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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25094-h.zip b/25094-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8e102d --- /dev/null +++ b/25094-h.zip diff --git a/25094-h/25094-h.htm b/25094-h/25094-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cc74fd --- /dev/null +++ b/25094-h/25094-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1470 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Daughters of Doom, +by H. B. Hickey.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + body {margin-left: 5%; width: 90%;} + h1 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + page-break-after: avoid; } + p { margin-top: 0.75em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; padding: 0em; + text-align: left;} + body > p {text-indent: 1em;} + hr {width: 65%; margin: 2em auto 2em auto; clear: both;} + hr.tb {border: 0em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;} + .pagenum { visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + right: 4px; + text-indent: 0em; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: right;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} + .tn {margin: 4em 7em 4em 7em; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; + color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 80%; + border: dotted black 1px; text-indent: 0em;} + .noborder {border: 0px;} + .pad1top {margin: 1em auto 0em auto;} + .pad4top {margin: 4em auto 0em auto;} + .pad4bot {margin: 0em auto 4em auto;} + .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + .caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 90%;} + .s2 {font-size: 300%;} + .s4 {font-size: 200%;} + .w60 {width: 60%;} + .w600 {width: 600px;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} +@media print { + .pagenum {visibility: hidden;} } + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Daughters of Doom, by Herbert B. Livingston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: Daughters of Doom + +Author: Herbert B. Livingston + +Illustrator: Bill Terry + +Release Date: April 18, 2008 [EBook #25094] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAUGHTERS OF DOOM *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Andrew Wainwright and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<h1 class="s2">DAUGHTERS<br />OF DOOM</h1> + +<p class="s4 pad4bot center">By H. B. HICKEY</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Deep in space lay a weird and threatening world. And it was +there that Ben Sessions found the evil daughters . . .</p> +</div> + +<p>Beyond Ventura B there was no life; there was nothing but +one worn out sun after another, each with its retinue of +cold planets and its trail of dark asteroids. At least that +was what the books showed, and the books had been written by +men who knew their business. Yet, despite the books + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> + +and the men who had written them, Ben Sessions went past +Ventura B, deliberately and all alone and knowing that the +odds were against his returning alive.</p> + +<p>He went because of a file clerk’s error. More +correctly, he went as the final result of a chain of events +which had begun with the clerk’s mistake.</p> + +<p>The clerk’s name was Gilbert Wayne and he worked at +the Las Vegas Interplanetary Port. It was Wayne’s job +to put through the orders for routine overhaul of +interplanetary rockets. Usually Wayne was quite efficient, +but even efficient men have bad days, and on one of those +days Wayne had removed from the active list the name of +Astra instead of its sister ship, the Storan.</p> + +<p>The very next morning the Astra had been turned over to +Maintenance. Maintenance asked no questions. +<a id="putit" name="putit"></a>It was that +department’s job to take the ship apart, fix what +needed fixing, and put it. Ten minutes later Jacobs saw +Armando + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> + +Gomez was the mechanic detailed to check the rocket tubes.</p> + +<p>Gomez, who always got that job because he was small and +slender, dutifully dropped his instruments into his overall +pockets and crawled into the left firing tube. Half an hour +later he stuck his head out of the tube and yelled to +Jacobs, who was in charge of the job:</p> + +<p>“Amigo! How many hours this ship she got?”</p> + +<p>Jacobs ran his finger down a chart and discovered to his +surprise that the Astra had only two hundred hours on its +log since the last overhaul. Ordinarily a ship was checked +each thousand hours. He scratched his head but decided that +if Operations wanted the Astra tuned it was none of his +business. So he told Gomez not to ask useless questions and +to get back in the tube.</p> + +<p>Anyone else but Gomez would have obeyed orders and forgotten +all about it. Ten minutes later Jacobs saw Armando’s +head appear.</p> + +<p>“Amigo!” Gomez shouted. “How many +hours?”</p> + +<p>“Two hundred!” Jacobs shouted back, knowing he +would have no peace until Gomez was answered. “Now get +to work! We ain’t got all year.”</p> + +<p>But Gomez was out of the tube again in five minutes and +yelling for the foreman.</p> + +<p>“What do you want now?” Jacobs demanded. He +swung himself up on the catwalk beside Gomez.</p> + +<p>“Something very funny in here, amigo,” Gomez +replied. “One plate she is too clean.”</p> + +<p>“Less work for you,” Jacobs grunted. “So +why complain?”</p> + +<p>Nevertheless he took a look at the plate, which was near the +mouth of the tube. It should have been lightly encrusted +with the oxides of rocket fuel. Instead, it was only +beginning to dull, in strange contrast to its neighbors +which were welded to it.</p> + +<p>“That is queer,” Jacobs muttered.</p> + +<p>“<span lang="es" xml:lang="es"><i>Si.</i></span> As you say, +<span lang="es" xml:lang="es">amigo</span>. Queer.”</p> + +<p><a id="jacobs" name="jacobs"></a>Once Jacobs’ interest +was aroused he was also not one +to let a matter drop; he told Gomez to work on another tube +while he consulted the front office. The front office was +not especially interested, but at Jacobs’ insistence +they called in a metallurgist. The metallurgist, whose name +was Britton, was fortunately a thorough young man. He +ordered the plate removed and sent to his laboratory for +complete analysis.</p> + +<p>After that things happened fast. Britton scanned the +analysis of the plate and without hesitation called in his +superior who ordered a second test just to be safe, and then +notified Washington. Washington turned it over to +Interplanetary Intelligence, of which Carson was chief of +staff.</p> + +<p>One week later Ben Sessions stood before Carson’s +desk.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Sessions was only thirty-five, but in his few years with +“Two Eyes,” as the organization was known, he +had rung up an enviable record. Tall, lithe, darkly +handsome, he was well liked by the men who worked with him. +At the moment there was a puzzled frown on his face, +lengthening the line made by a scar which ran from his +forehead down the side of his nose. The scar was the result +of a crash landing on Neptune.</p> + +<p>“I don’t get it, sir,” he said. “A +single plate from a rocket tube . . . So what if it +didn’t oxidize?”</p> + +<p>“That makes me feel much better.” Carson +smiled, an inner bitterness making the smile wry. “I +didn’t get it either,” he went on. “A +mechanic named Gomez got it; a foreman named Jacobs got it; +a lab man named Britton got it; but the chief of “Two Eyes” + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> + +missed the boat. I feel swell about that.” +He rose suddenly and hammered his fist on the desk. +“Every one of us in Intelligence ought to be +cashiered!”</p> + +<p>“Take it easy,” Ben cautioned. “All +because of that plate?”</p> + +<p>Carson slumped back into his chair. “Yes. And because +we have failed in our duty. Our only hope is that we may +have time to make it up. I’ll give you the facts:</p> + +<p>“Those tubes are made of Virium, but even Virium +develops scale. After next week it will develop even more, +because next week we make the changeover to the new fuel. If +Wayne had made his mistake two weeks later there would have +been so much deposit in the tubes that Gomez would not have +noticed the difference.</p> + +<p>“Now, Virium is one of the most standardized products +in the world. So Gomez was rightly astonished that the tube +didn’t oxidize evenly. Jacobs saw further. Virium is +the toughest metal we know of; if this piece was tougher it +might be a discovery of major importance. So Britton +analyzed the plate.”</p> + +<p>“Now we get to the point,” Sessions grinned.</p> + +<p>Carson stabbed a finger at him. “Right. And the point +is that this one section of plate is not Virium! In fact, it +is a substance which we are positive does not exist in our +system!”</p> + +<p>“Wait a second. What do you mean by +‘system’?”</p> + +<p>“I mean every single bit of matter that lies between +here and Ventura B.”</p> + +<p>“Maybe it’s not a natural substance. Not an +element.”</p> + +<p>“We thought of that. It’s an element, and one we +know nothing of.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mind if I sit down, sir?” Ben asked +suddenly.</p> + +<p>The enormity of the thing had struck him, almost dazzling +him with its implications. Carson laughed bitterly and +waved him to a chair, then went on talking.</p> + +<p>“Precisely, Ben. The question is: How did this strange +substance get into the tube of an Interplanetary rocket +called the Astra? To answer that we checked on the ship. The +Astra is one of the few ships which have ever gone beyond +Ventura B!”</p> + +<p>“I almost expected to hear that,” Sessions said.</p> + +<p>“It adds up, all right, doesn’t it? A foreign +substance, a foreign system. But this substance had been +made into a plate. That means the work of intelligent +beings.”</p> + +<p>“Who took the Astra on that trip?” Sessions +asked, his body tense.</p> + +<p>“A licensed space explorer named Murchison. Two others +went with him but he returned alone. Claims they fell into a +chasm.”</p> + +<p>“But no explorer has reported life beyond Ventura +B,” Sessions said, taking up the thread of thought. He +whistled softly. “You must have been busy this last +week.”</p> + +<p>“Busy is no word for it. It’s only three years +since anyone has been allowed to go outside our system. For +the purpose of science Interstellar Flight granted permits +to six licensed explorers. All returned with charts showing +only a desolate waste. In our own quiet way we have checked +on each of these six men, including Murchison, in the last +week.”</p> + +<p>“And . . . ?”</p> + +<p>“And we discovered something very interesting. The +six who returned from beyond Ventura B were not the same six +who went! They are identical in every facial, bodily, and +mental characteristic, identical enough to fool even the +families of the lost explorers. But when we secretly +photographed them with infra-red light we found that their + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> + +skins contained elements foreign to our system!”</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Ventura A and its sister star were the twin beacons that +marked the last outposts of the Earth System. Past them was +only a trackless waste of inter-stellar space. Ben Sessions +knew that the charts he carried were probably worse than +useless, were likely downright traps.</p> + +<p>He and Carson had planned the trip. Carson had wanted to +send a fighting fleet but Ben had opposed the idea. +Wayne’s mistake had led them to the uncovering of a +gigantic hoax, a hoax which could have only a sinister +purpose. Somewhere in the void ahead were sentient beings. +To send a fleet would be to let them know that their +existence was suspected.</p> + +<p>Sessions let the automatic controls take over while he +examined the charts once more. They showed the constellation +which lay directly ahead, the one after that, and then +nothing for hundreds of millions of miles. Those first two +reflected a tiny amount of light from Ventura B and were +visible through telescopes, therefore it would have created +suspicion to falsify their position. Past them, however, the +blackness was too intense to penetrate.</p> + +<p>The speed of the rocket ship increased. Atomic blasts +replaced those of the regular fuel. Sessions knew that an +Earth measurement would have shown the ship to have shrunk +to half its size. Only light and the radona beam which +protected the ship from collisions could travel faster.</p> + +<p>From now on it was just a matter of luck. Someone had pulled +those six explorers out of space and Sessions was hoping the +same thing would happen to him. On the third day it +happened.</p> + +<p>He was sitting in the pilot’s chair, watching the +radona chart before him. Most of the chart was blank, only +the upper right hand corner showing a mass of black dots +which indicated a planetary dispersal about a dead star. +Sessions waited for the radona beam to swing the ship +leftward.</p> + +<p>Instead, the ship was curving in the direction of the dots! +Ben’s first thought was that the beam had gone out of +order, and he switched to manual controls. No use. Despite +all his efforts he was being carried toward those planets.</p> + +<p>Habit made him shut off the tubes. Why waste fuel? A tight +smile froze on his lips as his speed dropped to twenty +million miles then lifted again as the ship by-passed a +planet. With calm deliberation Ben switched on the camera he +had installed before the flight and let it record his course +as shown on the radona chart.</p> + +<p>Only one dot remained on the chart. It grew larger and +larger until it filled the entire screen. There was no +longer any doubt as to the ship’s destination, and as +if to add further proof its speed dropped sharply. Ben +clicked the switch on the camera and removed a tiny roll of +microfilm. The roll fit snugly into the hollow cap which +covered the stub of one of his molars.</p> + +<p>The altitude indicator went on automatically, showed fifty +thousand feet, then forty thousand, went down to hundreds. +Ahead there was only blackness. Ben held his breath and +waited for the crash. It never came. Long after the +altimeter showed zero the ship still moved. Ben could think +of only one explanation: he was below the surface of the +dark planet! And then he could think no more; the blackness +seemed to filter into the ship and into his mind.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>“He awakens,” a voice said. It was a pleasant +voice, a feminine + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> + +one, silky and soothing.</p> + +<p>Ben Sessions sat up and said, “Huh?”</p> + +<p>The first thing he noticed was the light. No more darkness, +but a light that came from nowhere and yet was everywhere. +He was on some sort of couch, in a huge room with a vaulted +ceiling. Shaking his head groggily, Ben looked for the +source of the silken voice. He was alone in the room.</p> + +<p>His eyes ran down the length of his body. The flash gun was +gone from his belt. That was hardly unexpected. But the belt +was gone too. So were his clothes. He was clad in a loose +robe of shimmering white cloth.</p> + +<p>That meant he had been unconscious for some time. How long? +Ben would have given much to know. Suddenly he let out an +unearthly moan, threw his arms wide and rolled off the +couch. He lay still.</p> + +<p>The silken voice was raised again and added to it was +another, more masculine. Then a door opened and two people +stepped into the room. Ben sat up and grinned at them, +especially at the woman.</p> + +<p>“I thought that would get you,” he said. +“It’s not hospitable to hide from your +guest.”</p> + +<p>“Resourceful, isn’t he?” The woman raised +her eyebrows in mock admiration. Her companion growled a +reply which Ben couldn’t quite catch.</p> + +<p>They were an odd pair, the woman towering well above ten +feet but perfectly formed, her skin the color of pink +marble; the man more beast than human. The women of Saturn +were as tall as she, Ben had time to think, but not nearly +as beautiful.</p> + +<p>“Welcome to Teris, Ben Sessions,” she said. Her +smile was the smile of the serpent of Eden.</p> + +<p>“You’re pretty resourceful yourself,” Ben +grinned.</p> + +<p>He had carried no papers except a blanket permit from +Interstellar Flight. He wondered if the precaution he and +Carson had taken would prove to be in vain. The woman spoke +again.</p> + +<p>“Ben Sessions, graduate of Neptune School of Rockets; +born in Taos, New Mexico, Earth; third of four children; +unmarried, unattached at present; first position, co-pilot +Earth-Vega Express . . .”</p> + +<p>She seemed to be choosing items at random from a memorized +list. The exhibition was intended to impress Ben and it was +succeeding. More than that, however, it was frightening. He +held his breath as she neared the end.</p> + +<p>“. . . two years with Interstellar Communications; +presently a licensed space explorer, non-affiliated.”</p> + +<p>“Pretty good,” Ben said.</p> + +<p>It was better than that. It was perfect. Only the end was +wrong. He and Carson had worked that out with the +psychoanalyst. The two of them had wanted to falsify the +entire biography, but the analyst had convinced them he was +right.</p> + +<p>“One lie I might attempt to pound into your very +subconscious by hypnotism; a dozen would be spread too thin. +We would leave holes. Under the type of electroanalysis you +seem to think might be used on you I can’t even +promise one lie will hold up.”</p> + +<p>Ben reminded himself to recommend the man for honors if he +ever got back to Earth. He had certainly known his business; +but then, if he hadn’t he would not be working for +“Two Eyes.”</p> + +<p>“Now that you’ve told me all about myself maybe +you’ll tell me what’s going on,” Ben said.</p> + +<p>“One of your compatriots can do that,” the woman +told him. Her interest seemed suddenly to have waned.</p> + +<p>She said a few words in a strange tongue to the man who +stood at her + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> + +side. He grunted, bowed, and advanced toward Ben. Long arms, +covered with thick black hair, reached out. Ben dodged.</p> + +<p>“You’ll be sorry if you make him use +force,” the woman said.</p> + +<p>“Nothing like trying,” Ben told her. He avoided +another grab and stepped in and smashed his fist to the +hairy man’s jaw.</p> + +<div class="figcenter w600"><a href="images/im800.jpg"> +<img class="noborder" src="images/im600.jpg" alt="The ape-like figure rushed forward and Ben’s head was thrown back by a mighty blow . . ." /></a> +<span class="caption">The ape-like figure rushed forward and Ben’s head was thrown back by a mighty blow . . .</span> +</div> + +<p class="pad1top">He might as well have hit a wall. Before Ben could strike +another blow he was lifted from his feet by an upward slap +that threatened to tear loose one side of his face. Too +dazed to resist, he felt both his wrists encircled by a +tremendous hand. The woman’s voice rose sharply in a +tone of command.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The corridor through which Ben Sessions was being led was +thronged with people. There seemed to be three classes: +rosy-skinned giantesses like his escort; men of his own +size, but also with pink complexions; and the squat, hairy +men who appeared to be nothing more than slaves.</p> + +<p>It was plain that women dominated this society, and from +them Ben received curious but contemptuous glances. Any one +of these Amazons would have been considered a beauty on +Earth, so regular were their features, but they lacked an +air of feminine softness. Instead, cruelty lay thinly masked +beneath the surface.</p> + +<p>At the end of the long corridor a huge door swung open and +Ben was led through it into an immense room. At the far end +of the room was a throne, and on it a woman. Ben blinked. As +well proportioned as the others he had seen, she was half +again as tall, twice as beautiful. He could not contain a +gasp of appreciation.</p> + +<p>Thick violet hair fell almost to her shoulders, her skin was +luminous and flawless, her body breathtaking, more revealed +than concealed by a clinging gown of some filmy material. At +her breast, flashed a single violet jewel larger by far than +the famed sapphires of Uranus.</p> + +<p>“I brought him as soon as he awakened,” said the +woman with Ben.</p> + +<p>A malevolent stare from the woman on the throne rested on +Ben. “It was unnecessary,” she said. “We +have no further need of him. Take him to the field.”</p> + +<p>“Wait a minute,” Ben snapped.</p> + +<p>“You are addressing Arndis, Queen of Teris,” he +heard his escort say.</p> + +<p>“I don’t give a hoot . . .” He never +finished the sentence. From behind the hairy slave seized +him, lifted him and flung him bodily toward the doors. The +interview was over.</p> + +<p>They went for a while along the same corridor, then turned +off and followed a side passage for a way. It led steadily +downward to an arched opening and through that out of the +building. Here too the light was diffused, but much +brighter. Ben had to blink several times before he became +adjusted to it.</p> + +<p>They were standing in the center of a vast level plain, +apparently endless and roofless, for overhead there was no +sky, only an increasing intensity of light. Ranged in rows +on the plain were thousands of space ships. Ben turned once +as they approached the first line of ships and saw behind +him the building from which he had just come. It rose +upward, a single block of shining stone, for almost a mile. +Alongside it were other buildings of the same material, but +none so large.</p> + +<p>Then Ben and his two escorts were past the first rows of +ships. His eyes roved over them, trying to discover what +armament they carried. None was visible. Their firing tubes +were much the same as those of Earth design, + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> + +but slightly smaller.</p> + +<p>His attention was diverted from his study by a sudden +disturbance aboard the closest ship. The sound of an angry +feminine voice came clearly through an open porthole, and +mingled with it was a pleading, deeper tone. An instant +later a door was flung open and out of it came hurtling one +of the men of Teris. He hit the ground, rolled over, and +came to his knees facing the open door and the giant woman +who stood framed in it.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>That the man was pleading for his very life was obvious to +Ben, but it was equally plain that his pleas were having no +effect. The woman on the ship uttered a single contemptuous +word that cut the pleas short. On her face was a sadistic +anticipation such as Ben had never before seen. Slowly she +raised a cylinder in her hand and pointed it at the man on +the ground.</p> + +<p>From the cylinder came a violet light, weak at first, but +growing in intensity as she pressed some sort of trigger. +The man shrieked in agony as the light played on him. Then +the smell of burning flesh came to Ben’s nostrils, and +the shriek became a single high pitched scream which choked +off suddenly.</p> + +<p>Ben’s escort laughed with ghoulish enjoyment, said +something to the woman in the doorway, and gestured at the +charred body on the ground. The violet light grew to +blinding intensity. A puff of smoke and the body was gone.</p> + +<p>“What was that for?” Ben gasped.</p> + +<p>His escort smiled indulgently and shot a question at the +other woman. The reply was a shrug of shoulders and a few +short syllables.</p> + +<p>“He did something that displeased her,” she told +Ben. At his look of horror she laughed again, apparently +pleased to have shocked him.</p> + +<p>He noticed, as they went along, that the space ships +decreased in size. Those in the first rows had been +comparable to Earth’s battle cruisers, those in the +last were one or two man jobs. His own ship, the <i>Rapier</i>, +was at the very end of the last line.</p> + +<p>Beyond was a vast army of men, both rosy skinned and hairy, +at work on a gigantic excavation project. Great power +shovels scooped load after load of earth. But most of the +work was being done by the men who labored with primitive +pick and shovel.</p> + +<p>Above the sound of digging rose the sharp voices of the +giant women of Teris, each with a battalion under her +command. As far as Ben’s eyes could reach men were +digging at the ground.</p> + +<p>He was hustling along to a point where a dirt spattered +group struggled with a metallic lining for the half-mile +hole it had excavated. At that point his escort turned him +over to the woman who bossed that crew. Ben saw in the hand +of the overseer one of the violet ray cylinders.</p> + +<p>“Down there,” she said curtly, pointing to where +a small knot of men worked on a terrace fifty feet below. +“They will tell you what to do.”</p> + +<p>Ben had found nothing strange in the fact that his escort +had spoken English fluently. She had been present at his +electroanalysis. But he doubted that all the women of Teris +could have the same command of the language. Nevertheless he +said nothing and clambered down the ladder to the terrace +beneath. Ben’s unasked question was answered when he +saw the five faces turned up toward him.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Earth men! Even the grime that covered them could not hide +that. And there was added proof in their widening eyes. They +were sorry to see another Earth man captive, yet happy at +sight of one of their own kind. Willing + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> + +hands helped Ben down from the bottom rung of the ladder.</p> + +<p>“We’d heard they had picked up another +ship,” one of the men said. “But we +weren’t sure the rumor was true.”</p> + +<p>“True enough, as you can see. I’m Ben +Sessions.”</p> + +<p>His outstretched hand was grasped and shaken cordially. +Names were flung at him. Murchison, Davies, Kennard, Bannon, +Murchison.</p> + +<p>“Wait a second,” Ben said. “I thought I +heard Murchison twice.”</p> + +<p>“You did,” said the big, rawboned man at whom he +was staring. “The first is my daughter Sally.”</p> + +<p>It was only then that Ben noticed how small and slender was +the figure of the one next to Murchison. Even the +girl’s loose robe, similar to that of the men, could +not quite conceal her femininity. Her hair was cut short, +her hands toil hardened.</p> + +<p>“Carson didn’t tell me,” Ben muttered. He +grinned at Murchison. “I expected to find you and two +assistants, but I didn’t know one would be your +daughter.”</p> + +<p>“Expected—?” Hope glinted in five pairs of +eyes. Above them there was a shouted command to get to work, +and a cylinder was waved threateningly.</p> + +<p>“I’ll explain as we go along,” Ben said +hastily. “Show me what to do.”</p> + +<p>Bannon, a short, thickset man with a mop of unruly black +hair shoved a pair of tongs into Ben’s hands and +quickly explained how to hold the rivets with which the +group was working. In effect they were constructing a huge +cylinder. Looking down, Ben saw that it descended into the +bowels of Teris.</p> + +<p>The others were pressing Ben for his explanation but he +insisted that they tell their stories first. The same thing +had happened to them as to him. Within some thousands of +miles of Teris they had felt a force pull them toward it. +Then they had passed out and awakened to find themselves +prisoners.</p> + +<p>“I know all that,” Ben said. “But in all +the time you’ve been here you must have found out a +good deal. What goes on here? Why are they taking prisoner +every one who approaches the planet? Why do they conceal its +existence from our system?”</p> + +<p>Murchison paused between blows of his hammer, as though to +wipe sweat from his brow.</p> + +<p>“Since you seem in a hurry,” he said, “I +will tell it in brief. You are in the center of a planet +whose evil people are engaged in one enterprise: the +conquering and subjugating of our universe.”</p> + +<p>“I thought that might be it,” Ben nodded. +“But subjugating billions of people may prove tougher +than they think.”</p> + +<p>“Their intention is to reduce our population so it can +be easily handled. And I can assure you that these women are +perfectly capable of slaughtering as many people as they +think necessary. They have both the means and the contempt +for human life that such an undertaking requires.”</p> + +<p>Ben hazarded a guess. “This project is part of their +preparation?”</p> + +<p>“The final part. Since the surface of Teris has a +temperature of absolute zero it can only be reached from +here through a series of locks. What they are building now +are new locks big enough to handle their largest ships. As +soon as that’s done they plan to attack.”</p> + +<p>“Any idea when that will be?”</p> + +<p>“About a week, Earth time.” Murchison’s +shoulders sagged with despair. “We’ve been +wracking our brains for a way to stop them, but it’s +no use. They’re as clever as they are evil. +They’ve even sent doubles of each of us men to Earth +to pave the way for the + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> + +attack. I suppose you’ve seen your double.”</p> + +<p>“No.”</p> + +<p>“Then they haven’t made one. You have to be +awake while it’s being done. I suppose they +didn’t think it necessary now that there’s so +little time left.”</p> + +<p>“Less time than I thought,” Ben grunted. +“I’d better get moving.” He tilted his +head back and shouted to the woman above.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>For a second time Ben stood before Arndis, queen of Teris. +Her eyes probed at him, trying to divine his thoughts. There +was anger in those eyes. If she detected a single flaw in +his story it would mean Ben’s death. More than that, +it would mean disaster for Earth. He talked fast.</p> + +<p>“When we found that plate in the firing tube of +Murchison’s ship we knew he was lying. We figured +he’d discovered valuable deposits out here and was +trying to keep them secret.”</p> + +<p>“That was all?”</p> + +<p>“It’s enough, isn’t it? Enough for +Interplanetary Intelligence to send me on this mission. +Those false papers I carried are proof that we suspected +something. And if I’m not back in the time we allowed +they’ll have our entire battle fleet out looking for +me.”</p> + +<p>“Very clever,” Arndis smiled. “But if you +are trying to frighten us you are failing. The women of +Teris had a high civilization before your Earth was born. We +can do things you never dreamed of.”</p> + +<p>At her command Ben’s arms were seized and bound behind +him. He was carried swiftly into a room nearby, a room +filled with a maze of scientific apparatus. On what appeared +to be an operating table was a transparent shell, and +beneath this Ben was strapped.</p> + +<p>Through the shell he saw one of the men of Teris brought +into the room and placed in a similar position on another +table. Wires were strung between the two shells and +somewhere a machine began to hum. The shells filled with a +white vapor that lingered a moment and then was gone.</p> + +<p>Although he had known what was to happen Ben could not +control his amazement. For the man who came out of the other +shell was an exact replica of himself! Within minutes he saw +the other dressed in his own flying suit.</p> + +<p>“You see how simply we solve the problem?” +Arndis asked. “Ben Sessions will return to Earth and +there will be no search. He will report that he found +nothing and request that he be allowed to try again. By that +time we shall be ready to attack.”</p> + +<p>Ben’s arms had been untied, and now he put his hand to +his face, as though to rub some tender spot. The move +attracted no undue attention. An instant later he had two +fingers inside his mouth and was working loose the cap over +his tooth.</p> + +<p>His next move took them completely by surprise. With a leap +he was half way across the room and lunging for his double. +Ben brought the man down with a flying tackle and for +seconds they wrestled on the floor. Then a hairy hand tore +Ben loose and he was hauled to his feet. He had done little +harm to the other.</p> + +<p>“Not quite fast enough,” Arndis said. +“Within minutes he will be aboard the Rapier and on +his way.” Her voice rose. “Take this one back to +the locks.”</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>“Doesn’t it ever get dark here?” Ben +asked.</p> + +<p>He and Murchison and the others had been allowed to come out +of the tube after what seemed hours of toil. They sat now in +a tiny cell into which air came through slits in the wall.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>“No,” Murchison said. “But Bannon has a +good watch and we’re able to keep track of time. +It’s exactly six days and three hours since you were +put to work.”</p> + +<p>Ben nodded thoughtfully. There was not much time left. Work +on the locks went on endlessly, and sooner than he could +have believed possible they were being completed. Given +enough slaves, he thought, anything could be accomplished.</p> + +<p>Gluing his eyes to one of the slits, he peered out. The last +of the giant gates was being installed. Their own crew would +have only one more shift before the job was finished.</p> + +<p>Beyond the excavation Ben could see the tower from which the +locks were controlled. Bannon, who had been in Teris longest +and who had managed to garner some information, had +explained their operation to Ben.</p> + +<p>“I worked on the new controls when they were being +installed,” he said, ranging himself alongside Ben. +“They’re fully automatic. There are five locks +in each tube between the interior and the surface of +Teris.”</p> + +<p>“How many ships did you say were kept at the +tower?” Ben asked.</p> + +<p>“About ten. They make inspection flights each day, +although nothing has ever gone wrong that I’ve heard +of. But the tubes and the locks are the only outlets to the +surface and they watch them carefully.”</p> + +<p>“What are our chances of getting to the tower?”</p> + +<p>“Zero, I should say. Only the women are allowed to +enter it, or a small crew under their supervision.”</p> + +<p>“Willing to make a try?” Ben asked. He swung +around to face them all. Until now he had not taken them +into his confidence, given them no inkling of what was in +his mind.</p> + +<p>“We’ve talked about it before,” Murchison +answered. “But there’s so little chance we gave +up the idea. Better to stay alive and hope for a +rescue.”</p> + +<p>“I can’t tell you how I know,” Ben told +them, “but there isn’t going to be any +rescue.” He kept his eyes on the girl. “How +about you, Sally? Willing to trust me?”</p> + +<p>She nodded and Ben heaved a sigh of relief. Rather than +leave her behind he would have stayed with her. Gathering +them about him he outlined his plans. The men were more than +skeptical but no one had any suggestions.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Ben and Davies were the last to finish their work, and as +they fastened the last rivet to the last hinge Ben looked up +and shook his head. To the giant woman who stood watching +him it seemed only that he was tired. She failed to notice +that Sally had drifted off to one side and was coming up +behind her.</p> + +<p>Sally’s foot suddenly caught the overseer just behind +one knee and knocked her off balance. At the same instant +Ben stepped in close and wrenched the violet ray cylinder +from the woman’s hand. The others screened them from +sight. Ben looked around and saw that the slight flurry of +activity had gone unnoticed by others of the giant women who +were nearby.</p> + +<p>“We’re going to walk to the control +tower,” he told the woman grimly. “If anyone +asks you’re to say we have to do some work there. +I’m going to have this ray gun trained on you under my +robe, so don’t try any tricks. Understand?”</p> + +<p>She understood all too well. A flicker of fear in her eyes +told Ben that she knew he would blast her without mercy. +They fell in behind her.</p> + +<p>When they reached the doors of the tower a pair of women +barred their + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> + +way.</p> + +<p>“We have received no notice of work to be done,” +one of them said. Ben saw her eyes narrow with sudden +suspicion, and then her hand darted for the cylinder at her +side.</p> + +<p>Ben’s ray gun spouted violet death and the charred +bodies of three women lay in the doorway. Ben scooped up +their guns and thrust them at Bannon and Murchison.</p> + +<p>“We’ll give you five minutes before we take +off,” he shouted as they ran past him for the control +room.</p> + +<p>Behind him and Davies and Sally there were shouts as the two +men went into action. But they had their own job to do. The +closest inspection ship was several hundred feet away and +already women were running to cut them off. Ben cut loose +with his cylinder before they had a chance to use theirs.</p> + +<p>Then he and Davies were lifting Sally into the ship. While +they covered the open door Ben ran for the controls. +Somewhere an alarm was wailing and as he swung the ship +about Ben saw other ships being boarded. But Bannon and +Murchison had not failed. Just beyond the tower a lock swung +open.</p> + +<p>Ben skimmed along the ground, figuring to pick up the two +men as they came out of the tower. Then he saw Murchison +wave him on. He had planted himself in the doorway and was +refusing to budge. Ben saw why as Murchison blasted away at +a group of giant women who were trying to rush the tower.</p> + +<p>There was no more time. Already other ships were taking off. +Another wasted minute and they would beat him to the lock. +Ben yelled to Davies to close the hatch as he turned on the +power.</p> + +<p>A moment later they were in the blackness of the tube. +Davies ran forward to the controls. “There’s a +light on the ship,” he said. He found the switch and +threw it in time for them to see the next lock open for +them.</p> + +<p>“Three to go,” Ben muttered. “Looks like +we’re going to make it.”</p> + +<p>“Maybe not.” Davies tapped his shoulder and +pointed to the rear of the ship. Looking back through a +porthole, Ben could see other ships behind them.</p> + +<p>“As long as we’re in the tube they won’t +fire,” Davies said. “But neither can we get very +far ahead!”</p> + +<p>While he spoke the ship had gone through another lock with +the others still directly behind. It looked like Davies was +right. But Ben was not yet ready to concede defeat. The +fourth lock loomed ahead and he watched it swing open. Just +a few minutes more and they would go through the last one. +It was still hundreds of miles ahead but at the rate they +were travelling they would be on it soon.</p> + +<p>He waited until the last possible second and then cut his +speed sharply. Behind them the other ships were forced to +use their retarding rockets for fear of ramming them. It was +just what Ben had expected. As the last lock opened he threw +the accelerator all the way forward and felt the ship leap +ahead.</p> + +<p>That alone would not have been enough, but as the ship +roared out of the tube above the surface of Teris he cut +sharply to the right. Had their ship been faster it might +have worked. But it was not fast enough. Through the +blackness of space the exhausts of their pursuers flamed +closer. Ben’s teeth clamped down on his lips.</p> + +<p>“I guess we’re out of luck.”</p> + +<p>There was nothing more to say. It was only a matter of +minutes before the guns of the ships behind them would blast +them to pieces. They held their + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> + +breath and waited, watching the exhausts come through the +darkness.</p> + +<p>And then suddenly there was no more darkness. A light as +bright as the noon sun flared. Ben let out a shout, for +beyond the light were lined the battle cruisers of Earth. +His pursuers turned tail and ran.</p> + +<p>“Where the devil did those ships come from?” +Davies gasped.</p> + +<p>“I sent for them,” Ben told him. “We had +it all arranged. When I tackled that double I managed to +slip a microfilm capsule into his pocket. It had a complete +picture of my radona chart. As soon as the double reached +Earth, Intelligence grabbed him. All they had to do was +follow my chart to Teris.”</p> + +<p>They were passing the flagship of the Earth fleet, and Ben +dipped the nose of his ship in salute. Then he turned to see +what was going on.</p> + +<p>There was going to be no attempt to invade Teris. Instead, +its surface was illuminated with more of the flares. A +moment later Teris was gone, blasted by the guns of a +thousand cruisers. And for the strange women who would have +enslaved a universe, Ben felt no pity.</p> + +<p class="pad4top center">THE END</p> + +<hr /> + +<div class="tn" id="tn"> + +<p class="s4 center">Transcriber's Notes</p> + +<p>The sentence on <a href="#putit">Page 61</a>: “It was that +department’s job to take the ship apart, fix what +needed fixing, and put it.” is exactly as it appears +in the original.</p> + +<p>On <a href="#jacobs">Page 62</a>, in “Once Jacobs’ interest was +aroused he was also not one to let a matter drop;” the +original had “Jacob’s”.</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Daughters of Doom, by Herbert B. 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Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c11492 --- /dev/null +++ b/25094-page-images/p0072a.png diff --git a/25094-page-images/p0072b.png b/25094-page-images/p0072b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6263670 --- /dev/null +++ b/25094-page-images/p0072b.png diff --git a/25094.txt b/25094.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d66c21f --- /dev/null +++ b/25094.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1183 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Daughters of Doom, by Herbert B. Livingston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: Daughters of Doom + +Author: Herbert B. Livingston + +Illustrator: Bill Terry + +Release Date: April 18, 2008 [EBook #25094] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAUGHTERS OF DOOM *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Andrew Wainwright and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + DAUGHTERS + + OF DOOM + + + By H. B. HICKEY + + + Deep in space lay a weird and threatening world. And it was + there that Ben Sessions found the evil daughters . . . + +Beyond Ventura B there was no life; there was nothing but one worn out sun +after another, each with its retinue of cold planets and its trail of dark +asteroids. At least that was what the books showed, and the books had been +written by men who knew their business. Yet, despite the books and the men +who had written them, Ben Sessions went past Ventura B, deliberately and +all alone and knowing that the odds were against his returning alive. + +He went because of a file clerk's error. More correctly, he went as the +final result of a chain of events which had begun with the clerk's mistake. + +The clerk's name was Gilbert Wayne and he worked at the Las Vegas +Interplanetary Port. It was Wayne's job to put through the orders for +routine overhaul of interplanetary rockets. Usually Wayne was quite +efficient, but even efficient men have bad days, and on one of those days +Wayne had removed from the active list the name of Astra instead of its +sister ship, the Storan. + +The very next morning the Astra had been turned over to Maintenance. +Maintenance asked no questions. It was that department's job to take the +ship apart, fix what needed fixing, and put it. Ten minutes later Jacobs +saw Armando Gomez was the mechanic detailed to check the rocket tubes. + +Gomez, who always got that job because he was small and slender, dutifully +dropped his instruments into his overall pockets and crawled into the left +firing tube. Half an hour later he stuck his head out of the tube and +yelled to Jacobs, who was in charge of the job: + +"Amigo! How many hours this ship she got?" + +Jacobs ran his finger down a chart and discovered to his surprise that the +Astra had only two hundred hours on its log since the last overhaul. +Ordinarily a ship was checked each thousand hours. He scratched his head +but decided that if Operations wanted the Astra tuned it was none of his +business. So he told Gomez not to ask useless questions and to get back in +the tube. + +Anyone else but Gomez would have obeyed orders and forgotten all about it. +Ten minutes later Jacobs saw Armando's head appear. + +"Amigo!" Gomez shouted. "How many hours?" + +"Two hundred!" Jacobs shouted back, knowing he would have no peace until +Gomez was answered. "Now get to work! We ain't got all year." + +But Gomez was out of the tube again in five minutes and yelling for the +foreman. + +"What do you want now?" Jacobs demanded. He swung himself up on the catwalk +beside Gomez. + +"Something very funny in here, amigo," Gomez replied. "One plate she is too +clean." + +"Less work for you," Jacobs grunted. "So why complain?" + +Nevertheless he took a look at the plate, which was near the mouth of the +tube. It should have been lightly encrusted with the oxides of rocket fuel. +Instead, it was only beginning to dull, in strange contrast to its +neighbors which were welded to it. + +"That is queer," Jacobs muttered. + +"_Si._ As you say, amigo. Queer." + +Once Jacob's interest was aroused he was also not one to let a matter drop; +he told Gomez to work on another tube while he consulted the front office. +The front office was not especially interested, but at Jacobs' insistence +they called in a metallurgist. The metallurgist, whose name was Britton, +was fortunately a thorough young man. He ordered the plate removed and sent +to his laboratory for complete analysis. + +After that things happened fast. Britton scanned the analysis of the plate +and without hesitation called in his superior who ordered a second test +just to be safe, and then notified Washington. Washington turned it over to +Interplanetary Intelligence, of which Carson was chief of staff. + +One week later Ben Sessions stood before Carson's desk. + + * * * * * + +Sessions was only thirty-five, but in his few years with "Two Eyes," as the +organization was known, he had rung up an enviable record. Tall, lithe, +darkly handsome, he was well liked by the men who worked with him. At the +moment there was a puzzled frown on his face, lengthening the line made by +a scar which ran from his forehead down the side of his nose. The scar was +the result of a crash landing on Neptune. + +"I don't get it, sir," he said. "A single plate from a rocket tube . . . So +what if it didn't oxidize?" + +"That makes me feel much better." Carson smiled, an inner bitterness making +the smile wry. "I didn't get it either," he went on. "A mechanic named +Gomez got it; a foreman named Jacobs got it; a lab man named Britton got +it; but the chief of "Two Eyes" missed the boat. I feel swell about that." +He rose suddenly and hammered his fist on the desk. "Every one of us in +Intelligence ought to be cashiered!" + +"Take it easy," Ben cautioned. "All because of that plate?" + +Carson slumped back into his chair. "Yes. And because we have failed in our +duty. Our only hope is that we may have time to make it up. I'll give you +the facts: + +"Those tubes are made of Virium, but even Virium develops scale. After next +week it will develop even more, because next week we make the changeover to +the new fuel. If Wayne had made his mistake two weeks later there would +have been so much deposit in the tubes that Gomez would not have noticed +the difference. + +"Now, Virium is one of the most standardized products in the world. So +Gomez was rightly astonished that the tube didn't oxidize evenly. Jacobs +saw further. Virium is the toughest metal we know of; if this piece was +tougher it might be a discovery of major importance. So Britton analyzed +the plate." + +"Now we get to the point," Sessions grinned. + +Carson stabbed a finger at him. "Right. And the point is that this one +section of plate is not Virium! In fact, it is a substance which we are +positive does not exist in our system!" + +"Wait a second. What do you mean by 'system'?" + +"I mean every single bit of matter that lies between here and Ventura B." + +"Maybe it's not a natural substance. Not an element." + +"We thought of that. It's an element, and one we know nothing of." + +"Do you mind if I sit down, sir?" Ben asked suddenly. + +The enormity of the thing had struck him, almost dazzling him with its +implications. Carson laughed bitterly and waved him to a chair, then went +on talking. + +"Precisely, Ben. The question is: How did this strange substance get into +the tube of an Interplanetary rocket called the Astra? To answer that we +checked on the ship. The Astra is one of the few ships which have ever gone +beyond Ventura B!" + +"I almost expected to hear that," Sessions said. + +"It adds up, all right, doesn't it? A foreign substance, a foreign system. +But this substance had been made into a plate. That means the work of +intelligent beings." + +"Who took the Astra on that trip?" Sessions asked, his body tense. + +"A licensed space explorer named Murchison. Two others went with him but he +returned alone. Claims they fell into a chasm." + +"But no explorer has reported life beyond Ventura B," Sessions said, taking +up the thread of thought. He whistled softly. "You must have been busy this +last week." + +"Busy is no word for it. It's only three years since anyone has been +allowed to go outside our system. For the purpose of science Interstellar +Flight granted permits to six licensed explorers. All returned with charts +showing only a desolate waste. In our own quiet way we have checked on each +of these six men, including Murchison, in the last week." + +"And . . . ?" + +"And we discovered something very interesting. The six who returned from +beyond Ventura B were not the same six who went! They are identical in +every facial, bodily, and mental characteristic, identical enough to fool +even the families of the lost explorers. But when we secretly photographed +them with infra-red light we found that their skins contained elements +foreign to our system!" + +Ventura A and its sister star were the twin beacons that marked the last +outposts of the Earth System. Past them was only a trackless waste of +inter-stellar space. Ben Sessions knew that the charts he carried were +probably worse than useless, were likely downright traps. + +He and Carson had planned the trip. Carson had wanted to send a fighting +fleet but Ben had opposed the idea. Wayne's mistake had led them to the +uncovering of a gigantic hoax, a hoax which could have only a sinister +purpose. Somewhere in the void ahead were sentient beings. To send a fleet +would be to let them know that their existence was suspected. + +Sessions let the automatic controls take over while he examined the charts +once more. They showed the constellation which lay directly ahead, the one +after that, and then nothing for hundreds of millions of miles. Those first +two reflected a tiny amount of light from Ventura B and were visible +through telescopes, therefore it would have created suspicion to falsify +their position. Past them, however, the blackness was too intense to +penetrate. + +The speed of the rocket ship increased. Atomic blasts replaced those of the +regular fuel. Sessions knew that an Earth measurement would have shown the +ship to have shrunk to half its size. Only light and the radona beam which +protected the ship from collisions could travel faster. + +From now on it was just a matter of luck. Someone had pulled those six +explorers out of space and Sessions was hoping the same thing would happen +to him. On the third day it happened. + +He was sitting in the pilot's chair, watching the radona chart before him. +Most of the chart was blank, only the upper right hand corner showing a +mass of black dots which indicated a planetary dispersal about a dead star. +Sessions waited for the radona beam to swing the ship leftward. + +Instead, the ship was curving in the direction of the dots! Ben's first +thought was that the beam had gone out of order, and he switched to manual +controls. No use. Despite all his efforts he was being carried toward those +planets. + +Habit made him shut off the tubes. Why waste fuel? A tight smile froze on +his lips as his speed dropped to twenty million miles then lifted again as +the ship by-passed a planet. With calm deliberation Ben switched on the +camera he had installed before the flight and let it record his course as +shown on the radona chart. + +Only one dot remained on the chart. It grew larger and larger until it +filled the entire screen. There was no longer any doubt as to the ship's +destination, and as if to add further proof its speed dropped sharply. Ben +clicked the switch on the camera and removed a tiny roll of microfilm. The +roll fit snugly into the hollow cap which covered the stub of one of his +molars. + +The altitude indicator went on automatically, showed fifty thousand feet, +then forty thousand, went down to hundreds. Ahead there was only blackness. +Ben held his breath and waited for the crash. It never came. Long after the +altimeter showed zero the ship still moved. Ben could think of only one +explanation: he was below the surface of the dark planet! And then he could +think no more; the blackness seemed to filter into the ship and into his +mind. + + * * * * * + +"He awakens," a voice said. It was a pleasant voice, a feminine one, silky +and soothing. + +Ben Sessions sat up and said, "Huh?" + +The first thing he noticed was the light. No more darkness, but a light +that came from nowhere and yet was everywhere. He was on some sort of +couch, in a huge room with a vaulted ceiling. Shaking his head groggily, +Ben looked for the source of the silken voice. He was alone in the room. + +His eyes ran down the length of his body. The flash gun was gone from his +belt. That was hardly unexpected. But the belt was gone too. So were his +clothes. He was clad in a loose robe of shimmering white cloth. + +That meant he had been unconscious for some time. How long? Ben would have +given much to know. Suddenly he let out an unearthly moan, threw his arms +wide and rolled off the couch. He lay still. + +The silken voice was raised again and added to it was another, more +masculine. Then a door opened and two people stepped into the room. Ben sat +up and grinned at them, especially at the woman. + +"I thought that would get you," he said. "It's not hospitable to hide from +your guest." + +"Resourceful, isn't he?" The woman raised her eyebrows in mock admiration. +Her companion growled a reply which Ben couldn't quite catch. + +They were an odd pair, the woman towering well above ten feet but perfectly +formed, her skin the color of pink marble; the man more beast than human. +The women of Saturn were as tall as she, Ben had time to think, but not +nearly as beautiful. + +"Welcome to Teris, Ben Sessions," she said. Her smile was the smile of the +serpent of Eden. + +"You're pretty resourceful yourself," Ben grinned. + +He had carried no papers except a blanket permit from Interstellar Flight. +He wondered if the precaution he and Carson had taken would prove to be in +vain. The woman spoke again. + +"Ben Sessions, graduate of Neptune School of Rockets; born in Taos, New +Mexico, Earth; third of four children; unmarried, unattached at present; +first position, co-pilot Earth-Vega Express . . ." + +She seemed to be choosing items at random from a memorized list. The +exhibition was intended to impress Ben and it was succeeding. More than +that, however, it was frightening. He held his breath as she neared the +end. + +". . . two years with Interstellar Communications; presently a licensed +space explorer, non-affiliated." + +"Pretty good," Ben said. + +It was better than that. It was perfect. Only the end was wrong. He and +Carson had worked that out with the psychoanalyst. The two of them had +wanted to falsify the entire biography, but the analyst had convinced them +he was right. + +"One lie I might attempt to pound into your very subconscious by hypnotism; +a dozen would be spread too thin. We would leave holes. Under the type of +electroanalysis you seem to think might be used on you I can't even promise +one lie will hold up." + +Ben reminded himself to recommend the man for honors if he ever got back to +Earth. He had certainly known his business; but then, if he hadn't he would +not be working for "Two Eyes." + +"Now that you've told me all about myself maybe you'll tell me what's going +on," Ben said. + +"One of your compatriots can do that," the woman told him. Her interest +seemed suddenly to have waned. + +She said a few words in a strange tongue to the man who stood at her side. +He grunted, bowed, and advanced toward Ben. Long arms, covered with thick +black hair, reached out. Ben dodged. + +"You'll be sorry if you make him use force," the woman said. + +"Nothing like trying," Ben told her. He avoided another grab and stepped in +and smashed his fist to the hairy man's jaw. + +[Illustration: The ape-like figure rushed forward and Ben's head was thrown +back by a mighty blow . . .] + +He might as well have hit a wall. Before Ben could strike another blow he +was lifted from his feet by an upward slap that threatened to tear loose +one side of his face. Too dazed to resist, he felt both his wrists +encircled by a tremendous hand. The woman's voice rose sharply in a tone of +command. + + * * * * * + +The corridor through which Ben Sessions was being led was thronged with +people. There seemed to be three classes: rosy-skinned giantesses like his +escort; men of his own size, but also with pink complexions; and the squat, +hairy men who appeared to be nothing more than slaves. + +It was plain that women dominated this society, and from them Ben received +curious but contemptuous glances. Any one of these Amazons would have been +considered a beauty on Earth, so regular were their features, but they +lacked an air of feminine softness. Instead, cruelty lay thinly masked +beneath the surface. + +At the end of the long corridor a huge door swung open and Ben was led +through it into an immense room. At the far end of the room was a throne, +and on it a woman. Ben blinked. As well proportioned as the others he had +seen, she was half again as tall, twice as beautiful. He could not contain +a gasp of appreciation. + +Thick violet hair fell almost to her shoulders, her skin was luminous and +flawless, her body breathtaking, more revealed than concealed by a +clinging gown of some filmy material. At her breast, flashed a single +violet jewel larger by far than the famed sapphires of Uranus. + +"I brought him as soon as he awakened," said the woman with Ben. + +A malevolent stare from the woman on the throne rested on Ben. "It was +unnecessary," she said. "We have no further need of him. Take him to the +field." + +"Wait a minute," Ben snapped. + +"You are addressing Arndis, Queen of Teris," he heard his escort say. + +"I don't give a hoot . . ." He never finished the sentence. From behind the +hairy slave seized him, lifted him and flung him bodily toward the doors. +The interview was over. + +They went for a while along the same corridor, then turned off and followed +a side passage for a way. It led steadily downward to an arched opening and +through that out of the building. Here too the light was diffused, but much +brighter. Ben had to blink several times before he became adjusted to it. + +They were standing in the center of a vast level plain, apparently endless +and roofless, for overhead there was no sky, only an increasing intensity +of light. Ranged in rows on the plain were thousands of space ships. Ben +turned once as they approached the first line of ships and saw behind him +the building from which he had just come. It rose upward, a single block of +shining stone, for almost a mile. Alongside it were other buildings of the +same material, but none so large. + +Then Ben and his two escorts were past the first rows of ships. His eyes +roved over them, trying to discover what armament they carried. None was +visible. Their firing tubes were much the same as those of Earth design, +but slightly smaller. + +His attention was diverted from his study by a sudden disturbance aboard +the closest ship. The sound of an angry feminine voice came clearly through +an open porthole, and mingled with it was a pleading, deeper tone. An +instant later a door was flung open and out of it came hurtling one of the +men of Teris. He hit the ground, rolled over, and came to his knees facing +the open door and the giant woman who stood framed in it. + + * * * * * + +That the man was pleading for his very life was obvious to Ben, but it was +equally plain that his pleas were having no effect. The woman on the ship +uttered a single contemptuous word that cut the pleas short. On her face +was a sadistic anticipation such as Ben had never before seen. Slowly she +raised a cylinder in her hand and pointed it at the man on the ground. + +From the cylinder came a violet light, weak at first, but growing in +intensity as she pressed some sort of trigger. The man shrieked in agony as +the light played on him. Then the smell of burning flesh came to Ben's +nostrils, and the shriek became a single high pitched scream which choked +off suddenly. + +Ben's escort laughed with ghoulish enjoyment, said something to the woman +in the doorway, and gestured at the charred body on the ground. The violet +light grew to blinding intensity. A puff of smoke and the body was gone. + +"What was that for?" Ben gasped. + +His escort smiled indulgently and shot a question at the other woman. The +reply was a shrug of shoulders and a few short syllables. + +"He did something that displeased her," she told Ben. At his look of horror +she laughed again, apparently pleased to have shocked him. + +He noticed, as they went along, that the space ships decreased in size. +Those in the first rows had been comparable to Earth's battle cruisers, +those in the last were one or two man jobs. His own ship, the _Rapier_, was +at the very end of the last line. + +Beyond was a vast army of men, both rosy skinned and hairy, at work on a +gigantic excavation project. Great power shovels scooped load after load of +earth. But most of the work was being done by the men who labored with +primitive pick and shovel. + +Above the sound of digging rose the sharp voices of the giant women of +Teris, each with a battalion under her command. As far as Ben's eyes could +reach men were digging at the ground. + +He was hustling along to a point where a dirt spattered group struggled +with a metallic lining for the half-mile hole it had excavated. At that +point his escort turned him over to the woman who bossed that crew. Ben saw +in the hand of the overseer one of the violet ray cylinders. + +"Down there," she said curtly, pointing to where a small knot of men worked +on a terrace fifty feet below. "They will tell you what to do." + +Ben had found nothing strange in the fact that his escort had spoken +English fluently. She had been present at his electroanalysis. But he +doubted that all the women of Teris could have the same command of the +language. Nevertheless he said nothing and clambered down the ladder to the +terrace beneath. Ben's unasked question was answered when he saw the five +faces turned up toward him. + + * * * * * + +Earth men! Even the grime that covered them could not hide that. And there +was added proof in their widening eyes. They were sorry to see another +Earth man captive, yet happy at sight of one of their own kind. Willing +hands helped Ben down from the bottom rung of the ladder. + +"We'd heard they had picked up another ship," one of the men said. "But we +weren't sure the rumor was true." + +"True enough, as you can see. I'm Ben Sessions." + +His outstretched hand was grasped and shaken cordially. Names were flung at +him. Murchison, Davies, Kennard, Bannon, Murchison. + +"Wait a second," Ben said. "I thought I heard Murchison twice." + +"You did," said the big, rawboned man at whom he was staring. "The first is +my daughter Sally." + +It was only then that Ben noticed how small and slender was the figure of +the one next to Murchison. Even the girl's loose robe, similar to that of +the men, could not quite conceal her femininity. Her hair was cut short, +her hands toil hardened. + +"Carson didn't tell me," Ben muttered. He grinned at Murchison. "I expected +to find you and two assistants, but I didn't know one would be your +daughter." + +"Expected--?" Hope glinted in five pairs of eyes. Above them there was a +shouted command to get to work, and a cylinder was waved threateningly. + +"I'll explain as we go along," Ben said hastily. "Show me what to do." + +Bannon, a short, thickset man with a mop of unruly black hair shoved a pair +of tongs into Ben's hands and quickly explained how to hold the rivets with +which the group was working. In effect they were constructing a huge +cylinder. Looking down, Ben saw that it descended into the bowels of Teris. + +The others were pressing Ben for his explanation but he insisted that they +tell their stories first. The same thing had happened to them as to him. +Within some thousands of miles of Teris they had felt a force pull them +toward it. Then they had passed out and awakened to find themselves +prisoners. + +"I know all that," Ben said. "But in all the time you've been here you must +have found out a good deal. What goes on here? Why are they taking prisoner +every one who approaches the planet? Why do they conceal its existence from +our system?" + +Murchison paused between blows of his hammer, as though to wipe sweat from +his brow. + +"Since you seem in a hurry," he said, "I will tell it in brief. You are in +the center of a planet whose evil people are engaged in one enterprise: the +conquering and subjugating of our universe." + +"I thought that might be it," Ben nodded. "But subjugating billions of +people may prove tougher than they think." + +"Their intention is to reduce our population so it can be easily handled. +And I can assure you that these women are perfectly capable of slaughtering +as many people as they think necessary. They have both the means and the +contempt for human life that such an undertaking requires." + +Ben hazarded a guess. "This project is part of their preparation?" + +"The final part. Since the surface of Teris has a temperature of absolute +zero it can only be reached from here through a series of locks. What they +are building now are new locks big enough to handle their largest ships. As +soon as that's done they plan to attack." + +"Any idea when that will be?" + +"About a week, Earth time." Murchison's shoulders sagged with despair. +"We've been wracking our brains for a way to stop them, but it's no use. +They're as clever as they are evil. They've even sent doubles of each of us +men to Earth to pave the way for the attack. I suppose you've seen your +double." + +"No." + +"Then they haven't made one. You have to be awake while it's being done. I +suppose they didn't think it necessary now that there's so little time +left." + +"Less time than I thought," Ben grunted. "I'd better get moving." He tilted +his head back and shouted to the woman above. + + * * * * * + +For a second time Ben stood before Arndis, queen of Teris. Her eyes probed +at him, trying to divine his thoughts. There was anger in those eyes. If +she detected a single flaw in his story it would mean Ben's death. More +than that, it would mean disaster for Earth. He talked fast. + +"When we found that plate in the firing tube of Murchison's ship we knew he +was lying. We figured he'd discovered valuable deposits out here and was +trying to keep them secret." + +"That was all?" + +"It's enough, isn't it? Enough for Interplanetary Intelligence to send me +on this mission. Those false papers I carried are proof that we suspected +something. And if I'm not back in the time we allowed they'll have our +entire battle fleet out looking for me." + +"Very clever," Arndis smiled. "But if you are trying to frighten us you are +failing. The women of Teris had a high civilization before your Earth was +born. We can do things you never dreamed of." + +At her command Ben's arms were seized and bound behind him. He was carried +swiftly into a room nearby, a room filled with a maze of scientific +apparatus. On what appeared to be an operating table was a transparent +shell, and beneath this Ben was strapped. + +Through the shell he saw one of the men of Teris brought into the room and +placed in a similar position on another table. Wires were strung between +the two shells and somewhere a machine began to hum. The shells filled with +a white vapor that lingered a moment and then was gone. + +Although he had known what was to happen Ben could not control his +amazement. For the man who came out of the other shell was an exact replica +of himself! Within minutes he saw the other dressed in his own flying suit. + +"You see how simply we solve the problem?" Arndis asked. "Ben Sessions will +return to Earth and there will be no search. He will report that he found +nothing and request that he be allowed to try again. By that time we shall +be ready to attack." + +Ben's arms had been untied, and now he put his hand to his face, as though +to rub some tender spot. The move attracted no undue attention. An instant +later he had two fingers inside his mouth and was working loose the cap +over his tooth. + +His next move took them completely by surprise. With a leap he was half way +across the room and lunging for his double. Ben brought the man down with a +flying tackle and for seconds they wrestled on the floor. Then a hairy hand +tore Ben loose and he was hauled to his feet. He had done little harm to +the other. + +"Not quite fast enough," Arndis said. "Within minutes he will be aboard the +Rapier and on his way." Her voice rose. "Take this one back to the locks." + + * * * * * + +"Doesn't it ever get dark here?" Ben asked. + +He and Murchison and the others had been allowed to come out of the tube +after what seemed hours of toil. They sat now in a tiny cell into which air +came through slits in the wall. + +"No," Murchison said. "But Bannon has a good watch and we're able to keep +track of time. It's exactly six days and three hours since you were put to +work." + +Ben nodded thoughtfully. There was not much time left. Work on the locks +went on endlessly, and sooner than he could have believed possible they +were being completed. Given enough slaves, he thought, anything could be +accomplished. + +Gluing his eyes to one of the slits, he peered out. The last of the giant +gates was being installed. Their own crew would have only one more shift +before the job was finished. + +Beyond the excavation Ben could see the tower from which the locks were +controlled. Bannon, who had been in Teris longest and who had managed to +garner some information, had explained their operation to Ben. + +"I worked on the new controls when they were being installed," he said, +ranging himself alongside Ben. "They're fully automatic. There are five +locks in each tube between the interior and the surface of Teris." + +"How many ships did you say were kept at the tower?" Ben asked. + +"About ten. They make inspection flights each day, although nothing has +ever gone wrong that I've heard of. But the tubes and the locks are the +only outlets to the surface and they watch them carefully." + +"What are our chances of getting to the tower?" + +"Zero, I should say. Only the women are allowed to enter it, or a small +crew under their supervision." + +"Willing to make a try?" Ben asked. He swung around to face them all. Until +now he had not taken them into his confidence, given them no inkling of +what was in his mind. + +"We've talked about it before," Murchison answered. "But there's so little +chance we gave up the idea. Better to stay alive and hope for a rescue." + +"I can't tell you how I know," Ben told them, "but there isn't going to be +any rescue." He kept his eyes on the girl. "How about you, Sally? Willing +to trust me?" + +She nodded and Ben heaved a sigh of relief. Rather than leave her behind he +would have stayed with her. Gathering them about him he outlined his plans. +The men were more than skeptical but no one had any suggestions. + + * * * * * + +Ben and Davies were the last to finish their work, and as they fastened the +last rivet to the last hinge Ben looked up and shook his head. To the giant +woman who stood watching him it seemed only that he was tired. She failed +to notice that Sally had drifted off to one side and was coming up behind +her. + +Sally's foot suddenly caught the overseer just behind one knee and knocked +her off balance. At the same instant Ben stepped in close and wrenched the +violet ray cylinder from the woman's hand. The others screened them from +sight. Ben looked around and saw that the slight flurry of activity had +gone unnoticed by others of the giant women who were nearby. + +"We're going to walk to the control tower," he told the woman grimly. "If +anyone asks you're to say we have to do some work there. I'm going to have +this ray gun trained on you under my robe, so don't try any tricks. +Understand?" + +She understood all too well. A flicker of fear in her eyes told Ben that +she knew he would blast her without mercy. They fell in behind her. + +When they reached the doors of the tower a pair of women barred their way. + +"We have received no notice of work to be done," one of them said. Ben saw +her eyes narrow with sudden suspicion, and then her hand darted for the +cylinder at her side. + +Ben's ray gun spouted violet death and the charred bodies of three women +lay in the doorway. Ben scooped up their guns and thrust them at Bannon and +Murchison. + +"We'll give you five minutes before we take off," he shouted as they ran +past him for the control room. + +Behind him and Davies and Sally there were shouts as the two men went into +action. But they had their own job to do. The closest inspection ship was +several hundred feet away and already women were running to cut them off. +Ben cut loose with his cylinder before they had a chance to use theirs. + +Then he and Davies were lifting Sally into the ship. While they covered the +open door Ben ran for the controls. Somewhere an alarm was wailing and as +he swung the ship about Ben saw other ships being boarded. But Bannon and +Murchison had not failed. Just beyond the tower a lock swung open. + +Ben skimmed along the ground, figuring to pick up the two men as they came +out of the tower. Then he saw Murchison wave him on. He had planted himself +in the doorway and was refusing to budge. Ben saw why as Murchison blasted +away at a group of giant women who were trying to rush the tower. + +There was no more time. Already other ships were taking off. Another wasted +minute and they would beat him to the lock. Ben yelled to Davies to close +the hatch as he turned on the power. + +A moment later they were in the blackness of the tube. Davies ran forward +to the controls. "There's a light on the ship," he said. He found the +switch and threw it in time for them to see the next lock open for them. + +"Three to go," Ben muttered. "Looks like we're going to make it." + +"Maybe not." Davies tapped his shoulder and pointed to the rear of the +ship. Looking back through a porthole, Ben could see other ships behind +them. + +"As long as we're in the tube they won't fire," Davies said. "But neither +can we get very far ahead!" + +While he spoke the ship had gone through another lock with the others still +directly behind. It looked like Davies was right. But Ben was not yet ready +to concede defeat. The fourth lock loomed ahead and he watched it swing +open. Just a few minutes more and they would go through the last one. It +was still hundreds of miles ahead but at the rate they were travelling they +would be on it soon. + +He waited until the last possible second and then cut his speed sharply. +Behind them the other ships were forced to use their retarding rockets for +fear of ramming them. It was just what Ben had expected. As the last lock +opened he threw the accelerator all the way forward and felt the ship leap +ahead. + +That alone would not have been enough, but as the ship roared out of the +tube above the surface of Teris he cut sharply to the right. Had their ship +been faster it might have worked. But it was not fast enough. Through the +blackness of space the exhausts of their pursuers flamed closer. Ben's +teeth clamped down on his lips. + +"I guess we're out of luck." + +There was nothing more to say. It was only a matter of minutes before the +guns of the ships behind them would blast them to pieces. They held their +breath and waited, watching the exhausts come through the darkness. + +And then suddenly there was no more darkness. A light as bright as the noon +sun flared. Ben let out a shout, for beyond the light were lined the battle +cruisers of Earth. His pursuers turned tail and ran. + +"Where the devil did those ships come from?" Davies gasped. + +"I sent for them," Ben told him. "We had it all arranged. When I tackled +that double I managed to slip a microfilm capsule into his pocket. It had a +complete picture of my radona chart. As soon as the double reached Earth, +Intelligence grabbed him. All they had to do was follow my chart to Teris." + +They were passing the flagship of the Earth fleet, and Ben dipped the nose +of his ship in salute. Then he turned to see what was going on. + +There was going to be no attempt to invade Teris. Instead, its surface was +illuminated with more of the flares. A moment later Teris was gone, blasted +by the guns of a thousand cruisers. And for the strange women who would +have enslaved a universe, Ben felt no pity. + + + THE END + + + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The sentence on Page 61: "It was that department's job to take the ship +apart, fix what needed fixing, and put it." is exactly as it appears in +the original. + +On Page 62, in "Once Jacobs' interest was aroused he was also not one to +let a matter drop;" the original had "Jacob's". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Daughters of Doom, by Herbert B. 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