the two immense interstellar cruisers, was the most powerful vessel ever built upon red Nevia. And not
for nothing had he studied minutely and to the last, least detail every item of its controls and of its
armament during wearily long days and nights of solitary imprisonment. He had studied it under test, in
action, and at rest; studied it until he knew thoroughly its every possibility - and what a ship it was! The
atomic-powered generators of his shielding screens handled with ease the terrific load of the Nevians
assault, his polycyclic screens were proof against any material projectile, and the machines supplying his
offensive weapons with power were more than equal to their tasks. Driven now at full rating those
frightful beams lashed out against the Nevians blocking the way, and under their impacts her screens
flared brilliantly through the spectrum and went down. And in the instant of their failure the enemy vessel
was literally blown into nothingness - no unprotected metal, however resistant, could exist for a moment
in the pathway of those iron-driven tornadoes of pure energy.
Ship after ship of the Nevians plunged toward the speedster in desperately suicidal attempts to ram her
down, but each met the same flaming fate before it could reach its target. Then from the grouped
submarines far below there reached up red rods of force, which seized the space-ship and began
relentlessly to draw her down.
What are they doing that for, Conway? They can t fight us!
They don t want to fight us. They want to hold us, but I know what to do about that, too, and the
powerful tractor rods snapped as a plane of pure force knifed through them. Upward now at the highest
permissible velocity the speedster leaped, and past the few ships remaining above her she dodged;
nothing now between her and the freedom of boundless space.
You did it, Conway; you did it! Clio exulted. Oh. Conway, you re just simply wonderful!
I haven t done it yet, Costigan cautioned her. The worst is yet to come.
Nerado. He s why they wanted to hold us back, and why I was in such a hurry to get away. That boat
of his is bad medicine, girl, and we want to put plenty of kilometers behind us before he gets started.
But do you think he will chase us?
Think so? I know so! The mere facts that we are rare specimens and that he told us that we were going
to stay there all the rest of our lives would make him chase us clear to Lundmark s Nebula. Besides that,
we stepped on their toes pretty heavily before we left. We know altogether too much now to be let get
back to Tellus; and finally, they d all die of acute enlargement of the spleen if we get away with this prize
ship of theirs. I hope to tell you they ll chase us!
He fell silent, devoting his whole attention to his piloting, driving his craft onward at such velocity that its
outer plating held steadily at the highest point of temperature compatible with safety. Soon they were out
in open space, hurtling toward the sun under the drive of every possible watt of power, and Costigan
took off his armor and turned toward the helpless body of the captain.
He looks so . . . so . . . so dead, Conway! Are you really sure that you can bring him to?
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Absolutely. Lots of time yet. Just three simple squirts in the right places will do the trick. He took from
a locked compartment of his armor a small steel box, which housed a surgeon s hypodermic and three
vials. One, two, three, he injected small, but precisely measured amounts of the fluids into the three vital
localities, then placed the inert form upon a deeply cushioned couch.
There! That ll take care of the gas in five or six hours. The paralysis will wear off long before that, so
he ll be all right when he wakes up; and we re going away from here with everything we can put out. I ve
done everything I know how to do, for the present.
Then only did Costigan turn and look down, directly into Clio s eyes. Wide, eloquent blue eyes that
gazed back up into his, tender and unafraid; eyes freighted with the oldest message of woman to chosen
man. His hard young face softened wonderfully as he stared at her; there were two quick steps and they
were in each other s arms. Lips upon eager lips, blue eyes to gray, motionless they stood clasped in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]