Then Curt knew!
_It was Tor Ekkov's voice behind him, sending his strident,
high-pitched aria into the telector-beam to Mars. Sound! These things
feared super-sonic sound!_
Lorine screamed, clutched at Curt's arm.
Far down the corridor, reaching almost from wall to wall, the huge
bulk of the Zemmd itself sped toward them. Streamers of angry violet
splashed before it, illuminating the scene. The Zemmd's own men tumbled
pell-mell out of the way.
The four smaller _Energons_ sped toward the parent bulk, touched, and
merged. But the Zemmd never paused. Tor's high-pitched tune seemed not
to affect it!
A heavy potential rose crackling from the walls. Lorine crumpled and
went down. Jeffers, reeling upon his feet, still blasted with the
electro but to no avail. Part of the potential washed upon Curt and
sent him staggering....
Curt hurled himself back into the room, jabbed the rifle at Tor before
the Martian knew what was happening.
"Sing, damn you, keep singing! Send your song to Mars! You were right
after all!"
Tor's eyes went wide, but he needed no urging. He sang! The Martian
sibilants were meaningless to Curt, nor did he care. Tor's voice
reached the higher octaves, far higher than any operatic star of Earth!
Down the scale, then up, and up, endlessly, Tor sang his message to
Mars. It took on a savage note, something of the pagan was in it--and
something of fright.
For now it was Curt who had gone mad with fanatical purpose!
"Sing, damn you, or I'll blast you where you stand." He reached to
Tor's side and lifted the electro. He reached to the Tele-panel and
fumbled at the controls.
Suddenly the sound amplified a thousand-fold. It flooded the room,
reverberating, rebounding into the corridor from wall to wall, as
selenic cells poured additional power into the instrument.
"Sing!" Curt shouted. And Tor nodded. Sanity seemed to come back to
him, and he realized what was happening.
Curt hurried to the corridor. Already the Zemmd's potential was
diminishing! The great bulk was tumbling back, trying to escape the
waves of strident sound that washed upon it.
Now Curt could _feel_ the shrieking crescendo, like a file rasping over
naked nerve-ends. And the Zemmd seemed to disintegrate! The color died
away. It broke apart into hundreds of the smaller _Energon_ shapes.
They were dull and disorganized now, moving aimlessly, crashing into
the walls where they clung, then slid to the floor.
But a few of them retained their inner life-force! They came
surging forward. Curt threw up the radiant-rifle, spread a swath of
disintegrant power that sent them buffeting back. Gradually they
blanked out, until nothing moved in the length of corridor. The Zemmd's
men had long since vanished from the scene.
* * * * *
It was over in minutes. Behind Curt came a harsh roar, then a crash of
tubes and metal as the Tele-Magnum failed under the overload of power.
But Tor still sang.
Curt stepped warily forward, touched one of the grayish translucent
shapes. It was warm. A decided shock, more than electrical, went
through his arm.
"These things aren't finished yet! We've got to hurry!" He stared at
Lorine. "What happened to Jeffers?"
She shook her head. Horror was still mirrored on her face. But Jeffers
was gone! Somehow he had managed to make his way out!
All weariness vanished, as Curt raced back through the corridors with
Lorine hurrying after him. He had a chill premonition of what Jeffers
was up to!
A deathly silence settled over them. Tor's singing had stopped. Not
until they reached the lifts did Curt notice that Tor had caught
up with them. The little Martian was deathly pale but his eyes
fever-bright, as he shook his head drunkenly and clutched at his throat.
Curt paid him no heed now. They tumbled into one of the cars. A
propulsion beam hummed, and they rose swiftly toward the upper compound.
Jeffers was there, battling his way past a score of the Zemmd's
men. But there was a great difference in these men now. They seemed
disorganized and aimless without the co-ordinating, driving power of
the Zemmd!
Jeffers was heading toward a hangar-like building. The spaceship with
the Frequency Tuner! The man's scheme was obvious now; he had given up
on Lorine, decided to try it alone!
Curt hurled himself forward, and a path opened for him as the men
scurried to cover before the blast of the radiant-rifle. At all costs
he must reach Jeffers--
He was too late. Already Jeffers had reached the building fifty yards
away. He fumbled at the door, then disappeared. Curt was there seconds
later. A gorge of despair rose in him, as he found the door barred from
the inside.
There might still be time! Jeffers would have to find the secret of the
Electronic Curtain reaching above them. Frantically, Curt blasted at
the door. The metal resisted stubbornly, but gradually it began to melt
away.
Then, from within, came a smooth droning sound. It increased in tempo.
The building trembled against the full reverberant power. The Frequency
Tuner! Jeffers was going to try to drive _through_ the Electronic
Curtain.
Curt realized his danger, and whirled away. The building smashed apart
like an eggshell, hurling debris in all directions. Curt plummeted
forward, caught a glimpse of the silver spacer streaking obliquely up
on the whining power of the Tuner....
But it wasn't enough! It struck the Curtain and penetrated part way,
and there it dangled. There came a scintillant hell of fire and flaming
metal. In seconds, the spacer's hull became cherry red and then white.
Huge molten blobs of it dripped down, then an explosion sent them
scattering across the compound.
What was left of the spacer came slipping out of the gaping rent in the
Curtain. Gravity took it. It fell in a fiery tangle of wreckage.
Curt was scarcely aware that his legs propelled him away from the scene.
He caught sight of Lorine and Tor Ekkov, and hurried toward them. They
huddled in a doorway and looked out upon the scene. Flames crackled up
from a few of the buildings. None of the other men were in sight; they
had scurried somewhere to safety.
"There went our last chance! Jeffers fixed everything!"
Curt's voice was a well of bitterness. These _Energon_ forces weren't
finished by any means, and Curt knew it. Their work would go on....
But his mission for DeHarries was finished. The secret of this place
was still secret.
The fate of the Federation had rested upon Curt's shoulders, and he had
failed.
* * * * *
As if in answer, a blaze of violet light appeared far across the
compound. It was the Zemmd again!--a smaller entity now, but Curt knew
it would increase in power as more and more of the _Energons_ revived
to join it!
It moved slowly, as if searching. _Searching for the Curtain--and
Lorine._ It disappeared, appeared again, and once more vanished from
sight.
"No use fighting that thing." Curt looked down at his hands, then
laughed bitterly. He had lost the radiant-rifle somewhere. Even his
electro was gone. "Maybe if we keep out of sight, it'll think we
perished in the spaceship!"
"Curt!" Lorine's huddled figure came suddenly erect, she stood taut
with excitement. Then they all heard the sound. Somewhere overhead, but
coming nearer. The sound of a spacer!
It sped past the broken rent in the Curtain a hundred feet above. It
returned, braked, hovered on underhull repulsion beams. Then it eased
through the hole in the Curtain with little room to spare, trailing
part of the K'Yarthan fog with it.
Already Curt was racing toward the spacer, as it settled down. A man
stepped from the lock, others crowding behind him.
"Back! Back there, you!" The man levelled a deadly power-rapier at
Curt. "Who are you, and what is this place?"
"Never mind who we are," Curt grated, "lift us out of here!" He
recognized the Imperial Venus Emblem on the man's tunic.
"We were Tele-casting, and a strange beam cut into our etheric channel!
The Empress Aladdian ordered that it be traced. Our directional-finders
brought us here." The Venusian Guard stared around at the flaming
holocaust.
"Man, if you value your lives, get us in that ship and lift gravs!"
Something of Curt's urgency caught at the man. He nodded, turned and
gave swift orders. The radiant bulk of the Zemmd came into sight again
and Curt saw it speeding, whirling toward them.
They tumbled into the ship. The lock closed, and seconds later they
were lifting up, carefully, through the Curtain. There the spacer
poised. The Venusian stared through the under ports at the blazing,
angry bulk of the Zemmd.
Something of the truth mirrored in the man's eyes as he turned to Curt.
"Shall we try blasting it? We have neutros and Ingrams! We have--"
"No! It'll take super-sonic weapons to completely destroy these things.
Powerful ones. Take me to Aladdian! I must contact Co-ordinator
DeHarries of Earth."
* * * * *
Tor Ekkov paced endlessly, as they sped toward the hospitable
continents of Venus. His glorious voice was gone, but his eyes had come
alive and vibrant. He knew he'd soon return to his own people.
But Lorine ... she was a forlorn and shattered figure. Her face had
gone tragic, especially at the mention of Earth.
"You're still thinking of what Jeffers told you?" Curt said. "Yes,
Lorine, I'll have to take you back to Earth. But I can get absolute
amnesty for you now. I shall demand it! And there are other reasons,
Lorine. There are reasons--"
A tightness in his throat made his voice sound strange.