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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..e671a40 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64624 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64624) diff --git a/old/64624-0.txt b/old/64624-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index df5ba1d..0000000 --- a/old/64624-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1327 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lady Into Hell-Cat, by Stanley Mullen - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Lady Into Hell-Cat - -Author: Stanley Mullen - -Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64624] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY INTO HELL-CAT *** - - - - - LADY INTO HELL-CAT - - By STANLEY MULLEN - - Tracking her across black space-lanes and slapping - magnetic bracelets on her was duck soup for - S.P. Agent Heydrick. Only then did he learn - what a planet-load of trouble he'd bought. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Spring 1949. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The inspector of security police dropped his shoes on the floor and put -his feet on the desk where he could watch his toes wriggle. - -"Sure we're sloppy here," he said belligerently. "You pretty boys of -the Space Patrol don't know what it's like in a slime-hole frontier -town like 9 Ganymede." - -Lee Heydrick smiled grimly. "I guess you didn't catch my name. I earned -these service bars of mine. I was one of four survivors of the first -Trans-Plutonian Expedition." - -The inspector suddenly became respectful. "Oh, you're that Heydrick?" -He referred to the credentials on his desk. "What's a pirate-chaser -like you doing on an assignment like this? Seems like picking up -fugitive murderers for the disintegrators is a job for the security -police." - -Heydrick grunted. "So it is. I don't like the job any better than you -do. But this is no ordinary murderer. She's a red Martian. Killed -Feyjak, third man in the Red Council. Worked in his laboratory. They -suspect a Wilding plot." - -"Feyjak, eh? They ought to give her a medal. I feel sorry for the -girl--good-looker, too. Still sounds like a police job." - -Heydrick growled. "Yes, it does. Just some more rotten politics. -There's not supposed to be any politics in the Space Patrol. Hooey! The -Red Scientists are in power, and my foster father, Tyko, is head man of -the Blue. So I get assignments like this. Just so they can get a whack -at Tyko. They hope I'll fail--that's all they want." - -The inspector warmed noticeably. "So Tyko's your foster? I'm a blue -myself ... out of working hours. That's why I'm stuck in a last -frontier hellhole like this. Anything I can do to help?" - -Heydrick loosened up and sat down. "I don't know. It's a mean job any -way you look at it. The girl says she didn't kill him. They can't use -scopolamine. She's a desert dweller of the old blood, and it doesn't -work on 'em. Why would she kill Feyjak? He wasn't a bad sort. A bit -dim, but that's all. Of course, if she's a Wilding, that would explain -after a fashion. They're all fanatics, but why Feyjak? They could knock -off a lot of others more important. We got a tip she's hiding out on -Ganymede. A place called the Spacerat's Roost. Know anything about it?" - -The inspector whistled. "Not much. Enough to stay clear of the place. -It's a dive in the Interplanetary Quarter, a damn tough hole. Mostly -Plutonium prospectors and fungi hunters hang out there. We suspect it's -mixed up in the illegal Moondrug traffic, but can't prove anything. I -never send my boys into that quarter unless it's necessary, and then -only in squads of four. Sure you don't want help?" - -Heydrick grinned sourly. "I wouldn't want your boys to get their pretty -uniforms dirty. Do you think you could make me look like a Plutonium -prospector?" - -"Can do--that all?" - -"Draw me a map of the district. I'll need to know my way around." - -"I'd rather draw it than show you. I wouldn't go there alone. Not at -night. They don't like cops." - -"Neither do I." Heydrick showed his teeth like an amiable wolf. - -"If you're not back in two days, we'll come in after you." - -"I'll be back." - - * * * * * - -The air in the Spacerat's Roost was thick with Fung-weed smoke. -Heydrick mingled with the crowd inside the doorway and noticed men -from every inhabited world in the Solar System. He spotted a vacant -table and elbowed his way to it. A drug-soaked horror from Venus, -obviously the bouncer, looked dubiously at the newcomer in his scuffed -prospector's leather. Heydrick pounded on the table for service. - -The waiter was a Jovian octopus man with five tentacles and three eyes. -He came and hovered over the table, blinking sadly, as if life was a -burden to him. - -"What'll you have?" - -"What've you got?" - -The waiter waved a tentacle airily. "Anything you can name--Snow-grape -Champagne from Mars, Deimos rice-nectar, Toad's-eye brandy and -Banana-beer from Venus ..." he paused dramatically, leaned close and -whispered, "even a bit of Blue Moonfoam from Callisto for special -customers." - -Heydrick winked. "I'm a special customer." - -"You must have more money than sense," the waiter observed. "It'll be -twenty vikdals, Martian." - -Heydrick flicked a hundred vikdal platinum coin on the table. The -octopus man uncoiled a tentacle and snatched it up, tested it for -weight, then shambled off. He returned with a dusty bottle and the -change. Heydrick let the change lie. - -"Would you like to earn the rest of it?" - -The octopus creature clucked somewhere within the unholy cavern which -served him as mouth. "I'd kill anyone on Ganymede for half of that," he -observed. "What'ya want me to do?" - -Heydrick drew a deep breath. "You've a singer here who calls herself -the _Red Leopard of Mars_. When does she go on?" - -The waiter consulted a wrist-chron. "Anytime now. She's temperamental." - -"When she's finished her turn, ask her to come to my table." The Jovian -shrugged and moved off. - -The houselights dimmed suddenly. A shower of colored lights played upon -the raised stage. Soft nostalgic music poured from an unseen source. -Soundlessly, a series of colored crystal screens slid back. At the back -of the stage was a shadowy figure half-concealed by clouds of gossamer -stuff blown wildly by concealed fans. Slowly, with infinite insolence, -the figure moved to the point of the triangular stage. She stood -motionless, waiting, while the babel of unearthly tongues died away in -silence. The music grew louder. Veil by veil she flung off the filmy -draperies until she stood revealed. Klathgar.... - -She wore the conventional garb of a woman of the ancient desert -dwellers, jewelled copper breast-plates, a circlet of beaten bronze -binding her wealth of red-violet hair, her eyes glittering like emerald -fire; and the long divided skirt concealed little of her shapely body. -Leashed, beside her, was the restless, slithering shadow of a red -sand-leopard. - -Against the wavering, eerie melody, and a patterned off-beat throb -of tom-toms, she began to sing. Her voice was rich, throaty, and -the song a poignant love song of the ancient desert people. For a -moment Heydrick forgot where he was and who _she_ was. The hopeless -yearning and infinite tragedy of the music played unpleasantly with -his soul-memories. The weird denizens of the Spacerat's Roost sat -enthralled. - -The song ended upon a note of earth-sick despair, a haunting melancholy -for things that will never again be as they were, never, if the planets -swing round a dead sun in an empty sky. - -The singer bowed, half-contemptuously, to the storm of applause, then -retired. - -Heydrick drew the identification space-photo from his pocket and -studied it. There was no doubt. Despite the heavy make-up, the features -were the same. Ria Tarsen and Klathgar were the same. - -In moments the girl was back. She had shed her glamor-costume and was -nearly naked in the briefest of skirts, legs shimmering in painted -stockings, high-breasts caught in a tight sheen of semi-translucent -material. This time she sang a bawdy song, "If Asteroids were -Asterisks," about a girl who went for a rocket-ride with an octopus -man, and had to hitch-hike home from the Moons of Jupiter. - -The crowd went wild. The number finished with a rowdy burlesque dance -which went considerably beyond the bounds of good taste, but was -screamingly funny. - - * * * * * - -The girl ducked out the wings, and Heydrick nodded to the waiter. The -octopus man winked one of his three eyes and vanished. He came back -through the door to the dressing rooms, and the girl was with him. He -pointed to Heydrick. Klathgar looked at him insolently. A puzzled frown -wrinkled her face. - -Lithe as a sand-leopard, she moved among the crowded tables, still clad -in the gaudy costume of her last number. - -Heydrick looked closely at her. Could this be the same girl who sang -the love song so full of fiery passion that it was madness set to -music? The uncanny warble of flutes and the triple throb of bone-drums -still echoed in his ears. But this girl was tired; strain and -unutterable weariness lurked behind her eyes. - -"Why did you send for me?" she asked. - -"I wanted to talk to you--is that so unusual?" - -"Men always want to talk to me," she said, sneering. "I don't have to -associate with the customers--not even those who can buy Moonfoam." - -Heydrick noticed suddenly that the sand-leopard was with her. The -animal's tail swished savagely back and forth. Its lips curled and a -snarling burr of sound came from the ugly rows of teeth. It seemed like -an echo of the girl's sneer. Klathgar put down one hand to stroke the -beast's spade-shaped head. It rubbed against her in silent ecstasy. - -"Perhaps I can change your mind," suggested Heydrick. "Won't you sit -down?" - -"You flatter yourself," she snapped. "I can hear what you have to say -standing up." - -"I wonder if you can," Heydrick mused aloud. "First, who are you?" The -ghost of fear trembled behind her mask. - -Klathgar laughed. "Ask anybody who I am. Klathgar. The Red Leopard." - -Heydrick threw Ria Tarsen's dossier card on the table, face up. -Klathgar glanced at it without a flicker of emotion. - -"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" she asked contemptuously. - -"It should--it's yours." - -Her laugh was shrill. "At least you have a new approach. In either -case, you're mistaken. What's your racket?" - -"Heydrick, I.P.S. If you're not Ria Tarsen, who are you? May I see -your ident-card?" - -The girl was growing angry. "It's in my dressing room; I'll get it." - -Heydrick was on his feet. "If you don't mind, I'll go with you." - -"I do mind." - -"I'll go anyway." - -The girl shrugged and led the way among the crowded tables, the leopard -padding silently beside her. Curious glances went with them. Suddenly -Klathgar turned. "On second thought, I have it here," she said. She -knelt quickly and unsnapped the leopard's leash. Heydrick's hand -reached for his gun, but the girl was holding a card out to him. Even -as he took it, he wondered if the gesture were a trick to occupy his -gun hand. - -One glance at the card was enough. "I hope you didn't pay too much for -this," he told her. "It's a clumsy forgery." - -Klathgar muttered a low word to the leopard, then slipped through the -sliding door of plastic. A bundle of furred muscle launched itself at -Heydrick. It was touch and go for a minute. Deadly talons raked through -the leather tunic like razors. The man got a grip on the jewelled -collar and twisted savagely. He wrenched the great cat away long enough -to get out a paralysis gun and fire it. The drugged needle went into -a soft spot behind one furred ear. Instantly the beast let go and -crumpled. - -Heydrick leaped for the door. Someone tried to trip him, but he got -through and slammed the plastic door shut. - -Cutting down the intensity of his blaster, he ran the blunt muzzle up -and down the joint where the heavy slab of plastic fit, sealing it -tightly as the plastic flowed and fused. "That should hold them," he -thought. Something crashed against the door. - -In the dim passageway, Heydrick could see several doors, all shut. -Which door? - -He tried three, then saw one marked with a glittering star. It was -locked, but he put his shoulder against it and shoved violently. The -thin screen buckled. - -The girl was rummaging in a drawer. She turned and lunged at him with -an ornamental dagger. Heydrick wrenched it away from her. - -"Nice try, Ria." - -She leaped on him, kicking and scratching. Locked together they crashed -into the mirror. All three went down in a smash of glass. The girl lay -still. - -Heydrick took a needle from the paralysis gun and scratched her -lightly. Her breathing steadied and she lay relaxed, while he opened -the window and looked out. Below him, bathed in eerie Jupiter-light, -lay the rooftops of the city. He could just make it to the next roof. -Ria was lighter than she looked. - - * * * * * - -At security police headquarters, Heydrick sat back for a quiet smoke. -He had changed back into the crisp silvery grey of the Space Patrol. -The inspector was in an official mood. He had his shoes on. - -"What's the quickest transportation back to Mars?" - -The inspector grinned. "Anxious to get her off your hands, eh? I don't -blame you. The Martian Express is the quickest--you can get it at City -1. It doesn't stop, of course, but they pick up ore-lighters as they go -past Ganymede." - -"How can I get to City 1?" - -"I'll lend you a patrol flier. They're all old crates, rocket drive. If -it gets you there, you can leave it; we'll pick it up. If not, maybe -we'll get some decent equipment." - -Heydrick walked down the dim passageway to the cell in which he had -deposited Ria Tarsen. She glowered at him. - -"Did you kill my leopard?" - -"He's all right. Be stiff a couple of days, that's all. I used the -paralysis gun. How d'you feel." - -The girl did not answer. Heydrick went on. "I'm sorry, Ria. I'll have -to take you back now." He unlocked the cell, and the girl strode into -the corridor. She was still arrogant and glared at him with cold -insolence. - -"You must feel proud of yourself," she said icily. "You'll never get me -back to Mars." - -"I thought of that." He took a metal bracelet from his pocket. "Try -this on for size." - -"That's a funny handcuff; it's not chained to anything," she said as he -clasped it on her wrist. - -"Try running away," he suggested. Ria darted down the corridor, then -stopped as if she had run smack into a dur-steel wall. - -"Magnetic," he explained. "Can be set for distances up to fifty feet. -Once that's on you, and the mate to it's on me, we're linked together -to the end of the trail. It's sealed with a coded beam of light. I -don't have the combination. I just don't want you to try anything -silly, that's all." - -"I'll kill you for this," Ria promised, her green eyes glowing with -ugly light. - -"Seems you've killed one man too many now," Heydrick commented. "Even -if you were lucky enough to kill me, we'd still be linked together; you -couldn't escape with a corpse." - -"I didn't kill Feyjak 9," she shrieked. "I didn't kill him. It was an -accident. I don't know anything about it." - -Heydrick looked at her soberly. "I don't believe you, Ria. And, if I -did, it wouldn't matter. You were tried and sentenced. I'm sorry for -you, but it's my job to take you back to the--to your punishment." - -"I won't go back to the disintegrators," Ria stated, her face pale but -tearless. "You'll never get me there alive." - - * * * * * - -In the antiquated patrol flier, Heydrick set the auto-pilot for City -1. The girl was sleeping quietly under the effects of the paralysis -drug. Heydrick went back to the galley and opened a can of hot coffee. -A sudden tug at the metal circlet on his wrist sent him racing to the -controls. - -It was too late. The girl held a heavy bar of dur-steel ready to crash -it down on the maze of keys and switch-bars. The bar descended in a -glittering crescent. Blue flame shot through the tiny cabin. Rocket -jets fused and exploded at the tail of the rocket-flier. - -The shock knocked Heydrick to his knees. He scrambled to the control -board and reached for the girl. In one movement, she turned and struck -at him with the bar. It missed his head, but a numbing jar went through -his shoulder. A clip on the jaw sent her reeling. - -[Illustration: _A clip on the jaw sent her reeling._] - -Frantically Heydrick worked at the wrecked controls, splicing burnt -wires, bending keys back to position. Sick nausea clawed at his -insides. The ship was going down in a free fall, spinning. The thin -atmosphere of Ganymede went round the hull with a crescendo, whistling -scream. A jagged wilderness of saw-toothed rock and volcanic ash -whirled up at the flier. - -The slight gravity of Ganymede was bad enough, but if they struck at -full rocket velocity, the hull would crumple like an eggshell. With a -length of wire, Heydrick burned his fingers shorting the switches to -the forward tubes. It was too late to do much. If he could only slow -the fall. - -A series of explosions forward jarred through the ship. Deceleration -flung Heydrick on top of the girl. - -The flier buried her nose in soft ash and skidded thirty yards in a -choking shower. A sharp needle of jagged rock reached up through the -dust to catch her. With a shriek of riven metal the flier rose on end. -The fused-quartz port-holes bulged and gave way. - -Supercharged air whistled out of the cabin. As the artificially heavy -air blew itself out, Heydrick felt his head swell as if it were going -to explode. His eyes seemed to be squeezing out of his head. Dazed, -he groped to the locker and got out the space-suits. The cold bit into -him like needles of ice till he struggled into his suit. He set his -atmosphere control, then fought his way through the shattered wreckage -to Ria. She was in no condition to resist as he forced the bulky -space-suit on her. He set the controls on her suit, then talked into -his microphone. - -"You are a problem child," he said. "How'd you manage it?" - -Ria was sick and dizzy. She staggered on her feet. "I had some -benzedrine--stole it from the emergency kit. Your paralysis needle -barely scratched me anyhow." - -She fell weakly against the bulkhead. Heydrick seized her and dragged -her through the riven shell of the control room into the shelter of a -gaunt outcropping. - -"The forward rockets are building up. They'll go any minute." - -A bellowing geyser of dust-shrouded flame roared up. Flying metal -clattered brutally on their shelter. - -"Just in time," he said. Ria lay on the ground, retching weakly. "Well, -the security boys get a new ship. They'll be happy. From here on, we -walk. I hope you're satisfied." - -The upper limb of an immense crescent rose above the horizon. Jupiter. -Its sombre light revealed a savage wasteland of barren rock and -volcanic ash. - -"Come on, Babe. You should enjoy this. It's thirty miles, and the -walking's bad. But we like it that way, don't we?" - -Sulkily, Ria got to her feet and followed him. - - * * * * * - -The Martian Express Liner, _Phobos_, went into full gear with a -velocity of 89 Martian gravities. After detouring the dangerous -asteroid belt, the ship nosed down in a long curving glide to intercept -the orbit of Mars. Far ahead was a blurred crescent of red, glowing -with soft radiance against a star-sprinkled void. Lee Heydrick watched -the planet swing slowly across the field of the glass. A deep unrest -troubled him, but he refused to face the mask it might wear and tried -to force it out of his mind. - -"We should be there in fourteen hours," the co-pilot said. - -"That'll be a relief. This is one job I don't like." - -The pilot glanced at them sourly. "I thought you were through with the -service," he shot at Heydrick. - -"I am--it's my last job. I can't live on any of the inner planets after -being exposed to the zero-rays of outer space. It takes six months -for a resignation to go through in the Space Patrol. My time is up in -two weeks and four days. After that, I'll have to stick to the places -outside the asteroid belt or resign myself to a very brief life--18 -months, at the outside." - -"Too bad. What're you going to do?" - -"I don't know. Maybe settle on one of the Moons of Saturn. They aren't -too crowded. I'll be glad to be free again. Silly, isn't it--when you -think of the way I used to look forward to being in Space Patrol! My -folks were refugees from earth--lived in the icy marshes near the -northern ice-cap of Mars. I ran away from home to go to Canal City 9 -and study for the Patrol. My grades were good enough to impress Tyko. -He took me into his home. My folks were proud of me. They're all dead -now; Tyko's all I have left. I'll miss the old buzzard." - -The co-pilot grunted. "What are you kicking about? I wish somebody'd -handcuff me to a kitten like that one of yours. She looks hotter than -a rocket tube. If you get tired of your work, I'll take over and spell -you awhile." - -Heydrick grinned with embarrassment. "You might regret it. She's tried -to kill me twice already. She's full of ideas." - -"I hope she knocks you off--you can will her to me." - -The alarms through the space cruiser began to shrill in great bellows -of sound. Heydrick ran along the passageway and tried the door of the -stateroom where he had locked his prisoner. It was still locked. He -used the key, but something heavy was jammed against the door. He drew -his blaster gun and cut down the intensity. The door glowed cherry red, -then flowed together. It gave as he crashed against it. - -Ria was posed dramatically, metal stool in hand, in the act of -trying to smash the port-cover. The fused-quartz pane was already -spiderwebbed, and air sucked out in a rising whine. Ria changed her -mind and flung the stool at Heydrick. He lunged under it and caught -her round the waist. In one movement, he flung her over his shoulder -and whirled back out to the passage. Dropping her in a heap, he clawed -shut the insulated emergency door and spun the wing-nuts. Waves of cold -licked his eyelashes and his fingers stung with frost before he got the -job done. - -The girl's green eyes watched him warily, as a cat's might. - -"I'm sorry you made it," she spat at him viciously. "I hate you--hate -you!" - -Heydrick spun the dials on the handcuffs. "Okay, kid, if you want to -play rough, you'll sit out the rest of the trip on my lap. The interval -is two feet, as of now." - -"I hope you can take it." Then she snapped. Tears burst out. She raged -and screamed and kicked, laughed and cried and choked at the same time. -Heydrick slapped her out of it. She huddled on the floor, sobbing -weakly. - -The co-pilot came along the passageway. "Oh, it's your pet? We thought -it might be." - -"Still want to trade jobs?" - -"It might be fun to spank her, but I'll skip it. I've news for you. We -can't land in City 4--trouble of some kind--sounds like a good row." - -"Do you know what's wrong?" - -"They didn't say. Orders are to take the ship on the Desert City 12. -You two can go down in the lighters with the freight." The co-pilot -patted Ria on the shoulder--she cringed away from him. "Tough luck," -he said gently. "Too bad you're stuck with Bighead here. If you were -dealing with me, we'd go off to some empty asteroid and camp out for -the rest of your life." - - * * * * * - -Brooding over the immensity of the plain below was Canal City 4. -Covering the entire city like a tremendous bubble was the iridescent -dome of fused-quartz. The tiny fleet of ore-lighters nosed through -the valves of airlock after airlock and headed across town toward the -sprawling terraces of the freight docks. Like a chain of brightly -silvered pumpkin seeds, the clumsy craft wound in and out among the -towers of the 7th level, down to the freight docks. - -Heydrick took his prisoner through the airlock in the freight terminal -to condition her and himself for street-level atmosphere, then went out -on the huge platform again. - -Pausing only long enough to ask a robot attendant for information, -Heydrick pushed the button to stop a descending elevator. - -"Labor trouble--the workers are picketing--riots have broken out at -street level," droned the mechanical voice of the robot. - -A crowded car stopped, signalling raucously. Heydrick showed his badge -to the robot pilot. "Street level," he said crisply. "Space Patrol -priority." The robot grunted. "We have orders not to stop unless it's -vitally necessary." - -"It's necessary." - -Jumbles of neo-plastic architecture, rising tier on tier above the -series of terraces on which the city was built, whirled upward past the -descending car. - -On the street level, all was bustle and confusion. A polyglot crowd -composed of every human and near human species in the universe jammed -the streets. Stares followed the I.P.S. uniform as Heydrick pushed out -of the elevator. A few people gave nods of respect, but in most faces -burned a sullen hatred and resentment. - -Ria followed him in stolid silence as the handcuffs tugged at her. The -knots of angry people came suddenly in focus and she had a moment's -desperate inspiration. - -She jerked back heavily on the cuffs and began to scream. - -Heydrick was caught off guard and spun sharply about. - -"Help me, somebody," Ria cried wildly. "The cops are taking me in. I -haven't done anything." - -The mob clotted around the pair, snarling angrily. - -Heydrick reached for his gun, just as somebody threw a spanner. He -dodged, heard Ria's voice shout a welcome, "Thorsan," and that was -all. A sharp jab in his cheek as the paralysis needle went home was the -last he knew. Darkness rushed over him in a smothering cloud. - - * * * * * - -Someone kept slapping him. He felt as if he were trying to swim in -thick syrup. The light on the desk shone blindingly in his eyes. He got -his hand up to shield his eyes, then they struck it down. He blinked -sharply awake. - -Behind the desk sat a handsome man. Pale blue eyes that probed deeply, -plump cheeks, thick blonde eyebrows, muscular shoulders. Heydrick -had seen him before. Where? Oh, yes--the pieces clicked together. -The Feyjak investigation. The man had testified against Ria Tarsen, -reluctantly, the Visiphone News had commented. He had been Feyjak's -assistant, Ria's friend. - -Thorsan drummed the desk with his fingers. "Heydrick, you've given us a -lot of trouble. You probably want to know where you are. You're in the -underground galleries below Level 1. We have our headquarters here. I -am the head man of the Wildings." - -Heydrick's brain spun. He fought back the whirl and tried to think -calmly. - -Below the lowest inhabited level of Canal City 4 were endless mazes of -caverns, galleries and abandoned mine-shafts. - -Rumor said that bands of outlaws roamed among the savages, second and -third generations of the outcast rebels who long-ago had been driven -to the refuge of the city's ratholes. Banded together by their common -hatreds, these outlaws had built up a strong organization known as the -Wildings. There was some talk that numbers of them had infiltrated the -City's government; men of dangerous ability, infinite cunning, and -vicious philosophy, whose sole aim was the overthrow of the Government -of Scientists. - -Heydrick's heart turned suddenly to ashes as he realized that Ria -Tarsen must have been a Wilding. Surely no group would have gone to -the trouble of instigating riots merely to rescue an outsider, however -innocent. It was all clear now, painfully clear. - -Thorsan must have divined the nature of Heydrick's thoughts. He -laughed harshly, then turned to a subordinate. - -"They're no use to us, either of them. The girl didn't know as much as -I thought she did. Now they both know too much. We'll have to get rid -of them. Put him in the cell with her while I figure out what to do -with them." - -Hands reached out of the darkness and dragged Heydrick roughly to his -feet. He was thrust along a winding gallery that he realized must be -part of an old mine. They must have given him a full dose with the -paralysis needle. He kept stumbling, and his legs moved stiffly. - -The group came to a halt before an old wooden-plank door. The room -inside was damp, and smelled mouldy. It was evidently a chamber cut in -the rock for storage of explosives. His captors thrust him inside. He -bounced off a wall and fell heavily. The door bumped shut and a sound -like a bar dropping in place came muffled through the planks. - -"Well, tough guy, how do _you_ like being pushed around?" A familiar -voice came out of darkness. - -"Who is it?" he asked needlessly. - -"It's not your Aunt Sophie," the voice said acidly. "_You_ should kick. -You have better company than I have." - -The two sat in moody silence for a while. "Are you all right?" the girl -asked finally. - -"Still stiff," he answered. "You should know what that's like." - -"I do. You and your toy handcuffs. They only wanted me; Thorsan thought -I knew he killed Feyjak. He was afraid I might give him away. They had -to drag you along on account of your silly handcuffs. If you hadn't -split my lip, I could laugh at you. They're going to kill us, you know." - -"Yes, I heard him say that." - -"What are we going to do? Any ideas?" - -"Not so far. How about you?" - -"Nothing definite. I still have the benzedrine tablets I swiped. They -didn't find 'em when they searched me. I'll split with you. If we take -it before they come for us, we may get a chance to make a break. It'll -counteract the paralysis drug if they're counting on that to make us -dead pigeons while they haul us around." - -Her hand found his in the dark and thrust six pellets into his open -palm. Her fingers were wet and sticky. - -"You're bleeding." - -"It's nothing serious. That bracelet of yours cut my arm when they -chiselled it off." - -"I'm sorry about everything, Ria--" - -"Skip it," she said harshly. "Of course you're sorry. Now shut up. I -hate post-mortems. Besides, I think they're coming. Better get your -benzedrine down." - - * * * * * - -There was sound of the bar being withdrawn. A heavy foot kicked the -door open. A man with a twisted face held the light and the gun while -two others approached warily and jabbed needles into the captives. -Coarse hands jerked them to their feet, and the two were dragged -outside, feigning limpness. - -"Now," said Ria. She thrust out her foot. The man with the gun tripped -and went sprawling on the floor. Heydrick swung with all he had at the -darkness where he remembered a chin and felt bone shatter beneath his -fist. Then he was tangled in a savage knot with the third man, rolling -and threshing about in deadly fury. - -Ria was not idle. She salvaged the light, switched the radilume back -on, and hunted for the dropped gun. In a matter of seconds, she brought -the butt down on an exposed skull. The thug let go and sank to the -floor. - -Heydrick dusted himself off. - -"I ought to let you have it, too," Ria mumbled, "but I always was a -softy. Come on, sucker." - -"Which way?" - -"I think they brought me that way," the girl said slowly. "Let's try -the other. Heaven knows where it leads." - -Heydrick took the gun from her and thrust it through his belt. They -struck off down the tunnel, taking forks at random, but going as -cautiously as they could. - -Luck was against them. They came suddenly round a turn and into a -chamber full of Wildings. It was the room where Heydrick had been -questioned by Thorsan. The man still sat at the desk. Heydrick drew the -gun and pressed its trigger as Thorsan dived for a doorway. The desk -glowed, then exploded. The room was choked with dust. - -Heydrick remembered a nightmarish pursuit, running down a series of -criss-cross galleries with endless side passages. The gallery ended -abruptly. An open mine-shaft barred their way. - -It was a double shaft, with space for two elevators, but neither lift -was on their level. Sounds of pursuit came from the gallery behind them. - -Heydrick leaned over and looked down the shaft. A floor below was the -open-platform lift. - -"Jump for the cable," he ordered. "Try to slide down it." - -"You first," she said. "I'm a sissy." Heydrick jumped and his stomach -wrenched with nausea. Then the cable was burning through his hands. His -feet stung as they came down solidly on the metal flooring. The girl -was right behind him. He found the control lever and jammed it all the -way over. - -The car dropped under them with sickening speed. - -A blaster beam flamed briefly above them, and the discharge set a -chorus of echoes bouncing back and forth in the old mine-shaft. - -"Hang tight," he shouted. "I don't know how far down this shaft goes. -If we hit bottom at this speed, we'll flatten out like saucers." - -A mushroom of brilliant light expanded above them. The car jerked and -grated on the rock walls, then went down in a free fall, the cable -trailing slack above them. - -Down the shaft hurtled the old lift, air whistling eerily round its -edges. - -"They've blasted the cable!" Heydrick cried. "Now we are in for it." He -leaped to the brake lever and tugged at it. The bar was rusted fast. -Ria tried to help. With their combined weight and effort, the bar gave -a little. Inch by inch, it moved. The clamps started taking hold of -the side walls and a shriek of protest came from rock and metal. The -elevator slowed slightly. Too late. - -With a grinding rasp of smashed metal, it struck. Ria was hurled clear, -but Heydrick was trapped. - -The metal cable came down, coiling and snapping like a whip. A stiff -spiral of it covered Heydrick, pinning him fast to the floor. He wiped -a smear of blood from his face and tried vainly to lift the heavy -strands. They refused to budge. - -Ria knelt beside him and tried to shift the coils, but it was no use. - -"You'd better go," he said roughly. "They'll be down as soon as they -can get to the other elevator ... to make sure of us." - -Ria glared at him. "It's my maternal instinct," she said. "I can't -leave you." - -"You wanted a chance to escape. This is it." - -Ria seized the broken brake lever and pried up part of the strands. -Heydrick worked himself part way out, but the weight was too much for -her strength. The bar twisted out of her hands. Down came the full -weight again. Heydrick cried out in agony. She moved the bar and lifted -again. This time, he crawled free. - - * * * * * - -Leaning on her, he was able to stand and walk along the old gallery, -but it was a slow business. Deadly slow. - -Behind them, they could hear the whine of a descending lift. "They're -coming," he said. Crouching against an angle of the tunnel, they -waited. It was useless to run. Heydrick cut the switch of his radilume -and braced the blaster against cold stone. He felt better with the -trigger nestling against his trembling finger. - -The Wildings came cautiously, but they needed light to move at all. - -Light splashed off the rock around the corner. Shadowy figures moved -behind the light. Heydrick pressed the trigger, and a pale beam flicked -the darkness. In the close confinement of the tunnel, the shattering -blast stunned their brains. - -The explosion stopped some of the pursuit, but a scuff of boots on -rough rock warned Heydrick. Needles from paralysis guns snicked nastily -from the naked rocks beside them. He and the girl turned and fled -headlong through the darkness. Pain forgotten, he thrust Ria ahead of -him, and pried up part of the strands. Heydrick followed, stumbling and -swearing. - -In the darkness ahead, he heard Ria cry out. Unable to stop, he too -collided with what seemed to be a solid wall of metal. Heydrick flicked -the radilume switch. Light flooded an ore depot, with rusting electric -cars. - -"Ore cars," he gasped. "Get in." He boosted the girl up and scrambled -after her. Heydrick fumbled for the switch, found it. The car leaped -ahead as a blaster beam licked the rails behind them. With shaking -hands, Heydrick re-primed his blaster and fired wildly at the darkness -behind them. Shadows danced. It seemed seconds before the blasts went -off. Two in rapid succession. - -Another car leaped from the dust cloud behind. It was pursuing them on -the parallel tracks. - -A blaster beam grazed the back wall of the ore-car. It was gone with -a flash and a roar. The shock flattened Heydrick and the girl against -the front wall. Heydrick re-primed his gun, but it was impossible to -aim. The tracks went into a black maw and went up in a steeply climbing -spiral. Flanges screamed wildly as the wheels bit into the curves. Up. -Up. Up. The miles raced backward in a dizzy flow of darkness lit by -faint reflections from the radilume. - -Suddenly the track levelled off on a straightaway. Heydrick peered -ahead. Heaven alone knew where the tunnel led or how far the tracks -were good. The car was going like a runaway rocket. - -Then they were out in the open, in daylight. The tracks came out of a -tunnel-mouth on the banks of the dry canal. - -The hurtling ore-car was half way across the bridge before Heydrick -knew they were heading for the city. - -Out of the tunnel-mouth across the canal shot the other ore-car. Both -cars raced toward the city. - -Ten miles. Five. Three. One. - -Weird lights flickered on the tremendous dome ahead, as if some -infernal carnival was being held within the city. - -Up a steep ramp to the airlock shot the cars. Seconds now. The airlock -was closed. - -A gate of metal and plastic loomed close. Glass, plastic, metal and -quartz vanished in a thunderous melee of sound. The first lock. The -city's automatic wall-magnets clawed at the racing car. It slowed -rapidly. The deceleration pinned both of them flat against the front -wall of the car. It went through the second gate like a knife through -dough. The jar was agony. - -The car rolled up to a dock and stopped. - -Heydrick was out of the car and racing for a visiphone as a wobbling -wheel came loose and romped down the track, smashing sheds to metal -splinters. - -"Get Tyko," he bellowed. - -"Sorry," a robot said tonelessly. "No calls are going through till the -end of the emergency." - -Heydrick swore wildly. He and Ria ran through the building and out onto -the huge terrace in front. The vast bowl of the city was in tumult. -Fires were raging on all the lower levels, and several of the towers -of the 7th level had crashed down in ruins. Mobs roared through the -streets, killing, burning, and looting. It was revolution. Security -police, trying to stem the outbreak, were caught in the maelstroms, -overwhelmed, and submerged. The lower levels had gone mad with hate. -Wildings were everywhere, organizing, leading, destroying. - -Heydrick commandeered an empty flier, got Ria aboard and set the -automatic pilot for Tyko's tower in West 21. - - * * * * * - -In Tyko's tower, the old man stood watching the end of the grim -spectacle in the streets below. Walls of white fire moved out in -ever-widening circles from the experimental domes, moved through the -city, quieting the mobs, herding them back to their homes. Dead lay in -windrows. - -A bell rang behind him. He turned. "Oh, come in," he said. It was -Thorsan, Feyjak's assistant. - -"It's almost over," Tyko told him. "Order is being restored now. After -this, we'll keep the Blues in power and give the people a government -they can like. It's a sad thing, to govern people. Herding them about -like animals. Men should be free. I'm an anarchist myself ... out of -hours." - -"How about my people?" Thorsan asked, an odd expression on his face. - -"Your people? Oh, the Red Scientists. Don't worry. We knew this revolt -was coming, even if you Reds didn't. We've had our eye on the Wildings -for some time. You Reds are safe enough. When order is restored, -perhaps a joint government...." - -Tyko stopped. He was looking into the muzzle of a blaster. - -"I don't understand," he quavered. - -"My people are the Wildings. We don't want any of your kind of -governments," Thorsan said slowly. "With you out of the way, nothing -can stop the revolution. I regret the necessity." - -From the open doorway, Heydrick fired. The paralysis needle bit deep in -Thorsan's neck. He crumpled silently. - -Heydrick and Ria stood before Tyko. - -"I see you've completed your mission," the old man said. He frowned as -Heydrick put his arm around Ria. - -Heydrick laughed. "When Thorsan comes out of it, give him scopolamine. -He'll tell you who did kill Feyjak." - -"I suppose you want my blessing? You have it." - -"How's your war coming?" - -"It's over by now. Nasty business, government. What are you going to -do?" - -Heydrick and Ria looked at each other. - -"I think we'll find an empty asteroid and camp out for a while. The -universe is getting too crowded. I'm glad she was innocent, Tyko. I -could never have brought her in ... for any reason." - -"I wish I were young enough to go with you," Tyko sighed. "Not on -your honeymoon, of course. I guess you won't be coming back. This is -goodbye, then? Is there anything I can do for you?" - -Heydrick started to reply but Ria cut in. "Yes, there is. I want -another pair of those magnetic handcuffs." - -Heydrick shrugged. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Lady Into Hell-Cat</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Stanley Mullen</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64624]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY INTO HELL-CAT ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>LADY INTO HELL-CAT</h1> - -<h2>By STANLEY MULLEN</h2> - -<p>Tracking her across black space-lanes and slapping<br /> -magnetic bracelets on her was duck soup for<br /> -S.P. Agent Heydrick. Only then did he learn<br /> -what a planet-load of trouble he'd bought.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Spring 1949.<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>The inspector of security police dropped his shoes on the floor and put -his feet on the desk where he could watch his toes wriggle.</p> - -<p>"Sure we're sloppy here," he said belligerently. "You pretty boys of -the Space Patrol don't know what it's like in a slime-hole frontier -town like 9 Ganymede."</p> - -<p>Lee Heydrick smiled grimly. "I guess you didn't catch my name. I earned -these service bars of mine. I was one of four survivors of the first -Trans-Plutonian Expedition."</p> - -<p>The inspector suddenly became respectful. "Oh, you're that Heydrick?" -He referred to the credentials on his desk. "What's a pirate-chaser -like you doing on an assignment like this? Seems like picking up -fugitive murderers for the disintegrators is a job for the security -police."</p> - -<p>Heydrick grunted. "So it is. I don't like the job any better than you -do. But this is no ordinary murderer. She's a red Martian. Killed -Feyjak, third man in the Red Council. Worked in his laboratory. They -suspect a Wilding plot."</p> - -<p>"Feyjak, eh? They ought to give her a medal. I feel sorry for the -girl—good-looker, too. Still sounds like a police job."</p> - -<p>Heydrick growled. "Yes, it does. Just some more rotten politics. -There's not supposed to be any politics in the Space Patrol. Hooey! The -Red Scientists are in power, and my foster father, Tyko, is head man of -the Blue. So I get assignments like this. Just so they can get a whack -at Tyko. They hope I'll fail—that's all they want."</p> - -<p>The inspector warmed noticeably. "So Tyko's your foster? I'm a blue -myself ... out of working hours. That's why I'm stuck in a last -frontier hellhole like this. Anything I can do to help?"</p> - -<p>Heydrick loosened up and sat down. "I don't know. It's a mean job any -way you look at it. The girl says she didn't kill him. They can't use -scopolamine. She's a desert dweller of the old blood, and it doesn't -work on 'em. Why would she kill Feyjak? He wasn't a bad sort. A bit -dim, but that's all. Of course, if she's a Wilding, that would explain -after a fashion. They're all fanatics, but why Feyjak? They could knock -off a lot of others more important. We got a tip she's hiding out on -Ganymede. A place called the Spacerat's Roost. Know anything about it?"</p> - -<p>The inspector whistled. "Not much. Enough to stay clear of the place. -It's a dive in the Interplanetary Quarter, a damn tough hole. Mostly -Plutonium prospectors and fungi hunters hang out there. We suspect it's -mixed up in the illegal Moondrug traffic, but can't prove anything. I -never send my boys into that quarter unless it's necessary, and then -only in squads of four. Sure you don't want help?"</p> - -<p>Heydrick grinned sourly. "I wouldn't want your boys to get their pretty -uniforms dirty. Do you think you could make me look like a Plutonium -prospector?"</p> - -<p>"Can do—that all?"</p> - -<p>"Draw me a map of the district. I'll need to know my way around."</p> - -<p>"I'd rather draw it than show you. I wouldn't go there alone. Not at -night. They don't like cops."</p> - -<p>"Neither do I." Heydrick showed his teeth like an amiable wolf.</p> - -<p>"If you're not back in two days, we'll come in after you."</p> - -<p>"I'll be back."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The air in the Spacerat's Roost was thick with Fung-weed smoke. -Heydrick mingled with the crowd inside the doorway and noticed men -from every inhabited world in the Solar System. He spotted a vacant -table and elbowed his way to it. A drug-soaked horror from Venus, -obviously the bouncer, looked dubiously at the newcomer in his scuffed -prospector's leather. Heydrick pounded on the table for service.</p> - -<p>The waiter was a Jovian octopus man with five tentacles and three eyes. -He came and hovered over the table, blinking sadly, as if life was a -burden to him.</p> - -<p>"What'll you have?"</p> - -<p>"What've you got?"</p> - -<p>The waiter waved a tentacle airily. "Anything you can name—Snow-grape -Champagne from Mars, Deimos rice-nectar, Toad's-eye brandy and -Banana-beer from Venus ..." he paused dramatically, leaned close and -whispered, "even a bit of Blue Moonfoam from Callisto for special -customers."</p> - -<p>Heydrick winked. "I'm a special customer."</p> - -<p>"You must have more money than sense," the waiter observed. "It'll be -twenty vikdals, Martian."</p> - -<p>Heydrick flicked a hundred vikdal platinum coin on the table. The -octopus man uncoiled a tentacle and snatched it up, tested it for -weight, then shambled off. He returned with a dusty bottle and the -change. Heydrick let the change lie.</p> - -<p>"Would you like to earn the rest of it?"</p> - -<p>The octopus creature clucked somewhere within the unholy cavern which -served him as mouth. "I'd kill anyone on Ganymede for half of that," he -observed. "What'ya want me to do?"</p> - -<p>Heydrick drew a deep breath. "You've a singer here who calls herself -the <i>Red Leopard of Mars</i>. When does she go on?"</p> - -<p>The waiter consulted a wrist-chron. "Anytime now. She's temperamental."</p> - -<p>"When she's finished her turn, ask her to come to my table." The Jovian -shrugged and moved off.</p> - -<p>The houselights dimmed suddenly. A shower of colored lights played upon -the raised stage. Soft nostalgic music poured from an unseen source. -Soundlessly, a series of colored crystal screens slid back. At the back -of the stage was a shadowy figure half-concealed by clouds of gossamer -stuff blown wildly by concealed fans. Slowly, with infinite insolence, -the figure moved to the point of the triangular stage. She stood -motionless, waiting, while the babel of unearthly tongues died away in -silence. The music grew louder. Veil by veil she flung off the filmy -draperies until she stood revealed. Klathgar....</p> - -<p>She wore the conventional garb of a woman of the ancient desert -dwellers, jewelled copper breast-plates, a circlet of beaten bronze -binding her wealth of red-violet hair, her eyes glittering like emerald -fire; and the long divided skirt concealed little of her shapely body. -Leashed, beside her, was the restless, slithering shadow of a red -sand-leopard.</p> - -<p>Against the wavering, eerie melody, and a patterned off-beat throb -of tom-toms, she began to sing. Her voice was rich, throaty, and -the song a poignant love song of the ancient desert people. For a -moment Heydrick forgot where he was and who <i>she</i> was. The hopeless -yearning and infinite tragedy of the music played unpleasantly with -his soul-memories. The weird denizens of the Spacerat's Roost sat -enthralled.</p> - -<p>The song ended upon a note of earth-sick despair, a haunting melancholy -for things that will never again be as they were, never, if the planets -swing round a dead sun in an empty sky.</p> - -<p>The singer bowed, half-contemptuously, to the storm of applause, then -retired.</p> - -<p>Heydrick drew the identification space-photo from his pocket and -studied it. There was no doubt. Despite the heavy make-up, the features -were the same. Ria Tarsen and Klathgar were the same.</p> - -<p>In moments the girl was back. She had shed her glamor-costume and was -nearly naked in the briefest of skirts, legs shimmering in painted -stockings, high-breasts caught in a tight sheen of semi-translucent -material. This time she sang a bawdy song, "If Asteroids were -Asterisks," about a girl who went for a rocket-ride with an octopus -man, and had to hitch-hike home from the Moons of Jupiter.</p> - -<p>The crowd went wild. The number finished with a rowdy burlesque dance -which went considerably beyond the bounds of good taste, but was -screamingly funny.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The girl ducked out the wings, and Heydrick nodded to the waiter. The -octopus man winked one of his three eyes and vanished. He came back -through the door to the dressing rooms, and the girl was with him. He -pointed to Heydrick. Klathgar looked at him insolently. A puzzled frown -wrinkled her face.</p> - -<p>Lithe as a sand-leopard, she moved among the crowded tables, still clad -in the gaudy costume of her last number.</p> - -<p>Heydrick looked closely at her. Could this be the same girl who sang -the love song so full of fiery passion that it was madness set to -music? The uncanny warble of flutes and the triple throb of bone-drums -still echoed in his ears. But this girl was tired; strain and -unutterable weariness lurked behind her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Why did you send for me?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I wanted to talk to you—is that so unusual?"</p> - -<p>"Men always want to talk to me," she said, sneering. "I don't have to -associate with the customers—not even those who can buy Moonfoam."</p> - -<p>Heydrick noticed suddenly that the sand-leopard was with her. The -animal's tail swished savagely back and forth. Its lips curled and a -snarling burr of sound came from the ugly rows of teeth. It seemed like -an echo of the girl's sneer. Klathgar put down one hand to stroke the -beast's spade-shaped head. It rubbed against her in silent ecstasy.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I can change your mind," suggested Heydrick. "Won't you sit -down?"</p> - -<p>"You flatter yourself," she snapped. "I can hear what you have to say -standing up."</p> - -<p>"I wonder if you can," Heydrick mused aloud. "First, who are you?" The -ghost of fear trembled behind her mask.</p> - -<p>Klathgar laughed. "Ask anybody who I am. Klathgar. The Red Leopard."</p> - -<p>Heydrick threw Ria Tarsen's dossier card on the table, face up. -Klathgar glanced at it without a flicker of emotion.</p> - -<p>"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" she asked contemptuously.</p> - -<p>"It should—it's yours."</p> - -<p>Her laugh was shrill. "At least you have a new approach. In either -case, you're mistaken. What's your racket?"</p> - -<p>"Heydrick, I.P.S. If you're not Ria Tarsen, who are you? May I see -your ident-card?"</p> - -<p>The girl was growing angry. "It's in my dressing room; I'll get it."</p> - -<p>Heydrick was on his feet. "If you don't mind, I'll go with you."</p> - -<p>"I do mind."</p> - -<p>"I'll go anyway."</p> - -<p>The girl shrugged and led the way among the crowded tables, the leopard -padding silently beside her. Curious glances went with them. Suddenly -Klathgar turned. "On second thought, I have it here," she said. She -knelt quickly and unsnapped the leopard's leash. Heydrick's hand -reached for his gun, but the girl was holding a card out to him. Even -as he took it, he wondered if the gesture were a trick to occupy his -gun hand.</p> - -<p>One glance at the card was enough. "I hope you didn't pay too much for -this," he told her. "It's a clumsy forgery."</p> - -<p>Klathgar muttered a low word to the leopard, then slipped through the -sliding door of plastic. A bundle of furred muscle launched itself at -Heydrick. It was touch and go for a minute. Deadly talons raked through -the leather tunic like razors. The man got a grip on the jewelled -collar and twisted savagely. He wrenched the great cat away long enough -to get out a paralysis gun and fire it. The drugged needle went into -a soft spot behind one furred ear. Instantly the beast let go and -crumpled.</p> - -<p>Heydrick leaped for the door. Someone tried to trip him, but he got -through and slammed the plastic door shut.</p> - -<p>Cutting down the intensity of his blaster, he ran the blunt muzzle up -and down the joint where the heavy slab of plastic fit, sealing it -tightly as the plastic flowed and fused. "That should hold them," he -thought. Something crashed against the door.</p> - -<p>In the dim passageway, Heydrick could see several doors, all shut. -Which door?</p> - -<p>He tried three, then saw one marked with a glittering star. It was -locked, but he put his shoulder against it and shoved violently. The -thin screen buckled.</p> - -<p>The girl was rummaging in a drawer. She turned and lunged at him with -an ornamental dagger. Heydrick wrenched it away from her.</p> - -<p>"Nice try, Ria."</p> - -<p>She leaped on him, kicking and scratching. Locked together they crashed -into the mirror. All three went down in a smash of glass. The girl lay -still.</p> - -<p>Heydrick took a needle from the paralysis gun and scratched her -lightly. Her breathing steadied and she lay relaxed, while he opened -the window and looked out. Below him, bathed in eerie Jupiter-light, -lay the rooftops of the city. He could just make it to the next roof. -Ria was lighter than she looked.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At security police headquarters, Heydrick sat back for a quiet smoke. -He had changed back into the crisp silvery grey of the Space Patrol. -The inspector was in an official mood. He had his shoes on.</p> - -<p>"What's the quickest transportation back to Mars?"</p> - -<p>The inspector grinned. "Anxious to get her off your hands, eh? I don't -blame you. The Martian Express is the quickest—you can get it at City -1. It doesn't stop, of course, but they pick up ore-lighters as they go -past Ganymede."</p> - -<p>"How can I get to City 1?"</p> - -<p>"I'll lend you a patrol flier. They're all old crates, rocket drive. If -it gets you there, you can leave it; we'll pick it up. If not, maybe -we'll get some decent equipment."</p> - -<p>Heydrick walked down the dim passageway to the cell in which he had -deposited Ria Tarsen. She glowered at him.</p> - -<p>"Did you kill my leopard?"</p> - -<p>"He's all right. Be stiff a couple of days, that's all. I used the -paralysis gun. How d'you feel."</p> - -<p>The girl did not answer. Heydrick went on. "I'm sorry, Ria. I'll have -to take you back now." He unlocked the cell, and the girl strode into -the corridor. She was still arrogant and glared at him with cold -insolence.</p> - -<p>"You must feel proud of yourself," she said icily. "You'll never get me -back to Mars."</p> - -<p>"I thought of that." He took a metal bracelet from his pocket. "Try -this on for size."</p> - -<p>"That's a funny handcuff; it's not chained to anything," she said as he -clasped it on her wrist.</p> - -<p>"Try running away," he suggested. Ria darted down the corridor, then -stopped as if she had run smack into a dur-steel wall.</p> - -<p>"Magnetic," he explained. "Can be set for distances up to fifty feet. -Once that's on you, and the mate to it's on me, we're linked together -to the end of the trail. It's sealed with a coded beam of light. I -don't have the combination. I just don't want you to try anything -silly, that's all."</p> - -<p>"I'll kill you for this," Ria promised, her green eyes glowing with -ugly light.</p> - -<p>"Seems you've killed one man too many now," Heydrick commented. "Even -if you were lucky enough to kill me, we'd still be linked together; you -couldn't escape with a corpse."</p> - -<p>"I didn't kill Feyjak 9," she shrieked. "I didn't kill him. It was an -accident. I don't know anything about it."</p> - -<p>Heydrick looked at her soberly. "I don't believe you, Ria. And, if I -did, it wouldn't matter. You were tried and sentenced. I'm sorry for -you, but it's my job to take you back to the—to your punishment."</p> - -<p>"I won't go back to the disintegrators," Ria stated, her face pale but -tearless. "You'll never get me there alive."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the antiquated patrol flier, Heydrick set the auto-pilot for City -1. The girl was sleeping quietly under the effects of the paralysis -drug. Heydrick went back to the galley and opened a can of hot coffee. -A sudden tug at the metal circlet on his wrist sent him racing to the -controls.</p> - -<p>It was too late. The girl held a heavy bar of dur-steel ready to crash -it down on the maze of keys and switch-bars. The bar descended in a -glittering crescent. Blue flame shot through the tiny cabin. Rocket -jets fused and exploded at the tail of the rocket-flier.</p> - -<p>The shock knocked Heydrick to his knees. He scrambled to the control -board and reached for the girl. In one movement, she turned and struck -at him with the bar. It missed his head, but a numbing jar went through -his shoulder. A clip on the jaw sent her reeling.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>A clip on the jaw sent her reeling.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Frantically Heydrick worked at the wrecked controls, splicing burnt -wires, bending keys back to position. Sick nausea clawed at his -insides. The ship was going down in a free fall, spinning. The thin -atmosphere of Ganymede went round the hull with a crescendo, whistling -scream. A jagged wilderness of saw-toothed rock and volcanic ash -whirled up at the flier.</p> - -<p>The slight gravity of Ganymede was bad enough, but if they struck at -full rocket velocity, the hull would crumple like an eggshell. With a -length of wire, Heydrick burned his fingers shorting the switches to -the forward tubes. It was too late to do much. If he could only slow -the fall.</p> - -<p>A series of explosions forward jarred through the ship. Deceleration -flung Heydrick on top of the girl.</p> - -<p>The flier buried her nose in soft ash and skidded thirty yards in a -choking shower. A sharp needle of jagged rock reached up through the -dust to catch her. With a shriek of riven metal the flier rose on end. -The fused-quartz port-holes bulged and gave way.</p> - -<p>Supercharged air whistled out of the cabin. As the artificially heavy -air blew itself out, Heydrick felt his head swell as if it were going -to explode. His eyes seemed to be squeezing out of his head. Dazed, -he groped to the locker and got out the space-suits. The cold bit into -him like needles of ice till he struggled into his suit. He set his -atmosphere control, then fought his way through the shattered wreckage -to Ria. She was in no condition to resist as he forced the bulky -space-suit on her. He set the controls on her suit, then talked into -his microphone.</p> - -<p>"You are a problem child," he said. "How'd you manage it?"</p> - -<p>Ria was sick and dizzy. She staggered on her feet. "I had some -benzedrine—stole it from the emergency kit. Your paralysis needle -barely scratched me anyhow."</p> - -<p>She fell weakly against the bulkhead. Heydrick seized her and dragged -her through the riven shell of the control room into the shelter of a -gaunt outcropping.</p> - -<p>"The forward rockets are building up. They'll go any minute."</p> - -<p>A bellowing geyser of dust-shrouded flame roared up. Flying metal -clattered brutally on their shelter.</p> - -<p>"Just in time," he said. Ria lay on the ground, retching weakly. "Well, -the security boys get a new ship. They'll be happy. From here on, we -walk. I hope you're satisfied."</p> - -<p>The upper limb of an immense crescent rose above the horizon. Jupiter. -Its sombre light revealed a savage wasteland of barren rock and -volcanic ash.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Babe. You should enjoy this. It's thirty miles, and the -walking's bad. But we like it that way, don't we?"</p> - -<p>Sulkily, Ria got to her feet and followed him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Martian Express Liner, <i>Phobos</i>, went into full gear with a -velocity of 89 Martian gravities. After detouring the dangerous -asteroid belt, the ship nosed down in a long curving glide to intercept -the orbit of Mars. Far ahead was a blurred crescent of red, glowing -with soft radiance against a star-sprinkled void. Lee Heydrick watched -the planet swing slowly across the field of the glass. A deep unrest -troubled him, but he refused to face the mask it might wear and tried -to force it out of his mind.</p> - -<p>"We should be there in fourteen hours," the co-pilot said.</p> - -<p>"That'll be a relief. This is one job I don't like."</p> - -<p>The pilot glanced at them sourly. "I thought you were through with the -service," he shot at Heydrick.</p> - -<p>"I am—it's my last job. I can't live on any of the inner planets after -being exposed to the zero-rays of outer space. It takes six months -for a resignation to go through in the Space Patrol. My time is up in -two weeks and four days. After that, I'll have to stick to the places -outside the asteroid belt or resign myself to a very brief life—18 -months, at the outside."</p> - -<p>"Too bad. What're you going to do?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. Maybe settle on one of the Moons of Saturn. They aren't -too crowded. I'll be glad to be free again. Silly, isn't it—when you -think of the way I used to look forward to being in Space Patrol! My -folks were refugees from earth—lived in the icy marshes near the -northern ice-cap of Mars. I ran away from home to go to Canal City 9 -and study for the Patrol. My grades were good enough to impress Tyko. -He took me into his home. My folks were proud of me. They're all dead -now; Tyko's all I have left. I'll miss the old buzzard."</p> - -<p>The co-pilot grunted. "What are you kicking about? I wish somebody'd -handcuff me to a kitten like that one of yours. She looks hotter than -a rocket tube. If you get tired of your work, I'll take over and spell -you awhile."</p> - -<p>Heydrick grinned with embarrassment. "You might regret it. She's tried -to kill me twice already. She's full of ideas."</p> - -<p>"I hope she knocks you off—you can will her to me."</p> - -<p>The alarms through the space cruiser began to shrill in great bellows -of sound. Heydrick ran along the passageway and tried the door of the -stateroom where he had locked his prisoner. It was still locked. He -used the key, but something heavy was jammed against the door. He drew -his blaster gun and cut down the intensity. The door glowed cherry red, -then flowed together. It gave as he crashed against it.</p> - -<p>Ria was posed dramatically, metal stool in hand, in the act of -trying to smash the port-cover. The fused-quartz pane was already -spiderwebbed, and air sucked out in a rising whine. Ria changed her -mind and flung the stool at Heydrick. He lunged under it and caught -her round the waist. In one movement, he flung her over his shoulder -and whirled back out to the passage. Dropping her in a heap, he clawed -shut the insulated emergency door and spun the wing-nuts. Waves of cold -licked his eyelashes and his fingers stung with frost before he got the -job done.</p> - -<p>The girl's green eyes watched him warily, as a cat's might.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry you made it," she spat at him viciously. "I hate you—hate -you!"</p> - -<p>Heydrick spun the dials on the handcuffs. "Okay, kid, if you want to -play rough, you'll sit out the rest of the trip on my lap. The interval -is two feet, as of now."</p> - -<p>"I hope you can take it." Then she snapped. Tears burst out. She raged -and screamed and kicked, laughed and cried and choked at the same time. -Heydrick slapped her out of it. She huddled on the floor, sobbing -weakly.</p> - -<p>The co-pilot came along the passageway. "Oh, it's your pet? We thought -it might be."</p> - -<p>"Still want to trade jobs?"</p> - -<p>"It might be fun to spank her, but I'll skip it. I've news for you. We -can't land in City 4—trouble of some kind—sounds like a good row."</p> - -<p>"Do you know what's wrong?"</p> - -<p>"They didn't say. Orders are to take the ship on the Desert City 12. -You two can go down in the lighters with the freight." The co-pilot -patted Ria on the shoulder—she cringed away from him. "Tough luck," -he said gently. "Too bad you're stuck with Bighead here. If you were -dealing with me, we'd go off to some empty asteroid and camp out for -the rest of your life."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Brooding over the immensity of the plain below was Canal City 4. -Covering the entire city like a tremendous bubble was the iridescent -dome of fused-quartz. The tiny fleet of ore-lighters nosed through -the valves of airlock after airlock and headed across town toward the -sprawling terraces of the freight docks. Like a chain of brightly -silvered pumpkin seeds, the clumsy craft wound in and out among the -towers of the 7th level, down to the freight docks.</p> - -<p>Heydrick took his prisoner through the airlock in the freight terminal -to condition her and himself for street-level atmosphere, then went out -on the huge platform again.</p> - -<p>Pausing only long enough to ask a robot attendant for information, -Heydrick pushed the button to stop a descending elevator.</p> - -<p>"Labor trouble—the workers are picketing—riots have broken out at -street level," droned the mechanical voice of the robot.</p> - -<p>A crowded car stopped, signalling raucously. Heydrick showed his badge -to the robot pilot. "Street level," he said crisply. "Space Patrol -priority." The robot grunted. "We have orders not to stop unless it's -vitally necessary."</p> - -<p>"It's necessary."</p> - -<p>Jumbles of neo-plastic architecture, rising tier on tier above the -series of terraces on which the city was built, whirled upward past the -descending car.</p> - -<p>On the street level, all was bustle and confusion. A polyglot crowd -composed of every human and near human species in the universe jammed -the streets. Stares followed the I.P.S. uniform as Heydrick pushed out -of the elevator. A few people gave nods of respect, but in most faces -burned a sullen hatred and resentment.</p> - -<p>Ria followed him in stolid silence as the handcuffs tugged at her. The -knots of angry people came suddenly in focus and she had a moment's -desperate inspiration.</p> - -<p>She jerked back heavily on the cuffs and began to scream.</p> - -<p>Heydrick was caught off guard and spun sharply about.</p> - -<p>"Help me, somebody," Ria cried wildly. "The cops are taking me in. I -haven't done anything."</p> - -<p>The mob clotted around the pair, snarling angrily.</p> - -<p>Heydrick reached for his gun, just as somebody threw a spanner. He -dodged, heard Ria's voice shout a welcome, "Thorsan," and that was -all. A sharp jab in his cheek as the paralysis needle went home was the -last he knew. Darkness rushed over him in a smothering cloud.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Someone kept slapping him. He felt as if he were trying to swim in -thick syrup. The light on the desk shone blindingly in his eyes. He got -his hand up to shield his eyes, then they struck it down. He blinked -sharply awake.</p> - -<p>Behind the desk sat a handsome man. Pale blue eyes that probed deeply, -plump cheeks, thick blonde eyebrows, muscular shoulders. Heydrick -had seen him before. Where? Oh, yes—the pieces clicked together. -The Feyjak investigation. The man had testified against Ria Tarsen, -reluctantly, the Visiphone News had commented. He had been Feyjak's -assistant, Ria's friend.</p> - -<p>Thorsan drummed the desk with his fingers. "Heydrick, you've given us a -lot of trouble. You probably want to know where you are. You're in the -underground galleries below Level 1. We have our headquarters here. I -am the head man of the Wildings."</p> - -<p>Heydrick's brain spun. He fought back the whirl and tried to think -calmly.</p> - -<p>Below the lowest inhabited level of Canal City 4 were endless mazes of -caverns, galleries and abandoned mine-shafts.</p> - -<p>Rumor said that bands of outlaws roamed among the savages, second and -third generations of the outcast rebels who long-ago had been driven -to the refuge of the city's ratholes. Banded together by their common -hatreds, these outlaws had built up a strong organization known as the -Wildings. There was some talk that numbers of them had infiltrated the -City's government; men of dangerous ability, infinite cunning, and -vicious philosophy, whose sole aim was the overthrow of the Government -of Scientists.</p> - -<p>Heydrick's heart turned suddenly to ashes as he realized that Ria -Tarsen must have been a Wilding. Surely no group would have gone to -the trouble of instigating riots merely to rescue an outsider, however -innocent. It was all clear now, painfully clear.</p> - -<p>Thorsan must have divined the nature of Heydrick's thoughts. He -laughed harshly, then turned to a subordinate.</p> - -<p>"They're no use to us, either of them. The girl didn't know as much as -I thought she did. Now they both know too much. We'll have to get rid -of them. Put him in the cell with her while I figure out what to do -with them."</p> - -<p>Hands reached out of the darkness and dragged Heydrick roughly to his -feet. He was thrust along a winding gallery that he realized must be -part of an old mine. They must have given him a full dose with the -paralysis needle. He kept stumbling, and his legs moved stiffly.</p> - -<p>The group came to a halt before an old wooden-plank door. The room -inside was damp, and smelled mouldy. It was evidently a chamber cut in -the rock for storage of explosives. His captors thrust him inside. He -bounced off a wall and fell heavily. The door bumped shut and a sound -like a bar dropping in place came muffled through the planks.</p> - -<p>"Well, tough guy, how do <i>you</i> like being pushed around?" A familiar -voice came out of darkness.</p> - -<p>"Who is it?" he asked needlessly.</p> - -<p>"It's not your Aunt Sophie," the voice said acidly. "<i>You</i> should kick. -You have better company than I have."</p> - -<p>The two sat in moody silence for a while. "Are you all right?" the girl -asked finally.</p> - -<p>"Still stiff," he answered. "You should know what that's like."</p> - -<p>"I do. You and your toy handcuffs. They only wanted me; Thorsan thought -I knew he killed Feyjak. He was afraid I might give him away. They had -to drag you along on account of your silly handcuffs. If you hadn't -split my lip, I could laugh at you. They're going to kill us, you know."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I heard him say that."</p> - -<p>"What are we going to do? Any ideas?"</p> - -<p>"Not so far. How about you?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing definite. I still have the benzedrine tablets I swiped. They -didn't find 'em when they searched me. I'll split with you. If we take -it before they come for us, we may get a chance to make a break. It'll -counteract the paralysis drug if they're counting on that to make us -dead pigeons while they haul us around."</p> - -<p>Her hand found his in the dark and thrust six pellets into his open -palm. Her fingers were wet and sticky.</p> - -<p>"You're bleeding."</p> - -<p>"It's nothing serious. That bracelet of yours cut my arm when they -chiselled it off."</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry about everything, Ria—"</p> - -<p>"Skip it," she said harshly. "Of course you're sorry. Now shut up. I -hate post-mortems. Besides, I think they're coming. Better get your -benzedrine down."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was sound of the bar being withdrawn. A heavy foot kicked the -door open. A man with a twisted face held the light and the gun while -two others approached warily and jabbed needles into the captives. -Coarse hands jerked them to their feet, and the two were dragged -outside, feigning limpness.</p> - -<p>"Now," said Ria. She thrust out her foot. The man with the gun tripped -and went sprawling on the floor. Heydrick swung with all he had at the -darkness where he remembered a chin and felt bone shatter beneath his -fist. Then he was tangled in a savage knot with the third man, rolling -and threshing about in deadly fury.</p> - -<p>Ria was not idle. She salvaged the light, switched the radilume back -on, and hunted for the dropped gun. In a matter of seconds, she brought -the butt down on an exposed skull. The thug let go and sank to the -floor.</p> - -<p>Heydrick dusted himself off.</p> - -<p>"I ought to let you have it, too," Ria mumbled, "but I always was a -softy. Come on, sucker."</p> - -<p>"Which way?"</p> - -<p>"I think they brought me that way," the girl said slowly. "Let's try -the other. Heaven knows where it leads."</p> - -<p>Heydrick took the gun from her and thrust it through his belt. They -struck off down the tunnel, taking forks at random, but going as -cautiously as they could.</p> - -<p>Luck was against them. They came suddenly round a turn and into a -chamber full of Wildings. It was the room where Heydrick had been -questioned by Thorsan. The man still sat at the desk. Heydrick drew the -gun and pressed its trigger as Thorsan dived for a doorway. The desk -glowed, then exploded. The room was choked with dust.</p> - -<p>Heydrick remembered a nightmarish pursuit, running down a series of -criss-cross galleries with endless side passages. The gallery ended -abruptly. An open mine-shaft barred their way.</p> - -<p>It was a double shaft, with space for two elevators, but neither lift -was on their level. Sounds of pursuit came from the gallery behind them.</p> - -<p>Heydrick leaned over and looked down the shaft. A floor below was the -open-platform lift.</p> - -<p>"Jump for the cable," he ordered. "Try to slide down it."</p> - -<p>"You first," she said. "I'm a sissy." Heydrick jumped and his stomach -wrenched with nausea. Then the cable was burning through his hands. His -feet stung as they came down solidly on the metal flooring. The girl -was right behind him. He found the control lever and jammed it all the -way over.</p> - -<p>The car dropped under them with sickening speed.</p> - -<p>A blaster beam flamed briefly above them, and the discharge set a -chorus of echoes bouncing back and forth in the old mine-shaft.</p> - -<p>"Hang tight," he shouted. "I don't know how far down this shaft goes. -If we hit bottom at this speed, we'll flatten out like saucers."</p> - -<p>A mushroom of brilliant light expanded above them. The car jerked and -grated on the rock walls, then went down in a free fall, the cable -trailing slack above them.</p> - -<p>Down the shaft hurtled the old lift, air whistling eerily round its -edges.</p> - -<p>"They've blasted the cable!" Heydrick cried. "Now we are in for it." He -leaped to the brake lever and tugged at it. The bar was rusted fast. -Ria tried to help. With their combined weight and effort, the bar gave -a little. Inch by inch, it moved. The clamps started taking hold of -the side walls and a shriek of protest came from rock and metal. The -elevator slowed slightly. Too late.</p> - -<p>With a grinding rasp of smashed metal, it struck. Ria was hurled clear, -but Heydrick was trapped.</p> - -<p>The metal cable came down, coiling and snapping like a whip. A stiff -spiral of it covered Heydrick, pinning him fast to the floor. He wiped -a smear of blood from his face and tried vainly to lift the heavy -strands. They refused to budge.</p> - -<p>Ria knelt beside him and tried to shift the coils, but it was no use.</p> - -<p>"You'd better go," he said roughly. "They'll be down as soon as they -can get to the other elevator ... to make sure of us."</p> - -<p>Ria glared at him. "It's my maternal instinct," she said. "I can't -leave you."</p> - -<p>"You wanted a chance to escape. This is it."</p> - -<p>Ria seized the broken brake lever and pried up part of the strands. -Heydrick worked himself part way out, but the weight was too much for -her strength. The bar twisted out of her hands. Down came the full -weight again. Heydrick cried out in agony. She moved the bar and lifted -again. This time, he crawled free.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Leaning on her, he was able to stand and walk along the old gallery, -but it was a slow business. Deadly slow.</p> - -<p>Behind them, they could hear the whine of a descending lift. "They're -coming," he said. Crouching against an angle of the tunnel, they -waited. It was useless to run. Heydrick cut the switch of his radilume -and braced the blaster against cold stone. He felt better with the -trigger nestling against his trembling finger.</p> - -<p>The Wildings came cautiously, but they needed light to move at all.</p> - -<p>Light splashed off the rock around the corner. Shadowy figures moved -behind the light. Heydrick pressed the trigger, and a pale beam flicked -the darkness. In the close confinement of the tunnel, the shattering -blast stunned their brains.</p> - -<p>The explosion stopped some of the pursuit, but a scuff of boots on -rough rock warned Heydrick. Needles from paralysis guns snicked nastily -from the naked rocks beside them. He and the girl turned and fled -headlong through the darkness. Pain forgotten, he thrust Ria ahead of -him, and pried up part of the strands. Heydrick followed, stumbling and -swearing.</p> - -<p>In the darkness ahead, he heard Ria cry out. Unable to stop, he too -collided with what seemed to be a solid wall of metal. Heydrick flicked -the radilume switch. Light flooded an ore depot, with rusting electric -cars.</p> - -<p>"Ore cars," he gasped. "Get in." He boosted the girl up and scrambled -after her. Heydrick fumbled for the switch, found it. The car leaped -ahead as a blaster beam licked the rails behind them. With shaking -hands, Heydrick re-primed his blaster and fired wildly at the darkness -behind them. Shadows danced. It seemed seconds before the blasts went -off. Two in rapid succession.</p> - -<p>Another car leaped from the dust cloud behind. It was pursuing them on -the parallel tracks.</p> - -<p>A blaster beam grazed the back wall of the ore-car. It was gone with -a flash and a roar. The shock flattened Heydrick and the girl against -the front wall. Heydrick re-primed his gun, but it was impossible to -aim. The tracks went into a black maw and went up in a steeply climbing -spiral. Flanges screamed wildly as the wheels bit into the curves. Up. -Up. Up. The miles raced backward in a dizzy flow of darkness lit by -faint reflections from the radilume.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the track levelled off on a straightaway. Heydrick peered -ahead. Heaven alone knew where the tunnel led or how far the tracks -were good. The car was going like a runaway rocket.</p> - -<p>Then they were out in the open, in daylight. The tracks came out of a -tunnel-mouth on the banks of the dry canal.</p> - -<p>The hurtling ore-car was half way across the bridge before Heydrick -knew they were heading for the city.</p> - -<p>Out of the tunnel-mouth across the canal shot the other ore-car. Both -cars raced toward the city.</p> - -<p>Ten miles. Five. Three. One.</p> - -<p>Weird lights flickered on the tremendous dome ahead, as if some -infernal carnival was being held within the city.</p> - -<p>Up a steep ramp to the airlock shot the cars. Seconds now. The airlock -was closed.</p> - -<p>A gate of metal and plastic loomed close. Glass, plastic, metal and -quartz vanished in a thunderous melee of sound. The first lock. The -city's automatic wall-magnets clawed at the racing car. It slowed -rapidly. The deceleration pinned both of them flat against the front -wall of the car. It went through the second gate like a knife through -dough. The jar was agony.</p> - -<p>The car rolled up to a dock and stopped.</p> - -<p>Heydrick was out of the car and racing for a visiphone as a wobbling -wheel came loose and romped down the track, smashing sheds to metal -splinters.</p> - -<p>"Get Tyko," he bellowed.</p> - -<p>"Sorry," a robot said tonelessly. "No calls are going through till the -end of the emergency."</p> - -<p>Heydrick swore wildly. He and Ria ran through the building and out onto -the huge terrace in front. The vast bowl of the city was in tumult. -Fires were raging on all the lower levels, and several of the towers -of the 7th level had crashed down in ruins. Mobs roared through the -streets, killing, burning, and looting. It was revolution. Security -police, trying to stem the outbreak, were caught in the maelstroms, -overwhelmed, and submerged. The lower levels had gone mad with hate. -Wildings were everywhere, organizing, leading, destroying.</p> - -<p>Heydrick commandeered an empty flier, got Ria aboard and set the -automatic pilot for Tyko's tower in West 21.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In Tyko's tower, the old man stood watching the end of the grim -spectacle in the streets below. Walls of white fire moved out in -ever-widening circles from the experimental domes, moved through the -city, quieting the mobs, herding them back to their homes. Dead lay in -windrows.</p> - -<p>A bell rang behind him. He turned. "Oh, come in," he said. It was -Thorsan, Feyjak's assistant.</p> - -<p>"It's almost over," Tyko told him. "Order is being restored now. After -this, we'll keep the Blues in power and give the people a government -they can like. It's a sad thing, to govern people. Herding them about -like animals. Men should be free. I'm an anarchist myself ... out of -hours."</p> - -<p>"How about my people?" Thorsan asked, an odd expression on his face.</p> - -<p>"Your people? Oh, the Red Scientists. Don't worry. We knew this revolt -was coming, even if you Reds didn't. We've had our eye on the Wildings -for some time. You Reds are safe enough. When order is restored, -perhaps a joint government...."</p> - -<p>Tyko stopped. He was looking into the muzzle of a blaster.</p> - -<p>"I don't understand," he quavered.</p> - -<p>"My people are the Wildings. We don't want any of your kind of -governments," Thorsan said slowly. "With you out of the way, nothing -can stop the revolution. I regret the necessity."</p> - -<p>From the open doorway, Heydrick fired. The paralysis needle bit deep in -Thorsan's neck. He crumpled silently.</p> - -<p>Heydrick and Ria stood before Tyko.</p> - -<p>"I see you've completed your mission," the old man said. He frowned as -Heydrick put his arm around Ria.</p> - -<p>Heydrick laughed. "When Thorsan comes out of it, give him scopolamine. -He'll tell you who did kill Feyjak."</p> - -<p>"I suppose you want my blessing? You have it."</p> - -<p>"How's your war coming?"</p> - -<p>"It's over by now. Nasty business, government. What are you going to -do?"</p> - -<p>Heydrick and Ria looked at each other.</p> - -<p>"I think we'll find an empty asteroid and camp out for a while. The -universe is getting too crowded. I'm glad she was innocent, Tyko. I -could never have brought her in ... for any reason."</p> - -<p>"I wish I were young enough to go with you," Tyko sighed. "Not on -your honeymoon, of course. I guess you won't be coming back. This is -goodbye, then? Is there anything I can do for you?"</p> - -<p>Heydrick started to reply but Ria cut in. "Yes, there is. I want -another pair of those magnetic handcuffs."</p> - -<p>Heydrick shrugged. 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