by H. B. Hickey
cleft was closing. The tug of forces wasgrowing less. He had just seconds left to reach that diminishing crackin the blackness.
Like a streak of vengeance itself, Case sent his ship across the void.His lips moved in silent prayer. There were only seconds now. The crackwas growing smaller, and that meant his speed was not great enough. Torisk more power might blow the ship apart. But he had to get through. Hemust, he must....
He _was_ through!
* * * * *
Case was through, through the cleft and beyond the thunder. He washurtling out of blackness into a world of light. Frantically, he cutdown his speed, not knowing whether he was going into open space or theside of a mountain, whether in this new world he would be going up ordown.
His altimeter had switched on automatically. That was a relief. A quickglance showed the dial at 90,000 feet. The retarding jets were slowinghis drop, and Case had time for a look at strange terrain below.
From his present height, it looked like rolling country. There werehills, valleys, a checkerboard of green and tan that might be cultivatedground, a river.
But most important of all, there was a city, a city of towers andpinnacles more impressive than any on Earth. Three of those towersinterested Case. They stood apart, the center tower hundreds of feethigher than the two which flanked it, and all three were like fingerspointing directly at the place where the cleft had been.
Case made decisions rapidly. He had to get the ship out of the airbefore someone saw it. First, though, he'd have to make sure it would beair he stepped into when he got out. He had a space suit in the forwardlocker, but putting that on would slow him up.
An intake valve hissed away. Soon, there would be something to test.Then the hissing stopped. That was a good sign. Pressure outside theship was almost the same as inside. There was an atmosphere.
But of what was that atmosphere composed? That was now the big question.Case set the controls and turned to the intake tank. With the turn of apetcock, there came another hiss. Case got out his cigarette lighter andflicked it into flame.
He held his breath as the flame wavered. The air in the ship was beingforced away from it. But the flame did not die. Case sighed with relief.If the atmosphere supported combustion, it would support breathing.
With that important question answered, Case turned to others. Where thedevil was he? He couldn't answer that, but perhaps he might discover aclue. The telecast was one way.
But the telecast had stopped ticking. Case ran the thing over the entirefrequency range and got nothing. If that was a clue, it was a negativeone.
He had to think it over even as he swung the ship into a long glide fora hill which looked like it might have a good deal of growth on it.Coming in low, Case saw that vegetation was sparse. But there was notanother ship in these strange skies. He had to land soon.
Running his eyes over the landscape below, Case discovered tallvegetation along the base of another hill. It would have to do. He camein low over the green, and swooped in for a landing. Luckily, this shipcould land on a handkerchief.
* * * * *
Strange trees, these which encircled the tiny clearing. They were allshades of green, taller and broader than sequoias, and yet more likeferns in the delicacy of their gigantic fronds.
Case stepped through the forward hatch into a warm, humid atmospherethat was quite comfortable. He had thought of waiting for darkness, butthere was no way of knowing whether darkness ever came to this strangeworld which seemed to exist in nowhere.
Too bad his compass was no good here. There seemed to be no magneticpolarity. He'd have to trust to his sense of direction.
The city Case had seen was at least fifty miles away and past a coupleof low-lying hills that hid it from sight. That made it a good hike,even for Case Damon's long and muscular legs.
And after he got there, if he got there? Case shrugged. Another bridgeto be crossed later. He hitched at his holstered gun and started movingthrough the ferns.
He'd have to be careful; on closer scrutiny from a low level the landhad proved to be cultivated. And that meant people about.
A humming drew his eyes skyward. Huge ships of weird design werecrisscrossing the air above, obviously looking for something. Probablyhimself, Case thought grimly. They must have cleared the air for thatblast. Now they're out in force. Still, there was a chance they'dthought him one of their own pilots who'd disobeyed. He'd come in toofast for anyone to have had a good look at his ship, he hoped.
He jumped five feet at an ear-splitting roar, whipped out his gun andhad the stud under his fingertip for a quick blast. He felt foolish whenthe source of the roar turned out to be a purple bird that soared up outof the foliage overhead.
There were other sounds now, from small animals that scooted about onsix legs and looked like fur-bearing armadillos. Then the ferns werebehind him, and he was out onto a road that came over the hill.
Case got off the road in a hurry. Well tended fields lay on either sideof it with spaced rows of grain that was taller than he. He could walkbetween the rows and be out of sight of the road.
He took a few quick steps, pushed aside a stalk of grain, and tripped.His gasp was involuntary but loud. For a second he lay still, then gotto his feet. He had tripped over a root.
"Natsa!" a voice shouted. There was the thump of heavy feet behind him.
* * * * *
Case whirled. Just in time. A big orange-skinned man in a metallic suitcame bursting out of the next row of grain. He took one look at Case,and reached for the holstered weapon at his side.
But few men could outdraw and out-shoot Case Damon. A flash of greenplayed about his opponent's head. And then there was no head.
"Natsa to you," Case grunted at the body.
He was used to death in many forms, and it upset him not at all tohandle the body. The fellow had been about his own size. At least hewould now have a suit that wouldn't attract attention. He decided tokeep his own gun rather than trust a strange one, but he exchangedholsters with the corpse.
"Now, if only Natsa doesn't show up, I'll make tracks out of here," Casesaid to himself.
But the Damon luck was wearing thin. There were shouts from along theroad. More than one voice now, and all using a strange language. Theymust have come over from the field across the way, Case thought.
He flattened himself against the last row of stalks and took a deepbreath. With the first sight of somebody coming through the row ofgrain, he stepped out and onto the road.
There were three of them, all big men, and none were looking his way. Bythe time their cries of consternation rose at sight of the body, Casewas across the road and into the grain on the other side.
He ran until his heart began to hammer, and then he slowed to a fastwalk. When the field curved around a bend, he breathed easier.
Along the road there was activity now, and the sound of vehicles movingfast. They were looking for him. Then the field ended, and Case was in agrove of wild fruit. Heavy brush caught at his face, but he stuck closeto the road.
Voices drifted in toward him. He had to chance a look. Stretchinghimself full length, Case parted thick brambles and peered out. Moremen, all wearing the same metallic suits. This group was walking slowly,munching on the same sort of fruit that grew overhead.
Case thought it over. He didn't have a chance. His own tanned skin wouldstand out like a sore thumb against the orange brightness of thesepeople.
But he was not without resources. The fruit had given him an idea. Itdripped an orange liquid. If the stuff was good enough to eat, itcertainly couldn't hurt to smear a little over his face and hands!
* * * * *
When he hit the road again, Case Damon was as orange as any man he'd sofar seen in this new world. Maybe he wouldn't get away with it, but hehad to try.
Vehicles sped by and nobody gave him a second glance. So far, so good.When he passed the group
he had seen from the grove without drawingundue attention, he relaxed.
A long row of chugging trucks rumbled by, apparently loaded with producefor the city. Case looked up and a man on the back of the last one wavedand shouted to him. Case waved back and the truck slowed.
He wished now that he hadn't waved. The truck had stopped, and the manin back was waiting to give him a hand up. Too late to back down now.Case took a short run and swung aboard and the truck moved on. The manwho'd helped him up said something.
"Hmmm?" Case hummed. If this fellow made a suspicious move he'd have toslug him.
"Kanato?" the man said. It was a question. They came over the brow of asmall hill and the man pointed to the city in the distance. He wasasking if Case was bound for the city.
Case bobbed his head. He was going to play dumb. He pointed at his mouthand shook his head. His companion nodded understandingly, but wanted toget chummy anyway. Then he looked down and saw Case's holster andchanged his mind.
Small cars of a strange sort were
