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Cosmic Castaway-Carl Richard Jacobi · Captives of the Thieve-Star

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  Speaker 1: Parts one through four of Cosmic Castaway. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit librevox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Phil Schinever. Cosmic Castaway by Karl Jacoby. This
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  Speaker 1: story was first published in Planet Stories March nineteen forty three.
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  Speaker 1: Part one. Standish came back to consciousness, a dull pain
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  Speaker 1: surging in his head and a feeling of nausea in
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  Speaker 1: his midsection. The room about him was strange, gray arleum walls,
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  Speaker 1: a single light burning above the iron caught, and a
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  Speaker 1: low vibration that trembled the floor beneath his feet. For
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  Speaker 1: a time, he lay there, fighting off a cloud of dizziness.
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  Speaker 1: Then he groped unsteadily to his feet. As he did,
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  Speaker 1: the vibration ceased and far off he fancied. He heard
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  Speaker 1: voices pitched in alarm. A bell clanged hollowly several times.
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  Speaker 1: He recognized those sounds. Now, as his thoughts struggled to
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  Speaker 1: bridge the gap in his brain, and the memory of
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  Speaker 1: past events came rushing to him. He was on a
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  Speaker 1: Syrian prison ship. A silence grew upon him and He
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  Speaker 1: stood there uncertainly listening. Something was wrong. There was no
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  Speaker 1: familiar drone of atomic motors, and there should be. When
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  Speaker 1: the shock came, he was hurled completely across the room
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  Speaker 1: to the far bulkhead. Yet it wasn't a severe shock.
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  Speaker 1: It was as if the ship faltered suddenly and keeled
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  Speaker 1: over on her side. Above him, Standish saw induction and
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  Speaker 1: exhaust pipes coated with sulfur dioxide, frost, wrythe and twists
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  Speaker 1: like so many serpents. The explosion that followed was deafening.
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  Speaker 1: The floor buckled upward under the pressure. The door to
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  Speaker 1: the cabin was torn from its hinges, and a sheet
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  Speaker 1: of flame and a column of smoke gushed inward. In
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  Speaker 1: an instant Standish understood the prison ship, while on its
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  Speaker 1: voyage from Earth, had entered the danger zone, that part
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  Speaker 1: of space swarming with planetoids and miniature planets. A sleepy
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  Speaker 1: pilot had failed to make the proper gravitational allowances they
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  Speaker 1: had struck. The ship was almost over on her beam ends.
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  Speaker 1: Now it righted slowly, and Standish fought his way into
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  Speaker 1: the outer passageway. Every muscle tensed for instant action. The
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  Speaker 1: corridor was empty gas and smoke searing his nostrils. The
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  Speaker 1: Earthman made his way to the companion. Up he climbed.
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  Speaker 1: Emerging on the second level, he stood, rigid, stark, horror
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  Speaker 1: gripping him. The cages were there, tier after tier of them,
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  Speaker 1: stretching into the bowels of the spaceship. As far as
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  Speaker 1: the Great permitted him to see. In those cages he
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  Speaker 1: knew were men of his own race, Earth soldiers, prisoners
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  Speaker 1: of war. But over each cage the heavy ceiling plates
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  Speaker 1: had been ripped free by the force of the explosion,
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  Speaker 1: and where the imprisoned men had been, only twisted bars
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  Speaker 1: and sheets of arlum steel were visible. The entire level
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  Speaker 1: was a tomb of silence. Standish choked back sob his
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  Speaker 1: men all dead, crushed like rats in a trap. He
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  Speaker 1: crossed to the latter, leading to the third and main level,
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  Speaker 1: Climbing slowly. Reaching the crew deck, he rocked backward again
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  Speaker 1: with a cry of dismay. Here, too, the fearful destruction
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  Speaker 1: was evident on all sides. Uniformed Syrians lay dead in
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  Speaker 1: the scuppers. The entire bridge house was a mass of
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  Speaker 1: fallen girders and broken metal. The officers had been crushed
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  Speaker 1: like an eggshell. Only the steering cutting in control room
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  Speaker 1: had been spared. But here too, Standish found death had
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  Speaker 1: not spared the occupants. A pentax bar ripped free from
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  Speaker 1: its rocker arms, had jammed itself like an exploding cartridge,
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  Speaker 1: into the pilot's skull. All in the control room had
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  Speaker 1: died of fumes forced into the chamber when the motors
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  Speaker 1: back charged through the instrument pipes. From cabin to cabin,
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  Speaker 1: Standish went from the living quarters of the crew in
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  Speaker 1: the forecastle to the ammunition chamber in the stern. Everywhere
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  Speaker 1: he found destruction and death, and slowly the fact dawned
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  Speaker 1: upon him that he alone aboard, was alive. He had
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  Speaker 1: been spared because he had been imprisoned in the lower hull,
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  Speaker 1: and that section of the ship had escaped damage. Slowly,
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  Speaker 1: he sank onto a settee and tried to reconstruct his thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: A few hours ago, as defense engineer for Earth, he
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  Speaker 1: had generaled a daring undercover attack against the Syrians main
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  Speaker 1: base at San Francisco. For ten years, Since thirty ten,
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  Speaker 1: the war between Earth and Syrius had been going on,
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  Speaker 1: with Earth the stage for all battles of the conflict.
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  Speaker 1: The cause of the war was long forgotten. Earth people
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  Speaker 1: only knew that the Syrians, greedy for more land, had
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  Speaker 1: successfully vanquished Mars and Venus and were steadily closing in
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  Speaker 1: on the terrestrial territory. Already Australia and Asia had fallen
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  Speaker 1: with every known device of interplanetary warfare. The Syrians had
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  Speaker 1: captured district after district until the American continent alone remained
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  Speaker 1: untrampled by the invaders. But Standish's story had begun a
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  Speaker 1: week before. Through an operative in his vast espionage system,
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  Speaker 1: learned that the Syrians, under command of the ruthless drum Faggared,
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  Speaker 1: were preparing for the big push. With a dozen chosen
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  Speaker 1: companions disguised as Syrians. The Earth Engineer had successfully passed
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  Speaker 1: through the enemy lines. He had hoped to capture drum
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  Speaker 1: Faggart and a number of his officers of staff and
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  Speaker 1: race with them back to the Earth's front lined brustworks
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  Speaker 1: at Omaha. It was a wild scheme, but Standish knew
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  Speaker 1: if Faggard were captured, the war would collapse. The plan
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  Speaker 1: had failed. Counter spies had warned the Syrians the Little
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  Speaker 1: Band of Twelve had been permitted to penetrate deep into
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  Speaker 1: Syrian territory then had been overwhelmed, and after that Standish's
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  Speaker 1: fists clinched. He had been brought face to face with
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  Speaker 1: drum Faggard. He was a relegade, the Syrian master of conquest.
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  Speaker 1: He had been born on Earth of Lope parentage, but
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  Speaker 1: at the beginning of hostilities he had wormed his way
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  Speaker 1: into the graces of the Syrians, and by cunning and
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  Speaker 1: force of will, had risen to chief of command. The
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  Speaker 1: Syrians were a wafer headed race, with featureless faces and sharp,
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  Speaker 1: barrel like bodies. Their legs were the same as those
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  Speaker 1: of the men of Earth, but their arms possessed tumorlike
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  Speaker 1: swellings above the wrists secondary nerve centers. Fagged, a huge
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  Speaker 1: man with a gross face, piglike eyes, and thin lips,
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  Speaker 1: had smiled sardonically when Standings was brought before him. So
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  Speaker 1: your little plan failed, he said, swallowing a glass of
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  Speaker 1: Syrian whisky and wiping his mouth with the flat of
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  Speaker 1: his hand. Well, Standish, you may as well realize it.
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  Speaker 1: You're quite in our power now, and you'll be treated
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  Speaker 1: with no more consideration than the rest of the prisoners
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  Speaker 1: unless you answer a few questions. What sort of questions,
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  Speaker 1: Standish had demanded. Fagrit smiled again.
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  Speaker 2: Now that your.
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  Speaker 1: Connections with Earth have been forever severed, it can be
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  Speaker 1: a little concern to you what happens to that planet.
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  Speaker 1: What I want to know is this, how many anti
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  Speaker 1: rocket guns has Earth located at its Omaha base? What
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  Speaker 1: is the number of strato cruisers stationed at Powerville? How
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  Speaker 1: heavy are there reserves in the electricity sector. Answer those questions, Standish,
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  Speaker 1: and you will be virtually a free man. You will
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  Speaker 1: be released on our colony planet of Pluto, with five
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  Speaker 1: hundred planetoles in your pocket. That money will enable you
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  Speaker 1: to live a life of ease for the rest of
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  Speaker 1: your days. For a moment, Standish had stood there, face emotionless. Then,
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  Speaker 1: like an uncapped moospewing forth, he had given in to
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  Speaker 1: blind rage. He lunged across the room, seized Fager's thick throat,
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  Speaker 1: and pounded his right fist into the smirking lips. Twice
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  Speaker 1: he had struck before a guard had rushed forward and
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  Speaker 1: pulled him off. Then something hard and heavy had crashed
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  Speaker 1: down upon his skull, and he knew no more. He
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  Speaker 1: had awakened on this prison ship, but had not this
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  Speaker 1: accident occurred, he knew well enough the fate that would
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  Speaker 1: have been in store for him. All prisoners captured by
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  Speaker 1: the Syrian army were transported back to Syrius, where they
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  Speaker 1: were put to work as slaves in the marshfields extracting
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  Speaker 1: hydrocarbon gas for use in the food distillation plants. It
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  Speaker 1: was said a terrestrial man could live only one year.
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  Speaker 1: There only one thing puzzled the earthmen. Why had he
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  Speaker 1: been given special quarters on the prison ship instead of
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  Speaker 1: being placed in one of the cages with the other prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: To that he could give no answer, and as the
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  Speaker 1: ringing silence of space closed in on him, he got
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  Speaker 1: to his feet and made his way slowly back to
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  Speaker 1: the control room. End of part one, Part two. Glass
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  Speaker 1: five showed that the four peak and secondary chamber had
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  Speaker 1: been ripped open. Glass five also showed that bulkhead doors
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  Speaker 1: there had automatically closed. For the rest excluding the motors,
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  Speaker 1: everything seemed in order. The oxygen suppliers were functioning smoothly
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  Speaker 1: on auxiliary batteries. Likewise, the heat units, one for each level,
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  Speaker 1: showed normal operation. All lights were lit standish glanced out
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  Speaker 1: the port. Whenever the ship had struck it was out
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  Speaker 1: of his vision range. Now, propelled by the forward surge
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  Speaker 1: of the dying motors, the ship must have advanced great
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  Speaker 1: distance since the fatal crash. Now the ship was drifting,
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  Speaker 1: drifting without steerageway derelict. Standish said slowly, it looks like
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  Speaker 1: I've got a one way ticket to eternity. He took
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  Speaker 1: the elevator down to the lower level again and made
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  Speaker 1: his way along the grating to the engine room. Carefully,
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  Speaker 1: he examined the six attau turbines with an experienced eye.
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  Speaker 1: Standish had grown up with atomic motors. He had served
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  Speaker 1: an apprenticeship at his father's solar plant at Sun City,
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  Speaker 1: and he had graduated from the New York School of Technology.
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  Speaker 1: As the boy of sixteen, he had built his first
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  Speaker 1: miniature atom smasher during vacation days. Now he moved along
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  Speaker 1: the narrow catwalk between the motors, touching a wire here
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  Speaker 1: and armbiture there. The two port engines he found were
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  Speaker 1: wrecked completely. Likewise, the two starboard two forward machines remained,
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  Speaker 1: and of these he saw one had an inch wide
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  Speaker 1: crack in its combustion chamber, but the other. Standish drew
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  Speaker 1: in a breath of satisfaction. The last motor was disabled,
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  Speaker 1: but not beyond repair. Without further ado, he peeled off
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  Speaker 1: his coat, seized a stillson wrench, and fell to work.
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  Speaker 1: It took him a long time, and the task drew
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  Speaker 1: his mind away from the horror about him. With the
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  Speaker 1: patience of long experience, Standish made his repairs at length.
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  Speaker 1: It was completed, and he paused with bated breath while
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  Speaker 1: he pressed the starting button. The motor began sluggishly at first,
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  Speaker 1: then faster and faster. Presently it was droning evenly, as
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  Speaker 1: if nothing had almost wrecked it earlier. One motor isn't much,
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  Speaker 1: he told himself, but it may be enough For the
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  Speaker 1: third time. He returned to the control room. There triumphed
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  Speaker 1: met his gaze. The master indicator showed a definite forward
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  Speaker 1: movement through space. The crippled ship was moving, though slowly.
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  Speaker 1: Standish turned his attention next to the visit screens and
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  Speaker 1: emergency radio with which the liner had kept in contact
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  Speaker 1: with Earth, and serious Neither the transmitting nor the receiving
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  Speaker 1: sets showed any response. When he turned on the control switch,
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  Speaker 1: a glance back of the panels showed shattered tubes and
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  Speaker 1: broken apparatus. He went out on the deck and climbed
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  Speaker 1: to the pilot. Cutting one look through the three dimensional
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: glass sight shield told a grim story, but it was
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  Speaker 1: a full minute before the significance of it all probed
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  Speaker 1: into him. The view ahead was utterly unfamiliar. Strange stars
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  Speaker 1: and constellations glowed in the void. Far off to his
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  Speaker 1: left was the white radiance of a spiral nebula. To
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  Speaker 1: the right, the galaxy seemed to blend in a bewildering
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  Speaker 1: array of light and matter, stretching on into infinitude. Standish's
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  Speaker 1: knowledge of cosmography was limited. He knew that straight lines
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: connecting Sirious with Procion and betel Juice would constitute a
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  Speaker 1: nearly equilateral triangle. He knew too, that bel Juice, Serious
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  Speaker 1: and Rizal, all of the first magnitude formed a lozenge
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  Speaker 1: shaped figure with Orion's belt in the center. But try
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  Speaker 1: as he would, he could locate none of the stellar landmarks. Turning,
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  Speaker 1: he looked for the liner's log. With information as to
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  Speaker 1: the ship's time of departure from Earth and an average
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  Speaker 1: calculation of her speed, he might hope to chart his position.
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  Speaker 1: The log, however, had not been filled out the Syrians
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  Speaker 1: apparently had grown careless in their repeated trips through space.
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  Speaker 1: Standish's teeth came down hard on his pipe stem. He
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  Speaker 1: was lost, hopelessly lost a solitary spark of life and
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  Speaker 1: a man made projectile. Wondering the immensities of the universe. Mechanically,
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  Speaker 1: the earthmen set the automatic direction scope for a larger
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  Speaker 1: spot of light far ahead, and threw in the mass meter,
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  Speaker 1: which would effectively warn him of any body within collision
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  Speaker 1: range in his path. Had the liner pilot paid attention
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  Speaker 1: to that dial, he reflected, the crash might have been avoided.
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  Speaker 1: Stars paraded, swung past, the Big Dipper flamed away, curiously
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  Speaker 1: changed in outlines, or was it the Big Dipper? Standish
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  Speaker 1: didn't know. Material thoughts supplanted cosmic ones. Then there was
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  Speaker 1: work to be done, ghoulish work which common decency demanded
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  Speaker 1: he perform. The dead must be disposed of. It was
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  Speaker 1: a hard task, and he accomplished it by carrying the
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  Speaker 1: bodies of the Syrian officers and crew to the baggage
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  Speaker 1: chamber in the stern and casting them free through the
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  Speaker 1: airlock on the second level, which had held the Earth prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: The work was even more difficult. Heavy bars and plates
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  Speaker 1: had to be lifted free, but had length. Standish stood
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  Speaker 1: alone on the ship. He recognized a gnawing sensation in
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  Speaker 1: his midsection, then as hunger. Finding the galley supplied with
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  Speaker 1: both fresh meats and vegetables, as well as food concentrates,
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  Speaker 1: he ate well. The food served to restore some of
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  Speaker 1: his confidence. When he returned to the pilot cutting, he
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  Speaker 1: saw that the bright spot for which he had set
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  Speaker 1: the direction scope had enlarged to a great orange globe
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  Speaker 1: that covered the entire glass eight shield. Even as he watched,
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  Speaker 1: the outlines of land and seas took form. The needle
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  Speaker 1: of the mass meter began to quiver spasmodically. That Standish
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  Speaker 1: held to his course. It had occurred to him that
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  Speaker 1: this world might possibly be inhabited, and that he might
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  Speaker 1: obtain a for his return to Earth, or at least
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  Speaker 1: the proper directions. But as he drew closer, the land
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  Speaker 1: resolved itself into thick jungle and smooth eroded mountaintops, barren
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  Speaker 1: of any building or structure. The planet on this hemisphere,
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  Speaker 1: at least, was devoid of life. A bell clanged above
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  Speaker 1: the mass meter, warning him the ship was in the
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  Speaker 1: danger zone. He seized the wheel and turned it hard over.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: At the same time he moved the power switched to
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  Speaker 1: the last notch. The liner swung sluggishly, and then the
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  Speaker 1: thing Standish had feared happened. The single motor buckled under
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: the strain and ceased without resistance. The ship swept full
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  Speaker 1: into the gravitational field of the planet and plunged downward
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  Speaker 1: Like a man in a dream, Standish saw a jungle
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  Speaker 1: rush up to meet him. An instant later there was
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  Speaker 1: a terrific crash, and he felt himself hurled into oblivion.
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  Speaker 1: End of Part two, Part three. An eternity seemed to
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  Speaker 1: have passed before he opened his eyes. He was conscious
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: immediately of his left arm, which was pinioned under a
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  Speaker 1: heavy rock. He wrenched it free and staggered erect, looking
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  Speaker 1: about dazedly. His eyes opened in bewilderment. He lay on
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: a shelf a small escarpment projecting from the side of
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: a cliff. For below him, smashed and broken into amid
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: jagged boulders lay the prison ship, and sweeping on and
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: on to the horizon was a dense, matted jungle. The
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: trees resembled giant cattails without branches. The trunks towered up
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: a full three hundred feet to form a huge green
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: protuberance at the top. The rock of the cliff was
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: neither igneous nor sedimentary. Instead, it was smooth and almost translucent,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: like glass. In the sky above, two suns blazed, one
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: at the zenith, one a fiery ball dipping over the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: The air was warm and humid, and Standish knew the
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: oxygen content must be about the same as on Earth.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Nature formed rock slabs led in stair formation down the cliff.
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  Speaker 1: While he looked there, slowly regaining his strength, the earthmen
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: tried to trace the path of the crashing liner. He
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: saw where it had struck, ripping open the entire side
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  Speaker 1: and casting him out. Then it had rolled end over
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: end down into the ravine. At length, Standish began his descent.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: The moment he swung his body over the edge to
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: hang by his hands, he gave an exclamation of amazement.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: His body seemed to weigh nothing at all. This planet
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: must be of smaller size than Earth, and therefore the
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: gravitational attraction was less. On the ravine floor, He looked
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: about him warily. Titanic rock, smooth and polished from erosion
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: littered the expanse, but stopped at the jungle edge. The
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: trees were all the same, of equal height and girth.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: They seemed to be arranged in corridors or galleries, the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: way between them dark and shadow filled. Standish knew he
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: must exercise caution until he could explore those depths. The
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: significance of his plight now swept upon him. He was
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: alone on an alien planet. Even granting the Syrians would
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: send out scouts to locate their prison ship when it
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: failed to arrive, the chances of his being found were remote. Yet,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: on the other hand, he alone had been spared death,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: and he had come upon a world, one perhaps in millions,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: which had an atmosphere capable of supporting human life. A sudden,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: high pitched drone broke the silence. Rising up from behind
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: a pile of boulders, a hideous, winged shape shot toward him,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: half bird, half sorry, and the thing's head was enormous,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: with an inflated cobra hood. Even as the creature closed
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  Speaker 1: in with incredible speed, Standish wheeled and ran for the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: safety of the wrecked spaceship. He reached it and wormed
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: his way through a gaping rent in the hull. The
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  Speaker 1: lizard bird stopped sharp a few yards from the ship
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: to stare perplexedly. Then, with its queer droning cry still sounding,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: it zoomed into the air and flew out of sight.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Holy Hell. Standish inhaled deeply. Dangers here were imminent. He
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: must take steps to protect himself at once. Although the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: liner lay on one side with the three entrances and
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: emergency airlock underneath, the hole through which he had entered
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: was the only opening. The hull bottom had been crushed
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: by the great impact, yet the glass side ports and
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: vision shield of the pilot cutting were unbroken. Standish crawled
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: back along the passage to the officer's quarters. On the
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: well of one of the cabins, he found two genithoed
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: pistols and a portable rake gun. He realized then that
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: his first move towards self preservation lay in making the
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: spaceship livable and impregnable to outside attacked. He accomplished the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: latter by removing two bulkhead doors and jamming them across
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: the opening of the hull. The last door he arranged
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: on a swivel so that it could be locked from
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: either side. Then, exhausted by the hours of activity, he
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: fell asleep. When he awoke, and when outside he saw
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: that the two suns had exactly altered their position. The
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: larger was at the zenith, now the smaller low on
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the horizon. The temperature was unchanged, and the air was
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: crystal clear, with only a few fleecy clouds loading overhead.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Standish at a hearty breakfast, then strapped one gennithoed pistol
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: about his waist and headed across the ravine to begin
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: his first trip of exploration. The moment he entered the jungle,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: he was conscious of an electric something that passed before him,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: telegraphs from tree to tree. The strange plants, neither syads
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: nor conifers, seemed aware of his presence, whispering among themselves. Experimentally,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: he touched one of the trunks. He quivered, The bark
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: split apart, and a spongy tentacle whipped out to drive
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: straight at his throat. Standish escaped the cloying coil by inches.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: The tree quivered again, and the tentacle returned to its
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: hiding place. He kept well away from the trees after that,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: but as he went on he saw other forms of life,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: all manifesting an evolution in mixed stages of development. There
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: was a low plan, brilliant purple in color, which gave
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: off a mewing cry whenever he stepped on one of
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: its fronds. There were small lizard birds, and occasionally he
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: saw bluish masses growing melon like on the ground. They
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: had a single eye in the center of a spongy body.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: They watched him as he passed. Once a small animal
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: darted out before him, But when he approached the creature,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: instead of running for safety, thrust one paw in the
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: soft earth, and a whitish blossom leaped up on a
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: wavering stalk from his head. With the flick of an eye,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the thing had changed from animal to plant life. It
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: was at high noon, by his earth time watch, that
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Standish emerged into the glade. He stopped short, staring, then
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: uttered a short cry. Before him were buildings, low, mushroom
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: like buildings arranged in a semicircle fashioned of the same
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: trans loosen rocky seene on the cliff there resembled the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: igloos of his own north country. Overhead, a network of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: thick yellowish wire ran back and forth, separated at intervals
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: by heavy white insulators. He saw then that the structures
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: were old, The wires hung slack, and in many places
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: were broken in two. A heavy silk like grass had
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: sprung up in thick clumps between the buildings. With steps
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: suddenly grown heavy, Standish advanced to the nearest house. The
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: rotting remnants of a wooden door hung from elliptical hinges.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Inside was desertion. There were no furnishings of any kind.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Over everything lay a heavy coating of dust. There were
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: twelve buildings in the glade, and he examined them one
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: by one. In one he found a skeleton with a
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: scull of enormous size and three leg appendages instead of two.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: In the last, a strange looking machine, partially dismantled, was
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: mounted on the wall. Every detail of it, from the
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: mildewed control panel to the eccentric wheels and cogs, were
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: unfamiliar to him. On the floor was a stone tablet
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: covered with hieroglyphics. But that was all. Depression swept over
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Standish as he mentally supplied the missing details. Some race
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: had been here long ago, a foreign race for the
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: glade was undoubtedly a temporary camp. The wire entanglement, and
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the machine had been constructed as some sort of protection
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: against the animal life of this planet. But whoever these
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: people were, they had come and gone. End of Part three,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Part four. Standish left the glade with a heavy heart
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: and returned to the spaceship. In the ravine, he made
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: two discoveries. There was a spring of clear water pouring
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: from a fissure in the cliff side. Growing about it
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: was an edible variety of moss. Although he had concentrated
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: food in the liner's galley to keep him for a
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: long time, these fines were reassuring. He also found that
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: the combination of the mineral soil and the two suns
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: affected growth tremendously. Planting a few dried kernels of corn,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: he was amazed to see them take root almost instantly
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: and reach full maturity within a few hours. He now
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: set upon a task which he had been mulling over
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: in his brain for some time. There were ray cannons
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: mounted on the spaceliner's stern. Two of these had broken muzzles,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: but the third was intact. Standish went down into the
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: bowels of the ship and found a dozen old message projectiles,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: cigar shaped objects of heat resisting chordite. These projectiles were
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: a part of all spacecraft's emergency equipment. They were used
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: for distress signals when radio when visit screen equipment failed.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: In the hollow chamber of each of the twelve projectiles,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: he placed the same message castaway Mason Standish, Lieutenant Defense
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Engineer Earth on unknown planet somewhere near serious Earth route,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: December twenty eighth, thirty twenty. He had no means of
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: astronomical calculation, so he aimed the gun at twelve different
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: points of the heavens and fired haphazardly. Chances of intelligent
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: life after finding those projectiles were millions to one against him,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: but whatever the odds, he must miss no opportunity. Next,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: he made a thorough survey of the wrecked liner, carrying
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: all usable objects to the forecastle, which swiftly took on
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: the appearance of a story's room. As these articles began
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: to grow in number, satisfaction and pride of ownership gripped him.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: It was in the midst of these labors he was
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: suddenly struck with an idea. Why not construct a spaceship
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: from the wrecked port of the liner. He had six
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: atomic motors and surely from their wreckage he could salvage
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: enough to build one of half the trajectory power, and
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: with the smaller ship he might be able to find
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: his way back to Earth. Standish smoked a pipe over this.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: When morning came, he began the herculean task of dismantling
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: the motors. Day after day he struggled with the cumbersome machinery.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: When this stage of the work was finally completed, he
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: was startled to discover that six weeks of earth time
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: had slipped by. He then found in the machinists quarters
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: at Electronic Sawn. The tool was dull, but he managed
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: to cut free a dozen girders for the framework of
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: his craft. To his dismay, he found them too heavy
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: to move even with block and tackle. There was no
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: alternative but to cut them into sections and well them together,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: hoping they would stand the strain. That night, the first
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: warning of trouble came absently. Standish had noticed a chill
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: in the air, a more oblique slant to the twin suns. Suddenly,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: from the jungle beyond the ravine came a low rumbling.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: The earthmen switched on a searchlight he had fastened on
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: top of the forecastle. The white glare fastened itself on
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: the wall of trees, revealing five figures advancing directly into
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the light. On all fours. They came huge beasts with long,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: tapered bodies covered with heavy white fur. Their heads resembled
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the saber toothed tigers of Earth's Upper Miocene. A dozen
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: appeared before Standish understood this zone of the planet was
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: advancing into its coal season. The animals were part of
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a migrating herd coming down from the warmer districts. He
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: drew his genitholed pistol and fired into their midst. The
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: foremost of the creatures keeled over, and the Earthmen advanced, boldly,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: firing as he went. Here was fresh meat, and with
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: winter coming on, he intended to obtain as much of
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: it as possible. Standish was twenty yards from the hull
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: of the liner when a coughing roar sounded behind him.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: He wheeled and uttered a cry of horror. If the
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: creatures revealed by the light were giants in size, these
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: others were titans nostrils picking up his scent, they came forward, slowly,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: cutting him off from the ship. He fired twice again,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: even as two of the monsters hurtled toward him. It
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: was stark struggle. Then, with only the reflected light of
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: the search lamp and the vague glow of the stars,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Standish fought desperately. The pistol barrel became hot. The white
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: haired things went down in twos and threes, and then
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: abruptly there came a lull in the attack. The creatures halted, listening,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: and an instant later the sound reached the earthman's ears,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: like the hum of an angry hornet from above. It
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: came rapidly, drawing nearer. Stunned, he saw the saber toothed
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: monsters turn and slink quietly back into the jungle. Up
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: in the sky, a light gleamed that a series of
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: red flashes split the darkness. Then a black ball shaped
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: shadow swept downward with incredible speed. There was a roar
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: and a series of muffled reports as the thing hurtled
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: over the roof of the jungle and swept to a
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: landing at the far end of the ravine. The sounds
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: ceased standing stood there frozen to inactivity. Then a hysterical
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: shout and a peal of laughter burst from his lips
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: a space ship, a rocket ship landing here on this planet.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: It it wasn't possible into parts one through four, Parts
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: five through eight of Cosmic Castaway by Carl Jacoby. This
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part five. But
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: it was possible. As Standish ran forward, he saw a
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: hatch open in the metal sphere, and a man climb out.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: And yet it wasn't a man. The face and body
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: were normal, but the arms and legs were vine like
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: appendages with segmented fronds for hands. When this person saw Standish,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: it recoiled and whipped a knife out from a scabbard
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: at its waist. Quickly, the earthman raised one arm above
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: his head in the common symbol of friendliness. A smile
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: of recognition crossed the little man's face. He nodded and
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: raised his front like hand in a similar gesture. Then
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: he pointed to himself and said, Gaumar. The rocket ship
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: now came under Standish's gaze. He saw that it was
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: of a design foreign to any craft he had ever
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: seen before, spherical in shape, with a series of strange
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: looking fins along the sides. Its stern rudders were formed
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: of crude exhausted jettisons, and the several ports were formed
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: of a transparent material that resembled quartz. Gawmore, for it
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: was evident those syllables formed the stranger's name opened the
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: hatch door in motion, Standish to enter without hesitation. The
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Earthman did so. Inside was a single cabin with a
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: control panel occupying two of the four walls. Gaw More
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: pressed a button, and a panel slid open in the floor,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: revealing the motor chamber. The stranger pointed downward, then shook
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: his head violently. Standish nodded. Motors went down on you. Eh, well,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: my friend, it looks as though you and I were
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: in the same fix. Come along and I'll show you
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: my diggings. But when Gamer looked upon the wrecked space liner,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: he stared incredulously. He walked its entire length, as if
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: doubting its proportions. Yes, she's big, all right, Standish smiled,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: aware that he was not understood. But she's no good
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: the way she is now. Now, how about a little food?
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: In his forecastle home, the earthmen set out a bottle
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: of wine and some cakes. He noted that Gamar used
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: his front hands with great dexterity, but that he betrayed
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: no surprise at Standish's own physical appearance. Once the stranger
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: had eaten, Standish began the necessary task of providing a
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: common means of communication. He used the Corelli sound system,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: a short cut method of acquainting the ear and the
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: eye simultaneously with objects of fundamental importance. Within two hours,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: he found he could converse with Gamar with a minimum
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: amount of difficulty haltingly, then the stranger began to speak.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: I am from the city Calledthedra, of the planet Lira,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: of the system Arbitorious. My race was once a great people,
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: but raiders from another planet destroyed our civilization. All we
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: have left is a few rocket ships of the kind
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: in which I came. These were built long ago by
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: our ancestors, and only a few of us know how
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: to operate them. Standish nodded, how came you here? I
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: was voyaging to visit my brother on our satellite Zorro,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: when those same raiders caught sight of me and gave chase.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: My space compass broke and I became lost. I found
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: my way here just as my rocket motors consumed the
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: last of their power. I see Standis lit his pipe
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: and began to smoke slowly. And these raiders, they come
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: from near here, from Sirius, Gamar replied, they raid us
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: for funds to continue their war with a planet many
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: light years away. For a full moment, Standers sat there rigid.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: Then the pipe fell from his hands, and he leaped
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: to his feet. Sirious, he cried, So those butchers are
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: not content to place in bondage all the Solar System.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: They must plague other worlds also. He paced the length
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: of the forecastle. Tell me, he said, whirling abruptly, do
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: you know of a Syrian leader called drum Faggard. Gamore's
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: eyes gleamed Aye, the cruelest and most bloodthirsty of them all.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: It was he who led the attack against my people,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: in which my brother was killed. It was he who
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: directed the sacking of our city of Calthedra. My one
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: hope is that some day we may meet on common ground.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: The next day, stand Is revealed to the newcomer his
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: plan to build a smaller spaceship out of the wreckage
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: of the old.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: Your own craft is.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Useless without power for it rocket motors, he told Gamar.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: Yet it contains parts that will be valuable allow your
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: consent to dismantle it. The stranger nodded to work then,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: and remember, if we succeed, we may yet be able
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: to strike a drum. Faggared. It was the desire for
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: revenge that spurred them on. Quickly they set about dismantling
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: Gamer's ship. Rivets were cut, bolts, unscrewed, plates ripped off.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Using the dismantled parts of the space liner's atomic motors,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Standis fashioned a smaller but powerful engine. Gradually out of
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the mass, A crude craft began to take for him,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: But they were working on counted time. Days were growing shorter,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: the nights longer. Ic sya winds began to sweep across
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: the ravine, bringing sleet and flurries of stow. With the
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: change in seasons came new dangerous, strange animal life, following
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: the perverse migrational instinct of the planet swept out of
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: the jungle. First came the lizard birds, similar to but
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: larger than the one which had attacked Standish. They came
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: over the cliff in squadron formation, a dense cloud that
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: blotted out the sky for two days. The men were
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: kept prisoners while the flock stalked back and forth about
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: the ravine like a vast Roman encampment. A week later,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: the Threds came. It was Gomar who called him Thrads.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: They were a tiny species of anthropoid, no larger than
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: a squirrel, with bright red bodies. Inquisitive and bold. They
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: hampered the two men as they gathered close to watch.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: The work hip was nearing completion. While Standish labored at
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: the control adjustments, Gomar carried in a supply of food
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: concentrates from the wreck liner. Along the length of the ravine,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: an inclined runway was built for a takeoff. At the
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: end of this Standis constructed a rifle like catapult, using
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: the parts of Gamar's rocket motor and a quantity of
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: trinitate cellulose he found in the liner. If the device worked,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: it would multiply their initial trajectory power and quicken their
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: passage through the planet's gravitational field. At length, Standish fastened
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: the last bolt of a crude new ship in its place. Nervously,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: he pressed the starting button. The single motor began with
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: a smooth, powerful hum. The ship strained at its moorings. Ready, Gamar,
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: we'll give her a trial flight and see how she
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: handles the little man grinned, shouted gasta uf. He cried
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: cast off. Standish severed the mooring cable of the ship
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: with one shot from his unitholde pistol. The two men
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: yanked shut the hatch, screwed down the airlock with a yank.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: The Earthman threw over the control lever up from the ground,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the ship shot through the floor panel. Standis saw the
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: ground receding. Take the controls. He told Gamar, I'm going
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: to try and chart a course for your planet. The
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: planet rose up before them like a great ripened peach.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: It had taken Standish long hours to calculate with his
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: elementary astrophysics the location of their destination. Gamore that supplied
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: what information he could, but he knew only that the
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: planet Lira was bordered by a spiral nebula on one side,
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: and that it revolved about a Sun some hundred million
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: miles distant. As they approached now, Gumar betrayed no emotion.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: These The city of Calthedrop is on the other hemisphere.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: He said, I'll direct you to the landing. They crept
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: slowly along the surface, and the Earthmen found himself looking
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: upon a land similar in many respects to his own.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: Nostalgia seized him. Here were lakes and woods and broad
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: fields in the state of cultivation. Here were lanes, roads
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: and hedges, a tracery of browns and greens that was
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: good to see. But when a moment later Gomar pointed
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: out the porch and said, calthedrop, Standish's jaw set hard.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: The city had been devastated. Buildings stood in ruins, Towers
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: were crumbled masses of masonry. Only one structure seemed to
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: have escaped the fearful onslaught, a globe shaped building fashioned
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: of some kind of black metal. The earthmen saw the
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: landing place and guided the ship downward. Below he could
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: see people milling about excitedly, groups of them pointing upward.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: The moment the ship came to rest, Gamour threw open
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: the hatch and climbed out. Standish followed to find an
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: assemblage drawn up suspiciously in battle array, their weapons ready
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: for any hostile move of the newcomers. In the foreground
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: stood a taller man of leron, wearing a suit of
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: copper colored chain mail and a helmet studded with gleaming
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: chips of yellow metal. At his sides were two men
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: in white flowing robes. All had high brows, penetrating eyes,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: and frowned like appendages in lieu of arms and legs.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Gamour ran forward and embraced the man in the helmet.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: My father, he said, This man is Mason Standish, a
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: great warrior from the planet Earth. He has rescued me
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: from certain death and has brought me back to your
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: empire at the risk of his life. The emperor paced forward,
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: a benevolent smile played across his lips. He who will
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: be friends my son, has my gratitude, he said softly.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: Standish was bewildered. Gamore had made no mention of the
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: fact that he was of royal birth. It was a
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: long time before the earthmen found his tongue. Your son
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: tells me that your people and my people are at
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: war with a common enemy. May I ask how long
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: since the Syrians made their last attack upon you within
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: the risings of twelve Sons, The emperor replied, But come,
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: let us go to the palace where we may speak alone.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Standish missed no detail of his passage through the city Calthedral.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: Besides being hard hit by the invaders, was quite evidently
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: in the process of decay. Streets were racked and unrepaired.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: House windows were broken and open to the elements. And
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: on all sides the earthman saw faces devoid of intelligence
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: staring at him. But when he climbed the steps and
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: followed Gamore and the Emperor into the black metal globe,
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: he entered a different world. A vast, pillared hall stretched
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: before him. On one side, a balustraded ramp led to
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: the upper levels. Opposite were a pair of high, triangular doorways,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: each opening into separate chambers. The air was cool and exhilarating,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: and seemed to have a different chemical content than that
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: of the street. This is our palace, Gomore said, built
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: thousands of years before, when our people were a great civilization.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: It alone has withstood all the attacks our planet has
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: been exposed to. Why demanded standish? I should think this
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: would be the enemy's first striking place, Gomore shook his head.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: I do not understand the science of it myself. It
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: is something in the black metal. It is an electron
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: stripped element I believe, tremendously heavy and impregnable to any
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: weapon of cosmic warfare. They reached the last doorway and
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: entered the royal quarters. The emperor and his son sat
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: down before a circular table and motioned Standish to a
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: chair opposite. The older man removed his helmet and closed
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: his eyes, as if in weariness. Earth Man, he said,
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: at length, you come at a time when my planet
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: is sorely in need of help. I don't know how
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: much my son has told you, but if you will listen,
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: I will tell you the history of Leroth. But first
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: I have something to show you. He touched a button
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: on the table, and a chime sounded melodiously in the
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: outer corridor. A servant appeared in the doorway. Tell Foalia
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: I would see her at once, the emperor said. A
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: moment later, light steps sounded, and Standish looked up curiously.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: What he saw brought him out of his chair with
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: a cry of pleasure and amazement. The figure of a girl,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: an Earth girl of his own race, stood there on
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: the threshold Endo Part five, Part six. For a full moment.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: As their eyes met, Man and girl stared speechless to Standish,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: who a few short weeks ago had thought himself cut
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: off forever from his people. She was a vision of loveliness,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Her hair was dark, and her face was a delicate one.
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: Of natural beauty.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: This is Felia, the Emperor said, born on your planet,
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: but brought here as a child. Perhaps you recall a liner,
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: the Colossus, which was lost and never reached port some
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: twenty years ago. Glory, yes, exclaimed Standish. The Colossus was
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: destroyed by the Syrians. It was their first attack on
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: an earthcraft, and I believe the initial act which led
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: them on Phelia was the only survivor. When we came
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: upon the ship drifting a derelict, the girl stepped forward,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: now shyly. My greetings, she said. Standish took her hand,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: and a strange thrill shot through him. Then the Emperor
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: leaned back in his chair, lit a short metal pipe,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: and began his story. Thousands of years before, the Syrians
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: had come to raid this planet, Lira, attracted by the
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: wealth of minerals coronium, thanium, morgone, gold and silver. They
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: had destroyed the libraries, the laboratories, the schools. They had
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: killed the scientists and all men suspected of higher intelligence.
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: For generations, the people of Lira had been held in bondage.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Then an emperor had come into power give lifted with
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: a scientific reasoning far in advance of his time, he
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: had constructed a warp in space on three sides of
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: the planet. This alteration of the space time coordinates served
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: as an impregnable defense until drum Faggared had come upon
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: the scene with but one desire to continue his war
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: on Earth and the Solar System. Faggard had broken through
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: the space warp and destroyed the time machine that operated it,
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: and so concluded the Emperor, we of Lira today are
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: but ghosts of our past. Our heritage has been stolen
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: from us. We are far removed in space, so have
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: been unable to obtain allies. Even your planet Earth does
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: not know of our presence. The Syrians have told us
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: that your observers believe Lira unfit to support life, and
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: the few rocket ships we have left are not capable
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: of crossing that immense distance. Standish sat in thoughtful silence. Abruptly,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: the girl Thalia moved to his side.
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: Will you help us?
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: She said, you have knowledge, and knowledge is power. Will
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: you aid Lera in its fight for freedom? Standish stood
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: up slowly, face a grim line of determination. Yes, he said,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: I'll do all I can. He began with a survey
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: of the city of Calthedra. With Gumore answering his many questions,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: Standish passed from street to street, building to building, no
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: detail missed his sharp eyes. He saw the wreckage of
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: the spacewarp machine, broken ray cannon. The debris choked lower
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: levels where once light hearted Lerins had their libraries and laboratories.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: Then Standish spent two days devising an intelligence test as
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: he remembered them from his Earth studies. The test, he
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: instructed Gomore, was to be given to every able bodied
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: man in Calthedra. He spent a week more checking the results,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: but at length, from the mass of papers, he selected
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: twenty four Lerens, whose IQ rating and general scientific aptitude
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: seemed in advance of their fellows. The Earthmen. Then revealed
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: his plan to Gomar. We're going to build a spaceship,
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: he said, a super destroyer with the most powerful atomic
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: motors I've ever designed. We're going to take this war
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: into our own hands attack, rather than wait to be attacked.
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: A call for workmen was broadcast. The response was overwhelming.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: All Calthedra, all Lira wanted to help the man from
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Earth in the struggle to free them from bondage. With
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: the twenty four picked men as overseers, the work began.
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: A flat space was selected beyond the outskirts of the city.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: Food depots were thrown up, together with temporary housing quarters
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: like a colony of ants. The workmen labored in three
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: shifts at night. The work went on by the light
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: of solar condenser lamps mounted on towers at every point
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: of vantage. The ship began to take form. A long,
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: cigar shaped blue black hull was fashioned out of felleronium,
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: a metal peculiar to lira, which standish, toughened by the
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: addition of five alloys at intermittent spaces along that hull,
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: disappearing ray guns were swivel mounted, operated and loaded by
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: remote control. The earthmen personally supervised the installation of the
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: atomic motors. Each he had given the most strenuous block tests.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: Switched on, they purred like six garganuan cats, alive with
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: effortless strength. Finally, Gamore climbed out of the huge cabin
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: and smiled, it is complete, he said, only the heat
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: units remained to be tested. What now now said standish,
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: But his words were never finished. From the roof of
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: the palace. The warning siren burst into a wailing clamor.
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: Gamor's face blanched. The Syrians. He cried, they'll destroy all
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: we've done with a single leap. Standish was across to
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: the microphone of the field amplifying system. Wait, his voice
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: boomed out. If you run, all your work will be
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: for nothing. We still have a chance, but we must
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: hide this ship. I want each of you to bring
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: here every movable object you can find. Do you understand
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: every movable object? The fields saw strange activity. Then, while
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: the siren continued to scream out its warning, an endless
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: procession of lerons raced in and out of kalfe Edra,
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: carrying stone blocks, furniture doors, articles of every description. Looks
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: like moving day back on earth. Standys said to Gamore
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: with a lightness. He didn't feel his fists clinched. We'll
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: beat them yet he ran for the palace. Even as
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: he raced up the inclined ramp of the rear entrance,
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: he saw five Syrian battlecruisers land with a roar in
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: the central square. Inside. Standish moved swiftly to the quarters
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: of the Emperor. The old man was leaning weakly against
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: a chair eyes smoldering. Without preamble, the earthmen explained what
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: he had done. Then he had barely time to leap
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: through the doorway into the adjoining room. Heavy steps sounded
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: in the hall. A moment later, six men entered the
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: chamber and strode belligerently to the Emperor. Five of them
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: were Syrians. The sixth was a man of Earth, tall,
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: broad shildreed man with a bullet head and a cruel,
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: predatory face. This was drum Faggard. He wore the Syrian
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: uniform and a flowing scarlet cloak hung from his shoulders
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: that his waists were holstered. Two long barreled gennithoed pistols.
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: Your minds are lying idle. Faggart snarled why. Through the
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: crevice between the partially closed doors, standers saw the Emperor
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: shrug eloquently. We have had troubles, white troubles. The Emperor
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: hesitated labor, he said, My workers refused to toil further
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: when the result of their workers stolen from them. They
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: see no reason to struggle for the benefit of murdering raiders.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: Blunt anger crimsoned Faggart's face. He struck the Emperor hard
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: across the face. Watch your tongue full. Standish made fists
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: of his hands. He had an overpowering desire to leap
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: into the room and seize the renegade. To do that, however,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: he knew, would mean failure for his plans. Drum Flaggert
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: paced to a window. What is the meaning of all
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: that material piled outside the city? Quietly, the emperor continued
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: to play his part. We are moving two new grounds,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: he explained, moving higher into the hills. The weather on
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: Lera is changing, growing warmer due to the planet's gradual
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: approach to our son. Surely your observers must have noticed it.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: For a long moment, the Renegade stood there, motionless, digesting
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: this information. Then he crossed back to the table slammed
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: a mailed fist down upon it. Old man, I give
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: you one more chance. Either of those minds are worked
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: and a double amount of ore made ready for us,
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: or we level Calthedra to the ground. Do you understand
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: we will return later. He turned on his heel, and
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: the five Syrians followed puppet like into the corridor. Darting
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: across to the window. Standish saw them march pompously across
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: the square and enter the space cruisers. A moment later,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: with a roar of rocket exhaust, the six armored vessels
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: shot upward. Standish turned and ran out the door, heading
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: for the landing feel halfway he met god more, the
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: ruse worked. The Emperor's son exalted, they've gone. Art of
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: the ship cleared. Standish commanded, we take off at once.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Quickly the screen of material was torn from the new ship.
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: A vat of necessary water and a case of food
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: concentrate were hastily carried into the storage chamber. The twenty
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: four chosen lirens took their places in the pilot cutting
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: Standish nodded to Gomore and pulled down the microphone of
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: the ship address system. Close sternhatch, he ordered. A dial
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: flicked on the panel before him, and from the loud
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: speaker a voice answered, hatch close, Sir closed Midship's tower.
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: Midship's tower closed, Gunnar's mate Standis called test all gun swivels,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: airlocks and automatic loaders. There was a moment's pause, then
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: all guns tested. Sir. Standish motioned to Garmour to shut
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: the pilot cutting hatch, but before Garmour could swing the
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: hermetic barrier into position, a lithe figure leaped down the ladder.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: It was the Earth Girl failure. I'm going with you,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: she said, This is my battle as well as yours.
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: Standish looked into her defiant black eyes and frowned, but
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: the refusal that rose to his lips died unsounded. He
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: nodded and motioned her to the settee on the far
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: side of the cutting in rotation. Then he snapped on
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: the six atomic motors. A dull tremor of life and
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: power shook the ship. Then Standish seized an electro welder
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: left behind by some workmen, flung open the hatch and
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: ran outside to the stern of the ship. Roughly while
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: Gummar watched bewildered, he seared the name Phantom on the
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: filermanium hull. He leaped back to the cutty, slam shot
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: the hatch, and threw over the acceleration lever. The huge
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: ship lifted from the field of its berth and roared
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: up into the stratosphere into Part six Part seven. It
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: was Standish's plan to permit the six departing Syrian cruisers
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: to cover sufficient distance, but they would not associate him immediately,
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: at least with the plundered planet Lira with unleashed power
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: at his fingertips. He planned to pass his quarry on
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: a higher plane, then circle and return. The Phantom functioned
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: like a dream up through space. She board annihilating distance,
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: sweeping out into the star fields in hot pursuit. Warm
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: clear air circulated out from the oxygenizers. Each dial and
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: gage told its proper story. Even the heat units, which
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: had not been properly tested, operated smoothly. Standish pulled down
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: the cosmoscope and surveyed the way ahead. He saw star
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: clusters and constellations ahead, tails sweeping out in a blaze
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: of glory. A comet crossed his path, but nowhere did
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: he sight the Syrian cruisers. I'm afraid they've got too
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: great a start on us, said Gamar. Failure drew in
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: her breath, sharply that black speckahead. Standish threw over the
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: accelerator another notch and twisted helm sharply. The Phantom answered
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: her controls. The Earthman was maneuvering for position. Now far
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: below him, He saw the six cruisers materialize in his vision,
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: and then, with a dull roar, the Phantom swung and
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: leaped for the attack. They see us, Phelia cried, They're
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: going into battle formation with drum Faggart's flagship in the lead.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: The six cruisers turned and headed toward them in squadron formation.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: It was evident that they were still unaware of the
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: identity of the black ship. The visits screen clicked on
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: and Faggart's face appeared in the panel. We are Section
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: one General Syrian Expeditionary Force serious to Earth, heading for
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: regular interplanetary lanes, he said, following the customary salutation, who
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: are you? Standish flipped on his own microphone, but disconnected
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: the vision panel so that no return image would be broadcast.
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: Destroyer phantom, he replied, muffling his voice. Captain eath your commanding,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: stand by for boarding or we open fire on you.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: Faggart's gross face Crimson with rage, flashed back on the screen.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: Why you mad? We are sixty or one? From what planet?
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: Do you come? Show your collars? I'll show my colors,
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: Standish muttered a grim smile, playing about his lips. He
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: switched on the ship address system port Gunnar stand by
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: for shot across enemies moiles elevation six, trajectory five. There
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: was an excited reply Sandish twisted his helm a fraction
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: of a turn fire. The Phantom recoiled slightly, but there
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: was no sound, no tell tale shriek of flame. Only
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: on the Syrian flagship was there any evidence of what
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: had happened. A gaping hole appeared in the vessel's hull.
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: The ship faltered momentarily. Then standishknew hermetic bulkheads automatically closed,
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: and she swung on a wide arc. They're spreading out.
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: Gamore said, they're going to attack from both sides. The
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: flagship shot into another plane. The remaining five cruisers searched
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: toward the Phantom, firing as they came. Standish saw the
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: strategy and realized he was pitted against no amateur fighter.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: He signaled to fire both forward guns, holding his position bolding.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: At that moment, one of the cruisers attempted a maneuver
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: old in space warfare, charging head on toward the Phantom.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: The cruiser's commander sought to frighten Standish into turning broadside.
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: They uttered a scream. They're going to ram Us, she cried.
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: The Earthmen nodded, let them. If they do, they'll be
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: in for a surprise. On came the cruiser. The Phantom
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: did not alter her course, and then, at the moment
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: the Syrian realized the Ruse had failed, Standish through his helm,
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: heading directly toward the enemy. The two vessels struck squarely
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: in the pilot cutting Standish. Gaumar and Thylia were hurled
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: to the floor. The earth men struggled. Erect helped the
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: girl to her feet. Are you hurt? He asked, no,
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: but the ship look Standish pointed out the port. A
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: horrible sight met the girl's eyes. The Phantom's stout felleranium
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: sides were unharmed, but the Syrian cruiser had broken into
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: three sections. Even as she watched, figures were catapulted out
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: into space, and the whole mass of began to rotate
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: slowly around another enemy ship, forming a macabre satellite. The
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: remaining fourth cruisers circled and began to close in all
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: starboard guns. Standish ordered elevation IE double charge fire.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 2: The recoil was jarring.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: Two cruisers fell back. Rocket motors stilled huge rents in
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: their forward quarters, and with that drum Faggart's flagship and
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: the other cruiser turned about and fled. They've had enough,
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: Gomre exalted Faggart is the one I want, Standy said.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: We'll come back and tow in those two disabled ships later,
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: But the Earthmen had reckoned without the huge planetoid swarm,
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: which lay directly in their path. The two Syrian ships
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: plunged into the middle of these miniature worlds, and in
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: an instant were lost. Power control wide open, dish z
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: zoomed in pursuit, but though he swung the cosmoscope to
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: every angle, he saw no sign of his quarry. He
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: slid through our fingers this time, he told Gamar bitterly,
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: but our chance will come again Heavily. He swung the
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: tiller and returned to the area of combat. The two
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: helpless cruisers and the portions of a third were drifting
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: idly without steerageway. Dandish steered the Phantom alongside, shot out
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: the magnetic grappling bars, and secured the two derelicts. Then
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: he headed the big ship back to Lira. A great
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: crowd awaited them. As the Phantom and its twin burdens
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: settled slowly downwards, hundreds of Lireans ran to the landing field.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: The court guard, resplendent in shining armor, took their places
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: in formation, and the Emperor and his ministers hastily assembled
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: on a raised pavilion. Then the two wrecked cruisers were opened,
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: and the prisoners let forth. You will be well treated,
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: the Emperor addressed them collectively. We do not subjugate our
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: captives of war after your fashion. But until the Syrians
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: ceased their raids upon this planet, you will not be
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: permitted to leave, Standish ordered. The Phantom inspected, and such
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: damage as had been inflicted by drum Faggart's guns repaired. Then,
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: with Phlia at his side, he moved slowly toward the palace.
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: Some day, he said, all this will be over. I
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: don't know how, but I'm going to do everything in
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: my power to bring this bloody war to an end.
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: Then the girl smiled and lowered her eyes. Then she
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: prompted softly, but Standish colored and became suddenly silent. Even
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: during the heat of battle, his heart had not beat
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: as fast as it was beating now. Endo Port seven,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: Part eight. Six learn months had passed since Standish and
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: Gamar had escaped from the unknown planet. During those months,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: the fame of the Phantom had spread as fast as light,
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: from the constellation's sickness to the twelfth and fifteenth magnitude stars,
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: the name of Captain Ether, behind which Standish hit his identity,
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: swept through the interplanetary lanes. Transports from powerful and peaceful
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: Alpha Centauri moved with extra convoys, ready for instant action.
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: No one knew when the phantom would strike. No one
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: knew from which planet it came to attack like a
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: black meteor without warning. Yet Standish challenged no ship but
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: those of Sirius. Haunting the lanes between Sirius and Earth,
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: he seized enemy prisonships and troop transports alike with daring regularity.
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: The city of Calthedra was filled to overflowing with Syrian prisoners.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: But the man Standish wanted most Drum Faggard was never
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: on a captured ship. Desire to capture Faggard became almost
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: an obsession. As the Earthman went on through the powerful
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: radio which he had built on Lira, he learned of
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: the situation on Earth. Day by day. The news was black. Canada, Mexico,
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: and Central America were now part of the armed camp
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: of the invaders. The Greater United States alone had managed
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: to remain independent. Breastworks a quarter of a mile high
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: had been erected on the Canadian and Mexican frontiers. The
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: only bright spot was the fact that Fegger's big push
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: had failed. Often, Standish smiled as he listened in on
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: radio messages between the Syrian government and drum Faggared at
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: his Frisco base. The phantom has been sighted lurking near Ganimede.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: Dispatch five cruisers to that satellite immediately and again. The phantom,
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: it is learned on definite authority, comes from some point
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: in future time. It is able to maintain speed in
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: excessive light, violating the Fitzgerald contraction, riding the fourth dimensional continuum,
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: to which drum Faggot always snarled the same reply. However,
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: Captain ether Is, I'll get him, give me time. It
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: was the day of his return from his most successful raid,
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: and Standish and Failure were walking arm in arm through
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: the palace garden on Lira. Flowers were in the full
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: bloom of the planet's early summer, and the sun glowed
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: upon them warmly. The Phantom is not enough, the Earthman said,
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: Powerful as she is, she can only plague the Syrians
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: like a single hornet. With all my efforts, I have
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: not halted the war against Earth to one iota Failia
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: shook her head. You've done all one person possibly could do.
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: I need an army and a fleet, Standy said. Yet
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: on all Lera there will not be sufficiently trained meant
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: to furnish either. For a long time, the girl stood
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: there idly plucking the pedals of a flower. Abruptly, she
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: turned the Syrian prisoners. Even the private soldiers are equipped
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: with scientific knowledge. Why not use them? But Standy shook
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: his head. They would refuse. We could force them to
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: do physical work, of course, but that's all I listen.
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: Excitement suddenly entered Philea's voice. In the laboratories in the
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: lower levels, there is a machine built by the early
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: Lerens long ago. No one understands its operation now, but
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: it is some kind of an electro hypnot machine. Couldn't
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: you use it on the Syrians and make them want
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: to help us? A glitter in his eyes, Standish considered
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: a moment, then leaped to his feet. Let's have a look,
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: he said. They left the garden, crossed the square, and
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: entered the ancient tunnel that led to the old laboratories
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: in the first level. The earthman found nothing that answered
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: the girl's description, but in a story's room far back
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: in the second tier, he came upon two of the
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: strange machines, dust covered in places red with rust, mounted
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: on wheels. The instruments consisted of a small cart with
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: twin panels and a confusing array of dials. Above each
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: machine was a helix of tightly wound silver wire. At
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: the bottom was a transparent globe, still half filled with
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: a thick greenish liquid. According to Gomore, Thelia said these
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: machines were used by the early sess for medical purposes.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: They found in the prescible of applied hypnosis a cure
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: for a great many ills. Standish nodded without further word.
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: He took up a small wrench and removed the panel
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: from one of the instruments, Carefully examining the revealed wiring.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: They seem to be constructed for use on ordinary electric power,
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: but not the power supplied by Calthedrais Dynamos. I'll have
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: to step up the frequency. He opened a wall switchboard
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: and quickly connected two wires to the machine. On a table,
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: he found a transformer fail you goodbye in silence.
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 2: While he hooked up.
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: Wires, condensers, and a small loading coil. Presently, he looked
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: up with the nod. We'll give her a try and
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: see what happens. Stand Over there in front of the helix,
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: Standish said, I don't think there's any danger unless I'm wrong.
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: The thing simply places the patient in an electric mass
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: magnetic field and transmits an alternating vibration to the human brain.
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: He played with the dials a long time, twisting a
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: rheostat experimentally, notice anything, Yes, I The earth girl's voice
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: died off a vacant look into her eyes. What is
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: your wish?
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 2: She asked.
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: Suddenly, Standish made a quick adjustment to the controls. Sit down,
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: he commanded. Obediently, Filia moved across to a chair and
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: sets the flea erect.
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 2: You have studied some.
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: Mathematics, Standish said, then tell me what is the principle
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: of the algebraic curve? Without hesitation. Failure replied, A curve
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: the equation of which contains no transcendental qualities. A figure,
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: the intercepted diameters of which bears always the same proportion
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: to their respective ordinance. Standish uttered a low cry of
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: triumph and threw, with the reverse lever of the machine
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: an instant Later, Failure stared at him in bewilderment. What happened?
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: It worked? Standis replied, with that device and a hundred
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: more like it, I will build. I can control every
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: last Syrian prisoner. I can make them help us build
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: an entire fleet using all their scientific knowledge. Failia's eyes glowed.
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: We'll be fighting them with their own people, she said.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: End of Part eight, Parts nine through eleven of Cosmic
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: Castaway by Carl Jacoby. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: public domain. Part nine the electro hypnosis machines finished. Standish
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: listed Gaumer's aid, and proceeded to try them on a
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: group of Syrian prisoners. After all, the Earthman said, what
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: we're doing is for the sake of your planet and mine.
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: These prisoners will suffer no ill effect, but by organizing
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: their efforts we can aid a great cause.
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 2: He turned a.
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: Control knob and a low hum sounded in the machine.
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: The green liquid in the globe began to bubble, and
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: a column of mist climbed upward through the connecting tube.
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: Improved as they were by Standish, the machines immediately placed
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: the Syrians in a mental state where they were receptive
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: to all commands, yet they retained full control of their
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: mental faculties. The work began. Frameworks for twenty space destroyers
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: were laid like automatons. The Syrians toiled worked side by
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: side with the men of Lira. The twenty hulls were
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: completed and the atomic motors were being installed when Standish
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: called Gamar aside, I'm going to leave you in charge,
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: the Earthman said, while I take the Phantom out again.
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: The more prisoners, the quicker we'll have a fleet. Besides,
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: the Syrians will have grown careless again by now this time. However,
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: Standish steadfastly refused to take Thalia along. I'm going to
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: skirt the very stratosphere of Earth, he told her, and
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: it'll be too dangerous, but I'll be back soon. Thelia pouted,
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: but Standish was firm. With another Lerian Darley, as his lieutenant,
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: Standish took off. He headed at full speed for the
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: interplanetary lane between Syrius and Earth. As he went on,
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: suspicion assailed him. Not a single Syrian ship did he see.
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: Once a slow moving freight from far off Pretorus crossed
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: his path. The freighter clapped on all speed in a
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: frantic attempt to escape, but Standish feued it without interest.
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: He was drawing close to Earth. Alert, Standish kept the
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: Moon between him and his home planet, advancing cautiously, but
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: there was no sign of trouble. The space waves were empty.
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: Now the cold expanse of the Moon opened before him.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: The Phantom soared over Tycho, Aristotle, and Patavius, dipped downward
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: and came to a rest on a barren lava plane.
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: Standish took down a space suit and a small Magno
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: telescope and went out through the airlock.
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 2: Pacing slowly across.
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: The frigid flat, he tried to fathom the growing puzzle.
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: A hundred yards from the ship. He trained his scope
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: on Earth, staring long and intently, but the range was
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: too great and the scope too weak for detailed observation.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: And then abruptly he stiffened through the power for retinite lenses.
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: A tiny dot focused his vision a rocket ship. He
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: adjusted the glass and studied her life lines. Unquestionably, she
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: was Syrian and heading toward the Moon on an oblique angle.
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: Standish ran for the Phantom. The airlock closed, He threw
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: over the control lever, and the big ship headed with
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: a lurch for the enemy in the pilot cutting Darlay
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: watched the cosmoscope and intoned the distance measurements. Thirty thousand miles,
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: enemy still following same course, twenty thousand, no change, eight hundred.
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: A frown crossed Standish's face. The Syrian ship must have
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: seen them by now, alone and without convoy, it should
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: have turned and fled. Puzzled, the Earthmen ordered a shot
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: across the enemy's bows. The Syrian did not change her course,
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: and then Darlay gave a frantic cry. Behind us, look,
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: Six Syrian ships were racing out from the surfa of
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: the moon in battle formation. Even as Standish looked, he
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: saw four more cruisers join the others spread out to
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: cut off the phantom. He realized that he had blundered
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: into a trap. The Syrians had been waiting for him.
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: The single cruiser had been the bait which he had
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: swallowed blindly. We'll have to run for it, Darlay cried,
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: there are too many for us. Standish's teeth came together grimly.
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: We'll give them a fight for them money first. On
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: toward the cruiser, the Phantom raced. The ship staggered as
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: the Syrian opened fire, and two of the shots glanced
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: harmlessly off the fuleranium hull. But with five well placed shots,
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: Standish demolished the Syrian's guns and left her floating helplessly.
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: Then the Phantom turned helm and ran alongside on the
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: opposite side of the cruiser. In an instant Darley saw
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: sandisious Strategyantum was now protected, with the cruiser between her
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: and the fleet. The Earthman flipped open his microphone switch
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: rocket bomb full charge point four. There was a deafening
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: report as the bomb erupted from its cylinder through the port.
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: Standish saw the nearest Syrian ship explode into fragments. He
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: smiled grimly and swung his helm over. Here we go, Darling.
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: If they catch us, they'll have to move but fast.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Though the Phantom was, the fleet hung steadily in her wake. Finally,
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: the Earthmen switched on the boosters, auxiliary machines, which drew
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: power from the intraspatial emanations and built up the speed
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: of the atomic motors. Gradually, the fleet dropped behind close call.
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: Standys breathed, Faggart almost got me that time. Into Part
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: nine Port ten, Standish had never believed in hunches, yet
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: the moment he entered the stratosphere of Lira, he knew
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 1: something was wrong. A moment later he was free of
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: the cloud level and over Calphedra. A wave of despair
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: shot through him. The city was a ruin. Not a
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: single building remained. The great Palace was a mass of debris,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: and the choked streets were deserted. With a great fear,
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: he headed the Phantom for the landing field. Here a
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: cry of dismay escaped his lips. The sleek space ships
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: which had dotted the level were no more. Twisted lumps
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: of metal and scattered pieces of broken machinery were all
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: that remained of the fleet. In Heaven's name, cried Darley,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: What has happened? Drum faggared, said Standish heavily. He attacked
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: while we were gone. It must have been only his lieutenant.
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: We met off the moon. The Phantom dropped to a landing,
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: and the two men climbed out, followed by the crew.
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: A deathlike silence reigned as he stood there, staring at
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: the grim devastation. The earth men's fists clinched. The lee
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: runs the prisoners. The Emperor had they all gone? And
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: then he thought of Alium. He lurched into a stumbling
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: run and headed for the ruined city. In the metropolis,
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: the destruction was even more terrible. Ray guns had leveled
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: every structure to the ground. Dead lee runs lay on
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: all sides. Every labor saving device which had been constructed
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: through standicious efforts had been shattered. But an instant later,
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: in the midst of this wreckage, he saw a familiar
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: figure stagger toward him. Gamore, the Emperor's Son's face was
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: caked with blood and his clothing was torn to shreds,
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: but he managed to gasp a single word oo. Water.
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: Standish despatched Darlay back to the Phantom for our canteen,
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: then tore off his coat and rolled it into a pillow,
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: forcing Gamore to rest his head upon it. But when
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: the lerons struggled up on one elbow and drank thirstly
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: from Darlay's canteen, Dandish choked out the question that was
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: uppermost in his mind, Phalia, where is she? Gamar's voice
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: was a sob drum fagguard.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 2: He surprised us with an entire fleet. While you were gone,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 2: he kidnapped my father, and he took Thalia. A blur
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 2: rose up before Standish's eyes and the others. He demanded,
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 2: the rest of your people, can it be?
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: They are all dead? Gamore shook his head. They fled
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: to the hills. I alone remained here because I know
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: you would return. It was time Standish realized for action.
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: But what action. His fleet was gone, all his work destroyed,
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 1: Even the girl he had come to love had been
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: taken from him. He turned and stared helplessly at the
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: black holed Phantom resting on its mooring platform. Powerful as
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: that ship was, he knew it was not enough. He
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: might raise more Syrian ships, destroy more transports, but what
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: would it avail him. He had played his hand and
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: he had lost. He was up against a blank wall
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: and then a single object on the far side of
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: the palace. Ruins focused in his vision. Stone and debris
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: were piled high there, but the little, cruelly built spaceship
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: with which he and Gomore had escaped from the unknown
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: planet had escaped damage. For a moment, Standish's brow in thought,
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: then he uttered an exclamation to the Phantom. He said,
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: there may yet be a way. With Gamour, supported by Standish,
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: they hurried down the debris choked streets, and across to
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: the landing field. Reaching the ship, the Earthman turned his
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: crew of twenty four over to Darlay, ordering them to
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: leave it at once for the hills, where they were
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: to aid the Lerouns. But what are you going to
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: do without a crew, objected Darlay. Standish's face was a
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: block of granite. I'm going to fight trickery with trickery,
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: he said. Then the earthmen and Gammour entered the destroyer alone. Slowly,
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: Standish guided the big ship over the ruins of the
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: city of Calphedra above the palace. He suddenly shot out
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: the magnetic grappling bars and secured the little spaceship. What
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: can you do with that? Gamore frowned. The thing has
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: little power, and but Standish, lips set hard, was moving
• 1:27:06
  Speaker 1: the controls with silent determination. Up the phantom shot, boring
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: forward like a hound to the hunt, carrying the crude
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: little ship with it. Standish threw over the accelerator to
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: the farthest notch and switched on both boosters. He motioned
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: Gamore into the control seat, head directly for Earth. I'm
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 1: going back and see if I can get a little
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: more speed out of those motors. Hour after hour, the
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: big ship plunged, rocketing madly across the starfield. Heavens, time
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: and space were dropping behind them like falling grains of sand. Standish,
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: returning from the motor chamber, saw the planets of Pluto
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: and Uranus rise up far ahead. Then Earth came into sight,
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: a pinpoint almost at the limit of his vision. The
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: Earthman glanced at the chronometer on the end panel. It
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: would be approximately midnight when they reached the North American continent,
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: judging by their present speed. Unless the Syrians at their
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: Frisco base were watching closely, they might be able to
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: pass unobserved. Earth grew now the Phantom was zooming down
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: through the stratosphere over New California. They swept, checking trajectory
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: by reversing motors over Omaha. Standish looked through the floor plate.
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: Were the front line breastwork still here or had his
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: people been forced to retreat further toward the Atlantic seaboard.
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: I see lights, Gamore said abruptly. There seemed to be
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: fortifications below us. With a sigh of relief, Standish guided
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: the Phantom downward. He was at home again. End of
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: Part ten, Part eleven, the last part officers and soldiers
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: formed a cheering circle as he climbed out of the watch,
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: followed by Gummore. Old companions rushed forward to shake the
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: Earthman's hand and bomb board him with questions. Smiling, Standish
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: pushed his way through the throng to the building marked
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: g h Q and orderly ushered him inside, and a
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: moment later he was facing attack Engineer McLellan, whose eyes
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: were wide with amazement. Listen, Standish began, without preamble, I
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: want to see a detailed map and an aerial photograph
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: of the Syrians. Frisco Bass, Have you got one? McClellan
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: bit into his cigar and nodded. He opened a cabinet
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: and laid out two large sheets. The pilot who made
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: these barely got out with his life. He said, I
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: don't suppose you care to tell me where you've been?
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: Are what you've got in mind? Standish? Without answering, Standish
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: gazed at the maps and the photograph. Presently he looked up.
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: Prepare for a big push, he said.
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 2: Get all your.
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: Guns and men ready for immediate movement, and keep your
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: observers watching this point sector five. He indicated the area
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: with his forefinger. As soon as the firing stops, there
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: go through. He turned and ran back to the ship,
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: straight into the stratosphere. Standish guided the ship as he
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: continued to climb higher into the night sky. Gomore watched, puzzled,
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 1: but made no comment. One thousand, two thousand miles slid
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: behind him at length. The Earthman turned, set off the
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: emergency rocket flares. He ordered. Gamore stared, are you mad, Mason?
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: The Syrians will see us, and which is what I want?
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 1: Standish replied, hurry man obediently. Gamore strolled back along the
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: passageway began to push contact buttons at regular intervals along
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: the bulkhead wall. As he did, long streamers of crimson
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: fire erupted from the phantom's side. In a moment, the
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: destroyer was a flaming mass. Standish set his controls and
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: took down two spacesuits. He donned one of them, motioned
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: to Gomore into the other. Then he tied a rope
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: to the lever controlling the magnetic grappling bar, trailing it
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: across the floor to the airlock. All right, Gamar, he said,
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: here we go. The locked door slid open at his touch. Then,
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: and not until then did Gomore understand directly below them,
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: held to the Phantom's hull by the magnetic bars, was
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: their crude spaceship. Balancing himself cautiously, Standish reached down and
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: opened the hatch. He climbed in, and gomr quickly followed.
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: Then the earthmen gave the rope a jerk, the grappling
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: bars released, and the two ships drifted apart, alone and unmanned.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: The Phantom swept downward, her exploding rockets a blaze of
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: glory in the black sky, and there goes the fleet.
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: Standys said they've sighted the Phantom. Aware that hundreds of
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: glasses must now be turned upward, he had it south
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: beyond the outskirts of the city. He selected a flat
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: open space by the ocean shore, and glided quickly to
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: a landing a hundred yards away. The white expanse of
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: a highway snaked through the dark countryside. No one apparently
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: had noticed their descent. At a run, Standish headed for
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: that highway. Twin had lights swept around a curve as
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: he reached it, and a heavy gar road truck rumbled
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: into sight. The truck slowed to manipulate the curve an
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: instant later, Standishing, Gamar leaped, clutching at the swaying tailboard
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: and drew themselves aboard before a large white building. The
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: two men dropped from the truck darted across to the entrance.
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: A Syrian guard stopped them, armed with a raygun halt.
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: Standish used his pistol, this time smashing its barrel down
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: on the Syrian skull. Then a muffled voice sounded directly
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: before them, and the Earthman leaped across to a door
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: and ripped it open. On the threshold, he stood rigid,
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: staring inward. The room was a richly furnished office. At
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: a large desk in the center sat a familiar figure.
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: There was drum faggered, cigarette between his lips, microphone in
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: his hand. Put down that microphone, faggered, Standish commanded, if
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: you speak as much as a single word, eye fire Standish,
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 1: Faggard gasped. The Earthman dropped silently into a chair while
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 1: Gamore pulled a small knife switch, disconnecting the microphone. Gamore
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: then paced to the window and drew the blinds. A
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: gleam of cunning crossed Faggart's face. He turned the knob
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: of the radio and leaned forward. Then his right hand
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 1: shot into the desk drawer and clawed forth a small
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: Gennithode gun. But Standish had been expecting that move. His
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: hand clamped over the gun wrist twisted the weapon free,
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: jamming his own gun hard into the Syrian leader's ribs.
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: Standy said, talk, call your officers and tell them to
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 1: stand by for important arders. There were beads of perspiration
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: on Faggart's brow now as he twisted a dial of
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: the radio and began to speak slowly and haltingly on
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: the indicator panel on the far wall. Standish saw little
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: red lights flash on as outpost officer after officer acknowledged
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: the call. The entire Syrian army was listening in. Even
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: as he finished, A terrific, vibrating roar sounded from a
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: distant point of the city. The sound trembled the walls
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: of the building, shook.
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 2: The floor beneath their feet.
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: The phantom said, gamar she struck. Faggart's face was livid,
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: You fool, he snarled to you, realize what you've done.
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: Standish betrayed no emotion perfectly. I've divided your army in half.
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: I've cut an aisle through your defense, through which my
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: people even now are beginning to advance abruptly. The Earthman's
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: teeth clicked together. Now what have you done with Philia
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: and the Emperor? Tell me or Faggard's shoulders slumped in defeat.
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: He groped to his feet like a blind man, and
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: stumbled across the room. I'll show you, he said huskily.
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: He opened a connecting door, and Standish saw two familiar
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: figures in the darning room, an older man and a
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: young girl. But at that instant Faggard acted. He plunged
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: across the room, reached up to a shelf filled with
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: chemical tubes and vials. Seizing a bottle of colorless liquid,
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: he threw it straight at Standish. The bottle struck the
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: door frame, and acid geyserd in all directions. The Earthman
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: felt a hot stab of agony lance across his left arm,
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: but Gamore was not taken off guard. His gennithooned pistol
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: exploded even as Faggart reached for a second bottle. The
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: Syrian threw up his arms, staggered, and pitched forward on
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: his face. Plie was in Standish's arms, then sobbing, but
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: in the outer corridor. Running steps sounded. A heavy fist
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 1: banged at the door. In here, the girl cried, this door.
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 1: It leads to a tunnel that passes under the city.
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: It's drum Faggart's secret avenue of retreat. He has the
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: key in his pocket. As they sped to safety, Standish
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: felt a wave of elation sweep over him. One three
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: days later, a small cruiser took off from Omaha, swept
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: through the stratosphere, and headed for the planet Lira, many
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: light years distant. Four persons occupied her pilot cabin. Standish Thlia, Gamore,
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: and the Emperor. It's all over. The Earthman said to
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: the girl. The war is ended. Sirius's power is forever broken,
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: and even now the work of reconstruction has begun, Earth
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 1: and the whole Solar System can return to peace. Gamore nodded,
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: what now, he asked, Now we're going home. Standish drew Thelia,
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: close your home and mine. Our future lies out there
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: in the New Frontier. End of Part eleven. End of
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 1: Cosmic Castaway by Carl Jacoby. This recording was by Phil
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: Schin Baron bat in Rouge, Louisiana, December twenty twenty one