by Paul Ernst
CHAPTER III
_The Coming of Greca_
The numbing shock from the tubes left the Earthmen's bodies almostparalyzed for a time; but their brains were unfogged enough for themto observe only too clearly all that went on from the point of theircapture.
They were bound hand and foot. At a piping cry from the leader,several of the gangling figures picked them up in reedy arms and beganto walk across the square, away from the ship. Brand noticed that hisbearers' arms trembled with his weight: and sensed the flabbiness ofthe substance that took the place in them of good solid muscle.Physically these things were soft and ineffectual indeed. They hadonly the ominous tubes with which to fight.
The eery procession, with the bound Earthmen carried in the lead,wound toward a great building fringing the square. In through the higharched entrance of this building they went, and up a sloping inclineto its tower-top. Here, in a huge bare room, the two wereunceremoniously dumped to the floor.
While three of the things stood guard with the mysterious tubes,another unbound them. A whole shower of high pitched, piping syllableswas hurled at them, speech which sounded threatening and contemptuousbut was otherwise, of course, entirely unintelligible, and then thecreatures withdrew. The heavy metal door was slammed shut, and theywere alone.
Brand drew a long breath, and began to feel himself all over forbroken bones. He found none; he was still nerve-wracked from that lastterrific shock, but otherwise whole and well.
"Are you hurt, Dex?" he asked solicitously.
"I guess not," replied Dex, getting uncertainly to his feet. "And I'mwondering why. It seems to me the brutes were uncommonly considerateof us--and I'm betting the reason is one we won't like!"
Brand shrugged. "I guess we'll find out their intentions soon enough.Let's see what our surroundings look like."
They walked to the nearest window-aperture, and gazed out on astartling and marvelous scene.
* * * * *
Beneath their high tower window, extending as far as the eye couldreach, lay the city, lit by the reddish glare of the peculiar metalwith which its streets were paved. For the most part the metropolisconsisted of perfectly square buildings pierced by many windows toindicate that each housed a large number of inmates. But here andthere grotesque turrets lanced the sky, and symbolic domes archedabove the surrounding flat metal roofs.
One building in particular they noticed. This was an enormousstructure in the shape of a half-globe that reared its sphericalheight less than an eighth of a mile from the building they were in.It was situated off to their right at the foot of a vast, high-walledenclosure whose near end seemed to be formed by the right wall oftheir prison. They could only see it by leaning far out of thewindow; and it would not have come to their attention at all had theynot heard it first--or, rather, heard the sound of something withinit: for from it came a curious whining hum that never varied inintensity, something like the hum of a gigantic dynamo, only greaterand of a more penetrating pitch.
"Sounds as though it might be some sort of central power station,"said Brand. "But what could it supply power for?"
"Give it up," said Dex. "For their damned shock-tubes, perhaps, amongother things--"
He broke off abruptly as a sound of sliding bolts came from thedoorway. The two men whirled around to face the door, their fistsdoubling instinctively against whatever new danger might threatenthem.
* * * * *
The door was opened and two of their ugly, towering enemies came in,their tubes held conspicuously before them. Behind came anotherfigure; and at sight of this one, so plainly not of the race ofJupiter, the Earthmen gasped with wonder.
They saw a girl who might have come from Earth, save that she wastaller than most Earth women--of a regal height that reached only aninch or two below Brand's own six foot one. She was beautifullyformed, and had wavy dark hair and clear light blue eyes. A sort ofsandal covered each small bare foot; and a gauzy tunic, reaching fromabove the knee to the shoulder, only half shielded her lovely figure.
She was bearing a metal container in which was a mess of stuffevidently intended as food. The guards halted and stepped aside to lether pass into the room. Then they backed out, constantly keeping Dexand Brand covered with the tubes, and closed and barred the door.
The girl smiled graciously at the admiration in the eyes of both themen--a message needing no inter-planetary interpretation. Sheadvanced, and held the metal container toward them.
"Eat," she said softly. "It is good food, and life giving."
* * * * *
For an instant Brand was dumbfounded. For here was language he couldunderstand--which was incredible on this far-flung globe. Then hesuddenly comprehended why her sentences were so intelligible.
She was versed in mental telepathy. And versed to a high degree! He'dhad some experience with telepathy on Venus; but theirs was a crudethought-speech compared to the fluency possessed by the beautiful girlbefore him.
"Who are you?" he asked wonderingly.
"I am Greca"--it was very hard to grasp names or abstract terms--"ofthe fourth satellite."
"Then you are not of these monsters of Jupiter?"
"Oh, no! I am their captive, as are all my people. We are but slavesof the tall ones."
Brand glanced at Dex. "Here's a chance to get some information,perhaps," he murmured.
Dex nodded; but meanwhile the girl had caught his thought. Shesmiled--a tragic, wistful smile.
"I shall be happy to tell you anything in my power to tell," sheinformed him. "But you must be quick. I can only remain with you alittle while."
She sat down on the floor with them--the few bench-like thingsobviously used by the tall creatures as chairs were too high forthem--and with the informality of adversity the three captives beganto talk. Swiftly Brand got a little knowledge of Greca's position onJupiter, and of the racial history that led up to it.
* * * * *
Four of the nine satellites of Jupiter were now the home of livingbeings. But two only, at the dawn of history as Greca knew it, hadbeen originally inhabited. These were the fourth and the second.
On the fourth there dwelt a race, "like me," as Greca put it--akindly, gentle people content to live and let live.
On the second had been a race of immensely tall, but attenuated andphysically feeble things with great heads and huge dull eyes andcharacters distinguished mainly for cold-blooded savagery.
The inhabitants of the fourth satellite had remained in ignorance ofthe monsters on the second till one day "many, many ages ago," a fleetof clumsy ships appeared on the fourth satellite. From the ships hadpoured thousands of pipe-like creatures, armed with horrible rods ofmetal that killed instantly and without a sound. The things, itseemed, had crowded over the limits of their own globe, and had beenforced to find more territory.
They had made captive the entire population of the satellite.Then--for like all dangerous vermin they multiplied rapidly--they hadoverflowed to the first and fifth satellites--the others wereuninhabitable--and finally to the dangerous surface of Jupiter itself.Everywhere they had gone, they had taken droves of Greca's people tobe their slaves, "and the source of their food," added Greca, with ashudder; a statement that was at the moment unintelligible to the twomen.
* * * * *
Brand stared sympathetically at her. "They treat them very badly?" heasked gently.
"Terribly! Terribly!" said Greca, shuddering again.
"But you seem quite privileged," he could not help saying.
She shook her dainty head pathetically. "I am of high rank among mypeople. I am a priestess of our religion, which is the religion of TheGreat White One who rules all the sky everywhere. The Rogans" (it wasthe best translation Brand could make of her mental term for the slimytall things that held them captive) "--the Rogans hold my fate overthe heads of my race. Should they rebel, I wou
ld be thrown to themonster in the pen. Of course the Rogans could crush any revolt withtheir terrible tubes, but they do not want to kill their slaves ifthey can help it. They find it more effective to hold theirpriestesses in hostage."
Brand turned from personal history to more vital subjects.
"Why," he asked Greca, "are the shining red squares of metal laideverywhere over this empire of the Rogans?"
"To make things light," was the reply. "When the Rogans first came tothis mighty sphere, they could hardly move. Things are so heavy here,somehow. So their first thought was to drive my enslaved people to thecasting and laying of the metal squares and the metal beams thatconnect them, in order to make things weigh less."
"But how do the plates function?"
* * * * *
Greca did not know this, save vaguely. She tried to express her littleknowledge of the scientific achievements of the savage Rogans. Aftersome moments Brand turned to Dex and said:
"As near as I can get it, the Rogans, by this peculiar red metalalloy, manage to trap and divert the permanent lines of force, themagnetic field, of Jupiter itself. So the whole red spot is highlymagnetized, which somehow upsets natural gravitational attraction. Isuppose it is responsible for the discoloration of the ground, too."
He turned to question the girl further about this, but she had gotnervously to her feet already.
"I'll be taken away soon," she said. "I was brought in here only tourge you to eat the food. I must be interpreter, since the Rogansspeak not with the mind, and I know their hateful tongue."
"Why are they so anxious for us to eat?" demanded Dex with an uneasyfrown.
"So you will be strong, and endure for a long time the--the ordealthey have in store for you," faltered the girl at last. "They intendto force from you the secret of the power that drove your ship here,so they too may have command of space."
"But I don't understand," frowned Brand. "They must already have ameans of space navigation. They came here to Jupiter from thesatellites."
"Their vessels are crude, clumsy things. The journey from the nearestsatellite is the limit of their flying range. They have nothing likeyour wonderful little ships, and they want to know how to build andpower them."
* * * * *
She gazed sorrowfully at them and went on: "You see, yours is thefourth space ship to visit their kingdom; and that makes them fearfulbecause it shows they are vulnerable to invasion. They want to stopthat by invading your planet first. Besides their fear, there is theirgreed. Their looking-tubes reveal that yours is a fruitful and lovelysphere, and they are insatiable in their lust for new territories.Thus they plan to go to your planet as soon as they are able, and killor enslave all the people there as they have killed and enslaved myrace."
"They'll have a job on their hands trying to do that!" declared Dexstoutly.
But Brand paled. "They can do it!" he snapped. "Look at thosedeath-tubes of theirs. We have no arms to compete with that." Heturned to Greca. "So the Rogans plan to force the secret of our motorsfrom us by torture?"
She nodded, and caught his hand in hers.
"Yes. They will do with you as they did with the six who came beforeyou--and who died before surrendering the secret."
"So! We know now what happened to Journeyman and the others!" burstout Dex. "I'll see 'em in hell before I'll talk!"
"And me," nodded Brand. "But that doesn't cure the situation. As longas ships disappear in this red inferno, so long will the Old Man keepsending others to find out what's wrong. The Rogans will capture themas easily as they captured us. And eventually someone will happenalong who'll weaken under torture. Then--"
* * * * *
He stopped. A dread vision filled his mind of Earth depopulated by thefeebly ferocious Rogans, of rank on rank of Earth's vast armiesfalling in stricken rows at the shock of the Rogans' tubes.
Greca caught the vision. She nodded. "Yes, that is what would happenif they found ways of reaching your globe."
"But, God, Brand, we can't allow that!" cried Dex. "We've got to finda way to spike the guns of these walking gas-pipes, somehow!"
Brand sighed heavily. "We are two against hundreds of thousands. Weare bare-handed, and the Rogans have those damned tubes. Anyway, weare on the verge of death at this very moment. What under heaven canwe do to spike their guns?"
He was silent a moment: and in the silence the steady hum from thedomed building outside came to his ears.
"What's in that big, round topped building, Greca?" he asked quietly.
"I do not know, exactly," replied the girl. "There is some sort ofmachinery in it, and to it go connecting beams from all the squaremetal plates everywhere. That is all I know."
Brand started to question her further, but her time was up. The twoguards poked their loathsome pumpkin heads in the doorway andcontemptuously beckoned her out. She answered resignedly, in thepiping Rogan tongue, and went with them. But she turned to wave shyly,commiseratingly at the two men; and the expression in her clear blueeyes as they rested on Brand made his heart contract and then leap onwith a mighty bound.
"We have in ally in her," murmured Brand. "Though God only knows ifthat will mean anything to us...."