Chapter V: The Dying Tentacle

Half an hour later, Verger, Anderson, and LeDoux stole forth from the rocket-ship. Each of the men had a box-shaped object strapped on his back. All three of them carried coils of insulated wire, which they unwound as they advanced.

When they were about a mile from the Goddard, Anderson removed the burden from his back and opened the package. It was a small but remarkably efficient phonograph, which was equipped with a powerful loud speaker and a device for automatically changing records.

After Professor Anderson had attached one of the wires to the phonograph and had adjusted the mechanism, he covered it with vines. Then they walked for approximately another mile in a direction which took them away from the space-ship at a slightly different angle. At this point, which happened to be in the midst of a thicket, they unpacked the second phonograph and connected it up to one of the insulated wires. The third phonograph was similarly installed and camouflaged at a point about three miles distant from the Goddard.

Guided by the wires, the three Earthmen tramped back to the space-ship. They had scarcely reached their destination when ghostly tongues of magenta, orange and lavender began to flame above the distant horizon, giving warning of the impending dawn of Jupiter.

"Hurry, fellows," Captain Verger cried. "Al, will you please wake up the ladies? Tell them we're going for a little hike and that each one of them must bring her own instrument. Professor, will you please get your ultra-sound device? I'll carry the storage batteries."

"What's the idea?" LeDoux demanded.

"I'll tell you later. Time's a-wasting, so let's get going!"

A few moments later he was leading the entire party toward a thickly wooded forest which was about two hundred meters distant, on the opposite side of the space-ship from the places where the phonographs had been concealed.

In accordance with Verger's instructions, LeDoux carried the three coils of wire, unwinding them as he advanced.

When they had penetrated the woods far enough to be completely concealed, the captain called a halt and proceeded to elucidate his peculiar orders.

"This is just a little game of hide and seek," he explained. "All you have to do is keep out of sight and notice what happens."

Peeping through the spongy foliage at the edge of the forest, he watched the slug-men as they emerged from their homes and flocked toward the space-ship. He waited until twenty or thirty of them had entered the Goddard and had subsequently poured out again, rushing about in apparent excitement. Then he connected one of the wires to the storage battery.

From the distant loud-speaker came the faint but unmistakable sounds of a brass band playing a stirring march in six-eight time. The slug-men must have heard it, for they all stopped and turned their heads in the direction of the concealed phonograph.

For an instant they hesitated; then, like rats following the Pied Piper, they all trooped after the mysterious music, which they obviously assumed was being produced by the band of Earth-Folk.

Verger glanced at his wrist-watch, estimating the amount of time which the Callisto natives would require to reach the first phonograph. Then he disconnected the wires, waited a while, and switched the current to the second phonograph. In a similar manner he timed the intervening interval before connecting the third phonograph to the battery.

Having thus tricked the enemy into a wild goose chase, Captain Verger herded his party back toward the space-ship.

"Don't go in yet, ladies," he ordered. Then to Anderson he said, "Let's see what your supersonic dohickey will do to that tentacle thing that's holding our ship down."

* * * * *

Acting on this suggestion, Anderson aimed his invention at the thick coil of sinew which held the Goddard captive, adjusted the mechanism carefully, and turned on the power.

The thing began to writhe like a python in its death throes. Captain Verger fancied he could almost hear his beloved rocket-ship groan as the massive coils tightened convulsively around it. But the staunch plates of super-alloy, built to withstand the terrific pressures incident to interplanetary travel, held firm.

Bracing himself to keep from falling to the ground, which was trembling like a miniature earthquake, Anderson continued to shoot the powerful waves at the struggling tentacle. Finally, as the vibrations cut through the massive tissues, the folds which encircled the ship uncoiled and slithered inertly to the ground.

As he jumped backward to escape being hit by the dying thing, Anderson collided with Helen Green who had been standing right behind him.

He helped her to her feet and then said angrily, "What are you doing here? Why didn't you stand back where you belong, with the other girls?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wanted to find out how that new gun of yours works, so I stood right behind you and watched you operate it."

A second later, when Captain Verger rushed into the Goddard's control compartment, he was nearly startled out of his wits. Barring his way was an enormous slug-man, who had obviously been left behind to guard the space-ship.

With a beastly snarl which sent cold shivers racing along the Earthman's spine, the creature seized him in its slimy arms and lifted his two hundred pound body as easily as if he had been a baby. Verger had barely time enough to shout a warning, "Look out, Al!" to LeDoux, when the monster whirled him about and crashed his head against the metal floor of the space-ship.

Drawing his ray-gun, LeDoux fired point-blank at the slug-man. The powerful blast, which would have instantly disintegrated the body of a human being or other mammal, seemed to have absolutely no effect on the boneless body of the Callistonian. One of its weird, three-fingered hands shot out, grabbed the weapon and wrenched it out of LeDoux's grasp. Then it turned the ray-gun on the Earthman.

The mechanism, of course, was unfamiliar to the monstrosity, and this undoubtedly saved the space-pilot's life. After fumbling for a second or two in an unsuccessful attempt to operate the weapon, the creature dropped it with a grunt of disgust and tackled LeDoux with its powerful, sinuous arms.

Attracted by the noise, Helen Green and two of the other girls rushed to the door of the control room. One of them uttered a low moan and fainted dead away. The second girl ran screaming out of the space-ship. Helen was the only one who kept her head. Turning to Professor Anderson, who was right behind her, she snatched the Supersonic Projector out of his hand, thrust its muzzle into the slug-man's side and squeezed the trigger.

Like a deflated balloon, the huge body collapsed, flopping to the floor in a shapeless mass. Into it plumped LeDoux, his fall cushioned as if he had dropped into a quivering heap of jelly.

Although he was trembling like an ash-tree in an earthquake, LeDoux, thanks to his long experience in facing emergencies, instantly took command of the situation.

"Quick, Anderson!" he shouted. "Make sure all the women are inside! Then close the hatch and clamp it tight! Girls! Climb into your hammocks instantly!"

As he was strapping himself into the control seat, he glanced through the observation ports. What he saw put extra speed into his fumbling fingers.

Already the natives of Callisto were rushing back to the Goddard. Apparently the tremors of the dying tentacle had told them that they had been outwitted. Although they were still nearly a mile away, they were racing along at such a rapid speed that their arrival was only a matter of minutes. On they came--thousands of them. Even at a distance, LeDoux could sense the menace of their furious features and their threatening movements.

Nevertheless, LeDoux made sure that all the women were safe in their hammocks before he snapped on the gravity-nullifier and sent the Goddard rocketing through Callisto's stratosphere.