Brigands of the Moon

by Ray Cummings

  XI

  I turned from the deck. Miko was near me! So he had dared show himselfhere among us! But I realized he could not be aware we knew he was themurderer. George Prince had been asleep, had not seen Miko with Anita.Miko, with impulsive rage had shot the girl and escaped. No doubt nowhe was cursing himself for having done it. And he could very wellassume that Anita had died without regaining consciousness to tell whohad killed her.

  He gazed at me now. I thought for an instant he was coming over totalk with me. Though he probably considered he was not suspected ofthe murder of Anita, he realized, of course, that his attack on me wasknown. He must have wondered what action would be taken.

  But he did not approach me. He moved away and went inside. Moa hadbeen near him; and as though by prearrangement with him she nowaccosted me.

  "I want to speak to you, _Set_ Haljan."

  "Go ahead."

  I felt an instinctive aversion to this Martian girl. Yet she was notunattractive. Over six feet tall, straight and slim. Sleek blond hair.Rather a handsome face; not gray, like the burly Miko, but pink andwhite; stern lipped, but feminine, too. She was smiling gravely now.Her blue eyes regarded me keenly. She said gently:

  "A sad occurrence, Gregg Haljan. And mysterious. I would not questionyou--"

  "Is that all you have to say?" I demanded.

  "No. You are a handsome man, Gregg--attractive to women--to anyMartian woman."

  She said it impulsively. Admiration for me was on her face, in hereyes--a man cannot miss it.

  "Thank you."

  "I mean, I would be your friend. My brother Miko is so sorry aboutwhat happened between you and him this morning. He only wanted to talkto you, and he came to your cubby door--"

  "With a torch to break its seal," I interjected.

  She waved that away. "He was afraid you would not admit him. He toldyou he would not harm you."

  "And so he struck me with one of your Martian paralyzing rays!"

  "He is sorry...."

  She seemed gauging me, trying, no doubt, to find out what reprisalwould be taken against her brother. I felt sure that Moa was as activeas a man in any plan that was under way to capture the Grantlinetreasure. Miko, with his ungovernable temper, was doing things thatput their plans in jeopardy.

  I demanded, "What did your brother want to talk to me about?"

  "Me," she said surprisingly. "I sent him. A Martian girl goes afterwhat she wants. Did you know that?"

  She swung on her heel and left me. I puzzled over it. Was that whyMiko struck me down and was carrying me off? I did not think so. Icould not believe that all these incidents were so unrelated to what Iknew was the main undercurrent They wanted me, had tried to capture mefor something else.

  Dr. Frank found me mooning alone. "Go to bed, Gregg. You look awful."

  "I don't want to go to bed."

  "Where's Snap?"

  "I don't know. He was here a little while ago." I had not seen himsince the burial of Anita.

  "The Captain wants him," he said.

  Within an hour the morning siren would arouse the passengers. I wasseated in a secluded corner of the deck, when George Prince camealong. He went past me, a slight, somber, dark-robed figure. He had onhigh, thick boots. A hood was over his head, but as he saw me hepushed it back and dropped down beside me.

  For a moment he did not speak. His face showed pallid in the dimstarlight.

  "She said you loved her." His soft voice was throaty with emotion.

  "Yes." I said it almost against my will. There seemed a bond springingbetween this bereaved brother and me. He added, so softly I couldbarely hear him: "That makes you, I think, almost my friend. And youthought you were my enemy."

  I held my answer. An incautious tongue running under emotion is adangerous thing. And I was sure of nothing.

  He went on, "Almost my friend. Because--we both loved her, and sheloved us both." He was hardly more than whispering. "And there isaboard one whom we both hate."

  "Miko!" It burst from me.

  "Yes. But do not say it."

  Another silence fell between us. He brushed back the black curls fromhis forehead. "Have you an eavesdropping microphone, Haljan?"

  I hesitated. "Yes."

  "I was thinking...." He leaned closer. "If, in half an hour, you coulduse it upon Miko's cabin--I would rather tell you than anyone else.The cabin will be insulated, but I shall find a way of cutting offthat insulation so that you can hear."

  So George Prince had turned with us. The shock of his sister'sdeath--himself allied with her murderer--had been too much for him. Hewas with us!

  Yet his help must be given secretly. Miko would kill him instantly ifit became known. He had been watchful of the deck. He stood up now.

  "I think that is all."

  As he turned away, I murmured, "But I do thank you...."

  * * * * *

  The name _Set_ Miko glowed upon the door. It was in a transversecorridor similar to A22. The corridor was forward of the lounge: itopened off the small circular library.

  The library was unoccupied and unlighted, dim with only the reflectedlights from the nearby passages. I crouched behind a cylinder case.The door of Miko's room was in sight.

  I waited perhaps five minutes. No one entered. Then I realized thatdoubtless the conspirators were already there. I set my tinyeavesdropper on the library floor beside me; connected its littlebattery; focused its projector. Was Miko's room insulated? I could nottell. There was a small ventilating grid above the door. Across itsopening, if the room was insulated, a blue sheen of radiance would beshowing. And there would be a faint hum. But from this distance Icould not see or hear such details, and I was afraid to approachcloser. Once in the transverse corridor, I would have no place tohide, no way of escape. If anyone approached Miko's door, I would betrapped.

  I threw the current into my apparatus. I prayed, if it metinterference, that the slight sound would pass unnoticed. GeorgePrince had said that he would make opportunity to disconnect theroom's insulation. He had evidently done so. I picked up the interiorsounds at once; my headphone vibrated with them. And with tremblingfingers on the little dial between my knees as I crouched in thedarkness behind the cylinder case, I synchronized.

  "Johnson is a fool." It was Miko's voice. "We must have thepasswords."

  "He got them from the radio room." A man's voice: I puzzled over it atfirst, then recognized it. Rance Rankin.

  Miko said, "He is a fool. Walking around this ship as though withletters blazoned on his forehead, 'Watch me.... I need watching.' Hah!No wonder they apprehended him!"

  Rankin's voice said: "He would have turned the papers over to us. Iwould not blame him too much. What harm--"

  "Oh, I'll release him," Miko declared. "What harm? That braying assdid us plenty of harm. He has lost the passwords. Better he had leftthem in the radio room."

  Moa was in the room. Her voice said, "We've got to have them. The_Planetara_, upon such an important voyage as this, might be watched."

  "No doubt it is," Rankin said quietly. "We ought to have thepasswords. When we are in control of this ship...."

  It sent a shiver through me. Were they planning to try and seize the_Planetara_? Now? It seemed so.

  "Johnson undoubtedly memorized them," Moa was saying. "When we get himout--"

  "Hahn is to do that, at the signal." Miko added, "George could do itbetter, perhaps."

  And then I heard George Prince for the first time, "I'll try."

  "No need," Miko said unexpectedly.

  I could not see what had happened. A look, perhaps, which Princecould not avoid giving this man he had come to hate. Miko doubtlesssaw it, and the Martian's hot anger leaped.

  Rankin said hurriedly, "Stop that!"

  And Moa, "Let him alone, you fool! Sit down!"

  I could hear the sound of a scuffle. A blow--a cry, half suppressed,from George Prince.

  Then Miko: "I will not hurt him. Craven coward! Look at him! Ha
tingme--frightened!"

  I could fancy George Prince sitting there with murder in his heart,and Miko taunting him:

  "Hates me now, because I shot his sister!"

  Moa: "Hush!"

  "I will not! Why should I not say it? I will tell you something else,George Prince. It was not Anita I shot at, but you! I meant nothingfor her but love. If you had not interfered--"

  This was different from what we had figured. George Prince had come infrom his own room, had tried to rescue his sister, and in the scuffle,Anita had taken the shot instead of George.

  "I did not even know I had hit her," Miko was saying. "Not until Iheard she was dead." He added sardonically, "I hoped it was you I hadhit, George. And I will tell you this: you hate me no more than I hateyou. If it were not for your knowledge of ores--"

  "Is this to be a personal wrangle?" Rankin interrupted. "I thought wewere here to plan--"

  "It is planned," Miko said shortly. "I give orders, I do not plan. Iam waiting now for the moment--" He checked himself.

  Moa said, "Does Rankin understand that no harm is to come to GreggHaljan?"

  "Yes," Rankin said. "And Dean. We need them, of course. But you cannotmake Dean send messages if he refuses, nor make Haljan navigate."

  "I know enough to check on them," Miko said grimly. "They will notfool me. And they will obey me, have no fear. A little touch ofsulphuric--" His laugh was gruesome. "It makes the most stubborn, verywilling."

  "I wish," said Moa, "we had Haljan safely hidden. If he ishurt--killed--"

  So that was why Miko had tried to capture me? To keep me safe so thatI might navigate the ship.

  It occurred to me that I should get Carter at once. A plot to seizethe _Planetara_--but when?

  I froze with startled horror.

  The diaphragms at my ears rang with Miko's words: "I have set the timefor now--two minutes--"

  It seemed to startle Rankin and George Prince as much as it did me.Both exclaimed: "No!"

  "No? Why not? Everyone is at his post!"

  Prince repeated, "No!"

  And Rankin, "But can we trust them? The stewards--the crew?"

  "Eight of them are our own men! You didn't know that, Rankin? They'vebeen aboard the _Planetara_ for several voyages. Oh, this is noquickly planned affair, even though we let you in on it so recently.You and Johnson.... By God!"

  There was a commotion in the stateroom. I crouched, tense. Miko haddiscovered that his insulation had been cut off! He had evidentlyleaped to his feet. I heard a chair overturn. And the Martian's roar:"It's off! Did you do that, Prince? By God, if I thought--"

  My apparatus went suddenly dead as Miko flung on his insulation. Ilost my wits in the confusion: I should have instantly taken off myvibrations. There was interference: it showed in the dark space of theventilator grid over Miko's doorway, a snapping in the air, there--aswirl of sparks.

  I heard with my unaided ears Miko's roar over his insulation: "By God,they're listening!"

  The scream of hand sirens sounded from his stateroom. It rang over theship. His signal! I heard it answered from some distant point. Andthen a shot: a commotion in the lower corridors....

  The attack upon the _Planetara_ had begun!

  I was on my feet. The shouts of startled passengers sounded, a turmoilbeginning everywhere.

  I stood momentarily transfixed. The door of Miko's stateroom burstopen. He stood there, with Rankin, Moa and George Prince crowding him.

  He saw me. "You, Gregg Haljan!"

  He came leaping at me.