diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/64875-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/64875-0.txt | 949 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 949 deletions
diff --git a/old/64875-0.txt b/old/64875-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1532e78..0000000 --- a/old/64875-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,949 +0,0 @@ -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64875 *** - - DERELICTS of URANUS - - By J. HARVEY HAGGARD - - _Here is Adventure and Danger. - Mud-fishers, and a girl,--and a - quasi-human looking for trouble._ - - [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.] - - -Lonny Higgens, once of the earthly planet, stretched out in the -conning-tower of his mud-submarine, an aquatic monstrosity of globular -reinforced steel that was at home either above or below the surface of -the squirming mud seas of Uranus, and sighed lazily. - -"Blast it!" he moaned sleepily and almost regretfully. "There's -something about this planet that makes you have spring fever the year -round, and it gets worse and worse! Lonny Higgens, you're a lazy, -nogood fool!--and you'll never get around to the things you used to -dream about." - -The circular hatch was open over his head, showing a patch of black -swirling mists through which dark midges maneuvered in tiny swarms. -Just as he was dozing comfortably, forgetful of the humming insects -on the outside and the occasional flopping sounds made by things that -squirmed in the muddy ocean, something dropped from the mist, falling -plunk on his forehead. He jerked sidewise, just as another pellet -of balled mud struck him on the end of his nose. He glimpsed a tiny -visage, half insect and quasi-human, peering over the hatch rim for an -instant. - -"Baron Munchy!" exclaimed Lonny irritably, recognizing this curious -specimen of Uranusian life. "Cut that out, or I'll wring your little -neck. I haven't got time for any of your monkey-shines." - -A winged thing soared down from the mists, landing on the chair beside -his couch, and "Baron Munchy", like a dragon-fly come to mysterious -humanlike life, folded his transparent wings back like a cloak and -paced back and forth. - -"Me mad! Me plent' mad," rasped Baron Munchy, who produced his tones by -a vibration of his wings. - -"Ah, beat it," snorted Lonny, turning his head away. The small being -had brought with him the dank, stagnant aroma of the outer swamps, and -that reminded him of untended netlines hanging in the mud. He was bored -with Baron Munchy and his endless lying and conniving. When he had -first come to Uranus, two years before, the little rascal had showed up -on the landing deck, more dead than alive from a terrific beating at -the hands of several of his fellows. Baron Munchy was a born fighter. -He survived under the ministrations of the lonely terrestrial and had -become attached to the mud-submarine. But he dearly loved to stir -up trouble, and nothing pleased the little demon more than to shout -insults at mud-monkeys until they fought among themselves. "Go way. I'm -tired of listening to your silly chatter." - -"Me mad as heck!" cried Baron Munchy, sitting down on the edge of the -chair like a tiny mannikin and doubling his tiny fists beneath his -chitinous chin. "That man say the Boss no good. He say the Boss one big -blonde devil. He say--" - -"Shut up," protested Lonny. "Raeburn's all right. He's just a -mud-fisher like me, and has got to get along. It's natural that he -doesn't like a rival, and I'm not a bit riled by your chatter." - -He was presently snoring and Baron Munchy looked across the space -through squinting, calculating eyes. For a moment the mischievous -glitter in his faceted eyes became dulled, and then he soared across -the bed and sat astride Lonny's neck, using the adam's apple for a -saddle. Lonny roused with a start and gulped. The small insectlike -visage was thrust grimly down to the end of his nose, and a tiny finger -was raised emphatically. - -"He say he knock the holy feather from you, Boss," he chirped grimly. -"He say you fish for pearls in mud that belong him. He say that girl -make him one fine cook, and--" - -"Huh!" demanded Lonny Higgens. "What girl! Oh, he probably means Lana. -Blast it, Munchy, can't you let a guy sleep? If she wants to fall for a -flat tire like Raeburn, it's no business of mine." - -Grunting reluctantly, Lonny got up and stretched, cursing in a fervent -undertone, at which Baron Munchy looked hopeful. - -"Good Lord, Munchy," he growled. "Why I ever put up with you and your -stirring up trouble is more than I know." Yet he knew that the little -creature's chatter had helped to break the deadly monotony of the long -winter hours in which he had managed to teach pidgin English to the -Uranusian. - -He climbed up the ladder, through the hatch, just as a rocking movement -was apparent in the hull of the mud-submarine. Down past the oblong -landing he saw great circular movements in the mud, where his nets had -been a few moments before. Tiny midges were falling into the mud and -being drawn into the gyrating vortices. - -Now thoroughly awake, he leaped down and across the landing. In a few -seconds he stood cursing at the broken strands of the anchor-lines -where his nets had been ripped away. - -"Damn you Whirl-Rays," he cursed, shaking his fist in the direction -of the whirlpools that surged in and out like living things, which of -course they were, under their coating of slimy mud. The Whirl-Rays -had a way of forcing a stream of mud in a downward spout and creating -a resultant whirlpool which sucked everything into its voracious -clutches. "That's my tenth set of nets you've got that way." - -Baron Munchy fluttered out from below and landed on the railing, -preening his wings. There was an I-told-you-so expression on his -insectivorian countenance ... when he saw the angry expression on the -terrestrial's face and heard the flow of vitriolic words, he hopped up -and down with impish ecstacy. - -"My goodness, Boss," he chirruped. "You heap mad! Maybe somethin' goin' -happen now, huh? Maybe you whip tar out of Raeburn, huh?" - -Lonny swatted at Baron Munchy with his open palm, but the blow never -landed. Out of the mists, coming soddenly from somewhere across -the squirming quagmire, came the sounds of a human being crying in -desperation. - -"Help! Help!" sounded the voice, and the thing that so startled Lonny -Higgens was that the words were unmistakably feminine. - -"Good Lord!" he exploded. "Do you suppose Raeburn really has got Lana -in his mud-submarine! Damn it, Baron Munchy, why didn't you say so -before you spoke?" - - - II - -Contrary to the general belief earlier than 2070, when the explorer -Ramundsen first dipped down through the screening vapors of Uranus, the -temperature never approached the freezing point, and lurked instead -nearer to the boiling mark of water. The boiling point on Uranus varied -greatly, however, due to unbelievable fluctuations of the atmospheric -pressure. - -Lonny made poor time, slogging along on the mud-shoes fashioned with -tough vines over a framework of metal. There was a limit to the speed -you could make on such contraptions. Baron Munchy, bordering on a -nervous frenzy at the promise of activity, had darted ahead, his filmy -wings dissolving quickly in the swirling mist. - -He had a good general idea as to the whereabouts of Raeburn's -mud-submarine. Likewise, he had a fairly good estimate of the -mud-fisher's capabilities and did not think that Lana Hilton would -suffer much if Raeburn had not gone completely wacky. - -At times the going was pretty good, where the mud was entwined with -thick layers of lightning-kelp--so called because tiny sparkles of -static electricity darted from it at each step of his clogged mud-shoes. - -Mud, mud, mud! All Uranus was one vast ball of squirming mud! -Thirty-two thousand miles through of squashy mud. Stuff that would -run through his fingers, and through the webs of his shoes, and which -would suck greedily at his body if he so much as lost his footing. Mud -that would never solidify due to the varying turmoil of barometric -pressure. Mud that could never dry completely due to the quasi-soluble -consistency of Uranusian silt. - -Two years he'd been here now, fishing for the precious mollusks whose -pearls might win him the security and prosperity he had never been able -to wrest from the over-populated earth. Two years it had been--or nine -days as time was reckoned on Uranus. Nine times he had gone around the -muddy world, keeping up with daylight--such as it was--and now--blast -it--the world was getting him--absorbing him mentally as well as -physically--or so it seemed. - -Only four days before (Uranusian, a bit less than a year) the -feminine aridity of the planet had been shattered by the coming of -that headstrong, unreasoning female, Lana Hilton. Prior to that, there -had been company of a sort on Uranus--Link Raeburn's mud-submarine had -often drifted near enough for an occasional chat. - -But Lana's coming had made a crowd on Uranus, if three can be called -a crowd, and Lonny was beginning to wish for the unbroken isolation -of other planets with no form of life whatsoever. There was only one -method of obtaining Uranusian pearls. - -That method was relatively simple. You had to invest every cent of your -savings or heritage, as he had done two years before, and you had to -pay towing charges to some space schooner that was coming near Uranus. -Sea food came cheaply on Uranus but clothing was a different problem, -and you had to have a goodly stock of that. - -Then, when you did find enough pearls to warrant the voyage home, you -had to send out an S. O. S. to a nearby space vessel, and the captain, -fearing the loss of his command if he disobeyed interplanetary law, -would have to come several million miles extra to pick you up, sans -submarine, of course, which by that time would be a rusted chunk of -worthless metal anyway. - -He was wet to the skin when he heard voices through the mist. To his -nose came the suffocating down draft of the fishing vessel, mingled -with the faint aroma of ammonia. - -"Sock 'im! Smack 'im down!" he heard Baron Munchy shouting at the top -of his tiny voice. "Plaster 'er another! Lead with right, dadblamee!" - -Fearing the worst, Lonny tried to hurry, with the result that he became -tangled in his mud-shoes and had to flounder the rest of the way. On -the landing he shook off as much of the mud as was possible, kicked off -his mud-shoes and staggered toward the shaft of light boring up from -the hatchway. - -In the center of the control room Baron Munchy was stalking back and -forth, yelling like a referee. Link Raeburn's angular body was sprawled -back disgustedly on a low bench, while Lana Hilton was flopped down in -a chair at a table, her dejected face propped up by both hands. - -"Whyn't you wallop in kisser?" demanded Baron Munchy, hopping up to -the table beside her and trying to lift an arm. "Smash him over place, -Lana!" - -"Damn that mosquito!" snapped Link Raeburn wearily. "Can't you swat -him? Why doesn't that fool Lonny keep him home where he belongs?" - -"What's the big idea?" demanded Lonny, looking from one to the other -and clawing miserably at his mud coating. He gazed accusingly at the -girl in tattered metalline slacks and faded blouse of vitrisheen. - -"So you finally got here," she commented casually. "I thought that -would bring you. He's chivalrous, isn't he, Link?" - -"Look here, Raeburn," snorted Lonny, doubling a grimy fist and turning -to the flint-featured man. "Are you trying to play some sort of a game?" - -"Ask Lana," said Raeburn, puffing at a smoking stem of mud-kelp. "She -was the one that screamed." - -"Maybe it's me that's nuts!" exploded Lonny indignantly. - -"Right!" chorused the twain boredly. - -"Sock 'em Boss!" wailed Baron Munchy, shadow-boxing on the border of -the table. "Don't lettim get away with that! Splatter 'em." - -"Aw, sit down," growled Link Raeburn, plucking thoughtfully at the -delicate outline of a tiny mustache. "Lana yelled all right. That was -her way of calling the meeting to order. The three of us constitute -the majority on Uranus. And in case you're getting ideas, her virtue's -safe. She's got quite a problem on her hands. Tell him, Lana." - -"You seem to be doing all right," said the girl, crossing her legs -nonchalantly. - -"Well, to put it shortly, her mud-submarine, which was a second hand -job, finally caved in from oxidation. So she came around here and -demanded that I put her up with room and board for half of her take." - -"Look here," demanded Lana Hilton, taking a chamois bag from her -bosom, which when opened, displayed a goodly fortune of pink Uranusian -pearls. "My shack begins to crumble. Any minute it'll be heading down -to the muddy locker, and that dirty robber wants them all for my keep. -Everything I got, I tell you." - -"Nuts! The gal's buggy," said Link Raeburn coldly. "She's safe enough, -I tell you, and if she weren't there's not a blasted thing you could -do about it. This planet has got her brain whirling. I told her she'd -better sound out an S. O. S. and take a powder for earth." - -"What do you expect from me?" exploded Lonny. "I told you I would have -nothing to do with that nova-skirt from the first, when she tried to -play us one against the other." - -"I give up!" cried Lana Hilton, spreading empty hands in a gesture of -defeat. "Once I had the lead role in a chorus, and I gave all that up -for this. I thought I could handle men with kid gloves, but when it -comes to you, Lonny, I'll say you've cast-iron defense." - -"Raeburn can have you!" snorted Lonny. "For all I care!" - -Spat! Her open hand had snapped out and landed on his cheek. - -"Swat 'er, Boss!" pleaded Baron Munchy delightedly. "Whee! Does that -dame have a punch!" - -"Maybe I exaggerated, a trifle," stammered Lonny, taken aback by the -startling reaction. - -"That's better," returned Lana Hilton, beginning to pace the control -room worriedly. Lonny Higgens wiped a gob of mud thoughtfully from his -chin and grinned when he saw that her hand was grimy. - -"Oh, hell!" he said grudgingly. "I'll have to get back before this mud -cakes up on me." - -"So long," said Link Raeburn, without looking around. - -"C'mon, Munchy," called Lonny. "No fireworks." - -"No fireworks?" repeated Baron Munchy dolefully. - -"None at all. Lana, I'm still a white man, though it's much against -my will. If worse comes to the worst you can have an extra room in my -mud-swimming hovel. And you can keep your handful of marbles." - -The girl whirled around, wide-eyed with surprise. A sunburst of hope -and relief spread slowly over her features. - -"So you are human, after all!" she gasped. "I'll just take you up -on that before you change your mind, but in order not to have a -misunderstanding I'll let it be known that I'm going to pay half my -pearls, whether you like it or not. Don't stand there grinning like an -ape! You act as though I ought to throw in a kiss for good measure." - -"Go ahead," snorted Link Raeburn smirkingly. "Right on that muddy -kisser." - -Climbing back into the upper mists, Lonny almost regretted his -decision. She had donned a slicker suit and a pair of mud-shoes and was -ready to go. The mist swirlers were tumbling about as though alive, and -Lonny had never felt so uncomfortable in his whole life. - - - III - -He had to admit that Lana Hilton was adept on her mud-shoes, but she -was short of wind and soon began to lag. I would get stuck with a -woman--he thought bitterly, not realizing that he spoke out loud. - -She didn't know what she was talking about--he decided, but for the -sake of not starting an argument he kept that to himself. In the -meanwhile he slowed his pace to match her own and said nothing. Tiny -sparks of miniature lightning shot up from matted mud-kelp and rippled -along the supple curvature of her body. She was just goodlooking enough -to be a constant cause for trouble among the more populated centers of -interplanetary civilization--a regular jinx for a fellow who wanted to -get along with the least effort possible. - -He led the way along the thicker clumps of vegetation, choosing the -firmer directions for her faltering steps, and for long moments he -heard nothing but their own heavy breathings and the sounds of their -feet slogging. - -A whirl-ray came out of the mire, sending its tiny maelstrom careening -away at a tangent, and leaving a phosphorescent wake. He saw the girl -shudder and avert her eyes. Lonny's own hand had slipped quickly inside -his slicker to clutch the holster of a Z-type ray gun. - -"Back at home," she said thoughtfully, "the suckers all thought Uranus -was something of a paradise, something like the south seas. And I fell -for that stuff." - -"Yeh," agreed Lonny grimly. "And after you got here you were too -thick-headed to give up the thing as a bad job, too afraid to face your -friends with failure. So you punish yourself with your own temper." - -"I suppose that's advice from one who knows," she retorted -sarcastically, pausing to rub the cramped muscles of her leg, then -going on as he looked back. "Don't--think--I'm crazy--if--" - -"Now what's the matter?" demanded Lonny irritably, pausing to see that -she was stopped, and was clutching desperately at her throat, pulling -at her collar. - -"Air--I can't get air," she gasped. "How--about--you?" Almost -instantly, breathing was becoming difficult for Lonny. He peered around -with dismay and saw that the mist was rising dangerously and that -visibility was much stronger. Out of the distance came a faint eerie -whisper, as of distant winds dying. - -"Lana, it looks like we're in for it," he said grimly. "That's high -pressure you feel. Pretty soon your ears will begin to ring. And if we -don't hurry we may never get back to boast about things here to our -sappy friends at home." - -When the heavy pressure areas came over Uranus, mists rose high in the -air and dispersed slowly. Swift expansion of atmospheric gases caused -a tremendous surface pressure that would last for some time. It meant -a quick crushing death under air compression if they didn't reach the -mud-submarine. - -Lana Hilton was white with fright and trying hard not to show it. A -strange metamorphosis was taking place in the heavens. Lancing colors -of orange and red shot up like gigantic swords to flash across the sky. -His ears began to throb dully. As the mist rose Lonny saw that they -had come too far to the left and that the mud-ship was a hundred yards -directly to their right. He saw something else, too. - -A man was running across the muddy surface--if his fast wobbling -progress on mud-shoes could have been described as a run. It could be -only one person--Link Raeburn. - -A terrible fear seized him. If Raeburn reached the mud-ship and shut -them out, they would die horribly. He began to hurry forward--slipped -and fell awkwardly. Lana made a wry face and helped him to his feet. - -"The rat," she gasped. "He heard you refer to my bag of pearls as a -mere 'handful'. It wouldn't do you any harm to think once in a while -before speaking, big boy." Handful--of course her small collection was -a handful compared to his own rich pickings. So that was why she had -come with him! - -The world was going around in a whirl now, but Lonny kept staggering -onward. Link Raeburn had disappeared. The mud-submarine kept dancing -tauntingly before his eyes and then disappearing. If it sank before he -reached it the work of long endless months would slip from his grasp. -And with it would go his life. Back on earth, they would never know and -Raeburn would live a life of affluence and ease. - -"We've got to make it, Lana," he gritted, though every breath was a -torment that sent hot flames of pain shooting through every cell. She -turned a game, tortured face to his and nodded vehemently. - -A whole school of whirl-rays came rippling toward them, crisscrossing -the mud with gleaming trails, and Lonny found his Z-ray weapon--sent -the purplish beams of annihilation down into the centers of quivering, -living whirlpools. Once he went around and around in narrowing circles -toward the opened maw of a whirl-ray, only to see the lower shape -dematerialize before the deadly emanation. - - * * * * * - -They were at the very edge of the submarine, were clambering across the -muddy landing, using their last reserve of strength. Link Raeburn was -working at the catches of the hatch cover, and had just succeeded in -undoing the fastenings. Now he gave a tremendous heave and the thing -fell like a trapdoor. - -Hurled on by his wrath, Lonny made a dive for the traitorous visage, -but as he dove his foot slipped and he skidded sidewise. His head came -down upon a railing brace with a sickening impact and the gun went -spinning. Through the darkening chaos of his mind he felt the submarine -starting to submerge. - -The mud was creeping up toward his body, was sucking at Lana's ankles, -crawling in a tiny avalanche toward the dome of the hatch cover--now -closed. They were beaten--whipped--done for. Now Raeburn could go back -to earth--concocting some wild tale as to their death. He would be -laughing at them and enjoying every luxury. - -Lana was either dead game or so angry at Link's betrayal that she -refused to give up. Though her face was distorted terribly from heavy -pressure and agony, she pressed onward--was crumbling at last to her -knees--and pointing wildly. - -Lonny saw what she meant. He could have shouted for joy but breath -would not come from his compressed lungs. The gun had fallen upon the -lip of the hatch cowling and now the cover was jammed. Through a narrow -slit he saw Raeburn's eyes--narrowed and beastial--and his hands, -working like mad to free the mechanism. - -If he went down that way--it meant death for him too. Under heavy -pressure the mud would send terrible pseudopods grasping through the -slit. Lonny could have laughed. But there was no time for gloating. He -saw the hatch door come up again, and then his foot had settled over -the gun and he was helping Lana down the stairway. - -"Tough luck, Link," he whispered huskily, as weakness overcame him and -he tumbled down the stairs. Dimly he became aware that the hatch lid -was down securely now, and that the submarine was sinking rapidly. - -Lana Hilton clung to the upper ladderway for a moment, then released -her hold from paralyzed fingers and fell like a rag doll, bouncing down -the steps to come to rest across his own body. A trickle of blood came -from her mouth, but she was grinning. - -That was all Lonny knew, for the darkness came up to swallow everything. - - - IV - -"Who hit'm boss? Boss hit'm heap hard!" Baron Munchy, hardly able to -lift the damp towel, was dragging it across his mouth, smothering him. -Link Raeburn watched the operation interestedly, but not cautiously, -from his position before the instrument panel. Lana Hilton was sitting -up dazedly, rearranging her hair. - -"I knew it was too much to expect," she commented. "Couldn't leave -us alone, could you, Link? I was just beginning to like the idea of -getting away from you for good. Ooooh, my head!" - -"I hope our friend had the foresight to stock his larder well," said -Link Raeburn with a shrug. "We may be cooped up here for some time." - -Lonny sat up, shaking his head dazedly. - -"I ought to whale the tar out of you," he cried angrily. "But I've got -more sense than to do it at a time like this. Maybe I'll do it when the -sub-boat comes up to the surface again. I never did have too much faith -in you, Raeburn." - -Link Raeburn laughed. "You won't do it then, or ever, Lonny. There -isn't an ounce of fight left in you. The planet's got you. I've always -believed that you had enough pearls stacked away to make a fortune on -earth, but you kept putting the time for departure off into the future." - -His taunts acted as harsh irritants to Lonny Higgens, who doubled his -fists and took a couple of steps forward. - -"Slap 'im down, Boss," urged Baron Munchy, and Lonny stopped, his -shoulders falling. - -"That's right," he said, grinning at the little elf. "Fight to the -death, like all these insensate creatures of Uranus. No, I'll not do -it. I'm saving myself, against the day I'll get back to earth." - -"You're a fool," said Link Raeburn. "Next time I'll get you for keeps." - -"At least you can save it until we get up from here," returned -Lonny, brushing past the other and examining the instruments. "Depth -indication--now four thousand feet. And sinking slowly." - -With luck, they would be on the surface again in a few hours. Then he -would either knock the tar out of Link Raeburn or kick him out in the -mud. He felt a deepseated, lethargic contempt for the mud-fisher. The -dapper man was a despicable murderer at heart, and now he felt only a -distant sort of loathing for him. - -Lana was different. In a way she might have been a good sort. He had a -hunch that Uranus was affecting her much as it had him, bringing forth -his irritable nature, sapping his energy, dulling his sensations in a -sluggish, remote way. He had an idea that she would cut an amazingly -attractive figure in one of the late translucent evening gowns, back -in one of the live spots of the populated planets. At the moment, she -was highly intolerable and self-centered. He would do well to be rid of -both of them. - -Baron Munchy was soaring up and down the room, catching midges, when -Lonny descended to the lower decks. The atomic motors, he found, were -in good condition for an emergency. The trouble with them was that they -provided merely a horizontal propulsion. The natural buoyancy of the -vessel, coupled with the lessening of surface pressure, would have to -raise it from the murky depths. - -The lower deck was almost hemispherical in shape, and fully occupied -with power apparatus. - -"They steal'm, Boss!" warned Baron Munchy vindictively. "Now you fight, -huh?" - -"Fighting wouldn't do any good," Lonny explained wearily. "People don't -fight on Uranus. They're always fagged out, enervated." - -"Fagged--" began the impish creature helplessly. - -"I mean that life is too boring to be taken seriously," went on Lonny. -"Otherwise, I'd have knocked the slats out of that smirking back-biter -long ago. I may have to do it yet." - -"You oughta fight'm," declared Baron Munchy angrily. "They steal house. -Steal everything! Why no earthmen fight, Boss?" - -"Because earthmen have to get mad to fight," returned Lonny, "and you -can't get mad here somehow. Oh, shut up! I don't know how to explain -it. Earthmen just don't feel violent emotions here on Uranus. They -don't get mad at anything! They don't fall in love! They're just sapped -dry of everything." - -His head was aching. It was a good thing his body had recovered from -its exposure to the heavy pressure area. He climbed the rampway for the -upper deck, and stood motionless, breaking upon a surprising scene. - - * * * * * - -All of the compartments had been searched, and he saw his cache of -Uranusian pearls open to view. The wall safe hung ajar--apparently the -deft fingers of Link Raeburn had encountered no great difficulty in -finding the combination. His eyes were glittering with fascination, -and the girl, too, seemed unable to wrench her eyes from the inviting -spectacle. - -"That's enough," gasped Link Raeburn, "to set a fellow up for life." - -"Yeh, and here we are," returned the girl hollowly, "stuck deep in the -mud of Uranus." - -"Maybe you forget who they belong to," snorted Lonny, stalking into -their midst and slamming his treasure back into its hiding place. "The -indicator says we're at six thousand five hundred and forty-one feet." - -"Then we've stopped," said Raeburn. "It read the same five minutes ago." - -Lonny stood watching the gauges and found that the other was right. The -mud-submarine had indeed come to a halt. It meant that some sort of an -equilibrium was being established in the barometric storm center that -raged above. - -"I'll start the motors and try jarring the ship around a little," he -said, seating himself before the mechanisms. At a touch of his finger, -dial bulbs lighted up, and from the lower depths came the whine of -machinery. Almost instantly they felt a sidewise lurch, and then a -slow climbing motion. - -"It looks good, anyway," said Link Raeburn. "We're going up again." - -"Thank Heaven for small favors," breathed Lana thankfully, and watched -attentively as Lonny began juggling the controls alarmedly. Link's eyes -watched the indicator, and began to show new amazement. - -"We're not ascending now," said Lonny grimly. "I don't know what's the -matter. The motor-drive is okay, but we're making a crazy circle, over -and over, and not getting any higher." - -"You're nuts!" burst out Raeburn, stalking forward, waving his arms. -Yet the yellow pallor of his face showed that he too had noticed the -mud-ship's erratic behavior. "It's just not possible! Uranus is all -mud--just plain fluid mud!" - -"Or that's what we've thought, up to now," said Lonny significantly. - -"What do you mean?" demanded Lana. "You can't mean that we're trapped -here with a fortune just in our grasp." - -The whine of the lower motors mounted, and as a result the -mud-submarine began spinning around like a top. Yet the depth pointer -had not moved. - -"It means that there's some sort of a skeletal core to Uranus after -all," said Lonny with a vanquished sigh, snapping off the motors and -pushing back from the controls. "Add what's more, it means that we've -bumped into it." - -"But how?" demanded Raeburn. "Even if there is a solid core, nothing -would prevent our ship from floating up again." - -"Unless our vessel happened to get caught under a ledge," returned -Lonny pointedly. "We sank while the pressure was heavy, and then when -it lessened, began to ascend. We climbed a short way and stopped. -Then our horizontal screws sends the ship around in a short circle, -indicating that we are in a shelving pocket. We can't descend unless -the pressure storm gets violent again! And we can't climb through a -shelving ledge of solid core. So our chances of getting out of here are -rather slim." - -Raeburn's furtive eyes were glowing, like those of a beast at bay. He -whirled around, struck out wildly at the controls, started the engines -and sent the mud-submarine spinning around again, but to no avail. Lana -Hilton watched his every move, and she too was like a tigress at bay. - -Like animals they glared around at the berylumin hulls, thinking of the -millions of pounds per square inch waiting beyond--trying to press in -upon them. An instant's exposure to that and a human body would be but -a pulpy mass. - -They felt helpless and insignificant. To the two who glared -unbelievingly at the controls, the apparent unconcern of Lonny Higgens -amounted to madness. He appeared not to be able to fully appreciate -the true reasons for their violent perturbation. He was humming a tune -through his teeth, and searching among tiny wall niches, from which he -presently withdrew a tiny skillet. - -"No use getting excited," he told them. "The chances are that the -pressure storms won't come around soon enough to do us any good. At any -rate, there's nothing to stop us from eating while we're hungry--that -is, while the food supply holds out." - - - V - -"You're not human," said Link Raeburn accusingly, and he shook a -quivering finger at Lonny. "Here we are in the face of death, and all -you think of is your stomach." - -"There's not much choice," said Lonny Higgens, "when a fellow's empty. -And the menu never changes here. Besides, eating might help you to -think." - -"You shouldn't think while you're eating," reprimanded Lana. "It'll -give you indigestion." - -"Great Space!" broke out Raeburn. "You too! Who gives a hang about -indigestion? Listen, you pair of fools, we're snagged down here on the -bottom of a sea of mud. Pearls won't mean a thing to us in this fix! -We'll be lucky if we ever get out of this with a whole skin." He began -pacing up and down the room, swinging his hands, while Lonny inspected -the storage compartment. - -"Looks like a fish dinner," he sighed. "Of course there are clams, of -the mud-kelp variety, and Uranusian lobsters--they're really delicious -at this time of the year. Then we've got a very good variety of that -piscatorial wonder known here as a whirl-ray, whose steaks are rather -tasty. But in the last analysis, just fish." - -"I'll take the same," groaned Lana Hilton, rolling her eyes toward the -ceiling with an attitude of unwilling acquiescence. "Between going -nuts and getting the d. t.'s I'll take the nuts. Maybe I can forget a -few trifles of life by just being in your company. At least it'll keep -me from thinking over what a swell opportunity I had for being a good -little girl. By the way, Lonny, do you think there's a Hereafter, here -on Uranus?" - -"Why not?" asked Lonny with a grimace as he laid thick white slices of -whirl-ray in the skillet and turned on an electric grid. "I suppose -they'd picture there as some sort of a glorified place where mud just -couldn't exist." - -"Yeh, probably with green fields, waterfalls, and mountains," returned -Lana, leaning on her fist with a reminiscent sigh, "Gosh, sometimes I -wonder why I ever left those good things, and then again--what's the -diff?" - - * * * * * - -The fried steaks sent a not unpleasant aroma drifting through the -control room. Lonny sat a tiny side plate on the table, and pulled up -a high slender chair like a baby's high-chair, to which Baron Munchy -soared. He tucked a napkin under his chin and sat waiting, with tiny -knife and fork raised high. The sight was so amusing that somehow Lana -found time to laugh. - -"You really coddle the little rascal, don't you?" she asked, "and for -some reason I never really considered these manlike dragon-flies with -having any intelligence whatever." - -"Oh, they're smart in a way," agreed Lonny between bites. "You know -I've always had a theory that his race of beings came from one of the -moons of Uranus. There are four of them, you know. I suspect he came -from Umbriel." - -"Well, little man," said Lana. "Maybe you're an Umbriellian. But where -is your umbrella?" - -"Or an Arielite," suggested Lonny. "Without a lantern." - -"Or a Titanian, or an Oberonian," said Lana. - -"Slap 'em down," sighed Baron Munchy in a flattered manner. "Give both -barrels." - -"Say, let up with that kind of chatter, won't you?" groaned Link -Raeburn, after trying again and again to get the mud-ship from beneath -the deep ledge. "I'm going batty, I tell you. Completely batty!" - -"Probably it's the pressure," commented Lonny. "High blood pressure." - -With the table cleared, Lana's good spirits had taken another slump. -She went gloomily with Raeburn to check the air, food, and water -supplies of the strange craft. When they returned Lonny Higgens was -curled up on a couch, snoring lustily. - -"I don't get it," said Raeburn, throwing up his hands in despair. "He -isn't like a man any more. He isn't like anything living. It's his -ship, and he ought to know more about it than anyone. Oh well, if -everybody else is going to give up the ghost, why should I worry?" - -"Sure," said Lana. "Why should we worry. Maybe his surmise wasn't true. -Maybe it's something else holding us down. Maybe it's our imagination." - -She sat down, her mind in a daze. How long she sat there in a -trance-like state she didn't know, but a movement from Lonny Higgens -aroused her. Link Raeburn was stretched out on the floor, his mouth -wide open, eyes closed with complete exhaustion and utter relaxation. - -"I think I've got an idea," said Lonny, stretching his arms and -staggering to his feet. He looked at the controls and found that they -were at the same depth. 6,541 feet. Their position had not altered a -trifle. "We've been here over eight hours. No barometric storm ever -lasted that long on Uranus. The pressure must have been released on -the upper surface by now. And we've got to have a heavy pressure area -again somewhere. It just occurred to me that we might create that -heavy pressure on the roof of this ledge that we're under, which would -suffice just as well." - -"But how?" demanded Lana, and followed as he went to the berylumin -hull at one end of the control room and pulled down a shutter. He had -exposed a transparent plate of glassite, now black as ink with the -outer mud, in whose center a pair of binoculars had been frozen into -the vitreous substance. - -"We'll use the field glass as a terminal," he explained, making -disconnections at the control board and bringing two current wires in -the direction of the wall. He affixed one wire to the binoculars and -clamped the other against a rim of the porte. "This glassite will act -as an insulator and we can force an electric current through the outer -mud. There's a possibility that the current will react on the watery -content to release hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis. I really -don't think it will work, but it's a good way to occupy our minds." - - * * * * * - -She watched as he made the terminals secure, then stepped up the -amperage on the desk instruments. Very faintly, blue lightning flashes -of electricity could be seen streaking through the outer mud against -the glassite. For long moments they watched as nothing happened. - -Then he sighed disappointedly. - -"No use, I guess," he said reluctantly. "Too much outer pressure for -gases to form." - -"You mean--it's the end?" she asked in a tiny voice. Her hands reached -out and caught him by the shoulders abruptly. For a moment the outer -mask of her face had slipped and her frightened soul stared through. -When Lonny started to draw back, she held on. - -"Gosh, Lonny," she said hurriedly. "Maybe I'm a little fool to break -down like this. I think--I think I may even be going to cry. But I've -seen what you're really like these last few hours--under the stress of -everything, I mean. You're really pretty decent and brave. You needn't -deny that you've got courage, and a lot of other admirable qualities. -Your only trouble has been in letting the awful lethargy of Uranus get -hold of you. That's all that's wrong, and what you need is something -to jar you loose from this planet. Then you'd be a great guy. I really -mean it, Lonny." - -Her eyes were shining like stars. She was on the verge of a complete -breakdown. Yet Lonny Higgens was held as though in a spell, for her -words had done something that had not happened in a long time, had -broken through his apathy. - -Now, moving swiftly, she pressed her lips against his own, and they -stood in a long silent embrace. Lonny's head was whirling, and he -stumbled back, his hand crashing against a rheostat. A thunderous surge -of high voltage crackled suddenly, kniving along the glassite, and the -motors from the lower decks sang a mounting, thunderous song. - -At the same time, everything shifted. Something had dealt the -mud-submarine a tremendous blow from above. They were sent careening -against the hull and then to the floor, which began to tilt. Link -Raeburn had been thrown to his hands and knees. Now his eyes goggled up -at the instrument panel. Lonny Higgens sat sprawled out with the girl a -tumbled heap in his arms. - -"Good going, Lonny!" cried Raeburn incredulously. "We're sinking again. -How did you manage to do it?" - -Lonny blinked through a cascade of tumbling russet curls and looked up -wonderingly. - -"I suppose the electrolysis worked after all," he answered weakly. -"Under the pressure, the high voltage must have produced liquid oxygen, -and then ignited it. And if the propellers are working we ought to be -able to wriggle out into the clear some way." - -"That puts a different light on the entire matter," said Raeburn, -getting to his feet and drawing a ray pistol from his pocket. "I told -you I would do you in for good the next time I made a try. Get up, -Lonny, and start saying your prayers." - -"My goodness," gasped Baron Munchy, crawling up over the edge of the -control chair and looking on with glittering, faceted eyes. - - - VI - -Lonny Higgens got up slowly, then glanced lazily toward the control -instruments, where the depth indicator had dipped down noticeably. - -"That's all very well in due time," he said, "but we're still under the -ledge, and not out of danger by any means. If we don't shove from under -it we'll land back in the same shape." - -"Get over to those controls then," ordered Raeburn. - -Lonny grinned and went to the familiar seat. The craft was making -larger circles as it descended, indicating that his guess must have -been correct, that they were in a pocket, and that the pocket was -broadening. Somewhere at the bottom of that pocket was a tunnel -opening upon the outer ocean and it was up to him to find that -opening--blindfold. If they could only keep descending until the vessel -entered the channel their main problem would be solved. But if the -pressure generated from the explosion was dissipated too suddenly, his -mud-ship would ascend into the trap and stay forever there on the muddy -ocean floor. - -He felt a lurch. The ship had paused and was sinking no longer. This -then, was the limit. It would not go low enough. He saw the horror in -Raeburn's eyes. - -They would die from starvation here. The gun in Raeburn's hands would -be merciful, if it relieved them from the more hideous death that was -certain to come. - -The hull shuddered, slipped against a rocky outer substance that seemed -to give way suddenly. He felt the relaxation of the outer barrier -through the controls, knew that the propellers were driving it out and -into the true bed of the Uranusian ocean. The needle indicator paused -uncertainly, started to rise. By the expression on Raeburn's face he -knew that the other had not guessed that their trap was behind them. - -It was his chance. Lonny's hands moved swiftly on the controls. A surge -of power sent the rear-drive mud-propellers spinning. Too much power. -The ship tilted swiftly and Raeburn lost his balance. The man at the -controls left them in a flash. - -Lonny seized the wrist that held the gun, wrenched it away. It went -skidding across the floor. Then he stuck out fiercely at the sardonic -features so close to him. Raeburn rocked backward, flailing out with -both hands, as Lonny came in again, both fists landing solidly. His -antagonist spun backward, then fell helplessly to the decking. Baron -Munchy was jumping up and down in ecstacy. - -"Hit'm, Boss! Sock 'im again!" he piped, but Lonny picked up the gun, -slipped it into his pocket, and shook his head in the negative. - -[Illustration: _"Hit'm, Boss. Sock 'im again!" Baron Munchy piped, -jumping up and down in ecstacy. "Him all bad. Say Boss no good."_] - -"There's to be no more fighting, Raeburn," he said. "I'll pick you off -with the gun if you start anything. When we break the surface you can -get your mud-shoes and go." - -Four thousand feet. Three thousand. The mud-submarine was rising -rapidly now, had passed the two thousand mark. - -"You've really hurt the little fellow's feelings," said Lana Hilton, -evading his eyes and gesturing toward Baron Munchy, who was beating his -fists against the wall in sheer frustration. "He must have been praying -for blood and thunder." - -"I'll plaster 'im!" Munchy was squeaking. "I'll do him in!" - -One thousand. - -"He's a misfit here," said Lonny slowly. "He comes from Umbriel, or one -of the other moons. On his own world he was used to great activity. -Uranus hasn't affected him--acting upon his nerves--as it has the rest -of us. But he's a misfit here. He expects the normal activity of his -own satellite upon Uranus. That just isn't possible. I think he'd like -it on earth." - -"You mean--" began Lana, just as the mud-submarine broke the surface -and began bobbing to a rest. Lonny followed Raeburn up the hatchway, -watched him open it. The upper mists broke in damply, sending heavy -white furlers about their faces. Link Raeburn looked glum and defeated -as he donned the heavy mud-shoes and slogged away into the mist. - -Lonny Higgens closed the hatchway and yawned. He was beginning to feel -dog-tired again--a normal sensation on Uranus--but a grim decision had -taken shape in his mind. - -"Sure," he said, in answer to the question in her gleaming eyes. "I'm -going to get out of here. I'm going to send an S. O. S. If that doesn't -work I'll get a straight call through to earth, charter a space yacht, -and have it sent to pick us up." - -"Lonny, you mean, that--" began Lana, moving toward him with her lips -invitingly close. - -But Lonny Higgens evaded her. He turned his back and sat down in a -chair, then yawned again. Uranus had him! Old rocking chair had him! -Something had him, as long as he was on this blasted planet. - -Lovely as Lana was, it would take more energy than he could assimilate -to make love to her on this muddy world. - -"I guess you'll have to save it," he sighed regretfully. "But you'd not -be safe to try those tactics again--once we get back on earth." - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64875 *** |