The gray lips moved and worked, struggling painfully to form words. The
whisper was almost inaudible:
"Serono ... Zeburzac."
Crystal's face hardened to a mask of vicious cruelty as she fought her
emotions down.
"We'll get him."
"No." The elder Carlton seemed to gather strength. "Get away--escape."
Crystal gripped his hands and seemed to hold him back from the edge of
Eternity by sheer strength of will.
"Where? Where can we go?"
The eyes fluttered open again, the shadow of death lurked in their
depths. "Go ... the place where the Five Valleys meet ... beware ...
Zeburzac."
His breath drifted out in an effortless sigh. The tortured body was
still. Crystal rose unsteadily to her feet. She turned blindly and
Brian took her in his arms, trying to comfort her as her wild sobbing
got out of control. He patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"Take it easy, kid," he muttered helplessly. His laboratory experience
hadn't covered any such contingency as this.
"Brian, take me away. I can't stand this. Hide me somewhere before that
fiend comes back."
"I thought we were part of a revolution that was going to clean them
off the planet," Brian reminded her grimly.
"We can't fight this. We haven't got a chance. Zeburzac has everything."
"He hasn't got us yet. Where's this Five Valleys place? Can we get
there?"
"Yes, but it will be no use. I want to quit now."
Brian's arms tightened around her. His voice was bleak and cold. "I'm
not quitting. I'm going to get Serono Zeburzac."
The girl in his arms was still for a moment. Then she let go a long,
trembling sigh of weary resignation.
"All right, I'm with you. Let's start traveling."
* * * * *
"The place where Five Valleys meet." Crystal waved her arm out toward
the tremendous green bowl of emptiness that curved away all round them.
The sides of the gigantic cup had been cracked and split by some
cataclysmic upheaval in the turbulent youth of the young planet. They
stood at the mouth of one of the sheer, ragged slashes that had given
the place its name. The other four were streaks of darker green against
the distant walls. Beneath the eternal-night cloud level the air was
clear.
Directly across from them a tremendous, sharp-prowed promontory
sheered up from the depths. Capping it, against the somber green of
the valley walls, the snow-white structure of a dream palace rose
in airy splendor. In the dark setting, the walls were radiant with
breath-taking beauty, so perfect in balance and line that it concealed
the huge massiveness of the buildings, postponed for a moment the
realization that the great structure was a glorious ruin.
Brian let his breath go. "I didn't know there was anything like that on
Venus," he said in open admiration. "Who built it?"
"The Martins. They used to operate the mines in this district, but they
were worked out years ago and the family scattered. They still own this
place. Nobody lives in it officially, but there must be some help here
or Grenville Carlton wouldn't have told us to come. Maybe the rebels
are using the old hangars."
"Well, there's only one way to find out. We gotta climb."
* * * * *
"There's somebody here, all right," Brian said as they entered the
great courtyard through a ruined gateway. "Look, there's a couple of
ships over there."
"And they're our people, too." There was a lilt in Crystal's voice.
"That far ship is Jimmy Thornton's--I'd know it anywhere." They
approached the huge main doors of the great, white mansion.
One door swung partly open and a swarthy, powerful man stepped hastily
out. He carried an atomic projector.
"Halt!" he commanded. "Who are you?"
"Oh, you don't need to get excited, we're rebels, too," Crystal told
him. "Who's here?"
"Who is it, Max?" a pleasant voice inquired from the dim hallway.
"Two more of the rebels, sir," the guard replied woodenly.
"Oh--rebels? Oh, yes, of course. Show them in, Max." The guard stood
respectfully aside as Crystal and Brian entered the huge, echoing
chamber.
"To your right," the guard directed and they entered a small, exquisite
room. The man behind the desk seemed to fit perfectly into this
cultured setting, he was small and neat, silver hair frosted his
temples, framing gentle, delicate features. He smiled with pleasant,
disarming frankness as he rose to greet them.
"You'll have to excuse Max, we didn't know you were coming, of course.
Just make yourselves at home. Young Jim Thornton arrived a short while
ago. You'll be able to see him presently. You'll be hungry, of course.
Max, bring some refreshment."
"Have many of us arrived?" Crystal asked anxiously.
"I'm sorry to say, very few. Just Jim Thornton and his party and you
and Mr. Hanson."
Brian started. "How do you now know my name?" he asked in surprise.
"Oh, we've all heard of you, Mr. Hanson, and how you got Miss James out
of Venus City. Brilliant work, I must say, and the way you routed the
police in the caverns was truly a remarkable accomplishment. But--what
made you come to this place? We've not been established here long."
"Grenville Carlton told us about it," Crystal said briefly.
"Carlton? Old Grenville. How is he?"
"He's dead." Crystal's face hardened to a white mask of hatred at the
memory. "We found him impaled on a thorn bush in front of the ruins of
his own house." Her words were brutally blunt with the tremendous surge
of emotion behind them.
"Impaled ... _tut tut tut_ ... my goodness, how terrible! Do you know
who could have done it?"
"Yes. We found Carlton before he died. It was that rat Serono Zeburzac
who killed him."
"Oh--do you know what this Serono Zeburzac looks like?"
"We've never seen him," Crystal cut in grimly, "but my father did, over
the sights of an atomic flame projector. Serono Zeburzac has no left
hand."
"Oh--" The gray-haired man behind the desk was interrupted by a
terrible scream of human agony.
"No ... NO--" The words rose in a tortured frenzy. "Oh, God!... Not
that again.... AAAAaaaaa--"
* * * * *
Crystal leaped to her feet.
"Jim--that was Jim Thornton! What's happened--" Her eyes turned
in startled question to the slight, calm figure behind the desk.
His benign expression of quiet peace had not been disturbed in the
slightest by the soul-rending cry. He placed his fingertips precisely
together.
"Are you sure Zeburzac was missing his left hand?"--he flexed the
fingers of his own left hand for emphasis--"and not--his right?" There
was a sickening click in the sudden, dead stillness of the room as he
twisted at his right hand. It came away at the wrist, the thumb dropped
lifelessly down. The fingers of his left hand curled around it. The
wrist of the severed member was pointed toward them. In fascinated
horror they stared down the muzzle of a tiny, short-range, atomic
projector concealed in the artificial hand.
Crystal recoiled, one faltering step.
"Serono--Grenville was trying to warn us!"
Brian caught her before she fell.
"There is no cause for excitement. Sit down, please." The quiet
courtesy of Serono's voice did not alter, but the steel thread of
command was subtly woven into his words. "You have been very clever,
Hanson, too clever. I thought, almost, you had escaped me, but no one
ever does. My enemies are delivered into my hands; soon there will be
none on Venus."
The moment of shock passed. Brian's superlatively keen faculties keyed
acutely to the emergency. They needed time first.
"How do we rate as your enemies?" he stalled.
"Mr. Hanson, we are not children. You know why you are my enemy. I
recognized you years ago, you are far too brilliant a man to have
against me, and you would never be with me. Your loyalty to Venus
Consolidated made you dangerous."
"My loyalty? What about yours? I thought you were working with McHague
and the company."
"Oh, of course, as long as it suits my purpose."
"Suppose someone got word to the Earth Council. You wouldn't last long,
then."
"Perhaps not, but Venus Consolidated controls all communication with
Earth and soon I will control Venus Consolidated. But I'm sure you must
be tired. Max will show you to your quarters." The guard ushered them
out with the muzzle of a projector.
* * * * *
They started across the huge, ruined hall. Crystal stumbled blindly
over a fragment of broken masonry. She sagged to her knees. The guard
stopped abruptly.
"Don't try nothin', you guys," he snarled warningly.
"Quit being a fool, you idiot," Brian barked to cover Crystal's quick
whisper of instructions. "This girl's sick. Give me a hand. You take
her feet," he directed, as he lifted her shoulders. The guard hesitated
doubtfully; his instructions didn't cover this.
"O. K., but just don't try nothin'." He hung the projector on his
belt and bent down. One startled yelp gurgled and died in his throat
as Crystal's feet slammed into his jaw and Brian's clenched hands
rabbit-punched down on the back of his neck.
"That ought to hold him," Crystal muttered as she struggled to her feet.
Brian picked up the projector. He recognized it; it was a new model,
two of this type had been sent to his laboratory for testing before the
company invested in them.
"Well, what are we waiting for? C'mon, we'll go shoot Serono's other
hand off," Crystal suggested grimly.
"D'you think that'd stop them? Us with one projector against what
they've got?"
"Well, it would make it interesting for a while. You don't think we
have a chance of getting away from here, do you?"
"I don't know," Brian said thoughtfully. "But when we were testing
this model projector one of them kind of blew up in our face. I think
it developed a short that converted it into the old-type regenerative
circuit. We never were sure about it; there wasn't enough left to
find out. Those old regeneratives are always dangerous, they were
liable to heat up and explode at any time if you didn't watch them.
If we'd been testing the model with a full charge of fuel, I wouldn't
be here in this mess now." He slid back the inspection cover of the
projector's compactly complicated ignition circuit and started poking
experimentally at the system of tiny coils and delicate wires.
"Damn!" He swore briefly as a white-hot spark jabbed at his fingers,
but he held on and the wires fused together. "That should do it. Now
we're all set. Where's a hole to get out through?"
"How do you like that one?" Crystal suggested, indicating a ragged gap
in the broken, ancient wall of the hall. "That's big enough to fly
through and there's two guards out there in the courtyard with nice,
shiny, new projectors ready to make smoke out of us. Want to go and
interview them?"
"No. If we make enough noise here, they'll come and see us," Brian
muttered as he closed the firing switch of the projector. There was
no stab of flame from the muzzle. He heaved the weapon back into
the middle of the hall. "As soon as that warms up there should be
considerable distraction taking place in here."
"Why? What's going to happen?" Crystal asked.
"C'mon. Get over by the wall and be ready to run."
They started for the gap in the wall. A dull, heavy rumble got under
way behind them. It built to a terrific, thundering crash as the
universe split in a sheet of roaring flame. They were lifted and hurled
bodily outward. They sprawled in a tangled heap on the pavement. Brian
struggled to his feet in a choking swirl of dust and yanked Crystal
with him. The progressive explosion of the projector's fuel battered
the ancient structure, the wall bulged and cracked. The startled guards
gawped stupidly at the two figures that had erupted so violently.
Masonry crashed to the pavement. The guards climbed over each other
in a mad scramble to escape. Crystal and Brian staggered groggily
after them, heading for Jim Thornton's ship. Brian boosted Crystal in,
scrambled after her and slammed the hatch shut. The drive spluttered
and roared to life, the ship ripped crazily into the air.
* * * * *
Arnold McHague, Director in Chief of Venus Consolidated, swung his
heavy body around in fearful expectancy. Just a faint snick as though
a lock had sprung, but there was no door on that wall. A panel slipped
noiselessly aside.
"Serono--" The half-voiced question hung on a note of fear.
"No, it's not Serono, McHague." A tall, ragged figure, followed by a
smaller one, stepped from the opening.
"Hanson!" A surge of relief sounded in McHague's voice, then died
out. Brian Hanson was a rebel. He fumbled vaguely for the panel of
call buttons on his desk, but his hand froze as he saw the projector
trained on his expansive middle.
"I couldn't miss your stomach from here," Brian told him softly.
"What do you want?"
"I want to get to Earth and I want your private getaway ship."
"I don't know anything about any ship."
"It's no good, McHague. The drive tests for that ship were run in my
laboratory."
"There's no fuel on board. It's in no condition to fly," McHague said
hopelessly.
"It had better be ready to take off. Serono doesn't trust you any more
than you trust him. About your only chance of living is for me to get
to Earth and bring enough of the Planetary Patrol to head Serono off."
"I can't help you. I'm in this with Zeburzac. If the police get him,
they've got me."
"You can be on our side. The way I'll tell it on Earth you were just
stringing Serono along till I could get clear."
McHague shook his head. "I wouldn't live for a day if I helped you. You
don't know Zeburzac. His family ran Venus in the old days. He means to
restore that rule with himself as absolute dictator. I wouldn't be safe
even on Earth."
"You'll just have to take that chance."
"We're wasting time," Crystal cut in sharply anxious. "Come on."
Her words brought McHague reluctantly to his feet. "I'll do it," he
muttered thickly. "Come with me."
* * * * *
The misty gloom of a Venusian night shrouded the jungle as three
figures forced their way along an almost completely overgrown trail.
The lights of Venus City gleamed dimly through the night murk behind
them. McHague stumbled and swore in the lead as the trail twisted down
the steepness of the ridge. He came to a halt on a long, level bench.
"This is the place."
"I don't see anything," Crystal said doubtfully.
"You didn't think I was going to leave the ship where Zeburzac could
find it, did you?"
McHague scrabbled around in the roots of a bush, found what he wanted,
a metal lever hardly distinguishable in the tangle, and yanked it up.
His action was followed by a slight vibration underfoot, a heavy, dull
ripping of roots sounded in front of them as the ground parted before
their eyes. Two balanced sections tilted upward, away from each other,
revealing the Stygian blackness of a pit.
"It's a ventilating shaft of one of the old mines. The ship's down
there about two hundred feet. It's got a Nordenfeldt control panel. Can
you handle it?"
"Sure, but how can I get down?"
"There's a ladder--but wait a minute, Hanson." McHague's heavy-jowled
face was ghastly in the dim light. "You've got to play this straight,
see. I'm giving you a chance and you've got to stand by me. If Serono
knew I was doing this--You've got to get those police here--"
"Don't worry," Brian told him grimly. "Serono is no friend of mine,
either. Where's this ladder?"
"Just over the edge on this side."
Crystal laid her hand on Brian's arm.
"Good luck." She started to smile encouragingly, but she couldn't quite
make it. "Brian--" Her voice choked up. "Oh, Brian, be careful--" It
was almost a sob. Then she was in his arms. He held her for a moment
and buried his face in the soft, silver glory of her hair.
"I'll be all right. You take care of yourself till I get back. I won't
be long, then we'll get this mess cleaned up."
He disengaged himself gently. Crystal watched in silence as Brian
clambered over the edge and disappeared into the blackness of the
shaft. Minutes dragged slowly by.
"Oh, I hope he makes it," Crystal murmured.
"He probably will. Mr. Hanson is a very resourceful man."
The soft, quiet voice was just behind her. Crystal turned in slow,
hopeless terror.
"Serono--"
McHague's breath sucked in in a startled gasp of horror.
"Zeburzac!"
"But, of course. I wanted to be here to wish Mr. Hanson _bon voyage_. I
hope he has a pleasant flight--although it will be a short one."
"What do you mean?" McHague whispered.
"Why, McHague, my dear friend, you didn't think I would overlook a
simple thing like this?"
"You knew?"
"Oh, yes. I visited this place several times. I supposed you might be
leaving me some time, so, of course, I made arrangements." The silky
softness of Serono's voice, changed to a sinister rasp, "That ship will
be blown apart fifty seconds after it takes off!"
"No--" Crystal screamed, "Brian!" She turned and stumbled toward the
shaft, then staggered back as a tremendous, roaring rush of flame
fountained madly upward behind the screaming flight of the escaping
ship. The exhaust trail towered magnificently into the night, arching
gracefully over as the ship swung smoothly into its first acceleration
orbit.
"Brian ... Brian--" Crystal sobbed hopelessly.
The burning streak of fire traced steadily across the sky--then
abruptly it ended in a bursting nova of flaming incandescence. The
light faded slowly into the twilight darkness.
"He's gone," McHague whimpered.
Serono laughed softly.
"Oh, don't sound so disappointed, McHague. You'll soon be with him."
The dry click of Serono's artificial hand crisped in McHague's ears.
"No... no... Serono... wait... wait a minute--" McHague babbled. Half
paralyzed with terror, he sidled desperately away from the hideous
weapon in Serono's hand. "He held a gun on me.... I had to--" McHague's
stumbling words trailed off as he read "Death" in Serono's eyes. His
terrified scream ripped out as he turned blindly and plunged down the
yawning blackness of the shaft.
Serono's dry chuckle stirred like the rustling wings of a bat.
"And now, Crystal James--" He turned. There was nothing but the
impassive stillness of the jungle; the girl was not in sight.
* * * * *
"--and that, gentlemen, completes my report on the present status of
Venus. This folder contains the vital statistics for the period since
your last inspection. You will find there the reason for me presenting
this report instead of Governor McHague. He was killed, together with
Mr. Hanson, Chief of Research for Venus Consolidated, in an explosion
during an experiment in rocketry which Mr. Hanson was conducting."
"Ah, thank you, Zeburzac." Chief Inspector Nathan accepted the final
folio of the voluminous annual report on Venus. He sat with the other
members of the Board of Inspection in the governor's offices as they
carefully sorted through the stacks of report form and record sheets.
"Hm-m-m--I see you have a Crystal James listed here as killed in an
aircraft accident. Was she one of the old Venusian family of James?"
Serono nodded regretfully. "Yes, I believe she was the last of them. I
knew them well."
"That is too bad," Inspector Nathan said softly. "They were a fine, old
family. Well, that cleans up the report, Zeburzac; everything seems to
be perfectly in order."
"Thank you, inspector." Of course, it was. He had spent three months
on those reports and everything had run smoothly on schedule. In a few
more hours this inquisitive crew of inspectors would be gone and Venus
would be his.
The mild gentleness of Serono's face revealed nothing of his
dictatorial intentions as he listened to Inspector Nathan's closing
remarks. In a moment they would be offering him the governorship,
legalizing the power he already possessed. With Venus in his hands to
be forged into a weapon, the easy-going democracy of Earth would be no
serious obstacle. What one clever man could do--Nathan was speaking.
"There is one item here, however, that seriously affects several of
these reports. This Mr. Hanson--"
"Hanson? Yes, I think I mentioned, he died. A very violent explosion."
Chief Inspector Nathan's formal politeness melted abruptly in the
sudden fire of his rage.
"Explosion? I know all about that explosion, you blundering murderer.
Come in here, Hanson!"
"Hanson!" Serono stared in shocked unbelief at the grim figure of a man
who should have died, but only for a moment. Then he leaned back and
relaxed, his fingertips met and tapped rhythmically.
"Mr. Hanson--hm-m-m--this is almost unbelievable."
"Next time you plant a time bomb in a ship, don't connect it through
the lighting circuit, it shows on the ammeter," Brian told him grimly.
"And if you want to keep people on Venus, you should watch your freight
ships more closely."
"Oh, I wasn't as careless as you might think. That trap was set for
McHague. I would have made other arrangements if I had known you were
to be present. As it was I thought I had got you. However, I can
remedy that slight omission almost immediately."
Serono twisted abruptly to his feet. His right hand snatched at his
left. The spluttering crackle of a projector flame lashed out. Serono
screamed as he dropped the red-hot wreckage of his artificial hand.
"We'd been told about that, too, and I can still shoot," Inspector
Nathan growled.
Serono stared stupidly at the empty socket on his left arm. His face
grayed lividly. He staggered against the desk, threw out his hand for
support and vanished. There was a moment of stunned silence in the room.
* * * * *
"It's a trapdoor!" Brian yelled and leaped for the opening. He caught
a glimpse of a descending chute as the section of floor swung solidly
back into place.
"Where does that lead to?" Nathan barked.
Brian didn't answer; he was already on his way. Nathan and the rest of
the Board of Inspectors pounded along behind him. They thudded down two
flights of stairs.
"There he goes!" The pack of inspectors let out a howl and raced down
the corridor behind Brian.
Zeburzac, racing for his life, started to draw away from them. They saw
him stop. There were men in the corridor ahead of him, half a dozen of
them. They were on him!
Serono screamed terribly, once, as a swinging knife ripped him open.
He was slammed to the floor, his head beaten in by the vicious blows
of his assailants. One of them lunged viciously at the prostrate form.
Brian felt sick as he saw the crushed and bloody form of Zeburzac
stabbed through the middle with the yard-long spike of a giant Venusian
thorn bush.
Having finished their business the killers calmly faced the projectors
in the hands of Inspector Nathan and his crew.
"Who are you?" Nathan demanded.
"My name's Carlton. We're rebels. You better hurry up and shoot, it'll
save you trouble."
"These men are all right," Brian defended hastily. "Serono murdered
some of the Carltons."
Nathan grunted. "Well, thanks, boys. You saved us a job." He slipped
his atomic projector back into its holster. "We're inspectors from
Earth. We'll have to arrest you for murder, but I guess it's up to
Governor Hanson here to decide what to do with you."
"Governor?"
"Yeah. That was decided before we left Earth. Where was Zeburzac
heading? Where does this corridor lead to?"
"To his apartments. Maybe he had something there. I'll go and see."
Brian started down the corridor.
Governor! Governor of this young, green frontier planet. There should
have been a thrill in it somewhere but he felt as though he had come
to the end of a pointless journey. He opened the door of Serono's
apartment and stepped inside.
There was no one in the luxurious room. Brian's scalp tingled; he
felt that he was not alone. He shuddered as he remembered Serono's
ghastly death, then stepped quickly to the bedroom door. He opened
it cautiously, then moved in and shut it noiselessly behind him. He
stiffened as something prodded him in the middle of his spine.
"Don't move!" The voice was thin and vicious with hate. It stopped
incredulously--"Brian!"
He swung around in amazement, and in synchronism as perfect as a
trained chorus, he and Crystal James cried: "You! I thought you were
dead!"
Their next moves were in perfect synchronism, too.