"Get up on that plank! Dive into the tank! Get back into your own body, let Philip have his! Then come up-the two of you-and face the music. For I"ll be gone, and your story will sound like the ravings of a maniac."
Quest took an obedient step toward the platform. But at the same instant a tremendous crash shivered the door. It seemed to unnerve Keane Clason. With a gasp he sank down upon the steps, his body doubled in pain, his hand clutching at his heart. Another crash followed, and he shuddered and cried out.
Instantly Quest felt an expansion of the will. Keane"s sudden physical weakness had loosened his control. Philip"s lips worked painfully as Quest forced him to pause, to disobey the command of the Master Will. In a spasm of will he fought to wrench himself free from the countless clinging tentacles of his Control. In great surges, Quest"s reviving volition pounded against the walls of his borrowed body. Now he sought to force this sluggish body back to the wall, so that he might release the airlock and spring the door. But Philip seemed to ossify, every cord and muscle of his body frozen to stone by the conflict that raged within him.
Braced against the wall, Keane was rising slowly to his feet. His seizure was easing, and so he was able to exert a better pressure upon his rebellious Agent.
"Come!" he gasped, realizing that he lacked the strength to escape alone and must therefore change his plan. "Lift me-quick! Carry me out! Slide the panel back into place. We will escape together!"
The spoken command turned the balance against Quest. His will yielded to the master. At the same instant Philip"s body relaxed like an object relieved of a great excess of electrical potential. Suddenly strong and supple, he lifted the trembling Keane and tossed him across his shoulder.
For a moment there had been a lull in the a.s.sault on the door. Now the battering resumed with a fury that jarred the whole chamber and sent ripples dancing across the varicolored liquids in the osmotic tank.
"Quick!" gasped Keane. "Move! I say. Carry me out."
But he was in a fainting condition. Crash after crash rocked the chamber, and with every blow Quest"s will felt a stimulation that enabled him to stand off the commands of his Control. Then a wave of nausea swept over him and left him reeling. It seemed that Philip"s blood had turned to boiling oil. A dazzling mist swallowed him up, and with a weird sense of inflation he felt full strength returning to his will.
A booming blow that bulged the door inward acted upon him like a stage player"s cue. He leaped to the platform. The gurgling sound of remonstrance rattled from Keane"s throat. But Quest paid no heed. Philip was walking the plank-away from the open panel-out over the tank.
Rapidly he dropped down the ladder to the bottom rung, s.n.a.t.c.hed Keane"s wrist in a gorillalike grip, and hurled him down into the vat.
Then Philip was clinging desperately to the ladder, his strength gone, his body shivering as if with ague.
"Go on up!" came a strange, impatient voice from below him. "For heaven"s sake let me out of here!"
A downward glance, and with a shout of alarm Philip was scrambling up the ladder, for there was a head down there, and a pair of naked shoulders, and the face of a man he had never seen before. Hand over hand Quest followed. Philip had collapsed and lay p.r.o.ne on the plank. Quest lifted him to his feet and shook him anxiously.
"Philip!" he urged. "Philip! Can you walk?"
The tattoo on the battered door helped to revive the older man.
"Quick!" whispered Quest, kneading Philip"s arms. "There"s barely an hour left. Get to your office. Burn the papers. Refuse the money. Do you hear me?"
Philip nodded dazedly.
"Hurry!" puffed Quest, thrusting him through the opening that Keane had reserved for his own escape, and sliding the panel back into place.
Quest was himself now-young, strong, free. Instantly he threw the electrolytic switch to minus. For Keane had failed to emerge from the tank, and since he was submerged alone, he could not escape until electrolysis was halted.
Just as Quest leaped from the platform to release the airlock, the door burst in and three men with drawn guns rushed into the chamber.
The leader stopped with a startled oath and stood blinking his unbelieving eyes. Quest was poised like a statue, his naked body gleaming an unearthly white against the l.u.s.terless black of the wall.
"Quest," came from the three in chorus. Then a rush of questions: "What"s the matter? What"s happened to you? Where are the Clasons?"
Quest turned toward the platform, expecting to see Keane.
"Something"s wrong!" he shouted. "Quick! Somebody get Philip. He"s gone to his Loop office. Keane Clason"s at the bottom of this tank. I"m not sure how this thing works, but Philip can get him out! I"m sure of it!"
Despite the confident predictions of both Quest and Philip Clason, osmotic a.s.sociation failed to restore Keane to life, and at last the coroner ordered the removal of the body. The autopsy revealed heart disease as the cause of his death.
For reasons best understood at Washington, the cause of the five launch deaths was withheld from the public. Quest"s punishment for his part in the crime consisted of a promotion and a warm personal letter from the President of the United States.
Compensation
By C. V. Tench
Good G.o.d! Was I going mad? Surely this was some awful nightmare!
Professor Wroxton had disappeared-but in the bottom of the mysterious crystal cage lay the diamond from his ring.
"Why, John!" Involuntarily I halted at the entrance to my snug bachelor quarters as the flood of light my turning of the switch produced revealed a huddled figure slumped in an easy chair.
"Aye, sir, "tis me." The man got to his feet, gnarled hands rubbing at his eyes. "An" "tis all day that I"ve been waiting for you, sir. The caretaker said you"d be back soon so let me in. I must have fell asleep, an" no wonder, what with the strain an" no sleep or rest all last night."
"Strain? No rest?" I stared my bewilderment, trying at the same time to conceal the vague apprehensions occasioned by the fact that the trusted servitor of my friend, Professor Wroxton, should wait all day for me.
Hastily shedding my outer things, I bade him again be seated, sat down facing him, and asked him to explain.
""Tis the professor, sir." The old chap peered at me with anxious, wrinkled eyes. ""Tis common enough for him to send me here on messages, sir, but to-day I"ve come on my own, because, sir," answering the question in my eyes, "I haven"t seen sight of him since last night."
"Why-" I began.
"That"s just it, sir." John took the words out of my mouth. "For twenty years my wife an" me have looked after the professor at The Grange. In all that time he"s never been away at night. Whenever he had to come to town he"d tell us. Most times I"d drive him myself in the old car. But that was very seldom, sir, for Professor Wroxton had few interests outside."
"But, John," I protested "is there no other reason for your agitation? He might have had an urgent call, or gone out for a walk or drive by himself."
"No, sir. If you"ll pardon me, sir, you"re wrong. The professor was fixed in his habits. He would not go away without tellin" me. Think back, sir, you know the professor as well as me. Better, because you are his friend and I am only a servant. Although, sir," this proudly, "he always treated me as a friend."
"Go on," I urged, seeing he was not finished.
"Well, sir, a few minutes back you asked me if there was no other reason for my being upset like. There is, sir. You know, sir, that for more"n twenty years the professor has led a retired sort of life; the life of a-a-"
"Recluse," I suggested.
"That"s it, sir. He only left The Grange when he had to. He was all wrapped up in some weird-like thing he was inventing. In all those years, sir, you were the only visitor who ever went into his laboratory, or stayed at The Grange for a night or more. That is, sir, until three days ago."
"Go on," I again urged, some of his perturbation communicating itself to me.
"The Grange, sir, lying as it does, fifteen miles from town an" back in its own grounds away from the road, isn"t noted by many. When strangers do get into the grounds I usually gets "em out again in short order. Three days ago, sir, a stranger drove up to the door in a fine car. He told me he was wantin" to purchase a country home. I told him The Grange was not for sale an" turned "im away. He was turning his car to leave when my master came out. To my surprise, sir, he invited the stranger in. An" I"m sure, sir, because he looked so taken aback like, that the stranger had never seen the professor before."
"And after that?" I asked, now feeling decidedly uneasy.
"The stranger, sir-a Mr. Lathom he called himself-stayed on. He was in the study with the master last night. This morning there was no trace of either of them."
"But-good G.o.d, John!" I jerked to my feet, a fresh dread clutching at my heart. "What are you trying to get at? The professor and Mr. Lathom might possibly have driven away somewhere last night."
"Both cars, sir," the servant answered, "are in the garage. I bolt all the doors in the house myself every night. They were still fastened this morning. My wife an" me searched the house from cellar to garret an" hunted all over the grounds. We couldn"t find a trace of the master or his guest."