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[Illustration]
Giants on the Earth
By Capt. S. P. Meek
The yoke of Jovian oppression
rests heavily on the dwellers of
Earth--until Damis, the Nepthalim,
comes forward to lead them in
spirited revolt.
CHAPTER I
_The Jovian Tyrant_
Glavour, Jovian Viceroy of the Earth, looked arrogantly about as he lay
at ease on the cushions of the ornate chariot which bore him through the
streets of his capital city. Like all the Jovians, he was cast in a
heroic mold compared to his Earth-born subjects. Even for a Jovian,
Glavour was large. He measured a good eight feet from the soles of his
huge splayed feet to the crown of his enormous head, crested with stiff
black hair which even the best efforts of Tonsome, the court barber,
failed to make lie in order. His keen black eyes glittered as they swept
over the scene before him. Where only a few years before had been only
tangled tropical jungle on the narrow neck of land separating the two
great oceans, now rose row after row of stately buildings. Suddenly
Glavour's attention was attracted by a girlish form in a passing
chariot.
"Stop!" he cried.
[Illustration: _Before them were figures out of a nightmare._]
Obedient to the driver's touch on a lever, the tiny radium motor of the
chariot ceased to revolve and the equipage stopped its forward motion.
Glavour turned to an equerry at his side.
"Havenner," he exclaimed, "did you note that maiden who passed us?"
"I did, Your Excellency."
"Bring her before me."
The equerry sprang lightly to the ground and called out in a stentorian
voice. At the sound every vehicle on the street ceased its movement
until the will of the Viceroy, the ruler of the Sons of God, should be
made known. In a few steps, his powerful Jovian muscles carrying his
huge body forward at a rate impossible to persons born of Earthly
parentage who had not inherited the power needed to overcome the
enormous gravity of Jupiter, Havenner reached the equipage containing
the girl. He gave a curt order and the girl's driver turned his vehicle
and brought it alongside the Viceroy's.
* * * * *
Glavour's eyes rested on the slim lithesome figure of the Earth-girl.
She was just emerging from the grace of girlhood into the full dignity
of young womanhood and the soft clinging garb she wore accentuated
rather than concealed the curves of her body. As Glavour's gaze fell on
her, she cast down her eyes and a flush crept slowly over her pretty
face to the mass of coppery gold hair which crowned her head. An
expression of brutal lust came into the Viceroy's eyes.
"Daughter of Man," he said slowly, "how are you named and what is your
family?"
"My name is Lura, Your Excellency," she faltered, "and I am the daughter
of Turgan, the Kildare of this province."
"You please me, girl," said the Viceroy. "Dismiss your chariot and join
me in mine. There is room in my seraglio for you."
Lura stared with horror at the huge Jovian and shrank back from his
sensual gaze. Glavour gazed at her in astonishment and a deep scowl
spread over his face.
"The prospect does not seem to please you, Daughter of Man," he said
slowly. "Perhaps the company of the Viceroy of Tubain, Ruler of the
Universe, is too lowly to please you and you desire more exalted
company. Be careful that I do not have you stripped and given to the
palace guards for their sport. Join me in my chariot."
He half rose and leaned forward to clasp her. Lura gave a cry of horror
and sprang from her chariot to the ground on the side farthest from the
vehicle of the Viceroy. Glavour leaped to his feet with a roar of rage
and lunged after her. Before he had left his chariot, the hand of his
equerry fell restrainingly on his shoulder. The Viceroy turned a
rage-maddened face toward his minion.
"Seize that maiden, Havenner!" he cried. "As I live, she shall be
sacrificed at the next games."
* * * * *
The equerry made no move to obey his superior's orders and Glavour's
face grew purple with rage.
"Obey my orders or you shall join her as a sacrifice!" he roared.
The equerry's face paled slightly and grew grim at the Viceroy's words
but no trace of fear appeared on his heavy countenance.
"Save your breath, Glavour," he said shortly, but in so quiet a voice
that no one but the Viceroy heard him. "You may be head of the Sons of
God on this planet but your power does not extend to life and death over
me, who am of the same blood that you are. I have the right to appeal to
Tubain from such a sentence. Before you strive to haul that girl away to
your already crowded seraglio against her will, listen to me. Do you
realize who she is?"
The Viceroy's face was a study. For a moment rage predominated and he
raised a mighty fist to strike Havenner down, but the equerry looked him
fearlessly in the eye. Slowly the hot rage faded and a deadly ferocity
took its place.
"You try me far, Havenner," he said in a quiet voice, yet with a hint of
steel in his tones, "yet your loyalty is above suspicion. Heard you not
the girl say she was the daughter of the Kildare of this province?"
"I heard, Your Excellency," replied the equerry, "but beyond that, she
is someone else. She is the affianced bride of Damis, the son of Hortan,
who was Viceroy before you."
"A Nepthalim!" exclaimed the Viceroy scornfully. "What matters that? Are
the desires of a half-breed bastard to stand above the wishes of the
ruler of the planet?"
"It is true that the mother of Damis was a Daughter of Man," said the
equerry quietly, "yet Hortan married her in honor. Damis is a man of
great influence and it would be well to reflect before you rob him of
his chosen bride. There is wide discontent with our rule which needs
only a leader to flare up. Remember that we are few and Jupiter is far
away."
"Havenner, you talk like a frightened woman," sneered the Viceroy. "Let
him join the ranks of the malcontents. For my part, I hope they revolt.
They need to be taught a lesson. Stand aside while I seize the maiden."
* * * * *
The equerry stood aside with a shrug of his shoulders and the Viceroy
sprang to the ground. The girl had run as rapidly as her clinging robes
would allow toward one of the beautiful buildings which lined the
thoroughfare. She had almost reached the doorway before Glavour reached
the ground and raced after her. His Jovian muscles carried his body
forward at a pace which no Terrestrial could equal. It was evident to
the watchers that he would seize Lura before she could reach the
sanctuary she sought.
A mingled chorus of cries of rage and hisses came from the Earthmen who
witnessed the scene. The Jovian guards strove to suppress the outcries
until a word from Havenner made them cease their efforts and close in
around the Viceregal chariot. The cries rose to a tumult but as yet none
of the Earthmen dared to raise a hand against the person of the
representative of Tubain, the far-off Jovian whom they had been forced
to acknowledge as God, and whom many of the ignorant believed _was_ God.
The Viceroy rapidly overtook his victim and his hand was outstretched to
grasp her when there came an interruption. From the doorway which the
girl had been striving to reach, a man burst forth and leaped between
her and her pursuer. Glavour stopped and glowered at the new obstacle in
the path of his sensuality.
The newcomer stood five inches over six feet in his flat sandals but it
was only in his unusual height and his enormous strength that he showed
the blood of his Jovian father. His feet were small and shapely with a
high-arched instep and his whole form was graceful and symmetrical.
Crisply curling yellow hair surmounted a head which Praxiteles would
have reveled in as a model for his youthful Hermes. As he faced the
Viceroy, his usual pleasant smile was gone and his face was set in grim
lines, his clear blue eyes as cold as the ice brought from the polar
regions to cool the Viceroy's drink.
* * * * *
The two stood and stared at one another, the black eyes of the Jovian
burning like fire in strange contrast to the cold glare of the blue
ones. Then tension in the street grew taut. The Earthmen gradually
closed in about them. At a word from Havenner, the Jovian guards closed
up and drew from their garments long black tubes. Presently Glavour
broke the silence.
"Make way, son of Hortan, for the Viceroy of God," he rumbled in his
deep-toned voice.
Damis made no reply, nor did he move a muscle. The rage deepened on the
Viceroy's face and he strode forward, his hand raised to strike down
this puny assailant who had interposed his slight form between the
massive limbs of the Jovian and the object of his desires. With a cry of
rage he brought down his huge hand and then Damis moved. So swiftly
that the eye could hardly follow his movements, he leaped to one side
and his own hand shot up. Fingers of steel circled the hairy wrist of
the Viceroy and stopped his hand in mid-air. For a moment Glavour was
too astonished at the idea of physical resistance to move. Damis, with
an almost contemptuous air, tossed aside the hand he held and made as if
to turn his back. With an inarticulate roar of rage, the Jovian charged.
Again Damis sprang to one side and his hand moved. In a long arc his
clenched fist shot up and caught Glavour on the chin and rocked the four
hundred pounds of bone and muscle that made up the Viceroy. For a moment
Glavour staggered and then his hand fell on Damis' shoulder. Exerting
all of his huge strength, he pulled his opponent toward him and threw
his massive arms about him. Damis made no attempt to wriggle out of the
bone-crushing grip, but, instead, threw his arms about the Jovian and
matched muscle against muscle. The Jovian guards, who had witnessed the
feats of strength which were the Viceroy's boast, expected only one
outcome, but to Havenner, who recalled that Hortan, the father of Damis,
had been one of the mightiest men of Jupiter, the issue was not a
foregone conclusion. Stealthily as a cat he crept forward, a long black
tube clenched in his hand.
* * * * *
Mightily the two strove. The face of the Jovian grew dark red and then
almost purple as he put forth his last ounce of strength to crush the
opponent whom he topped a good eighteen inches. For all of his effort,
not an inch did Damis yield. His face grew as pale as the Jovian's grew
red and his breath came whistling through his lips, but the strength he
had inherited from his mighty sire stood him in good stead. Inch by inch
he bent the huge form of his opponent backward. With a sudden effort,
the Jovian raised one of his huge misshapen feet and strove to bring his
mighty thighs to aid him in thrusting away his enemy. Damis' knee came
up and the Jovian dropped his foot with a howl of pain. His breath came
in gasps and he stared into the implacable blue eyes before him with a
sudden spasm of fear. At last Glavour had met his match.
He opened his lips to call to his guards for help but shame held back
the cry. Once he admitted defeat, the fear in which the Earthmen held
him would be shaken. With an effort he bent forward his head and buried
his huge fangs in Damis' shoulder. There was a cry from the watching
Earthmen as they surged forward. The Jovian guards ran to their ruler's
assistance but they were too far away. Havenner was close and he sprang
forward, thrusting the black tube which he carried, toward Damis.
A cry advised Damis of his danger. With a herculean effort he lifted the
huge Jovian from his feet and swung him around until the massive body
was between him and the threatening weapon of the equerry. As swiftly as
striking snakes his arms uncoiled from around Glavour's body and grasped
him by the shoulders. With one mighty heave he tore the Jovian's mouth
from his shoulder although the flesh was torn and lacerated by the
action. One arm went under Glavour's arm and back around until the hand
rested on the back of his neck. The other arm caught the Viceroy's arm
and twisted it behind his back. Glavour gave a cry of pain as the
punishing hold was applied. Holding his captive before him, Damis
turned to the equerry.
"Put up your tube," he said. "One hostile move and your ruler dies."
"Disintegrate him, Havenner!" gasped the Viceroy.
* * * * *
The equerry hesitated a moment but aid was at hand. The Jovian guards
had come up to the scene of the struggle and surrounded the pair, black
tubes in their hands. The sight of reinforcements roused the Viceroy's
lagging courage.
"Capture him alive!" he gasped. "He will be sacrificed at the next
games!"
With a roar the guards closed in on the struggling pair. As hairy hands
grasped his shoulders, Damis lunged back with all his strength. There
was the crack of a breaking bone and the Viceroy's arm hung dangling and
useless. Damis whirled on the guards, shaking himself loose for a moment
from their grasp, and his fists flew out. Two of the giants went down
before well-aimed blows but no one man, no matter what his might, could
fight against a score of the huge Jovians and Damis was borne to the
ground. Even as he fell, a roar went up from the watching Terrestrials
and with one accord they closed in to attack.
The Jovian guards who were nearest whirled about and raised the black
tubes threateningly. For a moment the Earthmen hesitated and then came
on with a rush. From the tubes came rays of intensely violet light. As
they fell on the front ranks of the charging Terrestrials, the form, on
which the rays impinged grew suddenly tenuous. The sunlight penetrated
through the bodies for a moment and then there was nothing but a group
of dancing motes of light to mark where they had stood.
* * * * *
Undaunted by the fate of their leaders, the balance of the mob surged
forward uttering cries of hate and rage. From all the doorways, fresh
hordes of Earthmen came rushing to join the fray. Again and again the
terrible rays of the Jovian guards blasted scores of their assailants
into nothingness but more came. Presently the tubes of the Jovians began
to lose their power and the violet light became lighter in shade. With a
roar the Earthmen swept forward and the huge guards went down under the
onrushing waves of humanity. Half a dozen of them were dragged down and
hurled back into the milling crowd where they were torn limb from limb.
The balance of the guards, guided by Havenner's stentorian shouts,
closed in around Glavour and the prisoner and battered their way by
sheer brute force toward the Viceregal chariot. They had reached in and
climbed in when a feminine shout pierced the din of conflict.
"Damis! They have Damis prisoner! Rescue him!"
With a roar, the mob charged again. Mightily the Jovians strove but they
were outnumbered by hundreds to one. One after another was torn from the
chariot until Damis freed himself by a mighty effort and leaped to the
ground. As he did so, the driver's hand found the controlling lever and
the chariot shot forward, crushing under its wheels several luckless
Earthmen who stood in its path. A roar of triumph rose from the crowd
and Damis was hastily lifted to their shoulders. He looked down on his
rescuers with an anguished face.
"Lura!" he gasped. "Is she safe?"
One of the Terrestrials shouted something unintelligible and pointed up.
Damis' gaze followed the direction in which he pointed. From an upper
window of the building into which she had fled, Lura's face, wreathed
with smiles, looked down on him. He smiled and waved in triumph to her.
There was a stir on the outskirts of the crowd and an elderly man, tall
for an Earthman and with dignity and authority written large on his
countenance, made his way through the crowd. At a word from him, Damis
was lowered to his feet to face the newcomer.
"Damis," said the elderly man, "I never thought to grasp the hand of a
Nepthalim or of anyone with Jovian blood in his veins in friendship, yet
I can do no less than offer my hand. It is the thanks of a father to the
saviour of his daughter."
* * * * *
Damis met the outstretched hand with a grip that made the elderly man
wince.
"It is an honor and a pleasure to grasp in friendship the hand of
Turgan, the Kildare of this province," he said, "the hand of one who was
born to be ruler in fact, instead of an underling under a Jovian
master."
"It is true that my father was king of this country before the Jovians
came, forty years ago," said Turgan gravely, "yet now there is no honor
or merit in it. Even the rank of Kildare, which is but that of a slave
ruling other more unfortunate slaves, could not have prevented my only
daughter from being dragged away to the seraglio of that monster. To
such a pass has one been brought whose birth made him the peer of any.
But now we must plan and plan swiftly, else are we undone. Glavour will
return with his minions. Safety will be found only in flight, for mere
numbers cannot oppose the weapons they will turn against us. Damis, so
far you have been one with our Jovian masters, as have all of the
Nepthalim. Now it is war to the death between them and us. On which side
do you stand?"
Damis hesitated as the Kildare's keen gray eyes bored into his own.
"My father was Viceroy of the Earth in the days gone by," he said
slowly, "and he planned that I should take his place. His dream was a
peaceful union of the strength and science of Jupiter with the beauty
and humanity of the Earth. True to his dream, I have cleaved to his
people and striven to bring it about, but I can see now the folly of his
ambition. In stature and mental power he was a Jovian, in all else he
was a Terrestrial. Since his death I have seen you stripped bit by bit
of what he left you until now you are lower than the slaves on Jupiter,
who can appeal to Tubain against a cruel master. Even I, a Nepthalim,
the son of a Viceroy, am forced to revolt to save the maiden I love.
Henceforth, I give up my father's dream of peace and do what my heart
tells me is right. It is war to the death between the Sons of God and
the Sons of Man, and I, who am descended from a Son of God and a
Daughter of Man, cleave to my mother's people."
* * * * *
A shout of joy came from all who heard his ringing voice announce his
new allegiance. Damis had ever a reputation as a humane man and he was
guilty of none of the brutalities which made the Jovians so detested and
which were bettered by those of the Nepthalim who had the power. It was
only the influence which Damis had wielded with the Earthmen which had
prevented many an outbreak which would have been ruthlessly crushed by
the Jovian overlords. To know that the son of a Viceroy, reputed one of
the most brilliant as well as one of the strongest of Jovian blood, was
one with them, made them hope that they might make some headway against
their oppressors and wring from them some small measure of liberty.
Turgan's face was wreathed with smiles.
"Again I offer you my hand, Damis," he said. "Before it was as a father
thanking you for the rescue of his daughter. Now it is a father
welcoming the son he has always longed for and whom he feared he would
never have. My consent to your union with Lura which was grudgingly
given only to save her from the dishonor of being dragged a slave to
Glavour's seraglio, is withdrawn, and in its place I give you a happy
father's joyous consent to the marriage."
There were tears in the old Kildare's eyes as he grasped the hand of the
young blond giant. For a moment they stood with clasped hands, two
strong men taking the measure of one another and each found the other
good. The Kildare dropped Damis' hand and turned to the crowd.
"To your homes!" he cried sharply. "The Sons of God will return with new
weapons and it is my wish that none be found to oppose them. All within
sound of my voice who are members of the inner council will join me in
the palace. Damis, come with me."
Followed by Damis and a score of Earthmen, the Kildare led the way into
a building. As they entered, Damis cast a swift glance around and looked
questioningly at Turgan.
"Lura--?" he asked hesitantly.
"Will join us in the council room," said Turgan with a smile.