CHAPTER IX
The Fight in the Tower
So far we had not laid eyes on a Han. The tower seemed deserted. Blashand Gaunt, however, assured me that there would be at least one man on"duty" in the military offices, though he would probably be asleep, andtwo or three in the library proper and the projectoscope plant.
"We've got to put them out of commission," I said. "Did you bring the'dope' cans, Wilma?"
"Yes," she said, "two for each. Here," and she distributed them.
We were now two levels below the roof, and at the point where we were toseparate.
I did not want to let Wilma out of my sight, but it was necessary.
According to our plan, Barker was to make his way to the projectoscopeplant, Blash and I to the library, and Wilma and Gaunt to the militaryoffice.
Blash and I traversed a long corridor, and paused at the great archeddoorway of the library. Cautiously we peered in. Seated at three greatswitchboards were library operatives. Occasionally one of them wouldreach lazily for a lever, or sleepily push a button, as little numberedlights winked on and off. They were answering calls for electrograph andviewplate records on all sorts of subjects from all sections of thecity.
I apprised my companions of the situation.
"Better wait a bit," Blash added. "The calls will lessen shortly."
Wilma reported an officer in the military office sound asleep.
"Give him the can, then," I said.
Barker was to do nothing more than keep watch in the projectoscopeplant, and a few moments later he reported himself well concealed, witha splendid view of the floor.
"I think we can take a chance now," Blash said to me, and at my nod, heopened the lid of his dope can. Of course, the fumes did not affect us,through our helmets. They were absolutely without odor or visibility,and in a few seconds the librarians were unconscious. We stepped intothe room.
There ensued considerable cautious observation and experiment on thepart of Gaunt, working from the military office, and Blash in thelibrary; while Wilma and I, with drawn swords and sharply attunedmicrophones, stood guard, and occasionally patrolled nearby corridors.
"I hear something approaching," Wilma said after a bit, with excitementin her voice. "It's a soft, gliding sound."
"That's an elevator somewhere," Barker cut in from the projectoscopefloor. "Can you locate it? I can't hear it."
"It's to the east of me," she replied.
"And to my west," said I, faintly catching it. "It's between us, Wilma,and nearer you than me. Be careful. Have you got any information yet,Blash and Gaunt?"
"Getting it now," one of them replied. "Give us two minutes more."
"Keep at it then," I said. "We'll guard."
The soft, gliding sound ceased.
"I think it's very close to me," Wilma almost whispered. "Come closer,Tony. I have a feeling something is going to happen. I've never known mynerves to get taut like this without reason."
In some alarm, I launched myself down the corridor in a great leaptoward the intersection whence I knew I could see her.
In the middle of my leap my ultrophone registered her gasp of alarm. Thenext instant I glided to a stop at the intersection to see Wilma backingtoward the door of the military office, her sword red with blood, and aninert form on the corridor floor. Two other Hans were circling to eitherside of her with wicked-looking knives, while a third evidently a highofficer, judging by the resplendence of his garb tugged desperately toget an electrophone instrument out of a bulky pocket. If he ever gavethe alarm, there was no telling what might happen to us.
I was at least seventy feet away, but I crouched low and sprang withevery bit of strength in my legs. It would be more correct to say that Idived, for I reached the fellow head on, with no attempt to draw my legsbeneath me.
Some instinct must have warned him, for he turned suddenly as I hurtledclose to him. But by this time I had sunk close to the floor, and hadstiffened myself rigidly, lest a dragging knee or foot might justprevent my reaching him. I brought my blade upward and over. It was avicious slash that laid him open, bisecting him from groin to chin, andhis dead body toppled down on me, as I slid to a tangled stop.
The other two startled, turned. Wilma leaped at one and struck him downwith a side slash. I looked up at this instant, and the dazed fear onhis face at the length of her leap registered vividly. The Hans knewnothing of our inertron belts, it seemed, and these leaps and dives ofours filled them with terror.
As I rose to my feet, a gory mess, Wilma, with a poise and speed which Ifound time to admire even in this crisis, again leaped. This time shedove head first as I had done and, with a beautifully executed thrust,ran the last Han through the throat.
Uncertainly, she scrambled to her feet, staggered queerly, and then sankgently prone on the corridor. She had fainted.
At this juncture, Blash and Gaunt reported with elation that they hadthe record we wanted.
"Back to the roof, everybody!" I ordered, as I picked Wilma up in myarms. With her inertron belt, she felt as light as a feather.
Gaunt joined me at once from the military office, and at theintersection of the corridor, we came upon Blash waiting for us. Barker,however, was not in evidence.
"Where are you, Barker?" I called.
"Go ahead," he replied. "I'll be with you on the roof at once."
We came out in the open without any further mishap, and I instructedGibbons in the ship to light the knob on the end of the ultron wire. Itflashed dully a few feet away from us. Just how he had maneuvered theship to keep our end of the line in position, without its swinging in atremendous arc, I have never been able to understand. Had not the nightbeen an unusually still one, he could not have checked the initialpendulum-like movements. As it was, there was considerable air currentat certain of the levels, and in different directions too. But Gibbonswas an expert of rare ability and sensitivity in the handling of arocket ship, and he managed, with the aid of his delicate instruments,to sense the drifts almost before they affected the fine ultron wire,and to neutralize them with little shifts in the position of the ship.
Blash and Gaunt fastened their rings to the wire, and I hooked my ownand Wilma's on, too. But on looking around, I found Barker was stillmissing.
"Barker, come!" I called. "We're waiting."
"Coming!" he replied, and indeed, at that instant, his figure appearedup the ramp. He chuckled as he fastened his ring to the wire, and saidsomething about a little surprise he had left for the Hans.
"Don't reel in the wire more than a few hundred feet," I instructedGibbons. "It will take too long to wind it in. We'll float up, and whenwe're aboard, we can drop it."
In order to float up, we had to dispense with a pound or two of weightapiece. We hurled our swords from us, and kicked off our shoes asGibbons reeled up the line a bit, and then letting go of the wire, beganto hum upward on our rings with increasing velocity.
The rush of air brought Wilma to, and I hastily explained to her that wehad been successful. Receding far below us now, I could see our dullyshining knob swinging to and fro in an ever widening arc, as it crossedand recrossed the black square of the tower roof. As an extraprecaution, I ordered Gibbons to shut off the light, and to show onefrom the belly of the ship, for so great was our speed now, that I beganto fear we would have difficulty in checking ourselves. We wereliterally falling upward, and with terrific acceleration.
Fortunately, we had several minutes in which to solve this difficulty,which none of us, strangely enough, had foreseen. It was Gibbons whofound the answer.
"You'll be all right if all of you grab the wire tight when I give theword," he said. "First I'll start reeling it in at full speed. You won'tget much of a jar, and then I'll decrease its speed again gradually, andits weight will hold you back. Are you ready? One--two--three!"
We all grabbed tightly with our gloved hands as he gave the word. Wemust have been rising a good bit faster than he figured, however, for itwrenched our arms considerably,
and the maneuver set up a sickeningpendulum motion.
For a while all we could do was swing there in an arc that may have beena quarter of a mile across, about three and a half miles above the city,and still more than a mile from our ship.
Gibbons skilfully took up the slack as our momentum pulled up the line.Then at last we had ourselves under control again, and continued ourupward journey, checking our speed somewhat with our gloves.
There was not one of us who did not breathe a big sigh of relief when wescrambled through the hatch safely into the ship again, cast off theultron line and slammed the trap shut.
Little realizing that we had a still more terrible experience to gothrough, we discussed the information Blash and Gaunt had between themextracted from the Han records, and the advisability of ultrophoningHart at once.