Avon Fantasy Reader No. 9 — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

by your own father, as he continues to dissipate our atmosphere. And so, farewell.” | 3 | He went out, and shortly thereafter, my attendant came in, placed a tank of water and a large basket of food within reach, and unfettered one of my hands. Then he, too, went out, and I was left alone, gasping for breath, as the atmosphere continued to grow more rare. | . Presently I saw the fleet of Lido Kan set out. Instantly, with the thin’ point of one of my eating sticks, I set about picking the locks of my fetters. Within an hour I had freed myself. Finding my door unlocked I rushed from © the room. Presently I blundered into the great deserted room from. which the official Martian ether visiphone messages had formerly been sent to Magong. Opening a switch, I found that the power was still on, and signaled __ the station of my father. My heart gave a leap of joy when his face suddenly appeared in the disc before me. | | ' “Have you any ether ships left?” I asked him, after we had exchanged greetings. | : : “Not quite a thousand.” “And does Hia Ku still live?” “He lives, and commands the fleet during your absence.” : “Then dispatch him at once to find and destroy the fleet of Lido Kan, who has just left here with five hundred ships, purposing to colonize Earth.” “Then the atmosphere is nearly dissipated?” : Eilts.” “But what about you, my son? Are there any ships left in which you can return?” ie | “There are none near-by, and I have not the strength left to go out and search for more. My death is only a matter of hours, and I am resigned to iy tate.” - : “Do not’ despair, for I, your father, will save you. I will shut off the ~atmosphere-destroying rays at once, and will have a small, swift ship there to bring you back in less than four hours.” S ip ‘3 I returned to the room where I had been imprisoned, to watch for the ether ship, and true to the word of my father it appeared in less than four hours—a tiny, one-man craft. I hurried to the roof, reaching it just as the ship alighted. A man stepped out—an old and faithful servant of my father. “The ship from His Majesty, your father, Highness,” he said. “But why a one-man craft?” I asked. “Hia Ku took all the others when he left to attack the fleet of Lido Kan,” he replied. Then, before I could prevent him, he took a small, green ray projector from his belt and pressed the muzzle to his abdomen. With a gasping “Farewell, Highness,” the brave and loyal fellow dropped dead at: my feet. oe | Hurrying below once more, I entered the ether visiphone room and sig- 69 Comicbooks.comn