CHAPTER XXXVII
_Battle_
I found myself in the air; with my men around me we hovered. ThenGeorg's command from the instrument room sounded in my ears. I gave thesignal; and flying wedge-shaped, we hurled ourselves forward. It waslike lying on the air, diving head foremost. The rush of wind sang pastme; the ground, a hundred feet below, was a white surface flowingbackward.
We were heading for the base of one of Tarrano's barrage projectors. Itwas mounted within the wall; but the wall itself was protected merely bya fan-shaped subsidiary beam--a weaker barrage over that small area,which by concentrated effort we hoped to break.
From a helan away on both sides of me I saw other wedges of our mencoming slanting in to assail the same point; overhead a corps of girlswas hovering. Our towers, three of them concentrated here, had risen toa moderate height; their rays were playing upon the threatened area; asteady fountain of sparks showed where they were striking the barrage.
A silent bombardment of flashing beams and sparks. At five hundred feetwe added our own smaller rays to the turmoil. If the barrage would breakat this point....
The instrument room, watchful of everything, sailed over me. On mymirror I saw Georg's intent face; his voice said:
"Careful, Jac! They may come out."
Prophetic words! The segment of barrage here suddenly vanished. A raydarted out. Beside it, a cloud of flying figures came out of the citylike insects from a hive.
An inferno of almost hand to hand fighting. It was everyone for himself;and I gave the order for my men to break formation. Ordered them to getup close to the wall if they could ... to strike, with the closestpossible range at the base of the enemy ray....
I flung myself forward. Tarrano's men soon were around me. Twisting,darting figures ... tiny beams of death to be fended off with myshield....
A body fell past me in the air ... others, while I looked at them, inthe blink of an eyelid, vanished into nothingness ... One of our towerssailing high, suddenly went dark, turned over, wavered down, dismemberedwith leprous missing parts--and then in a puff was obliterated.
I found myself nearly up to the wall, and higher than its top. Thesegment of barrage remained broken. I could see into the city--the IcePalace, still seemingly deserted. And near it, the base of the powerfulground ray which was assailing our towers ... If I could get past thewall, unnoticed, get within range of that projector....
Most of the fighting was now behind me. We seemed to be holding ourown ... the squad of girls was coming down; I prayed that Elza might notbe among them....
The instrument room had vanished beyond my sight; but Georg's voicesaid:
"We're sending reinforcements! Gather your men--hold off for a moment!"
From every pan of our line other units of men and towers were coming. Wehad broken through the barrage here. If we could now, by a concertedrush, get our force over the wall, into the city....
Within the instrument room, Georg sat watching. The inactivity of hisown part, the comparative lack of personal danger, galled him. But hewas too occupied with his duties to give it more than passing thought.We had broken the barrage at one point ... from every quarter he wasrushing reinforcements there to take advantage of the break....
And then Tarrano's trickery became apparent. We had not broken hisbarrage; he had deliberately withdrawn it, to encourage us, to bring ourother units to the spot.... Our power house, neglected, was momentarilycomparatively defenseless. The enemy barrage at the point of the wallnearest it, suddenly lifted. Beams darted from the opening ... men cameout in a cloud....
I held back momentarily from the wall and gathered my remnant of menabout me. Only half my former strength; but with sinking heart I triedto assure myself that the others had not heeded my call. The fightinghere had slackened; Tarrano's men had risen high, engaged at long rangeby our girls, from whom they were slowly, trickily retreating as thoughto lure the girls above the city; and my heart was thankful when I heardthe relayed order from Rhaalton for the girls to withdraw--not to passabove the wall, even at high altitude. The order came just in time; thebarrage here flashed on again, trapping a few of our men behind it.
I was aware of this new attack on the power house. Our units werehurriedly being ordered back. Georg, in desperation, had flung hisinstrument vehicle at the enemy ray ... My connection broke; and thenanother connection brought me someone's voice with the report that theinstrument room had darkened that main enemy ray, but had itself crashedto the ground ... I wondered if Georg were killed ... later, I heardsomeone say that he was safe within the power house....
I disobeyed my final orders; I did not swing back toward the powerhouse; instead, with my men around me, we fled back from this segment ofthe wall to the higher lying white plain behind it.
I have spoken of the down-grade of this land here, culminating in thedepression which marked this part of the wall. It was that depressionwhich gave me my idea. Our heat-ray cylinders had so far been useless.They had a range of only two hundred feet, and no power to attack abarrage. Some of them had futilely been used; the snow and ice on theground above our recent fighting was melted in patches--pools of boilingwater lay on the naked rock; and the water, flowing down the depression,had reached the ice-wall--a tiny stream of it, eating into the wall,slowly, surely....
With my men I flew up the slope. The ice and snow here melted underthe close-range play of our heat-cylinders. Rivulets of boiling waterbegan creeping toward the city. Other men at my call joined us. Twohundred of us soon were melting the ice. The rivulets merged intobrooks, to streams--and soon a river torrent of hissing, boiling watergathering volume as it went, was surging at the wall. The wallbegan melting--itself feeding this monster which was eating at itsvitals ... a yawning hole began opening at the base of the wall ... itbegan sagging at the top ... crumbling....
The segment of barrage here went dark. No trickery now; the barrage atthis point actually was broken. The boiling river went through the wall,swept down the slope into the city. Through the great clouds of steam Icould see the Ice Palace with its brittle outlines softening under theheat ... one of its thin spires broke off and fell....
Feverishly we added to the river source. The whole area here was greywith steam. Girls had joined us ... Elza was not among them ... Elza!With my triumph there lay always in the background of my consciousnessthe weight of my fear for Elza....
The fighting in the other sector had continued desperately. Our powerhouse was hopelessly damaged; the towers, with their power gone, wereusing their batteries; soon they would be exhausted. But now weabandoned that sector; our remaining towers--all our flying forces--cameto this melting area where the vanishing city lay defenseless beforeus.... We hurled ourselves into it, using only our heat-rays. Everywherewe added to the boiling torrent; even the interference heat of thefighting was to our advantage. This brittle city which owed its veryexistence to the congealing cold, lay enveloped in a cloud of steam.
Then Tarrano played his last card. The cubical building of metal withthe cables depending from it, still hung motionless. It now burst intosound. A low electrical hum; then louder to a whine--a scream. Our menand girls were in the air around it. I too was there. Tarrano's men--theremaining few who were desperately fighting--had suddenly withdrawn.
And then we knew the purpose of this hanging room. A strange form ofsome tremendous electro-magnet. I could feel it pulling at me. My powerto guide myself in the air was wavering.
From my height I could see down into this ceilingless rectangle. It wasun-manned by humans. A room of whirling, flashing knives! Above it, eventhen some of our men were struggling in its magnetic grip ... beingdrawn down into it ... a girl's power must suddenly have collapsed; shewas sucked in with a rush--torn to fragments by the whirling knives....
The area of magnetism seemed to spread for a helan or more. Everywherearound me I saw our men and girls struggling with it, fighting to keepaway, but closing in a ring around it ... faster, continually morehelpless until
at last, their bodies out of control whirling end overend, they were sucked in like water rushing into a turbine.... One ofour weakened towers attacked it; but some of the remnants of Tarrano'sprojectors caught the tower and darkened it.
Through the rising clouds of steam I could see the magnet vaguely now.But I could feel it pulling; and soon, in spite of myself, I was fairlyclose above it. I strove to keep my wits. The others who were meetingtheir death lost control of their bodies at the last and could not usetheir cylinders. I had some battery power remaining; I snapped on mydisintegrating ray to test it. It was my last desperate recourse.
I righted my body, and yielding to the magnetic pull, ceasing tostruggle, I dove head first at that yawning rectangle. A gleaming blurof knives ... blood-stained now ... within these rectangular wallshorrible carnage....
A second of despair; but my ray struck true ... Around me was chaos; mysenses reeled, went black for an instant. But I recovered, found myselfwhirling in the empty air....
The city was melting into a turmoil of boiling water and surging steam.The fighting everywhere had ceased. Wavering figures wererising--fugitives struggling away. With my senses still confused, Irighted myself, undecided where to go or what to do. Above me twofigures were still in combat. One of them--a man--assailed by aheat-ray, came hurtling down past me. The other wavered--a girl with herflying mechanism out of control. She was a hundred feet or more aboveme, wavering downward. Elza! I shot myself up to her, seized her in myarms, my own supporting mechanism sustaining us both. Elza, spent, butuninjured, I held her close.
"Elza dear! My Elza!"
We hung there in the air. From out the vanishing city, rising throughthe steam came a small metal vehicle. A pointed cylinder, in height nomore than twice that of a man. It came up slowly. Its rectangular doorwas open. As it reached our level and went past us quite close, I saw aman's figure standing there. Tarrano! Tarrano alone! From the wreckageof his city, making his escape alone!
Without thought--holding Elza tightly within my arms--I flung us upward.Tarrano saw us, recognized us. He slackened his upward pace. With mysober reason gone, I strove to overtake him; saw the sardonic leer onhis face but did not realize that he was waiting for us. We caught upwith his vehicle; he pulled us through the doorway, to the floor of thenarrow circular room with its heavy translucent panes.
He was bending over me, leering. "Jac Hallen! And my little Lady Elza!How fortunate!"
I cast off Elza and gained my feet. For an instant we stood--Tarrano andI--measuring each other. He seemed calm; his face bore a slow sardonicsmile; he was unarmed, drawn back against the concavity of the wall,watching me with his steady, keen eyes. Behind him through the lowwindow, I saw the white ground now far below us; we were rising swiftly.
"So you brought my Lady Elza back to me, Jac Hallen?"
He got no further, for with a leap I was upon him. To use my weapons inthese narrow quarters would have been suicide. My body pinned himagainst the wall as I lunged; my fingers strove for his throat.
He was no larger than I, but the strength of him was extraordinary. Hisbody stiffened to resist my impact; one of his hands gripped my wrist;his other hand--the heel of it--came up beneath my chin, forcing my headback.
He fought silently, with movements that seemed almost deliberate. Intothe center of the room we struggled. I saw that Elza was upon her feet,a hand pressed to her mouth in terror.
"Elza!"
I had meant to tell her to use the control levers which were on a smalltable nearby--to bring us back to the ground; but with this momentarydiverting of my attention, Tarrano's fist struck me full in the face. Istaggered back. Elza screamed--called something to Tarrano. I staggered,but I did not fall; and as Tarrano stood there, still with his slowsmile, I recovered myself and was again upon him. Locked together weswayed to the control table. My back was to it. Tarrano's slenderfingers with a grip like alemite, had found my throat. Slowly,irresistibly he forced me backward over the table. I was helpless; mybreath was stopped; Tarrano's triumphant face bending over me was fadingwith my senses.
"In just a moment, Lady Elza...."
He was telling her calmly that in a moment he would be finished with me.Did the man's egotism, here at the last, delude him into the belief thatElza wanted him to conquer me? With all the weapons of sciencediscarded--this primitive struggle of man against man with the woman asprize--did the thought of that delude him into the belief that her lovewas his, now that he was killing me?
I never knew. But beneath the roaring of my head, I heard his gentlewords to her. And then, behind him, I saw her coming forward. A heavymetal object which she had picked up from the floor was in her hand.Tarrano saw her also--in a mirror on the table--saw her raise the jaggedweapon. Raise it to strike; not at me--at himself. His face was closeabove mine. In that second, I saw in his expression the realization thatElza was attacking him.
Whatever his emotions, like a flash he acted. His grip on my throatloosened. His arm, swinging backward, warded off Elza's trembling,hesitant blow. The metal block, intended for his head, was knocked fromher hand; it fell clattering to the floor. And reaching over, Tarranogripped the vehicle's control lever, wrenched it bodily from itsfastenings! Control of the vehicle was irrevocably lost! We werefalling!
Breathless moments! Tarrano idly stood apart; his face a mask. My breathrestored, I was recovering. I drew myself erect.
Death! But my confused thoughts went to Elza. Her flying mechanism waspartially sustaining; my own probably was still effective. BeforeTarrano was aware of my purpose, I had pushed Elza forcibly through thedoorway. Into the rush of air her figure disappeared. But Tarranogripped me as I tried to follow her. Gripped me and clung. A breathless,dizzy instant. Locked together, our bodies shifted crazily. Itried to get him out the doorway with me, but he fought againstit.... Smiling--always smiling....
Elza fell safely. But they told me that Tarrano and I hovered for daysunconscious on the borderland between life and death, living finally,for our vehicle had plunged into a tremendous snow-bank, to break itsfall.
* * * * *
Last scene of all ... They would not have Tarrano on any of the threeworlds. While still living, the very personality of him was a menace.With his woman Tara, who refused to leave him and whom he tolerated,they banished him to that tiny asteroid which pursued its solitary waybetween the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
A lonely, barren little world, with its single, primitive race ofspindly beings--timid, frail beings, half-human, half insect. We tookhim there--Maida and Georg, Elza and I. He anticipated his dislike ofthe asteroid's slight gravity, and demanded weighted shoes so that hemight walk with the normal feeling of Earth and Venus.
"You give me too much freedom," he told us solemnly.
And there amid the rocks, with Tara we set him down. As we parted, heturned to Elza. She and I were joined in marriage by then. He faced her,took one of her hands and pressed its palm to his forehead, the gestureof homage and respect.
"Goodbye, Lady Elza. I wish for you all life's happiness." He smiled,but it was a very wistful smile. And then he swung away abruptly.
"Tara! Prepare me food. Leave me--I would be alone." His imperiousgesture dispersed also the crowd of natives who were curiously regardinghim. Here, in his last little domain, he would still be master.
Our vehicle slowly rose. From its windows we watched him. Ignoring usutterly, weighted down by his heavy shoes, he paced his barren rocks,head lowered, alone with those thoughts he never shared with anyone.
Tarrano, the Conqueror!
The End.
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