The Mole Pirate

VII

Of course they sent for Jack Hill. In the governor's mansion at Albany he met with the mayor of New York City, the governor of the State, and an array of financial and industrial magnates who would have been impressive if they had not been so thoroughly panic-stricken.

Gail Kennedy was there, too. She'd insisted on coming back with Jack, and she and her father - now backing Jack strongly - provided moral support for him in the atmosphere of embittered hatred that filled the meeting.

'This is your fault!' said the mayor of New York furiously. The American Electric Co. financed the highly unwise experiments which have led to this grave menace to our commonwealth, but you built the piratical craft which now holds -'

Jack interrupted gently: 'You're talking nonsense. It may be good politics, but it's poor policy. Do you want to know what you ought to do?'

'That is what we have come here for. How far are we going to avoid meeting these imp6ssible terms Durran imposes on our city?'

'Don't,' said Jack dryly. 'Pay him. You'll get it back.'

'How?'

'He can store only so much in the Mole.' replied Jack more dryly still. 'Even bank notes and bullion. As a matter of fact, bullion costs him money to carry around. My guess is that he's cached most of his loot, already. And my further guess is that the sweethearts of his four men have a pretty good idea where that cache is. When Durran and his men are killed - as they will be - those four women will spend some of it before they're caught, but not particularly much. Meanwhile, we gain time until the new earth-ships are finished.'

'But - millions and millions -' gasped a prominent banker.

'I have a suggestion to make,' said Jack gently, 'about the payment of that money. I will not make it in this mob' - even in such an emergency a rustle of indignation, a bristling, passed about the assembly - 'because I told an equally eminent group, some days ago, about a ship under construction to destroy the Mole. With really superlative fatheadedness, they told the world and consequently Durran. That ship was promptly blown up. So since you gentlemen can't be trusted to hold your tongues, I'll keep my own counsel until you've decided to meet Durran's terms. Then I'll communicate a suggestion to the person in charge of that payment. Not before!'

His idea was, of course, that bullion and even paper money could be so impregnated with radioactive material that when once taken on board the Mole it could not be moved through solidity and would expose the Mole to attack. A duplication, on a larger scale, of the incident of the radioactive bullets in Poughkeepsie.

'I might even,' Jack added sardonically, 'say that it's very possible that Durran knows where this meeting is taking place. If he does, and can make it here in time, we may be in a bad fix, anyhow, you and I and all of us.'

He swept his eyes about the gathering. Some of the faces looked frightened some looked indignant, but none looted guilty. Jack felt reassured, which was a mistake. He did not realize that the sort of man who blabs a secret never feels guilty for having blabbed it. He feels only frightened, sometimes, for fear that it may be found out he has blabbed.

And Jack did not quite realize how many men have their price. Bribery is of no service in scientific research, and Jack's mind simply did not work in a fashion to understand it either as a method or a temptation.

'But do you realize that we're at the mercy of a pirate?' wailed a prominent Wall Street banker. 'Every cent -'

'With the warning you've had,' Jack broke in, 'I rather suspect you've shipped most of your valuables out of the city. At a guess, Durran's been in a couple of bank vaults and found them practically empty. Hence this holdup.'

'Of course!' snapped the mayor of New York. 'Most of the cash in New York has been shipped out. Most of the particularly valuable jewels, too. Even nine-tenths of the art treasures have gone!'

'Then there's nothing to be done -'

There was an indescribable noise outside - a strangled squawk, as if somebody saw something utterly terrifying, A lesser politician turned a ghastly white. Then something came through the door. The door was closed, but the Thing came through it. And suddenly whitish light flared, and a round ring appeared in mid-air.

The gathering of eminent figures in finance and politics became a howling, panic-stricken mob. A rush of fear-crazed men bowled Jack over. He struck out savagely and was on his feet again as something flashed from the floor. Jack fought ruthlessly, lifting Gail above a crazy tangle of struggling bodies. He thrust her feet first through a window to the terrace outside.

'Go on!' he snapped. 'Get in a car and speed!'

'Come with me! Quick!' she cried.

But he looked about him anxiously. He saw Gail's father plunge through the phantom body of the Mole; in its misty interior open the door of the .conference room, and rush through to safety. Then swirling gas from the exploded bomb obliterated all sight.

Howls of pure panic arose about him. And Jack forced his way blindly through the window that had meant safety for Gail and tried to fumble his own way to some car with an unblinded driver. A horde of sightless, squealing men babbled and pushed. Crowded together, they had been bad enough. Opened out, now, they ran with flailing arms, hysterical with pure panic.

A fat man bumped against Jack, flinging him to one side. Somebody else struck crazily at him, and someone careened heavily into him, and he gave ground. Then, abruptly, there was something hard and unyielding against his knees, and he toppled over.

He fell perhaps eight feet, down from the terrace outside the windows of the governor's mansion. Branches lashed at him, and then he hit something incredibly hard and solid. He felt a terrific blow on his head.

A long time later, it seemed, Jack heard the purring of machinery. He heard Gail's voice, urgent and resolute. Somebody picked him up. The noise of machinery grew louder. It roared close beside him. He felt a swimming motion.

Then, as he stirred vaguely, something hit him again, and he passed into blank unconsciousness.

When Jack opened his eyes again the noise of machinery still went on. There was again the sensation of swimming, of a gentle rocking from side to side. His head ached intolerably. Then his eyes cleared.

He was inside the Mole. His hands and feet were tied fast. Durran grinned at him. A rat-faced man with a convict's shaven poll was at the controls. Two others were in sight about the engine. But worst of all was the sight of Gail, very white, sitting in a crowded corner of the Mole and staring at vacancy.