The Onslaught from Rigel

by Fletcher Pratt

  CHAPTER XX

  The Coming of the Green Globes

  "Where to, folks?" asked Sherman, during one of their periods ofsoaring, as they floated high above the hilly country to the west of theDelaware River.

  "Oh, most anywhere," said Ben. "I would like to see you try out thisnew-fangled gun of yours on something, though."

  "What shall we try it on? A house?"

  "No, that's too easy. We saw what it could do to things like that in thelaboratory. Find a nice rock."

  "O. K. Here goes. Don't give her the gun for a minute, Murray."

  With wings extended, the _Monitor_ spiralled down toward the crest ofthe mountain. A projecting cliff stood just beneath them, sharplyoutlined in the rays of the morning sun.

  "Now this is going to be difficult," warned Sherman. "Throw thatconnecting bar, Ben. It holds the power switch and the beam switchtogether so they're both turned on at once. Otherwise the recoil we'dget on this end of the beam would tumble us over backward. Hold it,while I set the controls. We've got to take a jump as soon as we fire,or we'll pop right into the mess we make.... Ready? All right, Gloria,go ahead with your searchlight."

  The beam of the searchlight shot out, pale in the daylight, wavered asecond, then outlined the crest of the cliff.

  "Shoot!" cried Sherman.

  There was a terrific report; a shock; the _Monitor_ leaped, quivering inevery part, and as they spiralled down to see what damage they had done,they beheld no cliff at all, but a rounded cup at the tip of themountain in which a mass of molten rock boiled and simmered.

  "Fair enough," said Ben. "I guess that will do for the Lassans, allright. Home, James?"

  "Right," answered Sherman. "We've found out all we want to know thistrip."

  The homeward journey was accomplished even more swiftly than the tripnorthward as Sherman gained in experience at the controls of themachine. As it glided slowly to earth at the airport a little group ofofficers was waiting to meet them.

  "What in thunder have you been doing?" one of them greeted theAmericans. "Your static, or whatever it was you let loose, burned outall the tubes in half the army radio sets in New Jersey."

  "By the nine gods of Clusium!" said Sherman. "I never thought of that.We're reducing matter pretty much to its lowest terms, and it's all agood deal alike on that scale--vibrations that may be electricity,magnetism, light or matter. Of course, when we let go that shot therewas enough radiation to be picked up on Mars. I'll have to figure out away to get around that. Those Lassans are no bums as electricians andafter we've been at them once or twice, they'll be able to pick up ourradiation whenever we're coming and duck us."

  "There's another thing," said Ben. "I thought the _Monitor_ vibrated agood deal when you let that shot go."

  "It did. We'll have to get more rigidity or we'll be shaking ourselvesto pieces every time we shoot. But this, as I said, is an experimentalship. What we've got to do now is turn in and build a real one, withheavy armor and a lot of new tricks."

  "How are you going to know what kind of armor to put on her?"

  "That's easy. Steel will keep out any kind of material projectilesthey're likely to have, if it's thick enough. It won't keep out thelight-ray, but we'll put on a thin lead plating to take care of that,just in case, though I don't think they're likely to try it after theone failure.

  "Then inside the steel armor, we'll put a vacuum chamber. That will stopanything but light and maybe cosmic radiation, and I don't think they'reup to that, although we'll get a little of the effect through the strutsthat support the outer wall of the chamber. What I would like though, isa couple of these Lassan thought-helmets. Not that you people are slowon the uptake, but we'd be a lot faster if we had them, and we're goingto need all the speed we can get."

  They were crossing the flying field as they spoke, making forheadquarters, where Sherman presently laid out the design for the second_Monitor_, embodying the improvements he had mentioned. The engineer wholooked it over smiled doubtfully.

  "I don't think we can give this to you in less than three or fourweeks," he said. "It will take a lot of time to cast that armor youwant and to build the vacuum chamber. I assume your own workmen aregoing to make the internal fixtures."

  "Correct from the word go," Sherman told him. "But you better have itbefore three or four weeks are up. Ben, what do you say we run over tothe lab and see if we can dig up something new."

  * * * * *

  It was two days later when they stood at headquarters on the flyingfield again. The _Monitor_ had made three more trips, on one of them,flying over the Lassan city without seeing anything more important thanthe Australian signal station perched on a nearby hill. Meanwhile thearmy of the federated governments had pushed out its tentacles,searching the barren waste that had been the most fruitful country inthe world. East, west, south and north the report was the same; no signof the Lassans or any other living thing.

  "I could wish," said Gloria, "that those lads would stick their nosesout. I'd like to try the _Monitor_ on them."

  "You'll get all you want of that," said Ben a trifle grimly. "I'm gladthey're giving us this much of a break. It lets us get things organized.Sherman is monkeying with a light-power motor now. If he catches it, ourtroubles will be over."

  "Wait a minute," called an officer at a desk, as a telegraph keybegan tapping. "This looks like something." He translated the dotsand dashes for them. "Lassan--city--door--opening.... It's from thesignal station on that mountain right over it.... Big--ball--comingout--will--will--what's this? The message seems to end." He depressedthe key vigorously and then waited. It remained silent.

  "Oh, boy," said Sherman, "there she goes! They got that signal station,I'll bet a dollar to a ton of Lassan radiation."

  The officer was hammering the key again. "We're sending out airplanescouts now," he said. "Too bad about the signal station, but that'swar!"

  "Come on, gang," said Ben. "Let's get out to the flying field. Lookslike we're going to be in demand."

  In a car borrowed from the headquarters staff they raced out to thefield where the _Monitor_ stood, ready on its ramp for any emergency.Just as they arrived an airplane became visible, approaching from thenorth. It circled the field almost as though the pilot were afraid toland, then dipped and came to a slow and hesitating stop. The onlookersnoticed that its guy wires were sagging, its wheels uneven; it lookedlike a wreck of a machine which had not been flown for ten years, afterit had lain in some hangar where it received no attention at all.

  As they ran across the field toward it, the pilot climbed slowly out.They noticed that his face was pale and horror-struck, his limbsshaking.

  "All gone," he cried to the oncoming group.

  "What? Who? What's the matter?"

  "Everything. Guns. Tanks. Airplanes. The big ball's got 'em. Almostgot--" and he collapsed in Ben's arms in a dead faint.

  "Here," said Ben, handing the unconscious aviator to one of theAustralian officers. "Come on. There's something doing up there. Bigballs, eh? Well, we'll make footballs of 'em. That chap looks as thoughhe'd been through a milling machine, though. The Lassans certainly musthave something good."

  With a shattering crash as Murray Lee gave her all the acceleration shewould take, the _Monitor_ left the ramp, soared once or twice to gainaltitude, and headed north amid a chorus of explosions. In less than tenminutes the thickly-settled districts of northern New Jersey wereflowing past beneath them.

  "Wish we had some radio in this bus," remarked Ben Ruby. "We could keepin touch with what's going on."

  "It would be convenient," said Sherman, "but you can't have everything.The Lassans aren't going to wait for us to work out all our problems....Look--what's that over there?"

  At nearly the same level as themselves and directly over the city ofNewark a huge globular object, not unlike an enormous green cantaloupe,appeared to float in the air. From its under side the thin blue beam ofsome kind of ray reached to the ground. From the face t
urned diagonallyaway from them a paler, wider beam, yellowish in color, reached downtoward the buildings of the city. And where it fell on them, theycollapsed into shattering ruin; roof piled on walls, chimneys tumbled tothe ground. There was no flame, no smoke, no sound--just that sinistermonster moving slowly along, demolishing the city of Newark almost asthough it were by an effort of thought.

  "Hold tight, everybody," cried Sherman. "Going up."

  The _Monitor_ slanted skyward. Through the heavy quartz of her windowsthey could see a battery of field guns, cleverly concealed behind sometrees in the outskirts of the city, open fire. At the first bursts themonster globe swung slowly round, the pale yellow ray cutting a swath ofdestruction as it moved. The shells of the second burst struck allaround and on it. "Oh, good shooting," said Gloria, but even as shespoke the yellow ray bore down like a fate and the guns became silent.

  "What have they got?" she shouted between the bursts of the _Monitor's_rocket motor.

  "Don't know," replied Sherman, "but it's good. Ready? Here goes. Cutoff, Murray."

  From an altitude of 15,000 feet the _Monitor_ swept down in a longcurve. As she dived Gloria swung the searchlight beam toward the greenglobe.

  "Go!" shouted Sherman, and Ben threw the switch. There was a terrificexplosion, the _Monitor_ pitched wildly, then, under control swung roundand began to climb again. Through the thinning cloud of yellow smoke,they could see a long black scar across the globe's top, with linesrunning out from it, like the wrinkles on an old, old face.

  "Damn!" said Sherman. "Only nicked him. They must have something goodin the line of armor on that thing. Look how it stood up. Watch it,everybody, we're going to go again, Gloria!"

  Again the searchlight beam swung out and down, sought the green monster.But this time the Lassan globe acted more quickly. The yellow raylifted, probed for them, caught them in its beam. Instantly, theoccupants of the _Monitor_ felt a racking pain in every joint; thecamera-boxes of the gravity-beam trembled in their racks, the windows,set in solid steel though they were, shook in their frames, the wholebody of the rocket-ship seemed about to fall apart.

  * * * * *

  Desperately Sherman strove with the controls; dived, dodged, thenfinally, with a raised hand to warn the rest, side-slipped and tumbledtoward the earth, pulling out in a swinging curve with all power on--acurve that carried them a good ten miles away before the yellow raycould find them.

  "Boy!" said Murray Lee, feeling of himself. "I feel as though everyjoint in my body were loose. What was that, anyway?"

  "Infra-sound," replied Sherman. "You can't hear it, but it gets you justthe same. Like a violinist and a glass. He can break it if he hits theright note. I told you those babies would get something hot. They musthave found a way to turn that pure light of theirs into pure sound andvibrate it on every note of the scale all at once, beside a lot thescale never heard of. Well, now we know."

  "And so do they," said Ben. "That bozo isn't going to hang around andtake another chance on getting mashed with our gravity beam. Even if wedid only tip him, I'll bet we hurt him plenty."

  "All I've got to say," replied Sherman, "is that I'm glad we're made ofmetal instead of flesh and blood. If that infra-sound ray had hit usbefore, we'd be mashed potatoes in that field down there. No wonder thesignal station went out so quick."

  "Do we go back and take another whack at them?" asked Murray Lee.

  "I don't like to do it with this ship," Sherman replied. "If we had the_Monitor II_ it would be easy. With that extra vacuum chamber aroundher, she'll take quite a lot of that infra-sound racket. Vacuum doesn'tconduct sound you know, though we'd get some of it through the struts.But this one--. Still I suppose we'll have to show them we meanbusiness."

  The _Monitor_ turned, pointed her lean prow back toward Newark, and boredown. In their flight from the infra-sound ray the Americans had divedbehind a fluffy mass of low-hanging cloud; now they emerged from it,they could see the huge green ball, far up the river, retreating at itsbest speed.

  "Aha," Sherman said. "He doesn't like gravity beams on the coco. Well,come on, giddyap horsey. Give her the gun, Murray."

  Under the tremendous urge of the gravity-beam explosions at her tail,the _Monitor_ shot skyward, leaving a trail of orange puffs in her wakeas the beam decomposed the air where it struck it. Sherman lifted herbehind the clouds, held the course for a moment, called "Ready, Gloria?"and then dropped.

  Like a swooping hawk, the _Monitor_ plunged from her hiding place.Sherman had guessed aright. The green ball was not five miles ahead ofthem, swinging over the summits of the Catskills to reach its home. Asthey plunged down the yellow ray came on, stabbed quickly, once, twice,thrice--caught them for a brief second of agonizing vibration, then lostthem again as Sherman twisted the _Monitor_ round. Then Gloria's beamstruck the huge globule fair and square, Ben Ruby threw the switch, anda terrific burst of orange flame swallowed the whole center of theLassan monster.

  Prepared though they were for the shock, the force of the explosionthrew the ship out of control. It gyrated frantically, spinning up, downand sidewise, as Sherman worked the stick. The Catskills reared up atthem; shot past in a whirl of greenery; then with a splash they struckthe surface of the Hudson.

  Fortunately, the _Monitor's_ wings were extended, and took up most ofthe shock at the cost of being shattered against her sides. Through thebeam-hole at the stern the water began to flow into the interior of theship. "Give her the gun!" called Sherman frantically, working hisuseless controls. There was a report, a shock, a vivid cloud of steam,and dripping and coughing like a child that has swallowed water inhaste, the _Monitor_ rose from the stream, her broken wings trailingbehind her.

  "I don't know--whether--I can fly--this crate or not," said Sherman,trying to make what was left of the controls work. "Shoot, Murray--if weput on enough power--we won't have to soar." There was a renewed roar ofexplosions from the _Monitor_. Desperately, swinging in a wide curvethat carried her miles out of her way, she turned her nose southwards.

  "Make Philly," cried Sherman cryptically, above the sound of theexplosions that were driving their craft through the air at over sixhundred miles an hour. Almost as he said it, they saw the airportbeneath them. The _Monitor_ swerved erratically; the explosions ceased;she dived, plunged and slithered to a racking stop across the foreshoreof the seaplane port, ending up with a crash against a float, andpitched all four occupants from their seats onto the floor.

  "Well, that's one for you and one for me," said Sherman as he surveyedthe wreckage ruefully. "We used up that green ball all right, but theold _Monitor_ will never pop another one. Did anyone notice whetherthere were any pieces left, by the way?"

  "I did," said Gloria. "As we came up out of the water I could see a fewhunks lying around on the hill."

  "Mmm," remarked Sherman, "they must be built pretty solid. Wish I knewwhat was in them; that's one thing I never did get through thatthought-helmet. Probably something they just figured out. You gave herall the power we had, didn't you?"

  "There's something else I'd like to know," said Ben. "And that's whetherthey had time to warn the rest of the Lassans what they were up against.If they did, we stand a chance. The way I have these guys figured isthat they're good, but they have a yellow streak, or maybe they're justlazy, and they don't like to fight unless they're sure of winning. IfI'm right we'll have time to get _Monitor II_ into commission and beforethey come out again, we'll be ready for them. If I'm wrong we might aswell find a nice hole somewhere and pull it in after us."

  "Yes, and on the other hand, if they did have time to warn them, they'llsit down and dope out some new trick. Though I have a hunch they won'tfind an answer to that gravity-beam so easily. There isn't any that Iknow of."

  "Well, anyway," said Murray Lee, "nothing to do till tomorrow. What areyou two rummies up to now?"

  "Run up and push them along on _Monitor II_ if we can," replied Ben. "Ithink I'll round up the rest of the mechanical Americans and put
you allto work on it. We can work day and night and get it done a lotquicker."

  "Me," said Sherman, "I'm going to figure out some way to install radioon that new bus or bust a button. That's one thing we ought not to dowithout. If we'd known the position of that green lemon before we sawit, we could have dived out of the clouds on it and made it the firstshot before we got all racked up with that yellow ray."