The Onslaught from Rigel

by Fletcher Pratt

  CHAPTER XVIII

  The End of the Light-Ray

  "The Lassans?" said General Grierson, in a puzzled tone, looking at thesheet-clad apparition. "You mean these--mechanical monsters?"

  Sherman winced. "Like myself? No, sir, those are their slaves. I thoughtyou were familiar with them. They are elephant-men and quite different."

  This shows that Mr. Pratt's conception of the elephant-menis not so far-fetched. This photo is Ganesha, a Hindu god, patron of artand literature Ganesha symbolizes to the Hindus wisdom and knowledge.]

  "I meant those damned, long, shining objects that shoot that light-rayof theirs. Their guns shoot it out in packages, but we can understandthat and deal with them; our artillery is just as good. But if we can'tstop those shining things there will be no army left and that means nomen left on this planet. This army is our last resource. If you know ofanything, anything, that will stop them, for God's sake tell us! Allwe've found that does any good so far are the twelve-inch railroad gunsand we have only four of them. One was knocked out by their shells thisafternoon."

  "You mean their fighting-machines," Sherman replied. "Why, I'm notabsolutely certain. I only know what I picked up from them and whatMarta Lami"--he swallowed hard at the mention of her name--"the bravestwoman in the world, told me. But I think that a shell with a lead capwould go through those fighting machines like a knife through a piece ofcheese."

  There was a tiny silence in the room at this momentous announcement.Then an artillery officer said, dreamily, "The armor-piercing shells therailroad guns use have lead caps."

  As though his words had released a spell there came a quick drumfire ofquestions:

  "What are they armored with?"

  "What kind of a power-plant do they use?"

  "Can you stop the light-ray?"

  "What makes you think so?"

  Sherman smiled. "Just a moment. One question at a time. I'm not sure Ican answer them all, anyway. As to what makes me think so and whatthey're armored with, they have a coating of steel armor, but it isn'tvery thick. It's plated on the outside with a coat of lead and outsidethat with the substance they call 'pure light.' I don't know what it is,but it's the same stuff they use in the light-ray and in their shells,and I know that lead sheeting will stop it, even when the lead is verythin."

  General Grierson swung round in his chair. "Hartnett! write out an orderto General Hudson, Chief Quartermaster, at once. Tell him to removeevery piece of lead he can find in Atlantic City and get it melted down.Also to set up a plant for tipping all shells with lead...."

  Ben Ruby leaned forward. "Can we get into their city, theirheadquarters, or whatever they call it?"

  "My God, I hope so!" cried Sherman. "Marta Lami's in there."

  "All right, young man, you'll have your chance for that," said GeneralGrierson. "Now suppose you tell us as much as you know aboutthese--things. Every bit of information we can get will be valuable....Oh, by the way, Hartnett. Have an order made out to the infantry to cutthe points of their bullets with their knives. That will make themdum-dum and bring the lead out. Also another one to evacuate as muchinfantry as possible. They aren't going to be a great deal of use...."

  * * * * *

  In the factory of the Atlantic City Packing Company men were toiling,stripped to the waist, in an inferno of heat. The huge row of vats thathad once held clams, oysters and fish to grace a nation's palate, nowsimmered with green-phosphorescent kettles of molten lead; the handtrucks that once bore piles of canned goods to and fro now pushed byblue-faced men in khaki, held long stacks of pointed shells. In at oneend of the building they came in ceaseless procession to pause beforethe lead tanks where the workmen took each shell and dipped its tipbriefly in the lead, then returned it to the truck. Out the other endthey wheeled to be loaded in trucks, buses, limousines, everything thathad wheels and would move, to be rushed to the maw of the ceaselesslycrying guns.

  For the offensive was on--the advance of the Lassans had been turned toa retreat. Along the water's edge, with its back to the sea and thesteamers ready to pick up the survivors of the defeat of the last armyof man, the last army of man had rallied; rallied and stood as the newlead-tipped shells began to come in and the artillery spouted them atthe Lassan fighting-machines, no longer invincible, invulnerablemonsters, but hittable and smashable pieces of mechanism.

  It was Ben Ruby in a tank shining dully with the new lead plating wholed the charge against the Lassan fighting machines on the first day ofthe battle, and who, with his little division of American tanks, hadencountered three of the huge Lassan monsters outside the city. For amoment, as though dazed by the audacity of this attack, they had donenothing at all. Then all three had turned the light-rays on him. Wouldit hold?

  The deadly rays glanced off, danced to the zenith in a shower ofcoruscating sparks and the gun of the American tank spoke--once, twice.A round hole, with a radiating star-pattern running out from it,appeared in the nose of the nearest Lassan fighting-machine, and it sankto the earth like a tired animal, rolling over and over, helpless. Theother two turned to flee, swinging their long bodies around. Surroundedby shell-bursts, riddled by the lead-tipped weapons they too, struggledand sank, to rise no more.

  * * * * *

  After that there had been losses, of course. The Lassan shellsoccasionally burst in the back areas and claimed a toll. But the advancehad gone on steadily for a whole day, unchecked; the Lassans were drivenback.

  And then, as suddenly as they had come, they disappeared. South Africanaerial scouts, far ahead of the army, reported there was no sign of theenemy in the whole of New Jersey. The dodos vanished from the skies, thefighting machines from the earth. The Lassans seemed to have abandonedthe struggle and retired to their underground city to wait for the end.

  "Frankly," said Sherman, "I don't like it. Those johnnies are too smartto give up like that. I'll bet you a thousand dollars against a leadbullet that they've gone back there to figure out some surprise for us,and when it comes it's going to be a beaner. Those babies may beelephants to the eye, but there's nothing slow about their brains."

  "General Grierson doesn't think so," said Ben Ruby. "He's all ready tohang out the flags and call it a day. He sent home two more divisions ofinfantry yesterday."

  "General Grierson hasn't got the finest girl in the world locked up inthat hole under the Catskills, burning her fingers off," said Shermanwith a set face. "Say, those babies aren't licked by a million miles.Their guns are just as good as ours and that light stuff they put inthem is worse than powder when it goes off. They just didn't have asmany guns. I'm taking even money that when they come out again, they'llhave something that will make our artillery look sick."

  They stood on a street-corner in Philadelphia, the new headquarters ofthe army of the federated governments.

  "Yes, but what are we going to do about it?" asked Ben.

  "A lot. For one thing we might go up there and try to bust in, but Idon't think that would be very hot. They'll be expecting it. What we cando though, is get General Grierson to give us one of the laboratorieshere in town and some men to help us, and dope out a few little presentson our side of the fence. I learned plenty through those thought helmetsof theirs while I was in that place, though I didn't realize I wasgetting a lot of it at the time. Those helmets work both ways, you know,and they couldn't keep me from picking up some of their stuff,especially as they were so anxious to find out what I knew they didn'twatch themselves."

  "Nice idea," said Ben. "I know a little about chemistry and between uswe might put over something good. Let's Go."

  An hour later, they were installed in their own experimental laboratory,just off Market Street, with enough assistants to help them with routinework and Gloria Rutherford and Murray Lee to keep them amused.

  "All right, chief," said Ben, when they were installed. "What do we dofirst?"

  "Figure out some kind of armor that will stand off whatever kind of r
aythey pop up with, I guess," offered Sherman.

  "May I stick my two cents in?" said Murray Lee. "I don't think that anykind of armor is going to do a lot of good. For one thing, you don'tknow what the Lassans are going to produce. Those tanks we had werearmored against the best kind of shells, and the Lassans turned up withthe light-ray that made them look like Swiss cheese. It's your show, butif I were fishing for something, it would be a way to sock those guys.In this kind of war, the man that gets in the first punch is going tobeat."

  "That light-ray of theirs is pretty good," said Ben. "From what you knowabout it already, you ought to be able to dope out a pretty good heatray."

  "No soap," said Sherman. "Too slow. They'll be all set for that, anyway.It's right along the line they think. No, what we've got to have issomething along a new line, and I'm thinking it can't be anything like agun, either. They're onto that now." He closed the door to the inneroffice with a bang.

  "By the way," asked Gloria, "why don't the Australians send someairplanes up there to the Catskills and shoot up the Lassanheadquarters?"

  "Didn't you know?" asked Ben. "They tried it. They dumped about ahundred tons of explosives all over the joint, and it might have been somuch mud for all the good it did. Then they ran a railroad gun up thereand tried to shell the door, but that wasn't any good, either. They'vegot a signal station up there watching, waiting for them to come out,and we'll just have to wait for that. Sherman"--he indicated the doorbehind which the aviator had retired--"is nearly bughouse. They've gothis girl a prisoner in there."

  "Tough break," commented Gloria. "Wish I could do something for thelady."

  They talked about minor matters for a time, Ben speaking absently andcudgeling his brains for a line on which to work toward the new weapon.It is not easy to sit down and plan out a new invention without anythingto start on beyond the desire to have it.

  Suddenly, the inner door was flung open. In the aperture they sawSherman, his face grinning, a small piece of metal in his hand.

  "I've got it, folks!" he cried. "A gravity beam!"