Despot in Space

by Donald S. Rowland

  He looked into the room that was revealed, and was surprised to see half a dozen Nethers sitting on the floor. They were staring at him with bold, fearless gaze, and Condor was struck by the extremely fine quality of their features. They were all tall men, he judged as he stared at them silently, and dressed in simple cloth tunics. They did not move at all in the time that he stared at them.

  ‘Do you want to get out of here?’ he demanded.

  The sound of his voice struck at them, and one of them got up and came forward slowly, staring now at the motionless Humic. Condor glanced out along the corridor, and was relieved that it was still deserted. He looked into the room again and saw the Nether male bending cautiously over the Humic.

  ‘He’s out of action, for some reason,’ Condor said, and the Nether looked up at him, a mixture of admiration and caution on his tanned face. Condor beckoned, resorting to sign language, and moved back into the corridor, indicating that the Nethers should accompany him.

  The Nether crouching by the Humic turned his head and said something to his companions in a hoarse whisper. The language sounded guttural, and Condor could make no sense of it, but his meaning had been plain enough, and the Nethers came filing out of the room, each glancing down at the Humic as he passed.

  ‘Do you know the way out?’ Condor demanded, and the five males stared at him impassively. The sixth figure was that of a woman, and she came forward to confront Condor, peering intently into his face. She was without fear, and stood around seven feet tall. Looking up at her, Condor was reminded of the other woman he had been captured with, and he knew he could make friends with these people if he had the time.

  He pointed at the Humic then pointed along the corridor, first in one direction, then in the other.

  ‘How do we get out?’ he demanded.

  The Nethers spoke among themselves, and Condor waited, fighting his growing impatience. He knew this situation couldn’t last much longer. The Cranums must have some control over their Humics, and when the one who had been escorting Condor back to his cell failed to report then an alarm would be raised.

  He moved to the open doorway and bent over the motionless Humic once more, judging that the knock he’d given the robot must have upset its finely balanced receiver. He pulled on the right arm and lifted the heavy hand, peering into the open end of the right index finger, and the female Nether came at him quickly, uttering low cries of fear and dragging him bodily from the Humic. Condor saw fear in her face as he glanced at her, and she pointed at the hollow finger and shook her head, warning him against it. But Condor was looking for some evidence of the weapon concealed in the arm, and he realized that he would not be able to get hold of it without smashing the Humic. He rapped heavily upon the Humic’s forearm, and it felt as if he were hitting metal.

  The five male Nethers started running away then, moving in the direction Condor had been taking, and he looked around, fearing that they had spotted danger. But the corridor was still deserted, and he took a deep breath as he prepared to follow. They might know more about this place than he did. They certainly didn’t know any less!

  The woman ran at Condor’s side, and he glanced at her from time to time. She was tremendous, standing head and shoulders over him, and was perfectly proportioned. She was a lot faster on her legs than Condor, but she remained at his side, and when he became breathless and slowed his pace she took hold of his left arm and pulled him along, almost lifting him off the floor with her strength.

  Condor glanced back several times, but saw nothing, and he began to hope that they might get away. The five Nether males were leaving him and the woman behind, and he was amazed at their fleetness of foot. They were all built like giants, standing between seven and eight feet tall, and Condor found himself wondering about their origins.

  Suddenly there was a commotion ahead, and Condor narrowed his eyes as he saw the Nethers closing together and beginning to fight. The woman made a coughing sound in her throat, and streaked ahead of Condor, running towards the trouble, and Condor redoubled his efforts to keep up with her. For a moment her tall figure blocked his view of the trouble, and he imagined the Nethers had run into another Humic, but then they drew nearer, and he saw the Nethers standing around a fallen Cranum, one of them still kicking the small, motionless body.

  Condor sighed heavily as he reached the group. He glanced around, afraid that the Cranum had been able to raise some kind of an alarm before being taken, but he realized it was too late to worry about that now. He saw the Cranum’s skull had been shattered, and he tightened his lips at sight of the greyish pulpy mass that was oozing out of the skull on to the bare metal floor.

  But he fought down his feelings of revulsion and snatched the small weapon from the belt around the Cranum’s narrow waist. Swiftly examining the weapon, Condor was relieved to see that it was a fairly simple type of energy gun, and he studied its mechanism for a few moments, although he dare not fire it. The Nethers were standing back, aware of the terrible power of the weapon, and afraid now that Condor might turn it against them. But the woman was not afraid, and she came to Condor’s side, staring into his face as she uttered a string of unintelligible sounds.

  He shook his head slowly, failing to get any meaning from her tongue. She got to her feet and moved to the wall, making signs to indicate the opening of a door, and Condor stared at her while he grappled for her meaning. She came back to him, pointing to the Cranum, then moving her hands to show a door opening, and Condor nodded slowly. She was trying to tell him that the Cranum carried an activator that operated the doors, and they wouldn’t be able to escape without it.

  Condor rapidly searched the small body. He found pockets in the tunic-jacket, but they were empty, and he ran his hands over the still form searching for anything that might be the activator. His right thumb caught against something pinned under the collar of the tunic, and when he lifted the flap he saw a small circular button, humped in the centre and flat around its periphery. He ripped the disc from the cloth and straightened, the weapon in his right hand ready for use, and he moved to the right hand wall and walked along it, tense and hopeful. The next instant a door hissed open at his side, so quickly that he was startled.

  With a grin touching his thin lips, Condor turned and looked at the Nethers. The woman was smiling, her teeth glinting, but the men were afraid, and Condor saw their glances at the weapon in his hand. He put the weapon behind his back and waved with his left hand, signalling for them to continue. The woman moved first. She started to Condor’s side, touched his shoulder, and continued running along the corridor, taking him with her. This time the five males followed them.

  Condor hoped the Nethers knew the way to an exit. If they were under the impression that he had all the knowledge then they were in for a shock.

  But the woman seemed to know what she was doing. She slowed presently and turned to Condor, pointing ahead and to the left. Condor glanced back over his shoulder and saw that the corridor behind the five was still deserted. The tiny figure of the Cranum they had killed was lying desolate in the centre of the corridor, a long way back.

  Condor moved to the woman’s side, and she was peering intently at the left hand wall. There were no features on it that Condor could tell, but he stepped close enough to the wall for the activator in his left hand to operate any door that might be there. They covered another twenty yards before a section of the wall slid upwards to reveal another corridor at right angles to the one they were in.

  With his nerves tense, Condor covered the corridor, which was short and straight. He narrowed his eyes as he stared along the fifty yards of its length, for it ended in a blank wall, and he looked at the woman, his face showing concern. She pushed him gently towards the end, and Condor guessed there was a door in it, probably leading into the sunlight. He hoped so. He would rather take his chances on the surface of this alien planet than down here in these interminable corridors.

  They reached the wall and he pushed closer to it, hoping t
he activator would work. At that moment there was a wild cry behind him, and he spun quickly, seeing the Nether males pressing themselves against the side walls, and coming into the corridor from the main shaft were two Humics. Even as his gaze took in the scene, one of the Humics lifted its right arm, and Condor flung himself sideways upon the woman and bore her to the floor. She was uttering small, muffled sounds of fear, and Condor lifted the weapon he had taken from the Cranum.

  In the back of his mind had been the fear that he would fail to escape. That fear now blossomed forth into the front of his mind like a deadly flower. But he wouldn’t submit tamely to the fate that seemed to be overtaking him. They wouldn’t take him alive to turn him into a mindless slave. He would rather go out fighting…

  Chapter Seven

  General Ozen’s voice reached Ethne’s ears as if coming from a great distance, and the girl slowly realized that she had been unconscious. Her beautiful pale eyes began to flicker open, and as they did so her memory returned. She looked up into Ozen’s intent face, saw the sadistic expression seated there, and knew she had become expendable in this situation. Ozen was goaded by the knowledge that if he didn’t find Condor by noon next day then his life was forfeit, for the World Master was notorious for keeping his promises. There was nothing more important to Ozen than his own life, and he would execute a thousand innocent lives in order to save his own.

  ‘So you are not as impervious to pain as you imagined,’ Ozen rapped as he pulled the girl to her feet. ‘Now you know that I am not playing a game you had better start rethinking. You will be dead before this is over unless you cooperate with me. If you are implicated in any way with the resistance Group I will overlook the fact if you help me now.’

  ‘I don’t know anything,’ Ethne insisted through clenched teeth. She watched as Ozen backed away from her and started looking around the Lab. He had a sound scientific knowledge himself, and she wondered how much he knew about Condor’s experiments with Celertron. He must have interrogated some of the captured resistance Group, and Condor had told her that one man at least knew of his breakthrough in the tests. If Ozen had gleaned that knowledge then he had reason to suspect that he was taking the right line of investigation now.

  Ozen paused in front of the bench where Celertron was situated and studied the squat, dully metallic housing of the projector. Then he glanced at the base with its surrounding shield and contemplated it for a moment. When he turned his sharp brown gaze towards Ethne she felt the power of it, and she recoiled mentally.

  ‘What exactly is this instrument for?’ he demanded

  ‘It’s the professor’s latest invention, and the information regarding it is strictly classified. I am not at liberty to divulge anything. There are official reports of it, and you must seek permission to read them.’

  ‘I don’t want an official explanation,’ he retorted, walking towards the shield and studying it. He stepped on to the base and turned to look toward Celertron, and Ethne felt a sudden impulse of hope. If only Celertron were switched on now! She made a tentative step towards the machine, then paused as Ozen’s eyes caught her movement. ‘Tell me in simple language what the professor was trying to do here!’ he ordered.

  Ethne moved towards Celertron, keeping her face expressionless, and while she looked at Ozen she used her left hand to check the instrument, altering its process from the reverse in which it had been left after her attempts to bring back Condor. Her slim body shielded her left hand, and she moved her left index finger towards the main power switch.

  ‘What can I tell you except that Professor Condor was working on yet another invention that would enable the World Master to feel even more secure from his enemies. How can you suspect the professor when he’s made it possible for the World Master to remain in power?’

  ‘Sometimes a man has to do one thing in order to attain a quite different objective,’ Ozen retorted. He stepped off the base and came towards her.

  Ethne sighed heavily and relaxed, but the thought that had been borne of desperation remained fixed firmly in the front of her mind, and she watched Ozen as he approached. He was wearing a hand-stunner on his belt, and she began to tingle with anticipation as she regarded it.

  ‘You should show some of the intelligence that you have,’ Ozen said. ‘You must know that I am going to get the truth out of you, and before very long. Why should you have to suffer like this? If I take you along to my Headquarters and put you into the interrogation block you know what will happen to you. So why not save us both a lot of unpleasant trouble? Tell me what happened to Condor yesterday afternoon when he returned here. Don’t deny that he came into the Lab. He was seen alighting from his car and stepping into the doorway here.’

  ‘He must have come at least as far as the doorway to lock the door with his time-key,’ Ethne said, trying to appear more helpful than she really was. ‘You had to use an atom-smasher on the door, didn’t you?’

  ‘And while we were doing so, Condor was in here!’ Ozen halted before her and stared into her bruised face. He lifted his right hand and took hold of her chin, noticing that she flinched as he touched her, and a spurt of awareness of his absolute power touched his mind, enlivening his sadistic streak. He gripped her chin with cruel fingers, and saw her pale eyes widen. ‘How did Condor get out of this Lab after it was sealed? Tell me, or I’ll kill you!’

  Ethne stared into his hard face for long moments, while he tightened the pressure in his fingers, hurting her chin until she wanted to cry out. But there was hope in her mind as she let her thoughts work swiftly, and when she could no longer bear the pain of his fingers she nodded quickly.

  ‘I’ll tell you all about it,’ she said as he released her. She pressed her fingertips to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

  ‘Get on with it,’ Ozen growled. ‘I’ve wasted too much time as it is.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be able to begin to explain it,’ she said faintly. ‘I think I’d better demonstrate it.’

  ‘Do so!’ Ozen’s dark eyes were glittering now, his face suffused with triumph.

  She turned without a word and went to the desk, throwing the switch that locked the Lab door. Then she came back to the Celertron and switched on. Ozen came to her side and remained close by, apparently afraid that she might try to trick him. But Ethne went to a nearby bench and took up the caged rabbit, carrying it to the base and depositing it there. Ozen’s face was intent, showing a little disbelief as he watched her every action.

  Ethne stepped up the power of the Celertron, and concentrated on what she was doing. When the rabbit disappeared she glanced at Ozen’s face, and a thin smile touched her bruised lips when she saw the utter astonishment which it displayed. She cut the power, and as the throbbing power subsided she faced the shaken man.

  ‘You mean to tell me that Condor disappeared through that machine?’ he demanded hoarsely.

  ‘He decided it was the lesser of the two evils,’ she told him readily. ‘It was this or your interrogation block.’

  He smiled thinly as he went forward to look at the base, and Ethne walked with him, keeping to his right, filled with nervousness as she prepared herself mentally for action.

  ‘Is the rabbit just invisible, or has it been transported somewhere?’ he demanded, his attention completely on the base, his mind occupied with what he had witnessed.

  ‘It has been translated. I think that’s the word the professor used.’

  ‘Where has he gone to? What happened when the rabbit was no longer visible?’

  ‘It was removed from here to the end of the machine’s range.’ Ethne took a deep breath as Ozen bent over the base and felt around it with his right hand. For a moment his attention was off her, and he was unguarded against attack. Ethne hit him with the edge of her right palm, catching him exactly right across the side of the neck. His hat fell off as he grunted and pitched forward on to his face, and she tugged at the hand-stunner on his belt, securing it and turning it against him as he lay writhing on the base. S
he checked the strength control and set it to low emission, then gave him a one-second exposure that stopped his writhing and left him limp and deeply unconscious.

  Dropping the hand-stunner, Ethne pulled Ozen off the base and dragged him clear. She went back to the Celertron and set it into reverse, bringing back the caged rabbit. Then she altered the setting of the machine once more, dragged the unconscious general on to the base, and set the machine in motion. She stepped up the power quickly, her teeth clenched, her nerves vibrant with fear. When the big figure of Herri Ozen finally shimmered, then disappeared, she closed her eyes momentarily and uttered a silent prayer.

  Cutting the power, she stood for a moment staring at the empty base. Then a slow smile touched her lips and she sighed her relief. Ozen was a threat completely removed from her life. She felt quite weak as she went across the Lab to open the door. But then she paused and frowned. She had created a fresh problem for herself. When she tried to bring the professor back again, she might get Ozen. She might also have made a lot more trouble for Condor, if she had deposited the general in the close proximity of the professor.

  But she had saved herself for the moment. She had gained time for herself. She had the general’s hand-stunner, and she could cover the base whenever she operated the Celertron. If Ozen turned up once more when she operated the Celertron then she could quickly return him to that unknown Limbo whence he came.

  She concealed the hand-stunner, then opened the Lab door, and she was surprised to find a security guard waiting in her office. The man came to attention, staring around as if he expected to find her with company.