FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   >>  
rent helmets as they did so. For a few moments the visitors silently surveyed their new surroundings. Their leader was a swarthy individual with sardonic black eyes who, on noticing Crain's captain-insignia, came toward him with outstretched hand. His followers seemed to be cargo-men or deck-men, looking hardly intelligent enough to Kent's eyes to be tube-men. * * * * * "Welcome to our city!" their leader exclaimed as he shook Crain's hand. "We saw your ship drift in, but hardly expected to find anyone living in it." "I'll confess that we're surprised ourselves to find any life here," Crain told him. "You're living on one of the wrecks?" The other nodded. "Yes, on the _Martian Queen_, a quarter-mile along the pack's edge. It was a Saturn-Neptune passenger ship, and about a month ago we were at this cursed dead-area's edge, when half our rocket-tubes exploded. Eighteen of us escaped the explosion, the ship's walls still being tight; and we drifted into the pack here, and have been living here ever since." "My name's Krell," he added, "and I was a tube-man on the ship. I and another of the tube-men, named Jandron, were the highest in rank left, all the officers and other tube-men having been killed, so we took charge and have been keeping order." "What about your passengers?" Liggett asked. "All killed but one," Krell answered. "When the tubes let go they smashed up the whole lower two decks." Crain briefly explained to him the _Pallas'_ predicament. "Mr. Kent and Mr. Liggett were on the point of starting a search of the wreck-pack for fuel when you arrived," he said, "With enough fuel we can get clear of the dead-area." Krell's eyes lit up. "That would mean a getaway for all of us! It surely ought to be possible!" "Do you know whether there are any ships in the pack with fuel in their tanks?" Kent asked. Krell shook his head. "We've searched through the wreck-pack a good bit, but never bothered about fuel, it being no good to us. But there ought to be some, at least: there's enough wrecks in this cursed place to make it possible to find almost anything. "You'd better not start exploring, though," he added, "without some of us along as guides, for I'm here to tell you that you can lose yourself in this wreck-pack without knowing it. If you wait until to-morrow, I'll come over myself and go with you." "I think that would be wise," Crain said to Kent. "There is plen
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   >>  



Top keywords:
living
 

wrecks

 

killed

 
Liggett
 

cursed

 
leader
 

helmets

 

search

 

knowing

 

arrived


morrow

 
briefly
 

explained

 

starting

 

Pallas

 

predicament

 

smashed

 

answered

 

bothered

 
searched

getaway

 

guides

 
exploring
 

surely

 

silently

 

expected

 

surveyed

 
Welcome
 

exclaimed

 
visitors

moments

 

nodded

 

confess

 

surprised

 
surroundings
 

captain

 

insignia

 
swarthy
 

individual

 

noticing


outstretched

 
intelligent
 

followers

 

Martian

 

Jandron

 

highest

 

sardonic

 

passengers

 

keeping

 

charge