_Nemesis_
The Llotta did not use their ray-pistols. They were too busy
attempting to elude the mad rushes of the powerful Terrestrial.
Besides, there were good reasons they should not kill him--yet. Carr
drove one of them halfway down the passageway with a well-planted
punch. The other was on his back, hairy legs twined around his waist,
an arm under his chin, drawing his head back with a steady and
terrible pressure. He whirled around, trying to shake off his beastly
antagonist.
But these powerful legs and arms held fast. He tore at the hairy
ankles where they crossed in the pit of his stomach; wrenched them
free. Still the creature clung to him, twisting his head until it
seemed his neck must break. He found a waving foot with his right
hand; wrenched it mightily. There was a sharp snap and the foot
dangled limp in his fingers. He had broken the ankle. With a howl of
pain his assailant let go and dropped to the floor to crawl away like
a whipped cur.
In a flash Carr saw that the brute was reaching for his ray-pistol
where it had dropped during the encounter. He kicked it from the reach
of that hairy paw and sprang after it. With one of those little
weapons in his hands the odds would change! His fingers closed on its
grip just as Ora rushed into the room, closely followed by Rapaju,
whose distorted features were terrible to behold. The cabin was full
of them now; the guard he had first knocked down; the lust-crazed
commander--the one with the broken ankle. All but Detis and Mado. Carr
faced them alone.
So close was Rapaju to the girl that he dared not use the pistol, and
now the uninjured guard was circling him, trying to get in a position
where he could use his ray-pistol without endangering his commander.
Carr fumbled for the release of the weapon he held in his hand; found
it. The guard threw himself to the floor when he saw it raised;
shouted a warning. But it was too late. The deadly ray had sped on its
mission of death; struck him full in the middle. The twisted body lay
still a moment and then collapsed like a punctured balloon, leaving
his scant clothing in a limp heap--empty. A worthy miniature of the
D-ray, this little weapon!
* * * * *
He turned to face Rapaju and saw that he was shielding himself with
Ora's body. She had fainted and now hung drooping in the arms of the
beast. Where was Mado? Detis? Good God--he'd killed them! Carr thought
of that little spot on the chart. Must be very close now. They'd pass
so near there'd be no escape. But he could not reach the controls
without taking his eyes from Rapaju. That would have to wait.
Rapaju was backing toward the door, still holding the limp figure of
the girl before him. The injured guard lay moaning on the floor.
"Drop her, you devil!" Carr shouted desperately as he saw that Rapaju
soon would reach the passageway.
Then suddenly he reached for the controls and pushed the energy lever
to full speed forward. He braced himself for the shock of acceleration
and saw Rapaju and Ora thrown backward into the passageway, the girl's
body cushioned by that of her captor as they were flung violently to
the floor. Madly he rushed to the narrow entrance and tore at the
hairy arms that encircled the slender waist of the girl. He jerked the
snarling commander of the Llotta expedition to his feet and slammed
him against the metal wall.
"Now, you damn pig," he grunted, "I'll finish the job. Dirty scum of a
rotten world!"
He dragged his victim into the control cabin and threw him to the
floor. But Rapaju was like an eel. He wriggled from under him and
snatched from the heap of clothing the ray-pistol of the disintegrated
guard. With a yelp of triumph he rose to his knees and leveled the
weapon.
A well placed kick sent it spinning and Carr was upon him. He snapped
back the head with a terrible punch; then lifted the dazed creature to
his feet and stepped back.
"Stand up and take it like a man!" he roared.
* * * * *
Rapaju shook his head to clear it and rushed in with a bellow of rage.
Just what Carr wanted! Starting almost from the floor, his right came
up to meet the vicious jaw with a crack that told of the terrific
power behind it. Lifted from his feet and hurled half way across the
room by the impact, Rapaju lay motionless where he fell.
Carr was at the telescope. Their speed was close to fifteen hundred
miles a second. The monstrous mass of Mado's Sargasso Sea loomed close
in his vision. Off their course by a hundred miles or more. They'd
miss it all right. He had the situation in hand now on board the
_Nomad_. But how about the fleet behind them? He thought fast and
furiously. Another two minutes and they'd pass the thing; the
inexplicable horror which had accounted for the golden sphere of the
Europans. Could he use it? Suppose the fleet of the enemy--
The idea was full of possibilities.
He rushed to the stern compartment, and scanned the heavens for the
massed body of spheres he knew would be the fleet of the Llotta. At
this speed they must have fallen far behind. Yes, there they were. Not
so far behind at that. The battle in the control room must have been a
shorter one than it had seemed. He returned quickly to the controls
and reversed the energy, to give the fleet a chance to catch up to
him.
Closer came that mass of whitish jelly. And now it was much larger
than before. The terrible creature, for living matter it was, beyond
doubt, was growing with the rapidity of a rising flood. Great
tentacles of its horrid translucent substance reached in all
directions for possible victims. He sickened at the sight. But what a
fate for the fleet of the Llotta! If only he could maneuver them into
its influence.
* * * * *
He changed his course slightly and headed directly for the monster,
again increasing speed. Perhaps--if he calculated the forces
correctly--he could dive through it again with the D-ray to clear a
path. But no. It was a miracle they had escaped before, and now the
vicious thing was more than double its previous size. Once more he
altered his course. He'd cross in front of the thing; skim it as close
as he dared and shoot from its influence on the far side. The greater
mass of the enemy vessels and their lack of a quick-acting repulsive
force would prove their undoing.
Full speed ahead. A rapid mental calculation--an educated guess,
rather--and he set the automatic control. Turning around to start for
the stern compartment, he saw that Ora had recovered from her swoon
and now stood swaying weakly in the passageway.
"Ora!" he exclaimed delightedly. He rushed to her side and supported
her in a tender embrace.
"Rapaju?" she questioned with horror in her eyes.
"Won't bother you for a while, dear. But your father--Mado?"
"He gassed them. They'll recover." The brave girl had regained her
composure.
"Good! But, come! Time's short." He half carried her to the rear,
berating himself the while for his inability to pay her closer
attention. With arms still around her he placed her at one of the
stern ports.
"What is it, Carr?" She sensed his excitement.
"The fleet--see! We'll destroy them."
The spherical vessels were close behind, huddled together in mass
formation and following the _Nomad_ blindly.
"How, Carr?"
"Lead them into it. Wait tall you see! There's a--"
* * * * *
The _Nomad_ lurched, and changed direction. Cold fear clutched at his
throat. That devil of a guard! Why hadn't he killed him? He dashed
through the passage, Ora at his heels.
Sure enough, the crippled guard had dragged himself to the controls;
was manipulating the energy director as he had seen Mado do. They were
heading directly for the terrible monster of the heavens!
No need now to peer through the telescope. The thing was visible to
the naked eye. No power could save them! Carr hurled himself at the
guard and tore at the hairy paw which gripped the lever. The throbbing
of strange energies filled the air of the room, and Carr's brain
pulsed with the maddening rhythm. The red discharge appeared at the
projections of the control panels. He forgot the fleet of the Llotta,
forgot the menace to his own world. Only Ora mattered now, and he had
not the power to save her!
As in a daze he knew he was wrenching mightily at the body of the
powerful minion of Rapaju. His fingers encountered heated metal--one
of the ray-pistols. He felt the intense vibration of the weapon as its
charge was released. But he still lived. The beast who held it had
missed! Dimly he was conscious of the screams of Ora; of the yielding
of the creature who fought him. An animal cry registered on his
consciousness and he shook the suddenly limp Llotta from him. He knew
somehow that his last enemy was gone.
A quick glance showed him that Ora was still on her feet, braced
against the wall. The red veil was before his eyes. He grasped the
controls, and fought desperately to keep his strength and senses. A
streamer of horrid whiteness swung across his vision; slithered
clammily over the glass of one of the forward ports. They were into
the thing! It was the end! He groaned aloud as he fumbled with the
mechanisms and strove to formulate a plan of escape.
* * * * *
The fleet, he knew, was just behind. An enormous mass. The repulsive
energy astern would be terrific. He turned it full on. The whiteness
obscured his vision. Then it was gone once more. A single streamer
waved before him and encompassed them. The movement of these members
must be inconceivably rapid, else they'd be invisible at the speed the
_Nomad_ was traveling. Full speed ahead. The repulsion full on in the
direction of the center of the mass as well as astern. The framework
of the _Nomad_ creaked protestingly from the terrific forces that tore
at her vitals.
Then suddenly they were released. The _Nomad_ was shooting off into
space. The resultant of those combined forces had done the trick. Only
the edge of that devil-fish of space, had they touched. Free--they
were free of the monster! The red veil lifted. He rushed to Ora's
side. She was kneeling at one of the floor ports, breathing heavily
but unharmed.
Below them they saw the swiftly receding mass: the fleet of the Llotta
diving headlong, drawn inexorably into the rapacious embrace of the
vile creature of the heavens. An instant the awful whiteness of the
thing closed in greedily about the many spheres of the fleet;
swallowed them from sight and contorted madly and with seeming glee
over the triumph. Then, in a burst of blinding incandescence, it was
gone. The monster, the fleet--everything--blasted into nothingness.
The fuel storage compartments of the vessels of Ganymede had exploded!
The heavens were rid of the inexplicable growing menace; the inner
planets were saved from a terrible invasion. And the _Nomad_ was safe.
Ora, Detis, Mado--all were safe!
At his side Ora was trembling. Gently he raised her to her feet, and
took her into his arms.