Sleepers Of Mars

Dirk did not return to the hotel, nor did he leave any message. David was scarcely surprised, for Dirk was not one of those to take rebuke easily, the less so when it was scarcely merited. In consequence, he made a solitary breakfast the next morning.

There was no mention of the Hurakan affair in any of the newspapers. He had expected headlines in elephantine type, but repeated search failed to reveal even a paragraph on the subject. It was the more perplexing since the ship had now lain on the hillside two nights and two days. On his way to the scene, he stopped at the police station and picked up the sergeant.

‘What’s happened to the journalists?’ he asked as they started. ‘This ought to be a godsend to them.’

‘It was, but we shut down on them.’

‘That’s a notable achievement—but why?’

‘They were going to spread themselves; there’d have been day trips running by this time and—well, you remember what happened to that sensation-seeker the other day. Besides, there are going to be some fireworks today, and we want the place clear.’

They approached the wreck to find that the danger area had shown a greater increase than had been expected. Only a narrow margin of safety, of a few yards’ breadth, now lay between it and the trees. The inspector and Captain Forbes looked up to greet them, and then returned to the study of an enlarged photograph. David gave an exclamation of surprise, and the captain grinned.

‘Good, isn’t it? Just been delivered.’

‘But how on Earth-?’

‘Bit of brainy work up at the Flying Field. They sent a plane over yesterday and fired off a few feet of film—naturally, there wasn’t a sign of the thing when they developed. Then some bright lad had the idea of rigging up an infra-red camera, and sent it over. Here’s the result.’

The print showed the site of the Hurakan and the immediate neighbourhood. Of the ship herself, little but the upper surface was visible, the rest being submerged in a dark area which extended all about her. At first glance, this shadow appeared to be a smooth oval, but a closer view revealed that the edge was serrated into a series of blunt projections. David found it disappointing, and said so.

‘Can’t tell much from that,’ he murmured. ‘I mean, it still doesn’t show us whether we are dealing with a single creature or a mass of the brutes.’

‘Anyway, I’m certain that it is animal and not vegetable,’ rejoined the inspector. ‘And that’s not really so strange, when you come to think of it. After all, it’s not a very great step from the transparent living things we have on Earth, to a creature of complete invisibility. Did you notice that everything that it has snapped up travelled right into the ship? I have an idea that we shall find it to be one individual with multiple throats, and a central stomach somewhere in the Hurakan. In fact, Captain Forbes’ plan is really built upon that idea.’

‘What is the plan?’

The inspector explained. It had been calculated that any object snatched by the invisible creature would require—at its present size—just over two minutes to travel into the ship. A number of bombs had been constructed, and equipped with timing devices to give a further half minute’s grace. They had then been placed in wooden cases, to make them palatable to the creature; and he had every hope that the simultaneous explosion of this indigestible meal would settle the matter. It entailed, of course, the annihilation of the ill-fated Hurakan, but she could now be of little value.

‘Why not detonate the bombs by short waves and make certain that they coincide?’ David asked.

The captain shook his head. ‘That was the first idea, but there’s the masking effect of the metal hull to be considered, and it’s quite likely that the body of the creature may act in some degree as a shield. The timing method seems more certain.’

David stood back and watched the preparations. Forty or fifty men had been assembled, and the captain was instructing them in their duties. The sergeant came to his side and chatted. He seemed to have no great faith in the plan, and concluded with the opinion that they had better look for cover if they did not wish to be blown to pieces themselves. David recalled seeing a disused hut which would be ideal for the purpose, since it stood back in the woods a hundred yards from the main clearing. He led the way around the narrow, free space which still remained.

At a convenient spot, they paused to look at the deployment of the captain’s troops. At regular intervals, all around the edge of the clearing, men were taking up positions facing the ship. At a glance, it seemed impossible that there could be any danger lurking in that sunlit space—it still appeared that one might walk right up to the Hurakan’s glittering sides and encounter no more obstacle than the empty air. Each of the encircling men held a pole in his right hand, on the end of which was mounted the wood-cased bomb, while in his left hand was a string attached to the pin. One or two of them were noticeably nervous, and others seemed to regard the whole affair in the light of a joke. The majority waited phlegmatically for the signal.