Li Yang and Scipio were not startled by the air journey, for the golden space ship had accustomed them to aerial travel. They watched with interest the countryside below. There was little chance to talk.
The plane swept over Chicago, a desolate, evacuated metropolis. Chicagoans, Court had learned, were quartered all over Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and even Ontario. Canada, of course, had thrown open its Border. For days, crowded boats had been plying between Chicago and Benton Harbor in Michigan.
The Plague had not struck Milwaukee, however, though transportation facilities were held in readiness there. Actually only a few cities had been disrupted, and Plague deaths had been surprisingly few. The real peril, which not many knew, lay in the future, if the Plague spread and remained incurable.
At Madison, Court landed and rented a car.
The headlights were pale spears stabbing through the gloom as the highway unrolled monotonously. Court was beginning to feel sleepy, but he had purchased some benzedrine sulphate in Madison. He gulped some of the stimulant, which refreshed him.
In the back seat, Scipio polished his saber with an oiled rag he had found. Li Yang slept, choking and snoring, his head rolling ponderously in collars of fat.
Now and again, Court caught sight of Carriers—shining blobs of radiance that flashed toward them and were gone. What would happen if the car struck one? Would it rush through an impalpable glow, or would there be a catastrophic explosion of liberated energy? Court's mind felt so blurred that he could not think clearly. His hands ached and trembled on the wheel. His elbow joints were throbbing. The soles of his feet seemed to be on fire.
But he could not stop and rest. Home was not far now, and even then there would be no peace…
The road was familiar to him. Wisconsin lay under yellow moonlight, and beside the road, the river flowed along silently.
They topped a rise and came in sight of the village. It seemed unchanged. But as they swept toward it, Court noticed the absence of lights and movements.
The street was completely deserted. From the general store, a radio crackled inaudibly. On the store's porch was the body of a man in overalls, grotesquely sprawled. A dog slunk into view, stood frozen for a second, and then fled.
Court thought with alarm of Marion Barton. Had she returned to the laboratory? Probably. But had she fled with the general exodus?
Court's heart jumped as he saw a shining, shapeless glow drift into view from around a corner. A Carrier! Another of the horrors was joining the first But they made no effort to molest the speeding automobile.
Court sucked in his breath. Once he reached the laboratory, all the weapons of his scientific career lay ready to his fingers. Then, knowing as he did the secret of the Plague, he could fight, perhaps destroy the Plague—and finally Thordred. Marion could help. Her aid would be invaluable, if—
"How much farther?" Scipio grunted from the back seat.
Li Yang woke up and sleepily rubbed his eyes, yawning.
"Almost there," Court said, a queer breathlessness in his voice. "Just over this rise. Hold on!"
A glowing shadow had loomed up sinisterly before the car, blocking the road. It was a Carrier, silent, motionless, menacing.
Court made a swift decision. He could drive straight at the thing. But that was too long a chance. Going so fast, though, he had little choice.
He jammed on the brake, at the same time twisting the wheel. The car's tires rasped and screamed as the vehicle slid sideward. It rolled ominously on two wheels, righted itself, and plunged off the road.
The occupants were jolted and flung about as the sedan lurched across a plowed field. A tire blew out with a deafening report. Desperately Court fought the wheel.
Bang! —Another tire had gone, but Court jammed his foot on the accelerator. In the rear mirror, he could see that the Carrier was still standing in the same place. It was not pursuing them.
He got the car back on the road, picked up speed. As it limped on, the Carrier was left behind. Court drew a deep breath.
"Gods!" Scipio bellowed. "I almost stabbed myself with this blade!"
Li Yang gurgled with amusement. "You are not as well padded as I. But I am glad our journey is almost over. It is, is it not, Court?"
"Yes. This is home—"
Court's voice died away as he jerked the car to a halt. They were at the huge, rambling structure that had housed the laboratory. The building was gone. It had been razed to the ground in an irregular splotch of blackly charred ruin. A crater yawned among the debris.
The laboratory was destroyed, and with it, the chance to save the Earth!
Sick hopelessness was so strong in Court that for a long, dreadful moment his heart was numb. He seemed to be disassociated from his body. As if he were a distant onlooker, he stared at the sharp clarity of the ruins under the Moon. His shadow stretched out before him on the ochre pathway. On one side was the taller shadow of Scipio. On the other was the obese dark blotch thrown by Li Yang's form. The grasses rustled dryly in the cool night wind.
The embers were still warm, for smoke coiled up lazily from the dying coals. Apparently the work of destruction had occurred lately. Was it an accident?
No Thordred must be responsible! Court might have expected this. When Thordred acquired his memory pattern, he had also become familiar with the laboratory and all its potentialities. Naturally he would wish to destroy it, lest use of its powers be used against him.
But why had he waited two whole weeks? Perhaps because he had not been able to locate the laboratory till now. Despite having acquired Court's memories, Thordred was a stranger in this new, complicated civilization.
"Steve!"
The scream cut through the air bringing Court around sharply. It was Marion's voice!
CHAPTER XVII
Marion
The cry had come from the hillside beyond the house. For a second, Stephen caught the glimpse of a white figure running toward him in the bright moonlight.
He raced to meet the girl. She collapsed in his arms, panting and disheveled. Her hair was a tumbled brown mass of ringlets. For several minutes she could only gasp inarticulately.
"Steve, thank God you're safe—I saw the headlights of a car—but I didn't know it was you—but I thought if you were alive—you'd come back to the lab—"
Looking down into her eyes, Court felt a queer tightness in his throat. He interrupted in a voice that was scarcely audible.
"Marion, I—I love you."
The girl caught her breath as she stared. Then suddenly she smiled with dazzling brilliance.
"'I'm glad," she whispered, and pressed her head against Court's chest. "I'm glad you're human, after all."
Yes, Court thought to himself, he was human. For years he had refused to admit it.
But now—a chuckle started behind his lips—he gloried in it!
The others came running up, staring at Marion. She drew away from Court.
"Thordred wrecked the lab," she explained. "Who are these men?"
She eyed them inquisitively.
"No time for introductions now," Court snapped. "Tell me what's happened. You've seen Thordred, or you wouldn't know his name."
She nodded. "He came here two hours ago and destroyed the house. I was the only one who got out alive. I saw the ship not far away. When I started to run, a beam of light flashed out and I was paralyzed! A huge bearded man came running and carried me into the ship. He seemed to know who I was."
"Of course," Court agreed. "He acquired all my memories with his damned machine."
"There was a girl called Jansaiya. She didn't say anything. She just watched. Thordred showed me dozens of men and women in the ship, asleep, cataleptic. He said he had captured them to start a new civilization. He was going to another planet—and he'd decided to take me, too. Since I'd been your assistant, Steve, he figured I'd be a good assistant for him. My scientific training would be invaluable to him. He told me you were dead, that he'd killed you with a ray in New York."