Slaves of Mercury

ws of

in the Ramapos. For three days they had ducked and dodged and literally burrowed into the ground by day, t

round sprang into vivid illumination, crystal clear to depths of ten to fifteen feet. Several times the crystal swath swept breathlessly close to the place where

y. The Vagabond, stanch and faithful companion of all his travels, rested immovably on the deep green gra

id Grim, surveying the tarnished, p

A hasty glance around inside showed that nothing had been touc

tion apparatus that set up repulsion waves and literally kicked the s

rned them. "Never can tell when tho

switch would send the flier careening off into space. He surve

Vagabond can show anything that fli

ned it to disclose a gray funguslike mass. He cut

ed at it

that before. It doesn't look good." The little man, th

delicious. We had to live on the land so to speak, on ou

ion and making little pleased sounds. Wat bit into a portion gingerly, found i

been appeased, Hilary

esupposes two things: a place large enough to store the Vagabond, an

large cavern lined w

act

ch in this territory,"

ew York," Hilary spoke with det

nk. There was J

ile of here, and it's not a cave. Come on; I'll show you. I

left the Earth with a swift rush. It maneuvered with the ease of an Earth fli

nally, "set her dow

mountain, but he followed directions. He had come to

orce come to rest upon serrated tree tops, a faint glimmer showed amid t

and the gorge angled downward for another fifty feet. When the flier came to rest at the bottom, it was securely hidden in a slanting cleft, some forty feet wide and several hundred long

earch, unless someone actually stumbles into the opening. There's almost eighty feet

said. "Now we've

he bottom of the gorge was leveled off with infinite labor. Rough wood shelters were erected. Spares and electrical equipment to replace worn parts in the Vagabond were also purchased by Wat, in cautious small purchases. It necessitated lo

uring the days of their flight and of work. He was going to attempt a rescue of Joan. She had never left hi

ne of the wooden shelters. A huge fire of fragr

w to find Joan," h

e start?"

ay where three men cannot. It isn't a question of force, of brute strength. Besides, if anything should go wrong, there are still t

nconvinced. "There's fighting to be done

later." He turned on Hilary. "But if anything does happen to you, you understand we won't

t," Hilary agreed

tes he was back, holding three small flat disks

es-so-and you can talk to me or to each other over distances of one hundred miles. Underneath your clothing they cannot be seen. S

posed hastily, "but you'll be her

idea of what's happened on Earth since I went away, but now I need more details. Othe

er, arguing over details, Hilary int

a party of Mercutians on a friendly exploration, so they said, once communication could be established between Earth linguists and themselves. They we

body they would return some day, they and others of their race. Just what hidden thr

s were returning. The people of New York suspected nothing. No troops were rushed to the scene to repel invasion; no guns were trained

over their city, a hundred others were even then hovering over the strategic capitals of the w

signally honored by the reappearance of the lone Merc

hrough the ether, thi

ed to have been born. A truncated cone of flame leaped downward. The diskoid was the apex, the spreading base all of Great New York. The s

heir homes, in the steaming rivers into which they had thrown themselves to escape the awful heat. There were few surv

s caught unawares, but the governments, the people, responded nobly

er the Earth, high in the stratosphere, where the futile Earth planes could not reach the

ast-old Amos Peabody vowed he would rather go down to utter destruction than yield-but he

ntention to transport the entire Mercutian race to the Earth, and make it their permanent home. Mercury was not an ideal place to live on; in the restricted area around the poles where life was possible, terrific st

volted, under the leadership of Amos Peabody. Weaponless, except for small hidden stores of rifles and revolvers-the Merc

he Earthmen died in battle, or were executed afterwards. The slaves, the weaklings, were left. Old A

terrible narration went on and on

iskoids opera

the stratosphere, to destroy all New York. I saw the one that first spied on the Earth. It was about five hundred feet in diameter, made of the same vitreous material, and shaped

Mercutians have in the way of weapons and a

ury exposed as it is to the fierce heat of the sun, it would be

d the fliers canno

cted waves from the diskoids that are sta

sidered th

ible Joan was taken?" he ch

ur best chance would be with the Viceroy himself.

s jaw s

ercutian Magnificence," he sa

bbins B

why Joan was up in the Bronxville suburb. "

l must have escaped, otherwise she'd have been treated

e knew the Robbins Building well; he had been a frequent visitor there in