Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

disabled cylinders -riding the waves. Down upon the ocean rolled the fallen earth ships, bouncing in response to: the waves, Ware stared at the two disabled spheres, fearful that his men-had been‘ tdlled. But inasmuch as the spheres were hermetically sealed, he hoped that those caught within were safe even if temporarily paralyzed. by the Venusian-rays: It was then that he saw movement in the two A. hatch suddenly shot open and out of it flew one after another of the people’ of Venus! Others of the ships had seen them and. were exclaiming loudly at the strange forms, They were winged, and at first the Earthlings believed them to be their own people. Then they realized that.the differenceJay in their covering, which had first been. tiought to. be a-type of clothing, but on closer inspection through the binoculars proved to: be minute~ scales that glistened iridescently in the half-lights that came through the clouds! ‘Head, face, arms and body, as well as the fong straight. wings, were scaled\ exactly as a fish is scaledt The second ship was also giving up its swarms of strange life. For a few minutes the winged beings hovered over their ships ;:then, as if-at the direction of a leader, they flew to where the two Earth ships were being buffeted by the waves, In flight they had none:of.the grace of the winged men of Earth, nor were they so swift. Then a swarm of them reached the rlearest sphere and were alighting on it from all sides, They seemed to examine it, and not finding what they wished, a number of the creatures dived into the water while others still clumg to the side, In wonder the Earthlings above saw the sphere roll over on its side, tntil its man-hole appeared! Immediately the amphibians were at work upon the hatch, seeking to learn its secret! ! All this had happened in such a short space of time that the men in the ships above had been too stunned to think. But when the Venusians, or Zoldans, as the voice over the radio had named them, made an attempt. to slip into their ships the Earthlings sprang into action. Ware ordered five of his ships two of the remaining ships send their men to attack the ma- to guard them from attack from above, while-he-directed that rauders. They were each’to carry their electro-thunderbolts, but orders were given to stun, not kill, for Ware had come to the sudden conclusion that the Zoldan warriors were women! CHAPTER VII Down to the Water! N first reaching the atmosphere of Venus, the Earth O scientists-had taken samples of the air, and discovered that it was equal in atmospheric. pressure to that of Earth, with perhaps a slightly -higher degree of oxygen. Now, with the hatches open, the first squadrons of Earthlings came into the air and darted to where the Venusians sought entrance to the disabled sphere. The second sphere had been attacked. i in the same manner, and it was evident that the women would soon discover the secret of the-entrances. No doubt they thought to control the space-flyers and attack the enemy with their own ships! Acting under orders not to kill, the Earthlings dived to the attack, loosing their thunderbolts, using half charges. The winged women saw them coming and half their number rose ina cloud to meet the attack. They appeared armed“with rods a foot long, which let forth a sharp dart that plowed through flesh and hone. Re their darts did not climb well, and it ap- peared that the Zoldans were seeking to gain altitude. A dozen or so did manage to gain the air above the Earthlings, and their darts found a number of victims, sending them: falling to the water below.’ But the Earth thunderbolts spoke and sent the Venusians plunging into the ocean, writhing and turning as they fell. Now with the battle at its height below, a Venusian ship was seen dropping from the clouds. Before the spheres were aware WOMEN WITH WINGS 3 . of its proximity, it had-taken its toll and another flyer fell to the water. Before it: could gain cover.of the clouds, however, a blue beam from The Mentor had caught it and, after careening uncertainly, it too fell, following its victim. with a mighty splash. Ware now ordered-two ships to scout close-to the clouds’ surface, and shortly thereafter another Venusian ship fell from the fogs, That meant that there were only two more of the cylinders in the clonds.. But though the spheres climbed warily into the clouds, they -were unable to sight them. N the other hand, the two fallen ships were giving up their crews, who upon discovering that the motors were power- less, were hurrying: to join their fellows in the hand-to-hand battle.. More.and more of the Earthlings were dispatched; and soon the water: all around was literally covered by the floating bodies of the amphibians as well as'a great number of the winged men who had been-brought down: by their darts. Either the aim of the Zoldan women. was not good, or else, like the Earthlings they were bent only upon disabling-the enemy, for few of their darts had given mortal wounds. They lodged mostly in the wing. muscles or the limbs, bringing the men to the water, where they were left to float or-swim-as best they could. Unlike the women-of Ventis, the flying peoples of Earth seldom if ever tool to the water. Hence, after-their first dousing in the yellow ocean, the Earthlings were a. sorry-looking people, A number of them went down. before they could reach one of the floating flyers, to-which they clung-in droves. The winged women, ‘on the other hand, who had been stunned by the thtnderbolts usually floated on the surface, The effect of the charge of electricity that they had received, however, did not so completely stun them-as to let. them drown, and after lying in the water for fifteen or twenty minutes or so they could be seen reviving, to tise again to the attack with their sisters! ‘ So:might the battle have gone on indefinitely, but for the fact that. there appeared to be more of the Earthlings than-of the Zoldans,; and the range of the thunderbolts was greater than that of the darts used-by the women. There were always free troops to be flung from the hovering spheres. Now the women were attempting to make their escape; spreading out in all di- rections, or else diving into the water and swimming until-they . were out of range of the thunderbolts, not showing. themselves above the-water until they believed themselves safe! ‘Then about five ‘miles from the scene of the battle appeared the fifth cylinder, which quickly plunged to the water. The sphere that had brought it- down hovered close-above it, waiting for it to disgorge its warriors, The two. cruising scouts that had been searching for the sixth cylinder returned to report to The Mentor that the remaining ship was not-to be found. ‘They now dispatched their fighting men into the mélée below. But all fight appeared to have left the beaten women, and-the Earthlings had to. content-themselves. with capturing as many. of the crea- tures as they could, first stunning-them with the thunderbolts and catching them in the air before they struck the water. Others were sweeping. down to the-water in an effort to retrieve their fellows, who -were still struggling in-the water, and to pull them out without wetting their own wings, Some of the wounded men in the water had managed to catch one of the amphibians and forced their captives to: support them in the water so they would not drown. The Strange Voice é OFESSOR D’ARCY aboard. The Mentor had been watch- ing the whole strange affair through the floor of one of the lounge rooms. More than once he had been convulsed with laughter, He told San Tu Ackwa, who was standing near him, “T doubt that a stranger battle has ever been enacted in the history of creation!. Man and Woman in battle, each trying to beat the other, yet each trying to save the other. for its own benefit! Each wanting victory, but not wishing to. sacrifice the other to gain: its point! Withowt a doubt we need each other,