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Dread-Flame of M'Tonak-Henry Hasse · Captives of the Thieve-Star

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  Speaker 1: Section one of Dread Flame of Matonac by Henry Hass.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Cinda J. M. Dread
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  Speaker 1: Flame of Motonak by Henry Hass, Section one A flame
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  Speaker 1: of pure thought, green and unspeakably vile. Thrust from its
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  Speaker 1: own supra dimension into the solar warp, it found one
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  Speaker 1: whose malignance matched its own, and who would bargain with
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  Speaker 1: it against them? Kettrich outlawed and alone. Kettrick came in
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  Speaker 1: from Purlac, came fast, using the frequency tuner all the
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  Speaker 1: way now his great bulk came forward in the control seat,
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  Speaker 1: His eyes fastened intently on the dark blue disk of
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  Speaker 1: Earth that loomed ahead. Strange, he muttered, Strange. No patrollers.
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  Speaker 1: I expected an escort at least, if not a challenge,
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  Speaker 1: But no one heard Kettrick, as always, had come alone.
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  Speaker 1: The helio from Mark Travers, recorded on the sensitized receivers
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  Speaker 1: at Perlac, had been more than a summons and a plea.
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  Speaker 1: It had contained an undertone of urgency. Ketric had left
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  Speaker 1: at once, making the trip from the newly discovered outer
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  Speaker 1: planet in record time thanks to the secret power unit,
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  Speaker 1: which the Earth Council still coveted. Ketric thought of that
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  Speaker 1: now as he neared Earth, where he had not set
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  Speaker 1: foot for so long. He remembered the tedious negotiations between
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  Speaker 1: Earth and Perlac designed to bring the latter planet into
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  Speaker 1: the Solar Federation, a status hardly equitable to the Perlac
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  Speaker 1: government due to Earth's high handed demands for Earth still
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  Speaker 1: claimed priority on Brownell's frequency tuner, despite the fact that
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  Speaker 1: he had been forced to flee with his invention to Purlac,
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  Speaker 1: and since then there had been an alarming exodus of
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  Speaker 1: Earth's scientists to Perlac, where they could work out their
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  Speaker 1: ideas unhampered. The Earth Council remained haughty adamant. Only six
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  Speaker 1: months ago, there had been a skirmish beyond Jupiter in
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  Speaker 1: which several Earth patrollers had gone to flaming destruction against
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  Speaker 1: the speedy Purlac ships. The Purlac Incident was developing into
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  Speaker 1: open bitter warfare. Venus remained wisely aloof riding a crest
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  Speaker 1: of peace under the reign of Princess Alidania and on Mars,
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  Speaker 1: Darvajo sat brooding in his ancient throne, silent and watchful.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe I'm being a fool, Keatrick murmured. Now as he
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  Speaker 1: crossed the orbit of Earth's moon, Mark Travers guaranteed me
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  Speaker 1: safe landing in full protection. Nevertheless, us weary, but still cautious,
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  Speaker 1: He switched to the auxiliary rocket power, then went to
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  Speaker 1: work dismantling the frequency tuner. In a short time, he
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  Speaker 1: had jumbled the unit into a confusion of its component
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  Speaker 1: parts and carefully hid it away. He trusted Mark Travers,
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  Speaker 1: but there were others. As he picked up the grav
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  Speaker 1: beam for his landing, he thought again of Mark. It
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  Speaker 1: would be good to see him again after four years.
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  Speaker 1: He wondered if the lad's status as member of Council
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  Speaker 1: had changed him any Even more, he wondered at Mark's
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  Speaker 1: urgent message. The city spread below, then the landing field.
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  Speaker 1: Ketric burst, with practiced ease, stepped down from the loch.
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  Speaker 1: The guards closed in fast. There were dozens of them.
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  Speaker 1: Ketric had only time to glimpse the black and silver
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  Speaker 1: insignia of the Elite Council Guard, the drawn guns, the
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  Speaker 1: grim purpose on their faces. Even as he whirled back
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  Speaker 1: toward his ship. The deadly stung of a heat beam
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  Speaker 1: sounded past his ear, so close he could feel the
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  Speaker 1: swirling scorch of it. Ketrick came erect and motionless. He
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  Speaker 1: turned slowly, brain rye with the thought that he'd come
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  Speaker 1: into a trap after all. But he smiled a twisted
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  Speaker 1: smile which failed to erase the hard lines of his face.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes were a puzzle gray and serene, but somehow
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  Speaker 1: mocking beneath the dark bangs tumbling across his forehead. The
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  Speaker 1: guards formed a watchful circle about this man, whose deeds
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  Speaker 1: were renowned throughout the system. For a moment, their captain hesitated, Then,
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  Speaker 1: squaring his shoulders, he stepped forward. His gun became intimate
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  Speaker 1: with Ketric's wishbone. George Kettrick, I arrest you by order
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  Speaker 1: of the Supreme Earth Council. You will come along peaceably
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  Speaker 1: or suffer the consequences. The man's voice was overly loud, arrogant.
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  Speaker 1: With her dramatic gesture, he removed ca t Trick's gun,
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  Speaker 1: then whirled him into the hands of the guards. They
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  Speaker 1: marched toward a waiting tube car. Other guards were trying
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  Speaker 1: to keep back the crowd passengers for the Venus Express
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  Speaker 1: who thronged the field. Ketric's eyes were motionless, now devoid
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  Speaker 1: of color. He said, donelessly, taking quite a chance, aren't you, Captain.
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  Speaker 1: I only counted fifty of your men. We've heard too
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  Speaker 1: much about you, Ketric, and we want you alive. That's
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  Speaker 1: why we didn't try to take you in space. I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad you're being sensible about this. Keatrick shrugged his towering
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  Speaker 1: shoulders as though to say, why not, but his mind
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  Speaker 1: raised so they wanted him alive. They were nearing the
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  Speaker 1: tube car now, and the crowd, eternally curious, was trying
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  Speaker 1: to press in. It was now or never. Ketric stumbled
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  Speaker 1: his elbow shot back caught the captain in the stomach.
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  Speaker 1: With the same motion, he snatched the latter's heat gun, and,
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  Speaker 1: bending low, lunged to the left. The crowd parted before
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  Speaker 1: his onrush. Women screamed at the sight of the gun
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  Speaker 1: he waved before him. Kettric curd shouts and curses from
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  Speaker 1: the startled guard, but he knew they wouldn't fire into
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  Speaker 1: the crowd. A uniformed man loomed before him, swinging a
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  Speaker 1: gun fist up. Kettrick was quicker. The guard went down
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  Speaker 1: from a sledge hammer blow, greeting joyously, Ketric evaded two others.
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  Speaker 1: He twisted and turned through the crowd with some notion
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  Speaker 1: of gaining the tube car and escaping into the heart
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  Speaker 1: of the city. And it might have worked. Now a
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  Speaker 1: path was opening clear, But this time he really stumbled
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  Speaker 1: and lost his balance. Momentarily, it was enough to allow
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  Speaker 1: the guards to close in. Ketrick twisted, erect, felt clutching
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  Speaker 1: hands upon him, and heard the bellowing voice of the captain.
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  Speaker 1: He swung out with his arms, felt men flung backward.
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  Speaker 1: He tried to bring up the heat gun. This time
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  Speaker 1: some one else was quicker. A heavy weight crashed against
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  Speaker 1: Kettric's head. A sun exploded into millions of fragments, which
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  Speaker 1: dwindled away as he plunged forward into darkness. He regained
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  Speaker 1: his faculties quickly, his subconscious demanded it. This curious awareness
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  Speaker 1: in which Ketric had trained himself, had saved him from
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  Speaker 1: many a tight scrape. But now he did not open
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  Speaker 1: his eyes at once. He knew he was in the
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  Speaker 1: tube car, for he could feel the cushioned seat beneath him,
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  Speaker 1: and the faint vibration of the gyro motors. Then he
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  Speaker 1: became aware of another fact, he was alone. This brought
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  Speaker 1: him to his feet, wide eyed and alert. He felt
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  Speaker 1: the weight of his own gun again in his belt,
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  Speaker 1: examined it, found it still loaded. Strange. Where were the guards?
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  Speaker 1: Why should they be sending him somewhere alone? A glance
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  Speaker 1: at the khrysite window revealed a flashing panorama of the city.
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  Speaker 1: He knew he was moving it terrific speed, probably on
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  Speaker 1: a special right of way. To attempt an escape now
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  Speaker 1: would be suicide. He shrugged, settled down in the seat.
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  Speaker 1: His capture had been well planned, but he felt to
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  Speaker 1: see what the council hoped to gain by it. Kettrick
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  Speaker 1: felt a surge of cold fury at this treachery, a
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  Speaker 1: treachery in which Mark Travers must have had a hand. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: a breaking signal flashed green. The tiny car sighed, as
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  Speaker 1: though exhausted from its headlong route across the city. It
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  Speaker 1: came to a stop against the forward cushion of air,
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  Speaker 1: and the doors of Duroplum slid smoothly back hand near
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  Speaker 1: his gun. Ketrick emerged into a long, empty corridor of
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  Speaker 1: black and silver black marble walls, reached sheerly up to
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  Speaker 1: curve away into a filigreed ceiling. Priceless tapestries adorned the
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  Speaker 1: walls caught a hidden overhead glow and shattered it into
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  Speaker 1: lances of silver radiance. Kettrick frowned looking at these tapestries.
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  Speaker 1: Their design was interwoven with thousands of crop plumes, those priceless,
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  Speaker 1: silvery plumes for which he'd risked his life many times
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  Speaker 1: among the wild peaks of Ganymede. Only the very elect
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  Speaker 1: could afford them. He knew now he must be in
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  Speaker 1: Earth's council chambers again. He felt a tingling awareness, knew
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  Speaker 1: that unseen eyes were upon him. He straightened his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: and walked unhurriedly toward a massive door at the end
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  Speaker 1: of the corridor. As he neared it, there came a
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  Speaker 1: tiny click, and the door slid back. It was a
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  Speaker 1: large room, but startlingly bare. A huge table of Martian
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  Speaker 1: mangansha wood with a dozen surrounding chairs occupied the center.
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  Speaker 1: The only other article was a magnificent etheroro magnum with
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  Speaker 1: screen reaching nearly to the ceiling, an instrument powerful enough
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  Speaker 1: for communication with Venus Mars. Even the Callistian colonies Ketrick's surprise.
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  Speaker 1: Only one member of council was present. This man had
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  Speaker 1: risen as Ketrick entered. Kettrick stared, and it took him
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  Speaker 1: fully a minute to recognize this man. It had been
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  Speaker 1: four years since he'd last seen him out there at Perlac,
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  Speaker 1: but now Mark Travers seemed to have aged twenty years.
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  Speaker 1: Mark came slowly around the table, hand thrust out and greeting.
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  Speaker 1: Ketrick's voice was like a whiplash. Nice go in, Travers.
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  Speaker 1: I trusted you, so I came right into your little trap.
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  Speaker 1: What is it you want the frequency tuner? Or am
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  Speaker 1: I just plain? Under arrest? Mark stopped in his tracks.
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  Speaker 1: A pained look swept across his features. Ketrick went on mercilessly,
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  Speaker 1: and I expected a better reception than this. Where's the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the council. I'll save you time, though, and
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  Speaker 1: tell you that Perlac has ceased negotiating. We're prepared to
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  Speaker 1: fight for our independence and free enterprise in the system.
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  Speaker 1: I know that, Kettrick, I'll continue to champion Purlock's cause
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  Speaker 1: against all odds. Here, grim faced Mark began pacing the room.
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  Speaker 1: As for the eleven council members, they don't even know
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  Speaker 1: you've arrived on Earth. I'm risking my positioning council, perhaps
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  Speaker 1: my very life, by bringing an outsider into these chambers
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  Speaker 1: without a quorum present. Keatrick's mean underwent a change. You
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  Speaker 1: mean I'm not under arrest? Mark laughed, Of course you're not.
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  Speaker 1: That little show at the spaceport was faked. Had to be,
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  Speaker 1: and he smiled a little. Thanks for adding the touch
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  Speaker 1: of realism. Moreover, your spacer's in safe hands, well son, Congratulations,
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  Speaker 1: Keatrick grinned broadly. You sure had me fold. But what
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  Speaker 1: about the rest of the council. If they learn that
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  Speaker 1: I'm on Earth. By the time they do, it won't matter.
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  Speaker 1: You won't be here. Mark stopped his pacing, turned to
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  Speaker 1: the famed adventurer Ketric. I sent for you because I
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  Speaker 1: need you, desperately. Earth needs you. I have reason to
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  Speaker 1: believe that Earth is facing the greatest danger in its history.
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  Speaker 1: Earth the Bronze Exile spoke the word quietly, but with
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  Speaker 1: a world of contempt. Well then the entire system, even Perlack.
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  Speaker 1: I believe it will strike first at Earth. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: may already have done so. And this danger danger from
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  Speaker 1: what Ketric. You'll probably think me a fool, But I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. It's so damn vague, it's terrifying. I do
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  Speaker 1: have an accumulation of data that points to Mars. I
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  Speaker 1: want you to go there. Mars a second rate power.
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  Speaker 1: The race is dying out, and their science goes with it.
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  Speaker 1: Mark shook his head. Don't under a Darvajo. He's an
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  Speaker 1: old man now, but cunning, an opportunist. He's never forgotten
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  Speaker 1: how Princess Ala Danna of Venus, through her treaty with Earth,
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  Speaker 1: put an end to his dreams of conquest. Yes, I
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  Speaker 1: remember it well, Ketrick was thoughtful. But how could Darvago
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  Speaker 1: make a play now against the power of Earth, or,
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  Speaker 1: for that matter, Perlac. Mark permitted himself a smile. He
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  Speaker 1: didn't miss the implication that Purlac, too, was fast becoming
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  Speaker 1: a power to be reckoned with. I'll give you the facts,
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  Speaker 1: he said quietly, and you could judge about two years
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  Speaker 1: ago Darvajo stopped all uranium shipments from Mars. That in
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  Speaker 1: itself is comparatively unimportant. What is important is the Earth Council. Now,
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  Speaker 1: consider Ketric. I've been close to these men for four years.
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  Speaker 1: Very often it has seemed to me that where rudimentary
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  Speaker 1: logic should dictate a course of action, they incomprehensibly choose
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  Speaker 1: to follow another. So it was with this uranium embargo
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  Speaker 1: they might easily have forced a showdown, but instead they
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  Speaker 1: seemed satisfied with Darvago's peculiar evasions. Of course, about this
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  Speaker 1: time Earths quarrel with Purlac was reaching a crisis. But
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  Speaker 1: even there I noticed definite trends of irrational thinking on
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  Speaker 1: the part of the members. At our frequent sessions to
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  Speaker 1: discuss the Perlac question. They seemed to appreciate all the
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  Speaker 1: factors involved, even that we were fast losing our best
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  Speaker 1: scientific talent to Perlac. Yet their damned egotisms crept through,
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  Speaker 1: dictating to their reason. Ketric, I swear to you that
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  Speaker 1: when they voted sending a fleet of patrollers out to
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  Speaker 1: Jupiter to prevent your men from landing there, I did
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  Speaker 1: everything in my power to prevent it. But again my
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  Speaker 1: voice was one against eleven me. The majority vote of
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  Speaker 1: council is final, irrevocable. I have reason to know that,
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  Speaker 1: Ketrick said. But Mark, I still fail to see this
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  Speaker 1: danger you spoke of. I'm getting to it, and this
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  Speaker 1: is the part that's frightening. About a month ago in
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  Speaker 1: my own home, I set up a secret cerebro scanner.
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  Speaker 1: Know what that is? Never heard of it? It's new
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  Speaker 1: and plenty dangerous in the wrong hands. Works on a
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  Speaker 1: ray principle, produces elaborate graphs of an individual's mental and
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  Speaker 1: emotional coordinates well on a secret wavelength. I probe the
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  Speaker 1: minds of my fellow council members. Mark smiled, Yes, I'd
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  Speaker 1: probably received sense of death that they knew. But the
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  Speaker 1: end justifies the means kettrick. The resulting graphs revealed that
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  Speaker 1: the cerebral thaalmic coordinates of the council members do not
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  Speaker 1: vary in the slightest They are the same down to
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  Speaker 1: ten decimals points. Keatric gestured helplessly. Is this important, Mark
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: stared at him important? It's unprecedented, much the same as
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  Speaker 1: finding eleven identical sets of fingerprints. But what is worse?
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  Speaker 1: The graphs show elements of it's hard to explain, certainly
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  Speaker 1: not disloyalty, rather the opposite and intense loyalty, but governed
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  Speaker 1: by unreason. Their minds seemed directed along a single channel
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  Speaker 1: toward a definite end, and that is the utter humbling
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  Speaker 1: of Perlac. Nothing else seems to matter. Ketrick nodded. Then
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  Speaker 1: he asked the obvious question, did you employ this scanner
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  Speaker 1: on yourself to make the record complete? Yes? Needless to say,
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  Speaker 1: this tenacity of purpose concerning Perlac is utterly missing from
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  Speaker 1: my own mental coordinates. Hmmm, how do you account for that?
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  Speaker 1: I can't. But this mental trend in the other seems
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  Speaker 1: to be induced. Now you begin to see the implications.
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  Speaker 1: Ketrick nodded slowly. Yes, son, and you're right. It even
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  Speaker 1: begins to scare me a little. Suppose Darvajo in some
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  Speaker 1: way has gained control of those eleven minds. Is that
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  Speaker 1: what you mean? But why Darvajo? There's one more item
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  Speaker 1: that completes the pattern and points to Mars. During the
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: past year, as many as four of our spacers have
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: disappeared on the Earth Mars route. No trace has ever
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: been found. However, about a month ago, a lifeboat from
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: the missing Tarra three was found drifting near the orbit
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: of our moon. A board was one survivor, doctor Kurt Ransom,
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  Speaker 1: the brilliant physicist and mathematician, returning from a lecture to
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: on Mars. And could you learn nothing from him? No?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Mark's voice was tragic. We learned nothing because his brilliant
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: mind was gone. The doctor say it's doubtful he'll ever
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: respond to treatment. He babbles incessantly, has the mind of
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  Speaker 1: a weak old infant. Ketric was aghast. What is a
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: council done nothing? Of course, Mark laughed bitterly. They're preoccupied
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: with Purlac. I've personally contacted Devarjo on the Ethro Magnum.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: He expresses regret and puzzlement. Offers every aid in tracing
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the disappearing ships, but there's an undercurrent of evasion. As
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: a desperate measure, I sent two secret operatives to Mars.
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  Speaker 1: Good Ketrick nodded his approval. They get through all right, Yes,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: apparently just in time. Dvarjo has thrown a closed guard
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  Speaker 1: around the planet. Anyway, my operatives managed to set up
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: a communications base in the wilds of the Kamari Range,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: half a day's flight from Turrebak, capital of south Mars.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: I've contacted them twice. They report strange activities at Turebak,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: something in the nature of a vast scientific experiment, and
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: another thing. Dvarjo apparently has made a truce with the Rajakhs.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: The Rajaks, those Martian outlanders. Ketrick's face was dark with
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: real concern. This news seemed to affect him more than anything.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Mark had said. We've never really learned much about those
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: strange desert tribes. Mark went on, But it's impossible, Ketrick said.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Those outlanders hate the Upper Martians with a hatred beyond
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: our understanding. Nothing would impel them to make a truce.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Absolutely nothing, I know, for I once lived among them
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: for six months. Ketrick was as near to being excited
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: as was possible for him. Yes, Mark, I'll go to Mars.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: This really begins to interest me. End of section one,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Section two of The Dread Flame of Montonik by Henry Hasse.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain read by
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Cinda j M. Section two. They spent much of that
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: night in going over their plans. Ketrick had no misapprehensions
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  Speaker 1: about landing on Mars. He could do that despite Vajo's patrols.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Turebek presented the real problem carefully. He perused the telescrip
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: recordings from Marx operatives E thirty nine and E v five.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: There had only been two reports, and they were brief.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: This last one was sent two weeks ago, Mark said,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: and I haven't been able to contact them since the
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: channel's dead. I'm afraid it means their hide at was discovered.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Kettrick studied the rough map Market made showing the location
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: of the hideout in the Kamari Range and its position
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: from Turrebek. This will help. I'll try to get over
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: there see if anything's left to their sending equipment. Then
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: I'll want to make a try for the city. If
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I can get inside Turrebek and maybe get a line
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: on this scientific thing they're working up. I was at
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Turbek eight years ago and I know it fairly well.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Here's a photostatic air view. Mark said, afraid it doesn't
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: show much. It shows one thing, Ketric said, studying the film.
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  Speaker 1: Darvajo's had a wall built completely around the city that
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: wasn't there eight years ago. And those towers stationed around
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the wall, what do you suppose they are control towers?
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: That's an electronic wall. And you'll observe there's another within
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the city itself, surrounding that group of buildings, which must
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: be the laboratories, Ketrick, if you ever get in there,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: his voice dwindled away in doubt. You don't think I
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: can do it. I don't either, Mark not as an Earthman. Come,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: we'll fix that. They passed through endless corridors, arrived finally
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: at a large, white enameled room. It was complete with
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: operating tables, instruments, plastics, ray lamps, everything necessary to Earth's
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: espionage system. Ketrick's stripped piecemeal allowed every inch of his
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: superbly muscled body to be subjected to the stinging Ulmo lamps. Gradually,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: under the hot rays, the very pigmentation of his skin
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: changed to the deep reddish copper of a Martian. Mark
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: proved himself an expert at this. Even the insides of
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Ketric's ears did not escape the ray. Don't worry, Marked
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: al him. This'll all wear off eventually, Yes, how long?
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: In about two years? Now? Your eyes? You never saw
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Martian with gray eyes? Look up just a moment. A
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: few drops of liquid, a harmless vegetable composition changed Ketric's
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: eyes to a muddy golden color. Those bangs have got
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: to come off. Mark went to work in earnest ten
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: minutes under another ray, and Ketrick's unruly hair was transformed
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: into tight, crisp curls in keeping with the Martian fashion
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: his features presented the hardest problem, but Mark worked miracles
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: with the plastics and equipment. At last, the job was done.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: When Ketric surveyed himself in the mirror, he saw a tall,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: somewhat arrogant martian of the middle class, with slightly flaring nostrils,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: bulging cheek bones, and lips curving in a thin, cruel smile.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: He nodded more than satisfied. Mark consulted his wristchrono. Four
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: hours until dawn. Better grab a few hours sleep. It
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: may be your last for a while, sure, but I'll
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: rest better if I know one thing. Where's my ship?
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: My guards moved it secretly to the underground repair locks
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: right now. It's undergoing as radical a change as I
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: just performed on you. Mark smiled. When you leave Earth,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: it will be in a slow powered or freighter, ostensibly
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: bound for the Moon. An hour before the dawn, Mark
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: wakened Patrick, but Mark hadn't been idle in those hours.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: He handed the other a small compact instrument. Here's a
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: scanner disc I just finished assembling. It only works within
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: a very short range, but you may have need of it.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: They took the swift tube car across the city and
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: arrived at the spaceport amidst surprising activity. A Kalistan freighter
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: had just burnt. Bright lights were trained upon it, min
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: and trucks were moving about handling the cargo. I planned
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: it for this hour, Mark explained, because now less attention
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: will be drawn to you. We can't be too careful.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: He pointed to a dark far corner of the field
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: where a clumsy bulk rested. Believe it or not, that's
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: your ship. The exterior has been changed, but that's all.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: You still have the frequency tuner. They'd paused for a
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: moment in solemn thought. I can't impress upon you too much, Ketrick,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: what's this? That's right, Mark, you can't, so let's not
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: mention it. Ketric was brusque. Believe me, Son, I know
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: what I'm up against. Send any news at all as
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: to what Devarsho's up to. If I learned that I
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: can rouse the people of Earth's preparedness in spite of
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: the council, he thrust out his hand. I'll say goodbye
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: now and good luck, Ketric said, simply, you'll be hearing
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: from me Mark. He moved across the field, keeping to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: the shadows. The collar of his space tunic turned up.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: He wondered how many of the men working about this
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: field were Martian specials, some of them. Surely, if he,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: an Earthman, could be molded into Martian guise, Darvajo could
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: certainly perform the same miracles in reverse, and probably had.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: He reached his ship undetected. All was dark and quiet.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: The hull, he noticed, had been painted solid black. He
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: entered and flicked on lights. Mark was right, nothing on
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: the inside had been changed. He explored the ship to
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: make sure. Then he moved forward to the control console,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: remembering that this was supposed to be a clumsy moon freighter.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: The rockets roared, the ship moved with slow acceleration up
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: the step blocks to finally catapult into the stratosphere, and
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: five minutes later, just as he was clearing Earth's gravity,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: he heard the voice behind him. Well, ket Trick, at last, really,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: I thought, but you were never going to make it.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Ketrick had long since learned caution in these matters. He
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: turned slowly now and was glad he did. The first
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: thing he saw was the gun, a powerful weapon, an electro.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: The fist wrapped around it looked firm and experienced Ketric's
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: gaze went to the man's face. It was the captain
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: of the Guard, the same captain who had met him
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: at his landing eight hours before. The man was cold eyed.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Now he kept a few paces away from Ketrick. Ketrick said,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: I searched the ship. Where were you? You failed to
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: look in the emergency fuel locker. It was a tight
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: squeeze for me, He smiled, tightly, surveying Ketrick's transformed figure.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: A nice job, slightly tall for a Martian, but withal
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: very nice. Too bad, all that ingenuity has to be
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: wasted at the very outset. Ketrick's must tightened, as though
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: it were a signal. The other's voice became brittle up
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: up with those hands, Kettrick, I have a few questions
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: to ask. And then it seemed ridiculously easy the way
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Ketric did it. He let his eyes go dull. He
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: sighed and raised his hands slowly. He saw the other's
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: gun fist relax ever so slightly. Then Ketric's legs gave way,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: and he went swiftly downward. The captain fired, but Ketric
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: wasn't there. His powerful muscles had launched him forward beneath
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: the hissing beam. His shoulder caught the other just below
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: the midriff and bent him double, carrying him backward. They
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: crashed into the control room door. Ketric's left hand found
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the other's gun wrist and twisted powerfully. A bone snapped,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the electro skidded away. The captain began a curse, but
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: it was cut short by Ketric's right hand at his throat.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Ketrick pulled the man to a sitting posture. He gazed
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: deep into the eyes, which were glazing over with pain.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: It was not enough to prevent the true color from
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: shining through the color of dull, tarnished gold, I thought so,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Kettrick murmured, and then his hand loosened, bawled into a
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: fist that drove forward. The man laid back and went limp.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Kettrick's fingers probed the other's face. The man was a martian,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: all right. The features had been subdenly altered enough to
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: fool even Mark, captain of the Elite Guard. How long
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: had the man masqueraded in that position, Ketric wondered, and
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: then he shrugged. It didn't matter now. He went through
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the man's clothes, found nothing of interest until he came
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: under the left arm bed there next to the skin
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: he found a tiny metal disk. He rose went over
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: to the wall light to examine his find. The disk
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: was perforated with queer Martian characters. Ketrick knew Martian, but
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: he couldn't quite make these out. He bent closer. A
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: sixth sense wardened him, or perhaps with some slight sound,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: he whirled. The Martian's hand had moved, was now grasping
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: the electra, which he swung up into line. Ketric's hand dropped,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: and he fired his own heat beam from the hip.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: The beam cut a clean swath across the other's chest,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: and he died without so much as a sigh. Sorry, buddy,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: whoever you are, Ketrick whispered. Guess I'd have had to
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: do that anyway, though, when Dvargo plants specials like you
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: on Earth, we don't play for fun. He fastened the
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: identification disk under his own armpit. Five minutes later, from
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: the starboard lock, he dumped the body into space, and
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: without a qualm, raided it to dust. Then, chomping with impatience,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Kettric allowed his freighter to plod moonward. He skirted within
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: five thousand miles of it, then, with a satellite as
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: a shield between him and Earth, he charted for Mars.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: His rush with the Martian operative had sobered him. He
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: began to realize that Mark had every reason for alarm.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: The subtle tampering with the Council's mental patterns, the placing
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: of operatives in high Earth positions, the secret scientific experiments
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: on Mars. They all had to tie in. He was
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: sure of one thing now, Dvarjo, an embittered old man,
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: was making one last bid which would bring his race
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to its former glory, or else carry it forever to
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: extinction with him. There were surely other Martian operatives on Earth,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: and they would have established a communications base by this time.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: They had undoubtedly flashed the news of his coming. Ketterick
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: smiled inwardly. Very well, they'd be expecting him at trey Rebeck,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: but he'd take the indirect approach all the way to Mars.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: His mind was at work. He was remembering days he'd
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: spent in that wild desert country of south Mars. From
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the tide of his thoughts, he segregated events, places and people,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: the canals and cruel deserts, the customs of the Rajahs,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: those fierce black outcasts from the cities of Mars. He
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: knew that before he got through to Trauerbek he'd need
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: all this already, a plan was forming. Twenty hours later
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: he sighted a Mars patrol six formidable spacers athwart and
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: earth route. They moved leisurely in perfect formation, and Katrick
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: knew their network of finder beams covered a large area. However,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: the power principle of the frequency tuner defied those finders.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: No challenge came through his open radio, which meant they
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: hadn't sighted him yet. A solid black ship was strictly
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: against the space code, but codes mattered little now. With
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: the ebony backdrop of space behind him, Ketric's ship would
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: be hard to detect. He decided to try a sneak
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: past them. He'd have to go into inferior plane, but
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: he was sure he could make it. Quickly, he changed course,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: swept into a sharp parabola that carried him far below
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: the elliptic. In a matter of minutes, he was watching
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: the Mars cruisers fade away into darkness. His present course
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: would bring him far over into Mars's dark side, but
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: that was what he wanted anyway. Hours later, the vast
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: south desert was rising up below him. Demios had just appeared,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: climbing with slow majesty across the sky. Phobos would come
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: a few hours later, pursuing its reckless course. Ketric peered
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: far ahead to the horizon. There, against the dark downward curve,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: he saw a faint glow that was not the glow
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: of Demios. He knew that must be the capital city
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: turrebek untold miles away. He made swift calculation to the right.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Then would be the Kmarie Range. He knew those mountains.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: It would be the very place to leave a ship.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: He dropped lower and headed for there. A pale ghost
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: glow of Daimio's didn't help much. He switched to infrared,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: peered at the V panel as it lighted up, and
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: saw the unmistakable Serratent line of mountains about twenty miles away.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: He judged it that close. Kettrick grinned proudly. It was
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: short lived. A Martian boy sliced through the radio, shrill
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: and commanding, ground you below there, you will ground immediately,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: or we blast. Then Ketric realized that for the past
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: several minutes there had been a faint humming sound from
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: above and all about him scarcely heard. He had relaxed
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: in his vigilance, and the Martian copters had picked out
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: his trail. Those fast powered and deadly scouting ships. They
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: too must be equipped with infra red. Even as these
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: thoughts raced through his mind, Ketric was acting. He leaped
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: away from the v panel, grabbed the control and threw
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: it over. Too late. Now the ship responded, but sluggishly.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: The nose veered sharply upward, trying to leap away. Then
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: the entire hull shuddered power beams. It must be a
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: vast concentration of them to stop frequency power. Slowly, his
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: forward progress was retarded relentlessly. He was being forced down
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: into the Martian sands again. The voice slices through. It
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: is useless, outlaw. We've had you and our finder for
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the past five minutes, and you are in a network
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: of power beams. Nullify your control immediately, or we blast
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Ketrick cursed Already his ship was straining at the seams,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: and now he felt insufferable heat all about him. Realized
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: they were using the beams. His stomach turned over as
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: he thought of his rocket tubes loaded with fuel. Quickly,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: he entered the starboard lock, stood peering down. He was
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: dropping fast above him. Now he saw hosts of vague shapes,
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: heard the whine of Martian copter blades cutting the air.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: The metal under his fingers was growing hot. He counted
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: to five slowly and leaped outward. It might have been
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: thirty feet or fifty. Kettrick only knew that he was
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: plummeting downward. He let his muscles go limp and just
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: in time, he hit the sand hard, rolled over once,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: and knew that no bones were broken. Above him, he
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: saw the pale glow of heat beams, saw the hull
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: of his spacer grow cheery red, and suddenly realized his danger.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: He staggered up and went plowing across the desert, still
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: mentally counting off the seconds eight, nine, ten. The explosion
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: lighted the sky for a hell filled moment, Ketric went
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: hurtling forward to land head foreboast into the sand. Parts
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: of his ship came thudding down about him. One fragment,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: red hot landed against his arm and burned it severely.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Other fragments scattered over a wide area. Ketric was cursing,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: now unconsciously using the monosyllabic Martian in which he had
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: versed himself then it was all over. Ketric was glad
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: of only one thing. His ship was gone, but the
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: frequency tuner had gone with it. The Martians would never
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: get that priceless power unit. He rolled to his back
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: and looked up. It was not over. A few coptors
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: were descending to view the wreckage, or perhaps to look
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: for him, had they seen him jump. Powerful searchlights began
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: crisscrossing the area again. He staggered up, went forward into darkness.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Every mussel ached, but his eyes were alert for the beams.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Whenever one passed near him, he flattened into the sand,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: and after untold agonies, he judged he was fairly safe.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Far behind, he heard the drift of excited Martian voices.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: He didn't rest. He kept going away from those voices.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: They might still be looking for him. He was utterly
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: confused in his direction. Now he could be going toward Turrebek,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: or toward Kamari Range, or out into the vast wilderness
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: to the south. One of those dark storms was sweeping up,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: and Demios was hidden. Soon the sharp sand began to
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: pelt him. Ketric turned up his collar and plowed on.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: He remembered that those storms usually, but not always came
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: up from the south. He guided his direction by that
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: and plunged on. At least one thing settled, he muttered,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: after a while, I'm relieved of the problem of hiding
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: my ship. End of section two Section three of Dread
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Flame of Matonac by Henry Hasse. This LibriVox recording is
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Read by Cindy J. M. Section three.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Through adventures on every far flung world, every barren satellite.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: Ketric's uncanny time awareness had never failed him. It didn't
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: now he knew that it was precisely one hour and
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: twenty minutes later when he saw the flickering lights, so
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: he couldn't have come far. He saw the lights, but
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: once quite a distance ahead and low against the ground.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Then they were gone. As the sand rose in renewed fury,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: he moved cautiously. Now he didn't see the lights again,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: but knew he was going toward them. Kettrick was no
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: stranger to this south desert. Now the old nameless awareness
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: was with him. It may not have been anything he heard,
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: but he suddenly knew that very close, just beyond the
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: radius of his vision, unknown shapes moved through murky darkness.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: The very sands seemed to whisper the danger, but Ketric
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: heard other sounds. Now. The sounds he heard were sullivant footsteps,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and they were patient, very patient, As they kept pace
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: with him. He became suddenly motionless, held his ears attuned.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: The soft footsteps stopped, but not before Kettric determined that
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: they were on both sides of him now, and probably
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: behind him as well. He nodded grimly and went on,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: no longer trying to tread softly. He loosened the electro
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: in his belt. These might be Rajaks, or they might
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: be the scavenger rats that trailed a man until he dropped.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: In either event, he knew very soon. They came hurtling
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: out of the darkness at him, great black shapes, silent
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: and swift, but they were man sized, which meant they
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: were Rajaks. His electra was out, but he didn't get
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: a chance to use it. A muscular hand seized his
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: arm and bore it painfully backward. Other Rajaks crowded in.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: Even at this close range, Ketric could see little except
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: their eyes fereral as flaming topaz. Even Ketric could not
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: fight that which he could not see, but He tried, tried, grimly,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: until the weight of their bodies bore him down. He
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: remembered that these people could see in darkness. They undoubtedly
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: saw he was Martian, and his life would be forefoot
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: unless he was trying to remember something else, something out
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: of Rajak legendary. A single word. It came to him then,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: and he ceased fire. He whispered the word fiercely, Sorella.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: It was magic. The clutching hands loosened. He could feel
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: the black, muscular figures draw back. Hesitant. You are Martian,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: one of them, hissed, But Sorella, I tell you. Ketric
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: spat the word, I am one of you. They helped
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: him to rise, but kept firm grip on his arms.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: We will see come. They went forward through the darkness.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: Presently they were mounting a slight rise. From the top
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: of it, Ketric looked down at the campfires of a
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: Rajak caravan, a large one. As they moved down the slope,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Ketrick realized he'd have to stick to his word. His
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: mind raced building up a brief but he hoped suitable story.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: He was sufficiently versed in Martian history. He knew that
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: eons ago vast tribes of these black skinned Rajaks had
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: been dominant on the planet, but the Upper Martians, so called,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: had progressed phenomenally. They were superior in the arts, social government, science,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and their culture of warfare. They had swept down from
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: the north, expanding, building their cities and developing their waterways,
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: the now famous Canals. A bitter thousand years war had
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: driven the Rajaks ever southward into the merciless deserts. There
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: they had stayed, waging periodic but feudal warfare, wild and tribal.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Now they still had never forgotten. The Cirella was a
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: fanatic inter tribal society, persisting through countless generations, dedicated to
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: a relentless hate of those Upper Martians. And Kettrick knew
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: what few men knew that among the Cirella were many
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: renegade Martians, outlaws, and embittered politicals, usually working through the
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: society for personal gain or revenge. Ketrick had his story
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: ready as they came into the camp. The Rajak leader
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: was sent for. This man was large, well proportioned, the
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: muscles beneath his ebb and skin highlighted in the glow
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: of the central fire. He was armed merely with a
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: razor edged dagger in a jeweled belt. Ketrick, looking at him,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: felt respect and a certain foreboding, the latter occasioned by
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: the slight, enigmatic smile about the other's lips. The man
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: eyed Ketric with equal interest, his keen gaze lingering overly
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: long on his Martian features. He certainly noted the electra
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: which Ketric retained, but it didn't seem to bother him.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: He spoke at last, in Martian, you claim to be Sorilla.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: We will need proof of that. What is your name?
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Uh ah, Yes, Koshan, and where do you come from?
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: Lo Tilly? Keatrick named a small mining camp far to
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: the south. Been prospecting there for six months, trying to
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: make a stake enough to get up to Turrebek. Yes,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: we too go to Turebek. You knew that Keatrick allowed
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: puzzlement to show in his eyes. The other went on,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: you seem surprised, Koshan. Had you not heard then that
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: your Emperor Darvajo has signed a treaty with the consolidated
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: tribes of Rajak. I had not heard, and I believe
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: you lie. The Rajaks would never make treaty. Keatrick hoped
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: his disbelief sounded convincing. It is true the Black shrugged,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: but that does not matter. You're going to Turebak matters
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: a foolhardy thing to attempt alone. The enigmatic smile, still lying,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: But then, being at Lttilli for so long, you are
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: not aware of Devajo's scouts everywhere. This area has become
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: thick with their copts, especially in the last few hours.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: There was calculated meaning in the last words. Ketrick decided
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: on a bold stroke. He said, calmly, yes, I am
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: aware of it now. They blasted my plane out of
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: the sky scarcely an hour ago. Perhaps you saw that
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: we all have observed a slight display in the sky
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: to the west. You know Koshin word reaches us swiftly
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: in many ways. It is rumored that Vajo's scouts are
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: seeking to apprehend one who may come here from earth.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: The Black paused, but Ketric's eyes never flickered. They may
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: even search this area. They know our campus here. There
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: should be a reward of many Martian credits for capture
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: of the one they see. Katrick shrugged. That explains why
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: they fired at me. I guess they mistook me for
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: that one. The Rajak's smile vanished abruptly. His next questions
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: came fast. You are Sorella. Why are you Sorella? Political? Irreconcilable?
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: My father was a political before me. Where do you go?
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: In Turrebek, where the street of the double Moon makes
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: juncture with a low canal, is a tiny shop dealing
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: in curios from the far planets. The proprietor is one
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: johl Thurlow. I go there for a meeting with him,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: and the reason the reason. Quickly, Katrick's gaze leveled, and
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: he said, slowly, you would not expect me to tell
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: you that he too is a political. You can quote
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: the oath of the Sorella. Katrick had been waiting for
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: that one. Now. In a low voice, he quoted the oath,
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: which not all Rajaks, very few Martians, and probably no
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: earth Man save himself, had ever heard. It was a
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: strange and terrible oath, an oath hallowed in blood, and
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: its implications would have made some men blanche, But Ketric
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: spoke it feelingly. He finished the words and looked closely
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: at the black space. The man was satisfied, and strangely
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: moved Alibet Slightly puzzled, he drew a tremulous breath. At last,
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: you have proven you may go on to Turrebek with us.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: We travel afoot and the way is slow. But certain
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: that is agreeable, the leader drew Ketric aside out of
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: hearing of the others. At the rear of our caravan
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: is a small group of Martians prospectors from the nearby mountains,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: a ragged, harmless lot, whom we tolerate. I think it
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: advisable that you travel with them. Darvajo's specials are station
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: and along our route. Ketrick nodded curtly started to move away.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: The Rajak stopped him. This mining camp, you mention this
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: Littulli where you have been for six months? Is it
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: not far far to the south, at the extreme end
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: of the Kamari Range. That's the place Ketric was on
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: his guard. I thought you would like to know. There
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: is no Latali. The entire town was wiped out in
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: a great avalanche three years ago. Oh, yes, one more thing.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: The black was smiling now, looking at the place on
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: Ketrick's arm where the hot chunk of metal had burned
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: the sleeve away. That is a bad burn, and a
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: strange one for a Martian. Ketrick looked at his injured
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: arm for the first time. Around the area of the
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: burn was a tiny outline of white, the white skin
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: of an earth man, showing through. Only the keen eyes
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: of this Rajak would have noticed it. I'll give other garments,
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: the man said, you'd better burn these. Good night, and
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: sleep well, Koshen. But Ketric didn't sleep well. He burned
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: his garments and donned the others. He then found the
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: camp of the Martian prospectors. There were six of them,
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: all asleep. Now. Katrick found a place by the fire
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: and lay awake, speculating the Rawshak leader he trusted. The
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: man was undoubtedly of the Sirella, but these six Martians
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: would be suspicious of him, a newcomer. If they hadn't
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: yet heard of the search for a spy in the area,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: they would certainly hear of it on the morrow, and
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: they'd report him to any of Darvajo's specials they met
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: along the line of March. That last thought gave Kettrick
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: his answer, a temporary one, at least. At dawn the
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: caravan moved. The six Martians were surprised at this newcomer,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: but not yet suspicious. Ketric didn't give them time to
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: be beneath his armpit. He produced the thin disc which
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: he'd taken from the slain martian operative. He flashed it, briefly,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: asked a few kirk questions, and the men were properly cowed.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: Apparently they knew the power of Vajo's specials just routine.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: Keatdrick told them, I'll travel along with you for a while.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: Determined to play his role to the hilt, he added,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: we can't be too careful in these times. There may
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: be Sirella among these damned Drajacs, but we'll find them
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: out before we get to Turrebak. Darvajo has gone too
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: far in his plans to have them thwarted. Now by
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: tactical conversation, he sought to learn something of what was
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: going on at Turrebak. It soon became apparent that these
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: bedraggled men didn't know and cared less. One of them
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: had heard of Dvarjo's coming to Turrebek with a complete
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: staff of scientists, but that's as far as his knowledge went.
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Another of the men had heard of the true and
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: wasn't surprised. I've seen it coming, he said gruffly. Many
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: years I've lived in these deserts, and I'd tell you
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: the Rajacks aren't the same, especially the last few years.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Something just seems to have gone out of them. Something
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: indeed had gone out of the Rajacks if they made treaty.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: Ketric wondered what kind of magic Darvajo had used to
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: bring that about, More particularly, why there was some sort
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: of link here between the Rajaks and whatever was going
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: on at Turrebek, and that, in turn was a pivot
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: in Vajo's Lodger plan, the plan that would deal with Earth.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: Ketric just couldn't piece it together as yet. He'd have
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: to get to Turrebek, he thought, fleetingly of those electronic walls.
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: The sun climbed higher, hot and dry, sapping the strength.
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: Ketrick marveled at the long line of marching Rajaks. There
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: were perhaps two hundred long years in these deserts had
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: inured them to discomfort. Again, he wondered why they were
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: going to Turebek. Almost he was tempted to go up
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: and speak again with the Rajac leader. The man's name
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: was Arnatto, he learned, but he thought better of it.
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: At high noon, they stopped for rations, and a few
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: hours later the Martian coptors came over. They came from
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: the direction of the city, circled once, and flew leisurely back.
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: Ketric wondered what that meant. He was soon to know. Presently,
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: Leonardo dropped back, fell into step beside him, and drew
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: him away from the others. You saw the coptors, yes,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: Kettrick replied. Trouble ahead for you, perhaps, o mysterious one
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: out of the desert. Those coptors mean there is a
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: surveying station ahead, and the specials will be there. Apparently
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: they are still searching for the spy. These surveying s days.
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: What do they do there? Oh they're diabolic, these specials
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: of Ajos. They have machines which chair a man's mind
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: apart probe into his inner thoughts. No spy could ever
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: get past them. Then, how do you propose to get by? Oh,
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: grinning one the black continued to grin. True, he said frankly.
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: I am Cirella, and there are several others among us.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: We shall get by the specials all right, and into
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: Turrebek by the main gate. For the past year we
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: have prepared for this through systematic thought control. We can
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: submerge our truth thoughts so that all the machines will read,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: will be obeisance and loyalty. Seems ticklish, Katrick said, but
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: I guess I'll try that too. He had no intention
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: of trying it. He was watching Arnato's reaction. Listen to me.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: Arnatto was serious, gripping Ketrick's You could never manage it.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: It takes months to perfect such mind control, and you
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: have only hours. I do not know why you wish
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: to get to Terrabek, but you quoted the oath to me.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: I know of another way into the city for you.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: It will be perilous, but not so perilous as trying
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: to run the gauntlet of specials. I am listening, Oh,
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: helpful one, We will reach this station before sundown. If
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: you should leave the caravan now and cut across the
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: desert to the foothills, you will be safe once over there. Now,
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: it was Ketric kugrinned. I know once over there I
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: might find the entrance to the ancient South Canal. Are
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: not always amazed. You know of that too. I've heard
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: of it, but don't know the exact location. Arnatto pointed
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: to the Kamari range, indicating twin peaks that curled up
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: like devil's horns. Guide your course directly between those. The
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: canal ends somewhere in the foothills below. Thank Sarnado, Ketrick
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: placed his hand on the man's shoulder in the Rajak custom.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: May I repay you some day. That day may come soon,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: the other said, calmly, I can almost promise it. Ketrick
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: wondered what he meant by that, but wasted no more
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: time on words. Turning abruptly, he set out across the desert.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: The six Martians watched him go. One of them, who
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: had been silent and surly, frowned thoughtfully now as he
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: stared after Ketric's retreating figure. Ketric judged the hills to
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: be fifteen miles away at this point. He'd be lucky
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: if he reached them before nightfall. After that, well, there
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: were tales about those abandoned canals. He directed his course
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: between the curving peaks. In a few hours, the ground
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: began to rise slightly become firmer underfoot. Still later, deep
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: little gullies began crossing the terrain. He followed these, changing
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: from one to another, searching for some sign of the canal.
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: After an interminable search, he was rewarded. He began to
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: notice peculiarities of the gully in which he trod. It
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: seemed to level out, and the wall seemed smoother and higher.
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: He scraped away layers of sand saw ancient stone. By
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: this time, the sun had dropped below his vision. He
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: knew that any minute the Martian night would come with
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: awful suddenness, and with it would come other things. But
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: Ketric was unprepared for what came. In that moment, he
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: heard a sudden, sharp whir of blades, and a copter
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: appeared above him. It swept so low he could almost
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: see the pilot. There was no doubt the pilot had
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: seen him, for a heat beam sliced downward swept along
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: the canal floor. Kettric leaped aside, hugging the sandy wall.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: Then the copter was gone, but Ketric knew it would
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: circle and return. That could only mean one thing. The
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: caravan had reached the station, and one of those Martians
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: had spoken of him to the specials. Ahead. Through the gloom,
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: the canal seemed to dip into a sort of culvert.
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: He raced for it as he heard the whirring blades
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: again entered the dark tunnel just as the heat beamed
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: sprayed downward, sending the sand into molten froth. Ketric groped
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: forward in darkness. The tunnel leveled and continued. Kettric's heart
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: leapt as he realized where he was. This was one
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: of the abandoned canals that had been filled with slag
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: from the Martian mines, but years ago pirates had conceived
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: of the unique idea of burrowing through it, making a
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: perfect retreat from Turrebek to the mountains. Suddenly he started
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: far behind. He heard a scuffle of steps that could
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: only be the Martian Special There was no doubt now
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: that word had gone to Devarjo. They really wanted to
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: stop him. Kettrick grinned and went on hurrying his steps.
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: A little Rajaks could see in the dark, but Martians couldn't.
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: If it came to a showdown, His grin soon vanished
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: all about him. Now he heard vicious, little animal squeals,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: the scuffling of tiny feet scavengers. There must be thousands
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: of them. He saw their baleful red eyes. They gradually
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: grew bolder began nipping at him. Soon his trousers were
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: in shreds from the knees down, and he felt the
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: flow of blood. There was one satisfaction. The martian coming
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: behind must be suffering the same treatment. But the man
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: kept coming. The footsteps were dogged, and Ketric knew he
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: had a real antagonist here. Now the scavengers were becoming
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: more than annoying. He knew that before he ever reached
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: the city, he would weaken from loss of blood and
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: they'd pull him down. He could use the electro to
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: clear a path through the vicious beasts, but he knew
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: the one coming beyond was waiting for that, waiting for
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: any sign of light that would give him a clear target.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: Ketrick gritted his teeth and went on, occasionally kicking out
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: at the beasts in the dark. It didn't do much good. Then,
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: far ahead, he saw the faintest glow of light. It
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: seemed to come from around a bend in the tunnel.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: If he could only get up there in time and
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: beyond that light before his pursuer came into view, he
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: sprinted a head now noiselessly, the scavenger, squealing in renewed fury,
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: racing along beside him. Once he stumbled felt a horrid
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: mass of the thing swarming, but he fought his way up.
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: By the time he reached the light, he was sure
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: he'd gained a considerable distance on his pursuer. He hurried
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: around the bend, saw the faint light came from a
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: radium lamp in the ceiling. It had probably been there
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: for years. But what held his attention and brought him
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: to a standstill was the figure huddering against the wall.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: It was an earth man, and he was still alive.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: His clothes were in shreds, and the rats had been
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: at him before he reached this light, where the rats
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: did not come. He struggled up weakly gazed at Ketric
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: out of idiotic eyes. Ketric hurried forward, pulled the man
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: erect one, look into his gibbering face, and Kettrick felt
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: his stomach turn over in a prodigious yawn. It had
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: taken more than the rats in darkness to do this.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: The earth Man's mind had been literally and deliberately blasted.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: Katrick suddenly remembered what Mark had said of doctor Ransom,
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: whom they'd found drifting near the moon, his mind that
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: of a weak, old infant. He hurriedly searched the man's
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: clothes but found nothing. He knew this must be one
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: of the operatives whom Mark had sent a month before
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: E thirty nine or Eve five. The other must be
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: dead somewhere in this tunnel or back at their communication's
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: base in the mountains. He spoke softly to the man,
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: but the other only cringed in terror. Then, with unexpected strength,
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: he tore himself from Ketric's grasp and was scuttling away
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: back around the bend of the corridor. Kettric followed, called
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: a warning. He reached the bend too late. He heard
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: the hiss of a heat gun and saw the vivid
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: blue streak of it from out of the darkness, a
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: streak that touched the earth Man's chest and sent him crumpling.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: Keatric fired at the spot where the ray it appeared,
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: fired instinctively but unerringly. He heard a soft moan that
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: ended abruptly, then a clatter of sound. He moved slowly forward,
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: hugging the wall. He feared a trick past the little
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: radius of light where the earth Man's body lay. He
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: stumbled upon the Martian special. He flashed his electro again
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: and saw the man was unmistakably dead. He went back
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: to the Earthman stared down for a moment, there was
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: no doubt that he had unwittingly saved Ketric's life. Guess
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: you served your purpose hereafter all, Ketric murmured, but his
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: thoughts at that moment were not as calloused as the words.
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: With a few strokes of his electro he removed the
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: Krysite globe of radium from the ceiling, and carrying this light,
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: he was no longer bothered by the scavengers. For hours,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: he proceeded along the tunnel. At last, infinitely weary and
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: racked with pain, he reached a blank wall. Searching around it,
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: he at last found a loose stone, which he pulled away.
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: A tiny metal lever was revealed. After tugging interminably at
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: it and pounding the rust away, Ketric managed to pull
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: it slowly back. The entire wall swung around on pivots.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: A blast of foul air struck him. Ketric stepped into
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: a small passage. He recognized it as one of the
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: underground sewers of Turebek. He followed it and came to
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: a short flight of stone stairs leading up to a
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: hinged door. Slowly he shoved it open. He was in Turrebek.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: This was one of the narrow winding streets in the
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: warehouse district. He glanced at the sky. It was night.
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Demios was gone below the horizon, but Fobos rode high
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: on liquid sapphire. Ketrick rested there for a few hours
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: until Phobos descended. Then, in the utterly dark hour that
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: proceeds dawn on Mars, he crept forth and sought the
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: shop of one Joal Thurlough in the street of the
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: Double Moon and of section three section four of Dread
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: Flame of montonac by Henry Hasse. This LibriVox recording is
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: in the public domain read by Sinde j m. Section four.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: He found the shop in a twisting little street that
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: seemed to cringe from the to the city. The insigna
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: of jowl Thurlough was still upon the door, and Ketric
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, after persistent knocking, the
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: door opened a trifle and Ketric saw the wizened little
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: face of jowl Thurlough. The shopkeeper's eyes were dark with suspicion.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: I was told I would find one jow Thurlough here,
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: Kettrick said, glibly. I come with news of a secret
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: shipment rare caledonnus furs from the plains of Io. At
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: this ungodly hour, Thurlow grumbled sleepily. It is the proper
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: hour for such matters, though, sulky one, permit me to enter. Now,
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: are I take my news elsewhere? Thurlough opened the door,
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: and Ketric slipped into a dark room that smelled of spices, perfumes,
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: and a miscellany of objects from the far planets. He
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: followed the little Martian through the shop and along a
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: dim corridor until they arrived at the living quarters. There,
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: under brilliant light, Thurlough faced him, Who sent you? Ketrick
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: answered carefully. He knew this little man carried a needle
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: gun in his sleeve and had used it on occasion.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: No one. I merely seek haven here. I once saved
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: your life on Demios. You remember it, Thurlow started visibly. Ketrick,
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: is it really you? But no, it cannot be. It's Ketrick,
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: all right, but Koshan for the time being, remember this.
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: He barred one arm and revealed a long, jagged scar
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: from shoulder to elbow. He further proved his identity by
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: recounting the adventure on Demios many years ago, in which
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: he'd received this scar while saving Thurrow's life. I must
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: remind you of the Martian blood debt, he ended. I
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: saved your life, and it is forfeit to me until
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: you repay. I have not forgotten. He looked at the
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: other born of bleeding legs. Come man, let me dress
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: those wounds. Then you can tell me why you are here.
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: Ketric recounted part, but not all. When he had finished
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: impressing upon Thurlough the urgent need to get inside Darvajo's laboratories,
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: the little Martian shook his head. I fear it cannot
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: be done. That part of the city is strictly forbidden.
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: Vajo's palace is there, and the homes of his scientists,
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: all surrounded by the wall. Even the few servants who
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: were permitted to pass in and out occasionally are painstakingly examined.
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: I've got to get in there, Kettric reiterated, and I
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: intend to wish I could help you. It might be
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: for the best. Darvajo is becoming as hated as he
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: is feared, yes, even by his own people. Something monstrous
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: and mad is going on in those laboratories. What can
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: you tell me about it? Thurlow's eyes became dark and
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: his voice lowered. Only this frequently, in the dark of night,
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: A faint, greenish glow comes over the city and only
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: lasts a few seconds, then withdraws into a pillar of
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: concentrated fire directly over the laboratories. Then it seems to
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: extend itself, lashing outward into space greenish fire. Kettrick exclaimed,
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: do you mean electronic power, Thurlow? No, not that at all.
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: I'm no scientist, but I know this is cold light.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: It's different, devilish. You may laugh at me, Kettrick, but
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: I will say it. These radiations seem alien to this
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: world and to this universe. They seem almost alive. But
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: Ketric did not laugh. He was remembering the mad survivor
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: of a missing Earth spacer. He was remembering the poor,
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: gibbering devil he had seen but recently in the tunnel.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: He thought of these and other things, and felt the
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: hair at the back of his neck began to rise. Why,
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: throw was grumbling, did Vajo have to come here to
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: conduct his devilish experiments? Why could he not have stayed
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: in the northern capital, Because here he's in close contact
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: with the Rajaks, Kedrick said experimentally, and watched for the
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: little martians reaction. Yes, Thurlow nodded, I can tell you
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: something about that too. Under the treaty, the Rajaks are
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: allowed access to Turrebek, or, if they wish, other cities
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: to the north. Vajo has even built a magnificent temple
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: here where they can carry on their own ritualistic worship. Well,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: I've seen those black caravans come into the city, quite
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: a number of them in the past weeks, but one
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: sees little of them afterwards. Of course, they may be
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: shunted further north. No, Ketric smacked a fist into his palm. No, Thurlough,
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: for some reason, they are needed here. It's all part
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: of Vajo's plan. I knew it. I care little about
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: the Rajaks. Thurlow shrugged. It is well that they disappear.
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: Ketrick thought differently. He lay awake in the little cubicle
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: to which Thurlough assigned him, his mind too turbulent for sleep.
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: The pattern, though still vague, was beginning to take shape.
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: At least he had gained entrance to Turebek. Tomorrow he
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: would make a short tur about the city try to
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: formulate a plan. At last, his tired muscles relaxed, and
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: he dropped into an untroubled sleep. It was high noon
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: when Johle Thurlough wakened him. The little Martian seemed strangely perturbed.
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: My friend, there is one at the alley entrance who
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: asks for you for me. Ketric was up instantly and
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: began dressing with deft, precise fingers. Who else would know
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: that he had arrived in Turebek. But his mind was
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: put at ease when he reached the rear entrance. Standing
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: before him was a somewhat bedraggled but still grinning figure
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: of Arnado, the caravan leader. Did I not say, Koshan,
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: that the day would soon come when you could repay me?
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: I remembered well your mentions of this shop, And when
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: Ketric hesitated, he went on, well, O, fugitive of the
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: dark tunnels? Am I not permitted entrance? Come in quickly?
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: Arnatto waved a hand cheerily. There's no need for alarm.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: I entered through the city gates as I said I would.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: The others have gone to the temple, but not I.
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: I will need a place derlow frowned, Ketric said, it's
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: all right, Thurlow. Arnado's a friend of mine. Please allow
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: him to stay. I owe a debt too, he turned
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: to Arnado. But listen, don't draw the specials here. I
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: can't afford that. I am caution itself, my friend, I
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: too have a mission here. Perhaps one night sanctuary is
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: all I shall ask, and your debt is paid. The
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: black still smiled, with all but his eyes behind them,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: Ketrick detected a hardness and cunning, together with a warning
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: not to ask questions. Kettrick had no intention of doing that,
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: but he made a resolution to watch this one if
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: their paths here should ever chance to cross, Arnatto would
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: be a tough one. Indeed, Ketrick left him in Thurlough's
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: capable but somewhat reluctant hands while he prepared himself for
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: his tour of the city. From the street of the
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: Double Moon, he emerged into the broader thoroughfare. Turebek was
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: the metropolis of the South, boasting of theaters, cafes, and
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: shopping centers, as well as a magnificent spaceport. Ketrick gave
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: but a glance to the overhead monocars, preferring to stroll leisurely.
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: He found the people, the streets, the queer facaded buildings,
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: much the same as he'd known them years ago. There
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: was one startling difference. At the end of this main thoroughfare,
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: A forbidding wall reared up to extend out of sight
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: in either direction. That was the wall around the laboratories.
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: Ketric could not possibly see what lay beyond. He made
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: his way slowly in that direction. Thurlow had furnished him
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: with apparel that stamped him as a prosperous, somewhat foppish martian,
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: perhaps a mercantile buyer. He stopped once listening to news
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: blaring from a public telesystem, but it contained nothing of
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: consequence to him, no mention of Darvajo or local events.
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: A few minutes later he entered a tiny shop dealing
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: in rare spices and tobaccos. He purchased a vile but
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: expensive Venusian cigar. He lighted and drew upon it with
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: evident relish. Ah, we do not find these often in Rochtal,
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: he said to the proprietor. Naming a city far to
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: the north, turn back has its advantages. After all, you
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: are a stranger here, Yes, I have just arrived. I'm
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: a buyer for vericks he saw. The man was impressed.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: I find Turrebek a fascinating city. But tell me the
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: high wall to the east of here, what is it?
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: They would not allow me to pass, And no wonder, sir,
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: Those walls surround the palace grounds and laboratories of our emperor.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: To be sure, I should have known that, Ketric smiled,
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: and when he spoke again, there was the slightest hint
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: of mockery. Ah, but you of Turrebek should be flattered
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: that our emperor chose your city to carry on his
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: noble experiments. The man hesitated, glanced around, but decided to speak.
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: I think you know we are not fortunate, sir. What
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: Tarvajo is doing may be for the best, but if
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: only we were informed. Ketric raised his brows in puzzlement,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: and the other went on, Eh, then you do not
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: know of it, But of course not. You have just arrived, well, sir,
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: it is to come again to night. At two hours
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: past the midnight, this morning's telenews warned all residents to
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: stay in their homes at that hour, And we know
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: what that means. Ketric knew too. The Green radiance which
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: Thurlough had spoken of tonight. He wanted to observe that display.
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: Then he thought of the Rajaks, the caravan of two hundred,
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: which had just that day entered the city. His mind leapt.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: Was it mere coincidence that upon this very day, he
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: said carelessly, I have heard that more of those wretched
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: Rajaks were permitted entrance this morning. It seems a stupid thing,
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: this treaty, which allows the outlanders to pollute our cities.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: It would seem so, yes, But Darvajo is cunning in
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: his way. Perhaps the blacks are shipped north to work
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: the uranium mines. Ketric dared to ask no more questions.
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: He left the shop and continued his toward the wall.
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: When he came within a block of it, he could
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: see that it wasn't stone as he had supposed. It
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: was heavy mesh duraplon, reaching twenty feet high. And still
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: higher were the electronic control towers. A touch of a
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: button would throw any section of this wall into flaming,
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: deadly radiance. Here was a formidable barrier. Ketric frowned looking
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: at it, but he didn't dare linger there too long.
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: He turned back was crossing the street when he heard
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: a warning shout and then a clarion blast. He leaped
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: to the curb just as a vehicle swept by. It
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: swerved sharply to avoid hitting him. Two others followed. They
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: were the three wheeled electronic powered cars native to Mars.
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: From the rear seat of the second car, a girl's
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: face peered out, a bit frightened at the near accident,
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: A golden face, lovely, with copper hued hair tumbling in
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: waves to her shoulders, and eyes large and blue as astreens.
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: This much Ketrick saw before the cars were gone. He
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: turned and stared. A section of the duraplon wall slid upward,
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: and the cars passed through, all except the last one.
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: It turned sharply and came hurtling back to where Ketrick stood.
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: A pompous martian climbed out strode angrily up to him.
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 1: You don't the Princess Parana might have been injured. What
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: were you doing here anyway? So near the grounds? Do
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: you not know it is forbidden? The Princess Parana, yes, now,
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: Ketrick remembered. Darvajo had a daughter. She had completed her
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: early education at one of Earth's best schools. That was
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: all of ten years ago, but she had been a
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: pretty child even then. Well answer me, or shall I
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: take you to the guards for questions. Ketrick came out
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: of his reverie and looked at this man, a high
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: servant at the palace. Probably judging from his manner, Kettrick
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: bowed coldly. I was not aware of the restricted area.
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: I am but newly arrived in Turrebek and have found
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: your city most charming until now. There was the correct
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: amount of annoyance in his voice, plus a subtle warning,
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: you wish to see my credentials, sir. The other's manner
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: changed for the first time he seemed to notice Ketric's
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: dignified dress and manner. He hesitated. I don't suppose that'll
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: be necessary, sir. A thousand pardons for speaking so hastily.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: But our nerves have been on edge, you know, ever
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: since the rumor that some of the Serralla would attempt
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: to enter the city. My dear man, I am sure
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: our Emperor's splendid guard can deal capably with these Serralla.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: I will bid you good day now, I have yet
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: to visit your charming shops. Ketrick turned haughtily began his
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: stroll back to the main avenues. He felt the martians
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: puzzled gaze upon him, but did not look back. He
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: did not look back until ten minutes later, when he
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: had the eerie sensation of being followed. He spotted the
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: man at once, undoubtedly a special, tall, cold eyed, a
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: bit too leisurely of manner. Kettrick smiled grimly and entered
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: a shop. The man followed. Kettrick came out, and the
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: Special was just the correct distance behind. At the next
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: loading platform, Ketric purchased a ticket, waited until one of
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: the mono cars dropped down from the single overhead track.
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: He entered the car, walked the length of it, and
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: exited on the opposite side. He hurried across an area
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: way and lost himself in the crowd waiting for the
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: opposite bound car, which just then hove into view. The
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: simple ruse worked. He boarded this car and there was
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: no sign of his pursuer. Dusk was fast coming upon
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: the city when he again made his way to Thorolough shop.
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: His mind still wrestled with the problem of the electronic
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: wall and how to get beyond it. He immediately discarded
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: the idea of an aerocopter in the dead of night.
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: There would surely be detector rays. Here was a problem,
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: call for planning and patience, and something else vaguely bothered him.
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: A vision intreated upon his thoughts, annoying but persistent, the
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: vision of a girl's face, lovely and golden, and of
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: section four section five of Dread Flame of Montana by
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: Henry House. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: read by Cinda j M. Section five. He entered the
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: shop and was startled to see a rashak emerge from
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: behind a counter piled high with silks and fineries. The
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: black was tall, elderly, a bit stooped, with a nervous
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: twitch at the side of his face. Ah, sir, welcome
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: to the humble shop of Thurlough. May I assist you
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: in a selection some of these rare laces from Io perhaps,
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: or these exquisite candelabra over a thousand years old, sir,
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: Yet they have found their mysterious way here from the
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: Demian temple of the ancients. Ketrick smiled a little, picked
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: up the candelabra and set it down a fake. And
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: so were you, aranto. I recognize you now, but not
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: at first, Arnto grinned, I think my disguise will do
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: not as thorough as yours. Of course, he added, where
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: is joh Thurlow back there preparing the evening meal. Ronto's
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: finely chiseled nose wrinkled appreciatively, and a welcome repast it
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: will be after our miserable desert fare. Thurlow had not
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: spared his talents, and the meal proved to be excellent.
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: Ketrick ate appreciatively, but in silence. Thurlow hardly touched the food,
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: seeming perturbed over something. Only Arnato was his old self.
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: More than that, his crisp manner, which Ketric had noticed
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: earlier in the day, was gone. He now seemed happy
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: and almost jovial, as he kept up a running conversation.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: He told of haggling with one of the customers over
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: a set of Venusian tapestries, finally getting twice the expected price.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: And look at this, he held to the light, a
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: crystalline jar that adorned the table. Would you look at it?
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: Koshin Vanadal, the nectar of the Gods, an ancient vintage too.
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: I found it hidden away far back on one of
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: the dark shells. I am sure, He smiled, slyly, that
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: our host can obtain more where it came from, so
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: let us drink to this occasion. He poured the blue
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: liquor into their cups. Yes, Kashan, an occasion that two
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: such as you and I should find our way here.
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: Ketric smiled, barely touched the stinging liquor to his lips.
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: When they had finished the repast, Arnado rose and excused himself,
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: but stood a moment hesitant. I must leave you now,
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: and I may have no occasion to return here. I
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: wish to thank you, Thurlow, for you have been most gracious,
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: and you, Kashan, we have been helpful to each other. Yes, Arnatto,
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: you more than I. Then the debt is paid. With that,
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: the black was gone out into the night, which swallowed
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: him up. Thurlow sighed, I hope he never returns. I
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: do not like that one if he is caught and
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: it becomes known I harbored one of the cirella here,
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: even for a day. I only did it for you, Ketric.
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: You needn't work. He's a clever one. But I wish
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: I knew what they were up to. Delfryon Divarjo's torture blades,
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: Thurlow prophesied. Ketrick thought of his own fate if he
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: were caught, but quickly put it out of mind. What
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: do you think they're up to, Thurlow? The little martians
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: spoke slowly. The Cirella they're apart from other Rajaks. Treaties
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: me nothing to those fanatics. They wish to strike at
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: de Varjo, and he hesitated, what better way to do
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: it than through his daughter, the Princess Pirana. Of course
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: that was it a bold stroke, but just such a
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: one as a society of Sorella would attempt. Kettrick realized
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: now that some such thought had been hammering at his
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: mind all the afternoon. He said, eagerly, tell me about her, Thurlow,
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: I caught a glimpse of her this afternoon, you did, Yes,
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: she visits the shops occasionally, always accompanied by a bodyguard.
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: The palace guard has been doubled too, since these rumors
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: of the Culrella. I'll wager her father would be furious
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: if he knew she had left the grounds this afternoon.
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: But that girl has a mind and a temper of
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: her own, so I've heard. Has she been here long? No?
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: She flew down from the northern capital only a few
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: weeks ago. That was against Fajajo's orders too. I think
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: he'll be sending her back soon. Ketric remained thoughtful. He
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: failed to see how Arnado and the others hoped to
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: reach her. For a Martian to get beyond those walls
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: would be a ticklish problem. For a Ruyshak, it would
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: be impossible. He heard Thurlow again. That's why I'm worried, Ketric.
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: Attention is being drawn to my shop this afternoon, and
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: elderly matron came in. I recognized her. She's been here before,
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: one of the Princess Piranha's personal servants. Go on. Ketrick
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: was listening now well. Arnado was in the front of
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: the shop. He sold her some Ionian laces. Then I
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: saw him speak to her in an undertone and hand
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: her a folded note. He doesn't know I saw him.
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: I don't like it, Kettrick. I a note. Ketrick's mind
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: was racing with the speed of Adam motors to be
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: delivered to the princess. No doubt, Thurlow tell me, does
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: Perana ever come here? She would never deign to set
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: foot in this humble part of the city, but she
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: has undoubtedly heard of my shop. That's it, Thurlow. I
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: think I see their plan now. If you will promise
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: to retire early tonight, I can guarantee that no word
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: of this will reach the Emperor's ears. Thurlow would have
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: promised anything. An hour later, all lights were out, and
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: Ketrick stood in the dark in front of the shop,
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: where he could see the street but remain unseen. If
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: his surmise was correct, he could thwart the plans of
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: the Cirella. Ordinarily he wouldn't bothered, but now he thought
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: he could turn it to his own advantage. The hours passed,
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: he watched the slow climb of Demios across the sky,
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: Its light scarcely touched this cringing little street. Once he
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: saw the dull lights of a freighter descending, and remembered
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: that just beyond this district was the freighter Spaceport. Occasionally,
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 1: a skulking figure passed, keeping to the shadows. Once the
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: flash of a heat pistol came from a nearby alley,
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: and a moment later the sound of running feet. Still
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: he waited, he lit a cigarette, keeping the glow of
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: it carefully hidden. He began to wonder if the princess
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: would venture into this place, after all, it seemed most
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: unlikely at this hour. It had been a crazy idea
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: to begin with. He was clutching its straws. That note
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: which Arnodo slipped to the servant might have meant something
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: else entirely. Ketrick dropped the cigarette, ground it savagely underfoot. Then,
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: with a sharp intake of breath, he leaned forward, peering
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: through the window. From the nearby corner, a dark vehicle
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: had glided into the street. It moved swiftly and silently.
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: It could only be one of the three whelled cars.
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: It stopped across the street from the shop of Thurlough.
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: For a minute, no one emerged, and Ketrick knew the
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: occupants were surveying the shop. He drew back a little.
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: Then two figures stepped out started across the street. One
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: was a woman. Her steps were unhesitant, even a bit excited.
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: Ketrick recognized the Princess Purana even from here. The other
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: was a man who seemed to be remonstrating with her.
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: The fool, the little fool, Kettrick muttered. But at least
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: she had sense enough to bring one of the guard.
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: Events happened then, with blurring swiftness, the shadows came from
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: somewhere out of the darkness, seemed to glide toward the
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: pair in the street. In a split second, they were
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: upon Piranha and the man. Too late, the guard sensed
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: the danger. He whirled, but in the same instant was
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: sinking to the street with a rajak dagger through his heart.
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: The other Rajak had clapped a hand roughly over the
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: girl's mouth, was dragging her back to the car. In
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 1: those few seconds, Ketric was tugging at the shop door.
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: It seemed to stick. He cursed, wrenched it open, and
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: flung himself into the street. His gun was out, but
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: he saw it was too late. Pirana and the two
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: assailants were already in the car. The motor was whining
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: to life. Ketric reached the car in two bounds just
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: as it hurled away. He flung himself blindly at it.
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: His hands managed to grip the rear wheel guard. He
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: clung to it, arms wrenching painfully as he was dragged along.
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: The car slowed, turning into the by street, and Ketric
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: managed to get his feet up there. He crouched precariously,
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: leaning his weight forward. As the car jolted through rough
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: streets and alleyways again, he cursed he'd lost his gun
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: back there. He didn't think they'd seen him. Though Pirana
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: had fought like a wild hella, they apparently had her
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: under control now, probably administered a drug. Ketric began to
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: take notice of their direction. They were deep in the
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: dark warehouse district. Suddenly his heart leapt. He knew where
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: they were going. They intended to get Purana out of
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: the city through that secret canal tunnel. He doubted if
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: there were a dozen men in this city who knew
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: of its existence, much less its location. Then they reached it,
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: Ketrick recognized the place knew he'd have to act quickly.
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: One of the Rajaks had gotten out was leaning over,
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: trying to lift the girl's limp figure down from the seat.
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: Ketrick stole forward, put all his weight behind the blow,
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: which landed at the side of the man's neck. It
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: was a dirty blow, but this was no time for niceties.
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: The Rajah crumpled slid forward against the car. What's the matter, Ranu?
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: The other was Aranto. Ketrick recognized his voice. Aranto came
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: around the front of the car then and took in
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: the scene. Ketrick was tense, but Aranto didn't move or speak,
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: not for several seconds. Then he said, slowly, so it
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: is you again, earth man. He was calling the terms correctly. Now,
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: I thought I had seen the last of you. Ketrick
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: glanced at Parana's unconscious figure upon the seat. His eyes
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: flicked back to Aranto. My debt is paid, Aranto, you
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: said it yourself. With that, his limbs uncoiled and he
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: hurled himself forward. Aranto met his rush, sending out a
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: straight jab as he allowed his body to sway aside.
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: The blow was glancing, but powerful enough to send Ketric
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 1: off balance. Kettric's lips went tight as he whirled back
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: to the attack. He knew he had his work cut
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: out for him here. Ronto seemed slim, but there was
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: weight there, and he knew how to use it. He
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: put it behind every blow. For a few seconds, Ketric
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: found himself parrying these blows, ducking and rolling and taking
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: a few on the arms, which numbed him. He managed
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: to get a few past Toronto's guard, but the Rajak
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: took them too and pressed his advantage. Ketric was satisfied
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: to back away for a moment. His legs were still
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: a little numb from crouching on the car. A crashing
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: right came through Ketric's guard, drawing blood from his mouth.
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: He countered and missed as the other leapt away again.
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: And yet again this happened, with Ketrick missing almost clumsily.
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: They fought in near darkness, and it was hard to
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: connect with that swift moving black body, so you would
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: interfere o crudely disguised one again. Arnado's fist came through
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: to send Ketric reeling back, but his legs were less
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: numb now and he began to coordinate his footwork. His
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: brain was lightning clear. Arnaudo laughed contemptuously, laughed with the
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: joy of battle, and pressed forward, throwing more lefts and rights.
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: They missed as Ketric danced away lightly as a hellac at.
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: Then Ketric threw a boxer's left, long and weaving that
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: found its mark that better, Oh, haunter of dark places.
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: He followed it with a right that crashed against bone,
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: and Arnatto didn't laugh again. Slowly, Ketric took the initiative,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: refusing to give way now and throwing his long left
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: to advantage. He used the other's feral eyes as focal point.
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: Aiming just below them, he sensed that the other was weakening.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: Ronto gave ground, slowly fighting back. His blows were still heavy,
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: but now his timing was off, and Ketric didn't give
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: him a chance to regain it. Ketric's own arms were
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: coming numb from stopping the other's blows. He shifted the
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: attack to the stomach, and Arranto's guard dropped. A wright
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: came up that sent the Rajak staggering. Ketric leapt in
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 1: for the kill, lashed with a left that sent the
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: black spinning half around. The right cross that followed immediately
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: was the one that did it. It caught Ernado at
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: the point of the jaw, just below his ear. By
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: the way he crumpled, Ketric knew he wouldn't get up
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: for some time. Ketric stood there for a moment, looking down.
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: A roaring was in his ears. A vast tiredness came
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: upon him. He wiped blood from his face and looked
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: at his bruised fists. A sound came from behind him.
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: He whirled. It was Piranha. She stood there, looking small
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: but somehow not frightened, Steering at Aranto's prone figure. She
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: reached into her tunic and drew out a small electro.
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: Before Kettric could realize her intention, she aimed it at Toronto.
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: He snatched the gun away just in time. You'd kill
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: him in cold blood. He's a Rajak, a member of
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: the Cirilla. Oh you realize that, do you? Well? Listen
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 1: to me, he thought fairly, had a dagger there in
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: his belt and could have used it, so he gets
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: a break. She turned an angry face to him, started
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: to speak, but he stopped her with a gesture. Quiet, listen.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: From somewhere near came the sound of scuffling feet. Ketric
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: moved swiftly to a little metal door between two buildings.
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: This was the door to the sewer, which in turn
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: led into the secret tunnel. Presently, it opened, and Ketric
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: saw the yellowish glow of eyes, Rajak eyes, many of them,
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: perhaps eight or ten. Ketric stepped back. He gave a
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: burst with the electro, allowed the beam to cut a
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: frothing path very near the doorway. The black figures drew back.
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: You get these too, and that's all, he indicate. Hated
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: Arnatu and Verano. Two of you stepped forward and get
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: them quickly. Now he gestured meaningfully with the weapon. Two
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: of the Rajaks crept out, watching him all the while.
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: They seized the limp figures and dragged them back. Ketric
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: followed all the way clear back into the tunnel. I'm
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: letting you off easy. Be glad you don't get Vajo's
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 1: torture plates for this night's work. He herded them all
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: into the tunnel, then swung the pivoted door shut. A
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: steady play of the electro beam fused the mechanism so
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: that it wouldn't work again. Ever, he knew they might
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: use their knives, loosing the stone blocks enough to gain
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: another entrance, but he didn't care about that. Now he
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: hurried back to the street found Prana still waiting. Her
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: fists were clenched and her voice sharp. You take a
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: lot upon yourself. Those were cirilla and should be turned
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: over to the guard. Not a word of thanks, no
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: show of gratitude. Katrick let his own voice rasp it
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: isn't important. You were a little fool to leave the palace.
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: Why did you do it? Then? You know I am
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: the Princess Piranha, and you you dare to speak to
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: me like that? She raised her fists, seemed about to
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: strike him. Then a thought occurred, realun he, where is he?
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: What happened? Then? She shuddered, as though suddenly remembering. I
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 1: suppose you mean your guard, Keatrick said, with no attempt
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: to spare her feelings. He's lying back in the street
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: of the Double Moon with a dagger through his heart.
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: Thanks to you, Thanks to me, she whispered, all the
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: spirit gone out of her. Now I shall never forgive myself,
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: he warned me, tried to stop me, even pleaded, And
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: when I threatened to come alone, Katrick said sternly, why
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: should you want to come at all to this miserable
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: part of the city. You're right, I was a fool.
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: Occasionally I send a servant to the shop of one
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: joh Thurlough to pick up a rare article that would
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: never find its way to Mars by the ordinary routes.
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 1: You understand, This afternoon, my servant brought me exciting news.
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 1: In his shop, jow Thurlough had a single bottle of
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: that perfume from the Damian temple of the ancients. Can
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: you understand what that means? That rare, that glorious perfume. Yes,
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: Ketrick could understand. He smiled at Arnautu's cunning women would
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: give their money, their jewels, everything they held precious for
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 1: a single dram of that perfume, which was so rare
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: as to be almost non existent. But Piranha went on.
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: It was to be smuggled away from Mars tonight. It
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: was to go to the Princess Aladania on Venus. The
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: note said that if I were to see joh Thurlough tonight,
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: I might persuade him. Katrick felt suddenly sorry for her.
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 1: She was almost in tears. It was a trick of
• 1:39:08
  Speaker 1: the cirella, he said, and jal Thurlow knew nothing of it.
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: As for the Demian perfume, my dear girl, I happened
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: to know that the last of it was smuggled to
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: Earth some years ago and sold for a fabulous price.
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: Kettrick neglected to mention that he himself had engineered the feat.
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: She smiled wistfully. You have saved my life and I
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: have learned a great lesson. I owe you for both.
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: She suddenly removed a bracelet of Martian diamonds. Keatrick waved
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: it away, and she frowned in puzzlement. Is it not enough?
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 1: It was not nearly enough. What he wanted was to
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: get beyond the electronic wall. He came near to hinting
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: at it, but checked himself. No need to press his
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: luck too far, He bowed elegantly. To have been of
• 1:39:59
  Speaker 1: service to you, Princess, is reward enough in itself. She
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 1: was impressed, insisted on knowing his name and where he
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: could be reached. He gave her the information with seeming reluctance.
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: She assured him she could make her way back to
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 1: the palace alone. You shall be rewarded, nevertheless, were the
• 1:40:19
  Speaker 1: last words Ketric heurred as she drove the car away,
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: and he smiled inwardly. He was jubilant, retracing his route
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: through the dark streets. Darvaja would certainly send for him tomorrow,
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: for he knew that Piranha would tell her father of this.
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: It was just past the midnight hour, and suddenly he
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: remembered something. This was the hour. But even as the
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 1: thought crossed his mind, the phenomenon came. It came as
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: a greenish glow rising above the city center, spreading swiftly outward.
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: As it spread like a blanket of palely pulsing light.
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: A frightening malignancy came with it. Then it touched upon Ketrick,
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: and he reeled. The cold light was all about him,
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 1: surging through him, tightening tendrils of it clutched at his brain.
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: A vast singing was in his ears. He fought back, fought,
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: as his mind reeled upon a chaos of vitigenous horror,
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: those light tendrils tearing at his brain eagerly, hungrily. Here
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: was Darvajo's weapon, and he knew it, even as he
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: fell to the street to lie, exhausted, his mind going away. Still,
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: he tried to fight, knowing it was hopeless, and agony
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: was in him, tearing at his fingertips and through every muscle,
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 1: wrenching at his brain, seeking to tear it apart, fiber
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: by fiber. He felt his sanity going. It was being
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: drained away, as liquid is sucked through a straw. He
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 1: laughed once, wildly. He felt other light tendrils seeking, seeking, hungrily,
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: all about him. With a last vestige of mental power,
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: he remembered again a gibbering madman in a dark tunnel.
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: Then the light was going away. It receded, rushing back
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 1: upon itself, coalescing into a mass of greenish radiance that
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: swirled and twisted angrily and tried to escape, Almost alive.
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: As Jalthero had said, Kettric rose and stood swaying, his
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: head throbbing as he watched it from afar. Now, the
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: spherical mass of it, deeper in hue and pulsing angrily,
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: hovered in the sky just above Vojo's laboratories. Suddenly the
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: sphere extended became a pillar of pulsing light trying to
• 1:42:41
  Speaker 1: leap away. And it leapt away faster than light swiftest thought,
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: hurtling through the outer reaches of space. Ketric didn't stay
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: to see more. He didn't need to. Even through the
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: cold needle fires in his brain, he had enough faculty
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: left to know that far out in space, in that
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: part of the heavens swam the planet Earth again. This
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: night Davarsha was testing, testing the power of his curiously
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: alive weapon. Kettric reached the shop of jal Thurlow, found
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 1: the jar of Vanadal, and downed enough of it to
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: put him into merciful oblivion. End of section five Section
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: six of Dread Flame of Montonac by Henry Hasse. This
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Cinda
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 1: j M. Section six. It was late the following day
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 1: when a car bearing the royal insignia drew up before
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 1: the shop, and one of the guards asked for Koshan.
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: Kettrick was ready. He'd been waiting for this. As they
• 1:43:55
  Speaker 1: drove toward the palace grounds, the two guards looked at him. Enviously,
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: you have won great favor with the Emperor for last
• 1:44:03
  Speaker 1: night's work, one of them said, he wants personal audience
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: with you. It would not surprise me if he made
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: you captain of Peranha's own guard. It is true you
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: were not supposed to be on the streets at that hour,
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: the other said, but Darvajo will overlook that. Considering the circumstances,
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: Ketrick remembered that Piranha was not supposed to be on
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: the streets either, but he didn't voice the thought. They
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: reached the electronic wall. One of the men gave the signal,
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: and a section of it moved upward. Their car passed through.
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: At last, he was inside the forbidden grounds. Kettrick remained
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: outwardly humble, but he kept his eyes open. They went
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: along a sweeping drive bordered by stately majaga trees. They
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 1: passed a few buildings fronted by splendid lawns. Then the
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 1: Palace itself loomed ahead, a magnificent two st structure of dark,
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: tul tight marble, but Ketric had no eyes for it.
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: To the left was a building equally imposing and covering
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: more area, which could only be the Royal Laboratories. It
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: was undoubtedly from that building that the phenomenon had come
• 1:45:17
  Speaker 1: the night before. He noticed the roof, in particular, glass covered,
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: curving into a shallow dome. If Darvajo favored him, he
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: could get a position in there. Then they were past
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: the building and approaching the palace. The audio tube near
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 1: the driver's head crackled to life, and a voice came through.
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: Ketric couldn't hear the words. A startled look appeared on
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: the guard's face. Are you sure? He said? My orders were?
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: These are new orders. Obey them. Kettrick heard those words
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: all right. The audio went dead. The driver wheeled the
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: car around abruptly headed away from the palace. Something wrong,
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: Kettrick asked, Plans have been changed. Darvajo doesn't want to
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: see you quite yet. The man's voice was grim. Keatrick
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: felt a sudden foreboding, Where are you taking me? Then
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 1: no answer. Kettrick glanced at the guard sitting next to him.
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 1: This man had gone grim too. As his hand rested
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: lightly on the electro beneath his tunic. Kettrick couldn't guess
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: what had gone wrong or why, but he knew he
• 1:46:26
  Speaker 1: wasn't going to see Darvajo. Under favorable circumstances, he went
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: tight inside. They stopped before a low stone building. The
• 1:46:35
  Speaker 1: driver came around, opened the car door out he ordered curtly.
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: Kettrick came out. He launched himself bodily, his fists, smashing
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 1: the other's face and making a bloody smear of it.
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 1: The man staggered back. The momentum carried Kettric out of
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: the car and to his knees. He heard the rush
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: of the other guard whirled to meet it, too late.
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: He only saw the dark blur of the man's arm
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: coming down in a swift arc. Then heavy metal crashed
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: behind his ear, leaving him stunned. His muscles wouldn't pull
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: him up. The blows came again, more than once, heavy
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: and accurate. He plowed forward on to cold pavement as
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: his mind blanked out He came again to consciousness, groaned
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: as heavy pain hammered through his skull. Gradually, his eyes
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: focused upon the details of the room. There weren't many details.
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: It was a small room, quite bare. The floor was stone,
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: but the wall seemed to be of thick chryssite. Dim
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 1: lights filtered through. There was no entrance of any kind
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: that he could see. So you are awake at last,
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 1: earth Man, and none the worse for wear. The voice
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: came from within the room. Ketrick raised his head stared
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 1: at the opposite wall, a section of which had taken
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: on the silvery radiance of a televise imaged. There were
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: the features of Darvajo. Ketrick recognized him immediately. It was
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: an elderly face, but smooth, with the color and toughness
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: and texture of old leather. The lips were tight and purposeful,
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: The cheekbones bulged beneath crisp, graying hair. And the eyes
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 1: they held ketric. They weren't old eyes. They were hard
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: and bright as jewels. An indomitable light came up from
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: the dark depths of them. Darvajo spoke again from the screen,
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: as you see, I prefer to hold audience with you
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: in this manner. You are a dangerous man. Yes, very
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: dangerous to have come so far through my space patrol,
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 1: passed my specials into the city and passed the inner
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: wall itself. The lips quirked a little. Yes, I have
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 1: determined everything about you. Your name is not Koshan but
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: George Ketric. I have heard something of your exploits in
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: the past. You are the spies sent here by the
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 1: Earth counselor Mark Travers. Again, he paused, you are not
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 1: surprised that I know all this. If he was surprised,
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 1: Ketrick didn't show it, and the slight shrug he gave
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: he knew the voice would go on. I have learned this,
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: Bajo said, within the past few hours. You see, we
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 1: too have a development of the scanner beam. This beam
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: was trained upon you from the very moment you drove
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: into the palace grounds. We learned your true identity and purpose.
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: Ketrick went dry inside. It would have to be that
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: the one thing he couldn't have foreseen. He spoke to
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: the screen. Very well, so I have lost I suppose
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: I can expect no reward for saving the princess. Something
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: showed in the dark depths of Bajo's eyes amusement, but
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: he spoke thoughtfully, very well, you shall have your reward.
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 1: I think I will send you back to mark Travers
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: in a most unique way. Quite suddenly, then ket he
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: knew the reason for the beam that he had seen
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: launched into space, and almost he grasped the principle of it.
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: He felt his insides twisting up into cold, hard knots,
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: but he managed to say, you mean that just part
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 1: of me will go? Fajo chuckled. So you saw last
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 1: night's display, felt a taste of it, perhaps, and you
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 1: have guessed. Yes, your surmise is correct. We utilized the
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 1: Rauchak caravans two hundred yesterday, and fine specimens they were.
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 1: But they are now mere walking hulks, devoid of all
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: but the most meager mental impulses. Their bodies will be
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: sent north to work the uranium pits. Their minds have
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: already been absorbed into my shall we say, weapon, increasing
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 1: its potential considerably. Ketrick's frame seemed to twist inside his
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 1: skull until he could not tell whether he felt horror
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: or fury or both. He only knew he must keep control,
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: learn more of this grisly thing that Vajo was conducting
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: with human minds. He found his own voice, hard and dry, saying, yes,
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: I saw it last night, felt it, but still I
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 1: cannot understand. He passed a hand across his forehead in
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: seeming bewilderment. He heard Vajo say it cannot matter now,
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: for my beam reached Earth last night. Yes, it would
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: please me to tell you something of it. You must
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: have heard of the ancient city of Montalk, lying far
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: beneath Mars polar cap, and the sentient thought force that
• 1:51:36
  Speaker 1: came from outer space or another dimension. No one ever
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: knew to land at Montaku, where it remained for untold centuries.
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: Through all that time, the entity remained barely alive, unknown
• 1:51:49
  Speaker 1: to man, sustaining itself by sending out invisible radiations that
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: fed on Martian mines. And you must have heard of
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 1: the earth man Jim Landor, who found his way there,
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: and Droy the entity leaving it crushed beneath tons of ice.
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: All this was before your time or mine, over a
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: hundred years ago. Ketric nodded, he'd heard the story many times.
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: Darvaja went on. The story of the thought entity beneath
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: our ice cap had always intrigued me, he said, so
• 1:52:20
  Speaker 1: several years ago, I sent some workmen to uncover that
• 1:52:24
  Speaker 1: ancient city. Yes, you have guessed, the entity hadn't died.
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 1: It remained there, insentient but alive, frozen into suspended animation
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: beneath miles of ice. It was then that I remembered
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 1: the stories of its power, its insatiable appetite for the
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: mental forces of man, And thereupon I evolved my scheme.
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: It has been dangerous, Ketric, but I worked slowly and carefully.
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: The first step was to waken it, which was easy.
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 1: The second step was to keep it under control, so easy.
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 1: But I managed this by means of uranium rays, which
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: seems to be the only thing capable of combating the
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: entity's own peculiar atomic structure. That was the reason for
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: my uranium embargo. I've had to increase the potential of
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 1: these controlling rays as the entity grew in size and power.
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: You mean you've fed it allowed it to grow? Ketric
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: was aghast listening to this cold blooded recital. Of course,
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 1: how else was I to reach Earth with it across
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: miles of space? That was my ultimate goal? But how
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 1: it must have taken a tremendous Surely, the Rashakhs were
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 1: not enough, Bajo smiled blandly from the screen. I told you,
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: I work slowly. I began by communicating with it telepathically. Yes,
• 1:53:59
  Speaker 1: it's a highly intelligent entity, and it wishes to remain alive.
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: It seems it came originally from a world in another
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 1: dimension bordering on ours. It was the creation of a scientist.
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 1: On that world, the entity became dangerous, threatened to get
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: out of control, and could not be destroyed. The scientist
• 1:54:20
  Speaker 1: rigged up a contradimensional device, which hurled it out of
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: that dimension. It landed, quite by chance in ours on Mars,
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: near Matonac. So we made sort of a pack the
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: entity and I I wished it to grow in size
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: and potential, but not at the sacrifice of my own people.
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 1: I told it something of my plans. It in turn
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 1: told me how to build a contradimensional machine by which
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: to project it back into its own world. I managed
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 1: this at last, adding a reverse control by which I
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 1: could always bring it back fully. A dozen times now
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: it has crossed the dimensions. Whenever I brought it back,
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: it had fed. You understand, It was satiating itself upon
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: the populace of that other world, until finally it revealed
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: to me that there was no more the other dimension.
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: World was barren of sustenance. By this time, however, I
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: was almost ready. It had grown tremendously in size and power.
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: I always added more rays to keep it under control.
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: Then I began testing for Earth, allowing it to reach out.
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: Have you realized what a terrible weapon concentrated and projected
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: thought can be. Several times it touched Earth's spacers, absorbed
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: the minds aboard them, and Darvajo shrugged. I had to
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: send out my patrollers afterwards to destroy the spacers, but
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: never were we quite able to reach Earth. It would
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 1: take more potential, just a little more, and where was
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: I to find it? Then I thought of the rash Acts.
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: I made treaty with them, the temple here to attract them.
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 1: I guess you know the rest. Ketric knew the rest
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: and more. He knew that Earth would have to capitulate
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: Devajo's demands or face destruction by a mind destroying, mind
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: feeding entity now capable of reaching across space. Venus would
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 1: undoubtedly be next, leaving Devarjo in control of the inner planets,
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 1: including the colonies recently established on Jupiter's moons. So Ketric,
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: I shall send you back to mark tavers Darvajo was saying,
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: four days from now the orbits of our two planets
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: reach their nearest juxtaposition. Then is when the entity shall
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: reach out again for Earth to give another sample of
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: my power. Bajo smiled maddeningly just before he caused the
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: screen to blank out. And isn't ironic that you, or
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: rather the mental part of you, shall be an infinitesimal
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: part of it? End of section six Section seven of
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: Dread Flame of Matona by Henry Hasse. This LibriVox recording
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Read by Sinde j M.
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: Section seven. It seemed hours later when Ketric awoke, he'd
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: tried in vain to find a way out of the smooth,
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: chrysite walled room. He had sought to loosen one of
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: the heavy stones in the floor, until with bleeding and
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: broken nailed fingers, he had fallen into a sleep of
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 1: sheer exhaustion. Now in the exact center of the room,
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: he noticed a platter of food. He frowned until it
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: dawned on him that it must have been lowered from
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: the ceiling. He glanced up, but if the entrance was
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: there it was tightly closed. Now he ate the palatable food,
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: but noticed the platter was of light plastics, could not
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 1: possibly be used as a weapon or anything else. Made
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: another search through his clothes, knowing it was useless, but
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: suddenly he remembered the tiny scanner disc which Mark had
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 1: given him. He had strapped it tightly to the underside
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: of his arm, and it was still there. He could
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 1: think of no use for it now. However, he was
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: still pondering this when his attuned ears caught a faint
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: sound of footsteps overhead. A moment later, a section of
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: the ceiling slid back. Framed in the square of light,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: Ketric saw a face golden and a bit frightened. Piranha
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: Ketric's heart leapt speak softly. She whispered, You are in
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: a room directly beneath the main palace. Father is gone
• 1:58:40
  Speaker 1: for the moment, and I took this chance. Why are
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: you here, she spoke quickly. A few hours ago I
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: tuned my televise into this one. I heard everything he
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 1: told you. It's horrible. What he's doing, unbelievable. I hadn't
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 1: known before. I knew he was conducted some sort of experiment,
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 1: but this the shock of it. Even disbelief was still
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: mirrored on her face. Prana listened to me. Doesn't your
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: father have an ethomagnum here capable of reaching Earth? Yes,
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: in his own private quarters. She was puzzled. You must
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: get to it, tune it into the Earth beam. Then
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: give me a channel from this televise here into that beam.
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: If I can reach Mark Travers, I'll have him send
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: the Earth fleet. He saw her hesitate. She knew that
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: Mars patrollers could not stand against Earth's mighty armada. She
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: was visioning the holocaust, the destruction of Martian cities and
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: her own people. Ketric went on quickly, Prana, you've been
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 1: to Earth. You spent most of your girlhood there, and
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: you must remember it still have a fondness for it.
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 1: The green forests and wide lakes, the mountains, the unreal
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 1: clouds in a blue sky, and the people who treated
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: you kindly. All this will go unless you act surely.
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: Mars is my world, she was murmuring, my own people,
• 2:00:10
  Speaker 1: To consign them to another horrible war. Mars would never recover.
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 1: It will not come to that. If Earth takes the
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 1: initiative sends its fleet in a surprise attack. The display
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: of power will be enough. Tarvaga will be helpless in
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: the face of it. Ketrick was not at all sure
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: this would be the case, but here was his only chance. Quickly,
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 1: we haven't much time, Prano was wavering. You saved my life,
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 1: she whispered, Yes, I will try. She tossed an electro
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: gun down to him, her own gun, then she was gone.
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: As the ceiling door went shut, Ketric waited facing the wall,
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: which he knew was the televise. Minutes passed seemed to
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 1: lengthen interminably. If he couldn't get through to Marrow. If
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: Farana failed to gain access to the ether Magnum, that
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: was his last hope. He wondered if she knew how
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: to operate it. Suddenly, a pale glow came across the wall,
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: wavered for a moment, then deepened. He was looking into
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: a luxurious room, which must be somewhere in the palace
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: above him. At the far end, he saw the magnificent Athromagnum,
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: with Parana standing before it, manipulating the controls. He heard
• 2:01:26
  Speaker 1: the ascending whine as selenic cells poured power into the beam.
• 2:01:30
  Speaker 1: Then minutes passed as it gained full strength at last,
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: a voice came through, faint and clear, Mark Travers's voice saying, cautiously,
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: go ahead, go ahead, you're on earth Beam, Katrick speaking Mark,
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: listen carefully now and act fast. Mass the earth fleet,
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: get it to Mars. Blast the city of Turbet, clear
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 1: off the planet. If you have to things the fleet,
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 1: Mark cut in, is already on its way in full
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: battle formation. Something happened here about thirty hours ago that
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 1: I suspect is Vajo's work touched an area just south
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 1: of Kansas City. It's horrible everyone within that area. Spare
• 2:02:10
  Speaker 1: me the details. I know them anyway. Darvago plans to
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: give you another taste in three days on what I
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: think will be a vastly wider scale. After that, he'll
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 1: probably give his ultimatum. What is it he's got there?
• 2:02:24
  Speaker 1: Mark's voice was harried, and where are you? No time
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 1: to tell you now? You wouldn't believe me anyway, and
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 1: there's no defense against it except to get that fleet
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: here and fast. I only hope the beam went suddenly
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: dead for a second, the screen blurred. Then Ketrick was
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: looking into the room of the Ethromagnum again, but it
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: was a different scene. Now different because Darvajo strode swiftly
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: into view. He approached Purana, who straightened up suddenly from
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: the magnum's panel. Vajo was trembling with rage, but Piranha
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 1: faced him defiantly. For a moment, no one spoke. Then
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: Vajo turned facing the screen so Kettric could see him.
• 2:03:06
  Speaker 1: Anger was still on his face, but something of triumph too.
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: I really should thank you, Ketric and my daughter. I
• 2:03:14
  Speaker 1: couldn't have planned it better myself. So the entire earth
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: Fleet is coming, and I am warned. I shall wait
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: until they are almost here before use my weapon. Yes,
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: it should cover the entire expanse of the fleet at
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: one stroke. And after that he shrugged, permitted his cruel
• 2:03:33
  Speaker 1: lips to fashion the faintest of smiles. After that, what
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: shall I have to fear from a fleet manned by
• 2:03:40
  Speaker 1: mindless idiots? Yes it will be a master stroke. Again,
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: I thank you. He flicked off the control the screen
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: before Ketric's eyes went dead, almost as dead as the
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: hope within him. The fleet might have gotten through and
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 1: taken Vajo unawares if it hadn't been for him. Now
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 1: Voja was warned, and Ketric knew it was no idle
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 1: boast he had made the awful power of the endity
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 1: was quite capable of dealing with the earth fleet, especially
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: as the commanders had no idea of the type of
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: thing they were facing. That it would strike suddenly and completely.
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: Ketric had no doubt. His soul was bitter within him.
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: He had but one chance left, a wild, improbable chance,
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: but he mustn't miss it. Was hours later when he
• 2:04:31
  Speaker 1: again heard footsteps overhead. He threw himself to the floor,
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: pretended to be asleep. The elector was in his hand,
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 1: carefully concealed beneath him. As he thought it was a
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: guard bringing him food from lowered lids. He saw the
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: ceiling trap slide back, slowly at first, then wider. The
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 1: guard leaned over, concentrated on lowering the platter of food
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: on a long cord. When it had almost touched the floor,
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: Ketric brought out his hand and fired. It was as
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 1: simple as that. The man's body toppled through the opening,
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 1: made a dull thud on the floor below. So far,
• 2:05:07
  Speaker 1: so good, Ketric thought grimly. He bunched the dead man's
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 1: limbs under him, stood upon the sagging shoulders, and leapt
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: for the opening. A moment later he was swinging his
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: body up and through. He was in a dim carpeted corridor,
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: probably part of the servants quarters. He hurried softly past
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: a row of doors to the end of the hall,
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 1: then up a short flight of stairs. A heavy door
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: faced him. He pushed it open cautiously, then stepped out
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 1: into a small flower garden. It was night, but Phobos
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: was making a brilliant path across the sky. Unfortunate, but
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 1: he'd have to make the best of it now. He
• 2:05:44
  Speaker 1: hugged the shadows until he got his bearings. This was
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 1: the rear of the palace, he realized. At least that
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 1: was lucky, for it brought him closer to that glass
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: domed building, which he was sure was Fojo's laboratory. It
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 1: should be somewhere to the left of here. Swiftly across
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: the garden, he passed through a tall hedge which concealed
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 1: him from the palace. He followed the shadow of it
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: all the way to the left until he came in
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 1: sight of the laboratory building. It was eyeing only fifty
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: yards away, but fifty yards drenched in Fobo's glow. He hesitated,
• 2:06:17
  Speaker 1: but there was no other way. He started across the space, leisurely,
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: remembering he was still Martian. The building was dark, there
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: seemed to be no guards about. He was wrong in
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: the latter surmise, he learned when he almost reached the building,
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: a voice challenged him. Almost the same instant, he saw
• 2:06:36
  Speaker 1: the man deep in the shadow of an arched doorway.
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 1: Ketric veered toward him, grunting something in reply, and raised
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 1: a hand in casual greeting. The guard hesitated. Ketric came
• 2:06:46
  Speaker 1: two steps nearer. The guard dropped a hand to his gun,
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 1: and Katric hurled himself forward, low and hard. The impact
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 1: carried the guard backward. Their combined weight crashed into a door,
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 1: nearly taking it from the hinges. Ketric grows quickly, but
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 1: the guard didn't rise at all, and Ketric knew his
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 1: luck was still with him. He changed his mind. A
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 1: second later, he heard shouts and pounding feet. Guards were
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 1: all about the place, probably stationed at each of the doors.
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: For a split second, Ketrick hesitated. The only way now
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: was in. He hurled his weight forward, and the already
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: weakened door crashed open. He hurried recklessly through the darkness.
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 1: He touched a smooth marble wall allowed his fingertips to
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 1: brush lightly along it. As he ran, His racing feet
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: sent up echoes in the hollow place. The guards were
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: crowding through the doorway behind him. Now suddenly lights leapt up,
• 2:07:41
  Speaker 1: Just as suddenly Ketric swerved aside. An electro beam hummed
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: came so close to him he could feel the swirling heat.
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 1: He hurled himself into a dim cross corridor as more
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: electros lanced out. But Ketric was an expert at this game.
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: He raced for a stairway he could see just ahead.
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: He was half way up when the others came into
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: view below him. He whirled gave a sweeping burst of
• 2:08:03
  Speaker 1: his own gun that sent them tumbling back out of range.
• 2:08:06
  Speaker 1: He gained the second floor corridor. Suddenly the lights came
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: on there too. Someone at the master switch was throwing
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 1: on light all over the place. Ketric preferred darkness. He
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: couldn't keep this up. Interminably, feet pounded on the stairs.
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 1: Now he opened the nearest door, slipped into a dark room.
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 1: There he stood, breathing heavily as the pursuers pounded by.
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 1: He waited until their footsteps died away, then opened the
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 1: door a crack. It was almost his undoing, a beam
• 2:08:38
  Speaker 1: creased his hair. He drew back, then suddenly flung the
• 2:08:40
  Speaker 1: door wide and fired at the man they had left
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 1: to guard the stairs. His beams sliced across the guard's
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 1: wrists and his guns spinning, but the man's scream of
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: pain sent up shrill echoes that would bring the others back.
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: Ketric bowled the man aside as he leapt for the
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 1: stairs leading up. At least he'd gained a few minutes.
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 1: He wasn't fleeing blindly. Now he had an objective. He
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 1: was sure the place he sought light above, somewhere near
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 1: that great curved glass roof. He reached the third floor
• 2:09:09
  Speaker 1: and continued upward. Then he groaned. The stairs ended at
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 1: the next floor. A heavy metal door barred his way.
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 1: He wasted precious seconds fumbling at the complicated mechanism. Was
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 1: about to use his electro to burn it away, when
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: the great handle slid down under his pressure and the
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: ponderous door swung aside. He leaped forward into more darkness.
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: There he paused elector raised. This would be cutting off
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: his own retreat, but he had to do it now.
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: The beam lashed out, played across the door's inner mechanism. Gradually,
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 1: the tough metal fused under the heat. Ketric made a
• 2:09:45
  Speaker 1: thorough job of it. Was satisfied at last that it
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 1: would take them some time to blast through, But he
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 1: couldn't hear them ount there. They should have reached the
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: door by this time. He frowned, then drew out the
• 2:09:58
  Speaker 1: short wave scanner disc. He pressed the stud and tiny
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: coils hum to life. He moved the sliding sheaves around
• 2:10:04
  Speaker 1: the rim, and at last a thought impression came through
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: a jumble of them. Ketric knew his pursuers were standing
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 1: on the stairs, hesitant and a bit frightened, staring at
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 1: the metal door. Then a stronger impression came out of
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 1: the thought jumble, as one of the guards spoke, shall
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 1: we go ahead, we can burn through the door enter
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: that place. Came in answer, and Ketric felt the mental
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 1: shudder that came with the words, I'd sooner go unarmed
• 2:10:34
  Speaker 1: into a den of Hella's. Other thoughts agreed. Ketric grinned
• 2:10:39
  Speaker 1: there in the dark. He knew now that somewhere beyond
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: him must be the lair of Devajo's entity, and these
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 1: men were deathly afraid of it. Finally, another thought stabbed through.
• 2:10:52
  Speaker 1: Very well, there's no retreat for him now. Anyway, we'll
• 2:10:55
  Speaker 1: wait here, but one of you hurried to the palace
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: and bring Darvajo. Ketrick acted quickly. Then he found the lights,
• 2:11:02
  Speaker 1: saw that he was in a small metal walled room.
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 1: On the opposite side was another door, and near it
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 1: was a tall case containing half a dozen protected suits.
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 1: He hurriedly dawned one. It wasn't hard to guess what
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 1: they were, for the suit itself was of light mesh beryllium,
• 2:11:18
  Speaker 1: topped with a heavy krysite helmet. Again, he brought his
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: weapon into play, destroyed the other five suits. Let Vajo come.
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 1: He would hardly dare enter this den without protective gear.
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 1: But even within the suit, Kettrick didn't feel quite safe.
• 2:11:35
  Speaker 1: He still remembered the power of the thing he had
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 1: felt the previous night. His stomach turned over in a
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 1: frightened yawn as he stepped through the opposite door. And
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: of section seven Section eight of Dread Flame of Matonac
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: by Henry Hasse. This LibriVox record is in the public domain.
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 1: Read by Cindy J. M. Section eight. He was on
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: a wide balcony. Near at hand was a televise a
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 1: control studded panel and other complicated machinery overhead, seeming so
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: near he could almost touch it. The great laboratory dome
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 1: stretched out and away in its vast curve, while below
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 1: was emptiness. Now for the first time he realized the
• 2:12:31
  Speaker 1: gigantic proportions of this building. One hundred feet below, he
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 1: saw bare floor, probably twice that distance away. Straight across
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 1: from him, he could make out the opposite wall. There
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 1: was nothing more nothing in all that maw of space.
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: Peering at the walls, he saw strange instruments protruding, short
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 1: and tubular. Literally thousands of them, reached from the floor
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 1: to the height of this balcony, stretching away across the
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 1: walls as far as he could see. Ketric thought he
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: knew what they were, but he had to be sure.
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 1: He looked at the controls all about him. One huge
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 1: panel contained thousands of studs. He depressed one from the
• 2:13:12
  Speaker 1: far away opposite wall. A ray of white light needled
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 1: out and slightly downward. He swept his hand across more studs,
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 1: and other beams lanced out from the four walls, dozens,
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: ten hundreds. Kettric was satisfied. Here he knew were the
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 1: controlling rays which Vache had spoken of. He shut the
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 1: rays off and looked further about him. There was only
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: the televise and two other instruments. One was merely a
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 1: wheel six feet in diameter, the other was a machine
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: complicated beyond anything Ketric had ever imagined. Giant tubes, coils,
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 1: and alien looking grids nestled in the bulk of it.
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 1: Cables thick as his arm led to the nearest wall,
• 2:13:56
  Speaker 1: thence upward to the lower rim of the glassite dome,
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 1: and completely round it. From there, other caples dangled downward
• 2:14:04
  Speaker 1: for a few feet into empty space. Ketric approached the
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 1: control panel. It seemed simpler than he had supposed, but
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 1: he studied a while before reaching out a tentative hand
• 2:14:15
  Speaker 1: to the first switch. The coils shrieked maddeningly. Then the
• 2:14:20
  Speaker 1: sound ascended the scale and passed beyond the audible. The
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: giant tubes pulsed to life, throwing out a silver radiance.
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: Then Ketric reached out to what seemed to be a
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 1: master lever. He pulled it slowly toward him. There came
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: a sound, a sighing, which rose to tremendous crescendo, as
• 2:14:39
  Speaker 1: though every wind from the depths of space were sweeping
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: in upon him an awful vertigo, as the dome, the floor,
• 2:14:48
  Speaker 1: and all space between seemed to tilt crazily into nothingness.
• 2:14:54
  Speaker 1: He clung to the lever, sought to push it back,
• 2:14:56
  Speaker 1: his mind reeling everything before him was merging into a
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: grotesquerie of impossible angles and planes, and through it all
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 1: came a twisting vortex of darkness, utter emptiness that sought
• 2:15:10
  Speaker 1: to sweep him out and away. Then the lever gave
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 1: before his surging muscles. It fell back into place. Everything
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: came back to normal except Kettric. He allowed the dizziness
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 1: to pass, and then, grinning, he tried the stunt again,
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 1: two three times more. He tried it with the same result,
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: until he was quite sure of his mastery over that control.
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 1: For here was the machine he had hoped to find.
• 2:15:39
  Speaker 1: Here was the means and the only means of ridding
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: the system once and for all of that entity which Darvajo,
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 1: in his madness, had built up into such a weapon,
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 1: a terribly alive weapon which, if allowed to go unchecked
• 2:15:55
  Speaker 1: with or without Davajo, could well become a menace to
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: all the world's Kettric realized that his task had reached
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 1: the crucial point. A single mistake now, a mere miscalculation,
• 2:16:07
  Speaker 1: and all would be over. So far he had only
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: seen a manifestation of the entity, not the thing itself,
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: but he knew it must be here, somewhere, very close
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: and waiting. He stepped over to the towering perpendicular wheel.
• 2:16:25
  Speaker 1: It moved easily beneath his hand. He was tense now
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: watching the great expanse of floor a hundred feet below.
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 1: His surmise was correct. A tiny crack appeared there, extending
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 1: the length of the floor, and upward from it came light, greenish,
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: terrible light which he'd felt before, which he knew was
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 1: the entity itself. Eager to lash outward, almost ketric hesitated,
• 2:16:49
  Speaker 1: but he forced his hand to move the wheel. The
• 2:16:52
  Speaker 1: crack widened as the floor moved away on either side.
• 2:16:55
  Speaker 1: Gradually he could see the entity, the very bulk of
• 2:16:59
  Speaker 1: it maddening impossible, but there it was, fully a hundred
• 2:17:05
  Speaker 1: feet across, greenish and blinding. It was roughly globular, seemed
• 2:17:10
  Speaker 1: to be a giant brain, slowly pulsing and evilly alive.
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 1: Yet somehow it was more than that. It was quasi amorphous,
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: writhing and changing shape, and trying to heave itself upward.
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: Tentacles lashed out. Tentacles that seemed to be solidified light, seeking,
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: seeking for sustenance, began to move upward, up between the
• 2:17:34
  Speaker 1: walls on a sliding platform, to a point just above
• 2:17:37
  Speaker 1: the floor, where it stopped. Some of its light touched.
• 2:17:41
  Speaker 1: Ketric beat against his helmet and surged about him, tearing
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: with cold fingers at his beryllium suit. In his absorbing interest,
• 2:17:50
  Speaker 1: he had almost forgotten the controlling rays. He hurled himself
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: at the panel With reckless sweeps of his hands. He
• 2:17:56
  Speaker 1: flicked on the studs he'd been just into. The white
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: rays lancing out from the walls now formed a gorgeous
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 1: criss crossing pattern that held the entity in leash. It
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 1: writhed and cowered. Slowly, its own tentacles of light drew back.
• 2:18:12
  Speaker 1: It lay in seeming quiescence. But even then Ketric received
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: its thought emanations as they crashed with frightening impact upon
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 1: his brain. Yes, the thing was alive and evil. Too
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: long had Darvajo held it in subservience. It wished to
• 2:18:28
  Speaker 1: escape these barriers, launch out for itself. There was sustenance
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 1: of plenty on Mars, and it would grow titanically, then
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: would come Earth, and there were many other planets. Perhaps
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 1: the entity since Ketric's rising horror, perhaps it guessed what
• 2:18:46
  Speaker 1: he meant to do. For now, despite the concentration of rays,
• 2:18:50
  Speaker 1: it tried to lash out in new fury. Ketric laughed,
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 1: then a bit wildly. He laughed in mockery and joy,
• 2:18:57
  Speaker 1: seeing the thing in thrall, watching its fuel efforts against
• 2:19:01
  Speaker 1: the barriers. Then the laughter died in his throat. Something
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 1: was happening. The rays, the controlling rays, across the walls.
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 1: One by one, they were blanking out one by one.
• 2:19:14
  Speaker 1: Then suddenly hull rose at a time. Ketric whirled to
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: the control panel. Another figure was there, Darvajo. Somewhere he
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 1: had obtained another protective suit had entered silently. Now he
• 2:19:28
  Speaker 1: was blanking out the control rays, enough of them to
• 2:19:31
  Speaker 1: allow the power of the Entity through. Even as Ketric
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: hurled himself forward, he saw madness on Vojo's face. More
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: of the rays blanked off as VoJo swept his hand
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 1: down than Ketric was upon him. The two metal suited
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: figures clashed, went spinning backward and then to the floor
• 2:19:48
  Speaker 1: of the balcony in a wild tangle. Darvaja was old,
• 2:19:52
  Speaker 1: but he was still tough and wiry. He had the
• 2:19:54
  Speaker 1: strength of a madman. Now he kept Ketric at bay
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 1: as the latter sought to grip his throat. He laughed
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: wildly as Ketric pounded futilely at the tough cresite helmet.
• 2:20:04
  Speaker 1: Then Ketric knew why he laughed. The damage had been done.
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 1: The power of the entity was lashing through the barriers.
• 2:20:11
  Speaker 1: Now a tendril of light curled about Ketric's head even
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 1: through the helmet. He felt the insatiable greed of it.
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: As his brain exploded in fire. He forgot. Darvajo managed
• 2:20:23
  Speaker 1: to drag himself upward. He staggered toward the huge vortex machine.
• 2:20:28
  Speaker 1: Fajo hurled against his legs and brought him crashing down.
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 1: His brain was now a writhing agony of fire. He
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: saw Vajo's grinning face near his own and knew that
• 2:20:38
  Speaker 1: somehow Fajo wasn't affected by the entity. Perhaps years of
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: working so close to it had made him partially immune. Slowly,
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: Ketric managed to bring his knees up under the other's body,
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 1: then his feet. With his last remaining strength, he lashed
• 2:20:54
  Speaker 1: out he saw the Martian's slight body hurl backward. It
• 2:20:58
  Speaker 1: crashed into the balcony's low rail, which caught him just
• 2:21:01
  Speaker 1: at the knees. For a moment, Facho tottered arms fllling wildly.
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: Then his mouth opened in what must have been a
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: shriek as he went over the edge, over and downward
• 2:21:13
  Speaker 1: to crash one hundred feet below into the great greenish
• 2:21:17
  Speaker 1: bulk of the entity. But Ketric didn't see that. He
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 1: was dragging himself the few remaining yards to the vortex machine,
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: then slowly up to the controls heedless now the frantic
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: light tendrils that tried to stop him, He managed to
• 2:21:31
  Speaker 1: turn on the control. He sank to the floor as
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 1: he pulled back on the master lever. It was through
• 2:21:38
  Speaker 1: blurring eyes this time that he saw the crazy tilting
• 2:21:41
  Speaker 1: of the laboratory dome and everything beneath. Saw the dark
• 2:21:45
  Speaker 1: vortex twisting through from an alien space, as though in
• 2:21:49
  Speaker 1: a dream. He saw a rush of light, glimpsed a
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: greenish mass hurtling outward to disappear in a convergence of
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: crazy space angles. After that, he remembered finding his electro
• 2:22:01
  Speaker 1: which had skidded away on the floor. He used it
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 1: to blast the vortex machine into a tangled ruin. He
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: remembered staggering to the televised and turning it on and
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 1: seeing Prana's face from Miss Green somewhere in the palace.
• 2:22:14
  Speaker 1: Prana the laboratory, your father is. But that was all.
• 2:22:21
  Speaker 1: He was sliding forward against the screen, sliding down to
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: the floor into merciful oblivion. He saw her face again,
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: and it was no longer startled. It was smiling down
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 1: at him. He tried to sit up. A spasm of
• 2:22:35
  Speaker 1: pain hit him. He heard her say, rest, you will
• 2:22:38
  Speaker 1: be all right soon. He was lying on a couch
• 2:22:41
  Speaker 1: somewhere in the palace. Servants were hovering around anxiously. Pranha
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 1: sent them away presently. She said, I've contacted the Earth's
• 2:22:49
  Speaker 1: fleet flagship. They will be here some time tomorrow. They
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: come in peace. He managed to nod. You know about
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: the other your father he was? He stopped the words
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: in time. His face twisted as he thought of it.
• 2:23:04
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid to say it. Branis still managed to smile. Yes,
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: I know it. Now we all know. He was mad.
• 2:23:11
  Speaker 1: Mars as well as Earth, owes you a debt of
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 1: gratitude it can never repay. She hesitated. I want to forget.
• 2:23:20
  Speaker 1: I must get away, somewhere far away. I should like
• 2:23:23
  Speaker 1: to return to Earth, just for a little while. Ketrick grinned.
• 2:23:28
  Speaker 1: He lay back. He had wanted to hear her say that.
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 1: End of Section eight end of Dread Flame of Matonic
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: by Henry Hass