Triplanetary | Page 5

the outer screen flared
white under a beam of terrific power, and simultaneously there
appeared upon one of the lookout plates a vivid picture of the pirate
vessel--a huge, black globe of steel, now emitting flaring offensive
beams of force. Her invisibility lost, now that she had gone into action,
she lay revealed in the middle of the first zone--at point-blank range.
Instantly the powerful weapons of the Hyperion were brought to bear,
and in the blast of full-driven beams the stranger's screens flamed
incandescent. Heavy guns, under the recoil of whose fierce salvos, the
frame of the giant globe trembled and shuddered, shot out their tons of
high-explosive shell. But the pirate commander had known accurately
the strength of the liner, and knew that her armament was impotent
against the forces at his command. His screens were invulnerable, the
giant shells were exploded harmlessly in mid-space, miles from their
objective. And suddenly a frightened pencil of flame stabbed brilliantly
from the black hulk of the enemy. Through the empty ether it tore,
through the mighty defensive screens, through the tough metal of the
outer and inner walls. Every ether-defence of the Hyperion vanished,
and her acceleration dropped to a quarter of its normal value.
"Right through the battery room!" Bradley groaned. "We're on the
emergency drive now. Our rays are done for, and we can't seem to put a
shell anywhere near her with our guns!"
But ineffective as the guns were, they were silenced forever as a
frightful beam of destruction stabbed relentlessly through the control
room, whiffing out of existence the pilot, gunnery, and lookout panels
and the men before them. The air rushed into space, and the suits of the
three survivors bulged out into drumhead tightness as the pressure in
the room decreased.

Costigan pushed the captain lightly toward a wall, then seized the girl
and leaped in the same direction.
"Let's get out of here, quick!" he cried, the miniature radio instruments
of the helmets automatically taking up the duty of transmitting speech
as the sound disks refused to function. "They can't see us--our ether
wall is still up and their spy-sprays can't get through it from the outside,
you know. They're working from blue-prints, and they'll probably take
your desk next," and even as they bounded toward the door, now
become the outer seal of an airlock, the annihilating ray tore through
the space which they had just quitted in their flight.
Through the airlock, down through several levels of passengers'
quarters they hurried, and into a lifeboat, whose one doorway
commanded the full length of the third lounge--an ideal spot, either for
defense or for escape outward by means of the miniature cruiser. As
they entered their retreat they felt their weight begin to increase. More
and more force was applied to the helpless liner, until it was moving at
normal acceleration.
"What do you make of that, Costigan?" asked the captain. "Tractor
beams?"
"Apparently. They've got something, all right. They're taking us
somewhere, fast. I'll go get a couple of Standishes, and another suit of
armor--we'd better dig in," and soon the small room became a veritable
fortress, housing as it did, those two formidable engines of destruction.
Then the first officer made another and longer trip, returning with a
complete suit of triplanetary space armor, exactly like those worn by
the two men, but considerably smaller.
"Just as an added factor of safety, you'd better put this on, Clio--those
emergency suits aren't good for much in a battle. I don't suppose that
you ever fired a Standish, did you?"
"No, but I can soon learn how to do it," she replied, pluckily.
"Two is all that can work here at once, but you should know how to

take hold in case one of us goes out. And while you're changing suits
you'd better put on some stuff I've got here--Service special phones and
detectors. Stick this little disk onto your chest with this bit of tape; low
down, out of sight. Just under your wishbone is the best place. Take off
your wrist-watch and wear this one continuously--never take it off for a
second. Put on these pearls, and wear them all the time, too. Take this
capsule and hide it against your skin, some place where it can't be
found except by the most rigid search. Swallow it in an emergency--it
goes down easily and works just as well inside as outside. It is the most
important thing of all--you can get along with it alone if you lose
everything else, but without that capsule the whole system's shot to
pieces. With that outfit, if we should get separated, you can talk to
us--we're both wearing 'em, although somewhat different forms. You
don't need to talk loud--just a mutter will be