He turned to the port, looked out as in his mind three facts suddenly and logically came together: Benjamin Adison could warm a planet and his plans were stolen—Neptune was barren with ice and—He saw the planet slowly spreading out beneath them like a convex plain of white glass....

"That's right, telenewsman," the Martian interpreted his movement. He coughed like a dog sneezing. "Take a good look. Out of that desolate waste soon will come the most terrible armada of all history. We shall sweep everything before us—in a blast of white heat. Did you notice what happened to the boat we escaped in? Such will happen to your war planes. Who opposes us will quickly become a crisp black corpse."

"I presume," said Ricker dryly, "that you have Adison's plans. They were supposed to be able to heat a planet but your Neptune still appears cold as ever. Do you care to elaborate on this little scheme of yours?"

"Certainly." Vanger smiled like a cat in the canary's cage. "As to Neptune, you will have a personal showing in due time. As to the Adison Unit—you've seen an application of it destroy a plane in a matter of seconds. This ship is equipped with four guns that can cut through a yard of steel instantly. And the guns are controlled in range, intensity and breadth of contact. They can reduce a space liner to dust at ten feet—or melt a pin-head a mile away. What will you think when you see ten thousand planes like this—and materials for a million?"

"I'll think you're a damn liar," said Ricker, "till I do see 'em. And even then I won't believe you can lick one Patrol boat." He was bluffing and he knew it. Obviously Vanger knew it, too, for he winked at the imperturbable Molly Borden, his nasty smile still there.

Ricker cursed himself. If he'd called the Patrol instead of trying to be smart and contact the Times, this would have been nipped in the bud. What if it all was true? He'd seen what this ship could do. He'd also seen those dark crumbling bodies in the liner. And he'd followed Molly Borden on the wildest hunch. What had he run into? And what a story—if he lived to tell it....

"Landing," voiced Gurren from the wheel.

Ricker felt a sinking sensation as the plane slowed its descent. Looking out the port, he saw the surface of Neptune gradually flatten into an endless table of sleek gleaming ice, ghostly blue in the pale light, like a frozen lake in moonlight. They sank closer and the bare expanse swelled to a dim 

 Prev. P 10/32 next