Read Online Captain Future 08 - The Lost World of Time (Fall 1941) by Edmond Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B
Book: Captain Future 08 - The Lost World of Time (Fall 1941) by Edmond Hamilton
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Authors: Edmond Hamilton
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him."
THOH smiled thinly. "I suppose Zikal didn't send you out to spy on us of the fourth world, did he?"
"The fourth world? Why, that's Mars! You mean that you men are Martians? You can't be. Martians are a red-skinned people." Then Otho had a new thought. "Blazing meteors, I see now! Back in this past age, you Martians haven't yet developed protective pigmentation."
"So you persist in this crazy assertion that you came from future time," stated old Thoh contemptuously.
"Of course I do!" the android fumed. "Can't you see I'm not a man like you? As for the girl, it should be obvious that she's just a primitive."
"Disguises. The spies of Zikal are clever."
One of the white Martians who had been looking around the ancient quarry excitedly interrupted the questioning.
"Lord Thoh, there are signs that many men have been digging out metal ores here recently."
Thoh's sharp eyes showed alarm.
"There must be many other Katainians here, then! The primitive natives of this world wouldn't dig the ores. Back into the ship! We're getting out of here at once. This may be a Katainian ambush."
"But what about the tungsten and chromium ores we stopped here to secure?" objected Grako.
"We can go past the second planet on the way home and pick up the ore there. Hurry! Out of here at once!"
Swearing and struggling against his bonds, Otho was unceremoniously hauled into the ship and dumped with Ahla in a small cabin. Two Martians placed on guard over them, armed with a form of gas gun.
Grako shouted orders through the ship. Doors slammed, machinery droned. With a deafening roar of rockets, the craft jerked skyward.
"Why in the name of my paternal test-tube didn't I keep my mouth shut?" Otho muttered angrily. "I had to go bragging that I was a friend of Katain, never dreaming that these fiends could be anything but Katainians. This is a devil of a reception for a fellow who's come back a hundred million years."
Ahla, sitting bound and helpless beside him, smiled bravely, though her face was pale with dread.
"You'll find a way to save us," she whispered confidently.
The ship roared on at full blast. Looking through the small window of the cabin, Otho perceived that they were already out in space. The Sun lay on the left, somewhat behind them. Ahead gleamed the bright, White blob of Venus. Far beyond it, to the right, shone the brilliant green spark that was the Mars of this far age of the past.
Otho saw there were net sacks of metal-bearing ores loaded in this cabin. It was clear that the Martians had been on a prospecting cruise to bring back metals that must be scarce on their own planet.
Grako came back to see that the guards were on the alert.
"Why are you and the Katainians enemies?" Otho asked politely.
"As though you didn't know," spy!" Grako's eyes glittered hatred. "We know all about your plans to destroy our people."
"Then you know more than I do," Otho retorted. "Why would the Katainians want to destroy you Martians when they face doom themselves? Are you all crazy back in this time?"
Grako slammed the door without deigning to reply. Otho and Ahla were left to the care of the guards as the ship throbbed on.
"Where will they take us, Otho?" asked Ahla.
"To their world," he grumbled gloomily. Then her pale, terrified face stirred his sympathy. "Don't be frightened, Ahla. I know this seems terrible to you, being carried off into the sky, but space ships are old stuff to me. I hardly expected to find them here in the past, though."
MANY hours later, the Martian ship swung down through the vast, cloudy atmosphere of Venus. They dropped mile after mile through dense gray water vapor and finally flew low over the surface of the second world. Otho whistled in amazement as he looked through the cabin window at the Venus of a hundred million years ago.
The vast swamps that were the most characteristic feature of Venus in his own time were not to be seen. There was a broad fringe of marsh around the shoreline of
THOH smiled thinly. "I suppose Zikal didn't send you out to spy on us of the fourth world, did he?"
"The fourth world? Why, that's Mars! You mean that you men are Martians? You can't be. Martians are a red-skinned people." Then Otho had a new thought. "Blazing meteors, I see now! Back in this past age, you Martians haven't yet developed protective pigmentation."
"So you persist in this crazy assertion that you came from future time," stated old Thoh contemptuously.
"Of course I do!" the android fumed. "Can't you see I'm not a man like you? As for the girl, it should be obvious that she's just a primitive."
"Disguises. The spies of Zikal are clever."
One of the white Martians who had been looking around the ancient quarry excitedly interrupted the questioning.
"Lord Thoh, there are signs that many men have been digging out metal ores here recently."
Thoh's sharp eyes showed alarm.
"There must be many other Katainians here, then! The primitive natives of this world wouldn't dig the ores. Back into the ship! We're getting out of here at once. This may be a Katainian ambush."
"But what about the tungsten and chromium ores we stopped here to secure?" objected Grako.
"We can go past the second planet on the way home and pick up the ore there. Hurry! Out of here at once!"
Swearing and struggling against his bonds, Otho was unceremoniously hauled into the ship and dumped with Ahla in a small cabin. Two Martians placed on guard over them, armed with a form of gas gun.
Grako shouted orders through the ship. Doors slammed, machinery droned. With a deafening roar of rockets, the craft jerked skyward.
"Why in the name of my paternal test-tube didn't I keep my mouth shut?" Otho muttered angrily. "I had to go bragging that I was a friend of Katain, never dreaming that these fiends could be anything but Katainians. This is a devil of a reception for a fellow who's come back a hundred million years."
Ahla, sitting bound and helpless beside him, smiled bravely, though her face was pale with dread.
"You'll find a way to save us," she whispered confidently.
The ship roared on at full blast. Looking through the small window of the cabin, Otho perceived that they were already out in space. The Sun lay on the left, somewhat behind them. Ahead gleamed the bright, White blob of Venus. Far beyond it, to the right, shone the brilliant green spark that was the Mars of this far age of the past.
Otho saw there were net sacks of metal-bearing ores loaded in this cabin. It was clear that the Martians had been on a prospecting cruise to bring back metals that must be scarce on their own planet.
Grako came back to see that the guards were on the alert.
"Why are you and the Katainians enemies?" Otho asked politely.
"As though you didn't know," spy!" Grako's eyes glittered hatred. "We know all about your plans to destroy our people."
"Then you know more than I do," Otho retorted. "Why would the Katainians want to destroy you Martians when they face doom themselves? Are you all crazy back in this time?"
Grako slammed the door without deigning to reply. Otho and Ahla were left to the care of the guards as the ship throbbed on.
"Where will they take us, Otho?" asked Ahla.
"To their world," he grumbled gloomily. Then her pale, terrified face stirred his sympathy. "Don't be frightened, Ahla. I know this seems terrible to you, being carried off into the sky, but space ships are old stuff to me. I hardly expected to find them here in the past, though."
MANY hours later, the Martian ship swung down through the vast, cloudy atmosphere of Venus. They dropped mile after mile through dense gray water vapor and finally flew low over the surface of the second world. Otho whistled in amazement as he looked through the cabin window at the Venus of a hundred million years ago.
The vast swamps that were the most characteristic feature of Venus in his own time were not to be seen. There was a broad fringe of marsh around the shoreline of
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