20 Million Miles to Earth

by Henry Slesar

  “It’s no good, Doctor. The power’s gone—”

  “But the creature—”

  “I said let’s get out of here!” Dazedly, Dr. Albert allowed the Colonel to direct him towards the exit of the building, while the other scientists and technicians made their way to safety.

  Calder collared Dr. Uhl. “We’ve got to get the power back on. How long do you think it would take?”

  “Hours,” the Doctor shrugged. “We can’t wait that long, Bob. We’d better get help—”

  “Look!”

  They turned to the creature again. Its head began a slight roll from side to side, and a deeper groan escaped its jaws.

  “Everybody back!” Dr. Uhl shouted.

  Calder spotted Marisa, dressed in street clothes, her eyes terrified. He waved at her in warning, just as the creature’s tail began a slow gyration.

  “We’re in for it,” Calder muttered. “If those clamps and chains don’t hold—”

  The creature struggled to sit up, and found itself bound. It strained furiously against the metal that held it prisoner. It roared in protest, and increased its exertion until the metal began to crack.

  “He’s getting free!”

  “Outside!” Calder commanded. "Everybody outside!” He pointed his arms towards the doorway. They heard the platform timbers begin to go as the creature thrashed in its struggle for freedom.

  They were all out of the doorway by the time the last chain was thrown contemptuously aside from the creature’s body, and it was raising itself defiantly to its full and terrifying height.

  CHAPTER IX Rampage!

  IN HIS office on the second floor of the American Embassy in Rome, a visitor was announced for Major General A. D. McIntosh. The General looked annoyed at the interruption, and then his face became grim when he heard the visitor’s name.

  “Senator Rufus Banyon,” the secretary said. “He says the matter is urgent, General.”

  “I’ll bet it is,” McIntosh growled. “All right—show him in.”

  Senator Banyon, displaying all the bustle and authority of a committee of one, came into the room carrying a

  They raised their weapons as the creature thundered its defiance.

  * * *

  briefcase. He shook hands briefly and coldly with the General, and crossed his legs as he sat down.

  “Is this an official visit?” the General said dryly. “Or just a Roman Holiday, Senator?”

  The Senator laughed, showing fine white teeth.

  “Perhaps a little bit of both, General. As you may know, our committee is concerned with foreign aid expenditures as well as—other matters. That entails a number of European visits. I made a special detour to discuss this subject with you.”

  “I’m honored.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Let’s cut out the preliminaries,” McIntosh said sourly. “It’s my impression that your committee’s authority over this project—if it ever had any—ended a long time ago, Senator. If you’re here for a little sight-seeing, all right. But otherwise—”

  “Your tone is a little arbitrary,” Banyon said, but with a smile on his face. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think you’re quite correct. Our authority may have ended as far as your first flight to Venus was concerned.”

  “What does that mean?”

  The Senator fiddled with his briefcase. “I understand now that a second voyage is being contemplated. Nothing official, of course. But this study that is being made of the Venusian creature—its sole purpose is directed towards a second trip, isn’t that so?”

  “Perhaps. But it may also be academic research, Senator.”

  “Come now, General—”

  McIntosh stood up angrily.

  “Say your piece, Senator. You gave us a hard time on the first voyage, but you were overruled. What makes you think you can win this time ?”

  Now the briefcase was open, and the Senator was shifting documents in his hand.

  “Public opinion,” he said curtly.

  “What?”

  “Public opinion, General McIntosh. Americans don’t like waste, General—especially the waste of human life. We’ve been told that of the seventeen men that embarked on the XY-21, only one man has survived. That’s a mighty low percentage, General. You’ll have to admit that.”

  “I admit it.”

  “A greater percentage of men than any war might cost us, General. And yet this isn’t war time, is it? This was definitely a mission of peace.”

  “Those men knew what risks they were taking. They knew what their chances of survival were. There’s always sacrifice involved in any expedition involving human progress, Senator Banyon. Don’t tell me that public opinion doesn’t know that.”

  Banyon sighed.

  “Perhaps,” he said. “Perhaps they will become reconciled to this loss. But now we hear of another danger, General, besides the danger of meteor strikes and cosmic rays. We hear of a dreadful alien monster, something prehistoric and terrible—”

  “Nonsense! The creature is an animal native to the planet Venus. It was brought back to Earth for a study of its breathing organs. It may appear to be a monster to us, Senator. But perhaps we look pretty terrible to it.”

  “Yet it is dangerous? Impervious to bullets? Gigantic in size—and perhaps still growing?”

  “Not impervious to all arms, Senator. Not impervious to a simple electrical charge. Colonel Calder’s crew had no trouble with the beasts on the planet. Their trouble was in the air itself, not the wild life. Man has conquered equally dreadful beasts. There’s no danger there.”

  The Senator rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

  “I understand the creature has killed a man. A farmer, wasn’t it?”

  “No. The creature killed only a dog, and maimed one man. But he still lives. And that was only because the old farmer provoked the creature into attack. He was frightened, foolish.”

  “Then in your opinion,” Banyon said smoothly, “the creature is harmless?”

  “Properly handled, yes. If this is going to be your argument against future space flights, Senator, you’re going to have a hard time building a case. Not even this thing you call ‘public opinion’ will take you seriously, even if you play on their superstitious fears of dragons and such . . .”

  Banyon closed his briefcase with a loud snap of the locks.

  “Very well, General. I’m not here to bicker with you about this thing. You say the beast is harmless; I’ll have to accept your opinion. But I still wouldn’t count on having such an easy time putting your next little voyage together. There’s also the matter of money, you know. We have some heavily-burdened taxpayers in the country.”

  “Good day, Senator,” the General said.

  “Yes, of course.” Banyon smiled and got to his feet. “Good day, General.” He walked towards the door, but turned before going out. “Where is the hideous creature now?”

  “Strapped and unconscious and helpless,” the General said. “In the Rome zoo, where our scientists are studying its body for its secrets.”

  “Then all is well?”

  “All is well,” McIntosh said grimly.

  Calder slammed the door of the elephant house shut, the crowd of scientists and technicians milling behind him. In the cage to their right, the elephant lifted its trunk and trumpeted with uneasy excitement.

  The Colonel looked about and spotted a uniformed zookeeper.

  “You!” he said curtly. “Get that elephant out of its cage and away from here!”

  “But Signore—”

  “You heard me!”

  Within the elephant house came the sound of crashing equipment. The noises spurred the zoo-keeper into obedience. He headed for the cage of the frightened elephant and secured a long pole. He prodded the mammoth towards the gate and down the path.

  “The thing’s trying to get out,” Dr. Uhl said breathlessly, his eyes on the door of the elephant house. “He’s grown stronger—I don’t know if the cement will hold
.”

  They heard the thudding of the creature’s body against the door. Again and again, it hurled itself against the exit of its cement prison.

  “It’s beginning to buckle,” Calder said, staring at the cracks appearing in the door.

  They moved back as the cracks widened.

  Then the creature burst through!

  For a moment, the thing from Venus stood framed within the ragged opening his violent pounding had created in the cement of the elephant house. The elephant on the path, who was startled at the appearance of the thing, lifted its trunk nervously and bleated in fright. The keeper tried to control its movements with the pole, but the pachyderm raised its massive forefeet in the air.

  The pole fell out of the keeper’s hand. He reached down to retrieve it, just as the creature attacked.

  Trumpeting first in fear, and then in responsive fury, the mammoth reared to meet the charge of the alien beast. The crowd broke and scattered, and then returned in a wide, awed circle to watch the struggle between the two gargantuan animals.

  The creature, undismayed by the first counterattack of the elephant, sprung again with renewed savagery. It bulldozed its way towards the gray animal, ignoring its sharp tusks.

  The keeper shouted, and tried to use his pole to get the elephant away from the conflict. A news photographer, emboldened by the opportunity for a sensational picture, hurried closer with his camera poised.

  With a roar, the creature tore at the throat of the elephant with its taloned hands, and the violence of its attack sent the gray mammoth off its feet.

  “Look out!” the crowd shrieked. But it was too late to warn the two men close to the scene of the battle. The elephant’s massive body thudded heavily to the ground, pinning the cameraman and the zoo-keeper beneath tons of flesh and bone.

  Marisa screamed, and clutched at Calder’s sleeve frantically. He brushed her off and shouted to the crowd.

  “Clear the area! Everyone clear the area!” He whirled towards Dr. Leonardo. He shouted, “Where’s the nearest phone ?”

  “It is there, Colonel.” He pointed towards the left, and Calder hurried off.

  The elephant was back on its feet now, edging away from the snarling creature that had come from space to do it battle. The creature moved after it, and the two combatants headed away from the park and into the streets of Rome itself, their animal cries resounding through the quiet avenues.

  The crowd, both fearful and fascinated, pushed its way back and forth, eager to see the fray, yet frightened to suffer the fate of the men who had crossed their furious path. Then suddenly, the battling animals changed their course and backed into the throng.. Shrieking, they ran in mad panic from the danger.

  Now there were horrible gashes torn in the side of the elephant, blood pouring freely from the wounds inflicted by the creature’s raking teeth and talons. Still the mammoth fought on, with some stirring of primeval courage in its body. It fought as its mastodon ancestors might have the savage Tyrannosaurus Rex of the Earth’s dawn.

  But the struggle was in vain. The creature’s unearthly strength asserted itself, pushing the elephant backwards, rending its tough hide with every slash of its talons, depriving the mammoth of lifegiving blood.

  Then, with a monstrous shriek, the creature closed in for the kill. It drove straight for the elephant’s throat, its fangs sinking deeply into the leathery flesh.

  General McIntosh’s face paled as he listened to the excited voice quivering in the telephone diaphragm. Beside him, Signore Contino stood waiting patiently.

  “Right away, Bob,” the General said. “Right away. I’ll get down there as soon as I’ve ordered out the troops. Stay with the beast and get reports to me if you can. And watch yourself!”

  He hung up, and leaned on the desk.

  “The creature ?” Contino said. “It is loose?”

  “Loose and on the rampage! There was a short-circuit in the elephant house. 104 The anesthetizing equipment died. If the beast isn’t stopped, it’ll kill hundreds—maybe thousands. Two men are dead already, maybe more. We’ll . need men, artillery, tanks—immediately!”

  Contino reached for the telephone. “Immediately!” he said hoarsely.

  McIntosh beat his fist into his palm and went to the door. He shouted for his aide, and the Major appeared quickly.

  “That Senator who was here. Senator Banyon. Is he still in the Embassy?”

  “No, sir. I understand he was going to the zoo, to see the creature.”

  The General groaned. “AH right, Major. I’ll be leaving for the zoo myself—just as soon as , Signore Contino makes some arrangements.

  The Major hesitated. “Something gone wrong, sir ?”

  “Everything,” McIntosh snapped.

  In a last brave effort, the elephant tried to shake the jaws of the creature loose from its bleeding throat. But the more it struggled, the more deeply the fangs penetrated.

  Then the elephant’s spirit waned, and it crashed to the ground. Fatally wounded, it trumpeted a last note of defiance, shuddered, and lay still.

  Calder watched the conclusion of the combat from a distance, his mouth twisting. He looked about him and spotted a deserted staff car, its driver having joined the fleeing crowd that was pouring into the streets of Rome.

  He jumped behind the wheel. The motor had stalled, but he coaxed it back into action. He drove the auto straight towards the dying elephant, as the creature lumbered off after the mob. He stopped before the prone body.

  Dr. Leonardo and his granddaughter came to him on the run, with Dr. Uhl following.

  “Colonel!” the old man said. “Did you reach General McIntosh ?”

  “Yes. He’s going to get artillery into the city right away. Dr. Uhl, try and get a taxi. Take Dr. Leonardo and Marisa back to ‘the Embassy. And tell the General that I’m going to track the beast as long as I can.”

  “Right.”

  As they moved away, Calder started the motor again,, banking the car sharply in the direction the creature had taken.

  There was panic everywhere, men and women running purposelessly, wild-eyed, some not even aware of what terror they were fleeing.

  At last, Calder saw the creature.

  It was posing incongruously against a stolid old building, roaring at the dispersing throng of citizens. Its arm lashed out, and its taloned hand closed around a nearby street lamp. The lamp buckled and glass showered into the gutter. Its enormous tail swished menacingly, and then its other hand reached down to grasp one of the running figures in the street.

  “No!” Calder shouted, stricken at the sight. He wanted to look away, but his eyes were held unwillingly by the spectacle. The woman in the creature’s grip let out an unholy cry, and then the scream was squelched in her throat as the creature’s fingers tightened about her.

  The beast dropped the broken body to the ground, and roared out to the world again.

  A thought exploded in Colonel Calder’s mind, and he started into action before his mind could consider the dangers. He shoved his foot down hard on the car’s accelerator, and whipped the wheel about, driving the staff car head-on towards the lumbering beast.

  The creature saw the attack, but too late to avoid it. The car bludgeoned into the beast’s body, sending it toppling against the stones of the building. Calder struggled with the controls, but the car had stalled. He dove out the door and ran for the protection of a nearby doorway.

  Furiously, the creature tried to regain its footing. He charged at the automobile that was pinning him against the building, and tipped it over on its side with a growl of rage. Then it scanned the scene for further assailants, and moved on.

  Calder watched its progress from the doorway. When the creature disappeared around a corner, he left his place of concealment and followed.

  Just as he came to the corner, he heard the splashing of water, and realized that the beast had flung itself into the Tiber River that flowed through the city. He hurried to the wall and peered over, looking
for signs of the escaping animal. He saw nothing but the smooth surface of the water.

  “Now we’ve really lost him,” he muttered.

  He walked away rapidly until the sight of a phone booth on the street stopped him. He jerked open the door and grabbed for the receiver.

  General McIntosh pushed his way through the crowd of shouting newsmen, but the sharp, familiar voice at his side caused him to halt.

  “So it’s you,” he grunted. “I see you didn’t stick around the zoo very long, Senator.”

  “No,” Banyon said viciously. “I saw enough of your harmless beast, General. I saw it kill four people—two of them women.”

  “We’re dispatching an Italian Army contingent there immediately. The thing is swimming around in the Tiber; we’ll stop it there.”

  “With bullets, General?”

  “With grenades, with bombs, with tanks—with anything I”

  The Senator smiled suddenly, looking around at the crowd of excited correspondents.

  “Should make quite a news story, General. It’ll be on all the news services in another hour, make interesting reading back home. What do you think of ‘public opinion’ now, General?”

  “It couldn’t be helped—”

  “No, no, of course not. But I wouldn’t say this improves your chances, does it? For a second expedition?”

  “You’re wrong,” McIntosh said coldly. “I think it’ll take more than a rampaging monster to stop us, Senator. You can try all you like. But you’ll lose.”

  “We’ll wait,” Banyon said. “We’ll wait and see.”

  “Excuse me.” The General shoved past him, on his way to the door.

  The boulevard that faced the peaceful banks of the Tiber looked like a battlefield. Troops were deployed all along the edge of the river wall, and in the distance, the sound of exploding grenades punctuated the air. General McIntosh’s staff car screeched to a halt, and Colonel Calder came running to the window.