CHAPTER NINETEEN
Space being vast and time being mundane, it was some three Terrestrial days before the fleet of robotic war-splinters met the oncoming Saturnian fleet. If the flight had been made by manned craft it would have taken two or three times as long; but the cylinders, utilizing nobody as yet knew what source of power, apparently could accelerate indefinitely. „
Ajax Calkins did not try to do that, for then he might have his weapons moving so fast he could not stop them in time. So it was a matter of watching their flight (each of the splinters registered on the central dial), estimating their reaching a halfway mark, and decelerating them so that when they made their target, they would be going slow enough to be directed.
For three days, therefore, the three inhabitants of the planetoid remained together in the central headquarters chamber. Emily Hackenschmidt and the Third Least Wuj went down to the level below where she had been hiding, and with the aid of the many machines now available brought back the rest of the food supply and her other equipment.
Emily made her bed in one of the side chambers, which had been used in ancient times for such a purpose. Ajax bedded down in the control room so as to watch the progress of his fleet at all times. The Wuj resumed his usual course.
The man and the girl maintained a wary casualness, bantering with each other, avoiding treading on each other's diplomatic toes, although Ajax was sorely tired. He said to the Wuj at one time, while Emily was sleeping, "You know I wish I had met her back on Earth before she joined
EM SA. There's something about that girl I find really . . . well, exciting."
The Wuj looked at him solemnly. "It must be hard to have to beat down sex-polarity impulses while trying to do serious work," he announced sibilantly. "You Earth people are poorly constructed."
Ajax flushed guiltily. "Now . . . you're jumping to conclusions, Wuj. It's clear to see that you don't understand."
The Wuj stared back. "Poorly constructed in some ways just the same," he said, and hastened to add, "Meaning nothing personal, your majesty."
At last came the moment when the Ajaxian splinter fleet came into contact with the Saturnians. They could see the flecks on their screen, radar apparently, that marked the enemy. It was indeed a large fleet, for manned spaceships. There may have been a couple of hundred craft there, victors of the first battle with EMSA, and probably outnumbering all EMSA battlecraft clear back to the atmospheric rim of Mars.
Approaching it, the little swarm of splinters hardly seemed to register on the visual plate.
Some of the Saturnians' ships seemed to be altering course slightly, doubtless to avoid what they would be assuming to be a cloud of meteors. Now Ajax and the Wuj were at the panel, fingers and digits pressed against the squares.
"Ready," said Ajax. "Let's go!"
Emily stood by, calling off the standing of the fleets.
They pressed, they directed. The swarm of splinters spread out, became a cloudlike mass, then a shell. Deftly the bulk of the robotic splinters passed between the first ships of the Saturnians, avoiding contact, until the swarm of splinters occupied the same space as the huge fleet of battlecraft. They infiltrated from the first ships to the last ships, whirling alongside each great Saturnian battleship.
Then, at a call, the splinters closed contact. They hurled themselves suicidally at the nearest target; and as they hit, they exploded.
Within a matter of seconds, where the flecks of radar points had filled the visual screen, there were only flares of light, exploding clouds of atomic energy newly released.
The Saturnian fleet dissolved into fire and fury. Then but minutes later there was a small violently brilliant nebula hanging out there, on the edge of the asteroid belt. The invading fleet from Saturn was no more.
The three in the headquarters room on Ajax uttered a concerted gasp. They drew away from the panels, stared at each other, sat down.
"It's over," said Ajax. "We licked 'em."
Emily nodded, her eyes shining. "You've done it, Ajax, you've done it!"
"Yes," said the Wuj, in his whispering voice, "but where do we go from here, great leader?"
Ajax slowly stroked his jaw. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I expect the EMSA to recognize me now."
"And if they don't," said the Wuj, "what then? What will you fight them with? You have nothing left."
Emily went to the radio, brought in the voice of Radio Juno. The announcer was excitedly exclaiming over the destruction of the Saturnians. He described rather accurately what had happened, and as he was speaking, he was being interrupted by bulletins. One came in that traced back the path of the mysterious meteor cloud to the new orbit of the planetoid Ajax.
"An announcement has just come in," said Radio Juno excitedly. "The swarm came from Ajax, where our agent, Emily Hackenschmidt is in possession. We are trying to contact Agent Hackenschmidt now."
Ajax groaned. "I have exhausted my means of defense. I guess you win, Emily. I shall have to seek my kingdom elsewhere."
Emily looked at him, then went to the radio panel. "Calling Radio Juno," she said. "This is Agent Hackenschmidt on Ajax."
The contact was made. Emily asked for transmission of an official message to EMSA asteroid headquarters. When it was announced as open, she glanced once again at Ajax, and catching that young man's despondent eye, she unexpectedly winked.
"Agent Hackenschmidt on the Kingdom of Ajax," she started. "I must advise the Earth-Mars Space Administration that the weapons that destroyed the Saturnians were under the orders and banner of King Ajax the First of this planet. I must advise all in authority that King Ajax has many such weapons in reserve and will use them to assert and defend his sovereignty.
"I have the honor to transmit a message from his sovereign majesty. He offers the governments of Earth and Mars a pact of alliance and mutual respect, in exchange for which he will place the scientific treasures of his world at the disposal of the scientific minds of both major planets.
"As the sole official agent and emissary for Earth and Mars on Ajax, I urge you to agree to his offer and to consolidate a pact of trade and mutual defense along with the recognition of independence and sovereignty." '
She switched off.
Ajax was on his feet, staring at her with beaming smile and wide eyes. She turned, caught his admiring glance, and suddenly blushed. She put a hand to her lips. "Wait," she said softly.
They waited in silence, staring at each other as if they had never seen each other before and could not take their eyes away.
It took thirty minutes, and to them it was like a second, before Radio Juno replied. They heard it but vaguely through the turmoil of their heartbeats. "Offer accepted . . . trade and mutual alliance . . . congratulations to his majesty . .. welcome to the community of worlds . . ."
Then Ajax stood up and Emily stood up too. The Wuj scurried to a corner of the room, jumped to the ceiling and hung there, staring at them in round-eyed wonder.
The two touched, and then they were in each other's arms.
"The Earth-Mars Space Administration confirms the appointment of Emily Hackenschmidt as Ambassador
Plenipotentiary
to the King and Kingdom of Ajax . . came the crisp tones of the radio .announcer.
"My envoy," said Ajax, breaking off a kiss to catch his breath.
"My sovereign," said Emily, gluing her lips to his once again.
"My stars I" said the Wuj, closing his eyes to the horrid sight.
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