The valley was dead.
When it was all over, Wayne took the hypodermic gun from his pouch, filled it with the anti-hypnotic drug that he had taken from the medical cabinet, and began to make his rounds. He fired a shot into each and every one aboard. He had no way of knowing who had been injected by the small monsters and who had not, so he was taking no chances.
Then he went to the colonel"s room. He wanted to be there when the Commanding Officer awoke.
The entire crew of the _Lord Nelson_ was gathered in the big mess hall.
Wayne stared down at the tired, frightened faces of the puzzled people looking up at him, and continued his explanation.
"Those of you who were under the control of the monsters know what it was like. They had the ability to inject a hypnotic drug into a human being through a normal s.p.a.ce boot with those stingers of theirs. The drug takes effect so fast that the victim hardly has any idea of what has happened to him."
"But why do they do it?" It was Hollingwood, the metallurgist, looking unhappy with a tremendous bruise on his head where Wayne had clobbered him.
"Why does a wasp sting a spider? It doesn"t kill the spider, it simply stuns it. That way, the spider remains alive and fresh so that young wasps can feed upon it at their leisure."
Wayne glanced over to his right. "Lieutenant Jervis, you"ve been under the effect of the drug longer than any of us. Would you explain what _really_ happened when the _Mavis_ landed?"
The young officer stood up. He was pale and shaken, but his voice was clear and steady.
"Just about the same thing that almost happened here," Jervis said. "We all walked around the valley floor and got stung one at a time. The things did it so quietly that none of us knew what was going on until we got hit ourselves. When we had all been enslaved, we were ready to do their bidding. They can"t talk, but they can communicate by means of nerve messages when that needle is stuck into you."
Nearly half the crew nodded in sympathy. Wayne studied them, wondering what it must have been like. They _knew_; he could only guess.
"Naturally," Jervis went on, "those who have already been injected with the drug try to get others injected. When everyone aboard the _Mavis_ had been stung, they ordered me to take the ship home and get another load of Earthmen. Apparently they like our taste. I had to obey; I was completely under their power. You know what it"s like."
"And what happened to the others--the eight men you left behind?" asked Colonel Petersen.
Jervis clenched his teeth bitterly. "They just laid down on the sand--and waited."
"Horrible!" Sherri said.
Jervis fell silent. Wayne was picturing the sight, and knew everyone else was, too--the sight of hordes of carnivorous little aliens burrowing up through the sand and approaching the eight Earthmen who lay there, alive but helpless. Approaching them--and beginning to feed.
Just when the atmosphere began to grow too depressing, Wayne decided to break the spell. "I"d like to point out that the valley"s been completely cauterized," he said. "The aliens have been wiped out. And I propose to lead a mission out to reconnoitre for the double-nucleus beryllium."
He looked around. "MacPherson? Boggs? Manetti? You three want to start over where we left off the last time?"
Sergeant Boggs came up to him. "Sir, I want you to understand that--"
"I know, Boggs," Wayne said. "Let"s forget all about it. There"s work to be done."
"I"m sorry I misjudged you, Wayne. If it hadn"t been for your quick action, this crew would have gone the way of the _Mavis_."
"Just luck, Colonel," Wayne said. "If it hadn"t been for those heavy-soled climbing boots, I"d probably be lying out there with the rest of you right now."
Colonel Petersen grinned. "Thanks to your boots, then."
Wayne turned to his team of three. "Let"s get moving, fellows. We"ve wasted enough time already."
"Do we need s.p.a.cesuits, sir?" Manetti asked.
"No, Manetti. The air"s perfectly fine out there," Wayne said. "But I"d suggest you wear your climbing boots." He grinned. "You never can tell when they"ll come in handy."
THE END