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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..c4a8dc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62258 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62258) diff --git a/old/62258-8.txt b/old/62258-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 204ec19..0000000 --- a/old/62258-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1831 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Meteor Men of Mars, by Harry Cord and Otis A. Kline - -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'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Meteor Men of Mars - -Author: Harry Cord - Otis A. Kline - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62258] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Meteor-Men of Mars - - By Harry Cord and Otis Adelbert Kline - - Like tiny meteors, the space-ships plunged - into Earth's atmosphere, carrying death for - all who opposed their flight. The fate of a - world rested in Hammond's hands--and his - wrists were fettered at his sides. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1942. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It came out of the dawn sky, slanting like a fiery meteor out of the -east. The two men in the skiff saw the glowing streak in the sky and -heard the sound of its passage, like the loosing of a nest of angry -snakes overhead, a scant second before it plummeted into the calm -waters of the Sound. - -A geyser of water and steam shot up not a hundred yards from the maroon -and gold skiff. The boat rocked and pitched to the disturbance. - -Frank Hammond, seated at the bow, clamped a taped hand over the side to -hold himself, surprise quickening the intentness of his dark, handsome -face. He was a lithe, bronzed figure, clad only in blue trunks and rope -sandals. Stroking for his college crew in years that were warm memories -had padded naturally wide shoulders. - -"What the devil?" he ejaculated. "Did you see that, Pete?" - -Peter Storm grinned. Two inches under his companion's six foot length, -he weighed ten pounds more--a heavily muscled figure who could move -with deceptive speed as many an opposing eleven had found out in his -college football days. Blond, phlegmatic of nature, he took things -easier than his more restless friend. - -"Meteor, you dummox!" he jibed, good-naturedly. "Ever hear of one -before?" - -Hammond stared at the spot where the agitation was quieting. "I heard -of them," he said shortly. "But this is the first time one ever fell -this close to me." - -Storm shrugged. "Forget it. This is our last day before going back to -the grind. Let's make the most of it. Remember that bet we--Boy!" He -broke off, standing up to haul in. - -His catch proved to be a bluefish, a three pounder. He unhooked it, -disgustedly, while Frank, measuring it with a quick glance, gave him a -Bronx cheer. "If you can't do better than that that new hat's in the -bag," he jeered. - -They went back to their heaving and hauling, bantering good naturedly -over every catch, completely forgetting the strange visitor from the -skies. - -Both were research chemists for the New York Analytical Laboratories; -both were unmarried. They had been inseparable comrades since their -college days, when both wore identical crew cuts, dressed alike, and -always either double-dated or stagged it. In memory of those days their -skiff, the _Crawfish_, had been painted maroon inside and a golden -yellow outside, maroon and gold having been their school colors. - -Their vacation camp was on Ramson's Island, just off Ramson's point on -the Connecticut shore. The rocky island was uninhabited. They had left -camp early, intent on making the most of their last day. Reaching the -fishing "hole" they had anchored. Both men taped their hands, and each -prepared his jig, a long bar of lead to which a hook was attached, and -began the process of "heaving and hauling" used in the vicinity for -luring bluefish. - -They had been at it for about an hour when the "meteor" landed. - -Fifteen minutes later they had forgotten it. - - * * * * * - -The sun was a huge red ball balanced on the rim of the sea when Frank -suddenly felt a jerk on his line that nearly wrenched his arm from its -socket. He said nothing. His lips merely tightened, eagerly, as he -wished to surprise his companion by hauling in the big one unexpectedly. - -But this proved harder than he thought. - -His potential catch darted off with such a burst of speed and strength -that it dragged boat, anchor and all! - -"Hey!" yelled Storm, clutching the boat sides to hold himself. "What's -on that jig? A shark? Better cut that line before it swamps us!" - -"Like heck I will!" Hammond grunted, hanging on to the line with both -taped hands. "This must be the grandfather of all big blues. That new -hat's in the bag!" - -With both feet braced against the thwarts, he leaned back and pulled -with all his strength. Bit by bit he hauled the "big one" in close, -till finally he was able to lift it out of the water and into the boat. - -Both men exclaimed in amazement at the thing which came over the side -and clanked to the bottom of the boat. It was neither a giant bluefish -nor a shark. It was a shiny, iridescent object, slightly shaped like a -shark, but quiescent now, and seemingly lifeless. - -"What kind of a fish do you call that?" asked Storm disgustedly, -leaning forward for better view of the catch. "It looks like a cross -between a shark and a toy submarine." - -"Damned if it don't!" Hammond replied, staring bewilderedly at his -catch. - -The thing was about thirty inches in length, with both vertical -and dorsal fins. But instead of one dorsal fin it was equipped with -four fins placed equidistantly around the body. These fins contained -numerous tubular quills or spines with round openings at the ends, and -Hammond's hook had caught between two of these spines. It was as heavy -as if made of steel, but despite its weight and metallic sound when -struck, it appeared to be constructed entirely of a bluish, iridescent -mother-of-pearl. - -Hammond removed his hook from between the spines, and lifted his catch -onto the empty boat seat between them. - -"Better heave it overboard," advised Storm, seriously. "It might be a -new-fangled type of mine or bomb. I don't like the looks--" - -He stood, open-mouthed, as the "thing" suddenly shot off the boat seat -with a hissing roar like that of a small rocket. It scorched the paint -as it took off with small, orange-green flares emanating from the -tubular quills. It shot upward with incredible speed and was almost -immediately lost to view. - -Storm's mouth closed slowly. "Hell!" he said, a little dazedly. "I'm -afraid to start fishing again, Frank. Might catch a cross between a -battleship and a whale." - -"I'm hauling up anchor," Hammond countered, grimly. "I don't like the -looks of this at all. The coast guard ought to hear of this." - -He got one hand on the anchor rope and was starting to hoist in when -the strange "catch" suddenly reappeared. It came down in a long slant, -circled over the skiff a few times, and finally settled on the scorched -seat from which it had taken off. - -Hammond stared at the thing and swore. Peter Storm took a firm hold of -his oar. - -Holes suddenly appeared in the strange craft. Hammond noticed that -there were no doors in evidence. The holes seemed to dilate open, like -camera shutters, in the gleaming body. - -From these openings a host of small creatures crawled. They swarmed out -toward both ends of the boat seat. - -Storm straightened, oar in hand. "Ants!" he snapped, disgustedly. He -began to swing the ash blade down on the scurrying creatures. - -The things continued to move about, apparently unharmed. Dents appeared -in the oar and in the seat. - -Hammond bent over the scurrying creatures and studied them. "No use, -Pete," he muttered. "They're not ants. There's no division of head, -thorax and abdomen. They're eight-legged and cephalothoracic--more like -the arachnids." His startled surprise was fading under the prod of -scientific curiosity. "Funny thing, Pete--the legs and shells seem to -be composed of the same substance as the 'thing' they come from. Look!" - -Storm dropped his oar and came forward. The boat rocked a little to his -shift of weight. A faint humming came from the "thing" on the seat, -catching his attention. - -But Hammond, intent on one of the small creatures he was about to pick -up, did not notice. Not until Pete's hoarse shout jerked him away. - -"Look out, Frank! That tube--" - -Hammond straightened up to face his friend. But Peter Storm had -vanished, as if he had never been! - -Between Hammond and where Storm had been was the "thing" on the seat. -The humming emanating from it now was distinctly audible, and ominous! - -A shining tube, mounted in a turret, had appeared in one of the -openings. The tube was swinging around, lining itself on Hammond. - -The dazed chemist did not think. He reacted instinctively, knowing, -somehow, that that tube was related to Storm's disappearance. He -twisted, violently, and tried to dive over the boat side. - -Something halted him in the act. He felt a strange numbness wrap itself -about him, and a cold like nothing he had ever experienced penetrated -to his very vitals. Then he felt himself falling, as if through an -endless blackness.... - - * * * * * - -The darkness faded, slowly. He felt his feet jar on solid ground, and -the terrible cold left him. But for long moments Frank Hammond stood -rigid, his dazed mind trying to accept the strange world he had fallen -into. - -The landscape about him was maroon in color. Irregular ridges and -gullies of apparently molten stone hemmed him in. Off to his left he -could see a huge, bubbly pit that reminded him of fumaroles he had seen -in the National Yellowstone Park. Far in the distance, to his right and -left, maroon cliffs towered into blue mists. - -Hammond stared at the weird scene. Under him he could feel the slow -rise and sway of the entire land, as if it were unstable, rocking in -space! - -For the first few moments Hammond thought he was dreaming. He must have -been rendered unconscious by the strange "thing" on the boat. Soon he -would awaken-- - -But the slightly swaying maroon landscape persisted. Hammond looked -down at his nearly naked, bronzed body. He hadn't changed. He took a -few tentative steps toward the bubbly pit, and the sudden realization -that all this _was_ real sickened him. - -Where was he? What had happened to him and Storm? - -A harsh, metallic rattle answered him. Hammond whirled. Topping one of -the far ridges appeared an eight-legged monster of gigantic size. It -was without head or tail. Its unsegmented body was an iridescent blue, -and shaped like a giant pumpkin seed. - -The thing flashed menacingly in the bright light of a sun that was but -a huge blur in the misty sky. It headed for Hammond with incredible -speed, a huge foreleg stretching out in readiness. - -Hammond wasted no time in speculation. His dazed mind reacted to but -one impulse. Flight! - -Turning, he ran for the nearest gully. He went down in a half scramble, -and ran along it, the walls looming over his head. - -But his huge pursuer gained on him. He could hear the metallic rattle -of those flashing legs close behind him. Despair gripped the young -chemist as he scrambled out of the gully and ran up the nearest ridge. - -The landscape ahead of him was dipping down as he ran, seemingly being -tilted by his weight. The thought came back to Hammond that this must -be a nightmare. The eight-legged, colossal thing pursuing him was -exactly like the tiny antlike creatures that had swarmed out of the -strange "catch" he pulled into the _Crawfish_ but a few hours ago. Or -was it a few hours? - -He didn't know. He no longer knew anything. Grim-faced, his breath -beginning to come in gasps, he slid down a steep maroon bank, and raced -along the shadowed cut that gradually deepened. - -It was a hopeless flight. Behind him the clattering monster came, -running along the top of the ravine which was too narrow to allow it to -enter. - -The steep-walled cut suddenly ended. The sides here were steep and -smooth--a perfect cul-de-sac. Hammond turned, his brown fists clenched. - -The walls hemming him in were perhaps fifteen feet above his head. The -metal monster halted on the rim. A strange light blinked on in the nose -of that creature, or mechanism. It probed down at him, spotlighting -him. A giant foreleg, ending in a formidable pair of forceps, reached -down along the light beam for him. - -The focussing light, swinging along the opposite wall before steadying -on Hammond, had revealed to the desperate research chemist a transverse -fissure, barely wide enough to admit him. Hammond took the chance. The -giant claw was but a foot above his head when he twisted, sprang away -from the wall. The forcep jerked, swung after him. Hammond beat it to -the fissure by a foot. - -He didn't stop. He kept running, looking back over his shoulder to -see if the monster was following. He didn't notice the fissure ended -abruptly in space. Not until he suddenly felt himself treading empty -air. Then he began to fall, turning slowly, like a slow motion diver in -the newsreels. - - * * * * * - -He fell a long way. In terms of feet, as he judged it, the drop was -incredible. Below him a huge mass loomed out of a brown, heaving sea. -Above him--he saw it, once, as he faced upward in his turning fall--he -glimpsed what was a gigantic span of maroon earth, hundreds of feet -thick, that was supported by the huge, maroon cliffs at either side. - -It was from that span he had fallen! - -A strange, numbing thought came to him, then, so incredible in its -implication he discarded it. But it persisted, kept tapping at the back -of his mind-- - -He was still in the _Crawfish_! - -The thought was fantastic. Yet it was less incredible than if it were -not true. The turreted tube, evidently, had sprayed an invisible ray -that had so changed him in size that the antlike things he had been -about to examine now loomed like colossi over him. The ridges and -gullies and fumaroles were brush marks and paint bubbles in the maroon -paint of the seat, and the towering cliffs were the boat sides. The -high span from which he was falling must be nothing less than the boat -seat! - -And the huge, elliptical land mass toward which he was falling must be-- - -He landed then. The substance beneath his feet was soft, spongy. It -broke his fall. Around him was a momentary red glow, as of the sun -shining through a filter that blocked out all waves above the red band. -He passed through slimy pools within the huge mass, and momentary -revulsion gripped him. Then he emerged out into brief daylight, riding -a huge disc to the brown, heaving sea. - -He hit with a splash. Fathoms deep to him, he went directly to the -bottom, as if he were composed of a substance many times heavier than -lead. And he remained on the bottom. Not even his instinctive attempt -to swim upward could lift him to the surface. - -The ironic thought hit him then, as death stared at him with grinning -face. The huge mass through which he had plunged must have been -the body of one of the bluefish they had caught. Evidently, though -incredibly reduced in size, his weight in relation to the earth's pull, -was still one hundred and eighty pounds. And the brown, heaving sea at -the bottom of which he now rested, was merely the bilge water of the -_Crawfish_. And in the next minute or two he, Frank Hammond, was going -to drown in it! - -He turned, instinctively, and ran for the boat side. Again he felt the -boat tip to his unbalancing weight. Overhead the bilge water rushed to -lap high against his side. - -There was danger that his weight would so tip the skiff that it would -ship water from the Sound. But he had to chance it, or drown where he -stood. - -His lungs were nearly bursting when he came upon the dark, gigantic -loom of the boat side. And strangely, at this moment, the steep slant -of the floor began to level--the bilge water washed back from the side. - -The thought came to Hammond, then, that Peter Storm must be running -for the opposite side of the boat, instinctively realizing the need of -keeping this strange world on an even keel. - -Lungs bursting, Hammond started the climb up the dark wall. Like some -tiny mite, almost invisible to the naked eye, Hammond finally emerged -from the bilge water. Aching lungs drew in great draughts of clean air. - -Spent, still somewhat dazed by the incredible truth, he did not notice -the eight-legged colossus that came down along the cliff toward him. -Not until it loomed over him, and a giant claw reached down for him, -did he become aware of it. And then it was too late. - -He gasped, tried to dodge. - -A giant forcep grasped him about the middle, and with a quick, deft -motion another claw-like appendage clipped a small, parachute-like -metal harness over his shoulders. Then the first forcep lifted him, -easily, and drew him up to the metal monster where a round port dilated -open and he was thrust inside. - - * * * * * - -The huge claw withdrew, and the port closed. Hammond blinked his eyes. -He was in a big room, the ceiling of which was transparent, letting in -a subdued light. Ringing him, in a circle two deep, were warriors of -an ancient era. Amazons, complete to breast plates and oval shields, -cinctures and sandals. Lithe, beautiful, yet erect and disciplined, -they watched him as a trainer watches a jungle cat on its first day in -the arena. - -Hammond waited. The thought came to him, now, that these were very -modern Amazons. For beside the shield they carried a weapon that -closely resembled a modern rifle. And on their shoulders each carried -an identical parachute-like contrivance similar to the one fastened on -Hammond. - -The young chemist took a deep breath. He said: "What's the idea, girls? -This some kind of a new game?" - -The sound of his voice seemed to startle them. A golden haired warrior, -perhaps a minor officer, for she wore a green armlet, made a short, -quick gesture. - -The ringing warriors closed in on Hammond. Instinct moved the young -chemist's arms--the instinct to fight, to win free of this strange -experience he could not understand. But crippling that instinct were -the habits of civilization. - -He couldn't bring himself to hit these girls, warriors or no. - -Yet he tried to win free. He pushed the first two off their feet, -whirled, and bucked the rest of the line with his shoulders. They -parted under his assault. But with disciplined movement the others -closed in and fairly smothered him under them. - -He felt metal clasped about his arms and legs, and suddenly he was -unable to struggle, to heave free of that pinning mass. Panting, his -face grim, he subsided. - - * * * * * - -The Amazons reformed ranks. He was left with arms and legs chained in a -manner that allowed him, when on his feet, to take short steps forward. - -The officer with the green armband gestured again, and gave with it -a verbal order. Her voice was musical, in a tongue entirely alien to -Hammond. - -Two warriors marched forward, bent, helped Hammond to his feet. The -officer took hold of the free length of blue chain, and started to walk -Hammond toward the far end of the big room. - -Hammond followed. Behind him the two warriors kept pace, rifle-like -weapons held ready. - -A door dilated open in the wall, and Hammond found himself in a long, -softly lighted runway. He was marched along this to another door, and -motioned within. - -The door closed behind him. - -It was a small room, bare and blank on three sides save for a number of -iron handgrips on the walls. The fourth wall was transparent. Hammond -shuffled to it. At the same moment the floor under him pitched and -rolled, and the clank of machinery rumbled through the iron monster. - -He grasped the nearest handgrip, and clung. Looking out through the -transparent wall, he could see that the monster tank (for now he -guessed the eight-legged antlike thing to be) was climbing up the boat -side to the seat. - -The tank leveled off. Above him towered the outlines of the "big one." -Scores of the monster tanks were climbing back up the parent side, to -disappear in as many openings. - -The tank which held Hammond moved steadily, nosed into its compartment. -The door closed after them. The tank rumbled on across a large, dimly -lighted room, more like some enormous storage garage, for Hammond could -glimpse the bulks of dozens of the huge tanks along the far walls, and -in one corner he saw several of what resembled fast, ultra streamlined, -all metal planes. - -The tank came to a halt. The door of Hammond's cell opened, and the -officer with the two guards came in. Hammond was motioned to follow her -out. - -He was led out of the tank which was immediately maneuvered to its -niche among the vague bulks along the wall. A door dilated open at the -officer's approach, and they passed through it into another long, green -lighted runway. They went along this for some distance, then turned -into another room, as huge as the colossal garage into which the tank -had entered. - -Thousands of the wiry Amazons were swarming in through a hundred -doorways to this room. Evidently they were members of the expedition -which had been sent to locate and capture him, and which must have -consisted of nearly a hundred of the strange, ambulatory war tanks. - -The Amazon officer led him across this huge room which reminded Hammond -of a railway or bus terminal, and into another corridor. It was then -that the hugeness of the "big one" became evident to Hammond. - -They marched through a number of huge rooms, climbed three spiral -ramps, and popped into a half dozen tranverse corridors. And only on -these upper levels, in rooms that held banks of whirring machinery, did -Hammond see the males. - -They carried no weapons. They all wore white, collarless crew neck -garments that resembled smocks which came down to their knees. They -sported bearded chins and jowls, but smooth shaven upper lips. The -beards were all trimmed to sharp points, and they looked alike as -stenciled copies. - -But here and there among them were some with remarkable physical -characteristics. Each of these occasional individuals had a -tremendously large left arm, fully as big as one of his legs. It was -carried crooked at the elbow, with the forearm held horizontally -in front of him. The right arm, on the contrary, was spindly and -underdeveloped. These males had thin, scraggy beards, and strange dull -eyes that followed Hammond as he was marched past. - -If the other males noticed him they gave no sign. They seemed -completely subordinated in this huge craft. - -The spiral ramps kept leading upward. Finally they reached a corridor -with a transparent ceiling, and Hammond realized that he was now at the -top of the strange craft. A moment later he was led before a door at -either side of which stood a stiff Amazon guard. - -The guards saluted the officer by raising the right hand to the heart. -Then they stepped aside. The officer stared at the closed door. Her -forehead furrowed slightly. Then she nodded. Turning, she removed the -shackles from Hammond, stepped back. - -The door dilated open. The officer made a sharp, unmistakable gesture -with her right hand, and the armed guard took a stolid step forward. - -Hammond shrugged. Ducking a little to clear the top of the doorway, he -stepped inside. - - * * * * * - -Across the well lighted room, close to the transparent prow of the -ship, was a huge, metal desk. Papers and small charts lay scattered -upon it. But Hammond's eyes scarcely noticed. - -He stopped, just within the room, the door closing silently behind -him. Then he took a deep breath, and grinned: "Now I know I must be -dreaming!" - -The girl behind the desk did not smile. She looked at him, solemnly, -then a strange, quick fire leaped across her startlingly beautiful -face. She lowered her gaze abruptly, and her hands stiffened on the -desk. She rose, and when she looked again at Hammond there was a -hardness, a piercing penetration to her sea-green eyes that seemed to -probe like a surgeon's scalpel into Hammond's very brain. A fire seemed -to spread, quickly, through his mind, as though long dormant cells -were stirring, growing to awareness. - -And with it, impacting strangely on his ears, the girl spoke, her -voice low and musical. "Earthman, your thoughts are unpleasant to me. -I, Gena, commander of the spacecraft, _Vandar III_, with a million -warriors at my disposal, am not for you." - -Hammond's grin changed to a startled gape. Confusion moiled in his -brain. How had she known what he was thinking? And where had she -learned English! She spoke it like an American. - -The girl smiled, as if hearing his confusion. She was a tall, lissome -girl; a corn-yellow blond of remarkable beauty. But there was an -imperiousness in her manner, a quiet dignity to her regard, a grace to -her movements that set her above the Amazons that had captured Hammond. -That she was a warrior also, albeit, the commanding officer of this -strange craft, was evinced by her attire which was the same as that of -the other female fighters. On a small table to her left was a shield, -differing from the plain blue of the others by the single, glowing -white star in its center. With it reposed one of the rifle-like weapons. - -On her left arm she wore a metal band, like that of the minor officer -that had escorted Hammond here. But this band was of gold, and it held -the same symbol of high status, the single white star of glowing stone -that writhed with a strange white fire. - -Hammond took control of his confused thoughts. He said: "I'm sorry if -I've offended you, Gena. But I can't control my thoughts, and they were -sincere." His handsome face lighted with his quick, infectious grin. -"You are very beautiful, and very desirable." - -The quick fire leaped across the girl's face again, and in Hammond's -mind there suddenly beat a tumultuous surge of emotions other than his -own. Then the girl's face went sombre, and the strange surge in Hammond -abruptly ceased. "You are a very impetuous young barbarian," she said, -coldly. "But perhaps your uncouthness can be excused. You will indeed -prove an interesting specimen to present to Aleea, the Queen Mother." - -Hammond frowned. He had almost forgotten the utter strangeness of the -entire experience, but it came back to him now, and with it the clamor -for explanation. - -The girl read his thoughts. "I, Gena, am not of Earth. Nor did I, -before you entered this room, know your language, or know that your -people call this planet Earth and the planet from which I come Mars. -All this, and as much of Earth and your civilization as you know I have -probed from your mind while you stood there." - -She came around the desk, smiling now. "Your thoughts are confused. -You do not readily believe. Mars--impossible! No ship has yet been -constructed that can negotiate the airless void of space--no _Earthian_ -craft!" she emphasized. "But we of Mars have." - -Hammond looked about him, out through the transparent hull wall to the -far low maroon cliffs that he knew were the boat sides. He shrugged. -Fantastic or no, this was the reality, and with a true scientist's -adaptable mind he accepted it. - -"How is it then," he questioned calmly, "that the warriors that -captured me did not learn my language, nor read my thoughts?" - -Gena's imperial features held dignity. "I am a commander," she -answered. "Which means that I am a thorough master of that which -your scientists call ESP--extra-sensory perception--as well as its -opposite, which they have not yet recognized, but which they might -call EST--extra-sensory transmission. It takes a certain type of -personality, even on Mars, and years of training to attain to the power -to perceive what is in other minds, plus the power to transmit to them, -selectively, and at will, that which I wish them to know, understand, -or obey." - -Hammond relaxed, his keen mind enjoying itself. "Then you are not -speaking to me in American? Yet to me it seems you are talking my -language." - -Gena's eyes quickened. "Precisely. I am speaking the language of -the mind. Your mind reinterprets what I say in the phonetic symbols -you call American, due to speech habits, just as it interprets such -phonetic symbols as thoughts and ideas. If you spoke another language -the written symbols and sounds conjured up by your mind would be -different, but the thoughts and ideas conveyed would be the same." - -Hammond frowned. "Then, if you and your people use only the language of -the mind, how does it happen that I heard spoken words which I did not -understand?" - -"I did not say we use _only_ the language of the mind. We have our own -phonetic symbols; in fact, I am talking audibly to you now. When you -first entered I probed your mind, and put you _en rapport_ as you might -call it, not only with our mind language, but with our thought symbols, -so you now reinterpret both as your own language." - -Hammond shook his head. "But I still speak in American." - -"No, you are only thinking in American. You are now vocalizing in our -language as naturally as if you were speaking your tongue. Here, look -at this chart." - - * * * * * - -Hammond glanced at the chart she held before him. It seemed written in -English, though the ideas conveyed were somewhat startling and foreign, -having to do with intricate calculation of space travel. Yet Hammond -recalled that only a few moments before they had been in strange and -unintelligible symbols. - -He nodded, slowly, a little awed. "You have advanced far on Mars. -And here on Earth we smugly pride ourselves on our knowledge, on a -civilization that even now is tearing itself to shreds. Surely, you of -Mars, with your advanced science, have succeeded in founding a better -and more peaceful world." - -The girl's eyes clouded, and for a moment her thought control slipped. -Hammond had a wondering sensation of fear and anxiety. - -"We have come far, Earthman," she nodded. "Evolution seems to have -started from the same base on Mars, and taken the same general course -as that of Earth. With variations, of course. We, the Metiphrons, the -mammals of Mars, have achieved to high civilization. Our cities are -united and at peace--among ourselves. Our science has wrought wondrous -changes. We have crossed space, and we have harnessed as well as -condensed the atom. On Mars we are of normal size, which is to say we -average about the size and weight of you Americans. This space ship, -those tanks, our weapons--all weigh and bulk accordingly. But for space -travel, and for certain doubtful ventures, we have condensed the atoms -of our bodies and that of this craft and all our weapons, without -changing their mass or qualitative characteristics. The electrical -particles are all there, and in precisely the same proportion. But in -each atom the particles are much closer together, moving in smaller -orbits." - -Hammond nodded. "Then I still weigh one hundred and eighty pounds?" - -"You did, till your weight was reduced by the degravitator strapped to -your back. Remove it, and your body, without changing size, will once -more attract and be attracted by your planet sufficiently to weigh one -hundred and eighty pounds. This ship, small as it no doubt appeared -to you and your companion, weighs countless tons. Were it not for the -giant degravitator in the central room it would plummet down to the -ocean depths." - -Hammond nodded, slowly. "With such science, and at peace among -yourselves, you must be supreme on your planet. And yet--" His gaze -shifted to shield and weapon on the small table. "You seem a warrior -people." - -Gena's face clouded. "Life is a struggle, Earthman. Forever and beyond, -perhaps. We Metiphrons have achieved to unity and peace. But on Mars -evolution took two parallel paths. That which culminated in the -Metiphrons, my people, arising as on Earth from the lowly protozoa. -And with it, keeping pace, that of the crustacean--culminating in the -opposite life form of Mars--the Sediphrons. For centuries now they -have fought us for mastery of the planet. Somewhat related to your -arachnidæ, their later evolution has been consciously anthropomorphic, -as they strove to imitate us in everything, even in bodily shape. Their -motives?" The girl smiled bleakly. "The ancient motives of life--to -enslave us, to be dominant on the planet, to infuse our blood with -their own in order to speed their anthropomorphic evolution--and -finally, to use as food those of us not suitable for slaves or to bear -their hybrid progeny. - -"You can see why the very thought of them is repugnant to us. Why every -female bears arms from infancy. And why we hoped to find aid, from the -females here on Earth, for our fight to crush the Sediphrons." - -Hammond nodded. "Then the Metiphron males don't bear arms?" - -"Bear arms?" Gena smiled. "The males attend to our machinery, take care -of the incubators and watch our young until they are able to take care -of themselves. But fight?" She shook her head, as if the idea were -strange and almost laughable. - -Hammond grinned. "Things are somewhat changed around on Earth, Gena. -The women do plenty of scrapping here, of course--and there's some who -would insist they have it over the males, most of the time, in domestic -life. But the really big blowoffs, like the ones going on in Europe and -in Asia--they're still strictly for males." - -The girl commander shrugged, dubiously. "Men are too phlegmatic to make -good fighters." - -She broke off, caught by a warning red signal that suddenly flashed to -life on a complicated instrument board to left of the desk. For the -space of several seconds she concentrated, her pretty brow slightly -furrowed. When she turned to Hammond there was a worried frown in her -eyes. - -"My audiodetector indicates the proximity of a strange space ship. -Its commander does not answer my telepathic inquiries. Something is -definitely wrong. I must place my sub-officers on the alert. Also -Ardiné, my division commander, who is conducting the search for your -friend, Peter Storm." - -Once more she concentrated on the issuance of telepathic orders. - - * * * * * - -The floor suddenly lurched violently beneath them. Hammond thrown off -balance, went down to his hands. He twisted erect, supple as a cat, and -reached out a supporting arm for Gena, who had been thrown against the -desk. A strange thrill tingled through him at the softness of her. - -The girl was half turned, facing the transparent prow wall. She said: -"Zuggoth, the Sediphron King!" There was fear in her, momentarily. -Then she stiffened, her brow furrowing in telepathic concentration, -evidently issuing orders to the defense posts of the _Vandar III_. - -Hammond, glancing over her shoulder, saw that a second craft, exactly -like the one he was in, had alighted on the boat seat beside them. -Holes were already dilating open in the gleaming side. Ugly muzzles, -huge and ominous to Hammond's changed perspective, thrust through these -holes. A moment later the flash and roar of heavy artillery shattered -the quiet. - -At the same time hundreds of the eight legged war tanks swarmed out of -holes in the lower part of the space cruiser. Some of these charged -toward the _Vandar III_, and were immediately met in combat by the -divisions Gena had ordered out to assist sub-commander Ardiné in her -search for Peter Storm. Others scuttled off to engage the separated -scouters. - -Gena seemed to have forgotten Hammond. She watched the heavy electronic -artillery from the hostile war cruiser, her mind sending telepathic -command after command to the various sections of the ship. The -_Vandar's_ own artillery was firing, but spasmodically, as if trouble -was aboard. Gena's brow furrowed. - - * * * * * - -Hammond watched the strange battle. The ambulant tanks, he saw, were -not only fighting with similar guns of lighter calibre, but were -engaging each other with their clawed feet, like crustaceans. The -guns did not fire projectiles, but flashes of electronic force which -resembled lightning. The armor of the space ships held under the -primary blasts, but was eroded by them, and repeated bolts, striking in -the same spot, would eventually break through. - -The quick flame of combat surged through Hammond as he watched. "Why -don't you maneuver the ship?" he shouted, forgetting the girl-commander -could read his thoughts. "Circle over them, come down on them from some -blind spot. You can't win in this position. They've got more guns!" - -The girl faced him, as if suddenly aware he was by her side. Her -features were white, and there was strain in her, in her flashing eyes. - -"I can't!" she replied. "There were traitors among the men in my crew. -Sediphrons, disguised as hybrids. They have seized the control room, -and wrecked many of our big guns. We've lost!" - -"No!" Hammond cried, roughly. "The control room! Maybe we can still -take over, if there's not too many of them. If they haven't wrecked the -driving mechanism we might still get away. Where is it, Gena?" - -The girl looked at him, strangely. "The males of Earth are indeed a -different breed," she commented. Then: "Come! Perhaps we have a chance." - -She gathered up her shield and electronic rifle, and headed for what -seemed a blank wall. Hammond followed. A door suddenly dilated open -before Gena, and they passed through, hurried down a short, deserted -ramp that spiraled downward for about a hundred feet. - -It ended at an open doorway. Beyond, in the midst of electronic crackle -and strange battle shouts, a dozen hybrids were holding the control -room against a company of Amazons trying to force their way in from -another doorway across the room. Two of Gena's operators were on the -floor, evidently dead. Three others struggled in the grip of the -scraggy bearded, huge-armed "fifth column" hybrids. - -Other hybrids were smashing the delicate controls. These saw Gena and -Hammond first. They swung around, reaching for electronic rifles. - -Gena succeeded in killing two of them. Hammond, closing in quickly -behind her, noticed that the rifles were fired, not from the shoulder, -but held with the stock beneath the arm, and manouvered with one hand -while the shield was held with the others. - -Before she could fire again Gena became the target for two of the -traitors. She caught the flash from one rifle on her shield, but could -not raise it in time to ward off the other. The electronic bolt caught -her squarely on her helmet. - -With a muffled growl Hammond charged. The scraggy bearded traitor -fired hurriedly, evidently disconcerted by sight of a bronzed, muscled -male diving for him. The blast seared lightly across Hammond's back -muscles. Then his hurtling body smashed into his opponent, hurling him -down. - -He swore monotonously, viciously, clubbed with savage fists at the -bearded, screaming face. His victim screamed for aid. - -At the next instant a wave of the fighting Amazons, evidently spurred -to frenzy by sight of their fallen leader, surged forward, blasting -into the room. - -Hammond clung to the struggling saboteur he had floored. The Sediphron -had lost rifle and shield, and was gouging at Hammond's eyes with the -fingers of his dwarfed right hand. The other, huge and leg-like, was -locked behind the chemist's neck in a bone crushing grip. - -Hammond's shoulder muscles writhed. He thrust his right hand up to a -scraggy bearded chin. To his surprise, not only the chin but the whole -face came away, revealing another beneath it. A hideous, crablike face -with popping eyes that stood out on stalks. It was covered with a green -chitinous armor. - -Startled, the Sediphron "fifth columnist" relaxed its grip on his neck. -Hammond wrenched free. His hand clamped down on the huge arm. - -The Sediphron surged back, leaving the artificial limb in the chemist's -hand. A huge, toothed claw was revealed. The Sediphron surged in, -reaching for Hammond. - -The Earthman twisted, a faint sneer writhing his lips. The Sediphron -was unbelievably clumsy. Hammond caught the descending claw and gave -a sharp, quick twist. The entire limb came off in his hands, broken -cleanly at the shoulder joint. Swinging the heavy limb in a swift -moulinet the Earthman brought it down with crushing force beneath the -popping eyes of his adversary. It crashed through the chitinous skull -as if it were an eggshell. - -Hammond whirled back to the fallen girl-commander, bent by her limp -body. Her fallen rifle caught his eye, and he reached for it, sensing -the swift swirl of battle swing toward him. - -His fingers fell short. A numbing pain lashed through his head, -bringing quick blackness. - - * * * * * - -Consciousness returned slowly to Hammond. He felt himself being -carried. But it was the sharp barked order that lingered in his mind, -that seemed to rift the blackness that shrouded his aching brain. - -His eyes opened. He found himself looking up into the hideous, crablike -face of a Sediphron who carried him by the shoulders. - -The sharp, imperious voice came again, halting Hammond's carriers. The -young chemist was put on his feet, flanked immediately by a half dozen -Sediphrons with menacing electronic rifles. - -Hammond stiffened. He was back in Gena's big observation and chart -room. A horde of armed Sediphrons filled the room, drawn up in stiff -military array. - -Behind the metal desk sat a huge man-like crustacean, deep green in -color. An enormous, toothed claw rested before him on the scattered -flight charts. - -The crablike mouth moved constantly. Words drummed against Hammond's -ear, in a language he strangely understood. "Bring in the other Earth -specimen, Vard. And the Metiphron sub-commander, Ardiné." - -Hammond turned. Only then did he see Gena, flanked by a Sediphron -guard, facing the hideous crustacean behind the desk. Their eyes met, -and a warm surge of thankfulness enveloped Hammond. - -"Thank God, Gena!" he thought, forcefully, "you're unharmed." - -The girl-commander smiled wanly. "This is the end, Earthman. Zuggoth -has won." - -The crablike thing behind the desk teetered a little in the chair. His -thoughts interrupted harshly. "Not the end, Gena, for you. You and your -sub-commander will round out my harem back on Syrrvi. This daring, -primitive Earthian male and his companion will be minutely examined." - -Back of Hammond a door dilated open. Grim-faced, with a gash over -his left eye, stocky Peter Storm was pushed into the room by a squad -of Sediphrons. A flashing-eyed brunette, reaching barely to Storm's -shoulder, walked by his side, head erect. - -Storm's grim face relaxed as he saw Hammond. His mouth cracked into a -wry grin. "So they got you, too, Frank!" he said in English. - -Hammond nodded, gravely. "How'd they get you, Pete?" - -Storm shrugged, looked down at the brunette by his side. "Ardiné -finally cornered me, with one of those eight-legged tanks. _Under a -nail in the boat seat!_" Storm shook his head, as if the thing was -crazy. "We were heading back for the 'big one' when the other space -cruiser landed on the seat and started blasting. Three Sediphron tanks -cornered us and wrecked our vehicle. Ardiné," he glanced down at her -again, in a manner that flicked understanding into Hammond's eyes, "put -up a good fight. But they finally got us, and marched us here. Looks -like this Zuggoth has taken the ship. A division of his blitzkrieg -panzers are mopping up--" - -Zuggoth's harsh order suddenly obtruded. "Silence!" - -Storm shrugged. The Sediphron warriors in the room stiffened -expectantly. - -The hideous crablike mouth worked. "Imperial orders of Zuggoth, first -in command over Kulaav, land of the Sediphrons! All the males of the -_Vandar III_ shall be immediately put to death, and stored in the cargo -rooms, along with the female warriors who have been killed in battle. -These we shall use for food on our journey back to Syrrvi. The unharmed -females shall be divided among you, according to rank, and placed in -your harem. All but these two--" His huge claw lifted to indicate Gena -and Ardiné. "They are reserved for the First One!" - -A low, satisfied beat of sound came from the attentive warriors. - -"The machinery of the _Vandar III_ shall be immediately repaired for -our triumphant return to Kulaav. These two strange males, natives -of Earth, I personally wish to dissect in the laboratory. Important -information concerning future forays in greater force to this green -planet may be obtained in this manner." - -The huge claw waved imperiously. "I, Zuggoth, first in command, have -spoken." - -For a moment there was silence. In that stillness Hammond's desperate -gaze sought Storm's. Death, so casually pronounced, death on the -dissecting table. It was monstrous. - -It was Storm who moved first. He took a quick sidestep, and swung, -without preamble. His still taped, solid fist crushed through the green -chitinous armor of the nearest guard's face. Then he was whirling, -striking again, and Hammond was joining him, lashing at the nearest -guard, trying to slash a path to Zuggoth, first in command. - -It was a bitter battle while it lasted. Hammond nearly made it. He -saw Zuggoth rear back in alarm, half lift his electronic rifle--Then -a clubbed weapon sank the fighting chemist to his knees, and a moment -later he was smothered under a pile of bodies. - -Chains were shackled about his wrists and ankles. He was jerked erect -to face Zuggoth, who had relaxed again in his chair. The ball-like eyes -of the Sediphron king glared at him. - -"Take them to the dissecting rooms at once!" he ordered. "There shall I -cut the wild life from them, slowly, with much pain!" - -Hammond shook the hair from his eyes and met Storm's battered grin with -one of his own. Then his gaze sought Gena's. - -The girl's face was white, her lips trembling. Her thoughts reached -him, heavy with regret. "Goodbye, Earthman!" - -The chemist's lips went grim. "Goodbye, Gena," he answered. Then a -Sediphron guard shoved him roughly toward the door, after Storm. - - * * * * * - -The dissecting room was high-walled, white, full of strange apparatus -that only vaguely resembled similar machines of Earth. There was -the Martian fluoroscope with which Storm and Hammond were minutely -examined, and notes taken on a Martian "talkie"--evidently a highly -advanced type camera with sound track arrangement which recorded that -revealed by the fluoroscope and the comments of the observer. - -The fluoroscope was a vast improvement over the earth type. Hammond, -watching Storm being examined with it, saw that any part of his -companion's internal anatomy could be brought into sharp focus on the -screen. Heart, lungs, bone structure, arteries. Each was minutely -examined, probed into--the while the Martian "talkie" hummed softly. - -A number of strange drugs were needled into them as they stood behind -the fluoroscope. Drugs that burned like fire, contorting their bodies -with convulsions, and which were immediately eased by the introduction -of a neutralizing drug. Others that paralyzed motor nerves, and -that deadened the sensory cells. All was recorded by the laboratory -scientists. - -Finally, Hammond and Storm were strapped on the dissecting tables. A -blinding, white light beat down on their almost naked bodies. - -Zuggoth came into the laboratory then. For a few moments he and the -laboratory scientists held a consultation. Hammond, craning his neck, -could see the Sediphron king's crablike mouth work, see the ball-like -eyes wave on the end of their stalks. - -The Martian "talkie" was run for him, the picture sequences thrown -against a special screen that held the scenes clear without the dimming -of the bright laboratory lights. Zuggoth watched attentively, only his -revolting eyes swaying. - -Then he waved his huge claw. The "talkie" was shut off. Huge, hideous, -he walked to the dissecting tables. A smaller table, holding a gleaming -array of scalpels and cutting instruments of all types was wheeled to -his side. - -[Illustration: _Zuggoth turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, -humanlike, with tiny fingers, picked up a glittering knife._] - -He turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, humanlike, with tiny -fingers, picked up a knife. - - * * * * * - -At that moment a hidden bell began to clang incessantly. Zuggoth -paused, half turned. The laboratory assistants fidgeted. One of them -said: "It is the alarm signal, First One. Something has happened in the -ship!" - -Zuggoth hesitated. Then he flung the knife down on the small table. -"Keep guard over the Earthians, Cuzzvi," he snapped to the head -scientist. "I will see what's causing the trouble!" - -Hammond's tightened muscles relaxed: the sweat on his forehead felt -cool. Unexpectedly, he had been given a breathing spell. But for how -long? - -Instinctively he tested the flexible, silken straps that held him to -the table. They did not give, though his muscles bunched and strained. -There was a silken thong about his neck, holding his head down. He -turned his head, slowly, till he faced Storm. - -"Looks like our friend Zuggoth never heard of an anesthetic," he -muttered, with an attempt at casualness he did not feel. "Funny thing, -Pete, it still doesn't seem real. All this, I mean. Just a few hours -ago we were in a skiff, fishing for blues. Now--" - -Pete managed a grin. "Now we're still in the boat. Only it isn't--" - -Looking toward Hammond, he was facing the laboratory door, and he saw -them first. Hybrids, armed with shield and electronic rifles. Two of -them. One of them carried red and green insignia on its dwarfed right -arm. - -Hammond turned his head, warned by the look on Storm's face. The -laboratory head, Cuzzvi, saw the intruders a moment later. He drew up -stiffly, evidently noting the rank of the foremost hybrid. Then, all at -once, he whirled, gave a short cry of warning to his assistants, and -reached for an electronic rifle in a wall rack. - -The rifles in the hands of the strange hybrids lanced their electronic -bolts. Cuzzvi staggered against the fluoroscope, his green face fused -into black mess. The other two assistants made a dash for a door in the -far end of the room. Neither reached it. - -A moment later the hybrid officer was bending over Hammond, releasing -him. The other hybrid was doing the same for Storm. - -Hammond's mind whirled. He said: "Thanks, boys. We sure--" - -He gasped, his fingers tightening on the hybrid's huge arm. The scraggy -bearded face had been pushed back, revealing beneath the disguise -Gena's beautiful features. - -"Come!" she said sharply, drawing forth a similar hybrid disguise from -within the garment. "Get into this, Earthman. We have no time to lose. -We must get away from here before Zuggoth returns." - -Hammond and Storm obeyed with alacrity. They got into the hybrid -costumes Zuggoth's Sediphrons had used to plant themselves in Gena's -ship. They padded out the huge left arm with a soft, cottonlike -material they found in the laboratory. Ardiné helped them in the task. - -In the meantime Gena disappeared in a closet-like room at the far end -of the laboratory. When she returned she held two strange-looking metal -objects, like long, dull tubes with a dial face and a knob. She tucked -these away under her costume without explaining. - -Ardiné, also, had been foraging. She came back to them with what seemed -like two small flashlights. Her voice was hurried. "The size reducing -and expanding ray guns. Perhaps we'll have use for them." - -Gena nodded. Her voice was quick, determined. "Earthmen, Ardiné and I -are going to make an attempt to capture Zuggoth's ship, and escape back -to Mars. The _Vandar III_ is being repaired, but it will take hours. -Our only hope is the unharmed Sediphron craft." - -Hammond caught up one of the electronic rifles. "We're with you, Gena," -he said grimly. "Lead the way!" - - * * * * * - -The door dilated open as they approached. A moment later they were -marching stiffly down a long corridor. - -Hammond gripped the electronic rifle he had taken from Cuzzvi, his eyes -hard under the strange optical openings in the hybrid mask. The ship -was swarming with Sediphrons, searching for the girls who had escaped -from Zuggoth's harem. At any moment-- - -As if in answer to his worst fears a Sediphron squad appeared from a -side corridor. They halted abruptly. The leader eyed the insignia on -Gena's arm. Then he raised his huge left arm at a diagonal across his -chest, evidently in salute. - -Gena's thoughts rasped: "The engine rooms. The First One orders. The -escaped Metiphrons have been sighted." - -The Sediphron guard wheeled, went down the corridor at a shuffling -gait. Hammond relaxed, feeling sweat in the palms of his hands, on his -brow. - -"This way!" Gena ordered. They cut down the side corridor from which -the guard had emerged, and took a long ramp downward. Several times -they met squads of the ugly crustaceans, but their disguise and Gena's -harsh commands got them by. - -They were well down in the ship, cutting across a big machine room, -deserted by the Metiphron workers who tended the whirring machines -when Gena halted. Ardiné and the Earthmen waited while she darted -down a long aisle and vanished into a smaller room beyond where a huge, -turbine-like thing of glinting metal spun with high-pitched hum. - -The girl-commander had withdrawn one of the dull metal tubes before -leaving them. She turned the knob, which moved the dial hand, evidently -setting it to desired position. - -Several minutes later she was back without the tube. - -Ardiné's voice was shaken. "Gena--how long?" - -"Four hours!" Gena replied. "Four hours until the degravitator of the -_Vandar III_ blows up." There was regret in her voice. - -Hammond kept his silence. But the need for haste now, dogged them as -they followed ramp after ramp down into the ship. - -"Hurry!" Gena said again and again. - -Some of the route was familiar to Hammond, who remembered being led -along it on his way to Gena's navigation room. He was sure of it when -they stepped into the huge garage where row upon row of war tanks stood -dark and unmoving along the walls. - -There was no guard about. Across the room a tank was just rumbling -in, its eight legs clanking metallically. Evidently it was one of the -Sediphron scouts that had been combing the boat for any of Gena's tanks -that might have escaped the surprise attack. - -Gena led the way swiftly. They clambered into one of the squat parked -vehicles. A moment later it clanked out, passing the larger one that -was sidling into parking position nearer the door. - -They weren't stopped. A moment later they were climbing down the side -of the "big one" to the boat seat, and scurrying across the ridges and -gullies that were strewn with the wrecks of Sediphron and Metiphron war -vehicles. - -Through the observation prow Hammond could see the vague maroon cliff -that was the near boat side. For a moment longing assailed him--longing -to be in his own world again, to be out of this fantastic world of -ultra-smallness. His thoughts turned to the ray guns Ardiné carried, -then he dismissed the thought that came to him. - -He owed Gena and Ardiné his life; and for what it would be worth he -was with them in this suicidal attempt to wrest from Zuggoth and his -crustacean horde the huge battle craft that had followed the _Vandar -III_ across space. - -Zuggoth's ship finally loomed up, like a colossus over the small -tank. Unhesitatingly Gena sent the ambulatory vehicle up the spiny -side. The Sediphron craft was an exact copy of Gena's ship, and the -girl-commander guided the small tank unerringly to one of the dilating -doors that opened to a telepathic command. - -The huge room they entered was an exact duplicate of that which they -had left in the _Vandar III_. A Sediphron guard watched them slide the -small tank into parking space. Then his telepathic order crackled into -their thoughts. - -"Who enters the flagship of the First One? Answer." - -Hammond kept his mind blank. He saw Gena's brow furrow slightly. The -words seemed to sound in his ears. "Volkzv, second in command of hybrid -Intelligence. Searching flagship on order of Zuggoth, the First One. -Gena, commander of the _Vandar III_, and her sub-commander, Ardiné, -have escaped with the two Earthmen. All squads dispatched to the -search. Zuggoth orders!" - -There was a moment of hesitation. The hideous Sediphron squad leader's -eyes swayed gently. Then his reply came. "Proceed, Volkzv. We stay to -guard the tank room." - -Hammond kept a grip on his thoughts. Stiff-legged, marching with the -shuffling gait of the hybrids, he followed Gena and Ardiné and Storm -out of the war tank, and across the vast chamber to the corridor. - -Zuggoth's ship was practically deserted. Evidently only a skeleton -guard had been left behind. All others had been ordered out to battle, -and were now concentrated in the captured Metiphron space cruiser. - -Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as if Gena's desperate -plan might succeed. - -The sudden clanging of a huge bell somewhere in the ship's bowels -stiffened them. Storm's quick voice sounded. "The alarm signal! The -tank room guard must have suspected--" - -"Come!" Gena snapped. "The control room. If we can take over, and seal -ourselves in--" - - * * * * * - -They hurried along the corridor, ducking into side rooms to avoid being -sighted by squads of the green crustaceans that suddenly sprouted into -being. - -Thus, playing a grim game of hide and seek, they finally made their way -up to the control room. But here they ran into a huge, massed group of -the Sediphrons, who had evidently been ordered to await any such move -on the part of the desperate fugitives. - -The lurid crackle of electronic bolts fused against the corridor -walls. Storm and Hammond worked their rifles with grim methodicalness, -blasting a half dozen of the green crustaceans into oblivion. But there -were too many of them. They had to fall back along the corridor. - -Then Ardiné received a partial shock from a glancing bolt that dropped -her. Storm sprang for her, heedless of the bursting bolts, and caught -her up in his strong arms. Gena and Hammond covered him under a steady -flare of bolts. - -With Storm ahead of them they turned and ran. - -It was up to Gena. The Earthmen followed blindly, lost in the -bewildering maze of ramps, rooms and corridors. - -As if in a grim nightmare they fought their way back through the ship, -escaping annihilation many times by Gena's unerring knowledge of -dilating doors that gave temporary safety. - -Once Hammond saw Gena glance down at her chronometer, and he felt -the rise of alarm in her thoughts before she blanked them out. And -the chemist remembered then the time-bomb she had planted in the -degravitator room of the _Vandar III_. - -They crossed a momentarily deserted corridor, Storm still carrying the -unconscious Ardiné, and went into a long room that held a maze of long -metal pipe overhead and squat machinery with smaller feeders leading up -to the huge conductors. - -Gena's thoughts came to Hammond as they paused here. "If we _must_ die, -let us at least take Zuggoth and his hideous horde with us. I can't let -them get back to Mars now." - -Hammond said: "Gena! Wait!" - -But the lithe, young Amazon was already running along a row of banked -machinery, withdrawing the second time-bomb from under her hybrid -disguise. In the far wall a green light glowed as she approached. A -door dilated open, and a Sediphron appeared in the opening. - -For a moment he hesitated, stalk eyes swaying toward Gena. Then -suspicion fused to purpose, and he swung his electron to target her. - -Hammond's rifle lashed out first. Gena scarcely slowed in her run. -She stepped over the crustacean's green body, and vanished into the -degravitator room. - -Sweat gathered on Hammond's brow as he waited, rifle held tight in his -right hand. Storm was stroking Ardiné's forehead, his face grim. The -high-pitched hum of the giant degravitator filled the room. - -Then Gena returned, swiftly, tearing off her hybrid disguise. "One -hour, Earthmen!" she said, unevenly, her eyes dark with the terrible -strain. "One hour, and then we go down with Zuggoth and his hideous -horde!" - -"No!" Hammond's voice was rough. He ripped the disguise from him, -flung it aside. Bronzed and rangy, his square jaw set, he faced the -girl-commander. "You've handled this so far, Gena. But we're not giving -up. We're getting out of here if we have to blast our way through every -foot!" - - * * * * * - -His ringing cry seemed to whip hope into Gena. The strain in her white -face seemed to ease, and a strange smile touched her full lips. - -"Earthman, I think I shall like your breed. It does not easily give up!" - -They turned away, crossed the huge room just as a squad of Sediphrons -burst in at the other end. Hammond dropped behind, his rifle covering -the burdened Storm and Gena, the girl he loved. - -In a swift rearguard engagement, they fought their way out of the -room. Gena's aimed electronic bolt fused the hidden mechanism of the -dilating door through which they escaped, momentarily holding up the -rush of the hideous crustaceans. - -"The tank rooms!" Hammond barked, taking command. "You know how to -reach one of them, Gena?" - -The girl nodded. Tensed, grim-faced, Hammond followed the girl, keeping -Storm and Ardiné between them, electronic rifle held ready. - -A small Sediphron squad patrolled the area, evidently on the alert for -such a break. But the sudden appearance of the Earthmen and the girls -caught them by surprise. - -There were eight of them, and four went down to the combined fire of -Gena and Hammond before they could train their rifles. Then Storm, -laying Ardiné on the hard floor, took a hand. - -Only one of that crustacean squad emerged from that withering fire. He -succeeded in reaching a huge wall switch. A moment later the huge bell -clanged its harsh alarm through the ship. - -Hammond killed him, without regret. - -They took the nearest war tank, a small, fast scout vehicle. Gena -sent it clattering toward the far wall just as Zuggoth and a horde of -Sediphrons burst into the room. - -The electronic rifle bolts splattered harmlessly against the armor of -the speeding tank. Unharmed the fugitives passed through the dilating -door, and dipped down the side of the huge space craft. - -Hammond hung on to the hand grips, watching Storm. The blond American -held Ardiné in the curve of his strong arm, anxiety in his face. Only -when the brunette began to stir, open her eyes, did relief finally ease -the grimness of Storm's face. - -The girl smiled up at him, her arms tightening. Hammond took his gaze -away from the oblivious pair, and peered through the observation -windows. - -Gena was guiding the small tank along the huge ledge that was the boat -side. - -Back of them a score of bigger war tanks were following. Huge rays were -blasting at them, burning scars in the ledge about them. - -The small tank finally dipped down the boat side onto the far seat. For -a moment they were safe, out of range of the bigger tank batteries. - -Gena brought the tank to an abrupt halt. "Our only chance!" she -snapped. "We must use the size-expanding ray!" - -They clambered quickly out. Far across the void between seats the "big -ones" loomed. Nearer, coming toward them along the heaving boat side, -clattered the Sediphron war tanks. - -For a brief moment Gena's eyes mirrored a deep regret. Then she set the -adjustment on her ray gun, and turned it on Hammond, while Ardiné did -the same to Storm. - -The familiar, whirling darkness, the bitter cold, claimed Hammond. - -The darkness faded. He found himself facing Storm on the boat seat. The -skiff was rocking crazily. Hammond teetered, stumbled back into the -stern, and at the same moment Ardiné and Gena appeared. - -A wave shipped over the side, washing tiny, antlike things that a -moment before had loomed as colossal war tanks, into the bottom of the -boat. And at the same moment Gena stiffened. - -Thrusting from a turret in the Sediphron space craft appeared a small, -glinting tube, similar to the one Gena had used to change them to tiny -mites. In another moment they would experience again the sickening -change to ultra-smallness. - -The twin reports, like small firecrackers going off inside the "big -ones," cut across Hammond's instinctive yell to dive overboard. The -space cruisers on the boat seat, with the degravitators gone, seemed -suddenly sucked down with irresistible force. They crashed through the -seat, through the bottom of the skiff, and vanished in a swirl of water. - - * * * * * - -The _Crawfish_ foundered, precipitating Hammond and his companions into -the Sound. Hammond stroked instinctively to Gena's side, but the girl -was as good a swimmer as he. - -Ardiné and Storm swam alongside, and together they idled, looking back -to where the _Crawfish_ barely showed between swells, her thwarts awash. - -"That's the end of Zuggoth and his crustacean horde!" Storm remarked -with relief. "Both ships must be buried deep in the muck and rock of -the Sound!" - -Gena's eyes clouded. Hammond had the sudden knowledge she was thinking -of the Amazon warriors that had gone down with the _Vandar III_. Yet -he knew, too, that it was better this way, than the more horrible fate -that had been in store for them. - -Gena stroked closer, her shoulder brushing his. She was still staring -at the bobbing skiff, a strange half-fearful doubt tightening her wet -face. Hammond sensed the trend of her thoughts. - -The occupants of the pursuing war tanks, unfitted for water travel, -must have surely drowned. But the huge space craft were water tight. It -might be that Zuggoth and his crustacean horde, buried in the muck of -the Sound, by their tremendous weight relative to their size, would yet -succeed in repairing the degravitator of his ship and win free before -death overtook them. - -Hammond thrust the chill apprehension from him. He grinned reassuringly -as Gena looked up at him, eyes dark with uncertainty--with sudden -loneliness. She was no longer master of a million warriors--commander -of a mighty ship of space. She was just a girl, now, soft and lovely -and somewhat afraid. - -"Frank," she said softly, tremulously. "What is it like--on Earth? We -are lost, Ardiné and I--" - -"Not lost, Gena," Frank answered, his voice serious. Over the girl's -wet shoulder, in the west, he could see the swollen red orb of sun -setting behind the wooded island. He saw farther, into tomorrow, -and after. To his friends in the lab--to a story he knew would be -incredulously received--to a world he and Storm would have to try to -explain to these girls from across the star hung void. - -"You'll be with me, Gena," he said, his voice gentle. "As my wife. And -perhaps some day, with your knowledge, and Ardiné's--" - -The girl smiled, and followed the line of his upward glance. The -shadows were lengthening across the heaving Sound. But in the still, -flushed sky a pin point of light beckoned, like a smiling answer--the -brilliant disc of glowing Mars. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Meteor Men of Mars, by Harry Cord and Otis A. Kline - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - -***** This file should be named 62258-8.txt or 62258-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/5/62258/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -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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Kline - -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'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Meteor Men of Mars - -Author: Harry Cord - Otis A. Kline - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62258] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="346" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Meteor-Men of Mars</h1> - -<h2>By Harry Cord and Otis Adelbert Kline</h2> - -<p>Like tiny meteors, the space-ships plunged<br /> -into Earth's atmosphere, carrying death for<br /> -all who opposed their flight. The fate of a<br /> -world rested in Hammond's hands—and his<br /> -wrists were fettered at his sides.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Winter 1942.<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>It came out of the dawn sky, slanting like a fiery meteor out of the -east. The two men in the skiff saw the glowing streak in the sky and -heard the sound of its passage, like the loosing of a nest of angry -snakes overhead, a scant second before it plummeted into the calm -waters of the Sound.</p> - -<p>A geyser of water and steam shot up not a hundred yards from the maroon -and gold skiff. The boat rocked and pitched to the disturbance.</p> - -<p>Frank Hammond, seated at the bow, clamped a taped hand over the side to -hold himself, surprise quickening the intentness of his dark, handsome -face. He was a lithe, bronzed figure, clad only in blue trunks and rope -sandals. Stroking for his college crew in years that were warm memories -had padded naturally wide shoulders.</p> - -<p>"What the devil?" he ejaculated. "Did you see that, Pete?"</p> - -<p>Peter Storm grinned. Two inches under his companion's six foot length, -he weighed ten pounds more—a heavily muscled figure who could move -with deceptive speed as many an opposing eleven had found out in his -college football days. Blond, phlegmatic of nature, he took things -easier than his more restless friend.</p> - -<p>"Meteor, you dummox!" he jibed, good-naturedly. "Ever hear of one -before?"</p> - -<p>Hammond stared at the spot where the agitation was quieting. "I heard -of them," he said shortly. "But this is the first time one ever fell -this close to me."</p> - -<p>Storm shrugged. "Forget it. This is our last day before going back to -the grind. Let's make the most of it. Remember that bet we—Boy!" He -broke off, standing up to haul in.</p> - -<p>His catch proved to be a bluefish, a three pounder. He unhooked it, -disgustedly, while Frank, measuring it with a quick glance, gave him a -Bronx cheer. "If you can't do better than that that new hat's in the -bag," he jeered.</p> - -<p>They went back to their heaving and hauling, bantering good naturedly -over every catch, completely forgetting the strange visitor from the -skies.</p> - -<p>Both were research chemists for the New York Analytical Laboratories; -both were unmarried. They had been inseparable comrades since their -college days, when both wore identical crew cuts, dressed alike, and -always either double-dated or stagged it. In memory of those days their -skiff, the <i>Crawfish</i>, had been painted maroon inside and a golden -yellow outside, maroon and gold having been their school colors.</p> - -<p>Their vacation camp was on Ramson's Island, just off Ramson's point on -the Connecticut shore. The rocky island was uninhabited. They had left -camp early, intent on making the most of their last day. Reaching the -fishing "hole" they had anchored. Both men taped their hands, and each -prepared his jig, a long bar of lead to which a hook was attached, and -began the process of "heaving and hauling" used in the vicinity for -luring bluefish.</p> - -<p>They had been at it for about an hour when the "meteor" landed.</p> - -<p>Fifteen minutes later they had forgotten it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The sun was a huge red ball balanced on the rim of the sea when Frank -suddenly felt a jerk on his line that nearly wrenched his arm from its -socket. He said nothing. His lips merely tightened, eagerly, as he -wished to surprise his companion by hauling in the big one unexpectedly.</p> - -<p>But this proved harder than he thought.</p> - -<p>His potential catch darted off with such a burst of speed and strength -that it dragged boat, anchor and all!</p> - -<p>"Hey!" yelled Storm, clutching the boat sides to hold himself. "What's -on that jig? A shark? Better cut that line before it swamps us!"</p> - -<p>"Like heck I will!" Hammond grunted, hanging on to the line with both -taped hands. "This must be the grandfather of all big blues. That new -hat's in the bag!"</p> - -<p>With both feet braced against the thwarts, he leaned back and pulled -with all his strength. Bit by bit he hauled the "big one" in close, -till finally he was able to lift it out of the water and into the boat.</p> - -<p>Both men exclaimed in amazement at the thing which came over the side -and clanked to the bottom of the boat. It was neither a giant bluefish -nor a shark. It was a shiny, iridescent object, slightly shaped like a -shark, but quiescent now, and seemingly lifeless.</p> - -<p>"What kind of a fish do you call that?" asked Storm disgustedly, -leaning forward for better view of the catch. "It looks like a cross -between a shark and a toy submarine."</p> - -<p>"Damned if it don't!" Hammond replied, staring bewilderedly at his -catch.</p> - -<p>The thing was about thirty inches in length, with both vertical -and dorsal fins. But instead of one dorsal fin it was equipped with -four fins placed equidistantly around the body. These fins contained -numerous tubular quills or spines with round openings at the ends, and -Hammond's hook had caught between two of these spines. It was as heavy -as if made of steel, but despite its weight and metallic sound when -struck, it appeared to be constructed entirely of a bluish, iridescent -mother-of-pearl.</p> - -<p>Hammond removed his hook from between the spines, and lifted his catch -onto the empty boat seat between them.</p> - -<p>"Better heave it overboard," advised Storm, seriously. "It might be a -new-fangled type of mine or bomb. I don't like the looks—"</p> - -<p>He stood, open-mouthed, as the "thing" suddenly shot off the boat seat -with a hissing roar like that of a small rocket. It scorched the paint -as it took off with small, orange-green flares emanating from the -tubular quills. It shot upward with incredible speed and was almost -immediately lost to view.</p> - -<p>Storm's mouth closed slowly. "Hell!" he said, a little dazedly. "I'm -afraid to start fishing again, Frank. Might catch a cross between a -battleship and a whale."</p> - -<p>"I'm hauling up anchor," Hammond countered, grimly. "I don't like the -looks of this at all. The coast guard ought to hear of this."</p> - -<p>He got one hand on the anchor rope and was starting to hoist in when -the strange "catch" suddenly reappeared. It came down in a long slant, -circled over the skiff a few times, and finally settled on the scorched -seat from which it had taken off.</p> - -<p>Hammond stared at the thing and swore. Peter Storm took a firm hold of -his oar.</p> - -<p>Holes suddenly appeared in the strange craft. Hammond noticed that -there were no doors in evidence. The holes seemed to dilate open, like -camera shutters, in the gleaming body.</p> - -<p>From these openings a host of small creatures crawled. They swarmed out -toward both ends of the boat seat.</p> - -<p>Storm straightened, oar in hand. "Ants!" he snapped, disgustedly. He -began to swing the ash blade down on the scurrying creatures.</p> - -<p>The things continued to move about, apparently unharmed. Dents appeared -in the oar and in the seat.</p> - -<p>Hammond bent over the scurrying creatures and studied them. "No use, -Pete," he muttered. "They're not ants. There's no division of head, -thorax and abdomen. They're eight-legged and cephalothoracic—more like -the arachnids." His startled surprise was fading under the prod of -scientific curiosity. "Funny thing, Pete—the legs and shells seem to -be composed of the same substance as the 'thing' they come from. Look!"</p> - -<p>Storm dropped his oar and came forward. The boat rocked a little to his -shift of weight. A faint humming came from the "thing" on the seat, -catching his attention.</p> - -<p>But Hammond, intent on one of the small creatures he was about to pick -up, did not notice. Not until Pete's hoarse shout jerked him away.</p> - -<p>"Look out, Frank! That tube—"</p> - -<p>Hammond straightened up to face his friend. But Peter Storm had -vanished, as if he had never been!</p> - -<p>Between Hammond and where Storm had been was the "thing" on the seat. -The humming emanating from it now was distinctly audible, and ominous!</p> - -<p>A shining tube, mounted in a turret, had appeared in one of the -openings. The tube was swinging around, lining itself on Hammond.</p> - -<p>The dazed chemist did not think. He reacted instinctively, knowing, -somehow, that that tube was related to Storm's disappearance. He -twisted, violently, and tried to dive over the boat side.</p> - -<p>Something halted him in the act. He felt a strange numbness wrap itself -about him, and a cold like nothing he had ever experienced penetrated -to his very vitals. Then he felt himself falling, as if through an -endless blackness....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The darkness faded, slowly. He felt his feet jar on solid ground, and -the terrible cold left him. But for long moments Frank Hammond stood -rigid, his dazed mind trying to accept the strange world he had fallen -into.</p> - -<p>The landscape about him was maroon in color. Irregular ridges and -gullies of apparently molten stone hemmed him in. Off to his left he -could see a huge, bubbly pit that reminded him of fumaroles he had seen -in the National Yellowstone Park. Far in the distance, to his right and -left, maroon cliffs towered into blue mists.</p> - -<p>Hammond stared at the weird scene. Under him he could feel the slow -rise and sway of the entire land, as if it were unstable, rocking in -space!</p> - -<p>For the first few moments Hammond thought he was dreaming. He must have -been rendered unconscious by the strange "thing" on the boat. Soon he -would awaken—</p> - -<p>But the slightly swaying maroon landscape persisted. Hammond looked -down at his nearly naked, bronzed body. He hadn't changed. He took a -few tentative steps toward the bubbly pit, and the sudden realization -that all this <i>was</i> real sickened him.</p> - -<p>Where was he? What had happened to him and Storm?</p> - -<p>A harsh, metallic rattle answered him. Hammond whirled. Topping one of -the far ridges appeared an eight-legged monster of gigantic size. It -was without head or tail. Its unsegmented body was an iridescent blue, -and shaped like a giant pumpkin seed.</p> - -<p>The thing flashed menacingly in the bright light of a sun that was but -a huge blur in the misty sky. It headed for Hammond with incredible -speed, a huge foreleg stretching out in readiness.</p> - -<p>Hammond wasted no time in speculation. His dazed mind reacted to but -one impulse. Flight!</p> - -<p>Turning, he ran for the nearest gully. He went down in a half scramble, -and ran along it, the walls looming over his head.</p> - -<p>But his huge pursuer gained on him. He could hear the metallic rattle -of those flashing legs close behind him. Despair gripped the young -chemist as he scrambled out of the gully and ran up the nearest ridge.</p> - -<p>The landscape ahead of him was dipping down as he ran, seemingly being -tilted by his weight. The thought came back to Hammond that this must -be a nightmare. The eight-legged, colossal thing pursuing him was -exactly like the tiny antlike creatures that had swarmed out of the -strange "catch" he pulled into the <i>Crawfish</i> but a few hours ago. Or -was it a few hours?</p> - -<p>He didn't know. He no longer knew anything. Grim-faced, his breath -beginning to come in gasps, he slid down a steep maroon bank, and raced -along the shadowed cut that gradually deepened.</p> - -<p>It was a hopeless flight. Behind him the clattering monster came, -running along the top of the ravine which was too narrow to allow it to -enter.</p> - -<p>The steep-walled cut suddenly ended. The sides here were steep and -smooth—a perfect cul-de-sac. Hammond turned, his brown fists clenched.</p> - -<p>The walls hemming him in were perhaps fifteen feet above his head. The -metal monster halted on the rim. A strange light blinked on in the nose -of that creature, or mechanism. It probed down at him, spotlighting -him. A giant foreleg, ending in a formidable pair of forceps, reached -down along the light beam for him.</p> - -<p>The focussing light, swinging along the opposite wall before steadying -on Hammond, had revealed to the desperate research chemist a transverse -fissure, barely wide enough to admit him. Hammond took the chance. The -giant claw was but a foot above his head when he twisted, sprang away -from the wall. The forcep jerked, swung after him. Hammond beat it to -the fissure by a foot.</p> - -<p>He didn't stop. He kept running, looking back over his shoulder to -see if the monster was following. He didn't notice the fissure ended -abruptly in space. Not until he suddenly felt himself treading empty -air. Then he began to fall, turning slowly, like a slow motion diver in -the newsreels.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He fell a long way. In terms of feet, as he judged it, the drop was -incredible. Below him a huge mass loomed out of a brown, heaving sea. -Above him—he saw it, once, as he faced upward in his turning fall—he -glimpsed what was a gigantic span of maroon earth, hundreds of feet -thick, that was supported by the huge, maroon cliffs at either side.</p> - -<p>It was from that span he had fallen!</p> - -<p>A strange, numbing thought came to him, then, so incredible in its -implication he discarded it. But it persisted, kept tapping at the back -of his mind—</p> - -<p>He was still in the <i>Crawfish</i>!</p> - -<p>The thought was fantastic. Yet it was less incredible than if it were -not true. The turreted tube, evidently, had sprayed an invisible ray -that had so changed him in size that the antlike things he had been -about to examine now loomed like colossi over him. The ridges and -gullies and fumaroles were brush marks and paint bubbles in the maroon -paint of the seat, and the towering cliffs were the boat sides. The -high span from which he was falling must be nothing less than the boat -seat!</p> - -<p>And the huge, elliptical land mass toward which he was falling must be—</p> - -<p>He landed then. The substance beneath his feet was soft, spongy. It -broke his fall. Around him was a momentary red glow, as of the sun -shining through a filter that blocked out all waves above the red band. -He passed through slimy pools within the huge mass, and momentary -revulsion gripped him. Then he emerged out into brief daylight, riding -a huge disc to the brown, heaving sea.</p> - -<p>He hit with a splash. Fathoms deep to him, he went directly to the -bottom, as if he were composed of a substance many times heavier than -lead. And he remained on the bottom. Not even his instinctive attempt -to swim upward could lift him to the surface.</p> - -<p>The ironic thought hit him then, as death stared at him with grinning -face. The huge mass through which he had plunged must have been -the body of one of the bluefish they had caught. Evidently, though -incredibly reduced in size, his weight in relation to the earth's pull, -was still one hundred and eighty pounds. And the brown, heaving sea at -the bottom of which he now rested, was merely the bilge water of the -<i>Crawfish</i>. And in the next minute or two he, Frank Hammond, was going -to drown in it!</p> - -<p>He turned, instinctively, and ran for the boat side. Again he felt the -boat tip to his unbalancing weight. Overhead the bilge water rushed to -lap high against his side.</p> - -<p>There was danger that his weight would so tip the skiff that it would -ship water from the Sound. But he had to chance it, or drown where he -stood.</p> - -<p>His lungs were nearly bursting when he came upon the dark, gigantic -loom of the boat side. And strangely, at this moment, the steep slant -of the floor began to level—the bilge water washed back from the side.</p> - -<p>The thought came to Hammond, then, that Peter Storm must be running -for the opposite side of the boat, instinctively realizing the need of -keeping this strange world on an even keel.</p> - -<p>Lungs bursting, Hammond started the climb up the dark wall. Like some -tiny mite, almost invisible to the naked eye, Hammond finally emerged -from the bilge water. Aching lungs drew in great draughts of clean air.</p> - -<p>Spent, still somewhat dazed by the incredible truth, he did not notice -the eight-legged colossus that came down along the cliff toward him. -Not until it loomed over him, and a giant claw reached down for him, -did he become aware of it. And then it was too late.</p> - -<p>He gasped, tried to dodge.</p> - -<p>A giant forcep grasped him about the middle, and with a quick, deft -motion another claw-like appendage clipped a small, parachute-like -metal harness over his shoulders. Then the first forcep lifted him, -easily, and drew him up to the metal monster where a round port dilated -open and he was thrust inside.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The huge claw withdrew, and the port closed. Hammond blinked his eyes. -He was in a big room, the ceiling of which was transparent, letting in -a subdued light. Ringing him, in a circle two deep, were warriors of -an ancient era. Amazons, complete to breast plates and oval shields, -cinctures and sandals. Lithe, beautiful, yet erect and disciplined, -they watched him as a trainer watches a jungle cat on its first day in -the arena.</p> - -<p>Hammond waited. The thought came to him, now, that these were very -modern Amazons. For beside the shield they carried a weapon that -closely resembled a modern rifle. And on their shoulders each carried -an identical parachute-like contrivance similar to the one fastened on -Hammond.</p> - -<p>The young chemist took a deep breath. He said: "What's the idea, girls? -This some kind of a new game?"</p> - -<p>The sound of his voice seemed to startle them. A golden haired warrior, -perhaps a minor officer, for she wore a green armlet, made a short, -quick gesture.</p> - -<p>The ringing warriors closed in on Hammond. Instinct moved the young -chemist's arms—the instinct to fight, to win free of this strange -experience he could not understand. But crippling that instinct were -the habits of civilization.</p> - -<p>He couldn't bring himself to hit these girls, warriors or no.</p> - -<p>Yet he tried to win free. He pushed the first two off their feet, -whirled, and bucked the rest of the line with his shoulders. They -parted under his assault. But with disciplined movement the others -closed in and fairly smothered him under them.</p> - -<p>He felt metal clasped about his arms and legs, and suddenly he was -unable to struggle, to heave free of that pinning mass. Panting, his -face grim, he subsided.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Amazons reformed ranks. He was left with arms and legs chained in a -manner that allowed him, when on his feet, to take short steps forward.</p> - -<p>The officer with the green armband gestured again, and gave with it -a verbal order. Her voice was musical, in a tongue entirely alien to -Hammond.</p> - -<p>Two warriors marched forward, bent, helped Hammond to his feet. The -officer took hold of the free length of blue chain, and started to walk -Hammond toward the far end of the big room.</p> - -<p>Hammond followed. Behind him the two warriors kept pace, rifle-like -weapons held ready.</p> - -<p>A door dilated open in the wall, and Hammond found himself in a long, -softly lighted runway. He was marched along this to another door, and -motioned within.</p> - -<p>The door closed behind him.</p> - -<p>It was a small room, bare and blank on three sides save for a number of -iron handgrips on the walls. The fourth wall was transparent. Hammond -shuffled to it. At the same moment the floor under him pitched and -rolled, and the clank of machinery rumbled through the iron monster.</p> - -<p>He grasped the nearest handgrip, and clung. Looking out through the -transparent wall, he could see that the monster tank (for now he -guessed the eight-legged antlike thing to be) was climbing up the boat -side to the seat.</p> - -<p>The tank leveled off. Above him towered the outlines of the "big one." -Scores of the monster tanks were climbing back up the parent side, to -disappear in as many openings.</p> - -<p>The tank which held Hammond moved steadily, nosed into its compartment. -The door closed after them. The tank rumbled on across a large, dimly -lighted room, more like some enormous storage garage, for Hammond could -glimpse the bulks of dozens of the huge tanks along the far walls, and -in one corner he saw several of what resembled fast, ultra streamlined, -all metal planes.</p> - -<p>The tank came to a halt. The door of Hammond's cell opened, and the -officer with the two guards came in. Hammond was motioned to follow her -out.</p> - -<p>He was led out of the tank which was immediately maneuvered to its -niche among the vague bulks along the wall. A door dilated open at the -officer's approach, and they passed through it into another long, green -lighted runway. They went along this for some distance, then turned -into another room, as huge as the colossal garage into which the tank -had entered.</p> - -<p>Thousands of the wiry Amazons were swarming in through a hundred -doorways to this room. Evidently they were members of the expedition -which had been sent to locate and capture him, and which must have -consisted of nearly a hundred of the strange, ambulatory war tanks.</p> - -<p>The Amazon officer led him across this huge room which reminded Hammond -of a railway or bus terminal, and into another corridor. It was then -that the hugeness of the "big one" became evident to Hammond.</p> - -<p>They marched through a number of huge rooms, climbed three spiral -ramps, and popped into a half dozen tranverse corridors. And only on -these upper levels, in rooms that held banks of whirring machinery, did -Hammond see the males.</p> - -<p>They carried no weapons. They all wore white, collarless crew neck -garments that resembled smocks which came down to their knees. They -sported bearded chins and jowls, but smooth shaven upper lips. The -beards were all trimmed to sharp points, and they looked alike as -stenciled copies.</p> - -<p>But here and there among them were some with remarkable physical -characteristics. Each of these occasional individuals had a -tremendously large left arm, fully as big as one of his legs. It was -carried crooked at the elbow, with the forearm held horizontally -in front of him. The right arm, on the contrary, was spindly and -underdeveloped. These males had thin, scraggy beards, and strange dull -eyes that followed Hammond as he was marched past.</p> - -<p>If the other males noticed him they gave no sign. They seemed -completely subordinated in this huge craft.</p> - -<p>The spiral ramps kept leading upward. Finally they reached a corridor -with a transparent ceiling, and Hammond realized that he was now at the -top of the strange craft. A moment later he was led before a door at -either side of which stood a stiff Amazon guard.</p> - -<p>The guards saluted the officer by raising the right hand to the heart. -Then they stepped aside. The officer stared at the closed door. Her -forehead furrowed slightly. Then she nodded. Turning, she removed the -shackles from Hammond, stepped back.</p> - -<p>The door dilated open. The officer made a sharp, unmistakable gesture -with her right hand, and the armed guard took a stolid step forward.</p> - -<p>Hammond shrugged. Ducking a little to clear the top of the doorway, he -stepped inside.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Across the well lighted room, close to the transparent prow of the -ship, was a huge, metal desk. Papers and small charts lay scattered -upon it. But Hammond's eyes scarcely noticed.</p> - -<p>He stopped, just within the room, the door closing silently behind -him. Then he took a deep breath, and grinned: "Now I know I must be -dreaming!"</p> - -<p>The girl behind the desk did not smile. She looked at him, solemnly, -then a strange, quick fire leaped across her startlingly beautiful -face. She lowered her gaze abruptly, and her hands stiffened on the -desk. She rose, and when she looked again at Hammond there was a -hardness, a piercing penetration to her sea-green eyes that seemed to -probe like a surgeon's scalpel into Hammond's very brain. A fire seemed -to spread, quickly, through his mind, as though long dormant cells -were stirring, growing to awareness.</p> - -<p>And with it, impacting strangely on his ears, the girl spoke, her -voice low and musical. "Earthman, your thoughts are unpleasant to me. -I, Gena, commander of the spacecraft, <i>Vandar III</i>, with a million -warriors at my disposal, am not for you."</p> - -<p>Hammond's grin changed to a startled gape. Confusion moiled in his -brain. How had she known what he was thinking? And where had she -learned English! She spoke it like an American.</p> - -<p>The girl smiled, as if hearing his confusion. She was a tall, lissome -girl; a corn-yellow blond of remarkable beauty. But there was an -imperiousness in her manner, a quiet dignity to her regard, a grace to -her movements that set her above the Amazons that had captured Hammond. -That she was a warrior also, albeit, the commanding officer of this -strange craft, was evinced by her attire which was the same as that of -the other female fighters. On a small table to her left was a shield, -differing from the plain blue of the others by the single, glowing -white star in its center. With it reposed one of the rifle-like weapons.</p> - -<p>On her left arm she wore a metal band, like that of the minor officer -that had escorted Hammond here. But this band was of gold, and it held -the same symbol of high status, the single white star of glowing stone -that writhed with a strange white fire.</p> - -<p>Hammond took control of his confused thoughts. He said: "I'm sorry if -I've offended you, Gena. But I can't control my thoughts, and they were -sincere." His handsome face lighted with his quick, infectious grin. -"You are very beautiful, and very desirable."</p> - -<p>The quick fire leaped across the girl's face again, and in Hammond's -mind there suddenly beat a tumultuous surge of emotions other than his -own. Then the girl's face went sombre, and the strange surge in Hammond -abruptly ceased. "You are a very impetuous young barbarian," she said, -coldly. "But perhaps your uncouthness can be excused. You will indeed -prove an interesting specimen to present to Aleea, the Queen Mother."</p> - -<p>Hammond frowned. He had almost forgotten the utter strangeness of the -entire experience, but it came back to him now, and with it the clamor -for explanation.</p> - -<p>The girl read his thoughts. "I, Gena, am not of Earth. Nor did I, -before you entered this room, know your language, or know that your -people call this planet Earth and the planet from which I come Mars. -All this, and as much of Earth and your civilization as you know I have -probed from your mind while you stood there."</p> - -<p>She came around the desk, smiling now. "Your thoughts are confused. -You do not readily believe. Mars—impossible! No ship has yet been -constructed that can negotiate the airless void of space—no <i>Earthian</i> -craft!" she emphasized. "But we of Mars have."</p> - -<p>Hammond looked about him, out through the transparent hull wall to the -far low maroon cliffs that he knew were the boat sides. He shrugged. -Fantastic or no, this was the reality, and with a true scientist's -adaptable mind he accepted it.</p> - -<p>"How is it then," he questioned calmly, "that the warriors that -captured me did not learn my language, nor read my thoughts?"</p> - -<p>Gena's imperial features held dignity. "I am a commander," she -answered. "Which means that I am a thorough master of that which -your scientists call ESP—extra-sensory perception—as well as its -opposite, which they have not yet recognized, but which they might -call EST—extra-sensory transmission. It takes a certain type of -personality, even on Mars, and years of training to attain to the power -to perceive what is in other minds, plus the power to transmit to them, -selectively, and at will, that which I wish them to know, understand, -or obey."</p> - -<p>Hammond relaxed, his keen mind enjoying itself. "Then you are not -speaking to me in American? Yet to me it seems you are talking my -language."</p> - -<p>Gena's eyes quickened. "Precisely. I am speaking the language of -the mind. Your mind reinterprets what I say in the phonetic symbols -you call American, due to speech habits, just as it interprets such -phonetic symbols as thoughts and ideas. If you spoke another language -the written symbols and sounds conjured up by your mind would be -different, but the thoughts and ideas conveyed would be the same."</p> - -<p>Hammond frowned. "Then, if you and your people use only the language of -the mind, how does it happen that I heard spoken words which I did not -understand?"</p> - -<p>"I did not say we use <i>only</i> the language of the mind. We have our own -phonetic symbols; in fact, I am talking audibly to you now. When you -first entered I probed your mind, and put you <i>en rapport</i> as you might -call it, not only with our mind language, but with our thought symbols, -so you now reinterpret both as your own language."</p> - -<p>Hammond shook his head. "But I still speak in American."</p> - -<p>"No, you are only thinking in American. You are now vocalizing in our -language as naturally as if you were speaking your tongue. Here, look -at this chart."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Hammond glanced at the chart she held before him. It seemed written in -English, though the ideas conveyed were somewhat startling and foreign, -having to do with intricate calculation of space travel. Yet Hammond -recalled that only a few moments before they had been in strange and -unintelligible symbols.</p> - -<p>He nodded, slowly, a little awed. "You have advanced far on Mars. -And here on Earth we smugly pride ourselves on our knowledge, on a -civilization that even now is tearing itself to shreds. Surely, you of -Mars, with your advanced science, have succeeded in founding a better -and more peaceful world."</p> - -<p>The girl's eyes clouded, and for a moment her thought control slipped. -Hammond had a wondering sensation of fear and anxiety.</p> - -<p>"We have come far, Earthman," she nodded. "Evolution seems to have -started from the same base on Mars, and taken the same general course -as that of Earth. With variations, of course. We, the Metiphrons, the -mammals of Mars, have achieved to high civilization. Our cities are -united and at peace—among ourselves. Our science has wrought wondrous -changes. We have crossed space, and we have harnessed as well as -condensed the atom. On Mars we are of normal size, which is to say we -average about the size and weight of you Americans. This space ship, -those tanks, our weapons—all weigh and bulk accordingly. But for space -travel, and for certain doubtful ventures, we have condensed the atoms -of our bodies and that of this craft and all our weapons, without -changing their mass or qualitative characteristics. The electrical -particles are all there, and in precisely the same proportion. But in -each atom the particles are much closer together, moving in smaller -orbits."</p> - -<p>Hammond nodded. "Then I still weigh one hundred and eighty pounds?"</p> - -<p>"You did, till your weight was reduced by the degravitator strapped to -your back. Remove it, and your body, without changing size, will once -more attract and be attracted by your planet sufficiently to weigh one -hundred and eighty pounds. This ship, small as it no doubt appeared -to you and your companion, weighs countless tons. Were it not for the -giant degravitator in the central room it would plummet down to the -ocean depths."</p> - -<p>Hammond nodded, slowly. "With such science, and at peace among -yourselves, you must be supreme on your planet. And yet—" His gaze -shifted to shield and weapon on the small table. "You seem a warrior -people."</p> - -<p>Gena's face clouded. "Life is a struggle, Earthman. Forever and beyond, -perhaps. We Metiphrons have achieved to unity and peace. But on Mars -evolution took two parallel paths. That which culminated in the -Metiphrons, my people, arising as on Earth from the lowly protozoa. -And with it, keeping pace, that of the crustacean—culminating in the -opposite life form of Mars—the Sediphrons. For centuries now they -have fought us for mastery of the planet. Somewhat related to your -arachnidæ, their later evolution has been consciously anthropomorphic, -as they strove to imitate us in everything, even in bodily shape. Their -motives?" The girl smiled bleakly. "The ancient motives of life—to -enslave us, to be dominant on the planet, to infuse our blood with -their own in order to speed their anthropomorphic evolution—and -finally, to use as food those of us not suitable for slaves or to bear -their hybrid progeny.</p> - -<p>"You can see why the very thought of them is repugnant to us. Why every -female bears arms from infancy. And why we hoped to find aid, from the -females here on Earth, for our fight to crush the Sediphrons."</p> - -<p>Hammond nodded. "Then the Metiphron males don't bear arms?"</p> - -<p>"Bear arms?" Gena smiled. "The males attend to our machinery, take care -of the incubators and watch our young until they are able to take care -of themselves. But fight?" She shook her head, as if the idea were -strange and almost laughable.</p> - -<p>Hammond grinned. "Things are somewhat changed around on Earth, Gena. -The women do plenty of scrapping here, of course—and there's some who -would insist they have it over the males, most of the time, in domestic -life. But the really big blowoffs, like the ones going on in Europe and -in Asia—they're still strictly for males."</p> - -<p>The girl commander shrugged, dubiously. "Men are too phlegmatic to make -good fighters."</p> - -<p>She broke off, caught by a warning red signal that suddenly flashed to -life on a complicated instrument board to left of the desk. For the -space of several seconds she concentrated, her pretty brow slightly -furrowed. When she turned to Hammond there was a worried frown in her -eyes.</p> - -<p>"My audiodetector indicates the proximity of a strange space ship. -Its commander does not answer my telepathic inquiries. Something is -definitely wrong. I must place my sub-officers on the alert. Also -Ardiné, my division commander, who is conducting the search for your -friend, Peter Storm."</p> - -<p>Once more she concentrated on the issuance of telepathic orders.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The floor suddenly lurched violently beneath them. Hammond thrown off -balance, went down to his hands. He twisted erect, supple as a cat, and -reached out a supporting arm for Gena, who had been thrown against the -desk. A strange thrill tingled through him at the softness of her.</p> - -<p>The girl was half turned, facing the transparent prow wall. She said: -"Zuggoth, the Sediphron King!" There was fear in her, momentarily. -Then she stiffened, her brow furrowing in telepathic concentration, -evidently issuing orders to the defense posts of the <i>Vandar III</i>.</p> - -<p>Hammond, glancing over her shoulder, saw that a second craft, exactly -like the one he was in, had alighted on the boat seat beside them. -Holes were already dilating open in the gleaming side. Ugly muzzles, -huge and ominous to Hammond's changed perspective, thrust through these -holes. A moment later the flash and roar of heavy artillery shattered -the quiet.</p> - -<p>At the same time hundreds of the eight legged war tanks swarmed out of -holes in the lower part of the space cruiser. Some of these charged -toward the <i>Vandar III</i>, and were immediately met in combat by the -divisions Gena had ordered out to assist sub-commander Ardiné in her -search for Peter Storm. Others scuttled off to engage the separated -scouters.</p> - -<p>Gena seemed to have forgotten Hammond. She watched the heavy electronic -artillery from the hostile war cruiser, her mind sending telepathic -command after command to the various sections of the ship. The -<i>Vandar's</i> own artillery was firing, but spasmodically, as if trouble -was aboard. Gena's brow furrowed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Hammond watched the strange battle. The ambulant tanks, he saw, were -not only fighting with similar guns of lighter calibre, but were -engaging each other with their clawed feet, like crustaceans. The -guns did not fire projectiles, but flashes of electronic force which -resembled lightning. The armor of the space ships held under the -primary blasts, but was eroded by them, and repeated bolts, striking in -the same spot, would eventually break through.</p> - -<p>The quick flame of combat surged through Hammond as he watched. "Why -don't you maneuver the ship?" he shouted, forgetting the girl-commander -could read his thoughts. "Circle over them, come down on them from some -blind spot. You can't win in this position. They've got more guns!"</p> - -<p>The girl faced him, as if suddenly aware he was by her side. Her -features were white, and there was strain in her, in her flashing eyes.</p> - -<p>"I can't!" she replied. "There were traitors among the men in my crew. -Sediphrons, disguised as hybrids. They have seized the control room, -and wrecked many of our big guns. We've lost!"</p> - -<p>"No!" Hammond cried, roughly. "The control room! Maybe we can still -take over, if there's not too many of them. If they haven't wrecked the -driving mechanism we might still get away. Where is it, Gena?"</p> - -<p>The girl looked at him, strangely. "The males of Earth are indeed a -different breed," she commented. Then: "Come! Perhaps we have a chance."</p> - -<p>She gathered up her shield and electronic rifle, and headed for what -seemed a blank wall. Hammond followed. A door suddenly dilated open -before Gena, and they passed through, hurried down a short, deserted -ramp that spiraled downward for about a hundred feet.</p> - -<p>It ended at an open doorway. Beyond, in the midst of electronic crackle -and strange battle shouts, a dozen hybrids were holding the control -room against a company of Amazons trying to force their way in from -another doorway across the room. Two of Gena's operators were on the -floor, evidently dead. Three others struggled in the grip of the -scraggy bearded, huge-armed "fifth column" hybrids.</p> - -<p>Other hybrids were smashing the delicate controls. These saw Gena and -Hammond first. They swung around, reaching for electronic rifles.</p> - -<p>Gena succeeded in killing two of them. Hammond, closing in quickly -behind her, noticed that the rifles were fired, not from the shoulder, -but held with the stock beneath the arm, and manouvered with one hand -while the shield was held with the others.</p> - -<p>Before she could fire again Gena became the target for two of the -traitors. She caught the flash from one rifle on her shield, but could -not raise it in time to ward off the other. The electronic bolt caught -her squarely on her helmet.</p> - -<p>With a muffled growl Hammond charged. The scraggy bearded traitor -fired hurriedly, evidently disconcerted by sight of a bronzed, muscled -male diving for him. The blast seared lightly across Hammond's back -muscles. Then his hurtling body smashed into his opponent, hurling him -down.</p> - -<p>He swore monotonously, viciously, clubbed with savage fists at the -bearded, screaming face. His victim screamed for aid.</p> - -<p>At the next instant a wave of the fighting Amazons, evidently spurred -to frenzy by sight of their fallen leader, surged forward, blasting -into the room.</p> - -<p>Hammond clung to the struggling saboteur he had floored. The Sediphron -had lost rifle and shield, and was gouging at Hammond's eyes with the -fingers of his dwarfed right hand. The other, huge and leg-like, was -locked behind the chemist's neck in a bone crushing grip.</p> - -<p>Hammond's shoulder muscles writhed. He thrust his right hand up to a -scraggy bearded chin. To his surprise, not only the chin but the whole -face came away, revealing another beneath it. A hideous, crablike face -with popping eyes that stood out on stalks. It was covered with a green -chitinous armor.</p> - -<p>Startled, the Sediphron "fifth columnist" relaxed its grip on his neck. -Hammond wrenched free. His hand clamped down on the huge arm.</p> - -<p>The Sediphron surged back, leaving the artificial limb in the chemist's -hand. A huge, toothed claw was revealed. The Sediphron surged in, -reaching for Hammond.</p> - -<p>The Earthman twisted, a faint sneer writhing his lips. The Sediphron -was unbelievably clumsy. Hammond caught the descending claw and gave -a sharp, quick twist. The entire limb came off in his hands, broken -cleanly at the shoulder joint. Swinging the heavy limb in a swift -moulinet the Earthman brought it down with crushing force beneath the -popping eyes of his adversary. It crashed through the chitinous skull -as if it were an eggshell.</p> - -<p>Hammond whirled back to the fallen girl-commander, bent by her limp -body. Her fallen rifle caught his eye, and he reached for it, sensing -the swift swirl of battle swing toward him.</p> - -<p>His fingers fell short. A numbing pain lashed through his head, -bringing quick blackness.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Consciousness returned slowly to Hammond. He felt himself being -carried. But it was the sharp barked order that lingered in his mind, -that seemed to rift the blackness that shrouded his aching brain.</p> - -<p>His eyes opened. He found himself looking up into the hideous, crablike -face of a Sediphron who carried him by the shoulders.</p> - -<p>The sharp, imperious voice came again, halting Hammond's carriers. The -young chemist was put on his feet, flanked immediately by a half dozen -Sediphrons with menacing electronic rifles.</p> - -<p>Hammond stiffened. He was back in Gena's big observation and chart -room. A horde of armed Sediphrons filled the room, drawn up in stiff -military array.</p> - -<p>Behind the metal desk sat a huge man-like crustacean, deep green in -color. An enormous, toothed claw rested before him on the scattered -flight charts.</p> - -<p>The crablike mouth moved constantly. Words drummed against Hammond's -ear, in a language he strangely understood. "Bring in the other Earth -specimen, Vard. And the Metiphron sub-commander, Ardiné."</p> - -<p>Hammond turned. Only then did he see Gena, flanked by a Sediphron -guard, facing the hideous crustacean behind the desk. Their eyes met, -and a warm surge of thankfulness enveloped Hammond.</p> - -<p>"Thank God, Gena!" he thought, forcefully, "you're unharmed."</p> - -<p>The girl-commander smiled wanly. "This is the end, Earthman. Zuggoth -has won."</p> - -<p>The crablike thing behind the desk teetered a little in the chair. His -thoughts interrupted harshly. "Not the end, Gena, for you. You and your -sub-commander will round out my harem back on Syrrvi. This daring, -primitive Earthian male and his companion will be minutely examined."</p> - -<p>Back of Hammond a door dilated open. Grim-faced, with a gash over -his left eye, stocky Peter Storm was pushed into the room by a squad -of Sediphrons. A flashing-eyed brunette, reaching barely to Storm's -shoulder, walked by his side, head erect.</p> - -<p>Storm's grim face relaxed as he saw Hammond. His mouth cracked into a -wry grin. "So they got you, too, Frank!" he said in English.</p> - -<p>Hammond nodded, gravely. "How'd they get you, Pete?"</p> - -<p>Storm shrugged, looked down at the brunette by his side. "Ardiné -finally cornered me, with one of those eight-legged tanks. <i>Under a -nail in the boat seat!</i>" Storm shook his head, as if the thing was -crazy. "We were heading back for the 'big one' when the other space -cruiser landed on the seat and started blasting. Three Sediphron tanks -cornered us and wrecked our vehicle. Ardiné," he glanced down at her -again, in a manner that flicked understanding into Hammond's eyes, "put -up a good fight. But they finally got us, and marched us here. Looks -like this Zuggoth has taken the ship. A division of his blitzkrieg -panzers are mopping up—"</p> - -<p>Zuggoth's harsh order suddenly obtruded. "Silence!"</p> - -<p>Storm shrugged. The Sediphron warriors in the room stiffened -expectantly.</p> - -<p>The hideous crablike mouth worked. "Imperial orders of Zuggoth, first -in command over Kulaav, land of the Sediphrons! All the males of the -<i>Vandar III</i> shall be immediately put to death, and stored in the cargo -rooms, along with the female warriors who have been killed in battle. -These we shall use for food on our journey back to Syrrvi. The unharmed -females shall be divided among you, according to rank, and placed in -your harem. All but these two—" His huge claw lifted to indicate Gena -and Ardiné. "They are reserved for the First One!"</p> - -<p>A low, satisfied beat of sound came from the attentive warriors.</p> - -<p>"The machinery of the <i>Vandar III</i> shall be immediately repaired for -our triumphant return to Kulaav. These two strange males, natives -of Earth, I personally wish to dissect in the laboratory. Important -information concerning future forays in greater force to this green -planet may be obtained in this manner."</p> - -<p>The huge claw waved imperiously. "I, Zuggoth, first in command, have -spoken."</p> - -<p>For a moment there was silence. In that stillness Hammond's desperate -gaze sought Storm's. Death, so casually pronounced, death on the -dissecting table. It was monstrous.</p> - -<p>It was Storm who moved first. He took a quick sidestep, and swung, -without preamble. His still taped, solid fist crushed through the green -chitinous armor of the nearest guard's face. Then he was whirling, -striking again, and Hammond was joining him, lashing at the nearest -guard, trying to slash a path to Zuggoth, first in command.</p> - -<p>It was a bitter battle while it lasted. Hammond nearly made it. He -saw Zuggoth rear back in alarm, half lift his electronic rifle—Then -a clubbed weapon sank the fighting chemist to his knees, and a moment -later he was smothered under a pile of bodies.</p> - -<p>Chains were shackled about his wrists and ankles. He was jerked erect -to face Zuggoth, who had relaxed again in his chair. The ball-like eyes -of the Sediphron king glared at him.</p> - -<p>"Take them to the dissecting rooms at once!" he ordered. "There shall I -cut the wild life from them, slowly, with much pain!"</p> - -<p>Hammond shook the hair from his eyes and met Storm's battered grin with -one of his own. Then his gaze sought Gena's.</p> - -<p>The girl's face was white, her lips trembling. Her thoughts reached -him, heavy with regret. "Goodbye, Earthman!"</p> - -<p>The chemist's lips went grim. "Goodbye, Gena," he answered. Then a -Sediphron guard shoved him roughly toward the door, after Storm.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The dissecting room was high-walled, white, full of strange apparatus -that only vaguely resembled similar machines of Earth. There was -the Martian fluoroscope with which Storm and Hammond were minutely -examined, and notes taken on a Martian "talkie"—evidently a highly -advanced type camera with sound track arrangement which recorded that -revealed by the fluoroscope and the comments of the observer.</p> - -<p>The fluoroscope was a vast improvement over the earth type. Hammond, -watching Storm being examined with it, saw that any part of his -companion's internal anatomy could be brought into sharp focus on the -screen. Heart, lungs, bone structure, arteries. Each was minutely -examined, probed into—the while the Martian "talkie" hummed softly.</p> - -<p>A number of strange drugs were needled into them as they stood behind -the fluoroscope. Drugs that burned like fire, contorting their bodies -with convulsions, and which were immediately eased by the introduction -of a neutralizing drug. Others that paralyzed motor nerves, and -that deadened the sensory cells. All was recorded by the laboratory -scientists.</p> - -<p>Finally, Hammond and Storm were strapped on the dissecting tables. A -blinding, white light beat down on their almost naked bodies.</p> - -<p>Zuggoth came into the laboratory then. For a few moments he and the -laboratory scientists held a consultation. Hammond, craning his neck, -could see the Sediphron king's crablike mouth work, see the ball-like -eyes wave on the end of their stalks.</p> - -<p>The Martian "talkie" was run for him, the picture sequences thrown -against a special screen that held the scenes clear without the dimming -of the bright laboratory lights. Zuggoth watched attentively, only his -revolting eyes swaying.</p> - -<p>Then he waved his huge claw. The "talkie" was shut off. Huge, hideous, -he walked to the dissecting tables. A smaller table, holding a gleaming -array of scalpels and cutting instruments of all types was wheeled to -his side.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="650" height="498" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Zuggoth turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, -humanlike, with tiny fingers, picked up a glittering knife.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, humanlike, with tiny -fingers, picked up a knife.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At that moment a hidden bell began to clang incessantly. Zuggoth -paused, half turned. The laboratory assistants fidgeted. One of them -said: "It is the alarm signal, First One. Something has happened in the -ship!"</p> - -<p>Zuggoth hesitated. Then he flung the knife down on the small table. -"Keep guard over the Earthians, Cuzzvi," he snapped to the head -scientist. "I will see what's causing the trouble!"</p> - -<p>Hammond's tightened muscles relaxed: the sweat on his forehead felt -cool. Unexpectedly, he had been given a breathing spell. But for how -long?</p> - -<p>Instinctively he tested the flexible, silken straps that held him to -the table. They did not give, though his muscles bunched and strained. -There was a silken thong about his neck, holding his head down. He -turned his head, slowly, till he faced Storm.</p> - -<p>"Looks like our friend Zuggoth never heard of an anesthetic," he -muttered, with an attempt at casualness he did not feel. "Funny thing, -Pete, it still doesn't seem real. All this, I mean. Just a few hours -ago we were in a skiff, fishing for blues. Now—"</p> - -<p>Pete managed a grin. "Now we're still in the boat. Only it isn't—"</p> - -<p>Looking toward Hammond, he was facing the laboratory door, and he saw -them first. Hybrids, armed with shield and electronic rifles. Two of -them. One of them carried red and green insignia on its dwarfed right -arm.</p> - -<p>Hammond turned his head, warned by the look on Storm's face. The -laboratory head, Cuzzvi, saw the intruders a moment later. He drew up -stiffly, evidently noting the rank of the foremost hybrid. Then, all at -once, he whirled, gave a short cry of warning to his assistants, and -reached for an electronic rifle in a wall rack.</p> - -<p>The rifles in the hands of the strange hybrids lanced their electronic -bolts. Cuzzvi staggered against the fluoroscope, his green face fused -into black mess. The other two assistants made a dash for a door in the -far end of the room. Neither reached it.</p> - -<p>A moment later the hybrid officer was bending over Hammond, releasing -him. The other hybrid was doing the same for Storm.</p> - -<p>Hammond's mind whirled. He said: "Thanks, boys. We sure—"</p> - -<p>He gasped, his fingers tightening on the hybrid's huge arm. The scraggy -bearded face had been pushed back, revealing beneath the disguise -Gena's beautiful features.</p> - -<p>"Come!" she said sharply, drawing forth a similar hybrid disguise from -within the garment. "Get into this, Earthman. We have no time to lose. -We must get away from here before Zuggoth returns."</p> - -<p>Hammond and Storm obeyed with alacrity. They got into the hybrid -costumes Zuggoth's Sediphrons had used to plant themselves in Gena's -ship. They padded out the huge left arm with a soft, cottonlike -material they found in the laboratory. Ardiné helped them in the task.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Gena disappeared in a closet-like room at the far end -of the laboratory. When she returned she held two strange-looking metal -objects, like long, dull tubes with a dial face and a knob. She tucked -these away under her costume without explaining.</p> - -<p>Ardiné, also, had been foraging. She came back to them with what seemed -like two small flashlights. Her voice was hurried. "The size reducing -and expanding ray guns. Perhaps we'll have use for them."</p> - -<p>Gena nodded. Her voice was quick, determined. "Earthmen, Ardiné and I -are going to make an attempt to capture Zuggoth's ship, and escape back -to Mars. The <i>Vandar III</i> is being repaired, but it will take hours. -Our only hope is the unharmed Sediphron craft."</p> - -<p>Hammond caught up one of the electronic rifles. "We're with you, Gena," -he said grimly. "Lead the way!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The door dilated open as they approached. A moment later they were -marching stiffly down a long corridor.</p> - -<p>Hammond gripped the electronic rifle he had taken from Cuzzvi, his eyes -hard under the strange optical openings in the hybrid mask. The ship -was swarming with Sediphrons, searching for the girls who had escaped -from Zuggoth's harem. At any moment—</p> - -<p>As if in answer to his worst fears a Sediphron squad appeared from a -side corridor. They halted abruptly. The leader eyed the insignia on -Gena's arm. Then he raised his huge left arm at a diagonal across his -chest, evidently in salute.</p> - -<p>Gena's thoughts rasped: "The engine rooms. The First One orders. The -escaped Metiphrons have been sighted."</p> - -<p>The Sediphron guard wheeled, went down the corridor at a shuffling -gait. Hammond relaxed, feeling sweat in the palms of his hands, on his -brow.</p> - -<p>"This way!" Gena ordered. They cut down the side corridor from which -the guard had emerged, and took a long ramp downward. Several times -they met squads of the ugly crustaceans, but their disguise and Gena's -harsh commands got them by.</p> - -<p>They were well down in the ship, cutting across a big machine room, -deserted by the Metiphron workers who tended the whirring machines -when Gena halted. Ardiné and the Earthmen waited while she darted -down a long aisle and vanished into a smaller room beyond where a huge, -turbine-like thing of glinting metal spun with high-pitched hum.</p> - -<p>The girl-commander had withdrawn one of the dull metal tubes before -leaving them. She turned the knob, which moved the dial hand, evidently -setting it to desired position.</p> - -<p>Several minutes later she was back without the tube.</p> - -<p>Ardiné's voice was shaken. "Gena—how long?"</p> - -<p>"Four hours!" Gena replied. "Four hours until the degravitator of the -<i>Vandar III</i> blows up." There was regret in her voice.</p> - -<p>Hammond kept his silence. But the need for haste now, dogged them as -they followed ramp after ramp down into the ship.</p> - -<p>"Hurry!" Gena said again and again.</p> - -<p>Some of the route was familiar to Hammond, who remembered being led -along it on his way to Gena's navigation room. He was sure of it when -they stepped into the huge garage where row upon row of war tanks stood -dark and unmoving along the walls.</p> - -<p>There was no guard about. Across the room a tank was just rumbling -in, its eight legs clanking metallically. Evidently it was one of the -Sediphron scouts that had been combing the boat for any of Gena's tanks -that might have escaped the surprise attack.</p> - -<p>Gena led the way swiftly. They clambered into one of the squat parked -vehicles. A moment later it clanked out, passing the larger one that -was sidling into parking position nearer the door.</p> - -<p>They weren't stopped. A moment later they were climbing down the side -of the "big one" to the boat seat, and scurrying across the ridges and -gullies that were strewn with the wrecks of Sediphron and Metiphron war -vehicles.</p> - -<p>Through the observation prow Hammond could see the vague maroon cliff -that was the near boat side. For a moment longing assailed him—longing -to be in his own world again, to be out of this fantastic world of -ultra-smallness. His thoughts turned to the ray guns Ardiné carried, -then he dismissed the thought that came to him.</p> - -<p>He owed Gena and Ardiné his life; and for what it would be worth he -was with them in this suicidal attempt to wrest from Zuggoth and his -crustacean horde the huge battle craft that had followed the <i>Vandar -III</i> across space.</p> - -<p>Zuggoth's ship finally loomed up, like a colossus over the small -tank. Unhesitatingly Gena sent the ambulatory vehicle up the spiny -side. The Sediphron craft was an exact copy of Gena's ship, and the -girl-commander guided the small tank unerringly to one of the dilating -doors that opened to a telepathic command.</p> - -<p>The huge room they entered was an exact duplicate of that which they -had left in the <i>Vandar III</i>. A Sediphron guard watched them slide the -small tank into parking space. Then his telepathic order crackled into -their thoughts.</p> - -<p>"Who enters the flagship of the First One? Answer."</p> - -<p>Hammond kept his mind blank. He saw Gena's brow furrow slightly. The -words seemed to sound in his ears. "Volkzv, second in command of hybrid -Intelligence. Searching flagship on order of Zuggoth, the First One. -Gena, commander of the <i>Vandar III</i>, and her sub-commander, Ardiné, -have escaped with the two Earthmen. All squads dispatched to the -search. Zuggoth orders!"</p> - -<p>There was a moment of hesitation. The hideous Sediphron squad leader's -eyes swayed gently. Then his reply came. "Proceed, Volkzv. We stay to -guard the tank room."</p> - -<p>Hammond kept a grip on his thoughts. Stiff-legged, marching with the -shuffling gait of the hybrids, he followed Gena and Ardiné and Storm -out of the war tank, and across the vast chamber to the corridor.</p> - -<p>Zuggoth's ship was practically deserted. Evidently only a skeleton -guard had been left behind. All others had been ordered out to battle, -and were now concentrated in the captured Metiphron space cruiser.</p> - -<p>Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as if Gena's desperate -plan might succeed.</p> - -<p>The sudden clanging of a huge bell somewhere in the ship's bowels -stiffened them. Storm's quick voice sounded. "The alarm signal! The -tank room guard must have suspected—"</p> - -<p>"Come!" Gena snapped. "The control room. If we can take over, and seal -ourselves in—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They hurried along the corridor, ducking into side rooms to avoid being -sighted by squads of the green crustaceans that suddenly sprouted into -being.</p> - -<p>Thus, playing a grim game of hide and seek, they finally made their way -up to the control room. But here they ran into a huge, massed group of -the Sediphrons, who had evidently been ordered to await any such move -on the part of the desperate fugitives.</p> - -<p>The lurid crackle of electronic bolts fused against the corridor -walls. Storm and Hammond worked their rifles with grim methodicalness, -blasting a half dozen of the green crustaceans into oblivion. But there -were too many of them. They had to fall back along the corridor.</p> - -<p>Then Ardiné received a partial shock from a glancing bolt that dropped -her. Storm sprang for her, heedless of the bursting bolts, and caught -her up in his strong arms. Gena and Hammond covered him under a steady -flare of bolts.</p> - -<p>With Storm ahead of them they turned and ran.</p> - -<p>It was up to Gena. The Earthmen followed blindly, lost in the -bewildering maze of ramps, rooms and corridors.</p> - -<p>As if in a grim nightmare they fought their way back through the ship, -escaping annihilation many times by Gena's unerring knowledge of -dilating doors that gave temporary safety.</p> - -<p>Once Hammond saw Gena glance down at her chronometer, and he felt -the rise of alarm in her thoughts before she blanked them out. And -the chemist remembered then the time-bomb she had planted in the -degravitator room of the <i>Vandar III</i>.</p> - -<p>They crossed a momentarily deserted corridor, Storm still carrying the -unconscious Ardiné, and went into a long room that held a maze of long -metal pipe overhead and squat machinery with smaller feeders leading up -to the huge conductors.</p> - -<p>Gena's thoughts came to Hammond as they paused here. "If we <i>must</i> die, -let us at least take Zuggoth and his hideous horde with us. I can't let -them get back to Mars now."</p> - -<p>Hammond said: "Gena! Wait!"</p> - -<p>But the lithe, young Amazon was already running along a row of banked -machinery, withdrawing the second time-bomb from under her hybrid -disguise. In the far wall a green light glowed as she approached. A -door dilated open, and a Sediphron appeared in the opening.</p> - -<p>For a moment he hesitated, stalk eyes swaying toward Gena. Then -suspicion fused to purpose, and he swung his electron to target her.</p> - -<p>Hammond's rifle lashed out first. Gena scarcely slowed in her run. -She stepped over the crustacean's green body, and vanished into the -degravitator room.</p> - -<p>Sweat gathered on Hammond's brow as he waited, rifle held tight in his -right hand. Storm was stroking Ardiné's forehead, his face grim. The -high-pitched hum of the giant degravitator filled the room.</p> - -<p>Then Gena returned, swiftly, tearing off her hybrid disguise. "One -hour, Earthmen!" she said, unevenly, her eyes dark with the terrible -strain. "One hour, and then we go down with Zuggoth and his hideous -horde!"</p> - -<p>"No!" Hammond's voice was rough. He ripped the disguise from him, -flung it aside. Bronzed and rangy, his square jaw set, he faced the -girl-commander. "You've handled this so far, Gena. But we're not giving -up. We're getting out of here if we have to blast our way through every -foot!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His ringing cry seemed to whip hope into Gena. The strain in her white -face seemed to ease, and a strange smile touched her full lips.</p> - -<p>"Earthman, I think I shall like your breed. It does not easily give up!"</p> - -<p>They turned away, crossed the huge room just as a squad of Sediphrons -burst in at the other end. Hammond dropped behind, his rifle covering -the burdened Storm and Gena, the girl he loved.</p> - -<p>In a swift rearguard engagement, they fought their way out of the -room. Gena's aimed electronic bolt fused the hidden mechanism of the -dilating door through which they escaped, momentarily holding up the -rush of the hideous crustaceans.</p> - -<p>"The tank rooms!" Hammond barked, taking command. "You know how to -reach one of them, Gena?"</p> - -<p>The girl nodded. Tensed, grim-faced, Hammond followed the girl, keeping -Storm and Ardiné between them, electronic rifle held ready.</p> - -<p>A small Sediphron squad patrolled the area, evidently on the alert for -such a break. But the sudden appearance of the Earthmen and the girls -caught them by surprise.</p> - -<p>There were eight of them, and four went down to the combined fire of -Gena and Hammond before they could train their rifles. Then Storm, -laying Ardiné on the hard floor, took a hand.</p> - -<p>Only one of that crustacean squad emerged from that withering fire. He -succeeded in reaching a huge wall switch. A moment later the huge bell -clanged its harsh alarm through the ship.</p> - -<p>Hammond killed him, without regret.</p> - -<p>They took the nearest war tank, a small, fast scout vehicle. Gena -sent it clattering toward the far wall just as Zuggoth and a horde of -Sediphrons burst into the room.</p> - -<p>The electronic rifle bolts splattered harmlessly against the armor of -the speeding tank. Unharmed the fugitives passed through the dilating -door, and dipped down the side of the huge space craft.</p> - -<p>Hammond hung on to the hand grips, watching Storm. The blond American -held Ardiné in the curve of his strong arm, anxiety in his face. Only -when the brunette began to stir, open her eyes, did relief finally ease -the grimness of Storm's face.</p> - -<p>The girl smiled up at him, her arms tightening. Hammond took his gaze -away from the oblivious pair, and peered through the observation -windows.</p> - -<p>Gena was guiding the small tank along the huge ledge that was the boat -side.</p> - -<p>Back of them a score of bigger war tanks were following. Huge rays were -blasting at them, burning scars in the ledge about them.</p> - -<p>The small tank finally dipped down the boat side onto the far seat. For -a moment they were safe, out of range of the bigger tank batteries.</p> - -<p>Gena brought the tank to an abrupt halt. "Our only chance!" she -snapped. "We must use the size-expanding ray!"</p> - -<p>They clambered quickly out. Far across the void between seats the "big -ones" loomed. Nearer, coming toward them along the heaving boat side, -clattered the Sediphron war tanks.</p> - -<p>For a brief moment Gena's eyes mirrored a deep regret. Then she set the -adjustment on her ray gun, and turned it on Hammond, while Ardiné did -the same to Storm.</p> - -<p>The familiar, whirling darkness, the bitter cold, claimed Hammond.</p> - -<p>The darkness faded. He found himself facing Storm on the boat seat. The -skiff was rocking crazily. Hammond teetered, stumbled back into the -stern, and at the same moment Ardiné and Gena appeared.</p> - -<p>A wave shipped over the side, washing tiny, antlike things that a -moment before had loomed as colossal war tanks, into the bottom of the -boat. And at the same moment Gena stiffened.</p> - -<p>Thrusting from a turret in the Sediphron space craft appeared a small, -glinting tube, similar to the one Gena had used to change them to tiny -mites. In another moment they would experience again the sickening -change to ultra-smallness.</p> - -<p>The twin reports, like small firecrackers going off inside the "big -ones," cut across Hammond's instinctive yell to dive overboard. The -space cruisers on the boat seat, with the degravitators gone, seemed -suddenly sucked down with irresistible force. They crashed through the -seat, through the bottom of the skiff, and vanished in a swirl of water.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The <i>Crawfish</i> foundered, precipitating Hammond and his companions into -the Sound. Hammond stroked instinctively to Gena's side, but the girl -was as good a swimmer as he.</p> - -<p>Ardiné and Storm swam alongside, and together they idled, looking back -to where the <i>Crawfish</i> barely showed between swells, her thwarts awash.</p> - -<p>"That's the end of Zuggoth and his crustacean horde!" Storm remarked -with relief. "Both ships must be buried deep in the muck and rock of -the Sound!"</p> - -<p>Gena's eyes clouded. Hammond had the sudden knowledge she was thinking -of the Amazon warriors that had gone down with the <i>Vandar III</i>. Yet -he knew, too, that it was better this way, than the more horrible fate -that had been in store for them.</p> - -<p>Gena stroked closer, her shoulder brushing his. She was still staring -at the bobbing skiff, a strange half-fearful doubt tightening her wet -face. Hammond sensed the trend of her thoughts.</p> - -<p>The occupants of the pursuing war tanks, unfitted for water travel, -must have surely drowned. But the huge space craft were water tight. It -might be that Zuggoth and his crustacean horde, buried in the muck of -the Sound, by their tremendous weight relative to their size, would yet -succeed in repairing the degravitator of his ship and win free before -death overtook them.</p> - -<p>Hammond thrust the chill apprehension from him. He grinned reassuringly -as Gena looked up at him, eyes dark with uncertainty—with sudden -loneliness. She was no longer master of a million warriors—commander -of a mighty ship of space. She was just a girl, now, soft and lovely -and somewhat afraid.</p> - -<p>"Frank," she said softly, tremulously. "What is it like—on Earth? We -are lost, Ardiné and I—"</p> - -<p>"Not lost, Gena," Frank answered, his voice serious. Over the girl's -wet shoulder, in the west, he could see the swollen red orb of sun -setting behind the wooded island. He saw farther, into tomorrow, -and after. To his friends in the lab—to a story he knew would be -incredulously received—to a world he and Storm would have to try to -explain to these girls from across the star hung void.</p> - -<p>"You'll be with me, Gena," he said, his voice gentle. "As my wife. And -perhaps some day, with your knowledge, and Ardiné's—"</p> - -<p>The girl smiled, and followed the line of his upward glance. The -shadows were lengthening across the heaving Sound. But in the still, -flushed sky a pin point of light beckoned, like a smiling answer—the -brilliant disc of glowing Mars.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Meteor Men of Mars, by Harry Cord and Otis A. Kline - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - -***** This file should be named 62258-h.htm or 62258-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/5/62258/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -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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Kline - -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'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Meteor Men of Mars - -Author: Harry Cord - Otis A. Kline - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62258] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Meteor-Men of Mars - - By Harry Cord and Otis Adelbert Kline - - Like tiny meteors, the space-ships plunged - into Earth's atmosphere, carrying death for - all who opposed their flight. The fate of a - world rested in Hammond's hands--and his - wrists were fettered at his sides. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Winter 1942. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It came out of the dawn sky, slanting like a fiery meteor out of the -east. The two men in the skiff saw the glowing streak in the sky and -heard the sound of its passage, like the loosing of a nest of angry -snakes overhead, a scant second before it plummeted into the calm -waters of the Sound. - -A geyser of water and steam shot up not a hundred yards from the maroon -and gold skiff. The boat rocked and pitched to the disturbance. - -Frank Hammond, seated at the bow, clamped a taped hand over the side to -hold himself, surprise quickening the intentness of his dark, handsome -face. He was a lithe, bronzed figure, clad only in blue trunks and rope -sandals. Stroking for his college crew in years that were warm memories -had padded naturally wide shoulders. - -"What the devil?" he ejaculated. "Did you see that, Pete?" - -Peter Storm grinned. Two inches under his companion's six foot length, -he weighed ten pounds more--a heavily muscled figure who could move -with deceptive speed as many an opposing eleven had found out in his -college football days. Blond, phlegmatic of nature, he took things -easier than his more restless friend. - -"Meteor, you dummox!" he jibed, good-naturedly. "Ever hear of one -before?" - -Hammond stared at the spot where the agitation was quieting. "I heard -of them," he said shortly. "But this is the first time one ever fell -this close to me." - -Storm shrugged. "Forget it. This is our last day before going back to -the grind. Let's make the most of it. Remember that bet we--Boy!" He -broke off, standing up to haul in. - -His catch proved to be a bluefish, a three pounder. He unhooked it, -disgustedly, while Frank, measuring it with a quick glance, gave him a -Bronx cheer. "If you can't do better than that that new hat's in the -bag," he jeered. - -They went back to their heaving and hauling, bantering good naturedly -over every catch, completely forgetting the strange visitor from the -skies. - -Both were research chemists for the New York Analytical Laboratories; -both were unmarried. They had been inseparable comrades since their -college days, when both wore identical crew cuts, dressed alike, and -always either double-dated or stagged it. In memory of those days their -skiff, the _Crawfish_, had been painted maroon inside and a golden -yellow outside, maroon and gold having been their school colors. - -Their vacation camp was on Ramson's Island, just off Ramson's point on -the Connecticut shore. The rocky island was uninhabited. They had left -camp early, intent on making the most of their last day. Reaching the -fishing "hole" they had anchored. Both men taped their hands, and each -prepared his jig, a long bar of lead to which a hook was attached, and -began the process of "heaving and hauling" used in the vicinity for -luring bluefish. - -They had been at it for about an hour when the "meteor" landed. - -Fifteen minutes later they had forgotten it. - - * * * * * - -The sun was a huge red ball balanced on the rim of the sea when Frank -suddenly felt a jerk on his line that nearly wrenched his arm from its -socket. He said nothing. His lips merely tightened, eagerly, as he -wished to surprise his companion by hauling in the big one unexpectedly. - -But this proved harder than he thought. - -His potential catch darted off with such a burst of speed and strength -that it dragged boat, anchor and all! - -"Hey!" yelled Storm, clutching the boat sides to hold himself. "What's -on that jig? A shark? Better cut that line before it swamps us!" - -"Like heck I will!" Hammond grunted, hanging on to the line with both -taped hands. "This must be the grandfather of all big blues. That new -hat's in the bag!" - -With both feet braced against the thwarts, he leaned back and pulled -with all his strength. Bit by bit he hauled the "big one" in close, -till finally he was able to lift it out of the water and into the boat. - -Both men exclaimed in amazement at the thing which came over the side -and clanked to the bottom of the boat. It was neither a giant bluefish -nor a shark. It was a shiny, iridescent object, slightly shaped like a -shark, but quiescent now, and seemingly lifeless. - -"What kind of a fish do you call that?" asked Storm disgustedly, -leaning forward for better view of the catch. "It looks like a cross -between a shark and a toy submarine." - -"Damned if it don't!" Hammond replied, staring bewilderedly at his -catch. - -The thing was about thirty inches in length, with both vertical -and dorsal fins. But instead of one dorsal fin it was equipped with -four fins placed equidistantly around the body. These fins contained -numerous tubular quills or spines with round openings at the ends, and -Hammond's hook had caught between two of these spines. It was as heavy -as if made of steel, but despite its weight and metallic sound when -struck, it appeared to be constructed entirely of a bluish, iridescent -mother-of-pearl. - -Hammond removed his hook from between the spines, and lifted his catch -onto the empty boat seat between them. - -"Better heave it overboard," advised Storm, seriously. "It might be a -new-fangled type of mine or bomb. I don't like the looks--" - -He stood, open-mouthed, as the "thing" suddenly shot off the boat seat -with a hissing roar like that of a small rocket. It scorched the paint -as it took off with small, orange-green flares emanating from the -tubular quills. It shot upward with incredible speed and was almost -immediately lost to view. - -Storm's mouth closed slowly. "Hell!" he said, a little dazedly. "I'm -afraid to start fishing again, Frank. Might catch a cross between a -battleship and a whale." - -"I'm hauling up anchor," Hammond countered, grimly. "I don't like the -looks of this at all. The coast guard ought to hear of this." - -He got one hand on the anchor rope and was starting to hoist in when -the strange "catch" suddenly reappeared. It came down in a long slant, -circled over the skiff a few times, and finally settled on the scorched -seat from which it had taken off. - -Hammond stared at the thing and swore. Peter Storm took a firm hold of -his oar. - -Holes suddenly appeared in the strange craft. Hammond noticed that -there were no doors in evidence. The holes seemed to dilate open, like -camera shutters, in the gleaming body. - -From these openings a host of small creatures crawled. They swarmed out -toward both ends of the boat seat. - -Storm straightened, oar in hand. "Ants!" he snapped, disgustedly. He -began to swing the ash blade down on the scurrying creatures. - -The things continued to move about, apparently unharmed. Dents appeared -in the oar and in the seat. - -Hammond bent over the scurrying creatures and studied them. "No use, -Pete," he muttered. "They're not ants. There's no division of head, -thorax and abdomen. They're eight-legged and cephalothoracic--more like -the arachnids." His startled surprise was fading under the prod of -scientific curiosity. "Funny thing, Pete--the legs and shells seem to -be composed of the same substance as the 'thing' they come from. Look!" - -Storm dropped his oar and came forward. The boat rocked a little to his -shift of weight. A faint humming came from the "thing" on the seat, -catching his attention. - -But Hammond, intent on one of the small creatures he was about to pick -up, did not notice. Not until Pete's hoarse shout jerked him away. - -"Look out, Frank! That tube--" - -Hammond straightened up to face his friend. But Peter Storm had -vanished, as if he had never been! - -Between Hammond and where Storm had been was the "thing" on the seat. -The humming emanating from it now was distinctly audible, and ominous! - -A shining tube, mounted in a turret, had appeared in one of the -openings. The tube was swinging around, lining itself on Hammond. - -The dazed chemist did not think. He reacted instinctively, knowing, -somehow, that that tube was related to Storm's disappearance. He -twisted, violently, and tried to dive over the boat side. - -Something halted him in the act. He felt a strange numbness wrap itself -about him, and a cold like nothing he had ever experienced penetrated -to his very vitals. Then he felt himself falling, as if through an -endless blackness.... - - * * * * * - -The darkness faded, slowly. He felt his feet jar on solid ground, and -the terrible cold left him. But for long moments Frank Hammond stood -rigid, his dazed mind trying to accept the strange world he had fallen -into. - -The landscape about him was maroon in color. Irregular ridges and -gullies of apparently molten stone hemmed him in. Off to his left he -could see a huge, bubbly pit that reminded him of fumaroles he had seen -in the National Yellowstone Park. Far in the distance, to his right and -left, maroon cliffs towered into blue mists. - -Hammond stared at the weird scene. Under him he could feel the slow -rise and sway of the entire land, as if it were unstable, rocking in -space! - -For the first few moments Hammond thought he was dreaming. He must have -been rendered unconscious by the strange "thing" on the boat. Soon he -would awaken-- - -But the slightly swaying maroon landscape persisted. Hammond looked -down at his nearly naked, bronzed body. He hadn't changed. He took a -few tentative steps toward the bubbly pit, and the sudden realization -that all this _was_ real sickened him. - -Where was he? What had happened to him and Storm? - -A harsh, metallic rattle answered him. Hammond whirled. Topping one of -the far ridges appeared an eight-legged monster of gigantic size. It -was without head or tail. Its unsegmented body was an iridescent blue, -and shaped like a giant pumpkin seed. - -The thing flashed menacingly in the bright light of a sun that was but -a huge blur in the misty sky. It headed for Hammond with incredible -speed, a huge foreleg stretching out in readiness. - -Hammond wasted no time in speculation. His dazed mind reacted to but -one impulse. Flight! - -Turning, he ran for the nearest gully. He went down in a half scramble, -and ran along it, the walls looming over his head. - -But his huge pursuer gained on him. He could hear the metallic rattle -of those flashing legs close behind him. Despair gripped the young -chemist as he scrambled out of the gully and ran up the nearest ridge. - -The landscape ahead of him was dipping down as he ran, seemingly being -tilted by his weight. The thought came back to Hammond that this must -be a nightmare. The eight-legged, colossal thing pursuing him was -exactly like the tiny antlike creatures that had swarmed out of the -strange "catch" he pulled into the _Crawfish_ but a few hours ago. Or -was it a few hours? - -He didn't know. He no longer knew anything. Grim-faced, his breath -beginning to come in gasps, he slid down a steep maroon bank, and raced -along the shadowed cut that gradually deepened. - -It was a hopeless flight. Behind him the clattering monster came, -running along the top of the ravine which was too narrow to allow it to -enter. - -The steep-walled cut suddenly ended. The sides here were steep and -smooth--a perfect cul-de-sac. Hammond turned, his brown fists clenched. - -The walls hemming him in were perhaps fifteen feet above his head. The -metal monster halted on the rim. A strange light blinked on in the nose -of that creature, or mechanism. It probed down at him, spotlighting -him. A giant foreleg, ending in a formidable pair of forceps, reached -down along the light beam for him. - -The focussing light, swinging along the opposite wall before steadying -on Hammond, had revealed to the desperate research chemist a transverse -fissure, barely wide enough to admit him. Hammond took the chance. The -giant claw was but a foot above his head when he twisted, sprang away -from the wall. The forcep jerked, swung after him. Hammond beat it to -the fissure by a foot. - -He didn't stop. He kept running, looking back over his shoulder to -see if the monster was following. He didn't notice the fissure ended -abruptly in space. Not until he suddenly felt himself treading empty -air. Then he began to fall, turning slowly, like a slow motion diver in -the newsreels. - - * * * * * - -He fell a long way. In terms of feet, as he judged it, the drop was -incredible. Below him a huge mass loomed out of a brown, heaving sea. -Above him--he saw it, once, as he faced upward in his turning fall--he -glimpsed what was a gigantic span of maroon earth, hundreds of feet -thick, that was supported by the huge, maroon cliffs at either side. - -It was from that span he had fallen! - -A strange, numbing thought came to him, then, so incredible in its -implication he discarded it. But it persisted, kept tapping at the back -of his mind-- - -He was still in the _Crawfish_! - -The thought was fantastic. Yet it was less incredible than if it were -not true. The turreted tube, evidently, had sprayed an invisible ray -that had so changed him in size that the antlike things he had been -about to examine now loomed like colossi over him. The ridges and -gullies and fumaroles were brush marks and paint bubbles in the maroon -paint of the seat, and the towering cliffs were the boat sides. The -high span from which he was falling must be nothing less than the boat -seat! - -And the huge, elliptical land mass toward which he was falling must be-- - -He landed then. The substance beneath his feet was soft, spongy. It -broke his fall. Around him was a momentary red glow, as of the sun -shining through a filter that blocked out all waves above the red band. -He passed through slimy pools within the huge mass, and momentary -revulsion gripped him. Then he emerged out into brief daylight, riding -a huge disc to the brown, heaving sea. - -He hit with a splash. Fathoms deep to him, he went directly to the -bottom, as if he were composed of a substance many times heavier than -lead. And he remained on the bottom. Not even his instinctive attempt -to swim upward could lift him to the surface. - -The ironic thought hit him then, as death stared at him with grinning -face. The huge mass through which he had plunged must have been -the body of one of the bluefish they had caught. Evidently, though -incredibly reduced in size, his weight in relation to the earth's pull, -was still one hundred and eighty pounds. And the brown, heaving sea at -the bottom of which he now rested, was merely the bilge water of the -_Crawfish_. And in the next minute or two he, Frank Hammond, was going -to drown in it! - -He turned, instinctively, and ran for the boat side. Again he felt the -boat tip to his unbalancing weight. Overhead the bilge water rushed to -lap high against his side. - -There was danger that his weight would so tip the skiff that it would -ship water from the Sound. But he had to chance it, or drown where he -stood. - -His lungs were nearly bursting when he came upon the dark, gigantic -loom of the boat side. And strangely, at this moment, the steep slant -of the floor began to level--the bilge water washed back from the side. - -The thought came to Hammond, then, that Peter Storm must be running -for the opposite side of the boat, instinctively realizing the need of -keeping this strange world on an even keel. - -Lungs bursting, Hammond started the climb up the dark wall. Like some -tiny mite, almost invisible to the naked eye, Hammond finally emerged -from the bilge water. Aching lungs drew in great draughts of clean air. - -Spent, still somewhat dazed by the incredible truth, he did not notice -the eight-legged colossus that came down along the cliff toward him. -Not until it loomed over him, and a giant claw reached down for him, -did he become aware of it. And then it was too late. - -He gasped, tried to dodge. - -A giant forcep grasped him about the middle, and with a quick, deft -motion another claw-like appendage clipped a small, parachute-like -metal harness over his shoulders. Then the first forcep lifted him, -easily, and drew him up to the metal monster where a round port dilated -open and he was thrust inside. - - * * * * * - -The huge claw withdrew, and the port closed. Hammond blinked his eyes. -He was in a big room, the ceiling of which was transparent, letting in -a subdued light. Ringing him, in a circle two deep, were warriors of -an ancient era. Amazons, complete to breast plates and oval shields, -cinctures and sandals. Lithe, beautiful, yet erect and disciplined, -they watched him as a trainer watches a jungle cat on its first day in -the arena. - -Hammond waited. The thought came to him, now, that these were very -modern Amazons. For beside the shield they carried a weapon that -closely resembled a modern rifle. And on their shoulders each carried -an identical parachute-like contrivance similar to the one fastened on -Hammond. - -The young chemist took a deep breath. He said: "What's the idea, girls? -This some kind of a new game?" - -The sound of his voice seemed to startle them. A golden haired warrior, -perhaps a minor officer, for she wore a green armlet, made a short, -quick gesture. - -The ringing warriors closed in on Hammond. Instinct moved the young -chemist's arms--the instinct to fight, to win free of this strange -experience he could not understand. But crippling that instinct were -the habits of civilization. - -He couldn't bring himself to hit these girls, warriors or no. - -Yet he tried to win free. He pushed the first two off their feet, -whirled, and bucked the rest of the line with his shoulders. They -parted under his assault. But with disciplined movement the others -closed in and fairly smothered him under them. - -He felt metal clasped about his arms and legs, and suddenly he was -unable to struggle, to heave free of that pinning mass. Panting, his -face grim, he subsided. - - * * * * * - -The Amazons reformed ranks. He was left with arms and legs chained in a -manner that allowed him, when on his feet, to take short steps forward. - -The officer with the green armband gestured again, and gave with it -a verbal order. Her voice was musical, in a tongue entirely alien to -Hammond. - -Two warriors marched forward, bent, helped Hammond to his feet. The -officer took hold of the free length of blue chain, and started to walk -Hammond toward the far end of the big room. - -Hammond followed. Behind him the two warriors kept pace, rifle-like -weapons held ready. - -A door dilated open in the wall, and Hammond found himself in a long, -softly lighted runway. He was marched along this to another door, and -motioned within. - -The door closed behind him. - -It was a small room, bare and blank on three sides save for a number of -iron handgrips on the walls. The fourth wall was transparent. Hammond -shuffled to it. At the same moment the floor under him pitched and -rolled, and the clank of machinery rumbled through the iron monster. - -He grasped the nearest handgrip, and clung. Looking out through the -transparent wall, he could see that the monster tank (for now he -guessed the eight-legged antlike thing to be) was climbing up the boat -side to the seat. - -The tank leveled off. Above him towered the outlines of the "big one." -Scores of the monster tanks were climbing back up the parent side, to -disappear in as many openings. - -The tank which held Hammond moved steadily, nosed into its compartment. -The door closed after them. The tank rumbled on across a large, dimly -lighted room, more like some enormous storage garage, for Hammond could -glimpse the bulks of dozens of the huge tanks along the far walls, and -in one corner he saw several of what resembled fast, ultra streamlined, -all metal planes. - -The tank came to a halt. The door of Hammond's cell opened, and the -officer with the two guards came in. Hammond was motioned to follow her -out. - -He was led out of the tank which was immediately maneuvered to its -niche among the vague bulks along the wall. A door dilated open at the -officer's approach, and they passed through it into another long, green -lighted runway. They went along this for some distance, then turned -into another room, as huge as the colossal garage into which the tank -had entered. - -Thousands of the wiry Amazons were swarming in through a hundred -doorways to this room. Evidently they were members of the expedition -which had been sent to locate and capture him, and which must have -consisted of nearly a hundred of the strange, ambulatory war tanks. - -The Amazon officer led him across this huge room which reminded Hammond -of a railway or bus terminal, and into another corridor. It was then -that the hugeness of the "big one" became evident to Hammond. - -They marched through a number of huge rooms, climbed three spiral -ramps, and popped into a half dozen tranverse corridors. And only on -these upper levels, in rooms that held banks of whirring machinery, did -Hammond see the males. - -They carried no weapons. They all wore white, collarless crew neck -garments that resembled smocks which came down to their knees. They -sported bearded chins and jowls, but smooth shaven upper lips. The -beards were all trimmed to sharp points, and they looked alike as -stenciled copies. - -But here and there among them were some with remarkable physical -characteristics. Each of these occasional individuals had a -tremendously large left arm, fully as big as one of his legs. It was -carried crooked at the elbow, with the forearm held horizontally -in front of him. The right arm, on the contrary, was spindly and -underdeveloped. These males had thin, scraggy beards, and strange dull -eyes that followed Hammond as he was marched past. - -If the other males noticed him they gave no sign. They seemed -completely subordinated in this huge craft. - -The spiral ramps kept leading upward. Finally they reached a corridor -with a transparent ceiling, and Hammond realized that he was now at the -top of the strange craft. A moment later he was led before a door at -either side of which stood a stiff Amazon guard. - -The guards saluted the officer by raising the right hand to the heart. -Then they stepped aside. The officer stared at the closed door. Her -forehead furrowed slightly. Then she nodded. Turning, she removed the -shackles from Hammond, stepped back. - -The door dilated open. The officer made a sharp, unmistakable gesture -with her right hand, and the armed guard took a stolid step forward. - -Hammond shrugged. Ducking a little to clear the top of the doorway, he -stepped inside. - - * * * * * - -Across the well lighted room, close to the transparent prow of the -ship, was a huge, metal desk. Papers and small charts lay scattered -upon it. But Hammond's eyes scarcely noticed. - -He stopped, just within the room, the door closing silently behind -him. Then he took a deep breath, and grinned: "Now I know I must be -dreaming!" - -The girl behind the desk did not smile. She looked at him, solemnly, -then a strange, quick fire leaped across her startlingly beautiful -face. She lowered her gaze abruptly, and her hands stiffened on the -desk. She rose, and when she looked again at Hammond there was a -hardness, a piercing penetration to her sea-green eyes that seemed to -probe like a surgeon's scalpel into Hammond's very brain. A fire seemed -to spread, quickly, through his mind, as though long dormant cells -were stirring, growing to awareness. - -And with it, impacting strangely on his ears, the girl spoke, her -voice low and musical. "Earthman, your thoughts are unpleasant to me. -I, Gena, commander of the spacecraft, _Vandar III_, with a million -warriors at my disposal, am not for you." - -Hammond's grin changed to a startled gape. Confusion moiled in his -brain. How had she known what he was thinking? And where had she -learned English! She spoke it like an American. - -The girl smiled, as if hearing his confusion. She was a tall, lissome -girl; a corn-yellow blond of remarkable beauty. But there was an -imperiousness in her manner, a quiet dignity to her regard, a grace to -her movements that set her above the Amazons that had captured Hammond. -That she was a warrior also, albeit, the commanding officer of this -strange craft, was evinced by her attire which was the same as that of -the other female fighters. On a small table to her left was a shield, -differing from the plain blue of the others by the single, glowing -white star in its center. With it reposed one of the rifle-like weapons. - -On her left arm she wore a metal band, like that of the minor officer -that had escorted Hammond here. But this band was of gold, and it held -the same symbol of high status, the single white star of glowing stone -that writhed with a strange white fire. - -Hammond took control of his confused thoughts. He said: "I'm sorry if -I've offended you, Gena. But I can't control my thoughts, and they were -sincere." His handsome face lighted with his quick, infectious grin. -"You are very beautiful, and very desirable." - -The quick fire leaped across the girl's face again, and in Hammond's -mind there suddenly beat a tumultuous surge of emotions other than his -own. Then the girl's face went sombre, and the strange surge in Hammond -abruptly ceased. "You are a very impetuous young barbarian," she said, -coldly. "But perhaps your uncouthness can be excused. You will indeed -prove an interesting specimen to present to Aleea, the Queen Mother." - -Hammond frowned. He had almost forgotten the utter strangeness of the -entire experience, but it came back to him now, and with it the clamor -for explanation. - -The girl read his thoughts. "I, Gena, am not of Earth. Nor did I, -before you entered this room, know your language, or know that your -people call this planet Earth and the planet from which I come Mars. -All this, and as much of Earth and your civilization as you know I have -probed from your mind while you stood there." - -She came around the desk, smiling now. "Your thoughts are confused. -You do not readily believe. Mars--impossible! No ship has yet been -constructed that can negotiate the airless void of space--no _Earthian_ -craft!" she emphasized. "But we of Mars have." - -Hammond looked about him, out through the transparent hull wall to the -far low maroon cliffs that he knew were the boat sides. He shrugged. -Fantastic or no, this was the reality, and with a true scientist's -adaptable mind he accepted it. - -"How is it then," he questioned calmly, "that the warriors that -captured me did not learn my language, nor read my thoughts?" - -Gena's imperial features held dignity. "I am a commander," she -answered. "Which means that I am a thorough master of that which -your scientists call ESP--extra-sensory perception--as well as its -opposite, which they have not yet recognized, but which they might -call EST--extra-sensory transmission. It takes a certain type of -personality, even on Mars, and years of training to attain to the power -to perceive what is in other minds, plus the power to transmit to them, -selectively, and at will, that which I wish them to know, understand, -or obey." - -Hammond relaxed, his keen mind enjoying itself. "Then you are not -speaking to me in American? Yet to me it seems you are talking my -language." - -Gena's eyes quickened. "Precisely. I am speaking the language of -the mind. Your mind reinterprets what I say in the phonetic symbols -you call American, due to speech habits, just as it interprets such -phonetic symbols as thoughts and ideas. If you spoke another language -the written symbols and sounds conjured up by your mind would be -different, but the thoughts and ideas conveyed would be the same." - -Hammond frowned. "Then, if you and your people use only the language of -the mind, how does it happen that I heard spoken words which I did not -understand?" - -"I did not say we use _only_ the language of the mind. We have our own -phonetic symbols; in fact, I am talking audibly to you now. When you -first entered I probed your mind, and put you _en rapport_ as you might -call it, not only with our mind language, but with our thought symbols, -so you now reinterpret both as your own language." - -Hammond shook his head. "But I still speak in American." - -"No, you are only thinking in American. You are now vocalizing in our -language as naturally as if you were speaking your tongue. Here, look -at this chart." - - * * * * * - -Hammond glanced at the chart she held before him. It seemed written in -English, though the ideas conveyed were somewhat startling and foreign, -having to do with intricate calculation of space travel. Yet Hammond -recalled that only a few moments before they had been in strange and -unintelligible symbols. - -He nodded, slowly, a little awed. "You have advanced far on Mars. -And here on Earth we smugly pride ourselves on our knowledge, on a -civilization that even now is tearing itself to shreds. Surely, you of -Mars, with your advanced science, have succeeded in founding a better -and more peaceful world." - -The girl's eyes clouded, and for a moment her thought control slipped. -Hammond had a wondering sensation of fear and anxiety. - -"We have come far, Earthman," she nodded. "Evolution seems to have -started from the same base on Mars, and taken the same general course -as that of Earth. With variations, of course. We, the Metiphrons, the -mammals of Mars, have achieved to high civilization. Our cities are -united and at peace--among ourselves. Our science has wrought wondrous -changes. We have crossed space, and we have harnessed as well as -condensed the atom. On Mars we are of normal size, which is to say we -average about the size and weight of you Americans. This space ship, -those tanks, our weapons--all weigh and bulk accordingly. But for space -travel, and for certain doubtful ventures, we have condensed the atoms -of our bodies and that of this craft and all our weapons, without -changing their mass or qualitative characteristics. The electrical -particles are all there, and in precisely the same proportion. But in -each atom the particles are much closer together, moving in smaller -orbits." - -Hammond nodded. "Then I still weigh one hundred and eighty pounds?" - -"You did, till your weight was reduced by the degravitator strapped to -your back. Remove it, and your body, without changing size, will once -more attract and be attracted by your planet sufficiently to weigh one -hundred and eighty pounds. This ship, small as it no doubt appeared -to you and your companion, weighs countless tons. Were it not for the -giant degravitator in the central room it would plummet down to the -ocean depths." - -Hammond nodded, slowly. "With such science, and at peace among -yourselves, you must be supreme on your planet. And yet--" His gaze -shifted to shield and weapon on the small table. "You seem a warrior -people." - -Gena's face clouded. "Life is a struggle, Earthman. Forever and beyond, -perhaps. We Metiphrons have achieved to unity and peace. But on Mars -evolution took two parallel paths. That which culminated in the -Metiphrons, my people, arising as on Earth from the lowly protozoa. -And with it, keeping pace, that of the crustacean--culminating in the -opposite life form of Mars--the Sediphrons. For centuries now they -have fought us for mastery of the planet. Somewhat related to your -arachnidae, their later evolution has been consciously anthropomorphic, -as they strove to imitate us in everything, even in bodily shape. Their -motives?" The girl smiled bleakly. "The ancient motives of life--to -enslave us, to be dominant on the planet, to infuse our blood with -their own in order to speed their anthropomorphic evolution--and -finally, to use as food those of us not suitable for slaves or to bear -their hybrid progeny. - -"You can see why the very thought of them is repugnant to us. Why every -female bears arms from infancy. And why we hoped to find aid, from the -females here on Earth, for our fight to crush the Sediphrons." - -Hammond nodded. "Then the Metiphron males don't bear arms?" - -"Bear arms?" Gena smiled. "The males attend to our machinery, take care -of the incubators and watch our young until they are able to take care -of themselves. But fight?" She shook her head, as if the idea were -strange and almost laughable. - -Hammond grinned. "Things are somewhat changed around on Earth, Gena. -The women do plenty of scrapping here, of course--and there's some who -would insist they have it over the males, most of the time, in domestic -life. But the really big blowoffs, like the ones going on in Europe and -in Asia--they're still strictly for males." - -The girl commander shrugged, dubiously. "Men are too phlegmatic to make -good fighters." - -She broke off, caught by a warning red signal that suddenly flashed to -life on a complicated instrument board to left of the desk. For the -space of several seconds she concentrated, her pretty brow slightly -furrowed. When she turned to Hammond there was a worried frown in her -eyes. - -"My audiodetector indicates the proximity of a strange space ship. -Its commander does not answer my telepathic inquiries. Something is -definitely wrong. I must place my sub-officers on the alert. Also -Ardine, my division commander, who is conducting the search for your -friend, Peter Storm." - -Once more she concentrated on the issuance of telepathic orders. - - * * * * * - -The floor suddenly lurched violently beneath them. Hammond thrown off -balance, went down to his hands. He twisted erect, supple as a cat, and -reached out a supporting arm for Gena, who had been thrown against the -desk. A strange thrill tingled through him at the softness of her. - -The girl was half turned, facing the transparent prow wall. She said: -"Zuggoth, the Sediphron King!" There was fear in her, momentarily. -Then she stiffened, her brow furrowing in telepathic concentration, -evidently issuing orders to the defense posts of the _Vandar III_. - -Hammond, glancing over her shoulder, saw that a second craft, exactly -like the one he was in, had alighted on the boat seat beside them. -Holes were already dilating open in the gleaming side. Ugly muzzles, -huge and ominous to Hammond's changed perspective, thrust through these -holes. A moment later the flash and roar of heavy artillery shattered -the quiet. - -At the same time hundreds of the eight legged war tanks swarmed out of -holes in the lower part of the space cruiser. Some of these charged -toward the _Vandar III_, and were immediately met in combat by the -divisions Gena had ordered out to assist sub-commander Ardine in her -search for Peter Storm. Others scuttled off to engage the separated -scouters. - -Gena seemed to have forgotten Hammond. She watched the heavy electronic -artillery from the hostile war cruiser, her mind sending telepathic -command after command to the various sections of the ship. The -_Vandar's_ own artillery was firing, but spasmodically, as if trouble -was aboard. Gena's brow furrowed. - - * * * * * - -Hammond watched the strange battle. The ambulant tanks, he saw, were -not only fighting with similar guns of lighter calibre, but were -engaging each other with their clawed feet, like crustaceans. The -guns did not fire projectiles, but flashes of electronic force which -resembled lightning. The armor of the space ships held under the -primary blasts, but was eroded by them, and repeated bolts, striking in -the same spot, would eventually break through. - -The quick flame of combat surged through Hammond as he watched. "Why -don't you maneuver the ship?" he shouted, forgetting the girl-commander -could read his thoughts. "Circle over them, come down on them from some -blind spot. You can't win in this position. They've got more guns!" - -The girl faced him, as if suddenly aware he was by her side. Her -features were white, and there was strain in her, in her flashing eyes. - -"I can't!" she replied. "There were traitors among the men in my crew. -Sediphrons, disguised as hybrids. They have seized the control room, -and wrecked many of our big guns. We've lost!" - -"No!" Hammond cried, roughly. "The control room! Maybe we can still -take over, if there's not too many of them. If they haven't wrecked the -driving mechanism we might still get away. Where is it, Gena?" - -The girl looked at him, strangely. "The males of Earth are indeed a -different breed," she commented. Then: "Come! Perhaps we have a chance." - -She gathered up her shield and electronic rifle, and headed for what -seemed a blank wall. Hammond followed. A door suddenly dilated open -before Gena, and they passed through, hurried down a short, deserted -ramp that spiraled downward for about a hundred feet. - -It ended at an open doorway. Beyond, in the midst of electronic crackle -and strange battle shouts, a dozen hybrids were holding the control -room against a company of Amazons trying to force their way in from -another doorway across the room. Two of Gena's operators were on the -floor, evidently dead. Three others struggled in the grip of the -scraggy bearded, huge-armed "fifth column" hybrids. - -Other hybrids were smashing the delicate controls. These saw Gena and -Hammond first. They swung around, reaching for electronic rifles. - -Gena succeeded in killing two of them. Hammond, closing in quickly -behind her, noticed that the rifles were fired, not from the shoulder, -but held with the stock beneath the arm, and manouvered with one hand -while the shield was held with the others. - -Before she could fire again Gena became the target for two of the -traitors. She caught the flash from one rifle on her shield, but could -not raise it in time to ward off the other. The electronic bolt caught -her squarely on her helmet. - -With a muffled growl Hammond charged. The scraggy bearded traitor -fired hurriedly, evidently disconcerted by sight of a bronzed, muscled -male diving for him. The blast seared lightly across Hammond's back -muscles. Then his hurtling body smashed into his opponent, hurling him -down. - -He swore monotonously, viciously, clubbed with savage fists at the -bearded, screaming face. His victim screamed for aid. - -At the next instant a wave of the fighting Amazons, evidently spurred -to frenzy by sight of their fallen leader, surged forward, blasting -into the room. - -Hammond clung to the struggling saboteur he had floored. The Sediphron -had lost rifle and shield, and was gouging at Hammond's eyes with the -fingers of his dwarfed right hand. The other, huge and leg-like, was -locked behind the chemist's neck in a bone crushing grip. - -Hammond's shoulder muscles writhed. He thrust his right hand up to a -scraggy bearded chin. To his surprise, not only the chin but the whole -face came away, revealing another beneath it. A hideous, crablike face -with popping eyes that stood out on stalks. It was covered with a green -chitinous armor. - -Startled, the Sediphron "fifth columnist" relaxed its grip on his neck. -Hammond wrenched free. His hand clamped down on the huge arm. - -The Sediphron surged back, leaving the artificial limb in the chemist's -hand. A huge, toothed claw was revealed. The Sediphron surged in, -reaching for Hammond. - -The Earthman twisted, a faint sneer writhing his lips. The Sediphron -was unbelievably clumsy. Hammond caught the descending claw and gave -a sharp, quick twist. The entire limb came off in his hands, broken -cleanly at the shoulder joint. Swinging the heavy limb in a swift -moulinet the Earthman brought it down with crushing force beneath the -popping eyes of his adversary. It crashed through the chitinous skull -as if it were an eggshell. - -Hammond whirled back to the fallen girl-commander, bent by her limp -body. Her fallen rifle caught his eye, and he reached for it, sensing -the swift swirl of battle swing toward him. - -His fingers fell short. A numbing pain lashed through his head, -bringing quick blackness. - - * * * * * - -Consciousness returned slowly to Hammond. He felt himself being -carried. But it was the sharp barked order that lingered in his mind, -that seemed to rift the blackness that shrouded his aching brain. - -His eyes opened. He found himself looking up into the hideous, crablike -face of a Sediphron who carried him by the shoulders. - -The sharp, imperious voice came again, halting Hammond's carriers. The -young chemist was put on his feet, flanked immediately by a half dozen -Sediphrons with menacing electronic rifles. - -Hammond stiffened. He was back in Gena's big observation and chart -room. A horde of armed Sediphrons filled the room, drawn up in stiff -military array. - -Behind the metal desk sat a huge man-like crustacean, deep green in -color. An enormous, toothed claw rested before him on the scattered -flight charts. - -The crablike mouth moved constantly. Words drummed against Hammond's -ear, in a language he strangely understood. "Bring in the other Earth -specimen, Vard. And the Metiphron sub-commander, Ardine." - -Hammond turned. Only then did he see Gena, flanked by a Sediphron -guard, facing the hideous crustacean behind the desk. Their eyes met, -and a warm surge of thankfulness enveloped Hammond. - -"Thank God, Gena!" he thought, forcefully, "you're unharmed." - -The girl-commander smiled wanly. "This is the end, Earthman. Zuggoth -has won." - -The crablike thing behind the desk teetered a little in the chair. His -thoughts interrupted harshly. "Not the end, Gena, for you. You and your -sub-commander will round out my harem back on Syrrvi. This daring, -primitive Earthian male and his companion will be minutely examined." - -Back of Hammond a door dilated open. Grim-faced, with a gash over -his left eye, stocky Peter Storm was pushed into the room by a squad -of Sediphrons. A flashing-eyed brunette, reaching barely to Storm's -shoulder, walked by his side, head erect. - -Storm's grim face relaxed as he saw Hammond. His mouth cracked into a -wry grin. "So they got you, too, Frank!" he said in English. - -Hammond nodded, gravely. "How'd they get you, Pete?" - -Storm shrugged, looked down at the brunette by his side. "Ardine -finally cornered me, with one of those eight-legged tanks. _Under a -nail in the boat seat!_" Storm shook his head, as if the thing was -crazy. "We were heading back for the 'big one' when the other space -cruiser landed on the seat and started blasting. Three Sediphron tanks -cornered us and wrecked our vehicle. Ardine," he glanced down at her -again, in a manner that flicked understanding into Hammond's eyes, "put -up a good fight. But they finally got us, and marched us here. Looks -like this Zuggoth has taken the ship. A division of his blitzkrieg -panzers are mopping up--" - -Zuggoth's harsh order suddenly obtruded. "Silence!" - -Storm shrugged. The Sediphron warriors in the room stiffened -expectantly. - -The hideous crablike mouth worked. "Imperial orders of Zuggoth, first -in command over Kulaav, land of the Sediphrons! All the males of the -_Vandar III_ shall be immediately put to death, and stored in the cargo -rooms, along with the female warriors who have been killed in battle. -These we shall use for food on our journey back to Syrrvi. The unharmed -females shall be divided among you, according to rank, and placed in -your harem. All but these two--" His huge claw lifted to indicate Gena -and Ardine. "They are reserved for the First One!" - -A low, satisfied beat of sound came from the attentive warriors. - -"The machinery of the _Vandar III_ shall be immediately repaired for -our triumphant return to Kulaav. These two strange males, natives -of Earth, I personally wish to dissect in the laboratory. Important -information concerning future forays in greater force to this green -planet may be obtained in this manner." - -The huge claw waved imperiously. "I, Zuggoth, first in command, have -spoken." - -For a moment there was silence. In that stillness Hammond's desperate -gaze sought Storm's. Death, so casually pronounced, death on the -dissecting table. It was monstrous. - -It was Storm who moved first. He took a quick sidestep, and swung, -without preamble. His still taped, solid fist crushed through the green -chitinous armor of the nearest guard's face. Then he was whirling, -striking again, and Hammond was joining him, lashing at the nearest -guard, trying to slash a path to Zuggoth, first in command. - -It was a bitter battle while it lasted. Hammond nearly made it. He -saw Zuggoth rear back in alarm, half lift his electronic rifle--Then -a clubbed weapon sank the fighting chemist to his knees, and a moment -later he was smothered under a pile of bodies. - -Chains were shackled about his wrists and ankles. He was jerked erect -to face Zuggoth, who had relaxed again in his chair. The ball-like eyes -of the Sediphron king glared at him. - -"Take them to the dissecting rooms at once!" he ordered. "There shall I -cut the wild life from them, slowly, with much pain!" - -Hammond shook the hair from his eyes and met Storm's battered grin with -one of his own. Then his gaze sought Gena's. - -The girl's face was white, her lips trembling. Her thoughts reached -him, heavy with regret. "Goodbye, Earthman!" - -The chemist's lips went grim. "Goodbye, Gena," he answered. Then a -Sediphron guard shoved him roughly toward the door, after Storm. - - * * * * * - -The dissecting room was high-walled, white, full of strange apparatus -that only vaguely resembled similar machines of Earth. There was -the Martian fluoroscope with which Storm and Hammond were minutely -examined, and notes taken on a Martian "talkie"--evidently a highly -advanced type camera with sound track arrangement which recorded that -revealed by the fluoroscope and the comments of the observer. - -The fluoroscope was a vast improvement over the earth type. Hammond, -watching Storm being examined with it, saw that any part of his -companion's internal anatomy could be brought into sharp focus on the -screen. Heart, lungs, bone structure, arteries. Each was minutely -examined, probed into--the while the Martian "talkie" hummed softly. - -A number of strange drugs were needled into them as they stood behind -the fluoroscope. Drugs that burned like fire, contorting their bodies -with convulsions, and which were immediately eased by the introduction -of a neutralizing drug. Others that paralyzed motor nerves, and -that deadened the sensory cells. All was recorded by the laboratory -scientists. - -Finally, Hammond and Storm were strapped on the dissecting tables. A -blinding, white light beat down on their almost naked bodies. - -Zuggoth came into the laboratory then. For a few moments he and the -laboratory scientists held a consultation. Hammond, craning his neck, -could see the Sediphron king's crablike mouth work, see the ball-like -eyes wave on the end of their stalks. - -The Martian "talkie" was run for him, the picture sequences thrown -against a special screen that held the scenes clear without the dimming -of the bright laboratory lights. Zuggoth watched attentively, only his -revolting eyes swaying. - -Then he waved his huge claw. The "talkie" was shut off. Huge, hideous, -he walked to the dissecting tables. A smaller table, holding a gleaming -array of scalpels and cutting instruments of all types was wheeled to -his side. - -[Illustration: _Zuggoth turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, -humanlike, with tiny fingers, picked up a glittering knife._] - -He turned to Hammond. His dwarfed right hand, humanlike, with tiny -fingers, picked up a knife. - - * * * * * - -At that moment a hidden bell began to clang incessantly. Zuggoth -paused, half turned. The laboratory assistants fidgeted. One of them -said: "It is the alarm signal, First One. Something has happened in the -ship!" - -Zuggoth hesitated. Then he flung the knife down on the small table. -"Keep guard over the Earthians, Cuzzvi," he snapped to the head -scientist. "I will see what's causing the trouble!" - -Hammond's tightened muscles relaxed: the sweat on his forehead felt -cool. Unexpectedly, he had been given a breathing spell. But for how -long? - -Instinctively he tested the flexible, silken straps that held him to -the table. They did not give, though his muscles bunched and strained. -There was a silken thong about his neck, holding his head down. He -turned his head, slowly, till he faced Storm. - -"Looks like our friend Zuggoth never heard of an anesthetic," he -muttered, with an attempt at casualness he did not feel. "Funny thing, -Pete, it still doesn't seem real. All this, I mean. Just a few hours -ago we were in a skiff, fishing for blues. Now--" - -Pete managed a grin. "Now we're still in the boat. Only it isn't--" - -Looking toward Hammond, he was facing the laboratory door, and he saw -them first. Hybrids, armed with shield and electronic rifles. Two of -them. One of them carried red and green insignia on its dwarfed right -arm. - -Hammond turned his head, warned by the look on Storm's face. The -laboratory head, Cuzzvi, saw the intruders a moment later. He drew up -stiffly, evidently noting the rank of the foremost hybrid. Then, all at -once, he whirled, gave a short cry of warning to his assistants, and -reached for an electronic rifle in a wall rack. - -The rifles in the hands of the strange hybrids lanced their electronic -bolts. Cuzzvi staggered against the fluoroscope, his green face fused -into black mess. The other two assistants made a dash for a door in the -far end of the room. Neither reached it. - -A moment later the hybrid officer was bending over Hammond, releasing -him. The other hybrid was doing the same for Storm. - -Hammond's mind whirled. He said: "Thanks, boys. We sure--" - -He gasped, his fingers tightening on the hybrid's huge arm. The scraggy -bearded face had been pushed back, revealing beneath the disguise -Gena's beautiful features. - -"Come!" she said sharply, drawing forth a similar hybrid disguise from -within the garment. "Get into this, Earthman. We have no time to lose. -We must get away from here before Zuggoth returns." - -Hammond and Storm obeyed with alacrity. They got into the hybrid -costumes Zuggoth's Sediphrons had used to plant themselves in Gena's -ship. They padded out the huge left arm with a soft, cottonlike -material they found in the laboratory. Ardine helped them in the task. - -In the meantime Gena disappeared in a closet-like room at the far end -of the laboratory. When she returned she held two strange-looking metal -objects, like long, dull tubes with a dial face and a knob. She tucked -these away under her costume without explaining. - -Ardine, also, had been foraging. She came back to them with what seemed -like two small flashlights. Her voice was hurried. "The size reducing -and expanding ray guns. Perhaps we'll have use for them." - -Gena nodded. Her voice was quick, determined. "Earthmen, Ardine and I -are going to make an attempt to capture Zuggoth's ship, and escape back -to Mars. The _Vandar III_ is being repaired, but it will take hours. -Our only hope is the unharmed Sediphron craft." - -Hammond caught up one of the electronic rifles. "We're with you, Gena," -he said grimly. "Lead the way!" - - * * * * * - -The door dilated open as they approached. A moment later they were -marching stiffly down a long corridor. - -Hammond gripped the electronic rifle he had taken from Cuzzvi, his eyes -hard under the strange optical openings in the hybrid mask. The ship -was swarming with Sediphrons, searching for the girls who had escaped -from Zuggoth's harem. At any moment-- - -As if in answer to his worst fears a Sediphron squad appeared from a -side corridor. They halted abruptly. The leader eyed the insignia on -Gena's arm. Then he raised his huge left arm at a diagonal across his -chest, evidently in salute. - -Gena's thoughts rasped: "The engine rooms. The First One orders. The -escaped Metiphrons have been sighted." - -The Sediphron guard wheeled, went down the corridor at a shuffling -gait. Hammond relaxed, feeling sweat in the palms of his hands, on his -brow. - -"This way!" Gena ordered. They cut down the side corridor from which -the guard had emerged, and took a long ramp downward. Several times -they met squads of the ugly crustaceans, but their disguise and Gena's -harsh commands got them by. - -They were well down in the ship, cutting across a big machine room, -deserted by the Metiphron workers who tended the whirring machines -when Gena halted. Ardine and the Earthmen waited while she darted -down a long aisle and vanished into a smaller room beyond where a huge, -turbine-like thing of glinting metal spun with high-pitched hum. - -The girl-commander had withdrawn one of the dull metal tubes before -leaving them. She turned the knob, which moved the dial hand, evidently -setting it to desired position. - -Several minutes later she was back without the tube. - -Ardine's voice was shaken. "Gena--how long?" - -"Four hours!" Gena replied. "Four hours until the degravitator of the -_Vandar III_ blows up." There was regret in her voice. - -Hammond kept his silence. But the need for haste now, dogged them as -they followed ramp after ramp down into the ship. - -"Hurry!" Gena said again and again. - -Some of the route was familiar to Hammond, who remembered being led -along it on his way to Gena's navigation room. He was sure of it when -they stepped into the huge garage where row upon row of war tanks stood -dark and unmoving along the walls. - -There was no guard about. Across the room a tank was just rumbling -in, its eight legs clanking metallically. Evidently it was one of the -Sediphron scouts that had been combing the boat for any of Gena's tanks -that might have escaped the surprise attack. - -Gena led the way swiftly. They clambered into one of the squat parked -vehicles. A moment later it clanked out, passing the larger one that -was sidling into parking position nearer the door. - -They weren't stopped. A moment later they were climbing down the side -of the "big one" to the boat seat, and scurrying across the ridges and -gullies that were strewn with the wrecks of Sediphron and Metiphron war -vehicles. - -Through the observation prow Hammond could see the vague maroon cliff -that was the near boat side. For a moment longing assailed him--longing -to be in his own world again, to be out of this fantastic world of -ultra-smallness. His thoughts turned to the ray guns Ardine carried, -then he dismissed the thought that came to him. - -He owed Gena and Ardine his life; and for what it would be worth he -was with them in this suicidal attempt to wrest from Zuggoth and his -crustacean horde the huge battle craft that had followed the _Vandar -III_ across space. - -Zuggoth's ship finally loomed up, like a colossus over the small -tank. Unhesitatingly Gena sent the ambulatory vehicle up the spiny -side. The Sediphron craft was an exact copy of Gena's ship, and the -girl-commander guided the small tank unerringly to one of the dilating -doors that opened to a telepathic command. - -The huge room they entered was an exact duplicate of that which they -had left in the _Vandar III_. A Sediphron guard watched them slide the -small tank into parking space. Then his telepathic order crackled into -their thoughts. - -"Who enters the flagship of the First One? Answer." - -Hammond kept his mind blank. He saw Gena's brow furrow slightly. The -words seemed to sound in his ears. "Volkzv, second in command of hybrid -Intelligence. Searching flagship on order of Zuggoth, the First One. -Gena, commander of the _Vandar III_, and her sub-commander, Ardine, -have escaped with the two Earthmen. All squads dispatched to the -search. Zuggoth orders!" - -There was a moment of hesitation. The hideous Sediphron squad leader's -eyes swayed gently. Then his reply came. "Proceed, Volkzv. We stay to -guard the tank room." - -Hammond kept a grip on his thoughts. Stiff-legged, marching with the -shuffling gait of the hybrids, he followed Gena and Ardine and Storm -out of the war tank, and across the vast chamber to the corridor. - -Zuggoth's ship was practically deserted. Evidently only a skeleton -guard had been left behind. All others had been ordered out to battle, -and were now concentrated in the captured Metiphron space cruiser. - -Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as if Gena's desperate -plan might succeed. - -The sudden clanging of a huge bell somewhere in the ship's bowels -stiffened them. Storm's quick voice sounded. "The alarm signal! The -tank room guard must have suspected--" - -"Come!" Gena snapped. "The control room. If we can take over, and seal -ourselves in--" - - * * * * * - -They hurried along the corridor, ducking into side rooms to avoid being -sighted by squads of the green crustaceans that suddenly sprouted into -being. - -Thus, playing a grim game of hide and seek, they finally made their way -up to the control room. But here they ran into a huge, massed group of -the Sediphrons, who had evidently been ordered to await any such move -on the part of the desperate fugitives. - -The lurid crackle of electronic bolts fused against the corridor -walls. Storm and Hammond worked their rifles with grim methodicalness, -blasting a half dozen of the green crustaceans into oblivion. But there -were too many of them. They had to fall back along the corridor. - -Then Ardine received a partial shock from a glancing bolt that dropped -her. Storm sprang for her, heedless of the bursting bolts, and caught -her up in his strong arms. Gena and Hammond covered him under a steady -flare of bolts. - -With Storm ahead of them they turned and ran. - -It was up to Gena. The Earthmen followed blindly, lost in the -bewildering maze of ramps, rooms and corridors. - -As if in a grim nightmare they fought their way back through the ship, -escaping annihilation many times by Gena's unerring knowledge of -dilating doors that gave temporary safety. - -Once Hammond saw Gena glance down at her chronometer, and he felt -the rise of alarm in her thoughts before she blanked them out. And -the chemist remembered then the time-bomb she had planted in the -degravitator room of the _Vandar III_. - -They crossed a momentarily deserted corridor, Storm still carrying the -unconscious Ardine, and went into a long room that held a maze of long -metal pipe overhead and squat machinery with smaller feeders leading up -to the huge conductors. - -Gena's thoughts came to Hammond as they paused here. "If we _must_ die, -let us at least take Zuggoth and his hideous horde with us. I can't let -them get back to Mars now." - -Hammond said: "Gena! Wait!" - -But the lithe, young Amazon was already running along a row of banked -machinery, withdrawing the second time-bomb from under her hybrid -disguise. In the far wall a green light glowed as she approached. A -door dilated open, and a Sediphron appeared in the opening. - -For a moment he hesitated, stalk eyes swaying toward Gena. Then -suspicion fused to purpose, and he swung his electron to target her. - -Hammond's rifle lashed out first. Gena scarcely slowed in her run. -She stepped over the crustacean's green body, and vanished into the -degravitator room. - -Sweat gathered on Hammond's brow as he waited, rifle held tight in his -right hand. Storm was stroking Ardine's forehead, his face grim. The -high-pitched hum of the giant degravitator filled the room. - -Then Gena returned, swiftly, tearing off her hybrid disguise. "One -hour, Earthmen!" she said, unevenly, her eyes dark with the terrible -strain. "One hour, and then we go down with Zuggoth and his hideous -horde!" - -"No!" Hammond's voice was rough. He ripped the disguise from him, -flung it aside. Bronzed and rangy, his square jaw set, he faced the -girl-commander. "You've handled this so far, Gena. But we're not giving -up. We're getting out of here if we have to blast our way through every -foot!" - - * * * * * - -His ringing cry seemed to whip hope into Gena. The strain in her white -face seemed to ease, and a strange smile touched her full lips. - -"Earthman, I think I shall like your breed. It does not easily give up!" - -They turned away, crossed the huge room just as a squad of Sediphrons -burst in at the other end. Hammond dropped behind, his rifle covering -the burdened Storm and Gena, the girl he loved. - -In a swift rearguard engagement, they fought their way out of the -room. Gena's aimed electronic bolt fused the hidden mechanism of the -dilating door through which they escaped, momentarily holding up the -rush of the hideous crustaceans. - -"The tank rooms!" Hammond barked, taking command. "You know how to -reach one of them, Gena?" - -The girl nodded. Tensed, grim-faced, Hammond followed the girl, keeping -Storm and Ardine between them, electronic rifle held ready. - -A small Sediphron squad patrolled the area, evidently on the alert for -such a break. But the sudden appearance of the Earthmen and the girls -caught them by surprise. - -There were eight of them, and four went down to the combined fire of -Gena and Hammond before they could train their rifles. Then Storm, -laying Ardine on the hard floor, took a hand. - -Only one of that crustacean squad emerged from that withering fire. He -succeeded in reaching a huge wall switch. A moment later the huge bell -clanged its harsh alarm through the ship. - -Hammond killed him, without regret. - -They took the nearest war tank, a small, fast scout vehicle. Gena -sent it clattering toward the far wall just as Zuggoth and a horde of -Sediphrons burst into the room. - -The electronic rifle bolts splattered harmlessly against the armor of -the speeding tank. Unharmed the fugitives passed through the dilating -door, and dipped down the side of the huge space craft. - -Hammond hung on to the hand grips, watching Storm. The blond American -held Ardine in the curve of his strong arm, anxiety in his face. Only -when the brunette began to stir, open her eyes, did relief finally ease -the grimness of Storm's face. - -The girl smiled up at him, her arms tightening. Hammond took his gaze -away from the oblivious pair, and peered through the observation -windows. - -Gena was guiding the small tank along the huge ledge that was the boat -side. - -Back of them a score of bigger war tanks were following. Huge rays were -blasting at them, burning scars in the ledge about them. - -The small tank finally dipped down the boat side onto the far seat. For -a moment they were safe, out of range of the bigger tank batteries. - -Gena brought the tank to an abrupt halt. "Our only chance!" she -snapped. "We must use the size-expanding ray!" - -They clambered quickly out. Far across the void between seats the "big -ones" loomed. Nearer, coming toward them along the heaving boat side, -clattered the Sediphron war tanks. - -For a brief moment Gena's eyes mirrored a deep regret. Then she set the -adjustment on her ray gun, and turned it on Hammond, while Ardine did -the same to Storm. - -The familiar, whirling darkness, the bitter cold, claimed Hammond. - -The darkness faded. He found himself facing Storm on the boat seat. The -skiff was rocking crazily. Hammond teetered, stumbled back into the -stern, and at the same moment Ardine and Gena appeared. - -A wave shipped over the side, washing tiny, antlike things that a -moment before had loomed as colossal war tanks, into the bottom of the -boat. And at the same moment Gena stiffened. - -Thrusting from a turret in the Sediphron space craft appeared a small, -glinting tube, similar to the one Gena had used to change them to tiny -mites. In another moment they would experience again the sickening -change to ultra-smallness. - -The twin reports, like small firecrackers going off inside the "big -ones," cut across Hammond's instinctive yell to dive overboard. The -space cruisers on the boat seat, with the degravitators gone, seemed -suddenly sucked down with irresistible force. They crashed through the -seat, through the bottom of the skiff, and vanished in a swirl of water. - - * * * * * - -The _Crawfish_ foundered, precipitating Hammond and his companions into -the Sound. Hammond stroked instinctively to Gena's side, but the girl -was as good a swimmer as he. - -Ardine and Storm swam alongside, and together they idled, looking back -to where the _Crawfish_ barely showed between swells, her thwarts awash. - -"That's the end of Zuggoth and his crustacean horde!" Storm remarked -with relief. "Both ships must be buried deep in the muck and rock of -the Sound!" - -Gena's eyes clouded. Hammond had the sudden knowledge she was thinking -of the Amazon warriors that had gone down with the _Vandar III_. Yet -he knew, too, that it was better this way, than the more horrible fate -that had been in store for them. - -Gena stroked closer, her shoulder brushing his. She was still staring -at the bobbing skiff, a strange half-fearful doubt tightening her wet -face. Hammond sensed the trend of her thoughts. - -The occupants of the pursuing war tanks, unfitted for water travel, -must have surely drowned. But the huge space craft were water tight. It -might be that Zuggoth and his crustacean horde, buried in the muck of -the Sound, by their tremendous weight relative to their size, would yet -succeed in repairing the degravitator of his ship and win free before -death overtook them. - -Hammond thrust the chill apprehension from him. He grinned reassuringly -as Gena looked up at him, eyes dark with uncertainty--with sudden -loneliness. She was no longer master of a million warriors--commander -of a mighty ship of space. She was just a girl, now, soft and lovely -and somewhat afraid. - -"Frank," she said softly, tremulously. "What is it like--on Earth? We -are lost, Ardine and I--" - -"Not lost, Gena," Frank answered, his voice serious. Over the girl's -wet shoulder, in the west, he could see the swollen red orb of sun -setting behind the wooded island. He saw farther, into tomorrow, -and after. To his friends in the lab--to a story he knew would be -incredulously received--to a world he and Storm would have to try to -explain to these girls from across the star hung void. - -"You'll be with me, Gena," he said, his voice gentle. "As my wife. And -perhaps some day, with your knowledge, and Ardine's--" - -The girl smiled, and followed the line of his upward glance. The -shadows were lengthening across the heaving Sound. But in the still, -flushed sky a pin point of light beckoned, like a smiling answer--the -brilliant disc of glowing Mars. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Meteor Men of Mars, by Harry Cord and Otis A. Kline - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK METEOR MEN OF MARS *** - -***** This file should be named 62258.txt or 62258.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/5/62258/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -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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