Page:Amazing Stories Volume 10 Number 13.djvu/70

68 service belt where they crossed his chest.

"Calling Colonel Steiner, E.R.S.N.E. R. S. N. [sic]," he droned softly, "calling Colonel Steiner."

Presently a voice which seemed to come from within the space-flyer said, "Steiner answering!"

Floating without support in the center of the cabin, a marvelously life-like, three dimensional image of a human face appeared. It was the face of an old man, furrowed and weather-beaten; yet the eyes glowed with an alert, fresh vigor which is usually associated only with youth.

In succinct, crisp sentences, Sullivan described the finding of the ravished village and of his subsequent investigation. He ended with, "Any orders, Colonel?"

"None, other than the orders you already have received," the commanding officer replied. "I would like to have all three of you report to me as soon as you set your ship down at Headquarters Spacebase."

ALF an hour later, when Brink, Sullivan and Mayer were seated about the steel-alloy desk in Colonel Steiner's simply furnished office, the Captain of the Hyperion furnished his commanding officer with the details which had been omitted from his lieutenant's visaphone report. To Sullivan he left the task of explaining the conclusions he had reached as a result of the investigation he had made at the scene of the massacre.

As the recital progressed, the expression on Colonel's stern but kindly face became graver and graver. When all the salient information had been transmitted to him, he shook his head and said: "How horrible! And the worst of it is that we can't do anything about it."

Mayer leaped to his feet, his face flushed with anger, and cried, "What do you mean, we can't do anything about it?"

Steiner stared at him in astonishment, but before he could utter a word of reproof, the Ensign, realizing that he had committed a flagrant breathbreach [sic] of discipline, hastened to apologize: "Oh, I beg your pardon, sir! I forgot myself. Please forgive me."

Without speaking, Steiner turned his questioning eyes on Captain Brink as if in anticipation of the enlightenment, which the superior officer was ready to give him, concerning his associate's conduct.

"Ensign Mayer has been through a severe ordeal, Colonel," he explained. "You see he has a very special interest in Miss Andersen."

"Ah, now I begin to understand," the Colonel said in a sympathetic voice. Turning to Dan, he added, "I don't wonder that you are upset, Ensign Mayer. The mere thought of a loved one being in the power of a fiend like Zurek is enough to make any red-blooded Terrestrial forget himself. Unfortunately, however, as I said before, there is nothing we can do about it."

"But, surely, Colonel—if you will pardon my saying so, sir—there must be some way to save her from this unspeakable Martian. Ingeborg Andersen is a citizen of the Earth Republic. Furthermore, she is a Christian Missionary. Can there be any doubt about these two statements, sir?"

"Of course not, my boy. And may I suggest that it is not necessary for