."</p> - -<p>They swam again, this time horizontally, guided once more by Xintel's -compass sense. Once Barry raised his head, but all he could see was -a narrow circle of rippled water upon which the ever-present mists -pressed heavily. A slight rosy glow overhead, dim and diffuse, was the -only indication of the sun.</p> - -<p>Finally the girl stopped. "We are almost to the edge of the Above," she -said.</p> - -<p>Barry put his head up again but still could see nothing but water and -mist. They swam a few strokes more, and then he and the girl lowered -their feet to a bottom of soft mud.</p> - -<p>When he stood up in the neck-deep water and emptied his lungs there was -an interval of wracking coughing and gasping. But then he found with -elation that he was breathing without too much difficulty. His practice -sessions in the cavern were paying off.</p> - -<p>Xintel too stood up and gasped in the warm, stench-filled air, -floundering beside the taller Earthman as they waded toward a dimly -seen bank ahead. The water had shoaled to her waist, when without -warning, she staggered and collapsed.</p> - -<p>Barry caught her as she fell, and with Earth habits returning, cradled -her in his arms with her face above water.</p> - -<p>"Xintel! What's wrong?"</p> - -<p>She stirred in his arms and her eyes opened.</p> - -<p>"Put me down," she requested.</p> - -<p>Then she noticed the frightened expression on his face.</p> - -<p>"I'll be all right soon," she assured him. "Just—tired. And air—too -suddenly."</p> - -<p>Tenderly he laid her in the shallow water.</p> - -<p>"Sure you're all right?" he asked solicitously.</p> - -<p>She nodded.</p> - -<p>For a few minutes he waited beside her, thinking of the colony. He -understood now Komso's reference to the beasts of the marshlands -overturning the houses of the demons, and the priest's plan of battle. -His lure would attract the monsters with which the colony had already -had trouble. And when the colonists were forced outside by the -hypervirulent bacteria of the Unseen, death would strike.</p> - -<p>Without a warning the unsuspecting colony would be doomed, but without -Xintel's guidance he could not reach them to give that warning.</p> - -<p>"Barry." The Venusian girl's voice was still weak and unsteady. "The -Place Of Change is on this shore. Go look at it. Perhaps you, with a -different mind and a different knowledge, could—"</p> - -<p>"You sure you'll be all right alone?"</p> - -<p>She was sure, and finally Barry left her, emptied his lungs once again, -and floundered up the muddy bank.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His body felt heavy without the support of the water to which it had -become accustomed, but it was good to be walking like a true Earthman -again. He plodded inland, cautiously forcing his way through the thick -swamp vegetation. The ground underfoot was a tangle of roots, slime and -jagged stones.</p> - -<p>Last City was a disappointment. Nothing was left but a few scarcely -discernible mounds almost hidden by the swamp jungle. It was impossible -to tell even what sort of buildings once existed.</p> - -<p>He was ready to turn back when a shift in the mists disclosed the Place -Of Change.</p> - -<p>It was a domed building, huge even by the engineering standards of -Earth, and something done in ancient times had prevented the jungle -from encroaching upon it. Half submerged in mud, tilted where the -ground beneath it had softened and shifted, the great hemispherical -shell nevertheless remained intact. Barry hastened forward, found a -circular opening, evidently once a window high on the structure but now -at ground level, and after a glance at the dimness within stooped and -entered.</p> - -<p>He had not known what to expect—Xintel had told him only that the -Place Of Change was irreparably ruined—but certainly nothing so bleak -and disheartening. There was nothing but mud within the great building. -Whatever machinery or equipment had been used to change the Venusians -to water-breathers had vanished without a trace. Barry's shoulders -sagged as he turned back toward the window.</p> - -<p>But then the engineering training of his years on Earth reasserted -itself, and he wondered of what material the building had been -constructed to withstand the ravages of the savage environment of the -Venus. With the flat of one hand he brushed at the greenish, clinging -slime that covered the walls. Etched into the wall were strange symbols -arranged in an orderly fashion. Writing, obviously done by the Ancients.</p> - -<p>It was possible that the inscriptions included the technical data on -which the Place had been based.</p> - -<p>He ran to another section of wall and wiped at it, then at random to a -third spot. More writing. It meant nothing to him, but in the colony -there were specialists who might—</p> - -<p>His chest began to burn, bringing his mind back to his present -situation. There was nothing he could do for the present, and he -must warn the colony. There was no telling how far Komso's plans had -progressed. Perhaps the attack had already started.</p> - -<p>He hurried out through the window, slid and stumbled through the swamp, -plunged into the water. Xintel was sitting up.</p> - -<p>"Can you find the colony?" he asked.</p> - -<p>She nodded, "Far along the shore, that way, I can feel the presence of -life. Your kind of life."</p> - -<p>"That's it! Let's go!"</p> - -<p>They followed the shoreline, and as the minutes passed a happy -excitement grew in the Earthman at the prospect of seeing his own kind -again. Xintel was silent.</p> - -<p>When they came to the opening of the slough, Xintel pointed.</p> - -<p>"That way. Not far."</p> - -<p>Barry shook his head vigorously. "They'd shoot first and look later," -he explained. "Particularly after Komso's first raid. I'll have to -approach overland."</p> - -<p>Half a mile beyond the slough a huge tree had fallen and was lying half -in the swamp and half in the water.</p> - -<p>"This should be far enough," he decided. "Wait here for me. And be -careful."</p> - -<p>He stuck his head out, studying the treacherous, mist-shrouded swamp he -must cross, then ducked under again. The Venusian girl looked at him -for an instant. Her hands moved as though to detain him.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye Barry."</p> - -<p>He kissed her and held her close.</p> - -<p>"It's not good-bye," he promised. "I'll come back."</p> - -<p>Xintel smiled tremulously.</p> - -<p>He released her and climbed to the tree trunk, emptied his lungs of -water and slogged off into the swamp. It was filthy and difficult and -dangerous traveling, but a sense of urgency was upon him.</p> - -<p>After a while he began to sing, loudly and hoarsely and off key. He -sang the popular songs of his last days on Earth, cowboy ballads, -ribald and unprintable construction camp ditties. The sounds drifted -thinly into the enshrouding mists.</p> - -<p>He did not sing from happiness. The colony would be an armed camp and -the songs of Earth offered his only means of identification in the fog. -At the end of each verse he paused and listened.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He finished a particularly lugubrious cowboy number entitled <i>Blood On -The Saddle</i>.</p> - -<p>"Hey! Who's that out there?" A voice reached him through the mist.</p> - -<p>"Ya-hoo!" Barry called. "Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Over here!" the voice replied.</p> - -<p>"Keep yelling, and—don't—shoot!" Barry called, spacing his words for -clearness.</p> - -<p>But sounds moved in tricky ways through the moist, opaque air and it -was only after long floundering that he saw the dim shadows of men.</p> - -<p>"Who are you?" the voice called sharply. "What are you doing out here?"</p> - -<p>"I'm Barry Barr."</p> - -<p>"You lie!" someone shouted. "Barry Barr's dead!"</p> - -<p>Barry recognized the voice.</p> - -<p>"That's what you think, Phillips!"</p> - -<p>He sloshed his way over to join them and they stared in amazement.</p> - -<p>"Where you been?" one of them demanded.</p> - -<p>"At the bottom of the sea."</p> - -<p>"This ain't no time for kidding!" the man retorted angrily.</p> - -<p>"I mean it," Barry declared earnestly. "But guide me in quick. There's -hell brewing."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He waited impatiently in the vestibule of the central building while -they peeled off their rubberized swamp suits. Then he was inside, back -in the colony he had never expected to see again.</p> - -<p>"Call the council of captains and get the leading technical men of each -division," he snapped. "Emergency!"</p> - -<p>He coughed, his lungs irritated by the artificially dehumidified air of -the building. Just then Dr. Jensen passed down the hallway. He saw his -erstwhile patient and came running.</p> - -<p>"What happened to you, son?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Water machine stopped," Barry said shortly, unwilling to be diverted -from more pressing matters by past events. "Had to get out or die."</p> - -<p>"The devil!" the doctor exclaimed. "It was running all right when I -came back, but the window was smashed."</p> - -<p>For Barry that was conclusive evidence—if such were needed—that the -breakdown had been no accident. Hind had turned on the water and power -again to cover his deed.</p> - -<p>Dr. Jensen grabbed Barry's arm. "Let me make some tests on you," he -asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>"No time now," Barry snapped.</p> - -<p>The four spaceship captains and as many technicians as could crowd into -the room, set up a babble of questions as Barry entered. He glanced -around quickly, searching for two faces, but neither Dorothy Voorhees -nor Robson Hind was there. He held up a hand for silence.</p> - -<p>The noise subsided.</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen, there is intelligent life on Venus, intelligent <i>human</i> -life of an origin common to our own. You tangled with them recently."</p> - -<p>"My God!" a man exclaimed. "We thought it was some animal that killed -Evans."</p> - -<p>"I told you that was a knife wound and not the mark of teeth," another -interrupted.</p> - -<p>"We heard Fred shooting out beside the slough," someone explained. "But -by the time we got there he was dead and there was nothing in sight."</p> - -<p>"Don't underestimate these Venusians," Barry warned. "They live under -water. No knowledge of fire or explosives—they lost those when they -went aquatic—but their bacteriology is advanced. They once staged a -full scale bacterial war. And they knew enough biological science—a -damn sight more than we know—to deliberately become water-breathers to -escape the mess their war created."</p> - -<p>He noticed sceptical looks on some of the faces.</p> - -<p>"Just look at me," he said. "What happens by accident can be done on -purpose. This colony is facing death. A fanatical group of Venusians -are planning to wipe us out, and the attack will come soon. They will -use a chemical that attracts every swamp beast and water monster within -miles.</p> - -<p>"It works. I know it works," he insisted, and shuddered as he -remembered the torvaks.</p> - -<p>"Then there will be hypervirulent bacteria. You know what that means!"</p> - -<p>"Why should they attack us?" someone demanded.</p> - -<p>"You're strange to them, alien, and there is a leader among them who -fears outside influences will undermine his absolute control."</p> - -<p>"All right! Let's get ready, shoot the works, and give them what -they're asking for!" The man who spoke had been a close friend of Evans.</p> - -<p>"No!" Barry said decisively. "That would be the worst thing possible!"</p> - -<p>"What would you advise?" one of the captains asked.</p> - -<p>"Many of them would be friendly if given a chance," Barry explained. -"But if you plant mines in the slough and wipe out the attacking party -it will mean enmity between colonists and the surviving Venusians for -all time to come. Both sides will be vulnerable, you to bacterial -attack, they to depth charges, and the surface of Venus will be -rendered uninhabitable for years or even centuries."</p> - -<p>"What's the alternative?" Captain Reno demanded.</p> - -<p>The door opened and Barry glanced around. Even in mud-streaked -coveralls Dorothy Voorhees was beautiful. He had forgotten just how -desirable she was.</p> - -<p>"Barry!" she cried joyfully, and ran to him.</p> - -<p>Instinctively he responded to her kiss—until he remembered Xintel and -his own condition.</p> - -<p>"I won't be able to stay," he told her, deliberately making his voice -harsh. "I'm not cured and probably never will be."</p> - -<p>"But—but your water machine can be fixed," she protested.</p> - -<p>"There's more than that," he said, and with an effort turned away.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IX</p> - -<p>"As I was saying, gentlemen. Using the electric secondaries from the -ships, with submerged electrodes, you can set up a high-voltage, -low-amperage barrier across the slough that will stun without killing. -If this first attack can be warded off without killing, perhaps we can -establish friendly relations."</p> - -<p>"What makes you think they could be friendly?" a man asked suspiciously.</p> - -<p>"Because of a girl named Xintel who would undoubtedly become their -leader if Komso were killed or discredited. She saved my life, and -since then we have lived together and fought side by side. She is -waiting on the edge of the swamp now, an outcast from her own people -because she dared help me."</p> - -<p>Dorothy understood more from his tone than his words alone conveyed. -Her face paled.</p> - -<p>"Barry," she began, her voice strained. "You—?"</p> - -<p>The door opened again and three men crowded into the room. One was -Robson Hind. The electronics expert's face went gray as he saw his -supposed victim still alive. Barry itched to get at him but for the -moment too much was at stake to permit personal revenge.</p> - -<p>"Rig the shock charges at once," he suggested. "Xintel and I will do -our best to head off the attack under water."</p> - -<p>There were objections. Some considered it too dangerous. A heated -argument broke out, but at last the council of captains nodded -agreement. A sublethal current was to be used, but it was to be -backstopped by mortars, machine guns and flame throwers. Any creature -showing its head above water was to be blasted on sight.</p> - -<p>"I'll attend to the power supply," Hind suddenly volunteered.</p> - -<p>Barry guessed what was really in his mind. From Hind's unbalanced, -paranoid viewpoint it was essential he be removed to forestall an -investigation. He turned to the spaceship captains.</p> - -<p>"I most strongly urge that someone other than Robson Hind take charge -of the work."</p> - -<p>"Why?" Captain Reno snapped.</p> - -<p>"My reasons are valid, believe me. I'll explain later."</p> - -<p>"The man's crazy!" Hind spluttered.</p> - -<p>Captain Reno looked at his fellow officers and they nodded.</p> - -<p>"Podtiaguine, take charge of the installation," Reno commanded.</p> - -<p>The dry air was hurting Barry's lungs; Komso might attack at any -moment; and Xintel was all alone where hostile swamp met hostile sea.</p> - -<p>"I've got to get out," he declared. "Give me a pair of liquid fire -pistols."</p> - -<p>A storekeeper hurried to get them, and as Barry buckled the holster -belt around his waist he looked for Dorothy. She was gone.</p> - -<p>"Remember," he warned. "No killing unless absolutely necessary, but -watch out for tricks. If my luck holds I'll be back. I have things to -settle."</p> - -<p>He looked meaningfully at Hind, then turned abruptly and strode down -the hall, his ragged trousers flapping damply, his Venusian sandals -squishing at every step. The warm, stench-filled Venusian mist closed -around him, revivifying him and soothing his tormented lungs as he -started toward the swamp.</p> - -<p>"Barry!" It was Dorothy.</p> - -<p>"Barry, I want a straight answer."</p> - -<p>"Yes?"</p> - -<p>"Have you stopped loving me?"</p> - -<p>His answer was unhesitating. "No, and I never will. But I have no right -since I became—like this."</p> - -<p>She made a sound between a gasp and a sob.</p> - -<p>"But that Venusian girl?"</p> - -<p>Barry fumbled for words. "I—I love her too. It's just that -I—well—you and she belong in different worlds and I'm—I'm part of -both but not fully of either."</p> - -<p>"Oh! But you'll come back—for short periods at least?"</p> - -<p>"If I live through what's coming," he answered soberly.</p> - -<p>She smiled with an effort. "Be careful, Barry dear, and—good luck!"</p> - -<p>She turned, running back toward the buildings, and he plunged into the -reeking swamp, backtracking along his own trail of muddy footprints and -crushed vegetation.</p> - -<p>He emerged at the fallen tree, dived in, and with a sense of relief -filled his lungs with water.</p> - -<p>"Xintel!" he called.</p> - -<p>"Here!" He swung around. The bank beneath the tree trunk had been -hollowed out by the action of ripples on the soft mud, and she crouched -there, protected on three sides.</p> - -<p>"I was so afraid you weren't coming back!"</p> - -<p>"I told you I'd return."</p> - -<p>"Barry?" Her voice trembled. "Did you see—her?"</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>"And yet you came back to me!" She spoke as though she could hardly -believe it.</p> - -<p>"Listen closely," he broke in. "What do the women of Tana think of -Komso's plans?"</p> - -<p>"They know many of their men will never return."</p> - -<p>"Do you think you could—?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I could sneak back into Tana. But what good would that do?"</p> - -<p>Barry frowned thoughtfully. "Could you persuade some of them, as many -as possible, to follow the war party and overtake their men? When they -see you're alive, that Komso's curse didn't work—"</p> - -<p>Xintel shook her head. "Most have never been outside Tana in their -lives. Even to save their men they would be too fearful of the sea -dangers and of Komso's wrath. They would never follow me."</p> - -<p>Barry drew one of his fire pistols and moved aside.</p> - -<p>"Watch this," he told her. The liquid charge was self-oxidizing and -should burn under water, but there was a distinct danger the gun would -backfire. His nerves were screaming as he squeezed the trigger.</p> - -<p>Scarlet fire lanced from the muzzle with a sizzling roar that nearly -broke their eardrums.</p> - -<p>The water surged and heaved.</p> - -<p>Xintel pressed her hands to her ears; her eyes were round with -amazement.</p> - -<p>"What was that?" she gasped.</p> - -<p>"That was fire," Barry answered, handing her both weapons. "Now you -have magic to surpass anything of Komso's. Would that help persuade the -women?"</p> - -<p>Xintel smiled grimly. "They will follow me or else—And if Komso or a -Chosen One should interfere, would it—?"</p> - -<p>"It would. And tell the women that if your people and mine can meet as -friends there will be guns like this for everyone. Norus and torvaks -will hold no more terrors."</p> - -<p>"But you?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I must wait at the mouth of the slough and stop Komso there."</p> - -<p>"But—?"</p> - -<p>"Waste no more time! Hurry!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>After she was gone he swam along the shore to the slough and settled -on the bottom. He waited interminably it seemed before he spotted the -distant streaks of light left by Komso's men, perhaps a hundred of them -in a close group.</p> - -<p>He remained crouched, waiting until they were just beyond crossbow -range. Then he stood up, waving his arms to create enough light to -make his identity unmistakable. He had decided his only course lay in -turning Komso's own propaganda against him.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he commanded.</p> - -<p>For a moment there was confusion in the ranks, and those in front -backed water.</p> - -<p>"Come forth, Komso, and look upon me!" Barry called. "You are a -trickster and a fraud, and your curses are without power!"</p> - -<p>Komso's jaw went slack and his face grew crimson. The priest spoke -softly to a Chosen One.</p> - -<p>"Men," he declared. "Only a demon could survive the curse of the Gods -Of The Deeps—but even a demon can die!"</p> - -<p>Barry almost missed seeing the Chosen One raise his crossbow, but some -instinct warned him just as the weapon twanged. He sidestepped and the -missile whizzed by. It had been close. If they were to open upon him -in volleys—</p> - -<p>"Komso's curses are powerless but mine are not!" he declared loudly, -concealing his nervousness. "You are forgiven this time, but the next -man who raises a weapon against me will feel my wrath. He shall die -screaming in slow agony!"</p> - -<p>"Rush him! Kill him!" Komso ordered, attempting to rally his wavering -ranks. But Barry's boast, and their belief that he was a demon, held -them back.</p> - -<p>Barry scanned the sea for the patch of light that would indicate Xintel -approaching with the women of Tana. Nothing. Stalling was his only -chance.</p> - -<p>"Men of Tana," he began. "If you follow Komso you go to certain death. -Already you have seen that his so-called curse means nothing. And now I -shall tell you how—"</p> - -<p>"Close your ears!" Komso shrieked. "Listen to this infidel and the -curse of the Gods will be upon you too!"</p> - -<p>The men trembled, torn between fear of the demon and fear of their own -leader.</p> - -<p>"Those from Above would be your friends," Barry argued. "They are not -demons, but men very like yourselves."</p> - -<p>"Liar!" Komso bellowed. "The people of Tana are the only true men!"</p> - -<p>The warriors nodded, accepting the oft-repeated dogma as indisputable -truth. Barry realized it was useless to argue. He waited, hoping -something would swing the balance. Meanwhile Komso deployed his forces -in a crescent across the mouth of the slough. To Barry it looked like -preparation for a rush that would overwhelm him.</p> - -<p>Each warrior, he saw, carried a large sealed wooden cylinder. They -handled them gingerly. Barry guessed their purpose. They contained -the hypervirulent bacterial cultures with which the colony was to be -exterminated. But of course, to the Venusians themselves, they were -magic.</p> - -<p>Just when it seemed Komso's men were rallying from their fright, Barry -sighted a speck of brightness far out to sea. One of the men saw it too -and called the priest's attention to it. Komso's stare of puzzlement -changed to fury as he made out the forms of thirty women.</p> - -<p>Xintel darted ahead of the group, past Komso's men, and before the -priest could give an order, she had reached Barry's side.</p> - -<p>"I had to use all the fire," she said in a low voice. "There were -torvaks, and it killed them."</p> - -<p>Barry squeezed her hand, although he wished she had saved one charge -with which to impress the war party.</p> - -<p>Komso's forces were disorganized. Several of the men had left ranks -to join their frightened, panting mates and a series of shrill family -quarrels were in progress despite all the priest's efforts. Men cursed -their wives for leaving Tana and were in turn cursed for everything the -near-hysterical females could lay tongue to.</p> - -<p>"Hear me!" Komso bellowed. "Hear me!"</p> - -<p>The quarreling stopped abruptly.</p> - -<p>"I challenge the demon to single, bare-handed combat!"</p> - -<p>Barry gulped. He had wanted for a long time to get his hands on Komso, -and now the opportunity was here.</p> - -<p>"I accept!" he said firmly.</p> - -<p>Xintel's face was ashen; her lips were trembling.</p> - -<p>"Barry! My father believed the Leaders used poison under their -fingernails; the slightest scratch means death," she whispered.</p> - -<p>Barry dared not back down now. He watched Komso advance.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The priest swam upward and stopped, slight motions of arms and legs -holding him there. Barry recognized it as a clever move. Komso had seen -what the Earthman's muscles could do when he was able to plant his feet -solidly.</p> - -<p>"Come meet your doom, Demon!" Komso taunted.</p> - -<p>Barry sensed the interest of the watchers. Many times they had seen -Komso's powers displayed, and they were waiting for the demon to flee -or die.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Barry launched himself from the bottom in a headlong rush.</p> - -<p>Komso dodged and his hands came out in a clawing, scratching reach. In -that instant Barry knew Xintel had been right.</p> - -<p>He knocked Komso's arm aside and whipped his fist toward the smirking -face. It struck, but only a glancing blow. It left him floundering off -balance. The water around them glowed with increasing brightness as -they twisted and turned.</p> - -<p>Again and again Komso's poisoned nails reached out, but each time Barry -managed to escape. He tried to maneuver the battle toward the bottom, -but Komso stayed above and made short, threatening swoops. Barry was -forced to move upward again or remain entirely on the defensive. He did -not dare grapple.</p> - -<p>In desperation he relaxed his guard and tried a judo chop at Komso's -shoulder muscles. The priest uttered a cry of pain, but the blow had -not disabled. Fingernails scraping along his neck filled him with blind -panic. Luckily they failed to break the skin.</p> - -<p>Komso drew away, dove in again, this time low, clawing at Barry's legs -and keeping clear of his punishing fists.</p> - -<p>Barry drew his legs up, and as the Venusian passed under him, pumped -them down with all his strength.</p> - -<p>One foot struck Komso's side. Barry felt something shatter beneath his -heel.</p> - -<p>Komso pulled up from his rush. He turned, unhurt, prepared to dive -again. And then one hand went to his side, feeling through his -clothing. His face went greenish; his jaw sagged. His eyes rolled and -he screamed in utter despair. Barry was too startled to follow up his -advantage.</p> - -<p>Seconds passed, and then there was a whizzing, hissing sound moving -through the water at tremendous speed. A streak of light. Barry barely -glimpsed the shark-like creature that burst through the ranks of -Komso's men. Straight as an arrow it came, ignoring those it knocked -aside.</p> - -<p>Komso's third scream broke in the middle, unfinished. Then there was -only a spreading pink stain and a few remnants.</p> - -<p>The dead silence that followed was broken by a yell of horror. Out to -sea specks of light grew brighter by the second. Warriors and women -alike milled in confusion, leaderless, and when one man started a -panic-stricken dash up the slough, the others dropped their weapons and -followed.</p> - -<p>Barry hung in the water, still not comprehending, until Xintel shook -him out of his stunned inaction.</p> - -<p>"Quick, Barry!"</p> - -<p>Her legs churned the water at top speed and she guided him with -occasional touches. Once he glanced over his shoulder, and the glow -around the slough's mouth disclosed huge black shapes gathering. -Torvaks!</p> - -<p>The girl swam close to shore where the water was thick and muddy and -fetid with the reek of decay. After a while she cut her speed so he -could come up beside her. No Venusians were in sight.</p> - -<p>"His own curse!" she said.</p> - -<p>Barry understood. Komso had been carrying a vial of his secret lure. -Barry's random kick had broken it, saturating the priest's clothing. -The beasts of the ocean had done the rest, and now, in addition, they -had the smell of fresh blood to attract them.</p> - -<p>"I've got to get ashore at once!" Barry panted.</p> - -<p>Trapped between the electric barrier and the monsters prowling the -slough, the Venusians would be doomed. With their leader dead, and -ravening death at their heels, they would have forgotten all about -attacking the colony, Barry hoped.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">X</p> - -<p>Once more they reached the spot where the tree lay at the water's edge.</p> - -<p>"Wait here, darling," Barry said hurriedly, and climbed out.</p> - -<p>He lay on the tree trunk a moment, coughing the water from his lungs. -When he glanced up Robson Hind was standing there. Under his arms was a -submachine gun.</p> - -<p>"You damned degenerate fish-man!" he said.</p> - -<p>Barry could only stare helplessly as Hind's trigger finger tightened. -The man looked mad.</p> - -<p>A shot barked from the swamp and at the same instant a slender arm from -the water caught Hind's ankle and jerked. The submachine gun roared an -unaimed burst as he toppled backwards. His head thwacked dully against -the wood, and then there was a splash as he sank.</p> - -<p>Barry stood up trembling.</p> - -<p>A coveralled and hooded figure emerged from the swamp, carrying a -carbine from which a wisp of smoke still curled.</p> - -<p>"Barry, did I—?" Under the smears of mud Dorothy's face was pale.</p> - -<p>"What are you doing here?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"I saw him following your trail, and I guessed—"</p> - -<p>A head broke water beside the log. Dorothy fired, but Barry knocked the -muzzle skyward just in time to deflect the bullet. Then he knelt to -give Xintel a hand up.</p> - -<p>The Venusian girl cleared her lungs, rubbed one webbed hand across her -eyes, then gave Dorothy a long, level stare.</p> - -<p>"He breathes like you?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Good. Did she kill him or did I?"</p> - -<p>"Is that your Venusian girl?" Dorothy interrupted. "And what are you -two talking about?"</p> - -<p>Barry switched to English. "Hell's still loose. Got to get to -headquarters immediately."</p> - -<p>He started off, looked back with a worried frown. Xintel had drawn a -tube-weapon to match Dorothy's rifle. The slender, coveralled Earthgirl -and the more fully curved Venusian, dressed in only a torn skirt, were -eying each other like two alley cats. He could almost feel the crackle -of emotion between them. He winced.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"It's murder if you don't!" Barry raged.</p> - -<p>Captain Stanley of Ship Two was in charge of the slough sector of -defense. He shook his head regretfully.</p> - -<p>"Must have the approval of the other captains first," he said.</p> - -<p>"Well, in God's name, get them!"</p> - -<p>Barry strained his eyes, but the mist had settled down thickly. Only -the vaguest hints of heaving, convulsive movement were discernible -beneath the water. The air-masked crews of the machine guns and mortars -and flame throwers set up to supplement the stun barrier were tense and -jittery as they waited.</p> - -<p>The radio handpiece crackled with static that drowned all -communication, so Captain Stanley sent a runner to summon the others.</p> - -<p>Anger and despair contended in Barry's mind. They would be too late. -The heavy cables sprawled into the black water like great snakes, -lifeless in appearance, but he knew the torturing forces with which -they were filling the slough. And he alone of all the colony knew the -full horror of the torvaks.</p> - -<p>Through the mist he could just see the building where Nick had set -up the switchboard, and he hoped he would be watching for orders. -Otherwise—</p> - -<p>With deceptive calm he walked to one of the flame throwers, snapped the -latch releasing the bulky mechanism from its tripod, picked it up in -both arms.</p> - -<p>"What are you doing?" Captain Stanley demanded.</p> - -<p>"I'm going in," Barry declared.</p> - -<p>The watching men were too dumfounded to stop him as he ran downstream.</p> - -<p>Through the mist he saw something move just below the surface. A -Venusian woman, her muscles twitching in spastic convulsions as the -electric current ripped at her nerves. And then a few yards away a -shadow, misshapen and unbelievably huge.</p> - -<p>Barry stopped, cradling the heavy flame thrower in his arms.</p> - -<p>"Turn off that current!" he pleaded once again.</p> - -<p>Without waiting for an answer he leaped.</p> - -<p>The weight of the weapon took him instantly to the bottom. He sprawled -in the ooze. He had miscalculated. A million fiends were stabbing -with red-hot knives, and his muscles twitched and squirmed in insane -convulsions. His chest was clamped in a gigantic vise that kept him -from filling his lungs with the water that meant life.</p> - -<p>But he was still conscious, still able to see the screaming forms of -Venusians who, in their flight from the monsters, had ventured too deep -into the charged area.</p> - -<p>An ugly creature came toward Barry. It was shaking its huge body, but -it was coming on nonetheless. Its scaly hide and low-grade nervous -system made it at least partially immune to the electrical charge; its -killer instincts forced it to disregard the discomfort. Through the -reek of decaying vegetation Barry got a whiff of the acrid odor he had -learned to identify as fresh blood.</p> - -<p>He struggled to raise his flame thrower, but he was unable to -coordinate his movements.</p> - -<p>And then at the last possible moment the twitchings of his body ceased. -Someone, Captain Stanley or Nick, had pulled the main switch.</p> - -<p>He brought the nozzle of the flame thrower around. Flame blossomed and -ricocheted through the water in burning globules. Concussion and shock -wave threw him face down in the mud, dazzled and deafened.</p> - -<p>He picked himself up, gagging and retching at the taint of charred -flesh. The creature was still twitching in its death throes, stirring -the water to opacity. Through the silt Barry could see several Venusian -survivors moving feebly.</p> - -<p>"Follow me!" he yelled, fearful that at any instant the current would -be turned on again.</p> - -<p>Then he went down the slough in great leaping bounds while a howling -lust to kill mounted within him. The flame thrower, designed to be used -from a fixed mount, made a clumsy burden in his arms. Monsters, dozens -of them of all sizes and shapes, had come to kill. They remained to be -killed instead.</p> - -<p>Time after time the flame thrower sent its blazing cone licking forth. -The water grew thick and uncomfortably hot, but little by little he -cleared a path to the sea.</p> - -<p>Once he looked back. The Venusians were following, and on each face was -a look of adoration. Barry knew then he had made himself the new leader -of Tana. They crowded close, anxious to get away from the bewitched -waters. He motioned them to keep a safe distance.</p> - -<p>And then suddenly he reached open water and the last of the monsters -died in fire. Barry looked down at the pressure gauges. The tanks were -empty.</p> - -<p>The Venusians gathered around but kept a respectful distance from his -person.</p> - -<p>"Get back to Tana, all of you!" he commanded. "Remain there until -either Xintel or I tell you otherwise!"</p> - -<p>Without further questioning they obeyed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He would have missed the half submerged tree entirely except -for something white on the bottom, something from which small -carrion-eaters scuttled at his approach. Hind's skeleton, already half -buried in the ooze. Gunshot or drowning? Dorothy or Xintel? What matter?</p> - -<p>The two women were still watching each other warily on the bank. But, -he saw with relief, they had laid their weapons aside.</p> - -<p>Together, each in her own language, they bombarded him with questions.</p> - -<p>He managed a faint smile although the skin of his face felt stiff and -scorched from the flame thrower's heat.</p> - -<p>"No war," he said.</p> - -<p>That should have finished it, and all he wanted now was rest.</p> - -<p>But again they spoke at once. Their languages were different but their -meanings were the same.</p> - -<p>"Barry, I want to talk to her."</p> - -<p>Wearily he slumped down, nodding.</p> - -<p>But as the conversation progressed he fidgeted uneasily. With the -amazing frankness of two strong-willed females, they were settling his -future while he translated. It was like a distorted dream.</p> - -<p>They finally reached an agreement. Neither liked it entirely, but -both were unselfish enough to consider Barry's welfare. And both were -realists.</p> - -<p>Barry blinked and blushed as he translated, but could not suppress a -feeling of relief.</p> - -<p>"I really don't mind—too much," Dorothy addressed him directly. "But -if you ever tell anyone up here you're still carrying on with this bare -breasted fish-girl I swear you'll be sorry."</p> - -<p>Xintel spoke. "I understand. She is of your own people. But please, -Barry, those of Tana do not need to know."</p> - -<p>Dorothy and Xintel were watching him, waiting for his answer.</p> - -<p>Two women in his life, both determined to remain. Either they would -resent each other, and through jealousy, make his life hell, or they -would become firm friends. He could easily become the most henpecked -man on all Venus. But to choose between them—</p> - -<p>Well, boredom was one thing he need never fear.</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">[Transcriber's Note: No Section VII heading in original text.]</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Tribes Of Venus, by Erik Fennel - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS *** - -***** This file should be named 63932-h.htm or 63932-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/9/3/63932/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Lost Tribes Of Venus - -Author: Erik Fennel - -Release Date: December 1, 2020 [EBook #63932] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS - - By ERIK FENNEL - - _On mist-shrouded Venus, where hostile - swamp meets hostile sea ... there did - Barry Barr--Earthman transmuted--swap - his Terran heritage for the deep dark - waters of Tana; for the strangely - beautiful Xintel of the blue-brown skin._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories May 1954. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Evil luck brought the meteorite to those particular space-time -coordinates as Number Four rode the downhill spiral toward Venus. The -football-sized chunk of nickel-iron and rock overtook the ship at a -relative speed of only a few hundred miles per hour and passed close -enough to come within the tremendous pseudo-gravatic fields of the -idling drivers. - -It swerved into a paraboloid course, following the flux lines, and was -dragged directly against one of the three projecting nozzles. Energy -of motion was converted to heat and a few meteoric fragments fused -themselves to the nonmetallic tube casing. - -In the jet room the positronic line accelerator for that particular -driver fouled under the intolerable overload, and the backsurge sent -searing heat and deadly radiation blasting through the compartment -before the main circuit breakers could clack open. - -The bellow of the alarm horn brought Barry Barr fully awake, shattering -a delightfully intimate dream of the dark haired girl he hoped to see -again soon in Venus Colony. As he unbuckled his bunk straps and started -aft at a floating, bounding run his weightlessness told him instantly -that Number Four was in free fall with dead drivers. - -Red warning lights gleamed wickedly above the safety-locked jet -room door, and Nick Podtiaguine, the air machines specialist, was -manipulating the emergency controls with Captain Reno at his elbow. One -by one the crew crowded into the corridor and watched in tense silence. - -The automatic lock clicked off as the jet room returned to habitable -conditions, and at Captain Reno's gesture two men swung the door open. -Quickly the commander entered the blasted jet room. Barry Barr was -close behind him. - -Robson Hind, jet chief of Four and electronics expert for Venus Colony, -hung back until others had gone in first. His handsome, heavy face had -lost its usual ruddiness. - -Captain Reno surveyed the havoc. Young Ryan's body floated eerily in -the zero gravity, charred into instant death by the back-blast. The -line accelerator was a shapeless ruin, but except for broken meter -glasses and scorched control handles other mechanical damage appeared -minor. They had been lucky. - -"Turnover starts in six hours twelve minutes," the captain said -meaningfully. - -Robson Hind cleared his throat. "We can change accelerators in two -hours," he declared. With a quick reassumption of authority he began to -order his crew into action. - -It took nearer three hours than two to change accelerators despite -Hind's shouted orders. - -At last the job was completed. Hind made a final check, floated over to -the control panel and started the fuel feed. With a confident smile he -threw in the accelerator switch. - -The meter needles climbed, soared past the red lines without pausing, -and just in time to prevent a second blowback, Hind cut the power. - -"_There's metal in the field!_" His voice was high and unsteady. - - * * * * * - -Everyone knew what that meant. The slightest trace of magnetic material -would distort the delicately balanced cylinder of force that contained -and directed the Hoskins blast, making it suicidal to operate. - -Calmly Captain Reno voiced the thought in every mind. - -"It must be cleared. From the outside." - -Several of the men swore under their breaths. Interplanetary space -was constantly bombarded, with an intensity inverse to the prevailing -gravitation, by something called Sigma radiation. Man had never -encountered it until leaving Earth, and little was known of it -except that short exposure killed test animals and left their bodies -unpredictably altered. - -Inside the ship it was safe enough, for the sleek hull was charged with -a Kendall power-shield, impervious to nearly any Sigma concentration. -But the shielding devices in the emergency spacesuits were small -and had never been space-tested in a region of nearly equalized -gravitations. - -The man who emerged from the airlock would be flipping a coin with a -particularly unpleasant form of death. - -Many pairs of eyes turned toward Robson Hind. He was jet chief. - -"I'm assigned, not expendable," he protested hastily. "If there were -more trouble later...." His face was pasty. - -Assigned. That was the key word. Barry Barr felt a lump tightening -in his stomach as the eyes shifted to him. He had some training in -Hoskins drivers. He knew alloys and power tools. And he was riding Four -unassigned after that broken ankle had made him miss Three. He was the -logical man. - -"For the safety of the ship." That phrase, taken from the ancient -Earthbound code of the sea, had occurred repeatedly in the -indoctrination manual at Training Base. He remembered it, and -remembered further the contingent plans regarding assigned and -unassigned personnel. - -For a moment he stood indecisively, the nervous, unhumorous smile -quirking across his angular face making him look more like an untried -boy than a structural engineer who had fought his way up through some -of the toughest tropical construction camps of Earth. His lean body, -built more for quick, neatly coordinated action than brute power, -balanced handily in the zero gravity as he ran one hand through his -sandy hair in a gesture of uncertainty. - -He knew that not even the captain would order him through the airlock. - -But the members of the Five Ship Plan had been selected in part for a -sense of responsibility. - -"Nick, will you help me button up?" he asked with forced calmness. - -For an instant he thought he detected a sly gleam in Hind's eyes. But -then the jet chief was pressing forward with the others to shake his -hand. - -Rebellious reluctance flared briefly in Barry's mind. Dorothy Voorhees -had refused to make a definite promise before blasting off in Three--in -fact he hadn't even seen her during her last few days on Earth. But -still he felt he had the inside track despite Hind's money and the -brash assurance that went with it. But if Hind only were to reach Venus -alive-- - - * * * * * - -The blazing disc of Sol, the minor globes of the planets, the unwinking -pinpoints of the stars, all stared with cosmic disinterest at the tiny -figure crawling along the hull. His spacesuit trapped and amplified -breathing and heartbeats into a roaring chaos that was an invitation -to blind panic, and all the while there was consciousness of the -insidiously deadly Sigma radiations. - -Barry found the debris of the meteorite, an ugly shining splotch -against the dull superceramic tube, readied his power chisel, started -cutting. Soon it became a tedious, torturingly strenuous manual task -requiring little conscious thought, and Barry's mind touched briefly on -the events that had brought him here. - -First Luna, and that had been murderous. Man had encountered Sigma -for the first time, and many had died before the Kendall-shield was -perfected. And the chemical-fueled rockets of those days had been -inherently poor. - -Hoskins semi-atomics had made possible the next step--to Mars. But men -had found Mars barren, swept clear of all life in the cataclysm that -had shattered the trans-Martian planet to form the Asteroid Belt. - -Venus, its true surface forever hidden by enshrouding mists, had been -well within one-way range. But Hoskins fuel requirements for a round -trip added up to something beyond critical mass. Impossible. - -But the Five Ship Plan had evolved, a joint enterprise of government -and various private groups. Five vessels were to go out, each fueled -to within a whiskered neutron of spontaneous detonation, manned by -specialists who, it was hoped, could maintain themselves under alien -conditions. - -On Venus the leftover fuel from all five would be transferred to -whichever ship had survived the outbound voyage in best condition. -That one would return to Earth. Permanent base or homeward voyage with -colonists crowded aboard like defeated sardines? Only time would tell. - -Barry Barr had volunteered, and because the enlightened guesses of the -experts called for men and women familiar with tropical conditions, -he had survived the rigorous weeding-out process. His duties in Venus -Colony would be to refabricate the discarded ships into whatever form -was most needed--most particularly a launching ramp--and to study -native Venusian materials. - -Dorothy Voorhees had signed on as toxicologist and dietician. When the -limited supply of Earth food ran out the Colony would be forced to -rely upon Venusian plants and animals. She would guard against subtle -delayed-action poisons, meanwhile devising ways of preparing Venusian -materials to suit Earth tastes and digestions. - -Barry had met her at Training Base and known at once that his years of -loneliness had come to an end. - -She seemed utterly independent, self-contained, completely intellectual -despite her beauty, but Barry had not been deceived. From the moment -of first meeting he had sensed within her deep springs of suppressed -emotion, and he had understood. He too had come up the hard way, alone, -and been forced to develop a shell of hardness and cold, single-minded -devotion to his work. Gradually, often unwillingly under his -insistence, her aloofness had begun to melt. - -But Robson Hind too had been attracted. He was the only son of the -business manager of the great Hoskins Corporation which carried -a considerable share in the Five Ship Plan. Dorothy's failure to -virtually fall into his arms had only piqued his desires. - -The man's smooth charm had fascinated the girl and his money had opened -to her an entirely new world of lavish nightclubs and extravagantly -expensive entertainments, but her inborn shrewdness had sensed some -factor in his personality that had made her hesitate. - -Barry had felt a distrust of Hind apart from the normal dislike of -rivalry. He had looked forward to being with Dorothy aboard Three, and -had made no secret of his satisfaction when Hind's efforts to have -himself transferred to Three also or the girl to Four had failed. - -But then a scaffold had slipped while Three was being readied, and with -a fractured ankle he had been forced to miss the ship. - -He unclipped the magnetic detector from his belt and ran it inch by -inch over the nozzle. He found one spot of metal, pinhead-sized, but -enough to cause trouble, and once more swung his power chisel into -stuttering action. - -Then it was done. - -As quickly as possible he inched back to the airlock. Turnover had to -start according to calculations. - - * * * * * - -Barry opened his eyes. The ship was in normal deceleration and Nick -Podtiaguine was watching him from a nearby bunk. - -"I could eat a cow with the smallpox," Barry declared. - -Nick grinned. "No doubt. You slept around the clock and more. Nice job -of work out there." - -Barry unhitched his straps and sat up. - -"Say," he asked anxiously. "What's haywire with the air?" - -Nick looked startled. "Nothing. Everything checked out when I came off -watch a few minutes ago." - -Barry shrugged. "Probably just me. Guess I'll go see if I can mooch a -handout." - -He found himself a hero. The cook was ready to turn the galley inside -out while a radio engineer and an entomologist hovered near to wait on -him. But he couldn't enjoy the meal. The sensations of heat and dryness -he had noticed on awakening grew steadily worse. It became difficult to -breathe. - -He started to rise, and abruptly the room swirled and darkened around -him. Even as he sank into unconsciousness he knew the answer. - -The suit's Kendall-shield had leaked! - -Four plunged toward Venus tail first, the Hoskins jets flaring ahead. -The single doctor for the Colony had gone out in Two and the crewmen -trained in first aid could do little to relieve Barry's distress. -Fainting spells alternated with fever and delirium and an unquenchable -thirst. His breathing became increasingly difficult. - -A few thousand miles out Four picked up a microbeam. A feeling of -exultation surged through the ship as Captain Reno passed the word, for -the beam meant that some Earthmen were alive upon Venus. They were not -necessarily diving straight toward oblivion. Barry, sick as he was, -felt the thrill of the unknown world that lay ahead. - -Into a miles-thick layer of opacity Four roared, with Captain Reno -himself jockeying throttles to keep it balanced on its self-created -support of flame. - -"You're almost in," a voice chanted into his headphones through -crackling, sizzling static. "Easy toward spherical one-thirty. Hold it! -Lower. Lower. CUT YOUR POWER!" - -The heavy hull dropped sickeningly, struck with a mushy thud, settled, -steadied. - -Barry was weak, but with Nick Podtiaguine steadying him he was waiting -with the others when Captain Reno gave the last order. - -"Airlock open. Both doors." - -Venusian air poured in. - -"For this I left Panama?" one of the men yelped. - -"Enough to gag a maggot," another agreed with hand to nose. - -It was like mid-summer noon in a tropical mangrove swamp, hot and -unbearably humid and overpowering with the stench of decaying -vegetation. - -But Barry took one deep breath, then another. The stabbing needles in -his chest blunted, and the choking band around his throat loosened. - -The outer door swung wide. He blinked, and a shift in the encompassing -vapors gave him his first sight of a world bathed in subdued light. - -Four had landed in a marsh with the midships lock only a few feet above -a quagmire surface still steaming from the final rocket blast. Nearby -the identical hulls of Two and Three stood upright in the mud. The -mist shifted again and beyond the swamp he could see the low, rounded -outlines of the collapsible buildings Two and Three had carried in -their cargo pits. They were set on a rock ledge rising a few feet out -of the marsh. The Colony! - -Men were tossing sections of lattice duckboard out upon the swamp, -extending a narrow walkway toward Four's airlock, and within a few -minutes the new arrivals were scrambling down. - -Barry paid little attention to the noisy greetings and excited talk. -Impatiently he trotted toward the rock ledge, searching for one -particular figure among the men and women who waited. - -"Dorothy!" he said fervently. - -Then his arms were around her and she was responding to his kiss. - -Then unexpected pain tore at his chest. Her lovely face took on an -expression of fright even as it wavered and grew dim. The last thing he -saw was Robson Hind looming beside her. - -By the glow of an overhead tubelight he recognized the kindly, deeply -lined features of the man bending over him. Dr. Carl Jensen, specialist -in tropical diseases. He tried to sit up but the doctor laid a -restraining hand on his shoulder. - -"Water!" Barry croaked. - -The doctor held out a glass. Then his eyes widened incredulously as his -patient deliberately drew in a breath while drinking, sucking water -directly into his lungs. - -"Doctor," he asked, keeping his voice low to spare his throat. "What -are my chances? On the level." - -Dr. Jensen shook his head thoughtfully. "There's not a thing--not a -damned solitary thing--I can do. It's something new to medical science." - -Barry lay still. - -"Your body is undergoing certain radical changes," the doctor -continued, "and you know as much--more about your condition than I do. -If a normal person who took water into his lungs that way didn't die of -a coughing spasm, congestive pneumonia would get him sure. But it seems -to give you relief." - -Barry scratched his neck, where a thickened, darkening patch on each -side itched infuriatingly. - -"What are these changes?" he asked. "What's this?" - -"Those things seem to be--" the doctor began hesitantly. "Damn it, I -know it sounds crazy but they're rudimentary gills." - -Barry accepted the outrageous statement unemotionally. He was beyond -shock. - -"But there must be--" - -Pain struck again, so intense his body twisted and arched -involuntarily. Then the prick of a needle brought merciful oblivion. - - - II - -Barry's mind was working furiously. The changes the Sigma radiations -had inflicted upon his body might reverse themselves spontaneously, Dr. -Jensen had mentioned during a second visit--but for that to happen he -must remain alive. That meant easing all possible strains. - -When the doctor came in again Barry asked him to find Nick Podtiaguine. -Within a few minutes the mechanic appeared. - -"Cheez, it's good to see you, Barry," he began. - -"Stuff it," the sick man interrupted. "I want favors. Can do?" - -Nick nodded vigorously. - -"First cut that air conditioner and get the window open." - -Nick stared as though he were demented, but obeyed, unbolting the heavy -plastic window panel and lifting it aside. He made a face at the damp, -malodorous Venusian air but to Barry it brought relief. - -It was not enough, but it indicated he was on the right track. And he -was not an engineer for nothing. - -"Got a pencil?" he asked. - -He drew only a rough sketch, for Nick was far too competent to need -detailed drawings. - -"Think you can get materials?" - -Nick glanced at the sketch. "Hell, man, for you I can get anything the -Colony has. You saved Four and everybody knows it." - -"Two days?" - -Nick looked insulted. - -He was back in eight hours, and with him came a dozen helpers. A -power line and water tube were run through the metal partition to the -corridor, connections were made, and the machine Barry had sketched was -ready. - -Nick flipped the switch. The thing whined shrilly. From a fanshaped -nozzle came innumerable droplets of water, droplets of colloidal size -that hung in the air and only slowly coalesced into larger drops that -fell toward the metal floor. - -Barry nodded, a smile beginning to spread across his drawn features. - -"Perfect. Now put the window back." - -Outside lay the unknown world of Venus, and an open, unguarded window -might invite disaster. - -A few hours later Dr. Jensen found his patient in a normal sleep. The -room was warm and the air was so filled with water-mist it was almost -liquid. Coalescing drops dripped from the walls and curving ceiling -and furniture, from the half clad body of the sleeping man, and the -scavenger pump made greedy gulping sounds as it removed excess water -from the floor. - -The doctor shook his head as he backed out, his clothes clinging wet -from the short exposure. - -It was abnormal. - -But so was Barry Barr. - -With breathing no longer a continuous agony Barry began to recover some -of his strength. But for several days much of his time was spent in -sleep and Dorothy Voorhees haunted his dreams. - -Whenever he closed his eyes he could see her as clearly as though -she were with him--her face with the exotic high cheek-bones--her -eyes a deep gray in fascinating contrast to her raven hair--lips that -seemed to promise more of giving than she had ever allowed herself to -fulfil--her incongruously pert, humorous little nose that was a legacy -from some venturesome Irishman--her slender yet firmly lithe body. - -After a few days Dr. Jensen permitted him to have visitors. They came -in a steady stream, the people from Four and men he had not seen since -Training Base days, and although none could endure his semi-liquid -atmosphere more than a few minutes at a time Barry enjoyed their visits. - -But the person for whom he waited most anxiously did not arrive. At -each knock Barry's heart would leap, and each time he settled back with -a sigh of disappointment. Days passed and still Dorothy did not come -to him. He could not go to her, and stubborn pride kept him from even -inquiring. All the while he was aware of Robson Hind's presence in the -Colony, and only weakness kept him from pacing his room like a caged -animal. - -Through his window he could see nothing but the gradual brightening -and darkening of the enveloping fog as the slow 82-hour Venusian day -progressed, but from his visitors' words he learned something of -Venusian conditions and the story of the Colony. - -Number One had bumbled in on visual, the pilot depending on the smeary -images of infra-sight goggles. An inviting grassy plain had proved to -be a layer of algae floating on quicksand. Frantically the crew had -blasted down huge balsa-like marsh trees, cutting up the trunks with -flame guns to make crude rafts. They had performed fantastic feats of -strength and endurance but managed to salvage only half their equipment -before the shining nose of One had vanished in the gurgling ooze. - -Lost in a steaming, stinking marsh teeming with alien creatures that -slithered and crawled and swam and flew, blinded by the eternal fog, -the crew had proved the rightness of their choice as pioneers. For -weeks they had floundered across the deadly terrain until at last, -beside a stagnant-looking slough that drained sluggishly into a warm, -almost tideless sea a mile away, they had discovered an outcropping of -rock. It was the only solid ground they had encountered. - -One man had died, his swamp suit pierced by a poisonous thorn, but the -others had hand-hauled the radio beacon piece by piece and set it up -in time to guide Two to a safe landing. Houses had been assembled, the -secondary power units of the spaceship put to work, and the colony had -established a tenuous foothold. - -Three had landed beside Two a few months later, bringing -reinforcements, but the day-by-day demands of the little colony's -struggle for survival had so far been too pressing to permit extended -or detailed explorations. Venus remained a planet of unsolved mysteries. - -The helicopter brought out in Three had made several flights which -by radar and sound reflection had placed vague outlines on the blank -maps. The surface appeared to be half water, with land masses mainly -jungle-covered swamp broken by a few rocky ledges, but landings away -from base had been judged too hazardous. - -Test borings from the ledge had located traces of oil and radioactive -minerals, while enough Venusian plants had proven edible to provide an -adequate though monotonous food source. - -Venus was the diametric opposite of lifeless Mars. Through the fog -gigantic insects hummed and buzzed like lost airplanes, but fortunately -they were harmless and timid. - -In the swamps wildly improbable life forms grew and reproduced and -fought and died, and many of those most harmless in appearance -possessed surprisingly venomous characteristics. - -The jungle had been flamed away in a huge circle around the colony to -minimize the chances of surprise by anything that might attack, but the -blasting was an almost continuous process. The plants of Venus grew -with a vigor approaching fury. - -Most spectacular of the Venusian creatures were the amphibious armored -monsters, saurian or semi-saurians with a slight resemblance to the -brontosauri that had once lived on Earth, massive swamp-dwellers that -used the slough beside the colony's ledge as a highway. They were -apparently vegetarians, but thorough stupidity in tremendous bulk made -them dangerous. One had damaged a building by blundering against it, -and since then the colony had remained alert, using weapons to repel -the beasts. - -The most important question--that of the presence or absence of -intelligent, civilized Venusians--remained unanswered. Some of the men -reported a disquieting feeling of being watched, particularly when near -open water, but others argued that any intelligent creatures would have -established contact. - - * * * * * - -Barry developed definite external signs of what the Sigma radiation had -done to him. The skin between his fingers and toes spread, grew into -membranous webs. The swellings in his neck became more pronounced and -dark parallel lines appeared. - -But despite the doctor's pessimistic reports that the changes had not -stopped, Barry continued to tell himself he was recovering. He had -to believe and keep on believing to retain sanity in the face of the -weird, unclassifiable feelings that surged through his body. Still -he was subject to fits of almost suicidal depression, and Dorothy's -failure to visit him did not help his mental condition. - -Then one day he woke from a nap and thought he was still dreaming. -Dorothy was leaning over him. - -"Barry! Barry!" she whispered. "I can't help it. I love you even if you -do have a wife and child in Philadelphia. I know it's wrong but all -that seems so far away it doesn't matter any more." Tears glistened in -her eyes. - -"Huh?" he grunted. "Who? Me?" - -"Please, Barry, don't lie. She wrote to me before Three blasted -off--oh, the most piteous letter!" - -Barry was fully awake now. "I'm not married. I have no child. -I've never been in Philadelphia," he shouted. His lips thinned. -"I--think--I--know--who--wrote--that--letter!" he declared grimly. - -"Robson wouldn't!" she objected, shocked, but there was a note of doubt -in her voice. - -Then she was in his arms, sobbing openly. - -"I believe you, Barry." - -She stayed with him for hours, and she had changed since the days -at Training Base. Long months away from the patterned restraints of -civilization, living each day on the edge of unknown perils, had -awakened in her the realization that she was a human being and a -woman, as well as a toxicologist. - -When the water-mist finally forced her departure she left Barry joyous -and confident of his eventual recovery. For a few minutes anger -simmered in his brain as he contemplated the pleasure of rearranging -Robson Hind's features. - -The accident with the scaffold had been remarkably convenient, but -this time the ruthless, restless, probably psychopathic drive that had -made Robson Hind more than just another rich man's spoiled son had -carried him too far. Barry wondered whether it had been inefficiency or -judiciously distributed money that had made the psychometrists overlook -some undesirable traits in Hind's personality in accepting him for the -Five Ship Plan. - -But even with his trickery Hind had lost. - -He slept, and woke with a feeling of doom. - -The slow Venusian twilight had ended in blackness and the overhead -tubelight was off. - -He sat up, and apprehension gave way to burning torture in his chest. - -Silence! He fumbled for the light switch, then knelt beside the mist -machine that no longer hummed. Power and water supplies were both dead, -cut off outside his room. - -Floating droplets were merging and falling to the floor. Soon the air -would be dry, and he would be choking and strangling. He turned to call -for help. - -The door was locked! - -He tugged and the knob came away in his hand. The retaining screw had -been removed. - -He beat upon the panel, first with his fists and then with the metal -doorknob, but the insulation between the double alloy sheets was -efficient soundproofing. Furiously he hurled himself upon it, only to -bounce back with a bruised shoulder. He was trapped. - -Working against time and eventual death he snatched a metal chair -and swung with all his force at the window, again, again, yet again. -A small crack appeared in the transparent plastic, branched under -continued hammering, became a rough star. He gathered his waning -strength, then swung once more. The tough plastic shattered. - -He tugged at the jagged pieces still clinging to the frame. Fog-laden -Venusian air poured in--but it was not enough! - -He dragged himself head first through the narrow opening, landed -sprawling on hands and knees in the darkness. In his ears a confused -rustling drone from the alien swamp mingled with the roar of -approaching unconsciousness. - -There was a smell in his nostrils. The smell of water. He lurched -forward at a shambling run, stumbling over the uneven ground. - -Then he plunged from the rocky ledge into the slough. Flashes of -colored light flickered before his eyes as he went under. But Earth -habits were still strong; instinctively he held his breath. - -Then he fainted. Voluntary control of his body vanished. His mouth hung -slack and the breathing reflex that had been an integral part of his -life since the moment of birth forced him to inhale. - -Bubbles floated upward and burst. Then Barry Barr was lying in the ooze -of the bottom. And he was breathing, extracting vital oxygen from the -brackish, silt-clouded water. - - - III - -Slowly his racing heartbeat returned to normal. Gradually he became -aware of the stench of decaying plants and of musky taints he knew -instinctively were the scents of underwater animals. Then with a shock -the meaning became clear. He had become a water-breather, cut off from -all other Earthmen, no longer entirely human. His fellows in the colony -were separated from him now by a gulf more absolute than the airless -void between Earth and Venus. - -Something slippery and alive touched him near one armpit. He opened -his eyes in the black water and his groping hand clutched something -burrowing into his skin. With a shudder of revulsion he crushed a fat -worm between his fingers. - -Then dozens of them--hundreds--were upon him from all sides. He was -wearing only a pair of khaki pants but the worms ignored his chest to -congregate around his face, intent on attacking the tender skin of his -eyelids. - -For a minute his flailing hands fought them off, but they came in -increasing numbers and clung like leeches. Pain spread as they bit and -burrowed, and blindly he began to swim. - -Faster and faster. He could sense the winding banks of the slough and -kept to midchannel, swimming with his eyes tightly closed. One by one -the worms dropped off. - -He stopped, opened his eyes, not on complete darkness this time but on -a faint blue-green luminescence from far below. The water was saltier -here, and clearer. - -He had swum down the slough and out into the ocean. He tried to turn -back, obsessed by a desire to be near the colony even though he -could not go ashore without strangling, but he had lost all sense of -direction. - -He was still weak and his lungs were not completely adjusted to -underwater life. Again he grew dizzy and faint. The slow movements of -hands and feet that held him just below the surface grew feeble and -ceased. He sank. - -Down into dimly luminous water he dropped, and with his respiratory -system completely water-filled there was no sensation of pressure. At -last he floated gently to the bottom and lay motionless. - -Shouting voices awakened him, an exultant battle cry cutting through a -gasping scream of anguish. Streaks of bright orange light were moving -toward him in a twisting pattern. At the head of each trail was a -figure. A human figure that weaved and swam in deadly moving combat. -One figure drifted limply bottomward. - -Hallucination, Barry told himself. Then one of the figures broke from -the group. Almost overhead it turned sharply downward and the feet -moved in a powerful flutter-kick. A slender spear aimed directly at the -Earthman. - -Barry threw himself aside. The spear point plunged deep into the -sticky, yielding bottom and Barry grappled with its wielder. - -Pointed fingernails raked his cheek. Barry's balled fist swung -in a roundhouse blow but water resistance slowed the punch to -ineffectiveness. The creature only shook its head and came in kicking -and clawing. - -Barry braced his feet against the bottom and leaped. His head butted -the attacker's chest and at the same instant he lashed a short jab to -the creature's belly. It slumped momentarily, its face working. - -Human--or nearly so--the thing was, with a stocky, powerful body and -webbed hands and feet. A few scraps of clothing, seemingly worn more -for ornament than covering, clung to the fishbelly-white skin. The face -was coarse and savage. - -It shook off the effects of Barry's punch and one webbed hand snatched -a short tube from its belt. - -Barry remembered the spring-opening knife in his pocket, and even as -he flicked the blade out the tube-weapon fired. Sound thrummed in the -water and the water grew milky with a myriad of bubbles. Something -zipped past his head, uncomfortably close. - -Then Barry struck, felt his knife slice flesh and grate against bone. -He struck again even as the undersea being screamed and went limp. - -Barry stared through the reddening water. - -Another figure plunged toward him. Barry jerked the dead Venusian's -spear from the mud and raised it defensively. - -But the figure paid no attention. This one was a female who fled -desperately from two men closing in from opposite sides. One threw his -spear, using an odd pushing motion, and as she checked and dodged, the -other was upon her from behind. - -One arm went around her neck in a strangler's hold, bending her slender -body backward. Together captor and struggling captive sank toward the -bottom. The other recovered his thrown spear and moved in to help -secure her arms and legs with lengths of cord. - -One scooped up the crossbow the girl had dropped. The other ripped at -her brief skirt and from her belt took a pair of tubes like the one the -dead Venusian had fired at Barry, handling them as though they were -loot of the greatest value. He jerked cruelly at the slender metallic -necklace the girl wore but it did not break. - -He punched the helpless girl in the abdomen with the butt of his spear. -The girl writhed but she did not attempt to cry out. - -Barry bounded toward them in a series of soaring leaps, knife and spear -ready. One Venusian turned to meet him, grinning maliciously. - -Barry dug one foot into the bottom and sidestepped a spear thrust. His -own lunge missed completely. Then he and the Venusian were inside each -other's spear points, chest to chest. A pointed hook strapped to the -inside of the creature's wrist just missed Barry's throat. The Earthman -arched his body backward and his knife flashed upward. The creature -gasped and pulled away, clutching with both hands at a gaping wound in -its belly. - -The other one turned too late as Barry leaped. - -Barry's hilt cracked against its jawbone. - - * * * * * - -Barry bent over the girl and realized with a start that she was -different. - -Her skin was a strange blue-brown. Her features were delicate, -intelligent, very different from the savage faces of the males he had -battled. Her dark hair grew further down the back of her neck than was -customary on Earth, forming a short, silky mane between her shoulder -blades. - -She was slender of body, except that the muscles running down her sides -from armpit to waist were amazingly well developed. Her high-set, -compactly pointed breasts were uncovered, and he could see that any -sort of upper clothing would interfere with full use of those unusual -swimming muscles. Her skirt was short and close-fitting. - -Her eyes, though, were filled with hatred, defiance, terror. - -"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, hoping his tone would convey the -meaning. - -She seemed more puzzled than grateful as he slid the knife gently -between her ankles to sever the binding cords, and she shrank under his -touch as he rolled her over to reach her wrists. - -"There you are," he said, and started to straighten up. - -Something struck him from above and many hands clutched at him. Within -seconds he was flat in the mud. Two Venusians held each arm and leg. - -Another stood over him with spear poised. - -But the girl shouted and grasped the spearman's arm. - -The girl spoke with rapid urgency, pointing from Barry to her erstwhile -captors. - -Barry could not believe his ears. The sounds were familiar. He could -even understand a word here and there, and in these entirely alien -surroundings the effect was eerie. - -A Venusian looked at the pink clouds of diluted blood rising from the -bodies, then gazed apprehensively up into the dimness overhead. - -"Kill him quickly and let us go," he suggested. "The torvaks will soon -come." - -The girl turned upon him. "He lives!" she snapped. "From what yort he -comes I know not, but assuredly he is no noru!" - -Although his right arm was pinioned Barry still clutched his knife. -Now the girl stooped and touched his fist without attempting to pry it -open. Barry surrendered the weapon. - -The men allowed him to sit up, but they remained wary. Meanwhile the -girl was examining the knife with intense interest. - -Barry smiled at her, and being careful to make no sudden motions that -might be misinterpreted he held out his hand. Hesitantly she laid the -knife on his palm while around him his guards raised their spears and -crossbows. - -He closed the blade. Then, showing her exactly how it was done, he -pressed the button that let the five-inch blade snick out. Repeating -the demonstration, he handed it back with a gesture indicating it was a -gift. - -The girl smiled and spoke to him, and although most of her words were -unintelligible he gathered she was asking if he wanted to accompany -them. Emphatically he nodded, overcome with a sudden dread of being -left alone on the sea bottom. - -Her suggestion created consternation among the others. - -"We must consult Komso," one suggested uneasily. - -The girl frowned. "We do not consult Komso," she contradicted. "I take -full responsibility." - -The man shrugged. "Let us go before the torvaks come," he evaded. - -Weapons were slung for carrying and the band leaped from the bottom -and began swimming. Barry followed, keeping close beside the girl. - -Although he relied more on power than skill he found himself able to -maintain their fast pace. He soon caught the knack of using the webs -between his fingers and toes. - -And muscles trained under Earth gravity and without water support -seemed superior to those of the Venusians. - -The men talked as they swam, and Barry remembered where he had heard -those particular combinations of sounds before. - -A construction job had once taken him to an almost inaccessible -mountain section of Mexico and there he had picked up a few words of -the dialect used by the native Indian laborers. Aztec? Incan? Mayan? -Something predating all three? He had no idea of its origin, but the -similarity opened astounding trails of speculation. - -The girl, he learned from hearing the others address her, was named -Xintel. - - * * * * * - -An undersea cliff loomed craggy and irregular ahead. As the group -slanted up toward a black hole in its face the voices of the men took -on tones of happy relief. - -But the girl was frowning. - -The group which had held together compactly during the long swim broke -up, each man heading for the cave mouth at top speed. Barry saw that -huge boulders had been piled one upon another to narrow the entrance -until not more than three abreast could pass. - -Xintel motioned to Barry to stay close behind her. She seemed to be -anticipating trouble. - -It came as they started to enter. A huge, bull-necked man with a well -fed appearance in marked contrast to the lean muscularity of the other -Venusians, stepped out and barred their passage, arms outflung. Heavy -glittering bracelets jangled on his wrists. Something in the contrived -melodrama of his gestures told Barry that unseen eyes were watching -from the darkness. - -"Xintel! What is this thing you bring to the portal of Tana?" the man -asked harshly. - -The girl stood her ground. "He comes with me!" - -"He's an alien. He must die!" The man's tone was arrogant. - -Xintel stiffened angrily. "He will not be killed, Komso. He is not a -noru." - -Komso's face reddened angrily. "But he is--" he began, and then stopped -abruptly. - -"You would take this one, then, into Tana itself?" His voice conveyed -the impression that such a course was unheard of. - -The girl nodded, motioning Barry to follow. - -"Sacrilege! Offspring of a blasphemer!" Komso shouted. - -Xintel did not pause. - -Komso motioned and someone in the dark tunnel behind him placed a -loaded crossbow in his hands. He swung the weapon to cover the Earthman. - -"Over my dead body shall this alien thing enter Tana," he snarled. - -Barry stood motionless and helpless, trying to conceal his fear. - -Xintel's voice was coldly defiant. "So be it, then. Over your dead -body, if you insist." - -With a movement of feline grace and speed she snatched a tube-weapon -from her belt. She was bluffing. Barry had seen the savages who had -captured her test the weapons and find them unloaded. But Komso had not. - -His face grew pale but his slitted eyes glared murder. "You bring your -own death. I tried only to save you from the consequences of your -folly." - -He turned and swam into the opening. - -Xintel did not allow herself the vestige of a smile. Instead she -grabbed Barry's wrist and pulled him after her into the black hole. In -the darkness she passed him his knife. - -The passage was several hundred yards long but the girl guided him -unerringly around its turns. The Earthman's nerves were jangling. - - - IV - -They rounded a sharp bend and Barry gasped at the vista before him. The -passage opened into a tremendous cavern. - -Far below on the bowl-shaped floor sprawled a town composed of -cylindrical houses higher than they were wide, scattered in an -irregular pattern. - -He looked upward for the source of the cold yellow light flooding -everything, and a few yards above his head lay a flat silvery plane. -Just below it the water glowed, like the phosphorescence that -microscopic life forms cause in the tropic seas of Earth--but a -thousand times brighter. - -The men from Xintel's group had taken no part in her altercation -with Komso save to watch in uneasy silence. Now they were scattering -downward toward the houses. Nearly all had been joined by waiting -women, but Barry saw two women swimming pitifully and dejectedly alone. -The battle into which he had been precipitated had not been without its -casualties. - -He stared about as Xintel led him in a long dive. On the bottom were -trees--he had no other name for them--with stiff trunks and snake-like -branches supported by air-filled knobs. - -Their pale leaves were covered with minute bubbles that gave them a -frosty appearance despite the warmth of the water. - -There were no streets or paths between the cylindrical houses, but in -small areas around the entrances the bright varicolored seaweed-moss -had been worn away by Venusian feet. - -A few Venusians eyed them in curiosity as they swam downward, but none -approached. - -They touched bottom beside one of the houses. Xintel pushed aside -a curtain covering the circular doorway. Barry saw the house was -constructed by training and grafting a number of the large trees -until they intertwined. Its foundations were the roots that clung to -irregularities in the rocks. - -There were no windows, and for a moment after the girl let the curtain -fall into place it was pitch black. Then suddenly the circular room was -brilliantly lighted. - -From the ceiling hung a globe a foot in diameter, the translucent -floatation chamber of some subaqueous plant. It was spinning at the end -of a twisted cord, the luminous milky fluid it contained stirred by the -motion. - -Xintel sighed wearily and hung up her crossbow. Then with a graceful -leap she vanished through a hatchway in the ceiling. - -She returned, floating down with a pair of pronged darts and a small -round box with bubbles dribbling upward in a steady stream through the -perforated lid. She opened it and, with a fingertip, smeared a dab of -vermilion paste on the base of each dart. Then she pushed the missiles -base first into her tube-weapons, twisting them until a latch caught. - -Her weapons prepared, the girl turned back to the Earthman and made the -universal gesture of eating. Barry had no idea how long it had been -since he had eaten, and for the first time since the Sigma sickness -began he was really hungry. He nodded. - -She leaped upward and he followed her to a second windowless room above -the first, then up through another hatchway to a third. This was the -top of the house, for through an opening in the flat roof he could look -up into open water. Several baskets, woven of strips of undersea wood -and equipped with close-fitting lids, stood along the wall. In a wooden -cage a few dozen strange fish swam sluggishly. - -With her bare hands Xintel caught one and pulled it out. She picked up -a dagger of the same material as the spears--an unfamiliar substance -which Barry had had no chance to examine closely--and jumped to the -open roof. She returned a few minutes later with the fish neatly -cleaned and divided into halves. - -Barry was hungry but Earth habits were still strong. The girl saw his -involuntary grimace. She looked hurt. He forced himself to take a bite -of the raw fish and to his amazement found it pleasant. Evidently his -taste organs had changed with the rest of his body. - -From the baskets Xintel took other foods of vegetable origin. Barry ate -ravenously. - -The cumulative effects of fatigue overwhelmed him even as he finished. -He felt a sense of dreamlike unreality and detachment, as though -nothing mattered. The girl too appeared tired but he could see she was -bursting with curiosity. He appreciated her restraint in not bombarding -him with questions. At her gesture he stepped through the hatch and -floated down to the middle room. - -The light there had gone dim but she gave the globe a deft spin that -brightened it again. She motioned to a wide pallet woven of resilient -fiber, and he lay down at once. There were no coverings, no need for -them in the soothingly warm water. - -Despite his tiredness Barry's nerves were still tense and twitching, -and he kept hearing soft sounds as the girl moved about the room. After -several minutes he opened his eyes again. - -Xintel had removed her brief skirt and was wearing only her silvery -necklace. She was anointing herself with an oily salve that sent a -pleasantly pungent odor through the water, giving special attention -to her wrists and ankles where the cords of the norus had chafed them -and to the livid bruises that were developing on other portions of her -slender body. She paused and smiled at him, not at all embarrassed. - -Finally she came toward the pallet and without hesitation lay -down beside him. She stretched and moved slightly until she found -a comfortable position, and then her breathing took on the slow -regularity of sleep while the light dimmed. - -For a while Barry remained awake. Half-formed questions spun madly -through his mind but when he tried to think rationally his tired brain -balked. - - * * * * * - -He woke and sat up, floated up from the pallet in the unaccustomed -support of the black water, settled back slowly while he strove to -winnow true memories from the remnants of nightmare. The girl woke and -spoke questioningly. It required great concentration on Barry's part to -understand and answer, for he had forgotten much of what he had learned -from those Mexican laborers. - -"Yes, I feel better," he said hesitantly. "But--." - -In the blackness their bodies touched accidentally. Her skin was warm -and smooth, soft but with the firmness of underlying muscle. After a -long moment she drew away. - -Barry blinked as she spun the light into brilliance. Her dressing was -a simple and brief process, and then she turned to him with an intent -look on her face. - -"You come here from the Above." It was more statement than question. - -Barry nodded. - -"But from what yort? And how did your people change to live in the -Above?" - -"I come from Earth." - -"Earth?" she repeated with a puzzled frown. "There is no yort beneath -the seas called Earth." - -Trying to explain was like describing color to a man born blind. With -the surface of Venus she seemed to have a slight familiarity, but she -had never glimpsed planets or stars, never seen the sun. - -"You are from the World Beyond--and yet you are alive!" she said in awe. - -She smiled and seemed relieved when Barry hastily assured her there was -nothing supernatural about his place of origin, but she understood only -that he was not an undersea dweller by birth. She hurried on to other -questions. - -"But why have only you of all your people come to the Here?" she asked. -"And now--Oh, tell me how!--did you cause the Place Of Change to work -again?" - -Barry frowned, trying to grasp her meaning. "An accident happened to me -out in space that made me different." - -"You did not come through the Place Of Change?" She seemed bitterly -disappointed. "Then how will you return?" - -"I will never see my own people again, I fear," he admitted. - -Xintel made a soft sound of sympathy. - -"I owe my very life to you, for I would have killed myself rather than -bear a child to those norus who captured me. You can stay here in Tana, -with me--if Komso does not cause your death." - -Barry knew that if he were to survive he must learn the ways of this -undersea world. Alone he would soon perish. He had no choice. - -"Who is Komso?" he asked. - -Xintel spat a few sibilant words that were evident obscenities. - -"He is Leader of the Chosen Ones, and he fears you. If the people learn -you come from the Above they will grow dissatisfied, for there are some -who still remember the ancient promises that we may return." - -Barry was silent and thoughtful, considering the implications of -the things Xintel had said. The girl watched the Earthman with a -calculating look. - -"You will help me?" she asked at length. - -"Help you?" - -"Perhaps together we can succeed where my father failed. Perhaps -together we can overthrow Komso and break the hold of the Chosen upon -Tana." - -Barry thought of the open sea and the savage norus he had battled, and -he had gathered the impression that Komso was some sort of priest or -witchdoctor who would be an adversary without mercy. All he wanted was -peace. But peace, Komso's face had told him, was something he could not -have. - -"Yes," he said flatly. He had no choice. - -The girl laid her hand on his arm, confident and suddenly affectionate. - -"Good," she said. "There is nothing we can do now. We must wait for the -right time." - - * * * * * - -There was no night in Tana and the inhabitants slept whenever so -inclined, without set intervals. After several sleeping periods Barry -lost all sense of time. - -Whenever the girl was not attending to the routine tasks of daily life -he bombarded her with questions. She asked in turn about Earth and -the colony, and at some of his answers stared and giggled as though -suspecting him of concocting fantastic lies for her benefit. - -At her suggestion he did not wander alone, although most of the -Venusians regarded him with suspicious curiosity rather than hostility. - -"Trust no one," she warned him. "For the Chosen have spies everywhere. -Komso may know or suspect that you come from the Above but the less he -knows about you the better." - -A small cave branched off from one wall of the great cavern. No houses -were placed near its black mouth and the common Venusians gave it a -wide berth. - -"That is the Temple of the Chosen," Xintel explained. "To approach it -means death." - -Just outside the forbidden zone several huge baskets had been anchored -to receive offerings from each inhabitant. Food, tools, clothing, a -fourth of everything produced went to the Chosen and their master. - -"What would happen if the people refused to pay tribute?" Barry asked. - -"The Chosen have many ways of enforcing their will," the girl replied -ominously. "And no scruples." - -The thirty Chosen Ones ruled the thousand or so inhabitants of Tana -ruthlessly and arrogantly, a government of impulse and whim without -fixed laws. The rulers were immune from all work, taking whatever they -desired, subject only to Komso's word. - -The situation had apparently existed so long it had been accepted as -the only possible mode of life, and the submissiveness of the people -was shocking to the Earthman. One day he saw a Chosen One approach one -of the younger woman and curtly order her to follow him. The woman -shrank back, but at a black glare choked off her sobbing and moved -docilely away. Her mate, standing nearby, made not the slightest move -to interfere. - -"He will get her back when the Chosen One tires of her," Xintel told -Barry later, her normally soft voice harsh with bitterness. "That is, -if the poor creature lives, for the Chosen are often brutal to the -women they take. If her mate had so much as opened his mouth he would -have incurred the wrath of the Gods Of The Deeps as enforced by the -Chosen." - - * * * * * - -Occasionally Barry found himself wishing for a cigarette. That gave him -a wry laugh, but it also impressed upon him the fact that the Venusians -had created an underwater civilization without the knowledge of fire. -An unintelligent race could never have managed, and he wondered to what -stage they might have progressed without the yoke of the Chosen about -their necks. - -Metal was known in Tana only in the form of a few ornaments of greatest -antiquity, about the origin of which it was forbidden by superstition -and tradition even to speculate. Almost all were in the hands of the -Chosen. - -Xintel was one of the few exceptions, and upon examining her treasured -silver necklace Barry discovered that each beautifully wrought link had -been welded. _Welded._ That implied heat, which definitely did not fit -in a subaqueous environment. - -He questioned her but she only shook her head. She had no idea of the -technique. - -"It came through my family from the other life before the Place Of -Change," was her only explanation. - -The most common substance for tools and weapons was something with -the cellular structure of wood but the weight and feel of cast metal. -It was slightly malleable and could be sharpened by grinding against -abrasive rocks, but it fractured when stressed beyond its elastic -limit. It fascinated Barry, not only because of its unfamiliarity but -because the Venusians had no tools suitable for working such a hard -material. - -But Xintel explained. The soft wood of undersea trees was carved to -the required shape, and then the implements were taken to the Outside, -across the sea bottom to the Cleft Of Hardening. There the wood -underwent a change. - -She had been returning from the Cleft--the Venusians always managed to -visit the Outside in groups despite the Chosen--when Barry saved her -from marauding norus. - -The norus were outcast savages, hated and feared and despised. They had -long since learned the folly of attacking Tana, but whenever possible -would ambush anyone venturing into the Outside. - -Males they invariably killed for their clothing and weapons, but -females the savages preferred to capture alive. The mortality among -their own women was frightfully high, particularly during pregnancy -and childbirth when they were unable to defend themselves against the -monstrous torvaks that scouraged the deeps, so replacement slave-wives -were in constant demand. - -Tana was not the only undersea city or yort, Barry learned, but the -journey across the sea bottom was so perilous that communication was -most infrequent and warfare impractical. - - - V - -Komso had not forgotten Barry. Everywhere Barry and Xintel went a -Chosen One followed, and even though their actions were not interfered -with in any way it was nerve-wracking to know their every move was -being reported. Under such continuing surveillance his temper grew -ragged. - -But he heeded Xintel's repeated warnings and the watchers learned -little. Finally the Leader grew annoyed and decided this outsider, -this potential threat to his unchallenged supremacy, had existed long -enough. And so had the girl who sheltered him. - -Barry was helping Xintel in the fields beyond the house, harvesting -thick, meaty leaves that were a staple article of diet. A score of -Venusians were engaged in the same task nearby. - -Something prompted Barry to look up just in time to see Komso and a -large Chosen One called Czerki hanging in the water some distance -away. They looked aside a bit too ostentatiously as they noticed the -Earthman's eyes upon them. - -A frown crossed Xintel's face as he nudged her. - -"We avoid trouble if we can," she whispered. - -But Czerki swam unhurriedly toward them and caught Xintel by the -shoulder. The girl winced as the Chosen One swung her around. - -"Give me that necklace," Czerki ordered. - -Xintel's face was pale as he fumbled for the catch of the ornament but -her arms remained limp at her sides. Raising a hand against a Chosen -One was sacrilege punishable by death--and she had guessed what Komso -intended. - -Barry took a step forward. - -"Get your hands off!" His voice was deceptively soft. - -Czerki turned with a challenging sneer. "You oppose the will of the -Chosen?" - -"Barry! Don't!" Xintel cried. "He has killed many." - -But the sight of the Chosen One touching her slender body was more than -Barry could bear. He took another step forward, his fists clenching. - -Czerki whipped out a long wood-metal knife and smiled. - -"Suitable?" - -Duel. Xintel had told Barry of their custom. - -In a move too perfectly timed for coincidence, someone thrust a -duplicate knife toward Barry, hilt first. In that instant the Earthman -knew he had walked into a framed-up battle against an expert, and with -the expert's chosen weapons, just as Komso had planned it. - -He must smash that plan. Still empty-handed he braced his feet against -the bottom and dived. The Chosen One's knife made one startled lunge -and then Barry's hand caught Czerki's wrist. For a second Earthman and -Venusian glowered face to face, the Venusian's expression of surprise -changing to pain as Barry's Earth-trained muscles tightened. - -Barry clutched, digging his fingers into the tendon of Czerki's wrist. -Czerki's face contorted. His free hand clawed out, but Barry caught the -Chosen One's middle finger and forced it back. - -Joints strained and the Venusian whimpered under his breath as Barry -increased the crippling pressure. The knife dropped from Czerki's -numbed fingers, and then with a twist Barry brought him helpless to his -knees. - -The faces of the watching Venusians seemed to consist almost entirely -of gaping mouths and staring eyes. Barry considered the situation. -Perhaps he could do more against Komso and his Chosen by discrediting -and releasing this one than by killing him. - -"Enough?" he gritted. - -The Venusian nodded. - -"Next time you bother Xintel you die," Barry warned. - -Czerki got to his feet. - -"Look out!" Xintel screamed, just as the Chosen One's hand flashed to -his belt. - -Barry leapt. His right hand, straight-arming, jolted the Venusian's -head back, and at the same instant his left whipped a deadly palm-edge -judo chop to Czerki's neck. - -There was a sound like the breaking of a dry twig. Czerki's body jerked -once and the dart of his tube-weapon plowed into the bottom. - -With a gesture of revulsion the Earthman dropped the limp body and -stepped back. - -He looked about for Komso, angry enough now to force an immediate -showdown, but the priest had prudently withdrawn. - -Xintel took his arm and smiled proudly for all to see. - -"Come, Barry," she said. "It is over for now." - -The uneasy stares of her people followed them, and only the -long-standing superstitious fear of appearing to criticise the Chosen -kept them from breaking into excited comment. - -The stranger had not only defied a Chosen One but had killed in the -manner of a Leader, with the touch of an empty hand. All knew now he -did not come from another yort. And his companion was Xintel! - -As soon as they were alone Barry turned to the girl. - -"What now?" he demanded. - -"Next time Komso will not underestimate you." - -"What do you think he'll try?" - -Xintel frowned. "Not force. One of the secret methods which have kept -the Chosen in power. Perhaps the Curse with which he killed my father." - -"Your father?" Barry asked. She had never spoken of her family before. - -The subject was obviously painful, but she forced herself to talk. - - * * * * * - -Her father, Soren, had been an unusual individual from a family of -chronic dissidents, a doubter who despite the long indoctrination of -the Chosen still possessed the power to think independently. And in his -family there had been passed by word of mouth across the generations -all the ancient traditions of the other life which the Chosen had -nearly succeeded in consigning to the limbo of forgotten knowledge. - -He had the courage to venture into the Outside alone, even into the -dread Above for short periods, to see for himself the things the Chosen -wished forgotten. - -He had actually dared to organize groups for cooperative action and to -circulate whispers that the Gods Of The Deeps were a fraud perpetrated -by the Chosen for their own purposes. He had aroused doubt and become -the rallying point for all the latent forces of resistance. - -For a brief but exciting time his efforts to undermine the priesthood -had been successful. But then the old priest of the Chosen had died -suddenly and Komso had succeeded to the post. Where the old priest had -been senile and vacillating, Komso took forceful action. - -He had publicly named Soren a blasphemer against the Gods Of The Deeps -and had called down their Curse upon him. - -A few sleeps later Soren had started with others toward the Cleft Of -Hardening. They had scarcely left the tunnel when dozens of torvaks -descended upon the group. - -The others had escaped easily, the monsters paying no attention to -them. All had converged upon Soren and he died quickly. - -Komso had regained unquestioned power. His curse had been fulfilled in -too dreadful a fashion for any to dispute his word. - - * * * * * - -Barry developed an unwillingness to spend the remainder of his life -hiding behind Xintel's skirt. With increasing boldness, but conscious -always of the menace of the Chosen, he began to leave the house and -observe the Venusian way of life. - -The undersea people bore him no grudge for killing Czerki, he -discovered. In fact the Chosen One's death was not mourned even by his -three women. But neither were the Venusians openly friendly toward this -strange outlander who spoke haltingly and killed without weapons. They -regarded him with mingled suspicion and awe. - -Xintel's position in the community, he soon decided, was extremely odd. - -Marriage relationships in Tana were informal, continuing only as long -as mutually satisfactory. Polygamy was an accepted institution. It was -customary for the girls of Tana to enter marriage relationships, on a -temporary basis at least, almost as soon as they developed the curves -of maturity. - -Xintel was as beautiful as any female of Tana, and in addition she -owned a house and tools and weapons representing considerable wealth. -Nevertheless she was the only grown woman who did not have a mate or -ex-mate or who was not a widow. - -One day he asked her outright about it, and she burst into tears. - -For a minute Barry stared, nonplussed. He put one arm around her bare -shoulders. - -"I didn't mean to hurt you," he said gently. - -She snuggled closer in the curve of his arm. - -"Don't talk about it if you don't want to," Barry urged. - -She raised her head, "But you must know. - -"When Komso put his Curse upon my father he could easily have killed me -too. I was but a small girl then, and my mother already dead. But he -had brought about the death of my father to display his power, and he -wanted the people to remember. I was to be a living reminder. - -"But, he told the people, I shared my father's guilt of blasphemy by -being of his blood. Anyone mating with me would be contaminated, and -upon him too would fall the curse of the Gods Of The Deeps. - -"The men of Tana are not cowards despite what the Chosen have done to -them. Some have faced and fought even the torvaks of the Outside. But -to act contrary to what Komso has declared the will of the Gods--that -they will not do. So although several have looked upon me with desire, -none have dared take me as mate." - -There was pity in Barry's heart as he thought of the deep loneliness -to which Komso had condemned her from childhood on. More than pity, -he thought now. What had started with him as a matter of survival had -changed and deepened, become more than friendship. - -"But I am not a man of Tana," he blurted impulsively. "And I love you." - -Xintel lowered her eyes. "Barry, do you really like me--that way?" - -"Yes." - -"Then it is settled," she declared, and came into his arms. "See, it is -simple." - -Later, still holding her closely, he told her, "Xintel dearest, -whatever lies ahead we shall face together." - - * * * * * - -But even his newfound happiness could not curb Barry's restless -tension. Large as it was, the cavern of Tana was still confining to -one accustomed to the open sweeps of Earth, and the threat of Komso -hung like a looming storm cloud. And, despite much thinking and long, -fruitless conversations, neither Barry nor Xintel could see a way to -attack the Chosen's almost invulnerable position. - -Roaming the great cave, Barry's attention turned one day to the gas -filling the upper portion. It gathered from the tiny bubbles given -off by the submarine plants, with even the living houses of Tana -contributing, and its level was nearly constant. Whenever its volume -increased beyond a certain point the excess spilled into the tunnel -leading to the open sea. - -"What's up there?" he asked. - -Xintel laughed. "It should do no harm to go there." - -Together they swam high above the town along one insloping wall of the -cavern, passing through the thin layer where swarming microscopic life -furnished Tana's constant illumination, and reached the surface. - -"Clear the water from your lungs all at once," Xintel instructed him. -"It's easier that way." - -She exhaled as far as possible, water pouring from her open mouth, and -gasped in a breath of gas. He did likewise, and after some choking and -coughing, found he could breathe. - -They climbed out on a slanting rock outcropping and he stared around. - -"This gas must be almost pure oxygen," he said, his voice ringing -hollowly. - -He looked around at the vaulted roof and irregular walls, noticing that -his breathing, while not painful, was somewhat labored. Then suddenly -the girl laughed wildly and did a few steps of a strange sinuous dance. - -"What's the matter?" he asked anxiously. - -She threw herself into his arms with limp abandon and squinted up into -his face as though having difficulty focusing her eyes. He believed he -understood, and besides he was beginning to cough. - -She was giggling as he pushed her head under the water, but he had to -force himself to overcome his instinctive Earth reactions before he -could take that first breath of liquid. - -After a few minutes Xintel gave him a shamefaced smile. - -"Did I make a fool of myself?" she asked. - -"Of course not," he replied gallantly but with a trace of -absentmindedness. - -Slowly they let themselves drift down into the city, with Barry's mind -working furiously. He had remained out of water several minutes. He -though of the colony, and--until Xintel touched his arm--of Dorothy. - -The experience gave a new purpose to his oddly timeless life. After -that during each waking period he swam up to the cavern roof. Each -time, as well as he could judge, he was able to remain out of water a -little longer. - -At first Xintel scolded him bitterly, as from time immemorial wives -have scolded husbands for their own good. Upon the Venusians breathing -gaseous oxygen had the same effects as alcohol addiction on Earth. She -told him horrible stories of people who had drunkenly wandered into the -Outside and fallen afoul of norus or torvaks. She pointed out an oxygen -addict who moved jerkily and seemed half insane. Once she even resorted -to the ancient feminine weapon of contending amid loud sobs that he no -longer loved her or he would instantly cease his debauchery. - -But Barry persisted, and after following him and seeing for herself -that he did not become intoxicated she finally accepted his habit, -along with his periods of silent thoughtfulness, as an inborn -peculiarity of her alien mate. - - - VI - -Gradually, so gradually he could not determine when it started, he -began to hear a new word whispered around the city. - -"_Demon!_" - -"The demons are not all dead!" - -"The demons have returned!" - -"The demons gather to attack us!" - -"Only Komso can save us from the demons!" - -"Is he--?" - -"Perhaps her father, Soren Who Died Accursed, was a--" - -"Have they found--?" - -"Will the demons--?" - -A shuddering uneasiness spread insidiously among the people, and their -attitude changed. Venusian men watched the Earthman with hostile -speculation in their eyes and hands close to weapon hilts. Women moved -aside as he approached, dragging their children with them. - -Although not a single individual mentioned demons to Barry's face he -knew he was somehow concerned. - -"Just what are these demons?" he demanded of Xintel. - -He expected her to refer to some superstition, but she surprised him -with a definite answer. - -"They were the last of my race to live in the Above--not devil-spirits -or supernatural beings at all. But they were outlaws and killers, and -so were not permitted to pass through the Place Of Change. Over this -there was great bitterness, and the Last Days were filled with hatred -and slaughter that is still remembered. But they are all long since -dead." - -"You mean your people came here from the Above deliberately?" Barry -asked incredulously. "Why?" - -Xintel nodded. "We--my forefathers--were to have come to the Here for -a short time only, for sanctuary. But our way back was closed when the -Place Of Change was destroyed. And the Chosen, gaining power, saw that -misfortune overtook those who knew the secret of the Place." - -She smiled tremulously. "I hoped that you could lead us back. But you -too had lost the way of return." - -"But why? What made your people come to the Here?" - -The pain of ancient tragedy was in Xintel's eyes as she told the story. - -"Around us nearly everywhere are creatures, living creatures, small -beyond all normal sight," she explained. - -"There." She pointed to the light. "And another sort live in the paste -which produces gas. My people were always clever at making use of them. - -"In the Above live many more types of these unseen creatures. My people -became too clever--but they were not as clever as they thought." - -She glanced at Barry and spoke with earnest seriousness. "Some of them, -incredibly tiny as they are, are deadly. They get inside a person, -causing him to sicken and die, killing as surely as a spear thrust." - -She hesitated as though expecting the Earthman to hoot in derision at -such an idea, and continued only when he nodded slowly. - -"There were quarrels among factions of my people, breaking out again -and again with increasingly vicious fury. - -"Ordinary weapons were not enough. With their skill my people took the -unseen things--they understood, then, a way to see them--and made them -change their natures to become more deadly still." - -Barry shuddered as he guessed the rest. He remembered talk on Earth of -developing mutant, hypervirulent strains for bacterial warfare. - -"The ancients used the special unseen creatures they had created to -fight their battles, and the slaughter was horrible beyond belief. -But then the creatures turned against their masters. The other tiny -creatures with which the ancient protected themselves failed, became -ineffective, and Death walked the entire Above unhindered." - -It hadn't happened on Earth yet but Barry could picture bacterial -warfare out of control, spontaneous mutations loose, and no vaccines -or antitoxins to combat them. The warm, eternally moist atmosphere of -Venus offered ideal conditions. Perhaps that was why the Colony had -found only insects and quasi-reptiles. Infection could have spread from -homo Venusians to all related, warm-blooded life forms, blasting them -into extinction. - -"Against that deadly smallness there was no way to fight," Xintel -continued. "And there was but one place to flee. So the Place Of Change -was built by the wisest of my race. But by the time it was completed -only a few remained to use it." - - * * * * * - -Barry had no doubts who was fomenting talk of the demons. Komso. - -But if the Venusians had once been air-breathers and had deliberately -become water-breathers there was still a chance that somehow he -could become completely human again. At least his condition was not -completely hopeless. - -He could escape. His practice sessions had taught him to remain out of -water nearly three hours, as nearly as he could judge, and that should -be sufficient to re-establish contact with the Colony. But escaping -alone, leaving Xintel behind, was something he knew he could never do. - -"How did the Place Of Change work?" he asked. "On what principles? Did -your Ancients actually understand how to generate Sigma radiations on -the surface of a planet? Or was the change accomplished in other ways?" - -Xintel shook her head. "That knowledge has fallen into the hands of -the Chosen and been destroyed. Knowledge, except for themselves, is -according to the Chosen against the will of the Gods." - -"Is there nothing left?" Barry insisted, grasping at straws. - -"The Place still remains amid the ruins of Last City," Xintel answered -unexpectedly. "But it is wrecked and useless." - -"How do you know?" - -Xintel smiled sadly. "I have been there, twice. Soren once took me as a -little girl, and once I went alone." - -"But how?" - -"Long since have the creatures of deadly smallness exterminated each -other. Soren knew, and I know, and Komso knows. But Komso will not tell -the people that one can go to the Above for a short time and not die." - -Immediately Barry wanted to see for himself the remains of Last City -and particularly the Place Of Change, but the Venusian girl demurred. -The trip was perilous, she said, and if they were to leave Tana now, -going into the Outside and toward the Above, it would only confirm in -the minds of the people that Barry was a demon. Anything that would -precipitate open action before they were able to take countermeasures -against Komso's plots would be a fatal mistake. - -Reluctantly Barry put the idea aside, but he did not abandon it. -Instead he doubled his practice sessions in the oxygen at the top of -the cavern, driving himself until his chest burned and throbbed. He was -still a member of the Five Ship Plan whose duty was to the colony, and -besides he had a frightening surety that without outside help Komso -would eventually encompass his death. - - * * * * * - -One day when they were returning from the fields in the far reaches of -the cavern they saw a man swimming away from their house. Barry put on -an angry burst of speed, but the distance was great and the furtive -figure vanished. - -Xintel went through the three rooms inch by inch, checking all her -possessions--but nothing was missing and nothing seemed to have been -disturbed. - -"We must have frightened him away before he could steal anything," -Barry commented. - -The girl frowned and bit her lip. "No. I do not think thievery was his -object." - -"What then?" - -"I--I do not know," she admitted uneasily. - -Komso finally took official cognizance of the talk of demons. He -selected ten young men, not of the Chosen, and led them forth to -reconnoiter in the Above. The men went heavily armed, but still -superstitious dread would have prevented them from venturing to the -myth-haunted surface without the high priest's mystic protection. - -Barry grew acutely uneasy when he heard of the expedition. It boded -no good for anyone except Komso. Hour after hour the underwater city -hummed with speculation. For Barry and Xintel it was a nerve-wracking -wait. - -Then Komso returned--and with him came only three of the ten. - -With lightning rapidity the story spread. There were demons in the -Above, and despite Komso's great powers they had turned overwhelmingly -potent weapons against them. - -The mates of the slain were loud in their lamentations, and as though -following prepared instructions, the Chosen spread the rumor that -Barry, and Xintel too, were responsible for the slaughter. Barry was a -demon spy, and Xintel had turned against her own people to mate with -him. - -Barry felt certain the priest had deliberately led his men into -disaster for the psychological effect. He had been building hatred, and -to one of Komso's mentality, seven deaths would be a negligible price -for this crowning touch. - -Drawn together by a spreading terror the people massed near the center -of the city, each seeking company to stem their rising panic of -helplessness. Their mutterings increased, their mood grew uglier. - -But with dramatic suddenness Komso appeared in the doorway of his -cave-temple and swam slowly forward. The murmuring died, then broke -out again with a questioning undertone. The priest raised his arms so -the sacred bracelets of office on his thick wrists flashed in the cold -yellow light. Then slowly, deliberately he began to speak. - -He expressed regret for the deaths of those who had followed him aloft. -He had underestimated the malignancy of the demons, he admitted. - -A shocked silence fell over the crowd, broken only by the grief -stricken sobs of one of the widows. He glared at the woman, and his -eyes made her cower. - -The peril was dire, he warned. One demon had already penetrated the -sacred boundaries of Tana and others were gathering in the Above. Soon -they would descend and overwhelm the city unless the people of Tana -followed his leadership unquestioningly. - -But the mission had not been in vain. Komso had discovered the demons' -plans--and their vulnerability. - -"We killed one demon!" he boasted. - -Barry gasped. Komso was too clever to tell an outright lie when there -were three surviving witnesses to check his story. - -"Kill the demons! Kill all the demons!" A Chosen One began the chant, -and it was taken up and echoed by the crowd. - -It sounded so absurd that a group of aquatic semi-savages could hope -to attack a surface settlement defended by the finest weapons of Earth -that Barry almost laughed. But he remembered Xintel's account of the -Venusian downfall, and was not so sure. Komso's forces would not -have to breach the defense perimeter of the colony to achieve their -objective. Bacterial warfare ineffective under water, could render the -surface uninhabitable again. - -And the colony had no inkling of such a threat. - -"Damn him," Barry thought. It was all so stupid and useless. - -He fumed while Komso's words calmed, influenced, and finally controlled -with hypnotic completeness the emotions of his listeners. - -"The demons shall die!" Komso orated. "I, Komso, shall call upon the -powers of the Gods Of The Deeps. Beasts of the marshlands shall come at -my command, smashing and overturning the houses and forts of the demons -in the Above! And then shall the Unseen Death smite them!" - -The people roared their approval, and while they were still shouting -the priest turned away in abrupt dismissal. - -Barry and Xintel looked at each other, their faces white and set, each -wondering what they could do. - -A hundred thoughts flashed through Barry's mind at once, dominated -by the knowledge it was his duty to warn the colony. He had become -a freak through accident, but he was still an Earthman. But to make -his warning really valuable he must know more of Komso's methods. He -thought momentarily of invading the cave-temple to steal information or -even assassinate the priest, but discarded the notion. Komso would be -expecting such an attempt and have his Chosen Ones waiting. - - * * * * * - -They were still discussing the situation hours later when Xintel -suddenly raised her hand for silence. A puzzled frown appeared on her -face and she dropped to the lower room. Barry, watching her peer around -the door curtain, saw her body grow tense. He listened, and his ears -caught a confused sound of voices. - -"What is it?" he demanded. - -"Men are coming this way, and they are led by Sanlan, the brother of -that Czerki." - -"Komso's work?" - -"Naturally." - -Barry reached for a spear. "They won't touch you as long as I'm alive," -he promised. - -The sounds outside grew louder. - -"Go in through the door," he heard a voice command. "Chase the demon -and his woman upward and out. Lart and I will attend to them." - -Xintel leaped to the upper room and began tossing down baskets. - -"Block the hatchway," she directed. "We will hold the middle room." - -Quickly Barry piled them across the opening, thrusting extra spears -through the wovenwork and into the material of the floor. It was a -flimsy barricade but better than nothing. - -Xintel loaded her crossbow. Barry stood beside her with a spear ready. - -"Now!" the voice outside boomed. - -Men poured into the lower room, shouting to keep up their courage. -Xintel, her face pale, squinted along her crossbow and thumbed the -trigger. A man screamed. A spear thwacked upward into the baskets as -the girl put her strength against her weapon's reloading ratchet. - -"Can you hold them off a minute?" Barry whispered. - -She nodded, and he leaped to the upper room. One basket remained, and -he found that by standing on it his head was just below the roof's -lower surface. With his knife he began cutting into the matted fibers -of the roof. He was nearly through when a whisper from above made him -pause. - -"Psst! Lart, be very sure your thrust misses." - -That was Sanlan, Barry guessed. - -The other Venusian growled under his breath. - -"Komso will have your skin if you disobey," Sanlan warned. - -"But why?" - -Sanlan chuckled. "Have you no faith?" - -Barry resumed cutting, puzzled and suspicious, opening a hole just -large enough to admit his head. He had guessed his position well, for -Sanlan and Lart were standing with their backs toward him while they -watched the hatchway. - -The Earthman withdrew silently, taking no chances that Sanlan's talk -had been a trick to draw him out. - -Xintel glanced up as he dropped to the middle room. A confused -discussion was in progress below, for no man wanted to be the first to -rush the barricade. - -"Give me both your tube-weapons," Barry demanded. - -She turned her hips, allowing him to take them from her belt without -putting down her crossbow or relaxing her vigilance. - -"Come at once when you hear me call," he directed. "We can't hold out -forever. It's run or die." - -"Run? Where?" - -"Outside. It is our only chance." - -He leaped to the upper room again. - -A tube gun in each hand, he thrust his wrists through the hole he had -cut. Sanlan and Lart were still waiting. - -"Perhaps you should have others break through the walls," Lart -suggested impatiently. - -Sanlan shook his head. "There is plenty of time." - -But Sanlan's own time ran out just then as Barry triggered the weapon -in his left hand. He died instantly. - -Lart whirled. Barry fired the other tube. Lart screamed and doubled -over in agony. - -"Xintel!" Barry called. - -She came up with a rush. - -Lart was still alive, and he screamed as they emerged onto the roof. -Answering yells came from below. - -"Let's go!" Barry barked as attackers began to swarm out of the house. - -They swam desperately, side by side. The members of the mob trailed -after them, but although they split the water with bloodthirsty yells -they were reluctant in their efforts to close with the fugitives. -Xintel had taught them respect during the battle inside the house, and -Barry was a dread demon. - -Barry broke his stroke to point. A large crowd had gathered around the -mouth of the tunnel. - -"Women there too," Xintel panted. - -As they drew nearer he could see she was right. Women and unarmed men -predominated in the group around the portal. They made no hostile -moves, but nevertheless Barry drew his knife. - -And then, off to one side, he saw the unmistakable figure of the priest. - -Komso watched their headlong flight with a thin smirk of satisfaction, -and as they drew near he pointed one arm at them in a ritualistic -gesture and began a resonant chant. A deadly hush fell over the -watchers. - -"Accursed be ye!" Komso intoned. "Manifestations of evil who presume -to flaunt those the Gods have appointed to rule, be ye accursed by the -Gods Of The Deeps! - -"Gods Of The Deeps, heed thy servant! Send thou thy creatures that they -may feed, that they may rend the flesh and grind the bones and destroy -utterly those whom I have cursed in thy mighty names!" - - * * * * * - -Barry felt a crawling prickle of fear along his spine at the confidence -of Komso's manner. Xintel's face twisted in terror as she remembered -how that self-same curse had brought death to her father. The Earthman -felt an almost overwhelming urge to swerve aside, to swing in a -suicidal dive upon the priest and his Chosen guards. But remembrance of -his duties to the colony and to Xintel overcame blind fury. - -It seemed too good to be true when he and Xintel plunged into the dark -passageway without interference. The armed mob followed, shouting to -the noncombatants to move aside--but they were in the clear. They -emerged from the tunnel mouth into the open, deadly, faintly luminous -sea of the Outside. - -"Hold!" They heard Komso's shouted command behind them. "Follow and you -too shall be accursed!" - -He did not have to repeat his order, for the Venusians were never too -eager to venture into the Outside. Instead they massed at the portal to -witness the fate of the demon and his traitorous mistress. - -Suddenly the girl gasped in horror, clutching Barry's arm and pointing -upward and outward. Against the background of dim luminosity, far in -the distance, two bright pinpoints showed. Then three. Four. And then -more than he could count. - -"Torvaks!" she gasped. - -Barry stared aghast. As though summoned by Komso's words the terrible -undersea monsters were gathering from all directions. - -Xintel's forehead wrinkled in desperate concentration. - -"The Cleft!" she said suddenly. - -Barry followed blindly as she dove toward the rocky, irregular bottom. -Each time he risked a glance over his shoulder the monsters were -nearer. And there were more of them. His muscles ached, but those -trails of ominous light acted as a powerful stimulant. - -The girl led him along the bottom, paying no attention to landmarks but -relying solely on an intuitive sense of direction which all Venusians -possessed. Soon Tana was lost to sight. - -How long the nightmare chase lasted Barry was never to know. Seconds -grew to ages and minutes to throbbing eternities. He concentrated -on swimming, swimming, swimming for his very life, and hardly heard -Xintel's words of encouragement. - -"Just--a--little--further!" - -Then stabbing, biting, burning pain seared his throat. Almost -intolerable. But Xintel was guiding him straight down into a narrow -fissure in the bottom. Her legs stopped their flutter-kick and she -allowed momentum to carry her bottomward. Barry too ceased his -exertions in a state of near collapse. - -"Perhaps--they--won't follow!" Xintel panted. - -Both looked upward. The monstrous shapes--they could see the gross, -hideous bodies now--seemed unwilling to follow their prey into the -crevice. They wheeled above in relentless circles. - -One creature, like a gigantic moray with finned pectoral legs, made an -abortive lunge but turned upward again a few feet above them. - -Another torvak's neck shot out, its armored head striking the -eel-creature a tremendous blow. Another monster swooped, fangs ripping, -and for a few minutes the water grew murky with spilled blood and -roiled ooze as the three huge beasts battled. The fight ended, and -once more the saurians took up a restless, watchful patrol above the -cowering pair. - -Barry's breathing eased but the burning in his throat remained. -Something in the water was irritating the tender membranes of his -lungs, nose and eyes. He glanced at Xintel and saw that she too was in -pain. But it was this very irritant that was preserving their lives. -The monsters did not like its smell or taste. - -"Maybe they'll go away," he said, not believing his own words but -trying to reassure the girl. - -The cleft in the ocean floor was long and narrow, deeper than it -was wide, and at the bottom it tapered to a hair-thin crevice in -the bedrock. The steeply slanting walls were deeply covered with a -yellow-blue greasy jelly mixed with mud and silt. Barry recognized it -from Xintel's descriptions as the Cleft Of Hardening where soft wooden -implements were made usable. The crack in the bottom must extend deep -into the heart of the planet. - -"Xintel," he asked. "Are there any weapons buried here now?" - -"There always are," she answered, but her voice was filled with despair. - -"Where?" - -She did not know. When the inhabitants of Tana buried objects to be -hardened they were extremely careful to smooth the jelly over them. -Otherwise prowling norus would dig them up. - -Pawing into the sticky, corrosive jelly with hands and arms they -began a blind search. Within minutes the girl gave a cry as she -uncovered a spear. She wiped away the clinging stuff, then wept with -disappointment. It had been buried only a short time and still had the -soft consistency of balsa. Angrily she threw it down. - -Barry recovered it. As a weapon it was worthless, but it was firm -enough to use as a prod. Methodically he moved along the bottom, -thrusting deeply every few inches. - -"Got something!" he called, and Xintel swam to his side. - - * * * * * - -There were two spears and two long knives, all thoroughly hardened. -Within a few more sleeps someone from Tana would have made the -dangerous trip to pick them up. - -Barry glanced at the shadows overhead. It felt good to have a weapon -in his hand again, even though logic told him a spear could never -penetrate the armored hides of those nightmare creatures. They could do -absolutely nothing but wait and hope. - -He found a projecting rock that was relatively free from slime and -settled down. He wanted to think. - -A sudden commotion overhead made him leap up. Two bodies came hurtling -over the edge of the cleft some two hundred yards away, with trails -of light glistening behind them. A torvak lashed out, missed, and its -frustrated bellow made the water vibrate as the newcomers settled -toward the bottom. - -"Norus!" Xintel hissed in Barry's ear. - -"They're not armed," Barry observed. - -She turned on him peevishly. "But they're norus!" - -Barry, not trained to hatred by a lifetime of strife with these -outcasts, felt sorry for them as they crouched trembling and gasping -from their flight. They eyed him furtively. - -After the first few minutes, when it became evident the norus did not -intend to break the unspoken truce imposed by mutual peril, the girl -relaxed. Yet she did not turn her back to them. - -For a long while she and Barry sat in silence. There was nothing to -say, nothing worth saying in their hopeless situation. The norus -watched stolidly, their eyes flicking occasionally between the pair -from Tana and the monsters circling overhead. - -Then in a quick move that startled Barry the girl stood up, unfastened -her skirt, stepped out of the garment. She seemed entirely unaware of -her nakedness. - -"Fan your hands back and forth," she requested. "Make light." - -Barry complied, swirling the water to brightness. The norus watched -uneasily, staring hard at the girl. But Xintel was absorbed in -inspecting the fabric of her skirt, going over it inch by inch. A -couple of times she held it to her nose, but each time shook her head. - -"Ha!" she cried suddenly, pointing to a slight, almost invisible stain. - -"What is?" he asked. - -"It may be--Give me your knife." - -She cut away the stained cloth and wrapped it around the unhardened, -useless spear. - -"What are you doing?" - -She ignored his question. - -"Take this and go part way up," she directed. "But be careful, very -careful, dearest--and throw it over the rim." - -Trusting her knowledge of this undersea world, he climbed the slippery -wall. Halfway up he found a foothold. He tensed his muscles, heaved the -weapon with the peculiar pushing gesture he had learned was the only -way to throw under water. As the spear made a high arc he abandoned his -exposed position in a headlong dive. - -Xintel shouted happily. "Look! Barry! Look!" - -Above the cleft the water was whipped to intense brilliance as the -nightmare monsters converged on the spot where the spear had fallen. - -"What is it?" Barry yelped. - -Xintel laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "The curse, Barry! -The curse Komso put upon us!" - -"Huh?" he grunted. - -"Everyone knows those beasts follow the smell of blood, and that a man -wounded in the Outside is as good as dead. They follow other smells -too!" - -At once he understood. "So Komso's curse is some powerful lure that -will bring every monster within miles to attack, but has a smell we -ourselves can't detect." - -She nodded. "That one we saw leaving our house--he did it." - -Xintel put down her skirt and even unclasped her precious metal -necklace. Stark naked and unarmed she started up the slope. - -"Come back!" he yelled as he sensed her intention. - -She paused, but then continued upward. - -A shadow swooped. - -"Look out!" Barry screamed. But Xintel had been alert and had thrown -herself into a plunging dive. - -"Oh!" she sobbed as she pulled herself up beside him. "It's no good. It -has gotten into my skin. Probably yours too." - -But after his burst of renewed hope Barry refused to surrender. "This -corrosive jelly might counteract it," he suggested. - -Xintel's eyes were somber. "We have nothing to lose," she agreed. - -They scooped out two troughs in the greasy jelly and buried themselves -with only their heads projecting, but at Xintel's suggestion they took -positions where they could keep an eye on the norus. - -"Rub some on your face," Barry advised the girl. "In your hair too." - -"It stings!" she complained. - -"I know. But it's our only chance." - - - VIII - -They let an hour of torment pass, and although Xintel tried gamely to -keep her face composed she could not hide an occasional grimace of pain -as the caustic jelly ate at the more tender portions of her skin. - -The swarm of monsters still held patrol above the cleft with -dull-witted reptilian patience. The two norus had settled down, -squatting lumpishly, with only their eyes active. - -At last Barry pulled himself from his uncomfortable bed. His body was -red and chapped from head to foot. Xintel was in the same condition. - -"I hope this works," he said. - -He climbed toward the rim, nearly to the top, and still the beasts -paid no attention. He made no sudden movements and their eyesight was -apparently dull. - -"Barry! That's enough! Come back!" Xintel called. - -Deliberately he waved his arms. A swimming torvak turned in its own -length and plunged toward him, and Barry barely evaded its rush. - -"If we try to escape they'll see us," Xintel said. - -Barry nodded sadly. Even though Komso's curse had been voided they -could still only wait and hope. - -The nomads who had found refuge with them unwittingly solved his -dilemma. As once more the age-old envious hatred of the homeless ones -for the city dwellers came to the fore they whispered to each other. -For a moment Barry and Xintel grew inattentive. The norus had been -waiting for just that. They dashed forward, intent on snatching the -weapons that to them represented great wealth. Xintel shouted in alarm -and one of the savages struck at her with a webbed fist. - -Barry's knife flashed and a noru died. As the survivor swerved to evade -Xintel's spear, Barry was upon him from behind. - -His knife descended, this time not in a killing stroke. Deliberately he -carved a long, shallow gash down the savage's back, a wound that would -bleed copiously. Then he shouted and roared ferociously. The wounded -noru fled. - -Xintel streaked in pursuit, a grim expression on her face and a -spear poised, but Barry reached out one arm and caught her ankle. -Instinctively she twisted and her fingernails raked his face. - -He slapped her hard. - -"No!" he barked. "Let the noru go!" - -She looked at him in furious disgust as the nomad churned in -panic-stricken flight toward the rim. - -"He's bleeding!" Barry snapped. - -A great dark shadow swooped at the noru, missed, and Xintel looked -admiringly at Barry as she understood. - -The water above the cleft grew streaky with light as the monsters -abandoned the tenuous remnants of the lure to follow a trail of fresh -blood. The noru gibbered in horror as he dodged along the rocky bottom. - -"Let's go!" Barry barked. "_Straight up!_" - -It was a long, tiring swim. At last they floated just below the -surface. - -"Can you find the colony?" Barry asked. - -"We go to the nearest shore, near Last City," Xintel corrected. "We are -not safe here over deep water." - -They swam again, this time horizontally, guided once more by Xintel's -compass sense. Once Barry raised his head, but all he could see was -a narrow circle of rippled water upon which the ever-present mists -pressed heavily. A slight rosy glow overhead, dim and diffuse, was the -only indication of the sun. - -Finally the girl stopped. "We are almost to the edge of the Above," she -said. - -Barry put his head up again but still could see nothing but water and -mist. They swam a few strokes more, and then he and the girl lowered -their feet to a bottom of soft mud. - -When he stood up in the neck-deep water and emptied his lungs there was -an interval of wracking coughing and gasping. But then he found with -elation that he was breathing without too much difficulty. His practice -sessions in the cavern were paying off. - -Xintel too stood up and gasped in the warm, stench-filled air, -floundering beside the taller Earthman as they waded toward a dimly -seen bank ahead. The water had shoaled to her waist, when without -warning, she staggered and collapsed. - -Barry caught her as she fell, and with Earth habits returning, cradled -her in his arms with her face above water. - -"Xintel! What's wrong?" - -She stirred in his arms and her eyes opened. - -"Put me down," she requested. - -Then she noticed the frightened expression on his face. - -"I'll be all right soon," she assured him. "Just--tired. And air--too -suddenly." - -Tenderly he laid her in the shallow water. - -"Sure you're all right?" he asked solicitously. - -She nodded. - -For a few minutes he waited beside her, thinking of the colony. He -understood now Komso's reference to the beasts of the marshlands -overturning the houses of the demons, and the priest's plan of battle. -His lure would attract the monsters with which the colony had already -had trouble. And when the colonists were forced outside by the -hypervirulent bacteria of the Unseen, death would strike. - -Without a warning the unsuspecting colony would be doomed, but without -Xintel's guidance he could not reach them to give that warning. - -"Barry." The Venusian girl's voice was still weak and unsteady. "The -Place Of Change is on this shore. Go look at it. Perhaps you, with a -different mind and a different knowledge, could--" - -"You sure you'll be all right alone?" - -She was sure, and finally Barry left her, emptied his lungs once again, -and floundered up the muddy bank. - - * * * * * - -His body felt heavy without the support of the water to which it had -become accustomed, but it was good to be walking like a true Earthman -again. He plodded inland, cautiously forcing his way through the thick -swamp vegetation. The ground underfoot was a tangle of roots, slime and -jagged stones. - -Last City was a disappointment. Nothing was left but a few scarcely -discernible mounds almost hidden by the swamp jungle. It was impossible -to tell even what sort of buildings once existed. - -He was ready to turn back when a shift in the mists disclosed the Place -Of Change. - -It was a domed building, huge even by the engineering standards of -Earth, and something done in ancient times had prevented the jungle -from encroaching upon it. Half submerged in mud, tilted where the -ground beneath it had softened and shifted, the great hemispherical -shell nevertheless remained intact. Barry hastened forward, found a -circular opening, evidently once a window high on the structure but now -at ground level, and after a glance at the dimness within stooped and -entered. - -He had not known what to expect--Xintel had told him only that the -Place Of Change was irreparably ruined--but certainly nothing so bleak -and disheartening. There was nothing but mud within the great building. -Whatever machinery or equipment had been used to change the Venusians -to water-breathers had vanished without a trace. Barry's shoulders -sagged as he turned back toward the window. - -But then the engineering training of his years on Earth reasserted -itself, and he wondered of what material the building had been -constructed to withstand the ravages of the savage environment of the -Venus. With the flat of one hand he brushed at the greenish, clinging -slime that covered the walls. Etched into the wall were strange symbols -arranged in an orderly fashion. Writing, obviously done by the Ancients. - -It was possible that the inscriptions included the technical data on -which the Place had been based. - -He ran to another section of wall and wiped at it, then at random to a -third spot. More writing. It meant nothing to him, but in the colony -there were specialists who might-- - -His chest began to burn, bringing his mind back to his present -situation. There was nothing he could do for the present, and he -must warn the colony. There was no telling how far Komso's plans had -progressed. Perhaps the attack had already started. - -He hurried out through the window, slid and stumbled through the swamp, -plunged into the water. Xintel was sitting up. - -"Can you find the colony?" he asked. - -She nodded, "Far along the shore, that way, I can feel the presence of -life. Your kind of life." - -"That's it! Let's go!" - -They followed the shoreline, and as the minutes passed a happy -excitement grew in the Earthman at the prospect of seeing his own kind -again. Xintel was silent. - -When they came to the opening of the slough, Xintel pointed. - -"That way. Not far." - -Barry shook his head vigorously. "They'd shoot first and look later," -he explained. "Particularly after Komso's first raid. I'll have to -approach overland." - -Half a mile beyond the slough a huge tree had fallen and was lying half -in the swamp and half in the water. - -"This should be far enough," he decided. "Wait here for me. And be -careful." - -He stuck his head out, studying the treacherous, mist-shrouded swamp he -must cross, then ducked under again. The Venusian girl looked at him -for an instant. Her hands moved as though to detain him. - -"Good-bye Barry." - -He kissed her and held her close. - -"It's not good-bye," he promised. "I'll come back." - -Xintel smiled tremulously. - -He released her and climbed to the tree trunk, emptied his lungs of -water and slogged off into the swamp. It was filthy and difficult and -dangerous traveling, but a sense of urgency was upon him. - -After a while he began to sing, loudly and hoarsely and off key. He -sang the popular songs of his last days on Earth, cowboy ballads, -ribald and unprintable construction camp ditties. The sounds drifted -thinly into the enshrouding mists. - -He did not sing from happiness. The colony would be an armed camp and -the songs of Earth offered his only means of identification in the fog. -At the end of each verse he paused and listened. - - * * * * * - -He finished a particularly lugubrious cowboy number entitled _Blood On -The Saddle_. - -"Hey! Who's that out there?" A voice reached him through the mist. - -"Ya-hoo!" Barry called. "Where are you?" - -"Over here!" the voice replied. - -"Keep yelling, and--don't--shoot!" Barry called, spacing his words for -clearness. - -But sounds moved in tricky ways through the moist, opaque air and it -was only after long floundering that he saw the dim shadows of men. - -"Who are you?" the voice called sharply. "What are you doing out here?" - -"I'm Barry Barr." - -"You lie!" someone shouted. "Barry Barr's dead!" - -Barry recognized the voice. - -"That's what you think, Phillips!" - -He sloshed his way over to join them and they stared in amazement. - -"Where you been?" one of them demanded. - -"At the bottom of the sea." - -"This ain't no time for kidding!" the man retorted angrily. - -"I mean it," Barry declared earnestly. "But guide me in quick. There's -hell brewing." - - * * * * * - -He waited impatiently in the vestibule of the central building while -they peeled off their rubberized swamp suits. Then he was inside, back -in the colony he had never expected to see again. - -"Call the council of captains and get the leading technical men of each -division," he snapped. "Emergency!" - -He coughed, his lungs irritated by the artificially dehumidified air of -the building. Just then Dr. Jensen passed down the hallway. He saw his -erstwhile patient and came running. - -"What happened to you, son?" he asked. - -"Water machine stopped," Barry said shortly, unwilling to be diverted -from more pressing matters by past events. "Had to get out or die." - -"The devil!" the doctor exclaimed. "It was running all right when I -came back, but the window was smashed." - -For Barry that was conclusive evidence--if such were needed--that the -breakdown had been no accident. Hind had turned on the water and power -again to cover his deed. - -Dr. Jensen grabbed Barry's arm. "Let me make some tests on you," he -asked eagerly. - -"No time now," Barry snapped. - -The four spaceship captains and as many technicians as could crowd into -the room, set up a babble of questions as Barry entered. He glanced -around quickly, searching for two faces, but neither Dorothy Voorhees -nor Robson Hind was there. He held up a hand for silence. - -The noise subsided. - -"Gentlemen, there is intelligent life on Venus, intelligent _human_ -life of an origin common to our own. You tangled with them recently." - -"My God!" a man exclaimed. "We thought it was some animal that killed -Evans." - -"I told you that was a knife wound and not the mark of teeth," another -interrupted. - -"We heard Fred shooting out beside the slough," someone explained. "But -by the time we got there he was dead and there was nothing in sight." - -"Don't underestimate these Venusians," Barry warned. "They live under -water. No knowledge of fire or explosives--they lost those when they -went aquatic--but their bacteriology is advanced. They once staged a -full scale bacterial war. And they knew enough biological science--a -damn sight more than we know--to deliberately become water-breathers to -escape the mess their war created." - -He noticed sceptical looks on some of the faces. - -"Just look at me," he said. "What happens by accident can be done on -purpose. This colony is facing death. A fanatical group of Venusians -are planning to wipe us out, and the attack will come soon. They will -use a chemical that attracts every swamp beast and water monster within -miles. - -"It works. I know it works," he insisted, and shuddered as he -remembered the torvaks. - -"Then there will be hypervirulent bacteria. You know what that means!" - -"Why should they attack us?" someone demanded. - -"You're strange to them, alien, and there is a leader among them who -fears outside influences will undermine his absolute control." - -"All right! Let's get ready, shoot the works, and give them what -they're asking for!" The man who spoke had been a close friend of Evans. - -"No!" Barry said decisively. "That would be the worst thing possible!" - -"What would you advise?" one of the captains asked. - -"Many of them would be friendly if given a chance," Barry explained. -"But if you plant mines in the slough and wipe out the attacking party -it will mean enmity between colonists and the surviving Venusians for -all time to come. Both sides will be vulnerable, you to bacterial -attack, they to depth charges, and the surface of Venus will be -rendered uninhabitable for years or even centuries." - -"What's the alternative?" Captain Reno demanded. - -The door opened and Barry glanced around. Even in mud-streaked -coveralls Dorothy Voorhees was beautiful. He had forgotten just how -desirable she was. - -"Barry!" she cried joyfully, and ran to him. - -Instinctively he responded to her kiss--until he remembered Xintel and -his own condition. - -"I won't be able to stay," he told her, deliberately making his voice -harsh. "I'm not cured and probably never will be." - -"But--but your water machine can be fixed," she protested. - -"There's more than that," he said, and with an effort turned away. - - - IX - -"As I was saying, gentlemen. Using the electric secondaries from the -ships, with submerged electrodes, you can set up a high-voltage, -low-amperage barrier across the slough that will stun without killing. -If this first attack can be warded off without killing, perhaps we can -establish friendly relations." - -"What makes you think they could be friendly?" a man asked suspiciously. - -"Because of a girl named Xintel who would undoubtedly become their -leader if Komso were killed or discredited. She saved my life, and -since then we have lived together and fought side by side. She is -waiting on the edge of the swamp now, an outcast from her own people -because she dared help me." - -Dorothy understood more from his tone than his words alone conveyed. -Her face paled. - -"Barry," she began, her voice strained. "You--?" - -The door opened again and three men crowded into the room. One was -Robson Hind. The electronics expert's face went gray as he saw his -supposed victim still alive. Barry itched to get at him but for the -moment too much was at stake to permit personal revenge. - -"Rig the shock charges at once," he suggested. "Xintel and I will do -our best to head off the attack under water." - -There were objections. Some considered it too dangerous. A heated -argument broke out, but at last the council of captains nodded -agreement. A sublethal current was to be used, but it was to be -backstopped by mortars, machine guns and flame throwers. Any creature -showing its head above water was to be blasted on sight. - -"I'll attend to the power supply," Hind suddenly volunteered. - -Barry guessed what was really in his mind. From Hind's unbalanced, -paranoid viewpoint it was essential he be removed to forestall an -investigation. He turned to the spaceship captains. - -"I most strongly urge that someone other than Robson Hind take charge -of the work." - -"Why?" Captain Reno snapped. - -"My reasons are valid, believe me. I'll explain later." - -"The man's crazy!" Hind spluttered. - -Captain Reno looked at his fellow officers and they nodded. - -"Podtiaguine, take charge of the installation," Reno commanded. - -The dry air was hurting Barry's lungs; Komso might attack at any -moment; and Xintel was all alone where hostile swamp met hostile sea. - -"I've got to get out," he declared. "Give me a pair of liquid fire -pistols." - -A storekeeper hurried to get them, and as Barry buckled the holster -belt around his waist he looked for Dorothy. She was gone. - -"Remember," he warned. "No killing unless absolutely necessary, but -watch out for tricks. If my luck holds I'll be back. I have things to -settle." - -He looked meaningfully at Hind, then turned abruptly and strode down -the hall, his ragged trousers flapping damply, his Venusian sandals -squishing at every step. The warm, stench-filled Venusian mist closed -around him, revivifying him and soothing his tormented lungs as he -started toward the swamp. - -"Barry!" It was Dorothy. - -"Barry, I want a straight answer." - -"Yes?" - -"Have you stopped loving me?" - -His answer was unhesitating. "No, and I never will. But I have no right -since I became--like this." - -She made a sound between a gasp and a sob. - -"But that Venusian girl?" - -Barry fumbled for words. "I--I love her too. It's just that -I--well--you and she belong in different worlds and I'm--I'm part of -both but not fully of either." - -"Oh! But you'll come back--for short periods at least?" - -"If I live through what's coming," he answered soberly. - -She smiled with an effort. "Be careful, Barry dear, and--good luck!" - -She turned, running back toward the buildings, and he plunged into the -reeking swamp, backtracking along his own trail of muddy footprints and -crushed vegetation. - -He emerged at the fallen tree, dived in, and with a sense of relief -filled his lungs with water. - -"Xintel!" he called. - -"Here!" He swung around. The bank beneath the tree trunk had been -hollowed out by the action of ripples on the soft mud, and she crouched -there, protected on three sides. - -"I was so afraid you weren't coming back!" - -"I told you I'd return." - -"Barry?" Her voice trembled. "Did you see--her?" - -He nodded. - -"And yet you came back to me!" She spoke as though she could hardly -believe it. - -"Listen closely," he broke in. "What do the women of Tana think of -Komso's plans?" - -"They know many of their men will never return." - -"Do you think you could--?" - -"Perhaps I could sneak back into Tana. But what good would that do?" - -Barry frowned thoughtfully. "Could you persuade some of them, as many -as possible, to follow the war party and overtake their men? When they -see you're alive, that Komso's curse didn't work--" - -Xintel shook her head. "Most have never been outside Tana in their -lives. Even to save their men they would be too fearful of the sea -dangers and of Komso's wrath. They would never follow me." - -Barry drew one of his fire pistols and moved aside. - -"Watch this," he told her. The liquid charge was self-oxidizing and -should burn under water, but there was a distinct danger the gun would -backfire. His nerves were screaming as he squeezed the trigger. - -Scarlet fire lanced from the muzzle with a sizzling roar that nearly -broke their eardrums. - -The water surged and heaved. - -Xintel pressed her hands to her ears; her eyes were round with -amazement. - -"What was that?" she gasped. - -"That was fire," Barry answered, handing her both weapons. "Now you -have magic to surpass anything of Komso's. Would that help persuade the -women?" - -Xintel smiled grimly. "They will follow me or else--And if Komso or a -Chosen One should interfere, would it--?" - -"It would. And tell the women that if your people and mine can meet as -friends there will be guns like this for everyone. Norus and torvaks -will hold no more terrors." - -"But you?" she asked. - -"I must wait at the mouth of the slough and stop Komso there." - -"But--?" - -"Waste no more time! Hurry!" - - * * * * * - -After she was gone he swam along the shore to the slough and settled -on the bottom. He waited interminably it seemed before he spotted the -distant streaks of light left by Komso's men, perhaps a hundred of them -in a close group. - -He remained crouched, waiting until they were just beyond crossbow -range. Then he stood up, waving his arms to create enough light to -make his identity unmistakable. He had decided his only course lay in -turning Komso's own propaganda against him. - -"Stop!" he commanded. - -For a moment there was confusion in the ranks, and those in front -backed water. - -"Come forth, Komso, and look upon me!" Barry called. "You are a -trickster and a fraud, and your curses are without power!" - -Komso's jaw went slack and his face grew crimson. The priest spoke -softly to a Chosen One. - -"Men," he declared. "Only a demon could survive the curse of the Gods -Of The Deeps--but even a demon can die!" - -Barry almost missed seeing the Chosen One raise his crossbow, but some -instinct warned him just as the weapon twanged. He sidestepped and the -missile whizzed by. It had been close. If they were to open upon him -in volleys-- - -"Komso's curses are powerless but mine are not!" he declared loudly, -concealing his nervousness. "You are forgiven this time, but the next -man who raises a weapon against me will feel my wrath. He shall die -screaming in slow agony!" - -"Rush him! Kill him!" Komso ordered, attempting to rally his wavering -ranks. But Barry's boast, and their belief that he was a demon, held -them back. - -Barry scanned the sea for the patch of light that would indicate Xintel -approaching with the women of Tana. Nothing. Stalling was his only -chance. - -"Men of Tana," he began. "If you follow Komso you go to certain death. -Already you have seen that his so-called curse means nothing. And now I -shall tell you how--" - -"Close your ears!" Komso shrieked. "Listen to this infidel and the -curse of the Gods will be upon you too!" - -The men trembled, torn between fear of the demon and fear of their own -leader. - -"Those from Above would be your friends," Barry argued. "They are not -demons, but men very like yourselves." - -"Liar!" Komso bellowed. "The people of Tana are the only true men!" - -The warriors nodded, accepting the oft-repeated dogma as indisputable -truth. Barry realized it was useless to argue. He waited, hoping -something would swing the balance. Meanwhile Komso deployed his forces -in a crescent across the mouth of the slough. To Barry it looked like -preparation for a rush that would overwhelm him. - -Each warrior, he saw, carried a large sealed wooden cylinder. They -handled them gingerly. Barry guessed their purpose. They contained -the hypervirulent bacterial cultures with which the colony was to be -exterminated. But of course, to the Venusians themselves, they were -magic. - -Just when it seemed Komso's men were rallying from their fright, Barry -sighted a speck of brightness far out to sea. One of the men saw it too -and called the priest's attention to it. Komso's stare of puzzlement -changed to fury as he made out the forms of thirty women. - -Xintel darted ahead of the group, past Komso's men, and before the -priest could give an order, she had reached Barry's side. - -"I had to use all the fire," she said in a low voice. "There were -torvaks, and it killed them." - -Barry squeezed her hand, although he wished she had saved one charge -with which to impress the war party. - -Komso's forces were disorganized. Several of the men had left ranks -to join their frightened, panting mates and a series of shrill family -quarrels were in progress despite all the priest's efforts. Men cursed -their wives for leaving Tana and were in turn cursed for everything the -near-hysterical females could lay tongue to. - -"Hear me!" Komso bellowed. "Hear me!" - -The quarreling stopped abruptly. - -"I challenge the demon to single, bare-handed combat!" - -Barry gulped. He had wanted for a long time to get his hands on Komso, -and now the opportunity was here. - -"I accept!" he said firmly. - -Xintel's face was ashen; her lips were trembling. - -"Barry! My father believed the Leaders used poison under their -fingernails; the slightest scratch means death," she whispered. - -Barry dared not back down now. He watched Komso advance. - - * * * * * - -The priest swam upward and stopped, slight motions of arms and legs -holding him there. Barry recognized it as a clever move. Komso had seen -what the Earthman's muscles could do when he was able to plant his feet -solidly. - -"Come meet your doom, Demon!" Komso taunted. - -Barry sensed the interest of the watchers. Many times they had seen -Komso's powers displayed, and they were waiting for the demon to flee -or die. - -Suddenly Barry launched himself from the bottom in a headlong rush. - -Komso dodged and his hands came out in a clawing, scratching reach. In -that instant Barry knew Xintel had been right. - -He knocked Komso's arm aside and whipped his fist toward the smirking -face. It struck, but only a glancing blow. It left him floundering off -balance. The water around them glowed with increasing brightness as -they twisted and turned. - -Again and again Komso's poisoned nails reached out, but each time Barry -managed to escape. He tried to maneuver the battle toward the bottom, -but Komso stayed above and made short, threatening swoops. Barry was -forced to move upward again or remain entirely on the defensive. He did -not dare grapple. - -In desperation he relaxed his guard and tried a judo chop at Komso's -shoulder muscles. The priest uttered a cry of pain, but the blow had -not disabled. Fingernails scraping along his neck filled him with blind -panic. Luckily they failed to break the skin. - -Komso drew away, dove in again, this time low, clawing at Barry's legs -and keeping clear of his punishing fists. - -Barry drew his legs up, and as the Venusian passed under him, pumped -them down with all his strength. - -One foot struck Komso's side. Barry felt something shatter beneath his -heel. - -Komso pulled up from his rush. He turned, unhurt, prepared to dive -again. And then one hand went to his side, feeling through his -clothing. His face went greenish; his jaw sagged. His eyes rolled and -he screamed in utter despair. Barry was too startled to follow up his -advantage. - -Seconds passed, and then there was a whizzing, hissing sound moving -through the water at tremendous speed. A streak of light. Barry barely -glimpsed the shark-like creature that burst through the ranks of -Komso's men. Straight as an arrow it came, ignoring those it knocked -aside. - -Komso's third scream broke in the middle, unfinished. Then there was -only a spreading pink stain and a few remnants. - -The dead silence that followed was broken by a yell of horror. Out to -sea specks of light grew brighter by the second. Warriors and women -alike milled in confusion, leaderless, and when one man started a -panic-stricken dash up the slough, the others dropped their weapons and -followed. - -Barry hung in the water, still not comprehending, until Xintel shook -him out of his stunned inaction. - -"Quick, Barry!" - -Her legs churned the water at top speed and she guided him with -occasional touches. Once he glanced over his shoulder, and the glow -around the slough's mouth disclosed huge black shapes gathering. -Torvaks! - -The girl swam close to shore where the water was thick and muddy and -fetid with the reek of decay. After a while she cut her speed so he -could come up beside her. No Venusians were in sight. - -"His own curse!" she said. - -Barry understood. Komso had been carrying a vial of his secret lure. -Barry's random kick had broken it, saturating the priest's clothing. -The beasts of the ocean had done the rest, and now, in addition, they -had the smell of fresh blood to attract them. - -"I've got to get ashore at once!" Barry panted. - -Trapped between the electric barrier and the monsters prowling the -slough, the Venusians would be doomed. With their leader dead, and -ravening death at their heels, they would have forgotten all about -attacking the colony, Barry hoped. - - - X - -Once more they reached the spot where the tree lay at the water's edge. - -"Wait here, darling," Barry said hurriedly, and climbed out. - -He lay on the tree trunk a moment, coughing the water from his lungs. -When he glanced up Robson Hind was standing there. Under his arms was a -submachine gun. - -"You damned degenerate fish-man!" he said. - -Barry could only stare helplessly as Hind's trigger finger tightened. -The man looked mad. - -A shot barked from the swamp and at the same instant a slender arm from -the water caught Hind's ankle and jerked. The submachine gun roared an -unaimed burst as he toppled backwards. His head thwacked dully against -the wood, and then there was a splash as he sank. - -Barry stood up trembling. - -A coveralled and hooded figure emerged from the swamp, carrying a -carbine from which a wisp of smoke still curled. - -"Barry, did I--?" Under the smears of mud Dorothy's face was pale. - -"What are you doing here?" he demanded. - -"I saw him following your trail, and I guessed--" - -A head broke water beside the log. Dorothy fired, but Barry knocked the -muzzle skyward just in time to deflect the bullet. Then he knelt to -give Xintel a hand up. - -The Venusian girl cleared her lungs, rubbed one webbed hand across her -eyes, then gave Dorothy a long, level stare. - -"He breathes like you?" she asked. - -"No." - -"Good. Did she kill him or did I?" - -"Is that your Venusian girl?" Dorothy interrupted. "And what are you -two talking about?" - -Barry switched to English. "Hell's still loose. Got to get to -headquarters immediately." - -He started off, looked back with a worried frown. Xintel had drawn a -tube-weapon to match Dorothy's rifle. The slender, coveralled Earthgirl -and the more fully curved Venusian, dressed in only a torn skirt, were -eying each other like two alley cats. He could almost feel the crackle -of emotion between them. He winced. - - * * * * * - -"It's murder if you don't!" Barry raged. - -Captain Stanley of Ship Two was in charge of the slough sector of -defense. He shook his head regretfully. - -"Must have the approval of the other captains first," he said. - -"Well, in God's name, get them!" - -Barry strained his eyes, but the mist had settled down thickly. Only -the vaguest hints of heaving, convulsive movement were discernible -beneath the water. The air-masked crews of the machine guns and mortars -and flame throwers set up to supplement the stun barrier were tense and -jittery as they waited. - -The radio handpiece crackled with static that drowned all -communication, so Captain Stanley sent a runner to summon the others. - -Anger and despair contended in Barry's mind. They would be too late. -The heavy cables sprawled into the black water like great snakes, -lifeless in appearance, but he knew the torturing forces with which -they were filling the slough. And he alone of all the colony knew the -full horror of the torvaks. - -Through the mist he could just see the building where Nick had set -up the switchboard, and he hoped he would be watching for orders. -Otherwise-- - -With deceptive calm he walked to one of the flame throwers, snapped the -latch releasing the bulky mechanism from its tripod, picked it up in -both arms. - -"What are you doing?" Captain Stanley demanded. - -"I'm going in," Barry declared. - -The watching men were too dumfounded to stop him as he ran downstream. - -Through the mist he saw something move just below the surface. A -Venusian woman, her muscles twitching in spastic convulsions as the -electric current ripped at her nerves. And then a few yards away a -shadow, misshapen and unbelievably huge. - -Barry stopped, cradling the heavy flame thrower in his arms. - -"Turn off that current!" he pleaded once again. - -Without waiting for an answer he leaped. - -The weight of the weapon took him instantly to the bottom. He sprawled -in the ooze. He had miscalculated. A million fiends were stabbing -with red-hot knives, and his muscles twitched and squirmed in insane -convulsions. His chest was clamped in a gigantic vise that kept him -from filling his lungs with the water that meant life. - -But he was still conscious, still able to see the screaming forms of -Venusians who, in their flight from the monsters, had ventured too deep -into the charged area. - -An ugly creature came toward Barry. It was shaking its huge body, but -it was coming on nonetheless. Its scaly hide and low-grade nervous -system made it at least partially immune to the electrical charge; its -killer instincts forced it to disregard the discomfort. Through the -reek of decaying vegetation Barry got a whiff of the acrid odor he had -learned to identify as fresh blood. - -He struggled to raise his flame thrower, but he was unable to -coordinate his movements. - -And then at the last possible moment the twitchings of his body ceased. -Someone, Captain Stanley or Nick, had pulled the main switch. - -He brought the nozzle of the flame thrower around. Flame blossomed and -ricocheted through the water in burning globules. Concussion and shock -wave threw him face down in the mud, dazzled and deafened. - -He picked himself up, gagging and retching at the taint of charred -flesh. The creature was still twitching in its death throes, stirring -the water to opacity. Through the silt Barry could see several Venusian -survivors moving feebly. - -"Follow me!" he yelled, fearful that at any instant the current would -be turned on again. - -Then he went down the slough in great leaping bounds while a howling -lust to kill mounted within him. The flame thrower, designed to be used -from a fixed mount, made a clumsy burden in his arms. Monsters, dozens -of them of all sizes and shapes, had come to kill. They remained to be -killed instead. - -Time after time the flame thrower sent its blazing cone licking forth. -The water grew thick and uncomfortably hot, but little by little he -cleared a path to the sea. - -Once he looked back. The Venusians were following, and on each face was -a look of adoration. Barry knew then he had made himself the new leader -of Tana. They crowded close, anxious to get away from the bewitched -waters. He motioned them to keep a safe distance. - -And then suddenly he reached open water and the last of the monsters -died in fire. Barry looked down at the pressure gauges. The tanks were -empty. - -The Venusians gathered around but kept a respectful distance from his -person. - -"Get back to Tana, all of you!" he commanded. "Remain there until -either Xintel or I tell you otherwise!" - -Without further questioning they obeyed. - - * * * * * - -He would have missed the half submerged tree entirely except -for something white on the bottom, something from which small -carrion-eaters scuttled at his approach. Hind's skeleton, already half -buried in the ooze. Gunshot or drowning? Dorothy or Xintel? What matter? - -The two women were still watching each other warily on the bank. But, -he saw with relief, they had laid their weapons aside. - -Together, each in her own language, they bombarded him with questions. - -He managed a faint smile although the skin of his face felt stiff and -scorched from the flame thrower's heat. - -"No war," he said. - -That should have finished it, and all he wanted now was rest. - -But again they spoke at once. Their languages were different but their -meanings were the same. - -"Barry, I want to talk to her." - -Wearily he slumped down, nodding. - -But as the conversation progressed he fidgeted uneasily. With the -amazing frankness of two strong-willed females, they were settling his -future while he translated. It was like a distorted dream. - -They finally reached an agreement. Neither liked it entirely, but -both were unselfish enough to consider Barry's welfare. And both were -realists. - -Barry blinked and blushed as he translated, but could not suppress a -feeling of relief. - -"I really don't mind--too much," Dorothy addressed him directly. "But -if you ever tell anyone up here you're still carrying on with this bare -breasted fish-girl I swear you'll be sorry." - -Xintel spoke. "I understand. She is of your own people. But please, -Barry, those of Tana do not need to know." - -Dorothy and Xintel were watching him, waiting for his answer. - -Two women in his life, both determined to remain. Either they would -resent each other, and through jealousy, make his life hell, or they -would become firm friends. He could easily become the most henpecked -man on all Venus. But to choose between them-- - -Well, boredom was one thing he need never fear. - -He nodded. - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber's Note: No Section VII heading in original text.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Tribes Of Venus, by Erik Fennel - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST TRIBES OF VENUS *** - -***** This file should be named 63932.txt or 63932.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/9/3/63932/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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