Part 11

With the first thuds of the artillery below and the answering fire from the metropolis, the entire plain seemed fairly to seethe with activity. Bugles were blown, and commands rang out above the other sounds.

Robert switched on the _Sphere’s_ giant searchlight. A blinding shaft of light shot down upon the broiling mass of humanity beneath. A great cry of consternation was wafted up to them.

“Not exactly elated at our presence,” remarked Taggert, dryly.

“We’ll be about as welcome as a plague a few minutes from now,” remarked Robert.

Swinging the reflector about, he followed every movement of the army of invaders, pausing at intervals to flash instructions to the defenders by a prearranged code of signals corresponding to the smoke signals of the day. Already the enemy was swarming upon the small force of defenders in the outskirts of the metropolis.

Several projectiles sang past the _Sphere_, indicating that the invaders were not going to submit to its presence idly. A number of smaller searchlights were directed upon it from beneath, almost blinding Robert and Taggert as their eyes sought to pierce the darkness below. The invaders were not without defense.

Adopting a swift, staggered course, Robert managed partly to avoid the blinding beams of light. Instructing Taggert to continue these tactics, Robert prepared to use the _Sphere’s_ powerful weapon, the Norrensen Tube, against their enemies. He prayed only that it would not fail him now, and that their power would hold out long enough.

Calling out to Taggert to steady the _Sphere’s_ course, Robert carefully aimed the tube into the thickest of the invaders where Taggert played the searchlight’s shaft back and forth. Robert pulled the lever releasing the lightning bolt!

A blinding flash, and a rending crash followed! The _Sphere_ vibrated like a violin string. Only the goggles which they wore made it possible for Robert and Taggert to look upon the jagged pillar of incandescent flame which spattered upon the plain below with terrific force. So swift and brilliant was its course, that almost ere it had registered upon the retina of their eyes, it was gone, leaving them nearly powerless to see.

When they were again able to see and hear with fair distinctness, they became aware of a great hubbub below. The firing of the artillery had ceased and the attack of the invaders had turned into a rout. Hakon’s men were driving them back like sheep!

“God!” ejaculated Taggert, for once jarred out of his habitual sangfroid.

Robert was silent.

A vast pit was visible where the bolt had struck, and the bodies of hundreds of men were strewn round it. The demoralization of that division for the present was complete. The destructive force of the bolt was appalling, but the spectacle it presented had been even more so. The invaders were terrified beyond control by panic fear of this leaping bolt of fire from above.

Robert had no desire to take lives unnecessarily: If the first bolt was sufficient to cause the invaders to retreat or to cease fighting, he determined not to release a second one. He studied closely the movements of the armies. As if afraid to antagonize the _Sphere_ further, the invaders had ceased to play the beams of their searchlights upon it.

In the east the first faint flush of dawn was visible. Already the tall spires of the metropolis were touched with coral.

Robert became aware that the _Sphere_ had settled too close to the ground for safety in case of further firing from the hostile artillery.

“Better raise her another thousand, Taggert,” he called, turning to the latter, who was operating the machinery.

“Just what I was trying to do, old man, but she doesn’t respond.”

A swift examination proved Robert’s fears--that their reserve of power had been virtually exhausted by the tube! The speed of the gyrostats was perceptibly slackening. The _Sphere_ was sinking!

Feverishly they turned to the engine which drove the dynamo. With this running, enough current soon would be generated to lift the _Sphere_ out of danger. It was then that the extent of their calamity was discovered. The engine stubbornly refused to start, for one of those mysterious reasons to which engines are addicted. It persistently defied their combined efforts to diagnose the trouble.

In order to avoid crashing upon the plain, now less than a thousand feet below, Robert swung the disk upright and opened the shutters from its entire face. Even with its weakened power, unaided by the dying current, it would be almost sufficient to balance the _Sphere’s_ weight, as long as the gyrostats were turning slowly. Thus the crash might be averted, but at the same time it was impossible to utilize any side pull of the disk to carry them beyond the enemy’s lines. They were facing capture--perhaps death!

Finding that each was in the other’s way, Taggert, who had a knowledge of engines, continued to tinker with it while Robert looked on from a window, where he kept an eye also on the plain below.

The _Sphere_ continued to settle slowly, though they knew not what moment the gyrostats might stop, allowing them to crash down upon the plain. With each hundred feet of descent their hope grew stronger; but that they would fall into the enemy’s hands was now inevitable, for they were sinking into the very center of the camp.

Off to the south the sounds of fighting had ceased. Stretcher bearers were bringing in the wounded from that direction. Robert wondered dully how long it would be before he and Taggert would fall into the hands of the invaders.

Curiously enough, the Martians below were equally perturbed at the approach of the _Sphere_. Having witnessed its terrible destructive power, they felt absolutely at its mercy, and feared even to train a gun on it for fear that they would be wiped out immediately in retaliation. So far they did not suspect that the _Sphere_ was not descending at the will of its occupants.

Realization of this occurred to Robert.

“Maybe we can bluff it through, Tag,” he said, hopefully. “It’s our only chance.”

By this time the _Sphere_ had settled to within a bare fifty yards of the ground. Its buoyancy was now virtually the same as the slightly denser atmosphere at this height. It drifted slowly for several minutes, the gyrostats continuing to revolve softly.

The Martians had crowded round in a generous circle below. Mingled fear and curiosity were written upon their upturned faces, which could be seen quite clearly in the rapidly brightening daylight. A pompous officer pushed forward into the open space directly beneath the _Sphere_. Robert leaned out and addressed this individual.

“As emissaries of his excellency, the Governor of Svergad, I demand the immediate withdrawal of these forces,” Robert began, affecting a confidence which he was far from feeling.

“Fine. Go to it, boy!” encouraged Taggert in a hoarse whisper.

The officer did not seem surprized at Robert’s demand. But, unfortunately, in spite of his pompous manner, it appeared that he was not of sufficiently high rank to treat with so important a matter. Every moment was precious, for at any instant the _Sphere_ might betray their weakness by settling to the ground.

The officer politely stated that their demand would be referred at once to the generalissimo. Realizing the importance of satisfactorily completing negotiations before the _Sphere_ descended, Robert decided to take a bold stand.

“The generalissimo will not do. I must speak with the emperor quickly--here.”

As expected, the officer was visibly taken aback. Several valuable, fleeting seconds passed before he recovered from his surprize and indecision.

“Your request will be communicated to the emperor at once through the generalissimo,” he answered presently.

The minutes seemed like hours as Robert and Taggert anxiously awaited the reappearance of the official. Meanwhile the _Sphere_ very slowly settled lower and lower. Taggert’s efforts to start the engine had availed nothing. They could but wait idly with what patience they could summon. To have attempted utilizing part of the disk’s power to carry them beyond the enemy’s lines would but have resulted in disaster, for their present buoyancy was maintained only with the aid of the disk’s power (directed absolutely perpendicularly).

A small group moving toward them heralding the probable approach of the emperor or generalissimo revived hope in their breasts. They might yet maintain their strategic position long enough to drive home a bargain that the Martians would honor when they were obliged to descend and attempt to bluff their way through a difficult situation somehow.

“The old boy himself,” ejaculated Taggert as the group drew near.

Robert recognized the emperor in a car pulling up below. Seated opposite him was the officer to whom they had first talked, while beside the emperor was a much decorated and bedecked individual who he hoped was the generalissimo himself.

The latter stepped out of the car after the officer, and assisted the emperor to alight. The three of them slowly paced beneath the _Sphere_ as it drifted lightly with the soft morning breeze. The emperor was plainly angered and making a poor attempt to conceal the fact.

“What means this rude summons which his Highness, the emperor, has chosen to humor?” said the generalissimo; for that this _was_ the generalissimo they quickly discovered. His voice carried up to them clearly. Barely thirty feet separated them now.

“I will speak directly with the emperor himself,” Robert began. “As emissary of his Highness, the Governor of Svergad, I demand the immediate withdrawal of all forces from this region. Unless such a movement is begun without delay, we are prepared to wipe out your entire army by means of the terrible weapon which you have seen.”

The emperor raised a countenance dark with passion. The generalissimo checked him with a nervous grip on his arm as he was about to speak, addressing him earnestly in an undertone.

The emperor calmed himself with evident effort.

“You have the advantage of us,” he said. “Therefore, my armies will retire at once; but I warn you that you shall be conquered in the end and be made to suffer for this.”

“Very well, your Highness. I suggest that you give orders immediately for their retirement as, unless it is commenced within a few minutes. I shall resume their destruction.”

Again the generalissimo was obliged to restrain the emperor’s burst of passion. A moment later, at a curt nod of assent, from the emperor, the generalissimo dispatched the officer with a command to begin an immediate general retirement of all forces.

* * * * *

The first contingent was soon moving northward. The emperor and generalissimo had departed ominously for their headquarters. The _Sphere_ continued to drift idly, settling ever closer to the ground. The enemy forces still stretched more than a mile between the _Sphere_ and the city. How Robert and Taggert yearned for a stiffening of the breeze that they might be swept safely beyond the enemy’s lines before the descending _Sphere_ placed them in their power! Even now soldiers below paused in their preparations for retreat to gaze up at them curiously, albeit anxiously, evidently wondering why the _Sphere_ hovered so low. Should the true reason be guessed, their temporary victory would be lost.

The next ten minutes seemed like an eternity to Robert. It had brought them only a little nearer the city and their friends, while scarcely thirty feet separated them from the enemy. Some of the troops were already marching off toward the south beneath them, but it was a physical impossibility for the thousands still between the _Sphere_ and its goal to move out of the way in less than half an hour. And half an hour spelled almost certain disaster for the _Sphere_.

“Looks as if we’ll have to indulge in a little more diplomacy,” Robert remarked.

“Drop in upon his Royal Highness to bid him goo’bye, so to speak,” said Taggert.

“Something like that.”

At this moment the suspense was broken by a sudden lurch of the _Sphere_. The gyrostats had stopped!

With but the disk’s diminished power to break its fall, the _Sphere_ dropped into the sand with a jarring thud.

The Martians had carefully avoided the section beneath the _Sphere_. Consequently it fell clear. For several minutes they kept their distance. It was evident that they all feared this mysterious machine greatly.

Presently a pompous officer strode into the space about the _Sphere_. Clearly he saw in the situation great possibilities for his own future and he intended making the most of it. Yet, like the rest, he was not certain that the _Sphere_ was as helpless as it seemed. Before he had given an order. Robert stepped out of the _Sphere_.

Robert interrupted the officer as he was about to speak.

“I come to give warning that unless the retirement of all the emperor’s forces is accomplished more rapidly, I will resume their destruction,” he said, imperiously.

The Martian was visibly undecided. Perhaps he and his regiment would be wiped out if he attempted to hold the _Sphere_. He observed Taggert glaring at him balefully from a window. Nevertheless he was a brave man, especially when he thought of the brilliant future he might enjoy if he got away with this. A disagreeable smile disfigured his sharp-featured countenance.

“I think the emperor will soon have changed his mind about the retirement--just as soon as he knows that you have honored him by landing within his lines.”

“The emperor is too wise a man to delay the withdrawal of these troops,” answered Robert, “for even at this moment, should I choose, every man in sight would be blasted into atoms at a signal from me!”

The cocky officer’s assurance again was visibly shaken. Neither knowing that the death-dealing Norrensen shaft was rendered useless on account of its outlet being buried in the sand, nor being certain that the _Sphere’s_ power was exhausted, he must have feared instant annihilation if he persisted. A cunning light came into his eyes suddenly, and was as quickly veiled. Affecting a friendly attitude he strode over to within a couple feet of Robert. To have backed away from him would but have advertised their weakness, and any retreat from the circle about them was impossible. So he stood his ground and waited the officer’s next move.

As if about to take Robert into his confidence, he placed his hand upon Robert’s shoulder. Then like a flash he rapped out a command, at the same instant covering Robert with his _lahan_, the Martian electric automatic.

Immediately the ring of Martians closed in upon the _Sphere_, while the officer’s two aids hurried to his help. Counting on his immunity from a possible blast from the _Sphere_ while in close proximity to Robert, the crafty officer had dared to defy the _Sphere_. But he had not counted upon his prisoner’s hot-headedness.

Even as he whipped out the _lahan_, Robert started a dashing uppercut to his head. Before the surprized officer could fire or dodge, the blow caught him on the point of his jaw with a beautiful precision. He staggered and fell just before his anxious aids could reach him. Notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, Robert could not repress a laugh over the comical appearance of the little, pointed red beard on his late opponent’s chin, which was tilted serenely skyward, as he sprawled on his pompous back.

A few minutes later Robert was securely bound and led roughly away. His last glimpse of the _Sphere_ showed him a ring of shouting Martians round it, but no sign of Taggert.

20

Robert was taken to a large tent near by, where, without ceremony, he was securely fastened to the large center pole by means of chain and anklet like a criminal. Two armed guards were set to watch him, after having searched him and taken away the automatic with which he had been armed when he left the _Sphere_.

At noon a plate of coarse food was brought to him, and a cup of water. He found the food palatable and, being hungry despite the gloomy outlook, ate all of it. His guards stared at him intently all the while, evidently regarding the eating of an Earthbeing as a great curiosity.

The chain, a stout-linked affair which would have weighed heavily had he been on the Earth, allowed Robert little freedom of movement. The wooden stool which he had been furnished affording no rest for his back, soon grew dreadfully tiresome. He tried every position he could conceive for relief, each of which his guards regarded with fresh suspicion. Once he tried to engage them in conversation, but he succeeded only in drawing grunts and uneasy stares from them.

Sounds of activities without drifted to him. There seemed to be considerable movement of troops past the tent, all in one direction. Although he was not certain in which direction Svergad lay, Robert knew that they were in all probability moving back to the attack, now that the menace of the _Sphere_ was removed. He wondered dully what had happened to Taggert.

He was just shifting his position for about the fifty-first time when the flap of the tent was raised and the pompous officer of the morning’s encounter stepped in, followed by two fellow officers. The guards came to attention stiffly.

The pompous officer scowled ominously. Plainly he intended dealing with Robert as severely as possible. He strode over to him.

“Well, how does it feel to be in chains, my vicious friend?” he rasped.

“Quite all right, you old toad,” Robert answered pleasantly in English.

“What?”

“I said, ‘Quite comfortable, old chap,’” said Robert, this time in the Martian tongue, interestedly surveying a discolored lump on his captor’s right jaw where he had landed his fist that morning.

The officer’s face went dark with passion. He raised his cane as if to strike Robert. Before he could do so, however, Robert jerked up his stool to protect himself. Simultaneously the two guards sprang forward to protect their superior. But the latter’s courage failed him at the menace of the stool and he let his hand with the cane fall to his side. He contented himself for the time with a murderous look at Robert, who put the chair down, but remained standing for greater freedom of action. The guards fell back, visibly relieved.

“You shall be handled later, sir,” barked the officer. “Meanwhile, do you know the fate in store for your friends?”

“The privilege of beating hell out of your rotten army,” Robert shot back at him. He could have sworn that he saw a brief flicker of amusement in one of the other officer’s eyes as he said this.

Once more the angry officer seemed on the verge of striking Robert, but his eyes fastened upon the stool and he changed his mind. He controlled himself with an effort.

“Another day and you will change your song,” he managed to sputter. “Until then _you_ will have the ‘privilege’ of reflecting here in comfort, while a suitable punishment is devised to repay you for your destruction of our men!”

With that he turned and stamped out of the tent, followed by the other officers.

The two guards viewed Robert with evident awe after this interview. Clearly they were unused to hearing their high officers abused so roundly and carelessly. Perhaps they were saying to themselves something to the effect that this Earth-being must be _some_ guy.

Their one-cylinder brains were further startled here by Robert’s tumbling the dreaded stool over, preparatory to reclining upon the sandy floor. They exchanged glances uneasily. One of them started as if to object, then seemed to think better of it, relapsing again into a stupid dumbness.

The afternoon sun was well down in the sky when the curious sound of distant firing of the Martians’ _hilwai_ came to Robert’s ears--the first he had heard since his capture. His heart sank as he considered the probable result of the bitter struggle which it heralded. If only that confounded engine had not failed them at the critical moment!

The sounds of battle continued until after sunset, when his guards were relieved by two others whose intelligence and curiosity appeared to be about on a par with those of the first two. One of them possessed a rather remarkable, rudderlike nose which fascinated and diverted Robert for a time, to its owner’s evident discomfiture.

Somehow Robert managed to pass the night in troubled dozing on his hard bed of sand, tormented by anxious thoughts of Zola. He welcomed the first flush of dawn with thanksgiving, despite his weariness. The sound of firing was resumed about this time.

* * * * *

Shortly after his breakfast Robert was visited by Kharnov.

The ruler’s crafty features were disfigured with a scowl. He entered the tent alone, commanding his escort to remain outside.

“You have returned hostility for hospitality, and the penalty shall be death,” he said.

His tones fell with deadly precision, like the pronouncement of a sentence by a criminal judge. An involuntary chill swept over Robert in spite of his effort to appear unmoved.

“I was but protecting a helpless girl from your unwelcome attentions,” he replied, ashamed that he could control the nervousness in his voice only by a great effort. “That you have chosen to pursue her with an army to be resisted is your own folly.”

“I am not here to discuss fine points with you, sir,” returned the emperor sharply, “but to offer you a means of saving your life. You shifted your loyalty once; you can do it again. Aid my army with the _Sphere_ and you may return to your planet in peace. Refuse and suffer the consequences!”

“My loyalty was and is only to the right,” retorted Robert. “Your proposition doesn’t interest me.”

He almost forgot his personal fear as he realized with a thrill that Kharnov’s latest attack must have been successfully repulsed or he would not have made this offer.

“Beware! I am offering you your life.”

“I don’t care to buy it at that price.”

The emperor was patently more perplexed than angered by Robert’s rejection of his terms. His code did not permit of an understanding of anyone’s refusal of life for principle. He was concerned merely in deciding just what concession it was necessary to hold out to Robert in order to secure his acquiescence. A crafty thought occurred to him.

“You will also be given as many of the diamonds, so highly valued on your planet, as you can take with you. Does that interest you? Of course, I should require that two or three of my men accompany you while you were operating against the government’s enemies.”

An inspiration came to Robert. Once he got the _Sphere_ in midair again--three or a dozen Martians--he might frighten them into submission and land within the city. It was worth trying anyway, and, if it failed, they could but take his life, which it seemed certain he would lose anyway if he flatly refused the emperor’s demand.

“You have the advantage of me,” he said finally. “I accept your terms. But my friend must accompany me to assist in the operation of the _Sphere_.”

“One of my men will assist you after you have instructed him. Your friend must remain a hostage till you have carried out your part of the contract. No harm shall come to him unless you fail.”

This put the matter in a different light. Here was an obstacle that would require real diplomacy to hurdle.

“I fear your man can not learn quickly enough, but I’ll try to teach him,” said Robert, hoping to find some solution later. “However, the _Sphere_ can not be operated until I have discovered and corrected some defect in its machinery.”

“Ah, so that explains your strange landing.”

“Exactly.”

Kharnov pondered a moment.