Public-domain ebook
Crash Beam
by John Barrett
English416 downloads on Project GutenbergDownload EPUB
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #64265.
The opening · free to read
By JOHN BARRET
Dan Kearns, sick and shaking, could already hear them talk: "Yeah, come in on the Kearns beam--it's a new way to die!"
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Fall 1947. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
It happened so fast that for a minute he just stood there absolutely incapable of taking it in. One instant the big Earth-Venus rocket freighter was sizzling through the fog to a perfect landing on the field below. Then suddenly she dipped, undershot the field and vanished in a flash and a thundering explosion that shook the observation tower.
In the dream-like quiet that followed, Dan Kearns heard the faint yells of the landing crew. He saw the big searchlights switch on, cutting wide swaths of light through the boiling fog. Tiny white-coated medics crossed the patches of light, running frantically. Dan sat down in the chair feeling sick and very tired. Then the door of the tower room opened and Rawlins, the supervisor, stepped in.
"All right, Kearns," he said curtly, "you're through. And if anyone asks me about your ability as an electronics engineer, I'll write out the blackest recommendation I can think of."
Dan got up slowly. "How many were killed?"
"Two!" Rawlins glared. "Two of my best pilots!"
Dan's shoulders stiffened. "Listen, Rawlins, I'm just as interested as you in breaking Roehm's monopoly on Earth-Venus rockets."
"Get out!"
"I can't get out. Don't forget you have another rocket due in twenty minutes--a passenger rocket."
Rawlins' face went pale. "My God! I'd forgotten." He threw up his hands. "Turn 'em back," he shrieked. "Send 'em back to earth! It's suicide to land on that guide beam."
"I can't send them back to Earth," Dan said quietly. "They haven't enough fuel."
"Then send 'em to one of Roehm's fields. It's an admission of complete defeat, but we can't kill 'em."
Dan swallowed. "You're forgetting that Roehm uses invisible light for landing--not ultra short waves. Anyway, do you think Roehm would miss such a chance to crash one of our rockets?"
Rawlins sat down with a groan. "Where in thunder did I ever get the idea we could bring in a ship through that magnetic murk on ultra short waves?"
Dan lifted his head. "There's nothing the matter with my guide beam. It brought in the experimental rocket yesterday and magnetic conditions were even worse."
"I see." The smile on Rawlins' lined face was cynical. "In other words you're trying to pass the buck to Stevens, your control-room operator."
The door of the observation room swung open and a wild-eyed mechanic burst in.
"Mr. Rawlins, the control-room is still locked. Stevens is sitting in front of the table and he won't answer us."
Dan tore down the stairs and across the catwalk two steps ahead of Rawlins. He hammered on the door. Through the thick glass he could see Stevens hunched over the lighted control table.
"Stevens! Stevens!" He turned to Rawlins. "We'll have to cut the lock. Get a torch--and get a doctor!"
It took a minute with a high torch before they crashed into the room.
"He's been dead several minutes," the doctor said as he took his hand from Steven's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Kearns," Rawlins said. He looked at the doctor. "Well, I guess that explains everything. He must have lost control just as she was coming in. What was it? Heart attack?"
The doctor shook his head. "Some sort of convulsion. Muscles violently contracted. Funny he didn't fall to the floor. Must have affected the whole nervous system. Even the eye pupils are down to pin points." He looked around at Rawlins. "I may be sticking my neck out, sir, but off hand I'd say Stevens was killed."
"Killed?" Rawlins blinked at the form in the chair. "But that's impossible. The door was locked. The room hasn't been disturbed and there aren't any holes in the glass. Nothing could get in here except light."
Dan walked to the big windows. He examined the ledge and the joints. He came back to the control table and tested the switches. Suddenly he leaned over Stevens' huddled body and pulled the log book from under his stiff fingers.
"Look at this!"
Scrawled across the pad in big jerky letters were the words "_Purple light bea_...." The pencil had torn through the sheet in a violent final contraction.
Rawlins rubbed his chin. "We don't use any purple beams. It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe it does," Dan said. He turned to the doctor. "Wasn't there some experiments made by a Dr. Aren Linden several years ago on the injurious effect of certain kinds of light on the nervous system?"
The doctor frowned. "Yes, I think there was, but the experiments were never completed."
"That's right. The foundation refused to up his salary, so he went to work for Roehm." Dan swung around to Rawlins. "It was Linden who helped work out the invisible light landing system that Roehm uses on his Venus rocket ports."
"Seems to me you're jumping to some pretty wild conclusions, Kearns," Rawlins said slowly.
Dan looked at him. "Suppose Linden has found the exact wave-length of the most potent ray. It would be simple for anyone to climb the framework of one of the buildings and shine that light in here."
Rawlins straightened up. "I'll search every tower on the field."
"But you haven't time. That passenger rocket will be here in five minutes."
The supervisor sucked in his breath. "What's your idea?"
"I'll sit at the control table myself. You can do the preliminary locating in the observation tower." He ran to the door. "Where's the welder that cut the lock?"
The doctor and a medic were carrying out Stevens when he came back a few seconds later. Dan was slipping on the welder's helmet.
The book keeps going
Keep reading, and see it illustrated
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
