She came. I suppose it was no more than an hour: It seemed an eternity of apprehension. There was the slight hissing of the seal of my door.
The panel slid. I had leaped from my bunk where in the darkness I was lying tense.
"Prince?" I did not dare say "Anita."
"Gregg."
Her voice. My gaze swept the deck as the panel opened. Neither Coniston nor anyone else was in sight, save Anita"s dark-robed figure which came into my room.
"You got it?" I asked in a low whisper.
I held her for an instant, kissed her. But she pushed me away with quick hands. She was breathless.
"Yes, I have it. Give us a little light--we must hurry!"
In the blue dimness I saw that she was holding one of the Martian cylinders. The smaller size: it would paralyze but not kill.
"Only one, Anita?"
"Yes. And this--"
The invisible cloak. We laid it on my grid, and I adjusted its mechanism. I donned it and drew its hood, and threw on its current.
"All right, Anita?"
"Yes."
"Can you see me?"
"No." She had stepped back a foot or two. "Not from here. But you must let no one approach too close."
Then she came forward, put out her hand, fumbled until she found me.
It was our plan to have me follow her out. Anyone observing us would see only the robed figure of the supposed George Prince, and I would escape unnoticed.
The situation about the ship was almost unchanged. Anita had secured the weapon and the cloak and slipped away to my cubby without being observed.
"You"re sure of that?"
"I think so, Gregg. I was careful."
Moa was now in the lounge, guarding the pa.s.sengers. Hahn was asleep in the chart room. Coniston was in the turret. Coniston would be off duty presently, Anita said, with Hahn taking his place. There were lookouts in the forward and stern watch towers, and a guard upon Snap in the radio room.
"Is he inside the room, Anita?"
"Snap? Yes."
"No--the guard."
"The guard was sitting on the spider bridge at the door."
This was unfortunate. That guard could see all the deck clearly. He might be suspicious of George Prince wandering around: it would be difficult to get near enough to a.s.sail him. This cylinder, I knew, had an effective range of only some twenty feet.
"Coniston is the sharpest, Gregg. He will be the hardest to get near."
"Where is Miko?"
The brigand leader had gone below a few moments ago, down into the hull corridor. Anita had seized the opportunity to come to me.
"We can attack Hahn in the chart room first," I whispered. "And get the other weapons. Are they still there?"
"Yes. But the forward deck is very bright, Gregg."
We were approaching the asteroid. Already its light, like a brilliant moon, was brightening the forward deck s.p.a.ce. It made me realize how much haste was necessary.
We decided to go down into the hull corridors. Locate Miko. Fell him and hide him. His nonappearance back on deck would very soon throw the others into confusion, especially now with our impending landing upon the asteroid. And, under cover of this confusion, we would try to release Snap.
We were ready. Anita slid my door open. She stepped through, with me soundlessly scurrying after her. The empty, silent deck was alternately dark with shadow patches and bright with blobs of starlight. A sheen of the Sun"s corona was mingled with it; and from forward came the radiance of the asteroid"s mellow silver glow.
Anita turned to seal my door; within my faintly humming cloak I stood beside her. Was I invisible in this light? Almost directly over us, close under the dome, the lookout sat in his little tower. He gazed down at Anita.
Amidships, high over the cabin superstructure, the radio room hung dark and silent. The guard on its bridge was visible. He too, looked down.
A tense instant. Then I breathed again. There was no alarm. The two guards answered Anita"s gesture.
Anita said aloud into my empty cubby: "Miko will come for you presently, Haljan. He told me that he wants you at the turret controls to land us on the asteroid."
She finished sealing my door and turned away; started forward along the deck. I followed. My steps were soundless in my elastic-bottomed shoes. Anita swaggered with a noisy tread. Near the door of the smoking room a small incline pa.s.sage led downward. We went into it.
The pa.s.sage was dimly blue lit. We descended its length, came to the main corridor, which ran the length of the hull. A vaulted metal pa.s.sage, with doors to the control rooms opening from it. Dim lights showed at intervals.
The humming of the ship was more apparent here. It drowned the light humming of my cloak. I crept after Anita; my hand under the cloak clutched the ray weapon.
A steward pa.s.sed us. I shrank aside to avoid him.
Anita spoke to him. "Where is Miko, Ellis?"
"In the ventilator room, Miss. Prince. There was difficulty with the air renewal."
Anita nodded and moved on. I could have felled that steward as he pa.s.sed me. Oh, if I only had, how different things might have been!
But it seemed needless. I let him go, and he turned into a nearby door which led to the galley.
Anita moved forward. If we could come upon Miko alone! Abruptly she turned and whispered, "Gregg, if other men are with him, I"ll draw him away. You watch your chance."
What little things can overthrow one"s careful plans! Anita had not realized how close to her I was following. And her turning so unexpectedly caused me to collide with her sharply.
"Oh!" She exclaimed it involuntarily. Her outflung hand had unwittingly gripped my wrist, caught the electrode there. The touch burned her, and short-circuited my robe. There was a hiss. My current burned out the tiny fuses.