diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-0.txt | 3331 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-0.zip | bin | 52250 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-h.zip | bin | 717492 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-h/64771-h.htm | 3530 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 460077 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64771-h/images/illus.jpg | bin | 203616 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 6861 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..871cb49 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64771 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64771) diff --git a/old/64771-0.txt b/old/64771-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1110b44..0000000 --- a/old/64771-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3331 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sword of Fire, by Emmett McDowell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Sword of Fire - -Author: Emmett McDowell - -Release Date: March 09, 2021 [eBook #64771] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWORD OF FIRE *** - - - - - SWORD OF FIRE - - By EMMETT McDOWELL - - Jupiter Jones, naked and helpless in the slime of - that vile world, cursed the space warp that had - flung him down among its groveling mutants. For - their rising, excited whispers proclaimed him a - knight in shining armor--the bright weapon in his - hands their only hope against the terrible octopods! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1949. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The Mizar, a glittering needle with stubby, backswept wings, hurtled -out of deep space, arced into orbital flight a thousand kilometers -above the surface of the planet. The starship had approached from the -night side. Now, as it decelerated rapidly, it flashed into the raw -orange daylight of the planet's K1 type sun, angled downward into the -stratosphere. - -Inside the Mizar's control blister, Jupiter Jones lifted red-rimmed -eyes to the fuel gauge. It showed only a few centigrams left. Little -more than enough to land. - -He swore under his breath, hunched lower over the controls, a long, -loose-framed man with a shock of red hair and vivid green eyes. The -olive uniform of the Galactic Colonization Board was wrinkled as if -it had been slept in, and he had allowed his beard to grow. The bushy -orange-red mass of it hid his face almost to the eyes. - -He was alone in the ship. He'd been alone, operating the Mizar -single-handed since Briggs, his co-pilot, had gone crazy and killed -himself. - -It had been a damned inconsiderate thing for Briggs to do, Jones felt. -Not that he could altogether blame the co-pilot. - -They had blundered into a space warp beyond Alpha Centaurus. The Mizar -had been flung into an uncharted region of the cosmos, hundreds, -perhaps thousands of parsecs from Sol. Hopelessly lost, the chance of -ever finding their way back to Earth had been slimmer than trying to -locate one certain atom of oxygen in Earth's envelope of air. Briggs -had cracked under the strain. - -When the co-pilot had failed to relieve him at the end of his watch, -Jupiter Jones had switched the controls over to "George," the robot -pilot, and had gone in search of him. He'd found Briggs dead in his -bunk. An analysis of his stomach had revealed that he'd taken cyanide. -There had been no note. Nothing. - -He had recorded the tragedy in the log along with a biting opinion of -the Psychiatric Board for allowing a man with a flaw in his psychosis -to be assigned to advance exploration. Then he'd heaved the body out -the refuse port. - -Well, he was still lost, Jupiter Jones reflected savagely. Fortunately -though, he'd discovered this huge K1 type sun with its system of seven -planets while he still had fuel enough to reach it. - -Spectroscopic observations had revealed that the second planet -possessed an atmosphere high in oxygen and showing traces of water -vapor. It was a small world about the size of Mars and uncomfortably -close to its flaming orange sun, but it had been his only bet. - -He glanced obliquely at the fuel gauge again. His lips thinned, and he -dropped his eyes to the scanner. - -Immediately, the surface seemed to bounce up at him. Dense jungles. The -sheen of an inland sea. The terrain flowed past like an immense relief -map. - -Then he saw the city. - - * * * * * - -It rose at the edge of the sea, all turrets and spires and battlements -like a walled medieval town. He caught a glimpse of quays with ships -warped against them, of cultivated fields like a vast checkerboard. -Then the Mizar had flashed past. The city seemed to dwindle and vanish, -only the sparkle of orange sunlight on the spires lingering an instant -longer. - -Jupiter Jones blew out his breath. His first reaction had been to swing -the Mizar around, but caution prevailed. He was too old a hand at -Galactic exploration to burst unannounced on an alien culture. - -The terrain below had been growing progressively rougher. Just ahead a -range of mountains reared saw-edged peaks into the clouds. He nursed -the Mizar along until the gorges fell away beneath him like blue-green -troughs. There was no sign of habitation anywhere. - -He braked and banked, spiraling lower and lower, dropping into a deep -valley with a river cutting through it like a silver thread. At the -last moment, he frantically buckled himself down and cut in "George". - -Flame bellowed around the Mizar as the automatic landing jets burst -into life. With a fierce crackling roar the star ship sliced through -the tangled vegetation, came to rest a hundred meters from the river. - -Jupiter Jones threw off the safety straps, stood up, feeling a tingle -of excitement take hold of him. - -He was down, the ship resting on the crust of a strange world. A world -that might well be his home for the rest of his natural life. - -It was a dismaying thought. - -With gravity dragging at his feet once more, he moved to the -transparent rind of the thermoplas blister and stared out. - -The landing jets had charred a huge swathe in the vegetation, charred -it to the finest ash and baked the ground like brick, leaving a wall of -jungle hemming the ship in. - -Nothing moved. - -He flicked on the outside amplifiers, but the silence was tomb-like. -The thunder of his descent must have frightened off all the wild life. - -He was conscious of a cumulative weariness like an ache. Experience -had taught him the necessity of being fresh before venturing into an -alien environment. He entered his landing in the log, switched on the -electronic alarm. - -"Let 'George' keep watch," he thought. "George's" senses were keener -than any human's, and "George" could be depended on! - -With a last glance at the dark mass of jungle, he climbed down the -ladder to the cabin, flung himself into his bunk. - -He was awakened by the wild ringing of the alarm bell. - - * * * * * - -Jupiter Jones sprang from his bunk. It seemed as if his head had barely -touched the pillow; but as he yanked himself through the well to the -control blister above, he saw that night had fallen. - -The bluish pallor of the riding lights illuminated the instruments. -Through the skin of the blister, he could see the black vault of the -heavens sparkling with unfamiliar constellations. But that was all. The -Mizar, itself, seemed to be lying in a vale of tar-like darkness. - -The clamor of the bell never abated. It drowned out any sound that -might be coming through the amplifiers. - -He shut it off. As the ringing fell silent, he could hear coughing -grunts. The hair on the nape of his neck rose like the hackles of a dog -and he switched on the floodlights. - -Instantly the burn blazed with a fierce white illumination. He caught a -glimpse of a dozen startled figures at the edge of the jungle! - -They were human--in shape at least--tall, kilted men with long red -hair and copper colored features. Blinded by the light they stood in -postures of frozen surprise. - -Staring out from the darkened blister, Jupiter Jones thought he'd -never seen such feral savagery as was reflected in their expressions. -Like--like mad wolves! They were armed with bows. Swords dangled from -harness over their backs. Two of them carried a litter. - -A frown clouded Jupiter's face. - -The litter-bearers belonged to a different race. They were squat, -naked, powerful brutes, their slick hides tinged a greenish cast. But -it wasn't altogether that. The pair had a passive, resigned look like -oxen. - -Like the beasts of burden they appeared to be, he thought. Probably -a slave race. Then his whole attention was focused on the fantastic -creature in the litter. - -It was no bigger than a large monkey. Eight spidery arms sprouted from -its grotesque body which was covered with a glittering purple shell -like a huge mollusk. Jupiter Jones noted these details almost before -the creatures recovered from their surprise at the blinding light. His -first impression of the purple-shelled octopod in the litter had been -that it must be a captive. - -Then the octopod raised a silver tube to an orifice in its head, blew a -single, piercing note. - -The two slate-green porters wheeled and bore the thing off into the -jungle. The half dozen naked, copper-skinned warriors followed hard on -their heels for all the world like a pack of fox hounds. - -He wiped the sweat from his forehead. - -Lord, he thought; what was that thing? Could it have been the dominant -life form? - -He switched out the floodlights, reset the alarm. His first exultation -at finding a habitable and inhabited world began to give way to a -gnawing distrust. - -Suddenly the darkness appeared malignant, concealing hosts of savage -brute-men, unguessable horrors. There was the feel of movement out -there. He heard something grunt and thrash in the underbrush followed -by a squealing noise like a stuck pig. - -He shivered, glanced at the photo-electric chronometer. - -The sun had set at nine hours, Earth time, he saw. It was fifteen -o'clock now. He had ascertained the rotation of the planet while still -out in space and knew it wouldn't be light for three hours yet. - -He set himself to the task that had occupied him during every leisure -moment since the warp had hurled the Mizar beyond the known regions of -space--charting the stars in an effort to locate himself. - -But he couldn't concentrate. He kept listening subconsciously for any -untoward sound of the world outside. - - * * * * * - -His real name was Jones RV860-09-34271. The Jupiter had been pinned on -because he had been marooned once on that planet for three months and -had lived to tell about it. - -There were two things which Jupiter especially didn't like. He didn't -like men; and he didn't like women. - -He prided himself on being self-sufficient and tough--and he was tough, -morally tough, and physically and intellectually tough. He had grown up -in the stews of Venusport, fending for himself since the age of nine. -Because he'd never seen the stars, he'd had one consuming ambition--to -go to space. - -He had studied, worked and fought his way through the Galactic -Colonization Board's Institute of Technology. The Institute was a -hard school. The men of the advance exploratory units, the special -corpsmen, had to be well versed in all sciences from astro-physics to -zoomorphology. - -No one had believed that Jupiter could make it. Briggs, who had been an -upper classman, had ridden him unmercifully. All of which had merely -crystallized his determination. In the end he'd graduated with top -honors. - -It was the same sort of determination that sustained him at this moment. - -Jupiter had long since reached the dismaying conclusion that the Mizar -had been swept entirely beyond the local system, even beyond any of the -adjacent star clusters. That was the final straw that had caused Briggs -to crack. - -At the thought of Briggs, Jupiter Jones spat into the waste chute and -arranged his lank frame before the powerful electronic telescope with -which all the ships of advance exploration were equipped. But he didn't -use it right away. Instead, he gazed upward at the star-encrusted -heavens. - -The milky way, he saw, began down near the horizon, though it climbed -less than a third of the way up into the sky. The rest of that -tremendous path was blotted out by an inky blackness. - -He tugged at his beard. There was something familiar about that black -pall, and he turned to the star charts again. - -Sure enough the "rift", a dark nebula, split the milky way from the -constellations of Centaurus to Cygnus! - -He must be very close to it, perhaps within a few light years, for it -to blot out so much of the super galaxy. But was it the same one? There -were hundreds of these dark nebulae. And even if it was, on what side -of it was he in relation to Earth? - -His elation slowly ebbed. - -Pulling out his notes, he recommenced the endless task of mapping the -universe. He kept hard at it until the giant orange sun had suffused -the sky with a saffron light, blotting out the stars. - -The Mizar was only one of many such units probing the local star -system in search of habitable worlds. Their role in the long Galactic -Colonization plan was to make a superficial examination: vegetation, -atmosphere, dominant life form if any and report their findings. Later, -depending on the reports of these advance units, the real exploration -by staffs of specialists commenced. - -Although Jupiter was sure the planet was too many light years off ever -to be colonized, he entered the composition of the air in the log from -force of habit. - -He broke out the emergency pack, selected a semi-automatic carbine -from the Mizar's arsenal. He added electroscope, geiger counter, ultra -violet ray lamp and prospecting tools to the load. If he ever were -to lift the Mizar from the surface again, he must find a deposit of -uranium or thorium bearing minerals. - -Then he shaved off his great red beard, revealing a hard face, bold -featured with a wide, thin-lipped mouth. He slung the load to his -shoulders, opened the main port. - -A strong saffron sunlight beat into his eyes as he let himself to the -ground. He stood still a moment, feeling the dirt press against the -soles of his feet, examining the blank hostile wall of jungle, tasting -the moist warm air. - -Bird-like creatures flitted through the foliage. The vegetation looked -mesozoic with its great pulpy stems and fern-like fronds. One of the -bird things sailed overhead. It was apple green and appeared as if it -might be some freakish symbiosis of plant and animal. - -Damn Briggs, he thought for the hundredth time. It was suicidal to -attempt the exploration of a strange world alone! - - - II - -Jupiter started cautiously for the river, his feet kicking up little -puffs of the powdery ash left by the jets. When he reached the jungle, -he halted again, unpleasant memories of the cannibal plants of Sirius -III in the back of his mind. Then, setting his jaw, he forged ahead. - -It was hot and green in the jungle. Sweat coursed down his face, -plastered his tunic to his back. - -He had gone less than thirty meters when he broke into a well traveled -trail paralleling the river. - -Jupiter Jones' nostrils flared. He came to an abrupt halt. Although -he wasn't yet thirty-five, he was known as an old man in the special -corps. He had survived partly because of an instinct of danger that was -almost psychic. - -He sensed it now in the sudden dryness of his mouth, the hammering of -his heart as his adrenal glands surcharged his blood. Then away in the -distance, he heard the winding of a horn! - -At least, it sounded like a horn. His hands tightened about the carbine -and he held his breath. But though he listened for some time, the sound -wasn't repeated. - -Gradually, the valley narrowed. Tall cliffs towered above him like -the jaws of a vise. He had gone about five miles, the limit he had -set himself for the first day, when he caught the sound of splashing -mingled with laughter. - -He stopped in midstride, his nerves atingle. The sounds went on -punctuated by giggling screams. He slid the safety off the carbine, -crept forward. - -A hundred meters upstream the jungle on the opposite bank gave way to -meadows that swelled up to meet the talus at the foot of a towering -thousand foot cliff. - -Where the meadow dipped down to the stream there was a little gravel -beach, and a band of women and children were splashing in the shallow -water. - -Jupiter stood stock still, peering out from the forest like a tiger. - -The women were tall, brown-skinned, their hair wet and glistening like -seals. Naked children squealed and played among the pebbles of the -beach. - -His glance strayed beyond them to the cliffs, which were pitted by cave -mouths, broken by ledges. He could distinguish the figures of men and -women in breechclouts and skins clinging to the face of the rock like -flies. - -These people had neither the brutish look of the green-skinned slaves -he'd seen last night, nor yet the ferocity of the warriors. He felt the -hot sluggish breeze shift, blowing from him towards the bathers. - -Instantly, the women were thrown into a panic. Those with children -snatched them up, and the whole pack broke from the water, fled -screaming towards the cliffs! - -Jupiter Jones narrowed his eyes in alarm. Their sense of smell must -be keen as a hound's! He could see the males leaping down the cliffs, -brandishing clubs. It reminded him of a disturbed colony of baboons -he'd seen once. Gad, but he'd stirred up a hornet's nest! He began to -back warily from the river bank. - - * * * * * - -There was a grunt behind him; a branch snapped. He tried to whirl -around, bringing up his carbine. A pair of arms wrapped around him, -seized him in a crushing grip! - -Shock closed Jupiter's throat. He twisted, wrenched frantically. - -The arms tightened like steel cables. There were more grunts, -triumphant shouts, the crashing of underbrush. - -Across the river the caveman had come to a halt. Then suddenly he saw -them turn and flee, scampering up the cliffs like terrified monkeys, -tearing at each other in their efforts to get away from the thing that -had him in its grip. - -Jupiter Jones was a powerful man--doubly so on this planet of mild -gravity. Furthermore he'd been in too many tight scrapes to be overly -bothered with scruples. - -Recovering from his first shock, he twisted the carbine over his -shoulder until he felt the muzzle prod into flesh and pulled the -trigger. - -The flat vicious "craack!" of the rifle slapped back from the cliffs. -The arms relaxed. He wrenched himself free, spun around. - -One glance told him these were the lean red-haired savages he'd seen -last night. He was already pulling the trigger as he recognized them. -The shot knocked the nearest brute off his feet. - -The others hesitated, ringing him in like a pack of wolves. Down the -trail, the two green tinted porters stood nervously, the litter perched -atop their shoulders. - -The glittering purple-shelled octopod was sitting bolt upright in the -litter. At this distance it looked like a huge snail--an obese snail -that has grown out of its shell. Perched on one of its tentacles was a -kite-like thing. - -Jupiter jerked the gun around. But at that moment the purple-shelled -monstrosity tossed the kite-thing into the air where it spread enormous -membrane wings. - -With a shock, he realized that the kite was alive--a huge, flying, -web-like bird! - -He put a bullet through it. But if the shot had the least effect, it -wasn't apparent. The creature swooped at him suddenly like a hawk -dropping on a rabbit. - -He shot again, then tried to hurl himself aside, but the pack hampered -his movements. One moist wing snared him, slapped around him like wet -rubber. He twisted, squirmed, toppled to the ground, rolling over and -over. - -The other wing lapped around him, binding his arms to his side, -squeezing, squeezing. - -The pain was intolerable. - -As if from a distance, he could hear shouting. The savages had closed -around him, snarling, baying triumphantly like hounds at the kill, but -he was only dimly conscious of them. - -The octopod on the litter put a silver tube to its mouth. A loud -mourning note wound through the jungle. - -The horn! It was the horn he'd heard earlier. It was also the last -sound that he heard, for the terrible constriction never relaxed. -Blackness welled up suddenly behind his eyes, blotted out everything. - - * * * * * - -When Jupiter Jones struggled back to consciousness, he was lying in a -cage like a wild animal. - -The realization shocked him. - -The cage, he saw, was about two and a half meters long, very narrow and -barely high enough for him to sit up in. It was only one of a whole row -of such cages, and they were all occupied by men and women like himself. - -His gun was gone. His pack, even his clothes had been taken away from -him. He grasped one of the bars, pulled himself to a sitting posture. -His neck felt stiff and for a moment his head swam dizzily. Then the -scene jarred into focus. - -Afternoon sunlight overlaid everything like an angry orange wash. -Striped tents had been pitched along the river bank. Four of the -purple-shelled octopods squatted about a cloth spread on the ground -beneath the largest pavilion. - -Its sides had been raised to permit the free flow of air, and he could -see the creatures plucking food from strange vessels and goblets with -their snakey tentacles. - -All about the tents green men and copper-skinned hunters milled in a -senseless jostling confusion like a circus breaking its stand. - -Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. The octopods were being waited on by a -hairless pink-skinned species of human. That made four distinct races -he'd observed since landing. He ticked them off on his fingers--the -cave people, the red-haired fighting men, the green and stolid porters. -Now these bald, hairless white slugs of men. - -The white men were doing most of the work, herding the porters about, -packing chop boxes. Jupiter frowned. An odd little protuberance, he -discovered, sprouted from the backs of all their necks. - -The protuberances varied in size, some no larger than a small snail -shell, others as big as a tangerine. They were plum-colored and looked -as if they were made of horn. What the devil could the things be? - -He shifted his eyes to a lank, coppery fighting man and saw that he -bore one of the things on the back of his neck also. They all did, he -realized with a sudden dryness of mouth. - -All along he'd been aware vaguely of the stiffness in his spine. With -a thrill of alarm, he felt the back of his neck, touched a knob-like -thing just below the base of his skull. - -The shock of the discovery left him sick at his stomach. - -He examined it gently with his finger tips. It was small, hard. He had -the uncomfortable conviction that it was alive, feeding off of him like -a leech. - -He tugged at it, but it was firmly anchored, the flesh about it quite -numb. In panic he tried to twist it off. - -Instantly a blinding flash of pain seared through him like acid -tingling out to the very tips of his fingers. He pitched forward, -cracked his head on the bars of his cage, slid to a prone position. - -For moments he lay there unable to lift a finger although his brain was -clear, lucid. It was as if the thing had perceived his intention and -had paralyzed the voluntary motor centers of his brain! - - * * * * * - -With mounting horror, Jones realized that the mollusk-like organism -must be fastened directly to his spinal cord. He had best not meddle -with it again until he learned more about it. - -"_Za'min--car?_" he heard a voice say behind him. - -He sat up, looked around, realized with a start that the paralysis was -gone, leaving no appreciable ill effects. - -There was a girl in the next cage watching him out of wide yellow -eyes. She was one of the cave people, he recognized with a scowl of -suspicion. It was impossible to mistake the air of wildness about -her--like a caged leopard. - -She was quite naked, crouching in her cell with her uncombed black hair -hanging down to her sturdy brown shoulders. - -"Za'min--car?" she repeated. - -He shook his head. What the devil was the girl driving at? - -She looked puzzled then touched her breast, said: "Lete." - -"Lady?" - -"Lete--Lete--Lete," she insisted, jabbing herself in the chest each -time. - -She had small flashing white teeth, a pretty face, brown as sepia. In -fact she was sepia all over, a warm rich tint that made Jupiter Jones -uncomfortably conscious of the fish-belly whiteness of his own skin. - -But it was her eyes that caught his interest. The iris was large, -yellow, flecked with green like a cat's eye. The pupil wasn't round but -a narrow slit. - -He wondered if Lete was her name or the name of her tribe or what. He -pointed at another captive, said: - -"Lete?" - -The girl revolved her right shoulder with an impatient gesture that -fascinated him. - -"Io. Io. Ca'min 'Kagan'!" she said, or so the words sounded. Then she -touched her breast. "Na'min 'Lete'." - -Obviously the girl was trying to tell him that the cave people were -called "Kagan", but that her name was "Lete". - -Pointing eagerly at the scaly octopods beneath the pavilion he said, -"What are they?" in a questioning tone. - -For an instant fear mirrored itself in Lete's yellow eyes. She -shuddered, then she seemed to grasp what he wanted and said: "Anolyn." - -"Anolyn," he repeated, "Anolyn." Next he pointed at the fighting men. -They were "Nehogans", the porters were "Rik'gans". - -Lete was an enthusiastic teacher and Jupiter began to acquire a sizable -vocabulary. He didn't know how long they kept it up. Hours possibly. -They were interrupted by the sudden opening of his cage door. - -He stared at it in amazement, for it had swung back apparently of its -own volition. There was no one within a dozen feet. There had been a -"click", and then it had opened. - -Before he could grasp what was happening, he found himself crawling out -of the cage and standing up. Then he started for the pavilion where the -purple-shelled octopods--the Anolyns as Lete called them--were waiting. - -His brain reeled. He tried to stop. He couldn't! He had absolutely no -command over his muscles! - -It was like a nightmare. And yet his conscious mind wasn't in the least -affected. - -He entered the pavilion stooping slightly and stopped--like a machine -subject to its operator's whim. - -The Anolyns made no sound. They regarded him in utter silence, their -tentacles waving in the air like the feelers of a cricket. - -"What do you want?" Jupiter tried to ask and found that his tongue -clove to the roof of his mouth. He'd been struck dumb! - -The sweat popped out on his face, but his expression remained as -unchanged as a wooden mask. - - - III - -Altogether it was the most uncanny interview that Jupiter Jones had -ever experienced. He stood paralyzed while the Anolyns scrutinized him. - -Not a sound passed between the creatures, not an expression marred -their soft white visages. It was impossible to even guess at their -thoughts. - -Jupiter had more than a smattering of biology, and he'd been confronted -with weird forms of life before. But nothing so outlandish. He wished -he could get one of the Anolyns on the dissecting table in the Mizar's -laboratory. - -Suddenly a thought impinged on his consciousness, an emotionless, -inhuman query: - -"Where did you come from?" - -He could feel the alien entity that was the octopod probing at his -brain cells with invisible feelers of thought. He could no more resist -answering than if he had been under the influence of salanedrin, the -Venusian truth serum. - -"Earth. A planet of the system of Sol." He gave the galactic space -coordinates, but realized that they had no meaning outside their frame -of reference. "From beyond the stars," he amplified. - -"How?" There was shock, surprise, scepticism in the thought. - -He visualized the starship, the space warp that had flung him hundreds -of parsecs out of his course. But he had the feeling that he might as -well try to explain nuclear physics to a Hottentot. - -He was conscious of a growing doubt in the minds of his captors--almost -as if they were afraid of him. All at once, he felt himself turn, start -out of the pavilion. - -The Anolyns, he realized, must have finished their examination. But -it was a startling sensation to find himself going back across the -clearing like a sleep walker. - -What had they learned? Had they picked his mind clean? One of the -fighting Nehogans separated himself from his fellows and followed him -back to the cages. - -Without conscious volition, Jupiter stooped and crawled inside. The -door shut after him with a "click". The lean red-haired Nehogan -squatted on his heels just outside. - -Jupiter wiped the sweat off his forehead, and instantly realized that -he had regained control of his muscles. - -It was dusk, a hazy burnt amber twilight that made everything appear -as if he were wearing tinted glasses. The pink-skins had broken camp, -loaded the Rik'gans, formed them into a caravan. A detachment of -fighting men moved to the head of the procession. - -Jupiter's cage was equipped like the others with stretcher poles. Two -squat porters approached and lifted it to their shoulders, moved into -line with the other captives. One of the Anolyns gave a blast on a -horn. The head of the caravan moved into the jungle. - -Imperceptibly, darkness had fallen, but no lights were lit. The -inhabitants of this strange world seemed to see as well by night as by -day. - -Jupiter could feel his bearers fall into a rough trot. The cage swayed, -jolted rhythmically--an upsetting motion. He felt progressively worse -and worse. - -"Damn!" he thought miserably; "it's making me seasick!" - - * * * * * - -The next two weeks were a period of orientation for Jupiter. The -caravan travelled by night to avoid the heat. They were fed twice -daily--a thick gruel-like substance in which chunks of meat and -vegetables had been diced--and it never varied. - -Neither did Jupiter's guard ever leave him. He was an aloof, ferocious -man with a hawk nose, a copper-red skin and pale blue eyes--ice blue -eyes. His name, Jupiter learned, was Reiloc and he regarded the -cavepeople with contempt, the porters with scorn, the pink-skins with -loathing. - -As they wound down out of the mountains onto a broad plain, Jupiter had -managed to pick up a smattering of the language from Lete who occupied -the cage just ahead. - -The wild girl was devoured by curiosity, but when Jupiter tried to -explain where he had come from, she grew frightened and silent. - -"The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" he overheard her telling Reiloc in a low -voice. "Did you hear him? Is it true, Reiloc?" - -The copper-skinned fighting man scratched his head. - -"We caught him near your village. He fought with thunder and lightning. -He carried many queer tools in a pack, which no one understands. -It's very strange, too, that the night before, we saw a blazing ship -fall out of the sky. But when we went to investigate, the ship was -unharmed. Then it burst into a blinding ball of light. We didn't stay." - -Lete clasped the bars, peered at Jupiter wide-eyed. - -"The flaming chariot! It was you who came down from the stars!" - -Jupiter nodded. - -"The Wanderer!" she repeated in an awed voice. "You are the -Wanderer-from-Beyond! With the Sword of Fire!" - -He frowned, started to shake his head. - -"Who is this Wanderer supposed to be?" - -"But you must be him," Lete almost pleaded. "At night the old men -gather around the fires and tell of his coming." Her voice had -taken on a mystic quality. "Out of the night sky he'll come in -his chariot of flames, they say, like a star fallen to Yogol. The -Wanderer-from-Beyond. He'll come with lighting in his hand--the Sword -of Fire--and drive the Anolyn back into the sea, back into the slime -from whence they arose. - -"He'll free all the men of Yogol and restore their knowledge. Then -he'll ascend in a ball of fire, vanish into the beyond." - -Jupiter didn't say anything. The legend was only too familiar. Terran -history was full of such folk heroes sent to free the people from their -oppressors. It was always the same fundamentally, and it always cropped -up wherever there was a conquered, downtrodden, helpless people. The -myth seemed to answer some universal human need. - -Even Reiloc, he saw, appeared excited and uneasy. - -"Suppose I am?" Jupiter suggested. - -"Why, then--you'll destroy the Anolyn." Lete's face fell. "But you're -as helpless as we are! You're not the Wanderer after all. You've been -making fun of me." - -Reiloc burst into relieved laughter, and Lete looked hurt. - -"Stranger things have happened," said Jupiter dryly. He didn't intend -to throw away any possible advantage that might accrue to him if these -savages believed him to be the mythical Wanderer. He was shrewd enough -though, to perceive that he wouldn't appear very impressive in a cage, -and filed the idea away, turning the subject to the Anolyn instead. - - * * * * * - -This was a hunting party, he learned. They were headed back now for the -city. Jupiter wondered what they called it. - -The city didn't have a name, Lete insisted. She called it the city by -the _Dra Dur_, which meant Red Sea. Yes, there were other cities, but -none of them had a name. - -"Why should they?" Reiloc grunted. - -What were the Anolyn? Such a strange question. Jupiter could see for -himself that they were--well, Anolyn. - -Neither Reiloc nor Lete understood what he was driving at. The Anolyn -were different, they admitted, but all things were different. - -It was obvious that the cave girl and the fighting man considered -themselves separate species and hated each other cordially. - -The humans who associated themselves with the Anolyn, Lete informed him -with scorn in her voice, were "Edir". - -"Edir" as near as Jupiter could make out, meant "voluntary slave"; a -term that brought a savage growl from Reiloc and shut him up for three -days. - -The Anolyn, Lete told Jupiter, entered into a person once they caught -him, and that person was "Edir" forever. He couldn't escape. Why? -Because no one ever had. - -She didn't know what the thing on the back of her neck was, and neither -did Reiloc. The Anolyn had put it there, and it was dangerous to meddle -with it. - -And that was as much as Jupiter could learn. - - * * * * * - -On the fifteenth day they struck a small farming community, and after -that they traveled by day on a paved road between cultivated fields. - -Jupiter saw many more of the green tinted Rik'gans being used like -draft animals. There were also black hairy people with tails who were -kept in pens and watched the caravan pass out of sad, lack-luster eyes. - -The hairy men were Begans, Lete told him. The Anolyn bred them for -food. Occasionally they ate the Rik'gans, but the meat was coarse and -tough. - -Horror sprang into Jupiter's green eyes. - -"They eat them?" - -Lete shrugged. "Of course. And so have you." - -He went deathly pale. He could feel his stomach revolt at the thought. - -"The Anolyn breed men for special purposes," Lete went on, unaware of -the loathing in his eyes, "fighters, meat animals, the pink-skinned -Caligans. Oh, there must be fifteen or sixteen different kinds. They're -all 'Edir'," and she dismissed them with a shrug of her shapely brown -shoulders. - -Jupiter's cage was swaying along the plastic ribbon of a road. It was -all he could do to keep from being sick, but he knew now the subtle -distinction that had been troubling him. - -The humans weren't slaves. They were domesticated--like cattle or dogs -or horses. And Lete's people were wild with all the contempt of the -wild thing for its tame cousin! - -Reiloc, trotting beside the cage, grunted suddenly and raised his arm, -pointing ahead. Jupiter lifted his eyes, felt a tingle of excitement -run through him. - -There, glittering in the rays of the setting sun were the spires and -battlements of the city by the _Dra Dur_. - - * * * * * - -Night had fallen by the time they reached the city gate. Yogol, as Lete -called the planet, had no satellite. The darkness was unrelieved except -by the faint starshine. - -The caravan halted beneath towering walls of deeper blackness. In his -cage Jupiter heard a horn sound, then a groaning that must be the -massive gate rolling aside. The caravan began to move again. - -They passed into a canyon between dark buildings. And all about him he -could hear the shuffle of feet, low voices. He was like a blind man in -the midst of a crowd. - -Strange spicy smells beset his nostrils and a cold, dank, salty odor -that must be the _Dra Dur_. He could hear the lap of water and shouts -and loud thumpings and the creak of tackle. And through it all ran the -sibilant voice of the invisible throng. - -After an interminable march, they turned through a massive entrance -into a well lit building. The noise of the city stopped as the door -swung shut behind them. Jupiter squinted his eyes, blinded by the -sudden light. - -Sometime before, the caravan had split up, and only the cages holding -the wild people remained. Then without warning, they too turned off -down a bisecting passage. - -"Lete!" he yelled after the girl; "Lete!" His own bearers were carrying -his cage straight ahead. The girl waved at him forlornly and called: - -"A'towee, Jupiter." - -It meant, "Goodbye forever" as near as he could translate it. He felt -lonely--more lonely even than after Briggs' suicide. - -Good Lord! he thought in alarm. He'd better watch himself. He'd been -in space so long that he was growing overly fond of this naked little -barbarian. The biological urge could be a damned traitorous emotion, -and there was no place for a woman in his plans. - -He frowned. Unless he should need Lete to lead him back to his ship.... - -"Where are they taking the others?" he demanded of Reiloc who still -paced soundlessly beside his cage. - -"To the training pits." - -"And me?" - -Reiloc appeared puzzled. "To the house of the Radiant God. But it's -very strange." - -Before Jupiter could voice the questions rising to his lips, a door -opened in the wall ahead. He was borne inside an enormous vaulted -chamber, his cage dropped on the floor. Reiloc hadn't entered, and the -porters retreated through the door. It closed behind them. - -Jupiter though, had scarcely been aware of their departure. His whole -attention was focused on a huge statue of an Anolyn dominating the room. - -The idol shed a soft luminescence, and there was a sense of power in -its execution that was god-like: - -"In their own image," he thought irreverently, then he sucked in his -breath. - -The stuff of the image was radioactive! Some incredibly rich uranium or -thorium bearing ore. Radium too! He'd never seen anything quite like -it. Neither pitchblende nor carnotite. And it must weigh a ton! - -Enough to take him half way across the super galaxy! - -He gave a harsh laugh. He had found his fuel. It only remained for him -to escape carrying a ton of heathen idol with him! - - - IV - -Jupiter was crouching on the floor of his cage when the door to the -corridor opened softly behind him. He turned his head. - -A girl, he saw, had slipped inside. She let the panel close behind her, -stared at him out of wide violet-blue eyes. - -She was a slim fragile thing with pale yellow hair like winter -sunlight. A Caligan, a pink-skinned woman, he realized. The first he'd -seen. - -She wore a shoulderless, clinging, single-piece garment of yellow fur. -Suddenly the garment moved, pulling itself higher up one shoulder, -settling snugly about her waist. - -Moved of its own volition! - -"It's alive!" Jupiter burst out. "What in Heaven's name is that thing?" - -The girl wrinkled her forehead. "Of course, it's alive. It's a boj. -Have you never seen one?" - -He shook his head. - -She lifted the creature away from her skin, held it out to him through -the bars. - -"Put it on." - -Jupiter took it gingerly. It was light and flat with the warm limp feel -of a fresh pelt. The under side of the boj was hairless, the skin like -foam rubber. He could find neither eyes nor mouth. - -The girl sensed what he was looking for, laughed infectiously. - -"It hasn't any," she said; "it breathes and feeds through its skin. Put -it on." - -Jupiter let it touch his body. At once the boj wrapped itself around -him. It was electrically alive, vibrant. He could feel a pleasant -tingle in his nerve ends and glanced at the Caligan girl in surprise. - -She wore an amused expression and nothing else. There was an utter lack -of self consciousness about her. Jupiter found himself comparing her -soft, delicately rounded figure with Lete's lithe brown boyishness. - -The Caligan girl suddenly held out her hand for the boj. He peeled it -off reluctantly, asking: - -"Who are you?" - -"Tabak," she replied. "Did you come to Yogol in a fiery chariot from -beyond the stars?" - -He nodded. - -Tabak's blue eyes widened. She drew close to the cage as if pulled by a -magnet, peered intently into his eyes. - -"May--may I come into your mind?" - -Jupiter's hard, bewhiskered face stiffened in surprise. - -"Telepathy! Is that what you mean? Can you do that?" - -"A little--if you help. We Caligans are closer to the Anolyn than the -other races. But we haven't much time before they come to examine -you. Won't you let your barriers down? The whole city is alive with -rumors...." - - * * * * * - -Jupiter had recoiled instinctively from having his innermost privacy -violated. He scowled in suspicion, asked: "Who sent you? What're you -after?" - -"No one." She bit her lip. "There's a legend, a--a myth if you like, -about the 'Wanderer-from-Beyond', who is to drive the Anolyn back into -the sea." - -He scratched his beard which had grown back since his captivity. - -"How did you get in here?" - -"I'm a favorite of one of the Anolyn. I've the run of the temple. -Please, please let me inside. I must know. You'll understand much more -about Yogol than I could ever tell you." - -Her last words decided him. He needed information desperately if he -were ever to escape. - -"What shall I do?" he asked in grudging consent. - -"Will me to enter. Think! Open your mind to me. There's nothing to -fear. No need to be suspicious. I'm not an Anolyn. I can't force myself -on you...." - -A dazzling light seemed to burst behind Jupiter's eyes. The girl was -in. He could feel her! - -He was aware of Tabak's mind, questing, probing. His brain pulsed as -if he had a violent headache. - -At the same time, a whole new set of memory patterns, unfamiliar facts, -stray incidents and ideas made themselves felt. It was as if a volume -of the Encyclopedia Galactica had been up-ended and all the information -therein had been poured into his brain helter-skelter with the utmost -confusion. - -Somehow, he knew all that Tabak knew, all that she'd ever felt or seen -or heard; but horribly jumbled, meaningless like the scrambled parts of -an intricate jig-saw puzzle. - -He heard her exclaim aloud: "It's true! The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" Then -a fear thought: "_I must go! They mustn't find me here!_" - -He felt her mind withdraw, saw her slip from the temple room, a slim, -graceful figure in the shimmering yellow fur cloak--the living sensuous -boj. He was too appalled to try to stop her. - -His mind was like a warehouse of unrelated, unassorted, unassimilated -facts. He needed time to incorporate the confusing jumble into -intelligible order. - -Time and contemplation. - -He was to get neither yet, he saw, for the door opened almost -on Tabak's heels, and three of the Anolyns crawled in like fat, -purple-shelled snails. - - * * * * * - -Jupiter was put through one of the worst ordeals of his life--all the -more degrading because it was conducted in contemptuous silence. - -The Anolyns took immediate possession of his mind. He was made to crawl -out of his cage and stand stock still while they examined him like -judges at a fat cattle show. - -From time to time burning mental questions exploded in his brain. -Jupiter was enough of a psychologist to know that they were intended to -stimulate subconscious memory patterns. - -He felt as if he'd been thrust into a press and all his information -was being squeezed out of him like cider from an apple. But unlike his -experience with Tabak, he could learn nothing from them. - -The Anolyn maintained a perfect mental barrier. - -In spite of that he began to sense that they regarded him with growing -alarm. He could almost feel their control over him tighten. - -At length he was directed out into the corridor, marched into a tiny -bare cell. Not until the door closed on him with a small final click, -did the Anolyn remove their control. - -Jupiter sank white and shaken onto the hard, narrow bunk. - -The cell was about ten feet square, windowless with walls of bare white -plastic. The ceiling was plastered with a green phosphorescent mould, -lighting it eerily. There was a single stool and a table and that was -all. - -He locked his hands beneath his head. His green eyes looked older. They -seemed to peer inward as he sought to organize the flood of information -he'd received almost instantaneously in that startling, intimate -exchange with Tabak. - -Gradually it dawned on him that he was in full possession of Tabak's -life history--all the millions of insignificant items that went to make -up the girl's personality. - -Once he realized that, the pieces began to click into place. It was -indeed like a jig-saw puzzle. And slowly the picture appeared. - -Tabak was a pet, like a cat or dog, and as such she'd had a greater -opportunity to observe the purple-shelled octopods. - -The Anolyns hadn't always been the dominant life form on Yogol. Ages -ago, eons perhaps--Tabak had entertained only the vaguest notion of -time--the humans had ruled the planet. They had built splendid cities, -now crumbled into dust and even the dust buried beneath the jungle -mould. Only the legend remained. - -The ancients, according to that legend, had experimented finally -with telepathy. They had discovered that the young of the Anolyn--a -semi-intelligent, telepathic, parasite--acted as a thought receiver and -transmitter if it were allowed to fasten its tentacles directly into -the spinal cord. - -The fad spread. More and more Yogolians began to make use of the -telepathic parasites. - -Then one day the adult Anolyn rose from the sea and, through their -young, took over the human race. - -Not all at once and not everyone. - -Some had refused to allow the Anolyn to be fastened to their necks. -These few fled to the wilderness, where during ages of warfare with -their Anolyn-dominated brothers, they had sunk into barbarism. These -were the Kagans, the wild cave people whom the Anolyn now hunted for -sport. - -As for the Anolyn themselves, they had abandoned the fallen human -cities, building their citadels around the inland seas from whence -they'd sprung. They had evolved their own unique culture. - -They appeared to know only the most rudimentary facts of the physical -sciences, though they had made startling advances in the biological -field. - -Even their cities were built by minute, coral-like creatures working -under telepathic direction. Certain insects had been trained to spin -thread from their own body secretions and weave fabrics. Humans had -been bred for specialized functions: draft animals and meat animals, -soldiers and sailors and artisans. - -As soon as a Yogolian attained adolescence, a young Anolyn was fastened -to his spinal cord. Thus the humans were forced to act both as living -incubators for the Anolyn young and as servants for the adults. - -It was, Jupiter realized with horror, a wholly parasitic culture. -Orgies were held, and gladiatorial combats, one Anolyn pitting its -human vehicle against another. Empathy was perfect. - -There were other things, unmentionable things which Jupiter tried to -thrust from his mind. Scenes from the training pits, the biological -breeding stations.... - -He was sick at his stomach, sick and emotionally exhausted. He could -see no hope of escape. Not so long as the horrid parasite remained -fastened to his spinal cord. - -And by its very nature the creature couldn't be dislodged or killed! - -He closed his eyes, feeling as depleted as if he'd run the mile, slid -over the lip of consciousness into deep sleep. - - - V - -He was roused by Tabak, the Caligan girl, shaking his shoulder. "Wake -up!" she was whispering urgently, her violet-blue eyes shining with -suppressed excitement. "Wake up, Wanderer-from-Beyond, and come with -me!" - -Jupiter sat up with a start. "How did you get in here?" - -Tabak rotated her shoulder, and the yellow furred boj rippled like -liquid light. "Through the door." - -"But it was locked." - -"It operates by telepathic control." - -"Of course." - -Jupiter scratched his beard. He'd known it all along. Nor was that all. -If he would only concentrate, he could manipulate the lock himself! - -To his growing amazement, he realized that he knew the city by the _Dra -Dur_ as well as his home town of Venusport. - -While he slept, his subconscious had integrated Tabak's fund of -knowledge, made it a part of his own. He was changed. He didn't look -at things quite the same. His own hard ruthless personality had become -tinctured with something of Tabak's soft deviousness. - -He didn't like it. - -His fingers closed on the girl's shoulders, bit into the flesh. "What -have you done to me?" - -"I? I've done nothing. I've come to help you, Wanderer-from-Beyond." - -"How?" - -"Please," she said; "don't you believe me?" - -"Why should I?" - -She lifted her arms, touched his temples with her fingertips. "Come -in," she said simply. "Come into my mind so that you can have no more -doubts." - -Almost against his will, he peered into her eyes, experiencing an odd -frightening sensation of sinking into their wide, violet-blue depths. -Down. Down. His very being seemed to merge with the girl's. - -All at once, the room swam back into his vision, but from a different -angle. Everything looked a little strange. Then he saw himself! - -Literally! - -Saw himself through Tabak's eyes! - -With a peculiar sense of detachment, he observed his own lean, -muscular, sun-reddened frame, his wiry red beard, tangled hair, -half-closed green eyes. And all the time he was aware of Tabak's flow -of thought--her emotions, sensations, the bubbling fluid well of her -subconscious. - -"Now do you trust me?" - -Jupiter was acutely embarrassed. Their conjoining was more intimate -than any physical relation could have been. Tabak's very soul lay naked -before his mind's eye. - -"Trust you. Yes. For Pete's sake, let me go!" - -He staggered, blinked, realized that she'd thrust him out of her mind. -He wiped the sweat off his forehead, stared at the girl curiously. - -Her cheeks were pink with confusion, and she wouldn't meet his eyes. - -"I--I've never done that with a man before," she said. "You believe me, -don't you?" - -"Yes. But how did you do it?" - -"By means of the Anolyn that are attached to our necks. See." She -turned her back, lifted her wheat-blonde locks with one hand. - -Jupiter could see the tiny plum-colored lump. Tabak's neck was slender, -delicately formed. He was struck anew by the contrast between her and -Lete, the wiry, pagan-souled cave girl. - -Lete was rawhide, tough, pliable, resilient. But this Caligan girl was -a steel rapier. In that moment of intimacy he had glimpsed something of -the truth. - -For all her apparent softness, Tabak could be infinitely more dangerous! - - * * * * * - -The door opened instantly at Tabak's mental command. Jupiter followed -her into the corridor, saw that it was empty. - -"Where are the Anolyn?" - -"They--they are occupied. Those here in the temple." Tabak shivered. -"Come, it's on our way. I'll show you." - -"On our way where? Show me what?" - -She said, "I'd rather let you see for yourself," and started up the -passage, her bare feet soundless on the hard composition floor. - -Jupiter padded at her elbow. This was all familiar. He couldn't -overcome the feeling that he'd been here before. It was Tabak's memory -patterns playing tricks on him, he knew. The girl's experience had -actually been implanted in his brain. - -When they reached the ramp angling downward into the gloom, a vague -alarm got hold of him, but he followed her onto it without protest. - -The way led down and down. The air was dank. Moisture dripped from the -walls. It grew slippery underfoot. - -Abruptly, the ramp came to an end. He could see the glint of water -ahead. - -Subconsciously, he knew it was a canal running beneath the streets to -the _Dra Dur_. He knew it just as he knew that there was a network of -these canals like fingers reaching into every part of the city. Just as -he knew of the ledge a scant foot above the water, even as Tabak crept -onto it. - -The living boj fur glowed with a pale phosphorescent light as she -sidled into the vaulted aquaduct. It lent her a wraith-like appearance -to Jupiter, a few paces behind. - -"Shhh!" she cautioned him, coming to a stop. "Don't make a sound here!" - -Jupiter's mouth felt dry. He could see nothing but the girl's vague -luminous outline, hear nothing but the lap of water against the shelf -at their feet. - -Then Tabak clutched his hand, pulled him forward and into a bisecting -passage running at right angles to the aquaduct. He could see the glow -of light ahead. - -The passage curved, the light bursting on his eyes, half blinding him. -Together they crawled to the very end of the tunnel and peered out. - -It was a courtyard that Jupiter found himself looking into. The orange -sun beat down warmly on the flagstone pavement, on the large shallow -pool in the center of the court. - -There were Anolyn in the pool, fifty or sixty of them, floating like -purple jellyfish. Humans, too. Pink-skinned Caligans, wild Kagans, -fighting men and the stolid green porters. Even the tailed, ape-like -Begans were represented. They moved with a dreamy apathy like -sleepwalkers. - -"Their minds are under the control of the Anolyn in the pool," Tabak -breathed into his ear. "The Anolyn have entered into them. They feel -and see and hear exactly what their human vehicles do." - -Jupiter's face was drawn. He could hear music. The scale was all wrong, -it registered discordantly in his ears. It was coming from one of the -balconies that rose in tiers above the courtyard. Food and drink had -been spread on cloths. - -"They'll be here for days," Tabak whispered. - -Hardened as Jupiter was, nevertheless he was sickened at the deeds -being enacted under his eyes. They were unthinkable. His fists clenched. - -He could bring himself to watch no longer. He turned his head away, -said hoarsely: "Let's clear out of here." - -Tabak was silent as she led him back down the tunnel to the vaulted -canal. - -"Can you swim?" she asked as they reached the water's edge. - -"Yes." - -The girl stripped off the boj, laid it on the ledge, dived into the -canal like a slim, naked, sea nymph. Her head broke water a dozen feet -out creating phosphorescent ripples. - -Jupiter plunged after her. The water was black, cold, salty. He kept up -with the girl easily using strong breast strokes. - -At length she paused again, treading water near the opposite wall of -the aquaduct. - -"There's a tunnel here, a man's height below the surface. It leads into -another chamber. Are you willing to try it?" - -"Go ahead." - -Tabak up-ended in a surface dive, the black water closing over her -feet. Jupiter followed her down. He found the hole with his hand, swam -into it. On and on--ten--twenty--thirty yards. His lungs felt as if -they must burst. - -Air began to dribble out his nose. He kicked furiously, driving himself -ahead. Suddenly he realized he was out of the tunnel. He shot up to the -surface, broke water, gasping air into his scalded lungs. - -That had been close, too close. He floated on his back breathing deeply. - -After a minute he rolled over and stared about him. - - * * * * * - -He was in a vast echoing chamber. Orange sunshine streamed in from open -skylights. Steps led down into the water. Tabak, he saw, was already -standing on the edge of the floor looking down at him. - -He swam to the steps, climbed out. There was a faint odor of -putrefaction in the air. - -Tabak said: "These rooms are the laboratories. There are other -entrances; but they're all guarded by Nehogans." - -He frowned. "What was it you wanted me to see?" - -"This way," she said and led him through dissecting tables, past -shelves of fantastic creatures preserved in some liquid, and into a -small office-like room at the side. - -Spread out on a shelf were the contents of Jupiter's pack: the medicine -chest, emergency rations, spare ammunition, testing apparatus, -prospecting tools, his light carbine, the electroscope and geiger -counter. It was all there. - -Tabak's violet-blue eyes glittered with excitement. - -"There are your weapons, Wanderer-from-Beyond! Now you can drive the -Anolyn back into the sea!" - -Jupiter's face didn't betray his consternation. The carbine was -pitifully inadequate. In fact, so long as the horrible little parasite -was fastened to his spinal cord, he knew that he would be incapable of -using it against the Anolyn. - -If he could only rid himself of the parasite, though, and get to his -ship with even a chunk of that idol.... - -He narrowed his eyes as a new thought struck him. - -"Tabak, we must get rid of these spinal parasites first. I--" He nearly -said, "I think," but realized that he mustn't show any doubt. "I can do -it. But I'll need your cooperation." - -"Can you?" she cried in excitement and seized his hands, peering into -his eyes. "Can you really? You _are_ the Wanderer then!" - -He looked quickly away. He didn't dare let her glimpse what was in his -thoughts. - -"Yes." - -"Let me come into your mind; let me be sure," she pleaded. - -"Tabak, you'll have to trust me." - -"Why?" her blue eyes clouded in suspicion. She released his hands, -backed away. "What is it you want to do to me? What are you hiding? -What are you afraid I'll see?" - -He swore under his breath. There wasn't time to argue, even if he could -overcome the girl's suspicions, which he doubted was possible unless he -opened his mind to her. - -Without the slightest warning he jumped for Tabak, grabbed her and -swung her off her feet. - -The girl screamed, twisted, kicked and bit, wild with terror. The thick -walls confined her cries. She was soft and tiny like a small white -kitten in his hands. A spitting, scratching, squalling kitten. - -He imprisoned her arms and legs, carried her out into the main -laboratory. - -The Anolyn possessed no anaesthesia. The dissecting tables were -equipped instead with straps to hold their victims motionless while -they operated. Jupiter buckled the girl face-down on one of the tables. - -"Please!" she begged hysterically. "Please!" - -"I'm not going to hurt you," he growled and left her to get his -medicine kit from the other room. - -The kit had been devised to handle almost any emergency that might -befall one of the Galactic Colonization Board's special corpsmen. -Jupiter found the hypodermic syringe, sterilized it and filled it with -exsrocain. The drug was the latest development in a spinal anaesthetic -that deadened the nerves of the entire body, inducing a temporary state -of suspended animation. - -It was a delicate operation, but he inserted the needle between two of -the girl's vertebrae, felt her flinch away from him. She lay on the -hard slab, quiescent, crying silently. - -"Won't hurt," he grunted, and ejected the exsrocain directly into the -spinal fluid. Under his breath he counted: "One--two--three--four." - -He felt for her pulse, but there was no sign of a heart beat. He found -the mirror in the kit, held it before her nostrils. The mirror didn't -cloud. - -Sweat stood out on Jupiter's forehead. He wiped his palms on his -thighs, lifted Tabak's wheat-blonde locks, exposing the small purple -protuberance. It looked like a sea shell fastened to the back of her -neck. - -His hand was trembling. He had to pause and get a grip on himself. Then -he grasped the Anolyn, pulled it gently but firmly away from the girl's -skin. - -For a moment he thought it was going to stick, then it slid free, the -tentacles dangling like short, fine threads. - -He examined the creature minutely to make sure no faintest spark of -consciousness remained. - -He felt weak with relief. The spinal anaesthesia had worked, putting -the Anolyn into a state of suspended animation at the same time that it -had the girl. - -Suddenly he could contain himself no longer. He hurled the creature -down on the hard floor with all his strength, smashed it into a -shapeless blob, ground it into paste with the butt of his carbine. - - - VI - -It would be an hour before the effects of the anaesthesia wore off -the Caligan girl. Jupiter prowled the laboratories, investigating -the extent of the research performed by the Anolyn. It was crude, -elementary. - -Only with the breeding of specialized forms had they had any starting -successes and that had been a trial and error, hit and miss practice -that had taken literally thousands of years. - -He was not impressed. Like all parasitic cultures, the Anolyn -civilization was rotten at the core, degenerate. One ship of the -Galactic Security Patrol could wipe them out of existence. - -He found clothes in a locker, a kilt for himself and a length of some -black fabric which Tabak should be able to use in lieu of the boj. - -When he returned to the dissecting table he saw that the color was -returning to the girl's cheeks. He unfastened her, sat down on a stool -and waited. - -After a moment, Tabak's lids flickered. Her eyes opened; she gazed at -him in sudden terror. - -"Feel the Anolyn," he said. - -She sat up. Her hand went hesitantly to the back of her slender neck. -He saw the amazement spread over her face. - -"It's gone! You--How? How did you do it?" - -She slipped suddenly from the blood-stained dissecting table, seized -his hand, held it to her forehead. She was half laughing, half crying. - -"You are the Wanderer! Forgive me for ever doubting. I'll atone for -my sacrilege." She was hysterical with relief and awe and hope. "I'll -never question your will again, never fail in obedience--" - -"Rubbish!" - -Jupiter regarded her startled expression with satisfaction. - -"You're temporarily overcome by surprise," he went on. "You haven't had -a chance to think. I know you inside out--too well to believe I could -fool you for very long. And," he added ruefully; "you know me the same -way. There's the rub. But I need you--and you need me." - -The girl was silent. - -"Yes," she agreed finally; "that's true. You're a man. A strange man. -But you're not the Wanderer. You plan to use us to help you escape back -to your ship, then desert us. But I don't think you will. Desert us, I -mean." - -It was Jupiter's turn to look disconcerted. - -"Why not?" - -"Because--" she began and started to smile. "You won't like this, -but you're too soft. Deep down on the inside you're too fine, too -idealistic to pull a trick like that. Your conscience wouldn't let you. - -"You've been hurt. Many times. When I looked inside your mind, I could -see the scars. I could feel how you'd armored yourself with a harsh -shell to hide your true feelings. You have a saying among your own -people: 'Scratch a cynic and you'll find an idealist!'" - -"Well, I'll be damned," said Jupiter. Then almost hesitantly, "But -you'll help. I need someone I can trust." He wiped the sweat off his -forehead. "Someone I can trust with my life to take the Anolyn from my -own neck." - -"You'll trust me," she said; "because you must. You're really not -self-sufficient. No one is." - -Jupiter regarded her silently, coldly. Then he picked up the -hypodermic, sterilized it, filled the barrel with exsrocain. - -"This is a damned ticklish trick. The needle must be inserted between -the vertebrae so that it doesn't injure the spinal cord and yet--" - -"Lie down," she interrupted. "I know as well as you how it must be -done." - -"But--" - -"Don't be alarmed. I'm in possession of all your experience, just as -you are of mine!" - -Jupiter swallowed, laid face-down on the stained table. "For Heaven's -sake, be careful!" - -Tabak ran her fingertips along his backbone, locating the spot to -insert the needle. It sent cold chills prickling through his skin. - -"And you're sure you know exactly what to do?" - -She laughed. "Of course, I know. Don't tell me you've forgotten -the girl on Betelgeuse XI--the one you used to put into a state of -suspended animation whenever you had to ship out so that she couldn't -be unfaithful between voyages." - -Jupiter made a choking sound. Before he could think of anything to say, -he felt the needle prick his flesh. He winced, heard Tabak begin to -count: - -"One ... two...." - - * * * * * - -Slowly Jupiter became conscious of a smart in the nape of his neck like -a bee sting. He opened his eyes, sat up, touched the base of his skull. - -The hard little lump was gone. - -Relief left him weak. He caught Tabak's eye, felt his face grow warm. - -"About that girl on Betelgeuse XI--" he began uncomfortably. - -"You don't need to explain. Under the circumstances you were entirely -justified." - -He swore under his breath, slid off the table, began to throw his -equipment into the pack. "Have you any ideas about how we can get out -of here?" - -"Don't be angry, Jupiter. I was only teasing. I--" - -Tabak's eyes suddenly widened. - -She was staring beyond him, Jupiter realized. He twisted around, -reaching instinctively for his carbine. - -Not thirty feet behind them an adult Anolyn sprawled on the floor, -tentacles exploring the air. Its soft brown eyes were regarding them -intently. The gray doughy face was expressionless. - -"Quick! Kill it!" Tabak screamed. "Kill it before it sends out a call -for help!" - -The creature was obviously puzzled, unable to understand why the two -humans failed to respond to its control. - -Jupiter shot it squarely between the eyes. - -The hollow, pointed bullet, blew away the entire back of its head. It -slumped into a quivering heap. A pool of thin, pinkish blood made an -ever-widening stain on the floor. - -"The cat's out of the bag now," he said in a tight voice. - -Tabak nodded. - -"There's a guard at the door. You'll have to kill him, Jupiter, before -we can get out of here. I only hope you're as good as you think you -are." - -Jupiter took a short length of strong plastic cord from his pack, made -a loop in it. His face looked older, grimmer. His vivid green eyes were -dull. - -"Where is he stationed?" he said. - - * * * * * - -The dissection laboratory occupied a long, hall-like room in one wing -of the temple. The pool of water was at one end, the main entry at the -other. - -Tabak wound the black cloth about herself sarong-fashion, nodded -towards the arched doorway. - -"There's a--a lobby of sorts through there. The guard stays just -outside on the street. He'll be a Nehogan, Jupiter. They're terrible -men--" - -Jupiter brushed past her. He reached the lobby, crossed it swiftly. - -"Open the door," he said to Tabak who had followed him. - -She looked suddenly frightened. - -"I can't, Jupiter. Not without the Anolyn on the back of my neck to -transmit my thought! We'll have to go back the way we came." - -His eyes sought the door. The blank, solid panel mocked him. He ran -his fingers over its surface, but could find no slightest protuberance -anywhere. - -"Look out!" Tabak suddenly whispered. - -Jupiter sprang back like a startled cat. - -The door was opening. - -The thick, solid panel swung inexorably inward. He flattened himself -against the wall, the carbine clubbed in his hands. His palms were -sweaty. - -Then an Anolyn appeared in the entrance, scuttled inside on its eight -tentacles. Jupiter swung the carbine. - -There was a dull crunch as the stock connected with the creature's -head. Jupiter didn't give it a second glance, but sprang into the -doorway. - -A tall, coppery Nehogan warrior lounged just outside. With a flick of -his wrist, he dropped the loop of plastic over the guard's head, yanked -him backward through the door. - -Any cry the Nehogan might have uttered was cut off at its source. He -thrashed wildly, but Jupiter only tightened the noose, the muscles in -his arms and shoulders bunching savagely. - -Suddenly he got a look at the man's distorted face. - -"Reiloc!" he cried and immediately slackened the cord. - -Reiloc sprawled on the floor, gasping painfully. - -"Are you crazy?" Tabak cried. "Kill him, Jupiter! Kill him before he -can give the alarm." She suddenly snatched the carbine, aimed a blow at -the prone warrior's head. Jupiter tore it out of her hands. - -Reiloc pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He looked from the dead -Anolyn to Jupiter, his hand massaging his bruised throat. - -"What are you?" he whispered painfully. "What manner of man are you who -can kill the Anolyn in their own temple?" - -Jupiter's hesitation didn't show on his face. In a cold voice of -authority, he said: - -"The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" - -Reiloc's eyes widened. Doubt and hope struggled in his grim -countenance. Then the savage Nehogan dropped to one knee, held his -sword out to Jupiter, hilt first. - - * * * * * - -Jupiter sat beside the embrasure, staring out at the street below. -Behind him Reiloc was pacing back and forth in the bare little cell -like a caged wolf. The copper-skinned Nehogan was nervous, worried. -Action was his only emotional release. - -Tabak said: "Stop it, Reiloc! You're driving me crazy!" - -Reiloc quit pacing, squatted on his heels. But he couldn't stay still. -Rising to his feet again, he growled: "Wait, wait. Are we waiting for -them to come drag us out of here and take us to the vivisection rooms?" - -Tabak said: "Only for a little while longer." - -The Earth man continued to stare morosely down at the street. Under -Tabak's guidance the three of them had secreted themselves in this -neglected cell just off the sanctum of the Radiant God. - -When the city was new this chamber had been a part of the defenses of -the temple in case of an uprising. But as the ages crept past without -any threat from the human cattle, even its existence had gradually been -forgotten. - -Outside, the city by the _Dra Dur_ was in the grip of hysteria. The -alarm had gone out and the street below was deserted except for -occasional patrols of Nehogans. - -Jupiter squinted at the angry orange sun. It seemed to rest on the -rooftops. Only a minute or two and the ceremony should begin. He faced -back into the room. - -Tabak said: "I think it's crazy." - -"Crazy or not, we need her," Jupiter said. "We can't hope to succeed -without her." - -He closed his eyes searching the memory patterns imprinted on his brain -by Tabak. - -The temple was built in the form of a hollow square with the breeding -pens located in the main courtyard. Every day the human guinea pigs -were driven up a back way into the sanctum of the Radiant God. There -they were exposed to the hard radiations emitted by the statue. - -No wonder the Anolyn could create endless mutations. The effects of -hard radiation on the genes were known to every school child in the -Galactic Federation. - -He was still standing beside the window when the faint sound of cymbals -broke the silence. - -"Here they come!" Tabak whispered. - -Reiloc stiffened, jerked out his sword. He put his hand to the back of -his neck as if to reassure himself that the Anolyn was actually gone. -Jupiter had removed it while they waited. Its absence seemed to give -the Nehogan confidence. - -"You both know what to do?" Jupiter asked. - -"Yes." - -He adjusted the pack over his shoulders, picked up his carbine, assured -himself that a cartridge lay in the chamber. The clash of cymbals was -louder, reinforced by the chant of voices. - -He went to the door, followed by Reiloc and Tabak. There was a short -dark passage beyond which ended abruptly in a solid wall. A well opened -in the ceiling overhead, though, with a ladder bolted inside it. - -He gave Tabak a boost up into the well, then Reiloc. In a moment they'd -climbed out of sight. - -Jupiter leaped upward, caught the bottom rung, pulled himself hand over -hand up into the thick darkness. - -The clash of cymbals, the chant of voices had a hollow, muffled -quality. He heard Tabak pant, then whisper, "I've got it open!" The -cymbals were suddenly louder. - -He crawled out of the well on Reiloc's heels, replaced the cover. - -They were inside the sanctum, he saw, where he'd been left when he had -first been brought to the city by the _Dra Dur_. The huge radioactive -statue of the Anolyn was the only source of light. It shed a chill -greenish pallor through the circular temple room. - -The room itself was at least a hundred feet across, surrounded by -pillared cloisters. They had come up behind the pillars where the -feeble light from the idol scarcely reached. - -The rhythmic chant came from the other side of the floor. Jupiter -sucked in his breath. A procession of humans was filing out of the -darkness. - -A scrawny, naked Caligan was in the lead, making cabalistic signs with -a phallic instrument resembling the Egyptian sistrum as he moved in -front of the idol. - -Behind him came the others, two by two--wild Kagans fresh from the -jungle, a man with four arms, several with prehensile tails, some with -fur and some hairless. They walked with the same dreamy preoccupied air -of the humans that Jupiter had seen in the courtyard, and prostrated -themselves before the glowing idol. They were possessed, dominated by -the lone Anolyn who brought up the rear. - -Lete was the fourth from the end. - -The cymbals suddenly clashed and fell silent. The ritual was about to -begin. - -Jupiter brought the rifle to his shoulder, took careful aim at the -purple-shelled octopod directing the ceremony, pulled the trigger. - - - VII - -The shot reverberated in the chamber of horrors like a clap of thunder. -The lone Anolyn slumped forward, half its head shot away. - -With drawn sword, Reiloc leaped past Jupiter. He ran for the glowing -idol, began to hack at one of ten tentacles with his sword. Tabak and -Jupiter were right behind him. They grabbed Lete by either arm, hauled -the bemused cave girl to her feet. - -Some of the shock of the Anolyn's sudden death had been transmitted -to the humans under its control. They stared at the profaners of the -temple with pained uncomprehending eyes. - -Reiloc snatched up the severed radioactive tentacle, dashed after -Jupiter and Tabak who were half carrying Lete between them. - -"This way!" Tabak cried. "This way!" - -They burst out of the sanctum into a broad corridor, almost ran over -another Anolyn. Jupiter shot it in its tracks. - -No signs of pursuit had developed by the time they reached the ramp. -Lete was recovering from her shock. She struggled wildly, cried: - -"What's happening? What are you doing with me?" - -"We're escaping," Jupiter grunted. - -"But you can't. The first Anolyn we meet will stop us. I don't -understand--" - -"Be silent, foolish one," growled Reiloc, "he's the Wanderer!" - -"But you're Edir!" - -"We're Edir no longer. He's broken our bonds." - -Lete seized Jupiter's hand. "Then you _are_ the Wanderer. You weren't -laughing at me back there in the cages. But why--" - -"No time now," Jupiter said and plunged onto the ramp. - -They ran down it wildly, crazily, reached the canal at the bottom. - -"We'll have to--" Jupiter began, when Lete screamed. - -"I can feel them!" the cave girl cried. "They're trying to pull me -back! Jupiter--" - -She bit her lips, her cheeks suddenly bloodless. "They're gone," she -said in a shaken voice. "They mustn't have guessed who I was." - -Jupiter stared at her. Lete's yellow eyes were wide, frightened. She -swallowed miserably. - -"We'll have to get that Anolyn off your neck at the first opportunity," -he said, turned to Tabak. "This canal leads to the _Dra Dur_. Is that -right?" - -"Yes," said Tabak in a queer voice; "but Jupiter--" - -"What are our chances of getting through now?" he interrupted. - -She shrugged slim white shoulders. "Every second we waste here lessens -them." - -Without another word, he started along the ledge paralleling the canal. - -At regular intervals of about a block ramps led down to the aquaduct -from the surface above. They crossed the mouths of other canals on -narrow bridges. A perfect labyrinth of underground waterways stretched -beneath the city. - -At the fifth ramp, Jupiter heard a twang. Something whistled past his -head. He almost lost his footing as he glanced up and saw a dozen -Nehogans on the ramp leading up to the street. - -Lete spun around and tried to run, knocking Reiloc into the water -with a splash. Tabak caught her, held the cave girl in spite of her -terrified efforts to escape. - -Jupiter dropped to one knee, changing the carbine to automatic, sent a -burst of shots into the warriors above. - -They didn't retreat, but with fierce yells charged straight into his -gun. They were possessed, like Moros running amok. The last one was -less than a yard away before he brought him down with a shot through -the chest. - -That had been close. He felt weak as he pulled Reiloc from the water. - -"They know where we are," the giant Nehogan growled ominously, "our -chances to--" - -"Look out!" Tabak screamed. - -Jupiter whirled around. He was just in time to see Lete run at him -with Reiloc's sword. The cave girl had snatched it from the Nehogan's -scabbard. Holding it like a lance, she flung herself on Jupiter, her -face contorted with hate! - - * * * * * - -Jupiter jumped convulsively into the canal. His instinctive reaction -was the only thing that saved him. - -He broke water, saw that Reiloc had wrenched his sword away from the -cave girl. He was holding her as she fought furiously to tear herself -away, kicking, clawing at the Nehogan's face with her nails. She had -gone utterly berserk. Jupiter was stunned. - -Then he heard Tabak screaming: "Jupiter! Quick! It's the Anolyn! -They've possession of her mind. Hurry!" - -He scrambled desperately back on to the ledge. - -"You've got to take that Anolyn from her neck! They know everything we -do through her," Tabak cried wildly. "They've been in possession of her -mind ever since we reached the canal. That's how they knew where to -ambush us. Anywhere we go they'll be able to send men to intercept us." - -Jupiter nodded grimly. As he prepared the hypodermic of exsrocain, the -Caligan girl pitched in and helped Reiloc pin Lete face-down on the -ledge. - -Jupiter's fingers were shaking as he located a spot on Lete's naked -back, plunged the needle between two of her vertebrae. - -"One--two--three--four," he counted. Without bothering to test for -consciousness he wrenched the little plum-colored shell from the cave -girl's neck, smashed it against the wall of the aquaduct. - -"Carry her!" he ordered Reiloc, and threw his instruments back into the -pack, slipped a fresh drum of cartridges into the carbine. He could -hear the thud of running feet on the ramp leading to the surface. - -"Back!" he said tersely. "We'll have to try another way!" - -For an hour they followed Tabak through the network of aquaducts, -twisting, cutting down bisecting canals until Jupiter was exhausted. -He and the big Nehogan had been carrying the unconscious wild girl by -turns. Twice they saw Anolyn floating down to the sea like big purple -squids, Jupiter shot them before they could telepath an alarm. - -Tabak was in the lead when she stopped abruptly, put her hand to her -mouth. - -"What is it?" Jupiter hissed. - -"The canal! Look!" - -He raised his eyes. The tunnel came to a blind end just ahead. Then he -saw that actually the roof dipped down beneath the surface. - -"We've reached the seawall," Tabak said in a stricken voice. "I've -never tried to leave the city by the canals, but I've heard that it was -impossible. I'd forgotten--" - -Jupiter seized her shoulders. "What do you mean?" - -"They--they run entirely underwater for ever so far and come out -beneath the _Dra Dur_. The Anolyn built them that way in order to keep -the humans from escaping through them." - -Jupiter swore in Lingua Galactica. "Suppose we go back to the streets. -Can we reach the top of the wall? Does the sea come right up to its -base?" - -"Yes," Tabak said with a shiver. - -Reiloc had stretched Lete out on the shelf. She was returning to -consciousness, Jupiter saw; and he stooped, splashing water from the -canal into the cave girl's face. Her eyes opened groggily. She pushed -herself to her elbows, stared about her with the quick, terrified look -of a wild thing. - -"You all right?" Jupiter asked. - -She let her head drop. "Yes. I couldn't help it, Jupiter. I--" - -"You'll do now," he said, not unkindly, and helped her to her feet. -"Come on. We haven't any time to waste." - -When they reached the surface, Jupiter saw that night had fallen, -and with it a thick fog had rolled in from the _Dra Dur_, choking -the streets solid. It was like wet lamb's wool pressing against his -eyeballs. - -They held hands to keep from becoming separated. Voices reached them -out of the fog. Footsteps passed and faded away. At length they found a -stair leading to the top of the sea wall, felt their way upward. - - * * * * * - -It seemed like hours to Jupiter before they reached the top. He lay -flat on his belly, felt for the edge. He could see nothing below, but a -faint lap-lap of wavelets against the base of the wall came up to him. - -"How deep is the water here?" - -"D-deep enough," Tabak whispered in a frightened voice. - -"All right, we'll jump." - -Lete gasped. There was a startled, protesting growl from Reiloc. - -"Jump blind, from here--from the top of the wall into the sea?" the -Nehogan said. "Are you mad, Jupiter?" - -"Can you think of any other way to escape?" - -Tabak said in a queer, strained voice: "I'll jump. I'm not afraid--not -too afraid." - -Jupiter heard her move toward the edge of the wall. "No! Wait! I'll go -first--" - -But the Caligan girl had already leaped outward into the thick wet -darkness. - -Jupiter felt suddenly cold all over. He knew that he would never smell -salt water again without recalling the horrible expectancy of that -moment. Time stood still. Then far below they heard a splash! - -"Tabak!" he called softly. He gave her time to rise to the surface. -"Tabak!" He didn't dare lift his voice. - -There was no answer. Just the monotonous lap of the water against the -sea wall. - -"God!" he thought. "She's hurt herself!" And he sprang outward into the -encompassing blackness. - -He seemed to fall for an eternity before he struck. It was like hitting -a plank. The jar ran up his legs. He went down, down, half-dazed. Then -he was clawing frantically to the surface. - -He broke water. He could see nothing. It was like the bottom of a well. - -"Tabak! Tabak! Where are you?" - -His fingers touched something. It was the girl's shoulder. She was -moving feebly, half-conscious. Treading water, he seized her, slid his -arm across her chest, began to tow her away from the wall. - -"Jump!" he called to Reiloc. "I've Tabak." - -"By the Radiant God!" came the Nehogan's hoarse voice; "here I come!" - -There was a splash, followed almost immediately by another, as the cave -girl leaped also. The pair of them came up, blowing, unhurt. - -"Which way?" Reiloc gasped. - -"Follow the wall." Jupiter was trying to recall Tabak's memory -patterns. "We're near the edge of the city, I think. There should be a -beach just ahead." - -They swam on, guiding themselves by the lap of water against the base -of the wall. Jupiter, with his arm across Tabak's shoulder and breast, -felt the girl shudder. - -"Jupiter," she said weakly. "Jupiter, is that you?" - -"Yes. Are you all right?" - -"I--I think so. I can swim now." - -All at once, he realized that the lapping of the water had changed to a -faint, shushing sound. - -"The beach!" he said. - -Reiloc grunted. Lete didn't say anything. The wild girl swam like an -otter, silent and alert. Jupiter touched bottom, helped Tabak up the -beach, where they all flung themselves down in the warm sand. - -A breeze had started up and was ripping the fog into wisps. A few stars -glittered from the torn sky. The wall of the city loomed above them -dark and threatening. - -Tabak's fingers closed convulsively over Jupiter's hand. - -"I'm afraid," she whispered. "It's so big and so empty out here. And -there's no place where we can hide from them. They'll be after us in -the morning with Nehogans and web-birds. They'll never let you go, -Jupiter, never! They're afraid that you'll be able to unite the wild -Kagans--" - -"If we can only reach the ship," he muttered, and felt around in his -pack for the metal tentacle that Reiloc had hacked from the Radiant God. - -It was safe, thank the Lord, though it was only a fraction of the fuel -he would need. The whole idol, that was what he must have. His eyes -narrowed in the darkness. - -The cave girl said in a nervous voice, "We must reach the jungle before -daybreak." - -He pulled himself to his feet. Lete took the lead, striking out for the -invisible hills. She seemed to possess an instinct as unerring as a -homing pigeon's. Every step, Jupiter realized, was taking him further -and further from the source of his fuel. - - * * * * * - -During the next twelve days they dodged about the hills. Time after -time they escaped discovery by the narrowest margin. Parties of -Nehogans combed the jungle, while the web-birds wheeled back and forth -in the sky like observation planes. Nothing but Lete's junglecraft -saved them. - -On the thirteenth day they ran into a party of hunters from Lete's -colony. The cave men were strongly thewed brutes, armed with spears and -clubs, dressed in the skins of animals. - -They were suspicious at first. But when Lete explained that Jupiter was -the Wanderer-from-Beyond, they grew excited as children. - -Jupiter had to demonstrate his lightning stick. That night they had -a feast, and the cave men left at dawn to spread the word that the -Wanderer-from-Beyond had actually appeared. - -Two days later they reached the ship. - -As Jupiter parted the last screen of leaves and saw the familiar hull -of the Mizar, he had to bottle up his emotions to keep from yelling -and dancing a jig. He ran his hand fondly along the cool metal, caught -Tabak watching him with a twinkle in her blue eyes. He took his hand -away guiltily, started for the port. - -It was then that Lete balked. The cave girl refused absolutely to enter -the belly of the monster, as she put it. Nor did Reiloc look overjoyed -at the prospect. - -Jupiter was determined to drop like a fiery comet out of the night sky -before the startled cave men. At length he consented to let Reiloc and -Lete go ahead on foot to prepare the wild Kagans for his coming. - -He and Tabak watched the pair disappear into the jungle, then he -touched the button activating the lock. - -Even as he did so there was a sudden swish overhead, and a shadow raced -across the clearing. The Caligan girl screamed. From the corner of his -eye, Jupiter saw a web-bird dropping out of the sky like a hawk! - -He picked up Tabak, tossed her bodily through the port, tumbled in -after her. He kicked the massive door shut not a second too soon. -Racing up the ladder, he searched the sky through the transparent -thermoplas blister. - -It was an empty, hot blue bowl cupping the ship, the jungles and -mountains. Then he saw the web-bird rise in sweeping spirals like an -enormous buzzard. - -A black speck appeared above the crest of a ridge. It was another of -the ungainly creatures. It joined the first and the pair began to -circle high in the sky above the ship. Three more flapped into his -range of vision. They kept coming until at least fifty of the giant -web-birds hung wheeling and dipping monotonously above the Mizar, but -so far away they were little more than black specks. - - - VIII - -He was still staring up at them when the Caligan girl climbed up into -the control blister beside him. - -"Can't you shoot them down?" she protested. - -He shook his head. - -"They stay out of range. I don't understand it. The way they act, you'd -think they knew just how close they could come." - -"Of course they know!" Tabak bit her lip. "Jupiter, they're directed -telepathically by the Anolyn, and the Anolyn picked your brain clean!" - -He said: "Damn!" - -"They--they can't get at us in here," Tabak asked, "can they?" - -He shook his head. "We're safe enough as long as we stay inside. We -could fly away, I suppose, but as soon as we came back they'd pick us -up again. And I haven't enough fuel to waste any of it." - -The Caligan girl brightened. - -"At least we're giving Reiloc and Lete a better chance to get through. -We've drawn off all the birds for miles around." - -Jupiter nodded, broke open his pack. Tabak's blue eyes were alive with -curiosity as she watched him feed the radioactive tentacle into the -fuel hoppers, reset the alarms and check the instruments. - -Tabak poked into every corner of the ship, "Oh-ed" and "ah-ed" with -delight. She wanted to know about everything. But before Jupiter could -tell her she would say, "This is Briggs' cabin, isn't it?" Or, "This is -the galley," and laugh at his expression. - -"Jupiter," she said soberly, with one of her quick shifts of mood. -"Are--are you very fond of Lete?" - -He raised his sandy eyebrows. "What made you ask that?" - -"I don't want to see you hurt, Jupiter." Tabak grew more and -more confused under his level stare. "You don't know the Kagans. -They--they're promiscuous like animals. Lete would never understand -your morals. She couldn't--" - -Jupiter slapped his leg, burst into laughter. - -"Good heavens, I'm not in love with her. Why, I'll be leaving Yogol as -soon as I can get enough fuel. I couldn't take her with me anyway." - -"Oh," said Tabak. - -Jupiter's eyes suddenly widened. - -"You were speaking Lingua Galactica!" - -"Why not? I know it as well as you." They were back in the control -blister. She sank into an acceleration chair, smoothed the short black -sarong over her legs, raised her eyes to his. A small frown drew her -brows together. - -"Jupiter, what is love?" - -"What did you say?" he asked, not sure that he'd heard her aright. - -"Love. There's no such emotion among Yogolians. Sexual attraction, but -not love. What is it, Jupiter?" - -He gave her a startled, baffled look. - -"It--it's a romantic invention," he said, "to dress up the biological -urge. It's something you feel for another person like hunger only not -so tangible." - -She nodded to herself. "That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Is it -very strong, Jupiter?" - -"It can be." - -"What are the symptoms?" - -He scratched his chin. "It hits different people different ways. -You--you--Oh, hell," he said, "I don't know. What ever made you ask?" - -"I've got it," she said in a stricken voice. - -Jupiter sat bolt upright. "You mean you're in love?" - -She nodded unhappily, stood up. "I think I want to be by myself." -Averting her head, she walked quickly to the door and slipped out of -sight down the ladder before Jupiter could recover from the shock. - -"Hey!" he cried, springing to his feet; "where are you going?" - -There was no answer. Then he heard the door of Briggs' cabin open and -close. Suddenly his eyes widened. He dropped down the ladder, tried -the door, but it was locked. "Tabak! Tabak!" he called, rapped on the -panel. "Open up!" - -"Go away," he heard her call in an unsteady voice; "please go away and -leave me alone." - -"Tabak, listen," he said. "You didn't mean me? You weren't talking -about me when you said--" His voice trailed off. Confound it, that -didn't sound at all the way he wanted it to. - -There was something suspiciously like a sob from beyond the door. - -"No!" Tabak said in a muffled voice. "Of course not!" - -Jupiter felt suddenly very foolish. Without another word, he turned on -his heel, strode from the passage. - - * * * * * - -Two days later the web-birds came--tiny black specks wheeling around -and around in the sky like vultures drawn by carrion. Jupiter stood in -the control blister and scowled up at them. - -He was worried about Reiloc and the cave girl who should have returned -yesterday. Maybe he'd better not wait any longer. He was turning away -to call Tabak, when a wild clamor broke loose from stem to stern of the -Mizar as the alarm bell began to ring. Jupiter's head jerked up! The -black specks were plummeting Yogol-wards, diving like kingfishers. - -Then he saw Lete break from the encircling jungle, sprint for the ship. -The cave girl was alone. There was no sign of Reiloc anywhere. - -Jupiter yelled down the tube to Tabak: "Open the port! Quick!" - -He heard her gasp as he sprang for the keys that brought the needle gun -into play. - -It was a precision weapon, a fine, invisible ray of disruptive force. -As the first of the web-birds dropped arrow-like into range, the ray -touched it. The creature exploded like a fountain of spray. He got two -more before the startled birds sheered off. - -Snapping on the outside amplifiers, he yelled: "Lete!" His voice boomed -through the loudspeaker--a giant's voice that stopped the cave girl -dead in her tracks. "Lete! What's wrong?" - -She stared upward in fright at the gleaming bullet-shaped monster. - -"Quick, girl, speak up!" - -"The Anolyn," she said in a small voice. - -"What about them?" - -"The Anolyn have sent a great army of Nehogans. Our men have seen them, -less than a day's march from here." - -"Get in the ship!" Jupiter commanded. - -Lete began to tremble, but she was too frightened to disobey. She -climbed meekly through the port. With a hollow "clang!" it shut behind -her. - - * * * * * - -Jupiter blasted the starship off the ground with the jets. He couldn't -use the inertialess stellar drive inside Yogol's gravitational field -and the Mizar rocked sickeningly as it hurtled above the surface under -rocket propulsion. - -Lete cowered in the shock absorber where Jupiter had buckled her down -against her will. Her yellow eyes were glazed. She was like a wild -animal in a trap. - -Tabak was pale, but she stared eagerly through the transparent rind of -the blister. Jupiter shot her an approving glance. He'd never realized -how blue the Caligan girl's eyes were--cerulean blue, alive, dancing -like a little girl's with a new doll. - -"Take the scanner," he said gruffly. "You should know how it operates." - -"May I? I'll be ever so careful." - -She found it unhesitatingly, turned it on. The surface of Yogol sprang -on the screen in three dimensional reality. Tabak gasped. - -"I'm almost afraid I might fall into it!" Then she stiffened. "There -they are! There! Look, Jupiter!" - -He glanced into the screen. The valley widened out below, and he could -see a great army of men camped on the level ground. Thousands of the -copper-skinned Nehogan warriors! They stood in excited clusters, -staring upward, pointing at the Mizar with its comet tail of flame. - -Jupiter could make out the striped tents of the Anolyn in the center of -the encampment. He could see pink-skinned Caligans and stolid porters. -He turned to the terrified cave girl. - -"What happened to Reiloc?" - -Lete only moaned. - -"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where's Reiloc?" - -"He--he stayed at the cliffs to organize my people into an army. The -tribes have been coming in for days. Ever since the word spread that -the Wanderer has appeared. Reiloc said to tell you that he was going to -split his forces, attack from both ends of the valley." - -Jupiter swore under his breath. "We're going down," he told Tabak. -"Going down fast. Hang onto your hair." - -He put the Mizar into a tight spiral, drove her down like a blazing -meteor. The star ship must have presented an awe-inspiring sight, jets -shooting streamers of flame, her nose pointed directly at the cluster -of striped tents in the center of the army. - -[Illustration: _He drove her down like a blazing meteor._] - -Below him, the Nehogans scattered panic-stricken. The surface was -rushing up at him like a gigantic expanding cannon ball. He cut in -"George", buckled himself down frantically. - -The Mizar seemed to explode as every available jet burst into life. A -thunderous booming roar deafened him. Then the ship struck with a jar -that almost shook loose his teeth. - -He threw off the straps, dived for the control panel. - - * * * * * - -Ash covered the ground where the tents had been. At least half of the -purple-shelled octopods had been consumed instantly by the jets. The -Anolyn who remained alive were scuttling for the protection of the -jungle. Jupiter swung the needle gun into action. - -The Nehogans had outstripped their slow-moving masters, who crawled -like a cluster of frightened tortoises across the bare, flat land. The -sides of the valley were alive with humans; they had fled that far and -had turned to watch in frightened silence. - -Jupiter concentrated on the Anolyn, picking them off one by one. Only a -few seconds actually had elapsed since the Mizar had appeared over the -horizon, and already less than a dozen of the terrified creatures were -left, crawling desperately for the hills. - -A sudden whisper of wings sounded overhead. Something like the shadow -of a cloud raced across the flat land toward the cluster of fleeing -octopods. - -"The web-birds!" Tabak cried. - -Jupiter lifted his eyes, saw a flock of the ungainly creatures. There -must have been nearly a hundred of them. They swooped down on their -Anolyn masters, plucked the octopods from the ground with a furious -beating of wings. - -Jupiter's eyes widened in disbelief as the remaining Anolyn were borne -to safety above the tree tops. - -The Mizar was left all alone in the center of the valley. - -Then to a man the frightened mob on the hillsides fell down on their -faces, arms extended before them toward the ship below, and a great -babbling cry arose: - -"The Wanderer! The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" - -Tabak whirled away from the plastic rind. - -"Jupiter! There comes Reiloc now! He must be warned, Jupiter! He -doesn't know that the Anolyn have fled. He'll attack!" - -At the head of the valley a mass of half-naked cavemen were streaming -from the trees. They were a wild, undisciplined lot like an army of -soldier ants on the march. Even from this distance, Jupiter recognized -the giant figure of Reiloc striding at their head. - -He swore in Lingua Galactica. "I can't afford to leave the ship just -yet. Not until we know how that crazy Anolyn army's going to behave. -The ship's our ace in the hole." - -"I'll go," Tabak said, and darted for the well. - -Jupiter watched her disappear down the ladder with a vague feeling of -uneasiness. Then he turned back to the transparent rind. He caught -sight of her again, running across the level ground toward Reiloc, -waving her arms--a slim, blonde figure in the sarong, barefooted and -barelegged. He swallowed disconsolately. - -So, he thought, it must be Reiloc that she's crazy about. Reiloc! - -He could see the giant Nehogan leave the cavemen, hurry toward the -girl. They met on the level valley floor between the ship and the wild -Kagans who were still debouching from among the trees. - -Jupiter's blood ran suddenly cold. A flock of web-birds had appeared -over the crest of the hill. - -He leaped for the keys of the needle gun. - -"Reiloc!" he yelled through the P. A. "Tabak! Watch out! The birds!" - -He got three of the ungainly flying webs with the needle ray. Then he -couldn't shoot any more. - -"Oh, hell," he said. - -The web-birds had dropped onto the pair in the open. Jupiter could -see neither Reiloc nor Tabak. Only the monstrous fluttering of the -creature's wings. Then the flock lifted slowly into the air bearing -the Nehogan and the Caligan girl aloft. Jupiter didn't dare fire for -fear of hitting either the one or the other. - -They rose higher, higher, then straight as wild bees they lined out for -the distant city by the _Dra Dur_. - -Jupiter was beside himself with helpless rage and consternation. He -couldn't chase them in the starship. It would be like attempting to -follow a school of fish in an ocean liner. - -He was stunned. He sank into an acceleration chair, while the web-birds -with their human freight, became smaller and smaller in the distance. - - * * * * * - -During the days following the capture of Tabak and Reiloc, Jupiter -was frantic. He couldn't rid his mind of the horrors that the fragile -Caligan girl might be undergoing. The breeding stations, the biological -laboratories, the inhuman orgies that took place in the city by the -_Dra Dur_. Reiloc would be no better off, except that they might kill -him outright instead of by degrees. Every hour's delay multiplied their -danger. - -Jupiter drove himself unmercifully, but there weren't enough hours for -him to cram in all the things that had to be done. - -He allowed the Kagans to retain their loose tribal organization. -More tribes joined the march on the city by the _Dra Dur_ every day. -They were more like a migrating people than an army. They were bound -together by only one common impulse--a desire to annihilate the Anolyn. - -Lete was some help to Jupiter there. The cave girl acted as liaison -officer between him and the Kagan chiefs. He was aware that she -had risen to a position of eminence among her people--an Amazon -chieftainess, a cave girl Joan of Arc. - -Her rise to power suited him because it left him free to organize the -Nehogan army. - -They were his only trained body of men and they were useless so long -as the parasites were fastened to their necks. The Anolyn could regain -control of them, turn his own army against him. - -Jupiter set himself to the impossible task of administering the -exsrocain to the Nehogan soldiers, the Caligan advisers, even the -green-skinned porters. - -He made short hops in the star ship, setting up his camp ahead of -the slow-moving army. As soon as they began to stream in, he set to -administering the drug. He trained a staff of Caligans, who were more -adept at such things. He synthesized gallons of the stuff and taught -them how to synthesize it. - -And all the time he lived in perpetual dread of the Anolyn's next move. - -Overhead the web-birds wheeled and dipped, at first hundreds, then -thousands of the creatures as they drew closer to the city. They were -the eyes of the Anolyn, he sensed. They followed the army like gulls -following a ship. - -On the seventeenth day they reached the broad plains surrounding -the city by the _Dra Dur_, deployed before the towering walls and -battlements. - -The Nehogan general and Lete were closeted with Jupiter in the Mizar, -laying their final plans, when a postern gate opened and a man left the -city, made his way alone toward the lines of the invading army. - - * * * * * - -He was a Caligan in a living, yellow furred boj and sandals. His eyes -were peculiar--a glazed blue like enamelware. He made no move to escape -or defend himself when the pickets grabbed him. - -He said that he had a message for the Wanderer-from-Beyond from the -Anolyn. - -He was turned over to a Nehogan officer and brought before Jupiter in -the Mizar. - -One look at the man told Jupiter that he was possessed--that he was -merely a vehicle through which some Anolyn inside the city was seeing, -hearing, speaking, acting-- - -In an undertone he cautioned Lete and the Nehogan general not to -mention their plans, turned to the Caligan envoy. - -"What message do the Anolyn send?" - -The Caligan stood like a man in a cataleptic trance, regarded Jupiter -with fixed, unwinking attention. - -"I am to inform you that the girl, Tabak, and the man, Reiloc, are -unharmed." - -Jupiter realized suddenly that his forehead was covered with sweat. He -didn't interrupt. - -The Caligan continued in that flat, unemotional voice: - -"Unless you disband your army and send them away, the girl will be -turned over to the long-tailed Begans to play with. If she survives -the animal-men, which is doubtful, she will be sent to the biological -laboratories for vivisection. Reiloc, of course, will be operated on -immediately." - -The Caligan paused. The control blister was still. - -"In the event you agree to the Anolyn terms," the emissary went on, -"both Tabak and Reiloc will be set free outside the city gates. You are -to take them aboard your ship and leave Yogol forever. - -"Post-hypnotic commands have been implanted in both their minds. If you -return or attempt treachery, of any kind, they will kill you. - -"You have until sunup to give us your decision." - -The Caligan stopped talking. - -Jupiter let his breath run out between his teeth. The orange sun was -sinking into the _Dra Dur_. Lete's yellow eyes glittered. The Nehogan -general opened his mouth to speak. But Jupiter silenced him with an -imperative gesture. - -"This is not something to be decided without thought," he told the -unwinking emissary. "We'll give you our answer before daybreak." He -turned to the guards. "Lock him in my cabin." - -No sooner had the door closed on the Caligan envoy, than Lete sprang -to her feet. She was clad in the fur of some jungle beast. A sword and -dagger hung at her waist. She made Jupiter think of a savage Joan of -Arc more than ever and he could feel his heart sink. - -"There is but one answer," she flashed, "and that's to attack! Attack -tonight before they can bring up reinforcements. - -"This is the first time the Kagans have been united. Do they think -we're foolish enough to throw away everything for the life of a man and -a girl!" - -Jupiter didn't say anything. - -The Nehogan general shook his head. He looked somewhat like Reiloc -except that he was older, heavier. - -"After all," he said, "many men will die during the battle. Is that any -reason to abandon the fight? What's the life of two people against the -whole world? I don't understand it. The Anolyn must be very desperate -to offer such terms. It is a trick, maybe." - -"No," said Jupiter. "No, I don't think it's a trick." But he knew that -it would be impossible to explain his feelings either to the cave -girl or the Nehogan general. Such sentimentality was foreign to their -natures. If he attempted to dissuade them from their purpose, they -would go ahead in spite of him. And he couldn't blame them. - -He said: "We'll attack at sunup." - -"But why wait until then?" Lete demanded hotly, "When the Anolyn will -be expecting us?" - -"To give me time to get inside and open the gate," he told her. - -"You can get inside the city?" the Nehogan general asked incredulously. -"Undetected?" - -"I think so. It's worth a try." - -"Yes," said the general grimly, "if you can get the gate open it may -mean the difference between victory and defeat. When will you start?" - -Jupiter was staring at the spires and steeples of the city by the _Dra -Dur_, bathed in the angry orange rays of the setting sun. - -"One hour after dark," he said. - - - IX - -Jupiter dismounted the needle ray. It never had been intended to serve -as a hand weapon. It was like carrying a fifty millimeter anti-aircraft -gun, but on this planet of mild gravity he was able to handle it well -enough. - -He encased it carefully in waterproof wrappings. Then he broke out a -spacesuit. - -Sun up. The order was to attack at sun up! It didn't give him much time. - -The Yogolians knew nothing about reducing a fortified city, but they -had cut timbers for scaling ladders. The cavemen could run up them like -monkeys. They should carry the walls by sheer numbers. - -Lete and the Nehogan general watched him curiously as he donned the -spacesuit. He picked up the unwieldy gun, started through the soft -black night for the city. - -They went along with him discussing their plans. He answered in grunts, -his voice harshly metallic coming through the diaphragm. At the front -lines he left them behind and went on alone across the level plain like -a robot in the cumbersome suit. - -The impulse to run was almost uncontrollable. Suppose the Anolyn were -suspicious. They might have been bluffing, Tabak and Reiloc might -already be dead. He began to sweat. - -He plodded on steadily through soft, plowed land. He reached a pasture -and a herd of the long-tailed Begans ran up sniffing him curiously. -The black, hairy men followed him, grunting, among themselves, to the -opposite fence where they stopped. They had been trained not to climb -fences. - -All at once he realized that he had come to the beach. The walls of the -city loomed darkly massive above him. Stars twinkled in the velvet sky. - -He waded out into the water. The stars vanished as the _Dra Dur_ closed -above his helmet. He snapped on his torch. - -The light drove a lance through water ahead, revealing the sandy -bottom, strange submarine creatures. He struggled on and on, the pitch -of the sea floor becoming steeper. It was like a fairyland of grottoes -and trailing seaweed. Then the rays from his torch struck the gaping -mouth of a cave. - -Only it wasn't a cave at all. It was more like a tunnel--a tunnel that -the ancients had driven through the mountains. - -Jupiter felt his heart leap into his throat. It was what he had been -searching for--the mouth of one of the canals leading beneath the city -by the _Dra Dur_. - -He turned into it, his light revealing smooth composition walls, green -and slick with algae. He must have gone a mile before he found a ramp -leading to the surface. - -As his helmet broke water, he saw that his luck was still holding. He -was beneath the temple of the Radiant God. The ramp which continued on -up into the temple proper was deserted. - -He sat down, unwrapped the needle gun, then started up the ramp like -some amphibious monster of the deep. Tabak and Reiloc, he was sure, -were being confined in the temple. The breeding pens more than likely, -since that was where most of the human guinea pigs were confined. - -He didn't encounter a single Anolyn until he reached the central -courtyard. - -The courtyard was divided into runs like a dog kennel. It was dark with -a pitch-like blackness. He hastily shut the air intake valve on the -spacesuit. The stench was terrible. He could hear grunts, soft voices. -Someplace in the darkness a girl was crying. - -Jupiter was revolted to the depths of his being. When he thought of -Tabak being shut up here, he could feel his blood run cold. - -How was he going to find her in this mess? He didn't dare use the torch -and time was running out. - -Overhead the stars were paling. A light appeared diagonally across the -courtyard. He flattened himself against the wall. - - * * * * * - -It was a torch, he saw, in the hand of a pink-skinned Caligan. A dozen -grotesque Anolyn followed the torch bearer, then a company of Nehogans. -Jupiter watched them make their way between the runs. - -His eyes suddenly narrowed. They had stopped before a cage in which he -could see a girl. - -The door was opened, the girl dragged out, hustled toward a pen of long -tailed Begans. The smoky light of the torch glared briefly on her face. - -Tabak! They had taken away the girl's sarong, caged her like a wild -animal. - -Jupiter swung up the needle ray. He could see them leading Reiloc from -the next cage. - -He yelled: "Tabak! Reiloc! To me!" and flicked on the ray gun. - -The disruptive beam of force touched one of the guards. There was a -brief, brilliant flash. Then another and another as the ray fingered -guard after guard. - -The yard went from light to dark to light again, freezing the action. -Jupiter saw Tabak break away, sprint toward him down the corridor -between the runs. Reiloc was directly behind her. The giant Nehogan had -snatched a sword from one of the guards whom Jupiter had rayed down. He -brandished it over his head, yelled savagely. - -More Nehogans poured into the courtyard, summoned telepathically by the -Anolyn. Then Reiloc and Tabak were crowding beside him. - -"The city gates!" Jupiter barked. "We've got to reach them before dawn!" - -"This way," Tabak cried. She plunged into a passage leading from the -court. - -"Not so fast," Jupiter grunted. "I can't keep up in this damned suit." - -The Caligan girl slowed down. Behind them the pandemonium from the -breeding pens became fainter and died away. Reiloc, pounding along at -Jupiter's elbow, said: - -"Has the city been attacked?" - -"No. Sun up. We've got to open the main gate." - -They burst from the temple into the street. The guard at the entrance -was caught flatfooted. Reiloc laid him out with a blow of his sword, -and they ran on down a strangely deserted street. - -"Where's everybody?" Jupiter panted. - -Tabak said over her shoulder. "There's only a skeleton force in the -city. Most of the Nehogans were in the army they sent after us." - -Red was streaking the East, when they reached the gate. It was guarded -by a lone Anolyn and a dozen Caligans. - -Jupiter rayed the octopod and the Caligans scattered like frightened -birds. Reiloc started the mechanism that rolled back the massive, -circular gate. No one tried to stop them. - -Jupiter continued to wait tensely, covering the street with the needle -ray. He was still waiting when the advance body of the encircling -Nehogan army poured through the entrance. - -He stood there--a scowl on his lean brown face as the Nehogans -continued to trot into the city. They were veterans. They fanned up the -streets, searched the buildings as they went. There were a few sharp -clashes, but that was all. - -In less than an hour, the city by the _Dra Dur_ had fallen. - -The Anolyn had retreated silently into the sea from whence they had -arisen. - - * * * * * - -As the last chunk of the Radiant God went into the fuel hoppers aboard -the Mizar, Jupiter realized that there was nothing left to hold him on -the planet. - -The Yogolians were busy organizing themselves into a cohesive people. -Outside the city walls, the horde was camped. Lete was high in the -council of chiefs and an expedition was being planned against a second -town further up the coast. - -They were a resilient race, these Yogolians. Now that they had the -means to combat the Anolyn, it wouldn't be long before the last of the -octopods were driven back into the _Dra Dur_. They didn't need him any -more. - -Jupiter climbed the ladder to the control blister. It was night, the -bluish pallor of the riding lights illuminating the instruments. All -about him rose the dark spires of the city by the _Dra Dur_. - -He stared upward through the blister. The huge, dark nebula seemed to -cut a hole in space. - -He felt a tingle in his nerve ends. He was sure Earth lay on the other -side of that hundred-and-twenty-light-year long stretch of blackness. A -sudden wave of homesickness gripped him. - -Why not blast off now--this minute? - -He could feel his heart pump a little faster. The ship was fueled up, -ready to go. He had told Reiloc only a little while ago that he might -leave any time--tonight even. - -He hadn't seen Tabak since the fall of the city. He had tried to find -her, asking questions of everyone, but nobody seemed to know anything -about her. The Caligan girl obviously was avoiding him. - -Jupiter swore under his breath. His fingers touched the controls. Flame -rumbled suddenly in the jets, rebounded in orange billows past the -blister. - -As soon as Jupiter was beyond Yogol's gravitational field, he switched -to the inertialess stellar drive, turned the ship over to "George". He -leaned back in his seat. It was good to feel the weightless buoyancy of -deep space again. - -Someone said: "Dinner is being served in the galley, sir!" - -Jupiter shot out of his chair, banged his shoulder against the -overhead, forgetting all about his lack of weight. He rebounded -helplessly to the deck, squirmed around. - -"Tabak!" he gasped. - -The Caligan girl stood beside the ladder leading below. She was dressed -in Brigg's olive-green uniform, her eyes dancing. - -"But I thought you'd gone away!" - -Her face softened. "I couldn't. It--it's too strong for me, Jupiter. -I've been in Brigg's cabin all the time. I knew that was one place -you'd never go." - -He said: "Then it was me?" his eyes slowly kindling. - -Tabak nodded. - -Jupiter shoved off from the back of the shock absorber, grabbed the -girl in his arms. "You're crazy," he said, "you didn't have to stow -away." - -"But you said you wouldn't take anybody with you when you left." - -The tube began to buzz angrily; the red light winked on. Jupiter -stiffened. - -"Who's _that_?" - -Then Reiloc's voice sounded in the communicator. - -"Will you come down here and show me how to eat?" he demanded in an -aggrieved voice. "My coffee is floating in a ball around the ceiling!" - -Tabak giggled. - -Jupiter couldn't believe it. He said, "Who else is aboard?" - -"No one. Just Reiloc and me. You're not angry, are you? He was wild to -come. I never could have stayed hidden if it hadn't been for him. He -brought me food and--" - -"You mean he knew where you were all the time?" - -"Yes," she said meekly. - -"Are you coming down?" Reiloc bellowed; "or must I starve?" - -"Go ahead and starve," said Jupiter, "we're busy." - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWORD OF FIRE *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/64771-0.zip b/old/64771-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 64c44c0..0000000 --- a/old/64771-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/64771-h.zip b/old/64771-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9e2f821..0000000 --- a/old/64771-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/64771-h/64771-h.htm b/old/64771-h/64771-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 732d3de..0000000 --- a/old/64771-h/64771-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3530 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sword of Fire, by Emmett Mcdowell. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sword of Fire, by Emmett McDowell</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Sword of Fire</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Emmett McDowell</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 09, 2021 [eBook #64771]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWORD OF FIRE ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>SWORD OF FIRE</h1> - -<h2>By EMMETT McDOWELL</h2> - -<p>Jupiter Jones, naked and helpless in the slime of<br /> -that vile world, cursed the space warp that had<br /> -flung him down among its groveling mutants. For<br /> -their rising, excited whispers proclaimed him a<br /> -knight in shining armor—the bright weapon in his<br /> -hands their only hope against the terrible octopods!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Winter 1949.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The Mizar, a glittering needle with stubby, backswept wings, hurtled -out of deep space, arced into orbital flight a thousand kilometers -above the surface of the planet. The starship had approached from the -night side. Now, as it decelerated rapidly, it flashed into the raw -orange daylight of the planet's K1 type sun, angled downward into the -stratosphere.</p> - -<p>Inside the Mizar's control blister, Jupiter Jones lifted red-rimmed -eyes to the fuel gauge. It showed only a few centigrams left. Little -more than enough to land.</p> - -<p>He swore under his breath, hunched lower over the controls, a long, -loose-framed man with a shock of red hair and vivid green eyes. The -olive uniform of the Galactic Colonization Board was wrinkled as if -it had been slept in, and he had allowed his beard to grow. The bushy -orange-red mass of it hid his face almost to the eyes.</p> - -<p>He was alone in the ship. He'd been alone, operating the Mizar -single-handed since Briggs, his co-pilot, had gone crazy and killed -himself.</p> - -<p>It had been a damned inconsiderate thing for Briggs to do, Jones felt. -Not that he could altogether blame the co-pilot.</p> - -<p>They had blundered into a space warp beyond Alpha Centaurus. The Mizar -had been flung into an uncharted region of the cosmos, hundreds, -perhaps thousands of parsecs from Sol. Hopelessly lost, the chance of -ever finding their way back to Earth had been slimmer than trying to -locate one certain atom of oxygen in Earth's envelope of air. Briggs -had cracked under the strain.</p> - -<p>When the co-pilot had failed to relieve him at the end of his watch, -Jupiter Jones had switched the controls over to "George," the robot -pilot, and had gone in search of him. He'd found Briggs dead in his -bunk. An analysis of his stomach had revealed that he'd taken cyanide. -There had been no note. Nothing.</p> - -<p>He had recorded the tragedy in the log along with a biting opinion of -the Psychiatric Board for allowing a man with a flaw in his psychosis -to be assigned to advance exploration. Then he'd heaved the body out -the refuse port.</p> - -<p>Well, he was still lost, Jupiter Jones reflected savagely. Fortunately -though, he'd discovered this huge K1 type sun with its system of seven -planets while he still had fuel enough to reach it.</p> - -<p>Spectroscopic observations had revealed that the second planet -possessed an atmosphere high in oxygen and showing traces of water -vapor. It was a small world about the size of Mars and uncomfortably -close to its flaming orange sun, but it had been his only bet.</p> - -<p>He glanced obliquely at the fuel gauge again. His lips thinned, and he -dropped his eyes to the scanner.</p> - -<p>Immediately, the surface seemed to bounce up at him. Dense jungles. The -sheen of an inland sea. The terrain flowed past like an immense relief -map.</p> - -<p>Then he saw the city.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It rose at the edge of the sea, all turrets and spires and battlements -like a walled medieval town. He caught a glimpse of quays with ships -warped against them, of cultivated fields like a vast checkerboard. -Then the Mizar had flashed past. The city seemed to dwindle and vanish, -only the sparkle of orange sunlight on the spires lingering an instant -longer.</p> - -<p>Jupiter Jones blew out his breath. His first reaction had been to swing -the Mizar around, but caution prevailed. He was too old a hand at -Galactic exploration to burst unannounced on an alien culture.</p> - -<p>The terrain below had been growing progressively rougher. Just ahead a -range of mountains reared saw-edged peaks into the clouds. He nursed -the Mizar along until the gorges fell away beneath him like blue-green -troughs. There was no sign of habitation anywhere.</p> - -<p>He braked and banked, spiraling lower and lower, dropping into a deep -valley with a river cutting through it like a silver thread. At the -last moment, he frantically buckled himself down and cut in "George".</p> - -<p>Flame bellowed around the Mizar as the automatic landing jets burst -into life. With a fierce crackling roar the star ship sliced through -the tangled vegetation, came to rest a hundred meters from the river.</p> - -<p>Jupiter Jones threw off the safety straps, stood up, feeling a tingle -of excitement take hold of him.</p> - -<p>He was down, the ship resting on the crust of a strange world. A world -that might well be his home for the rest of his natural life.</p> - -<p>It was a dismaying thought.</p> - -<p>With gravity dragging at his feet once more, he moved to the -transparent rind of the thermoplas blister and stared out.</p> - -<p>The landing jets had charred a huge swathe in the vegetation, charred -it to the finest ash and baked the ground like brick, leaving a wall of -jungle hemming the ship in.</p> - -<p>Nothing moved.</p> - -<p>He flicked on the outside amplifiers, but the silence was tomb-like. -The thunder of his descent must have frightened off all the wild life.</p> - -<p>He was conscious of a cumulative weariness like an ache. Experience -had taught him the necessity of being fresh before venturing into an -alien environment. He entered his landing in the log, switched on the -electronic alarm.</p> - -<p>"Let 'George' keep watch," he thought. "George's" senses were keener -than any human's, and "George" could be depended on!</p> - -<p>With a last glance at the dark mass of jungle, he climbed down the -ladder to the cabin, flung himself into his bunk.</p> - -<p>He was awakened by the wild ringing of the alarm bell.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter Jones sprang from his bunk. It seemed as if his head had barely -touched the pillow; but as he yanked himself through the well to the -control blister above, he saw that night had fallen.</p> - -<p>The bluish pallor of the riding lights illuminated the instruments. -Through the skin of the blister, he could see the black vault of the -heavens sparkling with unfamiliar constellations. But that was all. The -Mizar, itself, seemed to be lying in a vale of tar-like darkness.</p> - -<p>The clamor of the bell never abated. It drowned out any sound that -might be coming through the amplifiers.</p> - -<p>He shut it off. As the ringing fell silent, he could hear coughing -grunts. The hair on the nape of his neck rose like the hackles of a dog -and he switched on the floodlights.</p> - -<p>Instantly the burn blazed with a fierce white illumination. He caught a -glimpse of a dozen startled figures at the edge of the jungle!</p> - -<p>They were human—in shape at least—tall, kilted men with long red -hair and copper colored features. Blinded by the light they stood in -postures of frozen surprise.</p> - -<p>Staring out from the darkened blister, Jupiter Jones thought he'd -never seen such feral savagery as was reflected in their expressions. -Like—like mad wolves! They were armed with bows. Swords dangled from -harness over their backs. Two of them carried a litter.</p> - -<p>A frown clouded Jupiter's face.</p> - -<p>The litter-bearers belonged to a different race. They were squat, -naked, powerful brutes, their slick hides tinged a greenish cast. But -it wasn't altogether that. The pair had a passive, resigned look like -oxen.</p> - -<p>Like the beasts of burden they appeared to be, he thought. Probably -a slave race. Then his whole attention was focused on the fantastic -creature in the litter.</p> - -<p>It was no bigger than a large monkey. Eight spidery arms sprouted from -its grotesque body which was covered with a glittering purple shell -like a huge mollusk. Jupiter Jones noted these details almost before -the creatures recovered from their surprise at the blinding light. His -first impression of the purple-shelled octopod in the litter had been -that it must be a captive.</p> - -<p>Then the octopod raised a silver tube to an orifice in its head, blew a -single, piercing note.</p> - -<p>The two slate-green porters wheeled and bore the thing off into the -jungle. The half dozen naked, copper-skinned warriors followed hard on -their heels for all the world like a pack of fox hounds.</p> - -<p>He wiped the sweat from his forehead.</p> - -<p>Lord, he thought; what was that thing? Could it have been the dominant -life form?</p> - -<p>He switched out the floodlights, reset the alarm. His first exultation -at finding a habitable and inhabited world began to give way to a -gnawing distrust.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the darkness appeared malignant, concealing hosts of savage -brute-men, unguessable horrors. There was the feel of movement out -there. He heard something grunt and thrash in the underbrush followed -by a squealing noise like a stuck pig.</p> - -<p>He shivered, glanced at the photo-electric chronometer.</p> - -<p>The sun had set at nine hours, Earth time, he saw. It was fifteen -o'clock now. He had ascertained the rotation of the planet while still -out in space and knew it wouldn't be light for three hours yet.</p> - -<p>He set himself to the task that had occupied him during every leisure -moment since the warp had hurled the Mizar beyond the known regions of -space—charting the stars in an effort to locate himself.</p> - -<p>But he couldn't concentrate. He kept listening subconsciously for any -untoward sound of the world outside.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His real name was Jones RV860-09-34271. The Jupiter had been pinned on -because he had been marooned once on that planet for three months and -had lived to tell about it.</p> - -<p>There were two things which Jupiter especially didn't like. He didn't -like men; and he didn't like women.</p> - -<p>He prided himself on being self-sufficient and tough—and he was tough, -morally tough, and physically and intellectually tough. He had grown up -in the stews of Venusport, fending for himself since the age of nine. -Because he'd never seen the stars, he'd had one consuming ambition—to -go to space.</p> - -<p>He had studied, worked and fought his way through the Galactic -Colonization Board's Institute of Technology. The Institute was a -hard school. The men of the advance exploratory units, the special -corpsmen, had to be well versed in all sciences from astro-physics to -zoomorphology.</p> - -<p>No one had believed that Jupiter could make it. Briggs, who had been an -upper classman, had ridden him unmercifully. All of which had merely -crystallized his determination. In the end he'd graduated with top -honors.</p> - -<p>It was the same sort of determination that sustained him at this moment.</p> - -<p>Jupiter had long since reached the dismaying conclusion that the Mizar -had been swept entirely beyond the local system, even beyond any of the -adjacent star clusters. That was the final straw that had caused Briggs -to crack.</p> - -<p>At the thought of Briggs, Jupiter Jones spat into the waste chute and -arranged his lank frame before the powerful electronic telescope with -which all the ships of advance exploration were equipped. But he didn't -use it right away. Instead, he gazed upward at the star-encrusted -heavens.</p> - -<p>The milky way, he saw, began down near the horizon, though it climbed -less than a third of the way up into the sky. The rest of that -tremendous path was blotted out by an inky blackness.</p> - -<p>He tugged at his beard. There was something familiar about that black -pall, and he turned to the star charts again.</p> - -<p>Sure enough the "rift", a dark nebula, split the milky way from the -constellations of Centaurus to Cygnus!</p> - -<p>He must be very close to it, perhaps within a few light years, for it -to blot out so much of the super galaxy. But was it the same one? There -were hundreds of these dark nebulae. And even if it was, on what side -of it was he in relation to Earth?</p> - -<p>His elation slowly ebbed.</p> - -<p>Pulling out his notes, he recommenced the endless task of mapping the -universe. He kept hard at it until the giant orange sun had suffused -the sky with a saffron light, blotting out the stars.</p> - -<p>The Mizar was only one of many such units probing the local star -system in search of habitable worlds. Their role in the long Galactic -Colonization plan was to make a superficial examination: vegetation, -atmosphere, dominant life form if any and report their findings. Later, -depending on the reports of these advance units, the real exploration -by staffs of specialists commenced.</p> - -<p>Although Jupiter was sure the planet was too many light years off ever -to be colonized, he entered the composition of the air in the log from -force of habit.</p> - -<p>He broke out the emergency pack, selected a semi-automatic carbine -from the Mizar's arsenal. He added electroscope, geiger counter, ultra -violet ray lamp and prospecting tools to the load. If he ever were -to lift the Mizar from the surface again, he must find a deposit of -uranium or thorium bearing minerals.</p> - -<p>Then he shaved off his great red beard, revealing a hard face, bold -featured with a wide, thin-lipped mouth. He slung the load to his -shoulders, opened the main port.</p> - -<p>A strong saffron sunlight beat into his eyes as he let himself to the -ground. He stood still a moment, feeling the dirt press against the -soles of his feet, examining the blank hostile wall of jungle, tasting -the moist warm air.</p> - -<p>Bird-like creatures flitted through the foliage. The vegetation looked -mesozoic with its great pulpy stems and fern-like fronds. One of the -bird things sailed overhead. It was apple green and appeared as if it -might be some freakish symbiosis of plant and animal.</p> - -<p>Damn Briggs, he thought for the hundredth time. It was suicidal to -attempt the exploration of a strange world alone!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>Jupiter started cautiously for the river, his feet kicking up little -puffs of the powdery ash left by the jets. When he reached the jungle, -he halted again, unpleasant memories of the cannibal plants of Sirius -III in the back of his mind. Then, setting his jaw, he forged ahead.</p> - -<p>It was hot and green in the jungle. Sweat coursed down his face, -plastered his tunic to his back.</p> - -<p>He had gone less than thirty meters when he broke into a well traveled -trail paralleling the river.</p> - -<p>Jupiter Jones' nostrils flared. He came to an abrupt halt. Although -he wasn't yet thirty-five, he was known as an old man in the special -corps. He had survived partly because of an instinct of danger that was -almost psychic.</p> - -<p>He sensed it now in the sudden dryness of his mouth, the hammering of -his heart as his adrenal glands surcharged his blood. Then away in the -distance, he heard the winding of a horn!</p> - -<p>At least, it sounded like a horn. His hands tightened about the carbine -and he held his breath. But though he listened for some time, the sound -wasn't repeated.</p> - -<p>Gradually, the valley narrowed. Tall cliffs towered above him like -the jaws of a vise. He had gone about five miles, the limit he had -set himself for the first day, when he caught the sound of splashing -mingled with laughter.</p> - -<p>He stopped in midstride, his nerves atingle. The sounds went on -punctuated by giggling screams. He slid the safety off the carbine, -crept forward.</p> - -<p>A hundred meters upstream the jungle on the opposite bank gave way to -meadows that swelled up to meet the talus at the foot of a towering -thousand foot cliff.</p> - -<p>Where the meadow dipped down to the stream there was a little gravel -beach, and a band of women and children were splashing in the shallow -water.</p> - -<p>Jupiter stood stock still, peering out from the forest like a tiger.</p> - -<p>The women were tall, brown-skinned, their hair wet and glistening like -seals. Naked children squealed and played among the pebbles of the -beach.</p> - -<p>His glance strayed beyond them to the cliffs, which were pitted by cave -mouths, broken by ledges. He could distinguish the figures of men and -women in breechclouts and skins clinging to the face of the rock like -flies.</p> - -<p>These people had neither the brutish look of the green-skinned slaves -he'd seen last night, nor yet the ferocity of the warriors. He felt the -hot sluggish breeze shift, blowing from him towards the bathers.</p> - -<p>Instantly, the women were thrown into a panic. Those with children -snatched them up, and the whole pack broke from the water, fled -screaming towards the cliffs!</p> - -<p>Jupiter Jones narrowed his eyes in alarm. Their sense of smell must -be keen as a hound's! He could see the males leaping down the cliffs, -brandishing clubs. It reminded him of a disturbed colony of baboons -he'd seen once. Gad, but he'd stirred up a hornet's nest! He began to -back warily from the river bank.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was a grunt behind him; a branch snapped. He tried to whirl -around, bringing up his carbine. A pair of arms wrapped around him, -seized him in a crushing grip!</p> - -<p>Shock closed Jupiter's throat. He twisted, wrenched frantically.</p> - -<p>The arms tightened like steel cables. There were more grunts, -triumphant shouts, the crashing of underbrush.</p> - -<p>Across the river the caveman had come to a halt. Then suddenly he saw -them turn and flee, scampering up the cliffs like terrified monkeys, -tearing at each other in their efforts to get away from the thing that -had him in its grip.</p> - -<p>Jupiter Jones was a powerful man—doubly so on this planet of mild -gravity. Furthermore he'd been in too many tight scrapes to be overly -bothered with scruples.</p> - -<p>Recovering from his first shock, he twisted the carbine over his -shoulder until he felt the muzzle prod into flesh and pulled the -trigger.</p> - -<p>The flat vicious "craack!" of the rifle slapped back from the cliffs. -The arms relaxed. He wrenched himself free, spun around.</p> - -<p>One glance told him these were the lean red-haired savages he'd seen -last night. He was already pulling the trigger as he recognized them. -The shot knocked the nearest brute off his feet.</p> - -<p>The others hesitated, ringing him in like a pack of wolves. Down the -trail, the two green tinted porters stood nervously, the litter perched -atop their shoulders.</p> - -<p>The glittering purple-shelled octopod was sitting bolt upright in the -litter. At this distance it looked like a huge snail—an obese snail -that has grown out of its shell. Perched on one of its tentacles was a -kite-like thing.</p> - -<p>Jupiter jerked the gun around. But at that moment the purple-shelled -monstrosity tossed the kite-thing into the air where it spread enormous -membrane wings.</p> - -<p>With a shock, he realized that the kite was alive—a huge, flying, -web-like bird!</p> - -<p>He put a bullet through it. But if the shot had the least effect, it -wasn't apparent. The creature swooped at him suddenly like a hawk -dropping on a rabbit.</p> - -<p>He shot again, then tried to hurl himself aside, but the pack hampered -his movements. One moist wing snared him, slapped around him like wet -rubber. He twisted, squirmed, toppled to the ground, rolling over and -over.</p> - -<p>The other wing lapped around him, binding his arms to his side, -squeezing, squeezing.</p> - -<p>The pain was intolerable.</p> - -<p>As if from a distance, he could hear shouting. The savages had closed -around him, snarling, baying triumphantly like hounds at the kill, but -he was only dimly conscious of them.</p> - -<p>The octopod on the litter put a silver tube to its mouth. A loud -mourning note wound through the jungle.</p> - -<p>The horn! It was the horn he'd heard earlier. It was also the last -sound that he heard, for the terrible constriction never relaxed. -Blackness welled up suddenly behind his eyes, blotted out everything.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Jupiter Jones struggled back to consciousness, he was lying in a -cage like a wild animal.</p> - -<p>The realization shocked him.</p> - -<p>The cage, he saw, was about two and a half meters long, very narrow and -barely high enough for him to sit up in. It was only one of a whole row -of such cages, and they were all occupied by men and women like himself.</p> - -<p>His gun was gone. His pack, even his clothes had been taken away from -him. He grasped one of the bars, pulled himself to a sitting posture. -His neck felt stiff and for a moment his head swam dizzily. Then the -scene jarred into focus.</p> - -<p>Afternoon sunlight overlaid everything like an angry orange wash. -Striped tents had been pitched along the river bank. Four of the -purple-shelled octopods squatted about a cloth spread on the ground -beneath the largest pavilion.</p> - -<p>Its sides had been raised to permit the free flow of air, and he could -see the creatures plucking food from strange vessels and goblets with -their snakey tentacles.</p> - -<p>All about the tents green men and copper-skinned hunters milled in a -senseless jostling confusion like a circus breaking its stand.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. The octopods were being waited on by a -hairless pink-skinned species of human. That made four distinct races -he'd observed since landing. He ticked them off on his fingers—the -cave people, the red-haired fighting men, the green and stolid porters. -Now these bald, hairless white slugs of men.</p> - -<p>The white men were doing most of the work, herding the porters about, -packing chop boxes. Jupiter frowned. An odd little protuberance, he -discovered, sprouted from the backs of all their necks.</p> - -<p>The protuberances varied in size, some no larger than a small snail -shell, others as big as a tangerine. They were plum-colored and looked -as if they were made of horn. What the devil could the things be?</p> - -<p>He shifted his eyes to a lank, coppery fighting man and saw that he -bore one of the things on the back of his neck also. They all did, he -realized with a sudden dryness of mouth.</p> - -<p>All along he'd been aware vaguely of the stiffness in his spine. With -a thrill of alarm, he felt the back of his neck, touched a knob-like -thing just below the base of his skull.</p> - -<p>The shock of the discovery left him sick at his stomach.</p> - -<p>He examined it gently with his finger tips. It was small, hard. He had -the uncomfortable conviction that it was alive, feeding off of him like -a leech.</p> - -<p>He tugged at it, but it was firmly anchored, the flesh about it quite -numb. In panic he tried to twist it off.</p> - -<p>Instantly a blinding flash of pain seared through him like acid -tingling out to the very tips of his fingers. He pitched forward, -cracked his head on the bars of his cage, slid to a prone position.</p> - -<p>For moments he lay there unable to lift a finger although his brain was -clear, lucid. It was as if the thing had perceived his intention and -had paralyzed the voluntary motor centers of his brain!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>With mounting horror, Jones realized that the mollusk-like organism -must be fastened directly to his spinal cord. He had best not meddle -with it again until he learned more about it.</p> - -<p>"<i>Za'min—car?</i>" he heard a voice say behind him.</p> - -<p>He sat up, looked around, realized with a start that the paralysis was -gone, leaving no appreciable ill effects.</p> - -<p>There was a girl in the next cage watching him out of wide yellow -eyes. She was one of the cave people, he recognized with a scowl of -suspicion. It was impossible to mistake the air of wildness about -her—like a caged leopard.</p> - -<p>She was quite naked, crouching in her cell with her uncombed black hair -hanging down to her sturdy brown shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Za'min—car?" she repeated.</p> - -<p>He shook his head. What the devil was the girl driving at?</p> - -<p>She looked puzzled then touched her breast, said: "Lete."</p> - -<p>"Lady?"</p> - -<p>"Lete—Lete—Lete," she insisted, jabbing herself in the chest each -time.</p> - -<p>She had small flashing white teeth, a pretty face, brown as sepia. In -fact she was sepia all over, a warm rich tint that made Jupiter Jones -uncomfortably conscious of the fish-belly whiteness of his own skin.</p> - -<p>But it was her eyes that caught his interest. The iris was large, -yellow, flecked with green like a cat's eye. The pupil wasn't round but -a narrow slit.</p> - -<p>He wondered if Lete was her name or the name of her tribe or what. He -pointed at another captive, said:</p> - -<p>"Lete?"</p> - -<p>The girl revolved her right shoulder with an impatient gesture that -fascinated him.</p> - -<p>"Io. Io. Ca'min 'Kagan'!" she said, or so the words sounded. Then she -touched her breast. "Na'min 'Lete'."</p> - -<p>Obviously the girl was trying to tell him that the cave people were -called "Kagan", but that her name was "Lete".</p> - -<p>Pointing eagerly at the scaly octopods beneath the pavilion he said, -"What are they?" in a questioning tone.</p> - -<p>For an instant fear mirrored itself in Lete's yellow eyes. She -shuddered, then she seemed to grasp what he wanted and said: "Anolyn."</p> - -<p>"Anolyn," he repeated, "Anolyn." Next he pointed at the fighting men. -They were "Nehogans", the porters were "Rik'gans".</p> - -<p>Lete was an enthusiastic teacher and Jupiter began to acquire a sizable -vocabulary. He didn't know how long they kept it up. Hours possibly. -They were interrupted by the sudden opening of his cage door.</p> - -<p>He stared at it in amazement, for it had swung back apparently of its -own volition. There was no one within a dozen feet. There had been a -"click", and then it had opened.</p> - -<p>Before he could grasp what was happening, he found himself crawling out -of the cage and standing up. Then he started for the pavilion where the -purple-shelled octopods—the Anolyns as Lete called them—were waiting.</p> - -<p>His brain reeled. He tried to stop. He couldn't! He had absolutely no -command over his muscles!</p> - -<p>It was like a nightmare. And yet his conscious mind wasn't in the least -affected.</p> - -<p>He entered the pavilion stooping slightly and stopped—like a machine -subject to its operator's whim.</p> - -<p>The Anolyns made no sound. They regarded him in utter silence, their -tentacles waving in the air like the feelers of a cricket.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?" Jupiter tried to ask and found that his tongue -clove to the roof of his mouth. He'd been struck dumb!</p> - -<p>The sweat popped out on his face, but his expression remained as -unchanged as a wooden mask.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>Altogether it was the most uncanny interview that Jupiter Jones had -ever experienced. He stood paralyzed while the Anolyns scrutinized him.</p> - -<p>Not a sound passed between the creatures, not an expression marred -their soft white visages. It was impossible to even guess at their -thoughts.</p> - -<p>Jupiter had more than a smattering of biology, and he'd been confronted -with weird forms of life before. But nothing so outlandish. He wished -he could get one of the Anolyns on the dissecting table in the Mizar's -laboratory.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a thought impinged on his consciousness, an emotionless, -inhuman query:</p> - -<p>"Where did you come from?"</p> - -<p>He could feel the alien entity that was the octopod probing at his -brain cells with invisible feelers of thought. He could no more resist -answering than if he had been under the influence of salanedrin, the -Venusian truth serum.</p> - -<p>"Earth. A planet of the system of Sol." He gave the galactic space -coordinates, but realized that they had no meaning outside their frame -of reference. "From beyond the stars," he amplified.</p> - -<p>"How?" There was shock, surprise, scepticism in the thought.</p> - -<p>He visualized the starship, the space warp that had flung him hundreds -of parsecs out of his course. But he had the feeling that he might as -well try to explain nuclear physics to a Hottentot.</p> - -<p>He was conscious of a growing doubt in the minds of his captors—almost -as if they were afraid of him. All at once, he felt himself turn, start -out of the pavilion.</p> - -<p>The Anolyns, he realized, must have finished their examination. But -it was a startling sensation to find himself going back across the -clearing like a sleep walker.</p> - -<p>What had they learned? Had they picked his mind clean? One of the -fighting Nehogans separated himself from his fellows and followed him -back to the cages.</p> - -<p>Without conscious volition, Jupiter stooped and crawled inside. The -door shut after him with a "click". The lean red-haired Nehogan -squatted on his heels just outside.</p> - -<p>Jupiter wiped the sweat off his forehead, and instantly realized that -he had regained control of his muscles.</p> - -<p>It was dusk, a hazy burnt amber twilight that made everything appear -as if he were wearing tinted glasses. The pink-skins had broken camp, -loaded the Rik'gans, formed them into a caravan. A detachment of -fighting men moved to the head of the procession.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's cage was equipped like the others with stretcher poles. Two -squat porters approached and lifted it to their shoulders, moved into -line with the other captives. One of the Anolyns gave a blast on a -horn. The head of the caravan moved into the jungle.</p> - -<p>Imperceptibly, darkness had fallen, but no lights were lit. The -inhabitants of this strange world seemed to see as well by night as by -day.</p> - -<p>Jupiter could feel his bearers fall into a rough trot. The cage swayed, -jolted rhythmically—an upsetting motion. He felt progressively worse -and worse.</p> - -<p>"Damn!" he thought miserably; "it's making me seasick!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next two weeks were a period of orientation for Jupiter. The -caravan travelled by night to avoid the heat. They were fed twice -daily—a thick gruel-like substance in which chunks of meat and -vegetables had been diced—and it never varied.</p> - -<p>Neither did Jupiter's guard ever leave him. He was an aloof, ferocious -man with a hawk nose, a copper-red skin and pale blue eyes—ice blue -eyes. His name, Jupiter learned, was Reiloc and he regarded the -cavepeople with contempt, the porters with scorn, the pink-skins with -loathing.</p> - -<p>As they wound down out of the mountains onto a broad plain, Jupiter had -managed to pick up a smattering of the language from Lete who occupied -the cage just ahead.</p> - -<p>The wild girl was devoured by curiosity, but when Jupiter tried to -explain where he had come from, she grew frightened and silent.</p> - -<p>"The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" he overheard her telling Reiloc in a low -voice. "Did you hear him? Is it true, Reiloc?"</p> - -<p>The copper-skinned fighting man scratched his head.</p> - -<p>"We caught him near your village. He fought with thunder and lightning. -He carried many queer tools in a pack, which no one understands. -It's very strange, too, that the night before, we saw a blazing ship -fall out of the sky. But when we went to investigate, the ship was -unharmed. Then it burst into a blinding ball of light. We didn't stay."</p> - -<p>Lete clasped the bars, peered at Jupiter wide-eyed.</p> - -<p>"The flaming chariot! It was you who came down from the stars!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter nodded.</p> - -<p>"The Wanderer!" she repeated in an awed voice. "You are the -Wanderer-from-Beyond! With the Sword of Fire!"</p> - -<p>He frowned, started to shake his head.</p> - -<p>"Who is this Wanderer supposed to be?"</p> - -<p>"But you must be him," Lete almost pleaded. "At night the old men -gather around the fires and tell of his coming." Her voice had -taken on a mystic quality. "Out of the night sky he'll come in -his chariot of flames, they say, like a star fallen to Yogol. The -Wanderer-from-Beyond. He'll come with lighting in his hand—the Sword -of Fire—and drive the Anolyn back into the sea, back into the slime -from whence they arose.</p> - -<p>"He'll free all the men of Yogol and restore their knowledge. Then -he'll ascend in a ball of fire, vanish into the beyond."</p> - -<p>Jupiter didn't say anything. The legend was only too familiar. Terran -history was full of such folk heroes sent to free the people from their -oppressors. It was always the same fundamentally, and it always cropped -up wherever there was a conquered, downtrodden, helpless people. The -myth seemed to answer some universal human need.</p> - -<p>Even Reiloc, he saw, appeared excited and uneasy.</p> - -<p>"Suppose I am?" Jupiter suggested.</p> - -<p>"Why, then—you'll destroy the Anolyn." Lete's face fell. "But you're -as helpless as we are! You're not the Wanderer after all. You've been -making fun of me."</p> - -<p>Reiloc burst into relieved laughter, and Lete looked hurt.</p> - -<p>"Stranger things have happened," said Jupiter dryly. He didn't intend -to throw away any possible advantage that might accrue to him if these -savages believed him to be the mythical Wanderer. He was shrewd enough -though, to perceive that he wouldn't appear very impressive in a cage, -and filed the idea away, turning the subject to the Anolyn instead.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This was a hunting party, he learned. They were headed back now for the -city. Jupiter wondered what they called it.</p> - -<p>The city didn't have a name, Lete insisted. She called it the city by -the <i>Dra Dur</i>, which meant Red Sea. Yes, there were other cities, but -none of them had a name.</p> - -<p>"Why should they?" Reiloc grunted.</p> - -<p>What were the Anolyn? Such a strange question. Jupiter could see for -himself that they were—well, Anolyn.</p> - -<p>Neither Reiloc nor Lete understood what he was driving at. The Anolyn -were different, they admitted, but all things were different.</p> - -<p>It was obvious that the cave girl and the fighting man considered -themselves separate species and hated each other cordially.</p> - -<p>The humans who associated themselves with the Anolyn, Lete informed him -with scorn in her voice, were "Edir".</p> - -<p>"Edir" as near as Jupiter could make out, meant "voluntary slave"; a -term that brought a savage growl from Reiloc and shut him up for three -days.</p> - -<p>The Anolyn, Lete told Jupiter, entered into a person once they caught -him, and that person was "Edir" forever. He couldn't escape. Why? -Because no one ever had.</p> - -<p>She didn't know what the thing on the back of her neck was, and neither -did Reiloc. The Anolyn had put it there, and it was dangerous to meddle -with it.</p> - -<p>And that was as much as Jupiter could learn.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On the fifteenth day they struck a small farming community, and after -that they traveled by day on a paved road between cultivated fields.</p> - -<p>Jupiter saw many more of the green tinted Rik'gans being used like -draft animals. There were also black hairy people with tails who were -kept in pens and watched the caravan pass out of sad, lack-luster eyes.</p> - -<p>The hairy men were Begans, Lete told him. The Anolyn bred them for -food. Occasionally they ate the Rik'gans, but the meat was coarse and -tough.</p> - -<p>Horror sprang into Jupiter's green eyes.</p> - -<p>"They eat them?"</p> - -<p>Lete shrugged. "Of course. And so have you."</p> - -<p>He went deathly pale. He could feel his stomach revolt at the thought.</p> - -<p>"The Anolyn breed men for special purposes," Lete went on, unaware of -the loathing in his eyes, "fighters, meat animals, the pink-skinned -Caligans. Oh, there must be fifteen or sixteen different kinds. They're -all 'Edir'," and she dismissed them with a shrug of her shapely brown -shoulders.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's cage was swaying along the plastic ribbon of a road. It was -all he could do to keep from being sick, but he knew now the subtle -distinction that had been troubling him.</p> - -<p>The humans weren't slaves. They were domesticated—like cattle or dogs -or horses. And Lete's people were wild with all the contempt of the -wild thing for its tame cousin!</p> - -<p>Reiloc, trotting beside the cage, grunted suddenly and raised his arm, -pointing ahead. Jupiter lifted his eyes, felt a tingle of excitement -run through him.</p> - -<p>There, glittering in the rays of the setting sun were the spires and -battlements of the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i>.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Night had fallen by the time they reached the city gate. Yogol, as Lete -called the planet, had no satellite. The darkness was unrelieved except -by the faint starshine.</p> - -<p>The caravan halted beneath towering walls of deeper blackness. In his -cage Jupiter heard a horn sound, then a groaning that must be the -massive gate rolling aside. The caravan began to move again.</p> - -<p>They passed into a canyon between dark buildings. And all about him he -could hear the shuffle of feet, low voices. He was like a blind man in -the midst of a crowd.</p> - -<p>Strange spicy smells beset his nostrils and a cold, dank, salty odor -that must be the <i>Dra Dur</i>. He could hear the lap of water and shouts -and loud thumpings and the creak of tackle. And through it all ran the -sibilant voice of the invisible throng.</p> - -<p>After an interminable march, they turned through a massive entrance -into a well lit building. The noise of the city stopped as the door -swung shut behind them. Jupiter squinted his eyes, blinded by the -sudden light.</p> - -<p>Sometime before, the caravan had split up, and only the cages holding -the wild people remained. Then without warning, they too turned off -down a bisecting passage.</p> - -<p>"Lete!" he yelled after the girl; "Lete!" His own bearers were carrying -his cage straight ahead. The girl waved at him forlornly and called:</p> - -<p>"A'towee, Jupiter."</p> - -<p>It meant, "Goodbye forever" as near as he could translate it. He felt -lonely—more lonely even than after Briggs' suicide.</p> - -<p>Good Lord! he thought in alarm. He'd better watch himself. He'd been -in space so long that he was growing overly fond of this naked little -barbarian. The biological urge could be a damned traitorous emotion, -and there was no place for a woman in his plans.</p> - -<p>He frowned. Unless he should need Lete to lead him back to his ship....</p> - -<p>"Where are they taking the others?" he demanded of Reiloc who still -paced soundlessly beside his cage.</p> - -<p>"To the training pits."</p> - -<p>"And me?"</p> - -<p>Reiloc appeared puzzled. "To the house of the Radiant God. But it's -very strange."</p> - -<p>Before Jupiter could voice the questions rising to his lips, a door -opened in the wall ahead. He was borne inside an enormous vaulted -chamber, his cage dropped on the floor. Reiloc hadn't entered, and the -porters retreated through the door. It closed behind them.</p> - -<p>Jupiter though, had scarcely been aware of their departure. His whole -attention was focused on a huge statue of an Anolyn dominating the room.</p> - -<p>The idol shed a soft luminescence, and there was a sense of power in -its execution that was god-like:</p> - -<p>"In their own image," he thought irreverently, then he sucked in his -breath.</p> - -<p>The stuff of the image was radioactive! Some incredibly rich uranium or -thorium bearing ore. Radium too! He'd never seen anything quite like -it. Neither pitchblende nor carnotite. And it must weigh a ton!</p> - -<p>Enough to take him half way across the super galaxy!</p> - -<p>He gave a harsh laugh. He had found his fuel. It only remained for him -to escape carrying a ton of heathen idol with him!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Jupiter was crouching on the floor of his cage when the door to the -corridor opened softly behind him. He turned his head.</p> - -<p>A girl, he saw, had slipped inside. She let the panel close behind her, -stared at him out of wide violet-blue eyes.</p> - -<p>She was a slim fragile thing with pale yellow hair like winter -sunlight. A Caligan, a pink-skinned woman, he realized. The first he'd -seen.</p> - -<p>She wore a shoulderless, clinging, single-piece garment of yellow fur. -Suddenly the garment moved, pulling itself higher up one shoulder, -settling snugly about her waist.</p> - -<p>Moved of its own volition!</p> - -<p>"It's alive!" Jupiter burst out. "What in Heaven's name is that thing?"</p> - -<p>The girl wrinkled her forehead. "Of course, it's alive. It's a boj. -Have you never seen one?"</p> - -<p>He shook his head.</p> - -<p>She lifted the creature away from her skin, held it out to him through -the bars.</p> - -<p>"Put it on."</p> - -<p>Jupiter took it gingerly. It was light and flat with the warm limp feel -of a fresh pelt. The under side of the boj was hairless, the skin like -foam rubber. He could find neither eyes nor mouth.</p> - -<p>The girl sensed what he was looking for, laughed infectiously.</p> - -<p>"It hasn't any," she said; "it breathes and feeds through its skin. Put -it on."</p> - -<p>Jupiter let it touch his body. At once the boj wrapped itself around -him. It was electrically alive, vibrant. He could feel a pleasant -tingle in his nerve ends and glanced at the Caligan girl in surprise.</p> - -<p>She wore an amused expression and nothing else. There was an utter lack -of self consciousness about her. Jupiter found himself comparing her -soft, delicately rounded figure with Lete's lithe brown boyishness.</p> - -<p>The Caligan girl suddenly held out her hand for the boj. He peeled it -off reluctantly, asking:</p> - -<p>"Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Tabak," she replied. "Did you come to Yogol in a fiery chariot from -beyond the stars?"</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>Tabak's blue eyes widened. She drew close to the cage as if pulled by a -magnet, peered intently into his eyes.</p> - -<p>"May—may I come into your mind?"</p> - -<p>Jupiter's hard, bewhiskered face stiffened in surprise.</p> - -<p>"Telepathy! Is that what you mean? Can you do that?"</p> - -<p>"A little—if you help. We Caligans are closer to the Anolyn than the -other races. But we haven't much time before they come to examine -you. Won't you let your barriers down? The whole city is alive with -rumors...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter had recoiled instinctively from having his innermost privacy -violated. He scowled in suspicion, asked: "Who sent you? What're you -after?"</p> - -<p>"No one." She bit her lip. "There's a legend, a—a myth if you like, -about the 'Wanderer-from-Beyond', who is to drive the Anolyn back into -the sea."</p> - -<p>He scratched his beard which had grown back since his captivity.</p> - -<p>"How did you get in here?"</p> - -<p>"I'm a favorite of one of the Anolyn. I've the run of the temple. -Please, please let me inside. I must know. You'll understand much more -about Yogol than I could ever tell you."</p> - -<p>Her last words decided him. He needed information desperately if he -were ever to escape.</p> - -<p>"What shall I do?" he asked in grudging consent.</p> - -<p>"Will me to enter. Think! Open your mind to me. There's nothing to -fear. No need to be suspicious. I'm not an Anolyn. I can't force myself -on you...."</p> - -<p>A dazzling light seemed to burst behind Jupiter's eyes. The girl was -in. He could feel her!</p> - -<p>He was aware of Tabak's mind, questing, probing. His brain pulsed as -if he had a violent headache.</p> - -<p>At the same time, a whole new set of memory patterns, unfamiliar facts, -stray incidents and ideas made themselves felt. It was as if a volume -of the Encyclopedia Galactica had been up-ended and all the information -therein had been poured into his brain helter-skelter with the utmost -confusion.</p> - -<p>Somehow, he knew all that Tabak knew, all that she'd ever felt or seen -or heard; but horribly jumbled, meaningless like the scrambled parts of -an intricate jig-saw puzzle.</p> - -<p>He heard her exclaim aloud: "It's true! The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" Then -a fear thought: "<i>I must go! They mustn't find me here!</i>"</p> - -<p>He felt her mind withdraw, saw her slip from the temple room, a slim, -graceful figure in the shimmering yellow fur cloak—the living sensuous -boj. He was too appalled to try to stop her.</p> - -<p>His mind was like a warehouse of unrelated, unassorted, unassimilated -facts. He needed time to incorporate the confusing jumble into -intelligible order.</p> - -<p>Time and contemplation.</p> - -<p>He was to get neither yet, he saw, for the door opened almost -on Tabak's heels, and three of the Anolyns crawled in like fat, -purple-shelled snails.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter was put through one of the worst ordeals of his life—all the -more degrading because it was conducted in contemptuous silence.</p> - -<p>The Anolyns took immediate possession of his mind. He was made to crawl -out of his cage and stand stock still while they examined him like -judges at a fat cattle show.</p> - -<p>From time to time burning mental questions exploded in his brain. -Jupiter was enough of a psychologist to know that they were intended to -stimulate subconscious memory patterns.</p> - -<p>He felt as if he'd been thrust into a press and all his information -was being squeezed out of him like cider from an apple. But unlike his -experience with Tabak, he could learn nothing from them.</p> - -<p>The Anolyn maintained a perfect mental barrier.</p> - -<p>In spite of that he began to sense that they regarded him with growing -alarm. He could almost feel their control over him tighten.</p> - -<p>At length he was directed out into the corridor, marched into a tiny -bare cell. Not until the door closed on him with a small final click, -did the Anolyn remove their control.</p> - -<p>Jupiter sank white and shaken onto the hard, narrow bunk.</p> - -<p>The cell was about ten feet square, windowless with walls of bare white -plastic. The ceiling was plastered with a green phosphorescent mould, -lighting it eerily. There was a single stool and a table and that was -all.</p> - -<p>He locked his hands beneath his head. His green eyes looked older. They -seemed to peer inward as he sought to organize the flood of information -he'd received almost instantaneously in that startling, intimate -exchange with Tabak.</p> - -<p>Gradually it dawned on him that he was in full possession of Tabak's -life history—all the millions of insignificant items that went to make -up the girl's personality.</p> - -<p>Once he realized that, the pieces began to click into place. It was -indeed like a jig-saw puzzle. And slowly the picture appeared.</p> - -<p>Tabak was a pet, like a cat or dog, and as such she'd had a greater -opportunity to observe the purple-shelled octopods.</p> - -<p>The Anolyns hadn't always been the dominant life form on Yogol. Ages -ago, eons perhaps—Tabak had entertained only the vaguest notion of -time—the humans had ruled the planet. They had built splendid cities, -now crumbled into dust and even the dust buried beneath the jungle -mould. Only the legend remained.</p> - -<p>The ancients, according to that legend, had experimented finally -with telepathy. They had discovered that the young of the Anolyn—a -semi-intelligent, telepathic, parasite—acted as a thought receiver and -transmitter if it were allowed to fasten its tentacles directly into -the spinal cord.</p> - -<p>The fad spread. More and more Yogolians began to make use of the -telepathic parasites.</p> - -<p>Then one day the adult Anolyn rose from the sea and, through their -young, took over the human race.</p> - -<p>Not all at once and not everyone.</p> - -<p>Some had refused to allow the Anolyn to be fastened to their necks. -These few fled to the wilderness, where during ages of warfare with -their Anolyn-dominated brothers, they had sunk into barbarism. These -were the Kagans, the wild cave people whom the Anolyn now hunted for -sport.</p> - -<p>As for the Anolyn themselves, they had abandoned the fallen human -cities, building their citadels around the inland seas from whence -they'd sprung. They had evolved their own unique culture.</p> - -<p>They appeared to know only the most rudimentary facts of the physical -sciences, though they had made startling advances in the biological -field.</p> - -<p>Even their cities were built by minute, coral-like creatures working -under telepathic direction. Certain insects had been trained to spin -thread from their own body secretions and weave fabrics. Humans had -been bred for specialized functions: draft animals and meat animals, -soldiers and sailors and artisans.</p> - -<p>As soon as a Yogolian attained adolescence, a young Anolyn was fastened -to his spinal cord. Thus the humans were forced to act both as living -incubators for the Anolyn young and as servants for the adults.</p> - -<p>It was, Jupiter realized with horror, a wholly parasitic culture. -Orgies were held, and gladiatorial combats, one Anolyn pitting its -human vehicle against another. Empathy was perfect.</p> - -<p>There were other things, unmentionable things which Jupiter tried to -thrust from his mind. Scenes from the training pits, the biological -breeding stations....</p> - -<p>He was sick at his stomach, sick and emotionally exhausted. He could -see no hope of escape. Not so long as the horrid parasite remained -fastened to his spinal cord.</p> - -<p>And by its very nature the creature couldn't be dislodged or killed!</p> - -<p>He closed his eyes, feeling as depleted as if he'd run the mile, slid -over the lip of consciousness into deep sleep.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">V</p> - -<p>He was roused by Tabak, the Caligan girl, shaking his shoulder. "Wake -up!" she was whispering urgently, her violet-blue eyes shining with -suppressed excitement. "Wake up, Wanderer-from-Beyond, and come with -me!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter sat up with a start. "How did you get in here?"</p> - -<p>Tabak rotated her shoulder, and the yellow furred boj rippled like -liquid light. "Through the door."</p> - -<p>"But it was locked."</p> - -<p>"It operates by telepathic control."</p> - -<p>"Of course."</p> - -<p>Jupiter scratched his beard. He'd known it all along. Nor was that all. -If he would only concentrate, he could manipulate the lock himself!</p> - -<p>To his growing amazement, he realized that he knew the city by the <i>Dra -Dur</i> as well as his home town of Venusport.</p> - -<p>While he slept, his subconscious had integrated Tabak's fund of -knowledge, made it a part of his own. He was changed. He didn't look -at things quite the same. His own hard ruthless personality had become -tinctured with something of Tabak's soft deviousness.</p> - -<p>He didn't like it.</p> - -<p>His fingers closed on the girl's shoulders, bit into the flesh. "What -have you done to me?"</p> - -<p>"I? I've done nothing. I've come to help you, Wanderer-from-Beyond."</p> - -<p>"How?"</p> - -<p>"Please," she said; "don't you believe me?"</p> - -<p>"Why should I?"</p> - -<p>She lifted her arms, touched his temples with her fingertips. "Come -in," she said simply. "Come into my mind so that you can have no more -doubts."</p> - -<p>Almost against his will, he peered into her eyes, experiencing an odd -frightening sensation of sinking into their wide, violet-blue depths. -Down. Down. His very being seemed to merge with the girl's.</p> - -<p>All at once, the room swam back into his vision, but from a different -angle. Everything looked a little strange. Then he saw himself!</p> - -<p>Literally!</p> - -<p>Saw himself through Tabak's eyes!</p> - -<p>With a peculiar sense of detachment, he observed his own lean, -muscular, sun-reddened frame, his wiry red beard, tangled hair, -half-closed green eyes. And all the time he was aware of Tabak's flow -of thought—her emotions, sensations, the bubbling fluid well of her -subconscious.</p> - -<p>"Now do you trust me?"</p> - -<p>Jupiter was acutely embarrassed. Their conjoining was more intimate -than any physical relation could have been. Tabak's very soul lay naked -before his mind's eye.</p> - -<p>"Trust you. Yes. For Pete's sake, let me go!"</p> - -<p>He staggered, blinked, realized that she'd thrust him out of her mind. -He wiped the sweat off his forehead, stared at the girl curiously.</p> - -<p>Her cheeks were pink with confusion, and she wouldn't meet his eyes.</p> - -<p>"I—I've never done that with a man before," she said. "You believe me, -don't you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. But how did you do it?"</p> - -<p>"By means of the Anolyn that are attached to our necks. See." She -turned her back, lifted her wheat-blonde locks with one hand.</p> - -<p>Jupiter could see the tiny plum-colored lump. Tabak's neck was slender, -delicately formed. He was struck anew by the contrast between her and -Lete, the wiry, pagan-souled cave girl.</p> - -<p>Lete was rawhide, tough, pliable, resilient. But this Caligan girl was -a steel rapier. In that moment of intimacy he had glimpsed something of -the truth.</p> - -<p>For all her apparent softness, Tabak could be infinitely more dangerous!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The door opened instantly at Tabak's mental command. Jupiter followed -her into the corridor, saw that it was empty.</p> - -<p>"Where are the Anolyn?"</p> - -<p>"They—they are occupied. Those here in the temple." Tabak shivered. -"Come, it's on our way. I'll show you."</p> - -<p>"On our way where? Show me what?"</p> - -<p>She said, "I'd rather let you see for yourself," and started up the -passage, her bare feet soundless on the hard composition floor.</p> - -<p>Jupiter padded at her elbow. This was all familiar. He couldn't -overcome the feeling that he'd been here before. It was Tabak's memory -patterns playing tricks on him, he knew. The girl's experience had -actually been implanted in his brain.</p> - -<p>When they reached the ramp angling downward into the gloom, a vague -alarm got hold of him, but he followed her onto it without protest.</p> - -<p>The way led down and down. The air was dank. Moisture dripped from the -walls. It grew slippery underfoot.</p> - -<p>Abruptly, the ramp came to an end. He could see the glint of water -ahead.</p> - -<p>Subconsciously, he knew it was a canal running beneath the streets to -the <i>Dra Dur</i>. He knew it just as he knew that there was a network of -these canals like fingers reaching into every part of the city. Just as -he knew of the ledge a scant foot above the water, even as Tabak crept -onto it.</p> - -<p>The living boj fur glowed with a pale phosphorescent light as she -sidled into the vaulted aquaduct. It lent her a wraith-like appearance -to Jupiter, a few paces behind.</p> - -<p>"Shhh!" she cautioned him, coming to a stop. "Don't make a sound here!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter's mouth felt dry. He could see nothing but the girl's vague -luminous outline, hear nothing but the lap of water against the shelf -at their feet.</p> - -<p>Then Tabak clutched his hand, pulled him forward and into a bisecting -passage running at right angles to the aquaduct. He could see the glow -of light ahead.</p> - -<p>The passage curved, the light bursting on his eyes, half blinding him. -Together they crawled to the very end of the tunnel and peered out.</p> - -<p>It was a courtyard that Jupiter found himself looking into. The orange -sun beat down warmly on the flagstone pavement, on the large shallow -pool in the center of the court.</p> - -<p>There were Anolyn in the pool, fifty or sixty of them, floating like -purple jellyfish. Humans, too. Pink-skinned Caligans, wild Kagans, -fighting men and the stolid green porters. Even the tailed, ape-like -Begans were represented. They moved with a dreamy apathy like -sleepwalkers.</p> - -<p>"Their minds are under the control of the Anolyn in the pool," Tabak -breathed into his ear. "The Anolyn have entered into them. They feel -and see and hear exactly what their human vehicles do."</p> - -<p>Jupiter's face was drawn. He could hear music. The scale was all wrong, -it registered discordantly in his ears. It was coming from one of the -balconies that rose in tiers above the courtyard. Food and drink had -been spread on cloths.</p> - -<p>"They'll be here for days," Tabak whispered.</p> - -<p>Hardened as Jupiter was, nevertheless he was sickened at the deeds -being enacted under his eyes. They were unthinkable. His fists clenched.</p> - -<p>He could bring himself to watch no longer. He turned his head away, -said hoarsely: "Let's clear out of here."</p> - -<p>Tabak was silent as she led him back down the tunnel to the vaulted -canal.</p> - -<p>"Can you swim?" she asked as they reached the water's edge.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>The girl stripped off the boj, laid it on the ledge, dived into the -canal like a slim, naked, sea nymph. Her head broke water a dozen feet -out creating phosphorescent ripples.</p> - -<p>Jupiter plunged after her. The water was black, cold, salty. He kept up -with the girl easily using strong breast strokes.</p> - -<p>At length she paused again, treading water near the opposite wall of -the aquaduct.</p> - -<p>"There's a tunnel here, a man's height below the surface. It leads into -another chamber. Are you willing to try it?"</p> - -<p>"Go ahead."</p> - -<p>Tabak up-ended in a surface dive, the black water closing over her -feet. Jupiter followed her down. He found the hole with his hand, swam -into it. On and on—ten—twenty—thirty yards. His lungs felt as if -they must burst.</p> - -<p>Air began to dribble out his nose. He kicked furiously, driving himself -ahead. Suddenly he realized he was out of the tunnel. He shot up to the -surface, broke water, gasping air into his scalded lungs.</p> - -<p>That had been close, too close. He floated on his back breathing deeply.</p> - -<p>After a minute he rolled over and stared about him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He was in a vast echoing chamber. Orange sunshine streamed in from open -skylights. Steps led down into the water. Tabak, he saw, was already -standing on the edge of the floor looking down at him.</p> - -<p>He swam to the steps, climbed out. There was a faint odor of -putrefaction in the air.</p> - -<p>Tabak said: "These rooms are the laboratories. There are other -entrances; but they're all guarded by Nehogans."</p> - -<p>He frowned. "What was it you wanted me to see?"</p> - -<p>"This way," she said and led him through dissecting tables, past -shelves of fantastic creatures preserved in some liquid, and into a -small office-like room at the side.</p> - -<p>Spread out on a shelf were the contents of Jupiter's pack: the medicine -chest, emergency rations, spare ammunition, testing apparatus, -prospecting tools, his light carbine, the electroscope and geiger -counter. It was all there.</p> - -<p>Tabak's violet-blue eyes glittered with excitement.</p> - -<p>"There are your weapons, Wanderer-from-Beyond! Now you can drive the -Anolyn back into the sea!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter's face didn't betray his consternation. The carbine was -pitifully inadequate. In fact, so long as the horrible little parasite -was fastened to his spinal cord, he knew that he would be incapable of -using it against the Anolyn.</p> - -<p>If he could only rid himself of the parasite, though, and get to his -ship with even a chunk of that idol....</p> - -<p>He narrowed his eyes as a new thought struck him.</p> - -<p>"Tabak, we must get rid of these spinal parasites first. I—" He nearly -said, "I think," but realized that he mustn't show any doubt. "I can do -it. But I'll need your cooperation."</p> - -<p>"Can you?" she cried in excitement and seized his hands, peering into -his eyes. "Can you really? You <i>are</i> the Wanderer then!"</p> - -<p>He looked quickly away. He didn't dare let her glimpse what was in his -thoughts.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Let me come into your mind; let me be sure," she pleaded.</p> - -<p>"Tabak, you'll have to trust me."</p> - -<p>"Why?" her blue eyes clouded in suspicion. She released his hands, -backed away. "What is it you want to do to me? What are you hiding? -What are you afraid I'll see?"</p> - -<p>He swore under his breath. There wasn't time to argue, even if he could -overcome the girl's suspicions, which he doubted was possible unless he -opened his mind to her.</p> - -<p>Without the slightest warning he jumped for Tabak, grabbed her and -swung her off her feet.</p> - -<p>The girl screamed, twisted, kicked and bit, wild with terror. The thick -walls confined her cries. She was soft and tiny like a small white -kitten in his hands. A spitting, scratching, squalling kitten.</p> - -<p>He imprisoned her arms and legs, carried her out into the main -laboratory.</p> - -<p>The Anolyn possessed no anaesthesia. The dissecting tables were -equipped instead with straps to hold their victims motionless while -they operated. Jupiter buckled the girl face-down on one of the tables.</p> - -<p>"Please!" she begged hysterically. "Please!"</p> - -<p>"I'm not going to hurt you," he growled and left her to get his -medicine kit from the other room.</p> - -<p>The kit had been devised to handle almost any emergency that might -befall one of the Galactic Colonization Board's special corpsmen. -Jupiter found the hypodermic syringe, sterilized it and filled it with -exsrocain. The drug was the latest development in a spinal anaesthetic -that deadened the nerves of the entire body, inducing a temporary state -of suspended animation.</p> - -<p>It was a delicate operation, but he inserted the needle between two of -the girl's vertebrae, felt her flinch away from him. She lay on the -hard slab, quiescent, crying silently.</p> - -<p>"Won't hurt," he grunted, and ejected the exsrocain directly into the -spinal fluid. Under his breath he counted: "One—two—three—four."</p> - -<p>He felt for her pulse, but there was no sign of a heart beat. He found -the mirror in the kit, held it before her nostrils. The mirror didn't -cloud.</p> - -<p>Sweat stood out on Jupiter's forehead. He wiped his palms on his -thighs, lifted Tabak's wheat-blonde locks, exposing the small purple -protuberance. It looked like a sea shell fastened to the back of her -neck.</p> - -<p>His hand was trembling. He had to pause and get a grip on himself. Then -he grasped the Anolyn, pulled it gently but firmly away from the girl's -skin.</p> - -<p>For a moment he thought it was going to stick, then it slid free, the -tentacles dangling like short, fine threads.</p> - -<p>He examined the creature minutely to make sure no faintest spark of -consciousness remained.</p> - -<p>He felt weak with relief. The spinal anaesthesia had worked, putting -the Anolyn into a state of suspended animation at the same time that it -had the girl.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he could contain himself no longer. He hurled the creature -down on the hard floor with all his strength, smashed it into a -shapeless blob, ground it into paste with the butt of his carbine.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VI</p> - -<p>It would be an hour before the effects of the anaesthesia wore off -the Caligan girl. Jupiter prowled the laboratories, investigating -the extent of the research performed by the Anolyn. It was crude, -elementary.</p> - -<p>Only with the breeding of specialized forms had they had any starting -successes and that had been a trial and error, hit and miss practice -that had taken literally thousands of years.</p> - -<p>He was not impressed. Like all parasitic cultures, the Anolyn -civilization was rotten at the core, degenerate. One ship of the -Galactic Security Patrol could wipe them out of existence.</p> - -<p>He found clothes in a locker, a kilt for himself and a length of some -black fabric which Tabak should be able to use in lieu of the boj.</p> - -<p>When he returned to the dissecting table he saw that the color was -returning to the girl's cheeks. He unfastened her, sat down on a stool -and waited.</p> - -<p>After a moment, Tabak's lids flickered. Her eyes opened; she gazed at -him in sudden terror.</p> - -<p>"Feel the Anolyn," he said.</p> - -<p>She sat up. Her hand went hesitantly to the back of her slender neck. -He saw the amazement spread over her face.</p> - -<p>"It's gone! You—How? How did you do it?"</p> - -<p>She slipped suddenly from the blood-stained dissecting table, seized -his hand, held it to her forehead. She was half laughing, half crying.</p> - -<p>"You are the Wanderer! Forgive me for ever doubting. I'll atone for -my sacrilege." She was hysterical with relief and awe and hope. "I'll -never question your will again, never fail in obedience—"</p> - -<p>"Rubbish!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter regarded her startled expression with satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"You're temporarily overcome by surprise," he went on. "You haven't had -a chance to think. I know you inside out—too well to believe I could -fool you for very long. And," he added ruefully; "you know me the same -way. There's the rub. But I need you—and you need me."</p> - -<p>The girl was silent.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she agreed finally; "that's true. You're a man. A strange man. -But you're not the Wanderer. You plan to use us to help you escape back -to your ship, then desert us. But I don't think you will. Desert us, I -mean."</p> - -<p>It was Jupiter's turn to look disconcerted.</p> - -<p>"Why not?"</p> - -<p>"Because—" she began and started to smile. "You won't like this, -but you're too soft. Deep down on the inside you're too fine, too -idealistic to pull a trick like that. Your conscience wouldn't let you.</p> - -<p>"You've been hurt. Many times. When I looked inside your mind, I could -see the scars. I could feel how you'd armored yourself with a harsh -shell to hide your true feelings. You have a saying among your own -people: 'Scratch a cynic and you'll find an idealist!'"</p> - -<p>"Well, I'll be damned," said Jupiter. Then almost hesitantly, "But -you'll help. I need someone I can trust." He wiped the sweat off his -forehead. "Someone I can trust with my life to take the Anolyn from my -own neck."</p> - -<p>"You'll trust me," she said; "because you must. You're really not -self-sufficient. No one is."</p> - -<p>Jupiter regarded her silently, coldly. Then he picked up the -hypodermic, sterilized it, filled the barrel with exsrocain.</p> - -<p>"This is a damned ticklish trick. The needle must be inserted between -the vertebrae so that it doesn't injure the spinal cord and yet—"</p> - -<p>"Lie down," she interrupted. "I know as well as you how it must be -done."</p> - -<p>"But—"</p> - -<p>"Don't be alarmed. I'm in possession of all your experience, just as -you are of mine!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter swallowed, laid face-down on the stained table. "For Heaven's -sake, be careful!"</p> - -<p>Tabak ran her fingertips along his backbone, locating the spot to -insert the needle. It sent cold chills prickling through his skin.</p> - -<p>"And you're sure you know exactly what to do?"</p> - -<p>She laughed. "Of course, I know. Don't tell me you've forgotten -the girl on Betelgeuse XI—the one you used to put into a state of -suspended animation whenever you had to ship out so that she couldn't -be unfaithful between voyages."</p> - -<p>Jupiter made a choking sound. Before he could think of anything to say, -he felt the needle prick his flesh. He winced, heard Tabak begin to -count:</p> - -<p>"One ... two...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Slowly Jupiter became conscious of a smart in the nape of his neck like -a bee sting. He opened his eyes, sat up, touched the base of his skull.</p> - -<p>The hard little lump was gone.</p> - -<p>Relief left him weak. He caught Tabak's eye, felt his face grow warm.</p> - -<p>"About that girl on Betelgeuse XI—" he began uncomfortably.</p> - -<p>"You don't need to explain. Under the circumstances you were entirely -justified."</p> - -<p>He swore under his breath, slid off the table, began to throw his -equipment into the pack. "Have you any ideas about how we can get out -of here?"</p> - -<p>"Don't be angry, Jupiter. I was only teasing. I—"</p> - -<p>Tabak's eyes suddenly widened.</p> - -<p>She was staring beyond him, Jupiter realized. He twisted around, -reaching instinctively for his carbine.</p> - -<p>Not thirty feet behind them an adult Anolyn sprawled on the floor, -tentacles exploring the air. Its soft brown eyes were regarding them -intently. The gray doughy face was expressionless.</p> - -<p>"Quick! Kill it!" Tabak screamed. "Kill it before it sends out a call -for help!"</p> - -<p>The creature was obviously puzzled, unable to understand why the two -humans failed to respond to its control.</p> - -<p>Jupiter shot it squarely between the eyes.</p> - -<p>The hollow, pointed bullet, blew away the entire back of its head. It -slumped into a quivering heap. A pool of thin, pinkish blood made an -ever-widening stain on the floor.</p> - -<p>"The cat's out of the bag now," he said in a tight voice.</p> - -<p>Tabak nodded.</p> - -<p>"There's a guard at the door. You'll have to kill him, Jupiter, before -we can get out of here. I only hope you're as good as you think you -are."</p> - -<p>Jupiter took a short length of strong plastic cord from his pack, made -a loop in it. His face looked older, grimmer. His vivid green eyes were -dull.</p> - -<p>"Where is he stationed?" he said.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The dissection laboratory occupied a long, hall-like room in one wing -of the temple. The pool of water was at one end, the main entry at the -other.</p> - -<p>Tabak wound the black cloth about herself sarong-fashion, nodded -towards the arched doorway.</p> - -<p>"There's a—a lobby of sorts through there. The guard stays just -outside on the street. He'll be a Nehogan, Jupiter. They're terrible -men—"</p> - -<p>Jupiter brushed past her. He reached the lobby, crossed it swiftly.</p> - -<p>"Open the door," he said to Tabak who had followed him.</p> - -<p>She looked suddenly frightened.</p> - -<p>"I can't, Jupiter. Not without the Anolyn on the back of my neck to -transmit my thought! We'll have to go back the way we came."</p> - -<p>His eyes sought the door. The blank, solid panel mocked him. He ran -his fingers over its surface, but could find no slightest protuberance -anywhere.</p> - -<p>"Look out!" Tabak suddenly whispered.</p> - -<p>Jupiter sprang back like a startled cat.</p> - -<p>The door was opening.</p> - -<p>The thick, solid panel swung inexorably inward. He flattened himself -against the wall, the carbine clubbed in his hands. His palms were -sweaty.</p> - -<p>Then an Anolyn appeared in the entrance, scuttled inside on its eight -tentacles. Jupiter swung the carbine.</p> - -<p>There was a dull crunch as the stock connected with the creature's -head. Jupiter didn't give it a second glance, but sprang into the -doorway.</p> - -<p>A tall, coppery Nehogan warrior lounged just outside. With a flick of -his wrist, he dropped the loop of plastic over the guard's head, yanked -him backward through the door.</p> - -<p>Any cry the Nehogan might have uttered was cut off at its source. He -thrashed wildly, but Jupiter only tightened the noose, the muscles in -his arms and shoulders bunching savagely.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he got a look at the man's distorted face.</p> - -<p>"Reiloc!" he cried and immediately slackened the cord.</p> - -<p>Reiloc sprawled on the floor, gasping painfully.</p> - -<p>"Are you crazy?" Tabak cried. "Kill him, Jupiter! Kill him before he -can give the alarm." She suddenly snatched the carbine, aimed a blow at -the prone warrior's head. Jupiter tore it out of her hands.</p> - -<p>Reiloc pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He looked from the dead -Anolyn to Jupiter, his hand massaging his bruised throat.</p> - -<p>"What are you?" he whispered painfully. "What manner of man are you who -can kill the Anolyn in their own temple?"</p> - -<p>Jupiter's hesitation didn't show on his face. In a cold voice of -authority, he said:</p> - -<p>"The Wanderer-from-Beyond!"</p> - -<p>Reiloc's eyes widened. Doubt and hope struggled in his grim -countenance. Then the savage Nehogan dropped to one knee, held his -sword out to Jupiter, hilt first.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter sat beside the embrasure, staring out at the street below. -Behind him Reiloc was pacing back and forth in the bare little cell -like a caged wolf. The copper-skinned Nehogan was nervous, worried. -Action was his only emotional release.</p> - -<p>Tabak said: "Stop it, Reiloc! You're driving me crazy!"</p> - -<p>Reiloc quit pacing, squatted on his heels. But he couldn't stay still. -Rising to his feet again, he growled: "Wait, wait. Are we waiting for -them to come drag us out of here and take us to the vivisection rooms?"</p> - -<p>Tabak said: "Only for a little while longer."</p> - -<p>The Earth man continued to stare morosely down at the street. Under -Tabak's guidance the three of them had secreted themselves in this -neglected cell just off the sanctum of the Radiant God.</p> - -<p>When the city was new this chamber had been a part of the defenses of -the temple in case of an uprising. But as the ages crept past without -any threat from the human cattle, even its existence had gradually been -forgotten.</p> - -<p>Outside, the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i> was in the grip of hysteria. The -alarm had gone out and the street below was deserted except for -occasional patrols of Nehogans.</p> - -<p>Jupiter squinted at the angry orange sun. It seemed to rest on the -rooftops. Only a minute or two and the ceremony should begin. He faced -back into the room.</p> - -<p>Tabak said: "I think it's crazy."</p> - -<p>"Crazy or not, we need her," Jupiter said. "We can't hope to succeed -without her."</p> - -<p>He closed his eyes searching the memory patterns imprinted on his brain -by Tabak.</p> - -<p>The temple was built in the form of a hollow square with the breeding -pens located in the main courtyard. Every day the human guinea pigs -were driven up a back way into the sanctum of the Radiant God. There -they were exposed to the hard radiations emitted by the statue.</p> - -<p>No wonder the Anolyn could create endless mutations. The effects of -hard radiation on the genes were known to every school child in the -Galactic Federation.</p> - -<p>He was still standing beside the window when the faint sound of cymbals -broke the silence.</p> - -<p>"Here they come!" Tabak whispered.</p> - -<p>Reiloc stiffened, jerked out his sword. He put his hand to the back of -his neck as if to reassure himself that the Anolyn was actually gone. -Jupiter had removed it while they waited. Its absence seemed to give -the Nehogan confidence.</p> - -<p>"You both know what to do?" Jupiter asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>He adjusted the pack over his shoulders, picked up his carbine, assured -himself that a cartridge lay in the chamber. The clash of cymbals was -louder, reinforced by the chant of voices.</p> - -<p>He went to the door, followed by Reiloc and Tabak. There was a short -dark passage beyond which ended abruptly in a solid wall. A well opened -in the ceiling overhead, though, with a ladder bolted inside it.</p> - -<p>He gave Tabak a boost up into the well, then Reiloc. In a moment they'd -climbed out of sight.</p> - -<p>Jupiter leaped upward, caught the bottom rung, pulled himself hand over -hand up into the thick darkness.</p> - -<p>The clash of cymbals, the chant of voices had a hollow, muffled -quality. He heard Tabak pant, then whisper, "I've got it open!" The -cymbals were suddenly louder.</p> - -<p>He crawled out of the well on Reiloc's heels, replaced the cover.</p> - -<p>They were inside the sanctum, he saw, where he'd been left when he had -first been brought to the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i>. The huge radioactive -statue of the Anolyn was the only source of light. It shed a chill -greenish pallor through the circular temple room.</p> - -<p>The room itself was at least a hundred feet across, surrounded by -pillared cloisters. They had come up behind the pillars where the -feeble light from the idol scarcely reached.</p> - -<p>The rhythmic chant came from the other side of the floor. Jupiter -sucked in his breath. A procession of humans was filing out of the -darkness.</p> - -<p>A scrawny, naked Caligan was in the lead, making cabalistic signs with -a phallic instrument resembling the Egyptian sistrum as he moved in -front of the idol.</p> - -<p>Behind him came the others, two by two—wild Kagans fresh from the -jungle, a man with four arms, several with prehensile tails, some with -fur and some hairless. They walked with the same dreamy preoccupied air -of the humans that Jupiter had seen in the courtyard, and prostrated -themselves before the glowing idol. They were possessed, dominated by -the lone Anolyn who brought up the rear.</p> - -<p>Lete was the fourth from the end.</p> - -<p>The cymbals suddenly clashed and fell silent. The ritual was about to -begin.</p> - -<p>Jupiter brought the rifle to his shoulder, took careful aim at the -purple-shelled octopod directing the ceremony, pulled the trigger.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VII</p> - -<p>The shot reverberated in the chamber of horrors like a clap of thunder. -The lone Anolyn slumped forward, half its head shot away.</p> - -<p>With drawn sword, Reiloc leaped past Jupiter. He ran for the glowing -idol, began to hack at one of ten tentacles with his sword. Tabak and -Jupiter were right behind him. They grabbed Lete by either arm, hauled -the bemused cave girl to her feet.</p> - -<p>Some of the shock of the Anolyn's sudden death had been transmitted -to the humans under its control. They stared at the profaners of the -temple with pained uncomprehending eyes.</p> - -<p>Reiloc snatched up the severed radioactive tentacle, dashed after -Jupiter and Tabak who were half carrying Lete between them.</p> - -<p>"This way!" Tabak cried. "This way!"</p> - -<p>They burst out of the sanctum into a broad corridor, almost ran over -another Anolyn. Jupiter shot it in its tracks.</p> - -<p>No signs of pursuit had developed by the time they reached the ramp. -Lete was recovering from her shock. She struggled wildly, cried:</p> - -<p>"What's happening? What are you doing with me?"</p> - -<p>"We're escaping," Jupiter grunted.</p> - -<p>"But you can't. The first Anolyn we meet will stop us. I don't -understand—"</p> - -<p>"Be silent, foolish one," growled Reiloc, "he's the Wanderer!"</p> - -<p>"But you're Edir!"</p> - -<p>"We're Edir no longer. He's broken our bonds."</p> - -<p>Lete seized Jupiter's hand. "Then you <i>are</i> the Wanderer. You weren't -laughing at me back there in the cages. But why—"</p> - -<p>"No time now," Jupiter said and plunged onto the ramp.</p> - -<p>They ran down it wildly, crazily, reached the canal at the bottom.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to—" Jupiter began, when Lete screamed.</p> - -<p>"I can feel them!" the cave girl cried. "They're trying to pull me -back! Jupiter—"</p> - -<p>She bit her lips, her cheeks suddenly bloodless. "They're gone," she -said in a shaken voice. "They mustn't have guessed who I was."</p> - -<p>Jupiter stared at her. Lete's yellow eyes were wide, frightened. She -swallowed miserably.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to get that Anolyn off your neck at the first opportunity," -he said, turned to Tabak. "This canal leads to the <i>Dra Dur</i>. Is that -right?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Tabak in a queer voice; "but Jupiter—"</p> - -<p>"What are our chances of getting through now?" he interrupted.</p> - -<p>She shrugged slim white shoulders. "Every second we waste here lessens -them."</p> - -<p>Without another word, he started along the ledge paralleling the canal.</p> - -<p>At regular intervals of about a block ramps led down to the aquaduct -from the surface above. They crossed the mouths of other canals on -narrow bridges. A perfect labyrinth of underground waterways stretched -beneath the city.</p> - -<p>At the fifth ramp, Jupiter heard a twang. Something whistled past his -head. He almost lost his footing as he glanced up and saw a dozen -Nehogans on the ramp leading up to the street.</p> - -<p>Lete spun around and tried to run, knocking Reiloc into the water -with a splash. Tabak caught her, held the cave girl in spite of her -terrified efforts to escape.</p> - -<p>Jupiter dropped to one knee, changing the carbine to automatic, sent a -burst of shots into the warriors above.</p> - -<p>They didn't retreat, but with fierce yells charged straight into his -gun. They were possessed, like Moros running amok. The last one was -less than a yard away before he brought him down with a shot through -the chest.</p> - -<p>That had been close. He felt weak as he pulled Reiloc from the water.</p> - -<p>"They know where we are," the giant Nehogan growled ominously, "our -chances to—"</p> - -<p>"Look out!" Tabak screamed.</p> - -<p>Jupiter whirled around. He was just in time to see Lete run at him -with Reiloc's sword. The cave girl had snatched it from the Nehogan's -scabbard. Holding it like a lance, she flung herself on Jupiter, her -face contorted with hate!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter jumped convulsively into the canal. His instinctive reaction -was the only thing that saved him.</p> - -<p>He broke water, saw that Reiloc had wrenched his sword away from the -cave girl. He was holding her as she fought furiously to tear herself -away, kicking, clawing at the Nehogan's face with her nails. She had -gone utterly berserk. Jupiter was stunned.</p> - -<p>Then he heard Tabak screaming: "Jupiter! Quick! It's the Anolyn! -They've possession of her mind. Hurry!"</p> - -<p>He scrambled desperately back on to the ledge.</p> - -<p>"You've got to take that Anolyn from her neck! They know everything we -do through her," Tabak cried wildly. "They've been in possession of her -mind ever since we reached the canal. That's how they knew where to -ambush us. Anywhere we go they'll be able to send men to intercept us."</p> - -<p>Jupiter nodded grimly. As he prepared the hypodermic of exsrocain, the -Caligan girl pitched in and helped Reiloc pin Lete face-down on the -ledge.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's fingers were shaking as he located a spot on Lete's naked -back, plunged the needle between two of her vertebrae.</p> - -<p>"One—two—three—four," he counted. Without bothering to test for -consciousness he wrenched the little plum-colored shell from the cave -girl's neck, smashed it against the wall of the aquaduct.</p> - -<p>"Carry her!" he ordered Reiloc, and threw his instruments back into the -pack, slipped a fresh drum of cartridges into the carbine. He could -hear the thud of running feet on the ramp leading to the surface.</p> - -<p>"Back!" he said tersely. "We'll have to try another way!"</p> - -<p>For an hour they followed Tabak through the network of aquaducts, -twisting, cutting down bisecting canals until Jupiter was exhausted. -He and the big Nehogan had been carrying the unconscious wild girl by -turns. Twice they saw Anolyn floating down to the sea like big purple -squids, Jupiter shot them before they could telepath an alarm.</p> - -<p>Tabak was in the lead when she stopped abruptly, put her hand to her -mouth.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" Jupiter hissed.</p> - -<p>"The canal! Look!"</p> - -<p>He raised his eyes. The tunnel came to a blind end just ahead. Then he -saw that actually the roof dipped down beneath the surface.</p> - -<p>"We've reached the seawall," Tabak said in a stricken voice. "I've -never tried to leave the city by the canals, but I've heard that it was -impossible. I'd forgotten—"</p> - -<p>Jupiter seized her shoulders. "What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"They—they run entirely underwater for ever so far and come out -beneath the <i>Dra Dur</i>. The Anolyn built them that way in order to keep -the humans from escaping through them."</p> - -<p>Jupiter swore in Lingua Galactica. "Suppose we go back to the streets. -Can we reach the top of the wall? Does the sea come right up to its -base?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," Tabak said with a shiver.</p> - -<p>Reiloc had stretched Lete out on the shelf. She was returning to -consciousness, Jupiter saw; and he stooped, splashing water from the -canal into the cave girl's face. Her eyes opened groggily. She pushed -herself to her elbows, stared about her with the quick, terrified look -of a wild thing.</p> - -<p>"You all right?" Jupiter asked.</p> - -<p>She let her head drop. "Yes. I couldn't help it, Jupiter. I—"</p> - -<p>"You'll do now," he said, not unkindly, and helped her to her feet. -"Come on. We haven't any time to waste."</p> - -<p>When they reached the surface, Jupiter saw that night had fallen, -and with it a thick fog had rolled in from the <i>Dra Dur</i>, choking -the streets solid. It was like wet lamb's wool pressing against his -eyeballs.</p> - -<p>They held hands to keep from becoming separated. Voices reached them -out of the fog. Footsteps passed and faded away. At length they found a -stair leading to the top of the sea wall, felt their way upward.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It seemed like hours to Jupiter before they reached the top. He lay -flat on his belly, felt for the edge. He could see nothing below, but a -faint lap-lap of wavelets against the base of the wall came up to him.</p> - -<p>"How deep is the water here?"</p> - -<p>"D-deep enough," Tabak whispered in a frightened voice.</p> - -<p>"All right, we'll jump."</p> - -<p>Lete gasped. There was a startled, protesting growl from Reiloc.</p> - -<p>"Jump blind, from here—from the top of the wall into the sea?" the -Nehogan said. "Are you mad, Jupiter?"</p> - -<p>"Can you think of any other way to escape?"</p> - -<p>Tabak said in a queer, strained voice: "I'll jump. I'm not afraid—not -too afraid."</p> - -<p>Jupiter heard her move toward the edge of the wall. "No! Wait! I'll go -first—"</p> - -<p>But the Caligan girl had already leaped outward into the thick wet -darkness.</p> - -<p>Jupiter felt suddenly cold all over. He knew that he would never smell -salt water again without recalling the horrible expectancy of that -moment. Time stood still. Then far below they heard a splash!</p> - -<p>"Tabak!" he called softly. He gave her time to rise to the surface. -"Tabak!" He didn't dare lift his voice.</p> - -<p>There was no answer. Just the monotonous lap of the water against the -sea wall.</p> - -<p>"God!" he thought. "She's hurt herself!" And he sprang outward into the -encompassing blackness.</p> - -<p>He seemed to fall for an eternity before he struck. It was like hitting -a plank. The jar ran up his legs. He went down, down, half-dazed. Then -he was clawing frantically to the surface.</p> - -<p>He broke water. He could see nothing. It was like the bottom of a well.</p> - -<p>"Tabak! Tabak! Where are you?"</p> - -<p>His fingers touched something. It was the girl's shoulder. She was -moving feebly, half-conscious. Treading water, he seized her, slid his -arm across her chest, began to tow her away from the wall.</p> - -<p>"Jump!" he called to Reiloc. "I've Tabak."</p> - -<p>"By the Radiant God!" came the Nehogan's hoarse voice; "here I come!"</p> - -<p>There was a splash, followed almost immediately by another, as the cave -girl leaped also. The pair of them came up, blowing, unhurt.</p> - -<p>"Which way?" Reiloc gasped.</p> - -<p>"Follow the wall." Jupiter was trying to recall Tabak's memory -patterns. "We're near the edge of the city, I think. There should be a -beach just ahead."</p> - -<p>They swam on, guiding themselves by the lap of water against the base -of the wall. Jupiter, with his arm across Tabak's shoulder and breast, -felt the girl shudder.</p> - -<p>"Jupiter," she said weakly. "Jupiter, is that you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Are you all right?"</p> - -<p>"I—I think so. I can swim now."</p> - -<p>All at once, he realized that the lapping of the water had changed to a -faint, shushing sound.</p> - -<p>"The beach!" he said.</p> - -<p>Reiloc grunted. Lete didn't say anything. The wild girl swam like an -otter, silent and alert. Jupiter touched bottom, helped Tabak up the -beach, where they all flung themselves down in the warm sand.</p> - -<p>A breeze had started up and was ripping the fog into wisps. A few stars -glittered from the torn sky. The wall of the city loomed above them -dark and threatening.</p> - -<p>Tabak's fingers closed convulsively over Jupiter's hand.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid," she whispered. "It's so big and so empty out here. And -there's no place where we can hide from them. They'll be after us in -the morning with Nehogans and web-birds. They'll never let you go, -Jupiter, never! They're afraid that you'll be able to unite the wild -Kagans—"</p> - -<p>"If we can only reach the ship," he muttered, and felt around in his -pack for the metal tentacle that Reiloc had hacked from the Radiant God.</p> - -<p>It was safe, thank the Lord, though it was only a fraction of the fuel -he would need. The whole idol, that was what he must have. His eyes -narrowed in the darkness.</p> - -<p>The cave girl said in a nervous voice, "We must reach the jungle before -daybreak."</p> - -<p>He pulled himself to his feet. Lete took the lead, striking out for the -invisible hills. She seemed to possess an instinct as unerring as a -homing pigeon's. Every step, Jupiter realized, was taking him further -and further from the source of his fuel.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>During the next twelve days they dodged about the hills. Time after -time they escaped discovery by the narrowest margin. Parties of -Nehogans combed the jungle, while the web-birds wheeled back and forth -in the sky like observation planes. Nothing but Lete's junglecraft -saved them.</p> - -<p>On the thirteenth day they ran into a party of hunters from Lete's -colony. The cave men were strongly thewed brutes, armed with spears and -clubs, dressed in the skins of animals.</p> - -<p>They were suspicious at first. But when Lete explained that Jupiter was -the Wanderer-from-Beyond, they grew excited as children.</p> - -<p>Jupiter had to demonstrate his lightning stick. That night they had -a feast, and the cave men left at dawn to spread the word that the -Wanderer-from-Beyond had actually appeared.</p> - -<p>Two days later they reached the ship.</p> - -<p>As Jupiter parted the last screen of leaves and saw the familiar hull -of the Mizar, he had to bottle up his emotions to keep from yelling -and dancing a jig. He ran his hand fondly along the cool metal, caught -Tabak watching him with a twinkle in her blue eyes. He took his hand -away guiltily, started for the port.</p> - -<p>It was then that Lete balked. The cave girl refused absolutely to enter -the belly of the monster, as she put it. Nor did Reiloc look overjoyed -at the prospect.</p> - -<p>Jupiter was determined to drop like a fiery comet out of the night sky -before the startled cave men. At length he consented to let Reiloc and -Lete go ahead on foot to prepare the wild Kagans for his coming.</p> - -<p>He and Tabak watched the pair disappear into the jungle, then he -touched the button activating the lock.</p> - -<p>Even as he did so there was a sudden swish overhead, and a shadow raced -across the clearing. The Caligan girl screamed. From the corner of his -eye, Jupiter saw a web-bird dropping out of the sky like a hawk!</p> - -<p>He picked up Tabak, tossed her bodily through the port, tumbled in -after her. He kicked the massive door shut not a second too soon. -Racing up the ladder, he searched the sky through the transparent -thermoplas blister.</p> - -<p>It was an empty, hot blue bowl cupping the ship, the jungles and -mountains. Then he saw the web-bird rise in sweeping spirals like an -enormous buzzard.</p> - -<p>A black speck appeared above the crest of a ridge. It was another of -the ungainly creatures. It joined the first and the pair began to -circle high in the sky above the ship. Three more flapped into his -range of vision. They kept coming until at least fifty of the giant -web-birds hung wheeling and dipping monotonously above the Mizar, but -so far away they were little more than black specks.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">VIII</p> - -<p>He was still staring up at them when the Caligan girl climbed up into -the control blister beside him.</p> - -<p>"Can't you shoot them down?" she protested.</p> - -<p>He shook his head.</p> - -<p>"They stay out of range. I don't understand it. The way they act, you'd -think they knew just how close they could come."</p> - -<p>"Of course they know!" Tabak bit her lip. "Jupiter, they're directed -telepathically by the Anolyn, and the Anolyn picked your brain clean!"</p> - -<p>He said: "Damn!"</p> - -<p>"They—they can't get at us in here," Tabak asked, "can they?"</p> - -<p>He shook his head. "We're safe enough as long as we stay inside. We -could fly away, I suppose, but as soon as we came back they'd pick us -up again. And I haven't enough fuel to waste any of it."</p> - -<p>The Caligan girl brightened.</p> - -<p>"At least we're giving Reiloc and Lete a better chance to get through. -We've drawn off all the birds for miles around."</p> - -<p>Jupiter nodded, broke open his pack. Tabak's blue eyes were alive with -curiosity as she watched him feed the radioactive tentacle into the -fuel hoppers, reset the alarms and check the instruments.</p> - -<p>Tabak poked into every corner of the ship, "Oh-ed" and "ah-ed" with -delight. She wanted to know about everything. But before Jupiter could -tell her she would say, "This is Briggs' cabin, isn't it?" Or, "This is -the galley," and laugh at his expression.</p> - -<p>"Jupiter," she said soberly, with one of her quick shifts of mood. -"Are—are you very fond of Lete?"</p> - -<p>He raised his sandy eyebrows. "What made you ask that?"</p> - -<p>"I don't want to see you hurt, Jupiter." Tabak grew more and -more confused under his level stare. "You don't know the Kagans. -They—they're promiscuous like animals. Lete would never understand -your morals. She couldn't—"</p> - -<p>Jupiter slapped his leg, burst into laughter.</p> - -<p>"Good heavens, I'm not in love with her. Why, I'll be leaving Yogol as -soon as I can get enough fuel. I couldn't take her with me anyway."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Tabak.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's eyes suddenly widened.</p> - -<p>"You were speaking Lingua Galactica!"</p> - -<p>"Why not? I know it as well as you." They were back in the control -blister. She sank into an acceleration chair, smoothed the short black -sarong over her legs, raised her eyes to his. A small frown drew her -brows together.</p> - -<p>"Jupiter, what is love?"</p> - -<p>"What did you say?" he asked, not sure that he'd heard her aright.</p> - -<p>"Love. There's no such emotion among Yogolians. Sexual attraction, but -not love. What is it, Jupiter?"</p> - -<p>He gave her a startled, baffled look.</p> - -<p>"It—it's a romantic invention," he said, "to dress up the biological -urge. It's something you feel for another person like hunger only not -so tangible."</p> - -<p>She nodded to herself. "That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Is it -very strong, Jupiter?"</p> - -<p>"It can be."</p> - -<p>"What are the symptoms?"</p> - -<p>He scratched his chin. "It hits different people different ways. -You—you—Oh, hell," he said, "I don't know. What ever made you ask?"</p> - -<p>"I've got it," she said in a stricken voice.</p> - -<p>Jupiter sat bolt upright. "You mean you're in love?"</p> - -<p>She nodded unhappily, stood up. "I think I want to be by myself." -Averting her head, she walked quickly to the door and slipped out of -sight down the ladder before Jupiter could recover from the shock.</p> - -<p>"Hey!" he cried, springing to his feet; "where are you going?"</p> - -<p>There was no answer. Then he heard the door of Briggs' cabin open and -close. Suddenly his eyes widened. He dropped down the ladder, tried -the door, but it was locked. "Tabak! Tabak!" he called, rapped on the -panel. "Open up!"</p> - -<p>"Go away," he heard her call in an unsteady voice; "please go away and -leave me alone."</p> - -<p>"Tabak, listen," he said. "You didn't mean me? You weren't talking -about me when you said—" His voice trailed off. Confound it, that -didn't sound at all the way he wanted it to.</p> - -<p>There was something suspiciously like a sob from beyond the door.</p> - -<p>"No!" Tabak said in a muffled voice. "Of course not!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter felt suddenly very foolish. Without another word, he turned on -his heel, strode from the passage.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two days later the web-birds came—tiny black specks wheeling around -and around in the sky like vultures drawn by carrion. Jupiter stood in -the control blister and scowled up at them.</p> - -<p>He was worried about Reiloc and the cave girl who should have returned -yesterday. Maybe he'd better not wait any longer. He was turning away -to call Tabak, when a wild clamor broke loose from stem to stern of the -Mizar as the alarm bell began to ring. Jupiter's head jerked up! The -black specks were plummeting Yogol-wards, diving like kingfishers.</p> - -<p>Then he saw Lete break from the encircling jungle, sprint for the ship. -The cave girl was alone. There was no sign of Reiloc anywhere.</p> - -<p>Jupiter yelled down the tube to Tabak: "Open the port! Quick!"</p> - -<p>He heard her gasp as he sprang for the keys that brought the needle gun -into play.</p> - -<p>It was a precision weapon, a fine, invisible ray of disruptive force. -As the first of the web-birds dropped arrow-like into range, the ray -touched it. The creature exploded like a fountain of spray. He got two -more before the startled birds sheered off.</p> - -<p>Snapping on the outside amplifiers, he yelled: "Lete!" His voice boomed -through the loudspeaker—a giant's voice that stopped the cave girl -dead in her tracks. "Lete! What's wrong?"</p> - -<p>She stared upward in fright at the gleaming bullet-shaped monster.</p> - -<p>"Quick, girl, speak up!"</p> - -<p>"The Anolyn," she said in a small voice.</p> - -<p>"What about them?"</p> - -<p>"The Anolyn have sent a great army of Nehogans. Our men have seen them, -less than a day's march from here."</p> - -<p>"Get in the ship!" Jupiter commanded.</p> - -<p>Lete began to tremble, but she was too frightened to disobey. She -climbed meekly through the port. With a hollow "clang!" it shut behind -her.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jupiter blasted the starship off the ground with the jets. He couldn't -use the inertialess stellar drive inside Yogol's gravitational field -and the Mizar rocked sickeningly as it hurtled above the surface under -rocket propulsion.</p> - -<p>Lete cowered in the shock absorber where Jupiter had buckled her down -against her will. Her yellow eyes were glazed. She was like a wild -animal in a trap.</p> - -<p>Tabak was pale, but she stared eagerly through the transparent rind of -the blister. Jupiter shot her an approving glance. He'd never realized -how blue the Caligan girl's eyes were—cerulean blue, alive, dancing -like a little girl's with a new doll.</p> - -<p>"Take the scanner," he said gruffly. "You should know how it operates."</p> - -<p>"May I? I'll be ever so careful."</p> - -<p>She found it unhesitatingly, turned it on. The surface of Yogol sprang -on the screen in three dimensional reality. Tabak gasped.</p> - -<p>"I'm almost afraid I might fall into it!" Then she stiffened. "There -they are! There! Look, Jupiter!"</p> - -<p>He glanced into the screen. The valley widened out below, and he could -see a great army of men camped on the level ground. Thousands of the -copper-skinned Nehogan warriors! They stood in excited clusters, -staring upward, pointing at the Mizar with its comet tail of flame.</p> - -<p>Jupiter could make out the striped tents of the Anolyn in the center of -the encampment. He could see pink-skinned Caligans and stolid porters. -He turned to the terrified cave girl.</p> - -<p>"What happened to Reiloc?"</p> - -<p>Lete only moaned.</p> - -<p>"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where's Reiloc?"</p> - -<p>"He—he stayed at the cliffs to organize my people into an army. The -tribes have been coming in for days. Ever since the word spread that -the Wanderer has appeared. Reiloc said to tell you that he was going to -split his forces, attack from both ends of the valley."</p> - -<p>Jupiter swore under his breath. "We're going down," he told Tabak. -"Going down fast. Hang onto your hair."</p> - -<p>He put the Mizar into a tight spiral, drove her down like a blazing -meteor. The star ship must have presented an awe-inspiring sight, jets -shooting streamers of flame, her nose pointed directly at the cluster -of striped tents in the center of the army.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>He drove her down like a blazing meteor.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Below him, the Nehogans scattered panic-stricken. The surface was -rushing up at him like a gigantic expanding cannon ball. He cut in -"George", buckled himself down frantically.</p> - -<p>The Mizar seemed to explode as every available jet burst into life. A -thunderous booming roar deafened him. Then the ship struck with a jar -that almost shook loose his teeth.</p> - -<p>He threw off the straps, dived for the control panel.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ash covered the ground where the tents had been. At least half of the -purple-shelled octopods had been consumed instantly by the jets. The -Anolyn who remained alive were scuttling for the protection of the -jungle. Jupiter swung the needle gun into action.</p> - -<p>The Nehogans had outstripped their slow-moving masters, who crawled -like a cluster of frightened tortoises across the bare, flat land. The -sides of the valley were alive with humans; they had fled that far and -had turned to watch in frightened silence.</p> - -<p>Jupiter concentrated on the Anolyn, picking them off one by one. Only a -few seconds actually had elapsed since the Mizar had appeared over the -horizon, and already less than a dozen of the terrified creatures were -left, crawling desperately for the hills.</p> - -<p>A sudden whisper of wings sounded overhead. Something like the shadow -of a cloud raced across the flat land toward the cluster of fleeing -octopods.</p> - -<p>"The web-birds!" Tabak cried.</p> - -<p>Jupiter lifted his eyes, saw a flock of the ungainly creatures. There -must have been nearly a hundred of them. They swooped down on their -Anolyn masters, plucked the octopods from the ground with a furious -beating of wings.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's eyes widened in disbelief as the remaining Anolyn were borne -to safety above the tree tops.</p> - -<p>The Mizar was left all alone in the center of the valley.</p> - -<p>Then to a man the frightened mob on the hillsides fell down on their -faces, arms extended before them toward the ship below, and a great -babbling cry arose:</p> - -<p>"The Wanderer! The Wanderer-from-Beyond!"</p> - -<p>Tabak whirled away from the plastic rind.</p> - -<p>"Jupiter! There comes Reiloc now! He must be warned, Jupiter! He -doesn't know that the Anolyn have fled. He'll attack!"</p> - -<p>At the head of the valley a mass of half-naked cavemen were streaming -from the trees. They were a wild, undisciplined lot like an army of -soldier ants on the march. Even from this distance, Jupiter recognized -the giant figure of Reiloc striding at their head.</p> - -<p>He swore in Lingua Galactica. "I can't afford to leave the ship just -yet. Not until we know how that crazy Anolyn army's going to behave. -The ship's our ace in the hole."</p> - -<p>"I'll go," Tabak said, and darted for the well.</p> - -<p>Jupiter watched her disappear down the ladder with a vague feeling of -uneasiness. Then he turned back to the transparent rind. He caught -sight of her again, running across the level ground toward Reiloc, -waving her arms—a slim, blonde figure in the sarong, barefooted and -barelegged. He swallowed disconsolately.</p> - -<p>So, he thought, it must be Reiloc that she's crazy about. Reiloc!</p> - -<p>He could see the giant Nehogan leave the cavemen, hurry toward the -girl. They met on the level valley floor between the ship and the wild -Kagans who were still debouching from among the trees.</p> - -<p>Jupiter's blood ran suddenly cold. A flock of web-birds had appeared -over the crest of the hill.</p> - -<p>He leaped for the keys of the needle gun.</p> - -<p>"Reiloc!" he yelled through the P. A. "Tabak! Watch out! The birds!"</p> - -<p>He got three of the ungainly flying webs with the needle ray. Then he -couldn't shoot any more.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hell," he said.</p> - -<p>The web-birds had dropped onto the pair in the open. Jupiter could -see neither Reiloc nor Tabak. Only the monstrous fluttering of the -creature's wings. Then the flock lifted slowly into the air bearing -the Nehogan and the Caligan girl aloft. Jupiter didn't dare fire for -fear of hitting either the one or the other.</p> - -<p>They rose higher, higher, then straight as wild bees they lined out for -the distant city by the <i>Dra Dur</i>.</p> - -<p>Jupiter was beside himself with helpless rage and consternation. He -couldn't chase them in the starship. It would be like attempting to -follow a school of fish in an ocean liner.</p> - -<p>He was stunned. He sank into an acceleration chair, while the web-birds -with their human freight, became smaller and smaller in the distance.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>During the days following the capture of Tabak and Reiloc, Jupiter -was frantic. He couldn't rid his mind of the horrors that the fragile -Caligan girl might be undergoing. The breeding stations, the biological -laboratories, the inhuman orgies that took place in the city by the -<i>Dra Dur</i>. Reiloc would be no better off, except that they might kill -him outright instead of by degrees. Every hour's delay multiplied their -danger.</p> - -<p>Jupiter drove himself unmercifully, but there weren't enough hours for -him to cram in all the things that had to be done.</p> - -<p>He allowed the Kagans to retain their loose tribal organization. -More tribes joined the march on the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i> every day. -They were more like a migrating people than an army. They were bound -together by only one common impulse—a desire to annihilate the Anolyn.</p> - -<p>Lete was some help to Jupiter there. The cave girl acted as liaison -officer between him and the Kagan chiefs. He was aware that she -had risen to a position of eminence among her people—an Amazon -chieftainess, a cave girl Joan of Arc.</p> - -<p>Her rise to power suited him because it left him free to organize the -Nehogan army.</p> - -<p>They were his only trained body of men and they were useless so long -as the parasites were fastened to their necks. The Anolyn could regain -control of them, turn his own army against him.</p> - -<p>Jupiter set himself to the impossible task of administering the -exsrocain to the Nehogan soldiers, the Caligan advisers, even the -green-skinned porters.</p> - -<p>He made short hops in the star ship, setting up his camp ahead of -the slow-moving army. As soon as they began to stream in, he set to -administering the drug. He trained a staff of Caligans, who were more -adept at such things. He synthesized gallons of the stuff and taught -them how to synthesize it.</p> - -<p>And all the time he lived in perpetual dread of the Anolyn's next move.</p> - -<p>Overhead the web-birds wheeled and dipped, at first hundreds, then -thousands of the creatures as they drew closer to the city. They were -the eyes of the Anolyn, he sensed. They followed the army like gulls -following a ship.</p> - -<p>On the seventeenth day they reached the broad plains surrounding -the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i>, deployed before the towering walls and -battlements.</p> - -<p>The Nehogan general and Lete were closeted with Jupiter in the Mizar, -laying their final plans, when a postern gate opened and a man left the -city, made his way alone toward the lines of the invading army.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He was a Caligan in a living, yellow furred boj and sandals. His eyes -were peculiar—a glazed blue like enamelware. He made no move to escape -or defend himself when the pickets grabbed him.</p> - -<p>He said that he had a message for the Wanderer-from-Beyond from the -Anolyn.</p> - -<p>He was turned over to a Nehogan officer and brought before Jupiter in -the Mizar.</p> - -<p>One look at the man told Jupiter that he was possessed—that he was -merely a vehicle through which some Anolyn inside the city was seeing, -hearing, speaking, acting—</p> - -<p>In an undertone he cautioned Lete and the Nehogan general not to -mention their plans, turned to the Caligan envoy.</p> - -<p>"What message do the Anolyn send?"</p> - -<p>The Caligan stood like a man in a cataleptic trance, regarded Jupiter -with fixed, unwinking attention.</p> - -<p>"I am to inform you that the girl, Tabak, and the man, Reiloc, are -unharmed."</p> - -<p>Jupiter realized suddenly that his forehead was covered with sweat. He -didn't interrupt.</p> - -<p>The Caligan continued in that flat, unemotional voice:</p> - -<p>"Unless you disband your army and send them away, the girl will be -turned over to the long-tailed Begans to play with. If she survives -the animal-men, which is doubtful, she will be sent to the biological -laboratories for vivisection. Reiloc, of course, will be operated on -immediately."</p> - -<p>The Caligan paused. The control blister was still.</p> - -<p>"In the event you agree to the Anolyn terms," the emissary went on, -"both Tabak and Reiloc will be set free outside the city gates. You are -to take them aboard your ship and leave Yogol forever.</p> - -<p>"Post-hypnotic commands have been implanted in both their minds. If you -return or attempt treachery, of any kind, they will kill you.</p> - -<p>"You have until sunup to give us your decision."</p> - -<p>The Caligan stopped talking.</p> - -<p>Jupiter let his breath run out between his teeth. The orange sun was -sinking into the <i>Dra Dur</i>. Lete's yellow eyes glittered. The Nehogan -general opened his mouth to speak. But Jupiter silenced him with an -imperative gesture.</p> - -<p>"This is not something to be decided without thought," he told the -unwinking emissary. "We'll give you our answer before daybreak." He -turned to the guards. "Lock him in my cabin."</p> - -<p>No sooner had the door closed on the Caligan envoy, than Lete sprang -to her feet. She was clad in the fur of some jungle beast. A sword and -dagger hung at her waist. She made Jupiter think of a savage Joan of -Arc more than ever and he could feel his heart sink.</p> - -<p>"There is but one answer," she flashed, "and that's to attack! Attack -tonight before they can bring up reinforcements.</p> - -<p>"This is the first time the Kagans have been united. Do they think -we're foolish enough to throw away everything for the life of a man and -a girl!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter didn't say anything.</p> - -<p>The Nehogan general shook his head. He looked somewhat like Reiloc -except that he was older, heavier.</p> - -<p>"After all," he said, "many men will die during the battle. Is that any -reason to abandon the fight? What's the life of two people against the -whole world? I don't understand it. The Anolyn must be very desperate -to offer such terms. It is a trick, maybe."</p> - -<p>"No," said Jupiter. "No, I don't think it's a trick." But he knew that -it would be impossible to explain his feelings either to the cave -girl or the Nehogan general. Such sentimentality was foreign to their -natures. If he attempted to dissuade them from their purpose, they -would go ahead in spite of him. And he couldn't blame them.</p> - -<p>He said: "We'll attack at sunup."</p> - -<p>"But why wait until then?" Lete demanded hotly, "When the Anolyn will -be expecting us?"</p> - -<p>"To give me time to get inside and open the gate," he told her.</p> - -<p>"You can get inside the city?" the Nehogan general asked incredulously. -"Undetected?"</p> - -<p>"I think so. It's worth a try."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the general grimly, "if you can get the gate open it may -mean the difference between victory and defeat. When will you start?"</p> - -<p>Jupiter was staring at the spires and steeples of the city by the <i>Dra -Dur</i>, bathed in the angry orange rays of the setting sun.</p> - -<p>"One hour after dark," he said.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IX</p> - -<p>Jupiter dismounted the needle ray. It never had been intended to serve -as a hand weapon. It was like carrying a fifty millimeter anti-aircraft -gun, but on this planet of mild gravity he was able to handle it well -enough.</p> - -<p>He encased it carefully in waterproof wrappings. Then he broke out a -spacesuit.</p> - -<p>Sun up. The order was to attack at sun up! It didn't give him much time.</p> - -<p>The Yogolians knew nothing about reducing a fortified city, but they -had cut timbers for scaling ladders. The cavemen could run up them like -monkeys. They should carry the walls by sheer numbers.</p> - -<p>Lete and the Nehogan general watched him curiously as he donned the -spacesuit. He picked up the unwieldy gun, started through the soft -black night for the city.</p> - -<p>They went along with him discussing their plans. He answered in grunts, -his voice harshly metallic coming through the diaphragm. At the front -lines he left them behind and went on alone across the level plain like -a robot in the cumbersome suit.</p> - -<p>The impulse to run was almost uncontrollable. Suppose the Anolyn were -suspicious. They might have been bluffing, Tabak and Reiloc might -already be dead. He began to sweat.</p> - -<p>He plodded on steadily through soft, plowed land. He reached a pasture -and a herd of the long-tailed Begans ran up sniffing him curiously. -The black, hairy men followed him, grunting, among themselves, to the -opposite fence where they stopped. They had been trained not to climb -fences.</p> - -<p>All at once he realized that he had come to the beach. The walls of the -city loomed darkly massive above him. Stars twinkled in the velvet sky.</p> - -<p>He waded out into the water. The stars vanished as the <i>Dra Dur</i> closed -above his helmet. He snapped on his torch.</p> - -<p>The light drove a lance through water ahead, revealing the sandy -bottom, strange submarine creatures. He struggled on and on, the pitch -of the sea floor becoming steeper. It was like a fairyland of grottoes -and trailing seaweed. Then the rays from his torch struck the gaping -mouth of a cave.</p> - -<p>Only it wasn't a cave at all. It was more like a tunnel—a tunnel that -the ancients had driven through the mountains.</p> - -<p>Jupiter felt his heart leap into his throat. It was what he had been -searching for—the mouth of one of the canals leading beneath the city -by the <i>Dra Dur</i>.</p> - -<p>He turned into it, his light revealing smooth composition walls, green -and slick with algae. He must have gone a mile before he found a ramp -leading to the surface.</p> - -<p>As his helmet broke water, he saw that his luck was still holding. He -was beneath the temple of the Radiant God. The ramp which continued on -up into the temple proper was deserted.</p> - -<p>He sat down, unwrapped the needle gun, then started up the ramp like -some amphibious monster of the deep. Tabak and Reiloc, he was sure, -were being confined in the temple. The breeding pens more than likely, -since that was where most of the human guinea pigs were confined.</p> - -<p>He didn't encounter a single Anolyn until he reached the central -courtyard.</p> - -<p>The courtyard was divided into runs like a dog kennel. It was dark with -a pitch-like blackness. He hastily shut the air intake valve on the -spacesuit. The stench was terrible. He could hear grunts, soft voices. -Someplace in the darkness a girl was crying.</p> - -<p>Jupiter was revolted to the depths of his being. When he thought of -Tabak being shut up here, he could feel his blood run cold.</p> - -<p>How was he going to find her in this mess? He didn't dare use the torch -and time was running out.</p> - -<p>Overhead the stars were paling. A light appeared diagonally across the -courtyard. He flattened himself against the wall.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was a torch, he saw, in the hand of a pink-skinned Caligan. A dozen -grotesque Anolyn followed the torch bearer, then a company of Nehogans. -Jupiter watched them make their way between the runs.</p> - -<p>His eyes suddenly narrowed. They had stopped before a cage in which he -could see a girl.</p> - -<p>The door was opened, the girl dragged out, hustled toward a pen of long -tailed Begans. The smoky light of the torch glared briefly on her face.</p> - -<p>Tabak! They had taken away the girl's sarong, caged her like a wild -animal.</p> - -<p>Jupiter swung up the needle ray. He could see them leading Reiloc from -the next cage.</p> - -<p>He yelled: "Tabak! Reiloc! To me!" and flicked on the ray gun.</p> - -<p>The disruptive beam of force touched one of the guards. There was a -brief, brilliant flash. Then another and another as the ray fingered -guard after guard.</p> - -<p>The yard went from light to dark to light again, freezing the action. -Jupiter saw Tabak break away, sprint toward him down the corridor -between the runs. Reiloc was directly behind her. The giant Nehogan had -snatched a sword from one of the guards whom Jupiter had rayed down. He -brandished it over his head, yelled savagely.</p> - -<p>More Nehogans poured into the courtyard, summoned telepathically by the -Anolyn. Then Reiloc and Tabak were crowding beside him.</p> - -<p>"The city gates!" Jupiter barked. "We've got to reach them before dawn!"</p> - -<p>"This way," Tabak cried. She plunged into a passage leading from the -court.</p> - -<p>"Not so fast," Jupiter grunted. "I can't keep up in this damned suit."</p> - -<p>The Caligan girl slowed down. Behind them the pandemonium from the -breeding pens became fainter and died away. Reiloc, pounding along at -Jupiter's elbow, said:</p> - -<p>"Has the city been attacked?"</p> - -<p>"No. Sun up. We've got to open the main gate."</p> - -<p>They burst from the temple into the street. The guard at the entrance -was caught flatfooted. Reiloc laid him out with a blow of his sword, -and they ran on down a strangely deserted street.</p> - -<p>"Where's everybody?" Jupiter panted.</p> - -<p>Tabak said over her shoulder. "There's only a skeleton force in the -city. Most of the Nehogans were in the army they sent after us."</p> - -<p>Red was streaking the East, when they reached the gate. It was guarded -by a lone Anolyn and a dozen Caligans.</p> - -<p>Jupiter rayed the octopod and the Caligans scattered like frightened -birds. Reiloc started the mechanism that rolled back the massive, -circular gate. No one tried to stop them.</p> - -<p>Jupiter continued to wait tensely, covering the street with the needle -ray. He was still waiting when the advance body of the encircling -Nehogan army poured through the entrance.</p> - -<p>He stood there—a scowl on his lean brown face as the Nehogans -continued to trot into the city. They were veterans. They fanned up the -streets, searched the buildings as they went. There were a few sharp -clashes, but that was all.</p> - -<p>In less than an hour, the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i> had fallen.</p> - -<p>The Anolyn had retreated silently into the sea from whence they had -arisen.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As the last chunk of the Radiant God went into the fuel hoppers aboard -the Mizar, Jupiter realized that there was nothing left to hold him on -the planet.</p> - -<p>The Yogolians were busy organizing themselves into a cohesive people. -Outside the city walls, the horde was camped. Lete was high in the -council of chiefs and an expedition was being planned against a second -town further up the coast.</p> - -<p>They were a resilient race, these Yogolians. Now that they had the -means to combat the Anolyn, it wouldn't be long before the last of the -octopods were driven back into the <i>Dra Dur</i>. They didn't need him any -more.</p> - -<p>Jupiter climbed the ladder to the control blister. It was night, the -bluish pallor of the riding lights illuminating the instruments. All -about him rose the dark spires of the city by the <i>Dra Dur</i>.</p> - -<p>He stared upward through the blister. The huge, dark nebula seemed to -cut a hole in space.</p> - -<p>He felt a tingle in his nerve ends. He was sure Earth lay on the other -side of that hundred-and-twenty-light-year long stretch of blackness. A -sudden wave of homesickness gripped him.</p> - -<p>Why not blast off now—this minute?</p> - -<p>He could feel his heart pump a little faster. The ship was fueled up, -ready to go. He had told Reiloc only a little while ago that he might -leave any time—tonight even.</p> - -<p>He hadn't seen Tabak since the fall of the city. He had tried to find -her, asking questions of everyone, but nobody seemed to know anything -about her. The Caligan girl obviously was avoiding him.</p> - -<p>Jupiter swore under his breath. His fingers touched the controls. Flame -rumbled suddenly in the jets, rebounded in orange billows past the -blister.</p> - -<p>As soon as Jupiter was beyond Yogol's gravitational field, he switched -to the inertialess stellar drive, turned the ship over to "George". He -leaned back in his seat. It was good to feel the weightless buoyancy of -deep space again.</p> - -<p>Someone said: "Dinner is being served in the galley, sir!"</p> - -<p>Jupiter shot out of his chair, banged his shoulder against the -overhead, forgetting all about his lack of weight. He rebounded -helplessly to the deck, squirmed around.</p> - -<p>"Tabak!" he gasped.</p> - -<p>The Caligan girl stood beside the ladder leading below. She was dressed -in Brigg's olive-green uniform, her eyes dancing.</p> - -<p>"But I thought you'd gone away!"</p> - -<p>Her face softened. "I couldn't. It—it's too strong for me, Jupiter. -I've been in Brigg's cabin all the time. I knew that was one place -you'd never go."</p> - -<p>He said: "Then it was me?" his eyes slowly kindling.</p> - -<p>Tabak nodded.</p> - -<p>Jupiter shoved off from the back of the shock absorber, grabbed the -girl in his arms. "You're crazy," he said, "you didn't have to stow -away."</p> - -<p>"But you said you wouldn't take anybody with you when you left."</p> - -<p>The tube began to buzz angrily; the red light winked on. Jupiter -stiffened.</p> - -<p>"Who's <i>that</i>?"</p> - -<p>Then Reiloc's voice sounded in the communicator.</p> - -<p>"Will you come down here and show me how to eat?" he demanded in an -aggrieved voice. "My coffee is floating in a ball around the ceiling!"</p> - -<p>Tabak giggled.</p> - -<p>Jupiter couldn't believe it. He said, "Who else is aboard?"</p> - -<p>"No one. Just Reiloc and me. You're not angry, are you? He was wild to -come. I never could have stayed hidden if it hadn't been for him. He -brought me food and—"</p> - -<p>"You mean he knew where you were all the time?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said meekly.</p> - -<p>"Are you coming down?" Reiloc bellowed; "or must I starve?"</p> - -<p>"Go ahead and starve," said Jupiter, "we're busy."</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWORD OF FIRE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> -<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most - other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions - whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms - of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online - at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/64771-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/64771-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5a298c8..0000000 --- a/old/64771-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/64771-h/images/illus.jpg b/old/64771-h/images/illus.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9b40e30..0000000 --- a/old/64771-h/images/illus.jpg +++ /dev/null |
