Asteroid Man

by R. L. Fanthorpe

  "Yes, I think I can. We have observed your system from our own world. You are very, very far away, and we did not know that any part of it was inhabited. We are perhaps, after all, what you would call the Out-worlders, I don't know. Is travel in your system limited to those planets?"

  "Apart from one or two crazy guys like myself who have been as far as Proximo, which is four light years away, it is."

  "I see." She looked even more thoughtful. "Well, how did you get here? Please go on."

  "Those planets that I was tell you about have been working together for many years, since space travel opened up toward the end of the 20th century—which is about three hundred years ago. We have been building up an inter-planetary empire, not an empire with one nation, or one planet, on top, but an empire of allies. Because we know that somewhere beyond our own system might lie danger, might lie other intelligences, that we couldn't cope with alone. So we worked together and tried to understand one another's differences. On worlds with poisonous atmospheres, we built vast domes and underground cities. We created artificial atmospheres of our own."

  "I understand. Similar things have been done in other parts of the universe."

  "Well, with all this empire we have a big defense system—"

  "Please go on," she prompted. Masterson found himself fascinated by her.

  "Part of this defense system means that we have to keep a very constant check on the asteroid belts, the planet fragments I was telling you about, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. We believe that countless ages ago, astronomically speaking, there was another planet there, which tore itself to pieces because of the counter-gravitational pulls of the giant Jupiter on the one hand and the sun on the other. We believe it was a world that got spoilt in the making. Those asteroids all have very erratic orbits. They are fiendishly difficult to track down, even with electronic computers, but we do the best we can. About the only infallible system we've got is to count them electronically every few hours. If they don't tally, by one too many or one too few, we start looking around."

  "I see, and you found an extra one, didn't you?" He looked at her sharply.

  "Yes—we did. We found that instead of two thousand eight hundred and twelve, as there should have been, there were two thousand eight hundred and thirteen. That thirteen must have been an unlucky number. I didn't find this out—two of my pals did, back on the base—so we came out here to investigate. When I say 'we' I mean me and twenty-four other men, and five of the most superb and up-to-date dart ships you ever saw. We pulled into the belt, and we started our routine check, and then suddenly, the geiger counter started going crazy, and we saw this fellow, we leveled the geigers on it—"

  "You mean this asteroid?" she interrupted.

  "Yes, I mean this asteroid," he said emphatically. "We leveled the geigers and the other tele-metering equipment on it and began to observe—gave it full treatment. It looked innocent enough, apart from that concentrated radioactivity, that didn't make sense. We were coming in a bit closer to investigate, and then decided that if it was as radioactive as it appeared we'd better get the devil out of here. So I tried to turn the ship." He shrugged his shoulders. "I bet you know what happened then!"

  She nodded, and something that might have been a tear moistened her beautiful eyes. "Your five ships crashed—"

  "They crashed!" said Greg coldly. "They crashed, and I was the only survivor. I got out of the ship and I started walking. I picked up a couple of oxygen flasks and a spare gun, and I started high-tailing it across the surface. Then I got to the next wreck, and found five of my pals were dead. That meant nine of 'em gone. I reached the next—there were five more—that made fourteen gone. I reached the fourth wreck, still hoping that maybe I wasn't alone. There were five more as dead as mutton and as mangled and smashed as a human body can be and still be recognizable. Then I reached the last one, and by that time I wasn't hoping, and I was right not to hope, because they were all dead, too. So there 1 was, alone on an asteroid, except for five wrecks and twenty-four bodies; an asteroid that pulled us to it as though by some kind of super gravity or electro magnetism. Only it wasn't electro magnetism, because our ships aren't affected by any kind of magnetism. We're not so technologically stupid that we'd be caught in that old trick. I got to hating this asteroid. I was tired, I was shaken, I was shocked. Every nerve in my body was screaming out for action, and there was nothing I could do except walk. But my nerves kept on screaming out for action, so I decided I'd give them some. There was nothing I could hit to hurt. The only thing I could hit was the asteroid, so I fired a shot into it, and I blew a hole, as I expected to do—yet not what I expected to do, because just as our ship was crashing, we let go some three-megaton bombs. Now they by rights should have blown half this place to John o' Groats, but they didn't. They didn't go off."

  "No," she agreed sadly. "They wouldn't."

  "And yet my gun—which works on the same principle —did go off." There was an edge to his voice. "And I couldn't figure out—and I still can't, although I've got a theory that doesn't make sense."

  "It's probably the true one," she said sadly. "Go on—"

  "Well, I'd just blown this hole in the place, only the hole was bigger than it should have been, because what I'd done by a chance in a million was to uncover the top of one of the ventilator shafts for these tunnels that honey-comb this place."

  "I heard the alarm go off a few hours back," she said, "to show that a tunnel was punctured—"

  "I did that, and stood trying to figure it out when I heard footsteps; you know how that gravel stuff on the surface crunches and thuds when anybody walks on it. The auditory equipment on my suit was switched on, and I heard this thudding crunch and felt the ground vibrating under my feet. When I looked up, there coming towards me like something out of a cave man's nightmare was a thing with slime and scales and great purple eyes and claws." He shuddered as if to shut out some horrible memory. "Oh, man, it was like nothing on earth! So I went down the only place I knew I could go. I knew I couldn't outrun it, so I dropped down the shaft I had blown in the crust of this little world. I landed at the bottom, and it was a lot deeper than I thought, and I reckoned I was done for. Looked up and saw this thing scratching for me, like a cat scratching for a mouse. I let him have it with the gun, and he dragged what was left of his claw out of the hole. He went back. But he wasn't as stupid as he looked. There must have been some smattering of a brain inside that scaly head, because next thing I knew, he was shoveling stones down on top of me."

  The girl nodded. "I see; please go on."

  "Well, I managed to crawl out from under the stone bombardment and got into one of these tunnels. I dragged on as long as I could; then my oxygen gave out, and before I could get the cylinder changed I started to black out, and I knew I was done for. I hadn't enough strength left to change the cylinder, so I had to flip my helmet open. It was either quick death or slow death. Then I found I could still breathe. The air was cool and sweet and fresh. It was lovely, like a drink from a mountain stream or the bottom of a well. After that I just dragged on till I came to a door, and I saw that door wasn't meant to be opened by a human hand."

  Now it was the girl who shuddered.

  "You're right," she said. "It isn't. Could you open it?"

  "I'm pretty tough," answered Masterson; "otherwise I wouldn't be here now. I forced that door open. Got through and forced it shut!" Her lips pursed in an admiring whistle.

  "I've never been able to do so much as move it," she said.

  He looked at her curiously, impatient to know the facts about her presence in the asteroid.

  "Then," he continued, "I staggered along this passage. I ripped off my space suit, put it down another passage to act as a decoy, in case anybody came hunting for me, had a sleep with one eye and one ear open, and the fingers of both hands on the triggers of my guns. I woke up, heard your footsteps, and saw the light coming —that's what I'm doing here. And in case I forgot to introduce myself during the
rigmarole, my name is Greg Masterson, and I'm a space pilot." He bowed with mock seriousness and held out his hand.

  She understood the gesture and clasped his.

  "Very, very glad to know you, Greg. Is that the custom on your world? Do you use the first name of someone you think you might like, or someone you would like to like?"

  All this was quaint, almost as if she were making it up as she went along, as though she were learning it by trial and error.

  "I guess you've got it right," agreed Greg.

  "Well, I expect you want to know about me?"

  "I certainly do," replied Masterson. "But first of all, is it safe to talk here? I can tell without you saying a word that you'd nothing to do with the evil part of this asteroid. I'd say that you either came here the same way as I did, or a similar way insofar as you'd rather be some place else."

  "Yes, I would," she said sadly. "I'll tell you my story, Greg. My name is Astra, and I'm a Princess of Altair."

  "Altair! We use the same name for a very distant star."

  "I expect it's the same one. We have a planetary system not unlike your own."

  "Tell me about your Altair," said Greg.

  "Oh, it's quite simple to tell. I do not understand astronomy as you do, but—" she broke off and lapsed into a thoughtful silence—"I was trying to put myself on your earth and viewing Altair from there as if I were one of your own people. I would say that to you it would look like the brightest star of the group of Thor."

  "Constellation Aquili! Good Lord! Yes, you're right so far." Greg snapped his fingers. "Go on."

  "It's a white star; at least it would look white to you. Comparing it from your standpoint, it would give out about ten times as much light as your sun, and it's slightly larger."

  "That's it; that is Altair! I can't understand this language coincidence." ,

  "I'll explain some of that later; I think it's due to the fact that I have a special way of interpreting and translating. It's a mental process, but that's unimportant. I was beginning to tell you about my homeland. I am a Princess, Astra of the Altair Empire. There are seven planets in our system, and they, too, were in a united empire, much like yours. Beyond, for we are not so very far from you—only sixteen light years, in fact—our Altair, there are other star systems with which we have not yet made contact. Your own is one, and there are others far distant of whom we are afraid, of whom we have reason to be. I think I know what you meant by that word 'Out-worlders,' for we have a similar word for these people. Unlike you, however, who only guess at their existence we know of it, to our cost. They are jealous of our united Empire, avaricious to extend their control. For there are races out there, beyond your star and mine, who are as old as the universe itself; races out there as black as Algol. There are races darker than the infinities of night, stranger and colder than deep space. There are races who do not understand time as we have to understand it—and endure it on my world."

  "And we," said the spaceman.

  "From time to time these 'Out-worlders' have broken through our defenses," went on the girl, sadly. "I was on a state visit to one of our planets, I and my father and the Royal Court We have a type of constitutional monarchy which binds the nine planets together in their regions."

  "We have a very similar system, but our supreme ruler is a President. He is regarded with equal affection by all his nine worlds," interrupted the spaceman. "But go on with your story."

  "On this state visit, the general alarm was suddenly sounded. In my old home world it couldn't have happened, but this was one of the outer planets. The atmosphere was not good; the colonists dwelt under domes. The defenses were by no means perfect, for nobody can erect perfect defenses in a poisonous atmosphere. Suddenly over our heads this meteorite appeared, and we though it was a false alarm, and then a second warning came through, but by then it was too late. Its behavior was such that no normal meteorite could behave in just that way." Her voice had dropped to a husky whisper.

  "And then?" prompted the spaceman.

  "And then—" he was quite sure that it was a tear in her eye that he could see now—"and then—" She hesitated as though unable to go on. Suddenly he found that her hand was gripping his tightly, as though pent-up emotions were almost breaking the lovely heart that he felt sure must beat inside the perfect figure. "And then a thousand and one natural disasters broke loose. This thing, this beast, this master," she spat out the words through clenched teeth, "could control gravity. He was more deadly than a Nova, stronger and more terrible than destiny itself. I've never seen such technological power. Great tidal waves and earthquakes shook and destroyed every vestige of our defenses, and in the middle of the chaos, an attractor beam, for such I now know it to be, was poured out of this foul, dreadful satellite."

  Greg felt sorry for her. She was a woman, and she was using the strongest language she had ever learnt and finding it inadequate. The adjectives she wanted would only have been found in a barrack room, and even had she known them, she would have been too refined to use them.

  "I understand," said Greg. "And this beam—what did it do?"

  "The asteroid came so close it was hovering above the heads of the crowd, scarcely four or five hundred feet, and as it hovered there, like a great black bird of ill omen, causing tides and hurricanes, and earthquakes, so this attractor beam picked up the royal carriage with my father and myself, like a child's toy, and whirled it into the sky at a fantastic rate. Father and I clung on for dear life; against the asteroid the beam seemed to switch itself off. And torn between the two gravities, by a masterpiece of technological juggling, we landed with scarcely a bump. A great doorway slid open and brought us into his presence."

  "What's he like, this thing called the master?"

  "Unbelievably horrible! Couldn't ever begin to try to describe him. Even to think about him makes me shudder. He brought us down and imprisoned us, then came day after day and fed us, and stared at us. We kept demanding to be released and threatened all sorts of vengeance, telling him that our armies would soon be here to rescue us."

  "He laughed and kept repeating words like earthquake and whirlwind, and laughing again, as it to say that no army could ever frighten or worry him. He was like some insane god. He seemed to have all power in his hands, and then—" She closed her eyes and clenched her dainty little fists.

  "Go on," said Gregg. "What happened then?"

  "He wanted me to marry him."

  "No. What did he want you to do that for?"

  "Can't you guess?"

  "Because you are a woman. I wondered if there was any political motive—if he wanted the power of your empire."

  "Oh yes, that was part of it; that wasn't the part that really mattered. He wanted me because I was a woman and because he had been alone in space for centuries and because strange and weird and dreadfully repulsive as he was, he still had ordinary feelings. But he was so loathsome, like a reptile. I can't begin to describe how he looks."

  "What happened when you said 'no'?" asked Greg, though he had already guessed, for he had seen no sign of the king.

  "He said he would kill him slowly until I said 'yes.' He said that every day I would hear him scream."

  "And what did you do?"

  "I couldn't have stood it. I should have had to give in."

  "But you didn't. What happened?"

  "My father killed himself as soon as he knew, so that he couldn't be used as a weapon against me."

  Greg had already guessed as much.

  "I see," he said quietly. It was being forcibly borne in upon him that this creature controlling the asteroid had a great deal coming to it. Masterson's eyes gleamed with anger.

  "I'd like to see that he gets what's coming to him," he said bitterly. "The sooner the better." There was a sudden shrilling jangle of sirens and alarm bells. The entire asteroid seemed to vibrate.

  The girl's beautiful face turned suddenly strangely white and tense.

  "They're coming," she gasped.

  "Wh
o're coming?" asked Masterson, thrusting her behind him protectingly. The gun in his hand looked even more menacing than usual.

  "Who's coming?" he repeated.

  "The things that do his bidding," she said hesitatingly. The things…

  CHAPTER VII

  The jangling of the bells and the wailing of the sirens petered away into a dull oppressive silence. The asteroid ceased its jarring vibrations.

  "Anywhere we can hide?" asked Masterson suddenly, taking her by the hand. "You know your way about this place."

  "Yes, I have free run of it; he knows I can't get off. He can always send them to send me back."

  "Well?" Greg's voice held a question.

  "I'm afraid I don't know much about strategy or places that are easily defensible. I'll try and find one somewhere."

  "These servants—what are they like?"

  She shuddered. "Horrible," she whispered. "As bad as he is."

  "What are they like; what do they look like? How strong are they?" asked Masterson. She gave another involuntary shudder.