Captain Future 16 - Magic Moon (Winter 1944) Read online

  #16 Winter 1944

  Introduction

  A Complete Book-Length Scientifiction Novel

  Magic Moon

  by Edmond Hamilton writing as Brett Sterling

  A cruel plot to seize the satellite Styx, third moon of Pluto, and enslave peaceful natives, sends Captain Future and his loyal aides out on the most dangerous adventure of their careers!

  Radio Archives • 2012

  Copyright Page

  Copyright © 1944 by Better Publications, Inc. © 2012 RadioArchives.com. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form.

  These pulp stories are a product of their time. The text is reprinted intact, unabridged, and may include ethnic and cultural stereotyping that was typical of the era.

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  ISBN 978-1610818537

  Introduction

  The original introduction to Captain Future as it appeared in issue #1

  The Wizard of Science! Captain Future!

  The most colorful planeteer in the Solar System makes his debut in this, America’s newest and most scintillating scientifiction magazine — CAPTAIN FUTURE.

  This is the magazine more than one hundred thousand scientifiction followers have been clamoring for! Here, for the first time in scientifiction history, is a publication devoted exclusively to the thrilling exploits of the greatest fantasy character of all time!

  Follow the flashing rocket-trail of the Comet as the most extraordinary scientist of nine worlds have ever known explores the outposts of the cosmos to the very shores of infinity. Read about the Man of Tomorrow today!

  Meet the companions of Captain Future, the most glamorous trio in the Universe!

  Grag, the giant, metal robot; Otho, the man-made, synthetic android; and aged Simon Wright, the living Brain.

  This all-star parade of the most unusual characters in the realm of fantasy is presented for your entertainment. Come along with this amazing band as they rove the enchanted space-ways — in each issue of CAPTAIN FUTURE!

  Magic Moon

  A Complete Book-Length Scientifiction Novel

  by Edmond Hamilton writing as Brett Sterling

  A cruel plot to seize the satellite Styx, third moon of Pluto, and enslave peaceful natives, sends Captain Future and his loyal aides out on the most dangerous adventure of their careers!

  Chapter 1: Menaced World

  IN LOUD tones, the dramatic voice of the telaudio announcer went flashing out on the broadcast wave to every world in the Solar System.

  “Calling Captain Future!”

  It issued from millions of receivers, startling listeners into alert attention as it again repeated the name of the most famous space-adventurer of the System.

  “Calling Captain Future!”

  That dramatic call went even beyond the limits of the nine planets, borne upon the powerful wave. It reached the receiver of a small, stream-lined spaceship far out in the interstellar abyss.

  That ship had for many days been rushing homeward through the vast black emptiness, returning from an epochal journey to the fixed stars. The tall, redheaded young Earthman in its pilot-chair had turned on the telaudio, now that they were nearing the System.

  His red head raised in astonishment as he heard the announcer’s urgent call. His rangy figure stiffened in the chair. Astonished incredulity appeared in his tanned, handsome face and clear gray eyes.

  “Otho! Grag! Simon!” he called sharply over his shoulder. “Come here — something’s wrong.”

  Curtis Newton — this redheaded young Earthman whom the System knew as Captain Future — heard his comrades hurrying in answer. Then a booming, reverberating voice broke upon his ears as the first of the Futuremen entered the bridge-room.

  It was Grag who spoke. Grag was not a man of flesh, but a man of metal, a robot. But he was no ordinary robot. His massive, manlike metal figure possessed superhuman strength.

  And within his bulbous metal head, behind the gleaming photoelectric eyes of his rigid face, was a mechanical brain and mind of human power.

  “What’s up, chief?” the towering robot demanded of Newton.

  “I just picked up a call for us, that’s being sent out on the standard broadcast wave,” Captain Future answered in puzzled tones.

  “Why in the Sun’s name would it be on the broadcast wave?” demanded Otho, second of the Futuremen. “That’s only for entertainment and advertisements. Why don’t they call us on our own wave?”

  UTHO was an android, a synthetic man. He had been created long ago from artificial tissues in the laboratory. Yet in almost every way he was human.

  His rubbery figure hinted of more than human agility and speed, and his hairless head and pale, aquiline face were faintly alien. But a wholly human curiosity and excitement sparkled now in his slanted green eyes.

  The Brain, the third Futureman, had entered silently. He was the most unhuman looking of them. Yet he had been human once. Years ago, he had been Doctor Simon Wright, brilliant, aging scientist. Then his living brain had been transferred to an ingenious serum-case.

  The Brain now resembled a square, transparent metal box, on the “face” of which were his lens-like glass eyes and resonator “mouth.” These artificial organs were connected electrically to his living human brain, inside the case. He could jet beams of magnetic energy to use as arms, or could glide in swift movement upon similar emitted beams. The three Futuremen and their young leader crowded close to the telaudio receiver in the cramped control-room of the flying ship.

  “Calling Captain Future,” repeated the announcer’s voice for the third time. Then the voice went on. “We’re not calling for the real Captain Future, of course, but for someone to take his place.”

  “Someone to take your place, chief?” echoed Grag, bewildered. “What does he mean?”

  “It must be a gag of some kind,” Otho declared.

  “Listen,” Curt Newton ordered, a frown on his tanned face.

  The announcer was speaking once more. “You people of the System all know who Captain Future is. Everyone from Mercury to Pluto is aware that he and his Futuremen are the greatest planeteers and scientists in our history. You’ve heard the tales of their wonderful exploits, their crusades against interplanetary pirates and criminals, their exploring trips to the fixed stars such as the one upon which they’re away now.

  “Soon all you people will have a chance to see the most brilliant exploits of Captain Future and his comrades, on the telepicture screen. Jeff Lewis, the telepicture producer who has made so many thrilling space-films, is preparing to make the super-picture of all time about Captain Future.

  “This picture will be called ‘The Ace of Space.’ It will be filmed in the most remote and dangerous places in the System, places never before seen on the telepicture screen. The terrible Fire Sea of Jupiter, the strange submarine cities of the undersea folk of Neptune, and even mysterious Styx — that distant and little-known satellite of Pluto which is called Magic Moon — all these will be the background for this superfilm. Its cast will be a galaxy of the biggest stars in telepictures.

  “But one role in the film remains unfilled. The role of Captain Future himself. No ordinary actor can fill this role. It must be someone who looks like the great planeteer. So Producer Jeff
Lewis is conducting a talent-search for a suitable man to play that role. If you think you look like Captain Future, if you are six feet four with red hair and features like his, come at once to Telepictures Studios in Great New York, on Earth. You may be the one selected for this greatest starring role of all time.”

  Curt Newton switched off the telaudio in disgust. “I thought it was something important. And it turns out to be a publicity trick for a telepicture they’re going to make.”

  “A telepicture about us, chief,” reminded Otho. The android’s vanity was flattered. “We Futuremen must be really getting famous.”

  “Probably it will be a pack of fancy lies about us,” growled Grag. “If it is, I’ll sue ‘em for defamation of character.”

  “Listen to that — a robot worrying about his character,” jeered Otho. “How can a rusty old machine have any character to defame?”

  Nothing so enraged Grag as an intimation that he was not as completely human as other persons. He emitted an angry roar.

  “Why, you miserable rubber dummy!” he cried to the android. “Your parents were a couple of test-tubes in a laboratory, and —”

  CURT NEWTON paid no further attention to their bickering. And he had forgotten all about the telepicture announcement. For now their ship was nearing the Solar System, the end of its long homing voyage.

  It had been long indeed, their voyage. Far, far out into the abyss of deep space had ventured the little Comet, in the last weeks. They had seen strange suns, had mapped wild worlds and moons. For they had undertaken an exploration of some of the nearer fixed stars for the System Government.

  Now, at last, they were coming home. Home, to them, was Earth’s wild, airless Moon. On that forbidding satellite, Curt Newton had been born. There, after his parents’ tragic death, he had been reared to manhood by the Brain, robot and android.

  And more than homesickness beckoned Captain Future Earthward. On green old Earth was the girl he loved, Joan Randall, secret agent of the Planet Patrol. He was counting the hours till he saw her again.

  Curt Newton eagerly switched on their own telaudio transmitter. “I’ll let the President know that we’re back from our mission.”

  He tuned to the secret wave-length used only for personal calls to the chief executive of the nine planets.

  “Captain Future, calling President Crewe.”

  Minutes passed. Then came a startled reply in the familiar voice of Daniel Crewe.

  “Captain Future, are you back already?”

  “We’ve just re-entered the System,” Newton informed him. “Our star-explorations were successful. How soon do you want our report?”

  “That report can wait, but I must see you as soon as possible on another matter,” came back the President’s anxious voice.

  “Another matter?” Curt Newton asked. “What’s up?”

  “It concerns a telepicture expedition which is planning to film a picture about you Futuremen,” answered Crewe.

  Captain Future laughed. “Is that all? We already heard about that film. Let ‘em go ahead and make it — we don’t care.”

  “You don’t understand,” exclaimed the President’s troubled voice. “That telepicture may bring disaster on one of the worlds of our System. I want to consult you about it.”

  Newton’s face sobered. “Then we’ll come straight to see you at once.”

  Captain Future looked at his comrades in a concerned manner as he switched off the telaudio. “What does Crewe mean? How in the Sun’s name can a crazy telepicture about us threaten disaster to a whole world?”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” protested Otho.

  “The President generally has some basis for his assertions,” rasped Simon Wright in his metallic voice.

  “Simon’s right,” murmured Newton uneasily. “We’d better hunt him up as soon as possible.”

  He had already shifted from the high-speed vibration drive to the rocket drive. Now, his foot pressed down the cyc-pedal all the way. Pluming a tail of white fire, the Comet flashed at top speed toward distant Earth.

  The greenish globe of Earth expanded slowly before them. At last, he brought their ship around toward the night side of the planet. Upon that shadowed face of the ancient world, the clustered lights of Great New York blazed like a splendid jewel.

  Deftly he eased the Comet through the darkness, to the pinnacle of Government Tower, seat of the Solar System Government. There was a little landing-deck on the truncated tip of the tower. Only the System President or the Futuremen had authority to land there.

  The little ship came gently to rest. Captain Future led his comrades rapidly down the private stair to the System President’s office.

  Daniel Crewe rose hastily from behind his desk. The chief executive of the nine worlds was not an old man. But tremendous responsibilities had lined his fine face deeply, had touched his hair with gray.

  His greeting was warm. “You don’t know how glad I am you Futuremen are back. I’ve been badly worried about this business.”

  “That telepicture expedition?” Newton queried. “I heard their announcement. It sounded like a legitimate film expedition.”

  “That’s the way it sounds, but there’s more to it than that,” Daniel Crewe affirmed. His face darkened. “I believe that telepicture expedition masks a dangerous, ruthless plot against the world Styx.”

  “Styx?” repeated Curt Newton incredulously. “The third moon of Pluto, the one that everybody calls Magic Moon? Why in space would anyone plot against that barren, remote little world?”

  He was amazed at the mention of Styx. There was no more isolated world in the System.

  Almost no one ever went there. There was nothing to go for. The remote little moon had no rich metals such as drew colonists to other worlds. In fact, Styx was unique in that it was the only world that had almost no metals whatever.

  Furthermore, the native Stygians did not like visitors. They were a queer, lonely people with a reputation for magic, extremely peace-loving but also extreme haters of mechanical progress. They had only been induced to join the System Government by a treaty under which they were to have complete authority over their own world, so long as they maintained order there.

  “Even if that telepicture project does conceal a plot of some kind, the plot can’t be aimed at Styx,” Captain Future repeated. “No one could want anything from that little place.”

  “There is now,” contradicted Daniel Crewe. “Six weeks ago, soon after you Futuremen left the System, prospectors discovered rich diamond-deposits on Styx.”

  Otho whistled. “Diamond-deposits? Now I begin to understand all this interest in Styx.”

  “You know how valuable diamonds are for industrial purposes these days,” the President said earnestly. “It’s the one substance that can cut the super-hard modern metal alloys. It used to be treasured as a jewel. Now it is invaluable to industry.

  “Certain big interplanetary corporations at once asked for concessions to exploit the newfound diamond-beds on Styx. These corporations are all dummy companies controlled by Jon Valdane, the most notoriously ruthless financier on Earth.

  “The Stygians refused to grant concessions. You know how they hate machinery and mechanical devices. They wanted no miners coming to their world. Jon Valdane pulled all the strings he could — he has his puppets in the System Council. But the Stygians still refused."

  Daniel Crewe frowned. “Two weeks later, Telepictures Incorporated suddenly announced that they planned to make a big picture about you Futuremen. They said it would be filmed in the scenes of your greatest exploits, the Fire Sea of Jupiter, the submarine cities of Neptune, and Styx. And Telepictures Incorporated is one of Jon Valdane’s many companies.”

  “I see, now,” Captain Future said thoughtfully. “You think this telepicture expedition masks a plot of Jon Valdane against Styx?”

  “I feel certain of it,” exclaimed the President. “The whole thing is suspicious. Of course, they say they must go to Styx among othe
r places to film scenes, because it was the scene of one of you Futuremen’s greatest exploits. And it’s said that Valdane is going along with the party simply because he is interested in its feminine star.

  “But it’s all too pat to suit me. I’m convinced that Jon Valdane has some plot behind it that will enable him to get his hands on the diamond wealth of Styx, even if he has to wreck that world.”

  The Brain spoke metallically. “If the expedition masks a criminal plot, why should they give it all that publicity by conducting a big talent-search for someone to play Captain Future?”

  Daniel Crewe shook his head. “I can’t understand that myself. You understand, I haven’t any real proof of my suspicions. That’s why I can’t simply forbid the expedition.

  “And I can’t assign any secret Patrol agents to go along with the expedition to keep watch on Valdane. It would contravene our treaty with the Stygians if we sent officers to Styx. They were granted sole authority on their own world by that treaty.”

  Captain Future stared at him keenly. “So you want us Futuremen to act as your secret agents in watching this expedition?”

  “That’s it.” The President nodded. “You have no official status, so I can use you without breaking the treaty with Styx. And you and Otho are masters of disguise, and should be able to get into that expedition and find out what deviltry Valdane is up to.”

  He added a warning. “Yet I won’t conceal that it’ll be highly dangerous. Valdane will have the expedition packed with his men. And it will be going out through the most dangerous places in the System.”

  Curt Newton’s gray eyes gleamed with the light of adventure. With characteristic swiftness of resolution, he had decided his course.

  He rose to his feet. “I’ll be in that expedition, sir. And I’ll find out somehow just what Jon Valdane is plotting against Styx.”