Transcriber's Note:

 This etext was produced from Astounding Stories November 1931. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. 

 Hawk Carse

 _A Complete Novelette_

 By Anthony Gilmore

 * * * * *

CHAPTER I

_The Swoop of the Hawk_

[Illustration: _The Hawk stood there, both arms hanging easily at hissides. _]

[Sidenote: One of the spectacular exploits of Hawk Carse, greatest ofspace adventurers. ]

Hawk Carse came to the frontiers of space when Saturn was the frontierplanet, which was years before the swift Patrol ships brought Earth'slaw and order to those vast regions. A casual glance at his slenderfigure made it seem impossible that he was to rise to be the greatestadventurer in space, that his name was to carry such deadlyconnotation in later years. But on closer inspection, a number oflittle things became evident: the steadiness of his light gray eyes;the marvelously strong-fingered hands; the wiry build of hissplendidly proportioned body. Summing these things up and adding thebrilliant resourcefulness of the man, the complete ignorance of fear, one could perhaps understand why even his blood enemy, the impassiveKu Sui, a man otherwise devoid of every human trait, could not faceCarse unmoved in his moments of cold fury. 

His name, we know, enters most histories of the period 2117-2148 A. D. , for he has at last been recognized as the one who probably didmost--unofficially, and not with the authority of the EarthGovernment--to shape the raw frontiers of space, to push them outwardand to lay the foundations of the present tremendous commerce betweenEarth, Vulcan, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. But, littleof his fascinating character may be gleaned from the dry words ofhistory; and it is Hawk Carse the adventurer, he of the spittingray-gun and the phenomenal draw, of the reckless space shipmaneuverings, of the queer bangs of flaxen hair that from a certainyear hid his forehead, of the score of blood feuds and the one greatfeud that jarred nations in its final terrible settling--it is withthat man we are concerned here. 

A number of his exploits never recorded are still among the favoriteyarns spun by lonely outlanders in the scattered trading posts of theplanets, and among them is that of his final encounter with Judd theKite. It shows typically the cold deadliness, the prompt repaying of ablood debt, the nerveless daring that were the outstanding qualitiesof this almost legendary figure. 

It began one crisp, early morning on Iapetus, and it ended on Iapetus, with the streaks of ray-guns searing the air; and it explains whythere are two square mounds of soil on Iapetus, eighth satellite ofSaturn. 

 * * * * *

Carse pioneered Iapetus and considered its product his by right ofprior exploration. One or two men had landed there before he came tothe frontiers of space and reported the satellite habitable, possessedof gravital force only slightly under Earth's, despite itstwelve-hundred-mile diameter, and of an atmosphere merely a triflerarer; but they had gone no further. They had noticed the forms ofcertain strange animals flitting through the satellite's jungles, buthad not investigated. It was Carse who captured one of the creaturesand saw the commercial possibilities of the pointed seven-inch hornthat grew on its head, and who named it phanti, after the now extinctVenusian bird-mammal. 

There were great herds of them, and they constituted Iapetus' highestform of life. The space trader cut off a few of their opalescent andgreen-veined horns and sent them as samples to Earth; and, upon theirbeing valued highly, he two months later established his ranch onIapetus, and thus laid the foundation for the grim business that mensometimes call the Exploit of the Hawk and the Kite. 

No doubt Carse expected trouble over the ranch. To protect thevaluable twice-yearly harvest of horn from Ku Sui's several bands ofpirates, and other semi-piratical traders who roamed space, he built aformidable ranch-house with generators for powerful offensive rays anda strong defensive ray-web, and manned it with six competent men. Moreover, he came personally twice a year to transport the cargo ofhorn, and let it be known throughout the frontiers that the sign ofthe Hawk was on that portion of Iapetus, and that all who trespassedwould have to answer to him. This should have been, ordinarily, enough. But there was always the sinister, brilliant Dr. Ku Sui, plotting against him and his belongings, and reckless others to whomthe ranch might look like easy pickings. From these Carse had longanticipated a raid on Iapetus. 

 * * * * *

And now he was worried. Clad as usual in a faded blue tunic, open atthe neck, soft blue trousers and old-fashioned rubber soled shoes, heshowed it by pulling occasionally at the bangs of flaxen hair that hadbeen trained to hang down his forehead to the thick, straw-coloredeyebrows. In his new cruiser, the _Star Devil_, he was within anhour's time of Iapetus, which lay before the bow observation ports ofthe control cabin like a giant buff-tinted orange, dark-splotched byseas and jungles, on the third of his semi-annual voyages for theharvest of horn. Away to the left, scintillating and flaming in theblackness of space, whirled Saturn, his rings clear-cut and brilliant, his hard light filling the control cabin. Carse was staring unseeinglyat the magnificent spectacle when the giant negro standing nearby atthe space-stick rumbled:

"Well, suh, Ah cain't think they's anything wrong--no, suh. They'snobody'd _dare_ touch that ranch! No, suh--not Hawk Carse's ranch. "

This was "Friday, " the herculean black Earthling whom Carse hadrescued years before from one of the Venusian slave-ships, and now amember of that strange trio of totally dissimilar comrades, the thirdof whom was Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow, now absent and at work inhis secret laboratory. Friday thought the Hawk just about the greatestman in the Solar System, and many times already had he given proof ofhis devotion. 

Carse looked full at him. "You're a good mechanic, Eclipse, " he said, "but in some ways very innocent. Crane hasn't replied to us forseventy minutes. He knows we're coming and he should be on duty. Thatcargo's valuable, and it's all ready and packed. "

"Hmff, " Friday grunted. "But who you think'd dare try an' swipe itwhen we're so close? One o' Ku Sui's gang, maybe?"

"Perhaps. I haven't heard anything of Ku Sui for some time, and he'snever more dangerous than when he keeps silent, " said the Hawkthoughtfully. "But Crane might be sick. Or his radio might have brokendown temporarily. Still--"

It was then that the third man in the cabin, Harkness, the navigator, straightened abruptly and put a sharp end to the trader's last word bycalling out:

"Radio, sir!"

 * * * * *

A red dot of light was winking on a switchboard. Friday watched theHawk move in his quick, effortless way to it and pull a lever down, all in the same motion, and then the negro's neck muscles corded as helistened to the sounds that came, choking and barely intelligible, from a loudspeaker:

"Carse--Hawk Carse--Crane speaking from the ranch. We'rebesieged--pirate ship--outnumbered--can't hold out much longer. We gotmost of the cargo inside here, but our generators--they'reweakening--and I'm fading, I guess, and the others that're left arewounded. Carse--hurry--hurry. .. . "

Five words went back into the microphone before the receiver wentdead. 

"I'm coming, Crane! Hold on!"

Friday had seen the Hawk in such moments before, and he knew thesight; but the navigator, Harkness, had not been with Carse very long, and now he stood silent, motionless, while despite himself a shiverran down his spine as he stared at the tight-pressed bloodless lipsand the gray eyes, cold now as space. He started nervously when theHawk turned and looked him in the eye. 

"I want speed, " came his quiet, soft, deceptive voice. "I want thathour's running time sliced by a third. Streak through thatatmosphere. "

"Yes, suh!" answered Friday. 

"And you"--to Harkness--"be very sure you get out every ounce she'sgot. Tell the engineer personally. "

"Full speed. Yes, sir, " said the navigator, and felt relieved whenCarse turned his eyes away. For the Hawk, as always when he learnedthat property had been ravaged and his friends shot down, seemed lesshuman than the Indrots at the far end of the frigid deeps of space heroamed. His face was mask-like, graven, totally expressionless: bloodhad been shed, and for each ounce another had to be spilled to balancethe scales. At a speaking tube that reached aft to the three othermembers of the crew, he whispered: "Fighting posts. Arm and be readyfor action. Pirates are attacking ranch, " and then went noiselessly tothe forward electelscope. Meanwhile Friday kept his eyes strictly onthe dials before him and held the space-stick rigid, while aft, in theship's other compartments, three men strapped on ray-gun belts andwondered who was doomed to be caught in the swoop of the Hawk. 

 * * * * *

Carse himself wondered that. The raider so far showed as a newcomer tothe frontiers of space; he was one who as yet had never faced theHawk, one to whom the tales that were told of him seemed laughable, towhom the rich consignment of horn looked like a gift. Certainly suchan open attack did not resemble Ku Sui's subtle methods, or those ofhis several henchmen, pirates of space all; they, rather, struckbehind his back, and then only when the infamous Eurasian had preparedwhat seemed an escape-proof trap. 

"Foolish to raid when I'm so close!" he murmured as he trained theelectelscope and peered into its eye-piece. "Stupid! Unless. .. . "

Friday, at the space-stick, mopped the trickles of sweat from his browand with a vast sigh shifted his bulk. The job of speeding into anatmospheric pressure was always ticklish, and it was with some reliefthat he reported "Into th' atmosphere, suh, " according to routine. Hewaited for the usual acknowledgment, and when it did not come repeatedhis observation in a louder voice. Two full minutes of silence passed. Then, finally, Hawk Carse turned from the electelscope, and even thenegro shivered at sight of the deadly mask that was his face. 

For the ranch-house in its clearing had dimly appeared in theelectelscope just as Friday had spoken. 

Carse spoke. 

"More speed, if it burns us up, " came his almost whispered words. "Iwant much more speed. "

Harkness gulped. "Yes, sir, " he said, and, moistening his lips, hereturned to the engine-room. The frigid gray eyes swung back to thesight that was revealed on Iapetus. 

The long, lean shape of a rakish space ship was resting on the soilsome three hundred yards from the ranch-house, and between were thehazy figures of six men, busily dragging as many boxes towards theircraft. The boxes contained the whole half-year's harvest of phantihorns, and had obviously been looted from the house. The resistancehad been overcome; the pirate raid had succeeded. The trim, gray-painted ranch-house was lifeless. .. . 

 * * * * *

The Hawk switched off the electelscope. His colorless lips werecompressed very tightly. "I'll take the helm, " he said curtly toFriday. "Turn on the defensive web, and prepare all ray batteries. "

"Yes, suh!" The negro's big, yellow-palmed hands worked dexterouslyamong the instruments to his right; then, amidships, grew a shrillwhine which keened upward in pitch. A few sparks raced by the _StarDevil's_ after ports, quickly to disappear after they left the almostinvisible envelope of delicate bluish light that entirely wrapped herhull. 

She was making dangerous speed. The wind screamed as she streakedthrough the satellite's atmosphere, and the great friction of herpassage raised her outer shell to a perilous glow. The altitudedial's finger almost jumped from forty thousand to thirty-five. 

"Ready for bow-ray salvo. "

"Aye, sir!" replied Harkness, and a moment later repeated crisply:"All ready for bow-ray salvo, sir!" His voice showed no sign of thefear within him--fear that the _Star Devil's_ outer hull would reachthe melting point--but his lips fell apart and his face lost itsdiscipline when the Hawk next spoke and acted. 

"Steady, " came the low whisper to his ears--and he saw the controllingspace-stick being shoved down as far as it would go. 

CHAPTER II

_Pursuit_

That was the Hawk's method, and it had given him the name which he hadmade famous. It was characteristic of the man that he preferred tostrike at an enemy ship in a wild, breath-taking swoop, even as thefierce hawk plummets from high heaven to sink its talons deep into theflesh of its more sluggish prey. Nerves were uncomfortable things tohave on such occasions, and Harkness had them, and accordingly he felthis heart hammer and something tight seemed to bind his throat. Hetried to assume the unshakable calmness of the motionless figure atthe stick, but could not, for his body was only flesh and blood--andHawk Carse was tempered, frosty, steel. Through staring eyes thenavigator watched the surface of Iapetus rushing into the bow ports, watched it spread accelerating outward, until he could plainly see thepirate ship lying there, and the nearby figures of men tugging at theheavy boxes of horns. 

His eyes were on those figures when they broke. First they teeteredhesitantly a moment, glancing wildly around and up at the vision ofdeath that was coming like a silver comet from the skies, and thenthey melted apart. Three scrambled towards the rim of jungle foliageclose at hand, while their fellows leaped in the other direction, trying to make an open port in their craft. Harkness saw them tumbleheadlong through it and slam it shut. Then a web of blue streaksappeared around the ship, and softened until her hull was bathed isghostly bluish light. 

"Their defensive ray-web's on, sir!" he managed to gasp. Carse, thoughclose, might not have heard, so intently was he watching. The altitudedial's pointer reached for one thousand and slid past. Harkness's facewas pale and drawn; his tight-gripped fingers and clenched teethshowed that he expected to crash into the ground in a molten, shapeless tomb of steel. But Friday was grinning, his teeth a slash ofwhite. 

"Stand by bow projectors, " sounded the Hawk's clipped voice. The negroextended his hands and rumbled:

"Ready, suh. "

"Fire. "

"Fire!" Friday roared. 

His rich laugh rang out and he whirled the wheels over. With a hissingas of a hundred snakes, the rays struck. 

 * * * * *

Well aimed, the bolt speared straight and true. The distance wasshort, and it came from generators that were perhaps not equaled inspace; no ordinary ship's defensive web could resist its viciousthrust. From the streak of silver that represented the Hawk's swoop, astream of orange cut a swathe through the air ahead, holdingaccurately on the brigand ship. For just a tick of time there was aturmoil of color as offensive ray met defensive web; then the aircleared again--and the pirate was unmarked!

By rights she should have been split in two; and, though his face didnot show it, it must have been surprising to Carse that she wasn't. With one flick of the wrist he wrenched the _Star Devil_ out of herplunge and sent her scudding, a hundred feet up, over the jungle rim. Friday was gaping. Harkness, still numb from the dive, foolishlystaring; and then the brigand bared her fangs in return. 

Orange light winked from her stern, and the Hawk's ship was bathed ina streak of color. But the bolt caromed harmlessly off the side of thearcing _Star Devil_! and the next instant the pirate's lean bulkswayed, lifted a little and zoomed up into the heavens, abandoning theboxes of horn without further fight. 

"Runnin' foh it! Scared stiff!" muttered Friday, unholy joy in hisgleaming eyes. He looked at the figure at the stick. "Follow 'em now, suh, an' wear out their projectors?"

Carse thoughtfully smoothed his bangs with his free hand. "Plenty oftime for that, " he said patiently. "Some of the men on the ranch maystill be alive: we must care for them. I'm going to land. Tell theengineer to keep watch through the electelscope on that ship. I'llstart overtaking it shortly. "

"Funny our rays didn't ha'm 'em, " Friday ruminated aloud. "Ain't noordinary craft, that. No, suh, they's more in this heah business thanhits yo' eyes!"

"Now you're getting cynical, Eclipse, " the Hawk said dryly. 

 * * * * *

A quarter-mile-square block of land had been fenced off as a corralfor the ninety-head herd of bull phantis Carse kept on Iapetus. Thesecreatures resembled mostly the old ostrich of Earth, but grew nofeathers. The neck, however was shorter than the ostrich's; theleathery skin of a drab gray color; the powerful hind feet, on whichthey stood erect, prehensile and armed with short stabbing spurs; theforearms short and used for plucking the delicate shoots and youngleaves on which they lived. There was a dim flicker of rudimentaryintelligence inside the bullet heads; they recognized men as theirenemies, and hated them. And therefore they necessitated carefulhandling, for, even without the valuable head-horns, theirsharp-spurred feet could rip a human being into shreds in seconds. 

They were clustered now behind the wire corral-fence, electrified toprevent them from breaking through. They bellowed angrily and shovedeach other about as their wicked little blood-shot eyes caught sightof the _Star Devil_ as she came dropping gently down. 

At the electelscope of the descending craft was the ship's engineer. He had just centered the instrument on the fleeing pirate craft thatby now was leaving the satellite's atmosphere, and the image was largeon the screen above the bow windows, where he kept a steady eye on it. The inner door of the port-lock swung open, the outer door down, andCarse walked through, followed by Friday and Harkness. 

An ugly scene lay spread out before them in the glaring daylight. Thetrader had only gone a few paces when he paused and looked down at anoutsprawled thing that had once been a man. Stooping, he very gentlyturned the mess of charred flesh over and peered at what was left ofthe face. There were small, burnt holes in it, and the fleshsurrounding them looked as though it had been suspended for some timeover a slow fire. .. . 

Carse rose and stared into space. 

"Ruthers, a guard, " he said softly, as if speaking to himself. Hewalked on. 

Another heap of flesh was pitched before the front wall of theranch-house. The man it had been a little while before had evidentlybeen running for the door when the deadly rays had got him. Hisray-gun was lying a few feet away. Again Carse stooped and again verygently pulled the ragged thing over. 

"By God!" stammered Harkness suddenly, staring, his face white, "that--that's Jack O'Fallon--old Jack O'Fallon! Why, we went tonavigation school together! We--"

"Yes, " said the Hawk, "O'Fallon, overseer. " He stepped into the house. Friday, impassive and grim, pulled Harkness away from the distortedbody. 

 * * * * *

Three more were tumbled together behind a splintered table in the mainroom. The rays had done their work well. Three were welded, it seemed, into one. .. . It was some time before the Hawk's frigid whisper came. 

"Martin . .. Olafson . .. And this--Antil . .. Antil was the onlyVenusian I ever liked. .. . "

The chairs and tables in the room were overturned, most of them borethe seared scars of ray-guns, which showed plainly enough that therehad been a desperate last minute hand-to-hand struggle there, afterthe defensive ray-web had failed and the pirates rushed the building. The radio alcove was choked with seared, cracked wreckage. Crane, theoperator, still sat in his seat, but he was slumped over forward, andhis head and chest were pitted with slanting ray holes. One hand hadbeen reaching for a dial. The other was twisted and charred. 

"And Crane, the last, " said Hawk Carse, and for some moments he stoodthere, his face cold and unmoving save for the tiny twitching of theleft eyelid. Utter silence rested over the bitter three--a silencebroken only by the occasional roar of an angry phanti bull outside inthe enclosure. 

Finally Carse took a deep breath and turned to Friday. 

"You'll see to their burying, " he ordered quietly. "Get the power rayfrom the ship and burn out two big pits on that knoll off the cornerof the corral. "

Friday looked at him in puzzlement. "Two, suh?" he repeated. "Why two?Why not put 'em all in one?"

"You will put all my men in one. I'll need the other later. .. . You, "he went on, to Harkness, "get the cargo of horns aboard. We can'tleave it out there, for three of those pirates fled into the jungle. Ihaven't time to find them, and they'd come out and bury the horns ifwe left them. I'll be with you soon. We take off in ten minutes. "

"Yes, sir, " answered the navigator, and he and the negro went out. 

 * * * * *

For a little while Carse stayed in the cubby. As he softly stroked theflaxen bangs of hair over his brow, he visualized what had happenedinside that house of death, piecing a number of things together andforming a whole. On the surface it seemed plain enough, and yet therewere one or two points. .. . His face showed a trace of puzzlement. Heshook his head slightly; then he stooped and picked up the radiooperator's body with an ease that might have seemed surprising fromsuch a slender man, and walked out of the house. 

Beyond one corner of the corral, upon a slight rise in the ground, Friday was melting out the second grave with the ship's great portableray-gun. Carse laid Crane's body gently down in the first grave, thenwent to where Harkness, with the _Star Devil's_ radio-man and cook, was loading the cargo of horns aboard. The trader opened several ofthe boxes, glanced at the upper layers to inspect the quality, and, satisfied, closed them again. All the boxes were trundled soon intothe craft's open port and aft to her cargo hold. 

The engineer on watch at the electelscope and visi-screen felt a handon his shoulder and looked around to find his captain standing by him. He pointed up at the screen: on it, the brigand ship was a mere fourinches in size, and bearing straight out on an unwavering course. "Ireckoned their speed to be about ten thousand an hour, a minute ago, sir, " he reported. "Now about five thousand miles away. "

"How soon, " Carse asked, "do you think we could overhaul them?"

The other grinned. "If you're in a hurry, sir, about two hours and ahalf. "

"I am in a hurry. I want all the speed you can muster. "

"Yes, sir. Might be able to get it down, to two. "

The Hawk nodded. "Try. Return to your post. "

Outside, through the port, he saw Friday smoothing over the grave, theburying finished, and he beckoned him in. At that second Harknessreported the cargo all fastened down. Carse snapped out his orders. 

"Harkness, " he said shortly, "you and Friday with me in the controlcabin. Sparks, you can get an hour's sleep, but leave the radioreceiver open. Cook, an hour's rest if you want it--and I think you'dbetter want it. There's war ahead. Close port!"

The inner and outer doors nestled snugly, one after the other, intoplace with a hiss; the rows of gravity plates in the ship's bellyangled ever so slightly. She quivered, then, in a surge of power, lifted straight up and poised; then, answering the touch ofspace-stick and accelerator, she went streaking through the atmosphereon the trail of the distant craft that had left its mark of blood onIapetus and provoked the vengeance of the Hawk. .. . 

CHAPTER III

_Death Rides the Star Devil_

Usually, when pursuing an enemy, Hawk Carse was impassive and grim, apparently emotionless, icy. But now he seemed somehow disturbed. 

He fidgeted around, glancing occasionally at the visi-screen to makesure his quarry was not changing course, now watching Friday jugglethrough the skin of atmosphere into outer space, and now standingapart, silent and solitary, brooding. 

There was something about the affair he didn't like. Something thatwas deeply hidden, that could not be grasped clearly; that might, onthe other hand, be pure imagination. And yet, why--

Why, for instance, had the brigands taken to their heels with just thebarest semblance of fight? Why, with their defensive ray-web proof forsome time at least against his offensive rays, had they left withoutmore of a struggle for the horn? Why were they so willing to flee, knowing as they must that he, the Hawk, would follow? Did they notknow he had--thanks to Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow--the fastestship in space, and would inevitably overtake them?

Were they Ku Sui's men? It seemed so, certainly, from the greatstrength of their defensive ray-web. No other ships that he knew of inspace save Ku Sui's possessed such power. But--it wasn't the brilliantEurasian's customary style. It was too simple for him. 

Carse stroked his bangs. The factors were all mixed up. He didn't likeit. 

Iapetus' atmosphere was left behind; in minutes the light blue wash ofher sky changed to the hard, frigid blackness of lifeless space. The_Star Devil's_ lighting tubes glowed softly, though Saturn's rays, coming through the wide bow windows, still lit every object in thecontrol cabin with hard and dazzling brilliancy. Inside, light andcolor, life and action; outside, the eternal, sable void, sprinkledwith its millions of sparkling motes of worlds. And ahead--shown nowon the visa-screen only by the light dots of its ports--was thebrigand craft. 

The _Star Devil_ was smoothly building up the speed that wouldeventually bring her up to the craft of the enemy. Carse's Earth-watchtold him that an hour and a half had passed. A vague anxiety oppressedhim, but he shook it off with the thought that soon the time foraccounting would arrive. Only forty minutes more; probably less. Hisfears--foolish. He was getting too suspicious. .. . 

 * * * * *

Then came the voice. 

It pierced through the control cabin from the loudspeaker cone abovethe radio switchboard. It was rough and mocking. It said:

"Hawk Carse? Hawk Carse? You hear me?" Many times it repeated this. "Yes? You hear me, Hawk Carse? I've a joke I want you to hear--a veryfunny joke. You'll enjoy it!" There interrupted the staccato sounds ofan irrepressible amusement. 

Carse froze. His fingers by habit fluttered over his ray-gun butt ashe wheeled and looked into the loudspeaker. Friday, at thespace-stick, stared at him; Harkness's face was puzzled as he peeredat the loudspeaker and then turned and gazed at his captain. 

"But where, " he asked, "--where does the voice come from? Who is it?"

As if thinking aloud, Carse whispered:

"From that ship ahead. I half expected . .. I know it well, that voice. Very well. It's the voice of . .. Of . .. I can't quite place it. .. . Ina minute. .. . The voice of--"

The chuckling ceased, and again the voice spoke. 

"Yes--a very funny joke! I can't share it all with you, Carse, becauseyou'd spoil it. But do you remember, some years ago, five men--andanother who lay before them? Do you remember how this last man said:'Each one of you will die for what you've done to me?' That man didn'twear bangs over his forehead then. Remember? Well, I'm one of the fivethe mighty Hawk Carse swore he would kill!"

Again the voice broke into a chuckle. 

But it ended suddenly. The tone it changed into was entirelydifferent, was cruel with a taunting sneer. 

"Bah! The avenging Hawk! The mighty Hawk! Well, in minutes, you'll bedead. You'll be dead! The mighty Sparrow Carse will be dead!"

A brief eternity went by. Carse remembered, and the glint in his grayeyes grew colder. 

"Judd the Kite, " he whispered. 

Friday's lips formed the words. 

And even Harkness, new to the frontiers of space, knew the name andechoed it haltingly. 

"Judd the Kite. .. . "

 * * * * *

Of all the henchmen Dr. Ku Sui had gathered about him and bandedagainst Earth, and against Carse, and against all peaceful traders andmerchant-ships, Judd was perhaps the most cruel and relentless. 

The Kite he was called--though only behind his back--yet it mightbetter have been Vulture. Big and gross, with thick unstable lips andstubby, hairy fingers, more than once he and his motley gang ofhi-jackers had painted a crimson splash across the far corners of thefrontiers, and daubed it to the tortured groans of the crews of honesttrading ships. Often they had plunged on isolated trading posts andleft their factors wallowing in their life blood. And more. .. . 

There are things that cannot be set down in print, that the carefullyedited history books only hint at, and into this class fell many ofthe Kite's deeds. He was a master of the Venusian tortures. He and hisband during the unspeakable debauches which always followed asuccessful raid would amuse themselves by practising certain of thesetortures on the day's captives; and his victims, both men and women, would see and feel indescribable things, and Death would be kept mostcarefully away until the last ounce of life and pain had been squeezedquite dry. 

"Judd the Kite, " Carse repeated in a hardly audible whisper. "Judd theKite . .. One of the five. .. . " Slowly his left hand rose and smoothedhis long bangs of flaxen hair. "I have been looking for him. "

"Will you reply to him, sir?" asked Harkness. 

"What use? His trap--Ku Sui's trap, of course--has already been set. "His brain raced. "What could it be?" he whispered slowly. 

 * * * * *

Friday was scratching his woolly hair, his smooth face puzzled, whenCarse, with the crisp decisiveness that always came to him when inaction, looked up at the visi-screen. The brigand was still clingingto a straight course, and being overhauled rapidly. Another thirtyminutes and they would be within striking distance. He said tersely:

"Set up the defensive web. Spiral and zig-zag the ship all you dare, altering the period of the swing each time. Harkness, you and I aregoing to make an inspection tour. General alarm if Judd's coursechanges, Friday. "

"Yes, suh. " The negro, frowning, gave his undivided attention to hisinstruments as the Hawk and Harkness went aft into the nextcompartment, the engine room. 

It looked quite normal. The great dynamos were humming smoothly; theair-renewing machine was functioning steadily; the gauge hands allslept or quivered in their usual places. Nothing uneven in the slightvibration of the ship; nothing that might possibly forbode trouble. Upon his perch, the engineer peered down curiously and asked:

"Anything wrong, sir?"

"Not yet, " Carse answered shortly. "You're sure everything is regularhere?"

"Yes, sir. "

"Good. But check every vital spot at once--and quickly. Then keepalert. "

They passed on into the following compartment, the mess-room andsleeping quarters for the crew. Solid, rhythmical snores were issuingfrom the cook's open mouth as he lay sprawled out on his bunk; thesmell of coffee hovered in the air; the cabin was quiet andcomfortable with an atmosphere of sleep and rest. The radio-man, reading in his bunk, looked over and, seeing it was Carse, sat up. 

"Notice anything wrong?" he was asked. 

"Wrong? What--Why, no, sir. You want me for duty?"

"Yes. Stay here and keep your eyes open for signs of trouble. I'mexpecting some. General alarm if the slightest thing happens. " AndCarse went noiselessly into the last division of the ship. 

This was the cargo hold. The boxes of phanti horns were neatly stackedin precise rows; the dim tube burning overhead showed nothing thatgave the smallest cause for alarm. The Hawk's narrowed eyes sweptwalls, deck and ceiling in a search for signs of strain or buckling, but found none. 

 * * * * *

Then he let himself down into the ship's belly, in the three-foot-highspace between the deck and the bottom outer hull. He found the threerows of delicately adjusted gravity plates in good order. Harknessjoined him. 

Their hand-flashes scanned every inch of the narrow compartment asthey made the under-deck passage from stem to bow and up through theforward trap-door into the control cabin. They found nothing abnormal. The water and fuel tanks, built in the space between the inner andouter shells above the living quarters, also yielded nothing; likewisethe storeroom. 

Nothing. Nothing at all. The whole ship was in excellent condition. Everything was working as it should. Carse went forward again withHarness; turned and faced him with puzzled eyes. 

"I can't understand it, " he said. "Why that threat, when everythingseems all right? How can Judd reach me to kill me? And in minutes?"

The navigator shook his head. "It's beyond me, sir. "

The Hawk shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we'll see. It might besomething altogether new. You report to the engine-room and keep onwatch there. Any sound or sign, give the general alarm. "

"Yes, sir, " he said, and left. 

"He talkin' foolish, that Judd, " grumbled Friday, seeing that thesearch had been fruitless. "He think maybe he can bust through ourray-web? Hmff!"

His master said nothing. He was standing motionless in the center ofthe cabin, waiting--waiting for he knew not what. 

Then it came. 

A preparatory sputter from the loudspeaker that spun Friday around. Hawk looked up, tensed. Again sounded the hard, sneering voice of Juddthe Kite. 

"We're ready now, Carse: there was a little delay. I'll give you, say, five seconds. Yes--one for each of the five men you did _not_ kill. Shall I count them off? All right. You have till the fifth. 

"One. "

Friday's big eyes rolled nervously; he wiped a drop of sweat from hisbrow and cursed. 

"Two. "

 * * * * *

He glanced at the Hawk, and tried himself to assume the unshakablesteely calm of the great adventurer. But his fists would clench andunclench as he stared up at the visi-screen. No change! The brigandwas running straight ahead as ever, apparently fleeing. 

"Three. "

The negro's breath came more quickly; the tendons of his neck stoodsharply out, and his powerful arms twitched nervously. "What's hegoin' to do, suh? What's he goin' to do?" he asked hoarsely. "What'she goin' to do?"

"Four. "

"Change course--a-starboard!" Carse rapped. The space-stick moved alittle, all Friday dared, at their speed; the position dials swung;the dot of a fixed star that had been visible a moment before throughthe bow windows was now gone. Till the fifth, Judd had said. 

"Five!"

The two men in the control cabin of the _Star Devil_ peered at eachother. One of them licked his lips and wiped the sweat from his brow. But there was nothing. No sound, no change. No general alarm bell. Nooffensive ray spearing across the reaches of space; no slightestchange in the brigand's course. He who had mopped the sweat awaylaughed loud and long in overwhelming relief. 

"All foolishment!" he gurgled. "That Judd, he crazy. Try to scare us, I guess--huh! Try to--"

"_What's that?_" whispered Hawk Carse. 

A sudden faint rustle of noise, of movement, had breathed through theship. 

At first it was hardly discernible; but it grew. It grew withparalyzing rapidity into a low but steady murmur, blended soon withvoices raised in quick cries. There was one piercing, ragged shriek, and all the time an undertone of the indefinite, peculiar sound ofsomething rustling, creeping, growing. 

 * * * * *

Then came the harsh jangle of the general alarm bell. 

"Space-suits!" Carse snapped. The alarm was the signal to put them on;it was a safeguard from a possible breach in the ship's walls. Againstsuch an emergency they had drilled often, and all over the ship thecrew would be springing rapidly into space-suits hanging ready. 

The space-stick automatically locked as Friday, eyes rolling, leapedwith his master to the nearby locker. The shriek from aft had quicklydied, the alarm bell had snapped off; but now there came a franticrush of feet, and a man tumbled through into the control cabin, hisface white, his eyes stark with horror, his breath coming in gasps andthe sweat of fear on his brow. 

It was Harkness. 

He slammed the door tight shut behind him and stumbled to the suitlocker; and as his fingers fumbled at his suit with the clumsiness ofpanic, he stammered:

"The cargo--the boxes of horn--it came from aft! Fungus! Planted inthe horn! It's filling the ship! Got all the others and grew--_grew_on them! Dead already. There--look, look!"

Carse and Friday, grotesque giants in the bulky sheathings of stiff, many-plied fabric, turned as one and peered through their quartziteface shields to where the navigator's bulging eyes directed them. 

It was the door between control cabin and engine room--the door he hadjust slammed shut. At first nothing was visible; then they saw the vanof the enemy that had swarmed through the ship. 

A thin line of bright yellow color had appeared along the under crackof the door. A second later the door was rimmed on all sides with it. It grew; reached out. Energy flowed through it: fingers of dustyyellow pronged out from the cracks where the door fitted, hungwavering for a moment, melted together, then slumped to the floor tomore quickly continue the advance. It increased marvelously, in minorjerks of speed. It was delicate in texture, mold-like. The more therebecame, the faster it grew: in seconds shreds of it had darted outfrom the main mass and affixed themselves to the walls and ceiling ofthe cabin, there to accelerate the horrible filling process. 

 * * * * *

All this happened more quickly than it can be related. Within tenseconds most of the cabin was coated by the yellow stuff; grotesquelyformed clumps and feathers hung from the ceiling; fern-like fingerskept spurting everywhere. Friday stepped back, before the advance, butnot the Hawk. Useless to try and evade the stuff, he knew, and he wasfairly positive that there was no immediate danger: the tough fabricof the suits should resist it. A pseudopod-like surge flicked to hisleg; crept up; cloaked the suit in patches of yellow; thickened andenveloped him. But it could not pierce through. 

"Cap'n Carse! Look heah!"

He turned to the alarmed voice, brushing light, feathery particles ofyellow from his face shield, and found the bulky giant that was Fridaya few steps behind him, and pointing mutely at Harkness. 

The young officer was slumped limply down against a wall, his legssprawled and body twisted unnaturally. His suit was covered with theyellow, and he had fallen, silently, while they were watching theadvance of the fungus and checking the fastenings of their suits. 

Carse reached him in three steps, stooped, brushed the fungus off theface-shield and peered through. Friday looked over his shoulder. Theyellow enemy had laid its deadly fingers on Harkness's fine pale face. Sprouts of yellow trailed from the nostrils; the mouth was a clump ofit; tendrils of spongy substance had climbed out the ears and werestill threading rapidly over the head, even as the Hawk and Fridaywatched. 

"That's how the others died, " the adventurer said slowly. "Harknessmust have carried a bit of the stuff from aft. It was on him when heput on his suit. At least I hope so. If it can get into thesesuits. .. . " He left the thought unfinished. 

"You mean, suh, " asked Friday haltingly, "you mean that maybe--maybeit'll get in our suits too?"

"Maybe, " said Carse without emotion. 

They waited. 

CHAPTER IV

_The Hawk Prepares a Surprise_

Hawk Carse's icy poise in times of emotional stress never failed toamaze friends and enemies alike. Most of them swore he had no nerves, and that in that way he was not human. This estimate, of course, isfoolish; Carse was perhaps too human, as was proved by theall-consuming object of his life. It was rather, probably, an inwardvanity that made him stand composed as a statue while death wasgnawing near; that had, once, led him actually to file his nails whenapparently trapped and hotly besieged, with the wicked hiss ofray-guns all around. 

And so he stood within his suit now--calm, quite collected, his facegraven, while the yellow tendrils carpeted the whole cabin, penetratedbetween the twin banks of instruments on each side and clouded the bowwindows, visi-screen and positionals until the two living men aboardthat ship of death were completely shut off from outside vision. Friday, his large white eyes never for a moment still, and waiting asthe Hawk was waiting to find whether or not their suits, too, harboredthe fungus, could quite easily have been scared into a state of panic;but the sight of the steely figure near him eased his nerves andbrought a vague kind of reassurance. 

Minutes went by. Presently the Hawk said softly into his microphone:

"We're safe, now, I think. You'd better go aft and see what state theship's in. Come right back. " And as Friday left, wading through theclinging growth, the trader went to the eye-piece of the electelscope. 

He brushed the puffy covering of yellow silt away and adjusted theinstrument's controls as best he could, centering it on where Judd'scraft had last been. Then he peered through--and saw that which madehim start. 

The _Star Devil_ was rolling round and round, like a ball!

 * * * * *

Carse looked out on a star-studded panorama that was sweeping crazilyby. Now the cloudy globe of Iapetus, which had just before lain farbehind, came swinging into view, sliding rapidly from the bottom ofhis field of view to the top, and so out of sight again, to quicklygive place to the flaming, ringed sphere of Saturn, which in turnpassed away and left the star-spangled blackness of space. ThenIapetus once more. He snapped the electelscope off abruptly, andturned from it to see Friday come clumping back. 

"Swept everything clean, suh, " the negro reported gloomily. "Thatfungus's thick; cain't even see the men's bodies, it's so deep. It'sthat way, all over. "

"It's down in the gravity propulsion plates too, " Carse said shortly. "Their adjustment's been ruined by it, and we're out of control, turning over and over. I couldn't possibly see Judd. Well, we've gotto go down to the plates and try and clean them. "

It was a weird scene that faced him in the engine room. The complexinstruments and machinery were draped with straggling ferns of yellow;up above, a solid clump some ten feet thick hung on the platform wherethe engineer usually stood--a living tomb. The usual purr of themechanisms was muffled and hushed. So fecund was the fungus that thepath Friday had cleared in his passage aft was already filled, andCarse had to clear a new one. The growth was deep there, but stilldeeper in the next compartment. 

It was practically a solid mass of yellow, for in it their invader hadfound food. It had fed well on the lockers of supplies and devouredall but the bones and clothing of the two men whom it hadcaught--radio-operator and cook. Carse fought on through this tough, clinging sea and came at last to the cargo hold, where, in the deck, was the man-hole that gave passage down to the 'tween-deckscompartment where the rows of gravity propulsion plates were located. 

 * * * * *

Friday raised the cover with a wrench: then, preceded by the rays oftheir hand-flashes, they climbed down and wormed forward as best theycould in their hampering suits, to the plates. They found they hadlost their customary glitter beneath powdery coatings of yellow, sufficient to disturb their faint electric currents andmicroscopically adjusted angles. On hands and knees--for thecompartment, though as wide as the ship's inner shell, was only threefeet in height--the Hawk stopped and said:

"We might be able to get some use out of these plates if we can keepthe fungus brushed off. It's thin: let's try it. "

But the yellow growth's vitality baulked them. Sweating from theirawkward exertions inside the hot space-suits, they again and againbrushed clean the plates with pieces of waste--only to see thefeathery particles regather as quickly as they were cleared away. There wasn't more than an inch of the fungus, but that inch stuck. There was no removing it. 

"No use, boss, " gasped the negro, pausing breathless. "Cain't do it. Nothin' to do, I guess, but wait an' see what de Kite does. He'll surewant this ship and the horn. "

"I know, " his captain answered slowly. "He'll want this ship, for it'sthe fastest in space--but I can't understand how he'll board us. I'mgoing up and see what I can find out. You stay here. Try cleaning theplates again. "

Up through the man-hole he went, and forward to the control cabin. And, as before, the electelscope's eye-piece held a surprise for him. 

Somehow, the _Star Devil's_ speed of wild tumbling had lessened. Amoment later the reason appeared. As her bow dipped down and down, there slid across the field of view, about a mile away, the lightedports of another ship; and, from this other ship's nose there winked aspot of green, the beginning of a ray-stream which stabbed across thegulf to impinge on the _Star Devil's_ bow. Carse could feel his craftsteady as it struck. It was a gravital ray, with strong magneticproperties, which Judd was using to stop her turnings so he and hismen could board!

 * * * * *

Again and again the beam flashed across the Hawk's field of view, andhe knew it was raying its mark neatly each time her bow swung abeam, for soon she was hardly turning at all. Then Judd evidently wassatisfied. The port-lights of his ship veered aside; drew to aposition abreast of the other. The two cold gray eyes that watched sawthe outer port-lock door of the pirate open, revealing six figures, clad in space-suits and connected by a rope, that stepped out, pushed, and came floating towards the _Star Devil_. 

Swiftly Carse moved. For many reasons it was useless, he rapidlydecided, to try and surprise them as they boarded; there was a betterand surer way. And, as always, he attended to every littledetail--details that to others might have seemed trivial--of thispreferred way. 

With quick, strong fingers he removed the fungus-choked body ofHarkness from its space-suit, and threw the suit into a nearby locker. From another locker he selected a loop of yellow-encrusted rope. Holding this over one arm, he made his way back rapidly to the aftman-hole, closed it carefully behind him and crept forward to theanxious negro who was still futilely dusting the plates. He told whathe had seen, but nothing else. 

Friday noted the rope, and he twisted his whole body to get a sight ofCarse's gray eyes, through the face-shield. 

"What we do, then, suh?" he asked. "Try an surprise 'em?"

"Can't do that; we'd still be helpless, without a way to remove thisfungus. They probably know how to do it, and we've got to give them achance. "

Puzzlement pricked the negro. "Then what you goin' to do with thatrope?"

"You'll soon see, " snapped Hawk Carse. 

 * * * * *

They waited. 

It was hot and stuffy down in the belly of the ship, and also utterlyblack, for the trader had flicked off his hand-flash. Friday wasunhappily possessed of an active curiosity; he wanted terribly to goon with his questions and ask Carse what his plan was; but he did notdare, for he knew very well from past experience that the Hawk wasimpatient of detailing his schemes in advance. So he sat in silence, and sweated, and stared gloomily into the darkness, thinking uneasythoughts. 

True, he thought, Judd the Kite did not know that Carse and he werestill alive; on the contrary, he was probably convinced that they weredead; but what good did that do? Surely it would have been better tohave surprised the brigands when boarding, but Captain Carse wasagainst that. And they were hopelessly outnumbered. 

Friday remembered a tale told him once by a survivor of a trading shipJudd the Kite had destroyed. It wasn't a nice tale. The Kite, so thereport ran, was diabolically ingenious with a long peeling knife, andcould improvise with it for hours. Friday pursued the tack of thought, andthen suddenly began to sweat in earnest. He recalled--horrible!--that Juddpossessed a special dislike for colored gentlemen!. .. 

"Oh, Lawd!" he groaned, unconsciously--to have a cold voice ring inhis earphones. 

"Quiet!" it snapped. "They're entering. "

The negro threw a switch on his helmet so he could catch outsidenoises. His body tensed. From above, unmistakably, had come the hissof the inner port-lock door opening. And again, moments later, thehiss echoed. Twice! The lock could hold three men at a time. Thatprobably meant that all six had boarded. Friday turned in the darknessand peered at Carse. 

The adventurer without warning flicked on his hand-flash. The beamfell on the parallel planes of the yellow-covered gravity plates. Thenegro, every nerve in him jumping from impatience and suspense, gazedat them, and suddenly straightened. The mold-like fungus which hadprevented them from getting the ship into control was slowly meltingaway. It was dwindling into fine dust!

"Gas, " came a soft whisper to him. "As I expected, Judd's cleaning itout with some sort of gas. But the plates won't work yet--not untilthey're polished bright. " Unthinking, Friday raised his hand to hishelmet fastenings. "Keep your face-shield shut!" he was orderedcrisply. "The gas would be as fatal as the fungus. "

 * * * * *

Silence rested tensely over the two men, to be broken at last by theclump of feet proceeding aft on the deck above. 

Carse switched off the light. His voice was but faintly audible. 

"Coming down to clean off the dust. He'll have a flash. Hide behindthe truss-work at your side, and when he gets here seize him by theneck. I'll be with you right away. I want no noise. "

Friday saw a great light, and grinned in the confidence it broughthim. Of course! That explained the rope. The plan was so simple it hadescaped him. Already he felt cheerful. It was only mental worries, andnever physical hazards, that unsettled him. He angled around thetruss-work and shrank into as small a space as possible--which wasn'tvery small, as he still wore his bulky, clumsy suit. 

The clump-clump of feet had died: now there came the sound of theman-hole aft being raised. A white beam pronged down into thedarkness, felt around and flicked off. Boots clanged on the connectingladder; reached the bottom. The light appeared again, lower now, andcame slowly forward. Limned faintly against the reflected light wasthe outline of a crouching man's body. 

He went to hands and knees and progressed carefully, his flash dartingto left and right. Suddenly, in a certain light, the two who awaitedhis coming saw a swarthy, black-stubbled face in profile. He wore nospace-suit! That meant, Friday reflected, that the brigands hadcleared the ship of the gas in some way. It meant that they could getout of their own suits. 

But they could not possibly do so at the moment. They heard the nearbypirate's breathing, a harsh oath as he stubbed a toe. The negrotightened his giant arms and held himself ready, his eyes steady onthe black outline which signified his quarry. Then the pirate wasclose enough. 

It was over in seconds. Rounding the truss, Friday caught the man inthe armored crook of his arm. A startled croak preluded the thump oftwo bodies on the hull; there was the tinkle of a falling hand-flashand a slight squirming which was quickly stopped by a belting punch. 

 * * * * *

Then Carse was there in the darkness, looping his rope around thepirate's arms and legs--a difficult job when wearing a bulkyspace-suit in such cramped quarters. He used a bunch of waste for agag and then hauled the captive to a girder farther forward and boundhim sitting to it. By the time he had finished, Friday was out of hisspace-suit and asking:

"Shall I rub him out, suh? Best make sure of him. "

"Never in cold blood, " said the Hawk acidly. "You should know thatwell enough by now!

"Now, there should be five left above, and I think they'll sendanother down. We must get him, too. Get back where you were. "

He took off his space-suit also: then, after minutes of silence, theyheard voices upraised in argument coming from the control cabin. Oncemore came the sound of feet overhead; another flash bit down throughthe man-hole, and another man wriggled into the compartment. He wasobviously uneasy and suspicious. He called:

"Jake! Hey, Jake! You there? Where the hell are you?"

Mumbling oaths, he advanced, his light ray weaving over every inchbefore him. 

"What you doing, Jake? Where are you?"

Friday gathered his muscles, unhampered now by the restricting suit. But light must have been reflected by the round whites of his eyes, for the pirate suddenly stopped and called in sharp alarm:

"What's that? What's that there? You, Jake? Hey! I'll ray you--"

And that was all he said. Friday was too far away to reach him intime, but the Hawk was closer; he approached behind the brigand, crouched on silent cat's feet. Two powerful arms reached out andtightened in a strangle hold--and two minutes later the second man wasbound and gagged. 

Carse loosened his ray-gun in its holster. 

"Now we attack, " he whispered. "Four to two are fair odds, I think. You go aft and wait by the man-hole; wait till you hear me call. Don'tbe seen--wait. And when I call, come at once. "

"Yes, suh. You goin' forward 'tween the hulls?"

A curt nod answered him. 

"Then up through that--"

"Don't ask so many questions!" the Hawk rasped crisply. 

They separated. 

CHAPTER V

_The Hawk and the Kite_

In the deck of the control cabin, between a bank of instruments andthe starboard wall, was another man-hole that gave entrance from the'tween hulls compartment to the cabin. 

Only two men besides Carse knew of its existence. The adventurer forgood reasons of his own had it built in; and so cunningly was itscover fitted on that its outlines were not visible. 

Beneath it, now, on the three-rung ladder that led up from the lowershell, Hawk Carse waited. 

He could hear quite clearly the angry, snarling voice of Judd theKite, haranguing his men. 

"Rinker, you go down and see what's wrong. Just because Jake and Sakodon't come back right away, you guys seem to think the ship's haunted!Haunted! By Betelguese! A sweet bunch of white-livered cowards I'vegot for a crew--"

"Ah, lay off!" growled a deep, sullen voice. "I ain't scared, but thislooks fishy to me. Something's wrong down there 'tween the hulls--damnwrong, I tell you. We only found four skeletons, an' four, ain't thefull crew for a ship like this. There oughta to be a couple moresomewhere. Carse, blast him! he's got nine lives. How do we know hewas one of the four?"

Another spoke up, as Rinker evidently hesitated. "I say we all go downand investigate together. "

"Stow it!" thundered Judd. "They didn't get their space-suits out, didthey? Why, they hadn't a chance to escape--none of 'em. They werekilled, every one, quick! And four's plenty to work this ship. Carseis dead, see, dead! This was one trick he didn't know--one time hecouldn't worm out. He was clever, all right, but he couldn't quitestack up against me. I swore I'd get him and I did. He's dead!"

"Judd, " said a low, clear voice. 

 * * * * *

The Kite whirled around. He stared. The hand-flash he was holdingdropped to the deck with a clang. His hands went limp, and his voicewas suddenly weak and dazed. 

"My God--Carse! Hawk Carse!"

"Yes, " a whisper answered. "Hawk Carse. And not dead. "

It was a scene that might have puzzled a newcomer to the frontiers ofspace. Certainly there seemed to be nothing menacing about the slenderfigure that stood by the now open man-hole, both arms hanging easilyat his sides; the advantage, on the contrary, appeared to be all withthe men whom he confronted. All but one was big, and each was fullyarmed with a brace of ray-guns and knives. 

But, though there were four guns to one, they made no attempt to draw. For it was the Hawk they faced, the fastest, most accurate shot in allthose millions of leagues of space, and in his two icy eyes was amenace that filled the control cabin with fine-drawn silence. 

At last Judd the Kite opened his lips and wetted them. 

"Where did you come from?" he stammered. 

"No matter, " came the answer from the thinly smiling mouth. "Friday!"

"Yes, suh!" boomed the big black's distant voice. 

Judd's three men turned their heads and saw Carse's famous satellitestep into the control cabin, a ray-gun in each capacious hand. He wasall flashing white teeth, so wide was his grin. 

"Well, well!" he chuckled. "Ain't this the pleasure! Certainly ampleased to meet old friends like this--yes, suh! Jus' drop in?"

But the Kite's head had not turned; he seemed not to hear Friday'swords; his eyes were held fascinated by Carse's. The attention ofeveryone came back to the two leaders. 

"Ku Sui is in back of this?" asked the Hawk. 

Judd licked his lips again. He had to spar for time: to divert for awhile the vengeance he knew possessed the other's mind, so that hemight find some chance, some loop-hole. 

"That's right, " he began eagerly, "it was Ku Sui. I had to do this, Carse: I hadn't any choice. He's got something on me: I had to gothrough with it. Had to!"

 * * * * *

The Hawk's eyes were glacial; the ghost of a smile hovered once morearound the corners of his lips. 

"Go on, " he said. "What was that fungus?"

"I don't know. Ku Sui developed it in his laboratory. He just gave mea sealed cartridge of the spores with instructions to raid your ranch, as you saw, and plant them in a drilled-out phanti horn. There was asimple mechanism in the cartridge that allowed us to release thespores by a radio wave from our ship. When I wanted them to grow Isimply--"

"I see. A clever scheme, " Carse said. "Quite up to Ku Sui's standard. The idea of those three men running for the jungle when I came down onIapetus was to insure my taking the horn cargo aboard, of course. Theraid was only incidental to your scheme to get me. And Crane, theradio operator, was dead when I received that S. O. S. It was faked, tobring me quickly for your schedule. "

Judd stared at him. "How in hell did you know that? Damn you, Carse, you're--"

"Where, " interrupted the adventurer coldly, "is Ku Sui?"

The pirate's eyes shifted nervously. "I don't know, " he muttered. 

"Where, " came the steady question again, "is Ku Sui?"

The other licked his lips. His fingers clenched, unclenched, grippedtight. "I don't know!" he protested. His eyes widened as he saw theHawk's left hand stir slightly, and he started as he heard thewhip-like word:

"Talk!"

"Carse. I swear it! No one knows where he is. When he wants to see mepersonally, he comes out of darkness--out of empty space. I don't knowwhether it's done by invisibility or the fourth dimension, but onemoment his ship's not there; the next it is; I don't know where hisbase is; and if he knew I'd told you what I have, he'd--"

"How do you arrange your meetings, then?"

"They're always in a different place. The next is in seven days. Idon't remember the figures: they're in the log of my ship. "

Carse nodded. "All right. I believe you. And now--there are a fewaccounts to be settled. "

 * * * * *

During the few minutes the Hawk had questioned Judd, the brigand crewin the cabin had stood silent, their breath bated, their eyes watchingfascinated. But now they started, and shifted uneasily. They suspectedwhat was coming. The inexorable, seemingly inhuman adventurer went onemotionlessly:

"Six of my men were killed on Iapetus, treacherously, without achance. Four more were slaughtered by the fungus. That's ten. Back upto your men, Judd. "

Judd knew all too well what that order portended. He could not move. His cunning eyes protruded with fear as they shifted down and rivetedon the shabby holster that hung on Carse's left side. His breath cameunevenly, in short, ragged gasps through parted lips. 

"Back, Judd!"

The stinging, icy force of the voice jolted him back despite his will. One short retreating step after another he took, until at length hewas standing with his three men against the side wall of the cabin, the dividing line between it and the engine room. Friday's guns werestill covering the pirates. 

"You goin' to shoot us down in cold blood?" one of them askedhoarsely. 

The Hawk surveyed the speaker until the man shivered. Beneath theircoldness, his gray eyes were faintly contemptuous. 

"No--I leave that for yellow-streaked hi-jacking rats such as you. I'mgoing to give you a chance: more than a chance. Friday, " he called. 

"Yes, suh?"

"Do you want to come in on this?"

Without the slightest hesitation the negro answered, grinning:

"Yes, suh!"

"I thought you would. Come here alongside me, then sheathe your guns. "

Friday did so. He stood in position beside his master, just in frontof the opening that led below. The four brigands were some fifteenfeet away. The two groups faced each other squarely. 

"Good, " whispered Carse. 

 * * * * *

They stood there, four men to two, deadly enemies; yet not one handmoved toward a ray-gun. Again, an outsider would have marveled whyJudd, the numbers on his side did not draw and fire; why he waited;why his face was pale, his eyes nervous. But he knew too well what theleast sign of a draw on his part would entail; he preferred to wait, to receive the advantage of the cold vanity in Carse which demanded, in gun-play, that the odds of numbers be against him. Perhaps thistime that vanity would lead the Hawk a little too far. Perhaps evenyet a loop-hole for strategy might appear. 

So the Kite waited, but fear was strong within him. 

"A little earlier, " the Hawk's frigid voice went on, "there was somecounting. To the number five. Remember, Judd? Well, since you managedso poorly before, perhaps you'll count again. "

"You mean to count to five?"

"Yes. And on the fifth count, we draw and fire. "

Judd's eyes narrowed, shifted, while thoughts clashed and meshed inhis brain. Hawk Carse smiled icily. 

"Is that clear?" he asked. 

Judd said after a while:

"All right. "

Friday noted one of the pirates: a brawny, black-browed giant almostas large as himself, and decided to go for him when the time came. Hewhispered this to Carse; then, keeping his gaze on the man, he stoodready. 

"Begin, I'm waiting, " reminded Hawk Carse. 

 * * * * *

The Kite crouched, drew a deep breath--but before his lips could formthe first count there was a quick, sharp stir of movement from thebrigand to his right; Carse's left hand seemed to vanish; a hissfollowed, a streak of wicked blue light. Friday grunted, not yet quiterealizing what had happened; Judd, gaped at Carse's lowering weapon, then turned his eyes to the right--and choked out an oath. 

The brawny giant by his side was standing, but his face was creasedand puzzled. One hand was at a holster; the other grasped agun--unfired. Accurate to an inch, between his eyebrows there hadappeared is if by magic a neatly seared, round hole. 

His knees crumpled. His gun clanged to the deck. His head bowed; hebent; he pitched forward, sprawled face downward. Then he quivered andlay still. A burnt odor was in the air. .. . 

"I'm still waiting, Judd, " came an ironic whisper. 

"My God!" stammered one of the pirate chief's two remaining men. "He'sa devil. Fast as light!"

Judd's eyes had returned to the Hawk, and they still showed some ofhis reaction of surprise to what had happened, when a peculiar thingoccurred. For a split second his gaze shot past Carse, took insomething, then switched back again. And when he had done so his faceshowed a faint but unmistakable feeling of relief. 

This was old stuff to the Hawk, but he could not afford to takechances. Instantly he rapped:

"Look behind. Friday! Quick!"

The negro jerked his head around. He was too late. He had a glimpse ofa man standing in the man-hole behind--a glimpse of a short steel barthat flashed to Carse's head in a vicious arc, and again to his own. He was rocked by pain is blackness came across his vision; andtogether, white man and black crumpled to the deck. .. . 

CHAPTER VI

_Back to Iapetus_

An indefinite time later Carse awoke to a trip-hammer of pain thuddingthrough his head. He groaned a little, and tried to turn over in aneffort to ease it. He found he could not. Then his eyes opened and heblinked up. 

He found himself lying on the deck of the control cabin, near theafter wall, and bound hand and foot with tightly strapped rope. Overhim, looking down, was Judd the Kite, hands on his hips, a gloatingsmile on his coarse lips, and in his eyes a look of taunting, exultanttriumph. He drew back his foot and kicked the netted Hawk in the ribs. The trader made no sound; his pale face did not change, except to seta trifle more rigidly. 

"Pretty easy the way my men got you, Carse, " said Judd. "Seems to meyou're just a damned fool with a big rep you don't deserve. You'retoo careless. You ought to know by now not to leave bound men in reachof high-powered cable. It cuts as good as an electric knife. Does yourhead hurt where you were hit?" Deliberately, still smiling, he rappedhis foot brutally against Carse's head. 

The trader said nothing. He glanced around, to get the situationclearly. Friday, he saw, was in the control cabin too, lying stretchedout and bound as he was, but evidently still unconscious from theugly, bloody welt on his head. One of Judd's men was at the ship'sspace-stick, another stood by her dials, occasionally glancing back atthe prisoners and grinning; the two remaining pirates were apparentlyaft. The body of the one whom Carse had killed had been removed. 

Through the port bow window, far out, he noticed a small spot, halfblack and half brilliant with the reflected light of Saturn: thatwould be the other space ship, the Kite's, on the same course as they. And ahead was the large-looming sphere of Iapetus. The pirate wasreturning, then, to the ranch, probably to pick up his three men, andperhaps to leave a small crew to work it. 

"Yes. I'm afraid this is the end of the Sparrow Hawk!" Judd sneeredthe name and laughed harshly. "A lot of people will be glad to hearit. There'll be a big reward for me, too, from Ku Sui. Head stillbad?" And again he swung his leg and drove its heavy shoe into hiscaptive's head. 

 * * * * *

Carse's lips compressed till they were colorless. He looked steadilyat Judd's eyes and asked:

"What are you going to do with Friday and me?"

"Well, " grinned the pirate, "I can't tell you definitely, but it'ssure to be interesting. It'd suit me best if I could teach you a fewlittle tricks with a peeling knife--the Venusians have some very neatones, you know--and then perhaps burn you full of holes. Little holes, done with a mild needle-ray. But unfortunately I can't kill youpersonally, for Ku Sui will want to do that himself. You're worth ahell of a lot of money alive. "

"I go to Ku Sui, then?"

"That's right. I'll hand you over when I have my rendezvous with him, seven days from now. Clever man, Ku Sui! Half Chinese, you know. He'llbe tickled to get you alive. "

A muscle in the Hawk's cheek quivered. Then he asked:

"And Friday?"

Judd laughed. "Oh, I don't much care; he's not worth anything. I'llthrow him in with you for good measure, probably. How's the head?"Once more the foot swung. 

Carse's gray eyes were as frigid as the snow caps of Mars. The lefteyelid was twitching a little; otherwise his pale face was as ifgraven from stone. 

"Judd, " he whispered, so softly that his voice was almost inaudible. "I shall kill you very soon. I shall make it a point to. Very soon. Judd. .. . "

The Kite stared at the pallid gray eyes. His lips parted slightly. Andthen he remembered that his captive was bound, helpless. He spat. 

"Bah!" he snarled. "Just your old stuff, Carse. It's all over with younow. You'll be screaming to me to kill you when Ku Sui begins to touchyou up!" He guffawed, again kicked the man at his feet, and turnedaway. 

Hawk Carse watched him walk to the forward end of the cabin; and, after a little while, he sighed. He could be patient. He was stillalive, and he would stay alive, he felt. A chance would come--he didnot know how or when; it perhaps would not be soon; it might not comeuntil he had been delivered to Ku Sui, but it would arrive. Andthen. .. . 

Then there would be a reckoning!

The deceptively mild gray eyes of the Hawk were veiled by their lids. 

 * * * * *

Night had settled over the ranch by the time the _Star Devil_ andJudd's accompanying ship were in the satellite's atmosphere. It wasthe rare, deep, moonless night of Iapetus, when the only light camefrom the far, cold, distant stars that hung faintly twinkling in thegreat void above. Occasionally, the tiny world was lit clearly atnight by the rays of Saturn, reflected from one of the eight othersatellites; and occasionally, too, there was no night, the central sunof the solar universe sending its distance-weakened shafts of fire tolight one side of the globe while ringed Saturn gilded the other. 

But this season was the one of dark, full-bodied nights; and it wasinto the hush of their blackness that the _Star Devil_ and herattendant brigand ship glided. 

Below, on the surface of the Satellite, glowed the pin-prick of acamp-fire. When the ships were some fifteen thousand feet up, Judd'sorders caused long light-rays to shaft out from the _Star Devil_ andfinger the ground. They rested on the ranch house and then passed onto douse with white the figures of three men standing by the fire. Through the electelscope the pirate chief saw them wave their arms ingreeting. 

Ten minutes later the two ships nestled down close together a hundredyards or more from the ranch clearing, and Judd said to his mate, standing next to him:

"We'll have a little celebration to-night. Break out a few cases ofalkite and send three of the boys to the ranch's storeroom after meatfor the cook to barbecue. "

"What you goin' to do with them two?" the other asked. 

"Carse and the nig? Keep them here in the control cabin; I'll detail acouple of men to guard them. I'm taking no chances: they must be insight every minute. Carse is too damned dangerous. " He peered back atthe captives. The trader's eyes were shut; Friday still appearedunconscious from the brutal blow on his head. "Asleep. Well, they'dbetter sleep--while they have eyelid's to close!" Judd said mockingly, and his mate laughed in appreciation of his wit. 

But neither the Hawk or Friday was asleep. Nor was the negrounconscious. Carse had ascertained this some time before by cautioussignals. 

A little stir had come within him when he heard Judd say there wouldbe a celebration, for a celebration, to these men, meant a debauch andrelaxed discipline, and relaxed discipline meant--a chance. First, however, there were the tight bonds of rope; they were expertly tied, and strong. But the Hawk was not particularly concerned about them. 

He had dismissed them as a problem after a few minutes ofconsideration, and his mind ran farther ahead, planning coldly, mechanically, the payment of his blood debts. .. . 

 * * * * *

All in all, Judd was to blame for what happened that night on Iapetus. He was an old hand and a capable one, and certainly he should haveknown that extraordinary measures had to be adopted when Hawk Carsebecame his prisoner. By rights, he should have killed Fridayimmediately, and steered straight for his rendezvous with Ku Sui, keeping his eye on Carse all the time. He would have had to loaf onhis way to the rendezvous, of course, for it needed but five days toget there, and he had seven; and he would also have had to pick up histhree marooned men later. But that was what he should have done. 

Yet, when one regards the personal angles, it is necessary to divideJudd's responsibility for succeeding events. He felt like having acelebration, and certainly he and his men had earned one. He hadcaptured the man who had stood, more than anyone else, in his and inKu Sui's way for years; the man who had quashed any number of theiroutlaw schemes, and who had given more trouble to them than all theforces of law and order on Earth and the patrol ships in space. More, he had captured him alive, and that meant a much fatter reward from KuSui. He possessed the valuable cargo of phanti horn; he had taken abrand new ship, alone worth millions, besides being the fastest inspace. Judd was naturally elated; he had two nights and a day tospare; he felt expansive, and ordered a celebration. 

Such decisions--trivial when seen from the eminence of a hundredyears--have directed the tide of history more than once. 

There were thirteen men left of Judd's crew, including the threeposted on Iapetus; these three and the six who manned the pirate's owncraft came running to the _Star Devil_ and piled into her openport-lock. They milled around in the control cabin, shouting in highspirits, swearing, throwing clumsy jests at the two silent figures onthe deck; and Judd joined with them. There was much loot to be split, and the Hawk was snared at last! Their chief stilled them for a momentand said:

"Well, I guess we deserve a little jamboree. I'm breaking out somealkite and meat; make a big fire outside and dig some barbecue pits. Go ahead--out of here! But wait: you, Sharkey, and you, Keyger. "

These last two men, more husky and alert than most of their fellows, he detailed for guard duty ever Carse and Friday. They were much castdown at the job, but he premised them a larger slice of the loot forrecompense, and then stalked out after the other men. 

The two guards stuck a brace of ray-guns in their belts and lookedover the captives. Angry at missing the carousal, the man calledKeyger kicked Friday, whose eyelids did not budge and whose body didnot quiver, and then, more gingerly, kicked Carse and swore athim--but he turned somewhat hastily when the mild gray eyes slowlyopened and stared up into his. 

Then the two guards pulled out chairs and placed them by the openport-lock, where they could command a view of the celebration. Theydrew one ray-gun each, laid them ready, close by, and sat down. 

CHAPTER VII

_Jamboree_

Two hours later their eyes were taking in a fantastic, mad scene, onethat in some ways might have occurred in the days when buccaneersroamed the Spanish Main of Earth. 

A little over a hundred yards away, straight before them, was thecorral of the phantis: far behind it encroached the shadowy fringe ofthe jungle: to their right, closer to the corral than to the spaceships, was the ranch house, lonely now and silent. But these objectswere only the background for what had grown in front of the corralwire. 

It was the roaring mass of the monster fire that had been lit, asplash of fierce, leaping flames in the velvety cool of the night. Black shapes were clustered around it; bottles were raised anddrained; and a frieze of shadows, staggered and jumped and dancedaround the ruddy pile of fire. The carousal was in full swing; achorus of wild song rose noisily into the night; more cases weresmashed open and more alkite drawn out. The carcases of three animalstaken from the ranch's storehouse sizzled on the barbecue pits, to beripped apart and the rich, dripping meat torn at, tooth and claw. Everhigher pierced the shrieks and oaths, till the calm night wasdistorted and crazy. 

Other heavier sounds accompanied the bedlam of human noise: deepsnortings and roarings and the scraping of scores of horn-shod feet. Behind their wired electric fence was clustered the herd of phantis, staring with their evil, red-shot little eyes at the flames and theshapes of the hated men. The big bulls were bellowing, bucking theirheads angrily, churning up the soft soil with their strong, dagger-spurred feet: the welter of noise and the sight of so many menhad wrought them up into a vicious and dangerous state. 

Judd the Kite, a bottle in one hand and in the other a huge joint ofmeat which he was tearing at with his teeth, suddenly paused withmouth crammed full and stared over through the flickering light at thephanti corral. A cruel light gleamed in his eyes: he gulped down themeat and then turned to the shapes staggering around him. He yelled:

"Hey, there--let's get out the nigger! A little entertainment, fellows! Bring him out; but don't touch Carse: he's Ku Sui's. Dousehim with water if he's unconscious. "

 * * * * *

They yelled in drunken delight at his words, and half of them reeledoff towards the _Star Devil_. Judd, lips up-curved in a smile, drewhis ray-gun and set the lever over for the low-power, continuousray-stream. These guns, unlike our present weapons, could shoot in twoways: they could spit about twenty high-power discharges, a fractionof a second each in duration and easily sufficient to burn a man'shead through; or they could deliver a long-lasting low-power stream, just strong enough to sear and crisp a human skin. For theentertainment Judd had in mind he needed low power. 

The men sent to the _Star Devil_ shoved past the guards on watch nearthe port-lock and over to the prisoners. They found them lying, veryclose together near the after wall. 

"Gonna have some fun with the black, Judd's orders, " they explained tothe guards. "Still unconscious?"

Certainly Friday looked unconscious, his eyes closed, his full lipsslightly parted, showing the powerful white teeth. 

"I'll give him a shot of the ray, " another brigand cut in. "That'llbring him to. Be ready to grab him. "

They got an unpleasant shock when the low-power stream flicked thenegro's leg. With a gigantic bellow that rang throughout the ship, Friday resisted. 

It was like seeing a dead man come to life, and it startled them. Bound as he was, Friday made things unhealthy for his would-becaptors; he shunted his legs up and down and squirmed mightily, andonce his gleaming teeth snapped into an arm, bringing a howl of painand several minutes of cursing. The unexpected resistance, once thesurprise was over, infuriated the rum-sodden men. One of them yelled:"Sock him; Shorty!" A ray-gun's butt was slapped down on Friday'shead; the negro rolled over, stunned. Then he was picked up withoutresistance and borne out into the night, where fantastic figurescavorted around the towering fire. 

"The black devil was faking all the time!" one of the guards saidamazedly. "He wasn't unconscious. What in hell did he do that for?"

"Dunno, " snarled the other, rubbing a bruised leg. "Must havesuspected what he's gonna get. Wish we was over there. "

"Well, we can watch from here, " grumbled his companion, and returnedto the seats by the port-lock. 

They both sat down, their backs half turned to the figure still lyingon the deck. 

 * * * * *

Carse had said nothing, made no protest, had not even moved whenFriday struggled in fierce resistance. He could have done much more, but it would have been useless. Long before, he had seen the negro'sopening eyes and signaled him to feign unconsciousness thus deflectingattention and making him appear harmless. He had also broached hisplan for escape to Friday. He had not, however, reckoned on Judd'sdesire to torture: he would, he now saw, have to act with his greatestspeed to save his mate from as much pain as possible. 

And he began to act. 

The control cabin was streaked with patches of shadow and light, madevague by pools of darkness thrown by the banks of instruments. Onlyone lighting tube was dimly burning. In this indefinite half-light theHawk set about stalking his prey. 

With eyes narrowed and steady on the two guards who were completelyabsorbed in the happenings outside, he drew his hands from beneathhim. They were no longer bound. The rope knotted around them had beengnawed through strand by strand--sliced by the strong white teeth of anegro. .. . 

Cautiously, without a whisper of sound, Carse reached towards thebonds on his legs. The lean fingers worked rapidly. Quickly the knots, yielded and the rope was unwound. The legs were free. For a momentHawk Carse, ever with careful calculation of time, stretched hiscramped muscles, limbering them for action. 

A mutter came from the port-lock. He froze. But it was only:

"Look at 'im! This is goin' to be good! Judd gets some damn cleverideas!"

They were utterly wrapped up in the scene outside, and unconscious ofthe low blot that moved with steely purpose behind them. 

 * * * * *

The Hawk got to hands and knees; moved forward, the ghost of a shadow. The two men who were his quarry were sitting close together, hunched alittle forward in their eagerness not to miss a single detail. Theirheads were not a foot apart. Each wore a ray-gun and had another lyingon the deck at his side. 

Carse came near to their backs. He paused, imperceptibly tensed, judged the distance carefully. Then in a sudden, snake-like movement, he sprang. 

A forearm of steel clamped around the back of each guard's head andjerked it sharply into the other's. There was a quick crack; then, dazed, only half-conscious, the two men toppled off their seats andfell to the deck. 

"Quiet!" warned an icy whisper. They stared, gaping, then staggered upto their feet. 

A ray-gun that just before had been lying on the deck was leveledsteadily at them, held in the hand of a gray-eyed man whose finefeatures were as if graven from stone and on whose wrists were deepblue lines that showed where ropes had pressed. The guards' faceswhitened as realization came. One of them choked:

"It's him!"

"Yes, " whispered the Hawk dryly. He took a few steps backward, eyesnot moving. "Go to that locker, " he said to the shorter of the men, indicating with a curt nod the place where space suits were stowed. "First draw your gun and lay it on that table. Hurry!"

The man hastily complied. Anything else was unthinkable; meant quickand lonely and useless death. Shouts and laughter and drunken shriekswere echoing from outside. No one would have ears for him. 

When he had stepped into the locker, Carse closed and sealed the door. 

"What you goin' to do with me?" croaked the remaining guard. He wasbig and burly and he towered inches over the figure facing him, buthis lips were trembling and his eyes wild with fear. 

"You, " whispered the Hawk frigidly, "kicked me when I was bound. " Hesheathed his ray-gun in his holster, then spoke again. "Go for yourgun. "

The pirate trembled all over. His mouth fell open, and his eyes stuckon Carse's shabby holster. He seemed half hypnotized. 

"Draw. "

The other's swarthy brow beaded with sudden-starting sweat. His handshung limp, twitching at the finger-tips. He watched death stare him inthe face. 

"Damn you, Carse!" he burst out and suddenly went for his ray. 

 * * * * *

Carse deliberately let him get the gun out. Not until then did hisleft hand move. But even with such a head-start, so bewildering wasthe adventurer's speed that only one streak of orange light made aflash in the cabin, and that streak was the Hawk's. The brigandquivered, his face still contorted with his last desperate emotion;then he fell slowly forward and thudded into the deck. His bodytwitched a little, and in a spasm rolled over. Square between the eyeswas a crisp, smooth-burned hole. 

Hawk Carse gave the body not a glance, but sheathed his ray-gun, picked up the three others, stuck them in his belt, and glided to theport-lock. There, he peered outside. 

His face hardened. 

Blobs of flame that flared from wood torches were clustered about thenearest side of the phanti corral. A dark blur of figures were ringedin a half-circle, and from it came yells of delight and almosthysterical laughter. The Hawk's eyes were chilling to look at when hesaw, through gaps in the circle of black shapes, the figure of a hugenegro, standing with his back almost touching the wire fence of thecorral. The actions of Friday gave the clue to what was happening. 

He was caught in a broad ray of orange light, and in it he shudderedand hopped grotesquely from one leg to the other in an agony of pain, his lips drawn back taut over the gleaming teeth, his face flexed andthe whites of his eyes showing as the eyeballs rolled. The glow thatin part hung around him streamed from a ray-gun that was held in theright hand of Judd the Kite. Heat! Friday was being slowly crispedalive; seared on his feet in a furnace of heat: and the men who ringedhim were yelling advice at him between their laughter. Carse strainedhis ears. In a jumble, he caught:

"Jump over"--"Nah, he'd have to climb"--"Climb! The juice'scut!"--"Into the corral!"--"Climb over, you black buzzard"--"Hoowee!"

 * * * * *

About a foot behind Friday was the wire fence, behind which thephantis, their snouts converged towards the pirates, their red-shoteyes glaring, their powerful hind feet clawing at the ground, werebellowing in wild and ferocious excitement. Sudden, awful death waitedon the other side of the fence; slow death by burning on this side. Yet Friday still hoped, still had faith in his master, for he did notput a quick end to his living death by rushing the devilish circle orclambering over into the thick of the sharp stabbing spurs. 

Carse's brain moved with the swiftness of light. He could not rush thegroup: the odds were too great, and besides, Judd's gun was alreadyout. Nor could he dive at them with the _Star Devil_ itself, or raythem from above: that would mean Friday's death too. It would have tobe something else--and in a moment he had it. Carefully he examinedall variations and checked the scheme back: it promised to be thefinal move, engendering the final meeting, and there must be no slip. 

First, the Hawk slipped shadow-like to the entrance port of the otherspace ship, lying a few hundred feet away, shrouded in darkness. Hehad to know if anyone were aboard. 

Gruffly he called inside:

"Judd! Hey, Judd! You there?"

There was no answer. Again he called, but the gloomy interior'ssilence was not broken. Satisfied that it was empty, he doubled backwith noiseless speed, skirted round the _Star Devil_ and arrived likea wind-carried wraith at the rear wall of the ranch house. 

A short leap and his hands closed on the copper drain. The muscles ofhis wiry arms flexed, and the lean figure raised himself foot by footto the eaves, where a pull and press up brought him over the edge. Stooping, he padded to the side which faced on the clearing and thecorral. 

And then the ray-gun was drawn from its holster. 

For seconds the cold gray eyes reckoned the shooting distance and theangle. The weapon came up and rested at arm's length. The first fingerof the deadly left hand began to squeeze back. 

A pencil-thin streak of orange light speared the air!

CHAPTER VIII

_Stampede_

Judd the Kite was enjoying himself hugely. His bestial sense of humorwas tickled. It was very funny, the contortions of the negro in theorange ray-stream!

"Climb over!" he suggested, amid roars of laughter from the circle ofmen. "Climb over, why don't you? I've turned off the current. There'sno electricity in the fence. You won't be hurt. Why don't you climbover?"

Friday did not, could not answer. His lips were sucked tight togethernow in wordless agony; the cheek muscles, strained taut, stood outlike welts of flesh; the huge body, bathed always in that steady glowof orange, was slightly livid in patches. He hopped mechanically, changing from one aching leg to the other; his eyes were closed halfthe time, his whole being one dumb agony. He did not know when itwould end, but he still had faith. 

Overhead, the flames of four tarred wood torches bobbed and reeled asthe men who held them reeled; seemed to shake in the gusts of laughterand yells and oaths that came ceaselessly from the onlookers. And inthis distorted light the half-shadowed snouts and bodies of thephantis, clustered behind their nine-foot-high fence, looked indeeddiabolical. The fence was high, for the creatures possessed surprisingjumping powers; it was composed of eight strands of wire, runningparallel a foot apart from each other, with inter-crossing supports. The electric current, now turned off, always kept the phantis fromcrashing through. 

Judd smiled more widely. "I guess I'll increase the power, " his coarselips pronounced. "We'll see how you can duck a strong thin beam. I'llgive you about five minutes to climb over. After that you'll be burneddown slowly to a cinder. Now--will you climb? See--I'm moving thelever over. Watch, now, and feel--"

 * * * * *

Suddenly his voice broke off short. There had been a hiss--a_spang_--a slight whip of sound. He glanced around swiftly. No, hismen had not noticed it. They were still laughing, roaring, swaying indrunken merriment. The Kite's lips curved upward again. He continued:

"Feel the heat increase. It's stronger, now, and--"

Again the _spang_, the whip, the streak of something swift. The mennoticed his expression and quieted somewhat. Judd was looking aroundhim, and even as he saw what it was there came a cry from a piratenearby. 

"Look! The fence!"

Judd's eyes widened; his lips slackened and lost their smile. Thenoise, the laughs, the shouts, screams and oaths died into the night;frightened silence fell over the group, and all that was left were theconcerted bellowings and snortings from the enraged herd of beastsjust beyond. 

All--except for another _spang_ that sounded as a streak of orangelight arrowed from somewhere through the flickering torchlight. Andwith its coming the third parallel strand of the corral-fence whippedapart with a little singing swish, shot neatly through, as were thetwo below it. Ten feet of fence on each side slumped visibly. 

"Someone's shooting it through!" came a scared whisper. Yet still thebrigands, held fascinated by fear and puzzlement, stared at the fenceand at the surging crowd of stampede-crazy animals beyond. 

Another _spang_, another streak of light! With deadly accuracy theshot clove the fourth strand. The lower half of a whole section offence was gone. Behind it the bucking, red-eyed phantis inchedforward, still afraid of the electric shock they thought was somewherethere, but drawn to the opening by their hatred of the two-leggedcreatures so near. Closer, closer! Then the befuddled pirates foundtheir senses. Even as the fifth arrow of light came from the invisiblemarksman and snapped the fifth strand, a concerted cry of fear of theadvancing beasts went up from the crowd of men. 

"Run! Run! They're coming! They're coming out!"

They turned, panic-stricken; the torches fell flaring to the ground, to lie there in pools of flame; the brigands ran for the nearestshelter, the dark bulk of the ranch house close by. They ran, feartingling their spines, in their ears the sound of the maddenedphantis. 

 * * * * *

From his vantage point on the roof of the ranch house, the Hawkconfirmed his quick decision that this was the only way. 

Rapidly, as was his custom, he had reckoned the problem out minutelyand carefully; had considered and checked every possibility. He hadto shoot the fence, not the brigands. For he couldn't hope to get morethan a couple of them: a pirate toppling over dead would jar theothers into instant action; they would scatter in the darkness, leaving the odds too great. And leaving, besides, small chance ofwiping out every one of the pirates. 

As for Friday, he had to take his chance. There was, this way, a goodchance, if he used his brain. For, to the left, as close as the ranchhouse to the corral, were the grave-pits he himself had dug some hoursbefore, and one was still empty, waiting to be filled. It offeredshelter, a good chance--if he used his brain. He, Carse, would do allhe could to protect him from the stampeding beasts while he ran. 

Some of the pirates would be snared by the rush of phantis. Four orfive would probably reach the ranch house. That was what he wanted. 

And that was what he got. His fifth shot fired, straight and true fromthe ray-gun of the most accurate marksman of space, the Hawk loweredthe weapon and gazed at the scene resulting, a ghost of a smile on hislips. 

He saw the mob of creatures, in a bedlam of noise, sweep under thefence that had for so long kept them back. Bellowing their hatred, their cruel spurs eager for blood, they charged. Before them fled thethin fringe of men, Friday on one flank. A man went down with ascream; a half-grown horn knifed into him; he was trampled, gored, spurred, and left a bloody welter of death in seconds. Another, hearing the loud thud of feet just behind, turned with desperate eyes, dodged, tripped, shrieked and was caught and ripped. Another andanother. In the dancing, flickering half-light of the flames of fireand torches, a hellish scene of devastation and death spun out. 

 * * * * *

Carse was shooting again, with the cold mechanical precision of amachine. There was Friday to be guarded. He was now separated from theother men--cut off and edging to one side--to the side where was thegrave-pit! Dodging, wildly twisting and turning, he several timesbarely escaped three or four phantis that thundered after him. Theleader took perhaps ten steps: then its body quivered and it tumbledover and flopped on the ground, a little wisp of smoke curling fromits body. The other two went down in swift succession. But there weremany, and even as Friday melted into the shadows, a group of severalbeasts detached themselves and roared after him. The deadly ray-gun onthe roof wrought swift slaughter amongst them, but some got into thedarkness beyond vision of the icy gray eyes. 

Carse lowered his weapon. His face was very hard and very set. Wouldthey catch the negro? Tumble down on him if he made the pit? Well, there was no helping it. .. . 

But the reckoning would soon be finished; the time was at hand. Coldas the deeps of space despite the awful havoc he had just created, totally without visible emotion, he drew the last unused ray-gun fromhis belt and put it in the shabby holster. One would be enough. 

Shadow-like, noiseless and swift, he moved towards the far end of theroof. 

CHAPTER IX

_The Hawk Strikes_

His face red, his breath coming in hoarse gasps, Judd the Kitestumbled through the house's door on the heels of four of his men. Heswung rapidly and flung his weight against the door: locked anddouble-locked it. A second later fists pounded on the outer panel, anda voice, racked with fear and terror, screamed:

"Let me in! Let me in! Oh, God, let me in! Judd!"

Then there was the thud of drumming feet, and one awful shriek fromthe man who had found the door locked against him. 

But the Kite was not listening. A measure of courage returning to himwith the building's protection, he snapped:

"Get those other doors locked quick! And lights. Then search thehouse. "

The lighting tubes glowed, filling the room with soft radiance. Juddsurvey his position. 

He saw that it could have been far worse. But his men needed courage. 

The rapid change from orgy to deadly peril had sobered themcompletely. And they were frightened; nor was it fear of the beasts. They came treading silently back from their inspection of the house, reporting it empty; but their eyes kept shifting, their ray-guns readyin hand. Each one knew, deep within him, who had fired the shots thatcollapsed the fence. They had taken two captives; Friday had beenunder their eyes; there was only one other, and he was--the Hawk. 

Hawk Carse! The four men were nervous. More than a few lonely spots inthe countless leagues of space had seen his vengeance: and they--theyhad killed his guards and his overseer, his radio-man, and, with thefungus, his ship's crew; they had tortured Friday. They were now marksfor the fatal left hand: fugitives from gray, icy eyes. The Hawk wasloose!

 * * * * *

Judd saw the fear gnawing at their vitals. He felt it too. But thereseemed no immediate danger, so, with a ray-gun in each hand, hesummoned a blustering courage and said to the others, harshly:

"Yes, it was that damned Carse! He must have got loose in some way. But pull yourselves together: we're safe here. He's somewhereoutside. "

He reasoned it out for them. 

"He couldn't have done that shooting from the _Star Devil_; it's toofar away. And he's not in it now or he'd be using it to try and findthat black of his--if the black's still alive. No, he's not in theship, and he's not in this house. He's somewhere outside, and he can'treach us here while the phantis have the place surrounded. We canshoot them down from the attic, and they'll soon beat it for thejungle. When that happens we'll rush to the ships, and before Carseknows what it's all about we'll be up and away and he'll be marooned. Then we'll get him later. "

His words brought a return of confidence. It was true, the othersthought: the Hawk could not reach them as long as the phantis werearound the house; and when they were driven away, the ships were nearat hand and empty. All they had to do was get to the ships beforeCarse. The adventurer certainly was not then in one of the craft, orhe would be wasting no time hunting for Friday--and raying theirstronghold. No doubt he was up a tree somewhere; perhaps gored anddead. 

One of the men snickered, and Judd smiled at the sound. Theirconfidence in him was encouraging. 

"Get to the windows of the attic, " he ordered. "Some of those crazybrutes are horning at the house. We've got to shoot them and get outof here, quick!"

 * * * * *

There were two rooms in the attic; the large one, used as a storeroomfor staple foods, had five windows, long, sloping affairs, three infront and one in each side wall. The second room was small and at therear, and was used to store tools and spare technical apparatus. Ithad one little window, set high up, and connected with the larger roomby a door set in the middle of the partition. 

Judd placed one of his pirates at each of the windows of the largeroom, taking himself the center one. 

Around the house milled dozens of animal bodies, snorting, bellowingand roaring, their little red eyes flashing, claws tearing the soil infutile rage at the men they knew to be safely within. A babel ofbrutish sounds rose from them. Two of the bulls fell foul of eachother and fought in fury, to suddenly turn and hurl their weightagainst a ground floor door, quivering it. But their rashness wasanswered by a streak of light from an attic window, and as one toppledback, its body burnt through, the sights of the destroying ray-gunwere already on its fellow. 

The huge fire the brigands had laid was dying, and night was seepingever thickening darkness over the scene. Glinting very slightly in thestarlight were the black shapes of the two silent space ships. 

Then Judd the Kite, as he aimed and shot and aimed and shot again, wassuddenly struck by a disturbing idea. From where had Carse fired atthe corral fence? What was the logical vantage point for him?

A shiver trembled down his spine. He saw suddenly with terribleclearness where that vantage point was--and it had not been searched. The roof!

He turned swiftly, his lips opening to give orders. 

And there, standing on the threshold of the door to the smalleradjoining room, stood the figure of a man whose eyes were cold withthe absolute cold of space, and whose left hand held a steady-leveledray-gun that pointed as straight as his eyes at Judd!

"Hawk--Carse!"

"Judd, " said the quiet, icy voice. 

 * * * * *

The Kite went white as a sheet. His men turned slowly as one. One ofthem gasped at what he saw; another cursed; the other two simplystared with fear-flooded eyes; only one thing flamed in everymind--the never-failing vengeance of the Hawk. 

"Carse!" repeated Judd stupidly. "You--again!"

"Yes, " whispered the trader. "And for the last time. We settle now. There are a few debts--a few lives--a few blows and kicks--and amatter of some torture to be paid for. The accounts must be squared, Judd. "

And slowly he raised his right hand to the queer bangs of flaxen hairwhich hung down over his forehead. He stroked them gently. Judd'seyes, dry, hot, held fascinated on the hand. He shuddered. 

"It's not pleasant, " came the whisper, "to always have to wear my hairlike this. That's another debt--the largest of all--I have to settle. _Sheathe your guns!_"

The voice cracked like a whip. They obeyed without sound, though theyread death in the frigid gray eyes. As their guns went into holsters, Carse's followed suit; he stood then with both hands hanging at hissides. And he said, in the whisper that carried more weight to themthan the trumpets of a host:

"Once before we were interrupted. This time we won't be. This time wewill see certainly for whom the number five brings death. Count, Judd. "

With a jerk, the Kite regained some control over himself. The oddswere five to one. Five guns to one gun. Carse was a great shot, butsuch odds were surely too great. Perhaps--perhaps there might be achance. He said in a strained voice to his men:

"Shoot when I reach five. "

Then he swallowed and counted:

"One. "

Aside from the tiny flickering of the left eyelid, the Hawk wasgraven, motionless, apparently without feeling. Judd, he knew, wasjust fairly fast; as for the others--

"Two. "

--they were unknown quantities, except for one, the man called Jake. He had the reputation of possessing a lightning draw; his eyes werenarrowed, his hands steady, and the body crouched, a sure sign of--

"Three. "

--a gunman who knew his business, who was fast. His hip holsters werenot really worn on the hips, but in front, very close together; thatmeant--

"Four. "

--that he would probably draw both guns. So Judd must wait; the otherthree, being unknowns, disposed of in the order in which they werestanding; but Jake must be--

"Five!"

--first!

 * * * * *

One second there was nothing; the next, wicked pencils of orange lightwere snaking across the attic! And then two guns clanged on the floor, unfired, and the man called Jake staggered forward, crumpled and fell, a puzzled look on his face and accurately between his eyes a littleround neat hole that had come as if by magic. Two others, similarlystricken, toppled down, their fingers still tensed on ray-guntriggers; the fourth pirate, his heart drilled, went back from theforce of it and crashed into the wall, slithering down slowly into alimp heap. But Judd the Kite was still on his feet. 

His lips were twisted in a snarl; his hands seemed locked. His eyesmet the two cold gray ones across the room--and then his coarse facecontorted, and he croaked:

"Damn you, Carse! Damn you--"

His body spun around and flattened out on the floor with arms and legsflung wide. A tiny black hole was visible through his shirt. He hadbeen last, and the Hawk had struck him less accurately than hisfellows. 

The trader was unwounded. He stood there for several minutes, surveying what lay before him. He looked at each body in turn, and hiseyes were calm and clear and mild, his face devoid of expression. Silence hung over the attic, for the bellowings and snortings of thebeasts outside had died into faint murmurings as they straggled offfor their jungle home. The single living man of the six who had livedand breathed there minutes before holstered his still warm ray-gun;and then the sound of a step on the stairs leading from the roomsbelow made him look up. 

A man stood in the doorway of the attic. 

 * * * * *

He was big and brawny; but, though his arms and bare torso werestreaked with blood, and his trousers torn into shreds, and his legscrisscrossed with cuts, there was broad grin on his face--a grin thatwidened as his rolling white eyes took in what lay on the attic floor. 

Neither said anything for a moment. Then the Hawk smiled, and therewas all friendliness and affection in his face. 

"You made the pit, Eclipse?" he asked, softly. 

Friday nodded, and chuckled. "Yes, suh! But only just. If Ah'd bin aleap an' a skip slower Ah'd bin a _tee-total_ eclipse!"

Dancing lights of laughter came to the Hawk's eyes. 

"Still feeling chipper, " he said, "--in spite of your burns. Well, good for you. But I guess you've had enough of Ku Sui for a littlewhile!"

The negro grunted indignantly. "You surely don't imply Ah'm _sca'ed_of that yellow Chink? Hell, no! Why--"

Carse chuckled and cut him off. 

"I see. Well, then, drag these carrion out to your pit. And then--"

There was something in the air, something big. Friday listenedeagerly. "Yes, suh?" he reminded his master after a pause. 

"Judd, " said Hawk Carse softly, "was to have had a rendezvous with Dr. Ku Sui in seven days. The place of the rendezvous is entered in thelog of his ship. I've got the last of Judd's crew a captive on the_Star Devil_. .. . "

The adventurer paused a moment in thought, and when he resumed hiswords came clipped and decisive. 

"I myself am going to keep that rendezvous with Ku Sui. I want to seehim very badly. "

Friday looked at the man's gray eyes, his icy graven face, the bangsof flaxen hair which obscured his forehead. He understood. 

 * * * * *