A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, October 1950 — page 123: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

120 A. MERRITT’S FANTASY curian lightning death, were guilty of a frightful blunder. “It appears that the serum used for 1m- munization was manufactured from cul- tures of the virus which had not been completely killed. The very innoculation appears to be fatal, after a period of a few days upward. The lightning death is swiftly breaking out in those groups of the comrades first treated, at the base and aboard the Valiant. “Therefore, comrades on Earth, you are advised to surrender, and seek medical attention—IMA researchers are reported to have made progress toward actual im- munization. Surrender and prompt treat- ment, unfortunately, seem to offer your only hope to escape a horrible death.” Scarr gulped and wiped his close-set eyes. “Again, comrades, hail and farewell! With only a few seconds of life remain- ing—” The iron fist clenched again. “Hail, death!” N A hundred million screens, Iron Scarr crashd and flamed into silent blackness. An obliterating backness, in the studio on Taurus, dropped upon the brain of Dr. Bull. The smashing crescendo within his skull swelled to the last fury of worlds colliding. He knew that the light- ning death had run its fatal course. “Imagination,” he tried to whisper. ““Audacity—” He fell. “Victory !” After eons of struggle in a hot black jungle, where he fled in vain from the thudding drums that followed, fought the sentient rubbery vines that clutched and clung and choked him, Dr. Bull shouted that word in a voice that was surprisingly loud. He swallowed, -whispered it again, doubtfully. He was lying in a clean bed in his own hospital. The throb in his brain had incredibly ceased. He blinked unbelievingly up at pretty Vera Frame. “Vee?” he whispered. “You're all right? I—I thought—”’ Still the thing was too horrible to say. But the tall gorgeous nurse smiled down at him. “You thought I had the lightning death.”’ Her golden voice was unafraid. “And I did, doc. And so did you.” Her cool fingers caught his groping, bewil- dered hand, squeezed quickly. “I knew you had it, all the time,”’ she whispered. “You were wonderful, to go on.” “We—we—”’ For once, he could find no words. “The patrol squadron that arrived four hours ago brought a new serum from the IMA tropical laboratories at Panama. Doc, we're going to be all right.” She stopped to kiss him. “The lightning death is conquered.” The little doctor’s blue eyes twinkled. “Scarr?” he asked. “And the Iron Watch?” The nurse’s limpid eyes were shining. “The Iron Watch just folded up,” she said. ‘‘The men on the Valiant mutinied, and mgbbed Scarr, before the squadron got here. The base was abandoned—and recaptured by three loyal men who had been hiding in cracker barrels. The Iron Watch on Earth has gone to pieces—the police were skeptical when they began to surrender and confess and accuse one an- other, but the evidence was convincing. It’s lucky the IMA really had an anti- gen!”’ Vera Frame caressed his hand. ‘The loyal patrol commanders can’t quite un- derstand how you did it, doc,” she said. ‘“‘Because the simplest kind of triangula- tion, on TAU, would have told any Iron Watch member that Taurus hadn’t actu- ally been moved out of its orbit.” Dr. Bull closed his twinkling eyes. He had spent many years perfecting a tech- nique for causing his listeners to neglect (Please continue on page 130) (C(O) nn) (C 6)(0)©) S (C(O)