Tesla's Signal (58 page)

Behind him, the mob roiled and howled in terror. Niko heard the crackle of weapons—alien wands? The pursuing aliens made strange un-human roaring noises. A howling alarm sounded from the ship. He heard the whine of Clara's sonic gun that would flatten a crowd. Clara and Hugo ran to catch up to him.

“Oi, gevalt,”
Clara cursed under her breath.

“Hell's bells!” Hugo came running up behind them, panting and swearing a blue streak. “Christ on a crutch!”

They ran about five blocks through pitch-black streets and finally Niko had to stop to catch his breath. Katharine lay inert in his arms, not making a sound.

“Now you've done it, Nick,” Hugo said. “Idiot! You're going to get us all killed!”

“I'm sorry. I...don't know what came over me. I lost my mind!” He cursed his stupidity. His moment of foolhardy sentiment might cost all of them their lives.

They heard the hum of another Martian ship behind them. Niko ran, still holding Katharine in his arms, waiting for a destructive ray to burn him down where he stood. “Take cover!” Clara pulled him into a doorway.  “Come on—hide in here.” They climbed through a smashed window and crept through an abandoned shoe store, avoiding dusty boxes of merchandise. Outside, the crowd milled about staring upward at the Martian ship that cruised by.
Looking for us? Or for more people to kidnap?
 

He lit another bulb and looked at Katharine's blank, silver eyes. “Katharine? Come on...talk to me. It's all right. You're safe now.” Carefully, he sat her up against the wall.

Katharine blinked “Wh...where am I? Are we going to the Holy Angels' Tower?”

“To hell with the Angels.” Niko wished he had killed more of them while he had the chance. He took off his jacket and gently draped it around her shoulders. She was still wearing the gown that she'd worn to that cursed Opera show. “Katharine...where were you going? Do you remember anything?”

“They...they said...we are all commanded to go to a...to a banquet in heaven,” Katharine said.

“A
what?”
Niko cried. “Saints have mercy. With you as the main course, no doubt!”

Suddenly Katharine started to get up. “No.” He restrained her. “You're not going anywhere.”

“Let me go,” she cried, flailing at him. “The Angels are calling me! I must go to my Masters!”

“Clara? Quick, do you have any more Amulets?”

Clara handed him one of the small pocket-watch sized devices and he quickly put it over Katharine's neck. “Here. Come with us. Look, these are my friends Jake and Davey.” She indicated the two Landsmen, who had been shadowing from a block away.

A few moments later, Katharine stopped struggling. The blank silver glow left her eyes, replaced by simple confusion. “Wh-where are we? Who the hell—” she stared at Niko. “Is it you?
Nikola?”
 

“Yes, it's me.” He patted her arm. “I'll explain later. My friend Davey Flint will take you back to the Station. All right, Davey?”

“My pleasure,” said the gangster lad. “Shall we, Ma'am?” Grinning, he extended his arm, and off they strolled, with Davey looking thrilled to be in the company of such a fine lady.

Niko turned back to Clara. “We've got to install that Amulet—now!”

Hugo put a hand on his arm. “But Nick, the streets are crawling with Martians.”

“I thought we'd decided on Century Building,” Clara said.

“We can't wait a minute longer. They're calling their slaves to them—they're going to
eat
all these people!”

“You're right.” Clara spoke into her Tele-men control watch with a few simple codes. “Tele-men:
guard
.
”
Several blocks away, the mechanical guards sprang into action. 

“We don't have time to climb a skyscraper. We need to just pick something tall. Anything,” Niko said. “How about that clock tower at the end of the block.”

They made their way to the Municipal Liberty Bank and Trust. Outside this edifice stood an ornate clock tower. The clock, with its gilt Roman numerals, had been placed atop a tall Greek column. Art Nouveau-style scrollwork and metal vines wound their way up the pillar.

“Ah, that'll be perfect.” Clara reached for the large Amulet Niko carried. “Hand it over.”

“Clara, that's an awfully dangerous climb. Why don't you let me—”

“For God's sake, Niko, not with your injured arm.”

Jake spoke up. “Why don't ya let
me
do it? I could climb that thing with one hand behind my back.”

“Thanks, Jake, but you have to calibrate the frequencies once it's up there. You were never too good with math. And we have to set up the mask oscillator too.”

Hugo stepped between them.“Hells bells, are you folks going to stand there arguing all day? Get on with it.”

Clara turned to Hugo. “Niko thinks I can't make that climb because I'm a girl. I'm the one who designed the Amulets in the first place. Give me that.” She snatched the Amulet from under Niko's arm and began to climb.

“Careful,” Hugo whispered. “Those disciples there are watching. Act crazy!”

“Climbing, climbing ever hi-i-igher,” Clara screeched at the top of her lungs, “to my Heavenly home in the sky!” She dug her fingers and toes into the sculptured vines and pulled herself upward, while the Amulet dangled by its chain around her neck.

Niko kept one eye on the Angel disciples, while watching her climb. His glance drifted toward the sky, where alien ships floated by a few blocks away. With nervous fingers, he felt for his induction gun and worried at the strap of his Tele-men control watch. One of the Tele-men had wheeled itself to an alley a few doors down.

The Angel disciples still swarmed about in the street.
Probably wondering why they've been taken off tonight's menu.
“Clara, hurry, before someone notices.”

“Just a minute...have to connect the...Holy holy A-a-angels, climbing to my Heavenly home!” She clung to the top of the column, her legs wrapped around the sculpture as she positioned the Amulet and worked on its calibration.

A sudden whine in the air made Niko's hair stand on end. “Clara, look out—”

The ray lanced out at the Greek column, shattering its base. Clara tumbled through the air, screaming. Niko made a dash for her, but just before she hit the ground, the Tele-man appeared on metal wheels and snagged her by an overall strap.

“Nick! Run!” Hugo grabbed Niko's arm and pulled him away as the Martian ship fired another ray at the Bank and Trust. They dove for cover beneath a streetcar.

“Clara,” Niko cried. “I've got to go back for her!”

“She'll be all right,” Hugo kept reassuring him. “I saw that robot catch her. That thing's faster than you! Come on, let's crawl in there.” Hugo pointed to a cellar window, level with the street.

Niko couldn't speak. Over and over, he saw the column shatter and Clara fall through the air.

The two of them crawled through the window into a grimy coal bin. And there they lay cringing in terror, while the Martian ships passed by overhead as though searching for something. To block out the whining sizzle of their engines, Niko began to count the bricks on the far wall. If the number was divisible by three, Clara would be safe...

“C-Clara?” He called on the radio watch, as soon as he dared.

“I'm fine, Niko. Tele-man Number Three and I are heading toward the Station. That's a good robot we built.”

“Oh, thank God. Th-the Amulet? Did you finish...?”

“I couldn't—a Martian Cossack was firing death rays at me.”

“They must have destroyed it,” Hugo said, “because it's not working. Those monsters are still cruising around like they own the place.

***

“Crewmember D'liy Vaa reporting! There has been a disturbance—a crewmember has been killed. We have made a flyby. Should we continue search and pursuit?”

“It must be one of the rogues,” came the voice from the ship above.  “We'll find him soon enough. Continue with harvesting. That is the highest priority. So says the Holy Queen Mother.”

“Of course, sir.” Vaa did not let his relief show.

The troopers were all dedicated to the holy Mission: to take control of this world, bestow Blessing on its fortunate inhabitants—and then to use them as the resources needed by the noble U'jaan. Nevertheless, the crewmembers occasionally indulged in a bit of harmless sport: corralling and seizing a few of the resources for themselves. Why not? There was plenty to go around.

But they did not relish a nighttime foray into this huge, bizarre alien city of hostile creatures, in pursuit of a single unruly, defective Earthman incapable of receiving Blessing.

And most important was to meet the Harvesting quota. So they continued gathering the resources until the ship was filled to capacity, and then they lifted off and headed for the main base.

The human resources taken to Headquarters at the former Wardenclyffe laboratory. There they were unloaded and herded into a fenced enclosure. Behind them, the giant Orb glowed within the cupola of the majestic Tower, broadcasting the overlordship of the U'jaan Sky Fleet to every subsidiary Orb, and every Angel disciple on Earth.

Sister Shelia greeted the returning Angels and their human cargo in her usual resplendent outfit. “Greetings, dear brothers and sisters,” she called out to the humans. “Today is a great day for you! The most fortunate among you will be chosen to merge your substance with our holy Angel Lords! Bow down and pray that you are chosen!”

The smiling, blank-eyed people obeyed. The eager U'jaan crew removed their masks in anticipation and walked about inspecting the new cargo. Captain K'viin was the most eager of them all as he sampled and evaluated the flavor of the humans' prayers. Finally he could not restrain himself any longer, and seized a teenaged girl in a white dress.

He pulled the girl off to one side and threw her down. A long, flexible tube snaked out from the center of the Captain's face and inserted itself into the creature's eye socket. The girl struggled feebly as K'viin began to feed.

It was customary to keep the human resources alive, only feeding lightly and taking basic sustenance: the soul energy of their prey. Nourishment came from the collective energy feed from the Silver Chamber shows, and by periodic siphoning, slow imbibing and savoring the treat.   But not today! K'viin had been through too much...tried so hard to please his superiors...waited so long for a reward. And he had received nothing but humiliation and punishment! Now, as his rage came out, all restraint vanished He sucked with ravenous greed, until nothing remained of the girl but an empty shell. “You—Servant! Bring more! Hurry!” he cried, twitching with impatience, and Shelia scurried to obey.

A long while later, when he had finally sated himself, he called out once more. “You—Servant! Get over here and dispose of this mess!”

“Yes, adored Angel Master,” said Shelia, as she dragged the first corpse away by the arms. The blissful smile never left her face.

33: The Heretics

“Engineer, you will open,” said K'va Z'duun, from the other side of the door.

“Not now. I'm busy.”

“K'va Ed'saan, your obedience is commanded.”

Muttering under his breath, Edison opened the door. His fingers fumbled at his shirt buttons. Behind him, Sister Shelia pulled the silk sheet up to conceal her nakedness. “What the hell do you want?”

Z'duun and his subordinate, K'raa, pushed their way in. “Human, you receive many privileges from us, but we are still your masters and you will show the proper deference.”

“Of course,
Masters,
” said Edison in a sardonic voice. “How may I serve you?”

“Our agents have found a peculiar object. We wish you to inspect it.”

“For God's sake,” Edison grumbled, as he struggled into his trousers. The buttons barely closed around his expanding belly. He had put on quite a bit of weight since taking this cushy position. The food, drink and other benefits were quite lavish. “Oh, all right, Z'duun old boy—what the hell have you got there?”

The Science Specialist unwrapped the object, a metallic device about the size of a town clock, and put it on the expensive glass tabletop.

“What the devil...?” Edison got a packet of tools, pried it open, and stared at the banks of oscillators and coils of wire. By Jove, he'd seen this kind of ingenious circuitry before.

“Well, I dunno what it is,
Master,”
he said, “but one thing's for sure: it has
Tesla
written all over it.”

At the name of the arch-enemy
Tesla,
Z'duun and his underling began to twitch in agitation. “But...it was reported that the rogue Tes'laa and his installation were destroyed.”

Edison lit a Cuban cigar and began to puff away at it. “Well, I guess someone lied to ya then. I
know
Nick Tesla. He's clever as a fox, wily as a nest of snakes, or my name's not Tom Alva Edison. Listen here, fellas. You want some advice from your
humble servant?”