Free Asteroid Man by R. L. Fanthorpe Page B

regions."
    "We have a very similar system, but our supreme ruler is a President. He is regarded with equal affection by all his nine worlds," interrupted the spaceman. "But go on with your story."
    "On this state visit, the general alarm was suddenly sounded. In my old home world it couldn't have happened, but this was one of the outer planets. The atmosphere was not good; the colonists dwelt under domes. The defenses were by no means perfect, for nobody can erect perfect defenses in a poisonous atmosphere. Suddenly over our heads this meteorite appeared, and we though it was a false alarm, and then a second warning came through, but by then it was too late. Its behavior was such that no normal meteorite could behave in just that way." Her voice had dropped to a husky whisper.
    "And then?" prompted the spaceman.
    "And then—" he was quite sure that it was a tear in her eye that he could see now—"and then—" She hesitated as though unable to go on. Suddenly he found that her hand was gripping his tightly, as though pent-up emotions were almost breaking the lovely heart that he felt sure must beat inside the perfect figure. "And then a thousand and one natural disasters broke loose. This thing, this beast, this master," she spat out the words through clenched teeth, "could control gravity. He was more deadly than a Nova, stronger and more terrible than destiny itself. I've never seen such technological power. Great tidal waves and earthquakes shook and destroyed every vestige of our defenses, and in the middle of the chaos, an attractor beam, for such I now know it to be, was poured out of this foul, dreadful satellite."
    Greg felt sorry for her. She was a woman, and she was using the strongest language she had ever learnt and finding it inadequate. The adjectives she wanted would only have been found in a barrack room, and even had she known them, she would have been too refined to use them.
    "I understand," said Greg. "And this beam—what did it do?"
    "The asteroid came so close it was hovering above the heads of the crowd, scarcely four or five hundred feet, and as it hovered there, like a great black bird of ill omen, causing tides and hurricanes, and earthquakes, so this attractor beam picked up the royal carriage with my father and myself, like a child's toy, and whirled it into the sky at a fantastic rate. Father and I clung on for dear life; against the asteroid the beam seemed to switch itself off. And torn between the two gravities, by a masterpiece of technological juggling, we landed with scarcely a bump. A great doorway slid open and brought us into his presence."
    "What's he like, this thing called the master?"
    "Unbelievably horrible! Couldn't ever begin to try to describe him. Even to think about him makes me shudder. He brought us down and imprisoned us, then came day after day and fed us, and stared at us. We kept demanding to be released and threatened all sorts of vengeance, telling him that our armies would soon be here to rescue us."
    "He laughed and kept repeating words like earthquake and whirlwind, and laughing again, as it to say that no army could ever frighten or worry him. He was like some insane god. He seemed to have all power in his hands, and then—" She closed her eyes and clenched her dainty little fists.
    "Go on," said Gregg. "What happened then?"
    "He wanted me to marry him."
    "No. What did he want you to do that for?"
    "Can't you guess?"
    "Because you are a woman. I wondered if there was any political motive—if he wanted the power of your empire."
    "Oh yes, that was part of it; that wasn't the part that really mattered. He wanted me because I was a woman and because he had been alone in space for centuries and because strange and weird and dreadfully repulsive as he was, he still had ordinary feelings. But he was so loathsome, like a reptile. I can't begin to describe how he looks."
    "What happened when you said 'no'?" asked Greg, though he had already guessed, for he had seen no