The Skylark of Space
CHAPTER XIII
Nalboon of Mardonale
As the Skylark approached the shore, its occupants heard a rapidsuccession of heavy detonations, apparently coming from the direction inwhich they were traveling.
"Wonder what that racket is?" asked Seaton.
"It sounds like big guns," said Crane, and DuQuesne nodded agreement.
"Big guns is right. They're shooting high explosive shells, too, or Inever heard any. Even allowing for the density of the air, that kind ofnoise isn't made by pop-guns."
"Let's go see what's doing," and Seaton started to walk toward one ofthe windows with his free, swinging stride. Instantly he was a-sprawl,the effort necessary to carry his weight upon the Earth's surfacelifting him into the air in a succession of ludicrous hops, but he soonrecovered himself and walked normally.
"I forgot this two-fifths gravity stuff," he laughed. "Walk as though wehad only a notch of power on and it goes all right. It sure is funny tofeel so light when we're so close to the ground."
He closed the doors to keep out a part of the noise and advanced thespeed lever a little, so that the vessel tilted sharply under the pullof the almost horizontal bar.
"Go easy," cautioned Crane. "We do not want to get in the way of one oftheir shells. They may be of a different kind than those we are familiarwith."
"Right--easy it is. We'll stay forty miles above them, if necessary."
As the great speed of the ship rapidly lessened the distance, the soundgrew heavier and clearer--like one continuous explosion. So closely didone deafening concussion follow another that the ear could notdistinguish the separate reports.
"I see them," simultaneously announced Crane, who was seated at one ofthe forward windows searching the country with his binoculars, andSeaton, who, from the pilot's seat, could see in any direction.
The others hurried to the windows with their glasses and saw anastonishing sight.
"Aerial battleships, eight of 'em!" exclaimed Seaton, "as big as theIdaho. Four of 'em are about the same shape as our battleships. Nowings--they act like helicopters."
"Four of them are battleships, right enough, but what about the otherfour?" asked DuQuesne. "They are not ships or planes or anything elsethat I ever heard of."
"They are animals," asserted Crane. "Machines never were and never willbe built like that."
As the Skylark cautiously approached, it was evident to the watchersthat four of the contestants were undoubtedly animals. Here indeed was anew kind of animal, an animal able to fight on even terms with afirst-class battleship! Frightful aerial monsters they were. Each had anenormous, torpedo-shaped body, with scores of prodigiously longtentacles like those of a devil-fish and a dozen or more great, soaringwings. Even at that distance they could see the row of protruding eyesalong the side of each monstrous body and the terrible, prow-like beakstearing through the metal of the warships opposing them. They could see,by the reflection of the light from the many suns, that each monster wasapparently covered by scales and joints of some transparent armor. Thatit was real and highly effective armor there could be no doubt, for eachbattleship bristled with guns of heavy caliber and each gun was vomitingforth a continuous stream of fire. Shells bursting against each of thecreatures made one continuous blaze, and the uproar wasindescribable--an uninterrupted cataclysm of sound appalling in itsintensity.
* * * * *
The battle was brief. Soon all four of the battleships had crumpled tothe ground, their crews absorbed by the terrible sucking arms ordevoured by the frightful beaks. They did not die in vain--three of themonsters had been blown to atoms by shells which had apparentlypenetrated their armor. The fourth was pursuing something, which Seatonnow saw was a fleet of small airships, which had flown away from thescene of conflict. Swift as they were, the monster covered three feet totheir one.
"We can't stand for anything like that," cried Seaton, as he threw onthe power and the Skylark leaped ahead. "Get ready to bump him off,Mart, when I jerk him away. He acts hard-boiled, so give him a realone--fifty milligrams!"
Sweeping on with awful speed the monster seized the largest and mostgaily decorated plane in his hundred-foot tentacles just as the Skylarkcame within sighting distance. In four practically simultaneousmovements Seaton sighted the attractor at the ugly beak, released allits power, pointed the main bar of the Skylark directly upward, andadvanced his speed lever. There was a crash of rending metal as thething was torn loose from the plane and jerked a hundred miles into theair, struggling so savagely in that invisible and incomprehensible gripthat the three-thousand-ton mass of the Skylark tossed and pitched likea child's plaything. Those inside her heard the sharp, spiteful crack ofthe machine-gun, and an instant later they heard a report that paralyzedtheir senses, even inside the vessel and in the thin air of theirenormous elevation, as the largest X-plosive bullet prepared by theinventors struck full upon the side of the hideous body. There was nosmoke, no gas or vapor of any kind--only a huge volume of intolerableflame as the energy stored within the atoms of copper, instantaneouslyliberated, heated to incandescence and beyond all the atmosphere withina radius of hundreds of feet. The monster disappeared utterly, andSeaton, with unerring hand, reversed the bar and darted back down towardthe fleet of airships. He reached them in time to focus the attractorupon the wrecked and helpless plane in the middle of itsfive-thousand-foot fall and lowered it gently to the ground, surroundedby the fleet.
The Skylark landed easily beside the wrecked machine, and the wandererssaw that their vessel was completely surrounded by a crowd ofpeople--men and women identical in form and feature with themselves.They were a superbly molded race, the men fully as large as Seaton andDuQuesne; the women, while smaller than the men, were noticeably tallerthan the two women in the car. The men wore broad collars of metal,numerous metallic ornaments, and heavily-jeweled leather belts andshoulder-straps which were hung with weapons of peculiar patterns. Thewomen carried no weapons, but were even more highly decorated than werethe men--each slender, perfectly-formed body scintillated with thebrilliance of hundreds of strange gems, flashing points of fire. Jeweledbands of metal and leather restrained their carefully-groomed hair;jeweled collars encircled their throats; jeweled belts, jeweledbracelets, jeweled anklets, each added its quota of brilliance to theglittering whole. The strangers wore no clothing, and their smooth skinsshone a dark, livid, utterly indescribable color in the peculiar,unearthly, yellowish-bluish-green glare of the light. Green their skinsundoubtedly were, but not any shade of green visible in the Earthlyspectrum. The "whites" of their eyes were a light yellowish-green. Theheavy hair of the women and the close-cropped locks of the men weregreen as well--a green so dark as to be almost black, as were also theireyes.
"Well, what d'you know about that?" pondered Seaton, dazedly. "They'rehuman, right enough, but ye gods, what a color!"
"It is hard to tell how much of that color is real, and how much of itis due to this light," answered Crane. "Wait until you get outside, awayfrom our daylight lamps, and you will probably look like a Chinesepuzzle. As to the form, it is logical to suppose that whereverconditions are similar to those upon the Earth, and the age is anywherenearly the same, development would be along the same lines as with us."
"That's right, too. Dottie, your hair will sure look gorgeous in thislight. Let's go out and give the natives a treat!"
"I wouldn't look like that for a million dollars!" retorted Dorothy,"and if I'm going to look like that I won't get out of the ship, sothere!"
"Cheer up, Dottie, you won't look like that. Your hair will be black inthis light."
"Then what color will mine be?" asked Margaret.
Seaton glanced at her black hair.
"Probably a very dark and beautiful green," he grinned, his gray eyessparkling, "but we'll have to wait and see. Friends andfellow-countrymen, I've got a hunch that this is going to be SOME visit.How about it, shall we go ahead with it?"
Dorothy went up to him, her face bright
with eagerness.
"Oh, what a lark! Let's go!"
* * * * *
Even in DuQuesne's cold presence, Margaret's eyes sought those of herlover, and his sleeve, barely touching her arm, was enough to send adancing thrill along it.
"Onward, men of Earth!" she cried, and Seaton, stepping up to thewindow, rapped sharply upon the glass with the butt of his pistol andraised both hands high above his head in the universal sign of peace. Inresponse, a man of Herculean mold, so splendidly decorated that hisharness was one blazing mass of jewels, waved his arm and shouted acommand. The crowd promptly fell back, leaving a clear space of severalhundred yards. The man, evidently one in high command, unbuckled hisharness, dropping every weapon, and advanced toward the Skylark, botharms upraised in Seaton's gesture.
Seaton went to the door and started to open it.
"Better talk to him from inside," cautioned Crane.
"I don't think so, Mart. He's peaceable, and I've got my gun in mypocket. Since he doesn't know what clothes are he'll think I'm unarmed,which is as it should be; and if he shows fight, it won't take more thana week for me to get into action."
"All right, go on. DuQuesne and I will come along."
"Absolutely not. He's alone, so I've got to be. I notice that some ofhis men are covering us, though. You might do the same for them, with acouple of the machine guns."
Seaton stepped out of the car and went to meet the stranger. When theyhad approached to within a few feet of each other the stranger stopped.He flexed his left arm smartly, so that the finger-tips touched his leftear, and smiled broadly, exposing a row of splendid, shining, greenteeth. Then he spoke, a meaningless jumble of sounds. His voice, thoughlight and thin, nevertheless seemed to be of powerful timbre.
Seaton smiled in return and saluted.
"Hello, Chief. I get your idea all right, and we're glad you'repeaceable, but your language doesn't mean a thing in my young life."
The Chief tapped himself upon the chest, saying distinctly andimpressively:
"Nalboon."
"Nalboon," repeated Seaton, and added, pointing to himself:
"Seaton."
"See Tin," answered the stranger, and again indicating himself, "Domakgok Mardonale."
"That must be his title," thought Seaton rapidly. "Have to give myselfone, I guess."
"Boss of the Road," he replied, drawing himself up with pride.
The introduction made, Nalboon pointed to the wrecked plane, inclinedhis head in thanks, and turned to his people with one arm upraised,shouting an order in which Seaton could distinguish something thatsounded like "See Tin, Bass uvvy Rood." Instantly every right arm in theassemblage was aloft, that of each man bearing a weapon, while the leftarms snapped into the peculiar salute and a mighty cry arose as allrepeated the name and title of the distinguished visitor.
Seaton turned to the Skylark, motioning to Crane to open the door.
"Bring out one of those big four-color signal rockets, Mart!" he called."They're giving us a royal reception--let's acknowledge it right."
* * * * *
The party appeared, Crane carrying the huge rocket with an air ofdeference. As they approached, Seaton shrugged one shoulder and hiscigarette-case appeared in his hand. Nalboon started, and in spite ofhis utmost efforts at self-control, he glanced at it in surprise. Thecase flew open and Seaton, taking a cigarette, extended the case.
"Smoke?" he asked affably. The other took one, but showed plainly thathe had no idea of the use to which it was to be put. This astonishmentof the stranger at a simple sleight-of-hand feat and his apparentignorance of tobacco emboldened Seaton. Reaching into his mouth, hepulled out a flaming match, at which Nalboon started violently. Whileall the natives watched in amazement, Seaton lighted the cigarette, andafter half consuming it in two long inhalations, he apparently swallowedthe remainder, only to bring it to light again. Having smoked it, heapparently swallowed the butt, with evident relish.
"They don't know anything about matches or smoking," he said, turning toCrane. "This rocket will tie them up in a knot. Step back, everybody."
He bowed deeply to Nalboon, pulling a lighted match from his ear as hedid so, and lighted the fuse. There was a roar, a shower of sparks, ablaze of colored fire as the great rocket flew upward; but to Seaton'ssurprise, Nalboon took it quite as a matter of course, saluting as anacknowledgment of the courtesy.
Seaton motioned to his party to approach, and turned to Crane.
"Better not, Dick. Let him think that you are the king of everything insight."
"Not on your life. If he is one king, we are two," and he introducedCrane, with great ceremony, to the Domak as the "Boss of the Skylark,"at which the salute by his people was repeated.
Nalboon then shouted an order and a company of soldiers led by anofficer came toward them, surrounding a small group of people,apparently prisoners. These captives, seven men and seven women, weremuch lighter in color than the rest of the gathering, having skins of aghastly, pale shade, practically the same color as the whites of theireyes. In other bodily aspects they were the same as their captors inappearance, save that they were entirely naked except for the jeweledmetal collars worn by all and a massive metal belt worn by one man. Theywalked with a proud and lofty carriage, scorn for their captors in everystep.
Nalboon barked an order to the prisoners. They stared in defiance,motionless, until the man wearing the belt who had studied Seatonclosely, spoke a few words in a low tone, when they all prostratedthemselves. Nalboon then waved his hand, giving the whole group toSeaton as slaves. Seaton, with no sign of his surprise, thanked thegiver and motioned his slaves to rise. They obeyed and placed themselvesbehind the party--two men and two women behind Seaton and the samenumber behind Crane; one man and one woman behind each of the others.
Seaton then tried to make Nalboon understand that they wanted copper,pointing to his anklet, the only copper in sight. The chief instantlyremoved the trinket and handed it to Seaton; who, knowing by the gasp ofsurprise of the guard that it was some powerful symbol, returned it withprofuse apologies. After trying in vain to make the other understandwhat he wanted, he led him into the Skylark and showed him the remnantof the power-bar. He showed him its original size and indicated thedesired number by counting to sixteen upon his fingers. Nalboon noddedhis comprehension and going outside, pointed upward toward the largestof the eleven suns visible, motioning its rising and setting, fourtimes.
He then invited the visitors, in unmistakable sign language, toaccompany him as guests of honor, but Seaton refused.
"Lead on, MacDuff, we follow," he replied, explaining his meaning bysigns as they turned to enter the vessel. The slaves followed closelyuntil Crane remonstrated.
"We don't want them aboard, do we, Dick? There are too many of them."
"All right," Seaton replied, and waved them away. As they stepped backthe guard seized the nearest, a woman, and forced her to her knees;while a man, adorned with a necklace of green human teeth and carrying ashining broadsword, prepared to decapitate her.
"We must take them with us, I see," said Crane, as he brushed the guardsaside. Followed by the slaves, the party entered the Skylark, and thedark green people embarked in their airplanes and helicopters.
Nalboon rode in a large and gaily-decorated plane, which led the fleetat its full speed of six hundred miles an hour, the Skylark taking aplacing a few hundred yards above the flagship.
"I don't get these folks at all, Mart," said Seaton, after a moment'ssilence. "They have machines far ahead of anything we have on Earth andbig guns that shoot as fast as machine-guns, and yet are scared to deathat a little simple sleight-of-hand. They don't seem to understandmatches at all, and yet treat fire-works as an every-day occurrence."
"We will have to wait until we know them better," replied Crane, andDuQuesne added:
"From what I have seen, their power seems to be all electrical. Perhapsthey aren't up with us in chemistr
y, even though they are ahead of us inmechanics?"
* * * * *
Flying above a broad, but rapid and turbulent stream, the fleet soonneared a large city, and the visitors from Earth gazed with interest atthis metropolis of the unknown world. The buildings were all the sameheight, flat-roofed, and arranged in squares very much as our cities arearranged. There were no streets, the spaces between the buildings beingpark-like areas, evidently laid out for recreation, amusement, andsport. There was no need for streets; all traffic was in the air. Theair seemed full of flying vehicles, darting in all directions, but itwas soon evident that there was exact order in the apparent confusion,each class of vessel and each direction of traffic having its own level.Eagerly the three men studied the craft, which ranged in size fromone-man helicopters, little more than single chairs flying about in theair, up to tremendous multiplane freighters, capable of carryingthousands of tons.
Flying high over the city to avoid its congested air-lanes, the fleetdescended toward an immense building just outside the city proper, andall landed upon its roof save the flagship, which led the Skylark to alanding-dock nearby--a massive pile of metal and stone, upon whichNalboon and his retinue stood to welcome the guests. After Seaton hadanchored the vessel immovably by means of the attractor, the partydisembarked, Seaton remarking with a grin:
"Don't be surprised at anything I do, folks. I'm a walking storehouse ofjunk of all kinds, so that if occasion arises I can put on a realexhibition."
As they turned toward their host, a soldier, in his eagerness to see thestrangers, jostled another. Without a word two keen swords flew fromtheir scabbards and a duel to the death ensued. The visitors stared inamazement, but no one else paid any attention to the combat, which wassoon over; the victor turning away from the body of his opponent andresuming his place without creating a ripple of interest.
Nalboon led the way into an elevator, which dropped rapidly to theground-floor level. Massive gates were thrown open, and through ranks ofpeople prostrate upon their faces the party went out into the palacegrounds of the Domak, or Emperor, of the great nation of Mardonale.
Never before had Earthly eyes rested upon such scenes of splendor. Everycolor and gradation of their peculiar spectrum was present, in solid,liquid, and gas. The carefully-tended trees were all colors of therainbow, as were the grasses and flowers along the walks. The fountainsplayed streams of many and constantly-changing hues, and even the airwas tinted and perfumed, swirling through metal arches in billows ofever-varying colors and scents. Colors and combinations of colorsimpossible to describe were upon every hand, fantastically beautiful inthat peculiar, livid light. Diamonds and rubies, their colors sodistorted by the green radiance as to be almost unrecognizable; emeraldsglowing with an intense green impossible in earthly light, together withstrange gems peculiar to this strange world, sparkled and flashed fromrailings, statues, and pedestals throughout the ground.
"Isn't this gorgeous, Dick?" whispered Dorothy. "But what do I looklike? I wish I had a mirror--you look simply awful. Do I look like youdo?"
"Not being able to see myself, I can't say, but I imagine you do. Youlook as you would under a county-fair photographer's mercury-vapor arclamps, only worse. The colors can't be described. You might as well tryto describe cerise to a man born blind as to try to express thesecolors in English, but as near as I can come to it, your eyes are a darksort of purplish green, with the whites of your eyes and your teeth akind of plush green. Your skin is a pale yellowish green, except for thepink of your cheeks, which is a kind of black, with orange and greenmixed up in it. Your lips are black, and your hair is a funny kind ofcolor, halfway between black and old rose, with a little green and...."
"Heavens, Dick, stop! That's enough!" choked Dorothy. "We all look likehobgoblins. We're even worse than the natives."
"Sure we are. They were born here and are acclimated to it--we arestrangers and aren't. I would like to see what one of these people wouldlook like in Washington."
* * * * *
Nalboon led them into the palace proper and into a great dining hall,where a table was already prepared for the entire party. This room wassplendidly decorated with jewels, its many windows being simply massesof gems. The walls were hung with a cloth resembling silk, which fell tothe floor in shimmering waves of color.
Woodwork there was none. Doors, panels, tables, and chairs werecunningly wrought of various metals. Seaton and DuQuesne could recognizea few of them, but for the most part they were unknown upon the Earth;and were, like the jewels and vegetation of this strange world, of manyand various peculiar colors. A closer inspection of one of the marveloustapestries showed that it also was of metal, its threads numberingthousands to the inch. Woven of many different metals, of vivid butharmonious colors in a strange and intricate design, it seemed to writheas its colors changed with every variation in the color of the light;which, pouring from concealed sources, was reflected by thehighly-polished metal and innumerable jewels of the lofty, domedceiling.
"Oh ... isn't this too perfectly gorgeous?" breathed Dorothy. "I'd giveanything for a dress made out of that stuff, Dick. Cloth-of-gold iscommon by comparison!"
"Would you dare wear it, Dottie?" asked Margaret.
"_Would_ I? I'd wear it in a minute if I could only get it. It wouldtake Washington by storm!"
"I'll try to get a piece of it, then," smiled Seaton. "I'll see about itwhile we are getting the copper."
"We'd better be careful in choosing what we eat here, Seaton," suggestedDuQuesne, as the Domak himself led them to the table.
"We sure had. With a copper ocean and green teeth, I shouldn't besurprised if copper, arsenic, and other such trifles formed a regularpart of their diet."
"The girls and I will wait for you two chemists to approve every dishbefore we try it, then," said Crane.
Nalboon placed his guests, the light-skinned slaves standing atattention behind them, and numerous servants, carrying great trays,appeared. The servants were intermediate in color between the light andthe dark races, with dull, unintelligent faces, but quick and deft intheir movements.
The first course--a thin, light wine, served in metal goblets--wasapproved by the chemists, and the dinner was brought on. There weremighty joints of various kinds of meat; birds and fish, both raw andcooked in many ways; green, pink, purple, and white vegetables andfruits. The majordomo held each dish up to Seaton for inspection, thelatter waving away the fish and the darkest green foods, but approvingthe others. Heaping plates, or rather metal trays, of food were placedbefore the diners, and the attendants behind their chairs handed thempeculiar implements--knives with razor edges, needle-pointed stilettoesinstead of forks, and wide, flexible spatulas, which evidently were toserve the purposes of both forks and spoons.
"I simply can't eat with these things!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay,"and I don't like to drink soup out of a can, so there!"
"That's where my lumberjack training comes in handy," grinned Seaton."With this spatula I can eat faster than I could with two forks. What doyou want, girls, forks or spoons, or both?"
"Both, please."
Seaton reached out over the table, seizing forks and spoons from the airand passing them to the others, while the natives stared in surprise.The Domak took a bowl filled with brilliant blue crystals from themajor-domo, sprinkled his food liberally with the substance, and passedit to Seaton, who looked at the crystals attentively.
"Copper sulphate," he said to Crane. "It's a good thing they add it atthe table instead of cooking with it, or we'd be out of luck."
Waving the copper sulphate away, he again reached out, this timeproducing a pair of small salt-and pepper-shakers, which he passed tothe Domak after he had seasoned the dishes before him. Nalboon tastedthe pepper cautiously and smiled in delight, half-emptying the shakerupon his plate. He then sprinkled a few grains of salt into his palm,stared at them with an expression of doubting amazement, and after a fewrapid sentences
poured them into a dish held by an officer who hadsprung to his side. The officer studied them closely, then carefullywashed his chief's hand. Nalboon turned to Seaton, plainly asking forthe salt-cellar.
"Sure, old top. Keep 'em both, there's lots more where those came from,"as he produced several more sets in the same mysterious way and handedthem to Crane, who in turn passed them to the others.
* * * * *
The meal progressed merrily, with much conversation in the sign-languagebetween the two parties. It was evident that Nalboon, usually stern andreticent, was in an unusually pleasant mood. The viands, though ofpeculiar flavor, were in the main pleasing to the palates of the Earthlyvisitors.
"This fruit salad, or whatever it is, is divine," remarked Dorothy,after an experimental bite. "May we eat as much as we like, or had webetter just eat a little?"
"Go as far as you like," returned her lover. "I wouldn't recommend it,as a steady diet, as I imagine everything contains copper and otherheavy metals in noticeable amounts, and probably considerable arsenic,but for a few days it can't very well hurt us much."
After the meal, Nalboon bade them a ceremonious farewell, and they wereescorted to a series of five connecting rooms by the royal usher,escorted by an entire company of soldiers, who mounted guard outside thedoors. Gathered in one room, they discussed sleeping arrangements. Thegirls insisted that they would sleep together, and that the men shouldoccupy the rooms at either side. As the girls turned away, the fourslaves followed.
"We don't want these people, and I can't make them go away!" criedDorothy.
"I don't want them, either," replied Seaton, "but if we chase them outthey'll get their heads chopped off. You girls take the women and we'lltake the men."
Seaton waved all the women into the girls' room, but they pausedirresolutely. One of them went up to the man wearing the metal belt,evidently their leader, and spoke to him rapidly as she threw her armsaround his neck. He shook his head, motioning toward Seaton severaltimes as he spoke to her reassuringly. With his arm about her tenderly,he led her to the door, the other women following. Crane and DuQuesnehaving gone to their rooms with their attendants, the man wearing thebelt drew the blinds and turned to assist Seaton in taking off hisclothes.
"I never had a valet before, but go as far as you like if it pleasesyou," remarked Seaton, as he began to throw off his clothes. A multitudeof small articles fell from their hiding-places in his garments as heremoved them. Almost stripped, Seaton stretched vigorously, the muscleswrithing and rippling in great ridges under the satin skin of his broadback and mighty arms and shoulders as he filled his capacious lungs andtwisted about, working off the stiffness caused by the days ofcomparative confinement.
The four slaves stared in open-mouthed astonishment at this display ofmuscular development and conversed among themselves as they gathered upSeaton's discarded clothing. Their leader picked up a salt-shaker, acouple of silver knives and forks, and some other articles, and turnedto Seaton, apparently asking permission to do something with them.Seaton nodded assent carelessly and turned to his bed. As he did so, heheard a slight clank of arms in the hall as the guard was changed, andlifting the blind a trifle he saw that guards were stationed outside aswell. As he went to bed, he wondered whether the guards were guards ofhonor or jailers; whether he and his party were honored guests orprisoners.
Three of the slaves, at a word from their chief, threw themselves uponthe floor and slept, but he himself did not rest. Opening the apparentlysolid metal belt, he took out a great number of small tools, many tinyinstruments, and several spools of insulated wire. He then took thearticles Seaton had given him, taking great pains not to spill a singlegrain of salt, and set to work. Hour after hour he labored, a strange,exceedingly complex instrument taking form under his clever fingers.