Captain Future 07 - The Magician of Mars (Summer 1941) (10 page)

Curt had opened the case of the instrument whose strap was slung around his shoulder. It was a radite-compass, used by Uranian prospectors. Its mechanism was sensitive to the emanations of radite, even at a great distance, and actuated a needle that pointed always to the emanations’ source.

The needle pointed northeast and downward, showing that the radite cavern they sought was somewhere in that direction. Captain Future and his great comrade tramped on down the winding tunnel, their feet splashing in the stream that flowed through it.

Presently the runnel debouched down into a vast cavern. It was feebly illuminated by the weak radiance of shining radioactive ores that rifted the roof and walls.

“I can see pretty well here, Chief,” Grag announced.

“That’s why I brought you instead of Otho. Your photoelectric eyes see better than his in semi-darkness,” Curt informed the robot.

Grag seemed flattered.

“Sure, that son of a rubber plant couldn’t see his hand in front of him here, I’ll bet.”

Pleased with himself, Grag followed Curt along the eastern wall of the vast, dim cavern. White lichens towered about them like a grotesque forest. On the rock ledges above them he saw enormous bat-like creatures, their scaly white wings folded about them in sleep.

Following the guidance of the radite-compass needle, Captain Future entered the first tunnel that diverged northeastward. A larger underground stream ran through it, broiling downward. The two intrepid adventures pressed on.

“How much farther do we have to go, Chief?” Grag demanded.

“Plenty far,” was Curt’s unpromising answer. “The intensity gauge on the radite-compass shows the deposit is still a long way off. And moderate that bellowing voice of yours, will you?” he added warningly. “The People of Darkness range through all these caverns.”

“The cave-people they warned us about?” Grag said. “Who’s afraid of them? They might have scared out other explorers, but not me.”

The connecting caverns seemed endless as Curt and the robot penetrated ever deeper. Curt felt a gnawing anxiety that spurred him onward. The thought that even at this moment Ul Quorn and his band might finally be departing into the other universe was a deepening shadow of worry across his mind.

He and Grag were moving down a dim chasm beside the waters of a racing little river, when Curt glimpsed something rushing toward them.

“Cave-spider!” he yelled, and grabbed for his proton pistol.

“Holy sun-imps!” gasped Grag.

The thing charging toward them was an incredible monstrosity. Its huge, hairy white body was supported by eight-foot jointed, hairy limbs upon which it moved with blurring speed. Its saucer-like eyes glowed redly in its hideous face, beneath which great fanged jaws gaped widely.

Captain Future aimed with deliberate care at the onrushing monster. The blue streak of his proton ray drove through the creature’s left eye. The giant thing threshed in a wild flurry of dying limbs.

“It looks like something out of a bad dream!” Grag declared.

“It’s the biggest cave-spider I’ve ever heard of, though I knew they grow big down here,” Curt admitted. He strode forward to the thing a little cautiously.

The giant spider was already dead. But, bending over it, Curt discovered something that sent a new thrill of alarm through him. Imbedded in the hairy, hideous body of the cave-spider was a short metal spear.

“This creature has just been stabbed by a hunter!” Captain Future exclaimed. “See, the wound’s still bleeding. The thing must have been running away from its hunter —”

“I hear footsteps now!” Grag declared, interrupting him.

Curt Newton at once drew the robot back with him into a shadowy recess at the side of the chasm. They waited tensely.

From ahead there appeared a hurrying human figure. It was a young man, whose skin was a faint yellowish white. He was garbed in a short tunic of woven lichen-fibers and carried a long hunting knife.

The hunter uttered a low cry of triumph as he perceived the dead cave-spider. He bent eagerly over his prey, examining it with eyes that Curt Newton saw had extraordinarily large black pupils. Then, as he examined the dead creature, the hunter uttered a cry of amazement.

“Grag, we’ll grab him — but don’t hurt him!” Curt whispered.

The two suddenly leaped out on either side of the hunter. The man whirled instantly and drove his knife at Grag’s breast. But the knife clattered off the metal chest of the robot. The hunter seemed so stupefied by Grag that it was easy for Curt to seize him before he could make further resistance.

Captain Future spoke quickly to the man.

“We are your friends, and will not harm you.”

Curt spoke in the oldest form of the Uranian language, hoping that the man would understand. His hope was rewarded, for after a moment the wild-faced hunter answered in a tongue that was vaguely similar.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “And who is this giant metal one?”

“How come you can talk the language of these People of Darkness, Chief?” Grag asked astonishedly of Captain Future. “It’s the old Uranian language,” Curt told him. “The People of Darkness are supposed to be Uranians who fled down into these caverns ages ago from enemies. I figured they’d still speak a variant of the old language.”

“We are from above,” he told the hunter. “The metal one is your friend as I am, though his body is not of flesh.”

“No men from above are our friends!” declared the hunter emphatically. “We kill them whenever they come down into the caves.”

Captain Future had had long experience in dealing with primitive planetary peoples, and knew what line to take.

“You could not kill us, for we could slay all your people instantly with our weapons such as killed this cave-spider,” Curt said firmly. “And the metal one beside me could destroy you with his bare hands.”

Grag took his cue. He extended his mighty metal arms above his head, then drummed with his great fists upon his metal breast to make a thunderous clangor. At the same time, he shouted deafeningly in his booming mechanical voice.

“I’m Grag, the toughest guy in all the nine worlds!” he howled. “I push planets around and eat moons for breakfast!”

The hunter was utterly impressed by Grag’s performance. He looked with deep awe at the mighty robot. And though Curt had now released the man, he made no effort to escape.

“The metal one is indeed mighty,” muttered the Darkness man.

“But he is your friend, as I am,” Curt said quickly. “Now take us to your village, for we wish to visit your people.”

The hunter nodded. He picked up the slain cave-spider, with a great effort, to pack it home. Grag nonchalantly took the heavy beast from him with one hand, slung it effortlessly over his shoulder. More impressed than ever, the hunter led the way back along the chasm through which he had come.

THEY passed out of the chasm into other caverns, traversing a bewildering labyrinth of cavernous spaces and crevices.

“How come we’re visiting this fellow’s village?” Grag asked Captain Future. “We haven’t time for exploring, have we?”

“This isn’t idle exploring, you idiot,” retorted Curt Newton. “This fellow’s people may be able to tell us the quickest route down to the radite cavern. It’d be faster than finding our way by compass.”

The hunter appeared to know his way through every crevice.

“He seems to see in this darkness better even than I can,” Grag commented.

“Sure, didn’t you notice his eyes?” Curt replied. “These People of Darkness have evolved to fit this environment. They’ve developed eyes with super-large pupils capable of gathering every ray of light.”

Soon their new companion led them out into a very large, dim cavern. Along one side of it raced the underground river.

“There is the village of my people,” pointed the hunter.

It was a queer village. The “houses” were without roofs or walls, for shelter was unnecessary in the warm, dry caverns. Each house was in fact nothing but a square marked out along a straggling street, each square containing the weapons and other belongings of a single family.

Curt noticed long, slim boats of crude hammered metal drawn up along the shore of the river. He guessed that these People of Darkness subsisted on the fish they caught, the animals they hunted, and the edible spore-pods of the great lichens.

There were scores of the People of Darkness in the dim village. Men, women and children were all garbed in tunics of lichen-fiber. The men rose in alarm and grabbed their spears as Curt and his companions appeared.

“These two are friends!” called the hunter to his alarmed folk.

A white-haired oldster who was evidently the chief of the village spoke to Curt’s companion.

“Why do you bring men from above here?” he demanded. “All men above are our enemies. It was they who long ago made us take refuge here.”

“We are your friends,” Curt Newton said quickly. “We are ourselves the enemies of those who forced your ancestors to flee down here.”

Curt reflected that the race that had once forced these people to take flight into the caves had perished centuries past, anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to say that he was the enemy of that race — as indeed, he would have been had it happened in his own time.

His declaration seemed convincing. The People of Darkness regarded the two with less hostility.

“If you are an enemy of our ancient persecutors, you are indeed our friends,” the old chief declared. “You are welcome among us. You shall live here with us, and hunt and fish with us the rest of your lives.”

“Some prospect, that,” grunted Grag when Curt had translated.

CAPTAIN FUTURE spoke earnestly to the old man.

“Much as we would like to do so, we can’t remain here. But we ask your help. We seek to find a certain cavern in which is a great deposit of a shining blue mineral.”

He described radite to them. The old chief nodded understandingly.

“I know that place in which the blue mineral exists. But it is far, far down in the caverns, farther than we ordinarily ever venture. The river in this cave flows down through that distant cavern, too.”

“What is the shortest way to the radite cavern?” Curt asked.

“There is no short way. It will take you very long to find your way to it.”

Curt felt dismayed. Then a daring thought entered his mind.

“You said this river flows down to the radite cavern? Then we could borrow one of your boats and float down in it to that cavern.”

“That would be taking a fearful risk,” the old chief exclaimed. “Not far below here there are terrible rapids and cataracts in the river, into which we never dare venture in our boats.”

“We’re
going to venture — we’ve got to!” Captain Future retorted. “If you’ll lend us a boat —”

“We will give you one,” said the old chief, “for you will never live to return it.” He led the way sadly toward the river-bank.

“Cheerful old cuss,” chuckled Curt as he and Grag followed. Presently Curt was inspecting the boat the People of Darkness had united. It was a canoe-like craft twelve feet long, made of hammered metal. It had two heavy metal paddles.

CURT took his place in its bow. Grag hopped “in beside him. They grasped the paddles, and with a hand-wave to the People of Darkness, Curt pushed out into the current.

“Farewell, friends from above!” called the old chief. “It is a pity you have to go and get killed before we know you better.”

“Some send-off!” grinned Captain Future. “Paddle, Grag!

We’ve got to keep from being dashed against the cliffs!”

The racing black current was already bearing them at great speed down the length of the cavern. The foaming waters entered a large tunnel at the end of the cave, and into that they were borne at increased velocity.

The low roof of the tunnel echoed back the roar of the waters. Captain Future had set his infra-red searchlight in the bow to stab its beam ahead and show them rocks and ledges. To be dashed against one at this speed would mean destruction.

Faster and faster roared the raging current, bearing them down toward the depths of the planet through winding tunnels and dim, vast caves. They were soon traveling at such speed that the rock walls about them were only a dim blur. Showers of spray dashed Curt’s face, and his adventure-loving soul felt keenly the intoxicating excitement of the moment.

They shot into a broad, long tunnel where the waters foamed white in raging rapids. Great rocks protruded from the foam like menacing fangs, and the current seemed fiendishly intent on hurling their little craft against the obstacles.

“To the right, Grag — paddle harder!” Curt yelled back to the robot over the roar of the rapids.

“I can’t keep her steady in this current!” Grag shouted.

Curt’s laugh pealed back.

“Don’t say that! Remember, you’re Grag the mighty, the fellow who pushes planets around. Paddle!”

They whirled sickeningly down through the foaming stretches, grazing rocks, whipping past obstacles barely visible in the dim light. A moment later they plunged into a new series of rapids. But when they had won through those, they were in comparatively smoother water.

“I think we’re past the worst!” Curt called. “But —
what’s that?”

From ahead came a dim thunder that was growing louder by the second, a frightening booming toward which they were swiftly racing. Then Curt saw that the tunnel ahead debouched into a sheer, empty abyss. The river tumbled down into that vast space in a thundering waterfall.

“Paddle back, or we’ll go over that fall!” Curt yelled.

They paddled madly, but it was too late. The irresistible current swept them on. Their boat poised a moment on the brink of the vague abyss, then plunged sickeningly over the edge.