Read Captain Future 09 - Quest Beyond the Stars (Winter 1942) for Free Online Page B
Authors: Edmond Hamilton
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy
feet.
“A nice lunch you’d have made for them,” flipped Otho. “That old iron carcass of yours would have given them indigestion they’d never forget.”
Curt Newton paid no attention to them. His whole interest was focused on the two crimson-skinned men who were now approaching them. The hulking giant of the two stopped a few feet from Curt. He was a bristling-haired, massive-faced individual, with bleak, tawny-yellow eyes and the look of a veteran adventurer. His comrade, obviously of the same race, was slighter and younger-looking.
“They’re obviously of a human race, but one from some other star than our own Sun System,” rasped the Brain, studying them.
THE crimson giant and his comrade gaped in astonishment at hearing the voice emanate from the floating case of the Brain. They stared at Simon Wright and then at Grag and Otho, in open wonder. Captain Future spoke clearly, holding out his hand in sign of friendship.
“We thank you for your aid. Can you understand me?”
The crimson giant shook his head puzzledly. He spoke to Curt, but it was in a language Captain Future had never heard.
“Might have known our languages would be completely different,” Curt muttered disappointedly. “I suppose there’s nothing for it but to pick up their speech, if we can,”
The crimson giant seemed to understand when Curt made signals of inquiry to him. He pointed to his own breast and said loudly, “Hol Jor.”
Curt having responded, naming himself. Hol Jor repeated the name, “Captain Future,” several times, then grinned in understanding. Then he pointed to his companion and said, “Skur Kal.”
Then Hol Jor, the crimson-skinned giant, pointed to himself and his companion and then up into the western heavens. His finger stabbed in the direction of the distant red star Antares.
“Holy sun-imps, he means they’re from Antares!” ejaculated Otho. “It isn’t so far from here as interstellar distances are measured, but how did they get here? And why did they come?”
Curt already had a suspicion of the answer to the latter question. But he concentrated now upon learning Hol Jor’s language.
Captain Future was an expert with strange languages. Through long experience on strange worlds, he had perfected a method of learning an alien tongue in the shortest possible time. He now put it into effect. Squatting down with the two Antarians, Curt began a rapid process of vocabulary building. He pointed to objects and Hol Jor gave the Antarian names for them. He performed actions in mimicry, and thus rapidly acquired a stock of verbs. Curt’s phenomenal memory retained each word. By the time they had spent a few hours at this, Captain Future and the Futuremen had acquired a working knowledge of the Antarian tongue.
Haltingly, Curt asked Hol Jor the question that was uppermost in his mind.
“What are you two Antarians doing on this dead sun?”
“We were wrecked and cast away here,” was Hol Jor’s emphatic rejoinder, accompanied by something that sounded like an oath. “Twenty-eight quals ago we drifted onto this accursed dark star.”
“We are amazed to learn that there is a human race on Antares and that they possess star-ships,” Curt asserted.
“There are human civilizations on the planets of many stars in this part of the galaxy,” Hol Jor assured him. “It is our tradition that long ago the worlds of many stars were colonized by a parent human stock that had its origin on the planets of yonder star.”
Hol Jor pointed toward a faint yellow star low on the horizon, which the Futuremen recognized instantly.
“Deneb!” exclaimed Otho, excitedly. “Chief, remember what we learned on the lost world of Katain — that the original human stock of our System came from Deneb!”
“Aye,” rasped the Brain. “It is clear that the Denebians of long ago spread the human seed far and wide through the galaxy. What a race of adventurers they must have been!”
CURT NEWTON felt a new glow
“A nice lunch you’d have made for them,” flipped Otho. “That old iron carcass of yours would have given them indigestion they’d never forget.”
Curt Newton paid no attention to them. His whole interest was focused on the two crimson-skinned men who were now approaching them. The hulking giant of the two stopped a few feet from Curt. He was a bristling-haired, massive-faced individual, with bleak, tawny-yellow eyes and the look of a veteran adventurer. His comrade, obviously of the same race, was slighter and younger-looking.
“They’re obviously of a human race, but one from some other star than our own Sun System,” rasped the Brain, studying them.
THE crimson giant and his comrade gaped in astonishment at hearing the voice emanate from the floating case of the Brain. They stared at Simon Wright and then at Grag and Otho, in open wonder. Captain Future spoke clearly, holding out his hand in sign of friendship.
“We thank you for your aid. Can you understand me?”
The crimson giant shook his head puzzledly. He spoke to Curt, but it was in a language Captain Future had never heard.
“Might have known our languages would be completely different,” Curt muttered disappointedly. “I suppose there’s nothing for it but to pick up their speech, if we can,”
The crimson giant seemed to understand when Curt made signals of inquiry to him. He pointed to his own breast and said loudly, “Hol Jor.”
Curt having responded, naming himself. Hol Jor repeated the name, “Captain Future,” several times, then grinned in understanding. Then he pointed to his companion and said, “Skur Kal.”
Then Hol Jor, the crimson-skinned giant, pointed to himself and his companion and then up into the western heavens. His finger stabbed in the direction of the distant red star Antares.
“Holy sun-imps, he means they’re from Antares!” ejaculated Otho. “It isn’t so far from here as interstellar distances are measured, but how did they get here? And why did they come?”
Curt already had a suspicion of the answer to the latter question. But he concentrated now upon learning Hol Jor’s language.
Captain Future was an expert with strange languages. Through long experience on strange worlds, he had perfected a method of learning an alien tongue in the shortest possible time. He now put it into effect. Squatting down with the two Antarians, Curt began a rapid process of vocabulary building. He pointed to objects and Hol Jor gave the Antarian names for them. He performed actions in mimicry, and thus rapidly acquired a stock of verbs. Curt’s phenomenal memory retained each word. By the time they had spent a few hours at this, Captain Future and the Futuremen had acquired a working knowledge of the Antarian tongue.
Haltingly, Curt asked Hol Jor the question that was uppermost in his mind.
“What are you two Antarians doing on this dead sun?”
“We were wrecked and cast away here,” was Hol Jor’s emphatic rejoinder, accompanied by something that sounded like an oath. “Twenty-eight quals ago we drifted onto this accursed dark star.”
“We are amazed to learn that there is a human race on Antares and that they possess star-ships,” Curt asserted.
“There are human civilizations on the planets of many stars in this part of the galaxy,” Hol Jor assured him. “It is our tradition that long ago the worlds of many stars were colonized by a parent human stock that had its origin on the planets of yonder star.”
Hol Jor pointed toward a faint yellow star low on the horizon, which the Futuremen recognized instantly.
“Deneb!” exclaimed Otho, excitedly. “Chief, remember what we learned on the lost world of Katain — that the original human stock of our System came from Deneb!”
“Aye,” rasped the Brain. “It is clear that the Denebians of long ago spread the human seed far and wide through the galaxy. What a race of adventurers they must have been!”
CURT NEWTON felt a new glow