_A Message_
The days passed quickly, whether measured by the Martian chronometer
aboard the _Nomad_ or by Carr's watch, which he was regulating to
match the slightly longer day of the red planet. He was becoming
proficient in the operation of all mechanisms of the ship and had
developed a fondness for its every appointment.
Behind them the sun was losing much of its blinding magnificence as it
receded into the ebon background of the firmament. The Earth was but
one of the countless worlds visible through the stern ports,
distinguishable by its slightly greenish tinge. They had reached the
vicinity of the phenomenon of space Mado had previously discovered.
Carr found himself seething with excitement as the _Nomad_ was brought
to a drifting speed.
Mado, who had disclaimed all knowledge of navigation, was busy in the
turret with a sextant. He made rapid calculations based on its
indications and hurried to the controls.
"Find it?" Carr asked.
"Yep. Be there in a half hour."
The nose of the vessel swung around and Mado adjusted the gravity
energy carefully. Carr glued his eye to the telescope.
"See anything?" inquired Mado.
"About a million stars, that's all."
"Funny. Should be close by."
Then: "Yes! Yes! I see it!" Carr exulted. "A milky cloud. Transparent
almost. To the right a little more!"
The mysterious cloud rushed to meet them and soon was visible to the
naked eye through the forward port. Their speed increased alarmingly
and Mado cut off the energy.
"What's that?" Mado stared white-faced at his friend.
"A voice! You hear it too?"
"Yes. Listen!"
Amazed, they gazed at each other. It was a voice; yet not a sound came
to their ears. The voice was in their own consciousness. A mental
message! Yet each heard and understood. There were no words, but clear
mental images.
"Beware!" it seemed to warn. "Come not closer, travelers from afar.
There is danger in the milky fleece before you!"
* * * * *
Mado pulled frantically at the energy reverse control. The force was
now fully repelling. Still the billowing whiteness drew nearer. It
boiled and bubbled with the ferocity of one of the hot lava cauldrons
of Mercury. Changing shape rapidly, it threw out long streamers that
writhed and twisted like the arms of an octopus. Reaching. Searching
for victims!
"God!" whispered Carr. "What is it?"
"Take warning," continued the voice that was not a voice. "A great
ship, a royal ship from a world unknown to you, now is caught in the
grip of this mighty monster. We can not escape, and death draws
quickly near. But we can warn others and ask that our fate be reported
to our home body."
A sudden upheaval of the monstrous mass spewed forth an object that
bounced a moment on the rippling surface and then was lost to view. A
sphere, glinting golden against the white of its awful captor.
"The space-ship!" gasped Mado. "It's vanished again!"
They hurtled madly in the direction of this monster of the heavens,
their reverse energy useless.
"We're lost, Mado." Carr was calm now. This was excitement with a
vengeance. He'd wished for it and here it was. But he'd much rather
have a chance to fight for his life. Fine ending to his dreams!
"Imps of the canals! The thing's alive!" Mado hurled himself at the
controls as a huge blob of the horrible whiteness broke loose from the
main body and wobbled uncertainly toward them. A long feeler reached
forth and grasped the errant portion, returning it with a vicious
jerk.
"Turn back! Turn back!" came the eery warning from the golden sphere.
"All is over for us. Our hull is crushed. The air is pouring from our
last compartment. Already we find breathing difficult. Turn back! The
third satellite of the fifth planet is our home. Visit it, we beseech
you, and report the manner of our going. This vile creature of space
has power to draw you to its breast, to crush you as we are crushed."
* * * * *
The _Nomad_ lurched and shuddered, drawn ever closer to the horrid
mass of the thing. A gigantic jellyfish, that's what it was, a hundred
miles across! Carr shivered in disgust as it throbbed anew, sending
out those grasping streamers of its mysterious material. As the
_Nomad_ plunged to its doom with increasing speed, Mado tried to
locate some spot in the universe where an extreme effect could be
obtained from the full force of the attracting or repulsive energies.
They darted this way and that but always found themselves closer to
the milky billows that now were pulsating in seeming eagerness to
engulf the new victim.
Once more came the telepathic warning, "Delay no longer. It is high
time you turned back. You must escape to warn our people and yours.
Even now the awful creature has us in its vitals, its tentacles
reaching through our shattered walls, creeping and twining through the
passages of our vessel. Crushing floors and walls, its demoniac
energies heating our compartment beyond belief. We can hold out no
longer. Go! Go quickly. Remember--the third satellite of the fifth
planet--to the city of golden domes. Tell of our fate. Our people will
understand. You--"
The voice was stilled. Mado groaned as if in pain and Carr saw in that
instant that each knob and lever on the control panel glowed with an
unearthly brush discharge. Not violet as of high frequency
electricity, but red. Cherry red as of heated metal. The emanations of
the cosmic monster were at work on the _Nomad_. A glance through the
forward port showed they had but a few miles to go. They'd be in the
clutches of the horror in minutes, seconds, at the rate they were
traveling. Mado slumped in his seat, his proud head rolling
grotesquely on his breast. He slid to the floor, helpless.
* * * * *
Carr went mad with fury. It couldn't be! This thing of doom was a
creature of his imagination! But no--there it was, looming close in
his vision. By God, he'd leave the mark of the _Nomad_ on the vicious
thing! He remembered the ray with which the vessel was armed. He was
in the pilot's seat, fingering controls that blistered his hands and
cramped his arms with an unnameable force. He'd fight the brute! Full
energy--head on--that was the way to meet it. Why bother with the
reversal? It was no use.
A blood-red veil obscured his vision. He felt for the release of the
ray; pulled the gravity energy control to full power forward. In a
daze, groping blindly for support, he waited for the shock of impact.
The mass of that monstrosity must be terrific, else why had it such a
power of attraction for other bodies? Or was it that the thing
radiated energies unknown to science? Whatever it was, the thing would
know the sting of the _Nomad's_ ray. Whatever its nature, animate or
inanimate, it was matter. The ray destroyed matter. Obliterated it
utterly. Tore the atoms asunder, whirling their electrons from their
orbits with terrific velocity. There'd be some effect, that was
certain! No great use perhaps. But a crater would mark the last
resting place of the _Nomad_; a huge crater. Perhaps the misty
whiteness would close in over them later. But there'd be less of the
creature's bulk to menace other travelers in space.
His head ached miserably; his body was shot through and through with
cramping agonies. The very blood in his veins was liquid fire, searing
his veins and arteries with pulsing awfulness. He staggered from the
control cabin; threw himself on his bunk. The covers were electrified
and clung to him like tissue to rubbed amber. The wall of the sleeping
cabin vibrated with a screeching note. The floors trembled. Madness!
That's all it was! He'd awaken in a moment. Find himself in his own
bed at home. He'd dreamed of adventures before now. But never of such
as this! It just couldn't happen! A nightmare--fantasy of an
over-tired brain--it was.
There came a violent wrench that must have torn the hull plates from
their bracings. The ship seemed to close in on him and crush him. A
terrific concussion flattened him to the bunk. Then all was still.
Carr Parker's thoughts broke short abruptly. He had slipped into
unconsciousness.