Part 4 (2/2)

Suddenly, as city after city was brought under the action of the machine, the Ortolians recognizing them with glad exclamations, one swept into view--and as they watched, it leapt into the air, a vast column of dust, then twisting, whirling, it fell back in utter, chaotic ruin.

Zezdon Fentes staggered back from the screen in horror.

”Arcot--drive down--increase your speed--the Thessians are there already and have destroyed one city,” called Morey sharply. The men secured themselves with heavy belts, as the deep toned hum of the warning echoed through the s.h.i.+p. A moment later they staggered under an acceleration of four gravities. s.p.a.ce was dark for the barest instant of time, and then there was the scream of atmosphere as the s.h.i.+p rocketed through the air of the planet at nearly fifteen hundred miles per second. The outer wall was blazing in incandescence in a moment, and the heavy relux screens seemed to leap into place over the windows as the blasting heat, radiated from the incandescent walls flooded in. The millions of tons pressure of the air on the nose of the s.h.i.+p would have brought it to a stop in an instant, and had it not been that the molecular drive was on at full power, driving the s.h.i.+p against the air resistance, and still losing. The s.h.i.+p slowed swiftly, but was shrieking toward the destroyed city at terrific speed.

”Hesthis--to the--right and ahead. That would be their next attack,”

said the Ortolian. Arcot altered the s.h.i.+p's course, and they shot toward the distance city of Hesthis. They were slowing perceptibly, and yet, though the city was half around the world, they reached it in half a minute. Now Arcot's wizardry at the controls came into play, for by altering his s.p.a.ce field constants, he succeeded in reaching a condition that slowed the s.h.i.+p almost instantly to a speed of but a mile a second, yet without apparent deceleration.

High in the white Ortolian sky was a s.h.i.+ning point bearing down on the now-visible city. Arcot slanted toward it, and the approaching s.h.i.+p grew like an expanding rubber balloon.

A ray of intense, blindingly brilliant light flashed out, and a gout of light appeared in the center of the city. A huge flame, bright blue, shot heavenward in roaring heat.

Seeing that a strange s.h.i.+p had arrived was enough for the Thessians, and they turned, and drove at Arcot instantly. The Thessian s.h.i.+p was built for a heavy world, and for heavy acceleration in consequence, and, as they had found from the captured s.h.i.+p, it was stronger than the _Ancient Mariner_. Now the Thessians were driving at Arcot with an acceleration and speed that convinced him dodging was useless. Suddenly s.p.a.ce was black around them, the sunlit world was gone.

”Wonder what they thought of _that_!” grinned Arcot. Wade smiled grimly.

”It's not what they thought, but what they'll do, that counts.”

Arcot came back to normal s.p.a.ce, just in time to see the Thessian s.h.i.+p spin in a quick turn, under an acceleration that would have crushed a human to a pulp. Again the pilot dived at the terrestrian s.h.i.+p. Again it vanished. Twice more he tried these fruitless tactics, seeing the s.h.i.+p loom before him--bracing for the crash--then it was gone instantaneously, and though he sailed through the spot he knew it to have occupied, it was not there. Yet an instant later, as he turned, it was floating, unharmed, exactly where his s.h.i.+p had pa.s.sed!

Rus.h.i.+ng was useless. He stood, and prepared to give battle. A molecular ray reached out--and disappeared in flaring ions on a s.h.i.+eld utterly impenetrable in the ionizing atmosphere.

Arcot meanwhile watched the instrument of his s.h.i.+eld. The Thessian s.h.i.+eld would have been impenetrable, but his s.h.i.+eld, fed by less efficient tubes, was not, and he knew it. Already the terrific energy of the Thessian ray was noticeably heating the copper plates of the tube.

The seal would break soon.

Another ray reached out, a ray of flaring light. Arcot, watching through the ”eyes” of his telectroscope viewplates, saw it for but an instant, then the ”eyes” were blasted, and the screen went blank.

”He won't do anything with that but burn out eyes,” muttered the terrestrian. He pushed a small b.u.t.ton when his instruments told him the rays were off. Another scanner came into action, and the viewplate was alive again.

Arcot shot out a cosmic ray himself, and swept the Thessian with it thoroughly. For the instant he needed the enemy s.h.i.+p was blinded.

Immediately the _Ancient Mariner_ dove, and the automatic ray-finders could no longer hold the rays on his s.h.i.+p. As soon as he was out of the deadly molecular ray he shut off his screen, and turned on all his molecular rays. The Thessian s.h.i.+p, their own ray on, had been unable to put up their screen, as Arcot was unable to use his ray with the enemy's ray forcing him to cover with a s.h.i.+eld.

Almost at once the relux covering of the Thessian s.h.i.+p shone with characteristic iridescence as it changed swiftly to lux metal. The molecular ray blinked out, and a ray screen flashed out instead. The Thessians were covering up. Their own rays were useless now. Though Arcot could not hope to destroy their ray s.h.i.+eld, they could no longer attack his, for their rays were useless, and already they had lost so much of the protective relux, that they would not be so foolhardy as to risk a second attack of the ray.

Arcot continued to bathe the s.h.i.+p in energy, keeping their ”eyes”

closed. As long as he could hold his barrage on them, they would not damage him.

”Morey--get into the power room, strap onto the board. Throw all the power-coil banks into the magnets. I may burn them out, but I have hopes--” Arcot already had the generators going full power, charging the power coils.

Morey dived. Almost simultaneously the Thessians succeeded in the maneuver they had been attempting for some time. There were a dozen rays flaring wildly from the s.h.i.+p, searching blindly over the sky and ground, hoping to stumble on the enemy s.h.i.+p, while their own s.h.i.+p dived and twisted. Arcot was busily dodging the sweeping rays, but finally one hit his viewplates, and his own s.h.i.+p was blind. Instantly he threw the ray screen out, cutting off his own molecular ray. His own cosmics he set rotating in cones that covered the three dimensions--save below, where the city lay. Immediately the Thessian had retreated to this one segment where Arcot did not dare throw his own rays. The Thessian cosmics continued to make his relux screens necessary, and his s.h.i.+p remained blind.

His ray screen was showing signs of weakening. The Thessians got a third ray into position for operation, and opened up. Almost at once the tubes heated terrifically. In an instant they would give way. Arcot threw his s.h.i.+p into s.p.a.ce, and let the tubes cool under the water jacket. Morey reported the coils ready as soon as he came out of s.p.a.ce.

Arcot cut in the new set of eyes, and put up his molecular ray screen again. Then he cut the energy back to the coils.

<script>