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it was almost equal to an anesthetic.
 I ll bet, Allison said grimly.  But what next, after they finish with their men? Do they start in on us
humans?
 There s only one human they ve sworn to get.
 Not Kilhide? Allison came bolt upright.
 Yes. They blame him for encouraging the men in this mania for female slaves.
 We can t let them get Kilhide! Allison snapped. As the final bandage was tied he came to his feet.
 Kilhide s the only one that can get us back to Earth!
Hand in hand they ran down the clay ramp as fast as Allison s painful legs could travel. They dodged
groups of fighters in the streets, they closed their ears to death screams from bodies that had been hurled
into ravines.
They glimpsed the fall of an aged potentate from the top of a stairs; heard a moment later the scream
from the terrorized American girl who had just fought free of his grasp; saw the stricken Dazzalox crash
to death over a torch light. Wincing, they turned their eyes away as the flames puffed up from his yellow
hair and eyebrows. They hurried on.
 Where s Kilhide? they shouted together at a two-striper who came running from the other direction.
 Layin for trouble makers. Watch out! He got a couple at the suburb, the slave retorted without
stopping.
They slackened their pace as they neared the red metal bridge. A severe voice barked at them from the
shadows.
 This way, you two.
They turned to see the gleaming pistol move out into the light. Back of it the sleek white-clad form of
Kilhide appeared.
 So you jumped your fate, Allison, said the evilly handsome scientist with a twitching smile.  You ll not
jump this one. You happen to be superfluous to my purposes, and this hour was made to order for
ridding myself of superfluous people. Your friend Smitt will also qualify. Now, Allison, step away from
that girl!
 No! cried June O Neil.  Please you can t! Not unless you kill us both!
 Don t be throwing yourself at the feet of a corpse, Miss O Neil. It annoys me. Kilhide twisted his little
trick mustache into a cynical scowl.  Besides, it s bad taste for one of your rank. You re soon to be
queen of these caverns when the Dazzalox have had their fun, and I 
Lester Allison and June O Neil were no longer listening. Their eyes were intent upon the six figures who
were cautiously stealing toward the scientist from behind his back. Now Kilhide s words broke off as he
saw shadows creep along the perpendicular wall.
THE man with the gun whirled. He faced a group of Dazzalox women with knives and axes in their
bloodstained yellow hands. The group bore down upon him. His pistol blazed, and three of them fell. The
others swamped him with their blades. His arms clamped over his chest and his gun fell. In another instant
he would have died with a knife in his throat, had Allison not interfered.
But between the efforts of Allison and June, not to mention Jo-jo-kak s widow, who chanced to be one
of the attackers, the assault was brought to a sudden halt&  Ja-ik-lif! Ka-lib-or-taf-ki-damik!
Jo-jo-kak s widow cried, pulling the other women back from the fallen slave master.  It is enough! We
leave him to die!
* * *
THE spacious corridors of Kilhide s laboratory were seething with American men and women, who
talked in low excited undertones. Though most of them wore the uniforms of Dazzalox slaves, their faces
glowed with hope and enthusiasm. They were on the verge of freedom. They talked of a swift return to
the earth.
Whenever their conversation slackened, Allison, sitting near the door, could hear the roar of the rivers
outside. The periodic floods of Mercury were scouring the rock dust and filth from the streets. Powerful
torrents were sweeping the dead and dying bodies away through unknown subterranean channels,
bearing them to the boiling seas on other sides of the planet.
Allison watched through the glass doorway. The winds, generated by the floods, kept the red torches
flickering and the shadows of the Red Suburb quivered. Occasionally but rarely a rush of water
would slap over a flame and extinguish it.
 June asked me to tell you that Kilhide is beginning to stir, said a voice at Allison s shoulder.
 Tell her I ll come soon, Allison answered.
 Smitt and the others haven t returned?
 Not yet.
Allison s eyes turned again to the red scene, coming to rest, as always, upon the crumpled striped door
beside the gaping death cave. Earlier he had seen the three Dazzalox women crash that door with axes,
and then themselves fall victims to the escaping death gas. Now the last of those three women was caught
by a wave and borne away, and only the battered fallen door was left as a monument to their mad
determination.
Poor insane Dazzalox women, Allison thought. Not satisfied until they had turned the last stone upon their
own extinction. They had released the invisible death that would rise to slay every male who escaped the
high rocks.
Four hooded figures came bounding along the path.
 The door! Allison called.  Unseal it!
Someone obeyed, and Smitt and his three companions entered; the door was sealed again. The four men
removed their oxygen masks.
 Well? Allison asked, facing Smitt.
Smitt shook his head slowly.  Complete slaughter, he said.  Every striped door is down. I don t think
there s a living soul left out there, human or Dazzalox. We found a few of both up on the shelves, but they
were gone. He added, turning away,  We didn t find Mary.
ALLISON put a hand on his shoulder.
 Your Mary is here, he said.
 She came in just after you left and none too soon. I think she ll be all right.
* * *
IN an inner chamber Allison glared into the eyes of Kilhide. The dying scientist had been given every
medical attention. He knew he could not live many hours longer, but he fought death as bitterly as he had
fought his fellow men.
 You ve got to live! Allison said to him fiercely.  You ve got to live long enough to send these people
back to Earth!
Kilhide muttered profanity.  So that s why you wouldn t let them kill me.
 There couldn t be any other reason, snapped Allison.  You ve got to come through!
 You can t threaten me, Allison, the sick man answered sardonically.
 For God s sake, man, show us how to operate the robot ship before it s too late.
The dying man answered with a sarcastic, taunting laugh.
 You ve got to do it, Kilhide! You ve got to send us back!
 You can go to hell and fry, Kilhide sneered, and then he closed his eyes.
June and Allison and the others who were at his side during the next two hours were convinced that he
never once returned to normal consciousness. All his feverish raving was simply the welling up of
repressions and hatreds and loves, dreams and ambitions and scientific secrets that were imprisoned
within his warped, complex mind.*
* The human mind is a peculiar organ. In certain types of insanity, which cause a series of repressions,
the accumulated emotions sometimes well out unchecked at periods of great physical stress, such as
approaching death, severe injury, or great emotional disturbance. During insanity, a censor wall is
erected, which very carefully conceals and holds back the desires that really are strongest. When this
censor wall breaks, the subconscious gains full control and all repressions are brought out into the light of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]