Free Captain Future 23 - The Harpers of Titan (September 1950) by Edmond Hamilton Page B

conscious that it was rising, bringing a deeper plaint from the lichens.
    Keogh sat down on a block of stone and began to talk. Hovering near him, Simon listened, watching Keogh’s face. It was a good face. A wise man, Simon thought, and a strong one, exhausted now by effort and long fear.
    “I was the first Earthman to come into the valley, years ago,” Keogh said. “I liked the men of Moneb and they liked me. When the miners began to come in, I saw to it that there was no trouble between them and the natives. I married a girl of Moneb, daughter of one of the chief men. She’s dead now, but I have a son here. And I’m one of their councilors, the only man of foreign blood ever allowed in the Inner City.
    “So you see, I’ve swung a lot of weight and have used it to keep peace here between native and out-lander. But now!”
    He shook his head. “There have always been men in Moneb who hated to see Earthmen and Earth civilization come in and lessen their own influence. They’ve hated the Earthmen who live in New Town and work the mines. They’d have tried long ago to force them out, and would have embroiled Moneb in a hopeless struggle, if they’d dared defy tradition and use their one possible weapon. Now, they’re bolder and are planning to use that weapon.”
    Curt Newton looked at him keenly. “What is this weapon, Keogh?”
    Keogh’s answer was a question. “You Futuremen know these worlds well — I suppose you’ve heard of the Harpers?”
    Simon Wright felt a shock of surprise. He saw incredulous amazement on Curt Newton’s face.
    “You don’t mean that your malcontents plan to use the Harpers as a weapon?”
    Keogh nodded somberly. “They do.”
    Memories of old days on Titan were flashing through Simon’s mind; the strange, strange form of life that dwelt deep in the great forests, the unforgettable beauty wedded to dreadful danger.
    “The Harpers could be a weapon, yes,” he said, after a moment. “But the weapon would slay those who wielded it, unless they were protected from it.”
    “Long ago,” Keogh answered, “the men of Moneb had such a protection. They used the Harpers, then. But use of them was so disastrous that it was forbidden, put under a tabu.
    “Now, those who wish to force out the Earthmen here plan to break that tabu. They want to bring in the Harpers, and use them.”
    Harker added, “Things were all right until the old king died. He was a man. His son is a weakling. The fanatics against outland civilization have got to him, and he’s afraid of his own shadow. Keogh has been holding him on his feet, against them.”
     
    SIMON saw the almost worshipful trust in Harker’s eyes as he glanced at his friend. “They’ve tried to kill Keogh, of course,” Harker said. “With him gone, there’d be no leader against them.” Keogh’s voice rose, to be heard over the booming and thrumming of the lichens.
    “A full council has been called for two days from now. That will be the time of decision — whether we, or the breakers of tabu, will rule in Moneb. And I know, as I know truth, that some kind of a trap has been set for me.
    “That is where I will need you Futuremen’s help, most desperately. But you must not be seen in the town. Any strangers now would excite suspicion, and you are too well known and —” he glanced at Simon and added apologetically, “distinctive.”
    He paused. In that pause, the boom and thunder of the lichen was like the slatting of great sails in the wind, and Simon could not hear the little furtive sound from behind him until it was too late — a second too late.
    A man leaped into the clearing. Simon had a fleeting glimpse of copper-gold limbs and a killer’s face, and a curious weapon raised. Simon spoke, but the bright small dart was already fled.
    In the same breath, Curt turned and drew and fired.
    The man dropped. Out in the shadows another gun flashed, and they heard Otho’s fierce cry.
    There was a timeless instant when no one