XXXI
"Hurry, Anita!"
I feared that Potan might come up from the hull at any moment and stopus. The duty man over us gazed down, his huge head and shouldersblocking the small signal room window. Brotow called up in Martian,telling him to let us come. He scowled, but when we reached the trapin the room floor grid, we found him standing aside to admit us.
I flung a swift glance around. It was a metallic cubby, not much overfifteen feet square, with an eight foot arched ceiling. There wereinstrument panels. The range finder for the giant projector was here;its telescope with the trajectory apparatus and the firing switch wereunmistakable. And the signaling apparatus was here! Not a Martian set,but a fully powerful Botz ultra-violet sender with its attendantreceiving mirrors. The _Planetara_ had used the Botz system, so I wasthoroughly familiar with it.
I saw too, what seemed to be weapons: a row of small fragile glassglobes, hanging on clips along the wall--bombs, each the size of aman's fist. And a broad belt with bombs in its padded compartments.
My heart was pounding as my first quick glance took in these details.I saw also that the room had four small oval window openings. Theywere breast high above the floor; from the deck below I knew that theangle of vision was such that the men down there could not see intothis room except to glimpse its upper portion near the ceiling. Andthe helio set was banked on a low table near the floor.
In a corner of the room a small ladder led through a ceiling trap tothe cubby roof. This upper trap was open. Four feet above the room'sroof was the arch of the dome, with the entrance to the exit-lockdirectly above us. The weapons and the belt of bombs were near theascending ladder, evidently placed here as equipment for use from thetop of the dome.
I turned to the solitary duty man. I must gain his confidence at once.Anita had laid her helmet aside. She spoke first.
"We were with _Set_ Miko," she said smilingly, "in the wreck of the_Planetara_. You heard of it? We know where the treasure is."
This duty man was a full seven feet tall, and the most heavy-setMartian I had ever seen. A tremendous, beetle-browed, scowling fellow.He stood with hands on his hips, his leather-garbed legs spread wide;and as I confronted him, I felt like a child.
He was silent, glaring down at me as I drew his attention from Anita.
"You speak English?" I asked. "We are not skilled with Martian."
I wondered if at the next time of sleep this fellow would be on dutyhere. I hoped not: it would not be easy to trick him and find anopportunity to flash a signal. But that task was some hours away asyet; I would worry about it when the time came. Just now I wasconcerned with Miko and his little band, who at any moment mightarrive in sight. If we could persuade this duty man to turn theprojector on them!
He answered me in ready English:
"You are the man Gregg Haljan? And this is the sister of GeorgePrince--what do you want up here?"
"I am a navigator. Brotow wants me to pilot the ship when we advanceto attack Grantline."
"This is not the control room."
"No, I know it isn't."
I put my helmet carefully on the floor beside Anita's. I straightenedto find the brigand gazing at her. He did not speak: he was stillscowling. But in the dim blue glow of the cubby, I caught the look inhis eyes.
I said hastily, "Grantline knows your ship has landed here onArchimedes. His camp is off there on the Mare Imbrium. He sent up asignal--you saw it, didn't you?--just before Miss Prince and I cameaboard. He was trying to pretend he was your Earth party, Miko andConiston."
"Why?"
The fellow turned his scowl on me, but Anita brought his gaze back toher. She put in quickly:
"Grantline, as brother always said, has no great cunning. I believenow he plans to creep up on us unawares, by pretending that he isMiko."
"If he does that," I said, "we will turn this electronic projector onhim and his party and annihilate them. You have its firing mechanismhere."
"Who told you so?" he shot at me.
I gestured. "I see it here. It's obvious: I'm skilled at trajectoryfiring. If Grantline appears down there now, I'll help you."
"Is it connected?" Anita demanded boldly.
"Yes," he said. "You have on your Erentz suits: are you going to thedome roof? Then go."
But that was what we did not want to do. Anita's glance seemed to tellme to let her handle this. I turned toward one of the cubby windows.
She said sweetly, "Are you in charge of this room? Show me how theprojector is operated. I know it will be invincible against theGrantline camp."
I had my back to them for a moment. Through the breast-high oval Icould see down across the deck-space and out through the side domewindows. And my heart suddenly leaped into my throat. It seemed thatdown there in the Earthlit shadows, where the spreading base of thegiant crater joined the plains, a light was bobbing. I gazed,stricken. Miko's lights? Was he advancing, preparing to signal? Itried to gauge the distance; it was not over two miles from here.
Or was it not a light at all? With the naked eye, I could not be sure.Perhaps there was a telescope finder here in the cubby....
I was subconsciously aware of the voices of Anita and the duty manbehind me. Then abruptly I heard Anita's low cry. I whirled around.
The giant Martian had gathered her into his huge arms, his heavyjowled gray face, with a leering grin, close to hers!
He saw me coming. He held her with one arm! his other flung at me,caught me, knocked me backward. He rasped:
"Get out of here! Go up to the dome--"
Anita was silently struggling with her little hands at his thickthroat. His blow flung me against a settle. But I held my feet. I waspartly behind him. I leaped again, and as he tried to disengagehimself from Anita to front me, her clutching fingers impeded him.
My projector was in my hand. But in that second as I leaped, I had thesense to realize I should not fire it because its noise would alarmthe ship. I grasped its barrel, reached upward and struck with itsheavy metal butt. The blow caught the Martian on the skull, andsimultaneously my body struck him.
We went down together, falling partly upon Anita. But the giant hadnot cried out, and as I gripped him now, I felt his body go limp. Ilay panting. Anita squirmed silently from under us. Blood from thegiant's head was welling out, hot and sticky against my face as I laysprawled on him.
I cast him off. He was dead, his fragile Martian skull split open bymy blow.
There had been no alarm. The slight noise we made had not been hearddown on the busy deck. Anita and I crouched by the floor. From thedeck all this part of the room could not be seen.
"Dead."
"Oh Gregg--"
It forced our hand. I could not wait now for Miko to come. But I couldflash the Earth signal now, and then we would have to make our run toescape.
Then I remembered that light down by the base! I kept Anita out ofsight down on the floor and went cautiously to a window. The deck wasin turmoil with brigands moving about excitedly. Not because of whathad happened in our tower signal room: they were unaware of that.
Miko's signals were showing! I could see them now plainly, down at thecrater base. A group of hand lights and small waving helio beam.
And they were being answered from the ship! Potan was on the deck--ababble of voices, above which his rose with roars of command. At oneof the dome windows a brigand with a hand searchbeam was sending itsanswering light. And I saw that Potan was working over a decktelescope finder.
It had all come so suddenly that I was stunned. But I did not wait toread the signals. I swung back at Anita, who stared helplessly at me.
"It's Miko! And they are answering him! Get your helmet: I'll tryfiring the projector."
Or would I instead try and send a brief flash signal to Earth? Therewould be no time to do both: we must escape out of here. The route upthrough the dome was the only feasible one now.
This range mechanism of the projector was reasonably familiar, and Ifelt that I could operate
it. The range-finder and the switch were ona ledge at one of the windows. I rushed to it. As I swung thetelescope, training it down on Miko's lights, I could see the hugeprojector on the deck swinging similarly. Its movement surprised themen who were attending it. One of them called up to me, but I ignoredhim.
Then Potan looked up and saw me. He shouted in Martian at the dutyman, whom he doubtless thought was behind me: "Be ready! We may fireon them. I'll give you the word."
The signals were proceeding. It had only been a moment. I caughtsomething like, "_Haljan is imposter_."
I was aiming the projector. I was aware of Anita at my elbow. I pushedher back.
"Put on your helmet!"
I had the range. I flung the firing switch.
At the deck window the giant projector spat its deadly electronicstream. The men down there leaped away from it in surprise. I heardPotan's voice, his shout of protest and anger.
But down in the Earth glow at the crater base, Miko's lights had notvanished! I had missed! An error in the range? Abruptly I knew it wasnot that. Miko's lights were still there. His signals still coming.And I noticed now a faint distortion about them, the glow of hislittle group of hand lights faintly distorted and vaguely shot with agreenish cast. Benson curve lights!
My thoughts whirled in the few seconds while I stood there at thetower window. Miko had feared he might be summarily fired on. He hadgone back to his camp, equipped all his lights with the Benson curve.He was somewhere at the crater base now. But not where I thought I sawhim! The Benson curve light changed the path of the light raystraveling from him to me, I could not even approximate his trueposition!
Anita was plucking at me. "Gregg, come."
"I can't hit him," I gasped.
Should I try the flash signal to Earth? Did we dare linger here? Istood another few seconds at the window. I saw Potan down in theconfusion of the deck, training a telescope. He had shouted upviolently at his duty man here not to fire again.
And now he let out a roar. "I can see them! It's Miko! By theAlmighty--his giant stature--Brotow, look! That's not an Earth man!"
He flung aside his telescope finder. "Disconnect that projector! It'sMiko down there! This Haljan is a trickster! Where is he?Braile--Braile, you accursed fool! Are Haljan and the girl up therewith you?"
But the duty man lay in his blood at our feet.
I had dropped back from the window. Anita and I crouched for aninstant in confusion, fumbling with our helmets.
The ship rang with the alarm. And amid the turmoil we could hear theshouts of the infuriated brigands swarming up the tower ladder afterus!