Buck Corrigan stood in the observation dome of the spaceliner POLARIS with one arm round the slender waist of the beautiful Topaz Lorraine and gazed at the twinkling green star.
'Gee, honey,' he sighed, 'that little old Earth sure looks swell.'
Her soft voice was husky with emotion as she answered him.
'Our Earth, Buck darling. Our home.' She laid her lovely dark head on his manly chest and looked up at him with shining eyes.
Suddenly they were thrown to the deck by a sudden change of course. They looked up, startled. There, blocking the stars. hung a sinister black ship, squat and menacing like some terrible bird of prey. In huge black letters on its bows was the name BLACK BART.
Buck's steely grey eyes widened. 'The most ruthless pirate in the Solar System,' he breathed. His ragged jaw set in determination. 'We have come to grips at last.'
'Oh Buck!' she murmured, 'I'm frightened for you. Be careful, darling. I love you so much.'
Buck gave her a boyish grin. 'Me too,' he murmured. His eyes narrowed and his hands went to the butts of his twin De Lammeters. 'It's Black Bart who'll have to be careful,' he gritted.
Suddenly a harsh sinister voice barked from the ship's loudspeakers. 'I order you to heave to at once. It is useless to resist, for my deadly Z ray is trained upon you. I have only to touch a button and your brains will explode!' The pirate laughed horribly. 'At least it will be a quick death.'
Pandemonium began to rain on the POLARIS as her passengers felt her begin to decellerate.
...
'Don't worry honey,' said Buck with a boyish grin, as the durasteel door of their prison clanged shut. 'I had to get captured. Once aboard this hellship I know I can outwit the devil who commands her. The cell hasn't been built that can hold Buck Corrigan. Look, they took away my twin De Lammeters, but overlooked this slim but deadly needle gun hidden in my shoulder pad.'
'Oh Buck,' breathed Topaz, clinging to his manly chest, 'You're marvellous.'
'Aw shucks,' he murmured modestly, 'any red-blooded he-man with courage and genius would have done the same. Now, see,' he went on, 'a small but vital adjustment to the squegging coil of this atomic cigarette lighter, which I had concealed in my pocket, turns it into a tiny but efficient torch. Watch.'
The tough metal around the door lock began to hiss and flow, and in a moment Buck stepped stealthily into the corridor. With an easy cat-like grace he crept along the passage and through a bulkhead door, where he was expertly tapped on the base of the skull by a black-suited pirate wielding a rubber truncheon.
When the black mists swirled away from his aching head he found himself with Topaz on the bridge of the cruiser, surrounded by two of Black Bart's husky crew. They stared in horror and fascination at the huge man slumped in the captain's chair.
Cruel black eyes that glittered evilly from under bushy black brows: a matted black beard and a tousled mane of black hair; a massive chest tufted with coarse black hair, revealed by the soiled open-necked tunic. Black Bart himself!
Buck Corrigan stared at him coldly, defiance in every line of his proud features, lips curled in contempt.
'The end is near for you, you filthy pirate,' he gritted.
'The end id near for you, you filthy upstart' grated Black Bart with a foul oath. 'Gunnery! Break out No. 1 torpedo turret. I'm going,' he explained, with a bestial grin, 'to fire you into space.'
Pale in spite of himself, Buck thought with desperate speed. He whispered to Topaz. 'Even now units of the Interplanetary Police are closing in on the ship, alerted and guided by the tiny but powerful transmitter hidden in the heel of my space boot. If I can keep Black Bart talking for ten minutes the I. P. will bring relief.'
'I'm not afraid of death, you swine,' he said, striving to keep his voice steady. 'But before I die tell me the secret of your impossible career. Two years ago you kidnapped the Empress Ming on Venus and simultaneously held up Governor Rankin's spacer near Jupiter. Six months later you carried out no less than four daring coups at the same time ...'
'Maybe I'm quads,' growled Black Bart, examining his finger nails, which were very dirty, 'Put him in the torpedo tube.'
Buck began to struggle. 'But you MUST tell me,' he yelled. 'The hero always stalls the villain until help ....' His voice was cut off by the hollow clang as the breach slammed shut.
Black Bart turned to Topaz and drew her towards him. 'I'll do my best to see you're not ... lonely, my dear,' he leered through his beard.
She ran one hand down his huge chest. 'I'll bet you will .. Blackie.'
'Gunnery!' she called, 'Fire number one torpedo turret!'
Data entry by Judy Bemis
Updated June 23, 2001. If you have a comment about these web pages please send a note to the Fanac Webmaster. Thank you.