XXVI
"Gregg, you"re safe!"
She had heard the camp corridors resounding with the shouts that Wilks and Haljan were fighting. She had come upon a suit and helmet by the manual emergency lock, had run out through the lock, confused, with her only idea to stop Wilks and me from fighting. Then she had seen one of us killed. Impulsively, barely knowing what she was doing, she mounted the stairs, frantic to find if I were alive.
"Anita!"
Miko was coming fast! She had not seen him; for she had no thought of brigands--only the belief that either Wilks or I had been killed.
But now, as we stood together on the rocks near the observatory platform, I could see the towering figure of Miko nearing the top of the stairs.
"Anita, that"s Miko! We must run!"
Then I saw my projector. It lay in a bowl-like depression quite near us. I jumped for it. And as I tore loose from Anita, she leaped down after me. It was a broken bowl in the rocks, some six feet deep. It was open on the side facing the stairs--a narrow, ravinelike gully, full of gray, broken, tumbled rock ma.s.ses. The little gully was littered with crags and boulders. But I could see out through it.
Miko had come to the head of the stairs. He stopped there, his great figure etched sharply by the Earthlight. I think he must have known that Coniston was the one who had fallen over the cliff, as my helmet and Coniston"s were different enough for him to recognize which was which. He did not know who I was, but he did know me for an enemy.
He stood now at the summit, peering to see where we had gone. He was no more than fifty feet from us.
"Anita, lie down."
I pulled her down on the rocks. I took aim with my projector. But I had forgotten our helmet lights. Miko must have seen them just as I pulled the trigger. He jumped sidewise and dropped, but I could see him moving in the shadows to where a jutting rock gave him shelter. I fired, missing him again.
I had stood up to take aim. Anita pulled me sharply down beside her.
"Gregg, he"s armed!"
It was his turn to fire. It came--the familiar vague flash of the paralyzing ray. It spat its tint of color on the rocks near us, but did not reach us.
A moment later, Miko bounded to another rock.
Time pa.s.sed--only a few seconds. 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 any 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 leapt up to lure Miko. But with Anita I did not dare chance it.
"We"ve got to get back to camp," I told her.
"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.
He was a hundred feet or more away now, and his weapon was of no 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 to locate us.
I murmured to Anita, "We must get away."
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 was not visible from here. But out through the broken gully, a white beam of light suddenly came up from below.
_Haljan._ It spelled the signal.
It was coming from the Grantline instrument room, I knew.
I could answer it with my helmet light, but I did not dare.
"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. Send us help._
I did not mention Anita. Miko doubtless could read these signals. They answered, _Cannot_--
I lost the rest of it. There came a flash from Miko"s weapon. It gave us confidence: he was unable to reach us at this distance.
The Grantline beam repeated:
_Cannot come out. Ports broken. You cannot get in. Stay where you are for an hour or two. We may be able to repair ports._
I extinguished my light. What use was it to tell Grantline anything further? Besides, my light was endangering us. But the Grantline beam spelled another message:
_Brigand ship is coming. It will be here before we can get out to you.
No lights. We will try and hide our location._
And the signal beam brought a last appeal:
_Miko and his men will divulge where we are unless you can stop them._
The beam vanished. The lights of the Grantline camp made a faint glow that showed above the crater edge. The glow died, as the camp now was plunged into darkness.
XXVII
We crouched in the shadows, the Earthlight filtering down to us. The skulking figure of Miko had vanished; but I was sure he was out there somewhere on the crags, lurking, maneuvering to where he could strike us with his ray. Anita"s metal-gloved hand was on my arm; in my ear-diaphragm her voice sounded eager:
"What was the signal, Gregg?"
I told her everything.
"Oh Gregg! The Martian ship coming!"