CHAPTER X
_Clyone and Ulana_
The Zara received them in the throne room, alone. Blaine hesitated ashe crossed the threshold, Ulana's trembling fingers tightly clasped inhis own. The quick prod of the invisible ray pistol warned him thatIanito was at his heels.
Clyone uncurled her sinuous, black-sheathed body and rose to her feetas they neared the dais.
"Welcome, oh Carson," she purred. "Clyone has mourned you as dead, butshe mourns no longer. A kind fate has returned you."
The gold-flecked eyes were all for him; it was as if she did not seehis companion. Blaine fought the spell of her with all that was in him.He did not reply.
"Come to me, Carson," she pleaded, her lashes lowered. "Leave thisRulan girl and come to me."
"Where I go she goes," he replied firmly.
"Very well then," said the Zara meekly, "bring her with you. I wouldconverse with her as with you."
Something new, this was: a gentleness Blaine had never thought theleopard woman could exhibit, even in sham. And her eyes, when sheraised them, still were gentle. She extended a white arm and smiledprovocatively. If this was a ruse, if she meant harm to the Rulan maid,her acting was superb. And, from what he had seen of the womanpreviously, he was almost convinced of her sincerity. A nature likehers was incapable of successful dissimulation. Still, he wassuspicious and he shielded Ulana with his body as they came up to thethrone. The Zara studied them in silence for a while. Then she spoke.
"Let me look at you, my dear," she said to the Rulan maiden.
* * * * *
And Ulana, unafraid, faced her boldly. His muscles tensed, Blainewatched every movement of the Zara's straying fingers. But her gaze wasdirect and kindly; there was no dissembling here. It was not the sameClyone he had previously known.
"You are very beautiful, Ulana," she said softly. "Do you love thisEarth man very much?"
"I do, Your Majesty."
"And you, Carson, you love her--very much?"
His answer was wordless. A sudden lump in his throat choked back thevigorous affirmative and he merely nodded, mute, as he enfolded theslight form of Ulana in his arms.
"Carson--are you sure?" Clyone was pleading, her eyes compelling;tender. Ulana drew away from his arms, waiting.
What had come over the leopard woman? She was a creature of madvagaries, he knew, and yet this was the most convincing mood he hadseen. Despite his knowledge of her past; despite his better judgment,he was drawn toward her. A step, and then quick revulsion of feeling.He recoiled and turned swiftly to Ulana.
Clyone saw and understood. Her tender mood was over in a flash and shecrouched there, terrible jealous eyes fixed on the Rulan maiden. Sheextended a white arm with jeweled fingers, pointing. Blaine swungquickly, brushing the arm aside just as that intangible somethingflashed from her hand. The energy of the black disks! It had missedUlana by inches, but crashed home--on something!
* * * * *
A scream of terror rang out in the chamber, and there on the floor adozen paces from the dais the thing that had been Ianito wriggled underthe heap of whirring black things that suddenly covered the invisibleform. He wriggled and then lay still as the angry buzzing of the blackdestroyers rose in triumphant, discordant song.
"Ianito!" the Zara exclaimed, thunderstruck. "He was here?"
"He was," Blaine assured her in an awed voice, "invisible, oh Zara, ina cloak contrived by Dantor, the Rulan scientist." Then blind rageovercame him. She had tried to kill Ulana; before his eyes! "Youshe-devil!" he roared. "I've half a mind to choke the vile life fromyour tainted body. Damn you! May the heat devils of Mercury burn andsear and shrivel you in everlasting torment."
She cowered as if he had struck her, and, unaccountably, he wasashamed. Cursing her like a schoolboy and using the language of thelower class Venerians!
"Please, Carson, please," she moaned; "do it. Choke me if you will andrelease me from my torment. I am yours to do with as you please."Throwing back her proud head, she bared her throat.
Blaine took a step forward, his knees weak beneath him.
"Carson!" It was Ulana, her hand soft on his arm.
He drew the back of his hand across his eyes. This was madness! But wasever a woman so deserving of death? Incomprehensible half-animalcreature, she sat there rocking to and fro, waiting.
"No!" he said. "No! Only let us go in peace, Clyone. Your sins be onyour own head. Your realization of them is punishment enough."
"Wait!" Controlling herself now, she rose once more, and her face wastransfigured. Almost it seemed that she was happy. "Wait!" sherepeated. "You are free to go when I have finished, but first Clyonewishes to bid you farewell."
* * * * *
They faced her in silent wonderment.
"Ianito is gone," she continued, "and the Llotta are helpless withouthim, unless I take over their leadership in fact. He was my master, Iadmit. But Clyone is able to carry on with the plans he conceived;able, but no longer willing. Clyone is abdicating. It but remains foryou, Carson, to put a stop to this thing they are doing down there atthe great rocket-tube. You can do it, I am certain. Go now; and thinknot too badly of Clyone when you have gone. Farewell."
With a quick motion she raised her fingers to her lips, then tossed asmall vial crashing to the floor.
"Carson--she has taken something," Ulana stifled a hysterical sob asshe spoke. "Go to her. It is the least you can do."
Blaine caught the leopard woman in his arms and lowered her gently tothe luxurious cushions of the throne she had occupied for so long atime, a queen in name only. Already the gold-flecked eyes were glazingand they begged him piteously.
"Kiss me." Her lips formed the words, but no sound came.
Ulana was there, on her knees and crying. "Carson, you must," she urgedhim.
The spirit of Clyone, with its great burden of evil and some little ofgood, left the beautiful body as the Earth man pressed his lips tohers. An unwonted smile, placid and content, wreathed the stillfeatures.
The Zara was no more.
* * * * *
Stunned and shaken by what they had seen, they hurried from the chamberof death. Blaine located the lift and they were quickly carried to thelaboratory.
Dantor was there, working with the astronomers, and Blaine drew himaside, whispering the story in his ear in swift disjointed sentences.The aged scientist could scarcely credit his senses.
The thrumming of the copper shell to the energy of the secondrocket-tube charge came but faintly to their ears in this place, sincethe vacuum of outer space surrounded the great domed structure. But thevibration and quakings of the satellite were transmitted to thefloorplates on which they stood. They knew that Antrid was swingingever outward from the mother planet.
"You must do it alone," Dantor was saying; "you and Ulana. I have nocontrol over these Llotta. I am here only on sufferance of Ianito, andIanito is no more. But they know it not. These in the dome think he iswith you now, cloaked in invisibility. The tale of the cloaks has beenbroadcast. You are safe for the present and can descend to the base ofthe rocket with impunity. Ianito's name is the password. And here is aray pistol, fully charged; two of them. He left them in his desk. Gonow, quickly."
"The way--how do we get there?" Blaine's fingers closed lovingly overthe butts of the pistols and he thrust them in his pockets.
"Oh yes. The lift--the one that carried you to the palace--its shaftends deep down beneath the natural surface of Antrid in a tunnel wherea moving platform will carry you to your friend. May your God and thegods of ancient Antrid be with you."
Once more they were in the cage of the lift, dropping withbreath-taking speed. Down into the bowels of the satellite they spedand it seemed the shaft would never end.
* * * * *
Then they were in the tunnel Dantor had
told them about, smooth wallsspeeding past as the swiftly moving platform carried them on. The greatarched chamber opened before them at last and they saw that the workmenwere returning to their tasks. The huge breech of the rocket-tube hadcooled to a dimly visible red, the second charge having done its work.
Hands in his pockets and walking stiffly as if mechanized, the Earthman presented himself before the guard at the entrance, Ulana pressedclose to his side. He feigned the hypnotic state.
"I-an-i-to," he repeated in jerky syllables, acting the part, "he--sentus--with message--for Farley."
The guard grinned. Even here the story of the Earth man and the Rulanmaiden was known. The strange leniency of Ianito in permitting them toremain together was the topic of the day. He waved them through with anindulgent gesture. Ianito knew what he was about, and would have hislittle joke--later.
Tom Farley was there, waiting with the Llott scientists until thebreech block should have cooled sufficiently to permit them to open itand prepare the third charge. A flicker of recognition in his glazedeyes told Blaine he was not altogether gone, but Tommy gave no otheroutward sign. Perhaps with Ianito no longer alive, the mental controlwould become ineffective.
They had not long to wait, for the breech was water-jacketed and cooledrapidly. Blaine puttered around with unfamiliar test tubes and retorts,watching for a chance to get a word with Tommy in private. He wasalmost certain that his friend was recovering. Ulana sat there on agreasy bench, regarding the scene with anxious eyes. She was a brick:game as they made them.
Tommy was beside him then, weighing a heap of the dry soil for the nextcharge. "Are you all right?" Blaine whispered.
But Tom Farley stared back with not a glimmer of comprehension: He wasstill a victim of the mechanizing process of the Llotta. With acarefully planned but seemingly careless gesture, Blaine slid back theweight on the scale arm. This charge would be short of the proper ratioof dry soil. He wondered what the effect would be.
* * * * *
One of the Llott scientists came over then with the radium capsule, andTommy attached it to the clamp that would hold it in contact with thecube of k-metal. The dry soil was shoveled into the breech block by theunsuspecting Llotta and the thing was ready for the placing of theexcitant.
The great breech block swung home and a siren shrieked. All work in thelaboratory was suspended and the workmen stood around in expectantsilence. Blaine found himself worrying as to the possible result of histampering.
"I saw you!" Tommy hissed then in his ear. "There'll be hell to paynow. We gotta beat it."
Good old Tommy! He'd recovered after all. He, too, had been shamming atthe last. Blaine saw they were unobserved and thrust one of the pistolsin his hand.
"Now!" his friend rasped. "Before they get wise. Grab the girl andwe'll make a break for the tunnel entrance: over there."
Ulana took in the situation at a glance and was at his side. They movedswiftly in the direction of the entrance through which they had come.
A terrific roar came from the base of the rocket tube and the Llottabroke into excited screechings. Something different about it this time.There was a terrible menacing note in the jarring thump which precededthe roar. A muffled boom high in the five mile depth of rock strataabove them spelled disaster of an unknown and terrifying nature. Thebreech of the tube was white with heat in an instant of time.
Pandemonium broke loose now and the Earth men were running for the exitto the lift, covering their retreat with brandished ray pistols. Ulana,brave girl, ran alongside, swinging a pinch bar she had picked up,ready to help.