The Skylark of Space E. E. Smith (top novels to read .txt) š
- Author: E. E. Smith
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In the room, which was a miniature of the one she had seen on the Skylark, the girls found clothing, toilet articles, and everything necessary for a long trip. As they were setting themselves to rights, Dorothy electing to stay in her riding suit, they surveyed each other frankly and each was reassured by what she saw. Dorothy saw a girl of twenty-two, of her own stature, with a mass of heavy, wavy black hair. Her eyes, a singularly rich and deep brown, contrasted strangely with the beautiful ivory of her skin. She was normally a beautiful girl, thought Dorothy, but her beauty was marred by suffering and privation. Her naturally slender form was thin, her face was haggard and worn. The stranger broke the silence.
āIām Margaret Spencer,ā she began abruptly, āformer secretary to His Royal Highness, Brookings of Steel. They swindled my father out of an invention worth millions and he died, brokenhearted. I got the job to see if I couldnāt get enough evidence to convict them, and I had quite a lot when they caught me. I had some things that they were afraid to lose, and I had them so well hidden that they couldnāt find them, so they kidnapped me to make me give them back. They havenāt dared kill me so far for fear the evidence will show up after my deathā āwhich it will. However, I will be legally dead before long, and then they know the whole thing will come out, so they have brought me out here to make me talk or kill me. Talking wonāt do me any good now, though, and I donāt believe it ever would have. They would have killed me after they got the stuff back, anyway. So you see I, at least, will never get back to the earth alive.ā
āCheer upā āweāll all get back safely.ā
āNo, we wonāt. You donāt know that man Perkinsā āif that is his name. I never heard him called any real name before. He is simply unspeakableā āvileā āhideousā āeverything that is base. He was my jailer, and I utterly loathe and despise him. He is mean and underhanded and trickyā āhe reminds me of a slimy, poisonous snake. He will kill me: I know it.ā
āBut how about Doctor DuQuesne? Surely he isnāt that kind of man? He wouldnāt let him.ā
āIāve never met him before, but from what I heard of him in the office, heās even worse than Perkins, but in an entirely different way. Thereās nothing small or mean about him, and I donāt believe he would go out of his way to hurt anyone, as Perkins would. But he is absolutely cold and hard, a perfect fiend. Where his interests are concerned, thereās nothing under the sun, good or bad, that he wonāt do. But Iām glad that Perkins had me instead of āThe Doctor,ā as they call him. Perkins raises such a bitter personal feeling, that anybody would rather die than give up to him in anything. DuQuesne, however, would have tortured me impersonally and scientificallyā ācold and self-contained all the while and using the most efficient methods, and I am sure he would have got it out of me some way. He always gets what he goes after.ā
āOh, come, Miss Spencer!ā Dorothy interrupted the half-hysterical girl. āYouāre too hard on him. Didnāt you see him knock Perkins down when he came after me?ā
āWell, maybe he has a few gentlemanly instincts, which he uses when he doesnāt lose anything by it. More likely he merely intended to rebuke him for a useless action. He is a firm Pragmatistā āanything that is useful is all right, anything that is useless is a crime. More probably yet, he wants you left alive. Of course that is his real reason. He went to the trouble of kidnapping you, so naturally he wonāt let Perkins or anybody else kill you until he is through with you. Otherwise he would have let Perkins do anything he wanted to with you, without lifting a finger.ā
āI canāt quite believe that,ā Dorothy replied, though a cold chill struck at her heart as she remembered the inhuman crime attributed to this man, and she quailed at the thought of being in his charge, countless millions of miles from earth, a thought only partly counteracted by the fact that she was now armed. āHe has treated us with every consideration so far, letās hope for the best. Anyway, Iām sure that weāll get back safely.ā
āWhy so sure? Have you something up your sleeve?ā
āNoā āor yes, in a way I have, though nothing very definite. Iām Dorothy Vaneman, and I am engaged to the man who discovered the thing that makes this space-car goā āā ā¦ā
āThatās why they kidnapped you, thenā āto make him give up all his rights to it. Itās like them.ā
āYes, I think thatās why they did it. But they wonāt keep me long. Dick Seaton will find me, I know. I feel it.ā
āBut thatās exactly what they want!ā cried Margaret excitedly. āIn my spying around I heard a little about this very thingā āthe name Seaton brings it to my mind. His car is broken in some way, so that it will kill him the first time he tries to run it.ā
āThatās where they underestimated Dick and his partner. You have heard of Martin Crane, of course?ā
āI think I heard his name mentioned in the office, together with Seatonās, but thatās all.ā
āWell, besides other things, Martin is quite a wonderful mechanic, and he found out that our Skylark was spoiled. So they built another one, a lot bigger, and I am sure that they are following us, right now.ā
āBut how can they possibly follow us, when we are going so fast and are so far away?ā queried the other girl, once more despondent.
āI donāt quite know, but I do know that Dick will find a way. Heās simply
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