The Coming of the Atomic Ray
Both armies had cut down their velocity enormously, but still they tore
along at breakneck speed. And they moved like true Cossacks of the void,
directing their machines by deft motions on the mysterious levers. Now
diving, now climbing, now swinging this way and that to avoid the
missiles of their opponents, they tore on. And death was everywhere.
No torpedoes were flying now, but machine guns and rifles were working
terrible havoc. And so the horde of Alkebar closed with the forces of
the rebel chieftain.
The machine which bore Telaba, directed by its skillful driver, dived
and swung and zigzagged like a mad thing; but still the bullets rattled
against the metal armor of the car. Its sides had been repeatedly
struck, yet owing to its tough shell, had not yet been disabled.
Everywhere about it, mounted horrors whirled in an inextricable tangle,
shooting and loading, and dying by the green flashes, their vitals
strewing the ether.
Telaba had deserted his post at the signaling machine, for further
orders were useless. For his rebels at least, it was every man for
himself. He too was operating a machine gun.
The stars spun dizzily about the Earthians, as the machine beneath them
careened in its insane fight. Every time a Space Man wearing a red
circle on his breast crossed their sights, a burst spat from their hot
weapons, frequently with good results.
A group of at least twenty Alkebarians sought to attack from the blind
spot at the rear. But the driver twisted levers with a quick jerk, and
the luckless riflemen found themselves facing four streams of steel.
Those that could, darted out of range and renewed the attack from a
different angle.
Frequently, throughout the battle, Shelby had wondered what had happened
to Hekalu Selba and the Atomic Ray. Why wasn't he on hand to assist his
ally, the Black Emperor? Oh, well, regardless of whether the Martian was
there or not the outcome would evidently be the same--only now it would
be more dragged out.
The Earthian was surprised therefore, when suddenly the efforts of the
enemy to exterminate them, which had been so intense in the brief
moments since they had closed, suddenly lessened. Alkebarians were
darting hastily toward the rear. Their actions did not suggest flight;
it seemed that they were going to meet a new and more terrible enemy.
The rebels could wait.
And the people of the rebel chief for the moment did not pursue--did not
even fire. For they too saw! To the rear, in the center of Alkebar's
horde, came the dazzling flares of explosions. So many and so close
together were they, that they looked like a titanic conflagration of
green flame. Against the light, the silhouettes of confused and
bewildered space riders careened, like frightened pollywogs. The
holocaust moved--swung. It was like a tapered column of fire veiled by a
faint bluish haze.
The Earthians, Telaba, and the two remaining Space Men, forgetful of
everything else, were staring in awed wonder at the phenomenon through
the forward observation bay. It was Shelby who found the first part of
the explanation.
"It's the Atomic Ray!" he almost shrieked. "Freeing the atomic energy in
the materials that make up the bodies of Alkebar's men--literally
causing their flesh and bones to explode! But how--what the devil--!"
"Look!" cried Jan. She pointed far up over their heads to where the cone
of faintly bluish light swung, free from the milling horde. Up and up to
its apex, and there hung what appeared to be a tiny cocoon of burnished
silver.
The girl peered through her binoculars for a long moment. "I see the
name. It is the _Selba_," she said. "Hekalu has made a mistake--he's
attacking the wrong force! Or--or some ally of ours has gained control
of the ship!" she hazarded.
"No time to make guess now," said Telaba. "To fight, much better." He
had returned to the signaling mechanism, and was working it with cool
efficiency, rallying his battered forces.
Like tigers they fell upon the Alkebarians, shattering them out of
existence with a steady storm of rifle bullets. They met with only a
weak resistance for the foe seemed to realize that the fates had played
them false. The blue ray had been their promise, and now, like the sword
of their ancient god of destruction, it was weaving calmly this way and
that, snuffing them into nothingness. The Black Emperor's horde was
dissolving, scattering.
Battalions of terrified Space Men poured past the rebel chieftain's car,
shooting only hurried and ineffective volleys at their enemies, who
pressed fiercely upon them. And never did Jan and Shelby miss a chance
to spray them with searing bursts of machine-gun fire.
There was a lull. The Earthians took the opportunity to look up at the
angel of death that was the _Selba_, far above. Most of Alkebar's huge
army had already perished, or had dispersed in flight into the desert of
space from which it had been recruited. But that the space ship would
presently be engaged in a serious fight was evident.
* * * * *
A determined force which must have numbered a hundred thousand, was
hurtling up at it, surrounding the craft with a halo of bursting
torpedoes. At the head of the body of Space Men was a huge beast bearing
on its back a car similar to Telaba's. Veri-colored signal stars spurted
from it. Alkebar himself must be in it directing operations!
Coolly the guiding hand aboard the _Selba_ was swinging his dreadful
weapon this way and that, annihilating the attackers as one might
annihilate a swarm of mosquitoes with a blowtorch. Half of them had
already been reduced to those basic, intangible vibrations which
constitute all substance. It was terrible, it was glorious; but what
could it all mean? Hekalu's ship!
The still formidable remnants of the vengeance squadron was seeking to
close in--to grapple with the vessel. The _Selba_ was trying to dart out
of their way, but the speed of the Space Men, a gift of Nature, was
greater than that of this fastest ship designed by man. Grimly, in the
face of almost certain death, they kept on. A score or so succeeded in
landing on the curving hull, and, like leeches they clung to it. The
Atomic Ray arched angrily, cutting a deep swath through those who still
sought a hold.
And then the gleaming form of the _Selba_ was completely hidden by the
swarm of enraged horrors that poured over it. The Atomic Ray was snuffed
out. The beholders saw the air lock being pried open, and the Space Men
crowding into the interior of the craft. For a second the _Selba_
wobbled crazily, and then her rocket motors ceased to flame.
"What are we waiting for? We have friends up there!" Jan cried.
Telaba flashed his orders, and the entire cavalcade charged toward the
vessel, their guns spewing flame.
It was only a matter of a minute or so before that hurtling torrent of
rebels had swept the Alkebarians from their prey. Those of the Black
Emperor's men who had forced their way into the ship managed to hold the
entrance for a short time, but under the urgings of their intrepid
chief, the zealous rebels shot and hewed their enemies down as though
they had been paper marionettes. The way was clear.
Telaba waved an order to his driver, and the space beast drew up
alongside the _Selba_. Expectantly eager, the Earthians clambered
aboard, followed by the chief.
The ship was a shambles. Its corridors were littered with bodies of
Space Men who wore on their breasts the red circle which signified
loyalty to the Black Emperor. Telaba's followers had done well.
The three made their way to the control room. Intuitively they had
sensed what they would find there, and so, they were not surprised at
what they saw--wreckage and the carcasses of Alkebar's warriors. The
Martian had put up a stiff fight.
Shelby bent over the armored form of Akar Hekalu Selba which was
sprawling on the floor, beside the pilot seat. A gaping hole in the
tough metal plating under his right arm, and a thin trickle of blood,
told clearly what had happened. "They got him," the Earthman muttered.
"But why?"
Jan's eyes had wandered to the narrow desk before the pilot seat. There
were the instruments and devices by means of which the ship was
controlled, and there was the lever which had moved the ray projector in
its mounting just beneath the nose of the craft. A calculating pad and a
stylus were lying on the desk.
Something was written on the pad--a message. She called to Shelby, and
together they read the brief, hastily scrawled note. It was in English:
"To Janice Darell and Austin Shelby, Greeting. Alkebar is breaking into
the ship, and Telaba is coming. You will be with him, I know. From among
my enemies I have chosen my friends. A man must have friends, and
traitors do not serve. Forgive me for stealing your glory, Mr. Shelby. I
shall be grateful. _Sidi Yadi_, Hekalu Selba, Akar."
Shelby looked at Jan and then at Telaba who was standing close beside
them. "So that's it," he said slowly. "Nobody is totally bad."
"Not even Hekki," Jan put in. A hint of a wistful smile flickered about
her lips. "I guess it's the end now," she went on. "A glorious
adventure. Back to Earth!" Her voice had taken on a dreamy exultant
quality.
"The end, Jan?" Austin asked. "Haven't you forgotten something?"
She looked puzzled, and then she laughed a brief gay little laugh which
made roguish dimples twinkle in her cheeks. Even her fantastic attire
could not hide her beauty. "You ridiculous old dumb-bell! Of course it
isn't the end--just the beginning--with you!"
It was a considerable time before Shelby was able to repair the _Selba_
sufficiently so that she could get underway for Mars but the task was
finished at last. Escorted by the rebel chief's fierce hordesmen, they
set out for the Red Planet.
Somehow, snatches of the ancient Bedouin song tinkled in Shelby's mind.
He had read old books. "Across the desert I come to thee, On a stallion
shod with fire...."
That did not quite fit the situation, for Jan was with him. But his
steed, the _Selba_, was truly shod with fire. The rocket nozzles--and
damaged though she was, she behaved like a thoroughbred. And out there
in the void beside the ship--what were those shapes?--bizarre,
impossible, yet real--real.
* * * * *
In docks scattered over Earth and Mars, battleships of space and their
crews wait expectantly for an alarm that may never come. Telescopes comb
the sky. Out there the Star People, new arrivals in the solar system,
are shifting, moving about restlessly. But the planets feel secure.
Their fleets could cope with the Space Men, were they a hundred times
more numerous. And once in a while, on the desolate Sahara, or Mohave or
Taraal, shadows come, settling down like flecks of darkness from the
midnight heaven. They are Telaba's and Ankova's people. For a while--a
day perhaps--they stay, bartering their exotic treasures for human
wares. Then silently, mysteriously, they are gone, into the night....
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's The Revolt of the Star Men, by Raymond Gallun