Captain Future 19 - Outlaw World (Winter 1946) (13 page)

NEWTON refused to surrender to despair, however. His overmastering anxiety for the girl he loved strengthened his fierce resolution to find some way out. But there was only one possibility of escape, and that was to send out a distress signal that would bring some ship to his rescue. A telaudio signal was out of the question. It must be a flash signal.

Captain Future suddenly remembered the way the magnesium veins in the rock surface of the meteor had flashed into flame when struck by the atom beams. Considerable metallic magnesium was in meteors. If he could collect enough of it, he could make a brilliant beacon.

At once, he started hunting for the metal. It looked hopeless at first. All the surface veins of the element had been burned out when the atom beams had blasted across the meteor. And he couldn’t dig beneath the surface, without tools.

There remained the other side of the meteor. It had not been strafed by Ru Ghur’s cruisers. Captain Future trudged around the blackened surface of the meteor to the other side. The atomic gravitation equalizer at his belt made him able to walk normally even on this small celestial body, for it maintained a fixed artificial gravity field.

He reached the unblasted side of the meteor and hopefully searched that jagged rock expanse.

“Not much surface magnesium,” he muttered. “But maybe enough, if I have time to get it out.” Time was the vital factor — every minute lessened the supply of oxygen in his tank.

He began to dig out scraps of magnesium with the butt end of his atom-pistol. But he could not follow any vein more than a few inches deep, so his little pile of magnesium grew but slowly.

He had no time to notice the weirdness of his surroundings. And weird indeed was the dark surface of the spinning meteor, beneath a sky blazing with rushing lights like stars.

Captain Future finally realized that no more than a few hours’ oxygen was left him.

“Got to try it now or never!” he thought.

The heap of magnesium he had so painfully accumulated was not half as large as he had desired. Still there was a good chance that its flare might be seen. For although the space lanes did not run through this dangerous zone, they ran not far above and below it.

Curt Newton retreated to a safe distance from his pile of magnesium. Then he aimed his atomic-pistol at the metal and pulled the trigger.

A blinding white brilliance lit up the whole surface of the asteroid as his atom beam touched off the magnesium. He had mixed mineral oxides with the metal to furnish sufficient oxygen for the flare, and the resultant flash was so terrific it blinded him even through closed eyelids.

When he ventured to open his eyes a minute later, the flare had died out.

“Now all I’ve got to do is wait and hope it was seen,” he thought grimly.

He settled himself for the wait that would mean life or death. He had already reduced the flow of oxygen from his tank to a minimum.

To Captain Future’s amazement, less than ten minutes had passed when he glimpsed the rocket flash of an approaching ship. More astounding still, this ship was coming boldly into the meteor swarm.

“It can’t be!” he told himself feverishly. “But nobody else would dare enter a swarm... by space, it is!”

He had recognized the
Comet
. Jubilantly he realized that the Futuremen had somehow escaped death.

The little ship landed and Captain Future tumbled inside it. The Futuremen, Ezra Gurney, and Bork King were assailing him with excited questions.

“Chief, we thought Ru Ghur had you and Joan!” Otho was babbling. “We were searching for him.”

“He still has Joan!” Curt said tightly. “We’ve got to overtake him. Head for Mars, Grag!”

“For Mars?” cried Bork King. “Do you mean that Ru Ghur’s raiders are going there?”

“Yes, Bork! They’re after one more haul of radium — the last they need for the Uranian’s mysterious project. He tried to extort information from me about the Guardians of Mars. He thought you might have told me where their Citadel is.”

The massive face of the towering Martian became livid.

“The Citadel of the Guardians? Gods of Mars, then Ru Ghur is planning to rob my planet of the vital radium hoard on which its life depends!”

THEY were all startled by the strong emotion of Bork King and the other Martians. They all seemed stunned by horror.

“Bork, what do you mean?” Captain Future cried. “I’m not trying to pry into the secrets of your planet. But this concerns the whole System! Is there really radium where Ru Ghur is going?”

Bork King nodded. “Yes — the pitiful dwindling hoard with which Mars keeps its people alive. And that cursed Uranian wants to rob us of it and doom our planet!” He went on hoarsely, “You know that all that keeps Mars alive is the ancient canal system which brings the waters of its melting snow caps down from its poles. And you have probably wondered just how the flow was maintained and regulated in the vast canal network. That is the greatest secret of Mars! One our people have concealed for safety’s sake. But now that Ru Ghur has penetrated it, I can tell you. Near the northern pole of Mars is a great hidden underground pumping station. Its giant pumps, operated by super atomic power from radium fuel, keep the water of the melting snow caps flowing through the canals — the life-blood of Mars!”

Bork King drew a deep breath. “Only ten men are ever entrusted at one time with the secret of the pump station’s location. They are responsible for the operation of the pumps, and for the maintenance of a reserve of radium fuel. They are called the Guardians of Mars, and until several months ago, I was one of them.

“But months ago, it became impossible for us to secure radium. The depredations of Ru Ghur’s raiders had almost cut off the supply from the outer planets. What little came through was allocated to important power projects on other worlds, and we could not secure it at any price. In desperation, I resolved to turn pirate to get the radium Mars must have. For the sake of secrecy, I had myself disgraced and outlawed. That served as a cover for the pirate activities in which I and a score of faithful followers engaged.”

“I knew you were no traitor, Bork!” exclaimed Curt Newton. “You were trying to take radium forcibly from interplanetary ships before Ru Ghur’s raiders got it?”

Bork King nodded. “But on Leda Ru Ghur robbed us of all we had. He must have guessed what I was doing, and so, ferreted out the secret of the Guardians. But he doesn’t know the location of the pump station!”

Captain Future’s heart sank. “Bork,” he said slowly, “Ru Ghur can find the station!”

The towering Martian stiffened. “Impossible! He could search Mars for years without ever stumbling upon it!” Curt shook his head. “He has an instrument which he’ll use to locate your Citadel — a radium compass.”

The Brain uttered a sharp exclamation. “Of course! We should have guessed it!”

“What are you talking about?” cried Bork King.

“Electroscopic instruments will detect the presence of radium at short distances,” Captain Future explained swiftly. “Prospectors use them in searching for deposits. Ru Ghur must have perfected such an instrument that will work at long range, probably at tremendous distances.”

“So that’s how he’s always been able to trace radium shipments with such uncanny accuracy!” exclaimed Otho.

“An’ that’s why the yellow devil knew there wasn’t no radium on Zuun that it was a trap!” added Ezra.

“You mean, he’ll use his compass to locate the exact position of the underground station?” demanded Bork King. “Then raid it?” The big Martian’s craggy face grew dark with an overmastering passion. “If he dares to violate the Citadel —”

Curt tried to calm him and the other excited Martians.

“There’s a chance we can reach Mars before he strikes!” he said. “He’s got a big start on us, but the
Comet
is fast.”

The
Comet
was already out of the asteroid zone and was building up to almost unbearable velocities as it streaked toward the tiny red disk of Mars. Grag had thrown in as much of the auxiliary vibration drive as they dared use between planets. To attain higher speed would be to defeat their own object, since longer time would be required for deceleration. But Captain Future knew that with the start Ru Ghur had, the radium raiders must be almost to the Red Planet.

Ezra Gurney had been shrilling excitedly into the telaudio, on the Planet Patrol frequency. But he soon reported defeat.

“I was hopin’ there might be a Patrol squadron near Mars that could head off Ru Ghur. But they’re all out beyond Jupiter, searchin’ for the raiders!”

“Can’t you get a telaudio warning through to the pump station to warn them there of possible attack?” Captain Future asked Bork King.

BORK shook his head, his face haggard.

“The Citadel of the Guardians has no means of communication with the outside world. That has been to insure its concealment.”

“We may make it in time, anyway,” Curt said tautly.

The
Comet
screamed through interplanetary space at a velocity that would have been suicidal for any other ship. Fear went with it — the fear of Bork King and his Martians for the radium that was the life of their world, Captain Future’s agonized fear for Joan, and the grim fear of all of them because of what Ru Ghur’s sinister schemes might do to the System if his raiders secured this final haul.

Cure had taken over the controls of the ship. But his desperate thoughts outran even the racing ship as he sat, hands clenched on the space-stick, his red hair disordered, his lean brown face taut with anxiety.

Gradually the little red disk of Mars grew into a shadowed crimson sphere hanging in starry space. Plain upon it were the great canals that gave it life.

“The Citadel of the Guardians is ten degrees south of the northern pole, and twenty degrees east of the meridian,” Bork said hoarsely.

“We’ll be there in thirty minutes,” Captain Future answered tersely. “Tell Otho and Grag to man our guns. And Bork, if there’s fighting, remember that Joan is in Ru Ghur’s flagship.”

The
Comet
rushed toward the white snow cap at Mars’ northern pole like a shooting star. Its brake rockets roaring flame, it scudded low across the glittering white snow.

The two moons were rising over Mars. Against their light, a low black mountain like a squat pinnacle of black rock stood out.

“The Citadel of the Guardians is inside that pinnacle!” exclaimed Bork King. “There’s a secret door.”

But as the
Comet
swept down to land the big Martian uttered a hoarse cry.

“The door has been blasted! They’ve been here and are gone!”

“They may not be gone yet, though I don’t see their ships!” Captain Future cried, with fast-waning hope. “Come on! And bring your atom-guns!”

They all burst out of the little ship, headed toward the pinnacle at a run. The big door at the base of the mountain that had been cunningly masked to look like the solid rock now yawned like a gaping mouth.

Inside it, a tunnel lit by uranite bulbs led slantingly down into the mountain. Bork King pitched down the steep passage with his atom-gun held hip-high, his face black with rage.

Captain Future and the others, following him, emerged suddenly into a vast underground chamber that had been hollowed from the solid rock. A low throbbing sound came from gigantic atomic-powered pumps that towered up into the shadows.

The beating heart of Mars, this hidden station whose great pumps kept the waters of its canals constantly flowing!

“God o’ space!” shouted old Ezra, aghast. “Ru Ghur’s been here, all right.”

Half a score of dead Martians lay about the underground chamber — Guardians of Mars who had died fighting. And the corpses of motley raiders showed that the Guardians had taken toll of Ru Ghur’s men.

“The radium!” cried the Brain. “Did they get it?”

Bork King was already running frantically to a door in the wall. He tore it open, disclosing a small room hollowed from the rock.

The room was empty.

“The radium is gone,” he said thickly. “The pitiful reserve of fuel that alone could keep these pumps operating.” His stricken eyes turned dazedly toward the huge machines. “In a few hours, they’ll stop. The water will cease to flow in the canals all over Mars. And Mars will slowly wither and die.”

It was a horrible thought, but it was true. The fuel that could keep these pumps going was the one vital spot on the planet and with cunning and shrewdness that spot had been struck. And Ru Ghur had his supply of radium.

Terrible realization of the full scope of the disaster came to them all as they stood looking at each other in this chamber of death.

“Ru Ghur’s last raid — and it succeeded!” muttered Otho. “He’s on his way back to his cursed Outlaw World with the last radium he needed for whatever devil’s scheme he’s got in mind.”

“And we can’t follow, not knowing where Outlaw World is!” groaned Grag.

But in this terrible moment Curt Newton was not thinking of the stolen radium that meant death for Mars and victory for Ru Ghur and his sinister plans.

“Joan!” his tortured mind was crying. “She sacrificed herself for me, and I’ve failed her!”

DEFEAT, utter and final, stared him in the face. But in his blackness of despair, Captain Future glimpsed one last ray of hope.

He told them what it was in a voice that was cool and poised. This was a situation that called for calm, realistic thinking, as well as the utmost in ingenuity and improvisation — if Ru Ghur and his fiendish plans were to be effectively countered and smashed.

“There’s still a slim chance left,” he told the others. “One possible way to locate Outlaw World. Ru Ghur’s radium compass! If he could construct one, we can.”

“How long would that take?” cried Bork King. “And even if you devised such a thing, how long would it take for us to find Outlaw World with it? While all the time, Mars is dying.”

Captain Future swung around. And on his drawn face was agony even the Futuremen had hardly ever seen there before.