Avon Fantasy Reader No. 13 — page 40: what you’re looking at

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

there, groped wildly in an effort to steady my wif, and fell to the floor. Almost before I struck, all four of them were upon me. They hammered me viciously, shouted at me, cursed me in the universal a tongue, but I paid no heed. I pretended to be unconscious, but my heart q was beating high with sudden, glorious hope, and in my brain a terrible, i merciless plan was forming. When I had groped against the cabinet in an effort to regain my bal- ance, my fingers had closed upon one of the little metal vials. As I fell, I covered that hand with my body and hastily hid the tiny tube in a deep pocket of my blue and silver Service uniform. Slowly, after a few seconds, I opened my eyes and looked up at them, helplessly. “Go, now!” snarled Ja Ben, dragging me to my feet. “Go, and tell your Council we are more than a match for you—and for them.” He thrust me, “as recling, towards his three assistants. “Take him to his ship, and send aid for sg Ife Rance, here.” He glanced at the still unconscious figure of the victim of my menore, and then turned to me with a last warning. “Remember, one thing more, my friend: you have disintegrator ray equip- ment upon your ship. You have ‘the little atomic bombs that won for the Alliance the Second War of the Planets. I know that. But if you make the slightest effort to use them, I shall dispatch a supply of the green death to our ships, and they will depart upon their missions at once. You would take upon yourself a terrible responsibility by making the smallest hostile move. “Go, now—and when you return, bring with you members of your great Council who will have the power to hear our demands, and see that they are obeyed. And do not keep us waiting overlong, for we are an impatient race.” He bowed, mockingly, and passed his left hand swiftly before his face, his people’s sign of parting. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, and, hemmed in by my three black-robed conductors, was hurried down the ‘elevator and back through the jeering mob to my ship. The glass secondary door shot up to permit me to enter, and Eitel gripped my shoulder anxiously, his eyes smoldering angrily. “You're hurt, sir!” he said in his odd, high-pitched voice, staring into my bruised face. “What—” “It’s nothing,” I assured him. “Close the exit immediately; we depart at ~ once.’ re “Yes, sir!” He closed the switch, and the great threaded plug swung ~ a gently on its gimbals and began to revolve, swiftly and silently. A little bell 3 sounded sharply, and the great door ceased its motion. Eitel locked the switch and returned the key to his pocket. “Good. All men are at their stations?” I asked briskly. fa “Yes, sir! All except these ten, detailed to guard the exit.” | “Have them report to their regular stations. Issue orders to the ray oper- ators that they are to instantly, and without further orders, destroy any ship that may leave the surface of this planet. Have every atomic bomb crew oe ready for an instant and concentrated offensive directed at the Control City, 38 Th { 2 Oo Ccomicsooks