Giants on the Earth Read online

  CHAPTER II

  _Turgan's Plan_

  Content with the Kildare's answer, Damis followed him down a corridorand into a large room set around with benches. The Kildare did not pausebut moved to the far end of the room and manipulated a hidden switch. Aportion of the paneled wall swung inward and through the doorway thusopened, Turgan led the way. The corridor in which they found themselveswas dimly lighted by radium bulbs which Damis shrewdly suspected hadbeen stolen from the palace of the Viceroy by Earthmen employed there.It sloped steeply downward and Damis estimated that they were fifty feetbelow the level of the ground before another door opened to Turgan'smanipulation of hidden catches and admitted them to a large roomequipped with tables and chairs and well lighted by other radium bulbs.Damis turned to the Kildare.

  "For years there have been rumors among the Sons of God of the existenceof this place," he exclaimed, "yet every effort to find it has beenfutile. Glavour and his council have at last decided that it is merely amyth and that the underground council chamber does not exist. You havekept your secret well, for never has a breath of suspicion reached himthat Turgan was one of the conspirators who plotted to overthrow thereign of the Sons of God."

  "Let that, Damis, be a sample of the earnestness and loyalty of your newbrethren," said the Kildare. "There are hundreds of Earthmen who knowwhere this place is and what secrets it holds, yet none has everbetrayed it. Scores have gone to torture and to the sacrifice of thegames without unsealing their lips. Would a Jovian have done likewise?"

  "To give them due credit, I think they would have," replied Damisthoughtfully, "yet their motive would not have been loyalty, butstubbornness and a refusal to subordinate their will to another's. Ithought you said that Lura would join us here?"

  * * * * *

  As Damis spoke a door on the far side of the chamber opened and a halfdozen women entered. Lura was among them and with a cry of joy, she ranlightly forward and threw herself into Damis' outstretched arms. Turgansmiled paternally at them for a moment and then touched his daughterlightly on the shoulder.

  "I have freely and gladly given my blessing to your union with Damis,"he said. "He is now one with us. His presence makes victory possible andenables us to act at once instead of planning for years. Damis, you canoperate a space flyer, can you not?"

  "Certainly. That is knowledge which all Nepthalim possess."

  A suppressed cheer greeted his words and the Earthmen crowded aroundhim, vibrant with excitement.

  "The time is at hand!" cried a stern-faced man in the crimson robe whichmarked him an Akildare, an under-officer of the Earthmen.

  "Before I can operate a space flyer, I will have to have one tooperate," objected Damis.

  "That will be supplied," cried a dozen voices. Turgan's voice rose abovethe hubbub of sound.

  "Let us proceed in orderly fashion," he cried.

  * * * * *

  The noise died down to silence and at a gesture from their ruler, theEarthmen took seats. Turgan stood beside Damis.

  "For the enlightenment of our new-found brother, I will recite what hashappened and what we have done, although most of you know it and many ofyou have done your part in bringing it about.

  "Forty years ago, the Earth was prosperous, peopled with free men, andhappy. While we knew little of science and lived in mere huts, yet weworshipped beauty and Him who ruled all and loved his children. It wasto such a world that the Jovians came.

  "When the first space flyer with a load of these inhuman monstersarrived on the earth, we foolishly took them for the angels whom we hadbeen taught to believe spent eternity in glorifying Him. We welcomedthem with our best and humbly obeyed when they spoke. This illusion wasfostered by the name the Jovians gave themselves, the 'Sons of God.'Hortan, their leader and the father of our new brother, was a just andkindly man and he ruled the earth wisely and well. We learned from themand they learned from us. That was the golden age. And the Sons of Godsaw that the Daughters of Man were fair, and they took of them wives,such as they chose. And sons were born to them, the Nepthalim, themighty men of the Earth.

  "In time other flyers came from the heavens above and brought more ofthe Sons of God to rule over us. Then Hortan, the Viceroy, died, andDamis, know you how he died? You were a babe at the time and you knownothing. Your father and your mother, who was my distant kinswoman, diedunder the knives of assassins. It was given out that they had gone toJupiter, yet there were some who knew the truth. You, the killerssought, but one of the Earthmen whose heart bled for your dead mother,spirited you away. When you had grown to boyhood, he announced your nameand lineage, although his life paid for his indiscretion. The same handwhich struck down your father and your mother struck at him and strucknot unavailingly. You, since all knew your name and lineage, he darednot strike, lest those who love him not, would appeal to Tubain. Knowyou the name of the monster, the traitor to his ruler and the murdererof your parents?"

  * * * * *

  Damis' face had paled during the recital and when the old Kildare turnedto him, he silently shook his head.

  "It was the monster who now rules over us as Viceroy and who profanesthe name of God by conferring it on his master and who would, if hedared, assume the name for himself. It was Glavour, Viceroy of theEarth."

  The blood surged back into Damis' face and he raised a hand in adramatic gesture.

  "Now I vow that I will never rest until he lies low in death and this bethe hand that brings him there!"

  A murmur of applause greeted Damis' announcement and Turgan went on withhis tale.

  "With the kind and just Hortan dead, Glavour assumed the throne ofpower, for none dared oppose him. Once secure, he gave way to everybrutal lust and vice. Your mother was Hortan's only wife and he honoredher as such, and meant that the Nepthalim should in time rule the Earth,but Glavour had no such ideas. To him, the Daughters of Man wereplaythings to satisfy his brutal lusts. By dozens and by scores he sweptthe fairest of them into his seraglio, heeding not the bonds ofmatrimony nor the wishes of his victims. Only the fact that my daughterhas been kept from his sight until to-day has spared her.

  "The Earthmen who had been content to live under Hortan's rule, rebelledagainst Glavour but the rebellion was crushed in blood. Time and againthey rose, but each time the mighty weapons of the Jovians stamped outresistance. At last we realized that craft and not force must win thebattle. This chamber had been built when Hortan erected his new capitaland none of the Jovians knew of its location, so it was chosen as ourmeeting place. To-day, Damis, I have twenty thousand men sworn to do mybidding and to rise when I give the word. Many thousands more will risewhen they see others in arms and know that again the Sons of Man standin arms against the Sons of God."

  * * * * *

  "There are less than a thousand Jovians and perhaps twice that number ofNepthalim on the Earth, yet that handful would stand victorious againstall the Earthmen living," said Damis thoughtfully. "Even I, and I am aNepthalim, do not know the secret weapons in the arsenal of Glavour, butI know that they are more powerful than anything we have ever seen.Forget not, too, that a radio message to Jupiter will bring down shipswith hundreds, nay, thousands, of her fighting men with weapons tooverwhelm all opposition."

  "Such was the case but it is so no longer since we number you among us,"replied the Kildare. "Earthmen are employed in the communications netwhich the Jovians have thrown around the Earth and it is but a step fromthose machines to the huge one with which they talk to their motherplanet. My spies have been busy for years and our plans are all laid.There is one planet which all the forces of Jupiter have never been ableto conquer; from which their ships have ever retreated in defeat."

  "Mars!" exclaimed Damis.

  "Exactly," replied Turgan. "The Martians are a peaceful andjustice-loving people, yet they know that peace is given only to thosewho are
ready and able to fight for it. Ages ago they perfected weaponsbefore which the Jovians fly, if they are not destroyed. I havecommunicated with the Grand Mognac of Mars and laid our plight beforehim. He has pledged his aid and has promised us enough of his weapons tonot only destroy the Jovians and the Nepthalim on the Earth, but also toprevent other Jovian ships from ever landing. The only problem has beenhow to get them here. The Martians, not desiring conquest and contentwith their own planet, have never perfected space flyers. They havepromised us the weapons, but we must go to Mars and bring them here.Enough can be transported on one of the Jovian ships."

  "How will we get a ship?" asked Damis.

  "That also has been solved. There are two Jovian ships kept on theEarth, ready for instant flight to Jupiter. They are loosely guarded forthe Sons of God believe that we have no idea of how to operate them. Wecan capture one of them whenever we desire, but so far such action wouldhave been useless. Little by little we have gathered bits of informationabout the flyers, but we had expected to wait for years before ourventure would have a chance of success. We dared not try prematurely,for one attempt will be all that we will ever get. Now we are ready tostrike. You can fly the ship to Mars and back and with the Martianweapons, we can sweep the Jovians from the Earth."

  * * * * *

  Damis' eyes lighted as Turgan spoke.

  "Your plans are good," he cried, "and I will fly the ship for you. Inreturn I ask but one thing: let mine be the hand which strikes Glavourdown."

  "If it can be so done, yours shall be the hand, oh Nepthalim!" cried theAkildare who had first spoken of the ship. Turgan bowed his head and amurmur of assent came from the assembled council.

  "And now for action!" cried Turgan. "There is no need to talk longer.Years ago our plans were perfected for the capture of the space ship andeach knows the part assigned to him. Toness, the Akildare, will ruleduring my absence, for I will command the ship, under Damis. Twelve ofour men who know all that we have been able to learn will make up thecrew. None of them will take any part in the capture of the ship formany lives may be lost in that venture and we will need the instructedmen to operate the ship after we capture it. Damis, have you anyaddition to make to our plans?"

  "Only one, Turgan. Glavour will ransack the Earth rather than be cheatedof one he has marked for his prey. Lura will be safe nowhere on Earth.Her capture by the Sons of God will discourage the timid who will saythat if Turgan cannot protect his own daughter, how can he free theEarth? She must go with us."

  "Your point is well taken, Damis," replied the Kildare. "She shall go.Now to action! Monaill, are your men ready?"

  "They will assemble at my signal, oh, Kildare."

  "Give the signal, for nothing will be gained by delay. We will followbehind while you capture the ship."

  * * * * *

  Monaill bowed before the Kildare and hastened from the council room. Ina few words Turgan gave to Toness the final orders for the conduct ofthe conspiracy during his absence. Followed by Lura, Damis and three ofthe council, he made his way to a hidden doorway. Along an undergroundpassage they made their way for a quarter of a mile. A group of figureswas seen dimly ahead of them and nine men joined the party. Turganidentified them to Damis as the balance of the crew.

  "Has Monaill passed this way?" he asked.

  "He passed with his band a few moments ago, oh, Kildare," replied one ofthe men. "See, there is the light which summons us to follow."

  He pointed to a tiny light which had suddenly flashed into brilliance.Turgan nodded and led the way forward. At another doorway which openedto Turgan's touch on a hidden lever, the party paused. An instant laterthere came from a few hundred yards ahead of them a hoarse cry of alarmfollowed by the roar of a huge whistle.

  "The battle has joined!" cried Turgan. The others crouched, tense andmotionless. From ahead came the sound of battle. Violet light showed inshort intense flashes. It was evident that the Jovian guard of the spaceship was fighting valiantly to protect it. Shaking aside Turgan'srestraining hand, Damis crept slowly forward.

  Two hundred yards from the spot where he left Turgan he came to a bendin the passage. The sound of battle came from just ahead. He creptforward and peered around the corner. The passage emerged from theground and gave way to a huge open space which he recognized as part ofthe grounds of the Viceregal palace. Standing on a launching platformwas a Jovian space ship around which a battle raged.

  * * * * *

  Five of the huge Jovians were battling furiously with a score ofEarthmen. Three dead Jovians and a dozen crushed forms of Terrestrialstestified to the bitterness of the fight. The terrible black tubes ofthe Jovians were exhausted and the battle was now being waged hand tohand, Jovian ax against Earthly sword. The Terrestrials were beinggradually pressed back.

  A shout came from the distance and Damis could see a dozen Jovian guardshastening toward the scene of the fight, brandishing in their hands theterrible black tubes. He turned back and shouted to Turgan.

  "Hasten!" he cried. "In a moment, Monaill and his men will beoverthrown!"

  With a shout the crouching group of Terrestrials rushed toward him, butDamis did not wait. The oncoming Jovians were several hundred yards awaywhen he threw himself into the fray. At his appearance, a cry of dismaywent up from the Earthmen which was changed to one of mingled wonder andtriumph as Damis seized the nearest Jovian and bore the fellow downdespite his struggles. It was a matter of seconds for him to break thebull neck of the huge guard and he turned to grasp another. The fourremaining Jovians backed away but Damis was not to be denied. He rushedin and grasped another about the waist, avoiding the swing of theforty-pound ax, and dragged him back. The swords of the Terrestrialspierced the struggling guard from the rear and Damis rushed toward thethree survivors.

  Heartened by his aid, the remnants of Monaill's band charged with him.Two of the Jovians fell before the swords of the Earthmen and the thirdwent down before a blow of Damis' fist. As he turned back to the ship,Turgan, followed by the crew of the ship, dashed up.

  "Into the ship!" cried Damis. A glance showed that the Jovian guardswere less than two hundred yards away and were coming on in huge leaps.The door of the space ship was open and the band of Terrestrialsclambered in.

  "Quick, Damis!" came Lura's voice.

  The Nepthalim turned to enter but his gaze fell on the six survivors ofMonaill's band.

  "In with you!" he cried sharply.

  * * * * *

  The Terrestrials hesitated but Damis grasped the nearest of them by thebelt and threw him bodily into the ship. The others hesitated no longerbut clambered in. The Jovians were less than fifty yards away andalready deep violet flashes began to come from the tubes they carried.Damis stooped and grasped one of the dead Jovians. With an effortpossible to only two men on Earth, himself and Glavour, he raised thebody above his head and hurled it straight at the oncoming Jovians. Hisaim was true and three of them were swept from their feet. With a mightybound, Damis sprang through the door of the space ship and the airlockclanged shut behind him.

  The crew of the ship were already in place, awaiting orders. There wasno time for instruction and Damis leaped to the control board. He pulleda lever far down and in an instant the entire crew was flat on the flooras though an enormous weight had pressed them down. With a superhumaneffort, Damis raised himself enough to cut off the power. The ship shoton through the rapidly thinning air, its sides glowing a dull red. Theheat inside the ship was almost intolerable.

  As the pressure of the enormous acceleration ceased, the bruisedTerrestrials struggled to their feet. Damis turned to another lever anda breath of icy air swept through the ship.

  "This will help for an instant," he gasped, "and the cold of space willsoon cool us down. I had to give the ship a tremendous start or thetubes of the Sons of God would have reduced us to elemental atoms.
Keepaway from the walls and don't exert yourselves. I can handle the shipalone for the present."

  * * * * *

  For half an hour the ship charged on through space. Damis presentlypulled the control lever down and placed the ship under power. The wallschanged from dull red to black and the temperature in the ship grewnoticeably lower. Damis made his way to one of the walls and tested itwith a moistened finger.

  "It's cool enough to touch," he announced. "Fortunately the insulatingvacuum between the inner and the outer skins was at its maximum,otherwise we would have been roasted alive. The external wall was almostat the fusing point. We can move around now."

  He posted lookouts at the observing instruments with which the ship wasequipped and instructed them in their duties and the manipulation of theinstruments. He placed one man at the control lever of the sternrocket-motors. As he turned away from the control board he saw Lurastanding quietly in a corner. He opened his arms and she ran to themwith a cry of joy.

  "Oh, Damis, I was so afraid for you," she gasped, "and I wanted to hugyou when you jumped in and Father closed the lock behind you but I knewthat you had to take care of the ship. Were you hurt at all?"

  "Not a bit, darling," he assured her, "but it was touch and go for amoment. I didn't know whether the guards would dare to disintegrate theship without orders from Glavour. In any event, the blasts of the sternmotors must have hurled them half a mile. No strength could stand theblast of gas to which they were subjected. Are you all right?"

  "Perfectly," she replied; "I never was in any danger. I was the firstone in the ship and the only chance I had to be hurt was to have youovercome and the ship recaptured. In that case, I had this."

  She displayed a small dagger which she drew from the bosom of her robe.Damis shuddered and took the weapon from her.

  "Poisoned," he exclaimed as he glanced at its tip. "You had better letme take care of it. You might fall and prick yourself with it."

  She surrendered the weapon to him with a smile and Damis placed it in acabinet built against the wall of the flyer.

  "Now go in and lie down," he told her. "I've got to start plotting acourse to Mars and teaching my crew how to operate the ship."

  "Can't I learn, too?" she objected. "If anything should happen, it mightbe quite a useful bit of knowledge. Besides, I already understandcelestial geography quite well and I may be able to help in thenavigation."

  Damis looked at her in surprise.

  "You a celestial geographer?" he asked in astonishment. "Where did youlearn it?"

  "From my father. He was a famous heaven-master before the Jovians cameand he taught me."

  "That's excellent!" cried Damis. "I didn't realize we had so muchknowledge at our command. Turgan, will you take charge of the navigatingafter I plot a course? Lura can assist you. Now, the rest of you attendto my words and I'll teach you how to operate the rocket motors."

  * * * * *

  The Jovian ship was built along very simple lines. Batteries of rocketmotors at the bow and stern and on each of the sides furnished bothmotive and steering power. The Terrestrials were all chosen men and inthree hours Damis announced himself as satisfied with their ability tooperate the ship under any normal conditions. With Turgan and Lurawatching and checking his calculations, he plotted a course which wouldintercept Mars on its orbit.

  "Luckily, Mars is approaching us now," he said, "and we won't have astern chase, which is always a long one. We will be able to reach Mars,spend several days on it and return to Earth before ships can reach theEarth from Jupiter, even if they are already on the way, which is highlyprobable. I'll turn the ship a little."

  Under his direction, the crew turned the ship in its course until it washeaded for the point in space where Damis planned to intercept the redplanet. With the course set to his satisfaction, he gave orders for thestern motors to be operated at such a power as to give the highestacceleration consistent with comfort for the crew. There were no windowsin the ship but two observers seated at instruments kept the entireheavens under constant observation. Damis motioned one of them to standaside and told Lura to take his place. She sat down before a box inwhich were set two lenses, eye-distance apart. She looked through thelenses and gave a cry of astonishment. Before her appeared the heavensin miniature with the entire galaxy of stars displayed to her gaze. Inthe center of the screen was a large disk thickly marked with pocks.

  "The moon," explained Damis. "We are headed directly toward it now butwe'll shift and go around it. We'll pass only a few hundred miles fromits surface, but unfortunately it will be between us and the sun andyou'll be able to see nothing. Look in the other observer."

  * * * * *

  Lura turned to the second instrument. A large part of the hemisphere wasblotted out by the Earth which was still only a few thousand miles away.The sun showed to one side of the Earth, but a movable disk was arrangedin the instrument by means of which it could be shut off from the gazeof the observer. Despite the presence of the sun, the stars shonebrilliantly in the intense black of space.

  "How fast are we traveling?" asked Lura.

  "It is impossible to tell exactly," he replied. "I can approximate ourspeed by a study of the power consumed in our stern motors and again Ican approximate it by a series of celestial observations, provided we donot have to change our course while I am doing so."

  "Isn't there some sort of an instrument which will tell you how fast weare going?" she asked in astonishment.

  "Unfortunately not. We are traveling through no medium which is denseenough to register on an instrument. Our course is not straight, but isnecessarily an erratic one as we are subject to the gravimetric pull ofall of the celestial bodies. Just now the Earth supplies most of thepull on us but as soon as we approach the moon, we will tend to fall onit and frequent sideblasts will be needed to keep us away from it. Oncewe get up some speed that is comparable with light, we can measure bydirect comparison, but our speed is too low for that now."

  "I saw you lay out your course, but how are we steering?"

  "The observer who works on the front instrument keeps a cross hair on afixed star. When the curving of the ship deviates us more than fivedegrees from our course, a side motor is turned on until we straightenout again. It is quite a simple matter and I'll take the ship myselfwhen we near Mars. There is no need to be frightened."

  "I'm not frightened," said Lura quickly; "I was just curious. Is thereany danger of hitting a wandering body?"

  * * * * *

  "Not much in this zone and at this speed. When our speed picks up therewill be a slight danger because the higher our rate of speed, the morecrowded space becomes. If we were going to Jupiter we would have to usemuch more caution. The asteroid belt lying between Mars and Jupiter isreally crowded with small bodies but comparatively few are in the zonebetween Earth and Mars. That is one thing I figured on when I said thatwe would have plenty of time to go to Mars and back before ships couldcome from Jupiter. Ships from Jupiter would be able to develop a muchhigher speed than we will attain were it not for the asteroid belt. Theywill have to travel quite slowly through it, in portions, not over a fewthousand miles per minute, while we are not held down that way. Now thatwe are really started, it will be best to set regular watches. I willassign you as navigator for one watch if you wish."

  "I certainly do want to do my share."

  "All right, we'll let it go that way. Turgan and I will take the othertwo watches until we get there."

  "How soon will that be?"

  "About seventeen days. Mars happens to be only about forty millionmiles away just now. Now I'll set the watches and divide the crew."

  A short examination showed Damis that his crew were intelligent and thathis instruction had been good. Every member knew his duties. Instead ofthe two twelve-hour watches which were usual on space flyers, theadditional m
embers of the crew who had been part of Monaill's bandenabled Damis to set only eight-hour shifts. Each member of the crew wastaught to operate the offensive ray projectors with which the flyer wasequipped.

  * * * * *

  Things soon settled down to routine. No wandering celestial bodies cameclose enough to cause them any real alarm. Once the novelty of hurtlingthrough space had passed away, the trip became monotonous. The Earth,which had at first filled the field of one of the observers, dwindleduntil it became merely a brilliant green star. The red speck which wasMars grew constantly more prominent as the hours went by and Damis gavethe word to turn on the bow motors and retard the speed of the flyer.Several of the crew had worked in the communications net which Glavourhad thrown around the Earth and under orders from Turgan, they began tocall the red planet on the ship's communicator.

  "It is well to let them know who we are," he said to Damis when he gavethe order. "We are flying a Jovian ship and since we have come so farsuccessfully, I have no desire to be blasted out of space by theirpowerful weapons of defense."

  Damis agreed heartily, and for twelve hours continual attempts were madeto communicate with their destination. At last their signals wereanswered. Despite the differences in language, they had no trouble inunderstanding the messages. A system of communication based not on wordsor sound forms, but on thought forms, had been introduced to the Earthby the Jovians and both Damis and Turgan were quite familiar with it.The Martians informed them that the approaching ship had been sightedand carefully watched for several days. As soon as he learned who theoccupants were, the Grand Mognac of Mars sent a message of welcome andinstructed them on what part of the planet to land. He promised that adeputation would meet them with transportation to his capital city wherehe would welcome them in person and supply them with the weapons theysought.