Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

20 Morovanian agent known as Krohn had alighted from the cabin plane and, moving away from the stationary machine, they strode towards a clutter of huge boulders that were situated some thirty or forty yards to the left of the aircraft. They passed into the midst of those boulders and came upon a hole in the ground, large enough to admit of the pas- sage of two men walking abreast. Into this burrow they advanced, Boroff pro- ducing an electric torch as they did so, and by the light of that torch they pro- gressed along an earthen tunnel which sloped steadily downward. Ere long that tunnel widened out into a spacious natural vault whose walls, roof and floor were of rock. It was the first of a series of caverns that were linked together by short corridors, none of which v.-ere of artificial creation, the entire sub- terranean realm having been the result of some age-old disturbance that had probably occurred long before Life had existed'in the world. All of those caves revealed evidence that human beings had recently been present in them, however. They contained articles of furniture necessary for the accommodation of a fair number of men and, wending their way through them, Boroff and Krohn at length entered one that had been fitted out as a study. Here Boroff dispensed with the electric toi'ch and struck a match to light an oil- lamp that stood on a table, whereupon his associate looked around appraisingly. "Quite snug, eh, Boroff?" the Moro- varian commented. "We have a safe haven in these caverns and. though the kelp plant was more convenient, we can, nevertheless, go right ahead with the manufacture of the disintegration gas once we have obtained new laboratory equipment." Boroff pursed his lips. "Yes," he muttered, "we can continue our activities here all right. But first we've got to do something about that carton of gas-bombs in Kent's possession. An analysis will betray the composition of the vapour in them, and a scientist who knew the ingredients of the disintegration gas could very soon concoct a neutralising compound that would counteract its effects." Krohn frowned at that. "You are right," he said. "Boroff, it is a pity you had not killed that meddling Lieutenant Kent instead of his young brother on the night the Carfax struck that reef. He has been a stumbling-block to us again and again. But what can you do to prevent an analysis of those gas- bombs? Have you any plan in mind?" "Yes, I have a plan, Krohn. My guess is that Kent will take the bombs to his fiancee's brother, Dick Norman, and I shall send some of our men to his labor at oi*y." The Morovanian looked at Boroff inquiringly. "How about sending Thorg, Degado and Rackerby?" he suggested. "No," was the response. "They would be too open to recognition if they showed themselves in Portland. I'll wait until the rest of my agents arrive here, and then I'll select a few of them for the purpose of dealing with the problem of the missing bombs." THE WATCHERS BOROFF'S surmise that Terry Kent would convey the gas-bombs to Dick Norman's laboratory was correct, for after a consultation on the landing-stage of the kelp plant, Terry parted company with his comrades of the Coastguard Service with the object of journeying to Portland by road and handing over the bogus electric light bulbs to Jean's brother. While the coastguardsmen who had raided the kelp plant were preparing to disembark in the two speedboats and return to their headquarters, Terry made for the spot where he had been attacked earlier on by Degado, Thorg and the ill- fated Sloan. He was accompanied thither Kovomber 18tl), l'J"3. BOY'S CINEMA by Jean and Snapper, and they had soon reached the dip where BorofT's satellites had blocked the highway with the motor- truck. Terry entering the sedan that had be- longed to the Boroff gang, Jean and Snapper climbed into the car they had bor- rowed from the girl's scientist brother, and presently both automobiles were speeding southward along the road that led to Port- land, the Coastguard lieutenant and the representatives of the "Chronicle" reaching town about an hour after leaving the kelp plant. Within ten minutes of crossing the city boundary, the two cars pulled up outside the building in which Dick Norman's laboratory was situated and, bearing the gas-bombs, Terry opened the offside door of the sedan and stepped out on to the pavement. At the same time Jean and Snapper scrambled from the other vehicle, and in another thirty seconds the three of them were confronting the girl's brother in the well-equipped work-room where he carried on his experiments. He greeted them thankfully, the note of intense relief in his voice indicating how concerned he had been for their safety since he had last seen them. Then, cautiously placing the cardboard carton on a bench in the laboratory, Terry gave him a brief account of all that had transpired. It was a story to which Dick Norman listened with earnest attention, and when he had heard it he turned to the box containing the sham electric light globes. "So the raid on that kelp plant wasn't altogether fruitless, huh?" he observed. "At least, it's provided us with another chance of finding out exactly what this disintegration gas consists of." "That's right, Dick," the revenue officer declared. "You can go ahead and resume your analysis of the vapour by probing one of these bulbs. But for heaven's sake be careful. You know how deadly that gas is." "Don't worry," Dick rejoined. "I won't take any liberties with the stuff." He raised the lid of the cardboard carton and picked out one of the globes—was eye- ing it grimly when Terry spoke again. There's just one other point, Dick," he announced. "I'm going to arrange with the police to have this place guarded." Jean's brother tried to demur. "Aw, I don't think that's necessary," he began, but Terry interrupted him. "No?" he retorted. "Well. I do think it's necessary. I don't know if Boroff saw me from the plane v/ith that carton, but if he did you can bet he'll make an attempt to recover the bulbs. And after what hai>- pened the first time one of those bombs came into our possession I'm not aiming to have you run any risks." Dick was compelled to acknowledge then that precautionary measures were advis- able, and promising to return at the earliest possible moment, Terry quitted the building with the intention of driving to police headquarters. As for Jean and Snapper, they also departed, but their destination was not police headquarters. They were bent on proceeding to the offices of the "Chronicle," so that they could make the next edition of the newspaper with a "scoop" story of the latest developments in the Boroff case—a story which Jean would write with the authority of an eye- witness, and which would be embellished bv the pictures Snapper had taken. 'Left alone in his laboratory, Dick Norman devoted himself to the critical task of finding out the constitution of the damnable gas Boroff had invented, and as on the occasion of his former attempt to discover the elements it comprised, he reduced the vapour in one of the bulbs to a fluid state. By means of that process he rendered the compound harmless, and settling down to a penetrating and comprehensive analysis of the liquid, he was already fairly well advanced in his investigation of it when Terry Kent put in an appearance again. Every Tuesday Rejoining Dick in the laboratory, the Coastguard lieutenant addressed liim briskly. "I arranged for a police guard all right," he stated. "Three of the toughest cops on the Force were placed at my disposal and came back with me. Tlrey're out front now on the side-walk, and they'll be there till further orders, or until they're relieved by three more stalwarts. But how's the analysis going?" "Fine," was Dick's replv. "I've estab- lished the presence of three other elements in the gas besides arnatite and zanzoid. the basic minerals we knew about. I fancy I've still a lot of work to do before I can learn all the ingredients and record their quantitative relation, though. That's going to be the hard job—ascertaining the ratio of the various elements. Bettei draw up a chair, Terry, if you want to stick around until I'm througb." Terry accepted the invitation, and watched Dick interestedly as the latter continued his analysis. It was an analysis that was not completed until a couple of hours after the revenue officer's return from police headquarters, during which period Dick paused from time to time to jot down equations and chemical symbols on a scrap of paper, and then at last the young scientist turned to his sister's flance with an air of satisfaction. 'Well, that's that," he remarked, draw- ing in a long breath. "I've got Boroff's disintegration gas taped, you might sav— every constituent traced and tabulated according to quantity. What's more. Terry. I know I can formulate a counter type of gas now I'm aware of the elements that make up the devilish vapour Borotf has invented." Terry leaned forward eagerly. "You mean you can create some sort of defence against the disintegration gas. Dick—a chemical combination that would prevent the disintegration gas from being effective if it were let loose against humanity?" "I mean just that," Jean's brother answered. "And I can manufacture a quantity of that counteracting gas in the space of a few hours—if I have the necessary apparatus. What I need is a device known as a Hammerlock tvpe 4-B compressor." "A Hammerlock type 4-B compressor?" Terry reiterated. "I'm afraid that's a new one on me." Dick smiled. "I suppose so. But I know where I can get one. The Bell Tex Company on Marine Parade supply them. I'll go down there right away and tell them to load one up on a truck and bring it here." "Why not phone them?" the Coast- guard lieutenant proposed. "No," Dick answered. "They're liable to put off delivery till to-morrow morning if I do that, and I don't want to wait that long. That's the trouble with the Bell Tex outfit. Their equipment can't be bettered, but their delivery system is cock-eyed. If you want anything in a hurry you've got to go down there and practically hold a pistol to their dispatch manager's head before you can get things moving." Terry rose from the chair he had been occupying. "Okay," he said. "I'll go down there and have that compressor delivered for you, for I want you to stay here out of harm's way until you've finished your ex- periments. What was the name of that compressor again?" Dick wrote the name down for him, and a moment later Terry made his way from the laboratory to the street, pausing on the side-walk to accost the three police- men who were stationed at the door of the premises. "I'm sending a compressor for Mr. Norman," he told them. "When it arrives see that it's passed in to him. I may not be back for a while myself, as I want to report to my chief at the Coastguard station." Neither Terry nor the police officers knew it, but four men were peering warily