Spacehounds of IPC by E.E. Smith

Author:E.E. Smith [Smith, E.E.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

Months of Earthly time dragged slowly past, months during which King and

Breckenridge studied intensively the offensive and defensive systems of Callisto without

finding any particular in which they could improve them to any considerable degree.

Captain Czuv and his warplane still survived, and it was while the Callistonian

commander was visiting his Terrestrial guests that King voiced the discontent that had

long affected both men.

"We're both tired of doing nothing, Czuv. We have been of little real benefit, and

we have decided that your ideas of us are all wrong. We are convinced that our

personal horse-power can be of vastly more use to you than our brain-power, which

doesn't amount to much. Your whole present policy is one of hiding and sniping. I think

that I know why, but I want to be sure. Your vessels carry lots of fuel—why can the

hexans outrun you?"

"They can stand enormously higher accelerations than we can. The very

strongest of us loses consciousness at an acceleration of twenty-five meters per second

per second, no matter how he is braced, and that is only a little greater than the normal

gravity of our enemies upon Jupiter. Their vessels at highest power develop an

acceleration of thirty-five meters, and the hexans themselves can stand much more

than even that high figure."

"I thought so. Assume that you traveled in a bath at forty-five. Would it disable

you permanently, or would you recover as soon as it was lowered?"

"We would recover promptly, unless the exposure had been unduly prolonged.

Why?"

"Because I can stand an acceleration of fifty-four meters for two hours, and

Breckenridge here tests fifty-two. I can navigate anything, and Breckenridge can

observe as well as any of your own men. Build a plane to accelerate at forty-five meters

and we will blow those hexans out of the ether. You will have to revive and do the

shooting, however—your gunnery is entirely beyond us."

"That is an idea of promise, and one that had not occurred to any of us," Czuv

replied, and work was begun at once upon the new flyer.

When the super-plane was ready for its maiden voyage its crew of three studied

it as it lay in the catapult at the portal. Dead black as were all the warplanes, its body

was twice as large as that of the ordinary vessel, its wings were even more stubby, and

its accommodations had been cut to a minimum to make room for the enormous stores

of fuel necessary to drive the greatly increased battery of rocket motors and for the

extra supply of torpedoes carried. Waving to the group of soldiers and citizens gathered

to witness the take-off of the new dreadnaught of space the three men entered the

cramped operating compartment, strapped themselves into their seats, and were shot

away. As usual the driving rockets were cut off well below the rim of the shaft, and the

vessel rose in a long and graceful curve, invisible in the night. Such was its initial

velocity and so slight was the force of gravity of the satellite that they were many

hundreds of miles from the exit before they began to descend, and Breckenridge

studied his screens narrowly for signs of hexan activity.

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