by Jerry
If the Overlord of the Elder City did not lead, then another would be chosen to take his place. Meanwhile they would train. It was their plan, once Earth was conquered, to hold all survivors as hostages, forcing the rest of mankind to refrain from attack on the threat of destroying their prisoners.
From the day following that which 4-P-2269-L had in a moment of desperation attempted to draw a prohibited lethal tube on him, Don Stelite had never let his Lunarian friend go out of his sight. It was only to protect him from himself that he kept him under constant surveillance. The Lunarian, had he known that he was being watched, would have dared the wrath of the Two and fled to Luna to lead the inhabitants of the hidden cities against the vastly more numerous and better equipped human species in a suicidal attempt for freedom.
Though the Two had at all times a fair idea what was going on in the hidden cities, they did not dream that any of the invaders had escaped and were alive down there. Did they but suspect the Lunarians of harboring any of those dreaded Magellanians, the deep clefts and endless caverns of that dying world would have once more resounded to the march of biped feet, flashing rays and death.
Hearing their guards talking amongst themselves of certain complicated training maneuvers that a special body of Lunarians were going through, the Magellanians, with a touch of incredulity, inquired if they were actually preparing to war upon their biped rulers.
The guards, stung by the tone, replied that they were, outlining some of their preparations. Skeptical, the prisoners asked to be shown. If what they said was true, they would not only give them the secret of the black cloud, but information relating to other weapons as well. Also, if the Lunarians wished, they would complete the machine that had been taken from them at the time of their capture and bring their kindred from beyond the edge of the island universe to help crush the human race.
NIGHT and day men were working on the first great interstellar matter-transmitting apparatus at the southern tip of Earth. It was a titanic affair, capable of swallowing the greatest of the Confederation’s warships of space and transporting them to a similar station anywhere in the universe almost instantaneously. It was nearing completion.
The first wave of man’s force was ready; giant interstellar warships by the thousands, smaller craft by the hundreds of thousands. Waiting with ill-suppressed eagerness were the crews of those ships for the completion of that instantaneous means of transportation. On its completion they would pour into the mighty vibratory chamber of that apparatus, dissolve into their original energy-particles, flash across the galaxy, reconstruct themselves and ships in the vibratory chamber of the receiving mechanism, and pour into space against the invaders who dared the might of the universe.
The Two, with the eve of the departure of the human forces approaching, decided to give the Lunarians what they long had been clamoring for. Man would relinquish control of the government of Luna to its original inhabitants. Tomorrow 4-P-2269-L and other Lunarian chiefs would be notified.
That evening Don Stelite told his Lunarian friend of the decision the Two had reached. The Lunarian could hardly believe it. He made his human friend repeat it again and again. At last its full significance dawned upon him. No longer would he be merely 4-P-2269-L, but Overlord of the Elder City. In exuberance of spirits he whispered to his human friend something of the forces his race had prepared to win their freedom with, promising now to lead them side by side with the forces of the human race to the edge of the galaxy to the glory of both races.
That night word came from Luna by secret ways to the Overlord of the Elder City bidding him to leave for his ancient world at once. The Lunarian chiefs were contemplating an alliance with an enemy of the human race, the metal-clad invaders, two of whom were now in the depths of Luna completing a complex machine that would bring their kind from beyond the edge of the galaxy.
With the conclusion of that message the Lunarian saw his dream toppling. Yesterday he would have welcomed it, would have dared anything to have left Earth, but today—
His race must not ally themselves with the invaders. They had everything to lose and nothing to gain. The alliance must be stopped at all costs.
He rushed out of his quarters to where he knew a tiny space ship lay hidden and found his friend at his heels.
“What is the rush, Lune?”
Words telling the reason came tumbling pell-mell from the Lunarian before he could think.
Don Stelite drew in his breath with a low whistle. “What are you going to do?”
“Stop them.”
“Does your hereditary position give you the power to override the will of the other Lunarian chiefs?”
“No. Although amongst them I have premier, place, only in my own city have I any real authority.”
“Do you then intend to tell them of the decision the Two made in regard to your race?”
The Lunarian shook his head.
“Why not?” asked Don Stelite.
“It would be folly. They would take it as an indication of fear on the part of the human race. The majority of my species, recalling past wrongs, would dare much to sweep man from the solar system.”
“Then how do you propose to prevent them from joining the invaders?” Don Stelite was puzzled.
“My plan is a desperate one.
“As soon as the Two learn that there are Magellanians in the hidden cities they will, if they think necessary, order your world destroyed to remove the menace it constitutes. The knowledge that we have received from the Confederation in regard to the construction of powerful disintegration rays will make that task simple.”
“I know that only too well. For that reason I am sorry that I disclosed what I did, even to you,” said the Lunarian.
“What are you going to do?”
“Rid the solar system of them. It is either the lives of those two Magellanians or my race.”
A shade passed across the Lunarian’s eyes. Some disturbing thought was taking shape in his mind. “Perhaps it will be wiser if I did not interfere.”
“What are you trying to say, Lune?”
“If my attempt on their lives fail,” Lune said slowly, “our position, with the invaders also as enemies, will be worse off than ever.”
“Casting your lot with the Magellanians will mean war, not only with mankind, but with myriad races of the galaxy.”
“My race, the Lunarians, clamors for war. We have millions of tiny space ships suitably armed for interplanetary conflict and crews to man them. The Magellanians are sweeping everything before them With their aid nothing can withstand us.”
“And then what?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really think the Magellanians will allow your race to exist after their usefulness is passed?”
Slowly the Lunarian began shaking his head.
“It seems as if my race is doomed either way. I am expected and must hurry. There is still a chance of destroying them and their machine. A swift ship is waiting nearby with a certain design painted upon the bows that will allow it to pass unmolested into the depths of my world; it has been waiting for some time.”
The Lunarian started off with a hurried word of farewell flung behind to his human friend whom he never expected to see again.
“Wait,” called Don Stelite. “I think it is too late. There is a whisper now going across earth that scraps of conversation in your ancient tongue between members of your race and beings referred to as Magellanians has been detected by sensitive radio receivers. The waves are said to have originated in the depths of Luna under Mare Imbrium near Mount La Hire.
“The inhabitants of the covered-cities of Mare Imbrium are now being ordered to leave. Countless thousands of interstellar warships are being manned by their eager crews to leave the planets for Luna.
“It is too late, my friend.”
“I will go anyway,” said the Lunarian in reply. “If I stay it will mean death for me at the commands of the Two. There still is the chance of riddin
g the solar system if the fleet arrives.”
“I will go with you, Lime. Wait a moment, until I get a weapon from my quarters.”
“There are a few small lethal tubes on board the waiting ship. Hurry!”
THEY ran swiftly toward where the ship lay hidden.
An airtight door clanged shut and the ship raised its rounded nose and hurtled toward Luna. With scarcely any diminishment of its terrific velocity, the ship plunged into one of the deep clefts near Mount La Hire and sped down the dark gash.
The wide chasm they were plunging down split into numerous diverging clefts. Directing the ship without hesitation into one of them, the Lunarian continued to guide the ship downward. A knife-like wall shot up suddenly and that cleft was split in twain. Black as the tomb had the chasm become. Some patches of luminous vegetation scattered here and there along the precipitous walls only accentuated the darkness.
A ship materialized in front of them without any warning and flashed upwards. Collision seemed to have been averted only by a hair’s breadth. Another ship hurtled upwards from out of the black depths. More were coming, hundreds, thousands. They filled the cleft from side to side, barely giving the dropping ship room to pass.
Don Stelite wondered if they were the vanguard of the Lunarian forces on their way out to attempt to conquer the solar system, or were they manned by Magellanians?
At last the mass of uprushing ships came to an end. Like so many streaks they passed upwards. If every cleft and opening in Luna’s broken surface spouted forth a like force, man’s position in the solar system was far from secure.
Down they dropped, down and down. A faint beam of reddish light stabbed across the chasm, bathed them as they passed. The Lunarian at the controls touched a button and a red glow shot ahead of the ship for a fraction of a second, was extinguished, glowed again for about a full second and again was extinguished. From below, as if in answer to that signal, a huge section of the chasm’s wall swung outward and disclosed a dimly lit opening.
The nose of the ship suddenly tilted upwards and they were flying along on even keel, then dipped again. Not straight down a wide cleft were they plunging now, but along a downward sloping passage. The nose of the ship rose slightly. Again were they on even keel. The ship was losing speed. Now they were traveling through a series of vast caverns tilled with strange structures and hurrying figures, Lunarian cities. The vast caverns grew smaller and smaller, and ended in a long tunnel that dipped downwards at an acute angle and then levelled out. The tunnel led to another series of caverns, smaller than those containing the Lunarian cities. They were stacked high with all kinds of war material. At the entrance of a cavern slightly less dark than the others, the ship slowed down and stopped.
The cavern, though not as large as those used for the storage of their great heap of war material, was still vast. Its floor sloped towards the center in the nature of an amphitheater, and seemed crowded with a solid mass of Lunarians. Luminous vegetation covered wall and roof. In the center was a slightly raised stone platform on which stood two metal-clad figures, radio apparatus and loud-speakers, and an aged Lunarian who was addressing his audience in what appeared to be fiery tones.
“There they are,” Don Stelite whispered, pointing toward the two Magellanians.
The Lunarian nodded. Concealing a small lethal tube in his cloak, he motioned his friend to remain in the ship as he opened the air-tight door and stepped out. Without a backward glance he strode into the cavern with an assured air. As he walked, his form straightened by imperceptible degrees. Truly regal was his bearing when he stepped within the cavern.
At the sharp metallic sound of the ship’s door being opened the Lunarians near the entrance turned around. They recognized the Overlord of the Elder City. In some ancient ceremonial form they greeted him. A path was made to the platform. Beside it he stopped and spoke to the aged Lunarian. In the ancient tongue of Luna the aged one replied, motioning to the metal-clad figures once or twice. The Lunarians at the back of the assemblage pressed forward so that they could hear what was being said.
Don Stelite stepped noiselessly out of the ship. No one noticed him. All eyes were directed toward the platform. In his hand he held a small lethal tube. The range of that tube was short. Step by step he drew near as he could to the platform. Another few paces he figured he would be just within the tube’s range. About three short steps more and he would be just behind the rearmost rank of closely packed Lunarians. From that point he would attempt to destroy those two.
A harsh voice suddenly came rasping out of the loudspeakers on the platform. One of the Magellanians was addressing the Overlord of the Elder City through them.
Don Stelite moved forward with utmost caution now. One step he took, another, raised his foot for the third and brought it down on a yielding mass which let out a shrill scream. It was a young Lunarian standing behind its parent. The scream so startled Don Stelite that the tube slipped from his fingers.
All eyes instantly turned in the direction of that scream. As those in the rearmost ranks made out the human form, a cry of rage welled up from their throats. They pressed toward him, their eyes glowing with hatred. Another instant and he would be torn to bits.
Don Stelite dropped to his knees and searched frantically for the tube His fingers encountered it just as the nearest Lunarian gripped him. Throwing him off, he sprang to his feet and threatened the mass in front of him with the tube. They fell back sullenly. Still threatening with the tube, he stepped forward in the direction of the platform.
From the loud-speakers a harsh Magellanian voice commanded the Lunarians to step aside and let him deal with the biped. A tiny cylinder appeared in the tentacles of one of the metal-clad figures. From it there began pouring forth a beam of intense violet light.
The man raised his lethal tube and pressed its releasing mechanism. No tongue of lurid flame darted forth. Some way the fall had damaged it.
The violet beam of light swept toward the man. He dodged it The beam followed. It began to twinkle in and out of visibility. A Lunarian, who tried to stop him, was caught within its light and vanished. Leaping behind a number of Lunarians, Don Stelite dropped to his hands and knees and wriggled swiftly away from the spot. The beam struck the Lunarians behind which he had dodged and destroyed them.
A solid mass of menacing Lunarians now barred the lone human figure on all fours. He leaped to his feet and ran in a zig-zag course toward the entrance of the cavern. In the ship was another lethal tube. He might be able to reach it. A Lunarian leaped in front of him. Don Stelite, attempting to evade the Lunarian, stumbled and fell. The violet beam swept to him.
FROM beside the platform a sheet of flame leaped out of a lethal tube toward the metal-clad being wielding the cylinder, destroying him instantly in its concentrated flame. The Overlord of the Elder City held the tube.
From the assembled Lunarians there broke forth a murmur of consternation which turned to an involuntary cry of warning. The second Magellanian, metal-clad tentacles whipping the air, was leaping toward the Lunarian Overlord. The tube came around, from it darted an intense tongue of flame and the metal form shrivelled up in it.
Ignoring the threatening looks from those about him, the Lunarian hurried over to his human friend, who was just rising to his hands and knees.
“Don,” the voice had taken on a sharp note of command, “get in touch with the commanders of the fleet of interstellar warships approaching Luna and inform them that the Magellanians have been destroyed, that a Lunarian destroyed them.”
Don Stelite’s form stiffened. A moment later it relaxed. He smiled up at his friend from his hands and knees.
“It is all right, Lune.”
“Thanks, Don.”
“The thousands of ships we passed, Lune, were they going out?”
The Overlord shot a swift question at those about him. One grumbled a reply.
“Only training,” the Lunarian answered.
“Your fellow Lunarians seem to be
in an ugly humor,” Don Stelite whispered as he got to his feet. “Judging by the black looks they are giving you, you have lost whatever popularity you might ever have had amongst them,” said Don Stelite.
“They figure that I have snatched away the one chance of their ever achieving their longed-for revenge with any degree of success,” replied Lune. It would not take more than a gesture to send them at us like maddened beasts.”
“Look out for that big one behind you!”
The Lunarian Overlord leaped around, lethal tube held menacingly. Don Stelite stepped to the side of his friend, fists clenched.
“Now is the time to break the news of the decision the Two reached regarding your race. With the hope of joining forces with the invaders removed, they might prove willing to listen to reason. You might also tell them something of the fleet that was on its way from the planets; the havoc those thousands of ships would have caused Luna and the inhabitants of its hidden cities.”
With the Overlord leading the way, lethal tube held in front of him, his human friend following, they made their way to the platform in the center of the cavern. Grudgingly, a path was made for them. Threats issued from every side. Gaining the platform, the Lunarian demanded silence.
He spoke slowly. He told them that man was prepared to give them equality and relinquish the control of Luna to its ancient ruling houses if they were prepared to shoulder equal responsibility in the forthcoming struggle for existence against the invaders who had come from a far-off universe to try to wrest it from its myriad civilized races. Mankind had already prepared a mighty force whose numbers nearly equalled that of the entire Lunarian race, and that was only to be the first of his legions. Another would soon be in preparation. If the Lunarians equipped and trained a force as large in proportion to their numbers, man would consider that sharing full responsibility.
It was up to the Lunarian chiefs gathered in the cavern to decide. The number of tiny space ships and crews on which they had been willing to stake their very existence to win their freedom would undoubtedly be sufficient.