The Heads of Apex Page 4
automatically controlled locks.
"At about this time our experiments opened up another realm ofexistence, manifesting at a vibratory rate above that of earth. Tothis new realm we brought workers who built the City of Apex and thepalace you are in. But, unfortunately, we brought with us no weaponsof offense, and in the new world we had neither the material nor thedelicate mechanisms and factories to reproduce them. However, forcountless ages there was no rebellion on the part of the workers who,even in A-zooma, had worshipped us as gods. They were born, grew oldand died, but we abode forever. Besides, in the City of Apex they werefreer than they had ever been before, merely having to furnish ourlaboratories with certain raw materials and the wherewithal to sustainthe blood supply on which our lives depend. But, of late, they havemade common cause with the original inhabitants of this plane, thegreen men--"
* * * * *
The green men! As if the words were a signal, a dreadful thinghappened. Out of a far shadow leaped a lean and hideous monster. ToMiles' startled eyes it seemed to grow as it leaped. Thin,unbelievably thin it was, yet swelling at the head. From between twogoggle-eyes writhed a rope-like trunk. Twelve feet in the air its headtowered over Zoro. "Look out!" screamed the American.
Zoro's chair seemed to jump. Too late! Around the tubular containerwrapped the snake-like trunk, plucking the wheelchair and its occupantfrom the floor and dangling them high in air. "Shoot!" cried Zoro.
Miles shot. His bullet ploughed through the unbelievably thin body andricochetted from a pillar beyond. Ward fired with better effect. Oneof the goggle eyes spattered like glass. Under a fusillade of bulletsthe monster wilted, giving expression to a weird, shrill cry. Zorodangled head downwards. To drop from such a height on his skull wouldprobably be fatal.
But the monster did not drop him. Instead, in its death agony, itsgrip tightened, and the Americans witnessed an incredible sight.Before their very eyes the monster began rapidly to shrink. Itstenuous body telescoped together, becoming thinner and thinner in theprocess, until on the floor there lay the lifeless body of asnake-like creature not more than six inches in length!
"Good Lord!" breathed Miles.
Zoro who had escaped unscathed from his perilous plight, regarded itwith his peculiarly colored eyes.
* * * * *
"It is a tah-a-la," he said, "and must have entered the room at thesame time you did. The green men often capture and train them forhunting. When about to seize their prey their bodies have the power ofenormously stretching." Outwardly he seemed unaffected by the dangersafely passed and waved away several of his fellows who had wheeled tothe spot attracted by the noise of the pistols. The Americans weremore shaken. "Perhaps," said Ward, "there is danger of--"
"None," replied Zoro. "I know there are no other tah-a-las insidethese rooms, since it is the nature of these beasts to rush to eachother's aid when they scream. And as for outside attacks, thelaboratories are insulated against any the insurgent workers can make.Their weapons are poor--the green men use but clubs. No, it is nottheir attacks we fear but their refusal to furnish us with supplies.They worshipped us as gods, and the giving of supplies was long areligious rite. But now they doubt our divinity, and, since they nolonger listen to or obey our decrees, we have no means of punishingthem. Spiro is responsible for this."
"Spiro?" questioned the two men.
"He whom we raised to the dignity of godhead on the accidental deathof Bah-koo, causing a deep sleep to fall upon him in the temple andgrafting his head upon the mechanical body left by the latter. Twicebefore we had done this with citizens of Apex, and how were we to knowthat Spiro would resent it? True, he was in love with Ah-eeda, but thephysical passions of men die with the organisms that give them birth.For three years he dwelt with us in the laboratories, learning thewisdom of the Heads, and then,"--Zoro's face became forbidding--"hedenounced us to the people. Though there was more or less discontent,they would never have dared defy us save for him. He told them thatour curses could do no harm, that we were merely the heads of men likehimself and would die if they refused to give us the wherewithal torenew blood.
* * * * *
"But this refusal of theirs is an evil thing," he cried, looking atthe Americans with his strangely colored eyes. "It violates the customof ages, and strikes at the very roots of our existence. So we heldcouncil and sent two of our number to Earth after men and weapons toenforce our demands. For years we had watched Earth, seen its myriadcivilizations rise and fall, studied the coming of America to powerand importance. So it was to America that Solino went, by way of thetunnel that still exists under the Atlantic--"
"And hired us," interrupted Ward, "and brought us to the tunnel in thesubmarine-car where we--"
"Stepped into the crystal chamber," finished Zoro. "That chamber is are-vibrating device of certain rays and chemicals. The shutting of thedoor closed the switches and hurled your bodies to where areceiving-station on this plane integrated them again."
So they were not at the bottom of the ocean. They were--stupendousthought--living in a new world of matter!
"Spiro suspected our plans," continued Zoro. "He isolated us in ourlaboratories, and, by means of a crystal tube, went through to thetunnel, tore up a section of track, and wrecked the submarine-car. Buthis act was only partially successful. You two escaped death; you arehere; you are ready to keep faith and fight in our service."
"We are ready to fight," assented Miles and Ward. The situation wascertainly an unusual one, and one they did not clearly understand; buttheirs was the simple code of the mercenary soldier--they would fightfor whoever hired them, and be loyal as long as their wages were paid.
"Then there is no time to lose," exclaimed Zoro. "Already our bloodgrows thin. You must go back to the wrecked submarine and retrieveyour weapons."
"But how?"
"There is a sending tube in the next compartment."
* * * * *
They followed Zoro through lofty rooms filled with amber light untilthey came to one wherein were assembled the rest of the Heads. Zorospoke to them swiftly in a strange, flowing tongue. Then he conductedthe two Americans to a crystal chamber at the end of the room and badethem enter it. The vibrant light caressed their limbs.
"When I close this door," he said, "you will find yourselves back inthe tunnel. Board one of the submarine-cars on the siding and proceedto the wreck." He gave them detailed instructions how to operate thecar. "Then get your weapons and return. Do you understand?"
They nodded.
"The workers possess no arms the equal of machine-guns and bombs. Theywill be at your mercy. Remember that you are fighting for our livesand that, if you save them, your reward will be great. Fear nothing."
The door closed. After a moment there was a blinding flash, a momentof swooning darkness, and then they were staring through transparentwalls into the phosphorescent gloom of the underseas crypt. Suddenly,what they had recently undergone seemed the product of an illusion, adream. Ward shook himself vigorously. "I guess it was real enough," hesaid. "Let us see if the car works."
They ran out to the wreck and returned without trouble. Themachine-gun was mounted for action and the gas-bombs slung over theirshoulders in convenient bags. "All right," said Miles tensely, "let usgo."
Again they entered the crystal chamber; again there was the flash oflight and the sensation of falling into darkest space. Then, in amoment it seemed, they were stepping into the hall from which they hadfled pursued by the green men--only for the second time, to beconfronted by a crowd of hostile giants. "Don't fire, Kid!" yelledWard. "It's no use to kill them uselessly. Give them the bombs!"
Disconcerted by the attack of tear-gas, the green men broke and fled."After them," panted Ward: "we've got them on the run!"
* * * * *
Thrilling to the lust of battle, the two Americans emerged into anopen square. They had little tim
e to note the odd buildings andstrange statues. Coming towards them with leveled weapons, the natureof which they did not know, was a band of short men--that is, short incomparison with the greenish giants. Behind this company appearedstill another, and another. Tear-gas was useless to stop their onwardrush. "All right," yelled Miles, "it's lead they want!"
The machine-gun spat a hail of bullets. Before the first witheringblast the swarthy men recoiled in confusion. Then a second volleyscattered them like chaff. Miles and Ward were conscious of no pityfor the dead and wounded lying on the pavement of yellow stone. Thiswas their profession, the stern business of which they were masters.In France they had seen worse sights, and in Nicaragua and