CHAPTER II
A Midnight Attack
It was midnight when the liner reached San Francisco, but Holdeninsisted on going at once to the offices of the InterplanetaryTransportation Company, where work was carried on day and night.Fortunately they found an official of the company who had sufficientpower to carry out their instructions.
It is unnecessary to go into the details of the meeting, or of theensuing days. The unlimited power given Holden, together with the vitalimportance of his mission, brought everyone into instant cooperation.
Three mammoth space ships were turned over to the gang of mechanics hehad hired, to be fitted with projectors for the anti-gravitationalscreens. Thousands of chemists all over the world dropped their work toprepare the precious _hexoxen_ while others extracted Europium from therare minerals in which it was found. Special freight ships were sent outto gather together the supply of these materials upon which the fate ofthe earth depended, and rapidly the great quantities of the chemicalnecessary were stored in the ships.
Captain Linet had proven true to his word, and, with his great executiveability, had made himself invaluable.
It was a pleasant sight to see the huge old Captain, veteran of many astorm in the air, conferring with the slim young Holden, whose pleasantfeatures and soft voice gave no real notion of the immense energy, fierycourage and scientific knowledge which he possessed.
Crews for the three ships had to be assembled. Holden and Ericksonpicked many from among the scientific men of their acquaintance, allexperts in their lines. The Interplanetary Transportation Companyrecommended several of their best men for the positions on boardrequiring technical knowledge of the handling of space ships, andCaptain Linet also picked up a few of his friends--brave, strong men.There were to be fifty on each ship.
The start had been scheduled for the fifteenth of the month, but on thetenth Professor Erickson received a radiogram from the SeismographicalInstitute which read as follows: "Observations indicate a series ofstresses approaching Pacific fault, probably aggravated by unusual tidalaction of moon in that area tenth of next month."
"Gentlemen," the old professor addressed the little group gathered inthe office allotted them in the I. T. C. building, "as you know, this isthe tenth. Without allowing for possible delays, we would just havetime, starting tomorrow, to reach the moon, distribute the _hexoxen_ andEuropium and get out of range by the first. That would leave us only tendays for cutting the gaseous mass into small pieces which will driftharmlessly into space. If we do not have that task accomplished by thetime indicated in this message, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland andSeattle will suffer the fate which overtook New York such a short timeago."
Holden's face was pale as he rose and nodded to the professor. "IfCaptain Linet will take the responsibility of getting the crews onboard, I will see that we are ready to leave at high noon tomorrow."
The meeting adjourned in a flurry of papers, a ringing of bells, andbrisk words spoken into television transmitters.
All that night and all the next morning work went on. At eleven A. M.the last five hundred tons of _hexoxen_ was loaded on the _SanFrancisco_, which was to be the flagship; at noon exactly the huge doorsswung shut, the repulsion tubes at the stern began to glow, and thebeautiful cigar-shaped ship rose from the earth, followed immediately bythe _Los Angeles_ and the _Ganymede_. They cruised slowly, at about sixhundred miles per hour, until they were well out of the earth'satmosphere, when full power was slowly turned on, and the trip to themoon was actually begun.
Holden and Erickson stood in the bow of the _San Francisco_, watchingthe skilful hands of the pilot, Edwards, as he spun the dialscontrolling the steering discharges, keeping the delicate needle in thedirection indicator exactly in line with the path indicated on the chartbefore him.
"How are things going, Edwards?" Holden asked.
"Fine so far. We have developed our necessary velocity in very goodtime. If you would allow me a word of advice, I would suggest that youturn in now, as the tremendous acceleration of the last few minutes, andthe speed with which we are now traveling, are liable to affect youdisagreeably, since this is your first trip. Our course has been plottedby the experts of the I. T. C., and there is nothing to do now but tostay on it."
* * * * *
Holden decided that the suggestion was a good one, as he was beginningto feel light-headed and slightly bewildered. Erickson, however, choseto go down to the observation room, for a glance at the earth, and thetwo parted company in the hall which led through the storagecompartments, located amidships.
As Holden continued on down the hall toward his cabin, a sudden feelingof danger came over him. Memories of the clutching hands that hadendeavored to throttle the life out of him shot into his mind. Helaughed to himself, attributing the fear to the mental disorganizationsuffered by travelers on their first trip into space. He opened the doorof his cabin, and stepped inside, instinctively reaching for thelight-switch.
His hand encountered warm flesh! Swiftly he went into action, diving forthe stranger's throat, but his unknown antagonist had the advantage ofbeing prepared. Holden heard a soft swish, a tremendous weight seemed todescend on him, crushing his entire body. Buzzing lights flashed beforehis eyes. Then came darkness, and he sank, unconscious, to the floor.
"Jack, Jack, my boy." The voice came from a great distance, slowlypenetrating the great cloud which hung over him. "Jack, what's thematter with you?" He realized that someone was talking to him. With amighty effort, he opened his eyes and endeavored to distinguish thespeaker among the thousands of objects which whirled before his eyes. Atlast things settled down, and he saw the anxious faces of Erickson andCaptain Linet bending above him.
"Somebody was in my cabin, and slugged me over the head with ablack-jack when I came in. Look at the wall-cabinet, will you,professor, and see if any of the papers are missing?"
The professor stepped over to one side of the room, and bent to examinethe compartment set in the solid metal of the wall.
"Holden," he cried, "the intruder tried to open the cabinet, but wasunable to do so, or else you came back sooner than he had expected.There are tool marks all around the lock."
"That means," exclaimed Captain Linet, "that the man either has tools inhis cabin, or has access to the machine shop here on board."
Scarcely had he spoken when the floor leaped beneath their feet, adeafening roar sounded from the bow, and the lights went out. Sounds ofrunning feet came from the corridor. The three men picked themselves upfrom the positions into which they had been thrown by the force of theshock, and rushed to the door.
The emergency lights had been switched on, and they could see fairlywell by the dim illumination. They hurried into the pilot house at thebow. Edwards was struggling with the controls, pale but determined.
"There's something wrong with the steering apparatus we've run into agroup of tiny meteorites, but, thank God, they didn't hit hard enough topenetrate the shell. The other ships seem to be in good shape; they'restanding by a few hundred miles away, for I've signaled them not to getthemselves tangled up with this shower."
At that moment a breathless tube-man came running in.
"Report for you, sir, from the tube-room. Someone tampered with thetiming device that controls the feeding of the charges. We can have itrepaired in a few hours."
"Good," snapped Edwards. "Give me all the power you can from theemergency tubes, and keep the main stern tubes going full." Turning toHolden, he continued, "I'll try to steer out of this shower by means ofthe deceleration tubes, but I don't dare use up too much of their power,and they can't be recharged until after we land."
"Captain Linet," Holden ordered, "start a search of the ship. Go overevery man's room first, and pay especial attention to their baggage.Read all the private papers you can find, and see if you can't get someclue as to why all this is being done. By the way, do we have any armson board?"
Linet smiled. "While your orders didn't
cover that matter, sir, I tookthe liberty to bring with me a very complete arsenal of small arms, andthree of the newly developed rapid-fire disintegrators, using your_hexoxen_ as the material for the bullets. Very effective, I may add."
"Fine. As soon as a man is searched, and has been entirely cleared ofall shadow of suspicion, arm him."
Erickson departed with Captain Linet, and Holden remained in the pilotroom, helping Edwards work the ship onward. After about an hour and ahalf, they had reached an area free from meteorites of dangerous size.
"I think I can handle her myself, now. Thanks very much," Edwards said,and Holden departed to do a little investigating on his own.
* * * * *
In the tube-room at the stern, he found Linet. The doughty Captain hadevidently been giving the men a thorough