"Howlin' calamities!" shrilled Monk. "I told you a woman like her would be the--"

  "Listen," admonished Doc. "I would say Zoro is rapidly overtaking our Uni-Ship."

  The vibration of the earth around them became a distinct hissing noise. Almost abruptly, the speed of Lanta's Uni-Ship diminished. It was apparent Zoro was coming very near.

  "Had you considered, Princess Lanta, the possibility of Zoro striking the diamond field and causing a tremendous explosion?" inquired Doc. "The setting off of the concussion caps and the trinitromite possibly would wreck your own Uni-Ship."

  "That is possible," replied Lanta calmly. "I could hope that even this might happen. It would be better that Zoro and the few of us should be destroyed than that he reach the Kingdom of Subterranae."

  "Good gosh!" gasped Monk. "And she said she liked my funny face! What a nice, friendly sort of a woman!"

  Chapter 14. IN SUBTERRANAE

  "HOLY cow!" ejaculated Renny. "We're goin' down an' we come up!"

  The giant engineer's understanding of physics was topsy-turvy. The Uni-Ship of Princess Lanta had, of course, entered the earth's crust in a downward direction. This had been quickly lost. All pull of gravitation had been absent from the interior of the Uni-Ship.

  So suddenly it had brought gasps of amazement from Doc's companions, the Uni-Ship had emerged from underground. Renny's phrase had been descriptive of what had happened. At the instant the walls of the magnetic craft were suffused with a brilliant purple light, Lanta had herself flitted into the forward compartment.

  New controls had been swung. One second the Uni-Ship was boring through the earth. The next it was rising from the ground.

  "We have arrived in the Kingdom of Subterranae," announced Crado calmly. "You will discover here that gravitation applies the same as on the world's surface. We have thousands of square miles of space. Perhaps our gravity is more centrifugal force, but you will find it much the same as outer atmospheric pressure."

  "Dag-gonit!" moaned Monk. "How's a fellow to know whether he's standin' on his head or his feet?"

  "There would hardly be any appreciable difference, even if you were swinging by a tail," replied Ham.

  "You crazy shyster!" howled Monk. "If they raise any pigs down here, I'll warn them to lock 'em up!"

  The verbal feud of Monk and Ham had originated in an incident in the World War which had involved the framing upon Ham of the theft of some army hams.

  Princess Lanta returned from the forward compartment. They had escaped catastrophe when she had attempted to trick Zoro into crashing into the field of carbonite. Whether she had succeeded, they had no means of knowing.

  "Welcome, Clark Savage, to the Kingdom of Subterranae!" exclaimed Princess Lanta. "May the visit of you and your learned companions be pleasant and profitable!"

  The bronze man smiled and inclined his head. He said nothing.

  "An' when does the shootin' begin?" Monk muttered almost inaudibly.

  THE Uni-Ship flashed into the air over the visible expanse of Subterranae. For several minutes, Doc and the others were intrigued by this strange inner world.

  In many respects the land resembled any countryside of the outer earth. Rounded patches of green dotted the region for many miles. Beside these apparent patches of vegetables and grain were glistening reservoirs.

  One reservoir bubbled constantly. It was being fed by some underground stream. Ditches ran between the rows of plants.

  "Your food is produced by irrigation," stated Doc.

  "Yes, as we have no rain," replied Princess Lanta. "Our water comes from what you would call artesian wells. Lacking sunlight, there is no evaporation of moisture. The air is wholly dry. Our people have poreless skins. Because of that, we suffered some while we were in the outer world. Perhaps we could not survive in your warmer climates."

  The Uni-Ship floated. Crado cruised slowly. Doc observed two columns hundreds of feet in height. They resembled immense tubes filled with neon light. This produced a purplish glow.

  In this light the faces of Crado and Lanta no longer had the sheen of silver. They seemed to have become of a normal whiteness. This only added to the girl's beauty.

  "Great gosh!" ejaculated Renny. "You fellows look like ghosts!"

  He was staring at his companions. Their faces had taken on a ghastly, corpselike pallor. Only the features of Doc Savage were different.

  Doc noticed that his bronze hands were like glowing copper. His face had taken the same hue. The sleek hair was like beaten gold.

  "I had been wondering what we were going to use for breathing when we arrived," commented Johnny. "Yet the plant life indicates the presence of the same elements as in our own atmosphere."

  "It is our solar system, scholarly one," said Princess Lanta. "Your outer atmosphere creates gravity. We also have the same character of air. Contrary to the belief of many of your scientists, the earth's crust is only a few hundred miles in thickness. Here our vegetable and other life has set up the same oxygen renewal and the nitrogen and hydrogen gases to be found in the outside world."

  "And Crado tells us," observed Doc, "that what answers for gravity on the earth's surface may be supplied by centrifugal force on the inside."

  "Anyway, you couldn't fall out of the inside of a ball," put in the practical Renny. "I'm going to get a line on this solar system."

  He figured he would add to his far-reaching knowledge of engineering. Renny had built many bridges, tunnels and other achievements to his credit. But a solar system was a new one.

  THE Uni-Ship quickly arrived over a city that glistened with many towers and turrets in the purple light of the tall columns. The buildings were on a smaller scale, but much resembled the architecture in the more modern sections of the outer world's greatest cities.

  Doc judged the city must house more than a million inhabitants. This was confirmed by Lanta. This, she said was the governing city of Manyon. The place of the palace where King Lumos and Queen Salano ruled over the Kingdom of Subterranae.

  "And there is the king's palace," directed Princess Lanta.

  Doc Savage had already guessed it. The palace was a series of low towers constructed in the form of octagons. They were dazzling with glasslike mica and with inset plaques that shone like burnished gold.

  From the center of the palace arose a spikelike tower. The reflected light from this was equal to that streaming from the solar towers.

  "Looks as if the king had a sun all his own," commented Long Tom. "Of what material is the tower, would you say, Doc?"

  "I'll leave it to Johnny to tell you," remarked the bronze man.

  Johnny's face was a study in bewilderment.

  "It couldn't be, Doc--honestly," he said breathlessly. "I was ready to swallow that one you left with the Scotch inspector, but a tower--a whole tower, Doc? That's too incredible."

  "I fear your disbelief avails nothing," said, the bronze man. "I would say we are looking on a tower of the purest carbonite. In other words, a diamond in substance that would make more than all the diamonds of the outer world combined."

  "Howlin' calamities!" squeaked Monk. "I wish we hadn't come! Ain't anything natural down here?"

  The Uni-Ship hovered in an almost stationary position. Citizens of the inner world swarmed into the streets. Their silvery tunics contrasted vividly with the glittering buildings all seemed to occupy. The streets were paved with octagonal blocks, and even these had been inlaid with what appeared to be the commonest metal, pure gold.

  "The Kingdom of Subterranae could upset every value the world has ever known," observed Doc. "And this Zoro--"

  The Uni-Ship of Princess Lanta had begun a slow descent. It was perhaps a thousand feet over the palace of King Lumos. Doc could see the great enclosed square among the towers where other Uni-Ships were housed. It had the appearance of a mammoth patio set within the guarding walls of the rulers' dominating residence.

  Suddenly the air was filled with rushing vibration. Below in the streets the white faces of the people were turned upward. The Uni-Ship trembled as if from some outward pressure. A long shadow crossed one of the towers of purple light.

  With rushing speed the shadow resolved itself into another Uni-Ship. It had emerged from the ground miles away. But its arrival was as swift as an arrow shot from a bow. Before the controls of Lanta's Uni-Ship could be swung, the glassy craft of Zoro had circled into position between it and the king's palace.

  THE thousands below were disappearing like moles fleeing into burrows underground. Lanta darted into the forward compartment. Her Uni-Ship started dropping faster.

  A voice broke over one of the inter-communicating radio receivers.

  "You will surrender Doc Savage and his men at once!" commanded Zoro. "Otherwise, the city of Manyon will be destroyed!"

  The voice of Princess Lanta was replying calmly.

  "Return, Zoro, to the Land of Beyond, at once, or I shall crash you and your cargo. All of us will perish, but the Kingdom of Subterranae will be spared."

  Lanta's Uni-Ship was pointed directly at Zoro's flying craft. Both had drifted away from over the palace. Doc moved with incredible speed into the compartment beside Lanta. "We shall find other means," he stated quietly. "The trinitromite would kill thousands."

  One of the bronze man's hands had slipped quickly along the control knobs. Though Princess Lanta would hardly have believed it, Doc Savage had learned much of the operation of the Uni-Ship.

  "Howlin' calamities!" squealed Monk. "I told you! Now she's gone an' done it like she said she would! We'll all be busted to pieces!"

  The Uni-Ship had apparently lost its gravity suspension. It started crashing downward. The pointed nose was aimed directly toward the spiked tower of carbonite. The Uni-Ship lost its position. The long cylinder started whirling. The gyrating motion hurled Doc's companions into a confused heap.

  Crado cried out something they could not understand.

  Princess Lanta's crew was leaving. The men had snapped open two hatchways. Their bodies were flying out through these. Each had used his gravity belt. The air above the Uni-Ship was filled with the floating bodies.

  "Well I'll be dag-goned!" howled Monk, pushing Ham's waspish body off his thick neck. "The silvery devils! Now we haven't got a chance!"

  The Uni-Ship spun him over. His hard head crashed into Ham's stomach. The lawyer for once had no retort he could make.

  Doc was attempting to solve their situation. His bronze hands played over various controls. The towers of the palace were leaping toward them. Princess Lanta had been tossed to the end of the compartment.

  She was speaking. In the rushing descent, Doc could not catch her words. But Princess Lanta was smiling. Her slender body was near a metallic cylinder attached to the wall. This cylinder was much like an enlarged air pump used in the world for inflating tires.

  The tip of the spiked diamond tower flashed past. The bronze man braced his massive legs. Then Princess Lanta swiftly pushed the plunger into the cylinder.

  Doc Savage and his companions were reminded of the manner in which the bronze man's own special elevator in Manhattan was cushioned. The falling Uni-Ship was within a few feet of one of the towers.

  Then its descent was abruptly checked. As if gentle hands had been pushed out from the tower, the Uni-Ship was shoved aside. It rolled from the sloping roof into the esplanade. Though it landed upside down, further entangling Doc's companions, there was no concussion.

  Princess Lanta smiled at Doc Savage.

  "I have you to thank, Clark Savage, for saving all of us," she stated. "It is only my great fear of Zoro that makes me sometimes forget all others. The people of our kingdom always come first."

  "I'm not sure about the saving part of it," smiled Doc. "Anyway, we have landed."

  DOC'S five companions were scrambling toward one of the still-open hatchways. Before they reached it, the air was pulsating. Three other Uni-Ships were rising from the palace. They went upward with flashing speed to the attack.

  Zoro's Uni-Ship poised in mid-air. It was like some striking vulture suddenly balked of fastening claws upon its prey. From an amplifier came Zoro's voice.

  "You will regret having failed to heed my warning!" the voice proclaimed. "I say to you now, all of the people of Manyon, you will be destroyed unless this Doc Savage and his men are turned over to me without delay!"

  The three rising Uni-Ships were coming close to Zoro. His own craft turned with a speed almost too great to be followed. But the king's Uni-Ships had the advantage of driving toward him. Their momentum was so great the air trembled with their passage.

  "Holy cow!" roared Renny. "The king's got something! They've got that fellow Zoro this time!"

  Princess Lanta was watching the chase with parted lips. Ham was observing her instead of the aërial pursuit. The lawyer didn't believe he had ever met so beautiful a woman in the outer world. He was already beginning to speculate on their ultimate fate. Would Doc Savage be able to return them to the upper earth?

  Ham wasn't so sure just then whether he would be missing much if this became their permanent home. Doc's quiet, but penetrating voice snapped him out of his dream.

  "I feared perhaps that would happen," said the bronze man. "Your enemy, Zoro, has learned very quickly."

  "Oh, what could they be?" breathed Princess Lanta.

  What appeared to be half a dozen balloons floated from Zoro's Uni-Ship. These were of small dimensions. They were weighted by black, oblong packages. From each balloon trailed a thread of blue smoke. It could be clearly seen against the purplish light.

  "Can you signal the men in the other Uni-Ships to drop quickly?" asked the bronze man.

  Princess Lanta was instant of perception. She started speaking into her breast radio broadcaster. One of the king's Uni-Ships was dropping. The other two were close to the balloons.

  One of the balloons dissolved. The air around the palace took the impact of a mighty slapping blow. Two other balloons exploded. Though Zoro's Uni-Ship had flashed far ahead, it was heeled off its course. The recurrent blasts of the balloons seemed to rock the solar towers.

  The purplish light became somewhat blurred. On the floor of the esplanade the Uni-Ship of Princess Lanta was rolled over. The princess and Doc's companions were toppled to the tiled floor. Only the bronze man remained standing on his widely braced legs. He had been prepared for the terrific shock.

  Two of the king's Uni-Ships were directly in the zone of the explosion. For a minute or two, they were submerged in billowing gray smoke. Then both came tumbling out.

  The rigid cylinders had resisted even the terrific blast of trinitromite. But it was apparent the controlling mechanism had been disrupted. The Urn-Ship started turning end over end.

  "Oh! They've lost gravity control!" exclaimed Lanta. "Why don't they use the belts?"

  THE king's men inside the Uni-Ships never would use belts. The long cylinders were now just so much dead weight. Possibly the men inside had been killed instantly by the roaring blasts.

  The impact of the two ships shook the ground. The carbonated metallic walls did not shatter. The Uni-Ships lay half buried in the furrows they had dug for themselves.

  Princess Lanta started running to the side of the esplanade. She stood there staring. The Street below was empty of inhabitants. The people of Subterranae were cringing in their towerlike homes of mica and gold.

  They had been given their first demonstration of explosives. It was to them a force of destruction beyond imagination. Their own advanced powers seemed puny in comparison.

  The third Uni-Ship pursuing Zoro took on queer circling gyrations. It had been farther from the exploding balloons. But some of its controlling mechanism had been crippled. However, it retained its gravity control.

  Like a wounded bird, the Uni-Ship fell. Its landing was cushioned. A score of men came from the hatchway of the craft. They darted over to the other fallen ships. From the two Uni-Ships came no movement. All of their crews had perished.

  Inside one of the wrecked ships played vivid fire. It glowed strangely under the purple solar rays.

  "All have died," spoke Princess Lanta gravely. "This, Clark Savage, is what we have feared so greatly. It was why I came to seek you. It is the first time this murdering force of your world has ever been used in the Kingdom of Subterranae. Zoro has learned much. We have now no means of combating those in the Land of Beyond."

  Doc Savage was watching the princess closely. There was sadness in her voice; grief for the men who had died. There was something more.

  "Now I can only give myself," said Princess Lanta suddenly, as if she had come to a decision. "What am I compared to the safety of my people--if I will be sufficient?"

 

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