Dwight V. Swain

“ They jerked him up short before the altar. The black-masked figure shook a jet-gloved fist and shouted guttural imprecations.
The last shreds of Jarl's terror vanished, washed away in the flood of his tormentor's fury. Out of nowhere, a thing that Wassreck once had said came flashing to him: Hate is the face of fear, not courage.
That hate which showed in the primitive's every line and gesture—it, too, was born of terror ... a welling fear of all and any beings who came down from the skies to Womar. ”

“ What was loyalty now, when it made a man try to choose between Sais and the thin-drawn chance that he might somehow save Ceresta?
Of a sudden he felt as if he were being pulled apart by the conflicting claims of love and loyalty, torn asunder under the impact of a dozen different kinds of duty.
The proton bomb on the table would rend a man less.
The proton bomb....
Bor Legat straightened. He snapped to the crewmen, "Take the woman!"
Never had the basilisk eyes held more deadly malice.
"Jarl ..." whispered Sais. But her voice held only proud farewell; no tears nor fears, no piteous entreaty. ”

“ Morning on Womar.
The hot winds were flames whipping at Jarl's face, and the driven sand slashed and burned like pelting needles. Slowly, the night died and, off to his right, the sun rose—fiery, incandescent. Venus, to his left, stretched in a great, shining arc as far as the eye could see. Dust swirled about him in smothering clouds. He wallowed through a sea of powdery, ankle-deep grit where rocks shoved up in hidden reefs to trap him. Hollows loomed in his bloodshot eyes like chasms, and hillocks grew to mountains up which he toiled on hands and knees, choking and gasping. ”

“ Jarl turned his head; slashed out at rey Gundre, still standing by the viziscreen: "You, Commissioner! What are you loyal to? The Federation, that you betray? Ylana, your own daughter, who'd rather die in the desert than live here with you?"
A trace of color came to the high commissioner's grey, sagging face. Unspeaking, he looked away.
"Loyalty—!" Jarl spat. "How can any of you even pretend to know what it means? Because a man's first loyalty is to his own conscience—and conscience is a thing you neither have nor understand!"
Wassreck's gaunt face contorted. "A pretty speech—to die with." ”

“ Jarl leaped at him like a pouncing zanth, stabbing for the throat-sac with the keen-edged skrii blade.
The point bit in, even as the Martian tried to throw up a warding arm. What might have been a shout came out as a rush of blood and bubbling air.
The fala tottered, coughing out his life. Down the corridor, the Ganymedan whirled.
Jarl snatched the ray-gun from the toppling guard's holster. His voice rasped, low-keyed and tense: "Don't make me kill you, ktar! I want only freedom, not your life!" ”

“ It was old, this ship—old with an age that staggered Jarl Corvett's mind. Eons were in the sagging plates and splitting arches. The crystals that glinted in the dull, warped metal spoke of untold ages here on Womar. The hull was smashed and shattered, too, and the blazing sun poured in through a thousand great jagged holes and rifts. One whole end of the craft was crumpled, buckled, where it had plowed deep into the rocks and sand as it crashed here. ”

“ The nozzle he left sticking in the creature on the altar. It thrust up from the hollow below the breast-bone like the hilt of a deep-plunged dagger.
The two primitives by the wheeled tub let the lid fall back. Turning, one darted to the bulkhead door. When he came out, he bore a flaring torch.
New silence fell upon the crowd, so complete that the altar-crewman's footsteps rang and echoed in the stillness.
He passed the torch to his black-masked fellow.
Black-Mask swung the flaming brand on high and, turning, faced Jarl Corvett. His voice thundered, harsh and guttural. ”

“ Unswerving, Sais at his side, he stalked up her ramp.
A grim, slim, deadly craft, the Knife, black as the heart of her mutant master. The fastest ship in all the raider fleet, with a killer crew drawn from the scum of the whole wide solar system.
The guard at the hatch was such a one—an Earthman, long fled from his own home planet. Slouched at his post below the scarlet signal light, thumb hooked in belt, he stared bleakly off across Ceresta's port and puffed at a chang cigarette of Venus.
Jarl's footsteps echoed. The guard swung round.
The next instant he was whipping up his blaster. ”

“ Jarl stood rock-rigid. The words he could not understand. But the threat, the menace—they needed no translator.
Pivoting, the primitive stepped back from the altar; thrust out the torch till its flame touched the tip of the nozzle protruding out of the shackled prisoner's chest.
Of a sudden Jarl's whole body was drenched with icy sweat. He could not move; he could not breathe. The tales of horror he'd heard so many times swirled through his brain.
For an instant, nothing happened. ”

“ He spoke to Bor Legat, but his eyes were on the grenade that stood beside the Mercurian on the table. A tremor of chill fascination touched him as he stared at the safety pin, the firing lever.
"A change of heart—?" Legat smiled his ghoulish smile. "For a moment, there, I thought you'd let us have the woman."
"No, Bor," Jarl Corvett said tightly, and in that moment a raider's own wild recklessness was singing in him. "I've other plans for Sais and you. If they work, she'll live, and so will I—and you, you scum, there'll come a day when you'll have your chance to die by inches!" ”

“ He was suddenly tottering weak, his belly sick and twisting.
Still beside him, Ungo studied him with worried eyes. "Look, Jarl: You're done. Lay down before you fall down."
Jarl braced his arm against the cabinet of the viziscreen. "How can I rest?" he mumbled, and knew himself that he was mumbling. "Even if we make it, what happens to the raider fleet—and to Ceresta? This new weapon...."
"Can you help more if you're dead?" the Jovian badgered. "Will things be better if you fall over?" He gripped Jarl's arm. "Come on! I'm putting you to bed, whether you want to go or not!" ”

“ Jarl shouted. He hacked his way up the blood-slippery ramp; clutched Ungo's belt and half-dragged the Jovian aboard.
The last of the raiders scrambled in behind them. The hatch clanged shut. The ready bell leaped to jangling life.
There was a sudden roar of auxiliary gravicomps. The gyro-indicators jiggled and swayed in their mountings. Men lurched awkwardly, caught momentarily off balance in the crushing force of too-fast acceleration.
Then stability returned. The carrier speared upward, out from Vesta, into the spark-spangled, glittering murk of the boundless astroidal night. ”

“ Bor Legat said: "Torture means little to a man like you, Jarl Corvett. I doubt that it would break you. But if you knew your silence would doom this woman...."
Sais cried: "No, Jarl—!" Before they could stop her, she was running to him. She threw her arms around him. "Jarl, they're mad with fear of my father's weapon! If you give rey Gundre's daughter to them, they will gamble the fate of the outlaw worlds on their bargain with him—!"
For a moment Jarl held her to him. Her warmth, the softness of her body, brought new strain, new tension. ”

“ Sobbing, she broke off; turned to face Ungo and the staring crewmen. "A fool's tale, he calls it! He'd go on to Ceresta!" She choked. "Must all of us die for this one madman? I tell you, your sainted Wassreck has surrendered and given the Federation his newest, most deadly weapon! I came to warn you, so that you could flee to outer space—"
Jarl caught her arm. Sharply, he twisted. "Enough, you she-quirst! Even if you believe you tell the truth, you're more the fool to think so!" ”

“ What force is there that can stand against them? What planet could defy their might?"
"But the high commissioner...." Jarl gestured, stumbled. "Why would he aid the outlaw worlds—?" And then, in sudden panic, whirling: "Quick—! The Federation fleet—it's headed down for Ceres! We've got to stop them! It may already be too late!"
But Wassreck's voice said, "No, Jarl."
It was flat this time, no longer gentle.
Slowly, slowly Jarl turned from the scanner, with its clustered, crawling pinpoints. A seeping emptiness was rising in him—an ugly, hollow feeling he'd never felt before. ”

“ The Earthman's blaster did not waver.
"I know it. I'll wait."
The guard's brow furrowed. For a moment he stood hesitating, wordless.
Heedless of the menace in the cold blue eyes, Jarl brushed on past him. Chill arrogance in his stance, he strode down the echoing corridor to the crewmen's day-room.
A knot of lounging raiders looked up as he entered, then snatched for weapons. Again his name rang: "Jarl Corvett—!" "It's Corvett!"
And again Jarl laughed his reckless laugh. "That's right. It's Corvett."
A Pervod pushed forward. Jarl recognized him as one of Tas Karrel's chief lieutenants. ”

“ Very softly, Jarl said, "There's the law of the raiders. A chieftain must meet any man who dares challenge." And then: "You, Pervod! Will you fight hand-to-hand for Tas Karrel?"
The reptilian's eyes glinted. His claws touched the ray-gun.
Scorn rang in Jarl's laugh. "I said hand-to-hand, by the law of the raiders! I came here unarmed, to fight Karrel to the death for his chiefship!"
A low mutter rose from the crewmen. The Pervod's eyes wavered.
Jarl said: "Know my pledge, comrades! Not booty, but freedom! If you blast with me, we may all die on Womar. ”

“ Choking, Jarl came up beside her. His thin-stretched mask of bleakness fell away. "Sais, it's madness!"
"Because of the primitives, you mean? Because of the Federation ban, the deserts—?" Sais laughed aloud, and there was scorn and fury in it. "Yes, Jarl Corvett, it's utter madness! That's why my father went in secret, leaving you behind to call him traitor! He wanted no other to die with him on such a hopeless quest. So he sent his message to rey Gundre, wagered his own life on the one slim, desperate chance that he could bring destruction to the Federation!" ”

“ Jarl turned to Ungo. "We'll go down through the workshop. There's less chance there to trap us."
In hair-triggered silence, they moved back through the hallway, the girl boxed among them. A different ramp yawned. The door at its foot let them into the workshop, the place of the robots.
Wassreck's robots.
A name to conjure with, Ktar Wassreck. Master of robots, master of raiders. The brain of a genius in a pain-shriveled body. A mind that had fathomed the key to the star-stones; courage to strike even through Oyo's flame-death, staking his soul for Jarl Corvett at Horla. ”

“ Even Sais is no lovelier....
Cursing himself for a fool and a weakling, he tore his eyes from her and studied the aide.
He was Malya, this officer; Malya and warrior. His dark rough-hewn face stayed emotionless, immobile. But the black Malya eyes ranged ceaselessly—bleak and watchful, never still. Ruthlessness was in them, and recklessness ... a spirit that seemed to mock Jarl Corvett and deny the blue Federation tunic that the dark aide wore.
Bitterly, Jarl looked down at his shackles. He thought of the Malyas among his own crewmen; the wild, free-born raiders. ”

“ Of Bor Legat and Ungo, Tas Karrel and Ylana, a thousand fallen crewmen.
Of Ceresta's teeming hives, and Pallas, and of the raider fleet.
Of freedom.
Perhaps there was still a place in this mad universe for a man who did not fear to die. ”

“ Coolly, the girl slid out from under the bunk and, supplely graceful, rose to her feet. Ignoring Jarl, she straightened the sleekly-styled blue Federation tunic that accented rather than concealed the smooth curves of her slim young body. When she looked up, her grey eyes were mocking, half-disdainful. "What, raider? Have you never seen a woman, that you must stare so at me?"
"You—? A woman?" Jarl spat. "Your own sex would disown you! You're more mad ban than human!" He clenched his fist. "By H'sana's virgins. I should kill you!"
Ylana tossed her head—uncringing, defiant. ”

“ A great black jet of smoke shot high into the air, out of the nozzle.
The life-form on the altar gave one shrill cry that was agony, incarnate. Its body jerked and twisted, lashing against the shackles in a frenzy.
The primitives went mad. The huge room rocked with their howls and screamings.
But Jarl Corvett hardly heard them.
He'd seen cruel death before, on a dozen far-flung planets.
But this....
For while he watched, thin lines of fire were racing along the doomed sacrifice's writhing body. In a spreading network, the flesh itself was bursting open, flames leaping up in a thousand places. ”

“ The personal carrier of rey Gundre, high commissioner of all the asteroids, rose stark and sleek, a shining silver lance against the darkness of the sky. Blue-uniformed Federation guards patrolled in pairs or stood their posts around it, weapons dully gleaming.
The sight of the ship, the fighters, somehow lifted Jarl. Of a sudden he knew that now, of all times, he needed a foe that he could see and strike.
He clipped curt orders: "We'll come out fast and trust to shock to get us through. The first man aboard grabs the controls. The last racks shut the hatch. Blast as soon as the bell rings!" ”

“ And Jarl Corvett's nemesis.
Even looking at her here, Jarl could feel the muscles at the hinges of his jaws draw tight.
Tonight she sat slim and graceful at the banquet table in a scarlet stylon gown. Her blonde hair swept up in a soft golden nimbus like that of Tal Neeni, sea goddess of Callisto. The red lips were smiling, the grey eyes asparkle.
Yet even when she laughed, some dark inner mood seemed to shadow her beauty, even as it had last night while she lay asleep.
That shadow.... Was it alien blood, or a secret? Again Jarl caught himself wondering. He thought: I should hate her! ”

“ Again Jarl looked to the raider chiefs, the burly crewmen.
A thought moiled in the far reaches of his brain: If I could only snatch a weapon....
But even as it came, it died again. What good could any weapon do against so many? Even if he killed Bor Legat, there'd be the others.
The Mercurian said: "We're wasting time, Corvett. Give us Ylana—or we'll get to work on your own woman."
Sais choked, "Jarl, stand firm—! Let them have me; it doesn't matter...."
Her voice broke. Jarl held her tighter. Bitterly, he thought of Wassreck, her father, and of Horla. ”

“ Was it you who screamed and called the guard when they sought to flee in your own carrier?"
Her father's jaws went stiff and set. His clenched fists bore down upon the table. But he broke before Ylana's eyes; said nothing more.
The girl turned her back on him. Furiously, she challenged Jarl: "You were brave enough last night, when you dealt only with a helpless woman! But how is your courage now, bold raider? How does force taste, when another hand holds the lash?"
Her shoulders twisted. Gripping the Mercurian's belt by the tongue, she slashed out with the heavy stanal clasp. ”