Spacewrecked on Venus Part 5

The brigand chieftain and his men were emerging from the bushes with the little boxes stacked in their arms.

"We're sunk now!" exclaimed Quentin.

Impulsively, the captain took a step in the direction of the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p.

One of the outlaws guarding us stepped forward before the captain, bringing up his pistol. An evil light shone in his eyes, the fanatical gleam of the confirmed killer. It was the man's intention to kill Cragley where he stood.

But the act was never consummated. A blank look overspread the outlaw's face. His face held that strange expression which is so characteristic of the electrocuted man. He tottered and fell face downward. Uttering a cry of agony, another of the brigands fell, seizing frantically at a shaft which protruded from his body, a shaft of crude hammered metal.

While we all stared in surprise at the fallen men, Jasper Jezzan, quick to take stock of the situation, looked out over the high gra.s.s.

"Troglodytes!" he cried. "That's one o' their metal darts, Ben!"

Substantiating Jasper's discovery, there came a chorus of yells from all sides. Heads came into sight above the tall gra.s.s. Darts flew thick and fast, yet every one found its mark. The cave men of Venus brandished their weapons preparatory to rus.h.i.+ng in upon us in overwhelming numbers.

The outlaws blazed away at the savages, but the latter proved to be difficult targets at which to aim. They were always on the move, running, hiding, reappearing to launch their deadly darts from another direction. Ledageree dropped his armful of the precious metal and screamed an order.

"Into the s.h.i.+p!"

It was then that I noticed the curious fact that none of the pa.s.sengers or crew of the _C-49_ had been hit. The remaining outlaws attempted to herd us into the s.h.i.+p. Their numbers rapidly diminished under the hail of darts cast at them so accurately by the troglodytes. Many of the cave men toppled over in death as the outlaws made a hit, but more came to take the places of those fallen.

"There's the white man--the renegade!" shouted Quentin.

Indeed, it was so. The troglodytes were led by the man who had broken into our camp on the previous night. Seizing a pistol from one of the fallen brigands, Ben hastily pointed it at the yelling cave dwellers who were running full force in our direction, the renegade at their head.

"No. Ben, no!" cried Jasper. "They're friends!"

"It's Brady!" shouted one of the pa.s.sengers of the _C-49_. "Chris Brady!"

"Impossible!" exclaimed Cragley. "He's dead!"

"You're wrong, Cragley!" said I, also recognizing the renegade. "That is Brady!"

I heard a noise behind me. I turned and looked. Ledageree and two of his surviving brigands were clambering aboard the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p. The horde of troglodytes were nearly upon us. In trepidation, I moved backward.

Ledageree had gained the deck and was running in the direction of the air lock when Brady saw him, raising his pistol to fire.

From its concealment, I brought my gun into action. With hasty aim, I pulled the trigger, cursing myself for a wide miss. I was a bundle of nerves at the moment. Again I tried, this time drawing a fine bead.

Chris Brady was clearly outlined beyond the sights of my pistol.

A split second before I squeezed the trigger, Jasper Jezzan seized my arm. The flash of power shot harmlessly into the sky. Fiercely, I battled with the Hayko man, raising my pistol to brain him. But Cartley was upon me, and I went down under their combined weight. Something hit my head. Blackness engulfed me.

When I regained consciousness, I was aware of the babble of voices. My head throbbed and swam dizzily. A ring of troglodytes encircled me. I heard Chris Brady talking. Had he come back to life in some miraculous manner? I had seen him shot and buried. His words penetrated my dazed senses.

"When I saw that everything was stacked against me with no chances of proving my innocence, I tried an old trick, Cragley. I was afraid you'd get wise to me, but you didn't. I fell a split second before your men fired. I watched your lips for my signal. None of the shots touched me.

I played dead and was buried in the shallow grave. When you went, I dug myself out. I came pretty near smothering."

"We buried you alive!"

"You did, and I'm thankful I was alive--and still am."

"But the troglodytes?"

"My friends," replied Brady. "I've been among them a great deal during my life upon Venus. I know their language and customs. They look up to me and obey my orders. We've been following you. The other night, we broke into your camp and stole food and this pistol."

"Then you're not the outlaw we supposed you to be?" Cragley was amazed beyond words. Apologies flooded to his lips and remained unspoken. What apology could there be to this Innocent man he had all but sent to his death?

"No--I'm not, but I knew there was no way of proving it to you," replied Brady, "at least not until Deliphon was reached. With my friends, here, I followed your trail. We heard the sounds of fighting far ahead. When we found you attacked by outlaws, I knew it was my chance to save you and prove myself."

"You have proved yourself!" exclaimed Cragley warmly. "But what about Raynor and Davy?"

"They thought Brady was their leader they'd been told t' watch for!"

interrupted Jezzan spiritedly. "Plain as day, ain't it, Ben?" He turned to his comrade for a confirmative nod. "There's your man!"

Jasper Jezzan pointed at me where I sat on the ground, collecting my wits. I knew that I had been caught red handed. Denials were useless.

"Ern Hantel!" exclaimed Cragley in surprise. "He's the last man I'd suspect!"

"Just the same, he's the man you thought Brady was," persisted my prosecutor relentlessly. "He put green flares in your campfire ashes, so's we could follow you."

"How did you men come to be with the outlaws?" asked Brady, a bit confused by the surprising revelations he had heard.

"The authorities at Deliphon have suspected this gang for quite a spell," replied Cartley. "Jasper and I joined 'em t' find out. We're much obliged t' you and your cave men, Brady. You got us out of a tight pinch."

Cragley confronted me. "What have you to say for yourself, Hantel?" he asked grimly.

"They've got my number right," I grumbled, rubbing an aching head. "No use bucking a Hayko man in a place like this." I nodded in the direction of Jezzan and Cartley. "Ledageree was warned against strangers."

"Then you admit Brady is innocent?" queried the captain, seeking the confession which would irrevocably clear the accused man.

"Yes. He's innocent. Davy and Raynor never knew me. I sent my instructions to them through Brady, leaving messages where they believed he'd left them. When we left the earth, I recognized Davy and Raynor right off. For secrecy's sake, they weren't supposed to talk with the man they took orders from. I took advantage of this fact by placing my article of identification in the possession of Brady."

"The brown collars you loaned me!" exclaimed Brady, realizing the mode of his undoing.

"After I'd first stolen your collars and destroyed them," I added. "I was afraid of something going wrong before Ledageree and his men picked us up. I blew out the radium repellors of the _C-49_ and planted the evidence in Brady's room. I knew if anything happened Raynor and Davy would identify him as the man from whom they took instructions. That left me a loophole."

"The case against you is completed, Hantel!" Cragley's face was stern and set. "You're the one who's going to be shot this time, and there won't be any chance of falling before my men fire, either!"

"Just a minute," interposed Jezzan, thrusting back the angry captain.

"We've got a say here. Headquarters wants this man. He's got more information than he's given. There's some other affairs he can talk about. He's going back with us."

Cragley didn't argue the matter. It was beyond his authority. Besides, if I received my just dues, he cared little where I was executed.

They placed me under strong guard on the outlaw s.h.i.+p, and we flew back to Deliphon. Knowing me for the clever, resourceful criminal which I pride myself on being, Jezzan and Cartley personally conducted me to the earth. There, I was given a brief examination.

At present, I find myself in the interplanetary penal colony of Phobos where I am being held for reasons peculiar to the Hayko Unit. I expect death most any day. In the meantime, I spend much of my numbered hours gazing out of my prison into the realms of s.p.a.ce. The rotating sphere of Mars stands prominent against starlit skies. Occasionally, I see Phobos'

companion moon, Deimos. Beyond the transparent facing of my prison cell stretches an airless void. There is but one escape. I await it, absorbed in fatalistic reflection.