H. B. Hickey

“ What did the rest of the world mean to Case Damon? Nothing, if it was a world without Karin. Yet, she was his own kind, this girl he had married. Were their positions reversed, it would have been Case who shook his head. Better to die than live in a world dominated by a murderous, merciless power. ”

“ What if Cranly was the traitor within the Council? That was hard to believe, but you could never tell what lust for power might do to a man. Cranly wasn't the type. Yet, there was a planet to be won. They said every man had his price. And Cranly was in charge of Earth's intelligence services.
The ticking of the telecast broke into his thoughts. There were breaks in the steady sounds. His code call.
Case switched on the video and got a blank. What the devil! ”

“ With lights off in the darkness the automatic brake wouldn't work. A hundred yards down the car slowed, swerved, hit a concrete abutment. Quite a crash, Case thought. That ought to turn a few heads the wrong way for a while.
He was at the high fence in a flash. His fingers searched for and found crevices. Those fingers were strong as steel. They hauled Case Damon upward and over the top. He grinned into the darkness.
Men were running from the hangars toward the site of the crash. With no incoming traffic slated, the control tower had swung all lights that way. ”

“ With Burnine leading the way and Case keeping him covered from behind, they raced around the edge of the tower, cut down a pair of surprised guards who weren't expecting them here, and skirted the outside tower.
Then the hangars were only yards away and they were sprinting toward them. Now there were no more men to block their way. Only time was the enemy.
And time ticked away on Case's watch as he and Burnine strapped themselves into their seats. Five minutes was all the time they could hope for. With his own ship that would have been enough, but this space liner was not built for speed. ”

“ The official car jerked into high speed and Cranly talked. "It was no accident. Get that straight. New York was hit from the outside."
"But how? By what? Under the Unified Council there's no one who'd have anything to gain by war. There isn't even anyone on Earth with the power to make war."
"That's why we wanted you here. It figures to be an enemy from another planet."
"That doesn't make sense." Case swivelled around to face Cranly. "You and I know our system as well as anyone alive. ”

“ Cranly said.
And Cranly should know. So should the rest. Every one of them was in charge of a department of the Earth's services. But there was that emphasis on Mars and Venus. Strogoff interrupted that line of thought.
"I say we might as well give in." Even his thick mustache drooped in despondency. "Why have millions more killed?"
"Never!" Osborn thundered.
"I should hesitate to admit defeat," Vargas shrugged. "But how can we defend ourselves?"
Outside the chambers, in the corridor, Cranly gripped his friend's shoulder hard. ”

“ Case said. "You win."
He turned away from the video, and swung his gun around at Burnine. He hated to do this, but it had to be done. His eyes avoided Burnine's as he said:
"Open that door."
But before Burnine could comply with the order, there was a shout from the machine. Case whirled, startled. The room in the fishing cabin had erupted into a maelstrom of struggling men. He saw Vargas go down, smothered by blue-jacketed men of Earth Intelligence.
And then there was Cranly, his broad back bent over Karin's figure on the couch. He straightened with a length of rope in his hands. She was free. ”

“ Burnine was kept going by sheer strength of will, lugging a shoulder gun that weighed half as much as he.
The corridor on the main level was packed with armed men, but they cleared it by keeping a blast of fire always before them. Men melted away into side rooms, slid down intersecting halls. But at the entrance, the big door was closed.
"Looks like we're stuck," Burnine grunted. "We can't burn our way through that. And if we move, we'll have a hundred men popping out again behind our backs."
"We'll try one of these rooms back here," Case said. "Always the chance of it having a window." ”

“ Luckily, the pilot didn't try to argue. He was too scared. He snapped a chute around his own shoulders, fought his way forward and got the other one around Case. Another blast cut past the cabin, then another. The rocket ship was using all guns now. They were over the Potomac, then over a wooded area.
"We'll jump at a hundred feet," Case yelled.
A streak of flame caught the cab's right edge, and Case told himself they'd be lucky to jump at all. The little craft was almost out of control. His pretended spin was turning into the real thing. ”

“ The old feud between city dweller and rustic, Case guessed. He noticed that the citizens of Kanato wore clothing of high lustre and fine mesh.
They must be a scrappy people. Almost every male citizen carried a gun. His own wouldn't be noticed, then.
Before a huge building, the truck stopped. The end of the journey. Case hopped off, nodded his thanks for the lift and started walking.
Those three towers were at the edge of the city. Case made his way through a crowded square, turned down a fern-lined street and headed for them. ”

“ Engels was thrown forward, his chin meeting Case's fist on its way upward. There was the crack of a neck breaking. Case had put all his strength into that punch.
Burnine kicked at a guard's head, dropped down to one knee and came up with a gun. The other guards didn't have a chance. Burnine peppered them with pellets that ate away flesh wherever they hit.
"Let's go," Case snapped. "You take the lead. And don't stop to argue if anyone gets in our way."
Then they were racing down the long corridor toward a heavy door at the end. ”

“ We don't want to do just a temporary job. And we don't want to die here either. There's a debt I've got to settle on Earth. What are our chances of getting a ship?"
"Not much," Burnine told him. "The liner we came in is in a hangar beyond the last tower."
"Close enough," Case snapped. "You four watch the doors. They've got a tank of atomic fuel here, and if I know my stuff I ought to be able to rig up something that will do a permanent job on this installation."
Only two of them came up out of the lower level—Burnine and Case Damon. Behind them, they left a pile of corpses. ”

“ Using Cranly's figures and chart, he was only a thousand miles from that point in space.
He swung the ship around and cut speed, but held his hand ready at the throttle. There might not be much time to act. And the telecast was using his signal again. He didn't want to turn it up, but he wanted to hear that voice again.
"Damon," the voice said. "Case Damon. This is your last chance."
"Change your tune," Case snarled at the instrument.
But the voice was going on. "If your own life means nothing, perhaps you value another more. Turn on your video and you will see something of interest to you." ”

“ And then the darkness gave way to light and they were racing into a vast chamber filled with scurrying men.
Case brought up the heavy gun he was carrying, triggered it and was gratified by the streak of flame that issued from the muzzle. But other guns were popping steadily. Behind Case, a man went down.
There was a sharpshooter behind a bank of instruments, and Case took steady aim. The sharpshooter dropped. Meanwhile, Burnine and the other two had not been idle. They had both flanks cleared.
"This is it," Burnine gasped. "Good thing Engels liked to brag. That big panel is the converter." ”

“ It was Vargas. Somehow, Case was not surprised. It all made sense. Vargas had not wanted to join the Council. He'd held out for concessions, and those concessions had included a certain freedom from supervision of his country.
"Listen," Vargas said. "It is possible you have managed to do some harm there. If so, undo it at once."
His hand dipped into his pocket and came out with a gun. He calmly pointed it at Karin's head. With a sinking heart, Case realized that this time there would be no interference, this time Vargas would go through with it. ”

“ My job will be to stay here and keep the Council from giving up. Your job is to find the base."
"Are you sure the attack was from space?"
"Positive."
"Well," Case mused, "I've found uncharted planets, even discovered a city on Mars that the experts said didn't exist. Maybe I can get beyond the thunder, through a hole in the sky."
It was night, and that was a good break. Cranly had been sure he could hold the Council together another twelve hours. Even through a second attack. Fine. For a job like this, Case thought, twelve hours of night were better than twenty of daylight. ”

“ They darted inside, slammed the door behind them. Outside there was the pounding of many feet. While Burnine watched the door, Case turned his fire on the barred windows.
One of the bars turned red, glowed bright and started to melt. But it was going to be a long job. And they hadn't much time now. Case snatched a quick look at his watch and saw there was but an hour left.
"Damon!" That was from the corridor. Yuna's voice. Too calm, Case thought. Yuma had a card up his sleeve. "Better give up!"
"Make us," Case called.
"There is a telecast machine in the room," came the reply. "Turn it on." ”

“ The pilot looked twice at the silver tab, finally nodded. Case had a few minutes with his thoughts. He'd wanted to talk to Karin, but Cranly had turned thumbs down.
"You can talk to her if and when you get back," he'd said. Fine stuff for a guy who was supposed to be enjoying a honeymoon.
"Hey!" the pilot blurted, cutting into Case's thoughts. He pointed out the window.
Case saw a red streak cut through the sky toward them. A rocket ship, and moving fast. It flashed closer. No mistake about this, it was aiming right for them. They were a couple of dead ducks.
"Look out," Case said. ”

“ Maybe that will help.
"It seems that someone on Earth was experimenting with a new force. He discovered that he could put a crack in the curvature of space. Once he got through that crack and found Yuna, he realized that with this weapon of Yuna's he could take over the Earth. I don't know who this person is, but Engels is working for him. So are a lot of other people."
"What about these towers?"
"They work automatically. Two of them contain the apparatus for building up energy. The blast is fired from this one. It's all timed to fit with the machine on Earth. ”

“ That's why it takes exactly twelve hours."
"Do you know where the main works are?"
"On the level below this one. But what's the difference? We'll never get out of here."
"Maybe not. But we can sure try. Are you game?" ”