CHAPTER VIII
The Battle in Space
He lay back on the bunk and for several minutes stared fixedly up atnothing. The performance was reminiscent of the seance of an ancientspirit meeting. He sat up, and again his big eyes fastened themselvesupon Shelby, and the uncanny voice spoke in the Earthman's brain:
"I get father. He on scouting expedition--very close. He bring fivethousand men to rescue you and me. They get here maybe three, fourhours. My father--his army same weapons as Black Emperor's. Flash,flash--all gone--everything gone."
There was the sound of movement beyond the door. Shelby waved his handin a quick downward gesture which Ankova interpreted correctly. Heslumped limply upon the bedding in a very excellent counterfeit ofunconsciousness. And then Hekalu Selba entered. His face was white aschalk, and yet there was nothing in it that hinted even of a trace offear--only icy calm. Behind him was Sega.
"Mr. Shelby," the Martian said with slow cool deliberation, "think well.Either you will reveal the secret of the Atomic Ray immediately or Ishall have you immersed in the juice of the flame flowers."
Austin Shelby met Hekalu's chilly stare with a taunting smile. He sensedin the Martian's manner that his plans had met with some serious danger.
"Though I am your prisoner," he told him, "I believe that I can defyyou. In the first place I do not fear the tortures that you mightinflict upon me." Here he took a tiny glass capsule from his sleevepocket and placed it in his mouth. "I do not mean by that that I amsuper-human, that I can endure any pain. But should the torture becomeunbearable I would crunch the poison vial which I have carried since Ijoined the Sekor fraternity back on Mars, between my teeth and bringdeath. That, I am not afraid of. Besides, I could give you the formulasfor almost any number of unknown compounds, any one of which might bethe missing crystal for all you might know. It would be several hoursbefore you would discover that I had not given you the right one."
The Martian's face grew even whiter and harder at these words. Thoughtsand plans flashed through his mind. Should he tell the Earthman what hadhappened--that Alkebar, the Black Emperor, had secretly slipped throughthe air lock into space?--that he was certainly intent upon conqueringthe planets alone? It would not be hard to convince the Earthman thatthe savage Alkebar would be an infinitely more terrible and ruthlessmaster than any human being ever could be. Perhaps he could win Shelbyto his side for as long as he needed him. He was wavering, and then,with the sudden rush of inspiration a better idea came.
"I have told you many times that you are clever, my friend," he saidwith some slight show of his old careless air. "Again I compliment you.But listen carefully: suppose I took the girl--put her in the gentleembrace of the juice of the flame flowers--told you to produce a formulathat would work before I released her?"
The effect on the Earthman was electrical, but it was not quite whatHekalu Selba had expected. The blood red haze of murder rushed beforeAustin Shelby's eyes, and with movements more suggestive of a woundedpanther than a human being he leaped from the bunk and tore for theMartian with flailing fists. He gave no thought to the idea that whatHekki had said might be only a histrionic gesture.
"Oh, God!" he shrieked raspingly, "You Devil! You unutterable stinking,rotten fiend!" But it was a wild useless move. Hekalu was lighteningquick and sure with the pistol. He inflicted death, or merely produced adisabling wound almost at will. And so it was that Shelby sprawledsenseless on the floor with a nasty though not very dangerous bulletwound across the side of his head.
Sega and the Martian were bending over him, and then again theunexpected happened. An ebony form whose great hands and incrediblemuscles seemed quite equal to the task of tearing a gorilla limb fromlimb, arose from the other bunk and towered over the Prince of Selba andhis Space Man companion.
The former, hearing a slight sound, turned, and realizing his perilfired two shots at the mountainous monster. Then he darted agilely forthe door. He gave one quick backward look--saw the hand of Ankovadescending with trip-hammer force upon the skull of Sega, and thenslammed the stout portal behind him.
Sega had been unfortunate, but now all his troubles were over for hisneck was broken. Ankova transferred to his own belt the weapons of thecorpse--his heavy pistol--his case of atomic grenades--his bejeweled warclub. Then he devoted his attention to Shelby.
Gently he carried him to the bunk and made awkward attempts to bandagehis head with strips torn from the bedding. Satisfied at last with thecrude but effective results of his efforts, he strode to the window.
For a long time he stood there, staring. But he saw nothing thatinterested him. The ether all about was crowded with Space Men coursingwith the _Selba_. Except for a gentle swaying shifting movement theyseemed to hang perfectly motionless in the void, and yet their speed wasmany miles a second.
The fantastic cavalcade aroused no wonder in the mind of Ankova, for tohim they were as prosaic and commonplace as the grass under the feet ofany Earthian. He cocked his head on one side as though listening.Perhaps at that moment something was coming to him from across theendless regions of the etheric desert--something which only hisincredibly refined telepathic sense could detect.
* * * * *
His unshod feet sensed the faint vibration in the metal floor. Someonewas approaching the room. First taking the precaution of tearingShelby's chain from the wall, he turned and waited before the door withready war club. He did not wait long for it banged open almostimmediately. A Space Man appeared. Behind him were others.
Ankova did not ask their mission for he saw that they wore the insigniathat meant loyalty to the man from the Fourth World. Instead he leapedin to close quarters. His whirring war club, toothed with sharp spikes,ripped and tore at the head and shoulders of the unfortunate warrior.Falteringly, the creature tried to parry the blows with his own weapon;but it was useless. Before he was able to attain his fighting stride hewas down, the purple radio-active liquid that flowed in his veins inlieu of blood, dyeing the threshold. His lips curled in a grimace ofagony, but he made no sound--mute he had lived and he died in the samemanner.
Ankova stepped over the prostrate form and engaged the one who had stoodbehind him. The second Space Man fared little better. He made but abrief and unsuccessful defense and then he too went down. And so Ankova,who before his capture had won fame among the tribes of the Star Peopleas one of the mightiest fighters that their race had ever produced,battled on in the narrow passage until the seven Space Men whom Hekaluhad sent to put him and Austin Shelby under restraint were either dyingor dead.
The victor glanced down the corridor--saw at the farther end a smallportion of the control room's interior. Koo Faya, the Martian, wasthere, working with demoniac haste over switches and dials.
Ankova drew his pistol, started to aim at the slave, and then thoughtbetter of it. There was a tenseness within the hull of the_Selba_--something which made a deep impression on Ankova's keenintuition. His muscles tautened and a tingling sensation rippled overhis ebony hide. The vibrations of the rocket motors were more noticeablethan usual. Evidently the ship was tearing along at the greatest speedit could attain. And it swayed unnaturally.
Ankova knew the layout of the _Selba_ well, for he had traveled in itoften. And now he sensed quite clearly what was happening. He hurried toa supply room and selected a space armor from a rack. His Earthmanfriend might need it. Then he dashed back to the room In which he andShelby had been imprisoned.
A glance out of the window confirmed his suspicions as to what was goingon. The force of Space Men which was acting as an escort for the _Selba_had arranged itself in a sort of spherical protecting network around thecraft. Another and superior force was attempting savagely to pierce thisformation. The foes of Hekalu's henchmen would draw themselves intocone-shaped groups and rush the defenders, and the latter would swarmover the cones like angry and determined hornets. A hot fight was inprogress out there. The ether was lit with green flashes of light, andfragments of the bodies
of Space Men and their vehicles already strewedthe void. In this running battle the _Selba_ was not idle. Her torpedoeswere exploding among the attackers with blinding glares of light.
Ankova wondered who the would-be destroyers of the _Selba_ were. Clearlythey were not the forces of his father, for they had not yet had time toarrive. Some stray tribe perhaps. He wished that he might see theirinsignia, but owing to their distance from the ship and their eccentricmovements, this was impossible. He did not know that they were theminions of Alkebar who had turned enemy to Hekalu but a few hoursbefore.
The Space Man realized that for the time being he was safe enough, buthe took the precaution of planning for escape from the ship should itbecome necessary. He eyed the heavily glazed porthole. A few deft blowswith his war club would shatter that. Beyond, there were a few discswithout Space Men circling about. With luck it would be possible tocapture one. First he barricaded the door with metal bars torn from thebunks, and then put the space armor on the still senseless Earthman.Then there was nothing to do but wait.
The battle was going against the defenders. Shattering concussions ofatomic projectiles banging against the _Selba's_ hull made the hurtlingvessel pitch and roll frightfully. The thunder of shells waxed andwaned.
It must have been over two hours later that a huge torpedo set in motionby the forces of the Black Emperor, struck the ship. The explosionrolled her completely over, and tore a jagged though not disabling holein her side. The air puffed out from the control room compartment, butthe men who labored so feverishly there, were clad in heavy space armor,and aside from being badly bruised they were unhurt.
The torpedo was the last gesture of the Alkebarians. Ankova saw a cloudof luminous specks approaching from the void at terrific velocity. Theygrew rapidly brighter. A blue and an orange star shot up from theirmidst--the identification signal of Telaba, Ankova's father. That signalwas quite enough for the Black Emperor's men. Without waiting to arguethey turned and fled. So quickly did they go that Telaba's warriors wereunable to identify them.
* * * * *
The rebel tribesmen were checking their speed now, preparing to fight.But still they came on apparently like hurtling comets. They swept theremnants of Hekalu Selba's loyalists before them in one terrific charge,and then they were swarming over the _Selba_ and through the rent in herside. There was a brief flurry of pistol shots from the crew before theywere captured and bound.
In a prison compartment aft, Austin Shelby had regained his sensessufficiently to have a vague idea of what was going on around him.Ankova was supporting him, and he was staggering toward the door. Hismind took up a train of thought from where it had left off. He wascalling for Jan and cursing Hekalu. Cased as his head was, in an oxygenhelmet, his shrieking voice was magnified a dozen times, and assumed aweird vaulted quality that startled him back to sensibility.
Ankova read his thoughts, and by telepathy replied to him: "Your lady? Iforget. But we find her. She all right--sure!"
The Space Man removed the barricade and opened the door. The suddenoutrush of air from the room almost toppled Shelby from his feet. Andthen the Earthman heard a familiar voice in the head-phones of the radiowith which his helmet was equipped: "I'm in X7, Austin. Let me out ifyou can."
"Janice!" he cried, and with new vigor hurried to the door of the roomshe had mentioned.
Ankova smashed the lock with his war club and the portal flew open. Janwas standing there encased in space armor. She was trying hard to smile.
"You're safe, darling!" Shelby cried, "And I thought that that fiend wasgoing to hurt you!"
"My luck," she said. "Koo Faya was thoughtful enough to bring this spacearmor, otherwise, I wouldn't have been fit to look at any more." Shepointed to a shattered window. "And you--heaven's how you can yell--andswear! I am ashamed of you!"
Her eyes widened when she looked at Ankova, but Shelby reassured her."This is Ankova, and he is our friend--big shot, too," he said. "AndJan, I guess we're free now--really free."
Ugly Space Men, some of them gashed and wounded, crowded about as thoughbent on destroying the two feeble Earthians. But with imperious gesturesAnkova waved them back. He conversed by signs with these warriors of hisfather, and then took Janice Darell and Austin each by the arm.
"Big surprise," he told them. "Come."
He led them to the control room. And there, in the grip of a blackcolossus was Hekalu Selba--captive. The Martian nodded perfunctorily tothe girl and then turned his level gaze toward the man. His face showedno hint of anger, and it seemed that a shadow of a smile twinkled abouthis lips.
"Here we have a contrast, Mr. Shelby," he said quietly, "triumph anddisaster staring at each other!"
Shelby told him that he should be wreaking vengeance on the noble forthe numerous wrongs he had done him, but the calm unflinching attitudeof the Prince of Selba made him almost like the captive.
Shelby waved the Martian's captors back and he stood free. "There is nocontrast now, Akar Hekalu, for an outsider could not tell which waswhich!"
As Hekki's jailer led him away, Shelby, assisted by Janice Darell,busied himself with the ship's controls.
And so the battered _Selba_ escorted by five thousand Space Men set outfor a certain minor planet where were amassed the forces of Telaba,insubordinate vassal of the Black Emperor. And on another planet wasAlkebar, the Black Emperor himself, ready to hurl his shock troops, ahorde five million strong, at the planets.
The Revolt of the Star Men Page 8