Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930Various
Science
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930
Various
Science fiction -- Periodicals; Science fiction, American -- Periodicals
Miko rose a moment later and bounded to another rock. I scrambled up,
and shot at him, but missed. Then he crouched and returned my fire
from his new angle; but Anita and I had shifted.
Time passed--only a few moments. I could not see Miko momentarily.
Perhaps he was crouching; perhaps he had moved away again. He was, or
had been, on slightly higher ground than the bottom of our bowl. It
was dim down here where we were lying, but I feared that every moment
Miko might appear and strike at us. His ray at any short range would
penetrate our visor-panes, even though our suits might temporarily
resist it.
"Anita--it's too dangerous here."
Had I been alone, I might perhaps have leaped up to lure Miko. But
with Anita I did not dare chance it.
"We've got to get back to the camp," I told her. The audiphone brought
her comment:
"Perhaps he has gone."
* * * * *
But he had not. We saw him again, out in a distant patch of
Earthlight. He was further from us than before, but on still higher
ground. We had extinguished our small helmet-lights. But he knew we
were here, and possibly he could see us. His projector flashed again.
But we had again shifted, and were untouched. He was a hundred feet or
more away now. His weapon was of longer range than mine. I did not
answer his fire, for I could not hope to hit him at such a distance,
and the flash of my weapon would help him with his aim.
I murmured to Anita, "We must get out of here."
Yet how did I dare take Anita from these concealing shadows? Miko
could reach us so easily as we bounded away, in plain view in the
Earthlight of the open summit! We were caught, at bay in this little
bowl.
The camp from here was not visible. But out through the broken gully,
beyond the staircase top, a white beam of light suddenly came up from
below.
"_Haljan._"
It spelled the signal.
"_Haljan._"
It was coming from the Grantline instrument room, I knew.
I could answer it with my helmet-light, but I did not dare. I
hesitated.
"Try it," urged Anita.
* * * * *
We crouched where we thought we might be safe from Miko's fire. My
little light-beam shot up from the bowl. It was undoubtedly visible to
the camp.
"_Yes? I am Haljan._"
And I added:
"_Help! Send us help._"
I did not mention Anita. Miko could doubtless read these signals. And
in the camp they must have missed Anita by now. They answered:
"_Cannot_--"
I lost the rest of it. There came a flash from Miko's weapon. But it
gave us confidence. He could not reach us at the moment.
The Grantline beam repeated:
"_Cannot come out. Portes broken. You cannot get in. Stay where you
are--an hour or two. We may be able to repair portes._"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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