cara merubah sinyal di galaxy ace 3

book three triplanetarychapter 10 within the red veil nevia, the home planet of the maraudingspace-ship, would have appeared peculiar indeed to terrestrial senses. high in the deep red heavens a fervent bluesun poured down its flood of brilliant purplish light upon a world of water. not a cloud was to be seen in that flamingsky, and through that dustless atmosphere the eye could see the horizon--a horizonthree times as distant as the one to which we are accustomed--with a distinctness and clarity impossible in our terra's dust-filled air.

as that mighty sun dropped below thehorizon the sky would fill suddenly with clouds and rain would fall violently andsteadily until midnight. then the clouds would vanish as suddenly asthey had come into being, the torrential downpour would cease, and through that hugeworld's wonderfully transparent gaseous envelope the full glory of the firmamentwould be revealed. not the firmament as we know it--for thathot blue sun and nevia, her one planet- child, were light-years distant from oldsol and his numerous brood--but a strange and glorious firmament containing fewconstellations familiar to earthly eyes. out of the vacuum of space a fish-shapedvessel of the void--the vessel that was to

attack so boldly both the massed fleet oftriplanetary and roger's planetoid--plunged into the rarefied outer atmosphere, and crimson beams of force tore shriekinglythrough the thin air as it braked its terrific speed. a third of the circumference of nevia'smighty globe was traversed before the velocity of the craft could be reducedsufficiently to make a landing possible. then, approaching the twilight zone, thevessel dived vertically downward, and it became evident that nevia was neitherentirely aqueous nor devoid of intelligent life.

for the blunt nose of the space-ship waspointing toward what was evidently a half- submerged city, a city whose buildings wereflat-topped, hexagonal towers, exactly alike in size, shape, color, and material. these buildings were arranged as the cellsof a honeycomb would be if each cell were separated from its neighbors by arelatively narrow channel of water, and all were built of the same white metal. many bridges and more tubes extendedthrough the air from building to building, and the watery "streets" teemed withswimmers, with surface craft, and with submarines.

the pilot, stationed immediately below theconical prow of the space-ship, peered intently through thick windows whichafforded unobstructed vision in every direction. his four huge and contractile eyes wereactive, each operating independently in sending its own message to his peculiar butcapable brain. one was watching the instruments, theothers scanned narrowly the immense, swelling curve of the ship's belly, thewater upon which his vessel was to land, and the floating dock to which it was to bemoored. four hands--if hands they could be called--manipulated levers and wheels with infinite

delicacy of touch, and with scarcely asplash the immense mass of the nevian vessel struck the water and glided to astop within a foot of its exact berth. four mooring bars dropped neatly into theirsockets and the captain-pilot, after locking his controls in neutral, releasedhis safety straps and leaped lightly from his padded bench to the floor. scuttling across the floor and down arunway upon his four short, powerful, heavily scaled legs, he slipped smoothlyinto the water and flashed away, far below the surface. for nevians are true amphibians.

their blood is cold; they use with equalcomfort and efficiency gills and lungs for breathing; their scaly bodies are equallyat home in the water or in the air; their broad, flat feet serve equally well for running about upon a solid surface or fordriving their streamlined bodies through the water at a pace few fishes can equal. through the water the nevian commanderdarted along, steering his course accurately by means of his short, vanedtail. through an opening in a wall he sped andalong a submarine hallway, emerging upon a broad ramp.

he scurried up the incline and into anelevator which lifted him to the top of the hexagon, directly into the office of thesecretary of commerce of all nevia. "welcome, captain nerado!" the secretary waved a tentacular arm andthe visitor sprang lightly upon a softly cushioned bench, where he lay at ease,facing the official across his low, flat "desk." "we congratulate you upon the success ofyour final trial flight. we received all your reports, even whileyou were traveling at ten times the velocity of light.

with the last difficulties overcome, youare now ready to start?" "we are ready," the captain-scientistreplied, soberly. "mechanically, the ship is as nearlyperfect as our finest minds can make her. she is stocked for two years.all the iron-bearing suns within reach have been plotted. everything is ready except the iron.of course the council refused to allow us any of the national supply--how much wereyou able to purchase for us in the market?" "nearly ten pounds...." "ten pounds!why, the securities we left with you could

not have bought two pounds, even at theprice then prevailing!" "no, but you have friends. many of us believe in you, and have dippedinto our own resources. you and your fellow scientists of theexpedition have each contributed his entire personal fortune; why should not some ofthe rest of us also contribute, as private citizens?" "wonderful--we thank you.ten pounds!" the captain's great triangular eyes glowedwith an intense violet light. "at least a year of cruising.

but ... what if, after all, we should bewrong?" "in that case you shall have consumed tenpounds of irreplaceable metal." the secretary was unmoved. "that is the viewpoint of the council andof almost everyone else. it is not the waste of treasure they objectto; it is the fact that ten pounds of iron will be forever lost." "a high price, truly," the columbus ofnevia assented. "and after all, i may be wrong.""you probably are wrong," his host made startling answer.

"it is practically certain--it is almost ademonstrable mathematical fact--that no other sun within hundreds of thousands oflight-years of our own has a planet. in all probability nevia is the only planetin the entire universe. we are very probably the only intelligentlife in the universe. there is only one chance in numberlessmillions that anywhere within the cruising range of your newly perfected space-shipthere may be an iron-bearing planet upon which you can effect a landing. there is a larger chance, however, that youmay be able to find a small, cold, iron- bearing cosmic body--small enough so thatyou can capture it.

although there are no mathematics by whichto evaluate the probability of such an occurrence, it is upon that larger chancethat some of us are staking a portion of our wealth. we expect no return whatever, but if youshould by some miracle happen to succeed, what then? deep seas being made shallow, civilizationextending itself over the globe, science advancing by leaps and bounds, neviabecoming populated as she should be peopled--that, my friend, is a chance wellworth taking!" the secretary called in a group of guards,who escorted the small package of priceless

metal to the space-ship. before the massive door was sealed thefriends bade each other farewell. "...i will keep in touch with you on the ultra- wave," the captain concluded. "after all, i do not blame the council forrefusing to allow the other ship to go out. ten pounds of iron will be a fearful lossto the world. if we should find iron, however, see to itthat she loses no time in following us." "no fear of that!if you find iron she will set out at once, and all space will soon be full of vessels.

goodbye."the last opening was sealed and nerado shot the great vessel into the air. up and up, out beyond the last tenuoustrace of atmosphere, on and on through space it flew with ever-increasing velocityuntil nevia's gigantic blue sun had been left so far behind that it became asplendid blue-white star. then, projectors cut off to save theprecious iron whose disintegration furnished them power, for week after weekcaptain nerado and his venturesome crew of scientists drifted idly through theillimitable void. there is no need to describe in detailnerado's tremendous voyage.

suffice it to say that he found a g-typedwarf star possessing planets--not one planet only, but six ... seven ... eight... yes, at least nine! and most of those worlds were themselvescenters of attraction around which were circling one or more worldlets! nerado thrilled with joy as he applied afull retarding force, and every creature aboard that great vessel had to peer into aplate or through a telescope before he could believe that planets other than neviadid in reality exist! velocity checked to the merest crawl, asspace-speeds go, and with electro-magnetic detector screens full out, the nevianvessel crept toward our sun.

finally the detectors encountered anobstacle, a conductive substance which the patterns showed conclusively to bepractically pure iron. iron--an enormous mass of it--floatingalone out in space! without waiting to investigate the nature,appearance, or structure of the precious mass, nerado ordered power into theconverters and drove an enormous softening field of force upon the object--a force of such a nature that it would condense themetallic iron into an allotropic modification of much smaller bulk; a red,viscous, extremely dense and heavy liquid which could be stored conveniently in histanks.

no sooner had the precious fluid beenstored away than the detectors again broke into an uproar. in one direction was an enormous mass ofiron, scarcely detectable; in another a great number of smaller masses; in a thirdan isolated mass, comparatively small in size. space seemed to be full of iron, and neradodrove his most powerful beam toward distant nevia and sent an exultant message. "we have found iron--easily obtained and inunthinkable quantity--not in fractions of milligrams, but in millions upon unmeasuredmillions of tons!

send our sister ship here at once!" "nerado!"the captain was called to one of the observation plates as soon as he had openedhis key. "i have been investigating the mass of ironnow nearest us, the small one. it is an artificial structure, a smallspace-boat, and there are three creatures in it--monstrosities certainly, but theymust possess some intelligence or they could not be navigating space." "what?impossible!" exclaimed the chief explorer. "probably, then, the other was--but nomatter, we had to have the iron.

bring the boat in without converting it, sothat we may study at our leisure both the beings and their mechanisms," and neradoswung his own visiray beam into the emergency boat, seeing there the armored figures of clio marsden and the twotriplanetary officers. "they are indeed intelligent," neradocommented, as he detected and silenced costigan's ultra-beam communicator. "not, however, as intelligent as i hadsupposed," he went on, after studying the peculiar creatures and their tiny space-ship more in detail. "they have immense stores of iron, yet useit for nothing other than building

material.they make little and inefficient use of atomic energy. they apparently have a rudimentaryknowledge of ultra-waves, but do not use them intelligently--they cannot neutralizeeven these ordinary forces we are now employing. they are of course more intelligent thanthe lower ganoids, or even than some of the higher fishes, but by no stretch of theimagination can they be compared to us. i am quite relieved--i was afraid that inmy haste i might have slain members of a highly developed race."

the helpless boat, all her forcesneutralized, was brought up close to the immense flying fish. there flaming knives of force sliced herneatly into sections and the three rigid armored figures, after being bereft oftheir external weapons, were brought through the airlocks and into the control room, while the pieces of their boat werestored away for future study. the nevian scientists first analyzed theair inside the space-suits of the terrestrials, then carefully removed theprotective coverings of the captives. costigan--fully conscious through it alland now able to move a little, since the

peculiar temporary paralysis was wearingoff--braced himself for he knew not what shock, but it was needless; their grotesquecaptors were not torturers. the air, while somewhat more dense thanearth's and of a peculiar odor, was eminently breathable, and even though thevessel was motionless in space an almost- normal gravitation gave them a largefraction of their usual weight. after the three had been relieved of theirpistols and other articles which the nevians thought might prove to be weapons,the strange paralysis was lifted entirely. the earthly clothing puzzled the captorsimmensely, but so strenuous were the objections raised to its removal that theydid not press the point, but fell back to

study their find in detail. then faced each other the representativesof the civilizations of two widely separated solar systems. the nevians studied the human beings withinterest and curiosity blended largely with loathing and repulsion; the threeterrestrials regarded the unmoving, expressionless "faces"--if those coned heads could be said to possess such thing--with horror and disgust, as well as with other emotions, each according to his typeand training. for to human eyes the nevian is a fearfulthing.

even today there are few terrestrials--orsolarians, for that matter--who can look at a nevian, eye to eye, without feeling acreeping of the skin and experiencing a "gone" sensation in the pit of the stomach. the horny, wrinkled, drought-resistingmartian, whom we all know and rather like, is a hideous being indeed.the bat-eyed, colorless, hairless, practically skinless venerian is worse. but they both are, after all, remotecousins of terra's humanity, and we get along with them quite well whenever we arecompelled to visit mars or venus. but the nevians--

the horizontal, flat, fish-like body is notso bad, even supported as it is by four short, powerful, scaly, flat-footed legs;and terminating as it does in the weird, four-vaned tail. the neck, even, is endurable, although itis long and flexible, heavily scaled, and is carried in whatever eye-wringing loopsor curves the owner considers most convenient or ornamental at the time. even the smell of a nevian--a malodorousreek of over-ripe fish--does in time become tolerable, especially if sufficientlydisguised with creosote, which purely terrestrial chemical is the most highlyprized perfume of nevia.

but the head! it is that member that makes the nevian soappalling to earthly eyes, for it is a thing utterly foreign to all solarianhistory or experience. as most tellurians already know, it isfundamentally a massive cone, covered with scales, based spearhead-like upon the neck. four great sea-green, triangular eyes arespaced equidistant from each other about half way up the cone. the pupils are contractile at will, likethe eyes of the cat, permitting the nevian to see equally well in any ordinary extremeof light or darkness.

immediately below each eye springs out along, jointless, boneless, tentacular arm; an arm which at its extremity divides intoeight delicate and sensitive, but very strong, "fingers." below each arm is a mouth: a beaked,needle-tusked orifice of dire potentialities. finally, under the overhanging edge of thecone-shaped head are the delicately-frilled organs which serve either as gills or asnostrils and lungs, as may be desired. to other nevians the eyes and otherfeatures are highly expressive, but to us they appear utterly cold and unmoving.terrestrial senses can detect no changes of

expression in a nevian's "face." such were the frightful beings at whom thethree prisoners stared with sinking hearts. but if we human beings have alwaysconsidered nevians grotesque and repulsive, the feeling has always been mutual. for those "monstrous" beings are a highlyintelligent and extremely sensitive race, and our--to us--trim and graceful humanforms seem to them the very quintessence of malformation and hideousness. "good heavens, conway!"clio exclaimed, shrinking against costigan as his left arm flashed around her."what horrible monstrosities!

and they can't talk--not one of them hasmade a sound--suppose they can be deaf and dumb?"but at the same time nerado was addressing his fellows. "what hideous, deformed creatures they are!truly a low form of life, even though they do possess some intelligence. they cannot talk, and have made no signs ofhaving heard our words to them--do you suppose that they communicate by sight?that those weird contortions of their peculiarly placed organs serve as speech?" thus both sides, neither realizing that theother had spoken.

for the nevian voice is pitched so highthat the lowest note audible to them is far above our limit of hearing. the shrillest note of a terrestrial piccolois to them so profoundly low that it cannot be heard."we have much to do." nerado turned away from the captives. "we must postpone further study of thespecimens until we have taken aboard a full cargo of the iron which is so plentifulhere." "what shall we do with them, sir?" askedone of the nevian officers. "lock them in one of the storage rooms?""oh, no!

they might die there, and we must by allmeans keep them in good condition, to be studied most carefully by the fellows ofthe college of science. what a commotion there will be when webring in this group of strange creatures, living proof that there are other sunspossessing planets; planets which are supporting organic and intelligent life! you may put them in three communicatingrooms, say in the fourth section--they will undoubtedly require light and exercise. lock all the exits, of course, but it wouldbe best to leave the doors between the rooms unlocked, so that they can betogether or apart, as they choose.

since the smallest one, the female, staysso close to the larger male, it may be that they are mates. but since we know nothing of their habitsor customs, it will be best to give them all possible freedom compatible withsafety." nerado turned back to his instruments andthree of the frightful crew came up to the human beings. one walked away, waving a couple of arms inan unmistakable signal that the prisoners were to follow him.the three obediently set out after him, the other two guards falling behind.

"now's our best chance!"costigan muttered, as they passed through a low doorway and entered a narrow corridor."watch that one ahead of you, clio--hold him for a second if you can. bradley, you and i will take the two behindus--now!" costigan stooped and whirled. seizing a cable-like arm, he pulled theoutlandish head down, the while the full power of his mighty right leg drove a heavyservice boot into the place where scaly neck and head joined. the nevian fell, and instantly costiganleaped at the leader, ahead of the girl.

leaped; but dropped to the floor, againparalyzed. for the nevian leader had been alert, hisfour eyes covering the entire circle of vision, and he had acted rapidly. not in time to stop costigan's firstberserk attack--the first officer's reactions were practically instantaneousand he moved fast--but in time to retain command of the situation. another nevian appeared, and while thestricken guard was recovering, all four arms wrapped tightly around hisconvulsively looping, writhing neck, the three helpless terrestrials were lifted

into the air and carried bodily into thequarters to which nerado had assigned them. not until they had been placed uponcushions in the middle room and the heavy metal doors had been locked upon them didthey again find themselves able to use arms or legs. "well, that's another round we lose,"costigan commented, cheerfully. "a guy can't mix it very well when he canneither kick, strike, nor bite. i expected those lizards to rough me upthen, but they didn't." "they don't want to hurt us. they want to take us home with them,wherever that is, as curiosities, like wild

animals or something," decided the girl,shrewdly. "they're pretty bad, of course, but i likethem a lot better than i do roger and his robots, anyway.""i think you have the right idea, miss marsden," bradley rumbled. "that's it, exactly.i feel like a bear in a cage. i should think you'd feel worse than ever.what chance has an animal of escaping from a menagerie?" "these animals, lots.i'm feeling better and better all the time," clio declared, and her serenebearing bore out her words.

"you two got us out of that horrible placeof roger's, and i'm pretty sure that you will get us away from here, somehow orother. they may think we're stupid animals, butbefore you two and the triplanetary patrol and the service get done with them they'llhave another think coming." "that's the old fight, clio!" cheeredcostigan. "i haven't got it figured out as close asyou have, but i get about the same answer. these four-legged fish carry considerablyheavier stuff than roger did, i'm thinking; but they'll be up against somethingthemselves pretty quick that is no light- weight, believe me!"

"do you know something, or are you justwhistling in the dark?" bradley demanded."i know a little; not much. engineering and research have been workingon a new ship for a long time; a ship to travel so much faster than light that itcan go anywhere in the galaxy and back in a month or so. new sub-ether drive, new atomic power, newarmament, new everything. only bad thing about it is that it doesn'twork so good yet--it's fuller of bugs than a venerian's kitchen. it has blown up five times that i know of,and has killed twenty-nine men.

but when they get it licked they'll havesomething!" "when, or if?" asked bradley,pessimistically. "i said when!" snapped costigan, his voicecutting. "when the service goes after anything theyget it, and when they get it it stays...." he broke off abruptly and his voice lostits edge. "sorry. didn't mean to get high, but i think we'llhave help, if we can keep our heads up a while.and it looks good--these are first-class cages they've given us.

all the comforts of home, even to lookoutplates. let's see what's going on, shall we?" after some experimenting with theunfamiliar controls costigan learned how to operate the nevian visiray, and upon theplate they saw the cone of battle hurling itself toward roger's planetoid. they saw the pirate fleet rush out to dobattle with triplanetary's massed forces, and with bated breath they watched everymaneuver of that epic battle to its savagely sacrificial end. and that same battle was being watched,also with the most intense interest, by the

nevians in their control room."it is indeed a bloodthirsty combat," mused nerado at his observation plate. "and it is peculiar--or rather, probablyonly to be expected from a race of such a low stage of development--that they employonly ether-borne forces. warfare seems universal among primitivetypes--indeed, it is not so long ago that our own cities, few in number though theyare, ceased fighting each other and combined against the semicivilized fishesof the greater deeps." he fell silent, and for many minuteswatched the furious battle between the two navies of the void.

that conflict ended, he watched thetriplanetary fleet reform its battle cone and rush upon the planetoid."destruction, always destruction," he sighed, adjusting his power switches. "since they are bent upon mutualdestruction i can see no purpose in refraining from destroying all of them.we need the iron, and they are a useless race." he launched his softening, converting fieldof dull red energy. vast as that field was, it could notencompass the whole fleet, but half of the lip of the gigantic cone soon disappeared,its component vessels subsiding into a

sluggishly flowing stream of allotropiciron. the fleet, abandoning its attack upon theplanetoid, swung its cone around, to bring the flame-erupting axis to bear upon theformless something dimly perceptible to the ultra-vision of samms' observers. furiously the gigantic composite beam ofthe massed fleet was hurled, nor was it alone. for gharlane had known, ever since the easyescape of his human prisoners, that something was occurring which wascompletely beyond his experience, although not beyond his theoretical knowledge.

he had found the sub-ether closed; he hadbeen unable to make his sub-ethereal weapons operative against either the threecaptives or the war-vessels of the triplanetary patrol. now, however, he could work in the sub-ethereal murk of the newcomers; a light trial showed him that if he so wished hecould use sub-ethereal offenses against them. what was the real meaning of those facts?he had become convinced that those three persons were no more human than was rogerhimself. who or what was activating them?

it was definitely not eddorian workmanship;no eddorian would have developed those particular techniques, nor could possiblyhave developed them without his knowledge. what, then? to do what had been done necessitated theexistence of a race as old and as capable as the eddorians, but of an entirelydifferent nature; and, according to eddore's vast information center, no suchrace existed or ever had existed. those visitors, possessing mechanismssupposedly known only to the science of eddore, would also be expected to possessthe mental powers which had been exhibited. were they recent arrivals from some otherspace-time continuum?

probably not--eddorian surveys had found notrace of any such life in any reachable plenum. since it would be utterly fantastic topostulate the unheralded appearance of two such races at practically the same moment,the conclusion seemed unavoidable that these as yet unknown beings were the protectors--the activators, rather--of thetwo triplanetary officers and the woman. this view was supported by the fact thatwhile the strangers had attacked triplanetary's fleet and had killedthousands of triplanetary's men, they had actually rescued those three supposedlyhuman beings.

the planetoid, then would be attacked next. very well, he would join triplanetary inattacking them--with weapons no more dangerous to them than triplanetary's own--the while preparing his real attack, which would come later. roger issued orders; and waited; andthought more and more intensely upon one point which remained obscure--why, when thestrangers themselves destroyed triplanetary's fleet, had roger been unable to use his most potent weapons against thatfleet? thus, then, for the first time intriplanetary's history, the forces of law

and order joined hands with those of piracyand banditry against a common foe. rods, beams, planes, and stilettos ofunbearable energy the doomed fleet launched, in addition to its terrificallydestructive main beam: roger hurled every material weapon at his command. but bombs, high-explosive shells, even theultra-deadly atomic torpedoes, alike were ineffective; alike simply vanished in theredly murky veil of nothingness. and the fleet was being melted. in quick succession the vessels flamed red,shrank together, gave out their air, and merged their component iron into theintensely crimson, sullenly viscous stream

which was flowing through the impenetrable veil against which both triplanetarians andpirates were directing their terrific offense. the last vessel of the attacking conehaving been converted and the resulting metal stored away, the nevians--as rogerhad anticipated--turned their attention toward the planetoid. but that structure was no feeble warship.it had been designed by, and built under the personal supervision of, gharlane ofeddore. it was powered, equipped, and armed to meetany emergency which gharlane's tremendous

mind had been able to envision. its entire bulk was protected by the shieldwhose qualities had so surprised costigan; a shield far more effective than anytellurian scientist or engineer would have believed possible. the voracious converting beam of thenevians, below the level of the ether though it was, struck that shield andrebounded; defeated and futile. struck again, again rebounded; then struckand clung hungrily, licking out over that impermeable surface in darting tongues offlame as the surprised nerado doubled and then quadrupled his power.

fiercer and fiercer the nevian flood offorce drove in. the whole immense globe of the planetoidbecame one scintillant ball of raw, red energy; but still the pirates' shieldremained intact. gray roger sat coldly motionless at hisgreat desk, the top of which was now swung up to become a panel of massed and tieredinstruments and controls. he could carry this load forever--butunless he was very wrong, this load would change shortly.what then? the essence that was gharlane could not bekilled--could not even be hurt--by any physical, chemical, or nuclear force.

should he stay with the planetoid to itsend, and thus perforce return to eddore with no material evidence whatever?he would not. too much remained undone. any report based upon his presentinformation could be neither complete nor conclusive, and reports submitted bygharlane of eddore to the coldly cynical and ruthlessly analytical innermost circlehad always been and always would be both. it was a fact that there existed at leastone non-eddorian mind which was the equal of his own. if one, there would be a race of suchminds.

the thought was galling; but to deny theexistence of a fact would be the essence of stupidity. since power of mind was a function of time,that race must be of approximately the same age as his own. therefore the eddorian information center,which by the inference of its completeness denied the existence of such a race, waswrong. it was not complete. why was it not complete?the only possible reason for two such races remaining unaware of the existence of eachother would be the deliberate intent of one

of them. therefore, at some time in the past, thetwo races had been in contact for at least an instant of time. all eddorian knowledge of that meeting hadbeen suppressed and no more contacts had been allowed to occur. the conclusion reached by gharlane was adisturbing thing indeed; but, being an eddorian, he faced it squarely. he did not have to wonder how such asuppression could have been accomplished-- he knew.

he also knew that his own mind containedeverything known to his every ancestor since the first eddorian was: theprobability was exceedingly great that if any such contact had ever been made his mind would still contain at least someinformation concerning it, however carefully suppressed that knowledge hadbeen. he thought. back ... back ... farther back ... fartherstill.... and as he thought, an interfering forcebegan to pluck at him; as though palpable tongs were pulling out of line the mentalprobe with which he was exploring the

hitherto unplumbed recesses of his mind. "ah ... so you do not want me to remember?"roger asked aloud, with no change in any lineament of his hard, gray face."i wonder ... do you really believe that you can keep me from remembering? i must abandon this search for the moment,but rest assured that i shall finish it very shortly.""here is the analysis of his screen, sir." a nevian computer handed his chief a sheetof metal, bearing rows of symbols. "ah, a polycyclic ... complete coverage ...a screen of that type was scarcely to have been expected from such a low form oflife," nerado commented, and began to

adjust dials and controls. as he did so the character of the clingingmantle of force changed. from red it flamed quickly through thespectrum, became unbearably violet, then disappeared; and as it disappeared theshielding wall began to give way. it did not cave in abruptly, but softenedlocally, sagging into a peculiar grouping of valleys and ridges--contestingstubbornly every inch of position lost. roger experimented briefly withinertialessness. no use.as he had expected, they were prepared for that.

he summoned a few of the ablest of hisscientist-slaves and issued instructions. for minutes a host of robots toiledmightily, then a portion of the shield bulged out and became a tube extendingbeyond the attacking layers of force; a tube from which there erupted a beam ofviolence incredible. a beam behind which was every erg of energythat the gigantic mechanisms of the planetoid could yield. a beam that tore a hole through the redlyimpenetrable nevian field and hurled itself upon the inner screen of the fish-shapedcruiser in frenzied incandescence. and was there, or was there not, a lessereruption upon the other side--an almost

imperceptible flash, as though somethinghad shot from the doomed planetoid out into space? nerado's neck writhed convulsively as histortured drivers whined and shrieked at the terrific overload; but roger's effort wasfar too intense to be long maintained. generator after generator burned out, thedefensive screen collapsed, and the red converter beam attacked voraciously theunresisting metal of those prodigious walls. soon there was a terrific explosion as thepent-up air of the planetoid broke through its weakening container, and the sluggishriver of allotropic iron flowed in an ever

larger stream, ever faster. "it is well that we had an unlimited supplyof iron." nerado almost tied a knot in his neck as hespoke in huge relief. "with but the seven pounds remaining of ouroriginal supply, i fear that it would have been difficult to parry that last thrust.""difficult?" asked the second in command. "we would now be free atoms in space. but what shall i do with this iron?our reservoirs will not hold more than half of it.and how about that one ship which remains untouched?"

"jettison enough supplies from the lowerholds to make room for this lot. as for that one ship, let it go. we will be overloaded as it is, and it isof the utmost importance that we get back to nevia as soon as possible."this, if gharlane could have heard it, would have answered his question. all arisia knew that it was necessary forthe camera-ship to survive. the nevians were interested only in iron;but the eddorian, being a perfectionist, would not have been satisfied with anythingless than the complete destruction of every vessel of triplanetary's fleet.

the nevian space-ship moved away,sluggishly now because of its prodigious load. in their quarters in the fourth section thethree terrestrials, who had watched with strained attention the downfall andabsorption of the planetoid, stared at each other with drawn faces. clio broke the silence."oh, conway, this is ghastly! it's ... it's just simply too damnedperfectly horrible!" she gasped, then recovered a measure of her customary spiritas she stared in surprise at costigan's face.

for it was thoughtful, his eyes were brightand keen--no trace of fear or disorganization was visible in any line ofhis hard young face. "it's not so good," he admitted frankly. "i wish i wasn't such a dumb cluck--iflyman cleveland or fred rodebush were here they could help a lot, but i don't knowenough about any of their stuff to flag a hand-car. i can't even interpret that funny flash--ifit really was a flash--that we saw." "why bother about one little flash, afterall that really did happen?" asked clio, curiously.

"you think roger launched something?he couldn't have--i didn't see a thing," bradley argued."i don't know what to think. i've never seen anything material sent outso fast that i couldn't trace it with an ultra-wave--but on the other hand, roger'sgot a lot of stuff that i never saw anywhere else. however, i don't see that it has anythingto do with the fix we're in right now--but at that, we might be worse off. we're still breathing air, you notice, andif they don't blanket my wave i can still talk."he put both hands into his pockets and

spoke. "samms?costigan. put me on a recorder, quick--i probablyhaven't got much time," and for ten minutes he talked, concisely and as rapidly as hecould utter words, reporting clearly and exactly everything that had transpired. suddenly he broke off, writhing in agony.frantically he tore his shirt open and hurled a tiny object across the room."wow!" he exclaimed. "they may be deaf, but they can certainlydetect an ultra-wave, and what an interference they can set up on it!

no, i'm not hurt," he reassured the anxiousgirl, now at his side, "but it's a good thing i had you out of circuit--it wouldhave jolted you loose from six or seven of your back teeth." "have you any idea where they're takingus?" she asked soberly. "no," he answered flatly, looking deep intoher steadfast eyes. "no use lying to you--if i know you at allyou'd rather take it standing up. that talk of jovians or neptunians is thebunk--nothing like that ever grew in our solarian system. all the signs say that we're going for along ride."

Share this post