Slaves of Mercury

o the

heir way through tangled brush and mountain trails. All night they camped on the bare ground, sleeping f

omed for the invisible cleft. Nothing stirred in the forests, even the birds seemed gone. Th

his fist at the

have made matters worse. Even the regular midnight shower has s

n," Hilary said wearily.

to the footsore Earthmen. It mocked and je

of underbrush. The next instant t

der. They climbed swiftly down the swaying rungs. The rock slanted with them, turn

ting up to them,

are, you two.

llowed, not pausing an

y to the floor of the gorge. A mom

thing like the men he had encountered on his first trip on the express c

the narrow cleft, crowded and crowding. A ta

cried. "We had given up al

id Grim. "Where's L

looked s

ttered. "Took two h

. "Disobeyed orders, di

as up in arms, moving to attack the Mercutians. I couldn't hold him. Said you we

"Know wha

r radio communication went

d Grim softly. "

But I'm forgetting...." He turned to Hilary, who had remained quietly aside. "This is Hilary Grendon, your Chief. He's the man who is re

crowded him until he was almost smothered. It was a rousing reception. The kind Hilary h

ation and despair had come to believe the Mercutian overlords invulnerable. It had been the little spark that t

d of the fog of hopelessness as he took command. Jo

d the tiny company into ordered discipline. Absurdly few to fight the Mercutians, but Hilary counseled patience. They were

ekest of the Earthlings. They stirred the embers of revolt with muted whisperings; they found trustworthy leaders in each commu

s posted in a dugout directly under the overhanging lip of the gorge. It was his duty to warn of impending attack; above all, to

tering mask of stars by night. Weather machine or no

crushed in blood and agony. New York was deserted except for the Mercutians. The country round had been ruthlessly rayed; not only

ors of the world. There were three of the terrible diskoids hovering within a radius of one h

that Hilary Grendon, the prime mover, the defier of the Mercutians, had escaped. The invaders sought him ceaselessly, offering huge rewards for know

cause of Earth's freedom by premature action. What have we? A handful of men, poorly armed. A few pistols; only, three of which can use the dynol pell

the Mercutians finally trace our hi

lary told him quietly. "Let it

meone averred with

estruction. Some of the weaker spirits among the men were for disbanding. They were afraid of eventual discovery; anxious about their families, left to the tender mercies of the o

diskoids had crashed to the ground from its station fifty miles up in a smother of flame and flying frag

e had attacked the Mercutian, brought it down. More diskoids wer

was brought to them. A momentary wild hope fl

Hilary. "You think it is Wat Tyler and

slowly. "Why no

they would have returned to this place. And you forget that Mercutian guard who was freed

k his head

o dribble back quietly to their homes. They were sullen, defiant in th

elves killed for not

dead, Wat too; no hope of freeing the Earth from its slavery. If only he had the Vagabond, he'd take off again for the uncharted reaches of spaces,

tossed back and forth in inextricable babble. Hilary was on his feet in an instant, instin

Hilary shouted to

ed the other, "but

ghtened men like a ship shouldering the waves, Hilary in h

ry, "why aren't

ed automatica

utians ha

" Hilary demanded,

found him climbing out. Said it would be dangerous in broad daylight. He was in a terrible funk. We had no or

ght was split by a sizzling flame. It crisped the poor fellow to a cinder, and sheared the head

didn't wait for more, but scrambled out of the dugout as fast as I could. Up above I saw a one-man flier sl

ed. Someone cried: "It's all o

It would take very li

w is no time to play the coward."

, you said?" he

ered, "and I'll bet he's c

to an easier drawing position, swung himself aloft on the ladder. "Take over, Grim, un

ter him, alarmed. "I'll go

it's my jo

ts. They would die gladly for Hilary Grendon now; he was proving himsel