Raymond King Cummings

Brigands of the Moon Raymond King Cummings

Book Excerpt: ...istle nearby sounded. The figure was making off! My pencil ray was in my hand and I pressed its switch. The tiny heat ray stabbed through the air, but I missed. The figure stumbled but did not fall. I saw a bare gray arm come from the cloak, flung up to maintain its balance. Or perhaps my pencil ray had seared his arm. The gray-skinned arm of a Martian. Snap was shouting, "Give him another!" But the figure passed beyond the actinic glare and vanished. We were detained in the turmoil of the corridor for ten minutes or more with official explanations. Then a message from Halsey released us. The Martian who had been following us in his invisible cloak was never caught. We escaped from the crowd at last and made our way back to the Planetara, where the passengers were already assembling for the outward Martian voyage. III stood on the turret balcony of the Planetara with Captain Carter and Dr. Frank, the ship surgeon, watching the arriving passengers. It...