A Moon Army
The fact that they were physically comfortable gave the Americans much
satisfaction. They were not too warm, and not cold. Toplinsky had been
exceedingly wise in selecting a deep shaded valley for his colonizing
idea, and after being two days of twenty-four hours’ duration each, in
a cave hidden from the giant, Epworth concluded that Toplinsky’s
scheme of heating the valley by solar heat during the long night and
withdrawing the heat during the day might prove successful, and that
the air created by firing the projectiles from the earth might in the
course of time, provided the bombardment continued indefinitely,
spread all over the face of the moon.
He did not attempt to get food and water during this time, feeling
sure that Toplinsky would keep a careful watch, but after forty-eight
hours the necessity for water prompted action. He started out with
Billy to go to the Aerolite and attempt to steal into the storeroom.
They waited until the Aerolite seemed in a state of rest, and its
crew, Epworth reasoned, slept.
They had to be careful of footsteps because of the Lunar attraction.
Like shadows they flitted across the open space, and approached the
airship, gaining the sides of the vessel, they thought, without being
observed. Here they paused and Epworth placed his hand on the steel
ladder-steps, and glanced around. He was startled at the clearness of
the light. Men on guard would have had little trouble seeing them come
across the open space. He shuddered. It would be easy for Toplinsky to
prepare an ambush for him; and as easy for him to keep an eye on the
cave.
From where he stood he could readily make out the mouth of their
hiding place.
“Thank goodness,” he murmured, “he doesn’t know where we are hiding.”
He looked up at the deck of the plane. It was entirely too
still—suspiciously quiet. If he was preparing to receive an enemy in
secret he would maintain just such a stillness. He would lead his
victim on.
Nevertheless, it was board the Aerolite or starve.
With a cat-like step he climbed the ladder, gun in hand, his knife in
his mouth. At the balcony there was a dark shadow. Instantly he
covered it with his gun.
“Not a whimper!” he commanded in a low voice.
“Sh—h.” It was Michael Strauss, and he put up his gun. “Toplinsky is
expecting you just inside of the door,” Michael continued. “I let
myself down from the balcony on top of the airship when I saw you
coming. He has purposely left the door open in the hope that you will
push it, and walk in.”
“We must have food,” Epworth stated tersely. “Also water.”
“Slip back down the ladder, and go around to the rear of the ship. I
also have been waiting for you, and have dropped several days’
supplies on the ground. Take this, and come back the day after
tomorrow, when the coast is clear. By that time Toplinsky will think
that you have discovered other means of getting food. Then you can
keep coming back until you are well supplied. Fortunately Toplinsky
has not yet discovered that I aided you when you were on board.”
“Michael, you’re a fine sport,” Epworth whispered. “Some day I will
find a means of returning this great favor. By your efforts you save
the lives of three people.”
“It is enough for me to know that,” Michael replied quietly.
Epworth squeezed his hand, and dropped down the ladder.
They found the supplies where Michael had designated, and returned
with them to their cave. Two days later they made another trip, and
again Michael aided them. They kept this up for over a week, and
during this time Toplinsky and his men were busily engaged in building
a large house, which they supposed he would turn into a warehouse as
well as a barracks for his men. Another force erected the solar heater
on the rim of the northern range of mountains.
At the end of six days, they had enough food and water on hand to last
three months, and as a final inspiration Epworth got Michael to send
down material to use in the construction of gliders. With this
material they worked for another day, building three small gliders
propelled with foot-power and elevated by running down hill.
The gliders were, of course, a venture, constructed along original
lines, but when Epworth tried them out the night they were finished,
he found that he could easily float them in the air against the slight
gravity of the moon.
Quite pleased with their idea, and determined to fly over Toplinsky’s
camp the next day, they retired in high spirits to sleep like rocks
until quite late. They were awakened by loud shouts and the noise of
exploding guns. When they rushed to the mouth of their cave a strange
spectacle met their gaze.
Swarming across the space north between the Aerolite and the northern
range of mountains an army of mammoth cricket-shaped things were
approaching. They came in military formation, hopping with steady,
persistent leaps, measured to an exactness that enabled each company
to land and leave the ground at the same time and in perfect unison.
Each cricket was as large as a man, and possessed six legs and two
long sharp antennas extending straight out from the eyes. They
traveled on the four rear legs, and held long, sharp, steel-pointed
lances in their front antennas and two front legs. Their backs were
hard and black, and Epworth wondered as he noted the strength of the
coating if they were bullet proof.
That they were possessed of a rare degree of intelligence was
evidenced by their military approach, and their splendid formation.
That they could use these weapons the Americans did not doubt, and
congratulated themselves that they were not the objects of attack.
When he turned his eyes toward the Aerolite, Epworth saw that
Toplinsky was already fighting. Many of his men were backed against
the half-built wall of the house, and were sharp-shooting with their
rifles.
“If Toplinsky had only a few projectiles of liquid air,” Billy
observed regretfully, “he might teach these Things something about
war.”
“As it is he and his men are going to have the fight of their lives,”
Epworth replied soberly.
“Look at their leaders!” Joan exclaimed in amazement. “They have some
kind of marvelous growth on their backs.”
Epworth, who never went without a pair of binoculars, put the glasses
to his eyes, and studied the things she pointed out. The things he saw
on top of the crickets were more wonderful than the huge insects.
They were men-shaped humps riding on the back of the crickets. At
least their small bodies, legs and arms were shaped like men but their
heads were enormous knotty projections with eye openings an inch and a
half in diameter.
“Do I see properly?” the young man inquired, handing the glasses to
Joan. “Do I see some kind of a man with a metallic-like head?”
Joan examined the riders thoughtfully. They were now approaching with
incredible rapidity and she got a better view of them.