AS silent as the ghastly shadows
about him, the man-beast moved through the steaming jungles of Venus. His
green, fire-flecked eyes at the sides of his head, were staring wide, his long,
reptilian tail curling rigidly over his broad, man-like shoulders, every nerve
in his scaled, upright body taut to the scent of a strange smell. Despite the
thick, brittle vegetation that almost hid him from view, he made no sound that
could have impinged on the eardrums of the tense, almost terrified humans who
listened and watched from behind a wall of matted equisetae.
Professors Tyber, Bingham and
Watson and the meagre crew of their electronic flyer which had carried them
through space from the earth to Venus on a scientific exploration, watched the
strange man-beast as he slid like the product of a nightmare, through the
stifling forest. The creature emerged slowly into a small clearing, sniffed the
air like an earthly vertebrate, and let his tail glide from his shoulders as
though convinced of his safety.
Not a breath of wind stirred the
dense growths. Giant ferns, horsetails and monstrous lycopods stood as stiff
and rigid as the man-thing among them. The air was hot and stifling, as the
earth had been in the dim ages when humanity came into being upon it. Overhead
were flame-shot clouds through which filtered the sun's rays, making the air
hot and humid. Steaming pools were everywhere and they were filled with savage
fish whose long, hungry jaws snapped occasionally at giant, droning dragon
flies. Frequent flashes of jagged lightning split the threatening heavens, but
the man-beast paid no heed to it.
The humans watched him in fascination.
The creature stood upright like a
man, on two scaled, muscular legs ending in broad, two-toed feet. Scaled as he
was he looked more like a lizard standing upright, tail dragging, but his arms
were well formed and each hand was equipped with long, claw-like fingers of
which there were four. That he was no mere savage beast could be seen by a
broad belt around his waist, worn apparently for the protection of his vitals
from savage claws of predatory animals. His head and features added to his
intelligent appearance despite the fact that his cranium was protected by a
natural shield of bone or horn that projected backward and down over his neck
like the headdress of an American Indian. It was gnarled and horny, but
apparently as strong as metal armor.
As he watched the beast, Professor
Tyber, anthropologist and leader of the expedition, sketched the creature on a
pad of paper. He dare not resort to his motion picture cameras for a record of
this grotesque species of homo reptilis as the man-beast could be
appropriately classed. The clicking of the mechanism might bring him down upon
them in an instant to spread death and havoc in their scant ranks.
Tyber's accurate pencil flew over
the page, recorded the beast's thick nose and savage, cruel lips, and finally
paused at the tip of the undulating tail. He regarded the drawing for a moment
and then returned the pad to his pocket as the beast suddenly concentrated his
attention on their place of concealment.
IT was probably only an
accident in an age of the remote past that gave intelligence to a race that
finally developed into men. Perhaps if some other accident had occurred, the
reptiles, or fish, or birds might have developed that adaptibility to
environment that we call intelligence and have become the dominant race on the
earth.
On other worlds, there is no
telling what the dominant form of life may be. It may be that conditions have
favored no one group and all have developed equally, thereby causing eternally
a bitter fight for ascendancy. But nature usually does not work that way. She
usually bestows a gift of power on a favored child, but withdraws it if the
child does not use it wisely. In this most exciting story of another world, Mr.
Repp shows clearly the struggle between opposing races for survival.
The anthropologist's blood ran
cold and his hands trembled with uncertainty. The man-beast of Venus sniffed
the air as though trying to locate the strange, mystifying smell that dilated
his nostrils. He cocked his head sideways „and looked squarely at the wall of
tangled growths behind which crouched the fascinated humans, then advanced
toward it slowly, menacingly.
Professor Tyber nudged Bingham.
The geologist's high-powered rifle slid into line with the approaching menace.
It made a scraping sound as it was glided along a brittle, sun-hardened growth.
The man-beast had heard. Bingham's finger curled around the trigger but he held
his fire hoping that the approaching man of Venus would change his course.
Suddenly the weird thing halted,
looked around him calmly and deliberately, then rent the still, soggy air with
a shrill, prolonged cry. The humans crouched aghast. High-powered pistols were
drawn by tense, bloodless hands. Tyber picked up his motion picture camera and
held it to his eye for focussing.
THE scientists had not a doubt but
that they had been discovered by the fearless man-beast, and Tyber was sure
that the cry had been a signal to others. He knew that it was hardly likely for
their presence to be unknown on this young world. Though the electronic flyer
had plunged down through the clouds silently under the attraction of gravity,
it must have been seen by countless Venusian eyes. By Tyber had a great desire
now to be within the protection of its steel, armor-plated hull. He had a
deep-rooted premonition that a tragedy was imminent.
Despite his great fear for the
safety of his party, he held his ground. The camera began to click. The man of
Venus stood as still as a stone idol, only the tip of his muscular tail in
motion, regarded the jungle surrounding the invaders through unblinking eyes.
His head swung to the right so that his right eye covered the spot from which
came the strange clicking. His nostrils twitched and he sniffed again. The
camera clicked on in Tyber's shaking hands. Perspiration excited by fear and
uncertainty mounted on his palms, making the camera slippery. Watson eyed him
excitedly.
"Hadn't we better retreat,
Tyber?" he whispered softly in a quivering voice.
"Not yet," hissed Tyber
between his tightly-closed teeth. “If we move the devil'll charge us. We'll
have to kill him and I don't want to do that—yet."
Bingham glanced along the sights
of his rifle. He had drawn a fine bead on the center of the Venusian's broad
forehead. How close the creature was to doom he could not know. But a single
twitch of the geologist's tense trigger finger would send him into eternity.
But Bingham was no fool. To pull that trigger would undoubtedly cause the
creature's nearby companions to swoop down upon them. The savage cry had been a
call for help, and he knew it.
"Better to kill him now than
be killed," Watson's voice trembled almost under his breath.
"And stir up a hornet's nest,
Watson?" mumbled Tyber. "This brute has friends right handy!"
Watson was becoming too nervous
for his own good. His pistol was in line with the beast who still stood in the
clearing, in an attitude of indecision. Watson seemed ready to fly to pieces at
any moment. Tyber sensed it and he warned him to put away his gun. Watson did
so reluctantly, mumbling dire things to himself.
They were startled suddenly by the
sound of padding feet in the jungle off to the left. Tyber watched the
man-beast. The creature cocked his head in the direction of the sounds and his
eyes flashed. Then out of the dim aisles of towering ferns and vegetation filed
a score more of these grotesque Venusians. Quickly they approached the lone
creature in the clearing. They halted there in a knot and the scientists heard
some sort of a strange discussion in deep-throated gutturals.
Tyber's camera continued to drone.
There came from it suddenly the slap of loose film and he knew that the
cartridge had run out. Silently he slung the automatic machine over his
shoulder by a leather strap and picked up his rifle. His mind worked rapidly in
spite of his uncontrolled excitement. He nudged Bingham again.
"They're getting ready to
rush us, Bing!" he whispered softly. "I've got a notion to let 'em
know that we mean no harm to them."
Bingham glanced up into the
other's sweating face.
"How?" he answered.
"By going out there
peacefully," said Tyber quickly.
"Don't be a fool,
Tyber!" the geologist grumbled. "We're not in Africa among people of
our own race!"
"They haven't weapons,"
Tyber argued, "and you could drop them before they harmed me."
"Don't do it!" insisted
Bingham. "It's foolish!"
"Maybe so," mumbled the
anthropologist, "but it might save us all from an attack and probably
death."
He shot a glance at the
man-beasts. They were spreading out now in preparation to rush the spot. His
blood ran cold and icy beads dripped off his brow. Without hesitation he stood
erect, rifle held menacingly, and stepped over the matted growths. The
Venusians halted abruptly in their tracks and stared at him in astonishment.
"Tyber!" snapped Bingham
heatedly. "Come back!"
But Tyber ignored him and kept on
toward the astounded beasts. They seemed too surprised to make a move and stood
rooted to the soggy ground. Bingham's hands shook. He withdrew his finger from
the trigger for fear of pulling it accidently. Without turning his head he
hissed to the others.
"Cover the idiot, men!"
he growled. "Shoot the first beast that threatens to harm him!"
They nodded grimly. The jungle
bristled with high-powered weapons. Flashing eyes glanced along dancing sights.
A score of Venusian lives hung in the balance.
CHAPTER II
Hostilities!
PROFESSOR TYBER boldly but
cautiously stalked toward the creatures. He held his rifle now in the crook of
his left arm, his right elevated high above his head in a gesture of
friendship. In Africa that gesture had gone to display his friendliness more
than once, but Tyber might have over-estimated the intelligence of those whom
he sought to convince on Venus. They were indeed hostile. Their fire-flecked
eyes appraised him in an unfriendly manner, their thin lips curled in a beastly
snarl.
He sensed suddenly a growing
hostility, among them and halted. Behind him he heard a buzz of excited voices.
He knew that he was amply covered by the guns of his party, but what if they
were insufficient to stop a headlong rush of the Venusians?
Tyber's boldness was turning to
regret now. Quickly he glanced back in the direction from whence he had come.
He saw nothing but tangled masses of shrubbery. A guttural voice drew his
attention back to the creatures. They were edging toward him slowly, their arms
outstretched, tails undulating like the tail of a stalking lion. He backed away
instinctively, his rifle now in readiness. Still he did not shoot.
"We are friends and mean no
harm to you, men of Venus," he blurted excitedly. They continued to
advance, their faces blank of anything but what seemed to be a lust to kill. He
knew they had not understood. He had merely spoken to relieve his instinct for
flight.
"Come on back, Tyber!"
he suddenly heard Bingham's voice call from the underbrush. "Watch that
big fellow on the left!"
Tyber was watching him intently.
One huge man-beast, perhaps a head taller than the others, was advancing more
swiftly now. The sound of Bingham's voice did not halt him. His clawed fingers
writhed in a frenzy and his reptilian tail curled and uncurled like the spring
of a watch.
Tyber's nerve was beginning to
fail him now. He backed away steadily, keeping his eyes centered mostly on the
big fellow who seemed to be the leader of the pack. Then suddenly something
happened that brought a scream to his throat.
The big fellow suddenly lashed out
with his tail. It curled around Tyber's throat like a bull whip. His rifle flew
from his grip and he was jerked roughly to the damp ground. There was an
explosion from the brush. He looked up expecting to see his captor drop with a
death rattle in his throat. But no such thing happened. The beasts were rushing
past him toward the hidden party. Only the big fellow remained behind and
closed in on him like a flash.
Helpless and terror-stricken,
Tyber looked up at him. There was a blue hole in the center of his forehead
from which oozed a purplish liquid. By all the laws of humanity the fellow should
have been dead, yet the slug seemed not to have affected him in the least.
Tyber lashed out savagely to kick at his captor. His booted feet collided with
scale and bone. The Venusian's lips parted in a strange smile and Tyber
received a blow on the side of his head that reeled his senses. Vaguely he felt
himself being picked up. Something cruel scratched him painfully across the
back. He knew indistinctly what it was. The man-beast's claws had raked him
mercilessly. Then he became aware that he was being borne away. As he sank into
a faint he heard the crash of dry brush and the crack of a rifle. He imagined
he heard men screaming fearfully but was not certain.
THERE was something pitiful in the
appearance of Tyber's men as they were borne off through the stifling jungles
of Venus. Tyber had revived after a shod time and was straddling the bull-like
neck of the beast that bore him away. His frequent glances at the other
informed him that some were either dead or injured. Bingham's head hung
grotesquely to one side and his face was bloodless. Others sat upon their
captors' shoulders in utter resignation.
Where were they being taken? Tyber
found himself asking that question silently. Was there a village of some sort
nearby where they were to be sacrificed to some weird god of Venus? Or were
they to furnish the bill of fare for some savage banquet? Try as he might, the
anthropologist could arrive at no conclusion and he began speculating on the
strange connection of the creatures with the homo sapiens.
He wondered if men had looked like
them in the dim days following the advent of the Devonian period at which time
he knew humanity on earth began to evolve from the fish and reptile. Surely no
skeletal remains of such a creature had ever been recovered from the earth. He
concluded, after a time, that life on Venus had arisen in the same manner as
life on earth, but pursued a different course. Man had gone off to live in
trees. The superior Venusians had taken another path of evolution, developing
from the family of reptiles.
Presently Tyber became aware that
his chest was paining. He knew what was causing it. The beast's gnarled,
overhang ing head armor was rubbing him with every stiff step the creature
made. He noticed for the first time that the Venusian's head was bent far to
the front to permit him to carry his burden on his shoulders. Then Tyber had a
peculiar idea. A thought raced through his head and he glanced at the
creature's neck.
"So that's why the beasts
didn't drop!" he told himself silently. "Their vulnerable spot is
protected behind their natural armor! That's strange! Bullets don't hurt them
much from the front, but I'll wager a slug in the back of the neck would
drop ‘em.”
He glanced at Watson who was
riding the, creature beside him. The astronomer's gun was in his holster. Tyber
instinctively felt for his own pistol. He found it nestling in the holster at
his belt. His hopes soared.
"Grab your gun, Watson!"
he yelled suddenly. "Every man who can shoot aim your guns at the back of
their necks and fire when I do!"
There were grunts of amazement
from the alert members of the party. Tyber stealthily drew his pistol, slipped
the safety catch and prepared to fire into the brute that held him. Before he
could pull the trigger something whined past his face and curled around his
throat. A bony tail held him tightly. He was yanked savagely from his perch.
His gun exploded as he fell, but the bullet went into the air. The weapon was
snatched from his grasp quickly by an enraged Venusian and he was cuffed
soundly for his daring act.
The others, watching closely, held
their fire, fearing to meet with a similar treatment. Fearful lest the beasts
take their guns, they replaced them in their holsters or hid them resignedly
under sweaty, soggy shirts. They saw Tyber picked up bleeding and subdued. The
procession continued without further interruption.
They beheld as the procession went
on, strange, grotesque beasts slinking off in the jungles. Monstrous reptiles
of the saurian species looked up from their feeding and then ambled away as
though afraid of the upright creatures who bore fear-filled human burdens.
For hours the parade continued at
a set pace. Bingham had long since regained consciousness. He suffered a deep
gash across his scalp where the tip of a savage tail had collided with it. He
had lost much blood and his face was white and, drawn, but he seemed very much
alive to the situation. Often he glanced at Tyber's blood-smeared face. Tyber
heard him groan and looked back at him. "Hurt bad, Bingham?" he
asked.
The geologist shook his head.
"Mighty weak and have a
splitting headache," he returned dejectedly. "And you?"
"Feel like I've gone through
a mill," said Tyber grimacing. "They beat hell out of me when I tried
to shoot at them."
"I must have been out,
then," Bingham growled. "I wonder where we're headed for and what's
going to happen to us."
"Don't know," said Tyber
curtly, glancing at the others, and counting them mentally. "What became
of the other four men?"
"Four men missing?"
Bingham began counting. He was silent for a moment and then grunted gloomily.
"I guess you're right, Tyber. Four men are gone."
"They beat it into the
brush," interjected one of the flyer's crew. "They're as good as done
for. They could never find their way back to the flyer."
"Hard luck," Tyber
shrugged. "We anticipated such things as this. How many men dead?"
"Five," the mechanic
stated flatly. "And every man more or less scratched up from those
devilish claws!"
"You're the leader of this
expedition, Tyber," another man suddenly snapped. "It's up to you to
get us out of this mess!"
Through the Jungle
TYBER glanced at the man coldly
and glowered.
"I tried it, didn't I?"
he growled. "You saw them throttle me for it!"
"Mighty weak-kneed
attempt!" the arrogant fellow snarled. "You had no business going
into the clearing when Bingham warned you to stay back with us. We might have
gotten away. . . .
"Every man of you was paid
well for his services!" Tyber hissed authoritatively. "When you
signed on this trip you were told plainly that grave dangers and possibly death
would be encountered. You came of your own volition. I'll do all I can to
return you safely to earth. That's all any man can do."
"He's right," said the
mechanic. "We volunteered to come on this trip, so let's make the best of
a bad thing and take it like men, not like a pack of snarling rats!"
Tyber eyed the man warmly and
nodded.
"Thanks, Biggers," he
said evenly. "Don't worry."
The other man scowled but remained
silent. The man-beasts were likewise quiet. Not a sound escaped their throats
all during the unpleasant discourse, but their pace was slackening now.
Presently they halted and placed their burdens on the ground, in a small
clearing. A sparkling pool shimmered in the center from which arose wisps of
steam. The men looked at it and groaned in chorus. No cold, invigorating drink
here and their throats were parched and dry.
Tyber and his battle-scarred men
stood on the soft, marshy ground and stretched their legs. The Venusians, now
circling them, watched curiously. The scientists in turn appraised their
captors with an air of distrust. Then the big man-beast approached Tyber and
pointed to the ground. Tyher's eyes followed the gesture. For the first time he
saw that the jungle floor was litterally alive with spiral-shelled mollusks and
wabbling, red-striped beetles. He returned his gaze to the fellow quizzically.
The big Venusian switched his
mighty tail along the marsh and brought it up in a half-circle in front of him.
The movement swept up a mass of struggling mollusks and beetles. He calmly bent
over and selected some of the larger creatures and cracked them open with his
powerful, taloned fingers, as a man would crack an almond shell. Tyber was
appalled to see the beast remove writhing creatures from the shells and gobble
them with relish. The Venusians pointed again to the ground and then to his
loathesome mouth.
The man-beast was gesturing for
him to eat, but Tyber certainly had no appetite for such a fare. Nor did the
others. They watched in silence while their captors gorged on the natural
supply of viands furnished by the torrid climate of Venus. After a time Tyber
drew his pipe and proceeded to smoke it. The man-beasts looked up from their
feeding in amazement.
They did not appear over-hostile
now.
Instead they seemed bent on
protecting their captives until their arrival at some chosen location, perhaps
a Venusian village. But how far they were from the flyer Tyber did not know,
and he felt that the machine had gone out of their lives forever. Surely they
could never retrace the Venusians' steps through the trackless nightmare of
jungle. Whatever thoughts he might have had of escaping were gone now.
The big Venusian moved suddenly
toward Tyber and removed the pipe from his mouth. Tyber scowled at him
belligerently, every muscle taut. It might be said here than the scientist was
indeed a young man, being scarcely more than thirty, with the blood of a long
line of scientific explorers coursing through his veins. He was not a man to be
trifled with lightly, though he restrained an urge to bash his heavy fist into
the savage face before him. The cold, deadly look in his eyes would have warned
a human instantly, but the Venusian paid no heed to it. He turned the pipe over
in his claws and then stuck it suddenly into his mouth.
The man-beast sucked on the stem,
coughed violently and made a wry face. He opened his mouth and emitted a stream
of green saliva, and Tyber saw for the first time that he was toothless. He
laughed at the fellow's discomfiture as the smoke from the strong pipe choked
him. The pipe was dropped to the ground quickly. Tyber picked it up.
"Serves you right!" he
snapped coldly. "Men and belongings of men don't go with beasts like you,
Venusian!"
Biggers, the mechanic, who had
been watching closely, chuckled.
"You tell 'em, Tyber,"
he grunted. "They're a bunch of hogs!"
The Venusian seemed on the verge
of striking the scientist but for some reason refrained. Tyber sensed that the
beast blamed him for the nausea that came to him from the well-caked pipe. The
monster grunted. The others cocked their eyes at him. The halt came to an end
and once again the humans were picked up to be borne deeper into the jungle and
farther from the safety of the electronic flyer.
CHAPTER III
Bartered!
NIGHT fell suddenly on the strange
procession as it moved toward some mysterious objective. The skies became shot
with incessant flashes of lightning. The atmosphere was saturated with a
vibrant electricity that made every object stand out in violet relief.
Terrifying crashes of thunder pounded down upon the ultra-tropical world. The
sky was a display of fire and flame.
The Venusians seemed tireless.
They went on at a rapid, steady pace. The humans were close to exhaustion from
the thickness of the stagnant air and they were thirsty and hungry. Tyber was
dozing in a pleasant stupor when a solid sheet of rain fell from the heavens.
The water was almost hot. Great drops splattered against his cheeks from an
angle and he cupped his hands enough to wet his leathery, feverish tongue. The
man-beasts plodded on steadily, paying no attention to anything but the trail
in front of them.
Tyber's blood ran cold suddenly
when he beheld a gargantuan monstrosity looming up ahead of his carrier who
lead the parade of peril. It was a gigantic diplodocus more than a
hundred feet long from the tip of its savage, fang-studded jaws, to the end of
its long, reptilian tail. The beast was outlined with a purple glow caused by
the incessant electrical displays above. It surveyed the procession through
glittering eyes for a moment and then lumbered away. Tyber watched it,
wondering why the savage brute had not attacked. From what science had
determined from skeletons of such beasts found on earth, they were indeed
merciless fighters. But why did they hold the man-reptiles of Venus in such
high regard? Was there some strange power of the reptiles that created the
respect of the monsters?
A terrifying scream sounded
somewhere in the jungle. Tyber and his men shuddered and tensed fearfully at
the ungodly sound. Then another high-pitched shriek came from the same
direction. The man-beast under Tyber shrugged his powerful shoulders and
grunted.
"Bal-un-deva-jas!
Dev-ut-al!" he grunted in two weird syllables, addressing the others.
Immediately they began to discuss some event in their Venusian language that
sounded to Tyber like the senseless grunting of a hog. But he was pleased to
learn that they had some means of vocal communication. He was eager suddenly to
learn it as he had learned many languages on earth. It seemed preposterous to
him, however, that such brutes could speak. He listened intently.
"Jas-ut-deva-tol!"
grunted the beast be- hind the big creature.
They chorused a series of grunts
that Tyber accepted as a sort of agreement. He was somewhat of a linguist but
certainly no language like that existed on the face of his earth, though it
might have been a universal tongue in the dawn of earthly humanity. He began
speaking in various dialects to the beast under him, but the latter's silence
was evidence enough that he failed to understand any of them. After a time he
dozed again, his chin on his chest, his body swaying loosely with every step of
the Venusian, lulled by the hiss of the rain, the crash of the thunder and the
hideous screams that echoed through the jungles.
When Tyber awakened the rain had
ceased and the skies were less forbidding, though lightning still flashed
intermittently to set the dawn ablaze with its violet luminosity. It was a red
dawn, aglow with the rare colors of the spectrum. The sun had not yet risen,
but its rays was not needed to heat the jungle. It sweltered and steamed; the air
was soupy and thick, making the men struggle at times for breath.
Finally the procession forged
through a strip of denser jungle vegetation and emerged into an almost bare
area of considerable size. For a moment the man-beasts halted to stare at the scene
ahead and then continued onward. Tyber was amazed at what he beheld and
Bingham, behind him, groaned inwardly.
"This is where we meet our
finish, Tyber," he said forlornly. "It's a Venusian city!"
Tyber shrugged indifferently and
studied the strange sight. He heard his few remaining men gasp in astonishment.
The city in the center of the great clearing was indeed a great sight. It was
totally different from any on the face of the earth, and stretched far on every
side.
AS though hewn from a great block
of blood-red sandstone, the Venusian metropolis presented the appearance of a
tremendous honeycomb. Tyber's interest in the place increased as they neared
it. He marvelled at the strange architecture that appealed to the eyes of the
inhabitants. Surely creatures such as bore him and his men toward the place
could not have the intelligence nor the ability to evolve and construct such a
mammoth structure, he concluded.
His eyes roved swiftly over the
place. The honeycombing did not begin for perhaps a hundred feet above a solid
wall as sheer as some terrifying abyss. Above this the wall seemed to have been
deliberately chiseled in the shape of hexagonal apartments, though no galleries
ran along the openings on the outside. He wondered what lay within. The place
was as silent as a tomb and in the increasing light of the new day the city
seemed a place of blood due to the color of the materials.
In the foreground was a herd of
strange beasts, browsing peacefully in a shrub-filled pasture. They looked up
at the approaching marchers and then rose into the air with the grace of
eagles, to settle down again a half mile away. Tyber was awestruck to see the
monsters take wing with such ease. To him they looked like the results of a
cross breeding of a horse with a lion and an eagle. He glanced at Bingham
questioningly.
"What the hell, Bing?"
he inquired blankly. The geologist looked at him wearily and nodded.
"Hippogriff !" he said
quickly. "Half horse and half griffon, a seemingly fabulous animal with
the body and legs of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the head of a horse.
Strange monsters, aren't they?"
"Hell yes!" ejaculated
Tyber. "I wonder if they are used by the Venusians as we once used horses?"
"I wouldn't doubt it,"
said Bingham: "They seem tame enough and powerful enough to transport a
giant through the air."
Suddenly the brute who carried
Tyber emitted a shrill cry that pierced through the clearing like the shriek of
a locomotive whistle. Instantly the call was answered from within the Venusian
city. The marchers halted in front of a huge, solid rock gate. There came the
sound of padding feet and the gate was thrown open. But the man-beasts did not
enter.
They deposited the humans on the
ground and formed a circle around them, the biggest of the horde facing the
creature at the gate. The scientists were astounded to see that the beings who
had opened the gate were even more human than those who had captured them.
Their tails seemed only half as long, their hands were well developed, each
having four fingers almost clawless. They had cleaner features and eyes that
were closer to the center. And around their waists they wore metal belts from
which dangled curved weapons of black metal.
At a glance Tyber knew that they
were a higher breed of the homo reptilis. Their broad foreheads bespoke
greater intelligence and their whole attitude displayed a superiority to the
captors of the earth-men.
The two factions began to argue in
guttural tones. Tyber knew the reason. The man-beasts were trying to sell them
to the city dwellers. But for what price? He wondered until a creature suddenly
dashed away and returned with four of the broad sword-like weapons. These were
immediately presented to the big savage who in turn gave up custody of his
captives.
Throughout the deal the humans
watched intently but in total ignorance of what was being said. Bingham
wondered why the city dwellers were so anxious to buy them. Watson trembling,
edged up beside Tyber. Tyber encircled an arm around his shoulders in a gesture
of assurance.
"Buck up, Watson," he
said softly. "It could have been worse. I don't think they mean to harm
us."
Watson shook his head sadly,
bitterly.
"I'm thinking of the earth,
Tyber," he said gloomily. . . . "The wife and kids—"
"Pipe down, Watson!"
snapped Biggers suddenly. "You ain't the only one who left everything dear
to him to come on this crazy trip!"
Tyber gave the man a savage glare
which silenced him at once. The man-beasts of the Venusian jungle began moving
off in the direction from which they had come. Tyber watched them for an
instant. They never looked back, but hurried away, satisfied with the deal. The
men trembled for what was in store for them behind the wall.
The Gaze of the Ruler
WITHOUT further ado the humans
were herded through the gate. Tyber was not surprised to find a mob of the
creatures waiting for them in the center of a hard-packed compound within, but
he looked longingly at the great gate when it swung closed behind them.
Hundreds of the Venusians at once surged around them and the guards were forced
to draw their weapons for protection.
This action made Tyber's hopes
soar. Surely the Venusians meant them no harm, else the mob would have been
permitted to tear them to shreds. He wondered why they had been restrained.
Were they to be sacrificed after presentation to the ruler of the city? Or were
they to be looked upon as some sort of slaves by these savage reptilian men?
With a horde following their heels
they were led across the compound to a great structure that stretched halfway
across the interior. It was low and long and over each corner stood a huge,
flaming ball that was as red and blazing as an early morning sun. Tyber was
struck with a sudden idea and he whispered to Bingham who marched at his side.
"Sun worshipers,
Bingham!" he said flatly. "I'll bet my shirt on it!"
Bingham glanced at the great
balls. They were made of some brilliant red material and were as depthless as a
tremendous untarnished ruby.
"I believe you're right,
Tyber," said the geologist decisively. "But it hardly seems possible
for them to worship like the old Aztecs."
The pack following them howled
savagely at their heels. The place was in pandemonium with excitement, but the
creatures did not appear as curious about the captives as they might have been
on seeing a human for the first time. This struck Tyber as exceptionally
strange, but he was soon to learn the reason.
A wedge-shaped group of armed
Venusians suddenly emerged from the long structure and confronted them. The
guards immediately stepped aside and the captives were taken over by the new
arrivals. They were bedecked in red belts with vermilion straps crossing their
chests and back to hold them up. The human captives were at once escorted into
the building. The place was filled with glowing red spheres. In every corner of
the wide corridor they, stood on narrow pedestals, glowing like live coals.
Everything seemed red, but not so vermilion as the spheres. A blood-color
seemed to run riot in the Venusian scheme of things.
After a short march, the captives
were escorted into a great chamber around which stood a solid line of armed
Venusians with the sword-like weapons lying across their broad, scaled chests,
their tails writhing on the blood-stone floor. At one end of the room was a
high throne on which sat a monster Venusian who glowered down onto the scene
through fiery, ruby-colored orbs.
Tyber felt the full force of the
gargantuan ruler's stare suddenly and became so fascinated that he could not
tear his eyes away from the creature. He seemed held in some strange power as a
snake holds a bird. Hot blood pounded at his temples, his fingers clutched into
the palms of his hands, and his eyes popped uncontrollably. A great force
pounded on his brain, almost terrorizing him.
Suddenly the spell was broken. The
creature on the throne swung his gaze on Watson. The astronomer's knees sagged
under the force of the beast's will power.
Tyber grasped him firmly under the
arms, catching him as he appeared to sink to the floor in a faint.
"Don't look at him,
Watson," he whispered softly. "Keep your eyes away!"
"I—I—I can't," Watson
groaned in a voice that sounded weird and almost insane. "I—I—I can't! I—I—I
CAN'T!" he began to shriek.
Being by nature a nervous,
high-strung man, Watson needed only a new fear to cause him to break mentally.
And the eyes of the brute on the throne imbued him with such a fear as he had
never dreamed of. He went berserk, like a lunatic running amuck.
With a hideous scream he broke
from the guards and dashed madly toward the throne. Tyber saw the grotesque
ruler bend over tensely to watch the frenzied human. Like a panther Watson
flung himself against the sheer wall of the throne platform and tried to mount
it. The scientists were stunned by the sudden, unexpected scene and Tyber
impulsively stepped forward toward the insane astronomer.
Instantly four guards confronted
him, swords ready to strike his head from his body. He glared at them
belligerently for an instant and then returned to his partners in doom. They
stood together in a little knot completely surrounded by Venusians and stared
up at the monster on the high throne. Watson was babbling and groaning like an
idiot at the base of the wall.
CHAPTER IV
The Woman of Venus
EVERY man was tense. The
atmosphere became charged with high feeling. Tyber glanced at his men. They
glowered back at him in return. Bingham's hands shook steadily and his eyes
blazed wide with fear. The guards watched them constantly, ready for any sudden
outbreak. Tyber, as leader of the expedition to Venus, turned suddenly and
faced the thing on the throne. His eyes were aflame with hatred and deep-seated
fear, but he controlled himself with a steel will.
"Now that we are here,"
he said, speaking in English, "what do you plan to do with us?"
The ruler stared at him oddly
through flaming orbs. Tyber fought to hold his senses, realizing that the
Venusian had not understood him. Then something happened that completely bowled
him over.
A golden curtain behind the
Venusian's throne suddenly parted. Tyber had a glimpse of a radiant human face
peering intently at him. Then the girl stepped out in full view of every
creature in the great room and walked to the side of the ruler. A buzz of
excited voices caused Tyber to glance behind him at the amazed faces of his
men.
"A woman!" one of them
gasped.
"And a peach, too!" said
another with an eye for feminine beauty.
The girl was indeed a peach! Her
rare, delicate beauty was unbelievable along side of the terrifying features
and physical appearance of the haughty Venusian ruler.
Her blonde hair was dazzling, her
gentle features might have been taken from an Angelo masterpiece and her form,
hidden only by a golden breech-clout around her thighs and a strip of golden material
across her breasts, gave her the appearance of some goddess of love and purity.
They heard her converse intently
with the, creature in the guttural tongue of Venus, her voice ringing out
clearly and beautifully. The beast looked up at her for a moment, mouthed some
evil grunts and returned his eyes upon Tyber. Then the girl faced the group
below, her blue eyes flashing in the brilliance of the room.
"What brings you here, my
friends?" she inquired quickly in perfect German. Tyber was stunned. He swallowed
hard and groped for words. The sound of the German language was like music to
him. He understood it thoroughly, but in his amazement he mixed it up terribly
with his own American tongue. She smiled down at him warmly, scarcely able to
hide a great desire to get to him.
"You amaze me most
pleasantly, Fraulein," he sputtered excitedly. "I had not expected to
find such a beautiful woman on Venus!"
She hung her eyes modestly and
addressed the ruler. He grunted and scowled as she told him what had
been said. She looked down again.
"The Great Ban-du-lu, ruler
of Jan-du-bar," she began again, "inquires what brings you
here."
The men behind Tyber shifted
uneasily and whispered in low tones among themselves. Bingham, ignorant
of the German language, stared at the convulsing form of Watson.
"We came here on a scientific
exploration," said Tyber hastily. "As peaceful human beings we meant
Ban-du-lu no harm. Ask him why we were taken captive and treated so cruelly by
the jungle men of Jan-du-bar."
He paused and waited for the girl
to interpret his words to the Great Ban-du-lu. The ruler glared at them
menacingly and grunted a series of deep-throated gutturals. The girl paled
slightly and seemed to falter. She clutched at the throne as though to prevent
herself from falling. Tyber tensed and stared at her.
"Ban-du-lu says you have no
right here," the girl said in a trembling voice, "and you are to be
given into the keeping of Xip-pa-co-yan."
"What's that, Fraulein?"
he asked bluntly?
"In our terms, you are to be
sacrificed to the sun," she said in a half whisper, "even as my
father's men were sacrificed long before you come to Jan-du-bar."
Tyber's face went bloodless and he
glanced at Bingham.
"Did you understand,
Bingham?" he hissed.
The geologist shook his head
negatively.
"The big devil says we are to
be sacrificed to the sun!" Tyber informed him.
"What for?" Bingham
asked, growing suddenly fearful.
Tyber looked up at the girl again.
He imagined he saw glistening tears coursing down her cheeks.
"Why are we to be sacrificed,
Fraulein?" he said coldly. "We have done no harm to any creature on
Venus and we planned to return home in a week or ten days."
"That part does not matter,
my friends," she said sadly. "It happened that you were taken at a
time when Jan-du-bar offers living sacrifices to the sun. For the past
twenty-five years, Ban-du-lu has offered a human being on each occasion when
the sun's rays pierce the sun-globes outside directly. . . . "
"Do you mean that there were
other humans here before us?" Tyber cried strangely.
"Of course," she
returned. "My father conquered space twenty years ago, leaving Berlin
secretly with a picked crew, and landed on Venus. The space flyer was smashed
and we were captured. I was a baby then."
"Well I'll be damned!"
ejaculated Tyber. "Then the Venusians have sacrificed you one by
one?"
SHE nodded, fighting to keep from,
breaking down. "Only myself and my father remain," she said,
"and daddy lies ill, dying."
"But your mother, Fraulein
....?"
"She died in space when I was
born," the girl said. "She would not remain behind, father tells me,
when the flight to Venus began."
"But why have they let you
and your father live?" Tyber questioned.
The girl looked down at him
appealingly. "I am to be his woman!" she said, growing suddenly
resentful. "For that reason we have been allowed to live. Ban-du-lu has an
idea that he wants to start a new race on Venus!"
"Beauty and the beast,
eh?" Tyber hissed savagely, glancing hatefully at Ban-du-lu. The girl
nodded.
"Venus, the planet of love
and beauty," she said, "is in truth a planet of savagery and
ugliness!"
"Amen!" agreed Tyber
calmly.
She spoke again to Ban-du-lu. The
beast snarled like a tiger in reply.
"Ban-du-lu," the girl
addressed Tyber, "says that in a fortnight you are to be the first human
of your party to be sacrificed.
But," she lowered her voice,
"can't you do something? Are you weaponless?"
"Our guns are useless on
these creatures," he said, "but why all the rush to kill me?"
"Ban-du-lu resents the way
you look at me," she sobbed,, "but he can be killed if you shoot him
in the back of the head. All Venusian vital organs are centered at the base of
the brain."
She shuddered visibly and tried
hard to smother the sobs that threatened to choke her before the assembly of
court guards and the ruler himself.
"That's what I thought,"
said Tyber grimly. "We have several pistols. Not enough to fight. I guess
we'll go the way of your friends, unless we can escape."
"There is no escape, my
friend," the girl stated flatly. "The jungles are places of madness.
You can never escape!
"Do you speak French?"
she said suddenly after a brief pause.
Tyber nodded. "As well as
German or English," he said, mystified. "Why?"
"Ban-du-lu understands some
German my father taught him," she whispered in the native tongue of
France. "Father taught me French for want of something to do, but the
beast doesn't understand it. Listen! You will be caged under this terrible
building until the day arrives for your sacrifice. You will be guarded loosely
because they think escape is impossible. Tonight I will help you to
escape."
"But you said there was no
escape, Fraulein," said Tyber.
Ban-du-lu looked up savagely at
the girl and grunted loudly. She jumped nervously like a frightened fawn and
stifled a scream. She trembled from head to foot and then gained control of
herself. Tyber looked on in wonder, and heard her say something to the ruler.
"What's wrong, Fraulein?"
Tyber hissed intently.
She looked down again.
"He suspects something,"
she said, "and is about to pass sentence of doom upon you all. But listen
closely," . . . . she whispered softly . . . . "I'll unlock the cages
tonight. In the room at the end of the jail corridor you will find four machine
guns taken from our space flyer. Get them and fight your way to freedom.
Tyber's hopes soared again, but
fell to the depths when he visioned the trackless jungle between the city and
the electronic flyer. Yet he resolved suddenly to die fighting, rather than
permit his living blood to flow freely on some sacrificial altar.
"Thanks, Fraulein," he
said eagerly. "You watch our smoke. . . . tonight. But what about
you?"
"Ban-du-lu would kill me if
he learned I helped you," she said fearfully, "but if all of you can
escape to your flyer, I'll be glad."
Ban-du-lu suddenly stood erect. He
towered over the girl by at least three feet. Tyber stared at him hatefully,
murderously, his temples pounding. The beast opened his cruel lips and
addressed the assembly in thunderous tones. The girl emitted a little scream
and sagged against the throne. Tyber knew what had taken place. The ruler of
Jan-du-bar had passed the sentence of death upon him and his partners in peril.
Cells of Doom
WATSON screamed hideously when
rough, clawed fingers clutched at him to haul him off the floor. Two savage
Venusians took hold of him and marched him toward Tyber, Bingham and the
others. They were surrounded now on all sides by the guards. Ban-du-lu stood
upon the throne, glared down upon the resentful humans and watched them, herded
from the room to be placed in confinement until such times as he needed them
for worship.
It might appear far-fetched to say
that such a beast as Ban-du-lu could worship a higher intelligence with any
kind of respect, but the Venusians held more than respect for the sun. They
feared the blazing sphere that on certain seasons seemed to make a strange
track through the heavens and burn down on them with a fearful intensity. Ban-du-lu,
as did his more savage ancestors, believed that sun-worship and human or native
sacrifice would prevent the seemingly impending catastrophe. But Ban-du-lu
preferred the human sacrifices in lieu of those of his own kind, for the humans
had come out of space and were therefore better morsels for the sun to consume.
But Tyber had only the old,
earthly ideas of sacrifice in his mind as he was led down a ramp to a chamber
below the throne room. Through his mind raced the thought of being laid out on
an altar to have his living heart torn from his body as the Aztecs had done to
victims centuries before on earth. He did not stop to consider that there might
be a new wrinkle in sacrificial affairs on Venus. Moreover, he had little hope
of ever getting back to earth. Escape into the jungle might be possible through
the aid of the girl, but deadly peril lurked on every side there and he had but
a vague idea as to the exact direction of the electronic flyer which had been
landed on Venusian soil early the morning before.
The scientists received another
shock when they were finally led into the chamber of confinement. It was indeed
a large room with sapling-barred cages or cells lining either side of a wide
corridor. As soon as they entered, the place became a chamber of bedlam. Tyber
quickly learned the source of the shrieks and ungodly screams that rent the
stillness of the place.
In the cells on one side of the
room were scores of Venusians of even a higher development than the man-beasts
of Ban-du-lu! Tyber stared at them in amazement as they passed. Their tails
were short and pointed and useless as weapons, and their features were more
human-like and their chests were bare of scales. Their eyes were close to the bridges
of their noses and the natural armor seemed like loose skin instead of gnarled
bone. This drooped down over their backs and shoulders like the feathers of an
Indian chief, and rippled like the light headdress in a breeze, with every
movement they made.
They bellowed and shrieked madly
at the guards, hissing at times like reptiles, to show their hate for them.
Tyber understood at once why they were held captive. They were to be
sacrificed. But where had they come from? Was there another great city on Venus
that was inhabited by this higher culture? He concluded that this must be so
and sacrificial subjects had been taken from it by the hordes of Ban-du-lu.
Each human was placed in an
individual cell, but Tyber had the good fortune to be incarcerated beside
Bingham and the raving Watson.
The other members of the
expedition, seven in all, were placed in cell-cages beside the leaders. Across
the hall were the Venusians. They peered through their bars at the humans who
in turn glared back. Four guards loafed in the place, two at either end of the
corridor, their black sword-like weapons sheathed, eyes dull with apparent
laziness. They seemed unconcerned about the presence of the new human captives.
Watson raved in his cell like a
madman. Tyber was appalled by his hideous, inhuman screams. The Venusians
across the corridor finally turned their eyes upon him and began grunting in
low, almost musical tones. The astronomer hurled himself against his bars with
a force that threw him backward to the hard floor. From his lips escaped a continuous
prattle. His mind had snapped and with it had gone all his control, will power
and humanity. He was a caged beast, literally. Tyber held little hope for him
now and watched him intently.
"Buck up, Watson," he
said softly. "Get control of yourself. We're going to get out of here
tonight.
WATSON crouched at the sound of
his voice. His lips trembled frenziedly. From the dribbled a stream of blood,
the result of his terrific collision with the bars. "We are doomed!"
he shrieked loudly. "We are doomed! WE ARE DOOMED!"
"Not yet, Watson," Tyber
whispered. "We are going to escape tonight."
"There is no escape!" he
screamed. "You lie! You lie!"
Tyber still wore a small haversack
around his shoulders. It contained medical supplies and antidotes for snake
bites, and drugs for combatting malaria. Quickly he pulled the sack around and
fumbled for a brass box. From this he selected a hypodermic needle, stuck the
point into a small vial and glanced decisively at the astronomer.
"Stick your arm through the
bars, Watson," he said easily. "I want to look at it."
Watson eyed him dumbly and
approached slowly to the side of his cage. Tyber watched him closely, centering
his boring eyes into the insane man's pupils. Watson came forward as though in
a trance and then grovelled on the floor. Tyber reached out suddenly and
grasped the astronomer by the arm, turned it over and jabbed the hypodermic
needle into the limb. The astronomer shrieked and jerked away, but the drugs
had been injected. Within a minute he became quiet and finally crumpled over to
lie still on the floor.
"Hated to do it," Tyber
said to Bingham. "But the poor devil will kill himself against the bars.
I'm afraid for poor old Watson!"
"A bad case," said
Bingham. "I pity him. But he'll be a charge on us tonight!"
Tyber glanced toward the geologist
with a scowl.
"He'll be a charge,
alright," he said firmly, "but if we return home he goes with us. We
are partners in peril and will be partners in safety as well!"
"Of course, of course,"
said Bingham hastily. "I did not mean to leave him."
"I did not think so,"
said Tyber. "I just want to set you straight."
"Thanks!" snapped
Bingham curtly. "It will be your job, then, to take care of him! It's
every man for himself now!"
"That's mighty rotten of you,
Bingham!" growled Tyber. "Of course the strain is telling on you
now."
Bingham sulked in his cell and
turned his attention to the fascinated Venusians across the room. Tyber studied
the lay of the place and finally learned the location of the room in which the
girl had said were four machine guns. He wondered if there was ammunition for
them.
CHAPTER V
Hope!
NIGHT approached slowly. The jail
room became a place of ghostly shadows. A feeble light filtered through a lone,
hexagon-shaped aperture high up near the ceiling. The place was stifling. Sweat
poured off the tense, fearful humans in streams. It seemed that every bit of
moisture was being sucked from their bodies. Tyber kept a ceaseless vigil on
both ends of the room, hoping for the appearance of the girl at one of them.
The Venusian guards sprawled on
the floor now. Tyber wondered if they slept. The room was getting darker with
each passing instant. But the stifling heat did not decrease as the sun sank
out of sight. The muffled roar of countless voices come to him from above.
There seemed to be some great excitement in the compound above. The voices gave
him the impression that he was listening to a pack of snarling beasts.
Hours passed and the room was,
engulfed in an inky blackness. The usual nightly thunder of Venus pounded down
with terrifying crashes. Lightning flickered through the heavens in an almost
ceaseless sheet, casting, finally, a violet gloom over the doom chamber. Still,
Tyber watched. Bingham paced his small cell in circles. Watson lay in a stupor
and the fear-filled men cursed under their breaths. The Venusians across the
room were silent but Tyber could see their beady eyes flashing in the gloom.
Despite their exhaustion, the men
could not sleep. Thoughts of rest were remote from their minds now. Tyber had
told them what to expect and they were ready. But as the hours passed and the
girl failed to appear, they grew restless. Tyber ordered them to be still and
they crouched in their cells like dumb beasts, waiting.
Tyber was aware of a gnawing
hunger and thirst. No food had been brought to them, much less water. He
searched his pack and found some hard, moistureless biscuits. He hissed at
Bingham.
"Pass these along the line,
Bing!" he said. "Biscuits!"
Bingham reached out and took hold
of the bag, picked out a biscuit and passed the remainder to the men. Tyber
heard them grunt with satisfaction and blunt, all-meaning thanks.
"Looks like the girl is going
to fail us, Tyber," said Bingham with no trace of his former antagonism.
"She's probably being
detained."
"You think the big leader got
wise to her?"
"Maybe, but the next hour
ought to tell."
"She'll get her neck garroted
if she's caught."
Tyber winced inwardly.
"Not as long as I have an
ounce of strength in my body," he said grimly. Bingham chuckled amusedly.
"You wouldn't have a
Chinaman's chance to defend her, Tyber," he said gloomily. "Even
machine guns won't stop the devils unless you hit 'em in the throat!"
"Would be different if we had
one of the flyer's ray guns," said Tyber.
"But we haven't,"
grumbled Bingham. "I wonder if the men who escaped the fight reached the
flyer?"
Tyber grunted in surprise.
"I'd forgotten all about
them, Bingham!" he ejaculated. "They might have found it again. If
they did they'd have a hard time operating her."
"That's right," said
Bingham. "They were observers, not pilots. I had a secret hope that they'd
take off to locate us."
"I'm afraid they'd crack up
if they tried it," said Tyber dejectedly. "If they do, we're
completely sunk!"
Tyber tensed suddenly and hissed a
warning at Bingham. At the end of the hall stood a motionless figure, hugging
the wall. A flash of brilliant lightning illuminated the room for an instant.
The figure crouched, slid past the prone guards and came forward as silently as
a ghost. Tyber's lips went tight, his veins bulged. He glanced across the room
quickly.
Glittering eyes were watching the
lithe form of the golden-haired girl as she crawled along the floor, but no
grunts came from the jailed Venusians. Did they suspect a reason for this
silent visit of the strange creature of Ban-du-lu's tribe? Were they looking
upon her as a goddess of freedom or would they give warning to the sleeping
guards? Tyber wondered, with his blood racing to his head like burning lead.
"This way," he hissed in
an almost inaudible whisper.
THE girl paused in her tracks and looked
toward him.
"Over here," he said softly,
sensing her ignorance as to where he had been placed. "Hurry!"
Quickly she glided toward him and
stood erect in front of his cell. He reached out and clutched her hand. It was
warm and trembling with fear.
"I-I-I'm sorry to have kept
you waiting, my friend," she whispered fearfully. "Much excitement
reigns above."
"Are they preparing for our
deaths?" Tyber inquired.
"Not yet," she trembled.
"They fear an impending raid upon the city of Ban-du-lu by the warriors of
Hamund-sik, the ruler of the domain beyond the jungle."
"Then there is another city
of higher Venusian culture here?" Tyber inquired softly. "Is there to
be war?"
She peered toward the guards and
then looked toward Tyber.
"There is," she sobbed,
"and there is to be war. Ban-du-lu raided their domain and took captives
for sacrifice. Now Hamundsik retaliates."
"Then," said Tyber
decisively, "Ich dien! I serve Hamund-sik if he will have me!"
"He is good," she said,
"but savage. His warriors are held across the jail chamber."
"Can you speak their tongue,
Miss—?"
"Call me Cassandra," she
said. "I was named after my father who is Professor Cassan Bohler. Yes, I
speak the tongue of Hamund-sik."
"My name is Tyber," said
the scientist, squeezing her hand. "James Tyber of New York. But listen,
Cassandra—if you will release the warriors across the hall, they may aid us to
escape."
She looked at him strangely, her
eyes flashing with understanding. Without another word to Tyber she crept
across the room and he heard her whispering in low tones to one of the
Venusians. Presently she returned and informed Tyber that the Venusians would
fight for them if they were released. The scientist's hopes soared and he
whispered the news to Bingham, who in turn passed the word along to the others.
"Then open our doors,
Cassandra," said Tyber eagerly. "We will wait until all of them are
open before setting with the guards. How soon do you expect the warriors of
Hamund-sik?"
"Even now they approach
Ban-du-lu," she whispered. "In a few minutes they will be here,
riding the air on their flying beasts."
"The hippogriff?" Tyber
squinted.
"That's what father calls
them," she said, "but here they are called the Ptah."
"What about your father,
Cassandra?"
Cassandra hung her head
reverently.
"My father died a short hour
ago, Herr Tyber," she sobbed. "I am alone now."
"Not by a long shot,
Cassandra," said the scientist, patting her hand in assurance. "Now
hurry and open all, the doors, then come back here to me. We will always stay
together."
The Duel!
ONCE released from their cells,
the warriors of Hamud-sik became ghosts of doom. Tyber, with Cassandra, Bingham
and his men beside him, watched as they silently approached the sleeping
guards. Their presence was discovered by the man-beasts of Ban-du-lu too late.
A half hundred invaders swooped down upon them and gloried in the act of
spilling their lavender blood.
In the flashes of vivid lightning
that illuminated the room not infrequently, they saw the guards torn to shreds
within a minute. They had scarcely time to grunt in surprise before they were
hurled into eternity by the deadly warriors. Then they returned in triumph
toward the fearful humans and Cassandra, taking advantage of her position as
goddess of liberty, addressed them softly.
"Follow me and you will have
swords," she said in the tongue of the higher Venusians. The humans
appraised her in wonder as she spoke, now in a cool, fearless calm. She looked
at Tyber. "In the chamber at that end of the hall you will find guns and
swords. Arm yourselves and be ready to fight. Hamund-sik's warriors have
arrived. I hear fighting above."
"Thank God!" said Tyber...
"Our chance has come!"
With a bound he leaped toward the
cage in which Watson had been placed. The astronomer lay in a black heap on the
floor. Quickly Tyber threw open the door and entered. He was appalled at what
he discovered. Watson lay in a pool of his own blood, coagulated and sticky. A
gaping wound across his throat and a pocket-knife clutched tightly in a
blood-stained fist told Tyber what had happened. Watson, in a fit of insane
despondency had committed suicide. He mumbled a silent prayer over the body and
returned to Cassandra.
In the chamber at the end of the
hall, Tyber found four ancient machine guns. The airless room had kept them
from rusting. In a corner lay belts of ammunition. Venusian swords were piled
in a heap around it. Quiekly he ordered his men to pass them out to the
Venusians who accepted them with delight. Then with belts of ammunition draped
around them, they charged the guns, picked them up and began the perilous
ascent up the ramp toward the throne room of Ban-du-lu.
Cassandra clung closely to Tyber
for protection. She glanced fearfully about her as though expecting momentarily
to find Ban-du-lu himself stalking her with lust in his beastly eyes.
Tyber whispered assurance to her.
"Keep calm, Cassandra,"
he said softly.
"I'm so afraid, Herr
Tyber," she said. "Ban-du-lu will kill me. . . .
"Forget about him!"
Tyber snapped. "He's as good as dead right now!"
"But you do not know
Ban-du-lu, my friend," she cried. "He is a shrewd, cunning beast,
inhuman in his cunning deviltry."
"We'll clean out the throne
room first, men," Tyber hissed, ignoring Cassandra's warning. He turned to
her. "Tell the Venusians what I said, Cassandra!"
Her clear, soprano voice rose and
fell as she interpreted Tyber's orders to the stalking man-beasts of
Hamund-sik. They listened and grunted in chorus.
Finally they attained the top of
the ramp and peered into the throne room. The place was partly deserted. Only a
few Venusian warriors of Ban-du-lu stood near the throne as though waiting the
arrival upon it of the gargantuan ruler. They looked around at the sound of
footsteps in the room. Instantly they crouched, swords ready, surprised at the
appearance of the Hamund-sik fighters. They caught sight of Cassandra. At once
they realized that she had released them, and approached menacingly,
fearlessly, looming like purple ghosts in the gloom.
With a solid shout of joy, the erstwhile
sacrificial subjects raced forward to meet the warriors of Ban-du-lu. There was
a clash of swords, the ring of savage cries, and silence. In the center of the
room lay a heap of dead, warriors of both Ban-du-lu's and Hamund-sik's ranks.
Outside a great battle raged. The
clash of swords, the scream of the dying and the triumphant grunts of the
victorious rent the air above the crash of the thunder. Despite the
semi-darkness the two races of Venusians fought steadily. Tyber led his men to
the throne room entrance and paused there to watch the raging fight, the
warriors writhing in a great knot in the compound which was lighted almost
constantly by the incessant lightning that glowed through the skies.
The unexpected raid upon Ban-du-lu
by Hamund-sik was an event Tyber considered much in his favor. Indeed, without
such a battle as now raged in the city, they would have had little chance to
escape into the jungles surrounding it. But he saw only freedom now, and
safety. . . . if they could but locate the electronic flyer and gain the
protection of its steel hull. After that, Ban-du-lu and Hamund-sik could fight
until the end of time for all he cared.
IN the violet light of the
flickering heav ens, Tyber could see that the forces of Ban-du-lu were outnumbered
considerably by the grim, dogged fighters of Hamund-sik. The latter surged into
their enemies, cutting them down in droves, their swords stained to brilliant
purple. Swords flashed in the night, wielded in mighty Venusian arms. Heads
were clipped neatly from shoulders. The city of Ban-du-lu was a place of
terror, horror and death.
Before they could be restrained by
Cassandra, the Venusians she had rescued broke from the throne building and
raced frenziedly into the milling mob, their head-growths waving behind them so
that they looked like American Indians going into battle. They wanted vengeance
against Ban-du-lu for having cooped them up. Tyber yelled at them as they went,
but they paid no attention to him. They were swallowed up at once by the milling,
snarling pack.
With machine guns mounted in the
entrance of the throne structure, Tyber and his men were ready to defend
themselves should the fighters of Ban-du-lu retreat toward them. As he lay
beside one of the guns Tyber was startled by a sudden tumult behind him. He
looked up quickly to see Ban-du-lu himself and a score of his private guard
approaching from the throne room. With a shout of warning to his men he leaped
erect, snatched at a sword that lay nearby and thrust Cassandra behind him.
"The guns, men!" he
shouted. Cassandar screamed and clung to him. An automatic exploded beside
them. A purple hole appeared in Ban-du-lu's scaled chest. A stream of lavender
fluid shot out he came steadily forward. Then a machine gun rattled dryly. The
man-beasts halted in bewilderment, some fell headlong with gaping holes in
their throats, the backs of their necks torn to shreds. Bingham's aim was true.
In a mighty leap, Ban-du-lu came
forward in the face of a deadly fire from Bing-ham's gun. His body was being
riddled, yet his vital organs had remained untouched by the steel slugs that
whined around him. Cassandra screamed again and clutched frantically at Tyber,
hampering him. Ban-du-lu's great sword sang past his face and he fell back,
shaking the girl from him.
"Back, Cassandra!" he
bellowed in English, forgetting in his excitement that she understood little of
it. "Back! Hold your fire, men!"
Ban-du-lu, now perilously close,
lashed out suddenly with his tail. Its tip struck Bingham a terrible blow
across the face, sending the machine gun over on its side as well. The
stupefied crew of the electronic flyer crouched aghast, but suddenly another gun
rattled above the din of the elements and the tumult created by the struggling
hordes. Tyber saw more of Ban-du-lu's private guards go crashing to the floor,
but the ruler himself seemed to have a charmed life.
The man-beast lifted his sword,
his eyes wide, his cruel lips curled into a significant snarl. Cassandra
suddenly raced forward to stand between him and Tyber. Ban-du-lu sent her
sprawling with a savage blow across the face. She fell into a heap.
With a bestial cry, Tyber leaped
forward. Ban-du-lu towered head and shoulders above him like Goliath over
David. But Tyber had no time to make comparisons. The ruler's sword shot toward
his throat. He leaped aside. The blade sang past his chin and came back again
in a tremendous arc, ripping his shirt across the bosom. He felt a flush of
something hot streaming down over his abdomen and in the instant he saw red.
Ban-du-lu's hideous features
loomed up oddly through the barrier of flaming hate that danced before Tyber's
eyes. His brain cried out for an opportunity to sink his blade into that
awesome throat, but the man-beast was indeed a master swordsman and countered
every thrust. Tyber had never held a sword in his hands prior to this, but the
blood of his ancestors who had wielded swords in defending America in the days
of its infancy, welled up in him arid filled his hand with skill.
He heard the shouts of his men as
he fought to keep that terrible, slashing weapon of Ban-du-lu from his throat.
He heard Biggers scream a warning and ducked. The Venusian's blade whined about
his head and then his opportunity came.
The End of Ban-du-lu
BAN-DU-LU, lifting his mighty
sword high above his head for a final, killing thrust, opened his guard. In the
instant Tyber dove forward with all his weight. With an insane shout he aimed
the blade at the thick throat of the man-beast, and felt it strike yielding
flesh. A strange, surprised look flashed across the ruler's hideous face. A
stream of lavender liquid shot forth from his throat and sprayed over the
scientist. Then Ban-du-lu's sword clattered to the floor and the beast sank
slowly toward it. His tail curled and uncurled savagely and for minutes after
his life had fled, it continued to writhe like the tail of a snake in the
throes of death.
Tyber had won an unequal battle.
He stood over the fallen Venusian and buried his sword again in the scaled
body. Then he hurled the weapon aside and raced toward Cassandra. She lay on
the floor, hiding her face in her hands. He lifted her up gently.
"It's all over, Cassandra,"
he whispered softly.
"Oh, my friend," she
sobbed, "how happy I am to see you alive."
"You mean you care,
then?" he asked.
She threw her arms around his neck
and sobbed on his shoulder. He carried her back to the group of 'humans and
deposited her among them. In the compound the fight still raged in all its
terrible frenzy. A mob of Ban-du-lu began retreating toward the throne
structure.
"Let 'em have it, men!"
Tyber shouted. "The devils are coming to the protection of the building.
Blow 'em to hell!"
Four machine guns began to rattle
a chorus of doom. The retreating man-beasts halted in the face of the deadly
fire, only to be cut down steadily by the warriors of Hamund-sik. They fell in
droves from both front and rear and now it appeared that the Ban-du-lu's would
be wiped out entirely.
Cassandra shuddered at the
terrible sight and stood up suddenly. Tyber tried to pull her down fearing that
a sword might be thrown at her by a veangeful subject of Ban-du-lu. but she
pushed him away. Then her voice rang out above the din.
"Oh, brave warriors of
Ban-du-lu and Hamund-sik," she cried in the common tongue of Venus.
"It is useless to fight. The great ruler of the Ban-du-lu is dead and his
spirit has gone to Xip-pa-co-yan, who will now be satisfied with the royal gift
and let Jan-du-bar continue unmolested by the heat of the skies. Ban-du-lu has
given himself as a sacrifice to prevent further bloodshed. Xip-pa-co-yan speaks
through Cassan-dra and asks that there be peace!"
She paused to see the effects of her
speech. The Ban-du-lu, in the face of inevitable defeat and annihilation,
suddenly threw down their swords, hurled themselves flat on their faces and
grunted loudly. The forces of Hamunk-sik stood upright, sheathed their swords
and faced the flickering heavens. Rain suddenly splattered down on the compound
in a solid wall. A terrific wind lashed the jungle into an uproar and whistled
through the honeycombed walls of the city with wails of menace. Cassandra
looked at Tyber in astonishment.
"The tornado!" she said
fearfully. "It is coming. It is the first time the feared tornado has ever
struck this portion of Venus. My father told me that it never came here. If it
does not kill these people it will frighten them into a belief that the sun is angry
at them for fighting."
She faced the compound again.
Tyber watched, amazed that the words from this slip of a girl could cause the
man-beasts of Venus to lay down their arms in peace.
"Xip-pa-co-yan sends the
great wind to shake the jungles of Jan-du-bar," she droned. "It will
pass and Jan-du-bar will be a place of peace and contentment. Let there be a
great banquet in which all Venusians will participate. I, Cassan-dra, who takes
Bandu-lu's place on- the throne, command it!"
"That's marvelous,
Cassandra," said Tyber. "Whatever you told them sure had its
effect!"
"I commanded them to a
banquet, Herr Tyber," she said, looking into his eyes. "There will be
peace now. . . . for us all!"
"It is unbelievable, Fraulein,"
he said, "that they would listen to you."
There was a searing flame
appearing suddenly in the heavens beyond the jungle. It looked like some-great
comet passing close to the surface of Venus. A blinking light informed Tyber
what it was.
"The flyer!" he yelled
gleefully. "The electronic flyer! The men got back to the flyer,
Cassandra, and they come for us!"
She looked at him hopefully.
"Do you mean that it is your
ship?" she asked incredulously.
"Our space flyer, Fraulein!”
he said joyously. "It will take us back home. You will go with us?"
She rested her head on his
shoulder. Together they watched the flyer. Her rocket exhausts seared the
heavens with streaks of blue flame. The Venusians watched in wonderment. Then
the ship paused overhead at a great altitude. Tyber had a sudden fear that it
might go away, but Bingham's voice diverted his thoughts.
"They will see that something
is up here, Tyber," he said eagerly. "They're observers and nothing
will escape their sharp eyes. But Lord, I hope they don't make a miscalculation
and crack up!"
A moment of uncertainty passed;
then the flyer's tail belched a sudden spurt of flame. Her nose dipped sharply
downward. Finally she settled in the compound. Within five minutes the elated
humans were aboard, leaving the Venusians gaping.
Tyber led Cassandra to the
observation bridge as the flyer dropped away from Venus.
"The earth lies far ahead,
Cassandra," he whispered presently. She stood very close to him. He caught
the fragrance of her golden hair as it crushed his face.
"I'm so thrilled," she
responded quickly. "Many times have I prayed to go to the world of my
father and mother."
"We will land within a
fortnight on our world, Cassandra," Tyber nodded.
She glanced at him with sudden
fear. "You will never come back to Venus?"
“Oh, I will, Cassandra.” he
replied. “But with you only if you want to.”
She shuddered and shook her head.
THE END
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