"In heaven's name, what was it?"
"Hunter-bird," Grannie said calmly. "A form of avian life found here
in the swamp. Harmless in its wild state, but when captured, it can be
trained to pursue a quarry until it kills. It has a single unit brain
and follows with a relentless purpose."
"Then that would mean...?"
"That it was sent by our enemy, the same enemy that shot at us in the
cafe in Swamp City. Exactly." Grannie Annie halted at the door of her
tent and faced me with earnest eyes. "Billy-boy, our every move is
being watched. From now on it's the survival of the fittest."
* * * * *
The following day was our seventh in the swamp. The water here
resembled a vast mosaic, striped and cross-striped with long winding
ribbons of yellowish substance that floated a few inches below the
surface. The mold balls coming into contact with the evonium water of
the swamp had undergone a chemical change and evolved into a cohesive
multi-celled marine life that lived and died within a space of hours.
The Venusians paddled with extreme care. Had one of them dipped his
hand into one of those yellow streaks, he would have been devoured in
a matter of seconds.
At high noon by my Earth watch I sighted a low white structure on one
of the distant islands. Moments later we made a landing at a rude
jetty, and Grannie Annie was introducing me to Ezra Karn.
He was not as old a man as I had expected, but he was ragged and
unkempt with iron gray hair falling almost to his shoulders. He was
dressed in _varpa_ cloth, the Venus equivalent of buckskin, and on his
head was an enormous flop-brimmed hat.
"Glad to meet you," he said, shaking my hand. "Any friend of Miss
Flowers is a friend of mine." He ushered us down the catwalk into his
hut.
The place was a two room affair, small but comfortable. The latest
type of visi set in one corner showed that Karn was not isolated from
civilization entirely.
Grannie Annie came to the point abruptly. When she had explained the
object of our trip, the prospector became thoughtful.
"Green Flames, eh?" he repeated slowly. "Well yes, I suppose I could
find that space ship again. That is, if I wanted to."
"What do you mean?" Grannie paused in the act of rolling herself a
cigarette. "You know where it is, don't you?"
"Ye-s," Karn nodded. "But like I told you before, that ship lies in
Varsoom country, and that isn't exactly a summer vacation spot."
"What are the Varsoom?" I asked. "A native tribe?"
Karn shook his head. "They're a form of life that's never been seen by
Earthmen. Strictly speaking, they're no more than a form of energy."
"Dangerous?"
"Yes and no. Only man I ever heard of who escaped their country outside
of myself was the explorer, Darthier, three years ago. I got away
because I was alone, and they didn't notice me, and Darthier escaped
because he made 'em laugh."
"Laugh?" A scowl crossed Grannie's face.
"That's right," Karn said. "The Varsoom have a strange nervous reaction
that's manifested by laughing. But just what it is that makes them
laugh, I don't know."
Food supplies and fresh drinking water were replenished at the hut.
Several mold guns were borrowed from the prospector's supply to arm the
Venusians. And then as we were about to leave, Karn suddenly turned.
"The Doctor Universe program," he said. "I ain't missed one in months.
You gotta wait 'til I hear it."
Grannie frowned in annoyance, but the prospector was adamant. He
flipped a stud, twisted a dial and a moment later was leaning back in a
chair, listening with avid interest.
It was the same show I had witnessed back in Swamp City. Once again I
heard questions filter in from the far outposts of the System. Once
again I saw the commanding figure of the quiz master as he strode back
and forth across the stage. And as I sat there, looking into the visi
screen, a curious numbing drowsiness seemed to steal over me and lead
my thoughts far away.
* * * * *
Half an hour later we headed into the unknown. The Venusian boatmen
were ill-at-ease now and jabbered among themselves constantly. We
camped that night on a miserable little island where insects swarmed
about us in hordes. The next day an indefinable wave of weariness and
despondency beset our entire party. I caught myself musing over the
futility of the venture. Only the pleadings of Grannie Annie kept me
from turning back. On the morrow I realized the truth in her warning,
that all of us had been exposed to the insidious radiations.
After that I lost track of time. Day after day of incessant rain ... of
steaming swamp.... But at length we reached firm ground and began our
advance on foot.
It was Karn who first sighted the ship. Striding in the lead, he
suddenly halted at the top of a hill and leveled his arm before him.
There it lay, a huge cigar-shaped vessel of blackened _arelium_ steel,
half buried in the swamp soil.
"What's that thing on top?" Karn demanded, puzzled.
A rectangular metal envelope had been constructed over the stern
quarters of the ship. Above this structure were three tall masts. And
suspended between them was a network of copper wire studded with white
insulators.
Grannie gazed a long moment through binoculars. "Billy-boy, take three
Venusians and head across the knoll," she ordered. "Ezra and I will
circle in from the west. Fire a gun if you strike trouble."
But we found no trouble. The scene before us lay steeped in silence.
Moments later our two parties converged at the base of the great ship.
A metal ladder extended from the envelope down the side of the vessel.
Mid-way we could see a circular hatch-like door.
"Up we go, Billy-boy." Heat gun in readiness, Grannie Annie began to
climb slowly.
The silence remained absolute. We reached the door and pulled it open.
There was no sign of life.
"Somebody's gone to a lot of trouble here," Ezra Karn observed.
Somebody had. Before us stretched a narrow corridor, flanked on the
left side by a wall of impenetrable stepto glass. The corridor was
bare of furnishings. But beyond the glass, revealed to us in mocking
clarity, was a high panel, studded with dials and gauges. Even as we
looked, we could see liquid pulse in glass tubes, indicator needles
swing slowly to and fro.
Grannie nodded. "Some kind of a broadcasting unit. The Green Flames in
the lower hold are probably exposed to a _tholpane_ plate and their
radiations stepped up by an electro-phosicalic process."
Karn raised the butt of his pistol and brought it crashing against the
glass wall. His arm jumped in recoil, but the glass remained intact.
"You'll never do it that way," Grannie said. "Nothing short of an
atomic blast will shatter that wall. It explains why there are no
guards here. The mechanism is entirely self-operating. Let's see if the
Green Flames are more accessible."
In the lower hold disappointment again confronted us. Visible in
the feeble shafts of daylight that filtered through cracks in the
vessel's hull were tiers of rectangular ingots of green iridescent ore.
Suspended by insulators from the ceiling over them was a thick metal
plate.
But between was a barrier. A wall of impenetrable stepto glass.
Grannie stamped her foot. "It's maddening," she said. "Here we are at
the crux of the whole matter, and we're powerless to make a single
move."
* * * * *
Outside the day was beginning to wane. The Venusians, apparently
unawed by the presence of the space ship, had already started a fire
and erected the tents. We left the vessel to find a spell of brooding
desolation heavy over the improvised camp. And the evening meal this
time was a gloomy affair. When it was finished, Ezra Karn lit his pipe
and switched on the portable visi set. A moment later the silence of
the march was broken by the opening fanfare of the Doctor Universe
program.
"Great stuff," Karn commented. "I sent in a couple of questions once,
but I never did win nothin'. This Doctor Universe is a great guy. Ought
to make him king or somethin'."
For a moment none of us made reply. Then suddenly Grannie Annie leaped
to her feet.
"Say that again!" she cried.
The old prospector looked startled. "Why, I only said they ought to
make this Doctor Universe the big boss and...."
"That's it!" Grannie paced ten yards off into the gathering darkness
and returned quickly. "Billy-boy, you were right. The man behind this
_is_ Doctor Universe. It was he who stole my manuscript and devised a
method to amplify the radiations of the Green Flames in the freighter's
hold. He lit on a sure-fire plan to broadcast those radiations in such
a way that millions of persons would be exposed to them simultaneously.
Don't you see?"