CHAPTER IX
_The Weather Machine_
The two men flattened themselves against the wall so that they couldnot be seen by a casual glance from the Mercutians inside thelaboratory.
"There are a lot of them," Grim whispered.
"Can't help it," Hilary answered grimly. "Have to take our chances."
"Of course," Grim said simply. There was no backing out.
Silently, with catlike tread, they inched their way forward flatagainst the wall, keeping out of the blue flood of illumination. Theshapes, or rather segments of shapes within, moved about, engrossed inthe business at hand, unaware of the creeping death.
The Earthmen had reached their stations unobserved, one on either sideof the open slide. Very carefully Hilary protruded his head around thevita-crystal, and ducked back almost instantly. But his quick eye hadtaken in all the essential details in that momentary vision.
There were about a dozen Mercutians in the long laboratory, and eachhad a sun-tube dangling from his belt, ready at hand. The laboratorywas crowded with apparatus, but what had drawn Hilary's attention wasa gigantic gleaming metallic sphere set up prominently in the centerof the room. Protruding from it at all angles were great quartz tubes,through which a blue light pulsed and flamed. It was connected by hugecables to a spark-bathed dynamo. Other cables writhed through thetranslucent ceiling. The weather machine!
Hilary took a firmer grip on his automatic, nodded once to Grim. Thetwo Earthmen stepped simultaneously through the open door.
"Raise your paws high and keep them up." Hilary's voice cracked like awhip through the busy confusion of the laboratory. The Mercutians,scattered as they were, whirled around from their tasks to face twodeadly weapons held by two determined-looking men.
There was a chorus of strange guttural oaths, but every hand movedskyward, reluctantly.
* * * * *
Hilary picked out the most blasphemous sounding of the cursers,rightly deeming him the Cor in charge.
"You," he said, "what switches regulate the weather machine?"
The Mercutian Cor was a particularly ugly specimen. The gray wartswere gigantic, hiding whatever semblance of manlike features theremight have been beneath.
"I'll see you dogs burned to a cinder in the sun first," he growled.
"Keep them covered, Grim," Hilary said sharply. "I'll take care ofthis fellow personally."
He walked straight across the room for the Cor, eyes blazing, indexfinger on trigger. The Cor, fear staring out of his lidless eyes,backed slowly away from the approaching death. There was a hushedsilence.
"I'll tell, I'll tell!" the Cor screamed, as the relentless weaponalmost touched his paunchy stomach.
"I thought you would," Hilary said grimly, not for an instant relaxingthe pressure against the trigger. "If you value your worthless hide,you'd better talk, and talk fast. What switch reverses the machine, tobring on rain? If you are wise, you won't try to fool me."
The wretch almost stumbled in his eagerness. "By the gray soil ofMercury I'll tell you the truth." His arm flung up, pointing. "Thatknob over there controls the--"
Hilary never heard the rest. There was a crash at the other end of thelaboratory. One of the Mercutians, tired of keeping his arms highextended, had attempted to rest his huge bulk against a laboratorytable. It went over with a splintering crash of glassware.
* * * * *
Hilary whirled around to face the noise. As he did so, the Cor seizedhis opportunity. His right arm dropped to his side, jerked up hissun-tube. Hilary heard Grim's warning cry, tried to pivot back again.But Grim beat him to it. The dynol pistol exploded sharply; theflaming pellet caught the Cor square in his side. There was a dullexplosion and the Cor was torn violently into bits. He dropped, a massof shapeless blobs.
But now hell had broken loose. The Mercutians were not cowards. At themoment of the diversion, every one of them had gone for his sun-tube.A flame streaked close to Hilary's head, shivered the opposite wallinto molten fragments. He ducked behind a table and fired. A Mercutianthrew up his hands, staggered and pitched forward heavily. Grim'sdynol bullets whined in their passage, spattered the laboratory withflying blobs of flesh. They did terrible execution. Hilary's automaticspat its leaden hail.
But the Mercutians were entrenched now behind tables, machinery,whatever cover they could find. The beams from half a dozen sun-tubesslithered across the room, burning flaming paths through theoverheated air, bringing the very walls down about them. It could notlast long. Already Hilary had a nasty burn across one shoulder; therewas a streak of red across Grim's forehead as he hid behind the panelof the entrance, whipping his pistol around to fire, and ducking backagain. There were too many of the enemy, and overwhelmingreinforcements could be expected any moment. The Earthmen's positionwas desperate.
Through it all the great weather machine hummed and crackled; thetubes were sheets of surging flame. Hilary cursed softly. If only theCor had completed his sentence before he died. Hilary would havechanced a sudden rush forward to reverse it, to bring on a deluge ofrain and clouds, even though it meant certain death. The machineseemed to gleam at him mockingly; the hum continued with tantalizingsmoothness.
"Look out," Grim's voice came to him sharply. He jerked his head back,just in time. A ray streaked past his ear like a thunderbolt. The heatfrom it scorched his face.
* * * * *
The Mercutians were stealthily crawling nearer, pushing heavy, tablesin front of them as shields. He was almost outflanked now. In anotherminute he would be exposed.
Hilary thought rapidly. His position was untenable. He would have torun for it. A sudden dash to the door might possibly win through. Butthe machine! He set his teeth hard. If he could not change theweather, at least he could destroy the infernal thing, stop itsgrinding out perfect sunshine for the Mercutians.
He lifted his weapon. Off to one side a Mercutian arm advancedcautiously, bringing up a sun-tube. He swung on it and fired. Thesun-tube clattered to the floor and the arm jerked back, accompaniedby a howl of anguish. Hilary smiled grimly, took careful aim at themetal sphere of the machine. The bullet leaped true for its mark. Alittle round hole showed--but nothing happened. The infernal machinehummed softly as ever.
He cursed, fired again. Another round hole, and that was all. Withincreasing viciousness he turned his aim on the quartz tubes, piercedthem through and through. Before his very eyes, the quartz seemed torun and melt around the holes, to seal them tight as if he had nevershot. The blue flames leaped and surged mockingly. The Mercutians werejeering now; raucous calls went up.
* * * * *
Hilary felt a sinking despair. He had failed; would have to run for itnow. Small chance to make it, too. Then he heard Grim's deep bass."Hold it a moment," he said as if he had read his thoughts.
Fascinated, Hilary saw the giant's pistol slowly thrust its longbarrel around the edge of the crystal slide. A half dozen rays leapedviciously, for it. But a flaming pellet streaked out of its orificebefore it was jerked back.
Hilary could see its red path as it struck the sphere of the machine.The next instant there was a dull explosion and the whole machinedisintegrated into a smother of flying fragments. The expanding dynolhad done the trick where lead had failed. There would be no moreweather control.
But Hilary did not pause to see the finish. Even as the machine burst,he was running across the room, bending low. Fragments whizzed by himat a fearful clip; rays crisscrossed all about him.
But somehow he was through. Grim's finger was on the slide button. Itclosed with a snap behind him, cutting off the pursuing howls of rage.
Silently the two men darted up the ramp to the pent-apartment, dashedinto the master bedroom. The Mercutian guard whom they had leftsecurely bound, was gone. The Earthmen looked at each other, a greatfear in their eyes. In one bound Hilary was at the door slide,thrusting it open. He tore out upon
the open terrace, Grim rightbehind him.
* * * * *
They looked wildly about. The terrace was empty. There was no sign ofthe _Vagabond_, or of Joan and Wat. High overhead hovered a greatburnished diskoid. Long streamlined Mercutian fliers darted throughthe air, but nowhere was there a sign of the familiar sphere.
Hilary gripped his companion's arm. "They've been captured, Grim," hechoked.
"Nonsense," the giant said gruffly, to hide his own misgivings. "Theyjust took alarm at something and winged off."
"But where is the guard then?"
Grim shook his head. He could not answer that. Despair overwhelmedHilary. After all he had gone through, to have Joan snatched away fromhim at the moment of success. It was terrible. Wat too, thatfreckled-faced bantam.
"I should never have left them alone," he accused himselfremorsefully.
"Here," said Grim sharply, "none of that. You did exactly the properthing. We'll find them yet."
It was a confidence that he did not feel. There was the noise ofpadding feet up the ramp. The Mercutians were coming, in force.
Grim gripped Hilary by the shoulder, shook him vigorously. "They'recoming. We're trapped."
Grendon snapped out of the lethargy into which he had sunk, face drawnand gray.
"No. There is a way. Follow me."
The first of the Mercutians pounded heavily into the room when Hilaryhad thrust Grim into the secret lift. He whirled and fired. TheMercutian coughed and fell forward. Other gray warty faces, furious,thrust from behind their dying comrade. But Hilary was in the lift,pressing the button for full speed down. A darting ray showered themwith rounded smoking bits of vita-crystal, but they were droppingheadlong through the building.
* * * * *
Ten minutes later they emerged cautiously from the entrance to thePullman Building. It was deserted, deathly still. The two Earthmenstopped short, horror-struck at what they saw.
The streets were shambles. Hundreds of bodies lay sprawled in tumblingtwisted heaps. Earthmen all, with here and there the grotesque hugebulk of a Mercutian who had failed to hear the warning signal. Thebodies were scorched, blackened. Raw agony appeared on contorteddesperate faces. It was not good to look upon.
"Wh--what has happened?" Grim gasped, his breath coming heavily.
"Just a little pleasantry of the Mercutians," Hilary said bitterly. Helooked upward. High overhead hovered a gigantic shape, motionless.
Its great disk, burnished and dazzling in the cloudless sky, seemed tocast a sinister shadow over the city it had destroyed a second time.
"There's the toy that did it," said Hilary. "I felt the heat while Iwas a captive up in the Robbins Building. You must have flown overafter, and missed it."
Grim shook a great brawny fist aloft. His deceptively mild eyes werehard flames now. His face was set in great strong ridges. Hilary hadnever seen him this way before.
"I'll rip every Mercutian to pieces with my bare hands--shred him intolittle bits." He meant it too. Hilary shuddered.
Far off down the wide thoroughfare came the glint of weapons, thesight of massed ranks. A Mercutian patrol was shambling along,heavy-gaited.
"Come on, Grim, let's get out of here," said Hilary.
They flattened like shadows against the wall, slunk stealthily throughradiating streets. As much as possible they kept their eyes away fromthe sickening sights, the poor burned bodies of their fellow men.Steadily they headed for the branch local conveyors as being lesslikely to be under surveillance.
The Ramapos was their destination. Hilary went dully, listlessly. Joanwas gone again; this time he could not possibly know where. Every stephe took though, seemed to lead him farther away from her. His glazedeye searched the shining skies as he stumbled along. Not a signanywhere of the _Vagabond_. Only the hateful swift-moving Mercutianfliers.
It was only Grim's insistence that kept him going. The secret gorgewas the headquarters of the revolt, he argued. If the fools he hadleft in charge hadn't thrown their men recklessly on New York againsthis instructions to join that last foolhardy heroic attack, there wasstill a chance of salvaging the revolution.