Page:Amazing Stories Volume 15 Number 12.djvu/31

Rh "Those were his orders," said Cabot. "Right now you think very bitterly about your seeming failure. You mustn't, Dane. The fact is, you have been so closely watched that you had little chance to work. That is why you were never told of my whereabouts, for fear the knowledge might be tortured out of you. Yet we kept you on Earth when at any time we might have brought you here. There are few Americans left with the initiative that characterized the pioneers. You and Benchley and the other pair included the only ones we could fully rely on. And because in you flows the hot blood of the greatest rebel of them all—Mortimer Cabot—we sought to keep you on Earth to fight for our ends."

Dane smiled slowly.

"You're forgetting another great rebel, Dad. Old Sam Cabot hasn't done so badly!"

Cabot turned away with a grunt.

"He hasn't done so darned well, either. Come along. You'll need a shower and some food after five days in that animated cannon-ball."

Kris winked at the younger man, and Margo laughed softly under her breath. Between the two of them, then, Dane followed his father down the winding stone stairway from the hill-top.

ANE'S room was on the top floor of a large, ten-story structure that housed the ruling body of Io. Kris had servants bring him clean clothes of the same type he and the other rulers wore. They consisted of a short, gold jacket, a lightweight silk shirt, and very full trousers of the same gold material. An added necessity was lead-soled shoes to prevent any more inadvertent high-jumping exhibitions.

Dane had a shower, the cool water seeming to give him back all the strength he had lost during the long voyage. While he dried himself he stood and looked out over the city.

An air of having been thrown up overnight lay over the buildings. The streets were crooked and winding. Many of the houses were in need of repair. Indeed, there were cracks in the floor and ceiling even of the House of Rulers.

Night came without warning to Io. In the thin atmosphere the sun's rays beat straight down; when the world rolled, the sun was blanked out almost instantly. There was one brief, brilliant flash of gold and red. Then night wrapped the city up in gray. And with the semi-darkness came sudden, bitter cold.

Standing at the window, Dane felt the sub-zero air sweep in at him. His cheeks tingled. His lips instantly grew stiff and blue. He was still standing in that startled attitude when Kris came into the room.

He laughed at Dane's plight.

"My fault!" he chuckled. "I forgot to tell you it grows cold rather suddenly here on Io. A moment ago our constant daytime temperature of seventy degrees existed. I think you'll find it’s about sixty below zero, Fahrenheit, now!"

"I believe you!" Dane muttered. He dived into his clothing on the double-quick.

"We're dining immediately," Kris told him. "You'll join us?"

"I haven't eaten since that laughing gas of yours put me to sleep four days ago," said the Earthman grimly. "Lead away."

"I must apologize for that, too," said the tall Ionian. "Had you tampered with the controls, you would never have