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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..14a90e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65181 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65181) diff --git a/old/65181-0.txt b/old/65181-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 577e4ef..0000000 --- a/old/65181-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,840 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Prisoner of War, by Randall Garrett - -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: Prisoner of War - -Author: Randall Garrett - -Release Date: April 27, 2021 [eBook #65181] - -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 PRISONER OF WAR *** - - - - - PRISONER OF WAR - - By Randall Garrett - - It was the first time a Flesso had met an - Earthman face to face. And the Flesso appeared - puzzled as to why the Earthman showed no fear! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - June 1958 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Marten wasn't prepared for it when the alien tractor-beam grabbed his -little ship. He had been in the Fourth Quadrant of Fless territory, -threading an uneasy course through the extraterrestrials' home grounds, -but he hadn't expected to be caught so suddenly or so hard. - -The ship stopped in mid-flight abruptly--so abruptly that Marten's head -was slammed back against the rear of the seat, and for a moment he was -paralyzed by the shock of what had happened. - -But only for a moment. His toe reached out, snapped the pedal on the -subspace radio, and an instant later the voice of Earth Central's -operator said, "What is it, Marten?" - -"Tell them I've been caught," Marten said crisply. "Tell 'em the -Flesso patrols got me. And--" - -The radio went dead as the Flesso dampers got to it. Marten pulled -himself forward and ran his eyes over the instrument panel. Against the -dark velvet of space, a dull-gray Flesso warship was swelling in the -viewplate, preparing to scoop up its prey. Marten had been caught like -a fly in molasses. - -The odds had been against his stunt anyway. Theoretically, such a -small ship as the little scout he was piloting should have been able -to get through the Flesso patrols easily--but in practice, the network -of spybeams stretching through the entire Quadrant were efficient and -near-infallible defenses, as Marten was discovering now. - -_But I had lousy luck too_, he thought. _I wandered right up to the -biggest warship in the whole damned fleet. Must have come within a -light week or less._ - -There wasn't much point in trying to break away, now. Marten was -trapped--thoroughly and unarguably. The little scout ship didn't carry -a tenth the power he would need to break from the grasp of the big -battle cruiser. And as for the scout ship's armament, it wasn't enough -even to tickle the screens of a battleship like this one. Scout ships -depended on speed and indetectability, and neither attribute was of -much value now. - -Within minutes, the heavy tractor beams pulled the smaller ship into -the yawning airlock of the huge Flesso cruiser. - -_Okay_, Marten thought. He folded his arms, leaned back in his chair, -and waited. There was nothing else he could do--until a Fless tried to -enter the ship. - - * * * * * - -Time passed. The little scout ship was drawn further and further into -the monster Flesso ship. It was now entirely enclosed by darkness, -imprisoned within the metal hull of the huge battleship of space. - -Sitting inside, Marten waited patiently. The Flesso had been wanting to -capture an Earthman for a long time. Well, now they'd succeeded. They'd -captured their first Earth ship. - -Suddenly, Marten's damped communicator screen came back to life. A -scaly, toad-like face appeared, and Marten stared blandly at the three -red-rimmed, fiery eyes that confronted him. - -"I see you are still alive, Earthman!" - -"No thanks to you, ugly-face!" Marten returned. "I'm hungry, though. Am -I going to stay for dinner, or can I leave now?" - -Earth and Fless had long been in communication with each other; the -war had lasted for nearly five years, ever since the first treacherous -Flesso sneak attack on a Terran outpost. The beings from the planet -Fless were the coldest, most dangerous aliens Earth had yet encountered -in its expansion to the stars. - -During the war, neither side had succeeded in capturing one of the -other's men alive. The ravening energies of a billion-cycle space gun -tore a ship completely apart, leaving no survivors. But now Marten had -been captured--and he was determined to make the most of it. - -"Keep your tongue!" the toad-faced Fless snarled. "Do you know who I -am?" - -"Santa Claus? Uncle Sam? The Wicked Witch of the North?" - -The alien's face radiated hatred. "I am Ghuvekenkh-Nathor!" - -Marten whistled. Ghuvek, eh? He had really stumbled into a good one, -then. Ghuvek was the leader of the Flesso legions! - -"Hello, Ghuvek. The pleasure is all mine. Do I _have_ to keep looking -at your face?" - -"You will surrender or die," Ghuvek said, ignoring the barb. - -Marten chuckled. "Okay. Come and get me, ugly!" He reached out and -snapped off the communicator decisively. - -Without waiting to see what would happen next, he sprang from the -control seat. The Flesso were going to expect to find him inside the -little scout ship. Very well, Marten thought. That's the one place I -_won't_ be. - -Smiling grimly, he strapped on a pair of bulky Spaulding -cutter-pistols, and headed for the escape hatch. The aliens, he knew, -would be watching the main airlock--they wouldn't be expecting a second -exit, and, if they were, they wouldn't know exactly where it would be. - -Silently, Marten dropped through the hatch at the rear of the ship. -_Come and get me_, he thought. _I'm ready._ - - * * * * * - -He found himself in a large metal room that measured well over -a hundred feet in width and twice that in length. The ceiling, -dimly-seen, was far overhead, beyond any quick estimation. - -Crouching in the shadow of his ship, Marten watched a platoon of the -loathsome Flesso bring a heavy, semi-portable burner up to the airlock. -The reptilian aliens were having quite a time with the weapon; there -was much hissing and flicking of tails as they got it in position. - -Finally, they managed to train the muzzle on the door, and then pressed -the firing studs. A dazzling blue-white glare leaped toward the airlock -door. - -_Lovely_, Marten thought, as the bright light cast fierce illumination -in the giant room. An instant after the burner went into action, so did -Marten. He drew his Spauldings and fired. - -One--two--three--four-- - -Four quick, silent spurts of flame, and four of the aliens lay dead, -charred through by the noiseless, almost invisible energy of the -Spauldings. The unfortunate aliens had had no way of knowing where it -had come from, that death that had hit four of their number in as many -seconds. The burst of light from the semi-portable burner had blanketed -every trace of the faint radiation from Marten's pistols. - -Huddling low, Marten ran for a nearby girder, taking advantage of the -fact that the aliens' attentions were still directed toward the airlock -of his ship. Naturally, they wouldn't notice a figure running from the -rear. - -He took a position behind the girder and, aiming carefully, picked off -four more of the aliens. He tried to put his shot just back of the -oversized, toad-like heads of the Flesso, though it didn't matter much -where the beam landed. The result was the same. - -The survivors were conferring hissingly and evincing great confusion. -Apparently they still thought the fire was coming from somewhere within -the ship, but they were unable to figure out where. - -There were eight of them left. Marten picked off one of them with -his ninth charge, then held fire. He had one charge left, and then -there would be a thirty-second delay while the Spaulding's recharged -themselves. He didn't want to leave himself defenseless even for -thirty seconds. - -He counted off. Ten, fifteen, twenty--one gun was charged. He raised -it, readied to fire, when he heard a sudden tell-tale hiss from behind -him. - -He whirled, but it was too late. A searing beam of energy cracked into -him, hurling him backward. He clung to consciousness an instant, then -blacked out as the beam shorted his neural circuits. - - * * * * * - -When he awoke, Marten opened his eyes, blinked, closed them again. - -"Ugh," he said. - -He felt a savage poke in the stomach. "_Open your eyes!_" - -"Do I have to?" - -"_Open them!_" - -With visible reluctance, he opened his lids and stared into the -bulging, lidless eyes of none other than Ghuvekenkh-Nathor himself. - -The Flesso leader was even uglier than usual. "Very clever, Earthman," -he said coldly. "For that little trick, you'll die--slowly. After we -have extracted all the information we need from you, that is." - -"Trick?" asked Marten blankly. - -"Yes. Getting out of the ship and shooting down my men." - -"Dear me," Marten said innocently. "I thought that was the smart thing -to do, in view of your hostile attitude. I didn't realize you'd be so -stuffy about it, but I'm sorry that you're so stupid you--" - -"_Silence!_" - -A heavy, clawed hand smashed across his face, slamming his head to one -side. The enraged alien leader turned to a henchman at his side. "Get -the brainprobe, Captain Yknor." - -"At once, Commander." - -The captain waddled over to an elaborate-looking machine near the wall, -and removed its translucent hood. Marten looked at it, and almost -gasped. The thing was so much like the Terran model of a brainprobe -that only a practiced eye could tell them apart. - -Obviously, this machine worked on the same principle as the Earth-type -brainprobe did. And that, Marten reflected, was not a pleasant thought. - -"You use that for picking your teeth, Ghuvek?" - -"You'll find out its use soon enough, Earthman." The Flesso scowled and -signalled to the captain to wheel the brainprobe over. - -No organic brain, Marten knew, could stand up against the mental -energies of a brainprobe. Within seconds, it could render any person a -slave to the will of whoever operated the machine. Marten clenched his -jaws grimly, ready to resist anything the Flesso could throw against -him. There was always a chance that-- - -"Your mouth will be less full of insults when we have finished with -you, Earthman." - -"You're scaring me, Ghuvek." - -"We'll see. Clamp down the helmet." - -The cold metal descended and the Captain anchored it tightly around -Marten's skull. - -"What shall I ask first, Most Noble Sire?" Captain Yknor asked. - -Ghuvekenkh-Nathor smiled harshly. "I am interested in knowing how it -was that he deflected the death-dealing beam that shot him down. It -should have killed him--but it merely knocked him out. Ask the prisoner -what protection he has." - -Yknor threw a switch, and a low buzzing hum throbbed in the room as the -brainprobe's generators went to work. Marten felt a faint tingling in -his skull. Then Yknor turned a dial, and the probe sank into his brain. - - * * * * * - -He held his breath as the energy projectors of the brainprobe wandered -around in his skull, seeking to gain hold. They failed. The Flesso -model wasn't attuned to Earth minds, apparently. - -"Why didn't the energy beam kill you?" Captain Yknor asked. - -"Because it missed me," said Marten calmly. - -A grin spread across Ghuvek's evil, toadish face. - -"Good!" he said exultantly. "It missed him--but now we know that the -Earthmen have no defense against our weapons." He rubbed his dry, scaly -hands together. - -"The next question, Sire?" - -"Make him tell us about the defenses of Earth," Ghuvek said. - -"I'll be damned if I will, you bloated monstrosity." - -Ghuvek's globular eyes blinked slowly in surprise. "But--you're -supposed to be under the power of the machine!" He turned his flat, -batrachian head to glare at Captain Yknor. "Turn up the power!" - -"Yes, Sire." - -Yknor's thick claws wrenched up the dial and a surge of power thundered -through Marten's brain without leaving an impression. - -"Feels nice," he said. "Like an extra-special shampoo. But you wouldn't -know what a shampoo is, would you?" - -"Up higher!" Ghuvek snapped. - -"That's as high as it goes, Sire." - -Marten still sat there, sneering openly at the alien's attempts to read -his brain. Ghuvek paced angrily around the seated Earthman without -speaking. - -"All right," he said finally. "Shut the machine off. Obviously, the -Earthman's brain just does not respond." There was anger and more than -a touch of surprise in his voice. "Take the brainprobe away." - -"Yes, Sire." - -Ghuvek's eyes grew hard. "There are, however, older and cruder ways. -What do you say to torture, eh, Earthman?" - -"I'm not much in favor of it," said Marten. "I can't say I care for the -idea at all." - -"Good," Ghuvek said. "Yknor, prepare the torture!" - -No human being likes physical torture. The idea of having hot needles -slid under one's fingernails, of having one's toenails removed by -pincers, of being scourged with nerve-whips--none of these were -pleasant thoughts. - -Not pleasant, perhaps, but not unbearable, so far as Marten was -concerned. It hurt; of course it hurt. But not once during the terrible -ordeal did Marten either pass out or give any sign that the torture was -more than he could bear. - -"What's the matter, Ghuvek? Slowing down?" - -At each taunt, the alien overlord grew uglier and angrier. And as the -horror went on, Ghuvek seemed to come more and more frantic. None of -the most delicate subtle torture devised--and the Flesso were experts -at devising torture--seemed to have any effect on the Earthman. He -simply sat there, grimly, stoically. - -"You're boring me, Ghuvek," Marten remarked as an acid-tipped auger -nibbled flesh from his chest. "But I'm willing to be cooperative. -You'll notice I'm just sitting here patiently while you play with me." - -"Very well!" Ghuvek stormed. "If that's your attitude, we'll see what -can be done! Perhaps you Earthmen have no pain nerves--but at the sight -of your very bodies being destroyed--" - -"I think I've had about enough of this," Marten said. Flexing his -muscles, he yanked one hand free of the torture-chair and ripped the -auger from his chest. - -He hurled the acid-tipped drill far across the room, where it smashed -against the wall. Then he pulled his other arm free and, with one final -straining effort, rose from the chair and stood unbound. - -"_What?_" Ghuvek's half-whispered question was almost impossible to -hear. "You're _free_?" Captain Yknor opened his bulging eyes even wider -and flattened himself against the wall, while Ghuvek gasped in terror. - -"I'm free," Marten said. "I got tired of having you play with me." - -He smiled cheerfully--and then sprang into life as one of the -projectors that lined the wall, manned by guards outside, moved just -a fraction of an inch. A burst of energy from one of those projectors -could kill him--but it would kill anyone or anything else. - -He leaped on Ghuvek. He sensed the acrid, nauseating odor of the alien, -and wrapped his legs around the Flesso's body, pitching them both to -the ground. The two of them rolled over against the far wall. - -A quick glance told Marten that the projectors in the walls were -following, but they couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Ghuvek. - -The Flesso leader squirmed in Marten's grip as he tried to get his ray -pistol out of its holster. - -"No you don't!" Marten said, and grabbed the alien's arm. Ghuvek -grunted as Marten bent the arm upward and twisted until the ligaments -creaked. - -"No!" Ghuvek moaned. - -"Drop the gun, then." - -The alien squirmed again. Marten twisted upward and there was a sharp -_crack_--followed by another, the sound of the gun hitting the floor. -Then something slammed against Marten's head from behind. - - * * * * * - -Jerking his head aside, he crashed his fist against Ghuvek's temple to -knock him out and reduce the opposition. Again something struck his -head. This time, Marten turned and grabbed a slimy wrist. - -It was Captain Yknor, who had been trying to knock Marten out with the -butt of his pistol. Marten twisted viciously at the captain's wrist, -and the ray pistol clattered to the floor. Yknor screamed in agony as a -burning pain raced up his arm, and swung wildly at Marten with his good -arm. - -The savage claws raked the air just above the Earthman's head, and he -drove in with a solid punch that made Yknor gasp. Marten followed his -advantage with a smash to the face, sent the alien reeling away in -pain, and in the same motion reached down and grasped one of the fallen -ray-pistols. - -He stepped over to Ghuvek's limp body and jabbed the pistol into the -alien leader's scaly side. - -"All right," he said coldly. "Anything more, and I'll let -Ghuvekenkh-Nathor have a fast burn through his guts!" - -There was a stunned silence for a moment, then the pain-wracked voice -of Captain Yknor said, "Don't shoot at the Earthman. Get away from -those projectors!" - -The projector crew held fire. Marten waited tensely as Ghuvek moaned -and stirred. Ten feet away, standing amidst the torture implements, the -captain clutched his broken arm and watched the Earthman with terror -in his eyes and pain evident on his face. - -Ghuvek blinked his eyes opened. He looked dazed for a moment, then -focussed his eyes on Marten. His right arm, the Earthman noticed, was -twisted horribly. - -"Yknor?" - -"He's over there," Marten said. "His arm didn't bend either. And if you -move, I'll find out how resistant your innards are to a quick burn." - -Ghuvek shook his head bewilderedly. "You've got us, Earthman. But--how -did it happen? How could one man take over a great battleship?" - -"It was easy," Marten said. - -Ghuvek moaned and looked at his mangled arm regretfully. "I don't -understand," the defeated alien commander said. - -"Why did you let us torture you if you could get away so easily?" - -Marten smiled. "I wanted to teach you a lesson," he said. "Earth's been -patient with your marauding for a long time, and we put up with your -sneak attack on Regulus. But the time has come to tell you to stop--or -we'll wipe your whole race out of the Galaxy. We're tired of your -tactics, Ghuvek. And if one man can do this to you, what can a whole -army of us do?" - -There was a long silence before Ghuvek spoke. And when he spoke, it -was the voice of a being whose pride had been completely crushed. "If -we had known," he said weakly, swallowing. "Who knew the Earthmen were -supermen? You're the first we could capture--and it was all a trick! -You _let_ us capture you, to show us what you could do." - -"Very smart, Ghuvek. You learn quickly." - -The alien passed one hand over his face. "We'll ... we'll call off our -offensive at once." - -"Good. Now I'll use your radio to call Earth and tell them you're on -your way to arrange peace terms!" - - * * * * * - -At Earth Military Headquarters, General James Bedford snapped off the -subspace radio and grinned at the man who faced him across the table, -Colonel Parnell. - -"You hear that, Parnell? The trick worked! He got them so scared of -Earthmen that they're ready to come to terms." - -Colonel Parnell smiled. "Fine deal all around. It cost us ten billion -dollars to build Military Advance Robot Number Ten, not counting what -we spent on the first nine failures--but it was worth it. We've saved -untold numbers of lives." - -The general nodded. "Well worth it. MAR-10 did the job perfectly." - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISONER OF WAR *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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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: Prisoner of War</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Randall Garrett</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 27, 2021 [eBook #65181]</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 PRISONER OF WAR ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>PRISONER OF WAR</h1> - -<h2>By Randall Garrett</h2> - -<p>It was the first time a Flesso had met an<br /> -Earthman face to face. And the Flesso appeared<br /> -puzzled as to why the Earthman showed no fear!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -June 1958<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>Marten wasn't prepared for it when the alien tractor-beam grabbed his -little ship. He had been in the Fourth Quadrant of Fless territory, -threading an uneasy course through the extraterrestrials' home grounds, -but he hadn't expected to be caught so suddenly or so hard.</p> - -<p>The ship stopped in mid-flight abruptly—so abruptly that Marten's head -was slammed back against the rear of the seat, and for a moment he was -paralyzed by the shock of what had happened.</p> - -<p>But only for a moment. His toe reached out, snapped the pedal on the -subspace radio, and an instant later the voice of Earth Central's -operator said, "What is it, Marten?"</p> - -<p>"Tell them I've been caught," Marten said crisply. "Tell 'em the -Flesso patrols got me. And—"</p> - -<p>The radio went dead as the Flesso dampers got to it. Marten pulled -himself forward and ran his eyes over the instrument panel. Against the -dark velvet of space, a dull-gray Flesso warship was swelling in the -viewplate, preparing to scoop up its prey. Marten had been caught like -a fly in molasses.</p> - -<p>The odds had been against his stunt anyway. Theoretically, such a -small ship as the little scout he was piloting should have been able -to get through the Flesso patrols easily—but in practice, the network -of spybeams stretching through the entire Quadrant were efficient and -near-infallible defenses, as Marten was discovering now.</p> - -<p><i>But I had lousy luck too</i>, he thought. <i>I wandered right up to the -biggest warship in the whole damned fleet. Must have come within a -light week or less.</i></p> - -<p>There wasn't much point in trying to break away, now. Marten was -trapped—thoroughly and unarguably. The little scout ship didn't carry -a tenth the power he would need to break from the grasp of the big -battle cruiser. And as for the scout ship's armament, it wasn't enough -even to tickle the screens of a battleship like this one. Scout ships -depended on speed and indetectability, and neither attribute was of -much value now.</p> - -<p>Within minutes, the heavy tractor beams pulled the smaller ship into -the yawning airlock of the huge Flesso cruiser.</p> - -<p><i>Okay</i>, Marten thought. He folded his arms, leaned back in his chair, -and waited. There was nothing else he could do—until a Fless tried to -enter the ship.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Time passed. The little scout ship was drawn further and further into -the monster Flesso ship. It was now entirely enclosed by darkness, -imprisoned within the metal hull of the huge battleship of space.</p> - -<p>Sitting inside, Marten waited patiently. The Flesso had been wanting to -capture an Earthman for a long time. Well, now they'd succeeded. They'd -captured their first Earth ship.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, Marten's damped communicator screen came back to life. A -scaly, toad-like face appeared, and Marten stared blandly at the three -red-rimmed, fiery eyes that confronted him.</p> - -<p>"I see you are still alive, Earthman!"</p> - -<p>"No thanks to you, ugly-face!" Marten returned. "I'm hungry, though. Am -I going to stay for dinner, or can I leave now?"</p> - -<p>Earth and Fless had long been in communication with each other; the -war had lasted for nearly five years, ever since the first treacherous -Flesso sneak attack on a Terran outpost. The beings from the planet -Fless were the coldest, most dangerous aliens Earth had yet encountered -in its expansion to the stars.</p> - -<p>During the war, neither side had succeeded in capturing one of the -other's men alive. The ravening energies of a billion-cycle space gun -tore a ship completely apart, leaving no survivors. But now Marten had -been captured—and he was determined to make the most of it.</p> - -<p>"Keep your tongue!" the toad-faced Fless snarled. "Do you know who I -am?"</p> - -<p>"Santa Claus? Uncle Sam? The Wicked Witch of the North?"</p> - -<p>The alien's face radiated hatred. "I am Ghuvekenkh-Nathor!"</p> - -<p>Marten whistled. Ghuvek, eh? He had really stumbled into a good one, -then. Ghuvek was the leader of the Flesso legions!</p> - -<p>"Hello, Ghuvek. The pleasure is all mine. Do I <i>have</i> to keep looking -at your face?"</p> - -<p>"You will surrender or die," Ghuvek said, ignoring the barb.</p> - -<p>Marten chuckled. "Okay. Come and get me, ugly!" He reached out and -snapped off the communicator decisively.</p> - -<p>Without waiting to see what would happen next, he sprang from the -control seat. The Flesso were going to expect to find him inside the -little scout ship. Very well, Marten thought. That's the one place I -<i>won't</i> be.</p> - -<p>Smiling grimly, he strapped on a pair of bulky Spaulding -cutter-pistols, and headed for the escape hatch. The aliens, he knew, -would be watching the main airlock—they wouldn't be expecting a second -exit, and, if they were, they wouldn't know exactly where it would be.</p> - -<p>Silently, Marten dropped through the hatch at the rear of the ship. -<i>Come and get me</i>, he thought. <i>I'm ready.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He found himself in a large metal room that measured well over -a hundred feet in width and twice that in length. The ceiling, -dimly-seen, was far overhead, beyond any quick estimation.</p> - -<p>Crouching in the shadow of his ship, Marten watched a platoon of the -loathsome Flesso bring a heavy, semi-portable burner up to the airlock. -The reptilian aliens were having quite a time with the weapon; there -was much hissing and flicking of tails as they got it in position.</p> - -<p>Finally, they managed to train the muzzle on the door, and then pressed -the firing studs. A dazzling blue-white glare leaped toward the airlock -door.</p> - -<p><i>Lovely</i>, Marten thought, as the bright light cast fierce illumination -in the giant room. An instant after the burner went into action, so did -Marten. He drew his Spauldings and fired.</p> - -<p>One—two—three—four—</p> - -<p>Four quick, silent spurts of flame, and four of the aliens lay dead, -charred through by the noiseless, almost invisible energy of the -Spauldings. The unfortunate aliens had had no way of knowing where it -had come from, that death that had hit four of their number in as many -seconds. The burst of light from the semi-portable burner had blanketed -every trace of the faint radiation from Marten's pistols.</p> - -<p>Huddling low, Marten ran for a nearby girder, taking advantage of the -fact that the aliens' attentions were still directed toward the airlock -of his ship. Naturally, they wouldn't notice a figure running from the -rear.</p> - -<p>He took a position behind the girder and, aiming carefully, picked off -four more of the aliens. He tried to put his shot just back of the -oversized, toad-like heads of the Flesso, though it didn't matter much -where the beam landed. The result was the same.</p> - -<p>The survivors were conferring hissingly and evincing great confusion. -Apparently they still thought the fire was coming from somewhere within -the ship, but they were unable to figure out where.</p> - -<p>There were eight of them left. Marten picked off one of them with -his ninth charge, then held fire. He had one charge left, and then -there would be a thirty-second delay while the Spaulding's recharged -themselves. He didn't want to leave himself defenseless even for -thirty seconds.</p> - -<p>He counted off. Ten, fifteen, twenty—one gun was charged. He raised -it, readied to fire, when he heard a sudden tell-tale hiss from behind -him.</p> - -<p>He whirled, but it was too late. A searing beam of energy cracked into -him, hurling him backward. He clung to consciousness an instant, then -blacked out as the beam shorted his neural circuits.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When he awoke, Marten opened his eyes, blinked, closed them again.</p> - -<p>"Ugh," he said.</p> - -<p>He felt a savage poke in the stomach. "<i>Open your eyes!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Do I have to?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Open them!</i>"</p> - -<p>With visible reluctance, he opened his lids and stared into the -bulging, lidless eyes of none other than Ghuvekenkh-Nathor himself.</p> - -<p>The Flesso leader was even uglier than usual. "Very clever, Earthman," -he said coldly. "For that little trick, you'll die—slowly. After we -have extracted all the information we need from you, that is."</p> - -<p>"Trick?" asked Marten blankly.</p> - -<p>"Yes. Getting out of the ship and shooting down my men."</p> - -<p>"Dear me," Marten said innocently. "I thought that was the smart thing -to do, in view of your hostile attitude. I didn't realize you'd be so -stuffy about it, but I'm sorry that you're so stupid you—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Silence!</i>"</p> - -<p>A heavy, clawed hand smashed across his face, slamming his head to one -side. The enraged alien leader turned to a henchman at his side. "Get -the brainprobe, Captain Yknor."</p> - -<p>"At once, Commander."</p> - -<p>The captain waddled over to an elaborate-looking machine near the wall, -and removed its translucent hood. Marten looked at it, and almost -gasped. The thing was so much like the Terran model of a brainprobe -that only a practiced eye could tell them apart.</p> - -<p>Obviously, this machine worked on the same principle as the Earth-type -brainprobe did. And that, Marten reflected, was not a pleasant thought.</p> - -<p>"You use that for picking your teeth, Ghuvek?"</p> - -<p>"You'll find out its use soon enough, Earthman." The Flesso scowled and -signalled to the captain to wheel the brainprobe over.</p> - -<p>No organic brain, Marten knew, could stand up against the mental -energies of a brainprobe. Within seconds, it could render any person a -slave to the will of whoever operated the machine. Marten clenched his -jaws grimly, ready to resist anything the Flesso could throw against -him. There was always a chance that—</p> - -<p>"Your mouth will be less full of insults when we have finished with -you, Earthman."</p> - -<p>"You're scaring me, Ghuvek."</p> - -<p>"We'll see. Clamp down the helmet."</p> - -<p>The cold metal descended and the Captain anchored it tightly around -Marten's skull.</p> - -<p>"What shall I ask first, Most Noble Sire?" Captain Yknor asked.</p> - -<p>Ghuvekenkh-Nathor smiled harshly. "I am interested in knowing how it -was that he deflected the death-dealing beam that shot him down. It -should have killed him—but it merely knocked him out. Ask the prisoner -what protection he has."</p> - -<p>Yknor threw a switch, and a low buzzing hum throbbed in the room as the -brainprobe's generators went to work. Marten felt a faint tingling in -his skull. Then Yknor turned a dial, and the probe sank into his brain.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He held his breath as the energy projectors of the brainprobe wandered -around in his skull, seeking to gain hold. They failed. The Flesso -model wasn't attuned to Earth minds, apparently.</p> - -<p>"Why didn't the energy beam kill you?" Captain Yknor asked.</p> - -<p>"Because it missed me," said Marten calmly.</p> - -<p>A grin spread across Ghuvek's evil, toadish face.</p> - -<p>"Good!" he said exultantly. "It missed him—but now we know that the -Earthmen have no defense against our weapons." He rubbed his dry, scaly -hands together.</p> - -<p>"The next question, Sire?"</p> - -<p>"Make him tell us about the defenses of Earth," Ghuvek said.</p> - -<p>"I'll be damned if I will, you bloated monstrosity."</p> - -<p>Ghuvek's globular eyes blinked slowly in surprise. "But—you're -supposed to be under the power of the machine!" He turned his flat, -batrachian head to glare at Captain Yknor. "Turn up the power!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> - -<p>Yknor's thick claws wrenched up the dial and a surge of power thundered -through Marten's brain without leaving an impression.</p> - -<p>"Feels nice," he said. "Like an extra-special shampoo. But you wouldn't -know what a shampoo is, would you?"</p> - -<p>"Up higher!" Ghuvek snapped.</p> - -<p>"That's as high as it goes, Sire."</p> - -<p>Marten still sat there, sneering openly at the alien's attempts to read -his brain. Ghuvek paced angrily around the seated Earthman without -speaking.</p> - -<p>"All right," he said finally. "Shut the machine off. Obviously, the -Earthman's brain just does not respond." There was anger and more than -a touch of surprise in his voice. "Take the brainprobe away."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> - -<p>Ghuvek's eyes grew hard. "There are, however, older and cruder ways. -What do you say to torture, eh, Earthman?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not much in favor of it," said Marten. "I can't say I care for the -idea at all."</p> - -<p>"Good," Ghuvek said. "Yknor, prepare the torture!"</p> - -<p>No human being likes physical torture. The idea of having hot needles -slid under one's fingernails, of having one's toenails removed by -pincers, of being scourged with nerve-whips—none of these were -pleasant thoughts.</p> - -<p>Not pleasant, perhaps, but not unbearable, so far as Marten was -concerned. It hurt; of course it hurt. But not once during the terrible -ordeal did Marten either pass out or give any sign that the torture was -more than he could bear.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, Ghuvek? Slowing down?"</p> - -<p>At each taunt, the alien overlord grew uglier and angrier. And as the -horror went on, Ghuvek seemed to come more and more frantic. None of -the most delicate subtle torture devised—and the Flesso were experts -at devising torture—seemed to have any effect on the Earthman. He -simply sat there, grimly, stoically.</p> - -<p>"You're boring me, Ghuvek," Marten remarked as an acid-tipped auger -nibbled flesh from his chest. "But I'm willing to be cooperative. -You'll notice I'm just sitting here patiently while you play with me."</p> - -<p>"Very well!" Ghuvek stormed. "If that's your attitude, we'll see what -can be done! Perhaps you Earthmen have no pain nerves—but at the sight -of your very bodies being destroyed—"</p> - -<p>"I think I've had about enough of this," Marten said. Flexing his -muscles, he yanked one hand free of the torture-chair and ripped the -auger from his chest.</p> - -<p>He hurled the acid-tipped drill far across the room, where it smashed -against the wall. Then he pulled his other arm free and, with one final -straining effort, rose from the chair and stood unbound.</p> - -<p>"<i>What?</i>" Ghuvek's half-whispered question was almost impossible to -hear. "You're <i>free</i>?" Captain Yknor opened his bulging eyes even wider -and flattened himself against the wall, while Ghuvek gasped in terror.</p> - -<p>"I'm free," Marten said. "I got tired of having you play with me."</p> - -<p>He smiled cheerfully—and then sprang into life as one of the -projectors that lined the wall, manned by guards outside, moved just -a fraction of an inch. A burst of energy from one of those projectors -could kill him—but it would kill anyone or anything else.</p> - -<p>He leaped on Ghuvek. He sensed the acrid, nauseating odor of the alien, -and wrapped his legs around the Flesso's body, pitching them both to -the ground. The two of them rolled over against the far wall.</p> - -<p>A quick glance told Marten that the projectors in the walls were -following, but they couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Ghuvek.</p> - -<p>The Flesso leader squirmed in Marten's grip as he tried to get his ray -pistol out of its holster.</p> - -<p>"No you don't!" Marten said, and grabbed the alien's arm. Ghuvek -grunted as Marten bent the arm upward and twisted until the ligaments -creaked.</p> - -<p>"No!" Ghuvek moaned.</p> - -<p>"Drop the gun, then."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The alien squirmed again. Marten twisted upward and there was a sharp -<i>crack</i>—followed by another, the sound of the gun hitting the floor. -Then something slammed against Marten's head from behind.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jerking his head aside, he crashed his fist against Ghuvek's temple to -knock him out and reduce the opposition. Again something struck his -head. This time, Marten turned and grabbed a slimy wrist.</p> - -<p>It was Captain Yknor, who had been trying to knock Marten out with the -butt of his pistol. Marten twisted viciously at the captain's wrist, -and the ray pistol clattered to the floor. Yknor screamed in agony as a -burning pain raced up his arm, and swung wildly at Marten with his good -arm.</p> - -<p>The savage claws raked the air just above the Earthman's head, and he -drove in with a solid punch that made Yknor gasp. Marten followed his -advantage with a smash to the face, sent the alien reeling away in -pain, and in the same motion reached down and grasped one of the fallen -ray-pistols.</p> - -<p>He stepped over to Ghuvek's limp body and jabbed the pistol into the -alien leader's scaly side.</p> - -<p>"All right," he said coldly. "Anything more, and I'll let -Ghuvekenkh-Nathor have a fast burn through his guts!"</p> - -<p>There was a stunned silence for a moment, then the pain-wracked voice -of Captain Yknor said, "Don't shoot at the Earthman. Get away from -those projectors!"</p> - -<p>The projector crew held fire. Marten waited tensely as Ghuvek moaned -and stirred. Ten feet away, standing amidst the torture implements, the -captain clutched his broken arm and watched the Earthman with terror -in his eyes and pain evident on his face.</p> - -<p>Ghuvek blinked his eyes opened. He looked dazed for a moment, then -focussed his eyes on Marten. His right arm, the Earthman noticed, was -twisted horribly.</p> - -<p>"Yknor?"</p> - -<p>"He's over there," Marten said. "His arm didn't bend either. And if you -move, I'll find out how resistant your innards are to a quick burn."</p> - -<p>Ghuvek shook his head bewilderedly. "You've got us, Earthman. But—how -did it happen? How could one man take over a great battleship?"</p> - -<p>"It was easy," Marten said.</p> - -<p>Ghuvek moaned and looked at his mangled arm regretfully. "I don't -understand," the defeated alien commander said.</p> - -<p>"Why did you let us torture you if you could get away so easily?"</p> - -<p>Marten smiled. "I wanted to teach you a lesson," he said. "Earth's been -patient with your marauding for a long time, and we put up with your -sneak attack on Regulus. But the time has come to tell you to stop—or -we'll wipe your whole race out of the Galaxy. We're tired of your -tactics, Ghuvek. And if one man can do this to you, what can a whole -army of us do?"</p> - -<p>There was a long silence before Ghuvek spoke. And when he spoke, it -was the voice of a being whose pride had been completely crushed. "If -we had known," he said weakly, swallowing. "Who knew the Earthmen were -supermen? You're the first we could capture—and it was all a trick! -You <i>let</i> us capture you, to show us what you could do."</p> - -<p>"Very smart, Ghuvek. You learn quickly."</p> - -<p>The alien passed one hand over his face. "We'll ... we'll call off our -offensive at once."</p> - -<p>"Good. Now I'll use your radio to call Earth and tell them you're on -your way to arrange peace terms!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At Earth Military Headquarters, General James Bedford snapped off the -subspace radio and grinned at the man who faced him across the table, -Colonel Parnell.</p> - -<p>"You hear that, Parnell? The trick worked! He got them so scared of -Earthmen that they're ready to come to terms."</p> - -<p>Colonel Parnell smiled. "Fine deal all around. It cost us ten billion -dollars to build Military Advance Robot Number Ten, not counting what -we spent on the first nine failures—but it was worth it. We've saved -untold numbers of lives."</p> - -<p>The general nodded. "Well worth it. 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