they evolved the ray to carry the Ganymedanpassengers down gently, safely. And we are stowaways," he concludedgrimly.
Nona had listened intently to the long recital.
"But why," she expostulated, "was it necessary to have their ownpeople on board? The meteors that riddled the ship were projectilesshot from their station on Jupiter. So was the attraction-ray thatpulls the ship down."
"Because they required a sufficient force to disable the radioapparatus. All radio waves used on interplanetary liners are shieldedfrom interference. It is impossible to blank them out. And with theradio intact, every battle flier in space would be on their trail in ahurry."
* * * * *
Several hours passed, and still they fell endlessly through space,unaware of their motion except that Jupiter was now a huge orbblotting out the universe. The grim face of the giant planet wasenswathed in endless billowing clouds. No one had ever penetrated tothe real core. But what held their eager, straining attention was avast blood red disk, cyclonic in character, directly beneath them. TheGreat Red Spot! And immediately in the center of it was the tiny,blindingly brilliant yellow orange oval, winking up at them withquick, steady pulsations.
"What can it be?" Nona wondered.
"The source of their power, evidently. But what interests me more justnow is where the Ganymedans have their hangout in those clouds, andwhat they're doing with the ships they capture."
Jupiter was now a flat level stretch that reached on all sides as faras the eye could see. Grant felt a sudden sensation of weight again,as though something was pressing with crushing force against hischest.
"Hello," he said, "our fall is being checked. They're making suretheir friends come to no harm." And he laughed bitterly, thinking ofthe men and women lying with lungs ruptured, cold and stiff, in theinterior of the _Althea_; of the possible few wretches who had managedto huddle into space-suits, ignorant of the deadly gas that was soonto search out their seemingly impenetrable habiliments.
Slowly, ever more slowly, they fell. Thin wisps of reddish vaporrushed upward toward them, and then they were enveloped in vast swirlsof cloud masses. They were within the Great Spot!
Then the lurid clouds parted suddenly, revealing a deep hole, at thebottom of which flamed and flared the mysterious yellow-orangebrilliance. Down the long shaft they fell, while all around itsinvisible walls dark red cyclones stirred and beat in vain.
* * * * *
Just as it seemed as if they were doomed to fall headlong into theblaze, they were swerved violently into an opening that angled offfrom the main shaft. Down this branching shaft they continued tofall--interminably--when suddenly it widened, and they were droppingthrough the interior of a great dome of which the arched roof was theswirling clouds they had just penetrated. Directly beneath floated aflat island of smooth rock, supported and upheld by a shining sea ofvapors.
The girl exclaimed sharply, but Grant only nodded to himself with grimsatisfaction. He had expected something like this. For, clustered inserried rows at the end of the island directly beneath them weresleek, stream-lined grayhounds of the interplanetary traffic lanes,now resting immovably on the smooth gray stone--the missingspace-liners!
The island was bisected by a huge forbidding wall, over which, attheir angle, Grant was unable to see.
The ground was encumbered too with clumps of intricate machinery, allof the same polished gray stone; Ganymedan stone, Ganymedan machinery,Pemberton recognized at once. Hundreds of figures were scurryingawkwardly around, clad in the inevitable space-suit. Several wereworking desperately at a huge concave glass reflector. Others werepointing a stone nozzle, extending out of a pit, directly upward.
"I'm afraid." Nona shuddered and pressed closer to Grant.
"Don't be," he assured her. "Just say nothing when we land. Let me dothe talking."
All this while they had been floating gently downward toward what theynow saw to be a miniature replica of the vaster orange brightness atthe bottom of the main shaft from which they had been diverted. It wasa pool of liquid fire, so intense in its brilliance that their eyeswere dazzled staring at it. It rose and fell in regular pulsations.They were not far above it now, and still no one on the strange islandseemed to be aware of their coming.
Nona cried out, "Grant, we're going to fall right into it!"
Pemberton looked down at the small fiery pool with anxious eyes.Unless something happened, and that quickly, they would be seared to acrisp. Already the heat was uncomfortable, even through their suits.He tried to kick himself aside, but the pull of the liquid was toopowerful for him. Then he resolved on a desperate expedient.
"Say, you fellows down there," he cried in the smooth, slurredGanymedan speech. "What are you trying to do, fry us? Hurry up andprepare our landing."
* * * * *
For a moment they were tense with the tenseness of imminent death.Were the Ganymedans equipped with communication disks; would theysense the strangeness of the accent? Nona was gripping his hand with apressure that penetrated the fabric. And every second brought themdown closer and closer to the dread lake.
"Ah!" Nona's breath came in a shuddering sigh. For one of the figuresglanced upward and saw them dropping. He shouted something to hisfellows, and darted for a lever set in the stone next to the pool. Hethrew it over swiftly. Immediately what seemed to be a smooth slab oftransparent glassite shot into position over the pulsating flame, notan instant too soon, either, for it had barely covered the flamingdeath when the Earthlings' feet were already touching it.
"It would have served you two fools right if I had let you drop in,"their savior grumbled disgustedly. "What in Jupiter took you so long?Everyone else arrived hours ago. Didn't know there were any more."
"Sorry, but we couldn't help it," Grant responded carefully. "You see,we got mixed up in a scrap with some Earthmen who evidently suspectedus, just as we were diving out of the air-lock. We had the devil's ownjob of beating them off."
"You too! The Chief came down foaming at the mouth. Some dumb Earthmanalmost throttled him before he got away. He swears he'll blast Earthout of space. He's that mad. But here, I've got no time to be talkingto your fellows. I've got work to do. Better report to the Chief atonce, and heaven help you. He's sure in a black rage at this minute."
With that he moved away, over to the gang of Ganymedans holding thestone nozzle and looking expectantly up at the large, round hole inthe cloud ceiling.
Nona stood close to Grant. "What are they doing with the queeraffair?" She indicated the nozzle.
"I'm afraid we'll find out only too soon," he answered grimly."Look--" he broke off.
Far overhead, through the great round orifice, darted a tremendousshape, pointed, glittering.
"Why, that's the _Althea_," Nona exclaimed.
"Yes. Now watch. Damn--all we can do is watch," Grant gritted betweenhis teeth.
* * * * *
Down sped the gleaming liner, pride of the fleet. The men at themirror were swerving it on gimbals until a ray from it flashed on theburnished nose. As though it were a physical impact, the vesselslackened its tremendous speed and hung suspended midway between thecloud concavity and the island.
The men with the nozzle spurred into activity. A thin stream of fluidshot out of the orifice straight up for the captive liner. The tip ofthe expanding spray impinged on the hull--and Nona gasped herastonishment. For the liquid passed clean through the hull as thoughit were a porous network instead of four-inch thick beryllium-steel.
"Just as I thought," Grant groaned. "Lethal gas that penetrateseverything. Those poor people on board--for their own sakes I hopenone remained alive to hit this."
"Can't we do anything?" Nona asked desperately.
"Nothing for the _Althea_. But plenty to prevent any more disasterslike it." There was a hard ring to his voice. "Come on." He steppedoff the transparent slab onto the stone floor of the island.
"We're going to locate that orange oval we saw from the _Althea_.That's the secret of all this. The pool of liquid fire here isunimportant, secondary."
They were at one edge of the floating island. The other side washidden from them by the solid wall that stretched across its fulldiameter.
"We'll scout beyond there," Grant pointed out. "I'll miss my guess ifwhat we're looking for is not on the other side."
As they started for the wall, they saw the Althea brought slowly downto the rock, another captive to swell the motionless fleet. It didnot take them long to reach the barrier. Some fifty feet high it was,of smooth polished Ganymedan stone, and no door or opening in itsstraight
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