"Pick five good men for a landing party, two of them portable
disintegrator ray operators, with equipment. The others will be
provided with _ethon_ lamps, pistols, and atomic grenades. Get the men
to the trap as quickly as possible, please."
"Immediately, sir!"
I had the cage drawn up, and by the time I had secured my own
equipment and returned, Correy was waiting with his men.
"One second, Mr. Correy, and we'll leave," I said, calling the
navigating room. "Mr. Kincaide, I'm leaving you in command. We are
going into the Aranian city to pick up Inverness and Brady. I
anticipate no trouble, and if there is no trouble, we shall return
within an hour. If we are not back within three hours, blast this
entire area with atomic grenades, and riddle it with the rays. Is
that clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Kincaide.
"And then proceed immediately to Base and report. I have made an entry
in the log regarding this expedition, as official evidence, if
needed."
"Right, sir," said Kincaide, who was as near a perfect officer as I
have ever seen.
"Mr. Correy, you've heard my orders. So have you, men. We're going
underground, into a veritable warren of these spider creatures. If any
of you wish to refuse this service, you have my permission to
withdraw."
Not a man moved. Correy hardly repressed a grin. He knew the men he
had picked for the job.
"Good!" I said, and signaled to the cage operator. Swiftly we dropped
to earth, where Tipene and our three hairy guides awaited us.
* * * * *
The descent into the white-lined tunnel was a terrifying experience.
The lining was tough and fibrous, a sort of coarse material
corresponding to the silk of a spider of normal size, although these
strands were as large as my little finger, and strong as cables.
A close inspection of our guides added nothing to my confidence or
bravery; their eight beady eyes, set at strategic spots about their
heads, seemed unwinkingly ominous. And their mandibles, with fangs
folded back like the blades of a pocket-knife, paired with their
bristly palps, seemed like very capable weapons.
The Aranians ran ahead of us, our _ethon_ lamps making strange and
distorted shadows on the curving walls of the tunnel. Correy and I
herded the unwilling Tipene just ahead of us, and the five picked men
brought up the rear.
About forty feet down, the floor of the tunnel curved sharply and
leveled off; a short distance farther on a number of other level
tunnels merged with it, and the shape changed; from a tube perfectly
circular in cross-section, it became a flattened oval, perhaps half
again the height of a man, and at least three times that dimension in
width.
Our party was joined by scores of other Aranians, who darted in from
side passages; some going ahead, some closing in behind us, until the
tunnel was filled with the peculiar brittle sound of their walking.
"They don't lack for numbers," muttered Correy softly. "Think they'll
make trouble, sir?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. I showed them what the ray would do; I
believe it threw a scare into the old chap. Did you tell them what we
would do if they played any tricks, Tipene?"
"Certainly; my own life is endangered, isn't it?" snapped the Zenian.
"It certainly is," I told him grimly. "And not only by the spiders, if
you make any suspicious moves."
* * * * *
We went on without further conversation, until we came to the
beginning of the cubicles Tipene had mentioned.
Each of these was closed, or could be closed, by a circular door such
as those which concealed the outer entrance to the tunnels, save that
these were swung on a side hinge. From the central passage we were
following, smaller ones branched off in all directions: to the left,
to the right; upward and downward. And all were lined with the
cubicles, from which a constantly increasing army of Aranians emerged
to accompany us.
We had gone but a short distance into the "city" when our ancient
guide paused, turning to stare down a deserted passage.
"He says," grunted Tipene--as near a grunt as the high-pitched Zenian
voice is capable of, "that they're down there. He asks that we go and
get them; he is afraid. They have killed two of the Aranians already
with their atomic pistols."
"For which I don't blame them in the least," said Correy. "I'd get as
many as I could before I let them sink their mandibles into me."
"But I thought they were hostages, and being treated as such?"
"The Aranians got tired of waiting; some of the younger ones tried to
do their own executing," explained Tipene. "The whole brood of them is
in an ugly mood, the old fellow tells me. We were fools to come!"
I didn't argue the matter. You can't argue such a matter with a man
like Tipene. Instead, I lifted my voice in a shout which echoed down
the long corridors.
"Brady! Inverness! Can you hear us?"
For a moment there was no reply, and then, as our _ethon_ lights
played hopefully along the passage, a circular door opened, and
Inverness, his pistol drawn, peered out at us. A moment later, both he
and Brady were running toward us.
"Hanson!" cried Inverness. "Man, but we're glad to see a human face
again--but why did you come? Now they've got us all."
"But they'll let us all go," I said, with a confidence I did not feel.
"I've demonstrated to one of their leaders just what the _Ertak_ can
do--and will do--if we aren't aboard, safe and unhurt, in three
hours."
"The young bloods don't obey well, though," said Brady, shaking his
head. "Look at them, milling around there in the central passage! They
didn't see your demonstration, whatever it was. They started for us
some time back, and we had to rip a couple of them to pieces, and
barricade ourselves."
"Well," said Correy grimly, "we'll soon find out. Ready to start back,
sir?"
* * * * *
I turned to Tipene, who was staring at the packed mass of Aranians,
who choked the tunnel in both directions.
"Tell them to make way," I commanded. "We're leaving."
"I've--I've been in communication with him," moaned Tipene. "And he
hasn't any power over these youngsters. They want blood. Blood! They
say the ship won't dare do anything so long as so many of us are
here."
"It will, though," I snapped. "Kincaide will obey my orders to the
letter. It'll be a wholesale slaughter, if we're not there by the
specified time."
"I know! I know!" groaned Tipene. "But I can't make them understand
that. They can't appreciate the meaning of such discipline."
"I believe that," put in Brady. "Their state of society is still low
in the scale. You shouldn't have come, Commander. Better the two of us
than the whole group."
"It may not be so simple as they think. Mr. Correy, shall we make a
dash for it?"
"I'd be in favor of that, sir!" he grinned.
"Very well, you take three of the enlisted men, Mr. Correy, and give
us a brisk rear-guard action when we get into the main passage--if we
do. Use the grenades if you have to, but throw them as fast as
possible, or we'll have the roof coming down on us.
"The two ray operators and myself will try to open a way, backed up by
Inverness and Brady. Understand, everybody?" The men took the places I
had indicated, nodding, and we stood at the mouth of the side tunnel,
facing the main passage which intersected it at a right angle. The
mouth of the passage was blocked by a crowded mass of the spider
creatures, evidently eager to pounce on us, but afraid to start an
action in those narrow quarters.
As we came toward them, the Aranians packed about the entrance gave
way grudgingly, all save two or three. Without an instant's
hesitation, I lifted my pistol and slashed them into jerking pulp.
"Hold the ray," I ordered the two men by my side, "until we need it.
They'll get a surprise when it goes into action."
* * * * *
We needed it the moment we turned into the main corridor, for here the
passage was broad, and in order to prevent the creatures from flanking
us, we had to spread our front and rear guards until they were no more
than two thin lines.
Seeing their advantage, the Aranians rushed us. At a word from me, the
ray operators went into action, and I did what I could with my
comparatively ineffective pistol. Between us, we swept the passage
clean as far as we could see--which was not far, for the reddish dust
of disintegration hung in the quiet air, and the light of our _ethon_
lamps could not pierce it.
For a moment I thought we would have clear sailing; Correy and his men
were doing fine work behind us, and our ray was sweeping everything
before us.
Then we came to the first of the intersecting passages, and a
clattering horde of Aranians leaped out at us. The ray operators
stopped them, but another passage on the opposite side was spewing out
more than I could handle with my pistol.
Two of the hairy creatures were fairly upon me before the ray swung to
that side and dissolved them into dust. For an instant the party
stopped, checked by these unexpected flank attacks.
And there would be more of these sallies from the hundreds of passages
which opened off the main corridor; I had no doubt of that. And there
the creatures had us: our deadly ray could not reach them out ahead;
we must wait until we were abreast, and then the single ray could work
upon but one side. Correy needed every man he had to protect our rear,
and my pistol was not adequate against a rush at such close quarters.
That fact had just been proved to me with unpleasant emphasis.
It was rank folly to press on; the party would be annihilated.
"Down this passage, men," I ordered the two ray operators. "We'll have
to think up a better plan."
They turned off into the passage they had swept clean with their ray,
and the rest of the party followed swiftly. A few yards from the main
corridor the passage turned and ran parallel to the corridor we had
just left. Doors opened off this passage on both sides, but all the
doors were open, and the cubicles thus revealed were empty.
* * * * *
"Well, sir," said Correy, when we had come to the dead end of the
passage, "now what?"
"I don't know," I confessed. "If we had two ray machines, we could
make it. But if I remember correctly, it's seven hundred yards, yet,
to the first of the tunnels leading to the surface--and that means
several hundred side passages from which they can attack. We can't
make it."
"Well, we can try again, anyway, sir," Correy replied stoutly. "Better
to go down fighting than stay here and starve, eh?"
"If you'll pardon me, gentlemen," put in Inverness, "I'd like to make
a suggestion. We can't return the way we came in; I'm convinced of
that. It was the sheerest luck that Commander Hanson wasn't brought
down a moment ago--luck, and excellent work on the part of the two ray
operators.
"But an analysis of our problem shows that our real objective is to
reach the surface, and that need not be done the most obvious way, by
returning over the course by which we entered."
"How, then?" I asked sharply.
"The disintegrator ray you have there should be able to cut a passage
for us," said Inverness. "Then all we need do is protect our rear
while the operators are working. Once on the surface, we'll be able to
fight our way to the ship, will we not?"
"Of course! You should be in command, Inverness, instead of myself."
His was the obvious solution to our difficulty; once proposed, I felt
amazingly stupid that the thought had not occurred to me.
I gave the necessary orders to the ray men, and they started
immediately, boring in steadily at an angle of about forty-five
degrees.
The reddish dust came back to us in choking clouds, and the Aranians,
perhaps guessing what we were doing--at least one of their number had
seen how the ray could tunnel in the ground--started working around
the angle of the passage.
* * * * *
At first they came in small groups, and our pistols readily disposed
of them, but as the dust filled the air, and it became increasingly
difficult to see their spidery bodies, they rushed us in great masses.
Correy and I, shoulder to shoulder, fired at the least sign of
movement in the cloud of dust. A score of times the rushes of the
Aranians brought a few of them scuttling almost to our feet; inside of
a few minutes the passage was choked, waist high, with the riddled
bodies--and still they came!
"We're through, sir!" shouted one of the ray operators. "If you can
hold them off another fifteen minutes, we'll have the hole large
enough to crawl through."
"Work fast!" I ordered. Even with Inverness, Brady, and the three of
the _Ertak's_ crew doing what they could in those narrow quarters, we
were having a hard time holding back the horde of angry, desperate
Aranians. Tipene was useless; he was cowering beside the ray
operators, chattering at them, urging them to hurry.
Had we had good light, our task would have been easy, but the passage
was choked now with dust. Our _ethon_ lamps made little more than a
dismal glow. The clattering Aranians were almost within leaping
distance before we could see them; indeed, more than one was stopped
in mid-air by a spray from one pistol or another.
"Ready, sir," gasped the ray man who had spoken before. "I think we've
got it large enough, now."
"Good!" I brought down two scuttling Aranians, so close that their
twitching legs fell in an untidy heap almost at my feet. "You go
first, and protect our advance. Then the rest of you; Mr. Correy and I
will bring up the--"
"No!" screamed Tipene, shouldering aside the ray men. "I...." He
disappeared into the slanting shaft, and the two ray men followed
quickly. The three members of the crew went next; then Brady and
Inverness.
Correy and I backed toward the freshly cut passage.
"I'll be right behind you," I snapped, "so keep moving!"
* * * * *
Correy hesitated an instant; I knew he would have preferred the place
of danger as the last man, but he was too good an officer to protest
when time was so precious. He climbed into the slanting passage the
ray had cut for us, and as he did so, I heard, or thought I heard, a
cry from beyond him, from one of those ahead.
I gave Correy several seconds before I followed; when I did start, I
planned on coming fast, for in that shoulder-tight tube I would be
utterly at the mercy of any who might attack from behind.
Fairly spraying the oncoming horde, I drove them back, for a moment,
beyond the angle in the corridor; then I fairly dived into the tunnel
and crawled as fast as hands and knees could take me toward the
blessed open air.
I heard the things clatter into the space I had deserted. I heard them
scratching frantically in the tunnel behind me, evidently handicapped
by their long legs, which must have been drawn up very close to their
bodies.
Light came pouring in on me suddenly, and I realized that Correy had
won free. Behind me I could hear savage mandibles snapping, and cold
sweat broke out on me. How close a terrible death might be, I had no
means of knowing--but it was very close.
My head emerged; I drew my body swiftly out of the hole and snatched a
grenade from my belt. Instantly I flung it down the slanting passage,
with a shout of warning to my companions.
With a muffled roar, the grenade shook the earth; sent a brown cloud
spattering around us. I had made a desperate leap to get away, but
even then I was covered by the shower of earth.
I looked around. Trapdoors were open everywhere, and from hundreds of
these openings, Aranians were scuttling toward us.
But the ray operators were working; not only the little portable
machine, but the big projectors on the _Ertak_, five or six hundred
yards away; laying down a deadly and impassable barrage on either side
of us.
* * * * *
"They got Tipene, sir!" said Correy. "He dodged out ahead of the ray
men, and two of them pounced on him. They were dragging him away,
tearing him. The ray men wiped them out. Tipene was already dead--torn
to fragments, they said. Back to the ship now, sir?"
"Back to the ship," I nodded, still rather breathless. "Let the ray
men cover our retreat; we can take care of those between us and the
ship with our pistols--and the _Ertak's_ projectors will attend to our
flanks. On the double, men!"
We fought every step of the way, in a fog of reddish dust from the big
disintegrator rays playing on either side of us--but we made it, a
torn, weary, and bedraggled crew.
"Quite an engagement, sir," gasped Correy, when we were safely inside
the _Ertak_. "Think they'll remember this little visit of ours, sir?"
"I know we'll remember it, anyway," I said, shaking some of the dust
of disintegration from my clothes. "Just at the moment, I'd welcome a
tour of routine patrol."
"Sure, sir," grinned Correy. "So would I--until we were a day or two
out from Base!"
* * * * *