The Flame-Worms of Yokku by Hal K
Page 3
Now let’s beat it back to the Falcon. I’ve had the body cavity.
about all I want of Yokku for all time!”
The jaws clicked shut again. For a
“I’ve no craving to linger here any
brief second, as the thing remained stonily
longer,” Larsen assented. “Now that we’ve
motionless, Larsen thought his ruse had failed.
recovered the anode-bar we might as well—”
Then the crystal came to sudden and frenzied
He broke off abruptly as a startling outcry
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10
came from beyond the cliffs. There was an
to strike a sudden responsive spark in Dalo
indescribable metallic quality in that grating Yok’s drug-colored brain. Before they
roar, as of great sheets of rusty iron rasping realized what he was doing he wrenched
together. The sound lasted for nearly ten himself free from their grip and started racing seconds, then died away into silence.
headlong across the plain toward the Falcon, Larsen’s eyes met Wheeler’s, the same
shouting an incoherent gibberish of guttural
thought in both their minds. That metallic roar Martian as he ran.
came from the spot where they had left the
Larsen drew his nitrolite pistol. “Come
Falcon!
on, Bart,” he said grimly. “We’ve no chance
Without a word, they started grimly for
to head that flying lunatic off, but we’ve got to the pass, dragging the still dazed Martian fight our way into the Falcon some way before along between them. When they at last those things fuse the ports with their flame-emerged from the other side of the narrow
antennae and bar us completely out.”
gap, they stopped short in horrified
They started warily toward the ship.
consternation at the sight which confronted
Dalo Yak had already covered half the
them.
distance. The great metallic worms had seen
The
Falcon, resting there upon the the oncoming Martian and were deserting the sand two hundred yards away, was enmeshed
Falcon for the moment to investigate.
in the coils of two great serpent forms, whose The progress of their colossal bodies
colossal size seemed to dwarf even the was a miracle of effortless speed, as they graceful cylindroid of the space-yacht. Each of writhed forward toward Dalo Yok. Gray
those great serpentine figures was a full sixty vegetation and everything else in their path
feet in length, with bodies nearly six feet in was crushed ruthlessly beneath them. Droves
diameter. The lustrous, metallic, bronze-
of the small lizard-quadrupeds fled in blind
colored scales, that armored their undulating panic before the monsters’ advance.
coils, glittered with a savage and sinister
Dalo York showed no fear even when
beauty under the tri-colored rays of the sun-
the on-coming titans were squarely upon him.
arch overhead.
He stopped and, with fists lifted in pathetically They possessed the same peculiar futile defiance, awaited their coming. One of flame-creating equipment that had been noted
the great worms trained its triple antennae
in the small lizard-like quadrupeds, the three upon the Martian.
short rigid rod-antennae set in the foreheads of Wheeler and Larsen swung their
their great ugly heads. One of the giant worms pistols into line to make a last desperate effort was already focusing the pale rays of green,
to save Dalo Yok, but a new drove of the
blue, and yellow upon one of the Falcon’s
panic-stricken lizard-things came hurtling
closed ports. Where the rays met a swirling
against their legs just as they were pressing cloud of greasy, black vapor began to form.
the triggers. Their shots flew wide. They
Staring at the metallic colossi with staggered for a moment, then recovered their blanched faces, Wheeler and Larsen realized
balance as the lizards flashed on past them in that they were at last facing the monstrous
their mad flight, but the brief delay had meant things of which Ran Yok had babbled in dying
death for the Martian.
delirium. Here were the “flame-worms of
Where his body had stood, before
Yokku” in all their appalling power and those lethal rays had focussed upon it, there terrible beauty!
was now a pillar of swirling oily black vapor, The sight of the great serpents seemed
shot through with angry flashes of leaping red
The Flame-Worms of Yokku
11
flame. Then the rays vanished, and the vapor
speed from the pursuing worms, Wheeler and
almost instantly coalesced into a shapeless
Larsen tried different tactics.
lump of molten black. The giant worm sent a
Instead of standing their ground and
long ribbon-like yellow tongue flickering out bringing the worms to a complete halt with a
to enclose the black mass with its three-
concentrated burst of nitrolite, they contented pronged tip and whisk it back into the gaping themselves with a slow steady fire against the mouth.
great heads in an effort to merely slow their In a revulsion of horror at Dalo Yok’s
pursuers down enough to keep them at a safe
hideous death, Wheeler and Larsen flung distance. Their plan worked for the moment.
nitrolite against the monster’s armored bodies The bursting nitrolite, though
until the explosions merged into a single powerless to wreak any real injury upon the rippling crash. The rod-antennae retracted into metallic titans, seemed to both annoy and
the massive skulls until they were little more puzzle them. They slowed their advance down
than pointed bulges, and the deep-set eyes
to a steady, cautious progress that kept them were filmed over with protective plates of
some fifty feet behind their retreating quarry.
transparent crystal, but the giant worm-figures There was a leisurely, almost contemptuous,
held their ground with stony immobility, even quality in that slow, inexorable advance, as
in the face of that crashing bombardment.
though, in the knowledge of their own
When Larsen and Wheeler at last ceased their
resistless power, the monsters were content to fire they saw to their despair that the bursting bide their time for the moment, until the
nitrolite had had no apparent effect whatever annoying explosive stings of their puny
upon the monsters. There was not even a
victims should be exhausted.
break in the lustrous bronze of their scales.
Larsen and Wheeler fought doggedly
The instant the nitrolite barrage ceased
on to hold the worms at bay as long as
the worms began gliding warily toward the
possible, but they knew that the final result men. Larsen and Wheeler started slowly was inevitable. Their ammunition could not giving ground, backing toward the pass. Then
last forever. The pass through the cliffs was the silent pistols seemed to reassure the nearly at their backs now. To go on through it worms. They began closing in with increasing
meant being trapped in the cliff-walled valley speed.
beyond. Yet escape to either side of the pass Knowing that any attempt at flight entrance was nearly as futile. They were would be made futile by the incredible speed
bound to be overwhelmed in the end, anyway.
of the worms, the men again stood their
Be
tter to make a last fighting stand and
ground and once more stopped their pursuers
get it over with. The pass itself was probably for the moment with a crashing fire of as good a place as any. They were at least nitrolite. This time they concentrated their aim guarded from any flank attack there. Larsen
upon the hideous heads, searching every inch
started to suggest the idea to Wheeler, then
of the massive skulls to find a vulnerable spot.
abruptly stopped, as thought of the pass
They failed utterly. As far as nitrolite was
brought a sudden inspiration flashing through concerned, the giant worms were absolutely
his brain. There was a possible weapon that
invulnerable.
might vanquish even the colossal power of the Again they ceased their fire, and again
great worms.
they had to retreat as the worms once more
“Load your pistol to full capacity,
resumed their resistless advance. This time, as Bart,” Larsen snapped tensely. “Then give me
their silent pistols threatened a new outburst of all your reserve ammunition. I’m dropping
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12
back into the pass to lay a trap for those
motionless figure with shielded eyes,
brutes. Keep them at bay as long as your
apparently expecting the tormenting hail of
ammunition lasts. Then break and run for it
nitrolite to start against their faces again.
back through the pass. I’ll be waiting to cover Wheeler raced on past the overhanging
your retreat.”
area to safety, and flung himself flat on the The worms briefly threatened to surge
ground beyond Larsen in response to Larsen’s
forward as Larsen darted back into the pass,
tersely worded command. The worms’
but Wheeler quickly increased his fire to a
hesitancy vanished as Larsen’s pistol
smashing fusillade that again brought them
remained silent. They started cautiously
nearly to a halt. Larsen raced on back to where forward again, their great glittering bodies
the wall bulged out in that titanic overhang.
seeming to nearly fill the pass as they
Beginning about twenty feet above the floor of advanced side by side.
the pass, the overhanging area extended for
Larsen’s eyes glowed in satisfaction.
nearly seventy feet along the wall.
The situation was ideal for his plan. With the Larsen took the first likely spot he
worms advancing abreast as they now were,
found, a shallow cavity in the wall just under he had an excellent chance of getting both of the center of the overhang. Dumping all the
them.
reserve nitrolite from its safety containers, he He held his fire for a long tense
made a compact pile of the deadly pellets in
moment. Then, when both the great ugly
the niche. There was enough nitrolite in that heads were squarely under the overhanging
small pile of blue-black capsules to annihilate cliff wall, he sent a single bullet hurtling
a city. It required only one smashing blow to accurately into the niche where the nitrolite set the whole thing off.
lay.
He hastily packed rock fragments
There came the sharp report of his
around the explosive to divert as much of its bullet exploding, almost instantly blotted out force as possible against the cliff face, leaving in a terrific blast of fire and crashing chaos a yard-wide hole through which to send the
that seemed to rock the very universe.
bullet that was to explode the pile.
Larsen’s senses reeled for a brief second in the Just as Larsen finished his hurried job,
cataclysmic fury of that blast. Then something Wheeler’s ammunition was exhausted. Larsen
crashed against his forehead, bringing swift
heard Wheeler’s fire abruptly cease as and complete oblivion.
Wheeler came racing toward the pass. Larsen
He struggled back to consciousness to
dashed twenty yards beyond the mine spot to
find Wheeler working over him. “A rock
get as far as possible from the terrific blast of fragment bounced off your skull,” Wheeler
the nitrolite. Then he dropped to one knee to explained briefly. “Why didn’t you get farther steady his aim as he trained his pistol upon the away before setting off that blast, you idiot?”
niche.
“I got as far away as I could and still
Wheeler, his face contorted with effort
be able to get a shot inside the niche,” Larsen as he forced every last ounce of speed from
answered. “Did it work?”
his stocky body, was barely beyond reach of
“Did it work?” Wheeler retorted.
the racing worms behind him as he entered the
“Boy, you brought a whole mountain down on
pass. The pursuing titans abruptly slowed those brutes! Get up and take a look.”
down as they saw Larsen waiting ahead of
Larsen staggered dizzily to his feet and
them with leveled pistol. For a moment they
saw that Wheeler’s statement had been no
came to a full halt, watching Larsen’s exaggeration. For a distance of nearly thirty
The Flame-Worms of Yokku
13
yards the pass was chocked with a chaotic
any minute, but they made it without mishap.
mass of great jagged blocks of blue crystalline Leaving the pass they quickly crossed the
rock. Crushed and broken beneath those plain to the Falcon. They opened the entrance countless tons of rock and crystal were the
port, then stopped and turned for a last look bodies of the two giant worms. The only back at the pass.
remaining traces of their great metallic figures As they looked they saw one of the
were a few torn shreds of bronze-scaled flesh precariously balanced masses high on the
among the rock rubble at the edge of the mass.
shattered cliff tremble for a moment, then go
“We’d better climb on out of this place
crashing down. The great block struck against before the noise of that battle attracts some of the crystalline boulders in the pass with a clear the brutes’ little playmates,” Wheeler ringing impact that the acoustics of the narrow suggested.
gap magnified until it was oddly like the
Climbing over the ragged pile of fallen
single chiming note of a giant crystal bell
rocks was a precarious task, made doubly so
struck in requiem over the shattered bodies of by several remaining masses high up on the
the mighty flame-worms of Yokku.
shattered cliff wall that threatened to fall at THE END