by Ray Cummings
CHAPTER VII.
THE MERCUTIAN CAMP.
As I saw Mercer fall to the floor of the porch a sudden rage swept overme. I struggled violently with the three men pinning me down. Theyappeared very much weaker than I, but even though I could break theirholds the three of them were more than a match for me.
The man who was standing inactive, and who I realized had struck downMercer in some unknown, deadly way, appeared to be the leader. Once, asone of my assailants made some move, the import of which the leaderevidently understood, but which I did not, I heard him give a sharpcommand. It occurred to me then that if I offered too much resistance--ifit seemed I was likely to get away from them--I might possibly be struckas swiftly as Mercer had been. So I gave up abruptly and lay still.
They must have understood my motive--or perhaps they felt that I was notworth the trouble of taking alive--for immediately I stopped strugglingthey unhanded me and rose to their feet.
I stood up also, deciding to appear quite docile, for the time being atany rate, until I could comprehend better with what I had to contend.
The man who appeared to be their leader issued another command. One ofthe men with whom I had been struggling immediately stepped a few feetaway, out of my reach. I knew he had been told to guard me. He kept justthat distance away thereafter, following my movements closely and seemingnever to take his eyes off me for a moment.
I had opportunity now to inspect these strange enemies more closely. Theleader was the tallest. He was about five and a half feet in height, Ijudged, and fairly stocky. The others were all considerably shorter--notmuch over five feet, perhaps. All were broad-framed, although not stoutto any degree approaching fatness.
From their appearance, they might all have been fairly powerful men, theleader especially. But even the short struggle I had had with them showedme they were not. Their bodies, too, had seemed under my grip to have aflimsy quality, a lack of firmness, of solidity, entirely belied by theirappearance.
They were all dressed in a single rude garment of short white fur, madeall in one piece, trousers and shirt, and leaving only their arms bare.Their feet were incased in buskins that seemed to be made of leather.Their hair was a reddish-brown color, and fell scraggling a little belowthe shoulder line.
Their skin was a curious, dead white--like the pallor of a man long inprison. Their faces, which had no sign of hair on them, were broad, withbroad flat noses, and with abnormally large eyes that seemed to blinkstolidly with an owl-like stare.
Their leader was of somewhat different type. He was, as I have said,nearly six inches taller than the others, and leaner and more powerfullooking. His hair was black, and his skin was not so dead white. His eyeswere not so abnormally large as those of his companions. His nose wasstraight, with a high bridge. His face was hairless. It was a strongface, with an expression of dignity about it, a consciousness of power,and a certain sense of cruelty expressed in the firmness of his lips andthe set of his chin.
None of them was armed--or, at least, their weapons were not visible tome.
I was much concerned about Mercer. He and the man I had hit were bothlying motionless where they had fallen. I stooped over Mercer. No oneoffered to stop me, although when I moved I saw my guard make a swiftmovement with his hand to his belt. My heart leaped to my throat, butnothing happened to me, and I made a hasty examination of Mercer.
Quite evidently he was dead.
Meanwhile the Mercutians were examining their fallen comrade. He also wasdead, I judged from their actions. They left him where he was lying, andtheir leader impatiently signed me toward the steps that led down fromthe porch to the roadway. We started off, my guard keeping close behindme. I noticed then how curiously hampered the Mercutians seemed to be intheir movements.
I have explained how Alan observed the effect of our earth's gravity onMiela. It was even more marked with the Mercutians here, for she had theassistance of wings, while they did not. The realization of thisencouraged me tremendously. I knew now that physically these enemies wereno match for me; that I could break away from them whenever I wished.
But the way in which Mercer had been killed--that I could not understand.It was that I had to guard against. I was afraid to do anything thatwould expose me to this unknown attack.
I tried to guess over how great a distance this weapon, whatever it was,would prove effective. I assumed only a limited number of feet, althoughmy only reason for thinking so was my guard's evident determination tokeep close to me.
All this flashed through my mind while we were descending the steps tothe roadway. When we reached the ground we turned back toward the garage,and with slow, plodding steps the leader of the Mercutians preceded me toits entrance, his companions following close behind me. They hadevidently been here before, I could tell from their actions. I realizedthat probably they had all been inside the garage when Mercer and I firstapproached the house.
It was quite apparent now that the Mercutians did not understand the useof either automobiles or airplanes; they poked around these as thoughthey were some strange, silent animals. Inside the garage I was orderedto stand quiet, with my guard near by, while the rest of them continuedwhat appeared to be a search about the building.
We passed by the house, and I realized that we were starting for theMercutian base some four miles away. I remembered then that I wasextremely hungry and thirsty. I stopped suddenly and endeavored toexplain my wants, indicating the house as a place where I could get food.
The leader smiled. His name was Tao, I had learned from hearing his menaddress him. I do not know why that smile reassured me, but it did. Itseemed somehow to make these enemies less inhuman--less supernatural--inmy mind. Indeed, I was fast losing my first fear of them, although Istill had a great respect for the way in which they had killed Mercer.
Tao told his men to wait, and motioned me toward the house. The bodies ofMercer and the man I had struck down were still lying where they hadfallen on the porch. We found food and water in the kitchen, and I satdown and made a meal, while Tao stood watching me. When I had finished Iput several slices of bread and meat in my coat. He signified that it wasunnecessary, but I insisted, and he smiled again and let me have my way.
Again we started off. This walk of four miles of desert that lay betweenGarland and the point on the Shoshone River where the invaders wereestablished was about all I could manage, for I was almost exhausted. Irealized then how great an exertion the Mercutians were put to, for theyseemed nearly as tired as I. We stopped frequently to rest, and it waswell after noon when we approached the hollow through which the ShoshoneRiver ran.
Several times I noticed where the Mercutian Light had burned off thescrubby desert vegetation. As we got closer I could see it now in thesunlight, standing vertically up in the air, motionless. There were signsall about now where the light had burned. We were passing along a littlegully--the country here was somewhat rough and broken up--when somethingcame abruptly from behind a rock. Its extraordinary appearance startledme so I stared at it in amazement and fear. It came closer, and I saw itwas one of the Mercutians.
He was completely incased in a suit of dull black cloth, or rubber, orsomething of the kind. On his head was a helmet of the same material,with a mask over his face having two huge circular openings covered witha flexible, transparent substance. On his back was a sort of tank with apipe leading to his mouth. He looked, indeed, something like a man in adiving suit, and still more like the pictures I had seen of soldiers inthe World War with gas masks on. He pulled off his helmet as he came upto us, and I saw he was similar in appearance to the red-hairedMercutians who had captured me.
After a short conversation with Tao he went back to his station by therock, and we proceeded onward down the gully to the river bank. I saw anumber of Mercutians dressed this way during the afternoon. They seemedto be guarding the approaches to the camp, and I decided later thiscostume was for protection against the effects of the light-ray.
The Shoshone River was a
t this point about two hundred feet wide, and atthis season of the year a swift-moving, icy stream some two or three feetdeep. There were small trees at intervals along its banks. All about menow I could see where they had been burned by the action of the light.
The vehicle in which the invaders had arrived lay on the near side of theriver, some five hundred feet below where we came out of the gully. Itwas similar in appearance to the one Alan had found in Florida, only manytimes larger. It lay there now, with its pyramid-shaped top pointing upinto the air, close beside the river, and gleaming a dazzling white underthe rays of the afternoon sun.
There were perhaps a hundred Mercutians in sight altogether. Most of themwere down by the vehicle; all of them were on this side of the river. Infact, as I soon realized, it would have been difficult, if notimpossible, for them to have crossed. The desert on the opposite side ofthe Shoshone was level and unbroken. It was swept clear of everything,apparently, by the light-ray.
We turned down the river bank, and soon were close to the shining vehiclethat had brought these strange invaders from space. What would I see inthis camp of the first beings to reach earth from another planet? Whatfate awaited me there? These questions hammered at my brain as weapproached the point where so much death and destruction had been dealtout to the surrounding country.
