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Pirates of the Gorm By: Nathan Schachner (1895-1955) |
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This etext was produced from Astounding Stories May 1932.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. [Illustration: He jumped directly over the Gorm! ]
Pirates of the Gorm By Nat Schachner
[Sidenote: The trail of vanished space ships leads Grant Pemberton to
a marvellous lake of fire.]
Grant Pemberton sat up suddenly in his berth, every sense straining
and alert. What was it that had awakened him in the deathly stillness
of the space flier? His right hand slid under the pillow and clutched
the handle of his gun. Its firm coolness was a comforting reality. There it was again. A tiny scratching on the door as though someone
was fumbling for the slide switch. Very quietly he sat, waiting, his
finger poised against the trigger. Suddenly the scratching ceased, and
the panel moved slowly open. A thin oblong patch glimmered in the
light of the corridor beyond. Grant tensed grimly. A hand moved slowly around the slit a hand that held a pencil ray.
Even in the dim illumination, Grant noted the queer spatulate fingers.
A Ganymedan! In the entire solar system only they had those strange
appendages. Pemberton catapulted out of his berth like a flash. Not a moment too
soon, either. A pale blue beam slithered across the blackness,
impinged upon the pillow where his head had lain only a moment before.
The air cushion disintegrated into smoldering dust. Grant's weapon
spat viciously. A hail of tiny bullets rattled against the panel, and
exploded, each in a puffball of flame. But it was too late. Already the unknown enemy was running swiftly
down the corridor, the sucking patter of his feet giving more evidence
of his Ganymedan origin. Pemberton sprang to the door, thrust it open
just in time to see a dark shape disappearing around a bend in the
corridor. There was no use of pursuit; the passageway ended in a spray
of smaller corridors, from which ambush would be absurdly easy. HE glanced swiftly around. The corridor was empty, silent in the dim,
diffused light. The motley passengers were all sound asleep; no one
had been disturbed by the fracas. Earthmen, green faced Martians,
fish scaled Venusians, spatulate Ganymedans and homeward bound
Callistans, all reposing through the sleep period in anticipation of
an early landing in Callisto. All were asleep, that is, but one. That brought Pemberton back to the
problem of his mysterious assailant. Why had this Ganymedan tried to
whiff him out of existence? Grant frowned. No one on board knew of his
mission, not even the captain. On the passenger list he was merely
Dirk Halliday, an inconspicuous commercial traveler for Interspace
Products. Yet someone had manifestly penetrated his disguise and was
eager to remove him from the path of whatever deviltry was up. Who? Grant gave a little start, then swore softly. Of course! Why hadn't he
thought of it before! The scene came back to him, complete in every
detail, as though he were once more back on Earth, in the small,
simply furnished office of the Interplanetary Secret Service. The Chief of the Service was glancing up at him keenly. Beside him was
a tall, powerfully shouldered Ganymedan, Miro, Inspector for Ganymede.
Grant looked at him with a faint distaste as he sat there, drumming on
the arm of his chair with his spatulate fingers, his soft suction
padded hoofs curled queerly under the seat. There was something
furtive, too, about the red lidless eyes that shifted with quick
unwinking movements. But then, Pemberton had small use for the entire tribe of Ganymedans.
Damned pirates, that's all they were. It was not many years back since
they had been the scourge of the solar system, harrying spatial
commerce with their swift piratical fliers, burning and slaying for
the mere lust of it... Continue reading book >>
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