Spacehounds of IPC

d Civil

oulder. "Are you going to sleep all the way to Saturn? You answered me when I pounded on the partition with

insult penetrated his consciousness, he came wide awake. "Lay off those

sive eyes at him impishly as she danced blithely back into the control room. As she went out she slammed his door with a

at breakfast. "I don't know when I've had such

s and nights on end and then trying to make up all those four nights' sleep at on

got to do work when it's got to be done, instead of just between sleeps. However, I'll

ey're nice, I think, really, but they're so ... so ... well, so ghastl

rtian, and the Venerians are even worse in some ways-they're so clammy and dead-looking-but now I've got real friends on both planets. One thing

omance," she corrected him.

e, I think that you are the most perfectly beautiful thing I ever saw; but no Venerian would think so. Far from it. Any Martian that hadn't seen many of us would have to go rest his eyes after taking one good look at you. Considering what love means, it doesn't s

system-yes. But the Dacrovos w

e same solar system are so repulsive to us, how would w

g enough, so that people like the Dacrovos may possibly exist in it somewhere. May be the Big

rl right up into a ball, too! But about Barkovis-remember how diplomatic the thoughts were that he sent us? He

rty, hairy, hideously opaque and generally repulsive little monstrosities-thoroughly unpleasant and distaste

he same as we are doing. He isn't any more insulted than we are.

scanned the sparkling heavens with keen interest. Beneath them Jupiter was a brilliant crescent not far from the sun in appearance, which latter had already grown perceptibly smaller and less bright. Above them, and to their right, Saturn shone refulgently, h

ransmitter unit to send it over here to our receptor. Then I can start welding the old Hope together without wai

and evening after evening Barkovis visited with them for hours. Dressed in his heavy space-suit and supported by a tractor beam well out of range of what seemed to him terrific heat radiated by the bodies of the Terrestrials, he floated along unconcernedly; while over the multiplex cable of the thought-exchanger he conversed with the man

rcles, for you are impossibility incarnate-personifications of the preposterous. In you, wildest fancy had become commonplace. According to many of our scientists, it is utterly impossible for you to exist. Yet you say, an

e mythology come i

nian years, and since in that long period there has been no measurable change in us, few of us have believed in the legends at all. They have been thought the surviving figments of a barbarous, prehistoric worship of the sun. However, such a condition

must have bred into their plants the ability to use as sap purely chemical liquids, such as our present natural fluids-which also may have been partly synthetic then-instead of the molten water to which they had been accustomed. They must have modified similarly the outer atmosphere; mus

still lower temperatures. This must have continued until Titan arrived at the condition which has now obtained for ages-a condition of thermal equilibrium with space upon one hand and upon the other the sun, which changes appreciably only in

you want, and yet it doesn't stand to reason that there coul

elf. It is from power plants upon Saturn that we draw energy. Their construction was difficult in the extreme, since the pioneers had to work in braces because of the enormous force of gravity. Then, too, they had to be protected fr

ve indicated that Saturn is

e of its heat is radiated because of the great density and depth of its atmosphere, which extends for many hundreds of your kilometers. It required many thousands of lives an

urs, but we haven't anything like your range. Suppose you

we should have developed certain refinements as yet unknown to you. But I am, I perceived, deta

od of theirs, Steve?" asked Nadia, watching the

ontains flourin in loose combination. I think it is something that our Tellurian chemists haven't got yet; but they've got so many organic compounds now that they may have synthesized it, at that. You see, Titan's atmosphere isn't nearly as dense as ours, but what there is

you do. Funny, isn't it, the way he thinks 'water' when he m

arithmetic-the effective difference between his body temperature and ours is perhaps even greater t

oo. Well, good n

you at breakfast," and the Forl

th practised hand, she repaired or cut out of circuit the damaged accumulator cells and reunited the ends of each severed power lead. Understanding Nadia's work thoroughly, the Titanians were not particularly interested in it; but whenever Stevens made his way along an outside seam, he had a large and thrillingly horrified gallery. Everyone who could possibly secure permission to leave the sphere did so, each upon his own pencil of force, and went over to w

t. The two mechanics heaved deep sighs of relief as they discarded their cumbersome armor and began to repair what few of th

ggered up to Stevens, hands on hips, her walk an exaggerated roll. "Write me out a long walk. This job

ing up to her lead as he always did. "Bounce back, cub, you've stru

vens turned the dial and Titan shone upon the screen; so close, that it no longer res

ard the mighty planet. It was now an enormous full moon, almost five degrees in apparent diameter,1 its visible surface an expan

an has to be right in their plane, isn't it? Think of living this close to one of the most wonderful s

eplied. He swung the communicator beam

iner we can see it, the worse it gets. Just to think of human beings, even such cold-blooded ones

the eyepiece of the visiray telescope, studying minutely the forb

g depths no spark of warmth had been generated for countless cycles of time, were surrounded by vast plains eroded to the dead level of a windless sea. Every lofty object cast a sharply out

hem the pip. Ha! Here's something you'll like, even if it does look so cold that it makes me feel like hugging a couple of heater coils. It's Barkovis' city

dropping vertically downward toward the center of a vast plain of

o good to spoil by telling y

"It is beautiful, Steve, but h

anged in irregularly variant hexagonal patterns, extended mile upon mile. From the roofs of the structures lacy spires soared heavenward; inter-connected by long, slim cantilever bridges whose pr

what that reminds me

alike, and yet every one is symmetrical and hexagonal. We're going to lan

sparkling cascades of liquid jewels. Under foot there spread a thick, soft carpet of whitely brilliant vegetation. Throngs of the grotesque citizens of Titania were massed to greet the space-ships; throngs clustering close a

ey say, Steve!" Nadia exclaimed, in

that thought telephone of theirs so much,

es and was now walking toward the Terrestrials, carrying the multiple headsets. Placin

learly. "We do not know why, but we can understand what your pe

le for us to help you immediately, as I promised. While we were gone, one of our two power-plants upon Saturn failed. In consequence, Titan's power has been cut to a minimum, since maintaining our beam at that great distance required a large fraction of the output of the ot

n had told him concerning the construction of those plants-generators which ha

ecaution and all possible bracing and insulation, man after man after man will be crushed by his own weight, volatilized by the awful heat, poisoned by the foul atmosphere, or will bu

would have on you-your tissues would probably be wildly inflammable. But say, I just had

bove the melting-point of water, and the pressure is not far short of two of your met

ure for quite a while. Both my partner and I are pretty fair mechanics and we've got quite a line of machine tools, such as you could not possibly have here. We'll give it a whirl, since we

ilar to yours, and radio sets. With these we can guide you and explain the plants to you as you work, and our tractor beams will be of assistance to you in moving heavy objects, even at such distances from the surface as we Titanians sh

t long until the two ships leaped into the air, to the acco

cloud. The spherical space-ship stopped and Stevens, staring into his useless screen, drove the Forlorn Hope downward mile after mile, solely under Barkovis' direction, changing course and power from time to time as the Titanian's voice came from the speaker at hi

nd see what's gone screwy with the works. Remember that gravity

be only about nine-t

re," he replied. "And it's some atmosphere-n

valves cracked, he sniffed cautiously, finally opening his helmet wide. Nadia followed suit and the man l

ther," he assured her, "but they aren't strong enough to hurt us in the s

the door and they stepped down upon the smooth,

loys-the only substances known that will literally last forever. Believe me, ace of my bosom, I don't wonde

was nothing that could move. Twelve enormous masses of metallic checkerwork, covered with wide cooling fins, almost filled the vast hall. From the center of each mass great leads extended out into a clear space in the middle of the room, there uniting in mid-air to form one enormous bus-bar. This bar, thicker than a man's body, had originally curved upward to the base o

there's nothing on this beam? If it should be hot and I should s

nected to it," the Titanian assured hi

nd after we get it straightened the welding will be easy, but I'll h

ll find ample stores of spare metal

their vessel, finding that upon Saturn, their combined strengt

ctor beam picked the massive jack lightly from the floor, and as lightly lifted it to its place beneath

ng to be real work, girl-no fooling. It'd help a lot if this outfit w

uld tha

ale down the side of this cone when it's working-and hot air rushes in to take its place. I could use a little

ck, uniting to form tiny rivulets, and th

teve-I'm pretty hus

aiden of the upper classes. You can help, though, by breaking out that welding out

their visiray screens, watching, in almost unbelieving amazement, the supernatural being who labored in that reeking inferno of heat a

back. "Now you can put this jack away where we had it. Then you might trundle me over enough of that spare metal to fill up this hole, a

elding projector bit viciously into the stubborn alloy of noble metals; fashioning a smooth, solid floor where t

ick after brick of alloy was fused into the crack, until only a smoothly rou

" Stevens instructed, as he relaxed in the grateful coolness of their control

ks as little like a power-plant as anything I can imagine. How does it work? You said that it

instead of wires. When it's working, this metal must cool off something fierce. That's what the checkerwork and fins are for-so that it can absorb the maximum amount of heat from the current of hot, moist air I spoke about. It's a sweet system-we'll have

nse upon the heat-absorber: moisture running down the fins in streams and creeping over the dull metal floor in sluggish sheets; mo

? By the way it's condensing water,

have done more in three short hours than the entire force of Titan could hav

was just like shooting fish down a well, for us. Since you saved

rough into the light, clear outer atmosphere. Stevens located the Titanian space-ship, and the tw

platinum from the power plant, and something that I think is tantalum from Barkovis' descriptio

ugh the almost plastic glass of the great tube and of sealing them in place. The plates and grids presented more serious problems; but they were solved and, long before Titan was reached, the tube was out in space, supported by

this big gauge-so hard that it won't need flashing-harder than any va

as in the filaments and so on when the

times, almost to fusion. There isn't enough gas left i

e practically absolute vacuum of space, the last openings in the glass were sealed, an

bored serenely on through space, and it was not until Titan loomed large bene

on!" screamed from the speakers, and th

rching upon Titania. The order has gone ou

' again-what are they, any

then and I haven't thought of it since. Something pretty serious, though-they've jumped thei

ice of Barkovis from the

ted Stevens. "We're with you. What are those Sedlor

of their fecundity, adapted themselves to their environment as readily as did man; and for ages they threatened man's supremacy upon Titan. They devoured vegetation, crops, animals, and mankind. After a world-wide campaign, however, they were finally exterminated, save in the neighborhood of one great volcanic crater, which they so honeycombed that it is almost impregnable. All around that district we have erected barriers of force, maintained by a corps of men known as 'Guardians of the Sedlor.' These barriers extend so far into the ground

e-those high-ex

that when a Sedlor was blown to pieces, each piece forthwith developed into a new, complete creature.

et them afire, Steve?" Nadia a

-lying building it went, and Nadia saw a Titanian foundry in full operation. Men clad in asbestos armor were charging, tending, and tapping great electric furnaces and crucibles; shrinking ba

here-foundries always

d casting and that is so hot, is not metal, but ice! Remember that the vital fluid of all life here, animal and vegetable, corresponding to our water, is probably more inflammable

n't really believe a thing like that without seei

s of force, at the touch of which the Sedlor disappeared in puffs of vapor. Upon the ground huge tractors and trucks, manned by masked soldiery, mounted mighty reflectors projecting the same lethal beam. From globes and tanks there sounded a drumming roar and small capsules broke in thousands among the foe

ters died, but the Terrestrial ray was impotent compared with the weapons of the Titanians, and Stevens, snapping off the bea

ll the vegetation eaten away for miles, so there's nothing much left there to spread a fire if I go to work on that hill, and, I'll probably melt enough water to put out most of the fires I s

circled the mountain until Stevens found a favorable point of attack-a stupendous vertical cliff

e warned the Titanians then. "I'm giv

elting and destroying the very ground as the bodies of the Sedlor in that gigantic ant-heap burst into flames. Clouds of superheated steam roared upward, condensing into a hot rain which descended in destructive torrents upon the fastnesses of the centipede

ounding plain with a flood of heavy fumes, through which the holocaust could not spread for lack of oxygen. Not until the mountain was gone-not until in its stead there lay a furious

ret

n angle of about on