The Copper-Clad World Read online

  CHAPTER II

  _The Second Satellite_

  When, eventually, they swung into the orbit of Jupiter and headed intoward the enormous red-belted body, the two Earth men were heartilydisgusted with the voyage and with themselves. Repeated doses of thepink gas--the ignominy of their utter subservience to the will ofAntazzo--had worn them down no less than had the hard work and loss ofsleep. Both were in vile humor. They endured the triumphant chatter oftheir captor in bitter silence.

  "Over there, my friends," he said, pointing; "see? It is ourdestination. The golden crescent, Io, is something over a quartermillion of your miles from the mother planet. See it? It is home, myfriends; home to me and for yourselves in the future--if the Zaraspares your lives. Lay your course to the body, Carson."

  Blaine growled as he sighted through the telescope. Yet, in spite ofhis fury, he could not overcome the feeling of excitement that came tohim when the powerful glass brought the satellite near. This body waslike nothing else in the heavens. Antazzo had called it the goldencrescent. Rather, it was of gleaming coppery hue, and now, as theyswung around, it was fully illuminated--a brilliant sphere of unbrokencontour. Smoothly globular, there was not one projection or indentationto indicate the existence of land or sea, mountain or valley, on itssurface. It was like a ball of solid copper, scintillant there in theweak sunlight and the reflected light from its great mother planet.

  Antazzo laughed over his absorption. "Looks peculiar to you, does itnot?" he asked; "rather different from any of the bodies you havevisited, you are thinking."

  Blaine grunted wordless assent. The globe that was Io rushed in to meetthem, growing ever larger in the field of the telescope. Now itappeared that there were tiny seams in the smooth surface, a regularcriss-cross pattern of fine lines that looked like--Lord, yes, that wasit! The body was constructed from an infinite number of copper plates,riveted or brazed together to form a perfect sphere.

  * * * * *

  "Why, the thing's made of copper!" Blaine gasped. "Copper plates. It'sa man-made world; artificial. But where are the inhabitants?"

  Antazzo laughed uproariously. "Not man-made, my friend," he corrected,"but preserved by man for his own salvation. A dying world, it was, andthe cleverest scientists in the universe saved it and themselves fromcertain death. What you see is merely a shell of copper, the coveringthey constructed to retain an atmosphere and make continuation of lifepossible--inside."

  "Your people live _inside_ that shell?" Blaine was incredulous.

  "What else? We must have air to breathe and warmth for our bodies. Howelse could we have retained it?"

  It was staggering, this revelation. The young pilot could not conceiveof a completely enclosed world with inhabitants forever shut off fromthe light of the sun by day and from the beauties of the heavens bynight. Yet here it was, drawing ever nearer, a colossal monument to theingenuity and handiwork of a highly intelligent civilization who hadlabored probably for centuries to preserve their kind. A titanic task!Who could imagine a sphere of metal more than twenty-four hundred milesin diameter enclosing a world and its peoples? A copper-clad world!

  They were coming in close now, and the gravitational pull of the bodymade itself felt. Blaine was busy with the controls, sending tremendousblasts from the forward rocket-tubes to retard their speed for a safelanding. The incredibly smooth copper surface was just beneath them,stretching miles away to the horizon in all directions.

  The inductor compass was functioning. Evidently Io possessed as stronga magnetic field as did the inner planets. Antazzo now consulted achart which he drew from his pocket, and examined minutely the surfaceover which they were speeding. Here and there curious designs wereetched on the copper plates, and it was from these he determined theircourse. Obviously there was an entrance to this sealed-in world.

  * * * * *

  When they had proceeded some two thousand miles in a northeasterlydirection Antazzo gave the order to reduce speed. Off at the horizonthere appeared a bulge in the copper surface, a round protuberance thatresolved itself into a great dome-shaped structure as they drew nearer.A full two hundred feet it reared itself into the heavens, and Blainesaw a number of large circular hatches in its side that evidentlycovered air-locked entrances.

  "You will land close by the dome, Carson," Antazzo barked, "and both ofyou will get into your moon-suits."

  At his tone Blaine saw red. He realized on the instant that the effectof the pink gas had worn off and that he was his own master once more.All the pent-up emotions of the past few days were unleashed. If onlyhe could get in one good punch. They might get away yet. There wasplenty of k-metal to replenish the fuel supply. He whirled suddenly,muscles tensed. He faced the grinning hunchback--and was greeted by abreathtaking spurt of the pink gas. This time it was not merely asubjecting of his own will to that of the master but a completehypnotism, a somnambulistic state. As in a dream he turned to thecontrols.

  Now it came to him that the dwarf no longer spoke. He worked his willentirely without words; his evil mind possessed fully the mind of hisvictim. For Blaine Carson there was no further independent thinking. Hewas an automaton, a sleep-walker.

  * * * * *

  Like a detached and more or less disinterested observer, he saw that hehad landed the ship. Then he noticed three dwarfs in bulky, helmetedmoon-suits, shuffling clumsily across the copper plates. Hazily he knewhe was with the others in an airlock; the hiss and the throbbing ofpumps told him that. Under the great dome there was the latticework ofa huge reflecting telescope; strange pigmy figures scuttled here andthere, working at curious machines. There was the constant purr of manymotors, the gentle pulsation of floor-plates beneath his feet.

  With the moon-suit removed, he realized the atmosphere was fetid andstifling. A great pressure bore on his lungs, making breathing laboredand difficult. And then they were in a lift that dropped into thedepths of its shaft with dizzying speed. Antazzo's grin; Tom's eyes,dull and lifeless, floating there in the haze before his own--it wasall a nightmare from which he must soon awaken.

  There followed a period of complete unconsciousness of movement and ofhis surroundings. Light--light everywhere; a blue-white radiance thatbeat upon his unseeing eyes with unrelenting ferocity. Stabbing painsbored into his very brain, pains that carried with them an unspoken andunintelligible command. Why couldn't they let him alone; leave him todie in peace? He knew he was on his feet, swaying. There were voices,strident and guttural, and then by some magic the veil was lifted. Hisbrain cleared and he saw that he stood before a dais where a muchbejeweled and resplendently clad woman sat curled in the luxuriouscushions of a golden seat. Chalk-white was her face and her lipscrimson; amazing eyes, cat's eyes, pupils red-flecked and glittering,stared out at him.

  * * * * *

  "The Zara," Antazzo whispered. "You will make obeisance."

  Mechanically, Blaine dropped to his knees and touched his forehead tothe floor. Tom Farley, over there, was doing the same, but Antazzostood erect with arms crossed over his chest and head thrown back. Theeyes of the Zara swept him contemptuously from head to foot. All wasnot well between them.

  Blaine arose from his humiliating position at a sharp command from thehunchback. Tommy did likewise and the two exchanged sheepish looks. Theeffects of the pink gas were wearing off once more. They were in alarge hall, obviously the throne room of a palace. Men-at-arms linedthe walls on either side of the dais, and these were straight limbedgiants with green-bronze skin and regular features--not at all like thedeformed Ionian who had captured them and stolen the RX8.

  The Zara talked rapidly in throaty gutturals, her fierce gaze directedat Antazzo and her brows drawn together in a scowl that could have butone meaning. She was displeased with the hunchback, displeased andfuriously angry. What was it all about? Hadn't he brought home thebacon--the k-metal they were after? Blaine
was nonplused.

  Then Antazzo replied to the woman who was obviously his queen. Hisvoice rose in shrill disagreement and his scowl was as fierce as theZara's. Threatening her, he was, the nervy devil. He clenched his fistsand raised his arms in an angry gesture, pacing the floor in his furyand thrusting out a pugnacious chin while he raved. This Zara womanrose higher in her cushions, and the look that flashed from thoseterrible eyes would have warned a less excited human, howeverjustifiable his anger might be. But Antazzo was in too deep to drawback, that was plain to be seen. Blaine held his breath in anticipationof an explosion.

  * * * * *

  It came then, that explosion, and in a way entirely unexpected andhorrible to behold. The tiger woman uttered one fierce sibilant likethe hiss of a serpent, a terrifying sound that silenced the hunchbackand brought him stiffly to attention, mouth open and eyes bulging withhorror. One of those unbelievably white arms stretched forth,threateningly tense, and a jeweled finger leveled itself at the rashIonian. From it there flashed an intangible something that leaped tobridge the distance with the speed of light, something that screechedas it flew and crashed like breaking glass when it struck Antazzo'shorrified face. In an instant he was on the floor, screaming andwrithing in mortal agony.

  The Zara watched with compressed lips and livid features as a host ofblack disk-like things covered the squirming body, spinning madly as ifdriven by atomic energy and emitting a myriad high-pitched tones likethe angry buzzing of a swarm of bees. Antazzo's body shriveled as thethings hummed on in their devilish work. Soon there was but a tiny heapof clothing with the angry black disks whirling and singing their songof hate. And then, in a puff of thick yellow vapor they were gone,their gruesome work completed. The odor of putrefaction lay heavy onthe air.

  Blaine shuddered and a fit of nausea twisted his vitals. It served thedevil right, of course, but it was a horrible way to go. These damnedIonians, even to their queen, were bloodthirsty creatures. And whatdevilish ingenuity they had displayed in their development of weapons!His eyes were drawn irresistibly to the flaming orbs of the Zara.

  She was actually smiling at him, this beautiful, heartless animal, nota smile of derision but one of deliberate allure. He felt the hot bloodmount to his temples. A languid arm beckoned him to her side and theamazing creature settled back in her cushions with the drowsy,contented motions of a lazy feline.

  "Watch your step!" Tommy hissed.

  That warning was unnecessary. Blaine shook his head and backed awayfrom the dais, an instinctive recoiling from a loathsome thing. TheZara saw and understood; and she went again into a black rage. She satstiffly erect and called rapid orders to her men-at-arms.

  The Earth men were surrounded instantly, their arms and legs pinionedby powerful hands, their feeble resistance overcome by the bronzegiants as easily as if they had been children. Helpless and hopeless,they were borne from the room.

  * * * * *

  This was the end of the story, Blaine thought. Why this Zara woman hadnot made away with them at once was a mystery. Perhaps they were beingreserved for an even more terrible fate than that of the hunchback.They were being carried along a dim-lit passage now, and Tom wascursing his captors in a never-ending stream of invective.

  A metal door opened and then clanged shut behind them. They were dumpedunceremoniously on metal tables that resembled those of a hospitaloperating-room on Earth. Woven bands, quickly adjusted by the bronzegiants held them fast. Blaine turned his head and saw that Tommy wasstill struggling against the inevitable. A gag had been placed in hismouth; that was why he had ceased reviling the Zara's servitors.

  The room was cluttered with elaborate and complicated mechanisms thatBlaine could not recognize in the slightest detail, excepting thatthere were many banks of slender glass cylinders which bore someresemblance to the vacuum tubes used on the inner planets for radiocommunication and television. One of the bronze giants, he saw, wasbringing a metal cap from which a cable extended to one of the strangemachines. This cap was forced down over his head with a none too gentlepressure and he could see no more.

  There came a sharp buzz from the machine and a million stinging needlesdrove into his brain. There was a moment of fleeting visions; strangeplaces he viewed, and strange creatures parading in a fantasmagoria ofdelirium before his aching eyes. Voices, harsh and guttural, spoke inhis drumming ears; voices that were dimly understandable, thoughuttered in the tongue spoken by Antazzo and the Zara. Then came suddenand merciful unconsciousness.