Among Friends at Last
The time for the landing of the _Sirius_ was drawing near, and the
castaways upon Ganymede had donned their only suits of earthly clothing,
instead of the makeshifts of mole-skin, canvas, and leather they had
been wearing so long. Thorns and underbrush had pierced and torn their
once natty outing costumes, and sparks and flying drops of molten metal
from Stevens' first crude forges had burned in them many gaping holes.
"I did the best I could with them, Steve, but they look pretty crumby,"
Nadia wrinkled her nose as she studied the anything but invisible seams,
darns, and staring patches everywhere so evident, both in her own
apparel of gray silk and in the heavy whipcord clothing of her
companion.
"You did a great job, considering what you had to work with," he
reassured her. "Besides, who cares about a few patches? I feel a lot
more civilized in my own clothes, don't you?"
"Well ... yes," she admitted. "They're silk, anyway, even if they don't
look like much, and I'm just reveling in the feel of them next to me
after the horrible, rough, scratchy things I've been wearing. See
anything yet?"
"Not yet." Stevens had been scanning the heavens with a pair of
binoculars. "That doesn't mean much, though, as they'll be just about in
the sun and they'll be coming like a scared dog. Might as well put away
these glasses--we probably won't be able to see them until they're right
on top of us."
"What shall we take with us?"
"Don't know--nothing, probably, since they must have a campaign already
mapped out. I'd like to salvage a lot of this junk, but I'm afraid we
won't be able to. I'm going to take my bow and arrows, though, aren't
you?"
"Absolutely! That's one thing that's better than anything I ever had on
Earth. This bow of mine is perfect."
"There they are! Three rousing cheers! Say, but that old hulk looks good
to me!"
"Doesn't she, though!" cried Nadia, vibrant with excitement. "You know,
Steve. I've hardly dared really to believe it until this very minute. Oh
look! What's that?"
The _Sirius_ had stopped in midair and they could see, far in the
distance, the tiny sphere of the Jovians, rushing to the attack.
"Oh, how horrible!" cried the girl, her voice breaking. "I'm afraid,
Steve...."
"You needn't be, ace. I've told you they won't go off half-cocked as
long as Westfall is on the job. They're ready for anything, or they
wouldn't be here--but just the same I wish that they had that Titanian
mirror and a couple of those bombs!"
In a moment more the Jovian plane of force was launched, the powerful
ray-screens flared into white-hot, sparkling defense, and the battle was
on. Held spell-bound as the castaways were by that spectacular duel, yet
Stevens' trained mind warned him of the perils of their position.
"Grab your bow and we'll beat it!" and he rapidly led her away from the
steel structures to an open hillside, well away from any projection,
tree, or sharp point of rock. "If that keeps up very long, we're going
to see some real fireworks, and I don't know whether there will be
enough left of our plant here to salvage or not. Everything is grounded,
of course, but I don't believe that ordinary grounds will amount to much
against what's coming."
"What _are_ you talking about?" demanded Nadia.
"Look!" he replied, pointing, and as he spoke, a terrific bolt of
lightning launched itself from the incandescent screen of the Jovian
vessel upon their slender ultra-radio tower, which subsided instantly
into a confused mass of molten and twisted metal.
* * * * *
As the power of the beams was increased and as the combatants drew
nearer and nearer the ground, the lightning display grew ever more
violent. Well below the canyon as the warring vessels were, the
power-plant and penstock did not suffer at all and only a few discharges
struck the _Forlorn Hope_--discharges which were carried easily to
ground by the enormous thickness of her armor--but every prominent
object for hundreds of yards below the _Hope_ was literally blasted out
of existence. Radio tower, directors and fittings; trees, shrubs, sharp
points of rock--all were struck again and again; fused, destroyed,
utterly obliterated by the inconceivable energy being dissipated by
those impregnable screens of force. Even almost flat upon the ground as
the spectators were, each individual hair upon their heads strove
fiercely to stand erect, so heavily charged was the very air. Stevens'
arm was blue for days, such was Nadia's grip upon it, and she herself
could scarcely breathe in that mighty arm's constriction--but each was
conscious only of that incredibly violent struggle, of that duel to the
death being waged there before their eyes with those frightful weapons,
hitherto unknown to man. They saw the _Sirius_ triumphant, and Stevens
led the dancing girl back into their dwelling of steel.
"Danger's all over now. Radio's gone, but we should fret a lot about
that. It has done its stuff--we can use the communicators. And now,
sweetheart, I'm going to kiss you--for the first time in seven
lifetimes."
Locked in each other's arms, they watched the scene until Stevens
thought it time to send his message. Then, running hand in hand toward
the huge space-cruiser, they were snatched apart and drawn up toward the
double airlocks of the main entrance. Pressure gradually brought up to
normal, they were ushered into the control room, where Nadia glanced
around quickly and almost took her father off his feet by her
tempestuous rush into his arms.
"Oh, Daddy darling. I just knew you'd come along! I haven't seen
you for a million years!" she exclaimed, rapturously. "And Bill,
too--wonderful!" as she fervently embraced a young man wearing the
uniform of a lieutenant of Interplanetary Police. "Ouch, Bill--you're
breaking all my ribs!"
"Well, you cracked three of mine. Maybe you don't know how husky you
are, but you've got a squeeze like a full grown boa constrictor!" He
held her off at arms' length and studied her with admiration. "Gee,
it's fine to see you again, Sis. You're looking great, too--I think
I'll bring my girl out here to live. You always were a knockout, but
now you're the loveliest thing I ever saw!"
He made his way through the group surrounding Stevens, while Nadia and
her father talked earnestly.
"I'm Bill Newton. Thanks," he said, simply, holding out his hand, which
was taken in a bone-crushing grip.
"Bring him over here, Bill!" Nadia called before Stevens could find
a reply.
"I don't know how to say anything, Stevens," the officer continued, in
embarrassment, as the two men turned to obey the summons. "She's a good
kid, and we think a lot of her. We'd about given her up. We.... She....
Oh, rats, what's the use? You know what I mean. You're there, Stevens,
like a...."
"Clam it, ace!" Stevens interrupted. "I get you, to nineteen decimals.
And you don't half know just what a good kid she really is. She's the
reason we're here--we were down pretty close to bed-rock for a while,
she stood up when I wilted. She's got everything. She...."
"Clam it yourself, Steve! Don't believe a word of it, Dad and Bill.
_Wilt_!" Nadia's voice dripped scorn. "Why, he di...."
"Please!" Newton's voice was somewhat husky as he silenced the clamor of
the three young people, all talking at once. "I will not embarrass you
further by trying to say something that no words can express. You told
me that you would take care of her, and I learn that you have done so."
"I did what I could, but most of the credit belongs to her, no matter
what she says," Stevens insisted. "Anyway, sir, here she is; alive, well
and ... unharmed," and his eyes bore unflinchingly the piercing gaze of
the older man, who was reassured and pleased by what he read therein.
"One thing I want to say right now, though, that may make you feel like
canceling the welcome. I loved Nadia even before the _Arcturus_ was
attacked, and since then, coming to know her as I have, the feeling
hasn't lessened any."
"Nadia has already told me all about you two," said her father, "and the
welcome stands. If you could take care of her as well as you have done
since you left the _Arcturus_, I have no doubt of your ability to take
care of her for life. We have been examining the work you have done
here, son, and the more I saw of it the more amazed I became that you
could have succeeded as you did. We are deeply indebted.... Just a
minute! There's my call--I'm wanted in Fifteen. I'll see you again
directly."
"Hi, Norm!" Stevens further relieved the surcharged atmosphere.
"As soon as you and Quince can leave those controls come over and see us,
will you?"
"All x--coming up!" sounded Brandon's deep and pleasant bass, and the
two rescuers, who had tactfully avoided the family reunion, came over
and greeted the third of their triumvirate.
"Ho, Perce--you look fit." Brandon ran an expert hand over Stevens'
arm and shoulder. "Looks as if he might last a round or two, doesn't
he, Quince?"
"You are looking fine, Steve. Neither of you appear any the worse for
your experiences. So this is Nadia? We have heard of you, Miss Newton."
"I believe that, knowing Dad," she replied. "Thanks, both of you, for
digging us out. I've heard about you two, and I'm going to kiss you
both."
Westfall, the silent and reserved, was taken aback, but Brandon met her
more than half-way.
"All x, Nadia--payment in full received and hereby acknowledged," he
laughed, as he allowed her feet to return to the floor. "Even if it was
some stout lads from Mars and Venus that did all the work we'll take the
reward--especially since Alcantro and Fedanzo couldn't feel even such a
high-voltage salute as that one was, and I can't picture you kissing a
Venerian even if you could get to him. Whenever you get lost again, be
sure to let us know, now that you've got our address. If I know Perce at
all, you've heard of us 'til you're sick of it and us--it's a weakness
of his--talking too much."
"Why, it's no such th...." began Nadia, but broke off as an aide came up
and saluted smartly.
"Pardon me, but General Crowninshield requests that Doctor Brandon,
Doctor Westfall, and Doctor Stevens join the council in Lounge Fifteen
as soon as convenient." He saluted again and turned away.
"Yes, that's right, folks--we've got to take a lot of steps, fast--see
you later," and Brandon, taking each of the other two by an arm, marched
them away toward the designated assembly room.
* * * * *
There, already seated at a long table, were Czuv, King, and
Breckenridge, all fully recovered, engaged in earnest conversation with
Newton and Crowninshield. Alcantro and Fedanzo, the Martian scientists,
were listening intently, as were the two Venerians Dol Kenor and Pyraz
Amonar. The eyes of the three newcomers, however, did not linger upon
the group at the table, but were irresistibly drawn to one corner of the
room, where six creatures lay in the heaviest manacles afforded by the
stores of the Interplanetary Police. Not only were they manacled, but
each was facing a ray-projector, held by a soldier whose expression
showed plainly that he would rather press the lethal contact than not.
"Oh--those the things we're fighting?" Brandon stopped at the threshold
and stared intently at the captive hexans. Goggling green eyes glaring
venomously, they were lying quiet, but tense; mighty muscles ready to
burst into berserk activity should the attention of a guard waver for
a single instant.
But little more than half as large as the savage creatures with whom
Stevens had fought in the mountain glade upon Ganymede, the hexans
resembled those aborigines only as civilized men might resemble gigantic
primordial savages of our own Earth. Brandon's gaze went from short,
powerful legs up a round, red body to the enormous, freakish double pair
of shoulders, with its peculiar universal jointing. From the double
shoulders sprang four limbs, the front pair of which were undoubtedly
arms, terminating in large, but fairly normal, hands. The intermediate
limbs were longer than the legs and were much more powerful than the
arms, and ended in members that were very evidently feet and hands
combined. What in a human being would be the back of the hand was the
sole of the foot--when walking upon that foot the long and dexterous
thumb and fingers were curled up, out of the way and protected from
injury, in the palm of the hand. From the monstrous shoulders there
rose a rather long and very flexible, yet massive and columnar neck,
supporting a head neither human nor bestial--a head utterly unknown to
Terrestrial history or experience. The massive cranium bespoke a highly
developed and intelligent brain, as did the three large and expressive,
peculiar, triangular eyes. The three sensitive ears were very long,
erect, and sharply pointed. Each was set immediately above an eye, one
upon each side of the head and one in front. Each ear was independently
and instantly movable in any direction, to catch the faintest sound.
The head, like the body and limbs, was entirely devoid of hair. The
horns, so prominent in the savages Stevens had seen, were in this highly
intelligent race but vestigial--three small, sharp, black protuberances
only an inch in length, one surmounting each ear, outlining the lofty
forehead. The nose occupied almost the whole middle of the face and was
not really a nose--it developed into a small and active proboscis. The
chin was receding almost to the point of disappearance, so that the
mouth, with its multiple rows of small, sharp, gleaming-white teeth, was
almost hidden under the face instead of being a part of it. Such were
the hexans, at whom the Big Three stared in undisguised amazement.
"Attention, please!" Newton called the meeting to order. "We have
learned that all the passengers of the _Arcturus_, and all the crew save
three, are alive and safe for the time being. Most of them are upon the
satellite Europa. However, I understand that we are not yet sufficiently
well armed to withstand such an attack in force as will certainly
develop when we move to rescue them. This seems to be a war of applied
physics--Doctor Brandon, as spokesman for the Scientific forces of the
expedition, what are your suggestions?"
"Anticipating an attack in response to signals probably sent out by the
enemy," replied Brandon. "I headed directly south immediately. We are
now well south the ecliptic, and are traveling at considerably more than
full Martian acceleration. Before making any suggestions, I should like
to hear from Captain Czuv, who is more familiar than we are with the
common enemy. Are they apt to follow us: can they detect us if we should
drift at constant velocity; and can we search the brains of the
prisoners with his Callistonian thought-exchanger, if he should build
one with our help?"
"If they are close enough to us to overtake us without too much lost
time, they will certainly attack us," Czuv answered at a nod from
Newton. "Ordinarily they would pursue us to the limits of the Solar
System if necessary, but since they have suffered reverses of late and
cannot spare any vessels, they will probably not pursue us far. Yes,
they can detect us, even without the driving rays, since this vessel
uses much low-tension, low-frequency electricity in its automatic
machinery, lights, and so on. No; our thought-transformer cannot take
thoughts by force, and the hexans will exchange no ideas with us. They
are implacable and deadly foes of all humanity, irrespective of planet
or race. Mercy is to them unknown--they neither give nor take quarter."
"I can bear him out in that," Crowninshield interposed grimly. "The
first one to recover snapped our ordinary handcuffs like so much thread
and literally tore four men to pieces before the rest of us could ray
him. Will you need me longer, Director Newton?"
"I think not. General. Captain Czuv, you have made no headway with
them?" asked the Director.
"None whatever, as I foretold. They understand me thoroughly, since two
of them speak my own tongue, but nothing that they have said can ever
be repeated here. I knew from the first that all such attempts would be
fruitless, but I have tried--and failed. I suggest what I suggested at
first--put them to death, here and now, as they lie there, for most
assuredly they will in some way contrive to take toll of lives of your
own humanity if you allow them to live."
"You may be right," said Newton, "but neither the General nor myself
can give the order for their death, since Interplanetary law does not
countenance such summary action. However, the guards are fully warned of
the peril, and will ray every prisoner at the first sign of unruliness.
General Crowninshield, you may remove the prisoners and deal with them
in accordance with...."
* * * * *
Pandemonium reigned. At Crowninshield's signal for the guards to leave
the room with their captives, all six had strained furiously at their
bonds and three of them had broken free in a flash, throwing themselves
upon the guards with unthinkable ferocity. Stevens, seeing a
ray-projector in a hand of one of the prisoners, hurled his heavy chair
instantly and with terrific force. The projector flew into the air,
shattered and useless, while the hexan was knocked into a corner by the
momentum of the massive projectile and lay there, stunned and broken.
Brandon, likewise reacting instantaneously, had bent over and seized
a leg of the table, bracing his knee against the corner. With a mighty
lunge of his powerful body he wrenched out the support and with a
continuation of the same motion, he brought the jagged oak head of his
terrible club down full upon the crown of the second hexan, who had
already torn one guard apart and was leaping toward Czuv, his hereditary
foe. In midflight he was dashed to the floor, his head a shapeless,
pulpy mass, and Brandon, bludgeon again aloft, strode deeper into the
fray. For a brief moment searing lethal beams probed here and there,
chains clanked and snapped, once more that ponderous and irresistible
oaken mace fell like the hammer of Thor, again spattering brains and
blood abroad as it descended--then again came silence. The six erstwhile
prisoners lay dead, but they had taken five of the guards with
them--literally dismembered, hideously torn limb from limb by the
superhuman, incredible physical strength and utter ferocity of the
hexans.
By common consent the meeting was adjourned to another room, for the
business in hand could not be postponed.
"Captain Czuv was right--we Tellurians could not believe in the
existence of such a race without the evidence of our own senses." Newton
reopened the meeting. "From this time on we take no prisoners. Doctor
Brandon, you may resume."
"The detectors and lookouts will give ample warning of any attack, and
Doctor Westfall has suggested that we should have all possible facts
at hand before we try to decide upon a course of action. We should like
to hear the full reports of Captain King, Captain Czuv, Chief Pilot
Breckenridge, and Doctor Stevens."
The four men told their stories tersely and rapidly, while the others
listened in deep attention. As the last speaker sat down, Newton again
turned to Brandon, who silently jerked his head at Westfall, knowing his
own inadequacy in such a situation--realizing that here was needed
Westfall's cold and methodical thinking.
"Director Newton and gentlemen," Westfall spoke calmly and precisely.
"We have much to do before we can meet the hexans upon equal terms.
We have many new fields of force and rays to develop, of whose nature
and necessity Doctor Brandon is already aware. Then, too, we must
recalculate our visirays so that we can operate at greater range and
efficiency. We must also examine the hexan space-ship which is towing,
to do which it will be desirable to drift at constant velocity for a
time. In it we may find instruments or devices as yet unknown to us.
It also occurs to me that since this is an Interplanetary Police problem
of the first magnitude, we should at once get in touch with Police
Headquarters, so that the Peace Fleet can be armed as we ourselves are,
or shall be, armed; for a large and highly efficient fleet will be
necessary to do that which must be done. It is, of course, a foregone
conclusion that Interplanetary humanity will support the humanity of
Callisto against the hexans.
"It is also self-evident that we must stay here and rescue the
Tellurians now upon Europa and Callisto, but we are not yet in position
to decide just how that rescue is to be accomplished. Four courses are
apparently open to us. First, to attempt it as soon as we shall have
strengthened our armament as much as is now possible. That would invite
a massed attack, and in my opinion would be foolish--probably suicidal.
Second, to stand by at a distance until the rocket-ship is launched,
then to escort it back to the Earth. Third, to aid the Callistonians as
much as possible while awaiting the completion of the rocket-vessel.
Fourth, and perhaps the most feasible and quickest, it may be possible
for the Callistonian rocket-ships to bring out fellow-Tellurians, a few
at a time, to us here out in space, since they are apparently able to
come and go at will. However, I would recommend that we make no plans
for the rescue as yet--there is little use in attempting to deal with an
ever-changing situation until we are ready to act forthwith. I suggest
that we strengthen our offensive and defensive armament first, then
secure information as to the exact status of affairs, both upon Callisto
and upon Europa. Then, ready to act, we will do at once whatever seems
called for by the situation then obtaining."
"The program as outlined seems eminently sensible. Are there any
comments or suggestions?" None having been offered, Director Newton
adjourned the meeting and each man attacked his particular problem.
True to Czuv's prediction the hexans did not deem it worthwhile to
pursue the Terrestrial vessel, so obviously and so earnestly fleeing
from them, and shortly, the acceleration was cut off, to render possible
a thorough study of the two halves of the spherical warship of the
enemy. Scientists donned space-suits and studied every feature of
the strange vessel, while mechanics dismantled and transferred to the
_Sirius_ every device and instrument of interest. One or two novel and
useful applications of rays and forces were found, their visirays and
communicators in particular being of a high degree of efficiency; but
upon the whole the science of the hexans was found to be inferior to
that now known to the scientists of Interplanetary's flying laboratory.
Brandon studied the hexan power-system most carefully, and, everything
in readiness and after a long talk with Westfall, he called a general
conference in the control-room.
"Gentlemen, we have done about everything we can do for the time being.
By combining the best features of the visirays and communicators of
the hexans with our own newly-perfected devices, we now have a really
excellent system of communication. Our friends from Mars and Venus
have so altered and enlarged our force-controls that our offensive
and defensive fields, rays, and screens leave little to be desired.
In power we are far ahead of the enemy. They apparently know nothing
of the possibilities of cosmic radiation, but depend upon tight-beam
transmission from their own power-plants--which transmission they have
perfected to a point far beyond anything reached by us of the three
planets. They do not use accumulators, and therefore their dissipation
is limited to their maximum reception, which is about seventy thousand
kilofranks. Since we can dissipate ten times that amount of energy, we
could withstand, for a short time, the simultaneous attacks of ten of
their vessels. Eleven or more of them, however, would be able to crush
our defensive screens--and Captain Czuv has seen as many as a hundred of
their space-ships in one formation. Furthermore, since they have several
times our maximum acceleration, they could concentrate quickly upon any
desired point. We could not escape them by flight if they really set out
to overtake us, which they certainly will do if we again venture into
their territory. Therefore it is clear that we cannot subject ourselves
to any attack in force and it follows that we cannot do much of anything
until the police fleet of some five hundred vessels can be re-armed and
can join us near Callisto. This will require several months at best.
As you already know, it has been decided that we should not return to
any of the minor planets, as to do so might invite a hexan attack upon
our police fleet which is as yet unprepared. We are now heading for
Uranus, in the hope that such a course will distract the attention of
the hexans from Tellus, even though they probably already know that we
are Tellurians. Our new communicator ray will reach any member of the
Jovian system from this point. It has been decided that it is safe to
use it, since it employs an almost absolutely tight beam of very small
diameter, and since we know that that one hexan vessel, at least, had
no apparatus sufficiently sensitive to detect a beam of that nature.
We will therefore now get in touch with the Callistonians and with our
own people."
* * * * *
Brandon seated himself before the communicator screen, and while the
others packed themselves closely around his stool, he snapped on the
visiray and turned the dials which directed that invisible, immensely
complex beam through space. The screen was apparently in itself a coign
of vantage, flying through space with the velocity of light, and the
watchers gasped involuntarily and drew themselves together, as with that
unthinkable speed they flashed down toward the surface of Callisto.
So realistic was the impression that they themselves were hurtling
through the void, that they could scarcely reason themselves into
believing their positive knowledge that the impending collision was
not an actual happening! Reducing the velocity of the projection
abruptly as it approached the satellite, Brandon flashed it down into
a crater indicated by Czuv, and along a tunnel to the city of Zbardk,
where the Callistonian captain held a long conversation with the Council
of the nation. Frowning in thought, he turned to Newton and spoke
seriously and slowly.
"Immediately after the loss of our super-plane, with the supposed death
of King, Breckenridge, and myself, the other Tellurian officers were
returned to Europa, since even they could be of no assistance to us
Callistonians in our struggle against the new, high-acceleration vessels
of the hexans. The present situation is much more serious than I would
have believed possible. The last vessel going to visit Wruszk, our city
upon Europa, was caught and destroyed by the hexans, and for many weeks
no ship or message has come from there to Callisto. In spite of the fact
that the hexan fleet is smaller than ever before, they are guarding
Europa very closely. It is feared that they may have found and destroyed
our city there--an expedition is even now about to set out in a
desperate attempt to learn the fate of our fellows."
"Suppose the rays of the lifeboats were detected in landing?" asked
Brandon. "That might have given them a clue."
"Possibly; but it is equally possible that our own men became careless
in the operation of one of our own vessels. Having been unmolested so
long, they might have relaxed their vigilance. We may never know."
"Tell 'em to cancel the expedition--we'll shoot the visiray over
there right now and find out all about it. We'll let them know pretty
quickly. Also, you might tell them that you've got complete plans and
specifications for all the weapons that the hexans have, and a couple
besides, and that the quicker they shoot a ship out here after you, the
sooner they can get to building some stuff to blow those hexans clear
out of space!"
It was the work of only a few moments to drive the visiray projection
to Europa, where Czuv, to the great relief of all, found that the hexans
had not yet discovered either Wruszk or the Terrestrial workings.
All Europan humanity, fully aware of the hexan investment, was
exerting every possible precaution against discovery by the enemy.
This information was duly flashed to the Council of Callisto, and the
projection was then hurled across the intervening reaches of space and
into the cavern in which was being built the enormous rocket-ship in
which the Terrestrial refugees were to attempt the long voyage back
to their own distant planet.
It took some little time to convince Doctor Penfield that there had
been projected into the empty air of his little sanctum an absolutely
invisible and impalpable structure of pure force capable of receiving
and transmitting voice and vision. Once convinced of the reality of the
phenomenon, however, the speaker beside Brandon's communicator screen
fairly rattled under the fervor of his greeting, so great was his
pleasure at the arrival of the expedition of relief and in knowing that
King and Breckenridge, whom they had, of course, given up for dead, were
aboard the Interplanetary vessel.
Penfield reported that the work upon the great rocket-ship was
progressing satisfactorily, although slowly, since it was so much larger
than any vessel theretofore constructed by the Callistonians. Newton,
in turn, informed the autocrat of the stranded Terrestrials as to the
_status quo_ of the rescuing party.
"Of course, because of the hexan blockade, you cannot take us off until
they have been wiped out, which will be several months at best," the
surgeon said, slowly, and a shadow came over his face as he spoke.
"Well, what can't be cured...."
"Trouble with the personnel?" King broke in sharply.
"Personnel, yes; but not trouble in the sense you mean--we have had
none of that. It is only that there are four more of us now than there
were...."
"Huh? How come?" demanded Brandon, in astonishment.
"Four babies have been born to us here so far, and several more are
coming. They are the ones I'm worried about. Most normal adults can
stand it here without any serious effects, but this thin atmosphere and
weak gravity are certain to result in abnormal development of children.
However, there may be another way out of it. Are you using normal
acceleration, or have you Martians aboard?"
"Both," replied Brandon. "We are carrying two inhabitants of Mars,
but Alcantro and Fedanzo are not ordinary Martians. They have been in
constant training ever since we left Tellus, and now they can stand as
high an acceleration as a weak Tellurian. We're riding at normal."
"Good! As you already know, there has been no communication of late
between here and Callisto. It had already been decided, however, that
one more voyage must be risked, in order to bring back material which
is most urgently needed. Since the vessel will leave here light and is
large enough to carry about thirty passengers on a short trip with some
crowding, the Council will probably approve of having it carry some of
our passengers out to the _Sirius_--especially now, since a vessel must
visit you, anyway, to get Captain Czuv and the specifications of the new
armament. All these things can be done with one vessel in one trip."
"That sounds fine!" boomed King. "It will give me a chance to get back
there where I belong, too. Whom are you sending out?"
"The seven couples who either have babies already or who will have them
in the next few months; and some of our young who aren't standing the
gaff any too well. You won't be in the red very deeply on the deal,
either--while two or three of the passengers I am sending you will
certainly be a nuisance; anybody could use, anywhere, such men as
Commander Sanderson and Lieut..."
"Sanderson!" interrupted King. "Why, he wasn't--when did _he_ get
married?"
"The day after we arrived here," replied the surgeon. "His fiancee was
aboard the _Arcturus_, and when they found out how long we would have
to be here, they very sensibly decided not to wait."
"Were there any others?" demanded Nadia, who, standing between Stevens
and her father, had been an interested listener.
"Plenty of them! Fourteen of our young women passengers have married
here upon Europa. A few married fellow-passengers, but most of them
picked out officers of the _Arcturus_. You'll find your staff made up
pretty largely of benedicts now, King! We've been here a year, you know,
and time will tell! Young Commander Sanderson's a fine baby--he'll be a
credit to the IPC some day, if we can get him aboard the _Sirius_, where
he can get a good start. We could give our babies normal air pressure
here by building special rooms, but we cannot give them the normal
acceleration necessary to develop their muscles properly."
"Well, we'd better snap over to Callisto and take this up with the
Council," Brandon put in. "I don't imagine that there will be any
objections, so you might as well get your ship gassed up and
loaded--we'll be back here with the okay in about a minute and a half."
* * * * *
With Brandon at the controls and with Czuv at the communicator plate,
the projection flashed toward distant Callisto and the group melted
away, each man going about his interrupted task.
"Daddy, take us somewhere--I want to talk to you," Nadia spoke to her
father, and the director led her and Stevens to his own room.
"All x, daughter; out with it!" and he bent upon her a quizzical glance,
under which a fiery blush burned from her throat to her forehead.
"Dad, I've been thinking a lot since you rescued us, and what we've just
heard has given me the nerve to say it. Steve, of course, wouldn't dare
suggest such a thing until we're safely back on Earth, so I will." Her
deep brown eyes held his steadily. "All those girls got married--why,
some of them have babies already--and Steve and I have waited for each
other _so_ long, daddy! And _none_ of them love each other the way we
do. Do they, Steve?"
"I don't see how they could, sir; and that goes straight across the
panel," and he bore unflinchingly the piercing gaze of the older man
as his right arm encircled the girl and held her close.
"Well, why not?" A sudden smile transformed Newton's stern visage.
"There are three chaplains with the police--a Methodist minister,
a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi. Also, we have on board two
full-fledged I-P captains, either of whom is authorized to tie
matrimonial knots. The means are not lacking--if you're both sure of
yourselves?" and all levity disappeared as he studied the two young
faces.
"Yes, you are sure," he continued after a moment "just as her mother and
I were--and are. It is too bad that she cannot be here with you, but it
may be a long time before we can return to Tellus, and you have indeed
waited long."
"Oh thanks, Daddy, you're just a perfectly wonderful old darling!" Nadia
exclaimed, as she threw her arms rapturously around his neck. "And this
isn't a warship at all--you know perfectly well that it's a research
laboratory, and that as soon as the Navy gets here, you won't let it
fight a bit more, because such scientists can't be allowed to risk
themselves! And also, you're forgetting that whole flock of women and
babies that are coming out here just as fast as they can get themselves
ready. So get going, daddy old dear, and let's do things! Steve's a
Quaker and we're Presbyterians, so none of the chaplains will do at all.
Besides, I promised Captain King ages ago that he could marry me, so go
get him and we'll do it now. Bill can be my bridesmaid, you'll give me
away, and Steve can have the other two of his Big Three for best men.
I'm off to hunt up the flimsiest, fussiest white dress I can find in my
trunks. Let's go!"
"Mr. Newton." Stevens spoke thoughtfully as Nadia darted away. "You said
something about her mother, I didn't want to say anything to raise false
hopes while she was here, but I've got an idea. Let's meet in Brandon's
room instead of here. We can send code to Tellus easily enough on our
ultrawave, and we may be able to fake up something on vision."
A few minutes later the Big Three were in Brandon's private study;
staring intently into a screen of ground glass upon which played
flickering, flashing lights, while the black-haired physicist
manipulated micrometer dials in infinitesimal arcs.
"Once more, Mac," Brandon directed. "Pretty nearly had them that time.
We're stretching this projector about six hundred percent, but we've got
to make this connection. Can't you give me just a little more voltage on
those secondaries?"
"I can _not_!" the voice of the first assistant snapped from the
speaker. "I'm overloading now so badly that some of my plates are
getting hot--if I hold this voltage much longer, the whole secondary
bank of tubes is going out. All x--you're on zero!"
"All x!" Flashing and waning, the lights upon the screen formed
fleeting, shifting, nebulous images of a relay station upon distant
Earth; but the utmost power of the transmitting fields could neither
steady the image nor hold it.
"Back off, Mac," Brandon instructed. "I'm afraid we can't hold 'em
direct--no use blowing a bank of tubes. We'll try relaying through
Mars--we can hold them there, I think. It will muss up reception some,
but it will probably be better than direct, at that. Point oh five three
six ... all x--shoot!"
Brandon's relay station upon Mars was finally raised and held, and
a corps of keenly interested engineers there made short work of the
Earth-Mars linkage. Soon the screen glowed with the picture of the
transmitter-room of the Terrestrial station, and while the three men
were waiting for Mrs. Newton to be called to her own television set,
the door behind them opened. Nadia and her escorts entered the room--but
Stevens' eyes saw only the entrancing vision of loveliness that was his
bride. Dressed in a clinging white gown of shimmering silk, her hair a
golden blond corona, sweetly curved lips slightly parted and wide eyes
eloquent, she paused momentarily as Stevens came to his feet and stared
at her, his very heart in his eyes.
"You never saw me in a dress before--do you like me, Steve?"
"_Like_ you! You're beautiful!" and gray eyes and brown, deep with
wonder and with love, met and held as, unheeding the presence of their
friends, they went into each other's arms in a coalescence as inevitable
and as final as Fate itself.
"Hi, Nadia old dear!" and "Daughter, from what I can see of my
son-in-law, I believe that he may do," came together from the speaker.
Nadia tore herself from Stevens' embrace, to see upon the lambent screen
the happily smiling faces of her mother and sister.
"Mother! Claire! Oh, you three wonder-workers!" She addressed
simultaneously the distant Terrestrials and the scientists at her side,
while broken exclamations, punctuated by ominous, crackling snaps, came
from the laboring amplifier.
"Sorry to interrupt," MacDonald's voice broke in, "but you'll have to
hurry it up. Alcantro and Fedanzo are doing their best, but every plate
in my secondary bank's red hot, and you could fry an egg on any one of
my transformers. Even my primary tubes are running hot. She won't hold
together five minutes longer!"
Captain King opened his book, and in that small steel room, unadorned
save for stack upon stack of bookcases, the brief but solemn ceremony
joining two young lives was read--its solemnity only intensified by its
unique accompaniment. For from Brandon at the primary controls, through
the power-room of the _Sirius_ and the relay-station upon Mars, to the
immense Interplanetary transmitter upon Earth, the greatest radio and
television engineers of two planets were fighting overdriven equipment,
trying to hold an almost impossible connection, in order that Nadia
Newton's mother and sister might be present at her wedding, hundreds of
millions of miles distant in space!
"I pronounce you man and wife. Whom God hath joined, let no man put
asunder." The sacred old ritual ended and Captain King picked up
the bride in his great arms as though she were a baby, kissed her
vigorously, and set her down in front of the transmitter. In the midst
of the joyous confusion that ensued a tearing, rattling crash came from
the speaker and the screen went blank.
"There!" lamented MacDonald from the power room. "I knew they'd blow!
There goes my whole secondary bank--eight perfectly good ten-nineteens
all shot to...."
"That's too bad, but it couldn't be helped; they went for a good cause,"
interrupted Brandon. "I'll come down and help clean up the mess."
* * * * *
Leaving the bridal party, he made his way rapidly to the power room,
where he found MacDonald and the two Martians inspecting the smoking
remains of what had been the secondary bank of their powerful
ultra-transmitter. Spare parts in abundance were on hand, and it was
not long until the damaged section was apparently as good as new.
"Now to try her out," Brandon announced. "We want to give her a good
workout, but there's no use trying the I-P stations any more--they're
altogether too hard to handle at this range. Czuv said something about
an unknown race of monstrosities at the south pole of Jupiter--let's try
it on them for a while."
He flung the field of force out into space, as responsive to his will
as a well-trained horse, and guided it toward the southern limb of that
gigantic world. Down and down the projection plunged, through mile after
mile of reeking, steaming fog, impenetrable to earthly eyes. Finally it
came to rest upon the surface, hundreds of feet deep in a lush, dank,
tropical jungle, and Brandon plugged into the Venerian room.
"Kenor? We've got a lot of use for you, if you can come down here for a
while. Thanks a lot." He turned to the Martians. "Luckily, we've got a
couple of infra-red transformers aboard, so we won't have to build one.
You fellows might break one out and shunt it onto this circuit while Dol
Kenor is hunting up something for us to look at.
"Hi, old Infra-Eyes!" he went on, as the Venerian scientist waddled into
the room in his bulging space-suit. "We've got something here that's
right down your alley. Want to see what you can see?"
"Ah, a beautiful scene!" exclaimed Dol Kenor, after one glance into the
plate. "It is indeed a relief, after all this coldness and glare, to
see such a soft, warm landscape--even though I have never expected to
behold quite such a violent bit of jungle," and under his guidance the
projection flashed over hundreds of miles of territory. To the eyes of
the Terrestrials the screen revealed only a blank, amorphous grayness,
through which at times there shot lines and masses of vague and
meaningless form; but the Venerian was very evidently seeing and
enjoying many and diverse scenes.
"There, I think, is what you wish to see first," he announced, as he
finally steadied the controls, and Brandon cut in upon the shunting
screen the infra-red transformer. This device, developed long before to
render possible the use of Terrestrial eyes in the opaque atmosphere of
Venus, stepped up the fog-piercing long waves into the frequencies of
light capable of affecting the earthly retina. Instantly the dull gray
blank of the shunting screen became transformed into a clear and
colorful picture of the great city of the Jovians of the South.
"Great Cat!" Brandon exclaimed. "Flying fortresses is right! They're in
war formation, too, or I'm a polyp! We've got to watch this, Mac, all
of it, and watch it close--it's apt to have a big bearing on what we'll
have to do, before they get done. Better we rig up another set, and put
a relay of observers on this job!"