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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..bd9fb22 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65331 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65331) diff --git a/old/65331-0.txt b/old/65331-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d706386..0000000 --- a/old/65331-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3357 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cosmic Looters, by Alexander Blade - -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: The Cosmic Looters - -Author: Alexander Blade - -Release Date: May 13, 2021 [eBook #65331] - -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 THE COSMIC LOOTERS *** - - - - - THE COSMIC LOOTERS - - By Alexander Blade - - Wyatt knew his situation was desperate: he - couldn't stop the alien invasion, and even if - he warned Earth--nobody would believe him! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - February 1958 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Duncan Wyatt sprang up, grabbed his gun and started toward the door -before he had his eyes properly open. His ears were ringing with the -explosive roar that had awakened him and the pre-fab shack still -quivered in the shock wave. - -He thought the Third World War had started. - -He crouched in the doorway and peered out onto the mesa. The unorthodox -shape of the experimental ultra-tight-beam transmitter loomed over him, -black against the star-blazing New Mexican sky, bearing a red star of -its own to warn low-flying planes. He was all alone here. His partner, -Bannister, had flown out to the Coast to oversee the making of new -components for a projected improvement in design. Wyatt had never felt -lonely before, even in the total solitude of the mesa top with nothing -around it but the vast impersonals of sky and desert, sun and wind. Now -he did feel lonely, and scared. He wondered where the bomb had dropped. - -He couldn't see anything, so he went out and around the corner of the -shack, keeping low and sticking tight to the wall. - -Now he could see a larger area of the mesa, softly but almost -adequately lighted by the billion stars above the crystal-clear air. - -He saw what it was that had fallen out of the sky. - -It wasn't a bomb. It was a--plane? Call it a plane. Call it a -rotary-thrust flying wing. Call it anything you want to, it was there, -round and glimmering faintly against the drab rock. The boom and shock -that had shaken him out of his bunk must have been the result of the -thing pulling out of a steep dive at super-sonic speed. - -He should have been relieved that this was so. Somehow Wyatt was not. -He had a feeling. It was such a crazy feeling that he could not believe -it, but he couldn't get rid of it either. - -He stood still in the shadow by the corner of the shack and waited to -see what would happen next. - -A light came on with blinding suddenness, shining from the center of -the queer plane. It showed up every pebble and stunted bush, every -grain of the rock, the sun-bitten pre-fab wall, himself in his sock -feet and rumpled khakis, standing stiffly with the gun in his hand. - -A portion of the black outer rim of the round plane dropped down, -unfolding into a stair. - -Wyatt shouted, "What is it? Who are you?" His voice was thin and small -in that vastness of windy air. "I have a gun," he shouted. "Come out -slowly, with your hands up!" - -The words sounded ridiculous even while he was saying them. But he had -to put up some kind of a front, simply because he was scared. If he -didn't he would have had to turn and run away. - -It was the damned round queer-looking plane. He was in a cold shaking -sweat waiting to see what came out of it. - -When he did see he didn't believe it. - -She stood in the aperture at the top of the narrow metal stair. Her -hands were raised just a little, so that he might be sure there was -no weapon in them. He thought she was smiling slightly. She had black -hair, black as the blackest shadow you could imagine, shorn close -around her head. She was dressed in black--soft boots, close-fitting -pants, wide belt with holster, severely plain shirt with a splotch -of gold on the front of each shoulder. Somehow he sensed that the -gold splotches were insignia, not decorations. He also sensed--from -something about the way she stood, the way she looked at him, the hard, -disciplined strength that underlay the splendid lines of her body--that -this woman was not like any of the women he had ever known, and that -probably the Third World War might have been easier to cope with. - -She said, "There is no need to be afraid." - -Her English sounded as though she had learned it by mathematical -formula, and in a hurry. - -Wyatt said untruthfully, "I'm not afraid. Just cautious." He walked -out closer to the disc-shaped plane. The mesa rock was icy under his -socks, the wind was icy down his back, and there was a chill inside him -that was purely personal. - -"Where do you come from?" he asked. "What do you want?" - - * * * * * - -She dropped her hands and came quickly down the stairs, apparently -satisfied that he was not going to shoot her. - -"I haven't much time," she said. Her eyes were the color of pure -turquoise, startlingly bright, curiously tilted. She gave a swift -glance at the sky and then spoke urgently to Wyatt. - -"Try to understand, to believe. Your world is going to be attacked. Not -tonight, but within a short time. I want you to take a warning to your -government, so that we may be prepared when the attack comes." - -"I see," said Wyatt. He had a wild desire to laugh. He saw himself -going to Washington and telling various personages at the White House -and the Pentagon that a beautiful girl landed in a funny round ship and -told him the Earth was going to be attacked and so they should call out -the armed forces to be ready. - -"They'd shoot me first," he muttered, "and then throw me in a padded -cell." He stepped closer to the girl. Her face was handsome, perfectly -human and perfectly alien at one and the same time. It was not a soft -face. It was used to decision and command. The red mouth, he thought, -would never pout or be petulant, but it could easily be cruel. "Who's -going to attack Earth? Who are you?" - -She said impatiently, "It does not matter who I am, except that -I'm in a position to know what I'm saying. Listen. There is a huge -interstellar task force out there, working its way through this sector -of the galaxy, plundering as it goes. These fringe areas are too far -away from our center of power at Uryx--a star-system you never heard of -here--to make permanent conquest practical, so all we are interested in -is loot. Our advance scouts go far ahead of the main body. We scouts -have been here before. _I've_ been here before. Now I'm warning you. -The main force will be at Alpha Centauri when I return to it. When it -is finished there, Earth is next." - -"I don't believe you," Wyatt said. But in spite of himself, he did. - -He was close to the foot of the stair now, close enough almost to touch -the tall, slim girl with the black hair blowing around her forehead and -the brilliant, wary eyes. The strange ship loomed above them both. -Wyatt looked at it and shivered and gnawed his lip. - -"Why are you warning me?" he said suddenly. "You're part of the force. -Why do you want to betray it?" - -"I have my reasons," she said, "and they are good ones. But you -wouldn't understand them. In any case, the warning is true. Don't -question it." - -She started to withdraw from him, up the metal steps. - -"Wait," said Wyatt. "Nobody on earth would listen to me if I told them -that story. They'd only think I was crazy. Listen, if you really want -to have your warning taken seriously you'll have to go to Washington -yourself." - -"That's impossible," she said curtly. - -Again she started up the steps and again he stopped her. - -"No," he said, and now he knew that he must not let her get away. As -wildly improbable, not to say insane, as this whole business was, she -was real and her ship was real, and wiser men than he should be handed -the responsibility of dealing with that reality. - -"You and I together couldn't convince anybody by just talking," he -said. "The only thing that could is your ship. _That_ was never made on -Earth and they would know that. They could test it, examine it, prove -it isn't a fake, a hoax of any kind, and that's going to be hard--you -haven't any idea how hard." - - * * * * * - -He stepped onto the lowest step of the stair. "You've got to fly this -thing to Washington." - -"I told you that's impossible," she said. "I've given you the warning; -you'll have to do what you can with it. Stand clear!" - -She turned her back on him and sprang lightly through the aperture into -the ship. - -Wyatt did not stop to think. He rushed up the stair after her and it -began to draw itself up as he did so, folding him under, so that he -thought he was going to have to jump clear or be crushed. There was a -whine of power from inside. Damn her, thought Wyatt, she doesn't care -if she kills me. He scrambled frantically up the tilting, flattening -rungs and caught the edge of the aperture and kicked himself forward -through it. - -The panel that was sliding in to seal the opening caught him halfway -and held him in an agonizing grip. He cried out with pain and the fear -of being cut in two. He could see into the round cockpit now, with -the black-uniformed woman stopped in the act of sitting down at the -controls, her startled face turned toward him. - -Then her expression became one of intense annoyance. Her hand moved -toward the weapon holstered at her waist. In the same instant a warning -bell rang and the sliding panel re-opened automatically. Wyatt lurched -the rest of the way through, sick and dizzy but knowing that this was -no time to indulge his symptoms. He was afraid to fire the gun he still -held clutched in his hand, even as a gesture of intimidation. The -cockpit was small and faced in metal. A ricocheting bullet could kill -either or both of them, or damage the control panel so that the craft -could not fly. So he threw the gun instead. It whizzed past her head -close enough to touch her hair, and in the second she was busy ducking -it he had crossed the tiny metal floor and grappled with her. - -She did not scream or claw his face or tear at his hair or do any of -the things women customarily did. She fought, and she was strong as -spring steel. He held her wrist so that she could not get at the weapon -in her belt, and her free fist came up under his chin and made him see -stars. Then her knee got him in the pit of the belly. All Wyatt's ideas -of chivalry deserted him. He let go of her wrist and gambled that he -could knock her out before she could get the weapon, whatever it was, -out of its holster. - -He won, but by a shamefully tiny margin. She sagged down and he -snatched the weapon himself and then retrieved his gun and stood -panting, feeling very shaky at the knees. - -She shook her head, grunted, looked up at him with blazing eyes, and -started up all ready to come back and kill him. - -He pointed her own weapon and his gun at her, using both hands. - -"Mine will kill," he said. "I don't know what yours will do, but you -know." He motioned to the pilot's seat. "Get in there. We're flying to -Washington." - -She gave him a wicked little smile with the sharp edge of her teeth and -did as he told her. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - -There were places for four beside the pilot, spaced around the circular -cockpit. Wyatt strapped himself into the seat nearest the girl. He -imagined the take-off would be something special, and he was braced -for it, but even the almost instantaneous transition from a state of -sitting still on the ground to one of shooting straight up into the sky -at a hell of a rate was hard to take. He jammed the gun into her back -between the shoulders and said, - -"Not too high. We're not going to Alpha Centauri." - -"There are commercial air lanes," she said irritably, "and military air -bases and radar installations, and ground-to-air missiles. Even in this -ship I couldn't guarantee to elude every one of them." - -Wyatt considered that, uneasily aware that his gun was now largely a -bluff. He was not likely to use it on her, unless he wanted to come -down a lot faster than he went up, and she would know that. He said, -"All right, get up over the obstacles, but don't try anything too -clever. I'm a pretty good pilot and I could gamble on flying this thing -myself." - -That was a flat lie, but he thought it might be worth telling. - -The girl did not seem to be interested one way or another. The craft -continued to go straight up, whistling shrilly as it went, and then it -swerved around with surprising gentleness and headed east. Wyatt looked -out the small double-sealed window beside him. - -The stars blinded him. They had ceased to twinkle, and they had grown -huge, and they had multiplied. The sky was no longer flat but deep and -endless, so that even as countless many stars as there were did not -crowd it. Far below there was a dark wrinkled rind like the edge of a -round cheese, and Wyatt knew that it was the Earth. - -It was the most magnificent sight he had ever seen, and he wished -intensely that he was not seeing it. It was the final touch of insane -reality that made the whole wild nightmare consistent. - -"I was just lying there minding my own business," Wyatt said bitterly, -turning away from the window. "Why did you have to pick on me?" - -"You were obviously a technician, and it would require a technician to -grasp what I had to tell you. The others seem not to believe even when -they see." - -"Others?" asked Wyatt startled by a new thought. - -"Of course. How do you suppose we plan our attacks? How do you suppose -we learn the things we must know, including enough of the language -to be able to communicate with the people after the invasion? In the -normal course of events I would have considered you an especially -valuable find. The accessible ones have all been herders of animals or -fishermen or primitive tribesmen or poor wanderers, who could not tell -us much beyond their own language and their own calling." - -"You mean," said Wyatt, "that if you hadn't decided to give me the -warning instead, you'd have kidnapped me? Taken me--" he nodded at the -window, "--out there? Or tried to?" - -"Of course." - -"Well," said Wyatt. "I'll be damned." - -He was enraged, and more alarmed than ever. "Don't forget for a second -that I've got this gun in your back." - -"I'm not likely to," she said in a curiously calm voice. "How are you -called?" - -He told her. - -"I am Brinna Halphard--Brinna the Dark, I think you would say." - -It seemed a little ridiculous to say, How do you do? Wyatt grunted -uneasily and asked, "Why the sudden friendliness?" - -"I'm a soldier, and I know it is impossible to win every skirmish. I've -learned to make the best of things." - -"That's fine," said Wyatt, not trusting her for a minute. But he was -curious. "Are all women soldiers where you come from?" - -"As many as wish to be. There is no difference made between the sexes, -only between individuals according to their abilities. There are many -women in the task force--pilots, technicians, officers, gunners, -ordinary troops." - -"Nobody thinks a thing of it?" - -"Why should they?" - -Wyatt could not really think of any good reason, except that on Earth -they did. - -Brinna reached for a panel at her right side and started to open it. - -Instantly Wyatt was alert. "What are you doing there?" - -"You want to go to Washington. Unless you can tell me the exact -coordinates yourself, I must have the computer work out a course." - -"Okay," said Wyatt. "Open the panel, but slowly." - -Behind it there was only a remarkable compact receptor-effector unit. -"You see?" she said. "Now if you will allow me--" - -He allowed her. He asked, "Do you have a chart designation for -Washington already in that thing?" - -"For everywhere in your world," said Brinna. "_Naturally._" - - * * * * * - -A chill went crawling down Wyatt's back. Some of the larger -implications of the situation were beginning to catch up with him. - -Enemies had entered the skies of Earth, spying, charting. Enemies from -another star, so far away that Earth had never heard of it. Earthmen -had been kidnapped, the names of cities had been written down, plans -had been made. And somewhere out there, in the immense black and -fire-blazing gulf that surrounded Earth--not any longer as a protective -barrier but as a pathway for invasion--an alien fleet proceeded on its -way. - -Wyatt stared in horror out the window and wondered how, even if all -Earth's defenses were mustered, she could fight off an attack by -an enemy so superior in technology that interstellar flight was a -commonplace. - -"Brinna," he said, "what--" He started to turn his head toward her and -out of the tail of his eye he saw her hand move on the controls but it -was already too late to do anything. The plane went out from under him -sideways and the window tried to push itself through his head. Then he -was thrown the other way with a violence that nearly snapped his neck. -The seat belt cut into him and his arms flew out wildly. The gun was -pulled from his hand as by a powerful magnet. He yelled involuntarily -and then for the second time direction was reversed and his head -slammed into the window again and all the stars went out. - -When he came to he had no weapon at all and his hands were securely -fastened to the back of the seat with his own belt. His head ached -abominably. "That was a dirty trick," he said. "Now I see why you made -that first turn so gentle--so I wouldn't know how fast this thing could -maneuver at right angles." - -Brinna said, "Would you have expected me to give you a performance -sheet?" - -"All right," he said sourly, hating her, hating the feeling of -helplessness and disadvantage, raging at the combination of -circumstances that had chosen him to grapple with a situation that no -one man could possibly have handled. "Where are we going now?" - -"Back to where I found you. You'll have to get to Washington with the -warning some other way." - -Wyatt groaned. "What do I have to do to make you understand? Nobody -will believe a word I say." - -"It's your world," she said. "I can do no more than tell you what will -happen." - -"You mean you _won't_ do any more," he said furiously. "What's your -game, anyway? If you really cared whether Earth is attacked or not -you'd make sure--" - -A pair of little blue lights began to flash alternately at the left of -the control panel, accompanied by a shrill buzzing. - -Brinna started. She said something in her own language that sounded -like a curse. - -"What's the matter?" Wyatt asked. - -"Trouble. Oh, not with the ship, that's only the communicator." She put -out her hand and at the same time she gave him a hard glare. "Just keep -quiet. Don't say anything at all, or you may only make things worse for -yourself." - -She flipped a switch. The flashing and buzzing stopped and a man's -face appeared in a tiny screen. Wyatt could not see it too clearly -from his angle, but it seemed a not unlikeable face of which the chief -characteristics were strength and a sort of inner weariness. The man -spoke to Brinna and she answered him, and Wyatt could not understand a -word of what they said. - -Some part of the conversation seemed to concern Wyatt himself. He -became more and more frantically uneasy. When the contact was broken -and the screen was blank again, he leaned forward against his bonds and -demanded, "What's all that about?" - -Brinna nodded briefly toward the window. "Look out there." Her brows -were drawn down into a black angry bar and she seemed to be thinking -hard. Wyatt looked out the small window. - - * * * * * - -A second disc-shaped craft had joined them. It was about four hundred -feet away, keeping pace. Even while he looked at it the craft tilted, -showing a glowing pink center surrounded by the black outer ring, and -appeared to shoot away into the starry void. - -Brinna followed it. - -Wyatt said, "Hey. You said you were going to put me off on the mesa--" - -She shook her head. "Not now. That's Makvern out there, the good -gray Makvern who would be suspicious of his own father. He knows -you're aboard. There is only one place I can take you." She pointed -expressively. "Out. If I tried to drop back down to Earth now I'd be in -front of a court-martial before breakfast." - -She turned to face him. It seemed that she had done her thinking, -compensating for the sudden change in direction that Makvern's -appearance had necessitated. - -"Listen," she said. "I'm the only hope you have of getting back to -Earth before the attack. If you tell anyone that I tried to pass on a -warning, that one hope will be gone. Do you understand me?" - -"Perfectly," Wyatt said. He had been doing some thinking too. "I am -also your only hope of getting a warning to Earth before the invasion, -which you badly want to do not because you give a tinker's damn what -happens to Earth, but because of the effect you think it will have on -some deal of your own. So I guess in a sense we're partners, then?" - -"You could say that." Her eyes were as bright and hard as two chips of -blue stone. She was as handsome a girl as Wyatt had ever seen, and she -scared the devil out of him. "Partners. Yes. But whatever my motives -may be they do not concern you, or Earth. And if I do not succeed with -my plan this time--" She shrugged. "There will be other worlds." - -Wyatt said shrewdly, "They might not be as well able to fight back as -Earth, though. We don't quite have space flight yet, but we do have -nuclear weapons. Enough to give even your force a real jar. And that's -what you want, isn't it?" - -Her face changed slightly. He thought she almost smiled, in a wry -unhumorous way. - -"You're far too clever," she said. "Don't let your cleverness betray -you." - -"I'll watch it," he said, not feeling clever at all, feeling sick and -agonized as the last thin rim of Earth dropped away out of sight and -all of a sudden he knew that he was in space. - -For one wild moment he thought, This whole thing is a dream, it -happened too fast and it's all too crazy to be real, and pretty soon -I'll wake up. But he knew it was not a dream. He was here, awake and -substantial, and he was a captive, going with bound hands into an -unknown void. - -And going fast. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - -It had been night, and suddenly it was day. - -There was no twilight zone, no period of transition. The craft shot out -of the Earth's shadow into the full blaze of the sun, and it was like -somebody turning on all the lights in the world in the middle of a dark -room. - -Wyatt flinched and turned his head away. When he dared to look again -there was a filter lens over the port. Actually it must have slid into -place at once, or the raw glare would have blinded him. And now space -seemed to be brimming over with light, all the blackness hidden beyond -that golden blaze. - -He could see Makvern's craft, still in position ahead and to one side, -its polished rim flashing and glittering. It seemed to skim through -the ocean of light like a fleeting shadow, and Wyatt found himself -mesmerized by the illusion that he, too, was being buoyed up and -whirled along, a chip on the floods of heaven. - -Brinna hunched brooding over her controls and never gave it all a -second look. Wyatt realized that of course this was an old story to -her. She must have seen suns all over the galaxy and consider them no -more interesting than street lamps. - -It was not an old story to Wyatt. He was still frightened to death -of being where he was, but even the fear was getting lost in the -overwhelming wonder and magnificence of it. He craned his neck around -to peer at the actual sun itself, but that was behind them and the -ports on that side of the cockpit were blacked out completely. All -he could see were shaking veils of fire that sprang out suddenly to -cover half his field of vision and then fell back, streaming in golden -streams. He thought these must be solar prominences, or part of the -corona. The golden flood of light spread out and out and he could not -see any end to it, though he knew there must be one. Rushing obliquely -ahead of the craft was a thin black knife-edged blade cutting sharp -across the radiance, and he knew that that was their own shadow. - -There was the light, and Makvern's craft, and the shadow, and nothing -else. Then a white curved thing like a gnawed bone slid into view, and -he knew it was the edge of the Moon. - -They headed toward it. For the first time Wyatt had something by which -to estimate their speed. Whatever it was in miles per hour, it was -too damned fast. The Moon fairly sprang at them. He could see craters -opening and weird jagged mountains shooting up, exactly like pictures -of growing plants taken with a strobe camera. The flinty peaks glinted -like rows of teeth. Wyatt's heart came up in his throat. He understood -that Makvern and Brinna must know what they were doing, and he was -determined not to yell, but he found himself trying to push his feet -through the floor in an involuntary gesture of putting on brakes. - -The two craft tilted and swung across the face of the Moon--it was only -the airlessness of space and the brilliance of the reflecting sunlight, -Wyatt knew, that made the surface seem close enough to reach out and -pick up the perfectly defined chunks of broken pumice as they passed. -Plains, craters, pinnacles and ranges, blinding white or etched with -inky shadow, flashed beneath them and then they were on top of the -terminus and over it and it was night again, black, black, black and -hung with stars. - -Wyatt shook himself, feeling dazed. It was like a plunge into deep -water, stunning. The filter shield slid automatically away from -the window. He looked out at the hind side of the Moon, glimmering -mysteriously in the eternal starshine, and was not very surprised to -see that it looked very much like the familiar face. - -Once more the two craft tilted and swung, and Wyatt saw the ship. - - * * * * * - -It hung motionless between the Moon and the stars, an enormous -cylindrical shape catching dull glints on its flanks and its blunt -nose. He could only guess its size by the area of stars it blotted out, -and even that was only a guess. It was big. Big enough. - -It was not showing any lights at first, but then one came on, laying a -hard white path across the empty blackness. Makvern's craft found the -path and raced along it, slowing as it went, and presently vanished. - -"What is it?" asked Wyatt, and Brinna said, - -"Scout tender. You didn't think we were going all the way to Alpha -Centauri in these skimmers, did you?" - -Wyatt said, "I hadn't really thought about it, one way or the other." - -Alpha Centauri, he thought. My God. - -Brinna put the skimmer, as she called it, into the lighted guidepath. - -"You're likely to have a fairly rough time of it," she said. "They will -question you. They're not brutes, but they're thorough. I won't be able -to do anything about that. But hang on, and I'll arrange your escape as -soon as I can." - -"Thank _you_," said Wyatt bitterly. - -"If," said Brinna with equal bitterness, "you hadn't been in such a -blazing hurry to make me go to Washington, you wouldn't be here. So -don't blame me for all your troubles." - -The skimmer slowed, climbing up the beam of light. - -A resurgence of panic took hold of Wyatt. "Why Alpha Centauri? Why do I -have to go there?" - -"Two reasons. We work well ahead, always planning the next campaign -before we finish the last one. I told you they'll question you. In the -normal course of events you would be shown the Centauri campaign so -that you could get a clear idea of just how we work, and then you would -be used to persuade your people not to resist." - -"But you'll arrange my escape before that." - -"I'll do what I can," she snapped, "as long as you keep your mouth -shut. Now we're going in, and from here on you're just another captive." - -Wyatt looked at her. He didn't trust her promise, not at all. He -thought he had better never trust this dark girl too far. - -The skimmer rose up into a great hatch. Wyatt heard a thunderous click -transmitted through the air in the cockpit and felt a strong jar as -what he thought must be a magnetic grapple took hold. Beyond the -window now he saw a brightly lighted space that looked as big as Grand -Central, equipped with great incomprehensible pieces of machinery. None -of them looked like any propulsion or communication machines he knew. -How did a faster-than-light ship communicate, anyway? An idea came to -him. - -Small figures moved out there. He recognized them as men wearing -spacesuits. The suits were astonishingly like those being tested by the -Air Force for high-altitude flying. He thought the A.F. boys would be -glad to know their designs were good. - -The skimmer was dormant, being lifted and handled by forces outside. -Brinna said, "We have to wait for pressure to build up." - -The huge hatch doors beneath had closed. Presently Wyatt heard sounds -faintly from outside the skimmer, chiefly a throbbing noise like the -beating of a gigantic heart which he thought must be the air-pumps. - -He nursed the idea that had come to him. He didn't think it was a very -good idea but it was the only one he had, and he had to do something, -try somehow, to get a warning to Earth. He could not just wait for -Brinna to help him escape, it might never be possible--even if she -wasn't double-crossing him as she was obviously double-crossing someone -else. He'd try his own way. - -Soon a light showed on the control board and Brinna pushed a lever -under it. - -She got up. "All right," she said. "You go ahead of me." - -Wyatt rose, his hands still tied. He passed through the aperture and -onto the narrow stair which had unfolded from the rim. There was a -platform under the bottom rung and he stepped onto it. Brinna came -behind him. The skimmer hung suspended from a grapple on an overhead -track. Makvern's craft was just beyond it on a similar grapple. At the -end of the track was a mobile rack with three skimmers already in it -and two empty slots. Three other racks held fifteen more, stacked up -like pies in a bakery. - - * * * * * - -The men in spacesuits--some of them were women--were taking off their -helmets. They were looking at Wyatt, interested but not unduly so. -Makvern was walking toward them. He also was looking at Wyatt. His eyes -were dark and his skin was leathery with exposure to many suns. His -hair was rough and wiry, iron gray. His shoulders were wide and his -body was hard and narrow and his legs were long. Wyatt thought if he -had not met Makvern in another time and place he might have liked him. -As it was, he hated him. - -Makvern nodded to Brinna. He wore the same black uniform, but the -insigne on his shirt was different and contained a ruby stud. He -watched Wyatt as another man untied his hands. - -"A technician, eh?" he said, speaking English no better than Brinna -did, but perfectly intelligibly. "Good work, Captain. We have needed -one badly." - -"Thank you," said Brinna. "I hope he'll be useful." - -Makvern said to Wyatt, "What is your field?" - -"Communications," said Wyatt. "And I can tell you right now that I -don't know anything more about weapons and defense than anybody who can -read the daily papers, and that I won't be useful at all." - -Makvern said, "I see Brinna explained to you why you were being brought -here." - -"She did. Fully." - -"Well," said Makvern. "Come along." - -He walked away and Brinna motioned for Wyatt to follow and he did, -padding in his sock feet over the deck. It was a hell of a thing, he -thought, to be on his way to Alpha Centauri without any shoes. - -But his hands were free now. They were so sure he couldn't escape, -inside their ship. Well, he couldn't. But maybe he could do something -else. He looked at Makvern as they walked along the huge room. - -"Star-ships," Wyatt said. "Faster than light. How the devil can you -communicate at speeds and distances like that?" - -Makvern smiled slightly. "That's right, you said you're a -communications man. Well, there are ways. There are beams you never -heard of." - -"I'd like to see an outfit that can send a signal faster than light," -Wyatt grunted. - -Makvern looked at him thoughtfully. "Why not? We'll be going right -past the communic room." - -Brinna looked as though she wanted to say something, but she didn't, -and they went on out of the hold and through a neat functional -labyrinth of corridors. - -"Here we are," said Makvern and opened a bulkhead door. - -Wyatt sprang forward, low and fast, like a football player making a -desperate tackle. His shoulder struck Makvern in the small of the back, -his arms clasped him tight around the waist, and his weight bore him -forward and down, through the door into the communications room. They -hit the deck together, Wyatt on top, Makvern grunting heavily from the -impact. Two men inside the room sprang up from their places in alarm. -Wyatt turned his head and saw Brinna in the doorway and kicked the door -shut in her face. There was no way to lock it. He scrambled to his -feet, wild with the need for haste, and he realized then that Makvern -was not moving. He must have hit his head on the deck when he fell. -Wyatt dragged him against the door to block it, and by that time one of -the two men had turned back to his instruments and was shouting into -what Wyatt assumed to be the ship's intercom. - -The other man was almost on top of him. - -Wyatt could not possibly avoid that rush. The man was big and he was -young and strong and he pinned Wyatt against the wall and pounded at -him. Wyatt did not worry about prize-ring rules. He lowered his head -and butted, hard. The man staggered back, and Wyatt gave him a clip on -the jaw to help him down and then made a rush of his own, at the man -who was busily arousing the whole ship. - -This man was not a pugnacious type. He looked at Wyatt with large -horrified eyes and flung up his hands in a vague gesture of striking -but Wyatt's fist took him solidly in the face and he whimpered and -turned around and folded over his own knees. - -The communic room was now quiet, except for a series of noises outside -the door. Wyatt stood panting, looking at the maze of equipment. - -Right here within reach was the means of warning Earth. The radio -system on this ship must be strong enough to blanket every receiver on -the planet. All he had to do was figure out how to use it. - -He swore in an agony of frustration. Nothing was marked right, nothing -was as he knew it. It was all there, and it was totally useless. - -He reached down and took hold of the man who was crouched on the deck -near him. He dragged him upright. He shook him. - -"Listen," he said. "Listen, you're going to get this thing working. -Understand?" - -The man shook his head dazedly from side to side and said something in -his own language. - -Wyatt's grip became cruel. "You're going to send a message to Earth," -he said, and then Makvern spoke quietly behind him. - -"He can't understand you, Wyatt. Let him go." - - * * * * * - -Wyatt spun around, still holding the man. Makvern had got up. He was -standing beside the door with a weapon in his hand. The door was now -open and Brinna was standing in it, her thumbs hooked in her belt, -watching. Men were arriving behind her in the corridor. - -Wyatt said, "If you shoot me you'll get your own man too." He shifted -his grip, dragging the man closer to the control panel. Feeling even -while he was speaking the absolute hopelessness of this last ditch -play, he said, - -"Tell him what I want or I'll smash your communication system so -thoroughly--" - -"It was a good try, Wyatt," said Makvern, not without a certain -admiration, and pressed a stud on his weapon. - -Wyatt never knew what hit him. - -When he awoke he was lying in a bunk in a small metal cabin. Close -beside his head there swung a curious helmet-like device linked by -cables to a squat cabinet. - -Makvern was standing looking down at him. He looked alert and wary and -his hand rested casually on his holstered side-arm. - -"How are you feeling now?" said Makvern. - -Wyatt started a sour reply, and then he froze in an incredulous -astonishment. - -Makvern had not spoken in English. He had spoken in a totally strange -language--and yet he, Wyatt, had understood him! - -"What--how--" Wyatt began. - -Makvern smiled. "How do you know the language of Uryx, our language, -all of a sudden? Simple. Learning-tapes." - -He gestured toward the helmet and the cabinet. Wyatt gaped like a -yokel. It was too uncanny. Hearing words he'd never consciously heard -before, and yet understanding them-- - -He articulated with difficulty. "Learning-tapes?" - -Makvern sat down. "You've been under a seda-ray for some days, Wyatt. -In fact, we're nearly to our rendezvous with the fleet, off Alpha -Centauri." - -So time had passed? That wasn't surprising. But this other thing-- - -Makvern went on. "Don't you yet have it on your Earth, the technique of -teaching arbitrary knowledge to a subject in his sleep?" - -Wyatt began to get it now. "You mean, a recorded voice repeating facts -over and over in a sleeping man's ear? Yes. We have that--but it's not -good enough to teach a man a whole new language in sleep." - -"With us," said Makvern, "it is good enough. We always use it, once -we pick up the vocabulary and grammar from our first captives. Makes -it easier to question them. Instead of all our intelligence officers, -technicians and so on having to learn the captive's language, we give -him _our_ language." - -It was still too much for Wyatt to take in. He lay looking at Makvern, -and after a moment he said, - -"You seem like a decent guy, not a butcher or a greedy conqueror type. -Maybe you can tell me what gives your people the idea they've a right -to go around acting like a bunch of goddamned bandits." - - * * * * * - -Makvern smiled faintly. "Probably," he said, "because that's exactly -what we are. Uryx is still a young empire. I imagine you have learned -on Earth how empires grow--starting from a small weak poverty-ridden -state fighting for its existence and becoming, by the process of eating -its neighbors, a tremendous power able to conquer everything in sight. -When it does this it wants to gorge itself on all the things it never -had before." - -He made a sweeping gesture. "Wealth, beauty, techniques, cultures, -knowledge, everything under a thousand suns that can enrich or -entertain us. We are still in this stage of acquisitiveness." - -Wyatt grunted. "That all sounds very philosophic, but it still doesn't -make you anything but bandits." - -"When we join the main fleet," said Makvern, refusing to be angered, -"you can take that up with Varsek." - -"Varsek?" - -"Commander in Chief of the Task Force. The--ah--Boss, I think you would -say." - -"I'll be glad to take it up with him," Wyatt said. "And if he thinks -he's going to get any help from me, he's wrong." - -He looked up at Makvern and he said suddenly, "You deliberately gave me -a chance at that communic room, didn't you?" - -"Did I?" - -"Yes. You didn't have to show it to me, you must have known what was in -my mind. But you had no intention of letting me get a message off to -Earth. You shammed unconsciousness till it looked like I might make it, -and then you came to and stopped me." - -"Why would I do a thing like that?" Makvern asked calmly. - -"Why, indeed? That's what I'm asking." - -Makvern said, "Perhaps I was testing you to find out something, Wyatt. -Let me ask you a question in return. Why did you let Brinna capture you -so easily?" - -"What do you mean, easily?" - -"You had a weapon. Yet you didn't use it on Brinna. Why?" - -Wyatt became instantly wary and on guard. Makvern, then, suspected -the arrangement between Brinna and himself, suspected Brinna of a -double-cross? He'd better be careful. - -He said, "What's this about Brinna? To me, she's just a female wildcat -that dropped out of the sky." - -"She is what you would call very high brass," Makvern said. "A high -officer of the Task Force, completely trusted by Commander Varsek." - -Had Makvern faintly emphasized the word "trusted"? Wyatt wasn't sure. -He was only sure now that some devil's broth of intrigue went on in -the immense Task Force that followed its looting voyage through the -galactic suns, and that he, Wyatt, was less than the smallest pawn in -the hidden game. - -"I wouldn't," said Makvern, "think too much of Brinna. She's beautiful, -I know. But she's in love." - -Oddly, Wyatt felt a pang to hear that. "In love? With whom?" - -"With power," Makvern said grimly, and then the next moment the light -in the cabin went blue and there was a vertiginous shock that made -Wyatt feel as though he was falling, falling, everything gone from -around him, plunging through abysses of darkness-- - -A whining sound went up to a shriek and passed beyond hearing, and then -the lights burned white again and the dizziness in his head passed. - -"What the devil--" he began huskily. - -Makvern stood up. "We just went out of overdrive. We've reached the -Task Force. Come on Wyatt--for you, this is it." - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - -Here in the windowed bridge, the background was all stars. - -Clouds of stars, rivers of them, chains and globes of them, and drawn -across them here and there like curtains of the most glorious fire -ever imagined were the shining nebulae. They were all colors. Red, -blue, smoky yellow, green, diamond white. Some of them, Wyatt realized, -were not stars at all but galaxies, scattered out in careless millions -through the apparently infinite universe. To an earthbound, skybound -man like himself, this was almost too much to take. Look at ten billion -stars and a million galaxies and all the empty space between for them -to roam around in, and realize that this is the universe, you are in -the middle of it, not standing on the edge looking up the way you do -on Earth but right in the middle of it, the nothingness and allness of -it without end, amen. If you have no religion you get one in a hurry, -because obviously only God could have made this. - -Wyatt was dimly aware that someone--Makvern--was talking to him. Alpha -Centauri. A hand pointed, guiding him back from the infinite to the -particular. - -Ahead, still very far away but close enough to stand out from among the -more distant stars like a beacon lamp, was a yellow sun. - -"There's a companion," Makvern said, "but it's insignificant and did -not prevent the formation of a stable planetary system around the -primary. Alpha Centauri has eight planets--it's very much like your own -Sol. The two inner planets are too hot, and the outer ones are too -cold, but the third and fourth support life. The third is closer to -the sun than Earth and is still in a comparatively primitive stage of -evolution. We can pick up minerals there but nothing else. The fourth -world is our target." - -Wyatt shut his eyes against the blaze of suns and nebulae and wheeling -galaxies and tried to concentrate on Alpha Centauri, its fourth planet, -and himself. - -"Where's your fleet?" he asked, and opened his eyes again, looking -closer at hand instead of trying to see the end of creation. - -Once more Makvern pointed. - -Once more Wyatt was stunned, this time in a much more personal way. -Suns and galaxies were beyond him, the incredible handiwork of God, but -men had built these ships. And the one was almost as overwhelming a -thing as the other. - -It was the hell and all of a fleet. - -It too was a long way off, though not anything like as far as Alpha -Centauri. Makvern explained that they did not attempt any very close -maneuvering in hyper-drive, where you counted your fractional seconds -of error in multiples of parsecs. The main task force would approach -the system of Alpha Centauri at planetary speeds and deploy according -to the master attack plan already decided upon while the fleet had -been busy plundering the hapless worlds of the star-system before this -one. The scout ship was now on an intersecting course. - -Wyatt watched this convergence with a mounting awe and an increasing -conviction that no matter how many warnings he might bring to Earth it -would not do them one bit of good. - -He had thought the scout tender was huge when he first saw it hanging -beyond the dark side of the Moon. The closer he got to the fleet the -smaller the tender seemed to him and the smaller he felt himself, until -he thought that this must be pretty much like a minnow's-eye view of -a school of whales passing in all their majesty, accompanied on the -flanks by the swift sinister forms of great sharks. The analogy was -obvious but not a bad one, Wyatt thought. The phalanx of huge dark -shapes swam in space as in black water, touched with vagrant gleams -of light that might have been phosphorescence instead of starshine. -The hugest of them--the heavy support craft, the troop transports, the -supply ships, and the swag-bellied monstrosities that Brinna said were -used to store and carry loot--travelled together in a wedge-shaped -formation, with the flagship at the apex. Ahead and on both wings -were the smaller, faster destroyer-type craft, heavily armed but -maneuverable. These were the spearhead of any attack, and the defenders -of the fleet from any hostile action in space. Behind came a shoal -of smaller craft like the tender, the inglorious but indispensable -work-horses of the fleet. - - * * * * * - -Clear across the galaxy these ships had come, built and manned by -humans, conceived in their brains and controlled by their hands. It -seemed a pity their purpose could not have been more noble. - -The Task Force swept closer and closer, rolled over the tender like a -mighty wave, engulfed it, and carried it along in its resistless rush -toward Alpha Centauri. - -A communicator at the back of the bridge, which had been rattling away -in the course of routine technicalities, suddenly changed its tone. -"Clear channels," said a brisk important voice. "Clear channels for -Number One." The operator at Fleet Control whose image had appeared -on the screen promptly pulled the switch on himself. Involuntarily -everyone in the bridge room snapped to attention, even Makvern and -Brinna. - -Swiftly, under her breath, Brinna said, "What does he want that -couldn't wait for our regular report?" - -She looked worried. Guilty conscience, Wyatt thought. But Makvern's -conscience was clear, at least where Wyatt was concerned, and he looked -worried too. Almost, you might say, apprehensive. - -When he turned to face the screen there was no sign of this in his -face, nothing but the properly alert expression of a staff officer -about to speak to his chief. - -A smartly turned out operator, owner of the officious voice, appeared -in the screen. "ST-6," he said. "ST-6, this is Number One calling. -Number One, calling for Staff Captain Makvern." - -Makvern stepped forward into the pick-up area. "Captain Makvern here." - -"Stand by, sir. Commander Varsek is ready to speak to you." - -Makvern stood by. He seemed perfectly at ease. Brinna's mouth was -drawn tight and her eyes were narrowed. Wyatt started to say something -and she shook her head at him fiercely. He shut up. The bridge waited -silently as though the Supreme Being was about to step into it. - -The operator had vanished from the screen. It remained blank for a -moment or two. Then it brightened again and Commander Varsek was -mirrored in it. - -He nodded to Makvern, who saluted. He was sitting behind a big desk -covered with charts, papers, microfilm spools, a couple of viewers, -and various communic media. In contrast to the immaculate turn-out of -his operator--and everybody else that Wyatt had so far seen--Varsek's -uniform shirt was open down the front, his sleeves were rolled up, -and the shirt itself looked as though he had been digging ditches in -it. He gave the impression of a man enormously embroiled in work, the -two-hours-of-sleep-a-night, coffee-and-benzedrine-and-I-thrive-on-it -type that automatically makes everybody else feel like a lazy slob. All -this part of him Wyatt found only mildly irritating. It was Varsek's -face and what he sensed behind it that made Wyatt feel he could really -hate this man. - -Varsek was a big lean man, and his face was big and lean, with a -lot of bone in it and no softness anywhere, and no warmth, and no -friendliness. He smiled, and the smile was a lie. Wyatt thought all the -rest of it was a lie too, or at least a deliberate pose. Only his eyes -were true. They looked at Makvern, and then at Brinna, and then for -quite a long moment at Wyatt, and they were rapacious and hungry, cold -and cruel, highly intelligent, and disconcertingly demonstrative of a -mind capable of handling nearly anything. - -"This is your captive, is it?" he said. "Good. He looks more -intelligent than any I've seen yet." He turned his attention back to -Makvern. "I've sent a skimmer for you. You too, Brinna." - -Makvern said, in an almost too carefully expressionless voice, "We were -about to report to the flagship." - -"This is important, Makvern. Can't wait. I've got Loran aboard, very -sick, about dying I'd say. I want you and Brinna here." His gaze -flicked again to Wyatt. "Bring him along. It may help him to understand -us better." - -"Yes, sir," said Makvern. - -Varsek nodded and the screen went dead. - -Somebody said, "Skimmer's coming into the airlock now, sir." - -Makvern turned around and looked at Brinna. His face was absolutely -white. So was hers. White, frightened, and bitterly angry. - -"Who is Loran?" asked Wyatt. - -"One of our under officers," Makvern said, too quietly. "Come on, we -mustn't keep them waiting." - -They left the bridge and went, not below to the main launching hold, -but aft to a small lock. On the way Wyatt asked, - -"Can you tell me what's going on?" - -"For your own sake," said Makvern, "no." - -They got into the skimmer and the pilot took it away and they sat stiff -and silent like three people going to a wake. And Wyatt had an idea -he was about to get a little closer to the truth of whatever forces -were operating behind the scenes here. He needed to know, needed it -desperately. He was prepared to sell or double-cross anybody including -himself in order to get a warning to Earth in time, but before he could -do that he had to know who was buying, and what, and for how much. - -The skimmer passed swiftly through the fleet, past the great -dull-gleaming hulls tarnished by a thousand atmospheres, pitted and -scarred by the cosmic dust and drift of half a galaxy. - -The black enormous form of the flagship loomed ahead, blotting out the -stars. The skimmer was gathered into it. A minute later, as they stood -close together at the ladder head, Makvern whispered in English, - -"This is going to be ugly. Keep out of it, you understand? No matter -what!" - - - - - CHAPTER V - - -The man was obviously sick, probably dying, painfully, spasmodically, -and not from natural causes. - -He was a fairly young man, younger than Makvern, older than Brinna. He -was strapped onto a kind of flat cradle made of a plastic mesh, and -this was suspended in a circular pit, not very deep. Above the man, -almost but not quite in contact with his body, was a double row of -crystal rods, their bottom ends close together, their top ends spread -to form a V. They were served by power leads that went away somewhere -to the sides of the pit. Every so often, in answer to a signal, power -was fed into the double-rods, a rapid flicker of bluish light ran up -and down through them, and the man below them writhed and sobbed in a -grotesque and hideous agony. - -Varsek gave the signals. He was sitting on a seat above the shallow -pit, where he could look down comfortably into Loran's face while he -talked to him. There was a ring of seats around the pit. Wyatt sat in -one. So did Makvern, and Brinna, and several other officers Wyatt did -not know. The pit was situated in the center of a quite small room with -soundproof walls and a single door, very thick and having a lock on the -inside. The room was deep in the most secret bowels of the flagship. - -The crystal tubes were dead now. Loran rolled his head from side to -side and moaned. He had bitten his lips and tongue, and he was bleeding -slightly from the nose. Varsek watched him. There was not a sound in -the room other than Loran's moaning. Nobody moved. Nobody met anyone -else's eye. Nobody spoke. There might have been a concourse of waxen -dummies above the pit. - -Except for Varsek. He spoke. He called Loran by name, several times, -with a dispassionate persistence, until he answered. Then Varsek said, - -"Who is the leader of the Second Party?" - -He had asked that question fifty, a hundred times before, in exactly -that tone of voice. - -And Loran answered, as he had fifty or a hundred times before, "There -is no Second Party." Only his voice was weaker every time he said it. - -And Wyatt was sicker. He clenched his hands and shut his jaw tight. -There was nothing he could do. He kept telling himself that. There was -nothing he could do. - -Varsek said, "It's no use to lie to me, Loran. There is a Second Party. -Every ship in the fleet including this one has some officers and some -men who are not loyal to me--who are in fact dedicated to the task -of taking the fleet away from me. This I know Loran, I have absolute -proof. I'm only asking you who the leader is." - -"There is no Second Party." - -"Is he one of my staff officers, Loran?" - -"There is no--" - -"Which one?" And he named them through one at a time, including Makvern -and Brinna, every one that was there, and they sat in the bright light -with blank faces and fear in their eyes. - -Loran said, "There is no Second Party." - -"Let's be realistic about this," Varsek said. "Your friends, the men -you're so nobly protecting, can't help you now. I'm the only one who -can. I can have you up out of there in a minute, with the best medical -attention and everything you need to fix you up. All you have to do -is answer my questions. That's your duty, isn't it, Loran? Didn't you -swear an oath of loyalty to Uryx and the government of Uryx, and to me -as the duly appointed servant of that government?" - -No answer. - -"You're a young man, Loran. I don't imagine you love the idea of death. -Why leap at it? Tell me the names of the disloyal officers you know, -and you can live." - -Loran said distinctly, "Go to hell." - -Varsek gave the signal again. - -The banked rods pulsed and flickered, and whatever nerve-searing, -flesh-torturing force was in them went to work on Loran. - - * * * * * - -Wyatt got up. He called Varsek the dirtiest name he could think of, in -a kind of choked and half-articulate voice, and then he started for -him. It was obviously a silly thing to do but he wasn't really thinking -about it. He just had a simple desire to stop Varsek from doing what he -was doing. - -Several of the officers--Makvern was one of them--caught him before -he had taken two steps. Varsek glanced around. He smiled briefly. "I -thought you looked like a brave man," he said. "Brave men are usually -stubborn. That's why you're here, to see what happens to brave stubborn -men." - -"There are a lot of them on Earth," said Wyatt fiercely. "They haven't -broken for other dirty little tyrants and they won't break for you. -Remember that." - -Makvern snarled in his ear, "Shut up for God's sake. And sit down." -His face was rigidly controlled but in his eyes, deep down, there was -a wildness of hate and fury that startled Wyatt into obedience. He -allowed himself to be forced back toward his seat. And then Brinna -stepped forward and said to Varsek, - -"It might be safer, sir, if I put him with the other prisoners now." - -Varsek considered that, totally undisturbed by the deathly sounds from -the pit. He studied Brinna, who was looking rigidly past his head -at the opposite wall. He studied Makvern, who was now as blank as a -stone, so that Wyatt wondered if he had really seen what he thought he -had seen in Makvern's eyes. He studied the others, who showed varying -degrees of unhappiness, and then he said to Brinna, - -"You look ill, Captain. How would you expect to command a battle fleet -if you can't stand to see one man die?" - -Brinna's body was absolutely rigid. She said, "Are you accusing me of -plotting with the Second Party to take command? If so, I request a -formal--" - -Varsek shook his head. "No accusation, Brinna. Merely a statement. I -know how it eats on your soul that you probably never will command a -fleet just on account of your sex." He grinned at her. "Sex isn't the -whole story, Brinna. I'm merely pointing that out to you. Ability and -toughness have something to do with it too. Isn't that so, Makvern?" - -"I suppose so, sir." - -The man in the pit howled like a tortured animal. Varsek pushed a -button impatiently and the rods stopped flickering and the howling -ceased. - -"Very well," said Varsek, turning away, "take your delicate stomach -away from here. And maybe you can put your sex to some use with the -prisoner. Try it, anyway. The rest of you stay here." - -Brinna saluted, turned smartly on her heel, snapped, "Follow me," at -Wyatt, and marched toward the door. Wyatt glanced at Makvern, who -refused to look at him, and went after Brinna. - -He was thankful to get out of the room. Sick and raging himself, he did -not feel like talking and Brinna's face discouraged him anyway. The way -her bootheels rang on the iron floor he thought that she was wishing -Varsek's head under every one. Finally, when they had left even the -level of the pit-room behind and were walking together along an upper -corridor with nobody else in sight, he did speak. - -"Are you plotting with the Second Party, Brinna?" he asked. - -"No," she said savagely. "I am not. I hate everything they stand for." - -"But you are plotting against Varsek?" - -She stopped and looked at him with eyes as lambent as those of an angry -cat. - -"If you have thoughts of helping your own cause by going to Varsek -about me, forget them. In the first place, Varsek helps nobody. In the -second place, I can have you silenced before you could ever get to him." - -"No," said Wyatt slowly, "I wasn't thinking of going to Varsek. But -what he said about you is true. You do want the command. You figured -that Earth, armed and prepared, would give Varsek such a setback that -you might be able to oust him and take over." - -"Do you blame me?" whispered Brinna. "He's a swine. A cruel, -treacherous, sadistic swine. You saw him. No wonder there's a Second -Party." - -"How big is it, Brinna?" - -"Big enough to worry Varsek. Loran is the third poor devil he's -tortured to death trying to find out who's in it. He hasn't managed -it yet, but he will. And then--" She made an expressive gesture of -slashing. - -"You said you hated everything the Second Party stands for. What does -it stand for?" - -"Peace," said Brinna, as though it was a shameful word. "They want -to take the Task Force home and force the government to stop this -galaxy-wide swing of conquest." - -"And you don't want peace?" - -"I'm a soldier. What use would I be at peace?" Her face was hard, -shining, exalted with ambition. "Not while I'm still young and -unsatisfied, anyway. Listen, Wyatt. I told you women are not segregated -and discriminated against in our society and that's true--except for -top positions of power in politics and the military. Even there it's -never stated openly. But somehow or other the women candidates never -quite make it. I'm going to be the first one to break that custom. I am -going to command this Task Force." - - * * * * * - -She put her hand on his arm, speaking rapidly, with urgent force. "I'm -not alone, Wyatt. I have a powerful group behind me. Varsek isn't -popular with the officers. The men love him because he wins battles and -looks the other way when they abuse the native women, but they don't -have to deal with him. All we need is an excuse--a demonstration that -Varsek has blundered badly--and we can step in. _I_ can step in. Earth -could give us that excuse, if your people put up enough of a surprise -fight. So you see our interests do run together." - -"That far, they do," said Wyatt. "But afterward?" - -"What do you mean, afterward?" - -"After you take over. What happens to Earth then?" He shook her hand -away. "Don't treat me like a fool, Brinna. You don't take over from -Varsek on the grounds that he's failed and then admit that you too are -licked by the same situation." - -Her eyes had narrowed and the anger-light was in them again. "So?" - -"So you will then proceed to smash my world. You have to, to prove -you're more capable than Varsek. Otherwise, somebody will oust _you_." - -"I warned you before not to let your cleverness betray you," she said. -"Let's be realistic about this. Earth is our next target, she's going -to be hit warning or no warning, and she's going to be beaten. Now. -Do you imagine Earth can get better and more merciful treatment from -Varsek, or from me?" - -"When you put it that way," Wyatt said thoughtfully, "I can see a -preference. All right, Brinna. When do you think you can arrange the -escape?" - -"The only chance will be some time during the attack on Alpha Centauri. -I'll get word to you as soon as the arrangements are made, but don't -get impatient. You heard Varsek. I'll have to move very cautiously." - -"And what happens to me in the meantime?" - -"You'll be questioned. Oh, not like that. Varsek reserves the pit for -special cases. By our Intelligence group, by subterfuge--the captives' -quarters are thoroughly monitored and don't forget it--and by Varsek -himself, probably. Don't antagonize him, Wyatt, or you could find -yourself in the pit at that." - -They had come to a transverse corridor, and now Brinna gave him a -warning glance and said in a sharp impersonal tone, "That way." Her -hand was on the butt of her stunner. - -Wyatt turned obediently, into the transverse corridor. A guard who -had been lounging midway of it snapped to attention. He was stationed -beside a door. Brinna marched Wyatt up to him and said, "Another one -for the tank," and the guard said, "Yes, sir." He did a complicated -series of things with his hands, apparently activating power sources -that released various locks, and the door opened. - -"Inside," the guard said to Wyatt, and jerked his thumb. - -With no further word to Brinna, Wyatt stepped through the door. - -It closed behind him with the sound of a bank vault shutting for the -night. - -The room he stood in was fairly large and it had bunks all around the -walls. About sixteen bunks, Wyatt thought, and there were about a dozen -men sitting on the edges of them, or sitting around a table bolted to -the floor in the center of the room. They were all looking at him. -They were the damnedest collection of humanity, or whatever you wanted -to call it, that Wyatt had ever come across. He remembered Brinna's -complaint that the accessible people, the ones easily picked up without -giving any wide-spread alarm, usually lived in isolated regions and -were without much in the way of technical knowledge. - -He could see the problem, all right. Of the five Earthmen there, -one was an Arab in a dirty burnoose, one looked like a young Apache -Indian in old farm clothes, and one, at a guess, came from Chinese -Turkestan and smelled of camels. The other two were closer to home. -One was medium-tall and stocky, with a thick chest and thin strong -legs. He wore faded Levis and high-heeled boots and his face was -burned brick-red to the middle of his forehead. Above that his skin -was as white as a baby's. A Stetson hat hung on a peg over his bunk. -The fifth man, who sat beside him, was cut out of the same cloth, but -somehow with a difference. Wyatt was puzzled for a minute, and then he -remembered once seeing an Australian movie with a long lean leathery -actor named Chips Rafferty in it playing a stockman, and he thought he -had the answer. - -The other six men in the room were not from Earth. - -The other six men in the room were not human. - -Not as Wyatt was used to thinking of human, homo sapiens, tracing a -well-fossilized descent back through the various _anthropus_ forms -and ultimately to the primal ancestor. These six walked erect and had -facile hands and humanoid bodies and quite handsome faces, but whatever -their primal ancestor had been it had not been like man's. It had left -them a legacy of body hair that could not be called anything else but -fur, and their skulls were curiously elongated rather than domed, and -their finger-tips still had their ancient claws, retracting catlike -into the flesh. Catlike, Wyatt thought, was a good word for them--and -yet not quite Earthly-catlike. The ears were too round, the eyes too -large and dark and capable of warmth. They wore garments of fine cloth -in bright shades to set off their individual color, and in size and -facial conformation they were as different from each other as the -Earthmen were. - -They looked at Wyatt, sitting in two double rows on the edges of their -bunks. The Earthmen looked at Wyatt. And in no eye, human or humanoid, -was there a spark of friendliness. - -Wyatt said, "Hello." - -There was no answer. The stocky man and the long lean one got up, and -each one hitched up his pants and left the thumbs of his hands sticking -negligently in the waistband. - -"Look," said Wyatt, annoyed, "I didn't come here because I wanted to, -but I haven't got smallpox or whooping cough, and I haven't wronged -anyone's sister." - -The two men began to walk slowly forward. The young Apache rose and -came after them, a dark gleam flickering deep in his eyes. The Arab -rose, and then the Turcoman, and then the six lithe furry men came -dropping one by one from the edges of their bunks and all of them moved -toward Wyatt, not speaking. - -A cold qualm of fear contracted his heart. He set his back against the -door and braced himself. - -"What is this?" he said. "What are you doing? I'm an Earthman, a -captive like you. Why--" - -"You're no Earthman," said the stocky southwesterner, in a very cold, -mild voice. "You're another goddamn lousy spy." - -They came at him all together in a swift purposeful rush. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - -Instead of cowering against the door or trying to get out, as they -expected him to do, Wyatt sprang straight for the man in the Levis. He -was easy to get at because he was leading the others by a pace or so. -Wyatt hit him. - -"Spy, am I?" he snarled. He was mad. The rush closed around him but he -hung onto the man, who snorted and grappled with him, and they toppled -over thrashing and kicking among the legs of the others. "I'll show you -who's a spy," he said. The tall man he took to be an Australian bent -over and started to pull at him, and he kicked him furiously on the -shins. "One at a time, boy. Keep your paws off." He rolled with his -enemy, pounding on a cast-iron body and getting knocked dizzy himself -in return. He began to swear. He had never been much for swearing, -but the injustice of this attack inspired him beyond his talents. He -went on pounding and cursing until after a while he realized that his -target was no longer in range and that he was alone in a small circle, -surrounded by the others who were looking down at him. He crouched -there, blinking, and saw the man in the Levis wiping blood off his -mouth with the back of his hand and studying him speculatively. - -"So I'm a so-and-so saddle tramp, am I?" he said. - -"Yes, and a damn dumb one," said Wyatt bitterly. He got up, bunching -his fists. - -"Real fast now," said the stockman, "who was it died at the Alamo?" - -"Davy Crockett," said Wyatt. "King of the wild frontier. Also William -Barret Travis and Jim Bowie and a lot of other good men who never had -songs written about them. Come on, let's finish this." - -"No," said the other man, stepping back. "I don't reckon anybody but an -Earthman could swear like that without stuttering, nor want to fight -like that. What would you say, Bill?" - -The Australian said he agreed. - -"My name's A. C. Burdick," said the stockman, holding out his hand, -"and I'm a long way from home. Sorry about jumping you like that, but -we've had three guys in a row claiming to be captives like us, only -they weren't, and we're getting sick of it." - -Still glowering, Wyatt shook hands with him, and then with the -Australian. The Arab and the Turcoman muttered and returned sulkily to -their places, apparently disappointed that there had been no bloodshed. -The Apache youth stood and regarded Wyatt with an unwinking stare from -under his greasy hatbrim. - -"This here is No-Name," said Burdick, grinning. "He was sleeping out -in the hills when he was picked up--you know, some of them still find -out their warrior-name by getting it in a dream the old way. He figures -this is all part of the dream and is waiting till he wakes up." - -Wyatt nodded to No-Name, who inclined his head briefly and went back to -his bunk where he sat cross-legged, patiently brooding. - -Burdick shifted from his native tongue to the language of Uryx and -said, "These gentlemen are from Alpha Centauri Four." - -The furred slender men clasped their hands and raised them to their -breasts. One of them, who was jet black and dressed in a scarlet tunic, -said in the same tongue, - -"I am Thurne of Obran, a king's messenger. I was taken as I crossed a -plain, carrying a message between kings. Now there will be war for all." - -The others nodded sadly. Wyatt, all his anger forgotten now, said, -"Yes, and for my world too." - -"Well," said Burdick, "come in and make yourself at home." - - * * * * * - -The time that followed then was something of a nightmare to Wyatt, -not too protracted but intense. It was a strain watching his tongue -when he talked with the others, knowing that every word he said was -being listened to outside. The Arab, the Turcoman, and No-Name awaited -whatever thing might happen with their several brands of fatalism but -Burdick and the Australian had a clearer understanding of the situation -and were frantic to do something about it. He would have liked to offer -them a word of hope, but he did not dare to. For the Alpha Centaurians, -Wyatt knew, there was no hope, and they knew it too. With each passing -hour, as the fleet roared on its way, Wyatt wished more earnestly for -something evil and permanent to happen to Varsek. - -It didn't. The only thing that happened was that Wyatt was hauled out -away from the others at frequent intervals and questioned, questioned, -questioned until he was too dazed and tired to form words any more. He -tried not to tell them anything at all, but they were experts, and he -suspected that they learned almost as much, if not more, from what he -refused to tell them as from what he did. His only comfort was that -he had no knowledge of armaments or defense beyond what any ordinary -citizen might read in the papers, and which Fleet Intelligence had -doubtless also read. - -He sweated through it the best way he could and waited for word from -Brinna. - -It did not come. - -Makvern came instead. He said, "Varsek wants to see you." - -Wyatt went with him and they walked briskly through the corridors. - -"What does he want with me?" Wyatt asked. - -"You'll have to ask him," Makvern said. - -"Did Loran die?" - -"Yes. He died." - -"Did he talk?" - -"No." - -"Then the Second Party's still safe." - -"For the time being," said Makvern. "Only for the time being." He would -not turn to look at Wyatt. His profile was as expressionless as a -king's head on a coin. - -Wyatt hesitated while he took three steps, knowing that if he guessed -wrong he would almost certainly wind up in the pit, and that Earth -quite certainly would be worse off than ever. Then, considering what -he had to gain if he guessed right, he plunged. - -"The Second Party," he said, "could take over if Varsek had a serious -setback at Earth. Then they could take the Task Force and go home. They -could start exporting some things from Uryx, like peace and stable -government, instead of importing nothing but loot." - -Makvern continued to walk briskly, looking neither to the right nor to -the left. - -"How would you propose that Earth could give Varsek a setback?" he -asked. - -"Get some of us back to Earth before the fleet, to give warning." - -"That kind of talk," said Makvern evenly, "could get you and possibly a -number of other people killed. I suggest that you stop it." - -His tone was hard, perfectly cold and inflexible. Wyatt's heart sank. -He had guessed wrong and Makvern was not one of the underground. And -yet he had been so sure, the way Makvern had looked when Loran was -suffering in the pit-- - -An orderly passed them into a huge room that was obviously used as an -outer office, full of communic equipment, recorders, electronic files, -and busy men. A second orderly opened the inner door for them, and -Wyatt found himself looking at Varsek as he had first seen him on the -communic screen, sitting behind the big crowded desk with his shirt -open and his sleeves rolled up, the picture of demon energy. - - * * * * * - -He nodded and Makvern stepped back a little, leaving Wyatt alone, as it -were, before Varsek. Varsek picked up a report and shook it at him. - -"This is from Intelligence," he said. "It's not satisfactory. You're -not cooperating, Wyatt." - -"Would you expect me to?" said Wyatt. - -"I expect you not to be a fool," said Varsek. "Look, I'm going to loot -your planet. You know that, don't you? All right. Now if I know where -things are I won't have to smash a lot of other things trying to find -them, will I? And if there's no attempt at resistance, then nobody will -get hurt, will they?" He threw the report. "You're not helping Earth, -you're making it harder." - -"I told everybody in the beginning," said Wyatt sullenly, "that I don't -know anything more than they can find out themselves from reading a -popular magazine." - -"You're a native. You know more about it than we could ever find out in -the time we have, and you have a scientific background. You must know -approximately where the largest uranium deposits are, for instance, and -the main sources of radioactive isotopes. Yet you refuse to verify our -information, or correct it if it's wrong." - -"That's right," said Wyatt. "I do refuse." - -"Brave and stubborn," Varsek said. "Well. I know how stubborn you are. -I could find out very quickly about the bravery." - -"In the pit?" - -Varsek nodded. "What would you say, Makvern?" - -"It's up to you, sir," Makvern said, shrugging. - -"No opinion at all?" - -"None." - -"That's not like you, Makvern." - -"It's impossible to have any opinion of value concerning the -advisability of--ah--questioning a man I don't know at all. I have -no idea of his limits. If they're easily reached, fine. If not, he's -likely to die before you know it." - -"True," said Varsek. "True. And he's the best bet to transmit a -convincing message to Earth when the time comes, assuring them of the -futility of resistance." He leaned back in his chair and scratched -his chest reflectively, studying Wyatt with his bright cold eyes, and -Wyatt had an uneasy feeling that Varsek was thinking rapidly of a great -number of things only remotely connected with him except that they -might have an indirect bearing on his life or death. - -"Well," said Varsek finally, "there's always time for the pit later on. -We'll follow the customary procedure. Arrange for Wyatt and the other -Earthmen to have a good clear view of what happens when we hit Alpha -Centauri Four, which will be--" He frowned at a desk chrono. "--in -approximately five hours. I want you to watch carefully, Wyatt. This -world isn't as mechanized as parts of yours and it doesn't have nuclear -power, but it's civilized. Remember that. And remember that your -nuclear weapons wouldn't be much more effective against us than their -explosive devises." - -He jerked his thumb at Makvern. "Get him out of here now. I've got half -the planning still to do for this campaign, without worrying about the -next one." - -He became furiously busy. Makvern ushered Wyatt out and down the -corridors again. This time Wyatt did not speak at all, and neither did -Makvern. They parted at the door of the prisoners' quarters. - - * * * * * - -The five hours seemed more like five centuries. The only chance for an -escape, Brinna had said, would be during the confusion of the attack. -He didn't know whether she had been able to arrange it at all, and if -she had, whether he might have made Makvern suspicious and ruined the -whole thing by his attempt to make a better deal for Earth through -the Second Party. He chewed his knuckles and sweated and thought wild -thoughts about escaping somehow on his own hook, but he couldn't plan -anything with Burdick and the Australian because it would be overheard, -or seen. - -The other Earthmen were all restless and upset, as though they sensed -a coming crisis. The Alpha Centaurians waited quietly, by contrast. -Only their eyes shone with a terrible light. By God, thought Wyatt -furiously, I'll kill Varsek with my own hands if I have to, I swear it. -It was a childish thing to say even to himself, and he knew it. But he -had never meant anything so much. - -The Task Force hurtled on, a school of killer whales racing toward an -unsuspecting victim. - -The door opened and Brinna stood there. There were guards behind her. - -"Come," she said. "All of you." - -She stood aside while the captives filed out. As Wyatt passed her she -gave him one quick fleeting glance. Hope sprang up in him. She had -arranged something, and whatever it was he and the other prisoners -would see that it worked. - -They were marched through the corridors under guard and into a -contact lock, where a small craft clung like a remora under the chin -of the flagship. Here they were separated into two groups. The Alpha -Centaurians were sent down first. Wyatt heard a clashing of metal, and -then the Earthmen were ordered down and placed in a semicircular room -which was half of an observation turret. The Alpha Centaurians were in -the other half, fully visible but securely barred off by a partition of -metal rods. - -Similar rods slid down behind the Earthmen into slots in the deck. -Wyatt stayed beside the doorway. He heard Brinna dismiss the guards. -Their feet clanged on the ladder, going up. Brinna came along the -corridor and stopped on the other side of the bars. She was blazing -with excitement, triumph, hate, a lot of things that had been bottled -up in her and which she was daring now to show. - -"It's all arranged," she said, speaking rapidly but in a low voice. -"All but two of the crew are my men. When we're clear of the ship, pass -the word quietly to be ready when I--" - -She broke off, whirling around, her face suddenly alarmed. Someone was -coming down the ladder from the flagship. - -It was Makvern, coming fast, and he held a stunner in his hand. - -Brinna controlled herself admirably. She said, "Is there some trouble, -Makvern? The prisoners are all secure--" - -"I'm sure they are," said Makvern. He reached the foot of the ladder -and an officer appeared as though he had been waiting for him. Makvern -nodded sharply and almost at once the warning bells were ringing and -the hatch was sliding shut. A moment later Wyatt felt the jar as -contact was broken and the small craft fell free on its own power. - -Makvern stood looking at Brinna and Wyatt. "I imagine," he said to -Wyatt, "that she was telling you most of the men aboard belong to her. -She was just a little bit mistaken. All of them belong to me." - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - -Brinna's face was now absolutely white, with her red mouth showing on -it like a smear of blood. She dropped her hand to the grip of her own -stunner. - -She almost made it but not quite. Makvern hit her full on with a -crackling charge and she fell and lay still and senseless. - -Makvern sighed. "Poor Brinna. This is like snatching food from someone -that's starving--I almost regret it--" - -"I'll bet you do," said Wyatt. If he could have got his hands between -the rods and around Makvern's throat he would have killed him. Burdick -and Bill Whitfield, the Australian, had joined him now, and Whitfield -asked, "What's up?" - -"Nothing," said Wyatt with intense bitterness. "Not a damn thing, -thanks to me. I had to get smart." - -He felt sick with the knowledge of his own folly. He had taken the -chance on Makvern in the hope of sparing Earth any attack at all, and -this was what had come of it. He and Brinna would now go together to -the pit, and what would happen to Earth would happen. - -He pushed Burdick aside and went across the narrow room to the curving -glassite-panelled wall on the other side and stood there. The others -left him alone. - -He heard movement and voices in the corridor, but he paid no attention -to them. Nothing was important now. He looked out into space, lighted -with the baleful light of the twin suns, and saw the whole great -Task Force spread between him and the stars overhead, the destroyers -coursing ahead of the main body, all their hulls glittering bright, -beautiful, swift, deadly, a brazen spear for the slaying of planets. - -The small craft in which he and the others were imprisoned was dropping -below the fleet. It was extremely difficult to judge speeds here where -there was nothing to go by but the stars, but Wyatt thought the Task -Force must have been decelerating for some time as it approached its -target, and that the small craft was moving considerably faster than -the main body. He watched, simply because the ships were before his -eyes, and he began to realize that this little ship was leading all the -others down to battle. - -"Like a damn Judas goat," he muttered, and Burdick spoke from beside -him. - -"They took that lady officer away," he said. "I reckon she's in -trouble?" - -Wyatt said, "The worst. She was going to help us escape." - -Burdick said shrewdly, "Bill and me figured it was something like that. -Too bad it went wrong." - -Wyatt explained why it had gone wrong. "I should have been content with -what I had. But I thought if--oh, what the devil's the use of hashing -it over!" He looked at the steel rods that separated them from the -Alpha Centaurians. "If we could just get those bars out of the way, -get all together, the twelve of us--we might still do something. This -is a small ship. It can't carry much of a crew, probably not more than -five or six beside Makvern. If we could rush them and take the ship, we -might be able to force them to fly it to Earth--" - -Moonshine. Fool's talk, the babble of desperation. On the other hand, -what did they have to lose? - -Their lives, of course. But that would have to be up to the individual. -As far as Wyatt was concerned, the pit was no beautiful prospect. - -And if they succeeded--if-- - -"Well," said Whitfield, "let's get cracking." He crooked his finger at -the Arab, the Turcoman, and No-Name. - -In the spaceship, with the incredible panorama of space and the racing -war fleet beyond the observation panels, the six Earthmen held a -conference, speaking to each other not in their own diverse tongues but -in the language of Uryx, a place they had never seen and had not even -known existed until suddenly it had become the most important thing in -their lives. - -The conference was brief. When it was over Wyatt and Burdick went to -the wall of rods and talked to the Alpha Centaurians. - - * * * * * - -Thurne of Obran spoke for them all. "We will fight," he said. "We will -fight gladly." He turned and pointed, his eyes blazing with a feral -light that made him look more like a black panther than a human man. -Wyatt followed his gesture and saw a misty blue planet rushing toward -them in the golden glare of the primary. - -Burdick said matter-of-factly, "Before we do any fighting we got to get -out of here, so we better start looking for holes." - -They looked. They had no way of knowing whether they were being watched -as they had been on the flagship, but they had to risk that. They -tested every rod and searched in vain for a weak spot. They tried by -main force and by cleverness and there was no way. And the blue misty -planet rushed closer and spread into a vast globe, and the blue color -faded into greens and browns and ochres, splotched with the harsher -blue of water. A high-pitched shrieking began and grew in intensity. -The blaze of the sun was softened and the stars were blotted out. -Clouds whipped and rolled and were gone, and the wild downward rush -stopped. The ship hung in a greenish sky, and there was a yellow desert -of sand and tumbled rock below. Cutting through the desert was a gorge -with a river in the bottom of it, and where the river left the gorge -at the edge of the desert was a green and most beautiful land full of -little streamlets and flashing lakes, with queer-colored orchards and -many-colored fields. And in the middle of the land there was a city. - -"Obran," Thurne said. - -Wyatt took the rods in his hands and strained until the veins swelled -to bursting on his forehead and his face was crimson. - -He could not budge them, but the other rods that barred the corridor -suddenly slid up out of the way and Makvern stood there with another -officer behind him. - -Makvern said, "Wyatt--" - -But Wyatt had already spun around and launched himself like a charging -bull at Makvern. - -He hit him and knocked him back into the other officer. There was a -moment of wild confusion, while Burdick and Whitfield and the others -piled through the door and into the fray. Wyatt was only clearly aware -of one thing and that was that he had Makvern down and that he was -going to kill him and it was all very pleasant. Then Whitfield was -hauling at him and saying something about needing this one later on and -Wyatt allowed himself to be hauled away, and the fight was over. This -much of it, at least. - -Burdick pulled Makvern to his feet and held him with one arm doubled -behind his back. The Turcoman was methodically strangling the other -officer and Wyatt went over and made him stop, explaining that the man -might be necessary for flying the ship. Then he turned back to Makvern, -who was shaking his head hard to clear it. - -"Take their stunners and keep watch," Wyatt said to Burdick and -Whitfield. "No-Name, you hold him. Good. Don't be afraid to hurt him a -little--remember Cochise." He spoke then to Makvern. "How do I raise -that partition?" - -The Alpha Centaurians were all squeezed against it, trying to see what -was going on. - -Makvern said, "I'll raise it myself in a minute. God, Wyatt, don't you -ever think before you jump?" - -"I've thought," Wyatt said. "Plenty. Where's that control? And where's -Brinna?" - -He nodded to No-Name, who exerted pressure. Makvern began to look -really angry. He snapped, - -"Will you stop bawling at me and listen? I'm on your side. I'm the man -Loran died for. I _am_ the leader of the Second Party!" - -The other officer, who had finally recovered his voice a little after -the Turcoman's mauling, croaked out, "You won't be the leader of -anything for long if we don't get that broadcast going. The flagship -has already checked us once. If Varsek' doesn't find you anywhere else -in the fleet and we don't behave just the way we ought to--" - - * * * * * - -Makvern glared at Wyatt. "Well? Do you still want to go to Earth, or -would you prefer to accompany Brinna and me to the pit?" - -Wyatt said to No-Name, "Let him go." - -"Thanks," said Makvern sourly. "This shows signs of becoming a habit. I -would have liked to tell you earlier that plans were already laid, but -I didn't think it was wise. Varsek is unpredictable. He might have sent -you to the pit--" - -"Yes," said Wyatt. "You were a big help there. No opinion. You might at -least have said no." - -"If I had, you'd have been there in five minutes. Anyway, I've been -teetering on the brink of that pit for weeks. All I wanted to do was -hold out until now." - -"So you let Brinna go ahead with this on her own hook, to kind of cover -for you?" - -"Yes. It kept her busy, and kept Varsek puzzled about me. It worked out -well. Most of Brinna's men are really Second Party men, though it's -going to be a shock to her to find that out. We were taking no chance -of exchanging Varsek for another ambition-hungry chief, even if this -one is female and handsome." - -He had moved into the observation cell and was talking as much to the -Alpha Centaurians as to Wyatt and the Earthmen. - -"Your idea of warning Earth and using a setback there to put us in -power--the same thing Brinna had in mind--wasn't a bad one, except that -we can't wait that long. Varsek is alarmed. He's willing to torture the -whole fleet if he has to root us out. We would have liked to put -this off until we were just a little stronger. The fleet has been away -from home a long time now and discontent is growing among the men--we -could have capitalized on that. But we have no choice. If we don't move -now we'll be destroyed, inevitably. So we're making our break at Alpha -Centauri." - -"How?" asked Wyatt. - -"A full-scale revolt is out. Things will go well here, not much -effective resistance and a lot of loot. Men don't oust a leader under -those circumstances. We can't hope to take over the whole fleet. After -the ships have landed and the ground phase of the attack is under way, -we'll separate ourselves from the main force and take over as many -of the destroyers as we can man. Anybody that wants to can come with -us--in the heat of a successful battle, I'm afraid that won't be many. -After that--" Makvern shrugged. "There are too many variables. I don't -know." - -"Can you help my world?" asked Thurne. "My city?" - -Makvern said sadly, "I won't lie to you. No. Except in that Varsek will -have fewer men and ships, we can't help. We're not strong enough." - -"And you would not fight against your own comrades, anyway," said -Thurne. - -"Not under these circumstances, no. That would be too much of a stab in -the back and we'd lose all chance of ever winning them over. About all -I can offer you, Thurne, is the hope of vengeance and the promise that -if we do win we'll make what restitution we can." - -"And what about us?" asked Wyatt. "What about Earth?" - -"We'll send you there. If Varsek is sufficiently shaken up there may -not be any need for a warning. If not--well, his force will be that -much the weaker." - -Wyatt looked at the others and said, "That's fair enough." - -Makvern turned to the Alpha Centaurians, who had been talking among -themselves. - -"Varsek is already hunting for me through the fleet. He's been told -that I'm not here but if anything about the required routine of this -ship is wrong he'll send a force at once to search it and that will -be about the end of me and the revolt both. What do you say, Thurne? -Can I raise the bars as between comrades, or must I treat you still as -captives?" - -Thurne said, "Raise them. We will do what we can against Varsek." - -"Good," said Makvern. "Good!" He called to the other officer and the -steel rods slid up out of sight. "Now we must hurry. Thurne, you -were given some instructions quite a while ago. Follow them. I know -they're distasteful to a brave man, but you'll be doing your people no -disservice. To urge them to fight against us would be suicidal." - -"Nevertheless," said Thurne, "they will fight." - - * * * * * - -Makvern sighed. "That's usually the case. Make the speech anyway. -That's what we're here for. We're leading the whole fleet, remember, -out in front where everybody can see us." - -He showed the reluctant Alpha Centaurian where to stand, on a lens-like -circle of crystal in the deck, with a similar one over his head. Almost -at once both lenses brightened, so that Thurne stood encased in a -pillar of light. - -"But," said Wyatt, "there are no radios down there, no receivers. His -culture hasn't built them yet. How are you going to broadcast?" - -Makvern motioned him and the other Earthmen to the observation panels -on their side of the cell. "Watch," he said. "That's what you're -supposed to do anyway. The value of example. The prospective victim is -softened up by seeing what happens to his predecessor." - -He started away. "I've watched enough of these things, world after -world. They make me sick. I have things to do now. Listen for the -intercom and be ready to jump when I tell you." - -He went out. Thurne stood stiffly in his pillar of light. The ship -dropped lower over the city of Obran. And now the ships of the Task -Force had begun to come into view in the higher air. - -A metallic voice said, "Begin the talk, Thurne." - -Burdick said suddenly, "I'll be damned. Look there." - -In the clear air above the city, ahead of and below the ship, stood a -gigantic three-dimensional image of Thurne, perhaps thirty feet high, -moving slowly as the ship moved, his insubstantial feet brushing the -tops of the queer ornate towers. And now Thurne was talking. Faintly -through the hull came an echoing vibration from outside, and Wyatt knew -that Thurne's voice, as greatly amplified as the prismatic projection -of his personal image, was booming out over Obran. Down in the streets, -in the sunlight, between the tall buildings and in the parks and along -the rows of little mudbrick houses, people were running out to stare up -in fear and amazement. - -Thurne was speaking to his people in his own tongue so that Wyatt could -not understand the words, but from his tone and the snarling glint of -bared teeth he was not preaching submission as whole-heartedly as he -might have done. Probably the Task Force was used to that. They could -not control their captives absolutely on these propaganda broadcasts. -They gave them the chance, and probably it paid off in enough -surrenders to make it worthwhile. With more primitive people than -Thurne's, the appearance of a giant in the sky over their heads would -be enough in itself to make them collapse in utter panic. - -Down below in the sunlit streets the people began to run here and -there, and a haze of dust arose and shimmered. From the towers and the -high walls a million carven faces looked out unmoved, the faces of a -million dancing stone gods and goddesses. - -The fleet came down in a whistling rush among the orchards and fields, -burning and crushing wherever they landed in a great circle around the -city. The people ran. They had no nuclear weapons, no ground-to-air -missiles, no planes. They ran and there was no place to run to. They -were already trapped. - -Poor devils, thought Wyatt, and imagined what New York or Washington -would be like under similar conditions, with a gigantic image of -himself striding the sky and bellowing at them to surrender. The -success of Makvern's revolt and the creation of a wide split in the -fleet itself were now his only hope that that might not happen. - -"I thought," said Burdick, "that Thurne was so sure they'd fight." - -"They will," said Wyatt. "Look. The panic's already quieting." The -women and children had disappeared from the streets now. Groups of -men still ran but their running was purposeful. Suddenly from various -places around the outskirts of the city puffs of smoke burst out and -Whitfield said, - -"Little cannon, by God!" - -The pillar of light flicked off. The image of Thurne disappeared from -the sky. Makvern's voice came over the intercom. There was an iron note -in it. - -"We've been ordered to land at once beside the flagship. Obviously we -can't. And if you look up you'll see trouble on the way." - -They looked. Two small fast craft, light-armed but plenty heavy enough -for the propaganda ship, were headed in their direction. - -"They will attempt to force that landing on us, and I can't fight them -in this tub. I propose to land at once. It may be rough, so take what -precautions you can. Wyatt, there's a supply of stunners here. Come and -get them." - -Wyatt found his way to the bridge. A case of side-arms, apparently -fresh out of stores, had been smuggled there and hidden alike from -Varsek's men and Brinna. Makvern's face was wire-drawn with tension -and excitement. He showed Wyatt the case and then handed him a -three-pronged key. - -"She's in the skipper's cabin--it's the only one that's locked. Don't -give her arms or a chance to make trouble. Apart from that I leave her -up to you." - -Wyatt said, "Thanks." - -Makvern went out, hurrying. - -They smashed open the case and served the stunners out, but Wyatt -didn't wait for that. He grabbed one for himself and then went hunting -for the skipper's cabin. He could hear a mounting tumult from the -bridgeroom. The ship was low, skimming the housetops, lurching this -way and that so roughly that it was hard to stand up. The two pursuing -ships were closing fast. - -He heard Brinna before he found her. She was shouting through the door, -demanding to be freed. Wyatt struggled with the unfamiliar lock. The -ship rocked wildly. There was a roar and a crack like the grandfather -of all lightning bolts. Blue fire sheeted from the metal inner -surfaces. Half stunned, he saw the door come open under his hand and -then Brinna seemed to leap through the air at him, her eyes wide and -her arms outstretched. She hit him, but he was already flying backward -himself as the ship went out from under him and they fell together -against a wall that had suddenly become a deck. There was a very great -noise and a sound of things moving and somehow the branches of a tree -had appeared, stuck through the broken port of the skipper's cabin -which was now directly overhead. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - -It took Wyatt quite a long minute to realize that he was still alive -and not even badly hurt. He didn't know about Brinna, but when he -pushed her off him he was relieved to see her move. He scrambled to -his feet and helped her up. Makvern came from the direction of the -bridge. He shouted and made urgent motions. He was bleeding from a cut -on the cheek and his shirt was torn. Wyatt pushed Brinna toward him and -clambered over the buckled walls to the observation chamber. - -Burdick and Whitfield and the Apache were already crawling toward him. -The Turcoman came after them, but the Arab was dead, lying in a corner -with his head twisted under him. The Alpha Centaurians had taken less -damage on their side. Three of them were hurt but they were all able to -move. Wyatt shouted at them to come out and made his way back to where -Makvern and the officers from the bridge had got the hatch open. In a -minute he had dropped out of it perhaps eight feet to the ground, in -a tangle of broken trees, and the others were coming one by one after -him. The two ships, one of which had brought them down, had shot over -them and away, presumably to turn and make another pass. - -Or maybe there was no need for another pass. - -They had crashed at the edge of the city, just missing a row of -mudbrick houses shaped like ovens with round brick roofs. Beyond, the -ships of the Task Force stood like ominous towers in the green fields, -discharging their ground attack vehicles. - -Wyatt had heard about these but he had never seen any. Every destroyer -carried a number of them to clear the way for troops, in the manner of -tank units, only these were not in any way like tanks. They consisted -of a monstrous red globe mounted on four jointed legs which were about -four times a man's height so that the globes stood high off the ground. -There was a small propeller mount underneath so that the globes could -become amphibious at need. They were horrible-looking things to come -stalking at you over the flat fields, and they were stalking pretty -fast. Some twenty yards away to the right a battery of three small -shiny cannon popped and banged, served by furry men whose courage was -only exceeded by the futility of what they did. - -Makvern was talking. He was fierce and alert, a man caught in a tight -spot and determined to get out of it. - -"Our men are to gather in the northwest sector of the perimeter. -We'll try to fight our way to them. This sector here is designated as -northeast and we're pretty close to the middle of it, so it could be -worse. Stick together and let's go fast." - -Brinna said quite coolly, "Watch it, they're coming within range." - -They began to run, away from the wrecked ship and toward the row of -houses, bunched together and looking warily over their shoulders. -One of the globes in particular seemed to have decided to follow -them--probably it had been ordered to after the ship crashed. Now Wyatt -could see a circle of round shuttered ports around its top, and one of -them had opened. A large sort of gun or projector was rising from the -hole on a flexible mount, bobbing about in an inquisitive fashion like -the head of a bird on a long neck. Suddenly it made a point directly at -them and a brilliant white beam shot toward them. They leaped for cover -between the houses, but the beam was short. Where it hit the ground it -erupted into a shower of green sparks. - -"Heavy-duty stunner," Makvern said. "When one of those hits you you -stay down till the battle's over." - -They ran again, ducking and dodging between the queer round-roofed -houses. - -"Don't they kill?" Wyatt asked. - -"Not often. The very old, little children, invalids. It's humane, as -weapons go." - -Another white beam sizzled down close behind Whitfield, bursting -green where it hit. The red globe towered over them against the sky, -grotesquely like a huge round-bodied quadruped with a ludicrously small -head on that bobbing little neck. - -"I don't reckon," said Burdick, "that we're going to outrun that for -long." - - * * * * * - -Thurne turned a slitted panther look on the globe and said, "I can lead -you by safer ways, if you can run very swiftly ahead of it for a little -time." - -"We can run," said Makvern. - -They ran. Wyatt, Burdick and Whitfield all had ideas about giving -Brinna a hand, only to find that she was going fleet as a deer with -long clean strides. They ran their hearts into their throats and the -breath clear out of them and they made it into a long colonnade that -covered the walk beside a great building covered with the rows of -sculptured dancing gods that seemed to delight Thurne's people. In the -broad street men were dragging more of the queer little cannon into -place. Their body-fur was dark and mottled with sweat. Several of them -left the cannon and came leaping toward Makvern's party, their teeth -and claws bared, but Thurne shouted at them in his own tongue and they -stopped reluctantly. The five who had been captive with Thurne now ran -to join the men with the cannon, which were already hurling shot at the -stalking globe and not hurting it at all. Thurne pointed to a wide low -door and said, "In here." - -They crowded through. Over his shoulder, in the brilliant sunlight -outside, Wyatt saw green fire in the street. The cannoneers fell down -and the little guns were silent. - -Inside it was quite dark by contrast, a great vaulted place so crowded -with carvings and shadows that for a minute or two he couldn't tell -if anything alive was in there or not. Then he got the sounds, the -breathing and stirring, the whimpering of small creatures, the -whisperings. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he saw that the -place was full of women and children huddled along the walls on either -side and in the alcoves which he supposed were shrines because they had -big ornate statues in them and little lamps. The children, especially -the very young ones, looked like oversized kittens. - -Makvern said, "See those statues, and the gilding of the vault? All -gold, and the stones are real too, every one of them. A poor place to -seek sanctuary from looters." - -The hot feral eyes of the women made Wyatt shiver. All along the way -they would rise and come out with a white gleaming of claws and teeth. -If it had not been for Thurne they would have been torn to pieces in -seconds. Wyatt was glad when they reached the other end of the building -and emerged again into sunlight and the sharp sounds of battle. - -The red globes were stalking everywhere now, their monstrous forms -visible over the roofs of houses or between the towers of the larger -buildings. The defenders were being struck down or driven back into -the heart of the city, and troops of Uryx were already in the outlying -streets, beginning the systematic business of sacking Obran. - -A globe had just passed by in the street, leaving in its wake a litter -of stunned forms that looked sufficiently like corpses, but the troops -had not yet come in sight. There was another huge carved building -across the way. They raced toward it, and the men who were operating -the departing globe did not see them in time to fire. - -This building was better lighted inside, although it had just as much -carving, gilding and statuary as the last one. This was obviously -a hospital. Some of the patients began to scream at the sight of -the strangers and attendants ran to bar the way. Once more Thurne's -authority got them through--almost. This time, as they reached the -doorway at the far end, a party of Varsek's troops came in. - -There were eight or nine of them with stunners in their hands. They -were expecting trouble but nothing more than they could easily handle, -and the first thing they saw about the group inside was the uniforms of -Makvern and his officers. The leader actually saluted, and while he was -doing it he saw the Earthmen all armed, and the Alpha Centaurian armed, -and he said in sudden alarm to his party, - -"Look out, these are the people--" - -He didn't get any farther. Makvern's stunner knocked him down and then -Wyatt began firing and so did the others. There was a brief but violent -crackling of beams, and when it was all over seven of the fleet party -were down and two had made it out the door. Whitfield and No-Name and -two of the officers had gone down. - -So had Thurne. - -From here on they were on their own. - -"Well," said Makvern grimly, "let's get them up and out of here." - - * * * * * - -Wyatt heaved No-Name onto his shoulders and Burdick carried Whitfield, -his long legs dragging. They left Thurne where he was, with his own -people. Burdened and staggering, they started out the door. And now -Brinna said, - -"You'd better give me a weapon." - -Makvern shook his head. - -"I don't see what you're afraid of," she said. "I know you won't kill -me and I know Varsek would. He wouldn't believe any story I could tell -him now." - -Makvern hesitated and then said, "All right. Take one of theirs." - -She picked up a stunner and they all went out together, cautiously, -into the bright sun. - -Here they were near one corner of a broad square. A globe was marching -toward them on its jointed stilt-legs, coming up the street to their -right, with men on foot following behind it. There were overturned -cannon and fallen men near the corner, where the beams had hit, and -other men were running away across the square, their faces wild with -fury and fear and helplessness. - -Makvern pointed to the mouth of a street diagonally across from them. -"Make for that. Our ships should not be far beyond here now, if--" - -Wyatt thought he was going to say _if the Second Party has been -successful_. But he didn't. It was hardly worth bringing that up, not -now. - -They ran out across the square, heavy and slow with their burdens. - -Once again they were lucky. They made the transit past the corner -before the men in the globe could fire at them, and then the buildings -protected them. A haze of dust and smoke hung in the air. The queer -high-piled towers and the crowded masses of carving seemed to waver -like things seen through water. The gods and goddesses almost seemed to -move, dancing and smiling with fierce, grotesque dignity. - -Some of the Alpha Centaurians who had been running away saw them and -turned back. - -They had weapons like very primitive pistols, and they had long sharp -knives. The ones with pistols paused to load them. The others charged. -And from the street behind came the measured clanging tread of the -globe. - -Wyatt fired. Nobody stopped running, they didn't dare to, because the -globe was a worse enemy than these furry men. They fired as they went -and some of the Alpha Centaurians fell under the stun rays and the rest -turned back, waiting for the others who were loading their pistols. -Wyatt panted and labored on under the weight of the Apache. The mouth -of the street was not far away now. Brinna and those of the men who -were not burdened had lagged behind to cover the others. Their stunners -crackled. Another one or two of the furry men went down, and then -there was a series of sharper crackling sounds and one of the officers -stopped and looked down in astonishment at the hole in his middle, from -which blood had begun to flow. A ball hit close to Wyatt's feet and -skipped away over the stones. Others rattled off the walls. - -Makvern yelled to them to hurry, sweeping the Alpha Centaurians with a -continuous flare from his stunner. Brinna was helping the wounded man, -half carrying him and firing steadily with her free arm. Wyatt softened -toward her immensely in that moment. - -The street mouth swallowed them. In almost the same instant the walking -globe rounded the corner. Its heavy beams took care of the Alpha -Centaurians, which was a favor to Makvern's party that was more or -less forced upon it. It would be after them too, probably, but in the -meantime the street ahead of them was clear and there was a bend in it -that would give them protection. - -They staggered on, in the dust and the hot sun. They rounded the bend -and Wyatt saw a short row of little houses and over them the tall -distant forms of ships. - -He thought for a minute that they were safe, that they had made it. And -then he saw the uniformed troops running up the street toward them, -utterly cutting them off. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - -Makvern said sharply, "Hold your fire. They're ours." - -It was a minute before Wyatt took that in, and by that time someone -had lifted the ten-ton weight of No-Name off his back and he was being -hurried along the street and out across the fields toward the ships. -There was some fighting still going on--the Second Party men had -attacked the skeleton crews left behind after the troops disembarked, -and a few of them were still holding out. - -"We'll have them mopped up soon," a young officer panted, running -beside Makvern. He looked as though he had had a rough time. "God, I'm -glad you got through, sir! We were trying to find you--" - -"How well did we do?" asked Makvern. - -"We've got about one third of the fleet. I was hoping--" - -"Yes," said Makvern. "So was I. Well, a third is better than a quarter, -or a tenth." - -"It's hardly a victory, though," said the young officer flatly. He -pointed off across the fields in the distance. "Look there, sir. -Varsek's starting to pull some of the men back to their ships. He can -catch us dead on the ground." - -"Send an order to prepare for take-off at once," said Makvern. "Is this -the command ship? Good. Get everybody here aboard, see that the wounded -are cared for. I'll want--" he reeled off a string of names--"on the -bridge immediately--" - -Things were already moving fast. Now they raced, under the whiplash of -Makvern's orders. Nobody stopped Wyatt, so he followed Makvern to the -bridge. Even he could see the danger. If Varsek's heavy-armed units -were manned in time to get above them they would be stopped before they -started. - -Makvern got his ships off the ground. - -They roared screaming into the sky, and before they were clear of the -atmosphere Varsek's face was mirrored in the communic screen. - -It was a face flinty and implacable with anger, not the wild kind that -soon burns out but a deeper colder thing that would last until the men -he considered to be his enemies were no longer any threat to him or -anyone else. - -"Did you think you could go home to Uryx now?" he asked, looking at -Makvern with his cold eyes. "You may be free of the fleet but you're -not free of me. If you go home I'll have you all tried for desertion. -I'm still your chief, Makvern, and I have powerful friends." - -"Who profit from the loot," said Makvern. "Yes, I know that. It was my -thought that we could force a few changes at Uryx too, before it stinks -too high of corruption." - -Varsek laughed. "With the whole fleet, you might do that. With your -handful--no." He leaned closer into the pick-up field so that he seemed -to be coming right through the screen. "Listen, Makvern. You've made -your move and failed. You can't fight me and you can't go home and -you can't even run for long. You haven't enough supply ships. You -haven't enough fuel or food. You'll have to start looting yourself or -try stealing from me, and sooner or later I'll catch up with you and -annihilate you." - -"Annihilate," said Makvern slowly. "That's a big, cruel word. I wonder -how your men will feel about it. We've been comrades for a long time -and our quarrel is with you, not with them. Perhaps a lot of them are -as sick of this life as we are and would like to get home to the -families they haven't seen in years. We didn't harm any of them when we -took these ships, and we'll welcome any of them who want to join us, -now or later. We'll be around for a while." - - * * * * * - -Wyatt knew that Makvern was not talking to Varsek alone, but to all the -men who would be listening to the communics all over the fleet. He was -a good talker, but it didn't look to Wyatt as though talking was going -to do him much good. - -"If that is intended as a challenge," Varsek said, "I'll accept it. My -plans will not be changed. As soon as we finish here we go on to Earth, -and after that to whatever system offers the best pickings. I'm in no -hurry, Makvern. I can go on indefinitely. Hang on my flank and hope for -deserters as long as you want to. Sooner or later--" He brought his -hand down in a slashing gesture. "--I'll destroy you." - -His gaze slid past Makvern to Wyatt. - -"I warned you twice," he said, "about the fate of brave stubborn men. -Whether you stay with Makvern or go back to Earth I'll find you. And -I'll give Earth some special attention because of you--we do have -weapons that will kill at need." Once more he smiled, and now his gaze -included both Wyatt and Makvern. "I know that Earth will be warned. I -accept that, too." - -"You might lose a lot of men," Wyatt said. "We're not quite as -primitive as the Alpha Centaurians." - -"You have nuclear weapons," said Varsek, "but no way to get them up to -us in space. And people usually hesitate to drop bombs on their own -cities, to destroy an invader who is only temporarily there. So your -warning does not frighten me." - -"We have tactical weapons, too," said Wyatt. "Or didn't you tell your -men about those?" - -"My men are soldiers," said Varsek, "not babies. Go home, Wyatt. Spread -the alarm. And take Brinna with you. That was her plan, wasn't it--warn -Earth and thus unseat me." His voice rose and it was as though he was -shouting a warning to the whole fleet. "No one can unseat me! This is -my Task Force, I command it, and I _will_ command it, until such time -as my superiors call me home." - -"That will be never," said Makvern wearily, "as long as you keep the -loot ships pouring into Uryx to make them rich." - -He broke the contact--probably the first time anyone had cut Varsek off -first. He turned to Wyatt and his officers. - -"Much of what he says is true. We are short of food and fuel. Both -of those we can get at Earth, but it will have to be peaceably. I -propose that we offer ourselves to help in her defense--that we force -a showdown with Varsek by placing our ships between him and Earth. If -we're to be destroyed, it might as well be now as later, when we'll be -even weaker and less able to fight." - -He looked with a terrible grim look at Wyatt and said, "_We_ can carry -nuclear weapons into space." - -Brief minutes later, Makvern's little fleet, all fast destroyers and a -few light supply ships that could outdistance the slower-moving Task -Force, went into hyper-drive, headed for Earth. - -And now the customary business of landing on a target world was -played in reverse. They did not have a propaganda ship, but as soon -as they reached the outer limits of Earth's atmosphere Wyatt began to -broadcast, blanketing the Western Hemisphere with the ship's powerful -transmitter. He sent the same message over and over again, beginning -with, _We come in peace_ and going on with a summary of the situation, -begging the powers that were not to attack them when they landed. -He had Burdick and the Australian speak, and No-Name, and even the -Turcoman. He had Makvern speak. - -But when an answer did come it was from the government radio in -Washington forbidding them to land until the United Nations had -been consulted and preliminary talks had been had with Makvern via -shortwave, with proper assurances of their intentions. Then Bannister -got a message through from the big transmitter on the mesa, starting -with "What the hell happened to you, you can't be telling the truth!" -Wyatt assured him he was, and Bannister said, "Then for God's sake -don't land. Everybody's in a panic. They're evacuating Washington and -setting up gun-emplacements on every corner, and the crackpots are -having a field day. Wait until they all calm down!" - -"We've been trying to make them understand," said Wyatt, "that we can't -wait. There's a fleet coming right on our heels and if arrangements -aren't made right now it'll be too late for all of us." - -"Well," said Bannister, sadly and without hope, "good luck." - -They went about their landing. - - * * * * * - -Makvern's command ship came down in one of Washington's parks. They -had decided that Makvern and Wyatt, with one man to operate the thing, -would leave the cruiser in one of the stalking-globes. There was not -room enough in it for Burdick and the other Earthmen. - -Brinna had maintained a brooding silence all the way, but she broke it -now by saying bitterly to Wyatt, - -"You know your people out there are panicky about this sudden eruption -from space--they'll destroy you before you can talk to them." - -"I'll have to take the chance," Wyatt said. - -"Just as you had to force me to take you to Washington--how long ago?" -said Brinna. She added with sudden fierceness, "God defend us from -having to do with fools!" - -Wyatt grinned. "Are you angry because your schemes are ruined, or -because I'm in danger?" Before she could make wrathful reply, he kissed -her and pushed her out of his way, and went after Makvern. - -They got into the red globe, and stalked out of the cruiser. They -needed the globe, not for attack but for their own defense. Above them -in the sky a squadron of skimmers wheeled, easily eluding the slower -and clumsier jets of Earth, and keeping at such a low altitude that -the planes hesitated to fire on them for fear of hitting their own men -on the ground. - -The red globe stalked ponderously into Washington. - -Bannister had told the truth. The city was deserted except for -soldiers. Watching the 360 degree screen inside the globe, Wyatt saw -men in olive drab fire at them and he heard the vicious battle of -bullets against their armor plate. Makvern had assured him it was proof -against practically anything short of atomic projectiles, but when -the anti-tank guns and the flame-throwers appeared Wyatt began to get -nervous and was glad when Makvern decided not to take any chances. He -ordered one of the heavy stunners unlimbered and asked for support from -the skimmers. Then he turned the radio over to Wyatt. - -The screens now showed bursts of green fire all around where the stun -rays were striking. The gun crews were being struck down, the soldiers -with rifles stunned or driven back. An area of quiet was laid down -around the globe, travelling with it as it moved, constantly being -pushed ahead by the white beams of the stunners. - -Wyatt talked tensely on the radio. "You force us to defend ourselves -but you will find that these men are not dead or harmed in any way, -only stunned. We beg the President and Congress to give us a hearing--" - -No answer. Wyatt mopped sweat from his forehead, and talked on. - -"You are faced with an enemy more terrible than any you ever dreamed -of, approaching you through interstellar space at many times the -speed of light. You see what we can do, but this is only a fraction -of _their_ power. Your only hope is to accept our offer of help, plan -with us how to stop the Task Force before it ever lands. Or you'll have -hundreds of these red globes stalking the countryside, and hundreds of -ships against which your planes will be useless as they are right now -against the skimmers." - -No answer. - -Makvern said to Wyatt, "We have to stop somewhere. This is your -country--what do you suggest?" - -Wyatt looked at the screen. They were in front of the Supreme Court -building. Soldiers were firing at them from the approaches, the steps, -the portico. Some of them had already been stunned and were lying on -the pavement. While he watched a white beam shot out from the globe's -projector and burst in green fire among a group on the steps. Wyatt's -patience, worn thin by long anxiety, suddenly snapped. - -"This place is as good as any," he told Makvern, and then he shouted -into the radio, "All right, damn it, I'm an American citizen and I came -here in good faith. I haven't committed any crime, and I don't see -why I should have to hide and cower in the streets of my own capital, -which were paid for out of my taxes. So I'm getting out of this globe, -unarmed, and if any damned fool shoots me down he can take it up with -his conscience later on." - -He got up and snapped at Makvern. "Open the hatch. And pull that -stunner in." - -"Brinna was right, they're panicky," Makvern said. "They'll kill you. -Wait a bit." - -Wyatt swore. "We _can't_ wait, it's now or nothing! They'll stay -panicky until they actually see that I am an Earthman and not a -bug-eyed monster lying to them over the radio. Then we may get -somewhere with them." - -Makvern hesitated a moment and then pressed a button. The hatch opened -and a thin ladder extended itself. - -Wyatt went down it. - -He went down slowly, and it was a warm day in Washington but he was as -cold as mid-December. The sweat of fear was clammy on him and his legs -shook. The soldiers in the immediate vicinity were all unconscious or -had taken cover, but more would undoubtedly come. He hoped their field -command posts would relay his radio message to the men with the guns. - -He reached the foot of the ladder and stood there. - -There was a great silence. Then a soldier with a rifle edged cautiously -around one of the pillars of the portico. - -Wyatt watched him, thinking _He will raise that gun and fire and that -will be the end of it._ - -The man's voice reached him, thin with distance and surprise. "Hey, -it's a man. It's human. It ain't no monster after all--" - -From inside the open hatch of the globe Wyatt heard a radio-transmitted -voice speaking. - -"If you will withdraw your--er--aircraft as a sign of good faith, our -representatives will come to--" - -Wyatt didn't hear the rest of it too clearly. He was struggling with -the reaction of relief. Not only for Earth, but for himself. - - * * * * * - -After that it was not so difficult. Once the high brass was convinced -of the danger, and of Makvern's sincerity, things got done in spite -of red tape and provincial stubbornness. The testimony of Burdick and -Whitfield, the Apache and the Turcoman, helped immensely. - -Makvern's ships were allowed to refuel and take on supplies. They took -to space again, but without any nuclear weapons aboard. "Those are my -own people," Makvern said. "I can't use that against them." - -The air forces of the world were deployed as a second line of defense, -coordinated with ground-to-air missile batteries and with squadrons -carrying air-to-air missiles. On the ground, the armies readied -themselves. - -Varsek's fleet came, a great dark arrow of ships into the light of the -Sun. - -Once more Wyatt was aboard Makvern's command ship, on the bridge. He -was acting with others of the regular armed forces of several nations, -as liaison officer. He watched the dramatic wedge of ships approach, -catching fire on their sun sides as they drew closer until their brazen -glitter was painful to the eye. And his heart sank. What Varsek had -said was true. Nothing could stand against that fleet. - -As though to emphasize that point, Varsek's face appeared in the -communic screen. - -"So you decided to face me here," he said. "Good. Oh, very good!" - -"Perhaps," said Makvern. "Perhaps not. Earth has been warned, Varsek, -and now I'm warning you and every man in the fleet. She has powerful -armaments, including hydrogen devices, and she is prepared to use them. -She can kill a great many of you before she's beaten." - -"And who warned Earth?" said Varsek. Both men, Wyatt knew, were -speaking to the fleet as much as to each other. "You, Makvern. A -traitor's act. Every life we lose here will be your responsibility!" - -"Not at all," said Makvern quietly. "You know what the situation is. -All you have to do now to avoid any casualties is to withdraw the fleet -from Earth without attacking." - -"Turn tail and run?" said Varsek. "You should know me better." - -Suddenly Makvern's voice blazed fierce, white-hot with old rage. "I -know you, Varsek! You'll sacrifice every man in the fleet before you'll -admit you've been bested. Remember that, you men, when he's ordering -you into battle! Try to figure out what real reason you have for -attacking and then see whether you think it's worth dying for! If you -don't--" - -Varsek's great voice drowned him out. "This is a general order to the -Task Force. Battle stations, all personnel. Executive officers of -destroyer squadrons Three, Four and Five will proceed with landing -operations according to plan." - -"You heard your commander," Makvern flared. "Go down and die for him, -for his ambition and the fat pockets of his friends, if you want to. If -you don't, take your ships out of formation and join us. Then we can -all go home. Then--" - -"Destroyer Squadrons One and Two," Varsek's voice rolled inexorably -on, "will attack the enemy ships at once, proceeding at individual -discretion. You will use Type Two armaments--_these traitors must be -destroyed_!" - -This time it was Varsek who broke the contact with Makvern, and it was -as though by that gesture he declared them all dead. - -"Well?" said Wyatt tensely. - -"God knows," said Makvern. He began to rap out orders, preparing to -fight his ships as well as he could. - -Wyatt withdrew into a corner out of the way and found Brinna there. She -was regarding the preparations inboard and the movements of the fleet -with an expert, eager, frustrated gaze. The realization of the defeat -of her ambitious plans changed her, Wyatt thought, very little. - -"If _I_ had the command here--" she said, between her teeth. - -"I don't think you could swing the men in the fleet, if you had," he -said. "Maybe even Makvern hasn't swung them--" - -It didn't look as though he had. The Task Force was breaking up in -orderly segments, the heavy attack craft wheeling into position behind -their destroyer screens, ready for the screaming plunge downward into -the sky. And now from their stations at either side of the forward -point of the fleet the two destroyer squadrons leaped toward Makvern's -ships. - -"Type Two armaments," said Wyatt, "are the lethal ones, I take it. No -polite stunning of the victim, just good honest annihilation." - -Brinna nodded, her hand closing unconsciously on his. - -Makvern was hunched like a bulldog in the forepart of the bridge, -rapping orders. - -"Hang on," said Brinna. "We move." - - * * * * * - -They did move, roaring straight up in an effort to get above the -oncoming destroyers. Wyatt could see other ships going up with them, -while still others dropped and circled. They were trying some kind of -a boxing-in maneuver, but the destroyer squadrons were old hands at -this game too. They counter-moved with lightning speed. Wyatt did not -see any projectile pass through space, but suddenly there was a silent -blossoming of fire like the birth of a small sun and one of Makvern's -ships ceased to exist in the time it took Wyatt to blink. - -"I believe," said Brinna in a steady voice, "that's the first time I -have ever seen Type Two projectiles in use except on a test range." - -There was a kind of a stunned silence on the bridge. Then once more the -ship was in tangential motion, and somebody began to shout, "Look at -their formations! Some of Varsek's ships are pulling out--" - -"Fire!" said Makvern, and the ship shuddered twice. White stunning -beams lanced out and struck a dark iron flank with green fire and sent -it staggering away--Wyatt assumed that these beams were powerful enough -to knock out not only men but delicate electrical equipment as well. - -"They are pulling out," said Brinna. "Breaking up. Look!" - -He could see that the orderly formations of Varsek's fleet had become -suddenly ragged, some of the ships frankly deserting the ranks and -others lagging as though they were hesitant. - -"It was the projectile," Brinna said. "Seeing one of their own ships -full of men they knew destroyed that way--I think it must have shocked -them all as it did me." - -The face of a man appeared on the screen, white and strained. -"Makvern," he said. "You know me--Shannar, commanding the First -Squadron. I'm pulling out--this is murder--" - -Varsek's face appeared, super-imposed over Shannar's in a ghastly -double image. - -"Follow your orders! Destroy--" - -"The hell with you," said Shannar. "I'm a soldier, not an executioner." - -He faded, and a second face appeared through the image of Varsek. "Me, -too. After what you've led us into, the Second Squadron is quitting." - -Now Varsek's face stood clear in the screen, and outside in space the -dark ships wheeled away and joined the number that were gathering -behind Makvern's force. - -Varsek, his face distorted with a violent fury, cried out, "I _order_ -the commander of every ship to proceed with his assigned duties! If -he refuses, I authorize every officer in the chain of command to take -over until one loyal man is found. I order this! Prepare to land. I'll -destroy Makvern myself if none of you have the guts to do it." - -And the great bulk of the flagship moved from where it had hung in -space and gathered speed, and bore down upon Makvern's command ship -like the ultimate hammer of doom. - -"He must have packed the flagship with his most trusted officers," -Brinna said. - -Ignoring every other craft in space, the enormous ship rushed at them. - -Makvern spoke into the communic. - -"I don't think you quite understand, Varsek. The situation has changed. -You are now fairly well isolated. There's been enough killing. -Surrender and we'll see that you get a fair trial at Uryx." - -"You won't live to go anywhere," Varsek snarled. He began to talk to -others who apparently were in the room with him, out of range of the -pick-up. "Why the hell doesn't the fleet move? I ordered them. Order -them again, and prepare a projectile, Type Two--What are you waiting -for?" - -"Sir," said a voice, "have you noticed the disposition of the destroyer -squadrons?" - -"What of them?" - -"They're between us and the target. All of them. The commanders request -that you surrender. They say there will be no more Type Twos used on -men of Uryx." - -Varsek spoke into the communic. "Clear the way," he said. "I'll ride -over you and smash you. I command this fleet." He pulled his side-arm -from its holster and turned around. "As for you--I thought you were -loyal to me. I handpicked you, and this is how you repay me! I order -you to prepare a projectile--" - -A hard matter-of-fact voice said, "You pushed it too far this time, -Varsek. You're one man against a fleet. We have been loyal, but you're -not the commander any more." - - * * * * * - -A stunner beam caught Varsek from the back before he could turn around. -He fell below the focus of the screen, and the face of another man -replaced his. - -The man said, "Varsek has surrendered." - -There was a long silence in the command ship. Then the men began to -cheer and other voices came over the communics, cheering, and only -Makvern turned away so that no one could see his face. - -Later, after Makvern had made his speech to the fleet, taking over as -commander, he said to Wyatt, - -"This is where we part. We go home, to put a stop to this looting and -pillaging--it's time Uryx grew up and became an empire to be proud of -rather than a nest of outlaws. And you can go home too, knowing that -Earth will sleep safe tonight." - -Brinna stepped forward. "And what about me?" - -"I have that planned," said Makvern sternly. "You'll learn about it in -good time." - -Wyatt smiled, but did not say anything. - -He had no chance to say anything later on, when the ship had landed -on the desert near the mesa and Makvern and Brinna had shaken hands -with him for the last time, standing on the cool sand in the moonlight -at the foot of the ship's ladder. Makvern had moved so quickly while -Brinna was occupied with her farewells that she did not realize he was -already in the lock and the ladder drawn up until it was too late to -follow him. He looked down at her and grinned, and said, - -"This seemed to be the best solution to your problem, Brinna. It'll be -a long time before Earthmen get into space, and by then you'll be too -old to make trouble and I'll be too old to care." - -"You mean you're leaving me here?" she shrieked. - -"In the care of Wyatt, a brave and stubborn man. Goodbye. And clear -away now, we're taking off." - -Wyatt hauled the temporarily speechless Brinna to a safe distance. She -watched the ship take off into the starry sky and Wyatt did not dare -say anything then. - -He wasn't at all sure he had made a good bargain. But he was -determined to make the best of it. - -He started out by kissing her. - -After a long enough time, she stopped fighting. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COSMIC LOOTERS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <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: The Cosmic Looters</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Alexander Blade</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 13, 2021 [eBook #65331]</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 THE COSMIC LOOTERS ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE COSMIC LOOTERS</h1> - -<h2>By Alexander Blade</h2> - -<p>Wyatt knew his situation was desperate: he<br /> -couldn't stop the alien invasion, and even if<br /> -he warned Earth—nobody would believe him!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -February 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>Duncan Wyatt sprang up, grabbed his gun and started toward the door -before he had his eyes properly open. His ears were ringing with the -explosive roar that had awakened him and the pre-fab shack still -quivered in the shock wave.</p> - -<p>He thought the Third World War had started.</p> - -<p>He crouched in the doorway and peered out onto the mesa. The unorthodox -shape of the experimental ultra-tight-beam transmitter loomed over him, -black against the star-blazing New Mexican sky, bearing a red star of -its own to warn low-flying planes. He was all alone here. His partner, -Bannister, had flown out to the Coast to oversee the making of new -components for a projected improvement in design. Wyatt had never felt -lonely before, even in the total solitude of the mesa top with nothing -around it but the vast impersonals of sky and desert, sun and wind. Now -he did feel lonely, and scared. He wondered where the bomb had dropped.</p> - -<p>He couldn't see anything, so he went out and around the corner of the -shack, keeping low and sticking tight to the wall.</p> - -<p>Now he could see a larger area of the mesa, softly but almost -adequately lighted by the billion stars above the crystal-clear air.</p> - -<p>He saw what it was that had fallen out of the sky.</p> - -<p>It wasn't a bomb. It was a—plane? Call it a plane. Call it a -rotary-thrust flying wing. Call it anything you want to, it was there, -round and glimmering faintly against the drab rock. The boom and shock -that had shaken him out of his bunk must have been the result of the -thing pulling out of a steep dive at super-sonic speed.</p> - -<p>He should have been relieved that this was so. Somehow Wyatt was not. -He had a feeling. It was such a crazy feeling that he could not believe -it, but he couldn't get rid of it either.</p> - -<p>He stood still in the shadow by the corner of the shack and waited to -see what would happen next.</p> - -<p>A light came on with blinding suddenness, shining from the center of -the queer plane. It showed up every pebble and stunted bush, every -grain of the rock, the sun-bitten pre-fab wall, himself in his sock -feet and rumpled khakis, standing stiffly with the gun in his hand.</p> - -<p>A portion of the black outer rim of the round plane dropped down, -unfolding into a stair.</p> - -<p>Wyatt shouted, "What is it? Who are you?" His voice was thin and small -in that vastness of windy air. "I have a gun," he shouted. "Come out -slowly, with your hands up!"</p> - -<p>The words sounded ridiculous even while he was saying them. But he had -to put up some kind of a front, simply because he was scared. If he -didn't he would have had to turn and run away.</p> - -<p>It was the damned round queer-looking plane. He was in a cold shaking -sweat waiting to see what came out of it.</p> - -<p>When he did see he didn't believe it.</p> - -<p>She stood in the aperture at the top of the narrow metal stair. Her -hands were raised just a little, so that he might be sure there was -no weapon in them. He thought she was smiling slightly. She had black -hair, black as the blackest shadow you could imagine, shorn close -around her head. She was dressed in black—soft boots, close-fitting -pants, wide belt with holster, severely plain shirt with a splotch -of gold on the front of each shoulder. Somehow he sensed that the -gold splotches were insignia, not decorations. He also sensed—from -something about the way she stood, the way she looked at him, the hard, -disciplined strength that underlay the splendid lines of her body—that -this woman was not like any of the women he had ever known, and that -probably the Third World War might have been easier to cope with.</p> - -<p>She said, "There is no need to be afraid."</p> - -<p>Her English sounded as though she had learned it by mathematical -formula, and in a hurry.</p> - -<p>Wyatt said untruthfully, "I'm not afraid. Just cautious." He walked -out closer to the disc-shaped plane. The mesa rock was icy under his -socks, the wind was icy down his back, and there was a chill inside him -that was purely personal.</p> - -<p>"Where do you come from?" he asked. "What do you want?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She dropped her hands and came quickly down the stairs, apparently -satisfied that he was not going to shoot her.</p> - -<p>"I haven't much time," she said. Her eyes were the color of pure -turquoise, startlingly bright, curiously tilted. She gave a swift -glance at the sky and then spoke urgently to Wyatt.</p> - -<p>"Try to understand, to believe. Your world is going to be attacked. Not -tonight, but within a short time. I want you to take a warning to your -government, so that we may be prepared when the attack comes."</p> - -<p>"I see," said Wyatt. He had a wild desire to laugh. He saw himself -going to Washington and telling various personages at the White House -and the Pentagon that a beautiful girl landed in a funny round ship and -told him the Earth was going to be attacked and so they should call out -the armed forces to be ready.</p> - -<p>"They'd shoot me first," he muttered, "and then throw me in a padded -cell." He stepped closer to the girl. Her face was handsome, perfectly -human and perfectly alien at one and the same time. It was not a soft -face. It was used to decision and command. The red mouth, he thought, -would never pout or be petulant, but it could easily be cruel. "Who's -going to attack Earth? Who are you?"</p> - -<p>She said impatiently, "It does not matter who I am, except that -I'm in a position to know what I'm saying. Listen. There is a huge -interstellar task force out there, working its way through this sector -of the galaxy, plundering as it goes. These fringe areas are too far -away from our center of power at Uryx—a star-system you never heard of -here—to make permanent conquest practical, so all we are interested in -is loot. Our advance scouts go far ahead of the main body. We scouts -have been here before. <i>I've</i> been here before. Now I'm warning you. -The main force will be at Alpha Centauri when I return to it. When it -is finished there, Earth is next."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe you," Wyatt said. But in spite of himself, he did.</p> - -<p>He was close to the foot of the stair now, close enough almost to touch -the tall, slim girl with the black hair blowing around her forehead and -the brilliant, wary eyes. The strange ship loomed above them both. -Wyatt looked at it and shivered and gnawed his lip.</p> - -<p>"Why are you warning me?" he said suddenly. "You're part of the force. -Why do you want to betray it?"</p> - -<p>"I have my reasons," she said, "and they are good ones. But you -wouldn't understand them. In any case, the warning is true. Don't -question it."</p> - -<p>She started to withdraw from him, up the metal steps.</p> - -<p>"Wait," said Wyatt. "Nobody on earth would listen to me if I told them -that story. They'd only think I was crazy. Listen, if you really want -to have your warning taken seriously you'll have to go to Washington -yourself."</p> - -<p>"That's impossible," she said curtly.</p> - -<p>Again she started up the steps and again he stopped her.</p> - -<p>"No," he said, and now he knew that he must not let her get away. As -wildly improbable, not to say insane, as this whole business was, she -was real and her ship was real, and wiser men than he should be handed -the responsibility of dealing with that reality.</p> - -<p>"You and I together couldn't convince anybody by just talking," he -said. "The only thing that could is your ship. <i>That</i> was never made on -Earth and they would know that. They could test it, examine it, prove -it isn't a fake, a hoax of any kind, and that's going to be hard—you -haven't any idea how hard."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He stepped onto the lowest step of the stair. "You've got to fly this -thing to Washington."</p> - -<p>"I told you that's impossible," she said. "I've given you the warning; -you'll have to do what you can with it. Stand clear!"</p> - -<p>She turned her back on him and sprang lightly through the aperture into -the ship.</p> - -<p>Wyatt did not stop to think. He rushed up the stair after her and it -began to draw itself up as he did so, folding him under, so that he -thought he was going to have to jump clear or be crushed. There was a -whine of power from inside. Damn her, thought Wyatt, she doesn't care -if she kills me. He scrambled frantically up the tilting, flattening -rungs and caught the edge of the aperture and kicked himself forward -through it.</p> - -<p>The panel that was sliding in to seal the opening caught him halfway -and held him in an agonizing grip. He cried out with pain and the fear -of being cut in two. He could see into the round cockpit now, with -the black-uniformed woman stopped in the act of sitting down at the -controls, her startled face turned toward him.</p> - -<p>Then her expression became one of intense annoyance. Her hand moved -toward the weapon holstered at her waist. In the same instant a warning -bell rang and the sliding panel re-opened automatically. Wyatt lurched -the rest of the way through, sick and dizzy but knowing that this was -no time to indulge his symptoms. He was afraid to fire the gun he still -held clutched in his hand, even as a gesture of intimidation. The -cockpit was small and faced in metal. A ricocheting bullet could kill -either or both of them, or damage the control panel so that the craft -could not fly. So he threw the gun instead. It whizzed past her head -close enough to touch her hair, and in the second she was busy ducking -it he had crossed the tiny metal floor and grappled with her.</p> - -<p>She did not scream or claw his face or tear at his hair or do any of -the things women customarily did. She fought, and she was strong as -spring steel. He held her wrist so that she could not get at the weapon -in her belt, and her free fist came up under his chin and made him see -stars. Then her knee got him in the pit of the belly. All Wyatt's ideas -of chivalry deserted him. He let go of her wrist and gambled that he -could knock her out before she could get the weapon, whatever it was, -out of its holster.</p> - -<p>He won, but by a shamefully tiny margin. She sagged down and he -snatched the weapon himself and then retrieved his gun and stood -panting, feeling very shaky at the knees.</p> - -<p>She shook her head, grunted, looked up at him with blazing eyes, and -started up all ready to come back and kill him.</p> - -<p>He pointed her own weapon and his gun at her, using both hands.</p> - -<p>"Mine will kill," he said. "I don't know what yours will do, but you -know." He motioned to the pilot's seat. "Get in there. We're flying to -Washington."</p> - -<p>She gave him a wicked little smile with the sharp edge of her teeth and -did as he told her.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> - - -<p>There were places for four beside the pilot, spaced around the circular -cockpit. Wyatt strapped himself into the seat nearest the girl. He -imagined the take-off would be something special, and he was braced -for it, but even the almost instantaneous transition from a state of -sitting still on the ground to one of shooting straight up into the sky -at a hell of a rate was hard to take. He jammed the gun into her back -between the shoulders and said,</p> - -<p>"Not too high. We're not going to Alpha Centauri."</p> - -<p>"There are commercial air lanes," she said irritably, "and military air -bases and radar installations, and ground-to-air missiles. Even in this -ship I couldn't guarantee to elude every one of them."</p> - -<p>Wyatt considered that, uneasily aware that his gun was now largely a -bluff. He was not likely to use it on her, unless he wanted to come -down a lot faster than he went up, and she would know that. He said, -"All right, get up over the obstacles, but don't try anything too -clever. I'm a pretty good pilot and I could gamble on flying this thing -myself."</p> - -<p>That was a flat lie, but he thought it might be worth telling.</p> - -<p>The girl did not seem to be interested one way or another. The craft -continued to go straight up, whistling shrilly as it went, and then it -swerved around with surprising gentleness and headed east. Wyatt looked -out the small double-sealed window beside him.</p> - -<p>The stars blinded him. They had ceased to twinkle, and they had grown -huge, and they had multiplied. The sky was no longer flat but deep and -endless, so that even as countless many stars as there were did not -crowd it. Far below there was a dark wrinkled rind like the edge of a -round cheese, and Wyatt knew that it was the Earth.</p> - -<p>It was the most magnificent sight he had ever seen, and he wished -intensely that he was not seeing it. It was the final touch of insane -reality that made the whole wild nightmare consistent.</p> - -<p>"I was just lying there minding my own business," Wyatt said bitterly, -turning away from the window. "Why did you have to pick on me?"</p> - -<p>"You were obviously a technician, and it would require a technician to -grasp what I had to tell you. The others seem not to believe even when -they see."</p> - -<p>"Others?" asked Wyatt startled by a new thought.</p> - -<p>"Of course. How do you suppose we plan our attacks? How do you suppose -we learn the things we must know, including enough of the language -to be able to communicate with the people after the invasion? In the -normal course of events I would have considered you an especially -valuable find. The accessible ones have all been herders of animals or -fishermen or primitive tribesmen or poor wanderers, who could not tell -us much beyond their own language and their own calling."</p> - -<p>"You mean," said Wyatt, "that if you hadn't decided to give me the -warning instead, you'd have kidnapped me? Taken me—" he nodded at the -window, "—out there? Or tried to?"</p> - -<p>"Of course."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Wyatt. "I'll be damned."</p> - -<p>He was enraged, and more alarmed than ever. "Don't forget for a second -that I've got this gun in your back."</p> - -<p>"I'm not likely to," she said in a curiously calm voice. "How are you -called?"</p> - -<p>He told her.</p> - -<p>"I am Brinna Halphard—Brinna the Dark, I think you would say."</p> - -<p>It seemed a little ridiculous to say, How do you do? Wyatt grunted -uneasily and asked, "Why the sudden friendliness?"</p> - -<p>"I'm a soldier, and I know it is impossible to win every skirmish. I've -learned to make the best of things."</p> - -<p>"That's fine," said Wyatt, not trusting her for a minute. But he was -curious. "Are all women soldiers where you come from?"</p> - -<p>"As many as wish to be. There is no difference made between the sexes, -only between individuals according to their abilities. There are many -women in the task force—pilots, technicians, officers, gunners, -ordinary troops."</p> - -<p>"Nobody thinks a thing of it?"</p> - -<p>"Why should they?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt could not really think of any good reason, except that on Earth -they did.</p> - -<p>Brinna reached for a panel at her right side and started to open it.</p> - -<p>Instantly Wyatt was alert. "What are you doing there?"</p> - -<p>"You want to go to Washington. Unless you can tell me the exact -coordinates yourself, I must have the computer work out a course."</p> - -<p>"Okay," said Wyatt. "Open the panel, but slowly."</p> - -<p>Behind it there was only a remarkable compact receptor-effector unit. -"You see?" she said. "Now if you will allow me—"</p> - -<p>He allowed her. He asked, "Do you have a chart designation for -Washington already in that thing?"</p> - -<p>"For everywhere in your world," said Brinna. "<i>Naturally.</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A chill went crawling down Wyatt's back. Some of the larger -implications of the situation were beginning to catch up with him.</p> - -<p>Enemies had entered the skies of Earth, spying, charting. Enemies from -another star, so far away that Earth had never heard of it. Earthmen -had been kidnapped, the names of cities had been written down, plans -had been made. And somewhere out there, in the immense black and -fire-blazing gulf that surrounded Earth—not any longer as a protective -barrier but as a pathway for invasion—an alien fleet proceeded on its -way.</p> - -<p>Wyatt stared in horror out the window and wondered how, even if all -Earth's defenses were mustered, she could fight off an attack by -an enemy so superior in technology that interstellar flight was a -commonplace.</p> - -<p>"Brinna," he said, "what—" He started to turn his head toward her and -out of the tail of his eye he saw her hand move on the controls but it -was already too late to do anything. The plane went out from under him -sideways and the window tried to push itself through his head. Then he -was thrown the other way with a violence that nearly snapped his neck. -The seat belt cut into him and his arms flew out wildly. The gun was -pulled from his hand as by a powerful magnet. He yelled involuntarily -and then for the second time direction was reversed and his head -slammed into the window again and all the stars went out.</p> - -<p>When he came to he had no weapon at all and his hands were securely -fastened to the back of the seat with his own belt. His head ached -abominably. "That was a dirty trick," he said. "Now I see why you made -that first turn so gentle—so I wouldn't know how fast this thing could -maneuver at right angles."</p> - -<p>Brinna said, "Would you have expected me to give you a performance -sheet?"</p> - -<p>"All right," he said sourly, hating her, hating the feeling of -helplessness and disadvantage, raging at the combination of -circumstances that had chosen him to grapple with a situation that no -one man could possibly have handled. "Where are we going now?"</p> - -<p>"Back to where I found you. You'll have to get to Washington with the -warning some other way."</p> - -<p>Wyatt groaned. "What do I have to do to make you understand? Nobody -will believe a word I say."</p> - -<p>"It's your world," she said. "I can do no more than tell you what will -happen."</p> - -<p>"You mean you <i>won't</i> do any more," he said furiously. "What's your -game, anyway? If you really cared whether Earth is attacked or not -you'd make sure—"</p> - -<p>A pair of little blue lights began to flash alternately at the left of -the control panel, accompanied by a shrill buzzing.</p> - -<p>Brinna started. She said something in her own language that sounded -like a curse.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" Wyatt asked.</p> - -<p>"Trouble. Oh, not with the ship, that's only the communicator." She put -out her hand and at the same time she gave him a hard glare. "Just keep -quiet. Don't say anything at all, or you may only make things worse for -yourself."</p> - -<p>She flipped a switch. The flashing and buzzing stopped and a man's -face appeared in a tiny screen. Wyatt could not see it too clearly -from his angle, but it seemed a not unlikeable face of which the chief -characteristics were strength and a sort of inner weariness. The man -spoke to Brinna and she answered him, and Wyatt could not understand a -word of what they said.</p> - -<p>Some part of the conversation seemed to concern Wyatt himself. He -became more and more frantically uneasy. When the contact was broken -and the screen was blank again, he leaned forward against his bonds and -demanded, "What's all that about?"</p> - -<p>Brinna nodded briefly toward the window. "Look out there." Her brows -were drawn down into a black angry bar and she seemed to be thinking -hard. Wyatt looked out the small window.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A second disc-shaped craft had joined them. It was about four hundred -feet away, keeping pace. Even while he looked at it the craft tilted, -showing a glowing pink center surrounded by the black outer ring, and -appeared to shoot away into the starry void.</p> - -<p>Brinna followed it.</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "Hey. You said you were going to put me off on the mesa—"</p> - -<p>She shook her head. "Not now. That's Makvern out there, the good -gray Makvern who would be suspicious of his own father. He knows -you're aboard. There is only one place I can take you." She pointed -expressively. "Out. If I tried to drop back down to Earth now I'd be in -front of a court-martial before breakfast."</p> - -<p>She turned to face him. It seemed that she had done her thinking, -compensating for the sudden change in direction that Makvern's -appearance had necessitated.</p> - -<p>"Listen," she said. "I'm the only hope you have of getting back to -Earth before the attack. If you tell anyone that I tried to pass on a -warning, that one hope will be gone. Do you understand me?"</p> - -<p>"Perfectly," Wyatt said. He had been doing some thinking too. "I am -also your only hope of getting a warning to Earth before the invasion, -which you badly want to do not because you give a tinker's damn what -happens to Earth, but because of the effect you think it will have on -some deal of your own. So I guess in a sense we're partners, then?"</p> - -<p>"You could say that." Her eyes were as bright and hard as two chips of -blue stone. She was as handsome a girl as Wyatt had ever seen, and she -scared the devil out of him. "Partners. Yes. But whatever my motives -may be they do not concern you, or Earth. And if I do not succeed with -my plan this time—" She shrugged. "There will be other worlds."</p> - -<p>Wyatt said shrewdly, "They might not be as well able to fight back as -Earth, though. We don't quite have space flight yet, but we do have -nuclear weapons. Enough to give even your force a real jar. And that's -what you want, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>Her face changed slightly. He thought she almost smiled, in a wry -unhumorous way.</p> - -<p>"You're far too clever," she said. "Don't let your cleverness betray -you."</p> - -<p>"I'll watch it," he said, not feeling clever at all, feeling sick and -agonized as the last thin rim of Earth dropped away out of sight and -all of a sudden he knew that he was in space.</p> - -<p>For one wild moment he thought, This whole thing is a dream, it -happened too fast and it's all too crazy to be real, and pretty soon -I'll wake up. But he knew it was not a dream. He was here, awake and -substantial, and he was a captive, going with bound hands into an -unknown void.</p> - -<p>And going fast.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> - - -<p>It had been night, and suddenly it was day.</p> - -<p>There was no twilight zone, no period of transition. The craft shot out -of the Earth's shadow into the full blaze of the sun, and it was like -somebody turning on all the lights in the world in the middle of a dark -room.</p> - -<p>Wyatt flinched and turned his head away. When he dared to look again -there was a filter lens over the port. Actually it must have slid into -place at once, or the raw glare would have blinded him. And now space -seemed to be brimming over with light, all the blackness hidden beyond -that golden blaze.</p> - -<p>He could see Makvern's craft, still in position ahead and to one side, -its polished rim flashing and glittering. It seemed to skim through -the ocean of light like a fleeting shadow, and Wyatt found himself -mesmerized by the illusion that he, too, was being buoyed up and -whirled along, a chip on the floods of heaven.</p> - -<p>Brinna hunched brooding over her controls and never gave it all a -second look. Wyatt realized that of course this was an old story to -her. She must have seen suns all over the galaxy and consider them no -more interesting than street lamps.</p> - -<p>It was not an old story to Wyatt. He was still frightened to death -of being where he was, but even the fear was getting lost in the -overwhelming wonder and magnificence of it. He craned his neck around -to peer at the actual sun itself, but that was behind them and the -ports on that side of the cockpit were blacked out completely. All -he could see were shaking veils of fire that sprang out suddenly to -cover half his field of vision and then fell back, streaming in golden -streams. He thought these must be solar prominences, or part of the -corona. The golden flood of light spread out and out and he could not -see any end to it, though he knew there must be one. Rushing obliquely -ahead of the craft was a thin black knife-edged blade cutting sharp -across the radiance, and he knew that that was their own shadow.</p> - -<p>There was the light, and Makvern's craft, and the shadow, and nothing -else. Then a white curved thing like a gnawed bone slid into view, and -he knew it was the edge of the Moon.</p> - -<p>They headed toward it. For the first time Wyatt had something by which -to estimate their speed. Whatever it was in miles per hour, it was -too damned fast. The Moon fairly sprang at them. He could see craters -opening and weird jagged mountains shooting up, exactly like pictures -of growing plants taken with a strobe camera. The flinty peaks glinted -like rows of teeth. Wyatt's heart came up in his throat. He understood -that Makvern and Brinna must know what they were doing, and he was -determined not to yell, but he found himself trying to push his feet -through the floor in an involuntary gesture of putting on brakes.</p> - -<p>The two craft tilted and swung across the face of the Moon—it was only -the airlessness of space and the brilliance of the reflecting sunlight, -Wyatt knew, that made the surface seem close enough to reach out and -pick up the perfectly defined chunks of broken pumice as they passed. -Plains, craters, pinnacles and ranges, blinding white or etched with -inky shadow, flashed beneath them and then they were on top of the -terminus and over it and it was night again, black, black, black and -hung with stars.</p> - -<p>Wyatt shook himself, feeling dazed. It was like a plunge into deep -water, stunning. The filter shield slid automatically away from -the window. He looked out at the hind side of the Moon, glimmering -mysteriously in the eternal starshine, and was not very surprised to -see that it looked very much like the familiar face.</p> - -<p>Once more the two craft tilted and swung, and Wyatt saw the ship.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It hung motionless between the Moon and the stars, an enormous -cylindrical shape catching dull glints on its flanks and its blunt -nose. He could only guess its size by the area of stars it blotted out, -and even that was only a guess. It was big. Big enough.</p> - -<p>It was not showing any lights at first, but then one came on, laying a -hard white path across the empty blackness. Makvern's craft found the -path and raced along it, slowing as it went, and presently vanished.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" asked Wyatt, and Brinna said,</p> - -<p>"Scout tender. You didn't think we were going all the way to Alpha -Centauri in these skimmers, did you?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "I hadn't really thought about it, one way or the other."</p> - -<p>Alpha Centauri, he thought. My God.</p> - -<p>Brinna put the skimmer, as she called it, into the lighted guidepath.</p> - -<p>"You're likely to have a fairly rough time of it," she said. "They will -question you. They're not brutes, but they're thorough. I won't be able -to do anything about that. But hang on, and I'll arrange your escape as -soon as I can."</p> - -<p>"Thank <i>you</i>," said Wyatt bitterly.</p> - -<p>"If," said Brinna with equal bitterness, "you hadn't been in such a -blazing hurry to make me go to Washington, you wouldn't be here. So -don't blame me for all your troubles."</p> - -<p>The skimmer slowed, climbing up the beam of light.</p> - -<p>A resurgence of panic took hold of Wyatt. "Why Alpha Centauri? Why do I -have to go there?"</p> - -<p>"Two reasons. We work well ahead, always planning the next campaign -before we finish the last one. I told you they'll question you. In the -normal course of events you would be shown the Centauri campaign so -that you could get a clear idea of just how we work, and then you would -be used to persuade your people not to resist."</p> - -<p>"But you'll arrange my escape before that."</p> - -<p>"I'll do what I can," she snapped, "as long as you keep your mouth -shut. Now we're going in, and from here on you're just another captive."</p> - -<p>Wyatt looked at her. He didn't trust her promise, not at all. He -thought he had better never trust this dark girl too far.</p> - -<p>The skimmer rose up into a great hatch. Wyatt heard a thunderous click -transmitted through the air in the cockpit and felt a strong jar as -what he thought must be a magnetic grapple took hold. Beyond the -window now he saw a brightly lighted space that looked as big as Grand -Central, equipped with great incomprehensible pieces of machinery. None -of them looked like any propulsion or communication machines he knew. -How did a faster-than-light ship communicate, anyway? An idea came to -him.</p> - -<p>Small figures moved out there. He recognized them as men wearing -spacesuits. The suits were astonishingly like those being tested by the -Air Force for high-altitude flying. He thought the A.F. boys would be -glad to know their designs were good.</p> - -<p>The skimmer was dormant, being lifted and handled by forces outside. -Brinna said, "We have to wait for pressure to build up."</p> - -<p>The huge hatch doors beneath had closed. Presently Wyatt heard sounds -faintly from outside the skimmer, chiefly a throbbing noise like the -beating of a gigantic heart which he thought must be the air-pumps.</p> - -<p>He nursed the idea that had come to him. He didn't think it was a very -good idea but it was the only one he had, and he had to do something, -try somehow, to get a warning to Earth. He could not just wait for -Brinna to help him escape, it might never be possible—even if she -wasn't double-crossing him as she was obviously double-crossing someone -else. He'd try his own way.</p> - -<p>Soon a light showed on the control board and Brinna pushed a lever -under it.</p> - -<p>She got up. "All right," she said. "You go ahead of me."</p> - -<p>Wyatt rose, his hands still tied. He passed through the aperture and -onto the narrow stair which had unfolded from the rim. There was a -platform under the bottom rung and he stepped onto it. Brinna came -behind him. The skimmer hung suspended from a grapple on an overhead -track. Makvern's craft was just beyond it on a similar grapple. At the -end of the track was a mobile rack with three skimmers already in it -and two empty slots. Three other racks held fifteen more, stacked up -like pies in a bakery.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The men in spacesuits—some of them were women—were taking off their -helmets. They were looking at Wyatt, interested but not unduly so. -Makvern was walking toward them. He also was looking at Wyatt. His eyes -were dark and his skin was leathery with exposure to many suns. His -hair was rough and wiry, iron gray. His shoulders were wide and his -body was hard and narrow and his legs were long. Wyatt thought if he -had not met Makvern in another time and place he might have liked him. -As it was, he hated him.</p> - -<p>Makvern nodded to Brinna. He wore the same black uniform, but the -insigne on his shirt was different and contained a ruby stud. He -watched Wyatt as another man untied his hands.</p> - -<p>"A technician, eh?" he said, speaking English no better than Brinna -did, but perfectly intelligibly. "Good work, Captain. We have needed -one badly."</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said Brinna. "I hope he'll be useful."</p> - -<p>Makvern said to Wyatt, "What is your field?"</p> - -<p>"Communications," said Wyatt. "And I can tell you right now that I -don't know anything more about weapons and defense than anybody who can -read the daily papers, and that I won't be useful at all."</p> - -<p>Makvern said, "I see Brinna explained to you why you were being brought -here."</p> - -<p>"She did. Fully."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Makvern. "Come along."</p> - -<p>He walked away and Brinna motioned for Wyatt to follow and he did, -padding in his sock feet over the deck. It was a hell of a thing, he -thought, to be on his way to Alpha Centauri without any shoes.</p> - -<p>But his hands were free now. They were so sure he couldn't escape, -inside their ship. Well, he couldn't. But maybe he could do something -else. He looked at Makvern as they walked along the huge room.</p> - -<p>"Star-ships," Wyatt said. "Faster than light. How the devil can you -communicate at speeds and distances like that?"</p> - -<p>Makvern smiled slightly. "That's right, you said you're a -communications man. Well, there are ways. There are beams you never -heard of."</p> - -<p>"I'd like to see an outfit that can send a signal faster than light," -Wyatt grunted.</p> - -<p>Makvern looked at him thoughtfully. "Why not? We'll be going right -past the communic room."</p> - -<p>Brinna looked as though she wanted to say something, but she didn't, -and they went on out of the hold and through a neat functional -labyrinth of corridors.</p> - -<p>"Here we are," said Makvern and opened a bulkhead door.</p> - -<p>Wyatt sprang forward, low and fast, like a football player making a -desperate tackle. His shoulder struck Makvern in the small of the back, -his arms clasped him tight around the waist, and his weight bore him -forward and down, through the door into the communications room. They -hit the deck together, Wyatt on top, Makvern grunting heavily from the -impact. Two men inside the room sprang up from their places in alarm. -Wyatt turned his head and saw Brinna in the doorway and kicked the door -shut in her face. There was no way to lock it. He scrambled to his -feet, wild with the need for haste, and he realized then that Makvern -was not moving. He must have hit his head on the deck when he fell. -Wyatt dragged him against the door to block it, and by that time one of -the two men had turned back to his instruments and was shouting into -what Wyatt assumed to be the ship's intercom.</p> - -<p>The other man was almost on top of him.</p> - -<p>Wyatt could not possibly avoid that rush. The man was big and he was -young and strong and he pinned Wyatt against the wall and pounded at -him. Wyatt did not worry about prize-ring rules. He lowered his head -and butted, hard. The man staggered back, and Wyatt gave him a clip on -the jaw to help him down and then made a rush of his own, at the man -who was busily arousing the whole ship.</p> - -<p>This man was not a pugnacious type. He looked at Wyatt with large -horrified eyes and flung up his hands in a vague gesture of striking -but Wyatt's fist took him solidly in the face and he whimpered and -turned around and folded over his own knees.</p> - -<p>The communic room was now quiet, except for a series of noises outside -the door. Wyatt stood panting, looking at the maze of equipment.</p> - -<p>Right here within reach was the means of warning Earth. The radio -system on this ship must be strong enough to blanket every receiver on -the planet. All he had to do was figure out how to use it.</p> - -<p>He swore in an agony of frustration. Nothing was marked right, nothing -was as he knew it. It was all there, and it was totally useless.</p> - -<p>He reached down and took hold of the man who was crouched on the deck -near him. He dragged him upright. He shook him.</p> - -<p>"Listen," he said. "Listen, you're going to get this thing working. -Understand?"</p> - -<p>The man shook his head dazedly from side to side and said something in -his own language.</p> - -<p>Wyatt's grip became cruel. "You're going to send a message to Earth," -he said, and then Makvern spoke quietly behind him.</p> - -<p>"He can't understand you, Wyatt. Let him go."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wyatt spun around, still holding the man. Makvern had got up. He was -standing beside the door with a weapon in his hand. The door was now -open and Brinna was standing in it, her thumbs hooked in her belt, -watching. Men were arriving behind her in the corridor.</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "If you shoot me you'll get your own man too." He shifted -his grip, dragging the man closer to the control panel. Feeling even -while he was speaking the absolute hopelessness of this last ditch -play, he said,</p> - -<p>"Tell him what I want or I'll smash your communication system so -thoroughly—"</p> - -<p>"It was a good try, Wyatt," said Makvern, not without a certain -admiration, and pressed a stud on his weapon.</p> - -<p>Wyatt never knew what hit him.</p> - -<p>When he awoke he was lying in a bunk in a small metal cabin. Close -beside his head there swung a curious helmet-like device linked by -cables to a squat cabinet.</p> - -<p>Makvern was standing looking down at him. He looked alert and wary and -his hand rested casually on his holstered side-arm.</p> - -<p>"How are you feeling now?" said Makvern.</p> - -<p>Wyatt started a sour reply, and then he froze in an incredulous -astonishment.</p> - -<p>Makvern had not spoken in English. He had spoken in a totally strange -language—and yet he, Wyatt, had understood him!</p> - -<p>"What—how—" Wyatt began.</p> - -<p>Makvern smiled. "How do you know the language of Uryx, our language, -all of a sudden? Simple. Learning-tapes."</p> - -<p>He gestured toward the helmet and the cabinet. Wyatt gaped like a -yokel. It was too uncanny. Hearing words he'd never consciously heard -before, and yet understanding them—</p> - -<p>He articulated with difficulty. "Learning-tapes?"</p> - -<p>Makvern sat down. "You've been under a seda-ray for some days, Wyatt. -In fact, we're nearly to our rendezvous with the fleet, off Alpha -Centauri."</p> - -<p>So time had passed? That wasn't surprising. But this other thing—</p> - -<p>Makvern went on. "Don't you yet have it on your Earth, the technique of -teaching arbitrary knowledge to a subject in his sleep?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt began to get it now. "You mean, a recorded voice repeating facts -over and over in a sleeping man's ear? Yes. We have that—but it's not -good enough to teach a man a whole new language in sleep."</p> - -<p>"With us," said Makvern, "it is good enough. We always use it, once -we pick up the vocabulary and grammar from our first captives. Makes -it easier to question them. Instead of all our intelligence officers, -technicians and so on having to learn the captive's language, we give -him <i>our</i> language."</p> - -<p>It was still too much for Wyatt to take in. He lay looking at Makvern, -and after a moment he said,</p> - -<p>"You seem like a decent guy, not a butcher or a greedy conqueror type. -Maybe you can tell me what gives your people the idea they've a right -to go around acting like a bunch of goddamned bandits."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Makvern smiled faintly. "Probably," he said, "because that's exactly -what we are. Uryx is still a young empire. I imagine you have learned -on Earth how empires grow—starting from a small weak poverty-ridden -state fighting for its existence and becoming, by the process of eating -its neighbors, a tremendous power able to conquer everything in sight. -When it does this it wants to gorge itself on all the things it never -had before."</p> - -<p>He made a sweeping gesture. "Wealth, beauty, techniques, cultures, -knowledge, everything under a thousand suns that can enrich or -entertain us. We are still in this stage of acquisitiveness."</p> - -<p>Wyatt grunted. "That all sounds very philosophic, but it still doesn't -make you anything but bandits."</p> - -<p>"When we join the main fleet," said Makvern, refusing to be angered, -"you can take that up with Varsek."</p> - -<p>"Varsek?"</p> - -<p>"Commander in Chief of the Task Force. The—ah—Boss, I think you would -say."</p> - -<p>"I'll be glad to take it up with him," Wyatt said. "And if he thinks -he's going to get any help from me, he's wrong."</p> - -<p>He looked up at Makvern and he said suddenly, "You deliberately gave me -a chance at that communic room, didn't you?"</p> - -<p>"Did I?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. You didn't have to show it to me, you must have known what was in -my mind. But you had no intention of letting me get a message off to -Earth. You shammed unconsciousness till it looked like I might make it, -and then you came to and stopped me."</p> - -<p>"Why would I do a thing like that?" Makvern asked calmly.</p> - -<p>"Why, indeed? That's what I'm asking."</p> - -<p>Makvern said, "Perhaps I was testing you to find out something, Wyatt. -Let me ask you a question in return. Why did you let Brinna capture you -so easily?"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, easily?"</p> - -<p>"You had a weapon. Yet you didn't use it on Brinna. Why?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt became instantly wary and on guard. Makvern, then, suspected -the arrangement between Brinna and himself, suspected Brinna of a -double-cross? He'd better be careful.</p> - -<p>He said, "What's this about Brinna? To me, she's just a female wildcat -that dropped out of the sky."</p> - -<p>"She is what you would call very high brass," Makvern said. "A high -officer of the Task Force, completely trusted by Commander Varsek."</p> - -<p>Had Makvern faintly emphasized the word "trusted"? Wyatt wasn't sure. -He was only sure now that some devil's broth of intrigue went on in -the immense Task Force that followed its looting voyage through the -galactic suns, and that he, Wyatt, was less than the smallest pawn in -the hidden game.</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't," said Makvern, "think too much of Brinna. She's beautiful, -I know. But she's in love."</p> - -<p>Oddly, Wyatt felt a pang to hear that. "In love? With whom?"</p> - -<p>"With power," Makvern said grimly, and then the next moment the light -in the cabin went blue and there was a vertiginous shock that made -Wyatt feel as though he was falling, falling, everything gone from -around him, plunging through abysses of darkness—</p> - -<p>A whining sound went up to a shriek and passed beyond hearing, and then -the lights burned white again and the dizziness in his head passed.</p> - -<p>"What the devil—" he began huskily.</p> - -<p>Makvern stood up. "We just went out of overdrive. We've reached the -Task Force. Come on Wyatt—for you, this is it."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> - - -<p>Here in the windowed bridge, the background was all stars.</p> - -<p>Clouds of stars, rivers of them, chains and globes of them, and drawn -across them here and there like curtains of the most glorious fire -ever imagined were the shining nebulae. They were all colors. Red, -blue, smoky yellow, green, diamond white. Some of them, Wyatt realized, -were not stars at all but galaxies, scattered out in careless millions -through the apparently infinite universe. To an earthbound, skybound -man like himself, this was almost too much to take. Look at ten billion -stars and a million galaxies and all the empty space between for them -to roam around in, and realize that this is the universe, you are in -the middle of it, not standing on the edge looking up the way you do -on Earth but right in the middle of it, the nothingness and allness of -it without end, amen. If you have no religion you get one in a hurry, -because obviously only God could have made this.</p> - -<p>Wyatt was dimly aware that someone—Makvern—was talking to him. Alpha -Centauri. A hand pointed, guiding him back from the infinite to the -particular.</p> - -<p>Ahead, still very far away but close enough to stand out from among the -more distant stars like a beacon lamp, was a yellow sun.</p> - -<p>"There's a companion," Makvern said, "but it's insignificant and did -not prevent the formation of a stable planetary system around the -primary. Alpha Centauri has eight planets—it's very much like your own -Sol. The two inner planets are too hot, and the outer ones are too -cold, but the third and fourth support life. The third is closer to -the sun than Earth and is still in a comparatively primitive stage of -evolution. We can pick up minerals there but nothing else. The fourth -world is our target."</p> - -<p>Wyatt shut his eyes against the blaze of suns and nebulae and wheeling -galaxies and tried to concentrate on Alpha Centauri, its fourth planet, -and himself.</p> - -<p>"Where's your fleet?" he asked, and opened his eyes again, looking -closer at hand instead of trying to see the end of creation.</p> - -<p>Once more Makvern pointed.</p> - -<p>Once more Wyatt was stunned, this time in a much more personal way. -Suns and galaxies were beyond him, the incredible handiwork of God, but -men had built these ships. And the one was almost as overwhelming a -thing as the other.</p> - -<p>It was the hell and all of a fleet.</p> - -<p>It too was a long way off, though not anything like as far as Alpha -Centauri. Makvern explained that they did not attempt any very close -maneuvering in hyper-drive, where you counted your fractional seconds -of error in multiples of parsecs. The main task force would approach -the system of Alpha Centauri at planetary speeds and deploy according -to the master attack plan already decided upon while the fleet had -been busy plundering the hapless worlds of the star-system before this -one. The scout ship was now on an intersecting course.</p> - -<p>Wyatt watched this convergence with a mounting awe and an increasing -conviction that no matter how many warnings he might bring to Earth it -would not do them one bit of good.</p> - -<p>He had thought the scout tender was huge when he first saw it hanging -beyond the dark side of the Moon. The closer he got to the fleet the -smaller the tender seemed to him and the smaller he felt himself, until -he thought that this must be pretty much like a minnow's-eye view of -a school of whales passing in all their majesty, accompanied on the -flanks by the swift sinister forms of great sharks. The analogy was -obvious but not a bad one, Wyatt thought. The phalanx of huge dark -shapes swam in space as in black water, touched with vagrant gleams -of light that might have been phosphorescence instead of starshine. -The hugest of them—the heavy support craft, the troop transports, the -supply ships, and the swag-bellied monstrosities that Brinna said were -used to store and carry loot—travelled together in a wedge-shaped -formation, with the flagship at the apex. Ahead and on both wings -were the smaller, faster destroyer-type craft, heavily armed but -maneuverable. These were the spearhead of any attack, and the defenders -of the fleet from any hostile action in space. Behind came a shoal -of smaller craft like the tender, the inglorious but indispensable -work-horses of the fleet.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Clear across the galaxy these ships had come, built and manned by -humans, conceived in their brains and controlled by their hands. It -seemed a pity their purpose could not have been more noble.</p> - -<p>The Task Force swept closer and closer, rolled over the tender like a -mighty wave, engulfed it, and carried it along in its resistless rush -toward Alpha Centauri.</p> - -<p>A communicator at the back of the bridge, which had been rattling away -in the course of routine technicalities, suddenly changed its tone. -"Clear channels," said a brisk important voice. "Clear channels for -Number One." The operator at Fleet Control whose image had appeared -on the screen promptly pulled the switch on himself. Involuntarily -everyone in the bridge room snapped to attention, even Makvern and -Brinna.</p> - -<p>Swiftly, under her breath, Brinna said, "What does he want that -couldn't wait for our regular report?"</p> - -<p>She looked worried. Guilty conscience, Wyatt thought. But Makvern's -conscience was clear, at least where Wyatt was concerned, and he looked -worried too. Almost, you might say, apprehensive.</p> - -<p>When he turned to face the screen there was no sign of this in his -face, nothing but the properly alert expression of a staff officer -about to speak to his chief.</p> - -<p>A smartly turned out operator, owner of the officious voice, appeared -in the screen. "ST-6," he said. "ST-6, this is Number One calling. -Number One, calling for Staff Captain Makvern."</p> - -<p>Makvern stepped forward into the pick-up area. "Captain Makvern here."</p> - -<p>"Stand by, sir. Commander Varsek is ready to speak to you."</p> - -<p>Makvern stood by. He seemed perfectly at ease. Brinna's mouth was -drawn tight and her eyes were narrowed. Wyatt started to say something -and she shook her head at him fiercely. He shut up. The bridge waited -silently as though the Supreme Being was about to step into it.</p> - -<p>The operator had vanished from the screen. It remained blank for a -moment or two. Then it brightened again and Commander Varsek was -mirrored in it.</p> - -<p>He nodded to Makvern, who saluted. He was sitting behind a big desk -covered with charts, papers, microfilm spools, a couple of viewers, -and various communic media. In contrast to the immaculate turn-out of -his operator—and everybody else that Wyatt had so far seen—Varsek's -uniform shirt was open down the front, his sleeves were rolled up, -and the shirt itself looked as though he had been digging ditches in -it. He gave the impression of a man enormously embroiled in work, the -two-hours-of-sleep-a-night, coffee-and-benzedrine-and-I-thrive-on-it -type that automatically makes everybody else feel like a lazy slob. All -this part of him Wyatt found only mildly irritating. It was Varsek's -face and what he sensed behind it that made Wyatt feel he could really -hate this man.</p> - -<p>Varsek was a big lean man, and his face was big and lean, with a -lot of bone in it and no softness anywhere, and no warmth, and no -friendliness. He smiled, and the smile was a lie. Wyatt thought all the -rest of it was a lie too, or at least a deliberate pose. Only his eyes -were true. They looked at Makvern, and then at Brinna, and then for -quite a long moment at Wyatt, and they were rapacious and hungry, cold -and cruel, highly intelligent, and disconcertingly demonstrative of a -mind capable of handling nearly anything.</p> - -<p>"This is your captive, is it?" he said. "Good. He looks more -intelligent than any I've seen yet." He turned his attention back to -Makvern. "I've sent a skimmer for you. You too, Brinna."</p> - -<p>Makvern said, in an almost too carefully expressionless voice, "We were -about to report to the flagship."</p> - -<p>"This is important, Makvern. Can't wait. I've got Loran aboard, very -sick, about dying I'd say. I want you and Brinna here." His gaze -flicked again to Wyatt. "Bring him along. It may help him to understand -us better."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said Makvern.</p> - -<p>Varsek nodded and the screen went dead.</p> - -<p>Somebody said, "Skimmer's coming into the airlock now, sir."</p> - -<p>Makvern turned around and looked at Brinna. His face was absolutely -white. So was hers. White, frightened, and bitterly angry.</p> - -<p>"Who is Loran?" asked Wyatt.</p> - -<p>"One of our under officers," Makvern said, too quietly. "Come on, we -mustn't keep them waiting."</p> - -<p>They left the bridge and went, not below to the main launching hold, -but aft to a small lock. On the way Wyatt asked,</p> - -<p>"Can you tell me what's going on?"</p> - -<p>"For your own sake," said Makvern, "no."</p> - -<p>They got into the skimmer and the pilot took it away and they sat stiff -and silent like three people going to a wake. And Wyatt had an idea -he was about to get a little closer to the truth of whatever forces -were operating behind the scenes here. He needed to know, needed it -desperately. He was prepared to sell or double-cross anybody including -himself in order to get a warning to Earth in time, but before he could -do that he had to know who was buying, and what, and for how much.</p> - -<p>The skimmer passed swiftly through the fleet, past the great -dull-gleaming hulls tarnished by a thousand atmospheres, pitted and -scarred by the cosmic dust and drift of half a galaxy.</p> - -<p>The black enormous form of the flagship loomed ahead, blotting out the -stars. The skimmer was gathered into it. A minute later, as they stood -close together at the ladder head, Makvern whispered in English,</p> - -<p>"This is going to be ugly. Keep out of it, you understand? No matter -what!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> - - -<p>The man was obviously sick, probably dying, painfully, spasmodically, -and not from natural causes.</p> - -<p>He was a fairly young man, younger than Makvern, older than Brinna. He -was strapped onto a kind of flat cradle made of a plastic mesh, and -this was suspended in a circular pit, not very deep. Above the man, -almost but not quite in contact with his body, was a double row of -crystal rods, their bottom ends close together, their top ends spread -to form a V. They were served by power leads that went away somewhere -to the sides of the pit. Every so often, in answer to a signal, power -was fed into the double-rods, a rapid flicker of bluish light ran up -and down through them, and the man below them writhed and sobbed in a -grotesque and hideous agony.</p> - -<p>Varsek gave the signals. He was sitting on a seat above the shallow -pit, where he could look down comfortably into Loran's face while he -talked to him. There was a ring of seats around the pit. Wyatt sat in -one. So did Makvern, and Brinna, and several other officers Wyatt did -not know. The pit was situated in the center of a quite small room with -soundproof walls and a single door, very thick and having a lock on the -inside. The room was deep in the most secret bowels of the flagship.</p> - -<p>The crystal tubes were dead now. Loran rolled his head from side to -side and moaned. He had bitten his lips and tongue, and he was bleeding -slightly from the nose. Varsek watched him. There was not a sound in -the room other than Loran's moaning. Nobody moved. Nobody met anyone -else's eye. Nobody spoke. There might have been a concourse of waxen -dummies above the pit.</p> - -<p>Except for Varsek. He spoke. He called Loran by name, several times, -with a dispassionate persistence, until he answered. Then Varsek said,</p> - -<p>"Who is the leader of the Second Party?"</p> - -<p>He had asked that question fifty, a hundred times before, in exactly -that tone of voice.</p> - -<p>And Loran answered, as he had fifty or a hundred times before, "There -is no Second Party." Only his voice was weaker every time he said it.</p> - -<p>And Wyatt was sicker. He clenched his hands and shut his jaw tight. -There was nothing he could do. He kept telling himself that. There was -nothing he could do.</p> - -<p>Varsek said, "It's no use to lie to me, Loran. There is a Second Party. -Every ship in the fleet including this one has some officers and some -men who are not loyal to me—who are in fact dedicated to the task -of taking the fleet away from me. This I know Loran, I have absolute -proof. I'm only asking you who the leader is."</p> - -<p>"There is no Second Party."</p> - -<p>"Is he one of my staff officers, Loran?"</p> - -<p>"There is no—"</p> - -<p>"Which one?" And he named them through one at a time, including Makvern -and Brinna, every one that was there, and they sat in the bright light -with blank faces and fear in their eyes.</p> - -<p>Loran said, "There is no Second Party."</p> - -<p>"Let's be realistic about this," Varsek said. "Your friends, the men -you're so nobly protecting, can't help you now. I'm the only one who -can. I can have you up out of there in a minute, with the best medical -attention and everything you need to fix you up. All you have to do -is answer my questions. That's your duty, isn't it, Loran? Didn't you -swear an oath of loyalty to Uryx and the government of Uryx, and to me -as the duly appointed servant of that government?"</p> - -<p>No answer.</p> - -<p>"You're a young man, Loran. I don't imagine you love the idea of death. -Why leap at it? Tell me the names of the disloyal officers you know, -and you can live."</p> - -<p>Loran said distinctly, "Go to hell."</p> - -<p>Varsek gave the signal again.</p> - -<p>The banked rods pulsed and flickered, and whatever nerve-searing, -flesh-torturing force was in them went to work on Loran.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wyatt got up. He called Varsek the dirtiest name he could think of, in -a kind of choked and half-articulate voice, and then he started for -him. It was obviously a silly thing to do but he wasn't really thinking -about it. He just had a simple desire to stop Varsek from doing what he -was doing.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Several of the officers—Makvern was one of them—caught him before -he had taken two steps. Varsek glanced around. He smiled briefly. "I -thought you looked like a brave man," he said. "Brave men are usually -stubborn. That's why you're here, to see what happens to brave stubborn -men."</p> - -<p>"There are a lot of them on Earth," said Wyatt fiercely. "They haven't -broken for other dirty little tyrants and they won't break for you. -Remember that."</p> - -<p>Makvern snarled in his ear, "Shut up for God's sake. And sit down." -His face was rigidly controlled but in his eyes, deep down, there was -a wildness of hate and fury that startled Wyatt into obedience. He -allowed himself to be forced back toward his seat. And then Brinna -stepped forward and said to Varsek,</p> - -<p>"It might be safer, sir, if I put him with the other prisoners now."</p> - -<p>Varsek considered that, totally undisturbed by the deathly sounds from -the pit. He studied Brinna, who was looking rigidly past his head -at the opposite wall. He studied Makvern, who was now as blank as a -stone, so that Wyatt wondered if he had really seen what he thought he -had seen in Makvern's eyes. He studied the others, who showed varying -degrees of unhappiness, and then he said to Brinna,</p> - -<p>"You look ill, Captain. How would you expect to command a battle fleet -if you can't stand to see one man die?"</p> - -<p>Brinna's body was absolutely rigid. She said, "Are you accusing me of -plotting with the Second Party to take command? If so, I request a -formal—"</p> - -<p>Varsek shook his head. "No accusation, Brinna. Merely a statement. I -know how it eats on your soul that you probably never will command a -fleet just on account of your sex." He grinned at her. "Sex isn't the -whole story, Brinna. I'm merely pointing that out to you. Ability and -toughness have something to do with it too. Isn't that so, Makvern?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose so, sir."</p> - -<p>The man in the pit howled like a tortured animal. Varsek pushed a -button impatiently and the rods stopped flickering and the howling -ceased.</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Varsek, turning away, "take your delicate stomach -away from here. And maybe you can put your sex to some use with the -prisoner. Try it, anyway. The rest of you stay here."</p> - -<p>Brinna saluted, turned smartly on her heel, snapped, "Follow me," at -Wyatt, and marched toward the door. Wyatt glanced at Makvern, who -refused to look at him, and went after Brinna.</p> - -<p>He was thankful to get out of the room. Sick and raging himself, he did -not feel like talking and Brinna's face discouraged him anyway. The way -her bootheels rang on the iron floor he thought that she was wishing -Varsek's head under every one. Finally, when they had left even the -level of the pit-room behind and were walking together along an upper -corridor with nobody else in sight, he did speak.</p> - -<p>"Are you plotting with the Second Party, Brinna?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No," she said savagely. "I am not. I hate everything they stand for."</p> - -<p>"But you are plotting against Varsek?"</p> - -<p>She stopped and looked at him with eyes as lambent as those of an angry -cat.</p> - -<p>"If you have thoughts of helping your own cause by going to Varsek -about me, forget them. In the first place, Varsek helps nobody. In the -second place, I can have you silenced before you could ever get to him."</p> - -<p>"No," said Wyatt slowly, "I wasn't thinking of going to Varsek. But -what he said about you is true. You do want the command. You figured -that Earth, armed and prepared, would give Varsek such a setback that -you might be able to oust him and take over."</p> - -<p>"Do you blame me?" whispered Brinna. "He's a swine. A cruel, -treacherous, sadistic swine. You saw him. No wonder there's a Second -Party."</p> - -<p>"How big is it, Brinna?"</p> - -<p>"Big enough to worry Varsek. Loran is the third poor devil he's -tortured to death trying to find out who's in it. He hasn't managed -it yet, but he will. And then—" She made an expressive gesture of -slashing.</p> - -<p>"You said you hated everything the Second Party stands for. What does -it stand for?"</p> - -<p>"Peace," said Brinna, as though it was a shameful word. "They want -to take the Task Force home and force the government to stop this -galaxy-wide swing of conquest."</p> - -<p>"And you don't want peace?"</p> - -<p>"I'm a soldier. What use would I be at peace?" Her face was hard, -shining, exalted with ambition. "Not while I'm still young and -unsatisfied, anyway. Listen, Wyatt. I told you women are not segregated -and discriminated against in our society and that's true—except for -top positions of power in politics and the military. Even there it's -never stated openly. But somehow or other the women candidates never -quite make it. I'm going to be the first one to break that custom. I am -going to command this Task Force."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She put her hand on his arm, speaking rapidly, with urgent force. "I'm -not alone, Wyatt. I have a powerful group behind me. Varsek isn't -popular with the officers. The men love him because he wins battles and -looks the other way when they abuse the native women, but they don't -have to deal with him. All we need is an excuse—a demonstration that -Varsek has blundered badly—and we can step in. <i>I</i> can step in. Earth -could give us that excuse, if your people put up enough of a surprise -fight. So you see our interests do run together."</p> - -<p>"That far, they do," said Wyatt. "But afterward?"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, afterward?"</p> - -<p>"After you take over. What happens to Earth then?" He shook her hand -away. "Don't treat me like a fool, Brinna. You don't take over from -Varsek on the grounds that he's failed and then admit that you too are -licked by the same situation."</p> - -<p>Her eyes had narrowed and the anger-light was in them again. "So?"</p> - -<p>"So you will then proceed to smash my world. You have to, to prove -you're more capable than Varsek. Otherwise, somebody will oust <i>you</i>."</p> - -<p>"I warned you before not to let your cleverness betray you," she said. -"Let's be realistic about this. Earth is our next target, she's going -to be hit warning or no warning, and she's going to be beaten. Now. -Do you imagine Earth can get better and more merciful treatment from -Varsek, or from me?"</p> - -<p>"When you put it that way," Wyatt said thoughtfully, "I can see a -preference. All right, Brinna. When do you think you can arrange the -escape?"</p> - -<p>"The only chance will be some time during the attack on Alpha Centauri. -I'll get word to you as soon as the arrangements are made, but don't -get impatient. You heard Varsek. I'll have to move very cautiously."</p> - -<p>"And what happens to me in the meantime?"</p> - -<p>"You'll be questioned. Oh, not like that. Varsek reserves the pit for -special cases. By our Intelligence group, by subterfuge—the captives' -quarters are thoroughly monitored and don't forget it—and by Varsek -himself, probably. Don't antagonize him, Wyatt, or you could find -yourself in the pit at that."</p> - -<p>They had come to a transverse corridor, and now Brinna gave him a -warning glance and said in a sharp impersonal tone, "That way." Her -hand was on the butt of her stunner.</p> - -<p>Wyatt turned obediently, into the transverse corridor. A guard who -had been lounging midway of it snapped to attention. He was stationed -beside a door. Brinna marched Wyatt up to him and said, "Another one -for the tank," and the guard said, "Yes, sir." He did a complicated -series of things with his hands, apparently activating power sources -that released various locks, and the door opened.</p> - -<p>"Inside," the guard said to Wyatt, and jerked his thumb.</p> - -<p>With no further word to Brinna, Wyatt stepped through the door.</p> - -<p>It closed behind him with the sound of a bank vault shutting for the -night.</p> - -<p>The room he stood in was fairly large and it had bunks all around the -walls. About sixteen bunks, Wyatt thought, and there were about a dozen -men sitting on the edges of them, or sitting around a table bolted to -the floor in the center of the room. They were all looking at him. -They were the damnedest collection of humanity, or whatever you wanted -to call it, that Wyatt had ever come across. He remembered Brinna's -complaint that the accessible people, the ones easily picked up without -giving any wide-spread alarm, usually lived in isolated regions and -were without much in the way of technical knowledge.</p> - -<p>He could see the problem, all right. Of the five Earthmen there, -one was an Arab in a dirty burnoose, one looked like a young Apache -Indian in old farm clothes, and one, at a guess, came from Chinese -Turkestan and smelled of camels. The other two were closer to home. -One was medium-tall and stocky, with a thick chest and thin strong -legs. He wore faded Levis and high-heeled boots and his face was -burned brick-red to the middle of his forehead. Above that his skin -was as white as a baby's. A Stetson hat hung on a peg over his bunk. -The fifth man, who sat beside him, was cut out of the same cloth, but -somehow with a difference. Wyatt was puzzled for a minute, and then he -remembered once seeing an Australian movie with a long lean leathery -actor named Chips Rafferty in it playing a stockman, and he thought he -had the answer.</p> - -<p>The other six men in the room were not from Earth.</p> - -<p>The other six men in the room were not human.</p> - -<p>Not as Wyatt was used to thinking of human, homo sapiens, tracing a -well-fossilized descent back through the various <i>anthropus</i> forms -and ultimately to the primal ancestor. These six walked erect and had -facile hands and humanoid bodies and quite handsome faces, but whatever -their primal ancestor had been it had not been like man's. It had left -them a legacy of body hair that could not be called anything else but -fur, and their skulls were curiously elongated rather than domed, and -their finger-tips still had their ancient claws, retracting catlike -into the flesh. Catlike, Wyatt thought, was a good word for them—and -yet not quite Earthly-catlike. The ears were too round, the eyes too -large and dark and capable of warmth. They wore garments of fine cloth -in bright shades to set off their individual color, and in size and -facial conformation they were as different from each other as the -Earthmen were.</p> - -<p>They looked at Wyatt, sitting in two double rows on the edges of their -bunks. The Earthmen looked at Wyatt. And in no eye, human or humanoid, -was there a spark of friendliness.</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "Hello."</p> - -<p>There was no answer. The stocky man and the long lean one got up, and -each one hitched up his pants and left the thumbs of his hands sticking -negligently in the waistband.</p> - -<p>"Look," said Wyatt, annoyed, "I didn't come here because I wanted to, -but I haven't got smallpox or whooping cough, and I haven't wronged -anyone's sister."</p> - -<p>The two men began to walk slowly forward. The young Apache rose and -came after them, a dark gleam flickering deep in his eyes. The Arab -rose, and then the Turcoman, and then the six lithe furry men came -dropping one by one from the edges of their bunks and all of them moved -toward Wyatt, not speaking.</p> - -<p>A cold qualm of fear contracted his heart. He set his back against the -door and braced himself.</p> - -<p>"What is this?" he said. "What are you doing? I'm an Earthman, a -captive like you. Why—"</p> - -<p>"You're no Earthman," said the stocky southwesterner, in a very cold, -mild voice. "You're another goddamn lousy spy."</p> - -<p>They came at him all together in a swift purposeful rush.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> - - -<p>Instead of cowering against the door or trying to get out, as they -expected him to do, Wyatt sprang straight for the man in the Levis. He -was easy to get at because he was leading the others by a pace or so. -Wyatt hit him.</p> - -<p>"Spy, am I?" he snarled. He was mad. The rush closed around him but he -hung onto the man, who snorted and grappled with him, and they toppled -over thrashing and kicking among the legs of the others. "I'll show you -who's a spy," he said. The tall man he took to be an Australian bent -over and started to pull at him, and he kicked him furiously on the -shins. "One at a time, boy. Keep your paws off." He rolled with his -enemy, pounding on a cast-iron body and getting knocked dizzy himself -in return. He began to swear. He had never been much for swearing, -but the injustice of this attack inspired him beyond his talents. He -went on pounding and cursing until after a while he realized that his -target was no longer in range and that he was alone in a small circle, -surrounded by the others who were looking down at him. He crouched -there, blinking, and saw the man in the Levis wiping blood off his -mouth with the back of his hand and studying him speculatively.</p> - -<p>"So I'm a so-and-so saddle tramp, am I?" he said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and a damn dumb one," said Wyatt bitterly. He got up, bunching -his fists.</p> - -<p>"Real fast now," said the stockman, "who was it died at the Alamo?"</p> - -<p>"Davy Crockett," said Wyatt. "King of the wild frontier. Also William -Barret Travis and Jim Bowie and a lot of other good men who never had -songs written about them. Come on, let's finish this."</p> - -<p>"No," said the other man, stepping back. "I don't reckon anybody but an -Earthman could swear like that without stuttering, nor want to fight -like that. What would you say, Bill?"</p> - -<p>The Australian said he agreed.</p> - -<p>"My name's A. C. Burdick," said the stockman, holding out his hand, -"and I'm a long way from home. Sorry about jumping you like that, but -we've had three guys in a row claiming to be captives like us, only -they weren't, and we're getting sick of it."</p> - -<p>Still glowering, Wyatt shook hands with him, and then with the -Australian. The Arab and the Turcoman muttered and returned sulkily to -their places, apparently disappointed that there had been no bloodshed. -The Apache youth stood and regarded Wyatt with an unwinking stare from -under his greasy hatbrim.</p> - -<p>"This here is No-Name," said Burdick, grinning. "He was sleeping out -in the hills when he was picked up—you know, some of them still find -out their warrior-name by getting it in a dream the old way. He figures -this is all part of the dream and is waiting till he wakes up."</p> - -<p>Wyatt nodded to No-Name, who inclined his head briefly and went back to -his bunk where he sat cross-legged, patiently brooding.</p> - -<p>Burdick shifted from his native tongue to the language of Uryx and -said, "These gentlemen are from Alpha Centauri Four."</p> - -<p>The furred slender men clasped their hands and raised them to their -breasts. One of them, who was jet black and dressed in a scarlet tunic, -said in the same tongue,</p> - -<p>"I am Thurne of Obran, a king's messenger. I was taken as I crossed a -plain, carrying a message between kings. Now there will be war for all."</p> - -<p>The others nodded sadly. Wyatt, all his anger forgotten now, said, -"Yes, and for my world too."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Burdick, "come in and make yourself at home."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The time that followed then was something of a nightmare to Wyatt, -not too protracted but intense. It was a strain watching his tongue -when he talked with the others, knowing that every word he said was -being listened to outside. The Arab, the Turcoman, and No-Name awaited -whatever thing might happen with their several brands of fatalism but -Burdick and the Australian had a clearer understanding of the situation -and were frantic to do something about it. He would have liked to offer -them a word of hope, but he did not dare to. For the Alpha Centaurians, -Wyatt knew, there was no hope, and they knew it too. With each passing -hour, as the fleet roared on its way, Wyatt wished more earnestly for -something evil and permanent to happen to Varsek.</p> - -<p>It didn't. The only thing that happened was that Wyatt was hauled out -away from the others at frequent intervals and questioned, questioned, -questioned until he was too dazed and tired to form words any more. He -tried not to tell them anything at all, but they were experts, and he -suspected that they learned almost as much, if not more, from what he -refused to tell them as from what he did. His only comfort was that -he had no knowledge of armaments or defense beyond what any ordinary -citizen might read in the papers, and which Fleet Intelligence had -doubtless also read.</p> - -<p>He sweated through it the best way he could and waited for word from -Brinna.</p> - -<p>It did not come.</p> - -<p>Makvern came instead. He said, "Varsek wants to see you."</p> - -<p>Wyatt went with him and they walked briskly through the corridors.</p> - -<p>"What does he want with me?" Wyatt asked.</p> - -<p>"You'll have to ask him," Makvern said.</p> - -<p>"Did Loran die?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. He died."</p> - -<p>"Did he talk?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Then the Second Party's still safe."</p> - -<p>"For the time being," said Makvern. "Only for the time being." He would -not turn to look at Wyatt. His profile was as expressionless as a -king's head on a coin.</p> - -<p>Wyatt hesitated while he took three steps, knowing that if he guessed -wrong he would almost certainly wind up in the pit, and that Earth -quite certainly would be worse off than ever. Then, considering what -he had to gain if he guessed right, he plunged.</p> - -<p>"The Second Party," he said, "could take over if Varsek had a serious -setback at Earth. Then they could take the Task Force and go home. They -could start exporting some things from Uryx, like peace and stable -government, instead of importing nothing but loot."</p> - -<p>Makvern continued to walk briskly, looking neither to the right nor to -the left.</p> - -<p>"How would you propose that Earth could give Varsek a setback?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>"Get some of us back to Earth before the fleet, to give warning."</p> - -<p>"That kind of talk," said Makvern evenly, "could get you and possibly a -number of other people killed. I suggest that you stop it."</p> - -<p>His tone was hard, perfectly cold and inflexible. Wyatt's heart sank. -He had guessed wrong and Makvern was not one of the underground. And -yet he had been so sure, the way Makvern had looked when Loran was -suffering in the pit—</p> - -<p>An orderly passed them into a huge room that was obviously used as an -outer office, full of communic equipment, recorders, electronic files, -and busy men. A second orderly opened the inner door for them, and -Wyatt found himself looking at Varsek as he had first seen him on the -communic screen, sitting behind the big crowded desk with his shirt -open and his sleeves rolled up, the picture of demon energy.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He nodded and Makvern stepped back a little, leaving Wyatt alone, as it -were, before Varsek. Varsek picked up a report and shook it at him.</p> - -<p>"This is from Intelligence," he said. "It's not satisfactory. You're -not cooperating, Wyatt."</p> - -<p>"Would you expect me to?" said Wyatt.</p> - -<p>"I expect you not to be a fool," said Varsek. "Look, I'm going to loot -your planet. You know that, don't you? All right. Now if I know where -things are I won't have to smash a lot of other things trying to find -them, will I? And if there's no attempt at resistance, then nobody will -get hurt, will they?" He threw the report. "You're not helping Earth, -you're making it harder."</p> - -<p>"I told everybody in the beginning," said Wyatt sullenly, "that I don't -know anything more than they can find out themselves from reading a -popular magazine."</p> - -<p>"You're a native. You know more about it than we could ever find out in -the time we have, and you have a scientific background. You must know -approximately where the largest uranium deposits are, for instance, and -the main sources of radioactive isotopes. Yet you refuse to verify our -information, or correct it if it's wrong."</p> - -<p>"That's right," said Wyatt. "I do refuse."</p> - -<p>"Brave and stubborn," Varsek said. "Well. I know how stubborn you are. -I could find out very quickly about the bravery."</p> - -<p>"In the pit?"</p> - -<p>Varsek nodded. "What would you say, Makvern?"</p> - -<p>"It's up to you, sir," Makvern said, shrugging.</p> - -<p>"No opinion at all?"</p> - -<p>"None."</p> - -<p>"That's not like you, Makvern."</p> - -<p>"It's impossible to have any opinion of value concerning the -advisability of—ah—questioning a man I don't know at all. I have -no idea of his limits. If they're easily reached, fine. If not, he's -likely to die before you know it."</p> - -<p>"True," said Varsek. "True. And he's the best bet to transmit a -convincing message to Earth when the time comes, assuring them of the -futility of resistance." He leaned back in his chair and scratched -his chest reflectively, studying Wyatt with his bright cold eyes, and -Wyatt had an uneasy feeling that Varsek was thinking rapidly of a great -number of things only remotely connected with him except that they -might have an indirect bearing on his life or death.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Varsek finally, "there's always time for the pit later on. -We'll follow the customary procedure. Arrange for Wyatt and the other -Earthmen to have a good clear view of what happens when we hit Alpha -Centauri Four, which will be—" He frowned at a desk chrono. "—in -approximately five hours. I want you to watch carefully, Wyatt. This -world isn't as mechanized as parts of yours and it doesn't have nuclear -power, but it's civilized. Remember that. And remember that your -nuclear weapons wouldn't be much more effective against us than their -explosive devises."</p> - -<p>He jerked his thumb at Makvern. "Get him out of here now. I've got half -the planning still to do for this campaign, without worrying about the -next one."</p> - -<p>He became furiously busy. Makvern ushered Wyatt out and down the -corridors again. This time Wyatt did not speak at all, and neither did -Makvern. They parted at the door of the prisoners' quarters.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The five hours seemed more like five centuries. The only chance for an -escape, Brinna had said, would be during the confusion of the attack. -He didn't know whether she had been able to arrange it at all, and if -she had, whether he might have made Makvern suspicious and ruined the -whole thing by his attempt to make a better deal for Earth through -the Second Party. He chewed his knuckles and sweated and thought wild -thoughts about escaping somehow on his own hook, but he couldn't plan -anything with Burdick and the Australian because it would be overheard, -or seen.</p> - -<p>The other Earthmen were all restless and upset, as though they sensed -a coming crisis. The Alpha Centaurians waited quietly, by contrast. -Only their eyes shone with a terrible light. By God, thought Wyatt -furiously, I'll kill Varsek with my own hands if I have to, I swear it. -It was a childish thing to say even to himself, and he knew it. But he -had never meant anything so much.</p> - -<p>The Task Force hurtled on, a school of killer whales racing toward an -unsuspecting victim.</p> - -<p>The door opened and Brinna stood there. There were guards behind her.</p> - -<p>"Come," she said. "All of you."</p> - -<p>She stood aside while the captives filed out. As Wyatt passed her she -gave him one quick fleeting glance. Hope sprang up in him. She had -arranged something, and whatever it was he and the other prisoners -would see that it worked.</p> - -<p>They were marched through the corridors under guard and into a -contact lock, where a small craft clung like a remora under the chin -of the flagship. Here they were separated into two groups. The Alpha -Centaurians were sent down first. Wyatt heard a clashing of metal, and -then the Earthmen were ordered down and placed in a semicircular room -which was half of an observation turret. The Alpha Centaurians were in -the other half, fully visible but securely barred off by a partition of -metal rods.</p> - -<p>Similar rods slid down behind the Earthmen into slots in the deck. -Wyatt stayed beside the doorway. He heard Brinna dismiss the guards. -Their feet clanged on the ladder, going up. Brinna came along the -corridor and stopped on the other side of the bars. She was blazing -with excitement, triumph, hate, a lot of things that had been bottled -up in her and which she was daring now to show.</p> - -<p>"It's all arranged," she said, speaking rapidly but in a low voice. -"All but two of the crew are my men. When we're clear of the ship, pass -the word quietly to be ready when I—"</p> - -<p>She broke off, whirling around, her face suddenly alarmed. Someone was -coming down the ladder from the flagship.</p> - -<p>It was Makvern, coming fast, and he held a stunner in his hand.</p> - -<p>Brinna controlled herself admirably. She said, "Is there some trouble, -Makvern? The prisoners are all secure—"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure they are," said Makvern. He reached the foot of the ladder -and an officer appeared as though he had been waiting for him. Makvern -nodded sharply and almost at once the warning bells were ringing and -the hatch was sliding shut. A moment later Wyatt felt the jar as -contact was broken and the small craft fell free on its own power.</p> - -<p>Makvern stood looking at Brinna and Wyatt. "I imagine," he said to -Wyatt, "that she was telling you most of the men aboard belong to her. -She was just a little bit mistaken. All of them belong to me."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> - - -<p>Brinna's face was now absolutely white, with her red mouth showing on -it like a smear of blood. She dropped her hand to the grip of her own -stunner.</p> - -<p>She almost made it but not quite. Makvern hit her full on with a -crackling charge and she fell and lay still and senseless.</p> - -<p>Makvern sighed. "Poor Brinna. This is like snatching food from someone -that's starving—I almost regret it—"</p> - -<p>"I'll bet you do," said Wyatt. If he could have got his hands between -the rods and around Makvern's throat he would have killed him. Burdick -and Bill Whitfield, the Australian, had joined him now, and Whitfield -asked, "What's up?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing," said Wyatt with intense bitterness. "Not a damn thing, -thanks to me. I had to get smart."</p> - -<p>He felt sick with the knowledge of his own folly. He had taken the -chance on Makvern in the hope of sparing Earth any attack at all, and -this was what had come of it. He and Brinna would now go together to -the pit, and what would happen to Earth would happen.</p> - -<p>He pushed Burdick aside and went across the narrow room to the curving -glassite-panelled wall on the other side and stood there. The others -left him alone.</p> - -<p>He heard movement and voices in the corridor, but he paid no attention -to them. Nothing was important now. He looked out into space, lighted -with the baleful light of the twin suns, and saw the whole great -Task Force spread between him and the stars overhead, the destroyers -coursing ahead of the main body, all their hulls glittering bright, -beautiful, swift, deadly, a brazen spear for the slaying of planets.</p> - -<p>The small craft in which he and the others were imprisoned was dropping -below the fleet. It was extremely difficult to judge speeds here where -there was nothing to go by but the stars, but Wyatt thought the Task -Force must have been decelerating for some time as it approached its -target, and that the small craft was moving considerably faster than -the main body. He watched, simply because the ships were before his -eyes, and he began to realize that this little ship was leading all the -others down to battle.</p> - -<p>"Like a damn Judas goat," he muttered, and Burdick spoke from beside -him.</p> - -<p>"They took that lady officer away," he said. "I reckon she's in -trouble?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "The worst. She was going to help us escape."</p> - -<p>Burdick said shrewdly, "Bill and me figured it was something like that. -Too bad it went wrong."</p> - -<p>Wyatt explained why it had gone wrong. "I should have been content with -what I had. But I thought if—oh, what the devil's the use of hashing -it over!" He looked at the steel rods that separated them from the -Alpha Centaurians. "If we could just get those bars out of the way, -get all together, the twelve of us—we might still do something. This -is a small ship. It can't carry much of a crew, probably not more than -five or six beside Makvern. If we could rush them and take the ship, we -might be able to force them to fly it to Earth—"</p> - -<p>Moonshine. Fool's talk, the babble of desperation. On the other hand, -what did they have to lose?</p> - -<p>Their lives, of course. But that would have to be up to the individual. -As far as Wyatt was concerned, the pit was no beautiful prospect.</p> - -<p>And if they succeeded—if—</p> - -<p>"Well," said Whitfield, "let's get cracking." He crooked his finger at -the Arab, the Turcoman, and No-Name.</p> - -<p>In the spaceship, with the incredible panorama of space and the racing -war fleet beyond the observation panels, the six Earthmen held a -conference, speaking to each other not in their own diverse tongues but -in the language of Uryx, a place they had never seen and had not even -known existed until suddenly it had become the most important thing in -their lives.</p> - -<p>The conference was brief. When it was over Wyatt and Burdick went to -the wall of rods and talked to the Alpha Centaurians.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thurne of Obran spoke for them all. "We will fight," he said. "We will -fight gladly." He turned and pointed, his eyes blazing with a feral -light that made him look more like a black panther than a human man. -Wyatt followed his gesture and saw a misty blue planet rushing toward -them in the golden glare of the primary.</p> - -<p>Burdick said matter-of-factly, "Before we do any fighting we got to get -out of here, so we better start looking for holes."</p> - -<p>They looked. They had no way of knowing whether they were being watched -as they had been on the flagship, but they had to risk that. They -tested every rod and searched in vain for a weak spot. They tried by -main force and by cleverness and there was no way. And the blue misty -planet rushed closer and spread into a vast globe, and the blue color -faded into greens and browns and ochres, splotched with the harsher -blue of water. A high-pitched shrieking began and grew in intensity. -The blaze of the sun was softened and the stars were blotted out. -Clouds whipped and rolled and were gone, and the wild downward rush -stopped. The ship hung in a greenish sky, and there was a yellow desert -of sand and tumbled rock below. Cutting through the desert was a gorge -with a river in the bottom of it, and where the river left the gorge -at the edge of the desert was a green and most beautiful land full of -little streamlets and flashing lakes, with queer-colored orchards and -many-colored fields. And in the middle of the land there was a city.</p> - -<p>"Obran," Thurne said.</p> - -<p>Wyatt took the rods in his hands and strained until the veins swelled -to bursting on his forehead and his face was crimson.</p> - -<p>He could not budge them, but the other rods that barred the corridor -suddenly slid up out of the way and Makvern stood there with another -officer behind him.</p> - -<p>Makvern said, "Wyatt—"</p> - -<p>But Wyatt had already spun around and launched himself like a charging -bull at Makvern.</p> - -<p>He hit him and knocked him back into the other officer. There was a -moment of wild confusion, while Burdick and Whitfield and the others -piled through the door and into the fray. Wyatt was only clearly aware -of one thing and that was that he had Makvern down and that he was -going to kill him and it was all very pleasant. Then Whitfield was -hauling at him and saying something about needing this one later on and -Wyatt allowed himself to be hauled away, and the fight was over. This -much of it, at least.</p> - -<p>Burdick pulled Makvern to his feet and held him with one arm doubled -behind his back. The Turcoman was methodically strangling the other -officer and Wyatt went over and made him stop, explaining that the man -might be necessary for flying the ship. Then he turned back to Makvern, -who was shaking his head hard to clear it.</p> - -<p>"Take their stunners and keep watch," Wyatt said to Burdick and -Whitfield. "No-Name, you hold him. Good. Don't be afraid to hurt him a -little—remember Cochise." He spoke then to Makvern. "How do I raise -that partition?"</p> - -<p>The Alpha Centaurians were all squeezed against it, trying to see what -was going on.</p> - -<p>Makvern said, "I'll raise it myself in a minute. God, Wyatt, don't you -ever think before you jump?"</p> - -<p>"I've thought," Wyatt said. "Plenty. Where's that control? And where's -Brinna?"</p> - -<p>He nodded to No-Name, who exerted pressure. Makvern began to look -really angry. He snapped,</p> - -<p>"Will you stop bawling at me and listen? I'm on your side. I'm the man -Loran died for. I <i>am</i> the leader of the Second Party!"</p> - -<p>The other officer, who had finally recovered his voice a little after -the Turcoman's mauling, croaked out, "You won't be the leader of -anything for long if we don't get that broadcast going. The flagship -has already checked us once. If Varsek' doesn't find you anywhere else -in the fleet and we don't behave just the way we ought to—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Makvern glared at Wyatt. "Well? Do you still want to go to Earth, or -would you prefer to accompany Brinna and me to the pit?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt said to No-Name, "Let him go."</p> - -<p>"Thanks," said Makvern sourly. "This shows signs of becoming a habit. I -would have liked to tell you earlier that plans were already laid, but -I didn't think it was wise. Varsek is unpredictable. He might have sent -you to the pit—"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Wyatt. "You were a big help there. No opinion. You might at -least have said no."</p> - -<p>"If I had, you'd have been there in five minutes. Anyway, I've been -teetering on the brink of that pit for weeks. All I wanted to do was -hold out until now."</p> - -<p>"So you let Brinna go ahead with this on her own hook, to kind of cover -for you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. It kept her busy, and kept Varsek puzzled about me. It worked out -well. Most of Brinna's men are really Second Party men, though it's -going to be a shock to her to find that out. We were taking no chance -of exchanging Varsek for another ambition-hungry chief, even if this -one is female and handsome."</p> - -<p>He had moved into the observation cell and was talking as much to the -Alpha Centaurians as to Wyatt and the Earthmen.</p> - -<p>"Your idea of warning Earth and using a setback there to put us in -power—the same thing Brinna had in mind—wasn't a bad one, except that -we can't wait that long. Varsek is alarmed. He's willing to torture the -whole fleet if he has to root us out. We would have liked to put -this off until we were just a little stronger. The fleet has been away -from home a long time now and discontent is growing among the men—we -could have capitalized on that. But we have no choice. If we don't move -now we'll be destroyed, inevitably. So we're making our break at Alpha -Centauri."</p> - -<p>"How?" asked Wyatt.</p> - -<p>"A full-scale revolt is out. Things will go well here, not much -effective resistance and a lot of loot. Men don't oust a leader under -those circumstances. We can't hope to take over the whole fleet. After -the ships have landed and the ground phase of the attack is under way, -we'll separate ourselves from the main force and take over as many -of the destroyers as we can man. Anybody that wants to can come with -us—in the heat of a successful battle, I'm afraid that won't be many. -After that—" Makvern shrugged. "There are too many variables. I don't -know."</p> - -<p>"Can you help my world?" asked Thurne. "My city?"</p> - -<p>Makvern said sadly, "I won't lie to you. No. Except in that Varsek will -have fewer men and ships, we can't help. We're not strong enough."</p> - -<p>"And you would not fight against your own comrades, anyway," said -Thurne.</p> - -<p>"Not under these circumstances, no. That would be too much of a stab in -the back and we'd lose all chance of ever winning them over. About all -I can offer you, Thurne, is the hope of vengeance and the promise that -if we do win we'll make what restitution we can."</p> - -<p>"And what about us?" asked Wyatt. "What about Earth?"</p> - -<p>"We'll send you there. If Varsek is sufficiently shaken up there may -not be any need for a warning. If not—well, his force will be that -much the weaker."</p> - -<p>Wyatt looked at the others and said, "That's fair enough."</p> - -<p>Makvern turned to the Alpha Centaurians, who had been talking among -themselves.</p> - -<p>"Varsek is already hunting for me through the fleet. He's been told -that I'm not here but if anything about the required routine of this -ship is wrong he'll send a force at once to search it and that will -be about the end of me and the revolt both. What do you say, Thurne? -Can I raise the bars as between comrades, or must I treat you still as -captives?"</p> - -<p>Thurne said, "Raise them. We will do what we can against Varsek."</p> - -<p>"Good," said Makvern. "Good!" He called to the other officer and the -steel rods slid up out of sight. "Now we must hurry. Thurne, you -were given some instructions quite a while ago. Follow them. I know -they're distasteful to a brave man, but you'll be doing your people no -disservice. To urge them to fight against us would be suicidal."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless," said Thurne, "they will fight."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Makvern sighed. "That's usually the case. Make the speech anyway. -That's what we're here for. We're leading the whole fleet, remember, -out in front where everybody can see us."</p> - -<p>He showed the reluctant Alpha Centaurian where to stand, on a lens-like -circle of crystal in the deck, with a similar one over his head. Almost -at once both lenses brightened, so that Thurne stood encased in a -pillar of light.</p> - -<p>"But," said Wyatt, "there are no radios down there, no receivers. His -culture hasn't built them yet. How are you going to broadcast?"</p> - -<p>Makvern motioned him and the other Earthmen to the observation panels -on their side of the cell. "Watch," he said. "That's what you're -supposed to do anyway. The value of example. The prospective victim is -softened up by seeing what happens to his predecessor."</p> - -<p>He started away. "I've watched enough of these things, world after -world. They make me sick. I have things to do now. Listen for the -intercom and be ready to jump when I tell you."</p> - -<p>He went out. Thurne stood stiffly in his pillar of light. The ship -dropped lower over the city of Obran. And now the ships of the Task -Force had begun to come into view in the higher air.</p> - -<p>A metallic voice said, "Begin the talk, Thurne."</p> - -<p>Burdick said suddenly, "I'll be damned. Look there."</p> - -<p>In the clear air above the city, ahead of and below the ship, stood a -gigantic three-dimensional image of Thurne, perhaps thirty feet high, -moving slowly as the ship moved, his insubstantial feet brushing the -tops of the queer ornate towers. And now Thurne was talking. Faintly -through the hull came an echoing vibration from outside, and Wyatt knew -that Thurne's voice, as greatly amplified as the prismatic projection -of his personal image, was booming out over Obran. Down in the streets, -in the sunlight, between the tall buildings and in the parks and along -the rows of little mudbrick houses, people were running out to stare up -in fear and amazement.</p> - -<p>Thurne was speaking to his people in his own tongue so that Wyatt could -not understand the words, but from his tone and the snarling glint of -bared teeth he was not preaching submission as whole-heartedly as he -might have done. Probably the Task Force was used to that. They could -not control their captives absolutely on these propaganda broadcasts. -They gave them the chance, and probably it paid off in enough -surrenders to make it worthwhile. With more primitive people than -Thurne's, the appearance of a giant in the sky over their heads would -be enough in itself to make them collapse in utter panic.</p> - -<p>Down below in the sunlit streets the people began to run here and -there, and a haze of dust arose and shimmered. From the towers and the -high walls a million carven faces looked out unmoved, the faces of a -million dancing stone gods and goddesses.</p> - -<p>The fleet came down in a whistling rush among the orchards and fields, -burning and crushing wherever they landed in a great circle around the -city. The people ran. They had no nuclear weapons, no ground-to-air -missiles, no planes. They ran and there was no place to run to. They -were already trapped.</p> - -<p>Poor devils, thought Wyatt, and imagined what New York or Washington -would be like under similar conditions, with a gigantic image of -himself striding the sky and bellowing at them to surrender. The -success of Makvern's revolt and the creation of a wide split in the -fleet itself were now his only hope that that might not happen.</p> - -<p>"I thought," said Burdick, "that Thurne was so sure they'd fight."</p> - -<p>"They will," said Wyatt. "Look. The panic's already quieting." The -women and children had disappeared from the streets now. Groups of -men still ran but their running was purposeful. Suddenly from various -places around the outskirts of the city puffs of smoke burst out and -Whitfield said,</p> - -<p>"Little cannon, by God!"</p> - -<p>The pillar of light flicked off. The image of Thurne disappeared from -the sky. Makvern's voice came over the intercom. There was an iron note -in it.</p> - -<p>"We've been ordered to land at once beside the flagship. Obviously we -can't. And if you look up you'll see trouble on the way."</p> - -<p>They looked. Two small fast craft, light-armed but plenty heavy enough -for the propaganda ship, were headed in their direction.</p> - -<p>"They will attempt to force that landing on us, and I can't fight them -in this tub. I propose to land at once. It may be rough, so take what -precautions you can. Wyatt, there's a supply of stunners here. Come and -get them."</p> - -<p>Wyatt found his way to the bridge. A case of side-arms, apparently -fresh out of stores, had been smuggled there and hidden alike from -Varsek's men and Brinna. Makvern's face was wire-drawn with tension -and excitement. He showed Wyatt the case and then handed him a -three-pronged key.</p> - -<p>"She's in the skipper's cabin—it's the only one that's locked. Don't -give her arms or a chance to make trouble. Apart from that I leave her -up to you."</p> - -<p>Wyatt said, "Thanks."</p> - -<p>Makvern went out, hurrying.</p> - -<p>They smashed open the case and served the stunners out, but Wyatt -didn't wait for that. He grabbed one for himself and then went hunting -for the skipper's cabin. He could hear a mounting tumult from the -bridgeroom. The ship was low, skimming the housetops, lurching this -way and that so roughly that it was hard to stand up. The two pursuing -ships were closing fast.</p> - -<p>He heard Brinna before he found her. She was shouting through the door, -demanding to be freed. Wyatt struggled with the unfamiliar lock. The -ship rocked wildly. There was a roar and a crack like the grandfather -of all lightning bolts. Blue fire sheeted from the metal inner -surfaces. Half stunned, he saw the door come open under his hand and -then Brinna seemed to leap through the air at him, her eyes wide and -her arms outstretched. She hit him, but he was already flying backward -himself as the ship went out from under him and they fell together -against a wall that had suddenly become a deck. There was a very great -noise and a sound of things moving and somehow the branches of a tree -had appeared, stuck through the broken port of the skipper's cabin -which was now directly overhead.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> - - -<p>It took Wyatt quite a long minute to realize that he was still alive -and not even badly hurt. He didn't know about Brinna, but when he -pushed her off him he was relieved to see her move. He scrambled to -his feet and helped her up. Makvern came from the direction of the -bridge. He shouted and made urgent motions. He was bleeding from a cut -on the cheek and his shirt was torn. Wyatt pushed Brinna toward him and -clambered over the buckled walls to the observation chamber.</p> - -<p>Burdick and Whitfield and the Apache were already crawling toward him. -The Turcoman came after them, but the Arab was dead, lying in a corner -with his head twisted under him. The Alpha Centaurians had taken less -damage on their side. Three of them were hurt but they were all able to -move. Wyatt shouted at them to come out and made his way back to where -Makvern and the officers from the bridge had got the hatch open. In a -minute he had dropped out of it perhaps eight feet to the ground, in -a tangle of broken trees, and the others were coming one by one after -him. The two ships, one of which had brought them down, had shot over -them and away, presumably to turn and make another pass.</p> - -<p>Or maybe there was no need for another pass.</p> - -<p>They had crashed at the edge of the city, just missing a row of -mudbrick houses shaped like ovens with round brick roofs. Beyond, the -ships of the Task Force stood like ominous towers in the green fields, -discharging their ground attack vehicles.</p> - -<p>Wyatt had heard about these but he had never seen any. Every destroyer -carried a number of them to clear the way for troops, in the manner of -tank units, only these were not in any way like tanks. They consisted -of a monstrous red globe mounted on four jointed legs which were about -four times a man's height so that the globes stood high off the ground. -There was a small propeller mount underneath so that the globes could -become amphibious at need. They were horrible-looking things to come -stalking at you over the flat fields, and they were stalking pretty -fast. Some twenty yards away to the right a battery of three small -shiny cannon popped and banged, served by furry men whose courage was -only exceeded by the futility of what they did.</p> - -<p>Makvern was talking. He was fierce and alert, a man caught in a tight -spot and determined to get out of it.</p> - -<p>"Our men are to gather in the northwest sector of the perimeter. -We'll try to fight our way to them. This sector here is designated as -northeast and we're pretty close to the middle of it, so it could be -worse. Stick together and let's go fast."</p> - -<p>Brinna said quite coolly, "Watch it, they're coming within range."</p> - -<p>They began to run, away from the wrecked ship and toward the row of -houses, bunched together and looking warily over their shoulders. -One of the globes in particular seemed to have decided to follow -them—probably it had been ordered to after the ship crashed. Now Wyatt -could see a circle of round shuttered ports around its top, and one of -them had opened. A large sort of gun or projector was rising from the -hole on a flexible mount, bobbing about in an inquisitive fashion like -the head of a bird on a long neck. Suddenly it made a point directly at -them and a brilliant white beam shot toward them. They leaped for cover -between the houses, but the beam was short. Where it hit the ground it -erupted into a shower of green sparks.</p> - -<p>"Heavy-duty stunner," Makvern said. "When one of those hits you you -stay down till the battle's over."</p> - -<p>They ran again, ducking and dodging between the queer round-roofed -houses.</p> - -<p>"Don't they kill?" Wyatt asked.</p> - -<p>"Not often. The very old, little children, invalids. It's humane, as -weapons go."</p> - -<p>Another white beam sizzled down close behind Whitfield, bursting -green where it hit. The red globe towered over them against the sky, -grotesquely like a huge round-bodied quadruped with a ludicrously small -head on that bobbing little neck.</p> - -<p>"I don't reckon," said Burdick, "that we're going to outrun that for -long."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thurne turned a slitted panther look on the globe and said, "I can lead -you by safer ways, if you can run very swiftly ahead of it for a little -time."</p> - -<p>"We can run," said Makvern.</p> - -<p>They ran. Wyatt, Burdick and Whitfield all had ideas about giving -Brinna a hand, only to find that she was going fleet as a deer with -long clean strides. They ran their hearts into their throats and the -breath clear out of them and they made it into a long colonnade that -covered the walk beside a great building covered with the rows of -sculptured dancing gods that seemed to delight Thurne's people. In the -broad street men were dragging more of the queer little cannon into -place. Their body-fur was dark and mottled with sweat. Several of them -left the cannon and came leaping toward Makvern's party, their teeth -and claws bared, but Thurne shouted at them in his own tongue and they -stopped reluctantly. The five who had been captive with Thurne now ran -to join the men with the cannon, which were already hurling shot at the -stalking globe and not hurting it at all. Thurne pointed to a wide low -door and said, "In here."</p> - -<p>They crowded through. Over his shoulder, in the brilliant sunlight -outside, Wyatt saw green fire in the street. The cannoneers fell down -and the little guns were silent.</p> - -<p>Inside it was quite dark by contrast, a great vaulted place so crowded -with carvings and shadows that for a minute or two he couldn't tell -if anything alive was in there or not. Then he got the sounds, the -breathing and stirring, the whimpering of small creatures, the -whisperings. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he saw that the -place was full of women and children huddled along the walls on either -side and in the alcoves which he supposed were shrines because they had -big ornate statues in them and little lamps. The children, especially -the very young ones, looked like oversized kittens.</p> - -<p>Makvern said, "See those statues, and the gilding of the vault? All -gold, and the stones are real too, every one of them. A poor place to -seek sanctuary from looters."</p> - -<p>The hot feral eyes of the women made Wyatt shiver. All along the way -they would rise and come out with a white gleaming of claws and teeth. -If it had not been for Thurne they would have been torn to pieces in -seconds. Wyatt was glad when they reached the other end of the building -and emerged again into sunlight and the sharp sounds of battle.</p> - -<p>The red globes were stalking everywhere now, their monstrous forms -visible over the roofs of houses or between the towers of the larger -buildings. The defenders were being struck down or driven back into -the heart of the city, and troops of Uryx were already in the outlying -streets, beginning the systematic business of sacking Obran.</p> - -<p>A globe had just passed by in the street, leaving in its wake a litter -of stunned forms that looked sufficiently like corpses, but the troops -had not yet come in sight. There was another huge carved building -across the way. They raced toward it, and the men who were operating -the departing globe did not see them in time to fire.</p> - -<p>This building was better lighted inside, although it had just as much -carving, gilding and statuary as the last one. This was obviously -a hospital. Some of the patients began to scream at the sight of -the strangers and attendants ran to bar the way. Once more Thurne's -authority got them through—almost. This time, as they reached the -doorway at the far end, a party of Varsek's troops came in.</p> - -<p>There were eight or nine of them with stunners in their hands. They -were expecting trouble but nothing more than they could easily handle, -and the first thing they saw about the group inside was the uniforms of -Makvern and his officers. The leader actually saluted, and while he was -doing it he saw the Earthmen all armed, and the Alpha Centaurian armed, -and he said in sudden alarm to his party,</p> - -<p>"Look out, these are the people—"</p> - -<p>He didn't get any farther. Makvern's stunner knocked him down and then -Wyatt began firing and so did the others. There was a brief but violent -crackling of beams, and when it was all over seven of the fleet party -were down and two had made it out the door. Whitfield and No-Name and -two of the officers had gone down.</p> - -<p>So had Thurne.</p> - -<p>From here on they were on their own.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Makvern grimly, "let's get them up and out of here."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wyatt heaved No-Name onto his shoulders and Burdick carried Whitfield, -his long legs dragging. They left Thurne where he was, with his own -people. Burdened and staggering, they started out the door. And now -Brinna said,</p> - -<p>"You'd better give me a weapon."</p> - -<p>Makvern shook his head.</p> - -<p>"I don't see what you're afraid of," she said. "I know you won't kill -me and I know Varsek would. He wouldn't believe any story I could tell -him now."</p> - -<p>Makvern hesitated and then said, "All right. Take one of theirs."</p> - -<p>She picked up a stunner and they all went out together, cautiously, -into the bright sun.</p> - -<p>Here they were near one corner of a broad square. A globe was marching -toward them on its jointed stilt-legs, coming up the street to their -right, with men on foot following behind it. There were overturned -cannon and fallen men near the corner, where the beams had hit, and -other men were running away across the square, their faces wild with -fury and fear and helplessness.</p> - -<p>Makvern pointed to the mouth of a street diagonally across from them. -"Make for that. Our ships should not be far beyond here now, if—"</p> - -<p>Wyatt thought he was going to say <i>if the Second Party has been -successful</i>. But he didn't. It was hardly worth bringing that up, not -now.</p> - -<p>They ran out across the square, heavy and slow with their burdens.</p> - -<p>Once again they were lucky. They made the transit past the corner -before the men in the globe could fire at them, and then the buildings -protected them. A haze of dust and smoke hung in the air. The queer -high-piled towers and the crowded masses of carving seemed to waver -like things seen through water. The gods and goddesses almost seemed to -move, dancing and smiling with fierce, grotesque dignity.</p> - -<p>Some of the Alpha Centaurians who had been running away saw them and -turned back.</p> - -<p>They had weapons like very primitive pistols, and they had long sharp -knives. The ones with pistols paused to load them. The others charged. -And from the street behind came the measured clanging tread of the -globe.</p> - -<p>Wyatt fired. Nobody stopped running, they didn't dare to, because the -globe was a worse enemy than these furry men. They fired as they went -and some of the Alpha Centaurians fell under the stun rays and the rest -turned back, waiting for the others who were loading their pistols. -Wyatt panted and labored on under the weight of the Apache. The mouth -of the street was not far away now. Brinna and those of the men who -were not burdened had lagged behind to cover the others. Their stunners -crackled. Another one or two of the furry men went down, and then -there was a series of sharper crackling sounds and one of the officers -stopped and looked down in astonishment at the hole in his middle, from -which blood had begun to flow. A ball hit close to Wyatt's feet and -skipped away over the stones. Others rattled off the walls.</p> - -<p>Makvern yelled to them to hurry, sweeping the Alpha Centaurians with a -continuous flare from his stunner. Brinna was helping the wounded man, -half carrying him and firing steadily with her free arm. Wyatt softened -toward her immensely in that moment.</p> - -<p>The street mouth swallowed them. In almost the same instant the walking -globe rounded the corner. Its heavy beams took care of the Alpha -Centaurians, which was a favor to Makvern's party that was more or -less forced upon it. It would be after them too, probably, but in the -meantime the street ahead of them was clear and there was a bend in it -that would give them protection.</p> - -<p>They staggered on, in the dust and the hot sun. They rounded the bend -and Wyatt saw a short row of little houses and over them the tall -distant forms of ships.</p> - -<p>He thought for a minute that they were safe, that they had made it. And -then he saw the uniformed troops running up the street toward them, -utterly cutting them off.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> - - -<p>Makvern said sharply, "Hold your fire. They're ours."</p> - -<p>It was a minute before Wyatt took that in, and by that time someone -had lifted the ten-ton weight of No-Name off his back and he was being -hurried along the street and out across the fields toward the ships. -There was some fighting still going on—the Second Party men had -attacked the skeleton crews left behind after the troops disembarked, -and a few of them were still holding out.</p> - -<p>"We'll have them mopped up soon," a young officer panted, running -beside Makvern. He looked as though he had had a rough time. "God, I'm -glad you got through, sir! We were trying to find you—"</p> - -<p>"How well did we do?" asked Makvern.</p> - -<p>"We've got about one third of the fleet. I was hoping—"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Makvern. "So was I. Well, a third is better than a quarter, -or a tenth."</p> - -<p>"It's hardly a victory, though," said the young officer flatly. He -pointed off across the fields in the distance. "Look there, sir. -Varsek's starting to pull some of the men back to their ships. He can -catch us dead on the ground."</p> - -<p>"Send an order to prepare for take-off at once," said Makvern. "Is this -the command ship? Good. Get everybody here aboard, see that the wounded -are cared for. I'll want—" he reeled off a string of names—"on the -bridge immediately—"</p> - -<p>Things were already moving fast. Now they raced, under the whiplash of -Makvern's orders. Nobody stopped Wyatt, so he followed Makvern to the -bridge. Even he could see the danger. If Varsek's heavy-armed units -were manned in time to get above them they would be stopped before they -started.</p> - -<p>Makvern got his ships off the ground.</p> - -<p>They roared screaming into the sky, and before they were clear of the -atmosphere Varsek's face was mirrored in the communic screen.</p> - -<p>It was a face flinty and implacable with anger, not the wild kind that -soon burns out but a deeper colder thing that would last until the men -he considered to be his enemies were no longer any threat to him or -anyone else.</p> - -<p>"Did you think you could go home to Uryx now?" he asked, looking at -Makvern with his cold eyes. "You may be free of the fleet but you're -not free of me. If you go home I'll have you all tried for desertion. -I'm still your chief, Makvern, and I have powerful friends."</p> - -<p>"Who profit from the loot," said Makvern. "Yes, I know that. It was my -thought that we could force a few changes at Uryx too, before it stinks -too high of corruption."</p> - -<p>Varsek laughed. "With the whole fleet, you might do that. With your -handful—no." He leaned closer into the pick-up field so that he seemed -to be coming right through the screen. "Listen, Makvern. You've made -your move and failed. You can't fight me and you can't go home and -you can't even run for long. You haven't enough supply ships. You -haven't enough fuel or food. You'll have to start looting yourself or -try stealing from me, and sooner or later I'll catch up with you and -annihilate you."</p> - -<p>"Annihilate," said Makvern slowly. "That's a big, cruel word. I wonder -how your men will feel about it. We've been comrades for a long time -and our quarrel is with you, not with them. Perhaps a lot of them are -as sick of this life as we are and would like to get home to the -families they haven't seen in years. We didn't harm any of them when we -took these ships, and we'll welcome any of them who want to join us, -now or later. We'll be around for a while."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wyatt knew that Makvern was not talking to Varsek alone, but to all the -men who would be listening to the communics all over the fleet. He was -a good talker, but it didn't look to Wyatt as though talking was going -to do him much good.</p> - -<p>"If that is intended as a challenge," Varsek said, "I'll accept it. My -plans will not be changed. As soon as we finish here we go on to Earth, -and after that to whatever system offers the best pickings. I'm in no -hurry, Makvern. I can go on indefinitely. Hang on my flank and hope for -deserters as long as you want to. Sooner or later—" He brought his -hand down in a slashing gesture. "—I'll destroy you."</p> - -<p>His gaze slid past Makvern to Wyatt.</p> - -<p>"I warned you twice," he said, "about the fate of brave stubborn men. -Whether you stay with Makvern or go back to Earth I'll find you. And -I'll give Earth some special attention because of you—we do have -weapons that will kill at need." Once more he smiled, and now his gaze -included both Wyatt and Makvern. "I know that Earth will be warned. I -accept that, too."</p> - -<p>"You might lose a lot of men," Wyatt said. "We're not quite as -primitive as the Alpha Centaurians."</p> - -<p>"You have nuclear weapons," said Varsek, "but no way to get them up to -us in space. And people usually hesitate to drop bombs on their own -cities, to destroy an invader who is only temporarily there. So your -warning does not frighten me."</p> - -<p>"We have tactical weapons, too," said Wyatt. "Or didn't you tell your -men about those?"</p> - -<p>"My men are soldiers," said Varsek, "not babies. Go home, Wyatt. Spread -the alarm. And take Brinna with you. That was her plan, wasn't it—warn -Earth and thus unseat me." His voice rose and it was as though he was -shouting a warning to the whole fleet. "No one can unseat me! This is -my Task Force, I command it, and I <i>will</i> command it, until such time -as my superiors call me home."</p> - -<p>"That will be never," said Makvern wearily, "as long as you keep the -loot ships pouring into Uryx to make them rich."</p> - -<p>He broke the contact—probably the first time anyone had cut Varsek off -first. He turned to Wyatt and his officers.</p> - -<p>"Much of what he says is true. We are short of food and fuel. Both -of those we can get at Earth, but it will have to be peaceably. I -propose that we offer ourselves to help in her defense—that we force -a showdown with Varsek by placing our ships between him and Earth. If -we're to be destroyed, it might as well be now as later, when we'll be -even weaker and less able to fight."</p> - -<p>He looked with a terrible grim look at Wyatt and said, "<i>We</i> can carry -nuclear weapons into space."</p> - -<p>Brief minutes later, Makvern's little fleet, all fast destroyers and a -few light supply ships that could outdistance the slower-moving Task -Force, went into hyper-drive, headed for Earth.</p> - -<p>And now the customary business of landing on a target world was -played in reverse. They did not have a propaganda ship, but as soon -as they reached the outer limits of Earth's atmosphere Wyatt began to -broadcast, blanketing the Western Hemisphere with the ship's powerful -transmitter. He sent the same message over and over again, beginning -with, <i>We come in peace</i> and going on with a summary of the situation, -begging the powers that were not to attack them when they landed. -He had Burdick and the Australian speak, and No-Name, and even the -Turcoman. He had Makvern speak.</p> - -<p>But when an answer did come it was from the government radio in -Washington forbidding them to land until the United Nations had -been consulted and preliminary talks had been had with Makvern via -shortwave, with proper assurances of their intentions. Then Bannister -got a message through from the big transmitter on the mesa, starting -with "What the hell happened to you, you can't be telling the truth!" -Wyatt assured him he was, and Bannister said, "Then for God's sake -don't land. Everybody's in a panic. They're evacuating Washington and -setting up gun-emplacements on every corner, and the crackpots are -having a field day. Wait until they all calm down!"</p> - -<p>"We've been trying to make them understand," said Wyatt, "that we can't -wait. There's a fleet coming right on our heels and if arrangements -aren't made right now it'll be too late for all of us."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Bannister, sadly and without hope, "good luck."</p> - -<p>They went about their landing.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Makvern's command ship came down in one of Washington's parks. They -had decided that Makvern and Wyatt, with one man to operate the thing, -would leave the cruiser in one of the stalking-globes. There was not -room enough in it for Burdick and the other Earthmen.</p> - -<p>Brinna had maintained a brooding silence all the way, but she broke it -now by saying bitterly to Wyatt,</p> - -<p>"You know your people out there are panicky about this sudden eruption -from space—they'll destroy you before you can talk to them."</p> - -<p>"I'll have to take the chance," Wyatt said.</p> - -<p>"Just as you had to force me to take you to Washington—how long ago?" -said Brinna. She added with sudden fierceness, "God defend us from -having to do with fools!"</p> - -<p>Wyatt grinned. "Are you angry because your schemes are ruined, or -because I'm in danger?" Before she could make wrathful reply, he kissed -her and pushed her out of his way, and went after Makvern.</p> - -<p>They got into the red globe, and stalked out of the cruiser. They -needed the globe, not for attack but for their own defense. Above them -in the sky a squadron of skimmers wheeled, easily eluding the slower -and clumsier jets of Earth, and keeping at such a low altitude that -the planes hesitated to fire on them for fear of hitting their own men -on the ground.</p> - -<p>The red globe stalked ponderously into Washington.</p> - -<p>Bannister had told the truth. The city was deserted except for -soldiers. Watching the 360 degree screen inside the globe, Wyatt saw -men in olive drab fire at them and he heard the vicious battle of -bullets against their armor plate. Makvern had assured him it was proof -against practically anything short of atomic projectiles, but when -the anti-tank guns and the flame-throwers appeared Wyatt began to get -nervous and was glad when Makvern decided not to take any chances. He -ordered one of the heavy stunners unlimbered and asked for support from -the skimmers. Then he turned the radio over to Wyatt.</p> - -<p>The screens now showed bursts of green fire all around where the stun -rays were striking. The gun crews were being struck down, the soldiers -with rifles stunned or driven back. An area of quiet was laid down -around the globe, travelling with it as it moved, constantly being -pushed ahead by the white beams of the stunners.</p> - -<p>Wyatt talked tensely on the radio. "You force us to defend ourselves -but you will find that these men are not dead or harmed in any way, -only stunned. We beg the President and Congress to give us a hearing—"</p> - -<p>No answer. Wyatt mopped sweat from his forehead, and talked on.</p> - -<p>"You are faced with an enemy more terrible than any you ever dreamed -of, approaching you through interstellar space at many times the -speed of light. You see what we can do, but this is only a fraction -of <i>their</i> power. Your only hope is to accept our offer of help, plan -with us how to stop the Task Force before it ever lands. Or you'll have -hundreds of these red globes stalking the countryside, and hundreds of -ships against which your planes will be useless as they are right now -against the skimmers."</p> - -<p>No answer.</p> - -<p>Makvern said to Wyatt, "We have to stop somewhere. This is your -country—what do you suggest?"</p> - -<p>Wyatt looked at the screen. They were in front of the Supreme Court -building. Soldiers were firing at them from the approaches, the steps, -the portico. Some of them had already been stunned and were lying on -the pavement. While he watched a white beam shot out from the globe's -projector and burst in green fire among a group on the steps. Wyatt's -patience, worn thin by long anxiety, suddenly snapped.</p> - -<p>"This place is as good as any," he told Makvern, and then he shouted -into the radio, "All right, damn it, I'm an American citizen and I came -here in good faith. I haven't committed any crime, and I don't see -why I should have to hide and cower in the streets of my own capital, -which were paid for out of my taxes. So I'm getting out of this globe, -unarmed, and if any damned fool shoots me down he can take it up with -his conscience later on."</p> - -<p>He got up and snapped at Makvern. "Open the hatch. And pull that -stunner in."</p> - -<p>"Brinna was right, they're panicky," Makvern said. "They'll kill you. -Wait a bit."</p> - -<p>Wyatt swore. "We <i>can't</i> wait, it's now or nothing! They'll stay -panicky until they actually see that I am an Earthman and not a -bug-eyed monster lying to them over the radio. Then we may get -somewhere with them."</p> - -<p>Makvern hesitated a moment and then pressed a button. The hatch opened -and a thin ladder extended itself.</p> - -<p>Wyatt went down it.</p> - -<p>He went down slowly, and it was a warm day in Washington but he was as -cold as mid-December. The sweat of fear was clammy on him and his legs -shook. The soldiers in the immediate vicinity were all unconscious or -had taken cover, but more would undoubtedly come. He hoped their field -command posts would relay his radio message to the men with the guns.</p> - -<p>He reached the foot of the ladder and stood there.</p> - -<p>There was a great silence. Then a soldier with a rifle edged cautiously -around one of the pillars of the portico.</p> - -<p>Wyatt watched him, thinking <i>He will raise that gun and fire and that -will be the end of it.</i></p> - -<p>The man's voice reached him, thin with distance and surprise. "Hey, -it's a man. It's human. It ain't no monster after all—"</p> - -<p>From inside the open hatch of the globe Wyatt heard a radio-transmitted -voice speaking.</p> - -<p>"If you will withdraw your—er—aircraft as a sign of good faith, our -representatives will come to—"</p> - -<p>Wyatt didn't hear the rest of it too clearly. He was struggling with -the reaction of relief. Not only for Earth, but for himself.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>After that it was not so difficult. Once the high brass was convinced -of the danger, and of Makvern's sincerity, things got done in spite -of red tape and provincial stubbornness. The testimony of Burdick and -Whitfield, the Apache and the Turcoman, helped immensely.</p> - -<p>Makvern's ships were allowed to refuel and take on supplies. They took -to space again, but without any nuclear weapons aboard. "Those are my -own people," Makvern said. "I can't use that against them."</p> - -<p>The air forces of the world were deployed as a second line of defense, -coordinated with ground-to-air missile batteries and with squadrons -carrying air-to-air missiles. On the ground, the armies readied -themselves.</p> - -<p>Varsek's fleet came, a great dark arrow of ships into the light of the -Sun.</p> - -<p>Once more Wyatt was aboard Makvern's command ship, on the bridge. He -was acting with others of the regular armed forces of several nations, -as liaison officer. He watched the dramatic wedge of ships approach, -catching fire on their sun sides as they drew closer until their brazen -glitter was painful to the eye. And his heart sank. What Varsek had -said was true. Nothing could stand against that fleet.</p> - -<p>As though to emphasize that point, Varsek's face appeared in the -communic screen.</p> - -<p>"So you decided to face me here," he said. "Good. Oh, very good!"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Makvern. "Perhaps not. Earth has been warned, Varsek, -and now I'm warning you and every man in the fleet. She has powerful -armaments, including hydrogen devices, and she is prepared to use them. -She can kill a great many of you before she's beaten."</p> - -<p>"And who warned Earth?" said Varsek. Both men, Wyatt knew, were -speaking to the fleet as much as to each other. "You, Makvern. A -traitor's act. Every life we lose here will be your responsibility!"</p> - -<p>"Not at all," said Makvern quietly. "You know what the situation is. -All you have to do now to avoid any casualties is to withdraw the fleet -from Earth without attacking."</p> - -<p>"Turn tail and run?" said Varsek. "You should know me better."</p> - -<p>Suddenly Makvern's voice blazed fierce, white-hot with old rage. "I -know you, Varsek! You'll sacrifice every man in the fleet before you'll -admit you've been bested. Remember that, you men, when he's ordering -you into battle! Try to figure out what real reason you have for -attacking and then see whether you think it's worth dying for! If you -don't—"</p> - -<p>Varsek's great voice drowned him out. "This is a general order to the -Task Force. Battle stations, all personnel. Executive officers of -destroyer squadrons Three, Four and Five will proceed with landing -operations according to plan."</p> - -<p>"You heard your commander," Makvern flared. "Go down and die for him, -for his ambition and the fat pockets of his friends, if you want to. If -you don't, take your ships out of formation and join us. Then we can -all go home. Then—"</p> - -<p>"Destroyer Squadrons One and Two," Varsek's voice rolled inexorably -on, "will attack the enemy ships at once, proceeding at individual -discretion. You will use Type Two armaments—<i>these traitors must be -destroyed</i>!"</p> - -<p>This time it was Varsek who broke the contact with Makvern, and it was -as though by that gesture he declared them all dead.</p> - -<p>"Well?" said Wyatt tensely.</p> - -<p>"God knows," said Makvern. He began to rap out orders, preparing to -fight his ships as well as he could.</p> - -<p>Wyatt withdrew into a corner out of the way and found Brinna there. She -was regarding the preparations inboard and the movements of the fleet -with an expert, eager, frustrated gaze. The realization of the defeat -of her ambitious plans changed her, Wyatt thought, very little.</p> - -<p>"If <i>I</i> had the command here—" she said, between her teeth.</p> - -<p>"I don't think you could swing the men in the fleet, if you had," he -said. "Maybe even Makvern hasn't swung them—"</p> - -<p>It didn't look as though he had. The Task Force was breaking up in -orderly segments, the heavy attack craft wheeling into position behind -their destroyer screens, ready for the screaming plunge downward into -the sky. And now from their stations at either side of the forward -point of the fleet the two destroyer squadrons leaped toward Makvern's -ships.</p> - -<p>"Type Two armaments," said Wyatt, "are the lethal ones, I take it. No -polite stunning of the victim, just good honest annihilation."</p> - -<p>Brinna nodded, her hand closing unconsciously on his.</p> - -<p>Makvern was hunched like a bulldog in the forepart of the bridge, -rapping orders.</p> - -<p>"Hang on," said Brinna. "We move."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They did move, roaring straight up in an effort to get above the -oncoming destroyers. Wyatt could see other ships going up with them, -while still others dropped and circled. They were trying some kind of -a boxing-in maneuver, but the destroyer squadrons were old hands at -this game too. They counter-moved with lightning speed. Wyatt did not -see any projectile pass through space, but suddenly there was a silent -blossoming of fire like the birth of a small sun and one of Makvern's -ships ceased to exist in the time it took Wyatt to blink.</p> - -<p>"I believe," said Brinna in a steady voice, "that's the first time I -have ever seen Type Two projectiles in use except on a test range."</p> - -<p>There was a kind of a stunned silence on the bridge. Then once more the -ship was in tangential motion, and somebody began to shout, "Look at -their formations! Some of Varsek's ships are pulling out—"</p> - -<p>"Fire!" said Makvern, and the ship shuddered twice. White stunning -beams lanced out and struck a dark iron flank with green fire and sent -it staggering away—Wyatt assumed that these beams were powerful enough -to knock out not only men but delicate electrical equipment as well.</p> - -<p>"They are pulling out," said Brinna. "Breaking up. Look!"</p> - -<p>He could see that the orderly formations of Varsek's fleet had become -suddenly ragged, some of the ships frankly deserting the ranks and -others lagging as though they were hesitant.</p> - -<p>"It was the projectile," Brinna said. "Seeing one of their own ships -full of men they knew destroyed that way—I think it must have shocked -them all as it did me."</p> - -<p>The face of a man appeared on the screen, white and strained. -"Makvern," he said. "You know me—Shannar, commanding the First -Squadron. I'm pulling out—this is murder—"</p> - -<p>Varsek's face appeared, super-imposed over Shannar's in a ghastly -double image.</p> - -<p>"Follow your orders! Destroy—"</p> - -<p>"The hell with you," said Shannar. "I'm a soldier, not an executioner."</p> - -<p>He faded, and a second face appeared through the image of Varsek. "Me, -too. After what you've led us into, the Second Squadron is quitting."</p> - -<p>Now Varsek's face stood clear in the screen, and outside in space the -dark ships wheeled away and joined the number that were gathering -behind Makvern's force.</p> - -<p>Varsek, his face distorted with a violent fury, cried out, "I <i>order</i> -the commander of every ship to proceed with his assigned duties! If -he refuses, I authorize every officer in the chain of command to take -over until one loyal man is found. I order this! Prepare to land. I'll -destroy Makvern myself if none of you have the guts to do it."</p> - -<p>And the great bulk of the flagship moved from where it had hung in -space and gathered speed, and bore down upon Makvern's command ship -like the ultimate hammer of doom.</p> - -<p>"He must have packed the flagship with his most trusted officers," -Brinna said.</p> - -<p>Ignoring every other craft in space, the enormous ship rushed at them.</p> - -<p>Makvern spoke into the communic.</p> - -<p>"I don't think you quite understand, Varsek. The situation has changed. -You are now fairly well isolated. There's been enough killing. -Surrender and we'll see that you get a fair trial at Uryx."</p> - -<p>"You won't live to go anywhere," Varsek snarled. He began to talk to -others who apparently were in the room with him, out of range of the -pick-up. "Why the hell doesn't the fleet move? I ordered them. Order -them again, and prepare a projectile, Type Two—What are you waiting -for?"</p> - -<p>"Sir," said a voice, "have you noticed the disposition of the destroyer -squadrons?"</p> - -<p>"What of them?"</p> - -<p>"They're between us and the target. All of them. The commanders request -that you surrender. They say there will be no more Type Twos used on -men of Uryx."</p> - -<p>Varsek spoke into the communic. "Clear the way," he said. "I'll ride -over you and smash you. I command this fleet." He pulled his side-arm -from its holster and turned around. "As for you—I thought you were -loyal to me. I handpicked you, and this is how you repay me! I order -you to prepare a projectile—"</p> - -<p>A hard matter-of-fact voice said, "You pushed it too far this time, -Varsek. You're one man against a fleet. We have been loyal, but you're -not the commander any more."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A stunner beam caught Varsek from the back before he could turn around. -He fell below the focus of the screen, and the face of another man -replaced his.</p> - -<p>The man said, "Varsek has surrendered."</p> - -<p>There was a long silence in the command ship. Then the men began to -cheer and other voices came over the communics, cheering, and only -Makvern turned away so that no one could see his face.</p> - -<p>Later, after Makvern had made his speech to the fleet, taking over as -commander, he said to Wyatt,</p> - -<p>"This is where we part. We go home, to put a stop to this looting and -pillaging—it's time Uryx grew up and became an empire to be proud of -rather than a nest of outlaws. And you can go home too, knowing that -Earth will sleep safe tonight."</p> - -<p>Brinna stepped forward. "And what about me?"</p> - -<p>"I have that planned," said Makvern sternly. "You'll learn about it in -good time."</p> - -<p>Wyatt smiled, but did not say anything.</p> - -<p>He had no chance to say anything later on, when the ship had landed -on the desert near the mesa and Makvern and Brinna had shaken hands -with him for the last time, standing on the cool sand in the moonlight -at the foot of the ship's ladder. Makvern had moved so quickly while -Brinna was occupied with her farewells that she did not realize he was -already in the lock and the ladder drawn up until it was too late to -follow him. He looked down at her and grinned, and said,</p> - -<p>"This seemed to be the best solution to your problem, Brinna. It'll be -a long time before Earthmen get into space, and by then you'll be too -old to make trouble and I'll be too old to care."</p> - -<p>"You mean you're leaving me here?" she shrieked.</p> - -<p>"In the care of Wyatt, a brave and stubborn man. Goodbye. And clear -away now, we're taking off."</p> - -<p>Wyatt hauled the temporarily speechless Brinna to a safe distance. She -watched the ship take off into the starry sky and Wyatt did not dare -say anything then.</p> - -<p>He wasn't at all sure he had made a good bargain. But he was -determined to make the best of it.</p> - -<p>He started out by kissing her.</p> - -<p>After a long enough time, she stopped fighting.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COSMIC LOOTERS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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