Devil Crystals of Arret Read online

* * * * *

  There was no mistaking the meaning of the scene. The giantcarnivorous crystals had obviously been lured from their normalhabitat in Arret's red vegetation, and established there in the bigpit by the rat-men to act as principals in their primitive religiousceremonies.

  Those Devil Crystals waiting down there on the pit's floor werewaiting to be fed--and the small group of captives, rat-men andhuman beings, were to be the feast!

  Utterly sick at heart, Powell wondered if they would at least begiven the boon of a merciful death before being hurled over thebrink to those lurking shapes. He was not left long in doubt.

  At a shrill command from the rat-king the guards closed in upon thecaptives and herded two of the bound rat-men from among them. Aguard placed to the lips of each of the captive brutes a small cupcontaining a faintly cloudy white liquid. Apparently resigned totheir fate, the creatures docilely drained the cups.

  The drugged drinks acted with startling rapidity. Scarcely a minutepassed before the rodents' eyes clouded dully, their jaws droppedslackly open, and their bodies stiffened in almost completerigidity.

  The bonds were quickly stripped from the two stupefied creatures.The ceremonial rites apparently required that the victims go totheir doom unbound and of their own volition. The guards maneuveredthe two over to the rocky projection that jutted out over the pit.

  Moving with the stiffly wooden steps of automatons, the two victimsstarted out along the narrow projection, leaving the guards behind.On they marched, straight for the end of the rocky strip--and then,without a second's hesitation, they plunged on and over.

  Their bodies crashed to the pit's floor squarely among the group ofwaiting crystals. One of the rat-men lay motionless. The otherdazedly tried to struggle to his feet--but was too late.

  * * * * *

  From the side of the nearest Devil Crystal, some fifteen feet awayfrom the dazed rat-man, a cone-shaped projection budded withstartling swiftness.

  A fraction of a second more and the projection had lengthened into along slender arm of crystalline silver that streaked across theintervening space with the swiftness of a spear.

  There was a crashing, tinkling sound as the point of the arm struckthe furry body of the rat-man. Then the arm's point sprayed into aweb of shining filaments that laced the rodent's body inexorably intheir web.

  The arm immediately contracted, jerking the victim irresistiblytoward the waiting crystal. A second later the rat-man was pinnedagainst the faceted crystalline side just under the opalescentnucleus.

  The moment the furry body made contact with the crystal's side aterrifying phenomenon occurred. Crystals grew and spread all overits form with the lightning growth of water-glass. Faster and fasterclustered the crystalline shroud, until the furry body was lancedthrough and through--and all the time the air was filled witheldritch music as of a thousand sheets of thinnest glass crashing,tinkling and shattering.

  The crystal growths over the imprisoned body rounded their contoursand merged together until they were in the form of a greatcrystalline egg. The outlines of the rodent's body blurred andvanished, melting swiftly until only a diamond-encrusted skeletonwas left. The color of the great Devil Crystal began to gleam pinkas the victim's flesh and blood were absorbed.

  The egg-like excrescence under the nucleus turned in hue to paletranslucent amber in whose depths the diamond skeleton gleamed withweird brilliance. Then there came a sudden twang, as of a violentlyplucked string on a bass viol, and the amber egg dropped from thefaceted side. The Crystal's feast was over.

  One of the most terrifying aspects of the whole thing had been itsincredible speed. The entire tragedy had occurred in but little overtwo minutes from the time the lance-arm had first struck therat-man.

  In the meantime the body of the second rodent had been drawn in anddevoured by another of the carnivorous crystalline monsters. Therecame a second twang now, as its skeleton in its amber shroud wasdiscarded.

  * * * * *

  Powell's brain reeled as he saw the other crystals move sluggishlynearer the foot of the rocky projection in anticipation of the nextvictims.

  The remaining two captive rat-men came next. They were swiftlydrugged, unbound, and started on their dazed march. They trudgedwoodenly out the rocky projection to its end, then on and over; andagain the grim tragedy of the Devil Crystal's feast was repeated, tothe accompaniment of that eerily beautiful crashing, tinkling song.

  The four Devil Crystals that had completed their gruesome feastmoved sluggishly away, leaving the space clear for the two crystalsthat remained unfed. The score of guards closed in upon Joan andPowell.

  With the crystalline doom at last staring them squarely in the face,Powell went berserk in a final desperate effort to gain even amoment's respite. He lashed out in a writhing, kicking flurry thatalmost cleared the space around them.

  Then three of the rat-men slipped behind him, and a second later hisfeet were jerked from under him. His bound arms made him helpless toavert his fall, and he crashed heavily to the ground. Then a dozenof the powerful little beasts swarmed over him, completelyoverpowering him by their numbers.

  Claw-like hands pried his set jaws apart. A cup of the cloudy whiteliquid was pressed to his lips. He choked; then, unable to helphimself, he had to let the stuff pour down his throat. It had anacid taste faintly reminiscent of lemons. The rat-men apparentlywanted to make sure of giving him enough, for they poured anotherfull cup of the liquid down his throat before releasing him.

  The guards then fell back and Powell stumbled to his feet. Joan wasalready up again, standing close beside him. From the wry expressionupon her face, Powell knew that she had also been given the druggedpotion.

  * * * * *

  For a long minute the two stood there with every nerve trembling asthey helplessly waited for the paralyzing numbness to sweep overtheir bodies. The seconds passed slowly, and still their mindsremained as clear as though the drug had been water. Another fullminute elapsed without effect, before they could finally convincethemselves of the amazing truth.

  The drugged drink of the rat-men, instantly paralyzing to those oftheir own rodent race, was utterly harmless to the human being fromanother world!

  Powell instantly realized the forlorn last chance their unexpectedimmunity to the drug gave them.

  "Play 'possum, Joan!" he whispered tensely. "Then we'll make abreak for the king and those Belts!"

  Joan nodded slightly in quick understanding. Powell let his jaw dropslack and open, and stiffened his body in imitation of the stuporthe rodent drug victims had shown. Joan promptly followed his lead.The alertly watching guards relaxed their tense vigilance in obviousrelief.

  The guards waited another minute to be sure of the drug's effects.Then, apparently satisfied, they stepped forward and unbound the twoprisoners. Powell let his bonds drop from him without making ahostile move of any kind. He wanted first to wait until he was freeof the encircling guards.

  The rat-men maneuvered the two into position, and prodded themforward toward the projecting point of rock. They obediently begantheir march, simulating as best they could the wooden mechanicalgait of the drug victims. Powell saw from the corner of his eye thatJoan was tensely watching his face for a sign from him.

  As the captives reached the narrow projection the guards dropped acouple of yards behind and halted to watch. It was the chance forwhich Powell had been waiting.

  "Let's go!" he shouted to Joan. The girl, alert for his signal, wasright beside him as they wheeled and dashed at break-neck speed forthe rat-king and his sole lieutenant, some ten yards away.

  * * * * *

  They were upon the two startled rodent leaders before they evenrealized what was happening. Powell swept the squirming old king upin the air, tore the Silver Belts from about the monarch'sshoulders, and flung the creature sprawling and senseless at thepit's edge.
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  The lieutenant leaped for Powell's throat in a belated effort atrescue, but Powell smashed a solid fist squarely into its snarlingface, and the brute collapsed with a broken neck.

  Snatching his gun-belt from the fallen rat-man, Powell crammed newclips of ammunition into the two guns and wheeled to confront therest of the rat-men. The detachment of guards, demoralized by thedazzling speed of the captives' sortie, were milling in obviousuncertainty.

  Behind them the thousands of the main horde were chattering andsquealing in excited frenzy, dazed and bewildered by their king'sswift overthrow. The whole clearing was a seething mob of excitedbeasts, stunned for the moment, but ready at any second to rallyfrom their shock and surge forward in a furious charge that wouldsweep everything before it.

  Powell menaced the rat-men with levelled guns while Joan, withfingers that shook from excitement and haste, quietly buckled one ofthe Silver Belts around each of them.

  The guards rallied from their panic first. At a