Transcriber's note:
Typographical errors have been corrected.
This etext was produced from Amazing Stories January, February, Marchand April 1934. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that theU.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Triplanetary
By EDWARD E. SMITH, Ph.D.
We are sure that our readers will be highly pleased to have us givethe first installment of a story by Dr. Smith. It will continue forseveral numbers and is a worthy follower of the "Skylark" stories whichwere so much appreciated by our readers. We think that they will findthis story superior to the earlier ones. Dr. Smith certainly has thenarrative power, and that, joined with his scientific position, makeshim an ideal author for our columns.
Illustrated by MOREY
CHAPTER I
Pirates of Space
Apparently motionless to her passengers and crew, the Interplanetaryliner Hyperion bored serenely onward through space at normalacceleration. In the railed-off sanctum in one corner of the controlroom a bell tinkled, a smothered whirr was heard, and Captain Bradleyfrowned as he studied the brief message upon the tape of the recorder--amessage flashed to his desk from the operator's panel. He beckoned, andthe second officer, whose watch it now was, read aloud:
"Reports of scout patrols still negative."
"Still negative." The officer scowled in thought. "They've alreadysearched beyond the widest possible location of the wreckage, too. Twounexplained disappearances inside a month--first the Dione, thenthe Rhea--and not a plate nor a lifeboat recovered. Looks bad,sir. One might be an accident; two might possibly be a coincidence...."His voice died away. What might that coincidence mean?
"But at three it would get to be a habit," the captain finished thethought. "And whatever happened, happened quick. Neither of them hadtime to say a word--their location recorders simply went dead. But ofcourse they didn't have our detector screens nor our armament. Accordingto the observatories we're in clear ether, but I wouldn't trust themfrom Tellus to Luna. You have given the new orders, of course?"
"Yes, sir. Detectors full out, all three courses of defensive screenon the trips, projectors manned, suits on the hooks. Every objectdetected in the outer space to be investigated immediately--if vessels,they are to be warned to stay beyond extreme range. Anything enteringthe fourth zone is to be rayed."
"Right--we are going through!"
"But no known type of vessel could have made away with them withoutdetection," the second officer argued. "I wonder if there isn'tsomething in those wild rumors we've been hearing lately?"
Now, systematically and precisely, the great Coneof Battle was coming into being; a formation developed during the JovianWars while the forces of the Three Planets were fighting inspace."Bah! Of course not!" snorted the captain. "Pirates in ships fasterthan light--fifth order rays--nullification of gravity--mass withoutinertia--ridiculous! Proved impossible, over and over again. No, sir, ifpirates are operating in space--and it looks very much like it--theywon't get far against a good big battery full of kilowatt-hours behindthree courses of heavy screen,