The Frightened Planet Read online

and a low growl issued from his throat. One blow from each of hishands and these puny men would be dead. The woman he liked.

  But the sticks had stopped waving. They were pointing directly at him.He was caught suddenly in the grip of a force that held him helpless.Muscles stood out on his neck like tree roots but he could not move.

  Inside his head Karn heard the woman arguing again with her twocompanions.

  "A fine way to treat someone who's just saved our lives!"

  "But he might be dangerous. You saw what he did to that beast. Look atthe size of him. One twist of those hands and he'd tear our heads offour shoulders."

  "He _is_ a powerful brute, isn't he?" But there was no fear in hervoice. Only admiration.

  "Worse than a Green One," agreed the second of the hairless ones. "We'dbetter get back into the ship."

  They were a little slow about that, Karn thought. In the underbrushclose by he had heard the movements of a heavy body. A saber-tooth hadno need for stealth. And it was coming their way.

  "He's trying to tell us something," the woman was saying. "He may betrying to warn us. Turn off those rays."

  The men hesitated. Then their fingers moved slightly and Karn was freeto move.

  * * * * *

  But now there was no time for warnings. Karn gestured over his shoulderand started for the opening in the huge ball. He sensed that safety layinside. Behind him a huge cat snarled.

  The hairless ones hesitated no longer. Leaving the woman to her owndevices they dashed for the ship. She turned to run, tripped and fell.Karn scooped her up as he ran.

  Almost together, the four reached the ship. The smell of the saber-toothwas strong in Karn's nostrils; he could almost feel its breath on hisneck as he dashed up a ramp.

  One of the men was fumbling with a lever. The ramp swung up; the openingin the ship's side vanished. Against the gray-green wall the tiger'sbody thudded.

  That danger now behind them, the two men were pointing their sticks atKarn again. But this time the woman halted them before they couldparalyze him.

  "That's twice he's saved our lives. How much more proof do we need thathe's friendly?" She smiled at Karn. "Who are you?"

  "Karn, of the tribe of Tur."

  "I am Andra, and these men are Harus and Ven. We are of Mahlo. We thankyou for saving our lives."

  Harus was the smaller of the two men. His face was thin, pinched withperpetual fear. Ven too seemed always frightened. They stared at Karndoubtfully.

  "What are we going to do with him?" Harus asked.

  "Maybe we could take him back to his tribe," Andra suggested. "If it'svery far we could save him a long trip."

  Her eyes questioned Karn. He shook his head.

  "No. They would kill me."

  "Somewhere else, then?"

  Karn shrugged. A full-grown male was no welcome guest in any tribe.Andra read his thoughts and was sympathetic.

  "You're really up against it, aren't you? From what we've seen of yourworld so far I would guess it was no place for a man without friends."

  "I will go with you to your people; to Mahlo, wherever that is."

  "What a notion," Harus snorted. "Picture this uncouth thing in his wolfskin on Mahlo! Besides" and the disdain went out of his voice, "we'd bedoing him no favor."

  Karn grunted. They didn't think much of him. But there was more of itthan that. The three of them had fallen to arguing again. There was talkof Mahlo and the Green Ones, whoever _they_ were. The argument droned onendlessly.

  "Too much talk," Karn said abruptly.

  The talk stopped. Andra was looking at Karn, a slow smile spreadingacross her face. Her breasts rose and fell with a change in herbreathing and Karn felt a warm flush rise within him.

  "I think Karn is right," she said. "Too much talk."

  * * * * *

  Somewhere in the bowels of the ship a great beast purred. I should nothave let them strap me down, Karn thought. The purring grew louder, theship lifted.

  His back pressed against the seat and there was a crushing weight on hischest. His insides tied themselves in knots. What was happening to him.What invisible monster held him in its clutch?

  "Afraid?" Andra asked.

  Karn was aware that the weight was off his chest. The purring wasmuffled. They had the beast penned. Then Andra unfastened the thongsthat bound Karn.

  "Why should Karn be afraid?" he smiled scornfully.

  "Perhaps now you would rather remain in your own world. There may bedanger on Mahlo."

  This woman was a fool. Naturally; she was a woman. What was danger toKarn? What was danger to a man who had lived his life with Tur and thebull males of the tribe, who roamed the same jungle with the saber-toothand the great wolf?

  Yet she was a woman, and one who attracted him. Karn reached out anddrew her to him. Let her feel the might of his arms. She was doingsomething strange with her lips, pressing them against his.

  "Now let me go," she said. Then, sharply, "Let me go!"

  Bewildered, Karn released his grip. He was confused by this creature ofmoods. One moment she smiled and the next moment she seemed angry. Hewanted to please her. But how?

  "Well, we're all right," Ven said. He came from some other chamber inthe great ship. "We're running free now. At the next force field we'llcut into Mahlo's orbit."

  There was more strange talk which Karn did not understand. More debate,too. It seemed that these men spent half their time arguing with thewoman.

  Apparently the men held the supremacy, but a very shaky one. The womanseemed not to know too much about this ship. But she had a good deal tosay nevertheless.

  Then Harus' voice came out of nowhere. "Better strap in again. We've hitMahlo's orbit."

  Again there was the awful pressure, the crushing weight. Violent forcesshook the ship. Andra moaned softly. Strange words issued from her lips.Then they were out of the clutch of the awful force.

  "Landing at Nobla," Ven said. Panels slid away and Karn could seethrough the walls of the ship.

  Below them was a city. They dropped toward it and its gargoyle-toppedtowers reached up to meet them. Strange birds winged across an azuresky. They came down over the city and landed gently in a meadow next tothe mouth of a great cavern.

  * * * * *

  "Nobody around," Ven said. "I don't understand it."

  "They weren't expecting us to land at Nobla," Andra said. "You're alwaysworrying about something. Come on, let's get out."

  The ramp came down and the four descended, Harus leading the way. Karnwondered why they moved so warily. This was their own land. What werethey afraid of?

  To one side the mouth of the cavern yawned dark and forbidding as theywent toward it. Andra explained to Karn that it was the mouth of atunnel which led to the city proper. There were walls about the citywhich were never opened.

  They were almost to the tunnel when the green things came at them. Slimybeings, as tall as Harus and Ven, covered with green scales andfour-armed, more lizards than men, they poured from the tunnel.

  Emitting bird-like cries they swarmed forward, long spears pointingahead at waist level. With a scream of fear, Ven spun around and ran.Andra and Harus stood petrified.

  Their reactions were typical, apparently, for the Green Ones came on asthough used to encountering little resistance. Even the sight of Karn,huge of frame and heavy-thewed, draped in his wolfskin, failed toregister. It was a fatal mistake.

  As the first of the Green Ones reached him Karn side-stepped nimbly,sweeping the spear aside and tearing it from its bearer's grasp. Karn'sother hand shot out and connected with a snout. The man-lizard dropped,its face turned to green and oozing pulp.

  In Karn's hands the spear became a club. The Green Ones turned towardhim in a body, trying to fend off this unexpected attack. They were metby a whirling staff that crushed whatever it hit. Karn's power wasoverwhelming. His rush cut a swath of death through the green ranks,forcing th
em back.

  He heard Andra calling and looked back over his shoulder. She wasstanding at the opening in the ship, screaming to him. In their blindfear, Harus and Ven were prepared to take off and leave him behind.

  No saber-tooth could have altered the direction of his charge morequickly than Karn. Before the Green Ones could even attempt to block hisretreat, Karn was through them and past them.

  * * * * *

  Harus and Ven sprawled in their flight chairs, panting as though it werethey who had done the fighting. Only Karn seemed relaxed as the shiprose and hovered above the Green Ones.

  "Well," Andra said bitterly, "Nobla is gone. There's only Luma now. Andsoon the Green Ones will have that."

  "Nobla was yours?" Karn asked.

  "All of Mahlo was ours," Andra told him. "But that was only until theGreen Ones got started. Now we have only one city left, and not manyMahloans to defend that."

  Scorn flashed from her eyes at Harus and Ven. "And you saw how bravethey are," she said to Karn.

  "Where is this Luma?" Karn asked, disregarding her thrust at the twoMahloans.

  "Not far. After we have a look at what the Green Ones have done to Noblawe'll go there."

  The great ball skimmed over the meadow, lifted above the walls of Noblaand rose to the height of the tallest towers of the city. For a while ithovered alongside a great stone gargoyle that peered down into thestreet below. Bodies were strewn along the streets, Karn saw. They wereall male.

  "The women escaped," he observed. He heard Andra suck in a sharp breathand turned to her.

  She was pointing to a nearby roof. From a doorway there a woman of herkind had emerged and was running across the roof toward the parapet.Behind her came three of the Green Ones.

  Only shreds of the woman's clothes remained. Her face was clearlyvisible to Karn. It was the face of a woman crazed by fear and shock.She reached the parapet, paused, and saw that the Green Ones were almoston her. Without hesitation she jumped. Karn watched her fall until shehit the street.

  "This would happen to you too?" he asked Andra.

  "If the Green Ones caught me. And eventually they will."

  * * * * *

  Rage welled up within Karn. The thought of Andra in the clutches ofthese slimy things sent the blood roaring through him.

  "They will not get you," he said.

  "No? After Luma there won't be any place to retreat. The voyage thatHarus and Ven and I have just made was in search of another world wherewe might be safe. But the others are as dangerous as Mahlo."

  Karn reflected that a people who could not fight these Green Ones hadlittle hope of survival among the Turs and the beasts of his own world.Compared to the great wolves and the saber-tooths the Green Ones werenothing.

  "We will kill the Green Ones," he decided aloud. "We will fight them anddestroy them."

  "Don't make me laugh," Andra said. "You've seen our men when they werein danger."

  The ship had lifted and was leaving Nobla behind. Watching the horizonahead, Karn saw another city come into view within a short time. Itlooked exactly like Nobla. They must be a great people who could buildcities like these, who could make ships that flew through the air.

  But they could hardly be called men. What sort of man was it who did nothave even the instinct for self preservation? What sort was it who wouldnot defend his woman? Andra read Karn's thoughts.

  "What kind of men?" she said. "I'll tell you. They never built thecities of Mahlo. Those have stood for thousands of generations, erectedby some forgotten ancestors.

  "The men of Mahlo have never had to fight. There was no danger here. Sothey spent their time in idle chatter, in philosophy, in the inventionof luxuries. But they retained control of the government. When the GreenOnes came out of the forests of the south and began their conqueringmarch, our men decreed that we must retreat before them.

  "When only Nobla and Luma remained to us, the men decreed that we mustretreat from Mahlo to a world without dangers. Unfortunately there isno such place."

  Karn thought for a moment. "What about the Green Ones?"

  "They are more reptile than human, as you saw. But they do have arudimentary intelligence. Added to their instinct for aggression it issufficient to destroy us. Wait until you see our Council in session. Youwon't wonder then."

  * * * * *

  Luma had turned out en masse to welcome Andra and her two companions.Karn had been the center of attraction and interest for a few minutes.But it was the report of the three Mahloans which mattered most.

  Andra gave it to them straight. There was no hope elsewhere. The GreenOnes were only minor terrors among the blood-lusting creatures theUniverse had spawned. Unless the men of Mahlo fought back they weredoomed.

  Yet Karn saw no sign that a fight was even imaginable. Shoulders sagged,heads dropped in resignation, but that was all. As he and his threecompanions walked with the throng to the Council forum, Karn saw browsknit in contemplation, none in anger.

  There were as many women as men in the great hall of assembly. They castno votes, but they had plenty to say.

  "We might consider retreating to the northern deserts," Ven said afterhe had called the meeting to order.

  The women shouted him down. What it was that the women wanted, Karncould not guess. But the men quailed before them and became confused.The most important assembly in Mahlo's history was going to break upwith nothing done.

  "We can only wait, then," Ven said regretfully. A chorus of assent roselike a dirge.

  It was all Karn could take. For himself death was nothing. All his lifehad been lived in its shadow. But that Andra should fall into the handsof the Green Ones was another thing. And that these men should allowtheir women to meet similar fates filled him with contempt.

  "You can do something!" he shouted, coming to his feet. "You can fight!"

  Beside him Andra pulled at his arm.

  "But we don't know how. No Mahloan has ever lifted his hand in anger.Don't you see?"

  The rest of the women were shrilling the same sentiments, drowning outthe men. Listening to them, Karn began to understand a great deal. Butit was not time for that now.

  "Be silent!" he roared. "I see only that you are all going to die. Atleast die like men!"

  The women's voices shrilled in his ears but he shouted them down. Bysheer lung power he silenced them, and the sight of his giant figureawed them and kept them silent.

  "I am going to pick one hundred of the men," Karn told them. "Withnothing but pointed sticks and clubs they are going to follow me. Andthey are going to fight! Do you hear? They are going to fight!"

  * * * * *

  Darkness held no terrors for Karn. His eyes were sharp, his hearing asacute as a bird's, his sense of smell infallible. Beyond Nobla's wall hecaught the scent of the Green Ones, foul and slightly acrid.

  He had to move fast. The men of Mahlo were not as well equipped as he.They had to have light to find their way around. And in an hour the sunwould be up.

  Karn moved away from the gates, edged along the high wall until he founda rough section. His fingers sought crevices. Then, with the agility ofa monkey, he made his way upward. At the top of the wall he waited,listening to the sounds of deep breathing on his right and below.

  The Green Ones slept. Their guards were at the gate as a matter ofcourse. But they slept secure in the belief that there could be noattack. Karn grinned into the darkness as he dropped.

  Peering ahead, he saw vague figures and moved toward them on soundlessfeet. Only three or four of them here. It would not take long. His handsreached out and closed on a throat.

  It was ridiculous that the Mahloans should be afraid of these creatures.But they were afraid of their own women, so it might have been expected.Yet they were more afraid of Karn than of either.

  He had bunched his muscles and scowled at them. And they had quailed.They were afraid to foll
ow him. But they were more afraid not to follow.Karn thought that when the sun rose he would find his men waitingoutside the gates of Nobla.

  Four of the Green Ones lay dead at his feet as he sought for the boltsthat held the gate shut. Very slowly he drew those bolts. All it wouldtake to open the gates would be the slightest push.

  But it was taking him longer than he had expected. Already the sky waspurpling. Running now, Karn sped down the broad avenue toward a tall,gargoyle-topped building.

  He found ledges, plenty of hand-holds, but it was a long climb. Therising sun caught him still twenty feet from the roof. Below, the citystirred and came awake.

  Green Ones were in the street. Karn prayed that they would not look up.His prayer proved futile. He moved faster as bird-like cries came up tohim. He had been discovered.

  * * * * *

  Climbing desperately now, he got a hand over the parapet just as a greensnout poked its way over. Karn struck out and the snout vanished. Thenhe was over.

  More of the Green Ones came at him as he gained the roof. Snatching up afallen spear, Karn drove them back. By sheer ferocity of his attack heforced them back through the doorway from which they had emerged. Thedoor slammed between them.

  They thought he was going to follow. He could hear them chattering amongthemselves on the other side of the door. They were trying to decidewhat to do. Their discussion gave Karn exactly the time he needed.

  His eyes roved the roof, trying to find something that would be heavyenough to hold the door against those on the other side. He had toprotect his back. But the roof seemed