CHAPTER IV
_The Kidnapping of Joan_
The Earthmen moved quickly and quietly into Joan's room. Thin, crinklydraperies of heavy silk impregnated with lead in colloidal solution,covered all the walls, the door itself. But Hilary shot no more than acursory glance around; he had left the slide slightly ajar; he waslistening intently. The gun was in his hand. There were only twobullets in the chambers--all that were left of the thousands of roundsthe expedition had started out with. He must not waste them.
The thick rough voice of a Mercutian floated up from below.
"Three Earth slaves came in here. Where did they go?"
"They did," Joan admitted readily. "They frightened me out of my wits.I screamed and they ran through the house and out the back way."
The Mercutian was suspicious.
"Hmm. Funny there's no sign of a struggle here. Nothing is upset."
"They ran out the back way," the girl repeated tonelessly.
"We'll see; but if you are lying...." He said no more, but the pausewas significant in its implications.
"I would not lie to the Magnificents."
"Not if you are wise." He seemed to be the leader. He evidently turnedto his companion, for there issued a flood of throaty consonants towhich the other grunted once. Then the listeners heard his heavystamping as he walked through the house to the rear. A door whirred;he had gone out.
* * * * *
The remaining Mercutian said suddenly: "He won't find them."
"Why not?" Joan asked, a bit tremulously.
The Mercutian laughed harshly. "Because you lied. You've hid them inthe house."
Hilary heard Joan's sudden sharp intake of breath.
"No, no, Magnificent," she cried.
The Mercutian laughed again--a hard cruel laugh. There was no mirth init.
"All Earthwomen are liars. I know where you hid them. In your bedchamber. The trick is too old already. We may not be able to seethrough the lead curtains, but we can break down the door. I warnedArtok not to permit the use of the lead curtains, but he has a softstreak. He listened to the women's pleadings for privacy. Privacy,pah! A cloak for conspiracies, that's all it comes to. When Gurdareturns, we search upstairs and drag out your rats from their hole."
He laughed smugly, pleased with his own cleverness.
"It is not so." Strange how calm Joan sounded. "They are not in thehouse. Only my dying mother is here. She is bedded upstairs. Thedoctor ordered absolute quiet. The slightest noise would be fatal."
The Mercutian sneered. "We'll take a look at that dying mother ofyours right now."
"You mustn't," the girl panted. "She will die, I tell you."
"And what does it matter to me?"
There was the sound of a struggle, a sharp cry, followed by a dullthud.
* * * * *
Hilary was out through the door like a flash, down the corridor to thehead of the stairs with automatic extended. The monster Mercutian wascoming heavily up the treads. They saw each other simultaneously.
The Mercutian's pink eyes turned a vicious red; the tube dangling inhis hand jerked sharply up. Hilary squeezed the trigger. The gunbarked. The Mercutian spun half around with the force of the tearingbullet. The deadly beam from his weapon slithered over the wall,searing a great molten gash in the crystal. He was badly hurt, but hedid not fall. Howling with pain and rage, he slewed himself aroundagain, pointed his sun weapon unsteadily upward.
Hilary let him have the other slug. The big body jerked, and fellbackward with a crash to the bottom of the stairs, there to lie oddlycontorted and still.
There was a thundering rush from the rear of the lower floor, ahoarse throaty cry. Hilary tore down the steps three at a time, Grimand Wat slithering behind him.
The other Mercutian was bending over Joan's semiconscious form,sweeping her into the crook of a huge arm. He shot a startled glanceat the down-pouring Earthmen, swerved the girl around, and aimed histube.
Hilary pulled the trigger as he swerved. There was a sharp click, butno explosion. Hilary cursed and threw himself down. He had forgottenthat there were no more bullets. The speeding flash scorched overhead.
Grim and Wat crouched low. Wat's tube, the one he had wrested from thedead guard on the conveyor, was being slowly raised. The Mercutian sawit, shifted the inanimate girl in front of himself, and backedstealthily toward the splintered door.
"Don't shoot," Hilary cried sharply. "You'll kill Joan."
Wat lowered the tube disgustedly. Hilary groaned aloud. If only he hadhad one more bullet. There was enough of the gigantic body exposed tooffer an excellent target to a steel slug without harming Joan, butthe sun weapon sent out its beam in a flat spray.
The Mercutian sensed their dilemma as they crouched on the stairs. Helaughed unpleasantly as he backed through the doorway, Joan's limpbody held straight in front of him.
"Good-by, Earth slaves," he taunted. "I take your pretty Earth maidenwith me. In five minutes I return, with others. You cannot escape.Good-by."
He jumped clumsily through the door. The crouching Earthmen heard aclick. It had closed behind him.
* * * * *
Hilary and his companions cleared the stairs in almost a single bound.He had snatched the sun-tube out of Wat's hand. Through the splinteredslide he saw the Mercutian climbing into his flier, but a greatcrystal column of the portico intervened. Nevertheless, while Watfumbled for the button that released the slide, he took a chance.Every split second was precious now. He aimed the weapon, pressed thespring. A white dazzling ray darted fanwise from the orifice. Ittouched the column, fused it into molten, running glass. But theMercutian was already in his seat, Joan limp beside him. He wasfumbling at the controls.
The door slid open at last. Hilary shot through like a bullet from arifle. The flier had already taken off on a long slanting rise. Athree-fingered hand waved mockingly down at him. Hilary raised hisweapon, then lowered it with a groan. The flier was well within rangeyet, but if he aimed the terrible beam at it, there would be a crashof fused twisted material, and--Joan was in it. What a dilemma! If hedidn't shoot, she would be borne away--he dared not think to whathorrible fate.
Grim's hand rested lightly on his shoulder as he watched the flierbecome a faint black speck in the direction of Great New York.
"She was your sweetheart." His gruff voice was oddly gentle.
Hilary brushed a weary hand over his forehead. The Earth, the universeitself, were suddenly dead, meaningless gobs of matter.
"Yes," he said tonelessly. "Five years ago she promised to wait for myreturn. She kept her word. I found her again--only to lose her."
Grim said quietly: "I too once loved a girl. I joined the lastrebellion under Amos Peabody. The Mercutians threatened to seize thewives, sisters, sweethearts of the revolters if they persisted. Manyof the men surrendered. I was one of those who refused. When therevolt was over, smothered in flame from their giant sun-tubes, Ifound that they had made good their threats. My girl was gone,vanished. Two Mercutians had taken her away. She was never foundagain."
He paused in brooding silence. "They are up to their old tricksagain." His eyes were steely blue now. Hilary pressed his hand insilence. They were welded together by a common loss.
Wat Tyler broke in upon them. "If you fellows want to hang aroundhere, I'll be on my way. That Mercutian hyena will be back here with adozen others just like him in less than no time."
* * * * *
Hilary snapped out of his sorrow. He could not help Joan by havinghimself captured or killed, nor was it fair to Grim and Wat. They hadplaced themselves unquestioningly under his leadership. Something elsetoo was growing into burning life in his mind. This was his Earth, hisand Grim's and Wat's, and of millions of other normal human beings.The Mercutians were interlopers, brutal conquerors. He would devotehis now otherwise meaningless life to driving them off the planet,wiping them
out of the solar system. A tall order, yes, but not fornothing had he fought almost single-handed against those othermonstrosities on other worlds: Martians, Ganymedans, Saturnians. TheMercutians were no stronger than they. Besides, there was Joan.
"Men," he said crisply, once more the clear-headed commander of hisspace expedition, "I intend to fight these Mercutian invaders untilEarth is free once more, or--I am dead. I have no illusions about themagnitude of the job, of its practical hopelessness. But that does notmean that you two have to throw away your lives also. I am a markedman, without any identification tag. You on the other hand, can getaway from here, mingle indistinguishably with the hordes of people inGreat New York. You would be safe. Our ways part here, if you desireit so." He added hastily, "I would be the last to blame you."
Grim Morgan and Wat Tyler looked at each other, a great giant of a manand an undersized bantam. Yet some electric spark of sympathy seemedto dart between them, these so dissimilar beings.
Wat elected to be the spokesman. His voice rose shrilly, as it alwaysdid when he was laboring under stress of excitement or emotion.
"_You_ won't blame us," he almost squeaked. "Who asked you? Damn it,haven't we consciences of our own? Are we quitters, yellow-belliedMercutians to quit a pal? Are we, Grim Morgan? Speak, you big ox."
He wheeled abruptly and shook a small fist high in the air. It barelyreached under Grim's nose. The big man looked down at the littlegamecock unsmilingly.
"No, Wat Tyler, we are not," he said gravely.
Wat turned to Hilary triumphantly.
"There, you see," he crowed, "we stick together. We'll lick thoseMercutian monsters; we'll sweep them into the ocean, into space. Andwhat's more, we'll rescue your girl too." He stopped to catch hisbreath. Grim was nodding slowly. He had not the little man'sexuberance. _His_ girl could not be rescued any more, but he couldremember.
Hilary's frozen heart warmed into life again. With loyal comrades suchas these, even the impossible might be accomplished. Very quietly,without heroics, the three men shook hands. Nothing more, yet theyknew that they were bound indissolubly together, as long as there wasa gasp of breath in any of them.
* * * * *
Hilary's brain functioned with racing smoothness. In minutes theMercutians would be back.
"We must find a secure hiding place at once," he said. "Know of any?"
Grim shook his head negatively. "There is none," he spoke slowly."Their search beams penetrate everything."
"Except lead," Hilary interposed.
"Except lead," he conceded.
"Very well then. We shall have to find a place we can line with lead.In the meantime. I have my space flier up in the Ramapos. If it hasn'tbeen discovered yet, it will be essential to our task. We'll have toget there quickly."
"How?" Wat asked,
"By the conveyors, of course."
"No good," the little man declared. "Mercutian guards will bepatrolling them. You have no identification tag. You would be caught."
Hilary considered that. "Suppose you two go on along," he suggested."Find it and wait for me. I'll manage somehow."
"No," they answered unanimously; "we go together or not at all."
Hilary did not try to argue. He would have replied himself in exactlythe same terms. He looked longingly at the abandoned flier of thegray-faced Mercutian, lying cold and still within the house.
"If only we could operate the ship," he said.
Then, characteristically, he dismissed the vain longing and bent tothe business in hand. "That means we'll have to make it on foot, andkeep under cover all the way. Come on."
As the three men moved rapidly over the great lawn toward the nearestcovert, a little wood a quarter of a mile away, the horizon that wasGreat New York showed silhouetted against the westering sun numerouslittle black dots. The Mercutians were coming.