by Various
* * * * *
Innumerable planes were circling overhead and hundreds of them had landed on the water in the vicinity. Dirk saw that the wanderers from the stars regarded them curiously as if they never before had seen aircraft of that particular type.
When the cabin door of the plane was thrown open, Teuxical turned to one of his captains.
"Remain here, Anteucan, with the soldiers," he commanded, "and await our return."
Teuxical then entered the plane with his men and Fragoni, Steinholt and Lazarre followed after them. Then Dirk took his seat at the controls.
"These are strange craft you use," he heard Teuxical say. "I have seen them in only one of the multitude of other worlds on which I have set my feet, worlds which all pay tribute to Malfero of Lodore. It is safer and swifter to ride the magnetic currents than it is to ride the unstable currents of the air."
Dirk caught the significance of the reference to tribute and he admired the clever diplomacy of Teuxical while, at the same time, he wondered if the earth and all of those who dwelt upon it were doomed to fall under the sway of some remote and unseen despot.
He also realized that the Lodorians had, in some way, devised a craft that rode the great magnetic streams which flowed through the universe in much the same way that men, in ships, navigated the streams of the earth.
He threw on the helicopter switch and the plane rose swiftly into the air, the myriad other flying craft which were circling nearby keeping at a safe distance from it.
"Land on the grand terrace," Fragoni directed. The flight was short and rapid and it was only a matter of seconds before Dirk brought the plane down on the landing stage which they had left only a scant half-hour before.
He opened the cabin door and stepped out of the plane and the others filed out after him.
* * * * *
Fragoni led the way along the stage, walking and chatting with Teuxical, and Dirk, following after the others, was the last to turn a corner that brought him a sweeping view of the magnificent terrace that fronted the private apartments of the banker and his daughter.
And, when he did, he saw that Inga was standing there, superbly beautiful, with Stanton a few paces behind her.
Her lovely eyes were alive with awe and wonder and her slender white hands were crossed over her heart.
And Dirk saw, too, that Zitlan, son of Teuxical, had paused and was standing quite still, with his unwavering and insolent eyes fixed on the girl. Resentment, and a touch of apprehension, agitated Dirk when he saw the expression on the face of the young Lodorian.
There was admiration in that disagreeable countenance, but it was blended with arrogance, haughtiness and ill-concealed desire.
Dirk went quickly to Inga, standing between the girl and the one from Lodore who was staring at her so brazenly.
"What does it all mean, Dirk?" she asked in a low voice. "Those strange people, where are they from?"
Stanton had come quickly forward and had joined Inga and Dirk.
"They are from some far-off world, Inga," he explained, "that we know nothing about as yet."
"But what do they want?" she persisted. "What do they intend to do? I saw those horrible creatures through the magnascope when they came swarming out of the inside of that thing on the water and I thought, at first, that they were going to kill you all."
"No, they seem to come in peace," Dirk replied. "Teuxical, their leader, seems to be gracious and kindly."
* * * * *
"We are all doomed," asserted Stanton, "unless something happens. They can crumble our cities with heat and bury us under the ruins of them."
"Keep your silence!" breathed Dirk, quietly but tensely. "We will find a way to destroy those creatures if it becomes necessary."
"That man who keeps staring at me, who is he?" asked Inga in a voice that betrayed her nervousness.
Dirk turned and saw that Zitlan was still standing where he had paused and that he still was looking with searching eyes in the direction of the girl.
He returned the insolent gaze of the young Lodorian with an impatient and threatening stare and the countenance of Zitlan at once became stern and menacing. He came striding in the direction of Inga, Dirk and Stanton and paused within a few feet of them, his rapacious eyes still fixed on the girl.
"My lady," he said, "your beauty pleases me. I have walked on many worlds but never before have I seen one as lovely as yourself. Of the spoils of this world, all that I crave possession of is you. When we return to Lodore," he added with an air of finality, "I will take you with me and place you with my other women in the Seraglio of the Stars."
Dirk swiftly stepped close to Zitlan and the latter quickly clasped a tube that hung at his side, a tube of the sort that the soldiers had carried.
"Your words and your manner are insolent," asserted Dirk angrily, "and I warn you now to cease making yourself offensive."
"Dog!" exclaimed Zitlan fiercely, leveling the metal tube, "I'll--"
But the left fist of Dirk cut short his threat as it made a sudden impact with his chin, and the Lodorian went crashing backward into some exotic shrubbery with a look of surprise on his countenance.
Then Dirk heard an odd hissing and crackling sound, and he felt himself becoming dizzy and weak.
Darkness seemed to sweep in upon him; he felt that he was dropping swiftly through space, and then he lost consciousness.
* * * * *
A vague and shadowy figure was standing close by his side and peering down into his face. After a while he realized that it was Steinholt.
"Steinholt!" he gasped. "Why--why am I here--in Fragoni's? I must have had a dream--and yet...."
He furrowed his brow in thought and, gradually, he commenced to remember what had happened.
"It was no dream," said the scientist softly. "Do you remember the trouble that you had with Zitlan?"
"Yes," replied Dirk. "I remember that he was insolent to Inga and that I lost my temper and struck him. But what happened to me? I don't recall that anybody hit me. I did hear sort of a peculiar sound just before I started to pass out, but--"
"Teuxical took a shot at you," said Steinholt, "and you have been unconscious for over thirty-six hours."
"Took a shot at me!" exclaimed Dirk. "What did he shoot me with?"
"That is what we all would like to know," said Steinholt. "He leveled one of those damn tubes at you and pressed a button on it. There was a hissing sound, a flash of light, and you got groggy, and went out. He potted Zitlan, too," continued Steinholt, "and he apologized for the trouble that his son was responsible for. Do you know," he added, "I sort of like the old man."
* * * * *
Lazarre, with a sympathetic smile on his face, entered the room at that moment and overheard the conversation.
"Old man is right," he remarked, with a little note of awe in his voice. "Teuxical admits that he is three thousand years old and that he has at least two thousand more ahead of him. That Lodore must be a queer world," he commented, shaking his grizzly head.
"It is not so queer when you take everything into consideration," said Steinholt. "It seems quite natural when Teuxical explains it. Lodore it seems, is something like a hundred thousand times as big as this miniature world we live on. It took Lodore infinitely longer to solidify from a gaseous state than it took this world, and its entire evolution has been relatively slower than ours. Therefore, according to Teuxical, the people up there live longer and, incidentally, know infinitely more than we do."
* * * * *
"What time is it now?" asked Dirk, after a moment of thought.
"It is just about twelve o'clock at night," Steinholt informed him.
"Have these Lodorians made any demands yet?" Dirk asked. "Does anybody know what they are going to do or what they want?"
"They are liable to do almost anything," said Lazarre, "and it looks as though they will be able to get anything that they want. Teuxical, as I understand it, just gave you a slight shock with his death-ra
y device. If he had pulled the trigger all the way you would have become just a little pile of dust that the first breeze would have blown away."
"Our own death-rays are somewhat similar," said Steinholt, "but they are not a hundredth as powerful. And they won't work on the Lodorians, either," he added, "because those metal sheaths that they wear make them immune to all kinds of destructive rays."
* * * * *
"It appears," remarked Lazarre morosely, "as if this little world of ours is going to be taken for a ride. And it's too bad, considering that it's the only world we've got. There has been no formal presentation of demands yet, but it seems to be sort of understood that the earth is going to become a tributary of Lodore. It is a good thing," he added, "that Teuxical, and not Zitlan, is the boss of that outfit. I don't like the looks of that young fellow. He's only twelve hundred years old and he is sort of hot-blooded, I guess."
"I was talking with Anteucan," said Steinholt, "and he told me that the Lodorians usually make heavy levies on worlds which they discover and dominate. As soon as Teuxical returns to Lodore and announces a new discovery a fleet of those damned monsters is sent out to mop up the new planet. That Malfero, who is the emperor of Lodore, is considerable of a monarch, and it seems that he has a passion for piling up wealth. Gold and platinum are as precious on Lodore as they are here and he also likes pretty stones."
"And what is worse," added Steinholt, "is his practice of enslaving entire populations and making toilers or warriors out of them. Those soldiers on the ship are not Lodorians. Millions of them were seized on some planet and converted into troops. It was a strange conversion, too," said Steinholt with a shudder. "Their brains were operated on and most of their faculties removed. They have no sense of fear, no consciences, no power of reasoning. They respond only to certain signals on a whistle and their only definite and active impulse is that of murder and destruction."
"There is nothing to do," said Dirk positively, "but to kill all of these interlopers, if we hope to save our world from being desolated."
* * * * *
The three men looked at each other in silence for a moment and then Dirk, somewhat weakly, rose into a sitting position in the bed which he had been occupying.
"But how," asked Steinholt, "can we kill them? We might, of course, get rid of a few of them, but that simply would lead to our destruction by those who were left."
"There must be some way," asserted Dirk, "and it is up to us to think of it without delay. If we let those Lodorians get a foothold on the world all will be lost."
"The old man seems to be reasonable enough," said Lazarre. "He doesn't seem inclined to be destructive."
"We must not trust him or any of the others," said Dirk imperatively. "We must rid the earth of every one of them. And the sooner we strike the better!"
"It had best be soon if it is to be at all," said Steinholt. "Fragoni has arranged to have Teuxical appear before the Congress, and the meeting has been called for to-night when, I imagine, certain specific demands will be made upon us. We all will go to The Hague together on the ship of the Lodorians."
"And we leave?" questioned Dirk.
"The meeting is set for ten P. M., New York time," said Lazarre. "We will start east at about four o'clock in the morning, I guess, because it will only take a minute or so to arrive at our destination."
"Is Fragoni going?" asked Dirk.
"Naturally," replied Lazarre.
"And Inga?"
"I believe so," Lazarre told him. "Fragoni was both afraid to take her and to leave her behind, but finally he decided that he wanted her with him in case of trouble."
* * * * *
"And are they--the Lodorians--still here?" queried Dirk.
"Yes," responded Lazarre. "Teuxical returned to his ship last night with Zitlan and his other followers, but they came back late this afternoon, and they are still here. Zitlan seemed to be all right this afternoon, too. They must have used some means of bringing him out of the daze that he was in. We did everything we could to revive you, but none of our measures were effective."
"I'm all right now," asserted Dirk, as he finished attiring himself. "I want to see Fragoni at once."
"We'll go out on the terrace then," said Steinholt. "They are all out there."
Dirk, with his two companions, strolled out through the maze of rooms and corridors that led to the garden which hung so high above the city and the Sound below it.
The first thing that Dirk saw, when he passed out onto the terrace, was the white tunic of Inga, who was leaning against a coping and talking with Zitlan.
The latter was pointing skyward and, very apparently, he was telling her of worlds which circled high among the stars.
As if she were suddenly aware of his presence, Inga turned and saw Dirk and he realized, by the expression on her face, that she was distraught and nervous. She came toward him quickly, after a few words to Zitlan, and the face of the latter darkened. There was hatred in his expression as he stared malevolently at Dirk.
* * * * *
Steinholt and Lazarre passed along and joined Fragoni and Teuxical, who were the center of a group that had formed in another part of the terrace.
"Oh, Dirk," said Inga, "I am so afraid of that frightful Zitlan. He has been telling me again that he is going to take me back to his own world with him and it makes me shudder to think of it. He is so strange and queer and his eyes are so terrible. He can't be as young as he looks, because he speaks of years like we speak of minutes. I will die if I ever find myself in that monster's power! He has been telling me of all the creatures he has slain on the worlds on which he has landed, and I tell you, Dirk, that he is cruel and ruthless and horrible."
"He will never have you!" swore Dirk. "And if I hear of any more of his insolence, I will throw him headlong from this terrace."
"Please, Dirk," she begged, "don't do anything--not yet. He is utterly unscrupulous, Dirk. He told me that, even now, he is plotting against some Malfero who rules Lodore like a god, and that he is planning to seize the throne of the planet. He wants to make me the queen of that fearful world when he becomes king. He boasted that, if I were on the throne, millions of people from other worlds would be sacrificed in my honor in the temples of Lodore." Her voice trembled and her eyes were terror-stricken as she continued. "They tear out the hearts of living victims," she whispered, "and burn them on their high and mammoth pyramids."
* * * * *
Rage took possession of Dirk and, casting a glance at Zitlan, he saw that the Lodorian was smiling insolently at him.
"I'll kill that beast, if it's the last thing that I do!" he exclaimed to Inga.
"Dirk, Dirk," she implored, "don't even look at him. He is proud and impetuous, and he will kill you in defiance of his own father."
"We will find some way to rid the world of the scourge that has descended upon it," asserted Dirk confidently, "and he will die with the rest of that monstrous crew."
"I am going in, Dirk," Inga said. "Please," she begged, "don't do anything rash. If--something--should happen to you, I would lose all the hope that I have and I would, I think, kill myself."
"Don't lose hope, my dear," said Dirk reassuringly. "I believe that I know of a way to destroy the plague that menaces us."
He pressed her hand and, after she left him, he walked over and joined the other men on the terrace. Zitlan, coming from the terrace wall, stretched out in a chair not far from Dirk.
Teuxical regarded the latter with a countenance that was calm and amicable. "I am sorry, my young friend," he apologized, "that I had to intervene between you and my son." He paused a moment and sat in silence, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Ah," he then said, "what disasters have arisen out of the desire of men for women. In my wanderings over the starlit worlds, I have seen...." He ceased speaking, brooded for a moment, and then shook his head slowly. "But you cannot say that I was not just," he continued, addressing Dirk. "I punished Zitlan for his presumption. Fragoni tells me that th
e woman has pledged herself to you. Let her pledge be kept!" he exclaimed sternly, looking straight at Zitlan.
"We are the conquerors," asserted the latter boldly, "and to us should belong the spoils of our daring!"
"Silence!" thundered Teuxical. "My own son, above all others, shall be obedient to my commands! Or, like others have done, he shall die because of insubordination!"
* * * * *
Zitlan, a defiant expression on his face, ceased to speak, but Dirk could see that he was livid with suppressed rage.
"As I was saying," Teuxical remarked, turning to Fragoni, "I am getting old and long have I been weary of conquest. I have seen your world and it pleases me. It is a tiny and peaceful place, far removed from the strife and turbulence of the restless centers of the universe. So it is my will to leave you unscathed and return to Lodore for a brief time to ask of the mighty Malfero the grant of this little provincial land. And then, with his permission, I will return here and rule it with wisdom and benevolence.
"I will bring to you much knowledge, and peace will be to the people of this earth and peace will be to me."
"It is well," replied Fragoni. "No world, I am certain, could hope for a wiser and more just ruler than yourself, and our Congress surely will receive you with acclaim."
Teuxical bowed in recognition of the compliment, and his countenance indicated that he was gratified.
"We will go, now, back to our vessel," he said, addressing the other Lodorians. "We will return for you at the appointed hour and conduct you to our ship," he added, speaking to Fragoni.
"We will be ready," Fragoni replied.
* * * * *
Zitlan had arisen with the rest of them and Dirk, with a look of contempt and amusement in his eyes, regarded him casually.
"May I have the honor of conducting our guests back to their ship in a plane?" Stanton requested of Fragoni.
The latter nodded and Stanton walked across the terrace in the direction of the landing stage.
Zitlan, as he followed after the others, passed close to Dirk and, pausing for a moment, fixed his hateful eyes on him.
"You dog," he whispered malignantly, "remember what I tell you! The time will come when I will cast you to the carnaphlocti in the dark and icy caverns of sunless Tiganda. You will die," he swore, "the death of a million agonies!"
