Maza of the Moon (1929)

by Otis Adelbert Kline

  He felt the craft dart suddenly upward a short time thereafter, and was thankful for the coiled springs which surrounded his chair. Had they not been there to absorb the shock, he would have been badly injured if not killed outright by so sudden a movement of the globe.

  For some time he could sense the quick movements of the craft hither and thither, while projectiles rattled intermittently against its armor. Then it settled down to a swift sustained flight and the bombardment ceased.

  The even flight was maintained for several hours. Then projectiles rattled once more against the shell of the craft. This second bombardment lasted for perhaps five minutes. Then the globe shot suddenly upward with such terrific speed that, protected though he was by the coiled springs, the professor lost consciousness.

  When he regained his senses once more, the savant was being unstrapped from his chair by Lin Ching. Another Lunite was holding a bottle of some pungent smelling liquid beneath his nostrils. The sharp fumes smarted them, and he jerked his head back to escape the pain, whereupon Lin Ching smiled.

  "So you flinch at the smell of sarvadine, ah, Am-Er-I-Khan? It will be a pleasure to watch you when the real torture begins."

  "Where are we?" asked the professor, noticing that the motion of the globe had ceased.

  "In Peilong, the capitol city of His Imperial Majesty, P'an-ku," replied Lin Ching.

  "Excellent!" exclaimed the professor, whereupon Lin Ching, dumfounded, prodded him with his sword and ordered him to get out into the passageway and keep moving.

  At his first step he bumped his head on the ceiling, then fell to the floor in a heap. Convinced that he was indeed on the moon, by this demonstration of the lessened gravity pull, he carefully got up, and made his way forward with a peculiar, toddling gait that seemed to amuse his captors.

  As he emerged from the diamond-shaped doorway in the shell of the craft, he saw that the great globe had settled into a circular depression in the level floor of a great dock made to contain its lower half. All around him similar depressions were occupied by craft of exactly the same size and type. It seemed that P'an-ku had a quite formidable armada.

  Standing on the dock with several other round bodied Lunites was Kwan Tsu Khan, his face bandaged and one arm in a sling. With him there also stood another, slender of figure, whom the professor instantly recognized.

  "Dr. Wu!" he exclaimed in surprise. "How did you get here?"

  "I had the honor of being your fellow passenger, professor," replied the Chinaman, bowing slightly.

  "Come! Over the railing, worm!" grated Lin Ching, with another prod of his sword.

  The professor quickly vaulted the railing, alighting on the dock.

  "You will feed the Am-Er-I-Khan, Lin Ching," commanded Kwan Tsu Khan, after the latter had followed his prisoner over the railing. "I will send for him later." Then he turned and walked away, chatting amiably with Dr. Wu, while the other Lunites followed at a respectful distance behind.

  The savant was conducted off the docks, which were lighted by globes suspended from the arched ends of gracefully constructed lamp posts. He could not determine the nature of the light, which was yellow in color, and seemed to come from a liquid with which the globes were filled. Far above him, he caught glimpses of the rugged top of the great arched cavern in which the lunar city was situated, particularly at points where white stalactites reflected the light from the globes below.

  After leaving the docks, he threaded many narrow and crooked streets. The houses, which were set closely together, were mostly octagonal or cylindrical in shape, and the popular fashion in doors and windows seemed to be the diamond shape-one hinge only at the left corner of the diamond, and one catch at the right. The roofs were sharply pointed, and were either of yellow metal or heavy stone. He wondered why roofs should be needed at all in an underground city, and especially roofs of such heavy construction, until he saw a fragment of a stalactite fall on one of the metal roofs and glance off, alighting in the street not far from a group of round bodied Lunites.

  The lighting system in the city was the same as at the docks--endless rows of suspended globes containing a substance which radiated yellow light.

  Presently the professor and his captor emerged from the narrow streets and entered a broad open park, or plaza, planted with luminous trees and shrubs of variegated forms and hues. Standing in the center of this park was a huge building, octagonal in shape, and crowned with a narrower, pagoda-like structure, the point of which reached nearly to the pendant stalactites on the arched vault above. The lower part of the building was of red stone, but the upper part was of burnished yellow metal surrounded by rings of yellow globes and reflecting their light with such brilliance as to light up a considerable portion of the city as well as the upper reaches of the cavern.

  The professor was hustled into a door at the ground level of this building, and down a spiral ramp into a dimly lighted room where a number of men, some of the round bodied yellow race, and others of the white lunar race, were chained by collars around their necks to rings in the wall. He was promptly clapped into a vacant place, and a burly jailer whose touch was far from gentle, snapped and locked a metal collar around his neck.

  "You will feed this contemptible maggot," said Lin Ching to the jailer. "Then report to me."

  The burly fellow saluted, and Lin Ching withdrew. Presently the jailer went out and returned with a bowl and a cup which he set before the professor. The bowl contained some chunks of stewed fungus of a leathery texture though not unpleasant flavor, and the cup, water with a slightly alkaline taste.

  The savant was both hungry and thirsty, and disposed of his meagre rations with gusto before Lin Ching came to him.

  "Now, O pestilent spawn of a grub," said Lin Ching, seizing the professor's neck chain which the jailer had unfastened from the wall, and giving it a vicious jerk, "we will learn the fate of one who defies the servants of the mighty P'an-ku."

  After being dragged up the spiral ramp and half choked from the pressure of his metal collar, Professor Ederson was hustled through a maze of hallways and passageways to a place where Kwan Tsu Khan stood before a great, diamond-shaped doorway, guarded by two armored warriors who carried spears with heads like long-toothed buzz saws, while from the belt of each there depended a sword on the left and a ray-projector on the right.

  The Khan waited until a brilliantly robed major domo bade him enter--then took the prisoner's chain from the hands of Lin Ching and led him into a large, brilliantly lighted audience chamber, the walls of which were magnificently decorated with gaudily colored bas-reliefs of hunting and battle scenes in which the round-bodied moon men and strange animals and dragons figured conspicuously.

  Seated on a massive cushioned throne, placed on a raised platform at the far end of the room, his great round belly cradled between his spindly knees, was P'an-ku, ruler of the yellow skinned moon men. Standing to the right and left of the dais were guards, richly clad courtiers, and liveried attendants.

  The Khan slowly led his prisoner to a place before the throne. Then, dropping to his knees, he pressed his forehead and the palms of his hands to the floor.

  "Rise, Kwan Tsu Khan," said P'an-ku. "What have you here?"

  "I have brought you the first captive of war from Du Gong, O Lord of the Universe," replied Kwan Tsu Khan.

  "You are slightly in error, Kwan Tsu Khan," replied P'an-ku, twisting one end of his drooping moustache, and leering. "You have brought the second prisoner of war from Du Gong. The first is already chained in our deepest dungeon for such time as we care to keep him there, while devising a lingering death suitable to his case."

  "A prisoner from Du Gong? Your humble servant craves indulgence, for he fails to understand, O King of the Age."

  "It does not matter," replied P'an-ku. "We will attend to the prisoner before us. Your report can wait, although I observe that you have been wounded, and that two of the other observer globes have not returned. Let us dispose of this prisoner, first. Who is he?
"

  "The miserable microbe, who calls himself Am-Er-I-Khan, fell on the bridge of our globe from a ship of Du Gong which we destroyed, and was taken captive by one of my men. When we had reached the capital of the land of the descendants of your illustrious ancestor, he dropped a message to someone in the crowd below the craft. Shortly thereafter, when we were in conference with the powers of that land, a revolt broke out in which eleven of our men were slain. Your humble slave barely escaped with his life, having been left for dead.

  "A man of that land who remains loyal to Your Majesty, and who calls himself 'Dr. Wu,' was also left for dead, but being less badly wounded than your servant, assisted him in getting back to the craft. After taking vengeance on the revolting city, we departed for the other side of Du Gong, where-"

  "That part of your story can wait, Kwan Tsu Khan," interrupted P'an-ku. "I take it that you suspect this Am-Er-I-Khan of having fomented the revolution in the land of our former allies."

  "Your wisdom, O Sole Vicar of the Great Lord Sun, is as brilliant and as penetrating as His rays."

  P'an-ku glared down at the professor.

  "What have you to say for yourself, Am-Er-I-Khan?" he asked.

  "Nothing," replied the professor.

  "You see, O Light of Knowledge, this vile father of many crawling maggots admits his guilt."

  "I see," replied P'an-ku. "Ho, Tzien Khan. Take the prisoner to the torture rooms and give him the death of the many water drops."

  The Lunite designated as Tzien Khan stepped forth and took the professor's chain from the hand of Kwan Tsu Khan. Although the grizzled hairs of his long, stringy moustache and the many wrinkles of his parchment like countenance betokened great age, he seemed sprightly and quite muscular. His sadistic grin, as he jerked the prisoner away to execute the order of the monarch, revealed a single, fanglike tooth in the upper jaw, and but two below.

  Upon hearing his sentence, Professor Ederson had expected the slow, torturing death of having water dripped on his forehead. He was surprised, therefore, when he learned the true nature of the Lunite death of the many water drops.

  After being led through a large room filled with many instruments of torture, and resonant with the shrieks of the victims of the wrath of P'an-ku, he was conducted to a small anteroom where two men, under the direction of Tzien Khan, removed his metal collar and seated him in a heavy metal chair which was bolted to the floor. These two men, as well as the others whose work it was to torture the prisoners, had their faces hideously painted with rings and lines of red and blue pigment.

  When they had the professor strapped securely in the chair, they measured his head. Then they went out, and presently returned with a metal helmet with a ring in the top. The helmet fitted his skull almost as tightly as if it had been made to order for him, and a metal chin piece which was fastened beneath the ears on either side was fitted in place and secured. A metal cable with hooks on each end was next passed through two stout pulleys suspended from the ceiling, one of which was directly above his head and the other about three feet in front of it.

  One end of the cable was hooked through the ring in his helmet. Then one of the men lifted a large, cylindrical vessel with a funnel-like opening and basket-like handle at the top, and hooked it on the other end.

  This done, Tzien Khan turned a valve, and a drop of water fell into the vessel. Noting its fall he watched a small instrument, evidently a chronometer, which he took from his belt pouch, until a second had fallen. For some time he continued to adjust the valve, until the falling drops seemed timed to his liking. Then he dismissed his two attendants and turned to the professor with his cruel, toothless grin.

  "Farewell, O spawn of a slimy worm," he said. "In your slow and painful passing, meditate on the folly of opposing your puny will to that of the Lord of the Universe."

  The professor was unable to make a reply, even had he desired to do so, for the weight of the vessel had pulled the helmet and chin piece so high that speech was impossible. The cords of his neck began to pain him sharply, and he tried to think of something which would take his mind off the pain.

  With the aid of his wrist watch, he calculated that the water was dripping into the container at the rate of a drop every minute. A dram an hour. Three ounces in a day. How much weight could the cords and muscles withstand? How long had he to live?

  XIX. DUNGEONS OF DARKNESS

  TED DUSTIN'S first glimmer of returning consciousness after his space flier had crashed with him in the crater of Copernicus, was a queer, swinging sensation.

  He opened his eyes and saw the broad shoulders of an armored warrior, on one of which rested a pole. The other end of the pole was carried by another warrior behind, and he was swinging in a net, each end of which was fastened to the pole. Two more warriors armed with long spears with heads that resembled long-toothed buzz saws, and with swords and ray projectors belted about their waists, walked on either side. He could hear the clanking armor of many more behind. An officer, in gaudy armor, walked ahead.

  The young scientist saw that he was being carried through a beautiful garden of luminous trees, shrubs and plants, toward a tall, hexagonal building crowned with a pagoda-like structure of yellow metal, brilliantly lighted.

  Presently the column came to a halt before a broad flight of steps leading up to a great diamond-shaped door. Standing on the lower step, surrounded by his courtiers, slaves and attendants, he recognized the huge rotund figure of P'an-ku.

  At a command from the leader he was lowered to the ground. Then the two men who had been carrying him seized him on each side, and jerking him erect, dragged him before the monarch.

  "O, Vicar of the Great Lord Sun," intoned the officer. "I bring you alive, the presuming parasite from Du Gong who destroyed the experimental ray projector."

  "By the sacred bones of my worshipful ancestors!" exclaimed P'an-ku, peering down at the prisoner over his puffy cheeks, and twisting his long, stringy moustache. "If Dr. Wu sent us the correct description, it is none other than the upstart who' calls himself a scientist, Ted Dustin."

  "And if I mistake not," replied Ted, smiling, "you are P'an-ku, the master of bombast who calls himself 'Lord of the Universe.'"

  "O, slimy worm and wriggling maggot of Du Gong," grated P'an-ku. "Think you that you have performed a great service for your people by destroying my experimental ray projector? Know then, that I am building, and will have completed in less than five of your days, a projector with ten times its power. You could have destroyed it as easily as the other, but you have merely saved me the effort of dismantling the smaller projector."

  "Everything in its turn," replied Ted, feigning a complacency he did not feel.

  "As to your death," continued P'an-ku, closely watching his prisoner for signs of fear, "I will ponder over it. It was you who destroyed Ur--you who defied me-you who thought to break my power by destroying a small experimental projector. I must have leisure to devise a punishment befitting your crimes."

  He turned to the officer who had brought up the prisoner, saying:

  "Away with him, to the dungeons of eternal darkness."

  Ted was hustled away to a small side entrance on the ground level of the palace, along a hallway, through a torture chamber where victims shrieked their anguish and hideously painted torturers laughed at their agonies, then down a spiral ramp dimly lighted by small globes of luminous yellow liquid, which appeared almost endless, so deeply did it penetrate the damp rock.

  Presently, when it seemed to the young scientist that he must be at least a mile beneath the palace, the two men who were dragging him halted at a sharp command from the officer who led the way.

  The officer then lighted a head lamp on the front of his pagoda-like helmet, and plunged into a dark hole in the wall, followed by the two warriors with their prisoner.

  They were in a hand-hewn cavern, roughly circular in form. Cut in the wall at irregular intervals were the openings of passageways which led away from the cavern in all directions
. The officer led the way into one of these passageways which was filled with a horrible, sickening stench that became stronger as they advanced.

  Presently the passageway widened, and the cause of the foul odors became apparent, as Ted saw, leaning against the back of a niche cut in the wall at the right, a bloated, festering corpse, chained by the neck to a ring in the wall in such a manner that had the person been living he would neither have been able to stand erect nor lie down.

  In niches on both sides of the passageway there now came into view more corpses in all stages of decay from cadavers of the freshly dead to mere skeletons. The floors of ail the niches were littered with human bones, as was the passageway itself, but the warriors stepped over them or kicked them out of the way without notice.

  Suddenly, from the gloom ahead, there came a horrible, blood-curdling shriek, followed by peal after peal of demoniac laughter.

  "Aiee-yah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Aiee-yah! Men and light! Light and life! Darkness and death! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

  "Shen Ho still lives in body," whispered one of the soldiers to the other, "but his mind is dead."

  "A mighty mind while it lived," replied the other. "No puny intellect could have given us back the green ray of our ancestors."

  "Yet none but a fool would dare oppose P'an-ku, Lord of the Universe," countered the first.

  "All wise men are fools in some things," was the reply.

  A moment later Ted saw the madman, squatting in his filthy niche and combing his stringy gray beard with bony, clawlike fingers. A few dirty shreds of clothing still clung to his wasted body--clothing which had evidently been made from the richest of materials of the kind worn by great nobles.

  "Aiee!" he shrieked. "Another victim of the darkness!"

  The officer had stopped, and was peering into the niche opposite that of the madman. A skeleton, on which there hung a few unclean rags that had once been clothing, half leaned against the wall, the white skull nesting in the metal collar which hung at the end of the short, stout chain fastened to the wall.