The Skylark of Space - E. E. Smith (e book reading free txt) 📗

father, Dorothy, and Seaton. He pressed a lever, and instantly Dorothy and Seaton read each other’s minds to the minutest detail, and each knew that the Karfedix was reading the minds of both.

After Margaret and Crane had been examined, the Karfedix expressed himself as more than satisfied.

“You are all of the highest evolution and your minds are all untainted by any base thoughts in your marriage. The First Cause will smile upon your unions,” he said solemnly.

“Let the robe-makers appear,” the Karfedix ordered, and four women, hung with spools of brilliantly-colored wire of incredible fineness and with peculiar looms under their arms, entered the room and accompanied the two girls to their apartment.

As soon as the room was empty save for the four men, Dunark said:

“While I was in Mardonale, I heard bits of conversation regarding an immense military discovery possessed by Nalboon, besides the gas whose deadly effects we felt. I could get no inkling of its nature, but feel sure that it is something to be dreaded. I also heard that both of these secrets had been stolen from Kondal, and that we were to be destroyed by our own superior inventions.”

The Karfedix nodded his head gloomily.

“That is true, my son⁠—partly true, at least. We shall not be destroyed, however. Kondal shall triumph. The discoveries were made by a Kondalian, but I am as ignorant as are you concerning their nature. An obscure inventor, living close to the bordering ocean, was the discoverer. He was rash enough to wireless me concerning them. He would not reveal their nature, but requested a guard. The Mardonalian patrol intercepted the message and captured both him and his discoveries before our guard could arrive.”

“That’s easily fixed,” suggested Seaton. “Let’s get the Skylark fixed up, and we’ll go jerk Nalboon out of his palace⁠—if he’s still alive⁠—bring him over here, and read his mind.”

“That might prove feasible,” answered the Kofedix, “and in any event we must repair the Skylark and replenish her supply of copper immediately. That must be our first consideration, so that you, our guests, will have a protection in any emergency.”

The Karfedix went to his duties and the other three made their way to the wrecked space-car. They found that besides the damage done to the hull, many of the instruments were broken, including one of the object-compasses focused upon the Earth.

“It’s a good thing you had three of them, Mart. I sure hand it to you for preparedness,” said Seaton, as he tossed the broken instruments out upon the dock. Dunark protested at this treatment, and placed the discarded instruments in a strong metal safe, remarking:

“These things may prove useful at some future time.”

“Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to get some powerful jacks and straighten these plates,” said Seaton.

“Why not throw away this soft metal, steel, and build it of arenak, as it should be built? You have plenty of salt,” suggested Dunark.

“Fine! We have lots of salt in the galley, haven’t we, Mart?”

“Yes, nearly a hundred pounds. We are stocked for emergencies, with two years’ supply of food, you know.”

Dunark’s eyes opened in astonishment at the amount mentioned, in spite of his knowledge of earthly conditions. He started to say something, then stopped in confusion, but Seaton divined his thought.

“We can spare him fifty pounds as well as not, can’t we, Mart?”

“Certainly. Fifty pounds of salt is a ridiculously cheap price for what he is doing for us, even though it is very rare here.”

Dunark acknowledged the gift with shining eyes and heartfelt, but not profuse, thanks, and bore the precious bag to the palace under a heavy escort. He returned with a small army of workmen, and after making tests to assure himself that the power-bar would work as well through arenak as through steel, he instructed the officers concerning the work to be done. As the wonderfully skilled mechanics set to work without a single useless motion, the prince stood silent, with a look of care upon his handsome face.

“Worrying about Mardonale, Dunark?”

“Yes. I cannot help wondering what that terrible new engine of destruction is, which Nalboon now has at his command.”

“Say, why don’t you build a bus like the Skylark, and blow Mardonale off the map?”

“Building the vessel would be easy enough, but X is as yet unknown upon Osnome.”

“We’ve got a lot of it⁠ ⁠…”

“I could not accept it. The salt was different, since you have plenty. X, however, is as scarce upon Earth as salt is upon Osnome.”

“Sure you can accept it. We stopped at a planet that has lots of it, and we’ve got an object-compass pointing at it so that we can go back and get more of it any time we want it. We’ve got more of it on hand now than we’re apt to need for a long time, so have a hunk and get busy,” and he easily carried one of the lumps out of his cabin and tossed it upon the dock, from whence it required two of Kondal’s strongest men to lift it.

The look of care vanished from the face of the prince and he summoned another corps of mechanics.

“How thick shall the walls be? Our battleships are armed with arenak the thickness of a hand, but with your vast supply of salt you may have it any thickness you wish, since the materials of the matrix are cheap and abundant.”

“One inch would be enough, but everything in the bus is designed for a four-foot shell, and if we change it from four feet we’ll have to redesign our guns and all our instruments. Let’s make it four feet.”

Seaton turned to the crippled Skylark, upon which the first crew of Kondalian mechanics were working with skill and with tools undreamed-of upon Earth. The whole interior of the vessel was supported by a complex falsework of latticed metal, then the four-foot steel plates and the mighty embers, the pride of the great MacDougall, were cut away as though they were