IV

Pyuf ran over to a cabinet on the wall by the fire. Thane saw there

were several dials and a visiscreen. As Pyuf twisted the dials he

spoke rapidly over his shoulder to Thane. "We're quite isolated here.

The house belongs to the old boy you met in the lab. He's been checked

for security by Candar so we figured we were safe here. There's a

detection screen about a kilometer hour from the house, and we have a

force screen we can use as a last resort. Of course, we'd have to

abandon this place once we did use it. Candar's detectors would pick

it up right away."

The visiscreen came into focus and Pyuf turned the perimeter dial till

it lined up with the degree mark on the disturbance indicator. Nine

figures appeared, advancing toward the house. Three were short and

squat--not over a meter and a half in height. They walked with the

peculiar slouch of the Darzent entity in its humanoid phase. The other

six were the Darzent robot infantry. Two and a half meters high,

impervious to any hand weapon, with built-in blasters and the Darzent

version of the Stoltz gun. Their ship was in the background. It had

the outlines of an ordinary atmosphere jet of medium size, but there

were alterations which made Thane suspect that it had been refitted

for deep space, with at least the finite drive, and probably FTL.

Thane spun around to the others. "We either put up the force screen or

get out now," he said. "Unless, that is, there's some heavy artillery

around the house. Nothing else will stop a Darzent Robot. And even the

screen probably won't last long. That ship looks as though it has

enough high powered stuff to breach any screen we can put up."

Astrid looked up at him. "We do have the jet, Roger. It's armed, but

it will take time to get it ready for take-off."

"Let's get the force screen up now, then."

Pyuf snapped switches. The whine of power at emergency levels began.

The Darzent force had screen detectors, because they stopped at once

and turned back to their ship. Short, sharp rocket blasts shot out

from the bow tubes of the ship, as it turned on its axis to attack the

force screen.

"Let's get going," Thane said.

"We all can't go," Pyuf pointed out. "Our jet is only two-place, and

anyway, someone will have to cut off the screen to let the jet out."

"You and I can do it," Astrid said to Thane. "I can handle the engines

and the defensive screens while you fly it and man the gun."

Thane considered quickly. If they succeeded in knocking out the

Darzent forces they'd be able to get the others out without

difficulty. If not, it would be wise to separate Astrid and her

father. With one of them, the plan that was shaping up might succeed,

but if both were lost there'd be no chance.

"All right," Thane said. "Let's go."

Just then the first attack on the screen came. There was vibration

through the room and the needles of the indicators all jumped up over

the red lines. The whine of power momentarily became a shriek and then

died down.

"That was close," Thane said. "The sooner we stop them the better." He

turned to Pyuf. "Drop the screen for two seconds when I signal, to let

us out."

The bitterly cold wind cut into Astrid and Thane as they hurried

outside. Astrid was ahead, leaning against the wind, running towards

the outbuilding which housed the jet. They were in full view of the

Darzent attackers who renewed their thrust at the screen when they saw

the running figures.

"We won't take time to ease it out," Thane shouted above the wind.

"Full power at the start. It'll knock over this shack but that's a

small loss at the moment."

Thane climbed into the nose position of the little jet while Astrid

slid in behind him. They ran a fast check while the engines warmed.

Thane waited for the next attack on the force screen. It came and he

gave a short sharp blast to signal their readiness. They had two

seconds leeway before the screen went up again. The ship was not fully

warmed. Thane flicked on all the rockets and gave the jet full

throttle.

There was the barest hesitation, and then they were forced back in

their seats, with 5G acceleration. The outbuilding flamed and

collapsed behind them. As Thane went into semi-consciousness he pulled

back on the control wheel to clear the hill ahead. The corners of his

mouth pulled down, his eyeballs felt as if they were being forced down

into his cheekbones. His vision became a red blur, then grey....

He came out and looked down. The house and the Darzent ship were tiny

blurs in the storm, three kilometers below. He looked back at Astrid.

"Make it all right?" he asked anxiously.

Her face was white and strained but she managed a smile. "Still with

you, skipper. Let's get back down."

* * * * *

"Here we go. Hang on and hope. Keep the screens up till I nod. Then

drop them fast." Thane put the jet into a steep dive, lining up the

Darzent ship in the sights of the Baring gun. He was ready to fire

when there was a tremendous jolt and a flash of light. The little jet

was thrown over on its back and Thane fought the controls to steady

it.

He went into a climbing turn and saw, above and behind him, the long

black shape of an Onzarian atmosphere cruiser. "The protector screens

are dead," Astrid cried in alarm. "Whatever that was that hit us

burned them out!"

"That was a disrupter." He pointed at the Onzarian cruiser. "Our

visitor is playing for keeps." His knuckles went white as he pulled

back on the wheel into another long climb with emergency power.

Another disrupter burst behind them barely missed.

"They've got everything on us," he said. "Speed, firepower and range.

Except maneuverability." He turned to Astrid. "Just how far out is the

force screen from the house?"

"Four hundred meters."

"Let's see if we can judge it," he said grimly. "It's going to be

close." He put the jet into a tight turn and slipped off into a steep,

screaming dive. There was another disrupter burst and a sudden flutter

of the controls. He fought them to maintain the dive, straight for the

house and its invisible bubble of force. The flutter became worse as

their speed increased, and vibration racked the whole ship. He judged

the distance by the range-finder on the Baring. At the last moment he

pulled out and up. The ship skidded down sickeningly, and then caught.

Thane fought bitterly to keep conscious.

They heard the explosion above the sound of the wind shrieking past

them. Thane looked down and back. It had worked! The Onzar ship had

followed them down, but it had not allowed for the invisible force

screen. It had hit the screen, caromed off into a wild, twisting skid,

and hit the ground, completely wrecked.

But Thane had time only for a glance. The vibration was getting worse.

One more strain and the little jet would be torn to pieces.

He eased out of the climb and tried to put the jet into a long flat

glide. It kept slipping off to the right, and the glide increased in

steepness. The ground came up and he managed to pull back into a

partial stall. At the last instant the jet dipped to the right and

hit. It spun crazily on the ground, straightened, skidded and then

buried itself in a drift of snow.

He was still numb with shock when he heard Astrid's voice. "What

happened, Roger? Why did they attack us?"

"They must have been sent as soon as our force screen was detected.

Let's get back."

They climbed out into the biting wind and started towards the house in

the distance. The red sun of Onzar was setting and the cold deepened

and chilled bitterly as they hurried on.

* * * * *

It was almost dark when they reached the house. In the lengthening

shadows there was no sign of the Darzent ship. They hurried on in

growing fear. The front of the house showed the signs of the blast

that had knocked out the force screen. Inside the house was dark. All

power had been burned out when the screen went. They went in through

the smashed, tilted doorway. In the gloom they saw the old medic

first. He was slumped in a chair against one wall. His neck was

twisted and his head slanted back. His chest was a gaping hole, with

the blood already frozen. His assistant lay beside the dead fire,

headless. What had been Pyuf was at the instrument cabinet, one hand

still on the fused panel. Manning Reine was not there.

There was a tremble of panic in Astrid's voice. "Roger, they killed

them ... and ... where is Dad?"

"They killed them deliberately with hand weapons after they knocked

down the screen. And they have your father now. That was their

purpose."

"What will they do to him? Where have they taken him? Roger, we've got

to find him!"

Roger Thane turned to her in the shambles of the wrecked room. The

quaver in her voice indicated that she couldn't take much more. He

took her arm and led her down the corridor to the laboratory. "We're

going to fight back, Astrid, and we're going to win. Right now there's

not much we can do for your father. But don't worry about him. He's

safe. He's much too valuable to be mistreated by the Darzent Empire.

But they will get everything they need from him with their

interrogatory drugs."

In the laboratory nothing had been touched. Once the Darzent force had

Reine they must have left at once. Astrid's shoulders were shaking as

Thane led her to a chair. "We've got a lot to plan and a lot to do. It

won't be easy and we'll be fighting all the way. But we'll win if

we're steady."

Thane could see the effort Astrid was making. "I'm ... I'm ready,

Roger. Where do we start?"

"We'll start with what we have, the underground. And Astrid, the

really important jobs may be up to you because I'm going to be out of

circulation for a while." Astrid looked up with a question on her lips

but he went on before she could voice it. "Pyuf mentioned that we have

some support among the Onzarian priestesshood. Just what do we have?"

"There's been general dissatisfaction with Candar all through the

religion," she said. Her voice was low, carefully controlled, with an

undercurrent of stress. "The whole priestesshood feels that Candar is

their enemy. They feel that Candar's eventual aim is to destroy every

organization not under his direct control. Of course, the church also

has a long tradition of remaining aloof from the temporal government.

And outwardly, Candar has so far usually respected the church."

She looked up at Thane. "That's the general picture. Actual proved

sympathizers with the underground are scarce, but we do have some

important ones. Probably the most important is the Priestess of

Keltar, Selan. As she's the head of the church in Keltar, the capitol

city, she's at least nominally the head of the whole organization,

though it does have a good deal of autonomy. But her word carries

enormous weight."

"What's she like?"

"She's old. Very old and very determined. She's always been on the

liberal wing of the church. Willing to recognize the changes that have

taken place, and to modify the church so that it will maintain its

place in the system. She recognizes Candar for what he is but is

willing to try to get along with him till someone can show her an

alternative with a chance of success. At least, that's how she seemed

to me when I met her."

"Do you think," Thane asked, "that she would be ready to help now if

it meant the overthrow of Candar?"

Astrid was silent for a long time. Finally she nodded. "I think so. I

don't know but I think she would."

Thane glanced at his watch. It might do. And they just might have time

for what had to be done. "It's the best chance we have, and it may

work. But now we've got things to do. We can use some of the equipment

here, and the batteries will give us enough power."

* * * * *

Thane rapidly explained that he was going back into his own identity,

and that some of the equipment present would help accelerate the

change-over. He tried to give Astrid the general picture as they made

the circuit changes on the equipment.

"Astrid, you are going to turn me in. You are going to surrender me to

the Onzarians when they get here."

Astrid stopped. She had been re-fusing a circuit, and the fuse hung

limply in her hand, forgotten.

Thane went on. "I'll explain while we finish the circuit. We haven't

much time. You remember how we talked of driving the cork into the

bottle? Well, that's what we're going to do. The Onzarians will be

here before long when they've discovered their cruiser is missing. You

will pass as an Onzarian. As an acolyte of the religion, you'll turn

me over to them as a spy."

They had finished the identity accelerator circuit. Thane wasn't sure

the rough equipment would do, but it might be close enough. He'd try

it. He climbed on to the laboratory table and showed Astrid how to

make the connections.

"I'm using all the power we have," he said. "I'll be out about 13

minutes, absolute. If they get here before then do everything you can

to keep them out till the time's up."

Astrid looked down at him lying on the table. She was very serious,

very quiet. She brushed her lips lightly against his forehead and said

softly, "We'll manage."

She was gone and Thane heard the hum of power.

It went on and on, in the easy world of change. And then the power was

gone. Thane struggled to open his eyes, minutes, years before he

should. He looked up into the cold, unfriendly eyes of an Onzarian

lieutenant.

Astrid appeared beside the lieutenant. She talked rapidly in Onzarian.

Her manner was imperious, "He's the one. He did it all. He attacked us

here, and after he had killed the others he admitted to me that he was

a spy for the A. S. He would have killed me, too, if you hadn't come,

lieutenant."

The lieutenant said harshly, "He won't trouble anyone now. Candar,

himself will deal with him."

Thane was pulled to his feet by two crew members. Each grasped one of

his arms, and they took him out of the house to the waiting Onzar

cruiser. Inside the ship one of them opened a reinforced door and

shoved him into a tiny cell.

Thane had been in jails before on other systems. Their politics varied

but their jails were about the same. He didn't like it, but he did

know what to expect. There was the take-off, and the trip to the

sector patrol station. The lieutenant told his story and they

questioned him, in a cursory, routine way. He was an important

political prisoner and there were experts to take care of the

questioning later on. Then there was another ship, and they flew

through the long, bitterly cold night to the capitol city, Keltar.

More guards, more questions on arrival. The receiving station. And

finally the trip through the ancient streets of Keltar to the palace

prison.

The cell there was just as small, just as dark, just as dirty as the

others. But at least he was in a cell by himself. He was alone, and

would have time to think through his plan.

Time went by. Thane, without light, without sound, did not know how

long. But long enough. Long enough for the Darzent Empire to learn

about the second-stage drive, from a drugged Manning Reine. Long

enough to begin to equip their fleet with the drive. Could one man

stop their attack? Thane wondered, and planned, and waited

impatiently.

No prison sounds. No noise of any kind. Until suddenly the duralite

door opened. "Let's go," the gruff Onzarian voice said.

Outside the cell door Thane's eyes gradually focused in the light. The

guard was one he hadn't seen when they'd brought him in. Apparently

he'd been in the cell through at least one watch, possibly longer.

They walked down the long row of doors to the registry room.

V

The room was bare except for a bench along one wall, a chair and a

small table. A non-com sat behind the table. He began to ask the usual

questions. Thane answered in a flat, dull voice, and the non-com

filled out a form, scribbling on a line or checking a box as each

question was answered. Finally he shoved the form aside and looked up

at Thane for the first time. "Oh, an Alien, eh? That should be

interesting for you." He jerked a thumb at the bench. "Sit there till

you're called." Thane went over to the bench. He saw that the non-com

had lit a cigarette and was staring into endless boredom.

For long, empty minutes nothing happened. Then there was noise at the

outer doors. The doors opened and two burly guards entered. Astrid

Reine was between them.