Dan Kearns, sick and shaking, could
already hear them talk: "Yeah, come in on
the Kearns beam—it's a new way to die!"
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Fall 1947.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
It happened so fast that for a minute he just stood there absolutelyincapable of taking it in. One instant the big Earth-Venus rocketfreighter was sizzling through the fog to a perfect landing on thefield below. Then suddenly she dipped, undershot the field and vanishedin a flash and a thundering explosion that shook the observation tower.
In the dream-like quiet that followed, Dan Kearns heard the faint yellsof the landing crew. He saw the big searchlights switch on, cuttingwide swaths of light through the boiling fog. Tiny white-coated medicscrossed the patches of light, running frantically. Dan sat down in thechair feeling sick and very tired. Then the door of the tower roomopened and Rawlins, the supervisor, stepped in.
"All right, Kearns," he said curtly, "you're through. And if anyoneasks me about your ability as an electronics engineer, I'll write outthe blackest recommendation I can think of."
Dan got up slowly. "How many were killed?"
"Two!" Rawlins glared. "Two of my best pilots!"
Dan's shoulders stiffened. "Listen, Rawlins, I'm just as interested asyou in breaking Roehm's monopoly on Earth-Venus rockets."
"Get out!"
"I can't get out. Don't forget you have another rocket due in twentyminutes—a passenger rocket."
Rawlins' face went pale. "My God! I'd forgotten." He threw up hishands. "Turn 'em back," he shrieked. "Send 'em back to earth! It'ssuicide to land on that guide beam."
"I can't send them back to Earth," Dan said quietly. "They haven'tenough fuel."
"Then send 'em to one of Roehm's fields. It's an admission of completedefeat, but we can't kill 'em."
Dan swallowed. "You're forgetting that Roehm uses invisible light forlanding—not ultra short waves. Anyway, do you think Roehm would misssuch a chance to crash one of our rockets?"
Rawlins sat down with a groan. "Where in thunder did I ever get theidea we could bring in a ship through that magnetic murk on ultra shortwaves?"
Dan lifted his head. "There's nothing the matter with my guide beam. Itbrought in the experimental rocket yesterday and magnetic conditionswere even worse."
"I see." The smile on Rawlins' lined face was cynical. "In other wordsyou're trying to pass the buck to Stevens, your control-room operator."
The door of the observation room swung open and a wild-eyed mechanicburst in.
"Mr. Rawlins, the control-room is still locked. Stevens is sitting infront of the table and he won't answer us."
Dan tore down the stairs and across the catwalk two steps ahead ofRawlins. He hammered on the door. Through the thick glass he could seeStevens hunched over the lighted control table.
"Stevens! Stevens!" He turned to Rawlins. "We'll have to cut the lock.Get a torch—and get a doctor!"
It took a minute with a high torch before they crashed into the room.
"He's been dead several minutes," the doctor said as he took his handfrom Steven's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Kearns," Rawlins said. He looked at the doctor. "Well, Iguess that explains everything. He must have lost control just as shewas coming in. What was it? Heart attack?"
The doctor shook his head. "Some sort of convulsion. Muscles violentlycontracted. Funny he didn't fall to the floor. Must have affected thewhole nervous system. Even the eye pupils are down to pin points."