"Damn you!" He lashed out suddenly. His slap sent her sprawling against
the wall.
With a snarl Ray hurled himself at Lodar. His fist slammed a shoulder
as Lodar spun to meet the infuriated charge. A second blow, that
crunched Ray's knuckles on the other's head, never even jarred the
larger man.
Growling, he reached out. His huge hands closed on Ray's neck, the
thumbs dug into his windpipe.
"You dumb fool!" Lodar's clenched teeth lay bare between tight drawn
lips. Convulsively his strangling grip tightened.
Ray's fist slammed the grinning lips, with savage joy he felt the smash
of teeth. He hammered at Lodar's face, beating it in frenzied rage
while his lungs strained for air. His back jolted the wall and Lodar
was slamming his head on the plates.
His lungs were jerking, the room blurred with pulsing darkness. He saw
only Lodar's blazing eyes, felt the power of his viselike grip. The man
was made of steel, driven by raw violence.
And, in that flashing moment, Ray guessed Lodar's secret, the why of
his driving energy, cagelike pacings, and burning eyes!
Space Rays! Ray heaved convulsively, trying to break the strangling
grip.
Lodar had been too long in space. The days were killing him, burning
him up inside. He would go on with roaring metabolism, like an
overdriven jet, till his heart burst!
And that would be soon now. Lodar's compelling urge to return to Earth
was the instinct of a dying animal for its lair, to die with its kind.
Nothing would stop him. Nothing except death!
The pounding in Ray's head flashed streams of light through the
blackness. Only faintly could he feel his own hands beating for air.
Then suddenly his tortured lungs heaved, sucking in life. The grinding
clutch dropped from his throat. For a moment he could only gulp, rub
his agonized neck. Then slowly sight returned.
McVane stood holding a gun. There was a foolish, startled look on his
lined face as he stared at Lodar. The captain, gritting his teeth and
leaning on the control board, held a hand to his shoulder. It was a
mass of blood and rags.
"You--you fool!" Lodar swayed, starting at the engineer. "You
bleary-eyed little Sir Galahad!"
The girl was pressing a cup of water to Ray's lips. He drank, still
gagging, staring at her bruised face. He was conscious of her arm
around him, of the pleasure her nearness lent. He shook his throbbing
head.
McVane was speaking petulantly. "Let's--let's have no more arguments."
The little man's eyes were pleading. "I had to do it, Lodar. And
you're the only real friend I had!"
"Some friend!" Lodar ground his teeth in pain, then grimaced as blood
dripped from the smashed gums. "Here, help me patch up this shoulder."
Obediently McVane hunted up bandages. Lodar's eyes were somber as the
engineer and Ellenor tied up his burned shoulder and put the useless
arm in a sling.
"I lost my temper," he muttered at last. "Forget it."
He probably meant it for a declaration of peace. Ray's own fury had
cooled now he knew what lay behind the other's violence.
After all, the girl's words must have stung Lodar to a hopeless frenzy.
She had blasted at his innermost longing to see Earth for the last
time. Deep in his own heart he'd known all along that he would die like
a dog in space. Her words had only drawn the searing truth from his own
subconscious hell.
They all jumped as the interphone shrilled.
Ray switched on the speaker. There was a medley of sound, smashing
glass, shouts, and laughter.
"They've got into McVane's liquor." Lodar crossed the room painfully
till he stood beside Ray.
"Ay--and the gas didn't stop them," the engineer added. "They plugged
the lines."
Suddenly Jenkins' voice cut shrilly above the background din on the
speaker. "Can you hear me, Lodar?"
"I hear you." Lodar's eyes were slitted with pain.
"Okay." There was a fumbling sound. "We're going on to Mars. Take it or
leave it. You set the course and we'll get your damned engines going."
"You can rot!"
"Better think it over, Captain. If you monkey around too long, the boys
will get impatient. We'll wreck the engines!"
"You wreck those engines and none of you will see Mars or any other
place," Lodar said heavily. "There's only one escape boat and the only
way to it is through this control room. I'll leave you stranded!"
Jenkins' laughter rattled the speaker. "We'll shoot you down with the
broadsides if you try!" There was a rustling, then, "Hang on, Lodar, a
friend of yours wants to talk!"