There's no place to go!" Emmett's heart had begun afurious pounding. His plight reminded him of how, in a recurrentnightmare, he had often found himself standing frozen before an oncomingtruck, his legs immobile as he waited for death. He had always awakenedwith his heart beating furiously and his body bathed in a cold sweat,his mind filled with a sickening fear.
And now it was as if the nightmare had become a reality. He was waitingfor death not in the form of a truck, but in the regular _swish_ of airthat tickled his ears as his oxygen supply was purified and replenished.Eventually the sound would change its timbre as the purifying agentsbecame less efficient. The faint sound was not as impressive as thesight of a truck. But he knew that in a short time it would be just asdeadly. And, as in the nightmare, he was powerless ...
* * * * *
A long silence followed--broken only by the _swish_ of Emmett'soxygen-rejuvenating machinery. He listened intently and the _swish_ grewin volume until it became a roar in his ears--a sound more thunderousthan that of a thousand trucks.
"There is a place where we'd be completely safe," Gloria exclaimed, hervoice suddenly loud in his ears. "I don't know how we could get there.But if a way could be found--"
"Venus?" George inquired. "The colony your father started?"
"Yes. There are only a few colonists there--not more than twenty-five.The war with the Agronians started just after the settlement wasestablished and the government never had a chance to send out morecolonists. Father showed me the approximate location--"
"The Agronians have probably destroyed the base by now," Emmett said.But his senses were tingling with new hope.
Gloria shook her head. "I don't think so. The enemy has studied theremains of our warships but there's a good chance that the informationnever fell into their hands."
"How do we get there? We haven't got a ship, and _we can't walk_!"
"We haven't got a ship," George agreed. "But we can try to get one."
Emmett felt suddenly cold when he realized what the pilot had in mind."The enemy ship?" he asked.
George nodded. "During the skirmish at Arcturus, we managed to captureone of their ships and I was a member of a group that studied it. I'msure I can fly one of their vessels, for the controls are far simplerthan ours. Most of the Agronians have left their ship to study ours, andthat leaves only a skeleton crew on board. We can use our spacesuit jetsto cross the distance. As you can see, it isn't too far."
"And precisely what happens when we reach their ship?"
"Who knows? Maybe we'll get killed. But getting killed in a struggle forsurvival is better than just waiting to die."
Gloria shuddered. "It looks so cold out there. We'll getseparated--hopelessly lost. I don't even know how to operate thespacesuit's rockets!"
"I don't either," Emmett admitted.
"It's simple." George carefully explained the operation of the rocketsin detail and ended by instructing them, "We'll get separated on theway. But when we reach the ship, we'll try to meet at the air lock. Itresembles the air lock of an Earth ship."
* * * * *
Floating through space toward the enemy ship, Emmett felt overcome withan absurd sensation of freedom. Completely surrounded by billions ofmotionless, pin-point stars and securely hidden by the vast blackness ofspace, the aliens and the problem of survival seemed dream-like andunreal.
A sharp pain stabbed at his left arm and he heard a brief hissing sound.Oxygen was escaping from his spacesuit. The sound abruptly stopped whenthe suit automatically sealed the puncture. And yet the throbbing painremained and he felt the wetness of blood against his flesh, seepingslowly down his leg.
_A meteor!_ People usually visualized meteors as tons of metal hurtlingthrough space. But there were small ones as well, and perhaps this onehad been no larger than a grain of sand. He dismissed it from his mind,and after what seemed an eternity, his feet touched the hull of theenemy ship. Quickly he activated the magnetic boots.
A distant figure gestured as George's voice came loudly over theintercom system, "This way. Here's the air lock!"
_You should whisper_, he thought. _It would be more fitting._
He shuffled in the indicated direction. His legs were rubbery beneathhim and there was a growing tingling sensation in his left arm. It wasjust barely possible that he was bleeding to death. And encased as hewas in the spacesuit, it would be impossible for him to treat the wound.
_If_ they reached the colony on Venus he would receive medicalattention, of course. But they must first overpower the ship's crew, andit would take approximately two hours to reach the colony. Could he holdout that long?
He didn't know.
George knelt and carefully examined the rectangular outline in the metalbeneath their feet. "It's only a sort of button," he said. "It could bea device that opens the lock by means of a code sequence--or it could bea signal to notify those inside to open the lock."
"What should we do?" Gloria asked nervously.
Instead of replying, George pushed the button firmly. The section ofhull beneath them instantly dropped several feet. Emmett looked up intime to see an outer air-lock panel swiftly blot out the stars.
Brief seconds later, the compartment was filled with a brilliant lightand tiny nozzles in the ceiling sprayed a bluish gas about them.
Gloria leapt quickly to one side. "What's that?" she asked, in alarm.
"It's the Agronian atmosphere," George said. "Although their locks aremechanically different, the principle behind them is the same as ours."
"It's a strange-looking atmosphere," Emmett remarked. The pain in hisarm and the numbness that was gradually spreading throughout his bodyhad relaxed his mind. He felt so physically detached from hissurroundings that he could look at the fog-like gas that swirled aboutthem with interest rather than concern.
"It's poisonous," George said. "We managed to analyze some. One breathis enough to kill a human--"
An inner door abruptly glided to one side and George leaped into theroom beyond. Emmett followed as quickly as possible, although he feltsleepy and his every action seemed a study in slow motion.
Except for the level expanse of the floor, the room before them wasentirely alien. The thick atmosphere swirled eerily. The control boardwas recognizable as such, but being adapted for tentacles instead ofhuman hands, it appeared to be a meaningless maze of equipment. Strange,angular devices lined the walls and hung from the low ceiling on thinwires. As Emmett scanned the odd artifacts, he could understand onlyone--a group of web-like hammocks that were obviously used by the aliensto sleep in.
Two Agronians stood before the large control board at the far side ofthe room. It was the first time Emmett had seen the enemy other than inpictures and the sight of the thousands of snakelike, wriggling antennaenauseated him.
George hesitated briefly and then ran toward the Agronians. Again Emmettfollowed the pilot's lead. One of the creatures aimed a weapon beforeGeorge had crossed half the distance and Gloria's shrill scream ofwarning brought him up short. But before the weapon could be discharged,the other Agronian viciously flung a tentacle and sent it spinning fromhis companion's clasp.
George leaped at the nearest Agronian but the creature easily eludedhim. He made another attempt and failed again.
The man and the alien cautiously surveyed each other.
"They're too fast for us," George admitted. His voice was filled withthe bitterness of defeat and his shoulders sagged visibly.
"_Do something!_" Gloria screamed. "Do something before the others comeback!"
Emmett glanced apprehensively at the air lock. She was right. At themoment they outnumbered the enemy, but when the others returned theAgronians could overpower them by sheer weight of number. And they couldreturn without warning, at any instant.
"Why did one prevent the other from killing us?" George asked.
"He may have been afraid the other would miss and damage the ship,"Emmett said. "Or possibly--"
"No. They're trained from birth to be soldiers. They're expert marksmenand their weapons are foolproof. They can adjust the blast from a weaponto travel any distance."
"Why should one enemy prevent another from killing us?" Emmett repeatedwonderingly. He remembered another question that had nagged at his mind:_Why had the Agronians totally destroyed Earth?_ Why hadn't theyeliminated Earthmen and preserved the planet for exploitation--as acolony, a military base, any one of a thousand uses?
There was only one possible answer. A race might destroy a planet if itwas useless. Earthmen had discovered useless planets, planets withpoisonous atmospheres. Was Earth's atmosphere poisonous to