Read Online Captain Future 16 - Magic Moon (Winter 1944) by Edmond Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Edmond Hamilton
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy
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reaching Styx! So you’d better get to work on the scanner at once, Simon.”
“I’ll do my best,” promised the Brain. “But you must get back to your cabin. When they miss ‘Rizo Thon’, they’ll come there looking for him and you must be there.”
Captain Future hastened back through the dimly-lit corridors toward his own cabin. The Perseus was throbbing through the void, its rockets blasting with monotonous regularity as they hurled it on toward their next goal, the ocean-covered world of Neptune in whose strange submarine cities the next scenes of the telepicture were to be filmed. Curt Newton stopped suddenly as he entered the passage upon which lay his own cabin. A man was crouching at his cabin door, fumbling with the catch. The catch gave way and the crouching figure stealthily stepped into Curt Newton’s dark cabin. He clutched in his hand a small, gleaming object.
Captain Future had already drawn his atom-pistol from inside his jacket. He tip-toed silently but swiftly down the corridor. He reached his open door and vaguely glimpsed the dark figure of the stealthy visitant, just inside it.
Curt Newton leaped in, his weapon raised. His pistol-barrel rang down on the head of the shadowy prowler. The man slumped back down in the doorway. By the dim light from the corridor, Curt Newton now saw the senseless figure’s face.
“Kin Kurd,” he exclaimed, as he recognized the pale blue countenance of the Saturnian politician. "Now what the blazes —”
Then he noticed that the Saturnian held in his hand a small bottle. Captain Future inspected it. It contained a colorless oil which he recognized as the oil used to remove artificial make-up.
“So that’s why he sneaked in here when he thought I would be sleeping,” Curt Newton muttered.
“What have you done to Kin Kurd?” a clear voice suddenly demanded.
Captain Future turned, dismayed. It was Joan Randall. She had been coming along the corridor but had stopped at his open door. He realized instantly how incriminating it must look to her, to find him stooping thus over Kin Kurd’s senseless body.
“You’ve stunned him,” she explained as she perceived the bruise on the Saturnian’s forehead. Her brown eyes flashed. “I’m going to call the captain to investigate this.”
Joan Randall turned to carry out her intention, but Captain Future hastily grasped her arm.
“No, you mustn’t do that.”
“Why shouldn’t I, Chan Carson?” she flared. “I knew you were a timid little coward but I didn’t think you were vicious enough to make an attack like this on an unoffending man.”
CURT NEWTON desperately realized that as things stood he could not dissuade her from giving the alarm. To her, this looked like an utterly unprovoked attack by him upon Kin Kurd.
But if she gave the alarm, if the ship’s officers and company were aroused, it would ruin his own plans. He realized that there was only one way in which he could insure Joan’s silence.
“Joan, listen,” he begged earnestly. “You must be silent. This is Curt speaking. I’m not really Chan Carson — I’m Curt Newton.”
Joan Randall’s brown eyes grew hot with scorn. “You’re trying to deceive me with a clumsy trick. And it won’t work.”
“It’s true,” Captain Future insisted. “I’ve been playing the part of Chan Carson, from the first. I’m on board on a dangerous mission —”
He saw that she did not believe a word of it, that she was about to shout an alarm. Racking his brain for a means of convincing her, Curt suddenly thought of something.
“Listen, Joan. You were with the Futuremen on Aar, the world of Deneb, a world no one else in the System has ever visited. If I tell you the name of the leader of the Clan of the Winged Ones on Aar, won’t that convince you that I’m Captain Future?”
Joan Randall looked startled. “How can you know anything about our trip to Aar?”
“I know, because I was with you,” Curt Newton retorted. “The name
“I’ll do my best,” promised the Brain. “But you must get back to your cabin. When they miss ‘Rizo Thon’, they’ll come there looking for him and you must be there.”
Captain Future hastened back through the dimly-lit corridors toward his own cabin. The Perseus was throbbing through the void, its rockets blasting with monotonous regularity as they hurled it on toward their next goal, the ocean-covered world of Neptune in whose strange submarine cities the next scenes of the telepicture were to be filmed. Curt Newton stopped suddenly as he entered the passage upon which lay his own cabin. A man was crouching at his cabin door, fumbling with the catch. The catch gave way and the crouching figure stealthily stepped into Curt Newton’s dark cabin. He clutched in his hand a small, gleaming object.
Captain Future had already drawn his atom-pistol from inside his jacket. He tip-toed silently but swiftly down the corridor. He reached his open door and vaguely glimpsed the dark figure of the stealthy visitant, just inside it.
Curt Newton leaped in, his weapon raised. His pistol-barrel rang down on the head of the shadowy prowler. The man slumped back down in the doorway. By the dim light from the corridor, Curt Newton now saw the senseless figure’s face.
“Kin Kurd,” he exclaimed, as he recognized the pale blue countenance of the Saturnian politician. "Now what the blazes —”
Then he noticed that the Saturnian held in his hand a small bottle. Captain Future inspected it. It contained a colorless oil which he recognized as the oil used to remove artificial make-up.
“So that’s why he sneaked in here when he thought I would be sleeping,” Curt Newton muttered.
“What have you done to Kin Kurd?” a clear voice suddenly demanded.
Captain Future turned, dismayed. It was Joan Randall. She had been coming along the corridor but had stopped at his open door. He realized instantly how incriminating it must look to her, to find him stooping thus over Kin Kurd’s senseless body.
“You’ve stunned him,” she explained as she perceived the bruise on the Saturnian’s forehead. Her brown eyes flashed. “I’m going to call the captain to investigate this.”
Joan Randall turned to carry out her intention, but Captain Future hastily grasped her arm.
“No, you mustn’t do that.”
“Why shouldn’t I, Chan Carson?” she flared. “I knew you were a timid little coward but I didn’t think you were vicious enough to make an attack like this on an unoffending man.”
CURT NEWTON desperately realized that as things stood he could not dissuade her from giving the alarm. To her, this looked like an utterly unprovoked attack by him upon Kin Kurd.
But if she gave the alarm, if the ship’s officers and company were aroused, it would ruin his own plans. He realized that there was only one way in which he could insure Joan’s silence.
“Joan, listen,” he begged earnestly. “You must be silent. This is Curt speaking. I’m not really Chan Carson — I’m Curt Newton.”
Joan Randall’s brown eyes grew hot with scorn. “You’re trying to deceive me with a clumsy trick. And it won’t work.”
“It’s true,” Captain Future insisted. “I’ve been playing the part of Chan Carson, from the first. I’m on board on a dangerous mission —”
He saw that she did not believe a word of it, that she was about to shout an alarm. Racking his brain for a means of convincing her, Curt suddenly thought of something.
“Listen, Joan. You were with the Futuremen on Aar, the world of Deneb, a world no one else in the System has ever visited. If I tell you the name of the leader of the Clan of the Winged Ones on Aar, won’t that convince you that I’m Captain Future?”
Joan Randall looked startled. “How can you know anything about our trip to Aar?”
“I know, because I was with you,” Curt Newton retorted. “The name
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