Read Online Captain Future 16 - Magic Moon (Winter 1944) by Edmond Hamilton - Free Book Online Page A

girl did not get away,” put in the silky voice of the Venusian criminal.
    “Su Thuar was busy here at the ship, getting those cases of blow-guns aboard when no one was here to see,” declared Valdane harshly.
    “What good are those blow-guns going to be to us?” Kin Kurri demanded. “How are they going to help us accomplish anything on Styx?”
    Jon Valdane’s voice rose angrily. “You’re still trying to learn what I’m planning, are you? I told you before and I tell you now, that you and Su Thuar will not be told the details of my scheme until we’ve reached Styx. I’m no fool. So long as I am the only one who knows the details of the scheme, there’s no danger of them leaking out.”
    “If you’re worrying about the Randall girl —” Kin Kurri began.
    “Su Thuar will take care of the girl before we reach Styx.” Valdane interrupted. “But if Rizo Thon was a Patrol spy, there may be others aboard. What about this Chan Carson, whose cabin Rizo Thon shared?”
    “Carson?” repeated the Saturnian incredulously. “That timid, stuttering fool? You surely don’t have any suspicions of him?”
    “Oh, well, I can make certain that Carson is no spy, if it’ll make you feel any easier,” growled Kin Kurd. “I know a way.”
    At that moment, Curt Newton and Grag and Simon heard from the receiver the sound of a door opening. Then came Valdane’s angry command.
    “Shut that door, Su Thuar. Do you want everyone on the ship to hear us?”
    “It’s getting stuffy in here,” grumbled the Venusian. “You can hardly breathe.”
    “The ventilator must be out of order,” Valdane retorted. “Take a look at it.”
    The Brain glanced sharply at Captain Future. “Lad, if he opens that ventilator —”
    Even as Simon Wright spoke, there came from the receiver a loud sound of jarring metal.
    Then a cry in Su Thuar’s voice.
    “There’s an Ear hung inside this grating,” exclaimed the Venusian criminal. “Someone has been listening to everything we said.”
    “I told you there were other spies on this ship,” cried Jon Valdane. “Smash that Ear, you fool.”
    Curt Newton and the two Futuremen heard a brief, shattering sound from the receiver. Then silence.
    “They found the Ear,” Newton exclaimed. “Now they’ll be doubly on their guard.”
    “It’s my fault, lad,” murmured the Brain. “I didn’t have time to replace the fans in the ventilating-tubes there, and they noticed it.”
     
    GRAG interjected an anxious question. “Chief, what are we going to do about Otho?”
    Curt Newton’s face softened. “I know how you feel, Grag. I’m worried too. But there’s nothing we can do yet. I can’t believe Otho is really dead. And if he’s alive, he’ll take care of himself and get word to us.”
    He went on frowning. “All we learned this way about Valdane’s plans is that the hollow wooden tubes they brought aboard are native Jovian blow-guns. Why would Valdane want primitive weapons like blow-guns? There’s only one possible way of getting at the secret in his mind.”
    Simon Wright spoke in his cold metallic way. “I think I understand, lad. You mean, to use a brain-scanner?”
    “That’s my idea,” Curt Newton admitted. “What do you think, Simon? Could you build one here?”
    Simon looked around the crowded equipment, instruments, costumes and sets that filled the property-room. “I could construct a fairly efficient brain-scanner from parts of the telepicture apparatus here, I think. But would it enable us to get Valdane’s secret? You remember that when we invented the thing, we found it only worked on the subconscious mind.”
    “There’s a chance we can pry what we want out of Valdane’s mind with it, if we’re able to get him into unconscious condition,” Curt Newton said. “In a few days, we’ll reach Neptune. While we’re there filming scenes in the submarine cities, we should have a chance to try our scheme. We’ve got to, for it’s our last stop before