Sam's gray eyes pierced the night. "Sure. That's Bates. We swung in the
wrong direction. Should have gone to Sage Bend and started from there."
"The light's at Indian Head Rock."
"Let's go."
They swept across the desert, thundering up a dust cloud that hung
in the night behind them. Rode until sight of a terrible thing sent
a chill down Sam Taber's spine; sight of a man hanging from a rope
against the glare of a car's headlights; a silhouette of savagery that
killed the last faint hope in Sam Taber's breast; the last hope for a
crippled son.
Sam fought to control himself as he and his men rode silently, gently,
into the lighted circle. He struggled there in the saddle with the
red rage that tried to flare up from the stormy heart of him; the
uncontrollable anger he had fought all his life and thought he had
conquered. The mob was now looking at its handiwork in silence, each
member wishing himself somewhere else.
The roaring in Sam Taber's ears drowned this silence as he reined up
and one of his men rode close to the turning body. The man's hand went
out. He said, "Too late, boss. We're too late."
* * * * *
Taber sat like a dead man for a full minute. Then his rage broke its
bounds and flooded out through his eyes and his throat across the
desert. "Take them!" he bellowed. "Take every last rotten mother's son
of them! Lash the swine down! Cut them to pieces!"
He stood up in his stirrups and bent forward and lashed out with his
quirt. Without question his riders went into action. Quirts rose and
fell, slashed and cut. Screams and bellows and curses arose on the dark
desert as the shadowy avengers moved into their bloody work.
The mob broke to run bellowing and screaming in all directions. There
was no leadership now, no courage to rally them for a stand against
their tormentors. The only thought was to get away from the slashing
quirts; to run off into the desert and hide like squealing rats in the
blackness of a safe hole. To find sanctuary.
But just in the middle of the terrible savagery, a cry went up from one
of the riders. "Hey. Over there! The boss! He's down!"
The riders turned from their work and converged upon the indicated spot
where Sam Taber hung limp in his saddle and was just ready to slip from
his mount's back. They spied him just in time.
Two of the riders cut skillfully in and caught the lolling body.
"What's wrong, boss? One of 'em get you?"
Taber's reply was tortured, throaty. "Heart. Heart's gone--bad.
Can't--breathe. Done--all done."
"We've got to get him to town--quick!"
So, as quickly as it had come the avenging force moved back into a
group and thundered away. Cecil Bates had got to his car during the
melee and rammed it in panic through the crowd and off into the desert.
The mob itself had melted like tallow in a blast furnace.
And now there was nothing--no one from the rising moon to see except
the still body of Joe hanging from the tree beside Indian Head Rock....
* * * * *
Biddy Parker kicked a heel into Buck's flank and said, "Davey--the
light's gone out now. I wonder what it was. It wasn't the moon."
"No, the moon's coming up over there. Probably somebody parking in a
car and then they drove on."
"But we didn't see the lights move away."
"No. Well, you say we go right by there. Maybe we can find out."
"It's not very far. We'll be there soon."
The moon came up in desert splendor and the landscape brightened. The
rocks threw shadows and for all purposes it was the light of day.
Shadows of rocks. And another shadow as Biddy and Davey approached
the place. The shadow of--Biddy reached over and touched Davey's arm.
"Look--Davey! Do you see--?"
"I see it. A--a man! He's hanging from the tree there, Biddy. He's
killed himself--or somebody has--"
"But nobody is around. I wonder who it is." Biddy's heels beat a
veritable tattoo on Buck's little flanks and the burro went into
a reluctant trot. Closer they came, closer, until Biddy cried,
"Davey--Davey--it's Joe hanging there!"
"You mean the man we're going to find?"
"Yes--yes. He's dead! Davey--somebody did this. Joe would never--"
"That's not important now. See if it's too late!"
Biddy slid off Buck and ran to the tree. She could just reach the waist
of the hanging figure. She began to cry and turned a streaming face to
Davey. "I--I can't help him! I can't even reach! There's nothing I can
do!"
"And I'm helpless too!" Davey had tears in his eyes too--tears of anger
as he reached for his two canes and tried to struggle from the jeep.
"You can't, Davey! You'll hurt yourself!"
Davey stopped. "Wait a minute, Biddy. Do you think you could climb the
tree and go out on the limb and cut the rope?"
"I haven't got any knife."
"I have. Here--do you want to try?"
"I can do it."
"You'll have to hurry. Every second may be important."
"He'll hurt himself falling maybe."
"Skin up that tree. I'll swing the jeep around under him. It will break
the fall and then we'll take him to a doctor. Hurry."
Davey backed the jeep in under the body while Biddy climbed resolutely
carrying the knife between her teeth. She got a little dizzy but she
closed her eyes and when she had wriggled far enough out on the limb,
she cut at the rope until it separated.
At that moment, two things happened. The body fell heavily into
the back seat of the jeep and the car itself went completely dead.
The motor died, the lights faded slowly and the glow of the moon
illuminated the scene.
As Biddy climbed down from the tree, Davey kicked again and again at
the starter. There was no sign of life in the battery. Biddy came to
the car and Davey stared at her blankly. "Something happened to the
car. Even the starter won't turn over."
"Try--try again!"
Davey pressed the pedal and finally gave up. "It's no use. The crate's
letting us down when we need it most."
"Then we've got to use Buck. We've got to get Joe to where he can get
help."
"But--but he's dead."
"No! No! Joe can't die. We've got to take him back to the cave!"
"Why there?"
"I don't know. I just know that's where he'd want to go and we've got
to get him there."
"I suppose it's the best place. Nobody in Sage Bend would help him I'll
bet. They're--"
"We've got to get him on Buck."
"You'll have to go alone. I can't walk fast enough."
"You can ride Buck too. Pop says a burro is one of the strongest
animals there is. And it isn't far. Hurry. You've got to help me."
* * * * *
Somehow they pulled and tugged the body onto the back of the sleepy
burro. Then Davey clambered on, balancing precariously on the animal's
hips. Biddy took the reins and pulled Buck into movement and the
strange cavalcade moved off across the desert.
Half an hour later, Biddy cried, "There's the cave and some people are
there. And they've got lights."
Davey was craning his neck. "Look--look at that funny looking thing.
It's--it's a ship of some kind."
As they crawled slowly up the hill toward the rocks, they saw great
activity. There were half a dozen young men moving from the strange
ship into the cave and back again. As Buck came into the circle of
light, two of the men came forward.
They gave the body hanging limply over Buck's back their entire
attention. They spoke to each other in some strange language and then
the rest of the group were crowding about.
"We found him hanging from a tree," Biddy said a little fearfully, but
they paid no attention to her.
They lifted the body from the burro and held it partially erect. After
a short conference one of the men hurried to the ship and returned with
a small tube that somewhat resembled a fire extinguisher. He pointed
it at Joe's chest and pressed a button and a thin blue flame crackled
as it seemed to penetrate the flesh.
In a matter of seconds, Joe coughed, opened his eyes, and was standing
without help. One of the men, frowning slightly, snapped a question in
the strange language. He spoke at the same moment Biddy ran forward
and cried, "Oh, Joe! You're all right. You aren't dead! We found you
hanging there but I knew you were still alive. I just knew it!"
* * * * *
Joe smiled at her and laid a hand on her head. He ignored the other
men, giving Biddy his attention as he said, "I'm a lot harder to kill
than you would imagine."
Davey had struggled forward on his crutches. He said, "But how on earth
could you have lived? That strangling rope around your neck--"
"I suppose this is Davey," Joe said.
"That's right," Biddy assured him. "We were out looking for you."
"As a matter of fact, Davey, the rope didn't hurt me at all. It was
something else. I was knocked out completely by the chaotic vibrations
flowing from the crowd that hung me to that tree. I'd have come around
soon."
"You mean they--lynched you?"
"If that's the term."
The young man who had spoken would not be put off. He was respectful
but insistent as he said, "We threw out the power block. It has been in
effect for almost an hour. The time has come for you to speak and then
we must take off."
For some reason he had spoken in English and Joe answered in kind. "All
right. Let's get it over with."
Another of the young men said, "You don't seem very optimistic about
it."
Joe's face was grave. "I'm not. I've learned a few things since I set
down here." He turned to Biddy and Davey. "Would you like to come
inside?"
* * * * *
He accompanied his pace to that of Davey and when they were inside he
seated them near the shining box and then took his own seat in front
of the control panel. And while the others stood back with their arms
folded, he turned several dials and then spoke into a screened speaker
in the machine.
"People of the world--for the last hour your planet has not been
functioning. All mechanical means of transportation has been at a
standstill. Your electric currents from pole to pole have ceased
their flow. Your homes have been dark. This inaction stems from a
force-barrier we have thrown up around your planet. As a result, your
generators have stopped producing electricity--"
Wide-eyed, Davey whispered to Biddy. "That was why the jeep's motor
died."
Biddy's eyes were like saucers as she nodded--not understanding, but
fascinated by Joe and his cold, grim manner. He went on. "This was done
for two reasons--to demonstrate a small segment of our power, and to
bring you to your receiving sets. They are no doubt all turned on as
you wait for their silence to be broken."
Joe rubbed an unconscious hand across his throat and paused for a
moment. "I am breaking that silence now. I represent a council of
planets beyond your solar system and I have been sent here to give
you an ultimatum. We have watched you for a long time--watched with
sympathy and complete good will as you struggled upward through your
evolutionary periods. We liked much of what we saw, sympathizing with
you in your mistakes and rejoicing with you in your successes.
"Then we saw your scientific development outstrip your moral
advancement and your sense of responsibility. We watched you fight in
caves with clubs and stones--with bows and arrows--with gun powder and
atomic fission. And always we hoped your hostility would give way to
common sense and mutual respect if not mutual love.
"But this did not happen. Each new discovery you made was qualified
through a single question: How many more will it kill at a time? You
moved out into space with your man-made stations and we hoped that
finally you would awaken and your hostilities fade into history."
Joe's face was sad under its grimness as he paused to choose his words
and tension rang through the cave. "But no--you ran true to your basic
hateful pattern. You fought in your caves and on your seas and in your
seas--on your land and under your land. And now you propose to carry
your stupid useless wars out into space. I have come to tell you that
this, you will not do.
"Up to this point, you have endangered only yourselves but now the
balance of the galaxy can be tipped by your madness and this we will
not tolerate. I care not who is right or who is wrong in your disputes.
I do not look upon you as a divided world, I look upon you as a single
indivisible planet and looking thus--this I say to you."
* * * * *
Joe took a deep breath and plunged grimly on. "If one of your space
stations attacks the other for any reason whatsoever, both will be
destroyed. And in this destruction your planet will also vanish. It
will be obliterated completely as we have no intention of leaving
a dangerous dead hulk floating through space. It and you and
possibly your whole solar system will go at once because--no matter
what your opinions on the subject are, let me tell you this--_you
are expendable--your planet is expendable--your solar system is
expendable--and on the day after obliteration--you will not even be
missed_."
Joe turned in his chair and Biddy thought he looked awfully tired.
Then he said, "And now if you have any doubts go out, wherever you
are, and look up into the blessed skies God gave you--" Biddy watched
the sadness in Joe's eyes and heard him speak as though to children.
"--the skies we will take away from you unless you grow up and behave
yourselves."
With that, he snapped off a switch with a quick movement and turned.
He said, "Go outside and ready the ship for takeoff. You go with them,
Biddy." He looked at Davey and added, "Leave the lad with me for a few
minutes."
Joe's instructions were not questioned and a few moments later she was
outside with the young men gazing in wonder at the sky. Everything
was lighted up like the Fourth of July. But bigger--much bigger. From
every horizon giant lights of all colors were shooting up to meet
overhead. All the colors of the rainbow and some Biddy had never seen.
"It's--it's beautiful!" she gasped.
One of the young men smiled without humor. "Let's hope a second display
is never necessary." With that he hurried away with the others and
there was great activity around the ship. Then Joe came out--just as
the colors overhead were dying--and gave a signal and the men entered
the cave. Pretty soon they came out and all the mechanism and the
big shining box were floating along behind them--floating through the
air--as they were pulled toward the ship by thin lines of metal rope.
In no time Joe was walking with Biddy toward the loaded ship, holding
her small hand in his. He stood by the port and said, "I think maybe
things will be all right, child. I hope so, because there must be many
like you and Davey. There must be sane reason left on this mad planet."
"Are you going away, Joe?"
"Yes, Biddy." He smiled and kissed her and said, "Tell Buck good-bye
for me. Davey is in the cave." He entered the ship and the port
closed and Biddy didn't see it take off at all. It just seemed to
evaporate--to vanish. But then, her eyes were misty with tears and
she thought she might have missed the take off. She turned and walked
slowly toward the cave. Slowly because she knew of course that Davey
would be all right....
* * * * *
Davey Taber stood on two fine straight legs in the Parker living room
looking out the window over a silent, subdued Sage Bend. He turned and
said, "Dad will have to be very careful from now on. He will be in
bed for a long time and then in a wheelchair, so I'm taking over the
Circle-7."
"I'm sorry about your father," Jane said. "I'm sorry for the people,
for--" she glanced at Dan Parker seated beside her and no more words
would come.
"I want you to stay on, Mr. Parker. In fact I want you to take more
responsibility. I'll need a wise experienced head and I'm afraid I'd be
lost without you."
"Wait a minute," Dan said quietly. "There are some things I have to
tell you--some things you've got to know so you'll understand why I
can't stay at the Circle-7."
And while Davey listened in silence, Dan told the whole story of his
fears and actions and weaknesses. He did not spare himself and the
telling took quite a while. When he finished there was silence. And
something more. Jane's hand had crept toward his and now she held it
tight and smiled proudly as she looked into his eyes.
Davey regarded them in silence for a few moments, then spoke quietly
but without smiling. "That's all you have to say?"
"That's all."
"I asked because I want it over and done with--and forgotten here and
now. I'll expect you at the ranch in the morning. I have other plans,
too. We'll build you a house out there so you won't have to run back
and forth. Dad should have done that long ago."