"Which is just what I want," Standish replied. "Hurry, man!"
Obediently Ga-Marr strode back along the passageway, began to push
contact buttons at regular intervals along the bulkhead wall. As he
did, long streamers of crimson fire erupted from the _Phantom's_ side.
In a moment the destroyer was a flaming mass. Standish set his controls
and took down two space suits.
He donned one of them, motioned Ga-Marr into the other. Then he tied a
rope to the lever controlling the magnetic grappling bar, trailing it
across the floor to the airlock.
"All right, Ga-Marr," he said. "Here we go."
The lock door slid open at his touch. Then and not until then did
Ga-Marr understand. Directly below them, held to the _Phantom's_ hull
by the magnetic bars was their crude space ship. Balancing himself
cautiously, Standish reached down and opened the hatch. He climbed in,
and Ga-Marr quickly followed. Then the Earthman gave the rope a jerk.
The grappling bars released, and the two ships drifted apart.
Alone and unmanned, the _Phantom_ swept downward, her exploding rockets
a blaze of glory in the black sky.
"And there goes the fleet!" Standish said. "They've sighted the
_Phantom_."
* * * * *
Aware that hundreds of glasses must now be turned upward, he headed
south beyond the outskirts of the city. He selected a flat open space
by the ocean shore and glided quickly to a landing.
A hundred yards away the white expanse of a highway snaked through the
dark countryside. No one apparently had noticed their descent. At a
run, Standish headed for that highway. Twin head lights swept around a
curve as he reached it, and a heavy gyro truck rumbled into sight.
The truck slowed to manipulate the curve. An instant later Standish and
Ga-Marr leaped, clutched at the swaying tailboard and drew themselves
aboard.
Before a large white building the two men dropped from the truck,
darted across to the entrance. A Sirian guard stopped them armed with a
ray gun.
"Halt!"
Standish used his pistol this time, smashing its barrel down on the
Sirian's skull. Then a muffled voice sounded directly before them,
and the Earthman leaped across to a door and ripped it open. On the
threshold he stood rigid, staring inward.
The room was a richly furnished office. At a large desk in the center
sat a familiar figure. It was Drum Faggard, cigarette between his lips,
microphone in his hand.
"Put down that microphone, Faggard," Standish commanded. "If you speak
so much as a single word, I fire."
"Standish!" Faggard gasped.
The Earthman dropped silently into a chair, while Ga-Marr pulled a
small knife switch, disconnecting the microphone. Ga-Marr then paced to
the window and drew the blinds.
A gleam of cunning crossed Faggard's face. He turned the knob of the
radio and leaned forward. Then his right hand shot into the desk drawer
and clawed forth a small genithode gun.
But Standish had been expecting that move. His hand clamped over the
gun wrist, twisted the weapon free. Jamming his own gun hard into the
Sirian leader's ribs, Standish said,
"Talk. Call your officers and tell them to stand by for important
orders."
There were beads of perspiration on Faggard's brow now as he twisted
a dial of the radio and began to speak slowly and haltingly. On the
indicator panel on the far wall Standish saw little red lights flash
on as outpost-officer after officer acknowledged the call. The entire
Sirian army was listening in.
* * * * *
Even as he finished, a terrific vibrating roar sounded from a distant
point of the city. The sound trembled the walls of the building, shook
the floor beneath their feet.
"The _Phantom_!" said Ga-Marr. "She struck!"
Faggard's face was livid. "You fool!" he snarled. "Do you realize what
you've done?"
Standish betrayed no emotion. "Perfectly. I've divided your army in
half. I've cut an aisle through your defense, through which my people
even now are beginning to advance."
Abruptly the Earthman's teeth clicked together. "Now what have you done
with Thalia and the Emperor. Tell me or...."
Faggard's shoulders slumped in defeat. He groped to his feet like
a blind man and stumbled across the room. "I'll show you," he said
huskily.
He open a connecting door, and Standish saw two familiar figures in
the adjoining room, an older man and a young girl. But in that instant
Faggard acted. He lunged across the room, reached up to a shelf filled
with chemical tubes and vials. Seizing a bottle of colorless liquid, he
threw it straight at Standish.
The bottle struck the door frame, and acid geysered in all directions.
The Earthman felt a hot stab of agony lance across his left arm.
But Ga-Marr was not taken off guard. His genithode pistol exploded even
as Faggard reached for a second bottle. The Sirian threw up his arms,
staggered and pitched forward on his face.
Thalia was in Standish's arms then, sobbing. But in the outer corridor
running steps sounded. A heavy fist banged on the door.
"In here," the girl cried. "This door. It leads to a tunnel that passes
under the city. It's Drum Faggard's secret avenue of retreat. He has
the key in his pocket."
As they sped to safety Standish felt a wave of elation sweep over him.
He had won...!
* * * * *
Three days later a small cruiser took off from Omaha, swept through the
stratosphere and headed for the planet, Lyra, many light years distant.
Four persons occupied her pilot cabin: Standish, Thalia, Ga-Marr and
the emperor.
"It's all over," the Earthman said to the girl. "The war is
ended. Sirius' power is forever broken, and even now the work of
reconstruction has begun. Earth and the whole solar system can return
to peace."
Ga-Marr nodded. "What now?" he asked.
"Now, we're going home." Standish drew Thalia close. "Your home and
mine. Our future lies out there in the new frontier."