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_He was running toward the crater's edge._]
Creatures of Vibration
_A Sequel to "Vagabonds of Space"_
By Harl Vincent
+----------------------------------------+ | | | The Vagabonds of Space are cast into | | the hands of the vibration-maddened | | natives of Titan, satellite of Saturn. | | | +----------------------------------------+
Carr Parker sat day-dreaming at the _Nomad's_ controls. More than a weekof Earth time had passed since the self-styled "vagabonds of space" hadleft Europa, and now they were fast approaching the great ringed orb ofSaturn with the intention of exploring her satellites.
Behind him, his Martian friend, Mado, was manipulating the mechanism ofthe _rulden_, that remarkable Europan optical instrument which Detishad installed in the vessel before they left. Mado was utterlyfascinated by the machine, having spent most of his time during thevoyage searching the surfaces of Saturn's moons for signs of humanhabitation. Now, as they headed directly for Titan, the sixth satellite,he was completely absorbed in an examination of the heavy cloud layerthat covered it.
But Carr's thoughts were of his bride, who still slumbered in theirstateroom amidships. In his bachelor days he never had imagined he couldfind such contentment as had come with his marriage to Ora. He hadfought shy of the fair sex on Earth. Somehow, the women he knew backhome had bored him; angling for a man's money and position, most ofthem, and incapable of giving real love and companionship in return forthe luxuries they demanded. He was resigned to his single state.
But all that was changed by the little blue-eyed girl he had met inPaladar. She was a different sort; worth a hundred of those others andfulfilling to perfection the ideal he had always set up. On her world,Jupiter's satellite, Europa, he had neither wealth nor influence; he'dleft these behind when he deserted Earth for a life of vagabondage amongthe stars. But, to the daughter of Detis, this lack meant less thannothing; his love, and hers, meant everything.
* * * * *
And, what a good sport she had been! When they were threatened by Rapajuand his minions; when they barely escaped being swallowed up by thatmonster of space which Mado had likened to the Sargasso Sea of Earth;when she herself proposed joining them in their rovings throughout theuniverse.
She was a companion of whom even the phlegmatic Martian was proud, shebrought with her presence on the _Nomad_ a subtle something that made ofthe coldly mechanical space-ship a thing of new beauty and a place ofcheerfulness--a home. And, to think he had won her for his own. Tothink....
"Carr!" Mado's sharp exclamation startled him from his pleasantthoughts. "Come here and take a look at this," the Martian demanded, hisvoice betraying an excitement unusual for him. "Something is wrong onthis satellite we're heading for."
Locking the controls in the automatic position, Carr turned to join hisfriend at the viewing-disk of the rulden. Mado had found an opening inthe heavy cloud layer, and before them was an unobstructed view of arugged countryside where huge boulders had been scattered by the mightyhand of creation and where the sun shone weakly on the rim of a yawningcrater in which sulphurous vapors curled. They saw this strange land asfrom an altitude of a few hundred feet, though the _Nomad_ was stillmore than a million miles from the satellite.
"What's wrong about that?" Carr grunted. "Excepting that it's justanother of these barren and useless bodies that doesn't even provide uswith an attracting interest."
"Wait," Mado replied, "You'll see in a moment. Something--"
* * * * *
At that instant there came a puff of blue flame from out the pit,carrying on its heated breath a drifting sheet of incandescence thatfluttered and pulsated like a thing alive. Mado switched on the soundmechanism of the rulden and the roaring of the pillar of flame came totheir ears. There were other sounds as well; the babble of alien voicesand the rumble of drums.
Immediately the rough ground in the vicinity was filled with creaturesof human mold, half naked red-skinned beings that rose up from behindthe boulders and rushed toward the pit of fire and the uncanny heatmantle that wandered ghost-like along its rim. Two of them carriedsomething between them, a struggling writhing something which they stooderect at the crater's edge. It was a girl!--a slim, bronzed figure thatswayed there an instant uncertainly as the throb of the drums rose highand the voices of the assembled savages swelled in a monotony ofexultant chanting.
"Good Lord!" Carr gasped. "A human sacrifice!"
A quick push, a piercing scream immediately drowned out by the cries ofthe multitude, and the girl was flung headlong into the welcoming foldsof the white-hot ghost-mantle which hovered there like some greedymonster of the lava pools of Mercury. The thing closed in around thewildly struggling body, enwrapping it with exultant constrictions of itshell-born substance and diving, flapping, smoking heat devil, into theflame from whence it had sprung. Mado touched a lever with quicktrembling fingers and the rulden's disk went blank.
* * * * *
Sickened by what they had seen, the two friends stared at one another,white-faced.
"No place for us," Mado said, after a moment. "Not with Ora."
"Right!" Carr agreed grimly. "But I'd like to get in close enough to seemore of Titan. How high is this cloud layer?"
"About a mile above the surface. We can dive through and look them over;perhaps give them a taste of the disintegrator."
"Attaboy! You took the words out of my mouth. The devils! Who'd everdream of such a horror in the twenty-fourth century--even out here?"
"What's the reason for this serious discussion?" The voice of Detisbroke in on them from the door of the control room.
"Plenty!" Carr exclaimed. And the Europan listened gravely as hedescribed the awful thing they had witnessed.
"I am not surprised," he said calmly, when the Terrestrial ended hisrecital. "There are certain emanations from the mother planet that mostcertainly will affect the mentality and baser instincts of a race livingwithin their influence. I have been studying these vibrations forseveral hours."
They turned to the forward port as the scientist indicated the great orbof Saturn with its gleaming rings. Now, as they drew near to theenormous planet, it did indeed seem that there was a sinister quality inits shifting luminosity. Carr shivered, thinking of Ora.
"You mean," Mado asked, "that there are vibrations in the etherhereabouts that are set up electrically by the planet?"
"Precisely. Or rather I should say they are set up by the vast number ofwhirling particles of which its encircling rings are composed. The waveform propagated is of a characteristic that is in tune with thoseportions of the brain which control the savage impulses. We maycertainly expect to find superstition-ridden ignorance and all manner ofvice prevalent in the races of Titan."
"You think these vibrations will affect us?" Carr inquired anxiously.
"Not if we make our visit short. The intensity is quite low."
"It'll be a short visit, all right. We'll be in Titan's atmosphere inabout forty minutes now, and, if I have my say, we'll be out of it andaway again inside of an hour."
"Best thing you've said today," Mado approved. "But let's have anotherlook in the rulden. We may find other gaps in the clouds."
* * * * *
The mechanism of the radio telescope whirred into life as he spoke andits disk shone bright with the reflected light of Titan
as it picturedthe body. The _Nomad_ was speeding toward the ill-omened satellite atthe rate of more than a thousand miles a second.
But the surface was nowhere visible and Mado adjusted the focus so thatthe view of the billowy cloud-covering fell rapidly away. Thoughactually they were approaching the satellite with tremendous velocity,it receded swiftly in the rulden's disk until the entire body showed asa perfect sphere of uniform brilliancy. All surface markings wereconcealed by the blanket of clouds.
"Just a moment, Mado," said Detis. "I believe I saw something."
The Martian pressed a button and the image was stationary. A tiny blackspot had appeared near one edge of the satellite's disk and this nowspread rapidly like a blot of spilled ink. Then it stretched out