The Sargasso of Space Page 3

theairlock. Liggett followed them, and, as Kent struggled hastily into aspace-suit, he found Captain Crain at his side.

  "Kent, look sharp when you get over on that ship," Crain told him. "Idon't like the look of this Krell, and his story about all the officersbeing killed in the explosion sounds fishy to me."

  "To me, too," Kent agreed. "But Liggett and I will have the suit-phonesin our space-suits and can call you from there in case of need."

  Crain nodded, and Kent with space-suit on and transparent helmetscrewed tight, stepped into the airlock with the rest. The airlock'sinner door closed, the outer one opened, and as the air puffed out intospace, Kent and Krell and Liggett leapt out into the void, the othersfollowing.

  It was no novelty to Kent to float in a space-suit in the empty void. Heand the others now floated as smoothly as though under water toward awrecked liner at the _Pallas'_ right. They reached it, pulled themselvesaround it, and, with feet braced against its side, propelled themselveson through space along the border of the wreck-pack.

  They passed a half-dozen wrecks thus, before coming to the _MartianQueen_. It was a silvery, glistening ship whose stern and lower wallswere bulging and strained, but not cracked. Kent told himself that Krellhad spoken truth about the exploding rocket-tubes, at least.

  They struck the _Martian Queen's_ side and entered the upper-airlockopen for them. Once through the airlock they found themselves on theship's upper-deck. And when Kent and Liggett removed their helmets withthe others they found a full dozen men confronting them, a brutal-facedgroup who exhibited some surprise at sight of them.

  * * * * *

  Foremost among them stood a tall, heavy individual who regarded Kent andLiggett with the cold, suspicious eyes of an animal.

  "My comrade and fellow-ruler here, Wald Jandron," said Krell. To Jandronhe explained rapidly. "The whole crew of the _Pallas_ is alive, and theysay if they can find fuel in the wreck-pack their ship can get out ofhere."

  "Good," grunted Jandron. "The sooner they can do it, the better it willbe for us."

  Kent saw Liggett flush angrily, but he ignored Jandron and spoke toKrell. "You said one of your passengers had escaped the explosion?"

  To Kent's amazement a girl stepped from behind the group of men, a slimgirl with pale face and steady, dark eyes. "I'm the passenger," she toldhim. "My name's Marta Mallen."

  Kent and Liggett stared, astounded. "Good Lord!" Kent exclaimed. "A girllike you on this ship!"

  "Miss Mallen happened to be on the upper-deck at the time of theexplosion and, so, escaped when the other passengers were killed," Krellexplained smoothly. "Isn't that so, Miss Mallen?"

  The girl's eyes had not left Kent's, but at Krell's words she nodded."Yes, that is so," she said mechanically.

  Kent collected his whirling thoughts. "But wouldn't you rather go backto the _Pallas_ with us?" he asked. "I'm sure you'd be more comfortablethere."

  "She doesn't go," grunted Jandron. Kent turned in quick wrath towardhim, but Krell intervened.

  "Jandron only means that Miss Mallen is much more comfortable on thispassenger-ship than she'd be in your freighter." He shot a glance at thegirl as he spoke, and Kent saw her wince.

  "I'm afraid that's so," she said; "but I thank you for the offer, Mr.Kent."

  Kent could have sworn that there was an appeal in her eyes, and he stoodfor a moment, indecisive, Jandron's stare upon him. After a moment'sthought he turned to Krell.

  "You were going to show me the damage the exploding tubes did," he said,and Krell nodded quickly.

  "Of course; you can see from the head of the stair back in theafter-deck."

  He led the way along a corridor, Jandron and the girl and two of themen coming with them. Kent's thoughts were still chaotic as he walkedbetween Krell and Liggett. What was this girl doing amid the men of the_Martian Queen_? What had her eyes tried to tell him?

  Liggett nudged his side in the dim corridor, and Kent, looking down, sawdark splotches on its metal floor. Blood-stains! His suspicionsstrengthened. They might be from the bleeding of those wounded in thetube-explosions. But were they?

  * * * * *

  They reached the after-deck whose stair's head gave a view of thewrecked tube-rooms beneath. The lower decks had been smashed by terrificforces. Kent's practiced eyes ran rapidly over the shatteredrocket-tubes.

  "They've back-blasted from being fired too fast," he said. "Who wascontrolling the ship when this happened?"

  "Galling, our second-officer," answered Krell. "He had found us routedtoo close to the dead-area's edge and was trying to get away from it ina hurry, when he used the tubes too fast, and half of themback-blasted."

  "If Galling was at the controls in the pilot-house, how did theexplosion kill him?" asked Liggett skeptically. Krell turned quickly.

  "The shock threw him against the pilot-house wall and fractured hisskull--he died in an hour," he said. Liggett was silent.

  "Well, this ship will never move again," Kent said. "It's too bad thatthe explosion blew out your tanks, but we ought to find fuel somewherein the wreck-pack for the _Pallas_. And now we'd best get back."

  As they returned up the dim corridor Kent managed to walk beside MartaMallen, and, without being seen, he contrived to detach hissuit-phone--the compact little radiophone case inside his space-suit'sneck--and slip it into the girl's grasp. He dared utter no word ofexplanation, but apparently she understood, for she had concealed thesuit-phone by the time they reached the upper-deck.

  Kent and Liggett prepared to don their space-helmets, and beforeentering the airlock, Kent turned to Krell.

  "We'll expect you at the _Pallas_ first hour to-morrow, and we'll startsearching the wreck-pack with a dozen of our men," he said.

  He then extended his hand to the girl. "Good-by, Miss Mallen. I hope wecan have a talk soon."

  He had said the words with double meaning, and saw understanding in hereyes. "I hope we can, too," she said.

  Kent's nod to Jandron went unanswered, and he and Liggett adjusted theirhelmets and entered the airlock.

  Once out of it, they kicked rapidly away from the _Martian Queen_,floating along with the wreck-pack's huge mass to their right, and onlythe star-flecked emptiness of infinity to their left. In a few minutesthey reached the airlock of the _Pallas_.

  * * * * *

  They found Captain Crain awaiting them anxiously. Briefly Kent reportedeverything.

  "I'm certain there has been foul play aboard the _Martian Queen_," hesaid. "Krell you saw for yourself, Jandron is pure brute, and their menseem capable of anything.

  "I gave the suit-phone to the girl, however, and if she can call us withit, we can get the truth from her. She dared not tell me anything therein the presence of Krell and Jandron."

  Crain nodded, his face grave. "We'll see whether or not she calls," hesaid.

  Kent took a suit-phone from one of their space-suits and rapidly, tunedit to match the one he had left with Marta Mallen. Almost at once theyheard her voice from it, and Kent answered rapidly.

  "I'm so glad I got you!" she exclaimed. "Mr. Kent, I dared not tell youthe truth about this ship when you were here, or Krell and the restwould have killed you at once."

  "I thought that was it, and that's why I left the suit-phone for you,"Kent said. "Just what is the truth?"

  "Krell and Jandron and these men of theirs are the ones who killed theofficers and passengers of the _Martian Queen_! What they told you aboutthe explosion was true enough, for the explosion did happen that way,and because of it, the ship drifted into the dead-area. But the onlyones killed by it were some of the tube-men and three passengers.

  "Then, while the ship was drifting into the dead-area, Krell told themen that the fewer aboard, the longer they could live on the ship's foodand air. Krell and Jandron led the men in a surprise attack and killedall the officers and passengers, and threw their bodies out into space.I was the only passenger they spared, because both Krell and
Jandron--want me!"

  * * * * *

  There was a silence, and Kent felt a red anger rising in him. "Have theydared harm you?" he asked after a moment.

  "No, for Krell and Jandron are too jealous of each other to permit theother to touch me. But it's been terrible living with them in this awfulplace."

  "Ask her if she knows what their plans are in regard to us," Crain toldKent.

  Marta had apparently overheard the question. "I don't know that, forthey shut me in my cabin as soon as you left," she said. "I've