Trapped by the most feared of space pirates
Devil Garrett, Starrett Blade was fighting for
his life. Weaponless, his ship gone, he was
pinning his hopes on a girl--who wanted him dead.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Spring 1945.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Starrett Blade crouched in the rocks by the tiny Centaurian lake. It
was only about two or three hundred feet across, but probably thousands
of feet deep. This lake, and hundreds of others like it, were the
only things to break the monotony of the flat, rocky surface of Alpha
Centauri III--called the most barren planet in space.
Ten minutes ago, Star Blade's ship had spun into the stagnant waters
before him. An emergency release had flung the air-lock doors open, and
the air pressure had flung Star out. And now he was waiting for Devil
Garrett to come down to the water's edge to search for him.
For eight years, Devil Garrett had been the top space pirate in the
void. For a year, Star himself had personally been hunting him. And on
a tour over Alpha III, a Barden energy-beam had stabbed up at Blade's
ship, and Star Blade had crashed into the lake.
That Barden Beam had Star worried and puzzled. It took a million volts
of power for a split-second flash of the beam. Garrett didn't have an
atomics plant on Alpha III--if he had, escaping rays would point it
out, no matter how well it was camouflaged. There was no water power,
for there was no running water. There were only the lakes ... and tidal
power was out, for Alpha III had no moon.
However, that could wait. Star slid the electron knife from his
water-proof sheath, gripped it firmly. He could hear quick footsteps as
a man came down the trail that led directly past his hiding place.
It wasn't Garrett, which was disappointing. But it was one of his men,
and he was heavily armed. That didn't worry Star.