Triplanetary

the R

distant as the one to which we are accustomed--with a distinctness and clarity impossible in our Terra's dust-filled air. As that mighty sun dropped below the horizon the sky would fill suddenly with clouds and rain would fall violently and steadily until midnight. Then the clouds would vanish as suddenly as they had come into being, the torrential downpour would cease,

ir from building to building, and the watery "stre

craft could be reduced sufficiently to make a landing possible. Then, approaching the twilight zone, the vessel dived vertically downward, and it became evident that Nevia was neither entirely aqueous nor devoid of intelligent life. For the blunt nose of the space-ship was pointing toward what was evidently a half-submerged city, a city whose buildings were flat-topped, hexagonal towers, exact

ctive, each operating independently in sending its own message to his peculiar but capable brain. One was watching the instruments, the others scanned narrowly the immense, swelling curve of the ship's belly, the water upon which his vessel was to land, and the floating dock

is four short, powerful, heavily scaled legs, he slipped smoothly into the water and flashed away, far below the surface. For Nevians are true amphibians. Their blood is cold; they use with equal comfort and efficiency gills and lungs for breathin

an opening in a wall he sped and along a submarine hallway, emerging upon a broad ramp. He scurried up the incline and into a

ease, facing the official across his low, flat "desk." "We congratulate you upon the success of your final trial flight. We received all your

her. She is stocked for two years. All the iron-bearing suns within reach have been plotted. Everything is ready except the iron

ten po

t with you could not have bought two po

es. You and your fellow scientists of the expedition have each contributed his entire pers

angular eyes glowed with an intense violet light. "A full year

unmoved. "That is the viewpoint of the Council and of almost everyone else. It is not the wa

lumbus of Nevia assented, "A

lligent life in the Universe. But there is one chance in numberless millions that, somewhere with the cruising range of your newly perfected space-ship, there may be an iron-bearing planet upon which you can effect a landing, and it is upon that infinitesimal chance that some of us are staking a portion of our wealth. We expect

all package of priceless metal to the space-ship, and before t

he Council for refusing to allow the other ship to go with us. Ten pounds of iron will be a fearful loss to

space will be full of vessels, as soon

ue sun had been left so far behind that it became a splendid blue-white star. Then, projectors cut off to save the precious iron whose disintegration furnished them power, for week after week Captain Nerado and his venture

since abandoned his former eager habit of studying a sun as soon as it showed the tiniest perceptible disk in his most powerful telescope--he turned on his powerful visiray beam without enthusiasm, swung it upon that very commonplace sun, and shrieked aloud in exultation. Not only one planet had that yellowish luminary--it had six, seven, eight; yes, possibly ni

usively to be practically pure iron. Iron--an enormous mass of it--floating alone out in space! Without waiting to investigate the nature, appearance, or structure of the precious mass, Nerado ordered power into the converters and drove an enormous soft

mass of iron, scarcely detectable; in another a great number of smaller masses; in a third an isolated mass, comparatively small i

ity--not in fractions of milligrams, but in millions upon unm

ting the mass of iron now nearest us, the small one. It is an artificial structure, a small space-boat, and there are thre

the boat in without converting it, so that we may study at our leisure both the beings and their mechanisms," and Nerado swung h

ey have immense stores of iron, yet use it for nothing other than building material. They apparently have a rudimentary knowledge of ultra-waves, but do not use them intelligently--they cannot neutralize even these ordinary forces we are now employing. They

gid armored figures, after being bereft of their external weapons, were brought through the air-locks and into the control room, while the pieces of their boat were stored aw

of a peculiar odor, was eminently breathable, and even though the vessel was motionless in space, an almost-normal gravitation gave them a large fraction of their usual weight. The space suits were removed with care, and after the three had been relieved of their pistols and other articl

r and disgust, as well as with other emotions, each according to his type and training. For to human eyes the Nevian is a fearful thing. Even to-day there are few Terrestrials--or Solarians for that matter--who can look at a Nevian, eye to eye, without feeling a creeping of the skin and experiencing a "gone" sensation in the pit of the stomach. The

head! It is that member that makes the Nevian so appalling to earthly eyes, for it is a thing utterly foreign to all Solarian history or experience. As most Tellurians already know, it is fundamentally a massive cone, covered with scales, based spearhead-like upon the neck. Four great sea-green, triangular eyes are spaced equidistant from each other about half way up the cone. The pupils are contractile at will, like the eyes of the cat, permitting the Nevian to see equally well in any ordinary extreme of light or darkness. Immediately below each eye springs out a long, jointless, boneless, tentacular arm; an arm

en mutual. For those "monstrous" beings are a highly intelligent and extremely sensitive race, and our--

is left arm flashed around her. "What monstrosities! And they can't tal

me Nerado was addr

elligence. They cannot talk, and have made no signs of having heard our words to them--do you suppose that

hed so high that the lowest note audible to them is far above our limit of hearing. The sh

must postpone further study of the specimens until we have tak

sked one of the Nevian officers. "Lo

planets; planets which are supporting organic and intelligent life! You may put them in three communicating rooms, say in the fourth section--they will undoubtedly require light and exercise. Lock all exits, of course, but it would be best to leave the doors between the rooms unlocked

ings. One walked away, waving a couple of arms in an unmistakable signal that the prisoners w

way and entered a narrow corridor. "Watch that one ahead of you, Clio--hold h

had been alert, his four eyes covering the entire circle of vision, and he had acted rapidly. Not in time to stop Costigan's first Berserk attack--the First Officer's reactions were practically instantaneous, and he moved like chain lightning--but in time to retain command of the situation. Another Nevian appeared and, while the stricken guard was recovering, all fou

y. "A guy can't mix it very well when he can neither kick, strike,

curiosities, like wild animals or something," decided the girl, shrewdly. "They're pret

s it, exactly. I feel like a bear in a cage. I should think you'd feel w

two got us out of that horrible place of Roger's, and I'm pretty sure that you will get us away from here, somehow or other. The

I see you, eye to eye. These four-legged fish carry considerably heavier stuff than Roger did, I'm thi

are you just whistling in t

he Galaxy and back in a month or so. New sub-ether drive, new power, new armament, new everything. Only bad thing about it is that it doesn't work so good yet--it's fu

asked Bradley,

e broke off abruptly and his voice lost its edge. "Sorry. Didn't mean to get high, but I think we'll have help, if we can keep our heads up a while. A

urling itself toward Roger's planetoid. They saw the pirate fleet rush out to do battle with Triplanetary's massed forces, and with bated breath they watc

of such a low stage of development--that they employ only ether-borne forces. Warfare seems universal among primitive types--indeed, it is not so long

een the two navies of the void. That conflict ended, he watched the

Since they are bent upon mutual destruction I can see no purpose in refrainin

component vessels subsiding into a sluggishly flowing stream of allotropic iron. Instantly the fleet abandoned the attack upon the planetoid and swung its cone around, to bring the flame-erupting

n Triplanetary history, the forces of law and order joined hands with those of piracy and banditry against a common foe. Rods, beams, planes, and stilettoes of unbearable energy the doomed fleet launched, in addition to its main beam of annihilation, and Roger also hurled out into space every weapon at his command. Bombs, high-explosive shells, and deadly radio-dirigible torpedoes--all alike disap

ship, depending solely upon the limited power available in its accumulators. It was the product of a really mighty brain, a brain re-enforced by the many perverted but powerful intellects which Roger had won over to his cause. It was powered by the incalculable

ments--but even if they should discover something it would be too late to do them any good. Even without invisibility he would have no trouble in annihilating the massed Grand Fleet of the Triplanetary League. He would very shortly collect his tribute and disappear. And this new en

shield was more effective than even its designer had supposed--gray Roger had builded even better than he knew. For the voracious and all-powerful converting beam of the Nevians, below the level of the ether though it was, struck that perfectly transparent wall and rebounded, defeated and futile. Struck and rebounded, then struck and clung hungrily, licking out o

Nevian computer handed his chief a sheet of m

to have been expected from such a low form of life," Nerado comm

spite of its utmost measure of energy, and, that defense down, the citadel would not last a minute. Therefore he summoned a chosen few of his motley crew of renegade scientists and issued brief instructions. For minutes a host of robots toiled mightily, then a portion of the shield bulged out, extended into a tube beyond the attacking layers of force, and from it there erupted a beam of violence incredible. A beam behind which was every volt and ampere that the gigantic gene

s accumulators failed, generator after generator burned out, the defensive screen collapsed, and the red converter beam attacked voraciously the unresisting metal of those prodigious walls. Soo

neck and spoke in huge relief. "With but the seven pounds remaining of our origi

d now be swimming in space. But what shall I do wi

this lot. Immediately it is loaded, we return to Nevia. There we shall

load. In their quarters in the fourth section the three Terrestrials, who had watched with strained attentio

easure of her customary spirit as she stared in surprise at Costigan's face. For it was thoughtful, his eye

Ford Rodebush were here they could help a lot, but I don't know enough about any of their stuff t

ash, after all that really did

hing? He couldn't have--I didn'

her hand, Roger's got a lot of stuff that I never saw anywhere else. However, I don't see that it has anything to do with the fix we're in

nds in his poc

oncisely and as rapidly as he could utter words, reporting clearly and exactly everything that had transpired. Sud

et up on it is enough to pulverize your bones. No, I'm not hurt," he reassured the anxious girl, now at his side, "b

ere they're taking us

at all you'd rather take it standing up. That talk of Jovians or Neptunians is the bunk--nothing l