by E. K. Jarvis
your father would find a way toact on whatever information it contained and all they had to do wasstay on his trail and await their opportunity."
"How could anyone be so vile?"
Mike ignored the question. "I said they were smart, but they weren'tsmart enough."
"What do you mean?"
"This little trick of marooning us on a fatal orbit in space. It won'twork."
"Why not?"
"We'll follow them."
Doree was completely bewildered. "But you said your pile was stolen."
"It was. We won't need it."
"And all your instruments were smashed."
"We won't need them, either. Your father will tell them the planet'slocation. There's not much else he can do. Then--we'll follow them."
"One of us is crazy," Doree said, weakly.
"No. McKee and Talbott were just badly informed. They have anautomatic ship and evidently don't know too much about it. You see,the electroparalysis ray has one basic element around which itfunctions--magnetism. The jolt they handed us was of such size that itcreated a magnetic field around their ship. If they had been goingthrough an asteroid belt they would have been bombarded into oblivion.As it is they'll still be bombarded in a sense--by us."
"You mean--"
"The field envelopes their ship and trails out behind it like aninvisible chain. They couldn't possibly have shoved us hard enough toget us clear of it. So when they pulled out, the _Space Queen_ nosedright around and followed them." Mike grinned. "We're on their tailright now, just as surely as if they had us on a tow-rope."
"Then we can still help father!"
Mike sobered. "We don't know what we can do. We're still not out ofthe woods. There's a little problem of landing a dead ship on thatplanet after we come within range of its gravity. Then, too, heavenonly knows where we'll set down. If it's a big planet--"
Instead of wincing before this new peril, Doree stiffened against it."I'm sure you'll do all that any man could do."
"I'll do my best."
"And so long as the whole disaster was our fault--"
"Forget it." Mike conscious of a warmth rising within him, took hiseyes quickly from her face and went to check ship....
* * * * *
The slow passage of time was the most difficult factor to contendwith. Mike wracked his brain for a means of speeding up the _SpaceQueen_. He was confident that the craft was moving straight and truein the wake of the other ship and that unless drastic adjustments weremade in the course, she would continue to do so. But so slowly--sovery slowly. Acceleration caused by the magnetic field had long-sincereached its apex and now the _Space Queen_ moved at a steadyunchanging pace.
He achieved a little more speed by taking charges from three of theprimers, placing them in the pile head, and igniting with the fourthprimer. He picked up possibly two Gs before the power burned out.
He and Nicko donned space suits, magnetized themselves aft, and openedthe suit's drive plugs to the maximum. The resulting force smashedthem against the hull, almost breaking their ribs. Some additionalacceleration was achieved but pathetically little.
Who would have thought, Mike pondered bitterly, that I'd land out herepushing my own ship through space? What a laugh the wits at Outer Portwould get when and if this little adventure was sounded around._If_--that was the big word that stuck in Mike's mind.
An important facet of the problem was keeping Doree's morale high.Mike enjoyed this. He learned all about her and there came a suddendizzy moment when he found himself kissing her. After that he was morecareful.
Then, at the last came the great thrill--abruptly, as all such thingscome. Mike was puttering with the radio when Nicko turned from theport to say, "Indescribably beautiful land ho! Luscious round planetdead ahead at five o'clock!"
Mike leaped to the port. Smaller than Terra and with differentcontinental markings, but in other respects, quite similar. Nickojumped up and down clapping his four hands. Mike grabbed him andlifted him in a bear-hug, scratching himself unmercifully on thelittle Martian's sharp scales. Then he bolted aft to tell Doree.
There was no restraint in his kiss this time and for a few moments theship and the landfall vanished from their minds. They did not knowwhere they were; nor did they care.
Then Mike jerked himself back to the business at hand and rushed tothe pilot cabin; the dangerous business ahead of them.
* * * * *
They were already in range, being gripped and dragged down by theplanet's pull. Mike ordered Nicko and Doree into straps and buckledhimself into the pilot's chair.
He surveyed the fast-greatening planet. There would be no choice oflanding fields. Mike could only hope to bring the _Space Queen_ downon dry land rather than in the center of an ocean.
She was responding to her fins now and Mike put her into a longglide. Below, the land and the water separated themselves and Mikestudied the gray expanse below. Ocean.
Mike leveled out and struggled for altitude. There was minor responseas the atmosphere outside clawed at the hull, dragging it down,heating it a dull red.
All during the trip he had fought inertia. Now his problem wasreversed, rapid acceleration being the demon of the moment. A helplessshell rocketing toward a solid obstacle.
Mike felt a surge of relief as the streaming gray below turned toracing green. At least they would not finish up trapped in asubmarine. But the land could be as lethal as the sea and now themoment was at hand.
Mike angled the fins to their maximum. He yelled. "Contact!" Then heprayed.
There was a great crash--and oblivion.
* * * * *
Pain brought back Mike's consciousness. Without opening his eyes, heanalyzed the pain. It was in his shoulder. He tried the musclesgingerly and decided it wasn't broken. If that was the case the otherscould have come through also. The results of crashes of this kind wereusually extreme one way or another. Either the passengers came throughunhurt or they were mangled into stew meat. Mike opened his eyes.
All was quiet. Both Nicko and Doree lay motionless under their straps;still unconscious but with no visible injuries. But there wassomething else there in the center of the cabin floor; somethingMike's dazed mind had difficulty in accepting.
A snake.
It was coiled lazily, its green and gold body the thickness of a man'sarm. It had a flat, triangular head with deadliness written all overit and its eyes were upon the only moving thing in the room--Doree'srising and falling breast.
The chill that went through Mike almost paralyzed him. In hypnotizedfascination he watched the sinuous uncoiling of the serpent; thegliding movement in Doree's direction.
Then the girl's eyes opened.
"Don't move!" Mike snapped. "Everything is all right. We got down. Butyou must stop breathing--hold your breath. Don't even move your eyes!Stare straight at the ceiling."
Doree obeyed, and thus did not see the snake. But her fright wasapparent. Mike moved a slow hand toward the buckle on his chest. Theserpent's head flicked around at the movement. Mike's cold handgripped the buckle. He knew the snake's length was such that it couldreach him in a single long strike. He could only hope the serpentwould hesitate for a few seconds. The snake's head came around, thendrew back.
At that moment a voice broke the silence. "You--beautiful serpent.Gorgeous green and gold clothes line. Over this way. Here I am."Nicko's voice and with it the little Martian unbuckled his strap andput his feet on the floor.
A hiss. The snake struck. Doree turned her eyes downward and screamed.The snake's great head slammed against Nicko's leg. The Martianlaughed.
The snake ricocheted backward, dazed from the contact, two of itsfangs broken off on Nicko's steel-hard scales. Nicko got up and walkedover and put his heel on the serpent's head and crushed it. As thelong body lashed and writhed, Nicko looked down at it with a kind ofcompassion. "Good-bye, little sister." Nicko looked over at Mike inassumed surpri
se. "Was my pretty cousin bothering you? She only wantedto say hello."
"All right," Mike barked. "You've had your little joke. Let's find outwhere we are."
"In a jungle I guess--from the nature of the welcoming committee."
Mike helped Doree from her couch. She had sustained no injuries otherthan a slightly sprained wrist. Mike got a rifle from the gun cabinet,gave another to Nicko and armed Doree with a small pistol which shetried to refuse.
Investigation showed the hull to be intact but two of the hatches hadbeen torn off their hinges and were nowhere in sight.
"A beautiful glide," Nicko commented, looking back at the broad furrowthat gave evidence of how the _Space