The Moon Destroyers
Page 5
CHAPTER III
A Sudden Encounter
The map of the moon was not as complete as it could have been, either.No particular interest had been taken in our satellite since the firstexploratory expeditions nearly fifty years before, when it had beendetermined that the moon was of no value to Earthmen, either as anoutpost for colonization or a station for the production of power fromthe sun's rays. Jack did the best he could, however, and the little dotshe placed on the map were close enough together to assure completevaporization of the solid material in less than the allotted time.
At the end of the second day out, by earth-time, the dead satelliteloomed immense, only five thousand miles ahead. Holden was in the pilothouse when Edwards began turning on the deceleration tubes.
"I flashed your message to the other ships," he said, as his quickfingers touched the buttons which sent messages to the tube-room,"telling them to stand by and land with us. I understand that the planis to use these ships to travel over the surface of the moon, makinglandings in such positions that expeditions can be sent out in fourdirections to plant cartridges. That will certainly give us plenty oftime, if nothing goes wrong."
"I don't see what could go wrong," replied Holden, "since that madman isout of the way."
Eagerly he watched the dead, dust-covered surface approach, marveling atthe huge craters and precipitous peaks.
In two hours the five thousand miles had been reduced to less than thatmany yards, and in a few more minutes the three great ships weresettling softly on the smooth surface of the plain at the foot of MountJulian.
Space suits were rapidly donned, the air-locks set in operation, and themen hastily began unloading the first four charges of _hexoxen_ andEuropium. Holden called a meeting of the ship commanders in the pilotroom of the _San Francisco_.
"Commander Huges," he addressed the man in charge of the _Los Angeles_,"you will proceed toward Mount Locke, and continue in that line untilyou reach the spot marked on this chart, which is directly opposite ourpresent position. Rogers, you take the _Ganymede_, and go at an angle of120 degrees to Huges' course, toward Mount Zoga. I will continue overthe Crater of Aristotle. We will keep in constant communication witheach other by means of the space phone. Time the charges so that theywill commence to react on the afternoon of the twenty-eighth, thusgiving a sufficient margin of time in case of delays due to partiesgetting lost. That's all."
The _Ganymede_ and the _Los Angeles_ left almost immediately, while menfrom the _San Francisco_ set out to plant the first charges. There werefour men to each cartridge, since it was necessary that they travelfast.
Holden smiled as the lean figure of Professor Erickson, almost lost inhis space-suit, bounded away in great leaps at the head of his party. Infive hours they returned, having had no trouble at all. Edwardsmanipulated the controls, and the ship rose quickly to an altitude ofabout five thousand feet and headed for the rim of the Crater ofAristotle, barely visible in the distance. As they neared the rim, theyrose higher and higher. The mammoth cliffs of black rock towered abovethem, and the meters registered a height of five miles as they passedthrough a crack in the cliffs and looked down on the level floor beneaththem.
Suddenly Holden, who had been inspecting the country from one of the bowports, uttered an exclamation of astonishment.
"A tiny ship is rising toward us from the floor of the crater, near thecliffs!"
There it was, a speck rapidly growing larger, headed straight for them,and gaining velocity with every foot it covered.
Edwards worked frantically with the controls, diving in a zig-zag pathtoward the strange craft. Captain Linet rushed in, carrying one of thelight _hexoxen_ guns. Holden hurried to help him place it in a speciallydesigned aperture in the bow, while Erickson and the regular radio manendeavored to establish communications with the intruder. A voicesuddenly spoke from their instrument.
"You will consider yourselves our captives. Land at once as close aspossible to the white spot you see at the base of the cliff. If you donot obey instructions, we will ram you immediately."
"Don't reply for a moment," Holden commanded, focusing his glasses inthe direction indicated. As the powerful lenses brought out every detailof the scene below, he paled visibly.
"What's the matter?" demanded Erickson.
"Matter enough," was the amazing reply. "We've run into a den of somebandits. They must be the fiends who have been preying on the Earth-Marsshipping!"
* * * * *
The tremendous speed of the dive had brought them so close that allcould see, without the aid of binoculars, the great skeletons of wreckedships piled up at the base of the precipice.
"Tell those rats to go to hell," snapped Holden, "and get in touch withour own ships; use code and tell them to get here as quickly aspossible, prepared for a fight. Get near enough to this pirate ship toopen on it with the _hexoxen_ guns. Can you keep them from ramming us,Edwards?"
"I think so, for a time, at least."
The enemy's craft was now only a few hundred yards away, and Holdenscrutinized it closely for any sign that might give a clue to theoriginal builders or present owners. Not over a hundred and fifty feetin length, with no visible openings, it looked like a slightly fattenedsteel needle. Its stern tubes were of the ordinary type; they glowed redagainst the silvery background, as the enemy swooped and circled, tryingto get into position for a final, crushing blow.
"Every man in space suits," Holden ordered. "Good work, Linet," hecried, as he saw a sudden pock-mark appear in the pirate's side, wherethe devastating _hexoxen_ bullet had struck.
"They've certainly got thick plates," remarked the Captain, as anotherdirect hit failed to do more than scratch the metal. "Probably heavierup in front, if they mean what they say about ramming. I'm going toconcentrate on the stern."
The dull red surface of the moon, the black walls of the crater, and thetwinkling stars of outer space mingled in a fantastic whirl as Edwardsskilfully kept the _San Francisco_ out of the enemy's reach, at the sametime giving Linet and the men in the observation compartment sufficientopportunity to train their guns on vital spots. It was a hopeless game,though, for the smaller ship was incredibly fast.
Erickson straightened up from his position behind the operator of thespace-phone. "We can't make any connections with either the _Ganymede_or the _Los Angeles_. Probably these pirates have developed a shieldwhich, thrown around their victims, prevents any message from getting tothe outside."
That looked bad. Erickson switched the receiver back to the wave-lengthof the enemy. A continual stream of taunts and threats came from theloudspeaker.
"Why don't you surrender?" the gruff voice barked. "You haven't a chanceagainst us, but if you surrender you may be allowed to work with us, foryour own benefit as well as ours."
"Go to hell," the formerly meek Erickson roared into the transmitter,surprised at his own rage.
Then finally, with a desperate dash, the tiny pirate ship darted in.Edwards did his best to swerve away from the needle-point, but in vain.There was a shattering crash; Holden felt himself hurled through theair, but his heavy space-suit saved him from being crushed as he hit thewall of the room. Edwards stayed with the controls, somehow, cursingsavagely.
"Only a glancing blow, but it smashed all the main stern tubes, andevidently disabled the anti-gravitational shield transmitter. We'regoing down."
Holden dashed to a port and glanced out. A welcome sight met his eyes.The enemy, also injured, was heading for home as fast as his disabledengines permitted.
"Those _hexoxen_ bombs must have weakened his plating, so that it sprangwhen he rammed us," Edwards exclaimed when he saw what was happening.
Slowly the _San Francisco_ sank toward the red and black volcanic ash ofthe crater floor. A hasty inspection revealed that Edwards had beencorrect in his diagnosis of the trouble. Extensive repairs would benecessary before they could proceed, but, fortunately, no one wasseriously hurt, and the main shell showed no sign
s of strains or leaks.
As soon as Edwards had brought them safely to rest on the ground, Holdencalled a council of war.
"From the way these chaps fight, it's evident that they have no weapons,other than the bow of their ship, and possibly some short-range raypistols, or the still more antiquated guns using some form of explosiveto expel metal bullets. As soon as the shadow of the cliff throws thissection of the crater into darkness, I'm going to do a little exploring,and see if I can't find out where these rats hide, when they're not outin space. Linet, you throw a line of pickets around the ship; Edwards,get started on repairs, and Erickson, keep on trying to get in touchwith our companions."
* * * * *
Scarcely had he finished speaking when the light began to fade, and in afew