"We"ll split up into six sections!" roared Walters, standing on top of a jet car. "Go down every street and alley, and make a house-to-house search. Cover every square inch of the sector. If we lose one life, we will have failed. Move out!"
With Strong, Kit, Howard, Walters, and other officers of the Solar Guard in the lead, the grim lines of men separated into smaller groups and started their march through the deserted city. The swirling gas already was down to within a hundred feet of the street level. When it dropped to the surface, each man knew there would be little hope for anyone remaining alive without oxygen masks.
Every room of every house and building was searched, as over all, the deadly swirling gas dropped lower and lower and the pressure of the oxygen was dissipated.
Once, Strong broke open the door to a cheap rooming house and raced through it searching each room. He found no one, but something made him go back through the first-floor rooms again. Under a bed in a room at the end of the hall he found a young boy huddled with his dog, wide-eyed with fear. Such incidents were repeated over and over as the searchers came upon sleeping miners, sick mothers and children, elderly couples that were unable to move. Each time they were taken outside to a jet car where masks were strapped over their faces, and then driven to the s.p.a.ceport. And, all the while, the deadly methane ammonia gas dropped lower and lower until it was within ten feet of the ground.
There were only a few buildings left to search now. The lines of the men had reached the open gra.s.sy areas surrounding the city proper, and as they collected in groups and exchanged information, Walters gathered them together.
"You"ve done a fine job, all of you," he said. "I don"t think there"s a living thing left in this entire sector. All volunteers and the first four squads of enlisted guardsmen and second detachment of s.p.a.ce Marines return to the s.p.a.ceport and prepare to abandon t.i.tan. Give all the aid to the officer in charge that you can. Again, I want to thank you for your help."
As the group of men broke up and began drifting away, Walters hurried over to Strong and Kit Barnard. "Steve," he said, "I want you to supervise the evacuation at the s.p.a.ceport. Since this screen has blown up, those poor people are frightened out of their wits. And they have a right to be. If a major screen blew instead of a small one, we really would be in trouble."
"Very well, sir," replied Strong. "Come on, Kit, you might as well blast off with a load of children."
"Sure thing."
"Just a minute," Walters interrupted. "I would consider it a service, Kit, if you would send your young a.s.sistant back with your ship and you stick around until we get all the people safely off."
"Anything I can do to help, sir," replied Kit.
At that moment a tall enlisted s.p.a.ceman walked up to Walters and saluted sharply. Walters noticed the stripes on his sleeve and his young-looking face. He couldn"t remember ever seeing such a young master sergeant.
"Captain Howard asked me to make my report to you, sir," said the guardsman.
"Very well, sergeant," said Walters.
The young s.p.a.ceman made a detailed report of his search through sectors eleven and twelve. While he spoke, Strong kept looking at him, puzzled.
When the guardsman had finished, Strong asked, "Don"t I know you from somewhere, Sergeant?"
The guardsman smiled. "You sure do, Captain Strong. My name"s Morgan, sir. I was a cadet with Tom Corbett and Astro, sir, but I washed out. So I joined the enlisted guard."
"Congratulations, Sergeant," said Walters. "You"re the youngest top kick I"ve ever seen." He turned to Strong. "Apparently we slipped up, Steve, letting this chap get out of the Academy so he could make a name for himself in the enlisted ranks."
"Thank you, sir," replied Morgan, blushing with pride.
"Have you seen the cadets, by any chance, Sergeant?" asked Strong.
"They"re both here on t.i.tan with me."
"Oh, yes, sir," said Morgan. "I saw them some time ago."
"Where?"
"A few blocks closer to the heart of town," said Morgan, pointing back down the avenue. "We were just starting in on sector eleven and I saw them coming out of a restaurant."
"Funny they haven"t returned," commented Walters. "And what would they be doing down there?"
Strong"s forehead creased into a frown of worry. "Sir, I wonder if you"d allow me a half hour or so to look for them?" he asked. "If they were anywhere near this section when the screen collapsed, they could have been injured by the sudden release of pressure."
"They had masks, sir," said Morgan. "I gave them a couple myself."
Walters thought a moment. "It"s just possible they might have been injured in some way," he mused. "Go ahead, Steve. If you don"t find them, and they don"t show up at the s.p.a.ceport, we"ll organize a full search."
"Thank you, sir," said Strong. "You come along with me, Sergeant."
Adjusting their oxygen masks, Captain Strong and Sergeant Morgan strode down the street through the swirling mist of deadly methane ammonia to begin their search for Tom and Astro.
CHAPTER 15
"Listen!"
Captain Strong grabbed the young master sergeant by the arm and stood stock-still in the swirling methane ammonia gas, his eyes searching the misty sky.
"What is it, sir?" asked Morgan.
"A s.p.a.ceship decelerating," said Strong, "coming in for a touchdown!"
"I think I hear it now, sir!" said Morgan.
"Can you figure out where it is? I can"t see a blasted thing."
"Sounds to me as though it"s to the left, sir."
"O.K., let"s go and investigate," said Strong. "There isn"t any good reason for a ship coming down in this deadly soup--or in this area."
Walking slowly and cautiously, the two s.p.a.cemen angled to the left, peering through the clouds of gas that seemed to get thicker as they moved along. The roaring blast of the ship became louder.
Strong put his hand out to stop Morgan. "Let"s hold up a minute, Sergeant," he said. "I don"t want to get too close until I know what we"re facing."
They stood absolutely still, the gas swirling around them in undulating clouds that grew thicker one minute and then thinned out again. As the gas thinned for a few seconds, Strong gasped and pointed.
"Look!" he cried. "By the craters of Luna, it"s Brett"s ship!"
"Brett?" asked Morgan.
"Charles Brett. He owns that ship. It"s the one that won the s.p.a.ce race from Earth. Now, what would he be doing landing out here?"
"I think he came down beside that warehouse up ahead, sir," said Morgan, as the gas cloud closed in again, cutting off their view of the actual landing. "It used to be a storehouse for mining gear a couple of years ago, but it"s been empty for some time."
"I think we"d better check this, Sergeant," said Strong firmly. "Come on."
Strong started forward, then stopped, as a particularly heavy cloud of the deadly gas swirled around them. The two s.p.a.cemen clung together blinded by the dense methane ammonia that would kill them in thirty seconds should their oxygen masks fail. In a moment the foggy death thinned out again and they continued toward the warehouse and the sleek black ship behind it.