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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be25269 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64873 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64873) diff --git a/old/64873-0.txt b/old/64873-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ccd5498..0000000 --- a/old/64873-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1946 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ice Planet, by Carl Selwyn - -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: Ice Planet - -Author: Carl Selwyn - -Release Date: March 20, 2021 [eBook #64873] - -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 ICE PLANET *** - - - - - ICE PLANET - - by CARL SELWYN - - _He saw the huge ball that - was Neptune circle below, - like a weak green light bulb._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Comet May 41. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -"If it's going to happen," thought Bill Ricker, "it's got to be -quick." Lounging deep in his red-leather chair, he peered out of the -port as the sleek space ship streamed through the darkness. He could -see nothing outside but a big, humorous-eyed young man who was his own -reflection and the pale green globe that was Neptune. The great planet -hung like a ghostly emerald in the void, sinister in its loneliness. -But bleak, desolate, a snowball of frozen gases, it was hardly the -place for an ambush.... - -"Pretty, ain't she?" said the whiskery old fellow across the aisle. - -"Neptune?" Ricker glanced at the sourdough, then followed his gaze down -the narrow aisle. "Oh--_her_!" - -There were twelve seats but only five passengers. Further down was a -tubercular-looking Martian and near the pilot room sat a fat man with a -woman. The fat man chewed sleepily on a dead cigar and the woman stared -out of the window. They were handcuffed together. - -"Ever seen the orchids on Amor?" said Ricker. "Well, she's just as -beautiful--and just as dangerous...." She was obviously Venusian but -her skin wasn't exactly yellow, he decided. It was golden brown, little -different from a deeply-tanned Earth girl. - -"They say she shot his head plumb off," said the old codger. - -"Yep, she certainly mowed him down." - -The sourdough lifted a bony finger toward Ricker's brief case. "I -noticed th' tag on yer kit there," he ventured. "Says th' _Planetary -Times_. Be you one o' them telenews fellows?" - -Ricker grinned. "Shore am, podner," he said. - -"Gonna write about this here murderess arriving on Pluto?" - -Ricker nodded good-humoredly. "That's my job." - -Slowly a faint siren hum penetrated the cabin, not unlike the sound -of a power plant. A power plant it was too, the ship digging in full -blast as it skirted the pull of Neptune. Ricker turned away from his -garrulous neighbor, saw the sea-tinted planet had doubled in size. It -was a perfect sphere, without a mark on its surface, a ring of solid -hydrogen and helium. A worthless world, thought Ricker; worthless as -was half the universe--because the woman in the seat up front had -killed a man! - -"Molly Borden--Benjamin Adison ..." the sourdough mused, apparently -still awed by such infamous company. - -"Yep," said Ricker, remembering a line from his last story: "In the -flash of a pistol those names became linked forever...." It was odd, he -reflected. One was a woman nobody at the trial had ever seen before, -the other was a man whose name echoed throughout the spaceways. -Benjamin Adison was to stellar travel what Wright had been to -terrestrial aviation and in his sixtieth year when, at the completion -of his work on planet-warming, he had suddenly become _corpus delicti_ -in the perfect telenews story. A stolen secret, a mysterious woman, -a person high in the government--it had all the angles. Then Senator -Trexel was acquitted, Molly Borden confessed. Now she was journeying to -a life sentence on the penal planet. - -"Too bad she burned Adison's plans when they trapped her." It was -Ricker's self-appointed traveling companion again. - -"We lost the resources of four worlds by that little trick," Bill -agreed. "The police found enough in the ashes to convince them it was -the plans." He smiled to himself slightly, like someone who expected -something but wasn't quite sure he could count on it. He was probably -the only one in the universe who wondered if those ashes really were -the plans. What if they still existed--what if Molly Borden hadn't been -working alone after all--what if those plans for an apparatus that -could heat a whole planet were in the wrong hands--? Well, it would be -a great telenews story at least, worth following this woman all the way -from Earth on a hunch.... - -The Martian began coughing again and Ricker watched him get up, very -tall, thin, emaciated. He was typically Martian with his dusty brown -face, beaked nose and heavy handsomeness. He walked slowly down the -aisle toward the water fountain. - -"Funny how Adison's daughter swore she'd seen Senator Trexel leaving -her pa's laboratory," continued the sourdough. - -"Trexel proved he was somewhere else at the time," said Ricker. "He's -got a bad reputation but it's graft--not murder. Dorothy Adison's just -a dizzy debutante. She left for a hunting trip immediately after the -inquest, couldn't be located for the trial. But with Molly Borden's -confession there wasn't--" - -It was a sound like a handclap. Ricker glanced up, then stiffened -erect. - -The Martian stood in the aisle beside the detective and the woman. He -stared calmly over his shoulder at Ricker and the sourdough and in his -right hand was a pistol leveled generally at them both. - -"Please be very quiet," his lips moved in soft, even tones. Then -without taking his snaky eyes from them, he spoke to the woman. "The -key is in his left vest pocket," he said. "We'll take a small boat and -drop out of this before the pilots can be warned." - - * * * * * - -Ricker stared like he was watching a tele-movie. Molly Borden's face -was expressionless as a doll as she fumbled at the detective. Ricker -heard a click and the fat man toppled out of his seat into the aisle. -His limp body settled awkwardly on the floor, legs under the seat, and -from the back of his head welled a dark stain that seeped into the -carpet. - -"He slugged 'im," breathed the sourdough. - -"Shut up!" threatened the beady-eyed Martian. "The first sound of alarm -will be your last!" Coughing quietly, he stepped aside to let the woman -pass and she moved up the aisle like a robot. Green eyes straight -ahead, she did not even glance at Ricker as she passed him. - -Ricker realized in open space their scheme would be absurd but here, -with the pull of Neptune on their side, they'd fall away in the -darkness before the pilots knew what had happened. - -The Martian turned quickly as he passed, kept the gun on them. "Open -the lock and get ready," he told the woman. She threw the lever on a -safety door, entered the boat and reached for the switch to slide the -boat's door shut after the Martian was in. - -Both doors close simultaneously, thought Ricker; the boat drops when -the doors close. - -The Martian backed slowly through the door like a great dark crawfish. -For an instant his pistol was out of sight. - -Ricker sprang from his seat like a panther, dived head first as the -doors slid home. - -The pistol roared. - -But the flash of the gun was an instant behind the hand that knocked it -aside. It clattered to the hull of the boat as Ricker bowled the man to -the floor. - -Both were on their feet like cats. The Martian leaped for the pistol. -The woman flattened against the wall. - -Clang! - -The door clamped shut and Ricker's stomach rushed into his chest. Blood -suddenly throbbed in his ears. His feet seemed nailed to the floor. The -Martian and the woman swirled dizzily before his darkening eyes. It was -like being in an elevator when the cable broke. - -They were hurtling down, down through the darkness toward Neptune.... - -Weak and sick, when his head quit spinning, Ricker struggled to his -knees. The first thing he saw was a small instrument panel in front of -him. He stared at it a moment, collecting his senses. One register read -"ninety-three" but it didn't sink in at first. Then he gasped. - -"Ninety-three _miles_!" They'd fallen that far--straight down! No -wonder he'd gone out. The normal jump of these boats was only twenty -miles before the autobrake took over. The gravity of Neptune--! He -remembered then. - -His gaze leaped to the Martian lying in a corner of the cabin. The thin -fellow moaned slightly and his eyes were closed. His pistol lay beside -him and Ricker stepped over, snatched it up as his eyes flickered. When -they opened, the gun barrel was pointed at them. - -"Tables're inclined to turn when you take a dive like that." He grinned -at the bewildered man. The woman, crumpled near the door, stirred and -sat up. She stared at them a moment as her ivory face changed from -puzzlement to rage. - -She glared and finally asked, "What are you going to do?" - -"Make the scoop of the century," Ricker's blue eyes twinkled. "I'm Bill -Ricker of the _Planetary Times_. I'm going to contact my boss and give -him a chat with Benjamin Adison's murderess after her most sensational -but unsuccessful escape." The idea was positively brilliant. "I don't -think the law'll mind--the Patrol can have you when I'm through." - -"You won't get me before a radio," snarled the Martian, his eyes like -black marbles. - -"Well!" said Ricker, feigning surprise. "The dear boy's publicity shy! -Afraid your boss'll be annoyed if you make a fool of yourself?" The -question went in the man like a barb. He said nothing, but his swarthy -cheeks paled a shade. Ricker's elation soared. "I followed Molly Borden -all the way from Earth thinking something would happen." He grinned. -"I thought another plane'd attack and try to rescue her but you, my -weak-lunged friend, were melodramatic enough. Also, when the Patrol -gets through with you maybe we'll know where those _plans_ are." - -The woman started, perceptibly. "I burned the plans!" she flared. - -"That's what the police thought," said Ricker. "But they thought -you were working alone, too, and your Martian chum here has rather -disproved that. No, Molly Borden. There's more to the Adison case than -came out in the trial. There're others involved. I'm going to find out -_who_ if it's my last story." - -"You blundering imbecile--!" the woman broke suddenly. But quickly she -stopped, clinched her teeth and lowered her eyes. Since Ricker had -known her, this was the first time she'd lost that notorious composure -and he made a mental note of it. He had the telenews man's objectivity -about murderers, millionaires and chorus girls. Molly Borden wasn't a -cold-blooded killer to him, nor a most lovely woman. To Ricker she was -just a good telenews yarn.... - -He waved the pistol toward the boat's little air lock. "Get in there, -both of you," he ordered. "It'll keep you out of mischief while I -contact the _Times_." - -The lock was slightly larger than a closet, about one quarter the size -of the whole boat. Standing well away from any sudden move, Ricker -forced them in, sullen and tight-lipped. He spun a wheel giving them -enough air and slid the door on the hissing chamber. Then hands on his -hips, he surveyed the interior of the cabin. - -From about waist-high on all sides and sloping overhead, the walls were -transparent--glassite, a foot thick. At the nose of the triangular -shaped room was a control box, instrument panel and a small radio -outfit. Ricker stepped over quickly, his pulse pounding with glee. - -He checked the auto-pilot; it was idling the boat correctly in its wide -driftless circle. Then he clicked on the transmitter, found the New -York beam and sat down. - -"Ricker calling _Times_, Ricker calling _Planetary Times_...." As he -waited, he glanced through the glass, saw the huge ball of Neptune -circle beneath him. The planet glowed like a weak green light bulb in -the lonely darkness and he shivered to think twelve inches of glassite -was all that stood between him and the vacuum of stellar night, the -long dead fall to those snows far below.... - -"_Planetary Times_. What is it--?" - -"Gimme th' Chief!" His fingers tattooed excitedly on the panel. "Chief? -This's Rick. Got th' biggest story since the ice age. Molly Borden's -escaped with a Martian. What? No! Don't start an extra yet!" He paused -for breath. "Gimme a Mercury-to-Pluto hook up. I've got Molly and her -accomplice _here_--for a personal interview." - -"Jupiter's jumpers!" - -Ricker had never heard the Chief so gone wild before. "Yep. That's -right." He laughed. "Do I get that raise? Just a moment and I'll put -Molly Borden on the ether...." - -He turned half-way around, half rose from his seat--and froze. - -Beside him, outside the glass, was a huge glistening shape, like a -space beast swimming in the void. It gleamed bright silver in the light -from the cabin and as he stared, mouth open, it THUMPED against the -side of the boat. - -Panic jumped in Ricker. He almost fell over the instrument panel. - -Then he made out a row of darkened ports, a shark-like prow. He -realized then slowly. The shadowed bulk outside was a space ship. It -showed no lights, no life.... - - * * * * * - -The ship drifted past like a falling leaf, a ghostly hulk floating -aimlessly down toward Neptune. As it disappeared below the glass, -Ricker caught a number and an insignia. - -It was the liner they had just left. - -"Chief," Ricker spoke to the transmitter. "Stand by! There's something -wrong! The Jupiter-Pluto Liner--the one we were on--it just passed -without signaling." He grabbed the controls, eased down on the -throttle. Top-jets humming, it was but a moment till the liner came in -view again. - -Ricker circled the falling ship, saw no trace of a light. Its jets -were off but the gyro-brake must be working because it wasn't falling -fast. He moved closer alongside, shot out a spotlight. The white beam -glowed weirdly on the silver hull, its dead staring windows. He flicked -the light through the glass of the liner's control room--and his heart -jumped. - -It wasn't a Negro or a Mercurian. He could tell by the features which -still clung to the face. It was an Earthian, in the stained uniform of -Stellar Liners, lying on his back across the instrument board. His arms -stuck out stiffly, crumbling hands palm up, and one pipe-like leg swung -with the motion of the wallowing ship. His face was black, black as -a charred hunk of steak--as if his head had been sprayed with a blow -torch.... - -Ricker spasmodically snapped off the light. - -It was several moments before he turned it on again and played it -through the ports of the lifeless cabin. - -They were all the same. The other pilot lay in the aisle. The detective -lolled restlessly near his seat. The old sourdough swayed, upright in -his chair--with his head almost burned away. - -Ricker clicked off the light, pulled away from the drifting tomb and -bent over the transmitter. "Chief?" he said hoarsely. "Everybody on -that liner's been murdered. They're black--burned. I don't know how. I -think--" - -"Do you think you're the only plane with a radio?" - -Ricker looked around helplessly as his nerves turned to high tension -wire. The very hair on his head tingled. It was a voice vibrating -through the walls of the boat itself. An insane metallic voice from -nowhere. - -Suddenly little dots of fire began to rain over the boat, sparkled on -the glass roof. Then a stream of crimson light gashed the blackness -outside and a drone of rockets came softly into the cabin. He caught -a glimpse of a space ship circling over. The light disappeared in a -cascade of sparks again. The plane vanished behind him. - -Ricker gripped the panel and his nails whitened. He began talking to -the transmitter, very clearly and carefully. - -"Chief!" The humming increased as the plane neared again, coming in -from behind. "Can you hear me? There's another ship outside. They're -using impact phones and it isn't a Patrol boat. I think I'm in for -trouble." The little pointer on the transmitter dial quit vibrating. - -"We burned off your aerial," chattered the mechanical voice through the -walls. "Open your space-door and prepare for boarding. And no tricks! -We have a sight on you." - -With clenched fists, Ricker gazed into the blackness a moment, then -resignedly walked over and opened the lock. The Martian stepped out -with a smirk of malicious triumph. The woman's face was expressionless. -Of course they'd heard the voice, too, probably recognized it, and -Ricker made no pretense of covering them with the pistol. Doubtless, -_he_ was the prisoner now. - -The Martian coughed behind his hand. "Soon," he said, "I shall repay -you for this delay." - -"It's all in the game," said Ricker. - -The boat trembled as the craft outside clamped to the air lock. - - * * * * * - -Ricker opened the lock when the order came and a dark, rat-like little -man in gray coveralls entered the cabin. He carried a pistol of a type -Ricker had never seen before. It looked like a revolver with the barrel -sawed off. - -"Nice work, Vanger," he greeted the Martian. He glanced at Molly Borden -curiously, then with narrow-eyed admiration. Ricker waited stiffly. The -Martian motioned to him. - -"Watch this man, Gurren," he said. "Don't hesitate to shoot if he tries -anything but I'd like to find out what he knows when we land." - -_Land!_ Ricker's forehead wrinkled. Where could they land? The nearest -habitable planet was the radium-warmed Pluto and prison was what they -were escaping. And who were they? Could they explain the liner and its -cremated passengers? As he was marched through the lock into the other -plane he decided information wouldn't do a corpse much good but he'd -certainly find out all he could until he became one.... - -The ship was egg-shaped, its interior bisected into cabin and -blast-engines. Small but powerful, Ricker inferred from the heavy -insulation. He was led into the cabin where another man, also wearing -coveralls, with ear-phones on his head, sat at the wheel. He was squat, -like a tractor. He eyed Molly Borden appraisingly. - -"Hello, Hines," said the Martian. "Get rid of that boat out there and -let's go." - -"Right," said the big fellow, reluctant to take his eyes from the woman. - -They cast off, circled the boat and then settled just over it. Hines -jerked a trigger-like lever on the wheel. Ricker glanced through the -viewplate. - -The boat beneath him glowed red. A puff of white smoke--it was _gone_! - -God o' Mars! Ricker stared through the glass hardly believing what -he'd seen. A little chill tickled the back of his neck. The boat had -vanished in clear space, like a magician's trick. This plane must have -some sort of heat gun--a disintegrator. - -Vanger, the Martian, laughed in a voice irritatingly shrill. "And -you tried to interfere with us," he jeered at Ricker's amazement. He -pushed him into a seat in a corner of the cramped cabin, then turned -to Gurren. "It took you long enough to find us," his tone changed to -displeasure. - -"The liner circled back and radioed the Patrol," the ratty fellow -explained. "We thought we better put it out of the way." He grinned. -"We just gave 'em a small dose--cooked 'em. When the Patrol comes, -won't they get a headache trying to figure that out?" - -Vanger laughed with him till a fit of coughing darkened his face. - -Ricker ground his teeth. So that's what happened to the liner! They'd -blasted it like the small boat, but with only just enough heat to--. -Ricker thought of the friendly old sourdough. The dirty yellow weasels! - -Suddenly he sprang up like a whip, lashed his fist into Vanger's mouth. -The Martian crashed backward into the instrument panel. Ricker started -after him with blind fury in his heart. - -Something banged into the back of his head, stunning, blackening. - -As he fell, he saw Molly Borden standing over him with a wrench in her -hand. Her green eyes glinted with a look he could not define as he -wavered into blackness.... - - * * * * * - -"We can't fail!" The words reached Ricker through a haze of pain -throbbing in his head. "With all that equipment, it'll be like -capturing a rabbit hutch. And won't I just love potting several rabbits -I know. The chief of police, the judge, twelve rabbits that were on the -jury--I really can't wait!" - -Ricker opened his eyes, fought with his whirling senses. The Martian -leaned against the opposite wall, the other two men worked silently at -the controls. The woman sat on the floor with her legs neatly crossed, -a cigarette spiraling toward the ceiling. Her green eyes played the -Martian like a piano and apparently the strings of his black heart were -attuned. - -"But," Molly Borden purred, "you don't know what I went through on that -liner, Van. After we passed Uranus and nobody came, I almost gave up. -I knew there wasn't a livable place after Jupiter and--well, I had no -idea you could have located at Neptune...." - -"So!" Vanger glanced toward Ricker, interrupted her. "Our publicity -agent's with us again!" - -Ricker met his eyes evenly, said nothing. Sinking into his mind was -what he had just heard. _Something_ was located on Neptune; something -would be like shooting rabbits.... But Neptune was covered with snow a -hundred miles deep. Its surface was a bleak hell of frozen, screaming -winds. Nothing could hide, or live on Neptune. And equipment--rabbits--? - -He turned to the port, looked out as in his mind three facts suddenly -and logically came together: Benjamin Adison could warm a planet and -his plans were stolen--Neptune was barren with ice and--He saw the -planet slowly spreading out beneath them like a convex plain of white -glass.... - -"That's right, telenewsman," the Martian interpreted his movement. He -coughed like a dog sneezing. "Take a good look. Out of that desolate -waste soon will come the most terrible armada of all history. We shall -sweep everything before us--in a blast of white heat. Did you notice -what happened to the boat we escaped in? Such will happen to your war -planes. Who opposes us will quickly become a crisp black corpse." - -"I presume," said Ricker dryly, "that you have Adison's plans. They -were supposed to be able to heat a planet but your Neptune still -appears cold as ever. Do you care to elaborate on this little scheme of -yours?" - -"Certainly." Vanger smiled like a cat in the canary's cage. "As to -Neptune, you will have a personal showing in due time. As to the Adison -Unit--you've seen an application of it destroy a plane in a matter of -seconds. This ship is equipped with four guns that can cut through -a yard of steel instantly. And the guns are controlled in range, -intensity and breadth of contact. They can reduce a space liner to dust -at ten feet--or melt a pin-head a mile away. What will you think when -you see ten thousand planes like this--and materials for a million?" - -"I'll think you're a damn liar," said Ricker, "till I do see 'em. -And even then I won't believe you can lick one Patrol boat." He was -bluffing and he knew it. Obviously Vanger knew it, too, for he winked -at the imperturbable Molly Borden, his nasty smile still there. - -Ricker cursed himself. If he'd called the Patrol instead of trying to -be smart and contact the _Times_, this would have been nipped in the -bud. What if it all _was_ true? He'd seen what this ship could do. He'd -also seen those dark crumbling bodies in the liner. And he'd followed -Molly Borden on the wildest hunch. What had he run into? And what a -story--if he lived to tell it.... - -"Landing," voiced Gurren from the wheel. - -Ricker felt a sinking sensation as the plane slowed its descent. -Looking out the port, he saw the surface of Neptune gradually flatten -into an endless table of sleek gleaming ice, ghostly blue in the pale -light, like a frozen lake in moonlight. They sank closer and the bare -expanse swelled to a dim monotonous plain of mirrored shadows. Far -out, above the razor-smooth horizon, a dull red ball cast its feeble -light across the lonely scene. Ricker felt a twinge of helplessness, -home-sickness. That weak orange light was the sun.... - -Gurren fought the controls. The plane wallowed like a ship in a storm -and outside a wind that was almost visible tore at them with grim, icy -fingers. That sweep of wind, Ricker knew, was an endless hurricane that -scoured the dead surface of Neptune to the smoothness of tin. It was a -wind of tinted methane, a five hundred mile gale, eternally.... - -What live secret teemed on this forgotten planet? What lurking fate -awaited _him_--when he'd learned its festering secret--too late? - -Bump! - -The plane jarred down to a rough landing, streamed across the snow in a -swirl of wind-driven ice dust. Ricker thought of what the Martian had -said. Ten thousand planes--where? The man was mad. There was no place -on this naked planet to hide a factory. - -"Forty-four-five!" said Hines. Apparently it was their magnetic -position on Neptune. Ricker remembered it. - -"Right," said Gurren. "Dig in!" He threw the brake, made a breathtaking -stop and held the plane like a wild horse against the wind. - -Hines pulled a trigger on the wheel. A misty cloud of -white--_steam_--suddenly frosted the windows. An angry hissing -penetrated the walls and the falling sensation rose in Ricker again, -though he could see nothing through the ice-coated ports. His eyes -widened. - -The plane had landed, but it _continued to fall_! - -Ricker stared at the pilots with mixed exasperation and astonishment. -He glanced at Molly Borden but she was blasé as ever. Finally he turned -to Vanger. - -"Would you mind telling me what's going on?" he asked with more -nonchalance than he felt. - -"Not at all." The Martian grimaced with what was his smile. "Since you -won't live to repeat it, we're bound for the perfect hideout--beneath -the snows of Neptune." - -He laughed and the sound of his laughter mingled with the whispering -hiss of steam, seemed to echo from the painted windows which had now -turned black. - -Ricker watched the windows. His eyes narrowed again when they glowed -again with the reflection of light outside. The light was brighter than -before. - -Then, suddenly, as if by some quick heat, the ice vanished from the -windows, and, if he felt surprise at the wizardry of their descent into -the snow, what he beheld now was with a staggering shock. - -The ship floated down into a cavernous box-like place that stretched -out into miles of smooth floor surrounded by white, glistening walls of -sheer ice. On the floor, long geometrical rows of flat buildings, like -an automobile factory, striped one side of a wide smooth landing field. -On the other side of the field stood a large house like an office -building and behind it lay a silver, windowed dome from which ran heavy -tubes curving into the ground. Upon the field, forming a great dotted -circle around it, rested literally thousands of egg-shaped space ships. - -Ricker stared through the viewplate as if watching the very gates -of Hades open before him. They landed slowly. And despite his -astonishment, he absorbed everything he saw with the photographic -memory of a good telenewsman. - -The place was an immense chamber deep in the icy rind of the -planet--apparently resting on the very surface of Neptune itself for -the floor appeared to be rock, different from the glistening walls and -the roof. And the roof--glancing up, Ricker saw the low sleek dome held -no mark of their entrance! The ice had instantly frozen behind them -again as they passed through. This place was impregnable, perfectly -hidden. A hundred miles of snow was at once a shield and camouflage. - -But how? - -Then he saw how. Along the walls reared tall tripods, similar to radio -towers. At the top of each flared a ring of yellow light--it was -blinding to look at. Like looking full at the noonday sun. And through -the windows, he could feel the sweaty penetration of--heat! - -"Show Miss Borden to her room, Hines." The Martian's voice brought -Ricker's staring eyes back to the cabin. "I'll call for you shortly, -Molly. And you, Gurren, lock up our meddlesome journalist till I have -time for him." - -The ship landed like a feather. Vanger opened the door, ogled a -twittering good-by to the woman, and jumped to the ground. He strode -off toward the office-like building beside the ship-encircled field. -All the planes were shiny and new, Ricker noticed. - -Gurren and Hines motioned the woman and him out. The floor was a kind -of granite underfoot, Ricker saw. The field was about the size of a -baseball diamond, the ships staggered in a wide circle around it like -eggs in a giant incubator. And an incubator it was. From the shops a -quarter of a mile away echoed the whirr of machinery, the clang of -metal against metal, the stutter of riveting hammers. Pale blue light -rayed from the windows and open doors, cast an aura of stark efficiency -above the gleaming roofs and in the streets. - -Several men passed, wearing the gray coveralls of his captors, and -obviously a landing space ship was not unusual for they gave them no -more than a passing glance. They stared at Molly Borden, of course. -But then she would have attracted attention in the Shangri-la where -dead nymphs go. - -"This way," said Hines, and led them across the field, past a center -tripod toward the factories. Ricker had never seen the Adison unit -before but he knew this must be it. Like steel columns, heat held back -Neptune's sunless cold, forced a rigid hollow inside the living ice. - -Hines and the woman walked ahead. Ricker followed with Gurren a few -paces behind him. Neither of his guards drew their strange-looking -guns and Ricker also knew that escape was impossible. It would be like -trying to get out of a box buried in a block of concrete. And he was no -Houdini.... - -A few yards into the canyons of the seething city and Hines stopped. -"This is your room for the time being." He grinned at Molly Borden like -a school boy at the teacher. He waited beside an open door which led -into a living compartment of some sort. "If there's anything you wish--" - -Next door stood a building from which droned a low monotonous chatter, -the hum of a transmitter, the crackle of static. On the roof towered -two poles from which hung a long radio antenna. An idea akin to suicide -suddenly quickened Ricker's pulse. - -"Thank you," the woman said to Hines who, since Vanger left, was -rapidly becoming a two-bit cavalier on his own. Ricker glanced at -Gurren out of the corner of his eye. He was also gulping in the beauty -of the Venusian. - -If that radio room was only empty! thought Ricker. If he could make it -in time--get the door closed-- - -"Perhaps I should see if everything's all right," said Gurren, -reluctant to leave. As Hines frowned nastily, he took Molly Borden's -arm, started into the room with her. - -Like a fleeing deer, Ricker suddenly streaked away. - -A shout behind him. The door wasn't ten feet ahead. A hot white blast -whizzed past his left shoulder. The door frame glowed red, steamed. - -Ricker dived through the door. - - * * * * * - -He caught the door as he went through, slammed it shut behind him. - -A man whirled around from a mass of instruments. In that split second -all Ricker saw was the man's startled face, his hand snatching a pistol -from his belt. - -Ricker leaped for him as from a catapult, brought up a swift short -right. Smack! The fellow fell back into a bank of scattered dials. -Ricker jerked the gun from his hand as he sagged to the floor. - -Without another glance at him, he leaped to the transmitter. It was an -ordinary radio outfit but apparently of tremendous power. He snapped -the sending switch, kept his eyes fused to the door. - -"Come out, Ricker!" It was Gurren's voice. "We'll burn you through the -door!" - -Ricker didn't answer. His ears strained for the warming tone of the -sender. He knew they wouldn't blast the building; it would destroy the -radio. And they wouldn't come through the door--for a moment. - -A low hum sang in the room. The transmitter was working. Ricker bent -over the mike, eyes on the door. - -"Attention, all listeners." He spoke rapidly but without a tremor. -"Ricker, _Planetary Times_--calling for help. Send Patrol to Neptune. -Magnetic location--" God! what was that number! "Forty-four-five. -Neptune, magnetic forty-four-five--" - -The door opened. - -"Get back!" said Ricker. "I'll kill the first man that enters!" - -Molly Borden came through the door. - -"Stop," said Ricker. "I swear I'll shoot if you come a step inside." - -"Put down that gun," she said quietly. Gurren and Hines stood in the -door behind her, their pistols leveled but unable to shoot with her -directly in the line of fire. The woman moved slowly toward Ricker. - -"Stop!" he said. God! Why didn't he shoot! This woman was dead anyway. -The state had condemned her. It wouldn't be like killing anybody else. - -She came on, slowly, like a lion trainer approaching a dangerous animal -but with no vestige of fear. Her eyes knifed into his, unblinking, -commanding, like the paralyzing fangs of a serpent. His finger -tightened on the trigger. - -"Give me the pistol. Please." Her voice was low, throaty but with -vibrant confidence. With the spell of her eyes, it urged Ricker like -the subtle demand of a hypnotist. "Please." - -She halted before him, a gorgeous creature, like some great poisonous -jungle flower. Her cold green eyes bored into him without a waver. Her -face was expressionless, a thing of tinted marble. She held out her -hand. - -"Give me the gun, Bill Ricker," she said softly. "They'll kill you if -you don't." - -Ricker leveled the pistol at her heart. "I've never killed a woman--" -Gurren and Hines moved around to get a shot at him. "Stay where you -are!" said Ricker. "I'll burn a hole through her if you move a step." - -He tried to avoid her seeking eyes, met them again. Their gaze met like -live wires touching. A current passed between them that almost made -sparks. Ricker's whole body vibrated to the electric force of her gaze. -Her eyes became an irresistible power transfixing his very being. - -For an instant he felt like a moth on a pin. Then without shifting her -eyes, Molly Borden slapped the pistol from his hand. - -It clattered to the floor. The men were upon him.... - - * * * * * - -Ricker found his pockets contained one cigarette, a book of matches -and a clipping from the _Times_. He sat down on the cold metal bunk, -dejectedly lit the cigarette and stared at the dark windowless walls -and the heavy door that made his prison. Finally he glanced at the -clipping: - - As Molly Borden, confessed murderess of scientist Adison, was - hustled into a plane bound for Pluto today, the only question in - the minds of the police and the thousands who witnessed her - spectacular trial was "Who is Molly Borden?" The identity of the - Venusian panther-woman remains as mysterious as her emerald eyes. - - Since immigration officers apprehended her at the City Rocket - Terminal as she attempted to leave the country, no hint of her - past has escaped her carmine lips. Her fingerprints, photographs, - the handsome assassin herself, have brought no trace of - recognition from a bewildered universe. - - Dorothy Adison, socially prominent daughter of the scientist, who - left for Africa after the inquest at which she testified to seeing - Senator Geb Trexel at the scene of the crime and was proved - mistaken, could not be located for the trial. If Miss Adison can - throw any light on the identity of her father's murderess, it is - now inconsequential for the quick sword of justice-- - -Ricker crumpled the slip of paper, hurled it across his narrow cell. -Why hadn't he killed her when he had the chance. _She_ was a killer, -heartless, cruel as a lynx--and doubly dangerous because she possessed -the claws of woman. Her beauty was a mask of murder; the charm of her -eyes--well, he'd fallen into them and she'd taken a gun away from him -like a toy from a child. - -His black thoughts returned to the fullness of his plight. Obviously, -Molly Borden had pretended to burn the plans to keep the police off -the trail of her henchmen. Then the law had virtually delivered her -to their door-step again. Blind fools! He'd written story after story -doubting those ashes they found in her stateroom. On the evidence of a -few half-burned symbols and a charred notebook cover, the law had made -a mistake endangering the very universe! - -He was as blind as the police. At least he had expected something--but -now here he was trapped like a rabbit in a box. With a plot forming -around him that could shake worlds--with a story any telenewsman would -give his typewriter-fingers for! - -Vanger hadn't lied. His heat-gunned ships could stop any army. And -here, beneath the lying ice-wastes of Neptune, such planes were being -made like bubbles.... - -Ricker combed desperate fingers through his unruly hair, got up and -paced the cramped floor. What was their plan? To attack Earth--conquer -Mars, Venus, Mercury--all the colonies? No! It was unimaginable! But -this unknown cave, those ships out there--? - -He wondered if his attempted message had gotten through to the Patrol. -But he hadn't had time to say he was _beneath_ the location he'd given. -They wouldn't find a trace up there on the ice and how could they guess -what lay under a hundred miles of frozen gas? - -He heard a key clink in the lock of his cell door. It opened to Hines' -tank-like figure. He had his gun ready, apparently wasn't taking any -chances since the incident of the radio building. - -"Let's go, telenewsman," he ordered Ricker outside. Ricker walked out -the door without a word. - -Hines motioned him to go ahead, directed him out into the noisy street. -The hum of machinery was deafening and in the buildings they passed, -Ricker saw space ships in all stages of construction along busy -assembly lines. - -"Where do you get the materials?" he asked idly. - -"Simple," said Hines. "Neptune's minerals have never been tapped -before. We mine everything we need right here." - -"And the men?" The streets were deserted but hundreds were at work in -the shops. - -"Every man has his price. We pay well." - -Ricker remembered several mysterious disappearances in the industrial -centers on Earth. They had usually been without families and of small -means, however, and no extensive inquiry was made.... - -The gigantic cavern itself still fascinated him. Glancing up, he -noticed the dome of ice was almost the hue of clear blue sky. It -was perhaps a mile high and the suggestion of distance lent by the -shimmering walls made the place appear even larger than it was. He -wondered why there wasn't a constant dripping, why the chamber wasn't -moist like a cave. Then he remembered it wasn't frozen water around -them. It was frozen atmosphere, melting back into its gases--like dry -ice. - -Wouldn't the public eat this story up, he thought, as they wove between -the evenly-spaced ships beside the field. Then he smiled ironically. -_What_ public? The only public he could reasonably expect was a jolly -bunch of pallbearers.... - -They crossed the field, Hines with the pistol at his back. Ricker saw -three new ships rolled out into line as they walked the short distance -to buildings on the other side. - -"What're these?" he asked, looking at the tall three-story house and -the big silver dome at the rear. - -"The Boss's place," said his guard. "And that dome's the power plant." - -The Boss! Ricker's mind clicked. Who was the leader? Was it Vanger? -Molly Borden? Somehow neither of them seemed to fit. - -They paused at the door of the building. Hines pushed a button. A -moment's wait, the door opened to Vanger's dusty face. - -"Hello," he greeted. "I hope you found our humble hospitality to your -liking, Mr. Ricker." He led them down a narrow corridor to another -closed door. Hines left them, retraced his steps. Vanger opened the -door, ushered Ricker in. - -Ricker saw Molly Borden standing beside a small glass table in a -spacious but dim-lit room. The walls were mirrored and a dull hidden -light cast vague shadows upon heavy chairs and a sofa, gleamed weirdly -upon chrome ash-trays, a carved bottle and glasses. The highlighted -silhouette of the woman commanded the scene. She stood carelessly, one -crimson-tipped hand resting on the table, a cocktail glass glinting in -the other. She had changed from her traveling suit, wore a shimmering -gown that bathed her lithe body in a sheen of liquid silver. Had it -been under any ordinary circumstances, Ricker would have whistled at -the sight of her. - -"Your stare tickles, Mr. Ricker," she said. "Won't you come in? Will -you have scotch or--" - -"He's a telenewsman," said a deep voice from a shadowed chair to the -left. "He'll have scotch. And please turn on the light, Vanger. We must -make our guest feel at home." - -A sudden light glowed over the room. Ricker gazed at the person who had -spoken. - -He saw a large fat man lounging deep in a cushioned armchair. He had -three folds of pale flesh for a chin below his thick lips, his eyes -were puffed with the whites startlingly large and his skin was white, -an unhealthy white--like a great white worm. - -Ricker inhaled quickly. His jaw dropped. - -It was Senator Trexel sitting there. - -Ricker was struck dumb. He clutched the back of a chair as his mind -swirled. - -"So Dorothy Adison was right!" He heard himself speak the words as if -somebody else had said them. - -"Alibis are easily purchased." The fat man's heavy lips curled up at -the corners and his hog-like eyes became slitted puffs of flesh. "But -do sit down," he smiled. "We have much to talk about." - -Ricker found his way around the chair, sank down slowly with his eyes -upon the man. Dorothy Adison was right! The phrase roared in his mind. -Trexel _did_ have something to do with the murder. Had he hired Molly -Borden to do it? Was he a member of this Neptune gang? Was he the -_leader_? - -"What will you have to drink?" - -Ricker looked at the man as he would a Black Widow spider. "I don't -drink with murderers--and traitors," he said carefully. - -With an amazing swiftness for a man of his bulk, Trexel left his chair, -stepped over and struck him smartly across the mouth with the flat of -his palm. - -"You will be careful of your words!" he breathed. "Another remark like -that and you die where you sit!" - -He returned to his chair, his composure regained as quickly as it left -him. He took a cigarette from his waistcoat pocket, struck a match. - -"Now talk, telenewsman," he said. "Who knows where you are? How did you -suspect Molly Borden?" The light of the match made his face a white wax -mask. He lit the cigarette, blew out the match with a puff of his pasty -cheeks. - -Ricker refused to open his bruised lips, stared at the man and kept -silent. - -"There are ways," said Trexel, "of making you talk." Vanger, behind -Ricker's chair, coughed in agreement. - -"I know," said Ricker finally. "And I imagine you could put Mercurian -torture methods to shame. But I'll save you the trouble. There are -three people who know where I am. One is my boss, the editor of the -_Planetary Times_, another is Dorothy Adison who saw you leaving her -father's laboratory after the murder and the other is--the President of -the United States." - -Molly Borden put down her glass with a sharp clink. - -Trexel slowly took his cigarette from his mouth, dropped his -tree-trunk arm to his lap. Ricker met his eyes evenly. Would he -believe it? - -"You lie," said Trexel. "One of my men is in the President's office. I -know every move he makes." - -"The President knew your spy was there," said Ricker. "We found him -more useful in your employ than in jail." - -The fat man took on the look of a bullfrog caught in the glare of a -flashlight. The cigarette smoldered in his hand unnoticed. He gazed -at Ricker a long few seconds, as silence held the room like a stifled -breath. - -Then he looked up quickly to the Martian. - -"Vanger," he said in a voice like Napoleon must have had at Waterloo. -"Contact Number 12 at the White House, tell him to find out if what the -man says is true. And tell him whether it's true or not to prepare for -immediate action." - -Vanger gasped, then choked with a cough. "Attack now!" - -"Why not?" Trexel decided, twisting his cigarette into a tray. "We have -enough ships to take Earth and the colonies can't do much with their -supplies cut off. Any one of our ships can fight off fifty ordinary -ones. Perhaps we should begin before Adison's daughter does cause -trouble--since we can't find her to keep her quiet. - -"Give the word for complete mobilization in an hour!" He stared at the -ceiling a moment in silent thought. "We'll pick off the Patrol ships, -have Earth surrounded by dawn in New York. When the city awakes there -will be a new ruler--of the solar system!" - -"Yes, sir." The Martian smiled and turned to go. - -"Wait," said Trexel. He nodded to Ricker. "On your way, take this man -out and shoot him." Ricker's heart jumped but he stared at the man -without a change of expression. - -"Shouldn't you first find out if he's lying, Senator?" Molly Borden's -unruffled voice raised the fat man's bulbous eyes. "We shouldn't rush -into this attack unless quite sure--" - -"I know where I stand," said Trexel. "I have men close to every -government on Earth. When I give the command, they'll take over while -my ships destroy all resistance. And why delay longer? We'll strike -before our luck changes." - -Ricker stood up. "Listen, fat man," he said. "You hold all the cards as -far as I'm concerned. But as far's Earth is concerned it's a different -matter. You can't conquer a planet. Men will hide in mountain, jungle -and sea. They'll leap at you from every bush and corner. What if you do -burn a few ships--a few armies? What if you take every government? The -people will rise again. You can't rule by force alone." - -"History," said Trexel, "proves that men forget. They soon grow -accustomed to new eras. They have learned to love tyrants before." -He waved his hand to Vanger. "But this is no discussion of political -philosophy...." - -Ricker felt something jabbed into his side. It was a pistol in the -Martian's hand. - -"No!" Molly Borden cried suddenly. "Don't kill him!" - -"What?" Trexel looked up at her as if she'd thrown her cocktail in -his face. "What is this man to you?" His piggish eyes narrowed. Her -exclamation surprised Ricker as much as it did the rest of them. - -"You're tired, Molly," snapped Vanger. "Perhaps you should go to your -room." - -The woman's painted nails bent against the glass of the table beside -her. She looked like a tigress about to spring. Why? Ricker almost -forgot his own plight at the sudden change in her manner. - -"Don't shoot that man," she said slowly. "I'm not--" - -"Leave the girl here, Vanger," Trexel interrupted her with dead eyes. -"Maybe I'd like to talk with her awhile. You go ahead and follow -orders." - -"Yes, sir," said the Martian, reluctantly. He pushed the gun into -Ricker, forced him around to the door as he looked back at the woman -with a puzzled expression on his dusky face. - -They passed out of the room into the long darkened corridor. - - * * * * * - -Ricker's mind was an ant hill of thought as Vanger marched him down the -hall. His bluff had worked. Trexel feared his whereabouts was known. -But the bluff, in working so well, had precipitated an early start -of their scheme--and sounded taps for himself. Oddly, as the Martian -pushed open the door and the yellow light of the heat units burst into -his eyes, his own death didn't matter much, his dying didn't seem -very real. In his brain was the vision of those charred bodies in the -liner--they were real. And he could picture that same scene in each -ship of Earth as thousands of egg-shaped craft met them in terrestial -space, blasted a path of hell to the cities below. - -Even his failure to "get the story" seemed insignificant. This thing -was bigger than himself. - -Ricker felt the pistol withdrawn from his side, glanced back at the -Martian. The man's beady eyes fixed on him like a snake's. - -As Ricker stared back, almost absently, Vanger's left fist whipped up, -banged into his chin, knocked him backward upon the hard ground. - -Stunned by the unexpected blow, Ricker got to his hands and knees -shakily. He rubbed his numb jaw, gazed at the Martian through a quick -red film of rage. - -Vanger took careful aim at him. "Die, Earthman," he said softly. "Die -with a blackened face, as all your brothers will." - -Ricker didn't wait. The crouch he found himself in was not unlike the -position in four years of college football. He hurtled at the man like -a blocking-back gone wild. - -Hiss-s-s! - -White flames streamed over his head. White flame singed his hair and -clothing, bathed his face in quick burning sweat. He struck Vanger high -in the belly, carried him down in a perfect tackle. - -Vanger's head knocked against the ground. Ricker's fingers shot to -his throat like a striking cobra. But there wasn't time to throttle -the man. He let him go, drew his right fist back just six inches and -stabbed into the Martian's chin. Vanger's head slammed against the -ground again. He lay still. - -Ricker snatched the pistol from his limp hand, heard shouts and glanced -about frantically. - -He saw men running toward him across the field, about ten of them with -others trailing in the distance. They must have seen the fight from -the factory. They came on like a drove of stampeding horses. Between -himself and the charging crowd, Ricker saw the ship he had arrived in. -It was about the distance of a city block away. - -Without any definite plan, he jumped off the unconscious Martian, raced -for the ship. - -To an observer at the side, it would have appeared that the crowd of -running men and the lone sprinter were speeding to meet each other. But -it was a match-meet for the space ship between them. The men apparently -inferred Ricker's goal. They increased their pace. Ricker dug in with -his long legs. - -The ship wasn't fifty feet away. The men weren't a hundred. Ricker's -feet pounded the rock of the field like a race horse going down the -home stretch. The wind whistled in his ears, he scarcely seemed to run, -felt as if he was gliding. But the men were gaining. With each panting -breath, the distance between them and the ship narrowed. He saw they -would get to it before he did. And if they got there first--! - -He remembered the gun, clutched forgotten in his swinging hand. - -Without breaking his stride, Ricker brought up the pistol and squeezed -the trigger. There was no report. A stream the color of molten lead -hissed from the barrel, like tracer bullets from a machine gun. Several -of the men fell forward kicking like shot deer. Black oily smoke -curled up from the pack. The rest stopped. Then they scattered in all -directions across the field leaving five writhing, smoking mounds on -the ground behind them. The smell of burning flesh came to Ricker's -flared nostrils. - -[Illustration: _Ricker squeezed the trigger. Men fell. Black oily smoke -curled up. The others scattered, leaving five smoking mounds behind._] - -He was at the ship. He snatched open the door, leaped in and slammed it -behind him. - -He didn't remember taking off. The next thing he knew, he was in the -air, circling high above the field. - -Looking down, he saw men like little bugs swarming out of the buildings -far below. He saw ships pushed out on the field. The ships spiraled up -toward him. - - * * * * * - -Ricker's first thought was to head into the ice, cut on the heat guns -and bore through to safety. But no. It was slow going through the ice -and they'd catch him before he'd gone a mile. - -Below he saw toy ships rising, growing like mushrooms as they gained -altitude. There were eighteen of them, he counted out loud. What chance -had he against eighteen? He squeezed his triggers testily, felt a -slight recoil as the hot breath of death licked out from all sides of -his ship. Well, it'd be one fine fight anyway.... - -Suddenly he noticed the radio before him. Of course! Quickly he -switched on, spoke into the transmitter. - -"Calling Stellar Patrol, calling Stellar Patrol!" - -"What is it?" The answer came so quickly Ricker jumped. They must be -close by. "Is this Ricker? Where are you?" - -"Where are _you_!" - -"At forty-four-five Neptune. The location you gave." His message -had gotten through. They were right over him, just a hundred miles -away--and they might as well be on the other side of the sun. "What's -the trouble? We've been looking for you since--" - -"Listen!" cried Ricker. "No time to explain. I'm trapped _inside_ the -planet--under the ice. There's a cave here. Made with Adison's Heat -Unit. I've found out what's behind Molly Borden. They have ten thousand -ships here, plan to attack Earth. Senator Trexel's the leader--they're -coming up after me now. You must do something. Quick!" - -"What? How? How can we get to you?" - -How _could_ they get down here! Patrol ships didn't have these heat -guns. God! - -Glancing down, Ricker saw the ships closing beneath him like a flock of -starved condors. In a moment they'd be in gun range. - -"Gotta keep moving," he told the radio. "They're coming fast. Stand by -and I'll try to think of something." - -He streaked up to the roof of the icy chamber, sailed fast toward the -far end. - -And suddenly he did think of something--something so simple it seemed -foolish. - -"Listen!" he yelled to the radio. "Turn your ships around. _Sit down_ -on the ice! Give your rockets half throttle and let gravity pull you -down as the ice melts under you. It'll take a long time but I may hold -'em off till--" - -A flash of white lightning streaked across his view plate. The ship -steamed, sweat formed little beads on Ricker's forehead, ran into his -eyes. One was diving in front of him. Ricker squeezed his trigger, saw -the ship flash into floating dust before him. He saw another coming -down from above. - -With a quick jerk of the wheel, he zoomed up and over, wheeled into a -swift Immelman and dived. - -The buildings, the field, the standing planes below whirled, surged up -to meet him like a nightmare of falling. - -He pulled out of the dive not fifty feet from the tops of the -buildings, zoomed away again with the planes hot on his tail. They'd -followed him down, were streaming after him like a swarm of hornets. - -For the next ten minutes those below witnessed the weirdest dog fight -in all flying history. There wasn't room to make a running battle of -it. It was dive, zoom, streak from one end of the cave to the other -like hawks fighting in a cage. Ricker twisted into every contortion his -straining jets allowed. And still those ships closed in relentlessly, -often striking one of their own number--which closeness of battle was -Ricker's only ally. The ships closed in slowly, inexorably formed a -ring of murderous heat around him. - -It was a losing fight. Ricker knew it. He couldn't elude them forever. -One well-timed blast and he'd go down in a swirl of ashes and smoke. -And his constant fighting the controls to avoid the ships, to avoid -crashing the walls and the roof, was wearing his arms to dead aching -weights. - -The ships tried strategy. They divided, Ricker saw, into five groups, -waited for him at each corner of the chamber while the others gave -chase. And these groups closed in with each wild dive he made. - -Soon they would have him trapped between them. Well, the game was about -up. It was a matter of minutes now. He might as well do as much damage -as he could before they got him. - -He banked over in a last dive, hoping only that the Patrol got in -before the ships saw them. Even the Patrol wouldn't have much chance -against these weapons. As he went over, saw the floor of the cave -revolve around like a side wall, a streak of lightning struck the tail -of his ship with an impact that jarred every rivet. The ship went -crazy, spun down like a shot bird. - -Ricker hit the wheel with all the failing strength of his arms. More -by will power than anything else, he pulled out into a shaky glide. -But try as he might there was no response from the elevator jets. He -couldn't rise again. The ships fell like stones upon him for the kill. - -Below, looming rapidly in the windows, he saw the long line of -buildings, the thick circle of ships resting on the field. He fired -full-blast as he passed over them. Buildings burst, split into halves -as if an earthquake had struck them. Ships disappeared in a wide swath -under him, hundreds went up in smoke. - -The field fled beneath him, a deep smoldering trench following his -flaming guns. The house across the field and the silver dome loomed up, -raced toward him with the speed of a locomotive. - -"The power plant!" Ricker suddenly yelled it at the top of his voice. -If he could crash that--! - -With a supreme effort--he didn't know how he did it for the ship was -beyond all control--he keeled over into the metal dome as he left the -field. - -The painted wall of silver filled his viewplate. Each rivet stood out. -He could have counted them. He saw the nose of the ship push into the -metal. The glass of the viewplate caved in upon him. The instrument -panel reared up, smashed him in the face with an ear-splitting -explosion. - -The world splintered in a hell of sound.... - -Oddly, Ricker wasn't knocked out. When the ship stopped bucking, he -found himself sitting amidst the twisted wreckage of the controls, -smoke curling through the torn hull and his face wet and sticky. - -His mind was numb, unthinking as he fingered a swelling lump between -his eyes. His fingers came away red. He crawled out of the ship. Wires, -tubes, warped transformers and machinery were everywhere. He heard a -hum of ships outside. It was dark in the room, the shadowed wreckage -reared in grotesque shapes like dancing demons. He couldn't move his -right arm and, looking down, saw that his whole side was stained with -warm blood. A feeling of coldness penetrated his dulled senses. It was -like a deep ice cave. - -Ricker limped to the door of the ruined powerhouse, stared out upon a -scene like a polar twilight. Gray hulks, ships, bordered the ghostly -field and black silhouettes were the factory buildings across the -dismal space. Where the heat units had been were scarecrow towers, a -sputtering orange flame at each peak--like small dying suns. Their -heat was gone. The air was deadly cold, not the biting cold of a north -wind but the numb rigid cold of breathless freezing. Yet the cold was -alive, moving. It seemed to push against his body like air pressure. -The temperature fell degree after degree as he stood there, like a -thermometer with the red fluid leaking out the bottom. - -Ricker smiled. He had destroyed the powerplant, the heat units were -dying. The place was returning to ice again.... - -He passed a weary hand across his clotted forehead. Although he had -destroyed himself, the work of Trexel was also ruined. It was worth it, -his thoughts came slowly. The hell inside Neptune would return to its -frozen gases. - -How long had it been since he crashed? It seemed hours. But it must -have been seconds for ships suddenly landed out on the field in a storm -of rocket fire. As he grew weak from loss of blood and the cold, he -noticed a surging dark wave sweep across the field toward the ships. -Then the sound of shouts, screams, shrieks reached his ears. It was -the clamor of fear itself. Slowly he realized it was men racing across -the field, now white with frost. The men swarmed around the ships. He -could see little in the dim light of the red flares, could make out -only a writhing mass of vague shapes around the silver ships which -reared above them like huge turtles. - -As he watched, the voices grew weaker, died to low cries of crawling -terror and despair. And Ricker felt himself grow weaker. The cold crept -into his bones, into his heart, into his brain. He couldn't think fast. -He thought slowly, leaning against the door. The icy walls of the place -seemed to be sliding toward him, the roof descending. The field was -cold as a snow-covered grave. - -The voices out on the field were hushed. All was quiet, soundless with -the utter silence of deep hidden places. - -He was lying on the ground beside the door, staring up at the black -glistening roof that was moving down upon him. He didn't think any -more. He was very tired. - -A hulking shadow stood over him. He felt it more than saw it. He saw -two hands reach down. They dragged him across the field. He could see -everything quite clearly but his eyes seemed set in a vise-like single -focus. He noticed the twin tracks his heels made in the frost on the -field.... - -Then it was warm, a soft clinging warmth that seemed to flow throughout -his tired body--like life flowing into him again. He was lying on -something soft and comfortable. - -He opened his eyes, saw a woman's face before him. - -Ricker stared at the face a long time. It was a perfect oval, wreathed -in jet black hair, molded with deft yet full lips and a firm nose. The -eyes were green. It was Molly Borden. Her green eyes were glistening, -wet with tears.... - -"Why did you save me, Molly Borden?" he asked finally. - -"I am not Molly Borden," she said. "I am _Dorothy Adison_." - - * * * * * - -The words meant nothing to Ricker for a moment. He just lay there -staring up at her. Then with a shock like cold water, the meaning of -her words crashed upon him. - -"Dorothy Adison--!" - -"Don't talk," she said softly. "Lie still and drink this." She put a -glass of warm liquid to his lips. He gulped thirstily and the stuff -darted through his veins like fire. Quick strength suffused his body. - -He lay there, panting a moment, then slowly struggled up on an elbow. -His right arm was tightly bandaged with a piece of silver cloth. He saw -it was a strip from the woman's dress, which was in tatters above her -rounded knees. She sat on the end of the sofa. She was crying, softly -like a child. - -"Dorothy Adison," breathed Ricker. "You lie! She was blonde--an -Earthian. You're Venusian and--It's a lie!" - -She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I dyed my hair," she -said. - -"But your eyes--they're Venusian--slanting--!" - -"Makeup," she said. - -Ricker sank back upon the sofa. "But why?" he said. "Why!" None of this -made sense. Molly Borden confessed killing Benjamin Adison and now she -said she wasn't Molly Borden but Adison's daughter.... - -"You--killed your own father?" It was the only thing Ricker could think -of to say. - -"Trexel killed him," she said. The phrase seemed to harden her again. -"I saw him coming out of the laboratory after father was--. But I -couldn't prove it. He had a perfect alibi. And after the inquest, he -tried to kill me--twice. I became Molly Borden to escape him, then -got the idea of following it through. There was just a chance that -confessing the murder might arouse Trexel's curiosity, make him get in -touch with me. I took the chance--and it worked...." - -It was too much to believe. "You mean you acted suspicious, let the -police catch you and burned something to look like those plans? You -risked a life sentence on Pluto--!" - -"It was the only way. I played free-lance thief--Trexel believed I was -at the laboratory after he left. I told him I stole what I thought were -the plans. I told him the police frightened me into a confession of the -murder--and they _were_ none too gentle." - -"But why didn't you tell the police--before you left for Pluto. They -could have--" - -"I could trust no one. At first I planned to tell at the last minute -but after his message came--in jail--I knew I couldn't. It was -delivered by the district attorney himself. He told me I would be taken -from the ship before I reached Pluto." - -Ricker understood a lot of things now. It was like finishing a jig-saw -puzzle, when all the pieces are suddenly seen to fit. "Does Trexel know -who you are yet?" - -"I tried to kill him after you left," she said. "But I had only a -knife--he was too strong. You saved my life when you stole the ship. -Trexel went after you. I watched from the window." - -Ricker glanced toward the window. The light was gone and in the room -itself crept the chill of the darkness outside. The heat units were -dull red embers. - -Ricker sat up quickly. Swift pain drove him back down. "We've got to -get out of here!" he said. "This place'll be a block of ice in no time, -air and all! We can steal a ship and--" - -"Steal it?" said the woman. "There's no one to stop you. The workers -are dead. There's nothing to stop you--but the cold outside. It's -sudden death out there now. It's too late." - -Ricker gritted his teeth, arose despite the lightning pain. He waved -aside her restraining hand, sat on the edge of the sofa till the -weakness passed. - -"We've got to get away," he said. "We can't stay here. We'll die." - -"I know," said Molly Borden-Dorothy Adison quietly. "We'll die. It was -far below zero when I went out to look for you. By now, the roof must -have lowered half-way down--it's probably 200 degrees below zero out -there now. But I don't mind the dying so much. It's that I've failed -that hurts. Trexel got away--father is unavenged." - -Ricker had forgotten about Trexel for the moment. The thought brought -him to his feet and he forgot his pain. Both Trexel and Vanger must -have escaped. They were up in one of the planes. They had only to melt -through the ice. "Trexel got away--" - -"_Yes_," a calm deep voice from the door. "And he will complete his -purpose!" - -Ricker turned slowly toward the door. He heard the woman gasp. - -Trexel and Vanger stood there. They wore heavy electro-suits, heat -steaming from them into the chill room. Trexel held a pistol in his -right hand. - -"Notice the window, telenewsman," he said. - -Ricker turned to the window, saw bright daylight outside. The heat -units were on again--! - - * * * * * - -"Yes," said Trexel. "The units are working. Did you think we would -depend on a single source of power? It took a few moments but it was -simple to switch on an auxiliary plant. And most of the men will -revive, the cold struck them so quickly. Before you know it, everything -will be as good as new." He smiled his fat, pasty smile. "Watch them, -Vanger, while I get out of this suit." - -The Martian pulled his own gun, Trexel struggled out of the hot -clothing, dropped it to the floor and sat down heavily. Ricker stared -as if he'd been struck with a mallet. - -"Now," the fat man said, pouring a drink, "I'd like to clear up just -one minor point before we dispense with you two. Did Ricker know who -you were all the time, Miss Adison?" - -The woman didn't answer, looked at him like a caged animal. But to -Ricker there flooded a sudden ray of hope. Trexel might still believe -his stall about the President knowing his whereabouts. Did he _still_ -have an ace in the hole? - -"Yes," he spoke for the woman, "Miss Adison and I have been working -together for weeks. But that doesn't matter, Trexel. In a few moments -your hide-out'll be swarming with Patrol ships. They know where I am -and they'll be here any moment." - -The fat man laughed. "Still trying to pull that stuff," he scoffed. -"Well, it doesn't go over again. I contacted Washington and my agents -tell me there's no truth whatsoever in your story. No one knows where -you are. You were both working entirely on your own." He raised his -pistol. "But enough of this!" - -"Wait," said Vanger. He coughed behind his hand. "Why shoot the woman? -Give her to me and she'll never speak a word of what she's seen if I -have to cut her tongue out." - -Trexel smiled. "So you, too, have been attracted by Miss Borden's -beauty. But perhaps you won't like her, so well as Dorothy Adison, -Vanger. Have you thought how she would look without that yellow dye on -her skin, without that makeup on her eyes and with Dorothy Adison's -blonde hair?" - -"I like blondes," said Vanger. "And if I remember rightly, Dorothy -Adison was a beauty in her own right." - -"Well," said Trexel. "A dead woman's little use to anyone. If you'll -remember about that tongue-cutting--" - -Vanger laughed till he began coughing. - -Trexel raised the gun, pointed it full in Ricker's face and laughed. -Ricker could see his fat knuckle whiten as it squeezed the trigger. - -Molly Borden screamed, flung herself in front of him. The Martian -jerked her aside. Ricker's good left arm came up. Then it halted in -mid-air. - -To his ears came a sound like bubbling water to a man dying of thirst. -He didn't believe it at first, paused, lips parted, listening. Then his -eyes danced with a wild light. - -Trexel heard it too. His face was like chalk. He stood there with the -gun still poised, a great bear-like statue. It was the hum of rockets! -Not the rockets of Trexel's ships, the jets of the Stellar Patrol. It -was! The Patrol had gotten through! - -Trexel stood like a man of stone. For a full ten seconds he didn't move. - -Ricker knocked the woman aside, dropped to the floor. The gun flamed. -Trexel pulled the trigger wildly. Ricker snatched the glass table from -the floor beside him, hurled it up into the man's ghastly face. His -thick mouth burst into a red spray as glass crashed. He fought to get -rid of the table, its jagged edges cut into his arms and face. Ricker -hurled a chair. It hit the man's head like a pole striking cement. -Trexel's gun fell from his hand, thudded on the floor. He sagged down -beside the wall. - -The Martian didn't pull his gun. He stood, staring, listening to the -cries, the sound of the planes and the guns outside. He didn't appear -to see what was going on in the room. Suddenly he whirled, bolted to -the door. - -In the heat of his fury, Ricker flew after him. - -Vanger dashed down the corridor, Ricker ten feet behind. He went -through the door, started out upon the field. As Ricker reached the -door, he saw Vanger stop suddenly, look up. The din of the Patrol boats -was thunder in the echoing hollow. The air was filled with them. The -field was littered with men running, falling and lying still. A boat -swooped down toward the lone Martian standing there, fell like a bird -of prey. Vanger started to run back toward the building. Tat, tat, tat! -A long flaming line followed him, slowly, like a curse. Little puffs -of dust spurted around him. The puffs stopped. The Martian halted. He -stared at Ricker in the doorway and his face was puzzled. He coughed -and his chin, his shirt became cherry-red. Then he crumpled to the -ground. - -Ricker turned, walked slowly back to the room. - -At the door, he paused. He saw Dorothy Adison standing over the -motionless hulk of Trexel. She swayed, one hand at her throat. In her -other hand was Trexel's gun. Where the head of the fat man had been was -a dark, dripping ball of horror. - -The woman dropped the pistol. It struck the man's body, rolled to the -floor. - -Then she was suddenly in Ricker's arms. - - * * * * * - -Lounging deep in his red-leather chair, Bill Ricker squinted out at the -port as the sleek space ship streamed through the darkness. He could -see nothing outside but a big, humorous-eyed young man who was his own -reflection and the green tinted star that was Earth--home. - -"I hear you got a raise," said the tall blonde women in the seat beside -him. - -"Yep," said Ricker. "The Chief tried to get out of it but since the -government offered his star reporter twice as much, he had to give in." -He stared at the woman queerly. With her golden hair, her clear emerald -eyes and perfect features she possessed a strange loveliness. - -"Madam," he said. "What do you plan to do with your life? Have you no -aims, no ideals, no guiding light?" - -"Nope," she said. "I'll just follow you around, I suppose." - -"And what if I get tired of it?" - -The woman smiled. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <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: Ice Planet</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Carl Selwyn</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 20, 2021 [eBook #64873]</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 ICE PLANET ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>ICE PLANET</h1> - -<h2>by CARL SELWYN</h2> - -<p><i>He saw the huge ball that<br /> -was Neptune circle below,<br /> -like a weak green light bulb.</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Comet May 41.<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>"If it's going to happen," thought Bill Ricker, "it's got to be -quick." Lounging deep in his red-leather chair, he peered out of the -port as the sleek space ship streamed through the darkness. He could -see nothing outside but a big, humorous-eyed young man who was his own -reflection and the pale green globe that was Neptune. The great planet -hung like a ghostly emerald in the void, sinister in its loneliness. -But bleak, desolate, a snowball of frozen gases, it was hardly the -place for an ambush....</p> - -<p>"Pretty, ain't she?" said the whiskery old fellow across the aisle.</p> - -<p>"Neptune?" Ricker glanced at the sourdough, then followed his gaze down -the narrow aisle. "Oh—<i>her</i>!"</p> - -<p>There were twelve seats but only five passengers. Further down was a -tubercular-looking Martian and near the pilot room sat a fat man with a -woman. The fat man chewed sleepily on a dead cigar and the woman stared -out of the window. They were handcuffed together.</p> - -<p>"Ever seen the orchids on Amor?" said Ricker. "Well, she's just as -beautiful—and just as dangerous...." She was obviously Venusian but -her skin wasn't exactly yellow, he decided. It was golden brown, little -different from a deeply-tanned Earth girl.</p> - -<p>"They say she shot his head plumb off," said the old codger.</p> - -<p>"Yep, she certainly mowed him down."</p> - -<p>The sourdough lifted a bony finger toward Ricker's brief case. "I -noticed th' tag on yer kit there," he ventured. "Says th' <i>Planetary -Times</i>. Be you one o' them telenews fellows?"</p> - -<p>Ricker grinned. "Shore am, podner," he said.</p> - -<p>"Gonna write about this here murderess arriving on Pluto?"</p> - -<p>Ricker nodded good-humoredly. "That's my job."</p> - -<p>Slowly a faint siren hum penetrated the cabin, not unlike the sound -of a power plant. A power plant it was too, the ship digging in full -blast as it skirted the pull of Neptune. Ricker turned away from his -garrulous neighbor, saw the sea-tinted planet had doubled in size. It -was a perfect sphere, without a mark on its surface, a ring of solid -hydrogen and helium. A worthless world, thought Ricker; worthless as -was half the universe—because the woman in the seat up front had -killed a man!</p> - -<p>"Molly Borden—Benjamin Adison ..." the sourdough mused, apparently -still awed by such infamous company.</p> - -<p>"Yep," said Ricker, remembering a line from his last story: "In the -flash of a pistol those names became linked forever...." It was odd, he -reflected. One was a woman nobody at the trial had ever seen before, -the other was a man whose name echoed throughout the spaceways. -Benjamin Adison was to stellar travel what Wright had been to -terrestrial aviation and in his sixtieth year when, at the completion -of his work on planet-warming, he had suddenly become <i>corpus delicti</i> -in the perfect telenews story. A stolen secret, a mysterious woman, -a person high in the government—it had all the angles. Then Senator -Trexel was acquitted, Molly Borden confessed. Now she was journeying to -a life sentence on the penal planet.</p> - -<p>"Too bad she burned Adison's plans when they trapped her." It was -Ricker's self-appointed traveling companion again.</p> - -<p>"We lost the resources of four worlds by that little trick," Bill -agreed. "The police found enough in the ashes to convince them it was -the plans." He smiled to himself slightly, like someone who expected -something but wasn't quite sure he could count on it. He was probably -the only one in the universe who wondered if those ashes really were -the plans. What if they still existed—what if Molly Borden hadn't been -working alone after all—what if those plans for an apparatus that -could heat a whole planet were in the wrong hands—? Well, it would be -a great telenews story at least, worth following this woman all the way -from Earth on a hunch....</p> - -<p>The Martian began coughing again and Ricker watched him get up, very -tall, thin, emaciated. He was typically Martian with his dusty brown -face, beaked nose and heavy handsomeness. He walked slowly down the -aisle toward the water fountain.</p> - -<p>"Funny how Adison's daughter swore she'd seen Senator Trexel leaving -her pa's laboratory," continued the sourdough.</p> - -<p>"Trexel proved he was somewhere else at the time," said Ricker. "He's -got a bad reputation but it's graft—not murder. Dorothy Adison's just -a dizzy debutante. She left for a hunting trip immediately after the -inquest, couldn't be located for the trial. But with Molly Borden's -confession there wasn't—"</p> - -<p>It was a sound like a handclap. Ricker glanced up, then stiffened -erect.</p> - -<p>The Martian stood in the aisle beside the detective and the woman. He -stared calmly over his shoulder at Ricker and the sourdough and in his -right hand was a pistol leveled generally at them both.</p> - -<p>"Please be very quiet," his lips moved in soft, even tones. Then -without taking his snaky eyes from them, he spoke to the woman. "The -key is in his left vest pocket," he said. "We'll take a small boat and -drop out of this before the pilots can be warned."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ricker stared like he was watching a tele-movie. Molly Borden's face -was expressionless as a doll as she fumbled at the detective. Ricker -heard a click and the fat man toppled out of his seat into the aisle. -His limp body settled awkwardly on the floor, legs under the seat, and -from the back of his head welled a dark stain that seeped into the -carpet.</p> - -<p>"He slugged 'im," breathed the sourdough.</p> - -<p>"Shut up!" threatened the beady-eyed Martian. "The first sound of alarm -will be your last!" Coughing quietly, he stepped aside to let the woman -pass and she moved up the aisle like a robot. Green eyes straight -ahead, she did not even glance at Ricker as she passed him.</p> - -<p>Ricker realized in open space their scheme would be absurd but here, -with the pull of Neptune on their side, they'd fall away in the -darkness before the pilots knew what had happened.</p> - -<p>The Martian turned quickly as he passed, kept the gun on them. "Open -the lock and get ready," he told the woman. She threw the lever on a -safety door, entered the boat and reached for the switch to slide the -boat's door shut after the Martian was in.</p> - -<p>Both doors close simultaneously, thought Ricker; the boat drops when -the doors close.</p> - -<p>The Martian backed slowly through the door like a great dark crawfish. -For an instant his pistol was out of sight.</p> - -<p>Ricker sprang from his seat like a panther, dived head first as the -doors slid home.</p> - -<p>The pistol roared.</p> - -<p>But the flash of the gun was an instant behind the hand that knocked it -aside. It clattered to the hull of the boat as Ricker bowled the man to -the floor.</p> - -<p>Both were on their feet like cats. The Martian leaped for the pistol. -The woman flattened against the wall.</p> - -<p>Clang!</p> - -<p>The door clamped shut and Ricker's stomach rushed into his chest. Blood -suddenly throbbed in his ears. His feet seemed nailed to the floor. The -Martian and the woman swirled dizzily before his darkening eyes. It was -like being in an elevator when the cable broke.</p> - -<p>They were hurtling down, down through the darkness toward Neptune....</p> - -<p>Weak and sick, when his head quit spinning, Ricker struggled to his -knees. The first thing he saw was a small instrument panel in front of -him. He stared at it a moment, collecting his senses. One register read -"ninety-three" but it didn't sink in at first. Then he gasped.</p> - -<p>"Ninety-three <i>miles</i>!" They'd fallen that far—straight down! No -wonder he'd gone out. The normal jump of these boats was only twenty -miles before the autobrake took over. The gravity of Neptune—! He -remembered then.</p> - -<p>His gaze leaped to the Martian lying in a corner of the cabin. The thin -fellow moaned slightly and his eyes were closed. His pistol lay beside -him and Ricker stepped over, snatched it up as his eyes flickered. When -they opened, the gun barrel was pointed at them.</p> - -<p>"Tables're inclined to turn when you take a dive like that." He grinned -at the bewildered man. The woman, crumpled near the door, stirred and -sat up. She stared at them a moment as her ivory face changed from -puzzlement to rage.</p> - -<p>She glared and finally asked, "What are you going to do?"</p> - -<p>"Make the scoop of the century," Ricker's blue eyes twinkled. "I'm Bill -Ricker of the <i>Planetary Times</i>. I'm going to contact my boss and give -him a chat with Benjamin Adison's murderess after her most sensational -but unsuccessful escape." The idea was positively brilliant. "I don't -think the law'll mind—the Patrol can have you when I'm through."</p> - -<p>"You won't get me before a radio," snarled the Martian, his eyes like -black marbles.</p> - -<p>"Well!" said Ricker, feigning surprise. "The dear boy's publicity shy! -Afraid your boss'll be annoyed if you make a fool of yourself?" The -question went in the man like a barb. He said nothing, but his swarthy -cheeks paled a shade. Ricker's elation soared. "I followed Molly Borden -all the way from Earth thinking something would happen." He grinned. -"I thought another plane'd attack and try to rescue her but you, my -weak-lunged friend, were melodramatic enough. Also, when the Patrol -gets through with you maybe we'll know where those <i>plans</i> are."</p> - -<p>The woman started, perceptibly. "I burned the plans!" she flared.</p> - -<p>"That's what the police thought," said Ricker. "But they thought -you were working alone, too, and your Martian chum here has rather -disproved that. No, Molly Borden. There's more to the Adison case than -came out in the trial. There're others involved. I'm going to find out -<i>who</i> if it's my last story."</p> - -<p>"You blundering imbecile—!" the woman broke suddenly. But quickly she -stopped, clinched her teeth and lowered her eyes. Since Ricker had -known her, this was the first time she'd lost that notorious composure -and he made a mental note of it. He had the telenews man's objectivity -about murderers, millionaires and chorus girls. Molly Borden wasn't a -cold-blooded killer to him, nor a most lovely woman. To Ricker she was -just a good telenews yarn....</p> - -<p>He waved the pistol toward the boat's little air lock. "Get in there, -both of you," he ordered. "It'll keep you out of mischief while I -contact the <i>Times</i>."</p> - -<p>The lock was slightly larger than a closet, about one quarter the size -of the whole boat. Standing well away from any sudden move, Ricker -forced them in, sullen and tight-lipped. He spun a wheel giving them -enough air and slid the door on the hissing chamber. Then hands on his -hips, he surveyed the interior of the cabin.</p> - -<p>From about waist-high on all sides and sloping overhead, the walls were -transparent—glassite, a foot thick. At the nose of the triangular -shaped room was a control box, instrument panel and a small radio -outfit. Ricker stepped over quickly, his pulse pounding with glee.</p> - -<p>He checked the auto-pilot; it was idling the boat correctly in its wide -driftless circle. Then he clicked on the transmitter, found the New -York beam and sat down.</p> - -<p>"Ricker calling <i>Times</i>, Ricker calling <i>Planetary Times</i>...." As he -waited, he glanced through the glass, saw the huge ball of Neptune -circle beneath him. The planet glowed like a weak green light bulb in -the lonely darkness and he shivered to think twelve inches of glassite -was all that stood between him and the vacuum of stellar night, the -long dead fall to those snows far below....</p> - -<p>"<i>Planetary Times</i>. What is it—?"</p> - -<p>"Gimme th' Chief!" His fingers tattooed excitedly on the panel. "Chief? -This's Rick. Got th' biggest story since the ice age. Molly Borden's -escaped with a Martian. What? No! Don't start an extra yet!" He paused -for breath. "Gimme a Mercury-to-Pluto hook up. I've got Molly and her -accomplice <i>here</i>—for a personal interview."</p> - -<p>"Jupiter's jumpers!"</p> - -<p>Ricker had never heard the Chief so gone wild before. "Yep. That's -right." He laughed. "Do I get that raise? Just a moment and I'll put -Molly Borden on the ether...."</p> - -<p>He turned half-way around, half rose from his seat—and froze.</p> - -<p>Beside him, outside the glass, was a huge glistening shape, like a -space beast swimming in the void. It gleamed bright silver in the light -from the cabin and as he stared, mouth open, it THUMPED against the -side of the boat.</p> - -<p>Panic jumped in Ricker. He almost fell over the instrument panel.</p> - -<p>Then he made out a row of darkened ports, a shark-like prow. He -realized then slowly. The shadowed bulk outside was a space ship. It -showed no lights, no life....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The ship drifted past like a falling leaf, a ghostly hulk floating -aimlessly down toward Neptune. As it disappeared below the glass, -Ricker caught a number and an insignia.</p> - -<p>It was the liner they had just left.</p> - -<p>"Chief," Ricker spoke to the transmitter. "Stand by! There's something -wrong! The Jupiter-Pluto Liner—the one we were on—it just passed -without signaling." He grabbed the controls, eased down on the -throttle. Top-jets humming, it was but a moment till the liner came in -view again.</p> - -<p>Ricker circled the falling ship, saw no trace of a light. Its jets -were off but the gyro-brake must be working because it wasn't falling -fast. He moved closer alongside, shot out a spotlight. The white beam -glowed weirdly on the silver hull, its dead staring windows. He flicked -the light through the glass of the liner's control room—and his heart -jumped.</p> - -<p>It wasn't a Negro or a Mercurian. He could tell by the features which -still clung to the face. It was an Earthian, in the stained uniform of -Stellar Liners, lying on his back across the instrument board. His arms -stuck out stiffly, crumbling hands palm up, and one pipe-like leg swung -with the motion of the wallowing ship. His face was black, black as -a charred hunk of steak—as if his head had been sprayed with a blow -torch....</p> - -<p>Ricker spasmodically snapped off the light.</p> - -<p>It was several moments before he turned it on again and played it -through the ports of the lifeless cabin.</p> - -<p>They were all the same. The other pilot lay in the aisle. The detective -lolled restlessly near his seat. The old sourdough swayed, upright in -his chair—with his head almost burned away.</p> - -<p>Ricker clicked off the light, pulled away from the drifting tomb and -bent over the transmitter. "Chief?" he said hoarsely. "Everybody on -that liner's been murdered. They're black—burned. I don't know how. I -think—"</p> - -<p>"Do you think you're the only plane with a radio?"</p> - -<p>Ricker looked around helplessly as his nerves turned to high tension -wire. The very hair on his head tingled. It was a voice vibrating -through the walls of the boat itself. An insane metallic voice from -nowhere.</p> - -<p>Suddenly little dots of fire began to rain over the boat, sparkled on -the glass roof. Then a stream of crimson light gashed the blackness -outside and a drone of rockets came softly into the cabin. He caught -a glimpse of a space ship circling over. The light disappeared in a -cascade of sparks again. The plane vanished behind him.</p> - -<p>Ricker gripped the panel and his nails whitened. He began talking to -the transmitter, very clearly and carefully.</p> - -<p>"Chief!" The humming increased as the plane neared again, coming in -from behind. "Can you hear me? There's another ship outside. They're -using impact phones and it isn't a Patrol boat. I think I'm in for -trouble." The little pointer on the transmitter dial quit vibrating.</p> - -<p>"We burned off your aerial," chattered the mechanical voice through the -walls. "Open your space-door and prepare for boarding. And no tricks! -We have a sight on you."</p> - -<p>With clenched fists, Ricker gazed into the blackness a moment, then -resignedly walked over and opened the lock. The Martian stepped out -with a smirk of malicious triumph. The woman's face was expressionless. -Of course they'd heard the voice, too, probably recognized it, and -Ricker made no pretense of covering them with the pistol. Doubtless, -<i>he</i> was the prisoner now.</p> - -<p>The Martian coughed behind his hand. "Soon," he said, "I shall repay -you for this delay."</p> - -<p>"It's all in the game," said Ricker.</p> - -<p>The boat trembled as the craft outside clamped to the air lock.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ricker opened the lock when the order came and a dark, rat-like little -man in gray coveralls entered the cabin. He carried a pistol of a type -Ricker had never seen before. It looked like a revolver with the barrel -sawed off.</p> - -<p>"Nice work, Vanger," he greeted the Martian. He glanced at Molly Borden -curiously, then with narrow-eyed admiration. Ricker waited stiffly. The -Martian motioned to him.</p> - -<p>"Watch this man, Gurren," he said. "Don't hesitate to shoot if he tries -anything but I'd like to find out what he knows when we land."</p> - -<p><i>Land!</i> Ricker's forehead wrinkled. Where could they land? The nearest -habitable planet was the radium-warmed Pluto and prison was what they -were escaping. And who were they? Could they explain the liner and its -cremated passengers? As he was marched through the lock into the other -plane he decided information wouldn't do a corpse much good but he'd -certainly find out all he could until he became one....</p> - -<p>The ship was egg-shaped, its interior bisected into cabin and -blast-engines. Small but powerful, Ricker inferred from the heavy -insulation. He was led into the cabin where another man, also wearing -coveralls, with ear-phones on his head, sat at the wheel. He was squat, -like a tractor. He eyed Molly Borden appraisingly.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Hines," said the Martian. "Get rid of that boat out there and -let's go."</p> - -<p>"Right," said the big fellow, reluctant to take his eyes from the woman.</p> - -<p>They cast off, circled the boat and then settled just over it. Hines -jerked a trigger-like lever on the wheel. Ricker glanced through the -viewplate.</p> - -<p>The boat beneath him glowed red. A puff of white smoke—it was <i>gone</i>!</p> - -<p>God o' Mars! Ricker stared through the glass hardly believing what -he'd seen. A little chill tickled the back of his neck. The boat had -vanished in clear space, like a magician's trick. This plane must have -some sort of heat gun—a disintegrator.</p> - -<p>Vanger, the Martian, laughed in a voice irritatingly shrill. "And -you tried to interfere with us," he jeered at Ricker's amazement. He -pushed him into a seat in a corner of the cramped cabin, then turned -to Gurren. "It took you long enough to find us," his tone changed to -displeasure.</p> - -<p>"The liner circled back and radioed the Patrol," the ratty fellow -explained. "We thought we better put it out of the way." He grinned. -"We just gave 'em a small dose—cooked 'em. When the Patrol comes, -won't they get a headache trying to figure that out?"</p> - -<p>Vanger laughed with him till a fit of coughing darkened his face.</p> - -<p>Ricker ground his teeth. So that's what happened to the liner! They'd -blasted it like the small boat, but with only just enough heat to—. -Ricker thought of the friendly old sourdough. The dirty yellow weasels!</p> - -<p>Suddenly he sprang up like a whip, lashed his fist into Vanger's mouth. -The Martian crashed backward into the instrument panel. Ricker started -after him with blind fury in his heart.</p> - -<p>Something banged into the back of his head, stunning, blackening.</p> - -<p>As he fell, he saw Molly Borden standing over him with a wrench in her -hand. Her green eyes glinted with a look he could not define as he -wavered into blackness....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"We can't fail!" The words reached Ricker through a haze of pain -throbbing in his head. "With all that equipment, it'll be like -capturing a rabbit hutch. And won't I just love potting several rabbits -I know. The chief of police, the judge, twelve rabbits that were on the -jury—I really can't wait!"</p> - -<p>Ricker opened his eyes, fought with his whirling senses. The Martian -leaned against the opposite wall, the other two men worked silently at -the controls. The woman sat on the floor with her legs neatly crossed, -a cigarette spiraling toward the ceiling. Her green eyes played the -Martian like a piano and apparently the strings of his black heart were -attuned.</p> - -<p>"But," Molly Borden purred, "you don't know what I went through on that -liner, Van. After we passed Uranus and nobody came, I almost gave up. -I knew there wasn't a livable place after Jupiter and—well, I had no -idea you could have located at Neptune...."</p> - -<p>"So!" Vanger glanced toward Ricker, interrupted her. "Our publicity -agent's with us again!"</p> - -<p>Ricker met his eyes evenly, said nothing. Sinking into his mind was -what he had just heard. <i>Something</i> was located on Neptune; something -would be like shooting rabbits.... But Neptune was covered with snow a -hundred miles deep. Its surface was a bleak hell of frozen, screaming -winds. Nothing could hide, or live on Neptune. And equipment—rabbits—?</p> - -<p>He turned to the port, looked out as in his mind three facts suddenly -and logically came together: Benjamin Adison could warm a planet and -his plans were stolen—Neptune was barren with ice and—He saw the -planet slowly spreading out beneath them like a convex plain of white -glass....</p> - -<p>"That's right, telenewsman," the Martian interpreted his movement. He -coughed like a dog sneezing. "Take a good look. Out of that desolate -waste soon will come the most terrible armada of all history. We shall -sweep everything before us—in a blast of white heat. Did you notice -what happened to the boat we escaped in? Such will happen to your war -planes. Who opposes us will quickly become a crisp black corpse."</p> - -<p>"I presume," said Ricker dryly, "that you have Adison's plans. They -were supposed to be able to heat a planet but your Neptune still -appears cold as ever. Do you care to elaborate on this little scheme of -yours?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly." Vanger smiled like a cat in the canary's cage. "As to -Neptune, you will have a personal showing in due time. As to the Adison -Unit—you've seen an application of it destroy a plane in a matter of -seconds. This ship is equipped with four guns that can cut through -a yard of steel instantly. And the guns are controlled in range, -intensity and breadth of contact. They can reduce a space liner to dust -at ten feet—or melt a pin-head a mile away. What will you think when -you see ten thousand planes like this—and materials for a million?"</p> - -<p>"I'll think you're a damn liar," said Ricker, "till I do see 'em. -And even then I won't believe you can lick one Patrol boat." He was -bluffing and he knew it. Obviously Vanger knew it, too, for he winked -at the imperturbable Molly Borden, his nasty smile still there.</p> - -<p>Ricker cursed himself. If he'd called the Patrol instead of trying to -be smart and contact the <i>Times</i>, this would have been nipped in the -bud. What if it all <i>was</i> true? He'd seen what this ship could do. He'd -also seen those dark crumbling bodies in the liner. And he'd followed -Molly Borden on the wildest hunch. What had he run into? And what a -story—if he lived to tell it....</p> - -<p>"Landing," voiced Gurren from the wheel.</p> - -<p>Ricker felt a sinking sensation as the plane slowed its descent. -Looking out the port, he saw the surface of Neptune gradually flatten -into an endless table of sleek gleaming ice, ghostly blue in the pale -light, like a frozen lake in moonlight. They sank closer and the bare -expanse swelled to a dim monotonous plain of mirrored shadows. Far -out, above the razor-smooth horizon, a dull red ball cast its feeble -light across the lonely scene. Ricker felt a twinge of helplessness, -home-sickness. That weak orange light was the sun....</p> - -<p>Gurren fought the controls. The plane wallowed like a ship in a storm -and outside a wind that was almost visible tore at them with grim, icy -fingers. That sweep of wind, Ricker knew, was an endless hurricane that -scoured the dead surface of Neptune to the smoothness of tin. It was a -wind of tinted methane, a five hundred mile gale, eternally....</p> - -<p>What live secret teemed on this forgotten planet? What lurking fate -awaited <i>him</i>—when he'd learned its festering secret—too late?</p> - -<p>Bump!</p> - -<p>The plane jarred down to a rough landing, streamed across the snow in a -swirl of wind-driven ice dust. Ricker thought of what the Martian had -said. Ten thousand planes—where? The man was mad. There was no place -on this naked planet to hide a factory.</p> - -<p>"Forty-four-five!" said Hines. Apparently it was their magnetic -position on Neptune. Ricker remembered it.</p> - -<p>"Right," said Gurren. "Dig in!" He threw the brake, made a breathtaking -stop and held the plane like a wild horse against the wind.</p> - -<p>Hines pulled a trigger on the wheel. A misty cloud of -white—<i>steam</i>—suddenly frosted the windows. An angry hissing -penetrated the walls and the falling sensation rose in Ricker again, -though he could see nothing through the ice-coated ports. His eyes -widened.</p> - -<p>The plane had landed, but it <i>continued to fall</i>!</p> - -<p>Ricker stared at the pilots with mixed exasperation and astonishment. -He glanced at Molly Borden but she was blasé as ever. Finally he turned -to Vanger.</p> - -<p>"Would you mind telling me what's going on?" he asked with more -nonchalance than he felt.</p> - -<p>"Not at all." The Martian grimaced with what was his smile. "Since you -won't live to repeat it, we're bound for the perfect hideout—beneath -the snows of Neptune."</p> - -<p>He laughed and the sound of his laughter mingled with the whispering -hiss of steam, seemed to echo from the painted windows which had now -turned black.</p> - -<p>Ricker watched the windows. His eyes narrowed again when they glowed -again with the reflection of light outside. The light was brighter than -before.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, as if by some quick heat, the ice vanished from the -windows, and, if he felt surprise at the wizardry of their descent into -the snow, what he beheld now was with a staggering shock.</p> - -<p>The ship floated down into a cavernous box-like place that stretched -out into miles of smooth floor surrounded by white, glistening walls of -sheer ice. On the floor, long geometrical rows of flat buildings, like -an automobile factory, striped one side of a wide smooth landing field. -On the other side of the field stood a large house like an office -building and behind it lay a silver, windowed dome from which ran heavy -tubes curving into the ground. Upon the field, forming a great dotted -circle around it, rested literally thousands of egg-shaped space ships.</p> - -<p>Ricker stared through the viewplate as if watching the very gates -of Hades open before him. They landed slowly. And despite his -astonishment, he absorbed everything he saw with the photographic -memory of a good telenewsman.</p> - -<p>The place was an immense chamber deep in the icy rind of the -planet—apparently resting on the very surface of Neptune itself for -the floor appeared to be rock, different from the glistening walls and -the roof. And the roof—glancing up, Ricker saw the low sleek dome held -no mark of their entrance! The ice had instantly frozen behind them -again as they passed through. This place was impregnable, perfectly -hidden. A hundred miles of snow was at once a shield and camouflage.</p> - -<p>But how?</p> - -<p>Then he saw how. Along the walls reared tall tripods, similar to radio -towers. At the top of each flared a ring of yellow light—it was -blinding to look at. Like looking full at the noonday sun. And through -the windows, he could feel the sweaty penetration of—heat!</p> - -<p>"Show Miss Borden to her room, Hines." The Martian's voice brought -Ricker's staring eyes back to the cabin. "I'll call for you shortly, -Molly. And you, Gurren, lock up our meddlesome journalist till I have -time for him."</p> - -<p>The ship landed like a feather. Vanger opened the door, ogled a -twittering good-by to the woman, and jumped to the ground. He strode -off toward the office-like building beside the ship-encircled field. -All the planes were shiny and new, Ricker noticed.</p> - -<p>Gurren and Hines motioned the woman and him out. The floor was a kind -of granite underfoot, Ricker saw. The field was about the size of a -baseball diamond, the ships staggered in a wide circle around it like -eggs in a giant incubator. And an incubator it was. From the shops a -quarter of a mile away echoed the whirr of machinery, the clang of -metal against metal, the stutter of riveting hammers. Pale blue light -rayed from the windows and open doors, cast an aura of stark efficiency -above the gleaming roofs and in the streets.</p> - -<p>Several men passed, wearing the gray coveralls of his captors, and -obviously a landing space ship was not unusual for they gave them no -more than a passing glance. They stared at Molly Borden, of course. -But then she would have attracted attention in the Shangri-la where -dead nymphs go.</p> - -<p>"This way," said Hines, and led them across the field, past a center -tripod toward the factories. Ricker had never seen the Adison unit -before but he knew this must be it. Like steel columns, heat held back -Neptune's sunless cold, forced a rigid hollow inside the living ice.</p> - -<p>Hines and the woman walked ahead. Ricker followed with Gurren a few -paces behind him. Neither of his guards drew their strange-looking -guns and Ricker also knew that escape was impossible. It would be like -trying to get out of a box buried in a block of concrete. And he was no -Houdini....</p> - -<p>A few yards into the canyons of the seething city and Hines stopped. -"This is your room for the time being." He grinned at Molly Borden like -a school boy at the teacher. He waited beside an open door which led -into a living compartment of some sort. "If there's anything you wish—"</p> - -<p>Next door stood a building from which droned a low monotonous chatter, -the hum of a transmitter, the crackle of static. On the roof towered -two poles from which hung a long radio antenna. An idea akin to suicide -suddenly quickened Ricker's pulse.</p> - -<p>"Thank you," the woman said to Hines who, since Vanger left, was -rapidly becoming a two-bit cavalier on his own. Ricker glanced at -Gurren out of the corner of his eye. He was also gulping in the beauty -of the Venusian.</p> - -<p>If that radio room was only empty! thought Ricker. If he could make it -in time—get the door closed—</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I should see if everything's all right," said Gurren, -reluctant to leave. As Hines frowned nastily, he took Molly Borden's -arm, started into the room with her.</p> - -<p>Like a fleeing deer, Ricker suddenly streaked away.</p> - -<p>A shout behind him. The door wasn't ten feet ahead. A hot white blast -whizzed past his left shoulder. The door frame glowed red, steamed.</p> - -<p>Ricker dived through the door.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He caught the door as he went through, slammed it shut behind him.</p> - -<p>A man whirled around from a mass of instruments. In that split second -all Ricker saw was the man's startled face, his hand snatching a pistol -from his belt.</p> - -<p>Ricker leaped for him as from a catapult, brought up a swift short -right. Smack! The fellow fell back into a bank of scattered dials. -Ricker jerked the gun from his hand as he sagged to the floor.</p> - -<p>Without another glance at him, he leaped to the transmitter. It was an -ordinary radio outfit but apparently of tremendous power. He snapped -the sending switch, kept his eyes fused to the door.</p> - -<p>"Come out, Ricker!" It was Gurren's voice. "We'll burn you through the -door!"</p> - -<p>Ricker didn't answer. His ears strained for the warming tone of the -sender. He knew they wouldn't blast the building; it would destroy the -radio. And they wouldn't come through the door—for a moment.</p> - -<p>A low hum sang in the room. The transmitter was working. Ricker bent -over the mike, eyes on the door.</p> - -<p>"Attention, all listeners." He spoke rapidly but without a tremor. -"Ricker, <i>Planetary Times</i>—calling for help. Send Patrol to Neptune. -Magnetic location—" God! what was that number! "Forty-four-five. -Neptune, magnetic forty-four-five—"</p> - -<p>The door opened.</p> - -<p>"Get back!" said Ricker. "I'll kill the first man that enters!"</p> - -<p>Molly Borden came through the door.</p> - -<p>"Stop," said Ricker. "I swear I'll shoot if you come a step inside."</p> - -<p>"Put down that gun," she said quietly. Gurren and Hines stood in the -door behind her, their pistols leveled but unable to shoot with her -directly in the line of fire. The woman moved slowly toward Ricker.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he said. God! Why didn't he shoot! This woman was dead anyway. -The state had condemned her. It wouldn't be like killing anybody else.</p> - -<p>She came on, slowly, like a lion trainer approaching a dangerous animal -but with no vestige of fear. Her eyes knifed into his, unblinking, -commanding, like the paralyzing fangs of a serpent. His finger -tightened on the trigger.</p> - -<p>"Give me the pistol. Please." Her voice was low, throaty but with -vibrant confidence. With the spell of her eyes, it urged Ricker like -the subtle demand of a hypnotist. "Please."</p> - -<p>She halted before him, a gorgeous creature, like some great poisonous -jungle flower. Her cold green eyes bored into him without a waver. Her -face was expressionless, a thing of tinted marble. She held out her -hand.</p> - -<p>"Give me the gun, Bill Ricker," she said softly. "They'll kill you if -you don't."</p> - -<p>Ricker leveled the pistol at her heart. "I've never killed a woman—" -Gurren and Hines moved around to get a shot at him. "Stay where you -are!" said Ricker. "I'll burn a hole through her if you move a step."</p> - -<p>He tried to avoid her seeking eyes, met them again. Their gaze met like -live wires touching. A current passed between them that almost made -sparks. Ricker's whole body vibrated to the electric force of her gaze. -Her eyes became an irresistible power transfixing his very being.</p> - -<p>For an instant he felt like a moth on a pin. Then without shifting her -eyes, Molly Borden slapped the pistol from his hand.</p> - -<p>It clattered to the floor. The men were upon him....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ricker found his pockets contained one cigarette, a book of matches -and a clipping from the <i>Times</i>. He sat down on the cold metal bunk, -dejectedly lit the cigarette and stared at the dark windowless walls -and the heavy door that made his prison. Finally he glanced at the -clipping:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>As Molly Borden, confessed murderess of scientist Adison, was hustled -into a plane bound for Pluto today, the only question in the minds -of the police and the thousands who witnessed her spectacular trial -was "Who is Molly Borden?" The identity of the Venusian panther-woman -remains as mysterious as her emerald eyes.</p> - -<p>Since immigration officers apprehended her at the City Rocket Terminal -as she attempted to leave the country, no hint of her past has escaped -her carmine lips. Her fingerprints, photographs, the handsome assassin -herself, have brought no trace of recognition from a bewildered -universe.</p> - -<p>Dorothy Adison, socially prominent daughter of the scientist, who left -for Africa after the inquest at which she testified to seeing Senator -Geb Trexel at the scene of the crime and was proved mistaken, could -not be located for the trial. If Miss Adison can throw any light on -the identity of her father's murderess, it is now inconsequential for -the quick sword of justice—</p></div> - -<p>Ricker crumpled the slip of paper, hurled it across his narrow cell. -Why hadn't he killed her when he had the chance. <i>She</i> was a killer, -heartless, cruel as a lynx—and doubly dangerous because she possessed -the claws of woman. Her beauty was a mask of murder; the charm of her -eyes—well, he'd fallen into them and she'd taken a gun away from him -like a toy from a child.</p> - -<p>His black thoughts returned to the fullness of his plight. Obviously, -Molly Borden had pretended to burn the plans to keep the police off -the trail of her henchmen. Then the law had virtually delivered her -to their door-step again. Blind fools! He'd written story after story -doubting those ashes they found in her stateroom. On the evidence of a -few half-burned symbols and a charred notebook cover, the law had made -a mistake endangering the very universe!</p> - -<p>He was as blind as the police. At least he had expected something—but -now here he was trapped like a rabbit in a box. With a plot forming -around him that could shake worlds—with a story any telenewsman would -give his typewriter-fingers for!</p> - -<p>Vanger hadn't lied. His heat-gunned ships could stop any army. And -here, beneath the lying ice-wastes of Neptune, such planes were being -made like bubbles....</p> - -<p>Ricker combed desperate fingers through his unruly hair, got up and -paced the cramped floor. What was their plan? To attack Earth—conquer -Mars, Venus, Mercury—all the colonies? No! It was unimaginable! But -this unknown cave, those ships out there—?</p> - -<p>He wondered if his attempted message had gotten through to the Patrol. -But he hadn't had time to say he was <i>beneath</i> the location he'd given. -They wouldn't find a trace up there on the ice and how could they guess -what lay under a hundred miles of frozen gas?</p> - -<p>He heard a key clink in the lock of his cell door. It opened to Hines' -tank-like figure. He had his gun ready, apparently wasn't taking any -chances since the incident of the radio building.</p> - -<p>"Let's go, telenewsman," he ordered Ricker outside. Ricker walked out -the door without a word.</p> - -<p>Hines motioned him to go ahead, directed him out into the noisy street. -The hum of machinery was deafening and in the buildings they passed, -Ricker saw space ships in all stages of construction along busy -assembly lines.</p> - -<p>"Where do you get the materials?" he asked idly.</p> - -<p>"Simple," said Hines. "Neptune's minerals have never been tapped -before. We mine everything we need right here."</p> - -<p>"And the men?" The streets were deserted but hundreds were at work in -the shops.</p> - -<p>"Every man has his price. We pay well."</p> - -<p>Ricker remembered several mysterious disappearances in the industrial -centers on Earth. They had usually been without families and of small -means, however, and no extensive inquiry was made....</p> - -<p>The gigantic cavern itself still fascinated him. Glancing up, he -noticed the dome of ice was almost the hue of clear blue sky. It -was perhaps a mile high and the suggestion of distance lent by the -shimmering walls made the place appear even larger than it was. He -wondered why there wasn't a constant dripping, why the chamber wasn't -moist like a cave. Then he remembered it wasn't frozen water around -them. It was frozen atmosphere, melting back into its gases—like dry -ice.</p> - -<p>Wouldn't the public eat this story up, he thought, as they wove between -the evenly-spaced ships beside the field. Then he smiled ironically. -<i>What</i> public? The only public he could reasonably expect was a jolly -bunch of pallbearers....</p> - -<p>They crossed the field, Hines with the pistol at his back. Ricker saw -three new ships rolled out into line as they walked the short distance -to buildings on the other side.</p> - -<p>"What're these?" he asked, looking at the tall three-story house and -the big silver dome at the rear.</p> - -<p>"The Boss's place," said his guard. "And that dome's the power plant."</p> - -<p>The Boss! Ricker's mind clicked. Who was the leader? Was it Vanger? -Molly Borden? Somehow neither of them seemed to fit.</p> - -<p>They paused at the door of the building. Hines pushed a button. A -moment's wait, the door opened to Vanger's dusty face.</p> - -<p>"Hello," he greeted. "I hope you found our humble hospitality to your -liking, Mr. Ricker." He led them down a narrow corridor to another -closed door. Hines left them, retraced his steps. Vanger opened the -door, ushered Ricker in.</p> - -<p>Ricker saw Molly Borden standing beside a small glass table in a -spacious but dim-lit room. The walls were mirrored and a dull hidden -light cast vague shadows upon heavy chairs and a sofa, gleamed weirdly -upon chrome ash-trays, a carved bottle and glasses. The highlighted -silhouette of the woman commanded the scene. She stood carelessly, one -crimson-tipped hand resting on the table, a cocktail glass glinting in -the other. She had changed from her traveling suit, wore a shimmering -gown that bathed her lithe body in a sheen of liquid silver. Had it -been under any ordinary circumstances, Ricker would have whistled at -the sight of her.</p> - -<p>"Your stare tickles, Mr. Ricker," she said. "Won't you come in? Will -you have scotch or—"</p> - -<p>"He's a telenewsman," said a deep voice from a shadowed chair to the -left. "He'll have scotch. And please turn on the light, Vanger. We must -make our guest feel at home."</p> - -<p>A sudden light glowed over the room. Ricker gazed at the person who had -spoken.</p> - -<p>He saw a large fat man lounging deep in a cushioned armchair. He had -three folds of pale flesh for a chin below his thick lips, his eyes -were puffed with the whites startlingly large and his skin was white, -an unhealthy white—like a great white worm.</p> - -<p>Ricker inhaled quickly. His jaw dropped.</p> - -<p>It was Senator Trexel sitting there.</p> - -<p>Ricker was struck dumb. He clutched the back of a chair as his mind -swirled.</p> - -<p>"So Dorothy Adison was right!" He heard himself speak the words as if -somebody else had said them.</p> - -<p>"Alibis are easily purchased." The fat man's heavy lips curled up at -the corners and his hog-like eyes became slitted puffs of flesh. "But -do sit down," he smiled. "We have much to talk about."</p> - -<p>Ricker found his way around the chair, sank down slowly with his eyes -upon the man. Dorothy Adison was right! The phrase roared in his mind. -Trexel <i>did</i> have something to do with the murder. Had he hired Molly -Borden to do it? Was he a member of this Neptune gang? Was he the -<i>leader</i>?</p> - -<p>"What will you have to drink?"</p> - -<p>Ricker looked at the man as he would a Black Widow spider. "I don't -drink with murderers—and traitors," he said carefully.</p> - -<p>With an amazing swiftness for a man of his bulk, Trexel left his chair, -stepped over and struck him smartly across the mouth with the flat of -his palm.</p> - -<p>"You will be careful of your words!" he breathed. "Another remark like -that and you die where you sit!"</p> - -<p>He returned to his chair, his composure regained as quickly as it left -him. He took a cigarette from his waistcoat pocket, struck a match.</p> - -<p>"Now talk, telenewsman," he said. "Who knows where you are? How did you -suspect Molly Borden?" The light of the match made his face a white wax -mask. He lit the cigarette, blew out the match with a puff of his pasty -cheeks.</p> - -<p>Ricker refused to open his bruised lips, stared at the man and kept -silent.</p> - -<p>"There are ways," said Trexel, "of making you talk." Vanger, behind -Ricker's chair, coughed in agreement.</p> - -<p>"I know," said Ricker finally. "And I imagine you could put Mercurian -torture methods to shame. But I'll save you the trouble. There are -three people who know where I am. One is my boss, the editor of the -<i>Planetary Times</i>, another is Dorothy Adison who saw you leaving her -father's laboratory after the murder and the other is—the President of -the United States."</p> - -<p>Molly Borden put down her glass with a sharp clink.</p> - -<p>Trexel slowly took his cigarette from his mouth, dropped his -tree-trunk arm to his lap. Ricker met his eyes evenly. Would he -believe it?</p> - -<p>"You lie," said Trexel. "One of my men is in the President's office. I -know every move he makes."</p> - -<p>"The President knew your spy was there," said Ricker. "We found him -more useful in your employ than in jail."</p> - -<p>The fat man took on the look of a bullfrog caught in the glare of a -flashlight. The cigarette smoldered in his hand unnoticed. He gazed -at Ricker a long few seconds, as silence held the room like a stifled -breath.</p> - -<p>Then he looked up quickly to the Martian.</p> - -<p>"Vanger," he said in a voice like Napoleon must have had at Waterloo. -"Contact Number 12 at the White House, tell him to find out if what the -man says is true. And tell him whether it's true or not to prepare for -immediate action."</p> - -<p>Vanger gasped, then choked with a cough. "Attack now!"</p> - -<p>"Why not?" Trexel decided, twisting his cigarette into a tray. "We have -enough ships to take Earth and the colonies can't do much with their -supplies cut off. Any one of our ships can fight off fifty ordinary -ones. Perhaps we should begin before Adison's daughter does cause -trouble—since we can't find her to keep her quiet.</p> - -<p>"Give the word for complete mobilization in an hour!" He stared at the -ceiling a moment in silent thought. "We'll pick off the Patrol ships, -have Earth surrounded by dawn in New York. When the city awakes there -will be a new ruler—of the solar system!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir." The Martian smiled and turned to go.</p> - -<p>"Wait," said Trexel. He nodded to Ricker. "On your way, take this man -out and shoot him." Ricker's heart jumped but he stared at the man -without a change of expression.</p> - -<p>"Shouldn't you first find out if he's lying, Senator?" Molly Borden's -unruffled voice raised the fat man's bulbous eyes. "We shouldn't rush -into this attack unless quite sure—"</p> - -<p>"I know where I stand," said Trexel. "I have men close to every -government on Earth. When I give the command, they'll take over while -my ships destroy all resistance. And why delay longer? We'll strike -before our luck changes."</p> - -<p>Ricker stood up. "Listen, fat man," he said. "You hold all the cards as -far as I'm concerned. But as far's Earth is concerned it's a different -matter. You can't conquer a planet. Men will hide in mountain, jungle -and sea. They'll leap at you from every bush and corner. What if you do -burn a few ships—a few armies? What if you take every government? The -people will rise again. You can't rule by force alone."</p> - -<p>"History," said Trexel, "proves that men forget. They soon grow -accustomed to new eras. They have learned to love tyrants before." -He waved his hand to Vanger. "But this is no discussion of political -philosophy...."</p> - -<p>Ricker felt something jabbed into his side. It was a pistol in the -Martian's hand.</p> - -<p>"No!" Molly Borden cried suddenly. "Don't kill him!"</p> - -<p>"What?" Trexel looked up at her as if she'd thrown her cocktail in -his face. "What is this man to you?" His piggish eyes narrowed. Her -exclamation surprised Ricker as much as it did the rest of them.</p> - -<p>"You're tired, Molly," snapped Vanger. "Perhaps you should go to your -room."</p> - -<p>The woman's painted nails bent against the glass of the table beside -her. She looked like a tigress about to spring. Why? Ricker almost -forgot his own plight at the sudden change in her manner.</p> - -<p>"Don't shoot that man," she said slowly. "I'm not—"</p> - -<p>"Leave the girl here, Vanger," Trexel interrupted her with dead eyes. -"Maybe I'd like to talk with her awhile. You go ahead and follow -orders."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said the Martian, reluctantly. He pushed the gun into -Ricker, forced him around to the door as he looked back at the woman -with a puzzled expression on his dusky face.</p> - -<p>They passed out of the room into the long darkened corridor.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ricker's mind was an ant hill of thought as Vanger marched him down the -hall. His bluff had worked. Trexel feared his whereabouts was known. -But the bluff, in working so well, had precipitated an early start -of their scheme—and sounded taps for himself. Oddly, as the Martian -pushed open the door and the yellow light of the heat units burst into -his eyes, his own death didn't matter much, his dying didn't seem -very real. In his brain was the vision of those charred bodies in the -liner—they were real. And he could picture that same scene in each -ship of Earth as thousands of egg-shaped craft met them in terrestial -space, blasted a path of hell to the cities below.</p> - -<p>Even his failure to "get the story" seemed insignificant. This thing -was bigger than himself.</p> - -<p>Ricker felt the pistol withdrawn from his side, glanced back at the -Martian. The man's beady eyes fixed on him like a snake's.</p> - -<p>As Ricker stared back, almost absently, Vanger's left fist whipped up, -banged into his chin, knocked him backward upon the hard ground.</p> - -<p>Stunned by the unexpected blow, Ricker got to his hands and knees -shakily. He rubbed his numb jaw, gazed at the Martian through a quick -red film of rage.</p> - -<p>Vanger took careful aim at him. "Die, Earthman," he said softly. "Die -with a blackened face, as all your brothers will."</p> - -<p>Ricker didn't wait. The crouch he found himself in was not unlike the -position in four years of college football. He hurtled at the man like -a blocking-back gone wild.</p> - -<p>Hiss-s-s!</p> - -<p>White flames streamed over his head. White flame singed his hair and -clothing, bathed his face in quick burning sweat. He struck Vanger high -in the belly, carried him down in a perfect tackle.</p> - -<p>Vanger's head knocked against the ground. Ricker's fingers shot to -his throat like a striking cobra. But there wasn't time to throttle -the man. He let him go, drew his right fist back just six inches and -stabbed into the Martian's chin. Vanger's head slammed against the -ground again. He lay still.</p> - -<p>Ricker snatched the pistol from his limp hand, heard shouts and glanced -about frantically.</p> - -<p>He saw men running toward him across the field, about ten of them with -others trailing in the distance. They must have seen the fight from -the factory. They came on like a drove of stampeding horses. Between -himself and the charging crowd, Ricker saw the ship he had arrived in. -It was about the distance of a city block away.</p> - -<p>Without any definite plan, he jumped off the unconscious Martian, raced -for the ship.</p> - -<p>To an observer at the side, it would have appeared that the crowd of -running men and the lone sprinter were speeding to meet each other. But -it was a match-meet for the space ship between them. The men apparently -inferred Ricker's goal. They increased their pace. Ricker dug in with -his long legs.</p> - -<p>The ship wasn't fifty feet away. The men weren't a hundred. Ricker's -feet pounded the rock of the field like a race horse going down the -home stretch. The wind whistled in his ears, he scarcely seemed to run, -felt as if he was gliding. But the men were gaining. With each panting -breath, the distance between them and the ship narrowed. He saw they -would get to it before he did. And if they got there first—!</p> - -<p>He remembered the gun, clutched forgotten in his swinging hand.</p> - -<p>Without breaking his stride, Ricker brought up the pistol and squeezed -the trigger. There was no report. A stream the color of molten lead -hissed from the barrel, like tracer bullets from a machine gun. Several -of the men fell forward kicking like shot deer. Black oily smoke -curled up from the pack. The rest stopped. Then they scattered in all -directions across the field leaving five writhing, smoking mounds on -the ground behind them. The smell of burning flesh came to Ricker's -flared nostrils.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Ricker squeezed the trigger. Men fell. Black oily smoke curled up. The others scattered, leaving five smoking mounds behind.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He was at the ship. He snatched open the door, leaped in and slammed it -behind him.</p> - -<p>He didn't remember taking off. The next thing he knew, he was in the -air, circling high above the field.</p> - -<p>Looking down, he saw men like little bugs swarming out of the buildings -far below. He saw ships pushed out on the field. The ships spiraled up -toward him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ricker's first thought was to head into the ice, cut on the heat guns -and bore through to safety. But no. It was slow going through the ice -and they'd catch him before he'd gone a mile.</p> - -<p>Below he saw toy ships rising, growing like mushrooms as they gained -altitude. There were eighteen of them, he counted out loud. What chance -had he against eighteen? He squeezed his triggers testily, felt a -slight recoil as the hot breath of death licked out from all sides of -his ship. Well, it'd be one fine fight anyway....</p> - -<p>Suddenly he noticed the radio before him. Of course! Quickly he -switched on, spoke into the transmitter.</p> - -<p>"Calling Stellar Patrol, calling Stellar Patrol!"</p> - -<p>"What is it?" The answer came so quickly Ricker jumped. They must be -close by. "Is this Ricker? Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Where are <i>you</i>!"</p> - -<p>"At forty-four-five Neptune. The location you gave." His message -had gotten through. They were right over him, just a hundred miles -away—and they might as well be on the other side of the sun. "What's -the trouble? We've been looking for you since—"</p> - -<p>"Listen!" cried Ricker. "No time to explain. I'm trapped <i>inside</i> the -planet—under the ice. There's a cave here. Made with Adison's Heat -Unit. I've found out what's behind Molly Borden. They have ten thousand -ships here, plan to attack Earth. Senator Trexel's the leader—they're -coming up after me now. You must do something. Quick!"</p> - -<p>"What? How? How can we get to you?"</p> - -<p>How <i>could</i> they get down here! Patrol ships didn't have these heat -guns. God!</p> - -<p>Glancing down, Ricker saw the ships closing beneath him like a flock of -starved condors. In a moment they'd be in gun range.</p> - -<p>"Gotta keep moving," he told the radio. "They're coming fast. Stand by -and I'll try to think of something."</p> - -<p>He streaked up to the roof of the icy chamber, sailed fast toward the -far end.</p> - -<p>And suddenly he did think of something—something so simple it seemed -foolish.</p> - -<p>"Listen!" he yelled to the radio. "Turn your ships around. <i>Sit down</i> -on the ice! Give your rockets half throttle and let gravity pull you -down as the ice melts under you. It'll take a long time but I may hold -'em off till—"</p> - -<p>A flash of white lightning streaked across his view plate. The ship -steamed, sweat formed little beads on Ricker's forehead, ran into his -eyes. One was diving in front of him. Ricker squeezed his trigger, saw -the ship flash into floating dust before him. He saw another coming -down from above.</p> - -<p>With a quick jerk of the wheel, he zoomed up and over, wheeled into a -swift Immelman and dived.</p> - -<p>The buildings, the field, the standing planes below whirled, surged up -to meet him like a nightmare of falling.</p> - -<p>He pulled out of the dive not fifty feet from the tops of the -buildings, zoomed away again with the planes hot on his tail. They'd -followed him down, were streaming after him like a swarm of hornets.</p> - -<p>For the next ten minutes those below witnessed the weirdest dog fight -in all flying history. There wasn't room to make a running battle of -it. It was dive, zoom, streak from one end of the cave to the other -like hawks fighting in a cage. Ricker twisted into every contortion his -straining jets allowed. And still those ships closed in relentlessly, -often striking one of their own number—which closeness of battle was -Ricker's only ally. The ships closed in slowly, inexorably formed a -ring of murderous heat around him.</p> - -<p>It was a losing fight. Ricker knew it. He couldn't elude them forever. -One well-timed blast and he'd go down in a swirl of ashes and smoke. -And his constant fighting the controls to avoid the ships, to avoid -crashing the walls and the roof, was wearing his arms to dead aching -weights.</p> - -<p>The ships tried strategy. They divided, Ricker saw, into five groups, -waited for him at each corner of the chamber while the others gave -chase. And these groups closed in with each wild dive he made.</p> - -<p>Soon they would have him trapped between them. Well, the game was about -up. It was a matter of minutes now. He might as well do as much damage -as he could before they got him.</p> - -<p>He banked over in a last dive, hoping only that the Patrol got in -before the ships saw them. Even the Patrol wouldn't have much chance -against these weapons. As he went over, saw the floor of the cave -revolve around like a side wall, a streak of lightning struck the tail -of his ship with an impact that jarred every rivet. The ship went -crazy, spun down like a shot bird.</p> - -<p>Ricker hit the wheel with all the failing strength of his arms. More -by will power than anything else, he pulled out into a shaky glide. -But try as he might there was no response from the elevator jets. He -couldn't rise again. The ships fell like stones upon him for the kill.</p> - -<p>Below, looming rapidly in the windows, he saw the long line of -buildings, the thick circle of ships resting on the field. He fired -full-blast as he passed over them. Buildings burst, split into halves -as if an earthquake had struck them. Ships disappeared in a wide swath -under him, hundreds went up in smoke.</p> - -<p>The field fled beneath him, a deep smoldering trench following his -flaming guns. The house across the field and the silver dome loomed up, -raced toward him with the speed of a locomotive.</p> - -<p>"The power plant!" Ricker suddenly yelled it at the top of his voice. -If he could crash that—!</p> - -<p>With a supreme effort—he didn't know how he did it for the ship was -beyond all control—he keeled over into the metal dome as he left the -field.</p> - -<p>The painted wall of silver filled his viewplate. Each rivet stood out. -He could have counted them. He saw the nose of the ship push into the -metal. The glass of the viewplate caved in upon him. The instrument -panel reared up, smashed him in the face with an ear-splitting -explosion.</p> - -<p>The world splintered in a hell of sound....</p> - -<p>Oddly, Ricker wasn't knocked out. When the ship stopped bucking, he -found himself sitting amidst the twisted wreckage of the controls, -smoke curling through the torn hull and his face wet and sticky.</p> - -<p>His mind was numb, unthinking as he fingered a swelling lump between -his eyes. His fingers came away red. He crawled out of the ship. Wires, -tubes, warped transformers and machinery were everywhere. He heard a -hum of ships outside. It was dark in the room, the shadowed wreckage -reared in grotesque shapes like dancing demons. He couldn't move his -right arm and, looking down, saw that his whole side was stained with -warm blood. A feeling of coldness penetrated his dulled senses. It was -like a deep ice cave.</p> - -<p>Ricker limped to the door of the ruined powerhouse, stared out upon a -scene like a polar twilight. Gray hulks, ships, bordered the ghostly -field and black silhouettes were the factory buildings across the -dismal space. Where the heat units had been were scarecrow towers, a -sputtering orange flame at each peak—like small dying suns. Their -heat was gone. The air was deadly cold, not the biting cold of a north -wind but the numb rigid cold of breathless freezing. Yet the cold was -alive, moving. It seemed to push against his body like air pressure. -The temperature fell degree after degree as he stood there, like a -thermometer with the red fluid leaking out the bottom.</p> - -<p>Ricker smiled. He had destroyed the powerplant, the heat units were -dying. The place was returning to ice again....</p> - -<p>He passed a weary hand across his clotted forehead. Although he had -destroyed himself, the work of Trexel was also ruined. It was worth it, -his thoughts came slowly. The hell inside Neptune would return to its -frozen gases.</p> - -<p>How long had it been since he crashed? It seemed hours. But it must -have been seconds for ships suddenly landed out on the field in a storm -of rocket fire. As he grew weak from loss of blood and the cold, he -noticed a surging dark wave sweep across the field toward the ships. -Then the sound of shouts, screams, shrieks reached his ears. It was -the clamor of fear itself. Slowly he realized it was men racing across -the field, now white with frost. The men swarmed around the ships. He -could see little in the dim light of the red flares, could make out -only a writhing mass of vague shapes around the silver ships which -reared above them like huge turtles.</p> - -<p>As he watched, the voices grew weaker, died to low cries of crawling -terror and despair. And Ricker felt himself grow weaker. The cold crept -into his bones, into his heart, into his brain. He couldn't think fast. -He thought slowly, leaning against the door. The icy walls of the place -seemed to be sliding toward him, the roof descending. The field was -cold as a snow-covered grave.</p> - -<p>The voices out on the field were hushed. All was quiet, soundless with -the utter silence of deep hidden places.</p> - -<p>He was lying on the ground beside the door, staring up at the black -glistening roof that was moving down upon him. He didn't think any -more. He was very tired.</p> - -<p>A hulking shadow stood over him. He felt it more than saw it. He saw -two hands reach down. They dragged him across the field. He could see -everything quite clearly but his eyes seemed set in a vise-like single -focus. He noticed the twin tracks his heels made in the frost on the -field....</p> - -<p>Then it was warm, a soft clinging warmth that seemed to flow throughout -his tired body—like life flowing into him again. He was lying on -something soft and comfortable.</p> - -<p>He opened his eyes, saw a woman's face before him.</p> - -<p>Ricker stared at the face a long time. It was a perfect oval, wreathed -in jet black hair, molded with deft yet full lips and a firm nose. The -eyes were green. It was Molly Borden. Her green eyes were glistening, -wet with tears....</p> - -<p>"Why did you save me, Molly Borden?" he asked finally.</p> - -<p>"I am not Molly Borden," she said. "I am <i>Dorothy Adison</i>."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The words meant nothing to Ricker for a moment. He just lay there -staring up at her. Then with a shock like cold water, the meaning of -her words crashed upon him.</p> - -<p>"Dorothy Adison—!"</p> - -<p>"Don't talk," she said softly. "Lie still and drink this." She put a -glass of warm liquid to his lips. He gulped thirstily and the stuff -darted through his veins like fire. Quick strength suffused his body.</p> - -<p>He lay there, panting a moment, then slowly struggled up on an elbow. -His right arm was tightly bandaged with a piece of silver cloth. He saw -it was a strip from the woman's dress, which was in tatters above her -rounded knees. She sat on the end of the sofa. She was crying, softly -like a child.</p> - -<p>"Dorothy Adison," breathed Ricker. "You lie! She was blonde—an -Earthian. You're Venusian and—It's a lie!"</p> - -<p>She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I dyed my hair," she -said.</p> - -<p>"But your eyes—they're Venusian—slanting—!"</p> - -<p>"Makeup," she said.</p> - -<p>Ricker sank back upon the sofa. "But why?" he said. "Why!" None of this -made sense. Molly Borden confessed killing Benjamin Adison and now she -said she wasn't Molly Borden but Adison's daughter....</p> - -<p>"You—killed your own father?" It was the only thing Ricker could think -of to say.</p> - -<p>"Trexel killed him," she said. The phrase seemed to harden her again. -"I saw him coming out of the laboratory after father was—. But I -couldn't prove it. He had a perfect alibi. And after the inquest, he -tried to kill me—twice. I became Molly Borden to escape him, then -got the idea of following it through. There was just a chance that -confessing the murder might arouse Trexel's curiosity, make him get in -touch with me. I took the chance—and it worked...."</p> - -<p>It was too much to believe. "You mean you acted suspicious, let the -police catch you and burned something to look like those plans? You -risked a life sentence on Pluto—!"</p> - -<p>"It was the only way. I played free-lance thief—Trexel believed I was -at the laboratory after he left. I told him I stole what I thought were -the plans. I told him the police frightened me into a confession of the -murder—and they <i>were</i> none too gentle."</p> - -<p>"But why didn't you tell the police—before you left for Pluto. They -could have—"</p> - -<p>"I could trust no one. At first I planned to tell at the last minute -but after his message came—in jail—I knew I couldn't. It was -delivered by the district attorney himself. He told me I would be taken -from the ship before I reached Pluto."</p> - -<p>Ricker understood a lot of things now. It was like finishing a jig-saw -puzzle, when all the pieces are suddenly seen to fit. "Does Trexel know -who you are yet?"</p> - -<p>"I tried to kill him after you left," she said. "But I had only a -knife—he was too strong. You saved my life when you stole the ship. -Trexel went after you. I watched from the window."</p> - -<p>Ricker glanced toward the window. The light was gone and in the room -itself crept the chill of the darkness outside. The heat units were -dull red embers.</p> - -<p>Ricker sat up quickly. Swift pain drove him back down. "We've got to -get out of here!" he said. "This place'll be a block of ice in no time, -air and all! We can steal a ship and—"</p> - -<p>"Steal it?" said the woman. "There's no one to stop you. The workers -are dead. There's nothing to stop you—but the cold outside. It's -sudden death out there now. It's too late."</p> - -<p>Ricker gritted his teeth, arose despite the lightning pain. He waved -aside her restraining hand, sat on the edge of the sofa till the -weakness passed.</p> - -<p>"We've got to get away," he said. "We can't stay here. We'll die."</p> - -<p>"I know," said Molly Borden-Dorothy Adison quietly. "We'll die. It was -far below zero when I went out to look for you. By now, the roof must -have lowered half-way down—it's probably 200 degrees below zero out -there now. But I don't mind the dying so much. It's that I've failed -that hurts. Trexel got away—father is unavenged."</p> - -<p>Ricker had forgotten about Trexel for the moment. The thought brought -him to his feet and he forgot his pain. Both Trexel and Vanger must -have escaped. They were up in one of the planes. They had only to melt -through the ice. "Trexel got away—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Yes</i>," a calm deep voice from the door. "And he will complete his -purpose!"</p> - -<p>Ricker turned slowly toward the door. He heard the woman gasp.</p> - -<p>Trexel and Vanger stood there. They wore heavy electro-suits, heat -steaming from them into the chill room. Trexel held a pistol in his -right hand.</p> - -<p>"Notice the window, telenewsman," he said.</p> - -<p>Ricker turned to the window, saw bright daylight outside. The heat -units were on again—!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Yes," said Trexel. "The units are working. Did you think we would -depend on a single source of power? It took a few moments but it was -simple to switch on an auxiliary plant. And most of the men will -revive, the cold struck them so quickly. Before you know it, everything -will be as good as new." He smiled his fat, pasty smile. "Watch them, -Vanger, while I get out of this suit."</p> - -<p>The Martian pulled his own gun, Trexel struggled out of the hot -clothing, dropped it to the floor and sat down heavily. Ricker stared -as if he'd been struck with a mallet.</p> - -<p>"Now," the fat man said, pouring a drink, "I'd like to clear up just -one minor point before we dispense with you two. Did Ricker know who -you were all the time, Miss Adison?"</p> - -<p>The woman didn't answer, looked at him like a caged animal. But to -Ricker there flooded a sudden ray of hope. Trexel might still believe -his stall about the President knowing his whereabouts. Did he <i>still</i> -have an ace in the hole?</p> - -<p>"Yes," he spoke for the woman, "Miss Adison and I have been working -together for weeks. But that doesn't matter, Trexel. In a few moments -your hide-out'll be swarming with Patrol ships. They know where I am -and they'll be here any moment."</p> - -<p>The fat man laughed. "Still trying to pull that stuff," he scoffed. -"Well, it doesn't go over again. I contacted Washington and my agents -tell me there's no truth whatsoever in your story. No one knows where -you are. You were both working entirely on your own." He raised his -pistol. "But enough of this!"</p> - -<p>"Wait," said Vanger. He coughed behind his hand. "Why shoot the woman? -Give her to me and she'll never speak a word of what she's seen if I -have to cut her tongue out."</p> - -<p>Trexel smiled. "So you, too, have been attracted by Miss Borden's -beauty. But perhaps you won't like her, so well as Dorothy Adison, -Vanger. Have you thought how she would look without that yellow dye on -her skin, without that makeup on her eyes and with Dorothy Adison's -blonde hair?"</p> - -<p>"I like blondes," said Vanger. "And if I remember rightly, Dorothy -Adison was a beauty in her own right."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Trexel. "A dead woman's little use to anyone. If you'll -remember about that tongue-cutting—"</p> - -<p>Vanger laughed till he began coughing.</p> - -<p>Trexel raised the gun, pointed it full in Ricker's face and laughed. -Ricker could see his fat knuckle whiten as it squeezed the trigger.</p> - -<p>Molly Borden screamed, flung herself in front of him. The Martian -jerked her aside. Ricker's good left arm came up. Then it halted in -mid-air.</p> - -<p>To his ears came a sound like bubbling water to a man dying of thirst. -He didn't believe it at first, paused, lips parted, listening. Then his -eyes danced with a wild light.</p> - -<p>Trexel heard it too. His face was like chalk. He stood there with the -gun still poised, a great bear-like statue. It was the hum of rockets! -Not the rockets of Trexel's ships, the jets of the Stellar Patrol. It -was! The Patrol had gotten through!</p> - -<p>Trexel stood like a man of stone. For a full ten seconds he didn't move.</p> - -<p>Ricker knocked the woman aside, dropped to the floor. The gun flamed. -Trexel pulled the trigger wildly. Ricker snatched the glass table from -the floor beside him, hurled it up into the man's ghastly face. His -thick mouth burst into a red spray as glass crashed. He fought to get -rid of the table, its jagged edges cut into his arms and face. Ricker -hurled a chair. It hit the man's head like a pole striking cement. -Trexel's gun fell from his hand, thudded on the floor. He sagged down -beside the wall.</p> - -<p>The Martian didn't pull his gun. He stood, staring, listening to the -cries, the sound of the planes and the guns outside. He didn't appear -to see what was going on in the room. Suddenly he whirled, bolted to -the door.</p> - -<p>In the heat of his fury, Ricker flew after him.</p> - -<p>Vanger dashed down the corridor, Ricker ten feet behind. He went -through the door, started out upon the field. As Ricker reached the -door, he saw Vanger stop suddenly, look up. The din of the Patrol boats -was thunder in the echoing hollow. The air was filled with them. The -field was littered with men running, falling and lying still. A boat -swooped down toward the lone Martian standing there, fell like a bird -of prey. Vanger started to run back toward the building. Tat, tat, tat! -A long flaming line followed him, slowly, like a curse. Little puffs -of dust spurted around him. The puffs stopped. The Martian halted. He -stared at Ricker in the doorway and his face was puzzled. He coughed -and his chin, his shirt became cherry-red. Then he crumpled to the -ground.</p> - -<p>Ricker turned, walked slowly back to the room.</p> - -<p>At the door, he paused. He saw Dorothy Adison standing over the -motionless hulk of Trexel. She swayed, one hand at her throat. In her -other hand was Trexel's gun. Where the head of the fat man had been was -a dark, dripping ball of horror.</p> - -<p>The woman dropped the pistol. It struck the man's body, rolled to the -floor.</p> - -<p>Then she was suddenly in Ricker's arms.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lounging deep in his red-leather chair, Bill Ricker squinted out at the -port as the sleek space ship streamed through the darkness. He could -see nothing outside but a big, humorous-eyed young man who was his own -reflection and the green tinted star that was Earth—home.</p> - -<p>"I hear you got a raise," said the tall blonde women in the seat beside -him.</p> - -<p>"Yep," said Ricker. "The Chief tried to get out of it but since the -government offered his star reporter twice as much, he had to give in." -He stared at the woman queerly. With her golden hair, her clear emerald -eyes and perfect features she possessed a strange loveliness.</p> - -<p>"Madam," he said. "What do you plan to do with your life? Have you no -aims, no ideals, no guiding light?"</p> - -<p>"Nope," she said. "I'll just follow you around, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"And what if I get tired of it?"</p> - -<p>The woman smiled. 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