Page:Amazing Stories Volume 07 Number 08.djvu/61

732 vering the flyer slowly through the open doorway. Out in the open air, the ship was engulfed by hundreds of other Titanians, who flew around it and clung tenaciously to its surface, flapping their bodies madly in their efforts to hold the ship back.

Due to the extra weight and to the terrific resistance which the bodies of the amoebas caused, the rocket-ship was hardly able to keep in the air.

By using the full power of both rockets and gravity-nullifiers, Brink managed to keep on going until the ship was directly over the middle of the lake.

"Here's hoping that the water is deep," he murmured, as he turned the nose of the craft downward and switched off the nullifiers.

Down plunged the ship at a sharp angle. The pointed prow stabbed the water, sending a geyser of spray into the air. Like a fish-hawk, the great hull dove into the lake, sending the Titanians flying in all directions.

When it bobbed to the surface, it was halfway to opposite shore. Brink turned on everything. With a roar of flaming exhaust, the space-ship shot skyward.

HEN they were well outside of Titan's atmosphere, Brink shut off the rocket tubes and steered the ship around the satellite in a wide circle.

Surprised by the sudden stillness, Vera Valentine exclaimed, "What's the matter, Captain? Something wrong with the exhausts?"

"Nothing like that. But I don't want to get too far away from Titan."

"What in the Solar System are you talking about? Don't you think we had better be on our way before those funny looking space-ships overtake us?" As she said this, she pointed to a large fleet of bizzarre polyhedrons which were swarming upward like angry bees from an overturned hive.

"No danger from them, so long as we keep outside the atmosphere," Brink informed her. "I had a good look at one of them yesterday. They are just aircraft. They are not built for space travel."

"Perhaps you are right. But even so, what's the idea of loitering?"

Like a school master addressing a stupid pupil, Brink explained, "The idea is that a space marine never deserts a buddy." Then, remembering that Miss Valentine knew nothing about the disappearance of Captain Hawkins, he hastened to apologize. "I beg your pardon. You see, when we landed on Titan there were three of us. The other fellow, Captain Hawkins, is back there somewhere. Perhaps he's dead. Perhaps he's in danger. Perhaps he is safe. Whatever the answer is, it is up to us to go back there and find him."

"You mean you intend to go back there and risk getting caught again?"

"There's nothing else I can do. But I have tried to plan things in such a way that nobody but me will need to take any serious risk. As soon as the Titanians have calmed down and it gets dark enough to land near the city without being seen, I intend to turn the controls over to Lieutenant Sullivan. He will drop me off on Titan and will immediately take off again and wait for me out here. I shall arrange to signal him as soon as I succeed in locating Captain Hawkins. Then he can come down again and pick us up. In case he doesn't get my signal within a reasonable period of time, his instructions are to take you two girls back to Ganymede. In the meantime, I suggest that you and your sister had better get some sleep. You'll find hammocks and blankets in the storage compartment."

With a gallant bow, Lieutenant Sullivan opened the door in the bulkhead and motioned for the two women to enter.

An instant later he was startled by two terrified screams and the girls came tumbling out of the storage chamber.

"Oh!" one of them cried. "There's something in there! It's one of those horrid Titanians. I saw it move."

Before the words were out of her mouth, Sullivan had slammed the door and clamped it fast.

"No use, Jimmy," Brink told him. "All our supplies are in there—food, water, oxygen—nearly everything we need. We'll either have to kill that bozo or tie him up."

"No use trying to capture him," Sullivan moaned. "Those babies can twist their bodies into any shape they want to. You might as well try to tie up a puddle of water. And, as for killing it—you know darn well what happened to the bullets from my super-pistol."

"Everything you say is true, all right," Brink admitted. "But perhaps we can figure out some way. Let we think.

Obligingly, the other three held their breaths while Brink thought. The tense silence was broken by a noise. To the Valentine sisters it sounded like the growl of a ferocious animal—although they must have known that the Titanians never made any sounds.

But to Brink and Sullivan, that noise was as familiar as the roar of their rocket tubes.

"Al!" they both yelled. And Sullivan added, "If that isn't Al's snore, I'll eat my nullifier."

Deserting the controls, Brink followed Jimmy as he dashed into the storage compartment. There, completely covered by a blanket, a shapeless form heaved up and down as the hammock swung to and fro.

As gently as a mother inspecting a sleeping infant, Sullivan drew back the blanket, exposing the pink, angelic countenance of Captain Hawkins. He was about to shake the sleeper, when Brink caught his arm and held a finger to his lips. Picking up a drinking tube, he held it high above the sleeper's face. With a squeeze and a shake he forced out a big globule of water. Like a sparkling bubble it floated slowly downward until a formed a fluid mask, completely covering Hawkins' face.

With much gurgling and coughing and waving of arms, Captain Hawkins awoke and gazed with bewildered eyes into the faces of his two comrades.

"What—tha—what tha!" he sputtered. "Can't you even let a guy sleep in peace?"

"You don't mean to tell we you've been sleeping here since we left you to guard the space-ship?" Brink exclaimed.

"Before I answer that silly question, suppose you tell me where we are."

"We're out in space, about a hundred kilometers from Titan. And these are the Valentine sisters. Jimmy and I found them and got away in the space ship. We were just preparing to go back to Titan and hunt for you when the ladies discovered you and mistook you for a giant amoeba."

"Really?" Hawkins said in what was meant to be a