Skylark Three | Page 9

nation will be wiped out. That is horrible,
of course. But on the other hand, if we block him off from salt and 'X,'
the entire Kondalian nation will be destroyed just as thoroughly and
efficiently, and even more horribly--not one man, woman, or child
would be spared. Which nation do you want saved? Play that over a
couple of times on your adding machine, Dot, and let me know what
you get."
Dorothy, taken aback, opened and closed her mouth twice before she
found her voice.
"But, Dick, they couldn't possibly. Would they kill them all, Dick?
Surely they wouldn't--they couldn't."
"Surely they would--and could. They do--it's good technique in those
parts of the Galaxy. Dunark has just told us of how they killed every
member of the entire race of Mardonalians, in forty hours. Kondal
would go the same way. Don't kid yourself, Dimples--don't be a child.

War up there is no species of pink tea, believe me--half of my brain has
been through thirty years of Osnomian warfare, and I know precisely
what I'm talking about. Let's take a vote. Personally, I'm in favor of
Osnome. Mart?"
"Osnome."
"Dottie? Peggy?" Both remained silent for some time, then Dorothy
turned to Margaret.
"You tell him, Peggy--we both feel the same way."
"Dick, you know that we wouldn't want the Kondalians destroyed--but
the other is so--such a--well, such an utter shrecklichkeit--isn't there
some other way out?"
"I'm afraid not--but if there is any other possible way out, I'll do my
da--to help find it," he promised. "The ayes have it. Dunark, we'll skip
over to that 'X' planet and load you up."
Dunark grasped Seaton's hand. "Thanks, Dick," he said, simply. "But
before you help me farther, and lest I might be in some degree sailing
under false colors, I must tell you that, wearer of the seven disks
though you are, Overlord of Osnome though you are, my brain brother
though you are; had you decided against me, nothing but my death
could have kept me away from that salt and your 'X' compass."
"Why sure," assented Seaton, in surprise. "Why not? Fair enough!
Anybody would do the same--don't let that bother you."
"How is your supply of platinum?" asked Dunark.
"Mighty low. We had about decided to hop over there after some. I
want some of your textbooks on electricity and so on, too. I see you
brought a load of platinum with you."
"Yes, a few hundred tons. We also brought along an assortment of
books I knew you would be interested in, a box of radium, a few small

bags of gems of various kinds, and some of our fabrics, Sitar thought
your Karfediro would like to have. While we are here, I would like to
get some books on chemistry and some other things."
"We'll get you the Congressional Library, if you want it, and anything
else you think you'd like. Well, gang, let's go places and do things!
What to do, Mart?"
"We had better drop back to Earth, have the laborers unload the
platinum, and load on the salt, books, and other things. Then both ships
will go to the 'X' planet, as we will each want compasses on it, for
future use. While we are loading, I should like to begin remodeling our
instruments; to make them something like these; with Dunark's
permission. These instruments are wonders, Dick--vastly ahead of
anything I have ever seen. Come and look at them, if you want to see
something really beautiful."
"Coming up. But say, Mart, while I think of it, we mustn't forget to
install a zone-of-force apparatus on this boat, too. Even though we can't
use it intelligently, it certainly would be a winner as a defense. We
couldn't hurt anybody through it, of course, but if we should happen to
be getting licked anywhere, all we'd have to do would be to wrap
ourselves up in it. They couldn't touch us. Nothing in the ether
spectrum is corkscrewy enough to get through it."
"That's the second idea you've had since I've known you, Dicky,"
Dorothy smiled at Crane. "Do you think he should be allowed to run at
large, Martin?"
"That is a real idea. We may need it--you never can tell. Even if we
never find any other use for the zone of force, that one is amply
sufficient to justify its installation."
"Yes, it would be, for you--and I'm getting to be a regular Safety-First
Simon myself, since they opened up on us. What about those
instruments?"
* * * * *

The three men gathered around the instrument-board and Dunark
explained the changes he had made--and to such men as Seaton and
Crane it was soon evident that they were examining an installation
embodying sheer perfection of instrumental control--a system which