Shadow Gold by Ray Cummings Page 2
bronzed, curiously sleek. His face was slim,
black brows. Weapons hung at his belt.
yet firm of chin—a face foreign to anything
When Hall first came he had worked
Johnny had ever seen on Earth.
with the scientists, adding his Earth
Nido said, “A thousand of our people
knowledge to theirs. He found this air heavily
have been killed.”
charged with a new atomic type of oxygen,
“Yes,” Hall agreed. “These banished
hydrogen, carbon dioxide; and also “heavy”
criminals for ten years now must have had
with a strange, gaseous form of several of the
spies here in Bhana. This diabolic apparatus
familiar earth minerals. Gold, in particular. A
which they have built is hidden in the heart of
free electron type of gold was inherent to this
the forest. Nido saw it. He flew there by night
air. Unmeasurable pounds of Earth’s normal
a week ago. He got in—but he could do
heavy-atom solidly congealed mineral gold nothing—and he barely escaped with his life.”
were here expanded millions of times in
Year by year other criminals must
volume and diffused through this atmosphere,
have clustered in the forest stronghold, lured
forming its gold content, and giving to it the
by the scheme. And now this plot was at its
golden light.
culmination. In the criminal Forest City
Thrilling Wonder Stories
6
colony there were established now giant nothing else, of course.”
absorbers, condensers, for the isolation of
“Why haven’t you sent an army to
gold. They were withdrawing the gold content
round up these criminals?” Johnny asked.
from the air, doubtless for transportation to
“In three weeks?” Hall retorted.
Earth. Disaster to this little realm here. There
“Again, gold is at the crux of it. Our weapons,
were natural air currents here, unalterable save
too, use gold gas. And now we have no real
for occasional infrequent storms. Hall likened
weapons—”
them to trade winds—a steady drift circulating
“We can make an army ready,” Jeoh,
over the concave curvature of this inner the governor, said.
globular surface. And the prevailing drift was
Hall said, “We sent a ship through the
from the Forest City stronghold, toward Bhana
air to the Forest City—and it was assailed by a
and its neighbor settlements. The condensers
gold bomb. The first explosive weapon ever
would vitiate the air—steal the gold from it.
used in this world. With unlimited gold now,
And the empty, poisonous air would drift on
these criminals have devised a bomb—an ultra
down to these populous cities, bringing rapid expansion of the mineral into the gas.”
lethargy and death.
It had already come. Three times now
THE meal was finished, but the discussion
in the past two weeks. Dark, goldless air. It
went on. The Forest City criminals were still
had not lasted long—as though the criminals
experimenting—or waiting for something. Or,
still were perfecting their apparatus. But it was at least, not running the giant apparatus
enough to strike death here. The aged, the sick
continuously. But at any moment they might
and the very young were all who had died thus
start. And Hall believed, by what was vaguely
far.
known of their equipment, these giant
Johnny demanded, “Is there no cure
absorbers running at full power might in a few
for this terrible, deathly sickness?”
days—or even hours—vitiate all the air of this
“Oh, yes,” Tare said gravely. “There is
little void.
a cure—but we cannot apply it.”
The
vague
beginnings of a plan were
“It is like being slowly asphyxiated on
coming to Johnny. Plans he wouldn’t dare
Earth,” Hall said. “You die, breathing air that
mention to his father—or to any of these grave
is impure. The cure here? On Earth we would
officials. But tomorrow he would tell them to
say air with more oxygen. Here it is air with
this young fellow, Nido; who had already
more gold gas. We can expand mineral gold
been to the Forest City. If he and Johnny
into gas. There is no metal, here or on Earth,
could get there secretly—make away with
which cannot be rendered gaseous. But we are
some of that gold mineral which the criminals
faced with a gold mineral shortage.
had already extracted from the air—and bring
“Our power is the expansion of the
it back here—
electro atoms of gold mineral back into gold
Johnny’s thoughts were stricken from
gas. You’ve already seen our rocket engines.
his mind by a newcomer to the room. A
We take small quantities of the gold from the
woman entered. She came with a glide
air—and put it back with the exhaust of our
graceful and sinuous as a panther.
engines. The reverse of Earth. Every engine
She joined the group. What her
on Earth exudes poison. But here—our rocket
position was no one told Johnny, but he saw
streams are the very essence of life.”
that Jeoh was obviously fascinated by her.
Nido said, “It is the vapor from our
And well he might be, Johnny thought.
gold fuel which can cure the sickness—
A woman who seemed to be beyond thirty. A
Shadow Gold
7
figure sleek of hips, full-breasted—an caution swept him. He added, “Speak out.
indefinably foreign face framed by platinum-
Don’t talk riddles.”
white flowing hair with black strands
She seemed to reach a sudden
intermingled. It was a heavy face, full-lipped,
decision. “What I tell—you will keep in your
sensuous, reckless.
own heart?”
The woman did not join in the
Johnny shifted in his chair. “You
discussion; she just eat with confident poise,
mean, not repeat what you say?”
listening. And she stared often at Johnny,
“Yes. Do not talk so loud. I—find you
regarding him with dark eyes.
very interesting.” She seemed breathless. “I go
In a small bedroom on the second level
tonight on a journey. To him who is leader in
of his father’s house, adjacent to the the Forest City—they call him the Master.” At Government Castle, Johnny lay in a metal bed,
Johnny’s start, she said: “I go to the Forest
with a soft fabric covering on it.
City. I used to have—influence over this
He lay drowsing. Suddenly he Master. I think to use that influence now. He awakened. He started up on one elbow and the
has not seen me—a long time. And I think to
bed creaked with hi
s movement. The sharp
make him stop the sending these clouds of
sound brought him to full alertness....
sickness.”
The sense that someone was here in
Johnny asked: “You can get there?”
the room with him came strongly. Obvious! It
“I can get there,” she said. “I have a
was a waft of perfume. And then he saw,
flying boat. It is here now—not far from here.
down by the floor under the window portiere,
Not even hidden—it is at your father’s dock.”
something white. An ankle!
Johnny still had on his suit, and his
JOHNNY was leaning forward toward her.
clasp knife was at his belt. He lay, propped up
“You’re offering to take me?”
on one elbow, and the fingers of his other
Outside
the
window
there was a sound.
hand silently drew out the knife and opened it.
And Rua heard it. With a swift, silent swing
He said softly, “Come out of that. I see
she was at the casement, and Johnny drew
you.”
himself beside her. But the garden outside
The portiere moved aside. The woman,
seemed empty.
Rua, stood smilingly before him.
“How long will this journey take?”
“What do you want?” Johnny Johnny demanded.
demanded, and through an interval he returned
“Not
long.”
her gaze. Her hair, with its black strands, was
“I’m ready,” he said.
coiled and piled now on her head—a
They left by the window, wafting
headdress like a great cone.
themselves with a leap down through the leafy
“I wanted to talk with you.” Her voice
foliage to the ground. Rua glided cautiously,
was a full, rich contralto. Then she said with
keeping within the heavy shadows of the
sudden directness: “About what your father
shrubbery. The lake shore was near by. At
told you about the Forest City—I heard your
Hall’s long dock an open boat was lying
questions. I could guess you act for yourself
moored. Its stern was decked over for a few
when you have plans. And you are daring. Do
feet into a tiny cabin, with the little engine
I guess right?”
amidships, and a control set in the bow.
His heart leaped. Had he been so
They sat in the bow, with Rua at the
transparent, back there during the supper? He
controls. The boat started smoothly, almost
said, “Act for myself? Perhaps.” And a silently. Exhilarating, weightless flight. An
Thrilling Wonder Stories
8
hour passed and it seemed to Johnny presently
gunwale—conduits which carried the gold gas
that the wind was increasing.
from the engine to the several rocket stream
Another cloud of death coming from
exhausts. Some of the engine exhaust
the Forest City.
streamed out. It was like inhaling whiffs of
Before Johnny could voice his startled
pure air in a room which had been stifling.
question there came a sharp sound. Back
Ahead of them now the river widened
along the dark canoe interior an upright figure
and divided into two narrow channels with an
showed, just emerging from the shadows of
island between them. The island was about a
the little cabin at the stern. A third passenger; mile long and six or eight hundred feet at its
a stowaway!
widest.
It was Anne!
“Well, we’re going back,” Johnny AND here on the island was the Forest City of declared grimly.
criminals. There were a few metal landing
“Suits me,” Anne said. She sat on one
stages down among the trees. But no sign of
of the cross seats, still in her tunic, with a dark human habitation. Then, from a closer
garment of gossamer fabric, which evidently
viewpoint, Johnny saw mound shaped earthen
she had taken from her bedroom in Hall’s
buildings, like little forts, at Intervals along
home, thrown over her.
the island shore—a cliff shore, with the river
So that was the noise they had heard at
some fifty feet lower.
the window of Johnny’s room! Anne had
“The Master and his men live
heard them talking of this trip—heard Rua say
underground,” Rua was saying. But Johnny
her boat was at the dock. And she had hardly heard her. His attention was focused to preceded them through the garden and hidden
the center of the island, where there was a
herself there.
hundred-foot circular pit. It was a glare of
Rua sat silent, regarding the girl with a
yellow fluorescence. Two great conduits rose
smoldering flush.
from it, one forking toward Bhana, the other
How to handle this situation puzzled
in the opposite direction. They were two
Johnny. He sat silent, trying to plan; but soon
hundred feet high at least, widening into great
whatever plans he could guess at making were
round funnels, held by skeleton framework
swept from his mind. The gale was blowing
and guy ropes.
directly from the Forest City, back toward
The pit sheltered the mechanism of the
Bhana. And the normal yellow night glow in
huge condensers. The funnel away from
the air was steadily darkening. The giant Bhana was the intake of pure air; the other condensers were operating at full capacity.
was pouring out its black, polluted stream.
That was obvious now.
The hum and throb of the giant mechanism
The darkness of the air steadily was audible.
intensified as Rua’s vehicle darted like a
They were almost over the island now.
soaring bird forward into it. They were flying
He saw Rua fumbling with her instrument
now some five hundred feet above the top of a
panel. From the bow, a light flashed. On and
gigantic forest—a dark, tangled, matted off. Puffs of intense red glare. It was her jungle. Another interval. Had Johnny dozed?
signal to the men below—the identification
Or was this damnable vitiated air making him
that this was not an enemy ship.
lose consciousness? Rua said, “I can fix that.”
But Rua had been too distracted in
She opened a little valve in one of the glowing
piloting her craft; she had delayed the signal
conduits which ran along the inside of the
too long. From one of the forts came a puff of
Shadow Gold
9
yellow light. A golden cylinder mounted
Then the Master appeared before them.
upward. A gold bomb. It burst before it He came through a rift high up on the side of reached its mark.
the grotto. They saw his figure stoop at the
There was a dazzling yellow glare. The
low entrance; then he straightened and came
explosion was some forty feet away, but the
walking slowly down a narrow steep slope of
air pressure struck like a solid wall. One of the rock.
wings of the vehicle was torn away. They
It was Taro, the soldier-scientist,
were falling and turning end over end—falling
trusted as a friend by the officials in Bhana—
more rapidly than normal to this realm, drawn
he who had sat with Johnny and the others at
down doubtless by some sucking air current.
the dinner only a few hours ago. Strange
Then there was a rending crash. commanding figure, this Taro. His expression Johnny’s senses slid into an abyss of black
had a queer Satanic cast, the peak of hair in a
empty silence, with only the consciousness
triangle on his forehead, his slightly upturned
remaining that he was holding Anne in his
eyebrows and narrow, pointed chin.
arms.
“So? You come to visit me, young
Johnny?” His mailed garment was of black
and white metal. One of his hands toyed at his
CHAPTER III
belt where weapons were hanging. He was
“I Can Conquer the Earth!”
ironically polite. “Sit down. We will talk.”
“Thanks,” said Johnny. He gestured to
Anne and she sat beside him on a padded
JOHNNY did not quite lose consciousness. He
bench. Taro remained standing before them,
was aware of returning sounds, and that swaying slightly forward and backward. His fragments of the wrecked craft were lying on
gaze swung to Anne, and for a moment clung.
him. He called, “Anne! Anne, where are Then he turned to Rua, who was standing you?”
here. “You did well, Rua, to bring him. And
Agonizing
until
he
heard her voice.
this girl, Anne—”
“Here, Johnny.”