motion of encroaching torpor, and he gripped a heavy metal bludgeon.
He crashed it down on Ardath's head.
Without a sound, the Kyrian crumpled and fell, lay utterly motionless. Blood seeped slowly through his dark hair.
Instantly Thordred lunged through the doorway and reeled toward an instrument panel. If he could throw a single switch, the sleep-inducing apparatus would be shut off—
Louder the humming grew. Its vibration shuddered through every atom of Thordred's body. In the next room was absolute silence.
Thordred fell without feeling that he was doing so. The shock awakened him. He dragged himself to his knees and crawled on, his hand clawing desperately.
One finger touched the switch and helplessly slipped down. The giant Earthman crouched, shaking his head slowly.
Then he collapsed and sprawled out, silent. The yellow eyes were filmed with cataleptic sleep.
The humming rose to a peak that gradually began to die away. Inside the golden ship, nothing stirred when it reached its orbit and robot controls made swift adjustments. Around the Earth the vessel hurtled.
The lute fell from Li Yang's couch. A string snapped…
CHAPTER XII
The Man from Earth
Stephen Court raced his roadster along a Wisconsin road as he peered through sun-glasses at the lonely countryside. Beside him, Marion Barton huddled like a kitten in the seat, the collar of her white blouse open for coolness.
'How long?' she asked.
'Couple of hours,' Court grunted. 'We pass through Madison first. The 'drome's fifty miles south of there.'
Marion drew a notebook from her purse and thumbed through it rapidly.
'Everything's checked, I think,' she reported absently. 'Except the test flight. I don't believe the Temra was thoroughly inspected.'
'Damn silly name the papers gave the ship,' Court said wryly. 'It didn't need a name. It'll make the flight, all right.'
'And if it doesn't?'
He shrugged indifferently without glancing at her.
'Nothing much lost. For more than a month now, I've been working on the Plague—since Sammy got away— and I'm still at sea. Earth's science just isn't advanced enough. But perhaps I can find some more advanced alien science in that golden ship. Anyhow, we'll see.'
'Why must you go alone?' she insisted, her voice not quite steady.
'Because there's only room for one. We can't take chances. There will be little enough air and supplies as it is. I'm the best man for the job, so I'm the one to go.'
'But suppose something happens!'
'I can't stop the Plague by myself. X is still unknown, as far as I'm concerned. The only real clue so far is entropy. I know that X is catalyzed by some element in Earth's atmosphere. It speeds up the entropy of a living organism, changes it into some form of life that might exist, normally, a billion years from now. But it's so alien!'
He switched on the radio. A news commentator was talking excitedly.
'Around Pittsburgh, martial law has been declared. W. P. A. workers are blasting out a deep trench around the city, and pouring deadly acids into it. Whether this will form an effective barrier, no one knows. The rivers are filled with floating corpses. The contagion is spreading with great speed. Nearly a hundred of the Carriers have been seen in Pittsburgh, and the bridges are choked with refugees…'
So there were still more of the shining monsters. Sammy had been one of the first, and he was still wandering at large, since nothing could capture or destroy him.
'The Carriers kill instantly by touching their victims. Lead-plated suits are being issued to the guardsmen, but these do not always work. It depends on the quantity of energy emitted by a Carrier. Dynamite has been placed at the New York bridges and tubes. The mayor is ready to isolate Manhattan, if necessary, for protection.
'The war is at a standstill. Troops are mutinying by the thousands. Every metropolis is being vacated. We estimate about three thousand Carriers now exist, widely scattered over the Earth. From Buenos Aires—'
With an impatient gesture, Court shut off the radio.
'No hope,' he said. 'The Plague is steadily on the increase. I must get to the golden ship and back as soon as possible.'
They sat in silent despair as the car swept along the deserted highways. The landscape was incongruously peaceful. The green, rolling hills of Wisconsin stretched around them. A broad, lazy river flowed quietly beside the road. The only sound in the stillness was the humming of the motor.
Marion leaned her head back and stared up at the cloudless blue sky. All she could do now was let her thoughts drift. Suppose the Plague had never come to Earth. She and Stephen might be driving along together, under this same sky, and perhaps—
She blinked out of her reverie and lit a cigarette with unsteady fingers.
'Thanks,' Court said, and took it gently from her.
She lit another for herself.
'Funny,' she said.
Court nodded grimly, staring ahead.
'Yes, I know. All this changing—'Giving place to the new.' But God knows what the new order will be. A world peopled by beings of pure energy, eventually consuming all then-natural food, and dying off. Then there will be only a dead planet.'
'Will it still be as lovely?' she asked softly.
'Lovely?' Court frowned, seemed to notice the landscape for the first time. His gaze swept out over the rolling hills and the placid river. 'Yes,' he said finally, in a curious voice, 'it is rather lovely. I wasn't aware of it before.'
'I didn't think you ever would be,' she said.
He flushed. 'I have had so little time—'
'It wasn't that. You never looked at the world or at human beings. You looked through microscopes and telescopes.'
He glanced at the girl and his hand went out in a gesture that was somehow pathetic. Then his lips tightened. He drew back, again clutching the wheel firmly. He looked ahead grimly without speaking, not seeing the tears that hung on Marion's lashes.
They reached the air field soon after. The Terra had been wheeled out. A shining, golden cylinder, eight feet in diameter and twenty feet long, its ends were slightly tapered and bluntly rounded. It gleamed in contrast to the rich black loam on which it lay.
'Small,' Court criticized, 'Taut we had no time to make a larger one. It'll have to do.'
He helped Marion from the car and together they went toward the Terra. A group of mechanics and workers approached.
'All set,' the foreman stated. 'She's warmed up and ready, Mr. Court.'
'Thanks.' He halted at the open port. 'Well…'
'Good luck,' Marion breathed.
Court stared at her. Curious lines that had never been there before now bracketed his mouth. He looked away at the green hillside, and then back at the girl. His lips parted involuntarily, but with an effort he controlled himself.
'Thanks,' he said. 'Good-by, Marion. I—I'll see you soon.' He entered the ship and closed the port behind
